sermons on biblical characters by rev. clovis g. chappell, d.d. richard r. smith, inc. new york copyright, , by george h. doran company sermons on biblical characters. ii printed in the united states of america contents i the missing man--thomas ii the great refusal--jonah iii the romance of faith--peter iv love's longing--paul v going visiting--jonathan vi the woman of the shattered romances--the woman of sychar vii a good man--barnabas viii the inquest--pharaoh ix a son of shame--jephthah x a case of blues--elijah xi the supreme question--the philippian jailer xii the mother-in-law--naomi xiii confessions of a failure--the busy man xiv a mother's reward--jochebed xv a good man's hell--manasseh xvi a shrewd fool--the rich farmer sermons on biblical characters i the missing man--thomas _john : _ "thomas, one of the twelve, called didymus, was not with them when jesus came." did you notice the name of this man who was missing? who was it when the little company met after the crucifixion that was not there? there was a man expected who failed to come. who was this man? when the little company gathered in the upper room behind shut doors there was one chair that was vacant. who should have occupied that chair? well, in the first place, it was not judas. he was missing. he was not there, it is true, but he was not expected. judas had already betrayed his lord. judas had already been whipped and scourged by his remorse of conscience clean out of the world. judas had gone to his own place in the great unseen country. judas was not there, but he was not expected to be there. who was the missing man? it was not pilate. we no more expected pilate than we expected judas. pilate had had his chance at jesus. pilate had had an opportunity of knowing, of befriending him, of serving him. but pilate had allowed his own interests to get the better of his conscience. pilate had chosen the friendship of caesar and had spurned the friendship of the king eternal. so we did not expect pilate to be present in this little company of the friends of jesus who met on the resurrection side of the cross. who was the missing man? it was not caiaphas. he, too, had stood in the presence of jesus, but his envy had made him blind. and he shouted "blasphemy!" so loud that he drowned the voice of his conscience and the gentle whisperings of the spirit of god. no, it was not caiaphas, nor any of the indifferent or hostile crowd that we miss in this meeting. then, who was this missing man? and we read the text again and we find his name was thomas. that is a very familiar name. oh, yes; we remember thomas quite well. it was thomas who was missing. now, thomas was expected, for he was a member of the little band of disciples. he was one of the twelve. he belonged to the inner circle. his fellow christians had a right therefore to expect him. yet thomas was not with them. it is a sad day ever for any congregation when its own membership begin to absent themselves from its services. it is a sad day for any congregation when those who compose it can be counted on to be there at the social function, there at the place of business, but cannot be counted on when the interests of the kingdom are at stake and when the son of god goes forth to war. believe me, no community ever loses respect for a congregation till that congregation loses respect for itself. and did you notice when it was that thomas was absent? "thomas was not with them when jesus came." what an unfortunate time to be away! what a great calamity to have missed that service of all others! there was the little despondent, despairing company of ten meeting behind closed doors. they were sorrow-burdened and fear-filled. but jesus came, and thomas, the saddest and bitterest man of them all, was not there. of course he would have gone if he had had any idea what a wonderful service it was going to be. if he had even dreamed that jesus would be there, of course he would not have missed it; but he expected the meeting to be a very dull affair. he felt confident that whoever else was there that there would be no christ. he expected that peter and james and john and the rest would meet there and talk of a glorious past that had gone forever. he would have said, "yes, i know what they will say. they will tell how jesus called them at the beginning. they will tell how they forsook all to follow him. they will tell of the great dreams that they dreamed, of the high hopes that they cherished. they will tell of all the glad, radiant days that have 'dropped into the sunset.' but they will have nothing to say to relieve the bitterness of to-day or to fling a bow of hope upon the black skies of to-morrow. so i will not go to the meeting to-day." but the meeting was not dull. the meeting was not sad. the meeting was not a lament for a glory that was passed, for a glad day that had slipped behind them forever more. it was a service that thrilled with present joys. it was a meeting that made the future to glow with glorious possibilities. it was wonderful, because jesus came. he came then, and he comes still. wherever hungry hearts come together who yearn for him and make him welcome, there comes the blessed christ to stand in the midst. and therefore i would not absent myself from the meeting together of the people of god. i would not because i want to be there when jesus comes, when the king comes in to see the guests. "thomas was not with them when jesus came." i wonder why it was that thomas was missing. i wonder how it came about that he, the neediest man among the apostles, was not there to receive the inspiration and the uplift that came from this service. why was he not there? it was not, i am sure, because he was indifferent. there are many to-day who have separated themselves from the services of the church, from the fellowship of the saints, because of a deadening indifference. they have become absorbed in a thousand other matters till they have become doubly uninterested in the things of the church and in the affairs of the kingdom. thomas was not missing because he had found satisfaction elsewhere. thomas was not satisfied. thomas was not happy. i doubt if there was a sadder man in all jerusalem than thomas. i doubt if there was a more wretched man in the wide world at that time than was thomas. thomas had not turned aside from jesus to satisfy his soul on husks. he had not left christ because his needs had been met and his thirst satisfied at some other fountain. why was thomas missing? he was missing because he had lost hope. he believed that christ was dead. he believed that the cause for which he had stood was lost and lost forever more. he believed that right was forever defeated; that wrong was forever enthroned. over his head was a blackened sky. for him there was not one single ray of light nor one single gleam of hope. if i had met thomas on the streets of jerusalem on that day and said, "thomas, i saw your friends going together to the upper room. aren't you going? jesus might come while they are there," thomas would have answered, "no, i'm not going. jesus will not be there. he is dead. don't you know if i thought i would see him i would go? don't you know that i loved him and love him still better than life, but jesus is dead. dead! dead! "i was in the garden when judas kissed him. i saw them lead him away. i saw the soldiers scourge him. i saw him crowned with the crown of thorns. i was out on calvary when the black night came on at midday and i heard that wild, bitter cry. oh! i will hear it forever more: 'my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?' i saw his head bowed and i saw the brute of a soldier thrust the spear into his side. don't talk to me about seeing jesus again. jesus is dead." the very bitterness of the sorrow of thomas had driven him to despair. he found it hard to believe always. here he found it impossible. now, there are some folks who are sweetened by sorrow and made better. there are others that are made bitter and morose and despairful. i heard a man cry one day, an awful cry "oh, i could curse god," he said, "if i knew there was a god, for letting little mary die!" for thomas everything had collapsed. there was not a star in his sky. there was not a horizon in his life in which he might hope for a dawn. so that he, the neediest man of them all, was not there when jesus came. and now, will you see what he missed. truly, the man was right who did not wonder what people suffered, but wondered at what they missed. and just see what this man thomas missed by not being in the little meeting among the ten. first, he missed the privilege of seeing jesus. he missed the privilege of seeing him who had throttled death and hell and the grave and had brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. he missed seeing him, one vision of whose face would have changed his sobbing into singing and his night into marvelous day. he missed seeing jesus, and failing to see him, he missed the glorious certainty of the after life. it is christ, my friends, that makes heaven and the eternal life sure for us. it is he who enables men to go down into the great silence without a doubt and without a fear. it is he who makes us absolutely confident that there is a home of the soul, that-- "there is a land of pure delight where saints immortal reign." having seen him once dead and alive forever more, we have no slightest doubt of the truth of his promise that, because he lives we shall live also. by staying away that day thomas missed the thrill of a great joy. had he been there he might have seen the lord. this is not a possibility in every service, possibly, but it ought to be. it is a possibility in every successful service. i heard of a preacher once who thought that what his congregation wanted was beautiful epigrams. he thought that they were more hungry for bejeweled verbiage than for the bread of life. he thought they were thirsting more for a stream of eloquence than for the water of life. but he was mistaken. and once he came into the pulpit to find a card lying before him on which was written this word: "sir, we would know jesus." at first it angered him a bit and then it made him think. and then it sent him to his knees. and then it sent him into the pulpit with a new message. and one day he came again into his pulpit to find a second card before him. picking it up, he read these words: "then were the disciples glad when they saw the lord." of course they were. their gladness was the gladness of the ten that met in the upper room. their gladness was the gladness that might have been experienced by thomas. it was intended for him, for he was the saddest and most wretched man in jerusalem. but thomas was not there. thomas missed also the gift of peace. jesus said to those present, "peace be unto you." and how thomas needed that gift! thomas was in a fever of restlessness and wretchedness. he was whipped by a veritable tempest of doubt and utter unbelief. and all the while he might have had the peace that passeth understanding. he might have had the vision of him who stood then, and still stands, the central figure of the ages, saying, "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." those present that day were blessed with the gift of peace. they had "fervor without fever." they had motion without friction. but thomas missed it because "he was not with them when jesus came." the disciples who were there were re-commissioned that day. jesus said to them, "as the father hath sent me, even so send i you." with his death everything seemed at an end. the great program that he had given them seemed to have lapsed forever. a man said a few years ago, "life doesn't seem worth living since i found that christianity is not true." it was so with these men. they were men without a goal. but jesus came and recommissioned them, laid upon them again the high task of conquering the world. and thomas missed that great blessing because he was not there. last of all, jesus breathed upon them and said, "receive ye the holy ghost." these men were not only recommissioned. they received the holy ghost. "he breathed on them." how close they came to him that day! how their hearts were warmed! how their hopes were revived! "he breathed on them and said, receive ye the holy ghost." and poor thomas missed also this benediction because he was not with them when jesus came. it may be that you were once active in the church. it may be that you were once a live and enthusiastic christian. but little by little you have slipped back. you have moved to strange places. your life has been thrown in great cities. and you have missed the fellowships of yesterday out of your life. it may be that to-day you are no longer found regularly among the worshipers in god's house. you are missing something. don't deceive yourself. as the saints of god meet together jesus still manifests himself. and seeing him, there comes to us a new joy and peace, a new sense of the purpose and worthfulness of life. seeing him there comes to us a new power for battle and for conquest. but if we have missed him, whatever else we have won, we have missed about all that is worth while. oh, there is one thing of which i am absolutely sure, and that is that if i have jesus, if his presence is a gladsome reality to my heart, nothing else matters much. but if i miss him everything goes wrong and everything is disappointing. darius is in the palace and daniel in the den of lions, but there is restlessness and wretchedness in the palace and peace and joy in the lions' den. it is the presence of god that makes the difference. thomas, because he missed receiving, also missed the privilege of giving. when the other disciples came from that meeting, how radiant were their faces! what a spring they had in their step! what joy bringers they were! what a marvelously thrilling story they had to tell! freely had they received and freely did they give. but thomas. he had received nothing, therefore he had nothing to give. he was a disappointment to his master. for a whole week he went doubting him, mistrusting him, when it was his privilege to have walked into his fellowship and been as sure of his reality and of his nearness as he was of his own existence. in the second place, he missed the privilege of helping his fellow disciples. what an encouragement he might have been to them! how it would have strengthened the faith of those christians who had not yet seen the vision of their risen lord to have seen the light even upon the gloomy face of thomas! but thomas missed the privilege of giving. i cannot rob myself without robbing you. i cannot starve myself spiritually without helping to starve you. i cannot sin alone. if i do that which lowers my spiritual vitality, by that very act i help to lower yours also. "thomas was not with them when jesus came," and he missed a double blessing, the privilege of receiving and the privilege of giving. but thomas, in spite of his failure, succeeded in the end. tradition tells us that he died a martyr for his love and devotion to his lord. how was he saved? how was he brought to the joy and usefulness that are born of certainty? thomas, you know, was a doubter. a very thoroughgoing doubter he was. how then, in spite of his doubts, did he find his way into the fulness of the light? first, thomas was not proud of his doubts. he did not look upon them as blessings or as treasures. there is a type of doubter to-day who does. i have heard men speak of "my doubts" as if they were very priceless things. but no man is of necessity the richer for his doubts. i know that doubt may become a doorway to a larger faith. still, i repeat, no man is of necessity the richer for them. for instance, no man is the richer because of his social doubts. the man who does not believe in his fellow man is poor indeed. the man who has doubts about the inmates of his home suffers something of the pangs of hell. and the man who doubts god can hardly consider himself the possessor of a prize to be coveted. thomas doubted, but he was not proud of his doubts. thomas was not only not proud of his doubts, but was thoroughly wretched on account of them. and being thoroughly wretched because of them, he was willing to be set right. he wanted to believe. it seems to me that any man would. thomas was eager to be made sure that the christ he loved was really alive. he yearned for certainty. thomas was not only willing, but thomas was reasonable. when he sought to be sure of jesus he put himself in the best possible position to learn the truth. when he wanted to be made sure of christ he did not seek knowledge at the hands of the enemies of christ. he did not ask information of those who were confessed strangers to christ. so often we do. we get in the grip of doubt and straightway we turn from the fellowship of those who know the lord to the fellowship of those who confessedly do not know him. we read those books that strengthen our doubts rather than those that strengthen our faith. but thomas was wiser. "thomas, we have seen the lord." that is what peter and james and john and the rest said to thomas after this wonderful service that thomas missed. and what was the answer of this doubter? did his face light up as he said, "i am glad to hear it"? not a bit of it. he said, "except i see in his hand the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side i will not believe." and what thomas meant by this answer was simply this: "there is nothing that you can say or do that will make me believe at all. i simply cannot believe and cannot be made to believe that jesus has risen." now i do not think that his fellow disciples argued with him. really it would have done no good. they simply left him to his own thoughts. and i fancy that those thoughts ran something after this fashion: "what they say is not true. they are mistaken. of course they are. they must be. and yet they certainly believe in the truth of what they say. god grant that they are right. there is nothing that i would not give to know." then what did this honest and earnest doubter do? listen! "and after eight days again the disciples were within and thomas with them." yes, thomas is a doubter. but he is an honest and hungry-hearted doubter. he is willing to give himself every opportunity to know the truth. he says, "i will turn my face toward the east. then if there is a dawn i will see it." and what happened? the dawning came. the sun rose, "even the son of righteousness with healing in his wings." "then came jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, peace be unto you. then saith he to thomas, reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing. and thomas answered and said unto him, my lord and my god." thomas became absolutely certain. it is my firm conviction that that same certainty is your privilege and mine. i believe that jesus spoke the simple truth when he said, "if any man is willing to do his will, he shall know." however little you may believe at this present moment, if you will be loyal to what you do believe, if you will follow the light that you have, it will bring you into the brightness of the day. you remember how horace bushnell, while a student at yale, felt that he was in the way of a great revival that was sweeping through the university. he did not want to stand in the way of this revival and yet he was an unbeliever. he did not feel that he could come out on the side of jesus christ for he did not believe in christ. "what then do you believe?" a voice within him seemed to ask. "i believe there is an absolute difference between right and wrong," was the answer. "have you ever put yourself on the side of the right to follow it regardless of consequences?" was the next question. "i have not," was the answer, "but i will." so horace bushnell kneeled there in his room and dedicated himself to the service of the right. and what was the result? after he had been a preacher of the gospel in hartford, connecticut, for forty-seven years he said, "better than i know any man in hartford i know jesus christ." when i was a lad i was overtaken by darkness while some eight or ten miles from home. the night was intensely black, so much so that i lost my way absolutely. i found myself after some hours in a dense forest. i made up my mind to dismount from my horse and sleep on the ground, as i saw no chance of finding my way home. but i had no sooner dismounted than the lightning began to flash and the thunder to roar and i was warned of an approaching storm. a little later the storm burst upon me. and i mounted and rode on through the dark, not knowing whither i went. at last, far past midnight, i saw a speck of light in the distance. that light did not look at all like a sunrise. it was as small as a needle point. and yet i followed it because it was all i could see on the black bosom of the darkness. a little later i found that that light was shining from a window in my own home. a little later still i found my anxious mother behind that light waiting for the home-coming of her boy. now, i did not have much light to begin with. it was pathetically meager. but as i followed it it led me home. thomas had but little. bushnell had but little. but they were willing to be true to the light that they had. and being true to it, they found the fullness of the light. for it was true then as it is true to-day, "if any man is willing to do his will, he shall know." ii the great refusal--jonah _jonah : - _ there is doubtless not another book in the literature of the world that has suffered more at the hands of men than the book of jonah. it has been tortured by its enemies and wounded in the house of its friends. we have been so prone to give our attention to the non-essential in the book rather than the essential. we have had such keen eyes for the seemingly ridiculous and the bizarre. for this reason it has come to pass that you can hardly mention the name of jonah to a modern audience without provoking a smile. thus jonah, coming to us as an evangelist, is mistaken by many for a clown. now this is a calamity. it is a calamity in the first place because the book of jonah is one of the gems of literature. there is not another book in the old testament that is more fragrant with the breath of inspiration. there is not another book more radiant with the light of the divine love. it is a wonderful gospel in itself. therefore it is a great pity that we have turned from its winsome wealth to give ourselves to the unedifying task of measuring the size of a fish's throat. did you ever hear of the hungry men that were invited to a feast? when they came within the banquet hall they found the table spread with the viands of a king. but the table was a bit out of the ordinary. therefore, there arose a discussion over the material out of which it was made. these guests began heated arguments also over the method of its carpentry. and they argued so long and learnedly and well that the food went utterly to waste and they went away more hungry than when they had come. there is a story of a prince who loved a beautiful peasant girl. in spite of his royal blood he determined to marry her. to seal his pledge of marriage he sent her a wonderful engagement ring. it was a gem so marvelous that it was said the stars shut their eyes in its presence and even the sun acknowledged it as a rival. but the girl was more interested in the beautiful box in which it was packed than she was in the ring. and when the prince came he was humiliated and disappointed to find her wearing the box tied upon her finger while the jewel had been neglected and forgotten and utterly lost. now there is real jewelry here. let us forget the rather queer casket in which this jewel comes while we examine the treasure. "the word of the lord came unto jonah the son of ammittai, saying, arise, go to nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for its wickedness has come up before me." "the word of the lord came unto jonah." there is nothing crude about that statement. there is nothing in that to excite our ridicule. that is one of the blessed and thrilling truths of the ages. to this man jonah, living some time, somewhere, god spoke. to this man god made known his will and holy purpose. and god is speaking still. the word of god is coming to men and women to-day. there is not a single soul listening to me at this moment but what at some time in your life there has come a definite and sure word from god. you have felt the impress of his spirit upon your own spirit. you have felt the touch of his hand on yours. you have seen his finger pointing to the road in which you ought to walk and to the task that he was calling upon you to perform. how this word came to jonah we do not know, nor do we need to know. it may have come to him through the consciousness of another's need. it may have come to him through a study of the word. it may have come to him through the call of a friend. how it came is not the essential thing. the one thing essential and fundamental is this, that the word did come. that is the essential thing in your case and in mine. god does speak to us. god does move upon us. god does call us, command us. god does stir us up. "the word of the lord came unto jonah," and it comes this very moment to you and to me. what was it that the lord said to jonah? he gave him a strange and unwelcome command. he said, "arise and go to nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for its wickedness has come up before me." it was hard for jonah to believe that he had heard aright. was it possible that nineveh was a great city in spite of the fact that it was a heathen city? was it possible that nineveh grieved god because of its wickedness? could it be possible that god really loved nineveh, though it was outside the covenant? jonah did not want to believe this, but he had to believe it. he had to realize that "the love of god is wider than the measure of man's mind and the heart of the eternal is most wonderfully kind." jonah did not want to undertake this mission. his objection, however, did not grow out of the fear that nineveh would refuse to repent. his reluctance was not born of the conviction that there was nothing in the people of nineveh to which his message would appeal. i know we are often hampered by that conviction. we feel that it is absolutely useless to preach to some folks. there is no use in trying to christianize africa. there is no use even in trying to christianize some of our next door neighbors. we so often forget that there is in every man an insatiable hunger and an unquenchable thirst that none but god can satisfy. but to jonah this call was unwelcome because he feared that nineveh might repent. and that he did not want nineveh to do. jonah believed that god was the god of israel only. he believed that god blessed israel in two ways. first, he blessed her by giving her gifts spiritual and temporal. and he blessed her, in the second place, by sending calamities upon her enemies. an abundant harvest in israel was a blessing from the lord. a famine in nineveh was also a blessing from the lord. jonah was firmly convinced that the prosperity of a nation other than his own meant calamity to israel. it is a pity that this selfish belief did not perish with jonah. but when we face the facts we know that it did not. it is a very human trait in us to feel that another's advancement is in some way a blow to ourselves. it is equally a human trait to feel that another's downfall and disgrace in some way adds a bit of luster to our own crowns. of course, nothing could be more utterly false, but in spite of this fact we cling to that faith through all the passing centuries. on the whole this duty, then, that god had put upon jonah was so distasteful that he made up his mind that whatever it might cost him he would not obey. therefore, we read that he "rose up to flee unto tarshish from the presence of the lord." ordered to nineveh he sets out for tarshish. there were two cities on his map and only two. there was nineveh, the city to which he might go in the fellowship of god and within the circle of the will of god. there was also tarshish, the city that lay at the end of the rebel's road, the city whose streets, if ever he walked them at all, he would walk without the fellowship of the god whom he had disobeyed. and there are just two cities on your map. the nineveh of obedience and the tarshish of disobedience. you are going to nineveh or to tarshish. i do not claim to know where your nineveh is. it may be a distant city. it may be a city across the seas whose streets you will crimson with the blood of your sacrifice. it may be a city as near to you as the home in which you live, as the child that nestles in your arms. but wherever it is, if you walk its streets you will walk them in the joy of the divine fellowship. on the other hand, you may go to tarshish. tarshish is the city of "have-your-own-way." it is the city of "do-as-you-please." it is the city of "take-it-easy." it is the city with no garden called gethsemane without its gates and no rugged hill called calvary overlooks its walls. it is a city without a cross and yet it is a city where people seldom sing and often sob. it is a city where nobody looks joyously into god's face and calls him father. i met jonah that day on the wharf. he looked like he had passed through a terrible spell of sickness. his cheeks were hollow. his eyes were red with sleeplessness. he had a haggard, worn, hounded look about him. "are you on the way home, jonah?" and he shook his head and said, "no. i am going to tarshish." tarshish was the most far away place of which the jew had any conception. "tarshish!" i say in astonishment. "what are you going to do over at tarshish?" "oh," he said, "i hadn't thought about that. i do not know what the future has in store for me. what i am trying to do is to get away from god." "and jonah arose to flee unto tarshish from the presence of the lord." i wonder why the text did not say "and jonah arose to flee unto tarshish from the presence of his duty" instead of "from the presence of the lord." the writer of this story had real spiritual insight. he was far clearer in his thinking than many of us. he knew that to flee from duty was to flee from god. whenever you make up your mind to refuse to go where god wants you to go and to do what god wants you to do, you must make up your mind at the same time to renounce the friendship of god. you cannot walk with him and at the same time be in rebellion against him. god has no possible way of entering into fellowship with the soul that is disobedient to his will. believe me, it is absolutely useless, it is mere mockery, to say "lord, lord" and then refuse to do the things that he commands you to do. now, when jonah saw the spaces of water growing wider between him and the shore a kind of deadly calm came upon him. a man with his mind made up to do wrong is far more at rest than the man whose mind is not made up at all. so when jonah had fully decided that he would rebel against god and give up all claim to god, a dreadful restfulness came to his troubled spirit. he went down into the sides of the ship and went fast asleep. the days before had been troubled days. the nights had been restless nights. but the battle was over now, even though it had been lost, and he was able at last to sleep. this period marks, i am sure, the period of greatest danger in the life of jonah. jonah had been a rebel before, but he had been a restless rebel. he had been disobedient before, but his disobedience had tortured him. it had put strands of gray into his hair and wrinkles upon his brow. but now he is not only in rebellion, but he is content to be so. he is not only without god, but he is, in a measure, satisfied to be without him. no greater danger can come to any man than that. as long as your sin breaks your heart, as long as your disobedience makes you lie awake nights and wet your pillow in tears there is hope for you. but when you become contented with your wickedness, when you come to believe that it is the best possible for you, then you are in danger indeed. now, i am fully convinced that jonah's danger is the danger of a great many, both in the church and out. you who are listening to me at this moment are kindly and cultured men and women. you are full of good will toward the church. you love it and desire its prosperity. yet many of you are doing practically nothing to make its desired prosperity a reality. one of the most discouraging features about the church to-day is the large number of utterly useless people within its fold. and these are not only useless, but saddest of all, they are content with their uselessness. they seem to feel that it is god's best for them; that it is all that god expects or has a right to expect. did you ever make out your religious program and look at it? what does discipleship cost you? what is involved in your allegiance to the lord? coming to church once or twice a month on sunday mornings and making a small contribution. only this and nothing more. the sunday school is not your burden. the prayer meeting is not your burden. visiting the new members that have recently come into our church and into the kingdom and need your help is not your responsibility. helping by your presence and by your prayers to give spiritual fervor to all the services, is not your responsibility. yours is to make your way up to the doors of the house of many mansions by and by without ever having made one single costly sacrifice in order to follow the lord. are you running away from your duty this morning? you know what it is. at least you may know it. this is a needy world. this is a needy church. it has an opportunity to touch the uttermost parts of the earth if it is spiritually alive and spiritually mighty. are you making your contribution? are you accepting your responsibility or have you turned your back upon it for no other reason than just this, that it is too much trouble? if that is true of me and if that is true of you, may the lord wake us up this morning and give us to see our deadly danger. so jonah turned his back on his duty and turned his back on god. he took ship for tarshish and went to sleep. surely his situation is critical indeed. but though he has forgotten god, god in his mercy has not forgotten him. god still loves jonah, still longs for him and still hopes for him. and so in mercy he sends a storm after him. that was dangerous cargo that that ship had on board. it had better have had gasoline or t n t than a rebellious prophet. it was in mercy, i say, that the lord sent the storm after jonah. coverdale translates it, "the lord hurled a storm into the sea." let us thank god for the storms that rouse us, that wake us up, that keep us from sleeping our way into the pit. may the lord send us any kind of storm rather than allow us to fling ourselves eternally away from his presence. i am so glad god will never allow a man to go comfortably and peacefully to eternal death. he never allows any man to be lost until he has done his best to save him. i read some years ago of a new england farmer who was driving to town on a cold winter's day. he overtook a woman on the way who was walking and carrying a baby in her arms. he took her up on the seat beside him. the cold became more bitter. he noticed after a while that the woman replied to his questions drowsily. a little later he saw that she was asleep. ho knew that unless awakened she would sleep the sleep of death. so he did what at first seemed a cruel thing. he sprang from the wagon, dragged her out into the snow and took the child from her clinging arms. with the child he sprang into the wagon and started his team down the road at a trot. the woman roused herself and began to totter feebly forward. a little later she quickened her pace. at last she broke into a run. and as she caught up with the wagon a little later and the farmer put the baby back into her arms, life had come back to the mother. a temporal loss was a blessing to this woman. let us thank god for any losses that may come to us that will keep us from sleeping our way to ruin. so jonah was down in the sides of the boat asleep. meanwhile the tempest was raging. meanwhile the fear-filled crew was rubbing elbows with death. then a hand is clapped on jonah's shoulder and he is being given a vigorous shaking and a voice is calling to him. and though it is a heathen voice it is full of rebuke. "what meanest thou, o sleeper? how is it that you can sleep amidst all the agony, amidst all the danger that is about us? when the situation is as it is, how is it that you are not on your knees? else and call upon thy god." i wish through this message that i might take some of you who are sleeping so soundly and peacefully and shake you awake. i wish that god might speak through my voice to my heart and yours and say to us, "what meanest thou, o sleeper? what do you mean by sitting idly and stupidly in the house of god sunday after sunday and never doing anything? what do you mean by having children growing up about you and not being enough interested in their spiritual welfare to even have a family altar? how is it that amidst the tremendous issues of moral life and moral death that you can be as complacent and as undisturbed as the dead? why in the name of all that is reasonable will you continue to 'lie like huge stones across the mouth of the sepulcher where god is trying to raise some lazarus from the dead?'" that shake and that message got jonah awake. he sprang out of his berth and rushed upon the deck. and the sight that met him there made a new man out of him. it changed him from a provincial jew into a world citizen and a missionary. what did he realize as he looked into the pallid faces of those death threatened men about him? he forgot all about their being heathen. he only remembered that they were one with himself in their common danger and their common need. they were all threatened with death. they all needed somebody to save. and, men and women, that is true still. we folks differ in many respects, but we are all alike in this: we have all sinned and we all need a savior. he not only saw that they were one in their needs but that they were also one in their hopes. he realized what we have been so long in realizing, and that is the oneness of the race. he came to know, even in that distant day, that since we are one body, one member could not suffer without all members suffering with it. he faced the fact that his own wicked rebellion against god had not only brought wretchedness upon himself, but that it was bringing it upon all that sailed with him. no man ever flees from duty without incalculable hurt, not only to himself, but to others as well. but, thank god, the reverse is also true. if my disobedience hurts my obedience helps. if my sin carries a curse my righteousness brings a blessing. here is another vessel lashed by a tempest. but the preacher on board this time is on good terms with his god. therefore he puts one hand into the hand of his lord and with the other he saves the whole company of two hundred and seventy-six souls that sail with him. "be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. for there stood by me this night the angel of god, whose i am, and whom i serve, saying, fear not, paul; thou must be brought before caesar: and, lo, god hath given thee all them that sail with thee." "how may the sea become calm for us," is the question. jonah does not offer an easy suggestion. "cast me overboard," is the reply. the man who a few days ago despised the heathen is now ready to die for them. that shows that god had made him a new man. i know he backslides a bit later, but he comes out all right in the end. and, my brethren, god has no other method for stilling seas than that employed by jonah. when the tempest of this world's sin was to be stilled there was no cheaper way than for christ to allow himself to be thrown overboard. when livingstone wanted to still the tempest of africa he did not undertake the task from long distance. he allowed himself to be thrown overboard. and that is the price you and i have to pay for real service. "except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." so jonah was cast into the sea. but by losing his life he found it. a friend of mine told recently of an experience of his in dealing with a british soldier in india. this soldier was seeking salvation. they prayed together. but as they were about to separate, the soldier was not satisfied. he staggered against the wall and prayed after this fashion: "lord, my sins are many. i am unworthy of thy salvation. i am unworthy of a vision of thy face. but if there is any place that you want some man to die for you i would count it as a great favor if you would let me be that man." "and then suddenly," said my friend, "the light came into his face and he was conscious of the presence of christ." if you will do this to-day, stop running from god and turn and walk with him, you will find that nineveh is not a city of restlessness and wretchedness. but you will find that it is a city rich in fellowship with god and in the blessed experience of that peace that passeth all understanding. which way are you going to travel from this hour? out of that door you will go in a moment facing toward nineveh or toward tarshish. which way will you face? may god grant that every step you take from this hour may be toward nineveh. iii the romance of faith--peter _matthew : _ "lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." i could not tell you how many times i have read this fascinating story. i have turned to it again and again. but in spite of its familiarity it always grips me. i can never read it thoughtfully without a thrill. i can never expose my soul to the vital truth of it without being helped and made a little bit more hopeful and i trust a little bit better. look at the picture. here is a little ship in the midst of a storm at sea. a dozen men are manning the oars, battling with the tempest, fighting through the long hours of the night with the storm-whipped sea, fisticuffing with death, and yet getting nowhere. it has been long hours since they left the shore. it is now three o'clock in the morning, but they have made very little progress. i have a fancy that they have become very tired and very discouraged. and more than once has one said to the other, "i wish the master were here. if he were here he would know what to do." and then, to add to their terror, they suddenly see their master walking from wave to wave toward them across the sea. but he is not recognized. they take him for a ghost and they cry out in fear. this is not an altogether unique experience. many times jesus comes to us in a way that makes us rather dread than welcome his approach. sometimes he comes with demands for the giving up of certain sins or certain pleasures that we do not wish to give up. sometimes he asks us for services that we do not wish to render. he demands surrenders that we do not at all desire to make. sometimes he comes to us in the guise of a great disappointment. he comes in the garb of a heartache that wets our faces with tears. the disciples, i say, were at first afraid. but jesus calmed their fears by saying, "it is i. be not afraid." the bible seems to have been written in large measure just to still the fears of our timid hearts. over and over again is that message directed to us, "fear not." and at once fear was driven from these hearts. and in the place of fear came, to one at least, a glorious and buoyant faith. "lord, if it be thou," shouted peter, "bid me come to thee on the water." you see the effect the presence of christ had upon peter. as soon as he recognized jesus he ceased to fear and began to hope. as soon as he realized the presence of christ he gave up doubt and despair and began to believe. the presence of christ always makes for faith. peter was gripped by a firm conviction that now that christ had come impossibilities were transmuted into possibilities. "bid me come to thee on the water." peter had no disposition to climb out of that boat before jesus came. he had no desire to undertake this seemingly mad task while christ was yonder on the mountain side and the little boat was being battered by the storm. but christ had begotten within him a beautiful and seemingly utterly reckless faith. that which a moment ago was an impossibility is now altogether capable of being accomplished. christ always inspires such faith in the hearts of those who really know him. in such faith he takes the keenest delight. there is nothing that so pleases him as the most daring and reckless and romantic faith. he is never so joyed as when men trust him with mad abandon. never once did he praise a prudent and conservative faith. all his encomiums are for those who trust him with a romantic recklessness. did you happen to meet the woman with the issue of blood as she set out to see jesus? well, it is good that you did not or you would have done your best to have discouraged her. of course you would and so would i. "sarah," i would have said, "are you going to ask jesus to help you? are you going to seek him out and fall on your face before him in prayer?" "no," she would have answered, "i am not going to pray. i am not going to ask the master to do anything for me at all. i am simply going to slip up behind him when the crowd is thronging him, and touch his garment. i have a shamefaced disease. i want as little attention as possible. hence i am not going to say a single word to jesus." then, i would have answered with conviction, "you will never be cured. the master has made no promise that he will honor a mad faith like yours. when did he say he would heal if you merely slipped up in a mob and touched the fringe of his garment?" but i was not there to throw dashes of cold water upon the fire. she went on her reckless way. and wonder of wonders, she was healed. "lord, bid me come," said peter. and what was the reply of jesus? did he say, "peter, i am astonished at you. why do you want to do this foolish and insane and impossible thing? don't you know that the storm is against you? don't you know that the law of gravitation is against you? don't you know that the whole experience of the race is against you? you have been about the sea all your life. when did you ever see anybody walk on the waves? why do you request, then, to do this absurd and ridiculous and impossible thing?" but jesus did not say that. i never read where he told a single trusting heart that his request was impossible. i do read where he said the very opposite. he said, "all things are possible to him that believeth." he makes all things possible. that is what he is for. he ever attacks men at the point of their impossibilities. he calls on the selfish man to love his neighbor as himself. he calls on the paralytics to rise and walk. and never does he have a rebuke for the man who dares to fling himself blindly upon his power. and instead of rebuking peter he approved him. he encouraged him. he set his sanction upon his request. he said to him, "come." i am sure if you or i had been there we would have wanted him to have said far more. we would have wanted him to explain to us how he would hold us and enable us to walk. but the invitation, "come," that one word was enough for peter. "come," said jesus. what would you have done under those circumstances? what would i? i suppose i know. i would have said, "lord, i'd like to. i wish i could. i've always wanted to do something magnificent. it has occurred to me again and again as i have read the record of thy dealings with thy saints that the christian life is not to be a dull and drab and unromantic thing. i have felt a thousand times that the faith of the saints ought to have far more of buoyancy and enthusiasm and daring and romantic adventure in it than it has. so since you have bid me come, lord, i'd like to come. i'll think it over. who knows but that i may try it some day?" but peter was made out of more heroic stuff. the spirit of adventure had not died within him. his faith is full of the finest romance. "come," said jesus and immediately i see peter drop his oar and begin to climb down out of the boat to go to jesus. some of the commentators are very hard on peter for his boldness and seeming foolhardiness here. but i am frank to say that i like peter here very much. i suppose most of the critics would have sat very still in the boat. i shouldn't wonder if they would not have put a restraining hand upon peter. in fact, it would not surprise me if some of his fellow disciples did not do that very thing. i can imagine that andrew might have gripped him and said, "peter, sit where you are. you can hardly stay on top of the water now." and thomas would have said, "man, are you mad? nobody ever walked on the water before." but peter said, "by the help of christ i will." and with the "storm light in his face" and the spray in his hair and with faith in christ in his heart he pushes the boat from under his feet. there is something great about that. there may be much base alloy in peter, but there is something fine in him also. he is to be admired if he never takes a step. he is worthy of praise if he sinks into the sea as a piece of lead. at least he has dreamed of doing the supernatural. at least he has dared in the presence of christ to undertake what others were afraid to undertake. he has ventured to stake his life on the power of christ to make good his promise. if he fails utterly he is still worthy of respect. it is better to make a thousand failures than to be too cowardly to ever undertake anything. so he steps out upon a stormy sea. it does look a bit mad, doesn't it? and yet it only looks mad because of our blindness and dullness and stupid unbelief. what did peter have under him when he was in the ship? upon what were his fellow disciples trusting to keep them from the bottom of the sea? just two or three planks, that is all. upon what was peter trusting? he was trusting upon the sure word of god. when he let himself down from the side of the boat at christ's invitation he did not drop into the sea. he dropped into god's arms. he dropped into the arms of him who holds every sea in the hollow of his hand. he dropped into the arms of him whose power kindled every sun and flung every world into space. before peter can sink he must break god's arm. and mad as seemed his act peter was never so safe in his life. pile upon him, if you will, all the mountain systems of all the worlds and he will never sink low enough to wet his sandals if he keeps his feet planted upon the promise of christ. jesus said, "come." peter did the same that you and i may do. he responded in the affirmative. he said, "yes, lord," and made the venture. and what happened? let me read it to you. "he walked on the water to go to jesus." he did what was humanly impossible. he accomplished what was absolutely beyond the reach of any human being except for the power of christ. he walked. it must have been a thrilling experience. it was a joy to himself. it was a joy to his master. it was a benediction to his fellows. i can see the terror in their faces give way to wonderment and gladness as they say, "well, well, well! he is doing it after all." yes, peter walked. let us not let any subsequent failure blind us to this blessed fact. i know that he did not walk far. i know, too, that that was his own fault. it was not the fault of his lord. peter might have walked the whole distance but for one fatal mistake. he might have won a complete triumph but for one tragic loss. what happened to peter? "he saw the wind boisterous." what does this mean? it means that peter ceased giving his attention and his confidence to christ. he fixed upon the difficulties. in other words, he lost his faith. he came to believe in his hindrances more than in his help. he believed in christ a great deal, but he believed more in waves and wind and lightning and thunder. he believed in jesus, but he believed more in weakness and death. looking at the wind he stepped right off god's promise and it wasn't a second till he was up to his neck in the raging water. there was absolutely no failure possible so long as he stood firm upon the promise of christ. "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden," jesus is saying to you that are troubled and sin burdened. that means that you can come. that means that he is eager for you to come. and however far you have gone from god and however stiff may be the tempest that blows about you, if you get this promise under your feet all the storms that hell can let loose against a human soul will leave you unshaken. but you must keep a firm stand on the promise. if you are here with some great yearning in your heart, some special prayer for usefulness or for deliverance from a peculiar temptation, lay hold on god's word and cling to it and you will never be put to confusion. a saintly old friend of mine told me on one occasion about praying for his child. and he said he got the assurance that his baby was going to recover. she was suffering from membranous croup. that very night he was awakened by the mother and the nurse. and he heard the mother say to the nurse, "is she dead?" and he turned and went to sleep with never a question and never a doubt. he refused to look at the waves. peter got too interested and too absorbed in difficulties. it is so easy to do that. peter took counsel of his fears. i have done the same and you have done the same a thousand times over. we are not going to be harsh and critical with him. by so doing we would be too hard upon ourselves. but this i say: it is a great calamity. it is a great shame. oh, that we might get upon the higher ground of the psalmist who said, "wherefore will we not fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea." but looking at the boisterous wind and taking counsel of our fears,--these are not the only things that work our ruin. we might be persuaded, and often are, to take our eyes off christ as much by our advantages as by our disadvantages. had peter said within himself, "the law of gravitation is not so invariable as i thought," or "i am a much superior man to what i dreamed i was." if peter had fixed his confidence in self or in circumstances he would have gone down just the same. anything that turns our eyes away from a steadfast gaze of faith upon christ spells disaster. what happened to peter when he began to look at the boisterous wind? you know. he began to sink. peter sinking right in the presence of christ,--that is pathetic. he can help nobody now. he could not have saved his own child if he had been there. unbelievers seated smugly in the boat said, "ah! i thought so. i knew something like that would happen." i do not know that peter would ever have noticed the boisterous wind unless somebody had called his attention to it. i can imagine thomas might have shouted to peter and said, "look out, peter. there comes a tremendous wave." anyway, peter is sinking. did you ever have that experience? do you know what it is to feel that soul sickening sensation that comes to one who is sinking? do you know what it means to be losing your grip on god, losing your power in prayer, losing your grip of things spiritual? did you ever sink? are you sinking to-day? i think i know something of the experience of peter. i have an idea that you know something of it. young man, away from home for the first time, are you sinking? little by little are you giving up your faith? little by little are you flinging away the fine ideals that were the strength of your earlier years? young woman, are you sinking? business man, cumbered with many cares, living your life in the thick of the fight, are you keeping straight and clean or are you losing your vision? are you sinking? what was the matter with lot in sodom? he led a sinking life. that was it and it cost him every one that was dear to him. it will prove expensive to you. oh, christian worker, you will not count as long as you are living a defeated and failing and sinking life. but even in his failure peter has a message for us. in his defeat he is his own straightforward, sincere and honest self. when peter realized that he was sinking he did not try to conceal the matter. he did not say, "i'll fight it out in my own strength." he threw himself at once on the infinite strength of christ. he prayed. that was a wise thing. that was a big and manly thing. peter prayed. have you forgotten the art? and listen to that prayer. it was white hot with earnestness. "lord, save me." it is short, too. notice that. when you do not want anything, when you have no burden, when you are careless and indifferent and listless, you can get down on your knees and pour out whole hogsheads of mere words. when you are spiritually asleep and morally stupid you can utter platitudes in the form of prayer endlessly. but when the sword of genuine conviction has passed through your soul, when you are doing business in great waters, then you fling aside your platitudinous petitions and call out in solemn earnestness for help. that prayer was a confession. it was a confession of failure, a confession of defeat. it was also a confession of need. some men would have been too proud to have made it. what a terrible thing is pride, that damning pride that makes us unwilling to confess our sin even to god. "for he that covereth his sin shall not prosper." but "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." peter was different. that was his salvation. he blurted out the whole pitiful story and threw himself on the mercy of jesus. and what happened? that which always happens when men thus pray. "immediately jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him." and peter, who had walked and had sunk, rose and walked again. and so may you and so may every single sinking and floundering and failing soul here. all you need to do is pray as peter prayed and to believe as peter believed. and now, my brethren, do you not agree that we need more of the faith that made peter undertake his mad enterprise? isn't the tragedy of the church to-day just this, that the average christian is not walking by faith, but by sight? that is the reason we have so little of that high spirit of daring that marked the early church. that is the reason that life for many of us is so dull and prosaic. what we need is faith. for faith is not a tame and spineless thing that dares nothing. real faith dares something, something big and brawny, beyond the human. hence it brings into life the thrill of finest romance. "come," said jesus, and peter gave an instant obedience. may you and i be as wise. for our lord is inviting us just as he invited peter. are you thirsty? he says, "come to me and drink." are you hungry? he says, "come and dine." are you tired and burdened? he says, "come and i will give you rest." are you eager to be of service? he says, "come,--and out of your inner life shall flow rivers of living water." brethren, all our needs are met in him. he is our sufficiency. he is summoning us even now to venture upon him. "will you make the venture? "out of my shameful failure and loss, jesus, i come, jesus, i come; into the glorious gain of thy cross, jesus, i come to thee; out of the depths of ruin untold, into the peace of thy sheltering fold, ever hereafter thy face to behold, jesus, i come to thee." iv love's longing--paul _philippians : _ "that i may know . . . the fellowship of his sufferings." weymouth gives this translation: "i long to share his sufferings." paul is here leading us into the very innermost sanctuary of his heart. he is revealing to us the supreme passion of his life. he is letting us know what is his one great ambition. "i long," he says. and knowing what a mighty man he was we lean eagerly forward that we may hear the word that comes from his lips. for we are keen to know what is the dearest desire of this brave heart. and as we listen this is the perplexing word that comes to us: "i long to share in his sufferings." how startlingly strange that longing is. we are half ready to wonder if we have heard aright. and when we realize that we have, we instinctively think of the words of the roman governor, festus: "paul, thou art beside thyself. much learning doth make thee mad." we wonder if festus was not right after all. isn't paul a bit insane? "i long to share in his suffering." it sounds like madness to many of us because it is so foreign to our own deepest desires. had paul said, "i long for a place of honor; i long that my presence should elicit the applause of the world and call forth the crowns of the world"; had he said this, we could easily have understood him. had he expressed a longing for a place in the hall of fame, had he said, "my one desire is that the world shall keep sacred my memory," he would have been easily understood by us. we would have said "this is very natural and very human." but that is not what he says. this is his strange language: "i long to share in christ's sufferings." had paul said that he longed to escape pain and anguish and sorrow we might also have understood him. had he said, "i long to escape the penalty of sin even though i live in sin," many of us could have appreciated this desire. for there are always those who, while they do not yearn especially for deliverance from sin, do yearn to be saved from its penalty. they do not desire to be saved from the sowing of tares, but they want to be saved from the reaping of the harvest. they do not pray for deliverance from the broad road, but they desire that this broad road terminate at the gate of heaven instead of at the gate of destruction. had this man said that he desired to escape hell everybody could have sympathized with him. but that is not his desire. what he said was entirely different. "i long," he says, "to share in the sufferings of christ; i long to weep as he wept; i long to sympathize as he sympathized; i long to travel life by his road; i long to pass through his gethsemane and to climb his calvary and to share in my finite way in his cross." it is an amazing desire. what is its secret? why could paul truly say such a word as this? in the first place, he could not say it because it was natural for him. there had been a time when he had given utterance to such a statement it would have been grossly false. when paul rode out from jerusalem on his way to damascus, for instance, he longed for anything else more than he longed to share in the sufferings of christ. it required a marvelous change. it required an absolute transformation to bring paul to the place where he was able to give utterance to this high and heroic sentiment. he was not possessed of such a longing by nature. nor did paul long to share in the sufferings of christ because he looked upon these sufferings as trivial. few men have ever understood the sufferings of christ as did paul. he had an appreciation of their intensity and of their bitterness far beyond most other men. he understood as few have ever understood the physical agonies of the cross. paul was a great physical sufferer himself. but he knew what we sometimes forget, that infinitely the deepest pain of jesus was not physical. had there been nothing involved in his crucifixion but physical agony then we are forced to acknowledge that many of his followers have endured the same kind of pain with a fortitude to which he was a stranger. his agony was from another source. he suffered because he was made "to be sin for us, who knew no sin." he suffered in that "he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities." it was this fact that wrung from him that bitterest of all cries, "my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?" nor did paul possess this desire because he longed for pain in itself. paul was not a calloused soul. few men have ever been more sensitive to pain. he had no more fondness for being shipwrecked than you and i have. he had no more pleasure in being stoned, in being publicly whipped, in being thrown into dark dungeons and stenchful prison cells than you and i have. he no more delighted in being ridiculed and ostracized than you and i would delight in these things. paul took no more pleasure in hunger and cold, in peril and nakedness, in agony and tears than you and i would take in them. yet we find him longing to share in the sufferings of christ. why did he long for this strange privilege? there are two reasons. he longed to share in christ's sufferings, first, because he genuinely and passionately loved christ. if you have ever at any time truly loved anybody you will be able to understand this longing of saint paul. it is the nature of love to always seek either to spare or to share the pain of the loved one. one of the sweetest stories in our american literature, i think, is that of "the wife" told by washington irving. you remember it. it has been re-enacted a thousand times over. a man of wealth has lost his fortune. he is heart-broken over it, not on his own account but on account of his wife. she has been tenderly nurtured. he is sure that poverty will break her heart. but he has to tell her. the lovely home in the city must be given up. they must move to a cottage in the country. he enters upon the hard ordeal. it is his gethsemane. but to his utter amazement he finds his wife more joyous, more genuinely happy in the midst of this trying experience than he has ever known her to be before. what is the secret? she is in love with her husband and loving him, it is her keenest joy to be able to share his sorrow with him. the wife of the southern poet, sidney lanier, was just such a one as irving's heroine. you will recall what a long hard fight lanier had with sickness and poverty and what a tower of strength through it all was the gentle and tender woman who loved him. "in the heart of the hills of life, i know two springs that with unbroken flow forever pour their lucent streams into my soul's far lake of dreams. not larger than two eyes, they lie, beneath the many-changing sky and mirror all of life and time, --serene and dainty pantomime. shot through with lights of stars and dawns, and shadowed sweet by ferns and fawns, --thus heaven and earth together vie their shining depth to sanctify. always when the large form of love is hid by storms that rage above, i gaze in my two springs and see love in his very verity. * * * * o love, o wife, thine eyes are they, --my springs from out whose shining gray issue the sweet celestial streams that feed my life's bright lake of dreams. oval and large and passion-pure and gray and wise and honor-sure; soft as a dying violet-breath yet calmly unafraid of death. * * * * dear eyes, dear eyes and rare complete-- being heavenly-sweet and earthly-sweet, --i marvel that god made you mine, for when he frowns, 'tis then ye shine!" now, what was there in the seeming frown of god to make the eyes of love shine? it was just this: they were alight with the joy that comes when love is privileged to share the pain of the beloved. i heard a grizzled old soldier who was an officer in the civil war tell of a raw recruit who came into his regiment. this recruit was awkward and uncouth and unattractive. he seemed to be little more than an incarnate blunder. he would stumble and fall down over his own musket. naturally he was the butt of many jokes. he was the laughing stock of all his comrades. but this officer said that he tried to befriend him. but if the uncouth fellow appreciated his efforts to help him he never said so. he seemed as awkward in expressing himself as he was in all other respects. "one night," said this officer, "we were sleeping without tents and it was bitter cold. i shivered under my blanket till i went to sleep. when i waked in the morning, however, i was warm. then i noticed, to my astonishment, that i was sleeping under two blankets instead of one. i looked about me for an explanation. a little way off was this gawky, green, uncouth soldier striding back and forth with the snow pelting him in the face. he was waving his thin arms as he walked to keep from freezing to death. that soldier died a few days later. he died from the exposure of that night. but a smile was on his face as i sat beside him." now, why did the soldier smile? you know. he was rejoicing that he was able to spare and to share the suffering of his friend. "i long to share in his sufferings." that is the language of love. to one who does not know love it will forever be a mystery. but to the lover it is easily comprehensible. any real mother can understand it. down in tennessee a few years ago a mother was out riding with her little boy. the horse took fright and ran away. the buggy was wrecked. the mother escaped without injury. but the little lad was so crippled that he was never able to sit up again. now, before this tragic accident the mother of this little wounded boy had been very active in the life of her church and community. but with the coming of this great sorrow she had to give up all outside work. she gave herself instead night and day to the nursing of her boy. at times she would hold the little fellow in her arms for almost the whole night through. at last, after three years, the angel of release came and the patient sufferer went home. and there were those in the community who said, "i know that his mother will grieve. yet his home-going must be a bit of a relief." but what said the mother when the minister went to see her? she met the preacher at the door and as love's sweet rain ran down her face she did not say anything about being relieved at all. but this is what she said: "oh, brother, my little boy is gone and i can't get to do anything for him any more." why, it was the grief of her heart that the little fellow had gone out beyond the reach of her hand where she could no longer have the joy of offering herself a living sacrifice upon the altar of his need. she longed to continually share in his suffering. so paul wanted to share in the sufferings of christ because he loved christ. then he wanted to share in the sufferings of christ, in the second place, because he knew that suffering was involved in being like christ. you may suffer and yet be un-christlike, but no man can be christlike and fail to suffer. if you ever, by the grace of god, become a partaker of the divine nature you must also inevitably become a partaker of his sufferings. to be christlike is to suffer for the very simple reason that christ cannot be what he is and fail to suffer in and for a world like ours. what is the nature of christ? christ is like god. christ is god. "he that hath seen me hath seen the father." but what is god? there are many definitions. there is only one all comprehensive and all inclusive definition. that is that sentence of pure gold that fell from the lips of the apostle that leaned upon the bosom of his lord. "what is god?" i ask this man who had such a wonderful knowledge of him. and he answers, "god is love." now since god is love he must suffer. he cannot look upon the lost and ruined of this world without grief. he cannot behold the tragic quarrel of man with himself without taking it to heart. there is nothing more true nor, in the deepest sense, more reasonable than this tender sentence: "in all their afflictions he was afflicted." our afflictions must afflict him because "his nature and his name is love." j. wilbur chapman tells how he one night explored the slums of new york with sam hadley. about one o'clock in the morning they separated to go to their own homes. dr. chapman said he had not gone far before he heard mr. hadley saying, "oh! oh! oh!" and he looked back to see his friend wringing his hands in deepest agony. he hurried to his side thinking that he had been taken suddenly ill. "what is the matter?" he asked. and the great mission worker turned his pain-pinched face back toward the slums out of which they had come and said, "oh, the sin! oh, the heartache! oh, the wretchedness! it will break my heart. it has broken my heart." now, just as christ cannot be christ and not suffer in a world like ours, so he cannot be himself and fail to make a sacrificial effort to save this world. what says the gem of the gospel? "god so loved the world that he gave." what was the song that abidingly made paul's heart to pulsate with heavenly hallelujahs? just this: "he loved me and gave himself for me." love grieves. it does more. it serves. love beholds the city and weeps over it. but it is not satisfied with that. it also goes to the cross for that city over which it weeps. sam hadley wrings his hands in grief over the wretched in new york's slums, but he does more. he goes to their rescue. so when paul said, "i long to share his sufferings" he meant, "i long to be, in the truest sense, like him. i long to see the world through his eyes. i long to feel toward men as christ feels toward them. i long to sacrifice for them in my finite way as he sacrificed for them." and what was the outcome of this longing? there are some ambitions that god cannot gratify. to do so would only mean our impoverishment and our ruin. but such is not the case here. god graciously granted the satisfying of this longing of saint paul. listen to the testimony to the truth of that fact from his own lips. "i am crucified with christ, nevertheless i live. yet not i, but christ liveth in me." again he says, "for to me to live is christ." that is, "for to me to live is to reproduce christ. for to me to live is for christ to live over again in me." in a most profound and vital sense he has come to share in the divine nature. having come to share in the divine nature he is privileged also to share in his sufferings. his ministry is a daily dying. he is a man of great heaviness and continual sorrow. the secret of his pain is this: "i fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of christ in my body." in sharing thus his master's sufferings he shared with him in his work of bringing salvation to men. to-day we could better spare many a nation than we could spare this one single man. and now we are going to gather about this altar where we shall remember together the suffering love of jesus christ. as we take the bread and wine we are going to be reminded of the broken body and shed blood of our lord. and i trust that as we think upon his love and upon his sacrifice for ourselves we shall come to be possessed with the holy longing of this great apostle. may we too be able to say, "i long to share in his suffering." this high longing is possible for every one of us through the riches of his grace. and it is possible in no other way. therefore, let us gather round this table with this song within our hearts: "thy nature, gracious lord, impart; come quickly from above, write thy new name upon my heart, thy new, best name of love." v going visiting--jonathan _i samuel : _ "and jonathan, saul's son, arose and went to david into the wood and strengthened his hand in god." "going visiting" is a very commonplace occurrence. oftentimes the visits we make are thoroughly trivial and unimportant. but there are other times when our visits take on a profound significance. there are times when they mark a crisis. there are times when they set in motion influences that tell on the entire future of those whom we visit. there are times when they mean the making or the marring of a human soul. now, this visit about which we are to study to-day is no ordinary visit. i think it is one of the most beautiful stories to be found in literature. this visit was made many centuries ago. it was made in an obscure corner of the earth, and yet it has never been forgotten. it never will be. the inspirer of the word saw in it too much of worth and winsomeness to allow it to slip out of the memories of men. it is remembered to-day, not because jonathan left his calling card on david's center table. it is remembered because the visit was so blessedly beautiful. it is a great privilege that god has given us in allowing us to visit each other. we can help so much by it if we will. wasn't that a lovely visit that the old school master made to marget that time in "beside the bonny briar bush" when he came to tell her that she had a "laddie of parts"? and wasn't it still more beautiful when he came later, rugged old scotchman that he was, to burst into tears of wild joy over the good news he brought her that her son had won first prize in the great university? wasn't that a lovely series of visits that a kindly old man made to the room of the little laddie who had swept the street crossing before he had been crippled in the discharge of his duty? a city missionary went in to see him and asked him if he had had anybody to visit him. "oh, yes," was the answer. "a good man comes every day and talks to me, and sometimes he reads the bible to me and prays." "what is his name?" asked the missionary. and the little fellow studied a moment and said, "i think he said his name was gladstone." england's grand old man appears to us in many a charming role, but in none is he more manly and commanding than in this of visiting a little crippled waif in a london attic. florence nightingale was a lovely visitor. do you recall that exquisite bit of poetry in conduct on the field of crimea? a soldier was to go through a painful operation. an anaesthetic could not be administered and the doctor said the patient could not endure the operation. "yes, i can," said the patient, "under one condition: if you will get the 'angel of the crimea' to hold my hand." and she came out to the little hospital at the front and held his hand. glorious visit. no wonder the man went through the operation without a tremor. but the visit of our text,--to me it is more wonderful still. the truth of the matter is, i know of but one other visit that ever took place that is finer and more beautiful. you know what visit that was. it was the visit that one made to a manger in bethlehem nineteen centuries ago. that was a visit that remade the world. it was so wonderful that a star pointed it out with finger of silver, and our discordant old earth was serenaded with the music of that land of eternal melody. but aside from that one visit, i think this the most beautiful one ever recorded. what is the secret of its beauty? first, it was beautiful in its courageous loyalty. you know who jonathan was. he was the king's son. he was popular, handsome and courageous. so lithe, athletic and graceful he was that they called him "the gazelle." he was a prince. he was heir-apparent to the throne of israel. and you know, also, who david was. he was at that time in disgrace. he was under the frown of the king. he was being hunted from one refuge to another like a wild beast. to be his friend was to be the enemy of the king. to smile upon him was to meet the frown of the king. but notwithstanding the fact that these men were so far apart, one a favorite prince and the other an outcast peasant, yet we find the prince visiting the peasant. you say they were friends. yes, that is true, deeply true. but their friendship had started in other days. when david and jonathan first met they met under altogether different circumstances. you know when jonathan first saw david. it was when david returned from his fight with goliath, with the bloody head of the giant in his hand. he met him amidst the hurrahs and the wild enthusiasm of the people. he met him on one of the great red letter days of david's life, when he sprang suddenly from obscurity to be a national hero. it does not seem so surprising, therefore, when we read that on this day "the soul of jonathan was knit to the soul of david." david was courageous. david had shown himself a hero. david was a favorite with the king and a favorite with the people. it took no great effort to love him then. it took no great courage to be his friend. but all is changed now. the king no longer loves him, but hates him and seeks his life. the sun of his popularity has gone into eclipse. we wonder if jonathan's friendship will stand the test. and again we turn and read the text: "and jonathan, saul's son, arose and went to david into the wood and strengthened his hand in god." what beautiful loyalty. what fine fidelity. how blessed is david in the friendship of a man who can love him in the sunshine and who can love him no less in the midst of the shadows. how blessed he is in the friendship of one who can stand by him when many lips praise him and who can also stand by him when many abuse him, and many criticise him and many lift their hands against him. truly this man loves david for himself alone. second, this visit is beautiful because of its fine and costly sympathy. jonathan really sympathized with david in his trials and his difficulties. he did not express that sympathy in any cheap and distant way. he might have sent david word that if he needed anything just to let him know. he might have dispatched a servant to comfort david in his sore trials. but he did not try to express his sympathy at long distance. he went to david. he came to handclasp with the man that he wished to help. now, i am perfectly aware of the fact that much of our sympathy must be expressed at a distance. for instance, we cannot all go to the foreign field. we must express our interest in those who have not had our opportunities by our gifts. much of the service we render in our own land must be rendered in the same way. but when that is said, the fact still remains that there is nothing that will take the place of our hand-to-hand dealing with those who need us. we cannot perform all our charities by proxy. we must come in personal contact with those whom we would help. there is one poem i think that we have a bit overworked: "let me live in my house by the side of the road, where the race of men go by. they are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong, wise, foolish--and so am i. so why should i sit in the scorner's seat, or hurl the cynic's ban? let me live in my house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man. "i see from my house by the side of the road, by the side of the highway of life, the men that press on with the ardor of hope, and the men who are faint in the strife. but i turn not away from their smiles nor their tears, both parts of an infinite plan. let me live in my house by the side of the road, and be a friend to man. "i know there are brook gladdened meadows ahead, and mountains of wearisome height. and the road passes on through the long afternoon, and stretches away to the night. but still i rejoice when the travelers rejoice, and weep with the strangers that moan, nor live in my house by the side of the road, like one who dwells alone." now that is good, but after all,-- "it's only a half truth the poet has sung of the house by the side of the way. our master had neither a house nor a home, but he walked with the crowd day by day. i think when i read of the poet's desire that a house by the road would be good, but service is found in its tenderest form as we walk with the crowd in the road. "so i say let me walk with the men in the road, let me seek out the burdens that crush; let me speak a kind word of good cheer to the weak who are falling behind in the rush. there are wounds to be healed, there are breaks we must mend, there are cups of cold water to give, and the man in the road by the side of his friend, is the man who has learned how to give. "then tell me no more of the house by the road, there is only one place i can live. it is there where the men are toiling along, who are needing the help i can give. 'tis pleasant to dwell in the house by the road, and be a friend, as the poet has said, but the master is bidding us, bear ye their load, your rest waiteth yonder ahead. "so i can not remain in the house by the road, and watch as the toilers pass on, their faces beclouded with pain and with shame, so burdened, their strength nearly gone. i will go to their side, i will speak in good cheer, i will help them to carry their load. and i'll smile at the man in the house by the way, while i walk with the crowd in the road. "out there in the road that runs by the house where the poet is singing his song, i'll walk and i'll work midst the heat of the day, and i'll help falling brothers along. too busy to dwell in the house by the way, too happy for such an abode, and my glad heart will sing to the master of all, who is helping me serve in the road." and the beauty and glory of this lovely visit that prince jonathan made to david, the outcast, was that he walked with him in the road. he did not dwell in his princely palace and send him some money. he did not allow him, as dives allowed lazarus, to gather up the crumbs. he went to him. and because he went to him he helped him. oh, heart, that is the secret of the salvation wrought by our lord. he came to us. had he merely come for the day and gone back to heaven at night, he would never have saved us. he came into personal contact with us. that is how he lifts us. this visit was beautiful, in the third place, because of its high and holy purpose. i see jonathan as he is turning his face toward the forest where david is hiding. i say to him, "prince jonathan, you are going down to see david, i understand. why are you going?" this is his answer: "i am going down to strengthen his hand in god. you know david has had a hard time recently. he has been sorely tried. he has been bitterly disappointed. he has passed through one great sorrow after another. i am afraid his faith is going to be destroyed. i am afraid he will lose his grip of god unless i go to see him and help him and strengthen his hand in the lord. and that is why i am going." and so jonathan hurries on. and the angels must have crowded the windows of heaven to behold him as he walked upon this glorious errand. i would go a bit out of my way any time to get to see a man who is going to see his friend, not to ask for help, but going for the one big purpose of making the man whom he is to visit a little stronger, a little better, a little more loyal to his lord. and not only did jonathan go for that purpose, but he succeeded in it. when he left david, he left him a stronger man. i do not know what he said to him. that is not recorded. i do not know that he quoted scripture to him or even prayed with him. he may have. he may not have. it is not absolutely necessary to have prayer always in order to strengthen our friend in the lord. sometimes all we need to do is just to talk to him and let him talk, and convince him that we sympathize with him, that we are interested in him. and having done that, somehow he comes more and more to believe in god's interest. but whatever jonathan said, david was stronger and better and braver after he had gone. i think i can hear him as he looks after the retreating figure going through the forest. and what he is saying to himself is this, "bless the lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." and i think when the books are balanced in heaven that jonathan will get quite a bit of credit for david's exquisite music. there are terrible clashes in his songs. "he that did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me." jonathan did not inspire that. but there is many a blessed passage that might never have been written but for the loyal and loving and constant friendship of prince jonathan. and last of all, this visit was beautiful in its self-forgetfulness. its beauty reached its climax here. just think of the circumstances. samuel, the prophet, has declared that david is to be king. but in everybody's mind, the throne by right belongs to jonathan. david is in perplexity. he is on the point of losing his faith. if he loses it he never will be king. this will give jonathan his chance. now, why, i wonder, didn't jonathan feel about this matter as many of us would? why did he not hold aloof and say, "if david fails and loses his chance it is no fault of mine. if he fails it will only mean that he will not take away the throne that by right belongs to me." no attitude would have been more human than this. i do not know how many nights jonathan spent in prayer to be delivered from the bondage of his selfishness. but i do know this, that he was delivered. and i want you to watch him as he goes down into this forest to see david to-day to strengthen his hand in god. i said we do not know his conversation with david. we do know a bit of it, and that is this, that he encouraged david to believe god, to believe this one particular promise at least, that god was going to see to it that david was king. and when you see jonathan going thus into the woods he is going for the deliberate purpose of taking the crown off his own brow and putting it upon the brow of another. he is abdicating the throne in behalf of this outcast friend of his who is hiding here in the forest. you will doubtless agree, therefore, that this old world has not been blessed with many visits so beautiful as this. watch this prince as he goes into the wood. his stride is like that of another: "into the woods my master went, clean forspent, forspent; into the woods my master came, forspent with love and shame. but the olive trees were not blind to him, and the little gray leaves were kind to him, and the thorn tree had a mind to him, when into the woods he came. "out of the woods my master went, and he was well content; out of the woods my master came, content with death and shame. when death and shame would woo him last, from under the trees they drew him last, 'twas on a tree they slew him--last when out of the woods he came." yes, jonathan went into the woods to uncrown himself! to empty himself for his friend! truly "the spirit and mind was in him that was also in christ jesus, who being in the form of god thought it not a thing to be clung to to be equal with god, but emptied himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." but the "practical" man stands aside and looks on and says, "jonathan, you have made a great mistake. you never wore a crown and you never wielded a scepter. you took your opportunity for earthly greatness and threw it away. it was a great mistake." and we take the words of judas and say, "why this waste?" but after all, was it a mistake? he lost his crown, but he won his friend. he helped banish the discord and increased the melody of the world. he threw aside his scepter of temporal power to lay hold on an eternal scepter. he threw aside the crown that he might have worn for a day to lay hold on a crown that will last forever more. if ever i get to heaven i expect to give particular attention to the visitors' gallery. i think there is going to be an especial place, a very choice place in heaven for the visitors. not, you will understand, for those who are visiting heaven, but those who were good at visiting here. for mark you, the lord has spoken of a special reward that he is going to give to those of whom he could say, "ye visited me." and about the handsomest, the loveliest face i expect to find among the immortal and blood-washed visitors is the face of this man jonathan. and now, will you hear this closing word? jonathan uncrowned himself for his friend. and he won his friend and he won an immortal crown. but there was another who gave up infinitely more than jonathan. and he came to you and me when we were in an infinitely worse plight than that in which david was. he came to us when we were dead in trespasses and in sin. and what he says to us this morning is this, "i have called you friends. ye are my friends." the prince who did that for us was not the son of saul, but the son of god. through his renunciation he was crowned. by his stooping he was forever elevated. "wherefore god has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name." but what i ask is this: have you responded to his friendship as david responded to that of jonathan? he has been a friend to you. have you, will you be a friend to him? that is what he is seeking. that is what he is longing for to-day as for nothing else in earth or heaven. you know why he came. you know why he is here now. why did jonathan visit david in the gloomy wood that day and uncrown himself for him? it was just this reason: it was because he loved him. again and again the story had said that jonathan loved david as his own soul. i thought it was a mere hyperbole at first. i thought it might be a kind of poetic way of putting it, but it was only sober truth. and david spoke sober truth in that noble and manly lamentation when he said, "thy love was wonderful to me, passing the love of women." and it is love that seeks you and me to-day. it is a love that longs to gain our friendship. it is a love that had been told to us, but at last was shown to us in the death of the cross. and we know it is true. david responded to the love that was shown him. he did not disappoint his friend. may the lord save you and me from disappointing our friend. "for he is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." vi the woman of the shattered romances--the woman of sychar _john : - _ look, will you, at this picture. there sits a man in the strength and buoyancy of young manhood. he is only thirty or thereabouts. about him is the atmosphere of vigor and vitality that belong to the spring-time of life. but to-day he is a bit tired. there is a droop in his shoulders. his feet and sandals are dusty. his garment is travel stained. he has been journeying all the morning on foot. and now at the noon hour he is resting. the place of his resting is an old well curb. the well is one that was digged by hands that have been dust long centuries. this traveller is very thirsty. but he has no means of drawing the water, so he sits upon the well curb and waits. his friends who are journeying with him have gone into the city to buy food. soon they will return and then they will eat and drink together. as he looks along the road that leads into the city he sees somebody coming. that somebody is not one of his disciples. it is a woman. as she comes closer he sees that she is clad in the cheap and soiled finery of her class. at once he knows her for what she is. he reads the dark story of her sinful life. he understands the whole fetid and filthy past through which she has journeyed as through the stenchful mud of a swamp. as she approaches the well she glares at the stranger seated upon the curb with bold and unsympathetic gaze. she knows his nationality at once. and all her racial resentment is alive and active. a bit to her surprise the stranger greets her with a request for a favor. "give me a drink," he says. christ was thirsty. he wanted a draught from jacob's well. but far more he wanted a draught from this woman's heart. she was a slattern, an outcast. she was lower, in the estimation of the average jew, than a street dog. yet this weary christ desired the gift of her burnt out and impoverished affections. so he says, "give me to drink." there is no scorn in the tone, and yet the woman is not in the least softened by it. she rather glories in the fact that she has him at a disadvantage. "oh, yes," she doubtless says to herself, "you jews with your high-handed pride, you jews with your bitter contempt for us samaritans--you never have any use for us except when you need us." "how is it," she says, "that you being a jew ask drink of me who am a woman of samaria? you don't mean that you would take a drink at the hand of an unclean thing like me, do you?" but this charming stranger does not answer her as she had expected. he makes no apology for his request. nor does he show the least bit of resentment or contempt. he does not answer scorn with scorn, but rather answers with a surprising tenderness: "if thou knewest the gift of god and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water." mark what the master says. it is one of those abidingly tragic "ifs"--"if thou knewest." "the trouble with you," he says, "is that you do not know the marvelous opportunity with which you now stand face to face. your trouble is that you are unaware of how near you are to the fountain of eternal life. you do not realize how near your soiled fingers are to clasping wealth that is wealth forever more." "if thou knewest"--if you only knew how he could still the fitful fever of your heart. if you only knew the message of courage and hope and salvation that he could speak through your lips, you would not be so listless and so careless and so indifferent as the preacher is trying to preach. if you knew the burdens that are ahead of you--if you knew the dark and lonely places where you will sorely need a friend, you would not lightly ignore the friendship and abiding companionship that is offered you in christ jesus, our lord. "if thou knewest." do you not hear the cadences of tenderness in the voice of our lord? do you not get a glimpse of some bit of the infinite compassion that looks out from those eternal eyes? "if you only knew the gift of god, if you only knew who i am, instead of my having to beg you, instead of my having to stand at the door and knock--you would be knocking. you would be asking of me." now, isn't that a rather amazing thing for christ to say about this fallen woman? there she stands in her shame. once, no doubt, she was beautiful. there is a charm about her still in spite of the fact that she is a woman of many a shattered romance. five times she has been married, but the marriage relationship has had little sacredness for her. her orange blossoms have been dipped in pitch and to-day she is living in open sin. who would ever have expected any marked change in this woman? who would ever have dreamed that underneath this cheap and tarnished dress there beat a hungry heart? who would ever have thought that this outcast heathen had moments when she looked wistfully toward the heights and longed for a better life? i suppose nobody would ever have thought of it but the kindly stranger who now sat upon the well curb talking to her. he knew that in spite of her wasted years, in spite of her tarnished past, in spite of the fact that the foul breath of passion had blown her about the streets as a filthy rag--there still was that within her that hungered and thirsted for goodness and for god. and, my friend, you may assume that that thirst belongs to every man. there is not one that is not stirred by it. it belongs to the best of mankind. it belongs to the elect company of white souled men and women that have climbed far up the hills toward god. it belongs to the great saints like david who cries, "my soul thirsteth for god, for the living god," who sobs out in his intensity of longing, "as the hart panteth after the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, o god." and thank god it does not belong to the saints alone. it belongs also to the sinners. it does not belong simply to those who have climbed toward the heights, but also to those who have dipped toward the lowest depths. about the only difference between the saint and the sinner in this respect is that the saint knows what he is thirsting for. he knows who it is that can satisfy the deepest longings of his soul, and the sinner does not know. but both of them are thirsting for the living god. jesus christ knew men and women. he knew the human heart, and knowing man at his deepest, he knew what we sometimes forget. he knew that in every man, however low, however degraded he may be--that in every woman, however soiled and stained she may be, there is an insatiable longing for god. they do not always realize that for which they are thirsting. but i am absolutely sure that augustine was right when he said that "god has made us for himself and we never find rest till we rest in him." every human soul that is in the far country is in want, is hungry for the bread of life and thirsty for the water of life. do you remember what the greeks said to andrew that day at jerusalem? "'sir, we would see jesus.' we would have a vision of the face of god's son." and this is a universal longing. it is a thirst that has burned in the heart of man from the beginning of human history. it is older than the pyramids. it is a cry that is the very mother of religion. as we sit by our lord and see this unclean woman coming with her earthenware pot upon her shoulder we would fain warn him. we would whisper in his ear, "look, master, yonder comes a degraded woman, yonder comes that creature that in all the centuries has been the most loathed and the most despised and who has been regarded as the most hopeless. yonder comes an outcast." but jesus said, "you see and know only in part. your knowledge is surface knowledge. you do not know her in the deepest depths of her soiled soul. yonder comes one, who in spite of her sin longs to be good and pure and holy. yonder comes an immortal soul with immortal hungers and thirsts. yonder comes a possible child of mine that longs ignorantly but passionately for the under-girding of the everlasting arms." and believe me, my friends, when i tell you that this longing is universal. you have feared to speak to that acquaintance of yours who seems so flippant, who seems so utterly indifferent to everything that partakes of the nature of religion. but that is not the deepest fact about him. whoever he is and wherever he is, there are times when he is restless and heartsick and homesick. there are times when he is literally parched with thirst for those fountains that make glad the city of god. dare to speak to him as if he wanted jesus christ. for he does want him, though he may not know it and may be little conscious of it. "if thou knewest the gift of god . . . thou wouldest have asked of him." that was absolutely and literally true, though i seriously doubt if the woman herself would have believed it of herself. if you knew the gift of god, if you knew what god could do for you, how much he could mean to your wasted and burnt out affections--you would ask him. you would seek for him. you would change this well curb into an altar of prayer. you would change this noon-tide glare into an inner temple, into a holy of holies where the soul and god would meet and understand each other. this reply of the stranger awakens the interest of the woman while at the same time it mystifies and bewilders her. he is evidently sincere, and yet what can he mean? and in puzzled wonderment she asks him, "whence then hast thou living water? you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. are you greater than our father jacob who gave us the well and drank thereof himself and his sons and his cattle? jacob was a great prince, a man of power with god and man. do you know a secret that he did not know? can you do what he could not do?" and this winsome stranger does not hesitate to say that he can. will you listen to the claim that he makes to this woman. no other teacher however great and however egotistical ever made such a claim before or since. "yes," he replies, "i am greater than your father jacob. i am greater because i can give a gift that is infinitely beyond his. 'every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst. but the water that i shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.'" did you notice here the two-fold declaration of the master? he said in the first place that this old well would not satisfy permanently. and what is true of that well is true of all wells that have ever been digged by human hands. what is wrong with them? for one thing, they never satisfy. they never slake our thirst. to drink from them is like drinking sea water--we become only the more parched and thirsty as we drink. do you remember "the ancient mariner"? he is on a ship in the ocean and he is parched and dying with thirst. what is the matter? has the sea gone dry? no-- "water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink; water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink." there is water, but it is not water that will satisfy. and so men have digged their wells. they have been real wells. they had held real water of a kind, but it has been water that was utterly powerless to slake the thirst of the soul. here is a man who has digged a well of wealth. treasure is bubbling up about him like the waters of a fountain. he is rich beyond his hopes, but is he satisfied? listen! "soul, thou hast much good laid up for many days, eat, drink and be merry." but his soul has no appetite for that kind of bread. his soul has no thirst for that brackish and bitter water. it is hungry and thirsty for the living god, and nothing else can satisfy. here is another who has made the same tragic blunder. "i'm an alien--i'm an alien to the faith my mother taught me; i'm an alien to the god that heard my mother when she cried; i'm a stranger to the comfort that my 'now i lay me' brought me, to the everlasting arms that held my father when he died. i have spent a life-time seeking things i spurned when i had found them; i have fought and been rewarded in full many a winning cause; but i'd yield them all--fame, fortune and the pleasures that surround them; for a little of the faith that made my mother what she was. "when the great world came and called me i deserted all to follow, never knowing, in my dazedness, i had slipped my hand from his-- never noting, in my blindness, that the bauble fame was hollow, that the gold of wealth was tinsel, as i since have learned it is-- i have spent a life-time seeking things i've spurned when i have found them; i have fought and been rewarded in full many a petty cause, but i'd take them all--fame, fortune and the pleasures that surround them, and exchange them for the faith that made my mother what she was." here is one who has dug a well of fame, but he cannot count up twelve happy days. and though he has drunk draughts that might have quenched the thirst of millions, he is dying of thirst because there is no more to drink. "oh, could i feel as once i felt, and be what i have been, and weep as i could once have wept o'er many a vanished scene. "as springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be; so midst the withered waste of life those tears would flow to me." "oh, what is fame to a woman," said another. "like the apples of the dead sea, fair to the sight and ashes to the touch." here is another and he has digged wells of wealth and fame and power and pleasure. he seems afloat upon a very sea in which all the streams of human power and glory and wisdom mingle. he tastes them all only to dash the cup from his lips in loathing and disgust as he cries, "vanity of vanities! all is vanity and vexation of spirit." and so jesus says to this woman, "this well can never permanently satisfy you. no well of this world can. but if you are only willing, i can give you a well that will satisfy. i can impart that which will meet every single need and every single longing of your soul." what a claim is this! how marvelous, how amazing! and yet this tired young man, sitting here by the well, makes this high claim, and through the centuries he has made it good. "i can give you," says he, "a well that will satisfy you now. i can touch the hot fever of your life into restfulness now. i can satisfy the intensest hunger of your starved soul even now. and not only can i do this for the present, but i can satisfy for all eternity. i can give you a fountain that will never run dry. i can bless your life with a springtime where the trees will never shed their leaves and the petals of the rose will never shatter upon the grass." "if you will allow me, i will give you that which will enrich and satisfy your life to-day and to-morrow and through all the eternal to-morrow." in all world feasts there comes a time when we have to say, "there is no wine." there comes a time when the zest is gone, when the wreaths are withered. there comes a time when joy lies coffined and we have left to us only the dust and ashes of burnt out hopes. but christ satisfies now and ever more. and this he does in spite of all circumstances and in the presence of all difficulties. for his is not an external fountain to which we have to journey again and again and from which we may be cut off by the forces of the enemy. his is a fountain within. it is that which makes us independent of our foes and even, when need be, of our friends. dr. jowett tells how he visited an old, ruined castle in england and found far in the inner precincts of that castle a gurgling and living spring. what a treasure it was to the man who lived in that castle! his enemies might besiege him and shut him in, but they could never cut off his water supply. no foes however great were able to overcome him by starvation for water because he had a fountain within. there was within the castle a well of water springing up, and he was independent of all outside sources. now, when jesus had told this woman of the wonderful gift that he had the power of imparting it is not at all strange that she answered, "sir, give me this water that i thirst not, neither come all the way here to draw." and that is just what jesus desires above all else to do for her. but there is one something in the way. before christ can impart his saving and satisfying gift the woman must be brought face to face with her need. she must be made to face her own sin eye to eye and to hate it and confess it. she must be willing to turn from it to him who is able to cleanse from all sin by the washing of his blood. and how tactfully does christ bring her face to face with her past! nothing could be more tenderly delicate than his touch here. "go call thy husband," he says. "i have no husband," is the ready response. and then he compliments her. if you are to be successful as a soul winner, if you are to be successful as a worker anywhere--it is fine to have an eye for that which is praiseworthy. there is something commendable about everybody if we only seek for it and find it. a disreputable dog came to our house the other day. my wife looked at him and said, "what a horrible looking dog!" but our small boy looked at him with a different eye and found something good about him and remarked that he could wag his tail well. there was not much in this woman to compliment. but jesus picked out one thing that was commendable. he complimented her on the fact that she had told him the truth. he said, "you have been honest in this. you have no husband. you have had five husbands, but the man that thou now hast is not thy husband. in that saidst thou truly." and now the woman stands looking her soiled and stained past eye to eye. she does not like it. she would like to get away from it. she wants to start a theological discussion. she is ready to launch out into an argument over the proper place to worship god. but christ holds her face to face with her sin till she loathes it, and utters that deepest cry of her inner nature, the longing for the coming of the messiah. and then it is that christ made the first disclosure of himself that he ever made in this world. he seems to lift the veil from the face of the infinite as he says, "i that speak unto thee am he." and this woman has found the living water. she forgot her old thirst. she forgot the errand that brought her to the well. she left the empty water pot by the curbstone and bounded away like a happy child into the city. she is under the compelling power of a marvelous discovery. she has a story infinitely too good to keep. and in spite of the fact that her past had been a shameful and sordid past--she would not let it close her lips. she gave her testimony, and as a result we read these words, "many believed because of the saying of the woman." heart, this woman never had your chance and mine. she was placed in a bad setting. she wasted the best years of her life. she never found jesus till the sweetest and freshest years of her life had been squandered in sin. she only met him in the last lingering days of autumn or maybe in the winter time of life. though she met him so late, when she stood in his presence a little later in glory she had her hands full of sheaves. you have had a great chance. is there anybody that believes because of what you have said? has any life been transfigured and transformed by the story that you have told? will you not give a little more earnestness and a little more thought and a little more prayer and a little more effort to the doing of this work that jesus christ did not think was beneath himself as the king of heaven and the savior of the world? and if you have never found the fountain that satisfies, if you know nothing of the spring that flows within--will you not claim that blessed treasure now? will you not do so, first of all, because of your own needs? then will you not do so not only because of your own needs but because of the needs of those about you? you are thirsty men and women, and this is a thirsty world. you need god and god needs you. will you give him a chance at you? remember that this well of water is not to be yours on the basis of merit. it is not to be bought. it is not to be earned. it is not found in the pathway of the scholar or of the rich or of the great or of the gifted. it is god's gift. if you want wages serve the devil, for "the wages of sin is death." "but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ, our lord." in oriental cities, where water is often scarce, water carriers go through the streets selling water at so much per drink. and their cry is this: "the gift of god, who will buy? who will buy?" and sometimes a man will buy the whole supply, and then allow the water carrier to give it away. and as he goes back down the street, he no longer says, "the gift of god, who will buy?" but "the gift of god, who will take? the gift of god, who will take?" that is my message to you: "the gift of god, who will take?" it is yours for the taking. may god help you to take it now. vii a good man--barnabas _acts : _ this is the text: "he was a good man." doubtless you think me daring to the point of rashness to undertake to interest and edify a modern congregation by talking about a virtue so prosaic as goodness. "he was a good man." we do not thrill when we hear that. it is not a word that quickens our pulse beat. we do not sit up and lean forward. we rather relax and stifle a yawn and look at our watches and wonder how soon it will be over. we are interested in clever men, in men of genius. we are interested in bad men, in courageous men, in poor men and rich men, but good men--our interest lags here, nods, drowses, goes to sleep. the truth of the matter is that the word "good" is a bit like the poor fellow that went down from jerusalem to jericho. it has fallen among thieves that have stripped it of its raiment and have wounded it and departed, leaving it half dead. it is a word that has a hospital odor about it. it savors of plasters and poultices and invalid chairs. its right hand has no cunning. its tongue has no fire. its cheeks are corpse-like in their paleness. it seems to be in the last stages of consumption. if people say we are handsome or cultured we are delighted, but who is complimented by being called good? what has wrecked this word? what is the secret of its weakness and utter insipidity? answer: bad company. the book says, "the companion of fools shall be destroyed." and this word is an example of the truth of that statement. it has been forced to rub elbows with bad company till it has come into utter disrepute. its evil companions have been of two classes. first, it has been made to associate with the gentleman about town whose greatest merit was that he would smoke a cigar with you, if you would furnish the cigar, or take a drink with you, if you would furnish the liquor. he also graced a dress suit, even though it were a rented one with the rent unpaid. and he looked well in pumps. he was a graceful dancer and good at poker. he also was very skilled in never having a job. and his friends all said that "he was a good fellow." and, of course, being forced to keep company with said fellow was enough to ruin the reputation of the word forever more. but as if that were not enough calamity to befall any innocent and inoffensive word, it was forced into another association that was but little less disreputable. there was an individual--sometimes a man, sometimes a woman--who did not swear, nor lie, nor steal, nor dip snuff; whose conduct was as immaculate as that of a wax figure in a show window; who never made a mistake, nor did he ever make anything else. he was as aggressive as a crawfish and as magnetic as a mummy. he was "faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null." and one day we felt called upon to clothe this colorless insipidity, this incarnate nonentity, with some sort of an adjective, and so we threw around its scrawny shoulders this once glorious robe "good." we said, "yes, he isn't much account, it is true, but he is a good fellow." and the garment fit him as the coat of goliath would fit a pigmy. but little by little the once great cloak seemed to draw up and to come to fit the figure of the dwarf. thus the word "good" lost its reputation, fell, as many words and many folks do fall, through bad company. but let me remind you that, in spite of popular misconception, "good" is not after all a weak word. it is a strong, brawny, masculine word. it has the shoulders of a samson. it has the lifting power of a hercules. and the reason god employed it here to describe this man barnabas was not because he had to say something about him and could not find anything else decent to say. it was not a word to cover up the deformity of uselessness or the glaring defect of a moral minus sign. he used the word because there was none other that would fitly describe the fine and heroic man of whom he was speaking. it means here all that "christian" means. "he was a good man." that was what god said about him. that was how he looked when seen through "the microscope of calvary." he had matriculated in god's school, and after faithful and patient study, his master gave him a degree. and what was that degree? barnabas, the genius? no. barnabas, the gifted? no. it was a higher degree than either of these. it was the highest degree that heaven itself can confer. he gave him the degree of "good." barnabas, the good. "for he was a good man." now, why did god call him good? or, in other words, what are the characteristics that go to make up a good man? when is a man good in the sight of "him who sees things clearly and sees them whole?" in what branches must a man show himself proficient in order to receive this degree? i ask these questions with the hope that some of us who are here to-day may want to matriculate in god's school to receive the high degree that was conferred upon barnabas. the first branch in which barnabas showed himself proficient in his preparation for this degree was the branch of christian stewardship. and i make bold to say that no man will ever receive the degree that barnabas received who is not proficient in the grace of stewardship. here is the story. barnabas is in jerusalem at the time of pentecost. the church is in the early spring-time of its power. many jews, both home-born and foreign-born, have been brought into the fold. they have thereby broken with their kindred, and many of them are without any means of support. then barnabas comes forward. he is a wealthy land owner. he sells his land and puts every dollar of it upon the altar of his lord, for the saving of the church in its hour of crisis. what does this mean? it means that when barnabas became a christian, that when he gave himself to christ, he gave his money also. now, stewardship for you may not mean that you, as barnabas, sell what you have and give it all away. god does not call upon all men to do that, but what he does do is to call upon every man to put both himself and his money at his disposal. he calls upon every man to recognize god, and not himself, as the owner. that is the first step in christian stewardship: that god owns all; he owns me; he owns my home; he owns my children; he owns my property. i have called your attention before to the fact that the modern idea of ownership is pagan. the christian idea is this: that god is the absolute owner of all things. i am sure that we are as ready as was barnabas to acknowledge this fact. we nod our heads and agree, but a truth like this demands something more than simply a nod of the head. if god owns everything, then i am to acknowledge that ownership. how was god's ownership acknowledged throughout all the old testament days? by the devoting of a tenth to his service. that was required of the rich and of the poor. no man was exempt. christ never at any time set that law aside. i do not see how any man dare do less than that to-day. the jews, without one thousandth part of our light, were cursed because of their failure to do this very thing. since when has it come to pass that the greater the light the less the responsibility? there is nothing more needed to-day than a christian attitude toward money. there has been a reaction from the altruism that prevailed during the war, and the world is more money mad than ever before. and men are making money as scarcely ever before, and the man who is making money is the man who stands in the position of a peculiar danger. for the men who can rapidly accumulate money and at the same time be loyal to jesus christ are few indeed. while i was in dallas the other day i talked to a friend who was a man of wealth. he said without enthusiasm, "i have made more money this year than i ever made before." and then i questioned him regarding his work in the church. at one time he had been the teacher of a very large class of boys. he told me that he had given up his sunday school work, that he had given up all his religious work. then i said, "if you had a thermometer for registering happiness, i suppose your thermometer would register lower to-day than at any other time since you came into the church." and with sadness he acknowledged that such was the case. yes, barnabas was sound in the doctrine of stewardship. and i am fully persuaded that the man who is genuinely christian in his attitude toward money will be christian in every other relationship of life. and i am likewise fully persuaded that the man who fails here, who falls short of the standard of goodness here, will fall short everywhere. a man may be a liberal man and fail to be a good man, but no man can be a good man and at the same time be a gripping, grasping, covetous man. it is an utter impossibility. barnabas got a degree in goodness, and the first course he mastered was a course in christian stewardship. second, barnabas was proficient in that difficult branch that we call faith. he had acquired faith till he was full of it. faith in god? yes, he had faith in god. that lies back of all that he did and all that he became. but the faith that shows itself most in his life, as we see it, is his faith in men. how he did believe in folks! confidence in men is an essential to true goodness. i do not believe that any cynic was ever a really good man. i know we sometimes pride ourselves on being hard to fool. we congratulate ourselves at times on being able to see more through a key-hole than other folks can see through a wide-open door. we boast of our ability to read character and to see behind the scenes and to detect sham where other folks dreamed there was sincerity. and i am not arguing for blindness or stupidity, but what i do say is this: that the really good men are the men who believe in their fellows. you have met the man who says that every fellow has his price. but whenever you hear a man say that you may know that there is at least one man who does have his price, and that is the man who is making the statement. you can compromise till you come to persuade yourself that compromise is the law of life. you can play with honesty till you come to believe in the dishonesty of the whole world. and the man without confidence in his brother is a man who personally knows that he himself would not do to trust. barnabas believed in men. one of the greatest enemies that the church ever had returned one day from a tour of persecution in damascus. he declared that he had been converted on the way, but nobody in jerusalem believed him. yes, there was one glorious exception. that exception was barnabas. he believed in paul, staked his reputation, his life, his church, which was dearer to him than his life,--he staked all these upon his faith in paul's sincerity. but for that, paul might have been lost to the church. and here is another instance: paul and barnabas are on their first missionary tour. with them is a young man named mark. he has been tenderly nurtured. he finds the missionary life harder than he expected. he proves a coward and goes home. years after, when the faces of paul and barnabas are again set to the battle front, mark once more offers his service. but paul will not accept him. he knows that the mission field is no place for parlor soldiers. and so he flatly refuses to allow him to become a part of the army of invasion. but barnabas,--somehow he cannot bring himself to give him up. he believes that even if a man failed once he may succeed at a second trial. he believes that a coward may become a hero, that a deserter may yet become a trusted and faithful soldier. and so he stands by john mark even at the great price of parting company with paul. and his confidence was gloriously justified, as our confidence so often is. who wrote the second gospel--one of the choicest pieces of literature in the world? it was written by john mark, the deserter. then years later, when bitter days of persecution have come, paul is in prison. he especially needs men about him now on whose loyal courage and devotion he can count absolutely. for whom does he now ask? listen! "take mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry." mark has come back. he has been saved to christ and to the church. and the one to whom we are mainly indebted for his salvation is none other than the good man barnabas. and barnabas won because of his sturdy, persistent faith. now to some this virtue may seem a bit of a weakness, but if weakness, how like it is to the weakness of christ himself! for certainly one of the most marvelous characteristics of jesus is his faith in men. how jesus could expect that the poor slattern who was dragged into his presence taken in adultery could be utterly different from that hour, i do not know. i certainly would not have expected it of her, but he did. and i hear him saying to her, "go and sin no more." how jesus could expect that twelve faulty, unlearned, self-seeking men, such as his disciples were, would ever be the means of remaking the world, i cannot for a moment see. they failed him in his hour of supremest need. they slept in the garden and ran like frightened sheep when he was arrested. and yet, knowing their cowardice and their weakness, he tumbles the responsibility of world conquest upon their frail shoulders with the declaration that "the gates of hell should not prevail against them." certainly the wildest faith that was ever exercised is the faith that god exercises in men. and the faith of this man barnabas was a quality born of a goodness that was close akin to the goodness of god. that is the way, i think, that this man got his name. you know they did not always call him barnabas. the folks over in cypress knew him as joses. they named him barnabas because that was the word that best described him. it was a verbal picture of the man. what does it mean? a son of consolation. isn't that fine? james and john were called the sons of thunder. that speaks of power, might, dash, the lightning's flash, the thunder's crash. there is storm wrapped up in their personalities. but barnabas is the peaceful sunset after the storm. he is the light at eventide. he is a son of consolation. now, if there is anything finer than that i do not know just what that something might be. to be incarnated encouragement, embodied comfort, flesh and blood consolation,--it would be hard to find a better vocation than that. this man had the tongue of the learned that he might be able to speak a word in season to him that was weary. he delivered men from the bondage of their self-despisings, from the burden of their self-contempt. he brought hope where there had been despair and turned the westward gaze toward the east. he pointed out the streaks of dawn that were lighting the sky. he made men hear the bird's song within the voiceless egg and to catch the perfume of flowers under the snow. he was a son of consolation. "be pitiful," says dr. watson, "for every man is having a hard time." there are some folks who depress us. there are some wet blanket personalities who stifle us. and there are others like barnabas who refresh us, and when they come and knock at our doors we pass out of the stuffy atmosphere of a mental prison into a flower garden where the air is fresh and sweet with perfume and musical with the morning song of birds. third, this man was thoroughly missionary. he had taken a course in god's doctrine of evangelism. he believed that the gospel was for all mankind. some christians of that day were trying to keep it a jewish sect. when they heard that folks were actually being converted down in antioch there seems to have been not the least bit of joy in the fact. but under the leadership of the spirit they sent barnabas to investigate. he came and saw the same light in their faces down in antioch that was in the faces of those who were spirit-baptized up in jerusalem. and the story says that when he saw the work of the lord he was glad. and not only was he glad, but he threw himself at once into the work of evangelizing that foreign city. then he did another big thing. seeing the great opportunity that was there, he went and sought paul out over at tarsus and brought him over as his helper. and it was there as they labored together and ministered to the lord and fasted that the holy ghost said, "separate me barnabas and saul, for the work whereunto i have called them." and they went forth as the world's first foreign missionaries. an army has gone forth since that day,--the choicest spirits that this world has ever seen. and those who have gone have consecrated the soil of every continent by their prayers, their tears and their sacrifices. their ashes rest to-day upon every shore and the songs of the redeemed are sung to-day under every sky because they have labored. who was the vanguard of that great army whose going forth was as the going forth of the morning? the vanguard was made up of two men. one of them was paul, the other barnabas, a man not marvelously clever, not greatly gifted. his supreme merit was just this, that in a real and genuine sense he was a good man, full of faith. and last of all, barnabas was a spiritual man. the inspired writer says that he was full of the holy ghost. and that implied, of course, that barnabas was a man fully given up to god, there can be no deep spirituality apart from that. our surrender is the condition of our being full of the spirit. "for we are his witnesses of these things, as is also the holy ghost, whom god hath given to them that obey him." so you can readily see why barnabas has a right to the fine compliment that is paid him here by the writer of the acts. barnabas was generous with his possessions. he had the christian attitude toward money. barnabas was generous in his judgments. he had a brother's attitude toward his fellows. he was thoroughly missionary. he made christ's program for world conquest his own. he was profoundly and genuinely spiritual. and because of these fine qualities one who knew him well said of him, "he was a good man." now, there are compliments more flashy than being called good. there are encomiums that are much fuller of glitter, but in spite of that, i am convinced that nothing greater or better could possibly be said about any one of us living to-day or any one that ever has lived than just this that is written about barnabas: "he was a good man." i had rather my boy would be able to say that about me when he stands by my grave, sunken and grass-grown, than to say anything else in all the world. brother, let us covet goodness. let us seek that rare treasure. for there is nothing better or finer or more beautiful or more useful. "goodness." it is the fairest flower that can ever bloom in your soul garden. it is the sweetest music that even god's skilled fingers will ever be able to win from your thousand stringed heart harp. it is the virtue in those we love that grips us tightest and holds us longest. and wonderful to say, it is within reach of every one of us. there are certain fine things that you and i can never possess. we know that. genius, greatness,--they are high and forbidding mountain peaks. their sides are rugged and precipitous. they have pulled iron hoods of snow and ice upon their brows. but goodness,--that is a peak that may be scaled by the tender feet of little children and by the tottering feet of old age. it may be scaled by the reluctant feet of those in life's prosaic middle passage. let us address ourselves then to this high task. let us matriculate this morning in god's school for this degree, the degree of "goodness." and one day it may be written of us as it was written of barnabas, "he was a good man." viii the inquest--pharaoh _exodus : and : _ in exodus : we read these words: "and israel saw the egyptians dead upon the seashore." it is rather a ghastly and grewsome sight. there they lie, the soldiers of the once proud army of egypt. they are in all sorts of positions, these dead men. some have their heads pillowed peacefully upon their arms as if in sleep. others have their hard faces half buried in the sand. others still lie prone upon their backs with bits of seaweed in their hair and their sightless eyes staring in terror at nothing. they are very much alike, these corpses. but here is one that is different. look at the rich costume in which it is dressed. look at its bejewelled fingers. there is no crown upon its brow. there is no sceptre in that nerveless hand. yet it is easy to guess that this corpse, this "pocket that death has turned inside out and emptied" was once a king. yes, this is the body of pharaoh, the one time ruler of egypt. but here he lies to-day among the meanest of his soldiers. he is sprawled in unkingly fashion upon his face as if the sea had spit him out in sheer nausea and disgust. and now comes the big question that we want to consider. how came this famous egyptian here? he was once a king, you remember. he was ruler over the proudest nation in the world. and here we find him dead. he died away from home. he died a violent death. let us hold an inquest over him for a moment and see how he came to die. he did not leave egypt and march into the red sea for that purpose. he never intended that life should end thus. nor is he here because his enemy israel has proven stronger than himself. what is the cause? and the question is answered by the voice of god. we read it in exodus : , "for this cause have i raised thee up that i might show forth my power in thee." will you notice what this strange text says. without the least equivocation it says that god raised this man pharaoh up that he might show forth his power in him. and that purpose he accomplished. this ghastly piece of royal rottenness has not been thrown upon this shore by the hand of man. as we look at him we see in him a monument of the power of god. and strange to say, he is not a monument of god's power to save and to keep and to utilize, but of god's power to thwart and to disappoint and to wreck and to utterly destroy. and in his destruction god tells us that he has achieved his purpose. you will agree with me that this is an amazing statement. the teaching seems to be that god has raised this man up that he might glorify himself by making a complete and utter wreck of him. i wonder if that can be true. we agree, i suppose, all of us who believe the bible, that god has a plan for every life. all nature tells of a planning god. all revelation teaches it also. we have the message direct from the lips of the lord, "as my father hath sent me, even so send i you." but in admitting that god plans every life, can we believe that he plans for some to go wrong and for others to go right? can we believe that he plans for one to become a judas and the other a st. john? is it the purpose of god that one shall develop into a moses and the other right at his side shall grow up into a miserable and distorted wreck that we call pharaoh? in other words, is judas as much a part of the plan of god as john? if so we are of all men most miserable because we have a wicked god. but we know that such is not the case. god never planned that any man should go wrong. he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. he is the eternal lover. he loved moses, but he loved pharaoh no less. and judas was as dear to god's heart as john. and whatever failure they made of their lives, and whatever failure you and i make of our lives, we do not make because god forces us to do so. in whatever way we go wrong, we do not do so because god planned that we should. we do it because of our own willfulness and wicked rebellion against god. in other words, though god plans your life and mine, he cannot in the very nature of things, force us to enter into his plan. you who are fathers and mothers realize that. many parents have made beautiful plans for their children only to have those plans despised. our children are not ourselves. they have independent wills. they have the capacity for entering into our purposes for them and thus bringing us joy unspeakable. they have also the capacity for despising those purposes and breaking our hearts. how, then, do we explain this strange text, "for this cause have i raised thee up that i might show forth my power in thee"? because it is a fact that this death in the red sea was not an accidental death. it is a fact that this corpse here upon the beach is not here by mere chance. this king was flung here by the power of a disappointed and grieved and rejected god. he lies here dead upon the shore according to the deliberate plan and purpose of god. but while this is true, we need to keep this big fact in mind: though pharaoh lies here according to the purpose of god, this was not god's first and highest purpose for him. but pharaoh resisted and rejected every noble and worthy purpose that god had in his life. by his own rebellion he made it impossible for god to realize any purpose in him at all save the last and the worst. do you remember that story in jeremiah? one day the word of the lord came unto the prophet jeremiah saying, "arise and go down to the potter's house and there i will cause thee to hear my word." and jeremiah went down and heard the message. arrived within the potter's house, three objects at once drew his attention. there was a man working, the potter. there was the instrument with which he worked, the wheel. and there was the substance upon which he worked, the clay. in the potter's hand the clay was misshapen and unsightly. the cup was not yet finished in the potter's hand. but there was a place where it was finished, and that was in the mind of the potter. the potter could already see the finished product. he was trying to make the cup according to the ideal that he had in his mind. but we read that the cup was marred in the making. that is, there was something in the clay that resisted the potter. now, what did he do with the marred cup? we would have expected him to throw it away, but he did not. he made it again. what a gospel that is for failing and sinning men like ourselves. how glorious that, when we resist god's purpose and all but wreck ourselves, he will make us again. truly we would be a hopeless race but for the fact that we have a mighty god who is able to remake us even when we have rebelled against him and have thwarted his blessed plans for us. he made it again. yes, but notice this. he made it again "another vessel." he changed his plan for this latter vessel. he realized that he could not make it according to the fine ideal that was in his mind for the first vessel. that one refused to realize the best, therefore he made it into another vessel. he sought to make it realize the second best. there is a truth here of tremendous importance that we are prone to forget, and that truth is this, that having rejected and resisted god for days and months and years, god cannot make of us what he could have made if we had entered into his plans from the beginning. if you reject god's best for you, then he tries to get you to realize his second best. if you reject this, then he seeks to bring you to the next best. but remember this, god cannot, in the very nature of things, make as much out of a fraction of a life as he can out of the whole of a life. now, suppose, the clay upon which the potter was working had been marred again. again he would have undertaken to have made it into another vessel. but all the while that clay would have been becoming less and less plastic. all the while it would have been becoming more and more difficult for the potter to shape it according to his purpose. thus the time would inevitably come when it would no longer be capable of being shaped by his hand at all. then what would be the result? step outside the potter's house and you are in the potter's field. about you lie broken crockery and shattered earthenware. why is it there? not because the potter made vessels for the stupid purpose of breaking them to pieces. they are there because there was something in the clay that so resisted the hand of the potter that he was able to make nothing of them but these shattered and misshapen and broken wrecks. now this is the story of pharaoh, king of egypt. god had a noble purpose in this man's life to begin with. he gave him every opportunity. he brought to bear all that infinite love and mercy could bring to bear to get pharaoh to be a good man. the reason pharaoh ended as he did end was not because god did not love him and did not do his infinite best to save him. it was because pharaoh resisted and resisted, rebelled and rebelled till at last he threw himself a corpse upon this distant seashore. and the message we hear from his clammy lips this night is this, "look at me and see what a terrible thing it is to rebel against god. behold me and see the tragic failure of the man that persistently throws himself in wicked madness against the bosses of the buckler of the lord almighty." look now how hard god tried to make something of pharaoh. in the first place, he gave to him a great and faithful minister. pharaoh had the privilege of knowing moses. he had an opportunity of hearing about the greatest individual that the world has ever seen. he threw himself away, did pharaoh. he chose god's worst instead of god's best, but he did not do it because he did not know better. neither are you wasting your life because you do not know better. if you have not had a teacher great as moses, you have yet been faithfully warned, and in your sin you are without excuse. god gave pharaoh a chance to cooperate with him, to help him in saving israel and making her into a great nation. moses' first word to pharaoh was this, "the god of israel saith, let my people go." now, pharaoh's answer to this demand was haughty enough. he answers, "who is the god of israel? i do not know him." and he didn't, though he might have known him. but god did not throw him away after this one chance. on the contrary, he gave him ample opportunity to know him. with this end in view god brought his infinite energies into play. wonder after wonder he worked in the presence of pharaoh by the hand of moses. at first these wonders were imitated by the magicians. these fakes, by their cunning, made it easy, at least for a while, for pharaoh to resist god. they helped the king to close his royal eyes to the truth. they helped him to start with decision on his course of rebellion. but the magicians were soon outdone. moses began to perform wonders that they could not imitate. and they themselves were forced to believe in the presence and might and reality of god. and they who had helped their king to go wrong, turned to him with this acknowledgment on their lips, "it is the finger of god." but it is easier to lead a man astray than it is to lead him back. it is easier for you, by your godless and worldly life, to lead your children to despise christ and the church than it is to lead them back after they have gone astray. pharaoh listened to the magicians when they counseled him to do wrong, but he turned a deaf ear to them when they counseled him to do right. then followed that series of plagues upon egypt that were always preceded and always followed by this demand of god spoken through the lips of moses, "let my people go that they may serve me." you see what god was demanding of pharaoh. it is the same that he demands of you and me, obedience--that is all. he is commanding us to surrender ourselves to him, to enter into his purpose. and the one thing that god wanted was the one thing that pharaoh did not want. but he was becoming afraid and so he proposed to compromise. in his fright he tells moses that he will obey. he will let the people go. that is, he said, "i will let part of them go. i will let the men go. leave the children here." pharaoh knew that just so long as he kept the children in egypt, just so long would israel remain in bondage. and the devil knows to-day just so long as our homes remain unchristianized, just so long will the world remain unchristianized. we will never bring in the kingdom by simply seeking to save an adult generation. we must give god a chance at the children or the cause of righteousness is going to be defeated. but if we will save the child, we will surely save the world. then pharaoh offered a second compromise. he said, "i will let you and the children go, but you must leave your cattle and your sheep. you must leave all your flocks and your herds." that is, you may go into canaan if you must, but leave your business in egypt. and the devil to-day is perfectly willing that you and i be just as pious and prayerful as we want to be on sunday, provided we forget all about such things on monday. he is willing for you to be devoutly religious if you will only confine your religion to the church. but a religion that does not permeate and purify and uplift and sanctify business and business relations is not the religion of jesus christ. and then pharaoh offered a third compromise. he said, "i will let the people go, but they must not go far." why was that? for the very human reason that he wanted the privilege of getting them back. he said, for instance, "i will obey god, but i do not want to promise to make my obedience permanent." you have seen plenty of instances of that. here is a man who has decided to be a christian, but he won't join the church. he wants to see how he gets along first. such a man is already making provision for going back. "take up thy bed," said the master to the paralyzed man whom he had healed. he ever wants us to make a complete break with the past. but the plagues grow worse. pharaoh is becoming more and more frightened. while the scare is on he promises again and again that he will obey the lord unconditionally. there was a terrible storm, you remember. the hail stones fell like shrapnel and the lightning dropped from the clouds and fairly played along the earth, and terror gripped the king's heart. and he sends for moses. when moses comes he tells him, all atremble, "i have sinned this time. i will let the people go." but when the storm ceases and the sun shines out he is quite ashamed of his weakness. he is so ashamed that he forgets altogether the promise that he made when the fear of death was upon him. this is a side of human nature that is a bit disgusting, yet we dare not shut our eyes to it. there are scores listening to me at this very moment who have acted for all the world as pharaoh acted. and you have done so with all the light that he had and far more. i do not know of a man that is in greater danger of being ultimately lost than that man who never cares for religion except when he is scared. because the truth of the matter is that a man of that kind does not care for goodness or for god at all. not even in his moments of most abject terror does he want to be truly saved. he simply wants to escape the results of his sin. he does not want to pay the penalty for wrong doing. he wants to defeat the ends of justice. he is not interested in being good and pure and true. he is simply interested in keeping out of hell. how patient god was with pharaoh. we are amazed at it till we think how infinitely patient he has been with ourselves. by storm, by black night, by adversity after adversity, god is doing his best to fight pharaoh back from the bed sea. he is doing all he can to turn him away from committing suicide in body and suicide in soul. but pharaoh, as some of ourselves, seemed absolutely greedy for damnation. he seemed completely bent on working out his own utter destruction. after the king had broken one vow after another and lied and lied and lied again, god brought the last dark providence into his life. he made one final effort to save him from his ruin. pharaoh was called to kneel by the coffin of his first born. and his hard heart seemed softened at last. by the grave of the crown prince he made a solemn vow that he would obey god. and he set about putting the vow into execution at once. and the children of israel were not only allowed to go, but they were hurried out of egypt. at last, at last, we say, with what infinite expense the man is brought to obey. but would you believe it the grass had not yet grown green upon the grave of his boy till he forgot his vow and turned back to the old life again. oh, what a grip sin gets on us. oh, how blind we become if we persistently refuse to follow the light. so pharaoh brushed his tears out of his eyes, gathered his army and set out after the departing children of israel. i see the bustle and hurry of the setting out. i see the look of hate on the king's face as he comes within sight of his one time slaves. he laughs a mirthless laugh as he sees their predicament. they are shut in on either side. the sea is in front and he and his army in the rear. what a sweet revenge he is going to have. but look. something has happened. there is a path through the sea. these hunted slaves are marching in. but it doesn't matter. wherever israel can go, the egyptians can go. so he and his army march in behind. they keep the israelites in sight. now in the distance they see that the last israelite has reached dry land. and then there is a great shriek that is quickly choked. the waters have come together again. the sea waves roar about these struggling soldiers like liquid hate. the king is forgotten. his men are madly trying to save themselves. a jeweled hand flashes in the light for a moment. there is an oath, a cry for help, a gulp, and silence. and the hungry sea has its prey. pharaoh, why are you here? and if those dead lips could speak he would say, "i am here because i persistently refused to obey god. he offered me the best and i spurned it and spurned it again till at last he threw me here. he did it because i made it impossible for him to do anything else." and as i look at this wreck i think how different the story might have ended. this man might have had a part in the making of a great people. he might have been associated with moses in giving to the world a new nation. he might even now be in the fellowship of moses among the tall sons of the morning. for the difference between this man and the great man moses is not in the fact that god purposed evil for the one and good for the other. it is in this, that one was obedient unto the heavenly vision, that one could say, "the grace that was bestowed upon me was not in vain," and the other resisted and kept resisting till he ran by every blockade that god could put in his path and plunged headlong into destruction. ix a son of shame--jephthah _judges : _ "i have opened my mouth unto the lord and i cannot go back." i like these big words. there is a ring of sterling strength in them. they have a robust masculinity that grips my heart. they are not the words of a weakling. they have absolutely no savor of softness or moral flabbiness. they are not cheap. they are high priced words. they are words made costly by a plentiful baptism of tragedy. they are words literally soaked in blood and tears. this man jephthah has made a vow. and now the hour is upon him in which it is his duty to make the vow good. his vow involves far more than he ever expected. but that fact does not cause him to be untrue. he has given his promise. pay day has come. his promise involves measureless sacrifice. to keep it is to put out every star in his sky. it is to pluck up every flower in his garden. it is to change life's music into discord. it is to take from him the one he loves far better than he loves his own life. but even though the price is big, he will not refuse to pay it. even though his promise is hard, he will keep it. "i have opened my mouth unto the lord and i cannot go back." jephthah has had many hard things said about him. he has been wronged since before he was born. i do not think that justice has been done to his memory. frankly, i think he is one of the most heroic souls of old testament history. it is true that he would not fully measure up to all our modern ideals, but remember this, he lived in the morning of human history. he lived when the light was dim. and he was true to the light that he had. he was true with a rugged fidelity that will cause him to rise up in the day of judgment and condemn many of us. jephthah, i say, has been greatly wronged. he never had a fair chance. he was wronged in his very birth. he was the son of a father who was unfaithful to his marriage vows. jephthah was a child of shame. his father had chosen to sacrifice upon the wayside altar. his father had had his fling. he had sown his wild oats, and of necessity there was a harvest. his father suffered, but sad to say, he was not the only sufferer. how we need to be reminded again and again that no man ever sins alone. no man ever walks from the path of virtue without he walks upon bruised and bleeding feet. he himself suffers, but what is sadder still, he causes somebody else to suffer. i cannot go to hell alone. i cannot plunge out into the dark without involving another soul, at least in some measure, in my tragedy. this father sinned. it meant suffering for him. it also meant suffering for one who was altogether blameless. it meant suffering for his boy. not only did jephthah have as part of his life tragedy an unclean father, but he had an unclean mother as well. jephthah's mother was not one of those unfortunate souls, more sinned against than sinning, who had made one false step for the sake of the man she loved. she was a professional outcast. she was a woman who made it her business day by day to sell herself over the counters of iniquity. she was one of those whose feet in all ages take hold on hell. so jephthah had a bad chance. he was the fragment of a home that never was. he had no father that dared to own him. and the first eyes into which he looked were the eyes of an unclean woman. and the first lips that kissed him were lips soiled and stained by years of sinful living. poor little baby. poor little foundling. poor little outcast. how much he missed. what are the most precious memories in your life to-night? what are the scenes to which you look back with deepest love and tenderness? i know. they are the scenes of your childhood's home. "how dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, when fond recollection, presents them to view; the orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, and every loved spot that my infancy knew." but the secret of the fascination of those dear scenes is this, that we saw them by the glow of the light of love. we think tenderly of our early homes because they were presided over by a father and mother who knew god. and the one cord that has failed to snap between us and a good life is the cord that ties us still to the faith of our fathers and our mothers. but jephthah missed all this. his father was unfaithful. his mother was an unclean woman. there were no tender and holy associations that made it easy for him to be good. there were no memories to come in after years and whisper old half forgotten prayers. there were no fond recollections to lay their hands upon him with angelic tenderness and lead him away from his city of destruction. he was a child of sin, a child of blackness and of night, a child bereft of the inspiration of a good mother's life and the sweet uplift of a pious home. and not only was this man wronged in what he missed, he was equally wronged in what he suffered. early he was branded with a shame not his own. i know of few places where society has been so unjust and unkind as it has in its condemnation of those innocent ones who are the victims of another's sin. we forget that every child comes into the world with the father's kiss upon its clean soul regardless of the circumstances of its birth. we forget also that that child is no more to blame for those circumstances than it is to be blamed for the currents of the sea or for the darkness of the night. but jephthah was blamed. ugly names were flung at him before he was old enough to know their dark and sinister meaning. he was forbidden to go to the big house of his father before he knew why he was not allowed to go. he was excluded from the games of those more fortunately born than he, when he could no more understand why he was excluded than he could keep back the bitter tears of childish disappointment. i can see him as he watches his half brothers and sisters play in the distance, and his little heart is lonely and he is hungry for a playmate. and the gate is shut in his face, the gate of a shame not his own. by and by youthhood comes, and early manhood. the parental estate is to be divided. jephthah is disinherited. he is driven from among his people. he is forced to flee for his life. and he goes to take refuge in tob with its mountain fastnesses and with its rude heathens who are less unkind than those kinsmen of his who claim to be worshippers of jehovah. so we have here the material out of which this young man is called on to build a life. he has no parentage. he has no kindred. he has no friends. nobody believes in him. everybody expects him to go wrong. it seems even at times as if everybody wanted him to go wrong. they said, "oh, yes, i know him. i used to know his mother. she died in the gutter. you can't expect anything of him." and it is not at all difficult to go down when everybody expects you to go down. it is a great thing to have somebody to trust you. that is a tremendous help. as long as you feel that there is somebody who counts on you, who believes in you, you are not without an anchor. i read the other day of a little newsboy who was given a quarter that he might get change. and on his way back he was run over and crushed by an auto. and the last word he said was, "be sure and hunt him up and give him back the change. he trusted me." but here is a young fellow exiled, robbed, persecuted and mistrusted. and out of this charred and ugly material he is called upon to build a life. and what is the result? well, he refused to surrender. he said, "if nobody else will believe in me i will believe in myself. since nobody else will help me, i will help myself. if i am to be robbed of my inheritance i will make a way of my own." and so he set to work. he did not spend his time hunting up his neighbors to tell them of his misfortunes. he did not put in his time boasting of what he would do if he were as well off as his half brothers down in israel. he went to work to build his fortune in the here and now. and little by little he won. and then one day a runner came to him in the field and said, "jephthah, you have company at your house." and the man looked up in surprise and said, "company! who is it?" "a committee of elders from israel." and jephthah is astonished. he is filled with wonder. he is trying to guess why they came. and with the problem unsolved he goes to meet his guests. these elders greet him like a long lost son. they tell him how they rejoice in his prosperity. they informed him how they had always known that he would make good. they let him know that they would never have sent him out of israel if they had had their way about it. and then at last they gather courage to tell him their errand. and they say, "israel is being besieged by the ammonites and we want you to come and be the commander-in-chief of our armies." well, now that was a shock. here was a young fellow who began with nothing, and worse than nothing. but instead of whining, instead of quitting, instead of complaining that he had no chance, instead of putting in his time wishing that he was somewhere else, he did his duty where he was. and folks found it out and came to kneel at his feet and ask him for help. and i am not saying, young man, that every man gets his just deserts, but i do say that in the overwhelming majority of cases, if a man is really any account, sooner or later somebody will find it out. it may be true that "full many a gem of purest ray serene the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear. full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air." but i doubt if any gem of real human worth ever lies permanently concealed. i seriously question if any radiant flower of human character ever wastes its sweetness on the desert air. learn to do something that the world needs to have done and men will make a path to your door even if you live in a desert. they came and asked jephthah for help. it is a humiliating experience. now, i suppose those half brothers of jephthah's down in israel, those fellows who had scorned him in his childhood, those fellows who had robbed him of his share in the estate,--i suppose they did some loud talking about the general being a kinsman of theirs. oh, they are very much like we are. we seldom boast of our relationship to an outcast, but if we are one hundred and first cousin to somebody who is prominent we are mighty apt to go about telling it. jephthah heard their request and promised to help them. i think that was fine of him. it would have been so easy for him to have said, "oh, yes, you kicked me out when i was a little helpless waif. when i needed help you would not give it. when i needed help you laughed at my childish tears. now you need help, i will laugh at you." but there was nothing of revenge in him. wronged as he had been, he would not nurse his wrongs. he would not allow his bitter treatment to make him bitter. i wish we all were so wise. you were injured years ago by somebody. that somebody perchance was in the church. and so you have never had any use for the church since. you have never had any use much for anybody since. you have been snarling and snapping. do you remember miss harrisham in "great expectations"? she was to be married. all arrangements were made. the wedding cake was on the table. but at twenty minutes to nine a cruel note came telling her that the groom was not coming. therefore, the clocks were all stopped at twenty minutes to nine. the cake stood upon the table till it rotted. the blinds remained drawn and no sunlight was ever allowed in the house again. and life for her stopped at twenty minutes to nine. one disappointment wrecked her, embittered her, made her throw her life away. but jephthah refused to be embittered. he consented to go. but before he undertook the campaign he stood beside the altar of god. this man had lived for years among heathens, but they had not heathenized him. he still stood true by the altar. circumstances were against him, but religion is not simply for the easy situations in which we find ourselves. your test, as one has said, is not how good you can be if you have a devoted saint on either side of you down at the office. your test is what your religion can do for you in the midst of a godless crowd. daniel's god was tested not in the pleasant situations of his early home life. the test was among his foes. it is amidst the horrors of a lion's den that the king's question echoes, "oh, daniel, servant of the living god, is thy god whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee?" jephthah went to battle from the altar of prayer. as he went he made a vow. it is the vow for which he has been most severely criticized. it is a vow that has caused his name among some to be branded with shame. he vowed that if god would give him the victory he would offer to him whatever first came out of the door of his house to meet him on his return. it was a rash vow, i am ready to admit. yet rash as it was, i do not find it in my heart to be severely critical of him. i rather join with dr. peck in my admiration. you know what is the matter with a great many of us smug church members? we are so prudent. we have such admirable possession of all our faculties. we are in danger of dying of self-control. this man in the white heat of his enthusiasm made a solemn pledge to the lord of that which was destined to be infinitely the most precious thing in his life. but some of us in our prudence will not even make a pledge of a few dollars. we say we do not know how well we will be fixed next week or next month or next year. you have heard of the man who subscribed $ and refused to pay it, saying that he was too religious that day to look after his own interests. some of us never get that religious. but all the encomiums throughout the word of god are uttered upon those who are utterly rash in their giving. the widow foolishly gave away all that she had. and mary squandered a whole box of ointment when a few drops would have been amply sufficient. but it was their mad recklessness that made them immortal. jephthah made his vow and went to battle. he went confidently. he went believing that inasmuch as he had put himself and what he had at god's disposal, that god would put himself at his disposal. and god did not disappoint him. he won the fight. and now the victorious army is marching home. the soldiers are rejoicing. but there is a strange tenseness and anxiety in the general's face that the soldiers do not understand. nobody understands but god and jephthah. at last they round the bend in the road and the general comes in sight of his own home. and then suddenly his bronze face goes deadly pale. he reels upon his horse. for out from the door of his home has come a lovely girl with dark hair and sunny face, and she is singing a song of welcome. father and daughter come face to face. the girl is perplexed, and the general strains her hard to his heart. he is father and mother to her at once, and she is all he has. and the cup is bitter almost beyond the drinking. and he says, "alas, my daughter, you have brought me very low." and he tells her his story. and the girl with sweet resignation understands, and the great sacrifice is made. jephthah was a hard man, you say. do not judge him in the light of the twentieth century. judge him in the light of the day in which he lived. and remember this, that he had the manhood to keep his promise. remember that he had the sturdy courage to pay his vow. "i have opened my mouth unto the lord, and i cannot go back." oh, the world is saved by the "cannot" men, by the men who have big impossibilities in their souls. joseph says as he faces the temptation of his life, "i cannot do it." the apostles ordered to keep silent, say, "we cannot." and jephthah with breaking heart and tear-wet face, tempted to break his vow, says, "i cannot go back." oh, i know what we would probably have done. we would have said to ourselves, "nobody knows that i made that vow anyway, nobody but god. i made it in the secrecy of my own heart. i never breathed a word into any human ear. if i go back on it, it will not matter so much. it is simply a promise that i made to god." this man had not told his vow. it was a secret between himself and his lord. he was not driven to the performance of it by public opinion. he was not urged to it, as flabby herod, "for the sake of those that sat with him." he was urged to it by his own unstained conscience and his sterling manhood. or he might have said, "i made the vow, it's true, but i made it under pressure. a great danger was threatening and a man is not to be held responsible for a vow he makes in the presence of danger." did you ever get frightened when a storm was on and promise god things, and then go back on it? of course you have. we have been false to one another, some of us. how many of us have been false to god! how far is this old hero ahead of ourselves! think of the vows that you have made as members of the church. you have not even fulfilled the vow you made to your groceryman. some of you have not paid for the clothes that you have on, and never will. some of you have made pledges to the church and have forgotten them. and just because the church won't sue you, you are going to break the promise that you have made, not simply to men, but to god. and what have you done with your church vows? you have promised to renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world. have you kept your vow? you have promised to obediently keep god's holy will and commandments. have you been honest with god in this matter? you have promised to be subject to the rules of the church and to attend upon its services, and some of you have trampled on those rules flagrantly, openly, knowingly. and remember that when you took that vow it was not a pledge that you made to me. you opened your mouth that day unto the lord. and you that are here outside the church, may the lord help you to pay your vows unto the most high. for there is hardly a single one of you but that at some time has opened your mouth unto the lord. what about that promise you made to god when you were sick? i do not say you made it into any human ear, but you breathed it in prayer into his ear. what about the promise you made to god by the coffin of your baby? what about the promise of consecration you made by the bedside of your dying mother? may the lord help us to make this day a pay day. may the lord give us the courage to say, "i have opened my mouth unto the lord, and i cannot go back." x a case of blues--elijah _ kings : _ one day you were reading in the new testament and you came to that surprising word from james: "elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are." and if you were reading thoughtfully you stared at that sentence in wide-eyed amazement. and then in your heart you said, "it isn't true. elijah's story doesn't read a bit like mine." then you thought of how he came and put his finger in ahab's face and made that face go white. you thought of how he carried heaven's key in his pocket for three years and six months. you thought of his lifting the dead boy into life; of his victory on carmel; of his quiet walk to the little station beyond the jordan where the heavenly limited met him and took him home. and again you felt like saying that james was altogether mistaken. to fortify yourself more fully you reread his story. then you came to this passage and you read it with a gasp: "and he came and sat down under a juniper tree," etc. and down by the print of your foot you saw the big footprint of the old prophet and you said, "after all, we are very much alike. after all, he got in the dumps, fretted and broke his heart with the blues, even as i." now, what was the matter with elijah? he was not a natural and deliberate pessimist. there are some folks that are, you know. there are some people who study to be pessimistic. they are the "self-appointed inspectors of warts and carbuncles, the self-elected supervisors of sewers and street gutters." they pride themselves on being guides to the slough of despond and on holding a pass key to the cave of giant despair. one such woman, being asked how she felt, said, "i feel good to-day. but i always feel the worst when i feel the best because i know how bad i am going to feel when i get to feeling bad again." two buckets went to a well one day. one sobbed and said, "oh, me! it breaks my heart to think that however full we go away from the well, we always come back empty." and its companion laughed outright and said, "why, i was congratulating myself on the fact that however empty we come to the well, we always go away full." one morning when the world was brimming with spring, two little girls ran out into a garden where the dewdrops and the sunlight and god had wrought the miracle of a hundred full-blown roses. they looked at the lovely scene and one went back and said tearfully, "oh, mother, the roses are blooming, but there is a thorn for every rose." the other looked and went back singing and said, "mother, the roses are blooming and there is a rose for every thorn." no, this man was not a deliberate pessimist. had he been his name and memory would have rotted long ago, for the men that bless us are the hopeful men, the forward-looking men. i read of a man who was put in jail during the boer war simply because he was always prophesying disaster. he was a discourager. he refused to see anything hopeful. and a man of that kind ought to be in jail because he is as harmful as a man with the small-pox. "he who steals my purse steals trash, but he who filcheth from me" my sunny outlook, my expectation of the dawn of a to-morrow, "takes that which not enriches him, but makes me poor indeed." what was the matter with elijah? well, in the first place, he was tired. he was utterly spent. he had just passed through a very trying and exacting ordeal. we can well imagine that the days just preceding the test upon carmel were toilsome days and the nights were sleepless nights. then came the great day of contest and victory. there was, of course, no rest that day. and, in the exhilaration of victory, you know how he ran before the chariot of ahab from carmel to jezreel, a distance of seventeen miles. arrived there, he got a message from jezebel threatening his life. he had expected, of course, that the men who had shouted "the lord he is god" would stand by him. but they did not. he had expected that even jezebel would be afraid to lift her voice in defense of the old defeated heathenism of the past. but here again he was much mistaken. in fact, instead of tamely acknowledging defeat she sends him this word: "so let the gods do to me, and more also, if i make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time." jezebel's threat totally upset the prophet's sense of victory. he came to feel that he had not won after all. for the first time he gave way to fear. cowardice rushed upon him and drove him, without rest, down the road that led into the wilderness. the terminus of this road was, quite naturally, the juniper tree. so one source of his discouragement, one secret of his being in the blues, was that he was utterly tired. it is hard indeed for a man to be hopeful when his nerves are on edge. it is hard for him to keep out of the blues when he is completely exhausted. as a tired body yields at such times far more readily to physical disease, so does it yield more readily to the exquisite torture of discouragement and depression. a second reason for his collapse was a lost sense of the divine fellowship. up to this time elijah's every step had been ordered of the lord. he had a sense of the divine presence that was continuous. but jezebel's threat had made him believe that he must look out for himself. so he took his case into his own hands. and that is the road that must always lead to the juniper tree. such a collapse is next to impossible as long as we keep on intimate terms with god. yonder is man named paul on a ship that is going to pieces. the sea "curls its lips and lies in wait with lifted teeth as if to bite." the sailors' faces are ghastly with hunger and panic. but while despair grips every other heart and while death laughs with hollow laughter amidst the popping timbers of this wrecking ship, this man steadies himself and shouts, "be of good cheer." what is the secret of his cheer? "there stood by me this night the angel of god whose i am." he was saved by an intimate and personal sense of the divine presence. elijah had lost this sense of the divine. hence the deep, dark night of utter discouragement was upon him. thus utterly wearied and his old intimacy with the lord gone, the worst naturally followed. all his hopes seemed to fall about him. there came to him a heart-breaking sense of personal failure. he sobbed out the complaint: "i am no better than my fathers. they allowed israel to drift into idolatry. i have not been able to bring it back. i have accomplished nothing. i toiled long and hard, dreaming that at the end i would clasp the warm, radiant hand of success and victory, but in reality i only clasp the skeleton hand of failure." have you ever had a feeling that you were of no account and never would be; that in spite of all that god had done for you, you were a failure? there are few things more fraught with heartache and bitterness and discouragement than that. that is something that makes you want to sob and give over the fight utterly. and there are a lot of folks that allow themselves to come to that dismal conviction. they work, and nobody seems to appreciate it. they toil, and nobody compliments them. then they decide that they do not amount to anything, and they feel like giving over the fight. i read the other day a fascinating essay from frank boreham. in this essay the author spoke of a certain discouraged friend of his. he declared it his purpose to help this friend by sending him a present. and the strange present that he was going to send him was an onion. yes, he was going to wrap this onion in lovely tissue paper and put it in a beautiful candy box and tie it with pink ribbon and post it to his friend at once. now, why send him an onion? well, for the simple reason that though an onion is one of the most valuable of all vegetables, though it is the finest of relishes, though it has added piquancy to a thousand feasts, yet nobody praises the onion. of course you know the author is right here. you may have read some great poetry in your time, poems on daffodils, violets, roses, daisies. even you have known a great poet who could write about a louse and a field mouse, but where do you find a poem about an onion? what orator waxes eloquent in its praise? what bride ever carries a bouquet of onions as a bridal bouquet? this is true, of course, but why is it true? not because the onion is useless. the real reason is because it is so strong. it is harder to grow sentimental over great strong things,--though tears have been shed over onions, as our essayist has pointed out. there are some we praise, you know, because we think that they need it to keep them going. they are weak. there are others we do not praise because they are so strong, or because, being strong, we expect strong things of them. the football hero receives an ovation when he makes a touchdown, but no greater than the baby receives when it takes its first step. there was more noise in the former case, but only because there was a larger crowd of spectators. so it is not wise to conclude that because nobody is praising you, you are of no account in the world. not only did elijah for the moment lose faith in himself, but he lost faith in others as well. he thought there was not a good man in all israel. and if you want a short cut to wretchedness, get to a place where you do not believe in anybody. some people seem to cultivate this disposition as if it were an asset. it is not an asset. it is the worst possible liability. if you want to make a hell for yourself in the here and now, cultivate the habit of seeing a selfish motive back of every seemingly unselfish act. school yourself to believe that all men and all women have their price. say not in haste, but deliberately, that "all men are liars." that is the leading characteristic of the devil. "hast thou considered my servant, job," the lord asked, "that there is none like him?" "yes," replied the devil, "i have considered him. i know him through and through. i know him better than you do. he is deceiving you. he is putting it over on you. you think he loves you for yourself,--i know that he loves you simply, because you are feeding him bonbons. let me touch him and he will curse you to your face." that is the devil's habit. that is what makes him such a success as a devil. if you do not believe in people no wonder you are miserable. if you do not believe that a fluctuating simon can be changed into a rock; if you do not believe that a magdalene can, through the grace of god, become a herald of the resurrection; if you do not believe that this world of men is a salvable world; then it is not to be wondered at that you are blue. if you do not believe in the honesty and goodness and purity of at least a few, i do not see how you can be in any other place than a veritable perdition. there are bad men, vicious men, godless men, but they are not all so. do not believe that they are. "there are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave; there are souls that are good and true, then give the world the best you have and the best will come back to you. "give love, and love to your heart will flow and strength for your utmost need. give faith and a score of hearts will show their faith in your worldly deed. "give truth and truth will be paid in kind, and honor will honor meet; and a smile that is sweet is sure to find a smile that is just as sweet. "for life is the mirror of king and slave; it's just what we are and do. then give the world the best you have and the best will come back to you." but if you frown at the world the world is going to frown at you, and if you mistrust it, it will mistrust you. i used to stand as a boy on the river bank on my father's farm and shout at the great rugged cliff across the silver buffalo river. if i spoke kindly to the grim old cliff, its answer would be in the same kindly tone. if there was harshness and menace in my voice, it came back the same way. and life is a big echo. it speaks to us in the tone of our own voice. it gives us the faith or the unbelief that we ourselves give. and with faith in self gone and also faith in men, it is not to be wondered at that elijah requested for himself that he might die. but though he made this request, it is not the real sentiment of his heart. it is not the real elijah speaking. a man ought never to make an important decision when he is in the blues. he is not himself any more than is a man under the influence of drink. elijah is not himself here. how do we know? he really doesn't mean what he is saying. how do we know that? well, he is requesting for himself here that he, might die. now, if he was really in earnest about dying, jezebel would have attended to that for him without any prayer on his part, if he had just stayed round jezreel for a while. the truth of the matter is that the love of life is strong in him. the truth of the matter also is that he still believes somewhat in himself and in god and in men. he is just in the blues now and is not saying what he really believes when he is at his best. when you get in the dumps and fret and fume and wish you were dead, just stop right there and tell yourself that you are a liar. you do not wish anything of the kind. i heard of a man once who was always threatening to commit suicide. he had a good friend who was a pious man and who was grieved by such threats. but he heard them till he knew they meant nothing, so one day he stepped into this man's room at the hotel, laid an ugly looking revolver down on the dresser and said, "john, old man, you have been threatening to take your own life for some time. i do not want you to do it. it is murder and you will have no chance to repent. i love you as i love myself. for this reason i have decided to kill you. i will live long enough to repent. so get over there at the table and make your will." and the man's face went white and he wanted to wait till to-morrow. how did god cure this man who was in the blues? first, he used a very commonplace remedy. he put him to sleep. he let him rest. rest is a very religious thing for a tired man. now, a man who has overworked himself needs to rest from his work. a lot of blue people need rest from idleness. one big reason they are blue is because they have nothing else to do. god gave this man a rest. that was the first step. in the second place, he showed him his sin. he showed him where he was wrong and brought him to repentance and thus restored the old relationship of the past. he asked him this question: "what doest thou here, elijah?" the emphasis is on the "doest." elijah must have blushed at that question. and he said, "oh, i am whining. i am complaining. i am trying to keep books, to add up a few columns of figures and test by that as to whether i am a success or a failure." now, what the lord wanted elijah to learn is just what he wants you and me to learn, that our job in this world is not bookkeeping. it is not for us to try to sum up the amount of good we have done. it is not for us to test whether we have succeeded or whether we have failed. the truth of the matter is that we are not always competent to tell the difference between success and failure. there are some seeming successes that in reality are failures and there are some of the supreme failures that have turned out to be the most glorious successes. the greatest failure in the eyes of men that was ever made, was the failure on calvary, and yet it came to pass that the world's darkest night was in reality the mother of its brightest day; that its grimmest desert became its sweetest flower garden. do not break your heart and tear your hair keeping books. one of the sanest things i ever heard was spoken by an able preacher who came one day to preach in my town. there was almost nobody out to hear him. and he preached a wonderful sermon and closed with this most sensible word: "i don't know what i have accomplished by coming to this town. i only know that i have come with god in my heart and have done my best. i am not keeping books. god is doing that. some day on the other side of the river i am going to take down my book and look at it,--god will let me,--and i am going to see just what i accomplished when i came to your town." that is sensible and that is religious. and so the lord was saying to elijah: "it is not your business to keep books. you do not know how to keep them, in the first place. you added up a column of figures and got zero. i added it up and got , . yes, there are , that have not bowed the knee to baal. you have been a help. you have been an inspiration. you have not been a failure, because you have walked with me." god doesn't fail and the man who walks with him will not fail. he may not accomplish his ambition. he may not realize many of the great hopes of his life, but if he lives in the secret place of the most high his life will never be a failure. i read not long ago of a young woman who consecrated her life to god for mission work in india. she was ready for the great enterprise, but just before she was to set sail for that far country, her mother was taken sick with a lingering disease. she had to stay and nurse her for some three years. then the angel of release came and the mother went home. preparations were made a second time for her setting out to india. but from a little home in the distant west there came a call for help. a widowed sister of this would-be missionary was sick and there were three little children to be cared for. she went to her sister's bedside. in a short time the sister died and the three little orphans were left on her hands, and the one big hope of her life had to be given up. it seemed strange. it seemed hard. yet she remained true to the task that lay nearest. at last all three children were able to look after themselves. but by that time she herself was too old to go to her loved mission field. then one day one of those orphans for whom she had given up her life's dream put her arms around her neck and told her that she was going to be a missionary and that the field that she had chosen was india. and in later days the other two told the same story. so they all three went away to india to which she had so longed to go. and as they passed out to the land of her love and her prayers this heroic soul knew that she had not failed. and so god's call to elijah, to you and to me is to leave off our heart-breaking bookkeeping, to put our hands in his and to resume the journey. and as we go we shall in some way shake off our discouragement as a hampering garment and we shall find ourselves in the sunlight once more. and we shall come to know for ourselves that "thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." xi the supreme question--the philippian jailer _acts : , _ "what must i do to be saved?" that question was asked by a startled jailer. he was amidst strange and perplexing happenings. he had just seen wonderful sights. he was being shaken by unfamiliar terrors. for these terrors he sought relief and so he asked this infinitely wise question: "what must i do to be saved?" but this jailer is not the only man that has ever asked that question. he is not the first man that asked it. this is a universal question. men of all times and of all climes have asked and sought an answer to this question. the cultured greeks tried to answer it by building altars to many gods. then realizing that they had missed it, they sought further by building an altar to "the unknown god." it was in an effort to answer this question that children were once sacrificed to the fire god, moloch. and it is the struggle to answer the same question that causes the indian mother to-day to cast her baby into the ganges and to come home with empty arms and with an empty heart. i heard a missionary from the heart of africa say some years ago that he used to live among the savage tribes of the far interior. they were people of the lowest type. they wore no shred of clothing. but in their wild and barbarous religious dances they would swing round and round till they frothed at the mouth and fell down rigid. it was their way, said the missionary, of asking the supreme question: "what must i do to be saved?" this was a dramatic moment in this jailer's life. it was a moment big with blessing. look at the picture. two strange preachers have come to this roman city of philippi. their preaching has brought them into conflict with the authorities. they are drawn before the magistrates. their clothing is torn from them and they are severely beaten. it seems that this would have been shame enough and pain enough, but it was not. they were then turned over to a callous and cruel roman jailer with the order that he should keep them fast. so he threw them into the inner dungeon and made their feet fast in the stocks. the place was foul and cold and dark. their backs were lacerated and bleeding. and this wag their reward for seeking to bring to men the unsearchable riches of christ. now it was dark enough for these two. but they did not lose heart. first they prayed. i can imagine they prayed secretly and then they prayed aloud. and those people in prison heard the voice of prayer for possibly the first time in their lives. now, real prayer always makes things different. it brings us a consciousness of god. and so as these men prayed their hearts grew warm and joyous till by and by prayer gives place to praise and they begin to sing. i have wondered what these people sang that night. it might have been the twenty-third psalm. or they might have sung, "i will bless the lord at all times. his praise shall continually be in my mouth. my soul shall make her boast in the lord. the humble shall hear thereof and be glad." or the thirty-seventh psalm would have sounded well in the darkness of that hideous dungeon,--"fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb." but i think the most likely of all is the forty-sixth: "god is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." whatever they sang it was great singing. i think the angels opened the windows when they heard it. i think it made the very heart of our lord glad. what a surprise it was to those in that gloomy old prison. they had heard the walls ring with groans and shrieks. they had heard bitter oaths in the night, but songs with the lilt of an irrepressible joy in them--they had never heard anything like that before. now as the melody rang through the gloomy cells something else happened. the old building seemed to be shaking with the very power of the music. an earthquake was on and god took this petty prison in his hand and shook it as a dicer might shake his dice box, and all its doors were thrown open and the fetters were shaken from the feet of those that were bound. and the old jailer is shaken out of his complacency and out of his bed and a great terror grips him. i can see him as he picks himself up and looks about him in dismay. the doors are open. he is sure that the prisoners are gone. he knows that his life will be to pay. he will not face the shame of it. he will inflict justice upon himself. he draws his sword and prepares to thrust it through him, but paul's eyes were upon him, and knowing his purpose he shouts at him, "we are all here, jailer. do thyself no harm." there is love in that cry, tenderness in it, longing in it that the jailer could not understand. neither could he fail to realize the might of it. it touches him deeply. he is gripped by another terror, the terror that has come through the presence of these strange men who have brought the things of eternity to seem real to him. and urged on by that new terror he rushes to these men of bleeding backs and tattered garments and throws himself at their feet with this great question in his heart and upon his lips, "sirs, what must i to do be saved?" now, i am aware of the fact that this jailer was a heathen and i am not accusing him at all of being a great theologian. i do not know how learned he was. i do not know whether he could read or write or not. i do not know whether he was widely traveled or not. he may have never been beyond the precincts of his own city. but what i do know is this, that he asked the biggest question that ever fell from human lips. there can be no greater. it was the greatest for him. it is the greatest for you. it is the greatest for me. "what must i do to be saved?" there is no question quite so big as that. and i am wondering now if it is a big question to you. remember, it is not: what must i do to be decent? it is not: what must i do to be respectable? these things are all right, but they are not supreme. it is not: what must i do to get rich? millions of us are asking that question as if it were the one question of eternal importance. but you know that it is not. it is not: what must i do to be beautiful? some of us are asking that question too, and some of us, i am sorry to say, are missing the answer to it very much. but that is not the big question. the supreme question is: "what must i do to be saved?" what is implied in this question when it is asked intelligently? there is implied first of all that there is an absolute difference between being saved and lost. there is implied in it that there are two classes of people, not the cultured and the uncultured, not the learned and the unlearned. they are the saved and the lost. they are those that have life and those that do not have life. i am perfectly aware that we of to-day do not like such dogmatic divisions. but i call your attention to the fact that they are the divisions that are made in the new testament. they are the divisions that jesus made. he puts folks into two classes, and only two. there were two gates, one was broad and the other narrow. there were two foundations on which a man might build, one was of sand and the other of rock. mark you, he did not divide men into the perfect and the imperfect, but into those that had life and those that did not have it. and it was he that said, "he that hath the son hath life, and he that hath not the son hath not life." so this question, if it means anything, means that there is such a thing as being saved and there is such a thing as being lost. that fact is recognized throughout the entire bible. this question implies, in the second place, a consciousness of being lost. "what must i do to be saved?" when this man asked that question there were many things about which he was uncertain. he was uncertain as to how he was to get out of his darkness. he was uncertain as to how he was to be saved, but of one thing he was sure--he was dead sure that he was lost. he did not try to dodge that fact. he did not shut his eyes to it. he did not try in any way to deny it. and, if you are here without god i hope you will not deny it. for if you have not taken jesus christ as your personal savior you are lost. then the best thing you can do, the first step to be taken in the direction of getting saved, is to realize your lostness. a man will not send for the physician unless he believes himself sick. he will not try to learn unless he realizes his ignorance. neither will he turn to god for salvation unless he realizes that he is lost. oh, it is a good day for a man when he gets a square look at himself. it is a great day when he has a glimpse of himself as god sees him. it is a great hour when, conscious of his guilt, he bows himself in the presence of him who alone can save and says, "god, be merciful unto me a sinner." this question implies, in the third place, not only that the man is lost who asked it, but that there is a possibility of his being saved. "what must i do to be saved?"--and here was a man conscious of being lost, conscious of being sin scarred and stained and guilty, yet he believes, and he is right in believing, that salvation is possible for him. he believes that even he can be saved unto the uttermost. there is such a thing as salvation and it is possible for me, even me, to lay hold of it. and you too must realize that, otherwise it will do you no good to realize the fact that you are a sinner. it is not enough to know yourself lost. you must also believe that you may be saved. it is not enough to realize that you are weak: you must believe that is possible for you to be strong. you must believe that even a fluctuating simon can be made into a rock. you must believe in the power of god to remake men, otherwise for you the question is only a question of black despair. this question implies, in the fourth place, a willingness to be saved. "what must i do to be saved?" this man is not asking this question to gather material for a future argument. he is no speculator. he is no trifler. he is not even asking it because he is intellectually curious. he is not simply asking that he may know the conditions of salvation. he is asking with the earnest purpose in his heart to meet those conditions. this question implies, in the fifth place, that while salvation is a possibility for you, you must do something in order to obtain it. "what must i do to be saved?" what sort of an answer would you expect to a question like that? what did the apostle say? did he say, "do nothing. let the matter alone. forget it. drift?" that is what many of us are doing. no, sir, he said nothing of the kind. he told this man to do something. and this man knew, as you and i know, that if we are ever saved we have got to do something in order to get saved. i say every one of us knows that, and yet too few of us act as if it were really true. we seem to think that salvation is something that we are going to stumble upon by accident. we seem to think it is something that we are going to receive with absolutely no effort on our own part. we act as if we thought it might be slipped into our pockets while we sleep or dropped into our coffins when we die. ask the question intelligently, heart,--"what must i do to be saved?" then you will realize that you must do something. this question implies, in the first place, that the conditions of salvation are not optional, that it is not up to you and it is not up to me to decide just what we will do in order to be saved. you can accept salvation or you can refuse it. you can meet the conditions or you can refuse to meet them. but one thing you cannot do. you cannot decide upon the terms upon which you will surrender. if you are saved at all you must surrender unconditionally. so the question is, "what _must_ i do to be saved?" it is not, what is the expedient thing or what is the respectable thing or what is the popular thing to do in order to find salvation? the conditions are not of your choosing and they are not of mine. god has made them and you and i dare not change them. therefore, if you are ever saved there is not something simply that you ought to do, but there is something that you absolutely must do. last of all, this question implies that salvation is an individual matter. "what must _i_ do?" it is not a question of what must god do. he has made full provision for the salvation of the whole world. it is not what must the church do. it is not what must the preacher do. it is not what must this man that is beside me and this man that is behind me or in front of me do. the question comes to my own heart--"what must _i_ do?" "what must i do to be saved?" you must do something, but there are many things that we are doing that will not save us. if you expect to be saved, in the first place, do not depend on your own goodness. "all your righteousnesses are but as filthy rags." do not count on your own decency. no man was ever saved that way. i challenge you to find one single one. i was holding a meeting some years ago and i met a young fellow who told me he was good enough without jesus christ. of course he was not saved. a man who says that virtually tells christ that he has misunderstood his case altogether and that calvary was a wasted tragedy so far as he himself is personally concerned. neither will you be saved trusting in the other man's badness. i know what some of you are saying to yourselves as i preach. you are telling yourselves one of the oldest lies that was ever told. you are saying, "i would be a christian but there are so many hypocrites in the church." how many men give that as a reason, but it is no man's reason. and i never knew one man to be saved by it. believe me, the shortcomings and the sins of my brother are mighty poor things to depend on for my own personal salvation. again, you will not be saved by seeking an easy way. you will never win by catering to your own pride and cowardice. i was conducting a revival in a texas city some years ago. at the close of one of the services a young lady came forward to shake hands with the preacher. as she did so she said, "i am going to become a christian." i congratulated her upon her decision, but she answered, "oh, i do not mean right now. i mean i am going to be very soon." "you see," she continued, "it is like this: i am going in a few days to visit some of my relatives that live way back in the country. there is going to be a revival nearby. it will be easy for me to make the decision there because nobody knows me. but here it is different. everybody knows me here and i simply haven't the courage to come out and take an open stand for jesus christ." she went into the country as she planned but she was not saved. of course not. nobody ever found salvation by catering to his own cowardice and pride and seeking an easy way. "what must i do to be saved?" there is an answer to this question. it is an answer that is absolutely dependable. there is nothing in all the world of which i am more sure than i am of the correctness of the answer to this question. i am as sure of it as i am of my own existence. i am as sure of it as i am of the fact of god. i wonder if you are interested to know the answer. remember that it is the answer to your supreme question. it is the answer to the most important question that was ever asked. it is the most important that you will ever be called to act upon in this world. does the prospect of an answer quicken your heartbeat? does it shake you out of your lethargy into intensest interest? it ought to if it does not. for the answer that i give is not the answer of a mere speculator or dreamer. it is the answer of inspiration and it is an answer whose truth has been tested by the personal experience of countless millions. "what must i do to be saved?" answer: "believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved." what is it to believe on the lord jesus christ? it is to believe that jesus christ can do what he claims to do and what he has promised to do and to depend on him to do it. mr. moody tells us how that he was in his cellar one day when he looked up and saw his little girl making an effort to see him. she could not because it was dark in the cellar. "jump," said mr. moody, "daddy will catch you." and instantly the little girl jumped. now, that was faith. that was believing on her father. so the jailer believed on the lord jesus christ. he depended upon him then and there for salvation. and what happened? he was saved. that very moment christ came into the man's heart and he became a new creation. he became possessed of a new joy. he became possessed of a new tenderness. did you notice what he did? he took water and washed the stripes of the preachers. paul and silas were bleeding when they came to the prison but the jailer did not care. but now that he had found christ he has already begun to be a partaker of the divine nature. a new love has come to him. he has become tender where he was cruel before. even so does the power of jesus christ make men over. now, this question: do you want to be saved? if you do you can be. it's the surest thing in all the world. it is as sure as the fact that night follows day. it is more sure than the fact that if you sow wheat you will reap it, that if you believe on the lord jesus christ you shall be saved. test the matter now and you will know the blessed fact in your own experience. xii the mother-in-law--naomi it is thoroughly refreshing to come upon this exquisite bit of literature called "ruth." it follows, as you know, immediately after the bloodstained stories we read in judges. it shows that while there was war and confusion and hate there was also friendship and love and romance. it is a bit of exquisite beauty elbowed on either side by ugliness. this delightful story comes to us like a glad surprise. it is like finding a spring bubbling up in the desert. it is like plucking roses amidst ice bergs. it is like finding a violet in the very crater of a volcano. i hope you have read the book of ruth and are familiar with it. if you haven't you have slighted one of the sweetest and tenderest stories ever told. if you haven't you have neglected about the most delicate and winsome idyl to be found in ancient or modern literature. i have read some good literature, first and last. i have read poetry that lifted the heart and "set the soul to dreaming." i have read prose strong as granite and songful as a mountain brook. but i confess to you, if i wanted to find a finer piece of literature than the book of ruth, i would be at a great loss to know where to search. the author sets you down at once amidst strange scenery. and the characters, while genuinely human, are also full of the witchery of romance and poetry. here is the story. the rains have failed in the bethlehem country and the harvests have been exceedingly meager. a certain little family composed of husband, wife and two children, is having a hard fight to keep the wolf from the door. elimelech, the husband, can find no work and naomi, the wife and mother, "kneads hunger in an empty bread tray," and goes through the daily torture of being asked for bread that she is not able to supply. then one dark day the husband comes home utterly discouraged. he takes up the discussion where it was left off the day before. "yes," he says, "there is nothing else to do. there is no bread in the land. there has been rain in moab. we can go there. i do not know how they will receive us, but at any rate, they can only kill us and that is better than starvation." and naomi's sad face becomes a shade sadder and she says, "the will of the lord be done. but i had so hoped that we might be able to remain in the land of our fathers. you see, my dear, it is not of myself that i am thinking. we have two boys. we do not want to rear them in moab. moab, i know, is not far off physically, but it is a long way morally. if we go there we may lose our children. the time may even come when they will break the law of moses and marry among the moabites." but, hard as it was for her to consent, at last she was driven into it by sheer starvation. and we see the pathetic little family scourged by hollow-eyed hunger from the land of their fathers into the land of the heathen moabites. just what their reception was there we are not told. however, i am quite sure that they were received more kindly than they had expected. their want and their own kindness seemed to have opened the hearts of the strangers among whom they went to live. certain it is that the husband and father was able to find sufficient work to keep from actual starvation. by and by times grew better. the pinch of poverty let up, and they began to feel somewhat at home in the land of their adoption. but the boys were playing with the children of the moabites. of course they were. all children are alike. they know no barriers of kindred, of class or of religion. a child is the true democrat. sad to say, we soon train him out of this. but he is a thorough democrat by nature. he plays as gladly with the son of a scrub woman as with the son of a queen. he lavishes his love as freely upon a pickaninny as upon a prince. so these jewish boys were playing with the heathen children. then a few years went by and the pious father and mother came to realize with horror that their two boys were actually in love with two moabitish girls. not only did they love them, but they even wanted to marry them. this was a calamity indeed. i can hear the protests of the father and mother. they warn them of the danger of such marriages. they plead the law of moses. but all in vain. and we are not surprised. you might as well get in front of niagara falls and say "boo!" and expect it to flow back the other way, as to try to reason with the average young fellow who is in love. both boys married moabitish women. and then what did this wise and godly father and mother do? they did not do what is so usual in cases of an unwelcome marriage. our boy or our girl makes what seems to us a foolish and ruinous marriage. then what do we do? we declare that we will never speak to them again, that they shall never darken our doors. and we thereby help on a disaster that might never have come. naomi and her husband had better sense. they took the wives of their two sons, heathens though they were, into their home and into their hearts. they felt sure that that was the one way that promised a remedy. then one day disaster came to the little home of the strangers. the husband and father died, and naomi was left with the whole responsibility of the family upon her lone shoulders. her daughters-in-law had seen her in her joy. they marked her also in her sorrow. they were impressed, no doubt, by her calmness and her strength. she walked with the sure and quiet step of one who felt underneath her and round about her the everlasting arm. then the final disaster came. both the boys died. naomi was not only a widow, but she was childless. there were now no bonds that held her longer from the land of her fathers. she decides, therefore, to return. her two daughters-in-law are to accompany her as far as the border of moab. there they are to bid her farewell and then go each her own way. they make the journey, these three women, to the borders of moab. here orpah tells naomi good-bye. she parts from her with real grief and regret, for she loves her genuinely. i think i can hear her sobbing as she takes her lone way back to her own people. then it is ruth's time to say good-bye. i see her as she flings her arms about the neck of naomi and there she clings. "there, there," says the older woman, "you must be gone now. your sister is going. she will turn the bend of the road in a minute. go after her and god grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband." but ruth clings only the tighter. and then she makes a confession. it is a confession of love. and nothing finer in point of tenderness and beauty was ever uttered by human lips. i hope you are not too old to thrill over a love story. john ridd's devotion to lorna doone still stirs my heart. and there is the confession of a heroine in another story that we can never forget. "tell him i never nursed a thought that was not his; that daily and nightly on his wandering way pour a woman's tears. tell him that even now i'd rather work for him, beg with him, walk by his side as an outcast, live on the light of one kind smile from him, than wear the crown that bourbon lost." that is a beautiful confession. it is made by a woman to a man. but this was made by a woman to a woman. and strangest of all, it was made by a daughter-in-law to a mother-in-law. ruth has this distinction, if none other, that she loved her mother-in-law. her mother-in-law, mind you, that creature who has been the butt of evil jokes in all languages; the one who has proved the dynamite for the wrecking of not a few homes. this confession is the confession of a daughter-in-law to a mother-in-law. it is the confession of youth to age. it is spring-time clinging to winter. it is june flinging its arms in a passionate tenderness around the neck of november. "it is time you were going," said naomi. and ruth's arms clung all the closer and this exquisite bit of poetry fell from her lips, "entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, i will go; and where thou lodgest, i will lodge: thy people shall be my people and thy god my god: where thou diest, will i die, and there will i be buried: the lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." you cannot beat that. no confession of love has ever surpassed it. but it is more than a confession of love. it is also a confession of faith. it is the declaration of a strong woman's choice. as ruth clings to the woman she loves she announces her decision, a decision to which she remained true through all the future years. "thy people shall be my people and thy god my god." and the people of the little village of bethlehem had something interesting to talk about a few days later. two strange women had come their way, women who were poverty-stricken and homeless. one of them was a jewess. the other was a gentile. neither of them was welcome. naomi had lost her place in the life of the community. ruth, the moabitess had never had any place. the days that immediately followed their arrival were sad and bitter days. but the younger woman, with a fine courage, refuses to be a burden. instead, she will be the support of the mother of her dead husband. so she takes upon herself the menial task of a gleaner. it is harvest time and she goes out into the fields to glean. now, it happens in the good providence of god, that the field in which she went to glean belonged to a very rich and prosperous man named boaz. and to that very field where ruth was gleaning boaz came that day. he was a young, vigorous, and positive man. he was accustomed to command. there was a dignity about him that made him seem older than his years. everybody respected him. he was just and generous and religious. no sooner was he among the workers than his attention was attracted by the winsome young stranger from moab. i do not know why he should notice her at once, but i have a fancy that ruth was attractive, that she had personality and charm. i feel confident that she had that superior beauty that is born of superior character. anyway, the great landlord saw her and was interested. and he spoke kindly to her, and when ruth got home that evening she had an interesting story to tell. and naomi--wasn't she interested? i can see the flush of her face and the sparkle of her eye across the centuries. she is a woman, too, every ounce of her. and being a woman, she is by instinct and by nature a match maker. she guesses at once what is going on in the hearts of these two young people. and she sets about with delicate good sense to help them to understand each other. by her wise advice things turn out just as they ought to turn out, and . . . "they lived happy ever after." who is the heroine of this exquisite story? i know that first place is given to ruth. and i am in no sense disposed to try to put her in an inferior position. she cannot be honored too highly. she is so absolutely lovable. but i am going to give first place to naomi. i do not do this because she is more winsome than ruth. i do it because she accounts for ruth. if it had not have been for naomi, ruth would have lived and died a heathen in the land of moab. now, what are some of the lessons that we learn from the beautiful life of this ancient woman, naomi? were we privileged to sit down beside her in the father's house to-day, she could teach us many wonderful lessons. but one truth she would impress upon us would be this: that life's greatest losses may, through the grace of god, become its richest gains. she would tell you then of the black despair of those days when she was being driven from her home by the cruel hand of poverty. she would not hesitate to say that it was very difficult for her to keep up faith in god in those dark days. "but the lord was sending me then to find ruth. you know he had to have her. the world could not keep house without her at all. yet i would never have found her but for my terrible poverty." then, i think she would tell how she was beginning to feel at home in moab. "my life was taking root in that foreign soil. i was about making up my mind to live my life there. then death came. one by one i buried my loved ones till not one of my own flesh and blood was left. then it was that i resolved to come back home. it was my bitter loss that sent me back. i would never have come back but for that. and had i not come back the marriage of ruth with its blessed outcome would never have been possible." this woman learned the fine art of capitalizing her calamities. in the midst of all her poverty and heartache she kept firm her faith in god. and she came thus to realize the sufficiency of his grace. she came to know, even in that distant day, the truth of paul's great word, "all things work together for good to them that love god." there are times, i know, that it is hard for us to believe this, just as there were times when it was hard for naomi to believe it. but there came a day when she was privileged to know the truth of it in her own experience. and if you cling to your faith you, too, will come to know, if not here, then by and by. then we learn from naomi, as another has pointed out, the power for blessing that may be in one consecrated life. naomi was a very hidden and obscure woman. had you walked by her side as, hunger driven, she left her native land, she would not have told you anything of the great destiny that was ahead. she never dreamed of enriching the world as she did. it never occurred to her that she was to be one of the great light bringers of all the centuries. and yet such was to be the case. the world simply could not get on without naomi. it could not for the simple reason that naomi led ruth into the knowledge of god and into the fellowship of the people of god. "thy people shall be my people and thy god my god." that is ruth's confession of faith. how did she come to make it? how did this lovely heathen ever come to fall in love with naomi's people? she had never even seen them. she made up her mind, however, that they were the people, of all others, that were most worth knowing. she made up her mind that they must be very winsome and very lovable people. how did she come to that conclusion? answer: by association with her mother-in-law. that is also how she came to fall in love with god. she was led to the realization of the charm of him through the god-possessed personality of naomi. so it was naomi who won ruth to god. it was naomi who made possible ruth's successful marriage. then one day the sweet angel of suffering came to the home where the one-time-stranger lived and ruth held her first-born in her arms. and the years went by and there was another child born among the judean hills and the sunshine was tangled in his hair and countless songs were pent up in his heart. and he so sang and battled and sinned and repented that everybody loved him and we thank god still for david. and david was ruth's grandbaby. then other years went by and there was a burst of light upon those judean hills. and there was music from a choir that came from that country where everybody sings. "there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. and the angel of the lord came upon them and the glory of the lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. and the angel said, 'fear not, ye, for behold, i bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people; for there is born unto you this day, in the city of david, a savior who is christ the lord.'" and that savior was another one of ruth's grandbabies. but in the purpose of god, neither david nor david's greater son would have been possible without naomi. and so one woman remaining true to god became a roadway along which the almighty walked to the accomplishment of his great purpose, even the salvation of the world. xiii confessions of a failure--the busy man _ kings : _ in kings : you will find the text. "as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone." this is part of a parable that was spoken by a certain prophet to king ahab. this prophet was seeking to rebuke the king for his leniency in dealing with benhadad, whom he had overcome in battle. it is not our purpose, however, to discuss this parable in relation to its context. we are going to consider it altogether apart from its surroundings. we will rather study it as it is related to ourselves. here then, is the story of this man's failure from his own lips. "thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me, and said, keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. and as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone." i imagine i meet this soldier immediately after he has been put in charge of his important captive. he walks with the purposeful stride of one who knows his task and who is setting seriously about doing it. he seems to appreciate the honor that has been conferred upon him. he seems also to have a sense of the serious responsibilities involved. and when he takes his position before the cell of his prisoner he watches with all diligence. but when i pass his way again next day i am greatly shocked. my soldier is no longer on guard. another had taken his place. and when i look about for the important prisoner that has been captured at the price of blood and conflict he is no longer to be seen. upon inquiry i find that he has escaped. in his place, bowed down with shame and dressed in chains, is the man who yesterday was a guardsman. i cannot pass him by without a question. "how did this come about?" i ask. "were you surprised and overcome? did your fellow soldiers allow a strong company to break through their lines and to overpower you and take your prisoner from you? did a strong hand strike you down from behind in the dark? how is it that your prisoner had escaped?" and the man, without being able to look me in the eye, answers, "no, he did not escape because i was overpowered. he did not escape because i was surprised. he escaped because i was too busy to watch him." "too busy," i answer in amazement, "too busy doing what? what task did you find more important than saving your country and saving your own home and saving your own honor?" "oh, no task in particular," he answers. "i was just busy here and there." that is his confession. "as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone." and the man is sentenced to death. and we must admit that the sentence is just. not that he has committed any aggressive crime. he has not cut anybody's throat. he has not stabbed anybody in the back. he has not stolen anything. he is not being punished for what he has done. he is being punished for what he has failed to do. and that kind of sin, let me warn you, is just as dangerous and just as killing as positive and aggressive sin. how foolish are they who think they are pious simply because they do no wrong. how absurd it is to get it into your minds that a man is a christian by virtue of what he does not do instead of by virtue of what he does. now, i know that there are certain sins that are damaging and damning, but in order to be lost now and ever more it is not necessary to be guilty of any of them. all that is necessary is that you do what this man did, and that is fail in your duty. this is what our lord taught us again and again. what was wrong with the fig tree that he cursed it? it was not loaded with poison. it simply had nothing but leaves. what charge is brought against dives? no charge at all. we are simply made to see him neglect the man at his gate who needed his help. he does not drive the man away. he simply lets him alone. and over his neglected duty he stumbles out into a christless eternity. what was wrong with the five foolish virgins? it was not that they had water in their lamps. it was simply the fact that they had no oil. what was the matter with those to whom the judge said, "depart from me"? only this, they had failed in their duty. the charge is, "inasmuch as ye did it not." so this man failed in his duty. that is what wrecked him. why did he fail? first, he did not fail through ignorance. he did not fail because he did not know his duty. he understood perfectly what he was to do. he understood also the great importance of his doing it. he knew it was a life and death business with him. i know that he failed. he failed miserably. he failed to his own ruin. but it was not because of his ignorance. and that is not the secret of your failure. we need to know more, all of us, but our greatest need in the moral realm is not for more knowledge. our greatest need is the will to live up to what we already know. the reason you are selfish, the reason you are unclean, the reason you are godless is not because you do not know better. you have known better through all these years. it is because you are unwilling to do better. there is not a man here that does not know enough to do his duty. it may be that you do not know the exact niche that the lord wants you to fill. it may be that you do not know the exact task to which he is calling you. but you do know this, you know that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong, and that you ought to be enlisted on the side of the right. you know that it is your part to help and not to hinder, to bless and not to curse, to lift up and not to drag down. and while you may not know your particular task, yet it is your privilege to know even that. i am confident that god has a particular task for every single soul of us. and i am equally confident that he will let us know what that task is if we will only make it possible for him to do so. he tells us how we may know. "in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path." there are many misfits in the world, and you know a misfit is the cheapest and most useless thing known. if you want a cheap suit of clothes go to the misfit establishment. i remember when i was a young fellow just getting grown i decided to quit wearing the crude hand-me-down suits such as i could purchase at the village store. i decided that i must have a genuine tailored suit. so with this idea in mind i wrote for the catalogue of montgomery ward & company. i might have used sears roebuck, but i liked montgomery ward better. i found the suit i wanted, read his directions, took my own measure and ordered the suit. in due time it came. and i pledge you my word that you might have tried that suit on every form of man and beast that the whole roman empire could furnish and it would not have fit a single one of them. the legs of the pants were large enough to keep house in. they would have made admirable wheat sacks, but as trousers they were a failure. to me the suit was worthless because it was a misfit. and there are many men just as worthless to-day. but they need not have been so. if they did not know their task they might have known it. they did not fail, as this man did not fail, through ignorance. second, this man did not fail for lack of ability. if he could have said that he was overpowered, if he could have told that superior numbers came upon him and took his prisoner in spite of himself we could have pardoned him. or if he could have shown us a scarred breast and a face that had been hacked by a sword, and said, "i won these wounds trying to keep my prisoner," we would have respected him. we would have sympathized with him. but he had no scars to show. he had made no fight at all. therefore he could not say, "i failed, 'tis true, but i could not help it." neither can you say that. no man here is failing for lack of ability. now, i do not mean by that that you can do anything that you want to do. when i was a boy people used to come to our school and tell us such rubbish as that. but it is all false. suppose i were to take a notion to be a great painter, not one after the fashion of the ordinary sixteen year old girl of to-day, but a painter like turner. why, i might work at it a thousand years and never accomplish anything. suppose some of you were to take a notion to be great singers. is there any use for me to tell you that if you persist you will succeed? not a bit of it. you might succeed in ruining the nerves of your teacher. you might easily make those who hear you practise "want to gnaw a file and flee into the wilderness." but you would never learn to sing. there is no hope for some of us till we get to heaven. no, we cannot do anything that we might want to do. but we can do something infinitely better. we can do everything that god wants us to do. i cannot do your task, and you cannot do mine. i am glad that that is true. i am glad that we all do not have the same aptitudes. i am glad that we all cannot do successfully the same things. i am glad that we do not all have the same tastes. but while that is so, every man has the ability, through grace, to perform the task to which he is called. in the third place, this man did not fail because of idleness. he did not fail because he was lazy. of course idleness will wreck anybody. laziness is a deadly sin unless it is overcome. i know something about it because i have had to fight it all my life. but this man was not an idler. this man was a worker. he failed, but he did not fail because he refused to put his hand to any task or to bend his back under any load. why then did this man fail? not from ignorance, not from inability, not from idleness. he was busy. that is his word about himself. and nobody denies it. "as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone." what, i repeat, was the secret of his failure? just this, that though he was busy, he was not busy at his own task. he was simply busy here and there. he was one of those unfortunate souls that has so many things to do and so many engagements to keep and so many functions to attend and so many burdens to carry that he cannot do his own duty. do you know of anybody like that? "did you keep your prisoner?" i ask. "no, i was too busy." "busy at what, in heaven's name! do you know of anything more important than obeying the orders of your king? do you know of anything more important than helping to save your nation? do you know of anything of more importance than saving your own life, your own honor, your own soul." you can see his trouble. he allowed the secondary to so absorb him that he neglected the primary. those things that he was working at here and there, those unnamed tasks that he was performing, there is no hint that they were vicious things. i am sure that they were altogether harmless. they may have been altogether good and useful. but the trouble with that good was that it robbed him of the privilege of doing the best. the trouble with the prodigal in the far country was not simply the fact that he was in a hog pen. he might have been in a palace and been quite as bad off. it was the fact that he was missing the privilege of being in his father's house. the sin that i fear most for many of you is not the sin of vicious wrong-doing. it is the sin of this man, the sin of choosing the second best. i read recently of an insane man who spent all his time in an endeavor to sew two pieces of cloth together. but the thread he used had no knot in the end of it. so nothing was ever accomplished. now, there is no harm in such sewing. but the tragedy of it is that if we spend all our time doing such trivial things we rob ourselves of the privilege of doing something better. and that is just the trouble of much of our life to-day. many of us are engaged in a great, stressful, straining life of trivialities. some of these are not especially harmful. but the calamity of it all is that they so absorb us that we have no time left for the highest. down in tennessee near where i used to live a house was burned one day. the mother was out at the well doing the week's washing. the flames were not discovered till they were well under way. of course when they were discovered the woman was seized with terror. she rushed into the house and brought out a feather bed and a few quilts. but in her madness she forgot her own baby and the child was burned to death. now, i submit to you that there was absolutely no harm in saving a feather bed. there was no harm in saving a few old quilts. the tragedy was that in the absorption of saving all these half worthless things she lost the primary. in her interest in the good she became utterly blind to the best. i wonder if that is not your folly. you are busy here and there. you go to work six days in the week. you are passionately in earnest about amusing yourself. you do a thousand and one decent and respectable things. but while you are busy here and there the peace of god slips out of your life. while you are busy here and there you neglect the sunday school and the church. while you are busy here and there you lose your interest in the word of god and you forget "the secret stairway that leads into the upper room." "busy here and there" you lose the sense of god out of your life. "busy here and there" you allow the altar in your home to fall down. "busy here and there" you allow your sons and daughters to stumble over that broken down altar into lives of christless indifference. oh, men and women, there is but one remedy for us if we would avoid the rock upon which this condemned guardsman wrecked himself. we must put first things first. let us listen once more to the voice of the sanest man that ever lived. this is his message: "seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." if you fail to do this, however noble may be the task at which you toil, life for you will end in tragedy. if you do this, however mean and obscure may be your task, life for you will end in eternal joy and victory. xiv a mother's reward--jochebed _exodus : _ "take this child away and nurse him for me and i will give thee thy wages." this text refers to one of the big events of human history. this is one of the most stupendous happenings that was ever recorded. i doubt if there was ever a battle fought that was so far reaching in its influence. i doubt if all the fifteen decisive battles of the world taken together were of greater importance than this event that took place here on the banks of the nile. it is a simple story. an egyptian princess, with her attendants, has come to the riverside for a bath. to her amazement she discovers a strange vessel lying at anchor upon the waters of the river. her curiosity is aroused. when the vessel is brought to land its cargo is discovered. and what a cargo it is. it is so wonderful, it is so amazingly great that we marvel that any ship should be large enough to hold it. we are amazed that any sea should be vast enough to float such a vessel. what was this cargo? it was a baby, a baby boy. he is waving dimpled hands and kicking chubby feet, and he is crying. and the vessel upon which he sails becomes a battleship. he at once begins to lay siege to the heart of the princess. he pelts her with his tears. he pierces her through and through with his winsome weakness. he cannonades her with his lovely helplessness till she capitulates and gathers him in her arms. and this princess is no wicked woman, i am sure of that. she had a mother heart. i think i can hear her across the centuries talking to this little waif. she hugs him close. "yes, yes," she said. "you shall be my baby. the big, old soldiers shan't have you. they shan't kill mother's little boy." and she loved him as her own. now, two bright eyes had been witnessing this wonderful scene. there was a little girl hidden nearby and she watched all that happened. and when she saw the princess take her little baby brother to her heart she understood. she felt sure at once that the baby was safe. and a glad and daring thought took possession of her and she hurried from her place of hiding and approached the princess. and this is her word, "my lady, may i get a nurse for your baby?" and the princess did not despise the little girl. i feel perfectly confident that the spirit of god was moving upon the heart of this princess. she listened to the child and accepted her services. and i can see that little girl as with flying feet she hurries to her mother with the good news. "mother, they have found little brother, but they are not going to kill him. the princess found him and i told her that i would get somebody to nurse him for her. come, and we may have him for our own again." now, i take it that it was an important event when the princess decided that the child was to live. the death sentence had gone out against him. you know that. the death sentence had been pronounced against every son of the hebrews. but an even more important event took place when the princess decided who should be the baby's nurse. when she decided who should have the training of the child, then she decided what the child was to be. suppose, for instance, she had determined to train him herself, she would have made him like herself. moses would have become a heathen in spite of the blood in his veins. he was destined to be a genius, but his genius might have been very far from being the helpful something that it was. wrongly trained it might have been as brilliant as the lightning's flash, but also as destructive. but this woman chose, all unwittingly, it is true, to give her baby to be nursed by his own mother. and this jewish woman was not a heathen. she was a faithful servant of the lord. i can see her as she hurries down to the banks of the nile. and as she goes there's a wonderful light in her eyes. and her lips are moving, and she is saying, "blessed be the god of abraham and of isaac and of israel, who has heard the prayer of his servant and who has granted the desire of her heart." and i love to look again upon this scene. the egyptian princess is handing over the precious little bundle of immortality into the arms of a jewish slave. and that jewish slave is hugging her own child to her hungry heart. and the princess is talking to her proudly, haughtily, as becomes her rank, "take this child away and nurse him for me and i will give thee thy wages." and away goes this mother, the happiest mother, i think, in all the world. now, had you met this mother with her child so wonderfully restored to her and had asked her whose was the child and for whom she was nursing it, i wonder what she would have said. i know what the attendants of the princess thought. i know what they would have said. they would have said that she was nursing the child for the princess. they would have said that the princess was her employer. they would have said that moses was the princess's baby. but this mother never thought of it in any such way. she laughed in the secret depths of her heart at the idea of her being employed by the princess. who was her employer? i know what she thought. she believed that god was. she had a pious fancy that god was speaking through the lips of that princess and that he was saying, "take the child and nurse him for me and i will give thee thy wages." she thought her child was god's child. therefore, she believed that it was to god, and not to the egyptian princess, that she was to account at the last for the way in which she trained and played the mother's part by her boy. yes, i feel confident that this mother believed that god was her real employer. she believed that she was his minister. she believed that she had been chosen for the task that was now engaging her. and she was right in her belief. when god, who had great plans for moses, sought for some one who was to make it possible for him to realize his plans, whom did he choose? to whom did he commit this precious treasure, from whose life such infinite blessings should come to the world? he did not commit him to a heathen. he did not commit him to a mere hired servant. he committed him to his mother. when god wants to train a child for the achieving of the best and the highest in life he sends him to school to a godly mother. now, when god chose the mother of moses for his nurse and his teacher he made a wise choice. the choice was wise, in the first place, because this mother of moses was eager for her task. she was a willing mother. whatever glad days may have come in her life history, i am sure no gladder time ever came than that time when she realized that to her was going to be given the matchless privilege of mothering her own child. i know there are some mothers who do not agree with her. i know there are some that look upon the responsibilities of motherhood as building a kind of prison, but not so this immortal mother. she looked upon her duty as her highest privilege. she entered upon her task with an eagerness born of a quenchless love. the choice was fortunate, in the second place, because she was a woman of faith. in the letter to the hebrews we read that moses was bidden by faith. both the father and the mother of moses were pious people. they were people of consecration, of devotion to god, of faith in god. it is true they were slaves. it is true they had a poor chance. it is true they lived in a dark day when the light was dim, but they lived up to their light. and their home was a pious home and its breath was sweet and fragrant with the breath of prayer. and i have little hope for the rearing of a great christian leader in any other type of home. i have no hope of rearing a new and better civilization in any other type of home. our national life is discordant and hate-torn to-day. we are living in a time of intense bitterness and selfishness and sordid greed. but what civilization is to-day, the home life of yesterday has made it. and what civilization will be to-morrow the home life of to-day will make it. if we do not have christian homes, believe me, we will never have a christian civilization. "i know abraham," god said, "that he will command his children and his household after him." and there are two remarkable assertions made of abraham in this text. first, he said, "i know that abraham will command; i know abraham will control his own household. i know that abraham will control his children." and god considered that as highly important. of course we are too wise to agree with him to-day. we believe it best to let our children run wild and do largely as they please. we believe that solomon was an old fogey when he spoke of "sparing the rod and spoiling the child." and i am not here this morning to tell you just how you are to control your child. but what i do say is that you cannot commit a greater blunder than to fail to control it. a child is better unborn than untrained. then god said of abraham next, not only that he would command his children and his household, but that he would command them after him. he would not only exercise the right kind of authority, but he would exert the right kind of influence. he would set the right kind of example. he knew that abraham would be in some measure what he desired his children to be, that by authority and by right living he would christianize his own home. and so when god wanted to raise up a man moses who was to remake the world, he put him in a pious home. he gave him a godly father and mother. and the dominant influence in the life of moses was his mother. no woman ever did a greater work. but it was a work that she accomplished not because of her high social standing. nor was it accomplished because of her great culture. it was accomplished because of her great faith. and while i am not in any sense a pessimist, i cannot but tremble in some measure for the future because of the decay of home religion. and this decay, while traceable in some measure to the madness for money and pleasure among men, is traceable even more to this same madness among women. the woman of to-day is in a state of transition. she has not yet fully found herself. there has come to her a new sense of freedom, and this freedom has not made her better. she has become in considerable measure an imitator of man. and sad to say, she imitates his vices instead of his virtues. she often patterns after what is worst in him instead of what is best. i am told that in the woman's club of this city the handsomest room in the building is the smoking room. now, a woman has a right to smoke. who says that she has not? a woman has a right to swear, and that right she is exercising with growing frequency. i am not going to deny her right to do that. but what i do say is this, that i have absolutely no hope for the rearing of a right generation at the hands of a flippant cigarette-smoking mother. the child of such a mother is, in my candid opinion, half damned in its birth. remember, the mother of moses was a pious mother. if she had not been i am persuaded that the moses who has been one of the supreme makers of history, might never have been known. now, what was this woman's task? hear it. i take these words as embodying not the will of the princess, but the will of god, "take this child and nurse him for me and i will give thee thy wages." this mother was not to govern the world. she was not to lecture in the interest of suffrage. i have nothing to say against the woman who does so. she was not to be the center of a social set. she was not to turn her child over to some colored woman while she went gadding about to every sort of club. she had just one supreme job. she had one highest and holiest of all tasks. it was for that cause that she came into the world. she was to train her child for god. and whoever we are and whatever may be our abilities, we can have no higher task than this. the training of a child to-day is the biggest big job under the stars. he is the center of all our hopes and possibilities. did you ever read the story of the "little palace beautiful"? in the little palace beautiful there are four rooms. the first is a room called fancy. in this room looking out toward the south sleeps a little child, a beautiful baby. it is the child-that-never-was. it was longed for, hoped for, dreamed of, but it never came. in the west room looking out toward the sunset, the room called memory, is the child-that-was. here sleeps the little fellow that came and stayed just long enough to gather up all our heart's love and then he went away. in the room toward the north, the room of experience, is the child-that-is. he is the little fellow that now plays in your home in your sunday school class. and in the room looking out toward the sunrise, the room called hope, is the child-that-is-to-be. now, we are interested in all four of these children, but our interest in the four is to be expressed in our care for just one, and that is the child-that-is. we think tenderly of the child-that-never-was. we think sadly of the child-that-was. but we bring the love that we might have given and did give, to lavish it upon the child-that-is. we think hopefully of the child-that-is-to-be, but we realize that all his possibilities are locked in the child-that-is. and so the world's future salvation is in our cradles, in our homes and in our nurseries to-day. to train our children for god is the highest of all high tasks. and notice that this woman was to receive wages for her work. what were her wages? i suppose the princess sent down a little coin at the end of each week, but do you think that is all the pay that this mother got? i feel confident that she never counted this as pay at all. but she received her reward, she received her wages. and they were wages that were rich in worth beyond all our fondest dreams. first, there was given unto her the fine privilege of loving. and paul, who knew what was priceless, paul, who knew what was of supreme value, said that love was the soul's finest treasure. and he meant not the privilege of being loved, as fine as that is, but the higher privilege of loving. and it has been given by the grace of god to the mothers of men to be the world's greatest lovers. "if i were hanged on the highest hill, mother o' mine, o mother o' mine! i know whose love would follow me still, mother o' mine, o mother o' mine! "if i were drowned in the deepest sea, mother o' mine, o mother o' mine! i know whose tears would come down to me, mother o' mine, o mother o' mine! "if i were damned of body and soul, i know whose prayers would make me whole, mother o' mine, o mother o' mine!" to her was given, in the second place, the fine reward of self-sacrifice. she had the privilege of giving. she had the privilege of offering her life a willing sacrifice upon the altar of her home. it is blessed to receive, but it is more blessed to give. and the rewards of motherhood are the highest rewards because she is the most godlike giver that this world knows. then, she was rewarded, in the third place, by the making of a great life. she became the mother of a good man. her faith became his faith. "by faith moses was hidden." that was by his mother's faith. but in the next verse we read this, "by faith moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter." that was by his own faith. where did he get that rare jewel? he got it from the training of his mother. he saw it in her life. it looked out from her eyes. it spoke through her lips. he drank it in as he lay in her arms. "when i call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother lois and in thy mother eunice, and i am persuaded is in thee also." oh, if you are here a man of faith, a woman of faith, the chances are you secured that precious treasure at the hands of a god-loving and a god-trusting mother. so this despised slave woman, this mother has this to her credit, that she mothered and trained one of the greatest men that ever set foot on this earth. she took a little boy named moses to her heart and trained him for god. she had him for a little while. then he went away to the big university. but he stood true. she speaks to him as she holds him close in the twilight. she says, "laddie, do not forget how god has watched over you. one day when death was suspended above your baby head by a thread, one day when your life was frailer than a gossamer thread, i took a queer little basket and lined it with pitch, and also with faith and with prayer. and i put you afloat, and god preserved you and sent you back into these arms. and i carried you and cared for you. and now when you are grown you won't forget. you won't prove disloyal to your mother and you won't forget your mother's god." and moses did not forget. and one day the little laddie who had once been carried about in the arms of a slave mother, was a big broad-shouldered man. and he had a big broad-shouldered faith, and he trusted in a big broad-shouldered god. and in the strength of that faith, and in the might of that god he lifted an enslaved people in his arms and carried them clean across the wilderness. and he made possible an isaiah and a jeremiah and a david. and he made possible the birth of jesus christ. and he became the blesser and enricher of all the nations of the earth. and this mother, whose name is not well known in the annals of men, but whose name is known in heaven to-day, had the rich reward of knowing that she mothered a man who fathered a nation and blessed a world. oh, it is a blessed reward, the reward of success in the high enterprise of motherhood. i know of no joy that can come to a father's or a mother's heart that is comparable to the joy that their own children can give them. i have seen sweet-faced mothers look upon their children when there was enough joy in those faces to have raised the temperature of heaven. but while it is true that none can bring us so much joy, it is also true that none can so utterly break our hearts. to see disease take our children in hand and wreck their bodies is painful, but it is as joy in comparison to seeing sin steal the moral rose from their cheek and the sparkle of innocence and purity from their eyes. but the deepest of all damning griefs is that grief that comes to us when we realize that we failed, and that their ruin is due to sin and unfaithfulness in ourselves. do you hear the wild outcry from that broken-hearted king named david? there he stands upon the wall and looks away across the wistful plain. a lone runner is coming. he knows he is a messenger from the battlefield. "good tidings," he shouts. but the king has no ear for good tidings. his one question is this, "is the young man absalom safe?" and the runner does not rightly answer his question. then the second messenger comes with the news of his son's death. and there is no more pathetic cry in literature than that that breaks from the lips of this pathetic king. "o my son absalom, o absalom, my son, my son!" he is sobbing over his lost boy. but there is an added pang to his grief. it is the awful pang that comes from the torturing fear that he himself is in large measure responsible for the loss of his boy. and there is no more bitter agony than that. oh, men and women, let us who are fathers and mothers spare ourselves david's terrible agony. let us spare our children absalom's tragic ruin. let us give ourselves the joys of this old time mother. while our children are about us, may we hear the very voice of god speaking to us on their behalf, saying: "take this child and train it for me and i will give thee thy wages." and wages we shall receive just as surely as did this mother of moses. we will be privileged to love, to give, to bless. and god himself can give no richer reward than that. xv a good man's hell--manasseh _jeremiah : _ "and i will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth because of manasseh." the prophet of the lord is here fixing the responsibility for the downfall of jerusalem. he says that the wreck was due in an especial sense to one man. he makes it very plain that it was one man's hands that had planted the infernal bomb that was destined in later years to blast the foundation from under the nation. "i will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth because of manasseh." had a jury at that day been impanelled to try this man manasseh i do not know whether they would have found him guilty or not. possibly they would. it is also possible that they would not. had they failed to have done so it would have been because they did not know the facts; they were not entirely familiar with all the evidence in the case. but when god sought the man upon whose shoulders rested the chief responsibility for the wreck of the nation, he fixed on this man. when manasseh stood on trial before him, charged with the terrible crime of blasting a kingdom, he was found guilty. it was a startling verdict. it is all the more startling when we realize that manasseh in the last years of his life was a good man. it was only his earlier years that were spent in sin. in his old age he was a saint. in the last years of his reign he knew god and did all that he could to undo the evils of an ill-spent yesterday. but in spite of the saintliness of the eventide, in spite of his winter-time goodness, the full influence of his life was not a blessing but a curse. it did not make for upbuilding. it made for terrible downfall and ruin. take a glance at his life's story. it is full of interest. every young heart in the world should make a study of the life of this man. how it gives the lie to many of our false and easy conceptions of sin. how urgent it presses home the truth that the only salvation that can mean the most is the salvation that grips us from life's earliest moment to its very last. manasseh came to the throne when he was only twelve years of age. he had not been long in his position of influence and power till he turned utterly away from the lord and began to wallow in every form of sin. there was no dirty idolatry that he did not practise. there was no false belief to which he did not seem willing to give hospitality. there was scarcely any form of evil of which he was not guilty. and his career of godlessness was all the more inexcusable because of the good opportunities that he had. he was the son of a great and good father. his father was hezekiah. and hezekiah was one of the best kings that judah ever had. he was a man of spiritual power. he was a man who served as saving salt to his kingdom throughout his entire reign. when the assyrians hung like a threatening storm cloud over his weak little nation, it was the compelling might of his prayer that stood as a wall between them and their enemy. so, manasseh was the son of a great saint. and mark me, it is no small privilege to be the child of a godly father or of a saintly mother. if god granted to you to open your baby eyes to look into other eyes that were "homes of silent prayer," if he sent you to grow up in a home where the family altar and the saintly life made christ real, then he has given you an opportunity unspeakably great. and as great as is your opportunity, just so great is your responsibility. how hard must be the sentence upon that boy or that girl who breaks away from such saving and sanctifying influences to go into the far country. not only was the guilt of manasseh intensified by the fact that he had a saintly father. it was intensified further by the fact that he was repeatedly warned. though he turned his back on god and though he gave himself up to a perfect orgy of wrong doing, god did not forget him and did not give him up. he sent to him messenger after messenger to bring home his guilt and to invite him back to the pardon and peace of his father's presence. but seemingly the more he was warned the deeper he plunged into sin. and you who are in sin, you are even more guilty than he, because to you god has sent warning after warning, rebuke after rebuke. god has given you calls and invitations without number. he has called you through your conscience. he has called you through your wretchedness and restlessness and hunger of heart. he has called you through your longing for usefulness. he has called you through your sorrow and your pain and your losses. he has called you through ten thousand mercies. oh, believe me, our need to-night is not so much for more light as it is for courage to live up to the light we have. not only was manasseh guilty because he sinned in spite of the help of a godly father and in spite of repeated warnings. his guilt was deepened yet more because he knew that he did not sin alone. when he went away from god he carried a kingdom with him. the reign of hezekiah had been a righteous reign. with the coming of manasseh to the throne there was a violent reaction, akin to that that followed upon the restoration of charles ii to the throne of england. you know how that when charles came to the throne the court life was changed into a brothel. charles lived in open and notorious adultery, and the rottenness of the throne led to the rottenness of the kingdom. such was the case here. manasseh not only fell but he drew a kingdom after him. it is profoundly true that no man ever sins alone. your influence will not be so wide as that of manasseh, yet however obscure your life may be this is true, that it will set in motion influences that will literally outlast the world. i have control over my own action before it is done, but after it is done i seek to control it in vain. if it is a fiendish act it laughs its devilish and derisive laughter in my face and says, "control me if you can." now, there came a time when this great sinner began to pay the penalty for his sin. retribution slipped in by the guards at the door one day and took the king rudely by the shoulder. it shook him and shook him so roughly that his crown fell from his head and his sceptre dropped from his hand. then it dragged him from his throne and dressed him in chains and sent him a captive into a foreign country. retribution, suffering for sin, does not always come as it came to this king. it does not always come at once but come it does. that is as sure as the fact of god. there are some shallow souls that fancy that because sin does not pay off every saturday night that it does not pay at all. but to hold such views is to spit in the face of a most open and palpable fact. manasseh had a fancy that he was a much freer man than his father had been, far more broad-minded, but he waked one day, as every man wakes sooner or later, to discover that sin did not mean freedom, that it only meant slavery. now, what effect did this degradation and shame and suffering have on the king? suffering has very opposite influences on different types of character. sometimes it hardens us, it makes us only the more bitter and rebellious. but suffering did not have that effect on manasseh. it made him think, and it is a tremendously good day when god can get a man to think. he thought, i dare say, of his saintly father. he thought of his father's god. this story is another evidence of how all but impossible it is for a child to break finally away from the saving influence of a truly good father or truly good mother. this experience not only made him think but it sent him to his knees in an agony of prayer. he came to hate the sin that had been the ruin of him. he asked god for forgiveness. and god did forgive him. truly, "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." no man ever goes so far away from god, no man ever lives in sin so long but that if he will return to god, god will receive him and will give him abundant pardon. not only did god save this man. he brought him again to his throne. and he who had once been a captive in a strange land wore his crown once more. and for the remaining years of his life he was a devout follower of the lord. he did his best to undo the evils of the earlier years of his reign. he tore down the altars to false gods that he had builded. he tried to bring his people back to the new and saving faith that he had found. his conversion was genuine and lasting. but what was the result? he did not succeed. he found that it was easier to lead folks astray than it was to bring them back after he had led them astray. he was a good man. he knew god. but this was his hell, that he had to stand in utter helplessness and see his nation totter to its ruin because of the sins that he had committed. he was not even able to save his own home. his boy became a godless idolater, as he himself had been during the best years of his life. so we are brought face to face with this fact. repentance will bring us salvation whenever we repent, but there is one thing that repentance cannot do. it cannot save us from the consequences of our sin. go out into the field of life and sow tares for half a century, if you dare. even then god will forgive you if you will come in repentance to him, but there is one thing that god will not do and cannot do. he cannot change the tares that you have sown into wheat. i may be exceedingly sorry for my wrong sowing, i will be, but the seed will grow none the less. did it ever occur to you how many faces the prodigal missed on his way back home? many a splendid young fellow that caroused with him as he went into the far country did not enjoy the fatted calf with him when he came back to the peace and plenty of his father's house. some of them had gone into eternity and others had gone beyond his influence forever more. while i was in huntington a few weeks ago, the pastor for whom i was preaching told me of a young friend of his who carried his little baby in to see a noted eye specialist. the child's eyes were very bad. the physician examined them and shook his head. "her eyes will never get better," he said, "but will get worse. she will be blind before she is grown." and the father's face went white and he said, "doctor, you know my youth wasn't what it ought to have been. can that be the cause?" and the doctor said, "you needn't to have told me. certainly it is the cause." and it was a broken-hearted man that left that office that day. and it was a broken-hearted and praying and penitent man that kissed his child to sleep that night. oh, god will forgive him, but there is one thing that that forgiveness will not include and that is daylight for his little girl. "i will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth because of manasseh." and manasseh is good and pure and blood-washed, but the influences that he set in motion have gone beyond his reach forever more. what a fearful fact is this! i am talking to young men and women and you have your lives before you. you may give them to sin, and you may be saved at the last moment. that is a possibility, though it is a slight one. but such a salvation may mean the wrecking of many another life. the only safe way is to repent before you waste your life. repent before you sin. do you remember esau's pathetic story? he sold his birthright for one mess of lentils. nor was he at all displeased with his bargain. at least that was true for a little while, but there came a time when he was sorry. there came a time when his foolish bartering broke his heart. and the story says that he found no place for repentance though he sought it diligently and with tears. that does not mean, of course, that god refused to forgive esau. the moment we turn in penitent surrender to our lord he will save us and give us an abundant pardon, however far we may have gone into sin. god forgave him when he repented, but there was one thing that his repentance could not do. it could not undo the past. it could not put him again in the light of the morning of life. it could not place in his hands the opportunities of yesterday. the good that he might have done and the service that he might have rendered and the crowns that he might have won had passed beyond the reach of his hand forever. repentance saved his soul but it did not save his life. and what a startling chapter is the story of the sin of david. david was a whole-hearted man. he never did anything by halves. when he sinned he sinned with a horrible abandon. few men have dirtier pages in their life's history than that of david's sin against the house of uriah. but as his sin was whole-hearted so also was his repentance. we can hear his heart-broken cry for pardon across the centuries: "have mercy upon me, o god, according to thy loving kindness. according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin; for i acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me." it is the heart-broken cry of the penitent who has not one good word to say for himself. and god heard his prayer and washed him and made him whiter than snow. but beyond that god with all his love and tenderness could not go. he could not save david from the consequences of his sin. his bloody and lustful deed became possessed of a power beyond his control. "down!" he cries to it in helpless horror. but it will not down. "then where are you going?" he asks, all a-tremble with dread. and the fiendish deed answers, "i am going to steal the purity of your daughter tamar. i am going to make your son ammon into a rapist. i am going to make your handsome boy absalom into a murderer." when i was a boy there was a family living neighbors to us, all of whom were outside the church. but when the children were almost all grown and the father was an old man he became a christian. but instead of being influential in bringing his children to christ they seemed only to be ashamed of him. he did not seem to have the slightest power to influence a single one of them for good. i would not say that he was not saved, i think he was, but i think his years spent in sin cost him the salvation of his children. e. j. bulgin said that he was holding a meeting some years ago in a city in kentucky. a girl was converted in his meeting. she was in the early bloom of young womanhood. she belonged to a wealthy and prominent family. her mother was not a christian. the girl wanted to join the church and the mother objected. the preacher went to see the mother and prayed with her and plead with her. she said she wanted her daughter to have her coming out dance soon and therefore she should not join the church. and the preacher left that home with a heavy heart. three years later he was holding a meeting in a neighboring town. a long distance call came asking him if he would not come and conduct the funeral of nellie, the girl who had not been allowed to join the church. he went. the undertaker said that it was a request of the mother that the preacher ride with her and her other daughter to the cemetery. the journey was made in silence. the remains were being lowered when the mother ordered the undertaker to open the coffin again. all the crowd was requested to stand back. they moved some fifty feet away. then leaning on the preacher's arm the mother showed him her daughter. and lying upon her breast was a little armful of shame. that was all. the grave was filled and on the way back home the penitent and heart-broken mother found christ. she said to her daughter, "mary, i have found jesus. i have found the salvation that i rejected three years ago." and mary answered, "no, mother, you have found salvation, it is true. but it is not the salvation that was offered to you three years ago. your salvation then would have included the salvation of nellie. now it means only the salvation of yourself." heart, you may be saved at another time. many a father is saved after he has wrecked his boys. this mother was saved after she had destroyed her daughter. manasseh was saved after he had ruined his kingdom. but i submit to you that it is not the largest salvation. it is a salvation that may yet leave you with a burning hell in your own heart, the hell of the memory of evil you can never undo, and wrongs you can never right, and of lost men and women, led away from god by your influence that you can never lead back again. therefore, because of these startling and palpable facts, i come to you with this oft-repeated word of our lord upon my lips: "now is the accepted time. to-day is the day of salvation." seek not to make religion into a fire escape. give god your life now and in so doing you will both save yourself and those who are influenced by you. "therefore, choose you this day whom you will serve." xvi a shrewd fool--the rich farmer _luke : - _ "and he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, what shall i do, because i have no room where to bestow my fruits? and he said, this will i do: i will pull down my barns and build greater and there will i bestow all my fruits and my goods. and i will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. but god said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward god." i count with confidence on your interest in this sermon. you will be interested, in the first place, because the picture that our lord has given us in this wonderful story is the picture of a real man. this farmer is no wax figure. he is no bloodless nonentity. he is altogether human stuff. and we are interested in real folks. then we are interested in this man, in the second place, because he is successful. we are naturally interested in the people who make good. if you go out on the street to-morrow and start to tell your friends how you failed, the chances are that they will turn their backs upon you to listen to the man, with triumph in his face and victory in his voice, who is telling how he succeeded. we are great success worshippers. and the man who wins the prizes of life interests us very keenly. but there is a shock for us in the story. the master calls our shrewd hero a fool. "thou fool." that is a harsh and jarring word. it insults us. it shakes its fist in our faces. it cuts us like a whip. it offends us. we do not like the ugly name in the least. "thou fool." our master frowns upon our using such language at all. he will not trust us with such a sharp sword. he will not suffer us to hurl such a thunderbolt. he forbids us, under a terrible penalty, to call our brother a fool. and yet he calls this keen and successful farmer a fool. and he doesn't do so lightly and flippantly, but there seems to ring through it scorn and indignation--positive anger, anger that is all the more terrible because it is the anger of love. why did the master call this man a fool? he did not get the idea from the man himself. this well-to-do farmer would never have spoken of himself in that way. he regarded himself as altogether fit and mentally well furnished. nor did the master get his idea from the man's neighbors. they looked upon this man with admiration. there may have been a bit of envy mingled with their admiration, but they certainly did not regard him as a fool. they no more did so than we regard the man that is like him as a fool to-day. why then did the master label him with this ugly name? it was not because he had a prejudice against him. jesus was no soured misanthrope. he was no snarling cynic. he did not resent a man just because he had made a success. he was not an i. w. w. growling over real or fancied wrongs. no, the reason that jesus called him a fool is because no other name would exactly fit him. it is well, however, that the master labeled this picture. had he not done so you and i might have been tempted to put the wrong label on it. we might have labeled it "the wise man," or some such fine name. but had we done so it would have been a colossal blunder. had we done so i am persuaded that the very fiends would have howled with derisive laughter. for when we see this man as he really is, when we see him through the eyes of him who sees things clearly, then we realize that there is only one name that will exactly fit him. then we know that that one name is the short ugly one by which he is called--"fool." but why is he a fool? in what does his foolishness consist? certainly it does not consist in the fact that he has made a success. he is not a fool simply because he is rich. the bible is a tremendously reasonable book. it is the very climax of sanity. it is the acme of good common sense. it never rails against rich men simply because they are rich. it no more does that than it lauds poor men because they are poor. it frankly recognizes the danger incident to the possession of riches. it makes plain the fact that the rich man is a greatly tempted man. but never is he condemned simply because he is rich. the truth of the matter is that riches in themselves are counted neither good nor bad, neither moral nor immoral. the bible recognizes money as a real force. what is done with this force depends upon the one who controls it. money is condensed energy. it is pent-up power. it is lassoed lightning. it is a niagara that i can hold in my hand and put into my pocket. it is a present day aladdin's lamp. if i possess this lamp a million genii stand ready to do my bidding. whatever service i demand, that will they do, whether that service look toward the making of men or the wrecking of men. in case i live for self they are able to assist me in all my selfish enterprises. they can provide a winter palace in the city and a summer palace in the mountains or down by the sea. they can adorn my walls with the choicest of paintings. they can put the finest of carpets upon my floors. they can make possible tours abroad and private boxes at the theatre. they can search the treasure houses of the world and bring to me their rarest jewels. they can give me a place among the select four hundred, with whole columns about myself in the society page of the metropolitan daily. even this is not all. if i, their master, am so minded, these powerful genii will defeat for me the ends of justice. they will override the constitution. they will enable me to put a stain upon the very flag of my own country. they will make it possible for me at times to disregard the rights of others. when occasion demands they may even purchase at my desire the honor of manhood and the virtue of womanhood. on the other hand, if i am a good man, i may set these genii to the doing of tasks great and worthwhile. i may command them to give clothing to the naked and food to the hungry. i can order them to build better schools for the education of the world. i can compel them to build better churches for the worship of god. i can send them with a chance in their hands for the unfortunate and the handicapped. i can make it impossible for one to say of that bright lad:-- "but knowledge to his eyes her ample scroll, rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll. chill penury suppressed his noble rage, and froze the genial current of the soul." in fact there is no high task that man is called upon to perform but that these mighty genii can be of assistance. they can help "to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." they can even make their master friends who will one day receive him into everlasting habitations. "dug from the mountain side, washed in the glen, servant am i of the master of men. earn me, i bless you; steal me, i curse you; grip me and hold me, a fiend shall possess you. lie for me, die for me, covet me, take me, angel or devil, i am what you make me." nor was this man a fool because he had accumulated his money dishonestly. the man who does accumulate money dishonestly is a fool. so says the prophet jeremiah and every clear thinking man must agree with him. there is a way of getting money that makes money a curse rather than a blessing. there is a way of getting money that makes the very eagle upon it to turn vulture to tear at your heart. but this man had not made his money after that fashion. he had never run a saloon nor a gambling house nor a sweatshop. there is no hint that he had failed to pay an adequate wage to his laborers. james calls upon the rich men of his day to weep and howl because they were guilty in this respect. but no such charge as this is laid against this man. nor had he robbed the widow or the fatherless. "an orphan's curse will drag to hell a spirit from on high," but no such curse was on this man. how had he made his money? he had made it in a way that is considered the most honest and upright that is possible. he had made his money farming. listen: "the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." the ground. it smacks of cleanliness, honesty, uprightness. "the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." and when i read that i am back on the old farm again. as i read it there comes before me a vision of my boyhood's home. i see the old white house under the hill. i see the sturdy apple trees in front of it and the forest of beech, oak and chestnut stretching away in the distance back of it. i can hear the lowing of the cattle and the neighing of the horses and the crowing of the cock in the barnyard. i can hear the call of the bob white to his mate, and the song of the catbird in the thicket at the end of the row. i can feel the caress of the fresh upturned sod upon my bare feet. i can catch the fragrance of the new mown hay. i can see myself coming home in the gloaming "as the day fades into golden and then into gray and then into deep blue of the night sky with its myriad of stars that blossom at twilight's early hour like lilies on the tomb of day." and when i come home i come to a night of restful sleep because i have come from a clean day's work. no, this man was not a fool because he had gotten his money dishonestly. he had made it honestly, every dollar of it. nor was he a fool because he set about thoughtfully to save what he had made. the bible sets no premium upon wastefulness. god lets us know that to waste anything of value is not only foolish but wicked. what was the sin of the prodigal son? it was this, that he "wasted his substance with riotous living." he spent his treasure without getting any adequate return. that is the tragedy of a great number of us. i do not charge you with outrageous and disgraceful wickedness. but it is true that you are not investing your life in the highest possible way. you are squandering yourself on things of secondary value. and to you god is speaking as he spoke centuries ago: "wherefore do you spend your money for that which is not meat and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" you have no right to waste yourself and you have just as little right to waste your money which represents a part of yourself. no, the foolishness of this man was not in the fact that he sought to save what he had made. that is right. that is sensible. to do otherwise is at once wicked and little. big things do not waste. this is a big world on which we live but it has never lost one single drop of water nor one single grain of sand since god flung it into space. and even jesus christ himself, the lord of the universe, commanded his disciples after he had fed the multitude, to gather up the fragments that nothing be lost. why then, i repeat, does christ call this man a fool? his foolishness lay fundamentally in the fact that he was a practical atheist. he had absolutely no sense of god. he lived as if the fact of god were an absolute lie. i do not think for a moment that he claimed to be an atheist. i have no doubt that he was altogether orthodox. i have no doubt that he went to the synagogue or to the temple every sabbath day. but practically he was an utter atheist. and what is true of him is equally true of many another man who stands up every sunday in church to recite his creed. how do we know that he is an atheist? we know it by hearing him think. listen: "he thought within himself." now then we are going to get to see this man as he really is. you can't always tell what a man is by the way he looks. he may look like the flower, but be the serpent under it. he may smile and smile, as hamlet tells us, and be a villain. you can't always tell what he is by what he says. he may speak high sentiments to which his heart is a stranger. nor can you tell him by what he does. he may "do his alms" simply to be seen of men. but if you can get in behind the scenes and see him think, then you will know him. tell me, man, what you think within yourself and i will tell you what you are. for, "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." now, what did this man think? "he thought within himself, saying, what shall _i_ do for _i_ have no room where to bestow _my_ goods and _my_ fruits? and he said, this will _i_ do. _i_ will pull down _my_ barns and build greater, and there will _i_ bestow all _my_ goods and _my_ fruits." now we see him. when he thought, he had not one single thought of god. god was as completely ignored as if he had no existence at all. this was the very fountain source of his foolishness. he reckoned without god, and the man who reckons without god is a fool. look now how this fatal foolishness casts its blight over his entire character. reckoning without god, of course, he has no sense of divine ownership. quite naturally, therefore, he thinks because he possesses a farm, he owns a farm. possession and ownership mean exactly the same thing to a man who begins by ignoring god. when you hear this man talk you find that the only pronouns he has in his vocabulary are "i," "my" and "mine." he knows only the grammar of atheism. he is acquainted only with the vocabulary of the fool. "his" and "ours" and "yours" are not found in the fool's vocabulary. faith, on the other hand, makes large use of the word "his." it recognizes the fact that "the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof." it believes in the big truth: "ye are not your own. you are bought with a price." faith, taking god into consideration, wisely reckons that you are his and that all that you possess is his. it does not concede to you the ownership of anything. and for any man anywhere to-day to claim that because he possesses a farm or a bank or a brain, that, therefore, he owns it is to talk not the language of a wise man but the language of a fool. this farmer's reckoning without god not only led him to confuse possession and ownership. it also robbed him of his gratitude. crops were abundant. the farmer has prospered wonderfully. but leaving god out of his thinking there is no one for this farmer to thank for his success but himself. he never thought of taking hold of his sluggish soul and shaking it into wakefulness with this wise word, "bless the lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits." he did not concede the lord any part in it. there are many men just like him to-day. i was pastor in a small town some years ago. there was in that town only one rich man. he had made the money that he possessed, and they called him a self-made man. one day a certain preacher, not myself, went to him to ask him for a donation for some charity. he began by reminding this man of wealth how the lord had blessed him. and what was the reply? it was about the meanest i ever heard. he said, "i know the lord has blessed me, but i was there." "i was there." and what he meant by that was that in reality the lord had had nothing to do with it. "i did it all myself. in fact, if the lord hadn't made the world i would. so there is not a thing for which i ought to be thankful." now, the man who has no gratitude is a fool. he is a fool because the right sort of thinking always leads to thanking. the only kind of thinking that does not do so is the thinking of the practical atheist, and the practical atheist is a fool. then this farmer had no sense of obligation. this, too, is a natural outcome of his reckoning without god. here is a man who is looking out on this same world upon which the farmer is looking, and he says, "i am a debtor both to the greek and to the barbarian, both to the wise and to the unwise." the reason paul says that is because he believes in god. god has blessed him and saved him with a wonderful salvation. because of that fact he feels himself under infinite obligation to preach the gospel that has saved himself. but this man, this fool, has only himself to thank for his prosperity. therefore he has a right to use his wealth as he pleases. the man who has no sense of obligation, the man who tells you that he has a right to do as he pleases with his possessions is proclaiming to you not a new rule of ethics. he is simply telling you in unmistakable language that he is a fool. this man showed himself a fool, last of all, by the confidence that he placed in things. ignoring god he sought to find a substitute for god in abundant crops. he undertook to treat his soul as he would treat his sheep and his goats. here he was, an immortal man. here he was, destined to live when this old world has been a wreck for billions of years. and what provision does he make for himself? the same that he makes for his horses and his oxen and his asses. of course, as one has pointed out, it was not foolish for him to make some provision for the few years he might live here. he was a fool for refusing to make provision for the eternity that he must live. "soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many days. eat, drink and be merry." did ever you hear words that were more stamped with moral idiocy? you can see from them that his soul has not fared well up to this time. you can easily tell from these words that his moral nature has been starved and stunted. we can easily tell that all his gettings have not satisfied him in the past. and yet he is vainly expecting satisfaction in the future. now it is obvious that the man who forgets god, who turns aside to the worship of things, plays the fool. so you see why the master calls this shrewd farmer a fool. he began by reckoning without god. he virtually said in his heart, "there is no god." he went wrong in the very center of his nature. this put the blight of moral imbecility on his whole life. he turned to his possessions and sought to satisfy his soul with them. he received them without gratitude and held them without any sense of obligation, for he thought to possess was to own. now the master, lest we should pull our skirts about us and thank god that we are not as this man, forces the truth home upon our own hearts. "so," he says, "is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward god." that is, just the same kind of fool and just as big a fool is that man to-day who reckons without god and lives only for himself. if you are living your life in selfishness, however respectable that selfishness may be, you are just the same kind of fool and just as great a fool as is this rich man of the story. now the tragedy of this story, i take it, is that the foolishness of this farmer was self-chosen. his riches might have been a blessing to him here and a blessing through all eternity. in spite of the fact that he was rich in this world's goods he might also have been, in the truest sense, rich toward god. in fact, he might have been richer toward god with his wealth than without it. with it he might have exercised a far larger usefulness than he could have done without it. but he chose to ignore god and to rob himself and thus brand himself a fool now and evermore. don't forget that you and i may make the same tragic wreck of our lives. the only way to avoid doing so is to go right where this man went wrong. there is a sure road to spiritual enrichment. "though he were rich, yet for our sakes he became poor that we, through his poverty, might be rich." this wealth is no fabled bag of gold at the end of the rainbow. i can so direct you to this treasure that you will be sure to find it. this is the road: "yield yourselves unto god." that is your first duty. that is your highest wisdom. recognize god as owner of yourself. recognize god as the owner of all that you have. give all to him and he will give all to you. "for he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things." to have that treasure is to be rich forever more. to be thus rich is to be eternally wise. the end transcriber's note: page numbers are indicated thus [ ] at the end of each printed page. the messiah pulpit a statement: the future of this church by john haynes holmes minister of the church of the messiah series - ----no. vi price, five cents published by the church of the messiah park avenue and th street new york city [ ] notice the messiah pulpit, by tradition and practice, is a free platform, dedicated to the ideal of truth. its sermons, in both their spoken and written form, are the utterances of the preacher, who accepts for them exclusive responsibility. the publication of these sermons is made possible by a private fund for this purpose. contributions to this fund are needed, and may be sent to rev. john haynes holmes, east th street, new york city. [ ] a statement: on the future of this church on sunday, november last, as most of you know. i was invited by unanimous vote of the people of all souls church, chicago, "to take up the work laid down by (their) beloved pastor," the late dr. jenkin lloyd jones. on thursday, november , i received this call through the personal visitation of two members of the chicago church, and agreed to give it most earnest consideration. on sunday, december , through my associate, mr. brown, i announced this call to the congregation of the church of the messiah, explaining that it involved the ministry of all souls church, the directorship of abraham lincoln centre, and the editorship of the weekly liberal religious journal, called "unity." i stated in my announcement that i had asked and been granted ample time for the consideration of this call, but that i intended to answer it as speedily as possible. on thursday last, just five weeks to a day after receiving the invitation to chicago, i sent my reply for transmission to the people of all souls church this morning. i choose this same time to announce to you my decision. at the beginning of my consideration of the problem, i found questions of personal inclination and comfort inevitably to the fore. for twelve years minus one month, i have lived and labored in new york city. every particle of moral energy which i possess, i have invested here. nearly all of my friends are associated with this community. especially am i bound by ties of deepest reverence and affection to this church. here are memories of joy and sorrow and great trial which are more truly a part of me than the voice with which i speak, or the hand with which i turn these pages. it [ ] needed but this single summons to teach me what i had not known--how deeply my roots are struck into the soil of this place, and how great the pain and hazard of their exposure, removal and replanting. it very soon became clear to me, however, that personal considerations could rightly have but little part in the settlement of this problem. in no spirit of bravado, but in simplest recognition of the truth, i say to you that i believe i would have been betraying the profession which i have sworn to serve had i permitted conditions of personal affection, however lovely and precious, to determine my decision in this case. i take seriously the fact of my ordination--that as a minister of religion i have been "set apart," as the traditional phrase has it, to the high purpose of propagating an idea, championing a cause, seeking the best and the highest that i know in terms of god and of his holy will. i am here, in other words, not to make or to keep friends, not to enjoy pleasant associations of hand and heart, not even to serve a particular church, but to serve, perhaps at the cost of these other and more personal things, the great idea of which i speak. to allow my individual sentiments to fix the place and fashion of my professional service, would be to me as dastardly a thing as to allow considerations of profit or prestige to make decision. not even my wife or my children could interfere in this case. my problem was to determine where i could best advance the ideals to which i have given my life--where i could find the weapons or tools best fitted to my hand for the doing of my work--and there to stand. to remain in this church and city might be infinitely desirable to me as a man; but i must decide not as a man but as a minister, and therefore if i remained, it must be because i could do no other! but there was another consideration which held me to this impersonal relation to the problem. i refer to the fact that the great war had brought to a focus in my own soul the inward and largely unconscious spiritual development of a decade. i had discovered, through [ ] much tribulation of mind and heart, the ideal which i sought to serve, and disclosed to myself at least the picture of the realization of this ideal in institutional form. this same great war, however, had distracted my parish, absorbed the energies and attention of my people, and in spite of wellnigh unexampled forbearance, had introduced elements of misunderstanding and even alienation. the conflict, in other words, had no more left our church unchanged than the world itself. we had been shaken and distressed and tortured and driven, so that we were no longer the persons we once were. you knew me, and i knew you, as we were yesterday; but we did not know one another as we were going to be, or should want to be, tomorrow. it was necessary that we should meet not on the plane of the past, nor even of the present, but on the plane of the future, and thus find ourselves again, and discover what now, in this new world, we wanted, and would be able, to do together. months before the war was ended, it had clearly entered into my mind to summon you to conference on our future relations as minister and people. this invitation from chicago but precipitated suddenly what was in itself inevitable sooner or later. it introduced into a problem already existing between you and me, a third element--namely, the people of abraham lincoln centre. the problem, however, in its nature, remained the same. i have work to do. i have set my hand to the plow, and i must find the field where i can best drive this plow through the furrow of my sowing. in order to make plain the situation, as it has presented itself to my mind during the last five weeks, i must turn to the past for a moment, and bring to you therefrom some fragments of autobiography. those of you who were present at the meeting on last monday night, have already heard what i am about to say. i beg your undivided attention, none the less, that you may note the bearing of this recital not on a problem presented, as then, but on a decision made, as now. i entered the unitarian ministry in the year , [ ] under the influence of motives not unfamiliar. in the first place, i saw the pulpit. i went into the ministry for the same primary reason which has held me there through all these years gone by--a desire to preach. i think i can say, in no spirit of boasting, that from my earliest days i have had an intense interest in the problem of truth, and a passion to interpret and defend by the spoken word, the truth as i saw it, to other men. it is just this passion, i suppose, which makes the preacher, as distinguished from the poet or the scientist. so phillip brooks would seem to suggest in his famous dictum, that preaching is "truth (conveyed) through personality." furthermore, the truth which i desired to expound was theological in its nature. my whole approach to the problem was along the lines of speculation in the field of religious, as distinguished from political or social, thought. god, the soul, immortality, the origin and destiny of man, sin and salvation--these were the questions that held me, even as a boy, partly, i suppose, because of native inclination, partly because of careful training in a unitarian home and church, mostly i am convinced because i early came under the spell of that prince of liberal preachers, dr. minot j. savage. to do what dr. savage was doing each sunday, preaching to eager throngs the great truths of the unitarian gospel--this became the consuming ambition of my life. i wanted to stand in a pulpit and preach. i decided to do so; and if judgment in such a question can be based on experiences of inward joy, i am ready to testify that my decision was not unwise. i entered the church, therefore, primarily because it had a pulpit. but other reasons, not so decisive, and yet impressive, persuaded me to this same end. thus i saw in the church not only a pulpit but an altar. indeed, the pulpit distinguished itself in my mind from a platform or a teacher's desk, by the fact that it was always associated with the presence, visible and invisible, of an altar for divine worship. it was easy for me to picture myself as saying all i wanted to say in [ ] college halls, in theater meetings, in public forums, but i craved for my work on behalf of truth the atmosphere and environment of spiritual devotion. it was my desire, in other words, to be not merely a teacher or speaker, but a preacher; not merely a prophet, but also a priest. this does not mean that i am a churchman, as such; or that i find any permanent significance in rituals or other forms of worship. but there is in me that which seeks the stimulus of praise and prayer, the uplift of conscious communion with the eternal, the consolation of appeal to, and trust in, god. not only from habit, but from temperament, i find myself at home amid religious rites. nothing so moved me on my one trip to europe, as the hours i spent under the shadows of the great cathedrals. as a quiet place of worship, as well as a high place of testimony, the church called me in those youthful years, and i gave answer. a third motive for my choice of the ministry must not be forgotten. i refer to the appeal of the church as a place for action, a service station on behalf of public causes. my vision of what we mean by public causes was strangely limited. it scarcely went beyond the unitarian denomination, and the works of charity and kindly reform with which it has always been identified. i was a passionate unitarian in those days. i had read, and been deeply stirred by, the story of the achievements which unitarianism had wrought on behalf of freedom, fellowship and character in religion. i reverenced its saints and prophets, and longed to follow in their train. hence the eagerness with which i sought preparation for the unitarian ministry--that i might serve the church--advance its glory and magnify its work. it was with such ideas as these in my heart that i was ordained in february, . within two years there came an event which shook my life to its foundations, revolutionized my thought, and changed the whole character of my interest and work. i refer to what we have [ ] learned to describe in our time as the social question. this question, of course, is nothing new. it has burned at the heart of life from the beginning, and at intervals has flamed forth like the eruption of a volcano, to the terror and glory of the world. its latest phase, as we know it today in the religious field, made its appearance at about the time i entered the ministry. i recall that the book, which first revealed the fires so soon to burst upon us--prof. peabody's "jesus christ and the social question "--was published in , the year before my ordination. i was not unprepared for what was coming. my deep-rooted reverence for theodore parker, the supreme prophet of applied christianity in our time, and my enthusiastic study of his life, had revealed to me the meaning of socialized religion. but i had caught only the pure essence of its spirit; i had not thought to apply it to the social problems of today. indeed, i was not aware of the existence of such problems. my whole approach to the question of truth and experience up to that time, had been along the lines of speculation in the field of theological, as contrasted with political or social, thought. in the second year of my ministry, however, i read henry george's "progress and poverty"; then followed the writings of henry d. lloyd and prof. walter rauschenbusch; then came the deep and prolonged plunge into the waters of socialism. for several years after i came to this church, i was in a state of intellectual and emotional upheaval impossible for me to describe. at last came a conviction which was a complete reversal of all my former ideas. i was as a man converted; i was as one who had seen a great light. henceforth i was a social radical; and religion, pre-eminently not a testimony to theological truth but a crusade for social change. of course, my interest in theology has persisted; but its place in my life has tended to become ever more subordinate to other and more directly practical interests. you know how the character of my preaching has changed since i first entered the messiah pulpit. you know with what [ ] waxing intensity of expression i have moved to the left of our various divisions on the social question. you do not know, hence i must tell you, how this intensity of radical conviction is destined to continue in the years that are now before us. for the war has accelerated the social crisis beyond all forecasting. in two years has transpired what fifty years could not have consummated under more normal conditions. three great empires--russia, germany, austria--and several newborn countries, like that of the czecho-slovaks, have been captured by the socialists; and the british empire seems promised to the british labor party in not more than another decade or two. the social revolution long prophesied, long hoped for, long feared, is here; and this means in countries like our own, still untouched by change, such a "sturm and drang periode," as makes even the great war pale into insignificance. now in these years which are before us, i propose to speak and serve for the speediest and most thoroughgoing social reconstruction. i am committed both by conviction and temperament to the program of the british labor party and its policy of indirect or political action for the advancement of that program. this is my predominant interest at this moment, and through what is destined i suppose to be the whole period of my life. this is as much the cause of our day as abolition was the cause of the days before the civil war. to this i have given all i have--from this i intend to withdraw nothing that i have given. not in any sense of bitterness or violence in method, but in every sense of utter change as the end desired, i am committed to the ideal of the complete democratization of society. when the significance of this transformation first broke upon me, i felt an impulse to leave the church, and attach myself directly to the labor movement. i recall how my soul leapt in answer to the great scene at the close of kennedy's "the servant in the house," when the vicar strips off his clerical garb, seizes the dirty hand of his brother, the drain-man, and cries out, [ ] "this is no priest's work--it calls for a man!" i was deterred, however, not, i hope, by cowardice but by wisdom. on the surface i felt that i should miss the services of the church--the prayers and worship with my people. deeper down, and nearer the heart of things, was an unshaken trust in the church as a social institution. i loved her traditions, reverenced her saints and prophets, believed in her destiny--was unconvinced that she must necessarily serve the interests of reaction. at-bottom, was a perfectly clear understanding that my approach to the social question was a spiritual approach, and my acceptance of it the acceptance of a religious task. i saw my new position as nothing more nor less than the logic of christianity. men must be free from all oppression, because they are children of god, and therefore living souls. they must be equal in opportunity and privilege, because they are members of the holy family of god, and therefore brothers. they must be lifted up out of poverty, disease, war, because their heritage is the life of god, and they must have it abundantly. the material aspects of the social question, i would be among the last, i trust, to ignore. these are central--but central only as the fetters are central to the problem of slavery. furthermore, the means which i recognized to the great end, were also spiritual. i could find no place in my thought for the use of violence. the plea of class-conscious rebellion never won my acceptance. only patience, persuasion, and much love for humankind, seemed to me legitimate weapons of reform. in other words, i was again a victim of the logic of christianity. and where did this logic hold me, if not to the church? where could i make plain my spiritual position, or bring to bear my spiritual influence, apart from the church? if this institution must hold me altogether aloof from the social question, then of course my duty was manifest. but its pulpit was wide open to social preaching; its altar a chosen place for social consecration; and its machinery of service all at hand to be shifted from the gear of [ ] charity to the gear of justice. why not stay, therefore, in the church, as theodore parker stayed, and fight capitalism, as he fought slavery, in the garb of a minister of christ? decision on this point came fairly early, and it was favorable to the church. strangely enough, however, it brought me little peace and surety in my church relations. outside, in the denomination at large, i found myself in almost constant conflict with my fellows. there were few meetings or conferences in which i did not speak in protest and vote with minorities. here in the messiah parish there was no trouble, thanks to your forbearance, friendship, and scrupulous loyalty to freedom; but almost from the beginning there was uncertainty, wonderment, at times unrest, on the part of those longest associated with this society; and the records show a melancholy tale of withdrawals of those, not unable to endure differences of opinion, but impelled to turn away when the institution, long precious in their sight, no longer presented the recognizable attributes of a unitarian church. that my own shortcomings as a man and a minister were responsible for much of this disturbance inside and outside the parish, i have no doubt. but as i look back over the years, i also have no doubt that there was something much more fundamental here, at the heart of the trouble. that i was a heretic on the social question was insignificant, for unitarians have long since learned not only to tolerate but to respect their heretics. what was infinitely more important, as i now see, was the fact that unconsciously through these years, i was coming to question not the church itself, as i have explained, but the whole order and purpose of the church as it now exists. every ecclesiastical institution today is denominational in character. it belongs primarily to some particular sectarian body, and is pledged to the service of this body. sometimes the central body is narrow, as in the case of the more orthodox protestant denominations; sometimes it is liberal, as in the case of the unitarians and universalists. [ ] but always there is a distinctive form of organization, or type of ritual, or doctrine of belief, or spirit of association, which binds these separate churches into a single group; and always this distinctive feature is something which had its origin, and still finds its vitality, in the thought and experience of an earlier age. every one of our denominations, and every one of the churches in our denominations, is representative of past controversies, not of present interests and duties. no one sect can be distinguished from any other, except by a reference to the text books of christian history. now with the intrusion of the social question into religion, a new concept of church organization came immediately to the fore. the unit of fellowship was now no longer the denomination, but the community. the centre of life and allegiance was no longer the challenge of ancient controversy, but the cry of present day human need. the more i became interested in questions of social change, the less i was concerned with questions of denominational welfare. the more i became absorbed in the people of new york city, the closer became my fellowship with other ministers similarly absorbed, and the remoter my fellowship with those who were bound to me only by the accident of the unitarian tradition. more and more my hand and heart went out directly to men who saw and labored for the better day of which i dreamed; and only indirectly to those with whom i was appointed to serve, but who could not or would not catch the vision of my dreams. an irreconcilable conflict was here being joined--the old, old conflict between a dead and a living fellowship. it was my intuitive, although unconscious knowledge of this fact, which made me a rebel in every unitarian gathering of the last ten years. it was a similarly unconscious instinct of self-preservation which taught my unitarian brethren, to whom the old association was still central, to resent the things i sought. we had been born together, and we lived together; our past and our present were joint possessions. but when we faced the future, we divided; my [ ] colleagues, many of them, were content with old, familiar ways, while i sought new associations. what was dimly felt in those days, was suddenly transformed into something clearly seen by the impact of the great war. if this stupendous conflict has revealed anything in religion, it is that the sectarian divisions of christendom are no longer to be tolerated. in the fusing fires of battle, presbyterian, methodist, episcopalian, unitarian, even catholic, protestant and jew, have been melted, and now flow in a single flaming stream into the mould which shall fashion them into a single casting. man after man has returned from the front, to tell us that the denominational church is dead. a new ordering of christendom is at hand. the unit of organization will be not the one belief, nor even the one spirit, but the one field of service. not the sect, but the community, will be the nucleus of integration. we will have groupings not of methodist churches, and baptist churches, and unitarian churches, to remind the world of ancient differences, but of new york churches, and boston churches, and san francisco churches, to teach the world of present needs and future hopes. our churches will be related as the wards in a city are related, or the cities in a state, or the states in the nation. we shall be all christians together, as we are all americans together. we shall have different religious ideas as we have different political ideas. but we shall be organized religiously, as well as politically, in a single community. our churches, like our schools, will be the possession, and the resort, of all! this vision of the church as a community, or civic centre, is the logical application of socialized religion. it is no accident that together these two things have captured my life. for a moment, just as the idea of the social question set me thinking of leaving the church altogether, so this idea of the community church set me thinking of leaving this church and organizing in this city an independent religious movement. indeed, this latter thought has been something more than a [ ] momentary temptation. to have a church has been with me from the beginning a necessity. to have a church of the new community order has become a great desire. last spring i seriously considered presenting to you my resignation, that i might enter upon the fulfillment of this hope. last summer i pretty definitely made up my mind to lay this problem and prospect before you, as soon as peace should come, and the distractions of war be gone. then, at the very moment when peace came, as though to anticipate and thus forestall my decision, there came the call from chicago. most of you know what abraham lincoln centre is, and many of you by what pioneer devotion this church of the future was fashioned out of a traditional church of the past. it is not perfect; in some ways it is already itself became traditional again. but it stands today as a more complete embodiment of what i feel a modern church should be than any other institution of which i know in america. the invitation from the people seemed to me an instant bestowal of all for which i seek. i do not think i could have resisted this call to service, had it not been for your rightful claims of loyalty and affection, and my own reluctance to abandon the project of accomplishing my desires in new york. these considerations made me hesitate--and while i hesitated, i thought. why should i turn elsewhere for the fulfillment of hopes which may be as surely if not as swiftly realized here? why should i undertake to build an independent church in this city, or accept the leadership of a church however remarkably developed in chicago, when the church of the messiah, pledged to freedom, and long committed to the idea of progress, lies ready to my hand? why should i seek the easy inheritance of another man's completed work, and thus avoid the hard labor of building an institution of my own, which, for that reason alone, would be moulded nearer to my heart's desire? above all, why should i assume that my people who have loved and sustained me these dozen years, are unwilling to move on with me in comradeship [ ] to the new pathways of the new world which we have entered, or by what right make decision involving my future ministry here or elsewhere, without taking them fully into my confidence and searching the utmost temper of their minds? these were the questions which came to me promptly on the receipt of the chicago call. should i undertake to organize an independent church in new york, should i go to chicago as minister of all souls' church and director of abraham lincoln centre, should i stay here as minister of this church of the messiah--this was my problem. i could not solve it, with fairness to myself or to you, until you had spoken. hence, the meeting of last monday night, called by the helpful co-operation of the board of trustees, and attended largely by our people. in addressing this meeting, i stated in some detail the future conditions of church work which i proposed to establish or to find. i had intended originally not to make these public, at least all at once; but rumor has been busy, and exact information, for purposes of correction, if nothing more, has now become essential. first of all, therefore, may i say that i made announcement to this meeting, as i would now make announcement to you, that i have left, or am planning to leave, the unitarian denomination, and propose not much longer to be known specifically as a unitarian minister. the reasons for this change in my life, i shall make plain at another time; this morning i content myself with stating the fact. almost a year ago i resigned the office of vice-president of the middle states conference of unitarian churches, which have held ever since i came to new york. two months ago, i resigned from the council of the unitarian general conference. two weeks ago, i resigned my life-membership in the american unitarian association. next may, when the new list is made up, i expect to withdraw my name from the official roll of unitarian clergymen, and thus sever the last strand which holds me to the unitarian body. of course, i shall join no other denomination, and in [ ] this sense shall be independent. but to me this action means not isolation, but entrance into that larger fellowship which i so long to share. no barrier will then separate me from those episcopalians and baptists and methodists and other men, who are my real spiritual brethren. i shall be at one with all men everywhere--at home with the family of mankind. i shall not so much cease to be a unitarian, as to become a christian. this matter is of course personal; and it thus affected only incidentally the problem which was before our meeting last monday night. it is easy to find precedent for the occupancy of a unitarian pulpit by a minister not a unitarian. at the time of the famous year-book controversy, mr. potter of new bedford, mass., and several of his colleagues, withdrew from the unitarian body, but continued to hold their unitarian pulpits. the latest instance of which i chance to know was called to my attention by the death last week of prof. george a. foster, of chicago university. dr. foster was born, bred and ordained a baptist; and yet last year was called to fill the pulpit of the first unitarian church church in madison, wisconsin; and died in the service of this church, a baptist. even in orthodox churches, the denominational tag is losing its significance. thus, when the city temple london, the most famous congregational church in the world, sought a successor to dr. campbell, it chose dr. joseph fort newton, of iowa, a universalist. we are getting sensible enough these days to recognize that the essential thing even about a minister is not his name but his manhood. nevertheless, my contemplated change in denominational status might well be regarded as a part of the whole problem before us, and i therefore made careful mention of it last monday night. secondly, and more important, i stated my desire that the church which i should serve tomorrow, might itself be undenominational, at last to the degree implied by my conception of what i have called the community church. by this i meant that the church should proclaim [ ] as its primary interest and aim identification with, and service of, the people of its community, to the subordination, and, if necessary, the ending of its connection with persons of various and scattered communities who have no other bond of union than that of a single denominational inheritance. was i wrong when i ventured the assertion at the meeting of our society, that in this church we have already moved far in this direction? unconsciously, in the last dozen years, it seems to me, we have been moving out of the denomination, into the community. nearly every interest in this parish is a community and not a denominational interest. our natural affiliations as a church in this city have not been so much with churches of our own denomination, as with churches of various denominations distinguished like ourselves as predominantly civic, or community, institutions. this congregation is an independent congregation. if the unitarian name adheres to it at all, it is to the embarrassment of those whose unitarianism is their pride, and to the confusion of those who, not unitarians either by birth or conviction, desire to join us in spirit and active work. for years, like "the chambered nautilus," we have been outgrowing our denominational shell, and seeking "more stately mansions." is it not time, now, that we left this "outgrown shell," and became at last the full and free community institution of which i speak? should we not at least clear ourselves of ancient entanglements to such degree that we may invite people openly and honestly to come into our portals not because they want to profess themselves unitarians, but because they want to confess themselves lovers and servants of mankind? again, i stated at last monday's meeting my desire that the church which i shall serve tomorrow, may have a name which means something in the language and thought of our time. the application of this principle to our church is obvious. the name, church of the messiah, is precious to many of us, because it awakens memories and revives tender associations. but a name [ ] is important not from the standpoint of those who know what it means, or ought to mean, but of those who do not know. the name of a church, like that of a business, is an advertisement. it is a symbol, a slogan, a banner. it should tell at once to everybody what is behind it, what it stands for; and this is exactly what our name does not do, except to the initiate. dr. savage tried to save the situation by associating with the name, lowell's familiar line, "some great cause, god's new messiah." i have tried to breathe the breath of life into the corpse, by attaching it deliberately to our various activities--as the messiah forum, the messiah social service league, etc. but all in vain! our name suggests a hope of ancient judaism, a period of unitarian history, a habit of episcopalian nomenclature--and that is all! it should be changed, to give some adequate expression of our ideals. the city church, the people's church, the community church, the church of the people, the church of the new democracy, the fellowship, the free fellowship, the fellowship of social idealism, the fellowship of the kingdom, the fellowship of spiritual democracy, the liberal centre, the community centre,--think of what we might call ourselves, if we but had the courage. and after all, what courage would it take, save that long since displayed by our fathers in this church? how many of you know that for fourteen years, this church was known simply as the second congregational unitarian society of new york. then in , because the name unitarian was open to serious misconstruction, this name, except in its strictly legal uses, was dropped, and the highly orthodox name we now bear, was substituted. i stated at our meeting that if i should remain as your minister, i should hope that this church might similarly baptize itself afresh in the language of our own time, and in the spirit of our own life! again, at this meeting on monday last, i stated that a modern church should have free pews. this statement needs no definition or argument. the system of pew [ ] rentals is an abomination, already abolished in countless churches more orthodox than our own, and a scandal in any church claiming to be liberal or democratic. lastly, i stated my desire that my church should have a non-covenanted membership. on the side of organization, this means of course that we make our church and society a single body, and thus abolish the present system of two unrelated groups, the one business and the other spiritual in character. on the side of religion, it means that we abandon the idea of an inner group of members, who have reached some spiritual eminence not attained by others. of course, in our body, this sanctification aspect of church membership has disappeared from our apprehension. but if this is the case, why should we retain the form? what is essential is organization and fellowship on the basis of simple brotherhood. here we are, comrades together, worshipping and working to the great end of a better world. we must be bound together in some way, for we must be an enlisted body, not a mob of unrelated individuals. but let it be a roll-call to service--a joining of the church as of the red cross for the love of mankind. in spirit, our membership is already this; but its form is not so much an embodiment of the new democracy of the saviors as an echo of the old aristocracy of the saved. it was with these five points that i confronted the members of this society last monday evening. i stated them much as i have stated them this morning, and then asked not that action be taken, but that sentiment be expressed. since that time, i have been assiduously collecting information of what took place. official report of action taken, of votes passed, has been laid upon my desk. friends have written or spoken to me their impressions of the gathering. i have myself canvassed the members of the board of trustees, and have received replies to my questions which show such high endeavor to convey accurate information and sound advice, quite apart from personal opinion on most points, as does [ ] abounding honor to the persons concerned. from what has thus come to me, i deduce three facts about this meeting. first, that the members of this church were willing to face without revolt or rebuke, questions which more often than not in the past have been the occasion of unseemly quarrel and unholy schism. secondly, that the consideration of these questions was carried on for two hours without bitterness of spirit as between the members of the church, or as between these members and the absent minister. lastly, that there is a large working majority in this church who desire the things that i desire. taking these facts into my own soul, which must be the last court of decision, after all, i have become convinced that i am confronted here by a situation which i can neither ignore nor evade. my challenge to you has been answered by a challenge to myself. to refuse this challenge, is impossible. to leave this fruitage of my twelve years of plowing and planting unharvested, and thus to wither and be scattered, would be a crime. i have therefore declined the call to chicago, and will remain here as your minister! to this announcement of my decision in this case, may i make, in closing, some two or three supplementary remarks? in the first place, for the benefit of such rasher or more enthusiastic spirits as may be present in this place, i would state that i have no intention of abusing the confidence thus reposed in me, or the power thus granted me, by demanding immediate and final action on all the points of my program. we are members here not of a political caucus, but of a church; and it behooves us, therefore, to observe even the uttermost refinements of good-will and mutual consideration. we must respect with scrupulous fidelity the rights of each, and seek nothing that falls short of the happiness of all. determination must now yield place to patience, and courage to sympathy. conversion and not conquest is our method. i had rather wait years to gain my point with the consent of every heart, than carry off the victory [ ] tomorrow with some hearts broken and thrown away. i have a perfect faith in the power of persuasion--an unshaken confidence in the ultimate supremacy of love; and am quite willing to leave to these mystic forces the determination of the time, the method and the ultimate form of our accomplishment. on the other hand, lest there be those who think that deeds are not to follow upon words, may i state that i take up my ministry in this church afresh today with the conviction that i am committed to a program, and you committed to its decent and friendly consideration. nay more, i am persuaded that we are ready for unanimous action on some points. at the regular annual meeting of this society, on monday, january , i hope, and have every reason to expect that a resolution will be introduced, providing for the abolition of the pew rental system of financial support, and the establishment of the principle of free pews. i shall recommend that certain methods be employed for the affecting of this great change: ( ) that all present pew-holders be invited to surrender their sittings and to pay to the treasurer in the form of subscription what they now pay in form of rent; ( ) that those who may be for any reason unwilling to make this change, be protected in their rights and be guaranteed their sittings, so long as they may desire this arrangement; ( ) that all new-comers be invited to support the church by subscription payments only, and no pews or sittings be rented anew under any consideration after a certain date. by some such procedure as this we shall gain our end, protect our present income, and impose compulsion upon no single individual. secondly, it is my hope, and expectation, that at this annual meeting next week, the problem of our name as a church will be taken up. i shall recommend that a committee be appointed to consider a new name for the church of the messiah, and to report back to a special meeting of the society perhaps in the early spring, their recommendation on this point. as regards the problem of non-covenanted membership [ ] i propose to recommend that this matter be promptly referred to the advisory board for study; that this body, in turn, report its findings to the board of trustees for similar study; and that this board, at such time, and in such way, as it and the ministers may deem proper, bring the matter before the society for action. this question is complicated, and poorly understood. we shall want to examine the experience and precedent of other denominational bodies, and of such independent religious organizations as the ethical culture society and the free synagogue. we must find, or create, a system of membership which shall accurately and fully represent the spiritual idealism of this church, as well as practical utility, at its best; and this is a task calling at this moment not for action but for meditation. there is left the most important of all questions which i have raised--the continued connection of this church with the unitarian denomination. it is to me an occasion for surprise that some of you should have imagined that i was desiring, or expecting, action on this matter last monday night. i have been still more astonished to hear, during the week, that some of you suspect or infer that a decision on my part to remain will involve an immediate intention to proceed to the capture of the church for purposes not disclosed. on monday night i gave expression to a conviction and a hope, and asked you to register opinion thereupon. beyond that i would not go, and could not if i would. those of you who have been unitarians for years, are unitarians today, and desire to remain unitarians, must be protected in your rights. the indebtedness of this church to the many in generations gone who have served it for the sake and in the name of unitarianism, must not be repudiated. moral obligation as well as legal necessity may make it impossible for this church to sever connection with the body of its origin. above all, i am insistent that there shall be no quarrel or schism on this issue. there may be place here for change by evolution, but never by violence. no faction must presume to dictate what may [ ] come beneficently by consent alone. what i did on monday last was to plant in your minds the seed which found lodgement years ago in mine. what i shall now do is to wait the germination of that seed through a period of years which may be less, and may well be more, than i endured. and i do this with the more content and confidence, that i have little doubt as to what the result will be. i have not lived with you all these years gone by, without learning the openness of your minds, the instinctive passion of your souls for right, the quickness of your sensibilities to all sweet influences of progress and good-will. if there be truth in my conviction for change, it will in time be your conviction, as it is mine. if this be "the freer step, the fuller breath, the wide horizons grander view," then it will inevitably work enchantment in your hearts as it has in mine. and if not, then shall i trust those sweeping tides of change which are now engulfing all the world and destined so soon, to obliterate the barriers of denomination, so that this issue between us must vanish for good and all. and in any case, we may ever have the task of making our unitarianism in this place of so new and wonderful a character that this body to which we are bound, may itself become transfigured by the service we perform for god and man. i am quite content, therefore, to postpone this question for an indefinite period. by the inward consent of converted minds, or the outward logic of inexorable events, this problem will be settled in due time, and with perfect amity and concord. lastly, may i congratulate you, as i am congratulating myself, on the high adventure of the spirit which we undertake this day; and appeal, without apology, in frankness unashamed, for your support in this endeavor? i call to my people in this church, to join their hands and hearts in this great enterprise of faith. not to divide, but to unite you, am i speaking: for it is the challenge of high aim and struggle which alone can hold [ ] us to accord. i call as well to people outside this church--strangers and friends alike, who have turned from the churches of the past, but, still devout in expectancy and love, have waited long for the new church of the morrow. our vision may be dim, our purpose weak; but we are trying for something higher and better than man has ever known--and we need the help that you can give. we need your money--bills cannot be paid without it. we need your names--a body cannot exist and labor without members. we need your love--our hearts must falter if we have it not. to all who hear these words i speak, to all who read them when they are printed, to all whom rumor may inform and question, i cry out, come! to go on alone, were not so hard. i can do it, if it be necessary. the blazed trail, as well as the broad avenue, knows the footsteps of the lord. the wilderness and the solitary place, as well as the crowded city, is the abode of god. but better than loneliness is comradeship. the explorer may see from afar the promised land, the pioneer may spy it out, but it is the marching host that enters to conquer and possess. to you all, therefore, i lift my cry "we have chosen our path-- path to a clear-purposed goal, path of advance!--but it leads a long steep journey, through sunk gorges, o'er mountains of snow. . . . fill up the gaps in our files, strengthen our wavering line, stablish, continue our march, on to the bound of the waste, on, to the city of god." [ ] twenty-four short sermons on the doctrine of universal salvation by john bovee dods pastor of the first universalist society, in taunton, massachusetts. boston: printed by g. w. bazin....trumpet office . ******************************************************************** sermon i "what man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days that he may see good? keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." psalm xxxiv: - . self-preservation and the desire of protracting the momentary span of life is the first principle of our nature, or is at least so intimately interwoven with our constitution as to appear inherent. so powerful is this desire, that in defiance of pain and misery, it seldom quits us to the last moments of our existence. to endeavor to lengthen out our lives is not only desirable, but is a duty enjoined upon us in the scriptures, and is most beautifully and forcibly expressed in our text. we might here introduce many observations of a philosophical character on _air_ and _climate, meat_ and _drink, motion_ and _rest, sleeping_ and _watching, &c._ and show how sensibly they contribute to health; and we might furnish many examples of long life, but we pass these, and proceed to notice the affections of the mind upon which our text is grounded. the due regulation of the passions contributes more to health and longevity than climate, or even the observance of any course of diet. our creator has so constituted our natures, that _duty, health, happiness_ and _longevity_ are inseparably blended in the same cup. to suppress, and finally subdue all the passions of malice, anger, envy, jealousy, hatred and revenge, and to exercise (till they become familiar) all the noble passions of tenderness, compassion, love, hope and joy, is a duty that heaven solemnly enjoins upon us, and in the performance of which our years will be multiplied. but we must guard not only our moral natures from the ravages of the corroding and revengeful passions, but also our physical natures by observing the strictest rules of temperance in _eating, drinking, cleanliness_ and _exercise_. the book of god commands us to "be temperate in all things." the observance of this duty gives us a firm constitution, robust health, and prepares us to participate in all the innocent and rational enjoyments of life. here we may witness the goodness of the divine being in uniting our duty, happiness and interest in one; and so firmly are they wedded together, and so absolutely does each depend upon the other that they cannot exist alone. they are alike laid in ruins the moment they are separated. if we trace this idea still further, we witness the same wise arrangement, and the same incomprehensible skill and goodness of the author of our being in the constitution of our mental natures. in these also he has wholly united our duty, happiness and longevity in one. jesus says, "love your enemies; bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your father in heaven." paul says--"let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you." here then is our duty plainly pointed out. if we will exercise this spirit of benignity to our enemies, subdue all our revengeful passions, and indulge a spirit of love and friendship, of meekness and cheerfulness towards our friends and neighbors, we shall not only be happy as our natures can bear, not only revel in all the rational enjoyments this life can impart, but we shall in the common course of providence live to old age. all those, with very few exceptions, who have lived to , , and years, have been remarked for their equanimity. they were mild spirited, kind, cheerful, and of such a temperament, that neither misfortune, nor any outward circumstances, that agitated the world, could disturb their heaven-born repose. thus we see that the path of duty, enjoined in the sacred scriptures, is not only the path of peace and joy, but conducts to a good old age. the goodness of the divine being is most strikingly exemplified in uniting health and temperance, happiness and longevity, and our duty to our fellow creatures, all in one. long life and good days, however, depend more upon the state of our minds than upon almost any other circumstance. he who lives in fear and trouble arising from any cause whatever; whether from contemplation of endless misery in the future world, or from the apprehension that his earthly prospects will be blasted and his fortune laid in ruins--or if he is continually involved in quarrels, broils and tumults with his neighbors, has but little prospect of living to old age, and certainly no hope of seeing good days. he is in a constant hell. here then we see the beauty and propriety of our text: "what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good? keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile; depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." the first _condition_ for a long life is, "keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile." but the question arises, in what sense can the violation of that _condition_ have any effect upon the length of life? the answer is at hand--the slanderer is ever a busy body in other men's matters. he is secretly endeavoring to injure his neighbors. he circulates falsehoods about them from house to house. one and another hears the reports put into circulation. they call upon the author for an explanation of his conduct. involved in trouble, arising from fear, guilt and mortification, he tells a thousand falsehoods to clear up one. all this preys upon his inmost vitals, while perhaps with another, whom he has slandered, he is involved in a quarrel, and it terminates in a settled hatred; and a third case becomes an incurable distemper of rancour and revenge. here is a man who by slander has rendered his existence wretched. he is like the troubled ocean whose waters find no rest. there is but little hope of his reaching the common age of man. instead of seeing good days he is walking in the regions of night and wo. says the wise man, "where there is no fuel the fire goeth out, so where there is no tattler, strife ceaseth." yes, "where there is envying and strife, there is confusion and every evil work." violent anger excites powerfully the caloric in the human system, boils the blood, and in this state throws it suddenly upon the brain. the powerful shock propels it instantly to the exterior surface, and torrent-like contracts it back again in redoubled fury upon the brain, and leaves the countenance pale and ghastly. it deranges in a great measure the mind, and unfits it for useful action. it darts its electric fire of vengeance along the optic nerve, expands the retina, and gives to every object a magnified and false appearance, while the very eye-balls by a wild and savage glare proclaim the dreadful storm that is raging within, and pouring the poisonous streams of premature death through all the healthful channels of existence! it suddenly braces the nervous system, and then on the opposite extreme leaves it depressed and weakened. it gradually brings on rheumatic complaints, and lays the whole system open to the most formidable and painful disorders that afflict the human race. it cannot have escaped medical observation that fevers and consumptions are much more frequent among persons who are very irritable and exercise little or no rule over their passions, than among those who are of a mild temperament, either naturally, or from early restraint and education. there is a connexion between the mind and the body so subtle that it has hitherto eluded the eagle-eye of physiology, and will perhaps remain inscrutible forever to human comprehension. but that this connexion exists is fully demonstrated by medical experience, and observation. many bodily disorders derange the mind, and have in many instances totally destroyed it. so on the other hand diseases of the mind effect the body in return, and _grief, despair_ and _melancholy_ have so preyed upon the vitals as to emaciate the body, and bring it to the grave. it is not uncommon that consumptions are brought on by _trouble_ of mind, by _guilt_, and by _melancholy_ and _grief_. and many instances have occurred, where persons in excessive violent anger have dropped down dead. what is so dreadful, when carried to extreme, must be very injurious to health, and long life, when indulged frequently and even moderately. there being then such an intimate connexion between the mind and body, and so many thousands of ways in which one alternately acts upon, and effects the other, and brings millions to an untimely grave, we see at once the propriety of not only guarding our health by temperance in eating and drinking, but more particularly by avoiding troubles of a mental character. these are generally brought upon individuals, families and neighborhoods, by the bad use of the tongue. would you live long that you may see good days? then keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile, seek peace and pursue it. avoid every species of iniquity that would have a tendency to blast your own or the peace of others. avoid it as you would the poisonous exhalations of the bohon upas, and fly it as you would the dreadful samiel of the arabian desert. sermon ii "what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good? keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it." psalm xxxiv: - . we have shown in our last number that the truth of this text is based upon philosophy, and verified by experience and observation: that nothing is more destructive to health and longevity than to indulge in the revengeful passions of our nature; and that constant fear, grief and melancholy are also destructive to the human constitution, and withering to the dearest joys of life. we have shown that violent anger, revenge and most of the malignant passions originate from the bad use of the tongue; and that if we would live long and see good, we must give heed to our ways by following the injunctions of the text. we now propose a further discussion of this subject, addressed particularly to the young. a single spark of fire has often wrapped a city in conflagration. great effects not unfrequently flow from small causes. the apostle james says, see chap. iii--"behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. even so the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. for every kind of beasts and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind. but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly member full of deadly poison." the apostle, in the above quotation, has reference to those who have so long indulged in evil speaking that it has become, as it were, an incurable habit. if any man makes a practice of slandering his neighbors, and disturbing the peace of the community, it is immaterial to what church he may belong, or what os-tentatious professions he may make, he is, notwithstanding all this, destitute of christianity. it is a painful fact that the religion of the present day is too much accommodated to the fashions and customs of the world. let a man, for instance, use profane language, or get intoxicated, and he will readily be suspended from the communion of the church. but let him slander his neighbors, and little or no notice is taken of his conduct. and let him slander other denominations; and it becomes, as it were, a virtue; whereas the fact is that the latter, according to the book of god, is much the greatest crime. it is therefore wise to lay, in early youth, a foundation for a tranquil, virtuous and long life. thus you see my young friends that virtue and happiness, temperance, prosperity and longevity are inseparably connected by the author of our being, who has made them to depend in a great measure upon our conduct. you have also seen that sin and misery, intemperance in body, and also intemperance in mind, such as evil speaking, violent anger, commotions, griefs and troubles, and a premature grave, are likewise inseparably and wisely connected. and now, my young friends, which will you choose? if you love life and desire to see many days, let me exhort you to choose the _former_, and to drink freely out of that golden cup in which every earthly joy of unbroken felicity is mingled by the unerring hand of divine mercy; and let me warn you to reject the _latter_, for in it are mingled the bitter drugs of misery. be temperate in eating and drinking. be temperate in all your pursuits in life, and in all your desires. be temperate in your conduct; and (as an able writer observes) pitch upon that course of life which is the most excellent, and habit will soon render it the most delightful. avoid not only every word and action that may lead to discord and contention, but, as our text says, depart from evil and _do good_, seek peace, and pursue it. let us do good to all our fellow creatures, and endeavor to overcome their hatred with love, and their evil with good. yes, my young friends, affectionately and solemnly would i urge you to begin early to curb your passions, and to study sweetness of disposition. it will soon become to you perfectly natural, and thus you will lay the foundation for a virtuous and tranquil old age. but, asks the youth, shall i live longer for subduing my passions and doing good, for seeking peace and pursuing it? certainly. our text teaches this; so does philosophy, and the scriptures generally. jesus christ says, "blessed are the _meek_, for they shall inherit the earth." that is, they shall long enjoy it. "blessed are the peace-makers for they shall be called the children of god." the fifth commandment says, "honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god giveth thee." by honoring our parents, we are to understand a filial and submissive obedience to their precepts by not departing from that way in which with many exhortations, prayers and tears, they sought to train us up. in this case, honoring them would of course require us to walk in the paths of virtue and temperance, and to live an honest, quiet and peaceable life which would ensure the promise, and give us many days. not only do the scriptures promise long life to the peaceable, temperate and meek, but they on the other hand just as solemnly declare that "the wicked shall not live out half their days." this passage has occasioned much dispute among religious denominations; one affirming that every man's time is appointed in the counsels of heaven by the decree of god, who "declares the end from the beginning;" and another affirming that _it is not_, for the above passage teaches that the life of man may be shortened. but there is no occasion for dispute on this point, for they are both right, as we have seen in the course of our remarks. this passage is but the counterpart of our text. it is the decree of god that the wicked, the abandoned shall not reach the extreme of human life, because they indulge in those very crimes, which, in the constitution of things, must inevitably carry them to an early tomb. of the truth of this we see thousands of instances in the world. and god has decreed that the meek, the peaceable shall reach the extreme of life, because they pitch upon that happy course of conduct which naturally leads to it. all that we are to understand by his _decree_, is that he has inseparably connected the _end_ with the _means_ by so constituting our natures, and so ordering his providence that _sin, dissipation, anger,_ and _revenge_ shall not only destroy happiness, but shorten life, so certain as men pursue such a wretched course. and that the opposite course of conduct shall not only communicate happiness, but protract life so certain as they engage in it. here then, my young friends, you may readily perceive how god punishes vice and rewards virtue. he does not do it by any abstract law, or arbitrary mode of procedure, but lie has in infinite wisdom interwoven, the whole in the very constitution of our natures, so that the wicked cannot go unpunished, nor the righteous unrewarded. to teach that man can indulge in vice, and yet escape its punishment by future repentance, is not only dangerous to the morals of society, but is a direct impeachment of the divine administration, as it must in such case, be defective. and to teach that men may live righteously and godly and yet go unrewarded, is equally dangerous to the morals of the community, as it is but discouraging them from engaging in a virtuous course of conduct. to teach that men are to be rewarded in a future world for their _goodness_ here, is but in substance saying that virtue is attended with mental misery, and so far as it fails of rewarding its possessor _here_, the balance is to be made up _hereafter_. and to teach that men are to be punished in a future state for their _badness_ here, is but in substance saying, that vice is attended with some mental joys, and so far as it fails of punishing its possessor _here_, the balance is to be made up _hereafter_. it is readily granted that the righteous may suffer. but we ought ever to make a plain distinction between afflictions and punishments, for the bible does this. it is impossible in the nature of things that punishment can exist except in connexion with guilt. paul and silas were cast into prison and fastened in the stocks, on account of their religion. but nothing could disturb their mental peace--their heaven-born repose. they joyfully sung psalms, and lifted up their voices in prayer to god in the calm enjoyment of a pure unsullied conscience. they suffered afflictions that were, under the government of god, to work out for their good. there were no doubt others in that prison justly suffering for their crimes. to them it was punishment. because the _former_ were suffering _affliction_, the _latter, punishment_. the scriptures say, "great peace have they that love thy law; and nothing shall offend them." "there is no peace, saith my god, to the wicked;" and he who says there _is_, contradicts jehovah. if you would, my young friends, avoid punishment, avoid sin. if you would be happy, and enjoy a long and tranquil life, follow carefully the directions of our text; for rest assured that a contrary course of conduct will not only involve you in misery and wretchedness, but bring you to a premature grave. let us then take warning, and not become our own executioners. let us make the most of life we may, and not turn our present existence, which is one of heaven's choicest blessings, into a curse. let us do good in our day and generation, and render ourselves blessings to mankind, by living soberly, righteously and peaceably in the world? let us do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with god--visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. sermon iii "and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of, men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." daniel iv: . that reason, as well as revelation, teaches an overruling providence, very few deny. there must exist in nature an omnipotent and benevolent being to keep all her works in harmony--to touch the most secret and subtle springs of the vast machinery of the universe--to regulate seed time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night; and to throw the enrapturing charms of countless variety not only over the landscape, but over all that we behold in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath. globes roll in the paths assigned them, and by some unseen hand are wisely kept from interfering in their orbits, and disturbing each other's motions. these facts demonstrate the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent being; and every event, transpiring in the government of the world, proclaims an omnipresent jehovah. he not only works in the majesty of the lightning, and in the grandeur of the storm regulating and directing the whole in its sublime career, but he notices the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the very hairs of our head. events, the most trivial in their nature, are the objects of his notice, as well as those of the most momentous character. were not this the case, universal disorder and ruin would soon find their way into his works, break the chain of events, and reduce all, that we now admire, from its present harmony and glory, down to its general confusion and chaos. this conclusion is unavoidable, because some of the greatest events that have transpired in the world, owe their existence to something of a very trivial nature. if god did not, in the general government of the world, direct also _small events_, then he could not be the author of those great events which flow from them. on this principle there might transpire countless events of the greatest magnitude without the direction and superintendance of deity. the admission of _this_ is but practical atheism. it is acknowledging a god in words, but in works denying him. it alike makes _chance_ the governor of the world to those who acknowledge such a god, as to those who wholly deny his existence. in our text a presiding deity is solemnly recognized by the prophet daniel, and his supremacy over the affairs of men is throughout the whole chapter most strikingly set forth before the assyrian king. he had dreamed a dream which none of the wise men of babylon were able to interpret. daniel was called to him; who after making known to that proud monarch his destiny involved in that dream, expostulates with him on his conduct. he did not threaten him with endless punishment in tile immortal world, but informed him that there was a god that ruled the heavens, and presided over the affairs of men; and exhorted him to forsake his iniquities. this is his language: "and whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. wherefore, o king! let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. all this came upon the king nebuchadnezzar. at the end of twelve months, he walked in the palace of the kingdom of babylon. the king spake, and said, is not this great babylon, that i have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty? while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, o king nebuchadnezzar! to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee. and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." nebuchadnezzar was the son of nabopolasser, and the second king of assyria. he was regent with his father in the empire years before the birth of our lord, and the next year, he raised a powerful army, marched against jerusalem, and took jehoiakim, king of judah, prisoner. while making preparations to carry him and his subjects into captivity, in babylon, jehoiakim solemnly promised submission, and begged the privilege of holding his throne under the sceptre of nebuchadnezzar. this favor was granted, and he was permitted to remain at jerusalem. three years after this, he made an unsuccessful attempt to throw off the assyrian yoke and regain his former independence. this brought on the general captivity of the jewish nation, which lasted years. nebuchadnezzar extended his conquests till he subjugated the ethiopians, arabians, idumeans, philistines, syrians, persians, medes, assyrians, and nearly all asia to his sceptre. these splendid conquests, and being now king of kings, lifted up his heart with pride, that he caused a golden image to be reared on the plains of dura. he issued a royal edict, and commanded the princes and rulers of all these nations as well as their principal subjects to assemble; and being assembled, he commanded them to fall down and worship his golden god. daniel's companions refused to do this, and were cast into the fiery furnace. from this circumstance he was brought to acknowledge a supreme being, and even issued a decree that any one who spoke amiss against the god of shadrach, meshach and abednego should be cut in pieces. but as he was gazing upon the massy walls of babylon--a work of gigantic achievement; as he was surveying, from the height of his palace, the hanging gardens and lofty towers, (an aerial world!) as he was admiring his own magnificence, by the sentence of that god whom he had glorified, he was driven from men, and in the hebrew style of expression, is said to have eaten grass like oxen. by this we are to understand that he was suddenly seized with a disease called by the greeks lycanthropy, and which is known among physicians at the present day by the name of hypochondria. it is a species of madness that causes persons to run into the fields and streets in the night, and sometimes to suppose themselves to have the heads of oxen, horses, dogs, or fancy themselves to be like some other animal, and doomed to fare like them. and some have imagined themselves to be made of glass. at the end of seven years nebuchadnezzar's understanding returned to him, and he was restored to his throne and glory. he died years before christ in the rd year of his reign. it is our intention to consider this text in a moral point of view, as applicable to all men of all ages, and in all conditions in life. while pursuing the various occupations to which our inclination, or fancy may lead, we are too apt to lose sight of that being who holds our destinies in his hand; and more particularly so in seasons of prosperity, when blest with health and other sublunary enjoyments. strange as it may seem, yet it is substantially true, that in proportion as man is successful in the accomplishment of his plans, he becomes arrogant and haughty in his feelings, and instead of acknowledging his dependence on god, and feeling the bursts of gratitude for the favors and enjoyments heaven scatters in his path, he loses sight of the benign hand that blesses him, and, like the proud assyrian monarch, ascribes all his prosperity to his own plans, and to the effect of his own peculiar management. he surveys the lands he has purchased, the beautiful buildings he has erected, the wealth he has accumulated, and in view of these achievements of his hand, as he is floating on the full tide of prosperity, he is ready to breathe out in exultation,--"is not this great babylon which i have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty." when success becomes common, man forgets his dependence on him who rules in the armies of heaven, and over the affairs of men. it is our duty as intelligent creatures to exercise our reason in viewing things as they really are. he, who will not do this, but goes through life thoughtless, so far resigns the man, and assumes the brute. even some, who bear the christian name, proclaim against reason, call her carnal, and prostrate her as it were at the shrine of enthusiasm. they lean upon certain frames and feelings of the animal nature. they are so far driven from men. i say it is our duty as rational intelligences to hold our station in the scale of being, and to exercise our reason in viewing things as they are. we ought candidly and solemnly to weigh the blessings of god, and consider the relation in which we stand to him as our creator and benefactor. who can tell the value of existence, or number its countless joys? what a wonderful production is man! he has given us the most beautiful symmetry of parts,--has moulded our limbs with accuracy, and freely bestowed these admirable lineaments of form! he has formed the ear for sound, and awakened in its vocal chambers the flowing charms of music, the harmony of rejoicing nature, the dear voices of parents and children, and the sweet whisperings of love and friendship! he has moulded the transparent eye, bedded it in its bony socket, and on its retina painted the universe! he has bid it not only to disclose, all the varied passions of the soul, but to roll with softness and affection on the fond companion of our ways, on the countless beauties of nature, and bid it with infinite ease sweep the entire vault of heaven. he has set in motion the warm current of life that rolls through our veins, pouring nourishment, health and animation through all the channels of existence. it is he who throbs the heart, who heaves the lungs, and who bids the ten thousand complicated parts of this organized frame move on. in all this, his goodness is every moment felt, and yet we are thoughtless of these manifestations of his loving kindness. they are so common that we have ceased to prize them. when sickness and distress come upon us, it is then we learn the value of health and ease, and are often awakened to the reality that the most high rules. in view of the trials incident to life, we hear the psalmist exclaim "before i was afflicted i went astray, but now have i kept thy word." this seems to be the lamentable condition of man. when rolling in the calm tide of uninterrupted prosperity, and rejoicing in the vigor of health, he forgets there is a god, or becomes thoughtless that the heavens do rule, and begins, like the king of babylon, to ascribe all his success to his own power, foresight and management, and is practically an atheist. but however thoughtless men may be, yet there is a god who governs the world, and will so order and direct his providence, that every one who goes counter to the principles of rectitude is _doomed, inevitably_ doomed, to suffer the consequences. there is too much practical atheism in the world. by this we mean that there are too many of those who acknowledge a god in words, that deny him in conduct. every one, who lives upon the bounties of heaven, who enjoys the sweets of existence, and remains thoughtless of god, is practically an atheist. as saith paul, "they profess that they know god, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." he, who goes on in the ways of transgression and multiplies his iniquities, must either believe there is no god, or else conclude that he does not rule over the affairs of men; and on this ground flatters himself that he shall escape punishment. and not only so, but in opposition to the express declaration of jehovah, he believes that he shall enjoy a degree of happiness in the indulgence of sin. all such are driven from those rational reflections and moral principles, which virtually constitute the man, and have yet to learn, "that the heavens do rule." sermon iv "and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of, men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." daniel iv: . every man, who believes that the path of virtue is thorny, and that of vice is pleasurable, is not only deceived, but has not yet learned that the most high holds the reins of government, and dispenses to his creatures their rewards and punishments. it is evident, if every man solemnly believed that a course of sin would bring upon him certain and unavoidable misery--and that every species of dishonesty would lessen his fortune in the world, he would abandon his course, and turn his feet to the testimonies of god. the transgressor is therefore deceiving himself, is resting under a strong delusion, and is yet ignorant that the almighty rules throughout his vast dominions. certain it is that a wicked man was never happy while remaining in that condition, and it is equally certain that no one ever yet went unpunished. to this point we intend to invite your serious attention in this discourse. the expression in our text, "till thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men," does not only imply a knowledge of the existence of a supreme intelligence, who governs the world, but an obedience to the moral laws of his empire. on this proposition we purpose to offer a few rational, and not only rational, but irresistible arguments. we will first notice the condition of those who are guilty of heinous crimes, and then come down to the common walks of life, and bestow a few remarks on those who are indifferent about their condition, and only guard their conduct so far as comports with the customs and manners of that portion of the community, who have no higher principle of action than to be considered respectable among men. though we come before the public to defend the doctrines of christ, yet, my friends, you will bear in mind that it is also our duty to enforce his precepts, and exhort to the obedience of the gospel. that we should point out the road of sin, error and misery, and also endeavor to throw the light of heavenly truth on the pathway of human life. we will begin with the murderer, who wantonly embrues his hands in the blood of his fellow. so far as he has violated the laws of his country, he is a subject for public execution, and has nothing to hope for, at the tribunal of human justice. his misery, whether it arise from the contemplation of an ignominious death, from the fear of detection, or from the consciousness of having violated the moral principles of his nature, is alike insupportable, as well as indescribable. is he detected? shut out from the world and confined in his loathsome cell, he is left to his own reflections, and to all the horrors of the gathering storm. but even admitting that he should escape detection, and be left to his own meditations on his deed of blood, he would, like cain, breathe out in agony of soul, "my punishment is greater than i can bear!" he might, indeed, mingle with the busy throng--he might even smile, and wear a face of pleasure, but behind this mantled mask he would conceal a heart of pain. he might, indeed, gaze upon the landscape, listen to the songs of the grove, and contemplate the glories of nature, but the charm, that once gave him ecstatic delight and solid joy, is vanished from his sight; and all, that once was fair and lovely, wears the frown of darkness and indignation. he gazes upon little children, and hears their artless and innocent prattle, reflects what he once was, and every joy, that sparkles in their eyes, sends a dagger to his heart. the rustling of a leaf strikes him with terror and alarm, and every passing breeze bears to his tormented soul the groans of the dying man, and conscience forces him to listen to the heart-rending tale of wo. fain would he fly from himself, and enjoy one hour's repose; but alas! that god, who rules in the kingdom of men, has written a law in his heart, where he reads and feels his condemnation, and where conscience sits on the judgment seat, constantly holds him arraigned at her tribunal, and fans up in his bosom the burning flames of hell! he may lie down on his pillow, but spectres haunt his brain; and awake, asleep, at home, abroad, he finds that he has rendered his own existence a curse. he lives in misery, and in darkness expires. let us next notice the thief, who plunders our property. his crime is of less magnitude than the above, but his guilt is in proportion. no one by such means has ever enriched himself. he, who obtains property by dishonorable means, is ignorant of its value, and will dishonorably spend it. he has forgotten that god governs the world. our state-prisons and penitentiaries not only (so far as human laws are concerned) reveal his fate, but speak his woes. but suppose he escape detection, and is only exposed to the naked and fearful grandeur of that law which god has written in the heart. he hears its thunders, and he feels its fires. he his taken from some fellow being his hard earnings; and sees him and perhaps his children mourning their misfortune and suffering the miseries of adversity. guilt takes possession of his soul, and misery, which the hand of time cannot extinguish, rolls its dark waves of damnation upon him, and drowns his dearest joys, while poverty marks him for her own. god has so constituted his plans in the government of the world that the plunderer cannot prosper. inward horrors and fears of detection abstract his mind from the proper duties of life, so that misfortune and defeat find their way into his plans, which might otherwise by calm deliberation have succeeded, and disappointment and misery, satiety and disgust, and all the evils that are the offspring of his iniquity, commingling in a thousand ways, render his existence wretched. relying upon dishonesty for support, he becomes but a midnight beggar. his slumbers are haunted by frightful dreams; and fear of detection, prisons and dungeons are torturing his imagination and incessantly sporting with his broken peace. he is a stranger to those solid joys arising from the practice of virtue, is doomed to encounter all the miseries that attend his ill-chosen career, and to drink every drug of wormwood and gall that heaven has mingled in the cup of dishonor. he lives a nuisance and pest to society, and dies covered with infamy. in all this we shall see the truth of our text exemplified, that god rules in the kingdom of men, and brings punishment, not only upon a haughty monarch seated on the throne of nations, but upon every transgressor however obscure may be his condition in the walks of private life. the sovereign decree of his empire is--"though hand join in hand, yet shall the wicked not go unpunished." but we take our leave of flagitious crimes and proceed to notice men in the common walks of life. every man who makes riches, or public honors the chief end of all his pursuits, and gives all his attention to the attainment of his object, and over-reaches in bargains whenever an opportunity offers, or sets various prices on his merchandise, according to the person with whom he deals--such a man will never feel himself filled with riches, nor satisfied with honors. the reasons are obvious. he commences his career under the impression that happiness, contentment and all the rational enjoyments of life consist in wealth, and in human greatness. he soon finds himself in possession of as large a fortune as he first supposed would make him happy. but his desires for more, having imperceptibly expanded, he finds within an increased restlessness, and even greater desires for _more_ than when he first set out. he still believes, according to his original impression, that happiness lies in gold; and that the only reason why he has not obtained those solid joys in possession which he first anticipated, is because he still needs more. but though wealth may flow upon him in oceans, his cravings for more will ever swell beyond what earth can give, and leave him a more wretched being than he was at the commencement of his course. here is his loss--here is his punishment. god has not placed happiness in wealth. _"a competence is all we can enjoy, o, be content where heaven can give no more."_ or let him rise to that station of honor, which he now believes will satisfy him, and his ambition would aspire to one more exalted. let him govern one kingdom, and he would desire to subjugate another till the whole world bowed to his nod. and were every star an inhabited world, and did he possess means to invade them, his ambition would continue to soar till he ruled the universe, and were there no object left to which he might still direct his ambition and continue to soar, he would set down in despair, and, like alexander the great, weep and sigh for more worlds to conquer. all this restlessness and misery arise from false notions of: happiness--from not realizing that the most high rules in the kingdom of men--and from a want of confidence in his word, which points the rich and the poor alike to that noble path of virtue and religion, where true happiness and unbroken peace forever reign. by men embracing virtue, and in their feelings and actions ever acknowledging the supremacy of jehovah, inevitably leads to happiness and contentment. but in doing this we are not to deprive ourselves of the enjoyment of honest gotten wealth, nor of the rational pursuits and interchanges of social and domestic life. religion was not given to deprive us of the common comforts and conveniences of life, but to sweeten them. our redeemer says, "seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." sin and misery in this world are inseparable: so are righteousness and happiness. if they are not, then it remains for the advocates for a future retribution to show how men are to be sufficiently rewarded and punished in the future world. there is my friends no solid happiness, no permanent satisfaction only in the contemplation that god governs the world, and in the practice of pure and rational piety. this you may know by studying your own bosom. have any of you thus far spent your days in striving to find perfect bliss in the various pursuits of life? have you aspired to one object, abandoned it, and taken up another? if so, can you say that you have found the happiness you anticipated, and so earnestly sought? no! what is the reason? there is one thing needful. whatever may be your pursuit, if you are thoughtless that god governs the world, and if instead of rendering him the homage of a grateful heart, you blaspheme his name, or are selfish and regardless of the happiness of your fellow creatures, you must, according to the established laws of his empire, remain in that same restless and dissatisfied condition till you know by experience that the heavens do rule--till you bow to the sublime requirements of his word. _that dissatisfaction_ varied according to the condition of moral character is the punishment god sends upon us for our indifference. from this indifference we may rise to that unquenchable thirst for riches, already noticed, and our sufferings will receive new accessions according to our moral light. and from this we may rise to a desire for honour and power, till we are hurried on by ambition to conquest and slaughter where we are doomed to suffer all the miseries a buonaparte endured. from this we may rise to dishonour, fraud and theft; and as we rise in crime, our miseries increase in degree, till we imbrue our hands in innocent blood, and thus render our bosoms a hell and our very existence a burthen. every man is in a condition of uneasiness, suffering, guilt, hardness of heart and blindness of mind exactly in proportion to his moral conduct. let us then be wise;--and if we desire happiness, let us seek it in that course where the unerring word of god assures us it can alone be found. let us acknowledge "that the heavens do rule," and rest assured that he, who notices the fall of a sparrow, will not wink at our evil doings. sermon v "for what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of god without effect? god forbid; yea let god be true, but every man a liar." romans iii: , . the doctrine of salvation by jesus christ, is worthy the solemn consideration of all men. it is this, that rendered a revelation necessary. it is this that kindled the flame of transport in celestial bosoms, and raised that triumphant song, "glory to god in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men." salvation is the doctrine of the bible, and ought ever to be the theme of the pulpit. salvation is the oracle of heaven around which all denominations assemble, receive their instructions, and believe according to the force of evidence. prefaced with these remarks, we will now proceed to state what we conceive to be the _law and gospel_--point out the distinction between them, and defend the gospel doctrine of salvation of faith. the law was a conditional covenant between god and man. it was predicated on works. under this covenant, if a man were strictly moral in his external deportment--if he lived up to its letter, he was considered righteous. this covenant was imperfect, because it could be kept externally without reaching the heart. they could exclaim like the young man, who came to jesus--"all these things have i kept from my youth up," and still lack the one great point, charity. therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified in the sight of god. the law, being temporary in its nature, had nothing to do with eternal things. paul says, "sin is the transgression of the law. where there is no law there is not the knowledge of sin." from this it appears that sin, being a transgression of that law, which was given us for the regulation of our conduct in this life, can receive no punishment in the future world. if sin should be committed in the future state, then in the future state it would be punished. the same argument will apply to our obedience to the law, which can receive, for the same reason, no reward in that world. "no flesh shall be justified by the deeds of the law." "eternal life is the gift of god." if so, then it cannot be "of works, lest any man should boast." god, being infinite in wisdom, could not have failed to enact a law so perfect, and so exactly adapted to the nature of man, that _obedience_ would render him a rich reward, and _disobedience_ a condign punishment. the wise man says that "the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner." we now turn to the spirit of the law.--"to love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself is the fulfillment of the law;" and if we are not to be saved by the law, then our _love_ to god and each other cannot save us; for that is the law. by what then are we to be saved? answer: by the gospel, which is god's love manifested to his creatures. the conclusion then is that we are not to be saved by our _love_ to god, but by god's _love_ to us. this, i presume, no one will dispute. here then we discern the difference between the law and the gospel. god's love is the _cause_ of salvation--human love is the _effect_. "herein (says john) is love; not that we loved god, but that he loved us." "we love him _because_ he _first_ loved us." how many did he love? he so loved the world who were dead in trespasses and sins, that he freely delivered up his son for us all--he by the grace of god tasted death for every man. this is the gospel-love that god commendeth towards us, and the love that will finally save us. many persons contend that we must love god and do certain duties, or we cannot be saved. this is preaching ourselves. it is preaching the love of man as the cause of his salvation, instead of the love of god. and while thus preaching, they will perhaps at the same time tell the sinner that god is his enemy. but will the sinner's love make god his friend--will it cause his creator to love him? no; right the reverse of this is the doctrine of christ. "we love god because he first loved us." if we deny god's _first_ love to the sinner, we then destroy the very _cause_ by which _alone_ the sinner can be made to love god. if we make men believe that god is their enemy and hates them, then we use all the means in our power to drive them from the bosom of their father, and keep them in darkness and sin. the sinner, in this situation, can never be made to serve god, only by being driven to it by terror, the same as some wretched slave is made to cower and submit in fear and dread to some revengeful tyrant. but this is not the service god requires. he requires a service which is delightful, and in which his creature feels an abundant reward. we grant that men, under the first covenant, were called upon to fear god. the reason of this obvious, when we reflect that god had covenanted to bestow certain blessings upon them, providing they would do their duty. if they failed, then he would execute the temporal judgments upon them, which the law points out, and threatens. under this covenant men had just as much reason to fear, as they were liable to transgress it. but when an angel announced the dawn of a better covenant; he said "fear not, for behold i bring you glad tidings of great joy." in this is nothing to be feared. all the fear lies in the first, and thunders out to ever sinner, "cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the law to do them?" but john, speaking in view of the second covenant, says, "there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. he that feareth is not made perfect in love." the _first_ covenant is founded on works, and is _conditional_;--but the _second_ is founded on the immutable promise of god, and is _unconditional_. in the law, we are commanded _to do_ according to the reasonableness of its requirements; but in the gospel we are exhorted _to believe_ in view of evidence and fact. and as no man can believe, or disbelieve what he pleases, therefore conditions are excluded. what is the meaning of gospel? it is good tidings of great joy. it is life and immortality brought to light at the appearing of our lord and saviour, jesus christ, who has abolished death by giving us the assurance of a resurrection from corruption to incorruption and glory. it is news. in view of news, what is the first thing necessary? answer, _belief_. it is impossible to work news; therefore the gospel is not of works. in the law, the first requirement is _to do_;--but in the gospel the first requirement is _to believe_. the law-covenant is therefore temporary, fallible and uncertain; but the gospel-covenant is eternal, infallible, and in all things well ordered and sure. the _first_ rests on the obedience of the creature, but the _second_ on the promises of jehovah. paul therefore calls it a better covenant established upon _better_ promises. perhaps someone may feel disposed to ask--whether faith is all that is necessary? we reply that it is the cause which produces its effect. paul answers this question thus--"we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law, do we then make void the law through faith? god forbid; yea we establish the law." here let the question be asked;--how do we establish the law by _faith_? answer, "faith will have its perfect work." but what is that perfect work, which faith produces? ans. faith works love in the soul; and if we love god, we will keep his commandments. and _faith, love_ and _keeping_ the commandments are the three exercises, that form the christian character. faith is the foundation; works are not. we cannot begin to build on works. instead of being the _first_, they are the _last_ christian grace. they are the visible _effects_ of an inward, living faith. faith and faith _only_ is the seed rooted and grounded in the truth, and (to use a bible figure) it becometh a tree, and produces all the fruits of the spirit-love, joy, meekness, temperance, long-suffering, forbearance. this is what the apostle calls the "righteousness of faith" in contradistinction to "the righteousness of the law," produced by fear. paul compares faith to a good olive tree. "the jews through unbelief were broken off," and "thou (the gentile) standest by faith." jesus says; "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove." here, in parable, faith is represented as removing mountains of sin. he further says--"thy _faith_ hath made thee whole";--not thy works. paul exclaims, "faith works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes the world." john says, "and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith." it is a certain fact, that none of these salutary effects are ascribed to human works. the apostles in no instance say, that _works_ purify the heart, or overcome the world--or that this is the victory, even your _works_; the whole is ascribed to _faith_; because that is the living tree on which the good fruits grow. works are, in scripture, called fruits. "by their _fruits_ ye shall know them"--that is by their _works_. "a good tree cannot bring forth evil _fruit_." to carry out this figure, we would remark that, fruit can have no existence till the tree is first produced. therefore in a gospel sense, no good works, acceptable to god, can be produced without a true and living faith. the apostle declares, "without faith it is impossible to please god." the gospel being good tidings, or news, are you satisfied that thing necessary? i presume all denominations will assent to the fact, that faith is the first religious exercise of the creature. we shall then obey the command of the apostle, and "contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." but asks the reader, what matter is it which is first in order, whether _love, faith_ or _works_? i reply that it is a matter of vast importance, and without understanding this fact, we cannot come to the knowledge of the truth, even though we should be ever learning. if these three christian graces _faith, love_ and _works_, are preached in a confused and mixed manner, we cannot arrive at a true understanding of a gospel salvation, neither can we tell the difference between law and gospel. the law is of works, and the gospel is of faith. and no man can fulfill the spirit of the law without faith in the gospel. when the sinner exercises faith in the love and goodness of god in freely giving him eternal life, which infinitely transcends all other blessings--that moment faith works love in his heart, and causes him to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. he then loves god because god first loved him. and when the sinner loves god, he is passed from death unto life, and that love is the fulfillment of the law. we are now led to see the consistency of faith being the first step. it is the very _cause_ that produces _love_ to god, and _love_ induces us to keep the commandments. "faith works by love," and "if ye love me," says jesus, "ye will keep my commandments." we will now introduce an example, which will plainly show the distinction between the law and gospel and in what manner they affect the sinner. suppose a king sentences six of his subjects to imprisonment during life, and commands them to spend their days in hard labor. they are put in confinement, refuse to obey his commands-- refuse to labor, and in the midst of their miseries curse his name. they are now in disobedience under the condemnation of the law. the king says to his only son, i love those subjects and i covenant with you to set them free in three years. the son says, father i delight to do thy will. let me go and reveal to them, the glad tidings of this covenant promise. the king answers--my son, in the fullness of time i will send you. let them remain, one year, under the law. but says the son, they are now transgressing your law, and need instruction. the king replies, i will send my servant to enforce that law. let him go and inform the prisoners, that i am angry with them for their conduct; and if they will obey my commands, and labor faithfully, they shall have excellent food and good clothing as a reward. but if they will not comply, they shall be chained, and kept on bread and water as a punishment for their disobedience. the servant goes and delivers to them this message. three of those subjects, for fear of the punishment and in _hope_ of the reward, obey the king, and outwardly respect his commands, but perhaps have little, or no love for him. (here we see the righteousness of the law which is not acceptable to god.) they accordingly receive, day by day, the promised reward. but the other three prisoners despise these conditions and refuse to obey. they are chained, fed on bread and water, and meet their deserts. here, then, are six prisoners laboring under the law, and groaning in bondage with no hopes of deliverance. the law knows of no deliverance --no redemption. it simply serves as a school master to teach them the difference between right and wrong--to teach them the will of the king, and thus prepare them to receive a better covenant, which is to be revealed to them by the king's son. but under the covenant they now are, they have no motives to prompt them to obedience, but the _fear_ of punishment and the _hope_ of reward. in our next, this will be fully illustrated. sermon vi "for what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of god without effect? god forbid; yea let god be true, but every man a liar." romans iii: , . we resume the argument, in this discourse, concerning those prisoners brought forward in our last. we left them in bondage under the sentence of the law with no hopes of deliverance. the first year rolls away. the king says, my son, the time has come--go, and reveal my love to the prisoners by bringing the promise of their redemption to light. the son flies on wings of love, enters the prison and exclaims--i bring you good tidings of great joy. my father, the king, is your friend. he loves you; and that love has induced him to proclaim your liberation as a free gift. he has promised (and he cannot lie) that in two years from this day you shall be free. this covenant, so far as concerns its fulfillment, is unconditional. believe, and you will be saved, by faith in the promise, from your present fears, and condemnation under the law. those stubborn prisoners see a sufficiency of evidence to believe the promise. they exercise unshaken faith in this second covenant between the father and son. this faith works by love in their hearts, and purifies them from disobedience. their souls melt in view of the love and goodness of the king revealed to them by his son. in fine, they love him because he first loved them. they are now saved by faith in his promise from not only all their miseries and sorrows, but from their disobedience, and look forward with joy to the day of redemption. here we perceive the "_righteousness of faith_," which far exceeds the "_righteousness of the law_." they now delight to obey the king because they are under the influence of love. here let the question be asked--are these three men to be let out of prison at the appointed time because they believe the promise, or love and obey the king? they are not. their redemption depended on the truth and faithfulness of the king's promise which he made to his son, and that promise would have been fulfilled, even if it had not been revealed to them till the day of their deliverance. they are not to be set free as a reward for their _faith, love and obedience_. they have great peace and joy in believing that promise. they are in the happy enjoyment of a salvation by faith, and that is all the reward they deserve, or have reason to expect. we here perceive that these three men are made to establish the law of their king by faith in the good news he sent them by his son, which is to them a gospel. we now see the propriety of the apostle's language--"we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. do we then make void the law through faith? god forbid; yea we establish the law." we also perceive that these three men are not to be liberated from prison because they believe the promise, or love and obey the king. but on the contrary it is the king's love and promise to them which sets them free. let us now notice the other three prisoners. one says i do not believe that we shall ever be released from prison. it is too good news to be true. well, shall his unbelief make the king's promise of none effect? the king forbid; yea let the king be true, but that man a liar. but let it be remembered that he cannot be proved a liar unless he is liberated. would you now go and tell that man-sir, because you will not _believe_, you shall never come forth from prison? but do you not perceive that by so doing you would give the king the lie? it would be saying that his promise was good for nothing unless the man would believe it. it would be contending that the unbelief of this prisoner will make the king's promise of none effect. the other two prisoners exclaim--we believe this _second_ covenant, but it must bear some resemblance to the first which is conditional. we believe that we shall get out of this prison if we continue to serve the king as, we have heretofore, by keeping his commandments.-- here are two men trusting in the _first covenant_ for deliverance. they are trusting in the law. they are depending on their own _love and faithfulness_ to the king for redemption, and not on the king's _love, promise and faithfulness_ to them. here then we see the righteousness of the law in those two prisoners; in another we see the effect of unbelief; and in those three who remained disobedient under the first covenant, we see the righteousness which is of faith when they heard the glad tidings of redemption in the second covenant. at length the day of their redemption dawns. they are all brought to the knowledge of the truth. those three prisoners, who were saved by faith in the promise during those two years of suspense, now find their faith lost in certainty. their salvation, by faith has come to an end. and so has the unbelief, condemnation and doubtings of the other three prisoners. in one word--the _belief and unbelief_ of the six are lost in knowledge, and they burst out in songs of deliverance so we perceive that a salvation by faith, and a condemnation in unbelief can last no longer than till we come to the knowledge of the truth. let us now apply this to the scriptures. man sinned, and not only involved himself in guilt and misery, but was sentenced to that very death with which god threatened him--"dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." here was the end of the first covenant, and the termination of all the miseries of life. it is evident from revelation as well as reason that man at death drops to a state of insensibility, and knows no more till he is made alive in christ, who is himself the second covenant. the language of scripture is, the dead know not any thing--they sleep--and the apostle (in cor. xv chap.) reasons that if there be no resurrection, then there will be no future existence-- that they which are fallen asleep in christ are perished--that preaching was vain--faith was also vain, and that the christians were yet in their sins. on such language as this, i can put no other construction than that the resurrection is our salvation and eternal life, our deliverance from sin and imperfection. under the first covenant the resurrection in christ was not revealed to the human family, and they remained of course under the sentence of condemnation with no hopes of a future existence. "by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation." obedience to the law was enforced by threatenings on the one hand, and promises of temporal rewards on the other, which were communicated to the fathers by the prophets. but god has in these latter days spoken unto us by his son, and through him revealed the second covenant in which he "gave him the heathen for an inheritance, and the utter most parts of the earth for a possession," and declared him to be the resurrection and life of the world. if in the divine counsels no christ had been provided, the human family it appears would have remained in eternal slumber. they would have known but one covenant, which would have rewarded and punished them according to their deeds, and consigned them to the regions of the dead. "but since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." god saw fit to keep the human family for four thousand years under the first covenant, without the knowledge of eternal life through the resurrection of the dead. but it was, at length, "made manifest by the appearing of our saviour jesus christ, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." yes, he first brought it to light, and through his apostle declared "in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began, but hath in due time manifested his word through preaching." this promise of eternal life, all men are called upon to believe. the moment they believe, they are saved by faith, and are at peace; and they that doubt are damned--they are already under condemnation. but shall their unbelief make god's promise of eternal life of none effect? god forbid; yea let god be true but every man a liar. "for he hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all." we have now noticed the two covenants--the _law and gospel_--have pointed out the distinction between them--shown that all _conditions_ are confined to the law, and that the gospel is _unconditional_, and justly requires our faith and confidence. we will now bring to view the scripture doctrine of salvation by faith, and show that divine truth must have an existence before we can be called upon to believe. all scripture is given by inspiration of god and is based upon eternal and unchanging truth. truth is one of the attributes of jehovah and the unshaken pillar that supports the throne of eternity. in truth and righteousness he governs the world, and by an omnipotent arm wields the destinies of men. truth is the sun of divine revelation pouring its beams on intelligent creation and calling upon all men to believe. if a man assert that which does exist, it is a truth; but if he assert that which does not exist, it is a falsehood. whatever has an existence in the compass of reality is a truth to be believed, and whatever has no such existence is a falsehood not to be believed. it is beyond the power of man to create one solitary divine truth. all that he can do is to declare the existence of that which may be hidden from others, or relate some circumstances respecting that which does absolutely exist. an absolute truth must, therefore, be presented to the understandings of men before they can be called upon to believe it, or before they can be called believers for embracing it, or _unbelievers_ for rejecting it. no man can be an unbeliever for rejecting that which does not exist. we now commence plain argument by using great plainness of speech. in preaching the gospel of jesus christ truth must be the foundation. if then truth must exist before men can be called upon to believe, the question arises what is that truth which the second covenant reveals for the belief of mankind? answer, it is the record god hath given of his son. but what is the _record_? let john answer--"this is the record, god hath given us _eternal life_, and this life is in his son." it then follows that we are to believe that god has given us eternal life in his son before the world began, and unchangeably promised it. paul says--"in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began." if we believe the record, we are in the scriptures recognized as _believers_ and are saved by faith, and will of course exhibit in our life and conversation the righteousness of faith. the great error of any who read the bible, consists in supposing there is but one salvation. but there are two. the _first_ is a special salvation by belief in the promise, and the second is our eternal salvation beyond the grave, where we shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth involved in the promise, and to _know_ shall be life eternal. faith shall then be lost in certainty. now if we disbelieve the record will that make it false? no; our unbelief cannot alter the fact. let the record then be proclaimed to every creature--saying god has promised and given you eternal life in christ before the world began, and calls upon all to believe it. but suppose they should all reject it saying we do not believe one word of it, would their _unbelief_ make the promise or record false? no. would not then the record prove true? it would. then the whole world would, of course, receive that eternal life which is promised and given them in christ. no, says the objector, they will not believe. but can their unbelief make god's promise of none effect? can it put that truth out of existence and make it a falsehood? we would ask the objector, what will they not believe? answer; they will not believe that god has given them eternal life in his son. very well,--then the whole amount of the objection is that god has given them eternal life in christ, but they will not believe it, and because they will not believe it, they never shall obtain it! then we must contend (if they never obtain it) that it was never given to them, and if not given, then the record is false; because the record declares that god has given them eternal life in his son. it then follows that their unbelief can make the faithfulness of god without effect by rendering the word, he has given, false. but says the objector it ought to be stated conditionally as follows-- god first calls upon men to believe, and if they will believe, then christ will become their saviour, and then they will receive eternal life in him and not before. but does not the objector see that he has stated no fact for them to believe in order to make christ their saviour? i ask what does god call upon them to believe? there must be some truth presented before men can be called upon to believe. god calls upon men to believe, what--that christ is their saviour? but you said he was not their saviour till after they believed. it then follows, according to the objector's statement, that he is not the saviour of unbelievers. now do you not perceive that if you should call upon them to believe that he was their saviour, you would call upon them to believe a lie--that you would call upon them to believe what did not exist? and what does not exist cannot be true. grant says the objector that he is the saviour of the world, still as many as do not believe in him shall never be saved. but how can he be the saviour of a man, he never saves? two individuals are drowning in the water; you exert all your power to save them, but fail. can you call yourself the saviour of those two men from temporal death? impossible. in order for christ to be called the saviour of the world, he must save the world; otherwise there is not a shadow of propriety in giving him that name. and john says "we have seen and do testify that the father sent the son to be the saviour of the world."--"we know, indeed, that this is the messiah the saviour of the world." in our next, we will conclude this subject, and trust we shall do it to the satisfaction of our readers. sermon vii "for what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith of god without effect? god forbid; yea let god be true, but every man a liar." romans iii: , . we now resume the argument in reference to christ the saviour of men, as we proposed in our last. we here inquire of the objector--do you then grant that he is the saviour of all men--the saviour of the world as the scriptures declare? if so, we assure you that, he will save the number of whom he is declared to be the saviour. but, replies the objector, he is not the saviour of any man till he believes. we ask-- till he believes what? why, replies the objector, till he believes that christ is his saviour--if he believes so, it will be so. let us understand this--you say _he is not_ the saviour of an unbeliever, still he must believe that he is, and that will make him so. then he must first believe a lie and that will create a truth. this is (as paul says) "turning the truth of god into a lie." but let us notice the record. "this is the record, god hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his son." do you grant, that god has given eternal life in christ to every man? no, says the objector. very well, then they cannot be called upon to believe it. finally, says the objector, grant that he has. this being granted, we would ask, whether they will not come in possession of it, if god's promise stands? certainly. but, replies the objector, it is not theirs, till they believe. then the record is not true till they believe it; because, on this principle, they must first believe, that they have eternal life in christ before it exists, and believing this lie will create it. but, replies the objector, it is impossible that any man has eternal life given him in christ, till he believes. we then ask, what truth do you wish him to believe, so that he may obtain this eternal life? the fact is, there is none. he must believe _this truth_, itself because it is the record, but this, you have taken from him. you cannot call upon a man to believe, till you admit the existence of that very truth you wish him to believe. in order fully to expose the inconsistency of this conditional salvation, we will introduce an example. suppose a father tell his servant, i have a son in london, nineteen years of age, who is in poverty and distress. i have given him in my will five thousand dollars, and i promise that it shall be put into his possession in two years. it is recorded and that record is true. go my servant, and proclaim to him glad tidings of great joy, and call upon him to believe, so that he may enjoy a salvation by faith during those two years of suspense, and be made happy even amidst his wants by looking forward to when it shall be put into his possession. the servant sets out on his mission, and believes that he understands his errand. being arrived, he addresses him as follows--son, your father is very rich, and he has not willed you five thousand dollars, nor given it to you on record; and he never will, unless you _first believe_ that he has. but, replies the son, according to your message, if i should believe that he has given me five thousand dollars, i should believe a lie. let my father give the money, deposit it in some bank; send me evidence of the fact, and with joy i will believe him. well replies the servant you are a disobedient, stubborn unbeliever! because, if you would only believe so, it would be so, and you would have the money in two years. you perceive (dear reader) that this servant has presented no truth for this son to believe. he wishes to give this son the impression that the obtaining of this fortune depends on his _believing_, and not on the _testament record, and faithfulness_ of his father. in fact, he denies the existence of the father's _will_, and the _record_, and requires the son to believe a lie so as to create the truth. the servant does not understand his message, and the son does not know on what certainty to rest for the money. in the same manner we are called upon to secure an _interest_--an eternal life in the saviour. they will not admit its existence till we believe. then _belief_ must create it. but may we spend our last breath in convincing poor sinners that it is already secured in christ for them, so that they may believe, and live by faith on the son of god. this father sends another messenger. he tells this son of the goodness of his father, and that he has _willed_ him five thousand dollars, that the _will_ is put on record, and that this fortune will be put into his possession in two years. the son does not believe it. now he is an unbeliever. but does his unbelief alter the truth of the _will_ or of the record. no. the certainty, of his obtaining the money, rests on the faithfulness of his kind parent. this servant perseveres, uses convincing arguments and the son at length believes he is saved by faith from all his miseries, and he rejoices with joy unspeakable. but his _believing_ does not make the record any more true than it was before he believed it. it simply alters his present condition by kindling in his bosom the joys arising from faith and anticipation.-- we have now answered the objections that would naturally be brought forward by those who believe that our eternal salvation is predicated on conditions. as _works_ are not the requirements of the gospel only so far as they flow from faith in the truth, and as _faith_ must precede works, therefore the truth of our eternal life in christ, must exist previous to our believing. consequently all conditions are excluded from the gospel covenant. we will now meet the objector on the doctrine of election and reprobation, the substance of which is as follows--after man fell, god was pleased to provide a saviour for a part of the human family. that elect number he chose in christ before the foundation of the world, gave them eternal life in him, and for them only he tasted death. the gospel is now to be preached to the whole world, and as long as they reject it, they are unbelievers. but the elect shall sooner, or later, all be brought to believe. we will examine the foundation on which this statement rests. to bring it clearly before you, we will take an example. suppose there is a congregation of one hundred persons. fifty of them were elected to everlasting life before the foundation of the world--were secured by a saviour, and the rest were reprobated to endless wo. for them no saviour was designed, and no eternal life ever has, or ever will be given them in him. suppose a sermon is preached to those one hundred; and the fifty, who are elected, believe the record of their eternal life, are brought to the obedience of faith, while the other fifty remain unmoved. the preacher turns upon them and pronounces them _unbelievers_. but in what sense are they unbelievers? there has been no truth presented to them, which they disbelieve. must they believe that christ is their saviour, or that they have an eternal life in him? but they would in such case believe a lie. if they believed right the reverse of the elect,--_believed_ that god was their enemy and that christ was not their saviour, they would be _believers_. but if they believed what the fifty converts did, they would be _unbelievers_. we here repeat one premise laid down in our last discourse--viz. in order for any man to be styled a _believer or unbeliever_, there must first be presented some truth for him to embrace or reject. now either god has given us eternal life in christ before the world began, or he has not. if he has, then we are _unbelievers_ if we reject it. if he has not given it, and should we still believe that he has, we would then believe a lie. but neither our _belief, or unbelief_ can ever alter the fact. god has "chosen us in christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by jesus christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will." * * * "having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together, in one, all things in christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." some apply the above to the elect. but it embraces all things in heaven and earth, which are to be gathered together in christ, and be new creatures. in addition to this we will introduce two more passages "who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in christ jesus before the world began." "in hope of eternal life, which god, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." in these scriptures we are assured _first_, that god chose us in christ, before the foundation of the world--_second_, that he saved us according to his own purpose and grace before the world began, and _third_ that he promised eternal life before the world began. these things being embraced in his original plan, and purpose, their performance is therefore certain as that the whole plan of god will be carried unto execution. there is, in my humble opinion, a strange inconsistency in the common doctrine. they contend that on account of the transgression of our first parent, all mankind were fallen creatures and even came into existence totally depraved. to show the justice of god in the constitution of our nature, they contend that adam was our covenant head, and had he maintained his original purity, we would also have stood perfect in holiness, and no one would have had any reason to complain. now since adam has fallen, and involved us in ruin, it is equally just in god that we should share the fate of our covenant head in the one instance as in the other. but if we make use of this same argument in relation to christ, the second adam--if we contend that he was the covenant head of every man, that the covenant was not made for _this_, but for the _future_ world--that this covenant of grace being made between the father and the son, was to stand independent of man-- that eternal life was promised and given us in him before the world began--that as our covenant head, he resisted all temptations, and perfectly fulfilled the law--that he died, and appeared alive beyond the tomb free from temptation, and in a holy and immortal constitution. if we contend for this, making use of their own arguments, saying that it is just as rational that we should appear in the image of christ in the future world as that we should come into this world in the image of adam, they will pronounce the argument so far as applicable to adam, _sound logic_, but so far as this same argument of theirs is applied by universalists to christ, they pronounce it perfect jargon. but, says the objector, there is one point you have not settled, and i will here rest the whole of my argument upon it. it is this--god has, in no instance, promised eternal to _unbelievers_; and unless you can prove that the promise does extend to them, your arguments must fall like rottenness to the ground. we have certainly proved this, and to attend to the objector's request would but be, in some measure, going over the ground already occupied. we will, however, just touch this point again. we will introduce the following words of paul to titus. "in hope of eternal life which god that cannot lie promised before the world began." if god promised his creatures eternal life before the world began, will they not obtain it? they will for this passage says that he _cannot lie_. but says the objector, he has not promised it to the unbeliever. we would then inquire, what is it that constitutes him an _unbeliever_? why do you call him an _unbeliever_? do you say because he disbelieves the truth of god's promise? then you must, of course, admit the truth of god's promise to him. if so, it must stand, for god cannot lie. you cannot call upon a sinner to _believe_, until you admit the existence of _that very truth_, you wish him to believe, god's promise of eternal life in christ, is the gospel we are called upon to believe with a sincere heart. if you contend that it is promised to an elect number only, and not to the reprobates, then if they should all be brought to the knowledge of the truth, what would they believe? ans. the elect would believe the promise of eternal life was made to them, the reprobates would believe right the reverse of the elect, and all would be believers. no, says the objector, the reprobates ought to believe just as the elect do. but in this case, they would believe that they also have the promise of eternal life. this would be believing a lie, because you say that god has not made them that promise? how would you preach to such persons? if you called upon them to believe the truth of the gospel, which is eternal life, you would call upon them to believe a lie. how can you extricate yourself from this difficulty? but inquires the objector, how do you know that god has promised eternal life to all? ans. because the scriptures do call all men either _believers_, or _unbelievers_, in view of the promise that god has made. take away that promise and belief or unbelief respecting it can no longer have an existence-- _believers and unbelievers_ would be no more. but says the objector this is not proof that eternal life is promised to an _unbeliever_. well i am surprised at this assertion of my opponent! first, i ask, what do you call a believer? ans. one who believes that god has promised, and given him eternal life in christ before the world began. then, of course, an _unbeliever_ must be one, to whom god has also promised and given eternal life in christ before the world, but will not believe it. but says the objector this cannot be. i would then ask whether eternal life was not promised, and given in christ to the _believer_ before he believed it? certainly. it must have been the truth before he could believe. well, what was he at that time? an _unbeliever_ of course. then eternal [life] is promised to all, because it is the lack of faith in _that never failing promise_ of jehovah that constitutes an unbeliever. but says the objector--a man "must do so and so," or he cannot be saved. this is not correct; he must _believe_, or he cannot be saved. we are saved by faith in the promise and are permitted to look forward with satisfaction and joy to an immortal existence where we shall be free from sin, sorrow and pain. this faith and hope fill the soul with love to god, and induce us to break off our sins by righteousness. so a salvation by faith can only be enjoyed in this life, and is to end when faith and hope are lost in certainty and in joy. though only few are saved by faith, yet all shall know the lord from the greatest to the least, whom to know is life eternal. sermon viii "jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." john iii. . as we have in the last three sermons dwelt particularly on a salvation by _faith_, we will take the liberty to introduce the subject of the new birth next in order, as it will be, more readily, retained by the reader, in this connexion than otherwise. indeed, it hears a strong resemblance to them so far as the subject of faith is concerned in our present exposition. but whoever is a careful reader of the new testament, will discover that the subject of faith, and the genuine repentance which that faith produces, is not of trivial moment. there is no subject of divine revelation, on which more has been said, preached and written than the one, which we are now about to consider. it has been brought forward by men of talents and erudition as an insuperable barrier against universal salvation, and their several adherents have taken it for granted, that it can never be explained in harmony with the sentiment, that all men shall eventually obtain eternal life through the redeemer of men. but these impressions have arisen from the fact, that they have taken their own views and explanations to be scripturally correct, and from these premises, they have drawn conclusions utterly opposed to the final holiness and happiness of god's intelligent creation. they have supposed the new birth to be some mysterious change produced by some mysterious operation of the divine spirit on the mind, and that it is in substance a miracle. one denomination has contended that if a man once obtained this change, he was safe, could never "finally fall from grace," but would eventually land in the kingdom of immortal glory. several other denominations admit the new birth to be the same change already noticed, but contend that the subject may fall from grace, and be finally lost. here then the man, who was, according to their views, _born again_, might still never see the kingdom of god beyond the grave. on this principle the new birth would be no security, that any one would obtain heaven. according to this sentiment, a man might be born again, fall away, and be born again "until seven times," and in the end not see the kingdom of god. those, who advocate this sentiment, believe that _faith and repentance_ prerequisites to the new birth, and also believe in the salvation of infants. this being so, it will come to pass that half of the world will be saved, inasmuch as about that number die in what may be, justly termed an infant state. but of those, who come to years of accountability, they believe but few will be saved. so the greater proportion of those, who will finally surround the throne of god, will be those, who have never been born again according to their views. it will not, i presume, be contended, that infants who, they believe, are totally depraved, ever exercise _faith_, or experience the _new birth_ in this life. from the above views, i shall take the liberty to dissent, and may probably differ some from the expositions given by others. it is evident that jesus christ in his instructions frequently brought forward some natural facts plainly understood by those whom he addressed, in order more clearly to illustrate his subject, and then made his illustrations so nearly resemble that natural fact, that no man could possible misunderstand him, unless he had been led into tradition by blind guides. in the context, he makes allusion to natural birth, of which every man knows the meaning, and says to nicodemus, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." natural birth pre-supposes the perfect formation of the human body by that secret energy of nature, god only can comprehend. but that formation, itself, is not birth. birth is that operation, that introduced us into this world. we are now flesh and blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom. what is born of the flesh is flesh. we must now be born again from mortal to immortality, otherwise we could not see the kingdom of god. must not man be born of a woman in order to see this world? can he look upon the beautiful objects of creation, or contemplate these countless wonders of the almighty before he is born into being? he cannot. all without exception will admit, that it is impossible for any man to enter this natural world, in which we live, without birth. so it is equally impossible to enter the kingdom of god without being born _again_ in the strictest sense of the word. a man cannot "be born again" ten, or twenty years, nor even _one day_ before he sees the kingdom of god, any more than he could be born twenty days before he came forth out of the womb. as natural birth cannot take place any given time before we enter this world, but is the _circumstance_ that introduces us, so a _second birth_ cannot take place any given time before we enter the kingdom of god in the next world but is the _very thing_, that shall introduce us into it; and the moment we are born again, we shall see it,--we shall be spirit, and beyond the dominion of death and sin. he that is born of the flesh, _is flesh_, so long as he lives; and he that is born of the spirit _is spirit_. as we now "bear the image of the earthly" through a _natural_ birth, "so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" through a _spiritual_ birth. and as no man in this world is a spirit, so no man has in reality passed the new birth. when we were born into this world, we were brought from insensibility to an existence entirely new. so in order to enter the kingdom of god, which is not of this world, we must be born again from the insensibility of death into a new and happy existence beyond the grave. the question now arises, when does this new birth take place? we reply when this mortal puts on immortality through a resurrection. when we shall be aroused from the sleep of death to a precipient existence in heaven--when we shall awake satisfied with the likeness of god. paul, in the xv. chap. cor. plainly states that the spiritual body is prepared and put on after death. birth then must _follow_, not _precede_ that spiritual body. it is impossible that birth should take place, till the body is first prepared. man's natural body is organized in the womb, and then born into this world. he drops to a state of insensibility in death, a reorganization of the spiritual body takes place to the natural eye imperceptible, and its nature indestructible. it is gradually brought forward through a resurrection similar to the grain of wheat to which paul compares it, is awakened to a conscious existence, and bears the image of the heavenly as it once bore the image of the earthy. the resurrection is therefore every moment progressing, and every man is raised in his own order of time. but says the reader, if the resurrection be the new birth, then christ, himself must have been born again, in order to enter the kingdom of god! certainly. but inquires the reader, where do the scriptures teach that christ was ever born again? in colossians chap. i: . are these words--"who [christ] is the image of the invisible god, the _first born_ of every creature." this cannot mean that he was the first born into this state of existence; but he was the first one whom human eyes ever saw alive beyond the destruction of death to die no more, and the only one that mortal eye will ever see, for he arose in his natural body, (being the only true witness, appointed of god,) to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel. but that passage, says the reader, does not satisfy me, that christ was born again. then listen once more--verse --"who is the beginning, the _first born_ from the dead that in all things he might have the pre-eminence." rev. chap. i. . "jesus christ the faithful witness, and the _first begotten_ from the dead." here it is plainly stated that he is the "first born from the dead" "the _first begotten_ from the dead" these scriptures in connexion with several others, that might be quoted, prove that christ was born again, and that the resurrection is called birth. it is evident that man falls to a state of insensibility in death, and remains in sleep while the spiritual body is forming out of those subtle materials, that at death pass into _hades_; and when the reorganization is completed, the new being is born into the kingdom of immortal glory. a drowning man, we know, falls to a state of unconsciousness. fainting--yes, even a night's sleep proves that the mind is susceptible of falling into insensibility, or suspending its mental operations, and disproves the notion of its entering a future state, only through a resurrection of the dead. this fact is not only substantiated by reason, but it is the doctrine of revelation. the wise man says, "the dead know not any thing." paul, in the xv. chap. cor. predicates the truth of our resurrection on the fact that christ rose from the dead; and on this ground he reasons, that if there be no resurrection, then preaching is vain, faith is also vain, the christians were yet in their sins, and they that were fallen asleep in christ were perished, and concludes by saying, "let us eat, drink, for tomorrow we die." suppose a christian should this moment die, and, according to common opinion, enter immediately on an immortal existence. could we now say--if there be no resurrection, he is fallen asleep in christ and perished? no, because, instead of being perished, i.e. _annihilated_, he would remain in infinite happiness and glory, even if there should, never, be any resurrection. so you perceive that paul did not believe any one could enter eternity only through a resurrection. he believed, they would fall asleep in christ, and in that sleep remain till in christ they were made alive. he embraces the whole in the following words--"since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead." when the sentence of death was pronounced upon adam, which was to pass upon all men, the promise of a saviour then made, was, it appears, not understood. their posterity looked forward for a temporal king, and had no idea of an immortal existence beyond the "narrow house." death the king of terrors, was not yet disarmed of his sting by the resurrection of our triumphant redeemer. this truth was not yet revealed to men. here the human family were without hope, and trembling at the darkness--the seven fold darkness of the tomb. no ray of light and joy beamed from that cheerless mansion to ease the aching heart, or dispel that melancholy gloom, which pervaded the parental bosom when gazing for the last time upon the struggles of a dying child. here was a world born into existence under the certain sentence of death, and groaning in the bondage of corruption, without any hope of being delivered from it, by an immortal birth, "into the glorious liberty of the children of god." in this period of anxiety and distress, the glad tidings were proclaimed to the shepherds on the plains of judea, announcing the birth of the saviour of the world. a new birth, which is not mentioned in the old testament, was at length proclaimed by a saviour in the _new_. he died on the cross, and was "the first born from the dead." he is the head of every man, by the grace of god tasted death for every man, and rose again for their justification. the scriptures declare that "we shall be saved by his life" that he is "the bread of god that cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world." he is our way, our truth and life, and "because he lives we shall live also." "as in adam all die, even so in christ shall all be made alive," or born from the dead. and he that is made alive in christ is a new creature, old things are passed away--all things are become new. but says the reader, though the resurrection of jesus is set forth by a birth from death, yet the resurrection of the human family is never so represented. you mistake. out of the many passage that might be adduced, we have room, in this discourse, for only one. it shall, however, be satisfactory. in romans, th chapter, paul says, "because the creature itself also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of god; for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." [we would remark, that the word _creature, is ktisis_ in the greek, and is the same that is rendered _creation_ in the next verse.] in this quotation, you perceive, that paul represents the whole creation as groaning in travail pains, and declares that the whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of god. he compares them to a woman in pain ready for delivery; and that they are delivered from corruption to incorruption at the resurrection is certain. [see cor. xv: .] you now understand what i mean by the new birth. it is to pass from death to life and immortality, in christ, beyond the grave, where flesh and blood can never enter. for that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. we have now pointed out the new birth, and shown that it bears some resemblance to the natural birth, with which jesus compared it. and how truly sublime and cheering the thought, that the great family of man, who are all born into existence under the certain sentence of death, are to receive a second birth into an existence entirely new, and the whole of his dying family are to be made the children of jesus christ by adoption. in our next, we shall notice the change we experience in this life, called in scripture the new birth, and explain the term, "kingdom of god." sermon ix "jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." john iii. . in our last, we have shown, that the _spiritual_ birth bears some resemblance to a natural birth with which jesus compared it--and as the _first_ introduces us into this world, so the _second_ will introduce us into the future and immortal world at the resurrection, where we shall be as the angels of god in heaven, and "be the _children_ of god _being the children of the resurrection_." there we shall be completely free from sin and pain. there the gushing tear of sorrow shall cease to flow, and the brow of disconsolate humanity be ruffled no more. we will now attend to the present effects that the truth of this birth has upon us here, and notice at the same the phrase, "_kingdom of god_." the question now arises; do not some experience the new birth in this life? they do. but in what sense do they experience it? ans. by _faith_. in this world we pass from death to life: not that we have actually been in the grave and brought to life beyond it; but the believer experiences this by faith. and _this faith_ has a most powerful and happifying influence on his affections, and consequently on his life and conduct. all, that god has revealed for the salvation of the world--our justification, our sanctification, our new birth, our heaven, our all--yes, all these important and heavenly changes are summed up, and embraced in our immortal resurrection, will actually take place through death; and while in this world we can embrace them, _only by faith_. the scriptures declare that "we walk by faith and, not by sight." paul says, "the life which i now live in the flesh i live by the faith of the son of god, who loved me, and gave himself for me." paul knew that he had eternal life given him in christ, before the world began, and faith in that glorious truth produced a happiness--a divine life in his heart, called the kingdom of god within. let us notice these several points. . first; "christ rose again for our justification." our justification then exists in our resurrection state, and will _there_ in all its reality take place. but cannot a man be justified _here_? yes; he can be justified _through faith_ in that truth. . second; "by the which will, we are _sanctified_ through the offering of the body of jesus christ once for all." our _sanctification_ then, by the will of god, will take place through death. but cannot a man be _sanctified_ while _here_? yes; he can be sanctified _through faith in that truth!_ . third; christ was "put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit." so in his resurrection he passed from death to life, and thus revealed the truth that we shall also pass from death to life by the power of god, and be like him who is the "first fruits." but cannot a man pass from death to life while on earth? yes; he can pass from death to life _through faith in that truth_. jesus says--"he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life." . fourth; our eternal life will be realized beyond death. "the things that are not seen are spiritual and eternal." but can we not enjoy it _here_? yes; "he that believeth on the son _hath_ everlasting life;"-- that is, he enjoys it faith. . fifth; christ was the "first born from the dead." so we also shall pass the reality of the new birth by faith. but can we not enjoy it here? john says--"for whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh world _even our faith_." thus it is evident that a man may in this life be _justified, sanctified_, pass from _death to life, may enjoy eternal life_, and be _born again_ through faith in _these several correspondent facts_. his faith, however, can make them no more _certain_; because they _must exist_, and be solemn and unalterable facts before he can be called upon to believe them. the truth of the above _five facts_, we perceive, are embraced in our resurrection. if we are not, in our resurrection, to be _justified, sanctified, born again_, and obtain eternal life, then we cannot be _justified, sanctified or born again here_ through faith in those truths;--because there would be no such truths in existence for us to exercise faith in. if the objector will not allow these facts unalterably to exist _previous_ to believing, what then will he call upon us to believe? will he call upon us to believe that we have an eternal life in christ when no such fact exists, and contend that our believing this lie will create the fact? this would be the most ridiculous absurdity. but the truth exists, and the believer by faith enjoys it before hand. he enjoys it by anticipation, not in _reality_. it can be brought to his understanding or experience no other way, only through the gospel medium of faith. i challenge the objector to show me between the lids of the new testament, any regeneration, new birth, justification, or sanctification, that has already taken place in any other sense than through faith. all these things in their _reality_ are to take place in our resurrection, when we shall be like the angels of god and by faith we bring them present to our minds and enjoy them _here_. dr. watts says--"faith brings distant prospects home, of things a thousand years ago, or thousand years to come." paul, therefore, exhorts us to forget the things that are behind, and reach forward to those that are before--to press to the mark &c. because the reality--the object of our faith lies before us. but persons, who do not understand the operations of faith on the mind in view of its correspondent truth, and who honestly believe that the new birth has in reality already taken place with them, are always looking back to the time they were born again, and telling over their "old experiences" now this is right in them, if they have passed through the _reality_; for every man ought to look to the substance in which he exercises faith and hope. but certainly the scriptures exhort us to look forward, and anchor our faith and hope within the vail, where our forerunner hath for us entered. it is therefore certain that the reality exists there, and is yet to come. such persons then, in looking back to their experience, are mistaking the birth produced by faith for the real birth itself. this is just as unreasonable as it would be to suppose that the foretaste, we sometimes enjoy of immortal life, was that life itself. it is true we at times enjoy a heaven on earth. but as it respects the kingdom of immortal glory, "eye hath not seen, ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the glory that shall be revealed in us." the reality is therefore yet to come, and by faith we receive only an antepast of its joys. from the above observation we infer that, the resurrection is the only gospel faith and hope of a future, happy conscious state of being. when our minds are enlightened to see the mighty changes, that we mortals are represented, in the scriptures of truth, as destined to experience by being raised in a holy and deathless constitution, we are then led to consider the resurrection of embracing all those realities that we are called upon by jesus christ and his apostles to embrace by faith and enjoy in this life. so great and sublime is the gift of god, and so far surpassing thought does it magnify the perfections of the divine character, and in so amiable a light does it manifest his love to the children of men, that a living faith in its reality cannot but obtain a salutary influence on our life and conversation. so much stress did the apostles lay upon its importance, that they went every where preaching the resurrection of the dead, as the gospel of christ. there is one point we will here notice. all denominations acknowledge that for any man _by faith_ to pass from death to life is a change for the better. if so, then the _reality_, namely to pass from the sleep of death to an immortal existence, must be a change for the better. because it is by believing that future reality we are said to have passed from death to life here. the conclusion is unavoidable that the _reality_ must correspond with its antepast _by faith_. to understand this let us reverse it. suppose it should be an established law in the nature and constitution of things that all mankind should pass from death to immortal misery in the future world. let this be revealed and proclaimed as an unchanging truth. as many as believed it would of course pass from death to immortal misery in _faith_, which would lead them to curse the being who made them, and destined them to this unhappy end. it would be a change for the worse. our subject is now so far plain (according to our views) that the phrase "_kingdom of god_" will be readily understood. though it has, by different writers, been made to bear many different significations, yet we shall take the liberty to contend that it simply means as follows-- . first an immortal existence beyond the grave brought to light by the resurrection of christ;--and . second a belief in _that reality_ is the kingdom of god we here enter and enjoy _by faith_. into this kingdom, infants, idiots and heathen and unbelievers do not enter, because faith is the only condition. this is the kingdom of heaven that men, blind leaders of the blind, shut up. they neither enter themselves, nor suffer those that would enter to go in. they keep the evidence of the reality out of sight so that men cannot look beyond the vail to its brighter glories and enjoy its peaceful reign in their hearts by faith. when faith is lost in certainty, _then_ this kingdom will be delivered up, and to know shall be life eternal. this definition we believe will hold good, and apply to any passage in the new testament where it may occur. though some contend that it very seldom has reference to an immortal existence, yet we strenuously contend that there is no propriety in the phrase only in connexion with such an existence. we cannot enter or be born into the kingdom of god by faith, unless we admit the reality in the first place to have an existence, any more than we could, by faith, enjoy eternal life unless there is such a reality as eternal life beyond the grave. the above, the reader will please to fix in his mind. we now perceive that man drops into the sleep of death, and that the resurrection, or new birth is his only hope of a future happy state of existence, and is the only change that can free him from imperfection, and sin, and make him a new creature in a new and immortal existence beyond the grave. we will here introduce an example to make our argument so far plain. suppose you were now in ignorance respecting the doctrine of life and immortality through a resurrection. you know you must die, and sincerely think that death will terminate your existence forever. you see your children one after another laid upon their dying bed, and with distraction shake the farewell hand of eternal separation, and with the most solemn melancholy and wo, look forward to the period when you must follow them down to the chambers of eternal silence, and cease to be. in this moment of dread solemnity and gloom, suppose some kind angel should appear at the bed-side of your expiring child, and kindly inquire, why are you troubled? you answer, because my children have fallen!--the last of my infant train lies panting for breath, and the dreadful hour has come when all those silken affections, that build our hearts love, must be rent assunder, and in the awful bosom of death, be extinguished forever!--suppose your guardian angel smiling over the ruins of death, should point you far beyond these changing scenes, and with rapture exclaim, you shall meet this darling child again and commingle with your little fallen flock in glory! you and they and all mankind shall be born from the dead into the kingdom of god, and be new creatures free from sin and pain, and "be the children of god being the children of the resurrection." jesus your lord "was the first born from the dead," and you shall pass from death to life and live forever. now suppose you positively believed his words; could you not say in the scripture form of the expression that through faith you was already "passed from death to life?"--that you was born of faith, and by faith was in the kingdom of god? you certainly could, and it would in every sense of the word be true. through faith, you would be justified, through faith sanctified; through faith you would enjoy eternal life--in fine, through faith you would be saved. this faith would give love unmeasured to your creator, and fill your soul with joy unspeakable and full of glory. "faith works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes the world." reader, do you not love the lord for his wonderful goodness to his children? what glorious hopes are here! "and he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure"--you now see why the gospel rings with the word _faith_ from one end to the other. the world previous to the coming of jesus christ had no knowledge of immortality through a resurrection, into the kingdom of god. the phrase "_born again_" is not mentioned in the old testament, and of course means something more than a _conversion_. this subject will be continued in our next. sermon x "jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." john iii. . the literal rendering of this passage seems to be--"_except a man be born above_." the word _above_ being substituted for _again_ more forcibly demonstrates the correctness of my views in the two former discourses. many charge the universalists with denying the necessity of a new birth, or regeneration. but take from me my faith and hope in that glorious truth, and i must at that moment resign the salvation of every human being. convince me that not another child will be born into this world, and you will at once convince me that this world will shortly be destitute of a solitary inhabitant. convince me that a man will not be born again, and you will not only convince me that no one will ever enter the kingdom of god, but that the many worlds, that have already passed from the stage of mortal being, and those that shall hereafter follow, will alike be consigned to eternal silence! endless misery is out of the question. that could have had no existence even had there been no resurrection in _him_ who is the life of the world; but death would have terminated the existence of all. such a punishment is not threatened in all the writings of moses and the prophets. and we cannot reasonably suppose, if such were a principal truth in revelation, that god would suffer four thousand years to elapse without warning his creatures of such an awful doom. upon our first parents, for transgressing the law, he pronounced all the miseries of life, and uttered the closing sentence, "dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." here the doctrine of endless misery (if that be the sentence of the violated law) ought to have been clearly stated to the "covenant head" of our race, so that the same sentence might pass upon all that have sinned, unless they complied with the conditions set before them. but we leave this point, and will notice the th verse which may, perhaps, be considered as an objection to my views, and urged as proof that the new birth is wholly confined to this life. "except a man be born of _water_, and of the spirit," &c. what is here meant by "_water_"? ans. baptism by immersion. this, instead of being an objection to my views, will strengthen them. baptism in water is nothing more than a _figure_ of our death and resurrection, by _which_ we manifest our _faith_ in the resurrection of the dead, by which _faith_ our hearts are baptized into the spirit and truth of the gospel of christ. paul says, i cor. xv: "else what shall they do, which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" baptism being only a _figure_ of our death and resurrection, is perhaps, in a gospel sense, of but little consequence to christians in the present day. christ went to john and was baptized of him in jordan. his being put under water signified his death, when the condemning power of the law under the first dispensation should lose its force--and his being raised out of the water signified his resurrection from the cold jordan of death to immortal life in the kingdom of god, where the victory shall be sung over _death and sin_; and over the _law_ which "is the strength of sin." having passed in figure through his own death and resurrection, and having manifested to man that he was baptized by the holy spirit into the faith and "powers of the world to come," he perfectly lived up to his obligation, by never committing one sin. he went through life free from transgression as though he were already in eternity. when his crucifixion hour approached, he said, [luke xii: ] "i have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am i straitened" [greek--pained] "till it be accomplished." here he had reference to his being buried in death, (which was to be attended with extreme sufferings) and rising again from it, which would be the _reality_ of which his baptism in jordan was but a _figure_. to be put under water signifies our _death_, and to be raised out again signifies our _resurrection_. a person, who is baptized, ought therefore, to endeavor, as much as in him lies, to live as though he were already in his resurrection state. enjoying in faith the baptism of the "holy spirit and of fire," he ought to consider himself as dead to the world and alive to god walking in newness of life. let us introduce rom. vi: , . "know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into jesus christ, were baptized into _his death_? therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." here we perceive they were baptized into his death, and were rejoicing in hope of the _resurrection_, having their hearts purified faith in the reality, acts xxii. and now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, &c. now, it is not only a scripture doctrine, but all denominations acknowledge, that baptism in water is an _emblem_ of the washing away of our sins. we then ask--are our sins to be wished in a stream of water? no. where then? the objector says, our sins are taken away _in this life_ by the baptism of the "holy spirit and with fire." this cannot be; because paul told the believers that if there were no resurrection, their faith was vain, and they were _yet in their sins_. [see i. cor. xv. .] this proves that believers receive the forgiveness of their sins in this life _by faith only_, not in _reality_. the question returns, are our sins washed away in a stream of water? no. where then? ans. through death and the resurrection, for that is the real baptism. and it is certain that the _reality_ must embrace all that the _figure_ in water teaches. we then solemnly ask the reader,--if baptism in water is a _figure_ of our death and resurrection, and if _that water baptism_ signifies the washing away of our sins, will not then our sins be washed away through death and the resurrection? yes; otherwise the figure in water has no meaning. thus we perceive that being born of the water is no objection to our views of the new birth, but affords them an unshaken support. if any one contend that the sins of our race are not to be taken away through death, we would then ask, where will the christian's sins be washed away? the scriptures declare that there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not,--and if there is no change through death then there will not be a just man beyond the grave that doeth good and sinneth not. but the baptism "with the holy spirit and with fire" in all its solemn and interesting reality will take place in death and the resurrection, and to exercise a living faith in that truth, so as to influence our life and conduct according to the spirit of the gospel, is what the scriptures term being baptized with the spirit and with fire in this life. but this present enjoyment is not the _reality_, but an antepast of _that reality_; because "we walk by faith and not by sight." it is immaterial whether the scripture speaks of _pardon, of justification; of sanctification, of redemption, of regeneration, or baptism_ "with the holy spirit and with fire," it simply means that those facts in the divine counsels unchangeably exist, and will burst upon the whole groaning creation in the resurrection world, while the believer only enjoys them in this state of being through faith, which baptizes him into the spirit of christ. but if there be no resurrection, and nought is presented to our anticipation but the dreary prospect of a beamless eternity, then "preaching is vain," "faith is also vain," "christians are yet in their sins," "and they that are fallen asleep in christ are perished." the taking away the sin of the world by the lamb of god, who is the resurrection and the life, is through death. through death, to our faith and hope, he has destroyed "him who hath the power of death, that is the devil." the washing away of all sin, by the power of god, is through death and the resurrection. _then_ and not till then shall the song of triumph be sung by redeemed millions--"o death! where is thy sting? o grave! where is thy victory? the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law", &c. all the figures of baptism point to _death_--all the sacrifices for sin, slain under the law for years, point to death, declaring that without the shedding of blood there is no remission. there the reality lies. there we are called upon to anchor our faith and hope even within the veil. and it must be a _certain truth_ that our sins are to be washed away through the jordan of death, before we can be called upon to believe it. it must be a _certain reality_ that sin is there to be purged away, before we could, with any propriety, use baptism in water as a shadow of it; because the _shadow_ cannot create the _substance_. we have now shown that as man is naturally born into this world, so he shall be spiritually born into the kingdom of god. we have shown by comparison that except a man be born of a woman, he cannot see this world; and as this does not mean that he must be born twenty days before he comes forth from the womb, as a preparation for entering this world, so the expression, "except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of god," does not mean that he must be born twenty days before death as a preparation for entering a future existence. the new birth, no more means a _reality_ that is to transpire _here_, than natural birth means some change we underwent prior to our being brought forth into life. i believe in all the reformation or new birth here that others do, and believe in much more to come. that change _here_, which they call the new birth, i call the new birth in faith, or being born of faith, while the solemn reality is yet to transpire, and that is to be born from the dead in christ our head. these facts we will now make plain to every reader by the following example, so that our views on this subject may not be misrepresented. suppose that before we were born, we had been able to conceive ideas. and suppose it had been spoken to us by the son of god--except you are born of the flesh, you cannot see the natural world, which is most beautiful to to behold, having sun, moon, and stars, and songsters, fields and groves. it has never entered your heart to conceive the glory to be revealed in you. now suppose some of us had believed this revelation, we would that moment, have been born of faith, and rejoiced in hope of the glory to be revealed in us; and by faith have looked forward to the reality. this, however, would not have made our birth any more certain, because it must have been an absolute truth before we could have, with any propriety, believed it. suppose, further, that some of us had rejected it; would this circumstance have prevented our being born? certainly not. all of us, who believed, would have been born of faith, having an earnest of the reality, and the unbelievers would have come short of that enjoyment by faith; but their unbelief could in no sense make the truth of none effect. the moment we were born, belief and unbelief would be lost in certainty. now suppose that some of had said--the son of god has declared "except we are born of the flesh, we cannot see the natural world." this must mean some great change we are to experience in the womb--we must be born some number of days before we enter the natural world, as a preparation, otherwise we can never see it. we now ask the reader, whether it would not be folly to give to the word _birth_ such an explanation? the conclusion is unavoidable. we then ask, whether it does not involve the same folly to contend, in view of our text, ("except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god") that it means, he must be born again in this world, as a preparation for another? it certainly does. we once more repeat it--that as natural birth was the _very thing_ that introduced us all into this world of imperfection, sorrow and pain; so the spiritual birth will be the _very thing_, that shall introduce us all into another, where, imperfection, sorrow and pain shall be no more. the poor heathen, and infants, and all, will therefore be born again into the kingdom of god, and "be equal unto the angels, die no more, and be the children of god, _being the children of the resurrection_." the only advantage we enjoy above them is, that we have heard the good news, believed it, are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of god which liveth and abideth forever," and "have entered into rest." we are rejoicing in hope of the glory of god to be revealed in us, while they are groping in darkness, inasmuch, as they cannot believe in him of whom they have not heard. in our next, we shall close this subject by urging the importance of the new birth through faith in the truth. sermon xi "jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." john iii. . in our last three discourses we have endeavoured to lay our views of the new birth thus far plainly before the reader, and wish him to bear in mind that the three sermons, preceding those on the new birth, are also to be read, and carefully kept in view, so that, from the whole connexion, the gospel doctrine of salvation by _faith_ may be made clear to his understanding. we dwelt so long, and laid so much stress upon _faith_, because it is the _first_ christian grace, we are exhorted to put on, and is the _first_ assent of the mind to the great and interesting _truth_ revealed in the gospel of jesus christ, which is _life and immortality_ for the human family. we have shown that the new birth has a higher signification than simply to be converted from the evil of our doings, as was required under the first dispensation. the new birth, so far as it concerns the present existence, embraces not only _conversion_, but the whole spiritual life of the christian's soul, denominated the kingdom of heaven within. this mental felicity--this "weight of glory," cannot be enjoyed, but by the exercise of a living faith in christ. such a faith begets a sincere obedience in our life and conversation. it is a faith "that works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes the world." the great apostle to the gentiles exclaims--"the life that i now live in the flesh, i live by the _faith_ of son of god, who loved me and gave himself for me." we therefore "walk by _faith_, not by _sight."_ we have shown that christ was the _"first born_ from the dead" to show light to the people and to the gentiles, and that the whole creation is groaning in travail-pains, and that it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of god, and that we shall then be as the angels of god in heaven. we have shown that all mankind--infants, idiots and heathen, shall be brought to realize this birth, and that the believer, only, can only enjoy it in this state of existence through _faith_ in the truth, and that this _faith_ has a most powerful influence on his life and conversation, "being born of incorruptible seed by the word of god that liveth and abideth forever." we have shown that neither this birth, nor any of the spiritual changes, can be experienced in this life only through _faith_ in their correspondent truths, even as they are revealed to us in the gospel of christ. we have shown that by the phrase, "kingdom of heaven" we were to understand, _first_, a holy, happy and immortal existence "beyond the grave, incorruptible, undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved for us in heaven," and which, with all its perfections and joys, was revealed to us by jesus christ; and _second_, a sincere and living _faith_ in this interesting _reality_, produced that divine enjoyment, called "the kingdom of heaven within us," the kingdom of heaven among men, &c. this kingdom the pharisees "shut up"--they "neither entered it themselves, nor suffered those that were entering to go in." that is--they prevented the people from _believing_ those interesting _realities_--those sublime doctrines of a future world that their messiah had brought to light through the gospel for the present happiness of men. we have shown that water baptism is but a _figure, a shadow_ of our death and resurrection, or of the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy spirit, and that this figure is of but little consequence to us in this present day. in fine we have shown that if there were no future existence--if nought were held up to man but the dreary prospect of a beamless eternity, he could not be justified, sanctified, born again, pass from death to life or enter the kingdom of god through faith, because in such case the _objects_ of his _faith and hope_ would be annihilated, his faith would be vain, he would be yet in his sins. in this view of our subject, we perceive that christ is but "the author and finisher of our faith," having been ordained of god "to bring life and immortality to light," to set us an example for our imitation and happiness here below--and to die and rise in attestation of the truth involved in his mission. consequently his kingdom will be delivered up when _faith and hope_ shall be lost in certainty and joy. it now remains that we urge the importance of the _new birth_ through faith in the truth. and here we shall probably meet with one objection from the reader, viz. as we argued in sermons, no. , , and , that faith was the first exercise of the creature, and that no one could _believe or disbelieve_ what he pleased, the reader may then ask, what necessity is there of urging the importance of the new birth through faith in the truth, in as much as faith cannot be exercised at the _pleasure_ or simply at the _will_ of man? and here we would remark-- that the guilt of unbelief does not consist in rejecting a fact after patient investigation, by collecting all the evidences in our reach, but it consists in rejecting a fact without examination of its truth. for instance; let the gospel be preached to a heathen, who rejects it without attempting to acquaint himself with the evidences upon which its truth is based. he is condemned for not believing, because he neglects the only means by which he might be convinced of the truth. he declines searching for evidence. of the truth of this remark we have a striking instance in the scriptures. paul preached at thessalonica, but they heeded not his words. he preached also at berea, and the inspired penman says, "these were more noble than those in thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so." it is our duty to search the scriptures prayerfully and "labor to enter into that rest that remains to the people of god, lest any of us through unbelief should seem to come short of it." it is our duty to search for evidence of the fact, at least on all subjects relating to our present happiness, and particularly those that appertain to the future world. they are too momentous to be treated with indifference. there is nothing more important than that we should exercise a living _faith_ in a future and happy existence beyond the grave. this alone can afford the mind "joy unspeakable and full of glory." there is in every human bosom an unceasing uneasiness, an aching void that nothing on earth can satisfy or fill. old and young, ignorant and learned, heathen and christian feel the same dissatisfaction with the objects of momentary duration. the heathen, in the midst of all his self-denials and self-tortures to appease his gods, and in the conscientious discharge of all his devotional duties, is still a dissatisfied and miserable being. god has so constituted the human mind that it cannot repose in error, however sincere may be the faith it exercises. there is still a growing vacuum within that nothing but the powers of truth can fill. philosophy has endeavoured to search out that system of moral duties, in the rigid performance of which, that happiness, peace and joy might be found, for which all mortal beings pant with the same aspirations of strong desire, but has sought in vain. from the earliest ages, one system after another has been invented, and in succession abandoned, but all have come short of discovering any thing solid on which to rest their hopes of earthly felicity. jesus christ, the author and finisher of our faith, has alone accomplished what all the penetration of pythagoras and all the moral lessons of seneca and socrates failed to discover. with a bold, firm and untrembling hand he has drawn aside the curtains of the tomb, and pointed the human family to a second birth from the dark womb of death into mansions of incorruptible felicity in the kingdom of god, where they shall die no more, and where all the inquietudes, appertaining to this fleeing existence, shall be unknown. this future state of being, he has not only revealed, but has demonstrated its certainty by those incontestable evidences, which can never be shaken by all the powers of infidelity combined. he has burst the icy bands of death and risen triumphant beyond its solemn shade, and begot in us those lively hopes, those fond desires, that ease the aching heart--that communicate unbroken peace amidst the various ills of life, and afford it divine consolation and joy in the trying moment of death. in those interesting truths the believer confides, and in every condition in life is enabled to rejoice in the hope that when "this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, he has a building of god, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens." in this faith, man's countless wants are satisfied, inasmuch as god has secured his dearest interest. in this faith the believer is entered into rest, is born of god, and is translated into his kingdom. he _knows_ that by faith he has passed from death unto life, for his soul is filled with love to god and man. this love, this divine enjoyment, is the natural effect of _faith_, inasmuch as it works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes, the world. he is not only at rest respecting himself, but at rest respecting his children and dear friends, whom he may be called to follow to the land of silence and the shadow of death. he stands at their dying bed and whispers to them consolation, in the joyful assurance, that he shall meet them again beyond the dominion of death and pain in the regions of glory. his bosom is the mansion of those pure and holy affections and of those sublime hopes, that none can know but those who are thus born into the kingdom of god. reader, you must die. how important then that you should faithfully and prayerfully examine the scriptures so that tormenting fears, distraction and despair may not in that solemn moment rend the peace of your bosom to atoms. a sweet peace and composure of soul in that trying hour, are of incalculable worth. it is enough to struggle with physical pain without the addition of mental woes, which present neglect, and your ignorance of the truth and consolations of the gospel of christ, are sure to bring upon you. perhaps you are a father, and may be called to stand at the death-bed of a beloved child. that child may call upon you as a parent to administer consolation to its departing spirit. he clings to life, or ardently desires to live forever in the mansions of rest beyond the grave. but what consolation can you impart, if you are yourself ignorant of the doctrines of the gospel of christ? the heart-rending prospect of endless wo, or the gloomy horrors of annihilation, could afford no consolation to that mind, which has the principles of glory deeply rooted in its nature and which nothing but the continuance of existence can rationally satisfy. as you value unbroken peace in the hour of dissolution, and as you value the happiness of these dear pledges heaven has lent you, study for the evidence of christian truth, search the scriptures, and labor to enter into that rest that remains here to the believing people of god, who are born again and _specially_ saved through _faith_ in the truth. this labor is not only important in view of the solemn hour of death, but important in view of the life you here live in the flesh. happiness is the ultimate pursuit of all mortal beings. they vainly imagine that it can be found in riches, honors and titles--yes, even imagine that it can be found in the hard ways of the transgressor. though sensible that worlds before them have failed, and gone down to the grave with the pangs of disappointed hope, yet man is so strangely inconsistent as still to believe, that these earthly pursuits contain some hidden charm which he flatters himself he shall find even though all before him have failed. here is the delusion, kind reader, of which you are cautioned to beware. there is no happiness but in the path where the hand of mercy has sown it--no happiness but in the objects where god has placed it. it is no where to be found but in the enjoyment of the religion of christ. this will sweeten every earthly pursuit, make every burden light, afford solid enjoyment in life and divine consolation in the hour of death. flatter not yourself that there is any happiness beneath the sun aside from this. "there is no peace saith my god to the wicked," and, he who says there is, contradicts jehovah, and is yet "in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." a speculative faith is of but little consequence, so long as it does not influence our life and conversation for the better. we must believe to the saving of the soul from the evil of the world. "then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the lord shall be thy reward." sermon xii "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold." prov. xxii: . a good name involves all that can render man exalted and amiable, or life desirable. the good opinion of mankind has, in all ages, been considered as a blessing of the first magnitude, and has, in various ways, been sought for by all. there is no man so dishonest, but what labors to impress upon others the conviction of his honesty; no man so deceptive, but what wishes to be considered sincere; nor cowardly, but desires to be reputed brave; and no man is so abandonedly vicious, but what desires to be considered virtuous by his fellow creatures. all choose a good name in preference to a bad one. this being a fact the appearance of virtue is kept up where the reality is wanting, and the shadow is often mistaken for the substance. there are many, that are, at heart, insincere and false, who pass in society generally for persons of sincerity, candor and virtue, while their real principles are known only in their own families and among their confidential friends. they desire a good name and outwardly maintain it, while they in reality but little deserve it. in order to know what a man really is, we must be acquainted, not only with his public, but his private character. in his own family, every man appears what he really is. there the heart, word and action art in unison. they embrace each other. in public, they too often separate; and the word, or action, speaks what its divorced companion, the heart does not feel. such not only literally choose, but often bear a good name. but this is not the choice suggested by the text. all men, even the most vicious, in some sense or other, choose a good name. but the passage under consideration has a higher, a nobler aim, than a mere choice unconnected with virtuous principle and action. it has a higher aim, than to encourage men to be rotten at heart, and by an outward, hypocritical maneuver, maintain a good name among their fellow creatures. by the text, we are to understand, that a man should early cultivate, in his heart, a virtuous principle, as the pure source from which all those outward actions spring that justly merit the esteem of mankind, force approbation even from the vicious, and thus entitle him to that good name which is far above all price. this will not only afford its possessor unbroken peace arising from the inward consolations and joys of virtuous sincerity, but it will also open to him another rich fountain of felicity, arising from the consideration, that he enjoys the confidence and esteem of the great and the good, with whom he is conversant in life, of his intimate friends, of his companion and children, and above all the smiles of kind heaven and the approbation of his god. his life is calm; his sleep is sweet and associated with golden dreams. no fearful spectres haunt his brain, but the kind angel of mercy is ever at his side. he looks forward to death undismayed, yes, with satisfaction and composure looks beyond that dark scene, to brighter worlds and more substantial joys. he feels the assurance, that even when he shall be here no more, his name shall live in the hearts of those he left behind, be embalmed in the memory of the just, and that it is beyond the power of rolling ages to sully it. this is what we understand by choosing a good name as stated in our text. of the truth of this, there can arise no misapprehension when we compare it with the subsequent phrase with which it is contrasted--"a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor than silver and gold." by the choosing of riches, we are to understand, not only a desire to obtain them, but that this desire shall be sufficiently strong to prompt us to use all the honorable and efficient means in our power to accumulate them. the wise man did not mean that every man had the offer of a fortune, and could possess himself of it by simply making choice of it independent of means. no-- his choice must be manifested by industry and economy. the means must be used to secure the end. just so in acquiring a good name. the person desirous of obtaining it, must pursue that upright and virtuous course of conduct, which alone could insure it. and just as well might a man expect riches by being indolent and extravagant, as to expect a good name by indulging in every species of vice. we are therefore to understand our text thus--a good name, through pursuing a virtuous course of conduct, is rather to be chosen than great riches, through the plans and means by which they are obtained. man is a being of many wants, and to supply them he is too much inclined to forsake the path of virtue and resort to dishonorable means to obtain wealth. in view of this master-passion for earthly splendor and greatness, solomon uttered the words of our text to recall the giddy mind from its chase of shadows, sad turn it to the only source of unmingled felicity in the pursuit of virtue. this would afford the mind those rational delights that wealth, with all its dazzling splendors, cannot impart. it does not possess the charm to convey unbroken peace to the heart. but there is a strong inducement to engage in a virtuous course, because it is the surest road to wealth and honor. the thief and robber were never rich, nor nor could they be happy if they were. an excellent writer, observes--the importance of a good character in the commerce of life, seems to be universally acknowledged. to those who are to make their own way either to wealth or honors, a good character is as necessary as address and ability. though human nature is often degenerate, and corrupts itself by many inventions, yet it usually retains to the last an esteem for excellence. but even if we arrive at such an extreme degree of depravity as to have lost our native reverence for virtue, yet a regard to our own interest and safety will lead us to apply for aid, in all important transactions, to men whose integrity is unimpeached. when we choose an assistant or a partner, our first inquiry is concerning his character. when we have occasion for a counsellor, an attorney, or a physician, whatever we may be ourselves, we always choose to trust our property and lives to men of the best character. when we fix on the tradesman, who is to supply us with necessaries, we are we are influenced by fair reputation and honorable dealing. young men, therefore, whose characters are yet unfixed, and who consequently may render them just such as they wish, ought to pay great attention to the first steps they take on entrance into life. they are usually careless and inattentive to this object. they pursue their own plans with ardor, and neglect the opinions which others entertain of them. by some thoughtless action or expression, they suffer a mark to be impressed upon them, which no subsequent merit can entirely erase. every man will find some persons who, though they are not professed enemies, yet view him with an eye of envy, and who would gladly revive any tale to which truth has given the slightest foundation. though a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and is the surest road to wealth, yet there are thousands, who pay but little attention to possess themselves of so valuable a treasure. they turn a deaf ear to that hallowed voice, which pleads with them in behalf of their dearest interest, and take the downward road to dissipation and vice, and, by their wretched example, lead other thousands to the dark abodes of sorrow, grief and pain. enchanted by the siren voice of false and fleeting pleasure, they hurry to the tremendous precipice, where reputation and fortune lie in broken ruins. there they drag out a wretched existence in disappointed hope, satiety and disgust. they pay their devotions at the shrine of ignominy, where the dark and stagnant waters of guilt and condemnation roll. there the sweet voice of heaven-born peace was never heard, and the beauteous feet of religion never trod. there dwells the family of pain--there is the hell we are cautioned to avoid. this is not an illusion of fancy--it is no reverie of the brain, but a reality too visible in the pathway of human life. thousands, in this condition, are hurrying to a premature grave, and go down to that dark abode covered with infamy, having robbed themselves of all the substantial joys, that a virtuous conduct, and a good unsullied name are calculated to awaken in the heart. dissipation darkens the brightest prospects of life. it rolls its floods of misery indiscriminately over the dearest earthly hopes of companions, children and friends, and paralyzes every pulse of joy that beats in the human bosom. many a child has been spurned from the presence of its brutal father, and been beaten for asking bread to satisfy its hunger. intemperance stupefies man to the moral impressions of the gospel, and hardens the heart with the touch of its benumbing powers. it is the giant of human wo that slays his thousands and prostrates the happiness of man. this champion of human war draws his sword of vengeance against the balmy repose of public and private life, and his fatal touch withers the brightest flowers of domestic hope and joy, and mingles the poisonous bowl with the bitter drugs of misery. his government is absolute monarchy, and his subjects the most contemptible slaves. when he lays upon them his cursed hand, they reel to the ground. when he strikes the stunning blow, they drop insensibly to the earth. the oppressions and scourges of the most wretched slave are enviable in comparison with those severe wounds inflicted by this merciless tyrant, this infernal scourge of the human race. intemperance is a monster that may well be personified. he frolicks through the blood, preys upon the vitals, ploughs up the brain, dethrones reason and laughs at the feeble resistance of the best constitution, and finally bears down all opposition before him. like the devouring flame, he presses on with irresistible force, urging his deadly siege, till he consumes all that is fair and lovely in the eye of virtue. his present gifts are poverty misery and distress, and his capital prize, a premature grave. this champion is ravaging our beloved country, and seducing her sons of freedom to the disgraceful ranks of slavery and oppression. intemperance is that tyrant that has under his control many formidable evils that infest the world. his boasted labor is to hurry on thousands of victims to the commission of crime, and bring down upon them the many misfortunes that attend man in this mutable world. intemperance involves public broils, tumults and disturbances, and domestic discord, misery and strife. we trust the number among our readers is small, who are so regardless of a good name as to have abandoned themselves to the intoxicating bowl, or who have sundered all the ties of moral obligation, determined to tread the downward path of vice to a disgraceful tomb. we hope they have a higher regard to the invaluable worth of a good name; and we pray that they may venerate its price far above the momentary glitter of silver and gold. that shall live, when wealth shall have lost its lustre, and flourish immortal, when gold shall have corroded to dust. blasphemy is another unreasonable vice against which the public speaker or writer should raise his voice. and let no one flatter himself because we believe in the universal and unbounded goodness of god, that a man may go on as he please. so long as a being of infinite wisdom is enthroned in the heavens and governs the universe, so long he can never fail to measure out to every offence its adequate punishment, and has all the means at his disposal to bring it unavoidably upon the head of every transgressor. he, who flatters himself that he can sin with impunity, is ignorant of the government of his god, and has never reflected upon human life in all its varied lights and shades. do you profess to be a universalist, and yet treat with irreverence the name of him who made you, and whom you acknowledge to be a faithful creator--an indulgent father? your professions are nothing. "he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." that very breath by which he inflates the lungs, can you breathe it back in blasphemies against his holy name, which angels never pronounce but with veneration and awe? choose, o choose a good name, which can only be obtained by choosing a virtuous course of conduct. however lightly you may treat your own station in life, or however much you may disregard the dignity of your nature, yet remember the station you hold, however obscure, is stamped with responsibility. you are surrounded by a generation of youth, among whom are your own children, ready to imitate your example. do you wish them well! then guard your heart and life by setting a reasonable value on a good name, and remember you cannot move without touching some string that may vibrate long after your head rests on its cold pillow of earth. sermon xiii "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold." prov. xxii: . in this discourse we shall more fully show why "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." though wealth is desirable, and in many instances conducive to human happiness, because it puts it in our power to relieve the wants and distresses of our fellow creatures, yet it does not possess the charm to convey unbroken peace or solid joy to any bosom. the value, of anything within the range of human action, is to be estimated by its usefulness in promoting the happiness of man. that, which pours the most numerous and refined enjoyments into the soul, is to be considered of the greatest worth; and that, which has a tendency to bring upon us the most alarming miseries, misfortunes and woes, is of course the most worthless. the one is to be fondly chosen and pursued in proportion to its worth in administering to our enjoyments, and the other is to be avoided in proportion to its unhappy effects in multiplying our sorrows. this being an undeniable fact, the superlative value of a good name, procured by a virtuous course of conduct, appears, at once, to transcend all other considerations: a pure unsullied conscience before heaven is the most permanent bliss that a rational being can enjoy, and is of that enduring nature which no earthly power or misfortune can destroy. it supports us in the hour of adversity and trial; it comforts us in the dark hour of sorrow; it remains unmoved amids the storms of life, and lights up the smile of satisfaction on the lips of the dying. nor is this all. it affords us other unruffled streams of unmingled felicity in the common intercourse of life. the approbation of the wise and the good, the confidence and esteem of our friends and associates, and the good opinion even of the vicious, are considerations of no ordinary moment. they awaken emotions in the heart of the most pleasing gratification, and open in the soul all the avenues of heaven-born felicity, imparting that peace, which this world can neither give nor take away. but as it respects _wealth_, we would remark, that though it may communicate happiness by enabling us to relieve the wants of our fellow creatures, and afford us many joys in the indulgence of our benevolence, yet it cannot of itself communicate happiness, but virtue can. a wicked and unprincipled man is wretched, though he roll in all the wealth and splendors that earth can give. he feels in his bosom a _burning flame_, that all the streams of wealth can never quench, and a _craving desire_, that nought on earth can gratify. if his "great riches" afford him any enjoyments, yet these are by no means permanent and lasting. the desolating flame may lay them in ruins--the storms on the ocean may sink them in its waves--the famine or blighting mildew may wither them forever, and leave him stript of all his fancied joys. but nothing of this can happen to virtue. that remains forever unharmed amidst the shocks of earth. a good name is, therefore, of inconceivably more value than riches and rather to be chosen than silver and gold. we are formed for society. god in beginning said, "it is not good that man should be alone." this being a fact, which all past experience, and the history of our whole race demonstrate, it is, therefore, equally true, that our dearest enjoyments flow from the social affections and from a sincere cultivation of the social intercourse of life. there is, perhaps, not a human being in existence, who would accept of all the wealth of the indies on the condition that he should not be respected by a single individual on earth. this circumstance shows us, in noonday light, the superior value of a good name above all the glittering appendages of wealth. every man is beloved and esteemed in proportion to his goodness and usefulness in the world, particularly by those with whom he associate in life. if then to _love and be beloved_ depend on our conduct in the world, and if at the same time, our happiness is derived from the exercise of reciprocal affection, we see the importance of pitching upon that course of life, which alone can secure those solid pleasures resulting from a well spent life. too many persons suppose, they can be happy in sin; yes, even in criminal indulgence. but that transgressor was never yet found, who could point to a single wicked act in his life, the remembrance of which ever imparted one solitary gleam of joy to his heart. they may fancy there is happiness in sin; but here is the deception. it is immaterial what some may preach about _the pleasures of sin_, and _the satisfaction the transgressor often takes in a wicked course_, yet all this amounts to nothing so long as the voice of heaven declares, "there is no peace, saith my god, to the wicked." infinite wisdom _must know_, and infinite wisdom, _has given_ the decision, and that decision is stamped with immortality, and from it there is no appeal. if we impress the sinner with the idea that he is not punished and rewarded _here_, but that the whole is to be settled in the future world, then we, in the same proportion, weaken the force of virtue and _strengthen_ the cause of vice. and this is one obvious reason, why men continue in sin, as long as they dare, expecting at some future day to repent and escape _all punishment_. they go on from day to day, and from year to year, with all the thunders of endless and immortal pain sounded in their ears, and even believing it true, yet continue to indulge in sin. would they run such an awful risk, unless, by a certain course of education, they had been made to believe that there was happiness in transgression? no. if they believed that sin had nought to impart but misery, they would abandon it for its _own sake_; because happiness is the object of all men. they have, therefore, by some means or other, been led to the strange infatuation, that sin possesses some secret charm to communicate that happiness to the soul, for which every bosom throbs. this fancied happiness, they vainly imagine, they can obtain by wallowing in the dark waters of iniquity, be happy _here_, then repent at last, and be happy _hereafter_. as they pass along in their wretched career, expecting every moment to grasp the fancied pleasure, yet the fond, anticipated phantom flies from their embrace and leaves them in the ruin of their joy. though disappointed again and again, yet firmly believing that there is happiness in sin, they again push on, and thus far attribute their want of success to some miscalculation. insensible of the nature of sin, blinded and self-deceived, they go on in pursuit of pleasure, while golden dreams of false felicity fire their imaginations, till at last, age places them on the verge of the grave; their object no nearer attained than it was the day they set out, while habit has fixed them in a course, that has yielded them nothing but sorrow and pain, and vanity and vexation of spirit. stung with remorse, and pierced through with many sorrows, they breathe a repentance, which, the nature of their condition, forces upon them, are perhaps pronounced _converted_, and they sink into the darkness of death! their names, covered with infamy, are soon blotted from the remembrance of the living! we observed, a moment ago, that the idea, of holding up a retribution in the future world, weakens the force of virtue, and strengthens the cause of vice. this has, perhaps, been abundantly shown in the arguments already offered as being manifest in the daily conduct of men; yet we will, in a word, bring the subject plainly before you. to persuade a sinner that he is to be punished in the _future_ world for his sins in _this_, is plainly saying that sin has many pleasures and conveniences _here_, and so far as it failed of rendering him his due desert, the balance is to be made up in another state of being. because the balance of punishment due him _there_, is to make up the _deficiency_ of punishment, which sin did not pay him here. and certainly, so far as sin did not pay him _here_, he must have been happy in its commission. and the _expectation_, that he should be happy in it _here_, was the _very cause_ that induced him to continue in transgression, with the expectation of repenting and escaping punishment _hereafter_. thus he flattered himself, that he could sin with impunity, and escape its punishment in this world and the world to come. and to satisfy a man that he is to be rewarded in the _future_ world for his righteousness in _this_ but persuading him, that virtue is attended with misery, and that so far as it failed to reward _here_, the balance is to be made up _hereafter_. because the balance of happiness due to him _there_, is to make up the deficiency of happiness which virtue did not pay him _here_. and so far as virtue did not pay him here, must have been miserable in its practice. and the impression that sin is productive of many enjoyments, and that righteousness is attended with misery, has a tendency to make him choose the _former_ and reject the _latter_, and trust to a future repentance. we often hear it proclaimed by those, who profess to be the guardians of the public morals, that the righteous have a hard course in warring against the corruptions of their heart, in the service of god, while the sinner goes on unconcerned and easy in the pleasures of sin. in doing this they defeat the very object, they are striving to obtain, which is the _conversion_ of the sinner. these very impressions are one obvious reason why so many continue in sin and reject the path of righteousness and peace, which alone conducts to a good name, that is of more worth than great riches, and more durable than silver and gold. as then there is no happiness in vice, as all its allurements are deceptive and vain, how important that we should shun it, and pursue that bright path of virtue and peace, which will lead to the invaluable possession of a good name. engaging in the cultivation of all the better affections of the heart, we shall by habit so refine our natures, that "loving favor" will take entire possession of our minds, and mould them into the spotless image of heaven. _this_ loving favor is rather to be chosen than silver and gold, for these will corrupt, and at last crumble into dust, while _this_ shall survive the ruins of death, and flourish in those peaceful realms, where our felicity will be unbroken and perpetual. flatter not yourselves with the vain hope, that there is one solitary thrill of joy in the indulgence of sin. he, who indulges in dissipation and vice--he, who slanders his neighbor, who wrongs his fellow men, or even utters one oath against the unsullied name of his maker, is a most profound unbeliever in the sentiment we proclaim. he, who possesses a hope so full of immortality as to believe, that god will finally save from sin, and bless him and all his fellow men, will cleanse his hands and wash them in innocency. tell me not that you are a universalist, when the very oceans of god's goodness do not affect your heart, nor lead you to repentance. he, who is satisfied that there is no happiness in sin, will abandon it. he, who deliberately pursues a vicious course, expects to find happiness in it; and it is impossible that he believes in god's _universal grace_. it is absolutely impossible in the very nature of things, that he can be a universalist. a salvation from sin is the doctrine of the bible, and holiness itself heaven. he, who believes such a salvation to be happifying, will abandon sin, as the enemy of his peace, and seek righteousness, which alone can afford him tranquillity. jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is righteousness and peace. if you wish to satisfy men that you _really_ desire the whole human family to meet in heaven, then show your sincerity by being righteous yourself. a sincere universalist believes sin to be the cause of many mental woes that darken the world, and the principal cause of the greater proportion of sufferings that fall to the lot of man. he believes that a virtuous course of conduct, guided by the burning lamp of revelation, leads to those joys that time cannot sully, nor the hand of death extinguish. a conviction of this truth leads him to hate sin, to forsake its dark dominions, and enter those fields of felicity, where the brilliant beams of virtue shed a cloudless day. here he walks and enjoys an antepast of heaven. its paths are the paths of peace. all its ways are pleasantness and delight. its crystal streams are pure and sweet; its breezes healthful and its fruits delicious. he believes god to be the father of his creatures--that he governs the world in wisdom and mercy--that he created with a benevolent intention, and that he is not disappointed in the workmanship of his hand, but presides over just such a world as he designed it should be. he believes that this order of things, though dark to him, is designed for good, and shall terminate in the happiness of all. he believes that all rewards and punishments are instituted for some benevolent end, and that this end, will be brought about in such a manner as to manifest to all, the divine perfections in the clearest light, and shed unfading glory on the supreme majesty of heaven. this faith gives him confidence in his heavenly father, and fills his heart with gratitude and veneration. it leads him to look upon the human family as his brethren, and to do them good. he seeks their happiness, and thus chooses and merits a good name. at peace with all mankind, his mind irradiated with light and enlarged with the most noble conceptions of the divine character and government, bout, he at length lies down in peace and composure upon his dying bed, and gently breathes out-- "farewell conflicting joys and fears, where light and shade alternatedwell; a brighter, purer scene appears, farewell inconstant world, farewell!" he sweetly sinks to rest, and leaves behind him a good name, that can never die, and an example, for others to imitate, worth more than fortunes in gold. his memory shall survive, when the tomb, on which it is inscribed, shall crumble into ruin, and his example be a light to future generations. sermon xiv "be of the same mind one towards another. mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate." romans xii. . that mysterious and incomprehensible being, who gave us existence, has sown in our nature the seeds of mortality. by the irresistible _laws_ of his empire which he has, from the beginning, _established_ for the regulating of the animal creation, we are soon to be carried to the silent grave. all, without exception, are formed out of equal clay, are subject to the same hopes and fears, joys and sorrows while on earth, and are all destined to the slumbers of death, where we must exhibit the emblem of perfect equality. immaterial how far one may exalt himself above another while passing through this momentary existence--immaterial how far he may rise above his fellow men in the scale of intellect and refinement--immaterial how exalted the station he may have obtained--how brilliant the powers of his imagination may sparkle, or how soft and sublime his eloquence may flow--immaterial how nobly soever he may dazzle in the sunny smiles of fortune, or how secure he may repose in the fond embrace of friends, yet it is a melancholy truth, that he must, sooner or later, resign the whole, let go his eager grasp on all those pleasing joys, bid an everlasting farewell to those exalted splendors, and descend to the dark shades of death, where the rich and the poor, the servant and his master, the oppressor and oppressed, all lie mouldering and forgotten together. this solemn consideration, it seems, when forcibly presented to the mind, ought to be sufficient to check the levity of man--to soften his bosom to his fellow beings--to moderate his desire in pursuit of wealth and greatness, and completely to unarm him of all hostile feelings towards those with whom he associates, and with whom he is so soon to lie down in death. this, it seems, is sufficient to make us of one heart and mind in promoting each other's happiness and welfare in the world, and to make us obedient to the exhortation of the text, not to mind the high things of earth, but to condescend to men of low estate. but such is the strange infatuation of man, that he acts as though his residence on earth were eternal, and as though the whole errand of life consisted in providing for an eternity below. we are capacitated for enjoyments of a higher and more perfect nature than we can attain to on earth. of this we are sensible from the fact, that there is no condition in which we can be placed here below, that is so adapted to our nature as to afford us permanent satisfaction. uninterrupted felicity is not a plant of earth. it cannot flourish in a clime where the blighting storms of malice and envy wither all that is fair, sweet and blooming. and though we are sensible that such is the fact, yet, deaf to all that experience, example and observation conspire to teach, we are exerting all our powers to obtain it here below, where the united voice of earth and heaven assure us it cannot be found. we cast our eyes around us, and see the human family in every varied condition of life from the beggar on his bed of straw, up to the king in regal splendor on the throne of nations; but in defiance of this immense distinction, they alike breathe the deep sigh of discontent. we also cast our eyes over the historic page, and scan the general fate of man in by-gone ages; but here too, we learn the same lesson, that no _external condition_ has ever added to the rational enjoyments of the soul. we see the same uneasiness, the same longing desires pervade every bosom. our object is happiness; and amidst all the various pursuits of life, what is the reason so many fail of obtaining it? the answer is readily given. we make riches, honors and the high things of the earth our chief pursuit and aim, and fondly imagine that our happiness lies in them. here is our error. man is destined to a world of mental felicity, where those external pursuits of fortune will be unknown; where all that he here pursues with so much eagerness will be removed from his desires forever, and where all the channels of the soul will be opened to the true fountain of felicity and completely ravished in its flowing streams. in order, therefore, to enjoy that happiness, in this momentary state of being, which god has placed within our reach, we must make mental felcity the main pursuit of life, and the riches and conveniences of earth our secondary pursuit. we must completely reverse our conduct in order to obtain those rational enjoyments, that flow from the virtuous habits and dispositions. we must, as jesus says, "seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." food and raiment are all that we can enjoy of the external comforts of life. all other enjoyments must be of a mental character. secure first your mental joys, a pure unsullied conscience in the punctual discharge of all your social and relative duties to mankind, and be you rich or poor, you will be happy. the righteous discharge of this first great duty will not embarrass you in obtaining the comforts of life, but on the contrary aid you. a peaceable and honest course of conduct towards others--a condescension to men of low estate--a due respect for the opinions and rights of others, will endear you to all, and not only foster in your bosom the seeds of peace and contentment, but will conduct you in the surest path to wealth and honor. the mental powers of the soul are all that exalt our capacity for happiness above a brutal creation. and if our chief happiness lies in gold, which can only minister to our animal wants, then the brutes can vie with us in all the solid enjoyments of life. in fact, they can go beyond us. they graze the turf, and drink the unmingled stream free from anxiety and care. while man, the lord of this lower creation, has to toil and gain the same enjoyments by the sweat of his brow. but what a groveling thought to bring our exalted natures and capacities for happiness down to a level with theirs! on this principle, he who is the most wealthy is the most happy. virtue is but a name, and all the exalted principles of noble and godlike action are but the reveries of fancy, and to practice them is but a visionary dream. no, my friends, wealth supplies our animal wants, and if virtue be wanting, it leaves our minds in wretched starvation and our brightest joys in night! happiness is equally attainable by the rich and the poor. it consists in a union of heart among mankind, in a union of action in the pursuit of virtue, and in the kindlier feelings of our nature. in fine, it consists in a willing obedience to the exhortations of our text: "be of the same mind one towards another. mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate." to each of these exhortations, we will give a candid and solemn consideration. in this sermon, we will attend to the exhortation--"_be of the same mind one towards another_." by this, we are not to understand that men are to be of one heart and mind in pursuing the same occupation or profession in life, but of one mind in endeavoring to promote each other's happiness in every condition in which they may be placed--of one mind in the practice of christian duty, and in the exercise of charity. selfishness produces many jarring interests among mankind, bursts the bands of brotherhood asunder, and weakens the strength of that nation, society or family among which it exists, and in proportion to the opposition it produces among its individual members. "united, we stand, divided we fall," is a maxim full of wisdom, and is not only applicable to nations, but to communities, societies, and even to families. a family in discord is a sight over which angels might weep, but when united in one heart and mind, it is a picture over which heaven smiles. the fond and doating father, the tender and affectionate mother, and obedient children, all united in peace and harmony, present to the mind those pleasing conceptions of the reconciled family immortal, that cause us to feel all the burning emotions of which the heart is susceptible. in such society as this, are enjoyed the happiest moments of our existence--moments unmingled with the bitterness of regret, unsullied by the corroding hand of time, unruffled by the perplexing cares of life, and undarkened by the tempests of indisposition. is such a father absent--far distant on land or ocean where duty calls? the heart of his family goes with him, and he too leaves his heart lingering behind. his companion counts the moments as they slowly roll--is faithful to his interests--makes preparation to receive him--sighs for his safe return, and welcomes him home with those emotions of ecstatic joy, that cause him to forget his past labors, toils and dangers. is he stretched upon a bed of pain? unwearied she sits beside him, hushes every sound that might interrupt his broken slumbers, and watches every breath he draws. she whispers to him the soothing words of encouragement and consolation-- gives neither sleep to her eyes, nor slumber to her eyelids, but is the guardian angel of his pillow. when all human aid has failed--when the pulse beats faint--the once sparkling eye grows dim and rolls faint and languid in its socket, she stands mute and pensive at his dying bed. her whole soul is absorbed in the interest of the scene and rent with agony. she wipes the cold sweat of death from his face, gazes with exquisite anxiety till the last dreadlful struggle is over, and breathes to the throne of mercy the prayer of affection for the repose of his spirit. and so feels the kind husband over his companion, indulgent parents over their dying children, and dutiful children over their parents. but it is a lamentable circumstance, a painful consideration, that there are too many unhappy divisions in the domestic circle. yes, it is a painful consideration indeed, that those, who are so nearly allied to each other, should, even for one moment, indulge in feelings of acrimony. it is but a short time, at longest, that we can be together, and such unhappy divisions must render the parting scene, at the bed of death, doubly painful. thoughtless, giddy or oppressive as we may be to those, who are near to us in life, while blooming health is their lot, yet righteous heaven has so constituted our natures, that the most painful reminiscences will force themselves upon the mind when the injured object, to whom we have given distress, is upon a dying bed. every unkind word, every harsh treatment, the whole dark picture our ungenerous conduct will present itself to the imagination in all its naked woes. and be that dying one a parent, a companion, a child, their very silence, as thy turn upon us a languid eye fading in death, will harrow up every painful recollection. o! if we wish to tread upon their graves with an unsullied conscience before heaven, let us be of one mind, live in peace, and discharge, to them, those sacred duties of kindness and affection, which the ties, that bind them to us, enjoin. this world is too much made up of appearances. many a family, which we suppose to be the abode of union, peace and joy, is distracted with the voice of discord, and is dragging out an existence in secret, concealed grief. many a husband and wife, who, we suppose, are of one heart and mind and passing their days in the sunshine of peace and love, are torn by secret broils, and whose mansion stands overcast with the dark shadows of discontent and misery. little do we dream of the secret woes, that rend many a worthy heart concealed behind a smiling countenance. the husband is perhaps stern and unrelenting--and will, in no case, yield to the wishes of his companion. discouragement and anger may perhaps at times take possession of the heart. in such a case, instead of treating her kindly, he rouses into a passion himself, and a private contention ensues. this is a wretched practice, for instead of extinguishing the flame, it adds fuel to the fire, and consumes all that is fair and lovely in matrimonial and domestic life. much misery might be avoided by observing the following rule. when the one is melancholy, let the other be rationally cheerful, and endeavor to divert the attention from the subject that causes gloom. when the one is angry, let the other keep a perfect equanimity and a benign composure of countenance. then watch the opportunity, and in some future day, when the offended one is most cheerful and kind, then bring forward the subject, and expostulate most feelingly on the impropriety of indulging a wrathful spirit to a bosom friend. speak of the shortness of life and point each other to the silent grave and to the parting scene, and vengeance, anger and discontent will soon be strangers in your habitation. your dear children, from the very dawnings of intellect, will take the example, grow up in harmony and affection with perfect rule over their spirit, and thus you will not only secure your own domestic peace, but will bequeath those sacred enjoyments to your posterity--enjoyments that infinitely outweigh a thousand fortunes in gold! let others toil to leave their offspring wealth, we ours the joy to bequeath them this. we ask no more. we are not only to be of the same mind one towards another in our families but in our religious societies. here all selfishness ought to be discarded, all private interests sacrificed, all hostile feelings subdued, and the whole offered on the altar of genuine good, and thus the harmony, peace and prosperity of the whole body consulted. the permanent security of these depend on the individual conduct of the members. by uniting ourselves in a religious body, we express the necessity of living a sober life, maintaining a union of heart and a respectful conversation towards all with whom we associate in life. let us not dream that heaven will prosper us above others, if we also blaspheme the name of him who gave us life and sustains us in being. let us lay aside every evil, that has a tendency to disunion, and live soberly and righteously in the world, doing good unto all as we have opportunity. [the reader will find this subject continued in our next number.] sermon xv "be of the same mind one towards another. mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate." romans xii. . having from the commencement of these sermons confined myself to prescribed limits, i had no room in my last to pursue the first division of my subject so far as i intended. i will therefore here resume it. "_be of the same mind, one towards another_." we have thus far confined our attention to family union, and have just glanced at the necessity of union in religious societies. this is a day of inquiry and light when the most keen and searching glances are sent into every creed. many denominations that have walked together heart and hand for many years, each repelling the assaults of those, who attempted to extinguish their ism, have at length been separated by internal divisions and formed two opposing parties, even though they once believed the _same creed_, and advocated the _same church government_. the present is a trying period, and it stands us in hand to endeavor to "keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace." let us not dream of religious union, and prosperity, unless we allow each one to think for himself in matters of scripture interpretation. nor let us dream of prosperity, if there is among us more theory than practice. it is true, universalists are as moral as any other denomination; but this is not enough. they ought in _kindness and benevolence_ to transcend other denominations as far, as their doctrine of universal beniguity transcends the doctrine of unending wo. neither are we to dream of religious union and prosperity, unless we raise our united voices against those who revel over the flowing cup of intoxication, which pours so many streams of misery and disunion on the world. let no one fancy to himself that the drunkards toast, "_here is health and success to us_!" has any charm to avert his ruin, or to stay the judgment of heaven. the more frequently that toast has been uttered, while smiling upon the cup of inebriation held in a trembling hand, the farther have health and success been removed from the deluded victim, and the more swift and deadly have misfortune, sickness, distress and pain fallen upon him. intemperance is a demon, that sows the seeds of discord among all ranks, orders and conditions of men. beneath his crushing hand creation reels, and fortunes fall in broken ruins! and peace the sweet angel of mercy flies these turbulent skies, and lights on realms unmoved by the hand of commotion and discord. at his approach, blooming health is driven back from its warm abode and the fairest flowers of domestic love, hope and joy are withered forever! let this frightful foe of discord and confusion be barred from our sacred heritage and peace be within our borders. we are not only to be of one heart and one mind in resisting profanity and intemperance, but in resisting tale-bearing. let us not speak evil of others. this is beneath the character of a gentleman, and certainly beneath that of a christian: consequently no gentleman or christian will indulge in it. it is the employment of _low, ill-bred minds_, and therefore none will engage in it, but those who are destitute of reputation themselves. this vice has no excuse, and must therefore originate in the _basest_ motives. they intend to bring their fellow creatures down to a level with themselves, and thus lessen them in the good opinion of others, and destroy their peace. and though they may effect their object so far as the good opinion of the virtuous is calculated to give us happiness, yet the approbation of a good conscience, arising from the conviction of innocency, can never he rooted from the heart of its possessor by all the calumnies of earth. _this_ god has secured in all the secret chambers of the soul, and forever barred it against the breath of slander. there he takes up his abode and holds communion with the contrite spirit. the real merits and consolations of virtue are secured to its possessor by the impartial legislation of righteous heaven. intemperance in its effects, compared with slandering, is harmless; at least so far as producing discord is concerned. the peaceable drunkard, compared even with that church member, who is continually sowing discord in society, is an angel. slander is but the infectious breath or a foul spirit, that poisons the healthful atmosphere wherever it is breathed, and breaks the quiet repose--the calm serenity of neighborhoods and families, as it were, with an electric shock. political slander is as infectious and destructive to the harmony of the nation, and the security of our government, as private slander is to neighborhoods and societies. no sooner is a candidate held up for office, than all the party dogs of war on both sides are let loose and set to barking. immaterial how fair may be his character, how inviolable his veracity, or how unsullied his honor and integrity, they will make him appear to be an outcast from society, covered with the darkest blots of infamy. immaterial how great may be his qualifications, or how splendid his talents, they will, by that species of logic for which slanderers are famous, prove him to be a fool. these dissentions do not expire when the candidates are elected. they are carried to the capitol of our common country and blown out in more than wordy war. there, we have reason to fear, the volcano is gathering, and that the day is not distant when it will disembogue in more than the thunders of etna, wrap our political heavens in a blaze, and melt its elements with fervent heat. anarchy and confusion will seize the reins of government, and drive us to the oblivious shades of departed empires. if we continue to go on in our political slanders as a nation, losing sight of our common welfare, and sacrificing the _general_, on the altar of _partial_ interest, the day of our ruin is not remote. its awful morn, has, already, it seems, dawned with streaks of malignant _light_, and (like ill fated troy) ominous of the purple streams, the crimson blood, that watered the trojan plains where mighty sarpedon fell, where hector lay slain by the sword of achilles. heaven forbid that our national sun, that rose so fair, should go down in blood, and shroud our temple of liberty in everlasting night! to avert such a catastrophe let us reform, and do our duty as individuals. the safety of any body politic depends on the conduct of the individuals that compose it. and god grant that these dissentions may cease, that political peace and harmony may become perfect, and our government may stand immoveable on its basis, like the rock that remains unshaken by the furious storms that agitate the ocean. may we, as a nation, be of one mind in resisting every species of immorality, in studying the happiness of our fellow creatures--of one mind in obtaining a knowledge of the character of our creator, in studying his parental and benign government, and his divine attributes and unchanging perfections--and be of one mind in acquainting ourselves with his beautiful works that swarm around us and afford us so many rational delights. let us store our minds with useful knowledge, practice the precept of christ, labor for mental emancipation, and contentment and peace will be our lot. in the great duties of religious obligation, let us be of one heart and mind. let us live like brethren, not only among ourselves, but among other denominations. it is not long that we are to be together. we are fading like the flower of the field, and ought to bear in mind that death will soon lay our heads equally low in the dust, and the worms shall cover us. we glitter for a moment like the bubbles borne on the bosom of the ocean; they break and mingle again with the parent fountain. we toil and heap up wealth, pass like empty shadows over the plain and vanish forever! generations, that covered the earth, are gone, and unremembered by the living. they strove to gather wealth and honors--they met each other in the hostile field--rolled garments in blood, bedewed the widow's and the orphan's cheek with tears, and filled their peaceful habitations with the voice of lamentation and wo. thousands lived in clamors and discord, and one seemed destined to be oppressed by another. but the fields of war are still, the noise of battle is hushed, and the voice of lamentation and wo is heard no more! hark! all is still as the chambers of eternal silence! where are they? in the shades of death! kind reader, this is the doom of us all! and so it will soon be said of you and me! let us then be of one mind. let us do good by visiting the fatherless in their affliction and keeping ourselves unspotted from the world. we have now considered the fact, that real felicity consists in mental pleasures and gratifications, and that these alone exalt our nature and capacity for happiness above the brute creation, and have directed your attention to virtue and peace as the only condition in which that happiness can be found. we have brought to view the propriety of being of one heart and mind towards each other in our families, in our religious societies, in the community and in our national concerns. we have set before you the evils resulting from intemperance, and from private and political slander. we will now, in the _second_ place, take into consideration the _negative and affirmative_ consequence resulting from them on the morals of the community so far as the causes leading to _intemperance and crime_ are concerned. many discourses have been delivered, during the three past years, on intemperance pointing out its ruinous effects on the morals of society, while but few discourses have been put into the hands of the public pointing out the causes leading to this destructful vice, and those few have not in my humble opinion traced it to its _true source_. much has also been said about intemperance leading to crime, which in many respects is true. but all this is not coming to the fountainhead from whence these turbid streams flow. we will take the liberty to differ on this subject with all that has as yet fallen upon our ear, and independently give our opinion, as to what we conceive to be the original cause from whence these baneful effects spring. we will endeavor to show that _the poorer class of society are driven to intemperance and crime by the conduct of the rich (those whom the fashion of the world calls respectable and great) yes, by the conduct of too many, who are even attempting to reform them_. first, then we would remark; that man is a creature of want, which is the first cause of all action. had he no wants, he would never seek to supply them, either by _honorable or dishonorable_ means. to this self-evident proposition, all will without hesitation assent. we will now attend to our general character as a nation, for it will be admitted, on all hands, that actions speak louder than words. as a nation, we enjoy much liberty; but public opinion, either of a political or religious character, may become so popular as to erect itself into an engine of oppression, and so formidable, that many an honest man dare not dissent, nor independently raise his voice in defence of what he believes to be truth, but will tamely submit himself a slave to the opinions and doctrines of others. this is probably the case with the greater proportion of the american people. again, though we profess to value every man by his integrity or moral worth, yet it is a fact, that in conduct we make a man's reputation depend principally on his purse. i yield the point without controversy that in books, in news-papers, in preaching and in words, we profess to esteem a man and rate his standing in society by his integrity. but what do words and books, and news-papers and preaching amount to, while mankind in conduct practice right the contrary of all these ostentatious professions? they amount to nothing but hypocrisy, or ridiculous nonsense. does a man's standing, in these days, depend on his conduct! by no means. let us introduce an example. suppose there were two individuals of equal talents, and both possessed an equal education. their moral characters are the same. but one of them falls in possession of an immense fortune, while the other is poor indeed. now will public conduct place them on an equality? no. will they both move in the same social circle? no. will they both be treated with the same politeness and attention by their neighbors? no. should they propose a public measure for the good of the town, would the one be listened to, with the same attention as the other? no. would he possess so much influence in society? no. well, what can be assigned as the reason, why this rich man stands so far above the other in the public opinion? ans. it is because his character is measured by the length of his purse, and the weight of his influence is determined by the weight of his gold. it is not a thing of rare occurrence, that the rich are thus distinguished from the poor, but it is a fact so notorious that it has long since passed into a proverb. this being the course of conduct which men practice, the impression has therefore become general that reputation, influence and power depend on wealth. hence the great inquiry, uppermost in every mind, is "how shall i get rich, so that i may stand high in the estimation of men, and exert a powerful influence in society, and be numbered among those who move in the higher circles of life?" concluded in our next. sermon xvi "be of the same mind one towards another. mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate." romans xii: . even a man, who is in many things unprincipled, if he is at the same time wealthy, takes a station in the higher circles of life, where the poor, but honest man, would not be admitted. this course of conduct is not only practised by what are called men of the world, but by professors of religion of about all denominations, by both preachers and people. the middling, and the poor class, seeing no encouragement, or even possibility, of rising so as to associate with those, who move in the higher circles of life, by any virtuous conduct they may pursue, and sensible that wealth alone possesses the charm to give them virtue and notice in the world, they are thus driven to various, dishonorable means to obtain it. multitudes are driven to the crimes of counterfeiting, theft, and even robbery and piracy. they commence their wretched course, with the intention to abandon it, as soon as a competent fortune is obtained. other thousands are driven to gambling; and even those, who are called respectable, take every possible advantage in trade and bargaining. their pursuits are various, but their object is one and the same--viz: to gain wealth, so that they may obtain a high standing and influence in society. thousands thus driven into crime, are detected, lose their reputation, and abandon themselves to intemperance. their evil example has a pernicious influence on the morals of those children and youth, who may, by various circumstances, be placed in their society, and thus the pestilence, in all its frightful horrors, gathers force and spreads. there are thousands of virtuous persons, whom poverty excludes from the higher ranks of life, who are doomed to seek the converse of those, who are in a measure corrupted, and, by associating with them on public occasions, often in taverns and alehouses, are soon involved in habits of dissipation and obscenity. man is a social being, loves society, and, rather than spend his life in solitude, will seek the converse of the vicious. if we would obey the injunction of the text--"mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate," these evils would be in a great measure removed. if we, as a community, would strip away the fancied reputation, which wealth attaches to the human character, and, independent of property, place every man on an equal footing, according to their moral and mental worth, and let their power and influence in society, be according to their conduct, it would give a noble tone to public feeling and moral grandeur. by the "_high things_," mentioned in our text, we are to understand that vain popularity which one man wishes to enjoy above another, in a religious or political sense. it is one of the ruling passions of the day, in which we live, to be considered of high standing among our fellow creatures, and to possess a larger share of influence over the minds and opinions of men, than those whom we consider our rivals. those, who possess this desire, and at the same time feel a haughty spirit towards those, whom they consider in the humble walks of life, are certainly not the men, who are entitled to our esteem, nor are they to be looked up to, as examples of magnanimity. so far from possessing true greatness of soul, or being entitled to veneration, they are certainly below those whom they affect to despise. a truly great and good man has no desire to dazzle, but to be useful in the world. he sees the miseries under which thousands groan, and desires to relieve them, but with no wish to be considered great for discharging those duties of kindness and humanity. but it is a lamentable consideration, that too many, in performing those acts of mercy, seek to stand on an eminence above the crowd they wish to benefit, and proclaim their intentions to men through the loud sounding trumpet of fame, but, at the same time, will not even stoop to converse with the very beings they profess such a warm desire to aid. every thing must be done on a high scale, and in the manner they dictate, otherwise they have no wish it should be done at all. it is a matter of regret, that this spirit, so desirous of minding high things, has been carried into the sanctuary--in fact, has been carried to the solemn gates of death--yes, even into eternity. we have witnessed what are commonly called "revivals of religion," in which two or more denominations united, apparently, heart and hand. they publicly declared, that as they saw their fellow creatures exposed to the burning wrath of god in the future world, they had no motive in view, but their conversion and escape from that awful doom-- that it was, to them, a matter of indifference with what church they united themselves, provided, they would only repent and turn to god. all this passed on well till the reformation ceased. the next thing, to be determined, was, what doctrine do you believe, and what church will you join? this was a trying point, and its settlement filled them with animosity towards each other. and why? because each desired the honor of converting them to their faith, and of bringing them into their church, or else, that they should not be converted at all. though this has been done by some, yet it is no evidence, that all will do this, or even approve it. there are those, who, we believe, are actuated by nobler motives than in the cause of truth, and who are not aspiring to stand high, nor striving "who shall be greatest." one denomination has labored to assume the entire honor of reforming the public morals--has labored to become incorporated by an act of legislature into an american temperance society, and were unwilling to admit universalists and unitarians to co-operate with them in this work of reform. this is but aspiring after high things, instead of manifesting the meek and lowly spirit of christ. but we would more particularly remark that, it is this very course of conduct of any man, or class of men exalting themselves above others in account of their _wealth, or external circumstances_, that discourages the poor, who are not only called, but treated as the lower order of society, and drives thousands of them to the intoxicating cup, as a relief from the mortifications of poverty, and drives other thousands into crime, as the only means to obtain that wealth by the omnipotence of which, they alone can rise to eminence, respectability, and influence among men. preachers of the gospel, as well as others, give sanction by their conduct to these false notions of respectability and greatness. they will seek the society, and court the favor of the rich in preference to the poor, even though the _latter_ may exceed the _former_ in integrity and moral worth. this, we say, is the most powerful incentive to drive men into a state of encouragement, intemperance and crime. it is a fearful precipice on which we stand, as a religious community. instead of estimating a man's standing by his virtuous principles, it is too much estimated by his dollars. so did not jesus christ our great example. he mingled with the lowest class of society. he associated with, and visited most among those he wished to reform, so that his meek, mild and heavenly example might exert a salutary influence upon their hearts, and cast a restraint upon their conduct. he was a friend to publicans and sinners, and ate and drank with them. he went among them, as a physician, to give them life and health, to conduct them by encouragement and persuasion to the paths of righteousness and peace. his presence was not needed among those who were whole. he was of course seldom found in their society. he did not desire to rank with the rich, self-righteous pharisee. so ought those, who profess to be the servants of christ, to go among them, who are most in need of their aid. "the servant is not above his master." they ought, therefore, to condescend to men of low estate, and visit the abodes of poverty and want. but instead of this, they stand aloof, even from the respectable, because they are poor, and instead of visiting those, who indulge in dissipation and vice, and trying to lead them to the paths of virtue and peace, are heaping upon them the most opprobrious epithets. by esteeming the rich and associating with them, they practice a course of conduct, which has rooted the impression deep in every mind, that to be esteemed, and to rank with them in the social circle, they must be rich. this has driven many a virtuous man into crime, many into bad company, and finally into discouragement and intoxication. this no one can deny. what, we ask, is the reason, that there is so large a proportion of the middle and lower class of society, compared with the rich, who indulge in _crimes and intemperance_? why is it when misfortune falls upon the rich, that they, so often, resort to the intoxicating draught? the mystery can only be unriddled in the stubborn fact, that wealth, more than virtue, gives a man a reputation in the world, and this destructive vice involves thousands in ruin. if every man were assured that, be he _rich or poor_, he could associate with those who are wealthy and respected, and move in the higher ranks of life, if he only maintained his integrity, and that he would be esteemed in proportion to his moral virtues and mental acquirements, every man would be induced to merit a good name; and their good opinion would operate as a constant check upon his conduct. every man, by early attention to his deportment, can become respectable, but every man cannot become wealthy. did the rich esteem the poor, and admit them into their social circle _solely_ on the ground of moral worth, there would be but little danger of these poor ever forfeiting their standing, by plunging into the floods of intemperance and crime. and did they reject from their circle the rich, who were vicious until reformed--in fine, did they only strip away from wealth its fancied charm, to make them either respectable, or influential, did they confine it to its due limits, as being only necessary to satisfy our animal wants, and did they with one consent declare that an improved mind and virtuous worth should be the only criterion by which men should take their stations in social life, intemperance and crime would soon cease. men would then be as much engaged in striving to merit a fair reputation, as they are how in striving to obtain wealth. it is, therefore, the conduct of the great by falsely attaching character and influence to wealth, that is driving their fellow creatures into crimes to obtain it, and other thousands into discouragement and intemperance. from this charge preachers are not exempt. they too respect, and visit the rich more than the poor, and thus indirectly lend their influence to drive them from virtuous life to a course of dissipation and crime. and when once they get them there, then they wish to devise some _great means_ to bring them back to the paths of sobriety and virtue. do they endeavor to effect this, by ceasing to mind high things, and by condescending to men of low estate? no--but instead of going among them, and taking this unhappy class of our fellow creatures by the hand, and leading them by encouragement and persuasion to the paths of temperance and reformation, they have, in substance, said, "stand by thyself, i am holier than thou." they have minded high things, by placing themselves on an elevation above them, and made them out to be worse than murderers, thieves and robbers, by ascribing all the crimes, that are committed, to the use of rum! this has discouraged and exasperated many, and made them feel that reformation would be of no avail to raise them to be the associates of those, who appeared so anxious to reform them. their language has, in substance, been--you must reform, give us the credit, but must stand where you are in the lower circles of life, obey our exhortations, and look up to us as your benefactors, but you cannot expect to rank with us, because you have no cash to introduce yourselves into our circles. and as all men desire society, they have remained with their companions in iniquity. for any class of society to take a station above others, and endeavor to force men to abandon the cup by passing votes or enacting by-laws, that no spirits shall be sold them, is but exciting their rage, and causing the intemperate to drink the more out of revenge, and causing those, that are already temperate, to increase the quantity as an act of defiance. it is a fearful precipice on which we stand as a religious community. estimating a man's standing in society by his immense wealth, or learned profession, rather than by his integrity and virtue, is attended with the most dangerous circumstances, as we have already noticed. men cannot be reformed by force, nor by declaiming what a low, mean, unworthy, degraded part of the human race they are. there is too much pride in our world. we ought to bear in mind that death will soon lay our heads equally low in the dust, and "the worms shall cover us!" o the folly of human pretensions to greatness! let us not mind high things, but condescend to men of low estate. by preachers and people of all denominations obeying the exhortations of our text, mankind would, in a great measure, be restrained from crime, and certainly from being openly intemperate. if then, we sincerely desire to reform them, and to hold a powerful check upon their conduct, and prove ourselves the benefactors of our race, let us begin the work, by adhering most scrupulously to our text, which exhorts us to be of the same mind one towards another, to mind not high things, but to condescend to men of low estate. it is the duty of preachers, in particular, to be meek and lowly in spirit--to be humble and watch over the moral maladies of mankind--to break down the arrogant distinctions, which the fashions and riches of the world have set up--to esteem men purely for their moral and intellectual worth, independent of the gifts of fortune, and to visit those, who are given to intemperance, and, by gentle persuasive measures, endeavor to lead them to habits of sobriety. and when this is effected, treat them according to that respect, which their virtues merit. god is kind to the evil and to the unthankful, and ought we to be unkind to them? heaven forbid. we have now set before you, what we conceive to be the _principal cause_ leading to _intemperance, dishonesty, and crime_. true, there may be some exceptions to this, but we are conscious, that it is the conduct of those very men, who are declaiming against _intemperance and crime_, that first drives their fellow creatures into those deplorable haunts of vice. they do this _indirectly_, and perhaps _innocently_. they do it by giving too much reputation and influence to the wealthy class of the community, by paying too much homage and respect to gold, and by withholding, from the virtuous poor, that respect which their conduct merits. we cannot set this truth before you in a more forcible light, than by relating, from memory, an anecdote of dr. franklin, with which we will conclude. the rich merchants and professional men in philadelphia proposed to form themselves into a social circle from which all _mechanics_ were to be excluded. the paper, drawn up for the purpose, was presented to dr. franklin for his signature. on examining its contents, he remarked that he could not consent to unite his name inasmuch as by excluding mechanics from their circle, they had excluded god almighty, who was the greatest mechanic in the universe! sermon xvii "and be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you." ephesians iv. . a tender heart is the kind boon of heaven, and forgiveness is a virtue too little exercised in the common intercourse of life. men are too apt to be in character pharisees. they are too apt to love those that love them, and hate their enemies. retaliation is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, and is a vice deeply to be stigmatized and deprecated by all lovers of peace and morality. by retaliation, we are to understand the injuring of another because he has injured us. this spirit of revenge betrays a contracted mind in which the feelings of compassion and forbearance never found a permanent abode. a man of a peevish, irritable and revengeful temperament, is to be pitied, instead of being injured in return. by retaliating the evil he may have done, you involve yourself in the same condition of meanness, and in your turn become the injurer. all those men, whose names are rendered illustrious and immortal, have been distinguished for a spirit of forbearance, kindness and mercy. were there no examples of rashness--no failings and imperfections among men, there would, then, be no opportunity to distinguish ourselves by a spirit of forgiveness. god has so constituted the present existence of his creatures, that the perfections of his divine character might be manifested to them in the unchanging exercise of his paternal compassion and forgiveness; and thus afford them an opportunity to imitate himself in the exercise of those exalted feelings, which emanate from heaven. we are not, however, to understand that tenderness of heart and forgiveness are to be exercised to the utter exclusion of the principles of honor and justice. if our children offend, or our dearest earthly friend do wrong, we are to manifest the feelings of tenderness and forgiveness, but these ought not to induce us to overlook their crimes or faults, by remaining silent in regard to their vices. this would be suffering our compassion to degenerate into weakness. it would in fact be hardness of heart. it would betray a spirit of indifference to their dearest interest, as by our silence, they might remain in blindness to the demerit of their deeds, and hurry on to the ruin of their reputation, and consequently, of their earthly happiness. true tenderness of heart makes us watchful over the conduct of those we love, and with whom we are connected in life-- moves us to lay naked before them their faults, so that they may early correct them, and thus inspires their hearts with tenderness, and prompts them to regard the happiness, feelings and welfare of others. it is immaterial how near and dear your friend may be, you should, by the feelings of mercy, be induced to tell him his faults, however much it may wound his heart. the wise man says "the wounds of a friend are faithful; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." too many parents, for want of determination of character, and for suffering their compassion to degenerate into weakness and remaining blind to the faults of their children, having seen them come to some disgraceful end--a state prison, or even the gallows. this, instead of being true tenderness of heart, was infatuation and the worst species of hardness and insensibility to the welfare of their offspring. on the other hand, we ought never to suffer a spirit of revengeful indignation to slumber in our bosoms, ready on every trivial occasion to awake into resentment and retaliation. in fine, we ought to imitate our god in feelings and conduct towards each other, as it is expressed in our text. but many suppose that god is filled with feelings of revengeful indignation towards his creatures, and that the period is rolling on when he will cease to be merciful, and will commence torturing us in the future world for the sins committed in this, and that too, when punishment can do no good to the sufferer--when reformation will be out of his reach. to torment a frail dependent creature, under such circumstances, would be the most degrading species of revenge. and if this is the conduct of god, then we must practice the same, because we are commanded to imitate him. our text says--"be yea kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another; even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you." in this passage, our father in heaven is held up to the world as the model of _kindness tenderness and forgiveness_, that mortals are to imitate. god is the moral standard to which every bosom ought to aspire. the highest perfection and loveliness of man fall infinitely short of the intrinsic loveliness and divine perfection's of jehovah. if he is the standard of moral excellence which we are to imitate, then we must admit that the copy far exceeds the imitation. if man is called upon to act like god in order to improve his character and affections, then god is better than man, and every opposing objection must, forever, fall to the ground. perhaps it may be said, that all denominations of men allow him to be so. this is not correct. it is true, they _say this_ in so many words. but words are one thing, and what a doctrine involves is quite _another_. i might believe, and most rigidly maintain, that an earthly father had prepared a palace of comfort for his five _obedient_ children, and a furnace of fire to torture his five _disobedient_ children; and suppose he had dealt with his ten children as above stated;--with what propriety could i step before the public, and contend that he was the best man in america? even were i persuaded, in my own mind, and firmly believed him to be the best man in existence, would either my _belief or acknowledgment_ make it a fact? no; every man of common sense, and common humanity would think me deranged. my saying that he was good, and even believing him so, could not alter the awful reality, but would be an evidence of my want of consistency and propriety. he would still be a bad unfeeling man, and in no comparative sense so good as that father, who should punish his children in mercy, and for their future amendment and benefit. but what is all this compared with the character that thousands ascribe to the god, who rules above? it is no more than the drop to the unmeasured ocean: because those five children would soon cease to suffer; but god, they contend, will torture without mercy or end, millions on millions of his poor dependent creatures for the sins of a short life! the most abandoned, and unrelenting savage, that roams the american forest--the worst wretch in human form would not do this, but release, at length, the sufferer from pain. and those, who contend that god will not release, but on the contrary involve the victim of his ire deeper in who, attribute to him a character infinitely worse, than the most cruel and degraded of our race, and no argument, to the contrary, can be for one moment maintained. if a man desire the holiness and happiness of all his fellow creatures, and would bring them to a glorified state of beatitude in heaven, had he the power, and still contends that god will not, it is elevating his goodness far above the goodness of god. and for any man to come forward with this acknowledgment on his lips, and yet address the benignant parent of all, and, in prayer, acknowledge him to be the best of all beings, is only using words without propriety or meaning. there is no sense, no reason in such logic. it completely contradicts itself, and what is contradictory cannot be true. would you save all men from sin and its attendant misery if you could? o yes, is the answer, i would, and carry them all in the arms of unbounded benevolence to glory. well, has god the power to do it? yes, is the reply. but do you believe that he will exert his power so as to accomplish it? no says the objector, i believe that he will sentence a large portion of his erring offspring to endless and inconceivable wo. very well; then you are the best being of the two. and it is a melancholy circumstance to these unfortunate beings, that you are not on the throne of the universe. if this be so, then our text ought to be reversed. god ought to copy your tenderness, and forgive men as you do! we are certainly called upon to conform our conduct to the best standard, and to imitate the _best_ being. if you are the _best_, then god and man ought to be called upon, and _entreated_ to imitate you! no; says the objector, god is superlatively the best being in the universe. you may talk, and tell me so, till the morning sun sinks beyond the western hills, and yet your _creed_ will contradict every word you utter. what you have just acknowledged, unchangeably stares you in the face. you say, that you would forgive all, save them from sin, and raise them to a blessed eternity, if you had the power. this power, you say, god possesses, and yet you _believe_, and that he will not do it. it is certainly an unfortunate circumstance to the human family, if their father in heaven is destitute of that goodness which you feel! from whom did you receive all those compassionate feelings of heart? why says the objector, god gave them to me. but how can god give you what he has not himself? if you possess more benevolence than god, you could not have received it from him; because on this principal he did not have it in possession to give. surely he could not communicate to you, or any other being, what he did not originally possess. from what source, then, did you derive so much tenderness and love? there must, certainly, be some being in the universe in whose bosom is rooted as much benevolence and love as you feel, or how could it have been communicated to you from another? now, where did you get it? god gave it to me, says the objector. this cannot be, because your doctrine proves, that you have more love than the god who made you! if you insist that he has given it to you, has he not in such case, given you more than he originally possessed? he has. if so, endless misery may be true; for on this principle he has none left! the scriptures teach that "god is love"; and all his works speak the same language--saying, "the lord is good, and his mercies endure forever." but how good is he? the doctrine of endless wrath says, he is not as good as you. you are but a small stream from an infinite ocean of love; and yet this little stream is greater than the ocean from which it issues, and rises far above its fountain head! can this be true? impossible. o, do you not perceive how your own feelings, which you daily experience, contradict your creed! you feel, desire, and pray for the salvation of all men, and if you had the power, all your feelings, prayers and desires would be carried into execution. and yet your doctrine denies, that god, the fountain, in which all your affections originate and live, will do it;--and at the same time you say, that you have no love only what he gave you! what inconsistencies, contradictions and blindness are here! man, a small drop, from the benevolent fountain god, is willing to do, what the source from whence he came is unwilling to do! then a drop of love, in the human bosom, is more tender and benevolent than an ocean in the god, who placed it there! we all know, that the fountain must be more extensive than the stream it sends forth--yea, larger, than all its running streams put together. this we know to be correct, as well as we know, that the sun enlightens the world. let us then collect these little streams into one. bring, if you please, into one body, the love and benevolence of men and angels, of cherubim and seraphim--stretch your thoughts to unnumbered worlds, extract the love from countless bosoms, and condense the whole into one being. how great, lovely, and adorable, would that creature be! then, let the question be put to him--from whence did you derive all those noble qualities of love, mercy and goodness? he replies, _from my father god_! now, we must grant, that god far exceeds him in goodness, because this noble creature is but an emanation from him--and the good desires of this creature would be equal to the good desires of the countless millions of men and angels in all worlds; and could have no other intentions only those, which goodness and mercy dictate--and goodness itself can do nothing contrary to its own nature, any more than ice can burn or fire freeze. this creature would desire the happiness of all; and yet even he is but a small rivulet flowing from the crystal fountain of life and being! this creature would institute a government _perfectly merciful_; and mercy would, of course, require, that the _disobedient_ should be punished to bring them to _obedience_, and perfect them in the same state of glorification and love with that being itself. "god is _love_," and it, therefore, follows that he is _love_ to every creature he has made, and it is utterly impossible that he can do any thing contrary to his own nature. "he cannot deny himself." he will, therefore, do all that love dictates. it is consistent with parental love to punish for the good of its offspring, but not to punish unmercifully. but inquires the objector, does god punish for the good of his creatures? we will let paul settle this question--heb. xii. chap. "for whom the lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. but if ye be without chastisement, whereof _all_ are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? for they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceably fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby." now show us, if you can, any punishment which god inflicts, that contradicts his paternal goodness. it cannot be done. he has threatened and inflicted _everlasting punishment_ upon nations, as such, but not a solitary passage can be produced from genesis to revelations, where he has threatened any individual with _everlasting_ punishment. god is the adorable fountain of all tenderness, love, and compassion, and no mother's son was imbued in the fount of mercy like his, who was "the brightness of his glory and the express image of his perfections." true, her yearnings over the babe of her bosom are great; still they bear but little comparison to him who breathed those feelings there. god compares himself to the mother. "can a woman forget her sucking child"? woman, being of a more delicate formation than man, possesses a mind susceptible of more fine, deep, and lasting impressions than his. the affections of her soul, when fully roused into action, and fixed upon their object, are deeper than those of man, extend far beyond the compass line of his, and nobly range those sequestered haunts--those delightful fields of mental felicity, where his finest affections never penetrated. let her heart once become fixed upon its darling object, and it is immaterial in what situation in life we contemplate her--whether prosperous or adverse, we behold the same unshaken constancy, the same bright and burning flame. her love to her children is pure as the dew-drops of the morning, high as the heavens and unchanging as the sun. it scorns dictation, bids defiance to oppression, and never for one moment loses sight of its object. no disappointments that cross her path, no scenes of adverse fortune that darken her sky, can wrench it from her grasp, obscure it from her vision, or tear assunder the silken cord that binds it to her heart. the truth of these remarks we see verified in that unwearied watchfulness and care, which she exercises over her children in supplying their countless, and ever varied little wants; in allaying their little griefs, in soothing their tender hearts by the soft whispers of encouragement and love; in hushing them to repose and in watching over the slumbers of their pillow. are her children exposed to danger, and full in her view? then no devouring flame, that wraps her dwelling in destruction--no rolling surges that lash the foaming main, can, in such a moment of peril, over-awe her spirit, or deter her from rushing into the very jaws of death to save them. are they sick? sleepless she sits beside their bed, and watches every breath they draw. are they racked with pain? her soul inhales the pang; and freely drinks at the same fount of agony, and breathes over them the prayer of mercy. love is that _attribute_ in her nature to which all the _others_ are subservient. it is the _shrine_ at which they all bow, the _centre_ to which they all gravitate. if her children do wrong, she freely forgives. has god given the mother all these noble affections, and does he feel less to his helpless, sinful and erring children? let god answer--"can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will not i forget thee." [concluded in our next.] sermon xviii "and be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you." ephesians iv. . in our last, we showed that that compassion, tenderness, and love of our father in heaven, are the origin of all the sublime affections in the human bosom, and from this acknowledged fact, have shown that he is infinitely more regardful of the welfare of his offspring than the tender mother, with whom he compares himself; is of the welfare of her sucking child. we now resume the subject. in our text, we are called upon to forgive one another, as god has forgiven us. in examining this point, we are to be guided by what he has revealed. the question here arises, how many does god command us to forgive? he commands us to forgive _all_, even our enemies. this then must be forgiving them as he does. he therefore forgives all. he commands us to bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that despitefully use us, and persecute us, that we may be the children of our father in heaven. does god command us to do more than he is willing to do himself? no, he lives up to his own command. if god requires us to forgive, even as he does, and then commands us to love and forgive _all_, then he loves, and forgives _all_, otherwise he would violate his own command; and then there would be no resemblance between his forgiveness and ours. even as god, for christ's sake hath forgiven you, so ought ye also to forgive one another. would you forgive all, and bring them home to glory? yes. will god? no, says the objector, he will not forgive his enemies, but his friends only. then you must not forgive all. do you ask why not? because you are to forgive, _even_ as god. he is the standard you are to imitate. if you forgive more than god, you are better than he. he cannot command you to do different from himself. if god requires you to love and forgive _all_, while he himself will forgive only a part, then god acts contrary to his own command. we are exhorted in the text _to be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving even as he is_. do your kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness extend to all, and desire the happiness of the universe? yes. then also does that of god, or else you are, in every sense of the word, better than he. you differ from, instead of imitating god. if so, you are doing wrong, because you are violating the text. he commands you to be kind, tender, and forgiving _only as he is_;--and you contend that his kindness, tenderness and forgiveness, extend to a part only, and that all the rest he will torture world without end. but, says the objector, god is now kind, tender, forgiving, and merciful to all; but he will not be so, when they enter eternity, for "the doors of mercy will then be shut." how do you know that--who told you so? will god change in some future day? if he change, he will not be the same being, he is now. i thought, he was the same yesterday, today, and forever, without variableness or even the shadow of turning. i thought he was the same jehovah in all worlds. do you intend to make him kind, tender, and forgiving _here_, but unkind, unforgiving, and hard-hearted to a part of his offspring _hereafter_? if you intend to change both the nature and character of the almighty in the future world, then you and myself are done arguing. that doctrine is, certainly in a pitiful condition, which drives its advocate to the necessity of changing the almighty wholly into another being to support it. "god so loved the world, even when dead in trespasses and sins," as to deliver up his son to "taste death for every man." and being unchangeable, he could never hate them. in our text, god commands us to forgive as he has forgiven. how many does god forgive? ans. as many as he commands you to forgive. how many is that? _all, even your enemies--to bless and curse not_. we will now introduce the question--if god has not forgiven a man today, will he ever forgive him? i answer no, for he is unchangeable. we are to apt to think that our creator is altogether such an one as ourselves--that he loves one day, and hates the next--that he is in reality angry one hour, and pleased the next--or that he holds a grudge one moment and forgives the next, if we will only ask him to do so. but all such ideas are calculated for children--for babes in christ. the scriptures come down to the weakest capacity; but this is no reason we should always continue children, but rise in knowledge to the strength of manhood. we ought not to be "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." paul said to his brethren "when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you" &c. "when i was a child, i spake as a child, i understood as a child, i thought as a child; but when i became a man, i put away childish things." the scriptures are calculated for every capacity--for a child as well as a philosopher. we must rise from one degree of glory to another. we are not to fasten our minds down on the inventions of men, and live and die children. no--we must "forget the things that are behind, and reach forward to those that are before." as full grown men, we are not to suppose that prayer of any mortal can move the almighty to pardon him. but says the objector, if we sincerely ask god to do thus and so, he will certainly grant our request. very well, admit this for a moment. god, you say, will answer every _sincere_ prayer. now suppose two armies are to meet in battle, one from france and the other from holland. the hour when the engagement is to commence is precisely one month from tomorrow noon. every day, there are millions of sincere prayers offered to god to give them the day. holland, with one voice, prays for victory and for the preservation of her subjects; and france, with united supplication, prays right the contrary. how, we ask, are all those _sincere_ opposing petitions to be answered? impossible. again--one denomination prays for the prosperity of its cause, and the destruction of error. and as each believes all others to be in error, of course pray for their downfall. if the lord answered their petitions, all denominations, of course, of course would fall! one man prays far rain, and another, that it may not rain. if god answered all these petitions, he would be as changeable, not as _one man_, but as the whole human family together. as it respects god's pardoning the human race, i contend that this pardon existed from the beginning. do not the scriptures declare that god chose us _in christ_ before the foundation of the world? yes, for "he calleth those things which be not as though they were." well, could we be chosen _in christ_ without being pardoned? no, for the apostle says, "he that is _in christ_ is a new creature;" and, certainly, a man cannot be a new creature _in christ_ without being pardoned in the mind of deity. if then in the omniscient mind of god, to whom there is no future, they were chosen _in christ_ before the foundation of the world, then in his mind, they must also have been pardoned before the world began. god never does a new act. by _pardon_ we are not to understand the clearing of a guilty man from deserved punishment, but an entire deliverance from a disposition to sin. the period, when we are to be released from sin, is through death, where the earthly nature, with all its wants and temptations to sin, falls, and the heavenly nature rises in incorruption and glory through a resurrection from the dead. is not this the day of redemption when we are set free? yes, so saith the scripture. well do not _redemption, remission, and forgiveness_ mean the same thing? they do. then our _pardon, remission_ or redemption will be _realized_ through death and the resurrection. we will produce the scriptures "in whom we have _redemption_ through his blood, even the _forgiveness_ of sins according to the riches of his grace." here forgiveness and redemption are used synonymous, and are declared to be _through the blood of christ_--that is, through his death, as a sacrifice for sin. sin cannot exist beyond the sacrifice designed to take it away. he is represented as taking away the sin of the world under the figure of a _lamb_. sin will come to a finish, under the first covenant, exactly where christ said "it is finished," at which moment the vail, concealing the "holy of holies," will be rent in twain, and the second covenant be opened. if we step beyond what christ has said, we may as well give up the scriptures, and trust to our own vain imaginations. there sin will end; and that is _dismission_, pardon or redemption from it. "o death! where is thy sting? o grave! where is thy victory? the _sting_ of death is _sin_, and the _strength_ of sin is the _law_ --but thanks be to god, who giveth us the victory, through our lord jesus christ." now, here it is represented, that our victory, over _sin and death_, is _when_ we rise to immortal glory. our _victory_ over sin is at the _same instant_ with our victory over _death_; and who will deny that our _victory over death_ will be at the resurrection? the objector may as well deny our victory over _death_ at the resurrection, as to deny our _victory over sin_ at that period. the whole is said to be "through christ." he was our "forerunner" and "first fruits" to represent our condition _there_. when he expired, he was free from _pain_, and when he arose, he was free from _temptation_. so when we pass the same scene, we shall be like _him_, who is our "resurrection and life," otherwise the harvest will not be like "the first fruits." god, then pardoned the human race, _in christ_, when he made them. how? ans. by ordering their existence in such a manner, that they should be freed from sin through death and the resurrection. that is the day of our final discharge--the day, when the prisoner shall be set free--the day, when our redemption shall come. but asks the objector, are we not to _realize_ our pardon in this world? ans. only _through faith_ in the _reality_. we look forward, and anchor our hope within the veil of death, and enjoy our pardon, or redemption, only by an eye of faith. this "faith works by love and purifies the heart." it causes us, in a great measure, to break off our sins by righteousness. but this has no influence, whatever, over the sins already committed. for _them_, we must still continue to feel miserable. punishment is _certain_. from the sins that are committed, we only enjoy our pardon or redemption from them through faith in christ the resurrection. paul told the believers, that if there were no resurrection, their faith was vain, they were yet in their sins. this proves that they only enjoyed the pardon of their sins through faith in the resurrection, otherwise i see no force in his language. but inquires, the reader, why do you pray that god would pardon our sins? ans. i do not pray to turn the almighty from his will and purpose; but humbly trust, that i spend my days in searching out what "that perfect will of god is," and then pray in reconciliation to his revealed will. it is wicked to pray what we do not believe. "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." i believe that god pardoned us from the beginning, and that this pardon will be realized through death and the resurrection. and when i pray that god would pardon our sins, i mean that he would grant us an evidence of that pardon, which unchangeably existed in his eternal mind, by enlightening our understanding in the scriptures of truth, and giving us correct views of his character as a being of tenderness and compassion to the children of men. so when we say, god has pardoned us, we do not mean that he has been moved by our petitions to do a new act; but that through the appointed means, he has so far enlightened our minds, that we have received an evidence of that pardon which existed with him from the beginning, and by faith we look forward, believing it will take place through death and the resurrection, as christ has proved. by this faith we perceive the love of god, and break off our sins by righteousness. but while in the flesh, we feel a thorn--a hell of conscious guilt for the sins we have committed, and though the penitent may beseech god, that this messenger of satan, buffeting him, may depart from him, yet the answer will be, "my grace is sufficient for thee." we now perceive how god pardons sin, and yet punishes us for it. the misery, sin brings upon us, is our just punishment, and to be released from it, by the free grace of god, through death and the resurrection, is our pardon and redemption--for example--we say, in a cloudy day, "the sun does not shine;" but still he does. the clouds, just above our heads, prevent his rays from shining upon us. the change is not in the sun. the clouds disperse, and we say, "the sun shines," while in fact he is ever the same. the scriptures say, "our god is a sun." he is unchangeably the same in all his brilliant perfections. "sin like a cloud, and transgression like a thick cloud," rise over the mind and darken the understanding. through this dark medium we look up to god, and think he has changed--that he is angry, and thunders are rolling from his hand, while in fact the whole change is in us. the moment our minds are enlightened by the beams of truth we rejoice, and say god has forgiven us. we receive an evidence of pardon, and enjoy it through faith, while god has remained unchangeably the same. while we are children in christianity, we speak and act like children; and think if we join together, and pray as loud as we can as though the lord were "deaf, or all asleep or on a journey," that we can prevail, and make him do as we wish. and while we are children, if we sin, we think the lord is our enemy, and is angry. now, this is all well enough for those whose experience has gone no further. we are not to "despise the day of small things," but kindly receive such an one as a babe in christ, and feed him with milk. but still it does appear to be a pity that thousands, under the gospel, should live and die children. "be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you." now, we are to forgive as god does. how is that--to hold a grudge one day, and if they ask our pardon, to forgive them the next? no, we must uniformly possess a kind, tender-hearted, forgiving spirit, laying up nought against any one. forgiveness does not consist in laying up a store of malice and vengeance, till our enemy come, and formally ask our forgiveness. no--he might never come, and then we could never forgive him. we are commanded to love and forgive our enemies whether they ask it, or not. so did our saviour on the cross, and we are to exercise the same spirit of benevolence and meekness. we must, as our context says--put away all malice, wrath, and evil speaking from among us, and be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving. our father in heaven is the most lovely and adorable of all beings! under the light of his character, every uncomfortable thought vanishes, and the dawn of a blessed eternity bursts upon us in a flood of glory. by faith we penetrate the veil of immortality, and read our pardon, and justification in letters of blood. within that veil, we anchor our hope. faith triumphs over the ruins of death, smiles at the darkness of the tomb, and through christ within, the hope of glory, bids defiance to the crushing hand of death, and lights up its dreary mansions with the cheering beams of immortal day. sermon xix "for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of god; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of god? and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" peter iv: , . upon this passage, the believers in endless misery lean for the support of that sentiment, and on many occasions it is quoted with an air of triumph as though the passage itself, without comment, were sufficient to silence all objections. here they have one advantage of universalists; and of this advantage they do not forget to avail themselves--viz: the prejudices of early education. but we sincerely call their application of this passage in question, and shall stand forth in defense of the triumphs of jesus christ over all sin, and pain and death, fully believing that the hand of heaven "shall wipe tears from off all faces." we will attempt to show,-- first--what we are to understand by _judgment_ beginning at the house of god. second--who were the _righteous_, and in what sense they were scarcely saved. third--show who were the _ungodly_, and where they appeared. _first--what we are to understand by judgment beginning at the house of god_. jesus christ chose him twelve disciples and commenced the great work the father sent him to do. to them he disclosed many events, that god would in a future day bring upon the world. he pointed them forward with more than human accuracy into the approaching revolutions of time, and painted out in noon-day light those astonishing disasters that would one day burst like a thunderclap on the thoughtless nations. he marked their certainty, and warned them accordingly. among the many things, that lay buried in the vista of future years, was the destruction of jerusalem. this was a point that most solemnly concerned the disciples of jesus. it was no less than the destruction of their nation. christ was with his disciples in the temple, that splendid edifice which was forty and six years in building, and, in their presence and for the last time, addressed the stubborn jews. he pointed out the many crimes of which they and their fathers had been guilty in shedding the blood of the prophets, and persecuting those who were sent unto them as the messengers of jehovah. they had also made void the law of god through their traditions. while pointing out these things, and setting them home like a thunderbolt to their hearts, he pronounced them hypocrites, blind guides, devourers of widows' houses, and declared that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth should be required of of that generation. while rehearsing these things to them, jesus had a perfect view of all their approaching sufferings. many of them were to be starved to death. he saw by a prophetic eye the indulgent father and fond mother weeping over their infant train, who were begging for bread, but no way to procure it. eleven hundred thousand he saw in a state of starvation, who were to fall by famine, sword and pestilence. he saw their cruel enemies surround the walls of their city, who would allow no sustenance to be given them, but determined to reduce them by hunger and sword to one common grave. all these things, that were coming upon them, rushed at once upon the mind of the compassionate redeemer of the world. the affecting scene moved so strongly upon his heavenly feelings, that he dropped the the melancholy subject and burst into a flood of tears. he beheld the city and wept over it--"o jerusalem! jerusalem! thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would i have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not!" he then left the temple for the last time; but as he was departing from it, his disciples, astonished at his denunciation, and regretting that such a magnificent edifice should be destroyed, exclaimed--"master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" and he said unto them "there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." the disciples immediately asked him saying, "tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?" by the end of the _world_ we are to understand the end of the jewish _age_. as they asked him the _signs_ portending this terrible destruction, so that they might know when it was nigh at hand, he immediately proceeded to point them out, and warned them to flee to the mountains of judea for safety. the signs are as follows--many false christs should arise, there should be wars and rumors of wars, nation should rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there should be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name sake. then shall there be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be. the most prominent _sign_ he gave them, and one that more immediately concerned his disciples, was that they should deliver them up to be afflicted, and they should be brought before kings and governors for his name's sake. "but, (says jesus) when they persecute you in one city, then flee ye to another." christ gave his disciples plainly to understand, that when the jews began their persecutions against his followers, then the destruction of jerusalem was nigh at hand. after giving these instructions to his disciples, he laid down his life, and on the third day he arose, triumphing over death and leading captivity captive. his disciples soon after commenced the spread of the gospel of peace, and waived the banners of the cross over kings and subjects, calling upon them to bow to the reign of jesus christ, who was king of kings, and lord of lords. they proclaimed a religion so contrary to the partial notions of the jews and the traditions of the elders, that it began at length to meet with violent opposition. the disciples agreeably to the direction of jesus fled for safety from city to city, till the tumult and opposition became general. christianity gathered force and popularity so rapidly, that the romans, it appears, gave permission to the jews to imprison and take life. the disciples and christians had now no place of safety to flee to, from the gathering storm of persecution and death. amidst these disastrous scenes, peter called to mind the _warnings and signs_ his risen lord had pointed out as a solemn premonition that the destruction of jerusalem and of their persecutors, was nigh at hand, and in view of the approaching calamity over which jesus wept, peter exclaims, "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of god, and if it begin first at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of god?" thus we, see that what is meant by _judgment_ beginning at the _house_ of god, is _persecution_ beginning at the _christians_, which persecution was a _sign_ to them that the destruction of that nation was nigh at hand. the reader will perceive that what the apostle calls "_house of god_," he afterwards calls "_us_," in the same sentence, and must refer to the christians, who are in many scriptures called the _house, temple, and building_ of god. [see heb. iii: . eph. ii: , .] that the persecutions were stated by christ as a _sign_ of the impending judgment of god upon the jews, is evident from the words of paul, thess. i: , where he calls them "a manifest _token_ of the righteous judgment of god" upon the unbelieving jews, the persecutors of the christians. _second--who were the righteous, and in what sense they were scarcely saved_. the righteous, mentioned in the th verse, mean the same persons called "_the house of god_," and "_us_," in verse th, and has reference to those christians _only_, who lived previous to the destruction of the temple, and not to any christians that lived subsequent to that event, much less does it refer to all the righteous that have ever existed or shall hereafter exist, as common opinion asserts. under this head, we were also to show in what sense these righteous were _scarcely_ saved. it could not mean that their salvation in the future world was _scarce_ or uncertain; for it is _certain_ in the counsels of god, and in all things well ordered and _sure_. he has given to his son the heathen for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession. and all the father hath given him shall come unto him, and he will raise them up the last day. he is mighty to save to the uttermost all that come unto god by him; and no one will deny that the righteous come unto him. how then can their eternal salvation be denominated _scarce_? impossible. how then are the scriptures to be reconciled with our text, when they declare eternal life to be the gift of god--that we are saved by grace--that help is laid upon one mighty to save--that his arm is not shortened that it cannot save; and that the power of god is to be exerted at the resurrection in making them equal unto the angels? the answer is easily given--our text has no reference whatever to the immortal world, to a judgment at the end of time, nor to the final condition of the human family; but simply refers to the narrow escape of the christians from the destruction of jerusalem, when they fled with their lives in their hands to the mountains of judea for safety. in the th chapter of matthew jesus clearly describes the dreadful scene. he says--"then let them which be in judea flee into the mountains. let him which is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house. and woe unto them that are with children and to them that give suck in those days!" [why? because they could not remain in the mountains during the period that the city was besieged by the romans.] "but pray ye that your flight be not in the winter neither on the sabbath day." [why? because in the winter you would perish with cold--and if your flight from the city be on the sabbath day, the jews will stone you to death for traveling more than three miles.] "for there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. and except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved;" [saved from what? ans. from death.] "but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." that is, for the sake of the christians who fled to the mountains, god shortened the days of the siege. let us hear dr. adam clarke, a methodist commentator, on this--"josephus computes the number of those who perished in the siege at eleven hundred thousand, besides those who were slain in other places; and if the romans had gone on destroying in this manner, the whole nation of the jews would in a short time have been entirely extirpated [destroy completely, as if down to the roots]; but for the sake of the elect, the jews, that _they_ might not be utterly destroyed, and for the christians particularly, the days were shortened. these partly through the fury of the zealots on the one hand, and the hatred of the romans on the other; and partly through the difficulty of subsisting in the mountains without houses or provisions, would in all probability, have all been destroyed, either by sword or famine, if the days had not been shortened." let us hear clarke explain how these christians were _scarcely_ saved. "but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." "it is very remarkable that not a single christian perished in the destruction of jerusalem, though there were many there when cestius gallus invested the city; and had he persevered in the siege, he would soon have rendered himself master of it; but when he unexpectedly and unaccountably raised the siege, the christians took that opportunity to escape." clarke says "_unto the end_" means "to the destruction of the jewish polity." therefore when peter says, the righteous are _scarcely saved_, he had reference to the dreadful judgment which was coming upon "the wicked and ungodly" inhabitants of jerusalem for shedding the blood of the righteous, and from this destruction the christians escaped with their lives in their hands to the mountains of judea for safety as jesus had directed them. they but just escape-- they were _scarcely_ saved. the christians also suffered persecution from the jews; and peter draws this inference from it--if we, who obey the gospel of god, have to endure so many persecutions from the jews--if this judgment begins at us, how much sorer punishment will our enemies have to endure, who obey not the gospel of god? and if we the righteous are scarcely saved from this long-predicted destruction, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? but how did peter know that it was at hand? because the persecutions, which jesus had given them as a "_sign" or "token_" had then commenced at the house of god. the reader will now perceive that peter was not speaking of a judgment at the end of time, because the judgment of which he was speaking had then commenced--"_the time is come_." neither was he speaking of christians generally, nor of salvation in the future world; but of those christians _only_ who lived previous to the destruction of the jewish polity, and of their being saved with _difficulty_ by watching the _signs_ and fleeing to the mountains of judea as jesus had forewarned them. luke records the language of christ more plainly to be comprehended than that of matthew. "in your patience possess ye your souls. and when ye shall see jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. then let them which be in judea flee into the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out," &c. we should be led to suppose that, after the walls of the city were surrounded by an army, it would then have been too late for the christians to save themselves. but christ as a prophet knew that cestius gallus would raise the siege, and fall back to make preparations for a more decisive attack, and thus afford the christians an opportunity to escape. it is evident to every candid reader that luke expresses in chap. st, all that matthew does in chap th and th. and that luke does not refer to a judgment at the end of time is certain from the manner in which he concludes, which is as follows: "and take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares * * * watch ye, therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the son of man." here we perceive that not the least allusion is made to a judgment at the end of time; because there would be no propriety in warning his disciples not to be _drunk or overcharged with the cares of life_ at a judgment day thousands of years after their death. the day when the christians were "to stand before the son of man" was at the destruction of the jewish polity, and it was to take place in the life time of some of the disciples. christ says, "there be some standing here that shall not taste of death till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom." the day of christ was therefore at hand, and the apostles were warned to keep it in view, and watch the signs that were to precede it. peter was faithful to these warnings, and when he saw the _signs_, presaging its near approach, he exclaimed--"_the time is come_," &c. this was the day of tribulation, when the christians were scarcely saved from the dreadful fate that overtook their own countrymen, who remained blind till the things that made for their peace as a nation were hidden from their eyes. [concluded in our next.] sermon xx "for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of god; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of god? and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" peter iv: , . in our last we have attended to the first two divisions of our subject--viz: what we were to understand by judgment beginning at the house of god, and who were the righteous, and in what sense they were scarcely saved. we now invite the attention of the reader to the remaining division of the subject. _third--who were the ungodly, and where they appeared_. by the _ungodly_ and the _sinner_, we are to understand the unbelieving jews, the murderers of christ and the persecutors of his followers. it has _exclusive_ reference to them and not to the ungodly who lived subsequent to the destruction of jerusalem, much less does it refer to all the wicked that have ever existed, or shall hereafter exist, as common opinion asserts. this needs no further explanation. under this head, we were also to show _where the ungodly and the sinner appeared_. we have already had occasion to state, that peter in our text refers to the destruction coming upon the jews. the time was come when that judgment of persecution, which began at the christians, was to be returned upon the heads of their persecutors in seven fold vengeance and suffering. their city and nation were to be destroyed, and their magnificent temple, where their devotions were offered, was to be laid even with the ground. not one stone was to be left upon another, but the whole become one general heap of ruins. then according to the prediction of jesus, was there to "be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." then was "wrath to come upon them to the uttermost." then was he to "take vengeance on them that know not god, and obey not the gospel of our lord jesus christ." then were "the children of the kingdom to be cast out into outer darkness where there was wailing and gnashing of teeth." then, as a nation, were "they to go away into everlasting punishment;" for "these were the days of vengeance when all things, that were written, might be fulfilled," and "all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of abel to the blood of zacharias, should come upon that generation." titus led the roman army against them, surrounded the walls of the city on the day of the passover, where a great part of the jewish nation were then assembled, and to which others had fled for refuge, being driven by the terror of his arms like chaff before the whirlwind. here they appeared! husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, (one promiscuous throng) were gazing in breathless solicitude, while consternation and dismay were depicted in every countenance, and fearful expectation pervaded every bosom! death, a long lingering death, was gathering around them in all its horrors! old men and young, maidens, matrons and little children poured forth their lamentations to heaven, invoking the protection of the god of israel. but, alas! "the things, that made for their peace (as jesus forewarned them) were hidden from their eyes!" their hour was come, and the triumphant shouts of the enemy were heard around their stubborn walls, which (massy as they were) dropped to the ground under the subduing power of the battering-rams of war. with these massive engines of destruction, they laid the two first walls in ruin! but the third and last wall it was not in the power of the enemy to gain. the jews fought with desperation, and by valiant exertions kept the enemy at bay, and for a while seemed to triumph in the fond hope of victory over the foe. the roman army was driven to great extremity, and even to hesitation, while many of their most valiant men fell in action, and impending victory seemed to hang doubtful. in this moment of suspense, they came to a determination to make no further attack upon the city, but guard it and reduce its inhabitants to submission by famine. all supplies were accordingly cut off, and every avenue blocked up by the vigilant romans. in addition to this, intestine divisions, civil wars and pestilence raged within the walls of the city. having no employment in fighting the enemy, they fell to butchering each other. these things proved their ruin, and their national sun went down in blood. every day thousands closed their eyes in death through famine and pestilence; and thousands by endeavoring to escape to the enemy and surrender themselves up as prisoners for safety and protection, were either cut down by the roman sword, or met the same fate from their own countrymen. here they appeared! all hopes of life cut off, nothing presented itself to their view, to end their woes, but the certain prospect of an untimely tomb! fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, gazing upon each other in silent expectation, saw death gradually advancing in all its horrors. they were driven to the most dreadful extremities, until (is josephus informs us) "they devoured whatever came in their way; mice, rats, serpents, lizards, even to the spider"--and lastly mothers were driven to eat the flesh of their own children! here were lamentation and wo indeed! such tribulation as our saviour says never was, and never will be. in imagination the mind runs back to the period, and to the fatal spot. it surveys the painful scene, characterized by nought but moral and physical woes--madness and revenge, cruelty and carnage, pestilence and famine, and all the mingled horrors of war! it surveys the starving child clinging to the maternal bosom for help and protection, but alas! that bosom becomes its grave. here the ungodly and the sinner appeared in deep despair! unfeeling mortal, do you say that their punishment and sufferings were not sufficiently great, without adding that of immortal pain in the future world? are you not satisfied without arguing that they ought to suffer endless misery in addition to their woes? look with an unjaundiced eye over this scene of distress; and as you gaze let justice (if not compassion) once more take the throne of the heart, and then pronounce the shocking sentence of your creed if you can. that their sufferings were overwhelming is evident from scripture as well as from history. in lam. iv. the prophet jeremiah says--"the hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people." in lev. xxvi. moses describes their sufferings as follows--"and i will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, i will send the pestilence among you, that shall make you few in number; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. and when i have broken the staff of your bread ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat and not be satisfied. and if ye will not for all this hearken unto me but walk contrary unto me; then i will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and i, even i, will chastise you seven times for your sins. and ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat." this did come upon the sinner and the ungodly, and it was "according to their sins." moses, jeremiah, and jesus spake particularly of the sufferings of the jews in the destruction of their city and they all agree in concluding their chapters. moses in conclusion says, "and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquities, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes; and yet for all that i will not cast them away neither will i abhor them to destroy them utterly and to break my covenant with them, for i am the lord their god." and jeremiah, after describing their sufferings in the th chapter of lamentations concludes with these words--"the punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, o daughter of zion," &c. and jesus, after denouncing upon them the judgments of heaven in matt. xxiii. concludes thus: "for i say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the lord." thus we see that they agree in testifying to the same fact, that the punishment of the ungodly and the sinner, which mean, no other than the jewish nation in their overthrow and dispersion as we have already noticed, shall end. i see therefore no arguments, that can be drawn from our text, to prove a future judgment or endless misery in the immortal world. if the objector can see a shadow of evidence in this passage to support such a sentiment, yet i must frankly acknowledge that, for myself, i cannot. there is certainly no word in the text, that has the most distant allusion to the final condition of man. the _judgment_ began at the apostles and christians. but is the _"last judgment"_ to begin at them? certainly not. but admit that it is; we would further inquire, did the last judgment begin as early as the days of peter? impossible. then he could certainly not have had any allusion to such a day, for he exclaims: "_the time is come_ that judgment must begin at the house of god." here the judgment to which he refers had commenced, or at least the _signs_ portending it had commenced, and it was to end upon the ungodly inhabitants of jerusalem. this fact is evident from the context--"beloved, think it not strange concerning the _fiery trial_ which is to try you, as though some strange thing had happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." from this quotation there can arise no misapprehension as to peter's application of the text, nor of the persons it involves. they were the persecutors of the christians, and no one will dispute that these were the jews. if then this judgment was at hand, it cannot of course refer to a period at the end of time; and it is in this case equally certain, that the _scarce salvation_ of the christians can have no reference to the immortal world. these facts being irresistible, the argument must be wholly given up that "the ungodly and the sinner" were to appear in a state of inconceivable torment beyond the grave, because the _condition_ of "the ungodly" stands in contrast with the _scarce salvation_ of the righteous, and this _salvation or deliverance_ was to be in a day nigh at hand, and from a tribulation or judgment in which their adversaries and persecutors were to be involved, and the _signs_, by which the apostle was admonished of its proximity, had already appeared when he wrote the words of our text. the meaning of his words, i humbly conceive, is simply this--the time _is come_ when the persecutions, predicted by christ as a _sign_ of the approaching destruction of jerusalem, must begin at us. and if we the righteous who are innocent, have to endure so many "fiery trials," what will the dreadful punishment be of our disobedient persecutors? and if we are _scarcely saved_ from this impending destruction, by fleeing to the mountains of judea, where will our thoughtless and sinful appear? we have endeavored to show you where they appeared--have pointed out the narrow escape of the christians, who were "scarcely saved," and referred you to the _signs_ by which peter knew this judgment was at hand. it is therefore unnecessary to offer any thing further in defense of our views, as the text is, no doubt, plainly understood by every reader. we close this discourse by noticing one very common objection, made by our religious opposers, to our application of several scriptures. i do this, because i am not aware that it has been done by any universalist as a _designed_ answer to the objection. the substance of the objection is this:-- _there is not a passage in the new testament which speaks of a day of judgment, of the end of the world and of the coming of christ, but what universalists apply to the destruction of jerusalem. then, they contend, "every man was rewarded according to his works," consequently all subsequent nations are not to be rewarded, nor are they to experience a day of judgment_. in reply to this objection i would remark, that we are not answerable for the many passages which the saviour and his apostles applied to that event. but if we make a wrong application of any scripture, why do not our opposers point out the error? we will now show why the apostles wrote so much in reference to that period. they do not so frequently speak of that event merely on account of the destruction of their temple city and nation, (though that might justify their frequent reference to it) but there were circumstances of a more imposing and momentous character to attract their attention to that catastrophe. these were the abrogation of the mosaic rituals and the introduction of a new order of things by jesus christ of whom moses and the prophets wrote. this was a period when every christian was to be delivered from the persecution of the jews, and the spread of the gospel was to be retarded no longer by their opposition. the jews as a nation were to be punished for their deeds of blood, and that _spiritual reign or judgment_ commence which should pass upon all subsequent generations of men, rewarding every man according to his works. the _gospel reign_ is called "the _judgment of the world_" by jesus christ, in the same sense that moses judged the world two thousand years by the law. jesus says, "think not that i will accuse you to the father, for there is one that _judgeth_ you even moses in whom ye trust." from this it is evident that moses was then judging the jews. but this covenant was abolished at the destruction of jerusalem. paul says, "he taketh away the _first_ that he may establish the _second_." the word of god, in this covenant, is spiritual and sharper than any two-edged sword--it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, while that of moses was outward, and took cognizance of the conduct only. the objections of our opposers are therefore unsound. and though we apply those passages, which speak of a judgment, to the destruction of the jews, yet that judgment or reign of christ which then commenced, is yet going on, and will continue till all are subdued to himself. he then came in his kingdom, and will continue to reward every man according to his deeds till his kingdom ends. so we this day experience the effects of his coming, and of his judgment or reign, and are justified or condemned according as we embrace or reject the words of everlasting life. we see therefore the propriety of the apostles dwelling so much upon that great event, which should witness the passing away of the types and shadows and the establishment of the gospel of jesus christ. sermon xxi "for as in adam all die, even so in christ shall all be made alive." cor. xv: . the death and resurrection of all mankind are a theme of no ordinary moment, and have given birth to many theories and speculations among the advocates of christianity. the common opinion is that one portion of our race will be raised to immortal life and glory in the future world, and the other to immortal damnation and dishonor--that at the same instant the living will be changed and that the whole human family will, in this condition, be arraigned before the "judge of quick and dead," and receive their irrevocable sentence for endless joy or endless wo. others believe, in opposition to these limited views of the divine character, that the resurrection is the closing scene of the great plan of salvation, and that no judgment is to succeed it. this resurrection, they believe, will introduce the numerous posterity of adam into the same condition of immortal glory and honor, being made, by the power of god, "equal unto the angels, and be the children of god being the children of the resurrection." as to the _judgment day_, they do not believe, that the whole human family will be congregated in one amazing throng at one period of time, but that the judgment of the world, by jesus christ, commenced at the destruction of jerusalem, when the mosaic dispensation, with all its imposing rituals, passed away, and that this _judgment_, or in other words, this _gospel reign_ of christ, is still progressing, and will completely terminate before the resurrection takes place. notwithstanding this view of the day of judgment, yet they suppose that the _resurrection day_ is a designated period when the cerement of the dead shall burst, and all the slumbering nations, simultaneously, start up from their beds of clay, the living at the same instant be changed to immortal beings, and this countless throng, in one unbroken strain, shout--"o death! where is thy sting? o grave! where is thy victory"? though this scene would be full, and immortally sublime, and disclose a grandeur which a seraph's eloquence never can describe, yet i take the liberty to dissent from this long and fondly cherished opinion, and will humbly endeavor to present you my views on the immortal resurrection of the human dead. the ideas i have advanced in my sermons on the _new birth_, require me to do this. and no one has more occasion to rejoice than myself, that we are bound by no creeds, and that the preachers of our order encourage and cherish free investigation. among such able and benevolent theologians, i feel conscious, if i err, that they will endeavor, in the spirit of meekness, to set me right. i therefore hold no one responsible for the ideas i am now about to advance. i am by no means in favor of new theories built upon mere human speculations, nor do i deem it an enviable task to make innovations on the long and universally established opinions of the christian community. i shall simply appeal to the scriptures to sustain me in my present exposition, and by that standard i am willing my views should be tried, for by that alone, they must ultimately stand or fall. from the text we have selected, it might, perhaps, be expected, that we should proceed to prove the final holiness and happiness of the human family by showing, that he who is "made alive in christ is a new creature"; but as this has, heretofore been done so often and so ably, we shall confine our attention, principally, to the different scripture accounts of the resurrection of the dead, and endeavor to ascertain whether it is indeed, to take place at the end of time and be general, or whether it is continually transpiring as gradual as the successive deaths of our race in adam. and here i would distinctly remark, that the dead are represented as being raised at the coming of christ. this is admitted and believed by all. but where, i ask, is there in the book of god _one passage_ to prove any coming of christ after the destruction of the jewish polity when he commenced his _gospel reign_, called the _judgment of the world_? this was his _second_ coming; but where but where is there a _scrap_ of scripture to prove his _third_ coming at the end of time? for one, i have searched in vain for such testimony. that christ came in his kingdom, during the life time of the persons he addressed, and then commenced the judgment of the world, is certain. this is not, however, admitted to be that coming of christ when the dead will be raised immortal. where then is revealed that _third_ coming of our lord, at the end of time, to raise the dead? i think it will be an unsuccessful task for any man to search it out and bring it forward. i would not be understood to say, that no destruction will attend this earth. on the contrary philosophy seems to warrant the idea. but the scriptures no not, in my apprehension, reveal such a catastrophe, nor a _third_ coming of christ, nor a general resurrection at that period. the reader may, perhaps, here inquire whether the scriptures do not clearly describe the resurrection of all mankind to be at one instant of time? i answer, no more than they describe the judgment of all mankind to be at the same instant. but, says the reader, the resurrection is to be at the coming of christ, which must be at some designated period. very well; the judgment was to be at the coming of christ to the destruction of the jewish state, and does not this designate some particular period? if so, how are we judged in the present day? if the judgment day, which _then_ commenced, has not yet ended, why may not the resurrection day be still progressing? if you contend, that the dead were all to rise at once, then by the same mode of scripture interpretation, i can prove that all the living were to be judged at once. acts xvii. . "because he hath appointed a day in the which, he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given this assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." cor. v. . "for we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ, that every one may receive the things in body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad." though this event is represented as transpiring in _one day_, and as though all men were literally arraigned at the same instant, still all universalist admit, that it commenced at the destruction of jerusalem, has passed upon succeeding generations, and will continue from the present down to subsequent ages, so long as human beings shall have a habitation on earth. this is called the _last day_. jesus says--"the word that i have spoken, the same shall judge him in the _last day_." so i contend, that though the resurrection is also called the last day, and represented as raising all mankind at one instant of time, still simply means, that the doctrine of christ (viz. the judgment and resurrection) should, at his coming in his kingdom, be fully revealed to the living by their seeing his prophesies fulfilled in the abrogation of the ceremonial law, and this doctrine of life and immortality be permanently established and commence its sway over the living, as the last and best system of god to man, and this _resurrection day_ continue down to all subsequent generations of slumbering dead, raising every man in incorruption and glory. the judgment and resurrection of the world are therefore both progressing, for these two constitute the gospel reign of christ. he is "the resurrection and life of the world," as well as "judge of quick and dead." both are to be accomplished in the _last day_, and that day is now progressing. a _general_ resurrection, at the last vibrating pendulum of time, cannot i humbly conceive, be substantiated by the oracles of truth, any more than a _general_ judgment. i am rather inclined to think that _the judgment of the world by jesus christ expresses the whole, including the resurrection and all; even as the high priest, clothed with the breastplate of judgment on the day of atonement, closed his services by raising the nation into the holy of holies, "which was a pattern of things in the heavens_." if the scriptures afford us any evidence of the _third_ coming of christ, to raise the dead, for one, i must acknowledge my utter ignorance of the fact. in john (chap. vi.) jesus several times uses the expression, "and i will raise him up at the last day." if others contend that this has reference to "_the last day of the last generation of the human race on the earth_," yet i must candidly acknowledge, that i cannot see a shadow of evidence to prove this position. the _last day_ in this instance, refers to the gospel dispensation, which commenced at the destruction of the temple, and involves the whole reign of christ. it is synonymous with the "day of christ" and the "day of the lord" mentioned in several places by the apostles. nor do i conceive it means, that christ would raise them up by his own immediate power, but that god would raise the dead according to that doctrine, which he sent his son to reveal to men, and this would be fully established in the world, and be believed and felt by jew and gentile christians at the coming of christ in his kingdom, at the end of that dispensation. _then_ and not till _then_ were the predictions of christ fulfilled, and then were those christians, who had not seen jesus after his resurrection, "made perfect in faith." the dead are to be raised at the _last_ trump; by which i understand the _seventh_, for no other _last_ is revealed. this trump is mentioned by our saviour (matt. xxiv. .) and is the gospel trump which was to commence its sound at the destruction of jerusalem. in rev. chap. viii, seven trumpets were given to seven angels, who are represented as sounding them in succession, and increasing woes following, till the sixth trumpet sounded. but when the seventh angel sounded and the last dreadful wo passed away, a very different order of things followed. rev. x. . "but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of god should be finished as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." rev. xi. . "and the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." now compare these woes and this subsequent order of things with the tribulations christ described in matt xxiv chap. and the subsequent life the righteous entered into, and you will readily perceive that both refer to the destruction of jerusalem and the commencement of christ's auspicious reign. (the revelations were certainly written before that event.) when the seventh angel sounded, christ came in his kingdom and began his reign; and that he began his reign when the trumpet sounded, and the woes recorded in matt. xxiv. and xxv. chapters took place, will not be denied. this settles the point that the _seventh or last_ trump was not to sound at the close of christ's reign, but at its commencement. and under this last sounding trump the dead were to be raised immortal, and those who were alive when it commenced its sound, were to be suddenly changed in their circumstances and feelings as described in the context. it was the day of their redemption from all their trials and persecutions, and doubts and fears. that this was the period when the christians entered the _resurrection day_ as well as the _judgment day_ under christ is certain. they entered into the full enjoyment of that most sublime of all doctrines in the faith of which they not only saw the dead raised immortal and free from pain, but felt themselves new beings. they were exalted from the dust to high and "heavenly places in christ," were "caught up to meet the lord in the air," were seated "on thrones and made priests and kings to god and reigned with christ." there "they shone like the brightness of the firmament and the stars forever and ever," recognized the goodness of god in redeeming love, and sang the song of _certain victory_ over death and hades. then "the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven was given to the saints of the most high," and in this "kingdom of their father they shone forth like the sun." the above promiscuous quotations from scripture justify the expression, that the living were "changed in a moment at the last trump," which announced to the world the immortal resurrection of the dead. that this trump, whose sound proclaims the resurrection of all mankind, is the gospel trump, the doctrine of christ, we cannot doubt. that the change of the living, in the context, has any reference to changing them into immortal beings, i cannot admit without further evidence. it is contrary to the whole tenor of revelation--it is contrary to our text, which declares that all, who are made alive in christ first die in adam. as the change of the living is an important point in our present investigation, we will give it further attention. that the christians were to experience a great and sudden change at the destruction of jerusalem is certain. they were to be delivered from all their trials and persecutions, and be raised into the full and felicitous enjoyment of the reign of christ. those christians, who had not seen our saviour alive from the dead, who had believed on the testimony of his apostles and of the "five hundred brethren," were delivered from all their doubts and fears on seeing his predictions fulfilled, were perfected in faith, and their "hearts established unblamable in holiness." this was to them a resurrection day, not only in reviving their faith and hope in the doctrine of the immortal resurrection of all that died in adam, but in delivering them from their sufferings, and raising them into the sublime enjoyments of the reign of christ. in reference to this period, jesus says, "thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." and paul says, "if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though i had already attained, either were already perfect." what sense would there be in his saying--if by any means i might, by my exertions, become an immortal being, not as though i had already attained to immortal existence? no sense at all. but the apostles meaning is clear, if we render it thus--if by any means i might continue faithful unto the end, and obtain a crown of life in the first resurrection at that day when christ shall come in his kingdom to destroy his enemies and to deliver and elevate christians to honor. we shall notice this more particularly in our next when we come to comment on philippians iii. chap. again he says--"who concerning the truth have erred, saying the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some." that is, to make the christians believe that their promised deliverance was past, while they were yet in the midst of their sufferings, was calculated to overthrow their faith. we will notice the change of the living still further. jesus says, that those, who were in their graves, and had done good, should come forth to the resurrection of life. and daniel says, that many of them who sleep in the dust of the earth should awake to everlasting life, and those, who were wise, should shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turned many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. here daniel and jesus represent the low, suffering, and distressed condition of the christians previous to the destruction of jerusalem, and their final deliverance and exaltation at that period, by sleeping in the dust, being dead in their graves, and suddenly coming forth to life and shining like the brightness of the firmament and the stars forever and ever. this is equivalent with being "caught up in the clouds to meet the lord in the air." the above changes are as great and as in instantaneous, as the apostle represents in the context,--"we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." as if he had said we shall suddenly enter into the full fruition of that glorious gospel kingdom, whose trump shall then begin, and continue to sound down to the remotest periods of that "_last day_" proclaiming the incorruptible resurrection of all the dead, and at the same time changing the living from the low, sorrowful, and groveling thoughts of earth to the sublime and joyful contemplations of "life and immortality brought to light through the gospel." so the _last day_, in which the last trump sounds, and the dead are raised, embraces the whole gospel reign of christ. the _resurrection_ is coeval in duration with the _judgment_ of the world; for both are called the last day, and both are represented as involving all mankind in one assemblage to be judged and in one assemblage to be raised. [to be continued.] sermon xxii "for as in adam all die, even so in christ shall all be made alive." cor. xv: . we have already shown that the _judgment_ of the world is called the "_last day_," in which all human beings are to stand at the judgment seat of christ, and receive according to their deeds. we have shown, that this day commenced at the end of the jewish age, and is to continue down to all succeeding generations, so long as human beings shall have a habitation on earth. we have shown that the _resurrection_ is also called the "_last day_," in which all the dead are to be raised immortal. we have shown that, as a doctrine of god, it was permanently established in the world at the end of the jewish dispensation--that the last or gospel trump then commenced its sound, proclaiming the immortal resurrection of all who "die in adam," and at the same time changed those who were then alive--and that it shall continue to sound to the remotest periods of this last day, proclaiming the resurrection of the dead and changing or reforming the living. we have shown that the _judgment and resurrection_ constitute the gospel doctrine of christ, and, as such, both were established in the world at the same time, and are both called the "_last day_," in which all men are in succession to be judged, and raised immortal. the apostle paul, when discussing to his hearers, either the judgment or the resurrection, looked forward to that interesting period, when they were to be established in the world, and, with a giant effort, grasped in one view, the beginning and end of this brilliant, sublime, and everlasting day, and presented it in mental vision to his persecuted and almost desponding brethren as one instantaneous, transporting and triumphant event, in which the world was to be judged, the living changed, the dead raised immortal and incorruptible, and the rapturous song of final victory was to be sung over death, its sting and the grave. we will now proceed to notice those passages, which are applied to the immortal and general resurrection of the dead, point out their misapplication, and reconcile them with the views we have advanced. we will _first_ notice our context. and here it will be necessary to ascertain the condition of those whom paul addresses. he introduces the chapter by referring to the many witnesses of christ's resurrection, and commences his argument in proof of this fact, and against those christians, who had not been eye-witnesses, but who had professed faith in his resurrection _merely_ on the testimony of the apostles. these christians were suffering persecution, and were, of all men most "miserable" if christ were not risen from the dead; as in such case, their future deliverance and exaltation at his predicted coming, were but a visionary dream. and as their lord seemed to delay his coming, "some among them (being discouraged) began to say, there was no resurrection of the dead." the great evidence, to which they were looking for the final proof of his being the true messiah was the fulfillment of all which the prophets had written of "the daily sacrifice being taken away, the holy people being scattered" and of the glory of the messiah's kingdom and reign, and of all, which jesus himself had predicted of his coming to destroy their persecutors, to put an end to the mosaic dispensation, and to raise them to a state of exaltation in his kingdom. they had not seen jesus alive from the dead as had the apostles; and however much they might be inclined to credit their testimony, yet their severe persecutions and sufferings, and the protracted period of his coming would, very naturally, create, in their hearts many doubts and fears as to its truth. these are the persons, whom paul addresses in our context, and labors to keep them in the faith by presenting the _whole weight_ of testimony in favor of the resurrection of christ, on which he hinged the resurrection of man. he summons before them more than five hundred eye-witnesses, of whom himself was one, to satisfy them of the fact, and summons all the powers of philosophy in nature. he refers them to grain sown in the earth, and its coming forth in a new body. he refers them to all the various species of flesh, of men, beasts and birds on the earth, and to the glory of the sun, moon and stars in the heavens --all differing from one another--to prove that god is able to prepare an immortal body, differing from all these, and raise man immortal! as he passes on, reveling in the greatness of his strength, and absorbed in the immensity of his theme, his argument gathers force, till earth and heaven appear to be in motion before him! he ranges the universe, summons to his aid the power of god, lays his masterly hand upon every fact, gathers them in his grasp, condenses them before his hearers, and, in one overwhelming burst of eloquence, makes the whole bear upon the resurrection of christ and of man! he refers them to the coming of his lord, at which time will be the end of the jewish age. then their sufferings and persecutions terminate, their darkness, fears and doubts will be removed, they will be ushered into the glorious reign of christ, behold this _last_ and brightest day, hear the _last_ joyful trump sounding, see the dead by an eye of faith arising, and themselves as living men changed. these would be christ's at his coming. then he would receive his kingdom and begin his auspicious reign. no fact is more certain than that christ was to commence his reign at the sound of the _last trump_. not an instance can be produced, where jesus has revealed to his apostles, that any trump was to sound subsequent to the one, which announced his coming in his kingdom at the end of the jewish age. if any one can produce scripture authority where a trump is to sound at the close of his reign, or at the end of time, or even produce testimony to prove the end of time, i will publicly and gratefully acknowledge the favor. perhaps the th verse of the context will be brought forward for this purpose: "then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to god, even the father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power." this, as it reads, is no objection to my views; but i contend that this is not a correct rendering of the passage. every careful reader will perceive, that it stands in perfect contradiction with verse th: "and when (notice the word when) all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the son himself also be subject unto him that put all things under him, that god may be all in all." this verse teaches a future reign and future subjection, after the kingdom is delivered up to god. what propriety is there in saying, "_when all things are subdued unto him_," after he has resigned his kingdom? what has he to subdue, after the kingdom is delivered "up to god, even the father". certainly nothing. i readily grant, that in the modern edition of the greek testament i have before me, it is rendered in the dative case, "_teen basileian to theo kai patri;" "the kingdom to god even the father_." but i perused, several years since, a short criticism by an english writer (whose name i cannot recall, nor the periodical which contained it) on this very phrase in which the author stated that in an early greek manuscript, he had in his possession, it was rendered in the nominative case, "_teen basileian ho theos kai pater_." this would reverse the present translation, and cause it to read--"_then cometh the end when god even the father shall deliver to him (christ) the kingdom_." the writer however argued, that as the chapter referred to the general resurrection at the end of time, it seemed to read far better as christ's mediatoriol kingdom would then terminate. this is mere assertion founded upon preconceived opinions. i will, however, produce direct authority to support my views. i will here present the reader with wakefield's translation of this passage, whose scholarship will be doubted by none: "_then will the end be, when god the father delivereth up the kingdom to him, during which he will destroy all dominion, and all authority and power; for he will reign till he hath put every enemy under his feet; and so the enemy death will be destroyed at last_." here, then, we perceive that instead of its referring to the end of time, and to the son's delivering up the kingdom to the father, it simply refers to the end of the jewish dispensation, when the father delivered to his son a kingdom, and when he _commenced_ his reign. this gives harmony, strength and consistency, to the whole connection closing with the th verse, and is in perfect agreement with the whole tenor of revelation, which no where speaks of the end of time. but according to the received translation, he first delivers up the kingdom to god, then commences his reign, subdues all things, destroys death, and is then subject to the father! let it be distinctly noticed that this "_end_" is at christ's coming. but where, i again ask, is revealed a _third_ coming of our saviour? but again--the ethiopic version also supports this rendering of the above passage, in agreement with wakefield, which i consider as sufficient authority to settle the question, at least in my own mind. but even were there no other authority, than the general tenor of revelation, i should feel justified in my present exposition. to contend for a _general_ resurrection, we are in the same predicament with the orthodox in contending for a _general_ judgment. the above harmonizes (in my apprehension) with every other part of divine revelation, which embraces the testimony of the prophets, and of jesus christ and his apostles, who all speak of the _end_ as referring _exclusively_ to the termination of the jewish age, at which time he should come in his kingdom and commence his reign. they also speak of the glory which should follow, and of the success that should attend it. but not _an instance can be produced, where they speak of the end of time_. he is to destroy the last enemy _death_; and this work is effected progressively in this _last day_, as individuals are in _succession_ raised from death, and established in their final and blissful condition affording us no revelation when this order of things will terminate. if it is a fact, that god the father, at the sound of the "last trump," delivered to his son the kingdom--if this be the correct rendering of the passage, as the whole tenor of revelation seems to justify, then it was at the commencement of his reign; and our views of the _resurrection day_ are irresistible. the apostle grasps, in mental vision, the whole subject, and represents it as one great and interesting event, big with sentiments of light and life, in the same sense that he does the judgment of the world, which revolved in his capacious soul as but one single day. the sudden and interesting change he represents as taking place in the living, has reference to the unexpected manner in which this sublime scene would burst on the world. in this he but follows the example of his lord, who declared he would come as a "thief in the night"--that he would "come quickly," and in an hour they were not aware, and exhorted his disciples to watch. we will notice one more passage in the context, which may be urged as an objection. "behold i show you a _mystery_; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." the _mystery_, here mentioned, refers to the change of those, who should be found alive at the coming of christ in his kingdom, produced by the full revelation and establishment of that doctrine, which proclaims the immortal resurrection of all mankind _by being made alive in christ_. it is the fulfillment of the following scriptures--eph. i , --"having made known unto us the _mystery of his will_--that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one _all things in christ_, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him." this mystery was _then finished_ in the full revelation of his will to the doubting christians, whom paul addresses in the context. this is evident from rev. x: --"but in the days of the voice of the _seventh angel_ when he _shall begin to sound_, the _mystery_ of god _should be finished_, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." and that he began his reign when the mystery was finished is certain from rev. xi. --and the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord and his christ, "and he shall reign forever and ever." here we perceive that this _mystery of god's will_ was to be finished at the sound of the _seventh or last_ trump, which will is, to gather or make alive all things in christ. and at this time he was to receive his kingdom and reign forever and ever. _"we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,"_ has reference to those persecuted christians, who were not to "taste of death till they saw the son of man coming in his kingdom." phil. iii: , l--"for our conversation is in heaven, from whence we look for the saviour, the lord jesus christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." that this passage has reference to changing our _natural into immortal bodies_ at the resurrection, i see not a shadow of evidence to prove, either in established in their final and blissful condition the passage itself, nor in the context. the context we have already noticed by pointing out the resurrection to which paul desired to attain. chap. i: --"he, that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until _the day of jesus christ."_ chap. iv: --"let your moderation be known unto all men. _the lord is at hand_." "the day of jesus christ" and "the lord is at hand" refer to his coming at the end of the jewish age, and not to a resurrection at the end of time. paul gave the philippians notice of no other coming of christ. the passage has reference to the change the living were to experience, at this coming of our lord in his kingdom, by being delivered from their persecutions, doubts and fears, perfected in faith, and "established unblamable in holiness before god," so as to resemble in a moral and exalted sense those immortal beings in heaven who are here called the "glorious body" of christ. the body to be changed embraces both jew and gentile christians, who were at that time to be raised from their lowly condition into his gospel kingdom and "shine forth like the sun." this is evident from the manner in which he commences: "for our conversation is in _heaven_, from _whence_ we look for the saviour, the lord jesus christ, who shall change our _lowly body_ that it maybe fashioned like unto his glorious body." he contrasts the low and oppressed condition of the whole christian body with what will be their exalted condition at the coming of christ, and that exalted condition will assemble that glorified body of beings in _heaven_ who died in his cause, and with whom they had their conversation, and from _whence_ they were expecting the saviour. it has reference, i conceive, to the body in which christ arose. the church is the body of christ, and it is to be presented to himself a _glorious body_, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. the greek word _tapeinos_ rendered "vile," should be rendered _lowly or humble_. it will be noticed, by the reader, that the word _body_ is used in the _singular_ number and not in the plural, as some have quoted it in their writings. but if it refer to individual _forms_, it ought to be rendered in the _plural_--"who shall change our vile _bodies."_ but it means the whole church or body of believers--a collective body of individuals. in this sense the greek word, _soma_, here rendered _body_ is frequently used in the new testament. that the apostle does not refer to all mankind is evident from the fact, that after the vile body is changed according to the working, he adds--whereby he is able _even_ to subdue all things unto himself--that is, able _even_ to subdue all things as well as to change that body. if the passage refer to an immortal and general resurrection, or rather to the change of all the living into immortal beings, then there would be none to subdue after that period. but if we apply it to the coming of christ in that generation, and to the change of the whole christian body, then all is plain and in perfect agreement with the preceding and succeeding context; also with cor. th chapter, and with the whole tenor of revelation, which speaks of but _one coming_ of our saviour in his kingdom, and which shows that the work of subjection commenced after the change of the living at the last trump, whose sound announced the commencement of his reign. the word _kai_, rendered _even_, should probably have been rendered _also_. "who shall change our lowly body--according to the working whereby he is able also to subdue all things to himself." the whole context, however, justifies the above exposition because the christians were looking for the coming of christ at the end of that age, and exclaimed, "the lord is at hand." [to be continued.] sermon xxiii "for as in adam all die, even so in christ shall all be made alive." cor. xv: . in our last we noticed the context, and also taken into consideration the language of paul on the coming of christ and the change of the living in phil. iii: , . this, we have shown, has no reference to the mortal bodies of men being changed to immortal bodies, so as to resemble the personal form of jesus christ. if it refer to jesus, still the resemblance would be _moral, not personal_, for no where do the scriptures teach, that we are in our personal appearance to be like our saviour. but in a _moral_ sense, "we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." i do not say, that there will be no _personal_ resemblance between immortal beings and christ. i fully believe there will be; but i mean that this personal resemblance is more a matter of course, than a doctrine of divine revelation. i do not read of the "glorious body" of jesus in his immortal resurrection state. but the scriptures do compare the moral body of christians on earth with the glorified body of holy beings in heaven, heb. xii: , --"but ye are come unto mount zion, and unto the city of the living god, the heavenly jerusalem, and to an in-numerable company of angels to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to god the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made made perfect." so far as the christians were "established unblamable in holiness before god even our father at the coming of our lord jesus christ with all his saints" so far as they were elevated to "shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever" so far as their moral condition and enjoyments were improved and enlarged, thus far, of course, the _lowly body_ of the church on earth would be changed into a moral resemblance of that "glorious body" of christ, who were praising him in heaven. in _heaven_ the christians had their conversation, from whence they were looking for the saviour, as shortly to come, and fashion them into a moral resemblance of those saints above, who had died in his cause, and who were to come with him. from the whole context, the conclusion is irresistible that this change of the "vile body" was at the coming of the lord _then_ at hand, and not at the end of time, as some imagine. another scripture commonly applied to the _general_ resurrection of the dead, and a change of all the living is recorded in thess. iv: , , --"for this we say unto you by the word of the lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord shall not _be before_ them that are asleep. for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of god; and the _dead in christ_ shall rise first. then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in air, and so we shall be evermore with the lord." that paul here refers to the coming of christ in his kingdom to establish his reign, and to elevate the christians who were alive at that period, the _preceding_ and _succeeding_ contexts fully justify. and so i must understand his language, till some one can prove a third coming of christ, and an _eighth_ sounding trump at the end of time. in the two preceding chapters, he dwells largely upon the persecutions of the christians, exhorts them to be faithful, expresses his desire "to perfect that which is lacking in their faith," and concludes by saying--"to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before god, even our father, at the coming of our lord jesus christ _with all his saints."_ no one will deny that this has reference to his coming at the end of the jewish age. now would it not be doing injustice to this powerful and cogent reasoner to say, that he suddenly drops this subject without giving his brethren any warning, and runs off to the end of time, speaks of another coming of' christ at which he is to raise, at the same instant, all the dead and change the living to immortal beings? and that he should again, as suddenly, drop this subject, and hasten right back to the coming of christ at the destruction of jerusalem? to charge him with this is certainly ungenerous. after stating that christ should descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of god to exalt the dead and living, he adds--"but of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that i write for yourselves perfectly know that the day of the lord so cometh as a thief in the night. for when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape." there is no resisting the conclusion, that _"the day of the lord"_ in this passage refers to the same period when "_the lord himself shall descend from heaven_" in the passage above; which must be at the destruction of jerusalem. he quotes christ's own language, matt. xxiv: . see also peter iii: . in both places, the sudden coming of jesus is compared to a "thief in the night." but where is a _general_ resurrection, at the end of time, clearly stated, that he had no need to inform them of the times and seasons, because they already perfectly knew? where is sudden destruction to come upon any in that day? for one, i find no such revelation. though the doctrine of immortal resurrection of all mankind was fully revealed, and established in the world at the coming of christ in his kingdom; yet that particular point is not argued by the apostle in the scripture on which we are commenting. he is not speaking of all mankind, nor of the immortal resurrection; but as in phil. iii: , , so _here_ he is speaking of the christians _only_ who should be alive when that scene burst and of those dead _only_ who had died in the cause of christ. "the dead in christ" cannot possibly include those who died previous to his birth, but those only who died in the faith of his doctrine previous to his coming in his kingdom. we might reason this point at large, but deem it unnecessary till some one proves how those, who never heard of a saviour, could be said to die in christ, or to be dead in him. i would, however, remark that the greek preposition _en_ may be rendered, _on account of_. the phrase would then read thus--_the dead on account of christ_. wakefield renders it thus--"_they who have died in the cause of christ_." that this is its true sense, i have not a doubt. let one thing here be distinctly noticed: paul says--"for this we say unto you by the word of the lord, that we which are alive and remain," &c. now where has our lord ever said, when speaking of the immortal resurrection, that some would be alive, and be changed to immortal beings? nowhere. this single circumstance ought to make every man pause before he asserts such a change to be true. read christ's language in all three of the evangelists where he addresses the sadducees; and he speaks only of the dead being raised, but not of any one being changed. read his language, john vi: --"and this is the father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me i should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day." nothing is here said about changing the living to immortal beings. the father has given all into the hands of his son; and if he is to _raise_ them up at the last day, then all must die, for the _change_ of the living is not the _resurrection_ of the dead. how then could paul tell his brethren, "by the word of the lord," that they were to be thus changed? he could not because there is not a "thus saith the lord" to support it. but paul had the word of the lord support the change in the living which we have pointed out. christ said, "the righteous should go into life eternal," they "that endured unto the end should be saved" that "they should shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father," and that "they should be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." but, inquires the reader, were those who died in the cause of christ raised immortal at his coming? no, they were not. it simply means that they were in that day to receive their elevated stations of glory and and honor in the gospel kingdom, so much so, as if they had been alive. the living christians, in this respect, were not to be before them. having suffered and died in the cause of christ, they were in the minds of the living to "shine as the stars forever and ever" in the kingdom of christ, because they had turned many to righteousness. the lord had, as it were, delayed his coming, and many had given up faith in christ's resurrection, and were sorrowing without hope over their friends who had fallen asleep in his cause. they of course had no faith in the immortal resurrection of their friends, nor in the fulfillment of christ's predicted coming to raise their names to unfading honor for having labored and died in his cause. we are not to understand that those departed saints were _literally_ exalted to elevated stations in christ's kingdom on earth, any more than christ _literally_ came. but as jesus was _in that day_, at the end of the jewish age, "crowned with glory and honor," as king on the mediatorial throne of the universe, so were his apostles elevated on thrones of glory with him. jesus says, "when the son of man shall sit on his throne of glory, ye also shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of israel." now certain it is, that jesus did take his throne, when he came in his glory, at the destruction of the temple. then it is equally certain, that the apostles and martyrs also took their's at the same period and in the same sense. _then_ christ came and "his holy angels" and all the saints came with him; not literally, but in the same sense that he himself came. luke ix: , --"for whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and of his father's and of the holy angels; but i tell you of a truth there be some standing here which shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of god." i thess. iii: --"to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before god our lord even our father, at the coming of our lord jesus christ with all his saints." here we perceive, that he was to come "_with all his saints and holy angels_." by his _holy angels_, we are to understand his gospel messengers or martyred apostles and by _his_ saints, those who had died in his cause. these are the persons who are said to be _dead in christ, and asleep in jesus_. by the words _dead and asleep_ we are not to understand their present extinction of existence in contrast with their immortal resurrection, but the supposed _low and disgraceful_ cause in which they died, or for which they were put to death by their persecutors, as malefactors. this _disgraceful condition_, in which their murderers viewed them as unchangeably sleeping, stands in contrast with their _triumphant exaltation_ at the coming of christ. their enemies would _then_ look upon them as having come forth from the dust of the earth and shining as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever and ever, and not as sleeping in perpetual infamy and dishonor. [see daniel xii , , and john v: , .] their enemies (whether dead or alive) were to come forth to _shame, contempt, and condemnation_, which stand in contrast with the _glory and honor_ to which the christians (whether dead or alive in christ) were to be raised in the minds of the living even to succeeding generations. let it be distinctly noticed that _these dead in christ_ are not said to be raised _incorruptible and immortal_, but only caught up with the living christians in the clouds to meet the lord in the air--not _literally_, but in the same sense that the living saw the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, so should they see his saints and holy angels raised from the slumber of infamy, and, together with the christians who remained alive at that day, be exalted with him in the air. [see matt. xxiv: , --mark xiii: , --luke xxi: , , and rev. i: .] in these passages he is represented as "coming in the _clouds_ with his angels," who "gathered, with a great sound of the trumpet, his elect," and raised them to honor in his kingdom. and let me add--this is all the _change_ christ has ever said should take place in the living at the sound of the trumpet. i have no doubt that the apostle had his eye upon the above words of our lord when he said, "we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the lord in the air." it will here be plainly seen in what sense those who had died in the cause of christ were _first_ raised. they are represented as coming with him at the destruction of the temple, and after that event the whole "body" was exalted together. the "vile body" of christians on earth (vile indeed in the eyes of their enemies) was then "fashioned like unto his glorious body" of saints and angels in heaven who had died in his cause. that we have given a correct exposition of thess. iv: , , , is evident from paul's words tim. iv: , --"i have fought the good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith. henceforth there is laid up for me a _crown of righteousness_, which the lord, the righteous judge shall give me at _that day_," &c. the phrase "_that day_" means not the day of paul's death, but the day christ should appear in the clouds of heaven at the end of the jewish age. his _crown was merited_ for having "fought the good fight and kept the faith." the crown means that exalted honor he should then receive for having "turned many to righteousness." and not only himself, but all, "who love the appearing of christ," should shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the stars forever and ever in his gospel kingdom among men. we this day look upon the martyrs and apostles as the lights of the christian world and as occupying, on the sacred page, stations far more exalted than any ever conferred upon the greatest men of the universe. they are "made priests and kings to god" for dying in his cause, and thus establishing the truth of christianity. this was the "first resurrection," and these were the persons who had a part in it, which no subsequent christians can ever can have. rev. xx: --"blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of god and of christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." but if christ had not come in his kingdom at the end of the jewish age, as the prophets and himself had declared, then the whole christian system must have fallen and the names of its martyrs and apostles remained buried in perpetual infamy as a set of deluded men and impostors. but, blessed be god, it is not so. they, by their faithfulness, have attained unto the "first resurrection" and thus broken the dark chains of infidelity into fragments. this is the _resurrection and change_ referred to in phil. iii: , , and thess. iv: , , , on which we have commented. we have intentionally omitted till now phil. iii: , , as our ideas will be more readily comprehended here than in our introductory discourse, where we simply adverted to these words of paul--"if by any means i might attain unto the resurrection of the dead--not as though i had already attained either were already perfect," &c. here we perceive that the resurrection unto which he desired to attain depended on his exertions in the cause of christ, and being faithful unto the end. he says (verse )--"i press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus." but what prize was this? ans. it was a _part_ in the _first resurrection_ to which he desired to attain (verse ) and he was not "perfect," he feared "lest after having preached to others himself might be a cast-away." he feared that he might not endure faithful unto the end. he was well aware that the promise was--"be thou faithful unto death and i will give thee a crown of life." to obtain this crown of life in the first resurrection, was the _highest prize_, the _highest calling of god_, ever suspended upon human merits! paul did continue faithful, and as he was led to the thought of death, with composure and satisfaction exclaimed--"for i am now ready to be offered; and the time of my departure" is at hand. "i have fought the good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a _crown of righteousness_, which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also, that love his appearing." here we perceive that paul had continued faithful, and was entitled to the promised crown, which was awarded to him, and to all "the dead in christ," who, on account of their faithfulness, had a part in the first resurrection--when he came in the clouds of heaven to establish his kingdom. it has nothing to do with the immortal resurrection of the dead, for that is not the reward of merit, but the gift of god. to _that_ all shall attain who die in adam. but in the _first_ resurrection none had a part except those who died in the cause of christ, and the living who continued faithful to the day of his appearing. on them and _them only_ devolved the honor of establishing the truth of christianity for the happiness of future generations, by not only testifying that they had seen jesus alive from the dead, but by cheerfully submitting to death, and showing themselves miracles of suffering in his cause. both the departed and those that remained alive, attained to the first resurrection, were glorified together, and their crowns shall shine in the gospel heavens with undiminished splendor long after those of kings and tyrants shall be dimmed and lost in the vortex of revolutions. he concludes the chapter by noticing the change of the "vile body" which we have explained. here then is no evidence of a general resurrection, nor of the end of time. the _context_, the _silence_ of jesus about the change of the living into immortal beings, and the _whole tenor_ of revelation combine to set it at defiance. of one thing i am satisfied; that no man ever _has_, and i believe, no man ever _can reconcile_ the change of the living and the resurrection of the dead recorded in philippians and thessalonians with their respective contexts, so as to prove a general and immortal resurrection at the end of time. as i have traveled in an untrodden path, i do not know but that i may have erred in some minor points, but am satisfied that my general positions are sound and tenable. [to be continued.] sermon xxiv "for as in adam all die, even so in christ shall all be made alive." cor. xv: . we have now come to that point in our subject where it will be necessary to cite a few passages to prove that the immortal resurrection is _successive, not general_, and will conclude by considering some of the principal texts, which may be urged as objections. we have already shown that the resurrection of the dead was to be at the sound of the last trump. and as that trump commenced sounding at the end of the jewish age, when christ came in his kingdom, i deem it sufficient to establish the fact that the dead are continually rising in this _last, this gospel day_. but the question presents itself-- were any of the human family raised immortal before that period? to this question i give an affirmative answer. i firmly believe, that the dead have been rising immortal from adam to the present day, for god has never changed the established order of the universe. i believe that the dead are raised without any _miracle_, in the common acceptance of that term, as much as i believe that we are born, and die, not by a _miracle_, but according to that constitution of things which god has immutably established from the beginning. i believe this doctrine of christ to be founded upon the unchanging principles of philosophy but so mysterious, that man in his present existence cannot comprehend the subtle causes and effects by which he shall put on immortality. it was, therefore, necessary that this sublime truth should be established in the world by the miracles jesus wrought and by the miraculous power of god in raising him from death. the first man adam was made by a miracle, while his posterity are naturally born into life, according to that constitution of things which god has established. so christ, the second adam, was born from the dead by a miracle, while mankind from the beginning, have, in succession, been born from the dead according to that constitution of things which he has established. on this principle, it may be stated as an objection, that as none of adam's posterity could be born till their parent was created by a miracle, so none of the human family could be born from the dead, till christ the second adam were raised immortal by the miraculous power of god. this objection is futile unless it can be proved that christ _creates_ life and immortality. in fact, it would even then fail;-- because christ, as our sacrifice, was slain from the foundation of the world in the offerings made to god in his stead. the atonement, made by the high priest throughout the whole mosaic dispensation, concluded by raising the jewish nation in figure on his "breast-plate of judgment" into the holy of holies, which was a pattern of things in the heavens. the atonement always involved the resurrection. the judgment of the jews, for two thousand years, by moses only pointed out the resurrection of man in _figure_, but christ proved the _reality_ by a tangible _fact_, and thus revealed it to the living as the doctrine of god of which the world had been ignorant. so what the _judgment_ of the world by moses taught in _figure, the judgment_ of the world by christ teaches in _reality_. my limits will not allow me to argue this point at large. i have already remarked, that i believe _"the judgment of the world"_ expresses the whole reign of christ including the resurrection. we now proceed to notice the scriptures. matt. xxii. , . "_but as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by god, saying, i am the god of abraham, the god of isaac and the god of jacob? god is not the god of the dead, but of the living_." to this luke adds, "_for all live unto him_." in order to make these words of jesus refer to a general resurrection at the end of time, all writers have availed themselves of this last clause in luke (on which matthew and mark are silent) and contend that it means--all live unto god who in his counsels views the future resurrection as present. but this exposition by no means satisfies my mind. if abraham, issac and jacob are not raised--if they are yet wrapped in the insensibility of death, then god during that period is not their god. to illustrate this, we would remark, that jehovah could not be creator till something were created by him. he could not be father till he had an offspring. he could not be lord till he possessed property;-- neither could he be god till there were a worshipper. _jehovah_ is the only abstract name he could possess, were he solitary and without a universe. all the other names ascribed to him are relative. the name god as much pre-supposes the actual existence of a _worshipper_ as that of father does the actual existence of a _child_. remove the _child_, and the once doating parent is no longer to him a father. god is not, therefore, the god of the dead, for as such, they could not worship him. he is, however, lord of both the dead and the living claiming them as his property. abraham, issac and jacob were therefore alive, and worshipping him when those words were spoken to moses, for in no other sense could he have been their god any more than he was before they were born. the phrase "_for all live unto him_," may, in this instance, embrace only the three patriarchs, as no others are involved in the quotation. the sadducees believed in the writings of moses only, and it is not at all probable, that jesus referred to any persons, not mentioned by moses, as it would have been no proof to the sadducees. his argument is, to prove that the three patriarchs, _are raised_ according to their own writings, not _shall be raised_. now that the _dead are raised_ moses showed at the bush when he called god the god of abraham, isaac and jacob. here we perceive that "_the dead_" refers to the three persons whom moses showed were raised. he then adds--for he is not the god of the _dead_ but of the _living_, for all live unto him--that is, the three patriarchs _all_ live to him. if the phrase embrace any others, it must be the living in eternity, not the living in the flesh nor the dead as such. it would make jesus contradict himself in the same breath. "he is not the god of the _dead_, but of the _living_; for _all_ live unto him." to whom does this "_all_" refer? to the "_living_"; not the "_dead_," for in that case he would be the god of the dead. luke ix. . "_and behold there talked with him two men, which were moses and elias_." the transfiguration of our lord is recorded also by both matthew and mark, and it is plainly stated that the disciples "saw his glory and the two men that stood with him." if moses and elias were dead, their bodies crumbled to dust, and their minds in a state of insensibility, then they were not moses and elias who talked with him. even if god had represented those two persons by other forms, they could no more have been moses and elias than adam and noah. it is _consciousness and memory_ which constitute personal identity; and if a conversation was carried on with jesus by any means that human ingenuity can invent, while moses and elias were wrapped in as profound insensibility as the dust with which their bodies mingled, then it could not have been moses and elias who conversed with jesus any more than if they had never had an existence. perhaps it may be said that, as it is called a _vision_ by matthew, it might have been nothing _real_. but as the word _horama_ means a _sight_ as well as _vision_, and as the other evangelists do represent it as an actual appearance and nothing visionary, it is to be taken in this sense. was it not a _reality_ that the three disciples saw jesus transfigured, and though in that condition was it not still their _identical_ lord? certainly. then the vision was so far _real_, and i see no ground on which the other personages can be considered phantoms. mark says, "he charged them that they should tell no man _what things they had seen_," &c. see also luke ix. . here it is made certain that it was not an appearance in a dream, but a real and visible sight of three persons whose names are given. consequently moses and elias were there as certain as was jesus christ. if so, they must have been raised from the dead, for man can have no conscious existence hereafter in a disembodied state. the scriptures teach that the resurrection is our only hope of a future conscious state of being. as to the translation of elijah we shall not here notice it. phil. i. , . "_for i am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with christ which is far better; nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you_." to depart and be with christ must, i conceive, mean in the resurrection world, for in no other sense could he be with christ so as to render his condition "far better." nothing can be _good or bad_ for a man in a state of perfect insensibility, any more than for a man unborn--neither could he be with christ in such a state, any more than before he existed. between the condition of a man in non-existence [pardon the expression] and in life, no comparison as to enjoyment or suffering can possibly be drawn. the apostle therefore draws a comparison between his present condition of conscious existence with his brethren, and his future condition of conscious existence with christ which was far better. that paul has reference, in the above, to an immortal existence in the resurrection, is evident from cor. v. , , , . "_for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of god, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens. for in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. for we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life_." if the above do not prove that the apostle expected to be clothed upon with his house from heaven shortly after his earthly tabernacle were dissolved, then i must acknowledge my ignorance of his meaning. he desires not to be unclothed so as to be found naked at the coming of christ. by this i understand that between death and the resurrection there is a state of insensibility of several days duration, while the spiritual body is putting on, and if he died so near the coming of christ, that the process was not completed, and mortality not swallowed up of life, he would be found naked, i.e. in the state of the dead. he therefore expresses no desire to be found unclothed at that period but clothed upon and present with christ. this is evident from verses , and . "_therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the lord. we are confident, i say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the lord_." while in the body, though they had many consolations in the faith of christ, though "he was with them always even unto the end of the age," though "to live was christ," yet this condition he terms being _absent_ from the lord in comparison to being _present_ with him, which cannot mean in the unclothed state of insensibility, but where "mortality is swallowed up of life." let it be distinctly noticed, that the apostle is speaking of three states-- st. as being in this earthly house or body where they were absent from the lord-- nd. as being unclothed and found naked at his coming for which they had no desire-- rd. as being absent from the body and present with the lord where they should be clothed upon with their house from heaven that mortality might be swallowed up of life, for which they had a desire. verse . "_wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him_." here we perceive that they did not labor to obtain entrance into his presence, because the immortal resurrection is the gift of god. but they labored, whether _alive_ on earth or _immortal_ in heaven, that they might be accepted among those, who were worthy to obtain a crown of righteousness in the first resurrection for having continued faithful unto the end--that they might be worthy to form a part of that glorious body of witnesses in heaven who were slain for the testimony of jesus. and the body of christians on earth, who continued faithful to the coming of christ, were to be fashioned like those above, and receive the same exalted honor in his gospel kingdom, and the whole compose one bright body of infallible witnesses, whose testimony can never be shaken by all the powers infidelity. "to depart and be with christ which is far better" must mean in an immortal existence. we cannot, for want of room, argue this part of our subject at large; --but the above is in perfect agreement with the philosophy of st. paul, ( cor. ,) where he compares the raising of the spiritual body to a grain of wheat sown in the earth. i would not be understood to say that this natural body of flesh and blood is ever to rise. no one, i presume, will contend that infants, youth and decrepid age, and those who are born deformed will be raised in that condition and all retain their various complexions. i believe, however, that there are those subtle materials in the natural body which, when extricated from the earthly tenement, and completely developed, shall produce the immortal being; and that these are as perfect in the infant as in the man. we will now conclude by anticipating and answering one or two principal objections. it may be objected that, if any one arose immortal before christ, he could not have been "the first-born from the dead" as stated in col. i. . this does not mean _first_ in the order of time, but in _rank_. it means _principal_, and is explained by the connecting phrase--"that in all things he might have the _pre-eminence_." it is more particularly explained in rev. i. . "jesus christ the faithful witness and the first-begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth." in connexion with this, we will introduce cor. xv. . "but now is christ risen from the dead and become _first-fruits_ of them that slept." this also has reference to _rank_ and not to _first_ in the order of time. in evidence of this, we will quote cruden,--"the day after the feast of the passover, they brought a sheaf into the temple the _first-fruits_ of the barley-harvest. the sheaf was threshed in the court, and of the grain that came out they took a full homer; i.e. about three pints. after it had been well winnowed, parched and bruised, they sprinkled over it a log of oil; i.e. near a pint. they added to it a handful of incense; and the priest that received this offering shook it before the lord towards the four quarters of the world; he cast part of it upon the altar and the rest was his own. after this every one might begin their harvest. this was offered in the name of the whole nation, and by _this_ the harvest was sanctified unto them." here let the question be asked--was this sheaf called the _first-fruits_ because it was ripe before the whole harvest? no; it was not cut till the harvest was ripe. was it called _first_ because the harvest would be _second_ in following it to the temple to be presented to god, by the priest, in the presence of the people? no; it was not to be carried to the temple, nor would the priest or the people ever see the whole harvest thus dedicated to god. but it was called "the _first_ of the ripe fruits," because it was offered to god in the presence of the people as an evidence of the consecration of the whole harvest throughout the nation. it was _first_ in distinction, or _importance_ without any allusion whatever to _first_ in the order of time. so "christ was the _chosen_ of god, the _elect precious_, and the _son_ consecrated forevermore." he was "the chief among ten thousand" and proved to be the son of god with power by a resurrection from the dead without seeing corruption. in this condition he was presented to the people as an evidence of the resurrection and consecration of all mankind. in this he was _first and last_--that is, the _principal_, the _chief, the head_, and in _this_ he never _has had_, and never _will have a second_ in the order of time. this is no evidence therefore that he was the first one who ever rose to an immortal existence. we have positive proof that moses and elias were raised from the dead, an in a state of conscious existence for they conversed with our lord in the presence of three of his disciples. they appeared in glory, and were two as real personages on the one part, as was our saviour on the other. acts xxvi. . _"that christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light to the people and to the gentiles."_ this passage contains, perhaps, as plausible an objection against my views as any that can be produced. but this passage means, that christ should be the _first_ who should show light to the jews and gentiles through a resurrection from the dead. the greek word, here rendered "_should rise_," is _anastaseos_ from _anastasis_. it is a _substantive_, not a _verb_. professor leusden, in his latin testament, renders it "_ex resurrectione mortuorum"--by a resurrection from the dead_. the verb, _to raise, is egeiro_, and is six times applied to the raising of christ from the dead in cor xv. _anistemi_ also means _to rise_ and is applied to raising the dead to life. but neither--anistemi nor egeiro_ are used in the verse, but _anastaseos_--consequently it cannot _literally_ be rendered "_should rise_," but _resurrection_. wakefield translates it thus--"that christ would suffer death and would be the _first_ to proclaim salvation to this people and the gentiles _by a resurrection from the dead_." this is evidently the real sense of the passage, and i shall offer upon it no further comment. [illustration: cover art] "here, when art was still religion, with a simple, reverent heart, lived and laboured albrecht dürer, the evangelist of art; hence in silence and in sorrow, toiling still with busy hand, like an emigrant he wandered, seeking for the better land." longfellow, _nuremberg_. evangelists of art _picture-sermons for children_ by rev. james patrick, b.d., b.sc. couper united free church, burntisland "could i have traced one form that should express the sacred mystery that underlies all beauty, and through man's enraptured eyes teach him how beautiful is holiness..." sir j. noËl paton cincinnati jennings & graham _printed by morrison & gibb limited, edinburgh_ contents i. christ in the temple . . . . . . . . . _w. holman hunt_ ii. luther at erfÜrt . . . . . . . . . . . _sir j. noël paton, r.s.a._ iii. hercules wrestling with death for the body of alcestis . . . . . . . . . _lord leighton, p.r.a._ iv. orpheus and eurydice . . . . . . . . . _g. f. watts, s.a._ v. the last sleep of argyll . . . . . . . _e. m. ward, r.a._ vi. wishart dispensing the sacrament before his martyrdom . . . . . . . . . _w. q. orchardson, r.a._ vii. the rider on the white horse . . . . . _g. f. watts, r.a._ viii. the man with the muck-rake . . . . . . _sir j. noël paton, r.s.a._ christ in the temple by w. holman hunt [illustration: christ in the temple. by permission of mr. holman hunt, and of mrs. holt, liverpool] christ in the temple _how is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that i must be in my father's house?_--luke ii. (revised version). the bible story from which the text is taken has been illustrated by a famous picture. the artist is mr. holman hunt, who has painted many pictures on bible subjects, and has spent many years in palestine in connection with his work. his painting of "the finding of christ in the temple" is well worth seeing for the rich beauty of its colouring and the delicate fineness of its workmanship, and every one who loves the bible must feel that it is still more worth seeing for the sake of the scene which it represents. as you look at the picture you have before you the interior of a spacious portico in the temple at jerusalem. the roof is supported on graceful pillars, and from it there hang many lamps of beautiful metal-work. the farther end is closed by an ornamental lattice-screen. at the right hand side a wide doorway opens on the steps which lead down to one of the temple courts. a beggar sits on the steps just outside the opening, and beyond him there are workmen busy at the building of the temple, which, as you know, was not finished for many years after the boyhood of jesus. you remember that when he had grown to manhood, the jews said to him, _forty and six years was this temple in building_,[ ] and even then we know that it was not completed. in our picture we see the scaffolding of the masons, and one of the cranes by which they raised the stones into position. the workmen themselves are engaged with a large marble block which is lying on the ground, and for which there is a vacant space in the wall above. beyond the unfinished building there is a grove of trees, and in the further distance we get a glimpse of the roofs of the city and of the hills behind. coming back to the interior of the portico we see an interesting group of figures at the farther end. a father and mother have come to present their child in the temple, and they have bought a lamb to offer in sacrifice. the father, with the lamb on his shoulder, and the mother, with the little one in her arms, are following a priest and another attendant who are leading the way further into the temple, while the man who has sold them the lamb is holding back the mother-sheep. doves are flying in by the doorway or hovering about inside. they are among the "happy birds that sing and fly round thine altars, o most high." a boy near one of the pillars is waving a long streamer in the air to frighten them away. but our attention is principally drawn to the foreground of the picture. this part of the portico is richly carpeted, and here a number of jewish rabbis--the doctors or teachers of the law--are sitting in a half-circle, facing the doorway. they are grave men, with long beards and flowing robes. many of them are old and grey. the rabbi nearest us has a specially withered face, and eyes that have become sightless with age. the one next him holds in his hand a little metal box with leather thongs hanging down from it. this is a phylactery, containing texts of scripture written on parchment, and the thongs are for fastening it on the forehead. another of the group wears his phylactery in its proper position. the blind rabbi clasps in his arms a great roll of the law, richly mounted and carefully wrapped up. a little boy, with a brush to drive away the flies, kneels beside him, and another boy behind him is reverently kissing the covering of the roll, which he has raised to his lips. one of the younger rabbis holds a smaller roll spread out before him. an attendant is pouring out wine from a jar under his arm, for one of the older men to drink. the temple musicians, with youthful faces, and with various instruments in their hands, stand behind the rabbis and watch the scene with much interest. but the central figure in the picture is the boy jesus, who has risen from the place where he has been sitting, and is preparing to go away with joseph and mary. he stands just inside the doorway, tightening his girdle with one hand, while the other hand clasps his mother's arm. his bright, earnest face is turned a little away from her, and his eyes glance towards the rabbis as if he were eager to hear the last of their words. mary is smiling with gladness because she has found him, and is drawing him gently and lovingly away. behind her, joseph, a powerful and noble-looking man, holds with one hand the broad strap by which his wallet is slung over his shoulder, while his other hand rests beside mary's on the shoulder of jesus. just above his head there is a large sun-shaped design on the side of the doorway, around which run the words, both in latin and in hebrew, _the lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple_.[ ] now there are at least two lessons which the story and the picture teach us. there are two things in which the boy jesus sets an example to the boys and girls of to-day. i first of all, there is _love of heavenly wisdom_. you can well understand that there must have been many places and many things in the great and ancient city of jerusalem which would be full of interest for a boy of twelve, who had just come for the first time from his distant village home. but there was no place so attractive to jesus as the temple of god. there was nothing that pleased him so much as to hear what the wise men of the temple had to say about god's truth and god's service. he had thought a great deal about these matters himself though he was only a boy. he had a great many questions to ask. three days had not been long enough for him to find out all that he wanted to know. he thought that joseph and mary would have understood what he liked best, that they would have known exactly where to find him, that they would never have thought of looking for him in any other place than his father's house. you see that the love of heavenly wisdom is as natural and as beautiful in a young mind as in an older one. the picture that i have been describing shows jesus with a real, bright, boyish face, which is earnest and thoughtful at the same time. and you boys and girls who read these pages will be able to make the best of the happy days of your youth if you love your heavenly father and his house, if you are eager to know and to obey his will. ii secondly, there is _obedience to earthly parents_. it was not with any intention of disobeying joseph and mary that jesus stayed behind in the temple. he did not think of their losing him, or of their being anxious about him. he did not mean to grieve or vex them. he was so carried away by his interest in the teaching of the wise rabbis that he thought about nothing else. this was just like a boy, and jesus was a real boy. but as soon as joseph and mary found him and called him, he obeyed them. he rose from his seat among the doctors and went with his parents towards the doorway. he would have liked to stay longer, and he could not help looking back and listening to the last. but he never once dreamed of remaining against mary's or joseph's will. he never thought of making his love for god's wisdom and truth an excuse for disobeying them. _he went down with them, and came to nazareth: and he was subject unto them_.[ ] and so the boys and girls who are the most earnest and thoughtful, those who love god's house and god's word most deeply, ought to be the most obedient boys and girls at home. god does not want to take your mind and heart away from your parents and from what you owe to them. he wants you to serve him by your loving obedience to them. when you honour your father and your mother you are honouring god's commandment, and so honouring god himself in the very best way. [ ] john ii. . [ ] mal. iii. . [ ] luke ii. (revised version). luther at erfÜrt by the late sir j. noËl paton, r.s.a. [illustration: luther at erfÜrt. by permission of the executors of sir noël paton, and mr. r. h. brechin, glasgow] luther at erfÜrt _i rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil_.--ps. cxix. . i wish to connect this text with a picture which is thought by many judges to be among the greatest of the late sir noël paton's works. its title is "dawn," and its subject is a well-known incident in the life of the famous german reformer, martin luther. as we see luther in this picture he is a young man between twenty and thirty years of age. he has had a brilliant career at the university of erfürt, and has taken his degree with the highest honours, but he has disappointed all his friends by refusing to become a lawyer, and by choosing to become a monk instead. he has already entered the augustinian monastery at erfürt. luther's reason for taking this unexpected step has been anxiety about his soul. he has begun to do his best to gain salvation by performing all the duties of a monk. he has fasted, and scourged himself, and done without sleep. he has once spent three whole days without eating or drinking. he has been found fainting on the floor of his cell. but with all this he does not feel that god has forgiven his sins. in this monastery, however, he has found something which he has never seen before, and that is a bible. you would think it strange nowadays if a man were over twenty years old, and a master of arts, and yet had never seen a bible; but that was quite common in luther's time. well, in this monastery there is a bible, a great latin book bound in red leather. the other monks have shown it to luther, though they have not cared much about it themselves. he has begun to read it eagerly. the first thing he has read in it has been the story of hannah and the little samuel, and this has made him think of his own mother margarethe and himself. night and day he studies this precious book, but at first it only makes him more anxious. it seems to speak to him only of the righteous and jealous god, who hates and punishes sin. but he gets some advice from a wise friend, and begins to read the epistle to the romans over again. and at length the glad meaning of the gospel dawns upon him. his own account of it is, _straightway i felt as if i were born anew. it was as if i had found the door of paradise thrown wide open. now i saw the scriptures altogether in a new light. that passage of paul was to me the true door of paradise_. sir noël paton's picture represents luther reading the bible and finding his restlessness and anxiety giving place to gladness and peace of heart. he is sitting at a reading-table with the great leather-covered book open before him. he wears his monk's dark robe and cowl. his hands are thin and wasted. his cheeks are pale and hollow with fasting. his eyes are bloodshot and fevered with anxiety and sleeplessness. near his left hand a richly carved crucifix stands on the table, and beside it are an hour-glass and a skull. an ink-pot with pens is at the other side. a lamp hangs from the roof above his head, but it is giving no light. only a thin blue trail of smoke rises from the wick, showing that the oil has been burnt out. the fresh morning air is coming in at a half-opened window above the crucifix. the bright morning sun shines through the richly stained glass, and makes a strange blur of coloured light on the wooden shutter behind. the front of the reading-table is adorned by a picture of the garden of gethsemane, with christ praying, and the disciples sleeping. on the wall behind luther is a portrait of pope alexander vi., who died not long before this time, and was one of the worst of men. in a recess beyond a curtain we see on another stained-glass window, the figure of augustine, one of the great teachers of the early church, after whom the monastery at erfürt was named. a number of old parchment-covered books are visible, and it is interesting to notice the titles of some of them, and the places where they lie. away on a shelf are the works of aristotle, a great philosopher of ancient heathen greece. on the floor beside the reading-table is a book by a man called thomas aquinas, a famous roman catholic teacher of the thirteenth century. and on the table is a book by augustine about the city of god. a rosary, that is, a string of black beads with a cross at the end, has been thrust between the leaves of this last book, as if to mark the page. we seem to see that luther has come from the heathen philosopher to the roman catholic doctor, and then to the earlier christian teacher, and last of all to the bible itself. for the bible is the only open book; and the pale, worn, young monk, who has been reading it all night, is still bending over it in the early morning, with a wonderful earnestness in his look. the sunrise outside is an emblem of the light that is beginning to dawn upon his soul. now what can this picture teach you? two things, i think, at least. i the first is _to prize the bible and study it earnestly_. you can understand what a surprising and precious discovery the bible was to luther, how glad he was to read it, how he _rejoiced_ in god's word _as one that findeth great spoil_. and one of the first things he did when he had an opportunity was to translate the bible into the common speech of the german people, that every one might be able to have it, and that no one might grow to manhood or womanhood without having seen it or read it. bibles are common and cheap in these days, but i am afraid that there are still some people who are as old as luther in our picture, and yet do not know very much about the truths which the scriptures contain. be sure that you do not despise the bible because it is so familiar. it is still the best of all books. try to take as much interest in it as if it were a book you had never seen before, and you will always find something new and fresh in it to reward you. ii the second is _to discover in the bible god's message of love and peace to your own heart_. luther's case shows that you cannot win god's forgiveness by punishing yourself, by fasting, and scourging, and sleeplessness, and things like these, while you can get forgiveness for nothing just by taking it from god. jesus christ has won it for you. he has loved you and given himself for you. you simply need to believe that god pardons you and saves you freely for jesus christ's sake. this was what luther found in his bible. it is the best thing you can find in yours. and when you do find it i am sure that you also will _rejoice as one that findeth great spoil_. hercules wrestling with death for the body of alcestis by the late lord leighton, p.r.a. [illustration: hercules wrestling with death for the body of alcestis. by permission of the fine art society, new bond street, london, the owners of the copyright] hercules wrestling with death for the body of alcestis _that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death_.--heb. ii. (revised version). we come now to a picture which represents a scene in one of the most beautiful stories of ancient greece. there was a king of thessaly called admetus, with whom the god apollo served for a time as herdsman. apollo had offended zeus, the father of the gods, by killing the forgers of the thunderbolts with which zeus had slain apollo's son asclepius-- "and so, for punishment, must needs go slave, god as he was, with a mere mortal lord." he found admetus to be a kind master, and when his term of service was over he showed his gratitude by obtaining from the fates a promise that, whenever admetus should be about to die, his life would be spared, if only some one of his friends should be found willing to die instead of him. the promise was very soon put to the test. admetus was struck down with a deadly disease. his father pheres and his mother were each asked if they would die for their son, but though they were old, and had not many years of life to hope for at the best, neither of them was willing to make the sacrifice. when they refused, alcestis, the wife of admetus, offered herself to death in the flower of her youth and beauty. she was taken, and her husband was spared. hercules was the greatest hero of the greeks--their strong man, like samson in the bible. and when alcestis died hercules came to the rescue. he wrestled with death, overcame him, and gave alcestis back to her husband again. this beautiful tale was taken by the greek poet euripides as the subject of one of his plays, the _alcestis_, which some of you may read when you are older. the story is also found in english in browning's _balaustion's adventure_, which is just a translation and explanation of the poem of euripides. the fight of hercules with death for the body of alcestis has been painted as well as sung. lord leighton's large and masterly picture brings the whole scene before us. in the centre you see the body of alcestis, which has been brought out of doors, and laid on a bier under the shadow of some ancient trees. beyond it, in the background, is the dark blue sea, flecked with white spots of foam. the dead body is covered with pure white drapery. the beautiful face is pale as marble, and the brow is crowned with a garland of myrtle leaves. roses are strewn on the white coverlet, and on the ground. beside the bier are the offerings of food and drink which the greeks used to burn along with their dead on the funeral pyre. in the left hand corner lies a shovel for digging the grave that is to receive the ashes. several men and women are gathered round the bier, mostly in a group near the head of alcestis. they are her friends, and the servants attending her dead body. at the right hand side of the picture we see a terrible conflict going on. death has come in bodily form to meet the funeral procession, and to take alcestis away. his limbs are of a ghastly ashen colour. his wings are black as night. he is wrapped in a dark mantle, which hides almost the whole of his face, and shows only the fearful gleam of his eyes. but hercules is also there, strong and ruddy, and wearing the skin of a lion which he has slain in one of his adventures. he has grasped death by both wrists, and is forcing him downwards and backwards over his knee. he is plainly overcoming his adversary. one of the women present is swooning away in fear. some of the others are hiding their faces from the dreadful struggle. the rest are gazing on it with awestruck looks, hardly daring to hope that hercules will be victorious. browning's poem, which was published in the same year[ ] in which lord leighton's painting appeared, contains at the end a description of the picture, which you will be glad to read here. "there lies alkestis dead, beneath the sun, she longed to look her last upon, beside the sea, which somehow tempts the life in us to come trip over its white waste of waves, and try escape from earth, and fleet as free. behind the body, i suppose there bends old pheres in his hoary impotence; and women-wailers in a corner crouch * * * * * close, each to other, agonising all, as fastened, in fear's rhythmic sympathy, to two contending opposite. there strains the might o' the hero 'gainst his more than match, --death, dreadful not in thew and bone, but like the envenomed substance that exudes some dew whereby the merely honest flesh and blood will fester up and run to ruin straight, ere they can close with, clasp and overcome the poisonous impalpability that simulates a form beneath the flow of those grey garments." now, of course, the story of admetus and alcestis is a fable, but for all that it is not worthless as some fables are. though the god apollo never existed, and never lived among men as a servant, yet the old tale reminds us of him who was truly the son of god; who came to this world and lived a human life like our own--a life of lowly service; who did this not because of any crime he had committed, since he was perfectly holy; and not because any one forced him to do it, but of his own free and loving choice. and further, the story shows us how sorrow and death came to these old greeks, and awakened in their hearts great dreams and longings. these desires seemed vain enough then, because there was no one who could fulfil them. but they were the very desires which jesus christ came to fulfil in due time. the greeks thought of a love which was strong enough to make one lay down one's life for a friend, and they put that idea into the sacrifice of alcestis. they thought, too, of a power which was strong enough to conquer death, and to bring lost ones back to life, and they put that idea into the victory of hercules. in jesus christ you actually find both such a love and such a power. he laid down his life for his friends--yes, and for his enemies. he loved us, and gave himself for us. and, though he died, yet he conquered death. he rose again in victory and glory. he gives eternal life to all his disciples. he has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light. must not this picture, and this old-world story, make us think reverently and lovingly of him, and of the verse which tells how he came _that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death_? [ ] . orpheus and eurydice by g. f. watts, r.a. [illustration: orpheus and eurydice by permission from a photograph by mr. frederick hollyer] orpheus and eurydice _he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more_.--job vii. . our last picture showed us a struggle in which death was conquered. this one illustrates another old greek story--the story of a fight with death that failed. it is by mr. g. f. watts, one of the most famous of living painters, and it is called "orpheus and eurydice." according to the old fable orpheus was a great musician, so skilful that he could tame wild beasts, and even make the trees and rocks move by the sweet melodies which he played. eurydice was his wife, and one day she trod on a snake, which bit her, so that she died, and went down into the world of ghosts. orpheus loved her so much that he followed her into that gloomy place, taking his lyre with him. he played such entrancing music that all the ghosts were spellbound. even persephone, the stern queen of the dead, was so touched that she gave him leave to take eurydice back with him to the land of the living. but she warned him that he must not look back till they were both safely out in the upper world. orpheus was glad beyond measure, and meant to obey the warning. but he was so anxious about eurydice, that just before they had passed the gate of the under world he looked round, to make sure that she was near him. in an instant she was whirled away back, to dwell for ever among the dead. orpheus came forth alone, twice bereaved, and more than doubly sad. mr. watts has painted several pictures of orpheus and eurydice. some of them show the figures at full length, but the one in our illustration is less complete. still it contains the principal points that are to be seen in the other companion paintings. the scene is the gloomy gateway of the world of the dead. it is all rough and rocky and dark. through its opening you catch a glimpse of the bright upper world, and of the blue sky with its white clouds. orpheus stands in the shadow. his body has the glow of life and health. he wears his minstrel's garland on his brow. but his face is full of anguish. for he has looked backwards, and he sees that eurydice, who is close behind him, is a pale corpse again. her arms, that have just been stretched out to clasp his neck, have lost their power and are falling down lifelessly. her head is drooping upon her shoulder. her eyes are closed, and her fair face is turned towards the under world. one of the pictures shows a lily which has dropped from her hand, and lies trailing and broken among the stones at her feet. her long golden hair is blowing backwards into the dark. the right arm of orpheus is stretched out in a vain attempt to grasp her, and to hold her back from being carried away by the resistless power that draws her. his left hand holds his lyre, and all its strings save one are broken. his eye is fixed on eurydice's face in a gaze of hopeless pain. the picture is terrible rather than beautiful to look upon. it tells us how, in the sad, dark heathen world, before christ came, men thought that though love might sometimes seem stronger than death, death was really stronger than love. now the story of orpheus has an interest for us in more ways than one. the early christians liked to think of the resemblance between orpheus and christ. they saw in the minstrel, who tamed the wild beasts with his music, a type of the gracious and gentle saviour who came to subdue the evil passions of men's hearts, and to change confusion and strife into harmony and peace. in the pictures which they have left in the roman catacombs christ is very frequently represented under the figure of the fabled musician. he appears as a young man sitting beneath a tree, wearing a country cloak and cap, and with a harp on his knee. the lion, the wolf, the leopard, the horse, the sheep, the serpent, and the tortoise are gathered round him, and peacocks and other birds are perched upon the branches of the tree. but our picture leads us rather to think of the difference between orpheus and christ. christ's love, unlike the love of orpheus, is stronger than death. it brought back to life the little daughter of jairus, who had died just before he came to her father's house. it brought back the widow's son at nain, when his body was being carried to the grave. it brought back lazarus of bethany, after he had been dead four days. the love of christ took him into the world of the dead himself, that he might return as a conqueror. it sets free all his disciples from the power of death. it brings them all back, not to this world of sin and sorrow, where they would have to die again, but into the better world of heaven, where they have everlasting life and gladness. what the old heathen greeks dreamed of hopelessly has come to pass. what orpheus could not do for eurydice because of his weakness and forgetfulness, jesus christ in his strength and wisdom can do for you and me. he will do it if we trust him. his disciples need never be troubled by the old despairing thought, _he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more_. the last sleep of argyll by the late e. m. ward, r.a. [illustration: the last sleep of argyll. by permission of messrs. thomas agnew & sons.] the last sleep of argyll _thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee_.--isa. xxvi. . this is a painting which takes us back, not to any legend of pagan times, nor to any bible story, nor to any incident of the reformation in other lands, but to a scene in the history of our own country, and it is well worthy of its place among the other historical pictures in the commons' corridor of the houses of parliament. the nobleman who is the subject of the picture is not the great and famous marquis of argyll, but his son, the ninth earl of argyll. the marquis was put to death in the year , as one of the first victims of the cruel government of king charles ii. after the restoration. he was the man who had placed the crown on the head of charles at scone, when the scottish people were loyal to him, though the english would not own him as their king. when charles came to the throne of both countries, after ten years of exile, he showed his gratitude to his faithful servant by sending him to the scaffold. the first words of the marquis, after he received the sentence of death, were, _i had the honour to set the crown upon the king's head, and now he hastens me to a better crown than his own_. and when he was leaving the prison to go to the place of execution, he said to his friends, i could die like a roman, but choose rather to die as a christian. the earl, his son, who appears in our picture, was executed in , the first year of charles' successor, james ii. it was the same year in which john brown, the carrier of priesthill, was shot by claverhouse in front of his own house, and before his wife's eyes; the year also in which margaret maclachlan and margaret wilson--the latter a maiden of eighteen--were tied to stakes fixed in the sand, and drowned for christ's sake in the solway tide. the earl of argyll was a man who worthily followed the noble example of his father. he was condemned to death on a charge of treason, because he would not swear a certain oath called the _test_. this oath was directed against the scottish covenanters, and all the king's officers and servants were required to take it. argyll did not approve of all that was in the oath, and said that he could only swear it in so far as it agreed with the bible and with itself. for this he was tried, and sentenced to die, a few years before the end of the reign of charles ii. but he escaped from prison, and fled to holland, where he remained for a time in safety. when james ii. came to the throne on the death of charles, the earl took part in a rebellion against him, and came back to scotland at the head of an army. the rebellion failed, and argyll was taken prisoner at inchinnan, near renfrew. he was brought to edinburgh, and though he might have been tried for his rebellion, he was just treated as a man already sentenced to death. on the morning of his execution, he said, _i have more joy and comfort this day than the day after i escaped out of the castle_. he then wrote some letters, and took his dinner as cheerfully as usual. after dinner, as his custom was, he lay down to rest for a little, and slept for a quarter of an hour as sweetly and pleasantly as he had ever done. while he was asleep, an officer of state, who had been one of his chief enemies, came to the castle to see him, with a message from the council. he was told that argyll was asleep, and was not to be disturbed. when he refused to believe this the gaoler softly opened the door and allowed him to look into the cell. as soon as he saw the earl sleeping he turned without a word, and ran out of the castle into a friend's house near by. he was so agitated that the lady of the house thought he was ill and offered him wine. but he declined it, with these words, _i have been in at argyll, and saw him sleeping as pleasantly as ever a man did, within an hour of eternity: but as for me_--and then he could say no more. argyll's place of imprisonment may still be seen in edinburgh castle. in mr. ward's picture his bed-chamber is before you. its thick walls, its bare floor, and its heavy vaulted roof are all of stone. through an open door you look into another room where you see the table at which he has just dined. it is covered with a white cloth, on which are the remains of the dinner, and you notice that the wine-glass that stands beside the flagon has not been emptied. in the nearer room the earl is lying on the prison bed in his ordinary clothes. he wears a suit of black velvet, with a collar of lace at the neck, and full cuffs of white linen at the wrists. his boots have not been removed, and he is stretched out only as comfortably as his fetters will allow. his head rests on a great white pillow, and his brown hair falls smoothly from beneath his black velvet cap. a newly written letter has fallen from his hand to the floor. you can read the signature, _argyll_, and the date, _ _. on a chair at the head of the bed there is a large bible, and beside it lies an old-fashioned watch, with its hand moving slowly round to the hour of execution. the light from a little window falls on the sleeping prisoner's face, which is fresh coloured and full of peace, with no trace of paleness or fear. near the foot of the bed the thick outer door, studded with iron, and with a heavy lock, and many bolts, stands open. in the background there is a rough gaoler, holding the door by the key in the lock, while the rest of the bunch of prison keys hangs from his hand. in front of him is the officer of state, fashionably dressed in a rich red cloak, with a tasselled waist-band. his cuffs are of fine lace, he wears a jewelled ring, and his long hair curls down upon his shoulders. he has let his hat fall to the floor in his astonishment, and is staring at the sleeping earl with remorse and confusion in his face. such a picture suggests many thoughts. it reminds us of the cruel sufferings our forefathers had to endure for conscience' sake, and of the great debt we owe to those who were ready to lay down their lives in the cause of truth and freedom. it shows also what a terrible thing it is to have a guilty conscience, as the officer who visited argyll plainly had. it teaches that a bad man's life of remorse and shame is a thing far more miserable, and far more to be feared, than a good man's undeserved death. above all, it tells us that the secret of courage and calmness, both for living and for dying, is faith in god our father, and in the lord jesus christ our saviour. it proves how true are the words, _thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee_. wishart dispensing the sacrament before his martyrdom by w. q. orchardson, r.a. [illustration: wishart dispensing the sacrament before his martyrdom. from a photograph by j. & r. annan, glasgow, by permission of mr. j. c. buist.] wishart dispensing the sacrament before his martyrdom _with desire i have desired to eat this passover with you before i suffer_.--luke xxii. . here we have a picture which represents a communion service, yet a service which is different in some ways from those which you have been accustomed to see. the company is a small one, for there are only about a dozen people present. they are met, not in a church, but in a rather bare and plainly furnished room. in the centre of the picture there is a table covered with a white cloth, on which is set a salver with some bread and three wine cups upon it. behind the table a man is standing and speaking, with his hands stretched out over the bread and the wine before him. he is tall and bearded, and wears a simple dress of dark colour. his face is pale, and his whole look is full of an earnest gladness. beside him sits a richly dressed lady, with a countenance of rare beauty and goodness. her eyes are fixed on the speaker, and she is drinking in eagerly every word that he utters. beyond her, at one end of the table, sits a gentleman with a refined and thoughtful face. he also is leaning forward and listening with the deepest interest. opposite him, at the other end of the table, an old man is sitting very erect, with one hand resting on a staff, and the other grasping the arm of his chair. he too is gazing steadfastly at the man who speaks. beside the old man is a woman, and on her knee is a little child who is playing with one of the pieces of bread on the table. at the side of the table next us there is a chair with a soldier's round shield set against it and a sword lying upon it. a sweet-faced little girl is leaning over the chair and clasping her arms round the hilt of the sword. she is another eager listener, and she seems to understand all that is being said. behind her stands the man to whom the sword and the shield belong. beyond them is another man whose head is bowed down upon the back of the gentleman's chair, and who appears to be hiding his face in sorrow. at the further side of the table are two or three men. above them a curtain hangs from the roof. the only other bit of ornament in the room is a tall vase which stands on the floor in front of the table. behind the speaker there is an open doorway, guarded by a soldier with a steel cap on his head. you will ask when and where this communion service took place, and who the people in the picture are. well, the time is the year --nearly years ago. the place is the castle of saint andrews. the speaker is george wishart, one of the early martyrs of the scottish reformation. the scene took place on the morning of the day--the th of march--when he was burned to death at the stake in front of the castle. the gentleman at the end of the table is the governor of the castle. the beautiful lady is his wife. the little girl and the baby boy are their children. the others present are their guests, or their servants, or friends of the prisoner. and the soldier at the door is there to see that the condemned man does not escape. let me tell you a little more about george wishart, and about what took place that march morning. wishart was a learned scottish gentleman, who had come to believe in the gospel as luther and the other reformers preached it. he had been banished from his native land by the bishops for teaching the greek new testament at montrose. after spending some years at the university of cambridge in england he had returned to scotland in , and had preached the reformed doctrines with great earnestness and success in montrose, dundee, ayrshire, and haddington. in the last-named place he had among his followers john knox, who was then a young man, and who afterwards became the great leader of the scottish reformation. before going to haddington he had paid a second visit to dundee, where the plague was raging at the time, and had ministered with great fearlessness and tenderness to those who were suffering from this dreadful disease. there is still standing in dundee one of the old city gates--the cowgate port, where wishart preached to the healthy on one side, and to the plague-stricken on the other. when in dundee at this time, he narrowly escaped being murdered by the enemies of the truth; and after he left haddington he fell into the hands of cardinal beaton, who was the leader of the roman catholic party in scotland. he was taken to saint andrews, tried for heresy, sentenced to death, and condemned to be executed the next day. after spending the night in prayer, he was visited next morning by a good man called john winram, who was then the sub-prior of the abbey of saint andrews, and who afterwards joined the reformed church. winram had a long talk with him in his prison cell, and asked him if he was willing to receive the sacrament of the lord's supper. wishart answered, _most willingly, so i may have it ministered according to christ's institution, under both heads, of bread and wine_. winram then went to cardinal beaton and the other bishops, and asked that this might be granted to the prisoner. but they refused, answering that it was not reasonable to grant any spiritual benefit to an obstinate heretic, condemned by the church. after wishart heard this he was invited to breakfast by the governor of the castle, and he accepted readily, saying, _i perceive, you to be a good christian, and a man fearing god_. when they were at breakfast, wishart said to his host, _i beseech you in the name of god, and for the love you bear to our saviour jesus christ, to be silent a little while, till i have made a short exhortation, and blessed this bread which we are to eat, so that i may bid you farewell_. then he spoke to the company for about half an hour on the institution of the lord's supper, and the death of christ, and exhorted them to love one another and to live holy lives. afterwards he blessed and broke the bread, and gave a portion to every one present. and in the same way, after tasting the wine, he passed the cup round them all, bidding them to remember with thankfulness the death of the lord jesus christ. _as to myself_, he said, _there is a more bitter portion prepared for me, only because i have preached the true doctrine of christ, which bringeth salvation. but pray you the lord with me that i may take it patiently, as out of his hand_. then he concluded with another thanksgiving, and went back to his own chamber to wait for the hour of his martyrdom, which came very soon. the stake at which he was to be burned was fixed in the ground in front of the castle, and the cardinal and his friends sat on cushions at the windows, to enjoy the sight of his martyrdom. wishart was led to the place with his hands bound behind his back, a rope round his neck, and an iron chain about his waist. he knelt down and prayed thrice, _oh, thou saviour of the world, have mercy on me! father of heaven, i commend my spirit into thy holy hands_. the executioner knelt down before him and asked his forgiveness for what he was about to do. wishart said, _come hither_; and then kissed his cheek, with the words, _lo, here is a token that i forgive thee. my heart, do thine office_. when the flames leaped up around him, he cried to the governor of the castle, _this fire torments my body, but no way abates my spirit_. last of all he warned the cardinal that his own doom was near at hand, and then he was strangled by the rope being pulled tightly about his neck, and his body was burned to ashes. now, if we come back to the picture of wishart's last communion, we shall find in it many deep and beautiful lessons, which even boys and girls can understand and learn. you see that in the days of the reformation there were good men and women, like john winram, and the governor of the castle, and his wife, who sympathised with the reformers, even though at first they did not come out boldly on their side. and there are still people, in the most unlikely places, who really love truth and goodness, and show their secret feeling at times in unexpected and surprising ways. you see that we do not need bishops and priests to give us the lord's supper, but that this sacrament can be enjoyed in the simplest way wherever two or three followers of the lord jesus are gathered together in his name. george wishart's last communion was strangely like the first communion of all, which jesus observed at jerusalem with his disciples. wishart, like his master, was about to die for the truth. he desired to hold this farewell feast with his friends. and in doing so he made use just of the food and drink of an ordinary meal. and you see, lastly, that the communion in the picture was like our own communions in this, that children were present, looking on, and listening, and understanding something of what was said and done. i am sure the governor's little girl would never forget that communion, nor the good man who took such a touching farewell of his friends in the name of the lord jesus. i think that surely she would always remember not only george wishart, but george wishart's master and lord, of whom he spoke so earnestly, and for whom he was so willing to die. and i hope that you boys and girls who look on at the communion services in your own church, and see the disciples of jesus christ eating the bread and drinking the wine in remembrance of him, will understand something of what all this means, and will learn to love him and serve him and remember him yourselves, and all your lives long. the rider on the white horse by g. f. watts, r.a. [illustration: the rider on the white horse. by permission, from a photograph by mr. frederick hollyer.] the rider on the white horse _and i saw, and behold, a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer_.--rev. vi. . the book of revelation is full of word-pictures of the wonderful things which its writer saw in vision. and it is natural that great artists should try to turn some of these word-pictures into real pictures for the eye. mr. watts has done this for the first part of the sixth chapter, which tells us about the four different horses, white, red, black, and pale, and about their four riders. he has made these horses and riders the subjects of four different paintings, and it is the first of them--the rider on the white horse--which is before us now. as we look at the picture we are helped to imagine what the vision was like, and helped perhaps also to understand the truth it was meant to teach. the horse and the rider are, of course, the principal figures. the horse is a splendid milk-white charger. its breast is broad and powerful. its neck is arched proudly. it has a small but graceful head, beautiful eyes, widely opened nostrils, and a mouth that seems to be impatiently champing the bit. the front portion of its mane is parted on its brow and streams back round the ears on either side. the rest of the mane is erect on its neck. the rider is a towering and terrible figure. he wears a loose flowing cloak which swells around and behind him in the wind. his left arm, strong and bare, is firmly stretched out, and his left hand holds a thick bow in its iron grasp. his right arm is out of sight, and only the right hand is seen, drawing back the bowstring to his breast. at his left side there hangs a quiver, full of arrows with feathered shafts. on his head he wears a stately winged helmet, and above it a crown. his face wears a look of commanding strength, and in the eyes beneath the shadow of the helmet there is an awful gleam of fixed and pitiless resolve. these two principal figures are closely surrounded by others. three of these on the left of the horse first attract our attention. the foremost, a dusky form, with head bent forward, and breast and shoulders bare, leads the horse with his right hand by the bridle rein. behind him, the fair face of a woman appears, framed in the folds of the mantle that is gathered closely around her neck; and behind this still another face is seen in the background. these three are all marching alongside of the horse and his rider. just in front of the figure who leads the horse there is a figure lying backwards with closed eyes, as if in death; and on the further side of the horse two other lifeless faces come into view. in the lower left hand corner of the picture, just in front of the horse we see the bowed head and stooping shoulders of one more dark form. all these figures, the dead as well as the living, have bright stars on their foreheads, though the star on the brow of the one furthest back is partly hidden by the bow. the rider and his companions move forward under a gloomy sky, with angry streaks of light showing here and there between the clouds. a wind seems to be blowing in their faces. and high up behind them great eagles, with spreading wings, are hovering in the air. now, what shall we say is the meaning of the bible vision which this picture brings afresh before our eyes? the four horses with their riders represent four kinds of judgment which god sends at times upon the world. they are conquest, slaughter, famine, and death. the rider on the white horse stands for the first of these. the picture shows us the way in which strong nations and their rulers subdue the world, and build up great empires by force. the rider's stately figure, and resolute face, and stern, unpitying eyes remind us of famous conquerors like alexander the great and napoleon. the bow and quiver make it clear that it is by the weapons of war that their successes have been won. the proud war-horse, forcing its way among the thronging forms around it, suggests the resistless power with which conquest goes on its triumphant way. the crown on the rider's head is an emblem of the glory and dominion which conquerors win. in the other figures with the starry brows we may see the different nations, or the kings and queens, who have been touched and influenced by the spirit of war for empire's sake. the leader of the horse, and the other two forms behind him, may represent nations that are marching along on the path of conquest. the prostrate, lifeless figures may be nations that have perished in the strife. and the bowed head in front of the horse's breast may stand for one of the nations that are subdued, and brought under the power of those that are stronger than themselves. the dark, angry sky makes us feel that the conqueror's progress is full of dread; and the eagles give us a hint of the horrors that he leaves behind him, of the dead bodies that lie in the track of the white horse and his terrible rider, of the other three riders, more terrible still, who follow in his train. as we look at this picture we learn that war and conquest have two sides. at first sight we are attracted by the power and majesty of the horse and his rider, and we cannot help admiring them. there is something grand and noble in the might of a great nation, in the strong will and fearless courage of a great conqueror. we are stirred and thrilled when we see the march of great armies, and hear the tidings of great victories. there is a feeling of pride in belonging to a great empire which has proved itself able to subdue the world. it seems a glorious thing to lead, or even to take part, in such a conquest. but the more closely we look at the picture, the more we feel that it is not altogether a pleasant and satisfying sight. the kind of conquest which the rider on the white horse represents is, after all, not a blessing, but a judgment which god sends on the world. it is the victory of strength over weakness. if it brings glory to some nations, it brings destruction to others, and humiliation to others still. it means the loss of countless lives, and the wrecking of numberless homes. it is followed by unspeakable sufferings and bitter sorrows. it knows nothing of pity or mercy. its garlands of triumph are stained with blood and tears. and so we gladly turn away from this picture to think of another conqueror of whom the bible tells us, and who is described in these words: _behold, thy king cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass.... and the battle-bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the nations: and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth_.[ ] this conquering king is the lord jesus christ. he took these words of the prophet to himself when he rode into jerusalem to die. his conquest is of a far nobler kind than that of war and force. it is the victory of right over wrong. its motive is not ambition, but love. he is not stern and pitiless, but tender and gracious. he rides in majesty _because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness_.[ ] he is the prince of peace. his triumphs bring no sorrow or hurt or death in their train. he blesses those whom he overcomes. his empire is the only one that we can be truly proud to belong to, the only one that will conquer the whole world and last for ever. jesus shall reign where'er the sun does his successive journeys run; his kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more. blessings abound where'er he reigns: the prisoner leaps to lose his chains; the weary find eternal rest; and all the sons of want are blest. [ ] zech. ix. , . [ ] ps. xlv. . the man with the muck-rake by the late sir j. noËl paton, r.s.a. [illustration: the man with the muck-rake. by permission of mr. haydon hare.] the man with the muck-rake _set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth_.--col. iii. . in the second part of the _pilgrim's progress_, bunyan tells us how christiana and her children came to the interpreter's house, and were taken by the master of it into one of his significant rooms. in one of these there was _a man that could look no way but downwards, with a muck-rake in his hand; there stood also one over his head, with a celestial crown in his hand, and proffered him that crown for his muck-rake; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and dust of the floor_. the late sir noël paton has taken this as the subject of one of his most famous pictures. the canvas is a large one, and the figures in it are of life-size. that of the man with the muck-rake himself first arrests your eye, and chiefly draws your attention. he is an old man with a grey beard. his face is a handsome one, and you see that he has gifts and powers which might have made him wise and venerable in his old age, if only he had made a good use of them. but instead of the noble gravity which you might expect to find on such a face, there is nothing but an eager gleam and a senseless smile of perfectly childish and foolish delight. he wears on his head an old broad-rimmed hat, adorned with a gold chain and a peacock's feather. at his belt he has several bags full of gold, and also a dagger with which he is ready to defend his possessions. one of the bags has burst, and the coins are dropping on the ground. on his back he carries a wallet, crammed with old law-papers and straw. he kneels on one knee, and his whole body is bent downward. with his left hand he grasps the handle of a rake which has three long prongs. he is using the rake to draw towards him a lot of varied stuff that is littered about in front of him--more straw and papers, a broken necklace of beads, and a heart-shaped brooch, besides coins and feathers, and other such things. a large black beetle creeps near his feet. a little further in front of him more rubbish lies in a heap--a book of fashions, a fan, still more straw, some artificial roses and withered leaves, an old lamp, a skull, and a king's crown, all battered and bent and blood-stained. there is a toad crouching under the fan. among the other things a snake is crawling, and blowing out of its mouth beautifully coloured bubbles, airy and unsubstantial. you can see one of them breaking as it touches a stone. it is on these bubbles that the eager, delighted gaze of the old man is fixed, and to grasp them he is stretching out his thin and trembling right hand. his left ankle is bound by a strong fetter of gold. when you have looked at the picture for a little while, you see that he is in a prison cell. a faint light glimmers through a grated window at the back, where steps come down into the cell by the side of a pillar. beside the old man a lantern stands on the ground. its glass sides are shaped like church windows, but the flame of the candle inside is guttering and going out. the straw on the floor is bursting into red flames and wreaths of smoke, and the whole pile of rubbish is on the point of being burned up. behind the man with the muck-rake is another figure, tall and straight, yet bending down in pity. it is the figure of christ. he stands motionless, with a look of sorrowful patience on his face. one of his hands is laid on the old man's shoulder, and with the other he holds up a bright crown. it is a crown of thorns, the same which he wore himself, but on the thorns are seven bright stars. they turn it into a crown of glory, and shed a radiance over all the picture. you can see that the saviour's hands have been pierced, and that the thorns have left bleeding marks upon his brow. away in the dim background, hovering on many-tinted pinions, and with hands clasped in prayer, is an angel--the guardian angel of the old man's soul. this angel has a face of unspeakable sadness, and eyes in which you can almost see the trembling of big tears, ready to fall. these are some of the things that the genius and the exquisite skill of the painter have put into the picture for our eyes to see. what did he mean our minds and hearts to understand by them all? perhaps i may begin to answer that question by reminding you of what john banyan meant by the man in his story. _then said christiana_ (to the interpreter), _i persuade myself that i know somewhat the meaning of this; for this is a figure of a man of this world: is it not, good sir?_ _thou hast said the right, said he; and his muck-rake doth show his carnal mind. and whereas thou seest him rather give heed to rake up straws and sticks, and the dust of the floor, than to do what he says that calls to him from above, with the celestial crown in his hand, it is to show that heaven is but as a fable to some, and that things here are counted the only things substantial. now, whereas it was also shewed thee that the man could look no way but downwards, it is to let thee know, that earthly things, when they are with power upon men's minds, quite carry their hearts away from god._ _then said christiana, o deliver me from this muck-rake!_ i think i am not wrong in saying that the story and the picture set before us two kinds of life--a poor and worthless one which many people choose, and a high and glorious one from which many people turn away. i the man with the muck-rake represents _the worldly life_--the life of selfishness, of grasping and striving after the good things of this earth alone. this is a childish kind of life for any one to spend. a look at the old man's face shows us that. god has given us natures that we can put to the noblest uses; but if we prize and pursue nothing save the pleasures and the riches of this world, we shall carry into our old age the foolishness and senselessness of the youngest children. such a life, besides, is a life of bondage and care. we make the world into a prison, and we fetter ourselves with chains, when we make its good things our chief aim and reward. the battered and blood-stained crown shows that the highest earthly ambitions have their pains and miseries even when they are most successful. then this kind of life does not satisfy, and does not last. the varied rubbish shows that this world's possessions are not worth much after all. the bursting bubbles show that their attraction is hollow and delusive. the coins escaping from the bags show that we cannot keep our riches for ever, no matter how hard we try. the rising flames remind us that nothing on the earth will endure. lastly, a worldly life is an unworthy life. the toad and beetle and snake show that there are often vile things hidden among the treasures of earth. the bent, crouching form of the old man shows how selfishness and greed degrade and bow down our nature. the expiring flame of the lantern warns us that worldly grasping puts out the light of love and goodness in the soul. ii the shining crown which christ holds out calls us to _the unworldly life_. this is a life of love, of giving, of sacrifice like his own. such a life is the only one that is truly happy, though it may not seem so pleasant as the other. it is far more blessed to give than to receive. it is the only life that is truly noble. there never was such a grand life as the life of the lord jesus on earth, and the more our life is like his, the nearer will it come to its highest and best. it is the life, too, that leads to the richest reward. the thorns are turned into stars. the emblem of pain and sacrifice is changed into a crown of light and glory. but it is the life of likeness to christ. it is a share of his own crown and of his own glory that he offers to us, and we cannot get these except by being like him. we can only win them by following him. he has suffered for us, and given himself for us. we need to learn of him, and to be filled with his spirit of self-forgetting, self-denying, self-sacrificing love. some of you may be old enough to feel that your life has already been too much like that of the man with the muck-rake. it has been too selfish and too worldly: it has been a life beneath you; a life of chains and bondage; a life perhaps touched with vileness; a life spent in pursuit of worthless trifles; a life degrading and darkened and foolish and vain. well, this patient saviour stands beside you. he bends over you in pity. he touches you with his pierced hand. he asks you to yield to his love, and to be loving like him. he offers you the crown of glory, instead of the rubbish that you have coveted so long. if you will look up to him, and meet his look, and take his gift, and follow him, you will find true light, true freedom, true riches, true nobility. his suffering will be rewarded. his patience will be satisfied. there will be joy in the presence of the angels of god. _sovereign grace_ its source, its nature and its effects by d. l. moody _"by grace are ye saved."--ephesians ii. _ with three gospel dialogues chicago new york toronto fleming h. revell company london and edinburgh _copyrighted by fleming h. revell company._ prefatory note. in the exercise of his high calling, the faithful ambassador of christ must not scruple to declare the whole counsel of god--"rightly dividing the word of truth," to all classes of hearers. he must warn the openly wicked man that if he persists in his evil courses, the just judgments of god will inevitably overtake him; he must unmask the hypocrite; he must utter no uncertain protest against the crooked and devious ways of the self-seeker and the time-server. but if he enters into the spirit of his master, no part of his public work will be more congenial or delightful than the proclamation of the full, free, and sovereign grace of god, manifested towards sinful men in the gift of his eternal son, to be the saviour of the world. it has been my happy privilege in years past to tell out, as best i could, this wonderful story of redeeming grace. the following pages record the addresses i have given on the various aspects of this great subject. i pray god that in their printed form they may serve to deepen in the mind of the reader the appreciation of this grace, at once so infinite and so undeserved. the chapter entitled "a chime of gospel bells," though not strictly flowing out of the general subject, is in perfect harmony with it; every note in the chime is intended to ring out the gracious invitation to "come" to the god of all grace and be blessed. the dialogues which form the latter part of the book were heard with much interest and profit at some of the london meetings; i think the perusal of them will be helpful in removing many of the hindrances that prevent anxious inquirers from accepting without delay the salvation that god in his grace has provided for the sinful children of men. contents. the fountain of grace saved by grace alone possessing, and "working out" grace abounding to the chief of sinners law and grace grace for living grace for service "a chime of gospel bells" gospel dialogues: i. what it is to be a child of god ii. how to become a christian iii. what it is to be converted "grace! 'tis a charming sound, harmonious to the ear; heaven with the echo shall resound, and all the earth shall hear. 'twas grace that wrote my name in life's eternal book; 'twas grace that gave me to the lamb, who all my sorrows took. grace taught my wandering feet to tread the heavenly road; and new supplies each hour i meet, while pressing on to god. oh let that grace inspire my soul with strength divine. may all my prayers to thee aspire, and all my days be thine." _dr. doddridge._ sovereign grace chapter i. the fountain of grace. there are some words with which we have been familiar from our infancy up, and probably there are few words in the english language that are so often used as this word "grace." many of you at your table "say grace" three times a day. you seldom go into a church without hearing the word mentioned. you seldom read any part of the new testament, especially the epistles, without meeting the word. there is probably not a word in the language so little understood. there are a great many who have received the grace of god into their heart, but who, if they should be asked what the word means would be troubled, and confused, and unable to tell. i experienced the grace of god a good many years before i really knew the true meaning of the word. now, grace means unmerited mercy--undeserved favor. if men were to wake up to the fact, they would not be talking about their own worthiness when we ask them to come to christ. when the truth dawns upon them that christ came to save the unworthy, then they will accept salvation. peter calls god "the god of all grace." men talk about grace, but, as a rule, they know very little about it. let a business man go to one of your bankers to borrow a few hundred dollars for sixty or ninety days; if he is well able to pay, the banker will perhaps lend him the money if he can get another responsible man to sign the note with him. they give what they call three days' grace after the sixty or ninety days have expired; but they will make the borrower pay interest on the money during these three days, and if he does not return principal and interest at the appointed time, they will sell his goods; they will perhaps turn him out of his house, and take the last piece of furniture in his possession. that is not grace at all; but that fairly illustrates man's idea of it. grace not only frees you from payment of the interest, but of the principal also. its source. in the gospel by john we read, "the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the father, full of grace and truth . . . for the law was given by moses, but grace and truth came by jesus christ." now you know that for many years men were constantly trying to find the source of the nile. the river of grace has been flowing through this dark earth for six thousand years, and we certainly ought to be more anxious to find out its source than to discover the source of the nile. i think if you will read your bible carefully you will find that this wonderful river of grace comes right from the very heart of god. i remember being in texas a few years ago, in a place where the country was very dry and parched. in that dry country there is a beautiful river that springs right out of the ground. it flows along; and on both sides of the river you find life and vegetation. grace flows like that river; and you can trace its source right up to the very heart of god. you may say that its highest manifestation was seen when god gave the son of his bosom to save this lost world. "not as the offense, so also is the free gift. for if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of god, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, jesus christ, hath abounded unto many." a free gift. notice, it is the free gift of god. "grace be unto you, and peace, from god our father, and from the lord jesus christ. i thank my god always on your behalf, for the grace of god which is given you by jesus christ." paul wrote fourteen epistles; and every one of them is closed with a prayer for grace. paul calls it "the free gift of god." thousands have been kept out of the kingdom of god because they do not realize what this free gift is. they think they must do something to merit salvation. the first promise given to fallen man was a promise of grace. god never promised adam anything when he put him in eden. god never entered into a covenant with him as he did with abraham. god told him "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die;" but when this came to pass then god came and gave him a gracious promise. he dealt in grace with him. as he left the garden of eden he could say to eve, "well, god does love us, though he has driven us out." there was no sign that adam recognized his lost condition. as far as we know there was no cry for mercy or pardon, no confession of sin. yet we find that god dealt in grace with him. god sought adam out that he might bestow his grace upon him. he met adam in his lost and ruined condition, and the first thing he did was to proclaim the promise of a coming saviour. for six thousand years, god has been trying to teach the world this great and glorious truth--that he wants to deal with man in love and in grace. it runs right through the bible; all along you find this stream of grace flowing. the very last promise in the closing chapter of revelation, like the first promise in eden, is a promise of grace: "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." so the whole revelation, and the whole history of man is encircled with grace, the free favor of god. some years ago when i was speaking on this subject, a friend sent me the following: "by the grace of god i am what i am!" this is the believer's eternal confession. grace found him a rebel--it leaves him a son. grace found him wandering at the gates of hell--it leads him through the gates of heaven. grace devised the scheme of redemption: justice never would; reason never could. and it is grace which carries out that scheme. no sinner would ever have sought his god but 'by grace.' the thickets of eden would have proved adam's grave, had not grace called him out. saul would have lived and died the haughty self-righteous persecutor had not grace laid him low. the thief would have continued breathing out his blasphemies, had not grace arrested his tongue and tuned it for glory. "'out of the knottiest timber,' says rutherford, 'he can make vessels of mercy for service in the high palace of glory.'" "'i came, i saw, i conquered,' says toplady, 'may be inscribed by the saviour on every monument of grace.' 'i came to the sinner; i looked upon him; and with a look of omnipotent love, i conquered.'" my friend, we would have been this day wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness--christless--hopeless --portionless--had not grace invited us, and grace constrained us. restraining grace. it is grace which, at this moment, keeps us. we have often been a peter--forsaking our lord, but brought back to him again. why not a demas or a judas? 'i have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.' is not this our own comment and reflection on life's retrospect? 'yet not i, but the grace of god which was with me.' oh, let us seek to realize our continual dependence on this grace every moment! 'more grace! more grace!' should be our continual cry. but the infinite supply is commensurate with the infinite need. the treasury of grace, though always emptying is always full: the key of prayer which opens it is always at hand: and the almighty almoner of the blessings of grace is always waiting to the gracious. the recorded promise never can be canceled or reversed--'my grace is sufficient for thee.' let us seek to dwell much on this inexhaustible theme. the grace of god is the source of minor temporal as well as of higher spiritual blessings. it accounts for the crumb of daily bread as well as for the crown of eternal glory. but even in regard to earthly mercies, never forget the channel of grace through christ jesus. it is sweet thus to connect every (even the smallest and humblest) token of providential bounty with calvary's cross--to have the common blessings of life stamped with the print of the nails; it makes them doubly precious to think this flows from jesus. let others be contented with the uncovenanted mercies of god. be it ours to say as the children of grace and heirs of glory--'our father which art in heaven, give us this day our daily bread.' nay, reposing in the all-sufficiency in all things, promised by 'the god of all grace.' chapter ii. saved by grace alone. i want to call your special attention to the fact that we are saved by grace alone, not by works _and_ grace. a great many people think that they can be saved by works. others think that salvation may be attained by works and grace together. they need to have their eyes opened to see that the gift of god is free and apart from works. "for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of god. not of works, lest any man should boast." many people would put it thus: "for by your works are ye saved,--or by your tears, or your prayers, or your fastings, or your trials, or your good resolutions, or your money!" but paul tells us plainly that it is "not of works, lest any man should boast." if we could be saved by works, then of course christ's mission to this world was a mistake. there was no need for him to come. what had paul ever done that could merit salvation? up to the time that christ called him he had done everything he could against christ and against christianity. he was in the very act of going to damascus to cast into prison every christian he could find. if he had not been stopped, many of them would probably have been put to death. it was paul, you remember, who cheered on the mob that stoned stephen. yet we find that when christ met him he dealt in grace with him. no apostle says so much against salvation by works _before_ the cross, as paul; and none says so much about works _after_ the cross. he put works in their right place. i have very little sympathy with any man who has been redeemed by the precious blood of the son of god, and who has not got the spirit of work. if we are children of god we ought not to have a lazy drop of blood in our veins. if a man tells me that he has been saved, and does not desire to work for the honor of god, i doubt his salvation. laziness belongs to the old creation, not to the new. in all my experience i never knew a lazy man to be converted--never. i have more hope of the salvation of drunkards, and thieves, and harlots, than of a lazy man. what the thirty-nine articles say. i find some people have accused me of teaching heresy, because i say salvation is all of grace. i remember once, a clergyman said i was teaching false doctrine because i said salvation was all of grace. he said that works had as much to do with our salvation as grace. at that time i had never read the thirty-nine articles; if i had i should have been ready to meet him. i got the prayer book, and looked through the thirty-nine articles; and i found, to my amazement, that they put it a good deal stronger than i had done. let us hear what they say-- "xi. _of the justification of man._ we are accounted righteous before god, only for the merit of our lord and saviour jesus christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings: wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort." "xii. _of good works._ albeit that good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of god's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to god in christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit." "xiii. _of works before justification._ works done before the grace of christ, and the inspiration of his spirit, are not pleasant to god; forasmuch as they spring not of faith in jesus christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the school-authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as god hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin." that is stronger than i ever put it. these articles say of works before justification that "they have the nature of sin." i never called them sin! so you see this is not any new doctrine that we are preaching. when the church and the world wake up to the fact that works before salvation go for nought, _then_--and not till then, i believe--men will come flocking into the kingdom of god by hundreds. we work from the cross, not to it. we work because we are saved, not in order to be saved. we work from salvation, not up to it. salvation is the gift of god. you have heard the prayer book: now hear paul; "abraham believed god; and it was counted unto him for righteousness. now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." notice what the apostle says: "to him that worketh not." that is plain language, is it not? i may perhaps startle some of you by saying that many of you have been kept out of the kingdom of god by your good works. nevertheless it is true. if you put works in the place of faith, they become a snare to you. it is "to him that worketh not, but believeth." i freely admit salvation is worth working for; it is worth a man's going round the world on his hands and knees, climbing its mountains, crossing its valleys, swimming its rivers, going through all manner of hardship in order to attain it. but we do not get it in that way. paul went through all the trials and hardships he had to endure, because by the grace of god resting on him he was enabled to do so. penance for sin. would you insult the almighty by offering him the fruits of this frail body to atone for sin? supposing your queen were to send me a magnificent present, and i said to the royal messenger: "i certainly should not like to accept this from her majesty without giving her something in return." suppose i should send her a penny! how would the queen feel, if i were to insult her in that way? and what have we that we can offer to god in return for his free gift of salvation? less than nothing. we must come and take salvation in god's way. there is no merit in taking a gift. if a beggar comes to my house, and asks for bread to eat, and i give him a loaf of bread, there is no merit in his taking the bread. so if you experience the favor of god, you have to take it as a beggar. some one has said: "if you come to god as a prince, you go away as a beggar: if you come as a beggar, you go away as a prince." it is to the needy that god opens the wardrobe of heaven, and brings out the robe of righteousness. paul says again: "if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. but if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." paul is reasoning in this way: that if i work for a gift or attempt to give money for it, it ceases to be a gift. the only way to get a gift is to take it as a gift. an old man got up in one of our meetings and said, "i have been forty-two years learning three things." i pricked up my ears at that; i thought that if i could find out in about three minutes what a man had taken forty-two years to learn, i should like to do it. the first thing he said he had learned was that he could do nothing towards his own salvation. "well," said i to myself, "that is worth learning." the second thing he had found out was that god did not require him to do anything. well, that was worth finding out too. and the third thing was that the lord jesus christ had done it all, that salvation was finished, and that all he had to do was to _take_ it. dear friends, let us learn this lesson; let us give up our struggling and striving, and accept salvation at once. a free pardon. i was preaching in the southern states a few years ago; and the minister called my attention to one of the elders in his church. he said: when the civil war broke out, that man was in one of the far southern states, and he enlisted into the southern army. he was selected by the southern general as a spy, and sent to spy out the northern army. as you know, armies have no mercy on spies, if they can catch them. this man was caught. he was tried by court-martial, and ordered to be shot. while he was in the guard-room, previous to the time of execution, the northern soldiers used to bring him his rations. every time they came to his cell he would call abraham lincoln by every vile epithet he could think of. it seemed as though he "lay awake nights" trying to study such names. at last the soldiers got so angry that they said they would be glad when the bullet went through his heart. some of them even said they would like to put a bullet through him; and if they were not obliged by military order to feed him, they would let him starve in the prison. they thought that was what he deserved for talking so unjustly of lincoln. one day while he was in the prison, waiting to be led out to execution, a northern officer came to the cell. the prisoner, full of rage, thought his time was come to be shot. the officer opened the prison door, and handed him a free pardon from abraham lincoln! he told him he was at liberty; he could go to his wife and children! the man who had before been so full of bitterness, and malice, and rage, suddenly quieted down, and said, "what! has abraham lincoln pardoned me? for what? i never said a good word about him." the officer said, "if you had what you deserved you would be shot. but some one interceded for you at washington and obtained your pardon; you are now at liberty." the minister, as he told me, said that this act of undeserved kindness quite broke the man's heart and led to his conversion. said the minister, "you let any man speak one word against abraham lincoln now in the hearing of that man, and see what will happen. there is not a man in all the republic of america, i believe, who has a kinder feeling towards our late president than he." now that is grace. the man did not _deserve_ a pardon. but this is exactly what grace is: _undeserved mercy_. you may have been a rebel against god up to this very hour; but if you acknowledge your rebellion, and are willing to take the mercy that god offers, you can have it freely. it is there for every soul on the face of the earth. "the grace of god that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared." thank god for that! salvation by grace is for all men. if we are lost, it will not be because god has not provided a saviour, but because we spurn the gift of god--because we dash the cup of salvation from us. what says christ? you remember that when he was on earth, they came to him and asked what they should do to work the works of god. he had been telling them to labor not for the bread that perisheth, but for the meat that endureth unto everlasting life. then they asked him, "what shall we do that we may work the works of god?" what did jesus tell them to do? did he tell them to go and feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction? perhaps you may say that, according to scripture, is "pure and undefiled religion." granted; but something comes before that. that is all right and necessary in its place. but when these men wanted to know what they had to do to inherit eternal life, jesus said: "this is the work of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." you can believe. a friend lately called my attention to the fact that god has put the offer of salvation in such a way that the whole world can lay hold of it. all men can believe. a lame man might not perhaps be able to visit the sick; but he can believe. a blind man by reason of his infirmity cannot do many things; but he can believe. a deaf man can believe. a dying man can believe. god has put salvation so simply that the young and the old, the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, can all believe if they will. do you think that christ would have come down from heaven, would have gone to gethsemane and to golgotha, would have suffered as he did, if man could have worked his way up to heaven?--if he could have merited salvation by his own efforts? i think if you give five minutes' consideration to this question you will see, that if man could have saved himself christ need not have suffered at all. remember, too, what christ says: "he that climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." he has marked out the way to god. he has opened up a new and shining way, and he wants us to take _his_ way. certainly the attempt to work our way up to heaven is "climbing up some other way," is it not? if ever a man did succeed in working his way into heaven we should never hear the last of it! i have got so terribly sick of these so-called "self-made men." there are some men whom you cannot approach without hearing them blow their trumpet, saying, "i am a self-made man. i came here a poor man ten years ago; and now i am rich." it is all i--i--i! they go on boasting, and telling what wonderful beings they are! there is one thing that is excluded from the kingdom of heaven; and that is--boasting. if you and i ever get there it will be by the sovereign grace of god. there will be no credit due to ourselves. "saved by grace alone! this is all my plea: jesus died for all mankind, and jesus died for me." chapter iii. possessing, and "working out." i can imagine some one asking: what does that passage mean--"work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?" well, i want you to emphasize the word _your:_ "work out _your_ salvation." that is most important. you hear people talk of working out salvation, when all the time they have not got it. how can you work out what you do not possess? paul is here writing to the christians at philippi. they were already saved by the grace of god. now that they had got this wonderful gift, he says: "go, work it out." when you see a person working for salvation, you may know that he has got a false idea of the teaching of the scripture. we have salvation as a gift; and of course we cannot get it by working for it. it is our appreciation of this gift that makes us work. many people are working and working, as rowland hill says, like children on a rocking horse--it is a beautiful motion, but there is no progress. those who are working for salvation are like men on a treadmill, going round, and round, and round; toiling, and toiling, and toiling; but nothing comes of it all. there is no progress, and there cannot be until you have the motive power within, till the breath of life comes from god, which can alone give you power to work for others. suppose i say to my son: "you are going away from home; and i want you to be very careful how you spend that $ ." "well," he says, "if you will give me $ , i will be careful about it; but how can i be careful in spending what i have not got?" and so, unless you have salvation, you cannot work it out. take another illustration. one summer my boy asked me to give him a piece of ground that he might have a garden all to himself. i said i would give it to him; but that i expected he would keep it clear of weeds, and use it in some way that would make it pleasant and profitable to him. he was to work out the piece of land; but he could not do that until i had given it to him. neither was it his working it out that secured him the garden. i gave it to him freely, apart from any merit of his own; but i did so on the understanding that he should employ it to the best advantage. i think that is a fair illustration of our working out the salvation that god has given us. of course these illustrations fail in some points. i could not impart to my son the willingness to work out the piece of land, though i could provide him with all the necessary implements. god not only gives us salvation freely, but he gives us the power to work it out. a writer says on this point: "paul does not command the philippians _to save themselves_. there was no thought in his mind of any meritorious self-righteousness. man can by no work of his own either procure salvation or merit salvation. god worketh the salvation _within_ the soul--man only worketh that salvation _out_ in the christian life. to break off from known sin; to renounce all self-righteousness; to cast ourselves in loving faith on the merits of christ crucified; to commence at once a life of self-denial, of prayer, of obedience; to turn from all that god forbids, resolutely and earnestly, unto all that god requires--this is what the text implies. but then this is not salvation. salvation is of god--of grace--of free grace. from the germ to the fruit, from foundation to top-stone--it is of grace, free grace, altogether and only. but the '_working out of salvation_'--is _man's part_ in the work of salvation. god will not repent for the man; nor believe for the man; nor lead a holy life for the man. god worketh inwardly--man worketh outwardly. and this outward human work is as necessary as the inward divine work." god works in us; and then we work _for_ him. if he has done a work in us, we certainly ought to go and work for others. a man must have this salvation, and must know it, before he can work for the salvation of others. many of you have tried hard to save yourselves; but what has been the end of it all? i remember a lady in the north of england who became quite angry when i made this remark publicly: "no one in this congregation will be saved till they stop trying to save themselves." down she came from the gallery, and said to me: "you have made me perfectly miserable." "indeed," i said, "how is that?" "why, i always thought that if i kept on trying, god would save me at some time; and now you tell me to stop trying: what, then, am i to do?" "why, let the lord save you." she went off in something like a rage. it is not always a bad sign when you see a man or a woman wake up cross, if it is the word of god that wakes them up. a day or two afterwards she came and thanked me. she said she had been turning over in her mind what i had said; and at last the truth dawned upon her, that though she had worked long, though she had formed a good many resolutions, she had made no progress. so she gave up the struggle; and then it was that the lord jesus saved her. i want to ask you this question: if sin needs forgiveness--and all sin is against god--how can you work out your own forgiveness? if i stole $ from a friend, i could not forgive myself, could i? no act of mine would bring about forgiveness, unless my friend forgave me. and so, if i want forgiveness of sin, it must be the work of god. if we look at salvation as a new life, it must be the work of god. god is the author of life: you cannot give yourself life. if we consider it as a gift, it must come from some one outside of ourselves. that is what i read in the bible--salvation as a gift. while i am speaking, you can make up your mind that you will stop trying, and take this gift. i wish i could get this whole audience to drop the word _try_, and put the word _trust_ in its place. the forgiving grace of god is wonderful. he will save you this very minute, if you are willing to be saved. he delights in mercy. he wants to show that mercy to every soul. the religion of christ is not man working his way up to god; it is god coming down to man. it is christ coming down to the pit of sin and woe where we are, bringing us out of the pit, putting our feet upon a rock, and a new song in our mouth. he will do it this minute, while i am speaking, if you will let him. will you let him? that is the question. i do not believe much in dreams; but they sometimes illustrate a point. i heard about a woman who had been trying for a long time, just like many of you, to be better and better. she tried to save herself, but made no progress. one night she fell asleep in a very troubled state of mind, and she had a dream. she thought that she was in a pit striving to get out--climbing and slipping, climbing and slipping, climbing and slipping; at last she gave up the struggle, and laid herself down at the bottom of the pit to die. she happened to look up, and she saw through the mouth of the pit a beautiful star. she fixed her eye on it; and it seemed as if the star lifted her up till she was almost out. but the thought of herself came to her mind; she looked off at the sides of the pit: immediately she lost sight of the star, and down to the bottom of the pit she went. again she fixed her eye on the star; and again it seemed to lift her almost out. but once again she took her eye off the star, and looked at herself; down into the pit she fell again! the third time she fixed her eye on the star and was lifted higher and higher, until all at once her feet struck the ground above, and she awoke from her sleep. god taught her a lesson by the dream. she learned that if ever she was to be saved, she must give up the struggle, and let jesus christ save her. my friends, give up the struggle today! you have tried long and hard. it has been a hard battle, has it not? give it up; and repose in the arms of jesus christ. say "lord, i come to thee as a poor sinner; wilt thou not save me and help me?" "the gift of god is eternal life." it is offered to all: who will have it? i see some children here: let me tell you a story. if you have not heard it before, please do not forget it. a sunday school teacher wished to show his class how free the gift of god is. he took a silver watch from his pocket one day, and offered it to the eldest boy in the class. "it is yours, if you will take it." the little fellow sat and grinned at the teacher. he thought he was joking. the teacher offered it to the next boy, and said: "take that watch: it is yours." the little fellow thought he would be laughed at if he held out his hand, and therefore he sat still. in the same way the teacher went nearly round the class: but not one of them would accept the proffered gift. at length he came to the smallest boy. when the watch was offered to the little fellow, he took it and put it into his pocket. all the class laughed at him. "i am thankful, my boy," said the teacher, "that you believe my word. the watch is yours. take good care of it. wind it up every night." the rest of the class looked on in amazement; and one of them said: "teacher, you don't mean that the watch is his? you don't mean that he hasn't to give it back to you?" "no," said the teacher, "he hasn't to give it back to me. it is his own now." "oh--h--h! if i had only known that, wouldn't i have taken it!" i see you laugh; but my friends you are laughing at yourselves. you need not go far away to find these boys. salvation is freely offered to all, but the trouble is that men do not believe god's word, and do not accept the gift. who will accept it now? i found a few lines the other day on this point that i thought very good. i will close with them: "i would not work my soul to save, for that my lord hath done; but i would work like any slave, for love of god's dear son." chapter iv. grace abounding to the chief of sinners. i want to lay emphasis on the fact that god desires to show mercy to all. christ's last command to his disciples was, "go ye into _all_ the world and preach the gospel to _every_ creature." there may be some hearing me who have not received this grace, though it has often been pressed on their acceptance. one reason why many do not become partakers of this grace is that they think they can do better without it. the jews said they were the seed of abraham. they had moses and the law: therefore they had no need of the pardoning grace of god that christ had come to bring. we read in the book of revelation of a church that said it was "rich, and increased in goods, and had need of nothing." that was the trouble when christ was down here. instead of coming to him to be blessed, the people too often went away thinking and saying they had no need of his favor and blessing. the two prayers. in the gospel by luke christ brings two men before us. i do not know that we can get any two cases in scripture that will give us more light on this subject than those of the pharisee and the publican, who went into the temple to pray. one went away as empty as he came. he was like the church described in revelation, to which i have referred. he went into the temple desiring nothing; and he got nothing. the other man asked for something; he asked for pardon and mercy. and he went down to his house justified. take the prayer of the pharisee. there is no confession in it, no adoration, no contrition, no petition. as i have said, he asked for nothing and he got nothing. some one has said that he went into the temple not to pray but to boast. the sun and the moon were as far apart as these two men. one was altogether of a different spirit to the other. the one prayed with his head, and the other with his heart. the one told god what a wonderfully great and good man he was: "i am not as other men or even as this publican." his prayer was not a long one; it consisted of thirty-four words; yet there were five capital "i's" in it. it was self in the beginning, self in the middle, self in the end--self all through. "'i fast twice a week;' 'i give tithes of all i possess;' i am a wonderfully good man, am i not, lord?" he struck a balance twice a week, and god was his debtor every time. he paraded his good deeds before god and man. such a one was not in a condition to receive the favor of god. you can divide the human family to-day into two classes--pharisees and publicans. there are those who are poor in spirit: the dew of god's grace will fall upon them. there are others who are drawing around them the rags of their self-righteousness: they will always go away without the blessing of god. there were but seven words in the prayer of the publican: "god be merciful to me a sinner!" he came to god confessing his sins, and asking for mercy; and he received it. if you were to run through scripture, you would find that where men have gone to god in the spirit of the publican, he has dealt with them in mercy and grace. a young man came to one of our meetings in new york a few years ago. he was convicted of sin; and he made up his mind he would go home and pray. he lived a number of miles away, and he started for home. on the way, as he was meditating about his sins and wondering what he was going to do when he got home, the thought occurred to him: "why should i not pray right here in the street?" but he found he did not know just how to begin. then he remembered that when he was a child, his mother had taught him this prayer of the publican: "god be merciful to me a sinner!" so he began just where he stood. he said afterwards, that before he got to the little word "me," god met him in grace, and blessed him. and so the moment we open our lips to ask god for pardon, if the request comes from the heart, god will meet us in mercy. let our cry be that of the publican: "be merciful _to me!_"--not to some one else. a mother was telling me some time ago that she had trouble with one of her sons, because he had not treated his brother rightly. she sent him upstairs; and after awhile she asked him what he had been doing. he replied that he had been _praying for his brother!_ although he had been the naughty one, he was acting as if the fault lay with his brother instead of himself. so many of us can see the failings of others readily enough but when we get a good look at ourselves, we will get down before god as the publican did and cry for mercy: and that cry will bring an immediate answer. god delights to deal in grace with the poor in spirit. he wants to see in us a broken and contrite heart. if we take the place of a sinner, confessing our sins and asking for mercy, the grace of god will meet us right then and there; and we shall have the assurance of his forgiveness. in matthew we see how god deals in grace with those who come in the right spirit. "then came she and worshipped him, saying, lord, help me!" but he answered and said, "it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." and she said, "truth, lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table." then jesus answered and said unto her, "o woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. and her daughter was made whole from that very hour." the disciples did not understand how full of grace was the heart of christ. this poor woman belonged to the far-off coasts of tyre and sidon. she was a poor gentile, and they wanted to send her away. they thought she was not one of the elect; she did not belong to the house of israel. so they said to the master, "send her away, for she crieth after us." can you conceive of the loving saviour sending away a poor troubled one who comes to him? i challenge you to find a single instance of his doing such a thing, from the beginning to the end of his ministry. send her away! i believe he would rather send an angel away than a poor suppliant for his mercy; he delighted to have such as she come to him. but he was going to test her, as well as to give an object-lesson to those who should come after. "it is not meet," he said, "to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." a humble spirit. i am afraid if some of us had been in her place we would have answered somewhat in this fashion: "you call me a gentile dog, do you? i would not take anything from you now if you were to give it to me. why, i know a jewish woman who lives in my town. though she is a daughter of abraham she is the meanest woman in the whole street. i would not let my dogs associate with her." if this poor woman had replied to the master in such a fashion, she would not have got anything. yet you will find a good many men who respond to the saviour in that way when he wants to deal in grace with them. what does this gentile woman say? "truth lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." she took her right place down at the feet of the blessed master. there was humility for you! she was willing to take any place if the lord would but meet her need; the lord blessed her. see asked for a crumb, and he gave her a whole loaf! i once heard rev. william arnot say that he was the guest of a friend who had a favorite dog. the animal would come into the room where the family were sitting at the dinner table and would stand looking at his master. if the master threw him a crumb, the dog would seize it before it got to the floor. but if he put the joint of meat down on the floor the dog would look at it and leave it alone, as if it were too good for him. "so," said mr. arnot, "there are many christians who are satisfied to live on crumbs, when god wants to give them the whole joint." a full blessing. this poor woman got all she wanted; and if we will come in the right spirit--if we are humble and poor in spirit--and call upon god for what we want, he will not disappoint us. she went right to the son of god, and appealed to his great loving heart with the cry, "lord help me!" and he helped her. let that cry go up to him today, and see how quickly the answer will come. i never knew a case where god did not answer right on the spot, where there was the spirit of meekness. if on the other hand we are conceited, and think we have a right to come, putting ourselves on an equality with god, we shall get nothing. "worthiness." in the gospel by luke we read of the centurion who had a sick servant. he felt as though he were not worthy to go himself and ask christ to come to his house; so he asked some of his friends to beseech the master to come and heal his servant. they went and delivered the centurion's message, saying, "he is worthy for whom thou shouldst do this: for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue." the jews could not understand grace; so they thought christ would grant the request of this man, because he was worthy. "why," they said, "he hath built us a synagogue!" it is the same old story that we hear to-day. let a man give a few thousand dollars to build a church and he must have the best pew; "he is worthy." perhaps he made his money by selling or making strong drink; but he has put the church under an obligation by this gift of money, and he is considered "worthy." the same spirit was at work in the days of christ. the master immediately started for the centurion's house; and it looked as though he were going because of his personal worthiness. but if he had done so, it would have upset the whole story as an illustration of grace. as the saviour was on the way, out came the roman officer himself and told jesus that he was not worthy to receive him under his roof. he had a very different opinion of himself to that of his jewish friends. suppose he had said, "lord, you will be my guest; come and heal my servant because i am worthy: i have built a synagogue." do you think christ would have gone? i do not think he would. but he said, "i am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof. neither thought i myself worthy to come unto thee; but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed." jesus marveled at the man's faith. it pleased him wonderfully to find such faith and humility. like the syro-phenician woman, he had low thoughts of himself, and high thoughts of god: therefore he was in a condition to receive the grace of god. his servant, we are told, was healed that very hour. his petition was granted at once. let us learn a lesson from this man, and take a humble position before god, crying to him for mercy; then help will come. great forgiveness. i never noticed till lately an interesting fact about the story of the poor sinful woman mentioned in luke's gospel, who went into simon's house. if you have not observed it before, it will be quite interesting for you to know it. the incident occurred immediately after christ had uttered those memorable words we read in matthew: "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and i will give you rest." matthew closes the narrative there; but in the seventh chapter of luke you will find what the result of that invitation was. a poor fallen woman came into the house where he was, and obtained the blessing of rest to her soul. i think that many ministers will bear me out in this statement, that when one has preached to a large congregation, and has given an invitation to those who would like to remain and talk about salvation, probably the only one to do so is a poor fallen one, who will thus become a partaker of the grace of god. we find that the saviour was invited to the house of simon, a pharisee. while he was there, this poor sinful woman crept into the house. perhaps she watched for a chance when the servants were away from the door, and then slipped into the room where the master was. she got down on her knees, and began to wash his feet with her tears, wiping them with the hairs of her head. while the feast was going on the pharisee saw this; and he said to himself: "jesus must be a bad man, if he knows who this poor woman is. even if he did not know, he would be unclean according to the mosaic law"--because he had allowed the woman to touch him. but the master knew what simon was thinking about. he put some questions to him: "and jesus answering said unto him, simon, i have somewhat to say unto thee. and he saith, master, say on. there was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? simon answered and said, i suppose that he to whom he forgave most. and he said unto him, thou hast rightly judged." then he makes the application, "i came to your house," he says, "and you gave me no water for my feet; you gave me no kiss; and no oil for my head. you refused me the common hospitalities of life." in those days when one went into a gentleman's house, a servant would be at the door with a basin of water; the guest would slip off his sandals, and the servant would wash his feet. then the master of the house would salute him with a kiss instead of shaking hands as we do. there would also be oil for his head. christ had been invited to simon's house; but the pharisee had got him there in a patronizing spirit. "you gave me no water, no kiss, no oil; but this woman hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head: she hath not ceased to kiss my feet, and she hath anointed them with ointment. she was forgiven much: and so she loves much." to the poor woman herself jesus said, "thy sins are forgiven." they may have risen up like a dark mountain before her; but one word from the saviour and they were all gone! the spirit shown by simon was altogether different from that of the poor woman. christ said that the publicans and harlots would go into the kingdom of god before the self-righteous pharisees! simon, the pharisee, got nothing; and so there are many who go away from religious meetings without one drop of heaven's dew, because they do not seek for it. from the morning of the creation down to the present time no man or woman ever went to god with a broken heart without experiencing the forgiving love and grace of god, if they believed his word. it was so with this poor woman. notice, the master did not extract any pledge or promise from her. he did not ask her to join some synagogue; all he said was, "thy sins are forgiven thee." she found grace. so it was with the syro-phenician woman. christ did not ask any pledge from her; he met her in grace, and blessed her according to her soul's desire. you know what touched the heart of the father of the prodigal; it was the broken and contrite spirit of his returning son. would not the same thing move the heart of any parent here? suppose you had a son who had gone astray: the boy comes home; and when you meet him he begins to confess his sin. would you not take him to your bosom and forgive him? nothing in the wide world would you more readily do than forgive him. so if we come to god with this contrite spirit, he will deal in grace with us and receive us freely, when saul left jerusalem, there was nothing he wished for less than to receive the grace of god. yet the moment he said, "lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" the forgiving grace of the master flowed out towards him. we are told by matthew and mark that the thief on the cross, who was converted, railed on the saviour at first like the other: but the moment his heart was broken down and he said, "lord, remember me!" that very moment christ heard and answered his prayer. god is waiting to cover all your sins today; he has a long and a strong arm that can reach down to the darkest, vilest, deepest depths of sin. he will lift you up on a rock, and put a new song into your mouth. will you let him do it? a man was telling me some time ago that he had prayed for over ten years that god would have mercy upon him. "has not god answered your prayer?" "no." "indeed! let me ask you one question: suppose i offered you that bible as a gift, and you were afterwards to come and ask me for it; what would i think of you?" "i do not know what you would think." "well, but what do you suppose i would think?" "you would perhaps think i had gone a little wrong in my head." "what is the use of your asking that god would deal in grace with you, if you are not willing to receive it; or if you do not believe that he gives it to you?" when i was on the pacific coast some years ago, i stayed with a friend who had a large garden, with a great many orange trees. he said to me: "make yourself perfectly at home; if you see anything you want just help yourself." when i wanted some oranges, i did not go into the garden and pray to the oranges to tumble into my mouth; i just put out my hand and took all i required. so it is with us. why should we go on asking and beseeching god to have mercy upon us, when he has already given his son, and given his holy spirit? what we need is to have a broken and a contrite heart, and to be willing to receive him. the trouble with us is that we have locked the doors of our hearts against him. there is a story that dr. arnot was accustomed to tell of a poor woman who was in great distress because she could not pay her landlord his rent. the doctor put some money in his pocket and went round to her house intending to help her. when he got there he knocked at the door. he thought he heard some movement inside; but no one came to open the door. he knocked louder and louder still; but yet no one came. finally he kicked at the door, causing some of neighbors to look out and see what was going on. but he could get no entrance; and at last he went away thinking his ears must have deceived him, and that there was really no one there. a day or two afterwards he met the woman in the street, and told her what had happened. she held up her hands and exclaimed, "was that you? i was in the house all the while; but i thought it was the landlord, and i had the door locked!" many people are keeping the door of their heart locked against the saviour in just the same way. they say "i am afraid i shall have to give up so much." that is something like a ragged beggar being unwilling to give up his rags, in order to get a new suit of good clothes. i pity those people who are all the time looking to see what they will have to give up. god wants to bestow his marvelous grace on his people; and there is not a soul who has believed on jesus, for whom god has not abundance of grace in store. what would you say of a man dying of thirst on the banks of a beautiful river, with the stream flowing past his feet? you would think he was mad! the river of god's grace flows on without ceasing; why should we not partake of it, and go on our way rejoicing? do you say you are sinners? it is just to such as you that god's grace is given. there was a sailor whose mother had long been praying for him. i do think mothers' prayers are sure to be answered some day. one night the memory of his mother came home to this man; he thought of the days of his childhood, and made up his mind he would try and lead a different life. when he got to new york he thought he would join the odd-fellows; he imagined that would be a good way to begin. what miserable mistakes men make when they get trying to save themselves! this man applied to a lodge of odd-fellows for admission; but the committee found that he was a drinking man, and so they black-balled him. then he thought he would try the freemasons; they discovered what sort of a man he was, and they black-balled him too. one day he was walking along fulton street, when he received an invitation to come to the daily prayer-meeting held there. he went in, and heard about the saviour; he received christ into his heart, and found the peace and power he wanted. some days after he stood up in the meeting and told the story how the odd-fellows had black-balled him; how the freemasons had black-balled him; and how he came to the lord jesus christ, who had not black-balled him, but took him right in. that is what christ will do to every poor penitent sinner. "this man receiveth sinners." come to him to-day, and he will receive you: his marvelous, sovereign grace will cover and put away all your sins. i am so glad that we have a saviour who can save unto the very uttermost. he can save the drunkard, the man who for years has been the slave of his passions. i was talking to a friend not long ago, who said that if a man had a father and a mother who were drunkards, he would inherit the taste for drink, and that there was not much chance of saving him. i want to say that there is a grand chance for such men, if they will call upon jesus christ to save them. he is able to destroy the very appetite for drink. he came to destroy the works of the devil; and if this appetite for gin and whiskey is not the work of the devil, i want to know what is. i do not know any more terrible agency that the devil has got than this intoxicating liquor. an englishman went out from england to chicago, and became one of the greatest drunkards in that city. his father and his mother were drunkards before him. he said that when he was four years old, his father took him into a public-house, and put the liquor to his lips. by and by he got a taste for it; and for several years he was a confirmed drunkard. he became what in america we call a "tramp." he slept out of doors. one night, on the shore of a lake, he awoke from his slumber, and began to call upon god to save him. there, at the midnight hour, this poor, wretched, forlorn object got victory over his sin. the last time i met him he had been nine-and-a-half years a sober man. from that memorable midnight hour, he said, he had never had any desire to touch or taste strong drink. god had kept him all those years. i am so thankful we have a gospel that we can carry into the home of the drunkard, and tell him that christ will save him. that is the very thing he came to do. bunyan represents the power of grace, as shown by its first offer to the jerusalem sinners, the murderers of christ, thus: "repent, every one of you: be baptized, every one of you, in his name, for the remission of sins; and you shall, every one of you, receive the holy ghost." "but i was one of those who plotted to take away his life. may i be saved by him?" "every one of you." "but i was one of those who bore false witness against him. is there grace for me?" "for every one of you." "but i was one of those who cried out, crucify him! crucify him! and who desired that barrabas, the murderer, might live, rather than he. what will become of me, think you?" "i am to preach repentance and remission of sins to every one of you." "but i was one of those who did spit in his face when he stood before his accusers; i also was one that mocked him when, in anguish, he hung bleeding on the tree. is there room for me?" "for every one of you." "but i was one of those who, in his extremity, said, give him gall and vinegar to drink! why may i not expect the same when pain and anguish are upon me?" "repent of these thy wickednesses; and here is remission of sins for every one of you." "but i railed on him; i reviled him; i hated him; i rejoiced to see him mocked at by others. can there be hope for me?" "there is; for every one of you." oh, what a blessed "every-one-of-you" is here! how willing was peter and the lord jesus by the ministry of peter--to catch these murderers with the word of the gospel, that they might be monuments of the grace of god! now it is a solemn fact that every one who receives the offer of the gospel can lock and bolt the door of his heart, and say to the lord jesus christ he refuses to let him in. but it is also a blessed truth that you can unlock that door and say to him, "welcome! thrice welcome, son of god, into this heart of mine!" the question is: will you let christ come in and save you? it is not a question of whether he is able. who will open their hearts, and let the saviour come in? "there's a stranger at the door: let him in! he has been there oft before: let him in! let him in, ere he is gone; let him in, the holy one, jesus christ, the father's son: let him in! open now to him your heart: let him in! if you wait he will depart: let him in! let him in, he is your friend; he your soul will sure defend; he will keep you to the end: let him in! hear you now his loving voice? let him in! now, oh now, make him your choice: let him in! he is standing at the door; joy to you he will restore, and his name you will adore: let him in! now admit the heavenly guest. let him in! he will make for you a feast: let him in! he will speak your sins forgiven, and when earth-ties all are riven, he will take you home to heaven, let him in!" _rev. j. b atchinson_ chapter v. law and grace. in his epistle to the romans, paul writes "for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by jesus christ our lord." moses was the representative of the law. you remember that he led the children of israel through the wilderness, and brought them to jordan; but there he left them. he could take them up to the river, which is a type of death and judgment; but joshua (which means jesus--saviour) led them right through death and judgment--through the jordan into the promised land. here we have the difference between law and grace; between the law and the gospel. take another illustration. john the baptist was the last prophet of the old dispensation--the last prophet under the law. you remember that before christ made his appearance at the jordan, the cry of john, day by day was, "repent: for the kingdom of god is at hand!" he thundered out the law. he took his hearers down to the jordan and baptized them. he put them in the place of death; and that was as far as he could take them. but there was one coming after him who could take them into the promised land. as joshua led the people through the jordan into canaan,--so christ went down into the jordan of death, through death and judgment, on to resurrection ground. if you run all through scripture you will find that the law brings to death. "sin reigned unto death." a friend was telling me lately that an acquaintance of his, a minister, was once called upon to officiate at a funeral, in the place of a chaplain of one of her majesty's prisons, who was absent. he noticed that only one solitary man followed the body of the criminal to the grave. when the grave had been covered, this man told the minister that he was an officer of the law whose duty it was to watch the body of the culprit until it was buried out of sight; that was "the end" of the british law. and that is what the law of god does to the sinner; it brings him right to death, and leaves him there. i pity deep down in my heart those who are trying to save themselves by the law. it never has; it never will; and it never can--save the soul. when people say they are going to try and do their best, and so save themselves by the law, i like to take them on their own ground. have they, ever done their very best? granting that there _might_ be a chance for them if they had, was there ever a time when they could not have done a little better? if a man wants to do his best, let him accept the grace of god; that is the best thing that any man or woman can possibly do. but you will ask, what is the law given for? it may sound rather strange, but it is given that it may stop every man's mouth. "we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before god. therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." the law shuts my mouth; grace opens it. the law locks up my heart; grace opens it--and then the fountain of love begins to flow out. when men get their eyes opened to see this glorious truth, they will cease their constant struggle. they will give up trying to work their way into the kingdom of god by the deeds of the law. they will give themselves up for lost, and take salvation as a free gift. life never came through the law. as some one has observed: when the law was given, three thousand men lost life; but when grace and truth came at pentecost, three thousand obtained life. under the law, if a man became a drunkard the magistrates would take him out and stone him to death. when the prodigal came home, grace met him and embraced him. law says, stone him!--grace says, embrace him! law says, smite him!--grace says, kiss him! law went after him, and bound him; grace said, loose him and let him go! law tells me how crooked i am; grace comes and makes me straight. i pity those who are always hanging around sinai, hoping to get life there. i have an old friend in chicago who is always lingering at sinai. he is a very good man; but i think he will have a different story to tell when he gets home to heaven. he thinks i preach free grace too much; and i must confess i do like to speak of the free grace of god. this friend of mine feels as though he has a kind of mission to follow me; and whenever he gets a chance he comes in with the thunders of sinai. i never yet met him but he was thundering away from horeb. the last time i was in chicago, i said to him, "are you still lingering around sinai?" "yes," said he, "i believe in the law." i have made inquiries, and i never heard of any one being converted under his preaching: the effects have always dwindled and died out. if the law is the door to heaven, there is no hope for any of us. a perfect god can only have a perfect standard. he that offends in one point is guilty of all: so "all have sinned and come short of the glory of god." paul says to the galatians: "is the law then against the promises of god? god forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. but the scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of jesus christ might be given to them that believe. but before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto christ, that we might be justified by faith. but after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. for ye are all the children of god by faith in jesus christ." the softening power of grace. so we see that the law cannot give life; all it can do is to bring us to him who is the life. the law is said to be "a schoolmaster." perhaps some of you do not know what a schoolmaster is. if you had been under the same schoolmaster as i was when a boy you would have known. he had a good cane and it was frequently in use. in the little country district where i went to school, there were two parties: for the sake of illustration we may call the one the "law" party and the other the "grace" party. the law party said that boys could not possibly be controlled without the cane: and they kept a schoolmaster there who acted on their plan. the struggle went on, and at last, on one election day, the law party was put out, and the grace party ruled in their stead. i happened to be at the school at that time; and i remember we said to each other that we were going to have a grand time that winter. there would be no more corporal punishment, and we were going to be ruled by love. i was one of the first to break the rules of the school. we had a lady teacher, and she asked me to stay behind. i thought the cane was coming out again; and i was going to protest against it. i was quite in a fighting mood. she took me alone. she sat down and began to talk to me kindly. i thought that was worse than the cane; i did not like it. i saw that she had not got any cane. she said: "i have made up my mind that if i cannot control the school by love, i will give it up. i will have no punishment; and if you love me, try and keep the rules of the school." i felt something right here in my throat. i was not one to shed many tears; but they would come--i could not keep them back. i said to her, "you will have no more trouble with me;" and she did not. i learned more that winter than in the other three put together. that was the difference between law and grace. christ says, "if you love me, keep my commandments." he takes us out from under the law, and puts us under grace. grace will break the hardest heart. it was the love of god that prompted him to send his only-begotten son into the world that he might save it. i suppose the thief had gone through his trial unsoftened. probably the law had hardened his heart. but on the cross no doubt that touching prayer of the saviour, "father, forgive them!" broke his heart, so that he cried, "lord, remember me!" he was brought to ask for mercy. i believe there is no man so far gone but the grace of god will melt his heart. it is told of isaac t. hopper, the quaker, that he once encountered a profane colored man, named cain, in philadelphia, and took him before a magistrate, who fined him for blasphemy. twenty years after, hopper met cain, whose appearance was much changed for the worse. this touched the friend's heart. he stepped up, spoke kindly, and shook hands with the forlorn being. "dost thou remember me," said the quaker, "how i had thee fined for swearing?" "yes, indeed, i do: i remember what i paid as well as if it was yesterday." "well, did it do thee any good?" "no, never a bit: it made me mad to have my money taken from me." hopper invited cain to reckon up the interest on the fine, and paid him principal and interest too. "i meant it for thy good, cain; and i am sorry i did thee any harm." cain's countenance changed; the tears rolled down his cheeks. he took the money with many thanks, became a quiet man, and was not heard to swear again. peace, grace and glory. so there is a great deal of difference between law and grace. "being justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of god." there are three precious things here: peace for the past; grace for the present; and glory for the future. there is no peace until we see the finished work of jesus christ--until we can look back and see the cross of christ between us and our sins. when we see that jesus was "the end of the law for righteousness;" that he "tasted death for every man;" that he "suffered the just for the unjust"--then comes peace. then there is "the grace wherein we now stand." there is plenty of grace for us as we need it day by day, and hour by hour. then there is glory for the time to come. a great many people seem to forget that the best is before us. dr. bonar says that everything before the true believer is "glorious." this thought took hold of my soul; and i began to look the matter up, and see what i could find in scripture that was glorious hereafter. i found that the kingdom we are going to inherit is glorious: our crown is to be a "crown of glory;" the city we are going to inhabit is the city of the glorified; the songs we are to sing are the songs of the glorified; we are to wear garments of "glory and beauty;" our society will be the society of the glorified; our rest is to be "glorious;" the country to which we are going is to be full of "the glory of god and of the lamb." there are many who are always looking on the backward path, and mourning over the troubles through which they have passed; they keep lugging up the cares and anxieties they have been called on to bear, and are forever looking at them. why should we go reeling and staggering under the burdens and cares of life when we have such prospects before us? if there is nothing but glory beyond, our faces ought to shine brightly all the time. if a skeptic were to come up here and watch the countenances of the audience he would find many of you looking as though there was anything but glory before you. many a time it seems to me as if i were at a funeral, people look so sad and downcast. they do not appear to know much of the joy of the lord. surely if we were looking right on to the glory that awaits us, our faces would be continually lit up with the light of the upper world. we can preach by our countenances if we will. the nearer we draw to that glory-land, where we shall be with christ--the more peace, and joy, and rest we ought to have. if we will but come to the throne of grace, we shall have strength to bear all our troubles and trials. if you were to take all the afflictions that flesh is heir to and put them right on any one of us, god has grace enough to carry us right through without faltering. some one has compiled the following, which beautifully describes the contrast between law and grace: the law was given by moses. grace and truth came by jesus christ. the law says--this do, and thou shalt live. grace says--live, and then thou shalt do. the law says--pay me that thou owest. grace says--i frankly forgive thee all. the law says--the wages of sin is death. grace says--the gift of god is eternal life. the law says--the soul that sinneth, it shall die. grace says--whosoever believeth in jesus, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall never die. the law pronounces--condemnation and death. grace proclaims--justification and life. the law says--make you a new heart and a new spirit. grace says--a new heart will i give you, and a new spirit will i put within you. the law says--cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. grace says--blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sin is covered; blessed is the man to whom the lord will not impute iniquity. the law says--thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. grace says--herein is love: not that we love god, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. the law speaks of what man must do for god. grace tells of what christ has done for man. the law addresses man as part of the old creation. grace makes a man a member of the new creation. the law bears on a nature prone to disobedience. grace creates a nature inclined to obedience. the law demands obedience by the terror of the lord. grace beseeches men by the mercies of god. the law demands holiness. grace gives holiness. the law says--condemn him. grace says--embrace him. the law speaks of priestly sacrifices offered year by year continually, which could never make the comers thereunto perfect. grace says--but this _man_, after he had offered _one_ sacrifice for sins forever . . . by one offering hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. the law declares--that as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law. grace brings eternal peace to the troubled soul of every child of god, and proclaims _god's_ salvation in defiance of the accusations of the adversary. "he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment (condemnation), but is passed from death unto life." "whence to me this tranquil spirit-- me all sinful as i am? is it thus descends the merit of the sin-atoning lamb? grace, all power to deliver, gift of a creative giver, like a full, refreshing river, ever flowing. over all my course of sinning spread its waters without bound, cleansing, fertilizing, winning for the lord the barren ground. lavish from the heavenly treasure, fountains of a father's pleasure, all the marks of human measure overflowing. not my virtue or repenting earned the precious boon for me. thine, my saviour, the relenting, thine the pangs which set me free-- gift of grace beyond all knowing, from the heart of jesus flowing, ever flowing, overflowing, flowing freely." chapter vi. grace for living. now we come to a very important part of our subject--grace for living. one of the saddest things in the present day is the fact that so many professed christians have no spiritual power. they bear no testimony for christ. there are so few who can go to the homes of the sick and read the bible to them, pray with them, and minister comfort to their souls. how few can go to the abode of the drunkard, and tell him of christ's power to save! how few there are who are wise in winning souls to christ! it is the low spiritual state of so many in the church of christ that is the trouble. we are not living up to our privileges. as you go through the streets of london you will see here and there the words, "limited company." there are many christians who practically limit the grace of god. it is like a river flowing by; and we can have all we need: but if we do not come and get a continual supply, we cannot give it out to others. mother! father! are you not longing to see your children won to christ? what is the trouble? is it the fault of the minister? i believe that though ministers were to preach like angels, if there is a low standard of christian life in the home, there will be little accomplished. what we want, more than anything else, is more grace in our lives, in our business affairs, in our homes, in our daily walk and conversation. i cannot but believe that the reason of the standard of christian life being so low, is that we are living on stale manna. you know what i mean by that. so many people are living on their past experience--thinking of the grand times they had twenty years ago, perhaps when they were converted. it is a sure sign that we are out of communion with god if we are talking more of the joy, and peace, and power, we had in the past, than of what we have to-day. we are told to "grow in grace;" but a great many are growing the wrong way. you remember the israelites used to gather the manna fresh every day: they were not allowed to store it up. there is a lesson here for us christians. if we would be strong and vigorous, we must go to god daily and get grace. a man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough to-day to last him for the next six months; or take sufficient air into his lungs at once to sustain life for a week to come. we must draw upon god's boundless stores of grace from day to day, as we need it. i knew a man who lived on the banks of lake erie. he had pipes laid to his house from the lake; and when he wanted water, all he had to do was to turn the tap and the water flowed in. if the government had presented him with the lake, he would not have known what to do with it. so we may say that if god were to give us grace enough for a lifetime, we should not know how to use it. he has given us the privilege of drawing on him day by day--not "forty days after sight." there is plenty of grace in the bank of heaven; we need not be afraid of its becoming exhausted. we are asked to come _boldly_ to the throne of grace--as sons to a father--that we may find grace. you have noticed that a son is very much more bold in his father's house than if he were simply a servant. a good many christians are like servants. if you go into a house, you can soon tell the difference between the family and the servants. a son comes home in the evening; he goes all over the house--perhaps talks about the letters that have come in, and wants to know all that has been going on in the family during his absence. it is very different with a servant, who perhaps does not leave the kitchen or the servants' hall all day except when duty requires it. suppose some one had paid a million dollars into the bank in your name, and had given you a check-book so that you could draw out just as you wanted: would you go to work and try to live on ten dollars a month? yet that is exactly what many of us are doing as christians. i believe this low standard of christian life in the church is doing more to manufacture infidels than all the skeptical books that were ever written. hear what the apostle says: "my god shall supply _all_ your need." look at these words carefully. it does not say he will supply all your _wants_. there are many things we want that god has not promised to give. it is "your _need_" and "_all_ your need." my children often want many things they do not get; but i supply all they need, if it is in my power to give it to them. i do not supply all their wants by any means. my boy would probably want to have me give him a horse; when i know that what he really needs, perhaps, is grace to control his temper. our children might want many things that it would be injurious for them to have. and so, though god may withhold from us many things that we desire, he will supply all our need. there can come upon us no trouble or trial in this life, but god has grace enough to carry us right through it, if we will only go to him and get it. but we must ask for it day by day. "as thy days, so shall thy strength be." i met a man once in scotland who taught me a lesson that i shall never forget. a christian friend wanted me to go and have a talk with him. he had been bedridden for many years. this afflicted saint comforted me and told me some wonderful things. he had fallen and broken his back when he was about fifteen years of age, and had lain there on his bed for some forty years. he could not be moved without a good deal of pain, and probably not a day has passed all those years without suffering. if any one had told him he was going to lie there and suffer for forty years, probably he would have said he could not do it. but day after day the grace of god has been granted to him; and i declare to you it seemed to me as if i were in the presence of one of god's most highly-favored children. it seemed that when i was in that man's chamber, i was about as near heaven as i could get on this earth. talk about a man's face shining with the glory of the upper world! i very seldom see a face that shines as did his. i can imagine that the very angels when they are passing over the city on some mission of mercy, come down into that man's chamber to get refreshed. there he has been lying all these years, not only without a murmur, but rejoicing all the while. i said to him: "my friend, does the devil never tempt you to doubt god, and to think he is a hard master?" "well now," he said, "that is just what he tries to do. sometimes, as i look out of the window and see people walking along in health, satan whispers: 'if god is so good, why does he keep you here all these weary years? why, if he loved you, instead of lying here and being dependent on others, you might now have been a rich man, and riding in your own carriage.'" "what do you do when the devil tempts you?" "oh, i just take him up to the cross; and he had such a fright there eighteen hundred years ago, that he cannot stand it; and he leaves me." i do not think that bedridden saint has much trouble with doubts; he is so full of grace. and so if we will only come boldly to god, we shall get all the help and strength we need. there is not a man or woman alive but may be kept from falling, if they will let god hold them up in his almighty arms. there is a story in the history of elisha the prophet that i am very fond of; most of you are familiar with it. sometimes we meet with people who hesitate to accept christ, because they are so afraid they will not hold out. you remember there was a young prophet who died and left a widow with two little boys. it has been said that misfortunes do not come singly, but in battalions. this woman had not only lost her husband, but a creditor was going to take her boys and sell them into slavery. that was a common thing in those days. the widow went and told elisha all about it. he asked her what she had in the house. nothing, she said, but a pot of oil. it was a very hard case. elisha told her to go home and borrow all the vessels she could. his command was: "borrow not a few." i like that. she took him at his word, and borrowed all the vessels her neighbors would lend to her. i can imagine i see the woman and her two sons going from house to house asking the loan of their vessels. no doubt there were a good many of the neighbors who were stretching their necks, and wondering what it all meant; just as we sometimes find people coming into the inquiry-room to see what is going on. if this woman had been like some modern skeptics, she would have thought it very absurd for the prophet to bid her do such a thing; she would have asked what good could come of it. but faith asks no questions: so she went and did what the man of god told her to do. i can see her going up one side of the street knocking at every door and asking for empty vessels. "how many do you want?" "all you can spare." there are the two sons carrying the great vessels; some of them perhaps nearly as large as the boys themselves. it was hard work. when they had finished one side of the street, they went down the other. "borrow not a few," she had been told; so she went on asking for as many as she could get. if there were as much gossip in those days as there is now, all the people in the street would have been talking about her. why, this woman and her boys have been carrying vessels into the house all day; what can be the matter? but now they have all the vessels the neighbors would lend. she locks the door; and she says to one of the boys, "james, you are the younger; bring me the empty vessels. john, you are the stronger; when, i have filled them you take them away." so she began to pour. perhaps the first vessel was twice as big as the one she poured from; but it was soon filled: and she kept on pouring into vessel after vessel. at last her son says, "mother, this is the last one;" and we are told that the oil was not stayed till the last vessel was full. dear friends, bring your empty vessels; and god will fill them. i venture to say that the eyes of those boys sparkled as they saw this beautiful oil, fresh from the hand of the creator. the woman went and told the man of god what had happened; he said to her, "go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt; and live thou and thy children off the rest." that is grace for the present, and for the future. "as thy days so shall thy strength be." you will have grace not only to cover all your sins, but to carry you right into glory. let the grace of god into your heart; and he will bring you safely through. let me close by quoting the words of an old prayer: "god give us grace to see our need of grace; give us grace to ask for grace; give us grace to receive grace; give us grace to use the grace we have received." "grace taught my soul to pray, and pardoning love to know; 'twas grace that kept me to this day, and will not let me go. grace all the work shall crown, through everlasting days; it lays in heaven the topmost stone, and well deserves the praise!" chapter vii. grace for service. "for the grace of god that bringeth salvation to all men hath appeared; teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great god and our saviour jesus christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." in this wonderful passage we see grace in a threefold aspect: grace that bringeth salvation; grace for holy living; and grace for service. i have had three red-letter days in my experience: the first was, when i was converted; the next was when i got my lips opened, and i began to confess christ; the third was, when i began to work for the salvation of others. i think there are a great many who have got to the first stage; some have got to the second; very few have got to the third. this is the reason, i believe, why the world is not reached. many say they are anxious to "grow in grace." i do not think they ever will, until they go out into the harvest field and begin to work for others. we are not going to have the grace we need to qualify us for work until we launch out into the deep, and begin to use the abilities and the opportunities we already possess. many fold their arms, and wait for the grace of god to come to them; but we do not get it in that way. when we "go forward," then it is that god meets us with his grace. if moses had stayed in horeb until he got the grace he needed, he never would have started for egypt at all. but when he had set out, god met him in the way and blessed him day by day as he needed. many grow discouraged because there is a little opposition; but if we are going to work for god we must expect opposition. no real work was ever done for god without opposition. if you think that you are going to have the approval of a godless world, and of cold christians, as you launch out into the deep with your net, you are greatly mistaken. a man said to me some time ago, that when he was converted he commenced to do some work in connection with the church; he was greatly discouraged because some of the older christians threw cold water on him, so he gave up the whole thing. i pity a man who cannot take a little cold water without being any the worse for it. why, many of the christians in old times had to go through the fire, and did not shrink from it. a little cold water never hurts any one. others say they have so many cares and troubles, they have as much as they can carry. well, a good way to forget your trouble is--to go and help some one else who is carrying a heavier burden than yourself. it was when job began to pray for his friends that he forgot his own troubles. paul gloried in his infirmity, and in the tribulations he had to undergo, so that the power of christ might all the more rest upon him. he gloried in the cross: and you must bear in mind that the cross was not so easy to bear in his day as it is in ours. every one was speaking against it. "i glory in the cross of christ," he said. when a man gets to that point, do you tell me that god cannot use him to build up his kingdom? in his second letter to the corinthians, paul speaks of "the thorn in the flesh;" he prayed the lord to take it away. the lord said he was not going to take it away: but he would give his servant grace to bear it. so the apostle learned to thank god for the thorn, because he got more grace. it is when the days are dark that people are brought nearer to god. i suppose that is what paul meant. if there is any child of god who has a "thorn in the flesh," god has grace enough to help you to bear it if you will but go to him for it. the difficulty is that so many are looking at their troubles and sorrows, instead of looking toward the glorious reward, and pressing on their way by god's help. in ii corinthians : , we read: "god is able to make all grace abound towards you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." there are three thoughts here--god makes _all grace_ to abound, that we may have _all sufficiency_ in _all things_. i think this is one of the most wonderful verses in the bible. there is plenty of grace. many christians, if they have grace enough to keep them from outward sin, seem to be perfectly satisfied; they do not press on to get _fullness of grace_, so as to be ready for god's work. many are satisfied to go into the stream of grace ankle deep, when god wants them to swim in it. if we always came to meetings desiring to get strength, then we should be able to go out to work and speak for christ. there are a great many who would be used of god, if they would only come boldly to his throne of grace, and "find grace to help in time of need." is it not a time of need now? god has said, "i will pour water on him that is thirsty." do we thirst for a deeper work of grace in our hearts?--for the anointing of the spirit? here is the promise: "i will pour water on him that is thirsty." let all who are hungering and thirsting for blessing come and receive it. another reason why many christians do not get anything is--because they do not give out to others. they are satisfied with present attainments, instead of growing in grace. we are not the fountain; we are only a channel for the grace of god to flow through. there is not one of us but god wants to use in building up his kingdom. that little boy, that grey-haired man, these young men and maidens; all are needed: and there is a work for all. we want to believe that god has grace enough to qualify us to go out and work for him. if we have known jesus christ for twenty years or more, and if we have not been able to introduce an anxious soul to him, there has been something wrong somewhere. if we were full of grace, we should be ready for any call that comes to us. paul said, when he had that famous interview with christ on the way to damascus, "lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" isaiah said, "here am i, send me." oh that god would fill all his people with grace, so that we may see more wonderful things than he has ever permitted us to see! no man can tell what he can do, until he moves forward. if we do that in the name of god, instead of there being a few scores or hundreds converted, there will be thousands flocking into the kingdom of god. remember, that we honor god when we ask for great things. it is a humiliating thing to think that we are satisfied with very small results. it is said that alexander the great had a favorite general to whom he had given permission to draw upon the royal treasury for any amount. on one occasion this general had made a draft for such an enormous sum that the treasurer refused to honor it until he consulted the emperor. so he went into his presence and told him what the general had done. "did you not honor the draft?" said the emperor. "no; i refused till i had seen your majesty; because the amount was so great." the emperor was indignant. his treasurer said that he was afraid of offending him if he had paid the amount. "do you not know," replied the emperor, "that he honors me and my kingdom by making a large draft?" whether the story be authentic or not, it is true that we honor god when we ask for great things. it is said that on one occasion when caesar gave a very valuable present, the receiver replied that it was too costly a gift. the emperor answered that it was not too great for caesar to give. our god is a great king; and he delights to use us: so let us delight to ask him for great grace, that we may go out and work for him. i find that many christians are in trouble about the future; they think they will not have grace enough to die by. it is much more important that we should have grace enough to live by. it seems to me that death is of very little importance in the meantime. when the dying hour comes there will be dying grace; but you do not require dying grace to live by. if i am going to live perhaps for fifteen or twenty years, what do i want with dying grace? i am far more anxious about having grace enough for my present work. i have sometimes been asked if i had grace enough to enable me to go to the stake and die as a martyr. no; what do i want with martyr's grace? i do not like suffering; but if god should call on me to die a martyr's death, he would give me martyr's grace. if i have to pass through some great affliction, i know god will give me grace when the time comes; but i do not want it till it comes. there is a story of a martyr in the second century. he was brought before the king, and told that if he did not recant they would banish him. said he, "o king, you cannot banish me from christ; for he has said, i will never leave thee nor forsake thee!" the apostle john was banished to the island of patmos; but it was the best thing that could have happened: for if john had not been sent there, probably we should never have had that grand book of revelation. john could not be separated from his master. so it was with this brave martyr, of whom i was speaking. the king said to him, "then i will take away your property from you." "you cannot do that: for my treasure is laid up on high, where you cannot get at it?" "then i will kill you." "you can not do that; for i have been dead these forty years: my life is hid with christ in god." the king said, "what are you going to do with such a fanatic as that?" let us remember that if we have not grace enough for service, we have no one to blame but ourselves. we are not straitened in god: he has abundance of grace to qualify us to work for him. more to follow. i heard a story about two members of a church: one was a wealthy man, and the other was one of those who cannot take care of their finances--he was always in debt. the rich brother had compassion on his poor brother. he wanted to give him some money; but he would not give it to the man all at once: he knew he would not use it properly. so he sent the amount to the minister, and asked him to supply the needs of this poor brother. the minister used to send him a five-dollar bill, and put on the envelope "more to follow." i can imagine how welcome the gift would be; but the best of all was the promise--"more to follow." so it is with god: there is always "more to follow." it is such a pity that we are not ready to be used by god when he wants to use us. dear friends, let me put this question to you: are you full of grace? you shake your head. well, it is our privilege to be _full_. what is the best way to get full of grace? it is to be emptied of self. how can we be emptied? suppose you wish to get the air out of this tumbler; how can you do it? i will tell you: by pouring water into the tumbler till it is full to overflowing. that is the way the lord empties us of self. he fills us with his grace. "i will pour water on him that is thirsty." are you hungering to get rid of your sinful selves? then let the spirit of god come in and fill you. god is able to do it. see what he did for john bunyan--how he made one of the mightiest instruments for good the world ever saw, out of that swearing bedford tinker. if we had a telescope which would enable us to look into heaven as stephen did, i can imagine we should see the thief, who believed in jesus while on the cross, very near the throne. ask him how he got there; and he would tell you it was through the grace of god. see how the grace of god could save a mary magdalene possessed of seven devils! ask her what it was that melted her heart: and she would tell you that it was the grace of god. look again at that woman whom christ met at the well at sychar. the saviour offered her a cup of the living water: she drank, and now she walks the chrystal pavement of heaven. see how the grace of god could change zaccheus, the hated publican of jericho! now he is in yonder world of light; he was brought there by the sovereign grace of god. you will have noticed that many of those who were about the most unlikely, have, by the power of god's grace, become very eminent in his service. look at the twelve apostles of christ; they were all unlettered men. this ought to encourage all whose education is limited to give themselves to god's work. when our earthly work is ended, then, like our master, we shall enter into glory. it has been well remarked: "grace is glory militant; and glory is grace triumphant. grace is glory begun; glory is grace made perfect. grace is the first degree of glory: glory is the highest degree of grace." "oh, to grace how great a debtor daily i'm constrained to be! let thy grace, lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. prone to wander, lord, i feel it-- prone to leave the god i love-- here's my heart, oh take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." chapter viii. a chime of gospel bells. in baltimore, a few years ago, we held a number of meetings for men. i am very fond of this hymn; and we used to let the choir sing the chorus over and over again, till all could sing it. "oh, word of words the sweetest, oh, word in which there lie all promise, all fulfillment, and end of mystery! lamenting or rejoicing, with doubt or terror nigh, i hear the 'come!' of jesus, and to his cross i fly. come! oh, come to me! come! oh, come to me! weary heavy-laden, come! oh, come to me! o soul! why shouldst thou wander from such a loving friend? cling closer, closer to him, stay with him to the end alas! i am so helpless, so very full of sin; for i am ever wandering, and coming back again. oh, each time draw me nearer, that soon the 'come!' may be nought but a gentle whisper to one close, close to thee; then, over sea and mountain, far from, or near, my home, i'll take thy hand and follow, at that sweet whisper, 'come!'" there was a man in one of the meetings who had been brought there against his will; he had come through some personal influence brought to bear upon him. when he got to the meeting, they were singing the chorus of this hymn-- "come! come! come!" he said afterwards he thought he never saw so many fools together in his life before. the idea of a number of men standing there singing, "come! come! come!" when he started home he could not get this little word out of his head; it kept coming back all the time. he went into a saloon, and ordered some whiskey, thinking to drown it. but he could not; it still kept coming back. he went into another saloon, and drank some more whiskey; but the words kept ringing in his ears: "come! come! come!" he said to himself, "what a fool i am for allowing myself to be troubled in this way!" he went to a third saloon; had another glass, and finally got home. he went off to bed, but could not sleep; it seemed as if the very pillow kept whispering the word, "come! come!" he began to be angry with himself: "what a fool i was for ever going to that meeting at all!" when he got up he took the little hymn book, found the hymn, and read it over. "what nonsense!" he said to himself; "the idea of a rational man being disturbed by that hymn." he set fire to the hymn book; but he could not burn up the little word "come!" "heaven and earth shall pass away: but my word shall not pass away." he declared he would never go to another of the meetings; but the next night he came again. when he got there, strange to say, they were singing the same hymn. "there is that miserable old hymn again," he said; "what a fool i am for coming!" i tell you, when the spirit of god lays hold of a man, he does a good many things he did not intend to do. to make a long story short, that man rose in a meeting of young converts, and told the story that i have now told you. pulling out the little hymn book for he had bought another copy and opening it at this hymn, he said: "i think this hymn is the sweetest and the best in the english language. god blessed it to the saving of my soul." and yet this was the very hymn he had despised. i want to take up this little word "come!" sometimes people forget the text of a sermon; but this text will be short enough for any one to remember. let me ring out a chime of gospel bells, every one of which says, "come!" the first bell i will ring is, come and hear! "incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and i will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of david." "incline your ear," god says. you have sometimes seen a man who is a little deaf, and cannot catch every word, put his hand up to his ear and lean forward. i have seen a man sometimes put up both hands to his ears, as if he were determined to catch every word. i like to see that. this is the figure that the prophet uses when he says on god's behalf, "incline your ear." man lost spiritual life and communion with his maker by listening to the voice of the tempter, instead of the voice of god. we get life again by listening to the voice of god. the word of god gives life. "the words that i speak unto you," says christ, "they are spirit, and they are life." so, what people need is--to incline their ear, and hear. it is a great thing when the gospel preacher gets the ear of a congregation--i mean the inner ear. for a man has not only two ears in his head; he has also what we may call the outer ear, and the inner ear--the ear of the soul. you may speak to the outward ear, and not reach the ear of the soul at all. many in these days are like the "foolish people" to whom the prophet jeremiah spoke: "which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not." there are many in every congregation whose attention i am not able to secure for five minutes together. almost any little thing will divert their minds. we need to give heed to the words of the lord: "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." you remember when peter was sent to cornelius, he was to speak to him words whereby he and his house were to be saved. if you are to be saved, it must be by listening to the word of god. here is the promise: "hear; and your soul shall live." there was an architect in chicago who was converted. in giving his testimony, he said he had been in the habit of attending church for a great many years, but he could not say that he had really heard a sermon all the time. he said that when the minister gave out the text and began to preach, he used to settle himself in the corner of the pew and work out the plans of some building. he could not tell how many plans he had prepared while the minister was preaching. he was the architect for one or two companies; and he used to do all his planning in that way. you see, satan came in between him and the preacher, and caught away the good seed of the word. i have often preached to people, and have been perfectly amazed to find they could hardly tell one solitary word of the sermon; even the text had completely gone from them. a colored man once said that a good many of his congregation would be lost because they were too generous. he saw that the people looked rather surprised; so he said, "perhaps you think i have made a mistake; and that i ought to have said you will be lost because you are not generous enough. that is not so; i meant just what i said. you give away too many sermons. you hear them, as it were, for other people." so there are a good many now hearing me who are listening for those behind them: they say the message is a very good one for neighbor so-and-so; and they pass it over their shoulders, till it gets clear out at the door. you laugh; but you know it is so. listen! "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." the next note in this peal of bells i wish to ring out is-- come and see! scripture not only uses the ear, but the eye, in illustrating the way of salvation. when a man both hears and sees a thing, he remembers it twice as long as if he only heard it. you remember what philip said to nathanael: "philip findeth nathanael, and saith unto him, we have found him of whom moses in the law, and the prophets, did write--jesus of nazareth, the son of joseph. and nathanael said unto him, can there any good thing come out of nazareth? philip saith unto him, come and see." philip was a wise winner of souls. he brought his friend to christ. nathanael had one interview with the son of god; he became his disciple and never left him. if philip had gone on discussing the matter with him, and had tried to prove that some good thing could come out of nazareth, he might have never been a disciple at all. after all, we do not gain much by discussion. let objectors or inquirers only get one personal interview with the son of god; that will scatter all their darkness, all their prejudice, and all their unbelief. the moment that philip succeeded in getting nathanael to christ, the work was done. so we say to you, "come and see!" i thought, when i was converted, that my friends had been very unfaithful to me, because they had not told me about christ. i thought i would have all my friends converted inside of twenty-four hours; and i was quite disappointed when they did not at once see christ to be the lily of the valley, and the rose of sharon, and the bright and morning star. i wondered why it was. no doubt many of those who hear me now have had that experience; you thought when you saw christ in all his beauty that you could soon make your friends see him in the same light. but we need to learn that god alone can do it. if there is a skeptic now hearing me, i want to say that one personal interview with the son of god will scatter all your infidelity and atheism. one night, in the inquiry-room, i met the wife of an atheist, who had been brought to god at one of our meetings. she was converted at the same time. she had brought two of her daughters to the meeting, desiring that they too should know christ. i said to the mother: "how is it with your skepticism now?" "oh," said she, "it is all gone." when christ gets into the heart, atheism must go out; if a man will only come and take one trustful, loving look at the saviour, there will be no desire to leave him again. a gentleman was walking down the street in baltimore, a few years ago. it was near christmas-time, and many of the shop-windows were filled with christmas presents, toys, etc. as this gentleman passed along, he saw three little girls standing before a shop window, and he heard two of them trying to describe to the third the things that were in the window. it aroused his attention, and he wondered what it could mean. he went back, and found that the middle one was blind--she had never been able to see--and her two sisters were endeavoring to tell her how the things looked. the gentleman stood beside them for some time, and listened; he said it was most interesting to hear them trying to describe the different articles to the blind child--they found it a difficult task. as he told me, i said to myself, "that is just my position in trying to tell other men about christ: i may talk about him; and yet they see no beauty in him that they should desire him. but if they will only come to him, he will open their eyes and reveal himself to them in all his loveliness and grace." looking at it from the outside, there was not much beauty in the tabernacle that moses erected in the desert. it was covered on the outside with badgers' skins--and there was not much beauty in them. if you were to pass into the inside, then you would find out the beauty of the coverings. so the sinner sees no beauty in christ till he comes to him--then he can see it. you have looked at the windows of a grand church erected at the cost of many thousands of dollars. from the outside they did not seem very beautiful; but get inside, when the rays of the sun are striking upon the stained glass, and you begin to understand what others have told you of their magnificence. so it is when you have come into personal contact with christ; you find him to be the very friend you need. therefore we extend to all the sweet gospel invitation "come and see!" let me now ring out the third bell-- come and drink! "ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters: and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat: yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." if you will come and drink at this fountain, christ says you shall never thirst again. he has promised to quench your thirst. "if any man thirst," he says, "let him come unto me and drink." i thank god for those words: "_if any man_." that does not mean merely a select few respectable people; it takes in all--every drunkard, every harlot, every thief, every self-righteous pharisee. "if any man _thirst_." how this world is thirsting for something that will satisfy! what fills the places of amusement--the dance houses, the music halls, and the theaters, night after night? men and women are thirsting for something they have not got. the moment a man turns his back upon god, he begins to thirst; and that thirst will never be quenched until he returns to "the fountain of living waters." as the prophet jeremiah tells us, we have forsaken the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for ourselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. there is a thirst this world can never quench: the more we drink of its pleasures, the thirstier we become. we cry out for more and more; and we are all the while being dragged down lower and lower. but there is "a fountain opened to the house of david . . . for sin and for uncleanness." let us press up to it, and drink and live. i remember after one of the great battles in the war we were coming down the tennessee river with a company of wounded men. it was in the spring of the year, and the water was not clear. you know that the cry of a wounded man is: "water! water!" especially in a hot country. i remember taking a glass of the muddy water to one of these men. although he was very thirsty, he only drank a little of it. he handed the glass back to me, and as he did so, he said, "oh for a draught of water from my father's well!" are there any thirsty ones here? come and drink of the fountain opened in christ; your longing will be satisfied, and you will never thirst again. it will be in you "a well of water springing up into everlasting life." water rises to its own level; and as this water has come down from the throne of god, it will carry us back to the presence of god. come, o ye thirsty ones, stoop down and drink, and live! you are all invited: come along! when moses took his rod and struck the flinty rock in the wilderness, out of it there came a pure crystal stream of water, which flowed or through that dry and barren land. all that the poor thirsty israelites had to do was to stoop and drink. it was free to all. so the grace of god is free to all. god invites you to come and take it: will you come? i remember being in a large city where i noticed that the people resorted to a favorite well in one of the parks. i said to a man one day, "does the well never run dry?" the man was drinking of the water out of the well; and as he stopped drinking, he smacked his lips, and said: "they have never been able to pump it dry yet. they tried it a few years ago. they put the fire engines to work, and tried all they could to pump the well dry; but they found there was a river flowing right under the city." thank god, the well of salvation never gets dry, though the saints of god have been drinking from it for six thousand years! abel, enoch noah, abraham. moses, elijah, the apostles all have drunk from it; and they are now up yonder, where they are drinking of the stream that flows from the throne of god. "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." let me ring another gospel bell: come and dine! my brother, my sister--are you hungry? then come along and dine. some people are afraid of being converted, because they think they will not hold out. mr. rainsford once said, "if the lord gives us eternal life, he will surely give us all that is needful to preserve it." he not only gives life; but he gives us our daily bread to feed that life. after the saviour had risen from the dead, he had not appeared to his disciples for some days. peter said to the others, "i go a fishing." seven of them started off in their boats. they toiled all night but caught nothing. in the grey of the morning, they saw a stranger on the shore. he addressed them and said "children, have ye any meat?" they told him they had not. "cast the net on the right side of the ship; and ye shall find." i can imagine they said to each other, "what good is that going to do? we have been fishing here all night, and have got nothing? the idea that there should be fish on one side of the boat, and not on the other!" however, they obeyed the command; and they had such a haul that there was no room for the fish in the boat. then one of them said, "it is the lord." when he heard that, peter sprang right into the sea, and swam to the shore; and the others pulled the boat to land. when they reached the shore the master said, "come and dine." what a meal that must have been. there was the lord of glory feeding his disciples. if he could set a table for his people in the wilderness, and feed three millions of israelites for forty years, can he not give us our daily bread? i do not mean only the bread that perisheth; but the bread that cometh from above. if he feeds the birds of the air, surely he will feed his children made in his own image! if he numbers the very hairs of our head, he will take care to supply all our temporal wants. not only so: he will give us the bread of life for the nourishment of the soul--the life that the world knows nothing of--if we will but go to him. "i am the bread of life," he says. as we feed on him by faith, we get strength. let our thoughts rest upon him; and he will lift us above ourselves, and above the world, and satisfy our utmost desires. another gospel bell is-- come and rest! dear friend, do you not need rest? there is a restlessness all over the world to-day. men are sighing and struggling after rest. the cry of the world is, "where can rest be found?" the rich man that we read of in the parable pulled down his barns, that he might build greater; and said to his soul, "take thine ease." he thought he was going to find rest in wealth; but he was disappointed. that night his soul was summoned away. no; there is no rest in wealth or pleasure. others think they will succeed in drowning their sorrows and troubles by indulging in drink; but that will only increase them. "there is no peace, saith my god, to the wicked:" they are like the troubled sea that cannot rest. we sometimes talk of the ocean as being as calm as a sea of glass; but it is never at rest: and here we have a faithful picture of the wicked man and woman. o weary soul, hear the sweet voice that comes ringing down through the ages: "come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy-laden; and i will _give_ you rest." thank god, he does not _sell_ it! if he did, some of us are so poor we could not buy; but we can all take a gift. that little boy there knows how to take a gift; that old man, living on borrowed time, and almost on the verge of another world, knows how to take a gift. the gift jesus wants to bestow is rest: rest for time, and rest for eternity. every weary soul may have this rest if he will. but you must come to christ and get it. nowhere else can this rest be found. if you go to the world with your cares, your troubles, and your anxieties, all it can do is to put a few more on the top of them. the world is a poor place to go to for sympathy. as some one has said: "if you roll your burdens anywhere but on christ, they will roll back on you with more weight than ever. cast them on christ; and he will carry them for you." here is another bell-- come and reason! perhaps there are some infidels reading this. they are fond of saying to us, "come and reason." but i want to draw their attention to the verses that go before this one in the first chapter of isaiah. the trouble with a good many skeptics is this--they take a sentence here and there from scripture without reference to the context. let us see what this passage says: "when ye spread forth your hands, i will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers i will not hear: your hands are full of blood. wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." _then_ we have the gracious invitation, "come now, and let us reason together." do you think god is going to reason with a man whose hands are dripping with blood, and before he asks forgiveness and mercy? will god reason with a man living in rebellion against him? nay. but if we turn from and confess our sin, then he will reason with us, and pardon us. "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." but if a man persists in his rebellion against god, there is no invitation to him to come and reason, and receive pardon. if i have been justly condemned to death by the law of the state, and am waiting the execution of my sentence, i am not in a position to reason with the governor. if he chooses to send me a free pardon, the first thing i have to do is to accept it; then he may allow me to come into his presence. but we must bear in mind that god is above our reason. when man fell, his reason became perverted; and he was not in a position to reason with god. "if any man willeth to do his will he shall know of the teaching." we must be willing to forsake our sins. "let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our god, for he will abundantly pardon," the moment a man is willing to part with his sins, god meets him in grace and offers him peace and pardon. the next bell i would like to sound out is-- come to the marriage! "behold, i have prepared my dinner: . . . all things are ready; come unto the marriage." who would not feel highly honored if they were invited to some fine residence, to the wedding of one of the members of the president's family? i can imagine you would feel rather proud of having received such an invitation. you would want all your friends to know it. probably you may never get such an invitation. but i have a far grander invitation for you here than that. i cannot speak for others; but if i know my own heart, i would rather be torn to pieces to-night, limb from limb, and die in the glorious hope of being at the marriage-supper of the lamb, than live in this world a thousand years and miss that appointment at the last. "blessed is he that is called to the marriage-supper of the lamb." it will be a fearful thing for any of us to see abraham, isaac, and jacob taking their place in the kingdom of god, and be ourselves thrust out. this is no myth, my friends; it is a real invitation. every man and woman is invited. all things are now ready. the feast has been prepared at great expense. you may spurn the grace, and the gift of god; but you must bear in mind that it cost god a good deal before he could provide this feast. when he gave christ he gave the richest jewel that heaven had. and now he sends out the invitation. he commands his servants to go into the highways, and hedges, and lanes, and compel them to come in, that his house may be full. who will come? you say you are not fit to come? if the president invited you to the white house, and the invitation said you were to come just as you were; and if the sentinel at the gate stopped you because you did not wear a dress suit, what would you do? would you not show him the document signed in the name of the president? then he would stand aside and let you pass. so, my friend, if you can prove to me that you are a sinner, i can prove to you that you are invited to this gospel feast--to this marriage supper of the lamb. let me ring out another bell in this gospel chime-- "come, inherit the kingdom!" "then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." a kingdom!--think of that! think of a poor man in this world, struggling with poverty and want, invited to become possessor of a kingdom! it is no fiction; it is described as "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." we are called to be kings and priests: that is a high calling. surely no one who hears me intends to miss that kingdom! christ said, "_seek ye first_ the kingdom of god." those who inherit it shall go no more out. yet another bell-- "come up hither!" in the revelation we find that the two witnesses were called up to heaven when their testimony was ended. so if we are faithful in the service of our king, we shall by and by hear a voice saying, "come up hither!" there is going to be a separation one day. the man who has been persecuting his godly wife will some day find her missing. that drunkard who beats his children because they have been taught the way into the kingdom of god, will miss them some day. they will be taken up out of the darkness, and away from the persecution, up into the presence of god. when the voice of god saying, "come up hither" is heard, calling his children home, there will be a grand jubilee. that glorious day will soon dawn. "lift up your heads, for the time of your redemption draweth nigh." one more bell to complete the chime-- "whosoever will, let him come!" it is the last time that the word "come" appears in the bible; and it occurs there over one thousand nine hundred times. we find it away back in genesis, "come, thou and all thy house, into the ark"; and it goes right along through scripture. prophets, apostles, and preachers, have been ringing it out all through the ages. now the record is about to be closed, and christ tells john to put in one more invitation. after the lord had been in glory for about sixty years, perhaps he saw some poor man stumbling over one of the apostles' letters about the doctrine of election. so he came to john in patmos, and john was in the spirit on the lord's day. christ said to his disciple, "write these things to the churches." i can imagine john's pen moved very easily and very swiftly that day; for the hand of his lord was upon him. the master said to him, "before you close up the book, put in one more invitation; and make it so broad that the whole world shall know they are included, and not a single one may feel that he is left out." john began to write "the spirit and the bride say, come," that is, the spirit and the church; "and let him that heareth say, come!" if you have heard and received the message yourself, pass it on to those near you; your religion is not a very real thing if it does not affect some one else. we have to get rid of this idea that the world is going to be reached by ministers alone. all those who have drunk of the cup of salvation must pass it around. "let him that is athirst, come." but there are some so deaf that they cannot hear; others are not thirsty enough or they think they are not. i have seen men in our after-meetings with two streams of tears running down their cheeks; and yet they said the trouble with them was that they were not anxious enough. they were anxious to be anxious. probably christ saw that men would say they did not feel thirsty; so he told the apostle to make the invitation still broader. so the last invitation let down into a thirsty world is this: "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." thank god for those words "whosoever will!" who will come and take it? that is the question. you have the power to accept or to reject the invitation. a man in one meeting once was honest enough to say "i won't." if i had it in my power i would bring this whole audience to a decision now, either for or against. i hope many now reading these words will say, "i will!" if god says we can, all the devils in hell cannot stop us. all the infidels in the world cannot prevent us. that little boy, that little girl, can say, "i will!" if it were necessary, god would send down a legion of angels to help you; but he has given you the power, and you can accept christ this very minute if you are really in earnest. let me say that it is the easiest thing in the world to become a christian, and it is also the most difficult. you will say: "that is a contradiction, a paradox." i will illustrate what i mean. a little nephew of mine in chicago, a few years ago, took my bible and threw it down on the floor. his mother said, "charlie, pick up uncle's bible." the little fellow said he would not, "charlie, do you know what that word means?" she soon found out that he did, and that he was not going to pick up the book. his will had come right up against his mother's will. i began to be quite interested in the struggle; i knew if she did not break his will, he would some day break her heart. she repeated, "charlie, go and pick up uncle's bible, and put it on the table." the little fellow said he could not do it. "i will punish you if you do not." he saw a strange look in her eye, and the matter began to get serious. he did not want to be punished, and he knew his mother would punish him if he did not lift the bible. so he straightened every bone and muscle in him, and he said _he could not do it_. i really believe the little fellow had reasoned himself into the belief that he could not do it. his mother knew he was only deceiving himself; so she kept him right to the point. at last he went down, put both his arms around the book, and tugged away at it; but he still said he could not do it. the truth was he did not want to. he got up again without lifting it. the mother said, "charlie, i am not going to talk to you any more. this matter has to be settled; pick up that book, or i will punish you." at last she broke his will, and then he found it as easy as it is for me to turn my hand. he picked up the bible, and laid it on the table. so it is with the sinner; if you are really willing to take the water of life, you can do it. "i heard the voice of jesus say, 'come unto me, and rest; lay down, thou weary one, lay down, thy head upon my breast.' i came to jesus as i was-- weary, and worn, and sad, i found in him a resting-place, and he has made me glad. i heard the voice of jesus say, 'behold, i freely give the living water--thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.' i came to jesus, and i drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now i live in him. i heard the voice of jesus say, 'i am this dark world's light: look unto me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.' i looked to jesus, and i found in him my star, my sun; and in that light of life i'll walk till traveling days are done." _dr. h. bonar_ gospel dialogues. i.--mr. moody and rev. marcus rainsford. what it is to be a child of god. mr. moody--what is it to be a child of god? what is the first step? rev. m. rainsford--well, sir, i am a child of god when i become united to the son of god. the son of god prayed that all who believed upon him should be one with him, as he was one with the father. believing on jesus, i receive him, and become united to him; i become, as it were, a member of his body. i am an heir of god, a joint-heir with christ. mr. m.--what is the best definition of faith? mr. r.--trust in the son of god, as the saviour he has given to us. simple trust, not only in a creed, but in a person. i trust my soul to him. i trust the keeping of my soul to him. god has promised that whosoever trusts him, mercy shall compass him on every side. mr. m.--does not the scripture say that the devils believe? mr. r.--they believe the truth, do they not? they believe that jesus was manifested to destroy them; and they "tremble." i wish we believed as truly and as fully that god sent his son into the world to save us. mr. m.--what is it to "trust?" mr. r.--i take it to mean four things: ( ) believing on christ: that is, taking him at his word. ( ) hoping in christ: that is, expecting help from him, according to his word. ( ) relying on christ: that is, resting on him for the times, and ways, and circumstances in which he may be pleased to fulfill his promises according to his word. ( ) waiting on christ: that is, _continuing_ to do so, notwithstanding delay, darkness, barrenness, perplexing experiences, and the sentence of death in myself. he may keep me waiting awhile (i have kept him a long time waiting); but he will not keep me waiting always. believing in him, hoping in him, relying upon him, and waiting for him--i understand to be trusting in him. mr. m.--can all these friends here believe the promises? mr. r.--the promises are true, whether we believe them or not. we do not make them true by believing them. god could not charge me with being an unbeliever, or condemn me for unbelief, if the promises were not true for me. i could in that case turn round and say: "great god, why did you expect me to believe a promise that was not true for me?" and yet the scriptures set forth unbelief as the greatest sin i can continue to commit. mr. m.--how are we "cleansed by _the blood?_" mr. r.--"the blood is the life." the sentence upon sinners for their sin was, "the soul that sinneth it shall die." that we might not die, the son of god died. the blood is _the poured-out life of the son of god_, given as the price, the atonement, the substitute, for the forfeited life of the believer in jesus christ. any poor sinner who receives christ as god's gift is cleansed from all sin by his blood. mr. m.--was the blood shed for us all? mr. r.-- "there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from immanuel's veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; and there may we, though vile as he, wash all our sins away." mr. m.--some may think that this is only a hymn, and that it is not scripture. did the lord ever say anything similar to what the hymn says? mr. r.--he said: "i have given you the blood upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls." that was said of the picture of the blood of christ. and at the last supper our lord said his blood was "the blood of the new testament which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins." mr. m.--what is "the gift of god?" mr. r.--there are three great gifts that god has given to us-- ( ) his blessed son. ( ) the holy ghost, "the promise of the father," that we might understand the unspeakable gift bestowed on us when he gave his son. ( ) he has given us his holy word. the holy ghost has inspired the writers of it that we may read, and hear, and know the love that god has to us, "in that while we were yet sinners christ died for us." we could not have the son for our saviour, unless god gave him. we could not understand the gift of god, unless the holy ghost had come to quicken us and teach us; and this he does through the word. mr. m.--how much is there in christ for us who believe? mr. r.--in him dwelt "all the fullness of the godhead bodily"--fullness of life, of righteousness, of sanctification, of redemption, title to heaven, and meetness for it; all that god wants from us, and all that we want from god, he gave in the person of christ. mr. m.--how long does it take god to justify a sinner? mr. r.--how long? the moment we receive him we receive authority to enroll ourselves among the children of god, and are then and there justified from all things. the sentence of complete justification does not take long to pronounce. some persons profess to see a difficulty in the variety of ways in which a sinner is said to be justified before god: ( ) justified by god; ( ) justified by christ; ( ) justified by his blood; ( ) justified by grace; ( ) justified by faith; ( ) justified by works. justification has reference to a court of justice. suppose a sinner standing at the bar of god, the bar of conscience, and the bar of his fellow-men, charged with a thousand crimes. ( ) there is the judge: that is god, who alone can condemn or justify: "it is god that justifieth." that is justification by god. ( ) there is the advocate, who appears at court for the sinner; the counselor, the intercessor: that is christ. "justified by christ." ( ) there is next to be considered the ground and reason on account of which the advocate pleads before the judge. that is the merit of his own precious blood. that is justification by his blood. ( ) next we must remember the law which the judge is dispensing. the law of works? nay, but the law of grace and faith. that is justification by his grace. ( ) and now the judge himself pronounces the result. "be it known unto you that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things." now, for the first time, the sinner at the bar knows the fact. this is justification by faith. ( ) but now the justified man leaves the criminal's dock. he does not return to his prison, or to his chains. he walks forth from the court-house a justified man; and all men, friends or foes, are made aware that he is free. that is "justification by works." mr. m.--a man says: "i have not found peace." how would you deal with him? mr. r.--he is really looking for the wrong thing. i do not look for peace. i look for _christ;_ and i get peace with him. some people put peace in the place of christ. others put their repentance or prayers in the place of christ. _anything_ put in the place of christ, or between the sinner and christ, is in the _wrong place_. when i get christ, i possess in him everything that belongs to him, as my saviour. mr. m.--some think they cannot be christians until they are sanctified. mr. r.--christ is my sanctification, as much as my justification. i cannot be sanctified but by his blood. there is a wonderful passage in exodus. the high priest there represented in picture the lord jesus christ. there was to be placed on the forefront of the miter of the high priest, when he stood before god, a plate of pure gold, and graven upon it as with a signet, the words: "holiness to the lord." my faith sees it on the forefront of the miter on the brow of my high priest in heaven. "and it shall be upon aaron's forehead, that aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be _always_ upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the lord." that was for israel of old! _that_ on the brow of jesus christ is for me. yes--for me, "that i may be accepted before the lord." as i believe this truth it purifies my heart, it operates on my affections and my desires; and i seek to walk with him, because he is my sanctification before god, just as i trust in him as my justification--because he shed his blood for me. mr. m.--what is it to believe on his name? mr. r.--his name is his revealed self. we are informed what it is in exodus. moses was in the mount with god, and he had shown him wonderful things of kindness and of love. and moses said, "o god, show me thy _glory!_" and he said, "i will make all my _goodness_ pass before thee." so he put moses in the cleft of the rock, and proclaimed the name of the lord: "the lord, the lord god, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin"--there it is, root and branch "and that will by no means clear the guilty." that is his name; and his glory he will not give unto another: and to believe in the name of the lord is just to shelter under his promises. mr. m.--what is it to "receive the kingdom of god like a little child?" mr. r.--well, i do not believe in a little child being an innocent thing. i think it means that we are to receive it in all our need and helplessness. a little child is the most dependent thing on earth. all its resources are in its parents' love: all it can do is to cry; and its necessities explain the meaning to the mother's heart. if we interpret its language, it means: "mother, wash me; i cannot wash myself. mother, clothe me; i am naked, and cannot clothe myself. mother, feed me; i cannot feed myself. mother, carry me; i cannot walk." it is written, "a mother may forget her sucking child; yet will not i forget thee." this it is to receive the kingdom of god as a little child--to come to jesus in our helplessness and say: "lord jesus, wash me!" "clothe me!" "feed me!" "carry me!" "save me, lord, or i perish." mr. m.--a good many say they are going to _try_. what would you say to such? mr. r.--god wants no man to "try." jesus has already tried. he has not only tried, but he has succeeded. "it is finished." believe in him who has "made an end of sins, making reconciliation for iniquity, finishing transgression, and bringing in everlasting righteousness." mr. m.--if people say they are "going to try," what would you say to them? mr. r.--i should say, put _trusting_ in the place of trying; _believing_ in the place of doubting; and i should urge them to come to christ as they are, instead of waiting to be better. there is nothing now between god the father and the poor sinner, but the lord jesus christ; and christ has put away sin that i may be joined to the lord. "and he that is joined unto the lord is one spirit;" "and where the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty." mr. m.--about the last thing an anxious inquirer has to contend with is his feelings. there are hundreds here very anxious to know they are safe in the kingdom; but they think they have not the right kind of feeling. what kind of feeling should they have? mr. r.--i think there are several of those present who can say that they found a blessing in the after-meetings through one verse of scripture. i will quote it as an answer to mr. moody's question. "who is among you that feareth the lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the lord, and stay upon his god." some of you may be walking in darkness; that is how you feel. what is god's command? "let him trust in the name of the lord, and stay upon his god." if i am to trust god in the darkness, i am to trust him anywhere. mr. m.--you would advise them, then, to trust in the lord, whether they have the right kind of feeling or not? mr. r.--if i were to think of my feelings for a moment, i should be one of the most miserable men in this hall to-night. my feelings are those of a sinful corrupt nature. i am just to believe what god tells me in spite of my feelings. faith is "the evidence of things not seen:" i might add, "the evidence of things not felt." mr. m.--some may say that faith is the gift of god: and that they must wait till god imparts it to them. mr. r.--"faith cometh by hearing." the word of god is the medium through which faith comes to us. god has given us christ; and he has given us his spirit, and his word: what need is there to wait? god will give faith to the man who reads his word and seeks for his spirit. mr. m.--what, then, should they wait for? mr. r.--i do not know of anything they have to wait for. god says: "come now; believe now." no, no; there is nothing to wait for. he has given us all he has to give: and the sooner we take it the better. mr. m.--perhaps some of them think they have too many sins to allow their coming. mr. r.--the lord jesus has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." why do we not believe him? he says he has "made an end of sins." why do we not believe him? is he a liar? mr. m.--is unbelief a sin? mr. r.--it is the root of all sin. mr. m.--has a man the power to believe these things, if he will? mr. r.--when god gives a command, it means that we are able by his grace to do it. mr. m.--what do you mean by "coming" to christ? mr. r.--believing in him. if i were to prepare a great feast in this hall to-morrow night, and say that any man that comes to it would have a grand feast and a five-pound note besides, there would not be any question as to what "coming" meant. god has prepared a great feast. he has sent his messengers to invite all to come; and there is nothing to pay. mr. m.--what is the first step. mr. r.--to believe. mr. m.--believe what? mr. r.--god's invitation; god's promise; god's provision. let us believe the faithfulness of him who calls us. does god intend to mock us, and make game of us? if he did so to one man, it would hush all the harps in heaven. mr. m.--suppose the people do "come," and that they fall into sin tomorrow? mr. r.--let them come back again. god says we are to forgive till seventy times seven. do you think the great god will do less than he commands us to do? mr. m.--if they truly come, will they have the desire to do the things they used to do before? mr. r.--when a man really receives christ into his heart, he experiences "the expulsive power of a new affection." the devil may tempt him to sin; but sin has lost its attraction. a man finds out that it does not pay to grieve god's holy spirit. mr. m.--what would you advise your converts to do? mr. r.--when you were little babes, if you had had no milk, no clothing, and no rest, you would not have lived very long. you are now the result of your fathers' and mothers' care. when a man is born in the family of god he has life; but he needs food. "man doth not live by bread alone." if you do not feed upon god's promises you will be of no use in god's service: it will be well for you if your life does not die out altogether before long. then you need exercise. if you only take food, and do no work, you will soon suffer from what i may call spiritual apoplexy. when you get hold of a promise, go and tell it to others. the best way for me to get help for myself is by trying to help others. there is one great promise that young disciples should never forget: "he that watereth shall be watered also himself." mr. m.--how are they to begin? mr. r.--i believe there are some rich ladies and rich gentlemen on the platform. when such persons are brought to the lord, they are apt to be ashamed to speak about salvation to their old companions. if our christian ladies would go amongst other ladies; christian gentlemen amongst gentlemen of their own class; and so on we should see a grand work for christ. each of you have some friends or relations whom you can influence better than anybody else can. begin with them; and god will give you such a taste for work that you will not be content to stay at home: you will go and work outside as well. mr. m.--a good place to start in would be the kitchen, would it not? begin with some little kitchen meetings. let some of you get fifteen or twenty mothers together; and ask them to bring their young children with them. sing some of these sweet hymns; read a few verses of scripture; get your lips opened; and you will find that streams of salvation will be breaking out all around. i always think that every convert ought to be good for a dozen others right away. mr. r.--let me tell a little incident in my own experience. i was once asked to go and see a great man and tell him about christ. he did not expect me; and if i had known that, perhaps i should not have had the faith to go at all. when i went he was very angry and very nearly turned me out of the house. he was an old man, and had one little daughter. a few weeks afterwards he went to the continent, and his daughter went with him. one day when he was very ill he saw his daughter looking at him, while the tears rolled down her cheeks. "my child," he said, "what are you crying about?" "oh, papa, you do not love the lord jesus christ; i am afraid you are going to hell!" "why do you say that?" "do you not remember when mr. rainsford called to see you, you were very rude to him? i never saw you so angry. and he only wished to speak to you about jesus." "well, my child, you shall read to me about jesus." if that man has gone to heaven--i do not say whether he has or not--the only light he had he got from his little daughter. you set to work; and you cannot tell what may be the result, by the blessing of god. "sons of god, beloved in jesus oh, the wondrous word of grace! in his son the father sees us, and as sons he gives us place. blessed power now brightly beaming-- on our god we soon shall gaze; and in light celestial gleaming we shall see our saviour's face. by the power of grace transforming we shall then his image bear; christ his promised word performing, we shall then his glory share." _el nathan_ ii.--mr. moody and rev. marcus rainsford. how to become a christian. mr. moody.--mr. rainsford, how can one make room in their heart for christ? rev. m. rainsford.--first, do we really want christ to be in our hearts? if we do, the best thing will be to ask him to come and make room for himself. he will surely come and do so. "i can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me." "without me ye can do nothing." mr. m.--will christ crowd out the world if he comes in? mr. r.--he spake a parable to that effect. "when a strong man armed keepeth his palace [the poor sinner's heart], his goods are in peace. but when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted [unbelief, false views of god, worldliness, and love of sin], and divideth his spoils." the devil keeps the heart, because christ desires it for his throne--until christ drives him out. mr. m.--what is the meaning of the promise?--"him that _cometh_ unto me i will in no wise cast out." mr. r.--i think we often put the emphasis upon the wrong word. people are troubled about how they are going to come, when they should put the emphasis on him to whom they are coming. "him that cometh unto me i will in no wise cast out:" no matter how he may come. i remember hearing this incident at an after-meeting. a gentleman was speaking to an anxious inquirer, telling him to _come_ to christ, to _trust_ in christ; but the man seemed to get no comfort. he said that was just where he found his difficulty. by and by, another friend came and spoke to the anxious one. all he said was: "come to christ; trust in christ." the man saw it in a minute. he went and told the other gentleman, "i see the way of salvation now." "tell me," said he, "what did that man say to you?" "well, he told me to trust in christ." "that is what i told you." "nay, you bade me _trust_ in christ, and _come_ to christ; he bade me trust in _christ_, and come to _christ_." that made all the difference. mr. m.--what does christ mean by the words "_in no wise?_" mr. r.--it means that if the sins of all sinners on earth and all the devils in hell were upon your soul, he will not refuse you. not even in the range of god's omniscience is there a reason why christ will refuse any poor sinner who comes to him for pardon. mr. m.--what is the salvation he comes to proclaim and to bestow? mr. r.--to deliver us from the power of darkness and the bottomless pit, and set us upon the throne of glory. it is salvation from death and hell, and curse and ruin. but that is only the half of it. it is salvation to god, and light, and glory, and honor, and immortality; and from earth to heaven. mr. m.--if the friends here do not come and get this salvation, what will be the true reason? mr. r.--either they are fond of some sin which they do not intend to give up, or they do _not_ believe they are in a lost condition, and under the curse of god, and therefore do not feel their need of him who "came to seek and to save that which was lost." or they do not believe god's promises. i have sometimes asked a man, "good friend, are you saved!" "well, no, i am not saved." "are you lost?" "oh, god forbid! i am not lost." "where are you, then, if you are neither saved nor lost?" may god wake us up to the fact that we are all in one state or the other! mr. m.--what if any of them should fall into sin after they have come to christ? mr. r.--god has provided for the sins of his people, committed after they come to christ, as surely as for their sins committed before they came to him. christ "ever liveth to make intercession for all that come unto god by him." "if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." . . . . for, "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, jesus christ the righteous. and he is the propitiation for our sins." he will take care of our sinful, tried and tempted selves, if we trust ourselves to him. mr. m.--is it not said that if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, "there remaineth _no more_ sacrifice for sins?" mr. r.--yes. paul wrote it in his epistle to the hebrews. some of them were trifling with the blood of christ, reverting to the types and shadows of the levitical law, and trusting to a fulfilled ritual for salvation. he is not referring to _ordinary acts of sin_. by sinning willfully he means, as he explains it, a "_treading under foot the son of god_," and a total and final apostatizing from christ. those who reject or neglect him will find no other sacrifice for sin remaining. before christ came the jewish ceremonies were shadows of the good things to come; but christ was the substance of them. but now that he has come to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, there is no other sacrifice for sin remaining for those who reject him. god will send no other saviour, and no further atonement; no second "fountain shall be opened for sin and uncleanness." there remains, therefore, nothing for the rejector of salvation by christ, but "a fearful looking-for of judgment." mr. m.--there are some who say they do not know that they have the right kind of faith. mr. r.--god does not ask us if we have the right kind of faith. he tells us the right thing to believe, and the right faith is to believe the _right thing_, even what god has told us and promised us. if i told you, mr. moody, that i had found a hymn-book last night you would believe me, would you not? (mr. moody: yes.) suppose i said it was the valuable one _you_ lost the other night, you would believe me also just the same. there is no difference in the _kind_ of faith; the difference is in the _thing believed_. when the son of god tells me that he died for sinners, that is a fact for my faith to lay hold of: the faith itself is not some thing to be considered. i do not look at my hand, when i take a gift, and wonder what sort of a hand it is. i look at the gift. mr. m.--what about those people who say their hearts are so hard, and they have no love to christ? mr. r.--of course they are hard and cold. no man loves christ till he believes that christ loves him. "we love him, because he first loved us." it is the love of god shed abroad in our hearts by the holy ghost that makes the change. mr. m.--paul said he was "crucified with christ." what did he mean? mr. r.--oh, that is a grand text! thank god i have been "crucified with christ." the cross of christ represents the death due to the sinner who had broken god's laws. when christ was crucified every member of his body was crucified: but every believer that was, or is, or shall be, is a member of christ's body, of his flesh, and of his bones. again, we read: "whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it: now ye are the body of christ, and members in particular." so when christ was crucified for sin, i was also crucified in him; and now i am dead and gone as far as my old self is concerned. i have already suffered for sin in him. yes; i am dead and buried with christ. that is the grand truth that paul laid hold upon. i am stone dead as a sinner in the sight of god. as it is written, i am "become dead to the law by the body of christ, that i might be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that i should bring forth fruit unto god." "i am crucified with christ; nevertheless i live; yet not i, but christ liveth in me;" and god himself commands me so to regard my standing before him as his believing child. "in that christ died, he died, unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto god. _likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin_, but _alive unto god_ through jesus christ our lord." mr. m.--should not a man repent a good deal before he comes to christ? mr. r.--"repent a good deal!" i do not think any man repents in the true sense of the word till he loves christ and hates sin. there are many false repentances in the bible. we are told that pharaoh repented when the judgment of god came upon him, and he said, "i have sinned;" but as soon as the judgment passed away, he went back to his sin. we read that balaam said: "i have sinned." yet "he loved the wages of unrighteousness." when saul lost his kingdom he repented; "i have sinned," he said. when judas iscariot found that he had made a great mistake, he said: "i have sinned, in that i have betrayed innocent blood;" yet he went "to his own place." i would not give much for these repentances; i would rather have peter's repentance: when christ looked upon his fallen saint it broke his heart, and he went out and wept bitterly. or the repentance of the prodigal, when his father's arms were around his neck, and his kisses on his cheek, and he said, "father, i have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." mr. m.--what is your title to heaven? mr. r.--the person, the life, death, and righteousness, of the god-man, the son of god, my substitute, and my saviour. mr. m.--how do you obtain that? mr. r.--by receiving him. "as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become the sons of god, even to them that believed on his name." mr. m.--what is your meetness for heaven? mr. r.--the holy ghost dwelling in my heart is my fitness for heaven. i have only to get there; and i have, by this great gift, all tastes, desires, and faculties, for it: i have the eyes to contemplate it: i have the ears for heaven's music: and i can speak the language of the country. the holy ghost in me is my fitness and qualification for the splendid inheritance for which the son of god has redeemed me. mr. m.--would you make a distinction between christ's work for us and the spirit's work in us? mr. r.--christ's work for me is the payment of my debt; the giving me a place in my father's home, the place of sonship in my father's family. the holy spirit's work in me is to make me fit for his company. mr. m.--you distinguish, then, between the work of the father, the work of the son, and the work of the holy ghost. mr. r.--thanks be to god, i have them all, and i want them all--father, son, and holy ghost. i read that my heavenly father took my sins and laid them on christ; "the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." no one else had a right to touch them. then i want the son, who "his own self bare my sins in his own body on a tree." and i want the holy ghost. i should know nothing about this great salvation, and care nothing for it, if the holy ghost had not come and told me the story, and given me grace to believe it. mr. m.--what is meant when we are told that christ saves "to the uttermost?" mr. r.--that is another grand truth. some people are troubled by the thought that they will not be able to hold out if they come to christ. there are so many crooked ways, and pitfalls, and snares in the world; there is the power of the flesh, and the snare of the devil. so they fear they will never get home. the idea of the passage is this. suppose you are on the top of some splendid mountain, very high up. you look away to where the sun sets, and you see many a river, and many a country, and many a barren waste between. christ is able to save you through and over them all, out and out, and beyond to the uttermost. mr. m.--suppose a man came in here just out of prison: all his life he has been falling, falling, till he has become discouraged. can christ save him all at once? mr. r.--it is just as easy for christ to save a man with the weight of ten thousand sins upon him and all his chains around him, as to save a man with one sin. if a man has offended in one point, the scripture says he is guilty of all. mr. m.--if a man is forgiven, will he go out and do the same thing to-morrow? mr. r.--well, i hope not. all i can say is that if we do, we shall smart for it. i have done many a thing since the lord revealed himself to my soul that i should not have done--i have gone backward and downward; but i have always found that it does not pay when i do anything that grieves my heavenly father. i think he sometimes allows us to taste the bitterness of what it is to depart from him. and this is one of the many ways by which he keeps us from falling. mr. m.--what do you consider to be the great sin of sins? mr. r.--the word of god tells us that there is only one sin of which god alone can convince us. if i cut a man's throat or if i steal, it does not need god to convince me that that is a sin. but it takes the power of the holy ghost to convince me that not to receive christ, not to love christ, not to believe in christ, is the sin of sins, the root of sins. christ says, "when the spirit is come, he will convince the world of sin, _because they believe not on me_." mr. m.--what do you mean by the word of god? mr. r.--the son of god is the word of god incarnate: the bible is the word of god written. the one is the word of god in my nature: the other is the word of god in my language. mr. m.--if a man receives the word of god into his heart, what benefit is it to him, right here to-night? mr. r.--the father and the son will make their abode with him; and he will be the temple of the holy ghost. where he goes the whole trinity goes; and all the promises are his. "man doth not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god." mr. m.--who is it that judges a man to be unworthy of eternal life? mr. r.--_himself!!_ there is a verse in acts xiii that is worth remembering: "seeing ye put it [the word of god] from you, and judge _yourselves_ unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the gentiles." god does not judge us unworthy. he has given his son for our salvation. when a man puts away the word of god from him and refuses to receive christ into his heart, he judges _himself_ unworthy of salvation. mr. m.--i understand, then, that if a man rejects christ to-night, he passes judgment on himself as unworthy of eternal life? mr. r.--he is judging himself unworthy, while god does not so consider him. god says you are welcome to eternal life. mr. m.--if any one here wants to please god to-night, how can he do it? mr. r.--god delights in mercy. come to god and claim his mercy in christ; and you will delight his heart. mr. m.--suppose a man say he is not "elected?" mr. r.--do you remember the story of the woman of canaan? poor soul; she had come a long journey. she asked the lord to have mercy on her afflicted child. he wanted to try her faith, and he said: "i am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of israel." that looked as if he himself told her that she was not one of the elect. but she came and worshipped him, saying, "lord, help me!" and he helped her there and then. no; there is no election separating between the sinner and christ. mr. m.--say that again. mr. r.--there is no election separating between the sinner and christ. mr. m.--what is there between the sinner and christ? mr. r.--mercy!! mercy!! mr. m.--that brings me near to christ. mr. r.--so near that we cannot be nearer. but we must claim it. in john we get god's teaching about election. "this is the father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me i should lose _nothing_; but should raise it up again at the last day." he will do his work, you may depend upon it. then in the next verse we read: "and this is the will of him that sent me, that _every one_ which seeth the son, and _believeth_ on him, may have everlasting life: and i will raise him up at the last day." that is the part i am to take: and when i have done so i shall know the father's will concerning me. mr. m.--what do you mean by the new birth? mr. r.--i judge it by what i know of the old birth. i was born of human parents into the human family; so i belong to adam's race by nature and by generation, and i inherit adam's sin and curse accordingly. the new birth is from my union by faith with the second adam; but this is by _grace_, not nature: and when i receive the lord jesus christ i am born of god--not by generation, but by regeneration. as i am united to the first adam by nature and generation, so i am united by faith through grace and regeneration to the second adam, and inherit all his fullness accordingly. mr. m.--what is the meaning of being "saved by the blood?" mr. r.--a gentleman asked me that in the inquiry-room; "what do you mean by the shed blood?" it is the poured-out life of the son of god forfeited as the atonement for sinners' sins. mr. m.--is it available now? mr. r.--yes; as much as ever it was. mr. m.--you mean it is just as powerful to-day as it was eighteen hundred years ago when he shed it? mr. r.--if the blood of abel cried out for vengeance against his slayer, how much more does the blood of christ cry out for pardon for all who plead it! "it cleanseth (present tense) from all sin." mr. m.--how do you get faith? mr. r.--by hearing god's word. "faith cometh by hearing; and hearing by the word of god." mr. m.--how do you get the holy ghost? mr. r.--in the same way as you get faith. the holy ghost uses the word as the chariot by which he enters the believer's soul. the gospel is called "the ministration of the spirit." mr. m.--is the word of god addressed to all here? mr. r.--"he that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith to the churches" (rev. iii ). mr. m.--what is the gospel? mr. r.--"good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." if our gospel, proclaiming life, pardon, and peace, is not as applicable for salvation to the vilest harlot here as to the greatest saint in london, it is not christ's gospel we preach. mr. m.--what reason does the scripture give tor the gospel being hid to some? mr. r.--it is "hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ, who is the image of god, should shine into them." may god open all our eyes, and take away the veil of unbelief with which the devil may be blinding any of us! mr. m.--are there not many who give an intellectual assent to all these things; and who yet have no power, and no divine life? mr. r.--an intellectual assent is not faith. i have never found anyone who really believed god's word who did not get power in believing it. people may _assent_ to it; but i do not admit that that is believing it. i do not think there is any man or woman here who really believes the gospel of the grace of god, who has not been taught it by the holy ghost. i could easily cross-examine any one of those "intellectual believers" who imagines he believes god, but really does not; and he would break down in a few minutes. mr. m.--for whom, then, did christ die? mr. r.--for "the ungodly." mr. m.--why is salvation obtained by faith? mr. r.--that it might be by grace. "for this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace?" mr. m.--how may a man know if he has eternal life? mr. r.--by not treating god as if he were a liar, when he tells us he has given us eternal life in his son. mr. m.--what is the means by which the new birth we were speaking of is effected? mr. r.--"of his own will begat he us with the _word of truth_." "being _born again_, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the _word of god_ . . . . and this is the word, which by the gospel is preached unto you." "oh, the wondrous love of jesus to redeem us with his blood! through his all-atoning merit, he has brought us near to god: for the boundless grace that saves us we his name will magnify; he is coming in his glory, we shall see him by and by! oh, the wondrous love of jesus to redeem our souls from death! we will thank him, we will praise him, while his mercy lends us breath: we are waiting--only waiting-- till he comes our souls to bear to the home beyond the shadows, in his kingdom over there!" _f. j. crosby_ iii.--mr. moody and mr. radstock. what it is to be converted. mr. moody: christ says, "except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." what is it to be converted? mr. radstock: to be "converted" is to turn to god, who is the only one that can save. we cannot save ourselves even by our religion. therefore, in order to salvation we must turn to god, who alone has the grace, the wisdom, and the power to save. mr. m.--what is it to be born of the spirit? mr. r.--man, by nature, cannot enter into the thoughts of god. he cannot hold communion with god until he has a new nature. the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god: he has no capacity until he has the new life which god will give him by the power of the holy ghost. mr. m.--can he get that to-day if he repents? mr. r.--yes. repentance means a change of mind--a turning away from his own thoughts to hear the voice and the message of god. if we listen to the voice of god and confess our sins, god is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins." mr. m.--to whom are we to confess our sins? mr. r.--when the light of god comes in, we see that we are guilty before him; then we are constrained to go and lay our case before him. if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. mr. m.--there is a passage that says the lord jesus christ bear our sins. in what sense did he bear our sins. mr. r.--the lord jesus christ had really laid to his charge sins which he had never committed. he was punished as if he had been the sinner. therefore on the cross he cried out, "my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?" god was dealing with jesus as if he had really been the guilty one. mr. m.--do we get any help by believing that? mr. r.--when i believe god's testimony, god's witness about jesus, i then can trust myself to god, giving myself to god, god becomes my saviour. mr. m.--have these friends the power to believe? mr. r.--they are commanded to believe. they can believe it just as well as they can believe any other fact, if they only listen to god's voice. but they must get rid of their own thoughts, and listen to god: hearing his voice they will believe. "faith cometh by hearing: and hearing by the word of god." mr. m.--all the sinner has to do is to repose in the promises of god? mr. r.--simply to trust himself to god. mr. m.--what would you say to a man who says he has tried a good many times and failed; and who has become discouraged? mr. r.--that man has probably made a good many resolutions, hoping that he would gradually make himself a christian by going through this or that process, or by doing this or that thing. of course he failed, because he tried to make himself a christian. instead of trying to save himself, let him trust in god, who has pledged his word that every one who believes on the lord jesus christ has at that moment everlasting life. mr. m.--should a man not break off from some of his sins before he comes to god? suppose he swears or has a bad temper, should he not get a little control over his temper, or stop swearing, before he comes to christ? mr. r.--god knows that a man's nature is wrong: therefore he has promised to give a man a new nature. we must therefore go to god, just as a man goes to a physician, because he needs to be cured of some disease. mr. m.--can a drunkard or a blasphemer be saved all at once? mr. r.--paul says: "to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly" bad people, lost people, ruined people--"his faith is counted for righteousness." when he believes god, god becomes his saviour. god is the friend of sinners. mr. m.--what is it to believe god? mr. r.--to take him at his word. mr. m.--do you not think there are a good many here who believe that jesus christ is the saviour of the world; and yet they are not saved? mr. r.--no doubt; because they have not believed for themselves. a man at the time of the deluge, for instance, might have said, "yes, i believe it is a very good ark indeed; and that it will save those who get into it." but it does not follow that he got into it himself. the ark only saved those who went into it. so, when a man trusts in jesus christ for himself, jesus becomes his personal and eternal saviour. mr. m.--what if he should fall into sin after he has believed in christ? mr. r.--"these things write i unto you that ye sin not," says john; "and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father." the good physician will not give up his case because of the disease; he will deal with it. the good shepherd will not turn his poor wandering sheep away; he will go after it, and bring it back. he has promised that he will save his people _from_ their sins. mr. m.--is salvation within the reach of every man here tonight? mr. r.--jesus said, "god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that _whosoever_ believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." mr. m.--but some say they do not feel that; they do not realize it. mr. r.--when they take god at his word, and cast themselves upon him, whether they feel it or not--when they confess jesus christ as their lord--the holy ghost will come as a power to make them realize it. for instance, a man at the time of the deluge might have stood outside the ark, and said, "i cannot realize how this ark will lift me up above the waters." but if he were inside when the flood came he would realize it. the sinner must believe first, and have his experience afterwards. a man is told that a certain train will take him to edinburgh. he has never been there: he does not understand about this particular train; and he cannot realize that it will take him there. but he knows that he may trust the friend who told him; so he gets into the train. then he realizes that he is in the train; by and by he will be able to realize that he is in edinburgh. mr. m.--would you advise people to come to god as they are, with their unfeeling, treacherous, hard hearts--with any kind of heart? mr. r.--god has provided this salvation for lost sinners--those who are thoroughly bad and corrupt. it is for such that god has shown his salvation, his love, his grace. mr. m.--what would you say to any one who thinks he has no power to believe? mr. r.--he _has_ the power to believe. probably he is trying to believe something about himself; to feel something about himself instead of giving credit to god--he is not asked to realize this or that about himself, but to believe the faithful god. mr. m.--some say they have no power to overcome a besetting sin? mr. r.--jesus came proclaiming liberty to the captives. as we read in the beautiful words of the church of england prayer-book: "though we be tied and bound by the chains of our sin, let the pitifulness of thy mercy save us." jesus christ takes the prisoners of sin and breaks off their chains. mr. m.--there is something said about confessing christ. would you advise any one who wants to become a christian to start right here by confessing christ with the mouth? mr. r.--god is already on your side, whoever you are. christ is immanuel--god with us and for us. he is already on your side, whether you believe it or not. now it is for you to decide whether he shall be your saviour. he says that if you own him as lord--who is now the one rejected by the world--he is responsible to be your saviour from that moment. humanity in the city. * * * * * transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible; please see list of printing issues at the end of the text. * * * * * [illustration: e. h. chapin] humanity in the city. by the rev. e. h. chapin. new york: de witt & davenport, publishers, & nassau street. boston: abel tompkins, & cornhill. * * * * * entered according to act of congress, in the year , by de witt & davenport, in the clerk's office of the u. s. district court for the southern district of new york g. w. alexander, binder, spruce street. w. h. tinson. stereotyper, beekman street. taws, russell & co. printers, no. beekman street. * * * * * contents. page i. the lessons of the street ii. man and machinery iii. the strife for precedence iv. the symbols of the republic v. the springs of social life vi. the allies of the tempter vii. the children of the poor viii. the help of religion * * * * * preface. a volume like the present hardly requires the formality of a preface. it is the continuation of a series already published, and, like that, aims at applying the highest standard of morality and religion to the phases of every-day life. in order, however, that the view with which these discourses have been prepared may not be misconceived, i wish merely to say that i am far from supposing that these are the only themes to be preached, or that they constitute the highest class of practical subjects, and shall be sorry if in any way they seem to imply a neglect of that interior and holy life which is the spring not only of right affections, but of clear perception and sturdy, every-day duty. i hope, on the contrary, that the very aspects of this busy city life--the very problems which start out of it--will tend to convince men of the necessity of this inward and regenerating principle. nevertheless, i maintain that these topics have a place in the circle of the preacher's work, and he need entertain no fear of desecrating his pulpit by secular themes, who seeks to consecrate all things in any way involving the action and the welfare of men, by the spirit and aims of his religion who, while he preached the gospel, likewise fed the hungry, healed the sick, and touched the issues of every temporal want. i may have failed in the method, i trust i have not in the purpose. e. h. c. _new york, may, ._ the lessons of the street. humanity in the city. discourse i. the lessons of the street. wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets.--proverbs, i. . the great truths of religion may be communicated to the mind and the heart in two ways--by abstract treatment, and by illustration. it must be taken up in its absolute connection with god, and with our own souls. in solitary meditation, in self-examination, and in prayer, we shall learn the intrinsic claims which faith and duty have upon reason and conscience. but we cannot proceed far before we discover the necessity of some _symbol_, by which these abstract principles may be made distinct to us. and, looking around for this purpose, we find that all the phases of existence are full of spiritual illustration--full of religious suggestion and argument. thus our saviour pronounced his great doctrines of eternal life, and of personal religion, and then turned to the world for a commentary. under his teaching nature became an illuminated missal, lettered by the lilies of the field, and pencilled with hues that played through the leaves of olivet. the wild birds, in their flight, bore upward the beautiful lesson of providence, and the significance of the kingdom of heaven was contained in a mustard-seed. by no abstruse reasoning did he make his instructions so vivid to his disciples, and so fresh to ourselves. but he awoke the conviction of moral need, and repentance, and divine love, by drawing from instances with which they had been familiar all their lives--the procedures of government, the transactions of business, the labors of the husbandman, and the incidents of home. and the result is essentially the same, whether we start with the religious truth to find some illustration in the world around us, or from some aspect of human life, or nature, extract a religious truth. nor need this always be sharply obvious. it is only necessary that our point of view be sufficiently elevated to throw a spiritual light upon things, and to reveal their moral relations; for, often, our understandings are cleared, and our hearts made better, by the mere scope and tendency of such observations. with this conviction, i called your attention, last winter, to some of the "aspects of city life," and with the same view, i wish now to address you, for a few sunday evenings, on the conditions of humanity in the city, in which series i shall endeavor not only to present new topics of interest, but to urge more explicitly some points, which, in the afore-mentioned discourses, i merely touched upon. the essential meaning of the personification in the text is in accordance, i think, with the general tenor of remark which i have just been making. for i understand it to mean, that everything is instructive, that even in the common ways of life the most important truths, and the profoundest moral and religious significance, are contained. and the words before us, also, specifically indicate the subject upon which i wish to speak this evening, for they declare that "wisdom... uttereth her voice in the streets." the street through which you walk every day; with whose sights and sounds you have been familiar, perhaps, all your lives; is it all so common-place that it yields you no deep lessons,--deep and fresh, it may be, if you would only look around with discerning eyes? engaged with your own special interests, and busy with monotonous details, you may not heed it; and yet there is something finer than the grandest poetry, even in the mere spectacle of these multitudinous billows of life, rolling down the long, broad, avenue. it is an inspiring lyric, this inexhaustible procession, in the misty perspective ever lost, ever renewed, sweeping onward between its architectural banks to the music of innumerable wheels; the rainbow colors, the silks, the velvets, the jewels, the tatters, the plumes, the faces--no two alike--shooting out from unknown depths, and passing away for ever--perpetually sweeping onward in the fresh air of morning, under the glare of noon, under the fading, flickering light, until the shadow climbs the tallest spire, and night comes with revelations and mysteries of its own. and yet this changeful tide of activity is no mere lyric. it is an epic, rather, unfolding in its progress the contrasts, the conflicts, the heroisms, the failures,--in one word, the great and solemn issues of human life. and a few comprehensive lessons from that "wisdom which uttereth her voice in the streets," may prove a fitting introduction, from which we can pass to consider more specific conditions of humanity in the city. taking up the subject in this light, i observe that the first lesson of the street is in the illustration which it affords us of the _diversities of human conditions_. the most superficial eye recognizes this. a city is, in one respect, like a high mountain; the latter is an epitome of the physical globe; for its sides are belted by products of every zone, from the tropical luxuriance that clusters around its base, to its arctic summit far up in the sky. so is the city an epitome of the social world. all the belts of civilization intersect along its avenues. it contains the products of every moral zone. it is cosmopolitan, not only in a national, but in a spiritual, sense. here you may find not only the finest saxon culture, but the grossest barbaric degradation. there you pass a form of caucasian development, the fine-cut features, the imperial forehead, the intelligent eye, the confident tread, the true port and stature of a man. but who is this that follows in his track; under the same national sky, surrounded by the same institutions, and yet with those pinched features, that stunted form, that villainous look; is it papuan, bushman, or carib? fitly representing either of these, though born in a christian city, and bearing about not only the stamp of violated physical law, but of moral neglect and baseness. and no one needs to be told that there are savages in new york, as well as in the islands of the sea. savages, not in gloomy forests, but under the strength of gas-light, and the eyes of policemen; with war-whoops and clubs very much the same, and garments as fantastic, and souls as brutal, as any of their kindred at the antipodes. china, india, africa, will you not find their features in some circles of the social world right around you? idolatry! you cannot find any more gross, any more cruel, on the broad earth, than within the area of a mile around this pulpit. dark minds from which god is obscured; deluded souls, whose fetish is the dice-box or the bottle; apathetic spirits, steeped in sensual abomination, unmoved by a moral ripple, soaking in the slump of animal vitality. false gods, more hideous, more awful, than moloch or baal; worshipped with shrieks, worshipped with curses, with the hearth-stone for the bloody altar, and the drunken husband for the immolating priest, and women and children for the victims. i have no terms of respect too high for the brave and conscientious men who carry the gospel, and their own lives, in their hands to distant shores. but, surely, they need not go thus far to _seek_ for the benighted and the debased. they may find there a wider extent of heathenism, but none more intense than that which prevails close by the school and the church. the richest products of modern progress and christian culture grow on the verge of barren wastes, and jungles of violence, and "the region of the shadow of death." in the street, however, not only do we behold these different degrees of civilization, but those problems of diversity, which the highest form of existing civilization developes--the diversities of extreme poverty, and extreme wealth, for instance. here sits the beggar, sick and pinched with cold; and there goes a man of no better flesh and blood, and no more authentic charter of soul, wrapped in comfort, and actually bloated with luxury. there issues the whine of distress, beside the glittering carriage-wheels. there, amidst the rush of gaiety; the busy, selfish whirl; half naked, shivering, with her bare feet on the icy pavement, stands the little girl, with the shadow of an experience upon her that has made her preternaturally old, and it may be, driven the angel from her face. still, we cannot believe that above that wintry heaven which stretches over her, there is less regard for the poor, neglected child, than for that rosy belt of infant happiness which girdles and gladdens ten thousand hearths. and here, too, through the brilliant street, and the broad light of day, walks purity, enshrined in the loveliest form of womanhood. and along that same street by night, attended by fitting shadows, strolls womanhood discrowned, clothed with painted shame, yet, even in the springs of that guilty heart not utterly quenched. we render just homage to the one, we pour scorn upon the other; but, could we trace back the lines of circumstance, and inquire why the one stands guarded with such sweet respect, and why the other has fallen, we might raise problems with which we cannot tax providence, which we may not lay altogether to the charge of the condemned, but for which we might challenge an answer from society. and, if we would ascertain the practical purport of this lesson of human diversity which is so conspicuous in the street--the meaning of these sharp contrasts of refinement and grossness, intelligence and ignorance, respectability and guilt--we only ask a question that thousands have asked before us. and yet, it is possible to surmise the purpose of these diversities. we know, for one thing, that out of them come some of the noblest instances of character and of achievement. ignorance and crime and poverty and vice, stand in fearful contrast to knowledge and integrity and wealth and purity; but they likewise constitute the dark background against which the virtues of human life stand out in radiant relief; virtues developed by the struggle which they create; virtues which seem impossible without their co-existence. for, whence issues any such thing as _virtue_, except out of the temptation and antagonism of vice? how could _charity_ ever have appeared in the world, were there no dark ways to be trodden by its bright feet, and no suffering and sadness to require its aid? i look at these asylums, these hospitals, these ragged schools--a zodiac of beautiful charities, girdling all this selfishness and sin--i look at these monuments which humanity will honor when war shall be but a legend, and laurels have withered to dust; and when i think what they have grown out of, and why they stand here, i regard them as so many sublime way-marks by which providence unfolds its purposes among men, and by which men trace out the plan of god. and then, again, perhaps this problem of human diversity presses heaviest where civilization is the most advanced, in order that men may be more sharply aroused to seek some practical solution. it is an encouraging sign when an evil begins to be intensely felt, and the demand for relief becomes desperate. the civilization of our time is imperfect; involves many incongruities; perhaps creates some evils; but that it is an improved civilization, is evinced by the fact that it is _self-conscious_; for perception is the necessary antecedent of endeavor and success. the contrasts of human condition, then, that unfold themselves in the crowded street, may teach us our duty and our responsibility in lessening social inequality and need. but a solution of this problem, clearer perhaps than any other, appears when we consider another lesson of the street; a lesson which requires us to look a little deeper, but which, when we do look, is no less evident than these diversities. that lesson unfolds the essential _unity_ of humanity. for, we find that the differences between men are _formal_ rather than _real_; that, with various outward conditions, they pass through the same great trials; and that the scales which seem to hang uneven at the surface, and to be tipped this way and that by the currents of worldly fortune, are very nearly balanced in the depths of the inner life. we are shallow judges of the happiness or the misery of others, if we estimate it by any marks that distinguish them from ourselves; if, for instance, we say that because they have more money they are happier, or because they live more meagrely they are more wretched. for, men are allied by much more than they differ. the rich man, rolling by in his chariot, and the beggar, shivering in his rags, are allied by much more than they differ. it is safer, therefore, to estimate our neighbor's real condition by what we find in our own lot, than by what we do not find there. and now, see into what an essential unity this criterion draws the jostling, divergent masses in yonder street! each man there, like all the rest, finds life to be a discipline. each has his separate form of discipline; but it bears upon the kindred spirit that is in every one of us, and strikes upon motives, sympathies, faculties, that run through the common humanity. surely, you will not calculate any _essential_ difference from mere appearances; for the light laughter that bubbles on the lip often mantles over brackish depths of sadness, and the serious look may be the sober veil that covers a divine peace. you know that the bosom _can_ ache beneath diamond brooches, and how many blithe hearts dance under coarse wool. but i do not allude merely to these accidental contrasts. i mean that about equal measures of trial, equal measures of what men call good and evil, are allotted to all; enough, at least, to prove the identity of our humanity, and to show that we are all subjects of the same great plan. you say that the poor man who passes yonder, carrying his burden, has a hard lot of it, and it may be he has; but the rich man who brushes by him has a hard lot of it too--just as hard for _him_, just as well fitted to discipline him for the great ends of life. he has his money to take care of; a pleasant occupation, you may think; but, after all, an _occupation_, with all the strain and anxiety of labor, making more hard work for him, day and night, perhaps, than his neighbor has who digs ditches or thumps a lapstone. and it is quite likely that he feels poorer than the poor man, and, if he ever becomes self-conscious, has great reason to feel meaner. and then, he has his rivalries, his competitions, his troubles of caste and etiquette, so that the merchant, in his sumptuous apartments, comes to the same essential point, "sweats, and bears fardels," as well as his brother in the garret; tosses on his bed with surfeit, or perplexity, while the other is wrapped in peaceful slumber; and, if he is one who recognizes the moral ends of life, finds himself called upon to contend with his own heart, and to fight with peculiar temptations. and thus the rich man and the poor man, who seem so unequal in the street, would find but a thin partition between them, could they, as they might, detect one another kneeling on the same platform of spiritual endeavor, and sending up the same prayers to the same eternal throne. but, say you, "here is one who is returning to a home of destitution, of misery; where the light of the natural day is almost shut out, but in which brood the deeper shadows of despair." and yet, in many a splendid mansion you will find a more fearful destitution, a dearth of affections, killed by envy, jealousy, distrust; stifled by glittering formalities; a brood of evil passions that mock the splendor, and darken the magnificent walls. the measure of joy, too, is distributed with the same impartiality as the measure of woe. the child's grief throbs against the round of its little heart as heavily as the man's sorrow; and the one finds as much delight in his kite or drum, as the other in striking the springs of enterprise or soaring on the wings of fame. after all, happiness is the rule, not the exception, even in the hearts that beat in the crowded city; and its great elements are as common as the air, and the sunshine, and free movement, and good health. and what the fortunate may seem to gain in variety of methods, may only be unconscious devices to simulate or recover that natural relish which others have never lost. and no one doubts that the great dispensations of life, the events that make epochs in our fleeting years, cleave through all the strata of outward difference, and lay bare the core of our one humanity. sickness! does it not make dives look very much like lazarus, and show our common weakness, and reveal the common marvel of this "harp of thousand strings?" and sorrow! it veils all faces, and bows all forms alike, and sends the same shudder through the frame, and casts the same darkness upon the walls, and peals forth in the same dirge of maternal agony by the dead boy's cradle in the sumptuous chamber, and the baby's last sleep on its bed of straw. and death! how wonderfully it makes them all alike who in the street wore such various garments, and had such distinct aims, and were whirled apart in such different orbits! ah! our essential humanity comes out in those composed forms and still features. those divergent currents have carried them out upon the same placid sea at last; and the same solemn light streams upon the clasped hands and the uplifted faces. we don't mind the drapery so much then. it seems a very superficial matter beside the silent and starless mystery that enfolds them all. in what i have thus said i do not mean to maintain that outward conditions are nothing. i think they are a great deal; and we do right in striving to improve them; in escaping the evil, and seeking to secure the good that pertains to them. but, i repeat, when we come to the essential humanity, to the real discipline and substance of life, we find the same great features; and so this lesson of the street may help explain the problem suggested by the other; may reconcile each of us to our condition in the crowd, and direct our attention to substantial results. but, again, the street, with its processions and activities, teaches us that much in human life is merely _phenomenal_, merely _appears_. we enter into this truth by a very common train of observation. we know how much is put on purposely for the public gaze, and has no other intention than to be seen; how hollow are many of the smiles, and gay looks, and smooth decencies. and even the complexion of some, with its red and white, is more unsubstantial than all the rest; for it is in danger of being washed away by the first shower. it is strange to meet people whose personal significance in life is that of a shop window exhibiting lace and jewelry; strange to encounter men in whose place we might substitute a well-dressed effigy, and they would hardly be missed. of course appearances should be attended to, and are good in their place. it is right that we should honor society by our best looks and ways. but it is not merely ridiculous, it is sad, to think how much in the street, where humanity exhibits all its phases, is appearance and but little else. but dress and manners are not all that is phenomenal in human life. these men and women themselves, this streaming crowd, these brick walls and stately pinnacles, those that pursue and the things that are pursued, are only appearances. it may be profitable for us to stand apart from this multitude, this river of living forms, and think in how short a time it all will have passed away; how short a time since, and it was not! a little while ago, and this rich and populous city was a green island, and our beautiful bay clasped it in its silver arms like an emerald. the wilderness stood here, and the child of the forest thought of it as a prepared abiding place for himself and for his people for ever. the red man has gone; the wild woods have vanished; and these structures, and vehicles, and busy crowds, have come into their places magically, like the new picture in a dissolving view. but are these forms of life, is your presence here or mine, any more substantial than those that have sunk away? nay, all this splendid civilization, what is it but a sparkling ripple in the calm eternity of god? dwellings, stores, banks, churches, streets, and the restless multitudes, are but forms of life,--as it were a rack of cloud drifting across the mirror of absolute being. that which seems to you substantial is only spectral. and as the dress of the fop, and the smile of the coquette, is merely an appearance; so the wealth for which men strain in eager chase, and the fabrics which pride builds up, the anvils on which labor strikes its mighty blows, and the body to which so much is devoted, and which absorbs so much care, are but appearances also. while that which may seem to you as a shadow--the spiritual substratum of life, the basis of those spiritual laws which run through all our conditions--is the only abiding substance. if we only look in this light, my friends, upon the continuous spectacle of human movement and human change, we shall find that "wisdom... uttereth her voice in the streets." old as the thought may be, in the rush of the great crowd it will come to us fresh and impressively, that all this is but a form of spiritual and eternal being. a day in the city is like life itself. out of unconscious slumber into the brilliant morning and the thick activity we come. but, by-and-by, the heaving mass breaks into units, and one by one dissolves into the shadow of the night. two cities grow up side by side--the city in which men appear, the city into which they vanish; the city whose houses and goods they possess for a little while and then leave behind them, and the city whose white monuments just show us the pinnacles of their estates in the eternal world. the busy, diversified crowd that rolls through the streets--it is only an appearance! it is a ceaseless march of emigration. in a little while, the names in this year's directory may be read in greenwood. but we must not rest with this as the final lesson of the street. it is only the form of life that is transient and phenomenal; but the _life_ itself is here, also--here, in these flashing eyes, and heaving breasts, and active limbs. these conditions, however transient, involve the great interest of humanity; and that lends the deepest significance to these conditions. the interest of humanity! which gives importance to all it touches, and transforms nature into history; which imparts dignity to the rudest workshop, and the most barren shore, and the humblest grave--this permits us to draw no mean or discouraging conclusions from the achievements and the changes of the multitudes around us. it may do for the skeptic, who sees nothing in existence but these forms of things; who sees nothing but the limited phenomena of our present state, and thinks that includes all; it may do for him to croak over the transitoriness of life, and call it a trivial game. but it is _not_ trivial; and there is no spot where man acts, there is nothing that he does, that is insignificant. perhaps you have a quick eye for the foibles of people, and can detect their vanities, and meannesses, and laughable conceits. if you employ this gift to correct a bad habit, or expose a falsehood, it is well enough. but if it induces you to look upon things merely with the skill of a satirist, then let me say, there is no "ludicrous side" to life; there is nothing in human conduct that is simply absurd. the least transaction has a moral cast, and every word and act reveals spiritual relations. the interest of man can never be thrown into insignificance by his conditions; these draw interest from him. and, whatever his post in the world, however limited or broad his sphere of observation, for _him_ life is real, and has intense relations. we must not stand so far apart from the crowd as to occupy the position of mere spectators, and regard these men and women as so many mechanical figures in a panorama. we must look through the depths of their experience into their own souls, and through the depths of that experience again upon the world, beholding it as it appears to the beggar, and the lonely woman, and the child of vice and crime, and the hero, and the saint, and as it falls with intense yet diverse refractions upon all these multiform angles of personality. so shall we learn to cherish a solemn and tender interest in the dear humanity around us, and feel the arteries of sympathy which connect it, in all its conditions, with our own hearts. and, as we return homeward from our study of the street, it may be with our irritation, and prejudice, and selfishness softened down; with a larger love flowing out towards the least, and even the worst; realizing the spiritual ties that make us one, and the infinite fatherhood that encircles us all; perhaps suggestions will come to us that have been best expressed in the words of the poet-- "let us move slowly through the street, filled with an ever-shifting train, amid the sound of steps that beat the murmuring walks like autumn rain. "how fast the flitting figures come! the mild, the fierce, the stony face; some bright with thoughtless smiles, and some where secret tears have left their trace. * * * * * "each, where his tasks or pleasures call they pass, and heed each other not. there is, who heeds, who holds them all, in his large love and boundless thought. "these struggling tides of life that seem, in wayward, aimless course to tend, are eddies of the mighty stream that rolls to its appointed end." man and machinery. discourse ii. man and machinery. for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.--ezekiel, i. . whatever may have been the significance of the sublime vision from which i have extracted those words, i do not think that their essential meaning is perverted when i apply them to the subject which comes before us this evening. i am not aware of any sentence that expresses more concisely the relation which i would indicate between _man_ and _machinery_; between those great agents of human achievement and the living intelligence which works in them and by them. and though a divine spirit moved in those flashing splendors which burned before the eyes of the prophet, is it not also a divine spirit that mingles in every great manifestation of humanity, and that moves even in the action of man, the worker, toiling among innumerable wheels? perhaps if we were called upon to name some one feature of the present age which distinguishes it from all other ages, and endows it with a special wonder and glory, we should call it the age of machinery. we trust our age is unfolding something better than material triumphs. the results of past thought and past endeavor are pouring through it in expanding currents of knowledge, liberty, and brotherhood. but the great _agents_ in this diffusion of ideas and principles are those vehicles of iron, and those messengers of lightning, which compress the huge globe into a neighborhood, and bring all its interests within the system of a daily newspaper. like the generations which have preceded us, we enter into the labors of others, and inherit the fruits of their effort. but these powerful instruments, condensing time and space, endow a single half-century with the possibilities of a cycle. if we take the period comprehending the american and the french revolutions as a dividing line, and look both sides the chasm, we shall discover the difference of a thousand years. remarkable for brilliant achievements in every department of physics, ours well deserves to be called the age of _science_, also. but it is still more remarkable, for the application of the most majestic and subtle constituents of the universe to the most familiar uses; the wild forces of matter have been caught and harnessed. go into any factory, and see what fine workmen we have made of the great elements around us. see how magnificent nature has humbled itself, and works in shirt-sleeves. without food, without sweat, without weariness, it toils all day at the loom, and shouts lustily in the sounding wheels. how diligently the iron fingers pick and sort, and the muscles of steel retain their faithful gripe, and enormous energies run to and fro with an obedient click; while forces that tear the arteries of the earth and heave volcanoes, spin the fabric of an infant's robe, and weave the flowers in a lady's brocade. i think, then, we may appropriately call it--the age of machinery. it is not a peculiarity of the city, but, rather, seeks room to stretch itself out; and so you may perceive its smoky signals hovering over a thousand vallies, and the echo of its mighty pulses throbbing among the loneliest hills. nevertheless, it is sufficiently developed here to illustrate the conditions of humanity in the city, and this fact, together with the general interest of the subject, is my warrant for taking it up in the present discourse. and my remarks must necessarily be of a general cast, as i have no room for the statistics, and details, and various discussions which grow out of the theme. and the key-note of all that i shall say, at the present time, is really in the text itself--"for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels." in the first place, these words suggest the relations of _use_ and _help_ between man and machinery. upon surveying these numerous and complicated instruments, the thought that most readily occurs, perhaps, is that of the _necessity_ of machinery. the very first step that man takes, out of the condition of infant weakness and animal rudeness, must be accomplished by the aid of some implement. he alone, of all beings upon the face of the earth, is obliged to _invent_, and is capable of endless invention. the necessity for this springs out, and is a prophecy of, his destiny. the moment he was seen fashioning the first tool, however imperfect, that moment was indicated the difference between himself and the brute, and the control he was destined to gain over the world about him. to fulfil this destiny, he confronts nature with naked hands; and yet, there is the earth to plough, the harvest to reap, the torrent to bridge, the ocean to cross; there are all the results to achieve which constitute the difference between the primitive man, and the civilization of the nineteenth century. the machine, then--the agent which links the gratification to the want--is born of necessity. but we must make a distinction between those instruments which are positively essential, and those, for instance, which merely answer the demands of luxury or indolence. and this brings up the question of the _comparative_ uses of machinery--the foremost place being assigned to those implements which are absolutely indispensable to man's existence upon the earth. but between this absolute degree, and that of frivolous invention, there are countless grades of utility. and the question of usefulness must be decided according to the _standard_ of utility which we apply. if bare subsistence is assumed to be the end of man upon the earth, most of our modern inventions are useless. we can travel without a locomotive, and procure a meal without a cooking-range. the moment we rise above the grossest conception of human existence, the test of usefulness becomes enlarged, and we can make a safe decision upon whatever increases man's comfort, adds to his ability, or inspires his culture. in this way, new things _become_ indispensable. that which was not necessary _à priori_, _is_ necessary now, in a fresh stage of development, and in connection with circumstances that have sprung up and formed around it. that which was not necessary to man the savage, living on roots and raw fish, is necessary to man the civilized, with new possibilities opening before him, and new faculties unfolded within him. the printing-press was not absolutely necessary to nimrod, or to julius cæsar, but is it not absolutely necessary now? strike it out of existence to-day, and what would be the condition of the world to-morrow? you would have to tear away with it all that has grown up around it, and become assimilated to it--the textures of the world's growth for three hundred years. paul moved the old world without a telegraph, and columbus found a new one without a steamship. but see how essential these agents are to the present condition of civilization. how many derangements among the wheels of business, and the plans of affection, if merely a snow-drift blocks the cars, or a thunder-storm snaps the wires! our estimate of necessity, and, therefore, of utility, must be formed according to present conditions, and the legitimate demand that rises out of them; these conditions themselves being the necessary developments of society and of the individual. but some of these, you may say, are the demands of luxury, of indolent ease, of man setting nature to work and lapsing in self-indulgence. to some degree this result may grow out of the present state of things; as some portion of evil will follow in the sweep of an immense good. but what is the precise sentence to be passed upon this prevalent luxury? of course, admitting the evil--which is apparent--i maintain that there is a great deal of good in it; that it is inextricably associated with much real refinement and progress. men are accustomed to speak of the simplicity and purity of past times, and to compare, with a sigh, the good old era of the stage-coach and the spinning-wheel with these days of whizzing machinery, aladdin palaces, and california gold. but the core of logic that lies within this rind of sentiment forces a conclusion that i can by no means admit, the conclusion that the world is going backward. i never knew of an epoch that was not thought by some then living to be the worst that ever was, and which did not seem to stand in humiliating contrast with some blessed period gone by. but the golden age of christianity is in the future, not in the past. those old ages are like the landscape that shows best in purple distance, all verdant and smooth and bathed in mellow light. but could we go back and touch the reality, we should find many a swamp of disease, and rough and grimy paths of rock and mire. those were good old times, it may be thought, when baron and peasant feasted together. but the one could not read, and made his mark with a sword-pommel; and the other was not held so dear as a favorite dog. pure and simple times were those of our grandfathers,--it may be. possibly not so pure as we may think, however, and with a simplicity ingrained with some bigotry and a good deal of conceit. the fact is, we are bad enough, imperfect, not because we are growing worse, but because we are yet far from the best. i think, however, with lord bacon, that _these_ are "the old times." the world is older now than it ever was, and it contains the best life and fruition of the past. and this special condition of luxury is a growth out of the past, and is the necessary concomitant of much that is good. opening new channels for industry, it furnishes occupation for thousands; while, in many of its phases, it indicates a refined culture, and a sphere elevated above the imperative wants of existence. it is no proof of the disadvantages of machinery, therefore, to say that it ministers to something beside absolute bodily need, and delivers man from a slow and exhausting drudgery. so far as it helps us to control nature, and increases the facilities of human intercourse, and diffuses general comfort and elegance, and affords a respite from incessant physical toil, so far it is an agent and a sign of progress. but, it may be said again, that it is the agent of a selfish and exclusive power, enriching a few and injuring many. and it cannot be denied that grave problems grow out of the relations between machinery and the laboring classes. every little while, some new invention is thrust forward, which takes a portion of labor out of the hands of flesh and transfers it to hands of iron. it is not enough to say that mankind in general is benefited by these inanimate agents, which do the work of the world so much more rapidly and powerfully. this may answer as an argument against a monopoly of any one kind of mechanical force. it may be a reason for using cars instead of steamboats, and balloons rather than railroads. the general good must be advanced, whatever the damage to private interests. but the present case brings up the question whether machinery is a general good at all; whether the effect of its introduction into almost every department of labor, will not be felt in the destitution of millions. and, upon this point, i observe, that, like all other great revolutions, the immediate effect may be such as has been suggested. but the final result will be beneficial, and such a result may be traced out even now. for instance, this clogging of old departments of labor will precipitate men upon fresh ones, and upon those that have been too much neglected. it will tend to introduce woman to branches of industry perfectly suited to her, but which have been too exclusively occupied by the other sex, and to turn the attention of robust men to those great fields of productive toil which are as yet but little improved. it may drive them from the dependence, the crowded competition, the unwholesome life of the city, into the broad fields and open air and the sovereignty of the soil. and if this immense intrusion of machinery has only this result, of equalizing the balance against production, we shall have one solution of the problem. and there will be another solution, if this phalanx of mechanism shall lift the mass of men above the occasions of coarse material drudgery into other activities, which doubtless will be thrown open, and shall allow more leisure for spiritual culture. but in this, and all other great questions affecting human welfare, i throw myself back, finally, upon the tokens of providential design. the world moves forward, not backward; and the great developments of time are for good, not evil. by machinery, man proceeds with his dominion over nature. he assimilates it to himself; it becomes, so to speak, a part of himself. every great invention is the enlargement of his own personality. iron and fire become blood and muscle, and gravitation flows in the current of his will. his pulses beat in the steamship, throbbing through the deep, while the fibres of his heart and brain inclose the earth in an electric network of thought and sympathy. that which was given to help man, will not hinder nor hurt him. "for the spirit of the living creature is in the wheels." i observe, in the second place, that the words of the text accord with the testimony which machinery bears to the _dignity of man_. all these great inventions--these implements of marvellous skill and power--prove that the inventor, or the worker, himself is _not_ a machine. i know of nothing which gives me so forcible an impression of the worth and superiority of mind, of its alliance with the creative intelligence, as the exhibition of an ingenious piece of mechanism. i have stood with wonder before such a specimen, and seen it work with all the precision of a reflecting creature. lifting the most tremendous weights, cleaving the most solid masses, performing the nicest tasks, as though a living intellect were in it, informing it and directing its power. i hardly know of any achievement that stands as a higher witness for the human mind. the great poem that bursts in a flood of inspiration upon the soul of genius, and opens the realms of immortal beauty, may lift us to a nobler plane of endeavor. the heroic act of toil or martyrdom for principle, certainly has a loftier, because it is a moral, grandeur. but as an illustration of the _creativeness_ of man's intellect--of its wondrous capability--of its alliance with that attribute of the divine nature which is evident in the fibres of the grass-blade and the march of the galaxy--i know of nothing more striking than this piece of mechanism, which is the product of the most profound and patient thought, the harmonizing of antagonistic forces, the combination of the most abstruse details, fitted to the remotest exigencies, and working just as the inventive mind meant it should, and just as it was set a-going, as if that mind were presiding over it, were in it, though it is now far distant, or has vanished from the earth. that mind is immortal! that nature, which is common to all men, transcends any shape of matter and is superior to mechanism. and it may be necessary to say this, necessary to say that man, who is helped by machinery, is _separate_ from it. it is mind that is thus involved with matter. the spirit of a living creature that is in the wheels. it may be necessary to say this, my friends, and to say it frequently, lest the vast mechanical achievements of our time seduce us into a mere mechanical life. i do not think that the deepest question is, whether machinery will multiply to such an extent as to snatch the bread from the mouths of living men; but whether men, with all the possibilities of their nature, will not become absorbed in that which supplies them with bread alone? i have just expressed my admiration for the genius of the great inventor. nor can i honor too highly the faithful and industrious mechanic--the man who fills up his chink in the great economy by patiently using his hammer or his wheel. for, he _does_ something. if he only sews a welt, or planes a knot, he helps build up the solid pyramid of this world's welfare. while there are those who, exhibiting but little use while living, might, if embalmed, serve the same purpose as those forms of ape and ibis _inside_ the egyptian caverns--serve to illustrate the shapes and idolatries of human conceit. at any rate, there is no doubt of the essential nobility of that man who pours into life the honest vigor of his toil, over those who compose this feathery foam of fashion that sweeps along broadway; who consider the insignia of honor to consist in wealth and indolence; and who, ignoring the family history, paint coats of arms to cover up the leather aprons of their grandfathers. i shall not be misunderstood then, when, making a distinction in behalf of the mechanic by profession, i say that no man should be a mere mechanic in _soul_. in other words, no man should be bound up in a routine of material ends and uses. he should not be a mechanic, working exclusively in a dead system, but always the architect of a living ideal. and surrounded, astonished, served and enriched as we are by these splendid legions of mechanism, the danger is that material achievement will seem to us the _supreme_ achievement; that all life will become machinery; and the higher interests of being, and the great firmament of immortality, be eclipsed by these flashing wheels. we are in danger of being drawn away from the sanctities of the inner life and the still work of the soul, by this maelstrom of excitement and power. no religious man can help asking, and asking anxiously, whether the spirit of devotion is as deep and fresh, whether spiritual communion with god is as direct and constant, in this whirl and roar, and marvellous achievement, as they were in times bearing less evidently the signs of material progress. for, that which merely gives us a stronger grasp of the world around us, and sends us along the level of nature, is not the most genuine element of progress; but that which elevates our moral plane and enriches the great deep of our spiritual being. the steamship and telegraph are not absolute tokens of this progress, but the moral earnestness and the christian charity that work through them are; and these must spring up in hearts that are not merely adjusted to the world, but lifted above it--that are not so occupied by mere machinery as to neglect the living streams of an inward and devout culture. but, for another reason,--or as an extension of the same reason,--we need to realize the truth that man is separate from and superior to machinery. it is because, upon a practical recognition of this truth depends the just action of all who control the interests of labor, and, so to speak, the lives and souls of the laborers. if we should beware of an influence that would render us _mere_ mechanics in our own higher nature, we should likewise remove anything that makes others mere machines, presenting for us no other consideration than the amount of work they can perform for us, and with how little care and cost. i cannot now enter into the great questions that spring up here concerning the relations of capital and labor, and of the employer and the employed. i only observe that these are among the deepest questions of the time: questions which will be heard, which must be discussed, and practically answered. and they who by plans and experiments, however visionary they may seem, however abortive they may prove, are trying to solve this problem, are much wiser in their generation than those who content themselves with cutaneous palliatives and a stolid conservatism. but i maintain now, that back of all these considerations stands this truism,--that man is not a machine; that the being who toils in the factory, the furnace, the dark mine underground, is one who needs and hopes and suffers and dies, as sinews of iron and fabrics of brass cannot. "the spirit of a living creature is in the wheels." a cry for justice, for free action, for spiritual opportunity, comes not from the roaring engine or the dizzy loom, but out from the midst of those who are endowed with the sensitiveness and the moral possibilities that belong to humanity, and humanity alone. set in motion the grandest piece of mechanism ever conceived by human genius, and still there is infinite difference between it and the poorest drudge that bears god's image,--between it and any human claim. it must have been a noble spectacle, a few weeks since, to have seen that great ship[a] sail out of port, stretching its proud beak over the sea, and with thundering exultation trampling its sapphire floor. one might have followed its wake with a glistening eye, and said to himself--"there is the great symbol of human progress, there is the consummation of man's triumph over nature! the long results of ages are condensed in that fabric of strength and beauty. man has compelled the forest, and ravished the mine, and converted the stream, and chained the fire; and now, with the eye of science and the hand of skill, he rides in this triumphal chariot, making a swift, obedient pathway of the deep!" but when that dark day burst upon them, and nature with one angry sweep transformed that splendid palace into a floating death-chamber; when ocean lifted up this triumph of man's skill, and shook it like a toy; the interest which hung over that awful desolation--the interest to which your hearts flow out with painful sympathy to-night--was in nothing that man had achieved, but in humanity itself. all the workmanship, all the material splendor, all the skill, were nothing compared with one heart beating amidst that tempest; compared with one groan that rose from that sea of agony, and then was silent for ever. [footnote a: this discourse was delivered just after the tidings of the loss of the san francisco, in december, .] and, again, when i consider the conduct of that gallant captain who, day by day, rode by the side of the shuddering wreck, and in slippery peril maintained the royalty of his manhood, and sent a brother's cheer and a brother's help through the storm; when i think of that noble achievement where the stars and stripes and the cross of st. george were lost and blended in the light of universal humanity; i say to myself--how does an act like this shed light upon a thousand instances of human depravity! what is any material triumph compared to this moral beauty! and what is the great distinction between rags and coronets, between senates and workshops, when in the breast of every man, and everywhere, there is the possibility of such heroism, such charity, and such splendid performance! and so, my friends, turning from this specific illustration, and looking through the wards of cities, the busy factories, the dim attics and cellars, they all become glorious by the reflected light of the humanity that toils and suffers within them. man is greater than any achievement of mechanism, any interest of capital, and all the questions which these involve must be brought to the test of his moral capabilities, and his spiritual as well as earthly wants. but i observe, finally, that the words of the text suggest the _providential design_ and the _divine agency_ that are involved in the great mechanical achievements of our age. as the divine spirit flowed through those living creatures and moved those wheels, so god's influence is in the movement of humanity, and in the instruments of that movement. we get only a narrow, and often an inexplicable conception of things, until we behold them encircled by this horizon of a providential design. and if humanity, with all its claims and possibilities, is involved in this network of mechanism, so doubtless are the processes of infinite wisdom. something more than material greatness, or ends limited merely to this earth, is to be wrought out by it. indications of this appear already. the telegraph and steamship, for instance, serve not only the interests of trade and commerce, but of liberty, and brotherhood, and of christian influence. it is beautiful to see how the most selfish agents presently become converted to the broadest uses, and matter is transformed into the vehicle of spirit. for god is in history. it is a divine dispensation, and has miracles of its own. and, because they come by natural development let us not fail to recognize the benevolence and the significance involved with them. is not the effect of miracle in the electric wire? the printing-press, is it not the gift of tongues? it is atheistic to suppose that all these wondrous agents have only a narrow and material purpose, and play no part in the highest scheme of the world. like the prophet by the river chebar, we may behold them as the symbols in a sublime vision. these wheels within wheels, full of eyes, full of intelligence, and full of human destiny and vast purpose, we know not all their meaning yet. but they have a great meaning. beneficent intention runs through their swift motions--voices of promise rise in their multitudinous sounds. a living spirit is in these wheels--the influence of god; the spirit of man. and, in due time, out of them will evolve the incalculable issues of human welfare and the divine glory. the strife for precedence. discourse iii. the strife for precedence. and if a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully.--ii. timothy, ii. . in walking the streets of the city, there rises the interesting question--what are the various motives which animate these restless people, and send them to and fro? as a french author has well observed,--"the necessaries of life do not occasion, at most, a third part of the hurry." they are comparatively few who struggle among these busy waves for a bare subsistence. there are others who are impelled by some of the deepest affections of the human heart, and who toil day after day with noble self-sacrifice for the comfort of dependent parents, and helpless children. while others still run on errands of mercy, and work in the harness of unrelaxing duty. but when we have taken all these influences into the account, and made the most of them, there remains a large quantity of activity which, as we trace it to its spring, we shall find issuing from a desire for influence, for notoriety, for some kind of personal distinction. the city,--in this instance, as in many others, representing the world at large,--is essentially a race-course, or battle-field, in which, through forms of ambitious effort, and cunning method, and plodding labor, and ostentation, the aspirations of thousands appear and carry on a _strife for precedence_. and, in selecting this phase of human life as the theme of the present discourse, i observe in the first place--that the desire for precedence is one of the _deepest_ and most _subtle_ motives in the soul of man. it is prolific of disguises. it is not merely under the mask which we may put on before other people, but it glides through various transformations of self-deceit; like the evil genius in the fairy tale, now dwindling to a mere seed, now bursting into a devouring fire. when, with an honest purpose, we probe it and pluck at it, still we may detect it in the lowest socket of the heart. often it is most vital when we feel most sure that it is vanquished. it delights in the garb of humility, and finds its food in the profession of self-renunciation. see its grossest expression in the desire for physical superiority--the glory of the victor in the grecian games, or the modern pugilist with the champion's belt. this is the reason why men, priding themselves upon qualities in which they are equalled by any mastiff and excelled by any horse, will stand up and batter one another into a mass of blood and bruises. and if we analyze the merit of some conqueror upon a hundred battle-fields, we shall find ingredients almost as coarse. only there was a larger impulse, and more genius to light the way; so that _his_ combat in the ring became _achievement_, and his success _fame_. the outside difference was in the value of the stakes; but the huzzas did not rise much nearer to heaven in the one instance than in the other. and when we get at the real centre of all those plaudits, we find only a little throbbing atom, a little human heart, all on fire with the lust for supremacy. but these are the more palpable shapes of this desire for precedence. it works more covertly, but with no less energy. i need not--for i cannot--specify all the instances in which it acts. it would constitute a more concise statement to affirm where it does _not_ act. it is sufficiently apparent in the scramble of the market and the parade of the street; at the toilette of beauty; in the etiquette of the drawing-room, where people sit as if in a cavern of icicles; in the spurious patriotism of politics; and too often, it is to be feared, in the highest seats of the synagogue, and where men lift holy hands of prayer. it is the scholar's inspiration. when he comes to the steep and rugged way, it helps him to make a foot-hold, and the thorns blossom into roses as he climbs. sometimes, even, it saturates the plan of the philanthropist, and peppers the milk of his charity with an inconsistent wrath. it seems an unhappy, as it must often be an unjust method, to attribute any appearance of good conduct to the meanest possible motive. it is a policy that makes a man afraid of his best friends. he feels that every draft he makes upon human honor, or affection, is liable to be cashed with counterfeit bills. if there were no alternative between the cleverness that suspects everybody, and the credulity that trusts everybody, i think i had rather be one of the dupes than one of the oracles. for, really, there is less misery in being cheated than in that kind of wisdom which perceives, or thinks it perceives, that all mankind are cheats. but, while simple fact forbids our assuming either of these extremes, we must, nevertheless, in reasoning upon the phenomena of human conduct, allow large scope for the influence of which i am now treating. for, as i have already intimated, we shall find it lurking under numerous forms. in discussing the question of slavery, for instance, it is often said--that it is for the interest of the master to take good care of his human as he does of his brute stock--to see that they are well-fed, clothed, &c. and so it is for his _interest_ to do this. but how often does the lust for supremacy over-ride interest itself! how often does an imperious personality thrust itself forward in the most absurd ways, damaging its own property and welfare, just as a boy breaks his top, or a balked rider shoots his horse, or an independent congregationalist locks his pew-door, as much as to say--"there, the world knows one thing about me, at least. it knows that i am _master_ and _owner_ here!" but i observe, further, that, while this desire for precedence is common among men of all conditions, there are some modes of its expression which are peculiarly excited in a democratic form of society. that which is the open glory of a community like ours, is with many a secret vexation and shame. people boast here of the equality of our institutions, and then try their best to break up the social level. in a genuine aristocracy, where they have endeavored to preserve a gulf-stream of noble blood in the midst of the plebeian atlantic, and a man holds his distinction by the color of the bark on his family tree, and the kind of sap that circulates through it, there is no danger of any unpleasant mistakes. the hard palm of labor may cross the gloved hand of leisure, and nobody will suspect that the select is too familiar with the vulgar. consequently, there is a good deal of affability and prime manliness, besides those associations of sentiment and imagination which, if there must be an aristocracy, lend it an artistic consistency. but here, where everybody says that all men are equal, and everybody is afraid they _will_ be; where there are no adamantine barriers of birth and caste; people are anxiously exclusive. and though the forms of aristocracy flourish more gorgeously in their native soil, the genuine _virus_ can be found in new york almost as readily as in london, or vienna. and the virus breaks out in the most absurd shapes of liveries and titles. and these forms of aspiration are not only absurd because they are inconsistent, but because they illustrate no real ground of precedence. they are superficial and uncertain. they do not pertain to the man but to his accidents. he gains by them no intrinsic glory, no permanent good. to employ the language of the text, by these he strives for masteries; but he does not strive lawfully, and so he is not crowned. and this leads me to say something respecting what is false, and what is legitimate, in that strife for precedence which is so amply illustrated in the life of the city. let us, then, consider some of the forms which this struggle assumes in the streets and the dwellings around us. i remark, in the first place, that it inspires much of the effort for _wealth_. i believe there are but few, comparatively, who are anxious to make money merely for the sake of piling it up, and counting it out. there may be a mania of this kind, in which men become enamored of mammon for his own sake, and hug him to their breasts, and kiss his golden lips, with all the ardor of lovers. still, i suspect that the genuine miser--that is, one who loves money for itself alone--is an exceptional man. but every man who is not absolutely inactive and useless in the world, is moved by some kind of passion. for, it is not correct to speak of _outliving_ our passions. we may outlive the passion of young, fresh love, that makes the world a may-time of blossoms and of roses. we may outlive the passion for selfish fame, because some transcendent claim of duty snatches us up to a sublimer level. we may change these earlier forms for the passion of philanthropy, the passion for truth, the passion of holy conviction. but so long as we live at all, we do not outlive passion. and with many the most persistent desire is for that precedence which attends the possession of wealth. that miser, as you call him, with a face like parchment, and in whose nature all the springs of emotion seem to have grown rusty with long disuse, is animated by a secret flame that keeps him all a-glow. it is the consciousness of power--the mightiest power of the present age--the power of money. those figures which he scrawls at his writing-desk involve a more potent magic than the cabalistic cyphers of doctor dee, or cornelius agrippa. his hand presses the spring of an influence that casts midnight or sunshine over the world of traffic, and shakes entire blocks of real estate with a speculative earthquake. it is not the czar or the sultan, but the capitalist, that makes war or preserves peace. the destinies of the time are enacted not in congress or parliament, but in the bank of england and in wall street. it is a mighty power that sits on 'change, and inspires the great movements of the world; sending its messengers panting through the deep and feeling around the globe with telegraphic nerves. and one may well be more ambitious to wield a portion of this power than to speak in senates, or to sit upon a throne. here is something that will raise him above the common level; will pay him for long years of sacrifice and contumely; will hide meanness of birth, and scantiness of education, and paint over the stains of damaged character. here is the most feasible way of distinction in a democracy. the doors of respectability and honor turn on silver hinges. gravity relaxes, fashion gives way, beauty smiles, and talent defers, before the man of money. he may be an ignoramus, but he possesses the golden alphabet. he may be a boor, but plutus lends a charm which eclipses the grace of apollo. he may have accumulated his wealth in a way which would make an intelligent hyena ashamed of himself, but he _has_ accumulated it, and the past is forgotten. i do not mean to say that, as the general rule, wealth is thus associated, but i believe that one great motive for money-getting, is the consciousness of the power and the distinction that accompany its possession; and so, many a man in the thick dust of the mart--though it may not always be clear to himself--is really engaged in a strife for precedence. again, consider the illustrations of this strife in the _style_ of _living_. it is really a battle of chairs and mirrors, of plate and equipage, and is the spring of the monstrous extravagance that characterizes our city life. for i suppose there is no place on the earth where people have run into such gorgeous nonsense as here--turning home into a parisian toy-shop, absorbing the price of a good farm in the ornaments of a parlor, and hanging up a judge's salary in a single chandelier. not that i accept the standard of absolute necessity, or agree with those who cry out--"have nothing but what is absolutely _useful_!" for, if the universe had been cast after their type, there would have been no embroidery on the wings of the butterfly, and the awful summit of mont blanc would have yielded fire-wood. there is an instinct of beauty and grace implanted in our nature, which demands elegance and even luxury, and the bare necessaries of life do _not_ answer every purpose. and, to say nothing of the employment which these accessories of refinement afford for thousands--for i have spoken of this in the previous series--the most sturdy utilitarian is not consistent with his theory. he defers to the social condition around him to such an extent that he sleeps on a bed instead of a bench, and wears broadcloth instead of untanned sheepskin. and, therefore, others might say, and say truly, that a good deal that is actually superfluous is the fruit of certain social proprieties which cannot, with any consistency, be violated. our style of living may lawfully run from the bare necessaries of existence, through the stages of comfort and convenience, even into luxury, according to our condition and means. but in some of the style of living in this very city, there is neither good taste, social propriety, nor common sense. it is an apoplectic splendor; a melo-dramatic glitter; in one word, a vulgar spirit of social rivalry blossoming in lace, brocade, gilding, and fresco. it is one way of getting a head taller than another upon this democratic level. it is a carpet contest for the mastery in what is called "society." and if one mourns over the exuberant selfishness that lifts its pinnacles out of this dreary sea of hunger and despair, and wonders that so many live wrapped in the idea that they were created merely to be gratified; he can hardly help being amused, on the other hand, at this fashionable strife for precedence, and the methods which it developes. but enough has been said to illustrate the false element in the great struggle for human precedence. this vicious principle is most comprehensively stated in the proposition, that there is no substantial ground of supremacy in anything that is merely accidental or external to a man. these things may sometimes stand as symbols of true merit and greatness, but they are not themselves proofs of precedence. a man's wealth may be the fruit of noble energy and honest toil, and he may exert a wide influence by virtue of that intrinsic ability of which his good fortune is the sign. indeed, the more i study the world the more i acquire a respect for these kings of enterprise--these heroes of practical effort--who, feeling that they have been sent into the world to do something, do not fold their hands and shut their eyes in ideal dreams, or stumble at discrepancies, but lay hold of what lies about them--rough stone, timber, iron, brass,--and become what it is really a noble compliment to say of any man--"the architects of their own fortune." i have great respect for these men who drive the wheels, and kindle the furnaces, and launch the ships, and build the edifices, and keep this sea of every-day action perpetually agitated by the keels of their endeavor. their claims to precedence, however, consist not in their wealth, but in that which accumulates the wealth. but the man who rests merely upon what he _has_, occupies no substantial ground of supremacy. and if this is the case with those whose claim hangs merely upon what they are worth in the world of money, it is at least equally so with those who set their title to precedence upon their style of dress or living. for how uncertain are all these things! depending upon the fickle currents of fortune; throwing the honors into our hands to-day, and transferring them to our neighbor to-morrow! how tantalizing this conflict, in which victory changes with the fashion, and we feel weak or strong according to the verdict of a clique! and all these rivalries and envies and aspirations, what a confession of personal feebleness they really are! how slightly a true man feels them, who knows that he is not mere silk or furniture, and never frets about his place in the world; but just slides into it by the gravitation of his nature, and swings there as easily as a star! but the mere leader of fashion has no genuine claim to supremacy; at least, no abiding assurance of it. he has embroidered his title upon his waistcoat, and carries his worth in his watch-chain; and if he is allowed any real precedence for this it is almost a moral swindle,--a way of obtaining goods under false pretences. but without running into more minute discussion, i say again--that there is no substantial ground of supremacy in aught that is merely accidental or external; and he who rests upon such claims stands upon a pedestal as uncertain as it is spurious. "if a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." this was the old rule of the grecian games, which would not permit the prize to be gained by any unfair or incomplete methods. it was applied by the apostle to a specific work--the great work of the christian ministry. but it is a law which prevails in all human action. and, while it suggests that spurious precedence for which there is so much striving, it also indicates the fact that there _is_ a real difference of degree among men, and that there are proper methods of obtaining supremacy. and, as i look around in the populous city, in order to illustrate the grounds of this lawful precedence, i observe, in the first place, that there are men who occupy the higher places by ordinance of nature so to speak; or, more properly, by the purpose of god. it is a fact in nature that all men are created equal, and it is also a fact in nature that all men are not equal. all men are created equal as to the essential rights and privileges of humanity. they have a claim to live; they have an impartial share in the divine love; they have a right to liberty, to freedom of thought and of limb, by a constitution older than any historical document, drawn up in the court of god's decrees and authenticated by his handwriting in the soul. thus far all men are _created_ equal, and, if it turns out otherwise with them, it ensues from what is _made_ by man, not what is commanded by heaven. but so far as quantity of nature is concerned--original capacity and spiritual gifts--men are not equal. and if it is asked--"why are they not equal?" i answer, it is by appointment of the same sovereign mind which has ordained that "one star shall differ from another star in glory." but each form of being has its own capacities, and if these are filled the moral harmony is secured. through all prevails the law of compensation, balancing the vicissitudes of experience. and, among these diversities of human capacity, some must of necessity occupy the highest place--men whose native genius carries them up in a splendid orbit, and endows them with control. and the world at large always acknowledges the rectitude of this appointment. it cherishes no envy toward men of this kind, but renders them spontaneous homage. but, although this genius, this original power, rises to a natural supremacy, it does not involve the most legitimate element of precedence. there is no real ground of merit in the natural talents of a man, any more than there is a ground of merit in personal beauty, or family descent. he has nothing but what has been given him--the five talents instead of his neighbor's one talent--and, so long as he does not use them to their best purpose, there is only an admirable possibility, no merit of achievement. and all genuine merit--that which entitles one to some ground of human precedence--comes from personal achievement in life; substantially, from the stock of actual benefit which one has contributed to the world, and which has become assimilated to his own spiritual nature. the ground of precedence--so far as it is lawful for man to think of anything like precedence at all--is not in outward possessions, not in gifts, but in _uses_. and here is thrown open a broad and noble field, depending not upon genius or station, but upon _will_, and therefore accessible to every man. here is an arena where one may strive lawfully, emulous to build up his own inner nature, emulous to let such power as he possesses go out in blessings for the world. a field for all of us, my friends, right here in the dense city, amidst the hurrying feet, the clang of machinery, and the roar of wheels. and the condition of the game is, not large capacity but good purpose and loyal endeavor; not to strive greatly but to strive lawfully. and, i observe once more, that the real claim to precedence is not eagerly snatched by us, but _comes_ to us. it is not in _seeming_ but in _being_, and it makes no essential difference whether the world confesses it or not, so long as we actually have it, working in our consciousness of duty and drawing our consolation from inward resources. here, my friend, is your work--here is the field of opportunity, which, however broad and rich absolutely, is for you great and pregnant with incalculable possibilities. and though men may not see its best results, they are nevertheless real, and develop in your own soul a light and power, a ground and fabric of precedence that cannot be shaken, and will never vanish away. and yet, to a large extent, the world does confess this true supremacy. for, let me ask, who among these crowds of citizens are really honored? not those who are so eagerly and vainly striving in their narrow, conventional circle, heedful merely of the rules of their own little game. but those who actually fill an honorable place in life. how much acknowledged dignity is there in that man who just accepts his station and makes the most of it, filling it with patience and self-sacrifice and achieving the victory of principle and affection! how much genuine nobleness in the quiet, unconscious discharge of duty! the field for precedence is it not a broad one, and close at hand? and is there no alternative between a frivolous and outside distinction, and some great theatre of action large enough to fill and dazzle the world's eye? daily, right around us, there are occasions that summon up all the energies of manhood as with a trumpet-peal. see yonder! where the conflagration, bursting through marble walls, casts a terrible splendor down the street and reddens the midnight sky. what an enemy has broken loose among us, devouring the achievements of human skill and the hopes of enterprise! what shall stay it? with a triumphant shout it snaps the fetters of stone; it roars with victory; it bends its flaming crest towards peaceful homes where men and mothers and babes lie in unconscious slumber. the bell beats; and what old bugle-strain, what pibroch, what rattling drum, ever sounded a more perilous call? and on what battle-field that you have read of was there ever displayed a loftier heroism, a more dauntless energy, than that man displays who, with the unconscious courage of duty, plunges into the furnace, mounts the quivering walls, and, making his own body a barrier between his fellow-men and the flame, stands there scorched, bruised, bleeding, and beats the red terror back and beats it down, with that irresistible energy which always springs from the human will bent upon a noble purpose? and so, in other forms, more quiet and more sacred, where the anticipation of public applause does not furnish its motive, men are exercising a heroism, and working achievements, that make dim and pale the trophies that are plucked from fields of war and in lists of glittering renown. and when these things are known the hearts of men render a spontaneous honor, and admit the genuine titles of supremacy. yet, if this true achievement in life is not known or confessed by the world, its results really exist, and impart their inalienable strength and blessing to the soul, while as the grounds of false supremacy dissolve all gives way. and, my friends, the tendency of things is to bring out more and more these real claims to human precedence, and to throw all spurious titles into the shade. this is the radical purport of true democracy, which i take to be the social synonym of _christianity_. i have shown what inconsistencies and false distinctions swarm here in our midst, under the profession of republican equality. this, however, is because names are _not_ things. i don't call that "democracy" which is simply the domineering spirit of self-exaltation in a new shape. for there is no _essential_ difference whether we call the social order a monarchy or a commonwealth; whether its leading men are charles and louis, or robespierre and cromwell. if we must have the old social fallacies, they appear more attractive with the old symbols. in that case, i would rather not have them changed. for, when i look merely at the _sentimental_ side of things, i feel sorry when the so-called "royal martyr," with a dignity which contrasts with his past conduct, stretches his head upon the block; or when the pitiless insults of a parisian mob are hurled upon the head of the beautiful marie antoinette. a poetic regret and enthusiasm is awakened by the associations that cluster about the golden lion and the bourbon lilies. and, when i turn to those grim ironsides, or those frantic jacobins, the work they are doing looks savage enough. but, with a more discriminating vision, i perceive that that rude popular storm, which desolates palaces and shatters crowns, embosoms a rectifying process which, tumbling all false distinctions from their pedestals, shall by-and-by heave up the platform of social justice, and reveal the true dignity of man. the essential work of democracy is not the destruction of forms; is not the giant arm of revolution, striking the hours of human progress by the crash of falling thrones. but its great work is _construction_--is in changing the very _spirit_ of institutions--and it asserts its legitimacy and bases its claims upon the christian doctrine of the human soul. therefore, i regard these spurious claims to precedence--these endeavors after social distinction by virtue of riches, and equipage, and wardrobes--as only evidences of a transition-state. men, letting go the feudal forms, and still assuming that there is some ground of human precedence, as there really is, have adopted these false expressions of it. they will in turn pass away, and give place to more genuine methods. but let it be remembered, that these false forms of precedence are not only inconsistent with our social professions and institutions, but they are futile because they are contrary to the divine law. our endeavors in life have a twofold operation, and we must count not only their effect upon others but their reaction upon the fabric of our own inner being. for, whatever honor _men_ may attribute to us, we know that there is no real, substantial ground of supremacy except in the excellence and power of our own spiritual nature. and this is acquired not in ostentatious and selfish striving, but when self is least thought of; in the calm work of duty, and when all conception of human merit fades into the glory of god. and this is the great end to be desired--this strength and exaltation of the soul. this imparts the profoundest significance to that great life-struggle which goes on in these crowded streets. the city! what is it but a vast amphitheatre, filled with racers, with charioteers, with eager competitors; surrounded by an unseen and awful array of witnesses? and here, daily, the lists are opened, and men contend for success, for station, for power. but these are meretricious and perishable awards. the real prize is a spiritual gain, a crown that "fadeth not away." and, if we comprehend the great purpose of existence at all--if we look with any eagerness to its intrinsic issues and its final result; we shall heed that decree of divine wisdom and justice that comes down to us through all the vicissitude of life--through all the hurry and turmoil and contention. "if a man strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." the symbols of the republic. discourse iv. the symbols of the republic. thou art a great people, and hast great power.--joshua, xvii. . these words, originally addressed by the hebrew leader to the children of joseph--the tribes of ephraim and manasseh--have been applicable to many nations which, since that time, have risen, and flourished, and fallen. but when we consider the circumstances of its origin, its marvellous growth in all the attributes of civilization, and especially the immense _possibilities_ which it involves; without even being chargeable with a natural vanity, we may say, that to no country on the face of the earth have they ever been more fitted than to this. for, my friends, we know that it _is_ a dictate of our nature to magnify that which is our own. however insignificant it really is, man spreads an ideal glory over the land of his birth. perhaps its historical importance compensates for its geographical narrowness, or its material poverty is hidden by its intellectual wealth. from its stock of mighty men--its heroes, and bards, and sages--who have brightened the roll of fame; or from its memorable battle-fields, on rude heath and in mountain defile; or from its achievements which have swelled the tides of human enterprise, and made the world its debtor; he draws the inspiration, he carries away the conviction of greatness--so that wherever its emblems come before his eyes, they touch the deep springs of reverence and pride. nor let us condemn this feeling as merely a selfish and exaggerating one. this spirit of nationality exists for wise purposes, embosoms the richest elements of loyalty and faith, and is one of those profound _sentiments_ of our nature that cannot be driven out by any process of logic. but, if a nation really inherits the description in the text, it must possess something more than an illustrious history and an ideal glory. we must determine its greatness by its symbols; yet these must be not merely signs of things, but instruments of achievement; not merely the illustrations of dead works or patriotic enthusiasm, but the agents of actual power and of living performance. now, in looking over the world at the present time, there are other nations to which the words of joshua might be applied as well as to our own, and with as little assumption of national vanity. other people are great and have great power, by virtue of political importance, vast possessions, and strong institutions. to say nothing of the rest, consider that huge domain which at this hour confronts the troubled principalities of europe. it stretches itself out over three continents. the waves of three oceans chafe against its shaggy sides. the energies of innumerable tribes are throbbing in its breast. it clasps regions yet raw in history as well as those that are grey with tradition, and incloses in one empire the bones of the siberian mammoth and the valleys of circassian flowers. and it is great not only by geographical extent, but by political purpose--great by the idea which is involved with its destiny--an idea austere as the climate, tremendous as the forces, indomitable as the will of the gigantic north. it would set the inheritance of the byzantine emperors in the diadem of peter the great. it would make the sea of marmara and the ridges of the caucasus, paths to illimitable empire and uncompromising despotism. it moves down the map of the world, as a glacier moves down the alps, patient and relentless, startling the jealous rivals that watch its course, and granting contemptuous peace to the allies that shiver in its shadow. in considering, therefore, the symbols which prove that we also are a great people, having great power, we should select those which indicate the possession of a _peculiar_ power. this peculiarity is not in our geographical extent or material greatness. but it _is_, i think, in our institutions, in the tendency of our national ideas, and in the legitimate result of these. it is in conceptions and elements the direct opposite of those that work in the destiny of the mighty empire just referred to--and for this reason i _have_ referred to it. in taking up a subject, then, which is especially connected with the conditions of humanity in the city, because in the city the conception of a people--of a public--is especially illustrated, let us inquire--what _are_ the symbols of our republic; the signs and agents of our greatness as a nation? and, for the sake of avoiding too many specifications, i propose to consider these under two or three general classes. in the first place, then, i would select as a symbol of the republic, _whatever represents the privilege of free thought_. as to whatever gives full play to the intellect, whatever diffuses the intelligence, whatever wakes up and assists the entire spiritual nature of individuals and communities, i think there is really more opportunity here than anywhere else on the face of the earth. and, as a sign and instrument of this, i would point to some _district school-house_; rough, weather-worn, standing in some bleak corner of new york or new hampshire; through whose closed windows the passer-by catches the confused hum of recitation, or at whose door he sees children of all conditions mingling in motley play. of all conditions, so far as external peculiarities go; for the laws of nature and the ordinances of providence cannot be dispensed with even here; but of one condition as the recognized possessors of immortal _mind_. those who have helped mould the republic have clearly seen that, although intelligence is not the foundation of national greatness--for there is something deeper than that--still it is the discerning and directing power upon which depends the right use even of moral elements. they have scouted the notion that there is any ultimate evil in diffused knowledge; any such thing as "a dangerous truth;" and have affirmed that the best way to winnow the false from the true, is to equip and set a-going the intellectual machine by which god has ordained that the work shall be done. it has been felt, that, if the state can properly extend its influence anywhere beyond the restrictive limits of evil, or the punishment of overt wrong; if anywhere it may exercise a positive ministration for good; it is here, where it does not interfere on the one hand with those outward pursuits which should be left to individual choice and aptitude, nor on the other, with those inward sanctities which pertain to conscience and to god; it is here, in that region of our personality from which we can best discern our duty and fill our place. for the intellect is the most neutral of all our qualities. man is swayed by the animal propensities of his nature; he is swayed by the moral and religious elements of his nature; but the intellect, by itself, is not a motive power. it is a _light_; and no one will object to its being kindled except those who, by that objection, virtually confess that they fear the light. and this work of kindling is just what the state purposes to do for a child; leaving his religious convictions to such helps as conscience has chosen, and his position in life to the decision of circumstances. and there is no way in which it can show so much impartiality, and exercise practically the most essential conception of freedom. for thus, as i have already said, it recognizes a common inheritance--something which all have--the possession of _mind_--something which is of more importance than any external condition, for it influences external condition; (whoever saw an educated community of which anything like a large fraction were paupers and criminals?) something on which rests the claim of human freedom; for the charter of man's liberty is in his soul, not his estate. it says to the poorest child--"you are rich in this one endowment, before which all external possessions grow dim. no piled-up wealth, no social station, no throne, reaches as high as that spiritual plane upon which every human being stands by virtue of his humanity; and from that plane, mingling now in the common school with the lowliest and the lordliest, we give you the opportunity to ascend as high as you may. we put into your hands the key of knowledge; leaving your religious convictions, with which we dare not interfere, to your chosen guides. so far as the intellectual path may lead, it is open to you.--go free!" and when we consider the great principles which are thus practically confessed; when we consider the vast consequences which grow out of this; i think that little district school-house dilates, grows splendid, makes our hearts beat with admiration and gratitude, makes us resolve that at all events, _that_ must stand; for, indeed, it is one of the noblest symbols of the republic--a sign and an instrument of a great people, having great power. or, if you would behold another of these symbols, go through this city, and pause wherever you hear the rumbling of the _printing-press_. as i have dwelt upon the characteristics of this great power in another place, i only allude to it here as a vehicle of that _expression_ which is so essential to all genuine freedom of thought. mere education is no evidence of this freedom. it may be made, it has been made in one of the most intelligent but despotic countries in europe, an instrument for drilling the human mind into an absolute routine of state policy. mere liberty of speculation is nothing, though it has the boundless firmament of abstraction for its own, so long as it is not allowed to strike the solid ground of fact or touch one organized abuse. let us be thankful for a free-press--the electric tongue of thought, which at every stroke is felt throughout a continent, which no dictator dares to chain, and over whose issues no censor sits in judgment--or only that great censor, public opinion. everybody is aware of its evil as well as its good--the errors, the crudities, the abominations it sends out. but we must remember that it is only the representative, the voice, of elements that actually exist in human minds and bosoms; and, surely, it is better that they should come out into the free air, and be sprinkled by the chloride of truth, than to work darkly and infectiously out of sight. it is the hidden, not the open evil that is dangerous. or, still again, you might have seen a true symbol of the republic in the spectacle which has been presented this very day--the spectacle of a _free worship_. the great stream of religious impulse has poured through these streets, and separated into its rills of distinctive opinion, without trepidation and without challenge. every man has had the opportunity to commune with his god, and approach the cross of his redeemer, with no established barriers between. neither the cathedral nor the chapel rest upon the patronage of the state, but in the deep foundations of individual conviction. to be sure, here and there, there is a little assumption; but it is dramatic rather than substantial, and does not amount to much. here and there breaks out an unjust prejudice or a spiteful calumny, but it shames the source more than the object, and soon dies away in the atmosphere of tolerance and investigation. it looks doubtful sometimes, but i verily believe that the real spirit, as well as the mere form of religious equality, is beginning to prevail. every day, it is more and more practically acknowledged that christianity is profounder than any name, and exists under strange and despised names; that there really is decent observance in every church, and holy living in every communion; and a man finds that his neighbor has the same essence of righteousness as himself, though he has not half so many links in his creed. and something more than tolerance grows out of this practical liberty. it is not easy to measure the moral sincerity, the moral principle, which results from it; which is far more precious than mere intelligence; which is the perennial spring and assurance of national welfare. but i proceed to observe, in the second place, that we may select as a symbol of the republic--a sign and an instrument of a great people, having great power--whatever illustrates the principle of _political equality_. i am speaking, at present, not of our deficiencies, but of our possessions; not of the instances in which this doctrine of equality is practically contradicted, but of those in which it is practically acknowledged. the sovereignty of every man is a fundamental principle in our institutions; it is essential to the conception of a republic; and so far as it _is_ legitimately a republic, we shall find this principle in operation. and, looking around for some extant symbol of this, let me select that which is the object of so much strife and agitation--the _presidential chair_. i do not, by any means, consider this the most comfortable seat in the nation, or that the most deserving man is sure to get there; but, as an emblem, i believe it illustrates the noblest privileges, and the proudest supremacy, on the face of the globe. and i refer to it as a _possibility_ for the poorest and humblest child in the land. no hereditary gallery leads to it--only the broad road of the people. and, as the highest seat in the nation, it illustrates all the honors of the nation. they are possible to anybody. and i trust the time has not yet arrived when this can be said only by way of satire; can be true only because the waves of political corruption carry the meanest and unworthiest into office; but as a grand fact, a fact with which are involved the springs of our national greatness and power, it may be said that here there are no barriers of caste, no terms of descent, no depths so low that enterprise cannot rise out of them, no heights so exalted that genius cannot attain them; for, on a platform as level to the peasant's threshold as to the nabob's door, stand the judge's bench, the senator's seat, and the president's chair. as another symbol of this political equality, i would name the _ballot-box_. i am aware that this is not everywhere a consistent symbol; but to a large degree it is so. i know what miserable associations cluster around this instrument of popular power. i know that the arena in which it stands is trodden into mire by the feet of reckless ambition and selfish greed. the wire-pulling and the bribing, the pitiful truckling and the grotesque compromises, the exaggeration and the detraction, the melo-dramatic issues and the sham patriotism, the party watch-words and the party nick-names, the schemes of the few paraded as the will of the many, the elevation of men whose only worth is in the votes they command--vile men, whose hands you would not grasp in friendship, whose presence you would not tolerate by your fireside--incompetent men, whose fitness is not in their capacity as functionaries, or legislators, but as organ pipes; the snatching at the slices and offal of office, the intemperance and the violence, the finesse and the falsehood, the gin and the glory; these are indeed but too closely identified with that political agitation which circles around the ballot-box. but, after all, they are not essential to it. they are only the masks of a genuine grandeur and importance. for it _is_ a grand thing--something which involves profound doctrines of right--something which has cost ages of effort and sacrifice--it _is_ a grand thing that here, at last, each voter has just the weight of one man; no more, no less; and the weakest, by virtue of his recognized manhood, is as strong as the mightiest. and consider, for a moment, what it is to cast a vote. it is the token of inestimable privileges, and involves the responsibilities of an hereditary trust. it has passed into your hands as a right, reaped from fields of suffering and blood. the grandeur of history is represented in your act. men have wrought with pen and tongue, and pined in dungeons, and died on scaffolds, that you might obtain this symbol of freedom, and enjoy this consciousness of a sacred individuality. to the ballot have been transmitted, as it were, the dignity of the sceptre and the potency of the sword. and that which is so potent as a right, is also pregnant as a duty; a duty for the present and for the future. if you will, that folded leaf becomes a tongue of justice, a voice of order, a force of imperial law; securing rights, abolishing abuses, erecting new institutions of truth and love. and, _however_ you will, it is the expression of a solemn responsibility, the exercise of an immeasurable power for good or for evil, now and hereafter. it is the medium through which you act upon your country--the organic nerve which incorporates you with its life and welfare. there is no agent with which the possibilities of the republic are more intimately involved, none upon which we can fall back with more confidence, than the ballot-box. but there is a symbol which represents the power and greatness of a republic more significantly than all the rest, and is comprehensive of all the rest. it is the fruit of unfettered thought and political equality, of intelligence and virtue, of private sovereignty and public duty--it is a free, true, harmonious _man_. as the crown or the sceptre is the symbol of a monarchy; as heraldic honors are the symbols of an oligarchy; so, i repeat, the most expressive symbol of a republic is a man--a man free in limb and soul, a man intelligent and self-governed, a man whose spiritual vision is clear, and in whose breast the voice of conscience is peremptory, with whom the conception of duties is deeper even than the conception of rights; in short, a man who embodies all the elements, and represents to the world the best results of liberty. laws are nothing, institutions are nothing, national power and greatness are nothing, save as they assist the moral purpose of god in the development of humanity. to this test we must bring the symbols of the republic, and judge whether they are fitting and consistent. no matter what else they accomplish, no matter what else they signify, if they do not serve this end they are either incomplete instruments, or vain forms. for, man is of more worth than institutions; religion is greater than politics; and the designs of providence are wider than the cycles of national destiny. i turn, then, to the signs of our own national greatness; i turn to these symbols of spiritual freedom and political equality; and i ask--how completely do they develop this most significant symbol of all--how completely do they serve the purposes of god in history--by securing the welfare, the culture, the moral elevation of humanity? and the reply is--that, by our institutions and our endeavors, these ends have been served in various ways. there is here, to-day, a more enlightened, free, self-governed humanity--and we say it without arrogance--than anywhere else on the globe. our benefits are of the kind that are not realized, because they are so great and familiar--like the light and the air; but take them away, or transfer us to some other atmosphere, and how we should miss them, and pine and dwindle! let no man, in his zeal for bold rebuke or needed reform, overlook what has been done, and what is enjoyed here, as to the noblest results of national greatness and power. but every sincere man must say likewise that, with us, the _possibilities_ are far greater than the _performance_; that these symbols are the splendid tokens of what _may be_, rather than what _is_. and, that i may bring this discourse to a practical conclusion, let me say that two things, at least, are necessary to convert these possibilities into the noblest achievement. in the first place, it is essential that every citizen of the republic should recognize his own manhood; the sacredness of his own personality; and should recognize this especially in relation to his duties, which are inextricably involved with his rights. for here it is true in a special sense, that the mass is but an aggregate of personalities--that public sin is but the projection of your sin and mine. a man will often say that he is responsible to his country, and responsible to his constituents; but upon no claim, by no sophistry, should he suffer himself to forget that he is also responsible to his god. he does forget this, when he acts for political interests, and as one of a party, as he never would act in his private affairs. and does he suppose that there is a corporate vice, or virtue, differing from his private vice or virtue, as a gentleman's purse differs from the public fund? there is no such distinction in moral qualities. it is your own coin that helps swell the amount; it bears your stamp, and you are responsible for the product. if the party lies, then _you_ are guilty of falsehood. if the party--as is very likely--does a mean thing, then _you_ do it. it is surely so, so far as you are one of the party, and go with it in its action. god does not take account of parties; party names are not known in that court of divine judgment; but your name and mine are on the books there. there is no such thing--and this is true, perhaps, in more senses than one--there is no such thing as a party conscience. it is individual conscience that is implicated. party! party! ah! my friends, here is the influence which, it is to be feared, balks and falsifies many of these glorious symbols. men rally round musty epithets. they take up issues which have no more relation to the deep, vital, throbbing interest of the time, than they have to the fashions of our grandfathers. they parade high-sounding principles to cover selfish ends; interpret the constitution by a doctrine of loaves and fishes; while individual independence and private conviction are whirled away in the political maelstrom, and the party-badge is reverenced and hugged as the african reverences and hugs his fetish. and surely it is a case for congratulation, when some great, exciting question breaks out and jars these conventional idols, and so sweeps and shatters these party organizations and turns them topsy-turvy, that a man is shaken out of his harness, does not know exactly what party he _does_ belong to, and begins to feel that he has a soul of his own. i am not denying the use and the necessity of parties as instruments, but protest against them as ends, especially when principle is smothered under their platforms, and they absorb the moral personality of a man. it may not seem so strange that the political field should so often be the field of a lax and depressed morality, when we consider that here is the great theatre where human ambition struggles for its aims; here are enlisted the strongest passions of the soul; here throng some of its fiercest temptations; here the stakes played for are the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them. and this, i suppose, is the reason why the most authentic type of human depravity is a thoroughly unprincipled politician. such an instance, at least, may strike us more forcibly, because we see the perversion of great faculties, and capabilities are contrasted with performance; while, on the other hand he may be confirmed in his moral bankruptcy by the fact that, in playing upon the passions of men he sees the worst side of humanity. but, surely, there have been those who passed this ordeal, and came out with brighter lustre; who have kept the eye of conscience elevated above the ecliptic of political routine; who have made politics identical with lofty duties and great principles; whose patriotism was not a clamorous catch-word, but a breathing inspiration, a silent heart-fire. in private life they have felt the great privilege of their citizenship; the magnitude of the obligation which bound them to virtue and to consistency; while, in public life, they have kept their trust firm as steel, bright as gold; have felt, with due balance on either side, the beatings of the popular heart and the dictates of the everlasting right; and in themselves have represented the union of liberty and law, the real greatness of a nation. without such men, the nation has no greatness; for its significance and its power are in the moral worth of its citizens. the second condition necessary to the fulfilment of the great results indicated by these symbols, is consistent action upon the ideas that constitute the basis of our own institutions. if many of the privileges and peculiarities which i have specified in this discourse are possessed by other nations, in one respect we differ from them all. these privileges and peculiarities are _legitimately_ ours. they have not been grafted on hereditary antagonisms. they have not grown up in _spite_ of our institutions, but as the _fruit_ of our institutions. these ideas, entwined with the very roots of our republic, shooting through every fibre, running into every limb, bind us to a recognition of human brotherhood; to sympathy with liberty wherever it struggles; and to stedfast opposition to whatever crushes the rights, hinders the development, or denies the humanity of man. if these symbols of the republic mean anything, they mean just this; and whatever is inconsistent with this, is inconsistent with the terms of our national birthright. depend upon it, not the assertion of liberty, but whatever is opposed to liberty, is the innovating and agitating element in this country. it interrupts the legitimate current of our destiny. it shocks the popular heart with inconsistency. it becomes mixed with the ashes of the old heroes, and the land keeps heaving with the fermentation. one assumption is too impudent, too nakedly in contradiction with the fundamental ideas of our republic ever to be admitted--the assumption that the man who speaks for freedom, who sympathizes with the broadest doctrine of human rights, and sets around these the eternal barriers of justice, is an innovator and an agitator. i ask--what made our revolution legitimate? what were the central ideas that throbbed in the breasts of its heroes and martyrs? take down the old muskets bent in the hot encounter, and printed with many a death-gripe; take down the old uniforms, clipped by hessian sabres and torn by british bullets; take down the dusty muster-rolls, scrawled with those venerable names--names that now "are graven on the stone," names that are buried in the sod, names that have gone up to immortality--and ask, for what was this great struggle? was it not for freedom, based upon the conception of the right and supremacy of freedom? and is _this_ the legitimate conclusion of that sublime postulate--this other fact which, never retreating, always advancing, follows the steps of freedom over the continent like a shadow, looms up like a phantom against the rocky mountains, and darkens the fairest waters? on the contrary, is not freedom that old truth, that conceded premise that does _not_ agitate? liberty, human rights, universal brotherhood, was it not for these ideas ye fought--was it not these ye planted in the soil, and laid with the corner-stone of our institutions? my friends, i know, and you know, could those men give palpable sign and representation, the answer that would come, as in one quick flash from bayonet to bayonet, in one long roll of drums, from lexington to yorktown. these peculiar privileges, then, to which i have referred, differ from those of other nations inasmuch as they are not grafted expedients, but legitimate fruits. unless we change the premises of our republic, and shift the foils in our historical argument, these are necessary conclusions. they are necessary conclusions, if our symbols represent realities. russia is consistent with its national idea. it pours forth its legions and moves to its work with a terrible consistency. and if we--also a great people, having great power--are equally consistent, we shall fall back upon no selfish conservatism, but aid whatever tends to fulfil the providential purpose of our existence, and whatever helps and advances man. one thing is certain. so long as any nation truly lives, it unfolds its specific idea and lives according to its original type. when it fails to do this, the sentence of decay is already written upon it. if it fails to illustrate god's purpose in its obedience, it illustrates his control in retribution. for there is nothing supreme, nothing finally triumphant, nothing of the last importance, but his law. it penetrates, and oversweeps, and survives all charters and institutions and nationalities, like the infinite space that encompasses alps and andes, and planets and systems. it is this that successive generations illustrate. it is this that all history vindicates. if a nation runs parallel to this divine law, it is well; if false to its purpose and its control, down it goes. the prophet isaiah, in one of the most terrific and sublime passages of the bible, represents the king of babylon, while passing into the under-world, saluted by departed rulers, by dead kings, rising from their shadowy thrones, and exclaiming, "art thou become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?" thus has many a nation gone down to its doom. shall it be so with this republic, because false to its ideal? shall it descend to the shades of perished pomp and greatness, and see nineveh with dusty, hieroglyphic robes rising up to meet it; and persia, with the empty wine-cup of its luxury; and rome, with the shadow of universal empire on its discrowned head; and hear them say--"art thou become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?" my friends, i look at the eager enterprise, the young, hopeful vigor, the tides of possibility that flow through this great city; i look at the symbols of this republic; and i cannot believe that such is to be the result. i look back upon our history, and cannot argue such a future from such a past. a great light lay upon the wake of those frail ships that bore our fathers hither; the wake of past ages, the following of good men's prayers and brave men's deeds, the mingling currents of martyr-blood and prophet-fire. and methinks, as they struck the shore, and met the savage wilderness, a voice saluted them; a voice not of profane ambition and of selfish hope, but of divine promise, intending divine results--proclaiming, "thou art a great people, and hast great power." and he will fulfil this prophecy, who leads the course of history over the broad deep and through mysterious ways, and who unfolds his own glory in the destinies of men. the springs of social life. discourse v. the springs of social life. let them learn first to show piety at home.--i. timothy, v. . the text--which i purpose to employ not as a specific precept, but as the illustration of a general principle--indicates those springs of social life which constitute the subject of the present discourse. the crowd in a city affords comparatively little interest, when we contemplate it merely as a crowd. but, when we resolve it into its individual particles, and consider each of these as endued with the attributes and involved with the conditions of humanity, our deepest sympathies are touched. every drop of that great stream is a conscious personality. in some shape, the universe is reflected in it. in some way, it takes hold of the reality of life: and the living organism of which it is composed both acts and suffers, receives from the world around it and contributes to it. that entire mass of people involves nothing more than the interest of humanity, and the same interest pertains to the least unit of that mass. and, doubtless, you have sometimes busied yourself with the speculation--"where do all these people come from? and whither do they retire at night?" now, this is really a very suggestive question, and to follow it out to a practical answer would yield results of the profoundest importance. for out of hidden channels, here and there, _do_ spring all these struggling activities, these human diversities, these various influences good and evil, that make up the crowd and spectacle of city life. and night after night, with the rarest exceptions, into some retreat they all disappear. some spot--whether it seem the veriest mockery to style it so, or whether it be a synonym for the sweetest sanctities--some spot each of this living multitude calls by the name of "home." for some that name is associated with a more than oriental magnificence. man and nature wait upon them there in every conceivable form of service. there is no method of convenience or luxury which ingenuity can devise; no bounty that earth can yield from her many-zoned bosom; no shape which art can summon from the regions of the beautiful, that is not possible there. lifting its palatial walls, and kindling with brilliant lights, it stands there as the completest symbol of material refinement and civilization. it is arctic winter without. the snow chokes up the dreary street, and the whistling wind cuts the beggar's rags. but it is italy, it is ceylon, it is tropic gorgeousness within. and these are the abodes of the children of fortune, whose wishes require no talisman but expression, who, all their lives long, have been used to such indulgence, or who accept it now as the fruit of their own effort. this is the hospitality which some men find in life, and out of which they constitute a home. but none the less enviable, and perhaps much more so, are those retreats where comfort waits on moderate means, while contentment imparts to these an unpurchasable efficacy; where, blended with those infirmities and liabilities which are common to palace and cottage, the domestic affections flourish, and the dearest treasures of life are kept. thousands of homes like this there are, all around us. it describes the largest class of homes, we may believe. and who can estimate their influence over these busy tides of action, all day long? that world of traffic, that world of toil, that looks so hard and gross and sordid,--is it not transformed somewhat, does it not grow beautiful even, when you think how many of its energies have their spring by the infant's cradle and the mother's chair? and what lights, what shadows, unseen by you, fall upon the speculative eyes, fall upon the hearts, of thousands in that homeward-streaming crowd! light of welcoming hearth-fires, shadows of children's play upon the walls; light of affections in which there are no decay and no deceit; shadows of sacred retirement where god alone is; light of joys which this world's storms cannot utterly quench; shadows of sorrow around sick-beds, and in vacant places, that still make home the dearer as the arena of earth's purest discipline and of its most triumphant faith! and why delineate the features of that other class of homes, whose most significant word is "_privation_?" where cheerlessness, and hunger, and desponding toil, or hopeless apathy, brood continually. let your own sympathies, let your own imaginations that cannot exaggerate the reality, call up the vision of such. think how many such abodes there are this very night, which winter besieges with all his terrors, and into which he sends his invading frost! think what home is to hundreds, and, therefore, how life looks to them, seen through this atmosphere of disease and want, with starvation by the hearth, and death at the door, and misery everywhere! think, when the cold pierces even through all your wrappages of comfort, and scarcity almost pinches, what forms of humanity, with lungs, and nerves, and hearts, and every capacity for suffering, are scraping the moss of subsistence from the barest rocks of life, and struggling every day through an avalanche! think what this sabbath has been in the dwellings of the poor, you who have had time to listen to the gospel, and have heard it comfortably--so comfortably, perhaps, that you have fallen asleep under it--think what this sabbath has been in the dwellings of the poor! and yet, when i consider what, doubtless, the sabbath has been in some of those places, i am thankful that the highest ideal, the richest sanctities of home, are not dependent upon outward conditions; for even there, unfaltering duty and true love have made the bare walls beautiful, and prayer has set the desolate chamber on the steps of the divine throne; and before the eye of faith the cold arch of the winter night, that looks in through hole and cranny, has burst into a revelation of heaven, and a path for those ministering angels that come to help the sufferer and to comfort god's poor. with more unqualified sadness, therefore, our thoughts must rest upon still another group of dwellings, where deprivation and ignorance are mingled with vice and crime--where want and guilt strip away the masks of civilization, and bring out the essential savage in man's nature. these also we must call "_homes_!" these breathing-holes of abomination, these moral tombs, where huddle the demons of violence, and cunning, and debauchery, and from which they issue. that vast hades of social evil opening downward from our streets, where the best ideals have no type, and the purest sentiments scarce a name; where god is but a dark cloud of muttering thunder in the soul; where all that is fair in womanhood is dishevelled and transformed; and where childhood is baptized in infamy, trained to sin, canopied with curses, and rocked to sleep by the convulsive hell of passions all around it. the homes of the metropolis! thus diversified are they in their general types, and more numerous in their individual conditions than can be specified. and, surely, it is no vain speculation that inquires--"what are they? into what retreats do the elements of this busy crowd dissolve, night after night?" whatever they may be, a common interest envelopes them and links them all together--the interest of humanity. they have vanished from the streets. one great shadow covers them, and hides their distinctions. for a time they are all equal. they have fallen asleep--poor, tired humanity at the best!--they have fallen asleep on the bosom of a common providence, that bears them all up, as it bears the planet on which they now repose, through the orbit of its great purpose and the immensities of its love. but in the morning all these diversities will break forth again, each pouring its influence into the general stream. and who does not perceive how much the character of that influence must depend upon the condition of those homes? who does not see that not only the interest of the common humanity in its most intimate experiences attaches to them, but the interest of community? not only are they the reservoirs of individual power and peculiarity, but they are the springs of social life. and this the apostle indicated, when he directed that certain, who bore intimate relations to the early church, should "first learn to show piety at home." keeping this conclusion in mind, let me ask you to consider, for a little while, what home _must_ be. in the first place--it is the _earliest and the most influential school_. nowhere else is the character so moulded; nowhere else is so much infused into our entire being. for, whatever it may be, it is the nursery of childhood; and "the child is father to the man." here dawns upon the human mind the conception of life. here, when the nature is uninscribed and plastic, it takes its first impressions. i suppose it to be true, that more is learnt, more that is elementary and a key to all the rest, in the first few years of childhood than in all after time. i do not deny, of course, that much is corrected and overcome under another class of influences. but the deepest impressions, the seeds of the most stubborn habits, are planted at home. hence the peculiar anxiety of good men to rescue _children_ from the influences of a bad home. and, even then, with what obstacles do they have to contend! how radical are the prejudices already formed in that young mind! how obstinate the customs, how opaque the ignorance, how rank the growth of error! nay, into what complete fruition have all these grown, simply in the neglect of home-culture, to say nothing of influences positively evil! really, the color and current of a man's destiny are indicated here, unless a shock of wonderful transformation comes over him. i do not mean to say that anybody is wholly the creature of circumstances; but he is the _subject_ of circumstances. if they do not entirely make _him_, they furnish the occasion out of which he makes something; and, viewed either from the platform of the inward or the outward, they furnish an important key to his life. and, although the path of reformation is more difficult than the descent into evil, and demands an effort which too few are inclined to put forth; though by the conditions of our nature the good is more easily swept away than the bad; still, it is encouraging to estimate the permanence and the power of those _good_ influences which are received at home. everybody knows, when he is pitched into this whirlpool of evil that rolls around him in the world, how those old home-restraints lie upon him like a magic chain, hard to be forced away--perhaps never utterly forced away. and, seeking for those who should stand up in this boisterous sweep of sin, you would look and i would look to those who had received the best impressions under the domestic roof. if i were alone, poor, compelled to ask charity somewhere in this selfish world, i would go, not to the man who has learnt most of what he calls his "wisdom" from the experience of mature life, but to him in whose heart there evidently remains something of childhood's tenderness, kept warm by the remembered pressures of his mother's breast. if i were seeking to restore some wild prodigal, brazen-fronted by his own wicked will and by the scorn with which men have battered him--if i were looking for some gleam of promise in his turbulent nature, and sounding its depths to find some spring of repentance--i should never despair if i could discover one gentle pulse that beat with the memories of a good and happy home. why, who needs to be told of the potency of this our earliest school, to say nothing of other influences, if only a faithful _mother_ presides there? o! mother, mother, name for the earliest relationship, symbol of the divine tenderness; kindling a love that we never blush to confess, and a veneration that we cannot help rendering; how does your mystic influence, imparted from the soft pressure and the undying smile, weave itself through all the brightness through all the darkness of our after life. the mould of character set on the front of the world's great men, and gladly confessed by them, bears your stamp. your inspiration burns along the poet's line. it is your true courage, more than man's rude daring, that makes the force of heroes. the statesman, when treason to humanity wears the garb of power, and duty calls him like a trumpet, hears your voice. the philanthropist, when he feels that the most efficient service is to be patient and to wait, imbibes the strength of your fortitude. the sailor, "on the high and giddy mast," mingles your name close to god's. and thousands in life's great claims, in life's great perils, trace back the influences of the hour to some early time, some calm moment, when,--little, timid children,--they knelt by your side, and from tones of reverence and looks of love and simple words of prayer, they first learnt piety at home. but i observe again, that home is the sphere where are most clearly displayed _the real elements of character_. the world furnishes occasions of trial, but it also furnishes prudential considerations. without any absolute hypocrisy, one measures his speech and restrains his action in the street and the market. and it is easy to conceive how small men may perform great deeds, and mean men seem philanthropic, and cowards flourish as heroes, with the tremendous motive of publicity to urge them. but at home all masks are thrown aside, and the true proportions of the man appear. here he can find his actual moral standard, and measure himself accordingly. if he is irritable, here breaks forth his repressed fretfulness. if he is selfish, here are the sordid tokens. if he passes in any way for more than he is worth, here you may detect the counterfeit in the ring of his natural voice and the superscription of his undisguised life. no, the world is not the place to prove the moral stature and quality of a man. there are too many props and stimulants. nor, on the other hand, can he himself determine his actual character merely by looking into his own solitary heart. therein he may discover _possibilities_, but it needs actuality to make up the estimate of a complete life. he must _do_ something as well as be something; he must do something in order that he may be something. for, what he thinks is in his heart may be exaggerated by self-flattery, or darkened by morbid self-distrust. it needs some occasion to prove what is really there. and home is precisely that sphere which is sufficiently removed from the factitious motives of publicity on the one extreme, and the unexercised possibilities of the human heart on the other, to afford a genuine test. what a man really is, therefore, will appear in the truest light under his own roof and by his own fireside. i can believe that he is a christian, when i know that he faithfully takes up the daily duties, and bears the crosses, that cluster within his own doors. i shall think that the world rightly calls him a philanthropist, when, notwithstanding common faults and infirmities, he receives the spontaneous award of the good husband and father, and the kindness of his nature is reflected in the very air and light of his dwelling. and,--talk of noble deeds!--where will you find occasions for, where will you behold manifestations of, a more beautiful self-sacrifice, a more generous heroism, than in the labors and in the endurance of thousands of men and women, shut out from the world's observation in silent nooks and corners of this very city, amidst the relationships and cares and struggles of home? but whether it be in forms of good or evil, we know that the real elements of character, the genuine moral qualities of people, must be expressed there. and, i remark once more, that at home we must find _the most essential happiness or misery of life_. the same conditions apply here as those which relate to character. the world is a theatre of _seeming_, and we can hardly tell by what we notice there who is, or who is not, happy. we know that gaiety is often the reckless ripple over depths of despair; and that men will bear up with a smile while untold agony is gnawing at their heart-strings, and will die laughing, in an agony of defiance, under the sword-strokes of fortune. on the other hand we may count some as unfortunate, in whose bosoms, all the while, there are flowing inexhaustible springs of peace, and who derive real joy from what we suppose to be a hard and pitiable lot. but amidst the undisguised realities of home we can form the most correct estimate of a man's condition. in the first place because, as has been remarked, he is there most truly himself. he gains opportunity for reflection, and gives vent to the secret burden of his heart. there he empties the load of his envies, his rivalries, his disappointments; which he has carried before the world muffled in courtesy or pride. these, it may be, meet and are re-acted upon by kindred elements; engendered, perhaps, by the very atmosphere which he himself, in the first place, created. oh! how many rich dwellings there are, crowded with every appointment of luxury, that are only glittering ice-caverns of selfishness and discontent; pavilions of misery, where jangling discord mars the show, and a chill of mutual distrust breathes through the sumptuous apartments, and heartless ostentation presides like a robed skeleton at the feast. you feel that nothing is genial or spontaneous there. the courtesy is dreary etiquette, and the laughter forced music. you would dine as happily with the forms on the canvas, with the cold marbles in the hall. for all this magnificence is nothing more than a gorgeous pall over dead affections--nothing more than the coronation of a living woe. "better is a dinner of herbs," says the wise man, "where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." and many a home exists where there _is_ but little more than a dinner of herbs, which affection and mutual loyalty, and sweet dispositions, convert into a palace. and there are fixed boundaries of peace, that society cannot encroach upon, while the processions of ambition and pleasure and ceaseless pursuit, pass by its windows and disturb it not. here the good man and the brave man--the man who has nobly discharged his duty at whatever cost--is respected and understood. hither he can retreat beyond the shots of calumny which have torn the ensign of his good name; beyond the deceit of men, which halts at the threshold. here he can look calmly out upon the changes of fortune and the frowns of the world. here his perplexed spirit finds inspirations of strength, and space for rest. there is no happiness in life, there is no misery, like that growing out of the dispositions which consecrate or desecrate a home. moreover, the elements of profoundest joy or suffering are there, because there are unfolded the deepest experiences of our mortal lot. there transpire those events which constitute the _eras_ of our existence. there, day by day, grows the sentiment of filial veneration and love. there is the joy of wedded felicity. there wells up in the heart the first strange gush of parental affection. there comes the intimation of awful change staring upon us with the face of death. there falls the shadow of the funeral train, passing across the threshold. there breaks in upon us the sense of bereavement, in the vacant chambers; where the familiar foot-step patters, where the familiar voice is heard no more. from the very nature of things, the profoundest happiness and misery of human life must be experienced among the conditions of home. having thus in some respects considered what home _must_ be, i have virtually anticipated whatever may be said in the second division of this discourse respecting what home _ought_ to be. thus, as it is the earliest and most influential school, it behoves every one who is bound by its responsibilities to make it an agent of the _best culture_. the great subject of home education, is of itself enough for a series of discourses; and i have not room to lay down even the general propositions which belong to it, much less for specifications. but i would remind you--and i think the suggestion is especially needed amidst the whirl of city life--that there _is_ such a thing as home education, and it presses its claims upon everybody who inhabits a home. there is such a thing as home education, differing from school education, whether of the week day or the sabbath, and therefore it is a matter we ought to attend to, and not suppose we have done enough when we patronize an academy, or help fill a class on sunday. to every parent--to every influential member of a household--there is committed a charge which can be shifted to no one else; there is an opportunity which no outside teacher possesses. there are some duties in life that we have to look for and to go after; there are others which are passed right into our hands, whether we will or not. and this duty of home education is of the latter kind. now, i have just said that i cannot specify here, and even if there were room i am not sure that it would be advisable. for i doubt whether we can give any manual of methods and instruments in this respect, any more than there can be a manual of religious exercises suited to every spiritual peculiarity. dispositions, capacities, circumstances, must create their own methods. and perhaps the poorest method of all would be some system of domestic education, which the experimenter thinks will do the work exactly. i am somewhat suspicious of systems. i am more than suspicious of any constrained formal method, bringing up children in a mere manual drill, crimping them into a mould of mincing proprieties, and making them speak with an automaton click. perhaps the most headlong young men that can be found, are those who spent their early days in a sort of strait jacket with a clock-work movement. they were wound up so tight when they were boys, that now they take great pleasure in going fast, and running down. in other words, having felt their early training to be mere _training_, the moment they strip off the constraint, they plunge into the opposite extreme of _no_ constraint. nay, i believe that even children who are left to their own instincts, and shoved out into the world to take care of themselves, are generally better balanced, and go with steadier motion than these. of course, however, neither extreme is right. there is such a thing, i say once more, as home education, involving all necessary training and true constraint; and yet not oppressively felt as such, because it is free, informal, and respects the spontaneity of the childish nature. but, whether our home education be formal or informal, direct or indirect, there is one kind of education which we are sure to impart. it is the education of example, silent, effective, stronger and more easily apprehended than any set of maxims. i would we were all duly impressed with the responsibilities of home as they appear in this light; might feel, however we may be absorbed in business or in pleasure, that the young mind and heart are receiving influences, and growing into expressions that in some way will surprise us. in the next place i observe, that if we display our real dispositions and characters at home, we should recognize it practically as _a sphere of moral discipline_. the family is a divine ordinance--the home is an institution of god, forecast in the peculiarities of our very nature. history shows no period when it did not exist, and we discover no tribe so barbarous as to be without it. it is the foundation of all society. it embosoms the germ and ideal of the state. according to the purity of its relations, the intensity of its sympathies, the inviolability of its rights, a nation's life is high or low, feeble or strong, fickle or enduring. and if it is thus rooted in the nature and the history of man, we may well believe that it affords some of the profoundest occasions for that moral discipline which is the great purpose of our existence upon the earth. it is certainly the great sphere in which our affections are to be cultivated. of course i do not mean that this is the limit of their cultivation. but here they are nurtured, and out of this they grow. as love is the infinite nature itself, so is it the prevalent sentiment of all life. it has been ordained that this great element should flow through every form of being, linking them together by a common feeling, and lending some interest to the most insignificant. and man has been set in the family relation that this sentiment might be developed. there is no one in whose heart it does not exist. you cannot find me a being so defaced, so alienated from the common stock of humanity, as to cherish in his bosom no secret fount of love, no fibril of affection linking him to something else. but of this love there are numerous degrees; and the highest forms of it, that go forth in expressions of self-sacrifice and worldwide sympathy, are only developed by culture. and for this culture there are rich opportunities amidst the relations and sanctities of home. and there is opportunity among these relations also, for active duty, and in its daily tasks and responsibilities, is often illustrated that practical lesson which society so much needs--the lesson of mutual help. it is a school where we may learn endurance and charity. out of its trials is developed the sense of religious need; and under the shadow of its bereavements we appreciate the glorious vision of faith. there are other issues in life, where we need these divine helps; none where we feel the need of them more. those who have stood by the sick-bed and taken the last look of the dearest earthly objects, and yet have lifted hearts of trust, and eyes of transcendent hope, are able to meet the intensest sorrows of the world, and to come out like refined gold. home, then, should be regarded especially in this light, as a sphere where the richest elements of our moral culture are supplied. finally, if at home we find the most essential happiness or misery of life, of course each should do his best to make it the most _attractive_ of all places. he should bring not his worst, but his best temper there. how many are there who bottle up their wrath all the day long, and uncork it when they get home! they had better reverse the process. if you must chafe under disappointment, and indulge angry passion, let it out in the excitement of the world, where the rough friction of business will help you to get rid of it, or where nobody has time to care whether you get rid of it or not. and let _business_ stay where it belongs. do not interrupt social claims with its speculations; nor drag the counting-room into the parlor. there are some men with whom business is a disease; they are never easy with it and never rid of it. thus, perhaps, they acquire a reputation for smartness and enterprise; but they do it, it is to be feared, by putting aside other and more sacred claims. nor let him who is the genial companion abroad, be the morose boarder in his own house, reserving his vivacity for society and the lees for the fireside. it is a great deal better to be like the stream that is good and welcome wherever it flows, but is sure to be fresh at its source. indeed, there are men who are made up of foam, and sparkle, and who circulate in society, but contribute nothing to the necessaries of life, and are returned empty. it is an unfortunate gift that cheers the world outdoors, but casts only a dreary shadow inside. of course, in speaking of the influence of dispositions in making home attractive, i would include the duty of those who stay at home as well as of those who go abroad, and that self-sacrifice and kind hearts should be found as well as brought there. indeed, if time would allow me to make a theme of what now can be only a hint, i should dwell largely upon _woman's_ influence in this matter. but home is to be rendered attractive not only by the disposition, but by the customs of its inmates. it must be a place to live, not merely to eat and sleep in; a place where we can find entertainment, and not always leave in search of it. it is really a monstrous folly, this fashionable treatment of home, which leads people to abandon it almost every night in pursuit of pleasure, or else to sweep it with a rout, which considers a household evening very dull, and makes sunday a day for sleeping and yawning. the central idea of home is _stability_, and this has much less chance to be realized in the city than in the country. in the latter, old forms and landmarks are not so liable to interruption, and the slow process of time works instead of the hand of innovation. but in a city, where a man emigrates before he has fairly settled, and where many move with every may-day, the idea of a homestead is almost obsolete. elegance, solidity, venerable associations, none of these can resist the march of improvement, and the rapid tide of business enterprise. the main streets of a great city in this country, may almost be termed so many dissolving views of perpetual change and renewal. but, perhaps, there is hardly one of us who does not feel that by his or her own exertions the essential element of home can be made far more abiding than it now is; and where we hear of frivolous daughters and dissipated sons, many a parent may ask the question, "what have i done to cheer and consecrate the household world, and make it more abiding?" my friends, when i consider the magnitude and importance of the subject now before us, and how many topics of discussion grow out of it--when i think how much must be left entirely unsaid--i entreat you not to suppose that i offer this discourse as anything more than a _suggestion_--a suggestion meant to turn your attention to this subject of home in the city, and leaving it to the elaboration of your own thoughts. remember, here abide the deepest springs of social life. the noblest privileges, the greatest duties, find their basis here; and we are taught first "to show piety at home." and the influence of this institution upon all other fields of human action, private or public, is too obvious to mention. all life flows from the centre, outwards; and the citizen who desires the order and purity of the community in which he lives; the philanthropist, who, under all conditions, regards the highest welfare of his race; the christian, who urges the secret culture of the soul, must look with peculiar solicitude to this institution. it is one whose impotence is demonstrated by the strength of the instinct which creates it and clings to it--an instinct which associates the most genuine happiness with its sacred enclosure of affection, however rude or poor that spot may be--which, while a man has such a place to call his own, makes him feel that he is somebody, and has some tie and claim in the world; and which, on the other hand, associated the most bitter destitution, the dreariest isolation, with that one word--"homeless." how this instinct abides, how long and how far it goes with us, is beautifully illustrated in the lines of goldsmith. "in all my wand'rings round this world of care, in all my griefs--and god has giv'n my share, i still had hopes my latest hours to crown, amidst these humble bow'rs to lay me down; to husband out life's taper at the close, and keep the flame from wasting by repose. * * * * * around my fire an ev'ning group to draw, and tell of all i felt, and all i saw; and, as a hare whom hounds and horns pursue, pants to the place from whence at first he flew, i still had hopes, my long vexations past, here to return--and die at home at last." hopes, my friends, which i think glow in the breasts of most of us, and burst spontaneously from our lips. "let us," we say, "if our lot may be so ordered--if the lines of duty run not otherwise--let us live at home." here, amidst those darkened and brightened associations which are woven in the warp and woof of our deepest experience. here, where gentle memories steal upon us with the shadows of the twilight, and for ever tapestry the walls. here, where we have held delightful intercourse with man, and secret communion with god. here, where we have tried to do our duty, and exercise our love, and to drink with patience the sweet and bitter which our father mingles in life's mysterious cup. here, where old friends are always cherished and new ones gladly come. here, where the dearest ties of earth have bound us in a family circle; and though here and there we find broken links, we still keep hold of them, and they draw us up. and when on this familiar hearth our own vital lamp burns low, and the golden bowl begins to shudder and the silver cord to untwine, let our last look be upon faces that we best love; let the gates that open into the celestial city be these well-known doors--and thus may we also _die_ at home! and this instinct of home is not attached merely to earthly conditions, but mingles with those aspirations which flow into the illimitable future. as in the vast city we seek some enclosure of our own--some place of shelter for our heads, of sympathy for our hearts; so, respecting the destiny of the soul. in spite of all our philosophy, we cannot be satisfied with the conception of a mere immaterial essence floating hither and thither in immensity. the intellect looks eagerly forward to a boundless and excursive state; but the affections, the sentiments, yearn for some locality--some spot of residence and repose. we cannot help cherishing the conception of a place where our friends are grouped together, and whither we shall go, though to be united in wider and more glorious relations. and, knowing no better name for it, with eyes of hope and tearful rapture, we look up and call it "home." the allies of the tempter. discourse vi. the allies of the tempter. he that is not with me is against me.--matthew xii. . one of the discourses of the preceding series was devoted to a consideration of the vices--especially the three prominent vices--of great cities. i propose at the present time to speak of the _influences_, more or less direct, by which these and kindred evils are encouraged. vice, and moral corruption of any kind, no doubt has its roots in the gross hearts and in the perverted appetites of men. but the most superficial observer must see that these are nourished not merely by their native soil, but by the social atmosphere which spreads around. of course character constitutes the man, and, however this may be affected by circumstances, it enfolds the consciousness of an original personality acting upon and through and in spite of its conditions. nevertheless, the ingredients of this very personality are assimilated out of these conditions, and it is difficult to limit or define the subtile elements that blend in the deepest currents of a man's nature. it is, at least, a simple truism that he differs in one state of society from what he is in another. and, therefore, among the forces which help make up his moral condition, we must calculate the social forces. his virtues are not all self-sustained, and his vices draw nutriment from fine and remote channels. it would be an interesting process to analyze our own habits and temper and cast of thought, and find how much of this is involved with our physical relations. the air we breathe, the house in which we dwell, the very way in which it fronts the sun, the degrees of light and of shade that fall upon us with the flying hours, all weave their delicate influences into the tissues of our being. and how much that we do not suspect comes to us, day by day, in social intercourse, in the bearing of friends, in the tone and air of conversation, in the mere magnetism of the parlor or the street! how much to strengthen or to weaken us; to clear or to cloud our moral atmosphere; to make us fresh and decisive, or to slowly sap our virtue! but it is a more solemn task to compute the influences that proceed _from_ us, and to discover how, unknown to ourselves, we are swaying the circles of other lives. why, the mightiest forces go silently. you do not see the gases that compose the vital air. you do not feel the aroma that steals along loaded with poison, or wafts a blessing through the sick man's window. you do not hear the electric pulse that beats in the summer light and in the drop of dew. neither can you estimate the mysterious attraction that plays all through this network of social relations, nor the energy of good or of evil with which it is charged not merely from your words and deeds, but from the still reservoir of your example. when i look around at the prevalent vices of the city, then, and at its various forms of corruption, i am not willing to rest with the mere assertion, that all this is the fruit of personal sin and folly on the part of those who have yielded to temptation. it _is_ the fruit of personal sin and folly. and we, perhaps, in our serene respectabilities, shrink back and wonder at it. it _is_ strange--is it not?--that the young, the fair, the gifted, should yield themselves to that arch-deceit which has allured and ruined men for six thousand years? is it not the same old guilt, the same sophistry and foolishness, here in new york, that it always has been? did it not bear the same circean cup through the halls of nineveh and babylon, and fling cæsars and alexanders to the ground? did it not wear the same seductive smile and harlot tinsel when it walked the streets of tyre, and reclined in the decorated chambers of egypt? and will not its votaries find now, as then, that it entices with the embrace of death and the fascination of hell? why should they thus float upon the very rim of this great whirlpool, and not notice the groans that come up from its depths; and see that its phosphoric illusion is mixed with fiery flakes of torment and the foam of despair? it is indeed wonderful that so many should be thus deluded over and over again; so many noble energies thrown away, so many sanctions trampled upon, so many bright hopes quenched for ever. it is wonderful that any being made in the form of man, should cast down his prerogatives and wallow like the beast. sufficient evidence of sin and folly in those who do this, to be sure; but in what way do these allurements present themselves? what are the resources and entrenchments of these vices, by which they act upon human appetite and passion? you point me to brilliant windows and gay apartments; to sparkling glasses, and shining heaps, and shapes of painted shame. "these," you say, "are the forms which the tempter assumes. under smiling features and fair garlands, he hides at first that hideousness which in due time is revealed to his victims. from the lighted vestibules which open so easily to the touch, and where all seems only a coronation of youthful pleasure and natural joy, the feet of men slide downward into those abysses which are hidden from the public gaze, and over whose depths the blackness of darkness broods." and all this, again, is true. these are the ways in which the tempter works. but is there nothing but this to explain the power which evil has upon men, in the midst of the great city? these manifold allurements, these haunts of infamy and shambles of destruction--i see them standing upon strange foundations. i see them propped by these very influences to which i have alluded; influences of social condition and individual example. they would not be so formidable, they would not stand so long, were it not that respectability in its daily walk and conversation; and social culture in thousands of homes; and even justice in its lofty seat; lend them support. "he that is not with me is against me," said jesus; and, taking this proverb as a rule, a good many people may be surprised to find that, in one way and another, they are _allies_ of the tempter. the allies of the tempter, i propose to speak of now--not the forms of temptation, which i have already illustrated. nor do i intend to dwell upon those _direct_ conditions of moral evil, out of which vice and crime grow as spontaneously as weeds out of a damp and neglected soil--those wide seed fields of _ignorance_ and abject _poverty_ which lie around us. but the more remote and indirect causes it may be profitable for us to consider; and to these i now proceed. i observe, then, in the first place, that the tempter has one ally in _public sanction_. there are sources of vice and crime that are permitted and encouraged by _law_. i hardly need specify the prominent instance to which i allude. but i am not aware of a more enormous public inconsistency than what is termed "the license system"--the system of permitting the sale of intoxicating drinks in a degree, and of restricting them in a degree. for, by this method, either a moral wrong is committed, or else a civil one. if these drinks are an individual and public injury; if they distribute the seeds of disease, crime, death, and every form of social misery; then what right have we in any respect to set upon them the solemn sanction of a law? if, on the other hand, they are a benefit to mankind; a good gift of providence, as some seem to think; why should we hamper their circulation? why should we allow one man the privilege of distributing such a blessing, and forbid another who, no doubt, is equally zealous for the public good? but this very system is a confession by public opinion, in its most authentic form of expression, that the sale of intoxicating drinks is an evil. "only," we are told, "as it is a prevalent and deep-seated evil, it must be _regulated_." but how can we regulate an irregularity? how can you regulate an obstruction that is involved with the springs of a machine, or the works of a clock? the only possible method obvious to common sense, would be to remove the obstruction; and it would be thought the most foolish speculation conceivable for one to spend his ingenuity in contriving some way to keep the obstruction where it is, and yet to keep the clock going as it ought. if it moved regularly, the matter referred to would not be an obstruction; and if it did not, the contrivance to keep it there would be a help to the obstruction. now, i consider this great vice of intemperance a decided obstruction in the clock-work of an individual man, or the more general mechanism of society. it transforms a great many faces into bad dial-plates, disturbs the pendulum of public order, makes people go much too fast, and renders them liable to strike at all times. now, if a man, or a community, can be made to go just as well with it as without it, we certainly need no legislation, for there _is_ no obstruction. on the other hand, if it is essentially an irregularity, the only rational method is to get rid of its accessories altogether. to enact some way in which the irregularity shall work, is to confirm and sanction the irregularity. and the license-system--for i wish to be plain and specific here--confirms and sanctions the agents of intemperance. it indicates a way in which the irregularity may work. and not only is vice thus aided by the law. the existence of such a sanction engenders either an error or a moral wrong. for it indicates that the sale of intoxicating drinks is a public benefit, which is false; or, on the other hand, that it is lawful to uphold an evil. the same principle carried out by individuals, would excuse almost any fault. the man who steals a loaf of bread may contend that it is a necessary expedient; and he who fills an empty purse at his neighbor's expense, only endeavors to regulate an irregularity. but suppose we make the system a strict one, what process should be employed? probably you would say--"break up all these filthy and low haunts; all these places where the habitually intemperate, the degraded, the wretchedly poor congregate; and let these beverages be sold only in respectable places and to respectable people." but is this really the best plan? on the contrary, it seems quite reasonable to maintain that it is better to sell to the intemperate than to the sober--to the degraded than to the respectable--for the same reason that it is better to burn up an old hulk than to set fire to a new and splendid ship. i think it worse to put the first glass to a young man's lips, than to crown with madness an old drunkard's life-long alienation--worse to wake the fierce appetite in the depths of a generous and promising nature, than to take the carrion of a man, a mere shell of imbecility, and soak it in a fresh debauch. therefore, if i were going to say where the license should be granted in order to show its efficacy, i would say--take the worst sinks of intemperance in the city, give them the sanction of the law, and let them run to overflowing. but shut up the gilded apartments where youth takes its first draught, and respectability just begins to falter from its level. close the ample doors through which enters the long train of those who stumble to destruction and reel into quick graves, and let the flood overwhelm only the maimed and battered conscripts that remain. besides, it is better to see vice as it really is, than as it sometimes appears. the danger of intemperance is when it assumes this very garb of respectability, and sits in the radiant circle of fashion attended by wit and beauty and social delight. let us see the tempter, not as he seems when he throws out his earliest lures, in festal garments and with roses around his brow; but as he looks when fairly engaged in his work, showing his genuine expression. let us see this vice of intemperance in its _results_, as they teem and darken here in the midst of our city life. lay bare its channel--let us see to its very depths--where it flows over the wrecks of human happiness, and over dead men's bones. lay bare its festering heaps of disease, its madness, its despair, its domestic desolation, its reckless sweep over all order and sanctity; and thus, tracing it from its sources under glittering chandeliers and in fonts of crystal, we shall be able to say--"this is the real element which exists and does its work, by public connivance and with the sanction of law!" if you ask me then, whether i think that a statute of absolute prohibition would stop this flowing curse, i reply that at least it would put the influence of authority on the right side. it would lend it the force of consistent endeavor. as it is, it would be far better if the public sanction had no expression; for now it only confirms and guarantees the evil. its power is exerted not in the right, but in the wrong direction. it is an ally of the tempter. for the spirit of everlasting justice and benevolence, speaking as it were by the mouth of jesus, says--"he that is not with me is against me." but i observe, in the second place, that the forces of temptation in the city are nourished by _public neglect_. in individual experience it will be found, i think, that sins of _omission_ are more numerous and are worse than sins of _commission_. if we examine our lives closely, we shall discover that our moral indebtedness comes even less from what we have done, than from what we ought to have done. and this individual experience has a counterpart in social conditions. how many evils among us grow up under the shadow of inoperative laws--laws which have a voice and nothing else--nay, hardly a voice, so seldom are they heard even to speak. they appear to have been enacted merely as a compliment to decency, and they remain in the statute-book as "idle as painted ships upon a painted ocean." the dens of debauch keep open doors night and day; the saloons of profligacy send out their cards of invitation; the gambler rattles his triumphant dice; but excursive policemen never see, and vigilant magistrates never hear! some provision of nature has imparted a very singular quality to the optic powers of the one, and the auditory nerves of the other. the laws against this vice, or that custom, stand fixed and silent; and as for putting them in operation, one would as soon think of pulling up so many grave-stones. they _are_ the grave-stones of a dead public sentiment--the stumbling-blocks of a blind justice, that too often shakes hands with the very guilt which it professes to condemn. i do not, by any means, believe that everything is to be accomplished by law. i do not believe that the profoundest results are to be accomplished by it. but, if it possesses any efficacy at all, it consists in its power to repress open and shameless wrong; and where any such wrong _is_ open and shameless, public neglect is the cause, and such public neglect, therefore, is an ally of the tempter. and let us consider the enormity of such evils. in every great city there are some omissions of executive duty, which, though grievous to be borne, are noticed with good humor. but there are moral swamps, sending up their foul steam to pollute the common light; there are kennels of uncleanness, running with the waste of human lives, sweeping along with the death-gurgle of human souls; there is a dry-rot of impurity infecting the town-air, withering the dearest sanctities of society and of home--and over this kind of evil we cannot be facetious. think how much is risked here, and how much is lost! domestic happiness, reputation, honor, health, order, the prospects of the young, the peace of the old--fathers, the hopes of your sons! mothers, the interests of your daughters! and, though speaking may have little effect, say whether we ought not to speak, and to speak indignantly, of the neglect which lets these evils spread with deadly luxuriance, and winks at them as though they were harmless? but, my friends, what do we mean by "public sanction," or "public neglect?" there are some convenient synonyms which help us to cover up our personal responsibility--help us to transfer our own sense of duty to a vague secondary agent, and keep peace with our own consciences. and yet they are only _synonyms_, after all. now this term "public" is but another word for the aggregate of our personal obligations, and does not for a single moment rid us of our share in the general influence. the real point of my present topic is this--you and i and every other individual involved in this network of social relations, are helping or weakening the force of these prevalent evils. and it may arouse us to some decision of conduct to consider how the most respectable--those who would shrink with horror from these foul customs--are, nevertheless, allies of the tempter. and i might state, as a comprehensive proposition, that every man _is_ an ally of the tempter, who does not put forth a conscious and positive moral energy; who does not habitually throw his example and his influence in the right direction. it is not enough that he abstains from wrong himself--that he is chaste, and temperate, and upright, and unimpeached. for perhaps the most hopeless people, morally speaking, are those people who, according to their own confession, "have never done any harm." there is a good prospect for those who are trying to grow better, however they may slip and flounder. there is hope, on the other hand, for the desperately wicked--for the very violence of one extreme precipitates the other; and sometimes the best and purest souls have been swept by a thunder-shower of sin. but those who rest upon the fact that they "have never done any harm," by being so easily contented show but little moral vitality. there is no aspiration in their natures. they seem to have no particular mission in the universe; for, if they have never done any harm, they have done little else. they are poorly fitted for this earth, which demands the effort of all our faculties; poorly fitted for heaven, whose inhabitants would not make harmlessness their chief characteristic. their residence and their paradise might be a great exhausted receiver, where there is no gravitation to draw them down, and no air to send them up. but, in truth, these people deceive themselves. every man exerts a _positive_ influence, and cannot, if he would, be a mere negation in the world. in the great conflict of good and evil there is no middle ground. there are no compromises in god's government, and neutral men are the devil's allies. "he that is not with me, is against me." let us see, then, how possible it is that _we_ may contribute to the force of evil in the city. in other words, let us inquire--in what way do respectable and harmless people, as they deem themselves, become allies of the tempter? in the first place, by their _customs_. and, chief of all, by the custom of an intense and inconsiderate selfishness. how many there are who require no other sanction for what they do than "that pleases me," or "this gratifies me!" it is wonderful what a mighty agent _self_ is, estimated by its own standards. it is the hero of every exploit, the centre of every event, and the oracle of all opinions. it interprets the purpose of the universe; it finds out exactly what the world was made for. at least, a good many, apparently, have ascertained that the world was made for them, and that they were sent into it to get what gratification they can. and it appears sadly out of tune to them, if it does not serve this end. in anything they do, therefore, they consider only selfish consequences. they do not apprehend the universe in its great harmony. they do not trace out its web of mutual relations--a braid of light held in the hand of infinite love. they do not know the sympathy that shoots in the crystal, and shimmers in the aurora, and beats in the heart of the ocean, and makes the silent music that rolls from sphere to sphere along the glittering scale of heaven. if they did, they would discover, perhaps, that the social world is constructed upon the same plan; and man cannot be an alien from the common humanity however hard he may try. yes: concerning any custom, you have not only yourself to consider, but the bearings of its influence throughout this tissue of hearts and minds with which you are involved. you cannot isolate yourself from your responsibilities. you cannot shut yourself within comfortable walls, and say--"here is the limit of my obligations, and here i will do as i please!" you may _say_ this, but you do not rid yourself of these claims. through imperceptible aqueducts your influence runs abroad; and what you do, and what you are, contributes particles of disease or health to the social atmosphere that envelopes all. i look around, then, upon the vices and even the crimes of the city, and i say that some of them find root in the customs of the respectable and the fashionable. profligacy, which we shrink from in its open profession, and which appears abominable in its avowed haunts, finds encouragement wherever the libertine receives the smile of beauty, and the guilt of the meanest sort of a man is excused on account of an agreeable manner. thus the poison of the snake, and the blight of his venom on many a reputation and many a womanly heart, is all forgotten in the drawing-room, because of the fascination of his hiss and the glitter of his skin. again, the tempter has an ally in the world of traffic, wherever bad things are stamped with respectable names--when, for instance, swindling is called "smartness," and robbery "per-centage." among people of less note in the world these matters are named "cheating" and "stealing," and some of them may take punishment the more reluctantly because they cannot perceive the difference. and, still again, i think that a little use of intoxicating drinks is like the little matter that kindles a great fire, and that there would not be so much intemperance if there were not so many "temperate" drinkers. the sluices of the grog-shop are fed from the wine-glasses in the parlor; and there is a lineal descent from the gentleman who hiccups at his elegant dinner-table to the sot who makes a bed of the gutter. "am i my brother's keeper?" asked the first man who reddened his hands with the violated life of a man; and the answer came crying upward in a voice of blood from the ground. "am i my brother's keeper?" _you_ ask, perhaps, with a tone of surprise or scorn. _you_ ask o! respectable gentleman or lady; o! man in the thick of business; o! self-indulgent epicurean;--and the answer comes to you not from the ground merely, but from the universal air--the answer of kindred pulses, of confluent sympathies, of an inseparable humanity--though it swarms in rags, and riots in shame, and seems far off from you in its hell of debasement and despair. nay, perhaps the answer comes very _near_ to you. it may come from some one of your own household. you may ask--"who has tempted even my very child?" ask _yourself_--"need he have gone outside this very door to find temptation?" ah! perhaps you are not merely an ally of the tempter, but have furnished conscripts for his vast army. your children perhaps will rise up and call you--_not_ "blessed." and see, too, what kind of conscripts the tempter draws from the ranks of respectable and especially of fashionable life. mere striplings, so dwarfed and dwindled by precocious dissipation that they look like feeble specimens of wax-work; whose faculties--the evident product of a thin soil--have been developed by bottles of wine and fast horses; whose memories are too short to remember their parents; whose ideas are too artificial to touch any genuine spring of nature; who are ashamed of true manliness, and make a miserable farce of what they _call_ "manliness;" and who, as they parade the streets, make up a sort of bombastic interlude in the drama of "young america." but, whatever view we may take of this general subject, it is evident that we cannot easily exaggerate the influence of "respectable and fashionable" customs upon the forces of temptation. and, surely, it becomes each of us to consider the tendencies of his own example, and ask--"is it toward the right or the wrong? is it for, or against the good?" again, the tempter finds help from our _indifference_. this, indeed, may be the qualification which should be applied to the remarks i have just made. it is not to be supposed that the evil influences which go out from the customs alluded to, are the results of _intention_. they spring up in a lack of interest and of the consciousness of duty. they grow rank and luxuriant in neglect. if we were only in earnest as to these vices and crimes and guilty customs; if we would only wake from our apathy, to reflection and conviction; how soon would they diminish, and how many of them would pass away! but, as comprehensive of this, and in fact all the rest that may be said, i observe, finally, that the temptations of a great city are strong because of a lack of the spirit of _christian love_. in one respect, especially, is it true that men in general are not _with_ jesus, and therefore are against him. they have not his sympathies, his spirit of self-sacrifice, his broad, deep, universal charity. baneful customs, and cold indifferentism grow up in a soil that is watered by no living and unselfish love. they show the dryness and the baseness of our social state. and it is not merely in the lack of active and practical love that the tempter grows strong; but in the exercise of a prevalent _uncharitableness_. too many of us have no disposition but scorn for the fallen; see no blessed possibilities in them; do not detect any divine ray glimmering in the thick darkness--do not discern the precious soul, like a crown-jewel, in its filthy and battered casket. and if this paralyzes and kills the springs of our own activity, need i say how the hearts of the offending are repelled and hardened in such a hostile atmosphere? need i say how desperate is the ishmaelitish conviction; the sense of isolation and antagonism; and, on the other hand, how powerful and healing, even for the most distant and hopeless, is the sweet attraction of sympathy? and what are we, that we dare to cherish this exclusive horror, this pitiless, unrelenting scorn? when we consider our own slips, compared with our temptations; the account to which god may hold us, not the smooth standards of human respectability; how much higher is our own moral level, that we feel no chords of a common humanity reaching down even to those fallen ones, and cannot stoop to touch them? my friends, it may be, after all, that the tempter has no surer ally than the averted face of contempt and the word of unsoftened rebuke, driving the barb of conscious guilt deeper and despairingly into a brother's soul. and, as i look upon this mass of social evil, these steaming wells of passion, these solid fortifications of habit where the tempter is entrenched, i ask how is all this to pass away? and the answer is--only by the spirit of christian love, sweeping these impediments of selfishness from the heart, and animating us to effort. _with_ christ the work certainly can be done. in this gospel-beating amidst the guilt and sorrow of the world like the pulsations of a divine heart--in the few leaves of this testament--there is an illimitable power, before whose inspiration in the purposes and deeds of men no evil thing shall stand. and the spirit and exercise of this love _is_ religion. it is the up-shot of all that is preached--it is the open and tangible test of every mystic experience that drifts through the soul--it is so deep, so broad, and runs so far, that it comprehends all requirements; and they who cherish it, and practice it in the low and dark and desolate places of the world, are the true saints. nothing else will do in its place. not churches, nor creeds, nor rituals, nor respectabilities. without it we are not friends of christ, nor co-workers with god. without it we deepen the channels of human woe, and prop the strong-holds of wickedness. without it, whatever we may not be, we are allies of the tempter. the saviour says to each of us to-day, placed amidst these antagonistic forces of life--"he that is not with me is against me." the children of the poor. discourse vii. the children of the poor. the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.--lamentations iv., . the writer of these words bewailed a state of war and captivity--a state of things in which the great relations of human life are broken up and desecrated. but it is strange to find that the most flourishing forms of civilization involve conditions very similar to this. for, if any man will push beyond the circle of his daily associations, and enter the regions of the abject poor, he will see how the hostile forces of privation, and hunger, and unguided impulse, have laid waste the sanctities of existence in the abodes and in the breasts of thousands as with sword and with fire. there is no essential difference in starvation, whether it ensues from the ravages of an invading host or from the lack of means. temptation is a fierce legion; and death looks no more terrible under a babylonian helmet, than it does upon the gaunt faces of men who die upon the bare floor or wallow in rags. the worst calamity _in_ a calamity--if i may use such an expression--the most deplorable thing in any of the great evils of life, occurs when the selfish instinct within us is aroused, by want or terror, to such a degree that it overwhelms all social limitations, absorbs every sympathy, and leaves nothing but an intense individualism. this is the result in a sudden shock of danger, when the alarmed instinct is the first that starts to the summons. sometimes, in protracted peril, it grows into an actual delirium of selfishness, and drowns even the sense of fear--as men amidst the horrors of a shipwreck will commit the most brutal excesses, and even rob the dying. and thus, in the desolation of jerusalem as described by jeremiah, the very yearnings of maternity were swallowed up by this fierce instinct. "the hands of tender-hearted women cooked their own children; they were their food, in the destruction of the daughter of my people." and results as bad as this appear in the conditions of poverty, suffering, and social degradation. every fine chord of human nature is seared, sodden, torn from its sockets, in the darkness of the moral faculties and by the pressure of animal wants. the poor man is conscious of nothing but privation and suffering. he gazes at the power and discipline and pomp of society all about him, not as an ally but as a captive, or as a savage foe. the whole wears the aspect of a besieging army, and the ishmaelitish feeling predominates. in the midst of the city he becomes an arab of the desert, a robber of the rock. now, it makes little difference whether the circle is wider or narrower, whether the siege is a moral or a literal one, whether the agent is the sword or the condition of society. the essential results will be the same. the civilization of new york may and does hem in a desolation as fearful in kind as that of jerusalem, and involves sufferings as keen, and wakes up instincts as fiercely selfish. and one whose sympathies with the wide humanity are as fresh and clear as the prophet's were with the woes of his people, might draw closer within these various circles of prosperity and refinement and activity, that lend such attractiveness to the great city--this magnificent girdle of commerce, embossed with the symbols of all nations--these arteries of traffic, filled with circulating wealth and power--these groups of fashion and of beauty, whose cheapest jewels would open the kingdom of heaven to ten thousand souls; he might pass within all these bands of "civilization," and in some alley, or "five points," sit down and weep for the calamity of his brethren. he would behold there war and captivity enough to fill an entire volume of lamentations. captivity! were men ever bound by a darker chain, or trampled by a harder heel, than those victims of destitution and of their own passions? war! did the jew behold any hosts more terrible pressing into jerusalem, than you and i might see if we looked about us? the entrenched filth that all day long sends its steaming rot through lane and dwelling, through bone and marrow, and saps away the life. cold that encamps itself in the empty fire-place, and blows through the broken door, and paralyzes the naked limbs. hunger that takes the strong man by the throat, and kills the infant in its mother's arms. and still another traitorous legion that, equipped with the fascinations of the bottle and the shamelessness of harlotry, appeals to the passions of the brutal and proffers comfort to the hearts of the sad. war and captivity in the midst of peace and refinement--is it not, my friends? and, with all this, may we not expect that fierce instinct of selfishness which overwhelms every other impulse, and breaks out in crime? ah! and do we not discover a counterpart to that saddest feature of all in such circumstances--a desecration even of the parental instinct? fathers, beating their sons into the career of guilt; and mothers--worse than those who made horrid food of their own children--offering their daughters to the moloch of lust in the shape of some "gentlemanly" devil with a portable hell in his own breast! and it seems to me that if one with a prophet vision and a prophet heart, widened to the compass of humanity, should thus go into these waste places, nothing would affect him more; nothing would strike a deeper and tenderer chord in his bosom; than the condition of these little ones amidst the siege and terror. and, comprehending all their need--their moral as well as their physical destitution--he might exclaim, as describing the most pitiable spectacle of all--"the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them." and i think that every one of you who has reflected at all upon this subject, must feel that, of all the conditions of humanity in the darker regions of the city, there is none more sorrowful, more momentous, and at the same time more hopeful, than the condition of the children of the poor. and i do not call your attention to this subject to-night with the expectation of proclaiming any fresh doctrine, or offering any novel suggestion, but because in a series of discourses like the present i cannot consistently pass by such a prominent phase; and more especially because i wish to push the old truth from your heads into your hearts, so that you may be excited to immediate and practical action. i purpose then, in regard to the children of the poor, to maintain one or two _principles_, to state a few _facts_, and to consider some _remedies_; and these will constitute the divisions of my discourse. in the first place then, i lay down a general principle which divides itself into two specific principles. i maintain that we are under peculiar obligations in regard to children. of all our duties, except those which we owe directly to god--of all the ways in which we are required to _show_ our duty to god--i know of none more peremptory than this. it is the obligation of an instinct that appears everywhere; that swells in the breasts of the rudest people; that mingles with the most tender and beautiful and sacred associations of human life. childhood and children! is there any heart so sheathed in worldliness, or benumbed by sorrow, or hardened in its very nature, as to feel no gentle thrill responding to these terms? surely, in some way these little ones have "touched the finer issues" of our being, and given us an unconscious benediction. some of you are mothers, and have acquired the holiest laws of duty, the sweetest solicitudes, the noblest inspirations, in the orbit of a child's life. and, however wide the circle of its wandering, you have held it still, by some tether of the heart, bound to the centre of a fathomless and unforgetting love. some of you are fathers, and in the opening promise of your sons have built fresh plans and enjoyed young hopes, and even in the decline of life have walked its morning paths anew. many of us have felt our first great sorrow, and the breaking up of the spiritual deep within us, by the couch of a dead child. clasping the little lifeless hand, we have comprehended, as never before, the _reality_ of death, and through the gloom, covering all the world about us, have caught sudden glimpses of the immortal fields. and, all of us, i trust, are thankful that god has not created merely men and women, crimped into artificial patterns, with selfish speculation in their eyes, with sadness and weariness and trouble about many things carving the wrinkles and stealing away the bloom; but pours in upon us a fresh stream of being that overflows our rigid conventionalisms with the buoyancy of nature, plays into this dusty and angular life like the jets of a fountain, like floods of sunshine, upsets our miserable dignity, meets us with a love that contains no deceit, a frankness that rebukes our quibbling compliments, nourishes the poetry of the soul, and, perpetually descending from the threshold of the infinite, keeps open an arch-way of mystery and heaven. and now, just consider what a child _is_--this being thus fresh from the unknown realm, tender, plastic, dependent; a bud enfolding the boundless possibilities of humanity, and growing rank, running to waste, or opening in beauty, as you turn, neglect, or support it--just consider what a child is; and he must be far gone in indifference or depravity, who does not recognize the specific duty growing out of a general obligation which is forced upon us by the intrinsic claims of that child's nature. if we were appealed to by nothing else but its drooping reliance and natural wants, there would be enough to draw our attention to every phase of childhood that comes within our sphere. but our purpose this evening calls us away from these brighter images of childhood, to consider those who are surrounded with the most savage aspects and the worst influences of the world. and, beside the absolute duty which is imposed upon us by their natural position, i observe that the children of the poor create an appeal to _prudential_ considerations. they form a large proportion of those groups known in every city as "the _dangerous_ classes." for they will be developed somehow. if they receive not that attention which is demanded by their position; if they are left to darkness and neglect; still, it is no mere mass of negative existence that they constitute. there is vitality there and positive strength, in those lanes and cellars, put forth for evil if not drawn towards the good. we must not confound ignorance with torpor of spirit or bluntness of understanding. one of the most remarkable characteristics of vagrant children is a keen, precocious intellect. a boy of seven in the streets of a city is more developed in this respect than one of fourteen in the country--a development, of course, which is easily accounted for by the antagonisms with which the child has had to contend, and the devices which have been inspired by the sheer pressure of want. he has been pitched into the sea of events to sink or swim, and those sharpened faculties are the tentacles put forth by an effort of nature in order to secure a hold of life. and there is something very sad and very fearful in this precocity. the vagrant boy has known nothing of the stages of childhood, conducting with beautiful simplicity from one timid step to another, and gradually forming it for the realities of the world. but the neglected infant has wilted into the premature man, with his old cunning look, blending so fantastically, so mournfully, with the unformed features of youth. knowing the world on its worst side--knowing its hostility, its knavery, its foulness, its heartless materialism--knowing it as the man does not know it who has only breathed the country air, and looked upon the open face of nature. is it not very sad, my friends, that the vagrant boy _should_ know so much; and, without one hour of romance, one step of childish innocence and imagination, should have gone clear through "the world" which so many boast that they understand--the knave's world, the libertine's world, the world of the skeptical, scoffing, ishmaelitish spirit? and yet he has so little _real_ knowledge--there is such a cloud of ignorance and moral stupor resting upon his brain and heart! so much of him is merely animal, foxy, wolfish, and this sharpened intellect only a faculty, an instinct, a preternatural organ pushed out to gain subsistence with. it is a terrible anomaly, and yet, i say, it is none the less an active power, and shows us that, however neglected, the child of the abject poor is not dormant or undeveloped. in the first place, very likely, it has developed itself into a dogged atheism--a sulky unbelief. the brain of the vagrant boy is active with speculation as well as with practice--he has some theory of this life in which he lives, and, as might be expected, a theory woven with the tissues of his own experience; woven with the shadows and the lurid lights of his lot. a gentleman passing one day through the streets of edinboro', saw a boy, who lived by selling fire-wood, standing with a heavy load upon his back, looking at a number of boys amusing themselves in a play-ground. "sometimes," says the writer, "he laughed aloud, at other times he looked sad and sorrowful. stepping up to him i said--'well, my boy, you seem to enjoy the fun very much; but why don't you lay down your load of sticks?'... 'i wan't thinking about the burden--i wan't thinking about the sticks, sir.' 'and may i ask what you were thinking about?' 'oh, i was just thinking about what the good missionary said the other day. you know, sir, i don't go to church, for i have no clothes; but one of the missionaries comes every week to our stair, and holds a meeting. he was preaching to us last week, and among other things he said--"although there are rich folks and poor folks in this world, yet we are all brothers." now, sir, just look at these lads--every one of them has fine jackets, fine caps, with warm shoes and stockings, but i have none;--so i was just thinking if those were my brothers, it doesn't look like it, sir--it doesn't look like it. see, sir, they are all flying kites, while i am flying in rags--they are running about at kick-ball and cricket; but i must climb the long, long stairs, with a heavy load, and an empty stomach, whilst my back is like to break. it doesn't look like it, sir--it doesn't look like it.'" or, take the following instance, which i extract from the records of one of the benevolent societies of our own city: "can you read or write? said the visitor to a poor boy. marty hung his head. i repeated the question two or three times before he answered, and the tears dropped on his hands, as he said, despairingly, and i thought defiantly--'no, sir, i can't read nor write neither. god don't want me to read, sir. indeed, so it looks likely. didn't he take away my father since before i can remember him? and haven't i been working all the time to fetch in something to eat, and for the fire, and for clothes? i went out to pick coal when i could take a basket in my arms--and i have had no chance for school since.'" now this is fallacious and dangerous reasoning, my friends; nevertheless, it _is_ reasoning, and shows that the mind of the poor boy is not inactive as to the problems of life. and the intellect which is so acute in theory will soon drive to practice. stimulated by that selfish instinct which, as i have shown, will under pressure absorb every other consideration, he speedily commences the career of _crime_. and have you ever looked into this matter of crime? or do you know it only as a monstrous fact in the social mechanism, and in the records of human nature? if so, it would be well for us to consider the way in which it appears to the violator of right--the way in which things look to him who works _inside_ the web of guilt. and we may be sure that it does not look to him as it does to us from the midst of respectabilities and comforts, or from a high intellectual and moral stand-point. now i am not going to justify crime, or to indulge any sentiment upon the subject. but, really, one of the most practical questions that can be asked is--"_why_ is this one, or that one, a criminal?" do i say that the guilt should be imputed to the condition--that it is all owing to circumstances? no: but i _do_ say that, in nine cases out of ten, crime is no proof of _special_ depravity apart from _general_ depravity, and that the circumstances have just so much weight as this--that put you or me in those same circumstances, in nine cases out of ten, we should be criminals too. in the same circumstances, my friends; and this involves a great deal. it involves an hereditary taint stamped in the very mould of birth; it involves physical misery; it involves intellectual and moral destitution; it involves the worst kind of social influence; it involves the pressure of all the natural appetites, rioting in this need of the body and this darkness of the soul. and it implies no suspicion of a man's moral standard--it is no insult to his self-respect--to tell him that, under similar conditions, it is extremely probable he would have been a criminal too. reasoning in an arm-chair is very proper, and often very accurate, but the logic of starvation is too peremptory for syllogisms. there is a sort of compound made up of frost, damp, dirt and rags, which works double magic: it sometimes converts a thief into a philosopher, and sometimes a philosopher into a thief. i am not speaking, however, of the mere impulse of animal want, but of this condition where the counter-acting forces are dormant. and for this reason you and i can draw no immoral conclusion from the doctrine of circumstances. we could not be like the moral leper who infests the dark regions of the city--we could not be like the child of sin and shame who broods there--without losing our identity. in contemplating this matter, the feeling for ourselves should be simply one of humility and thankfulness. we have grown up in pure light and air, appeased with the comforts, and braced by at least the current morality of society. but, concerning those degraded ones, what some call "charity" is no more than "justice." it is no more than justice to say--all the conditions being considered--that as to a vast majority of them, crime is no proof of _special_ depravity. it is the genuine humanity that is there--not base metal. it came from the common mint--somewhere you will find upon it a faint scar of the divine image--but the coin was pitched into this bonfire of appetite and blasphemy, and it has come out a cinder. thus, proud and happy mother, might _your_ boy have been a defaced and distorted being, kicked, cuffed, knotted with frost, blackened with bruises; a pick-pocket, a wharf-rat, a panel-thief; with his intellect sharpened to an intense and impish cunning--only knowing that it is a hard world, and he must get out of it what he can. thus, fond father, might _your_ daughter, whom the very winds must salute with courtesy, have gone through the streets at night--a painted desolation, a reeling shame. do you think these were made of better texture than those who blacken and fester yonder? do you think that when these last came into the world there was no milk in mothers' breasts for them, no divine solicitude about them, no tenderness in the heart of christ; but that they were the refuse, whirled into existence as the great wheel of life shaped the finer mould of the respectable and the happy? i tell you that god made them complete souls, and stamped his image upon them--but they have fallen into the dark and dreary ways; the fierce flames have hardened them; the foul air has tainted them; and their special depravity, over and above the common depravity, is the infection of circumstances. the young boy, the young girl, driven by necessity and sharpened with cunning, run into crime. they are all _educated_; for circumstances--not merely books--are education; but this is their seminary, and the alphabet is spontaneous, and the science of quick growth. and with the consequences of all this exposure and temptation we are all mixed up; and, if the claim of the child in its intrinsic position does not move us, _prudential_ considerations should--the consideration of what society does suffer, and must suffer, if these conditions are not changed. such, then, are some of the _principles_ involved with my theme. let us in the second place pass to consider, very briefly, a few of the _facts_. briefly, because i have no time for details, and because the general state of the case is but too well known to you. it is a fact, then, that there are among us a vast number of children in the most miserable and perilous condition. in the year , the chief of police reported the destitution and vice among this class of vagrants as almost "incredible." in that report he says--"the offspring of always careless, generally intemperate, and oftentimes dishonest parents, they never see the inside of a school-room, and so far as our excellent system of public education is concerned, it is to them a nullity." it appears that, at that time, in wards of the city, there were , of these children, of whom two-thirds were females between the ages of and . i am informed, also, by the chief of police, that per cent. should now be added to this estimate; not all attributable, of course, to growth in depravity, but to the increase of population, especially by immigration. i understand, moreover, that within the past year there have been ten thousand arrests, and five thousand commitments of boys alone between the ages of and . these are naked statistics, affording you an outline of the actual state of things. need i paint the costume and the scenery, and describe the sad and awful drama in which these children play their parts? i could not if i would. but think of that vast amount of young life running to waste, sweeping through the sewers of the social fabric, an under-current of taint and desolation! think of them, starved, beaten, driven into crime not merely by necessity, but by the very hands of their parents! and think of them this night, cuddling in rags, shivering on straw, cradled in reeking filth, drinking in blasphemy and obscenity and cunning policies of sin, under that dark canopy that shuts out social sympathy, and hides the very face of god. and if you have, i will not say parental hearts, but human souls, you will ask if there ought not to be some remedy, and will say that all who can should help in administering that remedy. and _remedies_ there appear to be, my friends. for, while i said that there is no condition in the city more sad and momentous than that of these children of the poor, i said, likewise, that there is none more _hopeful_. the essential and comprehensive remedy of all i indicated in the close of the last discourse, and shall have occasion to dwell upon in the next. that remedy is the practical operation of christianity--first of all in our own hearts, and then flowing out in action. i mean especially the _method_ of jesus, which consisted not of mere teaching but of _help_--which touched not only the issues of the sin-sick soul, but the weakness and want of the body. to the demoniac, to the leper, to the impotent man by the pool, he brought not abstract truths, but words of healing and works of practical deliverance. how striking is the fact that the freshest and noblest charities of this nineteenth century are only developments of the manner in which the redeemer soothed the sorrows and vanquished the evils of the world! for those institutions which especially excite the public interest at the present day, are those whose plan it is first to remove the children of the poor from those wretched and foul _conditions_ upon which i have laid so much stress, and to lead them to a higher culture by extending, first, the hand of temporal relief. they aim to break up the sockets of custom, and to introduce the degraded child to fresh motives of action and fields of endeavor; to throw around him the atmosphere of a true home, and to blend intellectual, and moral, and religious training with that true charity which teaches one how to assert his own manliness, and support himself by the honest labor of his own hands. now i do not wish to be invidious, i am glad that such a constellation of philanthropic promise has risen upon the dark places of the abject poor. i point with pleasure to what has been accomplished in the sahara of the five points, and in what still remains to be done i discern a field broad enough to prevent collision and dispute--broad enough to employ the means and the generous energies of thousands. with equal pleasure i refer to that "juvenile asylum," with its noble interposition ere the feet of the erring boy shall take the _second_ step in crime, and which has recently rendered still more efficient its system of labor and relief by extending the benefit to girls. but as i wish this evening to concentrate your sympathies, i call your attention especially to the institution known as "the children's aid society," the general character and the practical results of which i will briefly state. its main object is sufficiently indicated by its name. its machinery is simple, and acts upon the principle just laid down. it seeks first to remove the poor child from the coil of evil influences which have been thrown around him, and which have been daily strengthened by the sharpest pressure of animal necessities. it comprehends the two-fold benefit of _education_ and _labor_ in its system of "industrial schools." of these, at the present time, in this city, there are eight, in which a multitude of children are educated, taught to work, supplied with a warm dinner daily, and with such clothing as they can learn to make. in connection with these there is one shoe-shop, in which thirty or forty boys earn a livelihood. another object of this society is to find employment for its beneficiaries out of the city, and during the past year places in the country have been found for one hundred and twenty-five, where their employers treat them as their own children. in institutions like these, then, you perceive the indications of a remedy for the condition of these children of the poor--a system of help which gives something more than spiritual instruction on the one hand, something more than mere food and clothing on the other; which combines measures of relief and nourishment for the demands of our whole nature in the form of the ignorant and suffering child; and which, better than all, lifts him out of the humiliating condition of a mere pauper or dependent, and sets him in a channel of manly exertion, self-development, and self-support; which not only does the negative work of removing a mass of evil from society, but makes for it the positive contribution of an improved and educated humanity. i do not say that all the relief lies here, that it will do all that is needed, or that nothing better will be devised. but i think the _tendency_ of these institutions is the right one, and that they indicate the _way_ in which this great social problem is to be solved. but it is not necessary to say that the faith which we cherish in such a system is dead without works; and that something more is needed than a few model institutions working here and there. this matter makes a practical claim upon us all, in the fact that, in one way or another, we may all help forward this method of relief--we may help it forward as active laborers in the very midst of the field, as teachers and missionaries, or contributors of our goods and money. each knows what he can best do--what is his special, providential _call_ in the matter; but let him be assured that he _has_ a call; and that this spectacle of exposed, needy, suffering childhood is not a mere spectacle for his sympathies, but a field white with a harvest that waits for his effort. have we nothing but sympathies wherewith to answer the poor woman's prayer--a prayer that echoes through so many hearts in this great city--"may the lord spare my archy from the bad boys, and from taking to the ways of his father!" there is one thing which strikes me as very affecting in the condition of any child. it is when that condition is necessarily a melancholy one--when the circumstances which hem it around cast over the surface of that young life an abiding gloom. a melancholy child! what an anomaly among the harmonies of the universe; something as incongruous as a bird drooping in a cage, or a flower in a sepulchre. the musical laughter muffled and broken; the spontaneous smile transformed to a sad suspicion; and the austerities of mature life, the fearful speculation, and forecast of evil, fixed and frozen on a boy's face! and then the sorrow of a child is so _absorbing_--for he lives only in the present. in the afflictions which fall upon him, man has the aid of reason and faith--he looks beyond the present issue, he detects the significance of his calamity, and strengthened thus a brave heart can vanquish any sorrow. but, as richter beautifully says--"the little cradle, or bed-canopy of the child, is easier darkened than the starry heaven of man." surely, then, it is a blessed thing to contribute aught that will lighten this gloom, and place the child in natural conditions. but there is one phase of this subject which, in its appeal to us, is more eloquent than all the rest. it is where there are children who stand not merely in the intrinsic claim of their childhood; or in their touching sadness; or pushing their energies into vice and crime; but nobly struggling _against_ the tide of evil--struggling to bear up in their lot--enduring and achieving for the sake of those who, young as these children are, are dependent on them. if i had time, i think i could write a "martyrology;" not following the track of famous men, whose faces look out upon us from the brutal amphitheatre and from the fire with a halo of glory around them, and whom we behold, by the vision of faith, with their gory robes transfigured to celestial whiteness, waving palms in their hands; but tracing out incidents in the lives of some of the children here in our city--not dead, but _living_ martyrs! o! i think i _could_ write such a martyrology, with blood and tears, over many a gloomy threshold, on the walls of many a desolate room; and let future generations come and read it--a fearful record of human suffering--a sweet memorial of human virtue--when many of these old woes, we trust, shall have passed away for ever. permit me, in closing, to present two or three incidents illustrative of this heroism and sacrifice among the children of the poor. take, for instance, the account of a writer who tells us that in the street he "met a little girl, very poor, but with such a sweet sad expression," adds he, "that i involuntarily stopped and spoke to her. she answered my questions very clearly, but the heavy, sad look never left her eyes a moment. she had no father or mother. she took care of the children herself; she was only _thirteen_; she sewed on check shirts, and made a living for them." he went to see her. "it is a low, damp basement her home. she lives there with the three little children, whom she supports, and the elder sick brother, who sometimes picks up a trifle. she had been washing for herself and little ones. 'she almost thought that she could take in washing now,' and the little ones with their knees to their mouths crouched up before the stove, looked as if there could not be a doubt of sister's doing anything she tried. 'well, annie, how do you make a living now?' 'i sew on the check shirts, sir, and the flannel shirts; i get five cents for the checks, and nine cents for the others; but just now they wont let me have the flannel, because i can't deposit two dollars.' 'it must be very hard work?' 'o! i don't mind, sir; but to-day the visitors came, and said we'd better go to the poor-house, and i said i couldn't like to leave these little ones yet; and i thought if i only had candles, i could sit up till ten or eleven, and make the shirts.' ... she had learned everything she knew at the industrial school.... she never went to church, for she had no clothes, but she could read and write.... 'it was very damp there,' she said, 'and then it was so cold nights.'" i will, in the next place, introduce you to a garret-room, six feet by ten. the occupants are a poor mother and her son. the mother works at making shirts with collars and stitched bosoms, at six shillings and sixpence per dozen, for a man who pays half in merchandise, and who, when she is starving for bread, puts her off with calico at a _shilling_ a yard that is not worth more than fourpence! but _he_ is not the martyr in the case. when the visitor entered, her son george, about twelve years old, "was just coming in for dinner, pale and apparently exhausted by the effort of climbing the stairs, and sank down upon a rough plank bench near the door." he worked in a glass-factory, earning a bare subsistence. "he is a little old man at twelve," says the narrator, "the paleness of his sunken cheeks was relieved by the hectic flush; his hollow dry eye was moistened by an occasional tear; and his thin white lip quivered as he told me his simple story; how he was braving hunger and death--for he cannot live long--to help his mother pay the rent and buy her bread. 'half-past ten at night is early for him to return,' said the mother; 'sometimes it is half-past eleven and i am sitting up for him.' sometimes, in the morning, she finds him awake, 'but he don't want to get up, and he puts his hands on his sides and says, 'mother, it hurts me here when i breathe.' i can work, and i do work,' adds she, 'all the time--but i can't make as much as my little boy.'" one more account. it is of a beggar-girl who "lives," as the narrative goes on to say, "in a rear building where full daylight never shines--in a cellar-room where pure dry air is never breathed. a quick gentle girl of twelve years, she speaks to the visitor as he enters--'mother does not see you, sir, because she's blind.' the mother was an old woman of sixty-five or seventy years, with six or seven others seated around. 'but you told me you and your mother and little sister lived by yourselves.' 'yes, sir--here it is;'" and at the end of the passage the visitor discovers a narrow place, about five feet by three. the bed was rolled up in one corner, and nearly filled the room. "'but where is your stove?' 'we have none, sir. the people in the next room are very kind to mother, and let her come in there to warm--because, you know, i get half the coal.' 'but where do you cook your food?' 'we never cook any, sir; it is already cooked. i go early in the morning to get coal and chips for the fire, and i must have two baskets of coal and wood to kindle with by noon. that's mother's half. then when the people have eaten dinner, i go round to get the bits they leave. i can get two baskets of coal every day now; but when it gets cold, and we must have a great deal, it is hard for me to find any--there's so many poor chaps to pick it. sometimes the _ladies_ speak cross to me, and shut the door hard at me, and sometimes the _gentlemen_ slap me in the face, and kick my basket, and then i come home, and mother says not to cry, for may be i'll do better to-morrow. sometimes i get my basket almost full, and then put it by for to-morrow; and then, if next day we have enough, i take this to a poor woman next door. sometimes i get only a few bits in my basket for all day, and may be the next day. and then i _fast_, because, you know, mother is sick and weakly, and can't be able to fast like me.'" these my friends, are some of the "short and simple annals of the poor." but those of whom gray spoke rest peacefully in the "country churchyard;" their spirits are in heaven, and their history is embalmed in his own immortal elegy. but _these_ records are of those who yet live and suffer--"martyrs _without_ the palm." and could i summon them here to-night, and would the master but enter as when upon earth, surely he would look upon them in tender pity; would bless them; would take in his arms those whom the world has cast aside and overlooked. nay, perhaps he would transfigure their actuality into their possibility, and we might see "the angels in their faces," pleading with us before the father's throne! the help of religion. discourse viii. the help of religion. for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.--hebrews xiii, . there are a good many people who, apparently, are never troubled by any speculations arising out of a comprehensive view of things. they are keenly alive to all objects within their sphere; but their eyes are close to the surface, and their experience comes in shocks of sensation, and shreds of perception. they know the superficial features of the world and its conventional expressions; are conversant with its business and its pleasures; with the market, the fashions, the town-talk, the worldly fortunes of their neighbors. sometimes, a powerful affliction startles them in this smooth routine, and for a moment they are surprised to find how wide the universe is, and among what great realities we dwell. but, usually, their existence is a narrow revolving disc, bringing around the same group of incidents and the same associations, morning, noon, and night. they comprehend life as they comprehend the expanse of yonder harbor, dotted with shifting but familiar forms, ruffled by a passing wind or bright under a summer sun, and whose tides duly rise and fall. but they little think of the oceanic vastness which it represents; and how its oscillations come from great currents that leap out of the antarctic, and swell around tropical islands, and sweep the lines of continents, and roll in the polar sea. these, therefore, are not perplexed by questions such as occur to him who, looking beyond his own worldly interests and the area of daily routine, takes into view the scope of being and the profounder phenomena of human life. for such a view will inevitably engender speculation, nor can he rest until he obtains some _theory_ of existence. these very conditions of humanity in the city, for instance--these conditions of poverty, and responsibility, and relationship, and privilege, and strife, and toil--yea, the lessons which come to us from the crowd as it flows through these streets; constitute a great problem, of which every thinking man will seek some solution. now, throughout this entire series of discourses--although i have not deemed it necessary in every instance to make a specific application--i have assumed that you and i were looking upon these various phases of humanity from the christian stand-point, and therefore i could not fitly conclude this work without indicating the help which religion affords concerning these problems of existence. i observe, then, that while it may seem very simple to affirm that a _theory_ does not, in any case, alter _facts_; yet there is often an advantage in laying down this proposition. for this leads us to understand precisely what a theory _may_ do. it does not alter facts, but it throws them into new relations, and presents them in an entirely different light. materialism, for instance, is a theory of life; and christianity--in which term i include not only a system of doctrines, but of practical forces--is also a theory of life. now, neither of these gets rid of the great facts of existence. men sin and suffer and die, whether we adopt the one system or the other. but, surely, when we approach these facts from the side of religion, they appear in very different lights, and are taken up with very different results, from their appearance and effect when interpreted by the creed of unbelief. it would be very absurd then, because christianity does not instantly abolish, or fully explain, all these strange and darker realities, to fall back upon the opposite ground of skepticism. this is only receding from the best solution to the worst--or, rather, to no solution at all. for i maintain that christianity gives us not merely the best, but the _only_ solution of these problems. it will be my purpose in this discourse, at least, to show what kind of help religion _does_ afford for humanity in all these diverse conditions; and, having done this, i shall leave it to your own convictions to decide whether it is not a great and practical help; and whether there _is_ any other help. i propose to illustrate the influence of religion to this effect, first--as a _conviction_; second, as a _working power_; and third, as an _interpretation_. i say, then, in the first place, that religion furnishes great help for man in the various issues of life, when he becomes actually convinced that its truths and sanctions are _genuine_. in other words, the conception of a moral government, of a directing providence, and of eternal realities, vividly apprehended by the intellect, kept fresh in the heart, and assimilated to the entire spiritual nature, is a personal inspiration. it elevates the platform of a man's being, so that all things appear in true proportion. it clears his vision to detect principles, and endows him with moral courage. i do not know that i can better suggest its influence as a help here, in the conditions of the city, than by asking you to imagine what _would_ be the state of things in the spheres of toil and traffic--in all the multiform relations of our humanity--if men really apprehended and believed it? _it_, i say--not some special dogma or institution, but the absolute spirit and truth of christianity. for i do not think that, generally, this _is_ actually credited. i think that, with many professions of religion, and much outward respect for it, and an extensive circulation of vague conceptions about it, it is _not_ commonly felt and vitalized--it is not apprehended in its blessedness and power, and absolute excellence. to the habits of the soul it does not represent and mean realities as a written contract does, or a bank-bill--something that men precipitate themselves upon, and that sways the under-currents of their action. new york, with its broadway and its wall street; with its proud buildings and its bristling masts; is a reality--but that city of which the text makes mention; that city which good men seek, and which in the apocalypse of faith they see; whose splendors glitter through the solemn twilight; nay, which hems them around for ever, and shines down upon them brighter than the noonday sun; to thousands, toiling, sinning, and suffering here, is _not_ a reality. for, i ask you, my friends, if it _were_ realized, could there be so much abject need among us; so much stony-hearted selfishness; so much shuffling in trade, and corruption in politics, and meanness in intercourse, and foolish superficial living? i know, and you know, that one of the greatest evils is--not merely that men are worldly, irreligious, bound up in sad conditions and narrow conceits; but that they are so, because they do not apprehend the nature and do not feel the reality of religion. for i say once more, that a conviction of its reality must be a great help in adjusting the problems of life. and this, because it acts upon the centre of all the sin, and much of the suffering of the world. this personal application of religion stands before all other remedies for the removal of these evils. others are attempted--others are, in a degree, successful; but none go so deep and produce results so sure. it seems to me that the position of humanity in this respect, is illustrated in the narrative of the demoniac of gadara. we are told that he had been bound with chains, but in his fierce madness had burst them asunder. and then, again, men had tried various expedients, but they could not tame him. but when the influence of jesus fell upon his soul, it took hold of it with sweet authority; the legion left him, and the poor, wounded, houseless man sat clothed and in his right mind. so is it with man in society; so is it with some of these social evils. the power of _law_ has been invoked; and it has its legitimate sphere of operation. it checks the purposed violence. it arrests the overt act. it may consistently be summoned to purify all those channels of social action which it assumes to regulate; and, instead of patronizing the wrong, to set its face and hand against it. thus it may prevent public harm, though it cannot stop self-injury, and remove occasions of temptation, though it cannot impart moral strength. it has no efficacy to change the assassin's heart, yet we call upon it to guard us against murder. we bid it close the den of infamy, though it does not quench guilty passion. and we may use it to stop the sale of intoxicating drinks, though it does not destroy the drunkard's appetite. and this indicates both the function and the limitation of the law. thrown over the wild forces that rage in the human heart, and that afflict community, it is like the fetters on the limbs of the demoniac. it may restrain for a time; but in some sweep of temptation it is spurned and snapped asunder. on the other hand, we have the expedients of the _reformer_. he comes with props and palliatives; soothing some cutaneous irritation, or removing some foul condition. and let us recognize the legitimacy of _his_ endeavor. we must approach the human heart through the web of its external circumstances, as well as directly. nay, often this is the only way by which we can get at it at all. and well may we rejoice over the rescue from specific vices, and commend the zeal and patience which fasten upon some colossal evil to batter and drive it from the world. but notwithstanding such noble achievement, how many have remained among the tombs, or gone back to the wilderness--demoniacs still! it is an old truth, but i say it as though it were in the conviction of a fresh fact forced upon me by these great problems that heave up in the currents of city life; it is an unavoidable conclusion that there is only one influence that can make safe, and pure, and strong in goodness, those recesses out of which issue so much social evil, and so much personal suffering. and that is the influence not of the law-giver, nor of the reformer; but of the redeemer. it is that power which flows through the soul in a practical conviction of the reality of religion. it is the help which comes from its inspiration of divine truth and goodness in the breasts of individual men, turning them from evil, rendering them strong against temptation, and sending out from their lives fresh forces of righteousness and love. indeed, i believe that any man who really thinks and feels, and who has much experience of life, will become convinced of the _necessity_ of religion. i would leave its claims not to the argument of the moralist, or the advocacy of the pulpit, but as they urge themselves upon us here out of the whirl, and weariness, and vicissitudes of the city. surely, as its calm voice appeals to the sons of men, striving in this heated atmosphere; chasing phantoms that rise out of the dust; absorbed in the fickle game of fortune; borne along for a little while on the top-waves of excitement, and then dying unmarked as a rain-drop that falls into the sea; surely as its voice appeals to these, saying--"come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest!" it strikes the deepest chords in thousands of hearts. i will not adopt now any professional argument to prove the great necessity of religion as a help in life. but i would take my stand, in imagination, at some corner of yonder tumultuous street. how multiform the crowds that sweep by me; how diverse the faces; what a kaleidoscope of human conditions! and yet, when you attempt to classify them, how few are the actual _types_ of men--how many fall into a common group; and when you try them by the profoundest standard--that of a common experience and common wants--how marvellously alike they all are! how similar in inward expression, the rich man who walks yonder, to that poor drudging son of toil, who bows his back and strains his sinews until they ache! how similar in effect the burdens which they both bear--the burden of wealth, and the burden of poverty, in the fact that they _are_ burdens upon the heart and the soul! and are they not both struggling with the realities of life, and moved by quenchless desires, and looking up into the same infinite mystery? ah! my friends, i hardly think it would be the most effectual way to preach religion in this church on sunday, as a matter of course--but to stand out there on week-days, and strike the deepest chords throbbing unconsciously in the bosoms of those who pass me by. i would appeal to you, o disappointed, almost heart-broken man, who for years have endeavored to earn a competency to lift your head above the sheer necessities of life, but have failed in the chase, and been beaten back, and seen others who have exerted themselves not near as much, not so honorably, perhaps, rise to the very top of the stream and sail clear ahead;--or to you, o "favorite of fortune," as the world calls you, who find your palace to be only a stately sepulchre, in which all genuine feeling and simple enjoyment lies dead and wrapped in cerements of chilling etiquette--whose daughter, perhaps, has mocked your fondest plans; or whose son has turned out a miserable weed of dissipation--a degenerate fopling, a rake, a fool;--or to you, o butterfly of fashion, sailing with embroidered wings in search of admiration and of pleasure; or still again, to you who have just gathered together the means of enjoyment, and ease, and everything, to make life pleasant, and lo! death has entered, and your hopes are darkened and in the dust; i appeal to you, o types of this streaming humanity, that wears so many masks, yet, carries under all a common heart; and ask you, if there is not some void that no earthly good can fill--that no finite thing can sustain and satisfy? can you go on with the common business of the world, discharge all its obligations, control yourself in its excitements, resist its evil solicitations, bear up under its trials, and, finally, reach that period in life when you must ask--"what is all this worth?--these years of toil, these eager enterprises, this golden accumulation or unfortunate failure--what are they all worth, and what do they mean?"--can anybody well get along with all this, without religion? my friends, i say to you that, not consciously, perhaps, like the old saints who wrought and prayed and walked with upward-looking faces--but really, in the deep yearning and the secret gravitation of the soul--you _do_ confess that here we have no continuing city, and you are seeking one to come. at least, it seems to me that without the help of religion, there is only the alternative of moral indifference--a cold, hard worldliness, or of recklessness and spiritual despair. and is not this the alternative which is exhibited in the midst of all our civilization--in the midst of this gorgeous materialism of the nineteenth century? thousands, it is to be apprehended, do exhibit one or the other of those extremes which the poet has so well described: "for most men in a brazen prison live, where, in the sun's hot eye, with heads bent o'er their toil, they languidly their minds to some unmeaning task-work give, dreaming of naught beyond their prison wall; and so, year after year, fresh products of their barren labor fall from their tired hands, and rest never yet comes more near. gloom settles slowly down over their breast, and while they try to stem the waves of mournful thought by which they are prest, death in their prison reaches them unfreed, having seen nothing, still unblest. "and the rest, a few, escape their prison, and depart on the wide ocean of life anew. there the freed prisoner, where'er his heart listeth, will sail; nor does he know how there prevail despotic on life's sea, trade-winds that cross it from eternity. awhile he holds some false way, undebarred by thwarting signs, and braves the freshening wind, and blackening waves, and then the tempest strikes him, and between the lightning bursts is seen only a driving wreck, and the pale master on his spar-strewn deck with anguished face and flying hair, grasping the rudder hard, still bent to make some port he knows not where, still standing for some false impossible shore, and sterner comes the roar of sea and wind, and through the deepening gloom, fainter and fainter wreck and helmsman loom." but, before i quit this head of my discourse, let me say that in order to be accepted as the great help of life, religion must in some way be _presented_ as a reality. it must not be held forth as a mere abstraction--it must be precipitated into its concrete relations. parting with none of its sanctity, it must be stripped of its vagueness and technicality, and be spoken in the fresh language of the time. i feel sure that amidst prevalent irreligion, nothing is so much needed as a definite statement of _what_ religion is; and that men should learn to recognize its vascular connection with every department of action. it must be understood that "being religious" is not a work apart by itself, but a spirit of faith and righteousness, flowing out from the centre of a regenerated heart into all the employments and intercourse of the world. not merely the preacher in the pulpit, and the saint on his knees, may do the work of religion, but the mechanic who smites with the hammer and drives the wheel; the artist seeking to realize his pure ideal of the beautiful; the mother in the gentle offices of home; the statesman in the forlorn hope of liberty and justice; and the philosopher whose thought treads reverently among the splendid mysteries of the universe. i know that some will deem this a secularization of religion--a desecration of its holy essence by worldly alliances. but they are mistaken. it is a _consecration_ of pursuits and spheres that have been cut off from all sacredness, and devoted to secondary ends. are not the just, the useful, the beautiful, from god, as well as the good and the holy? and, therefore, is not any practice which serves these, a service of god? it is needed that men should feel that every lawful pursuit _is_ sacred and not profane; that every position in life is close to the steps of the divine throne; and that the most beaten and familiar paths lie under the awful shadow of the infinite; then they will go about their daily pursuits, and fill their common relationships, with hearts of worship and pulses of unselfish love; instead of regarding religion as an isolated peculiarity for a corner of the closet and a fraction of the week, and leaving all the rest of time and space an unconsecrated waste, where lawless passions travel, and selfishness pitches its tents. o! if religion _were_ thus a diffusive, practical, every-day reality, there would be a marvellous change in the aspects of life and the conditions of humanity around us. the great city, now so gross and profane, would become as a vast cathedral, through whose stony aisles would flow perpetual service; where labor would discharge its daily offices, and faith and patience keep their heavenward look, and love present its offerings. yea, the very roll of wheels through its busy streets would be as a litany, and the sound of homeward feet the chant of its evening psalm. but religion is not only a help in and for ourselves; it has a ministration for others--for this great mass of destitution and suffering that broods in the midst of the city. christianity is not merely a theory of existence--it is a _working-power_. its precepts are practical, and enjoin not merely states of mind and heart, but conditions of activity. there is an entire magazine of working-forces in that one great law--"love thy neighbor as thyself." hear the words of an apostolical commentator upon it. "if a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food," says he, "and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." and wherever christianity has existed and been apprehended, it has produced beneficent results for humanity. it has gone over the earth like its divine author, with healing and with help for the woes of the race. anybody who takes his stand at the head-waters of modern history, will see that a mighty energy was then poured into the world, whose influence is evident in the truest civilization, in the best results, of ages. in estimating the practical power of christianity, we must look at the _positive_ phase of things--we must consider what has actually been done; not merely what remains to be done. we must adopt proportionate standards, not the little measures of to-day and yesterday, in which the tides of human melioration may oscillate, and even seem to flow backward and at the best to make slight headway. but take up the cycle of history that preceded the advent of christianity, and compare it with the present period; and is there not an entirely different expression on the face of things, so far as conceptions of humanity and influences of philanthropy are concerned? contrast "a roman holiday," its butchery and its blood, with a modern anniversary that clasps the round world in its jubilee, and see if humanity has not been helped by religion. or look back upon grecian art and refinement, and tell me what oration or poem, or pantheon of marble beauty, is half as glorious as the plain brick free-school; the asylum of industry; the home for the penitent, the disabled and the poor? ah! my friends, these are such familiar things that we may not think them the great things they really are; and in gazing upon the colossal evils that yet tower up before us, they may seem slight achievements. but they _are_ great: and when i see the poor drunkard return to a renovated home--the demoniac sitting clothed and in his right mind once more; when i see the dumb write, and hear the blind read, and little rescued children sing their thankful hymns; i think humanity _has_ been helped a great deal since that divine teacher walked the earth, and took the lambs to his bosom, and made the foul leper clean, and partook with publicans and sinners, and bade the guilty go and sin no more. i think that currents of love and self-sacrifice, from that heart that was pierced for us upon the cross, have found their way through the channels of ages, through all the impediments of worldliness and selfishness, and inspired and blessed men far more than they know. but if, turning from the positive achievement, you point to the evils that still exist--if you lift the coverings of respectability and custom from the ghastly facts that are embedded here in our so-called civilization; if you bid me mark the vice, the poverty, the crime, the oppression, the grinding monopoly, the prejudice, the gigantic materialism and practical atheism that are mixed up with it, and seem to be inseparable parts of it; then i ask you--how would it be _without_ the help of religion? what interpretation should we obtain from the dark creed of the skeptic, what inspiration from the philosophy of annihilation, and of fate? to say nothing of those forces of love and self-sacrifice which it sheds abroad in the world, and to which i have just alluded,--religion, in one single proposition, sends pregnant elements of direction and relief into the midst of these giant evils. that one proposition is the immortality of man--the priceless spirituality of every man--the ascription of a nature more glorious and imperishable than a star. here is the spring of its perpetual antagonism to the world, and to the evil of the world. the latter bases its estimate of man upon outward conditions; estimates his name and his title, his equipage and his parentage, the bulk of his gold, the color of his skin, his _apparent_ success or defeat. christianity points to that vivid centre of a soul, in whose light all these external distinctions fade, are fused into dross, become comparatively naught. all the evil of the world stands upon the assumption of the former rule--upon the ground of external and material valuation--which, as has been well observed by another, is a "method of studying the problems of the universe by fetching rules from the _wider_ sphere (therefore the _lower_) to import into the _higher_.... so long as this logical strategy is allowed, the titans will always conquer the gods; the ground-forces of the lowest nature will propagate themselves, pulse after pulse, from the abysses to the skies, and _right_ will exist only on sufferance from _might_." on the other hand, i say, religion, christianity, starts from the centre outward--starts with the dignity and sanctity of the human soul--and in this is the great element of all progress and reform. out of this have sprung the achievements of modern freedom. assuming this inward birthright of every man, men have snapped feudal fetters, and broken the seals of ancient proscription, and torn up branching genealogies, and trodden diadems in the dust. it was this fact that inspired sidney's speech, and hampden's effort, and washington's calm determination. it is this that erects itself against majorities, policies, institutions, charters, and will not be beaten down, and will agitate, and will triumph. it is this that sends philanthropy upon its mission; and bids it stoop to the most fallen, and search under the darkest depravity. "go abroad," it says, "amidst the guilt and misery of the great city. in the rags, the filth, the abomination, there are jewels fallen from heaven. there are souls upon which angels look with solicitude. there are interests for which christ died. search patiently, and deeply, and never give up the endeavor to find, to lift up, to restore." is not all the spring of benevolent effort, then, in this single proposition of religion? this one great truth it utters amidst the suffering and injustice of the world--that men are heirs of one inheritance; possessors of a birthright by virtue of which all outward inequalities fade away. it bases a demand for mutual help and love, upon the fact that we are all on a pilgrimage--high, low, honored, degraded, master, slave, we go forth together, and these earthly distinctions all drop away. rich man with rows of real-estate, with money safe in bank, with solid securities walled around you--you will carry no more away than lazarus yonder--in god's eyes you are no richer than he. because here we have no continuing city. the destinies of our common humanity flow forward into another and more enduring one. and, if still this problem of human degradation and suffering presses upon us, i say further, that where the constituents of this problem are most prominent, there religion is the most active. the heaviest poverty is belted about by the brightest charities; the hot-beds of crime generate the most radical efforts for its prevention and its cure; and while oppression is at work, setting its dark types upon virgin soil to print off its own shame and condemnation, indignant voices expose it and indignant hearts react against it. and more and more, every day, it is felt and proclaimed that religion is a working-principle--a practical power. never was it more profoundly felt than in this very age that men must be confessors of christianity as well as professors. and in the light of this conception, proffering fresh and willing help, religion walks abroad; and lo! waste places grow verdant, and the strongholds of guilt and misery sink down, and blessed institutions rise up, and industry takes the place of crime, and cursings are exchanged for songs, and the poorest sees the immortal light, and is lifted up by the grand thought--that "here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." we have thus seen that religion is a help as to the fact of sin, when men are convinced of it as a great reality; and a help as to the fact of human suffering, because it is a working-power. but, over and above all this, there are problems that perplex us, and demand some answer; problems as to the how, and the wherefore, and the end. there are times when our thoughts rise above all specific instances, and we take up humanity and existence as a whole, and ask--"what means it all?" sometimes this question starts out of an individual experience. the shock of affliction has jarred our hearts; our expectations have come to naught; bereavement has broken up the routine of our life; or our own souls have surprised us with sudden revelations. at any rate, we find our being here involved with mystery. there is something that our understanding cannot entirely grasp; something that our unassisted eyes cannot see. and the only help for us in such a case is the help of religion, presenting us, through faith, with an _interpretation_ of human life--an interpretation which tells us that what we now experience and behold is only transitional, preliminary, and that we see through a glass darkly, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. and is it necessary for me to dwell upon the strength which has thus been imparted to sad and wounded spirits, when with perfect trust in infinite goodness they have thus realized that they stand only on one round of an upward course--only in a little segment of the immense plan? i will merely say now, that if, through faith, religion is a help to these by interpreting life in harmony with individual experience, so through this faith does it help the meditative man troubled by the general problem of existence and humanity. the meaning of these various conditions in the city--the meaning of these sins, and sorrows, and inequalities--the meaning of this tide of life itself that rolls in endless succession through these stony arteries--does it perplex you? accept, then, the help which religion gives by interpreting it as only preliminary and transitional; only a portion of a wider scheme. we commenced this series of discourses by standing, as it were, in the street, on a level with all these phases of humanity. ascend now some lofty post of observation; some high watch-tower. the mottled tide flows and dashes far below you. the sounds of strife and endeavor rise faintly to your ears, and are drowned in the upper air. so in the altitude and comprehensiveness of faith, all this that seemed so huge and startling dwindles to a little stream in the great ocean of existence, and all these tumults are swallowed up in the currents of silent but beneficent design. but, in the meantime, the daylight has gone, the night-shadow has fallen, this stream of human life has ebbed away, and all these sounds are still. see, now, how much of your perplexity came from a deceit of eye-sight--see how the light of this world blinded you to the immensity and the meaning of existence! see! over your head spreads the great firmament. there are sirius, and orion, and the glittering pleiades. how harmoniously they are related; how calmly they roll! and now, o man! fresh from the reeking dust, and the cry of pained hearts, and the shadows of the grave, do not the scales of unbelief drop from your eyes, when you see the width of god's universe, and feel that his purpose girdles this little planet and steers its freight of souls? you were deceived by your standards of greatness and duration. you thought that this material city, with what it contains, was everything. but _they_ have cherished the true view, who in the spirit of the text have interpreted these conditions of humanity--the conditions of those who seek and sin and suffer in the busy crowd; of those who rest beneath yonder gleaming tomb-stones. and, as we read what all wise and good men have virtually said, our mortal term contracts, our immortal career opens, our years seem as ticks of a clock, and the entire sum of our life but a minute-mark on the dial of eternity; and this huge metropolis becomes a dim veil, a perishable symbol of real and enduring things. the end. * * * * * transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings. obvious typographical errors in punctuation (misplaced quotes and the like) have been fixed. corrections [in brackets] in the text are noted below: page : quote typo corrected but, say you, '["]here is one who is returning to a home of destitution, of misery; where the page : typo corrected between those great agents of human achievment[achievement] and the living intelligence page : typo corrected years. remarkable for brilliant achievments[achievements] in every department of physics, ours well deserves page : hyphen removed the old world without a telegraph, and columbus found a new one without a steam[-]ship. page : typo corrected open air and the sovreignty[sovereignty] of the soil. and if this immense intrusion of machinery has page : duplicate word removed stream, and chained the fire; and now, [with] with the eye of science and the hand of skill, page : typo corrected dignity is there in that man who justs[just] accepts his station and makes the most of page : removed quote celestial city be these well-known doors--and thus may we also _die_ at home!["] page : typo corrected heaven, whose inhabitants would not make harmlesness[harmlessness] their chief characteristic. their page : typo corrected and, perpetually descending from the threshold of the infinite, keeps open an arch-way of mysstery[mystery] and heaven. page : typo corrected dangerous reasoning, my friends; neverthless[nevertheless], it _is_ reasoning, and shows that the mind of the page : typo corrected of life and the conditions of humanity arouud[around] us. the great city, now so gross and profane, _and_ judas iscariot together with other evangelistic addresses by j. wilbur chapman hodder & stoughton new york george h. doran company copyright the winona publishing company contents and judas iscariot an old-fashioned home the swelling of jordan a call to judgment a changed life the lost opportunity a great victory paul a pattern of prayer a startling statement the grace of god conversion five kings in a cave definiteness of purpose in christian work the morning breaketh an obscured vision the compassion of jesus sanctification an unheeded warning the approval of the spirit a reasonable service the true christian life introduction the sermons contained in this volume are published in response to numerous requests that they might be put into permanent form. the author of these sermons needs no introduction to the christian readers of america. his fame as an author, preacher and evangelist is more than national. as director of the evangelistic work carried on by the general assembly's committee of the presbyterian church, he has achieved distinction as a preacher of the gospel. under his direction simultaneous evangelistic campaigns have been held in many of the leading cities of the land, and the christian church and the world have had an experience of a new, aggressive and emphatic evangelism that has stirred the church, revived christian service and been the means under god of turning thousands to a life of allegiance to jesus christ. therefore it is a privilege and pleasure to put into book form some of the sermons which dr. chapman has preached in his evangelistic work and also as the director of the interdenominational bible conference at winona lake, indiana. thousands have borne witness to the profound impression and enduring influence of those messages. especially is this true of "and judas iscariot" and "an old-fashioned home." one can never forget the scene when the latter sermon was preached on thanksgiving day, , in the great theater in jersey city. great numbers of men have confessed their sins and accepted jesus christ as a personal savior following the preaching of "the swelling of jordan." the book is sent forth with devout gratitude to god for his blessing upon the preaching of these sermons, and with a prayer that even the reading of them may be attended with deeper devotion to jesus christ, and increasing service to those for whom christ died. parley e. zartmann. and judas iscariot and judas iscariot text: "_and judas iscariot._"--mark : . there is something about the name of this miserable man which commands our attention at once. there is a sort of fascination about his wickedness, and when we read his story it is difficult to give it up until we have come to its awful end. it is rather significant, it would seem to me, that his name should come last in the list of the apostles, and the text, "and judas iscariot," would suggest to me not only that his name was last, but that it was there for some special reason, as i am sure we shall find out that it was. it is also significant that the first name mentioned in the list of the apostles in this third chapter of mark was simon, who was surnamed peter. the first mentioned apostle denied jesus with an oath, the one last referred to sold him for thirty pieces of silver and has gone into eternity with the awful sin of murder charged against him. the difference between the two is this: their sins were almost equally great, but the first repented and the grace of god had its perfect work in him and he was the object of christ's forgiveness; the second was filled with remorse without repentance and grace was rejected. the first became one of the mightiest preachers in the world's history; the second fills us with horror whenever we read the story of his awful crime. different names affect us differently. one could not well think of john without being impressed with the power of love; nor could one consider paul without being impressed first of all with his zeal and then with his learning. certainly one could not study peter without saying that his strongest characteristic was his enthusiasm. it is helpful to know that the spirit of god working with one who was a giant intellectually and with one who was profane and ignorant accomplished practically the same results, making them both, paul and peter, mighty men whose ministry has made the world richer and better in every way. but to think of judas is always to shudder. there is a kindred text in this same gospel of mark, but the emotions it stirs are entirely different. the second text is, "and peter." the crucifixion is over, the savior is in the tomb, poor peter, a broken-hearted man, is wandering through the streets of the city of the king. he is at last driven to the company of the disciples, when suddenly there rushes in upon them the woman who had been at the tomb, and she exclaims, "he is risen, has gone over into galilee and wants his disciples to meet him." this was the angel's message to her. all the disciples must have hurried to the door that they might hasten to see their risen lord--all save peter. and then came the pathetic and thrilling text, for the woman gave the message as jesus gave it to the angels and they to her, "go tell his disciples--_and peter_." but this text, "and judas iscariot," brings to our recollection the story of a man who lost his opportunity to be good and great; the picture of one who was heartless in his betrayal, for within sight of the garden of gethsemane he saluted jesus with a hypocritical kiss; the recollection of one in whose ears to-day in eternity there must be heard the clinking sound of the thirty pieces of silver; and the account of one who died a horrible death, all because sin had its way with him and the grace of god was rejected. the scene connected with his calling is significant. mark tells us in the third chapter of his gospel that when jesus saw the man with the withered hand and healed him, he went out by the seaside and then upon the mountain, and there called his apostles round about him, gave them their commission and sent them forth to do his bidding. in matthew the ninth chapter and the thirty-sixth to the thirty-eighth verses, we are told that when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion, and he commissioned the twelve and sent them forth that they might serve as shepherds to the people who appeared to be shepherdless. "then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." and then he sent the twelve forth. as a matter of fact the scriptures concerning judas are not so very full, but there is a good outline, and if one but takes the points presented and allows his imagination to work in the least, there is a story which is thrilling in its awfulness. the four evangelists tell us of his call, and these are practically identical in their statement except concerning his names. matthew and mark call him the betrayer; luke speaks of him as a traitor, while john calls him a devil. the next thing we learn concerning him is his rebuke of the woman who came to render her service to jesus as a proof of her affection. in john the twelfth chapter, the fourth to the sixth verse, we read, "then saith one of his disciples, judas iscariot, simon's son, which should betray him, why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." next we hear of him bargaining with the enemies of jesus for his betrayal. the account is very full in matthew, the twenty-sixth chapter the fourteenth to the sixteenth verse. "then one of the twelve called judas iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, what will ye give me, and i will deliver him unto you? and they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. and from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." then we are told of his delivering jesus into the hands of his enemies, in matthew, the twenty-sixth chapter, the forty-seventh to the forty-ninth verses: "and while he yet spake, lo, judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, whomsoever i shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. and forthwith he came to jesus, and said, hail, master; and kissed him." and then finally comes his dreadful end, the account of his remorse in matthew, the twenty-seventh chapter, the third and the fourth verses. "then judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, i have sinned in that i have betrayed the innocent blood. and they said, what is that to us? see thou to that." and the statement of his suicide in matthew, the twenty-seventh chapter, the fifth verse, "and he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." i the natural question that comes to every student of the life of judas must be, "why was he chosen?" but as joseph parker has said, "we may well ask why were we chosen ourselves, knowing our hearts as we do and appreciating our weakness as we must." it has been said that if we study the apostles we will find them representatives of all kinds of human nature, which would go to show that if we but yield ourselves to god, whatever we may be naturally, he can use us for his glory. it was here that judas failed. i have heard it said that jesus did not know judas' real character and that he was surprised when judas turned out to be the disciple that he was; but let us have none of this spirit in the consideration of jesus christ. let no man in these days limit jesus' knowledge, for he is omniscient and knoweth all things. let us not forget what he said himself concerning judas in john the thirteenth chapter and the eighteenth verse, "i speak not of you all; i know whom i have chosen; but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me." again, in the sixth chapter and the seventieth verse, "jesus answered them. have not i chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" and finally, in the sixth chapter and the sixty-fourth verse, "but there are some of you that believe not. for jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him." there were others who might have been chosen in his stead. the apostles found two when in their haste they determined to fill the vacancy made by his betrayal. acts : - , "and they appointed two, joseph called barsabas, who was surnamed justus, and matthias. and they prayed, and said, thou, lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. and they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." it seems to me that there can be no reason for his having been called of christ except that he was to serve as a great warning to those of us who have lived since his day. there are many such warnings in the scriptures. jonah was one. god said to him, "go to nineveh," and yet, with the spirit of rebellion, he attempted to sail to tarshish and we know his miserable failure. let it never be forgotten that if nineveh is god's choice for you, you can make no other port in safety. the sea will be against you, the wind against you. it is hard indeed to struggle against god. jacob was a warning. deceiving his own father, his sons in turn deceived him. may we never forget the scripture which declares, "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." esau was a warning. coming in from the hunt one day, weary with his exertions, he detects the savory smell of the mess of pottage, and his crafty brother says, "i will give you this for your birthright," which was his right to be a priest in his household; a moment more and the birthright is gone; and in the new testament we are told he sought it with tears and could find no place of repentance. but many a man has sold his right to be the priest of his household for less than a mess of pottage, and in a real sense it is true that things done cannot be undone. saul was a warning. he was commanded to put to death agag and the flock, and he kept the best of all the flock and then lied to god's messenger when he said that the work had been done as he was commanded. he had no sooner said it than, behold, there was heard the bleating of the sheep, and the lowing of the oxen. "be sure your sin will find you out." the new testament has many warnings like these in the old, but judas surpasses them all. there is something about him that makes us shudder. it is said that in oberammergau, where the passion play is presented, the man taking the character of judas is always avoided afterwards. he may have been ever so reputable a citizen, but he has been at least in action a judas, and that is enough. i was once a pastor at schuylerville, n. y., where on the burgoyne surrender ground stands a celebrated monument. it is beautiful to look upon. on one side of it in a niche is general schuyler, and on the other side, if i remember correctly, general gates; on the third, in the same sort of a niche, another distinguished general is to be seen, but on the fourth the niche is vacant. when i asked the reason i was told that "it is the niche which might have been filled by benedict arnold had he not been a traitor." the story of judas is like this. he might have been all that god could have approved of; he is throughout eternity a murderer, and all because grace was rejected. numerous lessons may be drawn from such a story. certain things might be said concerning hypocrisy, for he was in the truest sense a hypocrite. reference could be made to the fact that sin is small in its beginnings, sure in its progress, terrific in its ending, for at the beginning he was doubtless but an average man in sin, possibly not so different from the others; but he rejected the influence of christ. or, again, from such a character a thrilling story could be told of the end of transgressors, for hard as may be the way the end baffles description. judas certainly tells us this. ii however much of a warning judas may be to people of the world, i am fully persuaded that there are four things which may be said concerning him. first: he gives us a lesson as christians. there were many names given him. in matthew the tenth chapter and the fourth verse, and in mark the third chapter and the nineteenth verse, we read that he was a betrayer; in luke the sixth chapter and the sixteenth verse he was called a traitor; in john the sixth chapter and the seventieth verse he is spoken of as a devil, but in john the twelveth chapter and the sixth verse he is mentioned as a thief. to me however one of the best names that could be applied to him is that which paul feared might be given to him when he said, "lest when i have preached to others i myself should be [literally] disapproved" ( corinthians : ). it is indeed a solemn thought, that if we are not right with god he will set us aside, for he cannot use us. i have in mind a minister, who once thrilled great numbers of people with his message. under the power of his preaching hundreds of people came to christ. there was possibly no one in the church with a brighter future. to-day he is set aside, for god cannot use him. i have in mind a sunday school superintendent, who used to be on every platform speaking for christ, and then yielded to undue political influence of the worst sort, lost his vision of christ and his power in speaking, and to-day is set aside. but of all the illustrations, i know of nothing which so stirs me as the story of judas. he might have been true and faithful and he might have been with christ to-day in glory; instead, he is in hell, a self-confessed murderer, with the clinking of the thirty pieces of silver to condemn him, and his awful conscience constantly to accuse him. it is indeed enough to make our faces pale to realize that, whatever we may be to-day in the service of god, we can be set aside in less than a week, and god will cease to use us if we have anything of the spirit of judas. second: i learn also from judas that environment is not enough for the unregenerate. it is folly to state that a poor lost sinner simply by changing his environment may have his nature changed. as john g. woolley has said, "it is like a man with a stubborn horse saying, 'i will paint the outside of the barn a nice mild color to influence the horse within.'" the well on my place in the country some years ago had in it poisoned water. it was an attractive well with a house built around about it, and the neighbors came to me to say that i must under no circumstances drink from it. what if i had said, "i will decorate the well house that i may change the water?" it would have been as nonsensical as to say, "i will change the environment of a man who is wicked by nature, and thereby make him good." judas had lived close to jesus, he had been with him on the mountain, walked with him by the sea, was frequently with him, i am sure, in gethsemane, for we read in john the eighteenth chapter and the second verse, "and judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples." he was also with him at the supper. but after all this uplifting, heavenly influence of the son of god he sold him for silver and betrayed him with a kiss. nothing can answer for the sinner but regeneration. his case is hopeless without that. third: hypocrisy is an awful thing. the text in galatians is for all such. "be not deceived; god is not mocked." those words in matthew in connection with the sermon on the mount are for such, when men in the great day shall say, "have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?" jesus will say, "i never knew you." if we read the commission in matthew the tenth chapter the fifth to the twentieth verses inclusive, we shall understand that these apostles were sent forth to do a mighty work, and evidently they did it. judas had that commission, and he may have fulfilled it in a sense, but he is lost to-day because he was a hypocrite. the disciples may not have known his true nature. in john the thirteenth chapter the twenty-first to the twenty-ninth verses we read, "when jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, verily, verily, i say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. now there was leaning on jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom jesus loved. simon peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. he then lying on jesus' breast saith unto him, lord, who is it? jesus answered, he it is to whom i shall give a sop when i have dipped it. and when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to judas iscariot, the son of simon. and after the sop satan entered into him. then said jesus unto him, that thou doest, do quickly. now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. for some of them thought, because judas had the bag, that jesus had said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or that he should give something to the poor." which would seem to impress this thought upon us. oh, may i say that it is a great sin to be untrue? the only time that jesus is severe is not when sinners seek him out, nor when the woman taken in adultery is driven to him by those who would stone her with stones, nor with the thief on the cross, but when he faces hypocrites; he can have no tenderness for them. fourth: i learn from judas that sin is of slow progress. there may have been first just a natural ambition. he thought that the kingdom of jesus was to be a great temporal affair, and he desired to be a part of it. how many men to-day have wrecked their homes and all but lost their souls, because of unholy ambitions! it may be an ambition for your family as well as for yourself. doubtless jacob had such when he stopped at shechem. the result of his tarrying was his heart-breaking experience with the worse than murder of his daughter. there are souls to-day in the lost world who were wrecked upon the rock of ambition. fifth: he was dishonest. it is a short journey from unholy ambition to dishonesty. the spirit of god himself calls him a thief. but, sixth: let it be known that while sin is of slow progress, it is exceedingly sure. in the twenty-second chapter of luke and the third to the sixth verses we read that satan entered into judas. it seems to me as if up to that time he had rather hovered about him, tempting him with his insinuations, possibly causing him to slip and fall in occasional sins, but finally he has control and then betrayal, denial and murder are the results. i looked the other day into the face of a man who said to me, "do you know me?" and i told him i did not, and he said, "i used to be a christian worker and influenced thousands to come to christ. in an unguarded moment i determined to leave my ministry and to become rich. my haste for riches was but a snare. i found myself becoming unscrupulous in my business life and now i am wrecked, certainly for time--oh," said he, "can it be for eternity? i am separated from my wife and my children, whom i shall never see again." and rising in an agony he cried out as i have rarely heard a man cry, "god have mercy upon me! god have mercy upon me!" iii there are but three things that i would like to say concerning judas as i come to the end of my message. the first is that he was heartless in the extreme. it was just after a touching scene recorded in matthew the twenty-sixth chapter the seventh to the thirteenth verses, "there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. but when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, to what purpose is this waste? for this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. when jesus understood it, he said unto them, why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. for ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. for in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. verily i say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." it was after this that judas went to the enemies of jesus and offered to sell him, and as if that were not enough, it was just after he had left gethsemane, in matthew the twenty-sixth chapter the forty-fifth to the forty-ninth verses, that he betrayed him with his kiss. "then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them, sleep on now, and take your rest; behold, the hour is at hand, and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. and while he yet spake, lo, judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude, with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, whomsoever i shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. and forthwith he came to jesus, and said, hail, master; and kissed him." the blood drops had just been rolling down the cheeks of the master, for he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood; and i can quite understand how upon the very lips of judas the condemning blood may have left its mark. but do not condemn him; he is scarcely more heartless than the man who to-day rejects him after all his gracious ministry, his sacrificial death and his mediatorial work of nineteen hundred years. second: his death was awful. acts : , "now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." i can imagine him going out to the place where he is to end it all, remembering as he walked how jesus had looked at him, recalling, doubtless, some of his spoken messages, and certainly remembering how once he had been with him in all his unfaithful ministry. all this must have swept before him like a great panorama, and with the vision of his betrayed master still before him he swings himself out into the eternity; and then as if to make the end more terrible the rope broke and his body burst and his very bowels gushed forth. oh, if it be true that the _way_ of the transgressor is hard, in the name of god what shall we say of the end? third: i would like to imagine another picture. what if instead of going out to the scene of his disgraceful death he had waited until after jesus had risen? what if he had tarried behind some one of those great trees near the city along the way which he should walk, or, possibly on the emmaus way? what if he had hidden behind some great rock and simply waited? while it is true that he must have trembled as he waited, what if after it all he had simply thrown himself on the mercy of jesus and had said to him, "master, i have from the first been untrue; for thirty pieces of silver i sold thee and with these lips i betrayed thee with a kiss; but jesus, thou son of david, have mercy upon me"? there would have been written in the new testament scriptures the most beautiful story that the inspired book contains. nothing could have been so wonderful as the spirit of him who is able to save to the uttermost, and who never turned away from any seeking sinner, and he would, i am sure, have taken judas in his very arms; he, too, might have given him a kiss, not of betrayal, but of the sign of his complete forgiveness, and judas might have shone to-day in the city of god as shines joseph of arimathaea, paul the apostle, peter the preacher. the saddest story i know is the story of judas, for it is the account of a man who resisted the grace of god and must regret it through eternity. an old-fashioned home text: "_what have they seen in thy house?_"-- kings : . if you will tell me what is in your own house by your own choice i will tell you the story of your home life and will be able to inform you whether yours is a home in which there is harmony and peace or confusion and despair. let me read the names of the guests in your guest book, allow me to study the titles of the books in your library in which you have special delight, permit me to scan your magazines which you particularly like, allow me to listen to your conversation when you do not know that you are being overheard, give me the privilege of talking but for a moment to your servants, and make it possible for me to visit with your friends in whom you have particular delight--and i will write a true story of what you have been, of what you are, and of what you will be but for the grace of god, even though i may not know you personally at all. in other words, whatever may be seen in your home determines what your home is. i was a man grown before i visited washington, the capital of the nation. i was the guest of a member of the president's cabinet. riding with him the first evening, when the moon was shining, we suddenly came upon the national capitol, and i said to my host, "what in the world is that?" he said, with a smile, as if he pitied me, "that is the capitol building, and that is the home of the nation." i am sure he was right in a sense, because the building is magnificent, and is in every way the worthy home of such a nation as ours; but i think i take issue with him, after careful thought, in his statement that the capitol building is the home of the nation. i can recall a visit made to a home which was not in any sense palatial, where the old-fashioned father every morning and evening read his bible, knelt in prayer with his household about him, commended to god his children each by name, presented the servants at the throne of grace, and then sang with them all one of the sweet hymns of the church; and from the morning prayer they went forth to the day of victory, while from the evening prayer they went to sleep the undisturbed sleep of the just, with the angels of heaven keeping watch over them. i recall another home in the state of ohio where the father and mother were scarcely known outside of their own county. the size of their farm was ten acres, but they reared two boys and two girls whose mission has been world-wide and whose names are known wherever the church of christ is known and wherever the english language is spoken. these, in the truest sense, are the homes of the nation, and such homes give us men and women as true as steel. napoleon once was asked, "what is the greatest need of the french nation?" he hesitated a moment and then said, with marked emphasis, "the greatest need of the french nation is mothers." if you will ask me the greatest need of america i could wish in my reply that i might speak with the power of a napoleon and that my words might live as long, for i would say, the greatest need of the american nation to-day is homes; not palatial buildings, but homes where christ is honored, where god is loved, and where the bible is studied. a returned missionary, who had been for twenty-five years away from his home because he would not accept his furloughs, was asked after he had been in california for a little season what impressed him the most after his absence of a quarter of a century. the reporter expected him to say that he was impressed with the telephone system which bound houses and cities together, or that he was amazed at the wireless telegraphy, by means of which on the wave currents of the air messages were sent from one city to another; but the returned missionary expressed no such surprise. he said, "when i went away from america almost every home had its family altar; now that i have returned i have watched very carefully and find that a family altar in a home is the exception and not the rule." wherever this is true there is real cause for great alarm, for in proportion as the home fails the nation is in danger. hezekiah had been sick unto death. the word of the lord by the mouth of the prophet came to him, saying, "set thy house in order, for thou must die." then he recovered for a season. the king of babylon sent messengers to him, and when the messengers had gone isaiah asked him the question of the text, "what have they seen in thy house?" the dearest and most sacred spot on earth is home. around it are the most sacred associations, about it cluster the sweetest memories. the buildings are not always palatial, the furnishings are not always of the best, but when the home is worthy of the name ladders are let down from heaven to those below, the angels of god come down, bringing heaven's blessing and ascend, taking earth's crosses. such a home is the dearest spot on earth, because there your father worked and your mother loved. there is no love which surpasses this. some years ago, when the english soldiers were fighting and a scotch regiment came to assist, the scotchmen, strangely enough, began to die in great numbers. the skill of the physicians was baffled. they could not tell why it was that there seemed to be such a rapid falling away of the men. but at last they discovered the cause. the scotch pipers were playing the tunes that reminded the scotchman of the heather and the hills, and they were dying of homesickness. when the music was changed the deaths in such large numbers almost instantly ceased. we are drifting away from our old-fashioned homes; fathers have grown too busy, mothers have delegated their god-given work to others. we have lost instead of gained. wherever the homes are full of weakness the government is in danger. the homes of our country are so many streams pouring themselves into the great current of moral and social life. if the home life is pure, then all is pure. i stand with that company of people today who believe that we are at the beginning of a great revival of religion, and i am persuaded that this revival is to be helped on not so much by preaching, though that is not to be ignored; nor by singing, though that in itself is useful; but it is to be helped or hindered by the condition of the homes in our land. i i have a friend, george r. stuart, who says that when god himself would start a nation he made home life the deciding question. he selected abraham as the head of the home, and in genesis, the eighteenth chapter and the nineteenth verse, he gives the reason for this in these words: "for i know him, that he will command his children and his household after him." there are two great principles which must prevail in every home: first: _authority_, suggested by the word "command." second: _example_, suggested by the expression, "he will command his children and his household after him." in order that one may rightly command he must himself be controlled or be able to obey an authority higher than his own. it is absolutely impossible for one to be the father he ought to be and not be a christian, or to be worthy of the name of mother and not yield allegiance to jesus christ. if we are to set before those about us a right example, we cannot begin too soon. your children are a reproduction of yourself, weakness in them is weakness in yourself, strength in them is but the reproduction of your own virtue. a convention of mothers met some years ago in the city of cincinnati and was discussing the question as to when one ought properly to begin to train the child for christ. one mother said, "i begin at six"; another suggested seven as the proper age; another said, "i begin when my child takes his first step, and thus point him to christ, or when he speaks his first word i teach him the name of jesus." finally an old saint arose and said, "you are all of you wrong; the time to begin to train the child is the generation before the child is born," and this we all know to be true. but the responsibility does not rest simply upon mothers; fathers cannot ignore their god-given position. judge alton b. parker and his favorite grandson, alton parker hall, five years old, narrowly escaped death by drowning in the hudson river. for half an hour the two played in the water. then judge parker took the boy for a swim into deep water. placing the boy on his back, he swam around for awhile, and then, deciding to float, turned over, seating the boy astride his chest. in this manner the judge floated a distance from the wharf before noticing it. then he attempted to turn over again, intending to swim nearer the shore. in the effort to transfer the boy to his back the little fellow became frightened and tightly clasped the judge about the neck. judge parker called to the boy to let go his hold, but the youth only held on the tighter, and, frightened at the evident distress of the judge, began to whimper. in a few moments the grasp of the boy became so tight that judge parker could not breathe. he tried to shake the boy loose, and then attempted to break his grasp. the boy held on with the desperation of death, however, and every effort of the judge only plunged them both beneath the choking waves. with his last few remaining breaths, judge parker gave up the struggle and shouted for assistance. the mistake that the distinguished man made was that he went too far from shore with the boy. there are too many men to-day who are doing the same thing. they are going out too far in social life, they are too lax in the question of amusements, they are too thoughtless on the subject of dissipation. some day they will stop, themselves recovering, but their boys will be gone. example counts for everything in a home. it there is any blessing in my own life or others, if there has been any helpfulness in my ministry to others, i owe it all to my mother, who lived before me a consistent christian life and died giving me her blessing; and to my father, who with his arms about me one day said, "my son, if you go wrong it will kill me." i was at one time under the influence of a boy older than myself and cursed with too much money. i had taken my first questionable step at least, and was on my way one night to a place which was at least questionable if not sinful. i had turned the street corner and ahead of me was the very gate to hell. suddenly, as i turned, the face of my father came before me and his words rang in my very soul. if my father had been anything but a consistent christian man i myself, i am sure, would have been far from the pulpit, and might have been in the lost world. there are those who seem to think that the height of one's ambition is to amass a fortune, to build a palace or to acquire a social position. my friend, george r. stuart, says you may build your palaces, amass your fortunes, provide for the satisfaction of every desire, but as you sit amid these luxurious surroundings waiting for the staggering steps of a son, or as you think of a wayward daughter, all this will be as nothing, for there is nothing that can give happiness to the parents of godless, wayward children. some one has said, "every drunkard, every gambler, every lost woman once sat in a mother's lap, and the downfall of the most of them may be traced to some defect in home life." the real purpose of every home is to shape character for time and eternity. the home may be one of poverty, the cross of self-sacrifice may be required, suffering may sometimes be necessary, but wherever a home fulfills this purpose it is overflowing with joy. one of my friends has drawn the following picture which he says is fanciful, but which i think is absolutely true to life: back in the country there is a boy who wants to go to a college and get an education. they call him a book-worm. wherever they find him--in the barn or in the house--he is reading a book. "what a pity it is," they say, "that ed cannot get an education!" his father, work as hard as he will, can no more than support the family by the products of the farm. one night ed has retired to his room and there is a family conference about him. the sisters say, "father, i wish you would send ed to college; if you will we will work harder than we ever did, and we will make our old dresses do." the mother says, "yes, i will get along without any hired help; although i am not as strong as i used to be, i think i can get along without any hired help." the father says, "well, i think by husking corn nights in the barn i can get along without any assistance." sugar is banished from the table, butter is banished from the plate. that family is put down on rigid, yea, suffering, economy that the boy may go to college. time passes on. commencement day has come and the professors walk in on the stage in their long gowns and their classic but absurd hats. the interest of the occasion is passing on, and after a while it comes to a climax of interest as the valedictorian is introduced. ed has studied so hard and worked so well that he has had the honor conferred upon him. there are rounds of applause, sometimes breaking into vociferation. it is a great day for ed. but away back in the galleries are his sisters in their old plain hats and faded clothes, and the old-fashioned father and mother; dear me, she has not had a new hat for six years; he has not had a new coat for a longer time. they rise and look over on the platform, then they laugh and they cry, and as they sit down, their faces grow pale, and then are very flushed. ed gets the garlands and the old-fashioned group in the gallery have their full share of the triumph. they have made that scene possible, and in the day that god shall more fully reward self-sacrifice made for others, he will give grand and glorious recognition. "as his part is that goeth down to battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff." this experience describes a home in the truest sense of the word better than all the palaces the world has ever known where love is lacking and the spirit of god is gone. ii there are two great forces in every home. i speak of the father and the mother, not but that the children have their part in either making or breaking a household, but these two are the mightiest of agencies. the mother stands first. there are certain things which must be true of every mother. she must be a christian. the father may fail if he must, but let the mother fail and god pity the children. she must be consistent. the children may forget the inconsistencies of the father but when the mother fails the impression is lasting as time and almost as lasting as eternity. she must be prayerful. i do not know of anything that lifts so many burdens or puts upon the face such a look of beauty as the spirit of prayer. and she must study her bible. when we pray we talk with god, but when we read the bible god talks with us and every mother needs his counsel. a poor young man stood before a judge in a great court to be sentenced to death. when asked if he had anything to say, he bowed his head and said, "oh, your honor, if i had only had a mother!" a mother's love is unfailing. when i was in atlanta, georgia, in october, , a little girl and an old mother came to see the governor. they had met on the train, and the child agreed to take the old lady to see the governor of the state. they entered the governor's office and she spoke as follows: "i want to see the governor," was the straightforward request of the little lady addressed to major irwin, the private secretary to the governor, as he inquired her errand. "that is the governor standing there. he will see you in a moment," replied the major, indicating governor terrell standing in the group. the governor went over to her. "what can i do for you, dear?" he asked. throwing back her curls she opened wide her baby brown eyes and said: "governor, it is not for me; it is for this old lady. her name is mrs. hackett, and she wants to talk to you about pardoning her boy." this was said by a little lady of eleven, who spoke with all the grace and _savoir-faire_ of a woman twice her age. in a voice choked with emotion, mrs. hackett began her tearful, scarcely audible story and presented her petition for clemency for her boy. "governor, have mercy on me," she began, and threw back her bonnet, showing a face wrinkled by age and furrowed and drawn by suffering, "and give me back my boy." breaking down under the strain of talking to the governor, whom she had planned for months to see, the pleading mother gave way to her grief. the governor was visibly moved, and continued to stroke the curly hair of mrs. hackett's little guide. "give me back my boy. i am an old woman, going on seventy-nine, and i cannot be here long. i know i am standing with one foot in the grave, and i do want to hear my boy, my baby, say to me, 'ma, i'm free.' let me go down on my knees to you and beg that you have mercy on a mother's breaking heart. during the last month i picked five hundred pounds of cotton and made two dollars to get here to see you. i got here without a cent, and this little angel gave me a dollar--her all. i don't care if i have to walk back home, for i've seen you and told you of my boy." with unsteady voice the governor told her the law, and referred her gently to the prison commission, assuring her that they would give her petition the most considerate attention. i am told that when the books were examined the crime was found to be one of the blackest on the calendar, and yet the mother loved him. her love always stimulates love. it lasts when everything else fails. a man cannot wander so far from god as to forget his mother, or go so deep in sin as to be unmindful of her sweet influence. the following is a sketch, full of touching interest, of a little ragged newsboy who had lost his mother. in the tenderness of his affection for her he was determined that he would raise a stone to her memory. his mother and he had kept house together and they had been all to each other, but now she was taken, and the little fellow's loss was irreparable. getting a stone was no easy task, for his earnings were small; but love is strong. going to a cutter's yard and finding that even the cheaper class of stones was far too expensive for him, he at length fixed upon a broken shaft of marble, part of the remains of an accident in the yard, and which the proprietor kindly named at such a low figure that it came within his means. there was much yet to be done, but the brave little chap was equal to it. the next day he conveyed the stone away on a little four-wheeled cart, and managed to have it put in position. the narrator, curious to know the last of the stone, visited the cemetery one afternoon, and he thus describes what he saw and learned: "here it is," said the man in charge, and, sure enough, there was our monument, at the head of one of the newer graves. i knew it at once. just as it was when it left our yard, i was going to say, until i got a little nearer to it and saw what the little chap had done. i tell you, boys, when i saw it there was something blurred my eyes, so's i couldn't read it at first. the little man had tried to keep the lines straight, and evidently thought that capitals would make it look better and bigger, for nearly every letter was a capital. i copied it, and here it is; but you want to see it on the stone to appreciate it: my mother shee died last weak shee was all i had. shee sed shead bee waiting fur-- and here the boy's lettering stopped. after awhile i went back to the man in charge and asked him what further he knew of the little fellow who brought the stone. "not much," he said; "not much. didn't you notice a fresh little grave near the one with the stone? well, that's where he is. he came here every afternoon for some time working away at that stone, and one day i missed him, and then for several days. then the man came out from the church that had buried the mother and ordered the grave dug by her side. i asked if it was for the little chap. he said it was. the boy had sold all his papers one day, and was hurrying along the street out this way. there was a runaway team just above the crossing, and--well--he was run over, and lived but a day or two." he had in his hand when he was picked up an old file sharpened down to a point, that he did all the lettering with. they said he seemed to be thinking only of that until he died, for he kept saying, "i didn't get it done, but she'll know i meant to finish it, won't she? i'll tell her so, for she'll be waiting for me," and he died with those words on his lips. when the men in the cutter's yard heard the story of the boy the next day, they clubbed together, got a good stone, inscribed upon it the name of the newsboy, which they succeeded in getting from the superintendent of the sunday school which the little fellow attended, and underneath it the touching words: "he loved his mother." god pity the mother with such an influence as this if she is leading in the wrong direction! it is necessary also to say just a word about the father. there are many pictures of fathers in the bible. jacob gives us one when he cries, "me ye have bereft of my children." david gives another when he cries, "o absalom, my son." the father of the prodigal adds a new touch of beauty to the picture when he calls for the best robe to be put upon his boy. i allow no one to go beyond me in paying tribute to a mother's love, but i desire in some special way to pay tribute to the devotion and consistency of a father. there are special requisites which must be made without which no father can maintain his god-given position. he must be a christian. i rode along a country road with my little boy some time ago. i found that he was speaking to my friends just as i spoke to them. one man called my attention to it and said, "it is amusing, isn't it?" to me it was anything but amusing. if my boy is to speak as i speak, walk as i walk, then god help me to walk as a christian. he must be a man of prayer. no man can bear the burdens of life or meet its responsibilities properly if he is a stranger to prayer. he must be a man of bible study. one of the most priceless treasures i have is a bible my father studied, the pages of which he turned over and over, and which i never used to read without a great heart throb. "i con its pages o'er and o'er; its interlinings mark a score of promises most potent, sweet, in verses many of each sheet; albeit the gilding dull of age, and yellow-hued its every page, no book more precious e'er may be than father's bible is to me. "its tear-stained trace fresh stirs my heart the corresponding tear to start; of trials, troubles herein brought, for comfort never vainly sought, for help in sorest hour of need, for love to crown the daily deed, no book more precious e'er may be than father's bible is to me." he must also erect in his house a family altar. i know that many business men will say this is impossible, but it is not impossible. if your business prevents your praying with your children, then there must be something wrong with your business. if your life prevents it, then you ought to see to it that your life is made right and that quickly. my friend, george r. stuart, one of the truest men i know, gave me the following picture of a christian home. he said: "when i was preaching in nashville, at the conclusion of my sermon a methodist preacher came up and laid his hand upon my shoulder and said, 'brother stuart, how your sermon to-day carried me back to my home! my father was a local preacher, and the best man i ever saw. he is gone to heaven now. we have a large family; mother is still at home, and i should like to see all the children together once more and have you come and dedicate our home to god, while we all rededicate ourselves to god before precious old mother leaves. if you will come with me, i will gather all the family together next friday for that purpose.' i consented to go. the old home was a short distance from the city of nashville. there were a large number of brothers and sisters. one was a farmer; one was a doctor; one was a real estate man; one was a bookkeeper; one was a preacher; and so on, so that they represented many professions of life. the preacher brother took me out to the old home, where all the children had gathered. as we drove up to the gate i saw the brothers standing in little groups about the yard, whittling and talking. did you never stand in the yard of the old home after an absence of many years, and entertain memories brought up by every beaten path and tree and gate and building about the old place? i was introduced to these noble-looking men who, as the preacher brother told me, were all members of churches, living consistent christian lives, save the younger boy, who had wandered away a little, and the real object of this visit was to bring him back to god. "the old mother was indescribably happy. there was a smile lingering in the wrinkles of her dear old face. we all gathered in the large, old-fashioned family room in the old-fashioned semicircle, with mother in her natural place in the corner. the preacher brother laid the large family bible in my lap and said, 'now, brother stuart, you are in the home of a methodist preacher; do what you think best.' "i replied, 'as i sit to-day in the family of a methodist preacher, let us begin our service with an old-fashioned experience meeting. i want each child, in the order of your ages, to tell your experience.' the oldest arose and pointed his finger at the oil portrait of his father, hanging on the wall, and said in substance about as follows: 'brother stuart, there is the picture of the best father god ever gave a family. many a time he has taken me to his secret place of prayer, put his hand on my head, and prayed for his boy. and at every turn of my life, since he has left me, i have felt the pressure of his hand on my head, and have seen the tears upon his face, and have heard the prayers from his trembling lips. i have not been as good a man since his death as i ought to have been, but i stand up here to-day to tell you and my brothers and sisters and my dear old mother that i am going to live a better life from this hour until i die.' overcome with emotion, he took his seat, and the children in order spoke on the same line. each one referred to the place of secret prayer and the father's hand upon the head. at last we came to the youngest boy, who, with his face buried in his hands, was sobbing and refused to speak. the preacher brother very pathetically said, 'buddy, say a word; there is no one here but the family, and it will help you.' "he arose, holding the back of his chair, and looked up at me and said, 'brother stuart, they tell me that you have come to dedicate this home to god; but my old mother here has never let it get an inch from god. they tell you that this meeting is called that my brothers and sisters may dedicate their lives to god, but they are good. i know them. i am the only black sheep in this flock. every step i have wandered away from god and the life of my precious father, i have felt his hand upon my head and heard his blessed words of prayer. to-day i come back to god, back to my father's life, and so help me god, i will never wander away again.' "following his talk came a burst of sobbing and shouting, and i started that old hymn, 'amazing grace (how sweet the sound!) that saved a wretch like me!' etc., and we had an old-fashioned methodist class-meeting, winding up with a shout. as i walked away from that old homestead i said in my heart, 'it is the salt of a good life that saves the children.' a boy never gets over the fact that he had a good father." "what have they seen in thy house?" if we are to help our children for time and eternity, our homes must be better, our lives must be truer, our ambition to do god's will must be supreme. when these conditions are met it will be possible for us to answer the question of the text. the swelling of jordan text: "_how wilt thou do in the swelling of jordan?_"--jer. : . high up in the mountains of anti-lebanon a famous river was born which was to play so important a part in the history of god's people that it would not have been strange if the birds of heaven had chanted their praises when first it began its journey. from four different places in the mountain the stream starts. then the four streams become one, and in a single channel the river makes its way across the plain. there are two chief characteristics which must be borne in mind. the first is that a part of its journey is through a rocky country, and caves are on either side of the river, sometimes one above another; frequently three caves are to be seen one above another. the other characteristic is that it overflows its banks in all the time of harvest. these two things must be kept in mind if the text would teach its lesson. there are certain people who will always remember the river jordan--the children of israel first of all, because it separated them from the promised land; and while scripturally canaan does not stand for heaven, yet in the mind of many it does, and the jordan typifies an experience which stands between us and the future. naaman will remember it, for when he came as a leper to the servant of god he was bidden to wash seven times in this river. at first he rebelled against the thought, finally he entered the stream, bathed twice, three times, four, five, six times, and was still a leper; but you will remember the word of the lord, seven times must he bathe, and when the seventh plunge was taken, behold, his flesh was as the flesh of a little child! no man need expect to have light and peace and power or eternal life until he has fulfilled all the commands of god. the wild beasts frequently make their way to these caves as a place of refuge. when the waters begin to rise they are driven out, when they go to the higher cave, and then to the highest of all, and the waters constantly rising fill this cave and they are overpowered and put to death. they are an illustration for us. men of to-day are in caves of different sorts; some in the cave of dissipation, others in the cave of infidelity, and still others in the cave of morality. one day the waters of judgment will begin to rise, and it will be an awful thing to stand in terror before god, driven forth without refuge. i _dissipation_. "i am in the clutch of an awful sin," wrote some one to me recently, whether man or woman i cannot tell, but this was the story: three years before the writer had been free, and then in an unguarded moment had gone down. now came the pathetic cry, "i am helpless and hopeless." i do not know what the sin was, but it makes no difference; any sin can bind us if we but yield to it. under the subject of dissipation i do not speak of drinking as the worst of sins, because it is not the worst, by any means. i had a thousand times rather admit to my home the drunkard who has been cursed with his appetite than to admit there the man who is lecherous, who possibly stands high in society and in the business world, but whose sin is great and whose heart is vile beyond description. i speak of drinking because it is the most common of sins. john b. gough cries out concerning this sin, "i do not speak of it boastingly," said he, "for i have known what the curse of strong drink is; i have felt it in my own life and seen it in others, but i say the truth, let the bread of affliction be given me to eat, take away from me the friends of my old age, let the hut of poverty be my dwelling place, let the wasting hand of disease be placed upon me, let me live in the whirlwind and dwell in the storm, when i would do good let evil come upon me--do all this, merciful god, but save me from the death of a drunkard." when he would speak in such language, god pity the man who yields to such a sin. it may be that gambling is your weak point. when i was in colorado a young man who was a graduate of harvard, the honor man of his class, and who had recently buried his wife, sat at the gambling table, staked his last dollar and lost it; then deliberately put up his little child and lost her; and then, in despair, blew out his brains and sent his soul to hell. when such a man of culture and training would go down under such a sin, god pity the man who yields to it. or it may be licentiousness, that sin which makes men lower than the beasts of the field, from which one can scarcely break away. i do not know what the sin may be that clutches your life, but if you have given way to it and rejected christ, how wilt thou do in the swelling of jordan, when the waters rise higher and higher and you are without christ and without hope? ii some are in the cave of infidelity. that there are honest skeptics in the world we all believe, and the honest skeptic is one who says, "i cannot believe as you do, and i do not know that i would if i could, but if your hope is any comfort to you, then cling to it and go down to your grave trusting in it." the dishonest skeptic is the man who sneers at my faith, who laughs at the old-fashioned religion, who says that once he believed in it but has grown away from it, seemingly forgetting that the greatest men the country has ever produced have been humble followers of jesus of nazareth. infidelity does not satisfy. it leaves an aching void in life and mocks us in death. besides, it is deceiving and the talk of the infidel orator is deceiving. said one of the most eloquent not many years ago, "when i think of the christian's god and the christian's bible, i am glad i am not a christian. i had rather be the humblest german peasant that ever lived, sitting in his cottage, vine clad, from which the grapes hang, made purple by the kiss of the sun as the day dies out of the sky, shod with wooden shoes, clad in homespun, at peace with the world, his family about him, with never a thought of god--i say the truth i had rather be such a peasant than any christian that i have ever known." and when he said it the people cheered him. it was, however, but the trick of an orator. let us change the sentences and give a new ring to the thought. "when i think of what infidelity would do i am glad i am not an infidel; how it would rob me of the hope of seeing my mother and meeting again my child; how it would take me in despair to the grave and send me away with a broken heart--i say i am glad i am not an infidel. i had rather be the humblest german peasant that ever lived, sitting in his cottage, vine clad, from which the grapes hang, made purple by the kiss of the sun as the day dies out of the sky, clad in homespun, shod with wooden shoes, at peace with the world and at peace with god, his family bible upon his knees, the look of ineffable joy in his face and singing that grand old hymn of luther's, 'a mighty fortress is our god'--i had rather be such a german peasant than to be the mightiest infidel the world has ever known," and so i would, a thousand thousand times. god pity you if you allow yourself to put christ out of your life and stand in the midst of the rising floods with no hope in him! how wilt thou do in the swelling of jordan? iii some are in the cave of morality. it seems a strange thing to have a word to say against it, only when we remember that he that offends in one point is guilty of all, and when we remember god's word as he has declared, "cursed is every one that continueth not in all the things written in the book of the law to do them." then the question for the moralist is this, "have you ever offended in one point?" a splendid steamer was launched on lake champlain. she made her way safely across the lake and started back, when a storm came upon her, the engines were disabled and she drifted to the rocks. "out with the anchor," said the captain, and the command was obeyed, but still she drifted, and although the anchor was down she crashed against the rocks with an awful force, and all because the anchor chain was three feet too short. your morality so far as it goes may be a good tiling, but it does not reach the standard of god, nor can it until you are safely united to christ; and if you have put him out of your life and stand alone in the midst of the rising floods, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of jordan? sin is a terrible thing. it not only blights our hopes and prospects for the future, but it wrecks the strongest characters. one has only to open his eyes to see, if he will but look abroad, what dreadful havoc this awful evil hath wrought in the world, and yet the wonderful thing is that "god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life," and no matter how dreadful the wreck or how awful the ruin, jesus christ comes seeking to save that which was lost. major whittle used to tell the story of the aged quaker named hartmann whose son had enlisted in the army. there came the news of a dreadful battle, and this old father, in fear and trembling, started to the scene of conflict that he might learn something concerning his boy. the officer of the day told him that he had not answered to his name, and that there was every reason to believe that he was dead. this did not satisfy the father, so, leaving headquarters, he started across the battlefield, looking for the one who was dearer to him than life. he would stoop down and turn over the face of this one and then the face of another, but without success. the night came on, and then with a lantern he continued his search, all to no purpose. suddenly the wind, which was blowing a gale, extinguished his lantern, and he stood there in the darkness hardly knowing what to do until his fatherly ingenuity, strength and affection prompted him to call out his son's name, and so he stood and shouted, "john hartmann, thy father calleth thee." all about him he would hear the groans of the dying and some one saying, "oh, if that were only my father." he continued his cry with more pathos and power until at last in the distance he heard his boy's voice crying tremblingly, "here, father." the old man made his way across the field shouting out, "thank god! thank god!" taking him in his arms, he bore him to headquarters, nursed him back to health and strength, and he lives to-day. over the battlefield of the slain this day walks jesus christ, the son of god, crying out to all who are wrecked by this awful power, "thy father calleth thee," and if there should be but the faintest response to his cry he would take the lost in his arms and bear them home to heaven. will you not come while he calls to-day? a call to judgment text: "_i call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live._"--deut. : . moses was a wonderful man; whether you view him as a poet or as a leader of men, he is alike great. this text was spoken by him to the people of israel at the close of his career. the leadership of god's chosen people is now to be transferred to joshua, and it is in order that he may speak to them as they should be addressed, and at the same time in order that he may free himself from judgment, that he speaks as he does. i have two great desires as i present this message. first, that i might myself be faithful, and that it might be said that i am free from the blood of all men, for i have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of god. second, that i might help some one to the knowledge of christ. this is no time for argument, for argument always calls forth discussion. it is no time for theory. practical, every-day people of the world care nothing for mere theories. and it is no time for speculation, for to give such to the people is like giving a stone when they have asked for bread. but it is time for eternal choice. the audience of the preacher vanishes when he thinks of the text and its meaning and he is face to face with the judgment when he shall be judged for the way he has spoken, and the people shall be called to account for the way they have heard. it is indeed a solemn word. "i call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." i _record_. i desire to use this word as if it were a noun for the time being, for it will bring to us the same truth. this leads me to say that every one is making a record, either good or bad. deep down through the surface of the earth you will find the evidence of storms centuries ago; the record was indelibly made. two records are being kept. this is indicated in the twentieth chapter of revelation, where it is said, "and the books were opened." notice that it is plural and not singular. there is a record in heaven kept by the recording angel. if it were in the memory of god it would be an awful thing, for while god does not remember forgiven sin, he cannot, from the very nature of the case, forget unpardoned sin, and if that is the record one day we shall meet it face to face. there is also a record upon earth. we have seen it in the characters of men who have gone astray, and in the faces of those who have been affected by their sins. in an eastern city where i was preaching my attention was called to a young man of brilliant prospects. he was a member of a great wholesale grocery firm, and young men looked at him almost with envy; but he began to drink, and at the end of a year the senior partner called him in to say that he must change his conduct or retire from the firm. he made promises only to break them, and finally, going from bad to worse, he was forced to retire. one morning we read the news in the paper that his bloated body had been found floating in the hudson river; and his old father, up to a few years ago, walked up and down the streets with bowed head, giving every evidence of an almost broken heart. sin is an awful thing and makes its record on whatever it touches. ii _two ways_. there are just two ways in this world along which men may walk, and they are not parallel ways. i used to have that idea, but i am sure it is wrong. as a matter of fact, it is but one way; going in one direction is death, and in the opposite direction is life. first: away from god, away from his love, every step only leads us farther from him--not because of anything he is, but because of what we have done ourselves. a father in the south sent his boy to a northern university, and for seven years he was away from the restraints of his home. then he came back with his diploma but with the habit of intemperance fastened upon him. it seemed impossible for him to break it, and his old father was fairly crushed. his mother broke her heart and died, all because of her boy. and yet the father loved him. one day the old father stepped from his carriage in the town in which he lived. the son was heard to make a request of him, and when evidently it was refused the boy turned and struck him full in the face. the old father staggered and would have fallen to the walk except for assistance. he entered his carriage, drove back to his home, the servants saw him go out into the grove where his wife was buried, throw himself on the grave and shriek aloud. some time later the boy returned and the father met him at the door to say, "you must go away; you have disgraced my name and killed your mother and broken my heart." this is the measure of a father's love perhaps in this one instance, but think how many times you have trifled with god, spurned his love, disregarded his son, and yet he has loved you. and remember also that word which says, "there is a time, we know not when, a place, we know not where, that seals the destiny of men for glory or despair." second: _towards god_. how easy a thing it is, therefore, to be saved if there is but one way and this way runs in opposite directions, meaning either life or death. it is just to "right about face," as the soldier would say, by an act of the will and with the help of god to turn away from sin and from self. i am very sure we can do it, because it is commanded in this text, and god would not mock us with a command which could not be obeyed. i am equally sure that we must do it now, for god has plainly stated this in his word. iii _choose life_. as has been indicated, the text proves that we may choose life if we will, but i have more especially in mind the question, "why should we do it?" and i answer, because it is the best sort of life and the only life. one of my friends used to tell of a man whom he saw in colonel clarke's mission. the man rose for prayers and accepted christ. later on he saw him again in the mission. he went forward to testify. he had that look upon his face the result of sin, because of which you could not tell whether he was young or old, and leaning up against the platform he gave his testimony. among other things he said: "i came to chicago some little time ago from my home in the east, my father having made two requests--first, that i should change my name because i had disgraced his; second, that i should go away and never return. i had fallen too low here for them to receive me even in the station house, and i was on my way to end it all when i heard the music of this mission and came in and found christ. as i came down the aisle this evening i heard one man say to another, 'he is getting paid for this,' and i wish to say that i am. i have a letter in my pocket from my father, and he tells me that i cannot come home too soon for him. boys, i am getting paid. i have a sister at home whose name i would hardly dare to have taken upon my impure lips, and she writes me that every day she has prayed for me and that a welcome home awaits me. i am getting paid, for to-night i am starting back to my new england home." it is life which we may choose, and life of the very best sort. it is better than anything that this world can give. men have tried other ways, and they have ended in despair and shame and death, but this way is the path of the just and shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. therefore choose life and choose it now. in st. paul's cathedral in london it is said that under the dome there is a red mark, and i have been told that this mark indicates the place where a workman lost his life. he fell from the scaffolding and was dashed to pieces upon the floor. i have been told that in the alps very frequently you will see black crosses where men have slipped into eternity as the result of an accident. but i suggest these stories in order that i may say that where you are at this present moment may be the black cross of death, because there some one rejected christ. if you feel this, choose jesus christ; choose him, and choose him now. "i call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that i have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." a changed life text: "_and, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up. and when jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity: and he laid his hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified god._"--luke : - . these verses present to us one of the most interesting stories imaginable--of interest to us first because it is one of our lord's miracles, and one has only to study these manifestations of his power to be persuaded of his divinity; interesting, again, because it is the account of a remarkable recovery from a great infirmity, for instead of bondage which had held this woman for eighteen years we behold her standing upright glorifying god. but it is all the more interesting to us because it presents a picture of what may be called the overflow ministry of jesus, of which there are many instances--as, for example, the account of the staunching of the issue of blood when the woman touched the hem of his garment. he was going upon another errand, but was so filled with virtue that when one of the multitude at his side touched him, by faith healing was the result. and, again, we have an illustration in the raising of jairus' daughter, and once again in the rescue of the widow's son from death. he was on his journey across the country and beheld the funeral procession coming. mr. moody used to say that jesus broke up every funeral he attended, and he stops long enough in this journey to restore this boy to his broken-hearted mother. again, in the case of the woman of samaria, when he is going about his father's business, he stops by the wellside to rest, and even in his resting moments forgives a woman's sins, so that under her influence an entire city is moved. would that we could learn that it is the overflow of our lives that gives power to our christian experience! this text is one of the best illustrations of this truth in the life of our savior. i many lessons might be drawn from this scripture, the first of which would be his power to uplift womanhood; but this is so well understood that it is unnecessary to take a moment of time to discuss it, except to say in passing that all that woman is today she owes to jesus of nazareth. she was as truly bound as this afflicted woman, and just as truly was she set free. but i prefer rather to let the woman of samaria illustrate many christians to-day who are bound in one way or another and so are shorn of power. for this suggestion i am indebted to my dear friend, the rev. f. b. meyer, a brief outline of whose sermon i recently had the privilege of reading. she was a daughter of abraham, as we read in verse , "and ought not this woman, being a daughter of abraham, whom satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" and therefore she was like many children of god whom we know. what it is that binds them we cannot always tell. with this person it is fashion, and with that it is earnings; with another it is pride, and still another selfishness; with this one it is the encouragement of some passion, and with still another it is the practice of some secret sin. it is not necessary to describe the bondage; it is true, alas, that many of us are sadly crippled in our influence because of these things, for this woman was just as truly bound as if she had been in chains. when jesus entered the synagogue his eye saw her instantly, and he detected her difficulty. he is in the midst of us to-day, and while we are unconscious of the bondage of the one who is beside us, he understands it perfectly. that minister who has lost his old power and is therefore an enigma to his people, that church officer who is out of communion and whose testimony has lost its old ring of genuineness, that young woman bordering on despair because in her heart she knows she is not right with god, and that young man whose character is being undermined by the cultivation of a secret sin--all these are known to him. he looks them through and through, and not a point of weakness is hidden from his gaze. note again, that she was powerless to help herself. i doubt not that she had tried again and again to lift herself up. she had been unable to turn her eyes upward to see the stars, her vision had been centered upon things below, and in this way she is like many a christian attempting to be satisfied with earthly things and making life a miserable failure. the scriptures declare that she "could in no wise lift up herself," and i have been told that this expression is the same word which is used in another place in the epistle to the hebrews, where jesus is said to be able to save to the uttermost; so that really the scriptures mean that she tried to the uttermost to lift herself up and failed, and that she had gone to the uttermost in the matter of bondage, and then because jesus is able to save to the uttermost he set her free; or, in other words, her need was met by his power. oh, what an encouragement to know that the thing which has been your defeat and mine he may easily conquer! it is a striking picture to me; he laid his hands on her and said, "woman, thou art loosed," and she stood straight and glorified god. some years ago there came into the mcauley mission, in new york city, a man who was, because of his sin, unable to speak and was bound down until, instead of standing a man six feet high, as he should have done, he was like a dwarf. he came to christ in the old mission, and when kneeling at the altar he accepted him, as if by a miracle jesus set him free also, and when he stood up the bonds were snapped that held him, and he had his old stature back again. his speech, however, was not entirely recovered. it is the custom in the mission for one to observe his anniversary each year and to give a testimony. whenever the anniversary of this man occurred he always had another read his lesson, then he would stand before the people bowed down as he had been in sin and suddenly rise before them in the full dignity of his christian manhood, glorifying god in his standing. this was like the woman of the text, and oh, that it might be like some one reading this who, bound by an appetite or a passion, shall be set free by the power of god! the difference between this woman in the one case bound and wretched and in the other straight and glorifying god is the difference between christians bound by appetite, pride or sin and when set free by the power of christ. it is the difference between the average christian experience and what god means we should be. two things this woman had--first, his word, when he said, "woman, thou art loosed"; and, second, the touch of his hand as he laid his hands upon her. both of these privileges we may have. ii have you really taken all that god meant you should have? your life is the test of this question. if you are constantly failing at the same point, if you are dominated by a spirit of unrest, if you are lacking in spiritual power, something is wrong and you need the touch of the living christ. the early disciples were an illustration of those of us who have not yet fully appreciated and appropriated our savior. he had given them life, for in the seventeenth of john he declares that this is true. they had peace as a possession, for in the fourteenth chapter and twenty-seventh verse he says, "peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you: not as the world giveth, give i unto you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." they also had joy as a gift, for he said, "these things have i spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full"; and yet they quarreled among themselves, one of them denied him with an oath, and all of them forsook him. they were a weak, vacillating company of men, but suddenly there came a remarkable change. it was as if there had been two peters. the first was a coward, the second a perfect giant in his fearlessness. the first was afraid of a little girl, the second faced a mob and fearlessly proclaimed the truth of god that condemned him; and the secret of this change is found in the fact that the holy ghost had fallen upon him and upon them. this is what we need. jesus was god's gift to the world, and the holy ghost is his gift to the church. have we failed to take both? a man over in england, telling his pastor about his experience, said that he had taken jesus for his eternal life and the holy ghost for his internal life. this is certainly what we need to do more than anything else. we need the holy spirit of god in our lives. he would illuminate our minds as we read the bible, strengthen our faith as we appropriate christ, transform our lives as he came to do, and enable us to live and preach in demonstration of the spirit and with power. have you ever stopped to think what is really associated with the full acceptance of the third person of the trinity? first, _power_. "ye shall receive power after that the holy ghost has come upon you." second, _ability to pray_. "we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself maketh intercession for us." third, _victory over sin_. "for the law of the spirit of christ in christ jesus sets me free from the law of sin and death." fourth, _cleanness of life_. "ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit." fifth, _the representation of jesus christ_. not imitation, but reproduction, is what we need. two artists are painting before a picture. the work of one is sadly deficient, the other an inspiration, for one is copying while the other is reproducing his own work. oh, that we might be so filled with the spirit of god that men should take knowledge of us that we not only had been with jesus but were like him! two things we need, both of which we may have: _his word and his touch_. first, his word. we surely have this. has he not said, "ye shall receive power"? but with this there is coupled a condition, "come out from among them and be ye separate." fulfilling this condition, we have only to step out upon his promise on the ground of the fact that he has said, "that ye might receive the promise of the spirit through faith." second, we have the touch of his hand. this emphasizes his reality. one of the greatest dangers of the day, it seems to me, is the fact that we are so inclined to make him unreal. it also indicates his nearness. he can fill us so that his life may come throbbing into our very being, and this is the secret of victory in the time of temptation. we must be empty to be filled, but no man can empty himself. two ways may be presented for the emptying of a jar of air. first, use the air pump; but in this way it cannot be perfectly done. second, fill the jar with water. this is the better way. when christ fills our lives he empties us of self and sin. to some unknown friend i am indebted for four steps which we must take if we would be loosed from our bondage and stand straight in the presence of god and men. first: what god claims i will yield; that is myself. second: what i yield god accepts. since i have taken my hands off from myself i am not my own. "i have not much to bring thee, lord. for that great love which made thee mine, i have not much to bring thee, lord, but all i am is thine." third: what god accepts he fills. fourth: what god fills he uses. iii mind you, it is not once and for all that we are filled with the spirit of god; there will be a necessity for daily renewal, not only because we may sin but also because we may use the strength which he has imparted to us. three suggestions may be made, therefore, for our constant infilling. first: make his word your daily portion. count that day lost which passes without a portion of his word absorbed into your life. second: make his will supreme. there can be no joy in the household when the children rebel against the parents. there can be no power in christian experience when our wills are contrary to his. third: make him the king of your life. his coronation will one day come, when he shall be proclaimed king of kings and lord of lords; but while we wait for that we may crown him in our own lives. when queen victoria had just ascended her throne she went, as is the custom of royalty, to hear "the messiah" rendered. she had been instructed as to her conduct by those who knew, and was told that she must not rise when the others stood at the singing of the hallelujah chorus. when that magnificent chorus was being sung and the singers were shouting "hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! for the lord god omnipotent reigneth," she sat with great difficulty. it seemed as if she would rise in spite of the custom of kings and queens, but finally when they came to that part of the chorus where with a shout they proclaim him king of kings suddenly the young queen rose and stood with bowed head, as if she would take her own crown from off her head and cast it at his feet. let us make him our king and every day be loyal to him. this is the secret of peace. the lost opportunity text: "_and as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. and the king of israel said unto him, so shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it._"-- kings : . there is a very striking incident connected with this text. the great battle is raging, a certain important prisoner has been taken, and if you read between the lines you seem to know that upon him depend many of the issues of war. his skill in leading the enemy had been marvelous, his courage in the thick of the fight striking; and now he is a prisoner. the king puts him in the keeping of a jewish soldier, saying, "guard this man; if he escapes thy life shall be demanded for his." it is possible that they gave an extra pull to the thongs that bound the enemy and the guard was left alone with him. it is an important duty he has to perform. his life hangs in the balance. he must have been impressed with it. but, as we read on between the lines, strange as it may seem, he becomes negligent, his bow is laid down and his spear is left standing against the tent. he becomes hungry and takes a few small cakes to eat, he is weary and lies down to doze and sleep. suddenly there is a snap and a bound, and the guard arouses himself just in time to see his prisoner dash into the thicket, and he is gone. now the king requires the prisoner at the guard's hand. terror-stricken, he falls upon his face to cry aloud in the words of the text, "and as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. and the king of israel said unto him, so shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it." it is my purpose to show in this illustration that god is always placing opportunities within our grasp. in a sense they are bound, for they may be made to do our will if we rightly use them. and it is also my purpose to show that as saint and sinner alike we have permitted opportunities to slip away while we doze in weariness or give attention to matters of less importance. god save us all from the expression, "it might have been," when it is too late, for even god himself cannot reverse the wheels of time and bring back the lost opportunity. we see this all about us. i hold in my hands a piece of cold iron. i cannot bend it; if i put it in the fire it becomes pliant; if i take it out it is cold again. there is a point in time, however, where it is bent as easily as a piece of paper. years ago our nation sent astronomers to africa to witness the transit of venus. preparation for this great sight had been going on for months. there was a critical moment when the sun, venus and the earth were all in line. every astronomer knew that at that moment his eye must be at the smaller end of the glass if he would see the planet go flying past the larger end. if he should miss that moment no power on earth could bring the planet back again. the world is full of these moments. galileo studied the eye of an ox and beheld the principle of the lens. watts [transcriber's note: watt?] looked at the teakettle lid as it was lifted by steam, columbus saw the wind's direction and knew there was land not far away. the difference between these men, to whom the world is indebted, and many others is this, that they have looked at the oxen's eyes and have been unmoved, have allowed the teakettle to boil without making an impression upon them, and the wind to blow without leading them to any shore. the opportunity for greatness is gone. there is not a person in the world but to whom at some time a great opportunity has been given, and for the use or abuse of it we shall be called to a strict account. i these opportunities for doing good come to the one who is a christian. first: i would not preach to others what i did not first preach to myself, but there are many of us as ministers like chalmers, who was one day visiting an old man seventy-two years of age, apparently in perfect health. they talked together about everything but christ. the minister was inclined to speak about his soul, but did not. before morning the old man was dead. dr. chalmers returned to the house, called all the old man's household about him, and offered the most touching apology and prayer. he spent the entire day in the woods, saying, "if i had been faithful this might not have been." i have no question but god would say, "so shall thy judgment be." second: you who are christian workers have failed. a christian merchant was told that there was a certain man with whom he had traded for years to whom he had never spoken about his soul. "i will speak the next time i see him," he said, but he never came, for while he was busy here and there the man was gone from him. before he came again death met him. so shall his judgment be. third: you who are parents have failed. years ago a young scotchman from fife, in scotland, was leaving home. he was not an active christian. his mother went with him to the turn of the road and said, "now, robert, there is one thing you must promise before you go." "no," said the lad, "i will not promise until i know." "but it will not be difficult," said his mother. "then i will promise," he said. and she said, "every night before you lie down to sleep read a chapter and pray." he did not want to promise it, but he did. who was that robert? it was robert moffat, the great missionary, who, when he came into the kingdom, brought almost a continent in after him. many a mother has lost her opportunity to speak to her boy, and she has lost it because she has not lived as a mother should who would help her boy. so shall her judgment be. ii these opportunities come to the unsaved. the bible is full of men who have had an opportunity to be saved but are lost. first: there is herod. his face blanches as he listens to the truth, he is ready to forsake some of his sin; but more is required than that to be a christian, and herod fails. second: look at felix. as he gazes into the face of paul the apostle and hears his message, he trembles; a moment more he will be a christian; but more is required than that to be saved, and felix is lost. third: behold judas. see him at the feet of jesus. later he is full of remorse because he has sold him for thirty pieces of silver; but mere remorse never saved a soul, and judas is lost. you have doubtless heard of that young girl of whom the poet tells us. she had a string of pearls in her hand and her hand is in the water, the string is broken, and one by one the pearls slip away. so it has been with you who have been christians. my hope is that there may be one pearl left yet. to-day is the accepted time; do not let the opportunity slip. iii the bible is full of men just the opposite who had opportunities to be saved and embraced them. first: zaccheus. there was just one day, one hour, one moment; when jesus would pass by, and zaccheus ran to the sycamore tree; but he made haste and came down, and that saved him. second: bartimeus. there was just a moment when jesus was near to hear the sound of his voice. if bartimeus failed that moment he would be blind forever. i can see him quickly turning his sightless eyes in the direction of the savior. he cried unto him and it was his earnestness that saved him. we must make haste while yet it is to-day. third: coming down from the mountain, where he had preached his great sermon, jesus beheld the leper. he was dead, according to the law, yet he had a napkin bound about his mouth. if one had called to him, "your child is dead," he could not have gone to see the little one. but he breaks through all of this and cries, "if thou wilt thou canst make me clean." it was his desperation that saved him. fourth: look at the dying thief, so near that he could have touched christ if he had been free. here yawned before him the very brink of hell, here was judgment for his sins, for he acknowledged that he was justly punished. i can see him struggle to decide whether he shall speak or not, and at last he cries, "lord, remember me." and jesus said, "to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." it was his last chance, and he took it. and this may be yours. god forbid that you should let the opportunity slip away. but whether my message is to ministers, to christian workers, to parents or to the unsaved, i call your attention to this fact: it was when the soldier was busy that the prisoner escaped. many of you have been busy about pleasure, and some day it will mock you. you have been caught by the fascination of business, and it does not prevent your soul having been surrounded by sin from which after a while you cannot escape, and if the opportunity slips away so shall our judgment be, for we must decide it. in a few years at the latest, possibly in a few months, perhaps in a few weeks--who knows but within a few days?--eternity shall be upon us. if it is an opportunity that is gone or a soul that is lost it will be a sad eternity indeed for us. to this end may god keep us watchful. a great victory text: "_and they stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the host ran, and cried, and fled._"--judges : . few things in this world are so inspiring to the traveler and at the same time so depressing as a city or temple in ruins. i remember a delightful experience in passing through the ruins of karnak and luxor, on the nile in egypt, and later passing through phylae at assuan on the nile; and these two thoughts, each the opposite of the other, kept constantly coming to my mind. the loneliness is oppressive, and one would be delighted to hear the song of a bird, the bark of a dog, or the cry of a child. these ruins were once happy homes, or were temples filled with worshipers. here little children played and gray-haired patriarchs worshiped their gods. akin to this picture is the one of the people of israel at the time of this story, and the alternating feelings of pleasure and sadness keep constantly coming and going. the condition of the land beggared description. homes were there, but no children were about the doors; there were fields, but no crops to be harvested; pastures, but no cattle fed upon them; the hills were to be seen, but no flocks bleated on their sides; people were there, but they were found in the caves and hiding away on the mountain sides. when they had entered canaan, these chosen people of god, he had said unto them, "and it shall come to pass, if thou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the lord thy god, to observe and to do all his commandments which i command thee this day, that the lord thy god will set thee on high above all nations of the earth; and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the lord thy god. blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. the lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face; they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. the lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the lord thy god giveth thee. the lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the lord thy god, and walk in his ways. and all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the lord; and they shall be afraid of thee." we have here the old testament beatitudes, and there is nothing like them. the story with which the text is associated really begins in the first verse of the sixth chapter of judges, "and the children of israel did evil in the sight of the lord; and the lord delivered them into the hand of midian seven years." but there must also be read in connection with this the last verse of the fifth chapter of judges, "so let all thine enemies perish, o lord; but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. and the land had rest forty years." it seems incredible that there could be such a difference in the experiences of god's people, and yet, as you study them in all their wanderings, you will find, if you turn over but one leaf of the bible, the people who sing to-day are active in evil to-morrow, and the history of israel is the history of one's self. life is like a short ladder, as some one has said, and we spend most of our time going up to pray and down to sin. there is a striking picture in the second verse of the sixth chapter. the chosen people of god were dwelling in caves instead of their rightful positions in their homes, and the same is true to-day; men who ought to be at the front are left behind because they are living selfish lives or lives of sin. do not for a moment think that i am saying that because a man is living out of sight that he is doing nothing, for we have only to remember gideon to know that this is not true. he was a hidden man doing an honest work, and the angel of the lord called him, saying, "the lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor." to this gideon makes a significant reply in the thirteenth verse of the sixth chapter of judges, "and gideon said unto him, oh, my lord, if the lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, did not the lord bring us up from egypt? but now the lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the midianites." for the angel had said, "the lord is with thee, gideon," and gideon had said, "if the lord is with us, then how can these things be?" and the angel did not say it. how often it is true that we miss the truth of god because we miss the grammar of the bible. when gideon had thus replied, we read in the fourteenth verse of the sixth chapter, "and the lord _looked_ upon him, and said, go in this thy might, and thou shalt save israel from the hand of the midianites; have not i sent thee?" and the thing to pay special attention to there is that the angel _looked_ at gideon. sometimes in translating a foreign language you come upon a word which you cannot express in your own language; so it is with us here, for the lord looked gideon into a new man and said unto him, "go and thou shalt save the people," which leads me to say that one man right with god is mightier than a host against god. the seventh chapter of judges opens with the significant word "then." you must have all that goes before in your mind to appreciate this word. god has a plan for every life, and all your sickness, your disappointment, your discipline, is for something. there must be a "then" for you. it is the call of god and the answer to it that makes real life. compare gideon the farmer with gideon the soldier, and you will see the difference in a human life. let one, however low or ignorant, but hear the voice of god and respond to it, and when such an one answers god's call for his country, for the church, or for christ, the heroic in him is being stirred. it is said that years ago there used to be a man in mr. spurgeon's tabernacle who never had spoken in his social meetings, for the reason that he had a stammering tongue. one day he heard the great preacher say that the lord could use even the tongue of the stammerer. it sent him to his home, and to his knees, and when he rose to his feet after having yielded himself wholly to god, as if by miracle god gave him the gift of speech, and i have been told that no one in the tabernacle spoke more to the edification of the people or the praise of god than he. some years ago when john g. woolley was delivering his closing address on the commencement day at college a young boy heard him under peculiar circumstances. he had walked in from the country. it was a hot day, and to quench his thirst he had tasted the water of one of the springs. it made him very ill, and just to escape the heat of the sun he crept under the platform, which had been erected upon the college campus for the commencement exercises. while there he fell asleep and was awakened by the sound of a musical voice. something that the graduating student said stirred his soul, and he there made a vow that he would be a preacher. it was god's call to him and his answer. he has since become one of the world's most famous preachers, and his influence has been as wide as the world itself. when the midianites stood against the children of israel god called gideon to lead an army against them, and this text is part of this story. the scene was remarkable. thirty-two thousand people following gideon's leadership with the first flush of the battle upon them. they were ready to march, and god said when he looked at them, "the people are too many." they would seem to us to have been too few, for literally a multitude of midianites stood against him. but we go wrong so often by applying human arithmetic to divine decrees. it is said that when napoleon marched with his soldiers he was counted as being equal to , of his men, and so, after all, it is not a question of numbers with god, but of the few men whom he can use. the test by means of which gideon's army was decreased was remarkable. in judges, the seventh chapter and the second to seventh verses, we read, "and the lord said unto gideon, the people that are with thee are too many for me to give the midianites into their hands, lest israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount gilead. and there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. and the lord said unto gideon, the people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and i will try them for thee there; and it shall be, that of whom i say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever i say unto thee, this shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. so he brought down the people unto the water; and the lord said unto gideon, every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. and the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men; but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. and the lord said unto gideon, by the three hundred men that lapped will i save you, and deliver the midianites into thine hand; and let all the other people go every man unto his place." this test is going on now among men; by the way we walk and talk, by the way we listen and work, men form their judgment of us, and so does god. we may measure our spiritual state by the way we spend our leisure moments, by the way we spend our saturday afternoons, by our rest days, and by the books we read. there is flowing past us the stream of literature and the stream of pleasure, and the question is whether we are going to fall down before these streams to drink or whether we are just going to dip up as we hurry along to fulfill our mission; or, in other words, whether we are to be so taken up with god's plan that we have no time to idle away and no disposition to turn aside. "it does not so much matter how many members one may have in his church, for under the banner of a popular christianity soldiers march. what if there should be a struggle ahead when to be a christian would mean to suffer martyrdom, or dying at the stake, or contending with the beasts of ephesus like paul, how then do you think it would be?" and yet all the time to-day the struggle is going on; both from within and from without the foe is assailing us, the bible is being attacked, christ is being denied, the resurrection is counted a myth, and the future is being questioned, and in every part of the church it would seem as if men thought that the life of the christian was all a holiday, for people are idling, gossiping, buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, instead of being in the thick of the fight in the name of the lord of hosts. give us three hundred in the church right with god rather than the thirty-two thousand compromising with sin and the world, and we shall win the victory. i i am impressed in this story with the thought of how much may be accomplished without wealth, influence or material strength. we somehow seem to think that we cannot work as ministers without a fine equipment. we have an idea that we must have a committee back of us to be assured of success, that if we are without influence we have a small mission in the world, forgetting that michelangelo wrought the frescoes in the sistine chapel with the ochres which he digged with his own hands in the garden of the vatican; forgetting also that the greatest work in the world has been accomplished by men like gideon, who delayed not for elaborate preparation, but just took firebrands and torches--indeed, anything they could lay their hands upon--and cried out, "the sword of the lord and of gideon," and won the victory. the text is most striking, and presents an outline which any one ought to be able to see. ii _they stood_. it is not so easy to stand as to march or to fight. i have been told that the most difficult service of the soldier is picket duty; and yet never until we learn to stand shall we be able to fight. in the fourteenth chapter of exodus, the thirteenth and fourteenth verses, we read, "and moses said unto the people. fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the lord, which he will shew to you to-day, for the egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more forever. the lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace." and again, in chronicles, the twentieth chapter and the seventeenth verse, it is recorded, "ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the lord with you, o judah and jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, for the lord will be with you." three thoughts are impressed upon my mind: first: _before any service, let us stand, giving god a chance with us_. let him use you and not you use him so much. in the beginning of his christian service hudson taylor, the china inland missionary, was desirous of being used and cried out for god to send him out into service. at last god seemed to say to him, "my child, i have made up my mind to save inland china. if you will come and walk with me i will do it through you," and the china inland mission was born. second: _wait for orders_. in ephesians the sixth chapter and the tenth to the thirteenth verses, we have the following description of a soldier: "finally, my brethren, be strong in the lord, and in the power of his might. put on the whole armor of god, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. wherefore take unto you the whole armor of god, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." the striking part of that description is the sentence, "having done all, to stand." in other words, with all our ingenuity and our planning, with all our preparation and equipment, we lack one thing: that one thing is the touch of the almighty god. third: _be willing to do the common thing_. it was rather interesting to march with thirty-two thousand, and a striking thing to break pitchers and cry aloud, "the sword of the lord and of gideon," but just to stand was a different matter, and not at all easy. if we were only willing to do the common things for christ we should accomplish more in our lives. the great bethany sunday school building standing in philadelphia is a model in its perfect equipment. the mighty sunday school held there is one of the wonders of the world. the building was begun not only in the mind and heart of the distinguished superintendent, the hon. john wanamaker, but when he appealed for funds as they were then needed one of the poorest children in the city made practically the first and best contribution. she gathered bones from the alleyways, sold them and brought her few pennies to help make this wonderful work a success. iii _every man in his place_. first: let us remember that god has a plan for every life. ephesians : - , "wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? he that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) and he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son of god, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of christ." second: that which in our lives fits into god's plans dignifies and strengthens in every way. a few years ago there was a young man selling farming implements. he felt inclined to do christian work, and later on became a christian association secretary. he became known locally because of his ability to sing in a male quartette. he was a good singer. whether he was more than the average secretary i do not know. he one day felt the call to preach and shrank back from it because he felt he was without ability, then gave himself to god without reserve. he has since become one of the greatest preachers to men in our country, has possibly led more men to christ than any other man of his day, and it was my privilege a short time ago to see hundreds of men under the power of his preaching come to christ; and this was all because fred b. smith gave himself unreservedly to christ. third: it may be a very ordinary service that god calls you to perform, but if you feel it your place your service will please him. rev. dr. torrey tells the story of the poor mother who by hard day's work made it possible for her boy to attend college. the day of the graduation came, and he said to her, "you must go with me to the commencement." naturally she shrank from it, for her clothing was of the poorest sort; but he said that there would be no commencement without her. he was the valedictorian of his class. proudly he led her into the hall, and with beaming face she listened while the great throng applauded his brilliant speech. when he received his gold medal he walked down from the platform and pinned it upon her breast, saying, "this is yours," and she was as proud as any queen could have been. it was a very common thing to wash and iron for one's daily living, but to be honored thus was something any mother might long to experience. she simply did her best in a humble way and pleased god. iv _round about the camp_. first: let it be remembered that we have a responsibility to others. some years ago on the irish sea a terrific storm was raging. it was known that just off the coast a vessel was going to pieces. suddenly two men, an old sea captain and his son, put out through the storm. everybody tried to persuade them not to do so, for it seemed to be absolutely useless. over the waves, which appeared almost mountain high, they pushed along until at last amid the cheers of the waiting throng they returned with their little boat filled with those who had been all but lost upon the ship. when the minister said to the old sea captain, "why do you do this? why take such a risk?" he answered, "i have been there myself, and i knew the danger." it is because we have been once in sin and now are redeemed by the precious blood of christ that we say something to those who are about us. second: we are responsible for others. when horace bushnell was a tutor in yale he was a stumbling block to all the students because he was not a christian. he realized this himself, and yet he said, "how can i accept christ or the bible, for i do not believe in either one." and then the question came to him as from god, "what do you believe?" and he said, "i only know there is a difference between right and wrong." god seemed to say to him, "have you ever taken that stand where you would say, 'i am committed to the right even if it ends in death'?" and he said, "i never have." falling upon his knees he said, "o god, if jesus christ be true, reveal him to me and i will follow him." and he began to walk in the light, which constantly increased, and almost every student in yale came to christ. "no man liveth unto himself alone." we are responsible for the souls of other men. we are also responsible for their service; if we are half-hearted they will surely be. v "_and the host ran, and cried and fled._" what hosts are against us to-day? first: as individuals there may be coming constantly to our minds a question of doubt, of pride, or of secret sin, and we wonder if these are evidences that we are not christians. not at all. they are but the fruit of our old nature, and are the hosts encamped against us. we have only to take our stand with christ, right with him, and we shall win the victory. second: in the church we meet with indifference, worldliness, infidelity, and we wonder how we may win the victory. the answer is simply, "we have but to be right with god and to walk with god," and three hundred such followers of his could put the enemy to rout quickly. third: there is also a battle which those of us who are christians are obliged to fight. it has to do with the unsaved man. men are not christians to-day not because they do not believe, not because they are without interest in the future, but simply because they have put off and put off, and i know of no way to overcome this difficulty except by taking one's stand with christ and with those who are like-minded with christ. having first concern for the lost, then his intense earnestness in their salvation, the proscrastination of the sinner will flee away. for such a victory as this we plead and pray. paul a pattern of prayer text: "_if ye shall ask anything in my name i will do it._"--john : . jesus testified in no uncertain way concerning prayer, for not alone in this chapter does he speak but in all his messages to his disciples he is seeking to lead them into the place where they may know how to pray. in this fourteenth chapter of john, where he is coming into the shadow of the cross and is speaking to his disciples concerning those things which ought to have the greatest weight with them, the heart of his message seems to be prayer. what an encouragement it is to his disciples to pray when they remember that he said, "verily, verily, i say unto you. he that believeth on me, the works that i do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because i go unto my father. and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will i do, that the father may be glorified in the son" (john : - ). jesus was himself a pattern of prayer. he had prayed under all circumstances; with him the day was born in prayer, went along in meditation and closed in most intimate fellowship and communion with his father. under all circumstances, whether it be the raising of lazarus from the dead, or the breathing in of the very spirit of god so essential to him in his earthly ministry, he prayed; and because he was a man of prayer himself, he could speak to his disciples with authority concerning this subject. if we ourselves would know how to pray there are certain great principles which must be remembered when we come to him. first: _we must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him_. if one has hazy or mystical ideas of christ then from the very nature of the case prayer is impossible. second: _we must believe his word_. mr. spurgeon's statement that when he went to god he always went pleading a promise is the secret of his great success as a man of prayer. earthly parents are not insensible to the pledges they make to their children and surely god cannot be. third: _we must confess and forsake our sins_. to confess sin is to arraign before us those sins of which we know ourselves to be guilty, and when they appear before us in solemn and awful procession we must heartily renounce them. if we do not we cannot pray. in another place in god's word we read, "ye ask and receive not, because, . . ." and while in the verse the rest of the sentence is "ye ask amiss," we might finish by saying, "we ask and receive not, because our lives are not right in god's sight." fourth: _we must exercise our faith_. the little child who prayed for rain and then wanted to carry an umbrella with her when the sun was shining is an oft repeated illustration, but such faith as this is what every child of god must practice. the text is exceedingly broad. "if ye shall ask anything in my name i will do it." it is broad enough to include temporal blessing and spiritual power, comprehensive enough to lead us to believe that god will direct our lives if we ask him and will bear our burdens even though they be almost insignificant in their weight. thank god for the "anything" in the text! it may be stated truly that god's promises to israel are especially concerning temporal blessing and that his promises to the church have particular reference to spiritual possessions; and they both, the history of israel and the history of the church, prove that god will give to us temporally as well as spiritually. these blessings are included in the "anything." i have been greatly impressed with paul as a pattern in prayer, and for the outline of this message as well as for many of the suggestions i am indebted to an english clergyman, the rev. e. w. moore, who has written, "the christ controlled life," and "christ in possession," and has recently sent out a little book entitled, "the pattern prayer book." i have noticed in studying paul that the burden of his prayer was for spiritual blessing rather than for temporal power, and throughout the epistles at least seven illustrations are to be found concerning this subject. i _prayer for pentecost_. ephesians : - , "that christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height; and to know the love of christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of god." just what is the burden of this prayer of paul's? first: he is not asking for that indwelling which is ours at conversion; for this he would not need to pray, for at the moment of regeneration christ is ours and eternal life (which is only another way of saying, "the life of the eternal") is our never failing possession. second: he is not asking for the bodily presence of christ, as some have suggested, for in this scripture he states that it is by faith that christ is to dwell with us. third: it is by no means a figurative expression, for if this were true there would be no comfort in it to god's children. yet, as a matter of fact, this prayer of paul's has been an inspiration to god's people everywhere. it is rather a special pentecostal privilege for god's children concerning which paul is praying. in galatians : we read, "my little children, of whom i travail in birth again until christ be formed in you." and this is his petition. let it be noticed that the tense of the verb in this connection denotes singleness of action, so that paul's prayer may be answered not gradually but immediately. if this be true then let it be answered now for you and for me. there are three blessings which would flow out of this answer to prayer. first: _constancy of experience_. "that christ may dwell," pleads the apostle. it does not mean that he is to come in a fitful experience, but the language of the hymn is true, "abide with me; fast falls the even tide, the darkness deepens; lord, with me abide; when other helpers fail, and comforts flee, help of the helpless, oh, abide with me." second: _strength will be our possession_, for the apostle tells us that we are to be "rooted and grounded in him." as the roots of the tree take hold upon the ground and the giant oak withstands the storms of the northern coasts, so we may withstand temptation and trial and be more than conquerors if this prayer is answered. third: _there will be cleansing_, for we are told that "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he." we are told also that we must keep our hearts with all diligence, for out of them are the issues of life. it is easy enough to understand how our lives would be pure if christ were only in possession. ii _prayer for perception_. colossians : - , "for this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of god." the need of this prayer was not that the colossians were weak, or that they had been conspicuous in the failure of their christian experience, for in the third and fourth verses of the first chapter of colossians, paul says concerning them, "we give thanks to god and the father of our lord jesus christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in christ jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints"; and then in the face of this statement he prayed earnestly for them. the subject of his prayer was not that he desired anything, humanly speaking, very great for them; he did not ask honor, nor did he desire that wealth should be theirs, but merely states in the ninth verse that they might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. i have been told that literally, this means that they might have full knowledge, not simply a passing opinion concerning him and his work. if we study this particular scripture in which paul is praying for the colossians we will learn how this prayer is to be answered. first: we must meditate upon god's word. he makes himself especially known to his people in his word. there are certain great principles which we must remember if we would know god's will. ( ) _we must present our bodies to him_. romans : , "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service." ( ) _we must be delivered from this present evil age_. galatians : , "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of god and our father." ( ) _we must separate ourselves from the world_. thessalonians : , "for this is the will of god, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication." ( ) _we must be thankful_. thessalonians : , "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you." ( ) _we must continue patiently to serve and follow him_. peter : , "for so is the will of god, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." all of these things are god's will for us. if we but practice them the results can be only beneficial. as a result of such a study of god's word the general knowledge of god and his will shall be ours. second: the spiritual perception spoken of in this particular scripture may be ours, as we listen to the spirit of god, for he will speak to us god's message and make known to us god's will. the purpose of this prayer of paul's for the colossians was that they might walk worthy to all pleasing. what a joy it is to know that we may please god! for this we should be grateful. iii _prayer for purity_. thessalonians : - , "and the very god of peace sanctify you wholly; and i pray god your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our lord jesus christ. faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." this prayer is also remarkable if we notice the spiritual condition of the thessalonians, for of them we read that they had received the word of god with joy, and had turned from idols to serve the living god, and yet the apostle prays for their sanctification. by this he does not mean sinlessness, and a careful study of his position would lead us to know that he does not teach that sanctification may be ever apart from growth. we must day by day come more and more into the likeness of christ. there are three words which it would be well for us to remember in our study of this subject. first: _position_. if we would grow unto his likeness we must be where he can let shine upon us the light of his countenance. frances ridley havergal had an aeolian harp sent to her which she tried to play with her fingers, and failed. at last a friend suggested that she place it in the window, and the music as the wind touched the strings was entrancing. we must be where he can use us. second: _purification_. sanctification is necessary because god uses only that which is clean, never an unclean life. third: _possession_. it is really christ filling us, and he will fill us if we give him the opportunity. the extent of this work is made plain in paul's prayer: ( ) the spirit is touched, and the spirit is that part of our nature which is capable of fellowship with god. ( ) the soul is filled, and the soul is the seat of all our intellectual faculties. ( ) the body is possessed, and since the body is just the servant of the higher powers of man, we can easily understand how necessary the work is. it is needful, (_a_) for our peace, for the god of peace is to sanctify us. (_b_) for our prayers. for paul is talking about prayer when he praises. (_c_) for our praise, for we are told that we must rejoice evermore. iv _prayer for power_. ephesians : - , "wherefore i also, after i heard of your faith in the lord jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the god of our lord jesus christ, the father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power; which he wrought in christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." the church at ephesus was in every way remarkable, but to this people paul wrote his most spiritual epistle, which in itself is a compliment to them, for as in another instance it was not necessary for him to write unto them as if they were carnal. with this people for the space of two or three years he labored, as we find recorded in acts the nineteenth chapter and the tenth verse, "and this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in asia heard the word of the lord jesus, both jews and greeks." acts : , "therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years i ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." there were no divisions in this church as at corinth; there were no heresies as at galatia, and no dissensions as at philippi; and yet, for all that, he prays most earnestly. the natural question for us to ask is, just what is it for which he prays, and the question is easily answered. first: for advancement in knowledge; he asks god that the eyes of their understanding might be enlightened. under this general petition there are three special requests. ( ) _that they might know the hope of their calling_. we have but to study paul's epistles to realize that this calling involved: a perfect vision, for one day it is christ's promise and teaching that they shall see him as he is. the hope of this would keep them faithful. it involved, in the next place, a perfect likeness, for, seeing him as he is, they would become like him, and the hope of this would keep them clean. it involved, in the third place, a perfect union, for when this hope of their calling is fulfilled there is no possibility of anything coming between the believer and christ; so the fellowship must be perfect. ( ) paul also requests that they may know the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. that is very wonderful. he does not say the riches of the saints in him--that could be easily understood; but what an inspiration it is to know that he has glory in us, and that the mere possession of poor, frail creatures like ourselves is to him a perfect delight! we sometimes say that we could not get along without christ, but how inspiring it is to know that he could not and he would not get along without us! ( ) the apostle also prays that the church at ephesus might know what is the exceeding greatness of christ's power towards us. it is not simply a great power that is described but an exceedingly great power. there is absolutely no limit to what he can accomplish in and through us if we but yield ourselves unreservedly to him. second: another question, may naturally come to us. why have we not this power of his? the answer is simply because the eyes of our understanding have not been enlightened. we have been too much self-centered and too closely wedded to the world. we need a stronger vision. there are stars in the heavens to-day that have never yet been seen, not because they do not exist but because there has been no glass invented strong enough to take them in. each new day brings a vision of new heavenly bodies. we also need stronger faith, for if we have become persuaded of the fact that he can do all things the victory is won when we take this position. v _prayer for perseverance_. philippians : - , "and this i pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of christ. being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by jesus christ, unto the glory and praise of god." paul has a tender affection for this philippian church. naturally he would wish for them only the best things, and the burden of this prayer of his is, first: that they might be able to persevere to the end, or rather to the day of christ. let it not be forgotten that he who said, "nothing can separate us from the love of god," at the same time prays that those who are the object of this love may be faithful in their perseverance until time shall be no more. it is god's privilege to preserve us, it is our privilege to persevere; and if we study the words "preserve" and "persevere" we shall find that they are composed of almost the same letters with only a slightly different arrangement. we must be exceedingly careful in our walk and we must rely perfectly upon christ. second: paul prays for the purity of these philippians when he asks that they may be sincere and without offence. i have been told that the word "sincere" sometimes means sunlight; which leads me to say that our conduct as christians should be such as to bear the clearest light of investigation. possibly the use of this word grew out of the custom of the people who stored away their goods in the darkest corners of the bazaar where their defects could not be seen plainly. when the purchase had been consummated they were brought out into the sunlight. the word also means "wax." it is said that in the days of imperial rome when a sculptor came to a flaw in the marble he filled it with wax to hide the defect, but when the hot days came and the wax was melted the defect was seen plainly. paul is desiring for these philippians that there may be none of this, but that their lives should commend themselves both to god and to men. third: he desires that they may be filled with the fruits of righteousness, not simply that they may produce fruit of one sort or another. it is not enough simply to bear fruit. "herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." this is the overflow experience of the christian and must be realized by us all. vi _prayer for perfectness_. hebrews : - , "now the god of peace, that brought again from the dead our lord jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through jesus christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. amen." the burden of this prayer of the apostle is that his people may do the will of god. this is required in all times and for various reasons. first: the glory of god demands it, and unless we are doing his will we are robbing him of his glory. revelation - , "thou art worthy, o lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." second: our own happiness depends upon it. let it not be thought for a moment that we are simply to do god's will when some sort of trial is upon us, but rather let us remember the scriptural expression, "i delight to do thy will, o god." what if god's will should be done for but one year in all things in any of our cities; would the result be anything else than perfect joy? third: our safety depends upon it. we must lean hard upon god's will. in switzerland at one of the most dangerous passes, where men used to travel with their faces white with fear, to-day any ordinary traveler can pass in safety because along the edge of the cliff there is an iron rail against which you may lean and have almost no danger beside you. this iron rail corresponds to the will of god for christians. paul also asks in this prayer that god's people may be made perfect to do his will. we need not be afraid of this word perfect, nor of paul's prayer, for as dr. moore has said, it is not a perfection of doing but a perfection to do, not a finality but a fitting. the same greek word is used elsewhere, as for example, "fitted." romans : , "what if god, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." "prepared." hebrews : , "wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me." "framed." hebrews : , "through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of god, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." "restored." galatians : , "brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." "mend." mark : , "and when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw james the son of zebedee, and john his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets." the illustration has been used of a man with his leg out of joint. he cannot walk except with great pain, but when he puts himself without reserve into the hands of the doctor and the leg is set he can then rise and walk. he is not a perfect walker, but he is made perfect to walk. and the idea of all the verses above quoted is that we may be set with right relations to christ that he may have his way with us, that we may stand where he willed we should stand; and as a result we shall be well pleasing in his sight. vii _prayer for peace_. thessalonians : , "now the lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. the lord be with you all." peace is most difficult to define. it is the opposite of unrest, confusion and strife; and this peace for which the apostle prays is, first, not the peace of indifference. let this never be forgotten. second: it is not the peace of prosperous surroundings. some people frequently fail at this point but it is the very peace of god himself. the peace here prayed for looks in three directions. first: godward. "being justified by faith we have peace with god." his pardoning voice we hear and he is reconciled. second: inward. "peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you; let not your heart be troubled." third: outward. with such a possession we may meet trial and bear burdens and never be moved. how may we secure such a possession? ( ) by having confidence in christ's work, for when he met his disciples and showed them his hands and his side, he said, "peace be unto you." ( ) by submission to christ's rule. "thou wilt keep him in perfect peace," or, as the literal translation is, "thou wilt keep him in peace, peace, who trusteth in thee because his mind is set on thee." this is our possession, and for that paul prays. a startling statement text: "_the wicked shall not be unpunished._"--prov. : . there are very many passages of scripture which ought to be read in connection with this text; as for example, "fools make a mock at sin" (proverbs : ), for only a fool would. better trifle with the pestilence and expose one's self to the plague than to discount the blighting effects of sin. and, again, "the soul that sinneth it shall die" (ezekiel : ). from this clear statement of the word of god there is no escape. or, again, "our secret sins in the light of thy countenance" (psalm : ). there is really nothing hidden from his sight. we may conceal our sinful thoughts from men and sometimes even our evil practices; but not from god. or again, "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (james : ). here is unexampled progress indicated from which there never has been the slightest deviation. but one of the sharpest texts in all the word of god, and one which men somehow in these days seem to ignore, is paul's expression, "be not deceived; god is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (galatians : ), and if we compare this reference in the new testament to the text in the old testament the harvest indeed seems to be sure, for "the wicked shall not be unpunished." there is a note of truth in all of these statements for both saint and sinner. jeremiah the thirtieth chapter and the eleventh verse, "for i am with thee, saith the lord, to save thee: though i make a full end of all nations whither i have scattered thee, yet i will not make a full end of thee: but i will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished." the old prophet is speaking to the people of israel; and while he tells them that they are god's people, nevertheless they shall not altogether go unpunished, for if they sow to the flesh they must of the flesh reap corruption. in deuteronomy the fifth chapter and the ninth verse, we read, "thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for i the lord thy god am a jealous god, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." it is a solemn fact that the sins of the fathers descend upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. it is more solemn that so blighting is the effect of sin that the fourth generation is the last. there is no fifth. even though we be pardoned from sin forever, we shall not altogether go unpunished. certainly it is true that if one rejects jesus christ, punishment for him is absolutely certain. the other day in the city of chicago the following appeared in the _inter-ocean_ as an editorial under the title of "preaching for men." "to those who look upon men as they are it is simply astounding that so many preachers should act as if the hope of reward alone could be efficient to move average mankind to leave sin and follow after righteousness. in every other relation of human life every man is constantly confronted with the alternative: do right and be rewarded; do wrong and be punished. the pressure of fear as well as the pressure of hope is continually upon him. he knows that he may conceal his wrongdoing from the eye of man, but he is always under the fear of discovery and punishment. but he goes to church, and in nine cases out of ten the preacher, while insisting that he can hide nothing from the eye of god, yet says nothing to arouse in him that fear of god which is the beginning of wisdom. if he turn from religion to science he finds science more positive of the certainty of punishment than of the certainty of reward. science cannot, for example, assure him of a long life, even though he scrupulously obey hygienic laws. but it can assure him of a speedy death if he wantonly violates those laws. precisely this fact that the consequences of sin in punishment can be foretold more positively than the consequences of righteousness in reward is what makes fear the strongest influence dominating and directing human conduct. yet many preachers deliberately abandon the appeal to fear and then wonder why their preaching does not move men to active righteousness. when more preachers recover from the delusion into which so many of them have fallen such complaints will diminish. for all human experience proves that the preaching that appeals to fear of punishment as well as to hope of reward is the preaching that is really effective--is the preaching of all the great preachers of the past and the present--is the preaching that moves." the statement of the text is exceedingly plain and the teaching is unquestioned. it is a good thing for us to-day to understand what sin is, for if we have a wrong conception of sin it naturally follows that we shall have a wrong conception of the atonement. without an understanding of sin there is no sense of guilt, and without the sense of guilt there is no cry for pardon. the best definitions that i have ever found for sin are written in the word of god. i . "whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" ( john : ). the word "transgression" means to go across. does your life parallel god's law or cross it? your answer to this question determines the measure of your sin. you have only to read the ten commandments and try to mold your life by them to find your answer. better still, you have only to read these commandments in the light of jesus' interpretation, where the look of lust is adultery and anger without cause is murder, to see how far short you have come; and if this is true certainly you are a sinner, and the text is for you. "the wicked shall not be unpunished." . "all unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death" ( john : ). righteousness means right relations with god. you may make ever so strong a claim to right living and speak ever so vehemently concerning the good that you are accomplishing in the world, but the first question for you to settle is this, what is your relation to god and what have you to say with reference to your acceptance or rejection of jesus christ? it is a solemn thought that whatever we do counts for nothing if our relation to god be wrong, while the little that we may do may count for much if we have taken the right position before him. . "therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (james : ). omission, according to this scripture, is sin; neglected opportunity is sin, shirking responsibility is sin, refusing to obey god is sin; and so when i ask you about being a christian, if it is best and right and you acknowledge that it is, then if you are not a christian, this very fact is in itself sin, for when one knows the right and refuses to do it he is a sinner, and the text is true--"the wicked shall not be unpunished." . "and he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (romans : ). active doubt is sin. if you have a doubt concerning the sinfulness of certain things, then to do those things is sin. if i have the least doubt concerning the amusements which may be questionable, or the position which may be doubtful, so long as a doubt or a question remains these things are sin; and the bible states the fact that "the wicked shall not be unpunished." . "and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (john : ). unbelief is the chiefest of sins. it is to reject jesus christ, it is to close in our own faces the door of hope, it is to trample the blood of the son of god under our feet, and it means also to insult the spirit of grace. one morning in the city of new york a man dashed down the street and past three men standing on the pier. they could not tell how old he was, nor how he was dressed, but they saw him jump upon the bulkhead near by, strip off his overcoat, coat and hat, and, before they could stir to save him, plunge off the end of the pier. there was a short rope lying near by, and seizing this a man ran with his companions to the point from which the man had jumped. they threw the rope toward the struggling figure that they could just make out below them. the rope fell a foot and a half too short. then they ran back to the gas plant and got a longer rope. the ice was running so thick in the river that the man's head and shoulders were still to be seen above the water when they returned. taking careful aim they threw the rope squarely across the struggling form, shouting, "catch it and we'll pull you in." the unknown man, however, making a last effort, threw the rope aside and shouted back: "oh, to h--- with it! i'm through!" then he sank out of sight. that is a picture of the man who, having offered to him mercy and grace in jesus christ, spurns all that god offers, and is therefore hopeless. sin separates us from god. sin separates us from each other. sin pollutes us and we become impure. sin deceives us and we are in danger and know it not. a friend of mine walking along the streets of cincinnati early one morning saw a young girl standing upon the very edge of the roof of one of the highest office buildings. she was carefully balancing herself and every moment it seemed as if she would fall. the elevator was not running, but he made his way hurriedly to the roof of the building, walked carefully across it, seized her by the hand, drew her back and found that she had risen in her sleep and all unconsciously was standing on the very brink of eternity. this is what sin does for us, and it is a solemn thought that for all such the text is true, "the wicked shall not be unpunished." ii i do not make my appeal, however, on the ground that the punishment is all for the future, for that is indeed sure. i ask you the question, do you believe in heaven as a place of rewards? if so, the same argument will prove the existence of hell. do you reject hell, because it seems to you to be inconceivable? then the same argument will blot heaven out of existence. what it is that awaits the wicked, i am sure i do not know--only that it is to be away from god, with the door of hope shut forever, and the bible tells me that there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, for the wicked shall not be unpunished. i lift my voice against the punishment here, for sin is so sure in its deadly work, it is so insidious in its influence, that before you know it it is upon you; just one day of trifling and you are gone. the people about pittsburg will never forget the cheswick mine horror in , when one hundred and eighty-two dead men were taken from the mine. under the direction of one of the mining engineers, a rescuing party started into the mine to see if there was any hope of saving the men who might be yet alive. the journey is described by one who volunteered to go with the engineer on his perilous journey. "when we got to the foot of the shaft, mr. taylor lighted a cigar. he blew out a great cloud of smoke and watched it drift into a passage. 'this way,' he said, 'the smoke will follow the pure air draught.' so we went on, mr. taylor blowing clouds of smoke, and we following them. suddenly he wheeled and yelled; 'the black damp is coming!' the cigar smoke had stopped as though it had come to a stone wall, and was now drifting over our heads. we ran with death at our heels, ran with our tongues dry and swelling and our eyes smarting like balls of fire. it seemed only a minute until mr. taylor shrieked and fell forward on his face. he crawled along for a while on his hands and knees, and then fell again and lay still. i stopped for a second, with the idea of carrying him. then i realized how hopeless that was. we were still a quarter of a mile from the mouth of the pit. he was a very heavy man, and i, as you see, am small and weak. again i ran choking and beating my head with my hands. i fell, cut my face, called upon god, struggled to my feet and fell again. so i plunged on, falling and fighting forward. black madness came upon me. the horrible, sickening after-damp was tearing my heart up through my dry throat. my brain was bursting through my temples. then a stroke, as though by a sledge hammer, and i knew nothing more. they found me at ten minutes past one tuesday morning. at first they thought i was dead. then they saw my head rise and fall while i weakly pounded on a rock with a stick that i had caught in my delirium." this is to me a striking picture of what sin does for us. there is no one so strong but he may be overpowered by its awful influence. god save us from it, for "the wicked shall not be unpunished." iii oh, is there no hope? for it would seem from the message thus far as if nothing but despair was ahead of us. two ways to escape from the power of sin have been suggested; one is man's way, the other is god's. let us consider them both. . man suggests reformation. but how about the sins of the past? they are still untouched. man tells the sinner to do his best; but how about the will which has been weakened by sinful practices, and which seems unable to act? man tells the depraved man to change his surroundings; but how about the heart that is unclean? the fact is, man's way will not reach us. in january, , the american liner new york left southampton and came into the new york harbor with a sad story to tell. a sailor was suspended over the side of the vessel making repairs when an enormous wave tore him away, and he was very soon under the forepart of the ship. the waves began to carry him away, and a life line was thrown to him with a buoy attached. the sailor, sometimes visible and then obscured by the rising of a swell, grasped the line, and a cheer went up. he took a half turn with the line around his waist, was rolling himself over into the bight of the line and it looked as if he would be saved. the sailors on deck were just about to haul in. the poor fellow's hands and fingers must have been numb, for he suddenly rolled out of the half-formed bight, losing his grip upon the line. none of the passengers could help the man, none of the crew dared jump to his rescue, no boat could live in such a maelstrom. the sailor, who was struggling and being whirled around and bobbing like a cork, his oilskins partially spreading out and sustaining him, kept drifting further and further away. aroused by the commotion, the second officer came on deck just as the sailor lost his hold. tossing aside his cap, overcoat and jacket, he bade the seamen take a bowline hitch around his body and lower him away. the volunteer life-saver was cheered by the passengers as he went over. it was bitter cold, the sleet sharp and the swells ugly. a strong swim in the trough of the seas and over the crests and the officer might reach the seaman. it was his only chance. he had no more than touched the spume before the waves hurled him against the side of the steamer again and again, bruising his ankle and knee, but he struck out bravely and gradually drew nearer the sailor. for fifteen minutes the second officer struggled. during one of his brave spurts in the direction of the struggling man he looked up to the rail. the practiced eye of the seafaring man saw something that caused him suddenly to turn and breast his way back to the ship. the line was too short. the seaman holding the line attached to the officer had in his hands the mere end of it, and there was not another bit to pay out. it was a sixty fathom line, "all gone," and the officer yet only half way to the drowning man. it was too late to splice another. had it been thought of in time the man might have been saved. a longer struggle was useless, and the officer allowed himself to be hauled aboard, leaving the helpless man to go to his last account. that is always the difficulty with man's effort to save the lost. it does not reach far enough and fails just when it ought to hold. . god's way. "the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all sin," that is god's message. "let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our god, for he will abundantly pardon." this is god's invitation. "i even i, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." this is god's pledge, and he has never failed to keep it. in the old days, when england and scotland were at war, the english came up against bruce. they drove him from his castle and as he fled away from them they let loose his own bloodhounds and set them upon his trail. his case seemed hopeless. he could hear the bay of the hounds in the distance, and those who were with him had just about given up in despair; but not so with bruce. he came to a stream, flowing through the forest, he plunged in, waded three bow-shots up the stream and then out upon the other side. the hounds came up to the stream, stopped and sniffed; they had lost the track. they turned back defeated, and bruce in time won the day. is it not like this with our sins? like a pack of hounds they are after me; wherever i flee they are close upon me. "the wages of sin is death," i am told, but i have found the way of escape. here flows a stream which runs red with the blood of jesus christ, and i plunge in and am free. "there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from immanuel's veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains." the grace of god text: "_i, even i, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins._"--isaiah : . in looking over an old volume of sermons preached by h. grattan guiness, forty-five years ago, i came across the message which he delivered with this text as a basis. so deep was the impression made upon me by my first reading of the sermon that i have taken mr. guiness' outline and ask your careful attention to its development. if one should enter a jewelry store and ask to see a diamond, or any other precious stone, the jeweler would first spread upon his show case a black cloth and then place the diamonds upon it, not only for protection but also in order that the black background might bring out distinctly the brilliancy and worth of the gems. so god gives this best of all his promises with the dark picture of sin clearly and thoughtfully portrayed. in verses twenty-second to the twenty-fourth we read, "but thou hast not called upon me, o jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, o israel. thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. i have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." in these verses god says that his people have not called upon him in prayer, they have not presented their offerings, neither have they presented unto him themselves. he also affirms that they have wearied of him, and that they have also wearied him with their iniquities, and then he exclaims, "i have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense," and with these clear statements he gives us the gracious statement of the text, "i, even i, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." mr. guiness gives us four beautiful thoughts in this text concerning our sins. first: they are blotted out from god's book. second: they are blotted out with god's hand. third: they are blotted out for his sake. fourth: they are blotted from his memory. a more admirable outline of a text of scripture i do not know, a more cheering message to a child of god i have never found. i not long ago, in chicago, a young man was induced to confess to one whom he thought was his friend the killing of his father and mother. as the confession was being made, as he supposed to but one person, it was all being taken down by those who were near enough to hear him speak, and when he appeared before the court his own confession was used against him and sent him to a life imprisonment in the penitentiary. what was true of this young man is true of us. every sermon the minister preaches is recorded, every word an individual speaks is put down. it is a solemn thought to realize, that at the judgment we shall give account for even our idle words. science has proven that our acts, our words and even our thoughts make their indelible record. not long ago in our home we came across a long-unused phonograph. we started it going, placing upon it one of the cylinders which had been packed away with the phonograph, and were startled to hear the voice of one who had been dead for years. we heard the message he dictated, the song in which he joined and the laugh with which he closed it, and yet his voice has long been silent in death. there is not a sin of your youth which has not made its record, not a passion of your mature years that does not stand somewhere against you, not an act, a feeling or an imagination that has not been indelibly written; not all the changes of time, not all the efforts of man, can wipe these things out. in the british museum there is a piece of stone not larger than the average bible at least four thousand years old, and in the center of the stone there is a mark of a bird's foot; four thousand years ago the track was made, and for four thousand years the record has stood. if these things are true of us--and they are, according to the word of god--then what prospect is there for us but that of eternal punishment? for when we stand at the judgment there shall appear before us the sins of omission and the sins of commission, the sins we have forgotten and the sins we have but recently committed against ourselves, against our fellow men, and against god. it is indeed a black picture, and with whitened faces and rapidly beating hearts we ask, is there any hope? i bring you god's gracious answer to this important question: "i, even i, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." notice, it is the voice of god speaking. "i, even i," he exclaims, "will blot out your transgressions." it is, first of all, a commercial term. we were in debt to god, hopelessly in debt, and our obligation has been canceled; over against our sin is placed the righteousness of the son of god, and we are free. "jesus paid it all, all to him i owe; sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow." it is also a chemical expression, for it is a picture of god applying the blood of jesus christ to every page of the written record. the sins of our youth long ago passed out of mind; the sins of our manhood, which have taken up every part of our being, the sins of to-day--all have gone, for he himself has blotted them out. when we realize that we are forgiven of god it means more than if we were forgiven of men, for in the might of his forgiveness our past sins are gone, they shall not even be mentioned against us; the fear of judgment is taken away, for jesus himself says, "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (john : ). it is the passover story over again, "when i see the blood, i will pass over you." thus are our sins blotted out. ii it is with god's hand that the work is done; and for very many reasons this is a great comfort to us. first: because it was god's hand that made the record, he it was who put down all your sins. he never rested in his work; week after week, month after month, year after year, the recording work was being done until your record became blacker than the blackest midnight; and behold the hand that made the record blots it out. second: it was his hand against which you offended. your sin was against yourself. it is true it hurt your character, lowered your self-respect; but more especially was it against god, for you despised his authority, forsook his service, broke his laws, defied his justice; you grieved his spirit, and you crucified his son. and behold it is the hand against which you committed all these offenses which blotted out your transgressions. third: it is the offended hand which blots them out. it was the hand that opened the fountains of the deep, and behold the floods came, the waters above and the waters below clasped their hands and destruction was everywhere save in the ark. it was his hand that brought destruction upon the cities of the plain, consuming them with a mighty flame, and it was his hand that opened the sea for the children of israel and then closed the sea over the pursuing egyptians. the very thought of the offended hand makes us tremble, but behold, it is this hand that blots out all our transgressions. fourth: it is the hand of justice that does the work. the same hand wrote, "the wicked shall not go unpunished," and wrote again, "the soul that sinneth it shall die," and wrote yet again, "the wages of sin is death." this hand is stretched forth in our behalf. i doubt not the question has often come to us, "how can god be just and be the justifier of them that believe?" in the light of such statements as these just quoted i am sure it is for this reason--it is for the offering of the just for the unjust. he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of god in him. a man was needed for such an offering, and christ became man. the man required must be born under the law, so christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh. the man born under the law must be without sin, so he was born pure. the man born under the law and without sin must be willing to die, and so he came saying, "i delight to do thy will, o god." and the man born under the law, without sin and willing to die must be able to provide an atonement which would make the wandering sinner and the love of god one, and so christ at the command of god was thus furnished a sacrifice of sufficient power and magnitude to save the whole world. it is this hand of god that blots out our transgressions. fifth: it is the hand of the supreme being that does the work. what a word of encouragement this is. it was this hand that made the worlds and hurled them off into space. it was this hand that created man and made him in the likeness of god. it was this hand that formed the countless number of angels, and has ever directed their heavenly movements. it was this hand that wrote the law upon sinai. and it was this hand that holds the keys of the kingdoms of heaven and hell. he blots out our transgressions. from his decision there can be no appeal. with such a work as this, who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect? would god that justifieth do it, or christ that died consent to it? in the light of such a thought the apostle paul says, "for i am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord" (romans : - ). iii our sins are blotted out for his sake. god saves the sinner not alone because of pity for the sinner, and certainly not simply because he is in danger of hell, but in order that he may glorify himself; and this is no selfish glorification, but rather in order that he may show to us now and throughout all the ages what he really is. god has made different revelations of himself. we have beheld his wisdom in creation, in his providences and in his word. we have seen his justice in that he gave his only begotten son to die for poor lost men. we have seen his power in the working of miracles and the transforming effect of his grace. it remains for us to see his love in the story of salvation, for until we behold him as the savior of the sinner we do not know him. it is this that shall make us not only rejoice here in time but rejoice with joy unspeakable in eternity. the apostle paul writes in ephesians : - , "that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through christ jesus. for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of god." iv our sins are blotted out from god's memory. the last of this wonderful text is the best. when we detect a failure of memory here in this world among our friends it is an evidence of weakness, but it is no weakness in god to forget. this is but another one of those expressions descriptive of god in which human language is used to describe a thought and in which human language is too poor an agency to convey all the depth of the meaning. it is just another picture of god stooping down to meet our weakness and it is god assuring us that our sins are gone completely. it is as if they never had existed, for they shall never stand against us and in the day of judgment they shall not even be mentioned. our sins must have been a grief to him, just as the sin of an earthly child is the source of sorrow to an earthly parent; but they are so no longer, for he has forgotten. the bible represents god as being angry because of our transgressions, but if ever there was anger with him it is so no longer, for you cannot be angry with a person whose injury against you you have forgotten entirely. we do not in this world speak of what we have forgotten, nor will god speak of our sins. we do not punish what we have forgotten, nor will god permit us to be punished, for he has blotted out our transgressions and will remember them no more. there is no awaiting penalty for your sin, there is no judgment to meet at the great white throne, there is no hell for you at the last, for your sins, for christ's sake, have been forgotten. if you cast a stone into the water and it sinks away there is for a time a ripple, where the stone has gone down; but in a moment it has gone forever, you can see it no more. so god has cast our sins into the sea and the place where they have gone cannot even be found. v but what must i do to take advantage of all this gracious offer of god? i answer according to the scripture. there must be true repentance; repentance is a change of mind, it is having a new mind for god. there must be regeneration; regeneration is a change of nature, it is a new heart for god. there must be conversion; conversion is a change of living and a new life for god. if we would be born from above we must accept god's word. two friends were conversing one evening. one of them with a skeptical mind had just rejected the bible because it did not tell him the things that he would know. he insisted on knowing how the worlds were made, and demanded that he should be told concerning the origin of heaven and why god permitted it, and because the bible failed here he would have none of it. just as his friend was leaving the skeptic said to him, "here is my lantern. i want you to take it and it will light you home." but the lantern was refused by the christian man, "for," said he, "this lantern will not light up the mountains in the distance, nor the valley stretching away at my feet." his friend was amazed. "man," said he, "take the lantern; it will make a road for you across the moor and light up your pathway home." "oh," said his friend, "if that is true i will take it; but listen to me. so is the bible not for distant paths of investigation; it is not so much to tell us concerning creation and existence--we shall know these things by and by. it is for the path at your feet and it will light you home a space at a time." the skeptical man saw it in an instant, he took god's word and came back again to the faith of his childhood. so i offer it to you with its promises as of lanterns, if its commands are carefully received and followed out. you, too, may pass from darkness into light and you may claim from god this text of mine which says, "i even i, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." conversion text: "_and said, verily i say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven._"--matt. : . jesus christ was the world's greatest teacher and preacher. multitudes followed him because he taught them, not as the scribes, but as one having authority. he came to them with the deepest truth of god, but couched in such familiar expressions, and told in such a fascinating way, that all men heard him and went their way rejoicing that so great a teacher had come into the world as the messenger of god. he desired to speak to them concerning the kingdom, and seeing on the distant hillside a farmer sowing his seed, he gave them the parable of the sower; and every farmer in his company began to understand his message. he told them the story of a woman baking bread, and in the spreading of the leaven every housekeeper had a vision of one of the deepest principles of the coming kingdom. he gave them the account of the boy who went away from his home, breaking his mother's heart, and, according to tradition, putting her in her grave; causing his old father to bow his head in shame again and again, and yet in spite of it all, his father loving him; and every listener learned from the story a lesson concerning the love of god which could have been given to him in no other way. he was acknowledged as the world's greatest teacher and preacher. the text is introduced by the word "verily," and this is peculiar to jesus. the word calls especial attention to the coming message. it was as if he had sounded a bell and said, "stop and listen"; and wherever the word "verily" occurs the bible reader would do well to give heed to the message of jesus. what hope is there for the moralist when jesus said, "except ye be converted"? what hope can there be for the man who says god is so merciful that he will not allow him finally to be lost when jesus said "ye shall not enter into the kingdom, except ye be converted and become as little children." it will be necessary for us to read carefully verses eight and nine in this eighteenth chapter of matthew, if we would be impressed with the importance of conversion. there are solemn words here. "wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. and if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire." i have been told that there are two ways of reading this text. the first is as we have it in the king james version; the second would make it read thus: "verily, i say unto you, except ye convert yourselves and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." those who hold to this second reading say that there is a difference between regeneration and conversion--that regeneration is god's part of the contract, while conversion is ours; that conversion is simply having the willing mind, while regeneration is god's imparting to us his own life; and to convert one's self is simply to be willing to be saved. and this is all-important, for even god himself cannot save us against our wills. but i prefer to use, in my treatment of the text, the generally accepted idea of conversion, and wish my message to center around the following questions: what is conversion? how may i be converted? do i know when i was converted? how may i know certainly? i what is conversion? i own a piece of property, and you desire to purchase it. you pay me a price, and the property is transferred from my ownership to yours. it is a converted piece of property. this is just a hint as to what conversion is. we were sold under sin; and if any should object to this expression, we have sold ourselves under sin. jesus came and in the shedding of his own blood paid the price of our redemption. as a child of god, i am bought back from bondage to freedom. to be converted is to be turned about. going away from god, i turn towards him. with my face set away from heaven, i deliberately turn and accept jesus, who said, "i am the way, the truth, and the life." to be converted is to cross the line which separates light from darkness, and may be done as easily as if one drew a line in the path before him and stepped over it. both of these would be by the act of one's will; only it is to be remembered that when by faith we accept jesus there is imparted to us a knowledge which comes from the holy ghost alone; while we seem to be acting in our own strength, yet really it is in the strength of god. let it be remembered, however, that no two people may have exactly the same experience. there is an illustration of this in the healing of the blind men in the new testament. i can imagine them having a convention, and each giving his testimony. one declares that the only way to receive your sight is to have clay and spittle put upon your eyes and to wash in the pool of siloam. another ridicules this experience and declares that only the touch of the fingers of jesus is necessary. still another speaks and emphatically declares that even the touch of jesus is superfluous, for at the command of jesus he saw clearly. another says that instantaneous sight is impossible, and describes his own experience, when he saw men like trees, walking. but when all have given their testimony, they finally unite in declaring that whereas they once were blind, now they can see; and after all this is the important matter. a friend of mine described a number of people who came to view "the angelus" that celebrated masterpiece of millet's. some people admired the perspective; others, the figure of the man; others, that of the woman. one man simply stood aghast as he looked, and exclaimed, "what a marvelous frame that picture has!" and no two people expressed the same opinion concerning the masterpiece. how could we expect them to have the same experience in coming to christ? it may be that some will say, "why insist upon conversion when my life is a moral one?" and my answer is that the difficulty with morality is that it is worked out according to men's standard and falls far short of god's. in my first pastorate i had a blind man as one of my hearers. he used to walk about the village where i preached, generally without a guide, and apparently went as easily as a man with eyes. he had a little stick in his hands, with which he touched the trees and the fences, and seemed to know by the very sound where he was. one day at noon, when he should be going home, i saw him walking rapidly away from his home. i finally convinced him that he was going in the wrong direction, and he asked me to set him straight, which i did. going in the new direction, he used his stick in the same fashion, used his legs in the same mechanical way, but the difference between the man in the first instance and the second was this--that in the first picture he was going away from home, while in the second he was going homeward rapidly. the trouble with man's morality is that it is self-centered and not christ centered if he is rejected. ii how may i be converted? for from the text which says "except ye be converted" it would seem as if some power outside of ourselves must be working in our behalf, and this is true. the foundation of it all is the atonement by christ, his sacrificial death upon the cross. rejecting this truth, there is no hope for us. in our sinful condition, the spirit of god rouses us, convicts us of sin, convinces us of our need of a savior, and finally god, in his grace, gives us the strength to yield, and we pass from darkness to light. sometimes great need drives us to light, as in the case of nicodemus; while again great sin compels us to come to him, as in the case of the thief on the cross. but whether it be need or sin, let us start with little faith, if we have no more, and god will meet us the moment we start. i once conducted services in a soldiers' home. the commanding officer told me, when the service was concluded, of a former inmate, an old sea captain, who came to the institution a confessed infidel. he refused to attend any of the services in the chapel; finally he was taken ill, and then the commanding officer entered his room, asking him to read the scriptures, which he declined to do. again he came suggesting that he read the bible to see if there was any part he could believe, and a bottle of red ink and a pen were left by his bedside, the officer suggesting that he mark any verse red if he could accept it. this appealed to the dying man and he said, "where shall i read?" the officer said "begin with john's gospel." and he did so. he read through two chapters without making a mark, and through fifteen verses of the third chapter. then he came to the sixteenth verse, which is a picture of the very heart of god, and he reached for his pen and marked the verse red. when this much of the story had been told we reached the old captain's room and passed the threshold to find the bed empty, for he was gone. "i wish you might have seen his bible," said the captain. "i sent it to his family recently. there was not a page in it that was not marked red." over his bed swung a pasteboard anchor; marked upon it were these words--"i have cast my anchor in safe harbor." for he had gone home. iii do you know when you were converted? that is, do you know the exact time? there are two extremes in experiences in this matter. i recall the experience of an old man who sat in my lecture room one friday evening, and just as the hands of the clock marked the hour : he said "i will," and came to christ. that was the moment of his conversion. but, as for myself, i have not had this experience; i do not know just when i turned to christ. it must have been when i was but a small child. one of the best women i know has had an experience similar to mine, while one of the greatest preachers in the land has told me that he was a drunkard until he was years of age, and then, on his knees, by his father's death bed, he came to the savior. after all, it is not so much a question of the knowledge of the day, or the hour, or the month of one's conversion as "do we now know christ?" iv how may we know that we have passed from death into life? certainly not with our feelings as a proof, for they change as the sands shift on the seashore. if our feelings be the foundation, then we may be in the kingdom and out of it a great many times a day. it is not always to be determined by a great change in one's life, for men who have not accepted christ have had such an experience. there is only one sure way of knowing it, and that is on the authority of the word of god. john : , "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed from death unto life." and john : , "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." it is said that napoleon while riding in front of his soldiers lost control of his horse, when a private stepped from the ranks, seized the horse's bridle and saved the officer's life. napoleon saluted him and called him captain. "but, sir," said he, "i am not a captain, only a private." "then," said napoleon, "i will commission you captain." and immediately he stepped into the company of those officers; they ordered him to the ranks, but he said, "i am a captain." "by whose authority?" they said. if then he had replied, "because i feel like a captain," how ridiculous it would have been! pointing to napoleon, he said, "i am a captain, because he said it." thus with god's word as a foundation we stand secure. v do not forget to notice that we are told that we must come like little children. not like the philosophers of the world, but like little children who always trust implicitly those who are about them. if we would be saved, we must be willing to be taught, and we must some time make a beginning. then why not now? some years ago john b. gough visited a home in a new england city, and the heartbroken mother told him that her boy, who was an inebriate, was confined in an upper room in the house, which was much like a cell. the great temperance leader went to speak to him and said "edward, why don't you pray?" and he said, "because i don't believe in prayer." "but," said mr. gough, "you must believe in god." and he replied, "i do not believe in anything." "i am sure you are wrong in this," said he, "for i know that you believe in your mother." then there came a new look into his face when he said, "yes, i believe in her." "well," said mr. gough, "you must then believe in love. let us fall upon our knees and pray." and the young man began, "o love," and the spirit of god said unto him, "god is love," and he changed his prayer and said "o god," and then came the same spirit and said, "god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son," and he said "o christ," and when he said this the deed was done. he immediately rose from his knees, and he has been free ever since. five kings in a cave text: "_and it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto joshua, that joshua called for all the men of israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. and they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. and joshua said unto them, fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight._"--joshua : - . the history of the children of israel is one of the most fascinating stories ever written. it abounds in illustrations which are as practical and helpful as any that may be used to-day, drawn from our every-day experience. god certainly meant that we should use their story in this way, for in the new testament we read that the things which happened to them were as ensamples for us. the word "ensample" means type, or figure, or illustration. to appreciate this text and the story of the five imprisoned kings we must go back a little bit to the place where the leadership of moses had been transferred to joshua. god is never at a loss for a man; his plans are never frustrated. if moses is to be set aside joshua is in preparation for his position. doubtless joshua may have felt somewhat restrained, as he was kept in a position of not very great prominence, but he certainly realized when he stood as the leader of the children of israel that all things had been working together for the good of his leadership, and doubtless he praised jehovah for his goodness to him. there are many incidents in connection with the immediate story of the children of israel which should be mentioned here. when they were ready to move towards canaan joshua told them that when the soles of the feet of the priests touched the water of the jordan the water would stand on either side before them and they could pass dry shod into canaan. suddenly the marching began. they stood within three feet of the waters, which ran the same as they had been running for years; then two feet, then one, and then six inches, but there was no parting of the waters before them. let us remember that god had said, "when the soles of the feet of the priests touch the water they shall separate." and it was even as he said, and on dry land the children of israel passed over to the other side. it is a perfectly natural thing for one who is unregenerate to say, "why insist upon confession, and the acceptance of christ, and how can the mere acceptance of the savior save me from the penalty and the power of sin?" but a countless multitude will rise to-day to say, "it was when we stepped out upon what we could not understand and what seemed as impassable and impossible as the parting of the waters of the jordan that god gave us light and peace." when once they were in canaan what an interesting story that is in connection with rahab of jericho! the spies had entered her home and a mob outside was seeking them that they might put them to death. rahab promised them deliverance, only she exacted from them a promise in return that they would save alive her father and her mother and her loved ones; and when she let them down by means of a cord from the window of her home they said to her, "bind this scarlet cord in the window and gather your loved ones here and they shall be saved." and when the children of israel had marched about jericho and the walls were about to fall, suddenly they lifted their eyes and they saw the red cord fluttering from the window, and while all else was destroyed rahab and all her loved ones were saved. what a little thing evidently stood between them and death--just a red cord! and yet as a matter of fact it is only a red cord that is between us and death--namely, the blood of the son of god; for, as in the old testament times when god saw the blood and the destroying angel passed over the home, so in these new testament times the blood which has been received by faith insures us our safety and we are set free from sin's penalty and sin's power. the story of achan is a note of warning. it is rather singular that when the children of israel had taken jericho they failed at ai, and yet not singular when we realize that one man had sinned in all the company. he had taken gold and silver and a babylonish garment and had hidden the same in his tent, and this was in direct disobedience to the commands of joshua. the sad thing about sin is that we cannot sin and suffer alone. our friends suffer, our kindred must bear a part of the woe with us. when achan sinned the children of israel lost a victory. sin is progressive. in the seventh chapter of joshua and the twenty-first verse, we read, "when i saw among the spoils a goodly babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then i coveted them, and took them; and behold they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it." and you will notice that, first he saw, then he coveted, then he took. it is always thus; a sinful imagination will lead to outbreaking iniquity, and a small sin encouraged will ultimately mean disgrace. the story of the gibeonites is also interesting. they had heard of the power of the children of israel and were afraid of them; but they made up their minds to deceive them. so, lest the israelites should think that they came from a near by territory and therefore should turn against them they put on old clothes, wore old shoes upon their feet and carried musty bread in their baggage. then they stood before israel and said, "we have come from a far country; look at our clothing, it is worn out; and at our shoes, they are in holes; and at our bread, it was fresh when we started, it is musty to-day." and joshua said, "we will make them hewers of wood and drawers of water," and they were saved from death but they served in bondage. let this be remembered always that deception inevitably means bondage. one is in bondage to his conscience, for it constantly reproves him. he is in bondage to the one he has deceived, for he can never stand honestly before him. he is most of all in bondage to his sin, for he will surely be found out. the amorites were against the children of israel and they were a great company. it is in connection with their struggle against this power that the text is written. i the israelites started in this conflict with a mighty power against them, as we have seen. but so have we. there are first of all the tendencies of our old nature against which we must fight, for just as with the law of gravitation if i take my hand away from a book or a stone it falls to the floor or the ground because this law pulls it downward, so there is a law in my members and has been in the life of every man since adam's day pulling me away from the true to the false. it is for this reason that it is easier to do wrong than to do right, to be untrue than to be true. then there is against us the very world in which we live. its atmosphere, its business, even its social life is tainted with that which is sinful or to say the least questionable, and he who lives in the world and is in any sense of it has a hard battle to fight. but there are two special things which are against us. first: the sins which we have encouraged. it may be in the beginning very small, but satan is perfectly satisfied if he can have the least hold upon the life of the one whom he wishes to wrong. i read in a chicago paper the story of a woman who was making a heroic struggle against an awful curse. she had become addicted to the use of morphine. for fourteen years she was a consumer of the drug. apparently she could not shake off the habit. building up a resistance to the action of the drug, her system became accustomed to enormous quantities of it. she could not eat, nor sleep, nor work without it. most of her scanty earnings went to purchase it. she was a seamstress, and by toiling many hours a day managed to get enough money to buy it. some years back she had been a happy wife and mother. her husband loved her; she was devoted to him and to their two children. she lost him; she lost the care of her children; rapidly she drifted away from them. the powerful narcotic helped to deaden her pain. when her anguish became unbearable a double dose of it would enable her to drowse away the hours. "i will never again touch or taste morphine, so help me god!" she said. immediately she discontinued the use of the drug wholly. she could get no sleep; she could not swallow food half the time or retain it. she was beset by horrible visions. she was racked by an inexpressible longing. but she held on. those who knew her and watched her agonizing battle with astonishment and sympathy told her that she was killing herself. "it may be," she would answer, "but i shall die true to my oath." "but," they would urge, "a habit like yours, which has obtained for years, should be broken gradually." "i will master it. i have blotted it from my life," she would answer. "i shall quit it this way even if i go into the grave. it has mastered me; it has cost me my home, husband and children; now i will master it." she started at shadows, her nights were nights of horror; she would bury her nails in the palms of her hands and compress her lips to keep from screaming. there was no rest for her. still she tried to work and grew weaker. "you cannot give me that," she said, "i remember my oath. give me any medicine you choose save opium. god would forsake me now if i forsook my promise to him." the physician remonstrated with her, but in vain, so he gave her a substitute which failed of its effect, as he knew it would, and she died. even when the hand of death had clutched her grimly, though her terrific sufferings would have been allayed by the poison, she refused to take it. any person in the room would have bought it for her and administered it gladly, so that she might pass away in peace, but she would not prove traitor to herself. she was a friendless woman except for acquaintances recently made. her life had been sad and hard. held in the grip of an enemy that set its mark upon her, she was shunned and went her downward way alone. those who were with her say that just before the end came she smiled, knowing that she had won her fight; and yet years ago she began to trifle with sin, and it had mastered her. again, we have against us sins which not only have been encouraged but have been committed again and again until they have become a habit of our lives, and he who has such a sin as this finds himself in the grip of one who is a tyrant. in a city paper the other day i came across the story of a man who once had some prominence in the world but began to go wrong, naturally drifted towards the evil and finally found himself surrounded by the lowest of companions. because of his natural ability he easily assumed leadership. the particular form of crime they practiced was administering chloral to those who sat at the bar in the saloon to drink. they did this by attracting the attention of the man who was to drink to something else in the room and then the deadly knock-out drops would be administered and they would rob the man. one night the dose was too strong and the victim died. the one who caused his death came before the city authorities recently to give himself up and pitifully ask that he might be quickly sent to death to pay the penalty of his crime for, said he, "from that moment my mind has never been at rest. i wandered about town for two or three days trying to get rid of the sight of that fellow's face; but at night was when i suffered. the moment i dozed off i could see him in my dreams beckoning and laughing as he dragged me over some cliff, and i waked up cold with fear. no one knows what i suffered. i left the city. i went to denver. i went to butte. i traveled everywhere, but wherever i went night and day that dead man was hovering around me. i couldn't sleep and my mind began to weaken. one night i went into a gambling den. i thought the excitement might drive that vision out of my head. i played roulette. i bet on the black; the red won. and right before me i saw that printer's face just like i see you now, grinning as the dealer dragged in my money. i ran out of that club like a crazy man and wandered about town till i saw a freight train pulling out of the yards. i climbed into an empty box car and lay down in the corner to rest. for a few moments the face was gone. suddenly a flash of lightning lit up that car as bright as this cell, and there, just a couple of feet from me, i saw that man i'd killed plainer than i see you. he reached out and caught me by the arm. i screamed and jumped out of the car. they found me next day lying beside the track; and when they got me to a hospital, as i hope for pardon, that thing's black and blue finger marks showed on my shoulder. i've been in a lot of places since that but i never got over it. finally it got so bad i couldn't stand it and i came back to chicago to confess." and just as we have all these things against us so the children of israel had the amorites against them and the five kings were unitedly arrayed to fight them. ii but there was a sure deliverance for israel and there is a sure deliverance for us. god promised to be with joshua and his people. joshua : , "there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as i was with moses, so i will be with thee: i will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." even the things that were impossible he helped them to accomplish. joshua : - , "now jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of israel: none went out, and none came in. and the lord said unto joshua, see, i have given unto thine hand jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor." even where men had failed him he gave them victory. joshua : - , "and the lord said unto joshua, fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to ai: see, i have given into thy hand the king of ai, and his people, and his city, and his land; and thou shalt do to ai and her king as thou didst unto jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it." even where the forces were combined against them it made no difference. joshua : , "and the lord said unto joshua, fear them not: for i have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee." so it is with us. god has promised to deliver us, and over our sinful nature, the atmosphere of the world, sins encouraged and sins committed, we may expect a complete victory. everything is at man's disposal if only god is with him. in connection with the children of israel even the day was made longer that they might fight their battles. joshua : - , "then spake joshua to the lord in the day when the lord delivered up the amorites before the children of israel, and he said in the sight of israel, sun, stand thou still upon gibeon; and thou, moon, in the valley of ajalon. and the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. is not this written in the book of jasher? so the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. and there was no day like that before it, or after it, that the lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the lord fought for israel." the weak were made strong that the enemy might not triumph over them. "if god be for us who can be against us?" in this struggle with the amorites israel won the day. iii the victory of the israelites over the amorites was like the general deliverance which god has given us from the power of sin, but there are certain sins which may pursue us, and from these we ought to be set free. when the children of israel started from egypt and had passed through the red sea certain of the egyptians started after them, the waters of the sea came together and they were put to death. the next day the israelites camped upon the shore and they could easily go back. doubtless more than one could say as he turned over the body of a dead man to see his face, "why, this is my old tax master who used to beat me. he will never have power over me again." is such a deliverance as this from individual sins possible? i think it is. i can think of five sins which stand in the way of men and which maybe likened to the five kings shut up in the cave. first: sinful imagination or secret sins. i doubt not but that almost every one whose eyes may light upon this sentence has been guilty at this point. he may have said again and again, "i will never do this thing again," and he has put the king into the cave and rolled the stone against the door. second: impurity. it may be that some one who reads this sentence will plead guilty at this point, and he may have said, "this sin which is now my defeat began with only a suggestion of evil which i encouraged; but i will never be guilty again," and he puts the sin into the cave and rolls the stone against the door. third: intemperance, not simply in the matter of drinking strong drink, but it may be intemperance in the matter of dress, or eating, or pleasure; in other words, it is the lack of self-control. this has been the defeat of more men than one, and as you stop and think you say, "i will never lose control of myself again," and you put the sin within the cave and roll the stone against the door. fourth: dishonesty; not simply in what you do but in what you say, for one may be dishonest in speech as well as in appropriating that which does not belong to him. if you should be condemned just here and have determined never to fail again at this point, by an act of your will you consign this king to the cave and close up the entrance. five: unbelief, which is the greatest sin of all and is the last and greatest sin to be put into the cave. as a result of such an action there may be temporary relief, but not permanent, for the kings may break away from the cave and organize their forces against you once more and you go down. here comes in the power of the text. bring the kings out, every one of them, and put your feet upon their necks and stand in all your right and dignity as christian men, and expect deliverance not so much because of what you are but because of the fact that from the days of the first sin it has been said, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." near toledo, ohio, there used to live an old doctor noted for his infidelity. he was violent in his opposition to the church. one day he called robert ingersoll to the town where he lived and paid him two hundred dollars, that he might by means of his lecture break up the revival meeting. everybody was afraid of him. he heard of an old preacher back in the country who was a stranger to the schools but not a stranger to god, and he asked his friends to make it possible for him to meet him. finally they met, and the infidel with a sneer said, "so you believe the bible, do you?" and he said, "yes, sir; do you?" "and you believe in god, do you?" and he said, "yes, sir." "well, i want you to understand that i am an infidel, and believe none of these things." the old minister looked at him and said simply, "well, is that anything to be proud of?" and it was an arrow that went straight through the unbeliever. he went back to his office and began to think it over. "anything to be proud of," he said, and he finally realized that he was not in a favorable position. then he thought of an old christian he knew and said, "if i could be such a christian as that i would come to christ." he went to tell the minister, and the minister said to him, "get down on your knees and tell god so," and he began to tell him, then broke down and sobbed out his confession of sin. his cry for deliverance was heard, and he rose up a free man in christ jesus. from that day till this he has been freed from every one of his sins, is preaching the gospel and counts it his highest joy to contribute in every possible way to the enlargement of the bounds of the kingdom of god. so there is deliverance from every form of sin if we will but move in god's way. definiteness of purpose in christian work text: "_salute no man by the way._"--luke : . luke is the only one of the evangelists giving us the account of the sending out of the seventy. the others tell us that christ called certain men unto him and commissioned them to tell his story; but in this instance after jesus had said, "foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head," he calls the seventy and sends them forth prepared to endure any sacrifice or suffer any affliction if only they may do his will. and when he had said unto another, "follow me," but he answered, "suffer me first to go and bury my father," jesus said unto him (luke : - ), "let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach the kingdom of god. and another also said, lord, i will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house. and jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of god." from this expression of the master we quite understand that no other service, however important it may seem to us, is to come between us and our devotion to him. and in the expression concerning the man having put his hand to the plow and looking back we have one of the strongest illustrations that jesus ever used. he does not say that if any one puts his hand to the plow and turns back to some other form of service he is not fit for the kingdom of god, but what he says is this: if any man has his hands to the plow and simply looks back he is not fit for the kingdom; and this for two reasons: first: because no man could plow as he ought to unless he would keep his eyes straight ahead of him, and second: no man could plow if he has his mind fixed upon something else. jesus wants his disciples to know that his work is the important work, that nothing can surpass it. not only is it wrong for us to turn away from him to any other service but it is a sin even to take our eyes off of him to gaze upon anything else. under such sharp teaching as this he sends forth the seventy. let it be noted, first, that he sent them forth two by two. perhaps one was sent because he was strong in the opposite direction from his fellow laborer. who knows but one could speak and the other could sing? certainly one was the complement of the other. and they went forth with burning hearts to give the message of jesus. that illustration in the new testament where four men brought the sick man to jesus is along the same line. two men might have failed utterly, three men would have found it difficult service, for four men it was easy. i once made my way into the office of a doctor to ask him to come to christ. the meetings were in progress in the church and i thought he was interested. he received me kindly, but firmly declined even to talk of christ and i left him, utterly discouraged. the next night the man gave his heart to christ, and for this reason, i believe. we had made him in a little company of church officers a subject of prayer, and you cannot pray earnestly for one for any length of time without speaking to him concerning his soul's salvation. without having had a conference four men determined to see the doctor, and they all called upon him within two hours of time. when the first came he laughed at him; when the second came his prominence in the business world at least commanded the doctor's respect; when the third came, having driven four miles in from the country, he began to be interested; and with the coming of the fourth there was awakened in him a deep conviction. he closed his office, went to his home and before the evening hour of service came had accepted christ. we have practically the same commission as the seventy. "as the father hath sent me even so send i you," said jesus to us. these conditions are as true to-day as in those days in the work of the seventy. the harvest is great. there possibly never has been a time when more people are absenting themselves from the church than at the present time. these men and women are fit subjects for the gospel. the seventy went as the messengers of peace, so may we go. there are troubled hearts all about us, there are those who are in despair, men and women who are saying, "peace, peace," when there is no peace, while ours is the very message of peace. jesus said to them, "carry neither purse nor scrip nor shoes," for their dependence was upon him. so must it be to-day. not upon method nor upon skill must we depend, nor upon the schemes of men, however successful they may have been in the past, but upon him. in those days the men were sick and troubled, in these days they are dead in sins and as his messengers we carry the message of love. i this expression of the text meant very much to the oriental, for as a matter of fact the salutation of the eastern people frequently took a half an hour of time, and sometimes an hour would be consumed. they touched their turbans, fell upon their knees, saluted one another with a holy kiss, talked together concerning their own interests. these things were a part of the salutation. jesus says to the seventy, "salute no man as you go." they were not bidden to be impolite--this is farthest from the spirit of the christian--yet they were commissioned to be about the king's business and the king's business required haste. the idea of the text is that there must be definiteness of purpose in christian work. when elisha kept his eyes fixed upon elijah there came to him as the result the mantle of elijah and he was clothed with power. when gehazi followed elisha's command and as he went to the home of the shunammite saluted no one he became the forerunner of life to the child. and when paul said, "this one thing i do," and nothing could swerve him from his path of duty, he became the mightiest preacher in the world's history since christ. but let it not be thought for a moment that we are advocating a gloomy religion; far from it. i like the story of the little girl who went one day into her grandfather's room to ask him to read to her and found him asleep with his head upon the back of the chair, his bible upon his knees and the sunlight coming through the window at the proper angle to cast about him a halo of glory, and she ran to her mother saying, "i have been in grandpa's room and i have seen god." if as a christian the people of the world can have any thought other than this, that we at times at least remind them of christ, something is wrong with our christian experience. there were two sides to the experience of jesus. in one we see him at the wedding rejoicing with those that did rejoice, making wine out of water and contributing to the happiness of all those who were present. in the other instance we see him upon the mountain side and crying out, "o jerusalem, jerusalem!" with an almost breaking heart. when charles g. finney was in utica there came down to see him a woman who was concerned for the town in which she lived. she returned to her home and through days and nights found it impossible either to eat or to sleep because she realized the lost condition of those about her. at last when she was so weak that she could not pray, she had rest only when those about her prayed for her. when mr. finney reached that town one of the greatest revivals in his history as an evangelist was the result. i was one day engaged with other pastors in an eastern city in a gospel campaign. the ministers were preaching in turn each day and when it came my time to preach i could find in all the audience scarcely one of my people. up to that day the interest had been remarkable, but somehow from that day on, although people had been converted by the hundred, there was no perceptible spiritual impression. when the meetings had closed one of the prominent society leaders of my church came to explain to me why she was away from the service and she said, "i gave my afternoon reception and the people of our church were there." when i told her that i felt that as a result of that afternoon reception our own church had lost a blessing she seemed utterly amazed; and yet to this day i am firmly persuaded that hundreds of people might have come to christ if we had not in that day grieved the spirit. ii the text means that those of us who are christians shall show by our very faces that we are on the king's business and that it is solemn business. one day a man knocked at the door of my study, was admitted, sat down on the couch in the room and began to sob. he did not need to tell me why he had come. i knew, but finally when he sobbed it out this was his message: "i have come to ask you to bury my wife, and to ask if you will not go with me to comfort the children, for they are heartbroken." i knew by the very look of his face that he had lost a loved one. do you think for a moment that those who gaze at us would imagine that we had the least conviction that people away from christ were lost? i am sure they would not. the text also means that we shall be desperately in earnest. a father and his boy heard a minister preach a sermon on the judgment and as they went to their home the father said, "my boy, it was a great sermon and you must think about it." and the boy did. he made his way to his room and threw himself on his bed only to hear his father downstairs laughing and singing; and he said to himself, "it is not true, for if my father believed i was in danger of the judgment he could not laugh and he would not sing." that day was the turning point in the boy's life. he became a man of renown but never a believer in jesus christ as we accept him. the text also indicates how we should pray, with an eye single to his glory but with a purpose that cannot be shaken. pray as the shunammite prayed, pray as the woman besought the unjust judge; such prayer brings victory. iii did you ever realize that you were standing in the way of the conversion of your friends? how about your living? if your testimony rings anything else than true to christ you are a stumbling block in the way of some one. how about your testimony? in the meetings to which i referred there came a young woman one day evidently greatly moved. first one pastor would speak to her and then another, and finally i was given the privilege. for a long time i could not understand her words for her sobs and then she said, "i am a christian, a member of one of the churches in this movement. i have been engaged to a young man for the last three years. he was not a christian. three weeks ago he was taken ill and a week ago he died. in all the time that i knew him i never spoke to him about christ. i do not know that he even knew that i was a christian, and now," she said, with a heart which seemed to be literally crushed, "he has gone and i never warned him." and the text means that no one could come within the reach of our influence without having at least a suggestion made by ourselves to them that we are the followers of christ and that we long to have them know him who means so much to us. the morning breaketh text: "_watchman, what of the night? the watchman said, the morning cometh, and also the night._"--isaiah : - . it is very interesting to note that, whether we study the old testament or the new, nights are always associated with god's mornings. in other words, he does not leave us in despair without sending to us his messengers of hope and cheer. the prophet isaiah in this particular part of his prophecy seems to be almost broken-hearted because of the sin of the people. as one of the scotch preachers has put it, he has practically sobbed himself to sleep. a great shadow has fallen upon the people of god and he is in despair because of it. they have sown to the wind and now they are reaping the whirlwind, a result which is inevitable. they are away from zion with its temple, and are deprived of the view of those mountains which are round about jerusalem and to this day are clad with vines and olive trees. they are in captivity and are the abject slaves of the enemies of god. isaiah's heart is well-nigh crushed, but in the midst of the despair he has a vision of the chariots coming and hears a cry which rejoices his soul, "babylon is fallen." it is because of these tidings that he cries out in the words of the text. what a night they had had of it! they had been in darkness that was ever increasing, and the song of thanksgiving which used to fill their souls because of the nearness of jehovah had entirely departed from them. the figure of the watchman is often used in the bible, as for example when he stands upon the city walls and is told that if he sounds the trumpet telling of the approach of the enemy and the people hear and do not take warning their blood is upon their own heads, while if he fails to sound the trumpet and the people are cut off, their blood is required at the watchman's hand. and again in the first chapter of zechariah the eighth to the eleventh verses, "i saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled and white. then said i, o my lord, what are these? and the angel that talked with me said unto me, i will shew thee what these be. and the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, these are they whom the lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. and they answered the angel of the lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, we have walked to and fro through the earth, and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at rest." for here the man standing in the midst of the myrtle trees is him of whom the prophets did speak, while the messengers are those who bring him tidings of the progress of his kingdom. but again where david comes to the watch tower and sees the two messengers running, the second one bringing him tidings of the death of his son, and from this watch tower he staggers back again to his room crying out, "o absalom, my son, would god i had died for thee!" the poet usually sings of the night as a time of beauty. he sings of the moon and the stars; but in the bible night always stands for that which is dark, foul, loathsome, sinful, cold and deadly. there are different nights mentioned in the scripture, for the most part in the old testament. there was that night in eden when sin blinded the eyes of adam and eve and a great darkness fell round about them. there was the night of the flood, all because the people had neglected god; and there was the night of the destroying angel passing over the cities of egypt, all because of the indifference of those who knew not god. but even in these nights god does not leave his people without help, for in eden we read, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head"; while in the flood behold the ark; and in the passover night we see the blood of the paschal lamb sprinkled upon the lintels of the door. there are different mornings mentioned in the scriptures, and as a rule we find them in the new testament. the morning of his birth. the morning of his resurrection. the morning of his miracle when the empty nets are filled and the discouraged fishermen are made to rejoice. the morning of his return, when, after the rising of the morning star, an endless day of blessing shall be ushered in. it used to be the custom in scotland, especially in aberdeen, for the night watchman of the city guard as he paced the streets to cry aloud, "twelve o'clock and the night is dark; one o'clock and the storm is heavy," and the restless sleeper would toss upon his pillow and listen for the tidings of the morning hour, "two o'clock and the morning is starry." it is in this spirit that we listen to-day to the cry of the watchman when he declares, "the morning cometh and also the night." i we are in a sense in the night in these days, even though we are christians. first: because of the existence of sin. it is everywhere, in the heart as a mighty principle of evil pulling us down as the law of gravitation pulls material substances toward the earth's center. in the life as shown by our habits and practices, for these are the fruits of sin. in the very air we breathe sin is manifest, and sin has brought the night. second: i sometimes think that the darkness is increasing because as ministers we fail to preach concerning sin. we speak of it as an error or a mistake; we talk about the devil and call him his satanic majesty; we preach about hell and call it the lost world, while it is true that in the olden days when men trembled under the word of the preacher the man of god spoke of the devil and hell and sin in all their awfulness. but the morning cometh, for while it is true that sin is in the world and it has gripped many of us, yet because of christ's death upon the cross we are free from the penalty of sin; we may be free from the power of sin, for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death; we may be free from the practice of sin, for christ is the secret of our deliverance. but the text tells us that while the morning cometh the night also appears. and so for those of us whose lives have been such a struggle we cry, "is there no deliverance?" and i answer, yes, we shall one day be free from the presence of sin; and that will be at his return when we shall see him and be like him, and the new day which is never to close shall be upon us. third: we are in the night because of the existence of sorrow. next to sin this is the greatest fact in the world, for men are born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. and somehow the morning and the night as they are fastened together in this text present to us the story of our lives, for we are first in the morning when everything seems peaceful, and almost immediately in the night when we are really in despair. i journeyed from naples to rome over a fine piece of railway and found myself now in the darkness of a tunnel and almost immediately rushing out onto a fertile plain. that railroad is the story of many a life. but "is there no deliverance that is complete?" and i answer, yes, there is a time coming when there shall be no sea and no tears and no night, for the former things are passed away. fourth: we are in the night because of mystery. life is full of questions. "why must i have this trial or pain or trouble?" so many of us are asking these questions, and there is really no answer, at least none for the present. and yet god has not deceived us, for he has said, "what i do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter." he tells us that when we see him we shall know, but also declares that no one can see his face and live; and then, said the sainted augustine, "let me die that i may see him." it is true that we shall go on from light into darkness, from morning into the night, but is there no final deliverance? and i answer, yes, when we see him and become like him we shall know as we are known. let us wait and believe until that day. have you ever seen a perfect rainbow--that is, a rainbow in a perfect circle? i never have. the most perfect one i have ever seen was on the plains of jericho, but it was a half circle. however, in the revelation we are told that in that day there shall be a rainbow round about the throne, when half circles shall be made whole and half things shall be made complete; that is the morning for which we long. ii but there is another suggestion, "the morning cometh and also the night." there is the thought of the transition from the one to the other. we certainly have been in the night so far as our living is concerned and our working, but now i feel sure there is coming a change and we are living in a critical time. may god help us to be faithful. all truth is like a cycle and at different points in the circumference there are truths which must be especially emphasized. the late a. j. gordon once preached a sermon on the "recurrence of doctrine," in which he stated that while in one day justification by faith was the prominent truth for the church, in another sanctification was prominent, in still another the return of the lord, and in still another the doctrine of the holy spirit. all this i firmly believe and it only proves to me that the prominent truth for to-day is every man for his neighbor, every friend for his friend, every parent for his child, the individual seeking the individual for christ. god is calling us to action; let us not fail. i have a friend who used to use an illustration of a sea captain, his first mate and his wife wrecked upon a rocky shore, huddled together upon a rock out from the shore but too far for them to escape by throwing themselves into the waves. the life-line is shot out to them and the captain puts it round his first mate and bids him jump and he is drawn to the shore in safety. then he put the cord around the waist of his wife, but the current is running in such a way that she must spring at just the proper second or she will be thrown back against the rocks and be killed. and he shouts to her, "spring!" but she waited to kiss him and waited too long, sprang into the sea and was thrown back against the rock and drawn shoreward lifeless. whether that story is true or not i cannot say, but it is an illustration of the present day to me. god is saying, "now is the day of opportunity." may he pity us if we fail! iii while all that has been said is true concerning the morning of the eternal day, in another sense it is true that already a brighter day is breaking. first: a better day for bible study. this old book which people have feared was going to pass away is better to-day than ever. it is the object of deeper affection, and there is no question but that more people are believing in it to-day as the inspired word of god than for years; and all because they have tested it and it has stood the test. second: a better day of prayer is dawning. fifty thousand people in great britain are banded together to pray and to pray until the blessing comes if that be for years. oh, that god would teach us to pray! we do not half understand what it means to ask god for blessings. a story of prayer which would seem impossible if i did not know it to be true, for i have friends who have been in the town where it occurred and have met the descendants of the old sea captain, is the story of the captain who took his boy and others to fish and in the midst of the hurricane the boy was washed over board. broken-hearted, he returned to the shore and the fisher wife, as was her custom, came down to meet them, only to sob her way back to her home because her boy was gone. they spent the night in the kirk in prayer, when the minister said, "why not ask god to restore his body?" and they did. they put out to sea and journeyed sixty miles until he told them to stop and when they let over the grappling hooks they knew by the very tug of the rope that they had his body. they bore it back again to the broken-hearted captain and his wife, who had all the time been waiting in the kirk in prayer. may god teach us how to pray! a brighter day is dawning, and while it may be that some of us cannot see it, while there may be skeptics who say it is not exactly true, yet i know from what i have seen myself that the darkness is passing away. in june, , the steamer catalonia at ten o'clock at night was found to be on fire. one of my friends has told me that he paced the deck and considered himself lost because the flames were burning fiercely. finally the fire was under control and the people sang, "praise god from whom all blessings flow." telling me of the lessons that he learned on this awful journey, he said: "that night at twelve o'clock, when the pumps were being forced and the clouds of smoke were taking on new dimensions and we were wondering what the morning would bring us, the man on the bridge shouted, as he had at each midnight of the trip, 'eight bells, all's well!'" had the man down in a stateroom watching by the side of his sick wife heard the words, he might have said, "it's a falsehood," but that man's vision was restricted by the narrow walls of his stateroom. had the mother and daughter, sitting in the cabin, with their arms about each other, wondering why they had been allowed to sail on the catalonia and leave their loved ones behind, heard it, they might have said, "the man is beside himself," but they could not see beyond the cabin. had the lonely traveler who stood near the hatchway given it a thought he might have said, "it's a lie," but he could not see through the clouds of smoke at which he stared silently. but the vision of the watch swept the horizon, and there was no obstruction in the ship's path. he knew that each revolution of the catalonia's machinery pushed the ship on her way to queenstown. he had a right to say it. i somehow seem to hear the sound of the goings in the tops of the trees and have evidence that god is coming to his church with blessing. it is true there is in some quarters indifference, in many places worldliness, but i can see no insurmountable barrier in the way of the progress of the kingdom of god. an obscured vision (preached at the opening of the winona lake bible conference.) text: "_where there is no vision, the people perish._"--proverbs : . it is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of the bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every reading. feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, i asked a number of my friends who knew me intimately and knew the occasion which was before me to suggest what in their minds would be an appropriate scripture, and in their suggestions i have had the most singular indication of the leading of providence. one said, "use hosea : , where god in speaking concerning his people israel says, 'they will not frame their doings,'" which means that his people would not set before themselves the way in which they were going; or it might mean that they would not set up a plan for their lives which would be according to his will and which he might bring on to completion. another said, "use genesis : ," where we are told that isaac digged again the wells of his father abraham. this is a suggestive incident and has in it a message for to-day, for if there is one thing needed more than another it is that the old wells at which our fathers drank and were refreshed and which, alas! in these modern times have been filled in, at least to a certain extent, should be opened and men be summoned once again to drink of their living waters. another said, "use jeremiah : , 'ask for the old paths;'" for as a matter of fact we cannot improve upon the ways in which our fathers walked, so far as the revelation of god is concerned or the doing of his will. still another suggested that i should use isaiah : , "gather out the stones, lift up a standard for the people," in which the description is of a great prince coming and all hindrances should be removed that the journey might be robbed of its difficulties and dangers. you will notice if you have watched the suggestions of these christian workers that the texts are practically all the same, and then when i tell you that the line of thought they have indicated was the very line which god suggested to me weeks and months before the conference you will be impressed as i have been that this subject is not of my own choosing, and therefore must be a message from god. neither is the text one of my own choosing, for god pressed it in upon me again and again and from it i was afraid to turn away. i like the text because it is in the book of proverbs. this book is not simply a collection of wise sayings and affectionate exhortations, for you will remember that the proverbs were put down after the event and not before its occurrence. this being true, proverbs presents an established fact: here we find what the wise men in all the ages have learned to be truth. if they speak of sin and its penalty they do it in the light of their own experience; if they say the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge they mean that they have tried other sources of wisdom and all have failed but this. all this makes the text exceedingly valuable, for the wise men of other days must have tried to walk without the vision and not only failed themselves but have set the people astray. by a vision we do not mean simply an imagination or dream which might come to some person who had little practical understanding of the ways of life, but we mean an appreciation of god's thought and approximate understanding of his plan and a desire to know his will. the word "perish," does not mean destruction, but rather the idea is to "run wild"; so the literal rendering of the text is, "where there is no revelation the people run wild"--that is to say, if god is put out of thought every man is a law unto himself and therefore is dangerous to the community in which he lives. he is like a ship sailing for a harbor without chart or compass and with utter indifference to the pole star. whatever your impressions, convictions or purposes, they should always be squared by reverent, careful and profound study of god's will and word. the first sentence of the bible is this, "in the beginning god," and it must be the first sentence of every plan and of every purpose of the individual and the community or there is danger ahead. i there ought never to be an age without a vision, indeed without repeated visions. if there should be such a time it might be a time of prosperity, but inevitably souls would be neglected. there ought not to be an individual without a vision. if there should be such an one he is missing the best of his life. if there be no vision the horizon of man may be bounded by his office, his store, his home, his own city or his native land, while as a matter of fact this is only a part of what god meant him to do and to be. god's plans are from everlasting to everlasting. the wonderful work he is doing in this world is only a part of the plan, for in the ages to come he expects to show forth the manysidedness of his grace and reveal to us the depth of his love to us in christ. john mcneill's friend had an eagle which he had reared in the farm yard with the ordinary fowl that lived there. this friend sold his property and determined to move to another part of scotland. he could dispose of his horses and sell his chickens but no one wanted the eagle. what should he do with it? he determined to teach it to fly, and threw it up in the air only to have it come down with a thud upon the ground. then he lifted it and placed it upon the barn yard fence and was holding it for a moment when suddenly the eagle lifted its eyes and caught a glimpse of the sun. it stretched forth its head as far as it could, threw out one wing, then another, and with a scream and a bound was away flying upward until it was lost in the face of the sun. this is what we are needing to-day--namely, to lift up our eyes and see god's plan and try to understand his purposes. the eagle so long had held its head down that it had lost the vision of the sun; the first glimpse of it set him free. what we mean by a vision, therefore, is an appreciation of god's purposes and plans and a hearty yielding to him for service in the accomplishment of the same. joseph cook when he was making a plea for china's millions said one day, "put your ear down to the ground and listen and you will hear the tramp, tramp, tramp of four hundred millions of weary feet." i have to say this morning, lift up your eyes and look, open your ears and listen and you will both see and hear that god has a great plan for us which he will reveal to all if only we will permit him to do so. in proportion as a people loses its faith in a revelation from god it falls into decay. the student of history recalls vividly the story of the french revolution, which is a proof of this statement. god has always spoken concerning his plans and it has been to living men and women that he has granted visions. he came to abraham and he saw christ's day and was glad: he visited moses and he endured as seeing him who is invisible: he was lifted up before isaiah and he first confessed his sin and shame, then cried, "here am i, send me." he granted saul of tarsus a vision of himself as he approached damascus until he cried, "who art thou?" and then began to walk in fellowship with him until like the hero that he was he mounted from the eternal city to that city which has foundations whose builder and maker is god. he stood before john as in apocalyptic vision he saw him with his head and his hair, white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes as a flame of fire. but if you should say, "oh, yes, but this is in bible times and we are living in a different age," then hear me when i say that he has come to living men and women in our own day with a revelation of his will. he spoke to zinzendorf and we have a mighty work among the moravians. he revealed himself to the wesleys and we have the mighty movement of methodism. he talked with edwards and we have the great revival of new england. he revealed himself to finney and we have the great manifestation of power in the state of new york. he walked and talked with moody and we have the greatest evangelistic work of his day and generation with moody as his instrument. these were all men with visions. he has come to great missionaries like paton who saw the new hebrides islands evangelized while yet they sat in darkness, because he saw god. he has spoken to our own fulton in china, who writes that the people are flocking to christ. to him it is no surprise, for he knew that they would do it while others were still skeptical. he knew it because he knew god. let us remember that, however true it may be that god speaks in conscience, providence, through the church and by the preaching of his word, his supreme revelation is in his own word. this book contains the revealed will of god and this book is his word. ii why are we not having revelations to-day as we know they have been given at other times? why is not some one in our own land especially working out some of the great plans and purposes of god? the question is easily answered. the difficulty is not with god. he is the same forever. we alone must be at fault. without any spirit of harsh criticism and with a prayer to god that he will make my spirit as he would have it, permit me to say that i fear the visions are not being given to us for the following reasons: first: because of the disrespect shown to his son. we have come to a time when men seek to limit his knowledge, and occasionally they are saying that he did not know concerning the things of which he spake. such blasphemy makes us shudder. there is a disposition to misinterpret his teaching. they did it in paul's day and he spoke by inspiration when he said, "if any man present another gospel than that which i have presented let him be accursed." there is a disposition to rob him of his deity. "is jesus divine?" was the question asked not long ago of one who called himself a minister, and he answered, "yes, in the sense that buddha is divine or confucius is divine." our faces grow white with fear as we listen to such blasphemous statements in such an age as this. this helps to overcast the sky and god can hardly trust us with a vision in such an atmosphere. second: an irreverent criticism of the word of god. that there is a reverent criticism all will allow, and that many who are walking these paths are devout believers in god and in his word i would like to be among the first to acknowledge. there are three kinds of critics to-day. first: those who honestly want the best and who are studying carefully and prayerfully to know the truth. second: those who ape scholarship. third: those whose lives may not be right, and for them if any part of the bible could be cut away they would be less condemned. we need not fear, however; our bible is not in danger, for this is largely a question of scholarship. some of you who listen to me may not class yourselves as scholars. i certainly do not put myself in that company, but one thing i know: i have seen the bible work as no other book has ever worked, and i have seen jesus christ save miraculously multitudes of poor lost sinners. i am not disturbed for the future; there are as great scholars as the world has ever known who still hold to your mother's bible and who have lost not one whit of confidence in it. thomas newberry, a devout english student, spent fifty years in study to give the world his newberry bible. he said, "i accept the theory of the plenary inspiration of the scriptures. i have studied every 'jot and tittle' of the word of god and after these fifty years i see no reason for changing my position." scholars' names almost without number could be mentioned as believing in the scriptures as the divinely inspired word of god. for myself i would have great assurance in standing side by side with dr. paton, and i would not think of trembling so long as our sainted dr. moorehead walks courageously along life's journey as he nears its end with faith in god's word unshaken, with confidence in god's son constantly growing. this blessed old book has been railed at in all the ages. men have professed to overthrow it, they have cut and slashed at it like jehoiakim of old, but it is better than ever to-day. it is the word of god. heaven and earth may pass away but this word, never. not long ago i attended a conference of christian workers and was told by one of them that i could not appreciate the bible except i read it with the thought of literary criticism in mind. my friend interpreted a portion of the word of god for me in this way and it was beautiful. it reminded me of nothing so much as a diamond perfectly cut, kissed by the sunlight and throwing back its sparkling light to me as i gazed upon it. another said that i would never be able to understand the bible until i read it from the standpoint of the elocutionist in the best use of that expression, and he read in my hearing the story of joseph and his brethren and i felt that i myself had never read the bible before and really had never heard it read. still another came with his higher criticism and said that much of the bible was mythical, that the stories i had loved were simply allegorical; and i listened to him and went back to my bible to read, only to find that you may read it any way, spell it out in your youth letter by letter, read it through your tears as you reach middle life and your heart is aching, hold it against your heart when your eyes are too dim to read its pages, and it will yield to you a sweetness which is actually beyond the power of man to describe. this is a wonderful book and in this book god reveals himself. handle it irreverently and you will have no vision. third: it seems to me that the church is not what she ought to be, and this being true the vision is denied. one of my friends said the other day that the difficulty with the church is that she has lost her interrogation point. at the day of pentecost people were saying, "what do these things mean?" to-day they never think of saying it. i have been told in a little pamphlet issued by an english writer that the church has lost her possessive case, which means that somehow she has gone on without realizing that the risen, glorified christ is her blessed lord. it is a great thing to say "jesus"; infinitely greater is it to say "my jesus." the church has lost her imperative mode. in days that are past it was possible for the church to stand in the presence of evil and say, "in the name of almighty god this iniquity must stop." but to-day it is not possible. the church has lost her present tense. we are constantly looking for blessings in the future. god's promises are all written for the present. it is to the church on fire that god grants a vision. fourth: some of the difficulty must rest with us as ministers of the gospel. i fear that some of us have lost our message. it has loosened its grip upon us, and you never can move another man until you are first moved yourself by the message you would give to him. at a great gathering not long ago i heard a distinguished eastern professor speaking. the topic of his lecture was "my foster children," and these foster children were some animals which he had had as pets, whose habits he had carefully studied. one was a gila monster from the plains of arizona, another was a horned owl, the third was a rat, and the fourth was an opossum. if you can imagine more uninteresting subjects than these you are more imaginative than myself, and yet he thrilled me and held three thousand people in breathless interest. oh, my brethren, if i believe in jesus christ as the son of god and as a savior able not only to save to the uttermost but to keep through eternity, and that message grips me, i am a poor preacher if i fail with it to grip and move other men. i fear we have lost our boldness. i am a minister of the glorious gospel of the grace of god and i have a right to demand a hearing and to give my message, not because of what i am myself--god forbid--but because of what my savior is. some of us have lost our passion for souls; we mourn over it, we know that when we once had this it was the secret of a successful ministry. it is not wrong for me to say to you this morning that to the minister without a message, to the minister who has lost his holy boldness, to the minister who has anything less than a burning passion for souls, god cannot give his vision. iii i know that i have your deepest sympathy in the longing which i now express for this great gathering--namely, that god would give to us a vision. first: as to what the bible really is. one of my friends told me the other day of a blind girl who could not read because she had been too busy and somehow had not thought that she could use the raised letters which have been such a boon to god's blind children. i am told she learned that she might read while on these grounds last summer. it was made possible later on for her to have a teacher and she began to study little books until she could read quite fluently. one day unknown to her there was brought into her home a bible with raised letters and without telling what the book was it was opened at the fourteenth chapter of john and she was bidden to read in it. she had no sooner touched the page, her fingers enabling her to read, "let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in god, believe also in me," than with radiant face she exclaimed, "why this is god's word; the very touch of it is different." i would that we might have this vision. second: i wish that we might have a vision of christ. he is the chiefest among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely. he is a mighty savior and a mighty helper. i cannot bring him a burden too great, nor talk to him about a trial too insignificant. oh, that we might see him as he is! and finally, i wish that we might know what service is, for knowing this we would be instant in season and out of season. some years ago fannie crosby, the blind hymn writer, was speaking in one of the missions in new york city. suddenly she stopped and said, "i wonder if there is not some wandering boy in this audience this evening who would have the courage to step out from this audience and come up and stand by my side so that i might put my arms around him and kiss him for his mother?" there was a hush upon the audience; then a boy from the rear seat started and came to the platform, and with her arms around about him and her lips against his cheek for his mother's sake, fannie crosby said, "oh, my friends, let us rescue the perishing." from this meeting she went to her home, and sitting in her room wrote: "rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave, weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of jesus, the mighty to save." years afterward she spoke in st. louis at a great meeting and related this incident. before she had finished a man in the audience sprang to his feet and said, "miss crosby, listen to me. i am a prosperous merchant in this city, a husband and a father, a christian and an officer in the church. i was that boy around whom you threw your arms." such an experience as that is worth a lifetime of service. i wish to put myself on record. i know that many of you are with me. i stand for nothing in these days that would in the least obscure men's vision of the power of god, or their vision of the glorious majesty of the son of god, and i count nothing worth while except to do that thing which would mean the winning of a soul to jesus christ. i believe god is giving to some men in these days a vision as to what may be accomplished if only a mighty work of grace should be given to us. he certainly is ready to pour out his spirit upon his own people, and it is only necessary that we should first of all realize our weakness, then understand his power, realize that souls are lost and dying and then know that he is able to save to the uttermost; and above all to realize that in all ages he has used human instruments for the accomplishment of his purposes, and realizing these things to see that our lives are right in his sight, to have such a victory for god as the world has never seen. for this day we hope and pray and cry aloud, "o lord, how long, how long?" the compassion of jesus text: "_but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion._"--matt. : . the keynote of the earthly ministry of jesus christ was "compassion." you have but to follow him in his journeys by day and by night to find the proof of this statement. whether he ministers to the sick of the palsy, turns aside to help the father whose child is dead, heals the woman with the issue of blood, drives away the leprosy from the man dead by law, stops to open the eyes of the blind man by the wayside, helps the beggar or wins the member of the sanhedrim, he is always the same. if you journey with him in the morning on the shores of the sea of galilee, or at noon rest with him as he sits on the well curb of jacob's well; it you stop with him in the evening as he bares his side and thrusts forth his hand to the doubting thomas, or behold him as he is roused from his sleep in the boat to quiet the storm; if you study him on the mountain side at midnight or behold him in the garden of gethsemane when no one beholds his agony but the eye of his father--you will learn that he was always compassionate. you cannot discover him under any circumstances when this statement is not true of him. this ninth chapter of matthew is indeed remarkable. it can be appreciated only when we read the closing part of the eighth chapter, for it is here that the people, angry because of the destruction of the swine, besought him to leave their country; and it is here we see him taking his departure. men have since that time driven him from their hearts and their homes for reasons quite as trifling. it is a sad thing to know that any one can drive him away if he chooses to do so. the chapter is remarkable, however, because here we not only read the story of the calling of matthew from his position of influence, but find more specific cases of healing than in most other chapters of the new testament. there is the healing of the sick of the palsy in the second verse, the significant part of which is he was healed when jesus saw _their_ faith; the picture of the father whose child was dead and then raised by him, in the eighteenth verse and the twenty-fifth verse; the account of the woman with the issue of blood, in the twentieth verse, and the picture of discouragement when all earthly physicians had failed changed into great joy when the virtue of the great physician healed her: the account of the dumb man, in the thirty-second verse, who was possessed of a devil as well; and then in the thirty-fifth verse a general statement concerning him to the effect that he healed all manner of diseases. the chapter is also remarkable because these cases presented to jesus were of the very worst sort. the man with the palsy could not come himself, however much he wanted to do so, and four men were required to bring him; the child was dead and so beyond all human help; the two blind men were undoubtedly beggars and outcasts; the dumb man was possessed of a devil in addition to his dumbness; the group of people who were subjects of his healing power had every manner of disease, but while the people were different and the cases were desperate, jesus was always the same. there were six specific illustrations of healing: three of these came to jesus for themselves, the two blind men and the woman; two others were brought to him, the man sick with the palsy and the man who was dumb; and for the other case the father came and took jesus to the child. in all the general cases jesus went himself to the suffering. when all these subjects have been presented then comes the text, which is its own outline. there is first the picture of the multitudes, a great number of people. then the statement that they had fainted; literally it is, "they were tired." then they were described as sheep, the only animal known which in its wandering cannot find its way home of itself. and finally it was stated that they had no shepherd, the responsibility for their wandering resting upon others rather than upon themselves. this is the outline of this message. i the picture which jesus beheld as he walked through his own country is repeated to-day on every side of us, and he is still moved with compassion because of those who are helpless and undone. it is true we have done something for him. the last census shows that the membership of the protestant churches has increased more rapidly than the population. for this we should be thankful. it is also true that the church machinery of the day is well nigh perfect: the buildings and equipment with which we have to do have never been excelled. yet, counting the membership of both the catholic and protestant churches, there are forty million people to-day in our land who are not in the church and who evidently do not care for the church. with these people there seems to be a growing indifference to everything that is spiritual. a man in an apartment house in new york, when asked the other day to do something for a poor family for the sake of god, answered blasphemously, "i do not care for the opinion of men, i do not even care for god himself; i am for myself first, last and all the time." as we walk the streets we ought to be impressed with the fact that men on every side of us are lost in the proportion of one to four. as we sit in a car we ought to be impressed with the fact that one in four have rejected christ and are hopeless. in every city it is literally true that there are thousands of unchurched people without god and without hope in the world. of them the text would be true. "but when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion." ii when jesus saw these multitudes he saw them fainting or literally "growing tired," and this is the picture of lost people to-day. i am persuaded that they are tired of many things which follow in the wake of sin. . they must be weary of the hollowness of the world, for it cannot satisfy. i one day talked with a woman in massachusetts whose opportunity to mingle with the so-called best people of the world had been unexcelled. she had been a chosen and welcomed guest in the homes of royalty and knew intimately every president of the united states since she had grown to womanhood. after her conversion i asked her if the life of the world had satisfied; her answer was, "it is hollowness and sham almost from beginning to end." . the unchurched people must be weary of an accusing conscience. there is no unrest like it. the man who sees the folly of his conduct and whose conscience will not let him sleep, the man who realizes the blighting power of sin and yet seems powerless to heed the call of conscience, is in a pitiful condition. "and i know of the future judgment, how dreadful so'er it may be, that to sit alone with my conscience would be judgment enough for me." . they must be tired of the world's sorrow, for it is on every side. we are born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward and i cannot but think that in all parts of our cities to-day the people away from christ are saying, "oh, that i knew where peace might be found." . i know they are tired of the slavery of satan. a man formerly prominent in social and political circles, the cashier of a bank, when he found that he was a defaulter took his own life and left a letter for his wife in which he said, "oh, if some one had only spoken to me when i so much needed help all this might have been different." iii in the old testament and new, god's people are represented by the figure of sheep. especially it seems to me this must be a good figure, because sheep when wandering find it impossible to seek again for themselves their home, and in their helplessness they fittingly represent the one who wanders away from god. there are so many people to-day who are trying to find their way back without christ. they are like wandering sheep. there are so many who are seeking to climb up some other way into the favor of god. these are on every side of us, and the time has come for us to present unto them jesus christ the savior of the world. iv these people that jesus saw were shepherdless. the responsibility for their wandering therefore rested not so much upon themselves as upon the fact that the one who should have cared for them was not doing so. we are our brother's keeper, whether we are willing to acknowledge it or not. in meetings in california one of the ministers went forth during the week to invite those who were away from christ to come to him. he found an old white-haired soldier who said, "when i was in the army years ago i promised god that i would be a christian. i have never kept my word. yes, i will come to him now." and when he came his wife and children came with him. "all these years," he said, "i have waited for some one to ask me." he called upon another man who had been impressed in the meetings and this man acknowledged that he had long felt his need of help, that he had prayed the night before, "o god, if you want me to come to thee send some one to speak to me." when the minister came the man trembled when he said, "you must be the messenger of god for whom i have been waiting," and he came beautifully to christ. on every side of us people are waiting as sheep without a shepherd for us simply to do our duty. v the result of this vision which jesus had was that he did an unusual thing. in the tenth chapter and the first verse we read, "and when he had called unto him his twelve disciples he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." which leads me to say that we must have the same spirit. our present day church methods reach not more than one-fourth the unsaved and many of these come from the ranks of our sunday schools and from christian homes where for one reason or another they have not made a profession of their faith in christ. three-fourths of the lost are left to wander farther and farther away simply because they will not yield to our present day church methods. this is not as jesus would have it. in the twenty-first chapter of john the fifth and sixth verses we read, "then jesus saith unto them, children, have ye any meat? they answered him, no. and he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. they cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitudes of fishes." although these disciples had toiled and taken nothing the results were all changed when they cast their net on the right side of the boat. may it not be that we have been fishing on the wrong side or fishing in our own strength, or, as some one has said, fishing in too shallow water, when we should have been casting our nets in the deep? the fact is, we need him and without him we can do nothing. i have been told that of the forty distinct cases of healing in the new testament only six came to jesus by themselves. twenty were brought to jesus and to the fourteen others jesus was taken. i doubt not that the proportion is the same to-day, and if it is true then our methods of work must be changed and instead of praying for them to seek jesus we must either take them to jesus or bring the master into their company. there can be no successful winning of the multitudes until the personal element enters into it all. . there must be prayer. when jacob went forth to meet esau he walked with fear and trembling, but in genesis thirty-second chapter and twenty-eighth verse we read, "and he said, thy name shall be called no more jacob, but israel, for as a prince hast thou power with god and with men, and hast prevailed," so that long before esau was met victory was won. there must be no attempt to win the lost without first of all we have gained an audience with god in prayer, and if we pray as we ought to pray he will give us the assurance of victory before we start upon our mission. . there must be personal contact. it is said that a man recently went into a jewelry store to buy an opal and rejected all that were presented to him. one of them he rejected instantly. the salesman picked it up and closed it in his hand and finally in a casual way opened his hand and placed the opal upon the counter. "why," said the customer, "that is the opal i want. i have never seen anything finer," and yet he had rejected it first. the salesman told him that it was a sensitive opal and needed the touch of a human hand before it could reveal its beauty. oh, how many souls there are like this in the world! i have read that when robert louis stevenson visited the island of the lepers where father damien did his illustrious work he played croquet with the children, using the same mallets that they used; and when it was suggested that he put gloves upon his hands he refused to do so because, he said, "it will remind them the more of the difference between us." this spirit must prevail in our work if we are to win souls. two things we may do to reach the lost. ( ) speak to them. the power of human speech is simply marvelous. a sunday school boy appeared in a baptist church to apply for membership and when they asked him about his conversion he said, "my sunday school teacher took me for a walk one sunday in prospect park and talked with me about jesus and i gave myself to him." one of the officers of my church when an unsaved man was asked by his minister to attend special services in the church and then was urged by his wife to go with her. both invitations were angrily declined. he at last agreed to escort her to the church but not to enter in. the biting cold wind of the night drove him into the church and he was just in time to hear the minister's appeal to the unsaved. all were asked to lift their hands who would know christ and then he remembered that when he was a boy and had been drowning in lake george he lifted up his hand as high as he could and his brother took hold of it and kept him from sinking. suddenly it came to him in the church that he was sinking in another way, and instantly he raised his hand and christ took hold of it. i do not know of a more godly man among all my list of friends than he; and he says to-day that the invitation given to him and refused with anger led him to christ. ( ) write. the chief justice of the supreme court of a western state was not a christian until a few years ago. he was a genial, kindly man, and naturally a great lawyer, but he had never confessed christ as his savior, and apparently had little real interest in the church. one day the pastor of the presbyterian church determined that he would write him a letter, and then decided that so great a man would not receive his communication and destroyed it. but the pastor's wife had more faith and urged him to write again. he did so, and sent the second letter and forwarded with it spurgeon's "all of grace." he received word almost instantly that the chief justice had been deeply impressed, and that as a matter of fact he was waiting for years for some one to speak to him. the letter moved him and the little book gave him the instructions needed. to-day he is one of the brightest christians i know. his face is a benediction. he said to me one day that it was a wonderful thing to be a christian; that he never allowed any one to meet him that he did not talk with him about his soul. are there not hundreds and thousands of other men waiting, as the chief justice waited, for some one to speak or write? . there must be a personal consecration not only to christ but to the work if we would be successful. the biography of helen kellar [transcriber's note: keller?], who was released from her imprisonment by the devotion of her teacher, is an illustration along this line. this teacher must go to this girl sitting in darkness and describe to her the commonest objects of every-day life. she told her about water, heat and cold and when something hurt her she told her with the language of touch that she loved her and helen kellar [transcriber's note: keller?] answered back, "i love you, too." the devotion of this teacher brought this noble soul to light and power. a work like this awaits many of us in bringing the lost to christ. when elisha went down to raise the shunammite's boy he put his eyes to the eyes of the boy, his hands to the boy's hands and his mouth to his mouth. something like this we must do. we have friends who possess eyes and see not, we must have eyes for them; they have lips and speak not, we must speak to god for them; they have hands and reach them not out after god, and we must have faith for them. in other words, we must not let them go away from christ. such a spirit as this pleases god and such a spirit saves our friends. a friend told me that with the ship's surgeon of a vessel he once crossed the sea. he said the doctor told him that one day a boy fell overboard and was rescued but the case seemed hopeless. the ship's surgeon casually passing along the deck said to those who labored with him, "i think you can do nothing more; you have done all that is possible," and then curiosity led him to look at the boy for himself. instantly his whole spirit was changed. he blew into his nostrils, breathed into his mouth, begged god to spare him, labored for four hours with him before he could bring him back to life, for the boy was his own boy. what if we should not have this spirit with the lost! "if grief in heaven could find a place, or shame the worshiper bow down, who meets the savior face to face, 'twould be to wear a starless crown." but on the other hand, what if we should simply be faithful? then may the following be true of us: "perhaps in heaven, some day, to me some sainted one shall come and say, all hail, beloved, but for thee my soul to death had fallen a prey. and, oh, the rapture of the thought, one soul to glory to have brought." general booth of the salvation army describes a vessel making its way home from the australian gold fields. the miners had struggled to get rich and at last every man had around about him his belt of gold. the ship lost her way in the ocean and, set out of her course, suddenly crashed upon the rocks of an island near by. almost instantly she sank. as one miner stood looking at the shore he knew that he was strong enough as a swimmer to save his gold and save his own life; but as he was about to throw himself into the sea a little girl whose mother and father had been washed overboard came over to him to say, "oh, sir, can you not save me?" it was then a choice between the child and the gold. the struggle was terrific but at last the gold was thrown aside, the child fastened to his body and he struggled through the waves until he fell exhausted and fainting upon the shore. the great salvation army officer says that when this strong man came to himself the little child was by his side. throwing her arms about his neck she exclaimed with sobs, "oh, sir, i am so glad you saved me." "that was worth more to him than the gold," said general booth. and if in heaven some day upon the streets of gold we shall meet just one redeemed soul who was once lost and in the darkness, and we know that that one soul is there because we were true, the streets of gold will be better, the gates of pearl will be brighter, the many mansions more beautiful, the music sweeter, and, if such a thing were possible, the vision of christ more entrancing. certainly it would be thrilling to hear him say to us, "inasmuch as ye did it unto these little ones ye did it unto me." sanctification text: "_this is the will of god, even your sanctification._"-- thess. : . it is quite significant that the apostle paul writes explicitly concerning sanctification to a church in which he had such delight that he could write as follows: "paul, and silvanus, and timotheus, unto the church of the thessalonians in god our father and the lord jesus christ: grace be unto you, and peace, from god our father, and the lord jesus christ. we are bound to thank god always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of god for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of god, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of god, for which ye also suffer: seeing it is a righteous thing with god to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us; when the lord jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not god, and that obey not the gospel of our lord jesus christ: who shall be punished with ever-lasting destruction from the presence of the lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day" ( thessalonians : - ). no higher commendation than this could be paid to any followers of the lord jesus christ, and yet unto such a people we find him saying, "this is the will of god, even your sanctification." it reminds us of that other scene in the new testament when nicodemus comes to jesus by night. he was a member of the sanhedrim, he was in the truest sense of the word a moral man, and yet jesus, knowing all this, deliberately looked into his face and said with emphasis, "verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god. that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be born again" (john : - ). both of these statements lead us to believe that god's requirements for his people are very high. these we may not attain unto at all in our own strength or the energy of our flesh or because of any inherited righteousness which we may possess. there is no way to reach his standard except by complete identity with christ; and this is made possible by means of faith. to know the will of god concerning anything is a great satisfaction. it is like food to our souls if we can say with jesus, "my meat is to do god's will." it is an indescribable pleasure if we can say with the son of god, "i delight to do thy will." it is the key to the highest form of knowledge, for we have found it true that "he that doeth the will of god shall know of the doctrine." it is the promise of eternal life, for we are told in god's word, "he that doeth the will of god abideth forever." there is possibly no place where god's will for us is more clearly stated than in this text. sometimes we may know his will by praying. how often revelations have come thus to us as if from the very skies concerning his desires for us! we may know it sometimes by thinking. if one would but yield his mind perfectly to god in his providences as well as in his word he would know god's will concerning him. we may know it sometimes by talking to others, for not infrequently god gives a revelation to one child of his for the guidance of another's life. but in this connection it is most definitely stated, "this is the will of god, even your sanctification." and the apostle emphasizes his words, first: by the use of the most affectionate expression, "furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the lord jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please god, so ye would abound more and more" ( thessalonians : ). second: he speaks on the authority of jesus himself. "for ye know what commandments we gave you by the lord jesus" ( thessalonians : ). third: he emphasizes it by referring to the second coming of our lord, for he well knew that if one was looking for the appearing of the son of god he would turn away from fleshly lusts and abstain from that which was unclean, thus encouraging the work of sanctification. the apostle paul says to the thessalonians after he has clearly set before them god's will concerning their living, "but i would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. for if we believe that jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in jesus will god bring with him. for this we say unto you by the word of the lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of god: and the dead in christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the lord. wherefore comfort one another with these words" ( thessalonians : - ). it was not enough for them, in his judgment, to abide in the faith; they must abound in the works of the gospel. to talk well without walking well is not pleasing to god, for the character of the christian is thus described, "he walks not after the flesh but after the spirit." the presentation of this subject impresses upon us the fact that we have lost many of the best words in the bible because they have been misused and their teaching misapprehended. if you speak of holiness men look askance at you, and yet holiness is simply wholeness or healthfulness and is to the soul what health is to the body. who, then, would be without it? if you speak of sanctification immediately your hearers imagine you are talking concerning sinlessness, and yet there is no better word in the scriptures than sanctification, for in one way it means separation from sin, in another way it means an increasing likeness to christ. there are six particular effects of faith. first: there is union with christ. it is true that we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world and that we are an elect people, but it is also true that we are by nature the children of wrath and it is necessary that we should make a deliberate choice of him as a savior. when by faith we have taken christ as a savior we are united to him. faith is counting that which seems unreal as real, as untrue as true and that which seems not to exist as if it existed. faith unites us to him. without him we are as nothing. second: justification. "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit" (romans : ). "he that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god" (john : ). as we believe in christ we are clothed with his righteousness. whether we can explain it or not, this righteousness answers every demand of god's justice. thus it is that romans the eighth chapter the thirty-third and the thirty-fourth verses becomes true for us. let it be noticed, however, that in both of these verses the two words, "_it_," and "_is_" are in italics, which would indicate that they were not in the original. concerning those who are justified, therefore, the verses would read as follows: "who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect." the rest of the verse is a question, "god that justifieth?" the thirty-fourth verse reads, "who is he that condemneth?" and the answer is a question, "christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercession for us?" and paul here simply means to say that if god can lay nothing to our charge and christ would not condemn us then we are free, and justification at least to the layman carries with it this thought: . the justified man stands as if he had not sinned at all. his record is clean. . the debt which sin had incurred is paid and instead of being afraid and trembling at the thought of sin we sing with rejoicing, "jesus paid it all, all to him i owe." third: participation of his life. paul writes to the galatians, "i live, and yet not i, but christ liveth in me." and in the fifteenth chapter of john the first six verses we read, "i am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. now ye are clean through the word which i have spoken unto you. abide in me, and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. i am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." so faith unites us to him and his life becomes a very part of our being. (a) it is like the principle of grafting. when the branch is grafted into the tree the life of the tree throbs its way into the branch and ultimately there is fruitfulness. if we only could sustain the right relations to christ we would have the cure for worldliness. (b) because of this participation and privilege we need not be concerned. i have heard of a man who grafted a branch into a tree and then went each day to take the graft out to see what progress it had made, and the branch died. (c) our life need not be intermittent--that is, hot to-day and cold to-morrow--but it may be all the time an abundant life; not because of what we are but because of what christ is. fourth: peace. romans : , "therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ." and peace arises from a sense of reconciliation. if faith is strong, then peace is abundant; if it is fitful peace partakes of the same character. that man who has faith in jesus christ as a personal savior has the following threefold blessing--first, _peace with god_; second, _the peace of god_; third, _the god of peace_. fifth: sanctification. acts : , "to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan unto god, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." of this we shall speak more at length a little later. sixth: assurance. this is plainly written in god's word. notice john : , "for god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." and john : , "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed from death unto life." the entire first epistle of john also emphasizes the same truth. i sanctification is therefore entirely by faith. first: by faith we receive the indwelling of the spirit and he makes christ real to us. because christ is real by faith we may walk with him; and that man who keeps step with jesus christ will find that he has come day by day to turn away from those things which were formerly his defeat. we may also talk with him. that hymn which we sometimes sing, "a little talk with jesus, how it smooths the rugged way," has been true in the experience of many of us. we may also be so constantly associated with him that we may find ourselves actually like him; and to grow like christ by the power of the spirit is to have the work of sanctification carried on. second: by faith exercised in god the spirit continues his work. we have only to remember the promises of god concerning him, the first of which is that the spirit is here carrying on his special work in his particular dispensation. his second promise is that he is in us if we be children of god, and we need only to yield to his presence day by day to be delivered from the power of sin. his third promise is that he will take of the things of god and show them unto us. things which the world's people cannot understand he makes plain unto us. "eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things which god hath prepared for those who love him," but the spirit hath revealed them unto us. the fourth promise is that he will not leave us. we may resist the spirit, we may grieve the spirit, but we will not grieve him away. his power may be greatly limited in our lives, the work of sanctification under the influence of his presence be greatly hindered, but he is with us, "nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from him." third: by faith we have a vision of things unseen and they become real to us. faith is to the soul what the eye is to the body. the things of god become actually real, and becoming so they are powerful. under the influence of this vision temporal things are trifling. the christian who is true to his position lives in heaven, breathes its atmosphere, is pervaded by its spirit and so becomes pure, tender, obedient, loving. no wonder that to these people whose lives were so attractive paul wrote in the text, "this is the will of god, even your sanctification." ii justification and sanctification ought to be compared to appreciate the latter. the first is an act, the second is a work. we do not grow in justification. there is no distinction between christians in this respect; the smallest child accepting christ is as truly justified as the saint of a half century. so far as sanctification is concerned there is the widest possible difference. justification depends upon what christ does for us, sanctification depends upon what christ does in us. first of all it is a supernatural work. in this respect among others it differs from reformation. henry drummond has said that in reformation men work from the circumference, in sanctification they work from the center. the triune god may really be counted upon as the author of this work. in thessalonians the fifth chapter and the twenty-third verse we have the work of the father. "and the very god of peace sanctify you wholly; and i pray god your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our lord jesus christ." in ephesians fifth chapter twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses we have the work of the son. "husbands, love your wives, even as christ also loved the church and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." in john the seventeenth chapter and the seventeenth verse we have special emphasis laid upon the work of the spirit. "sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." what folly, therefore, to think that we could carry on this work by ourselves! second: just what, therefore, is this work of sanctification? when we are regenerated we have given to us an entirely new nature. the old nature and the new are absolutely different; and the old and the new war one against the other. the bible is full of the accounts of those who have met this inward conflict. some of the most eminent people in the world whose names have been mentioned in the bible and out of it have told the story of their backsliding, their falling, their repentance, and their lamentation because of their weakness. you have all read the seventh chapter of romans. whether this is the story of paul's experience or not, it is the story of yours. galatians the fifth chapter sixteenth and seventeenth verses gives us the same thought. "this i say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary, the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." what is it, therefore? it is just the working day by day of the spirit of christ in us. it is the growth of that spiritual nature which after a while controls our whole being. it is the bringing into subjection of the old nature until it has no more dominion over us. after paul's struggle in the seventh chapter of romans he comes triumphantly to the second verse of the eighth chapter of romans and exclaims, "for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." iii it god is the author, then certain things need to be emphasized. first: we need only to be yielding day by day to his efforts and presence and power to become more and more sanctified. his life flows along the path of least resistance; if there is difficulty with us in the matter of temper, sharpness of tongue, an impure mind or an unforgiving spirit, give him liberty and the work is complete. second: we must learn that the least thing may hinder his work in us. it became necessary for me recently to purchase a hayrake. i was told of two different kinds, one the old-fashioned kind where the prongs of the rake must be lifted by hand, the other an automatic arrangement where by simply touching the foot to a spring the movement of the wheels would lift the rake at the proper time so that raking hay was a delight. the first day the rake was in the field it was almost impossible to use it. it was too heavy to lift by hand and the foot attachment would not work. we sent for the man who had sold us the implement. there was just one little part of the attachment missing. missing that, hard effort was required and poor work was accomplished. it may be that some little thing stands in the way of your blessing, or the lack of some little thing hinders your usefulness. third: we have only to remember the law of growth. we do not grow by trying. who ever heard of a boy growing in this way? who ever heard of a doctor who had a prescription for growth? our effort for christian growth is just a succession of failures. how many times we have said, "i am determined to be better; my temper shall never get the better of me again"! we are beginning at the wrong end. instead of dealing with the symptoms, let us see that we are in right relations with christ and he will effect the cure. let us, therefore, just observe the right attitude towards christ and we have the secret. henry drummond has said in one of his books that the problem of the christian life is simply this: "men must be brought to observe the right attitude. to abide in christ is to be in right position and that is all." much work is done on board a ship in crossing the atlantic, yet none of this is spent in making the ship go. the sailor harnesses his vessel to the wind, he lifts his sail, lays hold of his rudder and the miracle is wrought. god creates, man utilizes. god gives the wind, the water, the heat, and man lays hold of that which god has given us, holding himself in position by the grace of god, and the power of omnipotence courses within his soul. iv we are in this world slowly but surely coming to be like christ. to be christ-like is one thing--we may be in this way or that--but to be like christ is entirely different. wonderful transformations have been wrought in this world by education and by culture. i remember when i was a lad in indiana being told of a celebrated indianapolis physician who advertised for the most helpless idiot child and the most hopeless was brought to him. for weeks and months no impression could be made upon that child. he used every day to take the child into his parlor, put him down on the floor and then lie beside him with the sunlight streaming in his face. he said over and over one syllable of a word until at last the child caught it, and i remember as a boy seeing that same child stand upon a platform, repeat the lord's prayer and the twenty-third psalm and sing a hymn to the praise of god [transcriber's note: part of page torn away here, and one, possibly two, words are missing] is wonderful; but more remarkable than that is the work which is going on in us day by day. we are becoming more christlike; one day we shall be _like christ_. "but _when_?" you say. this is the answer: "beloved, now are ye the sons of god, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." an unheeded warning text: "_my spirit shall not always strive with men._"--genesis : . for the truth of this statement one needs only to study his bible and he will find written in almost every book of old testament and new a similar expression. at the same time in the study of god's word it will be revealed to him that god has a great plan which he is carefully working out. we must be familiar with the beginning and the unfolding of this plan and with the conclusion he reached. when after the rebellion of his people and their unwillingness to obey his precepts we find him saying, "and god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. and it repented the lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. and the lord said, i will destroy man whom i have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that i have made them." then turning to the new testament scriptures we find almost a similar expression when jesus reaches the climax of his compassionate and gracious ministry with the children of israel. "he came unto his own and his own received him not"; and in the twenty-third chapter of matthew and the thirty-seventh to the thirty-ninth verse, inclusive, we hear him saying, "o jerusalem, jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would i have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! behold, your house is left unto you desolate. for i say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the lord." from that day on his special ministry was to the gentiles, and he has been seeking in every possible way to bring us to an appreciation of what it means to know him and to be filled with all his fullness. we have but to stop for a moment and consider to realize that by many his overtures have been declined, his spirit grieved and his son rejected. men have lived as if they had no responsibility towards him at all and in many instances they have put him entirely out of their consideration. if we compare present day indifference and sin with the condition of things at the time of the flood, and then again compare them with the position of israel when jesus turned away from them with tears, it would seem almost as if the world of the present day had made progress both in the matter of indifference and rejection; and therefore it is not strange that such an old testament text as this would be applicable to people living about us. it is a solemn text. "_my spirit shall not always strive with men_." it is along the line of those solemn words of dr. alexander: "there is a time, we know not when; a place, we know not where, that seals the destiny of man for glory or despair." again we read, "ye shall seek me and shall not find me, and where i am there ye cannot come." that also is the spirit of the text. god tells us, "to-day if ye will hear his voice harden not your heart," which simply means that if we neglect to hear the heart will become hardened, the will stubborn, and we shall be unsaved and hopeless. again he tells us, "now is the accepted time, and now is the day of salvation." so for men to act as if they might come at any time and choose their own way of salvation is to sin against him, and to all such he speaks the text--"my spirit shall not always strive with men." it is assumed that the spirit of god does strive with men. if he will not strive always, then he does strive at some particular time, and with many of us he is striving now. we may not be willing to confess it to our friends, but nevertheless it is true. in many ways he is bringing to our attention the eternal interests of our souls, and this is striving. it is implied that men are resisting the spirit of god. if this were not so there could be no striving, and the text indicates that men may continue so long to resist him and to sin against him that after a while the door of mercy will close and hope be a thing of the past. i what is the striving of the spirit? i have no doubt but that many are asking this question seriously and fearfully and it is worthy of our most careful consideration. . it is just god speaking to us and causing us to say to ourselves if not to others, "well, i ought to be a christian; this life of worldliness does not pay." there is nothing but an accusing conscience, a weakened character and a blighted life as the result of it. do not for a moment think that this is just an impression that has come to you; it is the voice of god and you would do well to hear it. this striving of the spirit is simply the spirit of god seeking to convince men that the only safe life is that which is hid with christ in god, safe not only for eternity--the most of us believe that--but safe for time. temptations are too powerful for us to withstand alone and trials are too heavy for us to bear in our own strength. the striving of the spirit is just our heavenly father graciously attempting to persuade us to yield to him, sometimes by providences. when but a lad my old pastor used one night an illustration from which i never have been able to get away. it was the story of the old fisherman who took his little boy with him to fish and found that on his accustomed fishing grounds he was unsuccessful; so, leaving the boy upon the little island, he started away to fish alone. the mists came down in his absence and, missing his way, he lost his boy. he rowed everywhere calling him and at last he heard him in the distance, saying, "i am up here, papa; over this way." the fisherman found him, but not quickly enough to enable him to escape the cold night winds, and the boy sickened and died. the old fisherman said: "every night when i stood at my window i could see his outstretching hands and always above the storm i could hear his voice calling me upward. i could not but be a christian." my mother had just a few weeks before gone home to god, and i heard her voice as plainly as i could hear the voice of my friend at my side. every vision of a mother in heaven, of a child in the skies, is a call of god. he seeks to persuade us by calamities. the chicago theater horror, with its hundreds of women and children dead and disfigured, was god's call to a great city and to the world. this is the striving of the spirit. not with audible voice does he speak to us but by means of impressions and convictions. let us not think for a moment that these come simply because the preacher has influence and may possibly be possessed of a certain kind of genius or power. these are god's warnings to us. be careful, therefore, how you resist them. jesus said in john the sixteenth chapter the seventh to the eleventh verses, "nevertheless i tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that i go away: for if i go not away, the comforter will not come unto you; but if i depart, i will send him unto you. and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment. of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because i go to my father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." the word "_reprove_" is a judicial word. when the judge has heard the testimony for or against the criminal and the arguments of the counsel, he himself sums up the case and lays it before the jury, bringing out the strong points or the weak ones in relation to the criminal. this is reproving, and it is this that the spirit does. he brings before us jesus christ and then presents unto god our treatment of him, and so it is easy to understand how the text could be true. "my spirit shall not always strive with men." . how may we know that he is striving? there are very many ways. ( ) if the attention is aroused and centered upon religious subjects and interests, then be careful how you treat god. the student who finds his mind constantly escaping from his books to the thought of eternity; the business man who cannot possibly escape the thought that he owes god something and ought not to slight him, these have proofs that the spirit is striving. after an evangelistic meeting which i recently conducted i received the following letter, which clearly indicates the striving of the spirit: "i had not attended the church for years until to-night, but being a visitor in c. and hearing that you were from the east and a presbyterian i determined to go. i was lonely and it may be the spirit was calling me. i heard you speak of your little boys and of the sainted mother who has gone before and my proud heart was touched. i, too, have two darling boys back in the old state, a loving christian wife and a dear old mother who in parting said, 'dear son, i am old and i may never see you again on earth, but if i am not here when you return, remember, my son, my boy, we must meet in heaven.' "how much that meant to her! i did not quite realize it then, but your talk to-night impressed me and i believe that her prayers are being answered together with those of a loving, courageous, steadfast christian wife, and that i am at last, at the age of forty-two, beginning to see how great my opportunities to do good have been and how my example has been a great hindrance and stumbling block to others in the way of life. admitting that this life has no stronger emotion than our love for our families, how much more i am impressed to-night with my duty to him who gave his only son to suffer that we might live in the life everlasting! "in a busy business life and career i had drifted away from the safe anchorage of the church and sunday school of my boyhood and had almost convinced myself that by charity and exercising good will and kindliness in my business i could do almost as much good as if i were in the church; but i see my mistake. to make an army effective we must stand in the ranks, must be soldiers in the army of christ ready and willing to do at all times whatever we see before us. "i have written my dear old mother a letter to-night which i know will please her far more than if i had told her i had found a mine of california gold; her prayers, my wife's, yours and those of other true christian men and women have been answered, and i realize that now, (not next week, nor next month, nor when i get my business finished and go back to the east) is the day and the hour to remember christ and know that his love for us is greater even than the love that tugs at our heartstrings when we think of the dear little ones at home who lovingly call us father, and for whom we gladly endure the heartaches of separation when we know that our labors will contribute to their comfort and happiness. "i realize from the standpoint of a business man how many there are in the world to criticise your best efforts and your work and how few who ever stop to say, 'i thank you; you have done me good.' i take time to-night to do more. i want to say that your message from the king of kings has not fallen on stony ground. i shall try to enter again the battle of life, not as only in search of the wealth of this world but in search of the wealth that the world cannot take away--life everlasting. "you were right. preach and pray the fathers into the kingdom of god and the rest is easy, for all unconsciously our children follow in our footsteps, watch our every word and action; then how much, how much it means if our example is wrong!" ii ( ) whenever we are convinced especially of the sinfulness of sin we may be sure that the spirit is striving with us. there are times when we may be thoughtless and sin with impunity; but not so when the spirit is doing his work, for sin is an awful thing. ( ) whenever we are impressed with the heinousness of unbelief be assured that the spirit is at work, for the worst sin in all this world is not impurity but rather that we should not believe on jesus christ. to reject him is to sneer at god, to trample the blood of his son under foot, to count his sacrifice a common thing and really to crucify him afresh. in all this impression god speaks. ( ) when we see the danger of dying in our sins he is moving us. it is a mystery to me how men can close their eyes in sleep when they realize that any night god might simply touch them and time would give way to eternity and the judgment would be before them. as a matter of fact men are not indifferent to this, and the fact that they are not proves that the spirit of god is opening their eyes. ( ) when he strips us of excuses be sure that he is working. the man who has said, "i will wait until i am better," begins to realize that his past sins must be taken into account and no future resolutions can touch them. the man who has said, "there is time enough," suddenly realizes that between him and eternity there is but a beat of the heart. the one who has claimed that hypocrisy in the church kept him out of it comes to see that hypocrisy proves the life of the church, for men never counterfeit that which is bad money but rather that which is good. ( ) whenever we see the folly of trusting in any other word than christ's then the spirit of god is with us. not reformation, for it does not touch the sins of the past; not resolution, for this is too weak, and though we may seem better than others, this may be true only according to our own standard. when we see the folly of these positions the spirit of god is doing his work; so be careful how you treat him. iii what would be the consequences of the spirit ceasing his work? we really could not express it in words. no man has power or energy to make it plain. we can only just hint at the condition. . there would be an opposition to religion, for whenever you find a man turning against that which has been the world's hope remember that the state of that man is awful in the extreme and will grow worse. . there will be an opposition to revivals, to all preaching and to the ministers of the gospel wherever this spirit is made manifest. we ought to tremble for ourselves if this is our spirit, or for others if it is theirs. . wherever men settle down into some form of error this is a description of one who has sinned against the spirit of god, for there is a longing in every soul for something outside of and beyond one's self; and the things of the world cannot alone satisfy. . when men continue to grow worse and worse and seem to glory in their shame there is great cause for solemn thought. in the light of these suggestions the text is given, "my spirit shall not always strive with men." iv why should he cease his striving? not because he is not compassionate, for he is; nor forbearing, for that is his character; not that he is without patience, for he is infinite in this grace; nor because he is without mercy, for his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. . but because it will do the sinner no good to continue his pleadings. it is a known law of the mind that truth resisted loses its power. why should god continue when we only spurn his offers of mercy? agassiz, the great christian scientist, tells of his work in the mountains when his assistants lowered him to his work by means of a rope and a basket. they always tested his weight before letting him down; and yet he said that one day when they had lowered him deeper than ever they found that they could not lift him, though they had tested his weight before he had been lowered. they must go away over the mountains to secure other assistance. "and then," said the scientist, "when they did lift me they found that their failure was due to the fact that they did not take into account the weight of the rope." every time you refuse jesus christ as your savior and god calls you again you must lift against that other refusal, and this is why it is so difficult for some to come to christ. . because to continue warning is to hinder the sinner. the more light we have the greater guilt. better would it be for the sinner when all hope is gone for the spirit to leave, for he shall be called to account for warnings. oh, the solemnity of the day of judgment! . because to resist the spirit of god is for men to sin willfully if the rejection is final. it is a sad thing to say "no" to god, and if we sin willfully there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. v what is meant by the spirit not striving? not that he will be withdrawn from men in general, but rather from the individual. . he may not follow the sinner, who will be indifferent to preaching, to praying, to his own spiritual condition, for he has given himself over to error. . it simply means that we have come to the limit of his patience, for we have trifled with him in our continued rejection. . it also means that there is just some one point where he will cease to work. that point may be here and that day may be now, and so the text is solemn. a long time ago an old woman tripped and fell from the top of a stone stairway in boston as she was coming out of the police station. they called the patrol and carried her to the hospital and the doctor examining her said to the nurse, "she will not live more than a day." and when the nurse had won her confidence the old woman said, "i have traveled from california, stopping at every city of importance between san francisco and boston, visiting two places always--the police station and the hospital. my boy went away from me and did not tell me where he was going, so i have sold all my property and made this journey to seek him out. some day," she said, "he may come into this hospital, and if he does tell him that there were two who never gave him up." when the night came and the doctor standing beside her said, "it is now but a question of a few minutes," the nurse bent over her to say, "tell me the names of the two and i will tell your son if i see him." with trembling lips and eyes overflowing with tears she said, "tell him that the two were god and his mother," and she was gone. i cannot believe that god has given any of you up. you would not be listening to this message, you certainly would not be reading these words if he had. he has not given you up. i beseech you therefore hear him. it would be a sad thing for you to say no to him at the last and have him take you at your word, and if he has not given you up i am persuaded that there is some one else in the world deeply concerned for your soul. the approval of the spirit text: "_yea, saith the spirit._"--rev. : . the world has had many notable galleries of art in which we have been enabled to study the beautiful landscape, to consider deeds of heroism which have made the past illustrious, in which we have also read the stories of saintly lives; but surpassing all these is the gallery of art in which we find the text. humanly speaking john is the artist while he is an exile on the island of patmos in the aegean sea. the words he uses and the figures he presents are suggested by his surroundings, and it would be difficult to imagine anything more uplifting than the book of revelation if it be properly studied and understood. when john speaks of the son of man he describes his voice as the sound of many waters--undoubtedly suggested by the waves of the sea breaking at his feet. locked in by the sea on this lonely island he gives to us this revelation for which every christian should devoutly thank god. his eyes are opened in an unusual way and before him as in panoramic vision the past, the present and the future move quickly, and he makes a record of all the things that he beholds. his body is on patmos but as a matter of fact he seems to be walking the streets of the heavenly city and gives to us a picture of those things which no mortal eye hath yet beheld. he describes the risen christ. it is a new picture, for as he beholds him his head and his hair are white like wool, as white as snow; and yet it is an old picture he gives, for he is presented as the lamb that has been slain, with the marks of his suffering still upon him, and these help to make his glory the greater, and if possible to increase the power and sweetness of the angels' music. he presents to us a revelation of the glorified church and of the four and twenty elders falling down at the feet of jesus, casting their crowns before him and giving him all adoration and praise. he cheers us with a knowledge of the doom of satan, for in the closing part of the book he presents him to us as bound, cast into the pit and held as a prisoner for a thousand years, while in every other part of the bible he is seen going about like a raging lion seeking whom he may devour. he gives to us some conception of the final judgment, and the great white throne is lifted up before us; the dead, small and great, stand before god, the books are opened and those whose names are not found written in the book are cast away from his presence forever; and then as a climax of the picture we have before us the new heaven and the new earth. again i say, there is nothing so wonderful as revelation if only we have the mind of the spirit in its interpretation. in this text john is speaking of those who die in the lord and the whole verse reads as follows: "and i heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth: yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them" (revelation : ). ordinarily this text has been used only on funeral occasions, but literally interpreted the text which stands as the heart of the verse may be read as follows, "amen, saith the spirit." it would seem as if the holy ghost were giving his assent to the truth which has been spoken. "blessed are the dead which die in the lord." it is like an old time antiphonal service, when choir answered choir in the house of god; or, to put it in another way, it is one of those remarkable interruptions several instances of which are found in the scriptures. one is in hebrews the thirteenth chapter and the eighth verse, "jesus christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." according to the revision this verse has an added word and reads as follows, "jesus christ the same yesterday and to-day, _yea_ and forever." i call special attention to the little word "yea." somebody has said that it is as if the apostle were saying that jesus is the same to-day that he was yesterday, than which no thought could be more comforting. and it would seem at the closing part of the verse as if the angels of god had broken in upon his message to say, "yea, and he is forever the same," which is certainly true. could anything be more inspiring than to know that we have the approval of the holy ghost of the things we say or think? there are many representations of the spirit of god in the bible. his love is presented under the figure of the mother love, as in genesis the first chapter and the second verse; "and the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. and the spirit of god _moved_ [or brooded] upon the face of the waters." in this text the spirit broods over the world as the mother bird hovers over her little ones. we see him in the figure of the dove in matthew the third chapter and the sixteenth verse: "and jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a _dove_, and lighting upon him." and here we have a revelation of his gentleness. again he is presented to us under the figure of the wind, "and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty _wind_, and it filled all the house where they were sitting" (acts : ). here we see his power. we catch a vision of him in the fire in acts the second chapter and the third verse, "and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them"; and here we understand his cleansing influence. but here in this text we have his directing power. it is as if he were giving particular attention to all that john is saying and giving his approval to it because it is the truth. since the day of pentecost he has occupied a new position. however, he has existed from all eternity. we behold him in his work in the old testament scriptures. but from the day of pentecost the affairs of the church have been committed to him, its organization, its development, its services, whether it be the preaching, the praying or the singing. we cannot ignore him, for he has to do with all the work and with the preaching of the word. he convicts of sin. john : , "no man can come to me, except the father which hath sent me draw him: and i will raise him up at the last day." he applies christ to the awakened sinner, "howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. he shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." he helps to interpret the word of god because he inspired men to write it. it is impossible to get along without him. i put no mark of disrespect upon scholarship. i know what it has accomplished; it has filled libraries with knowledge which has made the world rich, it has weighed planets and given us almost a perfect understanding of the heavenly bodies. it has estimated the velocity of light until we have stopped to say, "such things are too wonderful for us." it has read the tracings upon obelisks, and made the past an open book to us, giving us the secrets of men who have been thousands of years in their tombs, but i do wish to say that that which comes to us directly from the spirit of god is beyond scholarship. hear what paul has said to us in corinthians the second chapter and the ninth to the fourteenth verses. "but as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which god hath prepared for them that love him. but god hath revealed them unto us by his spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of god. for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of god knoweth no man, but the spirit of god. now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of god; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of god. which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the holy ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." there are certain great truths to which i am sure the holy ghost would say a deep amen. i the bible _is_ the word of god--not simply that it _contains_ the word of god, but is that very word. peter tells us where we got our bible. peter : , "for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost." it is an inspired book, and inspiration is the inbreathing of god himself. this makes the bible different from every other book. we cannot study it exactly as we study others. we may pick it up and say it is just paper, ink and leather, like any other book, but we have missed the power of it if we say this. we might say, "jesus is just a man, eating, drinking, sleeping, suffering like a man"; but we have missed his power if we say only this, for the bible is filled with god, and jesus is god himself. jesus said, "ye must be born again if ye are to enter my kingdom," and this makes the difference in men. because of this new birth one man sees the things of god to which another would be totally blind, and this makes the difference in books and leaves the bible incomparably beyond all other books. how may we know that the bible is the word of god? not simply scientifically, although the bible is a scientific book; but not in this way any more than we could find life in the body by cutting it up with a knife. the bible is like a sensitive plant; approach it in the wrong way and it will close its leaves and withhold its fragrance. come to it reverently and there is no blessing that it cannot bestow. . accept it by faith and act according to its principles. if god exists, as we know he does, then talk with him; if christ is here presented to us with all his uplifting teachings, then walk with him; if the promises of god are written here, as we know they are, then present them to him expecting him to keep his word. general booth of the salvation army once said in a great meeting where i was present that we were poor, weak christians to-day because we were not living up to our privileges as christians. he described a young man who had lost his position and had gone from one degree of poverty to another until at last he was on the verge of starvation. with his wife and little ones about him he sits in deepest gloom. there is a rap at the door and the postman brings a letter which is a message from a former employer who tells him that he has just learned of his distress, that he will help him, and that in the meantime he incloses his check for a sum of money which he hopes may make him comfortable. a check is simply a promise to pay. the young man, says general booth, looks at it a moment and then begins to rush about the room in great excitement. "poor man," said his wife, "i knew it would come to this. his mind is giving way." then he presents the check to her and says, "i know what i shall do with it. i will frame it and hang it on the wall." then again he exclaims, "i shall take it to my friend and have him set it to music and sing it each day," and he might do both of these and starve to death. what he should have done was to present it for payment and live off of its proceeds. "we have been framing god's promises long enough," said general booth, "and singing them quite long enough; let us now present them for payment, and we shall know that god is true." . live its truth. whatever god presents as a principle translate into your life and then believe that god will transform your living. it will support you in trial and it will comfort you in the deepest sorrow. the world was shocked by that great railroad accident which meant the death of mrs. booth-tucker, but when in carnegie hall commander booth-tucker stood to speak great words concerning his noble wife he said: "i was once talking with a man in chicago about becoming a christian and he said to me, 'if god had taken away your beautiful wife and you were left desolate with your little children would you believe in him?' and," said the commander before his great new york audience, "if that man is in this audience to-day let me tell him. god has taken my beautiful wife and i am here surrounded by my children, but i never believed in him more thoroughly and was never more confident of the truth of his word." ii jesus christ is the son of god. to this truth i am very sure the holy ghost will add his amen. in john the fifteenth chapter and the twenty-sixth verse we read, "but when the comforter is come, whom i will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me." and if you would know that jesus christ is god's son i would suggest, . that you simply test him; try him in heathen lands and tell me if any other story could thrill and transform as does the story of his life and death. dr. torrey says that whether the story was told in china or england, whether the story was told in india or australia, it was always the same and never was without effect. . try him in your own life. one day in a service in a western city an old woman was wheeled into the church in an invalid's chair. i knew by the expression of her countenance that she was suffering. when i met her after the service and asked her about her story she said as the most excruciating pain convulsed her body, "i have not been free from pain in twenty years and have scarcely slept a night through all that time," and then, brushing the tears from her eyes, and with an expectant face, she exclaimed, "but if i could tell you all that jesus christ has been to me in these twenty years i could thrill you through and through." . if you would know that he is the son of god just lift him up and behold him as he draws all men unto him. this is the secret of the power of great preaching. it made mr. moody known whereever the english language is spoken and constituted mr. spurgeon one of the world's greatest preachers. as a matter of fact there is no other theme which may be presented in the pulpit by the minister with an assurance of the co-operation of the holy ghost. there may be times when he may feel obliged to preach concerning philosophy, poetry, art and science, but unless these things lead directly to christ we have no reason for believing that the holy ghost will add his amen to our message, and without this amen the time is almost lost. iii the church is the body of christ. i am persuaded that to this truth he will give his hearty assent. this is paul's over and over. notice the following verses. acts : , "then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added _unto them_ about three thousand souls." the words "unto them" are in italics, so not in the original, and we ask "added to what?" acts : , "praising god, and having favor with all the people. and the lord '_added to the church_' daily such as should be saved." here we are beginning to get the truth. acts : , "and believers were the more added _to the lord_, multitudes both of men and women." this is the truth. you will see that christ is the head, the church is his body and we are, as individual members of the church, just being added to him. one day the body will be completed and then the lord himself will appear. if christ is the head he must control the body. if his life is hindered and not permitted to flow through every part of it there is confusion, strife, unrest and loss of power. there are certain things which we must do if we are to be in this world as he would have us. he must control the preaching. if given an opportunity he will direct in the choice of a theme, he will quicken our intellect in the development of that theme, he will give us an insight into the best way to present it to our hearers, and putting faith in these preliminary conditions he will take care of the results. he must also dictate the praying in a church. there is much of it that is meaningless. it is too formal, too lifeless, and entirely too general in its character. in matthew the eighteenth chapter and the nineteenth verse, we read, "again i say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven." it does not mean that if the two should agree together as touching any one thing, but agree with him, for wherever you find two in prayer there are three, and wherever there are three there are four, and the additional one present is the spirit of god waiting to help us in our praying and to present our prayers unto the father in the name of jesus christ. he must inspire the singing of the church. in ephesians the fifth chapter and the nineteenth verse we read, "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the lord." one reason why there is such a lack of power in many churches in this country is due to the fact that the singing is simply used as filling for the services. hymns are used in a haphazard way with little thought as to their bearing upon the theme to be presented. i am quite persuaded that when the preaching, praying and singing are all submitted to his control, whatever may be man's opinion of the service, he himself will give to it his hearty amen. iv we are the sons of god. in romans the eighth chapter the sixteenth and seventeenth verses we read, "the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of god; and if children, then heirs; heirs of god, and joint-heirs with christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." to this truth he will say amen. a careful study of the scriptures will reveal the fact that, . we are heirs. if therefore this be true we have but to claim our birthright privilege, and there is no weakness in our lives but may be offset by the strength of his. whatever christ has received as the head of the church he has received in trust for the body and we may have our possession in him if we but appropriate it. a man in england died the other day in the poorhouse. he had a little english farm upon which he could raise no grain and he let it go to waste and died a pauper. his heirs discovered that on this little english possession there was a copper mine and they are living in luxury to-day in the possession of that which belonged to their ancester [transcriber's note: ancestor?] all the time but was not appropriated and used by him. . being sons of god, we are not free from trial; but there is this one thing to say about our christian experience: "our light afflictions which are but for a moment work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," and god's presence with us in trial is infinitely better than his absence from us in the time of prosperity. our trials are but the discipline through which we must pass in order that we may one day be prepared to stand in his presence and do his bidding throughout eternity. . being sons of god, we are sure one day of glory. the song which has been singing its way around the world in the torrey-alexander meetings presents this thought to us beautifully. "when all my labors and trials are o'er and i am safe on that beautiful shore, just to be near the dear lord i adore will thro' the ages be glory for me. "when by the gift of his infinite grace i am accorded in heaven a place, just to be there and look on his face will thro' the ages be glory for me. "friends will be there i have loved long ago; joy like a river around me will flow; yet just a smile from my savior, i know, will thro' the ages be glory for me. _chorus._ "oh, that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me, when by his grace i shall look on his face, that will be glory, be glory for me." whatever may be our limitations here, they shall be gone there; whatever may be our weakness here, it shall be lost there. dr. charles hodge in his "lectures on theology" has given us an imaginary picture of laura bridgman, the famous deaf-mute. the celebrated theologian has described her standing in the presence of christ in that great day when we shall all be before him, when christ shall touch her eyes and say, "daughter, see," and there shall sweep through her vision all the glories of the sky; when he shall touch her ears, which have been so long closed, and say, "daughter, hear," and into her soul shall come all the harmonies of heaven; when he shall touch her lips, which on earth have never spoken a human word, and say, "daughter, speak," and with all the angel choir she will burst into the new song. what dr. hodge has said concerning laura bridgman will be true of us. our day of limitations will be past, the experiences of weakness be gone, and we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. this, therefore, is a good outline of a creed for us to-day. we believe the bible is the word of god, we believe that jesus is the son of god, we believe that the church is the body of christ, we believe that we are by regeneration the sons of god, and making such a statement we have a right to stop and listen and i am sure we shall hear as from the skies, "amen, saith the spirit." a reasonable service text: "_i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service._"--romans : . there is perhaps no chapter in the new testament, certainly none in this epistle, with which we are more familiar than this one which is introduced by the text; and yet, however familiar we may be with the statements, if we read them carefully and study them honestly they must always come to us not only in the nature of an inspiration but also with rebuke, especially to those of us who preach. paul's intellectual ability has never been questioned. yet, giant though he was in this respect, he was not ashamed to be pathetic when he likens his care for his people to the care of a nurse for her children. he is not ashamed to be extravagant when he likens his sorrow and pain at their backsliding to the travail of a woman for her child. he is not ashamed to be intense when in the ninth chapter and the first, second and third verses he says, "i say the truth in christ, i lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy ghost, that i have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. for i could wish that myself were accursed from christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." we must also be impressed with the fact that he was not at all afraid of public criticism. he not only sat at gamaliel's feet but the great lawmaker might well have taken his place at his feet, and yet he says, "i am willing to be counted a fool if only i may win men to christ." he is not bound by custom. he not only preaches in the synagogue and in the places set apart for the churches of the early days, but he goes about from house to house entreating people to come to christ. he is not ashamed to weep, for he sends his messages to the people and exclaims, "i tell you these things weeping"; and here in this text he is strikingly unusual, for he is not a preacher speaking with dignity, nor an apostle commending obedience, but a loving friend beseeching in the most pathetic way the yielding of themselves to christ. there are two things to remember about paul in the study of such a subject. first: he was a jew and he knew all about offerings. sacrifices were not forms to him and a living sacrifice was not a meaningless expression. he had been present on the great day of atonement when the scapegoat bore away the sins of the people. he had heard the chimes of the bells on the high priest's robe as he moved to and fro before the entrance to the holy of holies, and he had waited with breathless silence for him to come forth giving evidence in his coming of the fact that israel could once more approach jehovah. the text to him was throbbing with holy memories and was full of significance. second: he received his instructions concerning these things of god, not from men, for when he writes to the galatians he says: "but i certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for i neither received it of man, neither was i taught it, but by the revelation of jesus christ" (galatians : - ). and so, since he is a heaven-taught man, we must listen while he speaks and give heed to his entreaties. i _the context_. we shall not appreciate this striking text unless we take into account its setting. the first chapters of romans present to us a black cloud indeed, for when the first sentences are spoken we shudder because of their intensity. we read in the twenty-fourth verse that god gave the people _up_ to uncleanness; in the twenty-sixth verse that he gave them _up_ to vile affections, but in the twenty-eighth verse that he gave them _over_ to a reprobate mind. with this awful condition of affairs we start; and yet for fear that the man who counts himself a moralist might read these verses and feel that they did not apply to him, paul writes in the third chapter and the twenty-second verse these words, "even the righteousness of god, which is by faith of jesus christ, unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference." but when the cloud is the blackest the rays of light begin to appear, and they are rays of light from heaven; looking on the one side at mystery and catching a vision on the other side of grace, paul exclaims, "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service" (romans : ). the word mercy is of frequent occurrence in the bible. "from everlasting to everlasting is god's mercy," we read. this gives us some idea of duration. "new every morning and fresh every evening are his mercies." this reveals to us the fact that they are unchanging. "he is a god of mercy." this is his character. "let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the lord and he will have mercy upon him." this is the invitation of god given to all the world! but paul is not speaking of mercy in general; he goes on in his masterful argument outlining the doctrines of grace and on the strength of that he uses the text. first: we are justified. the fifth chapter and the first verse, "therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ." in justification our sins are pardoned and we are accepted as righteous because of the righteousness of christ, which is imputed unto us and received by faith alone. and yet to him this definition in every day language means that, being justified, we stand before god as if we never had sinned. no wonder that in the light of such a doctrine paul could say, "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service" (romans : ). second: _we are kept safe_. romans : , "for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to god by the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." literally the closing part of this verse is, "we are kept safe in his life." a child in its mother's arms could not be so secure as we in his life. underneath us are the everlasting arms and around about us the sure mercies of god. third: _we are baptized into his death_. "know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into jesus christ were baptized into his death?" (romans : ). "the wages of sin is death." this is god's irrevocable statement, but christ died for our sins and paul's argument here is that we died with him, so the demands of the law have been met and we are to go free. no wonder paul could say, "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service." fourth: _we are alive unto god_. romans : , "likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto god through jesus christ our lord." not only are we justified and kept safe and crucified with him and buried with him but in the plan of god we are risen with him. what a wonderful mercy this is! fifth: _we have deliverance from the self life_. the seventh chapter of romans is just the cry of a breaking heart and reaches its climax in the twenty-fourth verse, "o wretched man that i am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" but the deliverance is in the eighth chapter, especially in the second verse, "for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." what a mercy this is! sixth: _for those of us who believe there is no condemnation_. romans : , "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in christ jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." judgment is past because he has been judged. we have nothing to do with the great white throne; christ as our substitute has met sin's penalty and paid our debts. what a mercy this is! no wonder paul is thrilled with the thought of it. seventh: _no separation_. romans : - , "for i am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord." so that for time we are safe and our eternity is sure. was there ever such a catalogue of mercies? in the light of all this the apostle exclaims, "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service" (romans : ). it is a good thing to study paul's "_therefores_." he is a logician of the highest type. in romans : , there is the "_therefore of justification_." in romans the eighth chapter and the first verse there is the "_therefore of no condemnation_." in romans the twelfth chapter and the first verse there is the "_therefore of consecration_," and this as a matter of fact is the outline of the epistle. ii _present your bodies_. this means the entire yielding of one's self to christ. it corresponds to the old testament presentation of the burnt offering all of which was consumed. back in the old testament times for fourteen years there had been no song in the temple, for it was filled with rubbish and uncleanness, but the rubbish was put away and the uncleanness vanished, the burnt offering was presented and the song of the lord began again. if you have lost your song and have been deprived of the harmony of heaven then present your bodies a living sacrifice. there is a threefold division in man's nature. _the spirit_, where god abides if we are his children. this is like the holy of holies. _the soul_, which is the abode of the man himself. _the body_, which is the outer court. when christ was crucified the veil of the temple was rent in twain and the whole was like one great compartment. i cannot but think that if we should come to the place of complete consecration, the acceptance in our lives of what was purchased for us when he was crucified, for us the veil of the temple would be rent in twain and not only would god abide in our spirits but he would suffuse our whole nature, look with our eyes, and speak with our lips. this must have been what paul meant when he said, "i live, yet not i, but christ liveth in me." iii _a living sacrifice_. that is in contrast with the dead offering of the old testament sacrifice. suppose for a moment that it would have been possible for an offering to have been presented in the old testament times and then after that for it to have lived again; it is inconceivable that this offering would have been put to any unholy use. i have many times tried to imagine the surprise of the son of the widow of nain and the daughter of jairus after their being raised from the dead. they certainly could not have lived selfish, sinful lives again, and i am sure that lazarus when once he had been in the grave and was raised at the voice of the master could never again have been worldly and unclean. but let it not be forgotten that we are a risen people; we were crucified with christ, we died with christ, we were buried with christ, we have risen with christ! how then ought we to live? in one of our western cities a minister told me recently of a young man who had graduated at a school for stammerers and came to see him one day. keeping time with his fingers in the use of his words he said slowly: "i--want--to--speak--to--you." without following his method of speech through i will quote what he said: "i have for a long time wanted to be a christian and was ashamed to attempt to speak when it was so imperfectly done, but now i have graduated and i have the control in part at least of my speech, and i have come to you to-day to make my confession, for the first use i make of my voice must be the confession of him who loved me and gave himself for me." iv _your reasonable service_. it is a reasonable service, first: because god uses human instrumentality and he needs you, and it is therefore a reasonable demand to make, for we should place ourselves absolutely at his disposal. in the guest book of a friend i saw recently a few lines written by dr. john willis baer in which he said, quoting from another: "god gave himself for us. "god gave himself to us. "god wants to give himself through us." but if our lives are inconsistent and our hearts are unclean he cannot do it. if we have not yielded ourselves altogether god himself is limited. second: it is a reasonable request to make because of what god has done for us. one of the distinguished ministers of the presbyterian church told us the other day in a conference in a western city that a little boy who had been operated upon by dr. lorenz said as soon as he came out from under the anesthetic, "it will be a long time before my mother hears the last of this doctor"; and then, said my friend, "i thought of an incident in my own life of a poor german boy whose feet were twisted out of shape, whose mother was poor and could not have him operated upon, and i determined to bring him to a great doctor and ask him to take him in charge. the operation was over and was a great success. when the plaster cast had been taken off from his feet my friend said he went to take him home. he called his attention to the hospital and the boy admired it, but he said, 'i like the doctor best.' he spoke of the nurses and the boy was slightly interested, but said, 'they are nothing compared to the doctor.' he called his attention to the perfect equipment of the hospital and he was unmoved except as again and again he referred to the doctor. they reached the missouri town and stepped out of the station together, and the old german mother was waiting to receive him. she did not look at her boy's face nor at his hands but she fell on her knees and looked at his feet and then said sobbing, 'it is just like any other boy's foot.' taken into her arms, the minister said all the boy kept saying to her over and over was, 'mother, you ought to know the doctor that made me walk.'" then my friend said, "there is not one of us for whom jesus christ has not done ten thousand times more for us than the doctor did for this boy, and we have never spoken for him, we have not yielded ourselves to him." it must have been with some such spirit as this that the apostle said, "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service" (romans : ). the true christian life text: "_my beloved is mine, and i am his._"--sol. song : . "_i am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine._"--sol. song : . "_i am my beloved's and his desire is toward me._"--sol. song : . these three texts should be read together, and the significant change found in each text as the thought unfolds should be studied carefully. they remind one of three mountain peaks one rising higher than the other until the third is lifted into the very heavens. indeed, if one should live in the spirit of this third text he would enjoy what paul has described as a life in the heavenly places, and his picture of christ would be surpassingly beautiful. at the same time the three texts give us a complete picture of a true christian life. the first text may be regeneration, the second text consecration, and the third text sanctification. the jews counted this book, the song of solomon, as exceedingly sacred. they hid it away until the child had come to maturity before he was allowed to read it, and it was to them the holy of holies of the old testament scripture. these texts are also like the division of the ancient tabernacle. there was first of all the outer court where the altar of sacrifice was to be found--and this must be constantly kept in mind, for no one can say "my beloved is mine" until he has passed the altar of sacrifice. it is only by faith in jesus christ that we are adopted into the membership of the family of god. the second division was the holy place, where was found the laver. here the priests made themselves clean, and they could not minister in the presence of jehovah until they had been made clean from all earthly defilement. this second text gives us the same thought, for here the writer changes the order exactly and says, "i am my beloved," instead of saying, "my beloved is mine." this is consecration and the consecration of a clean life. god will not accept or use that which is unclean, and it is only as we come to the place where we allow him to have full control of our lives that we realize we are his. the third division of the tabernacle was the holy of holies, where the high priest made his way once a year that he might stand in the presence of jehovah. in this third text, where the writer says, "i am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me," we have come to the place in our experience where if his desire for us controls our living we are in the holy of holies indeed; where we can see him and enjoy his presence. i "_my beloved is mine._" this is regeneration. a minister once preaching to his congregation said, "let every one say jesus," and from all over the congregation there came the music of his name. "now," said the minister, "let all those who can, say 'my jesus,'" and the response was not so hearty. a line ran through the congregation separating husband from wife and parents from children. it is only by faith in christ and by the operation of the grace of god that we can experience this first text. two things are true concerning this point. first: he wants to make better all that we have. whatever may be our natural characteristics, he can make all that we have more beautiful. one day in colorado i wanted to make a journey to the summit of pike's peak, only to find that throughout the entire day the train was chartered. i was turning away in despair when a railroad man said, "why do you not go up at three o'clock to-morrow morning, for then," he said, "you can see the sun rise, and the sight is beautiful." so the next morning we started. just as i was going on the train a railroad man said, "when you come to the sharp turn in the way as you go up, look over in the cripple creek district and you will see a sight never to be forgotten." we climbed higher and higher, leaving the darkness at the foot of the mountain, until at last we came to the place indicated and i looked away, only to be intensely disappointed. the sight was almost commonplace. as we pursued the journey upward finally we came to another place, where i heard some one give an exclamation of delight. as i looked in the same direction there was a marvelous transformation. i could see before me a mountain which looked like a white-robed priest and another like a choir of angels and still another like a golden ladder reaching up into the skies, and all because the sun had risen upon the same scenery which a moment ago was uninteresting. if christ could only thus take possession of our lives and become our savior the transformation would be quite as great. second: he is ours to exercise in our behalf all that he is as prophet, priest and king. his office of prophet relates to the past, his office of king to the future when he shall be crowned king of kings and lord of lords, but his office as priest is now being fulfilled and he is my great high priest to intercede for me with god and make explanation for all my weakness. adelaide proctor has given us the story of a young girl who was in a convent in france, whose special work it was to attend the portal and keep the altar clean. the war swept over france, the battle raged near the convent, many of the soldiers were killed and a number injured. these were borne into the hospital that they might be nursed back to strength, and one of them was given to this young girl. her nursing was successful, but he tempted her to leave the convent. they made their way to paris, where she lost everything that makes life worth living. then, just a wreck of her former self, she came back again to die within the sound of the convent bell. she touched the portal and instantly it was opened, not by a girl such as she had been but by a woman such as she might have been--true and noble. she bore her in her arms to her old cell, nursed her back again to a semblance of her old strength, and then she slipped into her old place to answer the portal and keep the altar clean, and not a nun in all the convent ever knew that she had sinned. this is christ's ministry in our behalf at this time. making up for my weakness, answering for my defects, he is my high priest. ii "_i am my beloved's._" this is really better than the first text, because if he is mine, and faith is like a hand of the soul, then faith may grow weary and the result would be sad; if i am his and he holds me then that is different. in john the tenth chapter, the twenty-eighth to the thirtieth verses, we have a picture of the true sheepfold and of the place where the child of god may rest, held in the hand of god and of his dear son. "and i give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. my father, which gave them unto me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. i and my father are one." what a joy it is to know that we are his! first: his by redemption, for we are redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of christ. "ye are not your own but ye are bought with a price." second: we are his because god gave us to him; in his wonderful intercessory prayer jesus said, "thou gavest them to me," and again, "ye are not our own." third: we are his because again and again we have said so with our lips. how true the text is, then, in the light of the scripture! if this is true then what is consecration? it is not giving god something, for how could we give him that which is already his own? consecration is simply taking our hands off and letting him have his way with us in everything. the late george macgregor used to tell the story of one of the bishops of the church of england, who had an invalid wife and who never could surrender beyond a certain point. he was unwilling to say that he would give up his wife, for god might call him to some mission he could not perform, and she had been the constant object of his care. but at last he won the victory and rose from his knees to say to his friend that the surrender should be complete, and then they went into the room of his invalid wife to tell her. with a sweet smile upon her face she said, "i have reached the same decision and you can go to the ends of the earth if need be." that night the old bishop's wife died and when they went across the hall to tell the bishop there was no answer to their knock. when they entered the door they found the bishop with eyes closed, hands folded and heart still. he, too, had gone. god did not want to separate them. he wanted them to be united, their wills surrendered to him and then he would send them in the same chariot up into heaven. iii "_i am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me._" if we would know god's desire for us we have only to study the scriptures, and if we should fulfill his desires we would have an experience of heaven upon earth. first: it is his desire that we should be holy. ephesians : , "according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." holiness in not sinlessness, it is to the spiritual nature what health is to the physical life. in other words, god desires that we should be spiritually healthy, and this we cannot be with secret sins in our lives. second: it is his desire that we should be sanctified. thessalonians : , "for this is the will of god, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication." sanctification is not sinlessness, it is separation. it is absolutely useless to think of pleasing god if we are in touch with the world in any way, for since the days of the crucifixion it has been against him. third: it is his desire that we should present ourselves unto him in the sense above suggested--namely, that we should take our hands off from ourselves and allow him to direct and to control his own possession. romans : - , "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of god." romans : , "neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto god, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto god." in these expressions the tense of the verb indicates that the action is to be definite and that it is to be once and for all. he has certain desires for us also expressed in the seventeenth chapter of john. first: he desires that we should have joy. joy is better than happiness; happiness depends upon our surroundings and circumstances, joy has nothing to do with these but rather is the result of centering our affections upon him. second: he desires that we should be one with him. by this i am sure he means that we should be one in our thought of sin, one in our desire for holiness, one in our efforts to reach the unsaved, and one in our longing in all things to be pure and true and good. third: he desires to make us the object of his love. in this seventeenth chapter of john he tells us that the same love which he had for his son he has for those of us who are in his son. thank god for this. if he must open the windows of heaven to speak forth his love for that son and then has the same for us, oh, what joy it is to be a christian! the hale memorial sermon by the right reverend robert strange, d. d. [illustration: seal--sigillum seminarii theologici occidentalis] western theological seminary chicago the hale memorial sermon no. church work among the negroes in the south by the right reverend robert strange, d. d. bishop of east carolina preached on the evening of the fifth sunday in lent at grace episcopal church chicago western theological seminary to the glory of god and in memory of anna mck. t. hale a lover of every good word and work the preaching and printing of this sermon were provided for by her husband c. r. h. extracts from the will of the rt. rev. charles reuben hale, d. d., ll. d., bishop coadjutor of springfield, _born ; consecrated july , ; died december , _. [illustration: cross] in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. amen. i, charles reuben hale, bishop of cairo, bishop coadjutor of springfield, of the city of cairo, illinois, do make, publish, and declare this, as and for my last will and testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me made. first. first of all, i commit myself, soul and body, into the hands of jesus christ, my lord and saviour, in whose merits alone i trust, looking for the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. * * * * * fourteenth. all the rest and residue of my estate, personal and real, not in this my will otherwise specifically devised, wheresoever situate, and whether legal or equitable, i give, devise, and bequeath to "the western theological seminary, chicago, illinois," above mentioned, but nevertheless _in trust_, provided it shall accept the trust by an instrument in writing so stating, filed with this will in the court where probated, within six months after the probate of this will--for the general purpose of promoting the catholic faith, in its purity and integrity, as taught in holy scripture, held by the primitive church, summed up in the creeds and affirmed by the undisputed general councils, and, in particular, to be used only and exclusively for the purposes following, to wit:-- ( ) the establishment, endowment, printing, and due circulation of a yearly _sermon_, to be delivered annually forever, in memory of my dear wife, anna mck. t. hale, to be known as "the hale memorial sermon," and ( ) the establishment, endowment, publication and due circulation of courses of lectures, to be delivered annually forever, to be called "the hale lectures." * * * * * the subject of this sermon shall be some branch of church work, in any part of the world, which, in the judgment of the trustees of "the western theological seminary, chicago, illinois," deserves to be better known, in order that it may be more adequately appreciated. these sermons shall be preached at such time and place as the said trustees of the western theological seminary, chicago, illinois, may appoint, and shall be printed in a style similar to the sermons of this kind already published under my direction, viz: "confucianism in its relation to christianity," and "the religion of the dakotas." one hundred copies of each of these sermons are to be given, so soon as they come from the press, to the preacher thereof, and one copy of such sermon is, so soon thereafter as may be, to be sent to each bishop in the anglican communion, and to such other bishops as may be in full communion with these bishops, to the patriarchs and other chief hierarchs of the orthodox eastern churches, and to the chief public libraries throughout the world. should it be, at any time, deemed expedient to offer any of these sermons for sale, the entire receipts, over and above the expenses incurred in such sale, shall be given to "the domestic and foreign missionary society of the protestant episcopal church in the united states of america," a corporation existing under the laws of the state of new york, for the uses of said society. * * * * * the preacher of the hale memorial sermon shall always be a clergyman of the american church, commonly called "the protestant episcopal church," or of some church in communion with the same, or of one of the orthodox eastern churches. * * * * * the western theological seminary has gladly accepted the trusteeship as outlined in the above extracts from the will of the late bishop hale. it will be the aim of the seminary, through the hale sermons, to make from time to time some valuable contributions to some of the church problems of the day, without thereby committing itself to the utterances of its own selected preachers. church work among the negroes in the south church work among the negroes in the south i take as the south the eleven old slave states, which stood at one time in armed array against the rest of the united states, which are to-day as loyal and true to the general government as any other states in this great and favored land of ours. they are virginia, north and south carolina, georgia, florida, alabama, mississippi, tennessee, louisiana, arkansas and texas. these states make up one-fourth of the area of the united states, and their population is about one-fourth of that of the whole country. these figures and the others that i shall give cannot be exact, as we are so far away from the last census; but they are close estimates, and present, i think, a fair idea of the facts as they are to-day. in this large section of our country, with only . per cent. foreign born, the negroes make up per cent. of the population. they are found chiefly in the cities and towns, and in the country along the coastal plains and on the first rise of the hills; we see very few in the mountain districts. what of the religious affiliations of the negroes? nearly every negro is a nominal church member. the first reason for this is that his childish emotional nature is essentially religious, fearing or adoring the unseen powers. the second reason is that the church is not only the religious but the social center for the negro, largely taking the place with him, which the secret and benevolent societies hold among the white people. very few are roman catholics. the roman church has not made the progress among the negroes, which one would expect of the church which has such a hold on the common peoples of southern europe. only about four thousand are members of the presbyterian church; and to the episcopal church belong only , communicants. the rest are divided between the baptists and methodists. the low educational standard of the ministry for these churches, their easy methods of organization and their insistence on feeling rather than on conduct have appealed strongly to the great mass of the negroes. looking more closely at those in our church, we find that out of nine million negroes in the south, we have about nine thousand communicants: one in a thousand. they vary from one in in virginia to one in in mississippi. in my own state of north carolina we have one negro communicant to every of the negro population. what was the religious condition and teaching of the negroes before the civil war? in in philadelphia the african-methodist episcopal church separated from the whites; and they have formed the strongest negro organization in the country. a large number of the negro methodists remained, however, with the whites; and for some of these, churches were built, and a white preacher regularly set aside by the white conference to minister to their black people. others came to the same church with the whites, occupying the gallery or pews allotted to them in the rear of the church. the colored baptists and presbyterians worshipped in the same way with the whites, and were ministered to by white preachers. in the church we had no colored ministers; but the negroes worshipped with us in separate parts of the same church building, and the white clergyman felt responsible for the black portion of his flock. in many churches--i have one now particularly in mind--the white people sat in the front pews in the morning and the negroes in the back. in the afternoon, the same clergyman, in the same church, preached to the negroes, sitting in front, and the white people, some of whom generally came, sitting behind. at the holy communion and at confirmation whites and blacks came together, the blacks generally last. in south carolina, when the civil war began, there were very nearly as many black communicants in the church as white. on every plantation and in nearly every christian home throughout the south, without regard to religious affiliations, the negroes were taught in sunday-schools by the mistress and her older daughters. many of the large planters employed a regular chaplain for their negroes. i knew intimately the rev. george patterson, who began his ministry in east carolina as chaplain to the negroes belonging to mr. josiah collins. just a word or two here about slavery, this suggestion coming to me from a northern clergyman, who has for the past twenty years been doing noble work for the negroes in north carolina. slavery with all its horrors was over-ruled by god to be a great missionary institution. the savage black men were brought into the closest contact with the highest anglo-saxon civilization, the best negroes coming into personal touch with the best whites as servant and master. they were taught christ by as fair representatives of his religion as the world has ever seen. the negroes were brought under law, and were forced to see the blessings of order and justice. as booker washington also admits, they were taught the value of work and its necessity. so, through slavery the negro in the united states to-day stands far above the wild and ignorant african who now inhabits the land from which he came. when you read uncle tom's cabin, remember that uncle tom was a product of slavery and that the fairer side as presented by mrs. stowe was the most common in the whole south. do not misunderstand me; together with a large majority of the thinking white men of the south, i rejoice that slavery is a thing of the past; i would not have it again if i could; i see its frightful evils; but we must all acknowledge that slavery has been a potent factor for good in the evolution of the negro in the united states. the great civil war swept over the south; and the negro was made a free man. how did this change affect his religious position? the negroes as a rule left their old masters, to try their wings and see if they were really free. one sad incident in my early childhood comes back to me now. i was awakened one night by the uncontrollable weeping of my mother. "mother, mother," i cried, "what is the matter!" "hagar"--my dear black mammy--"is going to leave us." i broke out with her in still louder lamentations. mammy came in; and then her tears fell with ours. "you aren't going to leave me, mammy?" "yes, chile, i'm bound to go." "why?" "all the cullud people is gwine down de river; and i must go too." and so for pride and fear of race, though her heart was breaking for us, she went away. i am happy to tell you that in a few months she came back, and was, just as before, my loving and beloved mammy, until the day of her death. the negroes left the white churches in like manner, and most of them stayed away in their own negro churches. the baptists and methodists separated entirely from the whites, becoming completely independent. after working together for many years the colored presbyterians have become an independent organization. we in the church tried to keep them with us just as before in the days of slavery; but we only partially succeeded. we began to train colored men for the ministry; we built churches for them; we admitted them to our diocesan councils on equal terms; and we strove manfully to cling to the catholic idea: one church for all peoples and races. what are we doing now? first here is our educational work. in some parishes of every diocese we have parochial schools, teaching the children mentally and morally, hoping to get hold of the next generation, feeling the importance of a moral and religious training which cannot be given by the public schools. we have now in all our dioceses nearly a hundred of these parochial schools. in north carolina and virginia we have a group of institutions well worth mentioning, with which i am in close personal touch, on which we are building great hope for the future: st. augustine normal and industrial school, raleigh, n. c.; st. paul's normal and industrial school, lawrenceville, va., and the bishop payne divinity school, petersburg, va. in these schools we are educating for our part of the south workmen, teachers, business and professional men, and clergymen. we are combining in them education for the hand, for the head, for the heart, and for the spirit of man; we are giving these negroes the education that trains for life in all its phases, fitting them to be workers and leaders among their people. you have heard of the "church institute for the negro." i beg you will give it your hearty sympathy and cordial co-operation. the good purpose of the institute is to raise money first for these three institutions, to lift them forward and to so increase the area of their influence that they will do in the church a work similar to that done outside the church by hampton and tuskegee. after placing these three schools on a firm financial basis, the institute hopes to continue its good work, helping in the whole south to increase the number and to add to the efficiency of all of our parochial schools. i should not forget at this point of my address to give brief but hearty mention of the blessed christlike work for the negroes, which is being done by mrs. buford's hospital and home in brunswick county, va., st. peter's hospital, charlotte, n. c., and st. agnes hospital and training school, for nurses, a department of st. augustine school, raleigh, n. c. what are we doing to evangelize the negroes and build them up into christian men and women? i will tell you a little of the work which i know myself, in my own state of north carolina, in our two dioceses and our one missionary jurisdiction. bishop atkinson--our great church father during and after the civil war--felt his responsibility for the souls of the black folk; and he and his successors have been in more or less degree pressing the work of the church among the negroes. we have now in the state two arch-deacons, thirteen clergymen, , communicants and parishes and missions. each arch-deacon goes all about his own diocese, visiting the colored parishes and missions, consulting with the clergy, and opening out new fields. the clergy are doing just the same kind of work among their people that the white clergy are doing in their white parishes and missions, with the exception that the colored clergy are giving more of their time to educational work. i have about the same size classes for confirmation among the negroes that i have among the whites in the churches of the same numerical strength. i have been bishop of east carolina about two and a half years; and i have confirmed negroes and white people, being an increase of per cent. for the negroes and per cent. for the whites. i am really proud of my staff of negro clergy; they are men of high moral character and are doing good and effective service. work like this i have described in north carolina is going on in every one of our states, larger or smaller as the church of the white people has been larger or smaller in strength and numbers, and as the bishop has been more or less interested in this special work. in this purely missionary field many of us are trying to develop and utilize catechists, men of age and character without the necessary literary qualifications for the ministry, who can go forth to teach and preach to their people the simple facts of the gospel, bringing the power of christ to bear on their daily moral life. two special ways in which the church is influencing the negro race i take pleasure in mentioning. arch-deacon russell is holding every summer on his school grounds at lawrenceville a "farmers' conference." the negroes come from all over the county and spend the day together, asking and answering publicly questions about their progress or their failure, their customs, good or bad, praising or criticising one another, and listening to selected speakers, urging them on to the best lines of development for their race. i attended this conference last summer; and i was much impressed and greatly encouraged for the true progress of the negro. another far different kind of influence is going out from the church in arkansas. bishop brown and his council have made an entire separation between the whites and blacks in his diocese. he has appointed a negro arch-deacon for the negro race, and has given him large power and wide discretion. arch-deacon mcguire is appealing to the negroes both within and without the church, attending all large negro gatherings, speaking to them about the church, her customs and claims. he is getting a large and sympathetic hearing; and he and bishop brown have great hope of rapid progress for this negro branch of the church in arkansas. now, my friends, while the work is slowly going forward, as i have shown, while the average per cent. of growth among the negroes is nearly that of the progress among the whites; yet conditions are not satisfactory. while we can excuse ourselves, if we will, by pointing to the changed conditions after the war; by telling of the days of re-construction, which did more to separate and to make antagonistic the two races than many wars; by speaking of the high moral standard, which we demand and which the negroes in the mass will not accept; by deprecating the use of our beautiful liturgy which they cannot understand; yet we ought to have done, we ought to be doing far more with the negroes than we have done or are doing. we are barely touching the edge of the negro people; just think of it: one in one thousand, while we have among the whites one in about of the population. in virginia, where there is one in of the white population who are members of the episcopal church, there is only one in of the negroes; in north carolina one in whites and one in blacks. in south carolina, where in the whites and blacks were about equal, the whites have gone forward to seven thousand, and the negroes have fallen back to one thousand. yet that is not the most unsatisfactory part of the matter. we are not strongly attracting to the church the element we ought to have; the exceptional negroes, the educated and enterprising, the leaders of their race. why? let the facts answer. i have already said that the church strove to continue after the war the same method of dealing with the negroes as before. she tried to keep the races together; but she has found it impractical, that impracticability growing more and more clear as the years have run on. the races have been steadily drifting apart in all social or semi-social life; the better class of each race is coming less and less into contact with each other; and race prejudice is increasing and deepening in the great masses of both the white and the black people. soon after the war, wherever the negroes were in great numbers, we found it necessary to build separate churches for them. we admitted their clergymen and laymen to the councils of the diocese on equal terms with the whites; but that custom has been steadily changing. some twenty years ago south carolina and virginia, dreading too great an increase of negro clergy and laity, led the way to new conditions. south carolina excluded them entirely from the diocesan council, without any further provision for them. virginia did not disturb those already having seats in the council, but simply refused to let any more come in on the same terms. she erected a separate convocation for the negroes, and now allows a certain number to have seats as representatives from the convocation to the council. two years ago arkansas put the negroes aside into a separate convocation with no representation in the council of the diocese. georgia last year formed a separate convocation; but has allowed them by the act of separation to come into the council to vote for the standing committee, the deputies to the general convention and for the bishop, whenever one is to be elected: giving them, you see, legal representation in important affairs. the convention of the diocese of north carolina is now discussing the matter of separation, and is only delaying its own action, while waiting to see what shall be done next fall by the general convention. in our own diocese of east carolina, the negroes are formally and legally on the same basis as the whites; but is that satisfactory? not at all. the negro laity rarely go to the council. the negro clergy go; but they take a back seat; they have nothing to do or say; they are not expected to show their interest or their will, except by voting. instead of its doing them good to come to the council, it really does them harm. they are depressed, they feel the difference between themselves and the white men; they have little or no opportunity to take responsibility and to develop christian manhood. perceiving this state of things, the clear headed leader of the forces for separation in the diocese of north carolina tells me that he is urging this separation for the real good of the negro as well as for the growth and influence of the church among the white people of the state. the fact is, say what we will about it--it would carry me too far afield to explain it to-night--that the negro cannot work together on equality with the white man; he either assumes an apparent insolence and stubbornness, which the whites will not allow; or he puts on a civility and submission, which strips him of his manhood. so, we are placed in this condition: when we keep the negro close to us on formal equality, he has no real opportunity to grow and develop in the true characteristics of manhood; when we put him off in an inferior diocesan convocation, he feels that he is not treated as a man; he is forced steadily to realize his inferiority to the white man, that inferiority declared and impressed upon him by the church of god. this, it seems to me, is the chief reason why we are not now growing as we ought to among the leading influential negroes of the south; and the reason why there is much restlessness and want of satisfaction among the negroes who are already in the church. what ought we to do to meet these conditions? let us turn aside for a moment to consider the general conditions of the negroes and their relation to the white people. we have to-day about the same relative proportion of blacks to whites in the whole country as we had in --about per cent.--; and we have nearly the same in the south, about per cent. what is to become of the negro for the next fifty years? no man would dare suggest an answer looking farther ahead than that: god only knows. some say he will amalgamate with the whites. many thought so immediately after the war who do not think or say so now. no; after forty years the separation between the races is clearer, wider and more distinct than ever before. the thoughtful black men do not desire amalgamation; and the white men will not have it. some say the negro will be colonized. i think that there is less reason in this answer even than in the former. the negroes do not wish to go; and we cannot force them. think of the difficulty of deporting forcibly nine million people! no; as dr. booker t. washington says, "this problem is not to be solved by deportation or by amalgamation." the negroes are here to stay with us, and the bulk of them will stay in the south. for years there has been a steady movement of the negroes from the country to the towns and cities of the south, and from the southern cities to the northern. i think they are coming and will continue to come north in sufficient numbers for our brethren of the north to learn to know them, to sympathize with us in our problem and to have something of a problem themselves, and to feel that we must all work together towards its true and final solution. the negroes are dividing into two distinct classes more decidedly, it seems to me, than any other nationality in our country; and i hope they will continue to keep and increase this distinction. a minority are improving, are taking advantage of education, are advancing in morality and industry, are acquiring property and becoming worthy citizens. these few are setting a standard, and are giving us hope of what the negro can and may become. the majority are not improving, but rather retrogressing. they are looking on liberty as license; they are thinking that a little education will give them the privilege of living without manual labor; they are making higher wages the way to less work rather than the way to a higher standard of life; they are shiftless, immoral, and criminal. now, as i study this race so dividing in the great laboratory of nature, under the law of god which works on so justly, ofttimes apparently so cruelly, always for the general good of man, i look forward with the hope that this smaller, higher class will increase, and that the larger, lower class will decrease. the better class will increase as all good things do and will increase in the providence of god and with the help and sympathy of true good men. the larger, meaner class of negroes will steadily diminish in two directions; the first by movement of their best into the higher class, swelling that slowly into the majority; the second, by the stern sloughing off of their worst by the diseases which spring from idleness, self-indulgence, filth, and immorality. what we white men of the north and south ought to do to encourage and help this better class of negroes is, in brief phrases, this: first, to keep our faces as flint against all social intermingling that looks toward amalgamation. then, across this chasm, which both races frankly accept, to join hands with those trying to lift and better themselves, cheering, encouraging, and helping them. we must give them full protection in their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness; we must give them even handed justice in law and in politics; we must give them equality of opportunity in earning their bread, in making their homes, in educating their children; we must give them every chance and all cheer and sympathy in seeking the fulfillment of the aspirations of the human heart among their own people. and, my friends, i want to tell you here in chicago to-night that we men of the south are largely doing all of these things now, and we are going to do them more and more completely. we are coming to see more and more clearly that it will not do to have forty per cent. of the people of our southern land sullen and suspicious, discontented and hopeless; but that we can only go forward at our best pace towards a happy and noble civilization, with both races cheerful and hopeful, sympathizing with each other in their peculiar perplexities, trusting their brother man on earth and their father god in heaven. keeping clearly in mind these conditions, what ought we christians in the church of god to do to help and strengthen this smaller, higher class and to persuade many of the larger, lower class to join this higher? in the first place, we must frankly acknowledge the hard _facts_ of the case, and, as far as possible, put to one side _theories_. we are confronted by a condition, as far as i read and study, absolutely new in the history of mankind, where we have no exact precedent to guide us. the underlying practical fact is this: there must be _separation_ not _from_ but _in_ the church between the two races, for the growth of the church among white men and black men, and for the development of christian manhood among the black men. having settled and agreed on that fact, how are we to effect that separation so as to do justice to the negro? how shall we keep him still in the one holy catholic church in the united states of america and bestow on him her priceless blessings; how shall we keep him close enough to receive the sympathy, the support and the guidance of the white race; and yet put him far enough apart to grow and to strengthen, to meet responsibility and to make character, to develop a manly independence and to cultivate a brave and sober initiative? we have long given up the point of contact in the one parish church, and have made the separation there; we are now giving up the point of contact in the diocesan council, and are making the separation there. what more shall we do? the true answer to my mind is: make the point of contact the general convention, and make the separation, not by superior and inferior councils in the same diocese under the one bishop; but by the erection of missionary jurisdictions, made up out of the colored people in different dioceses under their own bishop, on equality with any other missionary jurisdiction in the church. we must have missionary jurisdictions in the south--one, or at most, two to begin with--composed of the negroes of two or more contiguous dioceses, which shall be a part of the general church, independent of the bishops and councils of those dioceses, bearing the same relation to the general convention that the white missionary jurisdictions do. that is to say, they shall have their representatives to the house of clerical and lay delegates and their bishops in the house of bishops. the negro clergy and laity would thus meet together in their missionary convocation in numbers great enough to hearten one another and to stir enthusiasm; they would become responsible for their own success or failure; they would discuss, resolve and do their own committee work; they would have large missionary gatherings, which would make a deep impression on the negroes living in the city where the convocation meets. of what race should be the bishop of this negro missionary jurisdiction? there are two answers to this question. one answer comes from those in the church who still cling to the theory that there must be no race division whatever in the church, that there must be under all conditions conceivable or inconceivable one bishop in the same territory to all kinds, classes and races of people. "no," say they, "no negro bishop. whatever be your divisions in councils or convocations or conventions, let one white bishop be the bond of unity." the same answer comes as a practical matter from men who differ widely from the above theory. it comes from those who look too much, it seems to me, at the mass of the negroes, the lower majority of whom i have spoken; it comes from those who are hopeless of doing much for or with the negroes, who regard them as children, careless and unreliable, with different aspirations from those that actuate the white man. they say, "we must have a white man; no negro is fit to be a bishop." the other answer comes from the men who think that we are confronted by facts, not theories, and that theories must be given up in the face of opposing facts; who think that the church in her wisdom must rise up to meet this opportunity and responsibility, must adapt and adjust her system to the facts; who say that if a negro bishop is acknowledged to be the best means to christianize and save the negroes, then we must have a negro bishop. this answer, again, comes from those who are looking more closely at the few, better, advancing negroes, thinking of them as men, with manly hopes and powers and aspirations, believing that races must be lifted by their own race leaders, that they can only truly understand and follow their own heroes. we say, "remember frederick douglass, look at booker washington, know that wonderful presbyterian missionary, william h. shepherd, consider the african methodist bishops, strong men, leaders of their fellows, against whom no murmur of scandal is raised. surely among our own men in the church, or our system is woefully at fault, we can find one or two honest, true, able, pure men, fit to be bishops to their own race." such a man would be a bishop indeed to his race, such a bishop as no white man can possibly be. he will enter, as only a negro can, into their perplexities, their hopes and their joys, sharing really in their social life, of which their religious life forms so great a part. he and his people will be a real part of the holy catholic church, all worshipping according to her incomparable liturgy, all living under the same canon law. he and his deputies will come into close contact with their white brethren in the general convention, and will gain much from such association and consultation. he will meet with the white bishops, from whom his jurisdiction is taken, in brotherly conference as his council of advice. from such friendly contact and advice from the highest and most sympathetic white men, he will go forth among his own people as their apostle, their true bishop and father in god. in this double relation, in this position of high responsibility, he will stand forth as a true mediator between the races, pleading with both for peace, harmony, justice. this action of the church, this frank and fair position given to the negro will so appeal to the better class of the leading negroes, will so cheer and encourage them in their true progress, that they will come, i believe, steadily and largely into the church. from this line of thought, which grows clearer and clearer to me the more i read and think and see, i look forward with hope to a wise and fair adjustment of the relation between the races of this land, and to a happy future for a part of the negro race--how large a part god only knows. towards this adjustment this church of ours can make a rich contribution; and i believe she has, under god, a great part to play in enlarging the choice remnant and in bringing it to its true salvation. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | transcriber's note: | | | | page : changed are'nt to aren't (you aren't going) | | | | page : changed ouside to outside (to that done outside) | | | | page : moved period inside end-quotes for consistency with text | | ("farmers' conference.") | | | | page : changed "the the" to "to the" (rarely go to the council) | | | | page : changed conposed to composed (composed of the negroes) | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ the way to god and how to find it by d. l. moody fleming h. revell company chicago new york toronto _publishers of evangelical literature_ entered according to act of congress, in the year , by f. h. revell, in the office of the librarian of congress at washington. to the reader in this small volume i have endeavored to point out the way to god. i have embodied in the little book a considerable part of several addresses which have been delivered in different cities, both of great britain and my own country. god has graciously owned them when spoken from the pulpit, and i trust will none the less add his blessing now they have been put into the printed page with additional matter. i have called attention first to the love of god, the source of all gifts of grace; have then endeavored to present truths to meet the special needs of representative classes, answering the question, "how man can be just with god," hoping thereby to lead souls to him who is "the way, the truth and the life." the last chapter is specially addressed to backsliders--a class, alas, far too numerous amongst us. with the earnest prayer and hope that by the blessing of god on these pages the reader may be strengthened, established and settled in the faith of christ, i am, yours in his service, d. l. moody contents. chapter i. "love that passeth knowledge" chapter ii. the gateway into the kingdom chapter iii. the two classes chapter iv. words of counsel chapter v. a divine saviour chapter vi. repentance and restitution chapter vii. assurance of salvation chapter viii. christ all and in all chapter ix. backsliding the way to god. chapter i. "_love that passeth knowledge_." "to know the love of christ which passeth knowledge." (ephesians iii. .) if i could only make men understand the real meaning of the words of the apostle john--"god is love," i would take that single text, and would go up and down the world proclaiming this glorious truth. if you can convince a man that you love him you have won his heart. if we really make people believe that god loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of heaven! the trouble is that men think god hates them; and so they are all the time running away from him. we built a church in chicago some years ago; and were very anxious to teach the people the love of god. we thought if we could not preach it into their hearts we would try and burn it in; so we put right over the pulpit in gas-jets these words--god is love. a man going along the streets one night glanced through the door, and saw the text. he was a poor prodigal. as he passed on he thought to himself, "god is love! no! he does not love me; for i am a poor miserable sinner." he tried to get rid of the text; but it seemed to stand out right before him in letters of fire. he went on a little further; then turned round, went back, and went into the meeting. he did not hear the sermon; but the words of that short text had got deeply lodged in his heart, and that was enough. it is of little account what men say if the word of god only gets an entrance into the sinner's heart. he staid after the first meeting was over; and i found him there weeping like a child. as i unfolded the scriptures and told him how god had loved him all the time, although he had wandered so far away, and how god was waiting to receive him and forgive him, the light of the gospel broke into his mind, and he went away rejoicing. there is nothing in this world that men prize so much us they do love. show me a person who has no one to care for or love him, and i will show you one of the most wretched beings on the face of the earth. why do people commit suicide? very often it is because this thought steals in upon them--that no one loves them; and they would rather die than live. i know of no truth in the whole bible that ought to come home to us with such power and tenderness as that of the love of god; and there is no truth in the bible that satan would so much like to blot out. for more than six thousand years he has been trying to persuade men that god does not love them. he succeeded in making our first parents believe this lie; and he too often succeeds with their children. the idea that god does not love us often comes from false teaching. mothers make a mistake in teaching children that god does not love them when they do wrong; but only when they do right. that is not taught in scripture. you do not teach your children that when they do wrong you hate them. their wrong-doing does not change your love to hate; if it did, you would change your love a great many times. because your child is fretful, or has committed some act of disobedience, you do not cast him out as though he did not belong to you! no! he is still your child; and you love him. and if men have gone astray from god it does not follow that he hates _them_. it is the sin that he hates. i believe the reason why a great many people think god does not love them is because they are measuring god by their own small rule, from their own standpoint. we love men as long as we consider them worthy of our love; when they are not we cast them off. it is not so with god. there is a vast difference between human love and divine love. in ephesians iii. , we are told of the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, of god's love. many of us think we know something of god's love; but centuries hence we shall admit we have never found out much about it. columbus discovered america; but what did he know about its great lakes, rivers, forests, and the mississippi valley? he died, without knowing much about what he had discovered. so, many of us have discovered something of the love of god; but there are heights, depths and lengths of it we do not know. that love is a great ocean; and we require to plunge into it before we really know anything of it. it is said of a roman catholic archbishop of paris, that when he was thrown into prison and condemned to be shot, a little while before he was led out to die, he saw a window in his cell in the shape of a cross. upon the top of the cross he wrote "height," at the bottom "depth," and at the end of each arm "length." he had experienced the truth conveyed in the hymn-- "when i survey the wondrous cross, on which the prince of glory died." when we wish to know the love of god we should go to calvary. can we look upon that scene, and say god did not love us? that cross speaks of the love of god. greater love never has been taught than that which the cross teaches. what prompted god to give up christ?--what prompted christ to die?--if it were not love? "greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." christ laid down his life for his enemies; christ laid down his life for his murderers; christ laid down his life for them that hated him; and the spirit of the cross, the spirit of calvary, is love. when they were mocking him and deriding him, what did he say? "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." that is love. he did not call down fire from heaven to consume them; there was nothing but love in his heart. if you study the bible you will find that the love of god is _unchangeable_. many who loved you at one time have perhaps grown cold in their affection, and turned away from you: it may be that their love is changed to hatred. it is not so with god. it is recorded of jesus christ, just when he was about to be parted from his disciples and led away to calvary, that: "having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end" (john xiii. ). he knew that one of his disciples would betray him; yet he loved judas. he knew that another disciple would deny him, and swear that he never knew him; and yet he loved peter. it was the love which christ had for peter that broke his heart, and brought him back in penitence to the feet of his lord. for three years jesus had been with the disciples trying to teach them his love, not only by his life and words, but by his works. and, on the night of his betrayal, he takes a basin of water, girds himself with a towel, and taking the place of a servant, washes their feet; he wanted to convince them of his unchanging love. there is no portion of scripture i read so often as john xiv; and there is none that is more sweet to me. i never tire of reading it. hear what our lord says, as he pours out his heart to his disciples: "at that day ye shall know that i am in my father, and ye in me, and i in you. he that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and _he that loveth me shall be loved by my father_" (xiv. , ). think of the great god who created heaven and earth loving you and me! . . . "if a man love me, he will keep my words; and my father will love him; and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (v. ). would to god that our puny minds could grasp this great truth, that the father and the son so love us that they desire to come and abide with us. not to tarry for a night, but to come and _abide_ in our hearts. we have another passage more wonderful still in john xvii. . "i in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, _and hast loved them as thou hast loved me_." i think that is one of the most remarkable sayings that ever fell from the lips of jesus christ. there is no reason why the father should not love him. he was obedient unto death; he never transgressed the father's law, or turned aside from the path of perfect obedience by one hair's breadth. it is very different with us; and yet, notwithstanding all our rebellion and foolishness, he says that if we are trusting in christ, the father loves us as he loves the son. marvellous love! wonderful love! that god can possibly love us as he loves his own son seems too good to be true. yet that is the teaching of jesus christ. it is hard to make a sinner believe in this unchangeable love of god. when a man has wandered away from god he thinks that god hates him. we must make a distinction between sin and the sinner. god loves the sinner; but he hates the sin. he hates sin, because it mars human life. it is just because god loves the sinner that he hates sin. god's love is not only unchangeable, but _unfailing_. in isaiah xlix. , we read: "can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget; yet will i not forget thee. behold i have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." now the strongest human love that we know of is a _mother's love_. many things will separate a man from his wife. a father may turn his back on his child; brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies; husbands may desert their wives; wives, their husbands. but a mother's love endures through all. in good repute, in bad repute, in the face of the world's condemnation, a mother loves on, and hopes that her child may turn from his evil ways and repent. she remembers the infant smiles, the merry laugh of childhood, the promise of youth; and she can never be brought to think him unworthy. death cannot quench a mother's love; it is stronger than death. you have seen a mother watching over her sick child. how willingly she would take the disease into her own body if she could thus relieve her child! week after week she will keep watch; she will let no one else take care of that sick child. a friend of mine, some time ago, was visiting in a beautiful home where he met a number of friends. after they had all gone away, having left something behind, he went back to get it. there he found the lady of the house, a wealthy lady, sitting behind a poor fellow who looked like a tramp. _he was her own son_. like the prodigal, he had wandered far away: yet the mother said, "this is my boy; i love him still." take a mother with nine or ten children, if one goes astray, she seems to love that one more than any of the rest. a leading minister in the state of new york once told me of a father who was a very bad character. the mother did all she could to prevent the contamination of the boy; but the influence of the father was stronger, and he led his son into all kinds of sin until the lad became one of the worst of criminals. he committed murder, and was put on his trial. all through the trial, the widowed mother (for the father had died) sat in the court. when the witnesses testified against the boy it seemed to hurt the mother much more than the son. when he was found guilty and sentenced to die, every one else feeling the justice of the verdict, seemed satisfied at the result. but the mother's love never faltered. she begged for a reprieve; but that was denied. after the execution she craved for the body; and this also was refused. according to custom, it was buried in the prison yard. a little while afterwards the mother herself died; but, before she was taken away, she expressed a desire to be buried by the side of her boy. she was not ashamed of being known as the mother of a murderer. the story is told of a young woman in scotland, who left her home, and became an outcast in glasgow. her mother sought her far and wide, but in vain. at last, she caused her picture to be hung upon the walls of the midnight mission rooms, where abandoned women resorted. many gave the picture a passing glance. one lingered by the picture. it is the same dear face that looked down upon her in her childhood. she has not forgotten nor cast off her sinning child; or her picture would never have been hung upon those walls. the lips seemed to open, and whisper, "come home; i forgive you, and love you still." the poor girl sank down overwhelmed with her feelings. she was the prodigal daughter. the sight of her mother's face had broken her heart. she became truly penitent for her sins, and with a heart full of sorrow and shame, returned to her forsaken home; and mother and daughter were once more united. but let me tell you that no mother's love is to be compared with the love of god; it does not measure the height of the depth of god's love. no mother in this world ever loved her child as god loves you and me. think of the love that god must have had when he gave his son to die for the world. i used to think a good deal more of christ than i did of the father. somehow or other i had the idea that god was a stern judge; that christ came between me and god, and appeased the anger of god. but after i became a father, and for years had an only son, as i looked at my boy i thought of the father giving his son to die; and it seemed to me as if it required more love for the father to give his son than for the son to die. oh, the love that god must have had for the world when he gave his son to die for it! "god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (john iii. ). i have never been able to preach from that text. i have often thought i would; but it is so high that i can never climb to its height; i have just quoted it and passed on. who can fathom the depth of those words: "god so loved the world?" we can never scale the heights of his love or fathom its depths. paul prayed that he might know the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth, of the love of god; but it was past his finding out. it "passeth knowledge" (eph. iii. ). nothing speaks to us of the love of god, like the cross of christ. come with me to calvary, and look upon the son of god as he hangs there. can you hear that piercing cry from his dying lips: "father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!" and say that he does not love you? "greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (john xv. ). but jesus christ laid down his life _for his enemies_. another thought is this: he loved us long before we ever thought of him. the idea that he does not love us until we first love him is not to be found in scripture. in john iv. , it is written: "herein is love, not that we loved god, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins." he loved us before we ever thought of loving him. you loved your children before they knew anything about your love. and so, long before we ever thought of god, we were in his thoughts. what brought the prodigal home? it was the thought that his father loved him. suppose the news had reached him that he was cast off, and that his father did not care for him any more, would he have gone back? never! but the thought dawned upon him that his father loved him still: so he rose up, and went back to his home. dear reader, the love of the father ought to bring us back to him. it was adam's calamity and sin that revealed god's love. when adam fell god came down and dealt in mercy with him. if any one is lost it will not be because god does not love him: it will be because he has resisted the love of god. what will make heaven attractive? is it the pearly gates or the golden streets? no. heaven will be attractive, because there we shall behold him who loved us so much as to give his only-begotten son to die for us. what makes home attractive? is it the beautiful furniture and stately rooms? no; some homes with all these are like whited sepulchres. in brooklyn a mother was dying; and it was necessary to take her child from her, because the little child could not understand the nature of the sickness, and disturbed her mother. every night the child sobbed herself to sleep in a neighbor's house, because she wanted to go back to her mother's; but the mother grew worse, and they could not take the child home. at last the mother died; and after her death they thought it best not to let the child see her dead mother in her coffin. after the burial the child ran into one room crying "mamma! mamma!" and then into another crying "mamma! mamma!" and so went over the whole house: and when the little creature failed to find that loved one she cried to be taken back to the neighbors. so what makes heaven attractive is the thought that we shall see christ who has loved us and given himself for us. if you ask me why god should love us, i cannot tell. i suppose it is because he is a true father. it is his nature to love; just as it is the nature of the sun to shine. he wants you to share in that love. do not let unbelief keep you away from him. do not think that, because you are a sinner, god does not love you, or care for you. he does! he wants to save you and bless you. "when we were yet without strength, in due time christ died for the ungodly" (rom. v. ). is that not enough to convince you that he loves you? he would not have died for you if he had not loved you. is your heart so hard that you can brace yourself up against his love, and spurn and despise it? you _can_ do it; but it will be at your peril. i can imagine some saying to themselves, "yes, we believe that god loves us, if we love him; we believe that god loves the pure and the holy." let me say, my friend, not only does god love the pure and the holy: he also loves the ungodly. "god commendeth his love toward us, in that, _while we were yet sinners_, christ died for us" (rom. v. ). god sent him to die for the sins of the whole world. if you belong to the world, then you have part and lot in this love that has been exhibited in the cross of christ. there is a passage in revelation (i. .) which i think a great deal of--"unto him that loved us, and washed us." it might be thought that god would first wash us, and then love us. but no, he first loved us. about eight years ago the whole country was intensely excited about charlie ross, a child of four years old, who was stolen. two men in a gig asked him and an elder brother if they wanted some candy. they then drove away with the younger boy, leaving the elder one. for many years a search has been made in every state and territory. men have been over to great britain, france, and germany, and have hunted in vain for the child. the mother still lives in the hope that she will see her long lost charlie. i never remember the whole country to have been so much agitated about any event unless it was the assassination of president garfield. well, suppose the mother of charlie ross were in some meeting; and that while the preacher was speaking, she happened to look down amongst the audience and see her long lost son. suppose that he was poor, dirty and ragged, shoeless and coatless, what would she do? would she wait till he was washed and decently clothed before she would acknowledge him? no, she would get off the platform at once, rush towards him and take him in her arms. after that she would cleanse and clothe him. so it is with god. he loved us, and washed us. i can imagine one saying, "if god loves me, why does he not make me good?" god wants sons and daughters in heaven; he does not want machines or slaves. he could break our stubborn hearts, but he wants to draw us towards himself by the cords of love. he wanted you to sit down with him at the marriage supper of the lamb; to wash you, and make you whiter than snow. he wants you to walk with him the crystal pavement of yonder blissful world. he wants to adopt you into his family; and to make you a son or a daughter of heaven. will you trample his love under your feet? or will you, this hour, give yourself to him? when our terrible civil war was going on, a mother received the news that her boy had been wounded in the battle of the wilderness. she took the first train, and started for her boy, although the order had gone forth from the war department that no more women should be admitted within the lines. but a mother's love knows nothing about orders so she managed by tears and entreaties to get through the lines to the wilderness. at last she found the hospital where her boy was. then she went to the doctor and she said: "will you let me go to the ward and nurse my boy?" the doctor said: "i have just got your boy to sleep; he is in a very critical state; and i am afraid if you wake him up the excitement will be so great that it will carry him off. you had better wait awhile, and remain without until i tell him that you have come, and break the news gradually to him." the mother looked into the doctor's face and said: "doctor, supposing my boy does not wake up, and i should never see him alive! let me go and sit down by his side; i won't speak to him." "if you will not speak to him you may do so," said the doctor. she crept to the cot and looked into the face of her boy. how she had longed to look at him! how her eyes seemed to be feasting as she gazed upon his countenance! when she got near enough she could not keep her hands off; she laid that tender, loving hand upon his brow. the moment the hand touched the forehead of her boy, he, without opening his eyes, cried out: "mother, you have come!" he knew the touch of that loving hand. there was love and sympathy in it. ah, sinner, if you feel the loving touch of jesus you will recognize it; it is so full of tenderness. the world may treat you unkindly; but christ never will. you will never have a better friend in this world. what you need is--to come today to him. let his loving arm be underneath you; let his loving hand be about you; and he will hold you with mighty power. he will keep you, and fill that heart of yours with his tenderness and love. i can imagine some of you saying, "how shall i go to him?" why, just as you would go to your mother. have you done your mother a great injury and a great wrong? if so, you go to her and you say, "mother, i want you to forgive me." treat christ in the same way. go to him to-day and tell him that you have not loved him, that you have not treated him right; confess you sins, and see how quickly he will bless you. i am reminded of another incident--that of a boy who had been tried by court-martial and ordered to be shot. the hearts of the father and mother were broken when they heard the news. in that home was a little girl. she had read the life of abraham lincoln, and she said: "now, if abraham lincoln knew how my father and mother loved their boy, he would not let my brother be shot." she wanted her father to go to washington to plead for his boy. but the father said: "no; there is no use; the law must take its course. they have refused to pardon one or two who have been sentenced by that court-martial, and an order has gone forth that the president is not going to interfere again; if a man has been sentenced by court-martial he must suffer the consequences." that father and mother had not faith to believe that their boy might be pardoned. but the little girl was strong in hope; she got on the train away up in vermont, and started off to washington. when she reached the white house the soldiers refused to let her in; but she told her pitiful story, and they allowed her to pass. when she got to the secretary's room, where the president's private secretary was, he refused to allow her to enter the private office of the president. but the little girl told her story, and it touched the heart of the private secretary; so he passed her in. as she went into abraham lincoln's room, there were united states senators, generals, governors and leading politicians, who were there about important business about the war; but the president happened to see that child standing at his door. he wanted to know what she wanted, and she went right to him and told her story in her own language. he was a father, and the great tears trickled down abraham lincoln's cheeks. he wrote a dispatch ard sent it to the army to have that boy sent to washington at once. when he arrived, the president pardoned him, gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home with the little girl to cheer the hearts of the father and mother. do you want to know how to go to christ? go just as that little girl went to abraham lincoln. it may be possible that you have a dark story to tell. tell it all out; keep nothing back. if abraham lincoln had compassion on that little girl, heard her petition and answered it, do you think the lord jesus will not hear your prayer? do, you think that abraham lincoln, or any man that ever lived on earth, had as much compassion as christ? no! he will be touched when no one else will; he will have mercy when no one else will; he will have pity when no one else will. if you will go right to him, confessing your sin and your need, he will save you. a few years ago a man left england and went to america. he was an englishman; but he was naturalized, and so became an american citizen. after a few years he felt restless and dissatisfied, and went to cuba; and after he had been in cuba a little while civil war broke out there; it was in ; and this man was arrested by the spanish government as a spy. he was tried by court-martial, found guilty and ordered to be shot. the whole trial was conducted in the spanish language, and the poor man did not know what was going on. when they told him the verdict, that he was found guilty and had been condemned to be shot, he sent to the american consul and the english consul, and laid the whole case before them, proving his innocence and claiming protection. they examined the case, and found that this man whom the spanish officers had condemned to be shot was perfectly innocent; they went to the spanish general and said, "look here, this man whom you have condemned to death is an innocent man; he is not guilty." but the spanish general said, "he has been tried by our law; he has been found guilty; he must die." there was no electric cable; and these men could not consult with their governments. the morning came on which the man was to be executed. he was brought out sitting on his coffin in a cart, and drawn to the place where he was to be executed. a grave was dug. they took the coffin out of the cart, placed the young man upon it, took the black cap, and were just pulling it down over his face. the spanish soldiers awaited the order to fire. but just then the american and english consuls rode up. the english consul sprang out of the carriage and took the union jack, the british flag, and wrapped it around the man, and the american consul wrapped around him the star-spangled banner, and then turning to the spanish officers they said: "fire upon those flags if you dare." they did not dare to fire upon the flags. there were two great governments behind those flags. that was the secret of it. "he brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. . . . his left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me" (song sol. ii. , ). thank god we can come under the banner to-day if we will. any, poor sinner can come under that banner to-day. his banner of love is over us. blessed gospel; blessed, precious, news. believe it to-day; receive it into your heart; and enter into a new life. let the love of god be shed abroad in your heart by the holy ghost to-day: it will drive away darkness; it will drive away gloom; it will drive away sin; and peace and joy shall be yours. chapter ii. _the gateway into the kingdom_. "except a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of god." (john iii. .) there is no portion of the word of god, perhaps, with which we are more familiar than this passage. i suppose if i were to ask those in any audience if they believed that jesus christ taught the doctrine of the new birth, nine tenths of them would say: "yes, i believe he did." now if the words of this text are true they embody one of the most solemn questions that can come before us. we can afford to be deceived about many things rather than about this one thing. christ makes it very plain. he says, "except a man be born again, he cannot _see_ the kingdom of god"--much less inherit it. this doctrine of the new birth is therefore the foundation of all our hopes for the world to come. it is really the a b c of the christian religion. my experience has been this--that if a man is unsound on this doctrine he will be unsound on almost every other fundamental doctrine in the bible. a true understanding of this subject will help a man to solve a thousand difficulties that he may meet with in the word of god. things that before seemed very dark and mysterious will become very plain. the doctrine of the new birth upsets all false religion--all false views about the bible and about god. a friend of mine once told me that in one of his after-meetings, a man came to him with a long list of questions written out for him to answer. he said: "if you can answer these questions satisfactorily, i have made up my mind to be a christian." "do you not think," said my friend, "that you had better come to christ first? then you can look into these questions." the man thought that perhaps he had better do so. after he had received christ, he looked again at his list of questions; but then it seemed to him as if they had all been answered. nicodemus came with his troubled mind, and christ said to him, "ye must be born again." he was treated altogether differently from what he expected; but i venture to say that was the most blessed night in all his life. to be "born again" is the greatest blessing that will ever come to us in this world. notice how the scripture puts it. "except a man be born again," "born from above,"[note: john iii. . _marginal reading_] "born of the spirit." from amongst a number of other passages where we find this word "except," i would just name three. "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (luke xiii. , .) "except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (matt. xviii. .) "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (matt. v. .) they all really mean the same thing. i am so thankful that our lord spoke of the new birth to this ruler of the jews, this doctor of the law, rather than to the woman at the well of samaria, or to matthew the publican, or to zaccheus. if he had reserved his teaching on this great matter for these three, or such as these, people would have said: "oh yes, these publicans and harlots need to be converted: but i am an upright man; i do not need to be converted." i suppose nicodemus was one of the best specimens of the people of jerusalem: there was nothing on record against him. i think it is scarcely necessary for me to prove that we need to be born again before we are meet for heaven. i venture to say that there is no candid man but would say he is not fit for the kingdom of god, until he is born of another spirit. the bible teaches us that man by nature is lost and guilty, and our experience confirms this. we know also that the best and holiest man, if he turn away from god, will very soon fall into sin. now, let me say what regeneration is not. it is not going to church. very often i see people, and ask them if they are christians. "yes, of course i am; at least, i think i am: i go to church every sunday." ah, but this is not regeneration. others say, "i am trying to do what is right--am i not a christian? is not that a new birth?" no. what has that to do with being born again? there is yet another class--those who have "turned over a new leaf," and think they are regenerated. no; forming a new resolution is not being born again. nor will being baptized do you any good. yet you hear people say, "why, i have been baptized; and i was born again when i was baptized." they believe that because they were baptized into the church, they were baptized into the kingdom of god. i tell you that it is utterly impossible. you may be baptized into the church, and yet not be baptized into the son of god. baptism is all right in its place. god forbid that i should say anything against it. but if you put that in the place of regeneration--in the place of the new birth--it is a terrible mistake. you cannot be baptized into the kingdom of god. "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." if any one reading this rests his hopes on anything else--on any other foundation--i pray that god may sweep it away. another class say, "i go to the lord's supper; i partake uniformly of the sacrament." blessed ordinance! jesus hath said that as often as ye do it ye commemorate his death. yet, that is not being "born again;" that is not passing from death unto life. jesus says plainly--and so plainly that there need not be any mistake about it--"except a man be born of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god." what has a sacrament to do with that? what has going to church to do with being born again? another man comes up and says, "i say my prayers regularly." still i say that is not being born of the spirit. it is a very solemn question, then, that comes up before us; and oh! that every reader would ask himself earnestly and faithfully: "have i been born again? have i been born of the spirit? have i passed from death unto life?" there is a class of men who say that special religious meetings are very good for a certain class of people. they would be very good if you could get the drunkard there, or get the gambler there, or get other vicious people there--that would do a great deal of good. but "we do not need to be converted." to whom did christ utter these words of wisdom? to nicodemus. who was nicodemus? was he a drunkard, a gambler, or a thief? no! no doubt he was one of the very best men in jerusalem. he was an honorable councillor; he belonged to the sanhedrim; he held a very high position; he was an orthodox man; he was one of the very soundest men. and yet what did christ say to him? "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." but i can imagine some one saying, "what am i to do? i cannot create life. i certainly cannot save myself." you certainly cannot; and we do not claim that you can. we tell you it is utterly impossible to make a man better without christ; but that is what men are trying to do. they are trying to patch up this "old adam" nature. there must be a new creation. regeneration is a new creation; and if it is a new creation it must be the work of god. in the first chapter of genesis man does not appear. there is no one there but god. man is not there to take part. when god created the earth he was alone. when christ redeemed the world he was alone. "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." (john iii. .) the ethiopian cannot change his skin, and the leopard cannot change his spots. you might as well try to make yourselves pure and holy without the help of god. it would be just as easy for you to do that as for the black man to wash himself white. a man might just as well try to leap over the moon as to serve god in the flesh. therefore, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit." now god tells us in this chapter how we are to get into his kingdom. we are not to work our way in--not but that salvation is worth working for. we admit all that. if there were rivers and mountains in the way, it would be well worth while to swim those rivers, and climb those mountains. there is no doubt that salvation is worth all that effort; but we do not obtain it by our works. it is "to him that worketh not, but believeth" (rom. iv. ). we work because we are saved; we do not work to be saved. we work from the cross; but not towards it. it is written, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (phil. ii. ). why, you must have your salvation before you can work it out. suppose i say to my little boy, "i want you to spend that hundred dollars carefully." "well," he says, "let me have the hundred dollars; and i will be careful how i spend it." i remember when i first left home and went to boston; i had spent all my money, and i went to the post-office three times a day. i knew there was only one mail a day from home; but i thought by some possibility there might be a letter for me. at last i received a letter from my little sister; and oh, how glad i was to get it. she had heard that there were a great many pick-pockets in boston, and a large part of that letter was to urge me to be very careful not to let anybody pick my pocket. now i required to have something in my pocket before i could have it picked. so you must have salvation before you can work it out. when christ cried out on calvary, "it is finished!" he meant what he said. all that men have to do now is just to accept of the work of jesus christ. there is no hope for man or woman so long as they are trying to work out salvation for themselves. i can imagine there are some people who will say, as nicodemus possibly did, "this is a very mysterious thing." i see the scowl on that pharisee's brow as he says, "how can these things be?" it sounds very strange to his ear. "born again; born of the spirit! how can these things be?" a great many people say, "you must reason it out; but if you do not reason it out, do not ask us to believe it." i can imagine a great many people saying that. when you ask me to reason it out, i tell you frankly i cannot do it. "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit." (john .) i do not understand everything about the wind. you ask me to reason it out. i cannot. it may blow due north here, and a hundred miles away due south. i may go up a few hundred feet, and find it blowing in an entirely opposite direction from what it is down here. you ask me to explain these currents of wind; but suppose that, because i cannot explain them, and do not understand them, i were to take my stand and assert, "oh, there is no such thing as wind." i can imagine some little girl saying, "i know more about it than that man does; often have i heard the wind, and felt it blowing against my face;" and she might say, "did not the wind blow my umbrella out of my hands the other day? and did i not see it blow a man's hat off in the street? have i not seen it blow the trees in the forest, and the growing corn in the country?" you might just as well tell me that there is no such thing as wind, as tell me there is no such thing as a man being born of the spirit. i have felt the spirit of god working in my heart, just as really and as truly as i have felt the wind blowing in my face. i cannot reason it out. there are a great many things i cannot reason out, but which i believe. i never could reason out the creation. i can see the world, but i cannot tell how god made it out of nothing. but almost every man will admit there was a creative power. there are a great many things that i cannot explain and cannot reason out, and yet that i believe. i heard a commercial traveler say that he had heard that the ministry and religion of jesus christ were matters of revelation and not of investigation. "when it pleased god to reveal his son in me," says paul (gal. i, , ). there was a party of young men together, going up the country; and on their journey they made up their minds not to believe anything they could not reason out. an old man heard them; and presently he said, "i heard you say you would not believe anything you could not reason out." "yes," they said, "that is so." "well," he said, "coming down on the train to-day, i noticed some geese, some sheep, some swine, and some cattle all eating grass. can you tell me by what process that same grass was turned into hair, feathers, bristles and wool? do you believe it is a fact?" "oh yes," they said, "we cannot help believing that, though we fail to understand it." "well," said the old man, "i cannot help believing in jesus christ." and i cannot help believing in the regeneration of man, when i see men who have been reclaimed, when i see men who have been reformed. have not some of the very worst men been regenerated--been picked up out of the pit, and had their feet set upon the rock, and a new song put in their mouths? their tongues were cursing and blaspheming; and now are occupied in praising god. old things have passed away, and all things have become new. they are not reformed only, but regenerated--new men in christ jesus. down there in the dark alleys of one of our great cities is a poor drunkard. i think if you want to get near hell, you should go to a poor drunkard's home. go to the house of that poor miserable drunkard. is there anything more like hell on earth? see the want and distress that reign there. but hark! a footstep is heard at the door, and the children run and hide themselves. the patient wife waits to meet the man. he has been her torment. many a time she has borne about the marks of his blows for weeks. many a time that strong right hand has been brought down on her defenseless head. and now she waits expecting to hear his oaths and suffer his brutal treatment. he comes in and says to her: "i have been to the meeting; and i heard there that if i will i can be converted. i believe that god is able to save me." go down to that house again in a few weeks: and what a change! as you approach you hear some one singing. it is not the song of a reveller, but the strains of that good old hymn, "rock of ages." the children are no longer afraid of the man, but cluster around his knee. his wife is near him, her face lit up with a happy glow. is not that a picture of regeneration? i can take you to many such homes, made happy by the regenerating power of the religion of christ. what men want is the power to overcome temptation, the power to lead a right life. the only way to get into the kingdom of god is to be "born" into it. the law of this country requires that the president should be born in the country. when foreigners come to our shores they have no right to complain against such a law, which forbids them from ever becoming presidents. now, has not god a right to make a law that all those who become heirs of eternal life must be "born" into his kingdom? an unregenerated man would rather be in hell than in heaven. take a man whose heart is full of corruption and wickedness, and place him in heaven among the pure, the holy and the redeemed; and he would not want to stay there. certainly, if we are to be happy in heaven we must begin to make a heaven here on earth. heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. if a gambler or a blasphemer were taken out of the streets of new york and placed on the crystal pavement of heaven and under the shadow of the tree of life, he would say, "i do not want to stay here." if men were taken to heaven just as they are by nature, without having their hearts regenerated, there would be another rebellion in heaven. heaven is filled with a company of those who have been twice born. in the th and th verses of this chapter we read "as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." "whosoever." mark that! let me tell you who are unsaved what god has done for you. he has done everything that he could do toward your salvation. you need not wait for god to do anything more. in one place he asks the question, what more could he have done (isaiah v. ). he sent his prophets, and they killed them; then he sent his beloved son, and they murdered him. now he has sent the holy spirit to convince us of sin, and to show how we are to be saved. in this chapter we are told how men are to be saved, namely, by him who was lifted up on the cross. just as moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." some men complain and say that it is very unreasonable that they should be held responsible for the sin of a man six thousand years ago. it was not long ago that a man was talking to me about this injustice, as he called it. if a man thinks he is going to answer god in that way, i tell you it will not do him any good. if you are lost, it will not be on account of adam's sin. let me illustrate this; and perhaps you will be better able to understand it. suppose i am dying of consumption, which i inherited from my father or mother. i did not get the disease by any fault of my own, by any neglect of my health; i inherited it, let us suppose. a friend happens to come along: he looks at me, and says: "moody, you are in a consumption." i reply, "i know it very well; i do not want any one to tell me that." "but," he says, "there is a remedy." "but, sir, i do not believe it. i have tried the leading physicians in this country and in europe; and they tell me there is no hope." "but you know me, moody; you have known me for years." "yes, sir." "do you think, then, i would tell you a falsehood?" "no." "well, ten years ago i was as far gone. i was given up by the physicians to die; but i took this medicine and it cured me. i am perfectly well: look at me." i say that it is "a very strange case." "yes, it may be strange; but it is a fact. this medicine cured me: take this medicine, and it will cure you. although it has cost me a great deal, it shall not cost you anything. do not make light of it, i beg of you." "well," i say, "i should like to believe you; but this is contrary to my reason." hearing this, my friend goes away and returns with another friend, and that one testifies to the same thing. i am still disbelieving; so he goes away, and brings in another friend, and another, and another, and another; and they all testify to the same thing. they say they were as bad as myself; that they took the same medicine that has been offered to me; and that it has cured them. my friend then hands me the medicine. i dash it to the ground; i do not believe in its saving power; i die. the reason is then that i spurned the remedy. so, if you perish, it will not be because adam fell; but because you spurned the remedy offered to save you. you will choose darkness rather than light. "how then shall ye escape, if ye neglect so great salvation?" there is no hope for you if you neglect the remedy. it does no good to look at the wound. if we had been in the israelitish camp and had been bitten by one of the fiery serpents, it would have done us no good to look at the wound. looking at the wound will never save any one. what you must do is to look at the remedy--look away to him who hath power to save you from your sin. behold the camp of the israelites; look at the scene that is pictured to your eyes! many are dying because they neglect the remedy that is offered. in that arid desert is many a short and tiny grave; many a child has been bitten by the fiery serpents. fathers and mothers are bearing away their children. over yonder they are just burying a mother; a loved mother is about to be laid in the earth. all the family, weeping, gather around the beloved form. you hear the mournful cries; you see the bitter tears. the father is being borne away to his last resting place. there is wailing going up all over the camp. tears are pouring down for thousands who have passed away; thousands more are dying; and the plague is raging from one end of the camp to the other. i see in one tent an israelitish mother bending over the form of a beloved boy just coming into the bloom of life, just budding into manhood. she is wiping away the sweat of death that is gathering upon his brow. yet a little while, and his eyes are fixed and glassy, for life is ebbing fast away. the mother's heart-strings are torn and bleeding. all at once she hears a noise in the camp. a great shout goes up. what does it mean? she goes to the door of the tent. "what is the noise in the camp?" she asks those passing by. and some one says: "why, my good woman, have you not heard the good news that has come into the camp?" "no," says the woman, "good news! what is it?" "why, have you not heard about it? god has provided a remedy." "what! for the bitten israelites? oh, tell me what the remedy is!" "why, god has instructed moses to make a brazen serpent, and to put it on a pole in the middle of the camp; and he has declared that whosoever looks upon it shall live. the shout that you hear is the shout of the people when they see the serpent lifted up." the mother goes back into the tent, and she says: "my boy, i have good news to tell you. you need not die! my boy, my boy, i have come with good tidings; you can live!" he is already getting stupefied; he is so weak he cannot walk to the door of the tent. she puts her strong arms under him and lifts him up. "look yonder; look right there under the hill!" but the boy does not see anything; he says--"i do not see anything; what is it, mother?" and she says: "keep looking, and you will see it." at last he catches a glimpse of the glistening serpent; and lo, he is well! and thus it is with many a young convert. some men say, "oh, we do not believe in sudden conversions." how long did it take to cure that boy? how long did it take to cure those serpent-bitten israelites? it was just a look; and they were well. that hebrew boy is a young convert. i can fancy that i see him now calling on all those who were with him to praise god. he sees another young man bitten as he was; and he runs up to him and tells him, "you, need not die." "oh," the young man replies, "i cannot live; it is not possible. there is not a physician in israel who can cure me." he does not know that he need not die. "why, have you not heard the news? god has provided a remedy." "what remedy?" "why, god has told moses to lift up a brazen serpent, and has said that none of those who look upon that serpent shall die." i can just imagine the young man. he may be what you call an intellectual young man. he says to the young convert "you do not think i am going to believe anything like that? if the physicians in israel cannot cure me, how do you think that an old brass serpent on a pole is going to cure me?" "why, sir, i was as bad as yourself!" "you do not say so!" "yes, i do." "that is the most astonishing thing i ever heard," says the young man: "i wish you would explain the philosophy of it." "i cannot. i only know that i looked at that serpent, and i was cured: that did it. i just looked; that is all. my mother told me the reports that were being heard through the camp; and i just believed what my mother said, and i am perfectly well." "well, i do not believe you were bitten as badly as i have been." the young man pulls up his sleeve. "look there! that mark shows where i was bitten; and i tell you i was worse than you are." "well, if i understood the philosophy of it i would look and get well." "let your philosophy go: _look and live_." "but, sir, you ask me to do an unreasonable thing. if god had said, take the brass and rub it into the wound, there might be something in the brass that would cure the bite. young man, explain the philosophy of it." i have often seen people before me who have talked in that way. but the young man calls in another, and takes him into the tent, and says: "just tell him how the lord saved you;" and he tells just the same story; and he calls in others, and they all say the same thing. the young man says it is a very strange thing. "if the lord had told moses to go and get some herbs, or roots, and stew them, and take the decoction as a medicine, there would be something in that. but it is so contrary to nature to do such a thing as look at the serpent, that i cannot do it." at length his mother, who has been out in the camp, comes in, and she says, "my boy, i have just the best news in the world for you. i was in the camp, and i saw hundreds who were very far gone, and they are all perfectly well now." the young man says: "i should like to get well; it is a very painful thought to die; i want to go into the promised land, and it is terrible to die here in this wilderness; but the fact is--i do not understand the remedy. it does not appeal to my reason. i cannot believe that i can get well in a moment." and the young man dies in consequence of his own unbelief. god provided a remedy for this bitten israelite--"look and live!" and there is eternal life for every poor sinner, look, and you can be saved, my reader, this very hour. god has provided a remedy; and it is offered to all. the trouble is, a great many people are looking at the pole. do not look at the pole; that is the church. you need not look at the church; the church is all right, but the church cannot save you. look beyond the pole. look at the crucified one. look to calvary. bear in mind, sinner, that jesus died for all. you need not look at ministers; they are just god's chosen instruments to hold up the remedy, to hold up christ. and so, my friends, take your eyes off from men; take your eyes off from the church. lift them up to jesus; who took away the sin of the world, and there will be life for you from this hour. thank god, we do not require an education to teach us how to look. that little girl, that little boy, only four years old, who cannot read, can look. when the father is coming home, the mother says to her little boy, "look! look! look!" and the little child learns to look long before he is a year old. and that is the way to be saved. it is to look at the lamb of god "who taketh away the sin of the world;" and there is life this moment for every one who is willing to look. some men say, "i wish i knew how to be saved." just take god at his word and trust his son this very day--this very hour--this very moment. he will save you, if you will trust him. i imagine i hear some one saying, "i do not feel the bite as much as i wish i did. i know i am a sinner, and all that; but i do not feel the bite enough." how much does god want you to feel it? when i was in belfast i knew a doctor who had a friend, a leading surgeon there; and he told me that the surgeon's custom was, before performing any operation, to say to the patient, "take a good look at the wound, and then fix your eyes on me; and do not take them off till i get through." i thought at the time that was a good illustration. sinner, take a good look at your wound; and then fix your eyes on christ, and do not take them off. it is better to look at the remedy than at the wound. see what a poor wretched sinner you are; and then look at the lamb of god who "taketh away the sin of the world." he died for the ungodly and the sinner. say "i will take him!" and may god help you to lift your eye to the man on calvary. and as the israelites looked upon the serpent and were healed, so may you look and live. after the battle of pittsburgh landing i was in a hospital at murfreesbro. in the middle of the night i was aroused and told that a man in one of the wards wanted to see me. i went to him and he called me "chaplain"--i was not the chaplain--and said he wanted me to help him die. and i said, "i would take you right up in my arms and carry you into the kingdom of god if i could; but i cannot do it: i cannot help you die!" and he said, "who can?" i said, "the lord jesus christ can--he came for that purpose." he shook his head, and said, "he cannot save me; i have sinned all my life." and i said, "but he came to save sinners." i thought of his mother in the north, and i was sure that she was anxious that he should die in peace; so i resolved i would stay with him. i prayed two or three times, and repeated all the promises i could; for it was evident that in a few hours he would be gone. i said i wanted to read him a conversation that christ had with a man who was anxious about his soul. i turned to the third chapter of john. his eyes were riveted on me; and when i came to the th and th verses--the passage before us--he caught up the words, "as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." he stopped me and said, "is that there?" i said "yes." he asked me to read it again; and i did so. he leant his elbows on the cot and clasping his hands together, said, "that's good; won't you read it again?" i read it the third time; and then went on with the rest of the chapter. when i had finished, his eyes were closed, his hands were folded, and there was a smile on his face. oh, how it was lit up! what change had come over it! i saw his lips quivering, and leaning over him i heard in a faint whisper, "as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." he opened his eyes and said, "that's enough; don't read any more." he lingered a few hours, pillowing his head on those two verses; and then went up in one of christ's chariots, to take his seat in the kingdom of god. christ said to nicodemus: "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." you may see many countries; but there is one country--the land of beulah, which john bunyan saw in vision--you shall never behold, unless you are born again--regenerated by christ. you can look abroad and see many beautiful trees; but the tree of life, you shall never behold, unless your eyes are made clear by faith in the saviour. you may see the beautiful rivers of the earth--you may ride upon their bosoms; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the river which bursts out from the throne of god and flows through the upper kingdom, unless you are born again. god has said it; and not man. you will never see the kingdom of god except you are born again. you may see the kings and lords of the earth; but the king of kings and lord of lords you will never see except you are born again. when you are in london you may go to the tower and see the crown of england, which is worth thousands of dollars, and is guarded there by soldiers; but bear in mind that your eye will never rest upon the crown of life except you are born again. you may hear the songs of zion which are sung here; but one song--that of moses and the lamb--the uncircumcised ear shall never hear; its melody will only gladden the ear of those who have been born again. you may look upon the beautiful mansions of earth, but bear in mind the mansions which christ has gone to prepare you shall never see unless you are born again. it is god who says it. you may see ten thousand beautiful things in this world; but the city that abraham caught a glimpse of--and from that time became a pilgrim and sojourner--you shall never see unless you are born again (heb. xi. , - ). you may often be invited to marriage feasts here; but you will never attend the marriage supper of the lamb except you are born again. it is god who says it, dear friend. you may be looking on the face of your sainted mother to-night, and feel that she is praying for you; but the time will come when you shall never see her more unless you are born again. the reader may be a young man or a young lady who has recently stood by the bedside of a dying mother; and she may have said, "be sure and meet me in heaven," and you made the promise. ah! you shall never see her more, except you are born again. i believe jesus of nazareth, sooner than those infidels who say you do not need to be born again. parents, if you hope to see your children who have gone before, you must be born of the spirit. possibly you are a father or a mother who has recently borne a loved one to the grave; and how dark your home seems! never more will you see your child, unless you are born again. if you wish to be re-united to your loved one, you must be born again. i may be addressing a father or a mother who has a loved one up yonder. if you could hear that loved one's voice, it would say, "come this way." have you a sainted friend up yonder? young man or young lady, have you not a mother in the world of light? if you could hear her speak, would not she say, "come this way, my son,"--"come this way, my daughter?" if you would ever see her more you must be born again. we all have an elder brother there. nearly nineteen hundred years ago he crossed over, and from the heavenly shores he is calling you to heaven. let us turn our backs upon the world. let us give a deaf ear to the world. let us look to jesus on the cross and be saved. then we shall one day see the king in his beauty, and we shall go no more out. chapter iii. _the two classes_. "two men went up into the temple to pray."--luke xvii. . i now want to speak of two classes: first, those who do not feel their need of a saviour who have not been convinced of sin by the spirit; and second, those who are convinced of sin and cry, "what must i do to be saved?" all inquirers can be ranged under two heads: they have either the spirit of the pharisee, or the spirit of the publican. if a man having the spirit of the pharisee comes into an after-meeting, i know of no better portion of scripture to meet his case than romans iii. : "as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after god." paul is here speaking of the natural man. "they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." and in the th verse and those which follow, we have "and the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of god before their eyes. now we know what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before god." then observe the last clause of verse : "for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of god." not part of the human family--but _all_--"have sinned, and come short of the glory of god." another verse which has been very much used to convict men of their sin is john i. : "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." i remember that on one occasion we were holding meetings in an eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a lady came and asked us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed bringing into the after meeting. i have traveled a good deal and met many pharisaical men; but this man was so clad in self-righteousness that you could not get the point of the needle of conviction in anywhere. i said to his wife: "i am glad to see your faith; but we cannot get near him; he is the most self-righteous man i ever saw." she said: "you must! my heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion." she persisted in bringing him; and i got almost tired of the sight of him. but towards the close of our meetings of thirty days, he came up to me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. the place in which the meetings were held was rather cold, and there was an adjoining room in which only the gas had been lighted; and he said to me, "can't you come in here for a few minutes?" i thought that he was shaking from cold, and i did not particularly wish to go where it was colder. but he said: "i am the worst man in the state of vermont. i want you to pray for me." i thought he had committed a murder, or some other awful crime; and i asked: "is there any one sin that particularly troubles you?" and he said: "my whole life has been a sin. i have been a conceited, self-righteous pharisee. i want you to pray for me." he was under deep conviction. man could not have produced this result; but the spirit had. about two o'clock in the morning light broke in upon his soul: and he went up and down the business street of the city and told what god had done for him; and has been a most active christian ever since. there are four other passages in dealing with inquirers, which were used by christ himself. "verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." (john iii. .) in luke xiii. , we read: "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." in matthew xviii., when the disciples came to jesus to know who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we are told that he took a little child and set him in the midst and said, "verily i say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (xviii. - ). there is another important "except" in matthew v. : "except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven." a man must be made meet before he will want to go into the kingdom of god. i would rather go into the kingdom with the younger brother than stay outside with the elder. heaven would be hell to such an one. an elder brother who could not rejoice at his younger brother's return would not be "fit" for the kingdom of god. it is a solemn thing to contemplate; but the curtain drops and leaves him outside, and the younger brother within. to him the language of the saviour under other circumstances seems appropriate: "verily i say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of god before you" (matt. xxi. ). a lady once came to me and wanted a favor for her daughter. she said: "you must remember i do not sympathize with you in your doctrine." i asked: "what is your trouble?" she said: "i think your abuse of the elder brother is horrible. i think he is a noble character." i said that i was willing to hear her defend him; but that it was a solemn thing to take up such a position; and that the elder brother needed to be converted as much as the younger. when people talk of being moral it is well to get them to take a good look at the old man pleading with his boy who would not go in. but we will pass on now to the other class with which we have to deal. it is composed of those who are convinced of sin and from whom the cry comes as from the philippian jailer, "what must i do to be saved?" to those who utter this penitential cry there is no necessity to administer the law. it is well to bring them straight to the scripture: "believe on the lord jesus christ, and thou shalt be saved." (acts xvi. ). many will meet you with a scowl and say, "i don't know what it is to believe;" and though it is the law of heaven that they must believe, in order to be saved--yet they ask for something besides that. we are to tell them what, and where, and how, to believe. in john iii. and we read: "the father loveth the son, and hath given all things into his hand. he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of god abideth on him." now this looks reasonable. man lost life by unbelief--by not believing god's word; and we got life back again by believing--by taking god at his word. in other words we get up where adam fell down. he stumbled and fell over the stone of unbelief; and we are lifted up and stand upright by believing. when people say they cannot believe, show them chapter and verse, and hold them right to this one thing: "has god ever broken his promise for these six thousand years?" the devil and men have been trying all the time and have not succeeded in showing that he has broken a single promise; and there would be a jubilee in hell to-day if one word that he has spoken could be broken. if a man says that he cannot believe it is well to press him on that one thing. i can believe god better to-day than i can my own heart. "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (jer. xxii. ). i can believe god better than i can myself. if you want to know the way of life, believe that jesus christ is a personal saviour; cut away from all doctrines and creeds, and come right to the heart of the son of god. if you have been feeding on dry doctrine there is not much growth on that kind of food. doctrines are to the soul what the streets which lead to the house of a friend who has invited me to dinner are to the body. they will lead me there if i take the right one; but if i remain in the streets my hunger will never be satisfied. feeding on doctrines is like trying to live on dry husks; and lean indeed must the soul remain which partakes not of the bread sent down from heaven. some ask: "how am i to get my heart warmed?" it is by believing. you do not get power to love and serve god until you believe. the apostle john says "if we receive the witness of men, the witness of god is greater: for this is the witness of god which he hath testified of his son. he that believeth on the son of god hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not god hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that god gave of his son. and this is the record, that god hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his son. he that hath the son hath life; and he that hath not the son of god hath not life" ( john v. ). human affairs would come to a standstill if we did not take the testimony of men. how should we get on in the ordinary intercourse of life, and how would commerce get on, if we disregarded men's testimony? things social and commercial would come to a dead-lock within forty-eight hours! this is the drift of the apostle's argument here. "if we receive the witness of men, the witness of god is greater." god has borne witness to jesus christ. and if man can believe his fellow men who are frequently telling untruths and whom we are constantly finding unfaithful, why should we not take god at his word and believe his testimony? faith is a belief in testimony. it is not a leap in the dark, as some tell us. that would be no faith at all. god does not ask any man to believe without giving him something to believe. you might as well ask a man to see without eyes; to hear without ears; and to walk without feet--as to bid him believe without giving him something to believe. when i started for california i procured a guide-book. this told me, that after leaving the state of illinois, i should cross the mississippi, and then the missouri; get into nebraska; then over the rocky mountains to the mormon settlement at salt lake city, and by the way of the sierra nevada into san francisco. i found the guide book all right as i went along; and i should have been a miserable sceptic if, having proved it to be correct three-fourths of the way, i had said that i would not believe it for the remainder of the journey. suppose a man, in directing me to the post office, gives me ten landmarks; and that, in my progress there, i find nine of them to be as he told me; i should have good reason to believe that i was coming to the post office. and if, by believing, i get a new life, and a hope, a peace, a joy, and a rest to my soul, that i never had before; if i get self-control, and find that i have a power to resist evil and to do good, i have pretty good proof that i am in the right road to the "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is god." and if things have taken place, and are now taking place, as recorded in god's word, i have good reason to conclude that what yet remains will be fulfilled. and yet people talk of doubting. there can be no true faith where there is fear. faith is to take god at his word, unconditionally. there cannot be true peace where there is fear. "perfect love casteth out fear." how wretched a wife would be if she doubted her husband! and how miserable a mother would feel if after her boy had gone away from home she had reason, from his neglect, to question that son's devotion! true love never has a doubt. there are three things indispensable to faith--knowledge, assent, and appropriation. we must know god. "and this is life eternal, that they might _know_ thee, the only true god, and jesus christ whom thou hast sent" (john xvii. ). then we must not only give our assent to what we know; but we must lay hold of the truth. if a man simply give his assent to the plan of salvation, it will not save him: he must accept christ as his saviour. he must receive and appropriate him. some say they cannot tell how a man's life can be affected by his belief. but let some one cry out that some building in which we happen to be sitting, is on fire; and see how soon we should act on our belief and get out. we are all the time influenced by what we believe. we cannot help it. and let a man believe the record that god has given of christ, and it will very quickly affect his whole life. take john v. . there is enough truth in that one verse for every soul to rest upon for salvation. it does not admit the shadow of a doubt. "verily, verily"--which means truly, truly--"i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath--_hath_--everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." now if a person really hears the word of jesus and believes with the heart on god who sent the son to be the saviour of the world, and lays hold of and appropriates this great salvation, there is no fear of judgment. he will not be looking forward with dread to the great white throne; for we read in john iv. : "herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." if we believe, there is for us no condemnation, no judgment. that is behind us, and passed; and we shall have boldness in the day of judgment. i remember reading of a man who was on trial for his life. he had friends with influence; and they procured a pardon for him from the king on condition that he was to go through the trial, and be condemned. he went into court with the pardon in his pocket. the feeling ran very high against him, and the judge said that the court was shocked that he was so much unconcerned. but, when the sentence was pronounced, he pulled out the pardon, presented it, and walked out a free man. he has been pardoned; and so have we. then let death come, we have nought to fear. all the grave-diggers in the world cannot dig a grave large enough and deep enough to hold eternal life; all the coffin makers in the world cannot make a coffin large enough and tight enough to hold eternal life. death has had his hand on christ once, but never again. jesus said: "i am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (john xi. , ). and in the apocalypse we read that the risen saviour said to john, "i am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, i am alive for evermore" (rev i. ). death cannot touch him again. we get life by believing. in fact we get more than adam lost; for the redeemed child of god is heir to a richer and more glorious inheritance than adam in paradise could ever have conceived; yea, and that inheritance endures forever--it is inalienable. i would much rather have my life hid with christ in god than have lived in paradise; for adam might have sinned and fallen after being there ten thousand years. but the believer is safer, if these things become real to him. let us make them a fact, and not a fiction. god has said it; and that is enough. let us trust him even where we cannot trace him. let the same confidence animate us that was in little maggie as related in the following simple but touching incident which i read in the _bible treasury_:-- "i had been absent from home for some days, and was wondering, as i again draw near the homestead, if my little maggie, just able to sit alone, would remember me. to test her memory, i stationed myself where i could see her, but could not be seen by her, and called her name in the familiar tone, 'maggie!' she dropped her playthings, glanced around the room, and then looked down upon her toys. again i repeated her name, 'maggie!' when she once more surveyed the room; but, not seeing her _father's_ face, she looked very sad, and slowly resumed her employment. once more i called, 'maggie!' when, dropping her playthings, and bursting into tears, she stretched out her arms in the direction whence the sound proceeded, knowing that, though she could not see him, her father _must be there_, for she knew his voice." now, we have power to see and to hear, and we have power to believe. it is all folly for the inquirers to take the ground that they cannot believe. they can, if they will. but the trouble with most people is that they have connected feeling with believing. now feeling has nothing whatever to do with believing. the bible does not say--he that feeleth, or he that feeleth and believeth, hath everlasting life. nothing of the kind. i cannot control my feelings. if i could, i should never feel ill, or have a headache or toothache. i should be well all the while. but i can believe god; and if we get our feet on that rock, let doubts and fears come and the waves surge around us, the anchor will hold. some people are all the time looking at their faith. faith is the hand that takes the blessing. i heard this illustration of a beggar. suppose you were to meet a man in the street whom you had known for years as being accustomed to beg; and you offered him some money, and he were to say to you: "i thank you; i don't want your money: i am not a beggar." "how is that?" "last night a man put a thousand dollars into my hands." "he did! how did you know it was good money?" "i took it to the bank and deposited it and have got a bank book." "how did you get this gift?" "i asked for alms; and after the gentleman talked with me he took out a thousand dollars in money and put it in my hand." "how do you know that he put it in the right hand?" "what do i care about which hand; so that i have got the money." many people are always thinking whether the faith by which they lay hold of christ is the right kind--but what is far more essential is to see that we have the right kind of christ. faith is the eye of the soul; and who would ever think of taking out an eye to see if it were the right kind so long as the sight was perfect? it is not my taste, but it is what i taste, that satisfies my appetite. so, dear friends, it is taking god at his word that is the means of our salvation. the truth cannot be made too simple. there is a man living in the city of new york who has a home on the hudson river. his daughter and her family went to spend the winter with him: and in the course of the season the scarlet fever broke out. one little girl was put in quarantine, to be kept separate from the rest. every morning the old grandfather used to go and bid his grandchild, "goodbye," before going to his business. on one of these occasions the little thing took the old man by the hand, and, leading him to a corner of the room, without saying a word she pointed to the floor where she had arranged some small crackers so they would spell out, "grandpa, i want a box of paints." he said nothing. on his return home he hung up his overcoat and went to the room as usual: when his little grandchild, without looking to see if her wish had been complied with, took him into the same corner, where he saw spelled out in the same way, "grandpa, i thank you for the box of paints." the old man would not have missed gratifying the child for anything. that was faith. faith is taking god at his word; and those people who want some token are always getting into trouble. we want to come to this: god says it--let us believe it. but some say, faith is the gift of god. so is the air; but you have to breathe it. so is bread; but you have to eat it. so is water; but you have to drink it. some are wanting a miraculous kind of feeling. that is not faith. "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of god" (rom. x. ). that is whence faith comes. it is not for me to sit down and wait for faith to come stealing over me with a strange sensation; but it is for me to take god at his word. and you cannot believe, unless you have something to believe. so take the word as it is written, and appropriate it, and lay hold of it. in john vi. , we read: "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. i am that bread of life." there is the bread right at hand. partake of it. i might have thousands of loaves within my home, and as many hungry men in waiting. they might assent to the fact that the bread was there; but unless they each took a loaf and commenced eating, their hunger would not be satisfied. so christ is the bread of heaven; and as the body feeds on natural food, so the soul must feed on christ. if a drowning man sees a rope thrown out to rescue him he must lay hold of it; and in order to do so he must let go everything else. if a man is sick he must take the medicine--for simply looking at it will not cure him. a knowledge of christ will not help the inquirer, unless he believes in him, and takes hold of him, as his only hope. the bitten israelites might have believed that the serpent was lifted up; but unless they had looked they would not have lived (num. xxi. - ). i believe that a certain line of steamers will convey me across the ocean, because i have tried it: but this will not help another man who may want to go, unless he acts upon my knowledge. so a knowledge of christ does not help us unless we act upon it. that is what it is to believe on the lord jesus christ. it is to act on what we believe. as a man steps on board a steamer to cross the atlantic, so we must take christ and make a commitment of our souls to him; and he has promised to keep all who put their trust in him. to believe on the lord jesus christ, is simply to take him at his word. chapter iv. _words of counsel_. "a bruised reed shall he not break."--isaiah xlii. ; matt. xii. . it is dangerous for those who are seeking salvation to lean upon the experience of other people. many are waiting for a repetition of the experience of their grandfather or grandmother. i had a friend who was converted in a field; and he thinks the whole town ought to go down into that meadow and be converted. another was converted under a bridge; and he thinks that if any enquirer were to go there he would find the lord. the best thing for the anxious is to go right to the word of god. if there are any persons in the world to whom the word ought to be very precious it is those who are asking how to be saved. for instance a man may say, "i have no strength." let him turn to romans v. . "for when we were yet without strength, in due time christ died for the ungodly." it is because we have no strength that we need christ. he has come to give strength to the weak. another may say, "i cannot see." christ says, "i am the light of the world" (john viii. ). he came, not only to give light, but "to open the blind eyes" (isa. xlii. ). another may say, "i do not think a man can be saved all at once." a person holding that view was in the enquiry-room one night; and i drew his attention to romans vi. . "the wages of sin is death; but the _gift_ of god is eternal life through jesus christ our lord." how long does it take to accept a gift? there must be a moment when you have it not, and another when you have it--a moment when it is another's, and the next when it is yours. it does not take six months to get eternal life. it may however in some cases be like the mustard seed, very small at the commencement. some people are converted so gradually that, like the morning light, it is impossible to tell when the dawn began; while, with others, it is like the flashing of a meteor, and the truth bursts upon them suddenly. i would not go across the street to prove when i was converted; but what is important is for me to know that i really have been. it may be that a child has been so carefully trained that it is impossible to tell when the new birth began; but there must have been a moment when the change took place, and when he became a partaker of the divine nature. some people do not believe in sudden conversion. but i will challenge any one to show a conversion in the new testament that was not instantaneous. "as jesus passed by he saw levi, the son of alpheus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, 'follow me': and he arose and followed him" (matt. ix. ). nothing could be more sudden than that. zaccheus, the publican, sought to see jesus; and because he was little of stature he climbed up a tree. when jesus came to the place he looked up and saw him, and said, "zaccheus, make haste, and come down" (luke xix. ). his conversion must have taken place somewhere between the branch and the ground. we are told that he received jesus joyfully, and said, "behold, lord, the half of my goods i give to the poor; and if i have taken anything from any man by false accusation, i restore him fourfold" (luke xix. ). very few in these days could say that in proof of their conversion. the whole house of cornelius was converted suddenly; for so peter preached christ to him and his company the holy ghost fell on them, and they were baptized. (acts x.) on the day of pentecost three thousand gladly received the word. they were not only converted, but they were baptized the same day. (acts ii.) and when philip talked to the eunuch, as they went on their way, the eunuch said to philip, "see, here is water: what doth hinder me to be baptized?" nothing hindered. and philip said, "if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." and they both went down into the water; and the man of great authority under candace, the queen of the ethiopians, was baptized, and went on his way rejoicing. (acts viii. - .) you will find all through scripture that conversions were sudden and instantaneous. a man has been in the habit of stealing money from his employer. suppose he has taken $ , in twelve months; should we tell him to take $ the next year, and less the next year, and the next, until in five years the sum taken would be only $ ? that would be upon the same principle as gradual conversion. if such a person were brought before the court and pardoned, because he could not change his mode of life all at once, it would be considered a very strange proceeding. but the bible says, "let him that stole steal no more" (eph. iv. ). it is "right about face!" suppose a person is in the habit of cursing one hundred times a day: should we advise him not to utter more than ninety oaths the following day, and eighty the next day; so that in the course of time he would get rid of the habit? the saviour says, "swear not at all." (matt. v. .) suppose another man is in the habit of getting drunk and beating his wife twice a month; if he only did so once a month, and then only once in six months, that would be, upon the same ground, as reasonable as gradual conversion. suppose ananias had been sent to paul, when he was on his way to damascus breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples, and casting them into prison, to tell him not to kill so many as he intended; and to let enmity die out of his heart gradually, but not all at once. suppose he had been told that it would not do to stop breathing out threatenings and slaughter, and to commence preaching christ all at once, because the philosophers would say that the change was so sudden it would not hold out; this would be the same kind of reasoning as is used by those who do not believe in instantaneous conversion. then another class say that they are afraid that they will not hold out. this is a numerous and very hopeful class. i like to see a man distrust himself. it is a good thing to get such to look to god, and to remember that it is not he who holds god, but that it is god who holds him. some want to get hold of christ; but the thing is to get christ to take hold of you in answer to prayer. let such read psalm cxxi.; "i will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. my help cometh from the lord, which made heaven and earth. he will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. behold, he that keepeth israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. the lord is thy keeper; the lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. the sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. the lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. the lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore." some one calls that the traveler's psalm. it is a beautiful psalm for those of us who are pilgrims through this world; and one with which we should be well acquainted. god can do what he has done before. he kept joseph in egypt; moses before pharaoh; daniel in babylon; and enabled elijah to stand before ahab in that dark day. and i am so thankful that these i have mentioned were men of like passions with ourselves. it was god who made them so great. what man wants is to look to god. real true faith is man's weakness leaning on god's strength. when man has no strength, if he leans on god he becomes powerful. the trouble is that we have too much strength and confidence in ourselves. again in hebrews vi. , : "wherein god, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for god to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of melchisedec." now these are precious verses to those who are afraid of falling, who fear that they will not hold out. it is god's work to hold. it is the shepherd's business to keep the sheep. who ever heard of the sheep going to bring back the shepherd? people have an idea that they have to keep themselves and christ too. it is a false idea. it is the work of the shepherd to look after them, and to take care of those who trust him. and he has promised to do it. i once heard that when a sea captain was dying he said, "glory to god; the anchor holds." he trusted in christ. his anchor had taken hold of the solid rock. an irishman said, on one occasion, that "he trembled; but the rock never did." we want to get sure footing. in timothy i. paul says: "i know whom i have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day." that was paul's persuasion. during the late war of the rebellion, one of the chaplains, going through the hospitals, came to a man who was dying. finding that he was a christian, he asked to what persuasion he belonged, and was told "paul's persuasion." "is he a methodist?" he asked; for the methodists all claim paul. "no." "is he a presbyterian?" for the presbyterians lay special claim to paul. "no," was the answer. "does he belong to the episcopal church?" for all the episcopalian brethren contend that they have a claim to the chief apostle. "no," he was not an episcopalian. "then, to what persuasion does he belong?" "i am persuaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day." it is a grand persuasion; and it gave the dying soldier rest in a dying hour. let those who fear that they will not hold out turn to the th verse of the epistle of jude: "now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." then look at isaiah xli. : "fear thou not; for i am with thee: be not dismayed; for i am thy god: i will strengthen thee; yea, i will help thee; yea, i will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." then see verse : "for i the lord thy god will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not; i will help thee." now if god has got hold of my right hand in his, cannot he hold me and keep me? has not god the power to keep? the great god who made heaven and earth can keep a poor sinner like you and like me if we trust him. to refrain from feeling confidence in god for fear of falling--would be like a man who refused a pardon, for fear that he should get into prison again; or a drowning man who refused to be rescued, for fear of falling into the water again. many men look forth at the christian life, and fear that they will not have sufficient strength to hold out to the end. they forget the promise that "as thy days, thy strength" (deut. xxxiii. ). it reminds me of the pendulum to the clock which grew disheartened at the thought of having to travel so many thousands of miles; but when it reflected that the distance was to be accomplished by "tick, tick, tick," it took fresh courage to go its daily journey. so it is the special privilege of the christian to commit himself to the keeping of his heavenly father and to trust him day by day. it is a comforting thing to know that the lord will not begin the good work without also finishing it. there are two kinds of sceptics--one class with honest difficulties; and another class who delight only in discussion. i used to think that this latter class would always be a thorn in my flesh; but they do not prick me now. i expect to find them right along the journey. men of this stamp used to hang around christ to entangle him in his talk. they come into our meetings to hold a discussion. to all such i would commend paul's advice to timothy: "but foolish and unlearned questions avoid; knowing that they do gender strifes." ( tim. ii. .) unlearned questions: many young converts make a woful mistake. they think they are to defend the whole bible. i knew very little of the bible when i was first converted; and i thought that i had to defend it from beginning to end against all comers; but a boston infidel got hold of me, floored all my arguments at once, and discouraged me. but i have got over that now. there are many things in the word of god that i do not profess to understand. when i am asked what i do with them. i say, "i don't do anything." "how do you explain them?" "i don't explain them." "what do you do with them?" "why, i believe them." and when i am told, "i would not believe anything that i do not understand," i simply reply that i do. there are many things which were dark and mysterious five years ago, on which i have since had a flood of light; and i expect to be finding out something fresh about god throughout eternity. i make a point of not discussing disputed passages of scripture. an old divine has said that some people, if they want to eat fish, commence by picking the bones. i leave such things till i have light on them. i am not bound to explain what i do not comprehend. "the secret things belong unto the lord our god: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children, for ever" (deut. xxii. ); and these i take, and eat, and feed upon, in order to get spiritual strength. than there is a little sound advice in titus iii. . "but avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain." but now here comes an honest sceptic. with him i would deal as tenderly as a mother with her sick child. i have no sympathy with those people who, because a man is sceptical, cast him off and will have nothing to do with him. i was in an inquiry-meeting, some time ago, and i handed over to a christian lady, whom i had known some time, one who was sceptical. on looking round soon after i noticed the enquirer marching out of the hall. i asked, "why have you let her go?" "oh, she is a sceptic!" was the reply. i ran to the door and got her to stop, and introduced her to another christian worker who spent over an hour in conversation and prayer with her. he visited her and her husband; and, in the course of a week, that intelligent lady cast off her scepticism and came out an active christian. it took time, tact, and prayer; but if a person of this class is honest we ought to deal with such an one as the master would have us. here are a few passages for doubting enquirers: "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of god, or whether i speak of myself" (john vii. ). if a man is not willing to do the will of god he will not know the doctrine. there is no class of sceptics who are ignorant of the fact that god desires them to give up sin; and if a man is willing to turn from sin and take the light and thank him for what he does give, and not expect to have light on the whole bible all at once, he will get more light day by day; make progress step by step; and be led right out of darkness into the clear light of heaven. in daniel xii. we are told: "many shall be purified, and made white, and tried: but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." now god will never reveal his secrets to his enemies. never! and if a man persists in living in sin he will not know the doctrines of god. "the secret of the lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant" (ps. xxv. ). and in john xv. we read: "henceforth i call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but i have called you friends; for all things that i have heard of my father i have made known unto you." when you become friends of christ you will know his secrets. the lord said, "shall i hide from abraham the things which i do?" (gen. xviii. ). now those who resemble god are the most likely to understand god. if a man is not willing to turn from sin he will not know god's will, nor will god reveal his secrets to him. but if a man is willing to turn from sin he will be surprised to see how the light will come in! i remember one night when the bible was the driest and darkest book in the universe to me. the next day it became entirely different. i thought i had the key to it. i had been born of the spirit. but before i knew anything of the mind of god i had to give up my sin. i believe god meets every soul on the spot of self-surrender; and when they are willing to let him guide and lead. the trouble with many sceptics is their self-conceit. they know more than the almighty! and they do not come in a teachable spirit. but the moment a man comes in a receptive spirit he is blessed; for "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (james i. ). chapter v. _a divine saviour_. "thou art the christ, the son of the living god." (matthew xvi. ; john vi. .) we meet with a certain class of enquirers who do not believe in the divinity of christ. there are many passages that will give light on this subject. in corinthians xv. , we are told: "the first man is of the earth earthy: the second man is the lord from heaven." in john v. : "we know that the son of god is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his son jesus christ. this is the true god, and eternal life." again in john xvii. : "and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true god; and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent." and then, in mark xiv. : "the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked jesus, saying, answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? but he held his peace, and answered nothing. again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, art thou the christ, the son of the blessed? and jesus said, i am: and ye shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, what need we any further witnesses? ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? and they all condemned him to be guilty of death." now what brought me to believe in the divinity of christ was this: i did not know where to place christ, or what to do with him, if he were not divine. when i was a boy i thought that he was a good man like moses, joseph, or abraham. i even thought that he was the best man who had ever lived on the earth. but i found that christ had a higher claim. he claimed to be god-man, to be divine; to have come from heaven. he said: "before abraham was i am" (john viii. ). i could not understand this; and i was driven to the conclusion--and i challenge any candid man to deny the inference, or meet the argument--that jesus christ is either an impostor or deceiver, or he is the god-man--god manifest in the flesh. and for these reasons. the first commandment is, "thou shalt have no other gods before me" (exod. xx. ). look at the millions throughout christendom who worship jesus christ as god. if christ be not god this is idolatry. we are all guilty of breaking the first commandment if jesus christ were mere man--if he were a created being, and not what he claims to be. some people, who do not admit his divinity, say that he was the best man who ever lived; but if he were not divine, for that very reason he ought not to be reckoned a good man, for he laid claim to an honor and dignity to which these very people declare he had no right or title. that would rank him as a deceiver. others say that he thought he was divine, but that he was deceived. as if jesus christ were carried away by a delusion and deception, and thought that he was more than he was! i could not conceive of a lower idea of jesus christ than that. this would not only make him out an impostor; but that he was out of his mind, and that he did not know who he was, or where he came from. now if jesus christ was not what he claimed to be, the saviour of the world; and if he did not come from heaven, he was a gross deceiver. but how can any one read the life of jesus christ and make him out a deceiver? a man has generally some motive for being an impostor. what was christ's motive? he knew that the course he was pursuing would conduct him to the cross; that his name would be cast out as vile; and that many of his followers would be called upon to lay down their lives for his sake. nearly every one of the apostles were martyrs; and they were considered as off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the people. if a man is an impostor, he has a motive at the back of his hypocrisy. but what was christ's object? the record is that "he went about doing good." this is not the work of an impostor. do not let the enemy of your soul deceive you. in john v. we read: "for as the father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the son quickeneth whom he will. for the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son: that all men should honor the son, even as they honor the father. he that honoureth not the son, honoureth not the father which hath sent him." now notice: by the jewish law if a man were a blasphemer he was to be put to death; and supposing christ to be merely human if this be not blasphemy i do not know where you will find it. "he that honoureth not the son, honoureth not the father." that is downright blasphemy if christ be not divine. if moses, or elijah, or elisha, or any other mortal had said, "you must honour me as you honor god;" and had put himself on a level with god, it would have been downright blasphemy. the jews put christ to death because they said that he was not what he claimed to be. it was on that testimony he was put under oath. the high priest said: "i adjure thee by the living god, that thou tell us whether thou be the christ, the son of god" (matt. xxvi. ). and when the jews came round him and said, "how long dost thou make us to doubt? if thou be the christ tell us plainly." jesus said, "i and my father are one." then the jews took up stones again to stone him. (john x. - .) they said they did not want to hear more, for that was blasphemy. it was for declaring himself to be the son of god that he was condemned and put to death. (matt. xxvi. - ). now if jesus christ were mere man the jews did right, according to their law, in putting him to death. in leviticus xxiv. , we read: "and he that blasphemeth the name of the lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the lord, shall be put to death." this law obliged them to put to death every one who blasphemed. it was making the statement that he was divine that cost him his life; and by the mosaic law he ought to have suffered the death penalty. in john xvi. , christ says, "all things that the father hath are mine: therefore said i, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you." how could he be merely a good man and use language as that? no doubt has ever entered my mind on the point since i was converted. a notorious sinner was once asked how he could prove the divinity of christ. his answer was, "why, he has saved me; and that is a pretty good proof, is it not?" an infidel on one occasion said to me, "i have been studying the life of john the baptist, mr. moody. why don't you preach him? he was a greater character than christ. you would do a greater work." i said to him, "my friend, you preach john the baptist; and i will follow you and preach christ: and we will see who will do the most good." "you will do the most good," he said, "because the people are so superstitious." ah! john was beheaded; and his disciples begged his body and buried it: but christ has risen from the dead; he has "ascended on high; he has led captivity captive; and received gifts for men." (ps. lxviii. .) our christ lives. many people have not found out that christ has risen from the grave. they worship a dead saviour, like mary, who said, "they have taken away my lord; and i know not where they have laid him." (john xx. .) that is the trouble with those who doubt the divinity of our lord. then look at matthew xviii. . "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am i in the midst of them." "there am i." well now, if he is a mere man, how can he be there? all these are strong passages. again in matthew xxviii. . "and jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." could he be a mere man and talk in that way? "all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth!" then again in matthew xxviii. . "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you; and, lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." if he were mere man, how could he be with us? yet he says, "i am with you away, even unto the end of the world!" then again in mark ii. . "why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but god only? and immediately when jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, why reason ye these things in your hearts? whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise and take up thy bed and walk?" some men will meet you and say, "did not elisha also raise the dead?" notice that in the rare instances in which men have raised the dead, they did it by the power of god. they called on god to do it. but when christ was on earth he did not call upon the father to bring the dead to life, when he went to the house of jairus he said, "damsel, i say unto thee, arise." (mark v. .) he had power to impart life. when they were carrying the young man out of nain he had compassion on the widowed mother and came and touched the bier and said, "young man, i say unto thee, arise." (luke vii. .) he spake; and the dead arose. and when he raised lazarus he called with a loud voice, "lazarus, come forth!" (john xi. .) and lazarus heard, and came forth. some one has said, it was a good thing that lazarus was mentioned by name, or all the dead within the sound of christ's voice would immediately have risen. in john v. , jesus says: "verily, verily, i say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of god; and they that hear shall live." what blasphemy would this have been, had he not been divine! the proof is overwhelming, if you will but examine the word of god. and then another thing--no good man except jesus christ has ever allowed anybody to worship him. when this was done he never rebuked the worshiper. in john ix. , we read that when the blind man was found by christ he said, "lord, i believe. and he worshiped him." the lord did not rebuke him. then again, revelation xxii. , runs thus: "and he said unto me, these things are faithful and true; and the lord god of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. behold, i come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. and i john saw these things and heard them. and when i had heard and seen, i fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. then saith he unto me, see thou do it not; for i am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, _worship god_." we see here that even that angel would not allow john to worship him. even an angel from heaven! and if gabriel came down here from the presence of god it would be a sin to worship him, or any seraph, or any cherub, or michael, or any archangel. "worship god!" and if jesus christ were not god manifest in the flesh we are guilty of idolatry in worshiping him. in matthew xiv. , we read: "then they that were in the ship came and _worshiped_ him, saying, of a truth thou art the son of god." he did not rebuke them. and in matthew viii. , we also read: "and, behold, there came a leper and _worshiped_ him, saying, lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." in matthew xv. : "then came she, and _worshiped_ him, saying, lord, help me!" there are many other passages; but i give these as sufficient in my opinion to prove beyond any doubt the divinity of our lord. in the th chapter of acts we are told the heathen at lystra came with garlands and would have done sacrifice to paul and barnabas because they had cured an impotent man; but the evangelists rent their clothes and told these lystrans that they were but men, and not to be worshipped; as if it were a great sin. and if jesus christ is a mere man, we are all guilty of a great sin in worshipping him. but if he is, as we believe, the only-begotten and well-beloved son of god, let us yield to his claims upon us; let us rest on his all-atoning work, and go forth to serve him all the days of our life. chapter vi. _repentance and restitution_. "god commandeth all men everywhere to repent."--acts xvii. . repentance is one of the fundamental doctrines of the bible. yet i believe it is one of those truths that many people little understand at the present day. there are more people to-day in the mist and darkness about repentance, regeneration, the atonement, and such-like fundamental truths, than perhaps on any other doctrines. yet from our earliest years we have heard about them. if i were to ask for a definition of repentance, a great many would give a very strange and false idea of it. a man is not prepared to believe or to receive the gospel, unless he is ready to repent of his sins and turn from them. until john the baptist met christ, he had but one text, "repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (matt. iii. ). but if he had continued to say this, and had stopped there without pointing the people to christ the lamb of god, he would not have accomplished much. when christ came, he took up the same wilderness cry, "repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (matt. iv. ). and when our lord sent out his disciples, it was with the same message, "that men should repent" (mark vi. ). after he had been glorified, and when the holy ghost came down, we find peter on the day of pentecost raising the same cry, "repent!" it was this preaching--repent, and believe the gospel--that wrought such marvellous results then. (acts ii. - ). and we find that, when paul went to athens, he uttered the same cry, "_now_ god commandeth _all men, everywhere_, to repent" (acts xvii. ). before i speak of what repentance _is_, let me briefly say what it _is not_. repentance is not _fear_. many people have confounded the two. they think they have to be alarmed and terrified; and they are waiting for some kind of fear to come down upon them. but multitudes become alarmed who do not really repent. you have heard of men at sea during a terrible storm. perhaps they have been very profane men; but when the danger came they suddenly grew quiet, and began to cry to god for mercy. yet you would not say they repented. when the storm had passed away, they went on swearing the same as before. you might think that the king of egypt repented when god sent the terrible plagues upon him and his land. but it was not repentance at all. the moment god's hand was removed pharaoh's heart was harder than ever. he did not turn from a single sin; he was the same man. so that there was no true repentance there. often, when death comes into a family, it looks as if the event would be sanctified to the conversion of all who are in the house. yet in six months' time all may be forgotten. some who read this have perhaps passed through that experience. when god's hand was heavy upon them it looked as if they were going to repent; but the trial has been removed--and lo and behold, the impression has all gone. then again, repentance is not _feeling_. i find a great many people are waiting for a certain kind of feeling to come. they would like to turn to god; but think they cannot do it until this feeling comes. when i was in baltimore i used to preach every sunday in the penitentiary to nine hundred convicts. there was hardly a man there who did not feel miserable enough: they had plenty of feeling. for the first week or ten days of their imprisonment many of them cried half the time. yet, when they were released, most of them would go right back to their old ways. the truth was, that they felt very bad because they had got caught; that was all. so you have seen a man in the time of trial show a good deal of feeling: but very often it is only because he has got into trouble; not because he has committed sin, or because his conscience tells him he has done evil in the sight of god. it seems as if the trial were going to result in true repentance; but the feeling too often passes away. once again, repentance is not _fasting and afflicting the body_. a man may fast for weeks and months and years, and yet not repent of one sin. neither is it _remorse_. judas had terrible remorse--enough to make him go and hang himself; but that was not repentance. i believe if he had gone to his lord, fallen on his face, and confessed his sin, he would have been forgiven. instead of this he went to the priests, and then put an end to his life. a man may do all sorts of penance--but there is no true repentance in that. put that down in your mind. you cannot meet the claims of god by offering the fruit of your body for the sin of your soul. away with such a delusion! repentance is not _conviction of sin_. that may sound strange to some. i have seen men under such deep conviction of sin that they could not sleep at night; they could not enjoy a single meal. they went on for months in this state; and yet they were not converted; they did not truly repent. do not confound conviction of sin with repentance. neither is _praying_--repentance. that too may sound strange. many people, when they become anxious about their soul's salvation, say, "i will pray, and read the bible;" and they think that will bring about the desired effect. but it will not do it. you may read the bible and cry to god a great deal, and yet never repent. many people cry loudly to god, and yet do not repent. another thing: it is not _breaking off some one sin_. a great many people make that mistake. a man who has been a drunkard signs the pledge, and stops drinking. breaking off one sin is not repentance. forsaking one vice is like breaking off one limb of a tree, when the whole tree has to come down. a profane man stops swearing; very good: but if he does not break off _from every sin_ it is not repentance--it is not the work of god in the soul. when god works he hews down the whole tree. he wants to have a man turn from every sin. supposing i am in a vessel out at sea, and i find the ship leaks in three or four places. i may go and stop up one hole; yet down goes the vessel. or suppose i am wounded in three or four places, and i get a remedy for one wound: if the other two or three wounds are neglected, my life will soon be gone. true repentance is not merely breaking off this or that particular sin. well then, you will ask, what is repentance? i will give you a good definition: it is "right about face!" in the irish language the word "repentance" means even more than "right about face!" it implies that a man who has been walking in one direction has not only faced about, but is actually walking in an exactly contrary direction. "turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye die?" a man may have little feeling or much feeling; but if he does not turn away from sin, god will not have mercy on him. repentance has also been described as "a change of mind." for instance, there is the parable told by christ: "a certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, son, go work to-day in my vineyard. he answered and said, i will not" (matt. xxi. , ). after he had said "i will not" he thought over it, and changed his mind. perhaps he may have said to himself, "i did not speak very respectfully to my father. he asked me to go and work, and i told him i would not go. i think i was wrong." but suppose he had only said this, and still had not gone, he would not have repented. he was not only convinced that he was wrong; but he went off into the fields, hoeing, or mowing or whatever it was. that is christ's definition of repentance. if a man says, "by the grace of god i will forsake my sin, and do his will," that is repentance--a turning right about. some one has said, man is born with his face turned away from god. when he truly repents he is turned right around towards god; he leaves his old life. can a man at once repent? certainly he can. it does not take a long while to turn around. it does not take a man six months to change his mind. there was a vessel that went down some time ago on the newfoundland coast. as she was bearing towards the shore, there was a moment when the captain could have given orders to reverse the engines and turn back. if the engines had been reversed then, the ship would have been saved. but there was a moment when it was too late. so there is a moment, i believe, in every man's life when he can halt and say, "by the grace of god i will go no further towards death and ruin. i repent of my sins and turn from them." you may say you have not got feeling enough; but if you are convinced that you are on the wrong road, turn right about, and say, "i will no longer go on in the way of rebellion and sin as i have done." just then, when you are willing to turn towards god, salvation may be yours. i find that every case of conversion recorded in the bible was instantaneous. repentance and faith came very suddenly. the moment a man made up his mind, god gave him the power. god does not ask any man to do what he has not the power to do. he would not command "all men everywhere to repent" (acts xvii. ) if they were not able to do so. man has no one to blame but himself if he does not repent and believe the gospel. one of the leading ministers of the gospel in ohio wrote me a letter some time ago describing his conversion; it very forcibly illustrates this point of instantaneous decision. he said: "i was nineteen years old, and was reading law with a christian lawyer in vermont. one afternoon when he was away from home, his good wife said to me as i came into the house, 'i want you to go to class-meeting with me to-night and become a christian, so that you can conduct family worship while my husband is away.' 'well, i'll do it,' i said, without any thought. when i came into the house again she asked me if i was honest in what i had said. i replied, 'yes, so far as going to meeting with you is concerned; that is only courteous.' "i went with her to the class-meeting, as i had often done before. about a dozen persons were present in a little school-house. the leader had spoken to all in the room but myself and two others. he was speaking to the person next me, when the thought occurred to me: he will ask me if i have anything to say. i said to myself: i have decided to be a christian sometime; why not begin now? in less time than a minute after these thoughts had passed through my mind he said, speaking to me familiarly--for he knew me very well--'brother charles, have you anything to say?' i replied, with perfect coolness, 'yes, sir. i have just decided, within the last thirty seconds, that i will begin a christian life, and would like to have you pray for me.' "my coolness staggered him; i think he almost doubted my sincerity. he said very little, but passed on and spoke to the other two. after a few general remarks, he turned to me and said, 'brother charles, will you close the meeting with prayer?' he knew i had never prayed in public. up to this moment i had no feeling. it was purely a business transaction. my first thought was: i cannot pray, and i will ask him to excuse me. my second was: i have said i will begin a christian life; and this is a part of it. so i said, 'let us pray.' and somewhere between the time i started to kneel and the time my knees struck the floor the lord converted my soul. "the first words i said were, 'glory to god!' what i said after that i do not know, and it does not matter, for my soul was too full to say much but glory! from that hour the devil has never dared to challenge my conversion. to christ be all the praise." many people are waiting, they cannot exactly tell for what, but for some sort of miraculous feeling to come stealing over them--some mysterious kind of faith. i was speaking to a man some years ago, and he always had one answer to give me. for five years i tried to win him to christ, and every year he said, "it has not 'struck me' yet." "man, what do you mean? what has not struck you?" "well," he said, "i am not going to become a christian until it strikes me; and it has not struck me yet. i do not see it in the way you see it." "but don't you know you are a sinner?" "yes, i know i am a sinner." "well, don't you know that god wants to have mercy on you--that there is forgiveness with god? he wants you to repent and come to him." "yes, i know that; but--it has not struck me yet." he always fell back on that. poor man! he went down to his grave in a state of indecision. sixty long years god gave him to repent; and all he had to say at the end of those years was that it "had not struck him yet." is any reader waiting for some strange feeling--you do not know what? nowhere in the bible is a man told to wait; god is commanding you now to repent. do you think god can forgive a man when he does not want to be forgiven? would he be happy if god forgave him in this state of mind? why, if a man went into the kingdom of god without repentance, heaven would be hell to him. heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. if your boy has done wrong, and will not repent, you cannot forgive him. you would be doing him an injustice. suppose he goes to your desk, and steals $ , and squanders it. when you come home your servant tells you what your boy has done. you ask if it is true, and he denies it. but at last you have certain proof. even when he finds he cannot deny it any longer, he will not confess the sin, but says he will do it again the first chance he gets. would you say to him, "well, i forgive you," and leave the matter there? no! yet people say that god is going to save all men, whether they repent or not--drunkards, thieves, harlots, whoremongers, it makes no difference. "god is so merciful," they say. dear friend, do not be deceived by the god of this world. where there is true repentance and a turning from sin unto god, he will meet and bless you; but he never blesses until there is sincere repentance. david made a woful mistake in this respect with his rebellious son, absalom. he could not have done his son a greater injustice than to forgive him when his heart was unchanged. there could be no true reconciliation between them when there was no repentance. but god does not make these mistakes. david got into trouble on account of his error of judgment. his son soon drove his father from the throne. speaking on repentance, dr. brooks, of st. louis, well remarks: "repentance, strictly speaking, means a 'change of mind or purpose;' consequently it is the judgment which the sinner pronounces upon himself, in view of the love of god displayed in the death of christ, connected with the abandonment of all confidence in himself and with trust in the only saviour of sinners. saving repentance and saving faith always go together; and you need not be worried about repentance if you will believe." "some people are no sure that they have 'repented enough.' if you mean by this that you must repent in order to incline god to be merciful to you, the sooner you give over such repentance the better. god is already merciful, as he has fully shown at the cross of calvary; and it is a grievous dishonor to his heart of love if you think that your tears and anguish will move him, not knowing that 'the goodness of god leadeth thee to repentance.' it is not your badness, therefore, but his goodness that leads to repentance; hence the true way to repent is to believe on the lord jesus christ, 'who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.'" another thing. if there is true repentance it will bring forth fruit. if we have done wrong to any one we should never ask god to forgive us, until we are willing to make restitution. if i have done any man a great injustice and can make it good, i need not ask god to forgive me until i am willing to make it good. suppose i have taken something that does not belong to me. i have no right to expect forgiveness until i make restitution. i remember preaching in one of our large cities, when a fine-looking man came up to me at the close. he was in great distress of mind. "the fact is," he said, "i am a defaulter. i have taken money that belonged to my employers. how can i become a christian without restoring it?" "have you got the money?" he told me he had not got it all. he had taken about $ , , and he still had about $ . he said "could i not take that money and go into business, and make enough to pay them back?" i told him that was a delusion of satan; that he could not expect to prosper on stolen money; that he should restore all he had, and go and ask his employers to have mercy upon him and forgive him. "but they will put me in prison," he said: "cannot you give me any help?" "no, you must restore the money before you can expect to get any help from god." "it is pretty hard," he said. "yes. it is hard; but the great mistake was in doing the wrong at first." his burden became so heavy that it got to be insupportable. he handed me the money-- dollars and some cents--and asked me to take it back to his employers. the next evening the two employers and myself met in a side room of the church. i laid the money down, and informed them it was from one of their _employes_. i told them the story, and said he wanted mercy from them, not justice. the tears trickled down the cheeks of these two men, and they said, "forgive him! yes, we will be glad to forgive him." i went down stairs and brought him up. after he had confessed his guilt and been forgiven, we all got down on our knees and had a blessed prayer-meeting. god met us and blessed us there. there was a friend of mine who some time ago had come to christ and wished to consecrate himself and his wealth to god. he had formerly had transactions with the government, and had taken advantage of them. this thing came up when he was converted, and his conscience troubled him. he said, "i want to consecrate my wealth, but it seems as if god will not take it." he had a terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and smiting him. at last he drew a check for $ , and sent it to the united states treasury. he told me he received such a blessing when he had done it. that was bringing forth "fruits meet for repentance." i believe a great many men are crying to god for light; and they are not getting it because they are not honest. i was once preaching, and a man came to me who was only thirty-two years old, but whose hair was very grey. he said, "i want you to notice that my hair is grey, and i am only thirty-two years old. for twelve years i have carried a great burden." "well," i said, "what is it?" he looked around as if afraid some one would hear him. "well," he answered, "my father died and left my mother with the county newspaper, and left her only that: that was all she had. after he died the paper begun to waste away; and i saw my mother was fast sinking into a state of need. the building and the paper were insured for a thousand dollars, and when i was twenty years old i set fire to the building, and obtained the thousand dollars, and gave it to my mother. for twelve years that sin has been haunting me. i have tried to drown it by indulgence in pleasure and sin; i have cursed god; i have gone into infidelity; i have tried to make out that the bible is not true; i have done everything i could: but all these years i have been tormented." i said, "there is a way out of that." he inquired "how?" i said, "make restitution. let us sit down and calculate the interest, and then you pay the company the money." it would have done you good to see that man's face light up when he found there was mercy for him. he said he would be glad to pay back the money and interest if he could only be forgiven. there are men to-day who are in darkness and bondage because they are not willing to turn from their sins and confess them; and i do not know how a man can hope to be forgiven if he is not willing to confess his sins. bear in mind that _now_ is the only day of mercy you will ever have. you can repent now, and have the awful record blotted out. god waits to forgive you; he is seeking to bring you to himself. but i think the bible teaches clearly that there is _no repentance after this life_. there are some who tell you of the possibility of repentance in the grave; but i do not find that in scripture. i have looked my bible over very carefully, and i cannot find that a man will have another opportunity of being saved. _why should he ask for any more time?_ you have time enough to repent now. you can turn from your sins this moment if you will. god says: "i have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth; wherefore turn, and live ye" (ezek. xviii. ). christ said, he "came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." are you a sinner? then the call to repent is addressed to you. take your place in the dust at the saviour's feet, and acknowledge your guilt. say, like the publican of old, "god be merciful to me a sinner!" and see how quickly he will pardon and bless you. he will even justify you and reckon you as righteous, by virtue of the righteousness of him who bore your sins in his own body on the cross. there are some perhaps who think themselves righteous; and that, therefore, there is no need for them to repent and believe the gospel. they are like the pharisee in the parable, who thanked god that he was not as other men--"extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican;" and who went on to say, "i fast twice a week; i give tithes of all i possess." what is the judgment about such self-righteous persons? "i tell you this man [the poor, contrite, repenting publican] went down to his house justified rather than the other" (luke xviii. - ). "there is none righteous; no, not one." "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of god" (rom. iii. , ). let no one say _he_ does not need to repent. let each one take his true place--that of a sinner; then god will lift him up to the place of forgiveness and justification. "whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (luke xiv. ). wherever god sees true repentance in the heart he meets that soul. i was in colorado, preaching the gospel some time ago, and i heard something that touched my heart very much. the governor of the state was passing through the prison, and in one cell he found a boy who had his window full of flowers, that seemed to have been watched with very tender care. the governor looked at the prisoner, and then at the flowers, and asked whose they were, "these are my flowers," said the poor convict. "are you fond of flowers?" "yes, sir." "how long have you been here?" he told him so many years: he was in for a long sentence. the governor was surprised to find him so fond of the flowers, and he said, "can you tell me why you like these flowers so much?" with much emotion he replied, "while my mother was alive she thought a good deal of flowers; and when i came here i thought if i had these they would remind me of mother." the governor was so pleased that he said, "well, young man, if you think so much of your mother i think you will appreciate your liberty," and he pardoned him then and there. when god finds that beautiful flower of true repentance springing up in a man's heart, then salvation comes to that man. chapter vii. _assurance of salvation_. "these things have i written unto you that believe on the name of the son of god; that ye may knew that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the son of god." ( john v. . ) there are two classes who ought not to have assurance. first: those who are in the church, but who are not converted, having never been born of the spirit. second: those not willing to do god's will; who are not ready to take the place that god has mapped out for them, but want to fill some other place. some one will ask "have all god's people assurance?" no; i think a good many of god's dear people have no assurance; but it is the privilege of every child of god to have beyond doubt a knowledge of his own salvation. no man is fit for god's service who is filled with doubts. if a man is not sure of his own salvation, how can he help any one else into the kingdom of god? if i seem in danger of drowning and do not know whether i shall ever reach the shore, i cannot assist another. i must first get on the solid rock myself; and then i can lend my brother a helping hand. if being myself blind i were to tell another blind man how to get sight, he might reply, "first get healed yourself; and then you can tell me." i recently met with a young man who was a christian: but he had not attained to victory over sin. he was in terrible darkness. such an one is not fit to work for god, because he has besetting sins; and he has not the victory over his doubts, because he has not the victory over his sins. none will have time or heart to work for god, who are not assured as to their own salvation. they have as much as they can attend to; and being themselves burdened with doubts, they cannot help others to carry their burdens. there is no rest, joy, or peace--no liberty, nor power--where doubts and uncertainty exist. now it seems as if there are three wiles of satan against which we ought to be on our guard. in the first place he moves all his kingdom to keep us away from christ; then he devotes himself to get us into "doubting castle:" but if we have, in spite of him, a clear ringing witness for the son of god, he will do all he can to blacken our characters and belie our testimony. some seem to think that it is presumption not to have doubts; but doubt is very dishonoring to god. if any one were to say that they had known a person for thirty years and yet doubted him, it would not be very creditable; and when we have known god for ten, twenty or thirty years does it not reflect on his veracity to doubt him. could paul and the early christians and martyrs have gone through what they did if they had been filled with doubts, and had not known whether they were going to heaven or to perdition after they had been burned at the stake? they must have had assurance. mr. spurgeon says: "i never heard of a stork that when it met with a fir tree demurred as to its right to build its nest there; and i never heard of a coney yet that questioned whether it had a permit to run into the rock. why, these creatures would soon perish if they were always doubting and fearing as to whether they had a right to use providential provisions. "the stork says to himself, 'ah, here is a fir tree:' he consults with his mate, 'will this do for the nest in which we may rear our young?' 'aye,' says she; and they gather the materials, and arrange them. there is never any deliberation, 'may we build here?' but they bring their sticks and make their nest. "the wild goat on the crag does not say, 'have i a right here?' no, he must be somewhere: and there is a crag which exactly suits him; and he springs upon it. "yet, though these dumb creatures know the provision of their god, the sinner does not recognize the provision of his saviour. he quibbles and questions, 'may i?' and am 'i am afraid it is not for me;' and 'i think it cannot be meant for me;' and 'i am afraid it is too good to be true.' "and yet nobody ever said to the stork, 'whosoever buildeth on this fir tree shall never have his nest pulled down.' no inspired word has ever said to the coney, 'whosoever runs into this rock cleft shall never be driven out of it.' if it had been so it would make assurance doubly sure." "and yet here is christ provided for sinners, just the sort of a saviour sinners need; and the encouragement is added, 'him that cometh unto me i will in no wise cast out;' 'whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'" now let us come to the word. john tells us in his gospel what christ did for us on earth. in his epistle he tells us what he is doing for us in heaven as our advocate. in his gospel there are only two chapters in which the word "believe" does not occur. with these two exceptions, every chapter in john is "believe! _believe!!_ believe!!!" he tells us in xx. , "but these are written, that ye might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god, and that, believing, ye might have life through his name." that is the purpose for which he wrote the gospel--"that we might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god: and that, believing, we might have life through his name" (john xx. ). turn to john v. , he there tells us why he wrote this epistle: "these things have i written unto you that believe on the name of the son of god." notice to whom he writes it "you that believe on the name of the son of god; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the son of god." there are only five short chapters in this first epistle, and the word "know" occurs over forty times. it is "_know!_ know!! know!!!" the key to it is know! and all through the epistle there rings out the refrain--"that we might know that we have eternal life." i went twelve hundred miles down the mississippi in the spring some years ago; and every evening, just as the sun went down, you might have seen men, and sometimes women, riding up to the banks of the river on either side on mules or horses, and sometimes coming on foot, for the purpose of lighting up the government lights; and all down that mighty river there were landmarks which guided the pilots in their dangerous navigation. now god has given us lights or landmarks to tell us whether we are his children or not; and what we need to do is to examine the tokens he has given us. in the third chapter of john's first epistle there are five things worth knowing. in the fifth verse we read the first: "and ye _know_ that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." not what i have done, but what he has done. has he failed in his mission? is he not able to do what he came for? did ever any heaven-sent man fail yet? and could god's own son fail? he was manifested to take away our sins. again, in the nineteenth verse, the second thing worth knowing: "and hereby _we know_ that we are of the truth, and shall _assure_ our hearts before him." we know that we are of the truth. and if the truth make us free, we shall be free indeed. "if the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (john viii. .) the third thing worth knowing is in the fourteenth verse, "_we know_ that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." the natural man does not like godly people, nor does he care to be in their company. "he that loveth not his brother abideth in death." he has no spiritual life. the fourth thing worth knowing we find in verse twenty-four: "and he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. and hereby _we know_ that he abideth in us, by the spirit which he hath given us." we can tell what kind of spirit we have if we possess the spirit of christ--a christ-like spirit--not the same in degree, but the same in kind. if i am meek, gentle, and forgiving; if i have a spirit filled with peace and joy; if i am long-suffering and gentle, like the son of god--that is a test: and in that way we are to tell whether we have eternal life or not. the fifth thing worth knowing, and the best of all, is "beloved, _now_." notice the word "now." it does not say when you come to die. "beloved, _now_ are we the sons of god; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but _we know_ that, when he shall appear; we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (v. ). but some will say, "well, i believe all that; but then i have sinned since i became a christian." is there a man or a woman on the face of the earth who has not sinned since becoming a christian? not one! there never has been, and never will be, a soul on this earth who has not sinned, or who will not sin, at some time of their christian experience. but god has made provision for believers' sins. _we_ are not to make provision for them; but god has. bear that in mind. turn to john ii. : "my little children, these things write i unto you, that ye sin not. and if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, jesus christ the righteous." he is here writing to the righteous. "if any man sin, _we_"--john put himself in--"we have an advocate with the father, jesus christ the righteous." what an advocate! he attends to our interests at the very best place--the throne of god. he said, "nevertheless, i tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that i go away" (john xvi. ). he went away to become our high priest, and also our advocate. he has had some hard cases to plead; but he has never lost one: and if you entrust your immortal interests to him, he will "present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (jude ). the past sins of christians are all forgiven as soon as they are confessed; and they are never to be mentioned. that is a question which is not to be opened up again. if our sins have been put away, that is the end of them. they are not to be remembered; and god will not mention them any more. this is very plain. suppose i have a son who, while i am from home, does wrong. when i go home he throws his arms around my neck and says, "papa, i did what you told me not to do. i am very sorry. do forgive me." i say: "yes, my son," and kiss him. he wipes away his tears, and goes off rejoicing. but the next day he says: "papa, i wish you would forgive me for the wrong i did yesterday." i should say: "why, my son, that thing is settled; and i don't want it mentioned again." "but i wish you would forgive me: it would help me to hear you say, 'i forgive you.'" would that be honoring me? would it not grieve me to have my boy doubt me? but to gratify him i say again, "i forgive you, my son." and if, the next day, he were again to bring up that old sin, and ask forgiveness, would not that grieve me to the heart? and so, my dear reader, if god has forgiven us, never let us mention the past. let us forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those which are before, and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus. let the sins of the past go; for "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" ( john i. ). and let me say that this principle is recognized in courts of justice. a case came up in the courts of a country--i won't say where--in which a man had had trouble with his wife; but he forgave her, and then afterwards brought her into court. and, when it was known that he had forgiven her, the judge said that the thing was settled. the judge recognized the soundness of the principle, that if a sin were once forgiven there was an end of it. and do you think the judge of all the earth will forgive you and me, and open the question again? our sins are gone for time and eternity, if god forgives: and what we have to do is to confess and forsake our sins. again in corinthians xiii. : "examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. know ye not your own selves, how that jesus christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" now examine yourselves. try your religion. put it to the test. can you forgive an enemy? that is a good way to know if you are a child of god. can you forgive an injury, or take an affront, as christ did? can you be censured for doing well, and not murmur? can you be misjudged and misrepresented, and yet keep a christ-like spirit? another good test is to read galatians v., and notice the fruits of the spirit; and see if you have them. "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." if i have the fruits of the spirit i must have the spirit. i could not have the fruits without the spirit any more than there could be an orange without the tree. and christ says "ye shall know them by their fruits;" "for the tree is known by his fruits." make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. the only way to get the fruit is to have the spirit. that is the way to examine ourselves whether we are the children of god. then there is another very striking passage. in romans viii. , paul says: "now, if any man have not the spirit of christ, he is none of his." that ought to settle the question, even though one may have gone through all the external forms that are considered necessary by some to constitute a member of a church. read paul's life, and put yours alongside of it. if your life resembles his, it is a proof that you are born again--that you are a new creature in christ jesus. but although you may be born again, it will require time to become a full-grown christian. justification is instantaneous; but sanctification is a life-work. we are to grow in wisdom. peter says "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour jesus christ" ( pet. iii. ); and in the first chapter of his second epistle, "add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. for if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall neither be barron nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord jesus christ." so that we are to add grace to grace. a tree may be perfect in its first year of growth; but it does not attain its maturity. so with the christian: he may be a true child of god, but not a matured christian. the eighth of romans is very important, and we should be very familiar with it. in the fourteenth verse the apostle says: "for as many as are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god." just as the soldier is led by his captain, the pupil by his teacher, or the traveller by his guide; so the holy spirit will be the guide of every true child of god. then let me call your attention to another fact. all paul's teaching in nearly every epistle rings out the doctrine of assurance. he says in corinthians v. : "for we _know_ that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of god, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." he had a title to the mansions above, and he says--_i know it_. he was not living in uncertainty. he said: "i have a desire to depart and be with christ" (phil. i. ); and if he had been uncertain he would not have said that. then in colossians iii. , he says: "when christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." i am told that dr. watts' tombstone bears this same passage of scripture. there is no doubt there. then turn to colossians i. : "giving thanks unto the father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who _hath_ delivered us from the power of darkness, and _hath_ translated us into the kingdom of his dear son." three _haths_: "hath made us meet;" "hath delivered us;" and "hath translated us." it does not say that he is going to make us meet; that he is going to deliver; that he is going to translate. then again in verse th: "in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." we are either forgiven or we are not, we should not give ourselves any rest until we get into the kingdom of god; nor until we can each look up and say, "i know that if my earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, i have a building of god, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" ( cor. v. ). look at romans viii. : "he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" if he gave us his son, will he not give us the certainty that he is ours. i have heard this illustration. there was a man who owed $ , , and would have been made a bankrupt, but a friend came forward and paid the sum. it was found afterwards that he owed a few dollars more; but he did not for a moment entertain a doubt that, as his friend had paid the larger amount, he would also pay the smaller. and we have high warrant for saying that if god has given us his son he will with him also freely give us all things; and if we want to realize our salvation beyond controversy he will not leave us in darkness. again in the d verse: "who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect? it is god that justifieth. who is he that condemneth? it is christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of god, who also maketh intercession for us. who shall separate us from the love of christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. for i am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord." that has the right ring in it. there is assurance for you. "i know." do you think that the god who has justified me will condemn me? that is quite an absurdity. god is going to save us so that neither men, angels, nor devils, can bring any charge against us or him. he will have the work complete. job lived in a darker day than we do; but we read in job xix. : "i _know_ that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand in the latter day upon the earth." the same confidence breathes through paul's last words to timothy: "for the which cause i also suffer these things: nevertheless i am not ashamed; for i _know_ whom i have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day." it is not a matter of doubt, but of knowledge. "i know." "i am persuaded." the word "hope," is not used in the scripture to express doubt. it is used in regard to the second coming of christ, or to the resurrection of the body. we do not say that we "hope" we are christians. i do not say that i "hope" i am an american, or that i "hope" i am a married man. these are settled things. i may say that i "hope" to go back to my home, or i hope to attend such a meeting. i do not say that i "hope" to come to this country, for i am here. and so, if we are born of god we know it; and he will not leave us in darkness if we search the scriptures. christ taught this doctrine to his seventy disciples when they returned elated with their success, saying, "lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." the lord seemed to check them, and said that he would give them something to rejoice in. "notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (luke x. .) it is the privilege of every one of us to know, beyond a doubt, that our salvation is sure. then we can work for others. but if we are doubtful of our own salvation, we are not fit for the service of god. another passage is john v. : "verily, verily i say unto you: he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into '_judgment_,'" (the new translation has it so), "but is passed from death unto life." some people say that you never can tell till you are before the great white throne of judgment whether you are saved or not. why, my dear friend, if your life is hid with christ in god, you are not coming into judgment for your sins. we may come into judgment for reward. this is clearly taught where the lord reckoned with the servant to whom five talents had been given, and who brought other five talents saying, "lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, i have gained beside them five talents more. his lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things; i will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (matt. xxv. , .) we shall be judged for our stewardship. that is one thing; but salvation--eternal life--is another. will god demand payment twice of the debt which christ has paid for us? if christ bear my sins in his own body on the tree, am i to answer for them as well? isaiah tells us that, "he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed." in romans iv. , we read: he "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." let us believe, and get the benefit of his finished work. then again in john x. : "i am the door: by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." that is the promise. then the th verse, "my sheep hear my voice; and i know them, and they follow me. and i give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. my father which gave them is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand." think of that! the father, the son, and the holy ghost, are pledged to keep us. you see that it is not only the father, not only the son, but the three persons of the triune god. now, a great many people want some token outside of god's word. that habit always brings doubt. if i made a promise to meet a man at a certain hour and place to-morrow, and he were to ask me for my watch as a token of my sincerity, it would be a slur on my truthfulness. we must not question what god has said: he has made statement after statement, and multiplied figure upon figure. christ says: "i am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved." "i am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." "i am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." "i am the truth;" receive me, and you will have the truth; for i am the embodiment of truth. do you want to know the way? "i am the way:" follow me, and i will lead you into the kingdom. are you hungering after righteousness? "i am the bread of life:" if you eat of me you shall never hunger. "i am the water of life:" if you drink of this water it shall be within you "a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." "i am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (john xi. , .) let me remind you where our doubts come from. a good many of god's dear people never get beyond knowing themselves servants. he calls us "friends." if you go into a house you will soon see the difference between the servant and the son. the son walks at perfect liberty all over the house; he is at home. but the servant takes a subordinate place. what we want is to get beyond servants. we ought to realize our standing with god as sons and daughters. he will not "un-child" his children. god has not only adopted us, but we are his by birth: we have been born into his kingdom. my little boy was as much mine when he was a day old as now that he is fourteen. he was _my son_; although it did not appear what he would be when he attained manhood. he is mine; although he may have to undergo probation under tutors and governors. the children of god are not perfect; but we are perfectly his children. another origin of doubts is looking at ourselves. if you want to be wretched and miserable, filled with doubts from morning till night, look at yourselves. "thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." (isa. xxvi. .) many of god's dear children are robbed of joy because they keep looking at themselves. some one has said: "there are three ways to look. if you want to be wretched, look within; if you wish to be distracted, look around; but if you would have peace, look up." peter looked away from christ, and he immediately began to sink. the master said to him: "o thou of little faith! wherefore didst thou doubt?" (matt. xiv. .) he had god's eternal word, which was sure footing, and better than either marble, granite or iron; but the moment he took his eyes off christ down he went. those who look around cannot see how unstable and dishonoring is their walk. we want to look straight at the "author and finisher of our faith." when i was a boy i could only make a straight track in the snow, by keeping my eyes fixed upon a tree or some object before me. the moment i took my eye off the mark set in front of me, i walked crooked. it is only when we look fixedly on christ that we find perfect peace. after he rose from the dead he showed his disciples his hands and his feet. (luke xxiv. .) that was the ground of their peace. if you want to scatter your doubts, look at the blood; and if you want to increase your doubts, look at yourself. you will get doubts enough for years by being occupied with yourself for a few days. then again: look at what he is, and at what he has done; not at what you are, and what you have done. that is the way to get peace and rest. abraham lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the emancipation of three millions of slaves. on a certain day their chains were to fall off, and they were to be free. the proclamation was put up on the trees and fences wherever the northern army marched. a good many slaves could not read: but others read the proclamation, and most of them believed it; and on a certain day a glad shout went up, "we are free!" some did not believe it, and stayed with their old masters; but it did not alter the fact that they were free. christ, the captain of our salvation, has proclaimed freedom to all who have faith in him. let us take him at his word. their feelings would not have made the slaves free. the power must come from the outside. looking at ourselves will not make us free, but it is looking to christ with the eye of faith. bishop ryle has strikingly said: "faith is the root, and assurance the flower." doubtless you can never have the flower without the root; but it is no less certain you may have the root, and not the flower. "faith is that poor trembling woman who came behind jesus in the press, and touched the hem of his garment. (mark v. .) assurance is stephen standing calmly in the midst of his murderers, and saying, 'i see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the right hand of god'" (acts vii. ). "faith is the penitent thief, crying, 'lord, remember me' (luke xxiii. ). assurance is job sitting in the dust, covered with sores, and saying, 'i know that my redeemer liveth;' 'though he slay me, yet will i trust in him'" (job xix. ; xiii. ). "faith is peter's drowning cry, as he began to sink, 'lord, save me!' (matt. xxiv. ). assurance is that same peter declaring before the council, in after-times, 'this is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner: neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved'" (acts iv. , ). "faith is the anxious, trembling voice, 'lord, i believe; help thou mine unbelief!' (mark ix. ). assurance is the confident challenge, 'who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect? who is he that condemneth?'" (rom. viii. , ). faith is saul praying in the house of judas at damascus, sorrowful, blind, and alone. (acts ix. .) assurance is paul, the aged prisoner, looking calmly into the grave, and saying, 'i know whom i have believed.' 'there is a crown laid up for me' ( tim. i. ; iv. ). "faith is life. how great the blessing! who can tell the gulf between life and death? and yet life may be weak, sickly, unhealthy, painful, trying, anxious, worn, burdensome, joyless, smileless, to the very end. "assurance is _more than life_. it is health, strength, power, vigor, activity, energy, manliness, beauty." a minister once pronounced the benediction in this way: "the heart of god to make us welcome; the blood of christ to make us clean, and the holy spirit to make us certain." the security of the believer is the result of the operation of the spirit of god. another writer says: "i have seen shrubs and trees grow out of the rocks, and overhang fearful precipices, roaring cataracts, and deep running waters; but they maintained their position, and threw out their foliage and branches as much as if they had been in the midst of a dense forest." it was their hold on the rock that made them secure; and the influences of nature that sustained their life. so believers are oftentimes exposed to the most horrible dangers in their journey to heaven; but, so long as they are "rooted and grounded" in the rock of ages, they are perfectly secure. their hold of him is their guarantee; and the blessings of his grace give them life and sustain them in life. and as the tree must die, or the rock fall, before a dissolution can be effected between _them_, so either the believer must lose his spiritual life, or the rock must crumble, ere their union can be dissolved. speaking of the lord jesus, isaiah says: "i will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house: and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons" (xxii. , ). there is one nail, fastened in a sure place; and on it hang all the flagons and all the cups. "oh," says one little cup, "i am so small and so black, suppose i were to drop!" "oh," says a flagon, "there is no fear of you; but i am so heavy, so very weighty, suppose i were to drop!" and a little cup says, "oh, if i were only like the gold cup there, i should never fear falling." but the gold cup answers, "it is not because i am a gold cup that i keep up; but because i hang upon the nail." if the nail gives way we all come down, gold cups, china cups, pewter cups, and all; but as long as the nail keeps up, all that hang on him hang safely. i once read these words on a tombstone: "born, died, kept." let us pray god to keep us in perfect peace, and assured of salvation. chapter viii. _christ all and in all_. (colossians iii. .) christ is _all_ to us that we make him to be. i want to emphasize that word "all." some men make him to be "a root out of a dry ground," "without form or comeliness." he is nothing to them; they do not want him. some christians have a very small saviour, for they are not willing to receive him fully, and let him do great and mighty things for them. others have a mighty saviour, because they make him to be great and mighty. if we would know what christ wants to be to us, we must first of all know him as our saviour from sin. when the angel came down from heaven to proclaim that he was to be born into the world, you remember he gave his name, "he shall be called jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." have we been delivered from sin? he did not come to save us _in_ our sins, but _from_ our sins. now, there are three ways of knowing a man. some men you know only by hearsay; others you merely know by having been once introduced to them, you know them very slightly; other again you know by having been acquainted with them for years, you know them intimately. so i believe there are three classes of people to-day in the christian church and out of it: those who know christ only by reading or by hearsay, those who have a historical christ; those who have a slight personal acquaintance with him; and, those who thirst, as paul did, to "know him and the power of his resurrection." the more we know of christ the more we shall love him, and the better we shall serve him. let us look at him as he hangs upon the cross, and see how he has put away sin. he was manifested that he might take away our sins; and if we really know him we must first of all see him as our saviour from sin. you remember how the angels said to the shepherds on the plains of bethlehem, "behold, i bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of david, a saviour, which is christ the lord." (luke ii. , .) then if you go clear back to isaiah, seven hundred years before christ's birth, you will find these words: "i, even i, am the lord; and beside me there is no saviour" (xliii. ). again, in the first epistle of john (iv. ) we read: "we have seen, and do testify, that the father sent the son to be the saviour of the world." all the heathen religions, we read, teach men to work their way up to god; but the religion of jesus christ is god coming down to men to save them, to lift them up out of the pit of sin. in luke xix. , we read that christ himself told the people what he had come for: "the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." so we start from the cross, not from the cradle. christ has opened up a new and living way to the father; he has taken all the stumbling-blocks out of the way, so that every man who accepts of christ as his saviour can have salvation. but christ is not only a saviour. i might save a man from drowning and rescue him from an untimely grave; but i might probably not be able to do any more for him. christ is something more than a saviour. when the children of israel were placed behind the blood, that blood was their salvation; but they would still have heard the crack of the slave-driver's whip if they had not been delivered from the egyptian yoke of bondage: then it was that god delivered them from the hand of the king of egypt. i have little sympathy with the idea that god comes down to save us, and then leaves us in prison, the slaves of our besetting sins. no; he has come to deliver us, and to give us victory over our evil tempers, our passions, and our lusts. are you a professed christian but one who is a slave to some besetting sin? if you want to get victory over that temper or that lust, go on to know christ more intimately. he brings deliverance for the past, the present, and the future. "who delivered; who doth deliver; who will yet deliver." ( cor. i. .) how often, like the children of israel when they came to the red sea, have we become discouraged because everything looked dark before us, behind us, and around us, and we knew not which way to turn. like peter we have said, "to whom shall we go?" but god has appeared for our deliverance. he has brought us through the red sea right out into the wilderness, and opened up the way into the promised land. but christ is not only our deliverer; he is our redeemer. that is something more than being our saviour. he has brought us back. "ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money." (isaiah lii. .) "we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold." ( peter i. .) if gold could have redeemed us, could he not have created ten thousand worlds full of gold? when god had redeemed the children of israel from the bondage of egypt, and brought them through the red sea, they struck out for the wilderness; and then god became to them their way. i am so thankful the lord has not left us in darkness as to the right way. there is no living man who has been groping in the darkness but may know the way. "i am the way," says christ. if we follow christ we shall be in the right way, and have the right doctrine. who could lead the children of israel through the wilderness like the almighty god himself? he knew the pitfalls and dangers of the way, and guided the people through all their wilderness journey right into the promised land. it is true that if it had not been for their accursed unbelief they might have crossed into the land at kadesh barnea, and taken possession of it, but they desired something besides god's word; so they were turned back, and had to wander in the desert for forty years. i believe there are thousands of god's children wandering in the wilderness still. the lord has delivered them from the hand of the egyptian, and would at once take them through the wilderness right into the promised land, if they were only willing to follow christ. christ has been down here, and has made the rough places smooth, and the dark places light, and the crooked places straight. if we will only be led by him, and will follow him, all will be peace, and joy, and rest. in the frontier, when a man goes out hunting he takes a hatchet with him, and cuts off pieces from the bark of the trees as he goes along through the forest: this is called "blazing the way." he does it that he may know the way back, as there is no pathway through these thick forests. christ has come down to this earth; he has "blazed the way:" and now that he has gone up on high, if we will but follow him, we shall be kept in the right path. i will tell you how you may know if you are following christ or not. if some one has slandered you, or misjudged you, do you treat them as your master would have done? if you do not bear these things in a loving and forgiving spirit, all the churches and ministers in the world cannot make you right. "if any man have not the spirit of christ, he is none of his." (romans viii. .) "if any man be in christ jesus he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." ( cor. v. .) christ is not only our way; he is the light upon the way. he says, "i am the light of the world." (john viii. ; ix. ; xii. .) he goes on to say, "he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." it is impossible for any man or woman who is following christ to walk in darkness. if your soul is in the darkness, groping around in the fog and mist of earth, let me tell you it is because you have got away from the true light. there is nothing but light that will dispel darkness. so let those who are walking in spiritual darkness admit christ into their hearts: he is the light. i call to mind a picture of which i used at one time to think a good deal; but now i have come to look more closely, i would not put it up in my house except i turned the face to the wall. it represents christ as standing at a door, knocking, and having a big lantern in his hand. why, you might as well hang up a lantern to the sun as put one into christ's hand. he is the sun of righteousness; and it is our privilege to walk in the light of an unclouded sun. many people are hunting after light, and peace, and joy. we are nowhere told to seek after these things. if we admit christ into our hearts these will all come of themselves. i remember, when a boy, i used to try in vain to catch my shadow. one day i was walking with my face to the sun; and as i happened to look around i saw that my shadow was following me. the faster i went the faster my shadow followed; i could not get away from it. so when our faces are directed to the sun of righteousness, the peace and joy are sure to come. a man said to me some time ago, "moody, how do you feel?" it was so long since i had thought about my feelings i had to stop and consider awhile, in order to find out. some christians are all the time thinking about their feelings; and because they do not feel just right they think their joy is all gone. if we keep our faces towards christ, and are occupied with him, we shall be lifted out of the darkness and the trouble that may have gathered round our path. i remember being in a meeting after the war of the great rebellion broke out. the war had been going on for about six months. the army of the north had been defeated at bull run, in fact, we had nothing but defeat, and it looked as though the republic was going to pieces. so we were much cast down and discouraged. at this meeting every speaker for awhile seemed as if he had hung his harp upon the willow; and it was one of the gloomiest meetings i ever attended. finally an old man with beautiful white hair got up to speak, and his face literally shone. "young men," he said "you do not talk like sons of the king. though it is dark just here, remember it is light somewhere else." then he went on to say that if it were dark all over the world, it was light up around the throne. he told us he had come from the east, where a friend had described to him how he had been up a mountain to spend the night and see the sun rise. as the party were climbing up the mountain, and before they had reached the summit, a storm came on. this friend said to the guide, "i will give this up; take me back." the guide smiled, and replied, "i think we shall get above the storm soon." on they went; and it was not long before they got up to where it was as calm as any summer evening. down in the valley a terrible storm raged; they could hear the thunder rolling, and see the lightning's flash; but all was serene on the mountain top. "and so, my young friends," continued the old man, "though all is dark around you, come a little higher and the darkness will flee away." often when i have been inclined to get discouraged, i have thought of what he said. now if you are down in the valley amidst the thick fog and the darkness, get a little higher; get nearer to christ, and know more of him. you remember the bible says, that when christ expired on the cross, the light of the world was put out. god sent his son to be the light of the world; but men did not love the light because it reproved them of their sins. when they were about to put out this light, what did christ say to his disciples? "ye shall be witnesses unto me." (acts i. .) he has gone up yonder to intercede for us; but he wants us to shine for him down here. "ye are the light of the world." (matt. v. .) so our work is to shine; not to blow our own trumpet so that people may look at us. what we want to do is to show forth christ. if we have any light at all it is borrowed light. some one said to a young christian: "converted! it is all moonshine!" said he: "i thank you for the illustration; the moon borrows its light from the sun; and we borrow ours from the sun of righteousness." if we are christ's, we are here to shine for him: by and by he will call us home to our reward. i remember hearing of a blind man who sat by the wayside with a lantern near him. when he was asked what he had a lantern for, as he could not see the light, he said it was that people should not stumble ever him. i believe more people stumble over the inconsistencies of professed christians than from any other cause. what is doing more harm to the cause of christ than all the scepticism in the world is this cold, dead formalism, this conformity to the world, this professing what we do not possess. the eyes of the world are upon us. i think it was george fox who said every quaker ought to light up the country for ten miles around him. if we were all brightly shining for the master, those about us would soon be reached, and there would be a shout of praise going to heaven. people say: "i want to know what is the truth." listen: "i am the truth," says christ. (john xiv. .) if you want to know what the truth is, get acquainted with christ. people also complain that they have not life. many are trying to give themselves spiritual life. you may galvanize yourselves and put electricity into yourselves, so to speak; but the effect will not last very long. christ alone is the author of life. if you would have real spiritual life, get to know christ. many try to stir up spiritual life by going to meetings. that may be well enough; but it will be of no use, unless they get into contact with the living christ. then their spiritual life will not be a spasmodic thing, but will be perpetual; flowing on and on, and bringing forth fruit to god. then christ is our keeper. a great many young disciples are afraid they will not hold out. "he that keepeth israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." (psalm cxxi. .) it is the work of christ to keep us; and if he keeps us there will be no danger of our falling. i suppose if queen victoria had to take care of the crown of england, some thief might attempt to get access to it; but it is put away in the tower of london, and guarded night and day by soldiers. the whole english army would, if necessary, be called out to protect it. and we have no strength in ourselves. we are no match for satan; he has had six thousand years' experience. but then we remember that the one who neither slumbers nor sleeps is our keeper. in isaiah xli. , we read, "fear thou not, for i am with thee; be not dismayed, for i am thy god; i will strengthen thee; yea, i will help thee; yea, i will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." in jude also, verse , we are told that he is "able to keep us from falling." "we have an advocate with the father, jesus christ the righteous." ( john ii. .) but christ is something more. he is our shepherd. it is the work of the shepherd to care for the sheep, to feed them and protect them. "i am the good shepherd;" "my sheep hear my voice." "i lay down my life for the sheep." in that wonderful tenth chapter of john, christ uses the personal pronoun no less than twenty-eight times, in declaring what he is and what he will do. in verse he says, "they shall never perish; neither shall any [_man_] pluck them out of my hand." but notice the word "man" is in italics. see how the verse really reads: "neither shall any pluck them out of my hand"--no devil or man shall be able to do it. in another place the scripture declares, "your life is hid with christ in god." (col. iii. .) how safe and how secure! christ says, "my sheep hear my voice . . . and they follow me." (john x. .) a gentleman in the east heard of a shepherd who could call all his sheep to him by name. he went and asked if this was true. the shepherd took him to the pasture where they were, and called one of them by some name. one sheep looked up and answered the call, while the others went on feeding and paid no attention. in the same way he called about a dozen of the sheep around him. the stranger said, "how do you know one from the other? they all look perfectly alike." "well," said he, "you see that sheep toes in a little; that other one has a squint; one has a little piece of wool off; another has a black spot; and another has a piece out of its ear." the man knew all his sheep by their failings, for he had not a perfect one in the whole flock. i suppose our shepherd knows us in the same way. an eastern shepherd was once telling a gentleman that his sheep knew his voice, and that no stranger could deceive them. the gentleman thought he would like to put the statement to the test. so he put on the shepherd's frock and turban, and took his staff and went to the flock. he disguised his voice, and tried to speak as much like the shepherd as he could; but he could not get a single sheep in the flock to follow him. he asked the shepherd if his sheep never followed a stranger. he was obliged to admit that if a sheep got sickly it would follow any one. so it is with a good many professed christians; when they get sickly and weak in the faith, they will follow any teacher that comes along; but when the soul is in health, a man will not be carried away by errors and heresies. he will know whether the "voice" speaks the truth or not. he can soon tell that, if he is really in communion with god. when god sends a true messenger his words will find a ready response in the christian heart. christ is a tender shepherd. you may some time think he has not been a very tender shepherd to you; you are passing under the rod. it is written, "whom the lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." (heb. xii. .) that you are passing under the rod is no proof that christ does not love you. a friend of mine lost all his children. no man could ever have loved his family more; but the scarlet fever took one by one away; and so the whole four or five, one after another, died. the poor stricken parents went over to great britain, and wandered from one place to another, there and on the continent. at length they found their way to syria. one day they saw an eastern shepherd come down to a stream, and call his flock to cross. the sheep came down to the brink, and looked at the water; but they seemed to shrink from it, and he could not get them to respond to his call. he then took a little lamb, put it under one arm; he took another lamb and put it under the other arm, and thus passed into the stream. the old sheep no longer stood looking at the water: they plunged in after the shepherd; and in a few minutes the whole flock was on the other side; and he led them away to newer and fresher pastures. the bereaved father and mother, as they looked on the scene, felt that it taught them a lesson. they no longer murmured because the great shepherd had taken their lambs one by one into yonder world; and they began to look up and look forward to the time when they would follow the loved ones they had lost. if you have loved ones gone before, remember that your shepherd is calling you to "set your affection on things above." (col. iii. .) let us be faithful to him, and follow him, while we remain in this world. and if you have not taken him for your shepherd, do so this very day. christ is not only all these things that i have mentioned: he is also our mediator, our sanctifier, our justifier; in fact, it would take volumes to tell what he desires to be to every individual soul. while looking through some papers i once read this wonderful description of christ. i do not know where it originally came from; but it was so fresh to my soul that i should like to give it to you:-- "christ is our way; we walk in him. he is our truth; we embrace him. he is our life; we live in him. he is our lord; we choose him to rule over us. he is our master; we serve him. he is our teacher, instructing us in the way of salvation. he is our prophet, pointing out the future. he is our priest, having atoned for us. he is our advocate, ever living to make intercession for us. he is our saviour, saving to the uttermost. he is our root; we grow from him. he is our bread; we feed upon him. he is our shepherd, leading us into green pastures. he is our true vine; we abide in him. he is the water of life; we slake our thirst from him. he is the fairest among ten thousand: we admire him above all others. he is 'the brightness of the father's glory, and the express image of his person;' we strive to reflect his likeness. he is the upholder of all things; we rest upon him. he is our wisdom; we are guided by him. he is our righteousness; we cast all our imperfections upon him. he is our sanctification; we draw all our power for holy life from him. he is our redemption, redeeming us from all iniquity. he is our healer, curing all our diseases. he is our friend, relieving us in all our necessities. he is our brother, cheering us in our difficulties." here is another beautiful extract: it is from gotthold: "for my part, my soul is like a hungry and thirsty child; and i need his love and consolation for my refreshment. i am a wandering and lost sheep; and i need him as a good and faithful shepherd. my soul is like a frightened dove pursued by the hawk; and i need his wounds for a refuge. i am a feeble vine; and i need his cross to lay hold of, and to wind myself about. i am a sinner; and i need his righteousness. i am naked and bare; and i need his holiness and innocence for a covering. i am ignorant; and i need his teaching: simple and foolish; and i need the guidance of his holy spirit. in no situation, and at no time, can i do without him. do i pray? he must prompt, and intercede for me. am i arraigned by satan at the divine tribunal? he must be my advocate. am i in affliction? he must be my helper. am i persecuted by the world? he must defend me. when i am forsaken, he must be my support; when i am dying, my life: when mouldering in the grave, my resurrection. well, then, i will rather part with all the world, and all that it contains, than with thee, my saviour. and, god be thanked! i know that thou, too, art neither able nor willing to do without me. thou art rich; and i am poor. thou hast abundance; and i am needy. thou hast righteousness; and i sins. thou hast wine and oil; and i wounds. thou hast cordials and refreshments; and i hunger and thirst. use me then, my saviour, for whatever purpose, and in whatever way, thou mayest require. here is my poor heart, an empty vessel; fill it with thy grace. here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken and refresh it with thy love. take my heart for thine abode; my mouth to spread the glory of thy name; my love and all my powers, for the advancement of thy believing people; and never suffer the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate--that so at all times i may be enabled from the heart to say. 'jesus needs me, and i him; and so we suit each other.'" chapter ix. _backsliding_. "i will heal their backsliding; i will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away."--hosea xiv. . there are two kinds of backsliders. some have never been converted: they have gone through the form of joining a christian community and claim to be backsliders; but they never have, if i may use the expression, "slid forward." they may talk of backsliding; but they have never really been born again. they need to be treated differently from real back-sliders--those who have been born of the incorruptible seed, but who have turned aside. we want to bring the latter back the same road by which they left their first love. turn to psalm lxxxv. . there you read: "wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? show us thy mercy, o lord; and grant us thy salvation." now look again: "_i will hear what god the lord will speak:_ for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; but let them not turn again to folly" (_verse_ ). there is nothing that will do back-sliders so much good as to come in contact with the word of god; and for them the old testament is as full of help as the new. the book of jeremiah has some wonderful passages for wanderers. what we want to do is to get back-sliders to hear what god the lord will say. look for a moment at jeremiah vi. . "to whom shall i speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." that is the condition of back-sliders. they have no delight whatever in the word of god. but we want to bring them back, and let god get their ear. read from the th verse: "they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace; when there is no peace. were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that i visit them they shall be cast down, saith the lord. thus saith the lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein; and ye shall find rest for your souls. but they said, we will not walk therein. also i set watchmen over you, saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. but they said, we will not hearken." that was the condition of the jews when they had backslidden. they had turned away from the old paths. and that is the condition of backsliders. they have got away from the good old book. adam and eve fell by not hearkening to the word of god. they did not believe god's word; but they believed the tempter. that is the way backsliders fall--by turning away from the word of god. in jeremiah ii. we find god pleading with them as a father would plead with a son. "thus saith the lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? . . . wherefore i will yet plead with you, saith the lord; and with your children's children will i plead . . . for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." now there is one thing to which we wish to call the attention of backsliders; and that is, that the lord never forsook them; but that they forsook him! the lord never left them; but they left him! and this, too, without any cause! he says, "what iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me?" is not god the same to-day as when you came to him first? has god changed? men are apt to think that god has changed; but the fault is with them. backslider, i would ask you, "what iniquity is there in god, that you have left him and gone far from him?" you have, he says, hewed out to yourselves broken cisterns that hold no water. the world cannot satisfy the new nature. no earthly well can satisfy the soul that has become a partaker of the heavenly nature. honor, wealth and the pleasures of this world will not satisfy those who, having tasted the water of life, have gone astray, seeking refreshment at the world's fountains. earthly wells will get dry. they cannot quench spiritual thirst. again in the d verse: "can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me, days without number." that is the charge which god brings against the backslider. they "have forgotten me, days without number." i have often startled young ladies when i have said to them, "my friend, you think more of your ear-rings than of the lord." the reply has been, "no, i do not." but when i have asked, "would you not be troubled if you lost one; and would you not set about seeking for it?" the answer has been, "well, yes, i think i should." but though they had turned from the lord, it did not give them any trouble; nor did they seek after him that they might find him. how many once in fellowship and in daily communion with the lord now think more of their dresses and ornaments than of their precious souls! love does not like to be forgotten. mothers would have broken hearts if their children left them and never wrote a word or sent any memento of their affection; and god pleads over backsliders as a parent over loved ones who have gone astray. he tries to woo them back. he asks: "what have i done that you should have forsaken me?" the most tender and loving words to be found in the whole of the bible are from jehovah to those who have left him without a cause. jer. ii. . hear how he argues with such: (jer. xi. .) "thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know, therefore, and see, that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the lord thy god, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the lord god of hosts." i do not exaggerate when i say that i have seen hundreds of backsliders come back; and i have asked them if they have not found it an evil and a bitter thing to leave the lord. you cannot find a real backslider, who has known the lord, but will admit that it is an evil and a bitter thing to turn away from him; and i do not know of any one verse more used to bring back wanderers than that very one. may it bring you back if you have wandered into the far country. look at lot. did not he find it an evil and a bitter thing? he was twenty years in sodom, and never made a convert. he got on well in the sight of the world. men would have told you that he was one of the most influential and worthy men in all sodom. but alas! alas! he ruined his family. and it is a pitiful sight to see that old backslider going through the streets of sodom at midnight, after he has warned his children, and they have turned a deaf ear. i have never known a man and his wife backslide, without its proving utter ruin to their children. they will make a mockery of religion and will deride their parents: "thine own wickedness shall correct thee; and thy backsliding shall reprove thee!" did not david find it so? mark him, crying, "o my son absalom, my son, my son absalom! would god i had died for thee; o absalom, my son, my son!" i think it was the ruin, rather than the death of his son that caused this anguish. i remember being engaged in conversation some years ago, till past midnight, with an old man. he had been for years wandering on the barren mountains of sin. that night he wanted to get back. we prayed, and prayed, and prayed, till light broke in upon him; and he went away rejoicing. the next night he sat in front of me when i was preaching, and i think that i never saw any one look so sad and wretched in all my life. he followed me into the enquiry-room. "what is the trouble?" i asked. "is your eye off the saviour? have your doubts come back?" "no; it is not that," he said. "i did not go to business, but spent all this day in visiting my children. they are all married and in this city. i went from house to house, but there was not one but mocked me. it is the darkest day of my life. i have awoke up to what i have done. i have taken my children into the world; and now i cannot get them out." the lord had restored unto him the joy of his salvation; yet there was the bitter consequence of his transgression. you can run through your experience; and you can find just such instances repeated again and again. many who came to your city years ago serving god, in their prosperity have forgotten him: and where are their sons and daughters? show me the father and mother who have deserted the lord and gone back to the beggarly elements of the world; and i am mistaken if their children are not on the high road to ruin. as we desire to be faithful we warn these backsliders. it is a sign of love to warn of danger. we may be looked upon as enemies for a while; but the truest friends are those who lift up the voice of warning. israel had no truer friend than moses. in jeremiah god gave his people a weeping prophet to bring them back to him; but they cast off god. they forgot the god who brought them out of egypt, and who led them through the desert into the promised land. in their prosperity they forget him and turned away. the lord had told them what would happen. (deut. xxviii.) and see what did happen. the king who make light of the word of god was taken captive by nebuchadnezzar, and his children brought up in front of him and every one slain: his eyes were put out of his head; and he was bound in fetters of brass and cast into a dungeon in babylon. ( kings xxv. .) that is the way he reaped what he had sown. surely it is an evil and a bitter thing to backslide, but the lord would win you back with the message of his work. in jeremiah viii. , we read: "why then is this people of jerusalem slidden by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit; _they refuse to return_." that is what the lord brings against them. "they refuse to return." "i hearkened and heard; but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, what have i done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the lord." now look: "i hearkened and heard; but they spake not aright." no family altar! no reading the bible! no closet devotion! god stoops to hear; but his people have turned away! if there be a penitent backslider, one who is anxious for pardon and restoration, you will find no words more tender than are to be found in jeremiah iii. : "go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, return, thou backsliding israel, saith the lord; and i will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for i am merciful, saith the lord, and i will not keep anger forever." now notice: "only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the lord thy god, and hast scattered thy ways to the stranger under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the lord. turn, o backsliding children, saith the lord; for i am married unto you"--think of god coming and saying, "_i am married unto you!_--and i will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and i will bring you to zion." "only acknowledge thine iniquity." how many times have i held that passage up to a backslider! "acknowledge" it; and god says i will forgive you. i remember a man asking, "who said that? is that there?" and i held up to him the passage, "only acknowledge thine iniquity;" and the man went down on his knees, and cried, "my god, i have sinned"; and the lord restored him there and then. if you have wandered, he wants you to come back. he says in another place, "o ephraim, what shall i do unto thee? o judah, what shall i do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away" (hosea vi. ). his compassion and his love is wonderful! in jeremiah iii. ; "return, ye backsliding children, and i will heal your backslidings. behold, we come unto thee; thou art the lord our god." he just puts words into the mouth of the backslider. only come; and, if you will come, he will receive you graciously and love you freely. in hosea xiv. , , : "o israel, return unto the lord thy god; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. take with you words, and turn to the lord (he puts words into your mouth): say unto him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips . . . i will heal their backsliding, i will love them freely, for mine auger is turned away from him." just observe that, turn! _turn!!_ turn!!! rings all through these passages. now, if you have wandered, remember that you left him, and not he you. you have to get out of the backslider's pit just in the same way you got in. and if you take the same road as when you left the master you will find him now, just where you are. if we were to treat christ as any earthly friend we should never leave him; and there would never be a backslider. if i were in a town for a single week i should not think of going away without shaking hands with the friends i had made, and saying "good bye" to them. i should be justly blamed if i took the train and left without saying a word to any one. the cry would be, "what's the matter?" but did you ever hear of a backslider bidding the lord jesus christ "good bye"; going into his closet and saying "lord jesus, i have known thee ten, twenty, or thirty years: but i am tired of thy service; thy yoke is not easy, nor thy burden light; so i am going back to the world, to the flesh-pots of egypt. good bye, lord jesus! farewell"? did you ever hear that? no; you never did, and you never will. i tell you, if you get into the closet and shut out the world and hold communion with the master you cannot leave him. the language of your heart will be, "to whom shall we go," but unto thee? "thou hast the words of eternal life" (john vi. ). you could not go back to the world if you treated him in that way. but you left him and ran away. you have forgotten him days without number. come back to-day; just as you are! make up your mind that you will not rest until god has restored unto you the joy of his salvation. a gentleman in cornwall once met a christian in the street whom he knew to be a backslider. he went up to him, and said: "tell me, is there not some estrangement between you and the lord jesus?" the man hung his head, and said, "yes." "well," said the gentleman, "what has he done to you?" the answer to which was a flood of tears. in revelation ii. , , we read: "nevertheless i have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left the first love. remember therefore from whence thou art fallen; and repent, and do the first works: or else i will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." i want to guard you against a mistake which some people make with regard to "doing the first works." many think that they are to have the same experience over again, that has kept thousands for months without peace; because they have been waiting for a renewal of their first experience. you will never have the same experience as when you first came to the lord. god never repeats himself. no two people of all earth's millions look alike or think alike. you may say that you cannot tell two people apart; but when you get well acquainted with them you can very quickly distinguish differences. so, no one person will have the same experience a second time. if god will restore his joy to your soul let him do it in his way. do not mark out a way for god to bless you. do not expect the same experience that you had two or twenty years ago. you will have a fresh experience, and god will deal with you in his own way. if you confess your sins and tell him that you have wandered from the path of his commandments he will restore unto you the joy of his salvation. i want to call your attention to the manner in which peter fell; and i think that nearly all fall pretty much in the same way. i want to lift up a warning note to those who have not fallen. "let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall" ( cor. x. ). twenty-five years ago--and for the first five years after i was converted--i used to think that if i were able to stand for twenty years i need fear no fall. but the nearer you get to the cross the fiercer the battle. satan aims high. he went amongst the twelve; and singled out the treasurer--judas iscariot, and the chief apostle--peter. most men who have fallen have done so on the strongest side of their character. i am told that the only side upon which edinburgh castle was successfully assailed was where the rocks were steepest, and where the garrison thought themselves secure. if any man thinks that he is strong enough to resist the devil at any one point he needs special watch there, for the tempter comes that way. abraham stands, as it were, at the head of the family of faith; and the children of faith may be said to trace their descent to abraham: and yet down in egypt he denied his wife. (gen. xii.) moses was noted for his meekness; and yet he was kept out of the promised land because of one hasty act and speech, when he was told by the lord to speak to the rock so that the congregation and their beasts should have water to drink. "hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" (num. xx. ). elijah was remarkable for his boldness: and yet he went off a day's journey into the wilderness like a coward and hid himself under a juniper tree, requesting for himself that he might die, because of a message he received from a woman. ( kings xix.) let us be careful. no matter who the man is--he may be in the pulpit--but if he gets self-conceited he will be sure to fall. we who are followers of christ need constantly to pray to be made humble, and kept humble. god made moses' face so to shine that other men could see it; but moses himself wist not that his face shone, and the more holy in heart a man is the more manifest to the outer world will be his daily life and conversation. some people talk of how humble they are; but if they have true humility there will be no necessity for them to publish it. it is not needful. a lighthouse does not have a drum beaten or a trumpet-blown in order to proclaim the proximity of a lighthouse: it is its own witness. and so if we have the true light in us it will show itself. it is not those who make the most noise who have the most piety. there is a brook, or a little "burn" as the scotch call it, not far from where i live; and after a heavy rain you can hear the rush of its waters a long way off: but let there come a few days of pleasant weather, and the brook becomes almost silent. but there is a river near my house, the flow of which i never heard in my life, as it pours on in its deep and majestic course the year round. we should have so much of the love of god within us that its presence shall be evident without our loud proclamation of the fact. the first step in peter's downfall was his self-confidence. the lord warned him. the lord said: "simon, simon, behold, satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but i have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (luke xxii. , ). but peter said: "i am ready to go with thee, both into prison and to death." "though all shall be offended because of thee, yet will i never be offended." (matt. xxvi. .) "james and john, and the others, may leave you; but you can count on me!" but the lord warned him: "i tell thee, peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." (luke xxii. .) though the lord rebuked him, peter said he was ready to follow him to death. that boasting is too often a forerunner of downfall. let us walk humbly and softly. we have a great tempter; and, in an unguarded hour, we may stumble and fall and bring a scandal on christ. the next step in peter's downfall was that he went to sleep. if satan can rock the church to sleep he does his work through god's own people. instead of peter watching one short hour in gethsemane, he fell asleep, and the lord asked him, "what, could ye not watch with me one hour?" (matt. xxvi. .) the next thing was that he fought in the energy of the flesh. the lord rebuked him again and said, "they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." (matt. xxvi. .) jesus had to undo what peter had done. the next thing, he "followed afar off." step by step he gets away. it is a sad thing when a child of god follows afar off. when you see him associating with worldly friends, and throwing his influence on the wrong side, he is following afar off; and it will not be long before disgrace will be brought upon the old family name, and jesus christ will be wounded in the house of his friends. the man, by his example, will cause others to stumble and fall. the next thing--peter is familiar and friendly with the enemies of christ. a damsel says to this bold peter: "thou also wast with this jesus of galilee." but he denied before them all, saying, "i know not what thou sayest." and when he was gone out into the porch another maid saw him and said unto them that were there, "this fellow was also with jesus of nazareth." and again he denied with an oath. "i do not know the man." another hour passed; and yet he did not realize his position; when another confidently affirmed that he was a galilean, for his speech betrayed him. and he was angry and began to curse and to swear, and again denied his master: and the cock crew. (matt. xxvi. - .) he commences away up on the pinacle of self-conceit, and goes down step by step until he breaks out into cursing, and swears that he never knew his lord. the master might have turned and said to him, "is it true, peter, that you have forgotten me so soon? do you not remember when your wife's mother lay sick of a fever that i rebuked the disease and it left her? do you not call to mind your astonishment at the draught of fishes so that you exclaimed, 'depart from me; for i am a sinful man, o lord?' do you remember when in answer to your cry, 'lord, save me, or i perish,' i stretched out my hand and kept you from drowning in the water? have you forgotten when, on the mount of transfiguration, with james and john, you said to me, 'lord, it is good to be here: let us make three tabernacles?' have you forgotten being with me at the supper-table, and in gethsemane? is it true that you have forgotten me so soon?" the lord might have upbraided him with questions such as these: but he did nothing of the kind. he cast one look on peter: and there was so much love in it that it broke that bold disciple's heart: and he went out and wept bitterly. and after christ rose from the dead see how tenderly he dealt with the erring disciple. the angel at the sepulchre says, "tell his disciples, _and peter_." (mark xvi. .) the lord did not forget peter, though peter had denied him thrice; so he caused this kindly special message to be conveyed to the repentant disciple. what a tender and loving saviour we have! friend, if you are one of the wanderers, let the loving look of the master win you back; and let him restore you to the joy of his salvation. before closing, let me say that i trust god will restore some backslider reading these pages, who may in the future become a useful member of society and a bright ornament of the church. we should never have had the thirty-second psalm if david had not been restored: "blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered"; or that beautiful fifty-first psalm which was written by the restored backslider. nor should we have had that wonderful sermon on the day of pentecost when three thousand were converted--preached by another restored backslider. may god restore other backsliders and make them a thousand times more used for his glory than they ever were before. the right and wrong uses of the bible by r. heber newton. "in it _is contained_ god's true word."--_homily on the holy scriptures._ new york: john w. lovell company, & vesey street. works by the same author. the morals. . vol. mo, cloth, gilt, $ . studies of jesus. vol. mo, cloth, gilt, . womanhood. vol. mo, cloth, gilt, . the above all will be sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price, by john w. lovell co. and vesey st., new york. copyright, contents. i. the unreal bible. ii. the real bible. iii. the wrong uses of the bible. iv. the wrong uses of the bible. v. the right critical use of the bible. vi. the right historical use of the bible. vii. the right ethical and spiritual use of the bible. "the gospel doth not so much consist _in verbis_ as _in virtute_." _john smith_. "liberty in prophesying, without prescribing authoritatively to other men's consciences, and becoming lords and masters of their faith--a necessity derived from the consideration of the difficulty of scripture in questions controverted, and the uncertainty of any internal medium of interpretation." _jeremy taylor_. "to those who follow their reason in the interpretation of the scriptures, god will either give his grace for assistance to find the truth, or his pardon if they miss it." _lord falkland_. [rational theology in england in the seventeenth century; john tulloch, d.d., ii: , i: , i: ] preface. it has been my custom for several years to give occasionally a series of sermons, having in view some systematic instruction of the people committed to my care. such a series of sermons on the bible had been for some time in my mind. with the recurrence of bible-sunday in our church year, this thought crystallized in the outline of a course that should present the nature and uses of the bible, both negatively and positively, in a manner that should be at once reverent and rational. in the course of this parochial ministration public attention was called to it in a way that has rendered a complete report of my words desirable. the views set forth in these sermons were not hastily reached or lightly accepted. they represent a growth of years. their essential thought was stated in a sermon that was preached and published eight years ago. my positions concerning certain books, etc., have been taken in deference to what seems to me the weight of judgment among the master critics. they are open to correction, as the young science of biblical criticism gains new light. the general view of the bible herein set forth rests upon the conclusions of no new criticism. in varying forms, it has been that of an historical school of thought in the english church and in its american daughter. it is a view that has been recognized as a legitimate child of the mother church; and that has been given the freedom of our own homestead, in the undogmatic language of the sixth of the articles of religion of the protestant episcopal church. it is distinctly enunciated in the first sentence of the first sermon in the book of homilies, set forth officially for the instruction of the people in both of these churches. "unto a christian man there can be nothing more necessary or profitable than the knowledge of holy scripture, forasmuch as _in it is contained god's true word_, setting forth his glory, and also man's duty." the whole controversy in protestantism over the bible may be summed into the question whether the bible _is_ god's word or _contains_ god's word. on this question i stand with the book of homilies. these sermons were meant for that large and rapidly growing body of men who can no longer hold the traditional view of the bible, but who yet realize that within this view there is a real and profound truth; a truth which we all need, if haply we can get it out from its archaic form without destroying its life, and can clothe it anew in a shape that we can intelligently grasp and sincerely hold. to such alone would i speak in these pages, to help them hold the substance of their fathers' faith. r. heber newton. all souls' church, _march_ , . i. the unreal bible. "the bible, and the reading of the bible as an instrument of instruction, may be said to have been begun on the sunrise of that day when ezra unrolled the parchment scroll of the law. it was a new thought that the divine will could be communicated by a dead literature as well as by a living voice. in the impassioned welcome with which this thought was received lay the germs of all the good and evil which were afterwards to be developed out of it: on the one side, the possibility of appeal in each successive age to the primitive, undying document that should rectify the fluctuations of false tradition and fleeting opinion; on the other hand, the temptation to pay to the letter of the sacred book a worship as idolatrous and as profoundly opposed to its spirit as once had been the veneration paid to the sacred trees or the sacred stones of the consecrated groves or hills." dean stanley: "history of the jewish church," iii. . i. the unreal bible "forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things which thou wast taught by word of mouth."--luke i. - . this day, in our church year, calls us to think upon the influence of the bible on the advance of man into the kingdom of god.[ ] since the growth of written language great books have been the well-springs of thought and feeling for mankind, from which successive generations have drawn the water of life. since the introduction of the printing-press books have been, beyond all other agencies, the educators of men. and of all books of which we have any knowledge, those together constituting the bible form incomparably the most potent factors in the moral and religious progress of the western world; and as all other progress is fed from moral and religious forces, i may add, in the general advance of christian civilization. from these books the lisping lips of children have learned the tales of beautiful goodness which have nourished all noble aspirations. over these charming stories of hebrew heroism and holiness the imagination has caught sight of the infinite mysteries amid which we walk on earth. their touch has quickened conscience into life. through their voices the whispers of the eternal power have thrilled the soul of youth, and men have learned to worship, trust, and love the father-god. these books have preserved for us the story of the life which earth could least afford to lose, the image of the man who, were his memory dropped from out our lives--our religion, morals, philanthropy, laws and institutions would lose their highest force. these books have taught statesmen the principles of government, and students of social science the cardinal laws of civilization. the fairest essays for a true social order which europe and america have known have laid their foundations on these books. they have fed art with its highest visions, and have touched the lips of poesy that they have opened into song. they have voiced the worship of christendom for centuries, and have cleared above progressive civilization the commanding ideals of liberty, justice, brotherhood. men and women during fifty generations have heard through these books the words proceeding from out the mouth of god, on which they have lived. amid the darkness of earth, the light which has enabled our fathers to walk upright, strong for duty, panoplied against temptation, patient in suffering, resigned in affliction, meeting even death with no treacherous tremors, has shone from these pages. in their words young men and maidens have plighted troth each to the other, fathers and mothers have named their little ones, and by those children have been laid away in the earth in hope of eternal life. all that is sweetest, purest, finest, noblest in personal, domestic, social and civic life, has been fed perennially from these books. the bible is woven into our very being. to tear it from our lives would be to unravel the fair tapestry of civilization--to run out its golden threads and crumble its beautiful pictures into chaos. * * * * * yet we are threatened to-day with no less a loss than this. the bible is certainly not read as of old. it is not merely the distraction of our busier lives, or the multiplicity of books upon our shelves, that turns men and women away from these classics of our fathers. men and women no longer regard these books as did their fathers. they can no longer use them as their parents did; they see no other way to use them, and so they leave them unopened on their tables. an intelligent lady said to me some time since: "my children don't know anything about the bible. i cannot read it to them, for i do not know what to say when they ask me questions. i no longer believe as i was taught about it: what, then, can i teach them?" a confession which, if all parents were as frank, would have to be made in many other households. where it is still used in home readings, it is, in hosts of houses, with the pain which mothers know when their children's honest questions cannot be as honestly answered. such a state of things is sad and dangerous. unless some way be found to read these books without equivocation, they will gradually cease to be used in home instruction, and the coming generations will grow up without their holy influence. this state of things ought not to have been brought upon us. the reverent reading of the bible alone would never have led us into such straits. it is the old story of all human reverence. that which we revere, we exaggerate. glamor gathers around it. the symbol is identified with the spiritual reality. the image becomes an idol. the wonderful thing becomes a fetish. so we end in an irrational reverence of that which is worthy of a real and rational reverence. then we have a superstition. superstition always results in destroying the rightful belief of which it is the exaggeration and distortion. this is the common story of superstition, from the totemism of savage tribes and the image-worship of semi-civilized peoples on to the heathenism of the mass. men who felt the reality of a mystic communion with christ, of which the supper of the lord was the symbol,--who felt the strengthening of their characters as their thoughts fed upon the words and life of jesus,--naturally came to speak of the sacrament in terms of awe, which magnified the mystery, until at last they bowed down before the veritable body and blood of christ, and trembled with fear as the tinkling of the silver bell announced that the priest was bringing god down into a wafer! they had really heard god speaking to them through the sacrament; and this never could have done them harm. but when they tried to express what they felt, they exaggerated and distorted the simple symbol of the infinite presence, identified it with the spiritual reality, and set up a christian idol, a civilized fetish, which has done incalculable harm to men. the spiritual truth became an intellectual lie, and in every catholic country superstition has eaten out faith, and reason refuses to reverence the sacrament. the bible has repeated this common story. the spiritual influence felt forth-flowing from it, the voice of god heard speaking through it, drew man's natural reverence to it. in trying to express the reasons for this reverence he has over-stated and mis-stated the nature of these books. the symbol has been identified with the reality. the bible has become an idol, a fetish. bibliolatry, the worship of the bible, is responsible for the lack of the reasonable reverence these sacred writings merit. this reasonable reverence can be recovered only by frankly putting away the unreasonable reverence. we must exorcise a superstition to save a faith. we must part with the unreal bible if we would hold the real bible. iconoclasm is not pleasant to any but the callow youth. it may be none the less needful; and then the sober man must not shrink from shivering the most sacred shrine. as runs the hindu thought, the destroyer is one of the forms of the divine power. god is continually destroying worlds and creeds alike; but in order to rebuild. "whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, yet once more i shake not the earth only, but also heaven. and this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain." according to its root-meaning, "learning" is a "shaking." every new learning shakes society, now as in the days past. as the writer of the epistle to the hebrews saw, it is god who is shaking society in every such new learning, to the end that "those things which cannot be shaken may remain." man need not fear to follow in the steps of god. there is danger now in shaking men's faiths. there is danger, too, in leaving men's faith unshaken--unless the divine process of progress is wrong. in the stress and storm of the tossing sea, faith may go down in the waters. it may also die of dry rot by the old wharves. there is danger in rash utterance, but there is at least equal danger in timid silence. the time never comes when a reconstruction does not imperil some great interest. none the less the reconstruction must go on. delay in pulling down may make building up of the old structure impossible. as the story of past civilizations sadly shows, the gulf between the popular superstitions and the thoughts of scholars may widen until no bridge can span it, and religion perishes in it. it seems to me that the time has come when the pulpit must keep no longer silence. its silence will not seal the lips of other teachers. books and papers are everywhere forcing the issue upon our generation. men's minds are torn asunder, their souls are in the strife. it behoves the churches to remember that great word of luther: "it is never safe to do anything against the truth!" when the venerable cathedral, in which our forefathers sought god and found him, grows dangerously unsound; when its columns have crumbled and its arches have sprung, and its stout oaken timbers have dried into dust; the guardians of the sacred pile must plan its restoration as best they can. they must shore up its treacherous walls, take out its dead materials, carve new heads for the saints in the niches of the doors, build up the edifice anew, following faithfully as may be the old lines, and striving for the old spirit. when the scaffolding comes down, we may feel a shock of pain at the strange raw look of that which time had stained with sacredness. but the minster has been saved for our children; and, when they shall gather within its historic walls, those walls will have grown venerable again with age, and they will not feel the loss which we have suffered, while as of old, they, too, shall hear the voice of god and find his holy presence. i propose to consider with you, carefully but frankly, the real nature and the true uses of the bible. * * * * * let us examine to-day the traditional view of the bible. it is not easy to define the popular theory of the bible. like its kindred theory of papal infallibility, it is a true chameleon, changing constantly in different minds, always denying the absurdity of which it is made the synonym, ever qualifying itself safely, yet never ceasing to take on a vaguely miraculous character. various theories are given in the books in which theological students are mis-educated, all of which unite in claiming that which they cannot agree in defining. the westminster confession of faith may be taken as the dogmatic petrifaction of the notion which lies, more or less undeveloped and still living, in the other protestant confessions. this confession opens with a chapter "of the holy scriptures," which affirms in this wise: "the light of nature and the works of creation and providence .... are not sufficient to give that knowledge of god and of his will, which is necessary to salvation.... the authority of the holy scripture.... dependeth.... wholly upon god, the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the word of god.... "....and the entire perfection thereof are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the word of god, and establish our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof. "the whole counsel of god concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture, unto which nothing at any time is to be added by new revelations of the spirit. "being immediately inspired by god, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages.... in all controversies of religion the church is finally to appeal unto them." the notion which the learned divines set forth so elaborately at westminster, art has expressed in forms much better "understanded of the people." mediæval illuminations picture the evangelists copying their gospels from heavenly books which angels hold open above them. a book let down out of the skies, immaculate, infallible, oracular--this is the traditional view of the bible. let me lay before you some of the many reasons why this theory of the bible is not to be received by us. i. _this theory has no sufficient sanction by the church._ the catholic or oecumenical creeds make no affirmation whatever concerning the bible. this theory is found alone, in formal official statement, in the creeds of minor authority, the utterances of councils of particular churches; as, for example, in the tridentine decrees and the protestant confessions of faith. there is no unanimity of statement among these several confessions. some of the protestant confessions of the reformation era state this theory moderately. some of them hold it implicitly, without exact definition. one at least is wholly silent upon the subject. the later creeds of protestantism vary even more than the reformation symbols. such important churches as the church of england, our own protestant episcopal church, and the methodist church have nothing whatever of this theory in their official utterances. these three churches unite in this simple, practical, undogmatic statement (the sixth of the thirty-nine articles): "holy scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." ii. _the bible nowhere makes any such claim of infallibility for itself._ the prophets did indeed use the habitual formula, "thus saith the lord." so did the false prophets, as well as the true. it was the common formula of prophetism, indeed, of the easterns generally when delivering themselves of messages that burned in their souls. the eastern mind assigns directly to god actions and influences which we westerns assign to secondary causes. we are scientific, they are poetic. we reach truth by reasonings, they by intuitions. no one can follow the processes of the intuitions. to the mystic mind they are immediate illuminations from on high, inspirations of the spirit of god. in the realm of law we trace the action of natural forces, and are apt to think there is nothing more. in the realm of the unknown we feel the supernatural, and are apt to think it all in all. the great prophets themselves did not accept this language of other prophets unquestioningly. they denied the claim unhesitatingly when satisfied that the messages were not from on high. they distinguished between those who came in the name of the lord; and so must we. they tried the spirits whether they were of god; bidding us therefore do the same. tried by the severest scrutiny of successive centuries, of different races, the great prophets prove to have spoken truly when they declared, of their ethical and spiritual messages, "thus saith the lord." if ever messages from on high have come to men, if ever the spirit of god has spoken in the spirit of man, it was in the minds of these "men of the spirit." but they made no claim to infallibility, or if they did, took pains to disprove it. every prophet who goes beyond ethical and religious instruction, and ventures into predictions, makes mistakes, and leaves his errors recorded for our warning. we must try even the inspired men, and when, overstepping their limitations, they err, we must say, thus saith isaiah, thus saith jeremiah. no biblical writer shows any consciousness of such supernatural influences upon him in his work as insured its infallibility. nearly all these authors begin and end their books without any reference to themselves or their work. the writer of the gospel according to luke thus prefaces his book: "forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things which thou wast taught by word of mouth." this is the only personal preface to any of the gospels, and it is thoroughly human. there is not even such an invocation as introduces milton's great poem. these writers at times, after the fashion of the older prophets, affirm that they speak with divine authority; but they also as expressly disclaim such authority in other places. st. paul is sure, in one matter referred to him, of the mind of god, and writes: "unto the married i command, yet not i, but the lord," etc.[ ] immediately after he writes, as having no such assurance: "to the rest speak i, not the lord."[ ] later on in the same letter he is so uncertain as to add to his judgment: "and i think also that i have the spirit of god."[ ] again, in the same connection, being conscious of no divine authorization, he gives his own opinion as such: "now, concerning virgins i have no commandment of the lord, but i give my judgment."[ ] eighteen hundred years after he wrote, men insist that they know more about st. paul's inspirations than he did himself. against his modest, cautious discriminations, our doctors set up their theory of the bible, clothe all his utterances with the divine authority, and honor him with an infallibility which he explicitly disclaims. the new testament writers use language which seems, to our theory-spectacled eyes, to ascribe an infallible inspiration to the old testament books. but the words have no such weight. the epistle to the hebrews opens with the words: "god, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets," etc.[ ] the author of the second epistle of peter writes: "for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost."[ ] such passages as these command the instant assent of all who reverence an ethical and spiritual inspiration in the prophets, and a real revelation through them, and they command no other belief. in the first epistle general of peter we read: "concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what time or what manner of time the spirit of christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of christ and the glories that should follow them."[ ] any idea of a progressive revelation implies that there was a light coming on into the world, which to them of olden time showed dimly a mystery into which they strove to look further. a vision of ideal goodness rose before them. it rested above the ideal israel, chosen and called of god for a holy work. it shadowed that righteous servant of god with sorrow. the lot of the elect one was to be suffering. thus the world was to be saved to god. this the great prophet of the exile saw. christ's coming filled out this mystic vision, and it is fairly translated into the terms the epistle uses. the prophets were, in such lofty visionings, under an influence beyond their consciousness. "the passive master lent his hand to the vast soul that o'er him planned." all other passages claimed in support of the notion of an infallible bible fail on the witness-stand. there is positively nothing in the new testament which lends a reasonable countenance to such an amazing theory. even the stock argument, used when all other quotations failed, disappears in the honesty of the revised new testament. people who know no greek see now that paul did not write "all scripture is given by inspiration of god"; but "every scripture inspired of god is also profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."[ ] this is precisely the claim to be made for the bible, as against the exaggerated notions cherished about it. it is good for--all forms of character-building. its inspiration is ethical and spiritual. the test of the inspiration of any writing in it is its efficacy to inspire life with goodness. iii. _the bible carries the refutation of this claim upon the face of its writings._ they thrust upon the attention of all who are not blind the traces of human imperfection, of a kind and an extent which precludes any notion of a clean copy of a perfect script let down from the skies. the old testament historians contradict each other in facts and figures, tell the same story in different ways, locate the same incident at different periods, ascribe the same deeds to different men, quote statistics which are plainly exaggerated, mistake poetic legend for sober prose, report the marvellous tales of tradition as literal history, and give us statements which cannot be read as scientific facts without denying our latest and most authoritative knowledge. i shall not enumerate these "mistakes of moses," and of others. that is an ungracious task for which i have no heart. it may be needful to remind the children of a larger growth, who persist in believing a saintly mother's beliefs to be final authority in their studies, that she is not infallible. but one does not care to catalogue her mistakes and taunt her with them. that which carries no such reproach in it, but is, when rightly read, an honor to the bible, may be pointed out, as the biblical writers, indeed, do for us themselves. the marks of a patient and noble literary workmanship are in every writing. we can see this as our fathers could not see it, because the glasses through which to read literature critically have been ground within our century. literary criticism is the study of literature by means of a microscopic knowledge of the language in which a book is written, of its growth from various roots, of its stages of development and the factors influencing them, of its condition in the period of this particular composition, of the writer's idiosyncrasies of thought and style in his ripening periods, of the general history and literature of his race, and of the special characteristics of his age and of his contemporary writers. every educated person knows something of the working of this criticism on other books. you have read your shakespeare with intelligence, and have felt many misgivings as to the genuineness of a few plays, and of passages in many plays. the brutalities and beastlinesses of titus andronicus seemed impossible to the author of "the tempest" and the "midsummer night's dream." the historic plays seemed to you often "padded." but there was nothing more than guess-work in your conclusions, and, you suspected, in the more pretentious opinions of others. you take up, however, the lectures of hudson or the charming study of dowden, and you find that criticism is becoming, not merely an art, depending on certain instincts and tastes, but a science, building slowly a well-settled body of laws and rules, and shaping already a well defined consensus of judgment. the growth of the english language and literature, the characteristics of society, of language and of literature in the elizabethan era, the idioms of shakespeare's contemporaries, the manner of shakespeare himself, in his different periods, have all been so minutely studied as to form a distinct specialty in knowledge. the shakespearian scholar is a well differentiated species of the genus scholar, and speaks with a substantial authority upon what is now a real science. you can follow this teacher into shakespeare's work-shop, watch the building of his plays, distinguish the hands which toiled over them and mark their journeyman's work, till quite sure where the master's own inimitable touch caressed them into noble form, and in what period of his life he thus wrought. there is a new revelation of shakespeare to our age. this criticism turned upon the great books of the ancients. niebuhr led the way in reconstructing the early history of the romans. dr. arnold predicted that a niebuhr of jewish literature would arise. he came duly. his name was ewald. successors have followed in abundance. the principles and processes of literary criticism were applied to the hebrew writings. in the present immature stage of this science of biblical criticism there are, of course, plenty of speculations and guesses, of hasty generalizations and crude opinions. time will correct these. meanwhile there is already so much that may claim to be well established as to constitute a new knowledge of these old books. the historical books are seen to be the work of many hands in many ages. they gather up the popular traditions of the race, carry down on their slow streams fragments from such far back ages that we have almost lost the clue to their story--glacial boulders that now lie strangely out of place in the rich fields of later eras; songs of rude periods, nature myths, legends of semi-fabulous heroes, folk lore of the tribes, scraps from long-forgotten books, entries from ancient annals, pages torn from the histories of other peoples to fill out the story; the whole worked over many times by many hands in many generations. just as thirlwall and grote give us studies of grecian history from the standpoint of monarchism and republicanism, so in the kings and chronicles we have studies of hebrew history from a prophetic and priestly point of view. the legislation of the pentateuch, supposed formerly to have been drawn up by moses, appears, as it now stands, to be a codification, made as late as the period of the babylonian exile, under the influence of the hierarchical and ritual system, then crystallizing into the form familiar to us all. this codification, like its famous parallel in roman history, the code of justinian, collated the decisions and decrees already in existence from various periods, and reissued them as one body of laws. it brings together the "judgments" of early days upon questions of civil life--the decisions of tribal heads concerning the rights of person and property, the counterparts of the "dooms" of english history; the moral rules of the local priests in a simple state of society; and the ritual and discipline of a late ecclesiastical age. the compilation is not very skilfully done, so that we pass from the minutiæ of a priest's _vade mecum_ in a highly developed hierarchical period to the civil statutes of a rude patriarchal society, whose very crimes are archaic. the prophecies break up into fragmentary collections, in which the words of many different and obscure prophets are grouped under the name of some great prophet, as was quite natural in an uncritical age; the whole mass being arranged with little chronological order. the psalter separates into several books of sacred song, dating from different periods. they repeat the same psalm, and divide one psalm into two and join two into one, on principles by no means apparent to us. some of these psalms are of a highly artificial and mechanical structure. there are acrostics, in which the couplets begin with the successive letters of the hebrew alphabet; double acrostics, and other refinements of literary ingenuity; the sure signs of a flamboyant and decadent literature. the other writings of the old testament and the books of the new testament have yielded similar general results to the touchstone of criticism; concerning which it is needless to speak further. our critical glasses bring out, clear and strong, the fact of a human, literary craft in these books, the signs on every hand of the labor of brain and skill of pen through which the literature of a venerable nation, and of the infant church born of it, took slow shape into our bible. such a work needs must have in it the traces of human imperfection; and these limitations of thought and knowledge, these mistakes of fallible writers, are to be seen by every one, save those who will not see. it is impossible after such a study to rest in the illusion of an infallible book, of which, as a book, god can be said to be the "author." iv. _the growth of this theory is plain to us, and discredits its authority._ the explanation that max müller makes of the growth of superstitious reverence for ancient traditions in hindu history is suggestive on this point. "in an age when there was nothing corresponding to what we call literature, every saying, every proverb, every story handed down from father to son received very soon a kind of hallowed character. they became sacred heir-looms, sacred because they came from an unknown source, from a distant age. there was a stage in the development of human thought when the distance that separated the living generation from their grandfathers or great-grandfathers was as yet the nearest approach to a conception of eternity, and when the name of grandfather and great-grandfather seemed the nearest expression of god. hence what had been said by these half human, half divine ancestors, if it was preserved at all, was soon looked upon as a more than human utterance. some of these ancient sayings were preserved because they were so true and so striking that they could not be forgotten. they contained eternal truths, expressed for the first time in human language. of such oracles of truth it was said in india that they had been heard, sruta, and from it arose the word sruti, the recognized term for divine revelation in sanskrit."[ ] how, in later times, the great writings of the hebrews came to acquire the same exaggerated sacredness, we can also observe. we read in one of the historical books of the jews that "nehemiah founded a library and gathered together the writings concerning the kings, and of the prophets, and the (songs) of david and epistles of kings concerning temple gifts."[ ] this formation of a national library was really the germ out of which grew the old testament. it was a purely civic act by a layman, but it expressed the honor in which the national writings were coming to be held. it is coincident with this that we find a priestly movement to draw a sacred line around the more important writings of the nation. tradition has credited ezra, the priestly coadjutor of nehemiah, with the first formation of the old testament canon. the two traditions express one and the same fact from the secular and ecclesiastical points of view. in the exile, the stricken nation came to value and honor its national heritage as never before. its literary sense was quickened by close contact with the civilization of babylonia, whose great library constituted one of the chief treasures of the central city. it was natural that on their return to their native land the jews should gather their race-writings and found a national library. the genius of israel had always been religious. its very literature was pre-eminently religious. that their venerable writings should be received as sacred was thus wholly natural. they were in reality sacred writings. moreover, a large part of these writings, and that part largely drawn from very ancient times, was composed of judicial decisions, legislative codes, etc., around which veneration properly gathered. this veneration was heightened by the popular traditions which assigned to moses the bulk of their legislation, and traced it through him to jehovah himself. during the exile a remarkable priestly development, which had been running on through two centuries, at least, culminated in a completely organized hierarchy and an elaborate cultus. in the process of this final development in babylonia the legislation and histories of the nation were worked over by priestly hands in the priestly spirit. the law of moses was now for the first time completely set before the people, and on the restoration to judea was made the law of the land. it became, therefore, in a new sense sacred. the fresh, free inspirations of the prophets--inspirations most real and divine--died out in the exile, smothered partly by this priestly development.[ ] when no living prophet arose to make men hear the voice of god, men had to hearken for that voice in the words of the dead prophets. in the synagogues or meeting-houses which developed during the exile, when the holy temple was in ruins, and which, having been found useful, were continued in the restoration, the writings of the prophets were read each sabbath. the true writings of the chief prophets had therefore to be indicated. thus came the canon of the prophets. the freedom with which the author of the chronicles used the material of the older historians which had been taken up into the sacred writings, shows that the sacredness attached to them had not isolated them into extra-human writings even a century and a half after ezra. the process of exaltation was at work, however, and continued thenceforth through the national history, increasing as the life of the nation ebbed. it was the period immediately following the destruction of jerusalem by the romans, which busied itself in closing the canon of jewish scriptures death bound up that bible. no new chapters could be added, because there was no more life left to write them. in its dotage this noble nation became known, by its superstitious reverence for the law, as "the people of the book." learned doctors gravely taught their pupils that "god himself studies the law for the first three hours of every day." the superstitious exaltation of the sacred writings, coincident with the lapsing life of the nation, was partially responsible for it, as it discouraged the fresh inspirations of the soul, and suppressed all free spiritual thought. the genesis of the similar theory concerning the christian scriptures repeats the story told above. the formation of the christian church was a period of astonishing literary productivity, commensurate in extent and worth with the importance of christianity. it was a creative epoch in history. the life and teachings of jesus stirred the minds and thrilled the souls of men. the higher spheres brooded low upon our world. spiritual influences of unparalleled magnitude were working in society. the "spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters." writings of all sorts abounded. they carried such weight as their author's name or their intrinsic worth imparted to them. even the most valuable were not so prized or guarded as to prevent some of them from being lost. paul's own letters suffered from this neglect. had a few copies of these inestimable letters been made by the churches to whom they were sent such a fate could not have befallen any of them. these writings were quoted freely by the early fathers, who rarely cared to give the exact language even of the great apostle. as the churches multiplied and organized, the need of selection from the multitudinous literature of christianity was felt. genuine letters had to be distinguished from spurious letters. accurate knowledge of the life and teachings of christ had become a vital necessity. the growth of legend and fable, in the apocryphal gospels, threatened to swallow up the memory of the real jesus. a sifting process went on in the churches, by which the unimportant and objectionable writings were gradually winnowed out and the wheat retained. the christian consciousness tried and tested every writing, accepting those which approved themselves inspired by inspiring. in the course of time this thoroughly vital process, through which public opinion passed upon the christian writings, was recorded officially in the legislative action of councils, and thus, after many incertitudes and vacillations, the selection of sacred writings was finished and the new testament canon was closed. it was closed, as in the case of the canon of the old testament, by the gradual loss of free spiritual and literary productivity; closed, as the visions fade and the tides fall within the soul, and the period of criticism follows the period of creation. these writings became rightly sacred as the mementoes of the divine man, and the counsels of the great apostles; a shrine in which men drew near to the supreme manifestation of god upon earth. but they became wrongly sacred also, as the lengthening lapse of time isolated these precious heirlooms of the christian household into relics it was blasphemy to criticise; as the falling waters of the river of life stranded high above men's reach the thoughts and experiences of the inspired fisher-folk of galilee. in the dark ages, when to read was a sign of distinction, and to write a schoolboy history like "eginhard's charlemagne" was a prodigy; when to lead clean lives, and to labor as hosts are doing now for their fellows made a man a saint; the literary and spiritual power of the apostles was nothing less than preternatural. in the reformation the old story repeated itself. in the days of fresh inspiration men surely did not fail to prize the blessed books whence had come their new life. but the sense of the divine life in their own spirits enabled them to judge of the inspiration of the apostles at once reverently and rationally. they did not hesitate to criticise freely the sacred books. erasmus wrote of the revelation: "i certainly can find no reason for believing that it was set forth by the holy spirit.... moreover, even were it a blessed thing to believe what is contained in it, no man knows what that is.... but let every man think of it as his spirit prompts him."[ ] luther wrote of the epistle of james, "in comparison with the best books of the new testament, it is a downright strawy epistle."[ ] the ebbing tide again left the second generation critical and not creative. after the sages and prophets of protestantism came the scribes and doctors, and they were concerned not so much with the manly religion of free learning which erasmus cherished, or the ethical and spiritual religion which luther roused, as with establishing protestant_ism_ and waging its doctrinal controversies. they wanted an authority for faith and morals to set over against the authority of rome. the age knew of no other authority than external, extra-natural official authority, the king by divine right in the realm of thought. in the place of the authority of the church rose the authority of the bible; an oracular, infallible, miraculous book, instead of an oracular, infallible, miraculous church. men could only sustain the elaborate speculative system they had spun out of the new testament letters, by insisting upon the authority of the apostles in metaphysics as strongly as upon their authority in ethical and spiritual principles. when dogma became divine, the books whence it was drawn were deified.[ ] we simply enter into the heritage of the men who spent two and a half years in elaborating the westminster confession, the first chapter of which petrified this superstitious theory of the bible. profoundly as we reverence these truly sacred books, for the real revelation they record as coming in the spirits of holy men who spake as they were moved of the holy ghost, and supremely in the person of the son of man; and rightly as we recognize a providential purpose in the preparation of these books for the guidance of human life; the history of these same thoughts and feelings in the past should warn us from renewing ancient exaggerations, injurious to the best influence of the bible. v. _this theory is incapable of a statement which is not self-stultifying._ to be an infallible authority upon all the matters upon which it treats, a book must not only be guaranteed in its thought. thought changes more or less in finding an expression. no two statements of an idea or of a fact can be exactly alike. there are no real synonyms. interchangeable words have each a special shade of meaning. the guarantee must cover the phraseology of the original language in which the book is written. the words must be dictated to amanuenses. the thorough-going verbal inspirationists are the only logical defenders of infallibility. but the guarantee would need to be pushed still further in the case of a book written as was the bible. the best stenographers make mistakes in filling out their abbreviations and in distinguishing the similar signs which stand for very dissimilar sounds. early hebrew was a language of abbreviations. no vowels were used. consonants stood alone, and their conjunction, aided by memory, was expected to suggest the proper vowel accompaniments. vowel points were added to the written language centuries after the last book of the old testament was written.[ ] their insertion demanded a guarantee, if infallibility was to be secured. this guarantee must then have followed every copyist in the original tongues, every translation of the hebrew and greek into other tongues, every copyist in modern tongues through the ages before the printing-press, every printer, who, since gutenberg, has issued a bible--if we are to be absolutely sure of having an oracular and an infallible book. the westminster confession, indeed, seems to follow its theory through most of these lengths, and a protestant council in geneva in , with a magnificent courage of conviction, actually affirms this supernatural direction of the translators of the bible. but such notions are of the same nature with the preposterous traditions of the jews, as to the translation of the septuagint; according to which, seventy elders, separated from each other, produced seventy versions, which, on comparison, "agreed exactly"; whereby men knew that the scriptures were "translated by the inspiration of god." with such tales we must leave the theory they seem necessary to authenticate in the lumber-loft of superstitions. vi. _this theory of our bible is, in our age, seen to be the same theory which all peoples have entertained of their bibles._ for the first time in the history of europe, christian people have the knowledge by which they can correct their ideas about the bible, in what may be called a comparative science of bibliolatry. we know that nearly every race has had its own sacred book. these sacred books are now within the easy reach of all. any one can examine for himself the vedas, the zend-avesta and the other bibles of humanity. every one can readily form a just judgment of these bibles. the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world shines from many pages in all of these books. there are profound thoughts of god, noble ethical ideals, deep perceptions of sin, yearning desires for human good, gleams of life beyond the grave. there are prayers we could use here with a few verbal changes, and you would not recognize their pagan source. there are songs of praise which might be made our canticles. there are parables that the master himself might have spoken. but the light which shines from heaven through these books does not disguise their earthly character. having no glamor of tradition over our eyes, we can see them to be histories, poems, philosophies, rituals, counsels of religion, hallowed by age into sacred books. yet we find precisely the same notions current in each race about its bible that we have cherished concerning our own bible. the hindu talks of his vedas as the christian talks of his testaments. nay, we find our conceits quite outdone in the dogmas of these heathen. mohammedan doctors of divinity divided into fiercely contesting parties over the question whether the koran was created or uncreated; the latter theory, as most highly magnifying their sacred book, of course, becoming the orthodox doctrine. these learned orthodox divines assured men that the koran was verily eternal and uncreated, and of the very essence of god; that the first transcript of it had been from everlasting by his throne; that a copy, in one volume, on paper, was, by the hands of the angel gabriel, sent down to the lowest heaven in the month of ramadan; from whence gabriel revealed it to mohammed in instalments, giving him the privilege, however, of beholding the heavenly volume, bound in silk and adorned with gold and precious stones, once a year. we cannot mistake the fact that thoroughly human writings have been exaggerated into super-human scriptures by the deference rightly called forth towards these venerable books, so influential in the histories of nations, so potent in the lives of men; and we can study the phases through which a wholesome reverence degenerated into a puerile superstition. bibliolatry is pushed to a _reductio ad absurdum_ in these pagan worships of their sacred books. men will see their folly in the reflected light of these kindred follies, and another superstition will disappear from christendom. * * * * * on these grounds, as on others, the unreal bible must be expected to pass away. the church at large never properly authenticated it. the bible nowhere calls for such a view of itself. scripture reveals to a critical study manifest tokens of its human fallibility, its thoroughly literary character. we can trace the growth of this theory, and account for it naturally. as a theory it cannot be stated reasonably. it is a theory which is shown to be a superstition in the bibliolatries of other peoples. our bibliolatry is disappearing none too fast. it has always wrought evil as well as good on civilization like all other anachronisms, its original helpfulness to progress has now become a hindrance. the day when it was of service is past for educated people, whose minds are open, and the evils it has caused flow from it still. it has bred a superstitious use of the bible which has always made mischief, though a mischief never realized as sensibly as now. it has taught men to turn to these holy books and accept unquestioningly all therein recorded as authoritative on our thought and life. it has barred all research which even seemed to contradict its history or science, and has held europe in mental swaddling-bands, preventing normal growth. it has taught most christian kings to war with easy consciences, after the fashion of the israelites in canaan, and priests to sing solemn _te deums_ over battle-fields where men lay weltering in one another's blood. it has given slave-owners the coveted proof that the peculiar system was a divine institution, and has founded the auction block for human cattle solidly upon the laws of god. it has supplied joseph smith with a warrant for polygamy in the social usages of the arab sheiks three thousand years ago. it has opened a sacred refuge for every lie and wrong; no wildest form of which could fail to find some precedent within these hebrew histories, which tell the story of a people's upward growth from savagery. it has furnished an arsenal stocked with proof texts, from which, through many generations, priests and doctors have armed themselves to war with one another; exhausting in ecclesiastical and theological strife the holy energies of christian enthusiasm, which might else have changed the face of the earth. it has arrayed faith against reason, by the necessity it has imposed of reconciling every new discovery with the cosmogony of genesis, or the metaphysics of romans; putting asunder those whom god hath joined together, in the needless conflict of science and religion. it has driven away from the real revelation held in these sacred writings increasing numbers, in the growing generations; deafening their ears by its irrational clamor to the voice of the living god which whispers in these pages, through the holy men who spake as they were moved of the holy ghost. it has fathered the doubt which to-day sits, cheerless and chill, within the hearts and homes of thousands who once rejoiced in the warmth and light of god, but who now accept the alternative their teachers thrust upon them--"all or none"--and throw away the blessed book wherein god of old revealed himself to them. it has made the sacred ark of israel so vulnerable that its defenders dare not challenge the great goliath of the philistines, who, year by year, comes forth to strut before the armies of the saints in ridicule of that they hold so dear; and thus it is to be held responsible for the loss of the young men who throw away their ancestral faith and go over to the apparently victorious side of unbelief. it has slid in a false bottom to men's faith; shoving in a supposititious revelation of miracle above the real revelation which is in nature and in man, and in the christ as the ideal man; and thus holds back that reconstruction of belief which providence is forcing on, as it is shaking all things, to settle faith upon the everlasting verities: whereon religion, planting its feet on the solid rock, may lift its head into the skies, and worship him in whom we live, and move, and have our being, the god and father of our lord jesus christ, "our father who art in heaven." in the name of religion let it die! then there will be a resurrection, and the bible will live again, clothed in a higher form for our most rational reverence. all that ever made the bible a sacred book, lives on to-day and will live on while these books exist. holy men of old spake as they were moved of the holy ghost. they were most truly inspired. the biblical writers recorded a real revelation. these books hold for us the words of god. the word of god speaks to us in the person of jesus christ. these spiritual realities, no criticism can touch. and these spiritual realities make the bible. book of our fathers, venerable and sacred, speak still to our souls those words proceeding from out the mouth of god on which man liveth! ii. the real bible. "out from the heart of nature rolled the burdens of the bible old; the litanies of nations came, like the volcano's tongue of flame, up from the burning core below,-- the canticles of love and woe. * * * * * the passive master lent his hand to the vast soul that o'er him planned. * * * * * himself from god he could not free." _the problem._ the most original book in the world is the bible.... the elevation of this book may be measured by observing how certainly all observation of thought clothes itself in the words and forms of speech of that book.... whatever is majestically thought in a great moral element instantly approaches this old sanscrit.... people imagine that the place which the bible holds in the world it owes to miracles. it owes it simply to the fact that it came out of a profounder depth of thought than any other book.--emerson, _the dial_, october, . ii. the real bible. "holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost."-- peter, i. . "men of the scriptures" was the title assumed by the karaites, a sect of devout jews, who, about the middle of the eighth century of our era, threw aside tradition, and accepted as their sole authority the canonical writings of the old testament. seeing the good that the bible has wrought for man in the past, we may well emulate the reverence of these karaites; while, seeing the unreality of the traditional notion of the bible that they held, and the mischiefs it has bred, we may well disown their superstitiousness. can we gain a view of the bible which, without stultifying our intellectual nature, may satisfy our spiritual nature, and leave us free to call ourselves men of the scriptures? the only road to such an end must be that which our age is opening so successfully through every field of study; as, dismissing preconceptions, it builds with care and candor, upon solid facts, the causeway to a certain knowledge. let us take up the bible as we would any other collection of books, and see if, without assuming anything concerning it, we cannot find our way to a rational reverence for it, as real as that which our fathers had. the lines of our inquiry have been projected by a hand you own as high authority. the results of the survey are in the text. real men wrote real books; holy men wrote holy books; and, when we come to account for their holy, human power, we can only say--the divine spirit stirred in them; "holy men of old spake as they were moved of the holy ghost." the bible is a collection of many writings, in many forms, by many hands, from many ages. genuine letters these, whether they be _belles-lettres_ or not; by every mark and sign most human writings, whether they be holy scriptures or not; the product of honest toil of brain and hand. whatever more they are, these are _bona fide_ books, of men of like passions and infirmities with ourselves. what is there in these books which has led christendom to assign to them so high an honor? i. . _these books have the venerableness which belongs to ancient writings._ with what interest and care we handle a very old book, and turn its well-worn pages, thumb-marked and dog-eared by men of oxford or of florence in the middle ages! unless we are the baldest materialists, we will not reserve for the parchment body of some old book the respect called forth by its soul. the latest re-embodiment of an ancient writer, fresh from the presses of putnam or of appleton, merits the honor belonging to the book given to the world so many centuries ago, and fed upon by successive generations. thus i look at the plato on my shelves. how venerable these writings! over their great words, on which i rest my eyes, my fathers bent, as their fathers had done before them; generation after generation finding inspiration where still it flows fresh and full for me. thus every reverently minded man ought to feel concerning the bible. the latest of these books is probably seventeen hundred years old, and the earliest has been written twenty-seven hundred years; while in the more ancient of these writings lie bedded some of the oldest fragments of literature known to us. these books have been the constant companions of men and women through two or three score of generations. the crawling centuries have carried these books along with them--the solace and the strength of myriad millions of our kind. forms, now turning into dust, holy in our memories, read these familiar pages. men whose names carry us back through english history knew and prized these writings; cromwell, shakespeare, chaucer, and the great alfred. when rome was the seat of empire, constantine heard them in his churches. aurelius informed himself about them. in the lowly hamlet hidden away among the hills of galilee, the boy jesus listened to these tales of hebrew heroism and holiness from his mother's lips. judas, the hammerer, fired his valiant soul from them; and, while wandering in the hill country of judaea, david chanted, to his harp's accompaniment these legends of the childhood of his race. the bible is hallowed by the reverent use of ages. . _these books form the literature of a noble race._ the old testament is a library of jewish letters. the germ of the collection was planted by nehemiah when "he, founding a library, gathered together the acts of the kings, and the prophets, and of david, and the epistles of the kings concerning the holy gifts."[ ] this germ grew gradually into its present shape. the apocrypha belongs to it, and is rightly bound up in our bibles, for reading in our churches. these books of the canonical and apocryphal writings do not cover the whole literature of the hebrew nation. many writings have been lost inadvertently. many have been dropped as unworthy of preservation. we have the garnered grain of hebrew literature in our bible--a winnowed national library. it includes histories, juridical codifications, dramas of love and destiny, patriotic songs and state anthems, the hymnal of a people's worship, philosophic writings of the sages, collections of proverbial sayings, works of religious fiction, orations of statesmen, and oracles of mystic seers. the new testament is the literature of the christian church in its creative epoch; the work still, in the main, of jewish hands, as judaism was blossoming into a universal religion. it is thus the literature of the most important religious movement civilization has experienced; a movement whose unspent forces we are feeling still, in the flooding tides of progress. it, too, forms a winnowed library; the siftings of sayings of jesus, lives of christ, apostolical and other letters, visions and romances; and holds the choicest mental products of this fertile era. in it are gathered memoirs of the founder of christianity, doctrinal and ethical treatises from the hand of the man who, under christ, was the chief factor in the early church; similar essays, in the form of letters, from other more or less important leaders, representing the various phases of original christianity; a fragmentary and free sketch of the apostolic labors, and the last great effort of apocalyptic genius, in the revelation of st. john, the divine. . _this literature of the jewish nation and of the christian church is intrinsically noble._ the bible has lost much of its fresh charm for us, with whom its finest sayings are household words. we parsed virgil and homer in our boyhood until the aroma of poetry exhaled from their hackneyed pages, and we can scarce think of them now save as grammatical exercises. the bible has thus palled upon our imagination, through the uninspiring familiarity of early task-work. but were it possible to read it in our manhood for the first time, how the blood would beat and the nerves thrill over some of its pages. we should then understand the sensations of a french _salon_ upon a certain occasion. our shrewd philosopher-minister franklin, had previously heard the _literati_ wont to gather there ridiculing the bible, and had guessed that they knew little of it. upon this evening he observed that he would much like to have the judgment of the assembly on a certain eastern tale he had lately come across, unknown probably to most of those there present, though long ago translated into their own tongue. whereupon, drawing from his pocket a copy of the bible, he had a parisienne, let into the secret, read in her sweet tones the book of ruth. the company was thrown into raptures over the charming tale, which lasted until they found its name. how fresh, with the crisp air of morning, are these tales of primitive tradition! how _naif_ these simple stories of hebrew heroes! what so fine in religious poetry as some of the strains from the jewish hymnal? what a noble drama is job, the hebrew faust! how wise the proverbial sayings! what pure passion and lofty imagination stir through the pages of the greater prophets! where are to be found letters like those of paul? what biographies have the artless simplicity of the synoptic gospels, or the mystic spirituality of the gospel according to st. john! no critic of our age has finer literary feeling or more dispassionate judgment than matthew arnold; and he has edited the second section of isaiah as a text book for the culture of the imagination in english schools. in the introduction to this primer he observes: "what a course of eloquence and poetry is the bible in our schools." goethe shared arnold's love of the bible, and was so constant a reader of it that his friends reproached him for wasting his time over it. burke owned his indebtedness to the bible for his unique eloquence. webster confessed that he owed to its habitual reading much of his power. ruskin looks back to the days when a pious aunt compelled him to learn by heart whole chapters of the bible, for his schooling in the craft of speech, in which he stands unrivaled among living englishmen. emerson writes: "the most original book in the world is the bible. this old collection of the ejaculations of love and dread, of the supreme desires and contritions of men, proceeding out of the region of the grand and eternal seems ... the alphabet of the nations, and all posterior writings, either the chronicles of facts under very inferior ideas, or when it rises to sentiment, the combinations, analogies, or degradation of this. the elevation of this book may be measured by observing how certainly all observation of thought clothes itself in the words and forms of speech of that book.... whatever is majestically thought in a great moral element, instantly approaches this old sanscrit.... shakspeare, the first literary genius of the world, the highest in whom the moral is not the predominating element, leans on the bible; his poetry presupposes it. if we examine this brilliant influence--shakspeare--as it lies in our minds, we shall find it reverent, not only of the letter of this book, but of the whole frame of society which stood in europe upon it, deeply indebted to the traditional morality, in short, compared with the tone of the prophets, _secondary_.... people imagine that the place which the bible holds in the world, it owes to miracles. it owes it simply to the fact that it came out of a profounder depth of thought than any other book."[ ] even what seem to us valueless books turn out, when studied naturally, most interesting and suggestive. jonah, that stone of stumbling and rock of offence to the modern youth, becomes, when rightly read, a noble writing, full of the very spirit of our age. around the tradition of jonah, the son of amittai, a prophet of whom we know nothing in other writings, some forgotten author has woven a story, to point a lofty moral. jonah feels himself called to go to nineveh and cry against it, because of its wickedness. quite naturally he does not relish such an errand. the prospect of a poor jew's reforming the gay and dissolute metropolis of the earth, which sat as a queen among the nations, singing to herself, "i will be a lady forever," was not brilliant enough to fascinate him; and the prospect of the reward he would get from the luxurious people of pleasure, whose well-opiated consciences he should rudely rouse by calling their intrigues and carousals wickedness, was only too clear. jonah fled from his duty. in his flight occurs the marvelous experience with the big fish, that has so troubled dear, pious people who have read as literal history what is plainly legendary. after this fabulous episode, the story takes up its ethical thread. jonah finds that he cannot flee from the presence of the lord, that he cannot decline a mission imposed from on high. he goes to nineveh; cries out against its sins, as god had told him; and, as god had not told him, predicts its overthrow in forty days, as a judgment on its crimes. but, contrary to his expectations, the city is stirred by his preaching; and king and court and people repent and amend their ways. whereupon the divine forgiveness is extended at once to these wicked pagans, and the fate they had deserved is averted. but in this turn of affairs jonah's prediction failed, and so he was displeased and was very angry, and took the almighty to task quite roundly, for his lack of vigour. "was not this my saying when i was yet in my country? therefore, i fled before unto tarshish, for i knew that thou art a gracious god, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil." what was to become of preachers if, after they had threatened destruction upon evil-doers, the most high went back upon them thus? the later breed of jonahs may profitably study the after scene, in which god is made to rebuke the frightful selfishness and hardness which, rather than have one's theories belied, would have a city damned. "thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored ... and should not i spare nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?" the moral marvel of nineveh's general repentance on the preaching of an obscure jew is as unnatural as the physical marvel of the fish story. recognizing that the whole tale is a parable, which takes upon it purely legendary drapery, and ridding ourselves thus of all the questions which puzzle sunday-school scholars and theologians, we are ready to read the meaning of the parable. god is not the god of any one race or religion. he cares for gentile as for jew. he sends a prophet of israel to bid a pagan city repent, that he may forgive it freely. these pagans understand the message of the jew. the commands of conscience are owned and honored by the heathen, even more quickly than by the people of god; whose own jerusalem never thus quickly obeyed a prophet's message. the city whence had come israel's woes is held up as a pattern to the sacred city herself. all men, then, are brothers, partakers of the same moral and religious nature; children of one father, whose voice they hear in different tongues, speaking to their souls the same messages of holy love. thus read, jonah becomes the protest of liberal judaism against the narrow, exclusive tendencies of popular piety in israel. it is the writing of some genuine broad-churchman of the olden time, proclaiming the high truths of human brotherhood under a divine fatherhood, breathing that spirit of which, long after, another jew dared say-- "and now abideth faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is charity." if such be the hidden value of one of the least attractive of these writings, we may well say, with milton, "i shall wish i may deserve to be reckoned among those who admire and dwell upon them." . _this literature has been very influential in the development of progressive civilization._ when the writings of greece and rome had been buried in the ruins of the roman empire, the literature of israel was preserved by the pious care of the christian church. the light of athens went out, and the light of jerusalem alone illumined the dark ages. the only books known to the mass of men through long centuries were these writings of the hebrews and the early christians. thought was kept alive by them, imagination was fed from them, conscience was educated and vitalized through them. for a thousand years there was practically but one book in europe--the bible. when the long gestation of the middle ages was fulfilled, and the modern world was born, while the educated classes read the exhumed classics of greece, the people still read the bible. it gave, in the person of luther, the impulse that restored intellectual liberty and moral health to europe. it has continued the best read book of western civilization; the only book much read, until of late, by the mass of men; the one foreign and ancient literature familiar alike to the plain people in germany and france, in england and america; the common well-spring of inspiration to thought and imagination, to character and conduct. it is the magna charta of our liberties; the revered companion and master of the pilgrims who sailed the wintry seas, and, on plymouth rock, building wiser than they knew, founded a nation covenanting freedom of conscience unto all men; a nation on whose bell of independence runs the bible legend, "proclaim liberty to the inhabitants thereof." wherever society is found to-day in travail with a new and higher order, the conception can be traced to the seminal words of the bible. the institutions and manners of progressive civilization are what they are because in the heart of that civilization has lain the bible. my brothers, were these books nothing more to us than such ancient writings, the literature of so noble a race, a literature intrinsically fine, to which our civilization owes so much of mental and of moral influence, they should win our reverence, and should shame the wantonness of liberalism, falsely so called. what if in these ancient writings there are ancient errors, the marvels which a child age exaggerated into miracles, stories of savage cruelty and brutal lust in rude, rough times, acts of superstition dark and dreadful, utterances which to us are blasphemous ascribed to the eternal and holy one? such faults are inevitable in the literature that records a nation's growth from barbarism. were a man in the name of liberty or in the name of truth to hunt through homer, to rake together all the errors and superstitions embalmed in these immortal sagas, to haul up from the obscurity where sensible people leave them the lewdnesses suggested or described, and then to fling these blemishes at the book in which the children of greece and england and america have read with tingling blood the tales which stirred their souls, by what name would we call him? by that name let him stand forth impaled upon the scorn of an age that has not lost the grace of reverence, who, mindless of majestic age, the dignity of letters, an influence unrivalled and benign, associations tender and most holy, upon these venerable and sacred books spits his shallow scepticism, spumes his spleenful sarcasm, and smuts them with his own sensuality. let irreverence stay her ribald tongue before these illustrious writings, and indecency vomit her own nastiness elsewhere than on our bible. ii. the bible lays a yet deeper claim upon our reverence these books constitute the literature of a people whose genius was religion, whose mission was its evolution into universal forms, whose writings express the moods and tenses of that development; whose history is the organic growth which flowered in the life of him who freed religion from every swathing band, and gave the world its pure essential spirit; after whom all races are being drawn as one flock under one shepherd. . _israel's specialty in history was religion._ every people finds laid upon it certain necessary activities, in most of which all peoples find their common tasks. every nation must cultivate agriculture handicrafts, trade and commerce; must develop social, political and religious institutions. each people will, however, do some one thing better than the rest of its tasks, better than it is done by other peoples. each great race has some commanding inspiration; some ideal which masters every other aspiration and ambition, energizes its efforts and shapes its destiny. it creates a specialty among the nations. the real legacy of each great race lies in the works wrought in the line of its highest aptitudes. thus rome developed a genius for civil organization. she conquered the whole western world, united isolated nations under one empire, cleared the mediterranean for safe and free communication, opened roads as arteries through the vast body politic, established post communications for travellers and the mails, carried law and order into every obscure hamlet, consolidated a polity which, by sheer massiveness, lasted for generations after the soul of rome had fled, and left to posterity, in her institutes the basis for modern jurisprudence. thus greece evolved a genius for art, developed architecture and sculpture to the highest perfection the world has seen, made statues thicker than men in athens, made men more beautiful than statues, sighed even after virtue as the becoming, the perfect beauty, left the world temples whose ruins are inspirations, and marbles whose discovery dates the epochs of culture. israel essayed to do many things that other peoples achieved, and promised success in more than one direction. at a certain period she bade fair to develop into a martial empire, and to become a lesser assyria or rome. a little later she seemed about to rival the phenicians in commerce. about the same time she "advanced as far as the greeks before socrates towards producing an independent science or philosophy."[ ] but she found herself content with none of these _rôles_. she had a higher part assigned her in the drama of history, to which her secret instincts resistlessly drew her. her predominant characteristic was an intense religiousness. everything in the life of her people took on a serious and devout tone. patriotism was identified with piety. her statesmen were reformers, idealists, whose orations were sermons, like the speeches of gladstone in the midlothian campaign, dealing with politics in the light of eternal principles. legislation was developed through the "judgments" of priestly oracles. poetry lighted her flames at the altar. philosophy busied itself with ethics. the muse of history was the spirit of holiness. the nation's ambitions were aspirations. her heroes grew to be saints. the divine became to her, not the true or the beautiful, but the good. she evidently had, as matthew arnold said of john wesley, "a genius for godliness." . _israel's literature became thus a religious literature._ her histories were written for edification. they present the past of the people in such light as to inculcate virtue and inspire piety. her poems are songs of pure love, like canticles; or dramas whose plot lies in the problem of evil, like job; or hymns in which the soul seeks communion with god. the psalter is the hymnal of the temple choir at jerusalem. the prophets are preachers of righteousness, personal, social, political. even the writings of her sages or philosophers are almost wholly ethical and religious. no other people's literature is so intensely and pervasively religious. other nations have religious writings as a part of their general literature. israel's whole literary life was sacred. there is scarcely a book left by her to which we may not go to feed religion.[ ] . _israel's literature presents us, in the various moods and tenses of her life, with the various phases of religion._ the glory of a truly national church is that it takes up into itself every form of spiritual and ethical consciousness within the nation, and exhibits in each successive school of thought, in each movement for a nobler social life, a phase of true religion. this is the glory of israel. religion never separated itself into an institution apart from the state. there was no jewish church, of which dean stanley wrote the history. church and state were one. sacred and secular history flowed in one common stream. the history of israel was the history of judaism. its choicest literature formed its sacred writings. religion was never narrowed to a theory, an institution, an "ism," a sect, a school. it was as generous and as rich as the broad, free life of the nation. every factor essential to a noble religion was thus supplied from the sound and healthy life of the people. the inner life of the soul was voiced in the hymns of israel, to which we still turn for the inspiration of personal piety in our private devotions; and which lift the public worship of the moderns as they swelled the souls of the hosts who waited in the temple courts at jerusalem, two thousand years ago. a cultus of character through ritual and discipline was elaborated by the priesthood in that wonderful system which, rebaptized, does duty still in the catholic church. the true outer sphere for personal religion, trained, if need be, by an ecclesiastical cultus, was fashioned by the great prophets, the men of the people; who poured their passion for righteousness into aspirations for a true commonwealth, in which justice should be throned on law, and international relations be ruled, not by policy, but by principle. natural religion was nobly set forth by the sages in proverbs, the wisdom of jesus, and the other "writings;" all of which were characterized by a calm and rational philosophy, that recognized the laws of life and fed the wisdom which obeys them. even agnosticism, in so far as it is the confession of the inadequacy of every interpretation of the universe, finds despondent yet still earnest expression in ecclesiastes, and humble, hopeful expression in job; and the silence of many of the noblest natures of our age, which the churches brand as irreligious, finds place among the phases of religion in their sacred book.[ ] almost every form of strenuous ethical life, almost every answer that earnest souls have found to the problem of life, is to be drawn from the writings of this many-sided people. thus their literature feeds a rich, and rounded life of religion. . _israel's literature presents us with the record of a continuous growth of religion upward through its normal stages._ religion grows like every form of human life with the growth of man himself. it is coarse, crude and cruel while man is a savage, and as he becomes civilized--by which i mean something more than wealthy--it becomes intelligent, reasonable ethical and spiritual. the growth of israel from barbarism carried with this progress the growth of israel's religion. in the earliest times which we can historically reach the israelites were semi-nomadic tribes, slightly distinguishable from their kindred semites. the religion of the people appears to have been then a commingling of fetichism, the worship of things that impressed the imagination, great trees and huge boulders, with the worship of the various powers of nature, the orbs of heaven, the reproductive force of the earth, etc., under the usual savage and sensual symbolisms. from such unpromising beginnings, through the successive stages of polytheistic idolatries, religion was gradually led up, in the advance of the general life of the people and through the inspirations of a series of great men, to the recognition of one eternal and infinite being; the lord of nature and of man, the father of all mankind, holy, just and gracious; whose truest worship is the aspirations of his children after goodness. "hear, o israel, the lord our god is one lord," writes the deuteronomist; "and thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might." malachi, looking round upon the manifold forms of worship of the various nations, and discerning that through them all the soul of man was feeling after one and the same divine being, makes god say: "from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name is great among the gentiles; and in every place incense is offered unto me and a pure offering; for my name is great among the heathen, saith the lord of hosts." micah asks, "what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy god?" of this continuous growth of religion the old testament is the record. . _israel's literature records the forcing forward of this growth of religion, as by some power back of man, shaping its ends, rough-hew them as it might._ the niebuhr of hebrew history rightly pointed out this significant fact in the introduction to his great work. "the manifold changes and even confusions and perversities, which manifest themselves in the long course of the threads of its history, ultimately tend to the solution of this great problem."--ewald: intro. a singular succession of great men arise to save and revive and reform religion in every critical epoch. moses, samuel, elijah, isaiah, jeremiah, ezekiel, ezra, judas maccabeus come upon the stage, one after the other, perform their several parts with singular aptitude, and prepare the way for the next movement when it comes due. the history of the people rightly read becomes a mighty drama, in which the right man is never wanting at the right time, and the action moves on steadily toward a climax. the experiences of the people, even those most perplexing to the faith of the nation at the time, fit singularly into this organic evolution of religion. the rending of the kingdom of david, that blighted the fair prospect of a martial empire, turned the nation aside from the false career on which it was entering. the overthrow of the northern and then of the southern kingdom, and the deportation of the people to babylonia, seemingly the ruin of the sister countries, threw them in upon their inner life; and in the exile their religion found its highest reach of thought. even that hierarchical movement which so quickly followed upon this bloom of prophetism, and which to the superficial look seems only the arrest of life and the beginning of death, reveals a legitimate function in the organic processes of the national religion. in this priestly organization of institutional religion, all free prophetic inspiration did indeed die out for over four centuries. but even this was a necessity for the right flowering of religion. the age was not ready, politically or intellectually, for the ripening of the thoughts of the prophets. had they ripened then, they would have fallen to the ground, as the untimely fruit of a too-early spring. four centuries were to be tided over before the political and intellectual conditions were found for the blossoming of this flower. this holding back of the normal evolution of hebraism was the function of the priestly reaction--a curious parallel to the function of catholicism in mediæval christianity. like the catholic church, the jewish priesthood held society together when, in the destruction of the political power, there was no other bond of unity. as in the catholic church, the high priest became a temporal ruler, the prince of israel, as he was called; and kept the sacred city still the seat of government. as in catholicism the institutionalizing of religion that followed the period of free prophetic life was an effort to embody that life, to incrust and thus preserve it; and, in the one case as in the other, though the crust of institutions choked the further growth of spiritual religion, it yet did keep it sluggishly alive within this hard bark, through times that else would have proved fatal to it. as in catholicism, this priestly cultus really drilled deep into the natures of men the principles and laws and habitudes of ethical and spiritual religion; and stored the force which, when its rigid routine and fettering formalism became unbearable, burst through this crust and opened a new world of fresh, free life. of this singular shaping of the nation's experiences to further the growth of true religion, the old testament is the impressive record. . _israel's literature thus presents the picture of a nation's patient, insistent pressing forward, through long centuries, toward the fruition of its ideal, the realization of true religion._ so continuous is israel's movement toward the ideal of religion, so straight the line of her advance that it seems as though the nation had a conscious aim, seen afar and steadfastly pursued by generation after generation, unwilling to stop short of attainment. it is the founder of scientific biblical criticism who thus expresses his sense of the wonderfulness of this historic movement: "this aim is perfect religion; a good which all aspiring nations of antiquity made an attempt to attain; which some, the indians and persians, for example, really labored to achieve with admirable devotion of noble energies, but which this people alone clearly discerned from the beginning, and then pursued for centuries through all difficulties, and with the utmost firmness and consistency, until they attained it, so far as among men and in ancient times attainment was possible."[ ] . _the literature of christian israel records the realization of this long sought ideal, the fruition of this organic growth._ the nation found the times ripe at last for the final process of this historic evolution; the dead cerements of judaism fell apart, and thereout bloomed that perfect flower of religion, the religion of the christ, simple, free, ethical, spiritual. the extant literature of this last creative effort of israel constitutes the new testament. the gospels tell the story of the life of the founder of christianity, clearly enough in the main outlines, and embalm many of the words and deeds of the son of man. the other writings of the new testament illustrate the working of the thought and spirit of the christ in the church bodying around him through the growth of a century. in them we see that the long cherished ideal of israel, an ethical and universal religion, had at last incarnated itself in the master whose plans laid the foundation of this new order; into which men were coming from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and were sitting down in the kingdom of god. the high-water mark of religion in human history is recorded in these writings. to enter into the spirit of these writings is to feel the force of the free, full tides of ethical and spiritual life which rose, as never before nor since, in the dawning day of christianity. the flow of such a force within the individual soul and through society has been the power of the new testament in christendom. . _this organic growth of a national religion into a catholic ideal, not without parallels elsewhere, is, however unique in respect to the conditions for a truly universal religion._ the scene of this evolution is not the heart of the east, as in buddhism, but the meeting point of east and west. palestine is the race centre of the earth. camels unload in jerusalem the goods laden upon them in the seats of the most ancient empires; and on her pebbly beaches the mediterranean rolls, bearing the commerce of europe. behind judea lies the past, before it opens the future. its race-man came at the epoch when, first in history, the east and west were brought together under one empire and opened to the free interchange of thought. and when we analyze the religion of the christ, grown in this central land and coming to the birth in this central period, we find that it holds, alone on earth, the elements of each race-religion in well proportioned combination. no eastern religion, buddhism not excepted, appears to contain conceptions that satisfy the western mind. the religion of the christ, however can be shown to hold whatever ideas and ideals make vital the great race-religions of the east. it is as many sided as humanity, and presents a family face to every people. it takes up the ideas and ideals of other religions, disengages and deposits whatever in them is temporal and circumstantial, preserves whatever is essential and eternal in them, combines these vital elements with the polar truths needful to their wholesomeness, and crystallizes ethical and spiritual religion into perfect forms, forms capable of translation into the idioms of every race of earth. this religion of the christ is the one religion which to-day holds the promise and potency of further evolution, in the progressive civilization of mankind on which it is enthroned. . _of the literature of the people through whom came this organic evolution of the keystoning religion of earth what can we say but that it records a real revelation coming through genuine personal inspirations from on high!_ revelation is the opposite aspect of the mystery which we call discovery; the uncovering of that which was hidden; the unveiling of that which was not known; the coming on of truth into the light wherein man can see it. "discovery" expresses the human effort by which truth is thus uncovered and found out. "revelation" expresses the divine effort which lies back of all human aspirations and endeavors; as the spirit within man stirs him up to seek for truth, flashes in upon his mind strange hints of where and how she is to be found, allures him onward with the mystic whispers of her voice, until at length he stands upon the mount of vision whence her holy form is seen, and cries--"i have found her!" to him who believes in a spirit of truth, guiding men into all truth, the growth of ethical and spiritual religion into perfect form in jesus christ is a real revelation. it is the oncoming of the light which lighteth every man that is in the world; the dawning of the day of earth on the hills of judea, over which has risen the sun of righteousness with healing in his wings. this revelation came not to the mystic "man writ large" we call society, direct from heaven in abstract form. it came to individual men, struggling for larger light and nobler life, and breathing their higher spirit on their fellows. religion is always _life_, the experience of _souls_. we can name the individuals through whom each important advance was made. the greater souls who led the worship of the host welcoming the rising light, thrilled with the vibrations of a voice deeper and holier than the voice of man. the lesser souls who formed the chorus of this anthem of the dawn thrilled each alike with this mystic sense of god. that which we must aver of every truth discovered or revealed, of every knowledge needful to man and won by man; that which we must affirm as the only rational interpretation of the mysterious suggestions rising below the conscious thoughts of man, and prompting to noblest benedictions on the race; that we must, with deepened awe, say of the holiest truths shown to the human soul,--inspired! with sincere and reverent confession we must say then in the words of holy writ: "holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost." "every scripture profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness is god-inspired."[ ] the consciousness and experience of israel could not have found fitter expression than in the words of our great seer: "i conceive a man as always spoken to from behind, and unable to turn his head and see the speaker. in all the millions who have heard the voice, none ever saw the face. that well-known voice speaks in all languages, governs all men; and none ever caught a glimpse of its form. if the man will exactly obey it, it will adopt him, so that he shall not any longer separate it from himself in his thought; he shall seem to be it, he shall be it. if he listen with insatiable ears, richer and greater wisdom is taught him, the sound swells to a ravishing music, he is borne away as with a flood, he is the fool of ideas, and leads a heavenly life. but if his eye is set on the things to be done, and not on the truth that is still-taught, and for the sake of which the things are to be done, then the voice grows faint, and at last is but a humming in his ears."[ ] we have thus seen in the bible an ancient and noble literature, the literature of a noble race, the literature supremely influencing and enriching christian civilization; demanding, therefore, our rational reverence, as constituting a truly sacred book. we have seen in the old testament the literature of the people of religion, commissioned with its normal evolution; writings charged with deep religiousness; the records of the various moods and tenses through which religion grew continuously and insistently toward perfection, in an organic process watched and directed by a higher power than man. we have seen in the new testament the record of the realization of this long-sought aim of the people of religion; the story of the divine man, who breathed religion out into perfection, and the writings that depict the bodying around him of the universal church, the church in whose truth and life is growing the religion of the future, "the christ that is to be." the fuller knowledge of our age, in evanishing the unreal bible restores the real bible. it is the record of the visioning and embodiment of the human ideal, the divine image--the christ. it is the providentially prepared hand book of religion in whose rich and varied phases of ethical and spiritual thought all men may find the nourishment they need. it is the spiritual reality our fathers rightly felt, but wrongly expressed, when they called it as a whole the word of god. it holds the words proceeding from out of the mouth of god on which man liveth. it bodies in "letters" the word of god, embodied in the flesh in jesus christ the lord. it records a real revelation. this revelation, however, denies no other revelation. it affirms the fact of the withdrawal of a veil in each new knowledge won; the fact that man has felt in calling the new knowledge a discovery; and it interprets this unveiling as tennyson has learned of it to do: "and out of darkness come the hands that reach through nature, moulding man." these books are the products of a real inspiration. this inspiration, however, denies no other inspiration. it interprets the sense of a higher than human influence in the noblest searchers after truth, throughout the world, in every action of the intellect. it affirms the validity of that consciousness.[ ] the revelation in the bible is the light of god which streams through it, making it a "lamp unto our feet." the inspiration in the bible is the life of god breathing through it into man, "and he becomes a living soul." the book which, above all others, reveals god to man, he must call the supreme revelation of god. the book which, above all others, inspires the life of god in man, he must call the most inspired of god. if, then, any one asks me how he may know that there is a revelation in the bible, i tell him to walk in its light, and see what it reveals. if any one asks me how i know that the bible is inspired i answer him in mr. moody's words: "i know that the bible is inspired, because it 'inspires me.'" iii. the wrong use of the bible. "god, then, is quite simple and true, both in word and deed; neither is he changed himself, nor does he deceive others--neither by visions, nor discourses, nor the pomp of signs. * * * * when any one alleges such things as these about the gods, we must show disapproval, and not grant them the privilege of a chorus; neither should we suffer teachers to employ them in the training of youth--if, at least, our guardians are to be pious and divine men." plato: the republic; book ii. "this, it seems, is the modern method of coming to inquire of the oracles of god; by this process they become a light to our feet, a lamp to our path! accept the book as a whole, and then treat all the portions of it just as you like. confess all its words to be the words of the lord, and then you may yourself be lords over them, and may perform moral miracles by turning the bread of life into stones for casting at your enemies." maurice: what is revelation, p. . iii. the wrong use of the bible every scripture inspired of god is also profitable for teaching, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness.-- timothy, iii, . the unreal bible is fading upon the vision of our age. you have probably all perceived this more or less clearly. i have uttered the conviction which many of you have held in secret with misgivings and self-reproaches, and have shown you some of the many reasons why, as it seems to me, this view can no longer be held by men of open minds. the real bible is as yet vaguely seen, and, therefore, its power is feebly felt. according to their natures men are indulging in flippant flings at a vanished superstition, or grieving silently over the disappearance of the ancient light which ruled the night of earth. i have sought to clear your vision of the new moon rising upon us, the same holy light god set in the heavens of old, though changed in the altered atmosphere of earth. i propose now to translate the generalities of the previous sermons into some practical applications. i want to-day to make more distinct certain wrong uses of the bible which grow out of the old view of it; wrong uses from which great mischiefs have come to the cause of true religion, and great trouble to individual souls; abuses which fall away in the light of a more reasonable understanding of the bible. the bible viewed as a book let down from heaven, whose real "author" is god, as the westminster catechism affirmed; a book dictated to chosen penman and written out by their amanuenses under a direction which secured them against error on every subject of which they treated; a book thus given to the world to be an authoratitive and infallible oracle for human information on all the great problems of life--naturally calls for uses which, apart from this theory, are gross and superstitious abuses. i. _it is a wrong use of the bible to set it in its entirety before all classes and all ages._ on the old view of the bible no man might dare to omit portions of it in public reading or home instruction. the horrible atrocities and brutal lusts of the early hebrews, and the coarsenesses of their later days, as unbearable by modern ears as the rough talk of shakespeare's ladies, had all to be read to mixed assemblies of young men and maidens; and be read with blushing face by the pure mother to the purer children at her knees. for us, who see the bible in its true light, there is no necessity for a minister to offend against the taste of a refined age, or for a mother to introduce the unsoiled soul of her child to evil, by reading straight through the successive chapters of the bible. it has been left for protestant piety to excel romanists and jews in superstition. the church of rome, as you know, discourages the use of the bible by her laity, erring in the other extreme. the jewish rabbis had a saying that no one should read the canticles before he was thirty years of age. if you follow the public readings of the bible in this church from your own bibles, you must often appreciate the relief this liberty of omission brings. use the bible in this way with your children at home. who would think of an indiscriminate use of the original shakespeare? stage managers cut him so freely for rendering before grown up folk as to have made another shakespeare. he who cares for his children's innocence will set before them an expurgated edition like that of rolfe. so we should use at home such an expurgated edition of the scriptures as "the child's bible," published by cassel, petter & galpin, of london. no timid soul need fear that imprecation in the last chapter of the revelation: if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy god shall take away his part out of the book of life. that sounds like the ruling passion, strong in death, of the son of thunder; who in youth asked if he should call down fire from heaven upon a hamlet which did not welcome jesus, and was well rebuked for his zeal by the gracious master. it is part of the human weakness through which the voice of god speaks, taking its tone from the defects of the instrument. this imprecation had reference, in all probability, solely to the copyists, against whose carelessness the author sought to guard himself by an awful threat. it certainly had reference to this book alone. not until long afterwards did the church determine what books were to enter the canon of the new testament, and in what order they were to stand. that order placed the revelation as the last book in the canon, and thus made this threat appear to cover the whole bible.[ ] ii. _it is a wrong use of the bible to accept its utterances indiscriminately as the words of god, to quote every saying of every speaker in its pages, or every deed of every actor in its histories as expressing to us the mind of god._ such use of the bible is thoughtlessly common. some time ago before going into a church in whose service i was asked to participate, i ventured to show some slight hesitancy in using certain psalms which were set down in the psalter for the day. when asked, why, i mildly answered that i could not request a christian congregation to join with me in singing, after the embittered jews in babylon: remember, o lord, the children of edom, in the day of jerusalem. how they said, "down with it! down with it! even to the ground." oh, daughter of babylon, who art to be wasted, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. happy shall he be that taketh thy little ones and throweth them against the stones. nor could i ask the people to unite in praying: make their nobles like oreb and zeeb; yea, all their princes as zeba and salmana. i had in mind the fate of oreb and zeeb and of zeba and salmana, splendidly brave fellows even in their death, as told in the seventh and eighth chapters of judges, where you can learn what sort of prayer was this of those savage jews. naturally, as i thought, i objected to voicing such heathen imprecations in the nineteenth century of the era of the prince of peace. my good friend, with a look of amazement, replied, "why, these psalms are in the bible." that ended the question for him. this incident is typical of a vast quantity of wrong uses of the bible. thus our american slaveholder read that 'precious' word of the ancient tradition, "cursed be ham," and smoothed his troubled conscience. he had the sanction of the bible for the curse plainly upon africa. he was fulfilling the divine will in breeding black cattle for the auction block. piety and profit were one, and godliness had great gain, and some contentment also. thus the extermination of the canaanites, for which the hebrews pleaded long after the divine order, and for which they had substantial warrant in destiny's determination to rid the land of these corrupting tribes and make room for the noble life israel was to develop, has been the stock argument of kings and soldiers for their bloody trade. thus poor human consciences have been sorely hurt and troubled as men have read, in stories such as those of jael and sisera and jacob and esau, of acts which their better nature instinctively condemned. they have felt themselves arraigning the bible and suspecting god. if indeed the bible is a book let down from the skies, of which god can be called the 'author,' then all such uses of it may be correct enough, and in those dark and savage words and deeds i may be obliged to find the words of god and the deeds he holds up to our admiration and imitation; though i do not see that such a use is a necessity, even on this theory. fancy a man quoting shylock when he pleads for his bond, or iago's devilish innuendos against desdemona's purity, as showing what shakespeare liked or what he would have us imitate! "these are the words of shakespeare!" yes, but of shakespeare's shylock, shakespeare's iago. if, however, the old testament is the national library of the jews, i must expect to find all sorts of early jewish notions, in ethics and religion, bodied in the words of the speakers they introduce, and the deeds of the men of whom they tell the tales. if the bible is the record of a real revelation which came in the spirits of ancient men, through the historic growth of conscience and reason; and if these books are the literature embalming that growth of a people out of ignorance and superstition into the light of pure ethics and spiritual religion; then i must look to find all sorts of crudities and crassnesses in the representation of god, and all phases of unmoral and immoral life, as parts of the error and imperfection out of which they were educated. these deeds and words are the milestones in the path of progress by which judaism reached christianity. if the individual is to reproduce the story of the race, as our wise men tell us, then these words and deeds are in the bible to carry us through the same course of education; to exercise our consciences in discriminating right from wrong, and to lead us to grow out of such conceptions and desires toward the spirit of christ. in a cruise last summer we dropped anchor in a lovely little out-of-the-way harbor of buzzard's bay, which proved to be near pocasset; where, not long ago, a pious man, reading the hebrew tradition of abraham and isaac, as a real command of the most high, and having this word of the lord borne in on his mind, as spoken to himself, murdered his child in sacrifice to god--no angel interfering to stay his knife. he simply made a _reductio ad absurdum_ of this use of the bible.[ ] iii. _it is a wrong use of the bible to accept everything recorded therein as necessarily true._ if the historians were simply the amanuenses of the infinite spirit, then of course they could not have erred in anything they recorded. if they were ordinary writers, trying to tell the story of their peoples' growth; searching court archives, state annals, old parchments of forgotten writers, consulting the traditions of town and village, using their material in the best way their abilities enabled them to do; using all to teach virtue and religion, for which alone they were specially qualified of god; then all questions of historical accuracy are beside the mark. nothing in their inspiration guarantees their historical accuracy; their philological learning in using ancient poetic language, or their critical judgment in detecting exaggerations. are we to wait anxiously upon the latest assyrian tablets or the freshest egyptian mummy to confirm our faith that god has spoken to the spirit of man? are we to quake in our shoes when a few ciphers are cut off from the roll of israel's impossible armies? if much that we read as literal history turns out legend and myth, are we to find a painful alternative between a blind credulity and as blind a skepticism? we follow this same re-reading of roman and grecian story untroubled, and see the heroes of our childhood turn into races and sun-myths without calling the muse of history a fraud. has it been such comfort to us to read the doings of samson as actual history, slaying a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, tying fire-brands to the tails of three hundred foxes, etc., that we should resent the translation of this impossible hero into the semitic hercules, a solar myth? or if, perchance, the historian accepted from remote antiquity the accounts of great deeds and striking events, as they were told at the camp fires of the hebrew nomads, or in the merry makings of the palestinian villages, with an ever growing nimbus of the marvelous gathering around them; and if thus impossible marvels are reported to us soberly, are we to be compelled to accept them uncritically or reject the bible altogether? the bible itself points us to the interpretation of such legends we have some histories written by the actors in the scenes narrated. nehemiah and ezra, leaders in the most important movement of hebrew history after the migration led by moses, left accounts of their work from their own pens. in such a crucial epoch as that of the restoration of the jews to their native land, after the dispersion in babylonia, we might expect to find miraculous interpositions on behalf of the chosen people, if they are to be found anywhere. but no tale of miracle adorns their simple pages. no other old testament history, written by the actors in its scenes, tells of miracles. such stories are found in the traditions written down long after the events narrated, by men who knew nothing of the facts at first hand. exceptions to this rule occur alone in such startling events as the mysterious calamity that befell sennacherib; which strongly impressed the imagination of the people and naturally gave rise to exaggerations that we can no longer resolve. perhaps elisha's iron axe head did swim upon the water. i am prepared to believe almost anything after our spiritualistic mediums, and their exposers. whether it did or did not concerns me no whit. i shrug my shoulders and read on. i cannot make out the historical fact which was at the basis of the red sea deliverance; nor do i care much to make out this or any other old testament miracle. if i felt obliged to accept literally these stories, or to lose my faith in the voice of god which speaks through the men of the bible i should care greatly. in the true view of the bible i am delivered from solicitude about these traditions, and am under no constraint of credulity. those who can believe the story of elisha and the bears, or of elijah's ascension into heaven, may; those who cannot, need not; and both alike should reverently read their bibles, not for these tales of wonder, but for the still small voice of the eternal spirit sounding through holy lives and holier aspirations, until he came whose life was the word of god, the wonderful.[ ] iv. _it is a wrong use of the bible to consult it as a heathen oracle for the determining of our judgments and the decision of our actions._ the pagans, even such grand old pagans as the romans, before undertaking any important action would solemnly consult the auspices. men with reason given them of god would stand anxiously around the steaming entrails of a bird, to find out whether the fates were propitious to their undertaking. great generals would open or delay a campaign according to the intestinal revelations of a goose. intelligent people use the bible in some such way. when at a loss how to proceed, instead of calmly consulting their own judgments and the judgments of their wisest friends, and then acting like reasonable beings, men and women will open their bibles at random, let then-eyes rest on the first verse which arrests their attention, and accept any possible bearing on the question in hand as the voice of god. the journals of john wesley and other eminent men contain examples of this abuse of the bible. i call it an abuse, for such action degrades the bible to the level of a heathen oracle. isaiah, like all the great prophets, habitually contrasted the true and the false communications of of the divine will by the test of the reasonableness of their manifestations. the real prophet heard the voice of god, not so much in dreams and visions, in the "peepings and chirpings" of the oracles, as in the calm and sober working of his mind, illumined from on high. the oracle was the antithesis of the prophet. the oracle represented unintelligent, unreasonable magical means of getting at a desired knowledge. the prophet represented the intelligent, reasoning, natural means of getting at that knowledge; the lighting of that candle of the lord which is the spirit of man. in the profound double significance of the original, the _logos_ is the word or the reason. the word of god which comes to man is the divine reason, of which each human reason is a ray. to train and use that reason in all our exigencies, humbly looking up to the eternal reason to let the light in us be pure and clear, is the way to hear the word of god. to consult the reason of the holy men of old on themes whereon they were qualified to speak is rational and right. to make of their writings a new oracle whose mysterious meanings we are to guess, as the ancient greeks puzzled over the messages of the delphic shrine, is to revive paganism in christianity. "no prophecy is of any private interpretation." no passage in the bible was written, centuries ago, with reference to your private affairs. all that is there written concerned men and affairs of distant days. the principles there applied will help you now, if you will take the trouble to search for them, since principles do not change with the fashions. v. _it is a wrong use of the bible to go to it, as the heathen went to their oracles, for divination of the future._ the pagan oracles were the shrines of a power sought for the forecasting of events. the inspiration of an oracle was proven by the success of its predictions. in the same way men have turned to the bible as a sort of sacred weather bureau, a book which, if we could only interpret its mystic utterances, would tell us what things were going to happen upon the earth. i remember an eloquent irish divine who came to this country on a great mission a number of years ago. his first sermon was on ezekiel's vision by the chebar. he said that this was the age of science, and that such a marvel as science could not have escaped the vision of the prophets. this mystic creature which the prophet saw, with wheels, whose appearance was like burning coals of fire, which turned not as it went, and so on, was--the locomotive! this folly was only more undisguised than the mass of the lucubrations called prophetic studies. let any political crisis occur, and some sage will write a book showing how daniel had foretold this issue of diplomacy. i have not forgotten the learned tracts and essays called forth by the fascination louis napoleon exercised upon the imaginations of half-educated people; all proving beyond a doubt that he was the mystic man of sin, the anti-christ in whom history was to culminate. america, the restoration of the jews to palestine, and the church of rome especially inspire, at present, these crazy conjectures. they ought all to issue from bedlam. this mad and maddening use of what, rightly read, are noble and instructive books, grows out of a misunderstanding of what were the functions of hebrew prophecy. prophecy has been taken as a synonyme for prediction. there is not much verbal difference between foretelling and forthtelling, but there is a vast difference for the purposes of religion. taking prophecy as the synonyme of foretelling, the essential function of the prophets became predicting. they were supposed to have been busy in forecasting the things which should come to pass in the far future. the success of these long-range predictions was the demonstration of their being charged with miraculous powers. the prophecies constituted the chief evidence for the supernatural character of the bible. of course, with this theory in the mind of the church, a predictive character would be read into everything capable of bearing it; and the history of the hebrews, the eloquent orations of their great statesmen, the pious longings of their hymn writers, became mystic anticipations of everything in the heavens above and the earth beneath. but hebrew prophecy never was the synonyme for prediction. it meant forth-telling. the prophets were "men of the spirit," whose pure nature mirrored the supreme laws of earth, the moral laws; whose intuitions made application of those laws to the policies of statecraft, and enabled them to divine the issues of the stirring events amid which they lived. their glory is that they saw above the brute force of great empires the might of right, and dared to vision its triumph, and that history has verified their moral insight. but they chiefly spake, as the author of the revelation declares of his prophecy, "of things which must shortly come to pass" upon the earth. their horizon bounded a very nigh future the approach of syrian, assyrian, egyptian invaders the overthrow of jerusalem, etc. in these predictions they were often mistaken; nearly as often in error as in the right. we seldom hear of these unfulfilled prophecies, but they are in your bibles. they should teach you, that which the prophets tried so hard to teach their own cotemporaries, that the essential distinction of the true prophet was not that he predicted the future, for this they scornfully left to the false prophets the oracles of the pagan jews, but that they forthtold the inner mind and will of god, read the 'laws mighty and brazen' which constitute the essential nature of the most high and hold the supreme felicity of man. i believe i know of no one passage of the prophets which can be certainly said to point to any event beyond the near future of the writer. only in so far as they spoke of the ideal forces, of ethical victories, did they launch out upon the far future. but you say, do not the old testament prophets surely point on to christ? i answer both no, and yes. of any mere literal prediction of the events of his life i know none. the many passages that have been made to read like predictions of his miraculous birth, his sale for thirty pieces of silver, and so on, refer to personages and experiences in the time of the writers. isaiah expressly says this about the virgin--that is, the young bride--who was to conceive and bear a son. before he should be able to distinguish right from wrong the relief of jehovah to israel would appear. the passages which seem to our eyes, looking through orthodox spectacles, to have this predictive character, lose it in a more exact translation. it is doubtless true that the gospels make many such applications of old testament words, adding to their record of minute incidents--"that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by ... saying." but the gospels, as we now possess them, have been slowly fashioned by the labor of many hands, working over the tradition which gradually shaped itself out of the reminiscences of multitudes of men and women. pious jews, trained in this rabbinical use of their sacred scriptures, delighting to make application of ancient mystic sayings to the life of their adorable messiah, read into the gospel narrative these fulfillments of prediction. this use of the old testament has been pushed to absurdity in learned books over which i have patiently toiled. "the gospel of leviticus," gave me the hebrew civic and ecclesiastic legislation mystified into 'sound evangelical' symbols. "christ in the psalms" twisted every heathenish imprecation of the hebrew hymns into language which could be put upon the lips of the dear lord, and turned the bitterest curses into sweet and gracious benedictions. the culmination of this moon-struck exegesis, as far as my knowledge reaches, is in the ancient and fantastic reading of the tradition of the escape of the spies from jericho, which gave a young and eloquent bishop of our church a favorite sermon; wherein he showed conclusively that the scarlet cord by which rahab let down her visitors over the city wall was a type of the atoning blood of christ! this chinese puzzle-book of predictions exists nowhere save in the imagination of its readers. there was, however, a most real and substantial typifying of christ through the old testament; but it was natural, organic, ethical and spiritual; in those books as first in the lives of the people. the growth of the nation onward toward the true image of god, the true human ideal; the travail of the nation with the divine-human character which at the last came to the birth in jesus the christ; this was a mystery of natural, organic evolution, which 'must give us pause' in every shallow denial of a supernatural involution in human history. this makes true rationalism reverent before 'that holy thing' born not alone of mary but of mary's race, begotten plainly of the overshadowings of some holy ghost, of whom our best judgment is, now as of old,--"he shall be called the son of the highest." the whole history of israel is a growth of the christ, and that is the abiding wonder of it. in such a mystic evolution it may well be, in history as in nature, that the organic processes type the oncoming form of life; but to trace these rightly there is needed a finer criticism than that which has given us the orthodox typology.[ ] * * * * * let us pause here for to-day. and let us take home, as the heart-thought of the morning, an assurance which may comfort us as we stand under the shadow of christmas. if the dear christ's throne stood on any such flimsy basis of prophecy as men have built up beneath it, then, when the underpinnings came tumbling out, as to-day they are doing, we might fear that his authority was dropping in with them; that no longer we were to call him master and king; that criticism had pronounced his _decheance_. but his throne really rests on a nation's growth of the human ideal and divine image. and, since this nation's growth was on the same general lines as the religious and ethical progress of other races, his throne rests on no less secure a foundation than humanity's evolution of the human ideal and divine image. man's best and noblest life aspires after an ideal which is the christly character. man's best and noblest thoughts of god fashion a vision which is the god revealed in christ. he is humanity's "master of life." iv. the wrong use of the bible "the scriptures will be more studied than they have been, and in a different manner--not as a magazine of propositions and mere dialectic entities, but as inspirations and poetic forms of life; requiring, also, divine inbreathings and exaltations in us, that we may ascend into their meaning. no false _precision,_ which the nature and conditions of spiritual truth forbid, will, by cutting up the body of truth into definite and dead morsels, throw us into states of excision and division, equally manifold. we shall receive the truth of god in a more organic and organific manner, as being itself an essentially vital power." horace bushnell. god in christ; p. . "but, further, the zealots for the bible _as it is_, just because it _is_, forget that, in their outcry in behalf of every existing book, and paragraph, and sentence, and word in the present edition of it, as 'god's word written,' they are simply begging the question, what _is_ 'god's word written'? what _is_, without any doubt, a genuine portion of those writings which contain the message from god? the question is, in no case, 'will you part with any utterance of god's voice, whether through apostle or evangelist?' but only, 'is this particular word, or sentence, or passage, truly such an utterance? have we good grounds for accepting it as such? nay, have we not overwhelming grounds for doubting it to be such?' we do right to hold fast 'the faith once delivered to the saints,' but the more we are determined to be faithful to this faith, just the more sedulous and more searching must be our inquiry, have we here this faith in its integrity?" thomas griffith, late prebendary of st. paul's, london: the gospel of the divine life, p. . iv. the wrong use of the bible. "every scripture inspired of god is also profitable for teaching, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of god may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."-- tim. iii; - . "use the world as not abusing it" was a great principle of the apostle, which has many special applications. one of these comes again before us to-day: use the bible as not abusing it. i proceed to point out some further wrong uses of the bible: i. _it is a wrong use of the bible to go to it as an authority in any sphere save the spheres of theology and of religion._ in the traditional view it was an infallible authority upon every subject of which it treated. the divine being had prepared a book which answered off-hand the questions man's mind naturally starts concerning the problems of existence; a book which taught officially how the earth came into its present form, how life arose upon it, how man was made, how sin entered, how the world was peopled, how mankind was to fare upon the earth, how the present order was to come to an end, and many things beside. to answer authoritatively these questions was the _raison d'être_ of the bible. it laid a solid foundation for a science of life. with the passing away of the unreal bible all reference to it for such information should cease. these books, as actual human writings, the studies of men of long past centuries, of men having no guarantees of infallibility, cannot be expected to have anticipated the solution of the great problems of knowledge, towards which the human intellect has been laboriously working through the generations since they were written; towards which it is still toilsomely striving, content, even now, with the cold, grey light as of the dawning day. our truer idea of revelation--the evolution of nature and the historic growth of man--forbids such a notion of any book. it has plainly pleased the most high that knowledge of these mysteries should come to man through his patient, persevering effort after truth. such continued endeavour wins gradually better knowledge, and with it better life. this process of human discovery is yet more truly a process of the divine self-revealing. in each and every real knowledge man is learning to know--god. each truth of science is a manifestation of somewhat in the infinite power in whom we live and move and have our being. had it pleased god to have given, centuries ago, a super-natural answer to these problems of earth, he would simply have dismissed his children from school, with-held from them that noble education which lies in the discipline of study, and, while giving them truth, have robbed them of that keenest joy of life, that benediction richer even than the possession of truth--the search for it. how indeed, even in the resources of omnipotence, could an answer to the earth-problems have been framed, which, while coming down to the plane of the age of moses, should have kept level with the rise of human knowledge through the climbing centuries? no, the bible was not prepared as an encyclopedia of knowledge for the successive generations of men. its writers may anticipate the thought of ages by profound intuitions, pregnant imaginations, visions of the seer, as plato does. genius often outstrips the plodding feet of generations. but genius must not put on the airs of omniscience. it must submit its claims to trial by jury. they are to stand, if stand they shall, not because they are in genesis or the republic, but because they prove true. when (_e.g._) the biblical writers speak of the creation, the garden of eden, the fall of man, etc., they give us their thoughts, the thoughts of their age, the thoughts of earlier ages, of greatly gifted minds in many ages gathering into an imposing tradition; which, as we now see, came down through successive generations of hebrews, from a remote antiquity in which this race had not been thrown off from the common semitic stock. on the baked clay tablets of babylonia we read to-day the same stories. the hebrews worked them over, under the plastic power of their religious genius, into the lofty ethical and theistic forms in which they stand in genesis; forms which, rightly read, are parables fresh and inspiring now, as when, twenty-five hundred years ago, jewish children listened to them with awe beneath the willows by the water courses of babylonia. that most exquisite story of our weird hawthorne, the marble faun, is a version of the legend of the garden of eden. commingled with these lofty truths we find crude notions of astronomy, geology, biology, and anthropology how could it be otherwise, since these sciences were embryotic then, or even unborn? we hearken, reverently, thankfully, to the philosophy and poetry of hebrew, chaldean and accadian sages and seers, in these profound and subtle parables of the mysteries which still fascinate us. we dismiss the knowledge of nature set forth in these legends and myths as the child-sciences of israel and chaldea and accadia. we go to our savans for knowledge of physical nature. we make no attempt to reconcile genesis with the origin of species. genesis is no authority in science, and the origin of species is no authority in philosophy, poetry, theology or religion. the accounts of man in the dim distance of pre-historic times, given in genesis, belong to the departments of the antiquarian, and the philologist; and we trust their story, no matter how it collides with the hebrew traditions. so through every sphere of knowledge upon which the biblical writers enter, outside of their own special spheres, we follow them as venerable guides, but as entirely fallible authorities, expressing the knowledge of their age and race. thus, to take one example from later times, st. paul, in the first epistle to the corinthians, condemns woman's participation in the exercises of worship and instruction in the christian assemblies of corinth. this judgment is accepted, by those who hold to the unreal bible, as forclosing the case of woman versus man in the vocation of the ministry, in this land and age as in all lands and ages. we saw lately the action of this theory over in brooklyn. though she had the gifts and graces of a lucretia mott, though her preaching were blessed as that of a miss smiley, though woman's temperament seems peculiarly fitted for the inspirational influences of the pulpit, yet nature's ordination must be disowned because saul of tarsus thought it unseemly for a woman to speak in meeting! he thought it unseemly also, as he tells us in the same letter, that woman should appear unveiled in public assemblies; in which you do not seem to consider him an authority. why should you defer to him in the one opinion and disregard him in the other? both opinions formed part of his education as a jew of the first century of our era; as which he frankly confessed that he regarded woman as inferior to man. we do not consider the jewish physiology and psychology of that age binding on us; and st. paul's opinion on such a matter falls to the ground with it. ii. _it is a wrong use of the bible, for the purposes of theology or religion, to give its language any other meaning than that which similar language would have under similar circumstances._ people of sound minds do not read poetic language in other books as though it were prose. they do not take words thrown off at white heat; crowd them, all molten with feeling, into the mould of a gradgrind understanding; force them to take the form of such matter-of-fact minds; and then, when the emotion is cooled down, and the fluent fancies are reduced to stiff, hard prose, say--"there, that is the exact meaning of this language!" fancy shakespeare's impetuous, tumultuous riotous imagery treated by such 'criticism!' yet that is the sort of treatment which many learned pedants call 'expounding the bible!' it is with the greatest difficulty that the western mind can rightly read the eastern's language. we miss the rich aroma of their nectared speech, and find only the grounds left. and we take these grounds for the true original beverage of the gods! out of such residuum of poetry, when the poesy has exhaled, we make our spiritual food! poetry petrified into prose--is the real explanation to be offered of many an absurdity of bible-reading. a visitor to one of the shaker communities describes the men and women as engaging in the most preposterous play of making-believe; performing upon imaginary instruments as they marched in procession; going through the motions of washing their faces and hands as they surrounded an imaginary fountain; and, finally, plunging bodily into this spiritual fountain, by rolling over on the grass! to an exclamation of surprise at such childish doings, answer was made that thus they were becoming as little children, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven![ ] luther sat disputing with zwinglius the doctrine of trans-substantiation, and to every argument of his rational opponent answered by laying his sturdy finger on the words, "this _is_ my body." the most powerful church of christendom bases itself upon this prosaic reading of a poetic saying. many a mysterious dogma would simplify itself at once by remembering that, in the language of the imagination, "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth it life."[ ] we are not to rush from this extreme into the opposite error and turn into mystical and marvellous meanings the plain sense of the biblical writers. imagine the result of putting all sorts of mystic glosses on the straight-forward accounts of men and things in ordinary writings. such is in reality the folly of turning the sober statements of biblical prose writers into allegories, parables, symbols, types; and of finding underneath the plainest meanings a double, triple and quadruple sense. in the hour of christ's approaching arrest he warns his disciples, in his usual figurative manner, that they must now learn to provide for themselves; since he would shortly be taken from them. "he that hath a purse let him take it; and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one." and his disciples, being very unimaginative folk, or being perhaps stupefied with wonder and anxiety by his strange words and actions on that night of sad surprises said--"lord, behold here are two swords." the master answered, with a weariness of their obtuseness that we can feel in the curt reply, "it is enough." and the wisdom of the roman church sees herein a type of the temporal and spiritual power of the papacy! i am solemnly warned against such learned puerilities every time i turn to my shelves and encounter swedenborg's "arcana coelestia." in ten goodly volumes he interprets scripture history after this fashion: "'and rebecca arose'--hereby is signified an elevation of the affection of truth: 'and her damsels'--hereby are signified subservient affections: 'and they rode upon camels'--hereby is signified the intellectual principle elevated above natural scientifics."! of all this pious sort of folly we may say with the master--"enough." it is the common mistake which gathers a nimbus of mystic sense around every book excessively revered. thus the greeks fancied an inner and mystical sense in homer; and thus italian professors expound the esoteric significance of dante. the fantastic dream of mysterious meanings in the bible must take wings after its kindred fancies of greeks and italians, at the touch of a ripening literary judgment. one rule holds of all human letters. where there is legend, myth, metaphor, or other clear form of poetic fancy, language is to be read imaginatively. otherwise, in the bible, as out of it, the ordinary meaning of words must be followed. iii. _it is a wrong use of the bible to construct a theology out of it, by the mechanical system of proof texts in vogue in the churches._ with a preconceived system of thought in their minds, drawn from the most highly evolved speculations of the new testament, men have gone through both testaments; and whenever they have lighted upon a sentence which seemed to coincide with this system, it has been torn bleeding from its place in a living texture of thought, impaled on some one of the "five points," and set up in the theological cabinet, duly labelled "proof-text of original sin," or "proof text of future punishment." what a monstrosity an ordinary sunday school scripture catechism is, with its statements of received doctrines, to which are appended proof-texts drawn from genesis and isaiah and paul; _i.e._, from some pre-historic tradition, from a hebrew states, man's oration and from a christian apostle's letter. it makes no difference what the character of the writing from which the sentence is taken. everything is grist for this mill. a "judgment" or "doom" of the nomadic hebrews, a burning metaphor from a late poet and a metaphysical proposition from an alexandrian philosopher are jumbled together side by side, as co-equal proofs of the most awful doctrines. an ancient historian, gathering up the traditions of his primitive fore-fathers, records the legend of the flood, in which it is told that "god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." the poet who wrote, out of the deep of some experience of shameful sin, the pathetic penitential hymn, known as the fifty-first psalm, said, in the course of his self-condemnings:-- "behold i was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me." the poet who wrote his unrivaled prophecies amid the humiliation of the national exile in babylonia, cried out in one place:-- "we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags." and these mythic and poetic words, true to man's abiding sense of evil in his deepest hours, stand to-day in the arsenal of theology as proof-texts of the doctrines of original sin and total depravity! even this folly has been surpassed. among the proverbial sayings of the jews was one to this effect; "if the tree fall towards the south, or towards the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be." the meaning of such a proverb is surely plain enough. death's action is irrevocable. as it meets a man it leaves him. his plans and schemes lie as incapable of development as the fallen tree is incapable of new sproutings. at the time the book of ecclesiastes was written, the belief in any life after death was little known in israel. this book was the work of a thorough pessimist, whose constant refrain was--vanity of vanities, all is vanity. it gives no hint of a second life; and in the absence of this faith the present life is to the writer an insoluble problem. this saying really expressed the popular belief that death ended everything. a man falls like a tree, and, like a prostrate tree, as he falls he lies. and lo! this jewish proverb is the first proof-text generally quoted for the dread doctrine that after death there is another life, but that its character is fixed forever by the state of the man at death; the dogma of everlasting conscious suffering in hell! what midsummer night's dream reasoning, turning common-sense topsy-turvy, and treating the words of god in the very reverse way from that in which all sane people agree to treat the words of man! iv. _it is a wrong use of the bible to disregard the chronological order of its parts in constructing our theology._ we are not to read the biblical writers as though they were all cotemporaries. they are separated by vast tracts of time. the later writers stand upon the shoulders of their predecessors and see further and clearer. we are not to view the institutions or doctrines of the bible as though, no matter in what period of the development of the hebrew nation or of the christian church they are found, they were equally authoritative upon us. that would be to say that green apples are as good food for us as ripe ones. the time-perspective is essential to set any biblical institution or dogma in the true light. romanists and our own ritualists entrench their sacerdotalism behind the priestly system of the jews. as though, because that was once needful and serviceable to an ignorant, half heathen people, it was still indispensible to us. as though what providence once ordained, providence perpetually imposed on humanity. such a rule would keep us with our primers always in our hands. progress is marked by the debris of discarded institutions, wholesome and necessary once, but incumbrances after a time. the whole _rationale_ of sacerdotalism is exploded by this simple common sense principle; and we see in its light the significance of paul's impatient sweeping away of the law; of the entire ignoring of the sacrifice and the priesthood in the life and teaching of jesus himself. "the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at jerusalem, worship the father. god is spirit; and they that worship must worship him in spirit and in truth." dogmas also must be seen in historical perspective. thus, for example, the doctrine of the second advent, which still exercises the christian mind, is wholly cleared up as looked at through the time-vista. we see the progress of the messianic expectation through the centuries immediately prior to the age of christ, in our old testament books and in the apocryphal writings. in these latter works we see it gradually gathering round itself visions of the winding up of the present aeon, the renovation of the earth, the judgment of the nations, the resurrection of the pious dead, and the opening of a millenial era in which the messiah should rule the world from jerusalem. it would appear to have even developed the notion that the messiah, after his appearance on earth, would depart into the spirit-world, to consummate his preparation; and would return thence to assume full power. this had became the popular expectation by the christian era. when then the early christians became satisfied that jesus was the messiah, it followed of necessity that they should after his death, say to themselves--"he has gone into the heavens to receive his institution into the office he has won by his sinless life and suffering death. he will come again in the clouds with power; the conquering messiah." this belief seems to have taken shape first in paul's fervid mind. his earlier epistles were full of it. his converts became unsettled by it, and in their excited expectation of the return of the messiah they neglected their earthly duties; and paul had to caution them against this impatience and cool their heated minds. this and other experiences sobered paul's own mind. he found that as year after year came round the messiah did not return. in the rapid ripening of thought which went on in the tropical climate of his soul, he grew into a more spiritual apprehension of christ. if you read his undoubted letters in the order of their writing; first thessalonians, first and second corinthians, galatians, romans, etc., you will note a steady decrease of reference to this topic, until it fades away into a vague vision of the dawning day of god; the absolute assurance that christ would conquer and rule the earth, though it might be in the spirit and not in the flesh; the certain conviction of a good time coming though beyond his ken. the later light of the apostle corrected his earlier misapprehensions; and would correct our crude and carnal notions of the second coming of christ, if we would only study paul, as we study turner or shakespeare, in his ripening 'periods.' were this one principle followed, our popular theology would soon reconstruct itself. v. _it is a wrong use of the bible to cite its authors as of equal authority, even in the spheres of theology and religion._ the teachings of any human writing come clothed with such authority as the author's name lends to it or its intrinsic force wins for it. if in the work of an obscure economic writer, of no perceptible ability, you come upon the theory that the land of a people belongs to the people; that its passing into the absolute ownership of private persons is the basic evil of our civilization; that the nation must resume the inalienable rights of the people at large, in the resources of all wealth, and regulate the individual usufruct of land in the interests of the entire body politic--you will probably toss the book contemptuously from you as the crazy lucubration of a fool. if in reading john stuart mill's principles of political economy you come upon this theory, cautiously broached, you are constrained to treat it with the consideration due an acknowledged master in this science. if again in the first elaborate work of a new author, progress and poverty, you meet this same theory, boldly laid down as the central theme of the book, and contended for as the real solution of the persistent problem of pauperism, you are disposed to pass it by unheeded. the author's name carries to your mind no prestige of tradition. he speaks from no time-honored university chair. no array of imposing titles hang upon the plain 'henry george,' of the title page. but you become interested in these brilliant pages of genius and follow the author, with growing sympathy, to the end. you lay the book down, feeling as though a spell had been upon you, in which you could form no sound judgment. you lay it by accordingly, to take it up after some weeks, work over its positions, and find your first impressions confirmed; to realize that here is a work of real, rare power; an epoch-making book, which, if it does not carry your conviction, commands your careful consideration. precisely so we are to be affected by the biblical authors. there are writings in the bible by utterly unknown writers. a letter of an obscure author cannot come with the weight of a letter from st. paul. there are writings of widely different mental force. biblical authors varied in personal power as much as other authors. inspiration cannot do away with the limitations of the human individuality. it must be modified by its instrumentality. the saints are of various orders. even the diamond books which reflect the light of god so brilliantly may not be all of first water. we must allow for the hues in the less perfect prisms. were the greatest musical genius in the world to sit before the key-boards he could not draw from a harmonium the notes of a lucerne organ. the impact of a writing on our souls must be proportionate to the spiritual and ethical force with which it is charged. everyone recognizes this practically. none of us, however orthodox, professes to be as much inspired by esther as by job; by chronicles as by kings; by daniel as by isaiah; by jude as by paul. that simply means that there is not as much inspiration in some biblical authors as in others. no author is always at his best. his work differs. the second epistle to the thessalonians is not level with the epistle to the romans. the third epistle of john, if it be of john, is surely not as highly inspired as the first epistle of john. inspiration is plainly a matter of degrees. the recognition of this common-sense principle, theoretically, would remand the darker doctrines of christianity to such authority as the lower order of biblical writings possess. the terrifying and torturing teachings of the new testament are from obscure authors, or from the masters in their lower moods. the representations of a wrathful god, of an avenging christ, of a hell of horrors, are found in such epistles as second thessalonians, whose authorship is uncertain; as jude or second peter, about whose authorship and date we have only the probability that no apostle wrote them, and that they were written after the first, fresh inspiration had passed from the church. rabbinical speculations and greek superstitions show themselves at work in the christian church.[ ] the unquestioned letters of paul are sunny and sweet. in them we see the father of christian restorationism. if he knows anything of a dark side to the resurrection, as he shows elsewhere that he does, he leaves it in its own shadows; and in the height of this great argument of corinthians brings to the front only the resurrection to life and joy. "knowing the fear of the lord we--persuade men." the first epistle of john is true to its favorite symbol of the light. there are no clouds in it. the god revealed in the greatest writings of the greatest authors of the new testament is love. the christ they picture is _christus consolator_. the full breath of inspiration opens only the upper register of notes. the voices of the soul are buoyant, joyous, hopeful. if you are willing to follow the most inspired writers, in their most inspired moods, up into the heights whither the divine afflatus bore them, you will mount above the cloud-level, and leave to those who lag after feebler guides on the lower ranges of truth, the chill mists that eat into the soul, while you rejoice in the light. vi. _it is a wrong use of the bible to manufacture cut of it any one uniform, system, of theology, as the fixed and final form of thought in which religion is to live._ let me define these contrasting terms, so commonly confounded. religion is man's perception of the power in whom we live and move and have our being, and his emotion towards this power. theology is man's conception of this power, and his thought defined and formulated. religion is man's feeling after god; theology is man's grasp of god. the two are necessarily connected. they are different forms of one and the same force; the heat and the light which stream from god; but the heat and the light are not always equal. a worthy thought of god ought to sustain any worthy feeling towards him. it generally does so. a heightened thought of god may often be found back of a rising flow of feeling after him. more often the emotion precedes the conception; the vague, awed sense of god travails till a new thought is born among men. this has been the order of development in history. men felt the divine power and presence ages before they had learned so much of theology as to say--god. the feeling of god--religion--always keeps, in healthy natures, far ahead of theology--the thought about him. the deepest religion finds no word for the mystery before which it bows. its only thought may be that no thought is sufficient. "in that high hour thought was not." theology, then, as man's thought about god, is necessarily conditioned by man's mind. it is under the general limitations of the human intellect, and the special limitations of thought in each race and age and individuality. it cannot escape these limitations, expand as they may. a flooding of the mind from on high may overflow these embankments but they still stand, shaping the flow of the fullest tides. the individuality of a great writer asserts itself most strongly in his greatest works. his deepest inspiration brings out most plainly his mental form, just as the drawing of a full breath shows the real shape of a man. no possible theory of inspiration should lead us to look for the submergences of the dykes of thought cast up by race and age and individuality. as a matter of fact, we find no uniformity in the theologies of the new testament writers. men have tried hard to make it appear that there was such a unity of thought. never was more ingenious joiner-work done than in the "harmonies" of the new testament writers. but facts are stubborn things, and in this case have resisted even the omnipotence of human ingenuity; as open minds have seen, despite the doctors. st. paul's epistles reveal a theology by no means as precise and fixed as is popularly imagined, undergoing rapid changes, growing with his growth, always suffused from the soul with emotions which struggled against the prison bars of thought and speech. his intensely speculative mind had furnished a system of thought into which he built such ideas as these: the pre-existence of christ, as, in some mystic, undefined way, the head of humanity; the sacrificial nature of his death; the justification of the sinner through faith; the life of christ within the soul, as the human ideal; the speedy return of christ in person to reign on earth (at least in the early part of his career); the resurrection of the pious dead; the translation of living believers; the final victory of goodness over evil; and the ending of the mediatorship of christ, god then becoming all in all. this was the form which the mystery of god's relationship to man took in the mind of this great genius, and around which the fiery passion of his hunger after righteousness shaped itself. in the epistle of st. james, assuming the traditional authorship, how much of this theology can you find? the incarnation is nowhere clearly stated. the name of christ occurs but twice. his atonement is scarcely mentioned. the prophets are held up as examples of patience, under suffering without any reference to christ. paul's especial doctrine of justification by faith is explicitly denied. of his fellowship with the gentiles and his broad human sympathies, there is nothing whatever. all is intensely jewish. if paul's theology is orthodoxy, james is dreadfully unsound.[ ] "the fundamentals" are all lacking. both paul and james differ very decidedly from the mystic soul who wrote the first epistle of john; and all three differ again, quite as much, from the philosopher who wrote the epistle to the hebrews. how little have either the apocalypse or jude in common with paul! we can no more make a uniform theology out of the new testament writers than we can out of calvinism, arminianism catholicism, and unitarianism. these various theologies can be traced to the elements making up the individualities of the different writers. the idiosyncracies of paul are clearly marked. he was a man of strong speculative mind, of mystic piety, of lofty enthusiasm for great ideals, a-hungered after righteousness. a jew and yet a roman citizen, his education developed the two-fold sympathies of an israelite of the dispersion. at the feet of the liberal rabbi, gamaliel, he learned the curious and mystical lore of the rabbins, while drinking in from his master the spirit of freedom. thrown from a child in constant contact with the gentiles of his native city, tarsus, race prejudices had been sapped unconsciously; while in youth or manhood the wisdom and beauty of the greek genius had apparently been opened to him. paul's personality, fusing the materials of his education, and out of them building a body of thought around the christ, explains his theology. he reproduces the conceptions of the rabbis, of the popular jewish belief, of gamaliel, of tarsus, of athens; transfigured on the heights of thought to which he climbed, in his intense musings over the problem of jesus of nazareth, while buried away in arabia. the small amount of theology in the practical epistle of james is quite as plainly jewish, of the school of the sages, with a touch of essenism. the theology of the epistle to the hebrews shows throughout the influences of the philosophy of alexandria. the theology of the introduction to the gospel according to st. john is just as unquestionably this same alexandrian philosophy, still further developed. these variant schools of christian theology, so plainly revealing the sources of their variations, deny the existence of any one uniform system of thought in the new testament writers, and pronounce the different systems transient and not final forms. whatever the church may offer us, the new testament offers us no fixed and final body of thought. in the bible, christian theology is still a soft vase, plastic to the touch of each worker upon it. had paul's fine hand played around it even another decade, how different the shape it might have taken. with the incoming of a more rational, ethical, and spiritual age, we may surely expect a finer fashioning of the forms of thought blocked out in the new testament, under the first, fresh inspiration of the age of jesus; into whose larger patterns shall be taken up all the truths revealed through the various sciences of these rich later ages; while all shall still take on the shape of him who is the image of the invisible god. "the lord has more truth yet to break forth out of his holy word." the true biblical theology is--christ himself. his thought of god, and not even paul's thoughts about christ, are to mould our thinking. the supreme son of man must have had the truest thought of god. two words formulate his theology as bodied not in a creed, but in a prayer--"our father." the earliest, simplest, deepest cry of the human after god, now by him who lived its spirit perfectly, the trusting, loving, holy child of the father, made no longer a sigh, a dream, a vision, but a life. "the life was the light of men." that light is the sufficient clue to the dark labyrinth in which we wander wearily. i cannot always make out the face of a father on the stern, harsh power in whom we live and move and have our being. then i turn to my divine brother, who, of all the children of men, saw deepest into the mystery, and in his far-mirroring eyes i read the vision which satisfies me. with poor dying joe, i whisper to myself: "'our father:' yes, that's werry good." v. the right critical use of the bible. "i am convinced that the bible becomes even more beautiful the more one understands it; that is, the more one gets insight to see that every word, which we take generally and make special application of to our own wants, has had, in connection with certain circumstances, with certain relations of time and place, a particular, directly individual reference of its own." goethe: quoted by m. arnold in "the great prophecy of israel's restoration." v. the right critical use of the bible. "god, who at many times and in many manners spake in time past to the fathers, by the prophets."--hebrews, i. . the right use of the bible grows out of the true view of the bible. the old testament is the literature of the people of religion, in whom ethical and spiritual religion grew, through all moods and tenses, toward perfection. the new testament is the literature of the movement which grew out of israel, the literature of the universal church bodying around the son of man, in whom religion came to perfect flower and fruit. the real bible is the record of this real revelation coming through real ethical and spiritual inspirations; a revelation advancing with men's deepening inspirations toward the light which rose in the life of jesus christ our lord. god, who at many times and in many manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets, hath at the last of these days spoken unto us by a son. these speakings of the divine spirit in the souls of men, at many times and in many manners, were articulated, as best was possible, in the writings of many ages and of many forms. the bible is the collection of these writings. they require a critical study, as _bona fide_ "letters," before we can know the degree of their inspiration, and their place in the progressive historic revelation; before we can thus deduce aright the thoughts about god out of which we are to construct our theology. concerning this right critical use of the bible, i propose now to offer some practical suggestions. next sunday i purpose giving you a bird's-eye view of the general course of the historic revelation which led up to the christ, the word of god. after which i shall pass on to consider with you the pre-eminently right use of the bible, in which our souls humbly hearken for its words proceeding from out the mouth of god, on which man liveth; and on them feeding, grow toward a perfect manhood in christ jesus. i. _every aid of outward form should be used to make these books appear as living "letters" to us._ the traditional form in which the bible has been given to the people would seem to have been devised with a design of robbing its writings of every natural charm, as the best means of making men feel its supernatural power. the fresh sense of "letters" disappears in this conventional form. these many books of many ages have been bound up together, with the most imperfect classification either as to period or character. a verse-making machine has been driven through them all alike, chopping them up into short, arbitrary, artificial sentences, formally numbered in the body of the text. the larger divisions into chapters have been made in an equally mechanical manner. by this twofold system an admirable provision has been made for checking the flow of the writer's thought, and for effectually preventing any easy grasp of the natural movement of the book. poetry has been printed as prose; thereby marring its rhythm, concealing its structure, and blinding the reader to the dramatic character of immortal works of genius. through the whole mass of writings a system of chapter-headings has been introduced that ingeniously insinuates into the body of these sacred books, as seemingly an integral part thereof, a scheme of interpretation which possesses now no pepsine power for resolving their contents into spiritual nutriment, but rather positively hinders our assimilation of many of these books. probably the greatest obstacle to the use of the bible is the senseless form in which custom persists in publishing it. i know few stronger evidences of the intrinsic power of these books than their continued influence, under conditions that would have remanded other books to the topmost shelves of the most unused alcoves in our libraries. we ought to have the different books, or groups of books, bound separately; arranged paragraphically like other writings, with the present verse divisions indicated, if need be, in the margin; and the poetic structure properly indicated. these books should have brief, simple, lucid notes; drawing from our best critics the needful information as to their age, authorship, integrity, form, scope, obsolete words and idioms, local customs historical allusions, etc.; with other readings throwing light upon obscure passages. each book should be thus provided with such a popular critical apparatus as accompanies good editions of other classics, and as matthew arnold has prepared for one book, in his primer entitled "the great prophecy of israel's restoration;" which is the second section of isaiah, arranged as a "bible-reading for schools." this series of bible-books should then be chronologically arranged, as far as the conclusions of the higher criticism will allow; and should be bound in uniform style and set in a bible case, preserving thus the unity of the whole. such an edition of the bible would stimulate a renewed resort to it, in which men would re-discover a lost literature. until you can procure such an edition, provide yourselves with a paragraph bible, following the natural divisions of the writings and maintaining their poetic form; and seek the information you may desire in some of the manuals embodying the results of the higher criticism. ii. _each writing having an intrinsic unity should, by such aids, be studied as a whole._ every intelligent christian ought to have a clear conception of the general scope of thought in each great bible-book. whatever fragmentary use of these books for direct devotional purposes may be made, he who would count himself as one of "the men of the bible," ought to know as much about them as he knows about his favorite authors. who that pretends to be a lover of shakespeare is content with a scrappy reading of his immortal plays? to enjoy them fully, even in fragmentary readings, he seeks to have a foundation of critical knowledge, such as shakespearian scholars place within the easy mastery of any one. after such a study of a play he can pick it up in leisure hours and see new beauties every time he reads it. how many bible christians know their bible thus? what a revelation such a study makes! it is an alchemist's touch, turning many a leaden book into finest gold. the oldest book, as a whole, in the bible, is the song of songs. attributed by later ages to solomon, it was probably written by some unknown author, anywhere from the tenth to the eighth century before christ.[ ] the poem is dramatic in form, though imperfectly constructed according to our canons. its scenes shift, and its speakers change with true dramatic movement. it is the closest approach to the drama preserved to us in hebrew literature, whose genius never favored this highly organic form. there is needed but the usual indication of the _dramatis personæ_ to clear the movement of the plot, and to reveal the force and beauty of the poem. a maiden, her royal admirer, ladies of the court, the girl's brother and her shepherd lover, appear and disappear in animated conversation. the country maiden is wooed away from her shepherd lad by the allurements of a royal admirer, who employs all the resources of fervid flattery and passionate persuasion to win her as a new attraction for his harem. he is foiled, however, by her simple, steadfast loyalty to her absent lover, to whom she at length returns, triumphant in her virtue. in a corrected version, the sensuousness of our english translation disappears in the ordinary richness of eastern imagery, and the poem becomes a pure picture of loyal love. it reveals thus the healthy moral tone of jewish society in that early age. this sound domestic virtue of the people, which looked with abhorrence on the licentiousness of the court, becomes all the more striking in contrast with the polygamous customs of the surrounding nations. we see the social foundation on which israel builded such a noble structure of ethical religion. the people whose literature opens with such a laud of loyal love might well rise into the pure splendors of a second isaiah. such a poem fitly introduces the canon of scripture; since, into whatever heights religion aspires to lift the fabric of civilization, she must lay its corner-stone in the marriage bond, and rear the church and the state upon the family. perhaps we may also find in this hebrew song of songs that mystic meaning, not uncommon in eastern love-songs, at least in later readings of them, which edwin arnold has so vividly brought out in the hindoo song of songs; and may understand how the church came to take it as a parable of the love of the soul for its heavenly ideal, seen in the christ. job, thus read, becomes a semi-dramatic poem, in which the problem of the disconnection of goodness and good-fortune, the lack of any just ordering of individual life, is discussed in the persons of an upright and sorely afflicted patriarch and his three friends, who come to condole and counsel with him. through their interchanging colloquies, that bring up one after another the stock theories of the age of the author, the argument moves along without really getting on. no solution is found for the perplexing puzzle, in which man's moral instincts beat vainly against the hard facts of life. once, for a moment, the thought of a future life flashes up, as the true solution of the injustice of earth, in that thrilling cry of the tortured soul: i know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though, after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet out of my flesh shall i see god; whom i shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. but the vision fades upon an atmosphere unready for it, and the poet does not return to follow this clue out into the sunshine. all the light that he can discern is in nature's manifestations of power and order and wisdom. from a wide range of knowledge, the poet draws together upon the stage the wonders of creation, which, with daring freedom, he introduces god himself as describing; until at length job humbles himself in an awe not uncheered by trust: therefore have i uttered that i understood not. things too wonderful for me which i knew not. * * * * * i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. wherefore i abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. by dropping out the episode of elihu, as an insertion of some later hand, the movement of the poem becomes sustained and progressive. the arguments of the jewish theology are cleverly presented, while the swift, sure sense of justice in the sufferer pierces all sophisms, and riddles all pious conventionalities. the descriptions of nature are graphic and eloquent. the _motif_ of the drama is one that voices the thought and feeling of our far-off age, in which many men again vainly thresh the old arguments of conventional theology, in trying to solve the "godless look of earth," and take refuge anew in the manifestations of power and law in nature; not without the ancient lesson, let us trust, of an awe which silences and purifies, and leaves them in the light as of a mystery of meaning on the sphynx's face, breaking into the dawning of a day which "uttereth speech." scientific agnosticism, in so far as it is an humble confession of human ignorance, has its worship scored in this noble poem, ringing the changes on the strain, at once plaint and praise: canst thou by searching find out god? canst thou find out the almighty unto perfection? it is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? curiously enough, as showing the power of conventionalism, the author winds up with a prose epilogue of the genuine story-book fashion, in which all things are set right by job's restoration to his lost wealth, in multiplied possessions. pathetic persuasion of the poor human heart that all things must come right in the end! what the epistle to the romans, that affrighting _vade mecum_ of theological disputants, becomes when read thus reasonably as a whole, with critical discernment of its real aim, i will not try to tell you; but will content myself with sending you where you may see it beautifully told, with paul's own upspringing inspiration of righteousness in matthew arnold's "st. paul and protestantism." iii. _each great book should, as a whole, be read in its proper place in hebrew and christian history._ the historical method is the true clue to the interpretation of a book. to know it aright we must know the age in which it was produced. this is the method by which such surprising light has been shed on many great works. who that has read taine's graphic portraiture of the elizabethan age can fail ever thereafter to see shakespeare stand forth vividly? what can we make of dante without some knowledge of italy in the thirteenth century? what new life is given to milton's samson after we have seen the blind old poet of the fallen protectorate in his dreary home! how can we rightly estimate rousseau's writings unless we know somewhat of the artificial and luxurious age to which they came as a call back to nature? taken out of their true surroundings these writings lose their force and meaning. in the same way we need to find the historical place of a biblical writing, and to read it in the light of its relation to the period. the traditional view of deuteronomy made it the last of the writings of moses, a farewell address of the father of his country; reciting to the nation he had founded the story of its deliverance, repeating the laws established for its welfare, and warning it against the dangers awaiting it in the future. such a view was attended with many difficulties, not insuperable, however, to the critical knowledge of earlier generations. its real place in the history of israel appears to have been found of late. the prophetic reformation of religion, begun in the eighth century before christ, by the group of noble men of whom isaiah was the most conspicuous had, by the latter part of the seventh century before christ, become ripe for an organization of the institutions of religion. jeremiah was the central figure in this second period of the prophetic movement. upon the throne of judah at that time was the good young king, josiah--the edward the sixth of israel--in whom the hopes of the reformers centred. about the year b.c. occurred an event that decided the future of religion in judah; described in the twenty-second chapter of the second book of kings. the high-priest sent to the young king, saying: i have found the book of the law in the house of the lord. this book of the law of moses, according to tradition, had been lost; had been lost so long that its provisions had dropped into disuse, into oblivion; an oblivion so complete that the nation's religion ignored and violated the whole system of that law; had been lost so long and so thoroughly that the very existence of such a law had passed from the memory of man. this was the book that hilkiah claimed to have re-discovered in the temple archives. it was at once read to the excited king. it made a profound impression upon him by its revelation of the apostasy in which the nation was living, and by its solemn threatenings upon such apostasy. it came to pass that when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. for, said he: great is the wrath of the lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. the devout young king threw himself into a thorough reformation of the prevailing religion. all local altars were swept away, all idolatries were cleared from the jerusalem temple, the priesthood was centred in the capital and more thoroughly organized; in short, as our fathers read the story, mosaism was re-established, after some seven centuries of partial or total disuse. through processes which we cannot now follow, our later critics have, i think, fairly established the proposition, that this book of the law was none other than the substance of our book of deuteronomy, then for the first time written. the plans of the prophetic reformers had contemplated the sweeping changes described above, in the interests of an ethical and spiritual religion. they felt that they were but carrying out the principles of the nation's great founder. of his original conception of religion, bodied in the ten words, their aspirations were the legitimate historical development; as the leaf and bud are the growth of the far back roots. this programme of the prophetic reformers, presented in its true light as a development of the ideas of moses, was, by the priest hilkiah, sent to the king as the law of the nation's founder, with the results sketched above. read in this light, the book takes on a fresh and fascinating interest. it marks the organization of the movement toward a higher religion which had been started by the great prophets of the preceding century. it becomes the augsburg confession of the jewish reformation, from which dates the gradual possession of the institutions of the nation by ethical and spiritual religion. the lofty character of this book, the "st. john of the old testament," as ewald called it, is thus rendered intelligible; as it stands for the aspirations of the noblest movement in ancient jewish history. it is the issue of a long travail of soul to whose words we hearken in such a truth as this: hear, o israel: the lord our god is one lord: and thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. placed in this position, the book of deuteronomy becomes the key to israel's history, by which criticism is reconstructing that story, on the lines of the great laws of all life, with most significant consequences to the cause of religion. the ideas and institutions known to us as the mosaic law come forth now as the crown and culmination of a long historic development. israel's story is that of a slow and gradual education under the divine hand; not a relapse, but a progress, not an apostasy but an evolution. israel takes its place in the general order of humanity's movement. with it religion sweeps at once into the pathway of progress which science has shown to be the order of nature; and the historic revelation is seen to be, like the revelation in nature, a gradual, progressive manifestation of him "whose goings forth are as the morning"--its orbit the sweep of the ascending sun. with such mighty secrets does this little book grow luminous when placed in the light of its real belongings. the book of ezekiel, whose historic position was never disputed, becomes of new value in the light of a fuller knowledge of its period. it presents to the science of biblical criticism the missing link in its theory of israel's development. it shows the process of transformation, out of which issued during the exile the elaborate, hierarchical system known to us as mosaism. the new criticism seems to me to have reasonably established the theorem, that the priestly cultus embodied in the legislation of the pentateuch was first systematized into the form it there presents during the exile, and was first set up as the national system on the return to judea. it is not claimed that it was a new manufacture of that period. as such it would be inconceivable.[ ] it is simply claimed that it was a thorough codification, for the first time, of the scattered and conflicting codes of conduct and systems of worship of the various local priesthoods of israel, as handed down by tradition and in records from ancient times; a codification animated by the centralizing and hierarchical tendencies working in the nation; which tendencies were themselves the result largely of the prophetic spirit, and its aspirations for a nobler religion.[ ] it is not difficult to account for this remarkable priestly movement. the institutional organization of religion that began under josiah had continued, with various fortunes, the aim of the higher spirits of the nation down to the exile. the movement of life was in the direction of uniformity and order. there was much in the circumstances of the exile to stimulate this movement. the priests were left without their temple worship, and, in the absence of outward interests, must have turned their thought in upon their system itself, studying it as they had not done in the midst of its actual operation. like all wrongly lost possessions, it became doubly dear. the jews were placed in the midst of an ancient and highly organized priestly system in babylonia, whose benefits to culture and religion they must have noted and pondered. in the national humiliation and the personal sorrows of such a wholesale carrying away of a people from their native land, a wide-spread awakening of the inner life was experienced, a genuine revival of religion. a new wave of prophetic enthusiasm rose in the strange land, lifting the soul of the nation to heights of spiritual and ethical religion never reached before. this revival was stamped with the impress of the intellectual influences which were working upon the jews in babylonia. some of the extant writings of this period, alike in literary style, in moral tone and in religious thought, mark a new era. israel's genius flowered in this dark night--true to the mystic character of the race. this highest effort of prophetic thought and feeling appears to have quickly exhausted itself. in reality, it followed the usual order of religious movements, and turned into a priestly organization. the group of prophets around the first isaiah prepared the way for the priestly movement that followed a century later. the group of prophets around the second isaiah prepared the way for the priestly movement that followed close in their steps. first comes always, in religion, an epoch of inspiration, and then comes a period of organization. the organization never bodies fully the spirit of the inspiration. the ideal is not realizable in institutions. institutional religion is always a compromise, a mediation between the lofty conceptions and impatient aspirations of the few who inspire the new life, and the low notions and contented conventionalisms of the many whom they seek to inspire. the compromise is necessarily of the nature of a reaction; but the interplay of action and re-action is the law of ethical as of chemical forces. israel really needed the conserving work of a great organization. the prophetic religion was far in advance of the popular level. the high thoughts and lofty ideas of the prophets needed to be wrought into a cultus, which, while not breaking abruptly with the popular religion, should imbue the conventional forms with deeper ethical and spiritual meanings; should, through them, systematically train the people in ethical habits and spiritual conceptions; and should thus gradually educate men out of these forms themselves. in the providence of god, and under the influences of his patient spirit, this needful system was developed in the exile: a system whose symbolism was so charged with ethical and spiritual senses that it led on to christ; as the epistle to the hebrews rightly shows and as paul distinctly declares. as the first priestly period, following the first prophetic epoch, bodied that double movement in a book--deuteronomy; so the second priestly period, following the second prophetic epoch, bodied this double movement in a book, or group of books--the present form of the pentateuch. the traditions and histories and legislations of the past were worked over into a connected series of writings, through which was woven the new priestly system, in a historical form. on the restoration to judea, this institutional reorganization was set up as the law of the land, and continued thenceforward in force--the providential instrumentality for the _ad interim_ work of four centuries. such a remarkable process of development, so deepening in us a sense of the guiding hand of god, ought to show some sign of its working, in the literature of the period. however clear, from our general knowledge, the tendencies which were at work in that period, we could not feel assured of our correct interpretation of this most important epoch, in the absence of some such sign, in a writing of that date. the book of ezekiel supplies the missing link. the writer was a prophet-priest, who went into the exile, and wrote in babylonia. in the earlier part of his life-work, recorded in the earlier portion of his book, he was thoroughly prophetic, intensely ethical and spiritual, breathing the very spirit of his great master, jeremiah. in the latter part of his career he was visited with dreams, such as are plainly indicated to us in the remarkable vision occupying the concluding section of his book. the fortieth chapter opens thus: in the visions of god brought he me into the land of israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, upon which was as the frame of a city on the south. then follows, through eighteen chapters, a sketch of the temple system in the expected restoration. it is a thoroughly ideal sketch, a vision destined to take on much simpler and humbler proportions in its realization; a picture probably not intended for copying in actual construction, but, like all ideal work, a powerful stimulus to the aspirations it expressed. it is a free sketch of the new priestly system, on the easel, awaiting correction and completion at the hands of ezra and others. it reveals to us the visions that were occupying the minds of the best men in the latter part of the exile, and the work they were essaying. thus we are prepared for the final issue. the book of daniel has been wrongly placed, traditionally, with most serious consequences to the character of the book, and, through this misconception to christianity. dated from the early part of the sixth century before christ, its story of daniel's experiences read as literal history, and its visions appear as actual predictions of long subsequent events. a high authority has declared-- there can be no doubt that it exercised a greater influence upon the early christian church than any other writing of the old testament.[ ] that influence, owing to this misconception, is chiefly to be traced in the growth of an apocalyptic literature, and in the fantastical and material expectations of the messianic kingdom which they encouraged. it has continued down to our own day turning heads as wise as sir isaac newton's, setting religion at conjuring with visions of monstrous beasts and juggling with mystic figures until the name of prophecy has become a by-word. this book appears to take its proper place, at least in its present form, about a century and a half before christ. that was a period of deep depression for israel. under antiochus epiphanes the nation had been sorely oppressed, its temple denied, and its religion well nigh crushed out. men's hearts were failing them for fear, and for looking for those things that were coming to pass upon the earth. pious souls turned back to the ancient time of bitter humiliation, when israel had been scattered in a strange land, and recalled the bold word of faith spoken by jeremiah, which had stayed the spirits of their forefathers. the great prophet promised that after seventy years the nation should be restored to its native land, and should renew its prosperity gloriously. it had won back its home, but in the old homestead it had grown poorer and feebler, generation after generation. had the ancient promise of prophecy failed? good men could not think so. to some devout soul came the suggestion that the seventy years had meant seventy sabbatical years, each of which consisted of seven years; that is, four hundred and ninety years. one can still feel the thrill that must have gone through him, as he saw that this computation would place the defiling of the temple--that sign of god's having forsaken his people--in the middle of the last week of years. it was then only about three years to the destined end of the weary period that jeremiah had included in the term of israel's humbling, after which would come jehovah's help. fired with this thought, he set himself to inspire his people with fresh hope and courage. around a traditional daniel, famed for his wisdom and piety, and possibly upon an earlier document containing some tales of this sage and saint, he wove a story which should interpret jeremiah's prophecy and jehovah's purpose. with charming grace he tells the tale of daniel's constancy and trust under the sorest trials, and of the divine deliverance that always came to him. into his mouth he placed predictions of what had already come to pass in history, that thus his reputation as a prophet might be established. then he caused him to present a striking series of symbolical visions, the clue to which was furnished for the writer's contemporaries by certain clear allusions. these visions foretold deliverance as about to come at the approaching end of the four hundred and ninety years of jeremiah. other visions sketched the ushering in of the messiah-kingdom, in glowing pictures of lofty religious tone. in that dark night over israel this book was as the morning star. it was truly, as dean stanley called it, "the gospel of the age." its story spread, and with it spread renewed patience and hope. it doubtless fed the forces of that glorious revolt that shortly thereafter burst forth under the heroic maccabees. thus it kept alive the vital spark in the nation, through a crucial hour, that else might have gone out before it had given birth to christianity. noble as the book of daniel is in many ways, especially as the real father of "the philosophy of history," it has a still deeper interest to us christians for its timely service to the sinking nation through which came at last our blessed master. the acts of the apostles, when studied in the light of the tendencies known to have been working in the apostolic church, becomes of similar importance in new testament history to deuteronomy in old testament history. the primitive church was, as we well know, agitated by contending factions. two leading parties dominated all minor schools of thought; the jewish christians, who naturally wanted to keep within the old religion, and who would have made a reformed judaism, and the gentile christians who as naturally objected to being herded within judaism, and who wanted to make a new and universal society. the first party rallied under the name of peter, and the second used the name of paul. there was imminent danger that the new society would break apart, with fatal consequences to posterity. real and deep as were the differences between peter and paul, they did not, in all probability, sunder these great natures as widely as their followers imagined. there must have been meeting points between such souls, in love with the one master. to find these convergences and construct out of them a peace-platform on which both wings of the new society might stand, was the aim of the acts. it embodied genuine journals of a traveling companion of st. paul, notes of his addresses in various cities, traditions lost to us outside of this book, of peter's conciliatory attitude and utterances; and groups these historic fragments into a sketch, in which the two apostles are shown as dividing equally the labors of founding the christian church, as preaching the same views, and acting in cordial harmony. this book is a sign of the disposition to draw together which was gaining ground among the primitive churches, a disposition fostered largely by this writing; out of which process of comprehension and conciliation arose the catholic church, naming its great cathedrals after st. peter and st. paul. iv. _the books which are of a composite character should be read in their several parts, and traced to their proper places in history._ thus, for example, in reading isaiah uncritically we pass from the fragment of history that forms our thirty-ninth chapter, to the magnificent strain of impassioned imagination which opens with the fortieth chapter, as though there were no hiatus; and we proceed straight through this latter section of the book, taking it all as written in the reign of hezekiah, that is, in the latter part of the eighth century before christ. we thus view this second section of isaiah from a wrong standpoint. the panorama of its visions becomes blurred. we cannot focus the glass upon the objects in its field. the real significance and beauty of this noblest reach of prophetic imagination evanishes from our vision. to see this second section of isaiah aright, we must push it down the stream of time nearly two hundred years. it is the work of a prophet, or group of prophets, in the latter part of the exile, about the middle of the sixth century before christ. watching the signs of the times, the gifted and gracious spirit who led this chorus of hope saw tokens, as of the dawning of day after the long, dark night. rumors of the all conquering cyrus, the medo-persian king, made babylon tremble with fear, and israel thrill with excited expectation. in the ethical and spiritual religion of the advancing persians, the jews might look for a bond of sympathy. it would be the policy of cyrus to make friends of the foes of babylon, and to place the captive people in their own land on the borders of his empire, as his grateful feudatories. the seer saw thus, in the conquering hero, the servant of god, raised up to restore the chosen people to their native country. prophecy kindled anew for its final flame, and burst forth in the immortal strain of hope for the long-tried israel: comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your god. speak ye comfortably to jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. i never read this sublime chapter without a fresh thrill, as i hear the voice of a crushed race, lifting amid its misery a cry of unconquerable confidence in the just and holy one, who was ordering alike the embattled armies of earth and the starry hosts of the skies, and through history, as in nature, was sweeping on resistlessly to fulfill the good pleasure of his will. no wonder the matchless oratorio of the messiah opens with this aria, abruptly as the original words are spoken in isaiah. they sound the key-note of the good tidings of great joy which, growing as a hope in men's souls through the centuries, became a faith, an assured conviction, in the life of the christus consolator; in whom god is seen as "our father which art in heaven." every gem of this second section of isaiah takes on a new lustre in this setting. it is the cry of the lost sheep in the wilderness, catching sight of the shepherd who they thought had forgotten them, that we hear in the gracious strain: he shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. the vision of the suffering, righteous servant of god grows clear and pathetic in the true historic light. the chastened nation feels itself called to a higher mission than that of political power. it is to teach the other nations of the earth the knowledge of god. that knowledge it is itself to learn in the school of sorrow. it is to save humanity through the sacrifice of itself. thus the secret of suffering is spelled out, not for ancient israel alone, but for all mankind; the secret which is shrined, for ever sacred to us, in the story of our lord christ; from whom you and i this day, through a simple symbol, are to learn anew that if we sorrow it is that we may be made perfect through suffering, and thus be fitted to lead our fellows up into the light and love of god. v. _these writings should be read critically, until we can decipher the successive hands working upon them, and interpret them accordingly._ few, if any, of the books of the bible stand now as they came from their original authors. nearly all have been re-edited; most of them many times. some of them have been worked over by so many hands, and have undergone such numerous and serious changes, that the original writer would scarcely identify his work. the historical writings of the old testament take up into them all sorts of materials, from all sorts of sources. if the annals of the venerable bede, the father of english history had been re-written again and again through the subsequent centuries; abridged, enlarged, interpreted by each editor; the accumulating knowledge and growing experience of the nation read into his simple chronicles; we should appreciate the critical care needful in studying our edition of bede if we would know the real original. very much such care is necessary if we are to use the old testament histories aright for information. it is as though there were several surfaces to the parchment on which the histories were written, on each successive film of which, in finest tracery, an older record was inscribed. genesis, for example, presents us, at every step of what seems a consecutive story, with successive layers of tradition, through which we must work our way most carefully if we would really understand the book. we readily observe a twofold tradition of the creation in the opening chapters of genesis, differing very materially: a sign to us, if we need it, that there was no one authoritative account of the creation current in israel. little attention is required to note a double version of the story of the flood, whose artless piecing together is the cause of the confusions and contradictions that puzzle many readers. the deciphering of this double tradition of the flood first started criticism upon the true track of biblical study. the frequently recurring phrase, "these are the generations," or beginnings, indicates the insertion of fragments of a work giving an account of the origin of the world, of the races of earth, of language, of the jewish people, etc.; a work called by the critics "the book of origins." in the fourteenth chapter there is what seems to be a very ancient non-jewish fragment of history, torn possibly from some syrian writing, which gives a tale of abraham's prowess in war. and even in one and the same tale of tradition, we apparently find strata of thought laid down by successive ages. there are extant to-day parchments in which, for lack of other material, a writer has scratched partially away an earlier manuscript, and written over it another book. such a palimpsest is genesis. "a legend of civilization is written over a solar-myth, and a tribal legend over the legend of civilization, and a theocratic legend over the tribal."[ ] * * * * * when such a mastery of the bible-books is won, they are to be used in the customary methods of critical study, with reference to their contents and the significances thereof, under the same general laws of interpretation that hold over other literature. * * * * * i think i hear some one saying--is this the right use of the bible, for which i am asked to give up the dear, old, simple way of reading for my soul's inspiration? not at all, my friend. that blessed use of the bible, learned at your mother's knees, is still, and must always remain, the best use possible to any one. of this i shall speak hereafter. i am now speaking, not of the right devotional use of the bible, but of the right critical use of it. it has been used critically in building our theologies, but, to a large extent, amiss. out of this wrong use of it has come the misconceptions in theology which to-day perplex our minds and bar the progress of religion. if we must use the bible critically, let us by all means try to employ a true and thorough criticism. let us not think to close every controversy by the phrase--the bible says so. we shall be more modest and less disputatious when we appreciate the study necessary before any one can properly answer the question--what saith the scriptures? again i hear a voice from the pews--who then save a scholar is competent for such a use of the bible? i answer--no one, except a pupil of the scholars. the scholars have placed within our reach the results of such a critical study of the bible. you can find the rational guidance you may desire in the manuals which set forth the conclusions of these critical processes; though you must painfully feel, as i do, the lack of the religious tone in some of them. a crying need of our day is a hand book to the bible in which the new critical knowledge shall blend, as it may blend, with the old spiritual reverence. one should not rise from such a study of the bible as we have made to-day, in its merely literary aspects, without a new, strange sense of awe before this mystic book. it is the handiwork of no one man, of no group of men, of no period. it is an organic product, the growth of a whole people the coralline structure builded by a nation. hands innumerable have toiled over these pages. voices indistinguishable now, in blended chorus from the dawn of history, have joined in the cry of the human after god which whispers upon us from this sacred phonograph. successive generations of men, struggling with sin, striving for purity, searching after god, have exhaled their spirits into the essence of religion, which is treasured in this costly vase. the moral forces of centuries, devoted to righteousness, are stored in this exhaustless reservoir of ethical energy. at such cost, my brothers, has humanity issued this sacred book. from such patience of preparation has providence laid this priceless gift before you. in such labor of articulation--spelling out the syllables of the message from on high, through multitudinous lives of men dutifully and devoutly walking with their god--does the spirit speak to you, o, soul of man. say thou-- speak lord; thy servant heareth! * * * * * it is a matter of perfect indifference where a thing originated the only question is; is it true in and for itself? hegel: "philosophy of history," part iii.: sec. iii.: ch. ii. with reference to things in the bible, the question whether they are genuine or spurious is odd enough. what is genuine but that which is truly excellent, which stands in harmony with the purest nature and reason, and which even now ministers to our highest development? what is spurious but the absurd and the hollow, which brings no fruit--at least, no good fruit. goethe: "conversations," march , . no article of faith is injured by allowing that there is no such positive proof, when or by whom these and some other books of holy scripture were written, as to exclude all possibility of doubt and cavil. watson's "apology for the bible," letter iv. vi. the right historical use of the bible. the principle of development involves also the existence of a latent germ of being--a capacity or potentiality striving to realize itself.... what spirit really strives for is the realization of its ideal being..... the profoundest thought is connected with the personality of christ--with the historical and external; and it is the very grandeur of the christian religion that, with all this profundity, it is easy of comprehension by our consciousness in its outward aspect, while, at the same time, it summons us to penetrate deeper. hegel: "philosophy of history," pp. , . [bohn.] let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences go on gaining in depth and breadth, and the human mind expand as it may, it will never go beyond the elevation and moral culture of christianity as it glistens and shines forth in the gospel! goethe: "conversations," march, , . vi. the right historical use of the bible. "when the fulness of the time was come god sent forth his son."--galatians, iv. . st. paul condensed the philosophy of hebrew history into a metaphor. israel travailed in birth with christianity. in the mind of the nation was begotten, of the most high, a conception of ethical religion, whose gestation was a process of centuries. the period of parturition came, and a universal religion was born into the world; bodied, as religion needs must be, in a man, jesus, the christ. "when the fulness of the time was come god sent forth his son." the sacred literature of israel is the record and embodiment of this organic growth of her religion, through its various moods and tenses, toward its ideal in the christ. the sacred literature of the christian church is the picture of this flower of the soul of israel, and of the new growth springing up from its seeding down of humanity. the whole bible presents us with the growth of the religion of the christ, below ground and above ground; its rootings and its flowerings. the right historical use of the bible is, through a critical knowledge of the sacred literature of israel, to reproduce before our minds this process of the growth of the christ in israel and of his new growth in humanity; with a view to our intelligent perception of his true place in history, and of the significance thereof. the heart of the bible is christ. that which our fathers saw we need to see, that in him all things stand together, as the arch is holden by the key-stone. rightly to read the secret of his life is to find the secret of earth's problems. therefore our fathers insisted so strenuously on the old testament preparation for christ. a tree's rootings are proportionate to its size. in the gradual prefiguring of christ through israel's story, they read the historic attestation of his revelation. the picture of israel's history that yielded them their vision is dissolving before our eyes, at the touch of the new criticism, and men are fearing that the secret of the bible is escaping from our age. i desire to-day to draw for you, in outline, the story of israel's development, as traced by our new masters; that you may see the old vision re-emergent in truer, nobler forms. the re-construction of hebrew history makes real and certain an organic, natural development of the religion of the christ; a travail of the nation with the son it bore to god. the best method of studying any history is in its great epochs and periods. the eras of hebrew history group themselves clearly, in orderly progression. i. _the epoch of moses:_ b.c. (?) hebrew history properly begins with this era. the tribes of israel when first resolved by the glass of history, appear upon the arabian border of egypt, as occupants of the rich pasture lands of goshen. they were a branch of a large semitic family, which included moab, edom, ammon and other familiar tribes. of the social, intellectual and religious status of the hebrews at this period we have little definite information. they would seem to have been on the usual plane of races which have entered the semi-nomadic stage, and which are gradually substituting agricultural pursuits for a roving shepherd life. oppressed by egypt they revolt, and begin a migration backward toward the north and east. the soul of this movement was moses; a real historic figure, worthy, as we can see through the mists around him, of the imposing form which michael angelo has given him. a great man is nearly always to be found at the core of a great social growth, charging the latent tendencies of a race with energy, and shaping their action upon the form of his mind. "an institution is the lengthened shadow of a man," writes emerson. judaism is the lengthened shadow of moses. whatever else moses may have done, he proved himself the architect of israel, by laying the foundation that determined the form and size of the later structure. he taught his simple people to recognize jehovah as their tribal god. what this name meant in the conception of the people before his time is by no means clear to us now. it appears to have stood for the personification of some one of the forms of nature's forces, that arrest upon themselves the nomad's vague sense of the infinite and divine in the world about him. around the power felt in saturn or the sun, moses threw the spell of an awe which is deeper far than that awakened by the starry heavens above man--the awe aroused by the moral law within man. he gave his rude children a noble moral code, the original form of the decalogue. these ten words were issued as the law of jehovah. jehovah then was the source and authority of the laws which the conscience owned. the moral law was his body of statutes. to keep this law was the way to please him. his commands reached through rites and ordinances to conduct and character. his demands were not for sacrifices, but for good lives. his worship was aspiration and endeavor after goodness. and this power enjoining morality was none other than the power which in nature seemed so often unmoral and even immoral. jehovah of the skies was the god of the ten words. this was a seminal thought, bodied in an institution. in begetting this conception in the soul of israel, moses fathered the life which grew through embryonic forms, during the slow gestation of the centuries, shaping toward the ideal of religion. whatever was vital and progressive in the nation's thought and feeling sucked up its juices from the seed deep-rooted in this basic institution. rightly did legislators and historians, through the after ages, look back and ascribe all their work in the development of the national life to moses. even thus the rose, were it conscious, might turn its crimson face upon the ground and whisper to the seed at its roots--i am thy work. even thus the son, in the pride and power of manhood goes back to the old homestead, and looking into his father's face confesses--all that i am you have made me. ii. _the heroic age:_ b.c. - . after moses there follows a period of at least two hundred years, of which we have very imperfect accounts, and those plainly traditional and commingled with legend. the hebrew tribes appear to have gradually gravitated upon canaan; slowly settling into agricultural pursuits, and winning from its previous occupants the land they coveted, inch by inch, in bloody strife. they camped upon their hard-won fields for several generations, maintaining their claims at the point of the sword, with varying success; now mastering their foes, and again almost crushed by them. the inter-relations of the several tribes during this period would seem to have been of a very loose character. each appears to have acted for itself, except at critical moments, when common danger drew them together in concerted action under leaders of commanding ability. tradition has preserved charming tales of some of these redoubtable champions of the hebrews, of whom we would gladly know much more. this was the heroic age of israel. rude, rough times of constant alarm brought forth little that was memorable save feats of courage. we have few glimpses into the state of religion in this simple society, and upon what is brought out into light the hues of later ages are reflected. quite clearly we may discern that the religion of the people in those days was by no means that which we know as mosaism. how could such a sublime conception as that of moses have ripened in a people at this stage of their development? like all founders of religion, he was far in advance of his age. if a few higher natures, here and there, recognized and appreciated the significance of the ten words of jehovah, the mass of the people could not have done so. and movement is determined toward the mass in ethics as in physics. all that moses could have hoped to do was to body his seminal truth in an institution, that should keep it alive in the nation until the proper conditions were found for its quickening and growth. this he achieved in binding the tribes to the worship of jehovah, whose law was owned in the moral standards of the people. to this loyalty to jehovah, as _the_ god of israel, moses did securely bind the tribes. they never wholly forswore jehovah, and thus never lost the germ begotten in the soul of the race, which held the promise and potency of the future. but around jehovah, as the supreme god of the race, the people still continued to group their ancient divinities, and to worship them in the old-time manner. the religion of a people in any stage of its history is always a composite; a succession of layers that correspond to the intellectual and moral classifications of society. but the proportion of the true religion rises with a progressive civilization. in these semi-civilized tribes the religion of the bulk of the people, in all probability, corresponded with the ideas and forms of worship of other peoples in the same stage of development in the lowest stratum fetichism lingered on, the worship of any unusual thing that excited the wonder of a simple people. great trees of immemorial age, huge boulders standing strangely in fertile valleys, continued the objects of superstitious awe. jehovahism took up these remnants of fetichism into its higher life, when it found that they could not be dispossessed, just as christianity did long afterward with pagan customs, and gave them a higher significance in connection with the worship of jehovah.[ ] higher strata of the people worshipped the various powers of nature, the sun, the moon, the stars, after much the same fashion in vogue among their kindred semites.[ ] even the revolting rites of the surrounding nature-worships were not lacking in israel. while the gentle and gracious warmth of the spring sun called forth the happy adoration of the people, the scorching and consuming heat of the midsummer sun roused the fears of the sufferers for their crops, their cattle, and their very lives. they sought to propitiate this fierce power, which was evidently hostile to man, with offerings of the life it devoured so pitilessly. the choicest lives--the first-born son, the fairest maiden of the village--were sacrificed to glut its greed of death. into the fiery arms of moloch parents laid the children of their love. human sacrifices were unquestionably a recognized form of worship during this period, at least in times of deep distress.[ ] the libertine longings of nature, the free fecundities of mother-earth, imaged to the grosser people the power working round about them and within their very bodies; and men and women gave free rein to their appetites and passions, in honor of divinities like ashera, the syrian venus.[ ] the various tribes probably had different rites. the general picture we must fashion in our minds of this period is of a polytheistic, idolatrous people, slightly distinguishable from the surrounding semites, save as they held, in their recognition of jehovah and his ten words, the germ of a higher thought and life. iii. _the period of the monarchy, down to the epoch of the great prophets:_ b. c. - . the story of the making of england may interpret to us the development that ensued in this third period of israel's history. we know how the petty realms of the angles-land, under pressure from a common foe, learned to act momentarily together, came for a summer under some commanding leader, drew thus into closer affiliations grouped gradually around the more powerful realms, and at length crystallized into england. in some such way the hebrew tribes were slowly knit together by the necessity of war, until to organize a lasting victory they were forced into consolidation and out of the loose confederation of tribes arose a nation, israel. social tendencies generally throw a leader to the front. the man is not wanting for the hour. the king-maker of israel was samuel. a man combining in that simple state of society several functions--priest and judge and leader--he had the prescience to divine the need of the age, and the wisdom to point out the man to meet it. saul was chosen king, in free gathering of the hardy yeomanry, and proved his human election a divine selection by rousing the nation to new efforts, which his genius led to victory. saul was followed by a brief period of national unity under david and solomon, in which the rapid and brilliant progress made in the spread of the kingdom, in wealth and civilization, revealed the latent powers of this gifted race. the progress of political and commercial greatness was stayed by the rending of the kingdom after solomon. no great advances were possible amid the chronic jealousies and frequent strife of the sister kingdoms, which were unable to come together again in a unity that would have restored their prestige, and were unable, apart, to achieve any signal success in diplomacy or war. the social state of the people underwent the changes usual in this stage of a people's history. with peace came wealth, with wealth came luxury, with luxury new social vices, fed from the court which grew around the monarchy. but that the heart of the people continued sound amid these organic changes we may see from several hints preserved by tradition. the institution, or revival, of the order of the nazarites was a religio-moral movement. it was a protest against the vice of drunkenness that was increasing in the land, as, relieved from war's alarms and waxing fat upon their fertile fields, the people gave themselves to pleasure. the first prohibition society, of which we have record, was this order of the nazarites. this order appears also to have had a still deeper moral aim, little noticed of old. it was a reaction from the social changes that were going on in israel, a protest against the new-fashioned ways of wealth, an earnest effort to hold to the simplicities of earlier days, to the good old plain living and high thinking. it was a counter-movement of old israel, essaying to stem the mad rush for riches. a still more convincing token of the healthy moral tone of the nation is to be found in the earliest considerable work of literature preserved to us, the song of songs. it holds up to scorn the licentiousness that solomon had made fashionable, and of which, in a just retribution, he had become the abhorred type. the great king fails to corrupt the virtue of a simple country maiden, despite of all his blandishments. ewald assigns this poem to the northern kingdom, which had separated itself from judah chiefly in reaction from the solomonic innovations. it leads us into the homes of the sturdy peasantry of the hill country, where burned the fires on the altars of pure wedded love. from a people thus sound at heart, amid the mellowing richness of civilization, we may well expect great things in religion. whatever the outward forms of religion, its roots ran deep down into the moral law, and must needs have borne in due time a noble fruitage. there was in fact a striking development of religion in this period. it was coincident with the secular development of the nation. this indeed is the general rule of religious revival. religion advances with the advancing life of man, each new and true step forward opening a higher possibility of thought and feeling concerning god. as moses the emancipator was the father of true religion in israel, so samuel the king-maker was its early master. we cannot now trace clearly his work, but we can see that he was a fresh ethical and spiritual force, shaping religious life anew. prophets there had doubtless been before him, in israel as out of it, but they were unethical and unspiritual influences in religion; the frenzied dervishes, the oracular seers, the wizards and necromancers who long afterward claimed this name, and were denounced by the higher prophets. samuel's masterful work was to turn this semi-religious force into a higher channel, and to direct it toward a moral aim. he was the creator of the type which drew after him "the goodly fellowship of the prophets." the traditions of israel present him in the _rôle_ of fearless censor and truthful mentor to the infant state; the _rôle_ which the great prophets later on assumed toward the maturer nation. he criticized the king, guided the people, and held the nation loyal to jehovah. however little perception the mass of the people had of the spiritual significance of the state religion, however many gross forms of popular religion existed around and within the tolerant institutions of jehovahism, it was a vital matter to preserve that state religion, and keep it well ahead of the people's growth. thus we can perceive the historic significance of the work of the next great prophet after samuel, elijah; through the legendary nimbus that gathered round his striking personality and dramatic action in a critical hour, when the jehovah-worship had well nigh disappeared, he stood alone against the powers of the realm, and rallied the people once more beneath the name of the god of their father. he plucked a victory from defeat which decided the course of history. what if jehovah was but a name to the mass of the people? what if they continued to worship much as before, only no longer at the altars of baal? there are long periods in the history of man when the future depends upon allegiance to an institution little understood by those who shout most lustily for it. the future may lie seeded down in a name which stores within it the forces of a new and higher unfolding when the times come ripe. thus it proved through the crawling centuries in which israel held hard by a name of god which then meant little to it, but which ultimately evolved its ethical significance and manifested unto men, the eternal who loveth righteousness. thus may it prove with the child of judaism. liberals, who are in such haste to drop the name of christ, should pause long enough to ask themselves the question whether, since it roots religion in a life of such perfect goodness that it became to men the manifestation of god, this sacred name may not in its turn hold the secret of our progress; whether, from the treasured forces of the past that it gathers into itself, when the spring time now setting in shall have fully come, it may not blossom into the religion of the future? a civilization should not be cut off from the historic seed which lies at the roots of its religion, if it is to grow unto the harvest. that in this fidelity to the tradition of their race the religion of the people of israel was in the vital processes of growth, through this long period, we know assuredly from one conclusive fact. out of this tedious winter came, suddenly as it seems to us, a rich and beautiful spring. the epoch of the great prophets, with a new life of thought and aspiration, breaks in abruptly on this commingling of all sorts of religion within the precincts of jehovahism. even in february the sap is softening and warming in the veins which show no greening on the tips of the patient trees. israel was swelling toward the day that was sure to come, when, lo! the spring! iv. _the era of the great prophets, before the exile:_ b.c. - . in the southern pacific, where coral islands are slowly forming beneath the surface of the sea, he who is curious to study the process of the making of an island must send the divers down to bring up broken bits of coral, snatched from the dark depths in a painful labor. after the ocean mountain thrusts its top above the surface of the sea the work of exploration is easy enough, and we may walk over hard ground as we study the new formation in the sunlight. hitherto, in our desire to learn the secrets of the growth of israel, we have been like men peering over the sides of their tiny boats into the depths of a sea that covers fascinating mysteries; watching the labors of the adepts who ever and anon bring up to the light some fresh fragments of a buried world. in the epoch that we have now reached israel's growing life lifts itself above the level of tradition, and stands forth as solid history, on whose firm ground we can study for ourselves the making of a nation's religion. israel's literary period opens for us with the prophets. literary fragments float up to us from earlier days, but now, for the first time, we have whole books about whose date and authorship we are reasonably certain. the prophets introduced the literary craft. they wrote out, in their later years, the substance of the messages which they had borne the people. these brilliant pages teem with graphic descriptions of the actual usages, social and religious, of their age, so that there is no difficulty in reproducing with fair accuracy the salient features of the period. the popular religion was that composite of heathenisms already sketched in considering the previous period. the people continued to worship the power which all felt and owned, under the manifold forms which this power assumes in nature's processes. sun and moon and stars still arrested the awe which through them groped after god, and drew upon themselves the worship of the imagination. the worship of jehovah had a special honor as the state religion, but it stood contentedly amid other forms of religion. in the service of jehovah local shrines developed special usages. the "uses" of israel were as varied as the "uses" of england before the reformation. no act of uniformity was in operation in the realm. idolatry was not the exception but the rule. the most popular symbol of jehovah was an image of a bull. to the higher minds this bull was doubtless merely a symbol, expressive of a striking phase of the sun's force, but to the mass of men it was probably the actual object of their adorations. the symbolism of the jerusalem temple was thoroughly idolatrous; as, for example, the twelve oxen upholding the laver, and the horns of the altar, symbols drawn from the prevalent bull-worship; the two columns in the court, and the cherubs, or cloud-dragons in the most holy place; the _chamanim_, or sun-images representing the rays of the sun in the shape of a cone, and the chariots and horses of the sun, a very ancient symbol familiar to us in guido's aurora.[ ] nor did the allegiance to jehovah bar private usages of an idolatrous nature. the home of the average israelite had its _teraphim_ and other domestic divinities. the darker aspects of the popular religion still held their ground against the growing light. beneath the shadow of the jehovah of the ten words, stood, unmolested, the images fashioned by the appetites and passions; and men and women surrendered themselves to drunken orgies and sensual debauches, in honor of the deities of desire. as late as the time of jeremiah, after nearly two centuries of prophetic teaching, there were in the sacred precincts of the temple the _asheras_, or tree-poles, by which the priestesses of passion, as part of their religious offices, sold themselves to the frequenters of jehovah's house.[ ] below the holy city, king manasseh reared the image of moloch, and human sacrifices were offered to placate the wrath of the power which they ignorantly worshipped. where religion was so largely a worship of the physical powers of nature, the life of the people would of necessity show an undeveloped ethical state. drunkenness and debauchery continued common, the marriage bond was very elastic in the polite society of the capital, and selfishness haughtily overrode all considerations of _meum_ and _tuum_ in the mad chase of wealth. unsatisfactory as the morals of the influential classes of society were, there is, however, no indication of any such "ooze and thaw of wrong" as indicated a moribund condition in the nation. we must not make the mistake, so common concerning reformers, and regard the evils that were justly lashed by the prophets as prevailing throughout society. had this been the case, where would the ethical forces of a new and higher life have risen? single preachers of social righteousness might have arisen, like savonarola in florence, under such conditions, but no general reform could have developed. the steady growth of the movement initiated by the great prophets shows that it sprang from no individuals, but from society; that they merely led the reserve forces of virtue in the nation. the heart of the nation was doubtless sound, and growing more vigorously virtuous. professor thorold rogers reminds us that the period when a great outcry is heard against any social evil, is not that wherein the evil is at its height, for then there would probably be no power of protest, but rather that in which the recuperative forces of society are rallying to throw off the disorder from the body politic. morality was in advance of religion at this time in israel, and this interprets the movement which ensued to place religion in its proper position at the head of the march of progress. it was amid such a state of affairs that the great prophets appeared upon the stage of action, calling the nation to a higher religion. they were not so much philosophers, reasoning out a lofty intellectual conception of god, as preachers of righteousness, vitalizing from the moral nature the sense of the purity and justice of the power in whom men lived and moved and had their being they turned the light of the inward law upon god, and revealed him as its author. they led virtue into the temple, touched her lips with a live coal from off the altar, and from a tongue of fire men heard, "thus saith the lord." they revived the true mosaic priesthood, which set apart conscience as the mediator between god and man. the seed that moses planted budded and swelled toward its bloom. the prophetic writings show us men a-hungered after righteousness breathing out the worship of jehovah into the worship of the eternal, who loveth righteousness. isaiah carries this message from god: to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? i am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts. and i delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. when ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, i cannot endure; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; i am weary to bear them. and when ye spread forth your hands, i will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, i will not hear: your hands are full of blood. wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes: cease to do evil; learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.[ ] micah voices the questions that men raised in his day, answering them with the new thought: wherewithal shall i come before the lord, and bow myself before the high god? shall i come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? will the lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall i give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? he hath showed thee, o man, what is good, and what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy god?[ ] two features of the work of the prophets bring out clearly their ethical inspiration. israel was at this period being drawn, for the first time, into the currents created by the strife of the mammoth empires of assyria and egypt, in whose maelstrom she at length went down. public affairs were becoming matters of international relationship. the prophets threw themselves heartily into the national politics, standing between the party of assyria and the party of egypt, as independents concerned with the interests of neither faction, but seeking to lift both sides above the shifting sands of policy upon the firm ground of principle. they sought to lead the nation to turn aside from its dazzling dream of a brilliant foreign policy to the humbler tasks of internal reform; to induce the state to busy itself with the labor of redressing civic disorders and of building a community of sober, pure, and just citizens, cultivating peace and equity with other peoples, and fearing god. they were preachers to the corporate conscience of israel, and dealt with subjects which the modern pulpit effeminately shuns. in strains of pure and passionate patriotism, they delighted to vision before the people the ideal state and its ideal king; thus to lead the aspirations of the nation to a higher ambition than martial prowess and diplomatic craft. the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.[ ] these hebrew prophets made the right administration of public affairs the essentially religious service which their devout student gladstone declares them now to be. because of this inspiration of civic life with religiousness, their books have become, as coleridge called them, the statesman's manual. at this period in israel's history the social revolution attending the progress of all peoples from a simple to a complex organization was entailing its usual excesses, and alarming symptoms were showing themselves in the commonwealth. in earlier days israel's tenure of land had been, like that of all peoples, communistic. proprietorship of the land was vested in the family, and then in the village community. there were no private fortunes and no private poverty. life was simple and contented, and dull. under the action of the usual social forces, this system had been gradually breaking up, through many generations. property had mainly passed into personal possession society had recrystallized around the individual. individualism had developed its customary tendencies to inequality. the ancient equality of the free farmers of israel was already disappearing. fortunes, undreamed of a couple of centuries earlier, were becoming common. greed was pushing men beyond legitimate acquisition into respectable robbery. the old-time rights of commonalty were disappearing in pasture, and farming land, and forest. the village commons were being "enclosed" by local potentates. monopolies of the natural resources of all wealth, the inalienable dower of the people at large, were working their inevitable consequences. below the wealthy class, which was rising to the top of society, there was forming at the bottom a new and unheard-of social stratum, the settlings of the struggle for existence; a deposit of the feebleness and ignorance and innocence of the people. in the loss of the old sense of a commonwealth, the nation was breaking up into classes, alienated, unsympathetic, hostile. selfishness was threatening ruin to the state. in the midst of these dangerous social tendencies the prophets came forward as "men of the people." like brave latimer at paul's cross, these fearless preachers stood in the marketplaces to denounce monopoly and the tyranny of capital. they were not affrighted by the hue and cry that, if human nature was the same then as now, was raised against them, in the name of the sacred rights of property. they were not beguiled by the sophisms of those who doubtless proved conclusively that the best interests of the people were being furthered by the fullest freedom of the able and crafty to enrich themselves _ad libitum_. they could not have stood an examination in political economy, but they knew the heart of the whole matter, in a world whose core is the moral law. they saw, more or less clearly, that there could be no lasting wealth in a society which was not based upon a wide, deep common-wealth. they felt that the one clue to follow in every social problem was held by conscience. so they struck boldly at existing wrongs in the name of the eternal righteous one. woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! * * * * * the lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. what mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the lord god of hosts.[ ] one word, constantly recurring through the prophets, reveals the secret of their enthusiasm. they lifted above the people the august and holy form of justice, and called on men to follow her. they appealed to a force in men mightier than selfishness. they kindled the passion which had been always latent in israel, since the day when moses led forth the slaves of egypt to found a nation of freemen. a new and lofty ideal mastered the minds of the better natures among the people. over against the darkness of their age there rose a vision of a good time coming, when justice should be throned on law, and selfishness be exorcised from the hearts of men who had learned the secret of joy in widest commonalty spread. and this they did in the name of jehovah. from him they came with these messages concerning social obligations. the eternal one who loved righteousness could be served in no other way than in furthering justice. religion became social reform, aflame with the enthusiasm of holy ideals; of ideals seen to be eternal realities, as the shadows cast by the living god, moving on to accomplish the good pleasure of his will. to conserve the new spirit of brotherhood which they awakened, they embodied in the book of the law, that constituted the magna charta of the reformation, a development of a gracious usage of the people. from immemorial antiquity there had been a recognized right of the populace to the natural yield of the soil in every seventh year. this common law they formally re-enacted, in the name of jehovah, and added to it a provision for the release of debtors in the sabbatical year.[ ] we shall see in the nest period the fruitage of this new religion of social righteousness, in the remarkable legislation of the restoration. in these serious, strenuous secularities--so often neglected by the religious, or even opposed as irreligious--which now were consecrated to the service of jehovah, religion found its true sphere, and developed its latent forces. a new era opened. the abominations of religion in former times became the exceptions rather than the rule, and gradually disappeared from society. after jeremiah we hear no more of impurities hiding under the altar, or of savage superstition seeking to please jehovah by outraging the holiest instincts of human nature. jehovah became the name for a conception of deity so spiritual, so holy, that henceforth the student of israel's history should substitute--god. it is a most interesting study to place these great prophets in their chronological order, and trace the development of this ethical religion. as one after another they come upon the stage of action they take up the great words of their masters and repeat them in their own way; take up the great tasks of their predecessors and carry them on toward completion; leading religion into an ever deepening spirituality. the prophets of the eighth century group around isaiah, under whose influence hezekiah attempted a partial reformation of the popular religion. the prophets of the seventh century group around jeremiah, the master-spirit in the more thorough reformation carried out under josiah. this second reformation achieved an institutional organization of ethical religion, that came just in time to create a body capable of holding the people together in loyalty to the true god, amid the break up of the nation. v. _the epoch of the exile:_ b.c. - . the conquest of the two sister kingdoms, with the carrying away of the influential portion of the people into exile, was a blessing in disguise. israel was taken out of its petty provincialisms, its race insularity, and placed amid one of the most highly cultivated civilizations of the ancient world. the fertile plain of mesopotamia had been from immemorial antiquity the seat of great enterprises. civilization had developed there when surrounding peoples had not emerged from semi-barbarism. like the troy beneath troy in the ilium ruins, we find here successive civilizations resting each upon the debris of an earlier order. the descriptions of ancient historians, together with the explorations of late years, make very vivid the scenes amid which the captive israelites walked. babylon was a city which might well astonish and captivate strangers. it was of immense size, being surrounded by a wall forty, or possibly sixty, miles in circumference. this wall was nearly three hundred feet high, and was broad enough to allow a chariot with four horses to turn easily upon it. the streets were wide and straight, crossing each other at right angles, and were lined with houses several stories in height, painted in all the colors of the rainbow. trees and gardens were so plentiful as to give the whole city the appearance of a park. the grounds of the imperial palace covered an area of seven miles round, in the centre of the city. the largest temple the world has ever seen rose in pyramidal form six hundred feet in air. the broad and shaded streets were resplendent with the pomp and pageantry of the court of a mighty empire, and were alive with the bustle of the traffic of the known world. libraries and museums garnered the treasures of art and literature, of science and philosophy, accumulated through centuries. on every hand were the tokens of a refined and cultivated civilization, venerable with age. in the temples a rich ritual celebrated an elaborate worship, while learned priests waited to explain the profound philosophic and poetic truths of the sacred symbols. transported to such surroundings, israel received the mental shock which an american of a generation past experienced on first visiting europe. the influence of this surprise was very marked. israel's genius flowered in this strange soil. her literary life centres in babylonia. the second isaiah wrote there his immortal pages. the unknown authors of the noble histories, whose charm never stales, fashioned there the traditions and records of the past into their present shape. there the great legal codification was carried out, and the institutional system of israel perfected. a new circle of ideas show themselves at work in the mind of the people while in exile. from chaldean scholars the israelites probably learned the ancient legends of the beginnings, which they worked over in their profounder religious consciousness into the simple and spiritual forms in which they stand in genesis. from persia they either received bodily the system of angelology that thenceforth appears in their writings, or they received the quickening influence of a kindred religion upon the thoughts latent in their beliefs.[ ] these intellectual influences wrought directly upon the development of israel's religion. in the revelation of the prosperous life of these alien peoples the chosen race saw herself but one member of the great world family. persia's ethical and spiritual religion discovered to the nobler natures of israel the very ideals which they and their fathers had long been strenuously seeking. these heathen were worshipping the same source and standard of goodness before which they themselves had been doing homage. a new sense of human brotherhood stirred within the exclusive race, and with it the perception that there is one father of all men. religion threw off all lingering polytheistic notions and soared to the vision of one god. monotheism dates as a clear consciousness from this era.[ ] it was saved from becoming an abstract, philosophic conception, merging good and evil in a common source, by the stern ethical dualism of the persians. though there be but one god, who is ultimately to triumph over all evil, yet, said these persians, evil is a present power in creation, organized and active, waging constant warfare with the powers of goodness. earth is the scene of the battle between light and darkness, in which each man must play his part, for weal or for woe. these high ethical and religious conceptions were nourished from the deeps of sorrow out of which the people cried bitterly to god. their nation was crushed, their homes were broken up, and they themselves were captives in a strange land. israel might have said, a deep distress hath humanized my soul. all tender and gracious and holy humanities sprang forth from the hard hebrew nature under this deep distress. the national ideal changed wholly. the old dream of a puissant king passed from the minds of the better men, and we hear little of it thenceforth in the writings of the nation. in the place of it arose the vision of the righteous, suffering, servant of god--the nation trained in the school of sorrow for a sacrificial mission, and charged to lead the peoples of the earth into the knowledge of the eternal, who loveth righteousness. as the crown and consummation of religion, the holy hope of life beyond the grave dawned in this night of suffering, gleaming toward the day of him who brought life and immortality to light.[ ] around this deepening and enriching life the remarkable body of the prophetic-priestly system was fashioned, as the law of the new nation when it should gain once more the old home. it looked to the formation of a holy people; through its minute direction of the daily life, its sacrificial symbolism charged with spiritual significances, its sacred books for the instruction of the people, its order of scribes devoted to this new study, its synagogues or meeting-houses for oral teaching and for prayer--now for the first time elevated into an act of public worship co-ordinate in dignity with sacrifice. true to its old instinct, israel's religion, first seeking to build up individual holiness, turned then to build up social righteousness. the ideals of the great prophets, which had been long working in the minds and hearts of the leaders of the people, were now embodied in the priestly legislation. the traditional communal system of land-holding was established as the legal basis for the new nation. the land of israel was nationalized, and its title vested in god, from whom individuals received the right of limited usufruct. it could not be sold outright. no man could gain a fee-simple proprietorship. the seventh year was continued as a year of fallow when the poor were to have the right of pasturage and of such growth as the land spontaneously brought forth. at the end of seven sabbatical periods, in round numbers every fifty years, all purchases of land were to lapse, and the soil return to the original possessors. at the same time all debtors were to pass through a general act of bankruptcy and go forth free men. interest was not to be allowed on loans made between brother israelites. by these provisions both villeinage or land-serfdom and the slavery of debtor classes to capital were to be prevented in the new nation. this legislation of the restoration was "to the end that there be no poor among you."[ ] to such impracticable ideals, for that age, did this exilic movement of the new religion look, with sober, strenuous, systematic effort for their realization; and therein may we see its intensity of moral life. vi. _the period of the restoration, from_ b.c. . the common notion is that this period of israel's history was practically a vacuum, and that through five centuries the nation experienced no further development. in reality, it was an exceedingly active period, characterized by most important developments. politically it was a period of constantly changing influences. israel was scarcely ever really independent during these centuries. her changes were the changes from one master to another. but this very subjection aided her intellectual development, as she was thus brought under the direct action of foreign ideas. her rapid growth of population forced upon her a system of emigration, that drew off her youth to the great centres of the world and established large colonies in every leading city. israel was never left to settle down again into provincialism, but was stirred by the currents of the great world of thought that poured in upon her from greece and egypt, from rome and the far east. "a cross-fertilization of ideas" was thus carried on by providence. the result of grafting the richest varieties of thought upon such a sturdy stock could not fail of proving something rare and rich. as was natural from such conditions, the thought of the nation took on new forms. calm study of nature and man, and rational speculation on the great problems of life displaced impassioned and imaginative thought. prophecy gave way to philosophy. the sages became the teachers of men. the third class of books in the old testament canon, known by the jews as the writings, belong to this period; proverbs, ecclesiastes, esther, jonah, daniel, etc. to this period also belongs the apocrypha, which contains some noble books. these varied writings show, when critically studied, a direct bearing on the problems that we know were occupying the mind of the nation during this period, and illustrate the tendencies working among the people. we thus see, plainly, the growth of the seeds of noble thought which were sown in the national consciousness during the exile, and the growth of the rich germs wafted into judea from greece and egypt. we can trace the development of the circle of ideas which, later on, crystallized, under the ethical and spiritual force of jesus into the theology of christianity. we watch the embryonic stages of this thought-body, which at length awaited only the breathing within it of an informing spirit to issue in a new and noble religion. nor was this period of the restoration merely one of intellectual development, else there would have been no such issue as came at length. it was a period of quiet ethical and spiritual development. no prophet arose, indeed, to quicken israel, but the ancient prophets still spake from the institutions into which they had breathed somewhat of their spirit, and from the holy books which were read in every synagogue, and learned in every home. the temple worship of this period retained the old forms of sacrifice; but charged them with spiritual significances which are difficult for us to associate with such bloody rites, did we not know how easily the religious spirit adapts itself to any outward ceremonies, and transforms them into its own life. the soul spurns the symbols to which it yet will cling, and soars beyond the poor height to which the laboring wings of ordinance and ritual can carry it. the profound spiritual life which was awakened in the exile flooded these low forms with supernal light. they spoke to men of better sacrifices than the blood of bulls and lambs--of sins slaughtered and fleshly powers consumed, of lives of men offered up in purity to god. they whispered to the soul of the holiness of god, and of his forgiveness as well; and, in their powerlessness to satisfy the spiritual needs suggested by them, they kept men's eyes upon the future, looking for the prophet greater than moses, who would surely come from behind the veil with a new word from god. out of such thoughts and feelings the temple worship drew upon itself a noble service of song, of whose ethical and spiritual beauty we can judge from the temple hymnal. you and i to-day have sung some of the very hymns which those jews chanted around their brazen altar. through these psalms of many ages, gathered into a hymnal of unrivalled nobleness, the worship of israel ascended in the aspirations of the people after purity and righteousness. if the choirs sang of the shepherd of israel, it was not merely in the praises of the providential care felt over the chosen people, but in the thankfulness of souls, because of the assurance of his spiritual guidance: he shall convert my soul, and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. if they chanted the glories of the house of god, it was because thither the tribes came up, with this desire in the hearts of the worshippers: like as the hart desireth the water-brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, o god. my soul is athirst for god. yea, even for the living god: when shall i come to appear before the presence of god? * * * * * o send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. then will i go up unto the altar of god, unto god, the gladness of my joy: yea, upon the harp will i praise thee, o god, my god. the temple, however, was but a part, and practically a small part, of the institutionalism of religion in this period. this was the era of the scribe rather than of the priest. ezra came back to jerusalem with a new treasure, "the law." around this sacred book, which soon added to itself the writings of the prophets, the religious life of the nation really crystallized. to read and expound it, now that "no vision came to the prophets from the eternal," became the highest office of religion, an office purely ethical and spiritual. in every town of the land the meeting-house arose, opening its doors upon the sabbath and on market days, to the villagers, who gathered for a simple service of instruction and devotion. the service began with a short prayer, which was followed by the recitation of some portions of "the law," setting forth the great beliefs and duties of the jewish religion--a confession of faith, in other words. after this came the long prayer, which, in later times, became liturgical; and then the reading of the lesson for the day from "the law," with its interpretation, when hebrew had become a dead language. then followed a reading from the prophecies, and a homily or sermon based upon the passage read. in their synagogues the jews worshipped much as we are doing in this church to-day. through such a quiet deepening of the life of the people was the nation preparing for its final development of religion. true it is that in the latter part of this period the nation showed unmistakable signs of being overtrained. the hedge made about the law had fenced men off from one thing after another until, to men who were anxious not to offend, life became a weary burden. there was scarcely an action that might not involve sin. the natural effect of externalizing the commands of conscience followed; and the ethical aims which had been sought were well nigh lost in the routine of form and ceremony, and in the fine-spun distinctions of belief and conduct. a great-souled jew found, later on, as hosts of his fellow-countrymen had found before him, that by the works of the thorah (law or teaching) could no flesh be justified. the very book which had fed so deep a life had come to stand between the soul and god, a barrier to the fresh, free inspirations from on high. religion had run out upon the surface, and was dying. but it was as the tassels wither and whiten when the corn is ripe within the husk and ready to seed down a new season. plainly, by every sign, israel's long gestation of religion was nearing its appointed term. all the elements had been developed, one after another, for a universal religion, and there was nothing more to be done but to await the coming to the birth. as plainly, by every sign, the world-conditions were at length found for a safe issue of the "holy thing" which israel so long had carried within her bosom. there was needed a man to body these scattered elements, to fuse the forces of the nation into a personality, to live the dreams which a race had visioned. religion is never a code nor a theory, it is always a life. the ideal religion awaited the ideal man. he came! as the nation held the holy child jesus in her arms, joying that a man was born into the world, she might have been overheard singing: lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thy people israel. the historical reality of jesus is unquestionable. the essential features of his life and thought are distinctly outlined through the mist of time, and above the clouds of legend that hang low upon the horizon where he disappeared. the threefold tradition preserves a clear-cut image of the son of man. we see one in whom the ideals of israel found a perfect realization. he brought to the flower the conception of religion whose germ lay seeded down in the ten words of moses. in him worship and aspiration were one. he lived the ethical and spiritual religion after which the nation had patiently striven, through prophet and priest and sage, through psalmist and through scribe. he _lived_ the vision of human goodness which holy men of old had never succeeded in bringing down into the flesh, beyond a blurred blocking in of the heavenly ideal. he _lived_ man's dream of goodness so gloriously that he became a more than man, in whom was felt the coming nigh of the eternal holy one. the human form divine, to which mankind aspired, took on its true and awful splendor, as the image of the god whom the conscience worshipped. every passing "i would be," of the saints of old looked forth, transfigured from the face of one who said "i am." true to israel's ancient dream, around this righteous suffering servant of the eternal, the nations gathered, to be taught of god. the souls to whom he gave power to become the sons of god became the family of the heavenly father, in which there was "neither greek nor jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, bond nor free, but christ was all and in all." in this holy brotherhood of the children of the all-father, we moderns take our places round our elder brother; feeling sure that we have found the spiritual band or religion wherein society is to be held together, through each man's holding hard by the god who is the perfection of his own highest dreams. * * * * * such then being the fact of israel's historic travail and such her issue, our fathers' sense of the supreme significance of christ in human history takes on a new light in our new knowledge. the problem of religion is to find such a knowledge of the being in whom we live and move and have our being, as shall lead men's awe before this mysterious power up into an awe of a power whom we may rightly worship, trust and love. to find the key to this problem is to hold the secret of all the puzzles of our weary world. before the power "manifest in the flesh" in jesus christ, our souls hush, in an awe which breathes within us worship, trust and love. and if this power be the very power felt in history and in nature, whose ways therein are so often baffling to the moral sense, then all is well. but, if this be so, the holy power who is shrined in christ must show the features of the mind which tabernacles in nature. there can be no contradiction. unquestionably an essential characteristic of the mind in nature is the method of its action. there is a reign of law. the highest generalization of the methods of this law which man has reached reveals this power as acting, through every sphere, in continuous progressive development. one word embodies this supreme generalization--evolution. christianity must fit into this universal order. otherwise it either denies that order, which denial cannot be received; or it is denied by that order, which denial is very certain to be increasingly received. god "cannot deny himself!" "i change not." here is where christianity's hold of the human mind hinges in our age. the old reading of the history of the preparation for christ separated "those whom god hath joined together." the new reading of that preparation restores the needful unity. christianity is no exception amid the general order of nature. it follows that providential plan. it grows from seed to flower. its beginnings were in a simple conception of ethical religion begotten in a heathen people through moses. in the womb of the nation it lay dormant till the time for quickening came. thenceforward it slowly assimilated the vital forces and nutritive elements of the organic life within which it grew, until the hour arrived when it burst the maternal womb, a perfect birth. christianity is a genuine historic evolution. when we have said this, have we accounted for it? to none save those who, in mastering the methods of a process of evolution, fancy that they have mastered its sources. to none save those who, familiarizing themselves with the order of life, think that they have resolved its nature. the wiser portion of mankind do not find in how a synonym for whence. we still ask whence? when we see the issue of a long and complicated plan, we postulate a planning mind. when we trace, through the sketches and studies in a studio, the gradual embodiment of a vision of loveliness, which at length looks down upon us in its perfect grace from the canvas on the wall, we cannot be persuaded out of our conviction that some artist has lived and labored in this studio, patiently evolving his great dream. when we see a new-born child we do not think that we have learned its parentage in being told about its mother. we want to know who fathered it into being. what mind planned this process of a nation's growth into a universal religion? what artist dreamed this ethical and spiritual ideal? who begat this "holy thing" conceived in israel and born of her at length in glorious beauty? if moses was the human parent of this marvellous child, who fathered the "essential christ" in moses? who is the real father of jesus christ? our only answer must be that given of old: when the fulness of the time was come god sent forth his son.... the true light, which lighteth every man, was coming on into the world.... and the word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the father) full of grace and truth. if this then be the true interpretation of the evolution of the christ, we hold, in the doctrine of the incarnation, the secret of all evolution. we must read the story of every development in the light of the highest life of man, himself the highest life of nature. nature is in travail with an ideal which rose not in the molten suns, though perchance it did rise through them. the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of god. man is in travail with an ideal which rose not in the anthropoid apes, though it may have risen through them. a finer, larger, nobler man is growing within the man that is. the universal man is now coming to be a real being in the individual mind. mankind, which is one physically and mentally, is one morally and spiritually. all varieties of man are built upon one ethical type. the virtues are cosmopolitan. one human ideal looms above and before all races, though refracted differently in the changing atmospheres of earth. within the saints one dream of goodness forms. over the seers and sages one vision of the source of human goodness rises. through the clouds of earth one infinite and eternal form shapes itself to the wise. as men rise they meet. the race-souls are strangely alike. socrates and buddha are brothers. humanity is in travail with one human ideal and one divine image, and these twain are one. the great mother sings to herself: but he, the man-child glorious, where tarries he the while? the rainbow shines his harbinger, the sunset gleams his smile. my boreal lights leap upward, forth right my planets roll, and still the man-child is not born, the summit of the whole. i travail in pain for him, my creatures travail and wait; his couriers come by squadrons, he comes not to the gate. will humanity come to the birth with her beloved son? who that reads the story of the coming of the hebrew christ can doubt it? what miscarriage can befall her who is nursed by nature and tended by providence? what will the coming man be like? we have seen his face break through the flesh for a moment. on the shoulders of the race will rest the head of christ. what shall be said when the morning stars sing together, and all the sons of god shout for joy that man is born upon the earth? the holy ghost hath come upon thee, humanity, and the power of the highest hath overshadowed thee; therefore also, that holy thing which is born of thee, shall be called the son of god. this, at least, is my reading of nature and of history in the light of the completed evolution of the christ. the normal growth through history of the ideal man, is the incarnation of the divine man. the mischievous antithesis between the realms of the natural and the supernatural, that kept the world's thought from crystallizing around the world's soul, disappears in an order which is at once natural in all its processes, and supernatural in its source and plan and energy. we hold the key to all earth's problems in the vision of god which, gleaming through nature and through man, dawns in the face of jesus christ. over him--in whom the human ideal becomes the divine image, and the most perfect dream of human goodness is the revelation of earth's god--the eternal one breaks silence, whispering to our souls: this is my beloved son: hear him! vii. the right ethical and spiritual use of the bible. it is impossible to forget the noble enthusiasm with which this dangerous heretic, as he was regarded in england, grasped the small greek testament which he had in his hand as we entered and said: "in this little book is contained all the wisdom of the world." stanley: "history of the jewish church," iii. x. [reminiscence of a visit to ewald.] truth, not eloquence, is to be sought for in holy scripture. we should rather search after our profit in the scriptures, than subtilty of speech..... search not who spoke this or that, but mark what is spoken. � kempis: "imitation of christ," ch. v. do not hear for any other end but to become better in your life, and to be instructed in every good work, and to increase in the love and service of god. jeremy taylor: "holy living," ch. iv. sect. iv. we search the world for truth: we cull the good, the pure, the beautiful from graven stone and written scroll, from all old flower-fields of the soul; and, weary seekers of the best, we come back laden from our quest, to find that all the sages said, is in the book our mothers read. whittier: "miriam." vii. the right ethical and spiritual use of the bible. "from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in christ jesus."-- timothy, iii. . the right use of the bible is admirably stated by st. paul. these books do not make one learned in any knowledge--they make one wise in life. the jewish tradition concerning solomon's choice expressed a deep truth. wisdom is the supreme benediction to be sought in life. invaluable as is knowledge, it is as a means to an end. knowledge provides for man the material out of which wisdom, using "the best means to attain the best ends," builds a noble life. to have the mind clear, the judgment just, the conscience true, the will strong, so that we may sight the goal of life, may learn the laws by which it is to be won, and may firmly seek it, steadfast amid all seductions--this is wisdom. would that for one single day, we may have lived in this world as we ought. thus prays the author of the imitation of christ; and in so praying he is sighing after wisdom. this culture of wisdom is the aim of the books which together form the bible. they reveal to our vision the best ends in life, and point us to the best means of winning those high aims. they clear the atmosphere of mists, disclose to us our bearings, and fill our souls with the afflatus which wafts us toward "the haven where we would be." these books are rightly called by paul, the "holy scriptures," the scriptures of holiness, the writings whose genius is goodness. their charm is "the beauty of holiness," the graciousness of goodness as she unveils herself therein. and this genius of gracious goodness which irradiates the inner court of this temple, lays such a spell upon the souls of men inasmuch as she is seen to be the very daughter of god; according to the soliloquy overheard by mortal ears, wherein wisdom sings: the lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his work of old. * * * * * then i was by him, as one brought up with him, and i was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. religion becomes the worship of the god who is the source and standard of goodness, the love of the eternal who loveth righteousness, the child's crying out into the dark--o righteous father. the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom. the bible is the choicest extant literature of the people of religion, the record and embodiment of the evolution of ethical worship, through its varied moods and tenses, into its perfect type in jesus christ our lord. the bible-books form, therefore, the classics of the soul, in which we are to study the nature and secret of goodness; the manual which every earnest man and woman, intent on building character, should use habitually for ethical culture, and for the ethical worship which is its inspiration. this is the truest use of the bible. * * * * * the intellectual use of the bible, in critical and historical studies, is legitimate and needful. reason should lay the bases for faith. knowledge must rear the altar on which worship is to be lighted. theology shapes religion. it is all important, therefore, that the books which the intellect chiefly uses to found and form its thoughts of god should be rightly used, so as to give man right conceptions of the divine being, and to waken right feelings toward him. this intellectual use of the bible is not for scholars alone. there is no longer any isolated class of scholars. all educated people are now taken into the confidence of the learned, in every sphere of knowledge. the average man will reason about the great mysteries quite as much as the scholar; perhaps more than the true scholar, and with more insistent dogmatism. to the issue of that simpler, nobler religion of christ which is struggling to the birth within the womb of christianity, in the travail throes that are upon our age, it is of vital moment that all intelligent people should learn to use their bibles intelligently in a knowledge of the nature of its writings, and in reasonable reasonings therefrom. therefore i have spoken concerning the critical and the historical uses of these sacred writings. but, when this knowledge is won and duly employed in our theologizings, the truest use of the bible remains for us to make, to our highest pleasure and profit. it is the book of religion, not of theology; save as it records the one authoritative epistle of theology, the word of god, the christ. it is not a body of divinity, it is the soul of divinity. to use the bible critically and historically for our theologizings, is, after all, to use it, however rightly, for its secondary and not its primary purpose. religion--as the awed sense of the eternal power and order revealed in nature, the infinite goodness and righteousness revealed in man--is the art of the soul; its finest feelings, its loftiest imaginations, its noblest enthusiasms its profoundest tragedies thrown out into the cry of the human after god. there is a science in the sculptor's art. it is doubtless needful that this art should be studied for the sake of its science. artists, however, may be glad that winckelmann has analyzed the apollo belvedere, and has given them the laws of proportion deduced from this human form divine; leaving them free to feast upon its beauty. for in the scientific study of art, art itself may be lost. some great figure-painters have been unwilling that their pupils should study anatomy; fearing that the bones would stick through the flesh in their paintings. this danger shows itself plainly in all critical and historical uses of the bible, in the old-fashioned as in the new-fashioned study of the bible. the international series of sunday-school lessons burden the brief hours of the lord's day with a mass of matter, which may or may not be true knowledge about the bible, but which certainly is not the true religion of the bible. a child may learn the tables of the israelitish kings, the geography of the holy land, and the architect's plans of the temple of jerusalem, and may be learning nothing whatever of the real religion which is shrined within the bible. that is very simple: thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: and thy neighbor as thyself. the time spent on these more or less interesting matters may rob the child of his one weekly opportunity of learning to use the holy scriptures so as to become wise unto salvation. to use their words of wise men, and their tales of holy men, to inspire the love of goodness as the love of god, this and this alone is to teach religion from the bible. bread that consists of two-thirds bran and one-third white flour is eminently laxative; but it is generally supposed that this age is lax enough in its hold of truth. a little more wheat and a little less bran, ye good doctors, might strengthen the constitutions of our children. the new study of the bible is perhaps even more in danger of missing its real secret. an interest in the literature and history of israel may divert the mind from that which is, after all, the heart of these "letters," and the core of this history. fear god and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. of this danger i think that i see signs, in some of the great masters to whom we owe our new criticism, in some of the manuals which are popularizing it, and in some of the gifted preachers who are reconstructing theology around it. the science of religion is absorbing too much of the life that should go into the art of religion; and we have fine forms of thought, mantled with flabby flesh of feeling, in which no red blood of holy passion pulses. to read homer with a view of understanding the fables of superstition, and of interpreting the mythology of the ancients, may have been needful for the later greeks, who would preserve religion from the death that was stealing over it, in the divorce of the educated and the popular thought of the grecian bible. such a use of homer, however, must have missed the essential charm of homer--the immortal poetry of these heroic legends; the breath of fresh, simple, wholesome human life which animates them, and which through them inspired men to brave and noble being. socrates saw this in his day. "i beseech you to tell me, socrates," said phaedrus, "do you believe this tale?" "the wise are doubtful," answered socrates, "and i should not be singular if, like them, i also doubted. i might have a rational explanation.... now i have certainly not time for such inquiries; shall i tell you why? i must first know myself, as the delphian inscription says. to be curious about that which is not my business while i am still in ignorance of my own self, would be ridiculous."[ ] wisely speaks the finest biblical critic of england in our day: no one knows the truth about the bible who does not know how to enjoy the bible; and he who takes legend for history, and who imagines moses, or isaiah, or david, or paul, or peter, or john, to have written bible-books which they did not write, but who knows how to enjoy the bible deeply, is nearer the truth about the bible than the man who can pick it all to pieces but who cannot enjoy it.... his work is to learn to enjoy and turn to his benefit the bible, as the word of the eternal,[ ] the right use of the bible is to feed religion. coleridge said: religion, in its widest sense, signifies the act and the habits of reverencing the invisible, as the highest both in ours ives and in nature.[ ] the use of the bible then is to ennoble our ideals, to quicken our aspirations, to clear the illusions of the senses, to dissipate the glamor of the world, to purify our passions, to bring our powers well in hand to a firm will; and, through the mystic laws of nature and of conscience which we thus endeavor to obey, to breathe within our souls a sacred sense of the presence of a power, infinite and eternal and loving righteousness--whom to know "is life eternal." de quincey classified all writings as belonging either to the literature of knowledge, or the literature of power. there are books to which we go for information. they give us facts and ideas. they constitute the literature of knowledge. they teach us. there are books to which we go for inspiration; to which we turn for joy and pleasure, for strength and courage, for patience and endurance, for purity and peace. they constitute the literature of power. they move us. herbert spencer's books belong to the literature of knowledge the "imitation of christ" belongs to the literature of power. the literature of knowledge needs to be reissued every century or generation or decade, corrected up to date. the literature of power is immortal; fresh to-day though born milleniums ago. the problems of character and conduct face us much as they faced the romans and greeks, the egyptians and hindus. the invisible in nature and in man touches us with the same feelings that it stirred in persians, chaldeans and akkadians even though the spirit's voice spake once in a language of the intellect which has now become obsolete, its utterances are not therefore obsolete. how archaic is much of the thought of the "imitation of christ;" shot through and through as it is with the tissue of mediæval catholicism! but we forget these archaisms in the spell of a holy soul, in love with wisdom, "intoxicated with god." no archaisms in biblical thought destroy its spiritual power over us. nay, rather do they strengthen that power: as in our devotions we naturally seek old and quaint forms, buildings unlike other structures, music which sounds from out the past, words that are mellow with the rich hues of age; as the archaisms of the language of our english bible hold a power that is lost in the raw correctness of the revised version. * * * * * in the literature of power the bible ranks first. whatever in christian literature has most searching ethical and spiritual energy radiates the reflected light of the bible. augustine's confessions, the imitation of christ, fenelon's spiritual letters, the saints' rest, the pilgrim's progress, in their most appealing tones echo the voices of the bible. the hymns that feed the inner life are aromatic with the rich thoughts and feelings of this holy book. our poets betray, in the passages which are the favorites of earnest minds, the influence of these scriptures. from paradise lost to in memoriam, from the temple to the christian year, the poems which the devout delight in are either biblical paraphrases or biblical distillations. our masters of fiction could not have written the scenes which most rouse our moral nature, could not have conceived the characters which most inspire our devotional nature, without the bible. take the bible out of adam bede and dinah morris, out of robert falconer and m. myriel the blessed bishop of d., and what would be left of them? the vibratory quality which most thrills our souls in the strains of christian literature is due to the bible material in it. the bible holds stored the ethical electricity on which christendom has drawn, through centuries, exhaustless energy. outside of christendom, while there are many books which we can thankfully and reverently place by the side of the bible, as ethical and spiritual motors, there are none which any of us would think of substituting for it. the discourses and the manual of epictetus, the thoughts of marcus aurelius, the dialogues of plato, and the kindred words of wisdom of the ancients, are indeed full of inspiration to earnest natures. to dip into these writings for a few minutes, amid the duties of the day, is a soul bath, most cleansing and invigorating. the sacred books of the east may well be sacred to us westerns. a sense of grateful awe steals over me as, looking on these volumes, i think of the generations which they have fed with spiritual sustenance and have guided in the way of life. the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world shines through these pages. the all-father has drawn nigh to the souls of his children, through the holy men who spake as they were moved of the holy ghost. it is an inestimable privilege to have these bibles of humanity ranged along our shelves, and to have their choicest words at hand upon our tables, in some apt anthology. it would be well if their great sayings could be read in our churches, in connection with our old testament lessons, as the voices of the ethnic prophets of the son of man. but if we have allowed the thought that any of these sacred books might become a substitute for our fathers' bible, we may correct our crude enthusiasms by the authority of the greatest living master in comparative religion. in the preface to the edition of the sacred books of the east that noble monument of our generation's scholarship max müller, writes: readers who have been led to believe that the vedas of the ancient brahmans, the avesta of the zoroastrians, the tripitaka of the buddhists, the kings of confucius, or the koran of mohammed are books full of primeval wisdom and religious enthusiasm or at least of sound and simple moral teaching, will be disappointed on consulting these volumes.... i cannot help calling attention to the real mischief that has been done, and is still being done, by the enthusiasm of those pioneers who have opened the first avenues through the bewildering forest of the sacred literature of the east. they have raised expectations that cannot be fulfilled, fears also that, as will be easily seen, are unfounded.... i confess it has been for many years a problem to me, aye, and to a great extent is so still, how the sacred books of the east should, by the side of so much that is fresh, natural, simple, beautiful and true, contain so much that is not only unmeaning, artificial and silly, but even hideous and repellant.[ ] our own bible, as i have frankly owned, holds the truth as the gold is held in the ore. truth nowhere exists "native" in human writings; but the proportions of the "mineralizer" are vastly greater in all other bibles than in our own. there is no book known that can take its place on the lecterns in our churches, or on the tables by which, in quiet hours, we seat ourselves, a-hungered for the bread of life. the pre-eminent excellence of israel's writings in the literature of power, is natural and necessary. israel had little originality in any science or art save the science and art of the soul, the knowledge and the love of god. nature is economic in her dowries. she does not shower all the gifts of the fairies on any one race. she dowered israel with the highest of human powers, conscience, in an unequalled measure. providence nurtured and trained this faculty. this little nation became as pre-eminently the people of ethical and spiritual religion as the states of greece became the people of art. because of the natural aptitudes of israel, and of her providential education, we should turn to her literature for our highest inspirations in ethical culture and religion. i. wherein lies this commanding rank of the bible in the literature of ethical and spiritual power? speaking generally, i should say that the superiority of the bible lies in the fact that it is at once a literature of ethical power and a literature of spiritual power. we have books of high ethical power that are weak religiously. we have books of high religious power that are weak ethically the bible is strong in both directions. hence its power. either ethical or spiritual power alone is defective. morality without spirituality is principle without passion. spirituality without morality is passion without principle. union supplements the defectiveness of each alone, and develops its full forcefulness. the bible marries morality and spirituality, and these twain become one. the secularities become sacred, and the sanctities become sound. according to the bible, he who keeps the ten words obeys god. the "merely moral" man is a worshipper of god, though the worship may be silent. in kant's great saying, they are always in the service of god whose actions are moral. virtue becomes consciously religious, as she learns to recognize what she is in love with in loving goodness. as the love of goodness rises into a passion for the ideal forms of justice, purity and truth, it takes on a real religiousness. it may think to stop short in an ethical culture, but it cannot. to feed its own aspirations it must worship the ideal righteousness as a reality. its desires become prayers, its hopes become praises. even though in mute longings, it pleads o lord, open thou our lips, and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise. reversing the identification of religion with morality that is wrought by the bible, its influence is equally impressive. religion is not the emotion of man in the presence of the invisible in nature, unless that invisible is felt to be essentially moral. religion is not the finest of feelings before the invisible in man, unless that unseen is also felt to be ethical. the natural religion, however nobly stated, which accepts any form of poetic ideals as religion, is very imperfect and not at all biblical. shelley's feelings for the spirit of beauty are exquisitely fine, but under the light of the bible they are seen to be only latently religious. a more penetrating-vision will see in the ideal beauty a moral form, and then æsthetics will translate itself into ethics. the unmoral sentiment of a shelley for beauty may issue in another generation in the immoral sentiment of a swinburne. even thus the vision of the aphrodite sank into the dream of a venus. an oscar wilde's maunderings over an art which has no reference to morality may possibly be poetry, but they certainly are not religion according to the bible, for all his blasphemous apostrophes to christ between his praises of licentious love. hard as the granitic core of earth is the core of religion in the bible. the "stern law-giver" of israel was duty. her supreme authority, which enjoined with absolute command the most unpleasant action, was--"i ought." she saw that "laws mighty and brazen" bind man to a right, which he may distort or deny, but cannot destroy--his saviour or his judge. mystic in its sacredness, conscience sat shrined within the soul of the holy men who spake as they were moved of the holy ghost; her voice the very voice of god. the power in whom we live and move and have our being is revealed in these books as the eternal righteousness. the moral law is seen to be the throne of the most high. in emerson's phrase: virtue is the adopting of this dictate of the universal mind by the individual will. "what do i love when i love thee?" sighed augustine. israel might have answered that question in augustine's own words: not the beauty of bodies, nor the fair harmony of time, nor the brightness of the light so gladsome to our eyes, nor sweet melodies of varied songs, nor the fragrant smell of flowers and ointments and spices, not manna and honey. none of these do i love when i love my god; and yet i love a kind of light, a kind of melody, a kind of fragrance, a kind of food, when i love my god,--the light, the melody, the fragrance, the food of the inner man. this it is which i love when i love my god.[ ] but the bible answer would be much more simple and pungent: o ye that love the lord, see that ye hate the thing which is evil.... if a man say i love god and hateth his brother he is a liar. this is the fundamental secret of the power of the bible. the love of goodness and the love of god are one. aspiration is unconscious worship, and worship is aspiration conscious of its object. be ye perfect as your father which is in heaven is perfect. but this noble conception of the unity of ethical and spiritual life has many aspects in the bible. the bible turns upon us every phase in which wisdom reveals herself to the sons of men, so that no ray of her light is lost, and that every one, however he may stand related to her, receives her heavenly beams. . _we have here the simple, homely, prudential aspects of virtue, which have always been particularly powerful on certain ages and classes._ the maxims of a poor richard are anticipated here, as quaint, as terse, and as sagacious in the ancient jew as in the modern american. our scientific teachers would replace eloquent declamation concerning vices, such as drunkenness and debauchery, by illustrated lectures upon the physiological effects of violations of nature's laws. they would teach men that the laws of health are found in the laws of temperance and purity. the hebrew sages had this vision of wisdom. their proverbial sayings abound with graphic pen-pictures of the folly of vice. no illustration of the physical consequences of debauchery could be more impressive than the vivid sketch of the foolish young man, going after the strange woman as an "ox goeth to the slaughter," knowing not that her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. the favorite name for sin in these proverbs is folly. wisdom crieth to the sons of men, in that noblest writing of the sages: blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. for whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the lord. but he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. all they that hate me love death. . _these laws of life that work for our health and wealth loom, however, into mystic and sacred forms, as of the laws heavenly and eternal, whose "seat is the bosom of god."_ when crito urges his beloved master to escape from the death that had been unjustly decreed for him, socrates replies in a noble personification of the laws, as rebuking him for the thought of such an attempt to evade them; and he must be dim-sighted, indeed, who does not see in the forms of the state laws, the shadows of the eternal laws, august and awful, whose constraint was round about his will. that is the vision which we catch through every form of law, sanitary, social, or ecclesiastical, in the bible. in the earliest code of the hebrew statutes known to us, a collection of tribal "judgments" or "dooms," this high and mystic sense of obligation steals over us. amid the quaint enactments recorded in the book of covenants, whose language carries us back to times of extreme simplicity, we hear the words ye shall be holy men unto me.[ ] our new critics may tell you that the late poet, who wrote that long-drawn sigh of desire for the law which is bodied in the one hundred and nineteenth psalm, was thinking of the "thorah"--the ritual law of the temple and the counsels of the priests. they are doubtless right, if so be that they do not lead you to infer that this devout soul was thinking _only_ of the ecclesiastical law. through it, there was rising upon his spirit the vision of the law eternal and heavenly, the norm and pattern of the law that on earth binds men to purity and righteousness. blessed are those that are undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the lord. make me to understand the way of thy commandments; and so shall i talk of thy wondrous works. thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. the earth, o lord, is full of thy mercy: o teach me thy statutes! thy hands have made me and fashioned me: o give me understanding, that i may learn thy commandments. forever, o lord, thy word is settled in heaven. they continue this day, according to thy ordinances. thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant, and teach me thy statutes. this is none other than that law of which a far later ecclesiastic, writing also of ecclesiastical law, discoursed in this wise: there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of god, her voice the harmony of the world; all things in heaven and earth do her homage, the very least as feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempted from her power: both angels and men and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all, with uniform consent admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy.[ ] this law is none other than that holy form which a modern poet thus apostrophizes: stern lawgiver! yet thou dost wear the godhead's most benignant grace; nor know we anything so fair as is the smile upon thy face. flowers laugh before thee on their beds, and fragrance in thy footing treads; thou dost preserve the stars from wrong; and the most ancient heavens, through thee, are fresh and strong. . _the law thus mystic and sacred is seen to be both the law of nature and the law of the human soul._ the bible recognizes no duality of natural law and revealed law. all divine law is natural, and, as such, is a revelation. physical and moral laws are but different forms of one and the same order. the same power is working in the world around man and in the world within man. the lower forms of its action are to be interpreted by its higher forms. nature is to be resolved by man. the ten words were given as the statutes of jehovah himself the personification of some form of nature's force. out of this simple germ grew, the noble thought which anticipated the knowledge of our _savans_ and the intuitions of our seers; who unite in showing us one order in the starry heavens and in the mysteries of mind. thus it is that the bible feeds so richly, when read aright, that awe which steals upon us as we face nature and see ourselves mirrored there in shadowy outline; and realize the one in all things--god. there is a beautiful illustration of this in a noble poem that our later critics have handled with a strange lack of perceptiveness. the nineteenth psalm opens with a lofty apostrophe to nature, commencing: the heavens declare the glory of god, and the firmament sheweth his handywork. at the seventh verse the psalm abruptly passes to a eulogy of "the law"--the moral law shrined in the priestly thorah: the law of the lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul; the testimony of the lord is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple. here we have, say our learned critics, two psalms welded into one, a song of nature and a song of the soul. as though nature and man did not form one divine poem in two cantos! as though the system of the world around us did not type the world within us! as though it were not always the most instinctive action to pass from the sense of an order in the starry heavens, and the awe thus awakened, to the sense of an order in the soul of man, and the deeper awe thus roused! we know that the hindus and egyptians made use, each, of one word to express the law of nature and the law of conscience. the physical order interpreted the sense of a moral order. the egyptian _maat_, derived like the sanskrit _rita_, from merely sensuous impressions, became the name for moral order and righteousness.[ ] the nineteenth psalm is only the expression among the hebrews of this wide-spread instinct; an instinct which learned critics may lack, but which the poet still inherits; as the sphynx whispers to him of the double life of nature and of man, that yet are by one music enchanted, one deity stirred. . _the bible leads us on to that sense of sin, in the presence of this "law," which no lower thought of law can quicken._ violations of physiological law nature stamps as folly. offences against social laws the state brands as crime. transgressions of ideal and eternal law become sin. it is not only foolish or disgraceful to break the moral law, it is wrong. this is the sense of guilt in disobedience that is roused in each of us by the bible, as by no other book; that has been quickened in europe, historically, by these sacred scriptures, as by no other writings. the bible has given to humanity a new and intense ethical perception of evil. the strenuous moral earnestness of the puritan and the methodist is vitalized from these books. the very type of saintship in christendom is unique. it is no mere ceremonial correctness for which the priestly ezekiel pleads with tender pathos: repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a clean heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, o house of israel? it is this intense sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin which oppressed the great-hearted paul, and wrung from him the bitter cry: o wretched man that i am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death. how vividly this sense of sin expresses itself in the fifty-first psalm! there is here a plaint infinitely deeper than the chagrin and remorse of the man who has committed an "indiscretion," or become entangled in an "intrigue;" there is the cry of a soul that has betrayed its highest, holiest fidelities, and lies low in the dust before the heavenly purity: wash me throughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. to enter into the spirit of this sigh of penitence is a new knowledge of the human heart. the bible thus leads men to live as in the presence of an awful power of holiness, which is searching through and through our beings. we cannot understand the biblical "salvation" unless we have fathomed, at least, the shoaler experiences of these saintly souls of old, and know some little of the depths of sin. . _the bible wakens in the breast of man an ethical passion for the ideal and eternal law, which, apart from early buddhism, has no parallel in history._ the prophets are aflame with the ardors of this sacred enthusiasm. the ordinary passions of mankind are rivaled in intensity by the mystic passion of their souls for the heavenly wisdom. they stand amid the wild whirl of selfish strife in the society of their day, and lift on high the holy forms of justice and brotherhood, as though expecting their commonplace cotemporaries to turn aside from practical affairs, and seek for them; and, so subtle and searching are the appeals of these heavenly visions, men do actually turn from mammon to worship these impoverishing divinities; and a great movement arises, looking to the bringing down of these ideals upon the earth, as the ruling powers in the court and the exchange. the regenerating force of christendom has lain in the coming of these prophets, generation after generation, to the children of men, to lead them upon the mount where they should clearly see those lofty shapes, commanding instant loyalty from honest souls. the ominous travail-throes of society to-day await one stimulus to free the new order that is struggling to the birth--the passion for ethical and social ideals, which the bible, rightly administered, would inspire. the prophetic spirit is the vital force of the bible. its insistent power reappears in paul; a man consuming in the fires of this holy passion, and kindling its ardors in the souls of untold myriads. his great letter to the romans, so strangely misread as a mere dogmatic treatise, breathes and burns with this lofty enthusiasm. its central thought, its threading _motif_, heard anew in every critical movement of the argument, is--righteousness. the master in whom the bible centres, enriches earth with a new benediction: blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. this highest passion of mankind is wakened by the bible as by no other book. through it, the mystic forerunners reveal themselves to the human soul most alluringly; enthralling it with their pure charms, dispelling the illusions of the senses and the glamor of the world, in the light of their holy loveliness. the eternal wisdom calls from out these pages to the sons of men: hearken unto me ye that follow after righteousness. . _the bible reveals these ethical ideals as no mere alluring visions, but as the substantial realities of being._ men say to those who speak of these high conceptions--"they are the dreams of sentimentalists, the will-'o-the-wisp lights that beguile men away from the _terra firma_; to be trusted and followed by no practical man." "idealist" is a term of reproach. and justly, from any other point of view than that which the bible, true to the most penetrating discernment of humanity, opens to us. these ideal forms are not the empty conceits of man's brain, bred from the fumes of his boundless egotism. they are not the clouds that gather and form and break into airy unreality in the atmosphere of earth. they are the shadows falling upon the soul of man from the unseen realities, which alone have substantial and abiding being. the laws of nature are surely not the baseless fabric of a dream. these ideals are simply those laws, transfigured into their spiritual substances. whatever in our blindness we may persuade ourselves elsewhere, over the bible we recognize the true character of the visions which so strangely stir us. this is the power of the bible. christian seemed to mr. worldly wiseman a fool. but he saw the heavenly city, and trudged along, sure that time would prove him in the right. christian carried in his hand this book. with this book in our hands, we, too, are sure that the visions of purity and justice, which we dimly see afar, are substantial and real, and that man will win at the last to the land where they are the light thereof. whereupon i was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. . _the bible thus inspires a buoyancy and exhilaration which feed the fresh forces of all noble life._ no poet is needed to tell us that virtue kindles at the touch of joy. we know it in our own experience. we notice it in every great revival of religion. we trace it through the history of christianity. the story of the early days of jesus is, as renan called it, "a delightful pastoral." in the person of humanity's greatest idealist, the highest joy of the soul was set in the framing of one of nature's brightest scenes. even from the shadows of the garden of gethsemane, he bequeaths to his little flock the legacy of his free spirit: my joy i leave with you. the christian society entered into that bequest, and in its first exhilaration overflowed the hard coast lines of property, and realized a happy brotherhood. and all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as any man had need. and they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home did take their food with gladness. the prophets were filled with a buoyancy of spirit that scarce would let them keep down to the plodding steps of social progress; that constantly rapt them away into the future, whence their voices echo back the gladness of their visions. the good time is coming on the earth. the longings of man's soul are to be realized. crushed by no disappointments, wearied out by no delays, the prophets maintain an indomitable hopefulness; their voices the carollings of the birds that greet the dawn of day: sing, o heavens; and be joyful, o earth; and break forth into singing, o mountains. for the lord hath comforted his people; and will have mercy upon his afflicted. one treads here the upper zones, where the air is rare and every draught an inspiration; where the laws are seen majestically sweeping every force into the measured movement which is making all things work together for good to them that love god. with a tact truer than any theory, our canon of scripture has been closed in the book of the revelation; whose visions look beyond the break-up of jerusalem and shadow on the far horizon, where earth and heaven melt in one, the fair form of the city of god, coming down from out the skies upon the new world wherein dwelleth righteousness. in these days, when "joy is withered from the sons of men," it is like drinking from the castalian springs to draw within our souls from the bible the sense of that kingdom of god which is joy in the holy ghost; into which men are to come with everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. you learn the power of the bible as you find how the joy of the lord is your strength. . _the bible leads this sense of law into that awful vision wherein "conscious law is king of kings."_ the laws appear substantial and real inasmuch as they are seen to be but phases of the infinite and eternal being, the righteous lord who loveth righteousness. it is a conscious, intelligent, holy being, whom israel worships through these ideal forms of goodness. however he transcended their poor personalities, as transcend them they knew he must, god was yet best expressed in the form of the human, conscious personality. man, the highest creature, must be, they said, most nearly in the form of god. as man takes up the noblest characteristics of the life below him, so his own noblest characteristics must be taken up into the lord of life. god cannot be less than personal, however much more than personal he may be. he is to be thought of by us, in lack of nobler imagination, as personal. israel thus grew into the conception of the infinite power, manifest in the order of nature and in the order of conscience as conscious power; one in whose image man was made, the father of the mystic "i"; whose nature is the law of creation, whose purpose is its plan, whose will is its exhaustless energy. this is the secret which has kept the religions inspired by the bible from lapsing, as other religions have done, into lifelessness. egypt was the land of a religion which had won a high conception of the divine unity; a religion which was scientific in its forms of thought, and earnestly moral in its spirit; but which failed to keep distinct in mind the order of nature from the being on whom it reposes, and thus sank into the dreamy pantheism of its cultured classes, and the poetic polytheisms of its people. of this lapse, renouf writes: all gods were in fact but names of the one who resided in them all. but this god is no other than nature. both individuals and entire nations may long continue to hold this view, without drawing the inevitable conclusion, that if there is no other god than this, the world is really without a god. but the fate of a religion which involves such a conclusion, and with that conclusion the loss of faith in immortality, and even in the distinction of right and wrong, except so far as they are connected with ritual prescriptions, is inevitably sealed.[ ] neither judaism, nor mohammedanism, nor christianity, the religions fed directly or indirectly from the bible, have run, or can well run into this fatal error. the divine being who is mirrored in the bible is the conscious intelligence to whom alone of right belongs that ineffable name--god. this is the thought and this is the word which hold the spell of the bible power over the human soul. nowhere else is the sense of god so alive, nowhere else does it so thrill the whole being of man. it was this living god whom these holy men of old were seeking; not simply the august ideals of the soul, but the eternal being who casts them as his shadows upon man: unto thee lift i up mine eyes, o thou that dwellest in the heavens. * * * * * my soul truly waiteth still upon god, for of him cometh my salvation. * * * * * like as the hart desireth the water-brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, o god. my soul is athirst for god, yea, even for the living god; when shall i come to appear before the presence of god? it is god whom these holy men find. the ineffable presence rejoices their souls, and as we keep company with them rejoices our souls also: lord, thou hast been our home from one generation to another. * * * * * whoso dwelleth in the secret-place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. * * * * * o lord, thou hast searched me out and known me. thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thoughts afar off. thou art about my path and about my bed, and spiest out all my ways. for lo, there is not a word in my tongue but thou, o lord, knowest it altogether. the inspirations which we feel from the bible-words are the breathings of the eternal spirit. the divine whispers, which are too often inarticulate in nature and even in our souls, are articulate in the great bible-words--the words proceeding from out of the mouth of god, on which man liveth. the power of the bible is that the deafest souls can therein hear--god. . _god speaks in a man._ the bible centres in the story of a life which was so filled with the holy ghost that this man became the symbol of the most high, the sacrament of his being and presence, the sacred shrine of deity. as when the long-drawn travail of instrumentation labors through the opening movements of the ninth symphony, with a strain too fine for any voicing save by man, there bursts at length upon the tumultuous storm of sound the clear, high, song of joy from human lips; so from the mounting efforts of a nation's insufficient utterance there rises at last a voice, which takes up every groaning of the spirit in humanity into the perfect beauty of a human life divine. and so the word hath breath, and wrought with human hands the creed of creeds, in loveliness of perfect deeds, more strong than all poetic thought. the light of the son of man is the life of men; the light for our minds and the warmth for our hearts. in the power in whom we live and move and have our being, we see "our father who art in heaven." in the laws of life we read the methods of his schooling of our souls. in the sorrows of life we receive his disciplinings. in the sins that cling so hard upon us we feel the evils of our imperfection, from which he is seeking to deliver us through his training of our spirits. in the shame of sin we are conscious of the guilt that his free forgiveness wipes away, when we turn saying, father, i have sinned. in death we face the door-way to some other room of the father's house, where, it may be, just beyond the threshold our dear ones wait for us! in christ himself we own our heaven-sent teacher, master, saviour, friend; our elder brother, who in our sinful flesh lives our holy aspirations, and, smiling, beckons us to follow him, whispering in our ears--to them that receive me i give "power to become the sons of god." the power of the bible is--christ. ii. when sir walter scott lay in his last illness, he asked lockhart one day to read to him. "from what book shall i read?" said lockhart. "there is but one book," was scott's answer. those who have sought the "power to become the sons of god" will understand this hyperbole of the most healthy human mind in modern english literature. tested by experience there is indeed, in the wide range of the literature of power, no book to be mentioned with the bible for feeding the life of god in man. our fathers found this true, and their children cannot correct their judgment. the substitute for the bible, as an ethical and spiritual instructor, is not out. i speak to those who are in earnest in the building of a man. you need this book, my brothers. luther's higher life dated from his discovery of the bible. have you discovered the bible? within the body of human "letters" have you found out the divine soul of the bible? through the chorus of human voices have you heard the voice of the eternal power? if not, life holds one more rich "find" for you--a treasure hidden in the field over which you have so lightly strayed. buy a bible, my brothers! the current coin of the land, in the shops of our best booksellers, may have failed to buy for you a real bible. no noble book is ever to be made your own in this easy fashion. ruskin tells us that the great picture will not give itself to us unless we give ourselves to it. the bible must have its price. the best comes dearest. if you will not pay you cannot buy. pay for the real bible your costliest offering of mind and heart. spend upon it, day by day, your careful, reverent study, until beneath your love the book warms into life; and, having proven well your loyalty, this teacher of the soul opens its soul to you and whispers--henceforth i call you not servant but friend. wait in these courts until the eternal wisdom, who walks within this temple, turns her face upon you, "mystic, wonderful;" and the common places grow refulgent with a new and heavenly beauty, and you humbly say--this is none other but the house of god, and this is the gate of heaven. * * * * * how shall we thus rightly read the bible, for ethical and spiritual upbuilding? let me offer some plain and practical suggestions to this end. ( .) _read it daily._ your soul needs its daily bread. do not starve your soul. do not try to fatten it on chaff. get the best soul-food, the long tried manna that forms upon these pages day by day, for him who will be at pains to gather it. he must be busy, indeed, who cannot find time to keep himself alive. ( .) _read it in the choicest moments of the day._ the best picture should have the best setting. our fathers' symbol of the opening of a new day was the opening of the bible. their symbol of the closing of another day's duties was the closing of the bible. can we improve upon their ritual? john quincy adams noted in his journal his custom of reading in the bible each morning, of which he well observed: it seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day. pitch the day aright with this tuning-fork, and hush the babel-voices of the world to its tones of peace at night. ( .) _read the bible whenever you need some special influence of strength or cheer, amid the temptations and trials of the day._ it holds the unfailing corrective for the manifold disorders of our busy lives. to think its thoughts and breathe its desires, even for a few moments, is to have the horizon of the senses open, the heavy atmosphere of earth clear, the illusions of the world evanish, the fever of business cool and calm, the tempting appetites and passions slink down shamed into their kennels. it is to have the dark look of life lighten, the sting of disappointment lose its venom, the weariness of sickness forget itself, and the sorrow of the stricken heart sob itself asleep within the everlasting arms of one who, like a mother, comforteth his children, and who with his own hand wipes away the tears from our eyes. a few days after one of the battles before richmond a southern soldier was found unburied. his right hand still clasped a bible, and his stiff fingers pressed upon the words of the twenty-third psalm: i will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. ( .) _in the choice of these daily readings, follow the guidance of the soul's sure instinct._ you need no critical knowledge to teach you what parts of the bible are the most highly inspired. the spiritual sense will appraise these books aright. as the beasts are led instinctively to the herbs that hold healing for their ailments so you shall find the tonic and the balm that you need. you will naturally pasture for the most part in the prophets, the psalms, the gospels, the great epistles of paul, the first epistle of john, and kindred writings. you may, dip into these books as the bees dip into the flowers, now burying themselves in the luscious honey-suckle and now lingering on the rich rose, if so be that you only suck sweetness into your soul. ( .) _wheresoever you read, read in the spirit._ "i was in the spirit on the lord's day," wrote the seer. if he had been in the understanding merely, he would not have had many visions. the spirit must interpret the spirit's words. the bible requires, as bushnell wrote: divine inbreathings and exaltations in us, that we may asscend into their meanings.[ ] in his last sickness archbishop usher was observed one day, sitting in his wheel-chair, with a bible in his lap, and moving his position as the sun stole round to the westward, so as to let the light fall on the sacred page. that is a symbol of the right use of the bible. i picked up lately the choice bible which i selected for myself as a boy, and on the fly-leaf, in my boyish hand, i read the words: open thou mine eyes that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law. i still find that the best commentator, for the ethical and spiritual use of the bible, is one master praying always. as the bard with the muse, so the critic in the presence of wisdom, must forget his skill; "must be, with good intent, no more his, but hers:" must throw away his pen and paint, kneel with worshipers. then, perchance, a sunny ray, from the heaven of fire, his lost tools may overpay, and better his desire. thus buying bibles for yourselves, my friends, see that your children buy themselves the bible in the same good coin. (a.) _read with them the tales of its noble men._ do not hesitate to read with them these stories of the ancients, because there may be the commingling of legend with history, of myth with fact. you do not hesitate to read them the story of william tell, although there are woven into it the elements of a very old and wide-spread sun-myth. these mythic elements have been woven around some real historic hero, and the spirit of his heroism breathes through every fold of the drapery. how charmingly kingsley tells the tales of the grecian heroes! through his crystalline language we seem to inhale the crisp, clear air of the morning of greece, in which the simple souls of child-men thus shaped their dreams of duty around their older dreams of nature. conscience fashioned these primitive fancies upon its form, and pulses through them its quickening life; the touch of which makes our children buoyant with aspiration, so that they mount on high, like perseus of the winged feet. thus read the matchless stories of the hebrews, mindless of legend or of myth. the spirit of holiness breathing through these tales will inspire the souls of the children, without restraint from the questions that the reason may raise. tell them no lies if they ask you questions. read these ancient stories _as_ stories, of good and noble men; stories written down long ago, and told from father to son through longer ages before they were thus written out. leave the children to detect the legendary elements. i find them quick enough at that work without parental help. the bright child feels the unreal in the tales that he most loves; but he loves them none the less, perhaps all the more, because of the spell upon his imagination that he would not break; while through them, upon his open soul, streams in the holy power of these sacred stories. do you concern yourselves with impressing the moral of these god-breathed tales. read with your children the stories of the dear master, and make his life grow real to them, till he shall draw them after him, in the steps of his most holy life. (b.) _form in the children the habit of daily reading in the bible._ say to each of them, in your own way, that which sir matthew hale wrote to his child: every morning read seriously and reverently a portion of the holy scriptures. it is a book full of light and wisdom, and will make you wise to eternal life. (c.) _cultivate in them a genuine interest in the bible._ the aids to an intelligent interest in the bible-books are now so plentiful, and the human charm of them is so great, that it ought to be an easy thing for a parent to awaken a real fondness for these immortal writings. the best safeguard against bad taste in literature or life is the formation of a good taste. these are books, to learn to love which is the making of a man. our children may not grow into the genius, but they will grow into somewhat of the goodness of the illustrious and saintly john henry newman, if, in after years, they can write the first lines of their autobiographies in the words which open the biographical part of the _apologia pro vita sua_: i was brought up from a child to take great delight in reading the bible. (d.) _train the children to commit to memory the choicest passages of the bible._ john ruskin doubtless, at the time, rebelled against the strict rule of his good aunt, which kept him busy on the sundays memorizing the scriptures; but he is thankful now, as he has owned, for the discipline which stored his mind with their creative words. what a treasury of holy thoughts and influences does he carry within him who has written on his mind such passages as the nineteenth, twenty-third, ninety-first, one hundred and third, and one hundred and thirty-ninth psalms; the third and eighth chapters of proverbs; the fortieth chapter of isaiah; the sermon on the mount, the parable of the prodigal son, and the thirteenth chapter of first corinthians. happy he who, like the palm tree in the desert, can strike his roots below the arid surface of the world into fresh and living waters, and thus keep life green amid the droughts of earth. the parable of the temptation of christ should teach us how to arm our children against the wiles of the evil one, whom they must surely meet: "and he said, it is written." in the stress and strain of conflict, when the air is dimmed with the dust of the contending forces and the vision grows confused, it is a saving sound to hear the ringing call of duty, from the hills where one watcheth over the battlefield. when sore pressed by the foe, it may prove our victory to fall back against the strong stone wall of an external authority, that can hold our lines unbroken. it is no wonder that the tempting sailors could do nothing with the cabin-boy who was "chock full of the bible." (e.) _teach your children, as you teach yourselves, to hearken through these voices of the human writers to the voice of god._ bother then with no theories of inspiration. never deny nor conceal the true human voices of these men who spake of old, but never fail to affirm the true divine breath in these men who spake as they were moved by the holy ghost. and, since this is the power of the bible, emphasize the divine speaking; make every god-breathed word sound to the children's souls as the very voice of god; until, in simple faith and reverent docility, they shall each answer--speak, lord: thy servant heareth! thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. such is the holy office of the bible: such be its blessed service to our souls, and to the souls of our dear children! may we walk in its light through life; that in the valley of the shadow of death that light may still fall upon us. it is not many months since i was called to the house where, in a ripe and honored age, lay a warden of this church, stricken suddenly by death. on the table in his room, as he had left it open after reading in it that morning, i saw a bible. i can ask for my funeral no better symbol of the aim and effort of my poor erring life, if so be it shame me not too much, than that which told the story of an humble servant of the lord. upon his coffin, with the book-mark between the pages where he last had read, was--his bible! * * * * * blessed lord, who hast caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou has given us in our saviour, jesus christ. _amen._ the end. footnotes [ ] the second sunday in advent. [ ] cor. vii. . [ ] cor. vii. . [ ] cor. vii. . [ ] cor. vii. . [ ] hebrews i. . [ ] peter i. . [ ] peter i. , . [ ] timothy iii. . [ ] sacred books of the east, vol. i. p. xiii. [ ] maccabees, ii. . [ ] "the jews and the priests have found it good that simon shall be their leader and high priest forever until there shall arise a trustworthy prophet."-- macc. xiv. . [ ] introduction to the new testament. samuel davidson, i.: . [ ] introduction to the new testament. samuel davidson, i.: . [ ] the contrast between the fifteenth and sixteenth century confessions of faith reveals this process, and explains the prevalent protestant theory. [ ] about a.d. [ ] maccabees ii. . [ ] the dial: october, . [ ] ewald: history of israel, i. . [ ] esther is the most notable apparent exception, but this it only apparent. [ ] in speaking of the book of esther, dean stanley observes that "it never names the name of god from first to last," and remarks "it is necessary for us that in the rest of the sacred volume the name of god should constantly be brought before us, to show that he is all in all to our moral perfection. but it is expedient for us no less that there should be one book which omits it altogether, to prevent us from attaching to the mere name a reverence which belongs only to the reality.... the name of god is _not_ there, but the work of god _is_.... when esther nerved herself to enter, at the risk of her life, the presence of ahasuerus--'i will go in unto the king, and if i perish i perish'--when her patriotic feeling vented itself in that noble cry, 'how can i endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or can i endure to see the destruction of my kindred?'--she expressed, although she never named the name of god, a religious devotion as acceptable to him as that of moses and david, who, no less sincerely, had the sacred name always on their lips."--_history of the jewish church_, iii. . [ ] ewald: history of israel, i. . [ ] the old testament is a record of the growth of human intelligence in relation to the deity--of the revelation made by spirit to spirit. when therefore god is described as _speaking_ to man, he does so in the only way in which he who is a spirit can speak to one encompassed with flesh and blood; not to the outward organs of sensation, but to that intelligence which is kindred to himself the great fountain of knowledge.--davidson: _introduction to the old testament_, i. . [ ] emerson: miscellanies, p. . [ ] "to hear people speak," said goethe, "one would almost believe that they were of opinion that god had withdrawn into silence since those old times, and that man was now placed quite upon his own feet, and had to see how he could get on without god and his daily invisible breath."--conversations, _march , _. [ ] our advancing knowledge of the early portions of the bible is clearing its offensive portions of the grossness which characterized them as literal histories, by resolving them into nature-myths, or into social traditions, symbolical stories of casuistry, "token-tales," whose original meaning had been lost by the time they were committed to writing. every school-boy knows how the worst stories of the greek gods and goddesses lose their immorality as seen to be parables of nature's processes, myths, whose poetry had exhaled in the course of time. goldziher's "mythology among the hebrews," shows the mythic character of many of these revolting jewish stories, though his theory carries him off his feet. fenton's "early hebrew life," brings out the social and casuistical origin of many of these traditions as decisions, "judgments," of the village elders and priests upon cases of conduct, thrown into the form of imaginary stories to make them realistic and ensure their preservation. "in this way, various dubious points of primitive morality and politics were governed; and the stories which enshrine them stand to primitive life in much the same relation as do collections of precedents to modern lawyers, and dictionaries of cases of conscience to father confessors." (p. ) but, as these aspects of such traditions as lot and his daughters, judah and tamar, &c., cannot be divined without interpretation, they should be omitted from our children's bibles. my suggestion of an expurgated bible, on which so many hard criticisms have been passed, seemed to me innocent enough, since most sensible people have been in the habit of expurgating the bible for themselves in home readings and in the readings in the churches. this is what plato thought of such stories in the sacred book of the grecians: "whatever beautiful fable they may invent, we should select, and what is not so, we should reject: and we are to prevail on nurses and mothers to repeat to the children such fables as are selected, and fashion their minds by fables * * * for though these things were true, yet i think they should not be so readily told to the unwise and the young, but rather concealed from them. as little ought we to describe in fables, the battles of the giants and other many and various feuds, both of gods and heroes, with their own kindred and relatives; but if we would persuade them that never at all should one citizen hate another, and that it is not holy, such things as these are rather to be told them in early childhood; and the poets should be obliged to compose consistently with these views * * * young persons are not able to judge what is allegory and what is not, but whatever opinions they receive at such an age are wont to be obliterated with difficulty, and immovable. hence one would think, we should of all things endeavor, that what they should first hear be composed in the best manner for exciting them to virtue." "republic," book ii. [ ] how then are we to know what words and deeds express the mind of god, are words of the lord, examples he presents for our imitation? by the mind of god manifest in 'the express image of his person?' all morality and religion is to be tried by 'the mind which was in christ,' 'the spirit of christ which dwelleth in us.' [ ] in what is said above there la no positive denial intended of the old testament miracles. we are in no position to deny them. the point is simply that they are not bounden on us in any reasonable and reverent recognition of a real historical revelation in the old testament, and need trouble no one who cannot receive them. the miracles of christ, when reduced to the wonders reported by the conjoint testimony of the synoptics,--_i.e._, to the common tradition of the early church, stand apart from all other scripture miracles; having a reasonable and natural character as the powers of such a personality, and coming within the ken of our visions of possibility. they are imaged in the well attested powers of rare men. they appear as in no wise violations of law, but as the manifestations of nature's laws and forces worked by the normal man, having 'dominion' over the earth. "the wise soul expels disease." [ ] so judicious a commentator as dean alford, in his introduction to the second epistle to the thessalonians, discussing the vexed question of the daniel-like section in the third chapter, so wholly unlike paul observes: "if we have" (in any sense, god speaking in the bible) "then, of all passages, it is in these, which treat so confidently of futurity, that we must recognize his voice; if we have it not in these passages, _then, where are we to listen for it at all_?"--greek testament iii: . [ ] "history of american socialisms,"--noyes.--p. . [ ] "to understand that the language of the bible is fluid, passing and literary, not rigid, fixed and scientific, is the first step towards a right understanding of the bible."--_literature and dogma_.--p. xii. [ ] the revised version calls the attention of english readers to this latter influence, in the marginal rendering of "_tartarus_" for "hell" in peter, : . [ ] luther's strong sense detected his unevangelicalness. [ ] ewald says the tenth century, and kuenen the eighth century. [ ] ask at abel and at dan whether the genuine old statutes of israel have lost their force?-- samuel, xx. . restored by ewald from the lxx. [ ] such a late codification is no more inconceivable than justinian's codification of roman law. [ ] brook foss westcott. smith's bible dictionary: article on daniel. [ ] "the bible of to-day," chadwick, p. . [ ] of this process we see hints in the various references to the consecration of great trees and stones to jehovah. [ ] the indications of this nature-worship lie scattered on the surface of the old testament so plainly that no one can fail to notice them. [ ] "among the edomites, ishmaelites, ammonites and moabites--the tribes with which israel felt itself most nearly related--the service of the rigorous and destroying god was most prominent the very names for god which are most common among them--baal, el, molech, milcom, chemosh--are enough to show this. these names denote the mighty, violent, death-dealing god." "the religion of israel," knappert, p. . these names constantly recur in the early history of israel. jephthah's vow is a familiar instance of this abhorrent rite. circumcision is supposed to mark a merciful compromise with this blood-gift; in addition to its sanitary character. [ ] we know from general history how among other people the homage paid to the productive powers of nature led to systematized prostitution, in the name of the personification of this force of nature. tradition records how early in this period the midianites seduced israel temporarily from jehovah, by the licentious pleasures of their worship of baal-peor. later on in history we find that it is these impure rites that especially provoke the anger of the prophets. [ ] the sun symbols may not have been permanent features of the temple-worship at this period, though, from the probable identification of the early jehovah with the sun, it seems likely that their presence there was no casual fact. [ ] kings, xxiii. , . [ ] isaiah, i. - . [ ] micah, vi. - . [ ] isaiah, xi. - . [ ] isaiah, v. ; iii. , . [ ] cf. exodus, xxiii, , (the earliest code) with deuteronomy, xv. - . [ ] the latter seems the probable influence of persia. at all events, from this time hebrew literature shows the gradual development of an angelic hierarchy. [ ] the comparison of the earlier prophetic writings with the exilic prophecies, and with the later writings, such as jonah, ecclesiastes, &c., will illustrate this change. [ ] ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones is the earliest appearance of this thought in any writing of whose date we are certain. [ ] and thou shalt-number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth _day_ of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout _all_ the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. a jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather _the grapes_ in it of the vine undressed. for it _is_ the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. in the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. and if thou sell ought unto thy neighbor, or buyest _ought_ of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: according to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, _and_ according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: according to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for _according_ to the number _of the years_ of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy god: for i _am_ the lord your god. * * * * * the land shall not be sold for ever: for the land _is_ mine; for ye _are_ strangers and sojourners with me. and in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. * * * * * and if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: _yea, though he be_ a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy god; that thy brother may live with thee. thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. i _am_ the lord your god, which brought you forth out of the land of egypt, to give you the land of canaan, _and_ to be your god. and if thy brother _that dwelleth_ by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: _but_ as an hired servant, _and_ as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, _and_ shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee: and _then_ shall he depart from thee, _both_ he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. for they _are_ my servants, which i brought forth out of the land of egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. thou shalt not rule over him with rigor; but shalt fear thy god.--leviticus xxv. _et seq._ fenton, "early hebrew life," has, i think, given the clue through the difficulties of the jubilee-year legislation. he traces the early communal character of hebrew society, its gradual break-up under the encroachments of manorial lords, and the natural efforts of the people to regain their communal rights. "but how remedy the evil? how restore to the communities their old rights and privileges, without unduly trenching upon rights and possessions that had since been acquired? the year of jubilee is the hebrew solution of the problem," (p ). it was a compromise; the old seventh year communal right adjourned to seven times seven years, and enlarged. fenton quotes a curious survival, in the borough of newtown-upon-ayr, of this very compromise between the old and the new social systems--a scottish jubilee. it is a queer sign of the disproportionate development of individual religion in our current christianity, that this social and economic legislation should have been so spiritualized away as to leave no consciousness of its original character in the minds of those who sing in our prayer-meetings that "the year of jubilee is come." [ ] the dialogues of plato: jowett's edition, ii. . [ ] matthew arnold in _contemporary review_, xxiv. ; xxv. . [ ] the friend: essay x. [ ] sacred books of the east: i. ix. _et seq._ [ ] confessions of augustine: book x. § vi. [ ] exodus, xx. . [ ] richard hooker: laws of ecclesiastical polity, book i., ch. xvi. § . [ ] le page renouf: hibbert lectures, , p. . [ ] hibbert lectures, , p. . [ ] god in christ, p. . proofreading team addresses by the right reverend phillips brooks bishop of massachusetts philadelphia henry altemus contents. page i. the beauty of a life of service ii. thought and action iii. the duty of the christian business man iv. true liberty v. the christ in whom christians believe vi. abraham lincoln i. the beauty of a life of service. i should like to read to you again the words of jesus from the th chapter of the gospel of st. john:-- "then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. they answered him, we be abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man; how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? jesus answered them, verily, verily, i say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. and the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. if the son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." i want to speak to you to-day about the purpose and the result of the freedom which christ gives to his disciples and the freedom into which man enters when he fulfils his life. the purpose and result of freedom is service. it sounds to us at first like a contradiction, like a paradox. great truths very often present themselves to us in the first place as paradoxes, and it is only when we come to combine the two different terms of which they are composed and see how it is only by their meeting that the truth does reveal itself to us, that the truth does become known. it is by this same truth that god frees our souls, not from service, not from duty, but into service and into duty, and he who makes mistakes the purpose of his freedom mistakes the character of his freedom. he who thinks that he is being released from the work, and not set free in order that he may accomplish that work, mistakes the christ from whom the freedom comes, mistakes the condition into which his soul is invited to enter. for if i was right in saying what i said the other day, that the freedom of a man simply consists in the larger opportunity to be and to do all that god makes him in his creation capable of being and doing, then certainly if man has been capable of service it is only by the entrance into service, by the acceptance of that life of service for which god has given man the capacity, that he enters into the fulness of his freedom and becomes the liberated child of god. you remember what i said with regard to the manifestations of freedom and the figures and the illustrations, perhaps some of them which we used, of the way in which the bit of iron, taken out of its uselessness, its helplessness, and set in the midst of the great machine, thereby recognizes the purpose of its existence, and does the work for which it was appointed, for it immediately becomes the servant of the machine into which it was placed. every part of its impulse flows through all of its substance, and it does the thing which it was made to do. when the ice has melted upon the plain it is only when it finds its way into the river and flows forth freely to do the work which the live water has to do that it really attains to its freedom. only then is it really liberated from the bondage in which it was held while it was fastened in the chains of winter. the same freed ice waits until it so finds its freedom, and when man is set free simply into the enjoyment of his own life, simply into the realization of his own existence, he has not attained the purposes of his freedom, he has not come to the purposes of his life. it is one of the signs to me of how human words are constantly becoming perverted that it surprises us when we think of freedom as a condition in which a man is called upon to do, and is enabled to do, the duty that god has laid upon him. duty has become to us such a hard word, service has become to us a word so full of the spirit of bondage, that it surprises us at the first moment when we are called upon to realize that it is in itself a word of freedom. and yet we constantly are lowering the whole thought of our being, we are bringing down the greatness and richness of that with which we have to deal, until we recognize that god does not call us to our fullest life simply for ourselves. the spirit of selfishness is continually creeping in. i think it may almost be said that there has been no selfishness in the history of man like that which has exhibited itself in man's religious life, showing itself in the way in which man has seized upon spiritual privileges and rejoiced in the good things that are to come to him in the hereafter, because he had made himself the servant of god. the whole subject of selfishness, and the way in which it loses itself and finds itself again, is a very interesting one, and i wish that we had time to dwell upon it. it comes into a sort of general law which we are recognizing everywhere--the way in which a man very often, in his pursuit of the higher form of a condition in which he has been living, seems to lose that condition for a little while and only to reach it a little farther on. he seems to be abandoned by that power only that he may meet it by and by and enter more deeply into its heart and come more completely into its service. so it is, i think, with the self-devotion, consecration, and self-forgetfulness in which men realize their life. very often in the lower stages of man's life he forgets himself, with a slightly emphasized individual existence, not thinking very much of the purpose of his life, till he easily forgets himself among the things that are around him and forgets himself simply because there is so little of himself for him to forget; but do not you know perfectly well how very often when a man's life becomes intensified and earnest, when he becomes completely possessed with some great passion and desire, it seems for the time to intensify his selfishness? it does intensify his selfishness. he is thinking so much in regard to himself that the thought of other persons and their interests is shut out of his life. and so very often when a man has set before him the great passion of the divine life, when he is called by god to live the life of god, and to enter into the rewards of god, very often there seems to close around his life a certain bondage of selfishness, and he who gave himself freely to his fellow-men before now seems, by the very intensity, eagerness, and earnestness with which his mind is set upon the prize of the new life which is presented to him--it seems as if everything became concentrated upon himself, the saving of his soul, the winning of his salvation. that seat in heaven seems to burn so before his eyes that he cannot be satisfied for a moment with any thought that draws him away from it, and he presses forward that he may be saved. but by and by, as he enters more deeply into that life, the self-forgetfulness comes to him again and as a diviner thing. by and by, as the man walks up the mountain, he seems to pass out of the cloud which hangs about the lower slopes of the mountain, until at last he stands upon the pinnacle at the top, and there is in the perfect light. is it not exactly like the mountain at whose foot there seems to be the open sunshine where men see everything, and on whose summit there is the sunshine, but on whose sides, and half way up, there seems to linger a long cloud, in which man has to struggle until he comes to the full result of his life? so it is with self-consecration, with service. you easily do it in some small ways in the lower life. life becomes intensified and earnest with a serious purpose, and it seems as if it gathered itself together into selfishness. only then it opens by and by into the largest and noblest works of men, in which they most manifest the richness of their human nature and appropriate the strength of god. those are great and unselfish acts. we know it at once if we turn to him who represents the fulness of the nature of our humanity. when i turn to jesus and think of him as the manifestation of his own christianity--and if men would only look at the life of jesus to see what christianity is, and not at the life of the poor representatives of jesus whom they see around them, there would be so much more clearness, they would be rid of so many difficulties and doubts. when i look at the life of jesus i see that the purpose of consecration, of emancipation, is service of his fellow-men. i cannot think for a moment of jesus as doing that which so many religious people think they are doing when they serve christ, when they give their lives to him. i cannot think of him as simply saving his own soul, living his own life, and completing his own nature in the sight of god. it is a life of service from beginning to end. he gives himself to man because he is absolutely the child of god, and he sets up service, and nothing but service, to be the ultimate purpose, the one great desire, on which the souls of his followers should be set, as his own soul is set, upon it continually. what is it that christ has left to be his symbol in the world, that we put upon our churches, what we wear upon our hearts, that stands forth so perpetually us the symbol of christ's life? is it a throne from which a ruler utters his decrees? is it a mountain top upon which some rapt seer sits, communing with himself and with the voices around him, and gathering great truth into his soul and delighting in it? no, not the throne and not the mountain top. it is the cross. oh, my brethren, that the cross should be the great symbol of our highest measure, that that which stands for consecration, that that which stands for the divine statement that a man does not live for himself and that a man loses himself when he does live for himself--that that should be the symbol of our religion and the great sign and token of our faith? what sort of christians are we that go about asking for the things of this life first, thinking that it shall make us prosperous to be christians, and then a little higher asking for the things that pertain to the eternal prosperity, when the great master, who leaves us the great law, in whom our christian life is spiritually set forth, has as his great symbol the cross, the cross, the sign of consecration and obedience? it is not simply suffering too. christ does not stand primarily for suffering. suffering is an accident. it does not matter whether you and i suffer. "not enjoyment and not sorrow" is our life, not sorrow any more than enjoyment, but obedience and duty. if duty brings sorrow, let it bring sorrow. it did bring sorrow to the christ, because it was impossible for a man to serve the absolute righteousness in this world and not to sorrow. if it had brought joy, and glory, and triumph, if it had been greeted at its entrance and applauded on the way, he would have been as truly the consecrated soul that he was in the days when, over a road that was marked with the blood of his footprints, he found his way up at last to the torturing cross. it is not suffering; it is obedience. it is not pain; it is consecration of life. it is the joy of service that makes the life of christ, and for us to serve him, serving fellow-man and god--as he served fellow-man and god--whether it bring pain or joy, if we can only get out of our souls the thought that it matters not if we are happy or sorrowful, if only we are dutiful and faithful, and brave and strong, then we should be in the atmosphere, we should be in the great company of the christ. it surprises me very often when i hear good christian people talk about christ's entrance into this world, christ's coming to save this world. they say it was so marvellous that jesus should be willing to come down from his throne in heaven and undertake all the strange sorrow and distress that belonged to him when he came to save the world from its sins. wonderful? there was no wonder in it; no wonder if we enter up into the region where jesus lives and think of life as he must have thought of life. it is the same wonder that people feel about the miracles of jesus. is it a wonder that when a divine life is among men, nature should have a response to make to him, and he should do things that you and i, in our little humanity, find it impossible to do? no, indeed, there is no wonder that god loved the world. there is no wonder that christ, the son of god, at any sacrifice undertook to save the world. the wonder would have been if god, sitting in his heaven, the wonder would have been if jesus, ready to come here to the earth and seeing how it was possible to save man from sin by suffering, had not suffered. do you wonder at the mother, when she gives her life without a hesitation or a cry, when she gives her life with joy, with thankfulness, for her child, counting it her privilege? do you wonder at the patriot, the hero, when he rushes into the battle to do the good deed which it is possible for him to do? no; read your own nature deeper and you will understand your christ. it is no wonder that he should have died upon the cross; the wonder would have been if, with the inestimable privilege of saving man, he had shrunk from that cross and turned away. it sets before us that it is not the glories of suffering, it is not the necessity of suffering, it is simply the beauty of obedience and the fulfilment of a man's life in doing his duty and rendering the service which it is possible for him to render to his fellow-man. i said that a man when he did that left behind him all the thought of the life which he was willing to live within himself, even all the highest thought. it is not your business and mine to study whether we shall get to heaven, even to study whether we shall be good men; it is our business to study how we shall come into the midst of the purposes of god and have the unspeakable privilege in these few years of doing something of his work. and yet so is our life all one, so is the kingdom of god which surrounds us and infolds us one bright and blessed unity, that when a man has devoted himself to the service of god and his fellow-man, immediately he is thrown back upon his own nature, and he sees now--it is the right place for him to see--that he must be the brave, strong, faithful man, because it is impossible for him to do his duty and to render his service, except it is rendered out of a heart that is full of faithfulness, that is brave and true. there is one word of jesus that always comes back to me as about the noblest thing that human lips have ever said upon our earth, and the most comprehensive thing, that seems to sweep into itself all the commonplace experience of mankind. do you remember when he was sitting with his disciples, at the last supper, how he lifted up his voice and prayed, and in the midst of his prayer there came these wondrous words: "for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified"? the whole of human life is there. shall a man cultivate himself? no, not primarily. shall a man serve the world, strive to increase the kingdom of god in the world? yes, indeed, he shall. how shall he do it? by cultivating himself, and instantly he is thrown back upon his own life. "for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified." i am my best, not simply for myself, but for the world. my brethren, is there anything in all the teachings that man has had from his fellow-man, all that has come down to him from the lips of god, that is nobler, that is more far-reaching than that--to be my best not simply for my own sake, but for the sake of the world into which, setting my best, i shall make that world more complete, i shall do my little part to renew and to recreate it in the image of god? that is the law of my existence. and the man that makes that the law of his existence neither neglects himself nor his fellow-men, neither becomes the self-absorbed student and cultivator of his own life upon the one hand, nor does he become, abandoning himself, simply the wasting benefactor of his brethren upon the other. you can help your fellow-men: you must help your fellow-men; but the only way you can help them is by being the noblest and the best man that it is possible for you to be. i watch the workman build upon the building which by and by is to soar into the skies, to toss its pinnacles up to the heaven, and i see him looking up and wondering where those pinnacles are to be, thinking how high they are to be, measuring the feet, wondering how they are to be built, and all the time he is cramming a rotten stone into the building just where he has set to work. let him forget the pinnacles, if he will, or hold only the floating image of them in his imagination for his inspiration; but the thing that he must do is to put a brave, strong soul, an honest and substantial life into the building just where he is now at work. it seems to me that that comes home to us all. men are questioning now as they never have questioned before whether christianity is indeed the true religion which is to be the salvation of the world. they are feeling how the world needs salvation, how it needs regeneration, how it is wrong and bad all through and through, mixed with the good that is in it everywhere. everywhere there is the good and the bad, and the great question that is on men's minds to-day, as i believe it has never been upon men's minds before, is this: is this christian religion, with its high pretensions, this christian life that claims so much for itself, is it competent for the task that it has undertaken to do? can it meet all these human problems, and relieve all these human miseries, and fulfil all these human hopes? it is the old story over again, when john the baptist, puzzled in his prison, said to jesus, "art thou he that should come? or look we for another?" it seems to me that the christian church is hearing that cry in its ears to-day: "art thou he that should come?" can you do this which the world unmistakably needs to be done? christian men, it is for us to give our bit of answer to that question. it is for us, in whom the christian church is at this moment partially embodied, to declare that christianity, that the christian faith, the christian manhood, can do that for the world which the world needs. you say, "what can i do?" you can furnish one christian life. you can furnish a life so faithful to every duty, so ready for every service, so determined not to commit every sin, that the great christian church shall be the stronger for your living in it, and the problem of the world be answered, and a certain great peace come into this poor, perplexed phase of our humanity as it sees that new revelation of what christianity is. yes, christ can give the world the thing it needs in unknown ways and methods that we have not yet begun to suspect. christianity has not yet been tried. my friends, no man dares to condemn the christian faith to-day, because the christian faith has not been tried. not until men get rid of the thought that it is a poor machine, an expedient for saving them from suffering and pain, not until they get the grand idea of it as the great power of god present in and through the lives of men, not until then does christianity enter upon its true trial and become ready to show what it can do. therefore we struggle against our sin in order that men may be saved around us, and not simply that our own souls may be saved. tell me you have a sin that you mean to commit this evening that is going to make this night black. what can keep you from committing that sin? suppose you look into its consequences. suppose the wise man tells you what will be the physical consequences of that sin. you shudder and you shrink, and, perhaps, you are partially deterred. suppose you see the; glory that might come to you, physical, temporal, spiritual, if you do not commit that sin. the opposite of it shows itself to you--the blessing and the richness in your life. again there comes a great power that shall control your lust and wickedness. suppose there comes to you something even deeper than that, no consequence on consequence at all, but simply an abhorrence for the thing, so that your whole nature shrinks from it as the nature of god shrinks from a sin that is polluting and filthy and corrupt and evil. they are all great powers. let us thank god for them all. he knows that we are weak enough to need every power that can possibly be brought to bear upon our feeble lives; but if, along with all of them, there could come this other power, if along with them there could come the certainty that if you refrain from that sin to-night you make the sum of sin that is in the world, and so the sum of all temptation that is in the world, and so the sum of future evil that is to spring out of temptation in the world, less, shall there not be a nobler impulse rise up in your heart, and shall you not say: "i will not do it; i will be honest, i will be sober, i will be pure, at least, to-night"? i dare to think that there are men here to whom that appeal can come, men who, perhaps, will be all dull and deaf if one speaks to them about their personal salvation; who, if one dares to picture to them, appealing to their better nature, trusting to their nobler soul, that there is in them the power to save other men from sin, and to help the work of god by the control of their own passions and the fulfilment of their own duty, will be stirred to the higher life. men--very often we do not trust them enough--will answer to the higher appeal that seems to be beyond them when the poor, lower appeal that comes within the region of their selfishness is cast aside, and they will have nothing to do with it. oh, this marvellous, this awful power that we have over other people's lives! oh! the power of the sin that you have done years and years ago! it is awful to think of it. i think there is hardly anything more terrible to the human thought than this--the picture of a man who, having sinned years and years ago in a way that involved other souls in his sin, and then, having repented of his sin and undertaken another life, knows certainly that the power, the consequence of that sin is going on outside of his reach, beyond even his ken and knowledge. he cannot touch it. you wronged a soul ten years ago. you taught a boy how to tell his first mercantile lie; you degraded the early standards of his youth. what has become of that boy to-day? you may have repented. he has passed put of your sight. he has gone years and years ago. somewhere in this great, multitudinous mass of humanity he is sinning and sinning and reduplicating and extending the sin that you did. you touched the faith of some believing soul years ago with some miserable sneer of yours, with some cynical and sceptical disparagement of god and of the man who is the utterance of god upon the earth. you taught the soul that was enthusiastic to be full of scepticisms and doubts. you wronged a woman years ago, and her life has gone out from your life, you cannot begin to tell where. you have repented of your sin. you have bowed yourself, it may be, in dust and ashes. you have entered upon a new life. you are pure to-day. but where is the sceptical soul? where is the ruined woman whom you sent forth into the world out of the shadow of your sin years ago? you cannot touch that life. you cannot reach it. you do not know where it is. no steps of yours, quickened with all your earnestness, can pursue it. no contrition of yours can drawback its consequences. remorse cannot force the bullet back again into the gun from which it once has gone forth. it makes life awful to the man who has ever sinned, who has ever wronged and hurt another life because of this sin, because no sin ever was done that did not hurt another life. i know the mercy of our god, that while he has put us into each other's power to a fearful extent, he never will let any soul absolutely go to everlasting ruin for another's sin; and so i dare to see the love of god pursuing that lost soul where you cannot pursue it. but that does not for one moment lift the shadow from your heart, or cease to make you tremble when you think of how your sin has outgrown itself and is running far, far away where you can never follow it. thank god the other thing is true as well. thank god that when a man does a bit of service, however little it may be, of that too he can never trace the consequences. thank god that that which in some better moment, in some nobler inspiration, you did ten years ago to make your brother's faith a little more strong, to let your shop boy confirm and not doubt the confidence in man which he had brought into his business, to establish the purity of a soul instead of staining it and shaking it, thank god, in this quick, electric atmosphere in which we live, that, too, runs forth. do not say in your terror, "i will do nothing." you must do something. only let christ tell you--let christ tell you that there is nothing that a man rests upon in the moment, that he thinks of, as he looks back upon it when it has sunk into the past, with any satisfaction, except some service to his fellow-man, some strengthening and helping of a human soul. two men are walking down the street together and talking away. see what different conditions those two men are in. one of them has his soul absolutely full of the desire to help his fellow-man. he peers into those faces as he goes, and sees the divine possibility that is in them, and he sees the divine nature everywhere. they are talking about the idlest trifles, about the last bit of local boston politics. but in their souls one of those men has consecrated himself, with the new morning, to the glorious service of god, and the other of them is asking how he may be a little richer in his miserable wealth when the day sinks. oh, we look into the other world and read the great words and hear it said, between me and thee, this and that, there is a great gulf fixed; and we think of something that is to come in the eternal life. is there any gulf in eternity, is there any gulf between heaven and hell that is wider, and deeper, and blacker, that is more impassable than that gulf which lies between these two men going upon their daily way? oh, friends, it is not that god is going to judge us some day. that is not the awful thing. it is that god knows us now. if i stop an instant and know that god knows me through all these misconceptions and blunders of my brethren, that god knows me--that is the awful thing. the future judgment shall but tell it. it is here, here upon my conscience, now. it is awful to think how the commonplace things that men can do, the commonplace thoughts that men can think, the commonplace lives that men can live, are but in the bosom of the future. the thing that impresses me more and more is this--that we only need to have extended to the multitude that which is at this moment present in the few, and the world really would be saved. there is but the need of the extension into a multitude of souls of that which a few souls have already attained in their consecration of themselves to human good, and to the service of god, and i will not say the millennium would have come, i don't know much about the millennium, but heaven would have come, the new jerusalem would be here. there are men enough in this church this morning, there are men enough sitting here within the sound of my voice to-day, if they were inspired by the spirit of god and counted it the great privilege of their life, to do the work of god--there are men enough here to save this city, and to make this a glowing city of our lord, to relieve its poverty, to lighten its darkness, to lift up the cloud that is upon hearts, to turn it into a great, i will not say psalm-singing city, but god-serving, god-abiding city, to touch all the difficult problems of how society and government ought to be organized then with a power with which they should yield their difficulty and open gradually. the light to measure would be clear enough, if only the spirit is there. give me five hundred men, nay, give me one hundred men of the spirit that i know to-day in three men that i well understand, and i will answer for it that the city shall be saved. and you, my friend, are one of the five hundred--you are one of the one hundred. "oh, but," you say, "is not this slavery over again? you have talked about freedom, and here i am once more a slave. i had about got free from the bondage of my fellow-men, and here i am right in the midst of it again. what has become of my personality, of my independence, if i am to live thus?" ay, you have got to learn what every noblest man has always learned, that no man becomes independent of his fellow-men excepting in serving his fellow-men. you have got to learn that christianity comes to us not simply as a luxury but as a force, and no man who values christianity simply as a luxury which he possesses really gets the christianity which he tries to value. only when christianity is a force, only when i seek independence of men in serving men, do i cease to be a slave to their whims. i must dress as they think i ought to dress; i must walk in the streets as they think i ought to walk; i must do business just after their fashion; i must accept their standards; but when christ has taken possession of me and i am a total man, i am more or less independent of these men. shall i care about their little whims and oddities? shall i care about how they criticise the outside of my life? shall i peer into their faces as i meet them in the street, to see whether they approve of me or not? and yet am i not their servant? there is nothing now i will not do to serve them, there is nothing now i will not do to save them. if the cross comes, i welcome the cross, and look upon it with joy, if, by my death upon the cross in any way, i may echo the salvation of my lord and save them. independent of them? surely. and yet their servant? perfectly. was ever man so independent in jerusalem as jesus was? what cared he for the sneer of the pharisee, for the learned scorn of the sadducee, for the taunt of the people and the little boys that had been taught to jeer at him as he went down the street, and yet the very servant of all their life? he says there are two kinds of men--they who sit upon a throne and eat, and they who serve. "i am among you as he that serveth." oh, seek independence. insist upon independence. insist that you will not be the slave of the poor, petty standards of your fellow-men. but insist upon it only in the way in which it can be insisted upon, by becoming absolutely the servant of their needs. so only shall you be independent of their whims. there is one great figure, and it has taken in all christian consciousness, that again and again this work with christ has been asserted to be the true service in the army of a great master, of a great captain, who goes before us to his victory, that it is asserted that in that captain, in the entrance into his army, every power is set free. do you remember the words that a good many of us read or heard yesterday in our churches, where jesus was doing one of his miracles, and it is said that a devil was cast out, the dumb spake? every power becomes the man's possession, and he uses it in his freedom, and he fights with it with all his force, just as soon as the devil is cast out of him. i have tried to tell you the noblest motive in which you should be a pure, an upright, a faithful, and a strong man. it is not for the salvation of your life, it is not for the salvation of yourself. it is not for the satisfaction of your tastes. it is that you may take your place in the great army of god and go forward having something to do with the work that he is doing in the world. you remember the days of the war, and how ashamed of himself a man felt who never touched with his finger the great struggle in which the nation was engaged. oh, to go through this life and never touch with my finger the vast work that christ is doing, and when the cry of triumph arises at the end to stand there, not having done one little, unknown, unnoticed thing to bring about that which is the true life of the man and of the world, that is awful. and i dare to believe that there are young men in this church this morning who, failing to be touched by every promise of their own salvation and every threatening of their own damnation, will still lift themselves up and take upon them the duty of men, and be soldiers of jesus christ, and have a part in the battle, and have a part somewhere in the victory that is sure to come. don't be selfish anywhere. don't be selfish, most of all, in your religion. let yourselves free into your religion, and be utterly unselfish. claim your freedom in service. ii. thought and action. i want once more to read to you these words from the eighth chapter of the gospel of st. john: "as he spake these words, many believed on him. then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. they answered him, we be abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? jesus answered them, verily, verily, i say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. and the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth ever. if the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." there are two great regions in which the life of every true man resides. they are the region of action and the region of thought. it is impossible to separate these two regions from one another and to bid one man live in one of them alone and the other man live only in the other of them. it is impossible to say to the business man that he shall live only in the region of action, it is impossible to say to the scholar that he shall live only in the region of thought, for thought and action make one complete and single life. thought is not simply the sea upon which the world of action rests, but, like the air which pervades the whole solid substance of our globe, it permeates and fills it in every part. it is thought which gives to it its life. it is thought which makes the manifestation of itself in every different action of man. i hope we are not so deluded as men have been sometimes, as some men are to-day, that we shall try to separate these two lives from one another, and one man say, "everything depends upon my action, and i care not what i think," or, as men have said, at least, in other times, "if i think right, it matters not how i act." but the right thought and the right action make one complete and single man. now we have been speaking, upon these monday noons, with regard to the freedom of that highest life which is lived under the inspiration of jesus christ and which we call the christian life. we have claimed that it is the highest of all lives because it is the freest of all lives, that it is the freest of all lives because it is the highest, and it may be that we have thought that it was true with regard to the active life in which men live, it may be that we have somehow persuaded ourselves, that it has seemed to us as if there were evidence that a man who lived his life in the following of jesus christ was a free man in regard to his activity. but now there comes to us the other thought, and it is impossible for us to meet together as we have met together again and again here without asking with regard to the other region of man's life and how it is with man there, for there are a great many people, i believe, who think that while the christian faith offers to man a noble sphere of action and sets free powers that would otherwise remain unchanged, yet when we come to the region of thought or belief, there it is inevitable that man should know himself, when he accepts the faith of jesus christ, it is inevitable that there the man should become less free than it has been thought that he was before the blessed saviour was accepted as the master and the ruler of his life. men say to themselves and to one another, "yes, i shall be freer to act, i shall be nobler in my action, but i shall certainly enchain mind and spirit, i shall certainty bind myself to think, away from the rich freedom of thought in which i have been inclined to live." we make very much of free thought in these days. let us always remember that free thought means the opportunity to think, and not the opportunity not to think. we rejoice in the way in which our fathers came to this country and in their children perpetuated the purpose of their coming, in order that they might have freedom to worship god. do we worship god? simply to have attained freedom and not to use freedom for its true purpose, not to live within the world of freedom according to the life which is given to us there--that is to do dishonor to the freedom, to disown the purpose for which the freedom has been given to us. i want to speak to you then, while i may speak to-day, with regard to the freedom of the christian thought. i want to claim, that which i believe with all my soul, that he who lives in the faith of jesus christ lives in the freest action of his mental powers, and there sees before him and makes himself a part of the large world into which man shall enter, in which he has perfect liberty and can exercise his powers as he could never have exercised them without. it is not very strange to think that men should have sometimes come to think that the religion of jesus christ was a slavery that was laid upon the mind of man, because very often those who have been the disciples of that religion, those who have been the preachers and exponents of that religion, have claimed just exactly that thing. they have seemed to say to themselves and to one another, to the world to which they speak, that man does give up the powers of his reason when he enters into the powers of his faith, when he enters into the great realm of faith. led by some sort of influence, led by some heresy with regard to the capacity of man, or with regard to the dealing of god with man, or with regard to the purposes of man's life upon the earth, they have been content to say that man must give up the power of thought in order that he might enter into the christian life and attain to all the purposes of the christian discipline, they have been content to say that man must give up the noblest power of his nature in order to enter upon the highest life. well might a man hesitate, hesitate whatever the blessings that were offered to him in the fulness of the christian experience, if he were called upon to give up that which made the very centre and glory of his life, that which linked him most immediately to the god from whom he sprang. it would be as if in the storm the ship should cast over its engine in order to save its own life. the ship might be saved a little while from going down in the depths of despair, but it never would reach the port to which it had been bound; it never would accomplish the purpose of the voyage upon which it had set forth. let us put absolutely away from, us all such thoughts. let us come under the inspiration of jesus christ himself, who says to us, in these words which we have repeatedly read to one another, that it is the truth that is to make us free, and that the entrance of the man therefore into that freedom is the largest freedom, of every region of man's life. i want to speak to you of the way in which my master, jesus christ, appeals to the intelligence of man, of the way in which he comes to us in the noblest part of our nature, and claims us there for our true life within himself. i would feel altogether wrong if i let you depart, if i allowed you to meet here with me week after week and say these words which i am privileged to speak to you unless i did thus claim that the christian life is the largest life of the human intellect, that in it the noblest and central powers of man shall attain to their true liberty. it is given for us perhaps to ask ourselves for one moment why it is that man thinks, is ready to think, that he must give up the very noblest part of his life, his powers of thinking, in order that he may enter into christianity. it seems to me that there are certain reasons for it which we can see; but how fallacious those reasons are! is it not partly because man, when he is called upon to live jesus' life, when he is called upon to be a spiritual creature, immediately sees that he is entering into a new and different region from that in which his reason has always been exercised. he has been dealing with those things that belong to this earth, with the different duties and opportunities and pleasures that present themselves to him every day, and that higher and loftier region into which he has entered seems to have no capacity to call forth those powers which he has been using in this lower region. and then i think again there is upon the souls of men who deal with christianity one great conviction which is very deep and strong. it is that the christian religion cannot be absolutely that which it presents itself to human mankind as being, because it is so rich in the blessings that it offers, because it comes with such a large enjoyment to our human life, and opens such great opportunities for human living. is it not because it seems to us too good to be true that we sometimes turn away from christianity, and think that if we enter it at all we must enter it in the dark, that it cannot possibly appeal to these human natures and make them understand its truth, and let them take it into their intelligence that thence it may issue into the soul and become the guiding power of the life? sometimes it seems as if christianity were so high that it was impossible that man should attain to it, as if it were something altogether beyond our human powers. do you want me, a creature with this human body and this human relationship, with this body and with these perpetual bindings and connections with my fellow-men, do you want me to mount up and live among the stars and hold communion with the god of all? and if you want me to, is there any possibility of my doing it? such a life is glorious, but not for me. it goes beyond any capacity that i possess. ask yourselves, my friends, if something like this which i have tried to describe is not very often in your minds as you hear the magnificent invitations which christ gives to the human soul to live its fullest life, to man to be his fullest being. there are, no doubt, other reasons which present themselves to men, and of those i do not speak. i will not think that the men who are listening here to me now, in a base and low way shrink from the evidence of christianity and from the life of christ because they do not want to enter into that religion because it would make too great demands upon them in the sacrifices that they would be called upon to make. it is said sometimes, and i doubt not that it is sometimes true, that men will not see the power and truth of christianity because they do not want to see it. it seems to me that the other is also often true, and it is that upon which we would much rather dwell. men sometimes hesitate at christianity and tremble, and will not enter into the great region that is open to them, because they do not want it so intimately. the critical, the sceptical disposition is very often born just of man's perception of the glory of the life that is offered to him, and of the intense desire that is at the bottom of his soul to enter into that life. who is the man that criticises the ship most carefully as she lies at the wharf, that will see what capacity she has for the great voyage that she has set before her? is he the man who means to linger carelessly upon the bank and never sail away, or the man who is obliged, if she can sail across the ocean, to go with her? just in proportion to the depth of interest with which we look upon all christian truth we must be deep questioners with regard to the truth of that truth. we must search into all its evidence. we must try to understand how it commends itself to all our minds. but first of all we want to know certainly what christianity is, if it is able to deal with the thing with which we are puzzling or never to give an intelligent definition of it. how is it now? i go to a certain man and ask him, "why do you not believe in christianity?" and he says, "it is incredible. i cannot believe in it." "what is it that you cannot believe in?" and then he takes forsooth some little point of christian doctrine, some speculation of some christian teacher, some dogma of some christian church, and says, "that is incredible," as if that were christianity. over and over again men are telling that they do not believe in christianity, when the real thing that they do not believe in is something that is no essential part of christian faith whatsoever. they never have given to themselves a real definition of what the christ and the christianity in which they are called upon to believe, into which they are invited to enter, really is. the lecturer goes up and down the land and in the face of mighty audiences he denounces christianity. he declares it to be unintelligible and absurd, to be monstrous and brutal. and when you ask what it is that he is thus denouncing, what it is that he is thus convicting over and over again, you find that it is something not simply which makes no part of christianity, but which is absolutely hostile to the spirit of christianity itself. many and many a sceptical lecturer is denouncing that which christian men would, with all their hearts, denounce; is declaring that to be untrue which no true christian thinker really believes, that which is no real part of the great christian faith, which is our glory. do not think when i speak thus, when i say that there are things attached to christianity which men do not believe, that they do not believe in the great truth of jesus, without them, which men denouncing think that they are denouncing the religion which is saving the world. do not think that i am simply paring away our great christian faith, and making it mean just as little as possible in order that men may accept it into their lives. i am coming to the heart and soul of it. i want to know, if my life is all bound up with this religion of jesus christ, i want to know intrinsically what that religion is. i will scatter a thousand things which in the devout thought of men have fastened themselves to it. it is but clearing the ship for action, the making it ready that it may do its work, the binding everything tight just before the storm comes on, for that is just the moment when nothing essential to the ship itself must be cast away, when i make sure, if i can, that every plank and timber, that every iron and brass is in its true place and ready for the strain that may be put upon it. but what, then, is the christian religion? it is the simple following of the divine person, jesus christ, who, entering into our humanity, has made evident two things--the love of god for that humanity, and the power of that humanity to answer to the love of god. the one thing that the eye of the christian sees and never can lose is that majestic, simple figure, great in its simplicity, in its innocence, in its purity and in its unworldliness, that walked once on this earth and that walks forever through the lives of men, showing himself to human kind, manifest in human kind. the power to receive it, the divine life wakened in every child of man by the divine life manifested in jesus christ. that is the great christian faith, and the man becomes a christian in his belief when he assures himself that that manifestation of the divine life has been made and is perpetually being made, and he answers to that appeal of the christ. he manifests his belief in action when he gives himself to the education and the guiding of that christ, that in him there may be awakened the life of divinity, which is his true human life. is it not glorious, this absolute simplicity of the christian faith? it is not primarily a truth; it is a person, it is he who walked in galilee and judea, who sat in the houses of mankind, who hung upon the cross, in order that he might perfectly manifest how god could live and how man could suffer in the obedience to the life of god, and then sent forth out of that inspiration and said, "lo, i am with you always, doing this very thing, being this very saviour, even to the end of the world." that which the christian man believes to-day as a christian, whatever else he may believe in his private speculation, in his personal opinion, is this: the life of god manifest in jesus of nazareth and thenceforth going out into the world wakening the divine capacity in every man. you say, "how can a man believe that? what evidence is there of it?" the personal evidence of jesus christ himself. it is the self testimony of christ that makes the assurance of the christian faith. does that sound to you all unreasonable? do you turn here in your pew or in your aisle and say, "after all, it is the old story which i have tested and know to be untrue." suppose yourself back there in jerusalem. suppose the self testimony came to you from the very person of jesus christ. suppose the words that he absolutely said and the deeds that he absolutely did bore to you a testimony that some greater than a human life was there, and that then, as you pressed close to him and became a part of his life, you found your own life awakened and became a nobler man, ashamed to sin, aspiring after holiness, thinking noble thoughts, lifting yourself not above the earth, but lifting yourself with the whole great earth, which then is taken up into the presence of god and made sacred through and through. i know no man in whom i trust except by the personal evidence that he bears to me of himself. i know no man's nature finally but by that testimony which the nature gives me of him. bring me all evidence that the man is trustworthy, and then when i am convinced i will go and stand in the presence of that man himself, and he shall tell me. so the world stood, so the world stands to-day in the presence of jesus christ. his presence on earth is an historic fact. the words that he spoke are written down in a true record. the deeds that he did are the history of the manifestations of his character, and the story of his christendom is the continued manifestation of his life, the divine life in the life of man, made divine through him. now, a question that comes in the christian's mind is "why don't people believe this?" why should they not? is it not written in the historical record? has it not manifested itself in the experience of mankind? if it has, surely then it appeals to man's reason, and is not merely the act of the blind, stupid thing which we call faith, but it is the noblest action of that hour in which i believe, in the heavens above me and in the earth under my feet, in the brother with whom i have to do in the long course of history, in the total humanity which has grandly lived. the reason that men do not believe it is that of course there seems to be to them some strange and previous presumption with regard to it, something which makes the story incredible. they say it is the supernatural in it, that it goes beyond the ordinary experience of man. ah! it seems also strange to me, the ordinary experience of man. who dares to dream that human life has lived its completest and shown the noblest power of receiving god into itself? who dares to think that these few thousand years have exhausted this majestic and mysterious being that we call man? who dares to think of his own life that, in these few thirty, forty, fifty years that he has lived, he has known and shown all that god can do in and for him? who dares to say that it is impossible, that it is improbable, that he who is the child of god shall receive some newer and closer access to his father, that there shall come some new revelation which shall be written not in a book, not upon the skies, not in the history of human kind, not on the rocks under our feet, but here in our human flesh, that there shall be an incarnation, that the god who is perpetually trying to manifest himself to human kind should find at last, should take at last the most exquisite, the most sensitive, the most perfect, the most divine of all material on which to write his message, and in that human nature show at once what god was and what man is? until there be some exhaustive sight of human nature as that, it is in no wise improbable that there would be that which outgoes our observation, that once in the long music of our human life the great key-note of humanity shall be struck, that once in our great groping after the god who made us he shall seem to draw the veil aside, nay, more than that, shall come and like the sunlight crowd himself through every cloud until he takes possession of our humanity. "ay," but you say, "those miracles in the life of jesus christ, how strange those are; how strange that he should have touched the water and the water become wine; how strange that he should have called to the dead man and he should have come forth from the tomb; how strange that he should have spoken to the waters and the storm grow still!" ah, my friends, it seems to me that there again we are dishonoring nature as just before we did dishonor man. there again we are thinking that we have exhausted the capacity of this wondrous world in which we live. what is the glory of that world? that it answers to human kind. in the mystic tradition of the book of genesis it is told how, when god first made man, he set him master of this world and all its powers; and, ever since, the world has been answering to man, who is its master, and every message that comes back to him, every response that the field makes to the farmer, or that the rock makes to the scientist, is but an assertion and the culmination and the fulfilment of that which god did back there. as man has been, so has the world responded to his touch and call. suppose that to-morrow morning the perfect man should come, not the man simply of the twentieth century or of the twenty-first, who shall be greater in his humanity than we, but suppose the perfect man, the perfect man because the divine man, comes. i cannot dream that nature shall not have words to say and a response to make to him that it will not make to these poor hands of mine. i can do something with the rock and field, i can do something with the sea and sky. what shall he do who is to my humanity what the perfect is to the absolutely and dreadfully imperfect? what shall the divine man do? when paul speaks in that great verse of his and tells us how the whole creation groaneth and travaileth waiting for the manifestation of the son of god, the whole future history of human science, of man's knowledge and use of the world, is in his words. the world shall know man as fast as man shows himself, and when the son of god shall be manifested, then the groaning and travailing creation shall set all its powers free, and with the knowledge with which it floods him and with the usages and service with which it supplies him, it shall claim at last its glory as the servant, the obedient servant of man. the son of man has come. you may at least suppose it if you do not believe it. and if he came to-morrow morning, would not this whole world lift itself up and answer him? who can say what the hills and valleys and trees and oceans and seas would have to say to him who at last manifested that which the world had been waiting and groaning for, the manifestation, the complete manifestation, of the son of god? that is the reason why i claim that miracles--i do not know that there have not been fastened upon the miraculous power of jesus stories of things, thinking that they were done miraculously, which he did by what we choose in our ignorance to call the ordinary powers of nature--but i do know that the coming into the world must have been more to this world, that it would have been the most unnatural and incredible thing if the divine man coming here had been to the world and the world had been to him only what it is to us. and now the question comes to each one of us--for i must hasten on--how shall a man get within the region of that which perhaps you recognize, which i do not see how you can help believing, how shall a man get within the region of that higher power and let it be the rule of his life, let it manifest itself through him? how do you get within the power of any force, my friends? here is christ, a force if he is anything, not a spectacle, not a miracle, not a marvel, not wonderful to look at, but a force to feel. how do you get within the power of any force? you look out of your window, and men say the frost is freezing, and you see your neighbors wrapping their cloaks about them and going down the street as if they were cold. men say that a storm is blowing, and you see them shelter themselves against the storm that blows. how will you make that storm a true thing for yourself? go out into it. let the frost smite your cheek, let the rain beat into your face, let the wind blow upon your back, and then you know by personal experience what you had known by your observation before. and so i say that only when a man puts himself where he can feel the power of the christ, where it is possible for him, if there be a christ, if christ be all that the christian religion claims that he is, only when a man puts himself where he needs and must have and must certainly feel that christ, if there be a christ, only then has he a right to disbelieve if the christ be not there, only then has he a right to believe if the christ find him there. and where is that? when a man takes up the highest duties, when he accepts the noblest life, when he lays open his soul to the great exactions and obligations which belong to him in his spiritual nature, when he tries to be a pure man, a devoted man, a noble man, only then has he a chance to know that force which only then comes into its activity. only when a man tries to live the divine life can the divine christ manifest himself to him. therefore the true way for you to find christ is not to go groping in a thousand books. it is not for you to try evidences about a thousand things that people have believed of him, but it is for you to undertake so great a life, so devoted a life, so pure a life, so serviceable a life, that you cannot do it except by christ, and then see whether christ helps you. see whether there comes to you the certainty that you are a child of god, and the manifestation of the child of god becomes the most credible, the most certain thing to you in all of history. it may have been that such moments have been in some of your lives. think of the noblest moment that you ever passed, of the time when, lifted up to the heights of glory, or bowed down into the very depths of sorrow, every power that was in you was called forth to meet the exigency or to do the work. think of the time when you stood upon the mountain top or plunged into the gulf. remember that time--it may have been the death of your little child, it may have been your own sickness, it may have been your failure in business, it may have been the moment of your complete success in business, when you were solemnized as the great shower of wealth poured down upon you, and you felt that now you really had some work for god to do in the world. ah, look back to that moment and see if then it seemed so strange to you that god should come into the presence and person of his universe, of his children, and take possession of their life. we grow so easily to forget our noblest and most splendid times. it seems to me there is no maxim for a noble life like this: count always your highest moments your truest moments. believe that in the time when you were the greatest and most spiritual man, then you were your truest self. men do just the other thing. they say it was "an exception, a derangement of my nature, an exultation, a frenzy, it was something that i must not expect again." how about the time when they plunged into baseness and made their soul like a dog's soul? they shudder at the thought of that because they think it would come again. nay, nay, shudder if you will at the thought of that, but believe that the highest you ever have been you may be all the time, and vastly higher still if only the power of the christ can occupy you and fill your life all the time. i said that there were many things that people attached to christianity that did not belong to christianity. i know there are. it is impossible that a great system like the system of christ, a great person like the great person of christ, should be in the world, and men not have speculated and thought in regard to him. those are not christianity. i want to-day, if i may do nothing else, to tell you absolutely how simple and single the christian faith, the christ, really is. it is not the inspiration of this book or any theory in regard to its inspiration. it is not the election of certain souls and the perdition of other souls. it is not the length of man's punishment, whether it is going to be forever and ever, or whether man is to go to his restoration. it is not even the constitution of the divine life, the great truth of the way in which god lives within his own nature. none of these are the essence of the christian faith, but simply this: the testimony of the divine in man to the divine in man that lifts the man up and says: "for me to be brutal is unmanly; to be divine is to be my only true self." why do i believe in god? if some man asked me, when on the street, i think i should have an answer to give him. i could give one great reason--two great reasons which are really but one great reason--why i believe in god. i believe in god, my friends, i believe in god with all my soul, because this world is inexplicable without him and explicable with him, and because jesus christ believed in him; and it was jesus christ that showed me that this world demanded god and was inexplicable without him; that made certain every suspicion and dream that i had had before, and jesus christ believed in him. shall i go to the expert about chemistry or geology and ask him the truth with regard to the structure of the world and the meeting of its atoms and forces? and shall not i go to the spiritual expert, to him in whom the spiritual life of man has been clearest, and say, "o christ, tell me what is the centre and source and end of all?" when he says, "god," shall i not believe him? it is impossible, as i have suggested to you again and again in what i have been saying, that a man can have his mind open to the receipt of the truth of a person unless he be a certain kind of man himself. i do not know but the basest and the wickedest man who lives may believe in the copernican theory, or that two and two make four, yet i cannot help believing that if he were a better and truer man he would believe even those truths, outside of himself, of science and arithmetic, more fully and deeply. men were not all astray in the first thing that they were seeking after, though they were wofully astray in many things that they said about it, when they talked about faith and works. faith enters in through the soul that does a noble deed, and in the coming in of that faith the higher deed becomes possible to him. hear the words that jesus said, words that our age must take to itself until it shall be wiser than it is to-day: "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see god." "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of god." ponder those words, my friends. see how reasonable they are. see how important they are. see how they have the secret of your own life, of what it is to do, of what it is to be, forever and ever sealed up in them. these two things, i am sure, are true with regard to the method of belief--that no man can ever go forward to a higher belief until he is true to the faith which he already holds. be the noblest man that your present faith, poor and weak and imperfect as it is, can make you to be. live up to your present growth, your present faith. so, and so only, as you take the next straight step forward, as you stand strong where you are now, so only can you think the curtain will draw back and there will be revealed to you what lies beyond. and then live in your positives and not in your negatives. i am tired of asking man what his religious faith is and having him tell me what he don't believe. he tells me that he don't believe in baptism or inspiration or in the trinity. if i asked a man where he was going and he told me he was not going to washington, what could i know about where he was going? he would not go anywhere so long as he simply rested in that mere negative. be done with saying what you don't believe, and find somewhere or other the truest, divinest thing to your soul that you do believe to-day, and work that out: work it out in all the action and consecration of the soul in the doing of your work. this i take to be the real freedom of christian thought--when the man goes forward always into a fuller and fuller belief as he becomes obedient to that which he already holds. but yet i know i have not touched the opinion, the feeling, nay, i will say the black prejudice that is upon many, many minds. "ah, but you have bound yourself," you say. "you have given your assent to a certain creed, you believe certain dogmas. to put it as simply as you have put it to us this morning, you believe a certain person. i, i am free, i believe nothing, i can go wandering here and everywhere and disbelieve to my heart's content." yes, i do believe something, and i thank god for it. but i deny with all my intelligence and soul the very idea that in believing that something i have shut my soul to evidence. i am ready to hear any man living, any man living to-day who will prove to me that the christ has never lived and that he is not the lord of men. i will listen to any man who is in earnest and who is sincere. i will not listen to any trifler, caviller, who is merely trying to make a point and to get ahead of the poor arguments that i can use; but let any fellow-man come to me with an earnest face, either of puzzled doubt, or of earnest and convinced unbelief, and say to me, "are you not wrong?" or "i believe that you are wrong," and i, of course, will talk to him. do i want to believe anything that cannot be proved to be true, anything that my intelligence shall not receive? why should i believe it? shall i trust myself to the ship merely because i have refused to examine its timbers, when men tell me that it is unsound? shall i throw away my truthfulness simply for the sake of holding what i want, what i choose to call the truth? it is not because it is safe, it is not because it is pleasant, it is because it seems to the christian man to be true, that the christian man believes in the presence, the life, the power of jesus christ. therefore come, let me hear every one of you what you have to say. let me see where that upon which my soul rests for its very life breaks down; but, until i hear, i will go forward, strong in the assurance of that which takes hold of all my life, convinces my reason, lays hold of my affections, enlarges my actions, and opens my whole being to the freedom of the child of god. and why should not you, my friends, why should not you? i honor the sceptic, the faithful and devout sceptic, with all my soul. i am no scorner of the man who, without scorn, finds it impossible to accept that which to my soul seems to be the absolute truth. i will scorn only that which god scorns. he scorns the scorner, and only the scorning man is worthy of the scorn of human kind. but while i honor the sceptic, while i invite him to make manifest his scepticism, not merely for his sake but for my own, i will not hold, i cannot hold that he is living a larger life than the man whom the christ invites to every noble duty, to every faithful fulfilment of himself. i will feel that he, perhaps by the necessity of his nature, perhaps by his circumstances, perhaps by something which came down to him from his ancestors, is shut in, is a contained and hampered and hindered man, and i will long for the day when he, lifting up his eyes, sees that christ walking in the midst of humanity, and yet at the head of humanity, manifesting our human nature, but outgoing our human nature, glorifying our streets while he interprets our streets for the first time into their full meaning, giving to our shops and houses a radiancy which they have expected and dreamed of, but never felt, and tempting us always into a deeper belief in him, which, embodying itself in a completer consecration to the right and true, shall lead us on into the fulness which he fills. can i, can you, have christ in human history, christ in the world, and live as if he were not here? will you not give yourself to that of him which you know to-day? will you not at least lay hold of the very skirts of his garment and say, "i see that thou art good, i see that thou art true. lead me into the goodness and truth which by communion and sympathy shall know thee more. lord, i believe. i believe just a little. lord, i know that that must come which thou hast said has come in thee. i would enter into thee, to see whether it has indeed come in thee, and thou shalt lead me, thou shalt teach me. lord, i believe. i have not grasped thee. no man has grasped thee. the man who says that he has grasped thee proves thereby that he does not know thee. i know that i have not grasped thee, but i will follow thee by doing righteousness, by serving truth, by knowing and acknowledging thee until all of that shall become clear to me. i will follow thee, and thou shalt lead me into the glory which thou thyself abidest in. lord, i believe, lord, i believe, help thou mine unbelief." the story of the present, the hope, the pure, certain hope of the future is in those great words: "lord, i believe, help thou mine unbelief." iii. the duty of the christian business man. i will read to you once again the words which i have read before, the words of jesus in the eighth chapter of the gospel of st. john: "as he spake these words, many believed on him. then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. they answered him, we be abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? jesus answered them, verily, verily, i say unto you. whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. and the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the son abideth ever. if the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." i do not know how any man can stand and plead with his brethren for the higher life, that they will enter into and make their own the life of christ and god, unless he is perpetually conscious that around them with whom he pleads there is the perpetual pleading and the voice of god himself. unless a man believes that, everything that he has to say must seem, in the first place, impertinent, and, in the second place, almost absolutely hopeless. who is man that he shall plead with his fellow-man for the change of a life, for the entrance into a whole new career, for the alteration of a spirit, for the surrounding of himself with a new region in which he has not lived before? but if it be so, that god is pleading with every one of his children to enter into the highest life; if it be so, that god is making his application and his appeal to every soul to know him, and in him to know himself, then one may plead with earnestness and plead with great hopefulness before his brethren. and so it is. the great truth of jesus christ is that, that god is pleading with every soul, not merely in the words which we hear from one another, not merely in the words which we read from his book, but in every influence of life; and, in those unknown influences which are too subtle for us to understand or perceive, god is forever seeking after the souls of his children. i cannot stand before you for the last time that i shall stand in these meetings, my friends, without reminding myself and without reminding you of that; without reminding myself also and without trying to remind you of how absolutely conformable it is to everything that man does in this world. the great richness of nature, the great richness of life, comes when we understand that behind every specific action of man there is some one of the more elemental and primary forces of the universe that are always trying to express themselves. there is nothing that man does that finds its beginning within itself, but everything, every work of every trade, of every occupation, is simply the utterance of some one of those great forces which lie behind all life, and in the various ways of the different generations and of the different men are always trying to make their mark upon the world. behind the power that the man exercises there always lies the great power of life, the continual struggle of nature to write herself in the life and work of man, the power of beauty struggling to manifest itself, the harmony that is always desiring to make itself known. to the merchant there are the great laws of trade, of which his works are but the immediate expression. to the mechanic there are the continual forces of nature, gravitation uttering itself in all its majesty, made no less majestic because it simply takes its expression for the moment in some particular exercise of his art. to the ship that sails upon the sea there are the everlasting winds that come out of the treasuries of god and fulfil his purpose in carrying his children to their destination. there is no perfection of the universe and of the special life of man in the universe until it comes to this. the greatest of all forces are ready without condescension, are ready as the true expression of their life, to manifest themselves in the particular activities which we find everywhere, and which are going on everywhere. the little child digs his well in the sea-shore sand, and the great atlantic, miles deep, miles wide, is stirred all through and through to fill it for him. shall it not be so then here to-day, and shall it not be the truth, upon which we let our minds especially dwell, and which we keep in our souls all the time that i am speaking and you are listening, that however he may be hidden from our sight god is the ultimate fact and the final purpose and power of the universe, and that everything that man tries to do for his fellow-man is but the expression of that love of god which is everywhere struggling to utter itself in blessing, to give itself away to the soul of every one for whom he cares? it is in this truth that i find the real secret, the deepest meaning, of the everlasting dissatisfaction of man that is always ready to be stirred. we moralize, we philosophize about the discontent of man. we give little reasons for it; but the real reason of it all is this, that which everything lying behind it really signifies: that man is greater than his circumstances, and that god is always calling to him to come up to the fulness of his life. dreadful will be the day when the world becomes contented, when one great universal satisfaction spreads itself over the world. sad will be the day for every man when he becomes absolutely contented with the life that he is living, with the thoughts that he is thinking, with the deeds that he is doing, when there is not forever beating at the doors of his soul some great desire to do something larger, which he knows that he was meant and made to do because he is the child of god. and there is the real secret of the man's struggle with his sins. it is not simply the hatefulness of the sin, as we have said again and again, but it is the dim perception, the deep suspicion, the real knowledge at the heart of the man, that there is a richer and a sinless region in which it is really meant for him to dwell. man stands separated from that life of god, as it were, by a great, thick wall, and every effort to put away his sin, to make himself a nobler and a purer man, is simply his beating at the inside of that door which stands between him and the life of god, which he knows that he ought to be living. it is like the prisoner hidden in his cave, who feels through all the thick wall that shuts him out from it the sunlight and the joyous life that is outside, who knows that his imprisonment is not his true condition, and so with every tool that his hands can grasp and with his bleeding hands themselves beats on the stone, that he may find his way out. and the glory and the beauty of it is that while he is beating upon the inside of the wall there is also a noble power praying upon the outside of that wall, the life to which he ought to come is striving in its turn, upon its side, to break away the hindrance that is keeping him from the thing he ought to be, that is keeping him from the life he ought to live. god, with his sunshine and lightning, with the great majestic manifestations of himself, and with all the peaceful exhibitions of his life, is forever trying, upon his side of the wall, to break away the great barrier that separates the sinner's life from him. great is the power, great is the courage of the sinner, when through the thickness of the walls he feels that beating life of god, when he knows that he is not working alone, when he is sure that god is wanting him just as truly, far more truly, than he wants god. he bears himself to a nobler struggle with his enemy and a more determined effort to break down the resistance that stands between him and the higher life. our figure is all imperfect, as all our figures are so imperfect, because it seems to be the man all by himself, working by himself, until he shall come forth into the life of god, as if god waited there to receive him when he came forth the freed man, and as if the working of the freedom upon the sinner's side had not something also of the purpose of god within him. god is not merely in the sunshine; god is in the cavern of the man's sin. god is with the sinner wherever he can be. there is no soul so black in its sinfulness, so determined in its defiant obstinacy, that god has abandoned his throne room at the centre of the sinner's life, and every movement is the god movement and every effort is the god force, with which man tries to break forth from his sin and come forth into the full sunlight of a life with god. do you not think how full of hope it is? do you not see that when this great conception of the universe, which is christ's conception, which beamed in every look that he shed upon the world, which was told in every word that he spoke and which was in every movement of his hand--do you not see how, when this great conception of the universe takes possession of a man, then all his struggle with his sin is changed, it becomes a strong struggle, a glorious struggle. he hears perpetually the voice of christ, "be of good cheer. i have overcome the world. you shall overcome it by the same strength which overcame with me." and then another thing. when a man comes forth into the fulness of that life with god, when at last he has entered god's service and the obedience to god's will, and the communion with god's life, then there comes this wonderful thing, there comes the revelation of the man's past. we dare to tell the man that if he enters into the divine life, if he makes himself a servant of god and does god's will out of obedient love, he shall then be strong and wise. one great element of his strength is going to be this: a marvellous revelation that is to come to him of how all his past has been filled with the power of that spirit with which he has at last entered into communion, to which he has at last submitted himself. man becomes the child of god, becomes the servant of jesus christ, and this marvellous revelation amazes him. he sees that back through all the years of his most obstinate and careless life, through all his wilfulness and resistance, through all his profligacy and black sin, god has been with him all the time, beating himself upon his life, showing him how he desired to call him to himself, and that the final submission does not win god. it simply submits to the god who has been with the soul all the time. can there be anything more winning to the soul than that, anything that brings a deeper shame to you, than to have it revealed to you, suddenly or slowly, that from the first day that you came into this world, nay, before your life was an uttered fact in this world, god has been loving you, and seeking you, and planning for you, and making every effort that he could make in consistency with the free will with which he endowed you from the centre of his own life, that you might become his and therefore might become truly yourself? through all the years in which you were obstinate and rebellious, through all the years in which you defied him, nay, through the years in which you denied him and said that he did not exist, he was with you all the time. what shall i say to my friend who is an atheist? shall i believe that until he comes to a change of his opinions and recognizes that there is indeed a ruling love, a great and fatherly god for all the world, that he has nothing to do with that god? shall i believe that god has nothing to do with him until he acknowledges god? god would be no god to me if he were that, if he left the man absolutely unhelped until the man beat at the doors of his divine helpfulness and said, "i believe in thee at last. now help me." and to the atheist there appears the light of the god whom he denies. into every soul, just so far and just so fast as it is possible for that soul to receive it, god beats his life and gives his help. that is what makes a man hopeful of all his fellow-men as he looks around upon them and sees them in all the conditions of their life. and this could only be if that were true, if that is true, which we are dwelling upon constantly, the absolute naturalness of the christian life, that it is man's true life, that it is no foreign region into which some man may be transported and where he lives an alien to all his own essential nature and to all the natural habitudes in which he is intending to exist. there are two ideas of religion which always have abounded, and our great hope is, our great assurance for the future of the world is, that the true and pure idea of religion some day shall grow and take possession of the life of man. one idea, held by very earnest people, embodied in very faithful and devoted lives, is the strangeness of religion to the life of man, as if some morning something dropped out of the sky that had had no place upon our earth before, as if there came the summons to man to be something entirely different from what the conditions of his nature prophesied and intended that he should be. the other idea is that religion comet by the utterance of god from the heavens, but comes up out of the human life of man; that man is essentially and intrinsically religious; that he does not become something else than man when he becomes the servant of jesus christ, but then for the first time he becomes man; that religion is not something that is fastened upon the outside of his life, but is the awakening of the truth inside of his life; the church is but the true fulfilment of human life and society; heaven is but the new jerusalem that completes all the old jerusalem and londons and bostons that have been here upon our earth. man, in the fulfilment of his nature by jesus christ, is man--not to be something else, our whole humanity is too dear to us. i will cling to this humanity of man, for i do love it, and i will know nothing else. but when man is bidden to look back into his humanity and see what it means to be a man, that humanity means purity, truthfulness, earnestness, and faithfulness to that god of which humanity is a part, that god which manifested that humanity was a part of it, when the incarnation showed how close the divine and human belonged together--when man hears that voice, i do not know how he can resist, why he shall not lift himself up and say, "now i can be a man, and i can be man only as i share in and give my obedience to and enter into communion with the life of god," and say to christ, to christ the revealer of all this, "here i am, fulfil my manhood." and do not you see how immediately this sweeps aside, as one gush of the sunlight sweeps aside the darkness, do not you see how it sweeps aside all the foolish and little things that people are saying? i say to my friend, "be a christian." that means to be a full man. and he says to me, "i have not time to be a christian. i have not room. if my life was not so full. you don't know how hard i work from morning to night. what time is there for me to be a christian? what time is there, what room is there for christianity in such a life as mine?" but does not it come to seem to us so strange, so absurd, if it was not so melancholy, that man should say such a thing as that? it is as if the engine had said it had no room for the steam. it is as if the tree had said it had no room for the sap. it is as if the ocean had said it had no room for the tide. it is as if the man said that he had no room for his soul. it is as if life said that it had no time to live, when it is life. it is not something that is added to life. it is life. a man is not living without it. and for a man to say that "i am so full in life that i have no room for life," you see immediately to what absurdity it reduces itself. and how a man knows what he is called upon by god's voice, speaking to him every hour, speaking to him every moment, speaking to him out of everything, that which the man is called upon to do because it is the man's only life! therefore time, room, that is what time, that is what room is for--life. life is the thing we seek, and man finds it in the fulfilment of his life by jesus christ. now, until we understand this and take it in its richness, all religion seems, becomes to us such a little thing that it is not religion at all. you have got to know that religion, the service of christ, is not something to be taken in in addition to your life; it is your life. it is not a ribbon that you shall tie in your hat, and go down the street declaring yourself that you have accepted something in addition to the life which your fellow-men are living. it is something which, taken into your heart, shall glow in every action so that your fellow-men shall say, "lo, how he lives! what new life has come into him?" it is that insistence upon the great essentialness of the religious life, it is the insistence that religion is not a lot of things that a man does, but is a new life that a man lives, uttering itself in new actions because it is the new life. "except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of god." so jesus said to nicodemus the ruler, nicodemus the amateur in religions, who came and said, "perhaps this teacher has something else that i can bind into my catalogue of truths and hold it." jesus looked him in the face and said: "it is not that, my friend, it is not that; it is to be a new man, it is to be born again. it is to have the new life, which is the old life, which is the eternal life. so alone does man enter into the kingdom of god." i cannot help believing all the time that if our young men knew this, religion would lift itself up and have a dignity and greatness--not a thing for weak souls, but a thing for the manliest soul. just because of its manliness it is easy. "is it easy or is it hard, this religion of yours?" people say to us. i am sure i do not know the easy and the hard things. i cannot tell the difference. what is easier than for a man to breathe? and yet, have you never seen a breathless man, a man in whom the breathing was almost stopped, a drowning man, an exhausted man? have you never seen, when the breath was put once more to his nostrils and brought down once more into his empty lungs, the struggle with which he came back to it? it was the hardest thing for him to do, so much harder for him to live than it was for him to die. but by and by see him on his feet, going about his work, helping his fellow-men, living his life, rejoicing in his days, guarding against his dangers, full of life. is life a hard thing for him? you don't talk about its being hard or easy any more than you talk about life itself. the man who lives in god knows no life except the life of god. let men know that it is not mere trifling, it is not a thing to be dallied with for an instant, it is not a thing for a man to convince himself by an argument, and then keep as it were locked in a shelf: it is something that is so deep and serious, so deep and serious that when a man has once tested it there is no more chance of his going out of it than there is of his going out of the friendship and the love which holds him with its perpetual expression, with the continued deeper and deeper manifestation of the way in which the living being belongs to him who has a right to his life. now in the few moments that remain i want to take it for granted most seriously, most earnestly, that the men who are listening to me are in earnest, and i want to try to tell them as a brother might tell a brother, as i might tell to you or try to tell to you if sitting before my fireside, i want to try to answer the question which i know is upon your hearts. "what shall i do about this?" i know you say; "is this all in the clouds? is there anything i can do in the right way?" if you are in earnest, i shall try to tell you what i should do, if i were in your place, that i might enter into that life and be the free man that we have tried to describe, of whom we believe certain special and definite things. what are they? in the first place i would put away my sin. there is not a man listening to me now who has not some trick of life, some habit that has possession of him, which he knows is a wrong thing. the very first thing for a man to do is absolutely to set himself against them. if you are foul, stop being licentious, at least stop doing licentious things. if you, in any part of your business, are tricky, and unsound, and unjust, cut that off, no matter what it costs you. there is something clear and definite enough for every man. it is as clear for every man as the sunlight that smites him in his eyes. stop doing the bad thing which you are doing. it is drawing the bolt away to let whatever mercy may come in come in. stop doing your sin. you can do that if you will. stop doing your sin, no matter how mechanical it seems, and then take up your duty, whatever you can do to make the world more bright and good. do whatever you can to help every struggling soul, to add new strength to any staggering cause, the poor sick man that is by you, the poor wronged man whom you with your influence might vindicate, the poor boy in your shop that you may set with new hope upon the road of life that is beginning already to look dark to him. i cannot tell you what it is. but you know your duty. no man ever looked for it and did not find it. and then the third thing--pray. yes, go to the god whom you but dimly see and pray to him in the darkness, where he seems to sit. ask him, as if he were, that he will give you that which, if he is, must come from him, can come from him alone. pray anxiously. pray passionately, in the simplest of all words, with the simplest of all thoughts. pray, the manliest thing that a man can do, the fastening of his life to the eternal, the drinking of his thirsty soul out of the great fountain of life. and pray distinctly. pray upon your knees. one grows tired sometimes of the free thought, which is yet perfectly true, that a man can pray anywhere and anyhow. but men have found it good to make the whole system pray. kneel down, and the very bending of these obstinate and unused knees of yours will make the soul kneel down in the humility in which it can be exalted in the sight of god. and then read your bible. how cold that sounds! what, read a book to save my soul? read an old story that my life in these new days shall be regenerated and saved? yes, do just that, for out of that book, if you read it truly, shall come the divine and human person. if you can read it with your soul as well as with your eyes, there shall come the christ there walking in palestine. you shall see him so much greater than the palestine in which he walks, that at one word of prayer, as you bend over the illuminated page, there shall lift up that body-being of the christ, and come down through the centuries and be your helper at your side. so read your bible. and then seek the church--oh, yes, the church. do you think, my friends, you who stand outside the church, and blame her for her inconsistencies, and tell of her shortcomings, and point out the corruptions that are in her history, all that are in her present life to-day--do you really believe that there is an earnest man in the church that does not know the church's weaknesses and faults just as well as you do? do you believe that there is one of us living in the life and heart of the church who don't think with all his conscience, who don't in every day in deep distress and sorrow know how the church fails of the great life of the master, how far she is from being what god meant she should be, what she shall be some day? but all the more i will put my life into that church, all the more i will drink the strength that she can give to me and make what humble contribution to her i can bring of the earnestness and faithfulness of my life. come into the church of jesus christ. there is no other body on the face of the earth that represents what she represents--the noble destiny of the human soul, the great capacity of human faith, the inexhaustible and unutterable love of god, the christ, who stands to manifest them all. now those are the things for a man to do who really cares about all this. those are the things for an earnest man to do. they have no power in themselves, but they are the opening of the windows. and if that which i believe is true, god is everywhere giving himself to us, the opening of the windows is a signal that we want him and an invitation that he will be glad enough to answer, to come. into every window that is open to him and turned his way, christ comes, god comes. that is the only story. there is put aside everything else. election, predestination, they can go where they please. i am sure that god gives himself to every soul that wants him and declares its want by the open readiness of the signal which he knows. how did the sun rise on our city this morning? starting up in the east, the sun came in its majesty into the sky. it smote on the eastward windows, and wherever the window was all closed, even if it were turned eastward, on the sacred side of the city's life, it could not come in; but wherever any eastward window had its curtains drawn, wherever he who slept had left the blinds shut, so that the sun when it came might find its way into his sleepiness, there the sun came, and with a shout awoke its faithful servant who had believed in him even before he had seen him, and said, "arise, arise from the dead, and i will give thee life." this is the simplicity of it all, my friends. a multitude of other things you need not trouble yourselves about. i amaze myself when i think how men go asking about the questions of eternal punishment and the duration of man's torment in another life, of what will happen to any man who does not obey jesus christ. oh, my friends, the soul is all wrong when it asks that. not until the soul says, "what will come if i do obey jesus christ?" and opens its glorified vision to see all the great things that are given to the soul that enters into the service of the perfect one, the perfect love, not until then the perfect love, the perfect life, come in. a man may be--i believe it with all my heart--so absolutely wrapped up in the glory of obedience, and the higher life, and the service of christ, that he never once asks himself, "what will come to me if i do not obey?" any more than your child asks you what you will do to him if he is not obedient. every impulse and desire of his life sets toward obedience. and so the soul may have no theory of everlasting or of limited punishment, or of the other life. simply now, here, he must have that without which he cannot live, that without which there is no life. jesus the soul must have, the one yesterday, to-day, and forever; he that is and was and is to be. men dwell upon what he was, upon what he is; i rather think to-day of what he is to be. and when i see these young men here before me looking to the future and not to the past,--nay, looking to the future and not to the present, valuing the present only as it is the seed ground of the future, the foundation upon which the structure is to rise whose pinnacle shall some day pierce the sky,--i want to tell them of the jesus that shall be. in fuller comprehension of him, with deeper understanding of his life, with a more entire impression of what he is and of what he may be to the soul, so men shall understand him in the days to be, and yet he shall be the same christ still. the future belongs to jesus christ, yes, the same christ that i believe in and that i call upon you to believe in to-day, but a larger, fuller, more completely comprehended christ, the christ that is to be, the same christ that was and suffered, the same christ that is and helps, but the same christ also who, being forever deeper and deeper and more deeply received into the souls of men, regenerates their institutions, changes their life, opens their capacities, surprises them with themselves, makes the world glorious and joyous every day, because it has become the new incarnation, the new presence of the divine life in the life of man. men are talking about the institutions in which you are engaged, my friends, about the business from which you have come here to worship for this little hour. men are questioning about what they care to do, what they can have to do with christianity. they are asking everywhere this question: "is it possible for a man to be engaged in the activities of our modern life and yet to be a christian? is it possible for a man to be a broker, a shopkeeper, a lawyer, a mechanic, is it possible for a man to be engaged in a business of to-day, and yet love his god and his fellow-man as himself?" i do not know. i do not know what transformations these dear businesses of yours have got to undergo before they shall be true and ideal homes for the child of god; but i do know that upon christian merchants and christian brokers and christian lawyers and christian men in business to-day there rests an awful and a beautiful responsibility: to prove, if you can prove it, that these things are capable of being made divine, to prove that a man can do the work that you have been doing this morning and will do this afternoon, and yet shall love his god and his fellow-man as himself. if he cannot, if he cannot, what business have you to be doing them? if he can, what business have you to be doing them so poorly, so carnally, so unspiritually, that men look on them and shake their heads with doubt? it belongs to christ in men first to prove that man may be a christian and yet do business; and, in the second place, to show how a man, as he becomes a greater christian, shall purify and lift the business that he does and make it the worthy occupation of the son of god. what shall be our universal law of life? can we give it as we draw toward our last moment? i think we can. i want to live, i want to live, if god will give me help, such a life that, if all men in the world were living it, this world would be regenerated and saved. i want to live such a life that, if that life changed into new personal peculiarities as it went to different men, but the same life still, if every man were living it, the millennium would be here; nay, heaven would be here, the universal presence of god. are you living that life now? do you want your life multiplied by the thousand million so that all men shall be like you, or don't you shudder at the thought, don't you give hope that other men are better than you are? keep that fear, but only that it may be the food of a diviner hope, that all the world may see in you the thing that man was meant to be, that is, the christ. ah, you say, that great world, it is too big; how can i stretch my thought and imagination and conscience to the poor creatures in africa and everywhere? then bring it home. ah, this dear city of ours, this city that we love, this city in which many of us were born, in which all of us are finding the rich and sweet associations of our life, this city, whose very streets we love because they come so close to everything we do and are, cannot we do something for it? cannot we make its life diviner? cannot we contribute something that it has not to-day? cannot you put in it, some little corner of it, a life which others shall see and say, "ah, that our lives may be like that!" and then the good boston in which we so rejoice, which we so love, which we would so fain make a part of the kingdom of god, a true city of jesus christ, we shall not die without having done something for it. i linger, and yet i must not linger. oh, my friends, oh, my fellow-men, it is not very long that we shall be here. it is not very long. this life for which we are so careful--it is not very long; and yet it is so long, because, long, long after we have passed away out of men's sight and out of men's memory, the world, with something that we have left upon it, that we have left within it, will be going on still. it is so long because, long after the city and the world have passed away, we shall go on somewhere, somehow, the same beings still, carrying into the depths of eternity something that this world has done for us that no other world could do, something of goodness to get now that will be of value to us a million years hence, that we never could get unless we got it in the short years of this earthly life. will you know it? will you let christ teach it to you? will you let christ tell you what is the perfect man? will you let him set his simplicity and graciousness close to your life, and will you feel their power? oh! be brave, be true, be pure, be men, be men in the power of jesus christ. may god bless you! may god bless you! let us pray. iv. true liberty. an earnest appeal to all that enter that liberty. may i read to you a few words from the eighth chapter of st. john? "then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." let us not think, my friends, that there is anything strange about the spectacle which we witnessed this morning. the only strange thing that there could be about it is that anybody should think that it is strange that men should turn aside for half an hour from their ordinary business pursuits, that they should come from the details of life to inquire in regard to the principles, the everlasting principles and purposes of life; that they should turn aside from those things which are occupying them from day to day and make one single hour in the week consecrated to the service of those great things which underlie all life--surely there is nothing very strange. there is nothing more absolutely natural. every man does it in his own sort of way, in his own choice of time. we have chosen to do it together, on one day of the week during these few weeks which the christian church has so largely set apart for special thought and prayer and earnest attempt to approach the god to whom we belong. it is simply as if the stream turned back again to its fountain, that it might refresh itself and make itself strong for the great work that it had to do in watering the fields and turning the wheels of industry. it is simply as if men plodding along over the flat routine of their life chose once in a while to go up into the mountain top, whence they might once in a while look abroad over their life, and understand more fully the way in which they ought to work. these are the principles, these are the pictures which represent that which we have in mind as we come together for a little while each monday in these few weeks, in order that we may think about things of god and try to realize the depth of our own human life. the first thing that we ought to understand about it is that when we turn aside from life it is only that we go deeper into life. this hour does not stand apart from the rest of the hours of the week, in that we are dealing with things in which the rest of the week has no concern. he who understands life deeply and fully, understands life truly; he has forever renewed his life; and if there comes into our hearts, in the life which we are living, a perpetual sense that life needs renewal, a richening and refreshing, then it is in order that we may go down into the depths and see what lies at the root of things--things that we are perpetually doing and thinking. it is this that brought us together here: it is that we may open to ourselves some newer, higher life. it is that we may understand the life that we may live, along side of and as a richer development of that life which we are living from day to day, which we have been living during the years of our life. how that idea has haunted men in every period of their existence, how it is haunting you, that there is some higher life which it is possible to live! there has never been a religion that has not started there, lifted up its eyes and seen, afar off, what it was possible for man to do from day to day, in contrast with the things which men immediately and presently are. there is not any moment of the human soul which has not rested upon some great conception that man was a nobler being than he was ordinarily conceiving himself to be; that he was not destined to the things which were ordinarily occupying his life; that he might be living a greater and nobler life. it is because the christian scriptures have laid most earnestly hold of this idea, it is because it was represented not simply in the words which christ said, but in the very being which christ was, that we go to them to get the inspiration and the indication, the revelation and the enlightenment which we need. i have read to you these few words in which christ declares the whole subject, the whole character of which his life is and what his work is about to do, because it seems to me that they strike at once the key-note of that which we want to understand. they let us enter into the full conception of that which the new life which is offered to man really is. there are two conceptions which come to every man when he is entering upon a new life, changing his present life to something that is different from the present life, and being a different sort of creature and living in a different sort of a way. the first way in which it presents itself to him--almost always at the beginning of every religion, perhaps--is in the way of restraint and imprisonment. man thinks of every change that is to come to him as in the nature of denial of something that he is at the present doing and being, as the laying hold upon himself of some sort of restraint, bringing to him something which says: "i must not do the thing which i am doing. i must lay upon myself restraints, restrictions, commandments, and prohibitions. i must not let myself be the man that i am." you see how the old testament comes before the new testament, the law ringing from the mountain top with the great denials, the great prohibitions, that come from the mouth of god. "thou shalt not do this, that, or the other--thou shalt not murder. thou shalt not steal. thou shalt not commit adultery. thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods." that is the first conception which comes to a man of the way in which he is to enter upon a new life, of the way in which the denial in his experience is to take effect. it is as if the hands were stretched out in order that fetters might be placed upon them. the man says, "let some power come that is to hinder me from being this thing that i am." and the whole notion is the notion of imprisonment, restraint so it is with all civilization. it is perfectly possible for us to represent civilization as compared with barbarism, as accepted by mankind, as a great mass of restrictions and prohibitions that have been laid upon human life, so that the freedom of life has been cast aside, and man has entered into restricted, restrained, and imprisoned condition. so it is with every fulfilment of life. it is possible for a man always to represent it to himself as if it were the restriction, restraint, and prohibition of his life. the man passes onward into the fuller life which belongs to a man. he merges his selfishness into that richer life which is offered to human kind. he makes himself, instead of a single, selfish man, a man of family; and it is easy enough to consider that marriage and the family life bring immediately restraints and prohibitions. the man may not have the freedom which he used to have. so all development of education, in the first place, offers itself to man, or seems to offer itself to man, as prohibition and imprisonment and restraint. there is no doubt truth in such an idea. we never lose sight of it. no other richer and fuller idea which we come to by and by ever does away with the thought that man's advance means prohibition and self-denial, that in order that man shall become the greater thing he must cease to be the poorer and smaller thing he has been. but yet there is immediately a greater and fuller. when we hear those words of jesus, we see immediately that not the idea of imprisonment but the idea of liberty, not the idea of restraint but that of setting free, is the idea which is really in his mind when he offers the fullest life to human kind. have you often thought of how the whole bible is a book of liberty, of how it rings with liberty from beginning to end, of how the great men are the men of liberty, of how the old testament, the great picture which forever shines, is the emancipator, leading forth out of imprisonment the people of god, who were to do the great work of god in the very much larger and freer life in which they were to live? the prophet, the psalmist, are ever preaching and singing about liberty, the enfranchisement of the life of man, that man was not imprisoned in order to fulfil himself, but shall open his life, and every new progress shall be into a new region of existence which lie has not touched as yet. when we turn from the old testament to the new testament, how absolutely clear that idea is! christ is the very embodiment of human liberty. in his own personal life and in everything that he did and said, he was forever uttering the great gospel that man, in order to become his completest, must become his freest, that what a man did when he entered into a new life was to open a new region in which new powers were to find their exercise, in which he was to be able to be and do things which he could not be and do in more restricted life. it is the acceptance of that idea, it seems to me, that makes us true disciples of christ and of that great gospel, and that transfigures everything. when my friend turns over some new leaf, as we say, and begins to live a new life, what shall we think of him? i learn that he has become a christian man, that he is doing something, that he is working in a way and living a life which i have not known before. what is my impression in regard to him? is not your impression, as you look upon that man, that somehow or other he has entered into a slavery or bondage, that he has taken upon his life restrictions and imprisonments which he did not have before? and you think of him, perhaps, as a man who has done a wise and prudent thing, who has done something that is going to be for his benefit some day in some distant and half-realized world, but as a man who, for the present, has laid a burden and bondage upon his life. that is never the tone of christ; it is never the tone of the christian gospel. when a man turns away from his sins and enters into energetic holiness, when a man sacrifices his own self-indulgence and goes forth a pure servant of his god and his fellow-men, there is only one cry in the whole gospel of that man, and that is the cry of freedom. as soon as he can catch that, as soon as i can feel about my friend, who has become a better man, that he has become a larger and not a smaller, a freer and not a more imprisoned man, as soon as i lift up my voice and say that the man is free, then i understand him more fully, and he becomes a revelation to me in the higher and richer life which is possible for me to live. but think of it for yourselves, for a moment, and ask what freer life really is. try to give a definition of liberty, and i know not what it can be said to be except something of this kind: liberty is the fullest opportunity for man to be and do the very best that is possible for him. i know of no definition of liberty, that oldest and dearest phrase of men, and sometimes the vaguest also, except that. it has been perverted, it has been distorted and mystified, but that is what it really means: the fullest opportunity for a man to do and be the very best that is in his personal nature to do and to be. it immediately follows that everything which is necessary for the full realization of a man's life, even though it seems to have the character of restraint for a moment, is really a part of the process of his enfranchisement, is the bringing forth of him to a fuller liberty. you see a man coming forward and offering himself as one of the defenders of his country in his country's need. you see him standing at the door where men are being received as recruits into the army of the country. he wants liberty. he wants to be able to do that which he cannot do in his poor, personal isolation here at home. he wants the badge which will give him the right to go forth and meet the enemies of his country, and he enrolls himself among these men. he makes himself subject to obligations, duties, and drill. they are a part of his enfranchisement. they are really the breaking of the fetters upon his slavery, the sending him forth into freedom. he is like a bit of iron or steel that lies upon the ground. it lies neglected and perfectly free. you see it is made by the adjustment of the end of it so that it can be set into a great machine and become part of a great working system. but there it lies. will you call it free? it is bound to be nothing there. it is absolutely separate, and with its own personality distinct and individual and all alone. what is to make that bit of iron a free bit of iron, to let it go forth and do the thing which it was meant to do, but the taking of it and the binding of it at both ends into the structure of which it was made to be a part? it seems to me the binding of a man,--it seems to me that the binding of the iron is not the yielding of its freedom. it is not merely after finding its place within the system that it first achieves its freedom and so joins in the music and partakes of the courses with which the whole enginery is filled. is not it, then, for the first time a free bit of iron, having accomplished all that it was made to do when it came forth from the forge of the master, who had this purpose in his mind? this, then, is freedom; everything is part of the enfranchisement of a man which helps to put him in the place where he can live his best. therefore every duty, every will of god, every commandment of christ, every self-surrender that a man is called upon to obey or to make--do not think of it as if it were simply a restraint to liberty, but think of it as the very means of freedom, by which we realize the very purpose of god and the fulfilment of our life. it is interesting to see how all that is true in regard to the matter of belief, doctrine, and opinions which we are apt to accept. how strange it very often seems that men go to the church, or to one another, and say: "must i believe this doctrine in order that i can enter into the church?" "must i believe this doctrine in order that i may be saved?" men say, with a strange sort of notion about what salvation is. how strange it seems, when we really have got our intelligence about us and know what it is to believe! to believe a new truth, if it be really truth and we really believe it, is to have entered into a new region, in which our life shall find a new expansion and a new youth. therefore, not "must we believe?" but "may i believe?" is the true cry of the human creature who is seeking for the richest fulfilment of his life, who is working that his whole nature may find its complete expansion and so its completest exercise. we talk a great deal in these days and in this place about a liberal faith. what is a liberal faith, my friends? it seems to me that by every true meaning of the word, by every true thought of the idea, a liberal faith is a faith that believes much, and not a faith that believes little. the more a man believes, the more liberally he exercise his capacity of faith, the more he sends forth his intelligence into the mysteries of god, the more he understands those things which god chooses to reveal to his creatures, the more liberally he believes. let yourselves never think that you grow liberal in faith by believing less; always be sure that the true liberality of faith can only come by believing more. it is true, indeed, that as soon as a man becomes eager for belief, for the truth of god and for the mysteries with which god's universe is filled, he becomes all the more critical and careful. he will hot any longer, if he were before, be simply greedy of things to believe, so that if any superstition comes offering itself to him he will not gather it in indiscriminately and believe it without evidence, without examination. he becomes all the more critical and careful, the more he becomes assured that belief, and not unbelief, is the true condition of his life. the truth that god has entered into this world in wondrous ways and filled its life with jesus christ, the truth that man has a soul and not simply a body, that he has a spiritual need, that god cares for him and he is to care for himself, that there is an immortal life, and that that which we call faith is but the opening of a gate, the pushing back of a veil,--shall a man believe those things as imprisonments of his nature, and shall it not make him larger? shall it not be the indulgence of his life when he enters into the great certainties which so are offered to his belief, believing them in his own way? let us always feel that to accept a new belief is no to build a wall beyond which we cannot pass, but is to open the door to a great fresh, free region, in which our souls are to live. and just so it is when we come to the moral things of life. the man puts aside some sinfulness. he breaks down the wall that has been shutting his soul out of its highest life. he has been a drunkard, and he becomes a sober man. he has been a cheat, and becomes a faithful man. he has been a liar, and becomes a truthful man. he has been a profligate, and he becomes a pure man. what has happened to that man? shall he simply think of himself as one who has crushed this passion, shut down this part of his life? shall he simply think of himself as one who has taken a course of self-denial? nay. it is self-indulgence that a man has really entered upon. it is an indulgence of the deepest part of his own nature, not of his unreal nature. he has risen and shaken himself like a lion, so that the dust has fallen from his mane, and all the great range of that life which god gave him to live lies before him. this is the everlasting inspiration. this is the illumination. i don't wonder that men refuse to give up evil if it simply seems to them to be giving up the evil way, and no vision opens before them of the thing that they may be and do. i don't wonder that, if the negative, restricting, imprisoning conception of the new life is all that a man gets hold of, he lingers again and again in the old life. but just as soon as the great world opens before him then it is like a prisoner going out of the prison door. is there no lingering? does not the baser part of him cling to the old prison, to the ease and the provision for him, to the absence of anxiety and of energy? i think there can hardly be a prisoner who, with any leap of heart, goes out of the prison door, when his term is finished, and does not even look into that black horror where he has been living, cast some lingering, longing look behind. he comes to the exigencies, to the demands of life, to the necessity of making himself once more a true man among his fellow-men. but does he stop? he comes forth, and if there be the soul of a man in him still, he enters into the new life with enthusiasm, and finds the new powers springing in him to their work. and if it be so with every special duty, then with that great thing which you and i are called upon to do--the total acceptance by our nature of the will of god, the total acceptance by our nature of the mastery of jesus christ. oh! how this world has perverted words and meanings, that the mastery of jesus christ should seem to be the imprisonment and not the enfranchisement of the soul! when i bring a flower out of the darkness and set it in the sun, and let the sunlight come streaming down upon it, and the flower knows the sunlight for which it was made and opens its fragrance and beauty; when i take a dark pebble and put it into the stream and let the silver water go coursing down over it and bringing forth the hidden color that was in the bit of stone, opening the nature that is in them, the flower and stone rejoice. i can almost hear them sing in the field and in the stream. what then? shall not man bring his nature out into the fullest illumination, and surprise himself by the things that he might do? oh! the littleness of the lives that we are living! oh! the way in which we fail to comprehend, or when we do comprehend, deny to ourselves the bigness of that thing which it is to be a man, to be a child of god! sometimes it dawns upon us that we can see it opening into the vision of these men and women in the new testament. sometimes there opens to us the picture of this thing that we might be, and then there are truly the trial moments of our life. then we lift up ourselves and claim our liberty or, dastardly or cowardly, slink back into the sluggish imprisonment in which we have been living. how does all this affect that which we are continually conscious of, urging upon ourselves and upon one another? how does it affect the whole question of a man's sins? oh! these sins, the things we know so well! as we sit here and stand here one entire hour, as we talk in this sort of way, everybody knows the weaknesses of his own nature, the sins of his own soul. don't you know it? what shall we think about those sins? it seems to me, my friends, that all this great picture of the liberty into which christ sets man, in the first place does one thing which we are longing to see done in the world. it takes away the glamour and the splendor from sin. it breaks that spell by which men think that the evil thing is the glorious thing. if the evil thing be that which christ has told us that the evil thing is--which i have no time to tell you now--if every sin that you do is not simply a stain upon your soul, but is keeping you out from some great and splendid thing which you might do, then is there any sort of splendor and glory about sin? how about the sins that you did when you were young men? how can you look back upon those sins and think what your life might have been if it had been pure from the beginning, think what you might have been if from the very beginning you had caught sight of what it was to be a man? and then your boy comes along. what are the men in this town doing largely in many and many a house, but letting their boys believe that the sins of their early life are glorious things, except that those things which they did, the base and wretched things that they were doing when they were fifteen and twenty and twenty-five and thirty years old, are the true career of a human nature, are the true entrance into human life? the miserable talk about sowing wild oats, about getting through the necessary conditions of life before a man comes to solemnity! shame upon any man who, having passed through the sinful conditions and habits and dispositions of his earlier life, has not carried out of them an absolute shame for them, that shall let him say to his boy, by word and by every utterance of his life within the house where he and the boy live together, "refrain, for they are abominable things!" to get rid of the glamour of sin, to get rid of the idea that it is a glorious thing to be dissipated instead of being concentrated to duty, to get rid of the idea that to be drunken and to be lustful are true and noble expressions of our abounding human life, to get rid of any idea that sin is aught but imprisonment, is to make those who come after us, and to make ourselves in what of life is left for us, gloriously ambitious for the freedom of purity, for a full entrance into that life over which sin has no dominion. and yet, at the same time, don't you see that while sin thus becomes contemptible when we think about the great illustration of the will of god and jesus christ, don't you see how also it puts on a new horror? that which i thought i was doing in the halls of my imprisonment i have really been doing within the possible world of god in which i might have been free. the moment i see what life might have been to me, then any sin becomes dreadful to me. have you ever thought of how the world has stood in glory and honor before the sinless humanity of jesus christ? if any life could prove, if any argument could show on investigation to-day that jesus did one sin in all his life, that the perfect liberty which was his perfect purity was not absolutely perfect, do you realize what a horror would seem to fall down from the heavens, what a constraint and burden would be laid upon the lives of men, how the gates of men's possibilities would seem to close in upon them? it is because there has been that one life which, because absolutely pure from sin, was absolutely free; it is because man may look up and see in that life the revelation and possibility of his own; it is because that life, echoing the great cry throughout the world that man everywhere is the son of god, offers the same purity--and so the same freedom--to all mankind; it is for that reason that a man rejoices to cling to, to believe in, however impure his life is, the perfect purity, the sinlessness of the life of jesus. when you sin, my friends, it is a man that sins, and a man is a child of god; and for a child of god to sin is an awful thing, not simply for the stain that he brings into the divine nature that is in him, but for the life from which it shuts him out, for the liberty which he abandons, for the inthrallment which it lays upon the soul. there is one thing that people say very carelessly that always seems to me to be a dreadful thing for a man to say. they say it when they talk about their lives to one another, and think about their lives to themselves, and by and by very often say it upon their death-bed with the last gasp, as though their entrance into the eternal world had brought them no deeper enlightenment. one wonders what is the revelation that comes to them when they stand upon the borders of the other side and are in the full life and eternity of god. the thing men say is, "i have done the very best i can." it is an awful thing for a man to say. the man never lived, save he who perfected our humanity, who ever did the very best he could. you dishonor your life, you not simply shut your eyes to certain facts, you not simply say an infinitely absurd and foolish thing, but you dishonor your human life if you say that you have done in any day of your life or in all the days of your life put together, the very best that you could, or been the very best man that you could be. you! what are you? again i say, the child of god, and this which you have been, what is it? look over it, see how selfish it has been, see how material it has been, how it has lived in the depths when it might have lived on the heights, see how it has lived in the little narrow range of selfishness when it might have been as broad as all humanity, nay, when it might have been as the god of humanity. don't dare to say that in any day of your life, or in all your life together, you have done the best that you could. the pharisee said it when he went up into the temple, and all the world has looked on with mingled pity and scorn at the blindness of the man who stood there and paraded his faithfulness; while all the world has bent with a pity that was near to love, a pity that was full of sympathy because man recognized his condition and experience, for the poor creature grovelling upon the pavement, unwilling and unable even to look upon the altar, but who, standing afar off, said, "god be merciful to me a sinner!" whatever else you say, don't say, "i have been the very best i could." that means that you have not merely lived in the rooms of your imprisonment, but that you have been satisfied to count them the only possible rooms of your life, and that the great halls of your liberty have never opened themselves before you. shall not they open themselves somehow to us to-day, my friends? shall we not turn away from this hour and go back into our business, into our offices, into the shops, into the crowded streets, bearing new thoughts of the lives that we might live, feeling the fetters on our hands and feet, feeling many things as fetters which we have thought of as the ornament and glory of our life, determined to be unsatisfied forever until these fetters shall be stricken off and we have entered into the full liberty which comes to those alone who are dedicated to the service of god, to the completion of their own nature, to the acceptance of the grace of christ, and to the attainment of the eternal glory of the spiritual life, first here and then hereafter, never hereafter, it may be, except here and now, certainly here and now, as the immediate, pressing privilege and duty of our lives? so let us stand up on our feet and know ourselves in all the richness and in all the awfulness of our human life. let us know ourselves children of god, and claim the liberty which god has given to every one of his children who will take it. god bless you and give some of you, help some of us, to claim, as we have never claimed before, that freedom with which the son makes free! v. the christ in whom christians believe. i want to read to you again the words of jesus in the eighth chapter of the gospel of st. john: "then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. they answered him, we be abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? jesus answered them, verily, verily, i say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. and the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth ever. if the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." the service of god is not self-restraint, but self-indulgence. that is the first truth of all religion. that is the truth which we found uttered in those words of jesus when we were thinking of them the other day. that is the truth to which we return as we come back again to think of those words and all that they mean and all that the speaker of them means to us and to our lives. when we remember that truth, when we recognize that no man is ever to be saved except by the fulfilment of his own nature, and not by the restraint of his nature, when we recognize that no man, no personal, individual man, is ever to be ransomed from his sins except by having opened to him a larger and fuller life into which he has entered, we seem to have displayed to us a large region, into which we are tempted to enter, and which is so rich and inviting to us that we immediately begin to ask ourselves if it is possible that there should be such a region. it is simply a great dream that we set before us. it is something that we imagine, something that comes out of the imaginations and anticipations of our own hearts, simply stimulated by the possibilities of the life in which we are living. it would be very much indeed, if it were only that. it would bear a certain testimony of itself, if it simply came out of the perpetual dissatisfaction of men's souls, even if there were no distinct manifestation of that life and no possibility of entering into it at once with our own personal consecration, with the resolution of our own wills. but if it were simply a dream, ultimately it must fade away out of the thoughts of men. it is impossible that men should keep on, year after year, age after age, this simple dream of something which does not exist. it would be like those pictures which the poet has drawn, something which appeals to nothing in our human nature and stands only as a parable of something that is a great deal lower than itself. the poet pictures to us in his imagination those things which do not appeal to our life, because they find nothing to correspond to their high portraits, to show those transformations of nature into something that is entirely different and foreign to itself. if religion be simply the dream that some men hold it to be, if it simply be the cheating of man's soul with that which has no reality to correspond to it, then it will be no more than this. is there any assurance that is given to us, that is before the soul of man, of some great new life which it is given for man to seek, without which it is given for no man to be satisfied? i do not know where any man could find that assurance absolutely and entirely, unless there had stood forth before us the person of him who spoke these words and who manifested them in his life. and therefore it is that, having pictured to you the richness of the life which is open to every man, his own true life, the large freedom into which he may go if, giving up his sins he enters into the fulness of the life of god, i cannot help now calling you to think about him who gives, not merely by his words, but by the whole of his own person and life, that manifestation of the reality of the divine existence and tempts us to follow after him. in other words, we come to-day to think of christ, christ who claims to be the master of the world, christ from whom the revelation of that higher life has come, not in its first instance in the manifestation of the words which he spoke, for it had been the dream of human hearts through all the ages, but who made it so distinct and clear that ever since the time of christ men have been able to cease to seek after it, men have never been able to give up the hope and dream that it was there. it is our christ in whom we christians believe. it is the christ in whom a great many of you listening to me now claim to believe--i do myself--in whom many of you do believe, whom many of you have followed into that newer life. i would to god that i could so set him before you to-day, could so make you feel his actual presence in the life which we are living, which we may be living, that there should be no question in any man of the power that is open before him to enter into the higher life and to fulfil his soul to god. what i want to do, in the few moments which i may speak to you this morning, is--laying aside all the theological conceptions regarding him, laying aside everything that attaches to the complications and mysteries in which his nature has been involved in men's dreams of him, laying aside everything which the churches are holding as the special doctrine of their especial creed--to go back to the very beginning and see if we can understand anything of what it is--this personal christ, who lives here in the world and manifests the power of god and opens the possibility of every man. surely it is good that we should know something about him of whom we speak so much, that there should be some clear and directest conception of one whose name has been upon the lips of men for eighteen hundred years; and it is possible for us, in the simplest way, to understand how his power has come into the world and to see where it is possible that it should come and enrich our lives and make us different men. we go back, then, to the very beginning of the aspiration after god, which is in the heart of man everywhere. there has never been a race that has been without it. there has never been a generation that has not reached forward and thought there was a higher life, a fuller liberty, to which it could come. it has been in all the religions which have been not simply fears, but which have been the highest utterances of all the different races in all the different generations of mankind and all the different countries of the world; and there was one especial race in one especial part of the world in whom that aspiration was especially strong. we will not ask how it came to be there. there it was in this strange people living on the eastern shore of the mediterranean sea, and in all its history marked out by the strange peculiarity that it was a spiritual people, that in the midst of all its sins, blunders, and weaknesses it was forever lifting up its soul to god and striving to find him out. very often it blundered strangely and sadly. very often it failed to get that for which it was seeking, by the very impetuousness, rashness, and earnestness of search. but it was always seeking after him. and the years rolled by, and by and by in the midst of that great nation there was a little company of men who, accompanying one another from the beginning of their lives, had been searching after this god and trying everywhere if they could find him. and one day they heard that down by the river which ran through their country, which was sacred to them from the multitude of old national associations, there was a great teacher come, who was declaring that for which the human soul was forever reaching after, the need of escaping from sin and entering upon and leading a higher life. this little company went down and met two disciples of john the baptist, and learned from them everything that they had to teach them. their souls were stirred by that which he had to say. but one day, while he was teaching them, it seemed as if they had come to an end of that which he could teach them. he looked up, and there upon the hill just above the river there was passing one upon whom the gaze of the fishermen by the river immediately kindled, and he lifted his hand and said, "he is the one who is to teach you now. you must go after him. behold the lamb of god, which taketh away the sin of the world." great and mysterious words, that filled in that which men had believed in all the records they had read and the thinking they had done before! and they turned away from john and went after this new teacher and, following to his house, there they abode with him during that day and the days that followed after. little by little, as we read the story of their being with him, we can see them taken into his power, we can see how there was a certain fascination in his presence which laid hold upon them. it seemed at first to be purely human, to be the way in which one strong man takes possession of his fellow-man and compels him to rely upon him. it was upon purely human ground. it was in the manifestation of the excellence of this human nature of ours that they believed in jesus and gradually became his disciples. little by little it so commanded them that at last the moment came when it was impossible for them to separate themselves from him; and one day, when the people were turning away from him when he was preaching and saying things that it was hard for them to understand, he looked around upon them and said, "are you going also, will you leave me now?" and then there burst forth from the lips of one of them, the most strong and characteristic act of the little company, those great words that declared how he had become necessary to them: "lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." you see the power that jesus had acquired over these men. you see the way in which he had taken them absolutely into his dominion, simply because of the manifestation of character and life, simply because he had shown them what man might be and opened the springs of the better life in themselves by the words he had spoken to them. and then they lived on with him still, and by and by they had become so convinced by his truth and wisdom, his character had so taken possession of them, that they were ready to believe anything that he said. one day he lifted up his voice and declared that which had gradually been dawning upon them all the time, that he was more than they were, that he had brought in some mysterious way a divine life into this world and had much to communicate to them. he told them that he was the father from whom his life and their life had come. he told them that he and the father were one. he told them, not in theological statement, not as men have worked out since in their desire to know it fully, but in the simple statement of the truth that could be the inspiration of their life, that in his presence there was here the very presence of god among them. it was not strange to them, though human creatures, though men, that the highest aspiration of their humanity had never thought god so far from this world that it seemed to them strange that there should be in very human presence the divine life here with them. they could not explain it and did not try to explain it. here it was, that which they had seen shadowed in the divinest men whom they had known, that which they had recognized. here it was before them in this being who had won such a power over them that they were ready to accept his testimony with regard to himself. oh! my friends, let us not feel that the evidence of our christian faith fails when it is seen to rest upon the word of christ himself. my neighbor knows more of himself than i know of him. i know more of myself than any man can know of me, if only i be earnest and sincere. and that the greatest of men who ever trod this earth should not know more of his nature than any other man should know, and that therefore his word should not be the richest revelation of that which is in his life and makes his power over mankind, that is incredible. therefore the men were right when they believed jesus' own word and looked to him for the divinity which he said was present with him upon the earth. then his life went on, and by and by fulfilled itself in the one great action in which he declared those two things which he longed to know, the life and newness of god and the power of their human nature. he gave his life for them, indeed, in the awful suffering that preceded and that culminated upon the cross. he gave his life in crucifixion for them, and in that crucifixion opened the divinest doors of his life, when opening a sanctuary of sorrow; and he bade them enter in and know there the absolute life of god and the great capacity of human nature to sacrifice itself for god. and before he died, and afterward, he again appeared to them. he spoke great words which said that this was not the end of things, that after they had ceased to see him and touch him and hear his voice he still was to be present in the world. he said that the mysterious presence of those who had passed away, which all had known, was to culminate and be fulfilled in him. "i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." wherever you "are together in my name, there am i." words and words and words again like those he spoke, in which he declared that he was to be an everlasting presence among mankind, and therefore that which had taken place in the life of those disciples might forever take place; that that which jesus had done in the days when he was present upon the earth should be continually repeated, in that he was forever to do that which he had been doing, giving himself to human kind for their inspiration, for their elevation, for their correction, for their reproof, as he had been doing, their salvation, as he had been doing in those days in which he was here among them. men have believed that simply. they have recognized that word of christ, and found the fulfilment of it in their own lives; and that has been the christian religion,--just exactly what it was in the old days when jesus was present in jerusalem and galilee. just exactly what men did then men have been doing in all the generations that have come since. just exactly what was possible then is possible for them now--that we may become the followers of that same christ and the receivers through him of the divine life, by which alone the human life is perfected and fulfilled. that is the christian religion. that is the christian faith. is it not clear and simple, whether it be true or not? my friends, you may believe it or you may disbelieve it, but the christian faith is clear and simple enough surely in this statement, stripped of a thousand difficulties, perplexities, and bewilderments. that is it, that there is in the world to-day the same christ who was in the world eighteen hundred and more years ago, and that men may go to him and receive his life and the inspiration of his presence and the guidance of his wisdom just exactly as they did then. if you and i had been in jerusalem in those old days, what would we have done, if we were more than mere creatures of others, more than men merely absorbed in our business, if there were any stirring in our souls after the deeper and diviner desires, could we, would we have been satisfied until we had gone wherever he might be,--in the temple, in the courts, or on the country road,--and found that jesus, and entered into some sympathy with his life, that he might give to us what revelation of life and what guidance of will it might be possible should come from him to men who trusted him, until we had entered into sympathy with him and the fascinations of his character? that is the christian life, my friends, the thing we make so vague and mysterious and difficult. that is the christian life, the following of jesus christ. what is the christian? everywhere the man who, so far as he comprehends jesus christ, so far as he can get any knowledge of him, is his servant, the man who makes christ a teacher of his intelligence and the guide of his soul, the man who obeys christ as far as he has been able to understand him. what, you say, the man who imperfectly understands christ, who don't know anything about his divinity, who denies the great doctrines of the church in regard to him, is he a christian? certainly he is, my friends. there is no other test than this, the following of jesus christ. so far as any soul deeply consecrated to him, and wanting the influence that it feels that he has to give, follows christ, enters into his obedience and his company, and receives his blessings, just so far he is able to bestow it. i cannot sympathize with any feeling that desires to make the name of christian a narrower name. i would spread it just as wide as it can be possibly made to spread. i would know any man as a christian, rejoice to know any man as a christian, whom jesus would recognize as a christian, and jesus christ, i am sure, in those old days recognized his followers even if they came after him with the blindest sight, with the most imperfect recognition and acknowledgment of what he was and of what he could do. and then, again, is it not very strange, certainly, that there should be, in these later days, in all these centuries that have passed between the day of jesus christ and us, that there should have come a vast accumulation of speculation and conjecture, of theorizing and thought with regard to christ and what he was, and that a great deal of it should have been very strange and should seem to us to-day to have been very silly, a great part of it should have seemed to be but a work of intelligences that were half dulled and blinded, full of prejudice, and shrinking from the error and the danger in which they stood? what does it mean--all these complicated theologies that we say are keeping us away from the simple following of the grandest figure that has ever presented himself before human kind? i know not how else it can be when i see what has been the power of jesus over thoughts and homes and hearts of men through all these years. it seems to be a previous necessity that he who most fastens the heart and life of man, who seems to be most necessary to the soul of men, shall so attract their thought, shall so draw them all to himself that their crudest speculations, that their most erroneous conceptions, shall fasten upon him, and they shall be in some true way a testimony of the way in which he has always held the human heart. this is the way in which all crudities of theology, all the weaknesses of speculation, all even of the most strange and foul thoughts in regard to the life of jesus and his manifestation in the world, have accumulated around that gracious figure, so simple and strong, which walks through our human life and manifests to us the god. surely it is in one conception of it, and the true conception of it, the great perpetual testimony of how men have cared about jesus, that they have speculated about him in such strange perplexing ways. but he about whom the world does not care walks through the world and bears his simple being. there is nothing that fastens upon him, that perplexes his life, that makes mysterious and strange the life he lives. but where is the great man in all the history of human kind that has not gathered about his person and work the speculations of those whom we find, with their crude and unguided minds, have formed their theories in regard to him? it is the very abundance of the strange speculations with regard to christ, it is the very strangeness of the theories that have been formed with regard to him, that has shown me how he has drawn the hearts of men, how he has not let them go, but compelled them to fasten themselves to him, to think about him and try to follow him in such poor, blind ways as they were able to give themselves to him in. this, then, is the christian faith. this is the way in which the larger life opens before mankind, by the following of a person, by the giving of the life into the dominion and the guidance and the obedience of one who goes forward into that life, himself thoroughly believing in it--for jesus believed in it with all his human soul. but then, we ask ourselves, is it possible that we can gather from such a life as jesus lived so long ago, a life that was lived back in the very dust of history and that has come down to us in records which seem sometimes to be flecked with tradition and obscured with the distance in which they lived, is it possible that i should get from him a guidance of my daily life here? am i, a man of the nineteenth century, when everything has changed, in boston, in this modern civilization,--can jesus really be my teacher, my guide, in the actual duties and perplexities of my daily life and lead me into the larger land in which i know he lives? ah! the man knows very little about the everlasting identity of human nature, little of how the world in all these changeless ages is the same, who asks that; very little, also, of how in every largest truth there are all particulars and details of human life involved; little of how everything that a man is to-day, upon every moment, rests upon some eternal foundation and may be within the power of some everlasting law. the wonder of the life of jesus is this--and you will find it so and you have found it so if you have ever taken your new testament and tried to make it the rule of your daily life--that there is not a single action that you are called upon to do of which you need be, of which you will be, in any serious doubt for ten minutes as to what jesus christ, if he were here, jesus christ being here, would have you do under those circumstances and with the material upon which you are called to act. men have tried to go back and imitate the very activities of the life of jesus christ, to do the very things that he did. souls have fled across the sea and tried upon the hills and in the plains where jesus lived to reproduce the life that has so fascinated them. they were poor and unphilosophic souls. the soul that takes in jesus' word, the soul that through the words of jesus enters into the very person of jesus, the soul that knows him as its daily presence and its daily law--it never hesitates. do i doubt--i, who see myself called upon to be the slave of these conditions which are around me--to do this thing? because it is the custom of the business in which i am engaged, do i doubt fora moment if i turn aside and open this new testament, which is jesus' law with regard to that thing? i, with my passion boiling in my veins, leading me to do some foul act of outrageous lust, have i a single moment's doubt what jesus would have me do if he were here--what jesus, being here, really wants me to do? there is no single act of your life, my friend, there is no single dilemma in which you find yourself placed, in which the answer is not in jesus christ. i do not say that you will find some words in jesus' teachings in the gospel of matthew, mark, luke, and john that will detail exactly the condition in which you find yourself placed; but i do say that if, with your human sympathies and your devoted love, you can feel the presence of that jesus behind the words that he said, the personal perfectness, the divine life manifested in the human life, there is not a single sin or temptation to sin that will not be convicted. there is where we rest when we claim that jesus christ is the master of the world, that he opens the great richness and infinite distances of the human life, that he shows us what it is to be men. it would be little if he did that simply with the painting of some glorious vision upon the skies beyond; but that he comes into your life and mine, into our homes and our shops, into our offices and on our streets, and there makes known in the actual circumstances of our daily life what we ought to do and what we ought not to do--that is the wonder of his revelation; that is what proclaims him to be the son of god and the son of man. think, as you sit here, of anything that you are doing that is wrong, of any habit of your life, of your self-indulgence, or of that great, pervasive habit of your life which makes you a creature of the present instead of the eternities, a creature of the material earth instead of the glorious skies. ask of yourself of any habit that belongs to your own personal life, and bring it face to face with jesus christ and see if it is not judged. a judgment day that is far away, that is off in the dim distance when this world is done--it shall come, no doubt. i know none of us can know much with regard to it, except that it is sure. but the judgment day that is here now is christ; the judgment day that is right close to your life and rebukes you, if you will let him rebuke you every time you sin, the judgment day that is here and praises you and bids you be of good courage, when you do a thing that men disown and despise, is christ. therefore it is no figure of speech, it is no mere ecstasy of the imagination of the preacher, when we say that in the midst of these streets of ours, more real than the men that walk in them, more real than the sidewalks that are under our feet, and the buildings that tower over us, there walks an unseen presence. an unseen presence? yes. are you and i going to be such creatures of our senses that we shall not believe that there are powers that touch us that we cannot see? am i going to be so bound down to these poor fingers and to these poor eyes that i shall know myself in no larger connection with the great, unseen world? i will not. no great man, no manly man, has ever allowed such a limitation of himself. there is the unseen presence in the midst of our life, and he who will feel it may feel it, and that unseen presence speaks to him continually. it knows every one of us. it knows the rich man and knows what his wealth has made of him. it knows whether it has made him selfish. shall i say it? he, the christ, the present christ, knows whether the rich man's riches have made him selfish and base and mean, covetous and poor and little-souled, or whether he has been glad to rise to the greatness of his privilege, and be the very utterance of the beneficence of god upon the earth. he knows the poor man and his struggles, he knows the poor man and his self-respect. he speaks to the poor man's soul, who has been kept poor because he will not enter into the baser methods and motives of our modern life, and is despised, and says to him, "be of good courage, for i know what you are." he speaks to the poor in distress and poverty. he speaks to the wretched in their disappointment and their pain. he is their comforter. he knows every sin. he knows every sorrow of our life. he goes, unseen on earth, into the chambers where the dead lie dead, and where the sick lie dying, and he speaks his words of consolation, he opens up the glory of the perfect life. he lays his hand upon the mourner whose soul is bowed down to the earth and says, "look up," and points into eternity and heaven. all these things christ can do not merely, but christ is doing. he is the inspiring power of this life, that keeps it from rotting in its corruption and degradation. we dwell too much, i think, upon some of these things; we cannot dwell too much, perhaps, but we dwell out of proportion, it may be, to the thought of jesus christ, the comforter of sorrow. he is the comforter of sorrow, for he knew and he knows what sorrow is. in his own crucifixion, in that which came before his crucifixion, he knew the suffering of this earthly life. there is no human being who ever has known the misery of man as jesus knows it, and so he comes to all sorrows with tender consolation. god grant, god grant he may come to any of you who have come into these doors to-day with a sorrow, with a fear, with a dread upon your hearts, with souls that are wrung, with bodies that are suffering! god grant that the christ may comfort you, may comfort you! but not only that. shall there be no christ for those who for the moment seem to need no comfort? shall there be no christ for the strong men who have before them the duties of their life, and who want the strength with which to do them? shall there be no christ for the young men, the young men standing in danger, but also standing in such magnificent and splendid chances? it is great to think of christ standing by the sorrowing and comforting them. it is great,--we will not say it is greater,--it is very great, when by the side of the young man just entering into life there stands the christ, saying to his soul, with the voice that he cannot fail to hear: "be pure, be strong, be wise, be independent; rejoice in me and my appreciation. let the world go, if it is necessary that the world should go. serve the world, but do not be the servant of the world. make the world your servant by helping the world in every way in which you can minister to its life. be brave, be strong, be manly by my strength." oh! young man, if you can hear the christ speak to you like that behind all the traditions of the street, behind the teachings of the books, behind all that the wise and successful men say to you, behind all the cynics and sneerers say to you, the great, strong, healthy voice of jesus christ, who believes in man because he has known man filled with divinity, and believes in you because he knows that which has been set before you by your father in the sending out of your life, and who longs and prays and waits to strengthen you, that you may do your work, that you may escape from sin, that you may live your life, this great figure of the present christ that christianity can produce--it is not the memory of something that is away back in the past, it is not the anticipation of something to come in the future. we talk about christ the saviour, and think about calvary long ago. we talk about the christ the judge, and think of a great white throne set in some mystic valley of jehoshaphat, where some day the world is to be judged. we do not so get hold of christ. the christ who is in the past is not our christ unless his power holds forth, the power of his spirit, which is the whole knowledge of the life in which we live. we think of the christ of the future, for whom all the world is waiting. he will never enter into us and lead us unless we know that he is here and now. it does seem to me sometimes that if men would only take religion as a real and present thing, and if, instead of worshipping it in the past and expecting it with fear and dread and vain hope in the future, it could be a real thing with them here and now, something in which they are to live, not to which they are to flee in moments of doubt, not of which they should make rescue, but in which they should do all their work and live, then religion would be to the soul of man so that it could not be cast aside, so that they must enter into it and take it into themselves and make it their own. religion is not the simple fire-escape that you build, in anticipation of a possible danger, upon the outside of your dwelling and leave there until danger comes. you go to it some morning when a fire breaks out in your house, and the poor old thing that you built up there, and thought you could use some day, is so rusty and broken, and the weather has so beaten upon it, and the sun so turned its hinges, that it will not work. that is the condition of a man who has built himself what seems to be a creed of faith, a trust in god in anticipation of the day when danger is to overtake him, and has said to himself, i am safe, for i will take refuge in it then. but religion is the house in which we live, it is the table at which we sit, it is the fireside to which we draw near, the room that arches its graceful and familiar presence over us; it is the bed on which we lie and think of the past and anticipate the future and gather our refreshment. there is no christ except the present christ for every man, unto whom all the power of the historic christ is always appearing, and who is great with all the sweet solemnity that comes from the knowledge of what in the future he is to be to the world and to the soul. i am anxious to-day to impress this upon you: that the christian faith is not a dogma, it is not primarily a law, but is a personal presence and an immediate life that is right here and now. i am anxious to have you know that to be a christian does not mean primarily to believe this or that. it does not mean primarily, although it means necessarily afterward, to do this or that. but it means to know the presence of a true personal christ among us and to follow. here is the only true power by which a religion can become perpetual. men outgrow many dogmas which they hold. the lines in which they try to live change their application to their lives. but i know a person with a deep, true life; i enter into a friendship with one who is worthy i should be his friend, and he is mine always. what is the meaning of this sort of talk that we hear about a faith that they held once, but they have outgrown? what is the reason of this expectation that seems to have spread itself abroad, of necessity that the boy who had a religion should lose his religion some time or other, and that by and by he should take up a man's religion somewhere upon the other side of the gulf of infidelity and godlessness, through which he has passed in the mean while? you expect your boy of ten years old to be religious with a child's sweet, trusting faith; and you hope that your man of forty and fifty, beaten by the world, is to have found a god who can be his salvation. but the years between? what do you think of your young men of fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, and thirty years old? to have outgrown the boy's faith, and not to have come to the man's faith? that seems almost to be an awful fate and destiny which you expect for them. but if our faith be this, then there shall be no need, no chance that a man shall outgrow it. know christ with the first conceptions, imperfect and crude, of his boy's life, and he shall go on knowing more and more of that christ. that friend, the christ he knows at twenty-five, shall be different from the christ he knew at ten, just exactly as the friend i know at fifty is different from the friend i knew at thirty, twenty years ago; and yet he is the same friend still, forever opening the richness of an ever richer life, filling it with new experiences, with new manifestations of himself. let him drop something which seemed to him to be a part of the religion, but was only a temporary phase or condition of it, going forward with the soul all through the opening stages of life, and at last going forward with the soul into the life where it shall see as all along it has been seen, and know as it has been known. the old legend was that the clothes of the israelites, which the bible said waxed not old upon them in the desert during those forty years, not merely waxed not old those forty years, but grew with their growth, so that the little hebrew who crossed the red sea in his boy's clothes wore the same clothes when he entered into the promised land. it is the parable of that which comes to the man who has a true christian faith, a faith which comes in the personal friendship of christ, a faith which comes not in the belief of certain things about him, not in the doing slavishly of certain things which it seemed as if it had been said by him that we must do, but in the personal entrance into his nature in a life for him, in which he is able to send his life down into us. then there is another thing that people are always thinking, that i hear very often from men, and that i have no doubt that i should hear from many of you, one by one. you talk about your earlier religion as if it had been some sort of a bondage from which you had escaped. how common it is to hear men, especially in this region, say: "i would be, perhaps, religious, except that there was so much religion forced upon me in my earliest days. i was driven to church when i was a boy, in those old puritan days. i went to school, where they forced prayers upon me all the time. i was made to be religious, so now i cannot be religious." was there ever a more dreadful thing than for a soul to say that, because, it may be, of the unwisdom, or the imprudence, the overzeal and the mistaken zeal of other men, we have not got the full blessing of that rich, open, free life with christ which the youth may have, and therefore we will abandon the privileges of our higher life which is given to us in our manlier years? it all comes of this awful way of talking as if religion were the duty and not the inestimable privilege of human kind. the christ stands before us and says, "come to me." you say, "must i?" and he answers, "you may." he will not even say, "you must." you may. and duty loses itself in privilege, and the soul enters into independence and escapes from its sins, fulfils its life, lays hold of its salvation, becomes eternal, begins to live an eternal life in the accepted and loving service of christ. now just one word, my friends. if this be so, whether you to-day are ready to make christ your master and your friend or not, do not, i beg you, let yourself say that it is a silly or unreasonable belief, thus to know of a spiritual presence which is here among us, in which god is really in humanity. do not let yourselves say, my friends, that the man who gives himself to jesus christ and earnestly tries to enter in deeper and deeper into his life and tries to do his will, that he may know the christ and know himself in the christ more and more--dare not call that brother a fool, as you have sometimes called your christian man who watched scrupulously over his life and prayed, yes, prayed, the thing you think perhaps the foolishest thing that man can do, the thing that is the most reasonable act that any man does upon god's earth. if man is man and god is god, to live without prayer is not merely an awful thing: it is an infinitely foolish thing. when a man for the first time bows down upon his knees and prays, "oh! christ, come unto me, reveal thyself to me, make me to know thee, that i may receive thee, make me to be obedient that i may take thee into my life," then that man has claimed his manhood. i beg you, i implore you, i adjure you that, if you be not ready to be christian, you at least will know that the christian life is the only true human life, and that the man who becomes thoroughly a christian sets his face toward the fulfilment of his humanity, and so for the first time truly is a man. "as many as received him,"--so the great scripture word runs of this christ of whom we have been talking,--"as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of god." just think of it!--the sons of god! the power to become that to as many as will receive the present christ. vi. abraham lincoln.[ ] "he chose david also his servant, and took him away from the sheepfolds; that he might feed jacob his people, and israel his inheritance. so he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power."--psalm lxxviii. , , . while i speak to you to-day, the body of the president who ruled this people, is lying, honored and loved, in our city. it is impossible with that sacred presence in our midst for me to stand and speak of ordinary topics which occupy the pulpit. i must speak of him to-day; and i therefore undertake to do what i had intended to do at some future time, to invite you to study with me the character of abraham lincoln, the impulses of his life and the causes of his death. i know how hard it is to do it rightly, how impossible it is to do it worthily. but i shall speak with confidence, because i speak to those who love him, and whose ready love will fill out the deficiencies in a picture which my words will weakly try to draw. we take it for granted, first of all, that there is an essential connection between mr. lincoln's character and his violent and bloody death. it is no accident, no arbitrary decree of providence. he lived as he did, and he died as he did, because he was what he was. the more we see of events, the less we come to believe in any fate or destiny except the destiny of character. it will be our duty, then, to see what there was in the character of our great president that created the history of his life, and at last produced the catastrophe of his cruel death. after the first trembling horror, the first outburst of indignant sorrow, has grown calm, these are the questions which we are bound to ask and answer. it is not necessary for me even to sketch the biography of mr. lincoln. he was born in kentucky fifty-six years ago, when kentucky was a pioneer state. he lived, as boy and man, the hard and needy life of a backwoodsman, a farmer, a river boatman, and, finally, by his own efforts at self-education, of an active, respected, influential citizen, in the half-organized and manifold interests of a new and energetic community. from his boyhood up he lived in direct and vigorous contact with men and things, not as in older states and easier conditions with words and theories; and both his moral convictions and his intellectual pinions gathered from that contact a supreme degree of that character by which men knew him, that character which is the most distinctive possession of the best american nature, that almost indescribable quality which we call in general clearness or truth, and which appears in the physical structure as health, in the moral constitution as honesty, in the mental structure as sagacity, and in the region of active life as practicalness. this one character, with many sides, all shaped by the same essential force and testifying to the same inner influences, was what was powerful in him and decreed for him the life he was to live and the death he was to die. we must take no smaller view than this of what he was. even his physical conditions are not to be forgotten in making up his character. we make too little always of the physical; certainly we make too little of it here if we lose out of sight the strength and muscular activity, the power of doing and enduring, which the backwoods-boy inherited from generations of hard-living ancestors, and appropriated for his own by a long discipline of bodily toil. he brought to the solution of the question of labor in this country not merely a mind, but a body thoroughly in sympathy with labor, full of the culture of labor, bearing witness to the dignity and excellence of work in every muscle that work had toughened and every sense that work had made clear and true. he could not have brought the mind for his task so perfectly, unless he had first brought the body whose rugged and stubborn health was always contradicting to him the false theories of labor, and always asserting the true. as to the moral and mental powers which distinguished him, all embraceable under this general description of clearness of truth, the most remarkable thing is the way in which they blend with one another, so that it is next to impossible to examine them in separation. a great many people have discussed very crudely whether abraham lincoln was an intellectual man or not; as if intellect were a thing always of the same sort, which you could precipitate from the other constituents of a man's nature and weigh by itself, and compare by pounds and ounces in this man with another. the fact is, that in all the simplest characters that line between the mental and moral natures is always vague and indistinct. they run together, and in their best combinations you are unable to discriminate, in the wisdom which is their result, how much is moral and how much is intellectual. you are unable to tell whether in the wise acts and words which issue from such a life there is more of the righteousness that comes of a clear conscience, or of the sagacity that comes of a clear brain. in more complex characters and under more complex conditions, the moral and the mental lives come to be less healthily combined. they co-operate, they help each other less. they come even to stand over against each other as antagonists; till we have that vague but most melancholy notion which pervades the life of all elaborate civilization, that goodness and greatness, as we call them, are not to be looked for together, till we expect to see and so do see a feeble and narrow conscientiousness on the one hand, and a bad, unprincipled intelligence on the other, dividing the suffrages of men. it is the great boon of such characters as mr. lincoln's, that they reunite what god has joined together and man has put asunder. in him was vindicated the greatness of real goodness and the goodness of real greatness. the twain were one flesh. not one of all the multitudes who stood and looked up to him for direction with such a loving and implicit trust can tell you to-day whether the wise judgments that he gave came most from a strong head or a sound heart. if you ask them, they are puzzled. there are men as good as he, but they do bad things. there are men as intelligent as he, but they do foolish things. in him goodness and intelligence combined and made their best result of wisdom. for perfect truth consists not merely in the right constituents of character, but in their right and intimate conjunction. this union of the mental and moral into a life of admirable simplicity is what we most admire in children; but in them it is unsettled and unpractical. but when it is preserved into manhood, deepened into reliability and maturity, it is that glorified childlikeness, that high and reverend simplicity, which shames and baffles the most accomplished astuteness, and is chosen by god to fill his purposes when he needs a ruler for his people, of faithful and true heart, such as he had who was our president. another evident quality of such a character as this will be its freshness or newness; if we may so speak. its freshness or readiness--call it what you will--its ability to take up new duties and do them in a new way, will result of necessity from its truth and clearness. the simple natures and forces will always be the most pliant ones. water bends and shapes itself to any channel. air folds and adapts itself to each new figure. they are the simplest and the most infinitely active things in nature. so this nature, in very virtue of its simplicity, must be also free, always fitting itself to each new need. it will always start from the most fundamental and eternal conditions, and work in the straightest even although they be the newest ways, to the present prescribed purpose. in one word, it must be broad and independent and radical. so that freedom and radicalness in the character of abraham lincoln were not separate qualities, but the necessary results of his simplicity and childlikeness and truth. here then we have some conception of the man. out of this character came the life which we admire and the death which we lament to-day. he was called in that character to that life and death. it was just the nature, as you see, which a new nation such as ours ought to produce. all the conditions of his birth, his youth, his manhood, which made him what he was, were not irregular and exceptional, but were the normal conditions of a new and simple country. his pioneer home in indiana was a type of the pioneer land in which he lived. if ever there was a man who was a part of the time and country he lived in, this was he. the same simple respect for labor won in the school of work and incorporated into blood and muscle; the same unassuming loyalty to the simple virtues of temperance and industry and integrity; the same sagacious judgment which had learned to be quick-eyed and quick-brained in the constant presence of emergency; the same direct and clear thought about things, social, political, and religious, that was in him supremely, was in the people he was sent to rule. surely, with such a type-man for ruler, there would seem to be but a smooth and even road over which he might lead the people whose character he represented into the new region of national happiness and comfort and usefulness, for which that character had been designed. but then we come to the beginning of all trouble. abraham lincoln was the type-man of the country, but not of the whole country. this character which we have been trying to describe was the character of an american under the discipline of freedom. there was another american character which had been developed under the influence of slavery. there was no one american character embracing the land. there were two characters, with impulses of irrepressible and deadly conflict. this citizen whom we have been honoring and praising represented one. the whole great scheme with which he was ultimately brought in conflict, and which has finally killed him, represented the other. beside this nature, true and fresh and new, there was another nature, false and effete and old. the one nature found itself in a new world, and set itself to discover the new ways for the new duties that were given it. the other nature, full of the false pride of blood, set itself to reproduce in a new world the institutions and the spirit of the old, to build anew the structure of the feudalism which had been corrupt in its own day, and which had been left far behind by the advancing conscience and needs of the progressing race. the one nature magnified labor, the other nature depreciated and despised it. the one honored the laborer, and the other scorned him. the one was simple and direct; the other, complex, full of sophistries and self-excuses. the one was free to look all that claimed to be truth in the face, and separate the error from the truth that might be in it; the other did not dare to investigate, because its own established prides and systems were dearer to it than the truth itself, and so even truth went about in it doing the work of error. the one was ready to state broad principles, of the brotherhood of man, the universal fatherhood and justice of god, however imperfectly it might realize them in practice; the other denied even the principles, and so dug deep and laid below its special sins the broad foundation of a consistent, acknowledged sinfulness. in a word, one nature was full of the influences of freedom, the other nature was full of the influences of slavery. in general, these two regions of our national life were separated by a geographical boundary. one was the spirit of the north, the other was the spirit of the south. but the southern nature was by no means all a southern thing. there it had an organized, established form, a certain definite, established institution about which it clustered. here, lacking advantage, it lived in less expressive ways and so lived more weakly. there, there was the horrible sacrament of slavery, the outward and visible sign round which the inward and spiritual temper gathered and kept itself alive. but who doubts that among us the spirit of slavery lived and thrived? its formal existence had been swept away from one state after another, partly on conscientious, partly on economical grounds, but its spirit was here, in every sympathy that northern winds carried to the listening ear of the southern slave-holder, and in every oppression of the weak by the strong, every proud assumption of idleness over labor which echoed the music of southern life back to us. here in our midst lived that worse and falser nature, side by side with the true and better nature which god meant should be the nature of americans, of which he was shaping out the type and champion in his chosen david of the sheepfold. here then we have the two. the history of our country for many years is the history of how these two elements of american life approached collision. they wrought their separate reactions on each other. men debate and quarrel even now about the rise of northern abolitionism, about whether the northern abolitionists were right or wrong, whether they did harm or good. how vain the quarrel is! it was inevitable. it was inevitable in the nature of things that two such natures living here together should be set violently against each other. it is inevitable, till man be far more unfeeling and untrue to his convictions than he has always been, that a great wrong asserting itself vehemently should arouse to no less vehement assertion the opposing right. the only wonder is that there was not more of it. the only wonder is that so few were swept away to take by an impulse they could not resist their stand of hatred to the wicked institution. the only wonder is, that only one brave, reckless man came forth to cast himself, almost single-handed, with a hopeless hope, against the proud power that he hated, and trust to the influence of a soul marching on into the history of his countrymen to stir them to a vindication of the truth he loved. at any rate, whether the abolitionists were wrong or right, there grew up about their violence, as there always will about the extremism of extreme reformers, a great mass of feeling, catching their spirit and asserting it firmly, though in more moderate degrees and methods. about the nucleus of abolitionism grew up a great american anti-slavery determination, which at last gathered strength enough to take its stand to insist upon the checking and limiting the extension of the power of slavery, and to put the type-man, whom god had been preparing for the task, before the world, to do the work on which it had resolved. then came discontent, secession, treason. the two american natures, long advancing to encounter, met at last, and a whole country, yet trembling with the shock, bears witness how terrible the meeting was. thus i have tried briefly to trace out the gradual course by which god brought the character which he designed to be the controlling character of this new world into distinct collision with the hostile character which it was to destroy and absorb, and set it in the person of its type-man in the seat of highest power. the character formed under the discipline of freedom and the character formed under the discipline of slavery developed all their difference and met in hostile conflict when this war began. notice, it was not only in what he did and was towards the slave, it was in all he did and was everywhere that we accept mr. lincoln's character as the true result of our free life and institutions. nowhere else could have come forth that genuine love of the people, which in him no one could suspect of being either the cheap flattery of the demagogue or the abstract philanthropy of the philosopher, which made our president, while he lived, the centre of a great household land, and when he died so cruelly, made every humblest household thrill with a sense of personal bereavement which the death of rulers is not apt to bring. nowhere else than out of the life of freedom could have come that personal unselfishness and generosity which made so gracious a part of this good man's character. how many soldiers feel yet the pressure of a strong hand that clasped theirs once as they lay sick and weak in the dreary hospital! how many ears will never lose the thrill of some kind word he spoke--he who could speak so kindly to promise a kindness that always matched his word! how often he surprised the land with a clemency which made even those who questioned his policy love him the more for what they called his weakness,--seeing how the man in whom god had most embodied the discipline of freedom not only could not be a slave, but could not be a tyrant! in the heartiness of his mirth and his enjoyment of simple joys; in the directness and shrewdness of perception which constituted his wit; in the untired, undiscouraged faith in human nature which he always kept; and perhaps above all in the plainness and quiet, unostentatious earnestness and independence of his religious life, in his humble love and trust of god--in all, it was a character such as only freedom knows how to make. now it was in this character, rather than in any mere political position, that the fitness of mr. lincoln to stand forth in the struggle of the two american natures really lay. we are told that he did not come to the presidential chair pledged to the abolition of slavery. when will we learn that with all true men it is not what they intend to do, but it is what the qualities of their natures bind them to do, that determines their career! the president came to his power full of the blood, strong in the strength of freedom. he came there free, and hating slavery. he came there, leaving on record words like these spoken three years before and never contradicted. he had said, "a house divided against itself cannot stand. i believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free. i do not expect the union to be dissolved; i do not expect the house to fall; but i expect it will cease to be divided. it will become all one thing or all the other." when the question came, he knew which thing he meant that it should be. his whole nature settled that question for him. such a man must always live as he used to say he lived (and was blamed for saying it) "controlled by events, not controlling them." and with a reverent and clear mind, to be controlled by events means to be controlled by god. for such a man there was no hesitation when god brought him up face to face with slavery and put the sword into his hand and said, "strike it down dead." he was a willing servant then. if ever the face of a man writing solemn words glowed with a solemn joy, it must have been the face of abraham lincoln, as he bent over the page where the emancipation proclamation of was growing into shape, and giving manhood and freedom as he wrote it to hundreds of thousands of his fellow-men. here was a work in which his whole nature could rejoice. here was an act that crowned the whole culture of his life. all the past, the free boyhood in the woods, the free youth upon the farm, the free manhood in the honorable citizen's employments--all his freedom gathered and completed itself in this. and as the swarthy multitudes came in, ragged, and tired, and hungry, and ignorant, but free forever from anything but the memorial scars of the fetters and the whip, singing rude songs in which the new triumph of freedom struggled and heaved below the sad melody that had been shaped for bondage; as in their camps and hovels there grew up to their half-superstitious eyes the image of a great father almost more than man, to whom they owed their freedom,--were they not half right? for it was not to one man, driven by stress of policy, or swept off by a whim of pity, that the noble act was due. it was to the american nature, long kept by god in his own intentions till his time should come, at last emerging into sight and power, and bound up and embodied in this best and most american of all americans, to whom we and those poor frightened slaves at last might look up together and love to call him, with one voice, our father. thus, we have seen something of what the character of mr. lincoln was, and how it issued in the life he lived. it remains for us to see how it resulted also in the terrible death which has laid his murdered body here in our town among lamenting multitudes to-day. it is not a hard question, though it is sad to answer. we saw the two natures, the nature of slavery and the nature of freedom, at last set against each other, come at last to open war. both fought, fought long, fought bravely; but each, as was perfectly natural, fought with the tools and in the ways which its own character had made familiar to it. the character of slavery was brutal, barbarous, and treacherous; and so the whole history of the slave power during the war has been full of ways of warfare brutal, barbarous, and treacherous, beyond anything that men bred in freedom could have been driven to by the most hateful passions. it is not to be marvelled at. it is not to be set down as the special sin of the war. it goes back beyond that. it is the sin of the system. it is the barbarism of slavery. when slavery went to war to save its life, what wonder if its barbarism grew barbarous a hundred-fold! one would be attempting a task which once was almost hopeless, but which now is only needless, if he set himself to convince a northern congregation that slavery was a barbarian institution. it would be hardly more necessary to try to prove how its barbarism has shown itself during this war. the same spirit which was blind to the wickedness of breaking sacred ties, of separating man and wife, of beating women till they dropped down dead, of organizing licentiousness and sin into commercial systems, of forbidding knowledge and protecting itself with ignorance, of putting on its arms and riding out to steal a state at the beleaguered ballot-box away from freedom--in one word (for its simplest definition is its worst dishonor), the spirit that gave man the ownership in man in time of peace, has found out yet more terrible barbarisms for the time of war. it has hewed and burned the bodies of the dead. it has starved and mutilated its helpless prisoners. it has dealt by truth, not as men will in a time of excitement, lightly and with frequent violations, but with a cool, and deliberate, and systematic contempt. it has sent its agents into northern towns to fire peaceful hotels where hundreds of peaceful men and women slept. it has undermined the prisons where its victims starved, and made all ready to blow with one blast their wretched life away. it has delighted in the lowest and basest scurrility even on the highest and most honorable lips. it has corrupted the graciousness of women and killed out the truth of men. i do not count up the terrible catalogue because i like to, nor because i wish to stir your hearts to passion. even now, you and i have no right to indulge in personal hatred to the men who did these things. but we are not doing right by ourselves, by the president that we have lost, or by god who had a purpose in our losing him, unless we know thoroughly that it was this same spirit which we have seen to be a tyrant in peace and a savage in war, that has crowned itself with the working of this final woe. it was the conflict of the two american natures, the false and the true. it was slavery and freedom that met in their two representatives, the assassin and the president; and the victim of the last desperate struggle of the dying slavery lies dead to-day in independence hall. solemnly, in the sight of god, i charge this murder where it belongs, on slavery. i dare not stand here in his sight, and before him or you speak doubtful and double-meaning words of vague repentance, as if we had killed our president. we have sins enough, but we have not done this sin, save as by weak concessions and timid compromises we have let the spirit of slavery grow strong and ripe for such a deed. in the barbarism of slavery the foul act and its foul method had their birth. by all the goodness that there was in him; by all the love we had for him (and who shall tell how great it was); by all the sorrow that has burdened down this desolate and dreadful week,--i charge this murder where it belongs, on slavery. i bid you to remember where the charge belongs, to write it on the door-posts of your mourning houses, to teach it to your wondering children, to give it to the history of these times, that all times to come may hate and dread the sin that killed our noblest president. if ever anything were clear, this is the clearest. is there the man alive who thinks that abraham lincoln was shot just for himself; that it was that one man for whom the plot was laid? the gentlest, kindest, most indulgent man that ever ruled a state! the man who knew not how to speak a word of harshness or how to make a foe! was it he for whom the murderer lurked with a mere private hate? it was not he, but what he stood for. it was law and liberty, it was government and freedom, against which the hate gathered and the treacherous shot was fired. and i know not how the crime of him who shoots at law and liberty in the crowded glare of a great theatre differs from theirs who have levelled their aim at the same great beings from behind a thousand ambuscades and on a hundred battle-fields of this long war. every general in the field, and every false citizen in our midst at home, who has plotted and labored to destroy the lives of the soldiers of the republic, is brother to him who did this deed. the american nature, the american truths, of which our president was the anointed and supreme embodiment, have been embodied in multitudes of heroes who marched unknown and fell unnoticed in our ranks. for them, just as for him, character decreed a life and a death. the blood of all of them i charge on the same head. slavery armed with treason was their murderer. men point out to us the absurdity and folly of this awful crime. again and again we hear men say, "it was the worst thing for themselves they could have done. they have shot a representative man, and the cause he represented grows stronger and sterner by his death. can it be that so wise a devil was so foolish here? must it not have been the act of one poor madman, born and nursed in his own reckless brain?" my friends, let us understand this matter. it was a foolish act. its folly was only equalled by its wickedness. it was a foolish act. but when did sin begin to be wise? when did wickedness learn wisdom? when did the fool stop saying in his heart, "there is no god," and acting godlessly in the absurdity of his impiety? the cause that abraham lincoln died for shall grow stronger by his death,--stronger and sterner. stronger to set its pillars deep into the structure of our nation's life; sterner to execute the justice of the lord upon his enemies. stronger to spread its arms and grasp our whole land into freedom; sterner to sweep the last poor ghost of slavery out of our haunted homes. but while we feel the folly of this act, let not its folly hide its wickedness. it was the wickedness of slavery putting on a foolishness for which its wickedness and that alone is responsible, that robbed the nation of a president and the people of a father. and remember this, that the folly of the slave power in striking the representative of freedom, and thinking that thereby it killed freedom itself, is only a folly that we shall echo if we dare to think that in punishing the representatives of slavery who did this deed, we are putting slavery to death. dispersing armies and hanging traitors, imperatively as justice and necessity may demand them both, are not killing the spirit out of which they sprang. the traitor must die because he has committed treason. the murderer must die because he has committed murder. slavery must die, because out of it, and it alone, came forth the treason of the traitor and the murder of the murderer. do not say that it is dead. it is not, while its essential spirit lives. while one man counts another man his born inferior for the color of his skin, while both in north and south prejudices and practices, which the law cannot touch, but which god hates, keep alive in our people's hearts the spirit of the old iniquity, it is not dead. the new american nature must supplant the old. we must grow like our president, in his truth, his independence, his religion, and his wide humanity. then the character by which he died shall be in us, and by it we shall live. then peace shall come that knows no war, and law that knows no treason; and full of his spirit a grateful land shall gather round his grave, and in the daily psalm of prosperous and righteous living, thank god forever for his life and death. so let him lie here in our midst to-day, and let our people go and bend with solemn thoughtfulness and look upon his face and read the lessons of his burial. as he paused here on his journey from the western home and told us what by the help of god he meant to do, so let him pause upon his way back to his western grave and tell us with a silence more eloquent than words how bravely, how truly, by the strength of god, he did it. god brought him up as he brought david up from the sheepfolds to feed jacob, his people, and israel, his inheritance. he came up in earnestness and faith, and he goes back in triumph. as he pauses here to-day, and from his cold lips bids us bear witness how he has met the duty that was laid on him, what can we say out of our full hearts but this--"he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power." the _shepherd of the people_! that old name that the best rulers ever craved. what ruler ever won it like this dead president of ours? he fed us faithfully and truly. he fed us with counsel when we were in doubt, with inspiration when we sometimes faltered, with caution when we would be rash, with calm, clear, trustful cheerfulness through many an hour when our hearts were dark. he fed hungry souls all over the country with sympathy and consolation. he spread before the whole land feasts of great duty and devotion and patriotism, on which the land grew strong. he fed us with solemn, solid truths. he taught us the sacredness of government, the wickedness of treason. he made our souls glad and vigorous with the love of liberty that was in his. he showed us how to love truth and yet be charitable--how to hate wrong and all oppression, and yet not treasure one personal injury or insult. he fed _all_ his people, from the highest to the lowest, from the most privileged down to the most enslaved. best of all, he fed us with a reverent and genuine religion. he spread before us the love and fear of god just in that shape in which we need them most, and out of his faithful service of a higher master who of us has not taken and eaten and grown strong? "he fed them with a faithful and true heart." yes, till the last. for at the last, behold him standing with hand reached out to feed the south with mercy and the north with charity, and the whole land with peace, when the lord who had sent him called him and his work was done! he stood once on the battle-field of our own state, and said of the brave men who had saved it words as noble as any countryman of ours ever spoke. let us stand in the country he has saved, and which is to be his grave and monument, and say of abraham lincoln what he said of the soldiers who had died at gettysburg. he stood there with their graves before him, and these are the words he said:-- "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. the brave men who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our power to add or detract. the world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. it is for us the living rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; and this nation, under god, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." may god make us worthy of the memory of abraham lincoln! footnotes: [footnote : a sermon preached in philadelphia, while the body of the president was lying in the city.] sermons on various important subjects: written partly on sundry of the more difficult passages in the sacred volume. by rev. andrew lee, a.m. introduction this text has been transcribed from the original by fredric lozo, mathis, texas, january . the original text was typeset using the convention of the american colonial period with a second "s" symbol resembling the letter "f" which makes reading somewhat difficult for the modern reader. the text was thus transcribed using the modern single "s" symbol convention. the original text was photographed and read with an ocr program and then transcribed word by word. an attempt was made to proofread the final text for transcription errors and wherever an mistake has not been corrected, the transcriber sincerely apologizes to the reader. as for the rest, the transcriber has endeavored to faithfully maintain as much of the historical record as the ascii text format permits, including the original spelling and grammar. page numbering was omitted in keeping with e-book format conventions. the reader is encouraged to use the search feature of the text reader to locate chapters listed on the contents page. the work was published by the son of isaiah thomas, who is known both as the father of american printing, and as a minuteman at lexington and concord in the war of independence. some of the thoughts expressed in these sermons are a refreshing return to an earlier time before american religious denominations became fixed in their particular "systematic theology." reverend lee's language and logic give us a glimpse of the purity of mind and soul that followed in the wake of desperate revolutionary conflict and the tumultuous years following independence when the greatest minds of the time formulated the american constitution and the bill of rights. these sermons seem to address the universal issues with which men of all times and places have also struggled, in times of peace as well as war. these issues are articulated here with a clarity that is perhaps only achieved in those times of great testing, tears, and tenuous victory that began in and that would remain tenuous until after the war of . lee lived in a time of great intellectual pursuit and lee's views of life and the lord's providence seem particularly blessed with illumination through the holy spirit. fredric lozo, january, sermons on various important subjects: written partly on sundry of the more difficult passages in the sacred volume. by rev. andrew lee, a.m. pastor of the north church in lisbon, connecticut. printed at worcester: by isaiah thomas, jun. sold by him, and by the author, in lisbon, connecticut-sold also by said thomas & whipple, at their bookstore in newburyport. october---- "i know but one book, that can justify our implicit acquiescence in it; and on that book, a noble disdain of undue deferance to prior opinion--casts new and inestimable light."--young. preface that thick darkness overspread the church after the irruptions of the northern barbarians, and the desolations which they occasioned in the roman empire, is known and acknowledged. those conquerors professed the religion of the conquered; but corrupted and spoiled it. like the new settlers in the kingdom of ephraim, they feared the lord and served their own gods. in those corruptions antichristian error and domination originated. the tyranny of opinion became terrible, and long held human minds enslaved. few had sentiments of their own. the orders of the vatican were received as the mandates of heaven. but at last some discerning and intrepid mortals arose who saw the absurdity and impiety of the reigning superstition, and dared to disclose them to a wondering world! among those bold reformers, luther, calvin, and a few contemporary worthies, hold a distinguished rank. greatly is the church indebted to them for the light which they diffused, and the reformation which they effected. but still the light was imperfect. dark shades remained. this particularly appeared in the dogmatism and bigotry of these same reformers, who often prohibited further inquiries, or emendations! they had differed from rome, but no body must differ from them! as though the infallibility which they denied to another, had been transferred to themselves! too many others, and in more enlightened times, have discovered a strand measure of the same spirit.....a spirit which hath damped inquiry and prevented improvement. hence, probably, the silence of some expositors on difficult scriptures, and the sameness observable in some others. for the complaint of the poet is not without reason, "that commentators each dark passage shun, and hold their farthing candle to the fun." and the sameness which we see in several writers is probably dictated by fear of singularity, and of incurring the charge of heresy. minds are different. when a dozen expositors interpret a difficult text alike, they must, for some reason, have borrowed from one another. the writer of the following pages claims no superiority to others, either in genius or learning; but he claims a right to judge for himself in matters of faith, and sense of scripture, and presumes to exercise it--calling no man master. he hath found the original scriptures, compared with the different translations, to be the best exposition. to these he early had recourse, and in this way formed an opinion of the meaning of sundry difficult passages in the volume of truth. but comparing them afterwards with several expositions, perceived their meaning to have been mistaken, either by those writers, or by himself. as they did not convince him that his constructions were erroneous, he now offers them to the public--not as certainly devoid of error--he knows himself to be fallible--but as the result of some attention; and as that which he conceives their most probable meaning. on the prayer of moses to be blotted out of god's book--the wish of paul to be accused from christ, and the prevalence of infidelity before the coming of the son of man, he published a summary of his views, some years ago. by the advice of several respected literary friends, they are now corrected, enlarged and inserted. on the last of these he wrote a.d. . subsequent events tend to confirm him in the sentiments then entertained. expositors generally consider the prayer of moses and the wish of st. paul to stand related as expressions of the same temper, and argue from the one to the other. the author conceives them perfectly foreign to each other, and totally mistaken by every expositor he hath consulted; as also several of the other scriptures on which he hath written. a hint dropped, some years ago, in conversation, by a respected father,* gave an opening to the writer, relative to one+ of the following subjects, and occasioned his writing upon it. for the rest, he is conscious of having borrowed from no writer, except a few quotations, which are credited in their places. he doth not flatter himself that his co constructions of scripture will be universally received. nor hath he a desire to dictate to others, or a wish that his own views only should see the light. the press is open to those who are otherwise minded. the author will read with pleasure, the different constructions of the candid and ingenuous. but should strictures of another description appear, they will be viewed with indifference, and treated with neglect. * rev. dr. cogswell, of windham + on samuel xii. . contents sermon i. the wisdom of god in the means used to propagate the gospel. cor. i. , .--"but god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," &c. sermon ii. the subject continued. sermon iii. the declensions of christianity an argument of its truth. luke xviii. .--"when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" sermon iv. the subject continued. sermon v. abram's horror of great darkness. gen. xv. .--"and when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon abram," &c. sermon vi. divine impartiality considered. rom. ii. .--"for there is no respect of persons with god." sermon vii. moses' prayer to be blotted out of god's book. exod. xxxii. , .--"and moses returned unto the lord, and said, 'oh! this people have sinned,'" &c. sermon viii. the same subject continued. sermon ix. st. paul's wish to be accused from christ. rom. ix. .--"for i could with that myself were accursed from christ," &c. sermon x. david's sin in the matter of uriah. sam. xii. .--"and david said unto nathan, 'i have sinned against the lord,'" &c. sermon xi. the general character of christians. gal. v. .--"and they that are christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections," &c. sermon xii. the aggravated guilt of him who delivered christ to pilate. john xix. , .--"then saith pilate unto him, 'speakest thou not unto me?'" &c. sermon xiii. the trial of peter's love to christ. john xxi. , , .--"so when they had dined, jesus saith to simon peter, 'simon,'" &c. sermon xiv. gifts no certain evidence of grace. luke x. .--"in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but," &c. sermon xv. human characters determined only by divine decision cor. iv. , .--"but with me it is a very small thing that i should be judged of you," &c. sermon xvi. characters will be disclosed and justice awarded. cor. iv. .--"judge nothing before the time, until the lord come, who both will bring," &c. sermon xvii. god willing that all men should be saved. tim. ii. .--"who will have all men to be saved." sermon xviii. balak's inquiries relative to the service of god, and balaam's answer briefly considered. micah vi. , , .--"wherewith shall i come before the lord and bow myself before the high god?" &c. sermon xix. confessing christ an indispensible duty. tim ii. .--"if we deny him, he will deny us." sermon xx. the fear which terminates in the second death. rev. xxi. .--"the fearful--shall have their part in the lake, which burneth with fire," &c. sermon xxi. the end of family institutions, with observations on the importance of education. mal ii. .--"and did he not make one? yet had he the residue of the spirit," &c. sermon xxii. parental duties considered and urged--from the same text. sermon xxiii. the blessing of god on filial piety. jer. xxxv. .--"therefore thus saith the lord--'jonadab, the son of rechab shall not want a man,'" &c. sermon xxiv. the character and supports of widows indeed. tim. v. .--"now she that is a widow indeed and desolate, trusteth in god," &c. sermon xxv. the good man useful in life and happy in death. psalm xxxvii. .--"mark the perfect man and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace." sermon xxvi. departed saints fellow servants with those on earth. rev. xxii. .--"i am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets--." sermon xxvii. the subject continued. sermon xxviii. the dangers of deviating from divine institutions. col. ii. --"beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit," &c. sermon xxix. the sins of communities noted and punished. mat. xxiii. .--"verily i say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation." * * * * * sermon i. the wisdom of god in the means used to propagate the gospel. corinthians i. , . "but god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and god hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath god chosen, and things which are not, to bring to nought things which are." * * the two discourses on this text were originally one, and preached before windham association, at thompson, october session, . probably some of the ideas which they contain, may have been suggested by reading paley's evidences of christianity; but as the author had not that book in his possession when he wrote on this subject, he is not able particularly to give credit to that excellent writer, if here his due. the mercy promised to the fathers was christ, the savior. that "the desire of all nations should come," was a prediction of his incarnation; and his entrance here was announced by a heavenly messenger, with, "behold, i bring you glad tidings of great joy--to all people." yet "when he came to his own, his own received him not!" to many he hath been "a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense!" the design and tendency of christianity are most benevolent; but being opposed to men's lusts, which rule in their members, all the malevolence of depravity hath been excited against it. jews and gentile united in the opposition. "the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the lord, and against his christ--both herod and pontius pilate, with the gentiles, and the people of israel." the christian religion did not creep into the world in the dark. it first appeared at an enlightened period, and among the most enlightened of the nations. the sciences derived from conquered greece, had been improved at rome, and communicated to its dependencies. syria was then a province of the empire. every movement in judea was observed and reported at the metropolis. the crucifixion of our savior was sanctioned by a roman deputy; and the persecuted christians were allowed an appeal to caesar. soon therefore, did the religion of jesus make its way to rome. the power of rome had also reached its acme; and as the spirit of christianity was diverse from that of the world, the learning and power of the empire soon combined against it. that this religion would be crushed and vanish away as a dream of the night, was generally expected. every circumstance seemed to indicate such an event. those reputed wise, considered the gospel scheme as foolishness; and the instrument which were chosen to propagate it were thought to be weak and contemptible. it was also observed to spread chiefly among the lower order of men, who had not the advantages of literature, nor been initiated in the mysteries of judaism, all which served to inspire its enemies with confidence, that it would soon come to nought. the apostle takes notice, in the context, of the contempt then so generally poured on christianity, and declares the wisdom of god in the permission of it. he also predicts the triumph of the cross; especially over the powers then combined against it--predictions which afterwards fulfilled: for those powers were all subdued and humbled, and christ and the gospel exalted. the christian religion was openly professed, and became the most reputable religion in many countries; particularly in syria and at rome and its numerous provinces; and by the means then ordered of god. this is the spirit of the text--_god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, &c_. in discussing the subject, we shall _consider the means used to propagate the gospel--the opposition made against it--and the wisdom of god in the choice of the means_; which will bring up to view some of the objections which have been made against the truth of the gospel. in treating of the means used to propagate the gospel, we pass over the preaching and miracles of christ, and the wonders which took place at his inexcuseable in neglecting so great salvation; but they preceded sending the gospel to the gentiles, and the means used to spread it among them. the apostle had no reference to christ, or any thing done or suffered by him, when he spake of _the foolish and weak, and base things, used of god, to confound those which are wise and mighty_. he spake only with reference to the instruments which were chosen to carry the gospel abroad and persuade the nations of the earth to receive it. god hath all creatures at his command; he hath power to press the most reluctant into his service, and to compel them to bear his messages and execute his orders; as we see in the case of balaam and jonah. god can make use of man to this end, either by reconciling them to himself, and attaching them to his interest or by overruling their corrupt and vicious designs to effect his holy purposes, without their consent or knowledge. most of the prophets were brought into his view, and made desirous to honor him. many pagan princes, and others, who knew him not were yet made instrumental in doing his pleasure and executing his designs. the divine sovereign never wants for agents to accomplish his purposes. he sitteth on the circle of the heavens, and orders the affairs of the universe in such a manner as to do his pleasure. "none can stay his hand." whether the agents which he employs are willing or unwilling, mean so, or not, is of no importance relative to the event. "his purposes stand, and the thoughts of his heart to all generations." the attempts of creatures to reverse his orders, and defeat his decree only help to their accomplishment. this was particularly the case respecting the measures adopted by the enemies of christianity to prevent its spreading in the world. the persons chosen of god and sent forth to propagate the religion of christ, were such as human wisdom would have judged very unsuitable. twelve poor, despised, illiterate men, were called to be apostles; --most of them were fishermen. one was a publican; a collector of the roman tribute, which had been imposed on the jews as a conquered people. an employment so odious, that vile persons, regardless of character, would only accept it. such men we should judge exceedingly unfit for ministers of religion, and not likely to succeed in making converts to it. yet such were those who were appointed of god, to be prime ministers in the christian church! such the men who were sent forth to change the form and administration of judaism, and overthrew the systems of paganism, rendered venerable by a general establishment, and the religious reverence of ages. the jews' religion was from god, who had given abundant evidence of its divine origin. this christ came not to destroy. but its external administration was to be changed; and in apprehension of most of those who professed it, it was less opposed to the gospel scheme, than paganism. no others had greater enmity to christianity than the jews, or entered into the opposition position with warmer zeal. they commonly stood foremost, and stirred up the gentiles against it, and often with success. in treating of the means used to propagate the gospel. we may observe the powers imparted to those who were employed in the work. these were not such as human wisdom would have chosen. "their weapons were not carnal, though mighty through god." they had none at their command, prepared to punish those who would not receive them, or the doctrines which they inculcated--none to retaliate injuries done them. to abuse they had nothing to oppose, except a patient exhibition of his temper, who "when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered threatened not, committing himself to him who judgeth righteously," and praying for his murderers on the cross. false religions have often been propagated with the sword --particularly that of mahomet, and the romish corruptions of christianity. these, especially the latter, were urged with every species of cruelty--a mode of attempting to proselyte, evincive of human folly. arguments totally diverse are requisite to enlighten the mind and produce conviction of a divine mission. with these came the apostles of the lamb. they were "endowed with power from on high;" and forbidden of their lord to enter on their ministry until it was conferred upon them. this was accomplished on the day of pentecost. they had been previously convinced of christ's truth. they seemed indeed to waver when he suffered, but his resurrection, the opportunities which they had with him after that event, and his ascension, which they had witnessed, must have removed every doubt. but this did not quality them for their work. it did not furnish them with means to convince others, who had not witnessed those things. but when the holy ghost came upon them, on that memorable occasion, they were furnished. the gift of miracles was then, more abundantly than before, imparted to them. in some respects, new and very necessary communications were then made to them--particularly that of speaking in tongues, which at once carried evidence of their divine mission, and enabled them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. this was the order of their lord, but devoid of this gift they could not have obeyed it. this gift, as imparted to them, seems to have carried greater evidence of their truth, than their barely speaking all languages. men out of every nation heard them speak on the day of pentecost, _every man in his own tongue_! therefore were they amazed, and convinced that the apostles were sent of god and that the gospel was of heavenly derivation. those heralds of gospel grace were also inspired with courage to speak boldly in the name and cause of christ, nothing terrified by their enemies; and "when brought before kings and rulers for his sake, a mouth and wisdom were given them, which all their adversaries were unable to gainsay or resist." such were the means used of god to propagate the gospel? such the agents whom he employed and such their qualifications. we are next to consider the opposition which was made to its propagation. various circumstances combined the worlds against it. so far as christianity prevailed, every other religion must fall. no other could stand in connexion with it. the jewish was not to be overthrown; but such changes were to take place in its outward form, that those who did not know it to be typical of a better dispensation, considered it as included in the general proscription; as doomed to destruction if christianity prevailed against stephen that was a principal charge --"we have heard him say, that this jesus, shall change the customs which moses hath delivered us." the different systems of paganism were not opposed to one another, as they were to that of the gospel. they admitted a plurality of god --some superior? others subordinate. they considered them not only as holding different ranks, but as reigning over different countries and nations. if one of their systems was true another might be so. but christianity admitted only "one god and one mediator between god and man, the man christ jesus." it declared that all others who had been called gods and worshiped as such, were not gods--that those who sacrificed to them, sacrificed to demons--and it denounced utter, eternal ruin against those who did not forsake them and acknowledge jehovah. those peculiarities, apart from the nature of this religion, which is opposed to the lusts of men which rule in their members, would, of course, unite the world against it. those of every other religion would make a common interest in opposing this, which had fellow-ship with none of them, but tended to their entire subversion and utter ruin. and it is a fact, that the world did unite against the religion of jesus, and against those whom he had appointed to inculcate it. christianity then appeared devoid of support--the opposition to have everything on its side. christ's followers were a little flock, destitute of power or learning, and in the world's view utterly contemptible. rome, the mistress of the world, had reached the summit of her greatness; and she soon turned all her power against the feeble band, who were laboring to diffuse the knowledge of christ. and calling men from dumb idols, to serve the living god. to the eye of man how unequal the conflict? had not those followers of the lamb been assured that their redeemer lived--that he was divine --that he was with them, and would be with them, they would have declined a contest with those before whom the world trembled. but they entered, un-dismayed on the work assigned them, went through with and completed it! they prospered in that to which they were sent. this had never been done had not god been with them; for none of the advantages possessed by their enemies were neglected. the first effects of enmity to christianity were directed against christ's person. he had been some time teaching and doing miracles in judea, and numbers had attached themselves to him. they considered him as a prophet mighty in "word and deed." some who witnessed his mighty works, exclaimed, "when christ cometh will he do more miracles than this man hath done?" others, "is this not the christ?" these movements among the jews drew the attention of their rulers, and raised them to opposition. a humble, suffering savior, did not suit their pride and lust of power. they looked for a temporal deliverer, who would lead them to victory, and subdue under them, the powers which held them in subjection. no other would they receive as the messiah. as soon, therefore, as the fame of jesus began to spread abroad, and numbers treated him with respect, they resolved to destroy him. at the feast of the passover, which called all the males of israel to jerusalem, they caused him to be apprehended--tried him their great council--condemned him to death, and importuned the roman governor to sentence him to the cross, as a rebel against caesar. the charge was not supported--christ did not aspire to temporal dominion--"his kingdom was not of this world." the governor declared him not guilty. had christ, like the arabian deceiver, which afterwards arose, assumed the sword, marked his way with blood and carnage, the jews would have bid him welcome, and flocked to his standard. then he might have been denominated a rebel against caesar. but nothing of this nature was found upon him. therefore were the jews his enemies; but the imperial magistrate "found no fault in him;" though persuaded to consent to his death. but though such were the temper and views of the romans respecting christ, at the time of his sufferings, they were different when his ministers went forth to set up his religion. when the nature of christianity was discovered, and it appeared opposed to paganism, and tending to its destruction, the roman chieftains, who had been taught to venerate their gods, and claimed to be high priests of the national religion, entered with zeal into the views of christ's enemies, and reared the standard against his followers. all their powers were exerted to crush, the cause of the divine immanuel. ten general persecutions are said to have been raised against the christians; and myriads of the faithful to have been sacrificed to heathen malice and bigotry. neither were these the only enemies of christ. the learning of the age was applied to confound his followers. the sophistry of grecian metaphysics directed against his unlettered disciples. who could have expected christ's little flock, devoid of every worldly advantage, to have maintained their ground against such formidable enemies? who, judging by the rules of man's judgment, have entertained a suspicion that they would not soon be driven from the field? but their cause was that of god. heaven was on their side, "in vain did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things. he who sitteth in the heavens, laughed; the lord had them in derision." * * * * * * sermon ii. the wisdom of god in the means used to propagating the gospel. corinthians i, , . "but god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and god hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath god chosen, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." in the preceding discourse we took a summary view of the means used of god to propagate the gospel, and of the opposition made to its propagation. we are now to consider the wisdom of god in the choice of means to this end; which will bring up to our view some of the objections which have been made against the truth of the gospel. that the gospel is from god, and the means used to propagate it of his appointment, are from sundry considerations, apparent--particularly from the miracles wrought by christ and by his disciples, who went forth in his name. conclusive was the reasoning of nicodemus--"rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from god; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except god be with him." god, who is perfect in wisdom, would choose no improper or unsuitable means. their wisdom might not at first appear to men. it did not at first appear. the world cried folly and weakness. but "the foolishness of god is wiser than men; and the weakness of god is stronger than men." in god's hand any means are sufficient to effect his designs. the rod of moses, when stretched out by divine order, availed to bring all those plaques on egypt, by which god made himself known and feared. when israel left that land, it availed to open them a passage through the sea; and afterwards to bring back its waters to the destruction of their enemies. could we see no fitness in divine appointments, we should remember that "we are of yesterday and know nothing," and not dare to arraign divine wisdom, or charge folly on god. but in the case before us, his wisdom is in many respects discernable, as will appear from a consideration of some of the objections which are made against the gospel, and against the means appointed of god to propagate it. one of the objections is taken from the supposed unsuitableness of the means. considered in itself this made an objection. it is said the all-wise god would not have appointed them--that to appoint a company of poor, despised, ignorant fishermen, as prime ministers of a religion, is sufficient to prove that it is not from god, who always useth the best means and most suitable instruments. it is not strange that this should have been objected at the beginning of the gospel story, before any effects of the apostles labors appeared. it is a natural objection for the, proud, who thought themselves the best judges of wisdom and propriety, to have made at that day. but it comes with an ill grace from modern infidels, who cannot deny that christianity triumphed over the power and learning of the world combined against it, though such means only were used to propagate it--such weak instruments employed in it. naaman, the syrian, reasoned at first like one of these objectors, but the success which attended the prophets directions convinced him of his error. why has not the same the like effect on these? surely, "had this counsel been of men, it would have come to nought." under the circumstances in which christianity made its appearance, it would have been easily overthrown; but the power of the world could not overthrow it, or prevent it from spreading far and wide. it continued--it prospered --and every opposing system fell before it. means and instruments which human wisdom would have judged most suitable, could have done no more. the success of measures in a contest like this, proves their fitness. under this head it is further objected that the first ministers of the gospel were ignorant of the arts and sciences cultivated by the polished nations of the age--that therefore, they were despised, especially by the greeks. despised they might be by those who "professed themselves wise had become fools." yet they had all the knowledge which their work required imparted to them from above. the language of the schools would have been ill adapted to the simplicity of the gospel. it would have been unintelligible to many of those to whom the gospel was sent. the gospel offers salvation to the unlearned, equally as to the learned--should be expressed, therefore, in language easy to be understood. had the apostles and evangelists used the abstruse language of the schoolmen, to many they would have spoken in an unknown tongue. had the scriptures been written in such language, they would have been much more obscure than they now are. though the gospel is plainly written, it may be rendered dark and mysterious, by a metaphysic dress, it is a peculiar excellency of the scriptures that they are mostly written in the plain language of common sense--so plainly, that "he may run who readeth them." two of the new testament writers were men of letters, paul and luke; and we find more obscurity in their writings, especially those of the former occasioned by allusions to the sciences and usages of the age, than in the other writers of that holy book. the apocalypse is indeed abstruse, but this is not occasioned by the language, which is plain, but by the subject. that book is chiefly prophetic; and therefore expressed in the metaphors of prophetic style. prophecy is not generally designed to be fully understood, till explained by the accomplishment. to take occasion from those who might object to the illiterate character of primitive gospel ministers, a paul, and a luke were found among them; but neither of them was among those first called to the christian ministry. those first sent forth to preach the gospel were unlearned men. the great truths of the gospel had been taught, and many had received them before these (especially st. paul) had become believers--that the faith of the first followers of christ, might appear, "not to stand in the wisdom of men, but in power of god." had the primitive ministry been learned philosophers, or renowned rhetoricians, suspicions might have arisen that mankind had been deceived, that they had been bewildered by the subtlety of science, or charmed by the fascinating power of eloquence, into the belief of a scheme which they did not understand. this cannot be suspected when the character of the first christian ministers is considered, and the progress which had been made in propagating the gospel, before any of the learned were joined as their assistants in the work. the propriety of the gospel method, may be farther argued from the nature of the gospel. wisdom of words is not necessary to communicate gospel truths, or deep penetration, sufficiently to understand them. it was a remark of the apostle "that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, were called." the same observation may yet be made. people of plain common sense more often receive the gospel, and favor the things of true religion, than those who affect superior powers, and to understand all mysteries. those who are wise in their own imaginations, often reject the counsel of god against themselves, and put from them offered salvation. the manner in which the apostles and their fellow laborers preached the gospel, hath also been objected to as unwise. their preaching was chiefly a plain unaffected exhibition of truth, laid before those who heard them, and left with them. to produce faith in christ, they declared the time, place and circumstances of his birth, referring to the prophecies which foretold them--declared the concurring testimonies of angels and inspired persons, who gave witness for him--exhibited sketches of his life--his teaching--his miracles--declared his prediction of his own death, with the manner, time, and place--also of his resurrection on the third day, and the fulfillment of those predictions. they referred to his foretelling peter's fall and recovery; judas' treachery and end, with the events which followed--they referred also to christ's teaching and miracles--to those which attended his sufferings and resurrection--they adduced the evidence which they had of his death and resurrection--declared the opportunities which they had with him after his passion--the instructions they received from him--the orders which he gave them, and his ascension from the mount of olives, of which they were witnesses, "confirming their words with signs following." to persuade men to receive and obey the gospel, they declared the consequences to those who received, and to those who rejected it --that the same jesus who had died on the cross, was appointed by the father, "to be the judge of quick and dead--that he would come again in like manner as he had gone away--that all mankind must appear before his judgment seat to give an account of themselves, and receive the deeds done in the body," that those who flee for refuge to the hope of the gospel, will find mercy, and be made forever happy with god, but those who neglect the gospel will be sent away into everlasting punishment. such interesting truths, those ministers of christ laid before mankind, and left with them for their consideration. but they used no rhetoric to impress them. neither did they appeal to the passions of their hearers; in which they followed the pattern set them by their lord, who "did not strive, nor cry, nor cause any man to hear his voice in the streets." with only a fair statement of those truths, accompanied with the offer of "mercy and grace to help in time of need," they left mankind to choose for themselves and abide the consequences. this some have thought an improper manner of calling men into the kingdom of christ; that had been more pathetic in their addresses, and more argumentative in their applications, they would have labored with more effect; that this plain and simple method is unworthy of god, and, not likely to be from him. if we consider the nature and design of christianity, such objections will have little weight. it is not the design of heaven to compel men to obey the gospel, or to drive them to an unwilling submission to christ. if an exhibition of gospel truth and beauty, and the consequences of receiving or rejecting its overtures, are discarded; if men refuse, by these means to be persuaded, they are left, and the consequences follow. to people of sober sense, this method appears rational. it is not probable that those who are not thus prevailed with to embrace the gospel, would in any other way be made christians indeed. people who are frightened into religion seldom persevere. neither do those whose passions are so inflamed that they appear, for a time, in ecstasies. when their passions subside, they grow cool, and their religion dies. if the great truths of religion, laid before men, as was done by christ and his apostles, do not avail to render them rationally and sincerely religious, little value is to be put on those heats of imagination, which produce temporary raptures, and set some on fire in religion. such ardent love doth not abide; it soon cools, and commonly leaves those who had been the subjects of it no better than it found them, and but too often much worse. but while some object to the simplicity of the gospel, and to the plain language and address of the primitive ministry, others are offended at the mysteries in the christian system. who can understand some things contained in what is called a revelation? and what valuable ends can be answered by a revelation which is unintelligible? say these objectors. but, those points in the christian scheme which are too deep for human comprehension, do not relate to practice. all required, in relation to them, is an assent to their truth, on the credit of god's word. this is neither difficult nor unreasonable. perhaps with only human powers, it may be impossible to comprehend those subjects which are left mysterious in divine revelation; but are they incredible if god hath declared them? few would be the articles of our creed, did we admit the belief of nothing which we do not understand. we carry mysteries in ourselves. we are compounded of soul and body, but who explain the connexion; tell us the essence of either the one or the other, or define the principles on which the soul commands the body? we are lost in ourselves, and in all the objects which surround us. whatever god hath declared, we are bound to believe because he hath declared it; and whatever he hath enjoined, we are bound to do because he hath enjoined it, though the reasons of his injunctions may not be revealed. god is under no obligations to explain matters to us. "god is greater than man. why dost thou strive with him? he giveth not account of his matters." others object because the gospel is not sent to all nations. that god should be supposed to communicate to some, and not to others they allege to be unreasonable and sufficient to destroy its credit; especially, as the book which claims to be a revelation teacheth that "there it no respect of persons with god." that god makes his creatures to differ respecting talents and advantages, is a truth not to be denied. those who on this account, object to the truth of the gospel, will not deny it. if god makes differences respecting every thing else, why not respecting religion? where is the injustice or impropriety of trying some with gospel advantages; others only with the light of nature? if requirements vary with betrustments, none have reason to complain; and that this is the case is plainly the language of revelation.* with equal reason might the hand of god in creation be denied, because different grades are found among creatures, and some have greatly the advantage over others; and in providence because its distributions are unequal. that these inequalities are observable, and that they are the work of god, will be acknowledged by all who believe the being of a god, and his providential government. if any are disposed to call these in question, we turn from them. to reason with them would be in vain. "that which may be known of god is manifest in them; for god hath shewed it unto them. for the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse." * vid. discourse on romans, ii. . a scoffing age may cry out against christianity. to some it may be a "stumbling block; to others foolishness." men may exclaim against the gospel, and against the doctrines and duties of it, and the means which have been used of god to propagate it. still "the foolishness of god is wiser than men, and the weakness of god is stronger than men." so it hath been in times past; so it will be in times to come. _the foolish, the weak and base things of the world, have confounded and brought to nought, all the world termed wise, and great, and mighty_. imperial rome at the summit of her greatness, could not crush the cause of him who died on calvary! "had this counsel or work been of men, it would have come to nought." probably the name of jesus, would long ere now have perished from the earth. but all his enemies could do nothing effectually against him. they could only do what god's counsel had determined to be done. christianity hath still its enemies; of the same character with those of old. they have overthrown the faith of some. others they may seduce. that "scoffers should arise, in the last days walking after their own lusts; that some should deny the lord that bought them, and that many should follow their pernicious ways," were foretold by an inspired apostle, and "they turned to us for a testimony." we are called a christian people. "if we believe the gospel, happy are we if we obey it." the generality profess to believe it. but how is it received? do not many neglect it? do not some who assent to its truth, "go their way to their farms, or their merchandize," regardless of it, neither confessing christ before men, nor seeking an interest in him? if the gospel is from god, to such neglecters of the grace it offers, it must be "a favor of death unto death!" and is not their number great? doth it not increase from year to year, from age to age? to these who are taken up with sensual pleasures, and with minding only earthly things, st. paul would say "even weeping you are enemies to the cross of christ, and your end will be destruction." let us be persuaded to bring home these considerations to ourselves. we are deeply interested in them. "the secrets of our hearts will ere long be judged by the gospel of christ." to those who will not receive and obey the gospel, we have only to say, "notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of god is come nigh unto you." * * * * * * sermon iii. the declensions of christianity, an argument of its truth.. luke xviii. . when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but be that believeth not shall be damned." so certified the risen savior. faith is made a condition of salvation. but god requires only a reasonable service. he must then have given evidence of the truth to which he requires assent. he hath given it abundantly; christians "are compassed about with a cloud of witnesses." the proofs of christianity are of two kinds; external and internal. both are strong. united they leave infidelity without excuse. of external, the chief are miracles and prophecy. miracles carried conviction to beholders; and were designed to give credibility to special messengers. prophecy is a standing evidence, by which testimony is borne to the truth of revelation; yea, it is a growing evidence, which gains strength by every fulfillment. some may envy those who lived in this age of miracles supposing them sufficient to banish every doubt. but the proof arising from the fulfillment of prophecy, which we enjoy above them, is equal if not superior to theirs. the prophecies contain sketches of the history of man, and of the plan of providence, from their respective dates to the end of the world. those which relate _to the declensions of religion, which were to take place under the gospel dispensation_, will now only be considered. from those declensions, arguments are drawn against the truth of christianity. was christianity from god, he would verify the declaration made by him who claimed to be his son. _the gates of hell shall not prevail against it_. but they do prevail. what was once said of its author, _behold the world is gone after him,_ will now apply to its enemy. this religion is not therefore from god, but of man's device. propt up as it is, by human laws, and supported by "the powers that be," it totters towards ruin. left to itself, it would soon fall and come to nought. such are the proud vauntings of infidelity, when "iniquity abounds and the love of many waxeth cold." so when christ hung on the cross, and when he slept in the tomb, ignorant of consequences, his disciples "wept and lamented, and the world rejoiced;" but the time was short. soon the world was confounded and the "sorrow of his disciples was turned into joy." if the declensions which we witness, are foretold in scripture, they are no occasion of surprize. yea, instead of weakening our faith, they may reasonably increase it. and when we consider the assurances given us, that these declensions were to antecede the universal prevalence of true religion; they may also serve to increase our hope. to _shew that these declensions are foretold, and that we may expect yet greater abominations, than have hitherto appeared_, is attempted in the following discourse. when _the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth_? that christ is here intended by the son of man; and that faith will be rare among men at the coming of his, referred to, are not doubtful matters. but what coming of christ is here referred to? this is first to be ascertained. the coming of christ refers in the scripture, to several events. sometimes to his incarnation; sometimes to the destruction of jerusalem, and the jewish polity; sometimes to his coming to judgment; and sometimes to the beginning of that universal dominion which he is to exercise on earth in the latter days. each of these is the subject of several prophecies. christ's incarnation, or his coming to dwell with men, and to obey and suffer for their redemption, was a principal subject of the old testament prophecies. "to him gave all the prophets witness." the divine justice executed on the jews, in the destruction of their chief city, and polity, is also termed christ's coming. this was the subject of several prophecies of old. it was foretold by moses, and sundry others who lived before the gospel day; but more particularly by christ, in person just before his sufferings. to this event the desolations foretold in the twenty fourth of matthew, and its parallels in the other gospels, had a primary reference. the metaphors used to describe it are strong. they have been supposed to refer to the general judgment; and they have, no doubt an ultimate reference to it. but they refer, more immediately to another coming of christ; his coming to render to the jews according to their demerits as a people, soon after they should have filled up the measure of their iniquity by his crucifixion; which by the circumstances attending it, became a national act. that this coming of christ was particularly intended in those predictions, is, from several considerations apparent. that the christians of that age, who were conversant with the apostles, and instructed by them, received this to be the meaning of those prophecies, and that they fled at the approach of the roman armies, and escaped the destruction which came on the jews, are matters of notoriety. and that this was the primary meaning of those prophecies, is further evident from an express declaration which they contain; "_verily i say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled_." this closeth the prophecy. the whole must therefore have received a primary accomplishment, "before that generation did pass away." this was fulfilled in the destruction of jerusalem by titus. christ's coming to judgment, is often foretold in every part of the new testament, to pass over the intimations given of it in the old. but none of these can be _the coming of the son of man_, referred to in the text. that it cannot refer to his incarnation is evident, from the time in which the declaration in the text was made. his coming in the flesh had been then accomplished. neither can it refer to his coming to punish jewish apostasy and ingratitude; or to his coming to judge the world in righteousness, because the moral state of the world at neither to those periods, answers to the description here given. _shall he find faith on the earth_? the ruin of the jews by the roman armies, happened about thirty six years after christ's crucifixion. long ere that time the spirit had been poured out, and many had embraced the gospel. the apostles and evangelists, had gone, not only to "the lost sheep of the house of israel, but also into the way of the gentiles;" had called "those who were afar off, as well as those who were near; their sound had gone into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." neither had they labored among the gentiles in vain. st. paul spake by the spirit when he declared to the jews that the salvation of god was sent unto the gentiles, and they would hear it. his word was verified. "many were added to the lord, and the number of the disciples was multiplied." such was the state of the world, at that _coming of the son of man. faith was then to be found on the earth_, if not among jews. when christ shall come to judgment, we have reason to believe, that faith will also be found on earth; and more than at that period we have now considered. the scriptures of both testaments, abound with predictions of the universal prevalence of religion, in the latter days; of the whole worlds rejoicing under the auspicious government of the prince of peace; of restraints laid on the powers of darkness, that they should not deceive and seduce mankind. and though we are taught that "the old serpent will afterwards be loosed, for a little season, and go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth," we have no intimation that the main body of the church will be corrupted by his influence, or injured by his power. his adherents may "compass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city," but will make no attack upon them. "fire will come down from god out of heaven, and destroy them." by some special, perhaps miraculous interpolation of providence, the people of god will be protected and delivered. st. john, who gives more particulars of the latter day glory, than those who had gone before him, fixes the term christ's reign on earth a thousand years, which he represents to be those _next preceding_ the judgment. and agreeably to the statement which he hath made, a numerous body of saints will then be found to welcome their lord, and rejoice before him at his coming. to this agree the other prophets who treat of this subject. no other limits the term of christ's reign; or mentions satan's being enlarged and permitted any measure of deceptive influence, after the restraints laid upon him at the beginning christ's reign. but others foretell the happy day, and several seem to dwell delightfully upon it, and represent it as continuing to the end of time; and none give the remotest hint that it is to terminate, and iniquity again to become universally prevalent. isaiah often mentions it, and dilates more largely upon it than any other who lived before the gospel day. from his representations we should expect it to terminate _only with time_. "i will make the an _eternal_ excellency--violence shall _no more be heard_ in thy land; wasting nor destruction within thy borders--the sun shall be _no more_ thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but the lord shall be unto thee _an everlasting light_, and thy god thy glory--the days of thy mourning _shall be ended_--thy people shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land _forever_." by the little horn in daniel's vision, antichrist is doubtless intended. when at his fall christ is to take the kingdom; or it is to be given to his people, it is to be an abiding kingdom. "and there was given unto him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him; _his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, an his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed_." this is a prophecy of the universal prevalence of true religion in the last days, after the reign of antichrist shall have come to an end. by the explanation in the latter part of the chapter, the saints are from that period to have the dominion. it is no more to be taken from them. "the saints of the most high shall take the kingdom, and _possess the kingdom for ever, even forever and ever_--and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high, _whose kingdom is an ever lasting kingdom_, and all dominion shall serve and obey him." these representations agree with that made to st. john, who saw the church guarded and protected from infernal power and influence, at the close of the millennium. the only difference consists in the mention of a few particulars by the apostle, which were not communicated to the prophets; such as the term of christ's reign on earth; and some fruitless attempts of the powers of darkness against his people, after that term shall have expired. the coming to judgment cannot therefore be intended in the text. _there will then be faith on the earth_. but if we consider "that which is noted in the scripture of truth," respecting the moral state of the world before and at the time of christ's coming to reign upon it, we shall find it answering to this description. we will therefore, first take a general view _of the prophecies respecting the moral state of the world, under the gospel dispensation? then a more particular view of the great declensions which were to take place, with a special reference to the state of religion at the approach of the latter day glory_. the savior, in person, and by his spirit, gave general intimations to the apostles, of the times which were to pass over them, and over his church. when they were ordered to preach the gospel in all the world, beginning at jerusalem, they were forewarned that the jews would reject their testimony, and persecute them, as they had persecuted their lord--that soon after "there would be great distress in that land, and wrath upon that people--that they would fall by the sword; be led captive into all nations, and that jerusalem would be trodden down of the gentiles, till the times of the gentiles should be fulfilled." the comforter which was to "teach them all things," not only explaining the nature of christianity, and causing them to understand it, but also to unveil futurity before them, taught them, that after the jews had rejected the gospel, the gentiles would receive it, and the church grow and become great; that a falling away would afterwards follow, which would spread wide, and continue for a longtime, till it became nearly total; that when such was the state of the church, christ would come, take the kingdom, and reign on earth. such were the outlines of futurity, relative to christianity, as sketched out before the apostles. but if we descend to particulars, and examine the prophecies with attention, we shall find that the defections, which were to take place antecedent to the reign of the redeemer, were to be of two kinds--that they were to arise at different times, and from different sources--that one was to be a corruption of religion, the other a rejection of it--that the former was to antecede and prepare the way for the latter. this will be the subject: of another discourse. * * * * * * sermon iv. _the declensions of christianity, an argument of its truth_. luke xviii. . "_when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth_?" that the coming of the son of man, is here intended of christ's coming at the commencement of the latter day glory, hath been alleged in the preceding discourse, and several considerations adduced in proof. additional evidence will arise from a view of the prophecies _relative to the great declensions_ which were to take place in the church, during the gospel day. these, we observed, are of two kinds, one, a _corruption of religion_, the other _its rejection_. the intimations given of them in the new testament, are chiefly found in the writings of st, paul, peter and john. they are noticed also by jude. the two former suffered martyrdom under nero. when the time of their departure drew nigh, they had separately a view of the then future state of the church; "particularly of the declension which were to take place in the kingdoms of this world, shall become the kingdom of our lord and christ." st. john had the same opened to his view in the isle of patmos. st. paul in his second epistle to the thessalonians, after rectifying the mistake of those who thought the day of judgment then at hand, proceeded to inform them that there would be great declensions in the church before the end of the world. "let no man deceive you, by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth himself above all that is called god, or is worshipped; so that as god, he sitteth in the temple of god, shewing himself that he is god." the antichristian defection is here evidently intended. the apostle toucheth on the same subject in his first epistle to timothy, and directs him "to put the brethren in remembrance of these things," to prevent surprise when they should happen. this was the first great declension which was to be permitted in the church. in his second epistle to the same christian bishop, written not long before his death, he resumes the subject of the defections which were to happen in the church, but with a more particular reference to defections of a different kind, and of a latter date. having exhorted timothy to faithfulness in the discharge of official duty, he adds a reason; "for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts, shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." this doth not answer to the romish defection. it was never the character of that church to "heap to themselves teachers." they never ran after those of other persuasions, who brought new doctrines. their errors were of the contrary kind. they rejected and persecuted every teacher who did not derive from their _infallible head_, and teach as he directed. but "itching ears" have misled many of those, who "are moved away from the hope of the gospel. by turning to fables they have made shipwreck of faith, and fallen a prey to those who lie in wait to deceive." st. peter wrote with equal plainness of the general defections; but those of infidelity are the subject of his prophecies--"there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heretics, _even denying the lord that bought them_, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. and many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the truth shall be evil spoken of." the heresies here intended are depicted too minutely to be mistaken. the heresiarchs are described as immoral, vain and proud, pretending to superior knowledge and penetration, despising law and government, and trampling them under their feet. toward the close of his second epistle, the apostle remarks, that he "wrote to stir up pure minds by way of remembrance; that they might be mindful of the words spoken before, by the holy prophets"--that is, of the predictions of inspired men, who had forewarned them of those deceivers--"knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying where is the promise of his coming?" and he refers them to st. paul, who had predicted their rise in the church--"even as our beloved brother paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you: as also in all his epistles, speaking in them _of these things_"--he adds --"ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness." the short epistle of st. jude is little other than a prophetic description of the same apostasy and its leaders, whom he terms "ungodly men, turning the grace of god into lasciviousness, and _denying the only lord god, and our lord jesus christ_--these are murderers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their mouths speaking great swelling words--but beloved, remember ye the words which were _spoken before_ of the apostles of our lord jesus christ; how they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own lusts." the errors of rome are not here intended. they are manifestly errors of a later date, which were to appear after those of rome should subside, having lost their influence. it is repeatedly noted that they were to arise in _the last days_. they are errors of which this age is witness--errors which have spread, and are yet spreading? those of infidelity and atheism, with their usual attendants, immorality in every hideous form. we should therefore "remember the words which were spoken before"--the warnings which have been given us of those defections, which were to intervene those of antichrist, and _the coming of the son of man_. the apocalypse, though of more difficult interpretation, contains some particulars sufficiently intelligible and to our purpose. the writer enlarges on the romish apostasy, which he describes more minutely than any who had preceded him, both in its rise and progress, and also in the circumstances which should attend its overthrow. he foretells the spirit, pride, riches, glare of ornaments, strange abominations, and unprecedented cruelties; the power, signs and lying wonders, which were to render rome the wonder and dread of the whole earth. the portrait is in every part so exact and circumstantial, that none who are acquainted with the history of that church, can mistake it; unless blinded by interest or prejudice. the apostle predicts also the other great defection which was to follow the antichristian, though in language more obscure and figurative, "and i saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet for they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of god almighty." * * vid. a discourse on this subject by timothy dwight, d.d. president of yale college, printed at newhaven, a.d. . it deserves particular notice that all these strange declensions, which were foretold, as to take place in the church, and world, are represented as _antecedent_ to christ's reign on earth, and terminating _before_ the commencement of that blessed era. it is farther to be observed that during the whole antichristian defection, god's "two witnesses were to prophecy clothed in sackcloth." god would have a small, but sufficient number of faithful servants, who, in low and humble circumstances, would maintain the truth and be witnesses for him during the reign of man of sin. but about the end of his reign, they will have finished their testimony. their enemies will then prevail against them and destroy them, and for a short term there will be none to stand up for god +--none to warn the wicked, or to disturb them in their chosen ways. and they are represented as exulting in their deliverance from the society of those who amidst their departures from the living god, had tormented them,++ by warnings of future wrath, and an eternity according to their works. for this is the way in which god's witnesses torment the wicked. * * * * + comparatively none. the number will be exceedingly small--the times resemble those just before the flood, when noah was said to stand alone. the pageantry of romish worship may be kept up in that church, till mystical babylon shall be destroyed, in the awful manner foretold in the revelation; but infidelity hath long since, tipped the foundation of catholic religion, being grafted on the ruins of superstition. the absurd doctrines, and legendary tales of popery, may have been credited in the dark ages, when many of the clergy were unable to write their names, or so much as read their alphabet; but the belief of them is utterly inconsistent with the light everywhere diffused since the revival of literature. ++ tormented them. this language is remarkable. it intimates that the pains occasioned in the wicked, by the warnings of the faithful are the same, in kind, as those of the damned, and that they are often severe. this accounts for the mad joy of infidelity--for the frantic triumphs of those who have persuaded themselves that religion is a fable. it accounts for the representation here given of the conduct of an unbelieving world, when infidelity shall have become universal, and the dead body of religion lie exposed to public scorn. such is the time here foretold--a time when the age of atheism may be vauntingly termed "the age of reason." * * * * * god's witnesses testify not only against antichristian errors, but also against infidelity and the immorality it occasions. when he ceases to have witnesses there will be none to testify against either the one or the other. the world must _then_ be deluged in infidelity and atheism. this agrees with the representation given by the apostle; who describes the enemies of god as refusing graves to his slaughtered witnesses, and causing their dead bodies to lie exposed to public view, that they may rejoice over them, and congratulate one another on their deliverance from the company of those who had disturbed them in their sinful indulgences; and such as continuing to be the state of "the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations," till the witnesses are raised from the dead and ascend to heaven in the presence of their enemies; when christianity will revive, and christ's reign on earth begin. these representations may be designed to intimate that the term in which infidelity will appear to be universal, will be so short that the warnings of the faithful will not be forgotten--that they will be kept in mind by the exultations occasioned by deliverance from the fears of religion, and from the presence of those who had excited those fears, by exhibiting proofs of religion which they could not refute. and how natural and common are such exultations, with those devoid of religious fear? but agreeably to the view given by the apostle, when such shall have become the state of the world, and the nations shall be thus felicitating themselves in full persuasion that all religion is a dream, and death an eternal sleep, the signals of christ's coming to take the kingdom, will be given, and witnesses of the truth of christianity, which cannot be disputed, suddenly arise, to the surprize and confusion of scoffing sinners; multitudes of whom will be swept off by desolating judgments to prepare the way for "the people of the saints of the most high, _whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom_." for that desolations are to close the sad scene of apostasy, and prepare christ's way is clearly foretold; particularly by st. john, who beheld, in vision, "the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, gathered to the battle of the great day of god almighty;" and saw such an effusion of their blood, that "the harvest of the earth might be considered as reaped, the vine of the earth as cut and cast into the great wine press of the wrath of god, whence flowed blood to the horses bridles." * thus from the general tenor of prophecy it appears that infidelity will have overspread the world _when the son of man shall come_ to reign upon it: and as this agrees to no other coming of his foretold by the prophets, there can be no reasonable doubt what _coming_ is intended in the text. if we keep these things in mind, we will not wonder at the declensions of religion and prevalence of infidelity. they will remind us of the remark made by our savior to his sorrowing disciples just before his sufferings, "these things have i told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that i told you of them." before, or about the time of this _coming of the son of man_, antichrist will fall--mahomedan delusion terminate--"the jews look to him whom they pierced, and mourn--be gathered the second time" from their dispersions, and returned to their own land, and the fullness of the gentiles be brought in. perhaps these may be the signs of christ's coming, intended by the resurrection of the witnesses, when these events shall take place "the lord will be king over all the earth. in that day there will be one lord and his name one." * revelation xiv. , . reflexions if we do not mistake the coming of the son of man, here referred to, gloomy is the prospect now immediately before us. hitherto god hath had his witnesses; but ere long they will cease from their labors, and leave infidelity undisturbed. that the cause of the redeemer was to be depressed, before its universal prevalence in the latter days, is plainly revealed. the only difficulty is to ascertain the manner. bishop newton expects another confederacy of the catholic powers to destroy the followers of the lamb, which will so nearly succeed, that for a short term none will dare to appear as his followers. but if infidelity was to intervene the antichristian defection, and prevalence of religion in the latter days, is this hypothesis probable? is it not more reasonable to expect that destruction of the witnesses in another way, and by other enemies--by the mockers and scoffers of the last times, who should be generated by papal error and superstition? and doth not the present state of the world confirm these expectations? the catholic religion hath been declining for several ages. it received a deadly wound from luther and his associates, which hath not yet been healed. from that period it hath dwindled, and is now little more than a name. but infidelity hath been, for almost an equal term progressing, and already stalks out to public view: yea, it vaunts with shameless pride, as though sure of victory. and we are constrained to acknowledge, that "of a truth, it hath laid waste nations and their countries!" our expectation is farther confirmed by observing the change which is made in the weapons of internal warfare. these are no longer bonds, imprisonments, tortures and death, but the shafts of ridicule, and sneers of contempt. "trials of cruel mocking," now exercise the faith and patience of the saints. religion, the dignity and hope of man, hath become the sport of stupid infidels! the jest of sorry witlings! these hissings of the serpent are every where to be heard! internal malice, never before made so general attack in this way. perhaps, with all his sagacity the adversary did not suspect that creatures made for eternity could be driven from the way of peace by the derision of fools, till taught it by experience. but this hath been found his most successful weapon! it hath done greater mischief to christianity, than all the rage of persecution! many account it honorable, to suffer, pain or loss, with patience, and to face danger and death with fortitude; but few think themselves honored by scorn and reproach. human nature is here attacked on its weakest side. some european scoffers, of high rank, during the last age took the lead in this mode of attack on christianity; and have been followed by a countless throng of noble and ignoble, learned and unlearned, down to this day. few infidels are so modest as not to affect wit on the subject of religion; few witticisms so contemptible as not to meet the approbation and receive the applause of brother infidels. that strong combinations have been formed against christianity, and also against civil government, in the kingdoms of europe, and that they have too successfully undermined both, is an acknowledged fact. in the leaders of those conspiracies we discover all the traits of character, attributed in prophecy to the scoffers who should arise in the last days. when every circumstance, in events so remarkable agree with the predictions, can doubt remain whether the predictions are fulfilled? there hath been faith in this land. it is not yet extinct. but we are importing the principles, and practices of europe. "the mockers of the last times" are now to be seen on this side the atlantic. "many follow their pernicious ways." we have reason to expect the evils to increase till "the godly cease and the faithful fail" from among us. _for when the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth_? this land will also be overspread with infidelity! "the whole world lie in wickedness!" there may be partial revivals of religion, but no general reformation is to be expected; and after every refreshing, the declensions will probably be greater than before. fanatic emotions, here and there, may flatter some who are friends to religion, but they only serve to accelerate the spread of infidelity. it is a gloomy thought! the serious soul saddens; sorrow fills the good man's heart, if, when he sees little regard paid to religion, he expects yet greater defections! if when he sees but few of those who are rising into life, paying attention to the best things, he expects still fewer of their descendants to be wise and good! yea that the declensions will continue and increase, "till all flesh shall become corrupt, and the earth be filled with violence!" would to god these expectations might not be realized; for they are exceedingly distressing. but they appear to us to be dictated by the spirit of truth, and confirmed by the history of the world, and by the progress of events opening to view. one consideration, however, ministers consolation, shining through the gloom; namely, the long, holy, happy period, which may be expected to follow the dark term now approaching. by _dark_ we mean only in a moral view. respecting arts and sciences, mankind may never have been more enlightened than at present. but this is foreign to religion. when egypt, greece, and rome, were the seats of the muses, they remained as devoid of religious knowledge, as the most ignorant barbarians. arts and sciences may still flourish, and yet deeper researches be made into the _arcana_ of nature, while religion is dying and atheism succeeding in its place. some intervening links are necessary to connect present age with the happy times now distant. who shall fill them, the divine sovereign will determine. an hour of temptation must try all who dwell upon the earth. these are the times in which we are tried. do we envy those who may live during the peaceful reign of the redeemer? let us not forget that we are favored above many who have gone before us--above some of our contemporaries and probably above those who will succeed us, before the commencement of that happy era. nothing necessary to salvation is denied us. if straitened it is in our own bowels. if faithful to improve the talents put into our hands, "our labor will not be in vain in the lord"--god will keep us to his kingdom. there we shall see christ's glory, though we may never see it here as some others who come after us. be it also remembered, that the rewards of the coming world, will be proportioned to the difficulties we may have to encounter here in this. those who make their way to heaven through darkness and temptations, and force their way through hostile bands, will rise to greater honors there, than though they had ascended by an easier and a smoother road. nothing done or suffered in the way of duty will loose its reward. god hath not said "seek ye my face in vain." "wherefore, brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our lord and savior jesus christ. to him be glory, both now and forever. amen." * * * * * * sermon v. abram's horror of great darkness. genesis xv. . "and when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon abram; and lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him." if we consider the sketch, given us in scripture, of the life of this patriarch, we shall find that few have had equal manifestations of the divine favor. but the light did not at all times shine on him. he had his dark hours while dwelling in this strange land. here we find _an horror of great darkness to have fallen upon him_. the language used to describe his state, on this occasion, is strong. it expresses more than the want of god's sensible presence. it describes a state similar to that of the psalmist, "while i suffer thy terrors i am distracted." his sufferings probably bore an affinity to those of the savior when the father hid his face from him; at which period there was more than the withdrawing of his sensible presence, the powers of darkness were suffered to terrify and afflict him--"it was their hour"--god had left him in their hands. so abram on this occasion. just before god had smiled upon him--"fear not, abram: i am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." then all was light and love. "the candle of the lord shone on his head." when he complained that he had no child to comfort him, or inherit his possessions, god promised him an heir, and countless progeny--"look now toward heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them--so shall thy seed be. and he believed the lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." what an occasion of joy? what strange manifestation of divine favor? they are scarcely paralleled in the history of man. but how sudden the reverse? the same day--_when the sun was going down_; lo! the brightness disappears, and _an horror of great darkness fell upon him_. a deep _sleep fell upon abram_. this was not a natural sleep. there is no probability that he would have given way to weakness, and fallen into a common sleep, while engaged in covenanting with god; binding himself with solemn engagements, and receiving tokens of the divine favor, and the promise of blessings for a great while to come. if he could have slept while receiving such manifestations of the divine friendship, it is not probable that his dreams would have been terrifying: his situation would rather have inspired joyful sensations, and exciting pleasing expectations. that which for want of language more pertinent and expressive, is here termed sleep, seems to have been divine ecstasy--such influence of the holy spirit operating in the soul, as locked it up from everything earthly, and shut out worldly things, as effectually as a deep sleep, which shuts up the soul and closeth all its avenues, so that nothing terrestrial can find admittance. this was often experienced by the prophets, when god revealed himself to them, and made known his will. thus daniel, when the angel gabriel was sent to solve his doubts, and let him into futurity--"now as he was speaking with me, i was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground." the holy prophet, filled with fear at the approach of the celestial messenger, could not have fallen asleep, like some careless attendant in the house of god. yet such is the language used to express his situation at that time, and afterwards on a similar occasion.* the three disciples, who witnessed the transfiguration, experienced similar sensations--sensations which absorbed the soul, and shut out terrestrial objects, which the evangelist compares to sleep. * daniel viii. , x. . but why was abram's joy, occasioned by the communications of the morning, so soon turned to horror. the reasons are with him "whose judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out." we may observe, however, that such is the way of god with man, while here on trial. if at any time a person seems peculiarly favored of heaven, something of a different nature is commonly set over against it. perhaps to remind him that this is not his rest. we seldom enjoy prosperity without a sensible mixture of adversity; or without somewhat adverse following in quick succession. "even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful, and the end of mirth is heaviness." neither are special trials or sorrows sent alone; comforts and consolations are usually joined with the, or soon succeed them. if we consider the matter, we shall observe this in ourselves; and may often discover it in others. we see it in the history of this patriarch, and that of many of his descendants. the pilgrimage of jacob, how remarkably diversified with good and evil, with joy and sorrow? that also of joseph--of moses--of daniel? at times each of these were raised high and brought low--sometimes found themselves at the summit of earthly honor and felicity; at other times, were cast down, and hope seemed ready to forsake them. in the history of job the same things are exemplified in still stronger colors. that holy man experienced the extremes of honor and infamy, joy and grief, hope and terror. the prophets and apostles, passed through scenes in many respects similar; their joys and sorrows were contrasted to each other. daniel's mournings and fastings were followed with remarkable discoveries and cheering revelations; but the divine communications were almost too strong for frail humanity; they filled him with dismay, and had well nigh destroyed his mortal body. "he fainted and was sick certain days." st. paul was "caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it was not possible for a man to utter"--had a view of the ineffable glory of the upper world; but trials no less remarkable, and very severe, were contrasted to those strange distinctions, and more than earthly joys! "lest i should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of satan to buffet me, lest i should be exalted above measure." * * corinthians xii. - . st. john suffered sore persecutions--was banished from the society of his fellow christians, if not from the society of men. but divine discoveries repaid all his sufferings--heaven's ineffable glories were opened to his view! what he witnessed could be but very partially communicated. language is weak; only faint hints and general intimations could be given of the "glory which is to be revealed." but the suffering apostle enjoyed it, and was supported, yea, enraptured by it. this life is filled with changes. good and evil, hope and fear, light and darkness, are set over against each other. the saints, while they dwell in the dust, sometimes walk in darkness, and have their hours of gloom and horror--"the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain until now--even those who have the first fruits of the spirit, groan within themselves, waiting for--the redemption of the body. those of whom the world is not worthy, are often in heaviness, through manifold temptations." we may wonder at these things: but when we consider them as ordered of god, the consideration, should calm our minds, and bring us to say with the astonished shunamite of old, "it is well." * * kings iv. . god doth not order sorrows to his creatures here, because he delights in their sufferings. "he grieves not willingly, neither afflicts the children of men. he doth it for their profit, that they may be partakers of his holiness." and which of the saints hath not received benefit from it? who among them hath not sometimes been ready to adopt the language of the psalmist, "it is good for me, that i have been afflicted." "born of the earth, we are earthly"--our afflictions naturally descend. we are prone to set our affections on temporal things, and set up our rest where there is no abiding. therefore do we need afflictions to keep us mindful of our situation. such remains of depravity are left in the renewed, that prosperity often corrupts them. but for the sorrows and sufferings ordered out to them, they would forget god and lose themselves among the deceitful cares, and infatuating allurements of this strange land. intervals of comfort are also needful for them. were these denied them, "the spirits would fail before god, and the souls which he hath made." and intervals of light and joy are given to refresh and cheer, and animate them to the duties required in this land of darkness and doubt. but they are not intended to satisfy. they answer like ends to the christian during his earthly pilgrimage, as the fruits of canaan, carried by the spies into the wilderness did to israel while journeying toward the land of promise--serve to give them a glance of the good things prepared for them, to increase their longings after them, and animate them to press forward and make their way to the possession. such may be some of the reasons of those varied scenes through which the people of god are doomed to make their way to glory. often the saints find themselves unable to penetrate the design of heaven in the trials through which lies their way--especially in the hidings of god's face, so that they cannot discover him. this made no small part of job's trial--"behold i go forward but he is not there; and backward, but i cannot perceive him; on the left hand where he doth work, but i cannot behold him; he hideth himself on the right hand that i cannot see him." could he have known the reasons of his trials it would have been a great consolations, but it was denied him, and the reasons of god's hiding his face from him, no less than those of his other trials. so it is also with others. the darkness which involves them makes part of their trials. it is a common trial of the saints. god will have his people "live by faith and walk by faith." to live by faith, implies want of light, and ignorance of the designs of providence. a great part of the good man's trial here, consists in trusting god without knowing why such things are required, or such trails ordered out to him. in this way the saints had great trials under the former dispensations. a veil was then spread over the method of grace, or way in which god would bring salvation to men. even the religious rites enjoined by the law, were not understood, though they made part of the duties of every day; they remained mysterious, till christ removed the covering cast over them; made known the hidden mystery, and opened "the way into the holiest by his blood." under every dispensation religion greatly consists in referring every thing to god, and trusting in him, without being let into his designs, or knowing reasons of his orders. "blessed is he who hath not seen and yet hath believed"--blessed is he who without penetrating the designs of heaven trusts in god, and conforms to his requirements, not doubting but all will turn out right--that god will lead him in right ways, though they may be ways which he knows not. abram discovered much of this temper--in obedience to divine order he left his father's house, and "went forth, not knowing whither he went." and afterwards, when commanded of god, he took a three days journey, to offer his son, isaac, at the place which should be shewn him. the trial of this patriarch, recorded in the text, might be, at that time particularly necessary. god had then admitted him to special nearness; and special trials might be requisite to keep him humble, and prevent high thoughts of himself. for such is fallen human nature, that particular distinctions, even divine communications, though of grace, are apt to be abused; to foster pride! though man is poor and dependant, pride is a sin which very easily besets him. if paul needed something to keep him humble when favored with revelations, why not abram? abram was then in the body--compassed with infirmity--liable to temptation, and prone to seduction. god knew his state--corrected him therefore, to give him a sense of demerit, when he received him into covenant and engaged to be his god. another design of his darkness and horror at that time, might be to fill him with awe and reverence of the divine majesty. had he experienced nothing of this kind, the strange familiarity to which he had been admitted of the most high, might have diminished his fear of god, and caused him to think lightly of the great supreme. the horror and distress he now experienced might also serve to prepare him for holy joy, when god should lift on him the light of his countenance. light and joy are most refreshing when they follow darkness and terror. therefore the joy of those who have been pricked in their hearts for sin and made to know its exceeding sinfulness, when they are brought to hope in divine mercy, and believe themselves forgiven of god. there is reason to believe that the sorrows of this state will give a zest to the joys of heaven--the darkness of this state, to the light of that in which darkness is done away--the fear and concern here. some think that what abram experienced on this occasion was intended to intimate god's future dealings with his family. they were honored by being taken into covenant with god, but were to pass through the horror and darkness of egyptian bondage--the distress of a wilderness state, and a war with the amorites, before they should enjoy the promised land. some conceive abram's sufferings at this time, designed to prefigure the legal dispensation, under which his seed were to continue long and suffer many things. however this might be, we know that abram did not find rest in this weary land, unallayed with sorrow. he was doomed to make his way through darkness, doubts and difficulties. such was the portion of this father of the faithful, while he remained in the body and continued on trail. the same is the portion of all the saints. "this is not their rest, because it is polluted." rest is not to be found on earth. when the remains of sin shall be purged away, there will be no more darkness, fear or horror. "the former thing will pass away" these considerations teach us what we have to expect while we tabernacle in clay--namely, trials and difficulties, doubts and darkness--these must be here our portion. though we may be children of god, we are not to expect exemption from them till the earthly house of our tabernacle is dissolved and we are clothed on with our house which is from heaven. those who are strangers to religion may flatter themselves that should they attain renewing grace and get evidence of it, they should no more suffer from fear or horror, or the hidings of god's face, but that god would smile incessantly upon them and cause them to go on their way rejoicing. but this is far from being the case. though when persons first attain a hope towards god, they are glad, their joy is soon interrupted--doubts and fears arise--their way is dark--"god hideth his face that they cannot behold him. o that i were as in months past --when god preserved me--when his candle shined upon my head, and by his light i walked through darkness--when the almighty was yet with me." this hath been the complaint of many others beside benighted job. it is often the language of the saints while in this dark world. "god often hides his face from those whom his soul loves, so that they walk on and are sad." this makes them long for heaven, because there "will be no night there, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor any more death." in this life sanctification is imperfect. the saints carry about in them a "body of death." while this continues, they cannot have uninterrupted peace, but must have intervals of darkness and doubt. those who have gone before us have often been troubled and distressed, and gone on their way sorrowing. this is the fruit of sin. man was doomed to it at the apostasy. it hath been from that time the portion of humanity. none hath been exempted. those whom st. john saw walking in white robes and rejoicing in glory, had "come out of great tribulation." we can hope for nothing better than to "be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." we must travel the same road and can promise ourselves no better accommodations on our journey. if abram, the friend, of god, felt _horror of great darkness_, after he had been called of god, we have no reason to expect trials less severe. let us not be discouraged, or saint in our minds. the way to glory lies through this dreary land--to us there is no other way. but the end will be light. if we keep heaven in our eye, and press on unmoved by the difficulties, and unawed by the dangers which lie in our way, "our labor will not be in vain in the lord." god will be with us. he will not leave us comfortless; but will support us under difficulties and guard us to his kingdom. after we shall have suffered awhile, he will call us from our labors, and reward us with eternal rewards. "then shall we obtain joy gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." and the time is short. "he which testifieth these things, saith, surely i come quickly. amen." may we have such evidence of an interest in him, as may dispose us to answer, "even so come lord jesus." * * * * * * sermon vi. divine impartiality considered. romans ii. . "for there is no respect of persons with god." the divine impartiality is often asserted in the holy scriptures; and the assertion coincides with our natural ideas of deity. the pagans indeed attributed to their gods, the vices, follies and weaknesses of men! but the beings whom they adored were mostly taken from among men, and might be considered as retaining human imperfections,--had unbiased reason been consulted to find out a supreme being, a different object would have been exhibited to view. but it is natural to mankind to fancy the deity such an one as themselves. the origin of many erroneous conceptions of the divinity may be found in the persons who entertain them. to the jaundiced eye, objects appear discolored. to a mind thoroughly depraved, the source of truth may seem distorted. therefore the hope of the epicure--therefore the portrait which some have drawn of the divine sovereign, rather resembling an earthly despot, than the jehovah of the bible! yet god is visible in his works and ways. "they are fools and without excuse, who say, there is no god." and as far as god appears in the works of creation and providence, he appears as he is. passion, prejudice, or depravity may disfigure or hide him; but as far as the discoveries which god hath made of himself are received, his true character is discerned. of this character impartiality constitutes an essential part. "god is a rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment; a god of truth, and without iniquity; just and right is he." this representation agrees with reason. according to his sense of it, every man will subscribe it. yet different apprehensions are entertained respecting the divine impartiality, as respecting every thing else. the ideas which some receive others reject as unreasonable. this is not strange. minds differ, no less than bodies. we propose, with deference, now to _exhibit our views of this interesting subject, the divine impartiality_, especially as it respects man. this is the branch of divine impartiality referred to in the text, and commonly in the scriptures--_there is no respect of persons with god_. it is important that we form just apprehends on this subject. mistakes might inspire groundless expectations, and occasion practical errors, dishonorable to god, and mischievous to man. but those which are just, have a tendency to produce sentiments of rational respect and reverence for the supreme governor and to point to the way of peace and blessedness. impartiality doth not require an equality of powers or advantages --that creatures should in this view be treated alike, or made equal. infinite wisdom and power are not restricted to a sameness in their plastic operations, or providential apportionments. neither is this sameness the order of heaven. the number of creatures is great. we cannot reckon them up in order; nor the different species. among the myriads of the same species, are discriminations, sufficient to distinguish them from one another. we observe this in our race. and in the creatures beneath us. among mankind these differences are most noticeable and most interesting. they relate to every thing which belongs to man--to the mind, and to the body, and to the powers of each--to the temper--appetites-- passions--talents--trials--opportunities, and means of information. there is in every respect an almost infinite variety--differences which run into innumerable particulars. variety may be considered as a distinguishing trait in the works, and ways of god. and all is right. when we consider the hand of god and his providential influence in them, we seem constrained to adopt the language of the psalmist, "o lord how many are thy works? in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." these are displays of divine sovereignty. they are beyond our comprehension. "we see, but we understand not." of many things brought into being by divine efficiency, we know neither the design nor use-- can only say, "thou lord hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." the same observation is applicable to the different situations in which god hath placed creatures of the same class, and the different talents committed to them--god hath doubtless his reasons for these discriminations, but hath not revealed them. by nothing of this kind is the divine impartiality affected; with none of them is it concerned. god is pleased to try some with ten talents, others with five, others with only one. that "so it seems good in his sight," is all we know about it; and all we need to know. should we attempt to pry into it, the answer given by our lord to an officious enquirer respecting another, might be applied--"what is that to thee?" the divine impartiality is only concerned to apportion the rule of duty to the powers and advantages imparted, and to give to each one according to the manner in which he shall have conformed to the rule given to direct him, making no difference, other than they may have affected differently the parts assigned them, or had more or fewer talents. if this definition of impartiality is just, we may infer that god requires of man only "according to that which he hath;" and that in the final adjustment nothing will be done by partiality, or preferring one before another. could not these be predicated of the supreme governor, we would not attempt to vindicate his character as an impartial being. the latter we conceive chiefly respected in the text. shall treat of each briefly. that god requires of man only "according to that which he hath," is equally the language of reason and revelation. our savior teacheth, that the divine rule will be the same, in this respect, as that which governs good men--"unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and to whom men have committed much, of him will they ask the more." the apostle had a particular reference in the text to the decisions at the great day, when "everyone must give account to god, and receive the deeds done in the body"--and insists that the situation in which each person had been placed, and the rule given for his direction will then be brought into the reckoning, and that each one will be judged, and his state determined by the law, under which he had lived and acted during his probation. this is the spirit of the context from verse six to the sixteenth, inclusive. "who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by a patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honor and immortality, eternal life: but to them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath; tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil; of the jew first, and also of the gentile: but glory, and honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good; to the jew first, and also to the gentile. _for there is no respect of persons with god_. for as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. for not the hearers of the law are just before god, but the doers of the law shall be justified. (for when the gentiles which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which shew the works of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another.) in the day when god shall judge the secrets of men, by jesus christ, according to my gospel." this whole paragraph is an illustration of divine justice and impartiality as exercised toward mankind. it shows that they are here for trial--that those who act uprightly will meet the divine approbation, and be rewarded with eternal rewards; but that a contentious disregard of duty, and willful continuance in known wickedness will be the object of divine indignation, which will occasion tribulation and anguish that in the decisions at the great day, family and national distinctions will be disregarded--that it will be required of every one according to the talents committed to him, and no more, whether he be jew or gentile. some have doubted whether those left to the light of nature could possibly meet the divine approbation and find mercy with god; or were not doomed without remedy to suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. this we apprehend to be here determined. "those who have not the law, may do by nature, the things contained in the law; and the doers of the law shall be justified." by "doing the law," no more is intended than acting sincerely, according to the light imparted. perfect obedience is not attainable by imperfect creatures--cannot therefore be here intended by the apostle. his evident meaning is, that sincerity is accepted of god, and rewarded with the rewards of grace, and equally of the gentile, as of the jew; _for there is no respect of persons with god_. adults, privileged with gospel light, must believe and obey the gospel. to them is that declaration addressed--"he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." this hath no relation to those who have not the means of faith. "what the law saith, it saith to those who are under it." the same is true of the gospel. the equal justice of god in giving to every one according to his works, or to his improvement of talents, is the spirit of the text and context, and of many other scriptures. yea, this one of those great truths which are borne on the face of revelation--"if ye call on the father, who, _without respect of persons_, judgeth every man according to his works, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." some objections to the preceding definition of divine impartiality are subjoined, with very brief replies. it is said "we must be born again or we cannot see the kingdom of god," and regeneration is the work of god, or effect of divine influence. that necessary change, is indeed the work of god, but not to the exclusion of human cooperation. the holy spirit strives with all who have the means of grace. none are wholly destitute of supernal influences--of awakenings and convictions, or devoid of power to cherish or to resist them. this is intimated in the warnings to beware of grieving or quenching the spirit. could men only oppose divine influence in renovation, they would never be exhorted of god "to make themselves new hearts, and turn themselves that they may live." * * ezekiel xviii. . but natural men are said to be "dead in sin"--and can the dead do aught which tends to their own resurrection? the renewed are said to be "dead to sin"--can they do nothing which tends to wickedness?+ metaphors must be understood with latitude. we should involve ourselves in many absurdities, by always adhering to the literal sense of those used in scripture. were we to adhere in all cases to the literal sense, we should believe christ to be a rock, a door, a vine, and receive the romish doctrine of transubstantiation. +romans vi. . . but is not "every imagination of the thoughts of sinners hearts," said in scripture to "be only evil continually?" such is said to have been the state of antediluvian sinners, when the spirit had ceased to strive with them, agreeably to the threatening.* * genesis vi. . it is a representation of the last grade of human depravity; but not applicable to every natural man. those who are unrenewed are not all equally depraved. some "are not far from the kingdom of god."--in some are things lovely in the savior's eyes. "then jesus, beholding him, loved him." + + mark xii. . x. . it is further asked, whether every motion toward a return to god, is not the effect of divine influence? and whether divine influence doth not necessarily produce effect?--we answer, to suppose man not capable of acting, but only of being acted on, or acted with, is to exculpate his enmity against god, and opposition to his law and gospel. to suppose his enmity and opposition to be the effect of divine influence, is to excuse them. blame rests with the efficient. the creature cannot be culpable, because he is what god made him; or while he remains what he was made of god. to denominate either temper or conduct morally good or evil, consent is necessary, to suppose consent, in the creature, to be the effect of almighty power operating upon it, nullifies it to the creature, in a moral view. the work of god cannot be the sin, or holiness, of the creature. but depravity and wickedness are wrong, and criminal, apart from all consideration of their source--they are so in themselves. they cannot therefore be from god, but must have some other source. the creature which vitiates another, is viewed as culpable, though it only tempts to wickedness, which is all a creature can do to vitiate another, and leaves the tempted ability to retain integrity; what must then be our views of a being whom we conceive to produce the same effect _by an exertion of almighty power_?--"god cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man," is it then supposeable that he can produce it by direct efficiency? but suppose him to produce it, suppose it to derive immediately from him. is its nature altered? is it less criminal or odious? god forbid that we should make the supposition! it is a compound of absurdity and blasphemy! as well may we suppose the sun to diffuse darkness! they "trusted in lying words, who said of old, we are delivered to do abominations." we fear the lord; "and will ascribe righteousness to our maker." but doth not god choose some to eternal life, and to this end bring them into his kingdom, and leave others to perish in their sins? god chooseth those who hear his voice, and cherish the divine influences, and leaves those who refuse his grace and grieve his spirit. "behold, i stand at the door and knock; _if any man hear my voice, and open the door_, i will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me. every one that asketh receiveth; hath that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocked it is opened," asking is antecedent to receiving; seeking, to finding; and knocking is the work of those yet without. when trembling, astonished saul, of tarsus enquired, "lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" he was directed by one sent of christ--"the lord said to annanias, arise--go--enquire--for one called saul of tarsus: _for, behold, he prayeth_." it is further asked, whether god doth not act as a sovereign, in his choice of those whom he sanctifies and saves? god acts as a wise and impartial sovereign. god is not a sovereign in the sense in which most earthly monarchs are so. whim, caprice, passion, prejudice often influence their preferences of some to others. not so the divine sovereign. there are reasons for all his discriminations. they may be veiled at present from our view; but will one day appear--"the day will declare them," and justify god in them.* * corinthians iii. . but the elect, it is said, "are chosen from the foundations of the world; before they have done either good or evil." election is indeed, "according to foreknowledge." "whom god did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son." but god could not foreknow, say some, how a free moral agent would act, unless he had first determined how he should act! _a free moral agent, all whose volitions and actions, are fixed by an immutable decree_! we are ignorant how god knows, or how he foreknows. perhaps past and future relate only to creatures, every thing may be present to the divine mind--with god there may be _an eternal now_. "beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." much which is known to us, is locked up from creatures below us--they can form no ideas about it. still less do we know of god, or the manner of the divine perceptions. the distance between god and us, is infinitely greater than between us and creatures of the lowest grade. it is therefore impossible for us to make deductions from the divine perceptions, or determine any thing about them. when tempted to it we should remember the caution given by zophar,--"canst thou by searching find out god? canst thou find out the almighty to perfection? it is high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?" * * job xi. , . but as the whole human race are sinners, deserving only of punishment, is not god at liberty to choose from among them, whom he pleaseth to sanctify and save, and pass by, and leave whom he pleaseth, to punish in their sins? we have no claim on divine justice. all mankind might have been left to perish. but they are not thus left of god, he hath found a ransom; and offers salvation to all. no differences will be eventually made among men without reasons. and the reasons will be in them--_for there is no respect of persons with god_. but suppose two persons to be equally guilty and deserving of condemnation, may not god make one of them a vessel of mercy, and the other a vessel of wrath? would the latter have occasion to complain? or could injustice be charged on god? we should not dare to charge him with injustice, did we know such a case to happen--neither do we presume to determine what god hath aright to do. but we are sure that no such case ever will happen--that god will not make an eventual difference in those who are alike, for _there is no respect of persons with god_. some may find mercy who may appear to us less guilty than some others who may perish in their sins. but it belongs not to us to estimate comparative guilt. it requires omniscience. "the judge of all the earth will do right." inferences mankind are here on trial. different talents are committed to them. god acts as a sovereign in apportioning betrustments, and will observe exact impartiality in adjusting retributions. the idea of talents implies ability to improve them. gospel applications speak such to be our state--they are adopted to no other state. the fatalist, and those who conceive every human volition and action to be the effect of divine agency, have no rational motive, to do, or suffer for religion. "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." however we may amuse ourselves with idle speculations, this life is approbation season.--our use or abuse of the talents we possess will determine us to happiness, or misery, honor or infamy. "all have sinned, and are guilty before god--in his sight shall no man living be justified"--our sole desert is punishment. but god hath had mercy on us--provided a savior, and offers us salvation. the offer is universal--"whosoever will let him come." that _there is no respect of persons with god_, is alike the dictate of reason and revelation, we have only to act with integrity before god, relying, on his grace in christ, and his grace will be sufficient for us. the man who had the one talent, neglected it, under pretence that he served a hard master, who required things unreasonable and impossible --he was condemned; but _only_ for neglecting the talent which he possessed. it is required of a man according to that which he hath--this he can render--the neglect will be fatal. we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ, that we may receive the deeds done in the body, according to that which we have done, whether good or bad. for god will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil. an unseen hand is constantly writing down our volitions and actions, to be reserved to judgment. ere long the books will be opened, which will open every heart, and life. not a circumstance which goes to constitute a state of trial, will be omitted--all will be brought into the reckoning, and serve to determine our eternal state. that state will be determined by the use which we shall have made of life, and the advantages which we enjoyed in it. the divine impartiality will then appear--"the ungodly will be convinced of their ungodly deeds--and of their hard speeches, which they have spoken against god." none will complain of injustice--none of the condemned pretend that they receive aught, which others circumstanced as they were, and acting as they acted, would not have received from the hand that made them. "every mouth will be stopped." this, fellow mortals is our seed time for eternity. "be not deceived; god is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also of the lord, whether he be bond or free--every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor." not only the state into which we are to enter at death, but the rank we are to hold in it depend on present improvement. all the sanctified will be saved; all who die unrenewed will be damned. but there will be different grades, both in the upper and lower worlds. of the saints, some "will be scarcely saved." to others "will be ministered an abundant entrance into the kingdom of christ." there are also greatest and least in the kingdom of heaven. and among those exiled the world of light, differences will be made, suited to the different degrees of criminality. capernaum will receive a more intolerable doom than sodom.* * matthew xi. , . all these discriminations will be built on the present life, and rise out of it. this will be so abundantly manifested, "when god shall judge the world in righteousness," that an assembled universe will confess, that _there is no respect of persons with god_. * * * * * * sermon vii. moses' prayer to be blotted out of god's book. exodus xxxii. , . "and moses returned unto the lord and said, 'oh! this people have made them gods of gold. yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, i pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.'" this is one of the most difficult passages in the holy scriptures. many haven attempted to explain it, and in our apprehension, failed in the attempt. some will entertain like opinion of the following. perhaps justly. we are no less fallible than others. in matters which have engaged the attention of the learned, and in which they have differed, assurance is not perhaps to be expected. but as we are forbidden to call any man master, we have ventured to judge for ourselves respecting the meaning of the text, and now lay before the reader the result of our attention to it; not wishing to obtrude our opinion upon him; but leaving him to form his own as he may find occasion. some suppose that a person must be willing to be damned for the glory of god, or he cannot be saved; and this scripture hath been alleged in proof. after a few observations, _to shew that the supposition is erroneous and absurd; we shall exhibit the various constructions which have been put on the text, by several expositors; then give our own sense of it; and close with a few reflections_. the supposition that man must be willing to be damned, in order to be saved, is in our apprehension, erroneous and absurd. it supposes a desire of god's favor to be an unpardonable offence; and a contempt of it a recommendation to his regard! it supposes that god will banish those from his presence who long for it; and bring those to dwell in it who do not desire it! a supposition, which, in our view, carries its own confutation in it. for the all important inquiry is, confessedly, how to obtain salvation? the solution which the supposition exhibits, is this, _by being willing not to obtain it_! god cannot issue an order, making it the duty of man to be willing to be damned. to be willing to be damned, implies a willingness to disobey god, refuse his grace, and continue in unbelief and impenitence! should we suppose it possible for god to issue the order, obedience would be impossible, and equally to those of every character. the hardened sinner, cannot be thought capable of love to god, which will dispose him to suffer eternally for god's glory. he may do that which will occasion eternal sufferings, but not out of obedience to god--not with design to glorify him. neither can the awakened sinner be considered as the subject of such love of god. they see indeed the evil. awakened sinners are not lovers of god. they see indeed the evil of sin, and are sensible of its demerit? that they deserve destruction. but this doth not reconcile them to destruction, and make them willing to receive it. they tremble at the thoughts of it, strive against sin, and cry after deliverance. were they willing to be damned, they would not be afraid of being damned, or seek in anyway to avoid it. it is equally impossible for the saint to be reconciled to damnation as will appear, by considering what it implies. it implies the total loss of the divine image, and banishment from the divine presence and favor! it implies being given up to the power of apostate spirits, and consigned to the same dreary dungeon of despair and horror, which is prepared for them! it implies being doomed to welter in woe unutterable, blaspheming god, and execrating the creatures of god, "world without end!" when people pretend that they are willing to be damned for the glory of god, they "know--not what they say nor whereof they affirm." they leave out the principal ingredients of that dreadful state. bid they take them into the account, they would perceive the impossibility of the thing. to suppose it required is to blaspheme god--to pretend that man can submit to it, is to belie human nature--to conceive that a child of god can reconcile himself to it, is to subvert every just idea of true religion. to require it, god must deny himself! to consent to it, man must consent to become an infernal! the statement of the case is a refutation of the scheme. but if god's glory requires it, will not this reconcile the good and gain their consent? god's glory doth not--cannot require it. "the spirit of the lord is not straightened." human guilt and misery are not necessary to god's honor. it is necessary that divine justice should be exercised on those who refuse divine grace; but not necessary that men should refuse divine grace. "as i live, saith the lord god. i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live." such is the language of revelation; and the measures which god hath adopted relative to our guilty race speak the same language. he hath provided a city of refuge, and urges the guilty to "turn to the strong hold."--he weeps over obstinate sinners who refuse his grace? "how shall i give thee up? how shall i deliver thee?" but rejoiceth over the penitent, as the father rejoiced over the returning prodigal. god would not have provided a savior, and made indiscriminate offers of pardon and peace had he chosen the destruction of sinners, and had their ruin been necessary to his honor. but god hath done these things, and manifested his merciful disposition toward mankind. we have no need to "do evil that good may come. our unrighteousness is not necessary to commend the righteousness of god." how then, are we to understand the prayer of moses, placed at the head of this discourse--_blot me, i pray that, out of thy book which than hast written_? as this is one of the principal passages of scripture which are adduced to support the sentiment we have exploded, a few things may be premised, before we attempt to explain it. i. should it be admitted that moses here imprecated utter destruction on himself, it could not be alleged as a precept given to direct others, but only as a solitary incident, in the history of a saint, who was then compassed with infirmity. and where is the human character without a shade? this same moses neglected to circumcise his children--broke the tables of god's law--spake unadvisedly with his lips--yea, committed such offences against god, that he was doomed to die short of canaan, in common with rebellious israel. ii. the time--in which it hath been particularly insisted that a person must be willing to be damned for god's glory, is at his entrance on a slate of grace; but moses had been consecrated to the service of god long before he made this prayer. nothing, therefore respecting the temper of those under the preparatory influences of the spirit can be argued from it. iii. should we grant that moses here imprecated on himself the greatest evil, a sense of other people's sins, and not a sense of his own sins, was the occasion. but, iv. no sufferings of his could have been advantageous to others, had be submitted to them for their sake. had he consented to have been a castaway--to have become an infernal, as we have seen implied in damnation, this would not have brought salvation to israel. moses' hatred of god, and his sufferings and blasphemies, would not have atoned for the sins of his people, or tended in any degree to turn away the wrath of god from them. it seems surprizing that the whole train of expositors should consider this good man as imprecating evil on himself for the good of others, when it is obvious that others could not have been benefited by it. for though expositors differ respecting the magnitude of the evil, they seem to agree that he did wish evil to himself, and pray that he might suffer for his people! we have seen no expositor who is an exception. but let us attend to the prayer. _oh! this people have sinned a great sin; yet now, if thou will, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, i prey thee, out of thy book_. we know the occasion. israel had fallen into idolatry while moses was on the mount--had made an idol, and bowed in adoration before it. god told moses what they had done--threatened to destroy them--excused moses from praying for them, which had before been his duty, and promised to reward his faithfulness among so perverse a people, if he would now "hold his peace, and let god alone to destroy them." but moses preferred the good of israel to the aggrandisement of his own family, earnestly commended them to the divine mercy, and obtained the forgiveness of their sin--"the lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto them." but he gave at that time no intimation of his merciful purpose toward them. when moses came down and found the congregation holding a feast to their idol, he was filled with grief and indignation; and took measures immediately to punish their sin and bring them to repentance. he first destroyed their idol and then about three thousands of the idolaters, by the sword of levi, who at his call, ranged themselves on the lord's side. the next day, fearing that god would exterminate the nation, agreeably to his threatening, moses gathered the tribes, set their sin before them, and told them that he would return to the divine presence and plead for them, though he knew not that god would hear him. "ye have sinned a great sin; and now i will go up unto the lord; _peradventure_ i shall make an atonement for your sin. _and moses returned unto the lord and said, oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. yet, now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not blot me, i pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written_." moses meaning, while praying for israel, is obvious; but the petition offered up for himself is not equally so--_blot me, i pray thee, out of thy book_. four different constructions have been put on the is prayer--some consider moses as imprecating damnation on himself, for the good of his people--some as praying for annihilation, that they might find mercy--some as asking god that he might die with them, if they should die in the wilderness--others, that his name might be blotted out of the page of history, and his memory perish, should israel be destroyed and not reach the promised land. "blot me" (saith mr. cruden) "out of thy book of life--out of the catalogue, or number of those that shall be saved--wherein moses does not express what he thought might be done, but rather wisheth, if it were possible, that god would accept of him as a sacrifice in their stead, and by his destruction and annihilation, prevent so great a mischief to them." * * vid. concordance, under blot. docr. s. clark expresseth his sense of the passage to nearly the same effect. did moses then ask to be made an expiatory sacrifice for the sin of israel! or did he solemnly ask of god what he knew to be so unreasonable that it could not be granted! there is no hint in the account given of this affair, that moses entertained a thought of being accepted in israel's stead. he did not ask to suffer _that they might escape_--he prayed _to be blotted out of god's book_, if his people could not be forgiven--_if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, i pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written_. mr. pool considers moses as praying to be annihilated that israel might be pardoned! "blot me out of the book of life--out of the catalogue, or number of those that shall be saved. i suppose moses doth not wish his eternal damnation, because that state would imply both wickedness in himself and dishonor to god; but his annihilation, or utter lose of this life, and that to come, and all the happiness of both of them. nor doth moses simply desire this, but only comparatively expresseth his singular zeal for god's glory, and charity to his people; suggesting that the very thoughts of the destruction of god's people, and the reproach and blasphemy which would be cast upon god by means thereof, were so intolerable to him, that he rather wished, if it were possible, that god would accept him as a sacrifice in their stead, and by his utter destruction prevent so great a mischief." * * vid. pool in locum. could the learned and judicious mr. pool seriously believe that inspired moses prayed for annihilation! or consider him as entertaining a suspicion that a soul could cease to exist! or could he conceive him as deliberately asking of god to make him an expiatory sacrifice! or harboring a thought that the sin of his people might be atoned by his being blotted out from among god's works!--strange! mr. henry considers moses as praying to die with israel, if they must die in the wilderness.--"if they must be cut off, let me be cut off with them--let not the land of promise be mine by survivorship. god had told moses, that if he would not interpose, he would make him a great nation--no said moses, i am so far from desiring to see my name and family, built on the ruins of israel, that i choose rather to die with them." * * vid. henry in loc. if such is the spirit of this prayer, moses does not appear resigned to the divine order, but rather peevish and fretful at the disappointment of his hope, which he had till then entertained. he had expected to lead israel to the land of promise; if not indulged, seems not to have cared what became of himself or his family; and is thought here to address his maker, offering distinguishing favors to him, as daniel did belthazzar--"thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another--i desire none of them for myself or mine--if israel die in the wilderness, let me die with them"--from angry jonah such a reply to the kind offers of a gracious god might not surprize us; but it was not to have been expected from the meekest of mankind. doct. hunter, in his biographical lectures, explodes this idea of moses' asking to be damned for the salvation of israel, and shews the absurdity of that construction of the text, but understands him as praying to die himself, before sentence should be executed on his people, if they were not pardoned. and in the declaration, _whosoever hath sinned against me, him will i blot out of my book_, he discovers an intimation, that that offending people should die short of the promised land! a discovery without a clew. this sin of israel was pardoned. sentence of death in the wilderness was occasioned by a subsequent act of rebellion, as will be shewn in the sequel.* * vid. hunter's lect. vol. iv. lect. iv mr. fismin considers moses as here praying to be blotted out of the page of history, if israel were not pardoned; so that no record of his name, or the part which he had acted in the station assigned him, should he handed down to posterity. an exposition differing from the plain language of sacred history--_blot me, i pray thee, out of thy book, which thou hast written_. the page of history is written by man. such are the constructions which have been put on this scripture. the considerations which have been suggested, oblige us to reject them all, as founded in mistake. our sense of the passage, and the reasons, which in our apprehension, support it, will be the subject of another discourse. * * * * * * sermon viii. moses' prayer to be blotted out of god's book. exodus xxxii. , . "and moses returned unto the lord and said. oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. yet now, if thou--wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, i pray they, out of thy book which than hast written." in the preceding discourse we endeavored to show that the idea of being willing to be damned for the glory of god is not found in the text--that the sentiment is erroneous and absurd--then adduced the constructions which have been put on the text by sundry expositors, and offered reasons which oblige us to reject them as misconstructions. it remains, _to give our sense of the passage--the grounds on which it rests--and some reflections by way of improvement_. as _to our sense of the passage_--we conceive these puzzling words of moses to be no other than a prayer for himself--that his sins which might stand charged against him in the book of god, might _be blotted out_, however god might deal with israel. "sins are compared to debts, which are written in the creditor's book, and crossed, or blotted out, when paid.* man's sins are written in the book of god's remembrance, or accounts; out of which all men shall be judged hereafter.+ and when sin is pardoned it is laid to be blotted out.++ and not to be found any more, though sought for." +++ * matthew vi. . + revelations xix. . ++ isaiah xliv. . +++ jeremiah l. .--vid. cruden's concord. under blot. when a debtor hath paid a debt, we are at no loss for his meaning, if he requests to be crossed, or blotted out of the creditor's book; nor would doubt arise should one to whom a debt was forgiven prefer like petition. "you will please to blot me out of your book." though moses had taken no part in this sin of israel. he knew himself a sinner; and when praying for others: it is not likely he would forget himself. the occasion would naturally suggest the value, yea the necessity of forgiveness, and dispose him to ask it of god. when others are punished, or but just escape punishment, we commonly look at home, and consider our own state; and if we see ourselves in danger, take measures to avoid it. to a sinner the only way of safety is, repairing to divine mercy, and obtaining a pardon. that moses would be excited to this by a view of israel, at this time, is a reasonable expectation. that such was the purpose of moses' prayer for himself is clearly indicated by the answer which was given to it--for the _blotting out of god's book_, is doubtless to be understood in the same sense in the prayer, and in the answer; and the latter explains the former. _oh! this people have sinned a great sin--yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not_--if thou wilt not forgive their sin --_blot me, i pray thee, out of thy book, which thou hast written. and the lord said unto moses_, whosoever _hath sinned against me, him will i blot out of my book_: therefore _now go lead the people unto the place of which i have spoken unto thee_. the passage thus presented to our view, seems scarcely to need a comment; but such sad work hath been made of this text, and such strange conclusions been drawn from it that it may be proper to subjoin a few remarks. that god had threatened to "destroy that people and blot out their name from under heaven"--that moses had prayed for them--and that "the lord had repented of the evil which he thought to do unto them" we have seen above. and here moses is ordered to resume his march, and carry up the tribes to the promised land, and the reason is assigned-- "_whosoever_ hath sinned against me, him will i blot out of my book, _therefore_, now go lead the people to the place of which i have spoken unto thee." when we thus view the subject can a doubt remain respecting the sense of this text? (but keeping in view the reason here assigned for the renewed order given to moses to conduct the tribes to canaan, namely, god's determination _to blot of his book--whosoever had sinned against him_, in this affair) let us try it in the different senses which have been put upon it. i. we will suppose _blotting out of god's book_, to mean destroying soul and body in hell. the divine determination to shew no mercy to israel, is then the reason assigned for the order here given to moses. the prayer and answer stand thus--_now if thou wilt, forgive this people_--answer--_i will not hear thy prayer for them--no mercy shall be shewn them, but utter, eternal destruction be their portion_-- therefore _now go lead them to the promised land_! ii. suppose _blotting out of god's book_ to mean annihilation, and his answer to the prayer stands thus--_i will destroy this people, and blot them from among my works_--therefore _go lead them to the place of which i have spoken unto thee_! iii. suppose with mr. henry, and doct. hunter, that it is to be understood of destruction in the wilderness, and the answer stands thus--_my wrath shall wax hot against israel and consume them--they shall all die in the wilderness_, therefore, _now go lead them to canaan_! the whole people, save moses and joshua, seem to have participated in the revolt. we have no account of another exception; _and whosoever had sinned, god would blot out of his book_. surely had either of these been the meaning of _blotting out of god's book_, it would not have been given as the reason for moses' resuming his march and carrying up the tribes to the land of promise. common sense revolts at the idea. but if we understand _blotting out of god's book_ in the sense we have put upon it, we see at once the propriety of the order given to moses, founded on this act of grace. god's having "repented of the evil which he thought to do unto them." if this is the meaning of the words, the answer to moses' prayer amounts to this--"i have heard and hearkened to your prayer, and pardoned the sin of this people, proceed _therefore_ in your march, and lead them to the place of which i have spoken unto thee." the _therefore go now_, doth not surprize us. we see the order rise out of the divine purpose; but on any of the other constructions of the text, thwarts and contradicts it; or cannot surely be assigned as the reason of it. several other considerations illustrate the subject, and confirm our construction of it. when moses returned to intercede for israel, he certainly asked of god to pardon their sin. _oh! this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold--yet now, if than wilt forgive their sin_ --that he was heard and obtained his request appears not only from the history contained in our context, but from moses' rehearsal of it just before his death. he recounted the dealings of god with israel, when taking his leave of them on the plains of moab--in that valedictory discourse he reminded them of their sin on this occasion--of god's anger against them--his threatening to destroy them, and how he pleaded with god in their behalf, and the success which attended his intercessions for them--"i was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the lord was wroth with you, to destroy you, but _the lord hearkened unto me at that time also_." * * deuteronomy ix. . sentence of death in the wilderness was afterwards denounced against those sinners, and executed upon them, but not to punish this sin; but the rebellion which was occasioned by the report made by the spies who were sent to search out the land. on that occasion moses prayed fervently for his people, and not wholly without effect--god had threatened to "smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them," but receded from his threatening through the prevalence of that intercessor in their behalf--"the lord said i have pardoned according to thy word;" but at the same time, denounced an irrevokable sentence of death in the wilderness against those rebels. then moses was not ordered to "lead the people to the place of which god had spoken," but commanded to go back into the wilderness which they had parted--"turn you, and get ye into the wilderness by the way of the red sea." + + numbers xiv. at that time, the exception from the general sentence, was not in favor of moses and joshua, who had been on the mount, and taken no part in israel's sin in making the golden calf, but in favor of caleb and joshua, who dissented from the report made by the other spies; though no intimation is given that caleb was not with the people, and did not sin with them in the matter of the golden calf. there is therefore no doubt respecting the sin which shut that generation out of canaan. nor do we apprehend more occasion for doubt relative to the prayer of moses, _to be blotted out of god's book_. but though the sin of israel on this occasion was pardoned, and moses ordered to lead them to canaan, some temporal chastisements were inflicted to teach the evil of sin, and serve as a warning to others to keep themselves in the fear of god; of which moses was notified when ordered to advance with the pardoned tribes? "nevertheless, in the day when i visit, i will visit their sin upon them. and the lord plagued the people because they had made the calf which aaron made." the manner in which this is mentioned, shows that their sin in that affair was forgiven, and only some lighter corrections ordered in consequence of it; which is common after sin is pardoned. reflexions. i. when we consider moses pouring out his soul before god in behalf of an offending people, it should excite us, as there may be occasion, to go and do likewise. some pretend that prayer offered up for others, must be unavailing. god, it is alleged, is immutable, not therefore to be moved to change his measures by a creature's cries. and prayer for others can have no tendency, it is said, to operate a change in them, so as to bring them into the way of mercy, and render them fit objects of it. we would only observe in reply, that god hath made it our duty to "pray one for another," * and scripture abounds with records of the prevalence of such intercessions. we have a striking influence in our subject--moses prayed for israel and was heard--"the lord hearkened unto me at that time also." it doth not appear that israel joined with moses in his pleadings at the throne of grace on this occasion. moses went up into the mount, leaving israel on the plain below--"i will go up unto the lord; peradventure i shall make an atonement for your sin. and moses returned unto the lord," and pleaded in their behalf. by his individual power, he seems to have prevailed. this is only one instance out of many which might be adduced from the history of the saints--of this saint in particular. yea, there seems to have been such power in the pleadings of this man of god, _while praying for others_, that when god would enter into judgment with them, moses must be prevailed with to hold his peace, and not pray for them! "the lord spake unto me saying, i have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff necked people. _let me alone_ that i may destroy them--_and i will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they_." let me alone! as though god could not destroy them without moses' consent!-- and i will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they! as though moses must be bribed to silence, ere judgment could proceed against them! * james v. . this representation is not to be received without restriction; but we may safely infer that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much"--that it often draws down blessings from above on those who deserve no good. this should encourage us to wrestle with god in prayer, for the effusions of his grace on those who deserve judgment without mercy, and who might receive it from the righteous sovereign, did the righteous hold their peace, and "let him alone." ii. when we witness this holy many [sic] praying _to be blotted out of god's book which he had written_, it should remind us of our state as sinners whose only hope is mercy. "moses' was faithful in all god's house." his attainments in the divine life were scarcely equaled; yet must have perished forever had forgiving grace been denied him. he knew his state; and a view of israel's danger called home his thoughts and led him to implore divine mercy for himself, though he should fail to obtain it for an ungrateful people. "oh! forgive the sin of this people, but if not, forgive my sin--pardoning grace is all my dependence--hope would fail should it be denied me." if moses was thus conscious of guilt, who can say "i have made my heart clean, i am pure from my sin?--o lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified-- there is not a just man upon earth, who doeth good and sinneth not." while praying for others, it ill becomes us to forget ourselves. are we by office appointed to ask mercy for others and bear them on our hearts before god? we must not therefore conclude that mercy is not necessary for us. like the high priests of old, "we must offer, first for own sins, and then for the people's." there is only one intercessor to whom this is needless. witnessing the sin and danger of others, should stir us up to the duty, as it did this leader of israel. while crying to god for others, we must beware wrapping up ourselves in fancied purity. to this we are tempted by a view of greater sins in others, which serve as a foil to act off our fancied goodness; and especially by the knowledge of certain great sins in others, of which we know ourselves to be clear. some in moses' situation, would doubtless have adopted that language --"god i thank thee that i am not as other men are--not as this people." very different was the effect it had on him--it reminded him of his sins, and led him to cry for mercy. it is of vast importance that we know ourselves--if we attain this knowledge, from sense of demerit, we shall add to our prayers for others, _but if not, blot me, i pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written_. iii. if we do not mistake the sense of the text, the strange doctrine exploded in the beginning of this discourse, finds no support in it. and surely the doctrine which reason rejects cannot be supported by revelation. reason directs us to pursue that line of conduct which will be most for our advantage taking the whole term of our existence into the account. and revelation doth the same--"in keeping god's commandments there is great reward." if we look through the holy scriptures we shall find abundant rewards annexed to every requirement. the idea that despising the promises, and being willing to renounce the desire and hope of them, should be made a condition of receiving them, is pitiable weakness and absurdity. quite a different spirit is displayed in the history of the saints, whom we are directed to follow. all the worthies of old "died in faith not having received the promises, but seen them afar off."--the renowned leader of israel "had respect to the recompense of reward" --yea, "the captain of our salvation," the divine son of mary, "for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame." * * hebrews xi. , xii. . here the way of duty requires self denials. the good man is often called to take up his cross; but the rewards which follow are constantly held up to view, in revelation, as infinitely surpassing the losses and sufferings of the present life. "blessed are ye when men shall revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven." every one who forsaketh worldly advantages, out of regard to god, will "receive an hundred fold reward, and inherit eternal life." this was made known to the primitive christians. therefore their fortitude and zeal to do and suffer in the cause of god--"our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.--i reckon the sufferings of the present time, not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." totally groundless and unjust, was that charge--"i knew thee that thou art an hard man." we serve a just, a kind, a good master. even a cup of cold water, given, out of love to him, will in no wise go unrewarded--he asks no sacrifice of us for nought. much less that we would sacrifice ourselves, and be castaways. "those who honor him, he will honor." the slaves of satan are repaid with misery; but not so the servants of god. "he is not unrighteous to forget our labor of love." these things are revealed for our encouragement and support. yea, god hath "given us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature--let us therefore be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the lord, for as much as we know that our labor is not in vain in the lord." * * * * * * sermon ix. st. paul's wish to be accursed from christ. romans ix. "for i could wish that myself were accursed from christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." few characters more remarkable than that of st. paul, are to be found in history. he is introduced to our acquaintance on a tragical occasion--the martyrdom of stephen, where he appears an accomplice with murderers--"he was standing by and consenting to his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him." the circumstances of paul's conversion to christianity were very remarkable, and afford strong evidence of its truth. he was not an ignorant youth, who could be easily deluded. he had all the advantages of education which that enlightened age afforded. he was born indeed at tarsus, a city of cilicia; but sent to jerusalem for an education, and "brought up at the feet of gamaliel," a famous jewish rabbi, who is said to have been many years president of the sanhedrin; and renowned for wisdom and erudition. paul's mind was not only early imbued with general science, but he was particularly instructed in the jews' religion, and became a zealous member of the pharisaic sect--verily believed the truth to be with them--thought it to be his duty to inculcate their sentiments, both scriptural and traditionary, and oppose all who did not fall in with their views, and help to increase their influence, and spread their principles. therefore his hatred of christianity, and determination to destroy it from its foundation--therefore his implacable aversion to christians, and unwearied endeavors to reduce them from the faith, or compel them to blaspheme, or where he failed in those attempts, to destroy them from the earth. but lo! the triumphs of divine grace! this arch enemy, while pursuing the followers of the lamb, even to strange cities, is met by the glorified redeemer, while on his way to damascus, whither he was going, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples!" arrested in his course! convinced of his madness! brought to believe on that jesus whom he had reviled and blasphemed! and even changed into a preacher of that gospel which he had been so eager to destroy! we know the strange process by which these events were effected--how this proud adversary was subdued and melted into a humble, penitent believer! we know the zeal with which he entered on the gospel ministry--what he did--what he suffered, to build up the cause he had destroyed! how he persevered to the end, and sealed his testimony with his blood!--what a trophy of divine power and mercy! "these were the lord's doings, and marvelous in our eyes." but why marvelous? why should we wonder when we consider the agent? god is wont to subvert the purposes of his enemies; and often uses those means and instruments which were prepared and intended against him, to accomplish his purposes. egypt is said, at a particular period, to have dreaded a deliverer, then expected to arise in israel--therefore the edict for thy destruction of the male children which should be born to the hebrews, thinking to destroy the deliverer among them. but while that edict was in operation, as though in contempt of infernal malice, and egyptian policy, moses, the savior of his people, was born. and mark what followed. lo! the daughter of pharaoh becomes his mother. the house of pharaoh his asylum! the learned magi of that hostile empire, his instructors! and all to fit him for the work for which heaven designed him. * * hunter vol. ii. lect. xviii. so here; this moses of the new testament--this destined chieftain among christians, is educated among pharisees; the great enemies of christ--instructed by their greatest teacher--inspired with a double portion of their zeal and rancor against the cause of the redeemer, and sent forth to destroy. but lo! this mighty abaddan of diabolical and jewish malice, is arrested in his course--changed into another man, and all his zeal and learning from that hour directed to buildup the cause of god! the energy instructed and furnished, but heaven directed the use and application! god's purposes stand and will stand. none can stay his hand, or reverse his decrees. the means chosen to subvert, are used to build his cause and kingdom. "he taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the purposes of the froward are carried headlong." while paul remained a pharisee he was the idol of his nation; but no sooner did he become a christian, than their love was turned to hatred. no other was so abhorred as he. against no other did they unite with such determined rancor. numbers soon leagued together, and even "bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink till they had slain him." but all their machinations were vain. "obtaining help from god, of whom he was a chosen vessel, to bear his name to the gentiles, and kings, and the people of israel," he continued many years, and did, perhaps, more than any other perform in the cause of christ. jewish rancor towards him never abated, but he caught no share of their bitter spirit? the temper of christ governed in him? he loved his enemies, and did them good. like another moses he bore israel on his heart before god, and made daily intercession for them, weeping at a view of their sad state, and the evils coming upon them. such is the spirit of the context. "i say the truth in christ, i lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy ghost that i have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.--_for i could wish that myself were accursed from christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh_". the depressing occasion of his grief, was the infidelity and obduracy of his nation--that they refused to hearken to reason and evidence --were resolved to reject the only savior; and the evils temporal and eternal, which he foresaw their temper and conduct would bring upon them--therefore his "great heaviness and continual sorrow." in the text--_i could wish that myself were accursed from christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh_, the apostle hath been thought to imprecate evil on himself for the benefit of his people! all the expositors we have seen on this passage, conceive him to have wished some sore calamity to himself for the advantage of his nation! though they have differed respecting the magnitude of the evil which he wished to suffer for their sake. doct. doddridge considers him, as "wishing to be made a curse for them, as christ hath been made a curse for us, that so they might be delivered from the guilt which they had brought on themselves, and be entitled to the blessings of the rejected gospel." doct. s. clark views him, as "desirous of suffering the calamities to which his people were doomed for rejecting and crucifying the savior, so that, could they all centre in one person, he wished to be the person, that he might thereby procure salvation for them!" grotius and pool understand him, as "wishing to be separated from the church of christ for the sake of the jews!" which differs little from doct. hunter's sense of the passage--to which doct. guyse adds, "a desire of every indignity of man, and to be cut off from communion with christ, for the sake of israel;" whom he strangely considers as prejudiced against christianity in consequence of their prejudices against paul! but why should the apostle wish evil to himself for their sakes? what possible advantage could his sufferings have been to his nation? is it possible that those learned expositors should conceive that pains and penalties inflicted on him could have made atonement for their sins, and expiated their guilt! they must never have read paul's epistles or never have entered into the spirit of them, who could entertain such views as these; or even suspect that aught, save the blood of christ, can atone for human guilt. it is strange, therefore, that they could have imagined that he wished to suffer with this view. and it is no less so, that it should be thought that prejudices against paul could have occasioned jewish prejudices against christianity, when it is so evident that their prejudices against paul were wholly occasioned by his attachment to christianity--he having been high in their esteem till he became a christian. david once asked to suffer in israel's stead; but the circumstances of the case were then totally different from those of the case now before us. israel were suffering _for his sin_ in numbering the people; "i have sinned and done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, i pray thee be against me."--but paul had not sinned, to bring evil on his people--the guilt was all their own. expositors having mistaken moses' prayer "to be bloated out of god's book," seem generally to have had that prayer in their eye when they have attempted to explain the text; and supposing that moses prayed to be made sacrifice for israel, have thought that paul had the same spirit, and here followed his example! but that neither of them ever entertained the thought of suffering to expiate the sin of their people, and that the two passages bear no kind of relation to each other, we conceive indubitably certain. but let us consider the text and judge for ourselves the meaning. perhaps the difficulties which have perplexed it may have chiefly arisen from the translation. the silence of expositors on this head, while puzzled with the passage, is strange, if the difficulty might have been obviated by amending to the original. the translation is plausible solely from this consideration. mr. pool is the only expositor we have ever seen, who hath noted the difference between the translation and the original; and he labors hard to bring them together, but, in our apprehension, labors it in vain. the passage literally translated stands thus? _for i myself boasted that i was a curse from christ, above my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh_. * * * * * * * _euxoman gar autos ego anathema einai apo tou xristou uper tou adelphon mou suggenon mou kata sarxa_. _euxoman_, rendered in translation by _i could wish_ forms in the imperfect of the indicative mood, in the auic dialect. mr. pool was too accurate a scholar not to observe the disagreement of the translation with the original. some read it as in the indicative; but it is generally considered as in the optative, and altered by a figure which takes on _iota_ from the middle, and cuts an _an_ end of the word forming _euxoman_, instead of _auxoiman an_. + but what warrant have we for these alterations? they only serve to darken a difficult text. the most natural and common construction of _euxoman_, derives, is, to glory or boast. _gloriar_ is the first word used to express the meaning of it in schrevelius' lexicon; and the meaning _euxos_, the theme of this verb justifies the construction, in preference to that used by the translators. and the greek preposition _uper_, which is rendered for, is often used to signify above, or more than. + vid. pool in loc. * * * * * for the justice of the criticisms we appeal to the learned. if they are just, our sense of the text will be admitted. if we consider the context, and the part which had been formerly acted by the apostle, it will not be difficult to ascertain his meaning, nor strange that he should express himself as in the text. he begins the chapter with strong expressions of concern for his nation, who had rejected him "whose name alone is given under heaven," for the salvation of men. if they continued to neglect the grace offered them in the gospel, he knew that they could not escape. and when he looked on them and mourned over them, the dangers which a few years before had hung over himself, rose up before him. he had been an unbeliever, a blasphemer, and a persecutor of the church of christ; had boasted his enmity to christ and opposition to the gospel; in which he had even exceeded the body of his nation--he had taken the lead against christianity--been unrivalled in zeal against the cause, and rancour against the followers of the lamb. when warned of his danger, and admonished to consider what would be his portion, should jesus prove to be the messias, he seems to have derided the friendly warnings, and imprecated on himself the vengeance of the nazerene!--to have defied him to do his worst! to pour his curse upon him! it is not strange that witnessing the temper of his nation, should call these things to his remembrance--that the consideration should affect him--that he should shudder at the prospect of the destruction which hung over them, and at the recollection of that from which himself had been "scarcely saved"--that he should exclaim, "god and my conscience witness my great heaviness and continual sorrow, when i look on my brethren the jews, and consider the ruin coming upon them, from which i have been saved, _so as by fire_! lately i was even more the enemy of christ than they, and boasted greater enmity.. against him! and should have brought on myself a more intolerable doom, had not a miracle of power and mercy arrested me in my course!" that such considerations and a recollection of the share which he had formerly taken in strengthening the prejudices of his nation against the truth, should deeply affect him, and draw such expression from him as we find in the text and context, is not strange. they appear natural for a person circumstanced as he was at that time; and especially to one divinely forewarned of the devastation then coming on his place and nation. these we conceive to be the feelings and views expressed by the apostle in the beginning of this chapter--but that he should wish to be put into the place of christ; or madly with evil to himself, from which nobody could be benefited, cannot be suspected; unless with festus, we suppose him to have been "beside himself," and not to have known what he wrote, when he expressed himself as in the text. reflections i. in paul's conversion how wonderfully apparent are the wisdom and power of god? when we view saul of tarsus making havoc of the church in judea, and soliciting permission to pursue its scattered members even into exile, we consider him as a determined enemy of christ. who then would suspect that he should be made to feel the power of divine grace? that he would become a christian? yea, a prime minister of immanuel! but lo! for this cause did god raise him up! for this work was he training while drinking at the fount of science, and learning the jews' religion in the school of gamaliel! while unsanctified he was a destroyer; but when melted by divine influence into the temper of the gospel, all his powers and all his acquisitions were consecrated to the service of god and the redeemer. to affect this change in paul, however unexpected, was not beyond the power of god; and it was done of god! neither was it delayed till paul had spent his best days in the service of satan. at setting out to destroy, he was met of the ascended savior, transformed by the renewing of his mind, and from that time devoted to the service of god; and continued faithful unto death. many were his trials--severe his sufferings for the gospel which he preached; but "none of these things moved him; neither did he count his life dear to himself, that he might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the lord jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of god." ii. the temper manifested by st. paul when contemplating the state of his nation, how worthy of imitation? like his divine lord, "when he beheld them he wept over them." neither was the view unprofitable. it served to remind him of his own past guilt and danger, and the mercy which had been exercised toward him. his guilt and danger had been great. in high handed opposition to heaven, he had even exceeded "his kinsmen according to the flesh." witnessing their state brought these again to his remembrance, and the grace of god which had stopt him in his course, and saved him from destruction, causing him at once, to rejoice and tremble! many of the children of god when they witness the security of sinners; how they neglect the great salvation, and harden themselves in sin, may remember when they did the same themselves and some of them, in a higher degree than most of those who appear to be walking the downward road. those who have found mercy cannot refrain from mourning over those whom they see hardening themselves in sin; nor should they cease to warn them from their way, and to cry to god in their behalf. but their attention is not wholly taken up from home; it often reverts thither, and stirs them up to grateful acknowledgments of divine goodness to themselves. who is he that maketh me to differ from the thoughtless sinner? is a consideration which often rises in the good man's mind, while looking on the careless and secure. it is a proper and a profitable consideration--tends to keep him humble and mindful of his dependence. sense of past dangers serve to enhance the value of present safety. the greater dangers we have escaped, and the more wonderful our deliverances have been, the greater should be our love to our deliverer, and the greater our care to make him suitable returns. if we entertain just views of these things, such will be the effect. those to whom most is forgiven love the most. by reflecting on the riches of divine mercy, we should stir up our souls to love the lord. if witnessing the unconcern of others, while in the broad road, serves to excite us to gratitude for divine goodness shown to us, "the wrath of man is thereby made to praise the lord." such was the effect which a view of israel's hardness had on paul--may all christ's disciples cultivate the same temper. iii. in paul's conversion we see god distinguishing among his enemies, and calling one into his kingdom who was, from principle, a destroyer of his saints. paul was a pharisee and the son of a pharisee. no sect among the jews was more bitter against christ--no other so eager and active in their endeavors to crush his cause and subvert his kingdom. yet numbers of that sect obtained mercy. the same did not happen respecting the saducees. no instance of a saducee brought to repentance, can be adduced. why this discrimination? there may be reasons not revealed; but some are discernible. the pharisees "had a zeal for god, though not according to knowledge." saul, the pharisee, "verily thought, that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of jesus"--he did not sin against the light of his own mind. the same was doubtless the case with many others of that sect. the saducees were devoid of principle--had rejected first principles--those taught by the light of nature. while first principles are retained, such was the belief of a divine existence--a difference between good and evil--a future state, in which men will receive the deeds done in the body, and the like, there remains a foundation on which religion may rest; but where these are rejected, the foundation is destroyed. of the former who have erred in lesser matters of faith, and been thereby seduced into practical errors, many have been reclaimed, and brought to repentance: not so the latter. "one among a thousand have we not found." and those whose sentiments border on atheism, or infidelity, are seldom called of god. there is a certain point of error in opinion, from which a return is rare. those who reach it are commonly given up to strong delusions, which lead to destruction. and practical errors, especially those which are opposed to conviction, are highly criminal, and exceedingly dangerous--they fear the conscience, and provoke god to leave sinners to themselves--"my spirit shall not always strive with man--the times of ignorance god winked at, but now commands all men every where to repent." saul of tarsus speaks of himself as a chief of sinners "because he persecuted the church of god;" yet he obtained mercy! but those who sin against the light of their own minds, can draw little encouragement from thence. he hath declared the reason of the distinguishing mercy shown to him--"because i did it ignorantly in unbelief." * no sooner was he convinced of his mistake, than he returned with, "lord what will thou have me to do?"--so do not those "who know their master's will and do it not." would we share the blessedness of believing saul, we must share his repentance; so shall we find mercy with god. "for there is no difference between the jew and the greek; for the same lord over all, is rich unto all that call upon him." + * timothy i. . + romans x. . * * * * * * sermon x. david's sin in the matter of uriah. samuel xii, . "and david said unto nathan, 'i have sinned against the lord.' and nathan said unto david, 'the lord also hath put away thy sin; then shalt not die.'" the sin here referred to is that of david in the matter of uriah. a strange and sad event--taken in all its circumstances and connections, it is without a parallel. but the circumstance most to be lamented, is that mentioned by the prophet, in the close of his message--"by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the lord to blaspheme." the justness of this remark, doubtless appeared at that day, in the triumph of sinners and exultations of scoffers; and the story brought down to us, "on whom the ends of the world are come" is still abused to keep vice in countenance. "look to david, your man of religion! your man after god's own heart! and witness his complicated crimes! and his long continued security and unconcern under guilt, which cannot be charged on us, who view religion as a dream!"--so the infidel. while people of another description, wound god's cause yet more deeply, by the argument which they draw from this fall of david; namely, those who are allowedly vicious, yet call themselves "of the household of faith--who are pure in their own eyes, though not cleansed from their filthiness." these, when reproved, especially if their piety is called in question, often recur to david for support --tell us, that "though eminent for piety, he was guilty of greater sins than theirs, and long continued in them--that he remained impenitent till visited by nathan, after the birth of his child by bathsheba. if, say they, be could continue so long secure and unconcerned, why not longer? and why may not others fall into sins and continue in them months and years after having received the grace of god, and after they are numbered among the saints?" this, we conceive, to be the most baleful conclusion which is drawn from this history. and could it be made to appear that such was david's state, for so long a term, we see no way to avoid the conclusion--see not but the idea which the scriptures give of religion as a holy principle, productive of a holy life, must be relinquished. such is the idea which the scriptures do give of religion--they teach, that it changeth the heart, and forms the new creature--that "in this the children of god are manifest, and the children of the devil; that whomever doeth not righteousness is not of god; that by their fruits we are to know men." thus speaks that holy book which we believe to be from god, and to shew us the way of salvation. but if the children of god are not made to differ from others, if they may live in allowed disregard of the law of god, like others, these distinctions are idle and unworthy our regard. this matter demands our attention. from the subject before us, the errors now mentioned draw their chief support. we do not flatter ourselves that we can stop mouths of scoffers, or so clearly elucidate this dark part of the book of god, that it will no more be abused to the purposes of depravity; but believe that it may be made apparent that it hath been mistaken and perverted; and thereby rendered the more mischievous. this will now be attempted. that david remained unconcerned and devoid of repentance for the sins which he committed in the matter of uriah, till awakened to consideration by the ministry of nathan, seems to have been taken for granted, and to have been the ground of these abuses. this may have been the common opinion. whether it is founded in reality, we will now inquire. or those who argue from a supposition that this was the case, we ask evidence that it was so. that we have no express declaration that nathan found him a penitent, we conceive to be all that can be alleged as evidence that he remained till that time impenitent. to which may be rejoined, that we have no express declaration that nathan found him impenitent. the fact is, both scripture and profane history are silent respecting the state of david's mind from the commission of the sins, till he was visited by the prophet. we are left therefore to judge the matter on other grounds. and on what grounds can we form a more profitable opinion than by considering _the general character of the man--the nature and effects of renewing grace--and the temper and conduct of the delinquent when he was reproved by the prophet_? from a consideration of these we may derive the most probable solution of the question, or judge what was probably the state in which david was found by nathan. it may be proper to premise, i. that good men, while in this state of imperfection, should be surprized by temptation into sins, and even heinous sins, is neither new nor strange. many instances occur in the history of the saints recorded in the scriptures. "aaron, the saint of the lord," and moses, whose general character was that of "a servant, faithful in all god's house," were both seduced into sins of such enormity that they were excluded the land of promise, in common with rebellious israel. among new testament saints similar lapses are observable. even the apostles forsook the savior, and fled when judas led forth the hostile band to apprehend him; and peter, when under the influence of fear, with oaths and imprecations "denied the lord that bought him!" the habitual temper of these good men could not be argued--from these sudden acts. neither is judgment to be formed of others, except by observing the general tenor of their lives. strong and unexpected temptations may, and often do, seduce the best of those who remain in the body and retain the weakness of fallen creatures yet on trial. ii. there is something in each one's constitution which predisposes to certain sins. to every person there is a "sin which most easily besets him"--from which he is liable to stronger temptation than from other sins--and temptation to such sins may rise from concurring circumstances, above its natural state, and become almost invincible. nor will any person who reads the history of david doubt to what particular sin he was naturally most disposed. neither are we insensible how one sin prepares the way for another, and strengthens temptation to it. david's sins on the occasion before us were complicated and exceeding sinful. but we know how he was seduced to the first, and how the others followed of course. respecting the state in which he was found by nathan we may judge, i. from his general character. this is so well known, that the bare mention is almost sufficient. the scriptures teach us that he was pious from his youth. when samuel was sent to anoint him, sufficient intimation was given that his heart was right with god. when elijah, the first born of jesse palled before the prophet, pleased with his appearance, he supposed him to be the man whom god had chosen to rule his people--"surely the lord's anointed is before him"'--but god refused him with this declaration, "the lord seeth not appearance, but the lord looketh on the heart." david's after life justified the preference then given him. no person acquainted with his history as contained in the sacred records, will scruple his general devotedness to the service of god. should doubt arise, we may refer to the charter given of him by the pen of inspiration, about half a century after his death. "david did that which was right in the sight of the lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of uriah the hittite." * * kings xv. . in that matter he greatly erred. there is no need however to consider him as then fallen from grace. the remains of depravity which continues after renovation, are sufficient under existing circumstances to account for his fall on that occasion. but it is inconcievable that a person of established piety should remain for a whole year stupid and unconcerned under the guilt of such transgressions; and the utter improbability of such an event will be further apparent, if we attend, ii. to the nature and effects of renewing grace. it is no less true of holy than of unholy principles, that they are operative. the governing principle, whatever it may be, will bring forth fruit according to its nature. a good man may be surprized into sin, as we have seen, but he will not go deliberately into the way of it, like the wicked. neither do the two characters, when they have been seduced into sin, reflect upon it with similar feelings and views. when the good think on their ways, they are grieved and humbled for their faults, and turn their feet to god's testimonies; but the wicked bless themselves in their hearts, as fortunate in the accomplishment of their vicious desires. the good maintain a sense of god's presence--"thou god seeth me." the wicked forget god or doubt his attention to their temper and conduct --"how doth god know? is there knowledge in the most high?" it is not strange if those whose only joys are the pleasures of sense, felicitate themselves when they attain them; but those who love and fear the lord, and prefer his favor above all earthly joys, must have other views. if sensible that they have offended god, and incurred his displeasure, it greives them at their hearts, and fills them with deep concern. apart from all considerations of interest, the good see a baseness and deformity in sin, which render it the object of their aversion. they consider it the disgrace of their rational nature, and are humbled and abased when conscious that temptation hath prevailed to seduce them from the paths of rectitude. it will not be imagined that david could banish thought, and drive away reflection, for a whole year after the commission of such enormous sin; as he committed in the matter now before us. it is presumed that no man, retaining reason was ever able soon to forget any enormity, which he knew himself guilty. the remembrance always haunts the imagination, and conscience goads the mind with a thousand stings. the delinquent hath not power to prevent it. he cannot drive away thought, and turn off his attention to other objects. it is further presumed, that every good man is formed to the habit of reflection; that he often enters into himself by a serious attention to his state; considers his temper; review's his conduct, and brings both to the divine standard, that he may know himself, and reform whatever is amiss. a person of david's character, especially circumstanced as he was at that time, could not possibly have been destitute of considerations. the society of the woman who had been the occasion of the crimes which had so maimed his character, must have brought those crimes to his remembrance, and kept them on his mind. every time she came into his presence, or cheered him by her smiles, a group of affecting thoughts must have rushed in upon him; his first offence, an offence which the law of his god would have obliged him to punish with death, in a subject, and his after, and still more enormous sins, which he had committed to hide the first, and possess the object which he was forbidden even to covet, would occur to his mind. from the lovely object in his presence, his mind would naturally revert to her late, first greatly injured, and then murdered husband; to his faithfulness and zeal for the honor of his king and country, which had torn him from the embraces of a lovely partner, and the society of a family dear to him, and would not even suffer him to visit them when liberty was given him of his prince; to his careful attention to deliver the letters, by which he had unsuspectingly borne the mandate for his own murder; to his heroism when ordered up to the walls of the besieged city, though not supported by the commander in chief; and his noble exertions to subdue the enemies of israel, amidst which he had bravely fallen! such reflexions must have filled his mind; nor was it possible that he should have driven them away. neither could he do other than condemn the part which he had acted and feel pain when he considered it. surely such considerations must have racked his guilty soul, and made him tremble and mourn in bitterness of his spirit before god. a graceless tyrant who neither fears god, nor regards man, may view, his subjects as made for him, and think himself entitled to deprive them at his pleasure, of every comfort, and even life. this hath been the avowed sentiment of many an eastern despot. but it is not supposeable of a good man--"the man after god's own heart," though now seduced into certain heinous sins. surely he could not think on his ways--on his then late transgressions, but remorse must have harrowed up his soul! he must have been deeply affected, and led to cry, "god be merciful to me a sinner!" the feelings of a good man, who had been seduced into sin and reflected upon it with deep contrition, are pathetically described by the pen of this same person, in the thirty second psalm; and description is couched in the first person, as what himself had experienced. "when i kept silence, my bones waxed old by reason of my roaring all the days long. for day and night thy hand was heavy on me; my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." there is a strong probability that his feeling on this occasion, before he confessed his sin, and obtained a sense of pardon, are here expressed. they are the same which we should suppose he must feel while tormentedwith a sense of such enormous guilt. iii. we are to consider his temper and conduct when reproved by the prophet. these are the same which we should expect, did we know him to have been then a penitent. he was indeed taken by guile, and made to condemn himself before he perceived that he was the guilty person of whom the prophet complained. but had he till that time continued impenitent, it is not probable that he would have been instantly humbled, and immediately confessed his sin with true contrition. it is much more probable that he would have resented the application to himself, as an affront offered to royalty, and avenged himself on the lord's messenger. god hath power instantly to change the sinner's heart without previous awakenings; but this is not the method of grace. convictions, ordinarily, if not invariably, antecede conversion, prepare for it, and lead to it. neither is this the method of grace, only with the sinner at the first great change, termed the, new birth, but with the saint who falls into heinous sins, and thereby resembles the sinner. when a good man yields to temptation and falls from his stedfastness, god commonly hides his face from him--for a term, and often for a considerable term, he sits in darkness--is ready to give up his hope--to conclude that he hath believed in vain--never loved god or hated sin--never passed from death into life. in fine, he feels similar pains, and passeth in many respects, a similar change, when renewed again by repentance, as when first made a new creature. do we ever see persons who have been seduced into great and heinous sins, brought back to god, and comforted with his presence without sensations of this kind? we presume the instance cannot be adduced. we should look with a jealous eye on one who pretended to be an example of it. from the methods of grace at present, we may judge of them in times past. god is the same--sin equally his aversion, and sinners alike the objects of his displeasure. the supposition that a person is one moment a hardened sinner; the next a thorough penitent, pardoned, restored and comforted of god, is so diverse from his common manner of treating great offenders, that it should not be admitted in a given case, without clear and strong evidence; and in the case before us there is no evidence; even circumstances have a different aspect. no sooner was this offender reproved, than he discovered a humble penitent disposition. he, freely confessed his sin, both to god and man, as one who had thought on his ways and repented of his transgressions; which could not have been expected of one who after the commission of such crimes, remained thoughtless and secure, till the moment when his guilt and danger were set before him. but if david was a penitent before he was visited by nathan, why had he concealed his repentance? why spread a veil over it and neglected to glorify god by a confession of his sins? did he think it sufficient to confess to god, and humble himself in secret? so some argue, and endeavor to cover the sins of which the world knows them to be guilty. but we are far from suspecting this of david. to break the divine law is implicitly to condemn it. "what iniquity have your fathers found in me?" to conceal sorrow for sin, is in effect to justify it. then only is god glorified by an offender, when he takes the blame and the shame of his sins on himself, acknowledging the law which he hath broken to be "holy, just and good." of these things, this offender could not be insensible david was indeed under strong temptation to hide his sins. he was the head of a family, several members of which were abandoned characters. these he had doubtless often reproved. he was the head of a nation, numbers of which were children of belial. these he had called to repentance, reproved, punished. he had long professed religion--perhaps often declared its power to change the heart and mend the life. but if his crimes were now made public, he must appear "a sinner above all who dwelt at jerusalem!" to have his conduct known would cover him with shame, and "give great occasion to the enemy to blaspheme, and speak reproachfully." did these considerations prevent him from confessing his sins, and induce him to cover his transgressions? they were mostly arguments for his proclaiming his repentance, had his sins been public. by his sins he had countenanced wickedness, and set the example of it in a dignified station. by his confession he would condemn it, and justify the law of god, which forbids it; and by his return to duty, do every thing then in his power, to repair the injury he had done and prevent or remove the bad effects of his example. why then had he neglected it? there was only one consideration which could excuse him--that, we apprehend, justified him. his sins in this affair were not public. it appears from several circumstances that they were kept out of sight till the prophet was sent to reprove and publish them, and his repentance of them. joab knew indeed that the king wished the death of uriah. it is not certain that he knew the cause. if he did, it is not probable that he had divulged it. that these matters were not transacted openly, or generally known, maybe inferred from two considerations, namely, from bathsheba's going into mourning for uriah, and from nathan's declaration, when he foretold the evils which would come on david and his family, to punish his sins on this occasion, notwithstanding his repentance. mournings were very short among the hebrews; but this adulteress would not have put on mourning, or david delayed to take her to his house, to be his wife, till her mourning was ended, had this affair been public. but, that it was not so, is put out of doubt by the language of the prophet in his address to the king--"thou didst it secretly." if the matter was not public, the delinquent was not to be criminated because he did not make it so. sins committed in secret are to be confessed and mourned only before him who sees in secret. such seems to have been david's fixation from the time of his fall, till the publication of his guilt, by the prophet; during which term he felt all the horrors of conscious guilt; "god's hand lying heavy on him." as it pleased god that both his fall and recovery should be made public, the prophet seems to have delivered his message before witnesses. this took away the ground of temptation longer to hide his fins, and cleared the way to a public renunciation, and return to duty. and the fallen prince waited no exhortations--needed no entreaties--"i acknowledged my sin unto thee; and mine iniquity have i not hid; i said i will confess my transgressions unto the lord; and thou foregavest the iniquity of my sin." * * psalm xxxii. . thus the opinion of those who suppose that david remained impenitent and secure, till awakened to consideration by the ministry of nathan, is devoid of proof, and even of probability. david's well known character--the nature of renewing grace; and the temper and conduct of this transgressor, when reproved by the prophet, concur to prove him then already a penitent; which is confirmed by the consolations forthwith administered to him by the lord's messenger. if in this instance god pardoned, and gave a sense of pardon, to so heinous an offender, without a moment intervening sense of guilt, and evidence of pardon and peace, it must have been a very singular divine treatment of so vile a sinner! and if david, after having been long eminent for piety, lived a year of stupid unconcern, under such enormous guilt, it must have been a very strange event! a phenomenon in the history of man, unequalled in the annals of the world! whether there is evidence to justify so strange a conclusion, judge ye. if we have not mistaken our subject, this affair gives no countenance to those who pretend religion to be a thing of nought--that it doth not change the heart and life, turning men from sin to holiness. good people may be seduced into sin, but they are soon renewed by repentance--soon turn again to the lord in the way of duty, confessing their sins and renewing their purposes and engagements to serve the lord--"that which i know not teach thou me; and wherein i have done iniquity, i will do no more." neither doth this affair yield comfort and hope to those, who while they call themselves saints, live like sinners. if _here_, they find no comfort and support, where will they find it? the only example thought to have been found in "the footsteps of the flock," fails them; and we are left to conclude that sanctification is the principal evidence of justification--"that by their fruits we are to know men." it is a dark omen when professors paliate their errors and deviations from duty, by pleading those of saints of old. those saints erred; but they did not long continue in sin--"when they thought on their ways they turned by repentance." neither did they flatter themselves in allowed wickedness. if any allege the sins of former saints in excuse for their own, they allege not that which distinguished them as saints, but that which they retained as sinners--not that which they possessed of the image of god, but that which remained to them of the image of satan. this they may have in full, and yet be of their father the devil. and such is the sad state of those who allowed serve sin, under whatever pretence. those who are born of god, favor the thing which are of god. sin is odious in their view. they long for freedom from it--"oh wretched man that i am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" the saints wish for heaven, not only that they may see "their father who is in heaven," and the divine redeemer, "who loved them and gave himself for them;" but because there "the spirits of the just are made perfect"--because there they expect to be holy as god is holy-- because there, to be "satisfied with god's likeness, and rejoice always before him." may god give us this temper, and keep us to his kingdom, for his mercy's sake in christ. amen. * * * * * * sermon xi. general character of christians. galatians v. . "and they that are christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." st. paul is supposed to have been the first herald of gospel grace to the galatians; and they appear to have rejoiced at the glad tidings, and to have received the bearer with much respect. but after his departure, certain judaizing teachers went among them, and labored but too successfully, to alienate their affections from him, and turn them form the simplicity of the gospel. the malice and errors of those deceitful workers, and the mischief which they occasioned at galatia, caused the writing of this epistle: which, like the other writings of this apostle, reflects light on the gospel in general, while it served to correct the mistakes of those professors of christianity, and guide their erring footsteps into the way of peace and truth. it is not our design to enter into the controversy between this inspired teacher, and his enemies. we are only concerned to understand him, and shall receive his instructions as communicated from above. the primary design of this epistle was to refute those false teachers who urged circumcision, and the observance of sundry parts of the levitical code, which had been abrogated by the gospel. this appears to have been a leading error of those anarchists. that the apostle did not lay the intolerable burdens of the mosaic ritual, on the professors of christianity, was made the ground of a charge against him. st. paul defended himself by evincing the errors of his opponents, shewing that christians are made free from the ceremonial law; and that their justification before god is not in virtue of any obedience of their own, to either the ceremonial, or the moral law, but of grace through faith in christ. in the former part of the epistle, he shows the impossibility of justification in any other than the gospel way--especially in that way, to which those false teachers directed--shews that they subverted the gospel, and rendered christ's sufferings of no effect--"by the works of the law, shall no flesh be justified--if righteousness come by the law, then christ is dead in vain." * * chapter ii. , . we conceive these to be obvious truths, and wonder that they should be matter of doubt, or dispute, among those who are favored with revelation, and receive it as given of god. perfect obedience is evidently the demand of the divine law, and condemnation is denounced against the breakers of it. "this do, and thou shalt live, but the soul that sinneth, it shall die." * but none of our race keep the law. "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise "by faith of jesus christ, might be given to them that believe." mankind are "shut up to the faith in christ.." this is the way in which god "hath mercy on whom he will have mercy. he that believeth shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." therefore the hope of the apostle, in the way of faith, while discarding hope in any other way. "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of jesus christ; even we have believed in jesus christ, that we might be justified by the faith of christ, and not by the works of the law." * lev. xviii. . ezek. xviii. . from the reasoning of the apostle, the false teachers at galatia seem not to have urged obedience to the whole law. circumcision they taught to be indispensible. st. paul allures them, that if they were under obligation to receive circumcision, they were equally obliged to keep the whole law; and that they bound themselves to this by submitting to be circumcised--that if they reverted to the law, and placed their dependence on their obedience to it, they renounced the grace of christ, and would not be benefited by it. "behold, i paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised. christ shall profit you nothing. for i testify again to every man that it is circumcised, that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. christ is become of none effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace," while such was the state of those who followed the judaizing teachers, those who retained the gospel as taught by the apostle, had another hope--a hope which would not make ashamed--a hope in divine grace through faith in christ--"we through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. for in jesus christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." such is every christian's hope before god. he "counts all things to be loss and dung that he win christ; but the righteousness which is of god by faith." but while st. paul was exhibiting and urging these important truths, on the wavering galatians, he foresaw, that it would be objected, that the scheme which he advanced, tended to licentiousness--that if men might be saved by faith without the works of the law, they might indulge themselves in sin--that this would render christ the minister of sin. the same objection appears to have been made at rome, where a faction existed similar to this at galatia. this consequence the apostle rejected with abhorrence. "do we then make void the law through faith? god forbid: yea we establish the law." the levitical code included both the ceremonial and the moral law. though st. paul declares justification unattainable by obedience to either or to both, he did not set aside the moral law, as no longer obligatory, as he did the ceremonial. this latter had answered the ends of its appointment, and was abolished by fulfillment. it was only a shadow of good things to come, and fled away before that of which it was a shadow. christ had therefore blotted it out and taken it away. but the moral law was not done away. christ hath fulfilled it for those who believe on him; but it doth not therefore cease to be obligatory upon them. it is of universal and eternal obligation. the salvation of mankind, doth not, however, depend on their obedience to it. if it did, they could not be saved, because all mankind have broken it. "salvation is of grace, through faith." instead of setting christians free from obligation to keep the moral law, what christ hath done for them strengthens their obligations to obey it. an increase of mercies is an increase of obligations to serve the lord. but yet more is done to secure obedience from those who are christ's --yea enough to secure it. a change passeth on them, when they become his, which reconciles them to the law, and causes them to delight in it, and in the duties which it enjoins. this produces a pleasing conformity to it--"his commandments are not grievous." their obedience is sincere and universal. others may render a partial obedience, out of fear, but the obedience of the renewed flows from love, and hath respect to all god's commandments. remains of depravity abide in the christian, but they do not habitually govern in him. that they are not wholly purged out of his nature, is to him the occasion of grief--causes him to go sorrowing: but he doth not gain complete deliverance till he puts off the body. he puts on, however, the gospel armor, and maintains a warfare against his own corruptions within, no less than against the powers of darkness without. though sometimes wounded, and made to go on his way halting, he is in his general course victorious, rising superior to opposition, and living unto god. "whosoever is born of god, doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of god"--cannot sin: like others, allowedly and habitually. "how shall he who is dead to sin, live any longer therein?" such is the character of the christian, as drawn in the bible; so that all ground of objection to the gospel scheme, as drawn by st. paul, is removed. those who are christ's instead of taking liberty to sin, because "they are not under the law, but under grace," are of all men most careful to do god's commandments; and from the noblest principles. their obedience is not servile, but filial. this is the spirit of the text. _they that are christ's have crucified the flesh, with the afflictions and lusts--have crucified_. the change which frees from the governing power of indwelling corruption, and disposeth to walk in newness of life, hath already passed upon them. none are christ's till this change takes place in them. but while the apostle vindicates the doctrine of grace, and shews its beneficial influence on the morals of men, care is taken to guard against mistakes on the other hand--not to give occasion to consider renewing grace as wholly eradicating the principles of depravity, and putting an end, at once to the spiritual context. this subject is treated more largely in the epistle to the romans.* but the opposition of natural and gracious principles, is here mentioned, and some of its effects described. "the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." * chapter vii. in every man, whatever may be his character, there are different principles, which, struggle and contend with one another. the natural man feels a bias to wickedness, and wishes to indulge his depraved inclinations. but reason forbids, and conscience remonstrates, and warns him to beware what he doth--reminds him that to yield to passion is wrong--to indulge appetite unreasonably is sinful--that for these things god will bring him into judgment. thus the principles implanted in the mind, by the god of nature, withstand the sinner in his way, and resist him in his course; they hold him back and restrain him from gratifying his natural desires--from doing that to which he is inclined, and hath power to do. by this means he is prevented from giving full latitude to his corruptions; yea, he is sometimes influenced to do good. herod was a vile character; but "he feared john, knowing that he was a just man, and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him he did many things, and heard him gladly." * many similar instances might be adduced. there is not a sinner who doth not feel the natural bias, and the power of reason and conscience, driving and contending within him; and sometimes the one prevails to influence his conduct, and sometimes the other. * mark vi. . neither is the christian free from similar struggles. reason and conscience have naturally the same power in him which they have in others. the corrupt bias, is also weakened in renovation; yea receives a deadly wound. but it is not immediately destroyed. still its influence is felt, and its effects observed. sometimes it evinceth so much power, that its deadly wound seems to be healed. reason and conscience, strengthened by renewing grace, ordinarily prevail over indwelling depravity; but not without a struggle, as every christian can testify--neither do the better principles always conquer. sometimes the opposing principles, or powers, prevail, and lead to error and wickedness. thus "the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh--so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." neither the regenerate, nor the unregenerate, are free to do all that to which the generally governing principle inclines. the difference between the renewed, and the unrenewed, is not that the former is free from temptation, the latter overcome by it, at every attack. neither is the case. both meet with temptation, and often that which is severe. each sometimes overcomes; at other times is overcome by it. but the renewed formed to the habit of attention and watchfulness, and looking to god for help, and acting, in the main, uprightly before god, is usually a conqueror; while the unrenewed, habitually careless, and negligent of watchfulness and prayer, is more often conquered, and hurried into error and wickedness. the renewed are chiefly restrained by love to god and duty; the unrenewed by fear of punishment; though fear hath a degree of influence on the former; and other considerations, beside fear, are not wholly, devoid of influence on the latter. how far a christian may be influenced by remaining corruption, and carried away by the prevalence of temptation; or how far a sinner may be restrained by the influence of those principles and considerations, which withstand him in his course, we are unable to determine. that both feel and are influenced by those opposing principles, is not matter of doubt. we experience it in ourselves, whatever our characters may be; and we observe it in others. none are so moulded into the divine image, as to become perfect--neither doth depravity attain so complete an ascendant over any who remain in the body, as to divest them of all restraints, and yield them wholly up to the vicious propensity. restraints, yea inward restraints operate in degree, on the most depraved. this is a mixed state. the good and the bad are here blended together. "the wheat and the tares must grow together until the harvest"--yea not only in every field, but in every heart. none are perfectly good, or completely bad, while in this world. the finishing traits of character are referred to that to come. in that world we expect, that both the righteous and the wicked, will be perfect in their kind --"the spirits of the just be made perfect"--those of the opposite character put on the full image of their infernal parent. improvement. _if those who are christ's have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts_, how stands the case with us? are we thus made to differ from the wicked world? do we love god--believe on his son-- do his commandments, and trust his grace? then, "to us to live is christ, and to die gain." here we must have trials--this is not our rest. but the time is short. soon we shall be called "from our labors, and our works will follow us," soon we shall be with christ--behold his glory, and rejoice in his presence. happy state! but let us beware deception. some "hold a lie in their right hands; cry peace when there is no peace to them." let us commune with our own hearts; attend to our temper and conduct; inquire whether we have taken up our cross, and are following christ? whether the spirit of christ dwelleth in us. if we have not his spirit, we are none of his. "if we have his spirit we walk as he walked." if this is our happy state, we shall ere long hear from our judge, "come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world." but if found sinners, a very different doom awaits us. * * * * * * sermon xii. the aggravated guilt of him who delivered christ to pilate. john xix. , . "then saith pilate unto him, 'speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?' jesus answered, 'thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.'" judea was conquered by the romans and reduced to a province of their empire, before christ suffered for the sins of men. when the jews conspired his death, pilate was governor of that province. the power of life and death was in his hands. though said to have been devoid of principle, he was unwilling to give sentence against jesus. free from jewish prejudices, he was convinced of christ's innocence; that he had committed no offence, either against his own nation, or against the romans; but that for envy he had been arraigned, condemned, and delivered up as a malefactor. a mighty prince was then expected to arise in israel. that he would save his people from their enemies, and crush the powers which held them in subjection, was the general idea entertained of him. but the jews had no expectations of such a deliverer in the son of mary; nor did the roman governor see aught in him to excite suspicion of a formidable enemy. he wished, therefore, to release him; repeatedly declared him not guilty; and would have set him at liberty, but the jews opposed. they declared that "by their law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of god"--or gave himself out for the expected messias. this was probably the first hint which pilate received of this nature, and it seems to have alarmed him. "when he heard that saying he was more afraid." pilate was not an atheist. he appears to have had some knowledge of a divine existence and belief of a superintending providence. living among the jews, he was, no doubt, acquainted with their religion, and their expectations of a deliverer; and if there was a suspicion that this was that deliverer, it concerned him to act with caution; at least to make inquiry. he therefore returned to the judgment hall, and entered on another examination of the prisoner. he began by inquiring after his origin. "he said to jesus, whence art thou? but jesus gave him no answer." the test follows, in which we observe the following particulars, viz: i. pilate blaming jesus, for refusing to answer him--boasting of his power, and appealing to our lord, that he possessed it. _speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee_? ii. christ reminding pilate, that he possessed only delegated power; intimating that he was accountable for the use he made of it. _thou couldest have no power against me, except it was given thee from above_. iii. christ aggravating the guilt of those who had delivered him to pilate, from a consideration of the power which he possessed, in which there might be an allusion to pilate's character as an unprincipled man. _therefore, he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin_. we will treat of these in their order. i. we observe pilate blaming jesus for refusing to answer him; boasting of his power, and appealing to our lord that he possessed it. _speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee_? but why is christ faulted? he had said enough to convince the court of his innocence. the judge had repeatedly and publicly declared it. "i find no fault in him." christ's silence was not sullen, or contemptuous. he had said enough. his silence was prudent--perhaps necessary. he had come into the world to suffer--"to make his soul an offering for sin." had he said more, perhaps pilate had not dared to give sentence against him. had not christ died the ends of his coming had been frustrated. therefore was he now dumb before his oppressors, agreeably to the prophecy. "he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep is dumb before his shearers, so he opened not his mouth." it was necessary that evidence should be given of christ's innocence, sufficient to convince the honest mind, that he was not a malefactor --that he did not die for his own sin. this had been given. it was enough--rendered his murderers inexcuseable. the wisdom of providence permitted no more. pilate declared himself convinced. but then _he had power either to crucify christ, or to release him_. he felt himself possessed of this power, and appealed to our lord whether he did not possess it. pilate knew what was right--what he ought to do. conscience directed him to acquit the guiltless. but this did not necessitate him to do it. he had power to do right. he had power also to do wrong. others possess similar power. every moral agent hath power to obey or disobey the dictates of his conscience. it is not the method of heaven to compel men to good, or leave them to be compelled to evil. god intended man to be a free agent, who should choose for himself the part he would act; and endowed him with a self determining power, to capacitate him to choose. devoid of this power, he could not be accountable. man ought to be governed by reason and conscience. these make known his duty, and offer proper motives to induce him to discharge it. but they do not oblige him to it. it is referred to his own choice. if he prefer doing wrong, to doing right, he may do it. this is exemplified in the case before us. sufficient evidence was given of christ's innocence. the judge was convinced, and knew that it was his duty to treat him as innocent. but if to answer worldly ends, or in any respect to gratify depravity, he preferred crucifying the guiltless, he had power to do it. though jesus was the son of god, god had left him in the hands of the enemy. "it was their hour and the power of darkness." they chose and conspired his death. the jews would not receive such a messias. pilate did not choose to offend the jews. the former urged his crucifixion, for fear "all men would believe on him." the latter was prevailed with to condemn the guiltless, because he wished to gratify the chiefs of the nation which he governed. both sinned against the light of their own minds, not of necessity, but out of choice--knowingly did wrong to gain worldly ends; or avoid temporal disadvantages. sinners commonly act on the same principles. they can distinguish between good an evil--can "judge of themselves what is right." they know it to be their duty to choose the good, and refuse the evil. but possessing power to counteract the dictates of conscience, often to gain worldly ends, and answer sinister views, do counteract them --choose that for which they are condemned of themselves. it is folly to pretend that our choices are necessary. the proposition involves absurdity. choice and necessity are often opposites. some bewildered in the labyrinth of metaphysics have doubted the plainest truths--the existence of matter! and even their own existence! but these doubts are a species of madness. to the person of common sense they are unnecessary. let him only believe his senses, which the author of nature hath given to instruct him, and they will all vanish. in the case before us, a single glance inward, carries full conviction that we are free. to offer arguments in proof is superfluous--is trifling--it is to ape the philosopher who attempted to syllogize himself into a conviction of his own existence! * * cogito, ergo sum. descartes. from the knowledge of our capacity, and liberty of choice, ariseth sense of merit and demerit. and thence our expectation of reward or punishment from an enlightened and righteous tribunal. were we necessitated to actions, now, the most criminal, we should have no sense of guilt; neither should we fear condemnation from a just judge on their account. did we choose such actions, if we knew our choices to be the effect of invincible, supernal influence, they would give us no concern. on our part, no criminality would be attached to them; it would rest with the efficient. had pilate been compelled to give sentence against christ, he would have had no sense of guilt; nor could he have been justly criminated. but when the motives which actuated him, and his freedom of choice are considered, he must have been condemned of himself, and of all mankind. when pilate appealed to our lord, that he was possessed of power, either _to crucify or release him_, the justice of the claim is admitted; but then, ii. he is reminded by the divine prisoner, that he possessed only delegated power, intimating that he was accountable for the use he should make of it. _thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above_. pilate probably prided himself on his exaltation. he was set in authority. in his province, his power resembled that formerly in the hands of the babalonish tyrant: "whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive." it might flatter his pride to end himself the judge of judah; others as being of divine origin--the son of god--the expected messias, who was to deliver israel. and raise them to power. perhaps he valued himself on power to do either right or wrong--that he was necessitated to neither. _knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee_? though christ had given him no answer when pilate demanded his origin, he now reminds him, boasting of his power, that it was all derived, or delegated; particularly that which he possessed over his prisoner, whom he had acknowledged to be faultless: _thou couldest have no power against me except it were given thee from above_. as though he had said, "remember pilate, that with all your high feelings, and parade of power, you have no power which is properly your own; none which is not derived from above; none for the use of which you are not accountable. there is one who ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth them to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over them the basest of men," to answer his mysterious purposes you are now in authority; but forget not whence it is derived, and the consequences of abusing it. "there may be oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, but marvel not at the matter; for he who is higher than the highest regardeth"--he will set all right in the end. for the use which you make of your powers, you must give account to him. such seems to have been the import of christ's reply to this haughty ruler, boasting of powers, on this occasion. what sentiments it raised in the breast of this roman, we are not informed; but the reply was full of salutary counsel and instruction. had pilate regarded it as he ought, it would have prevented him from having been a principal actor in the vilest enormity ever committed on this globe. pilate seems to have felt in degree, the weight of christ's reply, and to have been the more concerned. for it follows: "from thenceforth pilate sought to release him." he had sought it before. "from henceforth," he was yet more desirous to set christ at liberty, and exerted himself more earnestly to persuade the jews to consent to his discharge. but this was not all which christ said on the occasion; he added, ii. another observation, which related to those who had conspired his death, and brought him to pilate's bar; perhaps more particularly to judas, who had betrayed him--therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. if only one person is here intended, as having delivered christ to pilate, judas must have been the person. that pilate possessed such power, the power of life and death, is declared an aggravation of his guilt, who had delivered him to pilate; in which there might be an allusion to pilate's character as an unprincipled man. he was known to be under the government of appetite, passion, or selfishness. he had been often guilty of injustice and cruelty in his public administration. therefore had his enemies the greater sin in delivering jesus unto him. such we apprehend to be the meaning of the text; which hath been thought to be obscure and difficult. the difficulty will strike us, if we read the whole passage as it stands in the translation. pilate saith unto him, speak thou not unto me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? jesus answered, thou couldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above; therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. the last clause seems at first view, to refer to the words which immediately precede, which is to understand our savior as aggravating the guilt of those who delivered him to pilate, from the consideration of pilate's power having been derived from above. this cannot be the meaning. all power in the hands of creatures, maybe traced to the same source. it is derived from above. but the source whence power is derived is out of the question respecting the merit or demerit attending the use of it. the guilt of him who delivered christ to pilate, was neither increased nor diminished by it. the consequence, therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin, looks back to words preceding--i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee. his sin was great, who delivered christ to such an one; to one possessed, of his power, and of his character; much greater than though he had delivered him to one devoid of power to crucify; or to one who was a man of principle. delivering jesus to pilate was like delivering daniel to the lions; or the three children to the fiery furnace. the rage of the lions, and the power of the flames, were restrained by the greater power of god; but no thanks to the enemies of those holy men--they could be considered in no other light than that of murderers. the supreme ruler could have restrained pilate and have prevented his having yielded to christ's enemies, and given him to their will. but the determinate counsel of heaven had otherwise resolved before the incarnation. "it was necessary that christ should suffer, and enter into his glory." therefore was he given up to the rage of his enemies who thirsted for his blood. christ's crucifixion was the design of his enemies in delivering him to pilate. this was their sin. god overruled it for good, and made it the occasion of glory to himself, and salvation to sinners. this is no alleviation of their guilt. "they meant not so; neither did their heart think so. for envy did they deliver him." what christ said concerning the source, whence pilate derived his power, comes in by a parenthesis. it is unconnected with the other parts of the sentence, which is complete without it. "i have power to crucify thee--the greater is their sin who delivered me to you. but you have no power against me that you have not received from above. remember it is derived from heaven, and to the god of heaven you are accountable for the use you make of it." this memento, which comes in by the bye, was a proper caution to the ruler not to abuse his power. had he acted agreeable to the evident design of it--so acted, as to have been justified to himself, and able to give a good account to the source of power, for the use he made of that which was delegated to him, it would have prevented him from delivering jesus to his enemies, add kept him clear of a crime, the perpetration of which, darkened even the natural world, and throw it into convulsions! pilate felt so much force in the warning, that he was perplexed. he wished to acquit the prisoner; of whose innocence he was satisfied; hut he feared the jews. he was probably apprehensive that they might inform against him at rome, as he knew, that much of his past administration could not be justified. he had not therefore the courage to tell the jews, that justice forbad, and he would not condemn the guiltless. what had he to do with justice, who had often sported with it, to gratify his passions, or gain his selfish purposes? who had done it openly, and it was matter of public notoriety? the jews urged, "if thou let this man go, thou art not caesar's friend." pilate trembled; but his fear of caesar prevailed above his fear of god. "he conferred therefore, that it should be as they required, and delivered jesus to their will." reflections i. when we contemplate these things, what a series of wonders rise to our view? the state of man--the way in which he was brought into it; and that in which only he could be delivered from it, are all mysterious! man had ruined himself--ruined his race! human guilt could not be expiated without blood! without blood divine! man had sinned, and the son of god must suffer, or sin could not be pardoned! no other sacrifice could make atonement. christ consented to undertake the work of our redemption--to "make his soul an offering for sin!" but how? he must take human nature! become man! wonder of wonders! still difficulty remained. he must die, "the just for the unjust!" in what manner could this be accomplished? christ's sufferings would be, of all crimes, the most sinful, in those by whom he suffered. no good man could knowingly take part in them. they could only be the work of christ's enemies, and of the enemies of god, and goodness. it is no small part of this mystery, that the good should oppose, and that it should be their duty to oppose, that which had become necessary for man's salvation! and that the wicked should be engaged to do that which was requisite for this end! and that their enmity against god and the redeemer, should excite and influence them thereto! but though every thing relating to this matter is too deep for us. deity had no embarrassment. to omniscience all was easy and obvious. the great supreme needed only to sit at helm, superintend and overrule the lulls of apostate creatures, to effect the purposes of his grace! need only to permit man freely to follow his own inclinations! "the wrath of man would thus be made to praise god;" and the designs of mercy be accomplished! the greatest good be occasioned by the greatest evil! god glorified, and sinners saved! the mystery of redemption was veiled, till atonement had been made for sin. that satisfaction was to be made to divine justice, by the sufferings of a divine person, remained a hidden mystery, till explained by the event. this was necessary. had the enemy been able to penetrate the design, these things would not have been done. satan would not have instigated, nor his adherents crucified the lord of glory. the powers of darkness were laboring to subvert and destroy; they vainly thought to defeat the purposes of grace; but were made instrumental in their accomplishment. "the wise were taken in their own craftiness; the purposes of the froward carried headlong; but the divine purposes stood, and god performed all his pleasure! oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of god! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" ii. another thing which our subject suggests to our consideration, is the way of god with man. god hath provided a savior, and offered salvation--he hath pointed out the way of duty, and commanded us to walk in it--allured us thereto by promises, and barred up the way to destruction by threatenings. those who enjoy the gospel, have life and death set before them. but no constraint is laid upon them--they choose for themselves, and the consequences follow. though the best services of fallen man are imperfect, and mercy offered in christ his only hope, he hath reason to expect saving mercy while seeking it in the way of duty, and only while thus seeking. when we "keep consciences void of offence, toward god and men, then are we satisfied from ourselves," and expect the approbation of our judge. when we act differently, we are condemned of ourselves, and tremble to approach the enlightened tribunal. these views are natural--they are written on the heart or conscience, by the creator's hand, and indicate what we may reasonably expect from him who knows our hearts--from him who is moral governor of all worlds. as we know ourselves to be free agents, and as we possess only delegated powers, we are certainly accountable for the use which we make of those powers. the duties which rise out of such a situation, and the consequences which will follow, according to the manner in which we act our parts, need not to be pointed out--they lie open to every eye. iii. when we consider the struggle in pilate's breast, between sense of duty, and a desire to please the world, and how it terminated, we see the danger of wanting fixed principles of rectitude--of not being determined, at all events, to do right, whatever may be the consequences. pilate's duty was plain. he knew his duty--felt his obligation to do it, and wished to do it, that he might feel easy, and not be concerned for consequences. but he had formerly sacrificed conscience to appetite, passion, or selfishness, and it was known. this exposed him to temptation again to do wrong. he who had violated conscience to gain worldly ends, might do it again. pilate had exposed himself by past conduct--could not justify his past administration--his enemies might report him to caesar--he could not answer for himself before caesar; but if he would again violate conscience, oblige the jews, in a matter they had much at heart, he hoped their friendship--that they would spread a veil over his past conduct, and report in his favor at rome. such was the situation into which he had brought himself by willful deviations from duty--thence temptations to farther and greater deviations--temptations not easily overcome--temptations by which he was overcome, and seduced to the most horrid wickedness--crucifying the lord of glory! those who would maintain their integrity, and stand in the evil day, must resolve to do right; to obey the dictates of conscience; they must beware the beginnings of sin; hold no parley with the enemy; never hesitate, whether it is not best, in any case to yield to temptation; nor make attempts to please those who wish them, and dare to importune them to counteract the light of their own minds-- "trimming their way to seek love." to enter on such a course, is to go on forbidden ground. it is to pass the bounds, and go into the way of seduction. "enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not into the way of evil men. avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away." * * proverbs iv. . what the poet observes, respecting one species of temptation, holds, in degree, of every other. "in spite of all the virtue we can boast, the _person_ who deliberates in lost."--young. * * * * * * sermon xiii. the trial of peter's love to christ. john xxi. , , . "so when they had dined, jesus saith to simon peter, 'simon son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these?' he saith unto him, 'yea, lord; thou knowest that i love thee.' he saith unto him, 'feed my lambs.' he saith to him again a second time, 'simon son of jonas, lovest thou me?' he saith unto him. 'yea lord; thou knowest that i love thee.' he saith unto him, 'feed my sheep.' he saith unto him the third time, 'simon son of jonas, lovest thou me?' peter was grieved, because he said to him the third time, 'lovest thou me?' and he said unto him, 'lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee.' jesus saith unto him, 'feed my sheep.'" "this was the third time that jesus shewed himself to the disciples after he was risen from the dead." but it was not the last time. "he often shewed himself alive: after his passion, being seen of them for forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of god." once he appeared to a christian assembly--"was seen by above five hundred brethren" at the same time. when he had given to his disciples those infallible proofs of his resurrection, and those instructions, which their work required, "while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." this visit was made to a part of the disciples at the sea of tiberias; whither they had retired after the crucifixion; but whether to follow their former occupation, or in expectation of meeting there the risen savior, who had promised to manifest himself to them in galilee, we are not informed. they were however engaged in fishing, when after the fruitless labors of a night, they saw jesus in the morning standing on the shore. god looks favorably on his people when he sees them employed in honest secular business; and sometimes manifests himself to them. this was a kind instructive visit, to these disciples; especially to peter. peter was of a bold, forward disposition, naturally eager and confident, and so strongly attached to his lord, that he thought nothing could separate him from him--neither allurements, nor terrors. therefore when christ warned his family of his approaching sufferings, and the effect which they would have on them--that "they would be offended because of him--yea be scattered from him and leave him alone:" peter did not believe him! he had such love to christ, and felt so determined to adhere to him, in all extremities, that he dared to declare, "though all shall be offended, yet will not i." and when his lord, assured him that he would thrice deny him that very night, he was not convinced. it only served to draw from him a more vehement and positive assertion, "if i should die with thee i will not deny thee in any wise." but he soon found his mistake. three times, before the next morning dawned, did he deny his savior--with oaths and imprecations did he deny him! this sinner was soon renewed by repentance. and one design of christ's visit at this time, seems to have been to assure the penitent, that his sin, in "denying the lord who bought him," was pardoned, and that he was confirmed in the office to which he had been previously called. but the manner in which this was done carried in it a reproof, which must have called his sin to remembrance, causing his soul to be humbled in him. let us turn our attention to the subject. _in the text we see christ questioning peter, and trying his love --peter appealing to christ for the reality of it--and christ directing peter how to manifest his love to him--by feeding his flock_. i. we see christ questioning peter and trying his love. _simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these_? simon was the original name of this apostle. cephas and peter, which signify a rock, or stone, were names given him of christ, expressive of that firmness of character, for which he was remarkable. these though commonly used, after they were given him, were omitted on this occasion; probably as a tacit reproof of his denial of his lord, a little before; which had been occasioned by the failure of his courage--by the deficiency of his firmness. the manner in which his divine master, here addressed this disciple, seemed to imply a doubt of his love; or of the supremacy of it. christ knew the heart. peter's love was not hidden from him. but while he dwelt with men, he treated people according to their apparent characters; thereby setting an example to his followers who can judge others only by appearances or that which is external. jesus did not immediately address himself to peter, as soon as he had made himself known; but after he had been some time in the company of these friends and followers, and they had made a friendly meal together, he turned to this disciple, and in the presence of his brethren, who had witnessed his high professions of love, and determination never to forsake or deny him, and the part he had acted soon after, addressed him, as in the text; _simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these_? what had happened a little before, rendered this question highly proper. one of the twelve had fallen. one, whom the others had not suspected. nothing had appeared, which marked out judas for the traitor, during the time of his going out and in with the other disciples. christ, though he knew him, and gave frequent intimations that there was a traitor among them, had never designated him. when they were told that one of them should betray their lord, their eyes were not turned upon judas, but each one appeared jealous of himself, "lord is it i?" but his hypocrisy had now been made manifest and he had gone to his own place. such had he been found who was the steward in christ's family! that with respect to him, the other disciples had been deceived, now appeared. and peter, who had been to forward and zealous, and professed such warm love to christ, had lately denied him! and though he had returned, professing himself a penitent, his sincerity is questioned, and he is called on, to clear up his character. it was important that this matter should be determined, that the other disciples might know how to treat this late offender--whether he was to be received as a brother, or to be considered as deposed from his office, and to be succeeded by another. this was probably the reason of christ's addressing him, as here in the presence of his brethren. _lovest thou me more than these_? if he had the love of christ dwelling in him, and that love was supreme, christ would forgive the past and continue to employ him as a shepherd to feed his flock. therefore did he apply to this late offending pastor, and demand of him in the presence of his brethren, whether he really loved him, with such a love as was necessary to constitute him a disciple. this had been long before settled, and determined, to be love superior to that which is borne to the world, or the riches and honors, or friendships and relations of it, or even life in it. "he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me: he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me: he that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." * * matthew x. . the purport of this and parallel declarations of the divine teacher, are not obscure; they plainly teach that we cannot be christ's disciples, unless our love to him surpasseth that which we bear any thing terrestrial. therefore the question put to simon, agreeably to these prior definitions of that love to christ which is necessary to constitute a person his disciple, marked particularly by the last clause of it, "more than these?" expositors have generally put another sense on this question, and in our apprehension, a mistaken sense. they have considered our lord as inquiring of simon whether his love exceeded that of his fellow disciples. "lovest thou me more than these thy fellow disciples love me?" this cannot be the sense of the question. this is a question which simon could not have answered; and which it would have been wrong in him to have attempted to answer; a question therefore which christ would not have put to put to him, or required him to answer. to have answered it, simon must have known the heart of others; but to have pretended to the knowledge of them, would have been claiming a divine prerogative. but peter had declared on christ's forewarning them that "they would all be offended because of him, although all shall be offended, yet will not i." he had indeed made that declaration; but he had not judged others, or pretended to determine that they would or would not be offended because of him. peter knew that he loved christ--that the love of christ was generally a governing principle in his heart. he felt the strength of it so sensibly at that time, that he did not conceive it possible that any dangers or sufferings could ever induce him to forsake his lord; or in any respect, be offended because of him. therefore his confident declaration, that he would stand by him in every extremity, though he should be left to stand alone. leaving the future conduct of others, to determine the measure of their love to christ, he spake only of his own. "though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will not i be offended." as though he had said; "i do not pretend to know the hearts of others; but i think i know my own; and that i have such love to thee my lord, that nothing can separate me from thee." jesus answered, "verily i say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." peter replied, "though i should die with thee, yet will i not deny thee. likewise also said all his disciples." they no doubt all spoke the language of their hearts; all expressed the determination of their souls at the time; though they were soon convinced of their mistake--that they did not sufficiently know themselves--their own weakness--the need they stood in of divine support. peter, in particular, expressed the genuine feelings of his own warm and honest heart; but without the smallest intimation, that he suspected his fellow disciples; or pretended to judge them. and is there reason to think that christ would put him upon this work? that he would require him to judge them, and compare his love with theirs? especially when we consider christ's former prohibition of judging others, which he had early made a law to his disciples. "judge not that ye be not judged :" and remember that christians are directed, "in all lowliness of mind, to esteem others better than themselves." some have been disposed to think highly of themselves, and meanly of others--to say to others, "stand by thyself; come not near me; i am holier than thou"--some, to "compare themselves with others and exalt themselves above others." but not so the humble christian--not so the meek follower of jesus. nor is there any thing favorable to such temper and conduct to be found in the sacred volume. the spirit and tenor of the divine rule is opposed to it, and speaks persons of this character, objects of divine aversion. this temper, and its opposite, are exemplified in the pharisee and publican, who went up to the temple to pray. "god i thank thee, that i am not as other men--or even as this publican." thus the pharisee. but "the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as" his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, "god be merciful to me a sinner." we know which of these met the divine approbation. now, is it supposable, that the savior would put a question to simon, which would countenance the pharasaic disposition? or that he would require him to judge the hearts of others? or compare himself with others, in a matter which required the knowledge of their hearts? it seems strange that this should be thought by any one, to be the sense of christ's question to peter; much more that this should be the most common construction of it, by expositors. ii. in answer to our lord's question to simon, we find him in the text appealing to our lord, for the reality of his love. "_thou knowest that i love thee--thou knowest all things, thou knowest that i that i love thee_." it is observable that peter rests the whole matter on christ's knowledge of the heart. peter makes no plea--adduces no evidence-- mentions no circumstances, evidential of his love to christ, but refers the matter back directly to him, as the searcher of hearts and leaves it with him. _thou knowest that i love thee_. the grieved, and distressed apostle, could have mentioned many things as proofs of his love to jesus; yea of the strength of his affection for him. he might have pleaded his profession respecting christ, at the time when he was honored with the name of peter--an honorable distinction, and designed to recommend him to the acceptance of his fellow disciples. * he might have mentioned what passed, when christ asked the twelve, whether they "would also go away?" when many offended at his doctrine forsook him, after having followed him, and professed themselves his disciples. simon had on that occasion made a noble profession, shewing that he was a disciple indeed--"lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. and we believe and are sure, that thou art that christ, the son of the living god?" he might have pleaded, that he had singly dared to draw his sword against the multitude, which came to apprehend his lord--that he had resolutely attacked them, and maintained the conflict, with the whole band, till disarmed by a command from his divine sovereign to put up his sword into its sheath--that he had followed christ, when most of the others forsook him and fled--had ventured into the judgment hall to attend his trial and witness the event--that though there surprised and terrified into a denial of christ, when he saw him contrary to his expectations, resign himself to death, by the wicked hands of unbelieving jews, aided by heathen soldiers, yet that only one kind look from his captive lord, had brought him to repent and mourn in the bitterness of his soul, that he had not agreeably to his former purpose, died with his divine master--he might have alleged, that he had not forsaken christ's family and friends, even when christ hung on the cross or slept in the tomb; though his most faithful followers, had then been ready to conclude, that they had been deceived, when "they trusted that it was he who should have redeemed israel"--that he had watched christ's corpse, and been with the first to examine the report of his resurrection, and among the first who believed it--and that even then, at that appearance of his lord, he only of those present, when they saw him standing on the shore, could not wait till the boat should convey him to the land, but had thrown himself into the sea, leaving the fish which they had enclosed, to continue in their own element, and swam to the shore, not perhaps, without endangering his life, that he might not delay to receive and welcome his lord. * matthew xv. - . these, and probably many other things, evidential of the reality and strength of his love to christ, simon might have alleged, notwithstanding his late defection--distinctions, which perhaps none of his fellow disciples could have pleaded; and which, had any share of the pharisaic spirit rested on him, might have induced him to claim that superiority to his brethren, which a certain church afterwards attributed to him. to have mentioned these, might have strengthened the charity of his fellow disciples towards him; but he knew that none of them were requisite, to convince christ of his love. though he had done, and suffered, and exposed himself for christ, more than others, he put in no claim to a reward--he had done less than was his duty. his dependence was on grace. therefore did he decline the mention, of what some would have boasted, and appealed directly to his savior, as the searcher of hearts, to judge of the matter in question--of his love, and the measure of it--appealed to him who had put the question, _lovest thou me more than these?_ to clear up his character and bear witness to the reality and measure of his affection toward him--_yea lord, thou knowest that i love thee_. in this appeal he not only shewed his sincerity, but reflected honor on christ, by an acknowledgement of his divinity. the knowledge of the heart is the prerogative of deity. "i the lord search the heart, i try the reins, to give to every man according to his way, and according to the fruit of his doings. the lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth the imaginations of the thoughts." the exalted savior, afterwards made himself known as possessing this power, and appointed to exercise it, in adjusting the rewards of another life. "all the churches shall know that i am he who searcheth the hearts and reins; and i will give to every one of you according to your works." but this had not been clearly revealed, when christ paid the visit to his disciples at the sea of tiberias. the christian dispensation was then scarcely set up. darkness still brooded on the minds, even of the apostles. it continued till the outpouring of the spirit, on the day of pentecost, when the promise of "the comforter, to teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance," was fulfilled. but simon seems to have anticipated these public manifestations and discoveries--to have at this time been convinced, that christ was omniscient--thou knowest all things; _thou knowest that i love thee_. in this appeal, christ was farther honored, by simon's open, public reliance on his goodness. he had then lately dishonored christ, by a shameful denial--a denial, when to have acknowledged him, would have done him the greatest honor. but such was his confidence in the goodness of his lord, that he dared to trust himself with him--had no concern, that resentment of the part he had acted, would induce him, in whom he trusted, to overlook his penitence, and pass his humble confidence unnoticed--did not fear to trust himself in christ's hands, and leave it to him to make known his character to his fellow disciples. in these things the faith of simon, and the nature of his faith appeared. he not only believed jesus to be the christ, but he believed the divinity of christ. his faith did not terminate in a bare assent, but convinced of his sufficiency, and of his justice, and mercy and readiness to forgive the returning penitent, he gave himself up to christ and trusted in him to pardon his sins and save him by his grace. though sensible of his own demerit, fear did not drive him away from the savior, but induced him to return to him and put his whole trust in him. such is the nature of justifying faith. those who are subjects of it, deeply sensible of their sins, "look to the lamb of god, who taketh away the sin of the world," and place all their dependence on him; and they are not disappointed--; "whoso believeth shall not be ashamed." thus simon's faith and love were owned of christ; and this late offender not only pardoned, but continued in his office; a pastor of christ's flock. _feed my lambs--feed my sheep_, were the replies to the appeals made by the offender, that he loved the savior. in this manner was he directed, iii. to manifest his love to christ.--it might have been thought that simon had fallen from his office when he denied his lord; with oaths and imprecations, denied his knowledge of him. if so, he was here restored; christ entrusted him again with the care "of his flock --which he had purchased with his blood;" and reappointed him to "give them their meat in due season." his having had this charge here given him, argued the pardon of his offences, and his restoration to favor. he would not have been required to do the work of an apostle, had not his transgression been forgiven, and his sin been blotted out. judas had no such trust reposed in him after his fall; no such duty required of him. "by his transgression he fell from his ministry and apostleship, that he might go to his own place, and another take his office." judas repented; but not with repentance unto life. his repentance led to death by his own hand. diverse was that of simon, both in its nature and effects. his was "godly sorrow, which wrought repentance unto life"--which caused him to devote himself wholly to the service of the redeemer, and at last to lay down his life for his sake. reflections i. our subject teacheth the folly of felt dependence. who ever appeared to have stronger confidence in himself than peter? yet few have fallen more shamefully than he. if we lean to ourselves, like things will probably befall us. our strength is weakness. our enemies are many and powerful; they are long versed in the arts of deception; well acquainted with our weakness; know how, and when, and where to attack us to advantage. left to ourselves, we should doubtless be snared and taken by them. simon was naturally bold and resolute; had great love to christ, and zeal for his honor: yet all did not enable him "to stand in the evil day." if peter fell, who, left to himself, can stand? not one. but god is able to make the weakest and most feeble stand, and will make them stand if they trust in him. "my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." blessed are they who trust in him. ii. an high opinion of a person's own strength, or love to god and the redeemer, is most commonly the prelude to a fall. when one thinks himself strong, and feels secure, he is soon taught weakness and dependence, and the need he stands in of a divine guardian, by some advantage gained over him by the enemy: whereas, those who are sensible of their own weakness, and trust in god, are holden up, and made to stand. "most gladly, therefore, will i rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of christ may rest upon--me for when i am weak, then am i strong." iii. as self knowledge is of great importance, unnecessary to our reforming that which is amiss, and to our trading in him who is able to keep us, we should often try ourselves, as in his presence--his, to whom our hearts are open. it becomes us often to retire inward, and examine whether the love of christ dwelleth in us? _whether we love him more than these_? than the world and the things of it? if christ is not uppermost in our hearts, "we are not worthy of him." but if we can answer the question put to simon, as he answered it, _lord thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee_, happy are we. we remain in a state of imperfection--may often have occasion to mourn some practical denial of christ; still, if _he who knoweth all things, knoweth that we love him_, our love to him will not he overlooked; he will own us before his father, and reward us with eternal rewards. iv. christ's disciples, while in the body, often err; if acquainted with ourselves, we must often know this of ourselves; do we then see our faults? if any who call themselves christians live in neglect of self examination, and are consequently strangers to themselves, there is great reason to fear that they are strangers also to the christian life. the christian communes much with his own heart, and finds daily occasion to mourn before god, that his service is so defective, and that he so often denies his lord, by heedless lapses, or by suffering temptation to have such power over him. when the lord looked on peter, and thereby brought to his remembrance the warnings which he had given him, his confidence in himself, and then his fall, he went out and wept bitterly. every christian hath a measure of this spirit, and is grieved at his heart, when he calls to mind his shameful denials of his lord. if any, who think themselves his disciples are blind to their faults, or little affected with them--ready to excuse or extenuate them, especially if hidden from the world; or feel reluctant to take shame to themselves, when they have fallen, it nearly concerns them to examine the grounds of their hope toward god; there is reason to fear that they "hold a lie in their right hands." those who are christ's discern their faults; confess and forsake them. their falls art made the occasion of greater watchfulness, and care to keep themselves from every wicked thing, and perfect holiness in the fear of god. may he grant this to be our temper, for his mercy's sake in christ. amen. * * * * * * sermon xiv. gifts no certain evidence of grace. luke x. "in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." abundant notice of christ's coming preceded that interesting' event. "to him gave all the prophets witness." neither was his entrance here unattended. it was announced by an angelic choir; by a miraculous star; and by a band of eastern magi. the manger which contained him, was particularly pointed out to the shepherds, and his person designated by inspired simon and anna. again, when entering on his ministry, witness was given for him, both from heaven, and on earth; from heaven by the visible descent of the holy ghost, which rested on him, and by a voice testifying that he was the son in god; on earth by john, and soon after by the seventy: for these were sent to prepare his way, and introduce him to his work. john was sent before, "to make ready a people prepared for the lord" --"repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." the seventy, to declare him then entering on his ministry--"the kingdom of god is come nigh unto you."--john did no miracles; but the seventy witnessed christ's truth, and their own by wonders wrought in his name. in the orders given to them at their mission, we find them only directed to heal the sick, as an evidence of christ's arrival, and their being sent of him; but by the report made at their return they appeared to have been empowered to cast out devils. they probably did all the mighty works done by the twelve, and by their lord. thus they prepared his way. doing miracles in christ's name would raise in those who witnessed it, a desire to see him of whom they spake, and whose power they displayed: and "they were sent two and two before his face into every city and place whither he himself would come." had they only proclaimed his arrival, some might have listened; but few would have "believed their report." greater evidence than their word would have been demanded; as was afterwards of christ--"what sign shewest thou, that we may believe thee?" neither would the demand have been unreasonable. special messages require special evidence; and it is always given to those who are sent of god. every deceiver may pretend to a divine mission; but we are forbidden to "believe every spirit, and commanded to try the spirits." the church at ephesus is commended for having obeyed this command--"thou hast tried them which say that they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." our savior speaking of the jews' rejection of him, aggravates their guilt, by a consideration or the plenitude of the evidence which had been given them of his truth. "if i had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin--but now they have no cloak for their sin--they have both seen and hated both me and my father." * * john xv. - . at the return of the seventy they appear to have been elated with the exercise of the miraculous powers which had been delegated to them--"and the seventy returned again with joy, saying, lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." they had witnessed christ's miracles, but seem not to have wrought miracles themselves till now; and when they found themselves able to do the mighty works which they had admired in their lord they were filled with joy. having made their report, christ enlarged their powers and promised them protection--"behold i give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you." but to prevent them from setting an undue value on these distinctions, the caution in the text is subjoined--"_notwithstanding, in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather, rejoice because your names are written in heaven_". in discussing the subject, we will, first _consider the caution or prohibition--in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; then the command--but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven_. i. we are to consider the caution, or prohibition--_in this rejoice not, &c_. but why not? was it not matter of joy that spirits, evil spirits were subject to them? that they were able to dislodge them from the bodies of men, by commanding them in christ's name? certainly. this enabled them to answer the ends of their mission, which had been but very partially answered without it. wherefore then the prohibition? it is rather the excess of their joy, than the joy itself which is here forbidden. they seem to have placed an undue value on this power; to have exalted it above it's place, particularly as it concerned themselves. this was the first thing they mentioned at their return; nothing beside seems to have made so deep an impression upon them, or to have given them equal self importance. to them there were other things more interesting and important; that they were accepted of god, and numbered among the faithful, and that their _names were written_ in heaven, were to them occasions of much greater joy. the gift of miracles proved their mission, and drew the attention of those who witnessed their mighty works; but this was not a saving gift. a person might possess it, yet remain unrenewed, and perish in his sins. some appear to have exercised this power, who professed no relation to christ, but were openly connected with his enemies. this is evident from his expostulation with those who attributed to infernal agency, the authority with which he extorted obedience from evil spirits--"if i by beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges." * the same appears from another incident, recorded by st. mark--"and john answered, saying, master, we saw one casting on devils in thy name, and he followed not us, and we forbid him, because he followeth not us. and jesus said, forbid him not: for there is no man who shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me." + * luke xi. . + st. mark ix. , . it seems that some who had seen the disciples cast out devils in christ's name, though not themselves his disciples, attempted to do the same and succeeded; and that things of this nature were not uncommon after christ began his ministry; though it did not always, if at all succeed, after his sufferings and exaltation. ++ ++ acts xix. . the gift of miracles, like other gifts, was distinct from sanctifying grace. this grace was often joined with that gift; but not always. there was no necessary connexion between them. under the former dispensation, the gift of prophecy did not certainly argue a renewed nature. it was sometimes given without it. balaam had this gift. the deceiver who brought back the man of god who was sent from judah to reprove jeroboam, had it. by divine order he told the jew what would happen to him, because he disobeyed the word of the lord, and returned to eat bread in that place. neither is there a trait of sanctity visible on the prophet jonah, though he was compelled to bear god's messages to ninevah, and used to make other special communications to men. under the gospel dispensation divine administration hath seen the same. judas had doubtless the gift of miracles in common with his fellow disciples; and many will appeal to the judge in the great day, that they "have prophesied in his name, in his name cast out devils, and in his name done many wonderful works, to whom he will profess, i never knew you," and whom he will send away among the workers of iniquity. men are too often estimated by their gifts. many consider those as the best men who possess the most enlarged, and especially the most showy talents; and despise those of a different description, as though their gifts and graces must be equal. but this is wrong. a person may possess the talents of an angel of light, who hath the temper of an infernal. such is probably the state of apostate spirits. and some of the greatest of mankind have been some of the worst and most abandoned. though this must be evident to the considerate, there is yet a disposition in man to judge others, yea, and himself too, by gifts apart from the grace which falsifies gifts, and renders them beneficial, both to the possessor, and to the world; and at the same time keeps the possessor humble, and prevents him from thinking of himself, above that which he ought to think. neither are the renewed out of danger from this quarter. sanctification being imperfect, distinguished gifts, or usefulness, or uncommon divine communications, are liable to be abused and made to foster pride and raise in the worm too high an opinion of himself. st. paul "though not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles," needed something to keep him humble and prevent him from being elated by the revelations which were made to him. and he left these things on record as a warning to others; and particularly noted them to the church at corinth, which abounded with miraculous gifts, and among whom they were exceedingly abused. he declared them not only inferior to charity, or holy love, but, considered in themselves, as of no estimation in a moral view; that a person might possess them in the highest degree, and yet be nothing in religion--"though i speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, i am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. and though i have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though have all faith, so that i could remove mountains and have, not charity, i am nothing. and though i bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though i give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." * the apostle here supposeth a person possessed of the most eminent miraculous gifts, yet wholly destitute of religion. could no such case happen, he would not have made the supposition. he did not write to amuse, but to edify and instruct. * cor xiii. , &c. some at corinth prided themselves in their gifts and despised others --perhaps men's moral state was estimated by them. therefore did he show the use of those gifts--that they were distinct from renewing grace--that the latter was more excellent than the former; and that the possession of the latter could not be argued from the exercise of the former. those gifts were very useful at that day, and in that city, which was filled with idolatry, and almost the headquarters of paganism; but to the possessor they were of less value than christian graces--"covet earnestly the best gifts; and yet shew i unto you a more excellent way"--namely, the charity described in the following chapter, of which we have been treating above. to prevent the seventy from indulging the spirit which the apostle afterwards thus reproved at corinth, was the design of the caution given them in the text. christ observed how they valued themselves on their gifts and checked the spirit its beginning. _rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you._ ii. we are to consider the command--_but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven_. the names of the saints are represented as _written in heaven_, this language is figurative, accommodated to human weakness. god hath promised salvation to the faithful and caused them to hope in his mercy; but memorandums are not necessary to remind him of his promises, or records in heaven to entitle the faithful to the heavenly inheritance. god's counsels are always before him. the phraseology of the text is borrowed from the customs of men, who need memorandums and records to secure the fulfillment of engagements. when men are made free of a city, or state, they are enrolled in the archives of the community--thence probably the metaphorical language of the text, and similar scriptures: for we often find matters which are determined in the divine councils represented as written in celestial records--then they that feared the lord spake often one to another, and the lord hearkened and heard, and _a book of remembrance was written before him_, for them that thought on "his name." zion is said to be "graven on the palms of his hands"--the saints to be _written_ "in the book of life--the dead to be judged out of the things _written_ in the books" which will be opened at the grand assize when the world will be judged in righteousness. as the rewards of grace are made sure to the righteous, the address to the seventy speaks their knowledge of it--_rejoice because your names are written in heaven_. they could not rejoice in an unknown good. but the manner in which their privileged state is mentioned supposes them acquainted with it. christ did not here reveal it--did not say, _your names are written in heaven, therefore rejoice_, but rejoice because they are written there--because you know it to be the case. neither do they appear to have possessed knowledge, in this respect, which others are denied. others are also exhorted to rejoice in the lord. the suffering christians of that age were often reminded of the rewards in reserve for them, as what would abundantly compensate all their sufferings here; which supposed them acquainted with their title to glory. but how did they attain this knowledge? and how may others attain it? by considering the conditions of the promises and seeing that they have complied with them. the promises are made to faith and repentance, to love and obedience. where these are found on a person, that person may know that _his name is written in heaven_. obedience flows from faith and love. "every good tree bringeth forth good fruit." the fruits of grace, are the evidences of grace, and the only evidences on which there is dependence. should an angel from heaven testify to a person that his name was written there, the evidence should be inferior to that which ariseth from the christian temper evidenced by fruits of holiness. if these were found, that would be useless; if wanting, inefficient. "by their fruits ye shall know them. in this the children of god are manifest." had a person such testimony from heaven, he could know that the bearer was from above, only by attending to his own heart and life. "satan can transform himself into an angel of light." permitted of god he might have access to our minds and persuade us that _our names were written in heaven_, while we remained enemies to god and under the condemning sentence of his law, had we no rule by which to try ourselves, and judge of our state; but this is not denied us. yet some are probably deceived, through infernal influence, and filled with vain hopes. mistaking the sophistry of satan, for the operation of the divine spirit, they boast communion with god and call themselves his children while no portion of the christian temper is found upon them. doubtless some, who have gloried in special divine communications have been deceived, relative to the nature and source of the operations which they have experienced. supposed visions and revelations, are often no other than illusions of fancy, freaks of imagination, or effects of diabolical influence, those affected with them often appear confident of that which sober reason rejects as groundless. if when we turn the eye inward, we discover faith in christ, sorrow for sin, love to god, devotedness to his service, and reliance on his grace through a mediator, and these are evidenced by fruits of holiness, we need no other evidence that _our names are written in heaven_: but if there are wanting, hope is vain and confidence delusive--gifts, the most extraordinary, even those of prophecy and miracles are totally unavailing. they leave us but as "sounding brass and tinkling cymbals." instances of this kind have formerly occurred: they may occur again. it concerns us therefore to look to ourselves, and see that our hopes are not built on the sand. reflections. i. the subjection of evil spirits to christ shows the universality of his dominion: for even apostate spirits have not, in every respect, broken from under his government. he sets them their bounds which they cannot pass. "hitherto shalt thou come and no farther." when dislodged from a man by his order they cannot not enter a swine without his permission. they are permitted indeed to indulge depravity, but no farther than infinite wisdom sees it; and oftentimes their malice is made subservient to the divine purposes. while christ had his residence on earth, they were permitted to possess the bodies of men, and his superior power was manifested in their ejection, and thereby a few species of evidence was given to his truth of the gospel--yea they were sometimes made to confess him, when men denied him! "i know thee who thou art; the holy one of god." * * luke iv. . in various ways god hath made use of apostate spirits to effect his holy and merciful designs. they have been used to try the faith, and thereby fit them for glory and honor--witness the strange trials brought on job! and all served to restrain pride and depravity, and by the trial of his faith and exercise of his graces, to prepare him for a brighter crown. they may also be instrumental in bringing sinners to repentance. st. paul speaks of "delivering one to satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the lord jesus: and of delivering men to satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme." * * cor. v. , tim. i. . ii. our subject teacheth us not to value ourselves on account of gifts, or powers. gifts and grace, we have seen to be distinct --that the former are a kind of common flock, designed not so much for the benefit of the possessor, as of the public; and that a person may possess them in large measure, and yet continue a rebel against god and perish in his rebellion. god hath wise reasons for the bestowment of gifts, and, in someway, gets glory to himself thereby. but every talent is liable to abuse. if any man abuse them god will require it. justice may be glorified, where goodness is neglected, and grace despised. there is power with god to compel such use of his gifts as he requires. by overruling the degeneracy of fallen creatures, they often subserve the more mischievous. gifts, under the influence his holy purposes. princes who know him not, are often instrumental in executing his designs.--the assyrian and persian monarchs were formerly made to execute his judicial designs on other nations and on his people, though "they meant not so, neither did their hearts think so." other potentates do the same, and in the same way. yea god hath power to compel unwilling obedience to his known commands, and hath sometimes done it. balaam was made to bless israel and foretel their greatness, while yet the enemy of israel, and of the god of israel; and jonah, to bear god's messages to nineveh. to be thus used of god gives no title to his favor. "when god had performed his whole work on mount zion," he punished the proud assyrian whom he had used in the execution of his justice: and balaam perished among the enemies of israel. service undesignedly performed, and that which is the effect of constraint, find no encouragement in revelation. "if i do this thing willingly, i have a reward; but if against my will, a dispensation is committed unto me; what is my reward then?" iii. though it is lawful to covet earnestly the best gifts, there is a more "excellent way"--there is that which is more valuable, especially to the possessor--the grace which sanctifies the heart. if we have this grace the more gifts we possess the better--they are all consecrated to the service of god. if we have only gifts they may render us of grace, are beneficial, but under that of depravity, baleful in their effects. some pride themselves in the powers which they possess, and despise those of inferior abilities--some mistake gifts for graces, or the sure evidences of them. but the day is at hand which will correct mistakes, and exhibit every thing in its proper light. then the humble followers of the lamb, who pass through life unnoticed, or unknown, will be found written in heaven, and will be owned and honored, as the redeemed of the lord. but those who neglect the grace offered in christ, though they may possess the greatest powers--may speak with tongues of men and angels, and have all faith to the removing of mountains, will be denied of the eternal judge, and sent away into everlasting punishment. wherefore, _rejoice not, though the spirits may be subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven_. * * * * * * sermon xv. human characters determined only by divine decision. corinthians iv. , . "but with me it is a very small thing that i should be judged of you, or of man's judgment; yea i judge not mine own self. for i know nothing by myself, yet am i not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the lord." corinth was one of the principal cities of greece. enjoying every advantage of situation, it became rich and populous. most cities in similar circumstances have become vicious. this became exceedingly so. the religion of corinth was paganism, which naturally led to sundry vices. bacchus and venus had there their temples and their votaries; and luxury, the child of affluence, led to vice generally. from such a combination of circumstances, the inhabitants, like the men of sodom, "were sinners before the lord exceedingly." it might be justly stiled, like pergamos, "the place where satan's seat was." yet god had much people in that city, which continue and labor in it, which he did for more than eighteen months. nor did he labor in vain. he gathered there a large and flourishing church; which appears to have been enriched with a greater effusion of miraculous gifts, than any other of the primitive churches. the state of corinth, where god had been unknown, and where superstition had reigned, might render this necessary in order to give success to the gospel. miracles are adapted to arrest the attention of those who would be deaf to the voice of reason and regardless of proofs drawn from it. but those gifts were abused. they were made the occasion of pride, and of divisions: which shews that there is nothing in the nature or miraculous gifts, which secures the proper use of them; that they are no evidence of renovation. though the apostle labored to great and happy effect in that city of the gentiles, after his departure, deceitful workers went among them, and availed themselves of his absence to make divisions, and alienate their affections from him. this seems to have occasioned his writing the epistles addressed to them, which constitutes a valuable part of the sacred volume. the calumnies of his enemies, and the effect which they had on the corinthians, are alluded to in the text; which contains an expression of his feelings on the occasion. in discussing the subject, we shall just glance at these matters, and add a brief improvement. st. paul's character, both as a minister and as a christian, was impeached by those enemies. they represented him as an unfaithful, or unskillful laborer in the gospel, and as one who was not a subject of divine grace. this appears from his statement in the beginning of the context, and from the text. let a man so account of us as of the ministers of christ, and stewards of the mysteries of god. moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful, "_but with me it is a very small thing, that i should be judged of you, or of man's judgment, yea, i judge not mine own self. for i know nothing by myself, yet am i not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the lord_." the apostle here professeth himself "a minister of christ and steward of the mysteries of god," and directs the corinthians to consider him in that light; or as one put in trust with the gospel to teach its mysteries, inculcate its truths, urge its duties, and tender its supports. the term _mystery_ is used in scripture, to express things not discoverable by the light of reason, but knowable by revelation. it is also used to express incomprehensibles; which may be objects of faith on the credit of divine truth. the former is the more common sense of the term in the gospel, particularly in the passage before us, and generally in st. paul's epistles. "we speak the wisdom of god in a _mystery_--the hidden wisdom, which god ordained before the world unto our glory; which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it they would not have crucified the lord of glory. but it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which god hath prepared for them that love him. _but god hath revealed them into us by his spirit_." the gospel plan of salvation was a _mystery_, a hidden _mystery_, till the gospel day. it was hidden from the prophets who foretold it; and from the apostles, till after christ's sufferings and resurrection. they understood very little of it; knew almost nothing about it till after the ascension, when the comforter was sent down "to teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance." to them it was then matter of wonder. they had not been made to understand that christ was to bear the sins of men--"that he was to suffer and enter into his glory:" and when he did suffer, "they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead." another gospel _mystery_ was the calling of the gentiles--that salvation was intended for them, and to be offered to them, in christ, equally as to the natural seed of jacob. "if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of god, which is given me to you ward; how that by revelation he made known unto me _the mystery_--which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit: _that the gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in christ, by the gospel_, whereof i am made a minister." * * ephesian iii. - . these were some of the mysteries dispensed by this steward of the mysteries of god; who "shunned not to declare all the counsel of god." he declared the deep things, which human reason could not have discovered; and those also which it cannot comprehend. these are to be found in paul's teachings, as well as the plain things which are easy to be understood. but the principal business of this "steward o the mysteries of god," was to open the way of salvation through a savior, and shew that provision is made in him for the salvation of both jews and gentiles, and offered alike to those of every nation; and to lead men to the knowledge of themselves and the redeemer, and teach them how they might be benefited by divine grace in him. and while he acknowledged the obligations, of fidelity, he declared himself no way greatly affected by the judgment which might be passed upon him by his fellow mortals. _but with me it is a small thing to be judged of you, or of man's judgment_. an intimation that he was judged and censured by some of them. this was, doubtless, matter of notoriety at corinth; but he little regarded it. it made no change in him, or in the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office. he was chiefly concerned to obtain the approbation of an higher tribunal that of his divine matter, the------dge of all. the judgment of fellow mortals did not move him--_he that judgeth me is the lord_. not that he was wholly indifferent to the opinion entertained of him by his fellow men. had be been so, he would not have undertaken his own defence as in these epistles, a measure of esteem was necessary to his usefulness in the ministry. had all who heard him thought him the enemy of god, he could have done no good in it. therefore his endeavor to rectify their mistakes. and the rather because he held the truth as it is in jesus; so that in rejecting him, and the doctrines which he taught, they turned aside into errors which might fatally mislead them. but he did not wrong his conscience to please them, or depart from truth to gain their approbation--"do i seek to please men? for if i yet pleased men, i should not be the servant of christ." had paul been chiefly concerned to please men, he would have continued a pharisee. the person who would please christ, while paying such deference to the opinions of men as fairly to weigh every objection against his faith or practice, and try them by the divine rule, must be careful to conform to that rule, whatever opinions may be entertained of him. of the meaning of the rule he must judge for himself before god--"calling no man master." the reasons of his faith and practice, and his construction of the divine rule, he may lay before his fellow men, to remove the grounds of prejudice; but he must rise so far above their frowns a------atteries, as not to be influenced by them to disguise his sentiments, or counteract his own judgment of the law of god, of the gospel of christ, or of the duties incumbent on him. it is not by human judgments that we are to stand or fall. it is happy that this is the case; that the good man hath a judge more just and candid than his fellow servants; one who knows and pities his weakness, though he hath none of his own: "let me fall into the hands of the lord, for his mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man." but the apostle did not stop with a declaration that the judgment of others did not move him; he brought it home to himself: _yea, i judge not mine own self. for i know nothing by myself, yet am i not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the lord_. st. paul had a witness in himself that he was sincere and upright before god--"our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity, and godly sincerity, not by fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of god, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly toward you." the same is the import of his declaration in the text--"_i know nothing by myself_--am conscious of no allowed wickedness--of no willful error, either in profession or practice." but he dared not to assert that he had made no mistakes--_yet am i not hereby justified_. he knew himself liable to error--did not "trust his own heart". _he that judgeth me is the lord_--"his judgment is according to truth-- that will determine my character, and fix my doom." the apostle could remember a time in which he had conscientiously done wrong. he had persecuted the church; killed christ's disciples, and thought he was doing right; verily believed that he was doing god service!--now he acted conscientiously in "preaching the faith he had once destroyed"--in the manner of his preaching it; and discharging every ministerial and christian duty; though he was censured and calumniated by some, and suspected by others. he followed the light of his own mind, and determined to follow it; so to act as not to be condemned of himself. but he knew that the standard of rectitude did not follow his views, and vary with his judgment. "if his heart did not condemn him, he had confidence toward god; yet he knew god to be greater than his heart," and possessed of all knowledge; dared not therefore affirm that his judge would approve of all which he approved--_yet am i not hereby justified--he that judgeth me is the lord_. improvement. i. we see that censure may be incurred without neglect of duty, when paul converted to christianity, he was made an apostle, and ordered of the redeemer to preach the gospel. he obeyed. he was guided in his work by the spirit of god; yet he was blamed by some, and suspected by others. that christ's faithful servants are slandered and reproached is not a new thing under the sun. it hath been common among men. and herein they are only made like their lord. and shall they think it strange? "it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. if they call the master of the house beelzebub, how much more them of his household?" when opposition and reproaches come from those who profess friendship to christ they wound the deeper. this however, hath often happened. it happened to the apostle at corinth, and elsewhere. if we witness that which is similar, we need not be surprized, as though some strange thing had happened. ii. are we unjustly censured by our fellow servants, or reproached while in the way of our duty? we have here an example worthy our imitation. st. paul was chiefly concerned to approve himself to god. we should be so too--should study to acquaint ourselves with the divine rule, and to conform to it; not disobeying god to please men. great care is requisite to know our duty. enveloped in darkness, and biassed to error, it is often difficult to find out the right way. but we are not left without instruction. a rule is given us by which we may "judge of ourselves, what is right." of that role we must judge for ourselves, and by it try ourselves. "to our own master we stand or fall." to obtain his approbation should be our chief concern. "if god be with us, who can be against us?" iii. knowing ourselves fallible, it becomes us to maintain a jealousy over ourselves, and be constantly on our guard. we should consider, that though we do not sin wilfully, and our own hearts do not condemn us, _yet we are not hereby justified_. we are conscious that we have often, erred, and made wrong conclusions, when we did not design to leave the right way. we are liable to do the same again. our eye should therefore be to god for direction and guidance--"that which i know not, teach thou me; if i have done iniquity, i will do no more." this is the more necessary, because "the light which is in us may have become darkness." for there are those who "put darkness for light and light for darkness." those with whom this is the case know it not; they flatter themselves and cry peace. "to the pure, all things are pure; but to them that are defiled, and unbelieving, is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." this often happens to those who for a time yield to temptation and go in to the ways of sin; they contract false principles, and judge by them, and probably sometimes live and die under the deceptive influence of their darkening power. none would dare to plead before the bar of christ, that they were his disciples, "and had eat and drank in his presence," had they not been deceived into false views of duty, and mistaken apprehensions of the conditions of acceptance with him. judging well of ourselves doth not ensure justification at the bar of heaven. our judgments of ourselves may be erroneous. if they are so, they will be reversed. we shall "be judged out of the books, according to our works;" not according to our false and deceitful views. _i know nothing by myself, yet, am i not hereby justified. for not he that commandeth himself is approved, but whom the lord commendeth_. * * * * * * sermon xvi. characters will be disclosed, and justice awarded. corinthians iv. . "--judge nothing before the time, until the lord come, who both wilt bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall everyman have praise of god." st. paul having professed himself a minister of christ, and steward of the mysteries of god, acknowledged the obligations of fidelity, and disclaimed anxious concern respecting the opinion entertained of him by his fellow men, because the lord was his judge, here adds a caution, reprehensive of the censorious spirit of the corinthians, who seem to have listened to his enemies, and given into their suspicions of the apostle. _therefore judge nothing before the time_-- in the text we observe a caution against rash judging the characters of men--a declaration that they will be known when the lord comes --and that some things commendable will then be found in all--then shall every man have praise of god. we observe-- i. a caution _against rash judging the characters of men--judge nothing before the time, until the lord come_. civil judges may give judgment according to law and evidence, on those brought before them for trial--so may the church on those arraigned at her tribunal. these are necessary to the subsistence of civil and ecclesiastical communities; therefore ordered of god. it is another species of judging which is here forbidden; judging the characters of men, especially such as profess godliness, and appear to act sincerely; pretending to determine their moral state, before the motives which actuate them are disclosed. this is judging before the time, and without evidence on which to ground a judgment; which the wise man observes to be folly and a shame to him who doth it. this had been done at corinth, by the enemies of the apostle; and hath been done by others in every age. there have ever been people who have dared to scatter their censorious decisions at random, according to the prevalence of humor, caprice, or prejudice; often to the wounding of the faithful; and rending of the body of christ. this occasions temporary mischief; but the day is coming when all those disorders will be rectified. the censurer, and the censured, will stand at the same bar, and be tried by the same judge. every wrong judgment will then be reversed, and every injurious suspicion be removed. for, ii. every _man's character will be known when the lord comes--who will bring to light the hidden sufferings of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts_. many things necessary to determine the moral characters of men are hidden from mortal eyes. we are ignorant of _the counsels_ of the hearts--do not know their purposes and views. without this knowledge, right judgment cannot be formed. our knowledge of ourselves is imperfect. for self knowledge we have advantages which we have not for the knowledge of others. we can turn inward, and contemplate the motives which govern, and the views which actuate us. but pride, passion, prejudice, or the corrupt bias, operating in ways unperceived, often blinds the mental eye, and renders us strangers at home. "whoso trusteth his own heart is a fool.--the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?" it requires great attention to form a just judgment of ourselves--yea, to attain that self knowledge which is necessary for us. with regard to the knowledge of others, the difficulty is still greater. we can neither see the heart, nor know the thoughts and designs. we are often at a loss for the motives which occasion things which fall under our observation. other things which might cast light upon them, are hidden from us. but when the lord cometh, the veil spread over secret matters will be removed. "there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, or hid that shall not be known." _the lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts_. how hearts will be opened to view, we know not. perhaps when the veil of flesh is removed, minds may possess an intuitive knowledge of each other--be able to look into one another, as while in the body, they look into themselves. here, this is mercifully prevented; but may be no longer necessary in another state of existence. it may be requisite, to that investigation of characters which we are taught to expect at christ's coming. for it is the language of the text, and other scriptures, that every impediment to the complete knowledge of each other, will then be done away; that no person's character will longer remain problematical. _the hidden works of darkness will be brought to light, and the counsels of the hearts made manifest_. astonishing scenes of wickedness will then, no doubt, be disclosed. probably each one will discover things in himself which he had not suspected--depravity, unfairness, disingenuity, the bare suspicion of which by others, would be resented as affrontive. when the prophet forewarned hazael of the cruelties which he would exercise when he should be king of syria, his nature seemed to revolt --he could not suspect himself capable of such enormities. "but what! is thy servant a dog?" but all was verified when he had ascended the throne! but though a world of hidden iniquity will appear when the counsels of the hearts shall be made manifest. good things will also be opened to view which had till that day been concealed--yea, iii. some _things commendable will be found in all, then shall every man have praise of god_. all are sinners. "there is none good but one, that is god." some "are sinners exceedingly." some will continue such till they shall have time no longer--die as they have lived, and be sentenced to "have their part in the lake of fire--which is the second death." but though numbers of this description will be found when the lord comes, it is presumed that there will be none among them in whom there wilt be nothing commendable--who will never have done a praise worthy action. when "every work is brought into judgment and every secret thing, whether it be good or evil," every thing commendable which hath been done by the wicked, will come into the reckoning. nothing will be overlooked, because done by sinners. the prejudices inherent in mankind often render them blind to what is commendable in an enemy, and cause them to magnify his failings; but not so the deity. god is perfect. "the way of man will he render unto him," whatever may be his general character. the saints are not equal in virtue and the attainments of grace. therefore the differences which will be made among them. when they shall stand before the judge, their whole probation, with all its circumstances, will be reviewed, and every praise worthy purpose, desire and action will be considered and rewarded. on the other hand, every neglect of duty and every deviation from it will come into the account and make deduction from the weight of glory reserved for them. and among the enemies of god, some will be found greater sinners than others--to have sinned longer--against greater lights, and to have been guilty of more and greater crimes. to such will be reserved the greater weight of woe. in order to these discriminations their whole probation will be considered. and in those on whom sentence of condemnation will pass, the righteous judge will take due notice of every pause which they shall have made in the ways of sin--of every instance in which they may have denied themselves, out of regard to the divine authority, though it may have been out of fear of god's judgments, and of every act of kindness done by them, to a fellow creature. every thing of this nature, will be considered, and make some deduction from the punishment which would otherwise have been inflicted on them. the judge will pass nothing of this kind unnoticed, condemning the sinner to the same degree of suffering, as though it had not been found upon him. a cup of cold water given to a disciple of christ, will not lose its reward. * * matthew x. . "herod feared john, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him he did many things, and heard him gladly." herod's punishment will not be, in every respect, the same, as though he had paid no attention to john's teaching. he will not be punished for refusing to hear john, when he did hear him or for refusing to do, what he did do, in compliance with his counsel: though he will be condemned as, eventually the murderer of that holy man. his partial obedience might be extorted by fear; but this is preferable to disobedience; otherwise fear would not be urged as a motive to obedience. "fear him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell." if preferable to disobedience, a difference will be made between those who obey from no higher principle, and those who disobey. here god certainly makes a difference between them. when rehoboam humbled himself in the time of his affliction, "the wrath of the lord turned from him that he would not destroy him: and also in judah things went well." but his repentance was not unto life. the character given him at his death is that of a wicked man. when ahab, affrighted by the preaching of elijah, as he was going to take possession of the vineyard of murdered naboth, "humbled himself and walked softly:" god signified his approbation of his legal repentance and partial amendment, in preference to his former course; though he afterwards cut him off in his sins. these are unequivocal evidences that partial obedience, though dictated by the servile principle of fear, is preferable, in divine estimation, to allowed disobedience. god makes a difference in his treatment of people here, on this account: suspends his judgments, and mitigates somewhat of their severity, where he sees this kind of relenting in sinners. if god doth this here, is there not reason to believe that he will do it hereafter: the rules of divine administration are doubtless uniform in time and eternity. where he gives a comparative preference here, he will do the same hereafter. so we observe our savior noting things commendable in some who did not belong to his kingdom. when the young ruler who came to inquire what he should do to inherit eternal life, declared that he had kept the commandments from his youth up, he was viewed with comparative approbation.--"then jesus beholding him, loved him." it is not conceivable that his partial conformity to the divine law had not made him to differ from those who had allowedly disregarded it--that his character was as bad as theirs--though he soon made it evident that the one thing needful was not found upon him. * * mark x. , &c. some suppose that the unrenewed can do nothing but sin against god _with all their might_--that every purpose of their hearts is _necessarily_ enmity against him, and all their volitions and actions determined opposition to his law and government: but we conceive that neither scripture, nor experience justify the supposition--that were such their state, they would be in no degree, the subjects of moral government, and would not be addressed of god as moral agents. were mankind wholly given up of god, and his spirit withdrawn from them, such might become their state; but this is not the case. the holy spirit strives with them. they are empowered to resist the spirit, or cherish its influences. this is manifest from the divine exhortations addressed to them, and from their conduct. sometimes they pause in the way to destruction--listen to counsels and warnings--do things which god requires, and deny themselves gratifications which are in their power, because god hath forbidden and threatened to punish them. the person is not to be found who hath not a witness in himself that this is the case. should we affirm that none, who are in a state of nature, can be influenced by sense of duty to deny themselves, or attempt obedience to god's law, it might give occasion to false hopes. those, the general course of whose lives is opposition to god, sure that they sometimes deny themselves, and like herod, do things enjoined from above, might flatter themselves that they were children of god, while belonging to another family, and that they should have peace, when there was no peace to them. _yet_ when _the lord cometh, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, every man shall have praise of god_. god will overlook nothing commendable which may have been done by the vilest of the human race, while on probation; and some things commendable will be found in the most degenerated; though in many, the good will be found so low as to leave them on the whole, the servants of sin, and consequently to take their portion among the workers of iniquity. reflections, i. the day is coming which will scatter the darkness or the present state. here many things confound us. "we see but we understand not." we wonder sometimes at what god orders, and oftener at what be permits. the time approaches in which all these mysteries will be cleared up. we shall perceive wisdom and goodness in all the divine administration. our wonder at providential regulations will terminate. now we often wonder at things done by our fellow men--are unable to discover the motives which actuate them--perhaps frequently mistake them. but this uncertainty will not be perpetual. the veil spread over these things will be removed when _the hidden things of darkness are brought to light and the counsels of the hearts made manifest_. then, every hidden purpose will be laid open, and every secret counsel disclosed. ii. vain are the attempts of mankind to conceal their crimes, or disguise their characters. for a time they may hide their nefarious views, and pass themselves for other manner of persons than they are; but it is only a temporary matter; all are hastening to an omniscient tribunal which will open every heart and life to general inspection. every one will then be made to stand out, as he is to public view! "some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid." hitherto there are secret sins, and mistaken characters; but ere long there will be neither. "every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it." what folly then is hypocrisy? every one would despise the delinquent, who, while passing to trial should impose on his fellows with protestations of innocence, when he knew the judge acquainted with his guilt, and that he would soon disclose it, and open it to public view. such is the part acted by those who endeavor to hide their true characters while making their way to the bar of god. iii. these considerations, speak comfort to the righteous, and terror to the wicked. the sincerity of the former will ere long be made manifest. all the injurious charges brought against them, will appear to be injurious, and they will he cleared of every aspersion. their integrity will be displayed, and they _will have praise of god_. nothing they shall have done or suffered, out of regard to god will be forgotten or go unrewarded. yea, their desires and purposes to honor him here, though ability or opportunity to carry them into effect might not be allowed them, will be proclaimed and rewarded. "god is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love"--"david did well that it was in his heart to build an house to god's name" --therefore the divine promise "to build him an house and establish the throne of his kingdom forever." but the wicked who may have passed through life under the shades of darkness, been mistaken, perhaps, for the righteous, will rise at the great day, "to shame, and everlasting contempt." their sins will then find them out. for "god's eyes art on the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. there is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." and all are written in god's book, and reserved to judgment; when he "will give to every one, according to his works. woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him." this will be enough to make miserable. there needs no more than the withdrawing of mercy, and leaving justice to take its course. this will be the portion of those who neglect offered salvation. but, iv. sinners who have, at all, denied themselves, out of regard to the divine authority, or done aught which god required, though ever so partially, will not loose the benefit of it. proportioned to its nature, and the degree of rectitude found in it, it will deduct from the punishment which the want of it would have occasioned. the condemned will stand speechless before the judge--have no reason to offer why judgment should not be executed upon them. by the clear manifestation of their guilt, and the impartial justice of god, they will be constrained to acknowledge the perfect fairness and equity, yea, the moral necessity of the sentence by which the last gleam of their hope will be extinguished! thus will both the mercies and judgments of god be justified of all, when he _shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts_. * * * * * * sermon xvii. god willing that all men should be saved. timothy ii. . "who will have all men to be saved,--." in verse first, the apostle directs "prayers and thanksgivings to be made for all men;"--which he declares to "be good and acceptable in the sight of god our savior; _who will have all men to be saved_." had salvation been provided for only a part of the human race, prayer and thanksgivings could have been, consistently made only for a part. those for whom no provision was made, would be in like state with persons who have committed the sin unto death, for whom st. john intimates prayer is not to be offered up. "there is a sin unto death; i do not say that he shall pray for it." but such is naturally the state of none of the children of adam. divine goodness is extended to all, and salvation offered to them; therefore is prayer and praise to be offered up for all men. it is now proposed, _briefly to consider the divine goodness expressed in the text--who will have all men to be saved--then some abuses of the revelation which is made of this goodness to mankind_. i. we _are to consider the divine goodness here expressed--who will have all men to be saved_. the salvation intended, is that of the soul. this comprehends deliverance from merited sufferings, and the bestowment of happiness which is the contrast of it. the provision which is made for the comfort and happiness of mankind in this life, evinces strange goodness in god. when we consider what man was made of god, and what he hath made himself, the divine benevolence here displayed, is wonderful! strange that man was not destroyed and blotted out from among god's works! some suppose this to have been our first parents idea of the threatening in case of disobedience, and expressed by them, when they attempted to hide themselves from the divine presence, after their fall. * * genesis iii. . had man then been destroyed, the race would have been extinct. but he was spared; suffered long to continue and rear a family, from which the myriads of human kind have descended. though exiled eden, and doomed to labor and sorrow, he was still at the head of this lower creation, and creatures below him generally subservient to his comfortable subsistence. the ground was indeed cursed for his sake and fatiguing cultivation rendered necessary; but still it yielded the necessaries, and many of the comforts of life; though not the sweets of its primitive state. these effusions of divine goodness were probably the wonder of angels, though so little noticed by men, the ungrateful objects of them. but these were inconsiderable, compared with the strange provision made for their eternal salvation. that god bears good will to mankind, not--withstanding their apostasy, and is desirous of their salvation, is from many considerations apparent. it is the spirit of the text, and the general language of the scriptures, as will be shewn in the sequel. that god is willing that all should be saved, appears from the sufficiency of the provision which is made for the salvation of sinners; the frequent declarations that it is designed for all; the offers which are made indiscriminately to all; and the suitableness of the provision to the circumstances of all. . from the sufficiency of the provision which is made for the salvation of sinners, this is adequate to the salvation of the whole race. christ, being a divine person, made an infinite atonement. in him there is a fulness of merit. was the number of sinners ten times greater than that of our whole race, there would be no need of another savior, or of christ's dying again for their redemption. in him "dwells the whole fulness of the godhead bodily." the reason all are not saved, is not a deficiency of merit in the redeemer, or any limitation of his satisfaction. sinners "are not straitened in him, but in their own bowels." . that god is willing all should be saved appears from the frequent declarations of scripture, that christ died for all--who gave himself a ransom _for all_, to be testified in due time--we see jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, that he, by the grace of god, should taste death _for every man_. the love of christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one _died for all_, then were all dead; and that he _died for all_, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again. . the same appears in the offers made _to all_. when after his resurrection christ sent forth his apostles to effect his gracious purposes, both his orders and promises were indefinite--"go ye into all the world and preach the gospel _to every creature_. he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." had salvation been provided for only a part of mankind, and the savior been unwilling the residue should be saved, he would not have given charge to his ministers to tender salvation _to all--to every creature_, and declared that whoever came up to the specified conditions, should be saved. nothing false or insincere can be predicted of god our savior. his words are truth. his offers and proposals are fair and open. that which appears the most obvious meaning of them is their meaning. and surely the offers of salvation appear to be made to all who hear the sound of the gospel; and they are invited and urged to accept them. they were so by christ. "in the last day, that great day of the feast, jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." * and they were so by his apostles when sent into all the earth to spread the gospel among the nations, and call them to come to christ for life. * john vii. . . the same thing appears from the suitableness of the provision which is made for the salvation of sinners, to the circumstances of all men. man needed an atonement, and he needed assistance, and both are provided in christ. of the former we have spoken, and there is no need to add. man's weakness is such that he is unable of himself to conquer either spiritual enemies without, or his own corruptions within. through christ needed aid is offered to him; he is invited to the throne of grace, and assured that he shall not seek in vain, but "obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find--if ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give his holy spirit to them that ask him?" though mankind have rebelled against god, he is more ready to hear their cries, and give his spirit to sanctify and save them, than the most affectionate earthly parent to shew kindness to his child. the gospel is designed as a remedy for human weakness, equally as for human guile. it is every way adapted to the circumstances of the creatures to whom it offers salvation. it is a fair tender of pardon and peace, of life and happiness to all who hear its joyful sound; it not only opens these blessings to their view, but brings them within their reach. . the divine benevolence is farther evident from the exercise of forbearance towards ingrates, who neglect and slight offered salvation. god doth not soon enter into judgment with them, but waits with much long suffering; repeats his calls and warnings; urges sinners in various ways, and by various means, to turn and live; inwardly by the strivings of his spirit, and warnings of conscience; outwardly by his word; his providence, and the voice of those whom he sends "to warn the wicked from their way, and beseech them in christ's stead to be reconciled to god." the reason of all these applications to sinful man, is that mentioned by st. peter--"the lord is long suffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." ii. we _are to consider some abuses of the revelation of divine goodness which is made to mankind_. there is no gift of god which depravity may not abuse. the belief of the divine perfections, especially of the divine mercy and benignity is often made the occasion of sin. those whose "hearts are turned away from the lord, when they hear the words of the curse, are wont to bless themselves in their hearts, saying, we shall have peace, though we walk in the imagination of our hearts, to add drunkenness to thirst." when called to repentance, they banish fear and lull themselves into security, with the revelation of divine grace and mercy which they find in the scriptures; making that a favor of death, which was ordained to be unto life--"with the lord there is mercy; with him there is plenteous redemption; with him there is forgiveness;" not that he should be feared, but that his fear should be cast off, and his terror not make men afraid to sin--"god hath no pleasure in the death of sinners--judgment is his strange work--he will not enter into judgment--will not destroy the work of his hands." thus mercy is made to absorb the other divine attributes, and sinners emboldened in wickedness. by such considerations they make themselves vile without concern. some become so hardened and unfeeling, that the approach of death doth not alarm them. by an habitual course of wickedness, their consciences are rendered callous, and they are insensible both to fear and shame, and continue so till death puts a period to probation, and seals them up for eternity! these consequences are not apprehended at the entrance on a vicious course. the young sinner designs only to take some youthful liberties, and not to stray very far away, or long to deviate from the path of duty; but the farther he goes in the wrong, the stronger are his attachments to the pleasures of sin--the less his concern--the weaker and more defiant his purposes of amendment. he never finds the more convenient reason, which he promised himself at setting out in the way of wickedness; yea, the farther he proceeds in it, the greater is the difficulty of retracing his steps, and turning back from his wandering. many who thus turn aside from the path of truth, probably settle into a state of security, and continue in it, till they have time no longer. was man grateful, divine goodness would lead him to repentance; but under the influence of depravity, it hath a different effect--is made the occasion of more ungodliness! what baseness! "sin because grace abounds! whose damnation is just! how can such escape? the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." for sins of ignorance, and those into which men were surprized by unexpected temptations, sacrifices were ordered in the law, and pardon, on certain conditions, promised: but it was not promised presumptuous sinners. to them the law spake nothing but terror. "the soul that doth ought presumptuously--the same reproacheth the lord; and that soul shall be cut off from his people. because he hath despised the word of the lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall be utterly cutoff; his iniquity shall be upon him." * * numbers xv. , . the person who lives in all good conscience, may hope in the divine mercy for the pardon of involuntary errors: but with what face can the willful offender ask mercy of god? no plea which is not affrontive can he make before him--"shall i not visit for these things, saith the lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" that awful threatening, or prophetic denunciation, "the lord will not spare him; but the anger of the lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses written in this book [the law] shall lie upon him," regards willful sinners, flattering themselves with expectation of divine favor. * * deuteronomy xxix. . when st. paul would magnify the riches of divine grace in the salvation of the chief of sinners, he exemplifies it in himself--"who before was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious--howbeit for this cause i obtained mercy, that in me first jesus christ might shew forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." but he subjoins an alarming hint that those who sin wilfully, have no reason to express like mercy from god. "but i obtained mercy _because_ i did it ignorantly in unbelief." that no mercy would have been shewn him had he done those things presumptuously, is here intimated with sufficient plainness. this deserves the attention of those who sin presuming on divine mercy. surely they cannot reasonably expect mercy from him "who is no respecter of persons," if paul "obtained it _because he did those things ignorantly in unbelief_." if this is duly considered, will not presumptuous sinners believe and tremble? will they not perceive their hopes to be vain? . another abuse of the revelation of divine mercy is the universal scheme which is built upon it. the text and similar passages of scripture are alleged as evidence that none can be lost. to help the argument, it is said--"to be influenced to obedience by fear is low and mercenary; and god would not urge men to duty by so unworthy a principle." but was not fear of punishment used as a guard to innocence while man remained upright? "in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." had the influence of fear, operating to duty, been wrong, god would not have urged it as a motive to obedience. "let no man say when he is tempted, i am tempted of god: for god cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." if god useth this as an argument to excite to duty, it must be a proper argument. that it is thus used in all his word, admits no dispute. every teacher whom god hath sent to teach the way of life, and persuade men to walk in it, hath used it. the divine teacher is not to be excepted--"fear him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell, yea, i say unto you, fear him." and when he delineates the process at the great day, after declaring that the righteous and the wicked will be separated from each other, the whole is closed with that solemn declaration--"these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." to be influenced by promises is no less mercenary than being driven by terror. and this is also proposed as an incitement to obedience. "god hath given us exceeding great and precious promises, that by them we should become partakers of a divine nature." every inspired teacher hath called men to repentance in the same manner, and urged it by the same arguments. proof is needless. to pretend that application is not made, by divine order, to the hopes and fears of mankind, is trifling--yea to pretend that they are not urged by the dread of eternal punishment, is to deny the most obvious truth. and is there no cause for his fear? doth god frighten men with vain terrors? doth he threaten evils which can never come? or if this argument was necessary to be used with man before be fell, is it needless since he hath fallen? but _god our savior will have all men to saved_; and shall not that which he wills be effected? can any thing contrary to his pleasure take place? much doth take place in this world, which, is not pleasing to god; which he doth not will, or approve. this may be predicated generally of sin. "sin is the abominable thing which he hates.--he is angry with the wicked every day." would he be angry, if all which is done was pleasing in his sight? god is holy. sin is opposition to his nature, forbidden by his law, and declared to be his abhorrence. to suppose that he should hate and forbid sin, yet approve of it and be pleased with it, is absurdity and folly. god permits sin; but neither wills nor approves it. "christ pleased not himself." * much is permitted under his administration, which he doth not order, but forbids and abhors. yea, god orders some things, as moral governor (in consequence of other things done contrary to his directions) which are not pleasing to him, considered in themselves. "he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men"--but finds it necessary to afflict. grief and sorrow are known under the divine administration, and ordered out to mortals by providential dispensation. but these natural evils are always in consequence of moral evil, which is not the effect of divine influence, but ariseth from another source and hath another author. it ariseth from the abuse of powers which were given for better purposes. where sin hath gone before, sorrows follow after; but they are not pleasing to the supreme governor. * rom. xv. . the wickedness of the old world occasioned the deluge; but it is impossible to read the mosaic account of those events, and suspect that they were pleasing to deity. we may make the same remark respecting the declensions of israel and judah and the judgments which followed. "o thou son of man, speak unto the house of israel, thus ye speak, saying, if our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? say unto them, as i live saith the lord god, i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, house of israel?" * by another prophet we find god mourning over them --"how shall i give thee up, ephraim? how shall i deliver thee, israel? how shall i make thee as admah, and set thee as zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together." * ezekial xxxiii. . that people continued in their sins and perished in them: but will any who read these messages, sent them of god, conceive their crimes, and the desolations which followed, when they had filled up the measure of their iniquity, to be pleasing to god, or the effect of divine order and influence? will those who read our savior's lamentations over jerusalem, and the destruction soon after brought upon that city and nation, because "they did not know the time of their visitation," consider those events as pleasing to him? his predictions were verified--"their enemies cast a trench about them, compassed them round and kept them in on every side--laid their city even with the ground, and her children within her; not leaving one stone upon another--zion was ploughed like a field"--vast numbers perished in the siege--many were crucified after the city was taken--the residue scattered among all nations, and the sword drawn out after them! the compassionate redeemer called those sinners to repentance--warned them of the evils which they would bring on themselves, by refusing the grace which he offered them, and wept over them when filling up the measure of their guilt! but when they had been tried the appointed time, and continued obstinate, till the divine patience was exhausted, he entered into judgment with them and gave them according to their works. similar will be the event of persevering obstinacy in others. man is placed here for trial--endowed with powers sufficient to render him a probationer; which implies capacity to use, or abuse his powers. the abuse is sin. the way of duty is made known, needed assistance conferred, the reasonableness of obedience shewn, and the injunction, "occupy; till i come," subjoined, but no compulsion is used. thus circumstanced, it is referred to man to choose for himself. god operates indeed on man; but only as on a free moral agent. divine influences coincide with human liberty. those who are willing and obedient find mercy. over such the savior rejoices, and their faith and love are rewarded with the rewards of grace. but those who neglect so great salvation, are left to perish in their sins. that god can confidently do other than leave them to perish, is to us unknown. it may be impossible to renew them by repentance--beyond the power of omnipotence to save them! the conditions of salvation are fixed: no change can be made in them. "the impenitent heart treasureth up wrath. he that believeth not shall be damned. if we do not believe, yet god abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself." the terms of acceptance with god are laid before us; the event depends on the choice we make. such we conceive to be man's situation here: such the ground of the applications made to him in the gospel, and the promises and threatening annexed to the proposals therein contained. on another, supposition do they appear rational. on no other can we account for our savior's declaration that sodom, had she enjoyed capernaum's advantages, would have remained till his day. * * matthew xi. . divine benevolence is great; but it will not secure salvation to gospel despisers: they "will wonder and perish." as the first covenant had conditions annexed to it, so hath the new covenant. to pretend that there are none--that man hath no concern to secure the divine favor, is to charge folly on god, in all the overtures which are made to man in the gospel. life and death are now set before us. we may be saved, or we may perish. which will be our portion depends on the effect which the proposals of grace have upon us. today if ye will hear god's voice harden not your hearts. behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation. boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. beware lest you * destroy a soul for which christ died; and lest you have occasion at last to take up that lamentation--"the harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved." * romans xiv. . * * * * * * sermon xviii. balak's inquiries relative to the service of god, and balaam's answer, briefly considered. micah vi. , , . "wherewith shall i come before the lord, and bow myself before the high god? shall i come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? will the lord be pleased with, thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall i give my first born for my transgression; the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?--he hath shewed thee, man, what is good: and what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy god?" as mankind are endowed with reason, and profess to be governed by it, their revolts from god are practical criminations of him: therefore his expostulations with his people of old, when they forsook him and followed other gods--"what iniquity have your fathers found in me? o my people what have i done unto thee? and wherein have i wearied thee? testify against me." * * jeremiah ii. . micah vi. . israel as a people were going away from god, and he condescended to reason with them, and show them their ingratitude and baseness. to this end, he reminded them of his past care of them, and kindness to them, as a nation, from the time of their deliverance from bondage in egypt--"i brought thee out of the land of egypt, and redeemed thee from the house of servants"--after just glancing at that deliverance, he passes over the wonders wrought for them at the red sea, and in the wilderness, and their numerous rebellions, while he was leading them as a flock, and supplying their wants by a series of miracles, and enlarges on an event which took place on the borders of canaan, the attempts made by balak, the king of moab, to prevail with him to leave his people and go over to him, and help him against them, and his faithfulness to israel on that occasion--"o my people, remember now what balak, king of moab consulted, and what balaam, the son of beor answered him from shittim to gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the lord." * * numbers xxii. &c. balak's consultations, or inquiries, are contained in the two last verses of our text: balaam's answer in the third. in balak's inquiries we see the ideas which he entertained of god, and of the service which he supposed would be acceptable to him, and engage, him to forsake his people, and deliver him from his fears on their account. balaam's answer corrects balak's mistakes, and discovers surprizingly just apprehensions of the true god, and true religion, though depravity prevailed, and caused him to counteract his convictions, by advising balak to measures directly opposed to his sense of duty. to open and explain this subject is the design of the following discourse. it may be proper to premise that israel did not make war either on moab or ammon. those nations were descended from lot, and moses was forbidden to molest them in possession of the lands which god had given them. moab might have had peace, and the friendship of israel, but refused it, and joined the confederacy against them. when the tribes of israel reached the borders of moab, which lay in their way to canaan, balak and his people were intimidated by their numbers, and by their martial appearance. they did not therefore, sue for peace, but resolved to neglect no measures to subdue and conquer them. it was an ancient custom among the heathen at their entrance on a war, to devote the enemy to destruction, and solicit their gods to forsake them. balak thought this a matter of importance before he entered into a war with israel. this ceremony was commonly performed by the priests, or ministers of religion. how this had been to moab we are not informed; but on occasion before us, the affrighted sovereign of that people, sent to some distance for balaam, a famous soothsayer or diviner, of whose prevalence with the powers above he had a high opinion, to be the agent in this business. balaam was really a remarkable person; few more so occur in history. few others had more knowledge of the true god, or juster ideas of the service which he requires of mankind. but his character will be developed in the sequel. this renowned soothsayer refused at first to listen to the invitation of the king of moab, assigning a sufficient reason for his refusal --"the lord refuseth to give me leave"--but when a second embassy arrived, more numerous and move honorable, and with the proffer of great honors and rewards, his ambition and covetousness were inflamed, and he resolved from that moment to secure them. the first seems to have been only a common embassy, and to have carried only the usual rewards of divination. we know what followed. balaam sinned in asking a second time for liberty to go and curse israel, when god had once refused him, and told him that they were blessed. he asked, however, and was in judgment permitted to go, but only to act agreeably to divine direction which would be given on the spot; but he went, determined to secure the wages of unrighteousness. seeing his design, god met him in the way, and by a strange and miraculous communication and warning, made him afraid to curse his people, and even compelled him to bless them altogether. but to come to our subject, i. we are to consider balak's inquiries.--_wherewith shall i come before the lord_? balak had so deep a sense of the danger which threatened him, that he was ready to bring the most costly sacrifices, if they would avail to render propitious the god who had wrought such wonders in egypt and in the wilderness for the salvation of his people. he would offer all the cattle, and all the oil of his kingdom, _thousands of ram, and ten thousands of rivers of oil_! yea, he would even offer his _first born_, the heir of his crown! would not refute the dearest of his offspring to atone for his sin, and bring over the god of israel to be his god, in the time of his distress! such were his proposals. we may observe in them several mistakes respecting the service of god, or the homage which is acceptable to him; mistakes not uncommon among men. as, first a supposition that sins may be atoned and mankind allowed to continue in them, if they will come up to the price. the country of moab abounded with flocks, particularly with sheep; * it abounded also with oil; and balak supposed that the divine favor might be obtained by sacrifices of this kind--by a profusion of them--_thousands of ram, and ten thousands of rivers of oil_. he knew himself a sinner--he knew that he had taken part against the god of israel; had served other gods, who were his rivals. but now he saw his need of the divine favor and he wished to purchase it--at any price, to purchase it. he was ready to pay for his sins; only waited to know the price, and he would make the payment! * kings iii. . not a word do we hear of his parting with his sins and returning back by repentance. few left to the light of nature seem to have conceived the necessity of repentance, in order to obtain the divine favor. for their sins, they must somehow, make atonement, and they would then be forgiven, though they continued to commit them! mankind have entertained different ideas of what was necessary to make atonement. the more common idea hath been, that it was to be done by sacrifice; however they came by that idea. it probably derived by tradition from the first family of our race. but there seems to have been a general mistake respecting the design of sacrifice. by those devoid of revelation, it hath not been considered as pointing to a divine sacrifice, but as having in _itself_ an atoning virtue. so it seems to have been viewed by this moabitish prince. another mistake respecting sacrifices, which hath been common in the world, is this--that their value depends on their cost to the offerer. this was a mistake of balak. if common offerings, and the usual number of victims would not procure the divine favor and atone for his sins, he would offer more, and more costly ones--_thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil_! such a profusion of sacrifices, of the same kind, or partly so, with those offered by israel, so many more they were able, coming out of the wilderness, to offer, he hoped would prevail to detach from them their god, and buy him so to be his friend! but if not, if these were too little, he would sacrifice his offspring! _give his first born for his transgression--the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul_! a sacrifice much more costly, much more painful, than that of all earthly treasure! surely such an offering must prevail! similar conclusions have not been very uncommon! the homage offered up to god hath been estimated by its cost to the offerer! a circumstance which adds nothing to its value. the value of what is done for god depends on its conformity to his orders. that its cost to the offerer enhances its value, in the divine estimation, supposes him to be pleased with the sufferings of his creatures, and delighted with their sorrows, than which, nothing is farther from truth. "god grieveth not willingly--judgment is his strange work." were it otherwise, the more reluctant the offerer, the more acceptable would be the offering: but god loves a cheerful giver; yea, he is so pleased with this disposition, that he accepts and rewards it, where ability is wanting to carry it into action. "if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted." * * corinthians viii. . the sacrifices of old derived all their value from the sacrifice of christ, to which they pointed. god had determined, when and how they would be offered. additions to the number, or cost, added nothing to their value, but had a contrary effect, spoiled and rendered them unavailing. human victims, the most costly, and therefore supposed by the heathen, to be the most efficacious, were so far from having power with god to draw down his blessing, that they most certainly drew his curse on all who offered them. this was one of the sins of the canaanites, which above all others, availed to bring the divine judgments upon them. and when israel fell into the same sin, it kindled the wrath of god against them to their destruction. this was the sin of manasseh, "which god would not pardon." balak first proposed other sacrifices--a profusion of them; but if they were not sufficient to atone for his sins and procure the friendship of jehovah, seems to have thought that the sacrifice of his first born must avail! such were his blunders respecting the nature of that religion which would render him acceptable to the true god. he seems not once to have thought of repentance; or if he did, he made no offer of it--did not once propose "crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts." he chose rather to sacrifice all the treasures of his kingdom, and all the members of his family, than part with his sins and become holy in heart and life. such is the temper of depravity. the servants of sin are sooner persuaded to make any other sacrifice than that of their lusts and corruptions. and many foolishly flatter themselves that other sacrifices will avail to procure the divine favor--that holiness of heart and life are not indispensibly requisite, but that something beside may be substituted in its stead. countless examples of this folly meet us in history, and even in the history only catholic church of christ! thus did balak mistake the nature of true religion, and consider it as consisting in that which was foreign, yea, repugnant to its nature. such were his proposals which he spread before balaam, and of which he required his opinion. let us hear then the answer of the sage. balaam was better instructed: he appears to have understood the nature of true religion, and clearly points it out to balak, though he neglected himself to conform to it. _he hath shewed thee, man, what is good: and what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly, with thy god_? there is scarcely a better definition of true religion to be found in the bible. he _hath shewed thee, man, what is good_.--from balak's inquiry we should be ready to conclude that he was ignorant of god and religion --that he supposed that god preferred sacrifice to justice and mercy --that sacrifice would supply their place and render them of no account. balaam tells him that he had been better instructed; though we know not where, or how. _he hath shewed thee, what is good_; and he appeals to balak whether this was not the case--_what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy_, &c. to _do justly_--there is no true religion where justice is not received as a foundation principle. "i the lord love judgment; i hate robbery for burnt offerings; and i will direct their work in truth." * fraudulent people may pretend to religion; may make many and long prayer, but their religion is of no avail; their sacrifices are an abomination. + witness the scribes and pharisees, who received the greater damnation. * isaiah l xi. . + isaiah i. . &c. the next characteristic trait here given of the good man, is the love of mercy. _what doth the lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy_? there is something particularly to be observed in the language here used--_love mercy_.--it may not be in every one's power to shew mercy; but every man may, and every good man does _love mercy_. to "feed the hungry and clothe the naked," are acts of mercy, but not in the power of all men. some are, themselves wholly dependent on the mercy of others for their own support. justice often restrains and sets bounds to the exercise of mercy. the judge may be grieved for the malefactor, and wish that he could shew mercy to him, but find himself obliged to condemn him and suffer justice to take its course. the debts which a person hath contracted may require all his goods, or all his necessities do not require. in such cases he is under obligation to shut the hand of charity, even against the proper objects of it. we have no right to defraud some, that we may shew mercy to others. justice is a prior duty. we are tied up to the discharge of it--are bound to _do justly_; whereas it is only required that we _love mercy_. the love of mercy will dispose us to shew mercy, where we have ability to do it without violating justice. yea, it will cause us to do it with pleasure, rendering us like god, who "delights in mercy." acts of mercy may proceed from other principles beside the love of mercy, but these do not answer to the divine requirement. in the view of him who sees the heart they are not characteristic of renovation, or a heart right with god. the third particular here mentioned as constituting the finishing part of the good man's character, is humility--_that he walks humbly with, his god_--that he is sensible of his imperfection, and of his need of mercy from god. this always makes a part of the good man's character. the good man, while he is just to all, and while kind and benevolent, and disposed to do good to all, as he hath opportunity and ability, retains a sense of his defects, of his remaining depravity--that he but too often deviates from his own principles--that in every thing he comes short of his duty. therefore doth he confess himself "an unprofitable servant"--that he lays god under no obligation--yea, that he lives on mercy--that all the good things which he receives, are unmerited, the gifts of divine grace--that was mercy denied him, and "the reward of his hands given to him, it would be ill with him" --he should be undone forever. such is the character drawn by the eastern soothsayer in the last verse of our text: and it is the perfect character of a child of god, in this state of imperfection, trial, and improvement, where he is pressing on towards that perfection which he never attains till he "puts off the body, and is clothed on with his house which is from heaven." then "the spirits of just men are made perfect," and not till then. "the spirits of just men"--the words are expressive, plainly implying that none who allow themselves in injustice are the children of god --that all the saints will eventually be found, to be "israelites indeed in whom there is no guile." thus did balaam instruct balak, or remind him of what god required. balak did not regard him. he could not be persuaded to make such sacrifices as these. he would give all the treasures of his kingdom, and even the fruit of his body, to procure the favor of god; but to sacrifice his corruptions, and put on the temper of a saint!--these were hard requirements--he must be excused! therefore did he dismiss his instructor, who hitherto had "spoken only the word which god had put into his mouth"--and went away though he went sorrowing! the same is the temper of too many others. we may do much which god requires, may even go beyond and do much which he doth not require, and yet be nothing in religion. there must be the spirit and temper of true religion. there can be no commutation--nothing will be accepted as a substitute. _we must do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our god_, or have no part in him. nothing without it will be accepted; not even "giving the body to be burned." people may also have a good speculative acquaintance with religion and yet remain devoid of it. such cases sometimes occur. such an one occurred in him who spake so well in our text. balaam appears to have had a perfect knowledge of the nature of religion; to have understood what it was and wherein it consisted. he was sensible also of the importance of being found at last to have lived under the influence of it. therefore when looking forward to the period of his dissolution did he utter that earnest wish or prayer--"let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." yet he was not a good man! his knowledge resided in his head: it never reached his heart. "he loved the wages of unrighteousness;" lived and died under the government of depravity and wickedness! he dared not indeed to go in direct opposition to the letter of the divine command--dared not curse israel with his lips, though he longed to do it, and wished the curse to fall upon them, while he was blessing them and forefilling their future greatness. but he dared privately to advise balak "to cast a stumbling block before them"--to send among them the women of moab, and seduce them to uncleanness and idolatry, in order to bring the curse of heaven upon them! his advice was followed and partly succeeded! not to procure a victory for moab, but to bring the judgments of god upon israel; twenty four thousands of whom fell by the pestilence which was sent to punish "their sin the matter of peor." and more tragical events would probably have followed, had not phinebas stood up and executed vengeance on some of the principal offenders, and thus turned away the anger of the lord from his offending people.* * numbers xv. and xxi. . * * * * * who can contemplate these things without astonishment! who consider the character and conduct of balaam and not be amazed! that a man so instructed respecting the divine character, the nature of religion, and the consequences which will follow human conduct here, should dare to set himself deliberately to evade the divine law, as wicked and artful men do human laws, surprises and confounds us! yet so it certainly was in the case before us! we are not left ignorant of the consequences: to him the "end of those things was death," eternal death, for he died in rebellion against god. and he seems to have anticipated the event; when speaking of the divine being, the true god and redeemer, he breaks out into that language--"i shall see him, but not now; i shall behold him, but not nigh." we can form no judgment of a person's moral state by his speculative knowledge of god and religion. knowledge in divine things is important; on many accounts it is so; but it does not ensure goodness of heart, without which we cannot be saved; we may have "all knowledge," yet perish in our sins. so it happened to balaam, and probably to others beside him. "if ye know these things happy are ye, _if ye do them_." but we are chiefly concerned at home--to know our own state. _do we do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our god_? if these are found upon us, happy are we; but if any of them are habitually wanting to us, we "are yet in our sins, and the wrath of god abideth on us." if any are disposed to inquire with balak, _wherewith shall i come before the lord, and bow myself before the high god_? let them attend to the answer given by balaam--if we add, reliance on divine grace in christ no better answer can be given. how far those of old were let into the gospel way of salvation we know not. balaam expressed the temper of a child of god. whoever possessed that temper relied on divine mercy, while endeavoring to fulfil all righteousness. such would refer themselves to divine grace; and surely god would not be wanting to them. he might lead them by a way which they understood not; "but would bring them to their desired haven, and unto god their exceeding joy. their labor would not be in vain in the lord." dependence on divine mercy is still our duty. though favored with gospel light, many things are yet hidden from us. let us therefore do justly love mercy, and walk humbly with god, and he will guide us through the darkness, and bring us through to the rest which he hath prepared for those who love and serve, and trust him here. for these there is no commutation. knowledge the most perfect; faith the most miraculous; and sacrifices the most costly, would all be of no avail. god hath shewn us what is good, and what he requires. may we hear and obey. amen. * * * * * * sermon xix. confessing christ an indispensable duty. timothy ii, . "--if we deny him, he also will deny us." this is predicated of christ; and looks forward to the day when all mankind will stand before him as their judge. denying christ is here declared to be a mortal sin. those found guilty of it will hear that sentence--"depart ye cursed!" but this is to be understood only of a persevering denial of him. those who turn by a timely repentance, will find mercy. this is true of every sin. but repentance may be too late. it must antecede death, or it will be of no avail. the day of grace terminates with life. from that period man ceases to be a probationer, and his state is unalterably fixed. when the offers of pardon and peace are sent abroad, some will not hear. who will receive, and who reject the grace of life, is to us unknown. our expectations are often disappointed. some come to christ of whom we had little hope; others cannot be persuaded, of whom our hopes were strong. we have only to "preach christ; warning every man, and teaching every man," and must leave the event. some live where the sound of gospel grace is not heard. "we" are made to differ from them. "to us is the word of this salvation sent." but this doth not secure salvation to us. we must hear and obey. "if we neglect so great salvation, we shall not escape." among the indispensable requirements of the gospel, is that of confessing christ, himself hath determined it. "whosoever shall confess me before men, him will i confess before my father which is in heaven; but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will i deny before my father which is in heaven." * * matthew x. . whether the apostle had this declaration of our savior's in his eye; or it was revealed to him by the holy spirit, we are not informed; but his language in the text is express to the same purpose--_if we deny him, he also will deny us_. these declarations have a particular reference to the duty of appearing openly to be christ's disciples; especially in times of persecution, when christian's are exposed to sufferings and death for his sake. even in such times, confessing christ is a condition of being confessed by him. if we think this a hard requirement, and refuse compliance, we shall have no part in him. what are we then to understand _by confessing and denying christ_. considering one of these may suffice. the text regards the latter. to this we will therefore turn our attention. christ _may be denied in words; or in works; or by a perversion of the gospel, causing it to become another gospel_. we will treat of each briefly. i. christ may be denied in words. as "with the mouth confession is made to salvation," so with the mouth we may "deny the lord who bought us." this is done by those who deny that jesus is the christ; thus he was denied by the jews, among whom he was born, and passed the days of his earthly residence. that people had many peculiar advantages for knowing christ, and many special evidences of his truth. "to them were committed the oracles of god." they had the prophets who testified of christ. to them did he appeal, and by them call on the jews to try his claims to the messiasship--"search the scriptures; they are they which testify of me." that people also witnessed his miracles, "which were such as no man could do except god were with him." they witnessed the wonders which attended his birth--those which attended, and followed his death--many of that nation, who had seen his crucifixion, and the soldier's spear pierce his heart while he hung on the cross, saw him alive after his passion; and a sufficient number, mostly, if not wholly jews, witnessed his ascension. yet as a people they rejected him, and continued in unbelief! not only denied him before pilate, but notwithstanding the teaching and miracles of the apostles, persevered in their denial of him, and perished in it! this was foretold. christ warned them of the event of their infidelity--"if ye believe not that i am he, ye shall perish in your sins." but they would not hear. by the gentiles the gospel was more kindly received. though devoid of that knowledge of god and true religion which might have prepared them for the reception of it, when they witnessed the mighty works, wrought by those who preached it, they believed. miracles are appeals to the senses of mankind. and when those who had worshipped dumb idols, beheld the wonders wrought by the ministers of christ, they perceived that they were sent of god, and became obedient to the faith. then did "many come from the east and west, and set down in the kingdom of god; while the children of the kingdom were call out." christianity spread abroad. "the heathen were given to the son for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession." for several ages, most who were educated in christian lands, and blessed with revelation, professed to believe the gospel. but in later ages there hath been a falling away, agreeably to the predictions which went before, and many deny the truth of the gospel, and reject it as fabulous. ii. christ may be denied in works. he is so by some who in words confess him. those who enroll themselves among christ's disciples, thereby engage to be his followers. this is enjoined and made a term of acceptance. "if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me--whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." to follow christ is to cultivate his temper, and tread in his steps. "christ was meek and lowly in heart." he did god's commandments. it was "his meat to do the will of him that sent him." those who are his disciples have learnt of him. the same mind is in them, which is in him. when this divine temper is wrought into the soul, it appears in the life. those who have his spirit, walk as he walked. some call themselves christians, who do not follow christ. but he doth not acknowledge them to be his. he ranks them among those who deny him, "why call ye me lord, lord, and done: the things which i say? then are ye my friends, when ye do all things, whatsoever i have commanded you." christ's name is blasphemed, when those who call themselves after him live in allowed wickedness. sore are the wounds which he hath received in the house of his friends. no other have been so deep and deadly. but those who while they call themselves christ's friends, live like the wicked world, discover their hypocrisy--that they are not of christ's flock--"his flock hear his voice and follow him." others may creep in unawares, but they are not of his fold. the apostle speaks of these false professors in his epistle to titus. * "they profess that they know god, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good works reprobate." + * titus i. . + titus i. . others deny christ by refusing to confess him: "for the refusal is in works to deny him." under the former dispensation certain duties were enjoined as tokens of subjection to the divine sovereign. to neglect them, was considered as breaking the covenant of god. "and god said to abram, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee. this is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee: every man child among you shall be circumcised. the uncircumcised man child shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." ++ an attendance on the passover was enjoined under the same penalty. the person who should neglect it, was ordered to be cut off from israel. every rite and ceremony enjoined in the law was obligatory. to neglect them was to set up the standard of rebellion against god--deny his sovereignty--his right to give law. those who persevered in neglect, after warnings, were no more to be considered as his people. ++ genesis xvii. - . under the gospel dispensation, duties of like import are enjoined, and under the same penalty. the tokens of belonging to christ are commanded. to neglect them is to reject the savior, and forfeit the benefits of an interest in him. among these an open profession of faith in christ, is one of the chief. so it was considered by the apostles, and primitive christians. they dared not neglect it when it cost every worldly comfort, and even life. neither was it a groundless fear which excited them to so costly a duty. their lord, had expressly declared, that "whoever should be ashamed of him, before an evil and adulterous generation, he would be ashamed of them before his father, and before his angels." if we attend to our context we shall see that the apostle has here a special reference to denying christ in this way--"remember that jesus christ, of the seed of david, was raised from the dead, according to my gospel: wherein i suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of god is not bound. therefore i endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may obtain salvation, which is in christ jesus, with eternal glory. it is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we differ, we shall also reign with him: _if we deny him, he also will deny us_: if we believe not; yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself." the apostle persevered though he suffered the loss of all things, and incurred every indignity and sorrow; and even when he foresaw the loss of life, in consequence of adhering to the christian cause and continuing to preach the gospel. when some who were concerned for him, would have dissuaded him from adventuring among the enemies of christianity, especially as his dangers and sufferings among them, were foretold by a prophet, he refused their counsel and adhered to his purpose, though tenderly affected with their concern for him. "what mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for i am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at jerusalem for the name of the lord jesus," and when his last conflict approached, apprized of what was before him, he advanced without dismay--"i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand." st. paul might have avoided all the evils which he endured because he belonged to christ, by only practically denying him: but he dared not deny him. he knew the consequences which would follow the part he acted. "if we suffer we shall also reign with him; _if we deny him, he also will deny us_. having respect to the recompence of reward," he pressed on, exulting in the prospect before him--"i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the lord the righteous judge, shall give me in that day." if to neglect professing christ, when it exposed to such sufferings was considered as denying him, and incurred the forfeiture of an interest in him, will it now be dispensed with? no, when it exposeth to no suffering, or loss? when it both became the most cheap and easy of all duties? are the terms of acceptance with god in christ changed? are they not the same as formerly? doubtless they are essentially the same. "there is no respect of persons with god." if to neglect the badges of discipleship was formerly to deny christ, it is still to deny him. _if we deny him, he also will deny us_. iii. christ may be denied by a perversion of the gospel, causing it to become another gospel. some of this description were found in the primitive church. such were those who made christ the minister of sin--who considered the design of his coming, not to be "to destroy the works of the devil," but to render it safe to live in sin and indulge depravity. such were those who held the doctrine of the nicolaitanes; and the doctrine of balaam, which were probably nearly akin, giving countenance to uncleanliness. such were also those pretendedly enlightened persons, who claimed knowledge in divine things, superior to that of the apostles, and taught that chastity, and temperance, and sundry other duties enjoined of god, were not obligatory on believers. these are described by st. peter and jude, as enemies of christ. in later ages the gospel hath not been less corrupted, by some, who have called themselves christians. it hath become in their hands, another gospel. it maybe difficult precisely to determine, all who in this way deny christ: but when the manifest tendency of any scheme, called christian, is to lead to sin, render secure in sin, or build the hope of salvation on any other foundation than the mercy of god, and merits of the redeemer, it must lead to a practical denial of christ. to the sacred standard should every system be referred. those which deviate essentially there from, lead to a denial of christ; and will produce a denial by him before his father in heaven. reflections. if we do not mistake the scriptures, those who deny christ are without hope; and those who reject and those who neglect the gospel, or refuse to confess the savior, are to be reckoned among them. some are otherwise minded. "if a person only acts sincerely, no matter what his religious principles, (say some) or whether he hath religious principles; he will find mercy with god and be accepted of him;" an opinion which is spreading in this liberal age! we would gladly adopt it, and receive to the arms of charity all who appear to act honestly, could we see reason for it. but, in our apprehension, the word of truth condemns those who deny christ, and declares that they will be denied by him before his heavenly father. we read of damnable heresies--of those who are given up to strong delusions that they should believe a lie that they might be damned. --and find an express declaration, cutting off unbelievers from all hope.--"he that believeth not shall be damned." whatever god may do with those who have not the gospel, those to whom it is sent must believe, receive and obey it, or perish in their sins. this is so plainly and expressly declared in the word of truth, that we wonder doubts should arise in the minds of those who believe it. nor is it less strange, that confessing christ should be thought a matter of indifference. scripture is equally express respecting this matter, as the other. we have seen that under the former dispensation, god's covenant and the tokens of it were commanded, under penalty of excision from his people--that in the apostolic age, christ was to be confessed, under penalty of being denied by him in the presence of god. these are not matters of doubt. they are stoney ground hearers who "are offended when persecution ariseth because of the word." these bring no fruit to perfection. if the terms of acceptance with christ are the same now as formerly: if they are not lowered down from their original, a denial of him, either verbal or practical, will shut men out of his kingdom. it becomes those who have a hope toward god while such their state, to consider these things. "it is a faithful saying--if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him; _if we deny him, he also will deny us_." * * * * * * sermon xx. the fear which terminates in the second death. revelation xxi. . "the fearful--shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." the terms on which only we can be christ's disciples are laid before us in the scriptures, and we are counselled to consider them before we engage to be his. though christ was born to be a king, his kingdom is not of this world. he doth not persuade men with the prospect of great things here; but on the contrary warns his followers, that "in this world they shall have tribulation;" pointing them to another, as the place of their rest, and teaching them there to expect the reward of their labors and suffering here. and here the saints in every age, have groaned, being burdened. had god provided nothing better for them, he would be ashamed to be called their god. the primitive christians drank largely of the bitter cup. all the apostles, except john, are said to have sealed their testimony with their blood. john at an advanced age, died peaceably in his bed at ephesus. but he did not escape persecution here. when the revelation was made to him, he was in exile for the word of god and for the testimony of jesus. for his consolation, and for the edification of the church, he was visited in his lonely state, by the exalted redeemer, who unveiled futurity before him, briefly sketching the changes which were to pass over his people till the consummation of all things. the vision closed with the solemn, dreadful process of the great day, and its consequences to the righteous and to the wicked. the divine visitant enlarged on the glories of the heavenly state beyond any of the prophets who had gone before. the description is clothed in figurative language, affording only a partial view of "the glory which is to be revealed;" sufficient however to convince us, that "eye hath not seen, ear heard, or the heart of man conceived the things which god hath prepared for those who love him." but who will be made to possess these glorious things? they are offered to all who hear the sound of the gospel; but conquering believers will only attain them. their contrast will be the portion of others. this life is a warfare, in which we are called to contend with our own corruptions and with the powers of darkness--"he that overcometh shall inherit all things:" but those who are overcome, _will have their part in the lake of fire--which is the second death_. to understand the grounds of this context is highly important. mistakes here may be fatal. to assist the inquirer, the characters of conquerors and captives are drawn in the scriptures. the verse of which the text is a part, mentions several general characters of the latter kind, and determines their future portion--_the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death_. in the prosecution of our subject, only one of these general characters will be considered--_the fearful_. who then are intended by _the fearful_? and what is the fear which leads to destruction? fearful, is a term seldom used to describe sinners. it occurs, we believe, in no other scripture. every kind of fear is not sinful; much less inconsistent with a state of grace. "the fear of lord is the beginning of wisdom"--it disposes the subject of it to mind the things which belong to peace, and flee to the hope set before him in gospel. the fear of god is often used to describe the good man, and given as a leading trait in his character. it is noted in favor of obadiah, the servant of ahab, that he "feared the lord greatly." to have no fear of god before one's eyes, is expressive of great obduracy in sin; of the last grade of depravity. yet in the text, the fearful, are mentioned as the first rank of those who will have their part in the burning lake! what then is this fear? it may be of several kinds; particularly--that to which precludes trust in god, and reliance on his grace in christ--that which operates to explain away the law of god--that which puts men upon duty in order to atone for sin--and that which shrinks from the hardships of religion. i. the fear which leads down to the lake of fire, may be that which precludes trust in god and reliance on his grace in christ. faith in christ, and reliance on divine grace in him, are conditions of salvation. where these are wanting christ will not profit. faith and reliance are united. the latter is dependant on the former, and riseth out of it. "he that cometh to god, must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him." the fearful and unbelieving are here set together--the fearful and unbelieving shall have their part--perhaps they are thus joined to intimate that the fear intended precludes the faith to which the promises are made. the sinner who is the subject of this fear hath so deep a sense of the sinfulness of sin, especially of his own, that he is afraid to make god his hope--afraid to look up to the throne of grace, or to ask mercy of god. he would gladly flee the divine presence, like the first guilty pair, when they heard the voice of god walking in the garden after their fall. when fear hath this effect, it drives the sinner from the mercy which alone can save him. "christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. he came to seek and save that which was lost." to sinners, mercy is offered in him. were we without sin, we should have no need of mercy. if we flee from christ because we are sinners, we flee the mercy which alone can save us, and put offered salvation from us; for it is offered us only in him. to drive sinners away from the savior by fear, when he can hold them no longer secure in sin, is an old device of the deceiver, which hath probably often succeeded. on secure and awakened sinners, different delusive arts are practised. the former are persuaded that sin is a trivial evil, far from meriting eternal punishment; that god is not greatly offended at it; that it is easy to obtain forgiveness; that as we are required to forgive every offender who saith, i repent, god will do the same; that it is only to ask mercy, when we can sin no longer, and it will be immediately granted; so that there is very little danger in sin. but those who are awakened--who see the evil of sin, and tremble for fear of god's judgments, are tempted to believe that divine justice will only be exercised, especially to them--that their sins are unpardonable; their day of grace ended, and that they have nothing before them but "a certain fearful looking for of judgment." in such suggestion, the design of the tempter is to drive sinners to despair, and thus drive them away from christ. if he avails to effect it, his end is gained; for there is salvation in no other. it is emphatically true of the despairing sinner, that he "cannot go to christ for life." all who go to him, believe him able and willing to save. devoid of this faith none can go to him. therefore doth the fear which precludes faith lead down to ruin. ii. fear _which operates to explain away the law of god, hath the same effect_. this is sometimes the effect of fear. those who believe that there is a god, and that the holy scriptures are his word, cannot feel secure while they consider themselves condemned by his law, and view themselves as the objects of his wrath. therefore do the slaves of depravity endeavor to explain away god's law--therefore to persuade themselves that certain duties are not required--that certain self denials are not enjoined; or that there is something in their particular case which exempts them from _this or that_, which is required of others. the cunning which some discover in finding out excuses and evasions, by which to cheat themselves and silence their consciences, is affecting. it shews them to be the slaves of satan, and servants of corruption, and that they love their masters, and refuse to go out free, when liberty is offered. when people of this description pretend to inquire what is their duty, their real design is to evade the obligations of it. and they often succeed to persuade themselves that they are free from the obligations of it. but few others are deceived. the veil of the covering spread over their designs and views, is opaque only to themselves; to others it is transparent, and leaves them without excuse. frequent instances of this unfairness are visible in the world. when people make themselves easy and secure, without faith which works by love and purifies the heart--without repentance which mourns for sin as dishonorable to god, and in itself an evil thing, and a bitter, and without devotedness to the service of god, as well as a reliance on his grace in christ, no matter what they substitute in the place of these graces, all is of no avail; hope is built on the sand. that many of these vain substitutes are to be found among men, who is insensible? when fear hath this effect, it leads down to the fiery lake. iii. sometimes _fear puts men upon duty in order to atone for sin and merit the divine favor_. afraid of god's judgments, they set themselves to do commanded duties, and place their dependence on these doings of their own. duties done by men have nothing meritorious in them. the design of many things which god hath enjoined is to serve as a schoolmaster to bring men to christ. none are intended to save by any virtue in them. by nothing which man can do is god made his debtor. neither doth ought done by man recommend to the divine favor if perverted and made the ground of hope toward god. the sinner's best recommendation to the divine favor is a sense of his own demerit, which leads him humble and self abased to cast himself on grace in a mediator. his most prevalent prayer is that made by the publican--"god be merciful to me a sinner." sinners are invited to the savior, and encouraged to hope in him--"look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. it is a faithful saying, that christ came into the world to save sinners." but he saves only those who receive and trust in him. if we go about to establish our own righteousness, relying on our own doings as the ground of our acceptance with god, he will give to us according to our works --"behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled: this shall ye have from mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow." * *isaiah l. . not that sinners are to neglect the means of grace, or indulge in sin. when god promised his church to give them a new heart, and cause them to walk in his statutes, he declared that those blessings should be given in answer to prayer--"yet for this will i be inquired of by the house of israel to do it for them." and when the apostle teaches how to seek renewing grace, he directs to "lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness, the ingrafted word." saving grace is perhaps, never given till it is asked of god. sinners are made to see their need of this divine gift and led to cry to god for it. it is then when they ask that they receive. that they shall not ask in vain, is intimated with sufficient clearness in the word of truth. "whosoever shalt call on the name of the lord, shall be saved. if thou knewest the gift of god--_thou wouldest have asked of him_, and he would have given thee living water." yet the sinner merits nothing by any doings of his. the true penitent is sensible of it. he relies on grace alone; and asks mercy of god for the sake of him "who died for his offences, and rose again for his justification." he seeks in the use of appointed means because it is the way of duty, and the way in which god is wont "to have mercy, on whom he will have mercy;" who are commonly chosen from among those who seek his face. as fear puts some on duty, it excites others to that which is not duty--puts them on doing things which are not required. such are the pilgrimages and penances of the romanists; and such the severities which some others have practised on themselves with a view to atone for sin and render deity propitious. these have no tendency to conciliate heaven. a curse is more likely to follow them than a blessing; yet in this way some have thought to atone for sin and make peace with an offended god!* * vide sermon on colossians ii. . iv. there is yet one other kind of fear which leads to destruction --that _which causes men to shrink from the hardships of religion_; and decline the difficulties which lie in the way of duty. difficulties and temptations were not peculiar to the first ages of christianity. st. paul, after mentioning his own, declares them, in a measure, common to all christ's followers--"yea, and all who will live godly in christ jesus, shall suffer persecution." the trials and difficulties of the righteous are divers, but none escape them. many arise from indwelling corruption--many from an insnaring world--many from satan's malice and devices. in fallen man there is a bias to error and wickedness. not to suffer his own lusts to draw him away, and entice him to sin, requires great self denial. from a wicked world temptations also arise and difficulties spring up. in this land, the enemies of religion, have not power to kill and destroy the faithful; but they have power to pour contempt upon them. cruel mockings may severely try those who fear neither the gibbet, nor the stake. these do try the people of god at this day. neither do the powers of darkness cease to trouble and afflict--to assault the faithful with their temptations, and to lay snares to entangle them. "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." satan's devices are without number--his attacks are made from every quarter; and he is often so hidden that it is difficult to discover him. sometimes he assumes the mark of religion --is "transformed into an angel of light," the more effectually to cover his dark designs. such is his enmity that he is indefatigable in his endeavors to seduce and to destroy--such his craft and experience, that he is wise to accomplish his nefarious designs: and against the saints his rage is the greater, because he knoweth that his time is short. here the people of god live in a state of warfare--conflict with many enemies and suffer many sorrows. often they are called to suffer for christ--because they are numbered among his followers and wear his livery. if any of these things move us, if we are afraid to encounter these hardships, are discouraged in our christian course and induced to turn back from after christ, our fear will destroy us--it will cause us _to have our part in the lake of fire--which is the second death_. this hath happened to some who have assumed the christian name, and for a time appeared among christ's disciples! they have forsaken him. there is an hour of temptation, which trieth those who dwell on the earth; many fail in the trying hour. attacked by enemies and assaulted by temptations, they yield themselves captives to their spiritual enemies. this happens to some who had "heard the word and received it with joy--in the time of temptation, they are offended and fall away." wanting courage to stand on the lord's side, when it exposes them to reproach and sufferings, they suffer themselves to be overcome of evil, and fall from their stedfastness. these are christians only in name. the real christian possesseth a noble courage which raiseth him superior to every trial, and enableth him to subdue every enemy. the storms of temptation beat upon him; but he stands firm--resists the powers of darkness and his own corruptions--is moved neither by the frowns, nor flatteries of the world. like an eminent saint of old, he "hath respect to the recompence of reward," keeps heaven in his eye, and presseth on in his way thither. "through christ strengthening him, he doth all things and abounds--holds out to the end and is made more than a conqueror." to such "pertain the promises--they overcome--will inherit all things. god will be their god, and they will be his children." but those who cannot, "endure hardness as good soldiers"--who faint, and fail in the day of trial, suffering the enemy to prevail, and themselves to be overcome, "will lose that which they have wrought-- others will take their crowns, _and they will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone: which is the second death_." thus we have seen who are intended by the fearful, and their sad state. influenced by fear which drives them from the savior; or leads them to explain away god's law; or drive them to duty in order to atone for sin; or too timid to take up the cross and follow christ, they have no part in him. they are afraid of misery; and their fear indulged, will bring misery upon them far beyond their fear! for "who knows the power of god's anger." before us the door of mercy is yet open. we are invited to christ for life. god hath no pleasure in the death of sinners. he is ready to receive the returning prodigal. his arm is not shortened that it cannot save. he offers pardon and peace to the chief of sinners. the deeper sense we have of sin, the more we abhor ourselves for sin, the more welcome to his grace. weary and heavy laden sinners are particularly invited to the savior. he will not send them empty away. as the returning prodigal was received by his father, so is every repenting sinner, by his father in heaven. when the prodigal resolved to return with, a "father i have sinned--the father saw him a great way off," and all his bowels yearned over him--"he had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and killed him"--bid him a hearty welcome--lavished the richest favors on him, and called all to rejoice at his return. in like manner our heavenly father receives the returning penitent. this is the spirit of the parable. fear not then, ye who mourn in zion. come empty and naked as ye are, and fall down before an offended god, with, "father i have sinned. --god be merciful to me a sinner." come thus to god, and cast yourselves on his grace in christ, and his grace will be sufficient for you. we are warranted to promise you a kind reception. let none think to hide their sins by excuses or palliations. they are all open to the divine eye. "there is no darkness, nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." neither let any think to atone for their sins by doings of their own. the blood of christ is the only atonement. our best services are polluted with sin. let us endeavor to see our sins as they are, renounce them all, and repair to the mercy of god in christ. there is a fulness of merit in christ, and a fulness of mercy in god. there we may trust and not be ashamed. let none be discouraged by the difficulties which lie in their way, or faint under the hardships of the cross. if god calls us to trials he will support us under them--yea, if we make him our hope, and are not needlessly wanting to ourselves, he will make us more than conquerors; he will make us triumphers in christ. but if we fear to enter the lists against our spiritual enemies or to endure ought to which we are called in the way of duty, whether it be contempt, sufferings, or loss, we shall bring greater sorrows on ourselves by shrinking back in the day of trial, than by pressing forward, and bearing all which duty requires. our sorrows, if we abide faithful, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, will be only temporary; and under the pressure of them, we shall be supported by omnipotence; but if we draw back, and refuse to deny ourselves, fainting in the day of trial, our sorrows and sufferings will be eternal, and as such as omnipotence can only inflict! * * * * * * sermon xxi. the ends of family institution, with observations on the importance of education. malachi ii. . "and did not he make one? ye had he the residue of the spirit. and wherefore one? that he might seek a godly seed.--" toward the close of the babylonish captivity, religion revived among the jews. several zealous and able reformers were raised up and advanced to power, whose influence was blessed to call back that people from their declensions, and prepare them for mercy. but the effect of their labors was only temporary. when they were gone off the stage, the people again apostatized, neglected the worship and ordinances of god, and became vicious and corrupt. this prophet, who lived several ages after their return to canaan, was sent to reprove their irreligion and the immoralities, which abounded among them and had infected every order of men. one of the sins then rife in israel, was a family sin. family contentions, which frequently terminated in divorces, were become common. divorces were permitted to the hebrews, "for the hardness of their hearts, but it was not so from the beginning." larger communities are all made up of families. evils therefore which affect the latter, cannot but affect the former. were all the families which compose an empire divided and unhappy, the empire would be so. it is also worthy of notice, that the first rudiments of character, which render good or bad, and cause people to be blessings or curses in society, are commonly begun in those nurseries of our race. the bias there given, seldom wholly wears off; it is generally carried, in degree, through life. probably many of the evils which afflicted the jews in the days of this prophet, had their origin in the cradles of the nation. he was therefore directed to strike at the root of evils, and by endeavoring to reform the smaller societies of which the larger were composed, to reform the whole. with this view he led back the minds of those among whom he ministered, to the origin of families, and declared the merciful design of the most high, in their institution--_that he might seek a godly see._ seeking a godly seed is not the only design. it is however a principal design, and will be chiefly regarded in the following discourse. one thing designed is the comfort and advantage of the several members of these little communities. but to the attainment of these ends, they must keep respectively, in their places, and act faithfully in them. the heads must live together in harmony, and unite in ordering the common affairs of the society; and the inferior members must submit to their authority, and do the duties of their stations. human happiness greatly depends on the temper and conduct of those who are connected in the nearest relations, and live together. suppose trouble abroad, yet if one hath peace and friendship in his family, and finds order and affection at home, he will not be very unhappy. he will often "retire to his secret chambers, and shut the doors about him, till the evils are past." but the house divided against itself, is a scene of confusion and trouble. contentions there are like a continual dropping. the man who hath affluence and honor; who is respected or envied abroad, is but a wretch, if his retirements are unquiet; if his family connexions are peevish and disagreeable, and the inferior members rise in rebellion and refuse obedience to his reasonable requirements, or neglect the duties of their stations. fidelity and affection in the nearest relations, yields the greatest temporal felicity; the want of them occasions the most pungent grief which is experienced in life; that which arises from sense of guilt excepted. the part acted by every member of a family, effects the whole. none can rejoice or mourn alone. all participate in the joy or grief. all are affected by the discharge, or neglect of relative duties: joy and sorrow keep pace with them. neither are the evils which arise from these abuses to be avoided by celibacy, without incurring others of a serious nature. man is formed for society. an help meet was necessary even in eden. to have remained alone would have rendered an earthly paradise a tiresome place. therefore was a suitable companion given of god, to crown the joys of innocence. the comfort and advantage of the members is manifestly one design of family institution; but where the duties of the several relations are neglected, or counteracted, the ends are frustrated, and the blessing changed into a curse. "it is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman." and the woman, who instead of a kind and virtuous companion, is joined to a tyrant, or a man of belial, must have sorrow upon, sorrow, till death comes to her relief. but the design of family institution expressed in the last clause of the text--_that he might find a godly seed, will be chiefly attended to_. we are here taught that god made one, and only one to be man's companion and helper--_that he might seek a godly feed_. one is necessary for this purpose; more would rather hinder than help. with one there is a joint interest; more would cause divisions. to answer the ends proposed, the connexion must be for life. it must not be left to the parties or either of them, to dissolve it at pleasure, as the jews of that age contended. this liberty the prophet shews to be contrary to the spirit and design of marriage. he observes that though god _had the residue of the spirit_--all power, and could easily have made many, he made only one, to be the companion and helper of man--that this indicated the design of marriage to be an indissoluble connexion, which was ordained to continue till death. this which is intimated in the text, is confirmed by our savior in his reply to the pharisees who questioned him on this subject. * * matthew xix. - . in farther discussing our subject, _after a few desultory observations on the importance of education, especially parental education, we shall inquire in what ways, and by what means parents are required to fed a godly seed_. much culture is necessary to man's attaining his proper rank in creation. this should begin at an early period, and naturally devolves on parents, who, by providential appointment, are guardians of the infancy and childhood of their offspring. brutes need no instruction in order to fill the places designed for them of the creator. neither do they need example. instinct supplies their places--teacheth all which they need to know; and teacheth perfectly. the several kinds of beasts and birds, shut out from their dams, and secluded from their own species, act according to their natures in the same manner, as though brought up with them--discover the same disposition--use the same methods of seeking their food, and providing for themselves and their young--and express themselves in the same language, or by the same notes. nature left to herself, respecting every thing which belongs to them, is a sufficient, yea an infallible instructor. some of the brutes may be taught to mimick man; others to know and serve him; but these are foreign to their rank. everything, properly belonging to them, is taught by nature, independent of man. had man never existed, some of them might have lived and filled their places in creation without him. but man, the head of this lower world, requires particular attention. his mind requires more than his body. should man come forward to act his part here, with only the same kind of attention which nature teacheth the brute to bestow on her young, what would he be? how would he appear? suppose some savage horde to attend only to the bodies of their offspring, during infancy and childhood, and then send them abroad to follow nature!--uncultivated nature! living at large like the brutal inhabitants of the forest! can we form an idea of ought more shocking? surely such a people would be more brutal than the brutes! to prevent these dreadfuls, and render man the noble creature for which he is designed, happy in himself, an honor to his creator, and a blessing among god's works, are the ends proposed in education. these usually originate in that culture which is begun by parents. the foundation of honor or infamy, usefulness or mischief, happiness or misery, is commonly laid in the morning of life. the impressions then made, are deep and lasting; the bias then given to the mind, goes far to form the character of the man. we see therefore the goodness of god in an institution which hath such important objects in view--which is designed to plant in infant minds the seeds of virtue, and form mankind for usefulness and honor.--_and wherefore one? that he might seek a godly seed_. this work would have been incumbent on man had he retained his first estate. it would then have belonged to parents to cultivate the tender mind and direct it in right ways. marriage was instituted before the apostasy, of which a principal design is that mentioned in the text: for the prophet speaks of man in his original state. in innocence man had his work assigned him--was made for action. idleness would have constituted no part of his felicity, had he remained upright. when he came out of the creator's hand, he was "put into the garden to dress it and to keep it." his disposition to idleness may have been occasioned by the fall. had man retained his maker's image, it is not probable that young minds would have received habits of virtue, and been imbued with knowledge, without parental aid--that instinct would have supplied the place of instruction, and superseded the use of it. had man remained upright his whole work have been diverse from that which now employs him. the earth would have required little culture --none which would have wearied its inhabitants. the mind, free from every corrupt bias, would have been open to instruction, which would have flowed from the parent and been received by the child, with delightful ease and joy. man devoted to the service of god, would have devoted his all to god, especially his offspring. then to have poured knowledge, and especially the knowledge of god, into the placid docile mind of the pious youth, what delight would it have given to the soul glowing with divine love! since the apostasy, children are the joy of parents. with all their depravity and perverseness, which greatly lower down the comfort parents would otherwise occasion, they love them next to life, and see their improvements with peculiar joy. especially doth the godly parent rejoice to witness in them good things toward the lord-- religious dispositions--concern to know and serve god, and become _a godly seed_. "he hath no greater joy than to observe his children walking in the truth." had man retained his first estate, his joy of this kind would have been full. he would have trained up a holy, happy progeny--"a seed to serve the lord." in the present state of human nature, the raising of _a godly seed_, is more difficult, but no less necessary. endeavors to this end may be even more so. man left from his childhood, uninstructed and unrestrained, to follow his natural bias, would become a monster among god's creatures! therefore the importance of parental faithfulness, as divine honor, and human happiness are regarded. * * * * * * sermon xxii. parental duties considered and urged. malachi ii. . "and did not he make one? yet had he the residue of the spirit. and wherefore one? that he might seek a godly seed." some general observations on the importance of education, especially parental education, were made in the preceding discourse. we are now to consider the ways and means by which parents, are _to seek a godly seed_. only general directions can here be given. much will be left to the discretion of those concerned. some of the principal parental duties are, _dedication of their children to god, followed by instruction--restraint--good example, and prayer_. we shall treat on each of these briefly in their order. . of _dedication of children to god. by a godly seed_, children consecrated to the service of god, and set apart for him, is commonly intended, this implies some rites of consecration. these there have been, probably, from the beginning; though we have no information what they were, till the days of abram. before the flood we read of "sons of god" who married "the daughters of men;" a sad union which led to the universal degeneracy of mankind. the "sons of god" are supposed to have been the descendants of seth; "the daughters of men," to have been of the family of cain. but why the distinction of "sons of god, and daughters of men?" it arose, no doubt, from external differences. the former had the seal of godliness set upon them, whatever that seal might be; and were trained up to attend the worship and ordinances of god--they were visibly of the household of faith; none of which were the case with the latter. * that the former were all renewed, and children of god by regeneration, is not probable--they are termed sons of god, on account of their covenant relation to him. * tenders of pardon and life were made to the whole human race, through a mediator, and the church at first included the whole family of adam; but this did not long continue. cain, enraged that his offering was not accepted, slew his brother, and "went out from the presence of the lord"--left his father's house, in which god was worshipped, and where his ordinances were administered--cast off religion, and taught his children to disregard it. his progeny were not deficient in worldly wisdom. they cultivated the arts of life, and made improvements in them, as appears from the sketch of their history given by moses. + but they were without god in the world; having cast off his fear, and the apprehension of his presence, and their accountableness, which often follow the dereliction of the divine institutions. + genesis iv. - . so the posterity of jacob were called "the children of god--the people of god--a holy seed--a royal priesthood," because of their external, nominal distinctions. these appropriate terms continued as long as they remained god's visible people, and had the seal of his covenant set upon them, though they had so corrupted themselves as to be even worse than the heathen. and jerusalem is called the _holy city_ even after it had filled up the measure of its wickedness by murdering the lord of glory. * * matthew xxvii. . from the days of abraham, we know the seal of god's covenant, and how parents have been required to dedicate their offspring to him, as a visible sign of their being consecrated to his service, and as a bond on parents to train them up in his fear. and those who have been of the household of faith, and been duly instructed, have considered themselves obliged to discharge these duties; nor have they neglected them. . dedication _must be followed by instruction_. parents must cultivate the tender mind--instill the principles of virtue--infuse the knowledge of god, and of the duties due to god and man. this is a matter of the greatest importance. if youthful minds are not imbued with knowledge and virtue, they will not remain blank; the void will be filled with that which tends to mischief, and leads to woe and infamy. when we look among pagans and savages, we are struck with their vices and follies, which raise our disgust, or excite our pity. but who hath made us to differ from them! is it not that divine sovereign who "divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of adam," who cast our lot among the civilized and enlightened, who having been taught, of god, taught us the way of happiness? had we been born among heathens, we should probably have been heathens; if among savages, should not have differed from them--should have gloried, perhaps in those refinements in cruelty, which they consider an accomplishment, but which we shudder to hear related. it is not probable that we should have had native discernment sufficient to have raised us above our fellows--to have enabled us to discover their delusions and the absurdity of their views. had we been denied revelation, we should probably have been ignorant of our fallen state and need of a savior, and might have "perished for lack of vision." how far god might have pitied our necessary ignorance, we know not; but we can now discern no way of salvation, except by faith in christ, with repentance from dead works. now, the knowledge of these, and the necessity of holiness of heart and life, we have received, not by immediate revelation, but from our fellow men. and most of those who receive them, to saving effect, receive the first impressions in early life; receive them from those with whom they are conversant in their tender years. the forming mankind to virtue, and rendering them _a godly seed_, depends much on the means _then_ used with them, and the bias then given to the mind. . restraint is _also necessary in the morning of life_. by nature man is inclined to evil. this disposition originated in the apostasy and descends to the whole race, rendering them untractable and unreachable--easily susceptible of bad impressions and indisposed to good ones. it appears and operates at a very early period of life. "the wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies. their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear."-- such declarations are not indeed to be understood literally. none are equal transgressors, before they are capable of moral action, which is the state of the new born infant. he cannot speak lies who hath not yet attained the power of speech. the poison of human depravity may, however be compared to that of the serpent, which begins in its formation, and discovers itself when first capable of action. we see the effects of depravity in the child, while reason is yet weak and only budding forth. it is one of the first appearances in the progress of a human being from infancy to manhood. when these are discovered, restraint should begin. parents who seek _a godly seed_, should no longer delay to counteract the corrupt disposition, and endeavor to give the young creature, committed to their care, another and a better bias. but, alas! parental affection too often degenerates into weakness, and giving way to natural perverseness, suffers it to take its course; the consequences of which are often fatal to peace and honor in after life; perhaps in that also which is to come. it is of primary importance that restraint should hold back the young agent from that which is evil; and as far as may be, prevent him from associating with the vile, who disregard the voice of conscience and harden themselves in sin. suitable correction to impress an early sense of the evil of sin, and praise to encourage and allure in the paths of virtue, are also acts of kindness to the unexperienced creature who is entering on the war of life, and coming forward to act its part among enemies and temptations, and thus to prepare for honor or infamy, joy or misery eternal. though no fruit of this kind attention may immediately appear beneficial consequences commonly follow; though sometimes at a later period than was expected; yea after expectation hath ceased. . example is _another mean of seeking a godly seed_. good example is particularly incumbent on all who are exalted to rule, whether in larger, or smaller communities. in the history of israel we observe the morals of the nation commonly agreeing with those of the governing prince. nor was this peculiar to that people; it holds generally, in a considerable degree, of every other. the manners and morals of all who live in society, usually take a tinge from those of their rulers. this is particularly the case with smaller societies; especially with families. children often imbibe the sentiments, learn the manners, and catch somewhat of the tempers of those with whom they live, as well as learn their language. _do we seek a godly seed_? it concerns us to be careful what examples we set before the youth who attend us. youth watch and observe adults, especially those to whom they look up as friends, and whose love and kindness they daily experience. adults are disposed to think favorably of those who shew them kindness. from the view of a child, it hides every fault. that a thing was done by a respected parent justifies it to a child, however criminal it might appear in another. the temper and conduct, of a benefactor, make a deeper impression than his words, and have more influence on the judgment of those entering on life. even little children feel the force of our savior's rule of judging--"by their fruits ye shall know them." every thing conspires to prejudice children in favor of parents, and to dispose them to follow their examples. bad example is in them especially seducing. children generally follow it, where it is set before them. coinciding with their natural bias, precept and counsel are commonly lost upon them, if taught by parental example to do evil. it is therefore of the greatest importance, especially to the members of a family, that the head should "behave himself wisely in a perfect way, and walk within his house with a perfect heart." . prayer, _especially family prayer is another means seeking a godly seed_. this duty is important, as it tends to solemnize the heart, and produce a serious and devout temper; and as it tends to draw down the divine blessing on those who attend it. when children witness a parent daily looking up to heaven, and fervently imploring the divine blessing on himself and them--when they hear him humbly confessing sin, and its demerits, and imploring pardon--when they observe him devoutly thanking god for existence, for continuance in life, and for all its comforts--when they hear him asking grace to help and divine direction and guidance--when they see him besieging the throne of grace for the holy spirit to renew and sanctify them, enable them to do every duty, fill them with love to god and man, enable them to bear injuries and requite them with kindness, yea, to be good and do good--to make them faithful unto death and then to receive them to the mansions of glory, and are called to join in these solemn addresses to heaven, what other lesson is equally instructive? what hath so dire a tendency to solemnize the heart and impress it with the most just and weighty religious sentiments? in this view, family prayer is of vast importance. if attended as every serious person may attend it, cannot be wholly without effect, and hath often the happiest effect. it is not great talents, or showy gifts, but seriousness, solemnity and fervor, which render prayer prevalent with god and beneficial to man, as a means of exciting to other duties, and producing religious awe and reverence. this duty is also important, as tending to draw down the divine blessing on the devout worshipper and on his connexions. every good gift cometh down from god; but his gifts are usually bestowed in answer to prayer--"ye have not because ye ask not--ask, and it shall be given you--for every one that asketh, receiveth." --spiritual mercies are seldom given but in answer to prayer; and seldom long denied to earnest persevering prayer. this is the spirit of one of our savior's parables, * and the purport of many passages in the word of god. * luke xviii. , &c. and when a person hath omitted nothing in his power to make his children wise to salvation, what so natural, what so reasonable, as to bring them to god, and pour out his soul before him, for his blessing upon them? and what so prevalent with "him who heareth prayer?" it is storied of augustine, who lived in the fourth century, that though the son of an eminently pious mother, he was a very vicious youth--that a christian seeing him pass in the street, spake of him as an abandoned character, with whom it was disgraceful to associate --which another hearing, observed, that he was the child of so many prayers, _that he could not believe that he would be lost_--nor was he lost. those prayers were heard. he was called of god, and like saul of tarsus, made a chosen vessel to bear god's name to a scoffing world, and do much in the cause of the divine redeemer. * * witherspoon's sermon on education. the fervent prayers which godly parents offer up for their children, ascend like the prayers and aims of good cornelius for a memorial before god. when sincere and persevering, they return not empty. they often draw down the divine blessing on those for whom they are offered up. if they fail through filial obstinacy and perverseness, they draw a blessing on themselves, to their eternal joy. * * * * * these are some of the ways in which parents should seek a godly feed. but, alas! these duties are much neglected; therefore the declension of religion, and the prevalence of vice. those who enter into covenant with god, bind themselves to discharge these duties. others are not devoid of obligation to do the same. they are duties which rise out of the parental relation, and are indissolubly connected with it. parents have a fondness for their children, and with their felicity. but do not some who believe them made for eternity, take care only for the mortal part, which after all their care must ere long become food for worms, and turn to dust! are there not parents who neither dedicate their children to god, nor teach them his fear, nor walk before them in the right way, nor commend them to the divine mercy! cruel parents! unhappy children! how difficult, how dangerous their situation! by nature disposed to error--assaulted by subtil enemies, whose temptations fall in with their natural bias, and are strengthened by the conduct of those whom they love as friends and revere as guides! little chance have such unexperienced and unsuspecting creatures to escape the snares which surround them! dangerous, and almost desperate is their situation! perhaps the endless misery of some may be greatly chargeable on those who under god, gave them being! affecting thought! it concerns parents to think on these things. if they consider, they must feel their obligation _to seek a godly seed_, and be afraid to neglect it. and let pious parents be persuaded to labor and not faint in the discharge of the duties which they owe to god, and the young immortals committed to their care. though their counsels may be condemned, and their prayers seem not to be regarded by him who hath power to change the heart, let them not be discouraged, but persevere. "those who sow in tears shall reap in joy." though the seed lie long under the clods, it will not be lost, but some how, bring forth fruit. the counsels, warnings, and examples of faithful godly parents commonly make some impression on the children who affect to disregard them. the most dissolute have their serious moments; their pangs of remorse and terror. at such seasons their parents' warnings, prayers and tears recur to their minds, and seem to rise up before them. this often happens after parental labors have ceased; and after the impressions they might have made, were supposed to have been effaced, they sometimes produce happy effects. few children who have been dedicated to god, taught to know and serve him, and the consequences which will follow their conduct here, and witnessed their parents' deep concern, and earned cries to god in their behalf can forget them--they must, they do, at times, affect them. while any thing of this nature remains, there is hope. some, who in early life, scoff at warning and counsel, are afterwards brought to repentance: and such often testify, that impressions made by parental faithfulness in their tender years, were the means of their awakening and amendment. this should encourage those whose children give them little hope, to persevere in the discharge of duty. "the lord said of abraham--i know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the lord, to do justice and judgment, _that the lord might bring upon abraham that which he hath spoken of him_." what? the richest and most lasting blessings--_because "he would command his children--to keep the way of the lord_." "it is not a vain thing to serve god. then--(when he maketh up his jewels) shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth god, and him that serveth him not." in no other way can we serve him more acceptably than by following abraham's example--"commanding our households to serve the lord," and setting them the example. whoso doth it, "shall in no wise lose his reward." and happy the youth who second the endeavors of their parents to render them _a godly seed_. such "will find life and obtain favor of the lord." here, they rejoice the hearts of those who love them, and smooth the rugged path of age. the years which to others have no pleasures in them, are not devoid of comfort to those who witness filial piety and hope to live again in a godly offspring. such parents rejoice in death, and their _godly seed_, will rejoice with them forever, in heavenly mansions. * * * * * * sermon xxiii. the blessing of god on filial piety. jeremiah xxxv. . "therefore thus saith the lord of hosts, the god of israel, 'jonadab, the son of rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me forever.'" israel were greatly depraved before the days of this prophet, who was sent to reprove and call them to repentance. the prophet faithfully discharged his trust; but labored to very little effect. the chiefs of the nation were offended at its warnings and predictions--rose up against him--shut him up in prison; yea in a dark dungeon, where he sank in the mire; and even sought his life! he was not, however discouraged.. he continued "to warn the wicked from his way, that he should turn from it. none of these things moved him." this was not the only messenger sent of god to warn that people--he sent to them all his servants, the prophets; but they would not hear; the jews of that age flattered themselves, that god would never enter into judgment with them. "he might pour his fury on the heathen; but they should escape--their place and nation would never feel the effects of his wrath, or become the theatre of his judgments--they were his people--necessary to his honor--he was their god; and would continue their god, whatever their character, or conduct." the prophets warned them of their mistake--told them that the judgments of heaven hung over them--that their city and sanctuary would be destroyed, many of them perish in the war, and the residue he removed into strange lands, there to serve their enemies--"but they seemed to that degenerate people as those who mocked, and they believed them not." there is a certain grade of depravity which scoffs at warnings and laughs at the shakings of god's spear! when this hath become the general character of a people, desolating judgments are near. those who conceive mercy to be the only attribute of deity; or the only attribute which he can exercise _towards them_, are commonly deaf to warnings. sure evidence that they are given up of god--that his spirit hath ceased to strive with them. rarely are those brought to repentance who entertain such views of god. perhaps never, unless their views of him are changed. they have no fear of god before their eyes. if mercy absorbed every other attribute, there could be no place for fear. and of what enormity are those incapable who have lost the fear of god? such corruption of principle is the bane of practice, and prelude of ruin and wretchedness. the history of the hebrews, and the history of mankind, confirm the truth of this remark. this prophet having long warned his charge to no purpose, is here directed to apply to them in another manner--to try to shame them into contrition, by setting before them the part acted by a particular family which dwelt among them--the rechabites, who had for ages religiously obeyed the injunctions of one of their ancestors, left probably as his dying charge. some of that progenitor's requirements seemed rigorous, but being the order of a respected ancestor the family considered them as obligatory; nor could they be persuaded to violate them in any particular, though publicly invited to it by a prophet. it _may be proper here to make some inquiries relative to these rechabites--to the person whose charge they conceived so binding; and the nature and design of the charge_. the rechabites are said to have been a branch of the kenites, and to have descended from hobab, the son of jethro, moses' father in law. * * vide henry and brown's dictionary. while israel were encamped at the foot of mount sinai, that midianitish priest, or prince, visited moses, bringing with him, zipporah, the wife of moses and her children, who had been sent to her father's as a place of safety, during the troubles in egypt. not long after, hobab, the son of jethro, appears to have been with israel in the wilderness; and he was invited to go with them to the land of promise, and take his lot among them, and was promised an equal share of blessings with the seed of jacob--"if thou wilt go with us, it shall be, that what goodness the lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee." at first hobab declined, but he eventually complied; as his descendants were among the hebrews after their settlement in canaan, and they continued among them, and remained a distinct family, down to the captivity. one branch of these kenites was denominated from rechab, an illustrious chief of the house of hobab; who had a son, or descendant, named jonadab, or jehonadab, as his name is sometimes written. jonadab was renowned for wisdom and piety. he flourished in the days of jehu, almost three centuries before the babylonish captivity; and was so famed for sanctity and attachment to true religion, that only being seen in his company was a recommendation to the regard of its friends. therefore was he treated with respect by jehu, while he pretended a regard for the true god--therefore was he taken up by that prince into his chariot, and made his partner in the destruction of idolatry. such was the man who left this charge to his descendants, which was so sacredly regarded by them, for so long a term. this was a remarkable family. another who have paid equal attention to the orders of a departed progenitor, and in which none of the members appear to have degenerated from his virtue, is not perhaps to be found in the annals of mankind! but our surprise will increase if we attend to the nature of the charge. the prophet was directed to gather the whole family of the rechabites --bring them into the house of the lord--set wine before them and invite them to drink. he obeyed; offering them a treat, as a family known and respected in israel. this was not done to tempt them, but to reprove the jews, who resorted in great numbers to the temple; though they had cast off the fear of the god there worshipped. god knew, and had probably informed the prophet, that the wine would be refused. it was refused, and the reason, assigned--"we will drink no wine; for jonadab,--the son of rechab, our father commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, ye, nor your sons forever, neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days, in the land where ye be strangers." some of these may seem to be strange restrictions; but they speak the piety of him who laid them, and his regard to the eternal, if not to the temporal interests, of his posterity. the prohibition seems to have been the same with the law of the nazerites. wine is doubtless here used in a large sense, for every kind of strong drink. "wine was given to make glad the heart of man." he is allowed to use it with temperance and sobriety: but so many abuse it to their own hurt, and to the injury of society, that it is rather a curse, than a blessing, to the world. seeing the evils which resulted from the abuse--the devastation of men and morals, which it occasioned, this good man, from love to his offspring, warned them wholly to abstain from it. and what evils would many others have avoided, had they considered the counsel as given to them, and like this family, religiously regarded it? the ravages of intemperance, exceed those of the sword; and the moral evils it hath occasioned surpass description! but why the other restrictions included in the charge? why must the descendants of jonadab be denied the comfort of warm and convenient dwellings, and reside in tents through every season of the year, to all generations? why must they possess neither fields nor vineyards, which were allowed to others, and promised to israel, as part of the blessing, when they should settle in canaan? peculiarities unknown to us, might render it proper for them to submit to self denials to which others are not called. what they were we presume not to determine. * * mr. henry undertakes to assign the reasons of all these injunctions; but as none can be assigned which are not merely conjectural, we choose rather to leave each one to make his own conjectures, as he may find occasion. mankind are exceedingly prone to set up their rest here, and promise themselves permanent dwellings on this rolling ball. could this man of god persuade his posterity that this was not their home, and engage them to seek another country, that is, an heavenly, and lay up their treasure there, whatever self denials it might cost them, it must have been, on the whole for their advantage. this might be the general design of his counsel. but whatever might be the design, admirable was the effect. the whole family seemed to have listened to his advice, and for many ages to have obeyed his voice! "thus have we obeyed the voice of jonadab, the son of rechab our father, in all that he charged us--and done according to all that he commanded us!" this was not said only of themselves, who then flood before the prophet, but of the whole family, from the time the charge was given, down to that day. there is not the smallest probability that a numerous family would inquire after, and find out a code of rules and regulations which had been given nearly three centuries before, and all take it on them to observe them, if they had been neglected by their fathers, down to their time. they had doubtless been observed with punctuality from the days of jonadab. their answer to the prophet implies it. this had been known in israel. therefore were they brought into public view, and made the occasion of a solemn rebuke of that favored, but ungrateful people who had disregarded the injunctions of an infinite god! this was the end proposed in bringing the rechabites into the temple at this time, and gave occasion to the record here made to their honor, and to the blessings promised them from above. some may laugh at the singularity of this strange family--may consider it an evidence of weakness to pay such regard to the silly requisitions of a superstitious ancestor--deny themselves so many comforts--make themselves so singular--engage those with whom they married to conform to the rules of their house, and instil the same into their children from generation to generation! but whatever we may think of them, it is manifest that this supposed weakness met the divine approbation. the prophet speaks of them with honor; blesseth them in the name of the lord, and declares, in his name, that their filial piety shall not go unrewarded. "and jeremiah said unto the house of the rechabites, thus saith the lord of hosts, the god of israel, because ye have obeyed the commandment of jonadab your father, and--done according to all that he commanded you: _therefore, thus saith the lord of hosts, the god of israel, jonadab the son of rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me forever_." these are not simply expressions of approbation, but contain invaluable promises. they are made in the language of the old testament, but to those blessed with gospel light, their meaning is not obscure or difficult. the promise secured the continuance of this family, and a succession of men of piety and virtue in it as long as god's people continued--they should _never want a man to stand before the lord_--to serve him. that family had no office at the temple, but in a course of regular devotion, they stood before god, to minister unto him. this should continue--they should remain a religious family. men of piety should always be found among them. when the prophet had laid these matters before the jews, he made the application, and denounced the judgments of god against them, unless they turned by repentance. "thus faith the lord of hosts, the god of israel, go, and tell the men of judah, and the inhabitants of jerusalem--will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the lord. the words of jonadab, the son of rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding i have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me." the prophet then proceeded to remind them of the warnings which had been given them, and the means which had been used with them, and to denounce the judgments of god against them--"thus saith the lord of hosts, the god of israel, i will bring upon judah, and upon all the inhabitants of jerusalem, all the evil that i have pronounced against them; because i have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and have called unto them, but they have not answered." if we consider the state of that people, and the advantages which they had neglected and abused, we shall be convinced that their guilt was attended with many aggravations--no other people had so many advantages and means of information; and few beside were equally depraved. the family of rechab might rise up against them and condemn them. that family had been long obedient to a man like themselves--the jews had been disobedient to the god who is above. jonadab was dead --if his descendants disregarded his injunctions, he might have no power to punish their disobedience; but the god of israel lived--was acquainted with all their crimes, and able to punish their sin upon them. neither doth it appear that the rechabites had ever been reminded of the orders of their progenitor, or their obligation to obey him; but the jews had been often reminded of their duty; in the stated, and ordinary means of grace they were daily reminded of their obligation to obey god; and he had also sent all his servants the prophets, to call them to repentance; neither had god required such self denials of his people, as jonadab of his posterity--yet jonadab had been obeyed, and god had been disobeyed! his people "would not receive instruction." therefore were his judgments executed upon them, agreeably to his threatening; and they are left on record for our instruction. "now these things happened unto them for ensamples [sic]; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." reflections. in the part acted by the father of the rechabites, we witness the concern of a good man, that his children should mind the things of religion. that good man did not scruple to lay heavy burdens on his descendants, and cut them off from many temporal enjoyments, if it might serve to keep them humble, and cause them _to stand before the lord_. he chose rather to have his family poor, than to have them proud and vicious.--hardships which might serve to keep them mindful of their situation here, he judged advantageous: therefore the charge he left with them. pious parents do not generally leave such things in charge to their children. they do not, however, neglect the concerns of religion, or leave their families ignorant of them, or their obligation to regard them. they teach them to fear the lord, and live in all good conscience before him. ii. in the historical sketch here given of the rechabites, we see how good people of old, were influenced by parental authority--how they considered themselves bound to remember and obey the injunctions of religious ancestors, as they wished the blessing of god. where such injunctions are disregarded it is an evidence of great depravity. sad instances of this kind we sometimes witness in this degenerate age. we sometimes see godly parents, who had labored before in vain to render their children truely religions, spend their last hours in urging them not to receive the grace of god in vain--see them with deep concern, and with their dying breath, charging them to mind the things of religion, and not rest until they have found the savior. though at first some impression seems to be made, it often soon wears off, and the warnings and counsels of those who loved them as their own souls, are forgotten and neglected! could these things be foreseen, sense of duty would only extort such admonitions from a pious parent, at the solemn period of his departure; for like a neglected gospel, they are "a favor of death unto death," to those who hear them! but this is not always the case. no means have a more direct and powerful tendency to awaken the secure, and excite the attention of the careless, than the dying concern and counsel of the saints. perhaps no other means are oftener blessed to this end. this leads us to observe, iii. that the part we act here may have consequences, long after we shall have gone off the stage. this venerable kenite left a solemn charge to his posterity; but who could foresee the effect? there was little reason to expect that his descendants would regard it, and be advantaged by it for centuries; yet it seems to have been the case! his counsels, strengthened by his example, made an indelible impression, and were means of distinguishing his family for many generations! this should encourage others to follow his example--to charge their children to "keep the way of the lord, and walk in his ordinances and commandments blameless." who knows that his posterity may not imitate those of this man of god? and for as long a term? who can determine that his good example, and counsels may not do good on earth, when his body shall be mouldering in the grave, and his soul rejoicing in the presence of his god. on the other hand, there is more than equal reason to expect that a parent's bad example will be no less extensively influential to mischief. many are seduced to their ruin by the contagion of evil example; nor is any other more perniciously prevalent than that of a parent, or progenitor. be it then the concern of all who fear the lord to charge their children, to fear him, and to set them the example of "standing before the lord." so to do, is to sow the seeds of virtue and piety. a harvest may follow, even after expectation hath failed. if no other advantage accrues, the faithful will deliver his own soul; he may be the occasion of delivering others; "converting sinners from the error of their ways; saving souls from death, and hiding multitudes of sins." * * james v. , . iv. the honorable mention made of the rechabites, and the blessings promised them, should influence children to listen to the pious counsels of their parents, and attend the duties which they consider important, and charge them to attend, especially at the close of life. that the godly when on the verge of eternity, are divinely influenced to warn their friends, and predict the good or evil before them, was an opinion which prevailed among the ancients. therefore the sacred attention paid to their dying words, and scrupulous regard of their dying counsels. whether we admit, or reject the sentiment, the counsels which are given at such seasons are serious, solemn, and the effect of love unfeigned. those to whom they are given commonly view matters in the same light, and consider them as interesting realities, when they come to be themselves in similar circumstances. have our pious ancestors left ought in charge to us? it concerns us to consider their counsels and injunctions; and unless we have clear and strong reasons forbidding, we are bound to obey them. children are usually safe in following the last counsels of their parents. few who sustain that endearing relation, are devoid of concern for the honor and happiness of their offspring. however they may have themselves conducted, while in the pursuit of worldly objects, or under the influence of appetite or passion, when they come to stand on the brink of another world, the fascinating charms of this, lose their power--the infinite difference between time and eternity appears; and the true value of objects is seen and estimated. then the counsel which is given is that of wisdom--it points to duty --to peace and honor--to joy and glory, it is further observable that rich promises are made in scripture to those who honor and obey their parents, and dreadful curses denounced against those who despise and disobey them. "honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long upon the earth. this is the first commandment with promise. the eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." these scriptures are not of private interpretation. v. where the blessing of heaven hath long rested on a family, and religion been prevalent in it for many generations, the right way becomes comparatively easy. those born there, grow up in the fear of god, and are early taught to know and serve him. but how aggravated the guilt of those who under such circumstances forsake the way of the lord--cut of the entail of mercy and entail a curse on their posterity--shut up the kingdom of heaven against their own offspring; neither going in themselves, nor suffering those who are entering to go in? lost to the fear of god, such hardened sinners may cry peace, but there is no peace to them! it concerns them to look to themselves, for evil is before them! a descent from pious ancestors will not turn away the wrath of god, from those who harden themselves in sin. no--it increaseth their guilt and will increase their condemnation. the jews flattered themselves "because they had abraham to their father; but many came from the east and from the west and set down with abraham in the kingdom of god, and the children of the kingdom were cast out" --yea, having filled up the measure of their sins, wrath came upon them, to the uttermost, in this world; and in that to come, it will be more tolerable for sodom and gomorrha than for them. * * * * * * sermon xxiv. the character and supports of widows indeed. timothy v. . "now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in god and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day." * * preached at the house of one made a widow by her husband's desertion; who left her in straitened circumstances to provide for a young family. timothy was ordained a bishop of the church at ephesus; and this epistle was written to him by st. paul, his spiritual father, to teach him "how to behave himself in the house of god, which is the church of the living god." the former part of the context contains directions respecting the treatment of widows; and especially poor widows who belonged to the church, and were supported at their expense. he is first directed to "honor widows who were widows indeed." here the apostle explains his meaning, by designating the character intended. now "_she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in god, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day_." every widow did not answer to this description. there were some who answered to no part of it, as he shews below. these timothy was not required to honor--not directed to provide for them, or employ them in the business of the church; though certain poor and pious women were then used to minister to the sick, of their own sex, and discharge other charitable labors among them. in discoursing on our subject, we shall _make a few observations on the sorrows of widowhood; then glance at the duties of it; and the supports which god hath provided for widows indeed_. a widowed state is naturally desolate, most widows pass many solitary hours--a lonesome and melancholy situation;--especially after having known and enjoyed the social intercourse of connubial life. the value of all our comforts is best known by experience; more especially by their loss, after a temporary possession. but the conjugal connexion is sometimes unhappy. in such cases a widowed state is a release from the trials and difficulties which attended it, which may be severe and distressing. the misconduct, or unkindness of those in the nearest relation, wounds in the tenderest part, and occasions the most pungent grief. true.--yet a state of widowhood, after such a connexion, is commonly more unhappy than after a happy marriage. many disagreeables are generally left to afflict the desolate. reflections on such connexions and the trying scenes passed while they continued, are disagreeable; and many cares peculiar to their situation often distress the widows. the care of offspring, where there are offspring, devolves wholely on them; which, if left in straitened circumstances, is often a burden they are unable to bear. and where aid is kindly afforded, still the concern which lies on them, is oft times distressing. "pangs and sorrows take hold upon them--their couch is wet with tears; their eyes consumed with grief." if those thus tried are _widows indeed_, they follow the line drawn in the text--_trust in god, and continue in prayers and supplications night and day_. as it is the duty, it is also the comfort and support of _the desolate to trust in god_. when streams dry up, we go to the fountain: so when creature comforts fail, interest unites with duty, in pointing us tothe creator. he is the source of comfort--that which comes by means of the creature comes from him. the creature is only the medium of conveyance. when the saints become desolate--when their worldly comforts fail and their hopes decay, they are directed to return to god and put their trust in him; and also to bring with them, those for whom they feel interested--their helpless dear ones, and he hath promised them protection. "leave thy fatherless children, and i will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me." fallen creatures are exceedingly prone to lean to the world--to promise themselves comfort in it, and support from it. they generally look elsewhere before they look to god. disappointed in one worldly object they often run to another, and another. they never come to the creator, and make him their hope, till convinced that what they seek is not to be found in the creature. god sometimes brings his people into straits, and strips them of their earthly dependencies, that having no where else to trust they may come to him and cast their care upon him. even the christian may need the rod of adversity to keep him mindful of his dependence on god, and prevent his resting on the creature for support. for after union with christ, worldly objects retain too large a share of his affection, and he is too much inclined to lean upon them. his attachment to these things is often too strong; draws away his heart from god, and renders him too little mindful of him who is his portion and rest. therefore is it often necessary to deprive him of his earthly dependencies, that being desolate, he may return to god and renew his reliance on him. it becomes the desolate, not only to trust in god, but to be thankful that they may trust in him. those who have god for their portion, have an abiding satisfying portion. god will be more and better to them than earthly friends, or earthly treasures. friends often forsake them; or cease to be friends, and become enemies--"riches take to themselves wings and fly away." but god abides; he hath said, i will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. * * hebrews xiii. . now _she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, while she trusteth in god continueth in supplications and prayers night and day_. those of this character when they find themselves destitute of worldly comforts and supports, go to god and pour out their souls into his bosom. like the psalmist they stir up themselves to trust in him. we find that saint expostulating with himself in a time of trouble and darkness, and chiding his despondent temper. "why art thou cast down, o my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in god; for i shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my god." while thus stirring up themselves to trust in god, the saints pour out their souls before him in fervent prayer. this the apostle declares to be the manner of those, whom he terms _widows indeed--they trust in god, and continue in supplications and prayers night and day_. such was the aged anna, who met the infant savior, when he was brought into the temple, to do for him after the custom of the law. "she departed not from the temple, but served god, with fastings and prayers night and day." the child, when in affliction, is wont to run to its parents and tell them the sad tale of its sorrows. so the child of god, stripped of other supports, spreads its grief before him who possesses all power, and is able to deliver out of all distresses: and as the child continues its cries and pleadings with its parent, as long as its sorrows continue; so the child of god, while it remains in affliction, perseveres in supplications and prayers to its father in heaven. when seeking temporal blessings the good man asks with submission, "not as i will but as thou wilt"--teach me to acquiesce in thy dealings and to say "thy will be done." but when seeking spiritual blessings, he cannot be too importunate, or persevering. respecting these, the divine glory, unites with his interest, in requiring him to "be instant in prayer--to pray and not faint." or, to use the bold language of the prophet, to resolve to "give god no rest," till he hears and helps. in such cases the saints may plead god's honor and the glory of his great name, as well as their own necessities. when we come to ask mercy of god, and to pray for grace to love and serve him, we may plead and expostulate for the bestowment. is it not thy will, that we should be renewed and sanctified--that we should repent of sin--believe the gospel, and follow after holiness? is it not thy will that we should become new creatures--love thee--love our duty, and resign ourselves to thy disposal? is it not thy will, that we should act with propriety under every trial, and discharge with faithfulness every duty--that we should honor thee in adversity, as well as in prosperity? grant us then those divine influences which are necessary for us. the honor of thy great name is concerned--it unites with our necessities in requiting the bestowment of the mercies which we ask. thus did moses when pleading for israel, when god had threatened to destroy them for their rebellions against him. "now if thou kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the same of thee, shall speak saying, because the lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore hath he slain them in the wilderness--pardon, i beseech thee, the sin of this people, according to the greatness of thy mercy"--so joshua, on a similar occasion: his plea in their behalf is urged from this consideration, that the honor of god was concerned, and required the mercy which he implored--"what wilt thou do unto thy great name? what? if israel turn their backs before their enemies? if thy people fail to drive out their enemies and possess the land which thou hast sworn to give them?" we may use the same argument when interceding for the grace which we need to enable us to glorify god by a becoming temper and conduct under trials, and by a suitable improvement of providential dispensations; and it will be our best plea, or most prevalent argument. we may meet with discouragements--god may seem deaf to our cries--to delay his mercy; but if we "pray and faint not," he will not always say to us, nay. he will hear and help us. for his own name's sake he will do it. when the woman of canaan asked mercy for her daughter, no encouragement was given to her first petition--the reply seemed harsh --"it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs." but she persevered, and her faith, and fervor prevailed. "be it unto thee even as thou wilt." the same will be the answer to every humble suppliant for spiritual mercies, and for divine supports, who perseveres in his addresses at the throne of grace. respecting temporal matters, we know not what to pray for as we ought --know not what is best for us. afflictions may be mercies. they often are so. some have blessed god for them here; more will probably do it hereafter. that they do not usually denote want of love in god, is manifest from the declarations of his word--"whom the lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. if ye endure chastening, god dealeth with you as with sons--if ye are without chastisement, then are ye bastards and not sons." those were determined sinners, given over to reprobation, of whom god said, "why should ye be stricken any more! ye will revolt more and more." when afflictions serve to purge away sin--to "purify and make white," they are changed into mercies. instead of complaining, we have reason to bless god for them. this hath often happened. afflictions arrest the attention--lead to consideration, and reclaim from error. "before i was afflicted, i went astray, but now i keep thy word." prosperity hath often a different effect. to the wicked it is frequently fatal in its consequences; here they have their good things, and they rest in them, forgetful of god, and the other world which they must soon enter, to receive according to their works. neither do the people of god always escape injury when they attain the things they here desire. the prosperity we covet is more dangerous than the adversity we dread. few can bear prosperity--few remain long uncorrupted in a prosperous state. a state so difficult and dangerous is seldom long the state of the righteous. it is more commonly the state of the wicked. the righteous have their trials here; and this kind of trial, [prosperity] hath more often seduced them, than its opposite. david and solomon were sad examples of the baleful effects of power and greatness, riches and honor; but they were brought back to god and duty by the rod of disappointment;--by the correctings of affliction. adversity is not always productive of good. some repine at the orders of providence--at their lot in the world. trials sour their minds and render them morose and peevish. we read of some who "blaspheme the god of heaven" because of their sufferings. these are enemies of god, and their sufferings here, are a prelude to greater sufferings hereafter. the case is different with those who have christ's spirit; they see a providence in whatever they meet with here; refer themselves to him who rules over all to choose for them, and order out their changes, not doubting but his grace will be sufficient for them, and all work for their good. we are sure that god orders wisely. the station then, which he assigns to us, is most suitable for us; the comforts and corrections which he dispenses, most fit and proper. if wise for ourselves we would not wish for alterations in them. we shall only be concerned to follow where god leads, and only pray that he will not leave us, but guide us to his kingdom. let us bring home these considerations, and inquire how we are affected by god's dealings with us, and what temper we maintain? we have comforts and corrections. do we see the hand of god in them; acknowledge the comforts to be undeserved, and the corrections less than our demerits? do we bless god for the former, and humble ourselves under the latter? or do the former render us forgetful of god, and proud and scornful towards men? do the latter humble and abase us; keep us mindful that this is not our rest, and quicken our preparations for that world where all tears will he wiped away from our eyes? or do they cause us to murmur and repine, as though we suffered unjustly? both mercies and afflictions will be a favor of life or death, according to the effect which they have upon us, and the temper and disposition they produce in us. if mercies increase our love to god, and concern to honor him, then are they mercies indeed. so are afflictions, if they humble us and quicken us in the way of duty; but if their effect is different they increase our guilt, and will increase our condemnation. whatever may be our situation here--whether we have kind and faithful friends, or are left desolate, or are surrounded with enemies; whether we have joys or sorrows, we need the divine influence to enable us to make a good improvement, and to render them the occasion of good. we need divine aid and influence, no less in prosperity than in adversity. whatever, therefore, may be our situation and circumstances, sensible of our weakness and blindness, let us return to god as our rest, _trust in him, and continue in supplications and prayers night and day_; and his grace will be sufficient for us; for he hath said to none "seek ye my face in vain." * * * * * * sermon xxv. the good man useful in life and happy in death. psalm xxxvii. . "mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace." * * preached at the funeral of asa witter, esq. oct. th, . the subject of this psalm is the way and end of the righteous and the wicked. it is designed to calm the minds of good people when tried with adversity, and to reconcile them to the divine administration in the unequal distributions of providence, and the apparent disregard of character, in those distributions. with these views, the writer, after glancing at the lives of saints and sinners, calls our attention to their end, noting the manner of their exit out of life. the text relates to the righteous. in discoursing upon it, _we shall consider the excellence of their characters, and their peaceful end; and add a few reflections_. i. we _are to consider the excellence of their characters. mark the perfect man and behold the upright_.-- the _perfect man_.--this may seem a strange representation of an imperfect creature--a creature which viewed in the glass of the divine law appears deformed, and tried by the perfect rule must be condemned --a creature whose best services can find acceptance with god, only on the plan of grace! for such is man since the apostasy--such the saints feel and confess themselves. but however strange the representation, it is drawn by the pen of inspiration, and applied tothe saints. perfection is sometimes attributed to particular saints. "noah was a just man and _perfect_ in his generation." similar is the description given of job. "there was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job: and that man was perfect and upright." in the text, the term perfect, hath not a particular reference, but refers generally, to those who have been renewed by divine grace. but when applied to a fallen creature it must be understood with limitation. we have seen it applied to job: hear him then speaking of himself--"if i justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me. if i say i am _perfect_ it shall prove me perverse." st. john held a high rank among the faithful; yet speaking of the saints, and including himself, he observes--"if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us--if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins". * st. paul had before declared that "there is none righteous, and that the scripture hath concluded all under sin." * john i. - . in what sense then are the saints perfect? and wherein consists the excellence of their character? . the saints are _perfect_ in christ. "in him dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily." his righteousness is made theirs. "they are complete in him. he is made of god unto them wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption." in this view every good man is a _perfect_ man. the saints before the gospel day were but very partially instructed respecting the way of salvation. they knew not how they were to be saved through a redeemer who had not come in the flesh. but the matter was open to the divine eye. and it is observable that the term _perfect_ is never assumed by the saints. they confess their own emptiness and abase themselves before god. where perfection is attributed to them, it is always by those who spake as moved by the holy ghost. . the saints are the subjects not only of an imputed, but also of an inherent righteousness: and have been so from the beginning. noah was a just man and perfect--job _perfect_ and upright. in this respect they were not made to differ from other saints. all the saints are born of god--they are renewed after the image of the creator and made to bear the image of the heavenly. the change which takes place in them causes them to favor the things of god; to love holiness, and delight to do good as they have opportunity and ability. they are just and upright; just toward man, and upright before god. justice respects the part which mankind act toward one another. it is opposed to fraud and injustice. the just man is fair in his dealings --gives to all their dues--is careful to fulfil every trust, and to do by others as he would others should do by him. such is the character given of him of old, who "was _perfect_ in his generations," when "the whole earth was filled with violence, because all flesh had corrupted their way," and every good man follows his example; hath respect to all god's commandments, and hates every evil way. perfection, in the strict sense of the term, is his wish, and his aim, though he doth not expect to attain it while resident in the body. but he "forgets the things which are behind and reaching forth to those which are before, he presses on," endeavoring a nearer conformity to the divine pattern. while he is just toward man, he is sincere toward god, acting uprightly before him. he is really the good man he appears. his profession is not dissembled. his heart is right--his eye single. sincerity is gospel perfection. in this true religion very essentially consists: and it is found on all the saints. the good man keeps in mind his covenant engagements. for the vows of god are upon him and he is careful to fulfil them. he doth not wish to be released from his obligations with which he is bound to be the lord's and to serve him. he is concerned to honor god--thinks nothing unimportant which he hath required, though the reasons of the requirement may lie out of sight. "lord what wilt thou have me to do?" is his daily inquiry. and he seeks to know, that he may do his duty. he waits on god in the ways of his appointment, and is busy about the work assigned him. he is also steady in his counsels and uniform in his conduct. his heart is established by grace, and his life accords with the inward principle. he is not whiffling and unsteady, "carried about by every wind of doctrine"--taken and drawn away by every new scheme of religion; but "holds fast the faithful word; and is able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gainsayers." he doth not "put his hand to the plough and look back," but perseveres to the end, and is faithful unto death. the fear and love of god reigning in his heart, govern his life and direct his way, rendering him an uniform character therefore do those most intimately --acquainted with him, convinced of his integrity--: that he is free from duplicity, and that he abhors evil, and all approaches toward it, both value him themselves, and make him known to others; and by bringing him into public view, render him a public blessing. neither doth he disappoint their expectations, but according to his ability, acquits himself with honor, and doth good to all around him. others may differ from him in speculative opinions; other good men. such differences are unavoidable in this state of darkness and uncertainty. no two persons see alike in every thing, whatever may be pretended. but those who know _the perfect and upright man_, will generally allow that he acts sincerely towards god and man. while those who are connected with him by tender ties, who are so happy as to make with him the journey of life, are led by a thousand kind offices and nameless acts of benevolence and goodness to revere and love him. such is the character intended in the text--such _the perfect man and upright_ in himself, and in the estimation of those who know him. thus doth he pass through life, feeling and confessing his deficiencies, lamenting that he can do no more for god's honor, and relying on grace alone in christ, for acceptance with him. when a person of this description "having served his generation, by the will of god falls asleep," not only relatives and near connexions, but all who know his worth, mourn his exit, and weeping around his corse, bedew his hearse with tears. his name is revered, his memory is blessed, and even envy is silent. ii. we are to consider his peaceful end--_the end of that man is peace_. by a person's _end_, his death, the period of his mortal life is intended. it doth not intend the end of his existence--the modern infidel terms used to express death. so in other scriptures; as when god foretold the destruction of the old world--"the end of all flesh is before me." so balaam, when looking forward to his exit out of life--"let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." had death been the period of his existence, it would have been a matter of indifference whether it found him righteous or wicked. as to hope in death there would have been no difference. but this is not the case. man hath an immortal part within. at the period of mortal life, he enters on an interminable state. mark _the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace_. he finds peace at the approach of death--in death, and after death. in order to a due estimation of the value of true religion in himself, and in its reward, we are here called to observe the good man's _end_. it demands our careful attention. for the scene is peculiarly instructive. it animates to a discharge of the duties of life and supports under its troubles; especially at the approach of death, when worldly comforts fly away. the wicked who live in habitual neglect of religion, or the indulgence of vicious desires, are commonly filled with dismay and horror, if reason remains, when they perceive their end draw nigh. the flights which they have cast on the gospel, and on the grace therein offered; their neglects of known duty; their acts of injustice, intemperance, uncleanness, or other immoralities, the remembrance of which were almost obliterated by time, at that awful period rise up before them! conscience awakes; and when they consider the denunciations of divine wrath against those who do such things, and have pleasure in them, fear harrows up their souls! they anticipate eternal woe, and are filled with agonizing horror! then do they appear all hurry and confusion! the great work of life to do, and opportunity gone forever! bewailing past madness they cry undone! undone! such often continues their state, till the king of terrors driving them away without hope, shuts up the scene! but _the perfect and upright man_, how happily different when death draws near? if possessed of himself, like the still summer's evening, he is calm and serene. he talks of death with as much composure, as one returning from a strange country, to his native land; or as one returning from captivity and slavery, to his father's house, to his family, and to the society of friends, dear as life, and with much more raised expectations! some ties of nature--dear connexions, bind him indeed to earth, and would detain him here; but stronger bonds allure and draw him away toward a better world. if concern for dear ones he must leave behind intrudes and tempts him to wish a longer stay, he remembers that though he dies, his god lives--that god hath stiled himself the "father of the fatherless and judge of the widow;" that he hath said "leave thy fatherless children with me, i will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me." supported by such comforting declarations--such kind promises of a faithful god, and the allured belief of his mercy and truth, he resigns them to his care and leaves them with him, not doubting, but he will preserve them, or dispose of them, as shall be most for his own glory, and their good. as to temporal matters, which often trouble those, who are chiefly concerned about worldly things, they cannot greatly affect one who believes himself heir to an eternal inheritance. for the comfort of those whom he leaves behind, he wishes to have his temporalities settled, and his accompts intelligible; that no disputes may arise, no injustice be done; but as to any concern which he personally takes in them, they appear in his view contemptible. he views them as unworthy his regard, as the beggar, who hath been called to the possession of a crown the rags which he casts off to put on his robes. as death approacheth, _the perfect and upright man_, who realizeth his state, looks back with comfort, approving the part he hath acted, after renovation, and forward to the enjoyment of god, with stedfast hope and strong consolation. we have this happiness of a dying saint, exemplified in st. paul--"i am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand: i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid, up for me a crown of righteousness, which the lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day."--his rejoicing was "the testimony of his conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, he had had his conversion in the world." in the testimony of his conscience, he read the evidence of his good estate --of his sincerity towards god, and of his interest in christ, he viewed nothing which he had done as meritorious--as laying god under obligation, grace in christ was all his hope. but he considered his love to god, and his zeal in his cause, as evidential that he was born of god, and the subject of divine grace in the redeemer. thence he inferred his title to the inheritance, prepared of god for those who love him. other saints do the same. in the testimony of conscience that they love god, and have obtained grace to serve him, they read their interest in the covenant and in the promises, in all their divine fulness. this is the best, yea, the only evidence, of an interest in them. where this is found, the matter is determined; there can be no reasonable doubt of their good estate; but where it is wanting, every thing beside is of no avail. it is natural for a servant, when he sees a reckoning day at hand, to look back, and inquire how he hath improved his trust, and what account he hath to give? and from the testimony of conscience, he anticipates the reception he may expect from his lord. mankind feel themselves accountable to god and naturally expect to receive from his impartial hand, according to their works; and when they perceive their probation drawing to a close, they naturally look about them, and inquire how they can appear before their judge? the dying christian is sometimes heard observing to those about him --"my glass is almost run. would to god i had been more faithful, and done more for him who loved me, and gave himself for me. but blessed be his name, he hath enabled me to choose him for my portion, and enabled me to serve him in sincerity; though i have done it with much weakness and imperfection. now i rely on his grace; his grace will be sufficient for me; it will support me in death, and reward my poor services with an eternal reward." but if conscience, as death approacheth, speaks a different language --if it testifies to a departing soul--"you have neglected, the great salvation--lived in pleasure and been wanton, minding only earthly things," it fills the soul with anguish unutterable, causing it to anticipate eternal horrors! the _perfect and upright_, as he rejoiceth at the approach of death, if reason remains, often rejoiceth in death. "when he walks the dark valley, god's rod and staff comfort him--he fears no evil because god is with him." he is sometimes, ready to exclaim in the triumphant language of the resurrection, "o death! where is thy sting? o grave where is thy victory?" sometimes indeed, the upright, while here, "walk in darkness" --sometimes the lamp of reason goes out, before the departure of the soul; so that the dying christian hath no sense of his situation. at other times, god may hide his face from those whom his soul loves, and cause them to go on their way sorrowing. possibly this may continue to the close of life! but if it doth, the clouds are all dispersed at the moment of death, no sooner are the clayey tabernacles dissolved, than the veil is rent, and the brightness of celestial glory shines in upon them. peace eternal and divine, is theirs forever. clouds will no more hide god's face--fears and doubts, no more distress them; nor satan call his fiery darts at them, again forever. in the other world, god will dwell with his people, and "wipe away all tears from their eyes: there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain; for the former things will all have passed away. there will be no more curse, because no more sin. for the spirits of the just will be made perfect." they will then be with god and rejoice before him; for they will have "entered into his temple to go no more out." reflections i. the considerations which have been suggested afford comfort to the righteous, while groaning under the burdens and sorrows of life, and support in the solemn hour of death. they minister consolation also to those who mourn the loss of pious friends--an occasion of sorrow which we often experience in this vale of tears. here all have trials and afflictions--_the perfect and upright_ not excepted. but the time is short. the good man's trouble terminates with mortal life. _his end is peace_--his immortality glorious. the wicked are dismayed when they look forward and consider their end, or the time of their departure. to the good man it is desirable--"he then rests from his labors, and his works follow him." st. paul, "had a desire to depart, and be with christ." he knew that "a crown of righteousness was laid up for him which the lord, the righteous judge, would give him at that day." this was not peculiar to him; it is common to all those "who love christ's appearing." those now in glory were lately sufferers here: but their sufferings are ended--"they have entered into peace: they rest in their beds, walking in their uprightness." ii. our subject teacheth the conditions on which only we can hope for peace in death, and happiness after death. these depend on the use which we make of life--on the manner in which we are affected by the overtures made us in the gospel; they are the fruit of receiving christ and obeying the gospel; for it brings salvation only to those who obey it. would we "die the death of the righteous, and have our last end like his," our lives must be preparatory--we must "mind the things which belong to our peace--live in all good conscience before god, and not suffer ourselves to be moved away from the hope of the gospel." iii. though when "the mystery of god shall be finished, his judgments will be made manifest;" hitherto, "his way is in the sea, and his judgments are a great deep." we know that his way is perfect; but witness many things in the divine administration, which we do not understand. we have no line to fathom the depths of providence. often _the perfect and the upright_ are early removed out of life --those who are friends of religion, and supporters of order and justice; whose hearts are filled with benevolence--who are the excellent of the earth! while those of different characters, who we should suppose might well be spared, yea, whose removal, we should judge a mercy to the world, are left to prolong their days! some who are early vicious, and daily grow worse are nevertheless continued, and permitted to dishonor god, and spread error and mischief among mankind, till at "an hundred years old they die accursed!" such events often occur, and under the divine administration! they are permitted of him who cannot mistake! in a sense, they are the lord's doings, and marvelous in our eyes! "the lord reigneth, let the earth, rejoice--clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. wait on the lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, i say, on the lord." * * * * * * sermon xxvi. departed saints fellowservants with those yet on earth. revelation xxii. . "i am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." the revelation made to st. john in the isle of patmos, was a comfort to the suffering apostle, and a blessing to the church. "blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the word, of this prophecy." the beginning indeed was dark; the prophetic sketch, was for sometime, gloomy: it unfolded a strange scene of declensions and abominations, which were to disgrace the church of christ and mar its beauty; and dismal series of woes on woes, for many ages. the church then so pure, was to be corrupted, to become "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, and to make herself drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of jesus!" when the apostle "saw, he wondered with great admiration." had the vision closed with similar discoveries, no joy would have been occasioned by them; but grief ineffable. the apostle might have sunk under them. but they finally appeared diverse, and adapted to comfort him, and fill his heart with joy. he saw the cause of christ triumphant--true religion to have become universal, and heavenly glory the reward of the faithful! when the veil which had been spread over these things was drawn aside, and they broke out to the view of this man of god, he seems to have been enraptured and lost in ecstacy. he prostrated himself in adoration of the celestial messenger: but was forbidden by the angel --"see, thou do it not; i am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of jesus.--worship god." this happened at the beginning of the joyful part of the vision, when the triumphs of christianity were first disclosed. * * revelation xix. . we are under no temptation to give undue honors to bearers of evil tidings; but even "the feet of those who bring good tidings are beautiful." the angel having thus restrained the apostle from paying him divine homage, proceeded to finish the sketch which he had begun of the glory which remains for the people of god. when it was nearly completed, the still imbodied saint, again forgot himself, and overcome by a sight too strong and glorious for frail humanity fell down in humble adoration of the heavenly minister! mad with joy he appears to have been bewildered, and in a momentary delirium; but was again prevented by the angel; and the same reason assigned as before--_i am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets_. this declaration is remarkable. how are we to understand it? it should seem that this messenger from above was originally one of our race. _i am thy fellowservant_.-- we are inclined to believe that he had once inhabited a human body, and had his residence on earth--that this was one of the old prophets, who having been released from the work to which he had been first called, was now serving god under another form, in a more dignified station and with greater powers than he had possessed while yet on probation. we may mistake the scripture but have been induced to believe that when the saints drop these bodies, and are joined "to the spirits of the just made perfect," they become angels, and are afterwards employed in the service of god, as his messengers and agents, whom he "sends forth to minister to the heirs of salvation," and to transact business for which he hath fitted them, and in which he is pleased to employ them. some reasons for this belief are adduced in the following discourse. when a child of god is released from the body, he is freed from the remains of depravity, and form this native bias to evil, and according to his nature, made perfect in holiness. his reason is retained; yea, his rational capacity is enlarged; and those who are associated with the blessed inhabitants of the upper world, doubtless enjoy better means of information than are to be found on earth. some indeed, have fancied, that soul and body sleep together from the epoch of death till the resurrection. that during that term, the soul is chained down in a state of insensibility! that the happiness of the saints, during the intermediate term, is no other than a sleep without dreams--a temporary nonexistence! strange! the thoughts of death would make the good man tremble, did he conceive such to be its nature. here he is compassed with infirmity, and groans, being burdened. but such an existence, which capacitates him to do somewhat to honor god, and benefit man, is preferable to a suspension of existence. suspension of existence! what is a suspension of existence, but a temporary annihilation!--a complete solecism! from such a state there could be no resurrection. there could be only another creation, which must constitute not the same, but another creature. the idea of a suspension of existence, is scarcely supportable; and the reality of it contradicted by every part of revelation. death is represented in the scriptures, as a separation of soul and body; not as their sleeping together. "thou changest his countenance, _sendeth him away_;" is a description of death drawn by job--which answers to that given of rachel's-- "_as her soul was departing_, for she died." and a resurrection is represented as a return of the soul to the body from which it had been seperated: as of the widow's son whom elijah raised from the dead --"_and the soul of the child came into him again_, and he revived." the language of the new testament is the same. "this day thou shalt be fellow sufferer on the cross, whose body was the same day committed to the grave." st. paul "had a desire _to depart_ and to be with christ," which he opposed to _abiding in the flesh_. if soul and body sleep together in the grave, he would have been no sooner with christ. than though he had lived here till the resurrection. when st. john was indulged a sight of heaven, he saw the souls of the martyrs who had been slain before that period, and heard them crying for vengeance on the murderers who were yet living on earth. * * revelation vi. , . the scriptures are so explicit respecting the state of the dead, that a suspicion that they remain senseless while their bodies moulder in the dust, appears strange. the righteous dead certainly rejoice in god's presence and are associated with fellow saints. the lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, feed them, and leads them "to fountains of living waters; and god wipes away all tears from their eyes." neither do they remain inactive--"they serve god day and night --in his temple," some may say. god's temple may here mean the universe, that vast temple which he hath built in every part of which his saints may serve him. * * revelation xxi. . surely the glorified spirit is not confined to a single apartment in the house of god, and not suffered to go abroad, and see his glory, and the exercise of his perfections in the works of creation and providence! were such his situation, it would differ little from that of the delinquent who is confined to his cell, or prison. such cannot be the state of a glorified soul--of a soul released from a body, which while on trial, served as a clog to restrain the servant, and prevent him from quitting the station, in which he had been placed, or leaving the work assigned him. it cannot be the state of one sanctified throughout; of one raised above temptation, either to stray into devious paths, or be slothful in the service of his god. much of our felicity here ariseth from a contemplation of the works of creation and providence. in these we see divine wisdom and goodness; learn to know god; to fear and love him. the good man carries this disposition with him when he exchangeth worlds; his desire of knowledge, and especially the knowledge of god, and the works and ways of god. and is there not reason to believe that glorified saints have power and liberty to range among the works of the all perfect sovereign; trace the evidences of the divine perfections, and witness their effects, and that this is one source of their happiness? a relish for knowledge is a quality of the mind, natural to it, and inseparable from it. we observe it in children, who at an early period discover a desire of information, and perpetually seek it by questioning those more advanced. the same disposition is resident in adults, and productive of the attainments in science which both delight the mind and dignify the man. in heaven, the glorified spirit, hath doubtless advantages for attaining the knowledge of god and divine things, and opportunity to satisfy his desire after it, if it can be satisfied; for it is itself a happiness. it gives a zest to information, and will probably continue, and be an endless source of enjoyment. the creature may never know so much of god as to desire no farther knowledge of him; or so much of the works and ways of god, as to with no increase of that knowledge. acquisitions in knowledge and enjoyment may progress together in the world of spirits. and who can fix their limits? they may be as boundless as eternity! turn now your thoughts on sir isaac newton that renowned philosopher and christian. was his enlarged and inquisitive mind satisfied at death? did not he carry with him a desire to visit every planet, not only of our own but of other systems, and pry into the _arcana_ of nature to be found in them all? if enabled and permitted, he may still be ranging among the works of god, to learn yet more of his wisdom, power and goodness, in his works and ways, which are unsearchable, and past the comprehension of created beings! probably other glorified spirits have a share; it, may be a large share of the same temper. and if they are capable of bearing the message of their divine sovereign, or doing aught for his honor, it must be a pleasure to glorified spirits to be so employed. here the good man delights to serve the lord. will this cease to be his disposition when the remains of depravity shall be done away? will not this disposition be increased and strengthened? or is there reason to think that those will have no power to serve god, who are freed from sluggish bodies? of certain glorified spirits it was declared to the apostle, as we have seen, that they "serve god day and night"--they have no need of rest--they never grow weary. how they serve god without the use of bodily organs, is to us unknown. but it doth not follow that they are incapable of it. god can give them power, and teach them to accomplish all his pleasure. that departed saints have sometimes been sent down to our world, to make known god's will, and deliver his messages, we believe to be taught in the scriptures--_i am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren the prophets_. who not of our race could have made such a declaration? _a fellowservant_, is a servant of the same species, or rank. our fellows are our equals; those of the same class in creation. brutes are creatures; but we do not consider them as _fellow creatures_. we might, however, with as much propriety as the angel could call himself john's _fellowservant_, had he belonged to another species, or class or servants. the term _prophet_, carries, in our apprehension, the same thing in it --speaks the heavenly messenger to have been one of our race. by prophets, we understand inspired men. we believe this to be every where its meaning in the scriptures. and the term _brethren--"of thy brethren the prophets_", confirms our sense of the text--_i am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets_. strange language, if this was one of the angels who kept their first estate; one who never dwelt in flesh, nor inhabited a human body! but if this was one of the old prophets, samuel, nathan, daniel, or any other of those who had tabernacled in flesh, and been sent to warn his brethren, and foretell things to come, the language is easy and natural. * * * * * * * _sundulos sou gar eimi, xai ton adelphon sou ton prophaton_. doct. doddridge in his notes on this passage observes, that it may be rendered _i am thy fellow servant and the fellow servant of thy brethren the prophets_. but the translation in the bible is perfectly literal. the sentence is elliptical. the elipsis may as well be filled by _tis_, as by _sundoulos_. if filled by the former, it reads thus, _i am a fellow servant, and one of the brethren the prophets_. this, for the reasons given above, we conceive to be the sense of the passage. the learned reader wilt judge for himself. * * * * * if we search the scriptures, we shall see that the saints whose bodies were in the grave, have been sometimes thus used of god. when saul went to consult the powers of darkness, because the lord did not answer him in the time of his distress, samuel, who had died some time before, was sent of god to reprove that rebellious prince, and denounce his doom. some indeed suppose that the apparition was not samuel, but an infernal! but the sacred historian represents it as being samuel, and why should we reject his testimony? the sorceress had not power by her charms, to call back the prophet from the world of spirits. but god had power to send him on his business; to enable him to make himself visible, and foretel the evils which then hung over saul and israel: and from several considerations we think it evident that he did do it. the woman appears to have been surprized when she saw samuel. to her, he was an unexpected visitor. by his means she found out saul, whom before she did not know in his disguise.--apostate spirits if they ever gave responses to those who consulted them, commonly flattered them in their crimes, or gave ambiguous answers to their inquiries; but not so the ghost which appeared on this occasion. most pointedly did it reprove the abandoned prince, who was adding iniquity to transgression, and hardening himself in the time of trouble! and most expressly did it foretel the evils which were coming on the offending inquirer, his family and people! could an apostate spirit have done these things? or would he if he could? god hath sometimes used wicked men to foretel future events, and compelled them to denounce his judgments; but have we any account of his making this use of fallen angels? of his making known his purposes to them, and enabling them to give the genuine proof of true prophets? it is further observable, that part of the message related to taking the kingdom from saul, and giving it to david--"the lord hath done to him as he spake by me," is his language. god had foretold this by samuel; not by satan, or a messenger of satan. there is every reason to believe that samuel really appeared on this occasion--that god sent him to deliver the sad message to the impious rebel, who instead of humbling himself in the time of his trouble, sinned yet more against the lord. if we attribute these divine communications to infernal agency, why not others? if once we turn aside from the literal sense of scripture, where shall we stop? but should we doubt whether in this instance, a departed saint was sent down to visit earth, and transact the business of him who is lord of all, other instances may certainly be adduced --if not in the old testament, yet beyond a doubt in the new. but this will be the subject of another discourse. * * * * * * sermon xxvii. departed saints fellow servants with those yet on earth. revelation xxii. "i am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." that the saints do not remain insensible, while their bodies are in the dull, but become angels, * see and serve god and bear his messages, and minister to the heirs of salvation, hath been argued from several considerations, in the preceding discourse; but we chiefly depend on revelation. the text and several other scriptures, we conceive to be our purpose, and sufficient to establish our theory, and that the same is illustrated and confirmed by sacred history, both of the old and new testament. one instance of a departed saint, sent as a messenger from heaven to earth, hath been adduced from the old testament: we now advert to the new. * the term angel signifies a messenger. if glorified saints are used to carry god's messages, or sent to do his business, they are made angels, in the proper sense of the word. such appear to have been the angelic band, who united in praising god, when the lamb prevailed to open the book of his decrees and reveal them to the apostle--"and they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy--for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to god by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our god, kings and priests: _and we shall reign on the earth_." * surely these must have been of our race. * revelation v. , . here our proof in explicit. we can conceive of no evasion. two of our race _who had long before been removed from earth to heaven_, were certainly sent to visit the savior, just before this sufferings --moses and elias, who attended him on the mount, whither he retired with three of his disciples, and conversed with him in their presence. st. luke hath described their appearance, and told the subject of their conversation--"who appeared, in glory and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at jerusalem." * * luke ix. . moses had then been dead more than fourteen centuries. elias had not tasted death, but he had been changed. that change had passed upon him which will pass on the saints who shall be alive at christ's coming. the change must have been great, or he could not have ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire, or lived above the region of air which surrounds this globe. these two saints, seem, on this occasion, to have been assimilated to each other--"they both appeared in glory"--were company for each other, and sent together to testify for christ, before chosen witnesses. our savior's resurrection was also attended by witnesses who had been for time in the world of spirits--"and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." * * matthew xxvii. , . but it is only departed saints who are employed to bear god's messages. there is no intimation in scripture, that those who die in their sins, are afterwards sent, or suffered to go abroad. there is reason to believe, that as the saints are made perfect at death, so all that bears an affinity to goodness, ceases at that period, in the unrenewed, and that they put on the complete image of him who is termed their father. if this is the case, they would spread mischief and misery, were they permitted access to those who remain in the body, and liable to temptation. however this might be, we are assured that they are confined in the infernal prison, and will continue prisoners till the great day. this is intimated by our savior, when he warns the sinner to "agree with his adversary quickly, while in the way with him--lest he should be cast into prison"--because should this happen there will be no release "till he shall pay the utmost farthing." this speaks the state of impenitents, to be from the time of their death, that of prisoners, who can neither break their prison, or obtain, so much as a temporary release, till they shall have suffered all their demerits. the same is intimated in the parable of the rich man lazarus. the rich sinner is represented as passing, at death, into a place of torment, and confinement, and as despairing of even a momentary enlargement. other wise he would not have requested that lazarus might be sent to warn his brethren who were then living on earth, but rather that he might have gone himself. him they would have known; and he could have given them a feeling description of the miseries which living in pleasure, regardless of the one thing needful, will draw after it. many advantages might have been expected from this personal appearance to his brethren, but he preferred no such petition. his prayer that lazarus might be sent, was probably intended to intimate that departed spirits remember their former state on earth, and the relatives and acquaintance whom they leave upon it; that they retain a concern for them; that they know that good spirits are used of god to transact matters relative to their spiritual concerns, and that those who die in their sins are kept in confinement, and not permitted to go forth; no, not to warn fellow sinners, whom they have left behind them. this agrees with what is said by st. peter, respecting the antediluvians. he speaks of those as being "spirits in prison" in the apostolic age, "who were disobedient, when the long suffering of god waited with them, in the days of noah." it farther appears that their imprisonment is a state of darkness. "cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness? to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." this darkness is probably a contrast to the light enjoyed by glorified saints. they are doubtless let into the purposes of heaven--to them the mystery of divine providence is opened. they see and admire the wisdom and goodness of god, in those dispensations, which while here, filled them with wonder. but it seems that the wicked are not let into these things, but driven away in darkness, and left enveloped in it--"none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." this may serve to explain a passage in job, which might seem opposed to our construction of the text--"his sons come to honor and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." * if we understand this of the wicked, it will harmonize with the other scriptures which have been adduced. though some understand the words of job, as descriptive of a man's state at the approach of death, at which period he is often lost and bewildered, and consequently unaffected with, any thing which may happen to his dearest connexions, for whom, in health, and while possessed of reason, he felt greatly interested. this construction is favored by the words which follow, in which he is represented as still pained in body, as well as mind--"but his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn." + * job xiv. . + vid. henry in locum. if we do not mistake the scriptures, our pious departed friends may sometimes attend us, and witness the manner in which we act our parts. natural relations terminate with life; but we do not believe that the friendships here contracted cease at death; that the remembrance of the kind offices done to a good man here is then obliterated; that those who had been helpers of one another in this life are forever lost to each other when they cease to be together here; or that the endearments of friendship and reciprocal affection are then extinguished to revive not more. departed spirits must retain a remembrance of what they did here, and of those who acted with them. they cannot otherwise give account of themselves; or witness the divine justice and impartiality relative to matters which had been common to themselves and others. but these will be made manifest. all in heaven and on earth will see and confess the perfect rectitude of the divine administration. some suppose that the knowledge of things done on earth, and regard for mortals would render departed saints unhappy; that therefore they are incredible. but is not god grieved at the obstinacy of sinners? "when god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth--it repented the lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." * was he then unhappy? departed saints may have similar sensations, whatever may be implied in them. the same objection may be made to the divine knowledge of mankind, as to that of the saints--we do not take it on us to explain either. the same may also be objected to supposing that the saints will be made acquainted with the decisions of the judge at the great day--that they will then see any who were dear to them here, sent away with the workers of iniquity. * genesis vi. . if the manifest rectitude, and moral necessity of the divine decisions, will then satisfy the righteous, and their greater love to god reconcile them to the execution of his judgments on all the impenitent, why not as soon as they shall have put off the remains of depravity, and become "the spirits of the just made perfect?" those in glory are doubtless acquainted with the moral state of the world --"there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." * * luke xv. - that the powers of light and darkness take part in the concerns of mankind, and interest themselves in their affairs, and that they conflict with each other on their account, we are taught in revelation. * our departed friends who have known and loved us here, may be among the invisible witnesses of our conduct, and among our invisible helpers. they may rejoice, if we act well our parts, or weep if we are numbered among sinners, or careless neglecters of the grace of life. * daniel x. . jude perhaps the pious parent who hath died in the lord, may regard the little orphan which he hath left behind. experienced in the troubles and difficulties, snares and temptations of this life, he may watch over it, and in ways to us unknown "do it good and not evil all the days of its life." little ones are not destitute of invisible keepers --"_their angels_ do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven." * * matthew xviii. . some are early called out of life; make but a transient visit to the scene of sorrow, and just taste the bitter cup of affliction. but though short their stay, they may yet begin to form some dear connexions--connexions which might perhaps have been ensnaring; for more set bad, than good examples before the little strangers committed to their care. these, taken from the evils to come, may be friends to those who had appear to befriend their helpless state in this strange land--may watch for their good, and rejoice if they see them minding the things which belong to their peace, and by a wise improvement of more talents than had been committed to themselves, preparing for greater joys and honors in the kingdom of god. those who had sustained a still nearer relation--who had been "one flesh" may bear like regard to those "with whom they had taken sweet counsel and walked to the house of god in company"--and may be the first to welcome their arrival at the world of joy. the romish church have abused the doctrine which we conceive to be contained in the text, by decreeing adoration to departed saints. others have gone into the opposite extreme, denying that they know ought of terrestrial matters, or have any concern in them. adoration belongs exclusively to god. it belongs neither to glorified saints, nor to angels of light, though the latter "are all sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation." * "thou shalt worship the lord thy god, and him only shalt thou serve." * hebrews i. . the righteous are not suffered to continue here by reason of death. their removal is one of our severest trials. our subject ministers support and comfort under it. when we reflect upon it, we seem to hear them calling to us from behind the scene, with "weep not for us--we are not dead. our bodies sleep, but our spirits wake"--death is not the period of our existence. it is only our removal--our birth day into the world of glory.--we are joined "to the spirits of the just made perfect"--enjoy the society and that of the angels of god--behold the face of our heavenly father, and of the divine redeemer. we rejoice to see you "followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises"--are ready to help you in your work, and to shout god's praises, and unite in songs of triumph, should you come off conquerors, and rise from your humble state of sorrows, sufferings and temptations, to be our companions in glory. these are consoling and animating views. they tend to excite a divine ambition in working out our salvation. we are yet doomed "to bear the heat and burden day." but we are not alone--not unobserved. god, angels, and the good, who were lately "our companions in tribulation," witness the part we act. we would not dishonor ourselves in their view, and sink ourselves in their estimation. if they are ready to help our infirmity, we would not render their heavenly aid of no avail, or cut ourselves off from enjoying their society. consider some dear departed child of god thus interested in your concerns, and you will find it a spur to duty, and an incentive to labor and not faint in the work assigned you, preparatory to your joining the church of the first born above. think now that the godly ones who loved you here, and labored to animate you in the service of god--or those who lately looked to you for counsel and guidance, having made their way to glory, are waiting your arrival and longing to hail your entrance into the kingdom, and by all the strength of your love to them, now freed from the imperfections of their earthly residence, and made glorious and heavenly, you will find yourself drawn on toward that state of blessedness, in which you hope again to rejoice with those whose distresses you witnessed here--yea whose dying agonies, may have chilled your frame and filled you with anguish unutterable! to meet them again, and find yourself and them, forever removed from the fear of evil, either natural or moral--forever secure the divine friendship--forever happy and glorious in the enjoyment of god, "the former things being all passed away, and all tears forever wiped from your eyes!" there to recount with those blessed spirits, the travels and trials of this life, and look back, perhaps, on many hairbreadth escapes from eternal death! there, to dwell on the wonders of divine love and mercy exercised towards you, and often in things which you once thought to be against you! who would not willingly suffer many deaths to enjoy these things? such considerations are animating in duty, and supporting in times of trial. if realized, we shall adopt the language of the suffering apostle--"none of these things move me, neither do i count my life dear to myself, that i may finish my course with joy"--and share such blessed society--such inconceivable felicity and glory in my father's house above, in which are many mansions! * * * * * * sermon xxviii. the danger of deviating from divine institutions. colossians ii, . "beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after christ." st. paul was the apostle of the gentiles. the care of the churches gathered among them devolved particularly on him. at the writing of this epistle he had no personal acquaintance with the church to which it is addressed.* epaphras, a bishop of the colossians, then his fellow prisoner at rome, had made him acquainted with their state, and the danger they were in from false teachers, who, during the absence of their minister, labored to turn them from the duplicity of the gospel; and this letter was written, through divine influence, to guard them against those deceivers, and persuade them to abide in christ. * verse . to this end he counselled them to keep to the divine directions, carefully avoiding every alteration, or addition, which might be urged upon them by uninspired men, though they might come with a shew of wisdom and humility, and profession of regard to the honor of god and happiness. many of the most successful attacks on god's earthly kingdom have been made in this way. open rebellion against god, is found chiefly on those who have no faith in him; who are therefore devoid of his fear. others are tempted mostly to other sins, and induced to make indirect opposition to the divine government, from them, the tempter hides the truth, and leads them into error, and thus causes them to pull down the cause which they aim to build up, and fight against god with a view to serve him. so much of god appears in his works, that comparatively few can be made to doubt his existence, or his providential government. hence few are prevailed with to renounce his fear and rise directly against him; but many are deceived, and consequently engaged to act with his enemies. here a common source of seduction hath been suggesting improvements on divine institutions--that _this_ and _that_, which god hath not ordered, would help his cause and promote his interest. sometimes the improvements are attempted under pretence of divine order, and urged with his authority; but this veil is not always spread over endeavors to change his institutes. they are often urged as means adapted to help his cause, without pretence to divine order requiring the use of them; much, it is alleged, is left to human discretion. this taken for granted, the rest is easy. it is only to say _these measures_ are wise and good, calculated to help on the cause of god, and whoever denies it, is considered as fighting against god. thus men are led away from the divine institutions to those of human invention. human wisdom is exalted above divine; and all with a view to glorify god! thus was the tempter laboring, through the instrumentality of his agents, to seduce the colossians, when this epistle was written, and it is chiefly intended to counteract their influence, and prevent that church from being moved away from the hope of the gospel, which they had received. in discussing the subject, we shall first _glance at the measures used by those deceivers_--then consider _the success which hath attended this mode of fighting against god, and seducing mankind, adding a few observations on the influence of tradition and the rudiments and customs of the world_. the colossian seducers appear to have been of two kinds--jewish and gentile. the former seem not to have differed from those at rome, corinth, galatia, and those in judea. they were jewish christians, who were so attached to the mosaic ritual, that they wished to continue it, and graft christianity upon it, rendering the religion of christ only an appendage to that of moses. they insisted that the ceremonial law remained in force--insisted especially on the observance of circumcision; and probably on the traditions so highly valued by the pharisees. but the apostle assured this gentile church, that they were complete "in christ", and needed nothing of this kind to recommend them to god, or to secure his favor--that "christ had blotted out the hand writing of ordinances, and taken it away, nailing it to his cross"--that the ceremonial law, being only "a shadow of good things to come," was fulfilled in christ, and no longer obligatory; and warned them to stand fast in their christian liberty, and suffer no man to judge them respecting such things, or impose such burdens upon them. the gentile seducers were converts from paganism, and no less eager to introduce the tenets and rites of their superstition. one of the errors, which, from the particular mention made of it, they seem to have urged, was the worshipping of angels, "let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." * * verse . mankind seem, at a pretty early period, generally to have given into the idea of so vast a distance between god and man, that man is unworthy to come into his presence, and can approach him acceptably only through a mediator. but just views of a mediator were never communicated to the scattered branches of our race, or soon lost from among them. most of the heathens offered religious homage to departed heroes; or to those who had been revered while inhabitants of earth. to them were their prayers addressed, that they might bear them to the god of nature, and by their influence render him propitious. here was the appearance of humility--so sensible of their unworthiness that they dared not approach god in their own names, or present their own petitions--others who had ceased to sin, and been admitted to the divine presence, must intercede for them. but this was "a voluntary humility"--not ordered of god--a mere matter of human invention. a mediator is indeed necessary for man since the fall; but man is not left to choose his mediator. one every way suitable is provided, through whom we may have access to god: "there is one god, and one mediator between god and men, the man christ jesus." the apostle further observes, that those who directed them to worship angels, arrogated a knowledge of matters not revealed. god hath given no intimation of such use to be made of angels, but ordered man to approach him in the name of christ. those who go to god in other ways, or depending on other intercessors, are said "not to hold the head." * "the head of every man is christ." + such people will lose their reward. "let no man beguile you of your reward, in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels"--the rewards of grace are promised to obedience but not to "willful worship, or voluntary humility." the utmost these can hope is forgiveness. *verse . + corinthians xi. . when paul assured the colossians that they were "complete in christ," he had reference to the errors of all the deceivers who were laboring to seduce them. gentile philosophy is as useless to the christian, as jewish rites. christ hath the fulness of the godhead dwelling in him. we' have only to rely on divine mercy, through faith, in him, and we shall not be ashamed. such we conceive to be the sum of the instructions and warnings here given to the colossians. they were only to keep to the divine directions, and seek salvation agreeably thereto, regardless of _the traditions of men and rudiments of the world_. all error is deviation from divine rule. to this men are tempted with a view to honor god. this is a fruitful source of error. and when error is once generated, it is often diffused and perpetuated by tradition, custom, and _the rudiments of the world_. we proceed to consider _the success which hath attended this mode of fighting against god--that is, suggesting improvements on divine institutions and appointments_. the first attempt to seduce our race seems to have been of this kind. "the woman being deceived was in the transgression," made upright, she could not have been persuaded to disobey god, unless she was led to believe that she might, some how, honor god in consequence of that disobedience. but how?--"in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil"--then she could honor god better than while destitute of knowledge which would liken her to superior intelligences. "and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat." thus some suppose the tempter to have prevailed against her. it may be thought strange that she should expect good to rise out of evil. her descendants have often entertained such expectations; but they are depraved, and their minds are darkened. whether this was the sophism by which satan's victory was obtained, we presume not to determine. it is however certain that he prevailed by deception; by persuading our common mother that advantage would accrue from ceasing to follow the divine directions. cain, her eldest son, fell into a sin of the same kind; was induced to change divine institutions. "cain brought the fruit of the ground an offering unto the lord," instead of the firstlings of the flock. the fruit of the ground did not typify the sacrifice of christ, and had not been ordered of god. it was a mode of honoring him of cain's devising. he thought to improve on divine appointments; or dared to change them to suit his circumstances. "cain was a tiller of the ground." the fruits of the ground were the product of his own labors --"of such as he had, he would bring his offering. what advantage would accrue from changing with his brother to procure what god had required? god needed nothing and could receive nothing from his creatures." abel believed himself under obligation to conform to the divine order, and in that way to seek the divine favor. cain had not this faith. he was confident that another way would do as well; and followed the dictates of his own fancied wisdom. * therefore their different reception. had cain been equally obedient with abel no difference would have been made. cain is appealed to, to judge of this matter for himself--"if thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted?" to do well, is to regulate principle and practice by the divine order; in both these cain was deficient. they are commonly united. error in principle occasions error in practice. * these are not mere conjectures--they are intimated by st. jude, when he declares the schismatics of his day "have gone in the way of cain and core." core, or korah, certainly attempted to change a divine order by which the functions of the priesthood were appropriated to the family of aaron. and the schismatics, who were contemporary with the apostles, set themselves up for teachers in the church without a regular, or supernal call to the ministry. these went in the way of cain. his sin must therefore have been a departure from divine institutions. not many ages after the deluge idolatry was introduced into the world, and corrupted and spoiled the worship of god. this seems to have been, at first, a design to improve on the homage which was paid to the true god. adoration offered to other than god, is idolatry. this is of two kinds--that offered to angels, and departed spirits, and that offered to the heavenly bodies and to images. the former is said to have been originally designed to engage those to whom it was addressed to act the part of mediators with god. the heavenly bodies were adored as the supposed residences of deity. image worship was intended to help devotion. it was thought that visible representations would serve to impress a reverence for the objects of worship on the mind, and solemnize the heart. with this view, images and paintings were introduced into temples and places of worship. they appeared to have effect. the worshippers seemed more devout. a happy discovery, which had not occurred to omniscience! to increase the good effects, further improvements were suggested. images were made of the precious metals, and enriched with gems and costly attire, and art was exhausted to embellish them. they were also consecrated with magnificent and solemn rites. after consecration, the celestials to whom they dedicated, were supposed to descend and dwell in them, and thus to be present with their worshippers, to hear their prayers, witness their gratitude, and smell a sweet savor in their sacrifices. and as temples were built, and images consecrated chiefly to inferior deities, who were worshipped as mediators, the homage which was paid to them was suited to the conceptions which the worshippers entertained of the objects of their worship; and being mostly taken from among men, the offerings were adapted to the characters which they had respectively sustained while resident in the body. hence the homage paid to baal, moloch, mars, bacchus, venus and others. thus every abomination was sanctioned, and made an object of religion! the use of images was common among the easterns at an early period, and communicated to the hebrews, who were conversant with them, before their settlement in canaan. in egypt, or certainly in the wilderness it was found among them. they were particularly guilty of this sin while moses was on the mount with god. and the use which they then made of images was the same which hath been mentioned. as soon as the golden calf was finished, aaron, who had entered into their views, made proclamation--"tomorrow is the feast of the lord--[of jehovah."] moses, who had greatly helped them in the worship and service of god, was gone, and the idol was intended to supply his place; to help their devotion, and excite them to honor the true god! "up make us gods-- for this moses--we wot not what is become of him." the idolatrous worship of the romanists in later ages is of the same kind. their churches abound with rich images, and are adorned with exquisite paintings; the likeness of christ agonising on the cross, and other affecting representations, designed to impress religious subjection the heart and excite devotion. such is the use which they profess to make of them. and they seem not devoid of effect. protestants who have attended their worship, have observed greater appearances of fervor, and greater moving of the passions, than are usual in the religious assembles of other denominations of christians. and their adoration of angels and departed saints, is only as of mediators and intercessors, who may present their prayers, and obtain favor for them--the very idolatry of paganism. in these things there is a shew of wisdom and humility--wisdom to devise means to impress a sense of religion, and humility to draw nigh to god by the intervention of those more worthy than themselves; and the means seem not destitute of influence; they produce warm zeal, and all the fervor of devotion; yea, all those feelings and emotions which are thought by some to constitute the offence of religion. and why is not all this right? why are not these ways of honoring god and exciting devotion commendable, when they render the worshipper thus fervent in spirit to serve the lord? the reason is obvious--they are not required--yea, they are forbidden of the divine sovereign. "thou shalt worship the lord thy god, and him _only_ shalt thou serve. thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth--i the lord thy god am a jealous god."-- pretending to honor god by direct disobedience is peculiarly affrontive. such worshippers "provoke him to his face. their offerings his soul hateth. they are a smoke in his nose, and a fire that burneth all the day." every thing of this nature, whatever may be its design, is rebellion against god. against no other sin hath he manifested greater indignation. no instance can be adduced of such homage being accepted, or of good resulting from such worship. yea, it hath commonly been followed with the severest marks of the divine resentment. witness the evils which came upon israel when they made the golden calf, to help their devotions. witness those which fell on the family and kingdom of jeroboam, when he forsook the appointed worship of god, and the ministry of the levites whom god had appointed to wait at the altar. jeroboam did not introduce the worship of baal, or the other heathen gods. this was done afterwards by the influence of jezebel. he only appointed other places of worship, beside that which god had chosen, and consecrated others to minister who had not the attachments of the levites to the house of david and city of zion, and made images to help the devotion of his people; and lo! his family perish; a brand of infamy is set on his name; and because his people walk in his ways, they are finally "broken and cease to be a people!" the divine resentment of attempts to change the ordinances of god, or make innovations in his worship even where they seem _to have been done out of concern for his honor_, is left on record in his word. saul once offered sacrifice. the necessity of his affairs seemed to require it. he professed to have done it with reluctance, but to have thought it his duty--"i said the philistines will come down upon me, and i have not made supplication unto the lord: i forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering." but saul was not of the family of aaron, to whom the right of sacrificing solely appertained by divine appointment. hence instead of conciliating the divine favor, his officious zeal offended heaven--for that act of disobedience he was threatened with deposition; and a repetition of attempting to improve on divine orders, in sparing the best cattle of amelek to sacrifice unto the lord, confirmed the sentence, * placed another on the throne, and led to the ruin of the rebellious prince. uzzah only put forth his hand to steady the trembling ark, and was struck dead for his rashness, beside the ark of god. + * samuel xiii. - , xv. - . + samuel vi. , . some spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit, have made changes in the divine institutions, and attempted improvements upon them, since the commencement of the gospel day. this hath been a leading trait of character in the chiefs of the romish church. many of the heads of that communion have signalized themselves in this way. and some of their alterations have operated to impress what was thought to be religion, as hath been observed. another way in which they have manifested the same disposition hath been the multiplying of holy days. under various pretences, nearly half the days in the year have been consecrated to religion, by order of those gods on earth. some real, and many fictitious saints, have days consecrated to their memory. here is a great shew of wisdom, and zeal for god, and his cause in the world; calling men so often from their temporal concerns to attend to the duties of religion! who can do other than approve it? doubtless many have been deceived by appearances, and considered those as wise and good who have done these things. but this is far from being their character. these have been the doings of "antichrist, the man of sin --the son of perdition! because of these things cometh the wrath of god, on the children of disobedience!" all these specious measures are no better than saul's sacrificing, uzzah's steadying the ark, and the use of images in divine worship! they are opposition to the orders of the most high, and rebellion against him. "six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god; in it thou shalt not do any work" --whoever takes it on himself to alter this appointment, "thinks to change times and laws;" which was foretold of him who should "speak great words against the most high." * * daniel vii. . the lord's day, is the only day which god hath sanctified under the gospel dispensation. this infinite wisdom judged sufficient. had more been requisite, more would have been consecrated by divine order. but not a hint of any other holy day is to be found in the new testament. + * * * * * + neither the day of christ's birth, death, resurrection or ascension appear to have been regarded as holy time, or any way distinguished from the other days of the year, during the apostolic age. the former of these is not marked in the scriptures. whether it happened on the twentyfifth of december, or at some other season is uncertain. so are the times in which the apostles and primitive christians suffered martyrdom. these events are veiled. divine providence hath hidden them from mankind, probably for the same reason that the body of moses was hidden from israel--to prevent its being made an object of idolatrous worship--or for the same which is supposed to have occasioned our lord's seeming neglect of his mother, and his severer reproof given to peter, than to any other of his disciples--"get thee behind me satan;" namely, that idolatrous honor, which he foresaw would be afterwards paid them by some called christians. easter is once mentioned in our translation of the new testament; but it is not found in the greek original. the word there used is "pasxa," the passover. it is mentioned only to note the time in which herod intended to have brought forth peter and delivered him up to his enemies. * * acts xii. . * * * * * occasional calls there may be to fasting and thanksgiving; and we have scripture warrant for attending them in their seasons. but fixing on certain days of the year, or month, statedly to call men from their secular business to attend to religion, and requiring the consecration of them to religion is adding to the book of god. however well intended, it goes on mistaken principles, and however specious in appearance, is affronting the wisdom and authority of heaven. most of the errors referred to above, are found among pagans or catholics; but is nothing of the same kind chargeable on protestants? "are there not with us sins against the lord our god?" and of the same nature with those we have been contemplating? the knowledge of other's errors in ay be for our warning; but the knowledge of our own is requisite to our reformation. where then are we directed of god, religiously to observe christmas, lent, or easter? where to attend the eucharist only twice or thrice a year; and never without one, or more preparatory lectures? * where to add a third prayer at the administration of that ordinance, when our divine pattern only blessed the bread before he distributed it to his disciples, and gave thanks to the father, before he divided to them the cup? where are we directed to attend quarterly seasons of prayer, or to hold weekly conferences for religious purposes? * * * * * * we would not be understood to intend that all religious meeting on week days are unlawful. special occasions often require them. but the lord's day is the only time set apart by divine order for the stated attendance. no other hath he consecrated to the business of religion. neither would we be considered as denying the legality of ever uniting to seek the lord previous to the celebration of eucharist. we may look to god to assist and accept us in every duty. but if we consider these preparatory exercises as indispensibly requisite, and as constituting a part of the duty, we do it without divine warrant. from an attention to the gospel history, we are induced to believe that the celebration of that ordinance constituted a part of the common duties of every lord's day, while the apostles ministered in the christian church; + and that an attendance at the sacramental table, was not distinguished by any special preparatory exercises, diverse from those which anteceded other sanctuary duties. no trace of distinction, in these respects, is to be found in scripture; neither precept nor example can be adduced to support it. whence then its origin? + acts xx. . did not it derive from rome? we know the errors of the romish church relative to the eucharist; and their tendency to induce a belief that it is more holy, and requires greater sanctity in communicant, than is requisite to an attendance on other ordinances. and the same notion is prevalent and many who have withdrawn from the communion of that church. many serious people who attend other religious duties with pleasure and advantage, are afraid to obey christ's dying command! is not this a relic of popery? when luther left the papal communion, his reformation, particularly relative to this ordinance, was but partial. many other protestants retain a tinge of catholic leaven. is not the distinction respecting the sanctity of divine ordinances from this source? it is not found in the gospel. if the exercises under consideration serve to perpetuate this unscriptural distinction, and to drive men from a plain and important duty, they have a baleful effect. they may be well intended. doubtless they are so by the generality of those who attend them. it is painful to be obliged to dissent from men whom we receive as brethren, and revere as christians. but after much deliberation, such are our views of the subject before us; and we offer them to the serious consideration of the followers of christ. * * * * * but these are well intended. so probably was uzzah's steadying the ark--but some of these do help on the cause of god, and even more than the stale attendance on lord's day duties. so thought those who introduced images and paintings into churches. [some indeed attend those who neglected lord's day duties.] have we then discovered defects in the divine plan! and do we feel ourselves capable of making emendations in it!--of "teaching eternal wisdom how to rule!"--how to effect its purposes of mercy! beware _lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after christ_. vain man would be wise--he naturally thinks himself qualified, even to ameliorate divine institutions. temptation to this sin coincides with a natural bias in depraved humanity. many and very mischievous errors have issued from it. would we escape the snare, we must listen to the apostle speaking in the text. the sum of his advice is to keep to the divine directions, especially in matters of religion. these are contained and plainly taught in the holy scriptures, which we have in our hands, and of the sense of which we must judge for ourselves; remembering that we are accountable to god the judge of all. as some are _spoiled through philosophy and vain deceit_, others are corrupted by regard to _the tradition of men and rudiments of the world_. this endangered the colossians, and eventually ruined the church at rome. the leading errors of paganism were thereby introduced into that christian church, and rendered it completely antichristian. errors which seemed to have been destroyed by christianity, were again revived, and the abominations which they had occasioned, were acted over again with enlargements! the _traditions of men and rudiments of the world_, have still their seducing influence. most men swim down with the current of the times --adopt the sentiments and conform to the usages of those with whom they live. the popular scheme of religion, they consider as the orthodox scheme, and the religion of the land, the true religion. therefore is one nation papists, another protestants, one calvinists, another lutherans. these differences of sentiment do not arise from differences in the mental constitutions of nations, but from the accidental differences of situation. few have sufficient independence of mind to "judge of themselves what is right." many who "call christ lord, receive for doctrines the commandments of men." therefore doth religion vary like the fashions of the world. was the fashion of the world to be the rule of judgment, it might be wise to follow it: but "we must every one give an account of himself to god," and be judged by the rule which be hath given us. it becomes as therefore to "call no man master, because one is our matter, even christ." to him we are accountable. at our peril do we neglect obedience to his commands. it concerns us to do all things according to the pattern drawn out before us in the scriptures. against the natural bias to affect improvements on divine institutions, and against the prevalence of fashion and contagion of popular opinion, we should be particularly on our guard. "for cursed is every one who confirmeth not all the words of god's law to do them, and all the people shall say, amen." * * * * * * sermon xxix. the sins of communities noted and punished. matthew xxiii. . "verily i say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation." this is predicated of the judgments of god on those who had shed the blood of his saints. the savior declares that all the righteous blood which had been shed on the earth from that of abel down to the gospel day, should come on that generation! but is not this unreasonable and contrary to the scriptures? "far be wickedness from god and iniquity from the almighty. for the work of man shall be render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways--the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." such is the language of revelation. and is not that of reason the same? will reason justify punishing some men for other men's sins? those who lived in the days of our savior had no share in the murder of abel, or of many others who had died by wicked hands. those dire events had been accomplished before they had existence. how then could they be answerable for them? to solve this mystery we must consider man in a twofold view--as an individual and as the member of a community. as individuals mankind are solely accountable for the parts which they act personally. in the judgment of the great day, they will only be judged for the use which they shall have made of the talents committed to them here--"we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ; that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether good or bad," but every individual is a member of the human race, and of some community. the race, as such, and the larger branches of it, the nations and empires into which it is divided, are amenable to the supreme governor, and liable to punishment, if in their public characters, they rebel against him. and righteous individuals, may be involved in the judgments sent to punish the sins of the community to which they belong. they often are so. personal rectitude is not designated by an exemption from national calamities. discriminations will eventually be made in its favor, but not here. here "all things come alike unto all, and there is one event to the righteous and the wicked." to _shew such to be the general rule of the divine administration in the government of the world, is the design of the following discourse_: which will explain the text. the world, and the communities into which it is divided, have their probation no less than persons; and there are reasons in which god enters into judgment with them and adjusts retributions to their moral states. in discussing the subject, we shall treat, _first of families, then of larger communities, and of the world_. the first family of our race affords an example to our purpose. before that family was increased by a single branch issuing from it, it rebelled against god, and god entered into judgment with it, and punished its sin upon it. and the punishments was not restricted to the offending pair, but extended to their race in common with themselves: all were doomed to sufferings and death _in consequence of their sin_. and the sentence hath been executing upon them from that period to the present time. mankind have gone through life sorrowing; and "death hath reigned even over those, who have not sinned after the similitude of adam's transgression." neither have discriminations been made in favor of the saints, but they have been involved in the general calamity, and groaned with the rest of the creation. in some respects this was an exempt case, but in the general diffusion of punishment on the various branches of the family, it accords with the divine administration respecting other families, as appears from sacred history, and from the general history of the human race. countless examples might be adduced. the murder of abel was not punished solely on cain, but also on his family. the ground cursed for _his_ sin, did not yield _to them_ its strength; and they were deprived of those religious instructions which they would no doubt have received, had their father dwelt "in the presence of the lord," or remained in the family of adam which contained the church of god. many of the evils which fell on that sinner, fell also on his children and rested on them till the extinction of his race by the deluge. similar were the consequences which followed the sins of ham and esau: but these more properly rank under the head of communities: but instances of families which have suffered, yea perished, by judgments sent to punish the sins of their heads, often occur. when sundry of the princes of israel rebelled against god in the wilderness, and attempted a subversion of the government which god had instituted for his people, they did not perish alone, but their families perished with them, though no intimations are given that they were all _partakers_ in their sin--yea, though it is more than intimated that _some of them_ were not capable of partaking in it --"they came out and stood in the doors of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones." and as soon as moses had warned the congregation, and foretold the manner of their death, "the ground clave asunder that was under them, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses--and they and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth doted upon them; and they perished." * * numbers xvi. - . to these might be added the families of achan, eli, saul, jeroboam, baasha, ahab and others. no special personal guilt was found on many members of these families. they died to expiate family guilt. we know of none chargeable on abimelech, or the other priests who were slain by order of saul. the sins of eli and his house, were punished upon them, agreeably to the divine denunciation, first by a nameless prophet; afterwards by samuel. in one of the sons of jeroboam, "were found good things toward the lord god of israel:" therefore was he removed by an early death, and the residue of the family were afterwards destroyed with the sword to punish the sin of the father, "who had sinned and made israel to sin." the divine administration is still the same. in later ages instances might be adduced, especially among princes, of families extirpated (after a term of family probation, which had been abused by wickedness and dishonored by crimes) to punish family guilt. but these might be more liable to be disputed than those recorded in sacred history. though we think it evident, from common observation, that the curse of heaven usually rests on the descendants of those who cast off the fear of god and harden themselves in sin, and that god visits the iniquities of fathers on their children. we turn our attention next to larger communities. here we find the divine administration regulated by the same rules. morals are as necessary to larger communities as to families, or individuals, alike required of them. and they are equally amenable to him who is over all, and receive like returns from his impartial hands, according to their works. the chief difference made between communities and persons, respects the time and place, in which they are judged and rewarded: respecting the former, they take place in this world; respecting the latter, in that to come. persons will live again after death. communities, as such, exist only here. here therefore communities must be remunerated [sic]. they are so. god tries them, and proportions retributions to their moral state. "righteousness exalteth a nation;" but wickedness degrades and destroys it. the strength and happiness of a people are proportioned to their morals, and increase and diminish with them. perhaps it will be said, these are the natural conferences of moral good and evil. they are so. and these consequences are the effects of divine order; of the constitution which god hath established. hence the divine declaration by the prophet: "at what instant i shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy; if that nation against whom i have pronounced, turn from their evil, i will repent of the evil that i thought to do unto them. and at what instant i shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my fight, that it obey not my voice, then i will repent of the good wherewith i said, i would benefit them." * * jeremiah xviii. - . this declaration is verified in the divine administration. god often bears with nations and communities, even to long suffering; but if they continue to revolt, he fails not to punish their sin upon them. when a community hath filled up the measure of its iniquity, judgment is executed upon it; not according to the moral character of those who then compose it, but according to its character considered as a nation which hath been tried god's appointed time. while a community is on trial its conduct is recorded; its acts of disobedience to the divine sovereign are charged to the community, and when its probation ends, they are brought into the reckoning and punished upon it, unless repentance and reformation intervene and prevent it. that "the sin of the amorites was not full," was assigned as a reason for deferring the settlement of abram's race in the land of canaan. god would not enter into judgment with them, till the measure of their guilt had reached a certain height; but the sins of every generation helped to swell the account, till they were ripe for ruin. the hebrews were then ordered to destroy them utterly--"every thing that breathed." it was not the sins of only that generation which occasioned this sentence, but the sins of the nations. many individuals who had no personal guilt were included in the sentence, and destroyed by its execution. the infants perished with the adults. the divine judgments executed on other wicked communities, have been similar. sodom, and her daughters were each of them a petty kingdom; and when they had severally filled up the measure of their crimes, they all perished together, old and young. if more examples are desired, look to the seed of jacob. that people had a long probation; but when they had filled up the measure of national guilt, their sins were brought to remembrance and punished upon them. the ten tribes revolted from god, when they left the house of david and set jeroboam on the throne. for more than two centuries and an half god waited with them, and warned them of the evils which their sins would bring upon them; but they repented not. when their iniquity was full, he gave their enemies power over them; "rooted them up out of the good land which he had given their fathers, and scattered them beyond the river." the kingdom of judah remained about an hundred and thirty years after "ephraim was broken that he was not a people." those, who adhered to the house of david did not revolt so early as those who seceded at the division of the kingdom. divine worship according to the law of moses, was kept up among them; and several pious princes reigned over them. but though the progress of impiety was less rapid than in the other kingdom, there was a departure from the living god, and idolatry and immorality prevailed, till they also filled up the measure of their sins. then, impartial heaven "stretched over jerusalem the line of samaria, and the plummet of the house of ahab." * * kings xxi. . the generation on which those judgments were executed was greatly depraved, and like the men of sodom, sinners exceedingly; but their sins alone would not have occasioned those desolations; they were added to the national account, and filled up the measure of national guilt. one of their kings did much to swell that account. mention is made, more than once, of his sins, particularly of the innocent blood which he shed, as fixing the doom of the nation, rendering prayer for it unavailing and its ruin inevitable. "though moses and samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be towards this people: cast them out of my sight; i will cause them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, _because of manassah, the king of judah, for that which he did in jerusalem_." * wantonly shedding the blood of his subjects, was one of the sins charged upon him. this sin is, in a sense, unpardonable. "blood defileth the land; and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him that shed it." + manasseh's blood was not shed. therefore was the land destined to suffer, josiah, who reigned after manasseh, was pious; but after he had done every thing in his power to atone for the sins of his fathers, and reclaim the nation, and not wholly without effect, it is expressly noted that "the lord turned not from the fierceness of his wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against judah, because of all the provocations that manasseh had provoked him withal." and after the judgments had been executed, it is again remarked that they were sent to punish the sins of that wicked ruler--"surely at the commandment of the lord came this upon judah, _for the sins of manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled jerusalem with innocent blood, which the lord would not pardon_." ++ * jeremiah xv. - . + numbers xxxv. . ++ kings xxiii. , xxiv. , . manasseh was gone off the stage; so were all who had shared in his guilt; that prince had, moreover, repented and obtained personal forgiveness; but his crimes had filled up the measure of national wickedness, and judgment must follow. there was no remedy. these are conclusive evidence that the sins of a people, and especially of the rulers of a people, which are not punished by the civil arm, are charged to the people, and eventually punished upon them. as there are seasons in which god judgeth nations and communities, and renders to them according to their works, there are also seasons in which he doth the same by the world. that this will be done at the end of the world, or at the judgment of the great day, is not matter of doubt with believers in revelation. but some other seasons of divine judgment are now more particularly intended. for there are seasons in which god's judgments are abroad in the earth--in which the sins of the world seem to be brought to remembrance, and punished on its inhabitants. eminently such was the six hundredth year of the life of noah. "when the earth was corrupt before god, and filled with violence," he entered into judgment, and punished the sin of the world, in the destruction of its inhabitants. god did not "do his work, his strange work, or bring to pass his act, his strange act," as soon as "the wickedness of man was great, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart only evil continually." he waited long. but when the vast term allowed to antediluvian sinners was expired, he swept off a race who had been disobedient while long suffering mercy waited with them. the sin of the world was then full. human guilt had long been augmenting, and at length occasioned that awful display of divine justice. many who were at that time destroyed were, no doubt great and old offenders; but many others differed from them, were but entering on life, not capable, of personal guilt, yet they were involved in the general calamity. those of every character perished together, "the flood came and took them all away." there hath been no other season in which the divine judgments toward the whole world have been so signally manifest as at the deluge. there have however, been times in which they have been very general and very severe. one of those times was at hand in our savior's day. on the generation which lived when he suffered for the sins of men, were some of the vials of divine wrath poured out, though not those in which the wrath of god was filled up. perhaps at no period yet past, that of the deluge excepted, hath god visited the sins of men with greater severity. if the divine judgments fell then more particularly on the jews, the other nations did not escape. if the jews suffered more than others, there were reasons; nor are they wholly concealed. the jews had enjoyed greater religious privileges than others--had more means of instruction in divine things, and had neglected and abused them, and seem to have more completely filled up the measure of their iniquity than any other people. "to whom much is given, of them is the more required; and those who know their duty and yet do things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with many stripes." god was also at that time avenging "the righteous blood which had been shed upon the earth"--the blood of his saints who had been martyred, of which more than a double portion was chargeable on that people. they had of old killed the prophets, and persecuted those who had been sent of god to warn them from their ways. the same was still their governing temper, and to a greater degree than at any former period of their history. they were also the church of god; and he was now entering into judgment with his church, as a community the measure of whose iniquity was full. this was nearly their situation when the savior addressed them, as in our context--"fill ye up the measure of your fathers." this was not a command, but a prediction of what was then nearly accomplished; and he told them how it would be completed--by their killing and crucifying the messengers of heaven, at whose head was the divine messenger who then addressed them--that when they should have done these things, god would enter into judgment with them, and avenge on them "all the righteous blood which had been shed in his church from the foundation of the world." _verify i say unto you, all these things shall come on this generation_. and he assured them that it would desolate their country, and that it would remain destitute of those religious privileges which they then enjoyed, till they should become of another spirit--"behold your house is left unto you desolate. for i say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the lord." as soon as christ was alone with his disciples he gave them a description of those desolations which is recorded in the following chapter, and is so plain, and made such an impression on the christians of that day, who were mostly jews, that they fled at the approach of the roman armies and escaped the calamities which overwhelmed their nation. whoever reads the history of that age will be convinced of the truth of that prediction--then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to that time, no, nor ever shall see. "those were the days of vengeance, that all things which were written might be fulfilled." another of the seasons of divine judgments occurred at the subversion of the roman empire by the northern barbarians. that mighty empire comprehended a very large portion of the then known world. it had become exceedingly populous. italy, in particular was chiefly covered with the dwellings of men, like one continued city; and almost the whole empire swarmed with inhabitants, and many parts were cultivated like a garden. but when those savages broke into it, they carried fire and sword wherever they went. like the armies of god's judgments described by the prophet joel, they carried terror and destruction --"a fire devoured before them, and behind them a flame burned: the land was as the garden of eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; and nothing escaped them." * the most populous and fruitful parts of that vast empire were literally made desolate, and became a wilderness; and many places have never recovered their former lustre, and few become equally populous to this day. * joel ii. . waving the particular mention of other periods in which the judgments of god have been made manifest, would only observe, that we are taught by the prophets, to expect desolating judgments before the beginning of the latter day glory, and that they will be very general--that the sins, not of this, or that community, but of the world will come into remembrance before god; and that the full vials of his wrath will be poured out, not barely to avenge the sins of that generation, but the sins of the world, the measure of their iniquity being then full. the most terrifying metaphors are used to prefigure the judgments which will then be executed on mankind. the destruction of men is compared to the harvest and vintage! but the language of prophecy, if we consider the human race as the objects of the harvest and vintage, admits no augmentation of terror. "and i looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat, like unto the son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. and another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice, to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. and he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. and another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. and another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clutters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. and the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of god. and the wine press was trodden without the city; and blood came out of the wine press, even unto the horses bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." * * revelation xiv. - . the scenes here depicted are yet future. they are confirmed, and in some measure illustrated by other prophecies; but as our understanding of prophecies must remain partial till explained by their accomplishment, we leave the intelligent reader to his own reflections upon them. inferences. i. that communities, both small and great are on trial here, and that they are eventually called into judgment and rewarded and punished according to their use, or abuse of talents, is fairly deducible from the subject under consideration. such being the divine administration, we see the importance of national virtue. morals are the health and strength of a community: while they remain no enemy can prevail against it. "the angel of the lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them"--but when a community degenerates, and become corrupt and vicious, their guardian angel quits his charge, and their guardian god becomes the avenger of their crimes. ii. we see also the importance of good government, and good rulers, who will execute righteous laws with fidelity, and in their own persons, set the example of obedience to them. the example of those in authority hath a commanding influence. their principles and practices, draw many after them. we see this exemplified in the history of the hebrews: when their great men were good men, virtue was respected, and the nation rejoiced; but "the wicked walked on every side, when the vilest men were exalted," and the degrading, and even desolating judgments of heaven followed. "these things happened unto them for ensamples; and are written for our admonition," * * corinthians x. . iii. the character of individuals is not to be judged by their circumstances here. when judgments are abroad to punish national wickedness they do not always fall on the most guilty--they fall on the community.--all who belong to it are obnoxious. "suppose ye that the gallileans whose blood pilate mingled with their sacrifices were sinners above all the gallileans, because they suffered such things? i tell you, nay; except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." all have sins sufficient to justify god in taking them away when, and how, he pleaseth. was there not another life, impartiality would require a different divine administration. discriminations would here be made according to the difference of moral characters. they are not made. the iniquity of fathers is visited on their children; the iniquity of communities on particular generations, and on individuals; and often on those who are not the most guilty! we see it in every part of the sketch which we have taken of the divine government. the doctrine of another life clears up this mystery. without the belief of it we cannot "ascribe righteousness to our maker;" but when we take it into the account every difficulty is removed, that there is another life, in which the perfect rectitude of divine providence will appear, is a dictate of reason, and the explicit language of revelation. iv. when the mystery of god is finished, and the veil now spread over the divine administration taken away, we shall see the wisdom, justice, and goodness of those parts of it, which now, seeing only in part, we contemplate with surprize and wonder.--"that all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from that of righteous abel, to our savior's day, should be required of that generation;" and that there should be seasons in which the sins of nations and of the world are avenged on particular generations, who are made to bear the sins of those who had gone before them, and on individuals, not distinguished by their crimes, will no more astonish and confound us! we now witness such things in the divine administration! we cannot but witness them. we shall then see the reasons of them, and be satisfied; we shall join in that angelic ascription, "even so lord god almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments." * till that decisive day, let us wait on the lord, and in the way of well doing, trust in his mercy --"for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things; to whom be glory forever." + * revelation xvi. . + romans xi. . amen. proofreading team. new tabernacle sermons by t. de witt talmage, d.d. author of "_crumbs swept up_," "_the abominations of modern society_," etc. delivered in the brooklyn tabernacle. vol. i new york: george munro, publisher, to vandewater street. . [illustration: t. de witt talmage] _entered according to act of congress, in the year , by_ george munro, _in the office of the librarian of congress, washington, d.c._ contents. page brawn and muscle the pleiades and orion the queen's visit vicarious suffering posthumous opportunity the lord's razor windows toward jerusalem stormed and taken all the world akin a momentous quest the great assize the road to the city the ransomless the three groups the insignificant the three rings how he came to say it castle jesus stripping the slain sold out summer temptations the banished queen the day we live in capital and labor despotism of the needle tobacco and opium why are satan and sin permitted? brawn and muscle. "and samson went down to timnath."--judges xiv: . there are two sides to the character of samson. the one phase of his life, if followed into the particulars, would administer to the grotesque and the mirthful; but there is a phase of his character fraught with lessons of solemn and eternal import. to these graver lessons we devote our morning sermon. this giant no doubt in early life gave evidences of what he was to be. it is almost always so. there were two napoleons--the boy napoleon and the man napoleon--but both alike; two howards--the boy howard and the man howard--but both alike; two samsons--the boy samson and the man samson--but both alike. this giant was no doubt the hero of the playground, and nothing could stand before his exhibitions of youthful prowess. at eighteen years of age he was betrothed to the daughter of a philistine. going down toward timnath, a lion came out upon him, and, although this young giant was weaponless, he seized the monster by the long mane and shook him as a hungry hound shakes a march hare, and made his bones crack, and left him by the wayside bleeding under the smiting of his fist and the grinding heft of his heel. there he stands, looming up above other men, a mountain of flesh, his arms bunched with muscle that can lift the gate of a city, taking an attitude defiant of everything. his hair had never been cut, and it rolled down in seven great plaits over his shoulders, adding to his bulk, fierceness, and terror. the philistines want to conquer him, and therefore they must find out where the secret of his strength lies. there is a dissolute woman living in the valley of sorek by the name of delilah. they appoint her the agent in the case. the philistines are secreted in the same building, and then delilah goes to work and coaxes samson to tell what is the secret of his strength. "well," he says, "if you should take seven green withes such as they fasten wild beasts with and put them around me i should be perfectly powerless." so she binds him with the seven green withes. then she claps her hands and says: "they come--the philistines!" and he walks out as though they were no impediment. she coaxes him again, and says: "now tell me the secret of this great strength?" and he replies: "if you should take some ropes that have never been used and tie me with them i should be just like other men." she ties him with the ropes, claps her hands, and shouts: "they come--the philistines!" he walks out as easily as he did before--not a single obstruction. she coaxes him again, and he says: "now, if you should take these seven long plaits of hair, and by this house-loom weave them into a web, i could not get away." so the house-loom is rolled up, and the shuttle flies backward and forward and the long plaits of hair are woven into a web. then she claps her hands, and says: "they come--the philistines!" he walks out as easily as he did before, dragging a part of the loom with him. but after awhile she persuades him to tell the truth. he says: "if you should take a razor or shears and cut off this long hair, i should be powerless and in the hands of my enemies." samson sleeps, and that she may not wake him up during the process of shearing, help is called in. you know that the barbers of the east have such a skillful way of manipulating the head to this very day that, instead of waking up a sleeping man, they will put a man wide awake sound asleep. i hear the blades of the shears grinding against each other, and i see the long locks falling off. the shears or razor accomplishes what green withes and new ropes and house-loom could not do. suddenly she claps her hands, and says: "the philistines be upon thee, samson!" he rouses up with a struggle, but his strength is all gone. he is in the hands of his enemies. i hear the groan of the giant as they take his eyes out, and then i see him staggering on in his blindness, feeling his way as he goes on toward gaza. the prison door is open, and the giant is thrust in. he sits down and puts his hands on the mill-crank, which, with exhausting horizontal motion, goes day after day, week after week, month after month--work, work, work! the consternation of the world in captivity, his locks shorn, his eyes punctured, grinding corn in gaza! i. first of all, behold in this giant of the text that physical power is not always an index of moral power. he was a huge man--the lion found it out, and the three thousand men whom he slew found it out; yet he was the subject of petty revenges and out-gianted by low passion. i am far from throwing any discredit upon physical stamina. there are those who seem to have great admiration for delicacy and sickliness of constitution. i never could see any glory in weak nerves or sick headache. whatever effort in our day is made to make the men and women more robust should have the favor of every good citizen as well as of every christian. gymnastics may be positively religious. good people sometimes ascribe to a wicked heart what they ought to ascribe to a slow liver. the body and the soul are such near neighbors that they often catch each other's diseases. those who never saw a sick day, and who, like hercules, show the giant in the cradle, have more to answer for than those who are the subjects of life-long infirmities. he who can lift twice as much as you can, and walk twice as far, and work twice as long, will have a double account to meet in the judgment. how often it is that you do not find physical energy indicative of spiritual power! if a clear head is worth more than one dizzy with perpetual vertigo--if muscles with the play of health in them are worth more than those drawn up in chronic "rheumatics"--if an eye quick to catch passing objects is better than one with vision dim and uncertain--then god will require of us efficiency just in proportion to what he has given us. physical energy ought to be a type of moral power. we ought to have as good digestion of truth as we have capacity to assimilate food. our spiritual hearing ought to be as good as our physical hearing. our spiritual taste ought to be as clear as our tongue. samsons in body, we ought to be giants in moral power. but while you find a great many men who realize that they ought to use their money aright, and use their intelligence aright, how few men you find aware of the fact that they ought to use their physical organism aright! with every thump of the heart there is something saying, "work! work!" and, lest we should complain that we have no tools to work with, god gives us our hands and feet, with every knuckle, and with every joint, and with every muscle saying to us, "lay hold and do something." but how often it is that men with physical strength do not serve christ! they are like a ship full manned and full rigged, capable of vast tonnage, able to endure all stress of weather, yet swinging idly at the docks, when these men ought to be crossing and recrossing the great ocean of human suffering and sin with god's supplies of mercy. how often it is that physical strength is used in doing positive damage, or in luxurious ease, when, with sleeves rolled up and bronzed bosom, fearless of the shafts of opposition, it ought to be laying hold with all its might, and tugging away to lift up this sunken wreck of a world. it is a most shameful fact that much of the business of the church and of the world must be done by those comparatively invalid. richard baxter, by reason of his diseases, all his days sitting in the door of the tomb, yet writing more than a hundred volumes, and sending out an influence for god that will endure as long as the "saints' everlasting rest." edward payson, never knowing a well day, yet how he preached, and how he wrote, helping thousands of dying souls like himself to swim in a sea of glory! and robert m'cheyne, a walking skeleton, yet you know what he did in dundee, and how he shook scotland with zeal for god. philip doddridge, advised by his friends, because of his illness, not to enter the ministry, yet you know what he did for the "rise and progress of religion" in the church and in the world. wilberforce was told by his doctors that he could not live a fortnight, yet at that very time entering upon philanthropic enterprises that demanded the greatest endurance and persistence. robert hall, suffering excruciations, so that often in his pulpit while preaching he would stop and lie down on a sofa, then getting up again to preach about heaven until the glories of the celestial city dropped on the multitude, doing more work, perhaps, than almost any well man in his day. oh, how often it is that men with great physical endurance are not as great in moral and spiritual stature! while there are achievements for those who are bent all their days with sickness--achievements of patience, achievements of christian endurance--i call upon men of health to-day, men of muscle, men of nerve, men of physical power, to devote themselves to the lord. giants in body, you ought to be giants in soul. ii. behold also, in the story of my text, illustration of the fact of the damage that strength can do if it be misguided. it seems to me that this man spent a great deal of his time in doing evil--this samson of my text. to pay a bet which he had lost by guessing of his riddle he robs and kills thirty people. he was not only gigantic in strength, but gigantic in mischief, and a type of those men in all ages of the world who, powerful in body or mind, or any faculty of social position or wealth, have used their strength for iniquitous purposes. it is not the small, weak men of the day who do the damage. these small men who go swearing and loafing about your stores and shops and banking-houses, assailing christ and the bible and the church--they do not do the damage. they have no influence. they are vermin that you crush with your foot. but it is the giants of the day, the misguided giants, giants in physical power, or giants in mental acumen, or giants in social position, or giants in wealth, who do the damage. the men with sharp pens that stab religion and throw their poison all through our literature; the men who use the power of wealth to sanction iniquity, and bribe justice, and make truth and honor bow to their golden scepter. misguided giants--look out for them! in the middle and the latter part of the last century no doubt there were thousands of men in paris and edinburgh and london who hated god and blasphemed the name of the almighty; but they did but little mischief--they were small men, insignificant men. yet there were giants in those days. who can calculate the soul-havoc of a rousseau, going on with a very enthusiasm of iniquity, with fiery imagination seizing upon all the impulsive natures of his day? or david hume, who employed his life as a spider employs its summer, in spinning out silken webs to trap the unwary? or voltaire, the most learned man of his day, marshaling a great host of skeptics, and leading them out in the dark land of infidelity? or gibbon, who showed an uncontrollable grudge against religion in his history of one of the most fascinating periods of the world's existence--the decline and fall of the roman empire--a book in which, with all the splendors of his genius, he magnified the errors of christian disciples, while, with a sparseness of notice that never can be forgiven, he treated of the christian heroes of whom the world was not worthy? oh, men of stout physical health, men of great mental stature, men of high social position, men of great power of any sort, i want you to understand your power, and i want you to know that that power devoted to god will be a crown on earth, to you typical of a crown in heaven; but misguided, bedraggled in sin, administrative of evil, god will thunder against you with his condemnation in the day when millionaire and pauper, master and slave, king and subject, shall stand side by side in the judgment, and money-bags, and judicial ermine, and royal robe shall be riven with the lightnings. behold also, how a giant may be slain of a woman. delilah started the train of circumstances that pulled down the temple of dagon about samson's ears. and tens of thousands of giants have gone down to death and hell through the same impure fascinations. it seems to me that it is high time that pulpit and platform and printing-press speak out against the impurities of modern society. fastidiousness and prudery say: "better not speak--you will rouse up adverse criticism; you will make worse what you want to make better; better deal in glittering generalities; the subject is too delicate for polite ears." but there comes a voice from heaven overpowering the mincing sentimentalities of the day, saying: "cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions and the house of jacob their sins." the trouble is that when people write or speak upon this theme they are apt to cover it up with the graces of belles-lettres, so that the crime is made attractive instead of repulsive. lord byron in "don juan" adorns this crime until it smiles like a may queen. michelet, the great french writer, covers it up with bewitching rhetoric until it glows like the rising sun, when it ought to be made loathsome as a small-pox hospital. there are to-day influences abroad which, if unresisted by the pulpit and the printing-press, will turn new york and brooklyn into sodom and gomorrah, fit only for the storm of fire and brimstone that whelmed the cities of the plain. you who are seated in your christian homes, compassed by moral and religious restraints, do not realize the gulf of iniquity that bounds you on the north and the south and the east and the west. while i speak there are tens of thousands of men and women going over the awful plunge of an impure life; and while i cry to god for mercy upon their souls, i call upon you to marshal in the defense of your homes, your church and your nation. there is a banqueting hall that you have never heard described. you know all about the feast of ahasuerus, where a thousand lords sat. you know all about belshazzar's carousal, where the blood of the murdered king spurted into the faces of the banqueters. you may know of the scene of riot and wassail, when there was set before esopus one dish of food that cost $ , . but i speak now of a different banqueting hall. its roof is fretted with fire. its floor is tesselated with fire. its chalices are chased with fire. its song is a song of fire. its walls are buttresses of fire. solomon refers to it when he says: "her guests are in the depths of hell." our american communities are suffering from the gospel of free loveism, which, fifteen or twenty years ago, was preached on the platform and in some of the churches of this country. i charge upon free loveism that it has blighted innumerable homes, and that it has sent innumerable souls to ruin. free loveism is bestial; it is worse--it is infernal! it has furnished this land with about one thousand divorces annually. in one county in the state of indiana it furnished eleven divorces in one day before dinner. it has roused up elopements, north, south, east, and west. you can hardly take up a paper but you read of an elopement. as far as i can understand the doctrine of free loveism it is this: that every man ought to have somebody else's wife, and every wife somebody else's husband. they do not like our christian organization of society, and i wish they would all elope, the wretches of one sex taking the wretches of the other, and start to-morrow morning for the great sahara desert, until the simoom shall sweep seven feet of sand all over them, and not one passing caravan for the next five hundred years bring back one miserable bone of their carcasses! free loveism! it is the double-distilled extract of nux vomica, ratsbane, and adder's tongue. never until society goes back to the old bible, and hears its eulogy of purity and its anathema of uncleanness--never until then will this evil be extirpated. iv. behold also in this giant of the text and in the giant of our own century that great physical power must crumble and expire. the samson of the text long ago went away. he fought the lion. he fought the philistines. he could fight anything, but death was too much for him. he may have required a longer grave and a broader grave; but the tomb nevertheless was his terminus. if, then, we are to be compelled to go out of this world, where are we to go to? this body and soul must soon part. what shall be the destiny of the former i know--dust to dust. but what shall be the destiny of the latter? shall it rise into the companionship of the white-robed, whose sins christ has slain? or will it go down among the unbelieving, who tried to gain the world and save their souls, but were swindled out of both? blessed be god, we have a champion! he is so styled in the bible: a champion who has conquered death and hell, and he is ready to fight all our battles from the first to the last. "who is this that cometh from edom, with dyed garments from bozrah, mighty to save?" if we follow in the wake of that champion death has no power and the grave no victory. the worst man trusting in him shall have his dying pangs alleviated and his future illumined. v. in the light of this subject i want to call your attention to a fact which may not have been rightly considered by five men in this house, and that is the fact that we must be brought into judgment for the employment of our physical organism. shoulder, brain, hand, foot--we must answer in judgment for the use we have made of them. have they been used for the elevation of society or for its depression? in proportion as our arm is strong and our step elastic will our account at last be intensified. thousands of sermons are preached to invalids. i preach this sermon this morning to stout men and healthful women. we must give to god an account for the right use of this physical organism. these invalids have comparatively little to account for, perhaps. they could not lift twenty pounds. they could not walk half a mile without sitting down to rest. in the preparation of this subject i have said to myself, how shall i account to god in judgment for the use of a body which never knew one moment of real sickness? rising up in judgment, standing beside the men and women who had only little physical energy, and yet consumed that energy in a conflagration of religious enthusiasm, how will we feel abashed! oh, men of the strong arm and the stout heart, what use are you making of your physical forces? will you be able to stand the test of that day when we must answer for the use of every talent, whether it were a physical energy, or a mental acumen, or a spiritual power? the day approaches, and i see one who in this world was an invalid, and as she stands before the throne of god to answer she says, "i was sick all my days. i had but very little strength, but i did as well as i could in being kind to those who were more sick and more suffering." and christ will say, "well done, faithful servant." and then a little child will stand before the throne, and she will say, "on earth i had a curvature of the spine, and i was very weak, and i was very sick; but i used to gather flowers out of the wild-wood and bring them to my sick mother, and she was comforted when she saw the sweet flowers out of the wild-wood. i didn't do much, but i did something." and christ shall say, as he takes her up in his arm and kisses her, "well done, well done, faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy lord." what, then, will be said to us--we to whom the lord gave physical strength and continuous health? hark! it thunders again. the judgment! the judgment! i said to an old scotch minister, who was one of the best friends i ever had, "doctor, did you ever know robert pollock, the scotch poet, who wrote 'the course of time'?" "oh, yes," he replied, "i knew him well; i was his classmate." and then the doctor went on to tell me how that the writing of "the course of time" exhausted the health of robert pollock, and he expired. it seems as if no man could have such a glimpse of the day for which all other days were made as robert pollock had, and long survive that glimpse. in the description of that day he says, among other things: "begin the woe, ye woods, and tell it to the doleful winds and doleful winds wail to the howling hills, and howling hills mourn to the dismal vales, and dismal vales sigh to the sorrowing brooks, and sorrowing brooks weep to the weeping stream, and weeping stream awake the groaning deep; ye heavens, great archway of the universe, put sack-cloth on; and ocean, robe thyself in garb of widowhood, and gather all thy waves into a groan, and utter it. long, loud, deep, piercing, dolorous, immense. the occasion asks it, nature dies, and angels come to lay her in her grave." what robert pollock saw in poetic dream, you and i will see in positive reality--the judgment! the judgment! the pleiades and orion. "seek him that maketh the seven stars and orion."--amos. v. a country farmer wrote this text--amos of tekoa. he plowed the earth and threshed the grain by a new threshing-machine just invented, as formerly the cattle trod out the grain. he gathered the fruit of the sycamore-tree, and scarified it with an iron comb just before it was getting ripe, as it was necessary and customary in that way to take from it the bitterness. he was the son of a poor shepherd, and stuttered; but before the stammering rustic the philistines, and syrians, and phoenicians, and moabites, and ammonites, and edomites, and israelites trembled. moses was a law-giver, daniel was a prince, isaiah a courtier, and david a king; but amos, the author of my text, was a peasant, and, as might be supposed, nearly all his parallelisms are pastoral, his prophecy full of the odor of new-mown hay, and the rattle of locusts, and the rumble of carts with sheaves, and the roar of wild beasts devouring the flock while the shepherd came out in their defense. he watched the herds by day, and by night inhabited a booth made out of bushes, so that through these branches he could see the stars all night long, and was more familiar with them than we who have tight roofs to our houses, and hardly ever see the stars except among the tall brick chimneys of the great towns. but at seasons of the year when the herds were in special danger, he would stay out in the open field all through the darkness, his only shelter the curtain of the night, heaven, with the stellar embroideries and silvered tassels of lunar light. what a life of solitude, all alone with his herds! poor amos! and at twelve o'clock at night, hark to the wolf's bark, and the lion's roar, and the bear's growl, and the owl's te-whit-te-whos, and the serpent's hiss, as he unwittingly steps too near while moving through the thickets! so amos, like other herdsmen, got the habit of studying the map of the heavens, because it was so much of the time spread out before him. he noticed some stars advancing and others receding. he associated their dawn and setting with certain seasons of the year. he had a poetic nature, and he read night by night, and month by month, and year by year, the poem of the constellations, divinely rhythmic. but two rosettes of stars especially attracted his attention while seated on the ground, or lying on his back under the open scroll of the midnight heavens--the pleiades, or seven stars, and orion. the former group this rustic prophet associated with the spring, as it rises about the first of may. the latter he associated with the winter, as it comes to the meridian in january. the pleiades, or seven stars, connected with all sweetness and joy; orion, the herald of the tempest. the ancients were the more apt to study the physiognomy and juxtaposition of the heavenly bodies, because they thought they had a special influence upon the earth; and perhaps they were right. if the moon every few hours lifts and lets down the tides of the atlantic ocean, and the electric storms of last year in the sun, by all scientific admission, affected the earth, why not the stars have proportionate effect? and there are some things which make me think that it may not have been all superstition which connected the movements and appearance of the heavenly bodies with great moral events on earth. did not a meteor run on evangelistic errand on the first christmas night, and designate the rough cradle of our lord? did not the stars in their courses fight against sisera? was it merely coincidental that before the destruction of jerusalem the moon was eclipsed for twelve consecutive nights? did it merely happen so that a new star appeared in constellation cassiopeia, and then disappeared just before king charles ix. of france, who was responsible for st. bartholomew massacre, died? was it without significance that in the days of the roman emperor justinian war and famine were preceded by the dimness of the sun, which for nearly a year gave no more light than the moon, although there were no clouds to obscure it? astrology, after all, may have been something more than a brilliant heathenism. no wonder that amos of the text, having heard these two anthems of the stars, put down the stout rough staff of the herdsman and took into his brown hand and cut and knotted fingers the pen of a prophet, and advised the recreant people of his time to return to god, saying: "seek him that maketh the seven stars and orion." this command, which amos gave years b.c., is just as appropriate for us, a.d. in the first place, amos saw, as we must see, that the god who made the pleiades and orion must be the god of order. it was not so much a star here and a star there that impressed the inspired herdsman, but seven in one group, and seven in the other group. he saw that night after night and season after season and decade after decade they had kept step of light, each one in its own place, a sisterhood never clashing and never contesting precedence. from the time hesiod called the pleiades the "seven daughters of atlas" and virgil wrote in his �neid of "stormy orion" until now, they have observed the order established for their coming and going; order written not in manuscript that may be pigeon-holed, but with the hand of the almighty on the dome of the sky, so that all nations may read it. order. persistent order. sublime order. omnipotent order. what a sedative to you and me, to whom communities and nations sometimes seem going pell-mell, and world ruled by some fiend at hap-hazard, and in all directions maladministration! the god who keeps seven worlds in right circuit for six thousand years can certainly keep all the affairs of individuals and nations and continents in adjustment. we had not better fret much, for the peasant's argument of the text was right. if god can take care of the seven worlds of the pleiades and the four chief worlds of orion, he can probably take care of the one world we inhabit. so i feel very much as my father felt one day when we were going to the country mill to get a grist ground, and i, a boy of seven years, sat in the back part of the wagon, and our yoke of oxen ran away with us and along a labyrinthine road through the woods, so that i thought every moment we would be dashed to pieces, and i made a terrible outcry of fright, and my father turned to me with a face perfectly calm, and said: "de witt, what are you crying about? i guess we can ride as fast as the oxen can run." and, my hearers, why should we be affrighted and lose our equilibrium in the swift movement of worldly events, especially when we are assured that it is not a yoke of unbroken steers that are drawing us on, but that order and wise government are in the yoke? in your occupation, your mission, your sphere, do the best you can, and then trust to god; and if things are all mixed and disquieting, and your brain is hot and your heart sick, get some one to go out with you into the starlight and point out to you the pleiades, or, better than that, get into some observatory, and through the telescope see further than amos with the naked eye could--namely, two hundred stars in the pleiades, and that in what is called the sword of orion there is a nebula computed to be two trillion two hundred thousand billions of times larger than the sun. oh, be at peace with the god who made all that and controls all that--the wheel of the constellations turning in the wheel of galaxies for thousands of years without the breaking of a cog or the slipping of a band or the snap of an axle. for your placidity and comfort through the lord jesus christ i charge you, "seek him that maketh the seven stars and orion." again, amos saw, as we must see, that the god who made these two groups of the text was the god of light. amos saw that god was not satisfied with making one star, or two or three stars, but he makes seven; and having finished that group of worlds, makes another group--group after group. to the pleiades he adds orion. it seems that god likes light so well that he keeps making it. only one being in the universe knows the statistics of solar, lunar, stellar, meteoric creations, and that is the--creator himself. and they have all been lovingly christened, each one a name as distinct as the names of your children. "he telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names." the seven pleiades had names given to them, and they are alcyone, merope, celæno, electra, sterope, taygete, and maia. but think of the billions and trillions of daughters of starry light that god calls by name as they sweep by him with beaming brow and lustrous robe! so fond is god of light--natural light, moral light, spiritual light. again and again is light harnessed for symbolization--christ, the bright and morning star; evangelization, the daybreak; the redemption of nations, sun of righteousness rising with healing in his wings. oh, men and women, with so many sorrows and sins and perplexities, if you want light of comfort, light of pardon, light of goodness, in earnest, pray through christ, "seek him that maketh the seven stars and orion." again, amos saw, as we must see, that the god who made these two archipelagoes of stars must be an unchanging god. there had been no change in the stellar appearance in this herdsman's life-time, and his father, a shepherd, reported to him that there had been no change in his life-time. and these two clusters hang over the celestial arbor now just as they were the first night that they shone on the edenic bowers, the same as when the egyptians built the pyramids from the top of which to watch them, the same as when the chaldeans calculated the eclipses, the same as when elihu, according to the book of job, went out to study the aurora borealis, the same under ptolemaic system and copernican system, the same from calisthenes to pythagoras, and from pythagoras to herschel. surely, a changeless god must have fashioned the pleiades and orion! oh, what an anodyne amid the ups and downs of life, and the flux and reflux of the tides of prosperity, to know that we have a changeless god, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. xerxes garlanded and knighted the steersman of his boat in the morning, and hanged him in the evening of the same day. fifty thousand people stood around the columns of the national capitol, shouting themselves hoarse at the presidential inaugural, and in four months so great were the antipathies that a ruffian's pistol in washington depot expressed the sentiment of a great multitude. the world sits in its chariot and drives tandem, and the horse ahead is huzza, and the horse behind is anathema. lord cobham, in king james' time, was applauded, and had thirty-five thousand dollars a year, but was afterward execrated, and lived on scraps stolen from the royal kitchen. alexander the great after death remained unburied for thirty days, because no one would do the honor of shoveling him under. the duke of wellington refused to have his iron fence mended, because it had been broken by an infuriated populace in some hour of political excitement, and he left it in ruins that men might learn what a fickle thing is human favor. "but the mercy of the lord is from everlasting to everlasting to them that fear him, and his righteousness unto the children's children of such as keep his covenant, and to those who remember his commandments to do them." this moment "seek him that maketh the seven stars and orion." again, amos saw, as we must see, that the god who made these two beacons of the oriental night sky must be a god of love and kindly warning. the pleiades rising in mid-sky said to all the herdsmen and shepherds and husbandmen: "come out and enjoy the mild weather, and cultivate your gardens and fields." orion, coming in winter, warned them to prepare for tempest. all navigation was regulated by these two constellations. the one said to shipmaster and crew: "hoist sail for the sea, and gather merchandise from other lands." but orion was the storm-signal, and said: "reef sail, make things snug, or put into harbor, for the hurricanes are getting their wings out." as the pleiades were the sweet evangels of the spring, orion was the warning prophet of the winter. oh, now i get the best view of god i ever had! there are two kinds of sermons i never want to preach--the one that presents god so kind, so indulgent, so lenient, so imbecile that men may do what they will against him, and fracture his every law, and put the cry of their impertinence and rebellion under his throne, and while they are spitting in his face and stabbing at his heart, he takes them up in his arms and kisses their infuriated brow and cheek, saying, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." the other kind of sermon i never want to preach is the one that represents god as all fire and torture and thundercloud, and with red-hot pitch-fork tossing the human race into paroxysms of infinite agony. the sermon that i am now preaching believes in a god of loving, kindly warning, the god of spring and winter, the god of the pleiades and orion. you must remember that the winter is just as important as the spring. let one winter pass without frost to kill vegetation and ice to bind the rivers and snow to enrich our fields, and then you will have to enlarge your hospitals and your cemeteries. "a green christmas makes a fat grave-yard," was the old proverb. storms to purify the air. thermometer at ten degrees above zero to tone up the system. december and january just as important as may and june. i tell you we need the storms of life as much as we do the sunshine. there are more men ruined by prosperity than by adversity. if we had our own way in life, before this we would have been impersonations of selfishness and worldliness and disgusting sin, and puffed up until we would have been like julius cæsar, who was made by sycophants to believe that he was divine, and the freckles on his face were as the stars of the firmament. one of the swiftest transatlantic voyages made last summer by the "etruria" was because she had a stormy wind abaft, chasing her from new york to liverpool. but to those going in the opposite direction the storm was a buffeting and a hinderance. it is a bad thing to have a storm ahead, pushing us back; but if we be god's children and aiming toward heaven, the storms of life will only chase us the sooner into the harbor. i am so glad to believe that the monsoons, and typhoons, and mistrals, and siroccos of the land and sea are not unchained maniacs let loose upon the earth, but are under divine supervision! i am so glad that the god of the seven stars is also the god of orion! it was out of dante's suffering came the sublime "divina commedia," and out of john milton's blindness came "paradise lost," and out of miserable infidel attack came the "bridgewater treatise" in favor of christianity, and out of david's exile came the songs of consolation, and out of the sufferings of christ came the possibility of the world's redemption, and out of your bereavement, your persecution, your poverties, your misfortunes, may yet come an eternal heaven. oh, what a mercy it is that in the text and all up and down the bible god induces us to look out toward other worlds! bible astronomy in genesis, in joshua, in job, in the psalms, in the prophets, major and minor, in st. john's apocalypse, practically saying, "worlds! worlds! worlds! get ready for them!" we have a nice little world here that we stick to, as though losing that we lose all. we are afraid of falling off this little raft of a world. we are afraid that some meteoric iconoclast will some night smash it, and we want everything to revolve around it, and are disappointed when we find that it revolves around the sun instead of the sun revolving around it. what a fuss we make about this little bit of a world, its existence only a short time between two spasms, the paroxysm by which it was hurled from chaos into order, and the paroxysm of its demolition. and i am glad that so many texts call us to look off to other worlds, many of them larger and grander and more resplendent. "look there," says job, "at mazaroth and arcturus and his sons!" "look there," says st. john, "at the moon under christ's feet!" "look there," says joshua, "at the sun standing still above gibeon!" "look there," says moses, "at the sparkling firmament!" "look there," says amos, the herdsman, "at the seven stars and orion!" don't let us be so sad about those who shove off from this world under christly pilotage. don't let us be so agitated about our own going off this little barge or sloop or canal-boat of a world to get on some "great eastern" of the heavens. don't let us persist in wanting to stay in this barn, this shed, this outhouse of a world, when all the king's palaces already occupied by many of our best friends are swinging wide open their gates to let us in. when i read, "in my father's house are many mansions," i do not know but that each world is a room, and as many rooms as there are worlds, stellar stairs, stellar galleries, stellar hallways, stellar windows, stellar domes. how our departed friends must pity us shut up in these cramped apartments, tired if we walk fifteen miles, when they some morning, by one stroke of wing, can make circuit of the whole stellar system and be back in time for matins! perhaps yonder twinkling constellation is the residence of the martyrs; that group of twelve luminaries is the celestial home of the apostles. perhaps that steep of light is the dwelling-place of angels cherubic, seraphic, archangelic. a mansion with as many rooms as worlds, and all their windows illuminated for festivity. oh, how this widens and lifts and stimulates our expectation! how little it makes the present, and how stupendous it makes the future! how it consoles us about our pious dead, that instead of being boxed up and under the ground have the range of as many rooms as there are worlds, and welcome everywhere, for it is the father's house, in which there are many mansions! oh, lord god of the seven stars and orion, how can i endure the transport, the ecstasy, of such a vision! i must obey my text and seek him. i will seek him. i seek him now, for i call to mind that it is not the material universe that is most valuable, but the spiritual, and that each of us has a soul worth more than all the worlds which the inspired herdsman saw from his booth on the hills of tekoa. i had studied it before, but the cathedral of cologne, germany, never impressed me as it did this summer. it is admittedly the grandest gothic structure in the world, its foundation laid in , only two or three years ago completed. more than six hundred years in building. all europe taxed for its construction. its chapel of the magi with precious stones enough to purchase a kingdom. its chapel of st. agnes with masterpieces of painting. its spire springing five hundred and eleven feet into the heavens. its stained glass the chorus of all rich colors. statues encircling the pillars and encircling all. statues above statues, until sculpture can do no more, but faints and falls back against carved stalls and down on pavements over which the kings and queens of the earth have walked to confession. nave and aisles and transept and portals combining the splendors of sunrise. interlaced, interfoliated, intercolumned grandeur. as i stood outside, looking at the double range of flying buttresses and the forest of pinnacles, higher and higher and higher, until i almost reeled from dizziness, i exclaimed; "great doxology in stone! frozen prayer of many nations!" but while standing there i saw a poor man enter and put down his pack and kneel beside his burden on the hard floor of that cathedral. and tears of deep emotion came into my eyes, as i said to myself: "there is a soul worth more than all the material surroundings. that man will live after the last pinnacle has fallen, and not one stone of all that cathedral glory shall remain uncrumbled. he is now a lazarus in rags and poverty and weariness, but immortal, and a son of the lord god almighty; and the prayer he now offers, though amid many superstitions, i believe god will hear; and among the apostles whose sculptured forms stand in the surrounding niches he will at last be lifted, and into the presence of that christ whose sufferings are represented by the crucifix before which he bows; and be raised in due time out of all his poverties into the glorious home built for him and built for us by 'him who maketh the seven stars and orion.'" the queen's visit. "behold, the half was not told me."--i kings x: . solomon had resolved that jerusalem should be the center of all sacred, regal, and commercial magnificence. he set himself to work, and monopolized the surrounding desert as a highway for his caravans. he built the city of palmyra around one of the principal wells of the east, so that all the long trains of merchandise from the east were obliged to stop there, pay toll, and leave part of their wealth in the hands of solomon's merchants. he manned the fortress thapsacus at the chief ford of the euphrates, and put under guard everything that passed there. the three great products of palestine--wine pressed from the richest clusters and celebrated all the world over; oil which in that hot country is the entire substitute for butter and lard, and was pressed from the olive branches until every tree in the country became an oil well; and honey which was the entire substitute for sugar--these three great products of the country solomon exported, and received in return fruits and precious woods and the animals of every clime. he went down to ezion-geber and ordered a fleet of ships to be constructed, oversaw the workmen, and watched the launching of the flotilla which was to go out on more than a year's voyage, to bring home the wealth of the then known world. he heard that the egyptian horses were large and swift, and long-maned and round-limbed, and he resolved to purchase them, giving eighty-five dollars apiece for them, putting the best of these horses in his own stall, and selling the surplus to foreign potentates at great profit. he heard that there was the best of timber on mount lebanon, and he sent out one hundred and eighty thousand men to hew down the forest and drag the timber through the mountain gorges, to construct it into rafts to be floated to joppa, and from thence to be drawn by ox-teams twenty-five miles across the land to jerusalem. he heard that there were beautiful flowers in other lands. he sent for them, planted them in his own gardens, and to this very day there are flowers found in the ruins of that city such as are to be found in no other part of palestine, the lineal descendants of the very flowers that solomon planted. he heard that in foreign groves there were birds of richest voice and most luxuriant wing. he sent out people to catch them and bring them there, and he put them into his cages. stand back now and see this long train of camels coming up to the king's gate, and the ox-trains from egypt, gold and silver and precious stones, and beasts of every hoof, and birds of every wing, and fish of every scale! see the peacocks strut under the cedars, and the horsemen run, and the chariots wheel! hark to the orchestra! gaze upon the dance! not stopping to look into the wonders of the temple, step right on to the causeway, and pass up to solomon's palace! here we find ourselves amid a collection of buildings on which the king had lavished the wealth of many empires. the genius of hiram, the architect, and of the other artists is here seen in the long line of corridors and the suspended gallery and the approach to the throne. traceried window opposite traceried window. bronzed ornaments bursting into lotus and lily and pomegranate. chapiters surrounded by network of leaves in which imitation fruit seemed suspended as in hanging baskets. three branches--so josephus tells us--three branches sculptured on the marble, so thin and subtle that even the leaves seemed to quiver. a laver capable of holding five hundred barrels of water on six hundred brazen ox-heads, which gushed with water and filled the whole place with coolness and crystalline brightness and musical plash. ten tables chased with chariot wheel and lion and cherubim. solomon sat on a throne of ivory. at the seating place of the throne, on each end of the steps, a brazen lion. why, my friends, in that place they trimmed their candles with snuffers of gold, and they cut their fruits with knives of gold, and they washed their faces in basins of gold, and they scooped out the ashes with shovels of gold, and they stirred the altar fires with tongs of gold. gold reflected in the water! gold flashing from the apparel! gold blazing in the crown! gold, gold, gold! of course the news of the affluence of that place went out everywhere by every caravan and by wing of every ship, until soon the streets of jerusalem are crowded with curiosity seekers. what is that long procession approaching jerusalem? i think from the pomp of it there must be royalty in the train. i smell the breath of the spices which are brought as presents, and i hear the shout of the drivers, and i see the dust-covered caravan showing that they come from far away. cry the news up to the palace. the queen of sheba advances. let all the people come out to see. let the mighty men of the land come out on the palace corridors. let solomon come down the stairs of the palace before the queen has alighted. shake out the cinnamon, and the saffron, and the calamus, and the frankincense, and pass it into the treasure house. take up the diamonds until they glitter in the sun. the queen of sheba alights. she enters the palace. she washes at the bath. she sits down at the banquet. the cup-bearers bow. the meat smokes. the music trembles in the dash of the waters from the molten sea. then she rises from the banquet, and walks through the conservatories, and gazes on the architecture, and she asks solomon many strange questions, and she learns about the religion of the hebrews, and she then and there becomes a servant of the lord god. she is overwhelmed. she begins to think that all the spices she brought, and all the precious woods which are intended to be turned into harps and psalteries and into railings for the causeway between the temple and the palace, and the one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in money--she begins to think that all these presents amount to nothing in such a place, and she is almost ashamed that she has brought them, and she says within herself: "i heard a great deal about this place, and about this wonderful religion of the hebrews, but i find it far beyond my highest anticipations. i must add more than fifty per cent. to what has been related. it exceeds everything that i could have expected. the half--the half was not told me." learn from this subject what a beautiful thing it is when social position and wealth surrender themselves to god. when religion comes to a neighborhood, the first to receive it are the women. some men say it is because they are weak-minded. i say it is because they have quicker perception of what is right, more ardent affection and capacity for sublimer emotion. after the women have received the gospel then all the distressed and the poor of both sexes, those who have no friends, accept jesus. last of all come the people of affluence and high social position. alas, that it is so! if there are those here to-day who have been favored of fortune, or, as i might better put it, favored of god, surrender all you have and all you expect to be to the lord who blessed this queen of sheba. certainly you are not ashamed to be found in this queen's company. i am glad that christ has had his imperial friends in all ages--elizabeth christina, queen of prussia; maria feodorovna, queen of russia; marie, empress of france; helena, the imperial mother of constantine; arcadia, from her great fortunes building public baths in constantinople and toiling for the alleviation of the masses; queen clotilda, leading her husband and three thousand of his armed warriors to christian baptism; elizabeth of burgundy, giving her jeweled glove to a beggar, and scattering great fortunes among the distressed; prince albert, singing "rock of ages" in windsor castle, and queen victoria, incognita, reading the scriptures to a dying pauper. i bless god that the day is coming when royalty will bring all its thrones, and music all its harmonies, and painting all its pictures, and sculpture all its statuary, and architecture all its pillars, and conquest all its scepters; and the queens of the earth, in long line of advance, frankincense filling the air and the camels laden with gold, shall approach jerusalem, and the gates shall be hoisted, and the great burden of splendor shall be lifted into the palace of this greater than solomon. again, my subject teaches me what is earnestness in the search of truth. do you know where sheba was? it was in abyssinia, or some say in the southern part of arabia felix. in either case it was a great way off from jerusalem. to get from there to jerusalem she had to cross a country infested with bandits, and go across blistering deserts. why did not the queen of sheba stay at home and send a committee to inquire about this new religion, and have the delegates report in regard to that religion and wealth of king solomon? she wanted to see for herself, and hear for herself. she could not do this by work of committee. she felt she had a soul worth ten thousand kingdoms like sheba, and she wanted a robe richer than any woven by oriental shuttles, and she wanted a crown set with the jewels of eternity. bring out the camels. put on the spices. gather up the jewels of the throne and put them on the caravan. start now; no time to be lost. goad on the camels. when i see that caravan, dust-covered, weary, and exhausted, trudging on across the desert and among the bandits until it reaches jerusalem, i say: "there is an earnest seeker after the truth." but there are a great many of you, my friends, who do not act in that way. you all want to get the truth, but you want the truth to come to-you; you do not want to go to it. there are people who fold their arms and say: "i am ready to become a christian at any time; if i am to be saved i shall be saved, and if i am to be lost i shall be lost." a man who says that and keeps on saying it, will be lost. jerusalem will never come to you; you must go to jerusalem. the religion of the lord jesus christ will not come to you; you must go and get religion. bring out the camels; put on all the sweet spices, all the treasures of the heart's affection. start for the throne. go in and hear the waters of salvation dashing in fountains all around about the throne. sit down at the banquet--the wine pressed from the grapes of the heavenly eschol, the angels of god the cup-bearers. goad on the camels; jerusalem will never come to you; you must go to jerusalem. the bible declares it: "the queen of the south"--that is, this very woman i am speaking of--"the queen of the south shall rise up in judgment against this generation and condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of solomon: and, behold! a greater than solomon is here." god help me to break up the infatuation of those people who are sitting down in idleness expecting to be saved. "strive to enter in at the strait gate. ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." take the kingdom of heaven by violence. urge on the camels! again, my subject impresses me with the fact that religion is a surprise to any one that gets it. this story of the new religion in jerusalem, and of the glory of king solomon, who was a type of christ--that story rolls on and on, and is told by every traveler coming back from jerusalem. the news goes on the wing of every ship and with every caravan, and you know a story enlarges as it is retold, and by the time that story gets down into the southern part of arabia felix, and the queen of sheba hears it, it must be a tremendous story. and yet this queen declares in regard to it, although she had heard so much and had her anticipations raised so high, the half--the half was not told her. so religion is always a surprise to any one that gets it. the story of grace--an old story. apostles preached it with rattle of chain; martyrs declared it with arm of fire; death-beds have affirmed it with visions of glory, and ministers of religion have sounded it through the lanes, and the highways, and the chapels, and the cathedrals. it has been cut into stone with chisel, and spread on the canvas with pencil; and it has been recited in the doxology of great congregations. and yet when a man first comes to look on the palace of god's mercy, and to see the royalty of christ, and the wealth of this banquet, and the luxuriance of his attendants, and the loveliness of his face, and the joy of his service, he exclaims with prayers, with tears, with sighs, with triumphs: "the half--the half was not told me!" i appeal to those in this house who are christians. compare the idea you had of the joy of the christian life before you became a christian with the appreciation of that joy you have now since you have become a christian, and you are willing to attest before angels and men that you never in the days of your spiritual bondage had any appreciation of what was to come. you are ready to-day to answer, and if i gave you an opportunity in the midst of this assemblage, you would speak out and say in regard to the discoveries you have made of the mercy and the grace and the goodness of god: "the half--the half was not told me!" well, we hear a great deal about the good time that is coming to this world, when it is to be girded with salvation. holiness on the bells of the horses. the lion's mane patted by the hand of a babe. ships of tarshish bringing cargoes for jesus, and the hard, dry, barren, winter-bleached, storm-scarred, thunder-split rock breaking into floods of bright water. deserts into which dromedaries thrust their nostrils, because they were afraid of the simoom--deserts blooming into carnation roses and silver-tipped lilies. it is the old story. everybody tells it. isaiah told it, john told it, paul told it, ezekiel told it, luther told it, calvin told it, john milton told it--everybody tells it; and yet--and yet when the midnight shall fly the hills, and christ shall marshal his great army, and china, dashing her idols into the dust, shall hear the voice of god and wheel into line; and india, destroying her juggernaut and snatching up her little children from the ganges, shall hear the voice of god and wheel into line; and vine-covered italy, and wheat-crowned russia, and all the nations of the earth shall hear the voice of god and fall into line; then the church, which has been toiling and struggling through the centuries, robed and garlanded like a bride adorned for her husband, shall put aside her veil and look up into the face of her lord the king, and say: "the half--the half was not told me." well, there is coming a greater surprise to every christian--a greater surprise than anything i have depicted. heaven is an old story. everybody talks about it. there is hardly a hymn in the hymn-book that does not refer to it. children read about it in their sabbath-school book. aged men put on their spectacles to study it. we say it is a harbor from the storm. we call it our home. we say it is the house of many mansions. we weave together all sweet, beautiful, delicate, exhilarant words; we weave them into letters, and then we spell it out in rose and lily and amaranth. and yet that place is going to be a surprise to the most intelligent christian. like the queen of sheba, the report has come to us from the far country, and many of us have started. it is a desert march, but we urge on the camels. what though our feet be blistered with the way? we are hastening to the palace. we take all our loves and hopes and christian ambitions, as frankincense and myrrh and cassia, to the great king. we must not rest. we must not halt. the night is coming on, and it is not safe out here in the desert. urge on the camels. i see the domes against the sky, and the houses of lebanon, and the temples and the gardens. see the fountains dance in the sun, and the gates flash as they open to let in the poor pilgrims. send the word up to the palace that we are coming, and that we are weary of the march of the desert. the king will come out and say: "welcome to the palace; bathe in these waters, recline on these banks. take this cinnamon and frankincense and myrrh and put it upon a censer and swing it before the altar." and yet, my friends, when heaven bursts upon us it will be a greater surprise than that--jesus on the throne, and we made like him! all our christian friends surrounding us in glory! all our sorrows and tears and sins gone by forever! the thousands of thousands, the one hundred and forty-and-four thousand, the great multitudes that no man can number, will cry, world without end: "the half--the half was not told us!" vicarious suffering. "without shedding of blood is no remission."--heb. ix: . john g. whittier, the last of the great school of american poets that made the last quarter of a century brilliant, asked me in the white mountains, one morning after prayers, in which i had given out cowper's famous hymn about "the fountain filled with blood," "do you really believe there is a literal application of the blood of christ to the soul?" my negative reply then is my negative reply now. the bible statement agrees with all physicians, and all physiologists, and all scientists, in saying that the blood is the life, and in the christian religion it means simply that christ's life was given for our life. hence all this talk of men who say the bible story of blood is disgusting, and that they don't want what they call a "slaughter-house religion," only shows their incapacity or unwillingness to look through the figure of speech toward the thing signified. the blood that, on the darkest friday the world ever saw, oozed, or trickled, or poured from the brow, and the side, and the hands, and the feet of the illustrious sufferer, back of jerusalem, in a few hours coagulated and dried up, and forever disappeared; and if man had depended on the application of the literal blood of christ, there would not have been a soul saved for the last eighteen centuries. in order to understand this red word of my text, we only have to exercise as much common sense in religion as we do in everything else. pang for pang, hunger for hunger, fatigue for fatigue, tear for tear, blood for blood, life for life, we see every day illustrated. the act of substitution is no novelty, although i hear men talk as though the idea of christ's suffering substituted for our suffering were something abnormal, something distressingly odd, something wildly eccentric, a solitary episode in the world's history; when i could take you out into this city, and before sundown point you to five hundred cases of substitution and voluntary suffering of one in behalf of another. at two o'clock to-morrow afternoon go among the places of business or toil. it will be no difficult thing for you to find men who, by their looks, show you that they are overworked. they are prematurely old. they are hastening rapidly toward their decease. they have gone through crises in business that shattered their nervous system, and pulled on the brain. they have a shortness of breath, and a pain in the back of the head, and at night an insomnia that alarms them. why are they drudging at business early and late? for fun? no; it would be difficult to extract any amusement out of that exhaustion. because they are avaricious? in many cases no. because their own personal expenses are lavish? no; a few hundred dollars would meet all their wants. the simple fact is, the man is enduring all that fatigue and exasperation, and wear and tear, to keep his home prosperous. there is an invisible line reaching from that store, from that bank, from that shop, from that scaffolding, to a quiet scene a few blocks, a few miles away, and there is the secret of that business endurance. he is simply the champion of a homestead, for which he wins bread, and wardrobe, and education, and prosperity, and in such battle ten thousand men fall. of ten business men whom i bury, nine die of overwork for others. some sudden disease finds them with no power of resistance, and they are gone. life for life. blood for blood. substitution! at one o'clock to-morrow morning, the hour when slumber is most uninterrupted and most profound, walk amid the dwelling-houses of the city. here and there you will find a dim light, because it is the household custom to keep a subdued light burning: but most of the houses from base to top are as dark as though uninhabited. a merciful god has sent forth the archangel of sleep, and he puts his wings over the city. but yonder is a clear light burning, and outside on the window casement a glass or pitcher containing food for a sick child; the food is set in the fresh air. this is the sixth night that mother has sat up with that sufferer. she has to the last point obeyed the physician's prescription, not giving a drop too much or too little, or a moment too soon or too late. she is very anxious, for she has buried three children with the same disease, and she prays and weeps, each prayer and sob ending with a kiss of the pale cheek. by dint of kindness she gets the little one through the ordeal. after it is all over, the mother is taken down. brain or nervous fever sets in, and one day she leaves the convalescent child with a mother's blessing, and goes up to join the three in the kingdom of heaven. life for life. substitution! the fact is that there are an uncounted number of mothers who, after they have navigated a large family of children through all the diseases of infancy, and got them fairly started up the flowering slope of boyhood and girlhood, have only strength enough left to die. they fade away. some call it consumption; some call it nervous prostration; some call it intermittent or malarial disposition; but i call it martyrdom of the domestic circle. life for life. blood for blood. substitution! or perhaps the mother lingers long enough to see a son get on the wrong road, and his former kindness becomes rough reply when she expresses anxiety about him. but she goes right on, looking carefully after his apparel, remembering his every birthday with some memento, and when he is brought home worn out with dissipation, nurses him till he gets well and starts him again, and hopes, and expects, and prays, and counsels, and suffers, until her strength gives out and she fails. she is going, and attendants, bending over her pillow, ask her if she has any message to leave, and she makes great effort to say something, but out of three or four minutes of indistinct utterance they can catch but three words: "my poor boy!" the simple fact is she died for him. life for life. substitution! about twenty-four years ago there went forth from our homes hundreds of thousands of men to do battle for their country. all the poetry of war soon vanished, and left them nothing but the terrible prose. they waded knee-deep in mud. they slept in snow-banks. they marched till their cut feet tracked the earth. they were swindled out of their honest rations, and lived on meat not fit for a dog. they had jaws all fractured, and eyes extinguished, and limbs shot away. thousands of them cried for water as they lay dying on the field the night after the battle, and got it not. they were homesick, and received no message from their loved ones. they died in barns, in bushes, in ditches, the buzzards of the summer heat the only attendants on their obsequies. no one but the infinite god who knows everything, knows the ten thousandth part of the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of anguish of the northern and southern battlefields. why did these fathers leave their children and go to the front, and why did these young men, postponing the marriage-day, start out into the probabilities of never coming back? for the country they died. life for life. blood for blood. substitution! but we need not go so far. what is that monument in greenwood? it is to the doctors who fell in the southern epidemics. why go? were there not enough sick to be attended in these northern latitudes? oh, yes; but the doctor puts a few medical books in his valise, and some vials of medicine, and leaves his patients here in the hands of other physicians, and takes the rail-train. before he gets to the infected regions he passes crowded rail-trains, regular and extra, taking the flying and affrighted populations. he arrives in a city over which a great horror is brooding. he goes from couch to couch, feeling of pulse and studying symptoms, and prescribing day after day, night after night, until a fellow-physician says: "doctor, you had better go home and rest; you look miserable." but he can not rest while so many are suffering. on and on, until some morning finds him in a delirium, in which he talks of home, and then rises and says he must go and look after those patients. he is told to lie down; but he fights his attendants until he falls back, and is weaker and weaker, and dies for people with whom he had no kinship, and far away from his own family, and is hastily put away in a stranger's tomb, and only the fifth part of a newspaper line tells us of his sacrifice--his name just mentioned among five. yet he has touched the furthest height of sublimity in that three weeks of humanitarian service. he goes straight as an arrow to the bosom of him who said: "i was sick and ye visited me." life for life. blood for blood. substitution! in the legal profession i see the same principle of self-sacrifice. in , william freeman, a pauperized and idiotic negro, was at auburn, n.y., on trial for murder. he had slain the entire van nest family. the foaming wrath of the community could be kept off him only by armed constables. who would volunteer to be his counsel? no attorney wanted to sacrifice his popularity by such an ungrateful task. all were silent save one, a young lawyer with feeble voice, that could hardly be heard outside the bar, pale and thin and awkward. it was william h. seward, who saw that the prisoner was idiotic and irresponsible, and ought to be put in an asylum rather than put to death, the heroic counsel uttering these beautiful words: "i speak now in the hearing of a people who have prejudged prisoner and condemned me for pleading in his behalf. he is a convict, a pauper, a negro, without intellect, sense, or emotion. my child with an affectionate smile disarms my care-worn face of its frown whenever i cross my threshold. the beggar in the street obliges me to give because he says, 'god bless you!' as i pass. my dog caresses me with fondness if i will but smile on him. my horse recognizes me when i fill his manger. what reward, what gratitude, what sympathy and affection can i expect here? there the prisoner sits. look at him. look at the assemblage around you. listen to their ill-suppressed censures and their excited fears, and tell me where among my neighbors or my fellow-men, where, even in his heart, i can expect to find a sentiment, a thought, not to say of reward or of acknowledgment, or even of recognition? gentlemen, you may think of this evidence what you please, bring in what verdict you can, but i asseverate before heaven and you, that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the prisoner at the bar does not at this moment know why it is that my shadow falls on you instead of his own." the gallows got its victim, but the post-mortem examination of the poor creature showed to all the surgeons and to all the world that the public were wrong, and william h. seward was right, and that hard, stony step of obloquy in the auburn court-room was the first step of the stairs of fame up which he went to the top, or to within one step of the top, that last denied him through the treachery of american politics. nothing sublimer was ever seen in an american court-room than william h. seward, without reward, standing between the fury of the populace and the loathsome imbecile. substitution! in the realm of the fine arts there was as remarkable an instance. a brilliant but hypercriticised painter, joseph william turner, was met by a volley of abuse from all the art galleries of europe. his paintings, which have since won the applause of all civilized nations, "the fifth plague of egypt," "fishermen on a lee shore in squally weather," "calais pier," "the sun rising through mist," and "dido building carthage," were then targets for critics to shoot at. in defense of this outrageously abused man, a young author of twenty-four years, just one year out of college, came forth with his pen, and wrote the ablest and most famous essays on art that the world ever saw, or ever will see--john ruskin's "modern painters." for seventeen years this author fought the battles of the maltreated artist, and after, in poverty and broken-heartedness, the painter had died, and the public tried to undo their cruelties toward him by giving him a big funeral and burial at st. paul's cathedral, his old-time friend took out of a tin box nineteen thousand pieces of paper containing drawings by the old painter, and through many weary and uncompensated months assorted and arranged them for public observation. people say john ruskin in his old days is cross, misanthropic, and morbid. whatever he may do that he ought not to do, and whatever he may say that he ought not to say between now and his death, he will leave this world insolvent as far as it has any capacity to pay this author's pen for its chivalric and christian defense of a poor painter's pencil. john ruskin for william turner. blood for blood. substitution! what an exalting principle this which leads one to suffer for another! nothing so kindles enthusiasm or awakens eloquence, or chimes poetic canto, or moves nations. the principle is the dominant one in our religion--christ the martyr, christ the celestial hero, christ the defender, christ the substitute. no new principle, for it was as old as human nature; but now on a grander, wider, higher, deeper, and more world-resounding scale! the shepherd boy as a champion for israel with a sling toppled the giant of philistine braggadocio in the dust; but here is another david who, for all the armies of churches militant and triumphant, hurls the goliath of perdition into defeat, the crash of his brazen armor like an explosion at hell gate. abraham had at god's command agreed to sacrifice his son isaac, and the same god just in time had provided a ram of the thicket as a substitute; but here is another isaac bound to the altar, and no hand arrests the sharp edges of laceration and death, and the universe shivers and quakes and recoils and groans at the horror. all good men have for centuries been trying to tell whom this substitute was like, and every comparison, inspired and uninspired, evangelistic, prophetic, apostolic, and human, falls short, for christ was the great unlike. adam a type of christ, because he came directly from god; noah a type of christ, because he delivered his own family from deluge; melchisedec a type of christ, because he had no predecessor or successor; joseph a type of christ, because he was cast out by his brethren; moses a type of christ, because he was a deliverer from bondage; joshua a type of christ, because he was a conqueror; samson a type of christ, because of his strength to slay the lions and carry off the iron gates of impossibility; solomon a type of christ, in the affluence of his dominion; jonah a type of christ, because of the stormy sea in which he threw himself for the rescue of others; but put together adam and noah and melchisedec and joseph and moses and joshua and samson and solomon and jonah, and they would not make a fragment of a christ, a quarter of a christ, the half of a christ, or the millionth part of a christ. he forsook a throne and sat down on his own footstool. he came from the top of glory to the bottom of humiliation, and changed a circumference seraphic for a circumference diabolic. once waited on by angels, now hissed at by brigands. from afar and high up he came down; past meteors swifter than they; by starry thrones, himself more lustrous; past larger worlds to smaller worlds; down stairs of firmaments, and from cloud to cloud, and through tree-tops and into the earners stall, to thrust his shoulder under our burdens and take the lances of pain through his vitals, and wrapped himself in all the agonies which we deserve for our misdoings, and stood on the splitting decks of a foundering vessel, amid the drenching surf of the sea, and passed midnights on the mountains amid wild beasts of prey, and stood at the point where all earthly and infernal hostilities charged on him at once with their keen sabers--our substitute! when did attorney ever endure so much for a pauper client, or physician for the patient in the lazaretto, or mother for the child in membranous croup, as christ for us, and christ for you, and christ for me? shall any man or woman or child in this audience who has ever suffered for another find it hard to understand this christly suffering for us? shall those whose sympathies have been wrung in behalf of the unfortunate have no appreciation of that one moment which was lifted out of all the ages of eternity as most conspicuous, when christ gathered up all the sins of those to be redeemed under his one arm, and all their sorrows under his other arm, and said: "i will atone for these under my right arm, and will heal all those under my left arm. strike me with all thy glittering shafts, o eternal justice! roll over me with all thy surges, ye oceans of sorrow"? and the thunderbolts struck him from above, and the seas of trouble rolled up from beneath, hurricane after hurricane, and cyclone after cyclone, and then and there in presence of heaven and earth and hell, yea, all worlds witnessing, the price, the bitter price, the transcendent price, the awful price, the glorious price, the infinite price, the eternal price, was paid that sets us free. that is what paul means, that is what i mean, that is what all those who have ever had their heart changed mean by "blood." i glory in this religion of blood! i am thrilled as i see the suggestive color in sacramental cup, whether it be of burnished silver set on cloth immaculately white, or rough-hewn from wood set on table in log-hut meeting-house of the wilderness. now i am thrilled as i see the altars of ancient sacrifice crimson with the blood of the slain lamb, and leviticus is to me not so much the old testament as the new. now i see why the destroying angel passing over egypt in the night spared all those houses that had blood sprinkled on their door-posts. now i know what isaiah means when he speaks of "one in red apparel coming with dyed garments from bozrah;" and whom the apocalypse means when it describes a heavenly chieftain whose "vesture was dipped in blood;" and what peter, the apostle, means when he speaks of the "precious blood that cleanseth from all sin;" and what the old, worn-out, decrepit missionary paul means when, in my text, he cries, "without shedding of blood is no remission." by that blood you and i will be saved--or never saved at all. in all the ages of the world god has not once pardoned a single sin except through the saviour's expiation, and he never will. glory be to god that the hill back of jerusalem was the battle-field on which christ achieved our liberty! the most exciting and overpowering day of last summer was the day i spent on the battle-field of waterloo. starting out with the morning train from brussels, belgium, we arrived in about an hour on that famous spot. a son of one who was in the battle, and who had heard from his father a thousand times the whole scene recited, accompanied us over the field. there stood the old hougomont château, the walls dented, and scratched, and broken, and shattered by grape-shot and cannon-ball. there is the well in which three hundred dying and dead were pitched. there is the chapel with the head of the infant christ shot off. there are the gates at which, for many hours, english and french armies wrestled. yonder were the one hundred and sixty guns of the english, and the two hundred and fifty guns of the french. yonder the hanoverian hussars fled for the woods. yonder was the ravine of ohain, where the french cavalry, not knowing there was a hollow in the ground, rolled over and down, troop after troop, tumbling into one awful mass of suffering, hoof of kicking horses against brow and breast of captains and colonels and private soldiers, the human and the beastly groan kept up until, the day after, all was shoveled under because of the malodor arising in that hot month of june. "there," said our guide, "the highland regiments lay down on their faces waiting for the moment to spring upon the foe. in that orchard twenty-five hundred men were cut to pieces. here stood wellington with white lips, and up that knoll rode marshal ney on his sixth horse, five having been shot under him. here the ranks of the french broke, and marshal ney, with his boot slashed of a sword, and his hat off, and his face covered with powder and blood, tried to rally his troops as he cried: 'come and see how a marshal of french dies on the battle-field.' from yonder direction grouchy was expected for the french re-enforcement, but he came not. around those woods blucher was looked for to re-enforce the english, and just in time he came up. yonder is the field where napoleon stood, his arm through the reins of the horse's bridle, dazed and insane, trying to go back." scene of a battle that went on from twenty-five minutes to twelve o'clock, on the eighteenth of june, until four o'clock, when the english seemed defeated, and their commander cried out; "boys, can you think of giving way? remember old england!" and the tides turned, and at eight o'clock in the evening the man of destiny, who was called by his troops old two hundred thousand, turned away with broken heart, and the fate of centuries was decided. no wonder a great mound has been reared there, hundreds of feet high--a mound at the expense of millions of dollars and many years in rising, and on the top is the great belgian lion of bronze, and a grand old lion it is. but our great waterloo was in palestine. there came a day when all hell rode up, led by apollyon, and the captain of our salvation confronted them alone. the rider on the white horse of the apocalypse going out against the black horse cavalry of death, and the battalions of the demoniac, and the myrmidons of darkness. from twelve o'clock at noon to three o'clock in the afternoon the greatest battle of the universe went on. eternal destinies were being decided. all the arrows of hell pierced our chieftain, and the battle-axes struck him, until brow and cheek and shoulder and hand and foot were incarnadined with oozing life; but he fought on until he gave a final stroke with sword from jehovah's buckler, and the commander-in-chief of hell and all his forces fell back in everlasting ruin, and the victory is ours. and on the mound that celebrates the triumph we plant this day two figures, not in bronze or iron or sculptured marble, but two figures of living light, the lion of judah's tribe and the lamb that was slain. posthumous opportunity. "if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be."--eccles. xi: . there is a hovering hope in the minds of a vast multitude that there will be an opportunity in the next world to correct the mistakes of this; that, if we do make complete shipwreck of our earthly life, it will be on a shore up which we may walk to a palace; that, as a defendant may lose his case in the circuit court, and carry it up to the supreme court or court of chancery and get a reversal of judgment in his behalf, all the costs being thrown over on the other party, so, if we fail in the earthly trial, we may in the higher jurisdiction of eternity have the judgment of the lower court set aside, all the costs remitted, and we may be victorious defendants forever. my object in this sermon is to show that common sense, as well as my text, declares that such an expectation is chimerical. you say that the impenitent man, having got into the next world and seeing the disaster, will, as a result of that disaster, turn, the pain the cause of his reformation. but you can find ten thousand instances in this world of men who have done wrong and distress overtook them suddenly. did the distress heal them? no; they went right on. that man was flung of dissipations. "you must stop drinking," said the doctor, "and quit the fast life you are leading, or it will destroy you.". the patient suffers paroxysm after paroxysm; but, under skillful medical treatment, he begins to sit up, begins to walk about the room, begins to go to business. and, lo! he goes back to the same grog-shops for his morning dram, and his even dram, and the drams between. flat down again! same doctor. same physical anguish. same medical warning. now, the illness is more protracted; the liver is more stubborn, the stomach more irritable, and the digestive organs are more rebellious. but after awhile he is out again, goes back to the same dram-shops, and goes the same round of sacrilege against his physical health. he sees that his downward course is ruining his household, that his life is a perpetual perjury against his marriage vow, that that broken-hearted woman is so unlike the roseate young wife that he married, that her old schoolmates do not recognize her; that his sons are to be taunted for a life-time by the father's drunkenness, that the daughters are to pass into life under the scarification of a disreputable ancestor. he is drinking up their happiness, their prospects for this life, and, perhaps, for the life to come. sometimes an appreciation of what he is doing comes upon him. his nervous system is all a tangle. from crown of head to sole of foot he is one aching, rasping, crucifying, damning torture. where is he? in hell on earth. does it reform him? after awhile he has delirium tremens, with a whole jungle of hissing reptiles let out on his pillow, and his screams horrify the neighbors as he dashes out of his bed, crying: "take these things off me!" as he sits, pale and convalescent, the doctor says: "now i want to have a plain talk with you, my dear fellow. the next attack of this kind you will have you will be beyond all medical skill, and you will die." he gets better and goes forth into the same round again. this time medicine takes no effect. consultation of physicians agree in saying there is no hope. death ends the scene. that process of inebriation, warning, and dissolution is going on within stone's throw of this church, going on in all the neighborhoods of christendom. pain does not correct. suffering does not reform. what is true in one sense is true in all senses, and will forever be so, and yet men are expecting in the next world purgatorial rejuvenation. take up the printed reports of the prisons of the united states, and you will find that the vast majority of the incarcerated have been there before, some of them four, five, six times. with a million illustrations all working the other way in this world, people are expecting that distress in the next state will be salvatory. you can not imagine any worse torture in any other world than that which some men have suffered here, and without any salutary consequence. furthermore, the prospect of a reformation in the next world is more improbable than a reformation here. in this world the life started with innocence of infancy. in the case supposed the other life will open with all the accumulated bad habits of many years upon him. surely, it is easier to build a strong ship out of new timber than out of an old hulk that has been ground up in the breakers. if with innocence to start with in this life a man does not become godly, what prospect is there that in the next world, starting with sin, there would be a seraph evoluted? surely the sculptor has more prospect of making a fine statue out of a block of pure white parian marble than out of an old black rock seamed and cracked with the storms of a half century. surely upon a clean, white sheet of paper it is easier to write a deed or a will than upon a sheet of paper all scribbled and blotted and torn from top to bottom. yet men seem to think that, though the life that began here comparatively perfect turned out badly, the next life will succeed, though it starts with a dead failure. "but," says some one, "i think we ought to have a chance in the next life, because this life is so short it allows only small opportunity. we hardly have time to turn around between cradle and tomb, the wood of the one almost touching the marble of the other." but do you know what made the ancient deluge a necessity? it was the longevity of the antediluvians. they were worse in the second century of their life-time than in the first hundred years, and still worse in the third century, and still worse all the way on to seven, eight, and nine hundred years, and the earth had to be washed, and scrubbed, and soaked, and anchored, clear out of sight for more than a month before it could be made fit for decent people to live in. longevity never cures impenitency. all the pictures of time represent him with a scythe to cut, but i never saw any picture of time with a case of medicines to heal. seneca says that nero for the first five years of his public life was set up for an example of clemency and kindness, but his path all the way descended until at sixty-eight he became a suicide. if eight hundred years did not make antediluvians any better, but only made them worse, the ages of eternity could have no effect except prolongation of depravity. "but," says some one, "in the future state evil surroundings will be withdrawn and elevated influences substituted, and hence expurgation, and sublimation, and glorification." but the righteous, all their sins forgiven, have passed on into a beatific state, and consequently the unsaved will be left alone. it can not be expected that doctor duff, who exhausted himself in teaching hindoos the way to heaven, and doctor abeel, who gave his life in the evangelization of china, and adoniram judson, who toiled for the redemption of borneo, should be sent down by some celestial missionary society to educate those who wasted all their earthly existence. evangelistic and missionary efforts are ended. the entire kingdom of the morally bankrupt by themselves, where are the salvatory influences to come from? can one speckled and bad apple in a barrel of diseased apples turn the other apples good? can those who are themselves down help others up? can those who have themselves failed in the business of the soul pay the debts of their spiritual insolvents? can a million wrongs make one right? poneropolis was a city where king philip of thracia put all the bad people of his kingdom. if any man had opened a primary school at poneropolis i do not think the parents from other cities would have sent their children there. instead of amendment in the other world, all the associations, now that the good are evolved, will be degenerating and down. you would not want to send a man to a cholera or yellow fever hospital for his health; and the great lazaretto of the next world, containing the diseased and plague-struck, will be a poor place for moral recovery. if the surroundings in this world were crowded of temptation, the surroundings of the next world, after the righteous have passed up and on, will be a thousand per cent. more crowded of temptation. the count of chateaubriand made his little son sleep at night at the top of a castle turret, where the winds howled and where specters were said to haunt the place; and while the mother and sisters almost died with fright, the son tells us that the process gave him nerves that could not tremble and a courage that never faltered. but i don't think that towers of darkness and the spectral world swept by sirocco and euroclydon will ever fit one for the land of eternal sunshine. i wonder what is the curriculum of that college of inferno, where, after proper preparation by the sins of this life, the candidate enters, passing on from freshman class of depravity to sophomore of abandonment, and from sophomore to junior, and from junior to senior, and day of graduation comes, and with diploma signed by satan, the president, and other professorial demoniacs, attesting that the candidate has been long enough under their drill, he passes up to enter heaven! pandemonium a preparative course for heavenly admission! ah, my friends, satan and his cohorts have fitted uncounted multitudes for ruin, but never fitted one soul for happiness. furthermore, it would not be safe for this world if men had another chance in the next. if it had been announced that, however wickedly a man might act in this world, he could fix it up all right in the next, society would be terribly demoralized, and the human race demolished in a few years. the fear that, if we are bad and unforgiven here, it will not be well for us in the next existence, is the chief influence that keeps civilization from rushing back to semi-barbarism, and semi-barbarism from rushing into midnight savagery, and midnight savagery from extinction; for it is the astringent impression of all nations, christian and heathen, that there is no future chance for those who have wasted this. multitudes of men who are kept within bounds would say, "go to, now! let me get all out of this life there is in it. come, gluttony, and inebriation, and uncleanness, and revenge, and all sensualities, and wait upon me! my life may be somewhat shortened in this world by dissoluteness, but that will only make heavenly indulgence on a larger scale the sooner possible. i will overtake the saints at last, and will enter the heavenly temple only a little later than those who behaved themselves here. i will on my way to heaven take a little wider excursion than those who were on earth pious, and i shall go to heaven _via_ gehenna and _via_ sheol." another chance in the next world means free license and wild abandonment in this. suppose you were a party in an important case at law, and you knew from consultation with judges and attorneys that it would be tried twice, and the first trial would be of little importance, but that the second would decide everything; for which trial would you make the most preparation, for which retain the ablest attorneys, for which be most anxious about the attendance of witnesses? you would put all the stress upon the second trial, all the anxiety, all the expenditure, saying, "the first is nothing, the last is everything." give the race assurance of a second and more important trial in the subsequent life, and all the preparation for eternity would be _post-mortem_, post-funeral, post-sepulchral, and the world with one jerk be pitched off into impiety and godlessness. furthermore, let me ask why a chance should be given in the next world if we have refused innumerable chances in this? suppose you give a banquet, and you invite a vast number of friends, but one man declines to come, or treats your invitation with indifference. you in the course of twenty years give twenty banquets, and the same man is invited to them all, and treats them all in the same obnoxious way. after awhile you remove to another house, larger and better, and you again invite your friends, but send no invitation to the man who declined or neglected the other invitations. are you to blame? has he a right to expect to be invited after all the indignities he has done you? god in this world has invited us all to the banquet of his grace. he invited us by his providence and his spirit three hundred and sixty-five days of every year since we knew our right hand from our left. if we declined it every time, or treated the invitation with indifference, and gave twenty or forty or fifty years of indignity on our part toward the banqueter, and at last he spreads the banquet in a more luxurious and kingly place, amid the heavenly gardens, have we a right to expect him to invite us again, and have we a right to blame him if he does not invite us? if twelve gates of salvation stood open twenty years or fifty years for our admission, and at the end of that time they are closed, can we complain of it and say, "these gates ought to be open again. give us another chance"? if the steamer is to sail for hamburg, and we want to get to germany by that line, and we read in every evening and every morning newspaper that it will sail on a certain day, for two weeks we have that advertisement before our eyes, and then we go down to the docks fifteen minutes after it has shoved off into the stream and say: "come back. give me another chance. it is not fair to treat me in this way. swing up to the dock again, and throw out planks, and let me come on board." such behavior would invite arrest as a madman. and if, after the gospel ship has lain at anchor before our eyes for years and years, and all the benign voices of earth and heaven have urged us to get on board, as she might sail away at any moment, and after awhile she sails without us, is it common sense to expect her to come back? you might as well go out on the highlands at neversink and call to the "aurania" after she has been three days out, and expect her to return, as to call back an opportunity for heaven when it once has sped away. all heaven offered us as a gratuity, and for a life-time we refuse to take it, and then rush on the bosses of jehovah's buckler demanding another chance. there ought to be, there can be, there will be no such thing as posthumous opportunity. thus, our common sense agrees with my text--"if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be." you see that this idea lifts this world up from an unimportant way-station to a platform of stupendous issues, and makes all eternity whirl around this hour. but one trial for which all the preparation must be made in this world, or never made at all. that piles up all the emphases and all the climaxes and all the destinies into life here. no other chance! oh, how that augments the value and the importance of this chance! alexander with his army used to surround a city, and then would lift a great light in token to the people that, if they surrendered before that light went out, all would be well; but if once the light went out, then the battering-rams would swing against the wall, and demolition and disaster would follow. well, all we need do for our present and everlasting safety is to make surrender to christ, the king and conqueror--surrender of our hearts, surrender of our lives, surrender of everything. and he keeps a great light burning, light of gospel invitation, light kindled with the wood of the cross and flaming up against the dark night of our sin and sorrow. surrender while that great light continues to burn, for after it goes out there will be no other opportunity of making peace with god through our lord jesus christ. talk of another chance! why, this is a supernal chance! in the time of edward the sixth, at the battle of musselburgh, a private soldier, seeing that the earl of huntley had lost his helmet, took off his own helmet and put it upon the head of the earl; and the head of the private soldier uncovered, he was soon slain, while his commander rode safely out of the battle. but in our case, instead of a private soldier offering helmet to an earl, it is a king putting his crown upon an unworthy subject, the king dying that we might live. tell it to all points of the compass. tell it to night and day. tell it to all earth and heaven. tell it to all centuries, all ages, all millenniums, that we have such a magnificent chance in this world that we need no other chance in the next. i am in the burnished judgment hall of the last day. a great white throne is lifted, but the judge has not yet taken it. while we are waiting for his arrival i hear immortal spirits in conversation. "what are you waiting here for?" says a soul that went up from madagascar to a soul that ascended from america. the latter says: "i came from america, where forty years i heard the gospel preached, and bible read, and from the prayer that i learned in infancy at my mother's knee until my last hour i had gospel advantage, but, for some reason, i did not make the christian choice, and i am here waiting for the judge to give me a new trial and another chance." "strange!" says the other; "i had but one gospel call in madagascar, and i accepted it, and i do not need another chance." "why are you here?" says one who on earth had feeblest intellect to one who had great brain, and silvery tongue, and scepters of influence. the latter responds: "oh, i knew more than my fellows. i mastered libraries, and had learned titles from colleges, and my name was a synonym for eloquence and power. and yet i neglected my soul, and i am here waiting for a new trial." "strange," says the one of the feeble earthly capacity; "i knew but little of worldly knowledge, but i knew christ, and made him my partner, and i have no need of another chance." now the ground trembles with the approaching chariot. the great folding-doors of the hall swing open. "stand back!" cry the celestial ushers. "stand back, and let the judge of quick and dead pass through!" he takes the throne, and, looking over the throng of nations, he says: "come to judgment, the last judgment, the only judgment!" by one flash from the throne all the history of each one flames forth to the vision of himself and all others. "divide!" says the judge to the assembly. "divide!" echo the walls. "divide!" cry the guards angelic. and now the immortals separate, rushing this way and that, and after awhile there is a great aisle between them, and a great vacuum widening and widening, and the judge, turning to the throng on one side, says: "he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still;" and then, turning toward the throng on the opposite side, he says: "he that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still;" and then, lifting one hand toward each group, he declares: "if the tree fall toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be." and then i hear something jar with a great sound. it is the closing of the book of judgment. the judge ascends the stairs behind the throne. the hall of the last assize is cleared and shut. the high court of eternity is adjourned forever. the lord's razor. "in the same day shall the lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of assyria."--isaiah vii: . the bible is the boldest book ever written. there are no similitudes in ossian or the iliad or the odyssey so daring. its imagery sometimes seems on the verge of the reckless, but only seems so. the fact is that god would startle and arouse and propel men and nations. a tame and limping similitude would fail to accomplish the object. while there are times when he employs in the bible the gentle dew and the morning cloud and the dove and the daybreak in the presentation of truth, we often find the iron chariot, the lightning, the earthquake, the spray, the sword, and, in my text, the razor. this keen-bladed instrument has advanced in usefulness with the ages. in bible times and lands the beard remained uncut save in the seasons of mourning and humiliation, but the razor was always a suggestive symbol. david says of doeg, his antagonist: "thy tongue is a sharp razor working deceitfully;" that is, it pretends to clear the face, but is really used for deadly incision. in this morning's text the weapon of the toilet appears under the following circumstances: judea needed to have some of its prosperities cut off, and god sends against it three assyrian kings--first sennacherib, then esrahaddon, and afterward nebuchadnezzar. those three sharp invasions, that cut down the glory of judea, are compared to so many sweeps of the razor across the face of the land. and these circumstances were called a hired razor because god took the kings of assyria, with whom he had no sympathy, to do the work, and paid them in palaces and spoils and annexations. these kings were hired to execute the divine behests. and now the text, which on its first reading may have seemed trivial or inapt, is charged with momentous import: "in the same day shall the lord shave with a razor that is hired--namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of assyria." well, if god's judgments are razors, we had better be careful how we use them on other people. in careful sheath these domestic weapons are put away, where no one by accident may touch them, and where the hands of children may not reach them. such instruments must be carefully handled or not handled at all. but how recklessly some people wield the judgments of god! if a man meet with business misfortune, how many there are ready to cry out: "that is a judgment of god upon him because he was unscrupulous, or arrogant, or overreaching, or miserly. i thought he would get cut down! what a clean sweep of everything! his city house and country house gone! his stables emptied of all the fine bays and sorrels and grays that used to prance by his door! all his resources overthrown, and all that he prided himself on tumbled into demolition! good for him!" stop, my brother. don't sling around too freely the judgments of god, for they are razors. some of the most wicked business men succeed, and they live and die in prosperity, and some of the most honest and conscientious are driven into bankruptcy. perhaps his manner was unfortunate, and he was not really as proud as he looked to be. some of those who carry their head erect and look imperial are humble as a child, while many a man in seedy coat and slouch hat and unblacked shoes is as proud as lucifer. you can not tell by a man's look. perhaps he was not unscrupulous in business, for there are two sides to every story, and everybody that accomplishes anything for himself or others gets industriously lied about. perhaps his business misfortune was not a punishment, but the fatherly discipline to prepare him for heaven, and god may love him far more than he loves you, who can pay dollar for dollar, and are put down in the commercial catalogues as a . whom the lord loveth he gives four hundred thousand dollars and lets die on embroidered pillows? no: whom the lord loveth he chasteneth. better keep your hand off the lord's razors, lest they cut and wound people that do not deserve it. if you want to shave off some of the bristling pride of your own heart do so; but be very careful how you put the sharp edge on others. how i do dislike the behavior of those persons who, when people are unfortunate, say: "i told you so--getting punished--served him right." if those i-told-you-so's got their desert they would long ago have been pitched over the battlements. the mote in their neighbor's eyes--so small that it takes a microscope to find it--gives them more trouble than the beam which obscures their own optics. with air sometimes supercilious and sometimes pharisaical, and always blasphemous, they take the razor of the divine judgment and sharpen it on the hone of their own hard hearts, and then go to work on men sprawled out at full length under disaster, cutting mercilessly. they begin by soft expressions of sympathy and pity and half praise, and, lather the victim all over before they put on the sharp edge. let us be careful how we shoot at others lest we take down the wrong one, remembering the servant of king william rufus who shot at a deer, but the arrow glanced against a tree and killed the king. instead of going out with shafts to pierce, and razors to cut, we had better imitate the friend of richard coeur de lion, who, in the war of the crusades, was captured and imprisoned, but none of his friends knew where. so his loyal friend went around the land from stronghold to stronghold, and sung at each window a snatch of song that richard coeur de lion had taught him in other days. and one day, coming before a jail where he suspected his king might be incarcerated, he sung two lines of song, and immediately king richard responded from his cell with the other two lines, and so his whereabouts were discovered, and immediately a successful movement was made for his liberation. so let us go up and down the world with the music of kind words and sympathetic hearts, serenading the unfortunate, and trying to get out of trouble men who had noble natures, but, by unforeseen circumstances, have been incarcerated, thus liberating kings. more hymn-book and less razor. especially ought we to be apologetic and merciful toward those who, while they have great faults, have also great virtues. some people are barren of virtues. no weeds verily, but no flowers. i must not be too much enraged at a nettle along the fence if it be in a field containing forty acres of ripe michigan wheat. at the present time, naturalists tell us, there is on the sun a spot twenty thousand miles long, but from the brightness and warmth i conclude it is a good deal of a sun yet. again, when i read in my text that the lord shaves with the hired razor of assyria the land of judea, i bethink myself of the precision of god's providence. a razor swung the tenth part of an inch out of the right line means either failure or laceration, but god's dealings never slip, and they do not miss by the thousandth part of an inch the right direction. people talk as though things in this world were at loose ends. cholera sweeps across marseilles and madrid and palermo, and we watch anxiously. will the epidemic sweep europe and america? people say, "that will entirely depend on whether inoculation is a successful experiment; that will depend entirely on quarantine regulations; that will depend on the early or late appearance of frost; that epidemic is pitched into the world, and it goes blundering across the continents, and it is all guess-work and an appalling perhaps." my friends, i think, perhaps, that god had something to do with it, and that his mercy may have in some way protected us--that he may have done as much for us as the quarantine and the health officers. it was right and a necessity that all caution should be used, but there has come enough macaroni from italy, and enough grapes from the south of france, and enough rags from tatterdemalions, and hidden in these articles of transportation enough choleraic germs to have left by this time all brooklyn mourning at greenwood, and all philadelphia at laurel hill, and all boston at mount auburn. i thank all the doctors and quarantines; but, more than all, and first of all, and last of all, and all the time, i thank god. in all the six thousand years of the world's existence there has not one thing merely "happened so." god is not an anarchist, but a king, a father. when little tod, the son of president lincoln, died, all the land sympathized with the sorrow in the white house. he used to rush into the room where the cabinet was in session, and while the most eminent men of the land were discussing the questions of national existence. but the child had no care about those questions. now god the father, and god the son, and god the holy ghost are in perpetual session in regard to this world and kindred worlds. shall you, his child, rush in to criticise or arraign or condemn the divine government? no; the cabinet of the eternal three can govern and will govern in the wisest and best way, and there never will be a mistake, and like razor skillfully swung, shall cut that which ought to be cut, and avoid that which ought to be avoided. precision to the very hair-breadth. earthly time-pieces may get out of order and strike wrong, saying that it is one o'clock when it is two, or two when it is three. god's clock is always right, and when it is one it strikes one, and when it is twelve it strikes twelve, and the second hand is as accurate as the minute hand. further, my text tells us that god sometimes shaves nations: "in the same day shall the lord shave with the razor that is hired." with one sharp sweep he went across judea and down went its pride and its power. in god shaved our nation. we had allowed to grow sabbath desecration, and oppression, and blasphemy, and fraud, and impurity, and all sorts of turpitude. the south had its sins, and the north its sins, and the east its sins, and the west its sins. we had been warned again and again, and we did not heed. at length the sword of war cut from the st. lawrence to the gulf, and from atlantic seaboard to pacific seaboard. the pride of the land, not the cowards, but the heroes, on both sides went down. and that which we took for the sword of war was the lord's razor. in , again, it went across the land. in again. in again. then the sharp instrument was incased and put away. never in the history of the ages was any land more thoroughly shaved than during those four years of civil combat; and, my brethren, if we do not quit some of our individual sins, national sins, the lord will again take us in hand. he has other razors within reach besides war: epidemics, droughts, deluges, plagues--grasshopper and locust; or our overtowering success may so far excite the jealousy of other lands that, under some pretext, the great nations of europe and asia may combine to put us down. this nation, so easily approached on north and south and from both oceans, might have on hand at once more hostilities than were ever arrayed against any power. we have recently been told by skillful engineers that all our fortresses around new york harbor could not keep the shells from being hurled from the sea into the heart of these great cities. insulated china, the wealthiest of all nations, as will be realized when her resources are developed, will have adopted all the modes of modern warfare, and at the golden gate may be discussing whether americans must go. if the combined jealousies of europe and asia should come upon us, we should have more work on hand than would be pleasant. i hope no such combination against us will ever be formed, but i want to show that, as assyria was the hired razor against judea, and cyrus the hired razor against babylon, and the huns the hired razor against the goths, there are now many razors that the lord could hire if, because of our national sins, he should undertake to shave us. in , germany was the razor with which the lord shaved france. england is the razor with which very shortly the lord will shave russia. but nations are to repent in a day. may a speedy and world-wide coming to god hinder, on both sides the sea, all national calamity. but do not let us, as a nation, either by unrighteous law at washington, or bad lives among ourselves, defy the almighty. one would think that our national symbol of the eagle might sometimes suggest another eagle, that which ancient rome carried. in the talons of that eagle were clutched at one time britain, france, spain, italy, dalmatia, rhactia, noricum, pannonia, moesia, dacia, thrace, macedonia, greece, asia minor, syria, phoenicia, palestine, egypt, and all northern africa, and all the islands of the mediterranean, indeed, all the world that was worth having, an hundred and twenty millions of people under the wings of that one eagle. where is she now? ask gibbon, the historian, in his prose poem, the "decline and fall of the roman empire." ask her gigantic ruins straggling their sadness through the ages, the screech owl at windows out of which world-wide conquerors looked. ask the day of judgment when her crowned debauchees, commodus and pertinax, and caligula and diocletian, shall answer for their infamy? as men and as nations let us repent, and have our trust in a pardoning god, rather than depend on former successes for immunity! out of thirteen greatest battles of the world, napoleon had lost but one before waterloo. pride and destruction often ride in the same saddle. but notice once more, and more than all in my text, that god is so kind and loving, that when it is necessary for him to cut, he has to go to others for the sharp-edged weapon. "in the same day shall the lord shave with a razor that is hired." god is love. god is pity. god is help. god is shelter. god is rescue. there are no sharp edges about him, no thrusting points, no instruments of laceration. if you want balm for wounds, he has that. if you want salve for divine eyesight, he has that. but if there is sharp and cutting work to do which requires a razor, that he hires. god has nothing about him that hurts, save when dire necessity demands, and then he has to go clear off to some one else to get the instrument. this divine geniality will be no novelty to those who have pondered the calvarean massacre, where god submerged himself in human tears, and crimsoned himself from punctured arteries, and let the terrestrial and infernal worlds maul him until the chandeliers of the sky had to be turned out, because the universe could not endure the indecency. illustrious for love he must have been to take all that as our substitute, paying out of his own heart the price of our admission at the gates of heaven. king henry ii., of england, crowned his son as king, and on the day of coronation put on a servant's garb and waited, he, the king, at the son's table, to the astonishment of all the princes. but we know of a more wondrous scene, the king of heaven and earth offering to put on you, his child, the crown of life, and in the form of a servant waiting on you with blessing. extol that love, all painting, all sculpture, all music, all architecture, all worship! in dresdenian gallery let raphael hold him up as a child, and in antwerp cathedral let rubens hand him down from the cross as a martyr, and handel make all his oratorio vibrate around that one chord--"he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity." but not until all the redeemed get home, and from the countenances of all the piled-up galleries of the ransomed shall be revealed the wonders of redemption, shall either man or seraph or archangel know the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of god. at our national capital, a monument in honor of him who did more than any one to achieve our american independence, was for scores of years in building, and most of us were discouraged and said it never would be completed. and how glad we all were when in the presence of the highest officials of the nation, the work was done! but will the monument to him who died for the eternal liberation of the human race ever be completed? for ages the work has been going up; evangelists and apostles and martyrs have been adding to the heavenly pile, and every one of the millions of the redeemed going up from earth, has made to it contribution of gladness, and weight of glory is swung to the top of other weight of glory, higher and higher as the centuries go by, higher and higher as the whole millenniums roll, sapphire on the top of jasper, sardonyx on the top of chalcedony, and chrysoprasus above topaz, until, far beneath shall be the walls and towers and domes of the great capitol, a monument forever and forever rising, and yet never done. "unto him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests forever." allelujah, amen. windows toward jerusalem. "his windows being open and his chamber toward jerusalem."--dan. vi: . the scoundrelly princes of persia, urged on by political jealousy against daniel, have succeeded in getting a law passed that whosoever prays to god shall be put under the paws and teeth of the lions, who are lashing themselves in rage and hunger up and down the stone cage, or putting their lower jaws on the ground, bellowing till the earth trembles. but the leonine threat did not hinder the devotion of daniel, the coeur-de-lion of the ages. his enemies might as well have a law that the sun should not draw water or that the south wind should not sweep across a garden of magnolias or that god should be abolished. they could not scare him with the red-hot furnaces, and they can not now scare him with the lions. as soon as daniel hears of this enactment he leaves his office of secretary of state, with its upholstery of crimson and gold, and comes down the white marble steps and goes to his own house. he opens his window and puts the shutters back and pulls the curtain aside so that he can look toward the sacred city of jerusalem, and then prays. i suppose the people in the street gathered under and before his window, and said: "just see that man defying the law; he ought to be arrested." and the constabulary of the city rush to the police head-quarters and report that daniel is on his knees at the wide-open window. "you are my prisoner," says the officer of the law, dropping a heavy hand on the shoulder of the kneeling daniel. as the constables open the door of the cavern to thrust in their prisoner, they see the glaring eyes of the monsters. but daniel becomes the first lion-tamer, and they lick his hand and fawn at his feet, and that night he sleeps with the shaggy mane of a wild beast for his pillow, while the king that night, sleepless in the palace, has on him the paw and teeth of a lion he can not tame--the lion of a remorseful conscience. what a picture it would be for some artist; darius, in the early dusk of morning, not waiting for footmen or chariot, hastening to the den, all flushed and nervous and in dishabille, and looking through the crevices of the cage to see what had become of his prime-minister! "what, no sound!" he says: "daniel is surely devoured, and the lions are sleeping after their horrid meal, the bones of the poor man scattered across the floor of the cavern." with trembling voice darius calls out, "daniel!" no answer, for the prophet is yet in profound slumber. but a lion, more easily awakened, advances, and, with hot breath blown through the crevice, seems angrily to demand the cause of this interruption, and then another wild beast lifts his mane from under daniel's head, and the prophet, waking up, comes forth to report himself all unhurt and well. but our text stands us at daniel's window, open toward jerusalem. why in that direction open? jerusalem was his native land, and all the pomp of his babylonish successes could not make him forget it. he came there from jerusalem at eighteen years of age, and he never visited it, though he lived to be eighty-five years. yet, when he wanted to arouse the deepest emotions and grandest aspirations of his heart, he had his window open toward his native jerusalem. there are many of you to-day who understand that without any exposition. this is getting to be a nation of foreigners. they have come into all occupations and professions. they sit in all churches. it may be twenty years ago since you got your naturalization papers, and you may be thoroughly americanized, but you can't forget the land of your birth, and your warmest sympathies go out toward it. your windows are open toward jerusalem. your father and mother are buried there. it may have been a very humble home in which you were born, but your memory often plays around it, and you hope some day to go and see it--the hill, the tree, the brook, the house, the place so sacred, the door from which you started off with parental blessing to make your own way in the world; and god only knows how sometimes you have longed to see the familiar places of your childhood, and how in awful crises of life you would like to have caught a glimpse of the old, wrinkled face that bent over you as you lay on the gentle lap twenty or forty or fifty years ago. you may have on this side of the sea risen in fortune, and, like daniel, have become great, and may have come into prosperities which you never could have reached if you had stayed there, and you may have many windows to your house--bay-windows, and sky-light-windows, and windows of conservatory, and windows on all sides--but you have at least one window open toward jerusalem. when the foreign steamer comes to the wharf, you see the long line of sailors, with shouldered mail-bags, coming down the planks, carrying as many letters as you might suppose would be enough for a year's correspondence, and this repeated again and again during the week. multitudes of them are letters from home, and at all the post-offices of the land people will go to the window and anxiously ask for them, hundreds of thousands of persons finding that window of foreign mails the open window toward jerusalem. messages that say: "when are you coming home to see us? brother has gone into the army. sister is dead. father and mother are getting very feeble. we are having a great struggle to get on here. would you advise us to come to you, or will you come to us? all join in love, and hope to meet you, if not in this world, then in a better. good-bye." yes, yes; in all these cities, and amid the flowering western prairies, and on the slopes of the pacific, and amid the sierras, and on the banks of the lagoon, and on the ranches of texas there is an uncounted multitude who, this hour, stand and sit and kneel with their windows open toward jerusalem. some of them played on the heather of the scottish hills. some of them were driven out by irish famine. some of them, in early life, drilled in the german army. some of them were accustomed at lyons or marseilles or paris to see on the street victor hugo and gambetta. some chased the chamois among the alpine precipices. some plucked the ripe clusters from italian vineyard. some lifted their faces under the midnight sun of norway. it is no dishonor to our land that they remember the place of their nativity. miscreants would they be if, while they have some of their windows open to take in the free air of america and the sunlight of an atmosphere which no kingly despot has ever breathed, they forgot sometime to open the window toward jerusalem. no wonder that the son of the swiss, when far away from home, hearing the national air of his country sung, the malady of home-sickness comes on him so powerfully as to cause his death. you have the example of the heroic daniel of my text for keeping early memories fresh. forget not the old folks at home. write often; and, if you have surplus of means and they are poor, make practical contribution, and rejoice that america is bound to all the world by ties of sanguinity as is no other nation. who can doubt but it is appointed for the evangelization of other lands? what a stirring, melting, gospelizing theory that all the doors of other nations are open toward us, while our windows are open toward them! but daniel, in the text, kept this port-hole of his domestic fortress unclosed because jerusalem was the capital of sacred influences. there had smoked the sacrifice. there was the holy of holies. there was the ark of the covenant. there stood the temple. we are all tempted to keep our windows open on the opposite side, toward the world, that we may see and hear and appropriate its advantages. what does the world say? what does the world think? what does the world do? worshipers of the world instead of worshipers of god. windows open toward babylon. windows open toward corinth. windows open toward athens. windows open toward sodom. windows open toward the flats, instead of windows open toward the hills. sad mistake, for this world as a god is like something i saw the other day in the museum of strasburg, germany--the figure of a virgin in wood and iron. the victim in olden time was brought there, and this figure would open its arms to receive him, and, once infolded, the figure closed with a hundred knives and lances upon him, and then let him drop one hundred and eighty feet sheer down. so the world first embraces its idolaters, then closes upon them with many tortures, and then lets them drop forever down. the highest honor the world could confer was to make a man roman emperor; but, out of sixty-three emperors, it allowed only six to die peacefully in their beds. the dominion of this world over multitudes is illustrated by the names of coins of many countries. they have their pieces of money which they call sovereigns and half sovereigns, crowns and half crowns, napoleons and half napoleons, fredericks and double fredericks, and ducats, and isabellinos, all of which names mean not so much usefulness as dominion. the most of our windows open toward the exchange, toward the salon of fashion, toward the god of this world. in olden times the length of the english yard was fixed by the length of the arm of king henry i., and we are apt to measure things by a variable standard and by the human arm that in the great crises of life can give us no help. we need, like daniel, to open our windows toward god and religion. but, mark you, that good lion-tamer is not standing at the window, but kneeling, while he looks out. most photographs are taken of those in standing or sitting posture. i now remember but one picture of a man kneeling, and that was david livingstone, who in the cause of god and civilization sacrificed himself; and in the heart of africa his servant, majwara, found him in the tent by the light of a candle, stuck on the top of a box, his head in his hands upon the pillow, and dead on his knees. but here is a great lion-tamer, living under the dash of the light, and his hair disheveled of the breeze, praying. the fact is, that a man can see further on his knees than standing on tiptoe. jerusalem was about five hundred and fifty statute miles from babylon, and the vast arabian desert shifted its sands between them. yet through that open window daniel saw jerusalem, saw all between it, saw beyond, saw time, saw eternity, saw earth, and saw heaven. would you like to see the way through your sins to pardon, through your troubles to comfort, through temptation to rescue, through dire sickness to immortal health, through night to day, through things terrestrial to things celestial, you will not see them till you take daniel's posture. no cap of bone to the joints of the fingers, no cap of bone to the joints of the elbow, but cap of bone to the knees, made so because the god of the body was the god of the soul, and especial provision for those who want to pray, and physiological structure joins with spiritual necessity in bidding us pray, and pray, and pray. in olden time the earl of westmoreland said he had no need to pray, because he had enough pious tenants on his estate to pray for him; but all the prayers of the church universal amount to nothing unless, like daniel, we pray for ourselves. oh, men and women, bounded on one side by shadrach's red-hot furnace, and the other side by devouring lions, learn the secret of courage and deliverance by looking at that babylonish window open toward the south-west! "oh," you say, "that is the direction of the arabian desert!" yes; but on the other side of the desert is god, is christ, is jerusalem, is heaven. the brussels lace is superior to all other lace, so beautiful, so multiform, so expensive--four hundred francs a pound. all the world seeks it. do you know how it is made? the spinning is done in a dark room, the only light admitted through a small aperture, and that light falling directly on the pattern. and the finest specimens of christian character i have ever seen or ever expect to see are those to be found in lives all of whose windows have been darkened by bereavement and misfortune save one, but under that one window of prayer the interlacing of divine workmanship went on until it was fit to deck a throne, a celestial embroidery which angels admired and god approved. but it is another jerusalem toward which we now need to open our windows. the exiled evangelist of ephesus saw it one day as the surf of the icarian sea foamed and splashed over the bowlders at his feet, and his vision reminded me of a wedding-day when the bride by sister and maid was having garlands twisted for her hair and jewels strung for her neck just before she puts her betrothed hand into the hand of her affianced: "i, john, saw the holy city, new jerusalem, coming down from god out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." toward that bridal jerusalem are our windows opened? we would do well to think more of heaven. it is not a mere annex of earth. it is not a desolate outpost. as jerusalem was the capital of judae, and babylon the capital of the babylonian monarchy, and london is the capital of great britain, and washington is the capital of our own republic, the new jerusalem is the capital of the universe. the king lives there, and the royal family of the redeemed have their palaces there, and there is a congress of many nations and the parliament of all the worlds. yea, as daniel had kindred in jerusalem of whom he often thought, though he had left home when a very young man, perhaps father and mother and brothers and sisters still living, and was homesick to see them, and they belonged to the high circles of royalty, daniel himself having royal blood in his veins, so we have in the new jerusalem a great many kindred, and we are sometimes homesick to see them, and they are all princes and princesses, in them the blood imperial, and we do well to keep our windows open toward their eternal residence. it is a joy for us to believe that while we are interested in them they are interested in us. much thought of heaven makes one heavenly. the airs that blow through that open window are charged with life, and sweep up to us aromas from gardens that never wither, under skies that never cloud, in a spring-tide that never terminates. compared with it all other heavens are dead failures. homer's heaven was an elysium which he describes as a plain at the end of the earth or beneath, with no snow nor rainfall, and the sun never goes down, and rhadamanthus, the justest of men, rules. hesiod's heaven is what he calls the islands of the blessed, in the midst of the ocean, three times a year blooming with most exquisite flowers, and the air is tinted with purple, while games and music and horse-races occupy the time. the scandinavian's heaven was the hall of walhalla, where the god odin gave unending wine-suppers to earthly heroes and heroines. the mohammedan's heaven passes its disciples in over the bridge al-sirat, which is finer than a hair and sharper than a sword, and then they are let loose into a riot of everlasting sensuality. the american aborigines look forward to a heaven of illimitable hunting-ground, partridge and deer and wild duck more than plentiful, and the hounds never off the scent, and the guns never missing fire. but the geographer has followed the earth round, and found no homer's elysium. voyagers have traversed the deep in all directions, and found no hesiod's islands of the blessed. the mohammedan's celestial debauchery and the indian's eternal hunting-ground for vast multitudes have no charm. but here rolls in the bible heaven. no more sea--that is, no wide separation. no more night--that is, no insomnia. no more tears--that is, no heart-break. no more pain--that is, dismissal of lancet and bitter draught and miasma, and banishment of neuralgias and catalepsies and consumptions. all colors in the wall except gloomy black; all the music in the major-key, because celebrative and jubilant. river crystalline, gate crystalline, and skies crystalline, because everything is clear and without doubt. white robes, and that means sinlessness. vials full of odors, and that means pure regalement of the senses. rainbow, and that means the storm is over. marriage supper, and that means gladdest festivity. twelve manner of fruits, and that means luscious and unending variety. harp, trumpet, grand march, anthem, amen, and hallelujah in the same orchestra. choral meeting solo, and overture meeting antiphon, and strophe joining dithyramb, as they roll into the ocean of doxologies. and you and i may have all that, and have it forever through christ, if we will let him with the blood of one wounded hand rub out our sin, and with the other wounded hand swing open the shining portals. day and night keep your window open toward that jerusalem. sing about it. pray about it. think about it. talk about it. dream about it. do not be inconsolable about your friends who have gone into it. do not worry if something in your heart indicates that you are not far off from its ecstasies. do not think that when a christian dies he stops, for he goes on. an ingenious man has taken the heavenly furlongs as mentioned in revelation, and has calculated that there will be in heaven one hundred rooms sixteen feet square for each ascending soul, though this world should lose a hundred millions yearly. but all the rooms of heaven will be ours, for they are family rooms; and as no room in your house is too good for your children, so all the rooms of all the palaces of the heavenly jerusalem will be free to god's children and even the throne-room will not be denied, and you may run up the steps of the throne, and put your hand on the side of the throne, and sit down beside the king according to the promise: "to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me in my throne." but you can not go in except as conquerors. many years ago the turks and christians were in battle, and the christians were defeated, and with their commander stephen fled toward a fortress where the mother of this commander was staying. when she saw her son and his army in disgraceful retreat, she had the gates of the fortress rolled shut, and then from the top of the battlement cried out to her son, "you can not enter here except as conqueror!" then stephen rallied his forces and resumed the battle and gained the day, twenty thousand driving back two hundred thousand. for those who are defeated in the battle with sin and death and hell nothing but shame and contempt; but for those who gain the victory through our lord jesus christ the gates of the new jerusalem will hoist, and there shall be an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our lord, toward which you do well to keep your windows open. stormed and taken. "and abimelech gat him up to mount zalmon, he and all the people that were with him, and abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder.... and all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of shechem died also, about a thousand men and women."--judges ix: , . abimelech is a name malodorous in bible history, and yet full of profitable suggestion. buoys are black and uncomely, but they tell where the rocks are. the snake's rattle is hideous, but it gives timely warning. from the piazza of my summer home, night by night i saw a lighthouse fifteen miles away, not placed there for adornment, but to tell mariners to stand off from that dangerous point. so all the iron-bound coast of moral danger is marked with saul, and herod, and rehoboam, and jezebel, and abimelech. these bad people are mentioned in the bible, not only as warnings, but because there were sometimes flashes of good conduct in their lives worthy of imitation. god sometimes drives a very straight nail with a very poor hammer. the city of shechem had to be taken, and abimelech and his men were to do it. i see the dust rolling up from their excited march. i hear the shouting of the captains and the yell of the besiegers. the swords clack sharply on the parrying shields, and the vociferation of two armies in death-grapple is horrible to hear. the battle goes on all day, and as the sun is setting abimelech and his army cry "surrender!" to the beaten foe. and, unable longer to resist, the city of shechem falls; and there are pools of blood, and dissevered limbs, and glazed eyes looking up beggingly for mercy that war never shows, and dying soldiers with their head on the lap of mother, or wife, or sister, who have come out for the last offices of kindness and affection: and a groan rolls across the city, stopping not, because there is no spot for it to rest, so full is the place of other groans. a city wounded! a city dying! a city dead! wail for shechem, all ye who know the horrors of a sacked town! as i look over the city i can find only one building standing, and that is the temple of the god berith. some soldiers outside of the city, in a tower, finding that they can no longer defend shechem, now begin to look out for their own personal safety, and they fly to this temple of berith. they get within the door, shut it, and they say, "now we are safe. abimelech has taken the whole city, but he can not take this temple of berith. here we shall be under the protection of the gods." oh, berith, the god! do your best now for these refugees. if you have eyes, pity them. if you have hands, help them. if you have thunderbolts, strike for them. but how shall abimelech and his army take this temple of berith and the men who are there fortified? will they do it with sword? nay. will they do it with spear? nay. with battering-ram, rolled up by hundred-armed strength, crashing against the walls? nay. abimelech marches his men to a wood in zalmon. with his ax he hews off a limb of a tree, and puts that limb upon his own shoulder, and then he says to his men, "you do the same." they are obedient to their commander. oh, what a strange army, with what strange equipment! they come to the foot of the temple of berith, and abimelech takes his limb of a tree and throws it down; and the first platoon of soldiers come up and they throw down their branches; and the second platoon, and the third, until all around about the temple of berith there is a pile of tree-branches. the shechemites look out from the windows of the temple upon what seems to them childish play on the part of their enemies. but soon the flints are struck, and the spark begins to kindle the brush, and the flame comes up all through the pile, and the red elements leap to the casement, and the woodwork begins to blaze, and one arm of flame is thrown up on the right side of the temple, and another arm of flame is thrown up on the left side of the temple, until they clasp their lurid palms under the wild night sky, and the cry of "fire!" within, and "fire!" without announces the terror, and the strangulation, and the doom of the shechemites, and the complete overthrow of the temple of the god berith. then there went up a shout, long and loud, from the stout lungs and swarthy chests of abimelech and his men, as they stood amid the ashes and the dust, crying: "victory! victory!" now, i learn first from this subject the folly of depending upon any one form of tactics in anything we have to do for this world or for god. look over the weaponry of olden times--javelins, battle-axes, habergeons--and show me a single weapon with which abimelech and his men could have gained such complete victory. it is no easy thing to take a temple thus armed. i saw a house where, during revolutionary times, a man and his wife kept back a whole regiment hour after hour, because they were inside the house, and the assaulting soldiers were outside the house. yet here abimelech and his army come up, they surround this temple, and they capture it without the loss of a single man on the part of abimelech, although i suppose some of the old israelitish heroes told abimelech: "you are only going up there to be cut to pieces." yet you are willing to testify to-day that by no other mode--certainly not by ordinary modes--could that temple so easily, so thoroughly have been taken. fathers and mothers, brethren and sisters in jesus christ, what the church most wants to learn this day is that any plan is right, is lawful, is best, which helps to overthrow the temple of sin, and capture this world for god. we are very apt to stick to the old modes of attack. we put on the old-style coat of mail. we come up with the sharp, keen, glittering steel spear of argument, expecting in that way to take the castle, but they have a thousand spears where we have ten. and so the castle of sin stands. oh, my friends, we will never capture this world for god by any keen saber of sarcasm, by any glittering lances of rhetoric, by any sapping and mining of profound disquisition, by any gunpowdery explosions of indignation, by sharp shootings of wit, by howitzers of mental strength made to swing shell five miles, by cavalry horses gorgeously caparisoned pawing the air. in vain all the attempts on the part of these ecclesiastical foot soldiers, light horsemen, and grenadiers. my friends, i propose this morning a different style of tactics. let each one go to the forest of god's promise and invitation, and hew down a branch and put it on his shoulder, and let us all come around these obstinate iniquities, and then, with this pile, kindled by the fires of a holy zeal and the flames of a consecrated life, we will burn them out. what steel can not do, fire may. and i, this morning, announce myself in favor of any plan of religious attack that succeeds--any plan of religious attack, however radical, however odd, however unpopular, however hostile to all the conventionalities of church and state. we want more heart in our song, more heart in our alms-giving, more heart in our prayers, more heart in our preaching. oh, for less of abimelech's sword, and more of abimelech's conflagration! i have often heard "there is a fountain filled with blood" sung artistically by four birds perched on their sunday roost in the gallery, until i thought of jenny lind, and nilsson, and sontag, and all the other warblers; but there came not one tear to my eye, nor one master emotion to my heart. but one night i went down to the african methodist meeting-house in philadelphia, and at the close of the service a black woman, in the midst of the audience, began to sing that hymn, and all the audience joined in, and we were floated some three or four miles nearer heaven than i have ever been since. i saw with my own eyes that "fountain filled with blood"--red, agonizing, sacrificial, redemptive--and i heard the crimson plash of the wave as we all went down under it: "for sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains." oh, my friends, the gospel is not a syllogism; it is not casuistry, it is not polemics, or the science of squabble. it is blood-red fact; it is warm-hearted invitation; it is leaping, bounding, flying good news; it is efflorescent with all light; it is rubescent with all glow; it is arborescent with all sweet shade. i have seen the sun rise on mount washington, and from the tip-top house; but there was no beauty in that compared with the day-spring from on high when christ gives light to a soul. i have heard parepa sing; but there was no music in that compared with the voice of christ when he said: "thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace." good news! let every one cut down a branch of this tree of life and wave it. let him throw it down and kindle it. let all the way from mount zalmon to shechem be filled with the tossing joy. good news! this bonfire of the gospel shall consume the last temple of sin, and will illumine the sky with apocalyptic joy that jesus christ came into the world to save sinners. any new plan that makes a man quit his sin, and that prostrates a wrong, i am as much in favor of as though all the doctors, and the bishops, and the archbishops, and the synods, and the academical gownsmen of christianity sanctioned it. the temple of berith must come down, and i do not care how it comes. still further, i learn from this subject the power of example. if abimelech had sat down on the grass and told his men to go and get the boughs, and go out to the battle, they would never have gone at all, or, if they had, it would have been without any spirit or effective result; but when abimelech goes with his own ax and hews down a branch, and with abimelech's arm puts it on abimelech's shoulder, and marches on--then, my text says, all the people did the same. how natural that was! what made garibaldi and stonewall jackson the most magnetic commanders of this century? they always rode ahead. oh, the overcoming power of example! here is a father on the wrong road; all his boys go on the wrong road. here is a father who enlists for christ; his children enlist. i saw, in some of the picture-galleries of europe, that before many of the great works of the masters--the old masters--there would be sometimes four or five artists taking copies of the pictures. these copies they were going to carry with them, perhaps to distant lands; and i have thought that your life and character are a masterpiece, and it is being copied, and long after you are gone it will bloom or blast in the homes of those who knew you, and be a gorgon or a madonna. look out what you say. look out what you do. eternity will hear the echo. the best sermon ever preached is a holy life. the best music ever chanted is a consistent walk. i saw, near the beach, a wrecker's machine. it was a cylinder with some holes at the side, made for the thrusting in of some long poles with strong leverage; and when there is a vessel in trouble or going to pieces out in the offing, the wreckers shoot a rope out to the suffering men. they grasp it, and the wreckers turn the cylinder, and the rope winds around the cylinder, and those who are shipwrecked are saved. so at your feet to-day there is an influence with a tremendous leverage. the rope attached to it swings far out into the billowy future. your children, your children's children, and all the generations that are to follow, will grip that influence and feel the long-reaching pull long after the figures on your tombstone are so near worn out that the visitor can not tell whether it was in , or , or that you died. still further, i learn from this subject the advantages of concerted action. if abimelech had merely gone out with a tree-branch the work would not have been accomplished, or if ten, twenty, or thirty men had gone; but when all the axes are lifted, and all the sharp edges fall, and all these men carry each his tree-branch down and throw it about the temple, the victory is gained--the temple falls. my friends, where there is one man in the church of god at this day shouldering his whole duty there are a great many who never lift an ax or swing a blow. oh, we all want our boat to get over to the golden sands, but the most of us are seated either in the prow or in the stern, wrapped in our striped shawl, holding a big-handled sunshade, while others are blistered in the heat, and pull until the oar-locks groan, and the blades bend till they snap. oh, religious sleepy-heads, wake up! while we have in our church a great many who are toiling for god, there are some too lazy to brush the flies off their heavy eyelids. suppose, in military circles, on the morning of battle the roll is called, and out of a thousand men only a hundred men in the regiment answered. what excitement there would be in the camp! what would the colonel say? what high talking there would be among the captains, and majors, and the adjutants! suppose word came to head-quarters that these delinquents excused themselves on the ground that they had overslept themselves, or that the morning was damp and they were afraid of getting their feet wet, or that they were busy cooking rations. my friends, this is the morning of the day of god almighty's battle! do you not see the troops? hear you not all the trumpets of heaven and all the drums of hell? which side are you on? if you are on the right side, to what cavalry troop, to what artillery service, to what garrison duty do you belong? in other words, in what sabbath-school do you teach? in what prayer-meeting do you exhort? to what penitentiary do you declare eternal liberty? to what almshouse do you announce the riches of heaven? what broken bone of sorrow have you ever set? are you doing nothing? is it possible that a man or woman sworn to be a follower of the lord jesus christ is doing nothing? then hide the horrible secret from the angels. keep it away from the book of judgment. if you are doing nothing do not let the world find it out, lest they charge your religion with being a false-face. do not let your cowardice and treason be heard among the martyrs about the throne, lest they forget the sanctity of the place and curse your betrayal of that cause for which they agonized and died. may the eternal god rouse us all to action! as for myself, i feel i would be ashamed to die now and enter heaven until i have accomplished something more decisive for the lord that bought me. i would like to join with you in an oath, with hand high uplifted to heaven, swearing new allegiance to jesus christ, and to work more for his kingdom. are you ready to join with me in some new work for christ? i feel that there is such a thing as claustral piety, that there is such a thing as insular work; but it seems to me that what we want now is concerted action. the temple of berith is very broad, and it is very high. it has been going up by the hands of men and devils, and no human enginery can demolish it; but if the fifty thousand ministers of christ in this country should each take a branch of the tree of life, and all their congregations should do the same, and we should march on and throw these branches around the great temples of sin, and worldliness and folly, it would need no match, or coal, or torch of ours to touch off the pile; for, as in the days of elijah, fire would fall from heaven and kindle the bonfire of christian victory over demolished sin. it is kindling now! huzzah! the day is ours! still further, i learn from this subject the danger of false refuges. as soon as these shechemites got into the temple they thought they were safe. they said: "berith will take care of us. abimelech may batter down everything else; he can not batter down this temple where we are now hid." but very soon they heard the timbers crackling, and they were smothered with smoke, and they miserably died. and you and i are just as much tempted to false refuges. the mirror this morning may have persuaded you that you have a comely cheek; your best friends may have persuaded you that you have elegant manners. satan may have told you that you are all right; but bear with me if i tell you that, if unpardoned, you are all wrong. i have no clinometer by which to measure how steep is the inclined plane you are descending, but i know it is very steep. "well," you say, "if the bible is true i am a sinner. show me some refuge; i will step right into it." i suppose every person in this audience this moment is stepping into some kind of refuge. here you step in the tower of good works. you say: "i shall be safe here in this refuge." the battlements are adorned; the steps are varnished; on the wall are pictures of all the suffering you have alleviated, and all the schools you have established, and all the fine things you have ever done. up in that tower you feel you are safe. but hear you not the tramp of your unpardoned sins all around the tower? they each have a match. they are kindling the combustible material. you feel the heat and the suffocation. oh, may you leap in time, the gospel declaring: "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified." "well," you say, "i have been driven out of that tower; where shall i go?" step into this tower of indifference. you say: "if this tower is attacked, it will be a great while before it is taken." you feel at ease. but there is an abimelech, with ruthless assaults, coming on. death and his forces are gathering around, and they demand that you surrender everything, and they clamor for your immortal overthrow, and they throw their skeleton arms in the windows, and with their iron fists they beat against the door; and while you are trying to keep them out you see the torches of judgment kindling, and every forest is a torch, and every mountain a torch, and every sea a torch; and while the alps, the pyrenees, and himalayas turn into a live coal, blown redder and redder by the whirlwind breath of a god omnipotent, what will become of your refuge of lies? "but," says some one, "you are engaged in a very mean business, driving us from tower to tower." oh, no. i want to tell you of a gibraltar that never has been and never will be taken; of a wall that no satanic assault can scale; of a bulwark that the judgment earthquakes can not budge. the bible refers to it when it says: "in god is thy refuge, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms." oh, fling yourself into it! tread down unceremoniously everything that intercepts you. wedge your way there. there are enough hounds of death and peril after you to make you hurry. many a man has perished just outside the tower, with his foot on the step, with his hand on the latch. oh, get inside! not one surplus second have you to spare. quick, quick, quick! great god, is life such an uncertain thing? if i bear a little too hard with my right foot on the earth, does it break through into the grave? is this world, which swings at the speed of thousands of miles an hour around the sun, going with tenfold more speed toward the judgment-day? oh, i am overborne with the thought; and in the conclusion i cry to one and i cry to the other: "oh, time! oh, eternity! oh, the dead! oh, the judgment-day! oh, jesus! oh, god!" but, catching at the last apostrophe, i feel that i have something to hold on to: for "in god is thy refuge, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms." and, exhausted with my failure to save myself, i throw my whole weight of body, mind, and soul on this divine promise, as a weary child throws itself into the arms of its mother; as a wounded soldier throws himself on the hospital pillow; as a pursued man throws himself into the refuge; for "in god is thy refuge, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms." oh, for a flood of tears with which to express the joy of this eternal rescue! all the world akin. "and hath made of one blood all nations of men."--acts xvii: . some have supposed that god originally made an asiatic adam and a european adam and an african adam and an american adam, but that theory is entirely overthrown by my text, which says that all nations are blood relatives, having sprung from one and the same stock. a difference in climate makes much of the difference in national temper. an american goes to europe and stays there a long while, and finds his pulse moderating and his temper becoming more calm. the air on this side the ocean is more tonic than on the other side. an american breathes more oxygen than a european. a european coming to america finds a great change taking place in himself. he walks with more rapid strides, and finds his voice becoming keener and shriller. the englishman who walks in london strand at the rate of three miles the hour, coming to america and residing for a long while here, walks broadway at the rate of four miles the hour. much of the difference between an american and a european, between an asiatic and an african, is atmospheric. the lack of the warm sunlight pales the greenlander. the full dash of the sunlight darkens the african. then, ignorance or intelligence makes its impression on the physical organism--in the one case ignorance flattening the skull, as with the egyptian; in the other case intelligence building up the great dome of the forehead, as with the german. then the style of god that the nation worships decides how much it shall be elevated or debased, so that those nations that worship reptiles are themselves only a superior form of reptile, while those nations that worship the natural sun in the heavens are the noblest style of barbaric people. but whatever be the difference of physiognomy, and whatever the difference of temperament, the physiologist tells us that after careful analysis he finds out that the plasma and the disk in the human blood have the same characteristics: so that if you should put twenty men from twenty nationalities abreast in line of battle, and a bullet should fly through the hearts of the twenty men, the blood flowing forth would, through analysis, prove itself to be the same blood in every instance. in other words, the science of the day confirming the truth of my text that "god hath made of one blood all nations of men." i have thought, my friends, it might be profitable this morning if i gave you some of the moral and religious impressions which i received when, through your indulgence, i had transatlantic absence. first, i observe that the majority of people in all lands are in a mighty struggle for bread. while in nearly all lands there are only a few cases of actual starvation reported, there is a vast population in every country i visited who have a limited supply of food, or such food as is incompetent to sustain physical vigor. this struggle in some lands is becoming more agonizing, while here and there it is lightened. i have joy in reporting that ireland, about the sufferings of which we have heard so much, has far better prospects than i have seen there in previous visits. in , coming home from that land, i prophesied the famine that must come upon, and did come upon, the deluged fields of that country. this year the crops are large, and both parties--those who like the english government and those who don't like it--are expecting relief. i said to one of the intelligent men of ireland: "tell me in a few words what are the sufferings of ireland, and what is the land relief enactment?" he replied: "i will tell you. suppose i am a landlord and you a tenant. you rent from me a place for ten pounds a year. you improve it. you turn it from a bog into a garden. you put a house upon it. after a while i, the landlord, come around, and i say to my agent: 'how much rent is this man paying;' he answers, 'ten pounds.' 'is that all? put his rent up to twenty pounds.' the tenant goes on improving his property, and after awhile i come around and i say to my agent, 'how much rent is this man paying?' he says, 'twenty pounds.' 'put his rent up to twenty-five pounds.' the tenant protests and says, 'i can't pay it.' then i, the landlord, say, 'pay it or get out;' and the tenant is helpless, and, leaving the place, the property in its improved condition turns over to the landlord. now, to stop that outrage the relief enactment comes in and appoints commissioners who shall see that if the tenant is turned out, he shall receive the difference of value between the farm as he got it and the farm as he surrenders it. moreover, the government loans money to the tenant, so that he may buy the property out and out if the landlord will sell." mighty advancement toward the righting of a great wrong! but there and in all lands, not excepting our own, there is a far-reaching distress. and let those who broke their fast this morning, and those who shall dine to-day, remember those who are in want, and by prayer and practical beneficence do all they can to alleviate the hunger swoon of nations. another impression was--indeed the impression carried with me all the summer--the thought already suggested, the brotherhood of man. the fact is that the differences are so small between nations that they may be said to be all alike. though i spent the most of the summer in silence, i spoke a few times and to people of different nations, and how soon i noticed that they were very much alike! if a man knows how to play the piano, it does not make any difference whether he finds it in new orleans or san francisco or boston or st. petersburg or moscow or madras; it has so many keys, and he puts his fingers right on them. and the human heart is a divine instrument, with just so many keys in all cases, and you strike some of them and there is joy, and you strike some of them and there is sorrow. plied by the same motives, lifted up by the same success, depressed by the same griefs. the cab-men of london have the same characteristics as the cab-men of new york, and are just as modest and retiring. the gold and silver drive piccadilly and the boulevards just as they drive wall street. if there be a great political excitement in europe, the bourse in paris howls just as loudly as ever did the american gold-room. the same grief that we saw in our country in you may find now in the military hospitals of england containing the wounded and sick from the egyptian wars. the same widowhood and orphanage that sat down in despair after the battles of shiloh and south mountain poured their grief in the shannon and the clyde and the dee and the thames. oh, ye men and women who know how to pray, never get up from your knees until you have implored god in behalf of the fourteen hundred millions of the race just like yourselves, finding life a tremendous struggle! for who knows but that as the sun to-day draws up drops of water from the caspian and the black seas and from the amazon and the mississippi, after a while to distill the rain, these very drops on the fields--who knows but that the sun of righteousness may draw up the tears of your sympathy, and then rain them down in distillation of comfort o'er all the world? who is that poor man, carried on a stretcher to the afghan ambulance? he is your brother. if in the pantheon at paris you smite your hand against the wall among the tombs of the dead, you will hear a very strange echo coming from all parts of the pantheon just as soon as you smite the wall. and i suppose it is so arranged that every stroke of sorrow among the tombs of bereavement ought to have loud, long, and oft-repeated echoes of sympathy all around the world. oh, what a beautiful theory it is--and it is a christian theory--that englishman, scotchman, irishman, norwegian, frenchman, italian, russian, are all akin. of one blood all nations. that is a very beautiful inscription that i saw a few days ago over the door in edinburgh, the door of the house where john knox used to live. it is getting somewhat dim now, but there is the inscription, fit for the door of any household--"love god above all, and your neighbor as yourself." i was also impressed in journeying on the other side the sea with the difference the bible makes in countries. the two nations of europe that are the most moral to-day and that have the least crime are scotland and wales. they have by statistics, as you might find, fewer thefts, fewer arsons, fewer murders. what is the reason? a bad book can hardly live in wales. the bible crowds it out. i was told by one of the first literary men in wales: "there is not a bad book in the welsh language." he said: "bad books come down from london, but they can not live here." it is the bible that is dominant in wales. and then in scotland just open your bible to give out your text, and there is a rustling all over the house almost startling to an american. what is it? the people opening their bibles to find the text, looking at the context, picking out the referenced passages, seeing whether you make right quotation. scotland and wales bible-reading people. that accounts for it. a man, a city, a nation that reads god's word must be virtuous. that book is the foe of all wrong-doing. what makes edinburgh better than constantinople? the bible. oh, i am afraid in america we are allowing the good book to be covered up with other good books! we have our ever-welcome morning and evening newspapers, and we have our good books on all subjects--geological subjects, botanical subjects, physiological subjects, theological subjects--good books, beautiful books, and so many good books that we have not time to read the bible. oh, my friends, it is not a matter of very great importance that you have a family bible on the center-table in your parlor! better have one pocket new testament, the passages marked, the leaves turned down, the binding worn smooth with much usage, than fifty pictorial family bibles too handsome to read! oh, let us take a whisk-broom and brush the dust off our bibles! do you want poetry? go and hear job describe the war-horse, or david tell how the mountains skipped like lambs. do you want logic? go and hear paul reason until your brain aches under the spell of his mighty intellect. do you want history? go and see moses put into a few pages stupendous information which herodotus, thucydides, and prescott never preached after. and, above all, if you want to find how a nation struck down by sin can rise to happiness and to heaven, read of that blood which can wash away the pollution of a world. there is one passage in the bible of vast tonnage: "god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." oh, may god fill this country with bibles and help the people to read them! i was also impressed in my transatlantic journeys with the wonderful power that christ holds among the nations. the great name in europe to-day is not victoria, not marquis of salisbury, not william the emperor, not bismarck; the great name in europe to-day is christ. you find the crucifix on the gate-post, you find it in the hay field, you find it at the entrance of the manor, you find it by the side of the road. the greatest pictures in all the galleries of italy, germany, france, england, and scotland are bible pictures. what were the subjects of raphael's great paintings? "the transfiguration," "the miraculous draught of fishes," "the charge to peter," "the holy family," "the massacre of the innocents," "moses at the burning bush," "the nativity," "michael the archangel," and the four or five exquisite "madonnas." what are tintoretto's great pictures? "fall of adam," "cain and abel," "the plague of the fiery serpent," "paradise," "agony in the garden," "the temptation," "the adoration of the magi," "the communication," "baptism," "massacre of the innocents," "the flight into egypt," "the crucifixion," "the madonna." what are titian's great pictures? "the flagellation of christ," "the supper at emmaus," "the death of abel," "the assumption," "the entombment," "faith," "the madonna." what are michael angelo's great pictures? "the annunciation," "the spirits in prison," "at the feet of christ," "the infant christ," "the crucifixion," "the last judgment." what are paul veronese's great pictures? "queen of sheba," "the marriage in cana," "magdalen washing the feet of christ," "the holy family." who has not heard of da vinci's "last supper"? who has not heard of turner's "pools of solomon"? who has not heard of claude's "marriage of isaac and rebecca"? who has not heard of dürer's "dragon of the apocalypse"? the mightiest picture on this planet is rubens' "scourging of christ." painter's pencil loves to sketch the face of christ. sculptor's chisel loves to present the form of christ. organs love to roll forth the sorrows of christ. the first time you go to london go into the doré picture gallery. as i went and sat down before "christ descending the steps of the prætorium," at the first i was disappointed. i said: "there isn't enough majesty in that countenance, not enough tenderness in that eye;" but as i sat and looked at the picture it grew upon me until i was overwhelmed with its power, and i staggered with emotion as i went out into the fresh air, and said; "oh, for that christ i must live, and for that christ i must be willing to die!" make that christ your personal friend, my sister, my brother. you may never go to milan to see da vinci's "last supper;" but, better than that, you can have christ come and sup with you. you may never get to antwerp to see rubens' "descent of christ from the cross," but you can have christ come down from the mountain of his suffering into your heart and abide there forever. oh, you must have him! we are all so diseased with sin that we want that which hurts us, and we won't have that which cures us. the best thing for you and for me to do to-day is to get down on our bended knees before god and say: "oh, almighty son of god, i am blind! i want to see. my arms are palsied. i want to take hold of thy cross. have mercy on me, o lord jesus!" why will you live on husks when you may sit down to this white bread of heaven? oh, with such a god, and with such a christ, and with such a holy spirit, and with such an immortal nature, wake up! once more, i was impressed greatly on the other side the sea with the wonderful triumphs of the christian religion. the tide is rising, the tide of moral and spiritual prosperity in the world. i think that any man who keeps his eyes open, traveling in foreign lands, will come to that conclusion. more bibles than ever before, more churches, more consecrated men and women, more people ready to be martyrs now than ever before, if need be; so that instead of there being, as people sometimes say, less spirit of martyrdom now than ever before, i believe where there was once one martyr there would be a thousand martyrs if the fires were kindled--men ready to go through flood and fire for christ's sake. oh, the signs are promising! the world is on the way to millennial brightness. all art, all invention, all literature, all commerce will be the lord's. these ships that you see going up and down new york harbor are to be brought into the service of god. all those ships i saw at liverpool, at southampton, at glasgow, are to be brought into the service of christ. what is that passage, "ships of tarshish shall bring presents"? that is what it means. oh, what a goodly fleet when the vessels of the sea come into the service of god! no guns frowning through the port-holes, no pikes hung in the gangway, nothing from cut-water to taffrail to suggest atrocity. those ships will come from all parts of the seas. great flocks of ships that never met on the high sea but in wrath, will cry, "ship ahoy!" and drop down beside each other in calmness, the flags of emmanuel streaming from the top-gallants. the old slaver, with decks scrubbed and washed and glistened and burnished--the old slaver will wheel into line; and the chinese junk and the venetian gondola, and the miners' and the pirates' corvette, will fall into line, equipped, readorned, beautified, only the small craft of this grand flotilla which shall float out for the truth--a flotilla mightier than the armada of xerxes moving in the pomp and pride of persian insolence; mightier than the carthaginian navy rushing with forty thousand oarsmen upon the roman galleys, the life of nations dashed out against the gunwales. rise, o sea! and shine, o heavens! to greet this squadron of light and victory! on the glistening decks are the feet of them that bring good tidings, and songs of heaven float among the rigging. crowd on all the canvas. line-of-battle ship and merchantmen wheel into the way. it is noon. strike eight bells. from all the squadron the sailors' songs arise. "surely the isles shall wait for thee, and the ships of tarshish to bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the lord thy god, and the holy one of israel." a momentous quest. "seek ye the lord while he may be found."--isa. lv: . isaiah stands head and shoulders above the other old testament authors in vivid descriptiveness of christ. other prophets give an outline of our saviour's features. some of them present, as it were, the side face of christ; others a bust of christ; but isaiah gives us the full-length portrait of christ. other scripture writers excel in some things. ezekiel more weird, david more pathetic, solomon more epigrammatic, habakkuk more sublime; but when you want to see christ coming out from the gates of prophecy in all his grandeur and glory, you involuntarily turn to isaiah. so that if the prophecies in regard to christ might be called the "oratorio of the messiah," the writing of isaiah is the "hallelujah chorus," where all the batons wave and all the trumpets come in. isaiah was not a man picked up out of insignificance by inspiration. he was known and honored. josephus, and philo, and sirach extolled him in their writings. what paul was among the apostles, isaiah was among the prophets. my text finds him standing on a mountain of inspiration, looking out into the future, beholding christ advancing and anxious that all men might know him; his voice rings down the ages: "seek ye the lord while he may be found." "oh," says some one: "that was for olden times." no, my hearer. if you have traveled in other lands you have taken a circular letter of credit from some banking-house in new york, and in st. petersburg, or venice, or rome, or antwerp, or brussels, or paris; you presented that letter and got financial help immediately. and i want you to understand that the text, instead of being appropriate for one age, or for one land, is a circular letter for all ages and for all lands, and wherever it is presented for help, the help comes: "seek ye the lord while he may be found." i come, to-day, with no hair-spun theories of religion, with no nice distinctions, with no elaborate disquisition; but with a plain talk on the matters of personal religion. i feel that the sermon i preach this morning will be the savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. in other words, the gospel of christ is a powerful medicine: it either kills or cures. there are those who say: "i would like to become a christian, i have been waiting a good while for the right kind of influences to come;" and still you are waiting. you are wiser in worldly things than you are in religious things. if you want to get to albany, you go to the grand central depot, or to the steam-boat wharf, and, having got your ticket, you do not sit down on the wharf or sit in the depot; you get aboard the boat or train. and yet there are men who say they are waiting to get to heaven--waiting, waiting, but not with intelligent waiting, or they would get on board the line of christian influences that would bear them into the kingdom of god. now you know very well that to seek a thing is to search for it with earnest endeavor. if you want to see a certain man in new york, and there is a matter of $ , connected with your seeing him, and you can not at first find him, you do not give up the search. you look in the directory, but can not find the name; you go in circles where you think, perhaps, he may mingle, and, having found the part of the city where he lives, but perhaps not knowing the street, you go through street after street, and from block to block, and you keep on searching for weeks and for months. you say: "it is a matter of $ , whether i see him or not." oh, that men were as persistent in seeking for christ! had you one half that persistence you would long ago have found him who is the joy of the forgiven spirit. we may pay our debts, we may attend church, we may relieve the poor, we may be public benefactors, and yet all our life disobey the text, never seek god, never gain heaven. oh, that the spirit of god would help this morning while i try to show you, in carrying out the idea of my text, first, how to seek the lord, and in the next place, when to seek him. "seek ye the lord while he may be found." i remark, in the first place, you are to seek the lord through earnest and believing prayer. god is not an autocrat or a despot seated on a throne, with his arms resting on brazen lions, and a sentinel pacing up and down at the foot of the throne. god is a father seated in a bower, waiting for his children to come and climb on his knee, and get his kiss and his benediction. prayer is the cup with which we go to the "fountain of living water," and dip up refreshment for our thirsty soul. grace does not come to the heart as we set a cask at the corner of the house to catch the rain in the shower. it is a pulley fastened to the throne of god, which we pull, bringing the blessing. i do not care so much what posture you take in prayer, nor how large an amount of voice you use. you might get down on your face before god, if you did not pray right inwardly, and there would be no response. you might cry at the top of your voice, and unless you had a believing spirit within, your cry would not go further up than the shout of a plow-boy to his oxen. prayer must be believing, earnest, loving. you are in your house some summer day, and a shower comes up, and a bird, affrighted, darts into the window, and wheels about the room. you seize it. you smooth its ruffled plumage. you feel its fluttering heart. you say, "poor thing, poor thing!" now, a prayer goes out of the storm of this world into the window of god's mercy, and he catches it, and he feels its fluttering pulse, and he puts it in his own bosom of affection and safety. prayer is a warm, ardent, pulsating exercise. it is the electric battery which, touched, thrills to the throne of god! it is the diving-bell in which we go down into the depths of god's mercy and bring up "pearls of great price." there was an instance where prayer made the waves of the gennesaret solid as russ pavement. oh, how many wonderful things prayer has accomplished! have you ever tried it? in the days when the scotch covenanters were persecuted, and the enemies were after them, one of the head men among the covenanters prayed: "oh, lord, we be as dead men unless thou shalt help us! oh, lord, throw the lap of thy cloak over these poor things!" and instantly a scotch mist enveloped and hid the persecuted from their persecutors--the promise literally fulfilled: "while they are yet speaking i will hear." oh, impenitent soul, have you ever tried the power of prayer? god says: "he is loving, and faithful, and patient." do you believe that? you are told that christ came to save sinners. do you believe that? you are told that all you have to do to get the pardon of the gospel is to ask for it. do you believe that? then come to him and say: "oh, lord! i know thou canst not lie. thou hast told me to come for pardon, and i could get it. i come, lord. keep thy promise, and liberate my captive soul." oh, that you might have an altar in the parlor, in the kitchen, in the store, in the barn, for christ will be willing to come again to the manger to hear prayer. he would come in your place of business, as he confronted matthew, the tax commissioner. if a measure should come before congress that you thought would ruin the nation, how you would send in petitions and remonstrances! and yet there has been enough sin in your heart to ruin it forever, and you have never remonstrated or petitioned against it. if your physical health failed, and you had the means, you would go and spend the summer in germany, and the winter in italy, and you would think it a very cheap outlay if you had to go all round the earth to get back your physical health. have you made any effort, any expenditure, any exertion for your immortal and spiritual health? no, you have not taken one step. o that you might now begin to seek after god with earnest prayer. some of you have been working for years and years for the support of your families. have you given one half day to the working out of your salvation with fear and trembling? you came here this morning with an earnest purpose, i take it, as i have come hither with an earnest purpose, and we meet face to face, and i tell you, first of all, if you want to find the lord, you must pray, and pray, and pray. i remark again, you must seek the lord through bible study. the bible is the newest book in the world. "oh," you say, "it was made hundreds of years ago, and the learned men of king james translated it hundreds of years ago." i confute that idea by telling you it is not five minutes old, when god, by his blessed spirit, retranslates it into the heart. if you will, in the seeking of the way of life through scripture study, implore god's light to fall upon the page, you will find that these promises are not one second old, and that they drop straight from the throne of god into your heart. there are many people to whom the bible does not amount to much. if they merely look at the outside beauty, why it will no more lead them to christ than washington's farewell address or the koran of mohammed or the shaster of the hindoos. it is the inward light of god's word you must get or die. i went up to the church of the madeleine, in paris, and looked at the doors which were the most wonderfully constructed i ever saw, and i could have stayed there for a whole week; but i had only a little time, so, having glanced at the wonderful carving on the doors, i passed in and looked at the radiant altars, and the sculptured dome. alas, that so many stop at the outside door of god's holy word, looking at the rhetorical beauties, instead of going in and looking at the altars of sacrifice and the dome of god's mercy and salvation that hovers over penitent and believing souls! o my friends! if you merely want to study the laws of language, do not go to the bible. it was not made for that. take "howe's elements of criticism"--it will be better than the bible for that. if you want to study metaphysics, better than the bible will be the writings of william hamilton. but if you want to know how to have sin pardoned, and at last to gain the blessedness of heaven, search the scriptures, "for in them ye have eternal life." when people are anxious about their souls--and there are some such here to-day--there are those who recommend good books. that is all right. but i want to tell you that the bible is the best book under such circumstances. baxter wrote "a call to the unconverted," but the bible is the best call to the unconverted. philip doddridge wrote "the rise and progress of religion in the soul," but the bible is the best rise and progress. john angell james wrote "advice to the anxious inquirer," but the bible is the best advice to the anxious inquirer. o, the bible is the very book you need, anxious and inquiring soul! a dying soldier said to his mate: "comrade, give me a drop!" the comrade shook up the canteen, and said: "there isn't a drop of water in the canteen." "oh," said the dying soldier, "that's not what i want; feel in my knapsack for my bible," and his comrade found the bible, and read him a few of the gracious promises, and the dying soldier said: "ah, that's what i want. there isn't anything like the bible for a dying soldier, is there, my comrade?" o blessed book while we live! blessed book when we die! i remark, again, we must seek god through church ordinances. "what," say you, "can't a man be saved without going to church?" i reply, there are men, i suppose, in glory, who have never seen a church: but the church is the ordained means by which we are to be brought to god; and if truth affects us when we are alone, it affects us more mightily when we are in the assembly--the feelings of others emphasizing our own feelings. the great law of sympathy comes into play, and a truth that would take hold only with the grasp of a sick man, beats mightily against the soul with a thousand heart-throbs. when you come into the religious circle, come only with one notion, and only for one purpose--to find the way to christ. when i see people critical about sermons, and critical about tones of voice, and critical about sermonic delivery, they make me think of a man in prison. he is condemned to death, but an officer of the government brings a pardon and puts it through the wicket of the prison, and says: "here is your pardon. come and get it." "what! do you expect me to take that pardon offered with such a voice as you have, with such an awkward manner as you have? i would rather die than so compromise my rhetorical notions!" ah, the man does not say that; he takes it! it is his life. he does not care how it is handed to him. and if, this morning, that pardon from the throne of god is offered to our souls, should we not seize it, regardless of all criticism, feeling that it is a matter of heaven or hell? but i come now to the last part of my text. it tells us when we are to seek the lord. "while he may be found." when is that? old age? you may not see old age. to-morrow? you may not see to-morrow. to-night? you may not see to-night. now! o if i could only write on every heart in three capital letters, that word n-o-w--now! sin is an awful disease. i hear people say with a toss of the head and with a trivial manner: "oh, yes, i'm a sinner." sin is an awful disease. it is leprosy. it is dropsy. it is consumption. it is all moral disorders in one. now you know there is a crisis in a disease. perhaps you have had some illustration of it in your family. sometimes the physician has called, and he has looked at the patient and said: "that case was simple enough; but the crisis has passed. if you had called me yesterday, or this morning, i could have cured the patient. it is too late now; the crisis has passed." just so it is in the spiritual treatment of the soul--there is a crisis. before that, life! after that, death! o my dear brother, as you love your soul do not let the crisis pass unattended to! there are some here who can remember instances in life when, if they had bought a certain property, they would have become very rich. a few acres that would have cost them almost nothing were offered them. they refused them. afterward a large village or city sprung up on those acres of ground, and they see what a mistake they made in not buying the property. there was an opportunity of getting it. it never came back again. and so it is in regard to a man's spiritual and eternal fortune. there is a chance; if you let that go, perhaps it never comes back. certainly, that one never comes back. a gentleman told me that at the battle of gettysburg he stood upon a height looking off upon the conflicting armies. he said it was the most exciting moment of his life; now one army seeming to triumph, and now the other. after awhile the host wheeled in such a way that he knew in five minutes the whole question would be decided. he said the emotion was almost unbearable. there is just such a time to-day with you, o impenitent soul!--the forces of light on the one side, and the siege-guns of hell on the other side, and in a few moments the matter will be settled for eternity. there is a time which mercy has set for leaving port. if you are on board before that, you will get a passage for heaven. if you are not on board, you miss your passage for heaven. as in law courts a case is sometimes adjourned from term to term, and from year to year till the bill of costs eats up the entire estate, so there are men who are adjourning the matter of religion from time to time, and from year to year, until heavenly bliss is the bill of costs the man will have to pay for it. why defer this matter, oh, my dear hearer? have you any idea that sin will wear out? that it will evaporate? that it will relax its grasp? that you may find religion as a man accidentally finds a lost pocket-book? ah, no! no man ever became a christian by accident, or by the relaxing of sin. the embarrassments are all the time increasing. the hosts of darkness are recruiting, and the longer you postpone this matter the steeper the path will become. i ask those men who are before me this morning, whether, in the ten or fifteen years they have passed in the postponement of these matters, they have come any nearer god or heaven? i would not be afraid to challenge this whole audience, so far as they may not have found the peace of the gospel, in regard to the matter. your hearts, you are willing frankly to tell me, are becoming harder and harder, and that if you come to christ it will be more of an undertaking now than it ever would have been before. oh, fly for refuge! the avenger of blood is on the track! the throne of judgment will soon be set; and, if you have anything to do toward your eternal salvation, you had better do it now, for the redemption of your soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever! oh, if men could only catch just one glimpse of christ, i know they would love him! your heart leaps at the sight of a glorious sunrise or sunset. can you be without emotion as the sun of righteousness rises behind calvary, and sets behind joseph's sepulcher? he is a blessed saviour! every nation has its type of beauty. there is german beauty, and swiss beauty, and italian beauty, and english beauty; but i care not in what land a man first looks at christ, he pronounces him "chief among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely." o my blessed jesus! light in darkness! the rock on which i build! the captain of salvation! my joy! my strength! how strange it is that men can not love thee! the diamond districts of brazil are carefully guarded, and a man does not get in there except by a pass from the government; but the love of christ is a diamond district we may all enter, and pick up treasures for eternity. oh, cry for mercy! "to-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." there is a way of opposing the mercy of god too long, and then there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary. my friends, my neighbors, what can i say to induce you to attend to this matter--to attend to it now? time is flying, flying--the city clock joining my voice this moment, seeming to say to you, "now is the time! now is the time!" oh, put it not off! why should i stand here and plead, and you sit there? it is your immortal soul. it is a soul that shall never die. it is a soul that must soon appear before god for review. why throw away your chance for heaven? why plunge off into darkness when all the gates of glory are open? why become a castaway from god when you can sit upon the throne? why will ye die miserably when eternal life is offered you, and it will cost you nothing but just willingness to accept it? "come, for all things are now ready." come, christ is ready, pardon is ready! the church is ready. heaven is ready. you will never find a more convenient season, if you should live fifty years more, than this very one. reject this, and you may die in your sins. why do i say this? is it to frighten your soul? oh, no! it is to persuade you. i show you the peril. i show you the escape. would i not be a coward beyond all excuse, if, believing that this great audience must soon be launched into the eternal world, and that all who believe in christ shall be saved, and that all who reject christ will be lost--would i not be the veriest coward on earth to hide that truth or to stand before you with a cold, or even a placid manner? my dear brethren, now is the day of your redemption. it is very certain that you and i must soon appear before god in judgment. we can not escape it. the bible says: "every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." on that day all our advantages will come up for our glory or for our discomfiture--every prayer, every sermon, every exhortatory remark, every reproof, every call of grace; and while the heavens are rolling away like a scroll, and the world is being destroyed, your destiny and my destiny will be announced. alas! alas! if on that day it is found that we have neglected these matters. we may throw them off now. we can not then. we will all be in earnest then. but no pardon then. no offer of salvation then. no rescue then. driven away in our wickedness--banished, exiled, forever! have you ever imagined what will be the soliloquy of the soul on that day unpardoned, as it looks back upon its past life? "oh," says the soul, "i had glorious sabbaths! there was one sabbath in autumn when i was invited to christ. there was a sabbath morning when jesus stood and spread out his arm and invited me to his holy heart. i refused him. i have destroyed myself. i have no one else to blame. ruin complete! darkness unpitying, deep, eternal! i am lost! notwithstanding all the opportunities i have had of being saved, i am lost! o thou long-suffering lord god almighty, i am lost! o day of judgment, i am lost! o father, mother, brother, sister, child in glory, i am lost!" and then as the tide goes out, your soul goes out with it--further from god, further from happiness, and i hear your voice fainter, and fainter, and fainter: "lost! lost! lost! lost! lost!" o ye dying, yet immortal men, "seek the lord while he may be found." but i want you to take the hint of the text that i have no time to dwell on--the hint that there is a time when he can not be found. there is a man in new york, eighty years of age, who said to a clergyman who came in, "do you think that a man at eighty years of age can get pardoned?" "oh, yes," said the clergyman. the old man said: "i can't; when i was twenty years of age--i am now eighty years--the spirit of god came to my soul, and i felt the importance of attending to these things, but i put it off. i rejected god, and since then i have had no feeling." "well," said the minister, "wouldn't you like to have me pray with you?" "yes," replied the old man, "but it will do no good. you can pray with me if you like to." the minister knelt down and prayed, and commended the man's soul to god. it seemed to have no effect upon him. after awhile the last hour of the man's life came, and through his delirium a spark of intelligence seemed to flash, and with his last breath he said; "i shall never be forgiven!" "o seek the lord while he may be found." the great assize. doctor talmage's sermon, preached at cork, ireland, sunday morning, sept th, . "when the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."--matthew xxv: , . half-way between chamouny, switzerland, and martigny, i reined in the horse on which i was riding, and looked off upon the most wonderful natural amphitheater of valley and mountain and rock, and i said to my companion, "what an appropriate place this would be for the last judgment. yonder overhanging rock the place for the judgment seat. these galleries of surrounding hills occupied by attendant angels. this vast valley, sweeping miles this way and miles that, the audience-room for all nations." but sacred geography does not point out the place. yet we know that somewhere, some time, somehow, an audience will be gathered together stupendous beyond all statistics, and just as certainly as you and i make up a part of this audience to-day, we will make up a part of that audience on that day. a common sense of justice in every man's heart demands that there shall be some great winding-up day, in which that which is now inexplicable shall be explained. why did that good man suffer, and that bad man prosper? you say, "i don't know, but i must know." why is that good christian woman dying of what is called a spider cancer, while that daughter of folly sits wrapped in luxury, ease, and health? you say, "i don't know, but i must know." there are so many wrongs to be righted that if there were not some great righting-up day in the presence of all ages, there would be an outcry against god from which his glory would never recover. if god did not at last try the nations, the nations would try him. we are, therefore, ready for the announcement of the text. the world never saw christ except in disguise. if once when he was on earth he had let out his glory, instead of the blind eyes being healed, all visions would have been extinguished. no human eye could have endured it. and instead of bringing the dead to life, all around about him would have been the slain under that overpowering effulgence. disguise of human flesh. disguise of seamless robe. disguise of sandal. disguise of voice. from bethlehem caravansary to mausoleum in the rock, a complete disguise. but on the day of which i speak the son of man will come in his glory. no hiding of luster. no sheathing of strength. no suppression of grandeur. no wrapping out of sight of the godhead. any fifty of the most brilliant sunsets that you ever saw on land or sea would be dim as compared with the cerulean appearance on that day when christ rolls through, and rolls on, and rolls down in his glory. the air will be all abloom with his presence, and everything from horizon to horizon aflame with his splendor. elijah rode up the sky-steep in a chariot, the wheels of whirling fire and the horses of galloping fire, and the charioteer drawing reins of fire on bits of fire; but christ will need no such equipage, for the law of gravitation will be laid aside, and the natural elements will be laid aside, and christ will descend swiftly enough to make speedy arrival, but slowly enough to allow the gaze of millions of spectators. in his glory! glory of form, glory of omnipotence, glory of holiness, glory of justice, glory of love. in his glory! an unveiled, an uncovered god descending to meet the human race in an interview which will be prolonged only for a few hours, and yet which shall settle all the past and all the present and all the future, and be closed before the end of that day, which will close, not with setting sun, but with the destruction of the planet as a snuffers takes off the top of a burned wick. it is a solemn time in a court-room when there is an important case on hand, and the judge of the supreme court enters, and he sits down, and with gavel strikes on the desk commanding bar and jury and witnesses and audience into silence. all voices are hushed, all heads are uncovered. but how much more impressive when christ shall take the judgment seat on the last day of the last week of the last month of the last year of the world's existence, and with gavel of thunder-bolt shall smite the mountains, commanding all the land and all the sea into silence. can you have any doubt about who it is on the seat on the judgment day? better make investigation, to see whether there are any scars about him that reveal his person. apparel may change. you can not always tell by apparel. but scars will tell the story after all else fails. i find under his left arm a scar, and on his right hand a scar, and on his left hand a scar, and on his right foot a scar, and on his left foot a scar. oh, yes, he is the son of man in his glory. every mark of wound now a badge of victory, every ridge showing the fearful gash now telling the story of pain and sacrifice which he suffered in behalf of the human race. but what is all that commotion and flutter, and surging to and fro above him and on either side of him? it is a detailed regiment of heaven, a constabulary angelic, sent forth to take part in that scene, and to execute the mandates that shall be issued. ten regiments, a hundred regiments, a thousand regiments of angels; for on that day all heaven will be emptied of its inhabitants to let them attend the scene. all the holy angels. from what a center to what a circumference. widening out and widening out, and higher up and higher up. wings interlocking wings. galleries of cloud above galleries of cloud, all filled with the faces of angels come to listen and come to watch, and come to help on that day for which all other days were made. who are those two taller and more conspicuous angels? the one is michael, who is the commander of all those who come out to destroy sin. the other is gabriel, who is announced as commander of all those who come forth to help the righteous. who is that mighty angel near the throne? that is the resurrection angel, his lips still aquiver and his cheek aflush with the blast that shattered the cemeteries and woke the dead. who is that other great angel, with dark and overshadowing brow? that is the one who in one night, by one flap of his wing, turned one hundred and eighty-five thousand of sennacherib's host into corpses. who are those bright immortals near the throne, their faces partly turned toward each other as though about to sing? oh, they are the bethlehem chanters of the first christmas night! who are this other group standing so near the throne? they are the saviour's especial bodyguard, which hovered over him in the wilderness and administered to him in the hour of martyrdom, and heaved away the rock of his sarcophagus, and escorted him upward on ascension day, now appropriately escorting him down. divine glory flanked on both sides by angelic radiance. but now lower your eye from the divine and angelic to the human. the entire human race is present. all nations, says my text. before that time the american republic, the english government, the french republic, all modern modes of government may be obliterated for something better; but all nations, whether dead or alive, will be brought up into that assembly. thebes and tyre and babylon and greece and rome as wide awake in that assembly as though they had never slumbered amid the dead nations. europe, asia, africa, north and south america, and all the nineteenth century, the eighteenth century, the twelfth century, the tenth century, the fourth century--all centuries present. not one being that ever drew the breath of life but will be in that assembly. no other audience a thousandth part as large. no other audience a millionth part as large. no human eye could look across it. wing of albatross and falcon and eagle not strong enough to fly over it. a congregation, i verily believe, not assembled on any continent, because no continent would be large enough to hold it. but, as the bible intimates, in the air. the law of gravitation unanchored, the world moved out of its place. as now sometimes on earth a great tent is spread for some great convention, so over that great audience of the judgment shall be lifted the blue canopy of the sky, and underneath it for floor the air made buoyant by the hand of almighty god. an architecture of atmospheric galleries strong enough to hold up worlds. surely the two arms of god's almightiness are two pillars strong enough to hold up any auditorium. but that audience is not to remain in session long. most audiences on earth after an hour or two adjourn. sometimes in court-rooms an audience will tarry four or five hours, but then it adjourns. so this audience spoken of in the text will adjourn. my text says, "he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats." "no," says my universalist friend, "let them all stay together." but the text says, "he shall separate them." "no," say the kings of this world, "let men have their choice, and if they prefer monarchical institutions, let them go together, and if they prefer republican institutions, let them go together." "no," say the conventionalities of this world, "let all those who moved in what are called high circles go together, and all those who on earth moved in low circles go together. the rich together, the poor together, the wise together, the ignorant together." ah! no. do you not notice in that assembly the king is without his scepter, and the soldier without his uniform, and the bishop without his pontifical ring, and the millionaire without his certificates of stock, and the convict without his chain, and the beggar without his rags, and the illiterate without his bad orthography, and all of us without any distinction of earthly inequality? so i take it from that as well as from my text that the mere accident of position in this world will do nothing toward deciding the questions of that very great day. "he will separate them as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats." the sheep, the cleanliest of creatures, here made a symbol of those who have all their sins washed away in the fountain of redeeming mercy. the goat, one of the filthiest of creatures, here a type of those who in the last judgment will be found never to have had any divine ablution. division according to character. not only character outside, but character inside. character of heart, character of choice, character of allegiance, character of affection, character inside as well as character outside. in many cases it will be a complete and immediate reversal of all earthly conditions. some who in this world wore patched apparel will take on raiment lustrous as a summer noon. some who occupied a palace will take a dungeon. division regardless of all earthly caste, and some who were down will be up, and some who were up will be down. oh, what a shattering of conventionalities! what an upheaval of all social rigidities, what a turning of the wheel of earthly condition, a thousand revolutions in a second! division of all nations, of all ages, not by the figure , nor the figure , nor the figure , nor the figure , nor the figure , nor the figure ; but by the figure . two! two characters, two destinies, two estates, two dominions, two eternities, a tremendous, an all-comprehensive, an all-decisive, and everlasting two! i sometimes think that the figure of the book that shall be opened allows us to forget the thing signified by the symbol. where is the book-binder that could make a volume large enough to contain the names of all the people who have ever lived? besides that, the calling of such a roll would take more than fifty years, more than a hundred years, and the judgment is to be consummated in less time than passes between sunrise and sunset. ah! my friends, the leaves of that book of judgment are not made out of paper, but of memory. one leaf in every human heart. you have known persons who were near drowning, but they were afterward resuscitated, and they have told you that in the two or three minutes between the accident and the resuscitation, all their past life flashed before them--all they had ever thought, all they had ever done, all they had ever seen, in an instant came to them. the memory never loses anything. it is only a folded leaf. it is only a closed book. though you be an octogenarian, though you be a nonagenarian, all the thoughts and acts of your life are in your mind, whether you recall them now or not, just as macaulay's history is in two volumes, although the volumes may be closed, and you can not see a word of them, and will not until they are opened. as in the case of the drowning man, the volume of memory was partly open, or the leaf partly unrolled; in the case of the judgment the entire book will be opened, so that everything will be displayed from preface to appendix. you have seen self-registering instruments which recorded how many revolutions they had made and what work they had done, so the manufacturer could come days after and look at the instrument and find just how many revolutions had been made, or how much work had been accomplished. so the human mind is a self-registering instrument, and it records all its past movements. now that leaf, that all-comprehensive leaf in your mind and mine this moment, the leaf of judgment, brought out under the flash of the judgment throne, you can easily see how all the past of our lives in an instant will be seen. and so great and so resplendent will be the light of that throne that not only this leaf in my heart and that leaf in your heart will be revealed at a flash, but all the leaves will be opened, and you will read not only your own character and your own history, but the character and history of others. in a military encampment the bugle sounded in one way means one thing, and sounded in another way it means another thing. bugle sounded in one way means, "prepare for sudden attack." bugle sounded in another way means, "to your tents, and let all the lights be put out." i have to tell you, my brother, that the trumpet of the old testament, the trumpet that was carried in the armies of olden times, and the trumpet on the walls in olden times, in the last great day will give significant reverberation. old, worn-out, and exhausted time, having marched across decades and centuries and ages, will halt, and the sun and the moon and the stars will halt with it. the trumpet! the trumpet! peal the first: under its power the sea will stretch itself out dead, the white foam on the lip, in its crystal sarcophagus, and the mountains will stagger and reel and stumble, and fall into the valleys never to rise. under one puff of that last cyclone all the candles of the sky will be blown out. the trumpet! the trumpet! peal the second: the alabaster halls of the air will be filled with those who will throng up from all the cemeteries of all the ages--from greyfriar's churchyard and roman catacomb, from westminster abbey and from the coral crypts of oceanic cave, and some will rend off the bandage of egyptian mummy, and others will remove from their brow the garland of green sea-weed. from the north and the south and the east and the west they come. the dead! the trumpet! the trumpet! peal the third: amid surging clouds and the roar of attendant armies of heaven, the lord comes through, and there are lightnings and thunder-bolts, and an earthquake, and a hallelujah, and a wailing. the trumpet! the trumpet! peal the fourth: all the records of human life will be revealed. the leaf containing the pardoned sin, the leaf containing the unpardoned sin. some clapping hands with joy, some grinding their teeth with rage, and all the forgotten past becomes a vivid present. the trumpet! the trumpet! peal the last: the audience breaks up. the great trial is ended. the high court of heaven adjourns. the audience hie themselves to their two termini. they rise, they rise! they sink, they sink! then the blue tent of the sky will be lifted and folded up and put away. then the auditorium of atmospheric galleries will be melted. then the folded wings of attendant angels will be spread for upward flight. the fiery throne of judgment will become a dim and a vanishing cloud. the conflagration of divine and angelic magnificence will roll back and off. the day for which all other days are made has closed, and the world has burned down, and the last cinder has gone out, and an angel flying on errand from world to world will poise long enough over the dead earth to chant the funeral litany as he cries, "ashes to ashes!" that judgment leaf in your heart i seize hold of this moment for cancellation. in your city halls the great book of mortgages has a large margin, so that when the mortgagor has paid the full amount to the mortgagee, the officer of the law comes, and he puts down on that margin the payment and the cancellation; and though that mortgage demanded vast thousands before, now it is null and void. so i have to tell you that that leaf in my heart and in your heart, that leaf of judgment, that all-comprehensive leaf, has a wide margin for cancellation. there is only one hand in all the universe that can touch that margin. that hand this moment lifted to make the record null and void forever. it may be a trembling hand, for it is a wounded hand, the nerves were cut and the muscles were lacerated. that record on that leaf was made in the black ink of condemnation; but if cancellation take place, it will be made in the red ink of sacrifice. o judgment-bound brother and sister! let christ this moment bring to that record complete and glorious cancellation. this moment, in an outburst of impassioned prayer, ask for it. you think it is the fluttering of your heart. oh, no! it is the fluttering of that leaf, that judgment leaf. i ask you not to take from your iron safe your last will and testament, but i ask for something of more importance than that. i ask you not to take from your private papers that letter so sacred that you have put it away from all human eyesight, but i ask you for something of more meaning than that. that leaf, that judgment leaf in my heart, that judgment leaf in your heart, which will decide our condition after this world shall have five thousand million years been swept out the heavens, an extinct planet, and time itself will be so long past that on the ocean of eternity it will seem only as now seems a ripple on the atlantic. when the goats in vile herd start for the barren mountains of death, and the sheep in fleeces of snowy whiteness and bleating with joy move up the terraced hills to join the lambs already playing in the high pastures of celestial altitude, oh, may you and i be close by the shepherd's crook! "when the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats." oh, that leaf, that one leaf in my heart, that one leaf in your heart! that leaf of judgment! oh, those two tremendous words at the last, "come!" "go!" as though the overhanging heavens were the cup of a great bell, and all the stars were welded into a silvery tongue and swung from side to side until it struck, "come!" as though all the great guns of eternal disaster were discharged at once, and they boomed forth in one resounding cannonade of "go!" arithmetical sum in simple division. eternity the dividend. the figure two the divisor. your unalterable destiny the quotient. the road to the city. "and an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there; and the ransomed of the lord shall return, and come to zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."--isaiah xxxv: - . there are hundreds of people in this house this morning who want to find the right road. you sometimes see a person halting at cross roads, and you can tell by his looks that he wishes to ask a question as to what direction he had better take. and i stand in your presence this morning conscious of the fact that there are many of you here who realize that there are a thousand wrong roads, but only one right one; and i take it for granted that you have come in to ask which one it is. here is one road that opens widely, but i have not much faith in it. there are a great many expensive toll-gates scattered all along that way. indeed at every road you must pay in tears, or pay in genuflexions, or pay in flagellations. on that road, if you get through it at all, you have to pay your own way; and since this differs so much from what i have heard in regard to the right way, i believe it is the wrong way. here is another road. on either side of it are houses of sinful entertainment, and invitations to come in, and dine and rest; but, from the looks of the people who stand on the piazza i am very certain that it is the wrong house and the wrong way. here is another road. it is very beautiful and macadamized. the horses' hoofs clatter and ring, and they who ride over it spin along the highway, until suddenly they find that the road breaks over an embankment, and they try to halt, and they saw the bit in the mouth of the fiery steed, and cry "ho! ho!" but it is too late, and--crash!--they go over the embankment. we shall turn, this morning, and see if we can not find a different kind of a road. you have heard of the appian way. it was three hundred and fifty miles long. it was twenty-four feet wide, and on either side the road was a path for foot passengers. it was made out of rocks cut in hexagonal shape and fitted together. what a road it must have been! made of smooth, hard rock, three hundred and fifty miles long. no wonder that in the construction of it the treasures of a whole empire were exhausted. because of invaders, and the elements, and time--the old conqueror who tears up a road as he goes over it--there is nothing left of that structure excepting a ruin. but i have this morning to tell you of a road built before the appian way, and yet it is as good as when first constructed. millions of souls have gone over it. millions more will come. "the prophets and apostles, too, pursued this road while here below; we therefore will, without dismay still walk in christ, the good old way." "an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there; and the ransomed of the lord shall return, and come to zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away!" i. first, this road of the text is the king's highway. in the diligence you dash over the bernard pass of the alps, mile after mile, and there is not so much as a pebble to jar the wheels. you go over bridges which cross chasms that make you hold your breath; under projecting rock; along by dangerous precipices; through tunnels adrip with the meltings of the glaciers; and, perhaps for the first time, learn the majesty of a road built and supported by government authority. well, my lord the king decided to build a highway from earth to heaven. it should span all the chasms of human wretchedness; it should tunnel all the mountains of earthly difficulty; it should be wide enough and strong enough to hold fifty thousand millions of the human race, if so many of them should ever be born. it should be blasted out of the "rock of ages," and cemented with the blood of the cross, and be lifted amid the shouting of angels and the execration of devils. the king sent his son to build that road. he put head and hand and heart to it, and, after the road was completed, waved his blistered hand over the way, crying, "it is finished!" napoleon paid fifteen million francs for the building of the simplon road, that his cannon might go over for the devastation of italy; but our king, at a greater expense, has built a road for a different purpose, that the banners of heavenly dominion might come down over it, and all the redeemed of earth travel up over it. being a king's highway, of course it is well built. bridges splendidly arched and buttressed have given way and crushed the passengers who attempted to cross them. but christ, the king, would build no such thing as that. the work done, he mounts the chariot of his love, and multitudes mount with him, and he drives on and up the steep of heaven amid the plaudits of gazing worlds! the work is done--well done--gloriously done--magnificently done. ii. still further: this road spoken of is a clean road. many a fine road has become miry and foul because it has not been properly cared for; but my text says the unclean shall not walk on this one. room on either side to throw away your sins. indeed, if you want to carry them along, you are not on the right road. that bridge will break, those overhanging rocks will fall, the night will come down, leaving you at the mercy of the mountain bandits, and at the very next turn of the road you will perish. but if you are really on this clean road of which i have been speaking, then you will stop ever and anon to wash in the water that stands in the basin of the eternal rock. ay, at almost every step of the journey you will be crying out: "create within me a clean heart!" if you have no such aspirations as that, it proves that you have mistaken your way; and if you will only look up and see the finger-board above your head, you may read upon it the words: "there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is death." without holiness no man shall see the lord; and if you have any idea that you can carry along your sins, your lusts, your worldliness, and yet get to the end of the christian race, you are so awfully mistaken that, in the name of god, this morning i shatter the delusion. iii. still further, the road spoken of is a plain road. "the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." that is, if a man is three fourths an idiot, he can find this road just as well as if he were a philosopher. the imbecile boy, the laughing-stock of the street, and followed by a mob hooting at him, has only just to knock once at the gate of heaven, and it swings open: while there has been many a man who can lecture about pneumatics, and chemistry, and tell the story of farraday's theory of electrical polarization, and yet has been shut out of heaven. there has been many a man who stood in an observatory and swept the heavens with his telescope, and yet has not been able to see the morning star. many a man has been familiar with all the higher branches of mathematics, and yet could not do the simple sum, "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" many a man has been a fine reader of tragedies and poems, and yet could not "read his title clear to mansions in the skies." many a man has botanized across the continent, and yet not know the "rose of sharon and the lily of the valley." but if one shall come in the right spirit, crying the way to heaven, he will find it a plain way. the pardon is plain. the peace is plain. everything is plain. he who tries to get on the road to heaven through the new testament teaching will get on beautifully. he who goes through philosophical discussion will not get on at all. christ says: "come to me, and i will take all your sins away, and i will take all your troubles away." now what is the use of my discussing it any more? is not that plain? if you wanted to go to albany, and i pointed you out a highway thoroughly laid out, would i be wise in detaining you by a geological discussion about the gravel you will pass over, or a physiological discussion about the muscles you will have to bring into play? no. after this bible has pointed you the way to heaven, is it wise for me to detain you with any discussion about the nature of the human will, or whether the atonement is limited or unlimited? there is the road--go on it. it is a plain way. "this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners." and that is you and that is me. any little child here can understand this as well as i can. "unless you become as a little child, you can not see the kingdom of god." if you are saved, it will not be as a philosopher, it will be as a little child. "of such is the kingdom of heaven." unless you get the spirit of little children, you will never come out at their glorious destiny. iv. still further: this road to heaven is a safe road. sometimes the traveler in those ancient highways would think himself perfectly secure, not knowing there was a lion by the way, burying his head deep between his paws, and then, when the right moment came, under the fearful spring the man's life was gone, and there was a mauled carcass by the roadside. but, says my text, "no lion shall be there." i wish i could make you feel, this morning, your entire security. i tell you plainly that one minute after a man has become a child of god, he is as safe as though he had been ten thousand years in heaven. he may slip, he may slide, he may stumble; but he can not be destroyed. kept by the power of god, through faith, unto complete salvation. everlastingly safe. the severest trial to which you can subject a christian man is to kill him, and that is glory. in other words, the worst thing that can happen a child of god is heaven. the body is only the old slippers that he throws aside just before putting on the sandals of light. his soul, you can not hurt it. no fires can consume it. no floods can drown it. no devils can capture it. "firm and unmoved are they who rest their souls on god; fixed as the ground where david stood, or where the ark abode." his soul is safe. his reputation is safe. everything is safe. "but," you say, "suppose his store burns up?" why, then, it will be only a change of investments from earthly to heavenly securities. "but," you say, "suppose his name goes down under the hoof of scorn and contempt?" the name will be so much brighter in glory. "suppose his physical health fails?" god will pour into him the floods of everlasting health, and it will not make any difference. earthly subtraction is heavenly addition. the tears of earth are the crystals of heaven. as they take rags and tatters and put them through the paper-mill, and they come out beautiful white sheets of paper, so, often, the rags of earthly destitution, under the cylinders of death, come out a white scroll upon which shall be written eternal emancipation. there was one passage of scripture, the force of which i never understood until one day at chamounix, with mont blanc on one side, and montanvent on the other, i opened my bible and read: "as the mountains are around about jerusalem, so the lord is around about them that fear him." the surroundings were an omnipotent commentary. "though troubles assail, and dangers affright; though friends should all fail, and foes all unite; yet one thing secures us, whatever betide, the scriptures assure us the lord will provide." v. still further: the road spoken of is a pleasant road. god gives a bond of indemnity against all evil to every man that treads it. "all things work together for good to those who love god." no weapon formed against them can prosper. that is the bond, signed, sealed, and delivered by the president of the whole universe. what is the use of your fretting, o child of god, about food? "behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feedeth them." and will he take care of the sparrow, will he take care of the hawk, and let you die? what is the use of your fretting about clothes? "consider the lilies of the field. shall he not much more clothe you, o ye of little faith?" what is the use worrying for fear something will happen to your home? "he blesseth the habitation of the just." what is the use of your fretting lest you will be overcome of temptations? "god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." o this king's highway! trees of life on either side, bending over until their branches interlock and drop midway their fruit and shade. houses of entertainment on either side the road for poor pilgrims. tables spread with a feast of good things, and walls adorned with apples of gold in pictures of silver. i start out on this king's highway, and i find a harper, and i say: "what is your name?" the harper makes no response, but leaves me to guess, as, with his eyes toward heaven and his hand upon the trembling strings this tune comes rippling on the air: "the lord is my light and my salvation. whom shall i fear? the lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall i be afraid?" i go a little further on the same road and meet a trumpeter of heaven, and i say: "haven't you got some music for a tired pilgrim?" and wiping his lip and taking a long breath, he puts his mouth to the trumpet and pours forth this strain: "they shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat, for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water, and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." i go a little distance further on the same road, and i meet a maiden of israel. she has no harp, but she has cymbals. they look as if they had rusted from sea-spray; and i say to the maiden of israel: "have you no song for a tired pilgrim?" and like the clang of victors' shields the cymbals clap as miriam begins to discourse: "sing ye to the lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea." and then i see a white-robed group. they come bounding toward me, and i say: "who are they? the happiest, and the brightest, and the fairest in all heaven--who are they?" and the answer comes: "these are they who came out of great tribulations, and had their robes washed and made white with the blood of the lamb." i pursue this subject only one step further. what is the terminus? i do not care how fine a road you may put me on, i want to know where it comes out. my text declares it: "the redeemed of the lord come to zion." you know what zion was. that was the king's palace. it was a mountain fastness. it was impregnable. and so heaven is the fastness of the universe. no howitzer has long enough range to shell those towers. let all the batteries of earth and hell blaze away; they can not break in those gates. gibraltar was taken, sebastopol was taken, babylon fell; but these walls of heaven shall never surrender either to human or satanic besiegement. the lord god almighty is the defense of it. great capital of the universe! terminus of the king's highway! doctor dick said that, among other things, he thought in heaven we should study chemistry, and geometry, and conic sections. southey thought that in heaven he would have the pleasure of seeing chaucer and shakespeare. now, doctor dick may have his mathematics for all eternity, and southey his shakespeare. give me christ and my old friends--that is all the heaven i want, that is heaven enough for me. o garden of light, whose leaves never wither, and whose fruits never fail! o banquet of god, whose sweetness never palls the taste, and whose guests are kings forever! o city of light, whose walls are salvation, and whose gates are praise! o palace of rest, where god is the monarch and everlasting ages the length of his reign! o song louder than the surf-beat of many waters, yet soft as the whisper of cherubim! o my heaven! when my last wound is healed, when the last heart-break is ended, when the last tear of earthly sorrow is wiped away, and when the redeemed of the lord shall come to zion, then let all the harpers take down their harps, and all the trumpeters take down their trumpets, and all across heaven there be chorus of morning stars, chorus of white-robed victors, chorus of martyrs from under the throne, chorus of ages, chorus of worlds, and there be but one song sung, and but one name spoken, and but one throne honored--that of jesus only. the ransomless. "beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom can not deliver thee."--job xxxvi: . trouble makes some men mad. it was so with job. he had lost his property, he had lost his physical health, he had lost his dear children, and the losses had led to exasperation instead of any spiritual profit. i suppose that he was in the condition that many are now in who sit before me. there are those here whose fortunes have begun to flap their wings, as though to fly away. there is a hollow cough in some of your dwellings. there is a subtraction of comfort and happiness, and you feel disgusted with the world, and impatient with many events that are transpiring in your history, and you are in the condition in which job was when the words of my text accosted him: "beware lest he take thee away with his stroke and then a ransom can not deliver thee." i propose to show you that sometimes god suddenly removes from us our gospel opportunities, and that, when he has done so, our case is ransomless. "beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom can not deliver thee." i. sometimes the stroke comes in the removal of the intellect. "oh," says some man, "as long as i keep my mind i can afford to adjourn religion." but suppose you do not keep it? a fever, the hurling of a missile, the falling of a brick from a scaffolding, the accidental discharge of a gun--and your mind is gone. if you have ever been in an anatomical room, and have examined the human brain, you know what a delicate organ it is. and can it be possible that our eternity is dependent upon the healthy action of that which can be so easily destroyed? "oh," says some one, "you don't know how strong a mind i have." i reply: losses, accident, bereavement, and sickness may shipwreck the best physical or mental condition. there are those who have been ten years in lunatic asylums who had as good a mind as you. while they had their minds they neglected god, and when their intellect went, with it went their last opportunity for heaven. now they are not responsible for what they do, or for what they say; but in the last day they will be held responsible for what they did when they were mentally well; and if, on that day, a soul should say: "oh, god, i was demented, and i had no responsibility," god will say: "yes, you were demented; but there were long years when you were not demented. that was your chance for heaven, and you missed it." oh, better be, as the scotch say, a little "daft," nevertheless having grace in the heart; better be like poor richard hampson, the cornish fool, whose biography has just appeared in england--a silly man he was, yet bringing souls to jesus christ by scores and scores--giving an account of his own conversion, when he said: "the mob got after me, and i lost my hat, and climbed up by a meat-stand, in order that i might not be trampled under foot, and while i was there, my heart got on fire with love toward those who were chasing me, and, springing to my feet, i began to exhort and to pray." oh, my god, let me be in the last, last day the cornish fool, rather than have the best intellect god ever created unillumined by the gospel of jesus christ! consider what an uncertain possession you have in your intellect, when there are so many things around to destroy it; and beware, lest before you use it in making the religious choice, god takes it away with a stroke. i know a good many of my friends who are putting off religion until the last hour. they say when they get sick they will attend to it, but generally the intellect is beclouded; and oh; what a doleful thing it is to stand by a dying bed, and talk to a man about his soul, and feel, from what you see of the motion of his head, and the glare of his eye, and from what you hear of the jargon of his lips, that he does not understand what you are saying to him. i have stood beside the death-bed of a man who had lived a sinful life, and was as unprepared for eternity as it is possible for a man to be, and i tried to make him understand my pastoral errand; but all in vain. he could not understand it, and so he died. oh! ye who are putting off until the sick hour preparation for eternity, let me tell you that in all probability, you will not be able in your last hour to attend to it at all. there are a great many people who say they will repent on the death-bed. i have no doubt there are many who have repented on the death-bed, but i think it is the exception. albert barnes, who was one of the coolest of men, and gave no rash statistics, said thus: that in a ministry of nearly half a century--he was over seventy when he went up to glory--he had known a great many people who said they repented on the dying bed, but, unexpectedly to themselves, got well; and he says, how many of those, do you suppose, who thought it was their dying bed, and who, after they repented on that dying bed, having got well, lived consistently, showing that it was real repentance, and not mock repentance--how many? not one! not one! ii. again: this stroke may come to you in the withdrawal of god's spirit. i see people before me who were, twenty years ago, serious about their souls. they are not now. they have no interest in what i am saying. they will never have any anxiety in what any minister of the gospel says about their souls. their time seems to have passed. i know a man, seventy-five years of age, who, in early life, became almost a christian, but grieved away the spirit of god, and he has never thought earnestly since, and he can not be roused. i do not believe he will be roused until eternity flashes on his astonished vision. it does seem as if sometimes, in quite early life, the holy spirit moves upon a heart, and being grieved away and rejected, never comes back. you say that is all imaginary? a letter, the address of which i will not give, dated last monday morning, came to me on tuesday, saying this: "your sermon last night (that is, last sabbath night) did not fit my case, although i believe it did all others in the academy; but your sermon of a week ago did fit my case, for i am 'past feeling.' i am not ashamed to be a christian. i would as soon be known to be a christian as anything else. indeed, i wish i was, but i have not the least power to become one. don't you know that with some persons there is a tide in their spiritual natures which, if taken at the flood, leads on to salvation? such a tide i felt two years ago. i want you to pray for me, not that i may be led to christ--for that prayer would not be answered--but that i may be kept from the temptation to suicide!" what i had to say to the author of that i said in a private letter; but what i have to say to this audience is: beware lest you grieve the holy ghost, and he be gone, and never return. next wednesday, at two or three o'clock, a cunard steamer will put out from jersey city wharf for liverpool. after it has gone one hour, and the vessel is down by the narrows, or beyond, go out on the jersey city wharf, and wave your hand, and shout, and ask that steamer to come back to the wharf. will it? yes, sooner than the holy ghost will come back when once he has taken his final flight from thy soul. with that holy spirit some of you have been in treaty, my dear friends. the holy spirit said: "come, come to christ." you said: "no, i won't." the spirit said, more importunately: "come to christ." you said: "well, i will after awhile, when i get my business fixed up; when my friends consent to my coming; when they won't laugh at me--then i'll come." but the holy spirit more emphatically said: "come now." you said: "no, i can't. i can't come now." and that holy spirit stands in your heart to-night, with his hand on the door of your soul, ready to come out. will you let him depart? if so, then, with a pen of light, dipped in ink of eternal blackness, the sentence may be now writing: "ephraim is joined to his idols. let him alone! let him alone!" when that fatal record is made, you might as well brace yourselves up against the sorrows of the last day, against the anguish of an unforgiven death-bed, against the flame and the overthrow of an undone eternity; for though you might live thirty years after that in the world, your fate would be as certain as though you had already entered the gates of darkness. that is the dead line. look out how you cross it! "'there is a line by us unseen, that crosses every path; the hidden boundary between god's patience and his wrath.'" and some of you, to-night, have come up to that line. ay, you have lifted your foot, and when you put it down, it will be on the other side! look out how you cross it! oh, grieve not the spirit of god, lest he never come back! iii. this fatal stroke spoken of in the text may be our exit from this world. i hear aged people sometimes saying: "i can't live much longer." but do you know the fact that there are a hundred young people and middle-aged people who go out of this life to one aged person, for the simple reason that there are not many aged people to leave life? the aged seem to stand around like stalks--separate stalks of wheat at the corner of the field; but when death goes a-mowing, he likes to go down amid the thick of the harvest. what is more to the point: a man's going out of this world is never in the way he expects--it is never at the time he expects. the moment of leaving this world is always a surprise. if you expect to go in the winter, it may be in the summer; if in the summer, it may be in the winter; if in the night, it maybe in the day-time; if you think to go in the day-time, it may be in the night. suddenly the event will rush upon you, and you will be gone. where? if a christian--into joy. if not a christian--into suffering. the gospel call stops outside of the door of the sepulcher. the sleeper within can not hear it. if that call should be sounded out with clarion voice louder than ever rang through the air, that sleeper could not hear it. i suppose every hour of the day, and now, while i am speaking, there are souls rushing into eternity unprepared. they slide from the pillow, or they slip from the pavement, and in an eye-twinkling they are gone. elegant and eloquent funeral oration will not do them any good. epitaph, cut on polished scotch granite, will not do them any good. wailing of beloved kindred can not call them back. but, says some one: "i'll keep out of peril; i will not go on the sea, i will not go into battle--i'll keep out of all danger." that is no defense. thousands of people, last night, on their couches, with the front door locked, and no armed assassin anywhere around, surrounded by all defended circumstances, slipped out of this life into the next. if time had been on one side of the shuttle and eternity on the other side of the shuttle, they could not have shot quicker across it. a man was saying: "my father was lost at sea, and my grandfather, and my great-grandfather. wasn't it strange?" a man, talking to him, said: "you ought never to venture on the sea, lest you, yourself, be lost at sea." the man turned to the other, and said: "where did your father die?" he replied: "in his bed." "where did your grandfather die?" "in his bed." "where did your great-grandfather die?" "in his bed." "then," he said, "be careful, lest some night, while you are asleep on your couch, your time may come!" death alone is sure. suddenly, you and i will go out of life. i am not saying anything to your soul that i am not going to say to my own soul. we have got to go suddenly out of this life. if i am prepared for that change, i do not care where my body is taken from--at what point i am taken out of this life. if i am ready, all is well. if i am not ready, though i might be at home, and though my loved ones might be standing around me, and though there might be the best surgical and medical ability in the room, i tell you, if i were not prepared, i would be frightened more than tongue can tell. it may seem like cowardice, but i am not ashamed to say that i should have the most indescribable horror about going out of this world if i thought i was unprepared for the next--if i had no christ in my soul; for it would be a plunge compared with which a leap from the top of mont blanc would be nothing. but this brings me to the most tremendous thought of my text. the text supposes that a man goes into ruin, and that an effort is made afterward for his rescue, and then says the thing can not be done. is that so? after death seizes upon that soul, is there no resurrection? if a man topples off the edge of life, is there nothing to break his fall? if an impenitent man goes overboard, are there no grappling-hooks to hoist him into safety? the text says distinctly: "then a great ransom can not deliver thee." i know there are people who call themselves "restorationists," and they say a sinful man may go down into the world of the lost; he stays there until he gets reformed, and then comes up into the world of light and blessedness. it seems to me to be a most unreasonable doctrine--as though the world of darkness were a place where a man could get reformed. is there anything in the society of the lost world--the abandoned and the wretched of god's universe--to elevate a man's character and lift him at last to heaven? can we go into companionship of the neroes and the herods, and the jim fisks, and spend a certain number of years in that lost world, and then by that society be purified and lifted up? is that the kind of society that reforms a man and prepares him for heaven? would you go to shreveport or memphis, with the yellow fever there, to get your physical health restored? can it be that a man may go down into the diseased world--a world overwhelmed by an epidemic of transgressions--and by that process, and in that atmosphere, be lifted up to health and glory? your common sense says: "no! no!" in such society as that, instead of being restored, you would go down worse and worse, plunging every hour into deeper depths of suffering and darkness. what your common sense says the bible reaffirms, when it says: "these shall go away into three months of punishment." i have quoted it wrong. "these shall go away into ten years of punishment." i have quoted it wrong. "these shall go into a thousand years of punishment." i have quoted it wrong. "these shall go into _everlasting_ punishment." and now i have quoted it right; or, if you prefer, in the words of my text: "then a great ransom can not deliver thee." now just suppose that a spirit should come down from heaven and knock at the gates of woe and say: "let that man out! let me come in and suffer in his stead. i will be the sacrifice. let him come out." the grim jailer would reply: "no, you don't know what a place this is, or you would not ask to come in; besides that, this man had full warning and full opportunity of escape. he did not take the warning, and now a great ransom shall not deliver him." sometimes men are sentenced to imprisonment for life. there comes another judge on the bench, there comes another governor in the chair, and in three or four years you find the man who was sentenced for life in the street. you say: "i thought you were sentenced for life." "oh!" he says, "politics are changed, and i am now a free man." but it will not be so for a soul at the last. there will be no new judge or new governor. if at the end of a century a soul might come out, it would not be so bad. if at the end of a thousand years it might come out, it would not be so bad. if there were any time in all the future, in quadrillions and quadrillions of years, that the soul might come out, it would not be so bad; but if the bible be true, it is a state of unending duration. far on in the ages one lost soul shall cry out to another lost soul: "how long have you been here?" and the soul will reply: "the years of my ruin are countless. i estimated the time for thousands of years; but what is the use of estimating when all these rolling cycles bring us no nearer the terminus." ages! ages! ages! eternity! eternity! eternity! the wrath to come! the wrath to come! the wrath to come! no medicine to cure that marasmus of the soul. no hammer to strike off the handcuff of that incarceration. no burglar's key to pick the locks which the lord hath fastened. sir francis newport, in his last moment, caught just one glimpse of that world. he had lived a sinful life. before he went into the eternal world he looked into it. the last words he ever uttered were, as he gathered himself up on his elbows in the bed: "oh, the insufferable pangs of hell!" the lost soul will cry out: "i can not stand this! i can not stand this! is there no way out?" and the echo will answer: "no way out." and the soul will cry: "is this forever?" and the echo will answer: "forever!" is it all true? "these shall go away into everlasting punishment, while the righteous go into life eternal." are there two destinies? and must all this audience share one or the other? shall i give an account for what i have told you to-night? have i held back any truth, though it were plain, though it were unpalatable? must i meet you there, oh, you dying but immortal auditory? i wish that my text, with all its uplifted hands of warning, could come upon your souls: "beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom can not deliver thee." glory be to god, there is a ransom that can now deliver you, braver than grace darling putting out in a life-boat from eddystone light-house for the rescue of the crew of the forfarshire steamer--christ the lord launched from heaven, amid the shouting of the angels. thirty-three years afterward, christ the lord launched from earth to heaven, amid human and infernal execration; yet staying here long enough to save all who will believe in him. do you hear that? to save all who will believe in him. oh, that pierced side! oh, that bleeding brow! oh, that crushed foot! oh, that broken heart! that is your hope, sinner. that is your ransom from sin, and death, and hell. why have i told you all these things to-night, plainly and frankly? it is because i know there is redemption for you, and i would have you now come and get it. oh, men and women long prayed for, and striven with, and coaxed of the mercy of god--have you concentrated all your physical, mental, and spiritual energies in one awful determination to be lost? is there nothing in the value of your soul, in the graciousness of christ, in the thunders of the last day, in the blazing glories of heaven, and the surging wrath of an undone eternity to start you out of your indifference, and make you pray? oh, must god come upon you in some other way? must he take another darling child from your household? must he take another installment from your worldly estate? must life come upon you with sorrow after sorrow, and smite you down with sickness before you will be moved, and before you will feel? oh, weep now, while jesus will count the tears! sigh, now in repentance, while jesus will hear the grief. now clutch the cross of the son of god before it be swept away. beware, lest the holy spirit leave thy heart. beware, lest this night thy soul be required of thee. "beware, lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom can not deliver thee." oh, lord god of israel, see these impenitent souls on the verge of death ready to topple over! see them! is there no help? is this plea all in vain? i can not believe it, blessed god. oh, thou mighty one, whose garments are red with the wine-press of thine own sufferings, in the greatness of thy strength ride through this audience, and may all this people fall into line, the willing captives of thy grace. men and women immortal! i lay hold of you to-night with both hands of entreaty and of prayer, and i beg of you, prepare for death, judgment, and eternity. the three groups. "and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties."--mark vi: . the sun was far down in the west, night was coming on, and there were five thousand people tired, hungry, shelterless. you know how washington felt at valley forge, when his army was starving and freezing. you may imagine how any great-hearted general would feel while his troops were suffering. imagine, then, how christ, with his great heart, must have felt as he saw these five thousand hunger-bitten people. yes, i suppose there were ten thousand there, for the bible says there were five thousand men, besides women and children. the case is put in that way, not because the women and children were of less importance than the men, but because they would eat less; and the whole force of the miracle turns on the amount of food required. how shall this great multitude be supplied? i see a selfish man in that crowd pulling a luncheon out of his own pocket, and saying: "let the people starve. they had no business to come out here in the desert without any provisions. they are improvident, and the improvident ought to suffer." there is another man, not quite so heartless, who says: "go up into the village and buy bread." what a foolish proposition! there is not enough food in all the village for this crowd; besides that, who has the money to pay for it? xerxes' army, one million strong, was fed by a private individual of great wealth for only one day, but it broke him. who, then, shall feed this multitude? i see a man rising in that great crowd and asking: "is there any one here who has bread or meat?" a kind of moan goes through the whole throng. "no bread--no meat." but just at that time a lad steps up. you know when a great crowd goes off upon an excursion, there are always men and boys to go along for the purpose of merchandise and to strike a bargain: and so, i suppose, this boy had gone along for the purpose of merchandise; but he was nearly all sold out, having only five loaves and two fishes left. he is a generous boy, and he turns them over to christ. but these loaves would not feed twenty people, how much less ten thousand! though the action was so generous on the part of the boy, so far as satisfying the multitude, it was a dead failure. then jesus comes to the rescue. he is apt to come when there is a dead lift. he commands the people that they sit down "in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties," as much as to say: "order! order! so that none be missed." it was fortunate that that arrangement was made; otherwise, at the very first appearance of bread, the strong ones would have clutched it, while the feeble and the modest would have gone unsupplied. i suppose it was no easy work to get that crowd seated, for they all wanted to be in the front row, lest the bread give out before their turn come. no sooner are they seated than there comes a great hush over all the people. jesus stands there, his light complexion and auburn locks illumined by the setting sun. every eye is on him. they wonder what he will do next. he takes one of the loaves that the boy furnished and breaks off it a piece, which immediately grows to as large a size as the original loaf, the original loaf staying as large as it was before the piece was broken off. and they leaned forward with intense scrutiny, saying: "look! look!" when some one, anxious to see more minutely what is going on, rises in front, they cry: "sit down in front! let us look for ourselves." and then, when the bread is passed around, they taste of it skeptically and inquiringly, as much as to say: "is it bread? really, is it bread?" yes, the best bread that was ever made, for christ made it. bread for the first fifty and second fifty. bread for the first hundred and the second hundred. bread for the first thousand and the second thousand. pass it all around the circle: there, where that aged man sits leaning on his staff, and where that woman sits with the child in her arms. pass it all around. are you all fed? "ay! ay!" respond the ten thousand voices; "all fed." one basket would have held the loaves before the miracle; it takes twelve baskets now. sound it through all the ages of earth and heaven, that christ the lord comes to our suffering race with the bread of this life in one hand, and the bread of eternal life in the other hand. you have all immediately run out the analogy between that scene and this. there were thousands there; there are thousands here. they were in the desert; many of you are in the desert of trouble and sin. no human power could feed them; no human power can feed you. christ appeared to them; christ appears to you. bread enough for all in the desert; bread enough for all who are here. and, as on that occasion, so in this: we have the people "sit down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties;" for the fact that many of you stand is no fault of ours, for we have tried to give you seats. as christ divided that company into groups, so i divide this audience into three groups: the pardoned, the seeking, the careless. i. and, first, i speak to the pardoned. it is with some of you half past five in the morning, and some faint streaks of light. with others it is seven o'clock, and thus full dawn. with others it is twelve o'clock at noon, and you sit in full blaze of gospel pardon. i bring you congratulation. joseph delivered from potiphar's dungeon; daniel lifted from the lion's den; saul arrested and unhorsed on the road to damascus. oh, you delivered captives, how your eyes should gleam, and your souls should bound, and your lips should sing in this pardon! from what land did you come? a land of darkness. what is to be your destiny? a land of light. who got you out? christ, the lord. can you sit so placidly and unmoved while all heaven comes to your soul with congratulation, and harps are strung, and crowns are lifted, and a great joy swings round the heavens at the news of your disinthrallment? if you could realize out of what a pit you have been dug, to what height you are to be raised, and to what glory you are destined, you would spring to your feet with "hosanna!" in there was a meeting of the emperors of france and russia at erfurt. there were distinguished men there also from other lands. it was so arranged that when any of the emperors arrived at the door of the reception-room, the drum should beat three times; but when a lesser dignitary should come, then the drum would sound but twice. after awhile the people in the audience-chamber heard two taps of the drum. they said: "a prince is coming." but after awhile there were three taps, and they cried: "the emperor!" oh, there is a more glorious arrival at your soul to-night! the drum beats twice at the coming in of the lesser joys and congratulations of your soul; but it beats once, twice, thrice at the coming in of a glorious king--jesus the saviour, jesus the god! i congratulate you. all are yours--things present and things to come. ii. i come now to speak of the second division--those who are seeking; some of you with more earnestness, some of you with less earnestness. but i believe that to-night, if i should ask all those who wish to find the way to heaven to rise, and the world did not scoff at you, and your own proud heart did not keep you down, there would be a thousand souls who would cry out as they rose up: "show me the way to heaven!" that young man who smiled to the one next to him, as though he cared for none of these things, would be on his knees crying for mercy. why this anxious look? why this deep disquietude in the soul? why, at the beginning of this service, did you do what you have not done for years--bow your head in prayer? you are seeking. "i am a gambler," says one man. there is mercy for you. "i am a libertine," says another. there is mercy for you. "i have plunged into every abomination." mercy for you. the door of grace does not stand ajar to-night, nor half swung around on the hinges. it is wide, wide open; and there is nothing in the bible, or in christ, or god, or earth, or heaven, or hell, to keep you out of the door of safety, if you want to go in. christ has borne your burdens, fought your battles, suffered for your sins. the debt is paid, and the receipt is handed to you, written in the blood of the son of god--will you have it? oh, decide the matter now! decide it here! fling your exhausted soul down at the feet of an all-compassionate, all-sympathizing, all-pitying, all-pardoning jesus. the laceration on his brow, the gash in his side, the torn muscles and nerves of his feet beg you to come. but remember that one inch outside the door of pardon, and you are in as much peril as though you were a thousand miles away. many a shipwrecked sailor has got almost to the beach, but did not get on it. there are thousands in the world of the lost who came very near being saved--perhaps as near as you are to-night--but were not saved. on the eastern coast of england, a few weeks ago, in a fishing-village, there was a good deal of excitement. while people were in church, the sailors and fishermen hearing the gospel on the sabbath, there was a cry: "to the beach!" and the minister closed the bible, and with his congregation went out to help, and they saw in the offing a ship in trouble; but there was some disorder amid the fishing-smacks, and amid all the boats, and it was almost impossible to get anything launched. but after awhile they did, and they pulled away for the wreck, and came almost up, when suddenly the distressed bark in the offing capsized, and they all went down. oh, if the lifeboats had only been ten minutes quicker! and how many a life-boat has been launched from the gospel shore! it has come almost up to the drowning, and yet, after all, they were not rescued. somehow they did not get into it! i suppose there are people who have asked for our prayers, and i suppose there were some in the side room, last sabbath night, talking about their souls, who will miss heaven. they do not take the last step, and all the other steps go for nothing until you have taken the last step, for i have here, in the presence of god and this people, to announce the solemn truth, that to be almost saved is to be lost forever. that is all i have to say to the second division. iii. i come now to speak to the careless. you look indifferent, and i suppose you are indifferent. you say: "i came in here because a friend invited me to see what is going on, but with no serious intentions about my soul. i have so much work, and so much pleasure on hand, don't bother me about religion." and yet you are gentlemanly, and you are lady-like, in your behavior, and, therefore, i know that you will listen respectfully if i talk courteously. christian people are sometimes afraid to talk to men and women of the world lest they be insulted. if they talk courteously to people of the world, they will listen courteously. so now i try to come in that way, and in that spirit, and talk to those of you who tell me that you are careless about your soul. then you have a soul, have you? yes, precious, with infinite capacity for joy or suffering, winged for flight somewhere. beckoned upward, beckoned downward. fought after by angels and by fiends. immortal! "the sun is but a spark of fire, a transient meteor in the sky: the soul, immortal as its sire, can never die." your body will soon be taken down, the castle will be destroyed, the tower will be in the dust, the windows will be broken out, and the place where your body sleeps will be forgotten; but your soul, after that, will be living, acting, feeling, thinking--where? where? oh, there must be something of incomputable worth in that for which heaven gave up its best inhabitant, and christ went into martyrdom, and at the coming of which angels chant an eternal litany and devils rush to the gate. when everything above you, and beneath you, and around you, is intent upon that soul, you can not afford to be careless, especially when i think, this moment while i speak, there are thousands of souls in heaven rejoicing that they attended to this matter in time, while at this very instant there are souls in the lost world mourning that they did not attend to it in time. hark to the howling of the damned! oh, if this room could be vacated of this audience, and you were all gone, and the wan spirits of the lost could come up and occupy this place, and i could stand before them with offers of pardon through jesus christ, and then ask them if they would accept it, there would come up an instantaneous, multitudinous, overwhelming cry: "yes! yes! yes! yes!" no such fortune for them. they had their day of grace, and sacrificed it. you have yours; will you sacrifice it? i wish that i could have you see these things as you will one day see them. suppose, on your way home, a runaway horse should dash across the street, or between the dock and the boat you should accidentally slip, where would you be at twelve o'clock to-night or seven o'clock to-morrow morning? or for all eternity where would you be? i do not answer the question. i just leave it to you to answer. but suppose you escape fatal accident. suppose you go out by the ordinary process of sickness. i will just suppose now that your last hour has come. the doctor says, as he goes out of the room: "can't get well." there is something in the faces of those who stand around you that prophesies that you can not get well. you say within yourself: "i can't get well." where are your comrades now? oh, they are off to the gay party that very night! they dance as well as they ever did. they drink as much wine. they laugh as loud as though you were not dying. they destroyed your soul, but do not come to help you die. well, there are father and mother in the room. they are very quiet, but occasionally they go out into the next room and weep bitterly. the bed is very much disheveled. they have not been able to make it up for two or three days. there are four or five pillows lying around, because they have been trying to make you as easy as they could. on the one side of your bed are all the past years of your life--the bibles, the sermons, the communion-tables, the offers of mercy. you say: "take them away." your mother thinks you are delirious. she says: "there is nothing there, my dear, nothing there." there is something there! it is your wasted opportunities. it is your procrastinations. it is those years you gave to the world that you ought to have given to christ. they are there; and some of them put their fingers on your aching temples, and some of them feel for the strings of your heart, and some put more thorns in your tumbled pillow, and you say: "turn me over." and they turn you over, but, alas! there is a more appalling vision. you say: "take that away!" they say: "there is nothing there, nothing there." there is--an open grave there! the judgment is there! a lost eternity is there! take it away! they can not take it away. you say: "how dark it is getting in the room!" why, the burners are all lighted. your family come up one by one, and tenderly kiss you good-bye. your feet are cold, and the hands are cold, and the lips are cold, and they take a small mirror and they put it over your mouth to see if there is any breathing, and that mirror is taken away without a single blur upon it; and they whisper through the room: "she is gone." and then the door of the body opens and the soul flashes out. make room for the destroyed spirit. push back that door! lost! let it come into its eternal residence. woe! woe! no cup of merriment now, but cup of the wrath of almighty god. the last chance for heaven gone. the door of mercy shut. the doom sealed. the blackness of darkness forever! voltaire is there. herod is there. robespierre is there. the debauchees are there. the murderers are there. all the rejectors of jesus christ are there. and you will be there unless you repent. you can not say, my dear brother, that you were not warned. this sermon would be a witness against you. you can not say that god's holy spirit never strove with your heart. he is striving now. you can not say that you had no chance for heaven, for the omnipotent son of god offers you his rescue. you can not say: "i had no warning about that world; i didn't know there was any such place," for the bible distinctly rings in your ears to-day, saying: "at the end of the world the angels shall separate the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire." and again that book says: "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget god." and again it says: "the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever." you can not say that you did not hear about heaven, the other alternative, for you hear of it now: "the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water, and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." no sorrow, no suffering, no death. oh, will you be careless any longer, when i tell you that christ, the conqueror of earth and hell, offers you now escape from all peril, and offers to introduce you this very hour into the peace and pardon of the gospel, preparing you for that good land? the sides of calvary run blood for you. jesus, who had not where to lay his head, offers you his heart as a pillow of rest. christ offers with his own body to bridge over the chasm of death, saying: "walk over me; i am the way." o suffering jesus! the thief scoffed at thee, and the malefactor spat on thee, and the soldiers stabbed thee; but these who sit before thee to-day have no heart to do that. o jesus! tell them of thy love, tell them of thy sympathy, tell them of the rewards thou wilt give them in the better land. groan again, o blessed jesus! groan again, and perhaps when the rocks fall, their hard hearts may break. "nothing brought him from above, nothing but redeeming love." the promise is all free, the path all clear. come, mary, and sit to-night at the feet of jesus. come, bartimeus, and have your eyes opened. come, o prodigal! and sit at thy father's table. come, o you suffering, sinning, dying the soul! and find rest on the heart of jesus. the spirit and bride say "come," and churches militant and triumphant say "come," and all the voices of the past, mingling with all the voices of the future, in one great thunder of emphasis, bid you "come now!" are not those of you who are in the third class ready to pass over into the second division, and become seekers after christ? ay, are you not ready to pass over into the first division, and become the pardoned sons and daughters of the lord almighty? i can do no more than offer you, through jesus christ, peace on earth and everlasting residence in his presence. "when god makes up his last account of natives in his holy mount, 'twill be an honor to appear as one new-born and nourished there." good-night! the lord bless you! go to your homes seeking after christ. sleep not until you have made your peace with god. good-night--a deep, hearty, loving, christian good-night! the insignificant. "and she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto boaz, who was of the kindred of elimelech."--ruth ii: . the time that ruth and naomi arrive at bethlehem is harvest-time. it was the custom when a sheaf fell from a load in the harvest-field for the reapers to refuse to gather it up: that was to be left for the poor who might happen to come along that way. if there were handfuls of grain scattered across the field after the main harvest had been reaped, instead of raking it, as farmers do now, it was, by the custom of the land, left in its place, so that the poor, coming along that way, might glean it and get their bread. but, you say, "what is the use of all these harvest-fields to ruth and naomi? naomi is too old and feeble to go out and toil in the sun; and can you expect that ruth, the young and the beautiful, should tan her cheeks and blister her hands in the harvest-field?" boaz owns a large farm, and he goes out to see the reapers gather in the grain. coming there, right behind the swarthy, sun-browned reapers, he beholds a beautiful woman gleaning--a woman more fit to bend to a harp or sit upon a throne than to stoop among the sheaves. ah, that was an eventful day! it was love at first sight. boaz forms an attachment for the womanly gleaner--an attachment full of undying interest to the church of god in all ages; while ruth, with an ephah, or nearly a bushel of barley, goes home to naomi to tell her the successes and adventures of the day. that ruth, who left her native land of moab in darkness, and traveled through an undying affection for her mother-in-law, is in the harvest-field of boaz, is affianced to one of the best families in judah, and becomes in after-time the ancestress of jesus christ, the lord of glory! out of so dark a night did there ever dawn so bright a morning? i. i learn, in the first place, from this subject how trouble develops character. it was bereavement, poverty, and exile that developed, illustrated, and announced to all ages the sublimity of ruth's character. that is a very unfortunate man who has no trouble. it was sorrow that made john bunyan the better dreamer, and doctor young the better poet, and o'connell the better orator, and bishop hall the better preacher, and havelock the better soldier, and kitto the better encyclopædist, and ruth the better daughter-in-law. i once asked an aged man in regard to his pastor, who was a very brilliant man, "why is it that your pastor, so very brilliant, seems to have so little heart and tenderness in his sermons?" "well," he replied, "the reason is, our pastor has never had any trouble. when misfortune comes upon him, his style will be different." after awhile the lord took a child out of that pastor's house; and though the preacher was just as brilliant as he was before, oh, the warmth, the tenderness of his discourses! the fact is, that trouble is a great educator. you see sometimes a musician sit down at an instrument, and his execution is cold and formal and unfeeling. the reason is that all his life he has been prospered. but let misfortune or bereavement come to that man, and he sits down at the instrument, and you discover the pathos in the first sweep of the keys. misfortune and trials are great educators. a young doctor comes into a sick-room where there is a dying child. perhaps he is very rough in his prescription, and very rough in his manner, and rough in the feeling of the pulse, and rough in his answer to the mother's anxious question; but years roll on, and there has been one dead in his own house; and now he comes into the sick-room, and with tearful eye he looks at the dying child, and he says, "oh, how this reminds me of my charlie!" trouble, the great educator. sorrow--i see its touch in the grandest painting; i hear its tremor in the sweetest song; i feel its power in the mightiest argument. grecian mythology said that the fountain of hippocrene was struck out by the foot of the winged horse pegasus. i have often noticed in life that the brightest and most beautiful fountains of christian comfort and spiritual life have been struck out by the iron-shod hoof of disaster and calamity. i see daniel's courage best by the flash of nebuchadnezzar's furnace. i see paul's prowess best when i find him on the foundering ship under the glare of the lightning in the breakers of melita. god crowns his children amid the howling of wild beasts and the chopping of blood-splashed guillotine and the crackling fires of martyrdom. it took the persecutions of marcus aurelius to develop polycarp and justin martyr. it took the pope's bull and the cardinal's curse and the world's anathema to develop martin luther. it took all the hostilities against the scotch covenanters and the fury of lord claverhouse to develop james renwick, and andrew melville, and hugh mckail, the glorious martyrs of scotch history. it took the stormy sea, and the december blast, and the desolate new england coast, and the war-whoop of savages, to show forth the prowess of the pilgrim fathers-- "when amid the storms they sung, and the stars heard, and the sea, and the sounding aisles of the dim wood rang to the anthems of the free." it took all our past national distresses, and it takes all our present national sorrows, to lift up our nation on that high career where it will march along after the foreign aristocracies that have mocked and the tyrannies that have jeered, shall be swept down under the omnipotent wrath of god, who hates despotism, and who, by the strength of his own red right arm, will make all men free. and so it is individually, and in the family, and in the church, and in the world, that through darkness and storm and trouble men, women, churches, nations, are developed. ii. again, i see in my text the beauty of unfaltering friendship. i suppose there were plenty of friends for naomi while she was in prosperity; but of all her acquaintances, how many were willing to trudge off with her toward judah, when she had to make that lonely journey? one--the heroine of my text. one--absolutely one. i suppose when naomi's husband was living, and they had plenty of money, and all things went well, they had a great many callers; but i suppose that after her husband died, and her property went, and she got old and poor, she was not troubled very much with callers. all the birds that sung in the bower while the sun shone have gone to their nests, now the night has fallen. oh, these beautiful sun-flowers that spread out their color in the morning hour! but they are always asleep when the sun is going down! job had plenty of friends when he was the richest man in uz; but when his property went and the trials came, then there were none so much that pestered as eliphaz the temanite, and bildad the shuhite, and zophar the naamathite. life often seems to be a mere game, where the successful player pulls down all the other men into his own lap. let suspicions arise about a man's character, and he becomes like a bank in a panic, and all the imputations rush on him and break down in a day that character which in due time would have had strength to defend itself. there are reputations that have been half a century in building, which go down under some moral exposure, as a vast temple is consumed by the touch of a sulphurous match. a hog can uproot a century plant. in this world, so full of heartlessness and hypocrisy, how thrilling it is to find some friend as faithful in days of adversity as in days of prosperity! david had such a friend in hushai; the jews had such a friend in mordecai, who never forgot their cause; paul had such a friend in onesiphorus, who visited him in jail; christ had such in the marys, who adhered to him on the cross; naomi had such a one in ruth, who cried out: "entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, i will go; and where thou lodgest, i will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy god my god; where thou diest will i die, and there will i be buried: the lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me." iii. again, i learn from this subject that paths which open in hardship and darkness often come out in places of joy. when ruth started from moab toward jerusalem, to go along with her mother-in-law, i suppose the people said: "oh, what a foolish creature to go away from her father's house, to go off with a poor old woman toward the land of judah! they won't live to get across the desert. they will be drowned in the sea, or the jackals of the wilderness will destroy them." it was a very dark morning when ruth started off with naomi; but behold her in my text in the harvest-field of boaz, to be affianced to one of the lords of the land, and become one of the grandmothers of jesus christ, the lord of glory. and so it often is that a path which often starts very darkly ends very brightly. when you started out for heaven, oh, how dark was the hour of conviction--how sinai thundered, and devils tormented, and the darkness thickened! all the sins of your life pounced upon you, and it was the darkest hour you ever saw when you first found out your sins. after awhile you went into the harvest-field of god's mercy; you began to glean in the fields of divine promise, and you had more sheaves than you could carry, as the voice of god addressed you, saying: "blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." a very dark starting in conviction, a very bright ending in the pardon and the hope and the triumph of the gospel! so, very often in our worldly business or in our spiritual career, we start off on a very dark path. we must go. the flesh may shrink back, but there is a voice within, or a voice from above, saying, "you must go;" and we have to drink the gall, and we have to carry the cross, and we have to traverse the desert and we are pounded and flailed of misrepresentation and abuse, and we have to urge our way through ten thousand obstacles that have been slain by our own right arm. we have to ford the river, we have to climb the mountain, we have to storm the castle; but, blessed be god, the day of rest and reward will come. on the tip-top of the captured battlements we will shout the victory; if not in this world, then in that world where there is no gall to drink, no burdens to carry, no battles to fight. how do i know it? know it! i know it because god says so: "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat, for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water, and god shall wipe all tears from their eyes." it was very hard for noah to endure the scoffing of the people in his day, while he was trying to build the ark, and was every morning quizzed about his old boat that would never be of any practical use; but when the deluge came, and the tops of the mountains disappeared like the backs of sea-monsters, and the elements, lashed up in fury, clapped their hands over a drowned world, then noah in the ark rejoiced in his own safety and in the safety of his family, and looked out on the wreck of a ruined earth. christ, hounded of persecutors, denied a pillow, worse maltreated than the thieves on either side of the cross, human hate smacking its lips in satisfaction after it had been draining his last drop of blood, the sheeted dead bursting from the sepulchers at his crucifixion. tell me, o gethsemane and golgotha! were there ever darker times than those? like the booming of the midnight sea against the rock, the surges of christ's anguish beat against the gates of eternity, to be echoed back by all the thrones of heaven and all the dungeons of hell. but the day of reward comes for christ; all the pomp and dominion of this world are to be hung on his throne, uncrowned heads are to bow before him on whose head are many crowns, and all the celestial worship is to come up at his feet, like the humming of the forest, like the rushing of the waters, like the thundering of the seas, while all heaven, rising on their thrones, beat time with their scepters: "hallelujah, for the lord god omnipotent reigneth! hallelujah, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our lord jesus christ!" "that song of love, now low and far, ere long shall swell from star to star; that light, the breaking day which tips the golden-spired apocalypse." iv. again, i learn from my subject that events which seem to be most insignificant may be momentous. can you imagine anything more unimportant than the coming of a poor woman from moab to judah? can you imagine anything more trivial than the fact that this ruth just happened to alight--as they say--just happened to alight on that field of boaz? yet all ages, all generations, have an interest in the fact that she was to become an ancestor of the lord jesus christ, and all nations and kingdoms must look at that one little incident with a thrill of unspeakable and eternal satisfaction. so it is in your history and in mine: events that you thought of no importance at all have been of very great moment. that casual conversation, that accidental meeting--you did not think of it again for a long while; but how it changed all the phase of your life! it seemed to be of no importance that jubal invented rude instruments of music, calling them harp and organ; but they were the introduction of all the world's minstrelsy; and as you hear the vibration of a stringed instrument, even after the fingers have been taken away from it, so all music now of lute and drum and cornet is only the long-continued strains of jubal's harp and jubal's organ. it seemed to be a matter of very little importance that tubal cain learned the uses of copper and iron; but that rude foundry of ancient days has its echo in the rattle of birmingham machinery, and the roar and bang of factories on the merrimac. it seemed to be a matter of no importance that luther found a bible in a monastery; but as he opened that bible, and the brass-bound lids fell back, they jarred everything, from the vatican to the furthest convent in germany, and the rustling of the wormed leaves was the sound of the wings of the angel of the reformation. it seemed to be a matter of no importance that a woman, whose name has been forgotten, dropped a tract in the way of a very bad man by the name of richard baxter. he picked up the tract and read it, and it was the means of his salvation. in after-days that man wrote a book called "the call to the unconverted," that was the means of bringing a multitude to god, among others philip doddridge. philip doddridge wrote a book called "the rise and progress of religion," which has brought thousands and tens of thousands into the kingdom of god, and among others the great wilberforce. wilberforce wrote a book called "a practical view of christianity," which was the means of bringing a great multitude to christ, among others legh richmond. legh richmond wrote a tract called "the dairyman's daughter," which has been the means of the salvation of unconverted multitudes. and that tide of influence started from the fact that one christian woman dropped a christian tract in the way of richard baxter--the tide of influence rolling on through richard baxter, through philip doddridge, through the great wilberforce, through legh richmond, on, on, on, forever, forever. so the insignificant events of this world seem, after all, to be most momentous. the fact that you came up that street or this street seemed to be of no importance to you, and the fact that you went inside of some church may seem to be a matter of very great insignificance to you, but you will find it the turning-point in your history. v. again, i see in my subject an illustration of the beauty of female industry. behold ruth toiling in the harvest-field under the hot sun, or at noon taking plain bread with the reapers, or eating the parched corn which boaz handed to her. the customs of society, of course, have changed, and without the hardships and exposure to which ruth was subjected, every intelligent woman will find something to do. i know there is a sickly sentimentality on this subject. in some families there are persons of no practical service to the household or community; and though there are so many woes all around about them in the world, they spend their time languishing over a new pattern, or bursting into tears at midnight over the story of some lover who shot himself! they would not deign to look at ruth carrying back the barley on her way home to her mother-in-law, naomi. all this fastidiousness may seem to do very well while they are under the shelter of their father's house; but when the sharp winter of misfortune comes, what of these butterflies? persons under indulgent parentage may get upon themselves habits of indolence; but when they come out into practical life their soul will recoil with disgust and chagrin. they will feel in their hearts what the poet so severely satirized when he said: "folks are so awkward, things so impolite, they're elegantly pained from morning until night." through that gate of indolence how many men and women have marched, useless on earth, to a destroyed eternity! spinola said to sir horace vere: "of what did your brother die?" "of having nothing to do," was the answer. "ah!" said spinola, "that's enough to kill any general of us." oh! can it be possible in this world, where there is so much suffering to be alleviated, so much darkness to be enlightened, and so many burdens to be carried, that there is any person who cannot find anything to do? madame de staël did a world of work in her time; and one day, while she was seated amid instruments of music, all of which she had mastered, and amid manuscript books which she had written, some one said to her: "how do you find time to attend to all these things?" "oh," she replied, "these are not the things i am proud of. my chief boast is in the fact that i have seventeen trades, by any one of which i could make a livelihood if necessary." and if in secular spheres there is so much to be done, in spiritual work how vast the field! how many dying all around about us without one word of comfort! we want more abigails, more hannahs, more rebeccas, more marys, more deborahs consecrated--body, mind, soul--to the lord who bought them. vi. once more i learn from my subject the value of gleaning. ruth going into that harvest-field might have said: "there is a straw, and there is a straw, but what is a straw? i can't get any barley for myself or my mother-in-law out of these separate straws." not so said beautiful ruth. she gathered two straws, and she put them together, and more straws, until she got enough to make a sheaf. putting that down, she went and gathered more straws, until she had another sheaf, and another, and another, and another, and then she brought them all together, and she threshed them out, and she had an ephah of barley, nigh a bushel. oh, that we might all be gleaners! elihu burritt learned many things while toiling in a blacksmith's shop. abercrombie, the world-renowned philosopher, was a philosopher in scotland, and he got his philosophy, or the chief part of it, while, as a physician, he was waiting for the door of the sick-room to open. yet how many there are in this day who say they are so busy they have no time for mental or spiritual improvement; the great duties of life cross the field like strong reapers, and carry off all the hours, and there is only here and there a fragment left, that is not worth gleaning. ah, my friends, you could go into the busiest day and busiest week of your life and find golden opportunities, which, gathered, might at last make a whole sheaf for the lord's garner. it is the stray opportunities and the stray privileges which, taken up and bound together and beaten out, will at last fill you with much joy. there are a few moments left worth the gleaning. now, ruth, to the field! may each one have a measure full and running over! oh, you gleaners, to the field! and if there be in your household an aged one or a sick relative that is not strong enough to come forth and toil in this field, then let ruth take home to feeble naomi this sheaf of gleaning: "he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." may the lord god of ruth and naomi be our portion forever! the three rings. "put a ring on his hand."--luke xv: . i will not rehearse the familiar story of the fast young man of the parable. you know what a splendid home he left. you know what a hard time he had. and you remember how after that season of vagabondage and prodigality he resolved to go and weep out his sorrows on the bosom of parental forgiveness. well, there is great excitement one day in front of the door of the old farmhouse. the servants come rushing up and say: "what's the matter? what _is_ the matter?" but before they quite arrive, the old man cries out: "put a ring on his hand." what a seeming absurdity! what can such a wretched mendicant as this fellow that is tramping on toward the house want with a ring? oh, he is the prodigal son. no more tending of the swine-trough. no more longing for the pods of the carob-tree. no more blistered feet. off with the rags! on with the robe! out with the ring! even so does god receive every one of us when we come back. there are gold rings, and pearl rings, and carnelian rings, and diamond rings; but the richest ring that ever flashed on the vision is that which our father puts upon a forgiven soul. i know that the impression is abroad among some people that religion bemeans and belittles a man; that it takes all the sparkle out of his soul; that he has to exchange a roistering independence for an ecclesiastical strait-jacket. not so. when a man becomes a christian, he does not go down, he starts upward. religion multiplies one by ten thousand. nay, the multiplier is in infinity. it is not a blotting out--it is a polishing, it is an arborescence, it is an efflorescence, it is an irradiation. when a man comes into the kingdom of god he is not sent into a menial service, but the lord god almighty from the palaces of heaven calls upon the messenger angels that wait upon the throne to fly and "put a ring on his hand." in christ are the largest liberty, and brightest joy, and highest honor, and richest adornment. "put a ring on his hand." i remark, in the first place, that when christ receives a soul into his love, he puts upon him the ring of adoption. eight or ten years ago, in my church in philadelphia, there came the representative of the howard mission of new york. he brought with him eight or ten children of the street that he had picked up, and he was trying to find for them christian homes; and as the little ones stood on the pulpit and sung, our hearts melted within us. at the close of the services a great-hearted wealthy man came up and said: "i'll take this little bright-eyed girl, and i'll adopt her as one of my own children;" and he took her by the hand, lifted her into his carriage, and went away. the next day, while we were in the church gathering up garments for the poor of new york, this little child came back with a bundle under her arm, and she said: "there's my old dress; perhaps some of the poor children would like to have it," while she herself was in bright and beautiful array, and those who more immediately examined her said that she had a ring on her hand. it was a ring of adoption. there are a great many persons who pride themselves on their ancestry, and they glory over the royal blood that pours through their arteries. in their line there was a lord, or a duke, or a prime minister, or a king. but when the lord, our father, puts upon us the ring of his adoption, we become the children of the ruler of all nations. "behold what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of god." it matters not how poor our garments may be in this world, or how scant our bread, or how mean the hut we live in, if we have that ring of christ's adoption upon our hand we are assured of eternal defenses. adopted! why, then, we are brothers and sisters to all the good of earth and heaven. we have the family name, the family dress, the family keys, the family wardrobe. the father looks after us, robes us, defends us, blesses us. we have royal blood in our veins, and there are crowns in our line. if we are his children, then princes and princesses. it is only a question of time when we get our coronet. adopted! then we have the family secrets. "the secret of the lord is with them that fear him." adopted! then we have the family inheritance, and in the day when our father shall divide the riches of heaven we shall take our share of the mansions and palaces and temples. henceforth let us boast no more of an earthly ancestry. the insignia of eternal glory is our coat of arms. this ring of adoption puts upon us all honor and all privilege. now we can take the words of charles wesley, that prince of hymn-makers, and sing: "come, let us join our friends above, who have obtained the prize, and on the eagle wings of love to joy celestial rise. "let all the saints terrestrial sing with those to glory gone; for all the servants of our king, in heaven and earth, are one." i have been told that when any of the members of any of the great secret societies of this country are in a distant city and are in any kind of trouble, and are set upon by enemies, they have only to give a certain signal and the members of that organization will flock around for defense. and when any man belongs to this great christian brotherhood, if he gets in trouble, in trial, in persecution, in temptation, he has only to show this ring of christ's adoption, and all the armed cohorts of heaven will come to his rescue. still further, when christ takes a soul into his love he puts upon it a marriage-ring. now, that is not a whim of mine: "and i will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, i will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies." (hosea ii: .) at the wedding altar the bridegroom puts a ring upon the hand of the bride, signifying love and faithfulness. trouble may come upon the household, and the carpets may go, the pictures may go, the piano may go, everything else may go--the last thing that goes is that marriage-ring, for it is considered sacred. in the burial hour it is withdrawn from the hand and kept in a casket, and sometimes the box is opened on an anniversary day, and as you look at that ring you see under its arch a long procession of precious memories. within the golden circle of that ring there is room for a thousand sweet recollections to revolve, and you think of the great contrast between the hour when, at the close of the "wedding march," under the flashing lights and amid the aroma of orange-blossoms, you set that ring on the round finger of the plump hand, and that other hour when, at the close of the exhaustive watching, when you knew that the soul had fled, you took from the hand, which gave back no responsive clasp, from that emaciated finger, the ring that she had worn so long and worn so well. on some anniversary day you take up that ring, and you repolish it until all the old luster comes back, and you can see in it the flash of eyes that long ago ceased to weep. oh, it is not an unmeaning thing when i tell you that when christ receives a soul into his keeping he puts on it a marriage-ring. he endows you from that moment with all his wealth. you are one--christ and the soul--one in sympathy, one in affection, one in hope. there is no power in earth or hell to effect a divorcement after christ and the soul are united. other kings have turned out their companions when they got weary of them, and sent them adrift from the palace gate. ahasuerus banished vashti; napoleon forsook josephine; but christ is the husband that is true forever. having loved you once, he loves you to the end. did they not try to divorce margaret, the scotch girl, from jesus? they said: "you must give up your religion." she said: "i can't give up my religion." and so they took her down to the beach of the sea, and they drove in a stake at low-water mark, and they fastened her to it, expecting that as the tide came up her faith would fail. the tide began to rise, and came up higher and higher, and to the girdle, and to the lip, and in the last moment, just as the wave was washing her soul into glory, she shouted the praises of jesus. oh, no, you can not separate a soul from christ! it is an everlasting marriage. battle and storm and darkness can not do it. is it too much exultation for a man, who is but dust and ashes like myself, to cry out this morning: "i am persuaded that neither height, nor depth, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature shall separate me from the love of god which is in christ jesus my lord"? glory be to god that when christ and the soul are married they are bound by a chain, a golden chain--if i might say so--a chain with one link, and that one link the golden ring of god's everlasting love. i go a step further, and tell you that when christ receives a soul into his love he puts on him the ring of festivity. you know that it has been the custom in all ages to bestow rings on very happy occasions. there is nothing more appropriate for a birthday gift than a ring. you delight to bestow such a gift upon your children at such a time. it means joy, hilarity, festivity. well, when this old man of the text wanted to tell how glad he was that his boy had got back, he expressed it in this way. actually, before he ordered sandals to be put on his bare feet; before he ordered the fatted calf to be killed to appease the boy's hunger, he commanded: "put a ring on his hand." oh, it is a merry time when christ and the soul are united! joy of forgiveness! what a splendid thing it is to feel that all is right between me and god. what a glorious thing it is to have god just take up all the sins of my life and put them in one bundle, and then fling them into the depths of the sea, never to rise again, never to be talked of again. pollution all gone. darkness all illumined. god reconciled. the prodigal home. "put a ring on his hand." every day i find happy christian people. i find some of them with no second coat, some of them in huts and tenement houses, not one earthly comfort afforded them; and yet they are as happy as happy can be. they sing "rock of ages" as no other people in the world sing it. they never wore any jewelry in their life but one gold ring, and that was the ring of god's undying affection. oh, how happy religion makes us! did it make you gloomy and sad? did you go with your head cast down? i do not think you got religion, my brother. that is not the effect of religion. true religion is a joy. "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." why, religion lightens all our burdens. it smooths all our way. it interprets all our sorrows. it changes the jar of earthly discord for the peal of festal bells. in front of the flaming furnace of trial it sets the forge on which scepters are hammered out. would you not like to-day to come up from the swine-feeding and try this religion? all the joys of heaven would come out and meet you, and god would cry from the throne: "put a ring on his hand." you are not happy. i see it. there is no peace, and sometimes you laugh when you feel a great deal more like crying. the world is a cheat. it first wears you down with its follies, then it kicks you out into darkness. it comes back from the massacre of a million souls to attempt the destruction of your soul to-day. no peace out of god, but here is the fountain that can slake the thirst. here is the harbor where you can drop safe anchorage. would you not like, i ask you--not perfunctorily, but as one brother might talk to another--would you not like to have a pillow of rest to put your head on? and would you not like, when you retire at night, to feel that all is well, whether you wake up to-morrow morning at six o'clock, or sleep the sleep that knows no waking? would you not like to exchange this awful uncertainty about the future for a glorious assurance of heaven? accept of the lord jesus to-day, and all is well. if on your way home some peril should cross the street and dash your life out, it would not hurt you. you would rise up immediately. you would stand in the celestial streets. you would be amid the great throng that forever worship and are forever happy. if this day some sudden disease should come upon you, it would not frighten you. if you knew you were going you could give a calm farewell to your beautiful home on earth, and know that you are going right into the companionship of those who have already got beyond the toiling and the weeping. you feel on saturday night different from the way you feel any other night of the week. you come home from the bank, or the store, or the shop, and you say: "well, now my week's work is done, and to-morrow is sunday." it is a pleasant thought. there is refreshment and reconstruction in the very idea. oh, how pleasant it will be, if, when we get through the day of our life, and we go and lie down in our bed of dust, we can realize: "well, now the work is all done, and to-morrow is sunday--an everlasting sunday." "oh, when, thou city of my god, shall i thy courts ascend? where congregations ne'er break up, and sabbaths have no end." there are people in this house to-day who are very near the eternal world. if you are christians, i bid you be of good cheer. bear with you our congratulations to the bright city. aged men, who will soon be gone, take with you our love for our kindred in the better land, and when you see them, tell them that we are soon coming. only a few more sermons to preach and hear. only a few more heart-aches. only a few more toils. only a few more tears. and then--what an entrancing spectacle will open before us! "beautiful heaven, where all is light, beautiful angels clothed in white, beautiful strains that never tire, beautiful harps through all the choir; there shall i join the chorus sweet, worshiping at the saviour's feet." i stand before you on this sabbath, the last sabbath preceding the great feast-day in this church. on the next lord's-day the door of communion will be open, and you will all be invited to come in. and so i approach you now with a general invitation, not picking out here and there a man, or here and there a woman, or here and there a child; but giving you an unlimited invitation, saying: "come, for all things are now ready." we invite you to the warm heart of christ, and the inclosure of the christian church. i know a great many think that the church does not amount to much--that it is obsolete; that it did its work and is gone now, so far as all usefulness is concerned. it is the happiest place i have ever been in except my own home. i know there are some people who say they are christians who seem to get along without any help from others, and who culture solitary piety. they do not want any ordinances. i do not belong to that class. i can not get along without them. there are so many things in this world that take my attention from god, and christ, and heaven, that i want all the helps of all the symbols and of all the christian associations; and i want around about me a solid phalanx of men who love god and keep his commandments. are there any here who would like to enter into that association? then by a simple, child-like faith, apply for admission into the visible church, and you will be received. no questions asked about your past history or present surroundings. only one test--do you love jesus? baptism does not amount to anything, say a great many people; but the lord jesus declared, "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," putting baptism and faith side by side. and an apostle declares, "repent and be baptized, every one of you." i do not stickle for any particular mode of baptism, but i put great emphasis on the fact that you ought to be baptized. yet no more emphasis than the lord jesus christ, the great head of the church, puts upon it. the world is going to lose a great many of its votaries next sabbath. we give you warning. there is a great host coming in to stand under the banner of the lord jesus christ. will you be among them? it is going to be a great harvest-day. will you be among the gathered sheaves? some of you have been thinking on this subject year after year. you have found out that this world is a poor portion. you want to be christians. you have come almost into the kingdom of god; but there you stop, forgetful of the fact that to be almost saved is not to be saved at all. oh, my brother, after having come so near to the door of mercy, if you turn back, you will never come at all. after all you have heard of the goodness of god, if you turn away and die, it will not be because you did not have a good offer. "god's spirit will not always strive with hardened, self-destroying man; ye who persist his love to grieve may never hear his voice again." may god almighty this hour move upon your soul and bring you back from the husks of the wilderness to the father's house, and set you at the banquet, and "put a ring on your hand." how he came to say it. "if any man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be anathema maranatha."--i cor. xvi: . the smallest lad in the house knows the meaning of all those words except the last two, anathema maranatha. anathema, to cut off. maranatha, at his coming. so the whole passage might be read: "if any man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be cut off at his coming." well, how could the tender-hearted paul say that? we have seen him with tears discoursing about human want, and flushed with excitement about human sorrow; and now he throws those red-hot iron words into this letter to the corinthians. had he lost his patience? ok, no. had he resigned his confidence in the christian religion? oh, no. had the world treated him so badly that he had become its sworn enemy? oh, no. it needs some explanation, i confess, and i shall proceed to show by what process paul came to the vehement utterance of my text. before i close, if god shall give his spirit, you shall cease to be surprised at the exclamation of the apostle, and you yourselves will employ the same emphasis, declaring, "if any man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be anathema maranatha." if the photographic art had been discovered early enough, we should have had the facial proportions of christ--the front face, the side face, jesus sitting, jesus standing--provided he had submitted to that art; but since the sun did not become a portrait painter until eighteen centuries after christ, our idea about the saviour's personal appearance is all guess work. still, tradition tells us that he was the most infinitely beautiful being that ever walked our small earth. if his features had been rugged, and his gait had been ungainly, that would not have hindered him from being attractive. many men you have known and loved have had few charms of physiognomy. wilberforce was not attractive in face. socrates was repulsive. suwarrow, the great russian hero, looked almost an imbecile. and some whom you have known, and honored, and loved, have not had very great attractiveness of personal appearance. the shape of the mouth, and the nose, and the eyebrow, did not hinder the soul from shining through the cuticle of the face in all-powerful irradiation. but to a lovely exterior christ joined all loveliness of disposition. run through the galleries of heaven, and find out that he is _a non-such_. the sunshine of his love mingling with the shadows of his sorrows, crossed by the crystalline stream of his tears and the crimson flowing forth of his blood, make a picture worthy of being called the masterpiece of the eternities. hung on the wall of heaven, the celestial population would be enchanted but for the fact that they have the grand and magnificent original, and they want no picture. but christ having gone away from earth, we are dependent upon four indistinct pictures. matthew took one, mark another, luke another, and john another. i care not which picture you take, it is lovely. lovely? he was altogether lovely. he had a way of taking up a dropsical limb without hurting it, and of removing the cataract from the eye without the knife, and of starting the circulation through the shrunken arteries without the shock of the electric battery, and of putting intelligence into the dull stare of lunacy, and of restringing the auditory nerve of the deaf ear, and of striking articulation into the stiff tongue, and of making the stark-naked madman dress himself and exchange tombstone for ottoman, and of unlocking from the skeleton grip of death the daughter of jairus to embosom her in her glad father's arms. oh, he was lovely--sitting, standing, kneeling, lying down--always lovely. lovely in his sacrifice. why, he gave up everything for us. home, celestial companionship, music of seraphic harps, balmy breath of eternal summer, all joy, all light, all music, and heard the gates slam shut behind him as he came out to fight for our freedom, and with bare feet plunged on the sharp javelins of human and satanic hate, until his blood spurted into the faces of those who slew him. you want the soft, low, minor key of sweetest music to describe the pathos; but it needs an orchestra, under swinging of an archangel's baton, reaching from throne to manger, to drum and trumpet the doxologies of his praise. he took everybody's trouble--the leper's sickness, the widow's dead boy, the harlot's shame, the galilean fisherman's poor luck, the invalidism of simon's mother-in-law, the sting of malchus' amputated ear. some people cry very easily, and for some it is very difficult to cry. a great many tears on some cheeks do not mean so much as one tear on another cheek. what is it that i see glittering in the mild eye of jesus? it was all the sorrows of earth, and the woes of hell, from which he had plucked our souls, accreted into one transparent drop, lingering on the lower eyelash until it fell on a cheek red with the slap of human hands--just one salt, bitter, burning tear of jesus. no wonder the rock, the sky, and the cemetery were in consternation when he died! no wonder the universe was convulsed! it was the lord god almighty bursting into tears. now, suppose that, notwithstanding all this, a man can not have any affection for him. what ought to be done with such hard behavior? it seems to me that there ought to be some chastisement for a man who will not love such a christ. does it not make your blood tingle to think of jesus coming over the tens of thousands of miles that seem to separate god from us, and then to see a man jostle him out, and push him back, and shut the door in his face, and trample upon his entreaties? while you may not be able to rise up to the towering excitement of the apostle in my text, you can at any rate somewhat understand his feelings when he cried out: "after all this, 'if a man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be anathema maranatha.'" just look at the injustice of not loving him. now, there is nothing that excites a man like injustice. you go along the street, and you see your little child buffeted, or a ruffian comes and takes a boy's hat and throws it into the ditch. you say: "what great meanness, what injustice that is!" you can not stand injustice. i remember, in my boyhood days, attending a large meeting in tripler hall, new york. thousands of people were huzzaing, and the same kind of audiences were assembled at the same time in boston, edinburgh, and london. why? because the madaii family, in italy, had been robbed of their bible. "a little thing," you say. ah, that injustice was enough to arouse the indignation of a world. but while we are so sensitive about injustice as between man and man, how little sensitive we are about injustice between man and god. if there ever was a fair and square purchase of anything, then christ purchased us. he paid for us, not in shekels, not in ancient coins inscribed with effigies of hercules, or Ã�gina's tortoise, or lyre of mitylene, but in two kinds of coin--one red, the other glittering--blood and tears! if anything is purchased and paid for, ought not the goods to be delivered? if you have bought property and given the money, do you not want to come into possession of it? "yes," you say, "i will have it. i bought and paid for it." and you will go to law for it, and you will denounce the man as a defrauder. ay, if need be, you will hurl him into jail. you will say: "i am bound to get that property. i bought it. i paid for it!" now, transpose the case. suppose jesus christ to be the wronged purchaser on the one side, and the impenitent soul on the other, trying to defraud him of that which he bought at such an exorbitant price, how do you feel about that injustice? how do you feel toward that spiritual fraud, turpitude and perfidy? a man with an ardent temperament rises and he says that such injustice as between man and man is bad enough, but between man and god it is reprehensible and intolerable, and he brings his fist down on the pew, and he says: "i can stand this injustice no longer. after all this purchase, 'if any man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be anathema maranatha'!" i go still further, and show you how suicidal it is for a man not to love christ. if a man gets in trouble, and he can not get out, we have only one feeling toward him--sympathy and a desire to help him. if he has failed for a vast amount of money, and can not pay more than ten cents on a dollar--ay, if he can not pay anything--though his creditors may come after him like a pack of hounds, we sympathize with him. we go to his store, or house, and we express our condolence. but suppose the day before that man failed, william e. dodge had come into his store and said: "my friend, i hear you are in trouble. i have come to help you. if ten thousand dollars will see you through your perplexity, i have a loan of that amount for you. here is a check for the amount of that loan." suppose the man said: "with that ten thousand dollars i could get through until next spring, and then everything will be all right; but, mr. dodge, i don't want it; i won't take it; i would rather fail than take it; i don't even thank you for offering it." your sympathy for that man would cease immediately. you would say: "he had a fair offer; he might have got out; he wants to fail; he refuses all help; now let him fail." there is no one in all this house who would have any sympathy for that man. but do not let us be too hasty. christ hears of our spiritual embarrassments, he finds that we are on the very verge of eternal defalcation. he finds the law knocking at our door with this dun: "pay me what thou owest." we do not know which way to turn. pay? we can not pay a farthing of all the millions of obligation. well, christ comes in and says: "here is my name; you can use my name. your name would be worthless, but my red handwriting on the back of this obligation will get you through anywhere." now suppose the soul says: "i know i am in debt; i can't meet these obligations either in time or eternity; but, oh, christ, i want not thy help; i ask not thy rescue. go away from me." you would say: "that man, why, he deserves to die. he had the offer of help; he would not take it. he is a free agent; he ought to have what he wants; he chooses death rather than life. ought you not give him freedom of choice?" though awhile ago there was only one ardent man who understood the apostle, now there are hundreds in the house who can say, and do say within themselves: "after all this ingratitude, and rejection, and obstinacy, 'if any man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be anathema maranatha.'" i go a step further, and say it is most cruel for a man not to love jesus. the meanest thing i could do for you would be needlessly to hurt your feelings. sharp words sometimes cut like a dagger. an unkind look will sometimes rive like the lightning. an unkind deed may overmaster a sensitive spirit, and if you have made up your mind that you have done wrong to any one, it does not take you two minutes to make up your mind to go and apologize. now, christ is a bundle of delicacy and sensitiveness. how you have shocked his nerves! how you have broken his heart! did you, my brother, ever measure the meaning of that one passage: "behold, i stand at the door and knock"? it never came to me as it did this morning while i was thinking on this subject. "behold, i stand at the door and knock." some january day, the thermometer five degrees below zero, the wind and sleet beating mercilessly against you, you go up the steps of a house where you have a very important errand. you knock with one knuckle. no answer. you are very earnest, and you are freezing. the next time you knock harder. after awhile with your fist you beat against the door. you must get in, but the inmate is careless or stubborn, and he does not want you in. your errand is a failure. you go away. the lord jesus christ comes up on the steps of your heart, and with very sore hand he knocks hard at the door of your soul. he is standing in the cold blasts of human suffering. he knocks. he says: "let me in. i have come a great way. i have come all the way from nazareth, from bethlehem, from golgotha. let me in. i am shivering and blue with the cold. let me in. my feet are bare but for their covering of blood. my head is uncovered but for a turban of brambles. by all these wounds of foot, and head, and heart, i beg you to let me in. oh, i have been here a great while, and the night is getting darker. i am faint with hunger. i am dying to get in. oh, lift the latch--shove back the bolt! won't you let me in? won't you? 'behold, i stand at the door and knock!'" but after awhile, my brother, the scene will change. it will be another door, but christ will be on the other side of it. he will be on the inside, and the rejected sinner will be on the outside, and the sinner will come up and knock at the door, and say: "let me in, let me in. i have come a great way. i came all the way from earth. i am sick and dying. let me in. the merciless storm beats my unsheltered head. the wolves of a great night are on my track. let me in. with both fists i beat against this door. oh, let me in. oh, christ, let me in. oh, holy ghost, let me in. oh, god, let me in. oh, my glorified kindred, let me in." no answer save the voice of christ, who shall say: "sinner, when i stood at your door you would not let me in, and now you are standing at my door, and i can not let you in. the day of your grace is past. officer of the law, seize him." and while the arrest is going on, all the myriads of heaven rise on gallery and throne, and cry with loud voice, that makes the eternal city quake from capstone to foundation, saying: "if any man love not the lord jesus christ, let him be anathema maranatha." sabbath audience in the brooklyn tabernacle, and all to whom these words shall come on both sides the sea, notice here the tremendous alternative: it is not whether you live in pierrepont street or carlton avenue, walk trafalgar square or the "canongate;" nor whether your dress shall be black or brown; nor whether you shall be robust or an invalid; nor whether you shall live on the banks of the hudson, the shannon, the seine, the thames, the tiber; but it is a question whether you will love christ or suffer banishment; whether you will give yourselves to him who owns you or fall under the millstone; whether you will rise to glories that have no terminus or plunge to a depth which has no bottom. i do not see how you can take the ten-thousandth part of a second to decide it, when there are two worlds fastened at opposite ends of a swivel, and the swivel turns on one point, and that point is now, now. is it not fair that you love him? is it not right that you love him? is it not imperative that you love him? what is it that keeps you from rushing up and throwing the arms of your affection about his neck? my text pronounces anathema maranatha upon all those who refuse to love christ. anathema--cut off. cut off from light, from hope, from peace, from heaven. oh, sharp, keen, sword-like words! cut off! everlastingly cut off! behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of god: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. maranatha--that is the other word. "when he comes" is the meaning of it. will he come? i see no signs of it. i looked into the sky as i rode down to church. i saw no signs of the coming. no signal of god's appearance. the earth stands solid on its foundation. no cry of welcome or of woe. will he come! he will. maranatha! hear it ye mountains, and prepare to fall. ye cities, and prepare to burn. ye righteous, and prepare to reign. ye wicked, and prepare to die. maranatha! maranatha! but, oh, my brother, i am not so aroused by that coming as i am by a previous coming, and that is the coming of our death hour, which will fix everything for us. i can not help now, while preaching, asking myself the question--am i ready for that? if i am ready for the first i will be ready for the next. are you ready for the emergency? shall i tell you when your death hour will come? "oh, no," says some one, "i don't want to know. i would rather not know." some one says: "i would rather know, if you can tell me." i will tell you. it will be at the most unexpected moment, when you are most busy, and when you think you can be least spared. i can not exactly say whether it will be in the noon, or at the sundown when people are coming home, or in the morning when the world is waking up, or while the clock is striking twelve at night. but i tell you what i think, that with some of you it will be before next saturday night. a minister of the gospel said to an audience: "before next sabbath some of you will be gone." and a man said during the week: "i shall watch now, and if no one dies in our congregation during this week i shall go and tell the minister his falsehood." a man standing next to him said: "why, it may be yourself." "oh, no," he replied; "i shall live on to be an old man." that night he breathed his last. standing before some who shall be launched into the great eternity, what are your equipments? about to jump, where will you land? oh, the subject is overwhelming to me; and when i say these things to you, i say them to myself. "lord, is it i? is it i?" some of us part to-night never to meet again. if never before, i now here commit my soul into the keeping of the lord jesus christ. i throw my sinful heart upon his infinite mercy. but some of you will not do that. you will go over to the store to-morrow, and your comrades will say: "where were you yesterday?" you will say: "i heard talmage preach, and i don't believe what he preaches." and you will go on and die in your sins. feeling that you are bound unto death eternal i solemnly take leave of you. be careful of your health, for when your respiration gives out all your good times will have ended. be careful in walking near a scaffold, for one falling brick or stone might usher you into the great eternity for which you have no preparation. a few months, or weeks, or days, or hours will pass on, and then you will see the last light, and hear the last music, and have the last pleasant emotion, and a destroyed eternity will rush upon you. farewell, oh, doomed spirit! as you shove off from hope, i wave you this last salutation. oh, it is hard to part forever and forever! i bid you one long, last, bitter, eternal adieu! castle jesus. "who have fled for refuge."--heb. vi: . paul is here speaking of the consolations of christians. he styles them these "who have fled for refuge." moses established six cities of refuge--three on the east side of the river jordan, and three on the west. when a man had killed any one accidentally he fled to one of these cities. the roads leading to them were kept perfectly good, so that when a man started for the refuge nothing might impede him. along the cross-roads, and wherever there might be any mistake about the way, there were signs put up pointing in the right way, with the word "refuge." having gained the limits of one of these cities the man was safe, and the mothers of the priests provided for him. some of us have seen our peril, and have fled to christ, and feel that we shall never be captured. we are among those "who have fled for refuge." christ is represented in the bible as a tower, a high rock, a fortress, and a shelter. if you have seen any of the ancient castles of europe, you know that they are surrounded by trenches, across which there is a draw-bridge. if an enemy approach, the people, for defense, would get into the castle, have the trenches filled with water, and lift up the draw-bridge. whether to a city of safety, or a tower, paul refers, i know not, and care not, for in any case he means christ, the safety of the soul. but why talk of refuge? who needs it, if the refuge spoken of be a city or a castle, into which men fly for safety? it is all sunlight here. no sound of war in our streets. we do not hear the rush of armed men against the doors of our dwellings. we do not come with weapons to church. our lives are not at the mercy of an assassin. why, then, talk of refuge? alas! i stand before a company of imperiled men. no flock of sheep was ever so threatened or endangered of a pack of wolves; no ship was ever so beaten of a storm; no company of men were ever so environed of a band of savages. a refuge you must have, or fall before an all-devouring destruction. there are not so many serpents in africa; there are not so many hyenas in asia; there are not so many panthers in the forest, as there are transgressions attacking my soul. i will take the best unregenerated man anywhere, and say to him, you are utterly corrupt. if all the sins of your past life were marshaled in single file, they would reach from here to hell. if you have escaped all other sins, the fact that you have rejected the mission of the son of god is enough to condemn you forever, pushing you off into bottomless darkness, struck by ten thousand hissing thunder-bolts of omnipotent wrath. you are a sinner. the bible says it, and your conscience affirms it. not a small sinner, or a moderate sinner, or a tolerable sinner, but a great sinner, a protracted sinner, a vile sinner, an outrageous sinner, a condemned sinner. as god, with his all-scrutinizing gaze, looks upon you to-day, he can not find one sound spot in your soul. sin has put scales on your eyes, and deadened your ear with an awful deafness, and palsied your right arm, and stunned your sensibilities, and blasted you with an infinite blasting. the bible, which you admit to be true, affirms that you are diseased from the crown of your head to the sole of your foot. you are unclean; you are a leper. believe not me, but believe god's word, that over and over again announces, in language that a fool might understand, the total and complete depravity of the unchanged heart: "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." in addition to the sins of your life there are uncounted troubles in pursuit of you. bereavements, losses, disappointments are a flock of vultures ever on the wing. did you get your house built, and furnished, and made comfortable any sooner than misfortune came in without knocking, and sat beside you--a skeleton apparition? have not pains shot their poisoned arrows, and fevers kindled their fire in your brain? many of you, for years, have walked on burning marl. you stepped out of one disaster into another. you may, like job, have cursed the day in which you were born. this world boils over with trouble for you, and you are wondering where the next grave will gape, and where the next storm will burst. oh, ye pursued, sinning, dying, troubled, exhausted souls, are you not ready now to hear me while i tell you of christ, the refuge? a soldier, during the war, heard of the sickness of his wife and asked for a furlough. it was denied him, and he ran away. he was caught, brought back, and sentenced to be shot as a deserter. the officer took from his pocket a document that announced his death on the following morning. as the document was read, the man flinched not and showed no sorrow or anxiety. but the officer then took from his pocket another document that contained the prisoner's pardon. then he broke down with deep emotion at the thought of the leniency that had been extended. though you may not appear moved while i tell you of the law that thundered its condemnation, while i tell you of the pardon and the peace of the gospel i wonder if they will not overcome you. jesus is a safe refuge. fort hudson, fort pulaski, fort moultrie, fort sumter, gibraltar, sebastopol were taken. but jesus is a castle into which the righteous runneth and is safe. no battering-ram can demolish its wall. no sappers or miners can explode its ramparts, no storm-bolt of perdition leap upon its towers. the weapons that guard this fort are omnipotent. hell shall unlimber its great guns as death only to have them dismantled. in christ our sins are pardoned, discomforted, blotted out, forgiven. an ocean can not so easily drown a fly as the ocean of god's forgiveness swallow up, utterly and forever, our transgressions. he is able to save unto the uttermost. you who have been so often overcome in a hand-to-hand fight with the world, the flesh, and devil, try this fortress. once here, you are safe forever. satan may charge up the steep, and shout amid the uproar of the fight, forward, to his battalions of darkness; but you will stand in the might of the great god, your redeemer, safe in the refuge. the troubles of life, that once overwhelmed you, may come on with their long wagon-trains laden with care and worryment; and you may hear in their tramp the bereavements that once broke your heart; but christ is your friend, christ your sympathizer, christ your reward. safe in the refuge! death at last may lay the siege to your spirit, and the shadows of the sepulcher may shake their horrors in the breeze, and the hoarse howl of the night wind may be mingled with the cry of despair, yet you will shout in triumph from the ramparts, and the pale horse shall be hurled back on his haunches. safe in the refuge! to this castle i fly. this last fire shall but illumine its towers; and the rolling thunders of the judgment will be the salvo of its victory. just after queen victoria had been crowned--she being only nineteen or twenty years of age--wellington handed her a death-warrant for her signature. it was to take the life of a soldier in the army. she said to wellington: "can there nothing good be said of this man?" he said: "no; he is a bad soldier, and deserves to die." she took up the death-warrant, and it trembled in her hand as she again asked: "does no one know anything good of this man?" wellington said: "i have heard that at his trial a man said that he had been a good son to his old mother." "then let his life be spared," said the queen, and she ordered his sentence commuted. christ is on a throne of grace. our case is brought before him. the question is asked: "is there any good about this man?" the law says: "none." justice says: "none." our own conscience says: "none." nevertheless, christ hands over our pardon, and asks us to take it. oh, the height and depth, the length and breadth of his mercy! again, christ is a near refuge. when we are attacked, what advantage is there in having a fortress on the other side of the mountain? many an army has had an intrenchment, but could not get to it before the battle opened. blessed be god, it is no long march to our castle. we may get off, with all our troops, from the worst earthly defeat in this stronghold. in a moment we may step from the battle into the tower. i sing of a saviour near. during the late war the forts of the north were named after the northern generals, and the forts of the south were named after the southern generals. this fortress of our soul i shall call castle jesus. i have seen men pursued of sins that chased them with feet of lightning, and yet with one glad leap they bounded into the tower. i have seen troubles, with more than the speed and terror of a cavalry troop, dash after a retreating soul, yet were hurled back in defeat from the bulwarks. jesus near! a child's cry, a prisoner's prayer, a sailor's death-shriek, a pauper's moan reaches him. no pilgrimages on spikes. no journeying with a huge pack on your back. no kneeling in penance in cold vestibule of mercy. but an open door! a compassionate saviour! a present salvation! a near refuge! castle jesus! oh, why do you not put out your arm and reach it? why do you not fly to it? why be riddled, and shelled, and consumed under the rattling bombardment of perdition, when one moment's faith would plant you in the glorious refuge? i preach a jesus here; a jesus now; a fountain close to your feet; a fiery pillar right over your head; bread already broken for your hunger; a crown already gleaming for your brow. hark to the castle gates rattling back for your entrance! hear you not the welcome of those who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us? again, it is a universal refuge. a fortress is seldom large enough to hold a whole army. i look out upon fourteen hundred millions of the race; and then i look at this fortress, and i say that there is room enough for all. if it had been possible, this salvation would have been monopolized. men would have said: "let us have all this to ourselves--no publicans, no plebeians, no lazzaroni, no converted pickpockets. we will ride toward heaven on fierce chargers, our feet in golden stirrups. grace for lords, and dukes, and duchesses, and counts. let napoleon and his marshals come in, but not the common soldier that fought under him. let the girards and the barings come in, but not the stevedores that unloaded their cargoes, or the men who kept their books." heaven would have been a glorified windsor castle, or tuileries, or vatican; and exclusive aristocrats would have strutted through the golden streets to all eternity. thank god, there is mercy for the poor! the great doctor john mason preached over a hundred times the same sermon; and the text was: "to the poor the gospel is preached." lazarus went up, while dives went down; and there are candidates for imperial splendors in the back alley, and by the peat-fire of the irish shanty. king jesus set up his throne in a manger, and made a resurrection day for the poor widow of nain, and sprung the gate of heaven wide open, so that all the beggars, and thieves, and scoundrels of the universe may come in if they will only repent. i can snatch the knife from the murderer's hand while it is yet dripping with the blood of his victim, and tell him of the grace that is sufficient to pardon his soul. do you say that i swing open the gate of heaven too far? i swing it open no wider than christ, when he says: "whosoever will, let him come." don't you want to go in with such a rabble? then you can stay out. the whole world will yet come into this refuge. the windows of heaven will be opened; god's trumpet of salvation will sound, and china will come from its tea-fields and rice-harvests, and lift itself up into the light. india will come forth, the chariots of salvation jostling to pieces her juggernauts. freezing greenland, and sweltering abyssinia, will, side by side, press into the kingdom; and transformed bornesian cannibal preach of the resurrection of the missionary he has slain. the glory of calvary will tinge the tip of the pyrenees; and lebanon cedars shall clap their hands; and by one swing of the sickle christ shall harvest nations for the skies. i sing a world redeemed. in the rush of the winds that set the forest in motion, like giants wrestling on the hills, i see the tossing up of the triumphal branches that shall wave all along the line of our king as he comes to take empire. in the stormy diapason of the ocean's organ, and the more gentle strains that in the calm come sounding up from the crystal and jasper keys at the beach, i hear the prophecy: "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of god as the waters fill the sea." the gospel morning will come like the natural morning. at first it seems only like another hue of the night. then a pallor strikes through the sky, as though a company of ministering spirits, pale with tedious watching through the night, had turned in their flight upward to look back upon the earth. then a faint glow of fire, as though on a barren beach a wrecked mariner was kindling a flickering flame. then chariots and horses of fire racing up and down the heavens; then perfect day: "who is she that cometh forth as the morning?" come in, black hottentot and snow-white caucasian, come in, mitered official and diseased beggar; let all the world come in. room in castle jesus! sound it through all lands; sound it by all tongues. let sermons preach it, and bells chime it, and pencils sketch it, and processions celebrate it, and bells ring it: room in castle jesus! again, christ is the only refuge. if you were very sick, and there was only one medicine that would cure you, how anxious you would be to get that medicine. if you were in a storm at sea, and you found that the ship could not weather it, and there was only one harbor, how anxious you would be to get into that harbor. oh, sin-sick soul, christ is the only medicine; oh, storm-tossed soul, christ is the only harbor. need i tell a cultured audience like this that there is no other name given among men by which ye can be saved? that if you want the handcuffs knocked from your wrists, and the hopples from your feet, and the icy bands from your heart, there is just one almighty arm in all the universe to do everything? there are other fortresses to which you might fly, and other ramparts behind which you might hide, but god will cut to pieces, with the hail of his vengeance, all these refuges of lies. some of you are foundering in terrible euroclydon. hark to the howling of the gale, and the splintering of the spars, and the starting of the timbers, and the breaking of the billow, clear across the hurricane deck. down she goes! into the life-boat! quick! one boat! one shore! one oarsman! one salvation! you are polluted; there is but one well at which you can wash clean. you are enslaved; there is but one proclamation that can emancipate. you are blind; there is but one salve that can kindle your vision. you are dead; there is but one trumpet that can burst the grave. i have seen men come near the refuge but not make entrance. they came up, and fronted the gate, and looked in, but passed on, and passed down; and they will curse their folly through all eternity, that they despised the only refuge. oh! forget everything else i have said, if you will but remember that there is but one atonement, one sacrifice, one justification, one faith, one hope, one jesus, one refuge. there is that old christian. many a scar on his face tells where trouble lacerated him. he has fought with wild beasts at ephesus. he has had enough misfortune to shadow his countenance with perpetual despair. yet he is full of hope. has he found any new elixir? "no," he says; "i have found jesus the refuge." christ is our only defense at the last. john holland, in his concluding moment, swept his hand over the bible, and said: "come, let us gather a few flowers from this garden." as it was even-time he said to his wife: "have you lighted the candles?" "no," she said; "we have not lighted the candles." "then," said he, "it must be the brightness of the face of jesus that i see." ask that dying christian woman the source of her comfort. why that supernatural glow on the curtains of the death-chamber; and the tossing out of one hand, as if to wave the triumph, and the reaching up of the other, as if to take a crown? hosanna on the tongue. glory beaming from the forehead. heaven in the eyes. spirit departing. wings to bear it. anthems to charm it. open the gates to receive it. hallelujah! speak, dying christian--what light do you see? what sounds do you hear? the thin lips part. the pale hand is lifted. she says: "jesus the refuge!" let all in the death-chamber stop weeping now. celebrate the triumph. take up a song. clap your hands. shout it. hallelujah! hallelujah! but this refuge will be of no worth to you unless you lay hold of it. the time will come when you will wish that you had done so. it will come soon. at an unexpected moment it will come. the castle bridge will be drawn up and the fortress closed. when you see this discomfiture, and look back, and look up at the storm gathering, and the billowy darkness of death has rolled upon the sheeted flash of the storm, you will discover the utter desolation of those who are outside of the refuge. what you propose to do in this matter you had better do right away. a mistake this morning may never be corrected. jesus, the great captain of salvation, puts forth his wounded hand to-day to cheer you on the race to heaven. if you despise it, the ghastliest vision that will haunt the eternal darkness of your soul will be the gaping, bleeding wounds of the dying redeemer. jesus is to be crucified to-day. think not of it as a day that is past. he comes before you to-day weary and worn. here is the cross, and here is the victim. but there are no nails, and there are no thorns, and there are no hammers. who will furnish these? a man out yonder says: "i will furnish with my sins the nails!" now we have the cross, and the victim, and the nails. but we have no thorns. who will furnish the thorns? a man in the audience says: "with my sins i will furnish the thorns!" now we have the cross, the victim, the nails, and the thorns. but we have no hammers. who will furnish the hammers? a voice in the audience says: "my hard heart shall be the hammer!" everything is ready now. the crucifixion goes out! see jesus dying! "behold the lamb of god, that taketh away the sins of the world." stripping the slain. "and it came to pass on the morrow, when the philistines came to strip the slain, that they found saul and his three sons fallen in mount gilboa."--i. sam. xxxi: . some of you were at south mountain, or shiloh, or ball's bluff, or gettysburg, and i ask you if there is any sadder sight than a battle-field after the guns have stopped firing? i walked across the field of antietam just after the conflict. the scene was so sickening i shall not describe it. every valuable thing had been taken from the bodies of the dead, for there are always vultures hovering over and around about an army, and they pick up the watches, and the memorandum books, and the letters, and the daguerreotypes, and the hats, and the coats, applying them to their own uses. the dead make no resistance. so there are always camp followers going on and after an army, as when scott went down into mexico, as when napoleon marched up toward moscow, as when von moltke went to sedan. there is a similar scene in my text. saul and his army had been horribly cut to pieces. mount gilboa was ghastly with the dead. on the morrow the stragglers came on to the field, and they lifted the latchet of the helmet from under the chin of the dead, and they picked up the swords and bent them on their knee to test the temper of the metal, and they opened the wallets and counted the coin. saul lay dead along the ground, eight or nine feet in length, and i suppose the cowardly philistines, to show their bravery, leaped upon the trunk of his carcass, and jeered at the fallen slain, and whistled through the mouth of the helmet. before night those cormorants had taken everything valuable from the field: "and it came to pass on the morrow, when the philistines came to strip the slain, that they found saul and his three sons fallen in mount gilboa." before i get through to-day i will show you that the same process is going on all the world over, and every day, and that when men have fallen, satan and the world, so far from pitying them or helping them, go to work remorselessly to take what little is left, thus stripping the slain. there are tens of thousands of young men every year coming from the country to our great cities. they come with brave hearts and grand expectations. they think they will be rufus choates in the law, or drapers in chemistry, or a.t. stewarts in merchandise. the country lads sit down in the village grocery, with their feet on the iron rod around the red-hot stove, in the evening, talking over the prospects of the young man who has gone off to the city. two or three of them think that perhaps he may get along very well and succeed, but the most of them prophesy failure; for it is very hard to think that those whom we knew in boyhood will ever make any stir in the world. but our young man has a fine position in a dry-goods store. the month is over. he gets his wages. he is not accustomed to have so much money belonging to himself. he is a little excited, and does not know exactly what to do with it, and he spends it in some places where he ought not. soon there come up new companions and acquaintances from the bar-rooms and the saloons of the city. soon that young man begins to waver in the battle of temptation, and soon his soul goes down. in a few months, or few years, he has fallen. he is morally dead. he is a mere corpse of what he once was. the harpies of sin snuff up the taint and come on the field. his garments gradually give out. he has pawned his watch. his health is failing him. his credit perishes. he is too poor to stay in the city, and he is too poor to pay his way home to the country. down! down! why do the low fellows of the city now stick to him so closely? is it to help him back to a moral and spiritual life? oh, no! i will tell you why they stay; they are the philistines stripping the slain. do not look where i point, but yonder stands a man who once had a beautiful home in this city. his house had elegant furniture, his children were beautifully clad, his name was synonymous with honor and usefulness; but evil habit knocked at his front door, knocked at his back door, knocked at his parlor door, knocked at his bedroom door. where is the piano? sold to pay the rent. where is the hat-rack? sold to meet the butcher's bill. where are the carpets? sold to get bread. where is the wardrobe? sold to get rum. where are the daughters? working their fingers off in trying to keep the family together. worse and worse, until everything is gone. who is that going up the front steps of that house? that is a creditor, hoping to find some chair or bed that has not been levied upon. who are those two gentlemen now going up the front steps? the one is a constable, the other is the sheriff. why do they go there? the unfortunate is morally dead, socially dead, financially dead. why do they go there? i will tell you why the creditors, and the constables, and the sheriffs go there. they are, some on their own account, and some on account of the law, stripping the slain. an ex-member of congress, one of the most eloquent men that ever stood in the house of representatives, said in his last moments: "this is the end. i am dying--dying on a borrowed bed, covered by a borrowed sheet, in a house built by public charity. bury me under that tree in the middle of the field, where i shall not be crowded, for i have been crowded all my life." where were the jolly politicians and the dissipating comrades who had been with him, laughing at his jokes, applauding his eloquence, and plunging him into sin? they have left. why? his money is gone, his reputation is gone, his wit is gone, his clothes are gone, everything is gone. why should they stay any longer? they have completed their work. they have stripped the slain. there is another way, however, of doing that same work. here is a man who, through his sin, is prostrate. he acknowledges that he has done wrong. now is the time for you to go to that man and say: "thousands of people have been as far astray as you are, and got back." now is the time for you to go to that man and tell him of the omnipotent grace of god, that is sufficient for any poor soul. now is the time to go to tell him how swearing john bunyan, through the grace of god, afterward came to the celestial city. now is the time to go to that man and tell him how profligate newton came, through conversion, to be a world-renowned preacher of righteousness. now is the time to tell that man that multitudes who have been pounded with all the flails of sin and dragged through all the sewers of pollution at last have risen to positive dominion of moral power. you do not tell him that, do you? no. you say to him: "loan you money? no. you are down. you will have to go to the dogs. lend you a shilling? i would not lend you five cents to keep you from the gallows. you are debauched! get out of my sight, now! down; you will have to stay down!" and thus those bruised and battered men are sometimes accosted by those who ought to lift them up. thus the last vestige of hope is taken from them. thus those who ought to go and lift and save them are guilty of stripping the slain. the point i want to make is this: sin is hard, cruel, and merciless. instead of helping a man up it helps him down; and when, like saul and his comrades, you lie on the field, it will come and steal your sword and helmet and shield, leaving you to the jackal and the crow. but the world and satan do not do all their work with the outcast and abandoned. a respectable, impenitent man comes to die. he is flat on his back. he could not get up if the house were on fire. adroitest medical skill and gentlest nursing have been a failure. he has come to his last hour. what does satan do for such a man? why, he fetches up all the inapt, disagreeable, and harrowing things in his life. he says: "do you remember those chances you had for heaven, and missed them? do you remember all those lapses in conduct? do you remember all those opprobrious words and thoughts and actions? don't remember them, eh? i'll make you remember them." and then he takes all the past and empties it on that death-bed, as the mail-bags are emptied on the post-office floor. the man is sick. he can not get away from them. then the man says to satan: "you have deceived me. you told me that all would be well. you said there would be no trouble at the last. you told me if i did so and so, you would do so and so. now you corner me, and hedge me up, and submerge me in everything evil." "ha! ha!" says satan, "i was only fooling you. it is mirth for me to see you suffer. i have been for thirty years plotting to get you just where you are. it is hard for you now--it will be worse for you after awhile. it pleases me. lie still, sir. don't flinch or shudder. come now, i will tear off from you the last rag of expectation. i will rend away from your soul the last hope. i will leave you bare for the beating of the storm. it is my business to strip the slain." while men are in robust health, and their digestion is good, and their nerves are strong, they think their physical strength will get them safely through the last exigency. they say it is only cowardly women who are afraid at the last, and cry out for god. "wait till i come to die. i will show you. you won't hear me pray, nor call for a minister, nor want a chapter read me from the bible." but after the man has been three weeks in a sick-room his nerves are not so steady, and his worldly companions are not anywhere near to cheer him up, and he is persuaded that he must quit life: his physical courage is all gone. he jumps at the fall of a teaspoon in a saucer. he shivers at the idea of going away. he says: "wife, i don't think my infidelity is going to take me through. for god's sake don't bring up the children to do as i have done. if you feel like it, i wish you would read a verse or two out of fannie's sabbath-school hymn-book or new testament." but satan breaks in, and says: "you have always thought religion trash and a lie; don't give up at the last. besides that, you can not, in the hour you have to live, get off on that track. die as you lived. with my great black wings i shut out that light. die in darkness. i rend away from you that last vestige of hope. it is my business to strip the slain." a man who had rejected christianity and thought it all trash, came to die. he was in the sweat of a great agony, and his wife said: "we had better have some prayer." "mary, not a breath of that," he said. "the lightest word of prayer would roll back on me like rocks on a drowning man. i have come to the hour of test. i had a chance, and i forfeited it. i believed in a liar, and he has left me in the lurch. mary, bring me tom paine, that book that i swore by and lived by, and pitch it in the fire, and let it burn and burn as i myself shall soon burn." and then, with the foam on his lip and his hands tossing wildly in the air, he cried out: "blackness of darkness! oh, my god, too late!" and the spirits of darkness whistled up from the depth, and wheeled around and around him, stripping the slain. sin is a luxury now; it is exhilaration now; it is victory now. but after awhile it is collision; it is defeat; it is extermination; it is jackalism; it is robbing the dead; it is stripping the slain. give it up to-day--give it up! oh, how you have been cheated on, my brother, from one thing to another! all these years you have been under an evil mastery that you understood not. what have your companions done for you? what have they done for your health? nearly ruined it by carousal. what have they done for your fortune? almost scattered it by spendthrift behavior. what have they done for your reputation? almost ruined it with good men. what have they done for your immortal soul? almost insured its overthrow. you are hastening on toward the consummation of all that is sad. to-day you stop and think, but it is only for a moment, and then you will tramp on, and at the close of this service you will go out, and the question will be: "how did you like the sermon?" and one man will say: "i liked it very well," and another man will say: "i didn't like it at all;" but neither of the answers will touch the tremendous fact that, if impenitent, you are going at eighteen knots an hour toward shipwreck! yea, you are in a battle where you will fall; and while your surviving relatives will take your remaining estate, and the cemetery will take your body, the messengers of darkness will take your soul, and come and go about you for the next ten million years, stripping the slain. many are crying out: "i admit i am slain, i admit it!" on what battle-field, my brothers? by what weapon? "polluted imagination," says one man; "intoxicating liquor," says another man; "my own hard heart," says another man. do you realize this? then i come to tell you that the omnipotent christ is ready to walk across this battle-field, and revive, and resuscitate, and resurrect your dead soul. let him take your hand and rub away the numbness; your head, and bathe off the aching; your heart, and stop its wild throb. he brought lazarus to life; he brought jairus' daughter to life; he brought the young man of nain to life, and these are three proofs anyhow that he can bring you to life. when the philistines came down on the field, they stepped between the corpses, and they rolled over the dead, and they took away everything that was valuable; and so it was with the people that followed after our army at chancellorsville, and at pittsburg landing, and at stone river, and at atlanta, stripping the slain; but the northern and southern women--god bless them!--came on the field with basins, and pads, and towels, and lint, and cordials, and christian encouragement; and the poor fellows that lay there lifted up their arms and said: "oh, how good that does feel since you dressed it!" and others looked up and said: "oh, how you make me think of my mother!" and others said: "tell the folks at home i died thinking about them;" and another looked up and said: "miss, won't you sing me a verse of 'home, sweet home,' before i die?" and then the tattoo was sounded, and the hats were off, and the service was read: "i am the resurrection and the life;" and in honor of the departed the muskets were loaded, and the command given: "take aim--fire!" and there was a shingle set up at the head of the grave, with the epitaph of "lieutenant ---- in the fourteenth massachusetts regulars," or "captain ---- in the fifteenth regiment of south carolina volunteers." and so to-night, across this great field of moral and spiritual battle, the angels of god come walking among the slain, and there are voices of comfort, and voices of hope, and voices of resurrection, and voices of heaven. christ is ready to give life to the dead. he will make the deaf ear to hear, the blind eye to see, the pulseless heart to beat, and the damp walls of your spiritual charnel-house will crash into ruin at his cry: "come forth!" i verily believe there are souls in this house who are now dead in sin, who in half an hour will be alive forever. there was a thrilling dream, a glorious dream--you may have heard of it. ezekiel closed his eyes, and he saw two mountains, and a valley between the mountains. that valley looked as though there had been a great battle there, and a whole army had been slain, and they had been unburied; and the heat of the land, and the vultures coming there, soon the bones were exposed to the sun, and they looked like thousands of snow-drifts all through the valley. frightful spectacle! the bleaching skeletons of a host! but ezekiel still kept his eyes shut; and lo! there were four currents of wind that struck the battle-field, and when those four currents of wind met, the bones began to rattle; and the foot came to the ankle, and the hand came to the wrist, and the jaws clashed together, and the spinal column gathered up the ganglions and the nervous fiber, and all the valley wriggled and writhed, and throbbed, and rocked, and rose up. there, a man coming to life. there, a hundred men. there, a thousand; and all falling into line, waiting for the shout of their commander. ten thousand bleached skeletons springing up into ten thousand warriors, panting for the fray. i hope that instead of being a dream it may be a prophecy of what we shall see here to-day. let this north wall be one of the mountains, and the south wall be taken for another of the mountains, and let all the aisles and the pews be the valley between, for there are thousands here to-day without one pulsation of spiritual life. i look off in one direction, and they are dead. i look off in another direction, and they are dead. who will bring them to life? who shall rouse them up? if i should halloo at the top of my voice i could not wake them. wait a moment! listen! there is a rustling. there is a gale from heaven. it comes from the north, and from the south, and from the east, and from the west. it shuts us in. it blows upon the slain. there a soul begins to move in spiritual life; there, ten souls; there, a score of souls; there, a hundred souls. the nostrils throbbing in divine respiration, the hands lifted as though to take hold of heaven, the tongue moving as in prayer and adoration. life! immortal life coming into the slain. ten men for god--fifty--a hundred--a regiment--an army for god! oh, that we might have such a scene here to-day! in ezekiel's words, and in almost a frenzy of prayer, i cry: "come from the four winds, o breath! and breathe upon the slain." you will have to surrender your heart to-day to god. you can not take the responsibility of fighting against the spirit in this crisis which will decide whether you are to go to heaven or to hell--to join the hallelujahs of the saved, or the lamentations of the lost. you must pray. you must repent. you must this day fling your sinful soul on the pardoning mercy of god. you must! i see your resolution against god giving way, your determination wavering. i break through the breach in the wall and follow up the advantage gained, hoping to rout your last opposition to christ, and to make you "ground arms" at the feet of the divine conqueror. oh, you must! you must! the moon does not ask the tides of the atlantic ocean to rise. it only stoops down with two great hands of light, the one at the european beach, and the other at the american beach, and then lifts the great layer of molten silver. and god, it seems to me, is now going to lift this audience to newness of life. do you not feel the swellings of the great oceanic tides of divine mercy? my heart is in anguish to have you saved. for this i pray, and preach, and long, glad to be called a fool for christ's sake, and your salvation. some one replies: "dear me, i do wish i could have these matters arranged with my god. i want to be saved. god knows i want to be saved; but you stand there talking about this matter, and you don't show me how." my dear brother, the work has all been done. christ did it with his own torn hand, and lacerated foot, and bleeding side. he took your place, and died your death, if you will only believe it--only accept him as your substitute. what an amazing pity that any man should go from this house unblessed, when such a large blessing is offered him at less cost than you would pay for a pin--"without money and without price." i have driven down to-day with the lord's ambulance to the battle-field where your soul lies exposed to the darkness and the storm, and i want to lift you in, and drive off with you toward heaven. oh, christians, by your prayers help to lift these wounded souls into the ambulance! god forbid that any should be left on the field, and that at last eternal sorrow, and remorse, and despair should come up around their soul like the bandit philistines to the field of gilboa, stripping the slain. sold out. "ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money."--isa. lii: . the jews had gone headlong into sin, and as a punishment they had been carried captive to babylon. they found that iniquity did not pay. cyrus seized babylon, and felt so sorry for these poor captive jews that, without a dollar of compensation, he let them go home. so that, literally, my text was fulfilled: "ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money." there is enough gospel in this text for fifty sermons; though i never heard of its being preached on. there are persons in this house who have, like the jews of the text, sold out. you do not seem to belong either to yourselves or to god. the title-deeds have been passed over to "the world, the flesh, and the devil," but the purchaser has never paid up. "ye have sold yourselves for nought." when a man passes himself over to the world he expects to get some adequate compensation. he has heard the great things that the world does for a man, and he believes it. he wants two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. that will be horses, and houses, and a summer-resort, and jolly companionship. to get it he parts with his physical health by overwork. he parts with his conscience. he parts with much domestic enjoyment. he parts with opportunities for literary culture. he parts with his soul. and so he makes over his entire nature to the world. he does it in four installments. he pays down the first installment, and one fourth of his nature is gone. he pays down the second installment, and one half of his nature is gone. he pays down the third installment, and three quarters of his nature are gone; and after many years have gone by he pays down the fourth installment, and, lo! his entire nature is gone. then he comes up to the world and says: "good-morning. i have delivered to you the goods. i have passed over to you my body, my mind, and my soul, and i have come now to collect the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars." "two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?" says the world. "what do you mean?" "well," you say, "i come to collect the money you owe me, and i expect you now to fulfill your part of the contract." "but," says the world, "_i have failed. i am bankrupt._ i can not possibly pay that debt. i have not for a long while expected to pay it." "well," you then say, "give me back the goods." "oh, no," says the world, "they are all gone. i can not give them back to you." and there you stand on the confines of eternity, your spiritual character gone, staggering under the consideration that "you have sold yourself for nought." i tell you the world is a liar; it does not keep its promises. it is a cheat, and it fleeces everything it can put its hands on. it is a bogus world. it is a six-thousand-year-old swindle. even if it pays the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for which you contracted, it pays them in bonds that will not be worth anything in a little while. just as a man may pay down ten thousand dollars in hard cash and get for it worthless scrip--so the world passes over to you the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in that shape which will not be worth a farthing to you a thousandth part of a second after you are dead. "oh," you say, "it will help to bury me, anyhow." oh, my brother! you need not worry about that. the world will bury you soon enough, from sanitary considerations. after you have been deceased for three or four days you will compel the world to bury you. post-mortem emoluments are of no use to you. the treasures of this world will not pass current in the future world; and if all the wealth of the bank of england were put in the pocket of your shroud, and you in the midst of the jordan of death were asked to pay three cents for your ferriage, you could not do it. there comes a moment in your existence beyond which all earthly values fail; and many a man has wakened up in such a time to find that he has sold out for eternity, and has nothing to show for it. i should as soon think of going to chatham street to buy silk pocket-handkerchiefs with no cotton in them, as to go to this world expecting to find any permanent happiness. it has deceived and deluded every man that has ever put his trust in it. history tells us of one who resolved that he would have all his senses gratified at one and the same time, and he expended thousands of dollars on each sense. he entered a room, and there were the first musicians of the land pleasing his ear, and there were fine pictures fascinating his eye, and there were costly aromatics regaling his nostril, and there were the richest meats, and wines, and fruits, and confections pleasing the appetite, and there was a soft couch of sinful indulgence on which he reclined; and the man declared afterward that he would give ten times what he had given if he could have one week of such enjoyment, even though he lost his soul by it. ah! that was the rub. he did lose his soul by it! cyrus the conqueror thought for a little while that he was making a fine thing out of this world, and yet before he came to his grave he wrote out this pitiful epitaph for his monument: "i am cyrus. i occupied the persian empire. i was king over asia. begrudge me not this monument." but the world in after years plowed up his sepulcher. the world clapped its hands and stamped its feet in honor of charles lamb; but what does he say? "i walk up and down, thinking i am happy, but feeling i am not." call the roll, and be quick about it. samuel johnson, the learned! happy? "no. i am afraid i shall some day get crazy." william hazlitt, the great essayist! happy? "no. i have been for two hours and a half going up and down paternoster row with a volcano in my breast." smollett, the witty author! happy? "no. i am sick of praise and blame, and i wish to god that i had such circumstances around me that i could throw my pen into oblivion." buchanan, the world-renowned writer, exiled from his own country, appealing to henry viii. for protection! happy? "no. over mountains covered with snow, and through valleys flooded with rain, i come a fugitive." molière, the popular dramatic author! happy? "no. that wretch of an actor just now recited four of my lines without the proper accent and gesture. to have the children of my brain so hung, drawn, and quartered, tortures me like a condemned spirit." i went to see a worldling die. as i went into the hall i saw its floor was tessellated, and its wall was a picture-gallery. i found his death-chamber adorned with tapestry until it seemed as if the clouds of the setting sun had settled in the room. the man had given forty years to the world--his wit, his time, his genius, his talent, his soul. did the world come in to stand by his death-bed, and clearing off the vials of bitter medicine, put down any compensation? oh, no! the world does not like sick and dying people, and leaves them in the lurch. it ruined this man, and then left him. he had a magnificent funeral. all the ministers wore scarfs, and there were forty-three carriages in a row; but the departed man appreciated not the obsequies. i want to persuade my audience that this world is a poor investment; that it does not pay ninety per cent. of satisfaction, nor eighty per cent., nor twenty per cent., nor two per cent., nor one; that it gives no solace when a dead babe lies on your lap; that it gives no peace when conscience rings its alarm; that it gives no explanation in the day of dire trouble; and at the time of your decease it takes hold of the pillow-case, and shakes out the feathers, and then jolts down in the place thereof sighs, and groans, and execrations, and then makes you put your head on it. oh, ye who have tried this world, is it a satisfactory portion? would you advise your friends to make the investment? no. "ye have sold yourselves for nought." your conscience went. your hope went. your bible went. your heaven went. your god went. when a sheriff under a writ from the courts sells a man out, the officer generally leaves a few chairs and a bed, and a few cups and knives; but in this awful vendue in which you have been engaged the auctioneer's mallet has come down upon body, mind, and soul: going! gone! "ye have sold yourselves for nought." how could you do so? did you think that your soul was a mere trinket which for a few pennies you could buy in a toy shop? did you think that your soul, if once lost, might be found again if you went out with torches and lanterns? did you think that your soul was short-lived, and that, panting, it would soon lie down for extinction? or had you no idea what your soul was worth? did you ever put your forefingers on its eternal pulses? have you never felt the quiver of its peerless wing? have you not known that, after leaving the body, the first step of your soul reaches to the stars, and the next step to the furthest outposts of god's universe, and that it will not die until the day when the everlasting jehovah expires? oh, my brother, what possessed you that you should part with your soul so cheap? "ye have sold yourselves for nought." but i have some good news to tell you. i want to engage in a litigation for the recovery of that soul of yours. i want to show that you have been cheated out of it. i want to prove, as i will, that you were crazy on that subject, and that the world, under such circumstances, has no right to take the title-deed from you; and if you will join me i shall get a decree from the high chancery court of heaven reinstating you into the possession of your soul. "oh," you say, "i am afraid of lawsuits; they are so expensive, and i can not pay the cost." then have you forgotten the last half of my text? "ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money." money is good for a great many things, but it can not do anything in this matter of the soul. you can not buy your way through. dollars and pounds sterling mean nothing at the gate of mercy. if you could buy your salvation, heaven would be a great speculation, an extension of wall street. bad men would go up and buy out the place, and leave us to shift for ourselves. but as money is not a lawful tender, what is? i will answer: blood! whose? are we to go through the slaughter? oh, no; it wants richer blood than ours. it wants a king's blood. it must be poured from royal arteries. it must be a sinless torrent. but where is the king? i see a great many thrones and a great many occupants, yet none seem to be coming down to the rescue. but after awhile the clock of night in bethlehem strikes twelve, and the silver pendulum of a star swings across the sky, and i see the king of heaven rising up, and he descends, and steps down from star to star, and from cloud to cloud, lower and lower, until he touches the sheep-covered hills, and then on to another hill, this last skull-covered, and there, at the sharp stroke of persecution, a rill incarnadine trickles down, and we who could not be redeemed by money are redeemed by precious and imperial blood. we have in this day professed christians who are so rarefied and etherealized that they do not want a religion of blood. what do you want? you seem to want a religion of brains. the bible says: "in the blood is the life." no atonement without blood. ought not the apostle to know? what did he say? "ye are redeemed not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but by the precious blood of christ." you put your lancet into the arm of our holy religion and withdraw the blood, and you leave it a mere corpse, fit only for the grave. why did god command the priests of old to strike the knife into the kid, and the goat, and the pigeon, and the bullock, and the lamb? it was so that when the blood rushed out from these animals on the floor of the ancient tabernacle the people should be compelled to think of the coming carnage of the son of god. no blood, no atonement. i think that god intended to impress us with the vividness of that color. the green of the grass, the blue of the sky, would not have startled and aroused us like this deep crimson. it is as if god had said: "now, sinner, wake up and see what the saviour endured for you. this is not water. this is not wine. it is blood. it is the blood of my own son. it is the blood of the immaculate. it is the blood of god." without the shedding of blood is no remission. there has been many a man who in courts of law has pleaded "not guilty," who nevertheless has been condemned because there was blood found on his hands, or blood found in his room; and what shall we do in the last day if it be found that we have recrucified the lord of glory and have never repented of it? you must believe in the blood or die. no escape. unless you let the sacrifice of jesus go in your stead you yourself must suffer. it is either christ's blood or your blood. "oh," says some one, "the thought of blood sickens me." good. god intended it to sicken you with your sin. do not act as though you had nothing to do with that calvarian massacre. you had. your sins were the implements of torture. those implements were not made of steel, and iron, and wood, so much as out of your sins. guilty of this homicide, and this regicide, and this deicide, confess your guilt to-day. ten thousand voices of heaven bring in the verdict against you of guilty, guilty. prepare to die, or believe in that blood. stretch yourself out for the sacrifice, or accept the saviour's sacrifice. do not fling away your one chance. it seems to me as if all heaven were trying to bid in your soul. the first bid it makes is the tears of christ at the tomb of lazarus; but that is not a high enough price. the next bid heaven makes is the sweat of gethsemane; but it is too cheap a price. the next bid heaven makes seems to be the whipped back of pilate's hall; but it is not a high enough price. can it be possible that heaven can not buy you in? heaven tries once more. it says: "i bid this time for that man's soul the tortures of christ's martyrdom, the blood on his temple, the blood on his cheek, the blood on his chin, the blood on his hand, the blood on his side, the blood on his knee, the blood on his foot--the blood in drops, the blood in rills, the blood in pools coagulated beneath the cross; the blood that wet the tips of the soldiers' spears, the blood that plashed warm in the faces of his enemies." glory to god, that bid wins it! the highest price that was ever paid for anything was paid for your soul. nothing could buy it but blood! the estranged property is bought back. take it. "you have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money." o atoning blood, cleansing blood, life-giving blood, sanctifying blood, glorifying blood of jesus! why not burst into tears at the thought that for thee he shed it--for thee the hard-hearted, for thee the lost? "no," says some one; "i will have nothing to do with it except that, like the jews, i put both my hands into that carnage and scoop up both palms full, and throw it on my head and cry: 'his blood be on us and on our children!'" can you do such a shocking thing as that? just rub your handkerchief across your brow and look at it. it is the blood of the son of god whom you have despised and driven back all these years. oh, do not do that any longer! come out frankly and boldly and honestly, and tell christ you are sorry. you can not afford to so roughly treat him upon whom everything depends. i do not know how you will get away from this subject. you see that you are sold out, and that christ wants to buy you back. there are three persons who come after you to-night: god the father, god the son, and god the holy ghost. they unite their three omnipotences in one movement for your salvation. you will not take up arms against the triune god, will you? is there enough muscle in your arm for such a combat? by the highest throne in heaven, and by the deepest chasm in hell, i beg you look out. unless you allow christ to carry away your sins, they will carry you away. unless you allow christ to lift you up, they will drag you down. there is only one hope for you, and that is the blood. christ, the sin-offering, bearing your transgressions. christ, the surety, paying your debts. christ, the divine cyrus, loosening your babylonish captivity. would you not like to be free? here is the price of your liberation--not money, but blood. i tremble from head to foot, not because i fear your presence, for i am used to that, but because i fear that you will miss your chance for immortal rescue, and die. this is the alternative divinely put: "he that believeth on the son shall have everlasting life; and he that believeth not on the son shall not see life, but the wrath of god abideth on him." in the last day, if you now reject christ, every drop of that sacrificial blood, instead of pleading for your release as it would have pleaded if you had repented, will plead against you. it will seem to say: "they refused the ransom; they chose to die; let them die; they must die. down with them to the weeping and the wailing. depart! go away from me. you would not have me, now i will not have you. sold out for eternity." o lord god of the judgment day! avert that calamity! let us see the quick flash of the cimeter that slays the sin but saves the sinner. strike, omnipotent god, for the soul's deliverance! beat, o eternal sea! with all thy waves against the barren beach of that rocky soul, and make it tremble. oh! the oppressiveness of the hour, the minute, the second, on which the soul's destiny quivers, and this is that hour, that minute, that second! i wonder what proportion of this audience will be saved? what proportion will be lost? when the "schiller" went down, out of three hundred and eighty people only forty were saved. when the "ville du havre" went down, out of three hundred and forty about fifty were saved. out of this audience to-day, how many will get to the shore of heaven? it is no idle question for me to ask, for many of you i shall never see again until the day when the books are open. some years ago there came down a fierce storm on the sea-coast, and a vessel got in the breakers and was going to pieces. they threw up some signal of distress, and the people on the shore saw them. they put out in a life-boat. they came on, and they saw the poor sailors, almost exhausted, clinging to a raft; and so afraid were the boatmen that the men would give up before they got to them, they gave them three rounds of cheers, and cried: "hold on, there! hold on! we'll save you!" after awhile the boat came up. one man was saved by having the boat-hook put in the collar of his coat; and some in one way, and some in another; but they all got into the boat. "now," says the captain, "for the shore. pull away now, pull!" the people on the land were afraid the life-boat had gone down. they said: "how long the boat stays. why, it must have been swamped, and they have all perished together." and there were men and women on the pier-heads and on the beach wringing their hands; and while they waited and watched, they saw something looming up through the mist, and it turned out to be the life-boat. as soon as it came within speaking distance the people on the shore cried out: "did you save any of them? did you save any of them?" and as the boat swept through the boiling surf and came to the pier-head, the captain waved his hand over the exhausted sailors that lay flat on the bottom of the boat, and cried: "all saved! thank god! all saved!" so may it be to-day. the waves of your sin run high, the storm is on you, the danger is appalling. oh! shipwrecked soul, i have come for you. i cheer you with this gospel hope. god grant that within the next ten minutes we may row with you into the harbor of god's mercy. and when these christian men gather around to see the result of this service, and the glorified gathering on the pier-heads of heaven to watch and to listen, may we be able to report all saved! young and old, good and bad! all saved! saved from sin, and death, and hell. saved for time. saved for eternity. "and so it came to pass that they all escaped safe to land." summer temptations. "come ye yourselves apart unto a desert place and rest awhile."--mark vi: . here christ advises his apostles to take a vacation. they have been living an excited as well as a useful life, and he advises that they get out into the country. when, six weeks ago, standing in this place, i advocated, with all the energy i could command, the saturday afternoon holiday, i did not think the people would so soon get that release. by divine fiat it has come, and i rejoice that more people will have opportunity of recreation this summer than in any previous summer. others will have whole weeks and months of rest. the railway trains are being laden with passengers and baggage on their way to the mountains and the lakes and the sea-shore. multitudes of our citizens are packing their trunks for a restorative absence. the city heats are pursuing the people with torch and fear of sunstroke. the long silent halls of sumptuous hotels are all abuzz with excited arrivals. the crystalline surface of winnipiseogee is shattered with the stroke of steamer, laden with excursionists. the antlers of adirondack deer rattle under the shot of city sportsmen. the trout make fatal snaps at the hook of adroit sportsmen and toss their spotted brilliance into the game-basket. already the baton of the orchestral leader taps the music-stand on the hotel green, and american life puts on festal array, and the rumbling of the tenpin alley, and the crack of the ivory balls on the green-baized billiard tables, and the jolting of the bar-room goblets, and the explosive uncorking of champagne bottles, and the whirl and the rustle of the ball-room dance, and the clattering hoofs of the race-courses, attest that the season for the great american watering-places is fairly inaugurated. music--flute and drum and cornet-à-piston and clapping cymbals--will wake the echoes of the mountains. glad i am that fagged-out american life for the most part will have an opportunity to rest, and that nerves racked and destroyed will find a bethesda. i believe in watering-places. let not the commercial firm begrudge the clerk, or the employer the journeyman, or the patient the physician, or the church its pastor, a season of inoccupation. luther used to sport with his children; edmund burke used to caress his favorite horse; thomas chalmers, in the dark hours of the church's disruption, played kite for recreation--as i was told by his own daughter--and the busy christ said to the busy apostles: "come ye apart awhile into the desert and rest yourselves." and i have observed that they who do not know how to rest do not know how to work. but i have to declare this truth to-day, that some of our fashionable watering-places are the temporal and eternal destruction of "a multitude that no man can number," and amid the congratulations of this season and the prospect of the departure of many of you for the country i must utter a note of warning--plain, earnest, and unmistakable. i. the first temptation that is apt to hover in this direction is to leave your piety all at home. you will send the dog and cat and canary bird to be well cared for somewhere else; but the temptation will be to leave your religion in the room with the blinds down and the door bolted, and then you will come back in the autumn to find that it is starved and suffocated, lying stretched on the rug stark dead. there is no surplus of piety at the watering-places. i never knew any one to grow very rapidly in grace at the catskill mountain house, or sharon springs, or the falls of montmorency. it is generally the case that the sabbath is more of a carousal than any other day, and there are sunday walks and sunday rides and sunday excursions. elders and deacons and ministers of religion who are entirely consistent at home, sometimes when the sabbath dawns on them at niagara falls or the white mountains take the day to themselves. if they go to the church, it is apt to be a sacred parade, and the discourse, instead of being a plain talk about the soul, is apt to be what is called _a crack sermon_--that is, some discourse picked out of the effusions of the year as the one most adapted to excite admiration; and in those churches, from the way the ladies hold their fans, you know that they are not so much impressed with the heat as with the picturesqueness of half-disclosed features. four puny souls stand in the organ-loft and squall a tune that nobody knows, and worshipers, with two thousand dollars' worth of diamonds on the right hand, drop a cent into the poor-box, and then the benediction is pronounced and the farce is ended. the toughest thing i ever tried to do was to be good at a watering-place. the air is bewitched with "the world, the flesh, and the devil." there are christians who in three or four weeks in such a place have had such terrible rents made in their christian robe that they had to keep darning it until christmas to get it mended! the health of a great many people makes an annual visit to some mineral spring an absolute necessity; but, my dear people, take your bible along with you, and take an hour for secret prayer every day, though you be surrounded by guffaw and saturnalia. keep holy the sabbath, though they denounce you as a bigoted puritan. stand off from those institutions which propose to imitate on this side the water the iniquities of baden-baden. let your moral and your immortal health keep pace with your physical recuperation, and remember that all the waters of hathorne and sulphur and chalybeate springs can not do you so much good as the mineral, healing, perennial flood that breaks forth from the "rock of ages." this may be your last summer. if so, make it a fit vestibule of heaven. ii. another temptation around nearly all our watering-places is the horse-racing business. we all admire the horse. there needs to be a redistribution of coronets among the brute creation. for ages the lion has been called the king of beasts. i knock off its coronet and put the crown upon the horse, in every way nobler, whether in shape or spirit or sagacity or intelligence or affection or usefulness. he is semi-human, and knows how to reason on a small scale. the centaur of olden times, part horse and part man, seems to be a suggestion of the fact that the horse is something more than a beast. job sets forth his strength, his beauty, his majesty, the panting of his nostril, the pawing of his hoof, and his enthusiasm for the battle. what rosa bonheur did for the cattle, and what landseer did for the dog, job, with mightier pencil, does for the horse. eighty-eight times does the bible speak of him. he comes into every kingly procession and into every great occasion and into every triumph. it is very evident that job and david and isaiah and ezekiel and jeremiah and john were fond of the horse. he came into much of their imagery. a red horse--that meant war; a black horse--that meant famine; a pale horse--that meant death; a white horse--that meant victory. as the bible makes a favorite of the horse, the patriarch and the prophet and the evangelist and the apostle, stroking his sleek hide, and patting his rounded neck, and tenderly lifting his exquisitely formed hoof, and listening with a thrill to the champ of his bit, so all great natures in all ages have spoken of him in encomiastic terms. virgil in his georgics almost seems to plagiarize from the description of job. the duke of wellington would not allow any one irreverently to touch his old war-horse, copenhagen, on whom he had ridden fifteen hours without dismounting at waterloo; and when old copenhagen died, his master ordered a military salute fired over his grave. john howard showed that he did not exhaust all his sympathies in pitying the human race, for when sick he writes home: "has my old chaise-horse become sick or spoiled?" but we do not think that the speed of the horse should be cultured at the expense of human degradation. horse-races, in olden times, were under the ban of christian people, and in our day the same institution has come up under fictitious names, and it is called a "summer meeting," almost suggestive of positive religious exercises. and it is called an "agricultural fair," suggestive of everything that is improving in the art of farming. but under these deceptive titles are the same cheating and the same betting, the same drunkenness and the same vagabondage and the same abominations that were to be found under the old horse-racing system. i never knew a man yet who could give himself to the pleasures of the turf for a long reach of time, and not be battered in morals. they hook up their spanking team, and put on their sporting-cap, and light their cigar, and take the reins, and dash down the road to perdition. the great day at saratoga, and long branch, and cape may, and nearly all the other watering-places, is the day of the races. the hotels are thronged, nearly every kind of equipage is taken up at an almost fabulous price, and there are many respectable people mingling with jockeys, and gamblers, and libertines, and foul-mouthed men and flashy women. the bar-tender stirs up the brandy-smash. the bets run high. the greenhorns, supposing all is fair, put in their money soon enough to lose it. three weeks before the race takes place the struggle is decided, and the men in the secret know on which steed to bet their money. the two men on the horses riding around long before arranged who shall beat. leaning from the stand or from the carriage are men and women so absorbed in the struggle of bone and muscle and mettle that they make a grand harvest for the pickpockets, who carry off the pocket-books and portemonnaies. men looking on see only two horses with two riders flying around the ring; but there is many a man on that stand whose honor and domestic happiness and fortune--white mane, white foot, white flank--are in the ring, racing with inebriety, and with fraud, and with profanity, and with ruin--black neck, black foot, black flank. neck and neck they go in that moral epsom. ah, my friends, have nothing to do with horse-racing dissipations this summer. long ago the english government got through looking to the turf for the dragoon and light-cavalry horse. they found the turf depreciates the stock, and it is yet worse for men. thomas hughes, the member of parliament and the author, known all the world over, hearing that a new turf enterprise was being started in this country, wrote a letter, in which he said: "heaven help you, then; for of all the cankers of our old civilization there is nothing in this country approaching in unblushing meanness, in rascality holding its head high, to this belauded institution of the british turf." another famous sportsman writes: "how many fine domains have been shared among these hosts of rapacious sharks during the last two hundred years; and unless the system be altered, how many more are doomed to fall into the same gulf!" the duke of hamilton, through his horse-racing proclivities, in three years got through his entire fortune of £ , , and i will say that some of you are being undermined by it. with the bull-fights of spain and the bear-baitings of the pit may the lord god annihilate the infamous and accursed horse-racing of england and america. iii. i go further, and speak of another temptation that hovers over the watering-places; and this is the temptation to sacrifice physical strength. the modern bethesda was intended to recuperate the physical health; and yet how many come from the watering-places, their health absolutely destroyed! new york and brooklyn idiots boasting of having imbibed twenty glasses of congress water before breakfast. families accustomed to going to bed at ten o'clock at night gossiping until one or two o'clock in the morning. dyspeptics, usually very cautious about their health, mingling ice-creams, and lemons, and lobster-salads, and cocoa-nuts, until the gastric juices lift up all their voices of lamentation and protest. delicate women and brainless young men chassezing themselves into vertigo and catalepsy. thousands of men and women coming back from our watering-places in the autumn with the foundations laid for ailments that will last them all their life long. you know as well as i do that this is the simple truth. in the summer you say to your good health: "good-bye, i am going to have a good time for a little while. i will be very glad to see you again in the autumn." then in the autumn, when you are hard at work in your office, or store, or shop, or counting-room, good health will come and say: "good-bye, i am going." you say: "where are you going?" "oh," says good health, "i am going to take a vacation!" it is a poor rule that will not work both ways, and your good health will leave you choleric and splenetic and exhausted. you coquetted with your good health in the summer-time, and your good health is coquetting with you in the winter-time. a fragment of paul's charge to the jailer would be an appropriate inscription for the hotel-register in every watering-place: "do thyself no harm." iv. another temptation hovering around the watering-place is to the formation of hasty and life-long alliances. the watering-places are responsible for more of the domestic infelicities of this country than all the other things combined. society is so artificial there that no sure judgment of character can be formed. those who form companionships amid such circumstances go into a lottery where there are twenty blanks to one prize. in the severe tug of life you want more than glitter and splash. life is not a ball-room where the music decides the step, and bow and prance and graceful swing of long trail can make up for strong common sense. you might as well go among the gayly painted yachts of a summer regatta to find war vessels as to go among the light spray of the summer watering-place to find character that can stand the test of the great struggle of human life. ah, in the battle of life you want a stronger weapon than a lace fan or a croquet mallet! the load of life is so heavy that in order to draw it, you want a team stronger than one made up of a masculine grasshopper and a feminine butterfly. if there is any man in the community that excites my contempt, and that ought to excite the contempt of every man and woman, it is the soft-handed, soft-headed fop, who, perfumed until the air is actually sick, spends his summer in taking killing attitudes, and waving sentimental adieus, and talking infinitesimal nothings, and finding his heaven in the set of a lavender kid-glove. boots as tight as an inquisition, two hours of consummate skill exhibited in the tie of a flaming cravat, his conversation made up of "ah's" and "oh's" and "he-hee's." it would take five hundred of them stewed down to make a teaspoonful of calves-foot jelly. there is only one counterpart to such a man as that, and that is the frothy young woman at the watering-place, her conversation made up of french moonshine; what she has on her head only equaled by what she has on her back; useless ever since she was born, and to be useless until she is dead: and what they will do with her in the next world i do not know, except to set her upon the banks of the river life for eternity to look sweet! god intends us to admire music and fair faces and graceful step, but amid the heartlessness and the inflation and the fantastic influences of our modern watering-places, beware how you make life-long covenants! v. another temptation that will hover over the watering-place is that of baneful literature. almost every one starting off for the summer takes some reading matter. it is a book out of the library or off the bookstand, or bought of the boy hawking books through the cars. i really believe there is more pestiferous trash read among the intelligent classes in july and august than in all the other ten months of the year. men and women who at home would not be satisfied with a book that was not really sensible, i found sitting on hotel-piazzas or under the trees reading books the index of which would make them blush if they knew that you knew what the book was. "oh," they say, "you must have intellectual recreation!" yes. there is no need that you take along into a watering-place "hamilton's metaphysics" or some thunderous discourse on the eternal decrees, or "faraday's philosophy." there are many easy books that are good. you might as well say: "i propose now to give a little rest to my digestive organs; and, instead of eating heavy meat and vegetables, i will for a little while take lighter food--a little strychnine and a few grains of ratsbane." literary poison in august is as bad as literary poison in december. mark that. do not let the frogs and the lice of a corrupt printing-press jump and crawl into your saratoga trunk or white mountain valise. would it not be an awful thing for you to be struck with lightning some day when you had in your hand one of these paper-covered romances--the hero a parisian _roué_, the heroine an unprincipled flirt--chapters in the book that you would not read to your children at the rate of $ a line? throw out all that stuff from your summer baggage. are there not good books that are easy to read--books of entertaining travel, books of congenial history, books of pure fun, books of poetry ringing with merry canto, books of fine engravings, books that will rest the mind as well as purify the heart and elevate the whole life? my hearers, there will not be an hour between this and the day of your death when you can afford to read a book lacking in moral principle. vi. another temptation hovering all around our watering-places is the intoxicating beverage. i am told that it is becoming more and more fashionable for woman to drink. i care not how well a woman may dress, if she has taken enough of wine to flush her cheek and put glassiness on her eyes, she is intoxicated. she may be handed into a $ carriage, and have diamonds enough to confound the tiffanys--she is intoxicated. she may be a graduate of packer institute, and the daughter of some man in danger of being nominated for the presidency--she is drunk. you may have a larger vocabulary than i have, and you may say in regard to her that she is "convivial," or she is "merry," or she is "festive," or she is "exhilarated," but you can not with all your garlands of verbiage cover up the plain fact that it is an old-fashioned case of drunk. now, the watering-places are full of temptations to men and women to tipple. at the close of the tenpin or billiard-game they tipple. at the close of the cotillon they tipple. seated on the piazza cooling themselves off they tipple. the tinged glasses come around with bright straws, and they tipple. first they take "light wines," as they call them; but "light wines" are heavy enough to debase the appetite. there is not a very long road between champagne at $ a bottle and whiskey at five cents a glass. satan has three or four grades down which he takes men to destruction. one man he takes up, and through one spree pitches him into eternal darkness. that is a rare case. very seldom, indeed, can you find a man who will be such a fool as that. when a man goes down to destruction satan brings him to a plane. it is almost a level. the depression is so slight that you can hardly see it. the man does not actually know that he is on the down grade, and it tips only a little toward darkness--just a little. and the first mile it is claret, and the second mile it is sherry, and the third mile it is punch, and the fourth mile it is ale, and the fifth mile it is porter, and the sixth mile it is brandy, and then it gets steeper and steeper and steeper, and the man gets frightened and says, "oh, let me get off!" "no," says the conductor, "this is an express train, and it does not stop until it gets to the grand central depot at smashupton." ah, "look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." and if any young man in my congregation should get astray this summer in this direction it will not be because i have not given him fair warning. my friends, whether you tarry at home--which will be quite as safe and perhaps quite as comfortable--or go into the country, arm yourself against temptation. the grace of god is the only safe shelter, whether in town or country. there are watering-places accessible to all of us. you can not open a book of the bible without finding out some such watering-place. fountains open for sin and uncleanliness; wells of salvation; streams from lebanon; a flood struck out of the rock by moses; fountains in the wilderness discovered by hagar; water to drink and water to bathe in; the river of god, which is full of water; water of which if a man drink he shall never thirst; wells of water in the valley of baca; living fountains of water; a pure river of water as clear as crystal from under the throne of god. these are watering-places accessible to all of us. we do not have a laborious packing up before we start--only the throwing away of our transgressions. no expensive hotel bills to pay; it is "without money and without price." no long and dirty travel before we get there; it is only one step away. california in five minutes. i walked around and saw ten fountains, all bubbling up, and they were all different. and in five minutes i can get through this bible _parterre_ and find you fifty bright, sparkling fountains bubbling up into eternal life. a chemist will go to one of these summer watering-places and take the water and analyze it and tell you that it contains so much of iron, and so much of soda, and so much of lime, and so much of magnesia. i come to this gospel well, this living fountain and analyze the water, and i find that its ingredients are peace, pardon, forgiveness, hope, comfort, life, heaven. "ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye" to this watering-place! crowd around this bethesda this morning! oh, you sick, you lame, you troubled, you dying--crowd around this bethesda! step in it! oh, step in it! the angel of the covenant this morning stirs the water. why do you not step in it? some of you are too weak to take a step in that direction. then we take you up in the arms of our closing prayer and plunge you clean under the wave, hoping that the cure may be as sudden and as radical as with captain naaman, who, blotched and carbuncled, stepped into the jordan, and after the seventh dive came up, his skin roseate-complexioned as the flesh of a little child. the banished queen. "also vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king ahasuerus. on the seventh day when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded mehuman, biztha, harbona, bigtha, and abagtha, zethar, and carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of ahasuerus the king, to bring vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. but the queen vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains; therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him."--esther i: - . we stand amid the palaces of shushan. the pinnacles are aflame with the morning light. the columns rise festooned and wreathed, the wealth of empires flashing from the grooves; the ceilings adorned with images of bird and beast, and scenes of prowess and conquest. the walls are hung with shields, and emblazoned until it seems that the whole round of splendors is exhausted. each arch is a mighty leaf of architectural achievement. golden stars shining down on glowing arabesque. hangings of embroidered work in which mingle the blueness of the sky, the greenness of the grass, and the whiteness of the sea-foam. tapestries hung on silver rings, wedding together the pillars of marble. pavilions reaching out in every direction. these for repose, filled with luxuriant couches, in which weary limbs sink until all fatigue is submerged. those for carousal, where kings drink down a kingdom at one swallow. amazing spectacle! light of silver dripping down over stairs of ivory on shields of gold. floors of stained marble, sunset red and night black, and inlaid with gleaming pearl. in connection with this palace there is a garden, where the mighty men of foreign lands are seated at a banquet. under the spread of oak and linden and acacia the tables are arranged. the breath of honeysuckle and frankincense fills the air. fountains leap up into the light, the spray struck through with rainbows falling in crystalline baptism upon flowering shrubs--then rolling down through channels of marble, and widening out here and there into pools swirling with the finny tribes of foreign aquariums, bordered with scarlet anemones, hypericums, and many-colored ranunculi. meats of rarest bird and beast smoking up amid wreaths of aromatics. the vases filled with apricots and almonds. the baskets piled up with apricots and figs and oranges and pomegranates. melons tastefully twined with leaves of acacia. the bright waters of eulæus filling the urns and dropping outside the rim in flashing beads amid the traceries. wine from the royal vats of ispahan and shiraz, in bottles of tinged shell, and lily-shaped cups of silver, and flagons and tankards of solid gold. the music rises higher, and the revelry breaks out into wilder transport, and the wine has flushed the cheek and touched the brain, and louder than all other voices are the hiccough of the inebriates, the gabble of fools, and the song of the drunkards. in another part of the palace, queen vashti is entertaining the princesses of persia at a banquet. drunken ahasuerus says to his servants, "you go out and fetch vashti from, that banquet with the women, and bring her to this banquet with the men, and let me display her beauty." the servants immediately start to obey the king's command; but there was a rule in oriental society that no woman might appear in public without having her face veiled. yet here was a mandate that no one dare dispute, demanding that vashti come in unveiled before the multitude. however, there was in vashti's soul a principle more regal than ahasuerus, more brilliant than the gold of shushan, of more wealth than the realm of persia, which commanded her to disobey this order of the king; and so all the righteousness and holiness and modesty of her nature rise up into one sublime refusal. she says, "i will not go into the banquet unveiled." ahasuerus was infuriate; and vashti, robbed of her position and her estate, is driven forth in poverty and ruin to suffer the scorn of a nation, and yet to receive the applause of after generations, who shall rise up to admire this martyr to kingly insolence. well, the last vestige of that feast is gone; the last garland has faded; the last arch has fallen; the last tankard has been destroyed; and shushan is a ruin; but as long as the world stands there will be multitudes of men and women, familiar with the bible, who will come into this picture-gallery of god and admire the divine portrait of vashti the queen, vashti the veiled, vashti the sacrifice, vashti the silent. i. in the first place, i want you to look upon vashti the queen. a blue ribbon, rayed with white, drawn around her forehead, indicated her queenly position. it was no small honor to be queen in such a realm as that. hark to the rustle of her robes! see the blaze of her jewels! and yet, my friends, it is not necessary to have place and regal robe in order to be queenly. when i see a woman with stout faith in god, putting her foot upon all meanness and selfishness and godless display, going right forward to serve christ and the race by a grand and a glorious service, i say: "that woman is a queen," and the ranks of heaven look over the battlements upon the coronation; and whether she comes up from the shanty on the commons or the mansion of the fashionable square, i greet her with the shout, "all hail, queen vashti!" what glory was there on the brow of mary of scotland, or elizabeth of england, or margaret of france, or catherine of russia, compared with the worth of some of our christian mothers, many of them gone into glory?--or of that woman mentioned in the scriptures, who put her all into the lord's treasury?--or of jephtha's daughter, who made a demonstration of unselfish patriotism?--or of abigail, who rescued the herds and flocks of her husband?--or of ruth, who toiled under a tropical sun for poor, old, helpless naomi?--or of florence nightingale, who went at midnight to stanch the battle wounds of the crimea?--or of mrs. adoniram judson, who kindled the lights of salvation amid the darkness of burmah?--or of mrs. hemans, who poured out her holy soul in words which will forever be associated with hunter's horn, and captive's chain, and bridal hour, and lute's throb, and curfew's knell at the dying day?--and scores and hundreds of women, unknown on earth, who have given water to the thirsty, and bread to the hungry, and medicine to the sick, and smiles to the discouraged--their footsteps heard along dark lane and in government hospital, and in almshouse corridor, and by prison gate? there may be no royal robe--there may be no palatial surroundings. she does not need them; for all charitable men will unite with the crackling lips of fever-struck hospital and plague-blotched lazaretto in greeting her as she passes: "hail! hail! queen vashti!" ii. again, i want you to consider vashti the veiled. had she appeared before ahasuerus and his court on that day with her face uncovered she would have shocked all the delicacies of oriental society, and the very men who in their intoxication demanded that she come, in their sober moments would have despised her. as some flowers seem to thrive best in the dark lane and in the shadow, and where the sun does not seem to reach them, so god appoints to most womanly natures a retiring and unobtrusive spirit. god once in awhile does call an isabella to a throne, or a miriam to strike the timbrel at the front of a host, or a marie antoinette to quell a french mob, or a deborah to stand at the front of an armed battalion, crying out, "up! up! this is the day in which the lord will deliver sisera into thy hands." and when the women are called to such out-door work and to such heroic positions, god prepares them for it; and they have iron in their soul, and lightnings in their eye, and whirlwinds in their breath, and the borrowed strength of the lord omnipotent in their right arm. they walk through furnaces as though they were hedges of wild-flowers, and cross seas as though they were shimmering sapphire; and all the harpies of hell down to their dungeon at the stamp of womanly indignation. but these are the exceptions. generally, dorcas would rather make a garment for the poor boy; rebecca would rather fill the trough for the camels; hannah would rather make a coat for samuel; the hebrew maid would rather give a prescription for naaman's leprosy; the woman of sarepta would rather gather a few sticks to cook a meal for famished elijah; phebe would rather carry a letter for the inspired apostle; mother lois would rather educate timothy in the scriptures. when i see a woman going about her daily duty, with cheerful dignity presiding at the table, with kind and gentle, but firm discipline presiding in the nursery, going out into the world without any blast of trumpets, following in the footsteps of him who went about doing good--i say: "this is vashti with a veil on." but when i see a woman of unblushing boldness, loud-voiced, with a tongue of infinite clitter-clatter, with arrogant look, passing through the streets with the step of a walking-beam, gayly arrayed in a very hurricane of millinery, i cry out: "vashti has lost her veil!" when i see a woman struggling for political preferment--trying to force her way on up to the ballot-box, amid the masculine demagogues who stand, with swollen fists and bloodshot eyes and pestiferous breath, to guard the polls--wanting to go through the loaferism and the defilement of popular sovereigns, who crawl up from the saloons greasy and foul and vermin-covered, to decide questions of justice and order and civilization--when i see a woman, i say, who wants to press through all that horrible scum to get to the ballot-box, i say: "ah, what a pity! vashti has lost her veil!" when i see a woman of comely features, and of adroitness of intellect, and endowed with all that the schools can do for one, and of high social position, yet moving in society with superciliousness and _hauteur_, as though she would have people know their place, and with an undefined combination of giggle and strut and rhodomontade, endowed with allopathic quantities of talk, but only homeopathic infinitesimals of sense, the terror of dry-goods clerks and railroad conductors, discoverers of significant meanings in plain conversation, prodigies of badinage and innuendo--i say: "vashti has lost her veil." iii. again, i want you this morning to consider vashti the sacrifice. who is this that i see coming out of that palace gate of shushan? it seems to me that i have seen her before. she comes homeless, houseless, friendless, trudging along with a broken heart. who is she? it is vashti the sacrifice. oh! what a change it was from regal position to a wayfarer's crust! a little while ago, approved and sought for; now, none so poor as to acknowledge her acquaintanceship. vashti the sacrifice! ah! you and i have seen it many a time. here is a home empalaced with beauty. all that refinement and books and wealth can do for that home has been done; but ahasuerus, the husband and the father, is taking hold on paths of sin. he is gradually going down. after awhile he will flounder and struggle like a wild beast in the hunter's net--further away from god, further away from the right. soon the bright apparel of the children will turn to rags; soon the household song will become the sobbing of a broken heart. the old story over again. brutal centaurs breaking up the marriage feast of lapithæ. the house full of outrage and cruelty and abomination, while trudging forth from the palace gate are vashti and her children. there are homes represented in this house this morning that are in danger of such breaking-up. oh, ahasuerus! that you should stand in a home, by a dissipated life destroying the peace and comfort of that home. god forbid that your children should ever have to wring their hands, and have people point their finger at them as they pass down the street, and say, "there goes a drunkard's child." god forbid that the little feet should ever have to trudge the path of poverty and wretchedness! god forbid that any evil spirit born of the wine-cup or the brandy-glass should come forth and uproot that garden, and with a lasting, blistering, all-consuming curse, shut forever the palace gate against vashti and the children. one night during the war i went to hagerstown to look at the army, and i stood on a hill-top and looked down upon them. i saw the camp-fires all through the valleys and all over the hills. it was a weird spectacle, those camp-fires, and i stood and watched them; and the soldiers who were gathered around them were, no doubt, talking of their homes, and of the long march they had taken, and of the battles they were to fight; but after awhile i saw these camp-fires begin to lower; and they continued to lower, until they were all gone out, and the army slept. it was imposing when i saw the camp-fires; it was imposing in the darkness when i thought of that great host asleep. well, god looks down from heaven, and he sees the fireside of christendom and the loved ones gathered around these firesides. these are the camp-fires where we warm ourselves at the close of day, and talk over the battles of life we have fought and the battles that are yet to come. god grant that when at last these fires begin to go out, and continue to lower until finally they are extinguished, and the ashes of consumed hopes strew the hearth of the old homestead, it may be because we have "gone to sleep that last long sleep, from which none ever wake to weep." now we are an army on the march of life. then we shall be an army bivouacked in the tent of the grave. iv. once more: i want you to look at vashti the silent. you do not hear any outcry from this woman as she goes forth from the palace gate. from the very dignity of her nature, you know there will be no vociferation. sometimes in life it is necessary to make a retort; sometimes in life it is necessary to resist; but there are crises when the most triumphant thing to do is to keep silence. the philosopher, confident in his newly discovered principle, waited for the coming of more intelligent generations, willing that men should laugh at the lightning-rod and cotton-gin and steam-boat--waiting for long years through the scoffing of philosophical schools, in grand and magnificent silence. galileo, condemned by mathematicians and monks and cardinals, caricatured everywhere, yet waiting and watching with his telescope to see the coming up of stellar reenforcements, when the stars in their courses would fight for the copernican system; then sitting down in complete blindness and deafness to wait for the coming on of the generations who would build his monument and bow at his grave. the reformer, execrated by his contemporaries, fastened in a pillory, the slow fires of public contempt burning under him, ground under the cylinders of the printing-press, yet calmly waiting for the day when purity of soul and heroism of character will get the sanction of earth and the plaudits of heaven. affliction enduring without any complaint the sharpness of the pang, and the violence of the storm, and the heft of the chain, and the darkness of the night--waiting until a divine hand shall be put forth to soothe the pang, and hush the storm, and release the captive. a wife abused, persecuted, and a perpetual exile from every earthly comfort--waiting, waiting, until the lord shall gather up his dear children in a heavenly home, and no poor vashti will ever be thrust out from the palace gate. jesus, in silence and answering not a word, drinking the gall, bearing the cross, in prospect of the rapturous consummation when "angels thronged their chariot wheel, and bore him to his throne, then swept their golden harps and sung, 'the glorious work is done!'" oh, woman! does not this story of vashti the queen, vashti the veiled, vashti the sacrifice, vashti the silent, move your soul? my sermon converges into the one absorbing hope that none of you may be shut out of the palace gate of heaven. you can endure the hardships, and the privations, and the cruelties, and the misfortunes of this life if you can only gain admission there. through the blood of the everlasting covenant you go through those gates, or never go at all. god forbid that you should at last be banished from the society of angels, and banished from the companionship of your glorified kindred, and banished forever. through the rich grace of our lord jesus christ, may you be enabled to imitate the example of rachel, and hannah, and abigail, and deborah, and mary, and esther, and vashti. the day we live in. "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"--esther iv. . esther the beautiful was the wife of ahasuerus the abominable. the time had come for her to present a petition to her infamous husband in behalf of the jewish nation, to which she had once belonged. she was afraid to undertake the work, lest she should lose her own life; but her uncle, mordecai, who had brought her up, encouraged her with the suggestion that probably she had been raised up of god for that peculiar mission. "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" esther had her god-appointed work; you and i have ours. it is my business to tell you what style of men and women you ought to be in order that you meet the demand of the age in which god has cast your lot. if you have come expecting to hear abstractions discussed, or dry technicalities of religion glorified, you have come to the wrong church; but if you really would like to know what this age has a right to expect of you as christian men and women, then i am ready in the lord's name to look you in the face. when two armies have rushed into battle the officers of either army do not want a philosophical discussion about the chemical properties of human blood or the nature of gunpowder; they want some one to man the batteries and swab out the guns. and now, when all the forces of light and darkness, of heaven and hell, have plunged into the fight, it is no time to give ourselves to the definitions and formulas and technicalities and conventionalities of religion. what we want is practical, earnest, concentrated, enthusiastic, and triumphant help. i. in the first place, in order to meet the special demand of this age, you need to be an unmistakably aggressive christian. of half-and-half christians we do not want any more. the church of jesus christ will be better without ten thousand of them. they are the chief obstacle to the church's advancement. i am speaking of another kind of christian. all the appliances for your becoming an earnest christian are at your hand, and there is a straight path for you into the broad daylight of god's forgiveness. you may have come into this tabernacle the bondsmen of the world, and yet before you go out of these doors you may become princes of the lord god almighty. you remember what excitement there was in this country, years ago, when the prince of wales came here--how the people rushed out by hundreds of thousands to see him. why? because they expected that some day he would sit upon the throne of england. but what was all that honor compared with the honor to which god calls you--to be sons and daughters of the lord almighty; yea, to be queens and kings unto god? "they shall reign with him forever and forever." but, my friends, you need to be aggressive christians, and not like those persons who spend their lives in hugging their christian graces and wondering why they do not make any progress. how much robustness of health would a man have if he hid himself in a dark closet? a great deal of the piety of the day is too exclusive. it hides itself. it needs more fresh air, more out-door exercise. there are many christians who are giving their entire life to self-examination. they are feeling their pulses to see what is the condition of their spiritual health. how long would a man have robust physical health if he kept all the days and weeks and months and years of his life feeling his pulse instead of going out into active, earnest, every-day work? i was once amid the wonderful, bewitching cactus growths of north carolina. i never was more bewildered with the beauty of flowers, and yet when i would take up one of these cactuses and pull the leaves apart, the beauty was all gone. you could hardly tell that it had ever been a flower. and there are a great many christian people in this day just pulling apart their christian experiences to see what there is in them, and there is nothing left in them. this style of self-examination is a damage instead of an advantage to their christian character. i remember when i was a boy i used to have a small piece in the garden that i called my own, and i planted corn there, and every few days i would pull it up to see how fast it was growing. now, there are a great many christian people in this day whose self-examination merely amounts to the pulling up of that which they only yesterday or the day before planted. o my friends! if you want to have a stalwart christian character, plant it right out of doors in the great field of christian usefulness, and though storms may come upon it, and though the hot sun of trial may try to consume it, it will thrive until it becomes a great tree, in which the fowls of heaven may have their habitation. i have no patience with these flower-pot christians. they keep themselves under shelter, and all their christian experience in a small, exclusive circle, when they ought to plant it in the great garden of the lord, so that the whole atmosphere could be aromatic with their christian usefulness. what we want in the church of god is more brawn of piety. the century plant is wonderfully suggestive and wonderfully beautiful, but i never look at it without thinking of its parsimony. it lets whole generations go by before it puts forth one blossom; so i have really more heartfelt admiration when i see the dewy tears in the blue eyes of the violets, for they come every spring. my christian friends, time is going by so rapidly that we can not afford to be idle. a recent statistician says that human life now has an average of only thirty-two years. from these thirty-two years you must subtract all the time you take for sleep and the taking of food and recreation; that will leave you about sixteen years. from those sixteen years you must subtract all the time that you are necessarily engaged in the earning of a livelihood; that will leave you about eight years. from those eight years you must take all the days and weeks and months--all the length of time that is passed in childhood and sickness, leaving you about one year in which to work for god. oh, my soul, wake up! how darest thou sleep in harvest-time and with so few hours in which to reap? so that i state it as a simple fact that all the time that the vast majority of you will have for the exclusive service of god will be less than one year! "but," says some man, "i liberally support the gospel, and the church is open and the gospel is preached: all the spiritual advantages are spread before men, and if they want to be saved, let them come to be saved; i have discharged all my responsibility." ah! is that the master's spirit? is there not an old book somewhere that commands us to go out into the highways and the hedges and compel the people to come in? what would have become of you and me if christ had not come down off the hills of heaven, and if he had not come through the door of the bethlehem caravansary, and if he had not with the crushed hand of the crucifixion knocked at the iron gate of the sepulcher of our spiritual death, crying, "lazarus, come forth"? oh, my christian friends, this is no time for inertia, when all the forces of darkness seem to be in full blast; when steam printing-presses are publishing infidel tracts; when express railroad trains are carrying messengers of sin; when fast clippers are laden with opium and rum; when the night-air of our cities is polluted with the laughter that breaks up from the ten thousand saloons of dissipation and abandonment; when the fires of the second death already are kindled in the cheeks of some who, only a little while ago, were incorrupt. oh, never since the curse fell upon the earth has there been a time when it was such an unwise, such a cruel, such an awful thing for the church to sleep! the great audiences are not gathered in the christian churches; the great audiences are gathered in temples of sin--tears of unutterable woe their baptism, the blood of crushed hearts the awful wine of their sacrament, blasphemies their litany, and the groans of the lost world the organ dirge of their worship. ii. again, if you want to be qualified to meet the duties which this age demands of you, you must on the one hand avoid reckless iconoclasm, and on the other hand not stick too much to things because they are old. the air is full of new plans, new projects, new theories of government, new theologies, and i am amazed to see how so many christians want only novelty in order to recommend a thing to their confidence; and so they vacillate and swing to and fro, and they are useless, and they are unhappy. new plans--secular, ethical, philosophical, religious, cisatlantic, transatlantic--long enough to make a line reaching from the german universities to great salt lake city. ah, my brother, do not take hold of a thing merely because it is new. try it by the realities of a judgment day. but, on the other hand, do not adhere to any thing merely because it is old. there is not a single enterprise of the church or the world but has sometimes been scoffed at. there was a time when men derided even bible societies; and when a few young men met near a hay-stack in massachusetts and organized the first missionary society ever organized in this country, there went laughter and ridicule all around the christian church. they said the undertaking was preposterous. and so also the work of jesus christ was assailed. people cried out, "who ever heard of such theories of ethics and government? who ever noticed such a style of preaching as jesus has?" ezekiel had talked of mysterious wings and wheels. here came a man from capernaum and gennesaret, and he drew his illustration from the lakes, from the sand, from the ravine, from the lilies, from the corn-stalks. how the pharisees scoffed! how herod derided! how caiaphas hissed! and this jesus they plucked by the beard, and they spat in his face, and they called him "this fellow!" all the great enterprises in and out of the church have at times been scoffed at, and there have been a great multitude who have thought that the chariot of god's truth would fall to pieces if it once got out of the old rut. and so there are those who have no patience with anything like improvement in church architecture, or with anything like good, hearty, earnest church singing, and they deride any form of religious discussion which goes down walking among every-day men rather than that which makes an excursion on rhetorical stilts. oh, that the church of god would wake up to an adaptability of work! we must admit the simple fact that the churches of jesus christ in this day do not reach the great masses. there are fifty thousand people in edinburgh who never hear the gospel. there are one million people in london who never hear the gospel. there are at least three hundred thousand souls in the city of brooklyn who come not under the immediate ministrations of christ's truth; and the church of god in this day, instead of being a place full of living epistles, read and known of all men, is more like a "dead-letter" post-office. "but," say the people, "the world is going to be converted; you must be patient; the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of christ," never, unless the church of jesus christ puts on more speed and energy. instead of the church converting the world, the world is converting the church. here is a great fortress. how shall it be taken? an army comes and sits around about it, cuts off the supplies, and says: "now we will just wait until from exhaustion and starvation they will have to give up." weeks and months, and perhaps a year, pass along, and finally the fortress surrenders through that starvation and exhaustion. but, my friends, the fortresses of sin are never to be taken in that way. if they are taken for god it will be by storm; you will have to bring up the great siege guns of the gospel to the very wall and wheel the flying artillery into line, and when the armed infantry of heaven shall confront the battlements you will have to give the quick command, "forward! charge!" ah, my friends, there is work for you to do and for me to do in order to this grand accomplishment! here is my pulpit, and i preach in it. your pulpit is the bank. your pulpit is the store. your pulpit is the editorial chair. your pulpit is the anvil. your pulpit is the house scaffolding. your pulpit is the mechanic's shop. i may stand in this place and, through cowardice or through self-seeking, may keep back the word i ought to utter; while you, with sleeve rolled up and brow besweated with toil, may utter the word that will jar the foundations of heaven with the shout of a great victory. oh, that this morning this whole audience might feel that the lord almighty was putting upon them the hands of ordination. i tell you, every one, go forth and preach this gospel. you have as much right to preach as i have, or as any man has. only find out the pulpit where god will have you preach, and there preach. hedley vicars was a wicked man in the english army. the grace of god came to him. he became an earnest and eminent christian. they scoffed at him, and said: "you are a hypocrite; you are as bad as ever you were." still he kept his faith in christ, and after awhile, finding that they could not turn him aside by calling him a hypocrite, they said to him: "oh, you are nothing but a methodist." that did not disturb him. he went on performing his christian duty until he had formed all his troop into a bible-class, and the whole encampment was shaken with the presence of god. so havelock went into the heathen temple in india while the english army was there, and put a candle into the hand of each of the heathen gods that stood around in the heathen temple, and by the light of those candles, held up by the idols, general havelock preached righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. and who will say, on earth or in heaven, that havelock had not the right to preach? in the minister's house where i prepared for college, there was a man who worked, by the name of peter croy. he could neither read nor write, but he was a man of god. often theologians would stop in the house--grave theologians--and at family prayers peter croy would be called upon to lead; and all those wise men sat around, wonder-struck at his religious efficiency. when he prayed he reached up and seemed to take hold of the very throne of the almighty, and he talked with god until the very heavens were bowed down into the sitting-room. oh, if i were dying i would rather have plain peter croy kneel by my bedside and commend my immortal spirit to god than the greatest archbishop, arrayed in costly canonicals. go preach this gospel. you say you are not licensed. in the name of the lord almighty, this morning, i license you. go preach this gospel--preach it in the sabbath-schools, in the prayer-meetings, in the highways, in the hedges. woe be unto you if you preach it not. iii. i remark, again, that in order to be qualified to meet your duty in this particular age you want unbounded faith in the triumph of the truth and the overthrow of wickedness. how dare the christian church ever get discouraged? have we not the lord almighty on our side? how long did it take god to slay the hosts of sennacherib or burn sodom or shake down jericho? how long will it take god, when he once arises in his strength, to overthrow all the forces of iniquity? between this time and that there may be long seasons of darkness--the chariot-wheels of god's gospel may seem to drag heavily; but here is the promise, and yonder is the throne; and when omniscience has lost its eyesight, and omnipotence falls back impotent, and jehovah is driven from his throne, then the church of jesus christ can afford to be despondent, but never until then. despots may plan and armies may march, and the congresses of the nations may seem to think they are adjusting all the affairs of the world, but the mighty men of the earth are only the dust of the chariot-wheels of god's providence. i think that before the sun of this century shall set the last tyranny will fall, and with a splendor of demonstration that shall be the astonishment of the universe god will set forth the brightness and pomp and glory and perpetuity of his eternal government. out of the starry flags and the emblazoned insignia of this world god will make a path for his own triumph, and, returning from universal conquest, he will sit down, the grandest, strongest, highest throne of earth his footstool. "then shall all nations' song ascend to thee, our ruler, father, friend, till heaven's high arch resounds again with 'peace on earth, good will to men.'" i preach this sermon because i want to encourage all christian workers in every possible department. hosts of the living god, march on! march on! his spirit will bless you. his shield will defend you. his sword will strike for you. march on! march on! the despotism will fall, and paganism will burn its idols, and mohammedanism will give up its false prophet, and judaism will confess the true messiah, and the great walls of superstition will come down in thunder and wreck at the long, loud blast of the gospel trumpet. march on! march on! the besiegement will soon be ended. only a few more steps on the long way; only a few more sturdy blows; only a few more battle cries, then god will put the laurel upon your brow, and from the living fountains of heaven will bathe off the sweat and the heat and the dust of the conflict. march on! march on! for you the time for work will soon be passed, and amid the outflashings of the judgment throne, and the trumpeting of resurrection angels, and the upheaving of a world of graves, and the hosanna and the groaning of the saved and the lost, we shall be rewarded for our faithfulness or punished for our stupidity. blessed be the lord god of israel from everlasting to everlasting, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. amen and amen. capital and labor. "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."--matt. vii: . the greatest war the world has ever seen is between capital and labor. the strife is not like that which in history is called the thirty years' war, for it is a war of centuries, it is a war of the five continents, it is a war hemispheric. the middle classes in this country, upon whom the nation has depended for holding the balance of power and for acting as mediators between the two extremes, are diminishing; and if things go on at the same ratio as they are now going, it will not be very long before there will be no middle class in this country, but all will be very rich or very poor, princes or paupers, and the country will be given up to palaces and hovels. the antagonistic forces are closing in upon each other. the telegraphic operators' strikes, the railroad employés' strikes, the pennsylvania miners' strikes, the movements of the boycotters and the dynamiters are only skirmishes before a general engagement, or, if you prefer it, escapes through the safety-valves of an imprisoned force which promises the explosion of society. you may pooh-pooh it; you may say that this trouble, like an angry child, will cry itself to sleep; you may belittle it by calling it fourierism, or socialism, or st. simonism, or nihilism, or communism; but that will not hinder the fact that it is the mightiest, the darkest, the most terrific threat of this century. all attempts at pacification have been dead failures, and monopoly is more arrogant, and the trades unions more bitter. "give us more wages," cry the employés. "you shall have less," say the capitalists. "compel us to do fewer hours of toil in a day." "you shall toil more hours," say the others. "then, under certain conditions, we will not work at all," say these. "then you shall starve," say those, and the workmen gradually using up that which they accumulated in better times, unless there be some radical change, we shall have soon in this country three million hungry men and women. now, three million hungry people can not be kept quiet. all the enactments of legislatures and all the constabularies of the cities, and all the army and navy of the united states can not keep three million hungry people quiet. what then? will this war between capital and labor be settled by human wisdom? never. the brow of the one becomes more rigid, the fist of the other more clinched. but that which human wisdom can not achieve will be accomplished by christianity if it be given full sway. you have heard of medicines so powerful that one drop would stop a disease and restore a patient; and i have to tell you that one drop of my text properly administered will stop all those woes of society and give convalescence and complete health to all classes. "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." i shall first show you this morning how this quarrel between monopoly and hard work can not be stopped, and then i will show you how this controversy will be settled. futile remedies. in the first place, there will come no pacification to this trouble through an outcry against rich men merely because they are rich. there is no member of a trades-union on earth that would not be rich if he could be. sometimes through a fortunate invention, or through some accident of prosperity, a man who had nothing comes to large estate, and we see him arrogant and supercilious, and taking people by the throat just as other people took him by the throat. there is something very mean about human nature when it comes to the top. but it is no more a sin to be rich than it is a sin to be poor. there are those who have gathered a great estate through fraud, and then there are millionaires who have gathered their fortune through foresight in regard to changes in the markets, and through brilliant business faculty, and every dollar of their estate is as honest as the dollar which the plumber gets for mending a pipe, or the mason gets for building a wall. there are those who keep in poverty because of their own fault. they might have been well-off, but they smoked or chewed up their earnings, or they lived beyond their means, while others on the same wages and on the same salaries went on to competency. i know a man who is all the time complaining of his poverty and crying out against rich men, while he himself keeps two dogs, and chews and smokes, and is filled to the chin with whisky and beer! micawber said to david copperfield: "copperfield, my boy, one pound income, twenty shillings and sixpence expenses: result misery. but, copperfield, my boy, one pound income, expenses nineteen shillings and sixpence; result, happiness." and there are vast multitudes of people who are kept poor because they are the victims of their own improvidence. it is no sin to be rich, and it is no sin to be poor. i protest against this outcry which i hear against those who, through economy and self-denial and assiduity, have come to large fortune. this bombardment of commercial success will never stop this quarrel between capital and labor. neither will the contest be settled by cynical and unsympathetic treatment of the laboring classes. there are those who speak of them as though they were only cattle or draught horses. their nerves are nothing, their domestic comfort is nothing, their happiness is nothing. they have no more sympathy for them than a hound has for a hare, or a hawk for a hen, or a tiger for a calf. when jean valjean, the greatest hero of victor hugo's writings, after a life of suffering and brave endurance, goes into incarceration and death, they clap the book shut and say, "good for him!" they stamp their feet with indignation and say just the opposite of "save the working-classes." they have all their sympathies with shylock, and not with antonio and portia. they are plutocrats, and their feelings are infernal. they are filled with irritation and irascibility on this subject. to stop this awful imbroglio between capital and labor they will lift not so much as the tip end of the little finger. neither will there be any pacification of this angry controversy through violence. god never blessed murder. the poorest use you can put a man to is to kill him. blow up to-morrow all the country-seats on the banks of the hudson, and all the fine houses on madison square, and brooklyn heights, and bunker hill, and rittenhouse square, and beacon street, and all the bricks and timber and stone will just fall back on the bare head of american labor. the worst enemies of the working-classes in the united states and ireland are their demented coadjutors. assassination--the assassination of lord frederick cavendish and mr. burke in phoenix park, dublin, ireland, in the attempt to avenge the wrongs of ireland, only turned away from that afflicted people millions of sympathizers. the recent attempt to blow up the house of commons, in london, had only this effect: to throw out of employment tens of thousands of innocent irish people in england. in this country the torch put to the factories that have discharged hands for good or bad reason; obstructions on the rail-track in front of midnight express trains because the offenders do not like the president of the company; strikes on shipboard the hour they were going to sail, or in printing-offices the hour the paper was to go to press, or in mines the day the coal was to be delivered, or on house scaffoldings so the builder fails in keeping his contract--all these are only a hard blow on the head of american labor, and cripple its arms, and lame its feet, and pierce its heart. take the last great strike in america--the telegraph operators' strike--and you have to find that the operators lost four hundred thousand dollars' worth of wages, and have had poorer wages ever since. traps sprung suddenly upon employers, and violence, never took one knot out of the knuckle of toil, or put one farthing of wages into a callous palm. barbarism will never cure the wrongs of civilization. mark that! frederick the great admired some land near his palace at potsdam, and he resolved to get it. it was owned by a miller. he offered the miller three times the value of the property. the miller would not take it, because it was the old homestead, and he felt about as naboth felt about his vineyard when ahab wanted it. frederick the great was a rough and terrible man, and he ordered the miller into his presence; and the king, with a stick, in his hand--a stick with which he sometimes struck his officers of state--said to this miller: "now, i have offered you three times the value of that property, and if you won't sell it i'll take it anyhow." the miller said, "your majesty, you won't." "yes," said the king, "i will take it." "then," said the miller, "if your majesty does take it, i will sue you in the chancery court." at that threat frederick the great yielded his infamous demand. and the most imperious outrage against the working-classes will yet cower before the law. violence and contrary to the law will never accomplish anything, but righteousness and according to law will accomplish it. well, if this controversy between capital and labor can not be settled by human wisdom, if to-day capital and labor stand with their thumbs on each other's throat--as they do--it is time for us to look somewhere else for relief, and it points from my text roseate and jubilant, and puts one hand on the broadcloth shoulder of capital, and puts the other hand on the homespun-covered shoulder of toil, and says, with a voice that will grandly and gloriously settle this, and settle everything, "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." that is, the lady of the household will say: "i must treat the maid in the kitchen just as i would like to be treated if i were down-stairs, and it were my work to wash, and cook, and sweep, and it were the duty of the maid in the kitchen to preside in this parlor." the maid in the kitchen must say: "if my employer seems to be more prosperous than i, that is no fault of hers; i shall not treat her as an enemy. i will have the same industry and fidelity down-stairs as i would expect from my subordinates, if i happened to be the wife of a silk importer." the owner of an iron mill, having taken a dose of my text before leaving home in the morning, will go into his foundry, and, passing into what is called the puddling-room, he will see a man there stripped to the waist, and besweated and exhausted with the labor and the toil, and he will say to him: "why, it seems to be very hot in here. you look very much exhausted. i hear your child is sick with scarlet fever. if you want your wages a little earlier this week, so as to pay the nurse and get the medicines, just come into my office any time." after awhile, crash goes the money market, and there is no more demand for the articles manufactured in that iron mill, and the owner does not know what to do. he says, "shall i stop the mill, or shall i run it on half time, or shall i cut down the men's wages?" he walks the floor of his counting-room all day, hardly knowing what to do. toward evening he calls all the laborers together. they stand all around, some with arms akimbo, some with folded arms, wondering what the boss is going to do now. the manufacturer says: "men, times are very hard; i don't make twenty dollars where i used to make one hundred. somehow, there is no demand now for what we manufacture, or but very little demand. you see i am at vast expense, and i have called you together this afternoon to see what you would advise. i don't want to shut up the mill, because that would force you out of work, and you have always been very faithful, and i like you, and you seem to like me, and the bairns must be looked after, and your wife will after awhile want a new dress. i don't know what to do." there is a dead halt for a minute or two, and then one of the workmen steps out from the ranks of his fellows, and says: "boss, you have been very good to us, and when you prospered we prospered, and now you are in a tight place and i am sorry, and we have got to sympathize with you. i don't know how the others feel, but i propose that we take off twenty per cent. from our wages, and that when the times get good you will remember us and raise them again." the workman looks around to his comrades, and says: "boys, what do you say to this? all in favor of my proposition will say ay." "ay! ay! ay!" shout two hundred voices. but the mill-owner, getting in some new machinery, exposes himself very much, and takes cold, and it settles into pneumonia, and he dies. in the procession to the tomb are all the workmen, tears rolling down their cheeks, and off upon the ground; but an hour before the procession gets to the cemetery the wives and the children of those workmen are at the grave waiting for the arrival of the funeral pageant. the minister of religion may have delivered an eloquent eulogium before they started from the house, but the most impressive things are said that day by the working-classes standing around the tomb. that night in all the cabins of the working-people where they have family prayers the widowhood and the orphanage in the mansion are remembered. no glaring populations look over the iron fence of the cemetery; but, hovering over the scene, the benediction of god and man is coming for the fulfillment of the christlike injunction, "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." "oh," says some man here, "that is all utopian, that is apocryphal, that is impossible." no. yesterday, i cut out of a paper this: "one of the pleasantest incidents recorded in a long time is reported from sheffield, england. the wages of the men in the iron works at sheffield are regulated by a board of arbitration, by whose decision both masters and men are bound. for some time past the iron and steel trade has been extremely unprofitable, and the employers can not, without much loss, pay the wages fixed by the board, which neither employers nor employed have the power to change. to avoid this difficulty, the workmen in one of the largest steel works in sheffield hit upon a device as rare as it was generous. they offered to work for their employers one week without any pay whatever. how much better that plan is than a strike would be." but you go with me and i will show you--not so far off as sheffield, england--factories, banking-houses, storehouses, and costly enterprises where this christ-like injunction of my text is fully kept, and you could no more get the employer to practice an injustice upon his men, or the men to conspire against the employer, than you could get your right hand and your left hand, your right eye and your left eye, your right ear and your left ear, into physiological antagonism. now, where is this to begin? in our homes, in our stores, on our farms--not waiting for other people to do their duty. is there a divergence now between the parlor and the kitchen? then there is something wrong, either in the parlor or the kitchen, perhaps in both. are the clerks in your store irate against the firm? then there is something wrong, either behind the counter, or in the private office, or perhaps in both. the great want of the world to-day is the fulfillment of this christ-like injunction, that which he promulgated in his sermon olivetic. all the political economists under the arch or vault of the heavens in convention for a thousand years can not settle this controversy between monopoly and hard work, between capital and labor. during the revolutionary war there was a heavy piece of timber to be lifted, perhaps for some fortress, and a corporal was overseeing the work, and he was giving commands to some soldiers as they lifted: "heave away, there! yo heave!" well, the timber was too heavy; they could not get it up. there was a gentleman riding by on a horse, and he stopped and said to this corporal, "why don't you help them lift? that timber is too heavy for them to lift." "no," he said, "i won't; i am a corporal." the gentleman got off his horse and came up to the place. "now," he said to the soldiers, "all together--yo heave!" and the timber went to its place. "now," said the gentleman to the corporal, "when you have a piece of timber too heavy for the men to lift, and you want help, you send to your commander-in-chief." it was washington. now, that is about all the gospel i know--the gospel of giving somebody a lift, a lift out of darkness, a lift out of earth into heaven. that is all the gospel i know--the gospel of helping somebody else to lift. "oh," says some wiseacre, "talk as you will, the law of demand and supply will regulate these things until the end of time." no, they will not, unless god dies and the batteries of the judgment day are spiked, and pluto and proserpine, king and queen of the infernal regions, take full possession of this world. do you know who supply and demand are? they have gone into partnership, and they propose to swindle this earth and are swindling it. you are drowning. supply and demand stand on the shore, one on one side, the other on the other side, of the life-boat, and they cry out to you, "now, you pay us what we ask you for getting you to shore, or go to the bottom!" if you can borrow $ you can keep from failing in business. supply and demand say, "now, you pay us exorbitant usury, or you go into bankruptcy." this robber firm of supply and demand say to you: "the crops are short. we bought up all the wheat and it is in our bin. now, you pay our price or starve." that is your magnificent law of supply and demand. supply and demand own the largest mill on earth, and all the rivers roll over their wheel, and into their hopper they put all the men, women, and children they can shovel out of the centuries, and the blood and the bones redden the valley while the mill grinds. that diabolic law of supply and demand will yet have to stand aside, and instead thereof will come the law of love, the law of cooperation, the law of kindness, the law of sympathy, the law of christ. have you no idea of the coming of such a time? then you do not believe the bible. all the bible is full of promises on this subject, and as the ages roll on the time will come when men or fortune will be giving larger sums to humanitarian and evangelistic purposes, and there will be more james lenoxes and peter coopers and william e. dodges and george peabodys. as that time comes there will be more parks, more picture-galleries, more gardens thrown open for the holiday people and the working-classes. i was reading only this morning in regard to a charge that had been made in england against lambeth palace, that it was exclusive; and that charge demonstrated the sublime fact that to the grounds of that wealthy estate eight hundred poor families have free passes, and forty croquet companies, and on the hall-day holidays four thousand poor people recline on the grass, walk through the paths, and sit under the trees. that is gospel--gospel on the wing, gospel out-of-doors worth just as much as in-doors. that time is going to come. that is only a hint of what is going to be. the time is going to come when, if you have anything in your house worth looking at--pictures, pieces of sculpture--you are going to invite me to come and see it, you are going to invite my friends to come and see it, and you will say, "see what i have been blessed with. god has given me this, and so far as enjoying it, it is yours also." that is gospel. in crossing the alleghany mountains, many years ago, the stage halted, and henry clay dismounted from the stage, and went out on a rock at the very verge of the cliff, and he stood there with his cloak wrapped about him, and he seemed to be listening for something. some one said to him, "what are you listening for?" standing there, on the top of the mountain, he said: "i am listening to the tramp of the footsteps of the coming millions of this continent." a sublime posture for an american statesman! you and i to-day stand on the mountain-top of privilege, and on the rock of ages, and we look off, and we hear coming from the future the happy industries, and smiling populations, and the consecrated fortunes, and the innumerable prosperities of the closing nineteenth and the opening twentieth century. while i speak this morning, there lies in state the dead author and patriot of france, victor hugo. the ten thousand dollars in his will he has given to the poor of the city are only a hint of the work he has done for all nations and for all times. i wonder not that they allow eleven days to pass between his death and his burial, his body meantime kept under triumphal arch, for the world can hardly afford to let go this man who for more than eight decades has by his unparalleled genius blessed it. his name shall be a terror to all despots, and an encouragement to all the struggling. he has made the world's burden lighter, and its darkness less dense, and its chain less galling, and its thrones of iniquity less secure. farewell, patriot, genius of the century, victor hugo! but he was not the overtowering friend of mankind. the greatest friend of capitalist and toiler, and the one who will yet bring them together in complete accord, was born one christmas night while the curtains of heaven swung, stirred by the wings angelic. owner of all things--all the continents, all worlds, and all the islands of light. capitalist of immensity, crossing over to our condition. coming into our world, not by gate of palace, but by door of barn. spending his first night amid the shepherds. gathering after around him the fishermen to be his chief attendants. with adze, and saw, and chisel, and ax, and in a carpenter-shop showing himself brother with the tradesmen. owner of all things, and yet on a hillock back of jerusalem one day resigning everything for others, keeping not so much as a shekel to pay for his obsequies, by charity buried in the suburbs of a city that had cast him out. before the cross of such a capitalist, and such a carpenter, all men can afford to shake hands and worship. here is the every man's christ. none so high, but he was higher. none so poor, but he was poorer. at his feet the hostile extremes will yet renounce their animosities, and countenances which have glowered with the prejudices and revenge of centuries shall brighten with the smile of heaven as he commands: "whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." despotism of the needle. "so i returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter."--eccles. iv: . very long ago the needle was busy. it was considered honorable for women to toil in olden time. alexander the great stood in his palace showing garments made by his own mother. the finest tapestries at bayeux were made by the queen of william the conqueror. augustus, the emperor, would not wear any garments except those that were fashioned by some member of his royal family. so let the toiler everywhere be respected! the needle has slain more than the sword. when the sewing-machine was invented some thought that invention would alleviate woman's toil and put an end to the despotism of the needle. but no; while the sewing-machine has been a great blessing to well-to-do families in many cases, it has added to the stab of the needle the crush of the wheel; and multitudes of women, notwithstanding the re-enforcement of the sewing-machines, can only make, work hard as they will, between two dollars and three dollars per week. the greatest blessing that could have happened to our first parents was being turned out of eden after they had done wrong. adam and eve, in their perfect state, might have got along without work, or only such slight employment as a perfect garden with no weeds in it demanded. but as soon as they had sinned, the best thing for them was to be turned out where they would have to work. we know what a withering thing it is for a man to have nothing to do. old ashbel green, at fourscore years, when asked why he kept on working, said: "i do so to keep out of mischief." we see that a man who has a large amount of money to start with has no chance. of the thousand prosperous and honorable men that you know, nine hundred and ninety-nine had to work vigorously at the beginning. but i am now to tell you that industry is just as important for a woman's safety and happiness. the most unhappy women in our communities to-day are those who have no engagements to call them up in the morning; who, once having risen and breakfasted, lounge through the dull forenoon in slippers down at the heel and with disheveled hair, reading ouida's last novel, and who, having dragged through a wretched forenoon and taken their afternoon sleep, and having passed an hour and a half at their toilet, pick up their card-case and go out to make calls, and who pass their evenings waiting for somebody to come in and break up the monotony. arabella stuart never was imprisoned in so dark a dungeon as that. there is no happiness in an idle woman. it may be with hand, it may be with brain, it may be with foot; but work she must, or be wretched forever. the little girls of our families must be started with that idea. the curse of american society is that our young women are taught that the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, tenth, fiftieth, thousandth thing in their life is to get somebody to take care of them. instead of that, the first lesson should be how under god they may take care of themselves. the simple fact is that a majority of them do have to take care of themselves, and that, too, after having, through the false notions of their parents, wasted the years in which they ought to have learned how successfully to maintain themselves. we now and here declare the inhumanity, cruelty, and outrage of that father and mother who pass their daughters into womanhood, having given them no facility for earning their livelihood. madame de staël said: "it is not these writings that i am proud of, but the fact that i have facility in ten occupations, in any one of which i could make a livelihood." you say you have a fortune to leave them. oh, man and woman, have you not learned that like vultures, like hawks, like eagles, riches have wings and fly away? though you should be successful in leaving a competency behind you, the trickery of executors may swamp it in a night? or some officials in our churches may get up a mining company and induce your orphans to put their money into a hole in colorado, and if by the most skillful machinery the sunken money can not be brought up again, prove to them, that it was eternally decreed that that was the way they were to lose it, and that it went in the most orthodox and heavenly style. oh, the damnable schemes that professed christians will engage in until god puts his fingers into the collar of the hypocrite's robe and strips it clear down to the bottom! you have no right, because you are well off, to conclude that your children are going to be as well off. a man died leaving a large fortune. his son fell dead in a philadelphia grog-shop. his old comrades came in and said as they bent over his corpse: "what is the matter with you, boggsey?" the surgeon standing over him said: "hush ye! he is dead!" "oh, he is dead," they said. "come, boys; let us go and take a drink in memory of poor boggsey!" have you nothing better than money to leave your children? if you have not, but send your daughters into the world with empty brain and unskilled hand, you are guilty of assassination, homicide, regicide, infanticide. there are women toiling in our cities for two and three dollars per week who were the daughters of merchant princes. these suffering ones now would be glad to have the crumbs that once fell from their fathers' table. that worn-out, broken shoe that she wears is the lineal descendant of the twelve-dollar gaiters in which her mother walked; and that torn and faded calico had ancestry of magnificent brocade that swept broadway clean without any expense to the street commissioners. though you live in an elegant residence and fare sumptuously every day, let your daughters feel it is a disgrace to them not to know how to work. i denounce the idea prevalent in society that, though our young women may embroider slippers and crochet and make mats for lamps to stand on without disgrace, the idea of doing anything for a livelihood is dishonorable. it is a shame for a young woman belonging to a large family to be inefficient when the father toils his life away for her support. it is a shame for a daughter to be idle while her mother toils at the wash-tub. it is as honorable to sweep the house, make beds or trim hats as it is to twist a watch-chain. as far as i can understand, the line of respectability lies between that which is useful and that which is useless. if women do that which is of no value, their work is honorable. if they do practical work, it is dishonorable. that our young women may escape the censure of doing dishonorable work, i shall particularize. you may knit a tidy for the back of an arm-chair, but by no means make the money wherewith to buy the chair. you may with a delicate brush beautify a mantel ornament, but die rather than earn enough to buy a marble mantel. you may learn artistic music until you can squall italian, but never sing "ortonville" or "old hundred." do nothing practical if you would in the eyes of refined society preserve your respectability. i scout these fine notions. i tell you a woman, no more than a man, has a right to occupy a place in this world unless she pays a rent for it. in the course of a life-time you consume whole harvests and droves of cattle, and every day you live, breathe forty hogsheads of good, pure air. you must by some kind of usefulness pay for all this. our race was the last thing created--the birds and fishes on the fourth day, the cattle and lizards on the fifth day, and man on the sixth day. if geologists are right, the earth was a million of years in the possession of the insects, beasts, and birds before our race came upon it. in one sense we were innovators. the cattle, the lizards, and the hawks had pre-emption right. the question is not what we are to do with the lizards and summer insects, but what the lizards and summer insects are to do with us. if we want a place in this world, we must earn it. the partridge makes its own nest before it occupies it. the lark by its morning song earns its breakfast before it eats it, and the bible gives an intimation that the first duty of an idler is to starve when it says: "if he will not work, neither shall he eat." idleness ruins the health; and very soon nature says: "this man has refused to pay his rent, out with him!" society is to be reconstructed on the subject of woman's toil. a vast majority of those who would have woman industrious shut her up to a few kinds of work. my judgment in this matter is that a woman has a right to do anything that she can do well. there should be no department of merchandise, mechanism, art, or science barred against her. if miss hosmer has genius for sculpture, give her a chisel. if rosa bonheur has a fondness for delineating animals, let her make "the horse fair." if miss mitchell will study astronomy, let her mount the starry ladder. if lydia will be a merchant, let her sell purple. if lucretia mott will preach the gospel, let her thrill with her womanly eloquence the quaker meeting-house. it is said, if woman is given such opportunities she will occupy places that might be taken by men. i say, if she have more skill and adaptedness for any position than a man has, let her have it! she has as much right to her bread, to her apparel, and to her home, as men have. but it is said that her nature is so delicate that she is unfitted for exhausting toil. i ask in the name of all past history what toil on earth is more severe, exhausting, and tremendous than that toil of the needle to which for ages she has been subjected? the battering-ram, the sword, the carbine, the battle-ax, have made no such havoc as the needle. i would that these living sepulchers in which women have for ages been buried might be opened, and that some resurrection trumpet might bring up these living corpses to the fresh air and sunlight. go with me and i will show you a woman who by hardest toil supports her children, her drunken husband, her old father and mother, pays her house rent, always has wholesome food on her table, and when she can get some neighbor on the sabbath to come in and take care of her family, appears in church with hat and cloak that are far from indicating the toil to which she is subjected. such a woman as that has body and soul enough to fit her for any position. she could stand beside the majority of your salesmen and dispose of more goods. she could go into your wheelwright shops and beat one half of your workmen at making carriages. we talk about woman as though we had resigned to her all the light work, and ourselves had shouldered the heavier. but the day of judgment, which will reveal the sufferings of the stake and inquisition, will marshal before the throne of god and the hierarchs of heaven the martyrs of wash-tub and needle. now, i say if there be any preference in occupation, let women have it. god knows her trials are the severest. by her acuter sensitiveness to misfortune, by her hour of anguish, i demand that no one hedge up her pathway to a livelihood. oh! the meanness, the despicability of men who begrudge a woman the right to work anywhere in any honorable calling! i go still further and say that woman should have equal compensation with men. by what principle of justice is it that women in many of our cities get only two thirds as much pay as men, and in many cases only half? here is the gigantic injustice--that for work equally well, if not better, done, woman receives far less compensation than man. start with the national government. women clerks in washington get nine hundred dollars for doing that for which men receive eighteen hundred dollars. the wheel of oppression is rolling over the necks of thousands of women who are at this moment in despair about what they are to do. many of the largest mercantile establishments of our cities are accessory to these abominations, and from their large establishments there are scores of souls being pitched off into death, and their employers know it. is there a god? will there be a judgment? i tell you, if god rises up to redress woman's wrongs, many of our large establishments will be swallowed up quicker than a south american earthquake ever took down a city. god will catch these oppressors between the two millstones of his wrath and grind them to powder. why is it that a female principal in a school gets only eight hundred and twenty-five dollars for doing work for which a male principal gets sixteen hundred and fifty dollars? i hear from all this land the wail of womanhood. man has nothing to answer to that wail but flatteries. he says she is an angel. she is not. she knows she is not. she is a human being who gets hungry when she has no food, and cold when she has no fire. give her no more flatteries; give her justice! there are sixty-five thousand sewing-girls in new york and brooklyn. across the sunlight comes their death groan. it is not such a cry as comes from those who are suddenly hurled out of life, but a slow, grinding, horrible wasting-away. gather them before you and look into their faces, pinched, ghastly, hunger-struck! look at their fingers, needle-pricked and blood-tipped! see that premature stoop in the shoulders! hear that dry, hacking, merciless cough! at a large meeting of these women held in a hall in philadelphia, grand speeches were delivered, but a needle-woman took the stand, threw aside her faded shawl, and with her shriveled arm hurled a very thunder-bolt of eloquence, speaking out the horrors of her own experience. stand at the corner of a street in new york at six or seven o'clock in the morning as the women go to work. many of them had no breakfast except the crumbs that were left over from the night before, or the crumbs they chew on their way through the street. here they come! the working-girls of new york and brooklyn. these engaged in head work, these in flower-making, in millinery, in paper-box making; but, most overworked of all and least compensated, the sewing-women. why do they not take the city cars on their way up? they can not afford the five cents. if, concluding to deny herself something else, she gets into the car, give her a seat. you want to see how latimer and ridley appeared in the fire. look at that woman and behold a more horrible martyrdom, a hotter fire, a more agonizing death. ask that woman how much she gets for her work, and she will tell you six cents for making coarse shirts and find her own thread. years ago, one sabbath night in the vestibule of this church, after service, a woman fell in convulsions. the doctor said she needed medicine not so much as something to eat. as she began to revive, in her delirium she said, gaspingly: "eight cents! eight cents! eight cents! i wish i could get it done, i am so tired. i wish i could get some sleep, but i must get it done. eight cents! eight cents! eight cents!" we found afterward that she was making garments for eight cents apiece, and that she could make but three of them in a day. hear it! three times eight are twenty-four. hear it, men and women who have comfortable homes! some of the worst villains of our cities are the employers of these women. they beat them down to the last penny and try to cheat them out of that. the woman must deposit a dollar or two before she gets the garments to work on. when the work is done it is sharply inspected, the most insignificant flaws picked out, and the wages refused and sometimes the dollar deposited not given back. the women's protective union reports a case where one of the poor souls, finding a place where she could get more wages, resolved to change employers, and went to get her pay for work done. the employer says: "i hear you are going to leave me?" "yes," she said, "and i have come to get what you owe me." he made no answer. she said: "are you not going to pay me?" "yes," he said, "i will pay you," and he kicked her down-stairs. oh, that women's protective union, clinton place, new york! the blessings of heaven be on it for the merciful and divine work it is doing in the defense of toiling womanhood! what tragedies of suffering are presented to them day by day! a paragraph from their report: "'can you make mr. jones pay me? he owes me for three weeks at $ . a week, and i can't get anything, and my child is very sick!' the speaker, a young woman lately widowed, burst into a flood of tears as she spoke. she was bidden to come again the next afternoon and repeat her story to the attorney at his usual weekly hearing of frauds and impositions. means were found by which mr. jones was induced to pay the $ . ." another paragraph from their report: "a fortnight had passed, when she modestly hinted a desire to know how much her services were worth. 'oh, my dear,' he replied, 'you are getting to be one of the most valuable hands in the trade; you will always get the very best price. ten dollars a week you will be able to earn very easily.' and the girl's fingers flew on with her work at a marvelous rate. the picture of $ a week had almost turned her head. a few nights later, while crossing the ferry, she overheard the name of her employer in the conversation of girls who stood near: 'what, john snipes? why, he don't pay! look out for him every time. he'll keep you on trial, as he calls it, for weeks, and then he'll let you go, and get some other fool!' and thus jane smith gained her warning against the swindler. but the union held him in the toils of the law until he paid the worth of each of those days of 'trial.'" another paragraph: "her mortification may be imagined when told that one of the two five-dollar bills which she had just received for her work was counterfeit. but her mortification was swallowed up in indignation when her employer denied having paid her the money, and insultingly asked her to prove it. when the protective union had placed this matter in the courts, the judge said: 'you will pay eleanor the amount of her claim, $ . , and also the costs of the court.'" how are these evils to be eradicated? some say: "give woman the ballot." what effect such ballot might have on other questions i am not here to discuss; but what would be the effect of female suffrage on women's wages? i do not believe that woman will ever get justice by woman's ballot. indeed, women oppress women as much as men do. do not women, as much as men, beat down to the lowest figure the woman who sews for them? are not women as sharp as men on washer-women and milliners and mantua-makers? if a woman asks a dollar for her work, does not her female employer ask her if she will not take ninety cents? you say, "only ten cents difference." but that is sometimes the difference between heaven and hell. women often have less commiseration for women than men. if a woman steps aside from the path of rectitude, man may forgive--woman never! woman will never get justice done her from woman's ballot. neither will she get it from man's ballot. how then? god will rise up for her. god has more resources than we know of. the flaming sword that hung at eden's gate when woman was driven out will cleave with its terrible edge her oppressors. but there is something for women to do. let young people prepare to excel in spheres of work, and they will be able after awhile to get larger wages. unskilled and incompetent labor must take what is given: skilled and competent labor will eventually make its own standard. admitting that the law of supply and demand regulates these things, i contend that the demand for skilled labor is very great and the supply very small. start with the idea that work is honorable, and that you can do some one thing better than anybody else. resolve that, god helping, you will take care of yourself. if you are after awhile called into another relation you will all the better be qualified for it by your spirit of self-reliance, or if you are called to stay as you are, you can be happy and self-supporting. poets are fond of talking about man as an oak and woman the vine that climbs it; but i have seen many a tree fall that not only went down itself, but took all the vines with it. i can tell you of something stronger than an oak for an ivy to climb on, and that is the throne of the great jehovah. single or affianced, that woman is strong who leans on god and does her best. many of you will go single-handed through life, and you will have to choose between two characters. young woman, i am sure you will turn your back upon the useless, giggling, irresponsible nonentity which society ignominiously acknowledges to be a woman, and ask god to make you an humble, active, earnest christian. what will become of that womanly disciple of the world? she is more thoughtful of the attitude she strikes upon the carpet than how she will look in the judgment; more worried about her freckles than her sins; more interested in her apparel than in her redemption. the dying actress whose life had been vicious said: "the scene closes--draw the curtain." generally the tragedy comes first and the farce afterward; but in her life it was first the farce of a useless life and then the tragedy of a wretched eternity. compare the life and death of such a one with that of some christian aunt that was once a blessing to your household. i do not know that she was ever asked to give her hand in marriage. she lived single, that, untrammeled, she might be everybody's blessing. whenever the sick were to be visited or the poor to be provided with bread she went with a blessing. she could pray or sing "rock of ages" for any sick pauper who asked her. as she got older there were many days when she was a little sharp, but for the most part auntie was a sunbeam--just the one for christmas eve. she knew better than any one else how to fix things. her every prayer, as god heard it, was full of everybody who had trouble. the brightest things in all the house dropped from her fingers. she had peculiar notions, but the grandest notion she ever had was to make you happy. she dressed well--auntie always dressed well; but her highest adornment was that of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of god, is of great price. when she died you all gathered lovingly about her; and as you carried her out to rest, the sunday-school class almost covered the coffin with japonicas; and the poor people stood at the end of the alley, with their aprons to their eyes, sobbing bitterly, and the man of the world said, with solomon: "her price was above rubies;" and jesus, as unto the maiden in judea, commanded, "i say unto thee, arise!" tobacco and opium. "let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed."--gen. i: . the two first born of our earth were the grass-blade and the herb. they preceded the brute creation and the human family--the grass for the animal creation, the herb for human service. the cattle came and took possession of their inheritance, the grass-blade; man came and took possession of his inheritance, the herb. we have the herb for food as in case of hunger, for narcotic as in case of insomnia, for anodyne as in case of paroxysm, for stimulant as when the pulses flag under the weight of disease. the caterer comes and takes the herb and presents it in all styles of delicacy. the physician comes and takes the herb and compounds it for physical recuperation. millions of people come and take the herb for ruinous physical and intellectual delectation. the herb, which was divinely created, and for good purposes, has often been degraded for bad results. there is a useful and a baneful employment of the herbaceous kingdom. there sprung up in yucatan of this continent an herb that has bewitched the world. in the fifteenth century it crossed the atlantic ocean and captured spain. afterward it captured portugal. then the french embassadors took it to paris, and it captured the french empire. then walter raleigh took it to london, and it captured great britain. nicotiana, ascribed to that genus by the botanists, but we all know it is the exhilarating, elevating, emparadising, nerve-shattering, dyspepsia-breeding, health-destroying tobacco. i shall not in my remarks be offensively personal, because you all use it, or nearly all! i know by experience how it soothes and roseates the world, and kindles sociality, and i also know some of its baleful results. i was its slave, and by the grace of god i have become its conqueror. tens of thousands of people have been asking the question during the past two months, asking it with great pathos and great earnestness: "does the use of tobacco produce cancerous and other troubles?" i shall not answer the question in regard to any particular case, but shall deal with the subject in a more general way. you say to me, "did god not create tobacco?" yes. you say to me, "is not god good?" yes. well, then, you say, "if god is good and he created tobacco, he must have created it for some good purpose." yes, your logic is complete. but god created the common sense at the same time, by which we are to know how to use a poison and how not to use it. god created that just as he created henbane and nux vomica and copperas and belladonna and all other poisons, whether directly created by himself or extracted by man. that it is a poison no man of common sense will deny. a case was reported where a little child lay upon its mother's lap and one drop fell from a pipe to the child's lip, and it went into convulsions and into death. but you say, "haven't people lived on in complete use of it to old age?" oh, yes; just as i have seen inebriates seventy years old. in boston, years ago, there was a meeting in which there were several centenarians, and they were giving their experience, and one centenarian said that he had lived over a hundred years, and that he ascribed it to the fact that he had refrained from the use of intoxicating liquors. right after him another centenarian said he had lived over a hundred years, and he ascribed it to the fact that for the last fifty years he had hardly seen a sober moment. it is an amazing thing how many outrages men may commit upon their physical system and yet live on. in the case of the man of the jug he lived on because his body was pickled. in the case of the man of the pipe, he lived on because his body turned into smoked liver! but are there no truths to be uttered in regard to this great evil? what is the advice to be given to the multitude of young people who hear me this day? what is the advice you are going to give to your children? first of all, we must advise them to abstain from the use of tobacco because all the medical fraternity of the united states and great britain agree in ascribing to this habit terrific unhealth. the men whose life-time work is the study of the science of health say so, and shall i set up my opinion against theirs? dr. agnew, dr. olcott, dr. barnes, dr. rush, dr. mott, dr. harvey, dr. hosack--all the doctors, allopathic, homeopathic, hydropathic, eclectic, denounce the habit as a matter of unhealth. a distinguished physician declared he considered the use of tobacco caused seventy different styles of disease, and he says: "of all the cases of cancer in the mouth that have come under my observation, almost in every case it has been ascribed to tobacco." the united testimony of all physicians is that it depresses the nervous system, that it takes away twenty-five per cent. of the physical vigor of this generation, and that it goes on as the years multiply and, damaging this generation with accumulated curse, it strikes other centuries. and if it is so deleterious to the body, how much more destructive to the mind. an eminent physician, who was the superintendent of the insane asylum at northampton, massachusetts, says: "fully one half the patients we get in our asylum have lost their intellect through the use of tobacco." if it is such a bad thing to injure the body, what a bad thing, what a worse thing it is to injure the mind, and any man of common sense knows that tobacco attacks the nervous system, and everybody knows that the nervous system attacks the mind. besides that, all reformers will tell you that the use of tobacco creates an unnatural thirst, and it is the cause of drunkenness in america to-day more than anything else. in all cases where you find men taking strong drink you find they use tobacco. there are men who use tobacco who do not take strong drink, but all who use strong drink use tobacco, and that shows beyond controversy there is an affinity between the two products. there are reformers here to-day who will testify to you it is impossible for a man to reform from taking strong drink until he quits tobacco. in many of the cases where men have been reformed from strong drink and have gone back to their cups, they have testified that they first touched tobacco and then they surrendered to intoxicants. i say in the presence of this assemblage to-day, in which there are many physicians--and they know that what i say is true on the subject--that the pathway to the drunkard's grave and the drunkard's hell is strewn thick with tobacco-leaves. what has been the testimony on this subject? is this a mere statement of a preacher whose business it is to talk morals, or is the testimony of the world just as emphatic? what did benjamin franklin say? "i never saw a well man in the exercise of common sense who would say that tobacco did him any good." what did thomas jefferson say? certainly he is good authority. he says in regard to the culture of tobacco, "it is a culture productive of infinite wretchdness." what did horace greeley say of it? "it is a profane stench." what did daniel webster say of it? "if those men must smoke, let them take the horse-shed!" one reason why the habit goes on from destruction to destruction is that so many ministers of the gospel take it. they smoke themselves into bronchitis, and then the dear people have to send them to europe to get them restored from exhausting religious services! they smoke until the nervous system is shattered. they smoke themselves to death. i could mention the names of five distinguished clergymen who died of cancer of the mouth, and the doctor said, in every case, it was the result of tobacco. the tombstone of many a minister of religion has been covered all over with handsome eulogy, when, if the true epitaph had been written, it would have said: "here lies a man killed by too much cavendish!" they smoke until the world is blue, and their theology is blue, and everything is blue. how can a man stand in the pulpit and preach on the subject of temperance when he is indulging such a habit as that? i have seen a cuspadore in a pulpit into which the holy man dropped his cud before he got up to read about "blessed are the pure in heart," and to read about the rolling of sin as a sweet morsel under the tongue, and to read about the unclean animals in leviticus that chewed the cud. about sixty-five years ago a student at andover theological seminary graduated into the ministry. he had an eloquence and a magnetism which sent him to the front. nothing could stand before him. but in a few months he was put in an insane asylum, and the physician said tobacco was the cause of the disaster. it was the custom in those days to give a portion of tobacco to every patient in the asylum. nearly twenty years passed along, and that man was walking the floor of his cell in the asylum, when his reason returned, and he saw the situation, and he took the tobacco from his mouth and threw it against the iron gate of the place in which he was confined, and he said: "what brought me here? what keeps me here? tobacco! tobacco! god forgive me, god help me, and i will never use it again." he was fully restored to reason, came forth, preached the gospel of christ for some ten years, and then went into everlasting blessedness. there are ministers of religion now in this country who are dying by inches, and they do not know what is the matter with them. they are being killed by tobacco. they are despoiling their influence through tobacco. they are malodorous with tobacco. i could give one paragraph of history, and that would be my own experience. it took ten cigars to make one sermon, and i got very nervous, and i awakened one day to see what an outrage i was committing upon my health by the use of tobacco. i was about to change settlement, and a generous tobacconist of philadelphia told me if i would come to philadelphia and be his pastor he would give me all the cigars i wanted for nothing all the rest of my life. i halted. i said to myself, "if i smoke more than i ought to now in these war times, and when my salary is small, what would i do if i had gratuitous and unlimited supply?" then and there, twenty-four years ago, i quit once and forever. it made a new man of me. much of the time the world looked blue before that, because i was looking through tobacco smoke. ever since the world has been full of sunshine, and though i have done as much work as any one of my age, god has blessed me, it seems to me, with the best health that a man ever had. i say that no minister of religion can afford to smoke. put in my hand all the money expended by christian men in brooklyn for tobacco, and i will support three orphan asylums as well and as grandly as the three great orphan asylums already established. put into my hand the money spent by the christians of america for tobacco, and i will clothe, shelter, and feed all the suffering poor of the continent. the american church gives a million dollars a year for the salvation of the heathen, and american christians smoke five million dollars' worth of tobacco. i stand here to-day in the presence of a vast multitude of young people who are forming their habits. between seventeen and twenty-five years of age a great many young men get on them habits in the use of tobacco that they never get over. let me say to all my young friends, you can not afford to smoke, you can not afford to chew. you either take very good tobacco, or you take very cheap tobacco. if it is cheap, i will tell you why it is cheap. it is made of burdock, and lampblack, and sawdust, and colt's-foot, and plantain leaves, and fuller's earth, and salt, and alum, and lime, and a little tobacco, and you can not afford to put such a mess as that in your mouth. but if you use expensive tobacco, do you not think it would be better for you to take that amount of money which you are now expending for this herb, and which you will expend during the course of your life if you keep the habit up, and with it buy a splendid farm and make the afternoon and the evening of your life comfortable? there are young men whose life is going out inch by inch from cigarettes. now, do you not think it would be well for you to listen to the testimony of a merchant of new york, who said this: "in early life i smoked six cigars a day at six and a half cents each. they averaged that. i thought to myself one day, i'll just put aside all i consume in cigars and all i would consume if i keep on in the habit, and i'll see what it will come to by compound interest." and he gives this tremendous statistic: "last july completed thirty-nine years since, by the grace of god, i was emancipated from the filthy habit, and the saving amounted to the enormous sum of $ , . by compound interest. we lived in the city, but the children, who had learned something of the enjoyment of country life from their annual visits to their grandparents, longed for a home among the green fields. i found a very pleasant place in the country for sale. the cigar money came into requisition, and i found it amounted to a sufficient sum to purchase the place, and it is mine. now, boys, you take your choice. smoking without a home, or a home without smoking." this is common sense as well as religion. i must say a word to my friends who smoke the best tobacco, and who could stop at any time. what is your christian influence in this respect? what is your influence upon young men? do you not think it would be better for you to exercise a little self-denial! people wondered why george briggs, governor of massachusetts, wore a cravat but no collar. "oh," they said, "it is an absurd eccentricity." this was the history of the cravat without any collar: for many years before he had been talking with an inebriate, trying to persuade him to give up the habit of drinking and he said to the inebriate, "your habit is entirely unnecessary." "ah!" replied the inebriate, "we do a great many things that are not necessary. it isn't necessary that you should have that collar." "well," said mr. briggs, "i'll never wear a collar again if you will stop drinking." "agreed," said the other. they joined hands in a pledge that they kept for twenty years--kept until death. that is magnificent. that is gospel, practical gospel, worthy of george briggs, worthy of you. self-denial for others. subtraction from our advantage that there may be an addition to somebody else's advantage. but what i have said has been chiefly appropriate for men. now my subject widens and shall be appropriate for both sexes. in all ages of the world there has been a search for some herb or flower that would stimulate lethargy and compose grief. among the ancient greeks and egyptians they found something they called nepenthe, and the theban women knew how to compound it. if a person should chew a few of those leaves his grief would be immediately whelmed with hilarity. nepenthe passed out from the consideration of the world and then came hasheesh, which is from the indian hemp. it is manufactured from the flowers at the top. the workman with leathern apparel walks through the field and the exudation of the plants adheres to the leathern garments, and then the man comes out and scrapes off this exudation, and it is mixed with aromatics and becomes an intoxicant that has brutalized whole nations. its first effect is sight, spectacle glorious and grand beyond all description, but afterward it pulls down body, mind, and soul into anguish. i knew one of the most brilliant men of our time. his appearance in a newspaper column, or a book, or a magazine was an enchantment. in the course of a half hour he could produce more wit and more valuable information than any man i ever heard talk. but he chewed hasheesh. he first took it out of curiosity to see whether the power said to be attached really existed. he took it. he got under the power of it. he tried to break loose. he put his hand in the cockatrice's den to see whether it would bite, and he found out to his own undoing. his friends gathered around and tried to save him, but he could not be saved. the father, a minister of the gospel, prayed with him and counseled him, and out of a comparatively small salary employed the first medical advice of new york, philadelphia, edinburgh, paris, london, and berlin, for he was his only son. no help came. first his body gave way in pangs and convulsions of suffering. then his mind gave way and he became a raving maniac. then his soul went out blaspheming god into a starless eternity. he died at thirty years of age. behold the work of accursed hasheesh. but i must put my emphasis upon the use of opium. it is made from the white poppy. it is not a new discovery. three hundred years before christ we read of it; but it was not until the seventh century that it took up its march of death, and, passing out of the curative and the medicinal, through smoking and mastication it has become the curse of nations. in there were imported into this country one hundred and seven thousand pounds of opium. in , nineteen years after, there were imported five hundred and thirty thousand pounds of opium. in there were in this country two hundred and twenty-five thousand opium-consumers. now, it is estimated there are in the united states to-day six hundred thousand victims of opium. it is appalling. we do not know why some families do not get on. there is something mysterious about them. the opium habit is so stealthy, it is so deceitful, and it is so deathful, you can cure a hundred men of strong drink where you can cure one opium-eater. i have knelt down in this very church by those who were elegant in apparel, and elegant in appearance, and from the depths of their souls and from the depths of my soul, we cried out for god's rescue. somehow it did not come. in many a household only the physician and pastor know it--the physician called in for physical relief, the pastor called in for spiritual relief, and they both fail. the physician confesses his defeat, the minister of religion confesses his defeat, for somehow god does not seem to hear a prayer offered for an opium-eater. his grace is infinite, and i have been told there are cases of reformation. i never saw one. i say this not to wound the feelings of any who may feel this awful grip, but to utter a potent warning that you stand back from that gate of hell. oh, man, oh, woman, tampering with this great evil, have you fallen back on this as a permanent resource because of some physical distress or mental anguish? better stop. the ecstasies do not pay for the horrors. the paradise is followed too soon by the pandemonium. morphia, a blessing of god for the relief of sudden pang and of acute dementia, misappropriated and never intended for permanent use. it is not merely the barbaric fanatics that are taken down by it. did you ever read de quincey's "confessions of an opium-eater?" he says that during the first ten years the habit handed to him all the keys of paradise, but it would take something as mighty as de quincey's pen to describe the consequent horrors. there is nothing that i have ever read about the tortures of the damned that seemed more horrible than those which de quincey says he suffered. samuel taylor coleridge first conquered the world with his exquisite pen, and then was conquered by opium. the most brilliant, the most eloquent lawyer of the nineteenth century went down under its power, and there is a vast multitude of men and women--but more women than men--who are going into the dungeon of that awful incarceration. the worst thing about it is, it takes advantage of one's weakness. de quincey says: "i got to be an opium-eater on account of my rheumatism." coleridge says: "i got to be an opium-eater on account of my sleeplessness." for what are you taking it? for god's sake do not take it long. the wealthiest, the grandest families going down under its power. twenty-five thousand victims of opium in chicago. twenty-five thousand victims of opium in st. louis, and, according to that average, seventy-five thousand victims of opium in new york and brooklyn. the clerk of a drug store says: "i can tell them when they come in; there is something about their complexion, something about their manner, something about the look of their eyes that shows they are victims." some in the struggle to get away from it try chloral. whole tons of chloral manufactured in germany every year. baron liebig says he knows one chemist in germany who manufactures a half ton of chloral every week. beware of hydrate of chloral. it is coming on with mighty tread to curse these cities. but i am chiefly under this head speaking of the morphine. the devil of morphia is going to be in this country, in my opinion, mightier than the devil of alcohol. by the power of the christian pulpit, by the power of the christianized printing-press, by the power of the lord god almighty, all these evils are going to be extirpated--all, all, and you have a work in regard to that, and i have a work. but what we do we had better do right away. the clock ticks now, and we hear it; after awhile the clock will tick and we will not hear it. i sat at a country fireside, and i saw the fire kindle and blaze, and go out. i sat long enough at that fireside to get a good many practical reflections, and i said: "that is like human life, that fire on the hearth." we put on the fagots and they blaze up, and out, and on, and the whole room is filled with the light, gay of sparkle, gay of flash, gay of crackle. emblem of boyhood. now the fire intensifies. now the flame reddens into coals. now the heat is becoming more and more intense, and the more it is stirred the redder is the coal. now with one sweep of flame it cleaves the way, and all the hearth glows with the intensity. emblem of full manhood. now the coals begin to whiten. now the heat lessens. now the flickering shadows die along the wall. now the fagots fall apart. now the household hover over the expiring embers. now the last breath of smoke is lost in the chimney. the fire is out. shovel up the white remains. ashes! ashes! why are satan and sin permitted? "wherefore do the wicked live?"--job xxi: , poor job! with tusks and horns and hoofs and stings, all the misfortunes of life seemed to come upon him at once. bankruptcy, bereavement, scandalization, and eruptive disease so irritating that he had to re-enforce his ten finger-nails with pieces of earthenware to scratch himself withal. his wife took the diagnosis of his complaints and prescribed profanity. she thought he would feel better if between the paroxysms of grief and pain he would swear a little. for each boil a plaster of objurgation. probably no man was ever more tempted to take the bad advice than when, at last, job's three exasperating friends came in, eliphaz, zophar, and bildad, practically saying to him, "you old sinner, serves you right; you are a hypocrite; what a sight you are! god has sent these chastisements for your wickedness." the disfigured invalid, putting down the pieces of broken saucer with which he had been rubbing his arms, with swollen eyelids looks up and says to his garrulous friends in substance, "the most wicked people sometimes have the best health and are the most prospered," and then in that connection hurls the question which every man and woman has asked in some juncture of affairs, "wherefore do the wicked live?" they build up fortunes that overshadow the earth. they confound all the life-insurance tables on the subject of longevity, dying octogenarians, perhaps nonagenarians, possibly centenarians. ahab in the palace, naboth in the cabinet. unclean herod on the throne, consecrated paul twisting ropes for tent-making. manasseh, the worst of all the kings of juda, living longer than any of them. while the general rule is the wicked do not live out half their days, there are exceptions where they live on to great age and in a paradise of beauty and luxuriance, and die with a whole college of physicians expending its skill in trying further prolongation of life, and have a funeral with casket under mountain of calla-lilies, the finest equipages of the city jingling and flashing into line, the poor, angle-worm of the dust carried out to its hole in the ground with the pomp that might make a spirit from some other world suppose that the archangel michael was dead. go up among the finest residences of the city, and on some of the door-plates you will find the names of those mightiest for commercial and social iniquity. they are the vampires of society--they are the gorgons of the century. some of these men have each wheel of their carriage a juggernaut wet with the blood of those sacrificed to their avarice. some of them are like caligula, who wished that all the people had only one neck that he might strike it off at one blow. oh, the slain, the slain! a long procession of usurers and libertines and infamous quacks and legal charlatans and world-grabbing monsters. what apostleship of despoliation! demons incarnate. hundreds of men concentering all their energies of body, mind, and soul in one prolonged, ever-intensifying, and unrelenting effort to scald and scarify and blast and consume the world. i do not blame you for asking me the quivering, throbbing, burning, resounding, appalling question of my text, "wherefore do the wicked live?" in the first place, they live to demonstrate beyond all controversy the long-suffering patience of god. you sometimes say, under some great affront, "i will not stand it;" but perhaps you are compelled to stand it. god, with all the batteries of omnipotence loaded with thunderbolts, stands it century after century. i have no doubt sometimes an angel comes to him and suggests, "now is the time to strike." "no," says god; "wait a year, wait twenty years, wait a century, wait five centuries." what god does is not so wonderful as what he does not do. he has the reserve corps with which he could strike mormonism and mohammedanism and paganism from the earth in a day. he could take all the fraud in new york on the west side of broadway and hurl it into the hudson, and all the fraud on the east side of broadway and hurl it into the east river in an hour. he understands the combination lock of every dishonest money-safe, and could blow it up quicker than by any earthly explosive. written all over the earth, written all over history are the words, "divine forbearance, divine leniency, divine long-suffering." i wonder that god did not burn this world up two thousand years ago, scattering its ashes into immensity, its aerolites dropping into other worlds to be kept in their museums as specimens of a defunct planet. people sometimes talk of god as though he were hasty in his judgments and as though he snapped men up quick. oh, no! he waited one hundred and twenty years for the people to get into the ark, and warned them all the time--one hundred and twenty years, then the flood came. the anchor line gives only a month's announcement of the sailing of the "circassia," the white star line gives only a month's announcement of the sailing of the "britannic," the cunard line gives only a month's announcement of the sailing of the "oregon;" but of the sailing of that ship that noah commanded god gave one hundred and twenty years' announcement and warning. patience antediluvian, patience postdiluvian, patience in times adamic, abrahamic, mosaic, davidic, pauline, lutheran, whitefieldian. patience with men and nations. patience with barbarisms and civilizations. six thousand years of patience! overtopping attribute of god, all of whose attributes are immeasurable. why do the wicked live? that their overthrow may be the more impressive and climacteric. they must pile up their mischief until all the community shall see it, until the nation shall see it, until all the world shall see it. the higher it goes up the harder it will come down and the grander will be the divine vindication. god will not allow sin to sneak out of the world. god will not allow it merely to resign and quit. this shall not be a case that goes by default because no one appears against it. god will arraign it, handcuff it, try it, bring against it the verdict of all the good, and then gibbet it so high up that if one half of the gibbet stood on mount washington and the other on the himalaya, it would not be any more conspicuous. about fifteen years ago we had in this country a most illustrious instance of how god lets a man go on in iniquity, so that at the close of the career his overthrow may be the more impressive, full of warning and climacteric. first, an honest chairmaker, then an alderman, then a member of congress, then a supervisor of a city, then school commissioner, then state senator, then commissioner of public works--on and up, stealing thousands of dollars here and thousands of dollars there, until the malfeasance in office overtopped anything the world had ever seen--making the new court house in new york a monument of municipal crime, and rushing the debt of the city from thirty-six million dollars to ninety-seven millions. now, he is at the top of millionairedom. country-seat terraced and arbored and parterred clear to the water's brink. horses enough to stock a king's equerry. grooms and postilions in full rig. wine cellars enough to make a whole legislature drunk. new york finances and new york politics in his vest pocket. he winked, and men in high place fell. he lifted his little finger, and ignoramuses took important office. he whispered, and in albany and washington they said it thundered. wider and mightier and more baleful his influence, until it seemed as if pandemonium was to be adjourned to this world, and in the satanic realm there was to be a change of administration, and apollyon, who had held dominion so long, should have a successful competitor. to bring all to a climax, a wedding came in the house of that man. diamonds as large as hickory nuts. a pin of sixty diamonds representing sheaves of wheat. musicians in a semicircle, half-hidden by a great harp of flowers. ships of flowers. forty silver sets, one of them with two hundred and forty pieces. one wedding-dress that cost five thousand dollars. a famous libertine, who owned several long island sound steamboats, and not long before he was shot for his crimes, sent as a wedding present to that house a frosted silver iceberg, with representations of arctic bears walking on icicle-handles and ascending the spoons. was there ever such a convocation of pictures, bronzes, of bric-à-brac, of grandeurs, social grandeurs? the highest wave of new york splendor rolled into that house and recoiled perhaps never again to rise so high. but just at that time, when all earthly and infernal observation was concentered on that man, eternal justice, impersonated by that wonder of the american bar, charles o'connor, got on the track of the offender. first arraignment, then sentence to twelve years' imprisonment under twelve indictments, then penitentiary on blackwell's island, then a lawsuit against him for six million dollars, then incarceration in ludlow street jail, then escape to foreign land, to be brought back under the stout grip of the constabulary, then dying of broken heart in a prison cell. god allowed him to go on in iniquity until all the world saw as never before that "the way of the transgressor is hard," and that dishonesty will not declare permanent dividends, and that you had better be an honest chairmaker with a day's wages at a time than a brilliant commissioner of public works, all your pockets crammed with plunder. what a brilliant figure in history is william the conqueror, the intimidator of france, of anjou, of brittany, victor at hastings, snatching the crown of england and setting it on his own brow, destroying homesteads that he might have a larger game forest, making a doomsday book by which he could keep the whole land under despotic espionage, proclaiming war in revenge for a joke uttered in regard to his obesity. harvest fields and vineyards going down under the cavalry hoof. nations horror-struck. but one day while at the apex of all observation he is riding out and the horse put his hoof on a hot cinder, throwing the king so violently against the pommel of the saddle that he dies, his son hastening to england to get the crown before the breath has left his father's body. the imperial corpse drawn by a cart, most of the attendants leaving it in the street because of a fire alarm that they might go off and see the conflagration. and just as they are going to put his body down in the church which he had built, a man stepping up and saying, "bishop, the man you praise is a robber. this church stands on my father's homestead. the property on which this church is built is mine. i reclaim my right. in the name of almighty god i forbid you to bury the king here, or to cover him with my glebe." "go up," said the ambition of william the conqueror. "go up by conquest, go up by throne, go up in the sight of all nations, go up by cruelties." but one day god said, "come down, come down by the way of a miserable death, come down by the way of an ignominious obsequies, come down in the sight of all nations, come clear down, come down forever." and you and i see the same thing on a smaller scale many and many a time--illustrations of the fact that god lets the wicked live that he may make their overthrow the more climacteric. what is true in regard to sin is true in regard to its author, satan, called abaddon, called the prince of the power of the air, called the serpent, called the dragon. it seems to me any intelligent man must admit that there is a commander-in-chief of all evil. the persians called him ahriman, the hindus called him siva. he was represented on canvas as a mythological combination of thor and cerberus and pan and vulcan and other horrible addenda. i do not care what you call him, that monster of evil is abroad, and his one work is destruction. john milton almost glorified him by witchery of description, but he is the concentration of all meanness and of all despicability. my little child, seven years of age, said to her mother one day, "why don't god kill the devil at once, and have done with it?" in less terse phrase we have all asked the same question. the bible says he is to be imprisoned and he is to be chained down. why not heave the old miscreant into his dungeon now? does it not seem as if his volume of infamy were complete? does it not seem as if the last fifty years would make an appropriate peroration? no; god will let him go on to the top of all bad endeavor, and then when all the earth and all constellations and galaxies and all the universe are watching, god will hurl him down with a violence and ghastliness enough to persuade five hundred eternities that a rebellion against god must perish. god will not do it by piecemeal, god will not do it by small skirmish. he will wait until all the troops are massed, and then some day when in defiant and confident mood, at the head of his army, this goliath of hell stalks forth, our champion, the son of david, will strike him down, not with smooth stones from the brook, but with fragments from the rock of ages. but it will not be done until this giant of evil and his holy antagonist come out within full sight of the two great armies. the tragedy is only postponed to make the overthrow more impressive and climacteric. do not fret. if god can afford to wait you can afford to wait. god's clock of destiny strikes only once in a thousand years. do not try to measure events by the second-hand on your little time-piece. sin and satan go on only that their overthrow may at last be the more terrific, the more impressive, the more resounding, the more climacteric. why do the wicked live? in order that they may build up fortresses for righteousness to capture. have you not noticed that god harnesses men, bad men, and accomplishes good through them? witness cyrus, witness nebuchadnezzar, witness the fact that the bastile of oppression was pried open by the bayonets of a bad man. recently there came to me the fact that a college had been built at the far west for infidel purposes. there was to be no nonsense of chapel prayers, no bible reading there. all the professors there were pronounced infidels. the college was opened, and the work went on, but, of course, failed. not long ago a presbyterian minister was in a bank in that village on purposes of business, and he heard in an adjoining room the board of trustees of that college discussing what they had better do with the institution, as it did not get on successfully, and one of the trustees proposed that it be handed over to the presbyterians, prefacing the word presbyterians with a very unhappy expletive. the resolutions were passed, and that fortress of infidelity has become a fortress of old-fashioned, orthodox religion, the only religion that will be worth a snap of your finger when you come to die or appear in the day of judgment. the devil built the college. righteousness captured it. in some city there goes up a great club-house--the architecture, the furniture, all the equipment a bedazzlement of wealth. that particular club-house is designed to make gambling and dissipation respectable. do not fret. that splendid building will after a while be a free library, or it will be a hospital, or it will be a gallery of pure art. again and again observatories have been built by infidelity, and the first thing you know they go into the hand of christian science. god said in the bible that he would put a hook in sennacherib's nose and pull him down by a way he knew not. and god has a hook to-day in the nose of every sennacherib of infidelity and sin, and will drag him about as he will. marble halls deserted to sinful amusements will yet be dedicated for religious assemblage. all these castles of sin are to be captured for god as we go forth with the battle-shout that oliver cromwell rang out at the head of his troops as he rode in on the field of naseby: "let god arise and let his enemies be scattered!" after a great fire in london, amid the ruins there was nothing left but an arch with the name of the architect upon it; and, my friends, whatever else goes down, god stays up. why do the wicked live? that some of them may be monuments of mercy. so it was with john newton, so it was with augustine, perhaps so it was with you. chieftains of sin to become chieftains of grace. paul, the apostle, made out of saul, the persecutor. baxter, the flaming evangel, made out of baxter, the blasphemer. whole squadrons, with streamers of emmanuel floating from the masthead, though once they were launched from the dry-docks of diabolism. god lets these wicked men live that he may make jewels out of them for coronets, that he may make tongues of fire out of them for pentecosts, that he may make warriors out of them for armageddons, that he may make conquerors out of them for the day when they shall ride at the head of the white-horse host in the grand review of the resurrection. why do the wicked live? to make it plain beyond all controversy that there is another place of adjustment. so many of the bad up, so many of the good down. it seems to me that no man can look abroad without saying--no man of common sense, religious or irreligious, can look abroad without saying, "there must be some place where brilliant scoundrelism shall be arrested, where innocence shall get out from under the heel of despotism." common fairness as well as eternal justice demands it. we adjourn to the great assizes, the stupendous injustices of this life. they are not righted here. there must be some place where they will be righted. god can not afford to omit the judgment day or the reconstruction of conditions. for you can not make me believe that that man stuffed with all abomination, having devoured widows' houses and digested them, looking with basilisk or tigerish eyes upon his fellows, no music so sweet to him as the sound of breaking hearts, is, at death, to get out of the landau at the front door of the sepulcher and pass right on through to the back door of the sepulcher, and find a celestial turnout waiting for him, so that he can drive tandem right up primrosed hills, one glory riding as lackey ahead, and another glory riding as postilion behind, while that poor woman who supported her invalid husband and her helpless children by taking in washing and ironing, often putting her hand to her side where the cancerous trouble had already begun, and dropping dead late on saturday night while she was preparing the garments for the sabbath day, coming afoot to the front door of the sepulcher, shall pass through to the back door of the sepulcher and find nothing waiting, no one to welcome, no one to tell her the way to the king's gate. i will not believe it. solomon was confounded in his day by what he represents as princes afoot and beggars a-horseback, but i tell you there must be a place and a time when the right foot will get into the stirrup. to demonstrate beyond all controversy that there is another place for adjustment, god lets the wicked live. why do the wicked live? for the same reason that he lets us live--to have time for repentance. where would you and i have been if sin had been followed by immediate catastrophe? while the foot of christ is fleet as that of a roebuck when he comes to save, it does seem as if he were hoppled with great languors and infinite lethargies when he comes to punish. oh, i celebrate god's slowness, god's retardation, god's putting off the retribution! do you not think, my brother, it would be a great deal better for us to exchange our impatient hypercriticism of providence because this man, by watering of stock, makes a million dollars in one day, and another man rides on in one bloated iniquity year after year--would it not be better for us to exchange that impatient hypercriticism for gratitude everlasting that god let us who were wicked live, though we deserved nothing but capsize and demolition? oh, i celebrate god's slowness! the slower the rail-train comes the better, if the drawbridge is off. how long have you, my brother, lived unforgiven? fifteen, twenty, forty, sixty years? lived through great awakenings, lived through domestic sorrow, lived through commercial calamity, lived through providential crises that startled nations, and you are living yet, strangers to god, and with no hope for a great future into which you may be precipitated. oh, would it not be better for us to get our nature through the grace of christ revolutionized and transfigured? for i want you to know that god sometimes changes his gait, and instead of the deliberate tread he is the swift witness, and sometimes the enemies of god are suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy. make god your ally. what an offer that is! do not fight against him. do not contend against your best interests. yield this morning to the best impulse of your heart, and that is toward christ and heaven. do not fight the lord that made you and offers to redeem you. philip of france went out with his army, with bows and arrows, to fight king edward iii. of england; but just as they got into the critical moment of the battle, a shower of rain came and relaxed the bow-strings so that they were of no effect, and philip and his army were worsted. and all your weaponry against god will be as nothing when he rains upon you discomfiture from the heavens. do not fight the lord any longer. change allegiance. take down the old flag of sin, run up the new flag of grace. it does not take the lord jesus christ the thousandth part of a second to convert you if you will only surrender, be willing to be saved. the american congress was in anxiety during the revolutionary war while awaiting to hear news from the conflict between washington and cornwallis, and the anxiety became intense and almost unbearable as the days went by. when the news came at last that cornwallis had surrendered and the war was practically over, so great was the excitement that the doorkeeper of the house of congress dropped dead from joyful excitement. and if this long war between your soul and god should come to an end this morning by your entire surrender, the war forever over, the news would very soon reach the heavens, and nothing but the supernatural health of your loved ones before the throne would keep them from being prostrated with overjoy at the cessation of all spiritual hostilities. the end. sermons to the natural man. by william g. t. shedd, d. d., author of "a history of christian doctrine," "homiletics and pastoral. theology," "discourses and essays," "philosophy of history," etc. new york: charles scribner & co., broadway. . preface. it is with a solemn feeling of responsibility that i send forth this volume of sermons. the ordinary emotions of authorship have little place in the experience, when one remembers that what he says will be either a means of spiritual life, or an occasion of spiritual death. i believe that the substance of these discourses will prove to accord with god's revealed truth, in the day that will try all truth. the title indicates their general aim and tendency. the purpose is psychological. i would, if possible, anatomize the natural heart. it is in vain to offer the gospel unless the law has been applied with clearness and cogency. at the present day, certainly, there is far less danger of erring in the direction of religious severity, than in the direction of religious indulgence. if i have not preached redemption in these sermons so fully as i have analyzed sin, it is because it is my deliberate conviction that just now the first and hardest work to be done by the preacher, for the natural man, is to produce in him some sensibility upon the subject of sin. conscience needs to become consciousness. there is considerable theoretical unbelief respecting the doctrines of the new testament; but this is not the principal difficulty. theoretical skepticism is in a small minority of christendom, and always has been. the chief obstacle to the spread of the christian religion is the practical unbelief of speculative believers. "thou sayest,"--says john bunyan,--"thou dost in deed and in truth believe the scriptures. i ask, therefore, wast thou ever killed stark dead by the law of works contained in the scriptures? killed by the law or letter, and made to see thy sins against it, and left in an helpless condition by the law? for, the proper work of the law is to slay the soul, and to leave it dead in an helpless state. for, it doth neither give the soul any comfort itself, when it comes, nor doth it show the soul where comfort is to be had; and therefore it is called the 'ministration of condemnation,' the 'ministration of death.' for, though men may have a notion of the blessed word of god, yet before they be converted, it may be truly said of them, ye err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of god." if it be thought that such preaching of the law can be dispensed with, by employing solely what is called in some quarters the preaching of the gospel, i do not agree with the opinion. the benefits of christ's redemption are pearls which must not be cast before swine. the gospel is not for the stupid, or for the doubter,--still less for the scoffer. christ's atonement is to be offered to conscious guilt, and in order to conscious guilt there must be the application of the decalogue. john baptist must prepare the way for the merciful redeemer, by legal and close preaching. and the merciful redeemer himself, in the opening of his ministry, and before he spake much concerning remission of sins, preached a sermon which in its searching and self-revelatory character is a more alarming address to the corrupt natural heart, than was the first edition of it delivered amidst the lightnings of sinai. the sermon on the mount is called the sermon of the beatitudes, and many have the impression that it is a very lovely song to the sinful soul of man. they forget that the blessing upon obedience implies a _curse_ upon disobedience, and that every mortal man has disobeyed the sermon on the mount. "god save me,"--said a thoughtful person who knew what is in the sermon on the mount, and what is in the human heart,--"god save me from the sermon on the mount when i am judged in the last day." when christ preached this discourse, he preached the law, principally. "think not,"--he says,--"that i am come to destroy the law or the prophets. i am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. for verily i say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." john the baptist describes his own preaching, which was confessedly severe and legal, as being far less searching than that of the messiah whose near advent he announced. "i indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than i, whose shoes i am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the holy ghost and with _fire_; whose _fan_ is in his hand, and he will _thoroughly purge_ his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will _burn up the chaff_ with unquenchable fire." the general burden and strain of the discourse with which the redeemer opened his ministry is preceptive and mandatory. its keynote is: "thou shalt do this," and, "thou shalt not do that;" "thou shalt be thus, in thine heart," and, "thou shalt not be thus, in thine heart." so little is said in it, comparatively, concerning what are called the doctrines of grace, that it has often been cited to prove that the creed of the church has been expanded unduly, and made to contain more than the founder of christianity really intended it should. the absence, for example, of any direct and specific statement of the doctrine of atonement, in this important section of christ's teaching, has been instanced by the socinian opponent as proof that this doctrine is not so vital as the church has always claimed it to be. but, christ was purposely silent respecting grace and its methods, until he had _spiritualized law_, and made it penetrate the human consciousness like a sharp sword. of what use would it have been to offer mercy, before the sense of its need had been elicited? and how was this to be elicited, but by the solemn and authoritative enunciation of law and justice? there are, indeed, cheering intimations, in the sermon on the mount, respecting the divine mercy, and so there are in connection with the giving of the ten commandments. but law, rather than grace, is the main substance and burden of both. the great intention, in each instance, is to convince of sin, preparatory to the offer of clemency. the decalogue is the legal basis of the old dispensation, and the sermon on the mount is the legal basis of the new. when the redeemer, in the opening of his ministry, had provided the apparatus of conviction, then he provided the apparatus of expiation. the great high-priest, like the levitical priest who typified him, did not sprinkle atoning blood indiscriminately. it was to bedew only him who felt and confessed guilt. this legal and minatory element in the words of jesus has also been noticed by the skeptic, and an argument has been founded upon it to prove that he was soured by ill-success, and, like other merely human reformers who have found the human heart too hard, for them, fell away from the gentleness with which he began his ministry, into the anger and denunciation of mortified ambition with which it closed. this is the picture of jesus christ which rénan presents in his apocryphal gospel. but the fact is, that the redeemer _began_ with law, and was rigorous with sin from the very first. the sermon on the mount was delivered not far from twelve months from the time of his inauguration, by baptism, to the office of messiah. and all along through his ministry of three years and a half, he constantly employs the law in order to prepare his hearers for grace. he was as gentle and gracious to the penitent sinner, in the opening of his ministry, as he was at the close of it; and he was as unsparing and severe towards the hardened and self-righteous sinner, in his early judaean, as he was in his later galilean ministry. it is sometimes said that the surest way to produce conviction of sin is to preach the cross. there is a sense in which this is true, and there is a sense in which it is false. if the cross is set forth as the cursed tree on which the lord of glory hung and suffered, to satisfy the demands of eternal justice, then indeed there is fitness in the preaching to produce the sense of guilt. but this is to preach the _law_, in its fullest extent, and the most tremendous energy of its claims. such discourse as this must necessarily analyze law, define it, enforce it, and apply it in the most cogent manner. for, only as the atonement of christ is shown to completely meet and satisfy all these _legal_ demands which have been so thoroughly discussed and exhibited, is the real virtue and power of the cross made manifest. but if the cross is merely held up as a decorative ornament, like that on the breast of belinda, "which jews might kiss and infidels adore;" if it be proclaimed as the beautiful symbol of the divine indifference and indulgence, and there be a studious _avoiding_ of all judicial aspects and relations; if the natural man is not searched by law and alarmed by justice, but is only soothed and narcotized by the idea of an epicurean deity destitute of moral anger and inflicting no righteous retribution,--then, there will be no conviction of sin. whenever the preaching of the law is positively _objected_ to, and the preaching of the gospel is proposed in its place, it will be found that the "gospel" means that good-nature and that easy virtue which some mortals dare to attribute to the holy and immaculate godhead! he who really, and in good faith, preaches the cross, never opposes the preaching of the law. still another reason for the kind of religious discourse which we are defending is found in the fact that multitudes are expecting a happy issue of this life, upon ethical as distinguished from evangelical grounds. they deny that they deserve damnation, or that they need christ's atonement. they say that they are living virtuous lives, and are ready to adopt language similar to that of mr. mill spoken in another connection: "if from this position of integrity and morality we are to be sent to hell, to hell we will go." this tendency is strengthened by the current light letters, in distinction from standard literature. a certain class, through ephemeral essays, poems, and novels, has been plied with the doctrine of a natural virtue and an innate goodness, until it has become proud and self-reliant. the "manhood" of paganism is glorified, and the "childhood" of the gospel is vilified. the graces of humility, self-abasement before god, and especially of penitence for sin, are distasteful and loathed. persons of this order prefer to have their religious teacher silent upon these themes, and urge them to courage, honor, magnanimity, and all that class of qualities which imply self-consciousness and self-reliance. to them apply the solemn words of the son of god to the pharisees: "if ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, we _see_, therefore your sin remaineth." it is, therefore, specially incumbent upon the christian ministry, to employ a searching and psychological style of preaching, and to apply the tests of ethics and virtue so powerfully to men who are trusting to ethics and virtue, as to bring them upon their knees. since these men are desiring, like the "foolish galatiana," to be saved by the law, then let the law be laid down to them, in all its breadth and reach, that they may understand the real nature and consequences of the position they have taken. "tell me," says a preacher of this stamp,--"tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law,"--do ye not hear its thundering,--"_cursed_ is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the law, to do them!" virtue must be absolutely perfect and spotless, if a happy immortality is to be made to depend upon virtue. if the human heart, in its self-deception and self-reliance, turns away from the cross and the righteousness of god, to morals and the righteousness of works, then let the christian thinker follow after it like the avenger of blood. let him set the heights and depths of ethical _perfection_ before the deluded mortal; let him point to the inaccessible cliffs that tower high above, and bid him scale them if he can; let him point to the fathomless abysses beneath, and tell him to descend and bring up perfect virtue therefrom; let him employ the very instrument which this _virtuoso_ has chosen, until it becomes an instrument of torture and self-despair. in this way, he is breaking down the "manhood" that confronts and opposes, and is bringing in the "childhood" that is docile, and recipient of the kingdom. these sermons run the hazard of being pronounced monotonous, because of the pertinacity with which the attempt is made to force self-reflection. but this criticism can easily be endured, provided the attempt succeeds. religious truth becomes almighty the instant it can get _within_ the soul; and it gets within the soul, the instant real thinking begins. "as you value your peace of mind, stop all scrutiny into your personal character," is the advice of what milton denominates "the sty of epicurus." the discouraging religious condition of the present age is due to the great lack, not merely in the lower but the higher classes, of calm, clear self-intelligence. men do not know themselves. the delphic oracle was never less obeyed than now, in this vortex of mechanical arts and luxury. for this reason, it is desirable that the religious teacher dwell consecutively upon topics that are connected with that which is _within_ man,--his settled motives of action, and all those spontaneous on-goings of his soul of which he takes no notice, unless he is persuaded or impelled to do so. some of the old painters produced powerful effects by one solitary color. the subject of moral evil contemplated in the heart of the individual man,--not described to him from the outside, but wrought out of his own being into incandescent letters, by the fierce chemistry of anxious perhaps agonizing reflection,--sin, the one awful fact in the history of man, if caused to pervade discourse will always impart to it a hue which, though it be monochromatic, arrests and holds the eye like the lurid color of an approaching storm-cloud. with this statement respecting the aim and purport of these sermons, and deeply conscious of their imperfections, especially for spiritual purposes, i send them out into the world, with the prayer that god the spirit will deign to employ them as the means of awakening some souls from the lethargy of sin. union theological seminary, new york, _february _, . * * * * * contents. i. the future state a self-conscious state ii. the future state a self-conscious state (continued) iii. god's exhaustive knowledge of man iv. god's exhaustive knowledge of man (continued) v. all mankind guilty; or, every man knows more than he practises vi. sin in the heart the source of error in the head vii. the necessity of divine influences viii. the necessity of divine influences (continued) ix. the impotence of the law x. self-scrutiny in god's presence xi. sin is spiritual slavery xii. the original and the actual relation of man to law xiii. the sin of omission xiv. the sinfulness of original sin xv. the approbation of goodness is not the love of it xvi. the use of fear in religion xvii. the present life as belated to the future xviii. the exercise of mercy optional with god xix. christianity requires the temper of childhood xx. faith the sole saving act sermons. the future state a self-conscious state. cor. xiii. .--"now i know in part; but then shall i know even as also i am known." the apostle paul made this remark with reference to the blessedness of the christian in eternity. such assertions are frequent in the scriptures. this same apostle, whose soul was so constantly dilated with the expectation of the beatific vision, assures the corinthians, in another passage in this epistle, that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which god hath prepared for them that love him." the beloved disciple john, also, though he seems to have lived in the spiritual world while he was upon the earth, and though the glories of eternity were made to pass before him in the visions of patmos, is compelled to say of the sons of god, "it doth not yet appear what we shall be." and certainly the common christian, as he looks forward with a mixture of hope and anxiety to his final state in eternity, will confess that he knows but "in part," and that a very small part, concerning it. he endures as seeing that which is invisible, and cherishes the hope that through christ's redemption his eternity will be a condition of peace and purity, and that he shall know even as also he is known. but it is not the christian alone who is to enter eternity, and to whom the exchange of worlds will bring a luminous apprehension of many things that have hitherto been seen only through a glass darkly. every human creature may say, when he thinks of the alteration that will come over his views of religious subjects upon entering another life, "now i know in part; but then shall i know even as also i am known. i am now in the midst of the vapors and smoke of this dim spot which men call earth, but then shall i stand in the dazzling light of the face of god, and labor under no doubt or delusion respecting my own character or that of my eternal judge." a moment's reflection will convince any one, that the article and fact of death must of itself make a vast accession to the amount of a man's knowledge, because death introduces him into an entirely new state of existence. foreign travel adds much to our stock of ideas, because we go into regions of the earth of which we had previously known only by the hearing of the ear. but the great and last journey that man takes carries him over into a province of which no book, not even the bible itself, gives him any distinct cognition, as to the style of its scenery or the texture of its objects. in respect to any earthly scene or experience, all men stand upon substantially the same level of information, because they all have substantially the same data for forming an estimate. though i may never have been in italy, i yet know that the soil of italy is a part of the common crust of the globe, that the apennines are like other mountains which i have seen, that the italian sunlight pours through the pupil like any other sunlight, and that the italian breezes fan the brow like those of the sunny south the world over. i understand that the general forms of human consciousness in europe and asia, are like those in america. the operations of the five senses are the same in the old world that they are in the new. but what do i know of the surroundings and experience of a man who has travelled from time into eternity? am i not completely baffled, the moment i attempt to construct the consciousness of the unearthly state? i have no materials out of which to build it, because it is not a world of sense and matter, like that which i now inhabit. but death carries man over into the new and entirely different mode of existence, so that he knows by direct observation and immediate intuition. a flood of new information pours in upon the disembodied spirit, such as he cannot by any possibility acquire upon earth, and yet such as he cannot by any possibility escape from in his new residence. how strange it is, that the young child, the infant of days, in the heart of africa, by merely dying, by merely passing from time into eternity, acquires a kind and grade of knowledge that is absolutely inaccessible to the wisest and subtlest philosopher while here on earth![ ] the dead hottentot knows more than the living plato. but not only does the exchange of worlds make a vast addition to our stores of information respecting the nature of the invisible realm, and the mode of existence there, it also makes a vast addition to the kind and degree of our knowledge respecting _ourselves_, and our personal relationships to god. this is by far the most important part of the new acquisition which we gain by the passage from time to eternity, and it is to this that the apostle directs attention in the text. it is not so much the world that will be around us, when we are beyond the tomb, as it is the world that will be within us, that is of chief importance. our circumstances in this mode of existence, and in any mode of existence, are arranged by a power above us, and are, comparatively, matters of small concern; but the persons that we ourselves verily are, the characters which we bring into this environment, the little inner world of thought and feeling which is to be inclosed and overarched in the great outer world of forms and objects,--all this is matter of infinite moment and anxiety to a responsible creature. for the text teaches, that inasmuch as the future life is the _ultimate_ state of being for an immortal spirit, all that imperfection and deficiency in knowledge which appertains to this present life, this "ignorant present" time, must disappear. when we are in eternity, we shall not be in the dark and in doubt respecting certain great questions and truths that sometimes raise a query in our minds here. voltaire now knows whether there is a sin-hating god, and david hume now knows whether there is an endless hell. i may, in certain moods of my mind here upon earth, query whether i am accountable and liable to retribution, but the instant i shall pass from this realm of shadows, all this skepticism will be banished forever from my mind. for the future state is the _final_ state, and hence all questions are settled, and all doubts are resolved. while upon earth, the arrangements are such that we cannot see every thing, and must walk by faith, because it is a state of probation; but when once in eternity, all the arrangements are such that we cannot but see every thing, and must walk by sight, because it is the state of adjudication. hence it is, that the preacher is continually urging men to view things, so far as is possible, in the light of eternity, as the only light that shines clearly and without refractions. hence it is, that he importunes his hearers to estimate their duties, and their relationships, and their personal character, as they will upon the death-bed, because in the solemn hour of death the light of the future state begins to dawn upon the human soul. it is very plain that if a spiritual man like the apostle paul, who in a very remarkable degree lived with reference to the future world, and contemplated subjects in the light of eternity, was compelled to say that he knew but "in part," much more must the thoughtless natural man confess his ignorance of that which will meet him when his spirit returns to god. the great mass of mankind are totally vacant of any just apprehension of what will be their state of mind, upon being introduced into god's presence. they have never seriously considered what must be the effect upon their views and feelings, of an entire withdrawment from the scenes and objects of earth, and an entrance into those of the future state. most men are wholly engrossed in the present existence, and do not allow their thoughts to reach over into that invisible region which revelation discloses, and which the uncontrollable workings of conscience sometimes _force_ upon their attention for a moment. how many men there are, whose sinful and thoughtless lives prove that they are not aware that the future world will, by its very characteristics, fill them with a species and a grade of information that will be misery unutterable. is it not the duty and the wisdom of all such, to attempt to conjecture and anticipate the coming experience of the human soul in the day of judgment and the future life, in order that by repentance toward god and faith in the lord jesus christ they may be able to stand in that day? let us then endeavor to know, at least "in part," concerning the eternal state. the latter clause of the text specifies the general characteristic of existence in the future world. it is a mode of existence in which the rational mind "_knows_ even as it is known." it is a world of knowledge,--of conscious knowledge. in thus unequivocally asserting that our existence beyond the tomb is one of distinct consciousness, revelation has taught us what we most desire and need to know. the first question that would be raised by a creature who was just to be launched out upon an untried mode of existence would be the question: "shall i be _conscious_?" however much he might desire to know the length and breadth of the ocean upon which his was to set sail, the scenery that was to be above him and around him in his coming history,--nay, however much he might wish to know of matters still closer to himself than these; however much he might crave to ask of his maker, "with what body shall i come?" all would be set second to the simple single inquiry: "shall i think, shall i feel, shall i know?" in answering this question in the affirmative, without any hesitation or ambiguity, the apostle paul has in reality cleared up most of the darkness that overhangs the future state. the structure of the spiritual body, and the fabric of the immaterial world, are matters of secondary importance, and may be left without explanation, provided only the rational mind of man be distinctly informed that it shall not sleep in unconsciousness, and that the immortal spark shall not become such stuff as dreams are made of. the future, then, is a mode of existence in which the soul "knows even as it is known." but this involves a perception in which there is no error, and no intermission. for, the human spirit in eternity "is known" by the omniscient god. if, then, it knows in the style and manner that god knows, there can be no misconception or cessation in its cognition. here, then, we have a glimpse into the nature of our eternal existence. it is a state of distinct and unceasing knowledge of moral truth and moral objects. the human spirit, be it holy or sinful, a friend or an enemy of god, in eternity will always and forever be aware of it. there is no forgetting in the future state; there is no dissipation of the mind there; and there is no aversion of the mind from itself. the cognition is a fixed quantity. given the soul, and the knowledge is given. if it be holy, it is always conscious of the fact. if it be sinful, it cannot for an instant lose the distressing consciousness of sin. in neither instance will it be necessary, as it generally is in this life, to make a special effort and a particular examination, in order to know the personal character. knowledge of god and his law, in the future life, is spontaneous and inevitable; no creature can escape it; and therefore the bliss is _unceasing_ in heaven, and the misery is _unceasing_ in hell. there are no states of thoughtlessness and unconcern in the future life, because there is not an instant of forgetfulness or ignorance of the personal character and condition. in the world beyond this, every man will constantly and distinctly know what he is, and what he is not, because he will "be known" by the omniscient and unerring god, and will himself know in the same constant and distinct style and manner. if the most thoughtless person that now walks the globe could only have a clear perception of that kind of knowledge which is awaiting him upon the other side of the tomb, he would become the most thoughtful and the most anxious of men. it would sober him like death itself. and if any unpardoned man should from this moment onward be haunted with the thought, "when i die i shall enter into the light of god's countenance, and obtain a knowledge of my own character and obligations that will be as accurate and unvarying as that of god himself upon this subject," he would find no rest until he had obtained an assurance of the divine mercy, and such an inward change as would enable him to endure this deep and full consciousness of the purity of god and of the state of his heart. it is only because a man is unthinking, or because he imagines that the future world will be like the present one, only longer in duration, that he is so indifferent regarding it. here is the difficulty of the case, and the fatal mistake which the natural man makes. he supposes that the views which he shall have upon religious subjects in the eternal state, will be very much as they are in this,--vague, indistinct, fluctuating, and therefore causing no very great anxiety. he can pass days and weeks here in time without thinking of the claims of god upon him, and he imagines that the same thing is possible in eternity. while here upon earth, he certainly does not "know even as also he is known," and he hastily concludes that so it will be beyond the grave. it is because men imagine that eternity is only a very long space of _time_, filled up, as time here is, with dim, indistinct apprehensions, with a constantly shifting experience, with shallow feelings and ever diversified emotions, in fine, with all the _variety_ of pleasure and pain, of ignorance and knowledge, that pertains to this imperfect and probationary life,--it is because mankind thus conceive of the final state, that it exerts no more influence over them. but such is not its true idea. there is a marked difference between the present and the future life, in respect to uniformity and clearness of knowledge. "now i know in part, but then shall i know even as also i am known." the text and the whole teaching of the new testament prove that the invisible world is the unchangeable one; that there are no alterations of character, and consequently no alternations of experience, in the future life; that there are no transitions, as there are in this checkered scene of earth, from happiness to unhappiness and back again. there is but one uniform type of experience for an individual soul in eternity. that soul is either uninterruptedly happy, or uninterruptedly miserable, because it has either an uninterrupted sense of holiness, or an uninterrupted sense of sin. he that is righteous is righteous still, and knows it continually; and he that is filthy is filthy still, and knows it incessantly. if we enter eternity as the redeemed of the lord, we take over the holy heart and spiritual affections of regeneration, and there is no change but that of progression,--a change, consequently, only in degree, but none of kind or type. the same knowledge and experience that we have here "in part" we shall have there in completeness and permanency. and the same will be true, if the heart be evil and the affections inordinate and earthly. and all this, simply because the mind's knowledge is clear, accurate, and constant. that which the transgressor knows here of god and his own heart, but imperfectly, and fitfully, and briefly, he shall know there perfectly, and constantly, and everlastingly. the law of constant evolution, and the characteristic of unvarying uniformity, will determine and fix the type of experience in the evil as it does in the good. such, then, is the general nature of knowledge in the future state. it is distinct, accurate, unintermittent, and unvarying. we shall know even as we are known, and we are known by the omniscient and unerring searcher of hearts. let us now apply this general characteristic of cognition in eternity to some particulars. let us transfer our minds into the future and final state, and mark what goes on within them there. we ought often to enter this mysterious realm, and become habituated to its mental processes, and by a wise anticipation become prepared for the reality itself. i. the human mind, in eternity, will have a distinct and unvarying perception of the _character of god_. and that one particular attribute in this character, respecting which the cognition will be of the most luminous quality, is the divine holiness. in eternity, the immaculateness of the deity will penetrate the consciousness of every rational creature with the subtlety and the thoroughness of fire. god's essence is infinitely pure, and intensely antagonistic to sin, but it is not until there is a direct contact between it and the human mind, that man understands it and feels it. "i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, and i abhor myself." even the best of men know but "in part" concerning the holiness of god. yet it is noticeable how the apprehension of it grows upon the ripening christian, as he draws nearer to the time of his departure. the vision of the cherubim themselves seems to dawn upon the soul of a leighton and an edwards, and though it does not in the least disturb their saintly and seraphic peace, because they are sheltered in the clefts of the rock of ages, as the brightness passes by them, it does yet bring out from their comparatively holy and spiritual hearts the utterance, "behold i am vile; infinite upon, infinite is my sin." but what shall be said of the common and ordinary knowledge of mankind, upon this subject! except at certain infrequent times, the natural man does not know even "in part," respecting the holiness of god, and hence goes on in transgression without anxiety or terror. it is the very first work of prevenient grace, to disclose to the human mind something of the divine purity; and whoever, at any moment, is startled by a more than common sense of god's holy character, should regard it and cherish it as a token of benevolence and care for his soul. now, in eternity this species of knowledge must exist in the very highest degree. the human soul will be encircled by the character and attributes of god. it cannot look in any direction without beholding it. it is not so here. here, in this life, man may and does avert his eye, and refuse to look at the sheen and the splendor that pains his organ. he fastens his glance upon the farm, or the merchandise, or the book, and perseveringly determines not to see the purity of god that rebukes him. and _here_ he can succeed. he can and does live days and months without so much as a momentary glimpse of his maker, and, as the apostle says, is "without god" in this world. and yet such men do have, now and then, a view of the face of god. it may be for an instant only. it may be merely a thought, a gleam, a flash; and yet, like that quick flash of lightning, of which our lord speaks, that lighteneth out of the one part of heaven, and shineth unto the other part, that cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west,--like that swift momentary flash which runs round the whole horizon in the twinkling of an eye, this swift thought and gleam of god's purity fills the whole guilty soul full of light. what spiritual distress seizes the man in such moments, and of what a penetrating perception of the divine character is he possessed for an instant! it is a distinct and an accurate knowledge, but, unlike the cognition of the future state, it is not yet an inevitable and unintermittent one. he can expel it, and become again an ignorant and indifferent being, as he was before. he knows but "in part" at the very best, and this only temporarily. but carry this rational and accountable creature into eternity, denude him of the body of sense, and take him out of the busy and noisy world of sense into the silent world of spirits, and into the immediate presence of god, and then he will know upon this subject even as he is known. that sight and perception of god's purity which he had here for a brief instant, and which was so painful because he was not in sympathy with it, has now become everlasting. that distinct and accurate knowledge of god's character has now become his only knowledge. that flash of lightning has become light,--fixed, steady, permanent as the orb of day. the rational spirit cannot for an instant rid itself of the idea of god. never for a moment, in the endless cycles, can it look away from its maker; for in his presence what other object is there to look at? time itself, with its pursuits and its objects of thought and feeling, is no longer, for the angel hath sworn it by him who liveth for ever and ever. there is nothing left, then, to occupy and engross the attention but the character and attributes of god; and, now, the immortal mind, created for such a purpose, must yield itself up to that contemplation which in this life it dreaded and avoided. the future state of every man is to be an open and unavoidable vision of god. if he delights in the view, he will be blessed; if he loathes it, he will be miserable. this is the substance of heaven and hell. this is the key to the eternal destiny of every human soul. if a man love god, he shall gaze at him and adore; if he hate god, he shall gaze at him and gnaw his tongue for pain. the subject, as thus far unfolded, teaches the following lessons: . in the first place, it shows that _a false theory of the future state will not protect a man from future misery_. for, we have seen that the eternal world, by its very structure and influences, throws a flood of light upon the divine character, causing it to appear in its ineffable purity and splendor, and compels every creature to stand out in that light. there is no darkness in which man can hide himself, when he leaves this world of shadows. a false theory, therefore, respecting god, can no more protect a man from the reality, the actual matter of fact, than a false theory of gravitation will preserve a man from falling from a precipice into a bottomless abyss. do you come to us with the theory that every human creature will be happy in another life, and that the doctrine of future misery is false? we tell you, in reply, that god is _holy_, beyond dispute or controversy; that he cannot endure the sight of sin; and that in the future world every one of his creatures must see him precisely as he is, and know him in the real and eternal qualities of his nature. the man, therefore, who is full of sin, whose heart is earthly, sensual, selfish, must, when he approaches that pure presence, find that his theory of future happiness shrivels up like the heavens themselves, before the majesty and glory of god. he now stands face to face with a being whose character has never dawned upon him with such a dazzling purity, and to dispute the reality would be like disputing the fierce splendor of the noonday sun. theory must give way to fact, and the deluded mortal must submit to its awful force. in this lies the _irresistible_ power of death, judgment, and eternity, to alter the views of men. up to these points they can dispute and argue, because there is no ocular demonstration. it is possible to debate the question this side of the tomb, because we are none of us face to face with god, and front to front with eternity. in the days of noah, before the flood came, there was skepticism, and many theories concerning the threatened deluge. so long as the sky was clear, and the green earth smiled under the warm sunlight, it was not difficult for the unbeliever to maintain an argument in opposition to the preacher of righteousness. but when the sky was rent with lightnings, and the earth was scarred with thunder-bolts, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, where was the skepticism? where were the theories? where were the arguments? when god teaches, "where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?" they then knew as they were known; they stood face to face with the facts. it is this _inevitableness_ of the demonstration upon which we would fasten attention. we are not always to live in this world of shadows. we are going individually into the very face and eyes of jehovah, and whatever notions we may have adopted and maintained must all disappear, except as they shall be actually verified by what we shall see and know in that period of our existence when we shall perceive with the accuracy and clearness of god himself. our most darling theories, by which we may have sought to solace our souls in reference to our future destiny, if false, will be all ruthlessly torn away, and we must see what verily and eternally is. all mankind come upon one doctrinal platform when they enter eternity. they all have one creed there. there is not a skeptic even in hell. the devils believe and tremble. the demonstration that god is holy is so irrefragable, so complete and absolute, that doubt or denial is impossible in any spirit that has passed the line between time and eternity. . in the second place, this subject shows that _indifference and carelessness respecting the future life will not protect the soul from future misery_. there may be no false theory adopted, and yet if there be no thoughtful preparation to meet god, the result will be all the same. i may not dispute the newtonian theory of gravitation, yet if i pay no heed to it, if i simply forget it, as i clamber up mountains, and walk by the side of precipices, my body will as surely be dashed to pieces as if i were a theoretical skeptic upon the subject of gravitation. the creature's indifference can no more alter the immutable nature of god, than can the creature's false reasoning, or false theorizing. that which is settled in heaven, that which is fixed and eternal, stands the same stern, relentless fact under all circumstances. we see the operation of this sometimes here upon earth, in a very impressive manner. a youth or a man simply neglects the laws and conditions of physical well-being. he does not dispute them. he merely pays no attention to them. a. few years pass by, and disease and torturing pain become his portion. he comes now into the awful presence of the powers and the facts which the creator has inlaid in the world, of physical existence. he knows now even as he is known. and the laws are stern. he finds no place of repentance in them, though he seek it carefully with tears. the laws never repent, never change their mind. the principles of physical life and growth which he has never disputed, but which he has never regarded, now crush him into the ground in their relentless march and motion. precisely so will it be in the moral world, and with reference to the holiness of god. that man who simply neglects to prepare himself to see a holy god, though he never denies that there is such a being, will find the vision just as unendurable to him, as it is to the most determined of earthly skeptics. so far as the final result in the other world is concerned, it matters little whether a man adds unbelief to his carelessness, or not. the carelessness will ruin his soul, whether with or without skepticism. orthodoxy is valuable only as it inspires the hope that it will end in timely and practical attention to the concerns of the soul. but if you show me a man who you infallibly know will go through life careless and indifferent, i will show you a man who will not be prepared to meet god face to face, even though his theology be as accurate as that of st. paul himself. nay, we have seen that there is a time coming when all skeptics will become believers like the devils themselves, and will tremble at the ocular demonstration of truths which they have heretofore denied. theoretical unbelief must be a temporary affair in every man; for it can last only until he dies. death will make all the world theoretically orthodox, and bring them all to one and the same creed. but death will not bring them all to one and the same happy experience of the truth, and lave of the creed. for those who have made preparation for the vision of god and the ocular demonstration of divine truth, these will rise upon their view with a blessed and glorious light. but for those who have remained sinful and careless, these eternal truths and facts will be a vision of terror and despair. they will not alter. no man will find any place of repentance in them, though, like esau, he seek it carefully and with tears. . in the third place, this subject shows that _only faith in christ and a new heart can protect the soul from future misery_. the nature and character of god cannot be altered, and therefore the change must be wrought in man's soul. the disposition and affections of the heart must be brought into such sweet sympathy and harmony with god's holiness, that when in the next world that holiness shall be revealed as it is to the seraphim, it will fall in upon the soul like the rays of a vernal sun, starting every thing into cheerful life and joy. if the divine holiness does not make this impression, it produces exactly the contrary effect. if the sun's rays do not start the bud in the spring, they kill it. if the vision of a holy god is not our heaven, then it must be our hell. look then directly into your heart, and tell us which is the impression for you. can you say with david, "we give thanks and rejoice, at the remembrance of thy holiness?" are you glad that there is such a pure and immaculate being upon the throne, and when his excellence abashes you, and rebukes your corruption and sin, do you say, "let the righteous one smite me, it shall be a kindness?" do you _love_ god's holy character? if so, you are a new creature, and are ready for the vision of god, face to face. for you, to know god even as you are known by him will not be a terror, but a glory and a joy. you are in sympathy with him. you have been reconciled to him by the blood of atonement, and brought into harmony with him by the washing of regeneration. for you, as a believer in christ, and a new man in christ jesus, all is well. the more you see of god, the more you desire to see of him; and the more you know of him, the more you long to know. but if this is not your experience, then all is ill with you. we say _experience_. you must _feel_ in this manner toward god, or you cannot endure the vision which is surely to break upon you after death. you must _love_ this holiness without which no man can see the lord. you may approve of it, you may praise it in other men, but if there is no affectionate going out of your own heart toward, the holy god, you are not in right relations to him. you have the carnal mind, and that is enmity, and enmity is misery. look these facts in the eye, and act accordingly. "make the _tree_ good, and his fruit good," says christ. begin at the beginning. aim at nothing less than a change of disposition and affections. ask for nothing less, seek for nothing less. if you become inwardly holy as god is holy; if you become a friend of god, reconciled to him by the blood of christ; then your nature will be like god's nature, your character like god's character. then, when you shall know god even as you are known by him, and shall see him as he is, the knowledge and the vision will be everlasting joy. [footnote : "she has seen the mystery hid, under egypt's pyramid; by those eyelids pale and close, now she knows what rhamses knows." elizabeth browning: on the death of a child.] the future state a self-conscious state. cor. xiii. .--"now i know in part; but then shall i know even as also i am known." in the preceding discourse, we found in these words the principal characteristic of our future existence. the world beyond the tomb is a world of clear and conscious knowledge. when, at death, i shall leave this region of time and sense and enter eternity, my knowledge, the apostle paul tells me instead of being diminished or extinguished by the dissolution, of the body, will not only be continued to me, but will be even greater and clearer than before. he assures me that the kind and style of my cognition will be like that of god himself. i am to know as i am known. my intelligence will coincide with that of deity. by this we are not to understand that the creature's knowledge, in the future state, will be as extensive as that of the omniscient one; or that it will be as profound and exhaustive as his. the infinitude of things can be known only by the infinite mind; and the creature will forever be making new acquisitions, and never reaching the final limit of truths and facts. but upon certain moral subjects, the perception of the creature will be like that of his maker and judge, so far as the _kind_ or _quality_ of the apprehension is concerned. every man in eternity, for illustration, will see sin to be an odious and abominable thing, contrary to the holy nature of god, and awakening in that nature the most holy and awful displeasure. his knowledge upon this subject will be so identical with that of god, that he will be unable to palliate or excuse his transgressions, as he does in this world. he will see them precisely as god sees them. he must know them as god knows them, because he will "know even as he is known." ii. in continuing the examination of this solemn subject, we remark as a second and further characteristic of the knowledge which every man will possess in eternity, that he will know _himself_ even as he is known by god. his knowledge of god we have found to be direct, accurate, and unceasing; his knowledge of his own heart will be so likewise. this follows from the relation of the two species of cognition to each other. the true knowledge of god involves the true knowledge of self. the instant that any one obtains a clear view of the holy nature of his maker, he obtains a clear view of his own sinful nature. philosophers tell us, that our consciousness of god and our consciousness of self mutually involve and imply each other[ ]; in other words, that we cannot know god without immediately knowing ourselves, any more than we can know light without knowing darkness, any more than we can have the idea of right without having the idea of wrong. and it is certainly true that so soon as any being can intelligently say, "god is holy," he can and must say, "i am holy," or, "i am unholy," as the fact may be. indeed, the only way in which man can truly know himself is to contrast himself with his maker; and the most exhaustive self-knowledge and self-consciousness is to be found, not in the schools of secular philosophy but, in the searchings of the christian heart,--in the "confessions" of augustine; in the labyrinthine windings of edwards "on the affections." hence the frequent exhortations in the bible to look at the character of god, in order that we may know ourselves and be abased by the contrast. in eternity, therefore, if we must have a clear and constant perception of god's character, we must necessarily have a distinct and unvarying knowledge of our own. it is not so here. here in this world, man knows himself but "in part." even when he endeavors to look within, prejudice and passion often affect his judgment; but more often, the fear of what he shall discover in the secret places of his soul deters him from making the attempt at self-examination. for it is a surprising truth that the transgressor dares not bring out into the light that which is most truly his own, that which he himself has originated, and which he loves and cherishes with all his strength and might. he is afraid of his own heart! even when god forces the vision of it upon him, he would shut his eyes; or if this be not possible, he would look through distorting media and see it with a false form and coloring. "but 'tis not so above; there is no shuffling; there the action lies in his true nature: and we ourselves compelled, even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, to give in evidence."[ ] the spirit that has come into the immediate presence of god, and beholds him face to face, cannot deceive him, and therefore cannot deceive itself. it cannot remain ignorant of god's character any longer, and therefore cannot remain ignorant of its own. we do not sufficiently consider and ponder the elements of anguish that are sleeping in the fact that in eternity a sinner _must_ know god's character, and therefore _must_ know his own. it is owing to their neglect of such subjects, that mankind so little understand what an awful power there is in the distinct perception of the divine purity, and the allied consciousness of sin. lord bacon tells us that the knowledge acquired in the schools is power; but it is weakness itself, if compared with that form and species of cognition which is given to the mind of man by the workings of conscience in the light of the divine countenance. if a transgressor knew clearly what disclosures of god's immaculateness and of his own character must be made to him in eternity, he would fear them, if unprepared, far more than physical sufferings. if he understood what capabilities for distress the rational spirit possesses in its own mysterious constitution, if when brought into contact with the divine purity it has no sympathy with it, but on the contrary an intense hostility; if he knew how violent will be the antagonism between god's holiness and man's sin when, the two are finally brought together, the assertion that there is no external source of anguish in hell, even if it were true, would afford him no relief. whoever goes into the presence of god with a corrupt heart carries thither a source of sorrow that is inexhaustible, simply because that corrupt heart must be _distinctly known_, and _perpetually understood_ by its possessor, in that presence. the thoughtless man may never know while upon earth, even "in part," the depth and the bitterness of this fountain,--he may go through this life for the most part self-ignorant and undistressed,--but he must know in that other, final, world the immense fulness of its woe, as it unceasingly wells up into everlasting death. one theory of future punishment is, that our globe will become a penal orb of fire, and the wicked with material bodies, miraculously preserved by omnipotence, will burn forever in it. but what is this compared with the suffering soul? the spirit itself, thus alienated from god's purity and _conscious_ that it is, wicked, and _knowing_ that it is wicked, becomes an "orb of fire." "it is,"--says john howe, who was no fanatic, but one of the most thoughtful and philosophic of christians,--"it is a throwing hell into hell, when a wicked man comes to hell; for he was his own hell before."[ ] it must ever be borne in mind, that the principal source and seat of future torment will be the sinner's _sin_. we must never harbor the thought, or fall into the notion, that the retributions of eternity are a wanton and arbitrary infliction upon the part of god. some men seem to suppose, or at any rate they represent, that the woes of hell are a species of undeserved suffering; that god, having certain helpless and innocent creatures in his power, visits them with wrath, in the exercise of an arbitrary sovereignty. but this is not christ's doctrine of endless punishment. there is no suffering inflicted, here or hereafter, upon any thing but _sin,_--unrepented, incorrigible sin,--and if you will show me a sinless creature, i will show you one who will never feel the least twinge or pang through all eternity. death is the wages of _sin_. the substance of the wretchedness of the lost will issue right out of their own character. they will see their own wickedness steadily and clearly, and this will make them miserable. it will be the carrying out of the same principle that operates here in time, and in our own daily experience. suppose that by some method, all the sin of my heart, and all the sins of my outward conduct, were made clear to my own view; suppose that for four-and-twenty hours continuously i were compelled to look at my wickedness intently, just as i would look intently into a burning furnace of fire; suppose that for this length of time i should see nothing, and hear nothing, and experience nothing of the world, about me, but should be absorbed in the vision of my own disobedience of god's good law, think you that (setting aside the work of christ) i should be happy? on the contrary, should i not be the most wretched of mortals? would not this self-knowledge be pure living torment? and yet the misery springs entirely out of the _sin_. there is nothing arbitrary or wanton in the suffering. it is not brought in upon me from the outside. it comes out of myself. and, while i was writhing under the sense and power of my transgressions, would you mock me, by telling me that i was a poor innocent struggling in the hands of omnipotent malice; that the suffering was unjust, and that if there were any justice in the universe, i should be delivered from it? no, we shall suffer in the future world only as we are sinners, and because we are sinners. there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, only because the sinful creature will be compelled to look at himself; to know his sin in the same manner that it is known by the infinite intelligence. and is there any injustice in this? if a sinful being cannot bear the sight of himself, would you have the holy deity step in between him and his sins, so that he should not see them, and so that he might be happy in them? away with such folly and such wickedness. for it is the height of wickedness to desire that some method should be invented, and introduced into the universe of god, whereby the wages of sin shall be life and joy; whereby a sinner can look into his own wicked heart and be happy. iii. a third characteristic of the knowledge which every man will possess in eternity will be a clear understanding of _the nature and wants of the soul._ man has that in his constitution, which needs god, and which cannot be at rest except in god. a state of sin is a state of alienation and separation from the creator. it is, consequently, in its intrinsic nature, a state of restlessness and dissatisfaction. "there is no peace saith my god to the wicked; the wicked are like the troubled sea." in order to know this, it is only necessary to bring an apostate creature, like man, to a consciousness of the original requirements and necessities of his being. but upon this subject, man while upon earth most certainly knows only "in part." most men are wholly ignorant of the constitutional needs of a rational spirit, and are not aware that it is as impossible for the creature, when in eternity, to live happily out of god, as it is for the body to live at all in the element of fire. most men, while here upon earth, do not know upon this subject as they are known. god knows that the whole created universe cannot satisfy the desires of an immortal being, but impenitent men do not know this fact with a clear perception, and they will not until they die and go into another world. and the reason is this. so long as the worldly natural man lives upon earth, he can find a sort of substitute for god. he has a capacity for loving, and he satisfies it to a certain degree by loving himself; by loving fame, wealth, pleasure, or some form of creature-good. he has a capacity for thinking, and he gratifies it in a certain manner by pondering the thoughts of other minds, or by original speculations of his own. and so we might go through with the list of man's capacities, and we should find, that he contrives, while here upon earth, to meet these appetences of his nature, after a sort, by the objects of time and sense, and to give his soul a species of satisfaction short of god, and away from god. fame, wealth, and pleasure; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; become a substitute for the creator, in his search, for happiness. as a consequence, the unregenerate man knows but "in part" respecting the primitive and constitutional necessities of his being. he is feeding them with a false and unhealthy food, and in this way manages to stifle for a season their true and deep cravings. but this cannot last forever. when a man dies and goes into eternity, he takes nothing with him but his character and his moral affinities. "we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out." the original requirements and necessities of his soul are not destroyed by death, but the earthly objects by which he sought to meet them, and by which he did meet them after a sort, are totally destroyed. he still has a capacity for loving; but in eternity where is the fame, the wealth, the pleasure upon which he has hitherto expended it? he still has a capacity for thinking; but where are the farm, the merchandise, the libraries, the works of art, the human literatures, and the human philosophies, upon which he has heretofore employed it? the instant you cut off a creature who seeks his good in the world, and not in god, from intercourse with the world, you cause him to know even as he is known respecting the true and proper portion of his soul. deprived of his accustomed and his false object of love and support, he immediately begins to reach out in all directions for something to love, something to think of, something to trust in, and finds nothing. like that insect in our gardens which spins a slender thread by which to guide itself in its meanderings, and which when the clew is cut thrusts out its head in every direction, but does not venture to advance, the human creature who has suddenly been cut off by death from his accustomed objects of support and pleasure stretches out in every direction for something to take their place. and the misery of his case is, that when in his reachings out he sees god, or comes into contact with god, he starts back like the little insect when you present a coal of fire to it. he needs as much as ever, to love some being or some thing. but he has no heart to love god and there is no other being and no other thing in eternity to love. he needs, as much as ever, to think of some object or some subject. but to think of god is a distress to him; to reflect upon divine and holy things is weariness and woe. he is a carnal, earthly-minded man, and therefore cannot find enjoyment in such meditations. before he can take relish in such objects and such thinking, he must be born again; he must become a new creature. but there is no new-birth of the soul in eternity. the disposition and character which a man takes along with him when he dies remains eternally unchanged. the constitutional wants still continue. the man must love, and must think. but the only object in eternity upon which such capability can be expended is god; and the carnal mind, saith the scripture, is _enmity_ against god, and is not subject to the law of god, neither indeed can be. now, whatever may be the course of a man in this life; whether he becomes aware of these created imperatives, and constitutional necessities of his immortal spirit or not; whether he hears its reproaches and rebukes because he is feeding them with the husks of earth, instead of the bread of heaven, or not; it is certain that in the eternal world they will be continually awake and perpetually heard. for that spiritual world will be fitted up for nothing but a rational spirit. there will be nothing material, nothing like earth, in its arrangements. flesh and blood cannot inherit either the kingdom of god or the kingdom of satan. the enjoyments and occupations of this sensuous and material state will be found neither in heaven nor in hell. eternity is a spiritual region, and all its objects, and all its provisions, will have reference solely to the original capacities and destination of a spiritual creature. they will, therefore, all be terribly reminiscent of apostasy; only serving to remind the soul of what it was originally designed to be, and of what it has now lost by worshipping and loving the creature more than the creator. how wretched then must man be, when, with the awakening of this restlessness and dissatisfaction of an immortal spirit, and with the bright pattern of what he ought to be continually before his eye, there is united an intensity of self-love and enmity toward god, that drives him anywhere and everywhere but to his maker, for peace and comfort. how full of woe must the lost creature be, when his immortal necessities are awakened and demand their proper food, but cannot obtain it, because of the aversion of the heart toward the only being who can satisfy them. for, the same hatred of holiness, and disinclination toward spiritual things, which prevents a man from choosing god for his portion here, will prevent him hereafter. it is the bold fancy of an imaginative thinker,[ ] that the material forces which lie beneath external nature are conscious of being bound down and confined under the crust of the earth, like the giant enceladus under mt. etna, and that there are times when they roar from the depths where they are in bondage, and call aloud for freedom; when they rise in their might, and manifest themselves in the earthquake and the volcano. it will be a more fearful and terrific struggle, when the powers of an apostate being are roused in eternity; when the then eternal sin and guilt has its hour of triumph, and the eternal reason and conscience have their hour of judgment and remorse; when the inner world of man's spirit, by this schism and antagonism within it, has a devastation and a ruin spread over it more awful than that of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. we have thus, in this and the preceding discourse, considered the kind and quality of that knowledge which every human being will possess in the eternal world. he will know god, and he will know himself, with a distinct, and accurate, and unceasing intelligence like that of the deity. it is one of the most solemn and startling themes that can be presented to the human mind. we have not been occupied with what will be _around_ a creature, what will be _outside_ of a man, in the life to come; but we have been examining what will be _within_ him. we have been considering what he will think of beyond the tomb; what his own feelings will be when he meets god face to face. but a man's immediate consciousness determines his happiness or his misery. as a man thinketh in his heart so is he. we must not delude ourselves with the notion, that the mere arrangements and circumstances of the spiritual world will decide our weal or our woe, irrespective of the tenor of our thoughts and affections; that if we are only placed in pleasant gardens or in golden streets, all will be well. as a man thinketh in his heart, so will he be in his experience. this vision of god, and of our own hearts, will be either the substance of heaven, or the substance of hell. the great future is a world of open vision. now, we see through a glass darkly, but then, face to face. the vision for every human creature will be beatific, if he is prepared for it; will be terrific, if he is unprepared. does not the subject, then, speak with solemn warning to every one who knows that he is not prepared for the coming revelations that will be made to him when he dies; for this clear and accurate knowledge of god, and of his own character? do you believe that there is an eternal world, and that the general features of this mode of existence have been scripturally depicted? do you suppose that your present knowledge of the holiness of god, and of your own sinful nature, is equal to what it will be when your spirit returns to god who gave it? are you prepared for the impending and inevitable disclosures and revelations of the day of judgment? do you believe that jesus christ is the eternal son of god, who came forth from eternity eighteen centuries since, and went back into eternity, leaving upon record for human instruction an unexaggerated description of that invisible world, founded upon the personal knowledge of an eye-witness? whoever thus believes, concerning the record which christ and his apostles have left for the information of dim-eyed mortals who see only "through a glass darkly," and who know only "in part," ought immediately to adopt their descriptions and ponder them long and well. we have already observed, that the great reason why the future state exerts so little influence over worldly men lies in the fact, that they do not bring it into distinct view. they live absorbed in the interests and occupations of earth, and their future abode throws in upon them none of its solemn shadows and warnings. a clear luminous perception of the nature and characteristics of that invisible world which is soon to receive them, would make them thoughtful and anxious for their souls; for they would become aware of their utter unfitness, their entire lack of preparation, to see god face to face. still, live and act as sinful men may, eternity is over and around them all, even as the firmament is bent over the globe. if theirs were a penitent and a believing eye, they would look up with adoration into its serene depths, and joyfully behold the soft gleam of its stars, and it would send down upon them the sweet influences of its constellations. they may shut their eyes upon all this glory, and feel only earthly influences, and continue to be "of the earth, earthy." but there is a time coming when they cannot but look at eternity; when this firmament will throw them into consternation by the livid glare of its lightnings, and will compel them to hear the quick rattle and peal of its thunder; when it will not afford them a vision of glory and joy, as it will the redeemed and the holy, but one of despair and destruction. there is only one shelter from this storm; there is only one covert from this tempest. he, and only he, who trusts in christ's blood of atonement, will be able to look into the holy countenance of god, and upon the dread record of his own sins, without either trembling or despair. the merits and righteousness of christ so clothe the guilty soul, that it can endure the otherwise intolerable brightness of god's pure throne and presence. "jesus! thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress; mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed, with joy shall i lift up my head." amidst those great visions that are to dawn upon every human creature, those souls will be in perfect peace who trust in the great propitiation. in those great tempests that are to shake down the earth and the sky, those hearts will be calm and happy who are hid in the clefts of the rock of ages. flee then to christ, ye prisoners of hope. make preparation to know even as you are known, by repentance toward god and faith in the lord jesus christ. a voice comes to you out of the cloud, saying, "this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased; hear ye him." remember, and forget not, that this knowledge of god and your own heart is _inevitable._ at death, it will all of it flash upon the soul like lightning at midnight. it will fill the whole horizon of your being full of light. if you are in christ jesus, the light will not harm you. but if you are out of christ, it will blast you. no sinful mortal can endure such a vision an instant, except as he is sprinkled with atoning blood, and clothed in the righteousness of the great substitute and surety for guilty man. flee then to christ, and so be prepared to know god and your own heart, even as you are known. [footnote : noverim me, noverim te.--bernard.] [footnote : shakespeare: hamlet, act iii., sc. .] [footnote : howe: on regeneration. sermon xliii.] [footnote : bookschammer: on the will.] god's exhaustive knowledge of man. psalm cxxxix. i- .--"o lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with, all my ways. for there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, o lord, thou knowest it altogether. thou, hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, i cannot attain unto it." one of the most remarkable characteristics of a rational being is the power of self-inspection. the brute creation possesses many attributes that are common to human nature, but it has no faculty that bears even the remotest resemblance to that of self-examination. instinctive action, undoubtedly, approaches the nearest of any to human action. that wonderful power by which the bee builds up a structure that is not exceeded in accuracy, and regularity, and economy of space, by the best geometry of athens or of rome; by which the beaver, after having chosen the very best possible location for it on the stream, constructs a dam that outlasts the work of the human engineer; by which the faithful dog contrives to perform many acts of affection, in spite of obstacles, and in the face of unexpected discouragements,--the _instinct_, we say, of the brute creation, as exhibited in a remarkably wide range of action and contrivance, and in a very varied and oftentimes perplexing conjuncture of circumstances, seems to bring man and beast very near to each other, and to furnish some ground for the theory of the materialist, that there is no essential difference between the two species of existences. but when we pass beyond the mere power of acting, to the additional power of _surveying_ or _inspecting_ an act, and of forming an estimate of its relations to moral law, we find a faculty in man that makes him differ in kind from the brute. no brute animal, however high up the scale, however ingenious and sagacious he may be, can ever look back and think of what he has done, "his thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing him." the mere power of performance, is, after all, not the highest power. it is the superadded power of calmly looking over the performance, and seeing _what_ has been done, that marks the higher agency, and denotes a loftier order of existence than that of the animal or of material nature. if the mere ability to work with energy, and produce results, constituted the highest species of power, the force of gravitation would be the loftiest energy in the universe. its range of execution is wider than that of any other created principle. but it is one of the lower and least important of agencies, because it is blind. it is destitute of the power of self-inspection. it does not know _what_ it does, or _why_. "man," says pascal,[ ] "is but a reed, and the weakest in all nature; yet he is a reed that _thinks_. the whole material universe does not need to arm itself, in order to crush him. a vapor, a drop of water is enough to destroy him. but if the whole universe of matter should combine to crush him, man would be more noble than that which destroyed him. for he would be _conscious_ that he was dying, while, of the advantage which the material universe had obtained over him, that universe would know nothing." the action of a little child is altogether nothing and vanity compared with the energy of the earthquake or the lightning, so far as the exhibition of force and the mere power to act is concerned; but, on the other hand, it is more solemn than centuries of merely natural processes, and more momentous than all the material phenomena that have ever filled the celestial spaces, when we remember that it is the act of a thinking agent, and a self-conscious creature. the power to _survey_ the act, when united with the power to act, sets mind infinitely above matter, and places the action of instinct, wonderful as it is, infinitely below the action of self-consciousness. the proud words of one of the characters in the old drama are strictly true: "i am a nobler substance than the stars, or are they better since they are bigger? i have a will and faculties of choice, to do or not to do; and reason why i do or not do this: the stars have none. they know not why they shine, more than this taper, nor how they, work, nor what."[ ] but this characteristic of a rational being, though thus distinctive and common to every man that lives, is exceedingly marvellous. like the air we breathe, like the light we see, it involves a mystery that no man has ever solved. self-consciousness has been the problem and the thorn of the philosophic mind in all ages; and the mystery is not yet unravelled. is not that a wonderful process by which a man knows, not some other thing but, _himself_? is not that a strange act by which he, for a time, duplicates his own unity, and sets himself to look at himself? all other acts of consciousness are comparatively plain and explicable. when we look at an object other than ourselves,--when we behold a tree or the sky,--the act of knowledge is much more simple and easy to be explained. for then there is something outside of us, and in front of us, and another thing than we are, at which we look, and which we behold. but in this act of _self_-inspection there is no second thing, external, and extant to us, which we contemplate. that which is seen is one and the same identical object with that which sees. the act of knowledge which in all other instances requires the existence of two things,--a thing to be known and a thing to know,--in this instance is performed with only one. it is the individual soul that sees, and it is that very same individual soul that is seen. it is the individual man that knows, and it is that very identical man that is known. the eyeball looks at the eyeball. and when this power of self-inspection is connected with the power of memory, the mystery of human existence becomes yet more complicated, and its explanation still more baffling. is it not exceedingly wonderful, that we are able to re-exhibit our own thoughts and feelings; that we can call back what has gone clear by in our experience, and steadily look at it once more? is it not a mystery that we can summon before our mind's eye feelings, purposes, desires, and thoughts, which occurred in the soul long years ago, and which, perhaps, until this moment, we have not thought of for years? is it not a marvel, that they come up with all the vividness with which they first took origin in our experience, and that the lapse of time has deprived them of none of their first outlines or colors? is it not strange, that we can recall that one particular feeling of hatred toward a fellow-man which, rankled in the heart twenty years ago; that we can now eye it, and see it as plainly as if it were still throbbing within us; that we can feel guilty for it once more, as if we were still cherishing it? if it were not so common, would it not be surprising, that we can reflect upon acts of disobedience toward god which we committed in the days of childhood, and far back in the dim twilights of moral agency; that we can re-act them, as it were, in our memory, and fill ourselves again with the shame and distress that attended their original commission? is it not one of those mysteries which overhang human existence, and from which that of the brute is wholly free, that man can live his life, and act his agency, over, and over, and over again, indefinitely and forever, in his self-consciousness; that he can cause all his deeds to pass and re-pass before his self-reflection, and be filled through and through with the agony of self-knowledge? truly _such_ knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, i cannot attain unto it. whither shall i _go_ from my _own_ spirit, and whither shall i flee from my _own_ presence. if i ascend up into heaven, it is there looking at me. if i make my bed in hell, behold it is there torturing me. if i take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there must i know myself, and acquit or condemn myself. but if that knowledge whereby man knows himself is mysterious, then certainly that whereby god knows him is far more so. that act whereby _another_ being knows my secret thoughts, and inmost feelings, is most certainly inexplicable. that cognition whereby _another_ person understands what takes place in the corners of my heart, and sees the minutest movements of my spirit, is surely high; most surely i cannot attain unto it. and yet, it is a truth of revelation that god searches the heart of man; that he knows his down-sitting and uprising, and understands his thought afar off; that he compasses his path and his lying-down, and is acquainted with all his ways. and yet, it is a deduction of reason, also, that because god is the creator of the human mind, he must perfectly understand its secret agencies; that he in whose essence man lives and moves and has his being, must behold every motion, and feel every stirring of the human spirit. "he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?" let us, then, ponder the fact of god's exhaustive knowledge of man's soul, that we may realize it, and thereby come under its solemn power and impression. for all religion, all holy and reverential fear of god, rises and sets, as in an atmosphere, in the thought: "thou god seest me." i. in analyzing and estimating the divine knowledge of the human soul, we find, in the first place, that god accurately and exhaustively knows _all that man knows of himself_. every man in a christian land, who is in the habit of frequenting the house of god, possesses more or less of that self-knowledge of which we have spoken. he thinks of the moral character of some of his own thoughts. he reflects upon the moral quality of some of his own feelings. he considers the ultimate tendency of some of his own actions. in other words, there is a part of his inward and his outward life with which he is uncommonly well acquainted; of which he has a distinct perception. there are some thoughts of his mind, at which he blushes at the very time of their origin, because he is vividly aware what they are, and what they mean. there are some emotions of his heart, at which he trembles and recoils at the very moment of their uprising, because he perceives clearly that they involve a very malignant depravity. there are some actings of his will, of whose wickedness he is painfully conscious at the very instant of their rush and movement. we are not called upon, here, to say how many of a man's thoughts, feelings, and determinations, are thus subjected to his self-inspection at the very time of their origin, and are known in the clear light of self-knowledge. we are not concerned, at this point, with the amount of this man's self-inspection and self-knowledge. we are only saying that there is some experience such as this in his personal history, and that he does know something of himself, at the very time of action, with a clearness and a distinctness that makes him start, or blush, or fear. now we say, that in reference to all this intimate self-knowledge, all this best part of a man's information respecting himself, he is not superior to god. he may be certain that in no particular does he know more of himself than the searcher of hearts knows. he may be an uncommonly thoughtful person, and little of what is done within his soul may escape his notice,--nay, we will make the extreme supposition that he arrests every thought as it rises, and looks at it, that he analyzes every sentiment as it swells his heart, that he scrutinizes every purpose as it determines his will,--even if he should have such a thorough and profound self-knowledge as this, god knows him equally profoundly, and equally thoroughly. nay more, this process of self-inspection may go on indefinitely, and the man may grow more and more thoughtful, and obtain an everlastingly augmenting knowledge of what he is and what he does, so that it shall seem to him that he is going down so far along that path which the vulture's eye hath not seen, is penetrating so deeply into those dim and shadowy regions of consciousness where the external life takes its very first start, as to be beyond the reach of any eye, and the ken of any intelligence but his own, and then he may be sure that god understands the thought that is afar off, and deep down, and that at this lowest range and plane in his experience he besets him behind and before. o, this man, like the most of mankind, may be an unreflecting person. then, in this case, thoughts, feelings, and purposes are continually rising up within his soul like the clouds and exhalations of an evaporating deluge, and at the time of their rise he subjects them to no scrutiny of conscience, and is not pained in the least by their moral character and significance. he lacks self-knowledge altogether, at these points in his history. but, notice that the fact that he is not self-inspecting at these points cannot destroy the fact that he is acting at them. the fact that he is not a spectator of his own transgression, does not alter the fact that he is the author of it. if this man, for instance, thinks over his worldly affairs on god's holy day, and perhaps in god's holy house, with such an absorption and such a pleasure that he entirely drowns the voice of conscience while he is so doing, and self-inspection is banished for the time, it will not do for him to plead this absence of a distinct and painful consciousness of what his mind was actually doing in the house of god, and upon the lord's day, as the palliative and excuse of his wrong thoughts. if this man, again, indulges in an envious or a sensual emotion, with such an energy and entireness, as for the time being to preclude all action of the higher powers of reason and self-reflection, so that for the time being he is not in the least troubled by a sense of his wickedness, it will be no excuse for him at the eternal bar, that he was not thinking of his envy or his lust at the time when he felt it. and therefore it is, that accountableness covers the whole field of human agency, and god holds us responsible for our thoughtless sin, as well as for our deliberate transgression. in the instance, then, of the thoughtless man; in the case where there is little or no self-examination; god unquestionably knows the man as well as the man knows himself. the omniscient one is certainly possessed of an amount of knowledge equal to that small modicum which is all that a rational and immortal soul can boast of in reference to itself. but the vast majority of mankind fall into this class. the self-examiners are very few, in comparison with the millions who possess the power to look into their hearts, but who rarely or never do so. the great god our judge, then, surely knows the mass of men, in their down-sitting and uprising, with a knowledge that is equal to their own. and thus do we establish our first position, that god knows all that the man knows; god's knowledge is equal to the very best part of man's knowledge. in concluding this part of the discussion, we turn to consider some practical lessons suggested by it. . in the first place, the subject reminds us that _we are fearfully and wonderfully made_. when we take a solar microscope and examine even the commonest object--a bit of sand, or a hair of our heads-we are amazed at the revelation that is made to us. we had no previous conception of the wonders that are contained in the structure of even such ordinary things as these. but, if we should obtain a corresponding view of our own mental and moral structure; if we could subject our immortal natures to a microscopic self-examination; we should not only be surprised, but we should be terrified. this explains, in part, the consternation with which a criminal is filled, as soon as he begins to understand the nature of his crime. his wicked act is perceived in its relation to his own mental powers and faculties. he knows, now, what a hazardous thing it is to possess a free-will; what an awful thing it is to own a conscience. he feels, as he never did before, that he is fearfully and wonderfully made, and cries out: "o that i had never been born! o that i had never been created a responsible being! these terrible faculties of reason, and will, and conscience, are too heavy for me to wield; would that i had been created a worm, and no man, then, i should not have incurred the hazards under which i have sinned and ruined myself." the constitution of the human soul is indeed a wonderful one; and such a meditation as that which we have just devoted to its functions of self-examination and memory, brief though it be, is enough to convince us of it. and remember, that this constitution is not peculiar to you and to me. it belongs to every human creature on the globe. the imbruted pagan in the fiery centre of africa, who never saw a bible, or heard of the redeemer; the equally imbruted man, woman, or child, who dwells in the slime of our own civilization, not a mile from where we sit, and hear the tidings of mercy; the filthy savage, and the yet filthier profligate, are both of them alike with ourselves possessed of these awful powers of self-knowledge and of memory. think of this, ye earnest and faithful laborers in the vineyard of the lord. there is not a child that you allure into your sabbath schools, and your mission schools, that is not fearfully and wonderfully made; and whose marvellous powers you are doing much to render to their possessor a blessing, instead of a curse. when sir humphrey davy, in answer to an inquiry that had been made of him respecting the number and series of his discoveries in chemistry, had gone through with the list, he added: "but the greatest of my discoveries is michael faraday." this michael faraday was a poor boy employed in the menial services of the laboratory where davy made those wonderful discoveries by which he revolutionized the science of chemistry, and whose chemical genius he detected, elicited, and encouraged, until he finally took the place of his teacher and patron, and acquired a name that is now one of the influences of england. well might he say: "my greatest discovery was when i detected the wonderful powers of michael faraday." and never will you make a greater and more beneficent discovery, than when, under the thick scurf of pauperism and vice, you detect the human soul that is fearfully and wonderfully made; than when you elicit its powers of self-consciousness and of memory, and, instrumentally, dedicate them to the service of christ and the church. . in the second place, we see from the subject, that _thoughtlessness in sin will never excuse sin_. there are degrees in sin. a deliberate, self-conscious act of sin is the most intense form of moral evil. when a man has an active conscience; when he distinctly thinks over the nature of the transgression which he is tempted to commit; when he sees clearly that it is a direct violation of a command of god which he is about to engage in; when he says, "i know that this is positively forbidden by my maker and judge, but i _will do it_,"--we have an instance of the most heaven-daring sin. this is deliberate and wilful transgression. the servant knows his lord's will and does it not, and he shall be beaten with "many stripes," says christ. but, such sin as this is not the usual form. most of human transgressions are not accompanied with such a distinct apprehension, and such a deliberate determination. the sin of ignorance and thoughtlessness is the species which is most common. men, generally, do not first think of what they are about to do, and then proceed to do it; but they first proceed to do it, and then think nothing at all about it. but, thoughtlessness will not excuse sin; though, it is a somewhat less extreme form of it, than deliberate transgression. under the levitical law, the sin of ignorance, as it was called, was to be expiated by a somewhat different sacrifice from that offered for the wilful and deliberate sin; but it must be expiated. a victim must be offered for it. it was guilt before god, and needed atonement. our lord, in his prayer for his murderers, said, "father forgive them, for they know not what they do." the act of crucifying the lord of glory was certainly a sin, and one of an awful nature. but the authors of it were not fully aware of its import. they did not understand the dreadful significance of the crucifixion of the son of god, as we now understand it, in the light of eighteen centuries. our lord alludes to this, as a species of mitigation; while yet he teaches, by the very prayer which he puts up for them, that this ignorance did not excuse his murderers. he asks that they may be _forgiven_. but where there is absolutely no sin there is no need of forgiveness. it is one of our lord's assertions, that it will be more tolerable for sodom and gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than it will be for those inhabitants of palestine who would not hear the words of his apostles,--because the sin of the former was less deliberate and wilful than that of the latter. but he would not have us infer from this, that sodom and gomorrah are not to be punished for sin. and, finally, he sums up the whole doctrine upon this point, in the declaration, that "he who knew his master's will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who knew not his master's will and did it not shall be beaten with few stripes." the sin of thoughtlessness shall be beaten with fewer stripes than the sin of deliberation,--but it shall be _beaten_, and therefore it is _sin_. the almost universal indifference and thoughtlessness with which men live on in a worldly and selfish life, will not excuse them in the day of accurate accounts. and the reason is, that they are capable of _thinking_ upon the law of god; of _thinking_ upon their duties; of _thinking_ upon their sins. they possess the wonderful faculties of self-inspection and memory, and therefore they are capable of bringing their actions into light. it is the command of god to every man, and to every rational spirit everywhere, to walk in the light, and to be a child of the light. we ought to examine ourselves; to understand our ruling motives and abiding purposes; to scrutinize our feelings and conduct. but if we do little or nothing of this, we must not expect that in the day of judgment we can plead our thoughtless ignorance of what we were, and what we did, here upon earth, as an excuse for our disobedience. god expects, and demands, that every one of his rational creatures should be all that he is capable of being. he gave man wonderful faculties and endowments,--ten talents, five talents, two talents,--and he will require the whole original sum given, together with a faithful use and improvement of it. the very thoughtlessness then, particularly under the gospel dispensation,--the very neglect and non-use of the power of self-inspection,--will go in to constitute a part of the sin that will be punished. instead of being an excuse, it will be an element of the condemnation itself. . in the third place, even the sinner himself _ought to rejoice in the fact that god is the searcher of the heart_. it is instinctive and natural, that a transgressor should attempt to conceal his character from his maker; but next to his sin itself, it would be the greatest injury that he could do to himself, should he succeed in his attempt. even after the commission of sin, there is every reason for desiring that god should compass our path and lying down, and be acquainted with all our ways. for, he is the only being who can forgive sin; the only one who can renew and sanctify the heart. there is the same motive for having the disease of the soul understood by god, that there is for having the disease of the body examined by a skilful physician. nothing is gained, but every thing is lost, by ignorance. the sinner, therefore, has the strongest of motives for rejoicing in the truth that god sees him. it ought not to be an unwelcome fact even to him. for how can his sin be pardoned, unless it is clearly understood by the pardoning power? how can his soul be purified from its inward corruption, unless it is searched by the spirit of all holiness? instead, therefore, of being repelled by such a solemn truth as that which we have been discussing, even the natural man should be allured by it. for it teaches him that there is help for him in god. his own knowledge of his own heart, as we have seen, is very imperfect and very inadequate. but the divine knowledge is thoroughly adequate. he may, therefore, devolve his case with confidence upon the unerring one. let him take words upon his lips, and cry unto him: "search me, o god, and try me; and see what evil ways there are in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." let him endeavor to come into possession of the divine knowledge. there is no presumption in this. god desires that he should know himself as he knows him; that he should get possession of his views upon this point; that he should see himself as he sees him. one of the principal sins which god has to charge upon the sinner is, that his apprehensions respecting his own character are in conflict with the divine. nothing would more certainly meet the approbation of god, than a renunciation of human estimates of human nature, and the adoption of those contained in the inspired word. endeavor, therefore, to obtain the very same knowledge of your heart which god himself possesses. and in this endeavor, he will assist you. the influences of the holy spirit to enlighten are most positively promised and proffered. therefore be not repelled by the truth; but be drawn by it to a deeper, truer knowledge of your heart. lift up your soul in prayer, and beseech god to impart to you a profound knowledge of yourself, and then to sprinkle all your discovered guilt, and all your undiscovered guilt, with atoning blood. this is _salvation_; first to know yourself, and then to know christ as your prophet, priest, and king. [footnote : pensÉes: grandeur de l'homme, . ed. wetstein.] [footnote : chapman: byron's conspiracy.] god's exhaustive knowledge of man. [*continued] psalm cxxxix. -- .--"o lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising; thou understandest my thought afar off. thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, o lord, thou knowest it altogether. thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me. such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, i cannot attain unto it." in the preceding discourse upon this text, we directed attention to the fact that man is possessed of the power of self-knowledge, and that he cannot ultimately escape from using it. he cannot forever flee from his own presence; he cannot, through all eternity, go away from his own spirit. if he take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth, he must, sooner or later, know himself, and acquit or condemn himself. our attention was then directed to the fact, that god's knowledge of man is certainly equal to man's knowledge of himself. no man knows more of his own heart than the searcher of hearts knows. up to this point, certainly, the truth of the text is incontrovertible. god knows all that man knows. ii. we come now to the second position: that _god accurately and exhaustively knows all that man might, but does not, know of himself_. although the creator designed that every man should thoroughly understand his own heart, and gave him the power of self-inspection that he might use it faithfully, and apply it constantly, yet man is extremely ignorant of himself. mankind, says an old writer, are nowhere less at home, than at home. very few persons practise serious self-examination at all; and none employ the power of self-inspection with that carefulness and sedulity with which they ought. hence men generally, and unrenewed men always, are unacquainted with much that goes on within their own minds and hearts. though it is sin and self-will, though it is thought and feeling and purpose and desire, that is going on and taking place during all these years of religious indifference, yet the agent himself, so far as a sober reflection upon the moral character of the process, and a distinct perception of the dreadful issue of it, are concerned, is much of the time as destitute of self-knowledge as an irrational brute itself. for, were sinful men constantly self-examining, they would be constantly in torment. men can be happy in sin, only so long as they can sin without thinking of it. the instant they begin to perceive and understand _what_ they are doing, they begin to feel the fang of the worm. if the frivolous wicked world, which now takes so much pleasure in its wickedness, could be forced to do here what it will be forced to do hereafter, namely, to _eye_ its sin while it commits it, to _think_ of what it is doing while it does it, the billows of the lake of fire would roll in upon time, and from gay paris and luxurious vienna there would instantaneously ascend the wailing cry of pandemonium. but it is not so at present. men here upon earth are continually thinking sinful thoughts and cherishing sinful feelings, and yet they are not continually in hell. on the contrary, "they are not in trouble as other men are, neither are they plagued like other men. their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish." this proves that they are self-ignorant; that they know neither their sin nor its bitter end. they sin without the _consciousness_ of sin, and hence are happy in it. is it not so in our own personal experience? have there not been in the past ten years of our own mental history long trains of thought,--sinful thought,--and vast processions of feelings and imaginings,--sinful feelings and imaginings,--that have trailed over the spaces of the soul, but which have been as unwatched and unseen by the self-inspecting eye of conscience, as the caravans of the african desert have been, during the same period, by the eye of our sense? we have not felt a pang of guilt every single time that we have thought a wrong thought; yet we should have felt one inevitably, had we _scrutinized_ every such single thought. our face has not flushed with crimson in every particular instance in which we have exercised a lustful emotion; yet it would have done so had we carefully _noted_ every such emotion. a distinct self-knowledge has by no means run parallel with all our sinful activity; has by no means been co-extensive with it. we perform vastly more than we inspect. we have sinned vastly more than we have been aware of at the time. even the christian, in whom this unreflecting species of life and conduct has given way, somewhat, to a thoughtful and vigilant life, knows and acknowledges that perfection is not yet come. as he casts his eye over even his regenerate and illuminated life, and sees what a small amount of sin has been distinctly detected, keenly felt, and heartily confessed, in comparison with that large amount of sin which he knows he must have committed, during this long period of incessant action of mind, heart, and limbs, he finds no repose for his misgivings with respect to the filial examination and account, except by enveloping himself yet more entirely in the ample folds of his redeemer's righteousness; except by hiding himself yet more profoundly in the cleft of that rock of ages which protects the chief of sinners from the unsufferable splendors and terrors of the divine glory and holiness as it passes by. even the christian knows that he must have committed many sins in thoughtless moments and hours,--many sins of which he was not deliberately thinking at the time of their commission,--and must pray with david, "cleanse thou me from secret faults." the functions and operations of memory evince that such is the case. are we not sometimes, in our serious hours when memory is busy, convinced of sins which, at the time of their commission, were wholly unaccompanied with a sense of their sinfulness? the act in this instance was performed blindly, without self-inspection, and therefore without self-conviction. ten years, we will say, have intervened,--years of new activity, and immensely varied experiences. and now the magic power of recollection sets us back, once more, at that point of responsible action, and bids do what we did not do at the time,--analyze our performance and feel consciously guilty, experience the first sensation of remorse, for what we did ten years ago. have we not, sometimes, been vividly reminded that upon such an occasion, and at such a time, we were angry, or proud, but at the time when the emotion was swelling our veins were not filled with, that clear and painful sense of its turpitude which now attends the recollection of it? the re-exhibition of an action in memory, as in a mirror, is often accompanied with a distinct apprehension of its moral character that formed no part of the experience of the agent while absorbed in the hot and hasty original action itself. and when we remember how immense are the stores of memory, and what an amount of sin has been committed in hours of thoughtlessness and moral indifference, what prayer is more natural and warm than the supplication: "search me o god, and try me, and see what evil ways there are within me, and lead me in the way everlasting." but the careless, unenlightened man, as we have before remarked, leads a life almost entirely destitute of self-inspection, and self-knowledge. he sins constantly. he does only evil, and that continually, as did man before the deluge. for he is constantly acting. a living self-moving soul, like his, cannot cease action if it would. and yet the current is all one way. day after day sends up its clouds of sensual, worldly, selfish thoughts. week after week pours onward its stream of low-born, corrupt, unspiritual feelings. year after year accumulates that hardening mass of carnal-mindedness, and distaste for religion, which is sometimes a more insuperable obstacle to the truth, than positive faults and vices which startle and shock the conscience. and yet the man _thinks_ nothing about all this action of his mind and heart. he does not subject it to any self-inspection. if he should, for but a single hour, be lifted up to the eminence from which all this current of self-will, and moral agency, may be seen and surveyed in its real character and significance, he would start back as if brought to the brink of hell. but he is not thus lifted up. he continues to use and abuse his mental and his moral faculties, but, for most of his probation, with all the blindness and heedlessness of a mere animal instinct. there is, then, a vast amount of sin committed without self-inspection; and, consequently, without any distinct perception, at the time, that it is sin. the christian will find himself feeling guilty, for the first time, for a transgression that occurred far back in the past, and will need a fresh application of atoning blood. the sinner will find, at some period or other, that remorse is fastening its tooth in his conscience for a vast amount of sinful thought, feeling, desire, and motive, that took origin in the unembarrassed days of religious thoughtlessness and worldly enjoyment. for, think you that the insensible sinner is always to be thus insensible,--that this power of self-inspection is eternally to "rust unused?" what a tremendous revelation will one day be made to an unreflecting transgressor, simply because he is a man and not a brute, has lived a human life, and is endowed with the power of self-knowledge, whether he has used it or not! what a terrific vision it will be for him, when the limitless line of his sins which he has not yet distinctly examined, and thought of, and repented of, shall be made to pass in slow procession before that inward eye which he has wickedly kept shut so long! tell us not of the disclosures that shall be made when the sea shall give up the dead that are in it, and the graves shall open and surrender their dead; what are these material disclosures, when compared with the revelations of self-knowledge! what is all this external display, sombre and terrible as it will be to the outward eye, when compared with all that internal revealing that will be made to a hitherto thoughtless soul, when, of a sudden, in the day of judgment, its deepest caverns shall heave in unison with the material convulsions of the day, and shall send forth to judgment their long slumbering, and hidden iniquity; when the sepulchres of its own memory shall burst open, and give up the sin that has long lain buried there, in needless and guilty forgetfulness, awaiting this second resurrection! for (to come back to the unfolding of the subject, and the movement of the argument), god perfectly knows all that man might, but does not, know of himself. though the transgressor is ignorant of much of his sin, because at the time of its commission he sins blindly as well as wilfully, and unreflectingly as well as freely; and though the transgressor has forgotten much of that small amount of sin of which he was conscious, and by which he was pained, at the time of its perpetration; though on the side of man the powers of self-inspection and memory have accomplished so little towards the preservation of man's sin, yet god knows it all, and remembers it all. he compasseth man's path, and his lying-down, and is acquainted with all his ways. "there is nothing covered, therefore, that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops." the creator of the human mind has control over its powers of self-inspection, and of memory; and when the proper time comes he will compel these endowments to perform their legitimate functions, and do their appointed work. the torturing self-survey will begin, never more to end. the awful recollection will commence, endlessly to go on. one principal reason why the biblical representations of human sinfulness exert so little influence over men, and, generally speaking, seem to them to be greatly exaggerated and untrue, lies in the fact that the divine knowledge of human character is in advance of the human knowledge. god's consciousness and cognition upon this subject is exhaustive; while man's self-knowledge is superficial and shallow. the two forms of knowledge, consequently, when placed side by side, do not agree, but conflict. there would be less difficulty, and less contradiction, if mankind generally were possessed of even as much self-knowledge as the christian is possessed of. there would be no difficulty, and no contradiction, if the knowledge of the judgment-day could be anticipated, and the self-inspection of that occasion could commence here and now. but such is not the fact. the bible labors, therefore, under the difficulty of possessing an advanced knowledge; the difficulty of being addressed to a mind that is almost entirely unacquainted with the subject treated of. the word of god knows man exhaustively, as god knows him; and hence all its descriptions of human character are founded upon such a knowledge. but man, in his self-ignorance, does not perceive their awful truth. he has not yet attained the internal correspondent to the biblical statement,--that apprehension of total depravity, that knowledge of the plague of the heart, which always and ever says "yea" to the most vivid description of human sinfulness, and "amen" to god's heaviest malediction upon it. nothing deprives the word of its nerve and influence, more than this general lack of self-inspection and self-knowledge. for, only that which is perceived to be _true_ exerts an influence upon the human mind. the doctrine of human sinfulness is preached to men, year after year, to whom it does not come home with the demonstration of the spirit and with power, because the sinfulness which is really within them is as yet unknown, and because not one of a thousand of their transgressions has ever been scanned in the light of self-examination. but is the bible untrue, because the man is ignorant? is the sun black, because the eye is shut? however ignorant man may be, and may desire and strive to be, of himself, god knows him altogether, and knows that the representations of his word, respecting the character and necessities of human nature, are the unexaggerated, sober, and actual fact. though most of the sinner's life of alienation from god, and of disobedience, has been a blind and a reckless agency, unaccompanied with self-scrutiny, and to a great extent passed from his memory, yet it has all of it been looked at, as it welled, up from the living centres of free agency and responsibility, by the calm and dreadful eye of retributive justice, and has all of it been indelibly written down in the book of god's sure memory, with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond. and here, let us for a moment look upon the bright, as well as the dark side of this subject. for if god's exhaustive knowledge of the human heart waken dread in one of its aspects, it starts infinite hope in another. if that being has gone down into these depths of human depravity, and seen it with a more abhorring glance than could ever shoot from a finite eye, and yet has returned with a cordial offer to forgive it all, and a hearty proffer to cleanse it all away, then we can lift up the eye in adoration and in hope. there has been an infinite forbearance and condescension. the worst has been seen, and that too by the holiest of beings, and yet eternal glory is offered to us! god knows, from personal examination, the worthlessness of human character, with a thoroughness and intensity of knowledge of which man has no conception; and yet, in the light of this knowledge, in the very flame of this intuition, he has devised a plan of mercy and redemption. do not think, then, because of your present ignorance of your guilt and corruption, that the incarnation and death of the son of god was unnecessary, and that that costly blood of atonement which you are treading under foot wet the rocks of calvary for a peccadillo. could you, but for a moment only, know yourself _altogether_ and _exhaustively_, as the author of this redemption knows you, you would cry out, in the words of a far holier man than you are, "i am undone." if you could but see guilt as god sees it, you would also see with him that nothing but an infinite passion can expiate it. if you could but fathom the human heart as god fathoms it, you would know as he knows, that nothing less than regeneration can purify its fountains of uncleanness, and cleanse it from its ingrain corruption. thus have we seen that god knows man altogether,--that he knows all that man knows of himself, and all that man might but does not yet know of himself. the searcher of hearts knows all the thoughts that we have thought upon, all the reflections that we have reflected upon, all the experience that we have ourselves analyzed and inspected. and he also knows that far larger part of our life which we have not yet subjected to the scrutiny of self-examination,--all those thoughts, feelings, desires, and motives, innumerable as they are, of which we took no heed at the time of their origin and existence, and which we suppose, perhaps, we shall hear no more of again. whither then shall we go from god's spirit? or whither shall we flee from his presence and his knowledge? if we ascend up into heaven, he is there, and knows us perfectly. if we make our bed in hell, behold he is there, and reads the secret thoughts and feelings of our heart. the darkness hideth not from him; our ignorance does not affect his knowledge; the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to him. this great truth which we have been considering obtains a yet more serious emphasis, and a yet more solemn power over the mind, when we take into view the _character_ of the being who thus searches our hearts, and is acquainted with all our ways. who of us would not be filled with uneasiness, if he knew that an imperfect fellow-creature were looking constantly into his soul? would not the flush of shame often burn upon our cheek, if we knew that a sinful man like ourselves were watching all the feelings and thoughts that are rising within us? should we not be more circumspect than we are, if men were able mutually to search each other's hearts? how often does a man change his course of conduct, when he discovers, accidentally, that his neighbor knows what he is doing. but it is not an imperfect fellow-man, it is not a perfect angel, who besets us behind and before, and is acquainted with, all our ways. it is the immaculate god himself. it is he before whom archangels veil their faces, and the burning seraphim cry, "holy." it is he, in whose sight the pure cerulean heavens are not clean, and whose eyes are a flame of fire devouring all iniquity. we are beheld, in all this process of sin, be it blind or be it intelligent, by infinite purity. we are not, therefore, to suppose that god contemplates this our life of sin with the dull indifference of an epicurean deity; that he looks into our souls, all this while, from mere curiosity, and with no moral _emotion_ towards us. the god who knows us altogether is the holy one of israel, whose wrath is both real, and revealed, against all unrighteousness. if, therefore, we connect the holy nature and pure essence of god with all this unceasing and unerring inspection of the human soul, does not the truth which, we have been considering speak with a bolder emphasis, and acquire an additional power to impress and solemnize the mind? when we realize that the being who is watching us at every instant, and in every act and element of our existence, is the very same being who revealed himself amidst the lightenings of sinai as _hating_ sin and not clearing the thoughtless guilty, do not our prospects at the bar of justice look dark and fearful? for, who of the race of man is holy enough to stand such an inspection? who of the sons of men will prove pure in such a furnace? are we not, then, brought by this truth close up to the central doctrine of christianity, and made to see our need of the atonement and righteousness of the redeemer? how can we endure such a scrutiny as god is instituting into our character and conduct? what can we say, in the day of reckoning, when the searcher of hearts shall make known, to us all that he knows of us? what can we do, in that day which shall reveal the thoughts and the estimates of the holy one respecting us? it is perfectly plain, from the elevated central point of view where we now stand, and in the focal light in which we now see, that no man can be justified before god upon the ground of personal character; for that character, when subjected to god's exhaustive scrutiny, withers and shrinks away. a man may possibly be just before his neighbor, or his friend, or society, or human laws, but he is miserably self-deceived who supposes that his heart will appear righteous under such a scrutiny and in such a presence as we have been considering.[ ] however it may be before other tribunals, the apostle is correct when he asserts that "every mouth, must be stopped, and the whole world plead guilty before god." before the searcher of hearts, all mankind must appeal to mere and sovereign mercy. justice, in this reference, is out of the question. now, in this condition of things, god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. the divine mercy has been manifested in a mode that does not permit even the guiltiest to doubt its reality, its sufficiency, or its sincerity. the argument is this. "if when, we were yet sinners," _and known to be such, in the perfect and exhaustive manner that has been described,_ "christ died for us, much more, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him." appropriating this atonement which the searcher of hearts has himself provided for this very exigency, and which he knows to be thoroughly adequate, no man, however guilty, need fear the most complete disclosures which the divine omniscience will have to make of human character in the day of doom. if the guilt is "infinite upon infinite," so is the sacrifice of the god-man. who is he that condemmeth? it is the son of god that died for sin. who shall lay anything to god's elect? it is god that justifieth. and as god shall, in the last day, summon up from the deep places of our souls all of our sins, and bring us to a strict account for everything, even to the idle words that we have spoken, we can look him full in the eye, without a thought of fear, and with love unutterable, if we are really relying upon the atoning sacrifice of christ for justification. even in that awful presence, and under that omniscient scrutiny, "there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus." the great lesson, then, taught by the text and its unfolding, is _the importance of attaining self-knowledge here upon earth, and while there remaineth a sacrifice for sins_. the duty and wisdom of every man is, to anticipate the revelations of the judgment day; to find out the sin of his soul, while it is an accepted time and a day of salvation. for we have seen that this self-inspection cannot ultimately be escaped. man was made to know himself, and he must sooner or later come to it. self-knowledge is as certain, in the end, as death. the utmost that can be done, is to postpone it for a few days, or years. the article of death and the exchange of worlds will pour it all in, like a deluge, upon every man, whether he will or not. and he who does not wake up to a knowledge of his heart, until he enters eternity, wakes up not to pardon but to despair. the simple question, then, which, meets us is: wilt thou know thyself _here_ and _now_, that thou mayest accept and feel god's pity in christ's blood, or wilt thou keep within the screen, and not know thyself until beyond the grave, and then feel god's judicial wrath? the self-knowledge, remember, must come in the one way or the other. it is a simple question of time; a simple question whether it shall come here in this world, where the blood of christ "freely flows," or in the future world, where "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." turn the matter as we will, this is the sum and substance,--a sinful man must either come to a thorough self-knowledge, with a hearty repentance and a joyful pardon, in this life; or he must come to a thorough, self-knowledge, with a total despair and an eternal damnation, in the other. god is not mocked. god's great pity in the blood of christ must not be trifled with. he who refuses, or neglects, to institute that self-examination which leads to the sense of sin, and the felt need of christ's work, by this very fact proves that he does not desire to know his own heart, and that he has no wish to repent of sin. but he who will not even look at his sin,--what does not he deserve from that being who poured out his own blood for it? he who refuses even to open his eyes upon that bleeding lamb of god,--what must not he expect from the lion of the tribe of judah, in the day of judgment? he who by a life of apathy, and indifference to sin, puts himself out of all relations to the divine pity,--what must he experience in eternity, but the operations of stark, unmitigated law? find out your sin, then. god will forgive all that is found. though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. the great god delights to forgive, and is waiting to forgive. but, _sin must be seen by the sinner, before it can be pardoned by the judge_. if you refuse at this point; if you hide yourself from yourself; if you preclude all feeling and conviction upon the subject of sin, by remaining ignorant of it; if you continue to live an easy, thoughtless life in sin, then you _cannot_ be forgiven, and the measure of god's love with which he would have blessed you, had you searched yourself and repented, will be the measure of god's righteous wrath with which he will search you, and condemn you, because you have not. [footnote : "it is easy,"--says one of the keenest and most incisive of theologians,--"for any one in the cloisters of the schools to indulge himself in idle speculations on the merit of works to justify men; but when he comes _into the presence of god_, he must bid farewell to these amusements, for there the business is transacted with seriousness. to this point must our attention be directed, if we wish to make any useful inquiry concerning true righteousness: how we can answer the _celestial judge_ when he shall call us to an account? let us place that judge before our eyes, not according to the inadequate imaginations of our minds, but according to the descriptions given of him in the scriptures, which represent him as one whose refulgence eclipses the stars, whose purity makes all things appear polluted, and who searches the inmost soul of his creatures,--let us so conceive of the judge of all the earth, and every one must present himself as a criminal before him, and voluntarily prostrate and humble himself in deep solicitude concerning; his absolution." calvin: institutes, iii. .] all mankind guilty; or, every man knows more than he practises. romans i. .--"when they knew god, they glorified him not as god." the idea of god is the most important and comprehensive of all the ideas of which the human mind is possessed. it is the foundation of religion; of all right doctrine, and all right conduct. a correct intuition of it leads to correct religious theories and practice; while any erroneous or defective view of the supreme being will pervade the whole province of religion, and exert a most pernicious influence upon the entire character and conduct of men. in proof of this, we have only to turn to the opening chapters of st. paul's epistle to the romans. here we find a profound and accurate account of the process by which human nature becomes corrupt, and runs its downward career of unbelief, vice, and sensuality. the apostle traces back the horrible depravity of the heathen world, which he depicts with a pen as sharp as that of juvenal, but with none of juvenal's bitterness and vitriolic sarcasm, to a distorted and false conception of the being and attributes of god. he does not, for an instant, concede that this distorted and false conception is founded in the original structure and constitution of the human soul, and that this moral ignorance is necessary and inevitable. this mutilated idea of the supreme being was not inlaid in the rational creature on the morning of creation, when god said, "let us make man in our image, after our likeness." on the contrary, the apostle affirms that the creator originally gave all mankind, in the moral constitution of a rational soul and in the works of creation and providence, the media to a correct idea of himself, and asserts, by implication, that if they had always employed these media they would have always possessed this idea. "the wrath of god," he says, "is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness; _because_ that which may be known of god is manifest in them, for god hath shewed it unto them. _for_ the invisible things of him, even his eternal power and godhead, are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse; _because_ that when they _knew_ god, they glorified him not as god" (rom. i. - ). from this, it appears that the mind of man has not kept what was committed to its charge. it has not employed the moral instrumentalities, nor elicited the moral ideas, with which it has been furnished. and, notice that the apostle does not confine this statement to those who live within the pale of revelation. his description is unlimited and universal. the affirmation of the text, that "when man knew god he glorified him not as god," applies to the gentile as well as to the jew. nay, the primary reference of these statements was to the pagan world. it was respecting the millions of idolaters in cultivated greece and rome, and the millions of idolaters in barbarous india and china,--it was respecting the whole world lying in wickedness, that st. paul remarked: "the invisible things of god, even his eternal power and godhead, are clearly seen from the creation of the world down to the present moment, being understood by the things that are made; _so that they are without excuse_." when napoleon was returning from his campaign in egypt and syria, he was seated one night upon the deck of the vessel, under the open canopy of the heavens, surrounded by his captains and generals. the conversation had taken a skeptical direction, and most of the party had combated the doctrine of the divine existence. napoleon had sat silent and musing, apparently taking no interest in the discussion, when suddenly raising his hand, and pointing at the crystalline firmament crowded with its mildly shining planets and its keen glittering stars, he broke out, in those startling tones that so often electrified a million of men: "gentlemen, who made all that?" the eternal power and godhead of the creator are impressed by the things that are made, and these words of napoleon to his atheistic captains silenced them. and the same impression is made the world over. go to-day into the heart of africa, or into the centre of new holland; select the most imbruted pagan that can be found; take him out under a clear star-lit heaven and ask him who made all that, and the idea of a superior being,--superior to all his fetishes and idols,--possessing eternal power and supremacy ([greek: theotaes]) immediately emerges in his consciousness. the instant the missionary takes this lustful idolater away from the circle of his idols, and brings him face to face with the heavens and the earth, as napoleon brought his captains, the constitutional idea dawns again, and the pagan trembles before the unseen power.[ ] but it will be objected that it is a very dim, and inadequate idea of the deity that thus rises in the pagan's mind, and that therefore the apostle's affirmation that he is "without excuse" for being an idolater and a sensualist requires some qualification. this imbruted creature, says the objector, does not possess the metaphysical conception of god as a spirit, and of all his various attributes and qualities, like the dweller in christendom. how then can he be brought in guilty before the same eternal bar, and be condemned to the same eternal punishment, with the nominal christian? the answer is plain, and decisive, and derivable out of the apostle's own statements. in order to establish the guiltiness of a rational creature before the bar of justice, it is not necessary to show that he has lived in the seventh heavens, and under a blaze of moral intelligence like that of the archangel gabriel. it is only necessary to show that he has enjoyed _some_ degree of moral light, and that he _has not lived up to it_. any creature who knows more than he practises is a guilty creature. if the light in the pagan's intellect concerning god and the moral law, small though it be, is yet actually in advance of the inclination and affections of his heart and the actions of his life, he deserves to be punished, like any and every other creature, under the divine government, of whom the same thing is true. grades of knowledge vary indefinitely. no two men upon the planet, no two men in christendom, possess precisely the same degree of moral intelligence. there are men walking the streets of this city to-day, under the full light of the christian revelation, whose notions respecting god and law are exceedingly dim and inadequate; and there are others whose views are clear and correct in a high degree. but there is not a person in this city, young or old, rich or poor, ignorant or cultivated, in the purlieus of vice or the saloons of wealth, whose knowledge of god is not in advance of his own character and conduct. every man, whatever be the grade of his intelligence, knows more than he puts in practice. ask the young thief, in the subterranean haunts of vice and crime, if he does not know that it is wicked to steal, and if he renders an honest answer, it is in the affirmative. ask the most besotted soul, immersed and petrified in sensuality, if his course of life upon earth has been in accordance with his own knowledge and conviction of what is right, and required by his maker, and he will answer no, if he answers truly. the grade of knowledge in the christian land is almost infinitely various; but in every instance the amount of knowledge is greater than the amount of virtue. whether he knows little or much, the man knows more than he performs; and _therefore_ his mouth must be stopped in the judgment, and he must plead guilty before god. he will not be condemned for not possessing that ethereal vision of god possessed by the seraphim; but he will be condemned because his perception of the holiness and the holy requirements of god was sufficient, at any moment, to rebuke his disregard of them; because when he knew god in some degree, he glorified him not as god up to that degree. and this principle will be applied to the pagan world. it is so applied by the apostle paul. he himself concedes that the gentile has not enjoyed all the advantages of the jew, and argues that the ungodly jew will be visited with a more severe punishment than the ungodly gentile. but he expressly affirms that the pagan is _under law_, and _knows_ that he is; that he shows the work of the law that is written on the heart, in the operations of an accusing and condemning conscience. but the knowledge of law involves the knowledge of _god_ in an equal degree. who can feel himself amenable to a moral law, without at the same time thinking of its author? the law and the lawgiver are inseparable. the one is the mirror and index of the other. if the eye opens dimly upon the commandment, it opens dimly upon the sovereign; if it perceives eternal right and law with clear and celestial vision, it then looks directly into the face of god. law and god are correlative to each other; and just so far, consequently, as the heathen understands the law that is written on the heart does he apprehend the being who sitteth upon the circle of the heavens, and who impinges himself upon the consciousness of men. this being so, it is plain that we can confront the ungodly pagan with the same statements with which we confront the ungodly nominal christian. we can tell him with positiveness, wherever we find him, be it upon the burning sands of africa or in the frozen home of the esquimaux, that he knows more than he puts in practice. we will concede to him that the quantum of his moral knowledge is very stinted and meagre; but in the same breath we will remind him that small as it is, he has not lived up to it; that he too has "come short"; that he too, knowing god in the dimmest, faintest degree, has yet not glorified him as god in the slightest, faintest manner. the bible sends the ungodly and licentious pagan to hell, upon the same principle that it sends the ungodly and licentious nominal christian. it is the principle enunciated by our lord christ, the judge of quick and dead, when he says, "he who knew his master's will [clearly], and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes; and he who knew not his master's will [clearly, but knew it dimly,] and did it not, shall be beaten with few stripes." it is the just principle enunciated by st. paul, that "as many as have sinned without [written] law shall also _perish_ without [written] law."[ ] and this is right and righteous; and let all the universe say, amen. the doctrine taught in the text, that no human creature, in any country or grade of civilization, has ever glorified god to the extent of his knowledge of god, is very fertile in solemn and startling inferences, to some of which we now invite attention. . in the first place, it follows from this affirmation of the apostle paul, that _the entire heathen world is in a state of condemnation and perdition_. he himself draws this inference, in saying that in the judgment "_every_ mouth must be stopped, and the _whole_ world become guilty before god." the present and future condition of the heathen world is a subject that has always enlisted the interest of two very different classes of men. the church of god has pondered, and labored, and prayed over this subject, and will continue to do so until the millennium. and the disbeliever in revelation has also turned his mind to the consideration of this black mass of ignorance and misery, which welters upon the globe like a chaotic ocean; these teeming millions of barbarians and savages who render the aspect of the world so sad and so dark. the church, we need not say, have accepted the biblical theory, and have traced the lost condition of the pagan world, as the apostle paul does, to their sin and transgression. they have held that every pagan is a rational being, and by virtue of this fact has known something of the moral law; and that to the extent of the knowledge he has had, he is as guilty for the transgression of law, and as really under its condemnation, as the dweller under the light of revelation and civilization. they have maintained that every human creature has enjoyed sufficient light, in the workings of natural reason and conscience, and in the impressions that are made by the glory and the terror of the natural world above and around him, to render him guilty before the everlasting judge. for this reason, the church has denied that the pagan is an innocent creature, or that he can stand in the judgment before the searcher of hearts. for this reason, the church has believed the declaration of the apostle john, that "the _whole_ world lieth in wickedness" ( john v. ), and has endeavored to obey the command of him who came to redeem pagans as much as nominal christians, to go and preach the gospel to _every_ creature, because every creature is a lost creature. but the disbeliever in revelation adopts the theory of human innocency, and looks upon all the wretchedness and ignorance of paganism, as he looks upon suffering, decay, and death, in the vegetable and animal worlds. temporary evil is the necessary condition, he asserts, of all finite existence; and as decay and death in the vegetable and animal worlds only result in a more luxuriant vegetation, and an increased multiplication of living creatures, so the evil and woe of the hundreds of generations, and the millions of individuals, during the sixty centuries that have elapsed since the origin of man, will all of it minister to the ultimate and everlasting weal of the entire race. there is no need therefore, he affirms, of endeavoring to save such feeble and ignorant beings from judicial condemnation and eternal penalty. such finiteness and helplessness cannot be put into relations to such an awful attribute as the eternal nemesis of god. can it be,--he asks,--that the millions upon millions that have been born, lived their brief hour, enjoyed their little joys and suffered their sharp sorrows, and then dropped into "the dark backward and abysm of time," have really been _guilty_ creatures, and have gone down to an endless hell? but what does all this reasoning and querying imply? will the objector really take the position and stand to it, that the pagan man is not a rational and responsible creature? that he does not possess sufficient knowledge of moral truth, to justify his being brought to the bar of judgment? will he say that the population that knew enough to build the pyramids did not know enough to break the law of god? will he affirm that the civilization of babylon and nineveh, of greece and rome, did not contain within it enough of moral intelligence to constitute a foundation for rewards and punishments? will he tell us that the people of sodom and gomorrah stood upon the same plane with the brutes that perish, and the trees of the field that rot and die, having no idea of god, knowing nothing of the distinction between right and wrong, and never feeling the pains of an accusing conscience? will he maintain that the populations of india, in the midst of whom one of the most subtile and ingenious systems of pantheism has sprung up with the luxuriance and involutions of one of their own jungles, and has enervated the whole religious sentiment of the hindoo race as opium has enervated their physical frame,--will he maintain that such an untiring and persistent mental activity as this is incapable of apprehending the first principles of ethics and natural religion, which, in comparison with the complicated and obscure ratiocinations of boodhism, are clear as water, and lucid as atmospheric air? in other connections, this theorist does not speak in this style. in other connections, and for the purpose of exaggerating natural religion and disparaging revealed, he enlarges upon the dignity of man, of every man, and eulogizes the power of reason which so exalts him in the scale of being. with hamlet, he dilates in proud and swelling phrase: "what a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!" it is from that very class of theorizers who deny that the heathen are in danger of eternal perdition, and who represent the whole missionary enterprise as a work of supererogation, that we receive the most extravagant accounts of the natural powers and gifts of man. now if these powers and gifts do belong to human nature by its constitution, they certainly lay a foundation for responsibility; and all such theorists must either be able to show that the pagan man has made a right use of them, and has walked according to this large amount of truth and reason with which, according to their own statement, he is endowed, or else they consign him, as st. paul does, to "the wrath of god which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of _men who hold the truth in unrighteousness_." if you assert that the pagan man has had no talents at all committed to him, and can prove your assertion, and will stand by it, you are consistent in denying that he can be summoned to the bar of god, and be tried for eternal life or death. but if you concede that he has had one talent, or two talents, committed to his charge; and still more, if you exaggerate his gifts and endow him with five or ten talents, then it is impossible for you to save him from the judgment to come, except you can prove a _perfect_ administration and use of the trust.[ ] . in the second place, it follows from the doctrine of the text, that _the degraded and brutalized population of large cities is in a state of condemnation and perdition_. there are heathen near our own doors whose religious condition is as sad, and hopeless, as that of the heathen of patagonia or new zealand. the vice and crime that nestles and riots in the large cities of christendom has become a common theme, and has lost much of its interest for the worldly mind by losing its novelty. the manners and way of life of the outcast population of london and paris have been depicted by the novelist, and wakened a momentary emotion in the readers of fiction. but the reality is stern and dreadful, beyond imagination or conception. there is in the cess-pools of the great capitals of christendom a mass of human creatures who are born, who live, and who die, in moral putrefaction. their existence is a continued career of sin and woe. body and soul, mind and heart, are given up to earth, to sense, to corruption. they emerge for a brief season into the light of day, run their swift and fiery career of sin, and then disappear. dante, in that wonderful vision which embodies so much of true ethics and theology, represents the wrathful and gloomy class as sinking down under the miry waters and continuing to breathe in a convulsive, suffocating manner, sending up bubbles to the surface, that mark the place where they are drawing out their lingering existence.[ ] something like this, is the wretched life of a vicious population. as we look in upon the fermenting mass, the only signs of life that meet our view indicate that the life is feverish, spasmodic, and suffocating. the bubbles rising to the dark and turbid surface reveal that it is a life in death. but this, too, is the result of sin. take the atoms one by one that constitute this mass of pollution and misery, and you will find that each one of them is a self-moving and an unforced will. not one of these millions of individuals has been necessitated by almighty god, or by any of god's arrangements, to do wrong. each one of them is a moral agent, equally with you and me. each one of them is _self_-willed and _self_-determined in sin. he does not _like_ to retain religious truth in his mind, or to obey it in his heart. go into the lowest haunt of vice and select out the most imbruted person there; bring to his remembrance that class of truths with which he is already acquainted by virtue of his rational nature, and add to them that other class of truths taught in revelation, and you will find that he is predetermined against them. he takes sides, with all the depth and intensity of his being, with that sinfulness which is common to man, and which it is the aim of both ethics and the gospel to remove. this vicious and imbruted man _loves_ the sin which is forbidden, more than he loves the holiness that is commanded. he _inclines_ to the sin which so easily besets him, precisely as you and i incline to the bosom-sin which so easily besets us. we grant that the temptations that assail him are very powerful; but are not some of the temptations that beset you and me very powerful? we grant that this wretched slave of vice and pollution cannot break off his sins by righteousness, without the renewing and assisting grace of god; but neither can you or i. it is the action of _his own_ will that has made him a slave. he loves his chains and his bondage, even as you and i naturally love ours; and this proves that his moral corruption, though assuming an outwardly more repulsive form than ours, is yet the same thing in principle. it is the rooted aversion of the human heart, the utter disinclination of the human will, towards the purity and holiness of god; it is "the carnal mind which is enmity against god; for it is not subject to the law of god, neither indeed can be" (rom. viii. ). but there is no more convincing proof of the position, that the degraded creature of whom we are speaking is a self-deciding and unforced sinner, than the fact that he _resists_ efforts to reclaim him. ask these faithful and benevolent missionaries who go down into these dens of vice and pollution, to pour more light into the mind, and to induce these outcasts to leave their drunkenness and their debauchery,--ask them if they find that human nature is any different there from what it is elsewhere, so far as _yielding_ to the claims of god and law is concerned. do they tell you that they are uniformly successful in inducing these sinners to leave their sins? that they never find any self-will, any determined opposition to the holy law of purity, any preference of a life of licence with its woes here upon earth and hereafter in hell, to a life of self-denial with its joys eternal? on the contrary, they testify that the old maxim upon which so many millions of the human family have acted: "enjoy the present and jump the life to come," is the rule for this mass of population, of whom so very few can be persuaded to leave their cups and their orgies. like the people of israel, when expostulated with by the prophet jeremiah for their idolatry and pollution, the majority of the degraded population of whom we are speaking, when endeavors have been made to reclaim them, have said to the philanthropist and the missionary: "there is no hope: no; for i have loved strangers, and after them i will go" (jer. ii. ). there is not a single individual of them all who does not love the sin that is destroying him, more than he loves the holiness that would save him. notwithstanding all the horrible accompaniments of sin--the filth, the disease, the poverty, the sickness, the pain of both body and mind,--the wretched creature prefers to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, rather than come out and separate himself from the unclean thing, and begin that holy warfare and obedience to which his god and his saviour invite him. this, we repeat, proves that the sin is not forced upon this creature. for if he hated his sin, nay if he felt weary and heavy laden in the least degree because of it, he might leave it. there is a free grace, and a proffered assistance of the holy ghost, of which he might avail himself at any moment. had he the feeling of the weary and penitent prodigal, the same father's house is ever open for his return; and the same father seeing him on his return, though still a great way off, would run and fall upon his neck and kiss him. but the heart is hard, and the spirit is utterly _selfish_, and the will is perverse and determined, and therefore the natural knowledge of god and his law which this sinner possesses by his very constitution, and the added knowledge which his birth in a christian land and the efforts of benevolent christians have imparted to him, are not strong enough to overcome his inclination, and his preference, and induce him to break off his sins by righteousness. to him, also, as well as to every sin-loving man, these solemn words will be spoken in the day of final adjudication: "the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness, of men who hold down ([greek: katechein]) the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of god is manifest _within_ them; for god hath shewed it unto them. for the invisible things of him, even his eternal power and godhead, are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made; so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew god. they glorified him not as god." . in the third and last place, it follows from this doctrine of the apostle paul, as thus unfolded, that _that portion of the enlightened and cultivated population of christian lands who have not believed on the lord jesus christ, and repented of sin, are in the deepest state of condemnation and perdition._ "behold thou art called a jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of god, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness: an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes: which hast the form of knowledge, and of the truth, in the law: thou therefore that teachest another teachest thou not thyself? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonored thou god?" if it be true that the pagan knows more of god and the moral law than he has ever put in practice; if it be true that the imbruted child of vice and pollution knows more of god and the moral law than he has ever put in practice; how much more fearfully true is it that the dweller in a christian home, the visitant of the house of god, the possessor of the written word, the listener to prayer and oftentimes the subject of it, possesses an amount of knowledge respecting his origin, his duty, and his destiny, that infinitely outruns his character and his conduct. if eternal punishment will come down upon those classes of mankind who know but comparatively little, because they have been unfaithful in that which is least, surely eternal punishment will come down upon that more favored class who know comparatively much, because they have been unfaithful in that which is much. "if these things are done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" the great charge that will rest against the creature when he stands before the final bar will be, that "when he knew god, he _glorified_ him not as god." and this will rest heaviest against those whose knowledge was the clearest. it is a great prerogative to be able to know the infinite and glorious creator; but it brings with it a most solemn responsibility. that blessed being, of right, challenges the homage and obedience of his creature. what he asks of the angel, that he asks of man; that he should glorify god in his body and spirit which are his, and should thereby enjoy god forever and forever. this is the condemnation, under which man, and especially enlightened and cultivated man, rests, that while he knows god he neither glorifies him nor enjoys him. our redeemer saw this with all the clearness of the divine mind; and to deliver the creature from the dreadful guilt, of his self-idolatry, of his disposition to worship and love the creature more than the creator, he became incarnate, suffered and died. it cannot be a small crime, that necessitated, such an apparatus of atonement and divine influences as that of christ and his redemption. estimate the guilt of coming short of the glory of god, which is the same as the guilt of idolatry and creature-worship, by the nature of the provision that has been made to cancel it. if you do not actually feel that this crime is great, then argue yourself towards a juster view, by the consideration that it cost the blood of christ to expiate it. if you do not actually feel that the guilt is great, then argue yourself towards a juster view, by the reflection that you have known god to be supremely great, supremely good, and supremely excellent, and yet you have never, in a single feeling of your heart, or a single thought of your mind, or a single purpose of your will, _honored_ him. it is honor, reverence, worship, and love that he requires. these you have never rendered; and there is an infinity of guilt in the fact. that guilt will be forgiven for christ's sake, if you ask for forgiveness. but if you do not ask, then it will stand recorded against you for eternal ages: "when he, a rational and immortal creature, knew god, he glorified him not as god." [footnote : the early fathers, in their defence of the christian doctrine of one god, against the objections of the pagan advocate of the popular mythologies, contend that the better pagan writers themselves agree with the new religion, in teaching that there is one supreme being. lactantius (institutiones i. ), after quoting the orphic poets, hesiod, virgil, and ovid, in proof that the heathen poets taught the unity of the supreme deity, proceeds to show that the better pagan philosophers, also, agree with them in this. "aristotle," he says, "although he disagrees with himself, and says many things that are self-contradictory, yet testifies that one supreme mind rules over the world. plato, who is regarded as the wisest philosopher of them all, plainly and openly defends the doctrine of a divine monarchy, and denominates the supreme being; not ether, nor reason, nor nature, but, as he is, _god_; and asserts that by him this perfect and admirable world was made. and cicero follows plato, frequently confessing the deity, and calls him the supreme being, in his treatise on the laws." tertullian (de test. an. c. ; adv. marc. i. ; ad. scap. c. ; apol. c. ), than whom no one of the christian fathers was more vehemently opposed to the philosophizing of the schools, earnestly contends that the doctrine of the unity of god is constitutional to the human mind. "god," he says, "proves himself to be god, and the one only god, by the very fact that he is known to _all_ nations; for the existence of any other deity than he would first have to be demonstrated. the god of the jews is the one whom the _souls_ of men call their god. we worship one god, the one whom ye all naturally know, at whose lightnings and thunders ye tremble, at whose benefits ye rejoice. will ye that we prove the divine existence by the witness of the soul itself, which, although confined by the prison of the body, although circumscribed by bad training, although enervated by lusts and passions, although made the servant of false gods, yet when it recovers itself as from a surfeit, as from a slumber, as from some infirmity, and is in its proper condition of soundness, calls god by _this_ name only, because it is the proper name of the true god. 'great god,' 'good god,' and 'god grant' [deus, not dii], are words in every mouth. the soul also witnesses that he is its judge, when it says, 'god sees,' 'i commend to god,' 'god shall recompense me.' o testimony of a soul naturally christian [i.e., monotheistic]! finally, in pronouncing these words, it looks not to the roman capitol, but to heaven; for it knows the dwelling-place of the true god: from him and from thence it descended." calvin (inst. i. ) seems to have had these statements in his eye, in the following remarks: "in almost all ages, religion has been generally corrupted. it is true, indeed, that the name of one supreme god has been universally known and celebrated. for those who used to worship a multitude of deities, whenever they spake according to the genuine sense of nature, used simply the name of god in the _singular_ number, as though they were contented with one god. and this was wisely remarked by justin martyr, who for this purpose wrote a book 'on the monarchy of god,' in which he demonstrates, from numerous testimonies, that the unity of god is a principle universally impressed on the hearts of men. tertullian (de idololatria) also proves the same point, from the common phraseology. but since all men, without exception, have become vain in their understandings, all their natural perception of the divine unity has only served to render them inexcusable." in consonance with these views, the presbyterian confession of faith (ch. i.) affirms that "the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of god, as to leave men inexcusable."] [footnote : the word [greek: apolountai], in rom. ii. , is opposed to the [greek: sotaeria] spoken of in rom. i. , and therefore signifies _eternal_ perdition, as that signifies _eternal_ salvation.-those theorists who reject revealed religion, and remand man back to the first principles of ethics and morality as the only religion that he needs, send him to a tribunal that damns him. "tell me," says st. paul, "ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? the law is not of faith, but the man that _doeth_ them shall live by them. circumcision verily profiteth if thou _keep_ the law; but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision." if man had been true to all the principles and precepts of natural religion, it would indeed be religion enough for him. but he has not been thus true. the entire list of vices and sins recited by st. paul, in the first chapter of romans, is as contrary to natural religion, as it is to revealed. and it is precisely because the pagan world has not obeyed the principles of natural religion, and is under a curse and a bondage therefor, that it is in perishing need of the truths of revealed religion. little do those know what they are saying, when they propose to find a salvation for the pagan in the mere light of natural reason and conscience. what pagan has ever realized the truths of natural conscience, in his inward character and his outward life? what pagan is there in all the generations that will not be found guilty before the bar of natural religion? what heathen will not need an atonement, for his failure to live up even to the light of nature? nay, what is the entire sacrificial cultus of heathenism, but a confession that the whole heathen world finds and feels itself to be guilty at the bar of natural reason and conscience? the accusing voice within them wakes their forebodings and fearful looking-for of divine judgment, and they endeavor to propitiate the offended power by their offerings and sacrifices.] [footnote : infidelity is constantly changing its ground. in the th century, the skeptic very generally took the position of lord herbert of cherbury, and maintained that the light of reason is very clear, and is adequate to all the religious needs of the soul. in the th century, he is now passing to the other extreme, and contending that man is kindred to the ape, and within the sphere of paganism does not possess sufficient moral intelligence to constitute him responsible. like luther's drunken beggar on horseback, the opponent of revelation sways from the position that man is a god, to the position that he is a chimpanzee.] [footnote : dante: inferno, vii. - .] sin in the heart the source of error in the head romans i. .--"as they did not like to retain god in their knowledge, god gave them over to a reprobate mind." in the opening of the most logical and systematic treatise in the new testament, the epistle to the romans, the apostle paul enters upon a line of argument to demonstrate the ill-desert of every human creature without exception. in order to this, he shows that no excuse can be urged upon the ground of moral ignorance. he explicitly teaches that the pagan knows that there is one supreme god (rom. i. ); that he is a spirit (rom. i. ); that he is holy and sin-hating (rom. i. ); that he is worthy to be worshipped (rom. i. , ); and that men ought to be thankful for his benefits (rom. i. ). he affirms that the heathen knows that an idol is a lie (rom. i. ); that licentiousness is a sin (rom. i. , ); that envy, malice, and deceit are wicked (rom. i. , ); and that those who practise such sins deserve eternal punishment (rom. i. ). in these teachings and assertions, the apostle has attributed no small amount and degree of moral knowledge to man as _man_,--to man outside of revelation, as well as under its shining light. the question very naturally arises: how comes it to pass that this knowledge which divine inspiration postulates, and affirms to be innate and constitutional to the human mind, should become so vitiated? the majority of mankind are idolaters and polytheists, and have been for thousands of years. can it be that the truth that there is only one god is native to the human spirit, and that the pagan "_knows_" this god? the majority of men are earthly and sensual, and have been for thousands of years. can it be that there is a moral law written upon their hearts forbidding such carnality, and enjoining purity and holiness? some theorizers argue that because the pagan man has not obeyed the law, therefore he does not know the law; and that because he has not revered and worshipped the one supreme deity, therefore he does not possess the idea of any such being. they look out upon the heathen populations and see them bowing down to stocks and stones, and witness their immersion in the abominations of heathenism, and conclude that these millions of human beings really know no better, and that therefore it is unjust to hold them responsible for their polytheism and their moral corruption. but why do they confine this species of reasoning to the pagan world? why do they not bring it into nominal christendom, and apply it there? why does not this theorist go into the midst of european civilization, into the heart of london or paris, and gauge the moral knowledge of the sensualist by the moral character of the sensualist? why does he not tell us that because this civilized man acts no better, therefore he knows no better? why does he not maintain that because this voluptuary breaks all the commandments in the decalogue, therefore he must be ignorant of all the commandments in the decalogue? that because he neither fears nor loves the one only god, therefore he does not know that there is any such being? it will never do to estimate man's moral knowledge by man's moral character. he knows more than he practises. and there is not so much difference in this particular between some men in nominal christendom, and some men in heathendom, as is sometimes imagined. the moral knowledge of those who lie in the lower strata of christian civilization, and those who lie in the higher strata of paganism, is probably not so very far apart. place the imbruted outcasts of our metropolitan population beside the indian hunter, with his belief in the great spirit, and his worship without images or pictorial representations;[ ] beside the stalwart mandingo of the high table-lands of central africa, with his active and enterprising spirit, carrying on manufactures and trade with all the keenness of any civilized worldling; beside the native merchants and lawyers of calcutta, who still cling to their ancestral boodhism, or else substitute french infidelity in its place; place the lowest of the highest beside the highest of the lowest, and tell us if the difference is so very marked. sin, like holiness, is a mighty leveler. the "dislike to retain god" in the consciousness, the aversion of the heart towards the purity of the moral law, vitiates the native perceptions alike in christendom and paganism. the theory that the pagan is possessed of such an amount and degree of moral knowledge as has been specified has awakened some apprehension in the minds of some christian theologians, and has led them, unintentionally to foster the opposite theory, which, if strictly adhered, to, would lift off all responsibility from the pagan world, would bring them in innocent at the bar of god, and would render the whole enterprise of christian missions a superfluity and an absurdity. their motive has been good. they have feared to attribute any degree of accurate knowledge of god and the moral law, to the pagan world, lest they should thereby conflict with the doctrine of total depravity. they have mistakenly supposed, that if they should concede to every man, by virtue of his moral constitution, some correct apprehensions of ethics and natural religion, it would follow that there is some native goodness in him. but light in the intellect is very different from life in the heart. it is one thing to know the law of god, and quite another thing to be conformed to it. even if we should concede to the degraded pagan, or the degraded dweller in the haunts of vice in christian lands, all the intellectual knowledge of god and the moral law that is possessed by the ruined archangel himself, we should not be adding a particle to his moral character or his moral excellence. there is nothing of a holy quality in the mere intellectual perception that there is one supreme deity, and that he has issued a pure and holy law for the guidance of all rational beings. the mere doctrine of the divine unity will save no man. "thou believest," says st. james, "that there is one god; thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble." satan himself is a monotheist, and knows very clearly all the commandments of god; but his heart and will are in demoniacal antagonism with them. and so it is, only in a lower degree, in the instance of the pagan, and of the natural man, in every age, and in every clime. he knows more than he practises. this intellectual perception therefore, this inborn constitutional apprehension, instead of lifting up man into a higher and more favorable position before the eternal bar, casts him down to perdition. if he knew nothing at all of his maker and his duty, he could not be held responsible, and could, not be summoned to judgment. as st. paul affirms: "where there is no law there is no transgression." but if, when he knew god in some degree, he glorified him not as god to that degree; and if, when the moral law was written upon the heart he went counter to its requirements, and heard the accusing voice of his own conscience; then his mouth must be stopped, and he must become guilty before his judge, like any and every other disobedient creature. it is this serious and damning fact in the history of man upon the globe, that st. paul brings to view, in the passage which we have selected as the foundation of this discourse. he accounts for all the idolatry and sensuality, all the darkness and vain imaginations of paganism, by referring to _the aversion of the natural heart_ towards the one only holy god. "men," he says,--these pagan men--"did not _like to retain_ god in their knowledge." the primary difficulty was in their affections, and not in their understandings. they knew too much for their own comfort in sin. the contrast between the divine purity that was mirrored in their conscience, and the sinfulness that was wrought into their heart and will, rendered this inborn constitutional idea of god a very painful one. it was a fire in the bones. if the psalmist, a renewed man, yet not entirely free from human corruption, could say: "i thought of god and was troubled," much more must the totally depraved man of paganism be filled with terror when, in the thoughts of his heart, in the hour when the accusing conscience was at work, he brought to mind the one great god of gods whom he did not glorify, and whom he had offended. it was no wonder, therefore, that he did not like to retain the idea of such a being in his consciousness, and that he adopted all possible expedients to get rid of it. the apostle informs us that the pagan actually called in his imagination to his aid, in order to extirpate, if possible, all his native and rational ideas and convictions upon religious subjects. he became vain in his imaginations, and his foolish heart as a consequence was darkened, and he changed the glory of the incorruptible god, the spiritual unity of the deity, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things (rom. i. - ). he invented idolatry, and all those "gay religions full of pomp and gold," in order to blunt the edge of that sharp spiritual conception of god which was continually cutting and lacerating his wicked and sensual heart. hiding himself amidst the columns of his idolatrous temples, and under the smoke of his idolatrous incense, he thought like adam to escape from the view and inspection of that infinite one who, from the creation of the world downward, makes known to all men his eternal power and godhead; who, as st. paul taught the philosophers of athens, is not far from anyone of his rational creatures (acts xvii. ); and who, as the same apostle taught the pagan lycaonians, though in times past he suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, yet left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. (acts xiv. , ). the first step in the process of mutilating the original idea of god, as a unity and an unseen spirit, is seen in those pantheistic religions which lie behind all the mythologies of the ancient world, like a nebulous vapor out of which the more distinct idols and images of paganism are struggling. here the notion of the divine unity is still preserved; but the divine personality and holiness are lost. god becomes a vague impersonal power, with no moral qualities, and no religious attributes; and it is difficult to say which is worst in its moral influence, this pantheism which while retaining the doctrine of the divine unity yet denudes the deity of all that renders him an object of either love or reverence, or the grosser idolatries that succeeded it. for man cannot love, with all his mind and heart and soul and strength, a vast impersonal force working blindly through infinite space and everlasting time. and the second and last stage in this process of vitiating the true idea of god appears in that polytheism in the midst of which st. paul lived, and labored, and preached, and died; in that seductive and beautiful paganism, that classical idolatry, which still addresses the human taste in such a fascinating manner, in the venus de medici, and the apollo belvidere. the idea of the unity of god is now mangled and cut up into the "gods many" and the "lords many," into the thirty thousand divinities of the pagan pantheon. this completes the process. god now gives his guilty creature over to these vain imaginations of naturalism, materialism, and idolatry, and to an increasingly darkening mind, until in the lowest forms of heathenism he so distorts and suppresses the concreated idea of the deity that some speculatists assert that it does not belong to his constitution, and that his maker never endowed him with it. how is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! but it will be objected that all this lies in the past. this is the account of a process that has required centuries, yea millenniums, to bring about. a hundred generations have been engaged in transmuting the monotheism with which the human race started, into the pantheism and polytheism in which the great majority of it is now involved. how do you establish the guilt of those at the end of the line? how can you charge upon the present generation of pagans the same culpability that paul imputed to their ancestors eighteen centuries ago, and that noah the preacher of righteousness denounced, upon the antediluvian pagan? as the deteriorating process advances, does not the guilt diminish? and now, in these ends of the ages, and in these dark habitations of cruelty, has not the culpability run down to a minimum, which god in the day of judgment will "wink at?" we answer no: because the structure of the human mind is precisely the same that it was when the sodomites held down the truth in unrighteousness, and the roman populace turned up their thumbs that they might see the last drops of blood ebb slowly from the red gash in the dying gladiator's side. man, in his deepest degradation, in his most hardened depravity, is still a rational intelligence; and though he should continue to sin on indefinitely, through cycles of time as long as those of geology, he cannot unmake himself; he cannot unmould his immortal essence, and absolutely eradicate all his moral ideas. paganism itself has its fluctuations of moral knowledge. the early roman, in the days of numa, was highly ethical in his views of the deity, and his conceptions of moral law. varro informs us that for a period of one hundred and seventy years the romans worshipped their gods without any images;[ ] and sallust denominates these pristine romans "religiosissimi mortales." and how often does the missionary discover a tribe or a race, whose moral intelligence is higher than that of the average of paganism. nay, the same race, or tribe, passes from one phase of polytheism to another; in one instance exhibiting many of the elements and truths of natural religion, and in another almost entirely suppressing them. these facts prove that the pagan man is under supervision; that he is under the righteous despotism of moral ideas and convictions; that god is not far from him; that he lives and moves and has his being in his maker; and that god does not leave himself without witness in his constitutional structure. therefore it is, that this sea of rational intelligence thus surges and sways in the masses of paganism; sometimes dashing the creature up the heights, and sometimes sending him down into the depths. but while this subject has this general application to mankind outside of revelation; while it throws so much light upon the question of the heathens' responsibility and guilt; while it tends to deepen our interest in the work of christian missions, and to stimulate us to obey our redeemer's command to go and preach the gospel to them, in order to save them from the wrath of god which abideth upon them as it does upon ourselves; while this subject has these profound and far-reaching applications, it also presses with sharpness and energy upon the case, and the position, of millions of men in christendom. and to this more particular aspect of the theme, we ask attention for a moment. this same process of corruption, and vitiation of a correct knowledge of god, which we have seen to go on upon a large scale in the instance of the heathen world, also often goes on in the instance of a single individual under the light of revelation itself. have you never known a person to have been well educated in childhood and youth respecting the character and government of god, and yet in middle life and old age to have altered and corrupted all his early and accurate apprehensions, by the gradual adoption of contrary views and sentiments? in his childhood, and youth, he believed that god distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked, that he rewards the one and punishes the other, and hence he cherished a salutary fear of his maker that agreed well with the dictates of his unsophisticated reason, and the teachings of nature and revelation. but when, he became a man, he put away these childish things, in a far different sense from that of the apostle. as the years rolled, along, he succeeded, by a career of worldliness and of sensuality, in expelling this stock of religious knowledge, this right way of conceiving of god, from his mind, and now at the close of life and upon the very brink of eternity and of doom, this very same person is as unbelieving respecting the moral attributes of jehovah, and as unfearing with regard to them, as if the entire experience and creed of his childhood and youth were a delusion and a lie. this rational and immortal creature in the morning of his existence looked up into the clear sky with reverence, being impressed by the eternal power and godhead that are there, and when he had committed a sin he felt remorseful and guilty; but the very same person now sins recklessly and with flinty hardness of heart, casts sullen or scowling glances upward, and says: "there is no god." compare the edward gibbon whose childhood expanded under the teachings of a beloved christian matron trained in the school of the devout william law, and whose youth exhibited unwonted religions sensibility,--compare this edward gibbon with the edward gibbon whose manhood was saturated with utter unbelief, and whose departure into the dread hereafter was, in his own phrase, "a leap in the dark." compare the aaron burr whose blood was deduced from one of the most saintly lineages in the history of the american church, and all of whose early life was embosomed in ancestral piety,--compare this aaron burr with the aaron burr whose middle life and prolonged old age was unimpressible as marble to all religious ideas and influences. in both of these instances, it was the aversion of the heart that for a season (not for _eternity_, be it remembered) quenched out the light in the head. these men, like the pagan of whom st. paul speaks, did not like to retain a holy god in their knowledge, and he gave them over to a reprobate mind. these fluctuations and changes in doctrinal belief, both in the general and the individual mind, furnish materials for deep reflection by both the philosopher and the christian; and such an one will often be led to notice the exact parallel and similarity there is between religious deterioration in races, and religious deterioration in individuals. the _dislike to retain_ a knowledge already furnished, because it is painful, because it rebukes worldliness and sin, is that which ruins both mankind in general, and the man in particular. were the heart only conformed to the truth, the truth never would be corrupted, never would be even temporarily darkened in the human soul. should the pagan, himself, actually obey the dictates of his own reason and conscience, he would find the light that was in him growing still clearer and brighter. god himself, the author of his rational mind, and the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, would reward him for his obedience by granting him yet more knowledge. we cannot say in what particular mode the divine providence would bring it about, but it is as certain as that god lives, that if the pagan world should act up to the degree of light which they enjoy, they would be conducted ultimately to the truth as it is in jesus, and would be saved by the redeemer of the world. the instance of the roman centurion cornelius is a case in point. this was a thoughtful and serious pagan. it is indeed very probable that his military residence in palestine had cleared up, to some degree, his natural intuitions of moral truth; but we know that he was ignorant of the way of salvation through christ, from the fact that the apostle peter was instructed in a vision to go and preach it unto him. the sincere endeavor of this gentile, this then pagan in reference to christianity, to improve the little knowledge which he had, met with the divine approbation, and was crowned with a saving acquaintance with the redemption that is in christ jesus. peter himself testified to this, when, after hearing from the lips of cornelius the account of his previous life, and of the way in which god had led him, "he opened his mouth and said, of a truth i perceive that god is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him" (acts x. , ).[ ] but such instances as this of cornelius are not one in millions upon millions. the light shines in the darkness that comprehends it not. almost without an exception, so far as the human eye can see, the unevangelized world holds the truth in unrighteousness, and does not like to retain the idea of a holy god, and a holy law, in its knowledge. therefore the knowledge continually diminishes; the light of natural reason and conscience grows dimmer and dimmer; and the soul sinks down in the mire of sin and sensuality, apparently devoid of all the higher ideas of god, and law, and immortal life. we have thus considered the truth which st. paul teaches in the text, that the ultimate source of all human error is in the character of the human heart. mankind do not _like to retain_ god in their knowledge, and therefore they come to possess a reprobate mind. the origin of idolatry, and of infidelity, is not in the original constitution with which the creator endowed the creature, but in that evil heart of unbelief by which he departed from the living god. sinful man shapes his creed in accordance with his wishes, and not in accordance with the unbiased decisions of his reason and conscience. he does not _like_ to think of a holy god, and therefore he denies that god is holy. he does not _like_ to think of the eternal punishment of sin, and therefore he denies that punishment is eternal. he does not _like_ to be pardoned through the substituted sufferings of the son of god, and therefore he denies the doctrine of atonement. he does not _like_ the truth that man is so totally alienated from god that he needs to be renewed in the spirit of his mind by the holy ghost, and therefore he denies the doctrines of depravity and regeneration. run through the creed which the church has lived by and died by, and you will discover that the only obstacle to its reception is the aversion of the human heart. it is a rational creed in all its parts and combinations. it has outlived the collisions and conflicts of a hundred schools of infidelity that have had their brief day, and died with their devotees. a hundred systems of philosophy falsely so called have come and gone, but the one old religion of the patriarchs, and the prophets, and the apostles, holds on its way through the centuries, conquering and to conquer. can it be that sheer imposture and error have such a tenacious vitality as this? if reason is upon the side of infidelity, why does not infidelity remain one and the same unchanging thing, like christianity, from age to age, and subdue all men unto it? if christianity is a delusion and a lie, why does it not die out, and disappear? the difficulty is not upon the side of the human reason, but of the human heart. skeptical men do not _like_ the religion of the new testament, these doctrines of sin and grace, and therefore they shape their creed by their sympathies and antipathies; by what they wish to have true; by their heart rather than by their head. as the founder of christianity said to the jews, so he says to every man who rejects his doctrine of grace and redemption: "ye _will_ not come unto me that ye might have life." it is an inclination of the will, and not a conviction of the reason, that prevents the reception of the christian religion. among the many reflections that are suggested by this subject and its discussion, our limits permit only the following: . it betokens deep wickedness, in any man, to change the truth of god into a lie,--_to substitute a false theory in religion for the true one_. "woe unto them," says the prophet, "that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter." there is no form of moral evil that is more hateful in the sight of infinite truth, than that intellectual depravity which does not like to retain a holy god in its knowledge, and therefore mutilates the very idea of the deity, and attempts to make him other than he is. there is no sinner that will be visited with a heavier vengeance than that cool and calculating man, who, because he dislikes the unyielding purity of the moral law, and the awful sanctions by which it is accompanied, deliberately alters it to suit his wishes and his self-indulgence. if a person is tempted and falls into sin, and yet does not change his religious creed in order to escape the reproaches of conscience and the fear of retribution, there is hope that the orthodoxy of his head may result, by god's blessing upon his own truth, in sorrow for the sin and a forsaking thereof. a man, for instance, who amidst all his temptations and transgressions still retains the truth taught him from the scriptures, at his mother's knees, that a finally impenitent sinner will go down to eternal torment, feels a powerful check upon his passions, and is often kept from outward and actual transgressions by his creed. but if he deliberately, and by an act of will, says in his heart: "there is no hell;" if he substitutes for the theory that renders the commission of sin dangerous and fearful, a theory that relieves it from all danger and all fear, there is no hope that he will ever cease from sinning. on the contrary, having brought his head into harmony with his heart; having adjusted his theory to his practice; having shaped his creed by his passions; having changed the truth of god into a lie; he then plunges into sin with an abandonment and a momentum that is awful. in the phrase of the prophet, he "draws iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope." it is here that we see the deep guilt of those, who, by false theories of god and man and law and penalty, tempt the young or the old to their eternal destruction. it is sad and fearful, when the weak physical nature is plied with all the enticements of earth and sense; but it is yet sadder and more fearful, when the intellectual nature is sought to be perverted and ensnared by specious theories that annihilate the distinction between virtue and vice, that take away all holy fear of god, and reverence for his law, that represent the everlasting future either as an everlasting elysium for all, or else as an eternal sleep. the demoralization, in this instance, is central and radical. it is in the brain, in the very understanding itself. if the foundations themselves of morals and religion are destroyed, what can be done for the salvation of the creature? a heavy woe is denounced against any and every one who tempts a fellow-being. temptation implies malice. it is satanic. it betokens a desire to ruin an immortal spirit. when therefore the siren would allure a human creature from the path of virtue, the inspiration of god utters a deep and bitter curse against her. but when the cold-blooded mephistopheles endeavors to sophisticate the reason, to debauch the judgment, to sear the conscience; when the temptation is addressed to the intellect, and the desire of the tempter is to overthrow the entire religious creed of a human being,--perhaps a youth just entering upon that hazardous enterprise of life in which he needs every jot and tittle of eternal truth to guide and protect him,--when the enticement assumes this purely mental form and aspect, it betokens the most malignant and heaven-daring guilt in the tempter. and we may be certain that the retribution that will be meted out to it, by him who is true and the truth; who abhors all falsehood and all lies with an infinite intensity; will be terrible beyond conception. "woe unto you ye _blind guides_! ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell! if any man shall add unto these things, god shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, god shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book." . in the second place, we perceive, in the light of this subject, _the great danger of not reducing religious truth to practice_. there are two fatal hazards in not obeying the doctrines of the bible while yet there is an intellectual assent to them. the first is, that these doctrines shall themselves become diluted and corrupted. so long as the affectionate submission of the heart is not yielded to their authority; so long as there is any dislike towards their holy claims; there is great danger that, as in the instance of the pagan, they will not be retained in the knowledge. the sinful man becomes weary of a form of doctrine that continually rebukes him, and gradually changes it into one that is less truthful and restraining. but a second and equally alarming danger is, that the heart shall become accustomed to the truth, and grow hard and indifferent towards it. there are a multitude of persons who hear the word of god and never dream of disputing it, who yet, alas, never dream of obeying it. to such the living truth of the gospel becomes a petrifaction, and a savor of death unto death. we urge you, therefore, ye who know the doctrines of the law and the doctrines of the gospel, to give an affectionate and hearty assent to them _both_. when the divine word asserts that you are guilty, and that you cannot stand in the judgment before god, make answer: "it is so, it is so." practically and deeply acknowledge the doctrine of human guilt and corruption. let it no longer be a theory in the head, but a humbling salutary consciousness in the heart. and when the divine word affirms that god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son to redeem it, make a quick and joyful response: "it is so, it is so." instead of changing the truth of god into a lie, as the guilty world have been doing for six thousand years, change it into a blessed consciousness of the soul. believe_ what you know; and then what you know will be the wisdom of god to your salvation. [footnote : "there are no profane words in the (iowa) indian language: no light or profane way of speaking of the 'great spirit.'"--foreign missionary: may, , p. .] [footnote : plutarch: numa, ; augustine: de civitate, iv. .] [footnote : it should be noticed that cornelius was not prepared for another life, by the moral virtue which he had practised before meeting with peter, but by his penitence for sin and faith in jesus christ, whom peter preached to him as the saviour from sin (acts x. ). good works can no more prepare a pagan for eternity than they can a nominal christian. epictetus and marcus aurelius could no more be justified by their personal character, than saul of tarsus could be. first, because the virtue is imperfect, at the best: and, secondly, it does not begin at the beginning of existence upon earth, and continue unintermittently to the end of it. a sense of _sin_ is a far more hopeful indication, in the instance of a heathen, than a sense of virtue. the utter absence of humility and sorrow in the "meditations" of the philosophic emperor, and the omnipresence in them of pride and self-satisfaction, place him out of all relations to the divine _mercy_. in trying to judge of the final condition of a pagan outside of revelation, we must ask the question: was he penitent? rather than the question: was he virtuous?] the necessity of divine influences. luke xi. .--"if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him?" the reality, and necessity, of the operation of the holy spirit upon the human heart, is a doctrine very frequently taught in the scriptures. our lord, in the passage from which the text is taken, speaks of the third person in the trinity in such a manner as to convey the impression that his agency is as indispensable, in order to spiritual life, as food is in order to physical; that sinful man as much needs the influences of the holy ghost as he does his daily bread. "if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?" if this is not at all supposable, in the case of an affectionate earthly parent, much less is it supposable that god the heavenly father will refuse renewing and sanctifying influences to them that ask for them. by employing such a significant comparison as this, our lord implies that there is as pressing need of the gift in the one instance as in the other. for, he does not compare spiritual influences with the mere luxuries of life,--with wealth, fame, or power,--but with the very staff of life itself. he selects the very bread by which the human body lives, to illustrate the helpless sinner's need of the holy ghost. when god, by his prophet, would teach his people that he would at some future time bestow a rich and remarkable blessing upon them, he says: "i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." when our saviour was about to leave his disciples, and was sending them forth as the ministers of his religion, he promised them a direct and supernatural agency that should "reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." and the history of christianity evinces both the necessity and reality of divine influences. god the spirit has actually been present by a special and peculiar agency, in this sinful and hardened world, and hence the heart of flesh and the spread of vital religion. god the spirit has actually been absent, so far as concerns his special and peculiar agency, and hence the continuance of the heart of stone, and the decline, and sometimes the extinction of vital religion. where the holy spirit has been, specially and peculiarly, there the true church of christ has been, and where the holy spirit has not been, specially and peculiarly, there, the church of christ has not been; however carefully, or imposingly, the externals of a church organization may have been maintained. but there is no stronger, or more effective proof of the need of the presence and agency of the holy spirit, than that which is derived from the _nature of the case_, as it appears in the individual. just in proportion as we come to know our own moral condition, and our own moral necessities, shall we see and feel that the origin and growth of holiness within our earthly and alienated souls, without the agency of god the holy spirit, is an utter impossibility. let us then look into the argument from the nature of the case, and consider this doctrine of a direct divine operation, in its relations to ourselves personally. why, then, does every man need these influences of the holy spirit which are so cordially offered in the text? . he needs them, in the first place, in order that _he may be convinced of the reality of the eternal world._ there is such a world. it has as actual an existence as europe or asia. though not an object for any one of the five senses, the invisible world is as substantial as the great globe itself, and will be standing when the elements shall have been melted with fervent heat, and the heavens are no more. this eternal world, furthermore, is not only real, but it is filled with realities that are yet more solemn. god inhabits it. the judgment-seat of christ is set up in it. heaven is in it. hell is in it. myriads of myriads of holy and happy spirits are there. myriads of sinful and wretched spirits are there. nay, this unseen world is the _only_ real world, and the objects in it the _only_ real objects, if we remember that only that which is immutable deserves the name of real. if we employ the eternal as the measure of real being, then all that is outside of eternity is unreal and a vanity. this material world acquires impressiveness for man, by virtue of the objects that fill it. his farm is in it, his houses are upon it, solid mountains rise up from it, great rivers run through it, and the old rolling heavens are bent over it. but what is the transient reality of these objects, these morning vapors, compared with the everlasting reality of such beings as god and the soul, of such facts as holiness and sin, of such states as heaven and hell? here, then, we have in the unseen and eternal world a most solemn and real object of knowledge; but where, among mankind, is the solemn and vivid knowledge itself? knowledge is the union of a fact with a feeling. there may be a stone in the street, but unless i smite it with my foot, or smite it with my eye, i have no knowledge of the stone. so, too, there is an invisible world, outstanding and awfully impressive; but unless i feel its influences, and stand with awe beneath its shadows, it is as though it were not. here is an orb that has risen up into the horizon, but all eyes are shut. for, no thoughtful observer fails to perceive that an earthly, and unspiritual mode of thought and feeling is the prevalent one among men. no one who has ever endeavored to arrest the attention of a fellow-man, and give his thoughts an upward tendency towards eternity, will say that the effort is easily and generally successful. on the contrary, if an ethereal and holy inhabitant of heaven were to go up and down our earth, and witness man's immersion in sense and time, the earthliness of his views and aims, his neglect of spiritual objects and interests, his absorption in this existence, and his forgetfulness of the other, it would be difficult to convince him that he was among beings made in the image of god, and was mingling with a race having an immortal destination beyond the grave. in this first feature of the case, then, as we find it in ourselves, and see it in all our fellow-men, we have the first evidence of the need of _awakening_ influences from on high. since man, naturally, is destitute of a solemn sense of eternal things, it is plain that there can be no moral change produced in him, unless he is first wakened from this drowze. he cannot become the subject of that new birth without which he cannot see the kingdom of god, unless his torpor respecting the unseen is removed. entirely satisfied as he now is with this mode of existence, and thinking little or nothing about another, the first necessity in his case is a startle, and an alarm. difficult as he now finds it to be, to bring the invisible world before his mind in a way to affect his feelings, he needs to have it loom upon his inward vision with such power and impressiveness that he cannot take his eye off, if he would. lethargic as he now is, respecting his own immortality, it is impossible for him to live and act with constant reference to it, unless he is wakened to its significance. is it not self-evident, that if the sinner's present indifference towards the invisible world, and his failure to feel its solemn reality, continues through life, he will certainly enter that state of existence with his present character? looking into the human spirit, and seeing how dead it is towards god and the future, must we not say, that if this deadness to eternity lasts until the death of the body, it will certainly be the death of the soul? but, in what way can man be made to realize that there is an eternal world, to which he is rapidly tending, and realities there, with which, by the very constitution of his spirit, he is forever and indissolubly connected either for bliss or woe? how shall thoughtless and earthly man, as he treads these streets, and transacts all this business, and enjoys life, be made to feel with misgiving, foreboding, and alarm, that there is an eternity, and that he must soon enter it, as other men do, either as a heaven or a hell for his soul? the answer to this question, so often asked in sadness and sorrow by the preacher of the word, drives us back to the throne of god and to a mightier agency than that of man. for one thing is certain, that this apathy and deadness will never of itself generate sensibility and life. satan never casts out satan. if this slumberer be left to himself, he is lost. should any man be given over to the natural inclination of his heart, he would never be awakened. should his earthly mind receive no check, and his corrupt heart take its own way, he would never realize that there is another world than this, until he entered it. for, the worldly mind and the corrupt heart busy themselves solely and happily with this existence. they find pleasure in the things of this life, and therefore never look beyond them. worldly men do not interfere with their own present actual enjoyment. who of this class voluntarily makes himself unhappy, by thinking of subjects that are gloomy to his mind? what man of the world starts up from his sweet sleep and his pleasant dreams, and of his own accord looks the stern realities of death and the judgment in the eye? no natural man begins to wound himself, that he may be healed. no earthly man begins to slay himself, that he may be made alive. even when the natural heart is roused and wakened by some foreign agency; some startling providence of god or some divine operation in the conscience, how soon, if left to its own motion and tendency, does it relapse into its old slumber and sleep. the needle has received a shock, but after a slight trembling and vibration it soon settles again upon its axis, ever and steady to the north. it is plain, that the sinner's worldly mind and apathetic nature will never conduct him to a proper sense of divine things. the awakening, then, of the human soul, to an effectual apprehension of eternal realities, must take its first issue from some other being than the drowzy and slumbering creature himself. we are not speaking of a few serious thoughts that now and then fleet across the human mind, like meteors at midnight, and are seen no more. we are speaking of that permanent, that everlasting dawning of eternity, with its terrors and its splendors, upon the human soul, which allows it no more repose, until it is prepared for eternity upon good grounds and foundations; and with reference to such a profound consciousness of the future state as this, we say with confidence, that the awakening must proceed from some being who is far more alive to the solemnity and significance of eternal duration than earthly man is. without impulses from on high, the sinner never rouses up to attend to the subject of religion. he lives on indifferent to his religious interests, until _god_, who is more merciful to his deathless soul than he himself is, by his providence startles him, or by his spirit in his conscience alarms him. never, until god interferes to disturb his dreams, and break up his slumber, does he profoundly and permanently feel that he was made for another world, and is fast going into it. how often does god say to the careless man: "arise, o sleeper, and christ shall give thee light;" and how often does he disregard the warning voice! how often does god stimulate his conscience, and flare light into his mind; and how often does he stifle down these inward convictions, and suffer the light to shine in the darkness that comprehends it not! these facts in the personal history of every sin-loving man show, that the human soul does not of its own isolated action wake up to the realities of eternity. they also show that god is very merciful to the human soul, in positively and powerfully interfering for its welfare; but that man, in infinite folly and wickedness, loves the sleep, and inclines to remain in it. the holy spirit strives, but the human spirit resists. ii. in the second place, man needs the influences of the holy spirit _that he may be convinced of sin_. man universally is a sinner, and yet he needs in every single instance to be made aware of it. "there is none good, no, not one;" and yet out of the millions of the race how very few _feel_ this truth! not only does man sin, but he adds to his guilt by remaining ignorant of it. the criminal in this instance also, as in our courts of law, feels and confesses his crime no faster than it is proved to him. through what blindness of mind, and hardness of heart, and insensibility of conscience, is the holy spirit obliged to force his way, before there is a sincere acknowledgment of sin before god! the careful investigations, the persevering questionings and cross-questionings, by which, before a human tribunal, the wilful and unrepenting criminal is forced to see and acknowledge his wickedness, are but faint emblems of that thorough work that must be wrought by the holy ghost, before the human soul, at a higher tribunal, forsaking its refuges of lies, and desisting from its subterfuges and palliations, smites upon the breast, and cries, "god be merciful to me a sinner!" think how much of our sin has occurred in total apathy, and indifference, and how unwilling we are to have any distinct consciousness upon this subject. it is only now and then that we feel ourselves to be sinners; but it is by no means only now and then that we are sinners. we sin habitually; we are conscious of sin rarely. our affections and inclinations and motives are evil, and only evil, continually; but our experimental _knowledge_ that they are so comes not often into our mind, and what is worse stays not long, because we dislike it. the conviction of sin, with what it includes and leads to, is of more worth to man than all other convictions. conviction of any sort,--a living practical consciousness of any kind,--is of great value, because it is only this species of knowledge that moves mankind. convince a man, that is, give him a consciousness, of the truth of a principle in politics, in trade, or in religion, and you actuate him politically, commercially, or religiously. convince a criminal of his crime, that is, endue him with a conscious feeling of his criminality, and you make him burn with electric fire. a convicted man is a man thoroughly conscious; and a thoroughly conscious man is a deeply moved one. and this is true, with emphasis, of the conviction of sin. this consciousness produces a deeper and more lasting effect than all others. convince a community of the justice or injustice of a certain class of political principles, and you stir it very deeply, and broadly, as the history of all democracies clearly shows; but let society be once convinced of sin before the holy and righteous god, and deep calleth unto deep, all the waters are moved. never is a mass of human beings so centrally stirred, as when the spirit of god is poured out upon it, and from no movement in human society do such lasting and blessed consequences flow, as from a genuine revival of religion. but here again, as in reference to the eternal state, there is no realizing sense. conviction of sin is not a characteristic of mankind at large. men generally will acknowledge in words that they are sinners, but they wait for some far-distant day to come, when they shall be pricked in the heart, and feel the truth of what they say. men generally are not conscious of the dreadful reality of sin, any more than they are of the solemn reality of eternity. a deep insensibility, in this respect also, precludes a practical knowledge of that guilt in the soul, which, if unpardoned and unremoved, will just as surely ruin it as god lives and the soul is immortal. since, then, if man be left to his own inclination, he never will be convinced of sin, it is plain that some agent who has the power must overcome his aversion to self-knowledge, and bring him to consciousness upon this unwelcome subject. if any one of us, for the remainder of our days, should be given over to that ordinary indifference towards sin with which we walk these streets, and transact business, and enjoy life; if god's truth should never again in this world stab the conscience, and god's spirit should never again make us anxious; is it not infallibly certain that the future would be as the past, and that we should go through this "accepted time and day of salvation" unconvicted and therefore unconverted? but besides this destitution of the experimental sense of sin, another ground of the need of divine agency is found in the _blindness_ of the natural mind. man's vision of spiritual things, even when they are set before his eyes, is dim and inadequate. the christian ministry is greatly hindered, because it cannot illuminate the human understanding, and impart the power of a keen spiritual insight. it is compelled to present the objects of sight, but it cannot give the eye to see them. vision depends altogether upon the condition of the organ. the eye sees only what it brings the means of seeing. the scaled eye of a worldling, or a debauchee, or a self-righteous man, cannot see that sin of the heart, that "spiritual wickedness," at which men like paul and isaiah stood aghast. these were men whose character compared with that of the worldling was saintly; men whose shoes' latchets the worldling is not worthy to stoop down and unloose. and yet they saw a depravity within their own hearts which he does not see in his; a depravity which he cannot see, and which he steadily denies to exist, until he is enlightened by the holy ghost. but the preacher has no power to impart this clear spiritual discernment. he cannot arm the eye of the natural man with that magnifying and microscopic power, by which hatred shall be seen to be murder, and lust, adultery, and the least swelling of pride, the sin of lucifer. he is compelled, by the testimony of the bible, of the wise and the holy of all time, and of his own consciousness, to tell every unregenerate man that he is no better than his race; that he certainly is no better than the christian church which continually confesses and mourns over indwelling sin. the faithful preacher of the word is obliged to insist that there is no radical difference among men, and that the depravity of the man of irreproachable morals but unrenewed heart is as total as was that of the great preacher to the gentiles,--a man of perfectly irreproachable morals, but who confessed that he was the chief of sinners, and feared lest he should be a cast-away. but the preacher of this unwelcome message has no power to open the blind eye. he cannot endow the self-ignorant and incredulous man before him, with that consciousness of the "plague of the heart" which says "yea" to the most vivid description of human sinfulness, and "amen" to god's heaviest malediction upon it. the preacher's position would be far easier, if there might be a transfer of experience; if some of that bitter painful sense of sin with which the struggling christian is burdened might flow over into the easy, unvexed, and thoughtless souls of the men of this world. would that the consciousness upon this subject of sin, of a paul or a luther, might deluge that large multitude of men who doubt or deny the doctrine of human depravity. the materials for that consciousness, the items that go to make up that experience, exist as really and as plentifully in your moral state and character, as they do in that of the mourning and self-reproaching christian who sits by your side,--your devout father, your saintly mother, or sister,--whom you know, and who you know is a better being than you are. why should they be weary and heavy-laden with a sense of their unworthiness before god, and you go through life indifferent and light-hearted? are they deluded in respect to the doctrine of human depravity, and are you in the right? think you that the deathbed and the day of judgment will prove this to be the fact? no! if you shall ever know anything of the christian struggle with innate corruption; if you shall ever, in the expressive phrase of scripture, have your senses exercised as in a gymnasium [ ] to discern good and evil, and see yourself with self-abhorrence; your views will harmonize most profoundly and exactly with theirs. and, furthermore, you will not in the process create any _new_ sinfulness. you will merely see the _existing_ depravity of the human heart. you will simply see what _is_,--is now, in your heart, and in all human hearts, and has been from the beginning. but all this is the work of a more powerful and spiritual agency than that of man. the truth may be exhibited with perfect transparency and plainness, the hearer himself may do his utmost to have it penetrate and tell; and yet, there be no vivid and vital consciousness of sin. how often does the serious and alarmed man say to us: "i know it, but i do not _feel_ it." how long and wearily, sometimes, does the anxious man struggle after an inward sense of these spiritual things, without success, until he learns that an inward sense, an experimental consciousness, respecting religious truth, is as purely a gift and product of god the spirit as the breath of life in his nostrils. considering, then, the natural apathy of man respecting the sin that is in his own heart, and the exceeding blindness of his mental vision, even when his attention has been directed to it, is it not perfectly plain that there must be the exertion of a divine agency, in order that he may pass through even the first and lowest stages of the religious experience? in view of the subject, as thus far unfolded, we remark: . first, that it is the duty of every one, _to take the facts in respect to man's character as he finds them_. nothing is gained, in any province of human thought or action, by disputing actual verities. they are stubborn things, and will not yield to the wishes and prejudices of the natural heart. this is especially true in regard to the facts in man's moral and religious condition. the testimony of revelation is explicit, that "the carnal mind is enmity against god, for it is not subject to the law of god, neither indeed can be;" and also, that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." according to this biblical statement, there is corruption and blindness together. the human heart is at once sinful, and ignorant that it is so. it is, therefore, the very worst form of evil; a fatal disease unknown to the patient, and accompanied with the belief that there is perfect health; sin and guilt without any just and proper sense of it. this is the testimony, and the assertion, of that being who needs not that any should testify to him of man, for he knows what is in man. and this is the testimony, also, of every mind that has attained a profound self-knowledge. for it is indisputable, that in proportion as a man is introspective, and accustoms himself to the scrutiny of his motives and feelings, he discovers that "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint." it is, therefore, the duty and wisdom of every one to set to his seal that god is true,--to have this as his motto. though, as yet, he is destitute of a clear conviction of sin, and a godly sorrow for it, still he should _presume_ the fact of human depravity. good men in every age have found it to be a fact, and the infallible word of god declares that it is a fact. what, then, is gained, by proposing another than the biblical theory of human nature? is the evil removed by denying its existence? will the mere calling men good at heart, and by nature, make them such? "who can hold a fire in his hand, by thinking on the frosty caucasus? or cloy the hungry edge of appetite, by bare imagination of a feast? or wallow naked in december snow, by thinking on fantastic summer heat?"[ ] . in the second place, we remark that it is the duty of every one, _not to be discouraged by these facts and truths relative to the moral condition of man._ for, one fact conducts to the next one. one truth prepares for a second. if it is a solemn and sad fact that men are sinners, and blind and dead in their trespasses and sin, it is also a cheering fact that the holy spirit can enlighten the darkest understanding, and enliven the most torpid and indifferent soul; and it is a still further, and most encouraging truth and fact, that the holy spirit is given to those who ask for it, with more readiness than a father gives bread to his hungry child. here, then, we have the fact of sin, and of blindness and apathy in sin; the fact of a mighty power in god to convince of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and the blessed fact that this power is accessible to prayer. let us put these three facts together, all of them, and act accordingly. then we shall be taught by the spirit, and shall come to a salutary consciousness of sin; and then shall be verified in our own experience the words of god: "i dwell in the high and holy place, and with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." [footnote : [greek: ta aisthaeria gegurasmena.] heb. v. .] [footnote : shakspeare: richard ii. act i. sc. .] the necessity of divine influences. [*continued] luke xi. .--"if ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him." in expounding the doctrine of these words, in the preceding discourse, the argument for the necessity of divine influences had reference to the more general aspects of man's character and condition. we were concerned with the origin of seriousness in view of a future life, and the production of a sense of moral corruption and unfitness to enter eternity. we have now to consider the work of the spirit, in its relations, first, to that more distinct sense of sin which is denominated the consciousness of _guilt_, and secondly, to that saving act of _faith_ by which the atonement of christ is appropriated by the soul. i. sin is not man's misfortune, but his fault; and any view that falls short of this fact is radically defective. sin not only brings a corruption and bondage, but also a condemnation and penalty, upon the self-will that originates it. sin not only renders man unfit for rewards, font also deserving of punishment. as one who has disobeyed law of his own determination, he is liable not merely to the negative loss of blessings, but also to the positive infliction of retribution. it is not enough that a transgressor be merely let alone; he must be taken in hand and punished. he is not simply a diseased man; he is a criminal. his sin, therefore, requires not a removal merely, but also an _expiation_. this relation and reference of transgression to law and justice is a fundamental one; and yet it is very liable to be overlooked, or at least to be inadequately apprehended. the sense of _ill-desert_ is too apt to be confused and shallow, in the human soul. man is comparatively ready to acknowledge the misery of sin, while he is slow to confess the guilt of it. when the word of god asserts he is poor, and blind, and wretched, he is comparatively forward to assent; but when, in addition, it asserts that he deserves to be punished everlastingly, he reluctates. mankind are willing to acknowledge their wretchedness, and be pitied; but they are not willing to acknowledge their guiltiness, and stand condemned before law. and yet, guilt is the very essence of sin. extinguish the criminality, and you extinguish the inmost core and heart of moral evil. we may have felt that sin is bondage, that it is inward dissension and disharmony, that it takes away the true dignity of our nature, but if we have not also felt that it is _iniquity_ and merits penalty, we have not become conscious of its most essential quality. it is not enough that we come before god, saying: "i am wretched in my soul; i am weary of my bondage; i long for deliverance." we must also say, as we look up into that holy eye: "i am guilty; o my god i deserve thy judgments." in brief, the human mind must recognize all the divine attributes. the entire divine character, in both its justice and its love, must rise full-orbed before the soul, when thus seeking salvation. it is not enough, that we ask god to free us from disquietude, and give us repose. before we do this, and that we may do it successfully, we must employ the language of david, while under the stings of guilt: "o lord rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. be merciful unto me, o god be merciful unto me." what is needed is, more consideration of sin in its objective, and less in its subjective relations; more sense of it in its reference to the being and attributes of god, and less sense of it in its reference to our own happiness or misery, or even to the harmony of our own powers and faculties. the adorable being and attributes of god are of more importance than any human soul, immortal though it be; and what is required in the religious experience is, more anxiety lest the divine glory should be tarnished, and less fear that a worm of the dust be made miserable by his transgressions. and whatever may be our theory of the matter, "to this complexion must we come at last," even in order to our own peace of mind. we must lose our life, in order to find it. even in order to our own inward repose of conscience and of heart, there must come a point and period in our mental history, when we do actually sink self out of sight, and think of sin in its relation to the character and government of the great and holy god,--when we do see it to be _guilt_, as well as corruption. for guilt is a distinct, and a distinguishable quality. it is a thing by itself, like the platonic idea of beauty.[ ] it is sin stripped of its accompaniments,--the restlessness, the dissatisfaction, and the unhappiness which it produces,--and perceived in its pure odiousness and ill-desert. and when thus seen, it does not permit the mind to think of any thing but the righteous law, and the divine character. in the hour of thorough conviction, the sinful spirit is lost in the feeling of guiltiness: wholly engrossed in the reflection that it has incurred the condemnation of the best being in the universe. it is in distress, not because an almighty being can make it miserable but, because a holy and good being has _reason_ to be displeased with it. when it gives utterance to its emotion, it says to its sovereign and its judge: "i am in anguish, more because thou the holy and the good art unreconciled with me, than because thou the omnipotent canst punish me forever. i refuse not to the punished; i deserve the inflictions of thy justice; only _forgive_, and thou mayest do what thou wilt unto me." a soul that is truly penitent has no desire to escape penalty, at the expense of principle and law. it says with david: "thou desirest not sacrifice;" such atonement as i can make is inadequate; "else would i give it." it expresses its approbation of the pure justice of god, in the language of the gentlest and sweetest of mystics: "thou hast no lightnings, o thou just! or i their force should know; and if thou strike me into dust, my soul approves the blow. the heart that values less its ease, than it adores thy ways; in thine avenging anger, sees a subject of its praise. pleased i could lie, concealed and lost, in shades of central night; not to avoid thy wrath, thou know'st, but lest i grieve thy sight. smite me, o thou whom i provoke! and i will love thee still; the well deserved and righteous stroke shall please me, though it kill."[ ] now, it is only when the human spirit is under the illuminating, and discriminating influences of the holy ghost, that it possesses this pure and genuine sense of guilt. worldly losses, trials, warnings by god's providence, may rouse the sinner, and make him solemn; but unless the spirit of grace enters his heart he does not feel that he is ill-deserving. he is sad and fearful, respecting the future life, and perhaps supposes that this state of mind is one of true conviction, and wonders that it does not end in conversion, and the joy of pardon. but if he would examine it, he would discover that it is full of the lust of self. he would find that he is merely unhappy, and restless, and afraid to die. if he should examine the workings of his heart, he would discover that they are only another form of self-love; that instead of being anxious about self in the present world, he has become anxious about self in the future world; that instead of looking out for his happiness here, he has begun to look out for it hereafter; that in fact he has merely transferred sin, from time and its relations, to eternity and its relations. such sorrow as this needs to be sorrowed for, and such repentance as this needs to be repented of. such conviction as this needs to be laid open, and have its defect shown. after a course of wrongdoing, it is not sufficient for man to come before the holy one, making mention of his wretchedness, and desire for happiness, but making no mention of his culpability, and desert of righteous and holy judgments. it is not enough for the criminal to plead for life, however earnestly, while he avoids the acknowledgment that death is his just due. for silence in such a connection as this, is _denial_. the impenitent thief upon the cross was clamorous for life and happiness, saying, "if thou be the christ, save thyself and us." he said nothing concerning the crime that had brought him to a malefactor's death, and thereby showed that it did not weigh heavy upon his conscience. but the real penitent rebuked him, saying: "dost thou not fear god, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? and we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds." and then followed that meek and broken-hearted supplication: "lord remember me," which drew forth the world-renowned answer: "this day shalt thou be with me in paradise." in the fact, then, that man's experience of sin is so liable to be defective upon the side of guilt, we find another necessity for the teaching of the holy spirit; for a spiritual agency that cannot be deceived, which pierces to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the real intent and feeling of the heart. ii. in the second place, man needs the influences of the holy spirit, in order that _he may actually appropriate christ's atonement for sin_. the feeling of ill-desert, of which we have spoken, requires an expiation, in order to its extinction, precisely as the burning sensation of thirst needs the cup of cold water, in order that it may be allayed, the sense of guilt is awakened in its pure and genuine form, by the holy spirit's operation, the soul _craves_ the atonement,--it _wants_ the dying lamb of god. we often speak of a believer's longings after purity, after peace, after joy. there is an appetency for them. in like manner, there is in the illuminated and guilt-smitten conscience an appetency for the piacular work of christ, as that which alone can give it pacification. contemplated from this point of view, there is not a more rational doctrine within the whole christian system, than that of the atonement. anything that ministers to a distinct and legitimate craving in man is reasonable, and necessary. that theorist, therefore, who would evince the unreasonableness of the atoning work of the redeemer, must first evince the unreasonableness of the consciousness of guilt, and of the judicial craving of the conscience. he must show the groundlessness of that fundamental and organic feeling which imparts such a blood-red color to all the religions of the globe; be they pagan, jewish, or christian. whenever, therefore, this sensation of ill-desert is elicited, and the soul feels consciously criminal before the everlasting judge, the difficulties that beset the doctrine of the cross all vanish in the _craving_, in the _appetency_, of the conscience, for acquittal through the substituted sufferings of the son of god. he who has been taught by the spirit respecting the iniquity of sin, and views it in its relations to the divine holiness, has no wish to be pardoned at the expense of justice. his conscience is now jealous for the majesty of god, and the dignity of his government. he now experimentally understands that great truth which has its foundation in the nature of guilt, and consequently in the method of redemption,--the great ethical truth, that after an accountable agent has stained himself with crime, there is from the necessity of the case no remission without the satisfaction of law. but it is one thing to acknowledge this in theory, and even to feel the need of christ's atonement, and still another thing to _really appropriate_ it. unbelief and despair have great power over a guilt-stricken mind; and were it not for that spirit who "takes of the things of christ and shows them to the soul," sinful man would in every instance succumb under their awful paralysis. for, if the truth and spirit of god should merely convince the sinner of his guilt, but never apply the atoning blood of the redeemer, hell would be in him and he would be in hell. if god, coming forth as he justly might only in his judicial character, should confine himself to a convicting operation in the conscience,--should make the transgressor feel his guilt, and then leave him to the feeling and with the feeling, forevermore,--this would be eternal death. and if, as any man shall lie down upon his death-bed, he shall find that owing to his past quenching of the spirit the illuminating energy of god is searching him, and revealing him to himself, but does not assist him to look up to the saviour of sinners; and if, in the day of judgment, as he draws near the bar of an eternal doom, he shall discover that the sense of guilt grows deeper and deeper, while the atoning blood is not applied,--if this shall be the experience of any one upon his death-bed, and in the day of judgment, will he need to be told what he is and whither he is going? now it is with reference to these disclosures that come in like a deluge upon him, that man needs the aids and operation of the holy spirit. ordinarily, nearly the whole of his guilt is latent within him. he is, commonly, undisturbed by conscience; but it would be a fatal error to infer that therefore he has a clear and innocent conscience. there is a vast amount of undeveloped guilt within every impenitent soul. it is slumbering there, as surely as magnetism is in the magnet, and the electric fluid is in the piled-up thunder-cloud. for there are moments when the sinful soul feels this hidden criminality, as there are moments when the magnet shows its power, and the thunder-cloud darts its nimble and forked lightnings. else, why do these pangs and fears shoot and flash through it, every now and then? why does the drowning man instinctively ask for god's mercy? were his conscience pure and clear from guilt, like that of the angel or the seraph,--were there no latent crime within him,--he would sink into the unfathomed depths of the sea, without the thought of such a cry. when the traveller in south america sees the smoke and flame of the volcano, here and there, as he passes along, he is justified in inferring that a vast central fire is burning beneath the whole region. in like manner, when man discovers, as he watches the phenomena of his conscience, that guilt every now and then emerges like a flash of flame into consciousness, filling him with fear and distress,--when he finds that he has no security against this invasion, but that in an hour when he thinks not, and commonly when he is weakest and faintest, in his moments of danger or death, it stings him and wounds him, he is justified in inferring, and he must infer, that the deep places of his spirit, the whole _potentiality_ of his soul is full of crime. now, in no condition of the soul is there greater need of the agency of the comforter (o well named the comforter), than when all this latency is suddenly manifested to a man. when this deluge of discovery comes in, all the billows of doubt, fear, terror, and despair roll over the soul, and it sinks in the deep waters. the sense of guilt,--that awful guilt, which the man has carried about with him for many long years, and which he has trifled with,--now proves too great for him to control. it seizes him like a strong-armed man. if he could only believe that the blood of the lamb of god expiates all this crime which is so appalling to his mind, he would be at peace instantaneously. but he is unable to believe this. his sin, which heretofore looked too small to be noticed, now appears too great to be forgiven. other men may be pardoned, but not he. he _despairs_ of mercy; and if he should be left to the natural workings of his own mind; if he should not be taught and assisted by the holy ghost, in this critical moment, to behold the lamb of god; he would despair forever. for this sense of ill-desert, this fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation, with which he is wrestling, is organic to the conscience, and the human will has no more power over it than it has over the sympathetic nerve. only as he is taught by the divine spirit, is he able with perfect calmness to look up from this brink of despair, and say: "there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus. the blood of jesus christ cleanseth from all sin. therefore, being justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ. i know whom i have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day." in view of the truths which we have now considered, it is worthy of observation: . first, that _the holy spirit constitutes the tie, and bond of connection, between man and god_. the third person in the godhead is very often regarded as more distant from the human soul, than either the father or the son. in the history of the doctrine of the trinity, the definition of the holy spirit, and the discrimination of his relations in the economy of the godhead, was not settled until after the doctrine of the first and second persons had been established. something analogous to this appears in the individual experience. god the father and god the son are more in the thoughts of many believers, than god the holy ghost. and yet, we have seen that in the economy of redemption, and from the very nature of the case, the soul is brought as close to the spirit, as to the father and son. nay, it is only through the inward operations of the former, that the latter are made real to the heart and mind of man. not until the third person enlightens, are the second and first persons beheld. "no man," says st. paul, "can say that jesus is the lord, but by the holy ghost." the sinful soul is entirely dependent upon the divine spirit, and from first to last it is in most intimate communication with him during the process of salvation. it is enlightened by his influence; it is enlivened by him; it is empowered by him to the act of faith in christ's person and work; it is supported and assisted by him, in every step of the christian race; it is comforted by him in all trials and tribulations; and, lastly, it is perfected in holiness, and fitted for the immediate presence of god, by him. certainly, then, the believer should have as full faith in the distinct personality, and immediate efficiency, of the third person, as he has in that of the first and second. his most affectionate feeling should centre upon that blessed agent, through whom he appropriates the blessings that have been provided for sinners by the father and son, and without whose influence the father would have planned the redemptive scheme, and the son have executed it, in vain. . in the second place, it is deserving of very careful notice that _the influences of the holy spirit may be obtained by asking for them_. this is the only condition to be complied with. and this gift, furthermore, is peculiar, in that it is _invariably_ bestowed whenever it is sincerely implored. there are other gifts of god which may be asked for with deep and agonizing desire, and it is not certain that they will be granted. this is the case with temporal blessings. a sick man may turn his face to the wall, with hezekiah, and pray in the bitterness of his soul, for the prolongation of his life, and yet not obtain the answer which hezekiah received. but no man ever supplicated in the earnestness of his soul for the influences of the holy spirit, and was ultimately refused. for this is a gift which it is always safe to grant. it involves a spiritual and everlasting good. it is the gift of righteousness, of the fear and love of god in the heart. there is no danger in such a bestowment. it inevitably promotes the glory of god. hence our lord, after bidding his hearers to "ask," to "seek," and to "knock," adds, as the encouraging reason why they should do so: "for, _every one_ that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh, [always] findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall [certainly] be opened." this is a reason that cannot be assigned in the instance of other prayers. our lord commands his disciples to pray for their daily bread; and we know that the children of god do generally find their wants supplied. still, it would not be true that _every one_ who in the sincerity of his soul has asked for daily bread has received it. the children of god have sometimes died of hunger. but no soul that has ever hungered for the bread of heaven, and supplicated for it, has been sent empty away. nay more: whoever finds it in his heart to ask for the holy spirit may know, from this very fact, that the holy spirit has anticipated him, and has prompted the very prayer itself. and think you that god will not grant a request which he himself has inspired? and therefore, again, it is, that _every one_ who asks invariably receives. . the third remark suggested by the subject we have been considering is, that _it is exceedingly hazardous to resist divine influences_. "quench not the spirit" is one of the most imperative of the apostolic injunctions. our lord, after saying that a word spoken against himself is pardonable, adds that he that blasphemes against the holy ghost shall never be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come. the new testament surrounds the subject of divine influences with very great solemnity. it represents the resisting of the holy ghost to be as heinous, and dangerous, as the trampling upon christ's blood. there is a reason for this. we have seen that in this operation upon the mind and heart, god comes as near, and as close to man, as it is possible for him to come. now to grieve or oppose such a merciful, and such an _inward_ agency as this, is to offer the highest possible affront to the majesty and the mercy of god. it is a great sin to slight the gifts of divine providence,--to misuse health, strength, wealth, talents. it is a deep sin to contemn the truths of divine revelation, by which the soul is made wise unto eternal life. it is a fearful sin to despise the claims of god the father, and god the son. but it is a transcendent sin to resist and beat back, _after it has been given_, that mysterious, that holy, that immediately divine influence, by which alone the heart of stone can be made the heart of flesh. for, it indicates something more than the ordinary carelessness of a sinner. it evinces a determined _obstinacy_ in sin,--nay, a satanic opposition to god and goodness. it is of such a guilt as this, that the apostle john remarks: "there is a sin unto death; i do not say that one should pray for it."[ ] again, it is exceedingly hazardous to resist divine influences, because they depend wholly upon the good pleasure of god, and not at all upon any established and uniform law. we must not, for a moment, suppose that the operations of the holy spirit upon the human soul are like those of the forces of nature upon the molecules of matter. they are not uniform and unintermittent, like gravitation, and chemical affinity. we may avail ourselves of the powers of nature at any moment, because they are steadily operative by an established law. they are laboring incessantly, and we may enter into their labors at any instant we please. but it is not so with supernatural and gracious influences. god's awakening and renewing power does not operate with the uniformity of those blind natural laws which he has impressed upon the dull clod beneath our feet. god is not one of the forces of nature. he is a person and a sovereign. his special and highest action upon the human soul is not uniform. his spirit, he expressly teaches us, does not always strive with man. it is a wind that bloweth when and where it listeth. for this reason, it is dangerous to the religious interests of the soul, in the highest degree, to go counter to any impulses of the spirit, however slight, or to neglect any of his admonitions, however gentle. if god in mercy has once come in upon a thoughtless mind, and wakened it to eternal realities; if he has enlightened it to perceive the things that make for its peace; and that mind slights this merciful interference, and stifles down these inward teachings, then god withdraws, and whether he will ever return again to that soul depends upon his mere sovereign volition. he has bound himself by no promise to do so. he has established no uniform law of operation, in the case. it is true that he is very pitiful and of tender mercy, and waits and bears long with the sinner; and it is also true, that he is terribly severe and just, when he thinks it proper to be so, and says to those who have despised his spirit: "because i have called and ye refused, and have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded, i will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh." let no one say: "god has promised to bestow the holy ghost to every one who asks: i will ask at some future time." to "ask" for the holy spirit implies some already existing desire that he would enter the mind and convince of sin, and convert to god. it implies some _craving_, some _yearning_, for divine influences; and this implies some measure of such influence already bestowed. man asks for the holy spirit, only as he is moved by the holy spirit. the divine is ever prevenient to the human. suppose now, that a man resists these influences when they are _already_ at work within him, and says: "i will seek them at a more convenient season." think you, that when that convenient season comes round,--when life is waning, and the world is receding, and the eternal gulf is yawning,--think you that that man who has already resisted grace can make his own heart to yearn for it, and his soul to crave it? do men at such times find that sincere desires, and longings, and aspirations, come at their beck? can a man say, with any prospect of success: "i will now quench out this seriousness which the spirit of god has produced in my mind, and will bring it up again ten years hence. i will stifle this drawing of the eternal father of my soul which i now feel at the roots of my being, and it shall re-appear at a future day." no! while it is true that any one who "asks," who really _wants_ a spiritual blessing, will obtain it, it is equally true that a man may have no heart to ask,--may have no desire, no yearning, no aspiration at all, and be unable to produce one. in this case there is no promise. whosoever _thirsts_, and _only_ he who thirsts, can obtain the water of life. cherish, therefore, the faintest influences and operations of the comforter. if he enlightens your conscience so that it reproaches you for sin, seek to have the work go on. never resist any such convictions, and never attempt to stifle them. if the holy spirit urges you to confession of sin before god, yield _instantaneously_ to his urging, and pour out your soul before the all-merciful. and when he says, "behold the lamb of god," look where he points, and be at peace and at rest. the secret of all spiritual success is an immediate and uniform submission to the influences of the holy ghost. [footnote : [greek: _anto, kath anto, meth anton, monoeides_.]--plato: convivium, p. , ed. bipont.] [footnote : guyon: translated by cowper. is expressed by vaughan in works iii. .--a similar thought "the eclipse." "thy anger i could kiss, and will; but o thy grief, thy grief doth kill."] [footnote : the sin against the holy ghost is unpardonable, not because there is a grade of guilt in it too scarlet to be washed white by christ's blood of atonement but, because it implies a total quenching of that operation of the third person of the trinity which is the only power adequate to the extirpation of sin from the human soul. the sin against the holy ghost is tantamount, therefore, to _everlasting_ sin. and it is noteworthy, that in mark iii. the reading [greek: _amartaemartos_], instead of [greek: kriseos], is supported by a majority of the oldest manuscripts and versions, and is adopted by lachmann, tischendorf, and tregelles. "he that shall blaspheme against the holy ghost.... is in danger of eternal _sin_."] the impotence of the law. hebrews vii. .--"for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh to god." it is the aim of the epistle to the hebrews, to teach the insufficiency of the jewish dispensation to save the human race from the wrath of god and the power of sin, and the all-sufficiency of the gospel dispensation to do this. hence, the writer of this epistle endeavors with special effort to make the hebrews feel the weakness of their old and much esteemed religion, and to show them that the only benefit which god intended by its establishment was, to point men to the perfect and final religion of the gospel. this he does, by examining the parts of the old economy. in the first place, the _sacrifices_ under the mosaic law were not designed to extinguish the sense of guilt,--"for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin,"--but were intended merely to awaken the sense of guilt, and thereby to lead the jew to look to that mercy of god which at a future day was to be exhibited in the sacrifice of his eternal son. the jewish _priesthood_, again, standing between the sinner and god, were not able to avert the divine displeasure,--for as sinners they were themselves exposed to it. they could only typify, and direct the guilty to, the great high priest, the messiah, whom god's mercy would send in the fulness of time. lastly, the moral _law_, proclaimed amidst the thunderings and lightnings of sinai, had no power to secure obedience, but only a fearful power to produce the consciousness of disobedience, and of exposure to a death far more awful than that threatened against the man who should touch the burning mountain. it was, thus, the design of god, by this legal and preparatory dispensation, to disclose to man his ruined and helpless condition, and his need of looking to him for everything that pertains to redemption. and he did it, by so arranging the dispensation that the jew might, as it were, make the trial and see if he could be his own redeemer. he instituted a long and burdensome round of observances, by means of which the jew might, if possible, extinguish the remorse of his conscience, and produce the peace of god in his soul. god seems by the sacrifices under the law, and the many and costly offerings which the jew was commanded to bring into the temple of the lord, to have virtually said to him: "thou art guilty, and my wrath righteously abides within thy conscience,--yet, do what thou canst to free thyself from it; free thyself from it if thou canst; bring an offering and come before me. but when thou hast found that thy conscience still remains perturbed and unpacified, and thy heart still continues corrupt and sinful, then look away from thy agency and thy offering, to my clemency and my offering,--trust not in these finite sacrifices of the lamb and the goat, but let them merely remind thee of the infinite sacrifice which in the fulness of time i will provide for the sin of the world,--and thy peace shall be as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." but the proud and legal spirit of the jew blinded him, and he did not perceive the true meaning and intent of his national religion. he made it an end, instead of a mere means to an end. hence, it became a mechanical round of observances, kept up by custom, and eventually lost the power, which it had in the earlier and better ages of the jewish commonwealth, of awakening the feeling of guilt and the sense of the need of a redeemer. thus, in the days of our saviour's appearance upon the earth, the chosen guardians of this religion, which was intended to make men humble, and feel their personal ill-desert and need of mercy, had become self-satisfied and self-righteous. a religion designed to prompt the utterance of the greatest of its prophets: "woe is me! i am a man of unclean lips, and i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips," now prompted the utterance of the pharisee: "i thank thee that i am not as other men are." the jew, in the times of our saviour and his apostles, had thus entirely mistaken the nature and purpose of the old dispensation, and hence was the most bitter opponent of the new. he rested in the formal and ceremonial sacrifice of bulls and goats, and therefore counted the blood of the son of god an unholy thing. he thought to appear before him in whose sight the heavens are not clean, clothed in his own righteousness, and hence despised the righteousness of christ. in reality, he appealed to the justice of god, and therefore rejected the religion of mercy. but, this spirit is not confined to the jew. it pervades the human race. man is naturally a legalist. he desires to be justified by his own character and his own works, and reluctates at the thought of being accepted upon the ground of another's merits. this judaistic spirit is seen wherever there is none of the publican's feeling when he said, "god be merciful to me a sinner." all confidence in personal virtue, all appeals to civil integrity, all attendance upon the ordinances of the christian religion without the exercise of the christian's penitence and faith, is, in reality; an exhibition of that same legal unevangelic spirit which in its extreme form inflated the pharisee, and led him to tithe mint anise and cummin. man's so general rejection of the son of god as suffering the just for the unjust, as the manifestation of the divine clemency towards a criminal, is a sign either that he is insensible of his guilt, or else that being somewhat conscious of it he thinks to cancel it himself. still, think and act as men may, the method of god in the gospel is the only method. other foundation can no man lay than is laid. for it rests upon stubborn facts, and inexorable principles. _god_ knows that however anxiously a transgressor may strive to pacify his conscience, and prepare it for the judgment-day, its deep remorse can be removed only by the blood of incarnate deity; that however sedulously he may attempt to obey the law, he will utterly fail, unless he is inwardly renewed and strengthened by the holy ghost. _he_ knows that mere bare law can make no sinner perfect again, but that only the bringing in of a "better hope" can,--a hope by the which we draw nigh to god. the text leads us to inquire: _why cannot the moral law make fallen man perfect_? or, in other words: _why cannot the ten commandments save a sinner_? that we may answer this question, we must first understand what is meant by a perfect man. it is one in whom there is no defect or fault of any kind,--one, therefore, who has no perturbation in his conscience, and no sin in his heart. it is a man who is entirely at peace with himself, and with god, and whose affections are in perfect conformity with the divine law. but fallen man, man as we find him universally, is characterized by both a remorseful conscience and an evil heart. his conscience distresses him, not indeed uniformly and constantly but, in the great emergencies of his life,--in the hour of sickness, danger, death,--and his heart is selfish and corrupt continually. he lacks perfection, therefore, in two particulars; first, in respect to acquittal at the bar of justice, and secondly, in respect to inward purity. that, therefore, which proposes to make him perfect again, must quiet the sense of guilt upon valid grounds, and must produce a holy character. if the method fails in either of these two respects, it fails altogether in making a perfect man. but how can the moral law, or the ceremonial law, or both united, produce within the human soul the cheerful, liberating, sense of acquittal, and reconciliation with god's justice? why, the very function and office-work of law, in all its forms, is to condemn and terrify the transgressor; how then can it calm and soothe him? or, is there anything in the performance of duty,--in the act of obeying law,--that is adapted to produce this result, by taking away guilt? suppose that a murderer could and should perform a perfectly holy act, would it be any relief to his anguished conscience, if he should offer it as an oblation to eternal justice for the sin that is past? if he should plead it as an offset for having killed a man? when we ourselves review the past, and see that we have not kept the law up to the present point in our lives, is the gnawing of the worm to be stopped, by resolving to keep it, and actually keeping it from this point? can such a use of the law as this is,--can the performance of good works, imaginary or real ones, imperfect or perfect ones,--discharge the office of an _atonement_, and so make us perfect in the forum of conscience, and fill us with a deep and lasting sense of reconciliation with the offended majesty and justice of god? plainly not. for there is nothing compensatory, nothing cancelling, nothing of the nature of a satisfaction of justice, in the best obedience that was ever rendered to moral law, by saint, angel, or seraph. _because the creature owes the whole_. he is obligated from the very first instant of his existence, onward and evermore, to love god supremely, and to obey him perfectly in every act and element of his being. therefore, the perfectly obedient saint, angel, and seraph must each say: "i am an unprofitable servant, i have done only that which it was my duty to do; i can make no amends for past failures; i can do no work that is meritorious and atoning." obedience to law, then, by a creature, and still less by a sinner, can never atone for the sins that are past; can never make the guilty perfect "in things pertaining to conscience." and if a man, in this indirect and roundabout manner, neglects the provisions of the gospel, neglects the oblation of jesus christ, and betakes himself to the discharge of his own duty as a substitute therefor, he only finds that the flame burns hotter, and the fang of the worm is sharper. if he looks to the moral law in any form, and by any method, that he may get quit of his remorse and his fears of judgment, the feeling of unreconciliation with justice, and the fearful looking-for of judgment is only made more vivid and deep. whoever attempts the discharge of duties _for the purpose of atoning for his sins_ takes a direct method of increasing the pains and perturbations which he seeks to remove. the more he thinks of law, and the more he endeavors to obey it for the purpose of purchasing the pardon of past transgression, the more wretched does he become. look into the lacerated conscience of martin luther before he found the cross, examine the anxiety and gloom of chalmers before he saw the lamb of god, for proof that this is so. these men, at first, were most earnest in their use of the law in order to re-instate themselves in right relations with god's justice. but the more they toiled in this direction, the less they succeeded. burning with inward anguish, and with god's arrows sticking fast in him, shall the transgressor get relief from the attribute of divine justice, and the qualities of law? shall the ten commandments of sinai, in any of their forms or uses, send a cooling and calming virtue through the hot conscience? with these kindling flashes in his guilt-stricken spirit, shall he run into the very identical fire that kindled them? shall he try to quench them in that "tophet which is ordained of old; which is made deep and large; the pile of which is fire and much wood, and the breath of the lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it?" and yet such is, in reality, the attempt of every man who, upon being convicted in his conscience of guilt before god, endeavors to attain peace by resolutions to alter his course of conduct, and strenuous endeavors to obey the commands of god,--in short by relying upon the law in any form, as a means of reconciliation. such is the suicidal effort of every man who substitutes the law for the gospel, and expects to produce within himself the everlasting peace of god, by anything short of the atonement of god. let us fix it, then, as a fact, that the feeling of culpability and unreconciliation can never be removed, so long as we do not look entirely away from our own character and works to the mere pure mercy of god in the blood of christ. the transgressor can never atone for crime by anything that he can suffer, or anything that he can do. he can never establish a ground of justification, a reason why he should be forgiven, by his tears, or his prayers, or his acts. neither the law, nor his attempts to obey the law, can re-instate him in his original relations to justice, and make him perfect again in respect to his conscience. the ten commandments can never silence his inward misgivings, and his moral fears; for they are given for the very purpose of producing misgivings, and causing fears. "the law worketh wrath." and if this truth and fact be clearly perceived, and boldly acknowledged to his own mind, it will cut him off from all these legal devices and attempts, and will shut him up to the divine mercy and the divine promise in christ, where alone he is safe. we have thus seen that one of the two things necessary in order that apostate man may become perfect again,--viz., the pacification of his conscience,--cannot be obtained in and by the law, in any of its forms or uses. let us now examine the other thing necessary in order to human perfection, and see what the law can do towards it. the other requisite, in order that fallen man may become perfect again, is a holy heart and will. can the moral law originate this? that we may rightly answer the question, let us remember that a holy will is one that keeps the law of god spontaneously and that a perfect heart is one that sends forth holy affections and pure thoughts as naturally as the sinful heart sends forth unholy affections and impure thoughts. a holy will, like an evil will, is a wonderful and wonderfully fertile power. it does not consist in an ability to make a few or many separate resolutions of obedience to the divine law, but in being itself one great inclination and determination continually and mightily going forth. a holy will, therefore, is one that _from its very nature and spontaneity_ seeks god, and the glory of god. it does not even need to make a specific resolution to obey; any more than an affectionate child needs to resolve to obey its father. in like manner, a perfect and holy heart is a far more profound and capacious thing than men who have never seriously tried to obtain it deem it to foe. it does not consist in the possession of a few or many holy thoughts mixed with some sinful ones, or in having a few or many holy desires together with some corrupt ones. a perfect heart is one undivided agency, and does not produce, as the imperfectly sanctified heart of the christian does, fruits of holiness and fruits of sin, holy thoughts and unholy thoughts. it is itself a root and centre of holiness, and _nothing_ but goodness springs up from it. the angels of god are totally holy. their wills are unceasingly going forth towards him with ease and delight; their hearts are unintermittently gushing out emotions of love, and feelings of adoration, and thoughts of reverence, and therefore the song that they sing is unceasing, and the smoke of their incense ascendeth forever and ever. such is the holy will, and the perfect heart, which fallen man must obtain in order to be fit for heaven. to this complexion must he come at last. and now we ask: can the law generate all this excellence within the human soul? in order to answer this question, we must consider the nature of law, and the manner of its operation. the law, as antithetic to the gospel, and as the word is employed in the text, is in its nature mandatory and minatory. it commands, and it threatens. this is the style of its operation. can a perfect heart be originated in a sinner by these two methods? does the stern behest, "do this or die," secure his willing and joyful obedience? on the contrary, the very fact that the law of god comes up before him coupled thus with a _threatening_ evinces that his aversion and hostility are most intense. as the apostle says, "the law is not made for a righteous man; but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners." were man, like the angels on high, sweetly obedient to the divine will, there would be no arming of law with terror, no proclamation of ten commandments amidst thunderings and lightnings. he would be a law unto himself, as all the heavenly host are,--the law working impulsively within him by its own exceeding lawfulness and beauty. the very fact that god, in the instance of man, is compelled to emphasize the _penalty_ along with the statute,--to say, "keep my commandments _upon pain of eternal death_,"--is proof conclusive that man is a rebel, and intensely so. and now what is the effect of this combination of command and threatening upon the agent? is he moulded by it? does it congenially sway and incline him? on the contrary, is he not excited to opposition by it? when the commandment "_comes_," loaded down with menace and damnation, does not sin "revive," as the apostle affirms?[ ] arrest the transgressor in the very act of disobedience, and ring in his ears the "thou shalt _not_" of the decalogue, and does he find that the law has the power to alter his inclination, to overcome his carnal mind, and make him perfect in holiness? on the contrary, the more you ply him with the stern command, and the more you emphasize the awful threatening, the more do you make him conscious of inward sin, and awaken his depravity. "the law,"--as st. paul affirms in a very remarkable text,--"is the _strength_ of sin,[ ]" instead of being its destruction. nay, he had not even ([greek: te]) known sin, but by the law: for he had not known lust, except the law had said, "thou shalt not lust." the commandment stimulates instead of extirpating his hostility to the divine government; and so long as the _mere_ command, and the _mere_ threat,--which, as the hymn tells us, is all the law can do,--are brought to bear, the depravity of the rebellious heart becomes more and more apparent, and more and more intensified. there is no more touching poem in all literature than that one in which the pensive and moral schiller portrays the struggle of an ingenuous youth who would find the source of moral purification in the moral law; who would seek the power that can transform him, in the mere imperatives of his conscience, and the mere struggling and spasms of his own will. he represents him as endeavoring earnestly and long to feel the force of obligation, and as toiling sedulously to school himself into virtue, by the bare power, by the dead lift, of duty. but the longer he tries, the more he loathes the restraints of law. virtue, instead of growing lovely to him, becomes more and more severe, austere, and repellant. his life, as the scripture phrases it, is "under law," and not under love. there is nothing spontaneous, nothing willing, nothing genial in his religion. he does not enjoy religion, but he endures religion. conscience does not, in the least, renovate his will, but merely checks it, or goads it. he becomes wearied and worn, and conscious that after all his self-schooling he is the same creature at heart, in his disposition and affections, that he was at the commencement of the effort, he cries out, "o virtue, take back thy crown, and let me sin."[ ] the tired and disgusted soul would once more do a _spontaneous_ thing. was, then, that which is good made death unto this youth, by a _divine_ arrangement? is this the _original_ and _necessary_ relation which law sustains to the will and affections of an accountable creature? must the pure and holy law of god, from the very nature of things, be a weariness and a curse? god forbid. but sin that it might _appear_ sin, working death in the sinner by that which is good,--that sin by the commandment might become, might be seen to be, exceeding sinful. the law is like a chemical test. it eats into sin enough to show what sin is, and there stops. the lunar caustic bites into the dead flesh of the mortified limb; but there is no healing virtue in the lunar caustic. the moral law makes no inward alterations in a sinner. in its own distinctive and proper action upon the heart and will of an apostate being, it is fitted only to elicit and exasperate his existing enmity. it can, therefore, no more be a source of sanctification, than it can be of justification. of what use, then, is the law to a fallen man?--some one will ask. why is the commandment enunciated in the scriptures, and why is the christian ministry perpetually preaching it to men dead in trespasses and sins? if the law can subdue no man's obstinate will, and can renovate no man's corrupt heart,--if it can make nothing perfect in human character,--then, "wherefore serveth the law?" "it was added because of transgressions,"--says the apostle in answer to this very question.[ ] it is preached and forced home in order to _detect_ sin, but not to remove it; to bring men to a consciousness of the evil of their hearts, but not to change their hearts. "for," continues the apostle, "if there had been a law given which could have given _life_"--which could produce a transformation of character,--"then verily righteousness should have been by the law," it is not because the stern and threatening commandment can impart spiritual vitality to the sinner, but because it can produce within him the keen vivid sense of spiritual death, that it is enunciated in the word of god, and proclaimed from the christian pulpit. the divine law is waved like a flashing sword before the eyes of man, not because it can make him alive but, because it can slay him, that he may then be made alive, not by the law but by the holy ghost,--by the breath that cometh from the four winds and breathes on the slain. it is easy to see, by a moment's reflection, that, from the nature of the case, the moral law cannot be a source of spiritual life and sanctification to a soul that has _lost_ these. for law primarily supposes life, supposes an obedient inclination, and therefore does not produce it. it is not the function of any law to impart that moral force, that right disposition of the heart, by which its command is to be obeyed. the state, for example, enacts a law against murder, but this mere enactment does not, and cannot, produce a benevolent disposition in the citizens of the commonwealth, in case they are destitute of it. how often do we hear the remark, that it is impossible to legislate either morality or religion into the people. when the supreme governor first placed man under the obligations and sovereignty of law, he created him in his own image and likeness: endowing him with that holy heart and right inclination which obeys the law of god with ease and delight. god made man upright, and in this state he could and did keep the commands of god perfectly. if, therefore, by any _subsequent action_ upon their part, mankind have gone out of the primary relationship in which they stood to law, and have by their _apostasy_ lost all holy sympathy with it, and all affectionate disposition to obey it, it only remains for the law (not to change along with them, but) to continue immutably the same pure and righteous thing, and to say, "obey perfectly, and thou shalt live; disobey in a single instance, and thou shalt die." but the text teaches us, that although the law can make no sinful man perfect, either upon the side of justification, or of sanctification, "the bringing in of a better _hope_" can. this hope is the evangelic hope,--the yearning desire, and the humble trust,--to be forgiven through the atonement of the lord jesus christ, and to be sanctified by the indwelling power of the holy ghost. a simple, but a most powerful thing! does the law, in its abrupt and terrible operation in my conscience, start out the feeling of guiltiness until i throb with anguish, and moral fear? i hope, i trust, i ask, to be pardoned through the blood of the eternal son of god my redeemer. i will answer all these accusations of law and conscience, by pleading what my lord has done. again, does the law search me, and probe me, and elicit me, and reveal me, until i would shrink out of the sight of god and of myself? i hope, i trust, i ask, to be made pure as the angels, spotless as the seraphim, by the transforming grace of the holy spirit. this confidence in christ's person and work is the anchor,--an anchor that was never yet wrenched from the clefts of the rock of ages, and never will be through the aeons of aeons. by this hope, which goes away from self, and goes away from the law, to christ's oblation and the holy spirit's energy, we do indeed draw very nigh to god,--"heart to heart, spirit to spirit, life to life." . the unfolding of this text of scripture shows, in the first place, the importance of having a _distinct and discriminating conception of law, and especially of its proper function in reference to a sinful being_. very much is gained when we understand precisely what the moral law, as taught in the scriptures, and written in our consciences, can do, and cannot do, towards our salvation. it can do nothing positively and efficiently. it cannot extinguish a particle of our guilt, and it cannot purge away a particle of our corruption. its operation is wholly negative and preparatory. it is merely a schoolmaster to conduct us to christ. and the more definitely this truth and fact is fixed in our minds, the more intelligently shall we proceed in our use of law and conscience. . in the second place, the unfolding of this text shows the importance of _using the law faithfully and fearlessly within its own limits; and in accordance with its proper function_. it is frequently asked what the sinner shall do in the work of salvation. the answer is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart. be continually applying the law of god to your personal character and conduct. keep an active and a searching conscience within your sinful soul. use the high, broad, and strict commandment of god as an instrumentality by which all ease, and all indifference, in sin shall be banished from the breast. employ all this apparatus of torture, as perhaps it may seem to you in some sorrowful hours, and break up that moral drowze and lethargy which is ruining so many souls. and then cease this work, the instant you have experimentally found out that the law reaches a limit beyond which it cannot go,--that it forgives none of the sins which it detects, produces no change in the heart whose vileness it reveals, and makes no lost sinner perfect again. having used the law legitimately, for purposes of illumination and conviction merely, leave it forever as a source of justification and sanctification, and seek these in christ's atonement, and the holy spirit's gracious operation in the heart. then sin shall not have dominion over you; for you shall not be under law, but under grace. after that _faith_ is come, ye are no longer under a schoolmaster. for ye are then the children of god by faith in christ jesus.[ ] how simple are the terms of salvation! but then they presuppose this work of the law,--this guilt-smitten conscience, and this wearying sense of bondage to sin. it is easy for a _thirsty_ soul to drink down the draught of cold water. nothing is simpler, nothing is more grateful to the sensations. but suppose that the soul is satiated, and is not a thirsty one. then, nothing is more forced and repelling than this same draught. so is it with the provisions of the gospel. do we feel ourselves to be guilty beings; do we hunger, and do we thirst for the expiation of our sins? then the blood of christ is drink indeed, and his flesh is meat with emphasis. but are we at ease and self-contented? then nothing is more distasteful than the terms of salvation. christ is a root out of dry ground. and so long as we remain in this unfeeling and torpid state, salvation is an utter impossibility. the seed of the gospel cannot germinate and grow upon a rock. [footnote : rom. vii. - .] [footnote : cor. xv. .] [footnote : schiller: der kampf.] [footnote : galatians iii. .] [footnote : galatians iii. , .] self-scrutiny in god's presence. isaiah, i. .--"come now, and let us reason together, saith the lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." these words were at first addressed to the church of god. the prophet isaiah begins his prophecy, by calling upon the heavens and the earth to witness the exceeding sinfulness of god's chosen people. "hear, o heavens, and give ear o earth: for the lord hath spoken; i have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." such ingratitude and sin as this, he naturally supposes would shock the very heavens and earth. then follows a most vehement and terrible rebuke. the elect people of god are called "sodom," and "gomorrah." "hear the word of the lord ye rulers of sodom: give ear unto the law of our god ye people of gomorrah. why should ye be stricken, any more? ye will revolt more and more." this outflow of holy displeasure would prepare us to expect an everlasting reprobacy of the rebellious and unfaithful church, but it is strangely followed by the most yearning and melting entreaty ever addressed by the most high to the creatures of his footstool: "come now, and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." these words have, however, a wider application; and while the unfaithful children of god ought to ponder them long and well, it is of equal importance that "the aliens from the commonwealth of israel" should reflect upon them, and see their general application to all transgressors, so long as they are under the gospel dispensation. let us, then, consider two of the plain lessons taught, in these words of the prophet, to every unpardoned man. i. the text represents god as saying to the transgressor of his law, "come and let us reason _together_." the first lesson to be learned, consequently, is the duty of examining our moral character and conduct, _along with god_. when a responsible being has made a wrong use of his powers, nothing is more reasonable than that he should call himself to account for this abuse. nothing, certainly, is more necessary. there can be no amendment for the future, until the past has been cared for. but that this examination may be both thorough and profitable, it must be made _in company with the searcher of hearts_. for there are always two beings who are concerned with sin; the being who commits it, and the being against whom it is committed. we sin, indeed, against ourselves; against our own conscience, and against our own best interest. but we sin in a yet higher, and more terrible sense, against another than ourselves, compared with whose majesty all of our faculties and interests, both in time and eternity, are altogether nothing and vanity. it is not enough, therefore, to refer our sin to the law written on the heart, and there stop. we must ultimately pass beyond conscience itself, to god, and say, "against _thee_ have i sinned." it is not the highest expression of the religious feeling, when we say, "how can i do this great wickedness, and sin against my conscience?" he alone has reached the summit of vision who looks beyond all finite limits, however wide and distant, beyond all finite faculties however noble and elevated, and says, "how can i do this great wickedness, and sin against god?" whenever, therefore, an examination is made into the nature of moral evil as it exists in the individual heart, both parties concerned should share in the examination. the soul, as it looks within, should invite the scrutiny of god also, and as fast as it makes discoveries of its transgression and corruption should realize that the holy one sees also. such a joint examination as this produces a very keen and clear sense of the evil and guilt of sin. conscience indeed makes cowards of us all, but when the eye of god is felt to be upon us, it smites us to the ground. "when _thou_ with rebukes,"--says the psalmist,--"dost correct man for his iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth." one great reason why the feeling which the moralist has towards sin is so tame and languid, when compared with the holy abhorrence of the regenerate mind, lies in the fact that he has not contemplated human depravity in company with a sin-hating jehovah. at the very utmost, he has been shut up merely with a moral sense which he has insulated from its dread ground and support,--the personal character and holy emotions of god. what wonder is it, then, that this finite faculty should lose much of its temper and severity, and though still condemning sin (for it must do this, if it does anything), fails to do it with that spiritual energy which characterizes the conscience when god is felt to be co-present and co-operating. so it is, in other provinces. we feel the guilt of an evil action more sharply, when we know that a fellow-man saw us commit it, than when we know that no one but ourselves is cognizant of the deed. the flush of shame often rises into our face, upon learning accidentally that a fellow-being was looking at us, when we did the wrong action without any blush. how much more criminal, then, do we feel, when distinctly aware that the pure and holy god knows our transgression. how much clearer is our perception of the nature of moral evil, when we investigate it along with him whose eyes are a flame of fire. it is, consequently, a very solemn moment, when the human spirit and the eternal mind are reasoning together about the inward sinfulness. when the soul is shut up along with the holy one of israel, there are great searchings of heart. man is honest and anxious at such a time. his usual thoughtlessness and torpidity upon the subject of religion leaves him, and he becomes a serious and deeply-interested creature. would that the multitudes who listen so languidly to the statements of the pulpit, upon these themes of sin and guilt, might be closeted with the everlasting judge, in silence and in solemn reflection. you who have for years been told of sin, but are, perhaps, still as indifferent regarding it as if there were no stain, upon the conscience,--would that you might enter into an examination of yourself, alone with your maker. then would you become as serious, and as anxious, as you will be in that moment when you shall be informed that the last hour of your life upon earth has come. another effect of this "reasoning together" with god, respecting our character and conduct, is to render our views _discriminating_. the action of the mind is not only intense, it is also intelligent. strange as it may sound, it is yet a fact, that a review of our past lives conducted under the eye of god, and with a recognition of his presence and oversight, serves to deliver the mind from confusion and panic, and to fill it with a calm and rational fear. this is of great value. for, when a man begins to be excited upon the subject of religion,--it may be for the first time, in his unreflecting and heedless life,--he is oftentimes terribly excited. he is now brought _suddenly_ into the midst of the most solemn things. that sin of his, the enormity of which he had never seen before, now reveals itself in a most frightful form, and he feels as the murderer does who wakes in the morning and begins to realize that he has killed a man. that holy being, of whose holiness he had no proper conception, now rises dim and awful before his half-opened inward eye, and he trembles like the pagan before the unknown god whom he ignorantly worships. that eternity, which he had heard spoken of with total indifference, now flashes penal flames in his face. taken and held in this state of mind, the transgressor is confusedly as well as terribly awakened, and he needs first of all to have this experience clarified, and know precisely for what he is trembling, and why. this panic and consternation must depart, and a calm intelligent anxiety must take its place. but this cannot be, unless the mind turns towards god, and invites his searching scrutiny, and his aid in the search after sin. so long as we shrink away from our judge, and in upon ourselves, in these hours of conviction,--so long as we deal only with the workings of our own minds, and do not look up and "reason together" with god,--we take the most direct method of producing a blind, an obscure, and a selfish agony. we work ourselves, more and more, into a mere phrenzy of excitement. some of the most wretched and fanatical experience in the history of the church is traceable to a solitary self-brooding, in which, after the sense of sin had been awakened, the soul did not discuss the matter with god. for the character and attributes of god, when clearly seen, repress all fright, and produce that peculiar species of fear which is tranquil because it is deep. though the soul, in such an hour, is conscious that god is a fearful object of sight for a transgressor, yet it continues to gaze at him with an eager straining eye. and in so doing, the superficial tremor and panic of its first awakening to the subject of religion passes off, and gives place to an intenser moral feeling, the calmness of which is like the stillness of fascination. nothing has a finer effect upon a company of awakened minds, than to cause the being and attributes of god, in all their majesty and purity, to rise like an orb within their horizon; and the individual can do nothing more proper, or more salutary, when once his sin begins to disquiet him, and the inward perturbation commences, than to collect and steady himself, in an act of reflection upon that very being who _abhors_ sin. let no man, in the hour of conviction and moral fear, attempt to run away from the divine holiness. on the contrary, let him rush forward and throw himself down prostrate before that dread presence, and plead the merits of the son of god, before it. he that finds his life shall lose it; but he that loses his life shall find it. except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains a single unproductive corn of wheat; but if it _die_, it germinates and brings forth much fruit. he who does not avoid a contact between the sin of his soul and the holiness of his god, but on the contrary seeks to have these two things come together, that each may be understood in its own intrinsic nature and quality, takes the only safe course. he finds that, as he knows god more distinctly, he knows himself more distinctly; and though as yet he can see nothing but displeasure in that holy countenance, he is possessed of a well-defined experience. he knows that he is wrong, and his maker is right; that he is wicked, and that god is holy. he perceives these two fundamental facts with a simplicity, and a certainty, that admits of no debate. the confusion and obscurity of his mind, and particularly the queryings whether these things are so, whether god is so very holy and man is so very sinful, begin to disappear, like a fog when disparted and scattered by sunrise. objects are seen in their true proportions and meanings; right and wrong, the carnal mind and the spiritual mind, heaven and hell,--all the great contraries that pertain to the subject of religion,--are distinctly understood, and thus the first step is taken towards a better state of things in the soul. let no man, then, fear to invite the scrutiny of god, in connection with his own scrutiny of himself. he who deals only with the sense of duty, and the operations of his own mind, will find that these themselves become more dim and indistinct, so long as the process of examination is not conducted in this joint manner; so long as the mind refuses to accept the divine proposition, "come now, and let us reason _together_." he, on the other hand, who endeavors to obtain a clear view of the being against whom he has sinned, and to feel the full power of his holy eye as well as of his holy law, will find that his sensations and experiences are gaining a wonderful distinctness and intensity that will speedily bring the entire matter to an issue. ii. for then, by the blessing of god, he learns the second lesson taught in the text: viz., that _there is forgiveness with god_. though, in this process of joint examination, your sins be found to be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be discovered to be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. if there were no forgiveness of sins, if mercy were not a manifested attribute of god, all self-examination, and especially all this conjoint divine scrutiny, would be a pure torment and a pure gratuity. it is wretchedness to know that we are guilty sinners, but it is the endless torment to know that there is no forgiveness, either here or hereafter. convince a man that he will never be pardoned, and you shut him up with the spirits in prison. compel him to examine himself under the eye of his god, while at the same time he has no hope of mercy,--and there would be nothing _unjust_ in this,--and you distress him with the keenest and most living torment of which a rational spirit is capable. well and natural was it, that the earliest creed of the christian church emphasized the doctrine of the divine pity; and in all ages the apostolic symbol has called upon the guilt-stricken human soul to cry, "i believe in the forgiveness of sins." we have the amplest assurance in the whole written revelation of god, _but nowhere else_, that "there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared." "whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy;" and only with such an assurance as this from his own lips, could we summon courage to look into our character and conduct, and invite god to do the same. but the text is an exceedingly explicit assertion of this great truth. the very same being who invites us to reason with him, and canvass the subject of our criminality, in the very same breath, if we may so speak, assures us that he will forgive all that is found in this examination. and upon _such_ terms, cannot the criminal well afford to examine into his crime? he has a promise beforehand, that if he will but scrutinize and confess his sin it shall be forgiven. god would have been simply and strictly just, had he said to him: "go down into the depths of thy transgressing spirit, see how wicked thou hast been and still art, and know that in my righteous severity i will never pardon thee, world without end." but instead of this, he says: "go down into the depths of thy heart, see the transgression and the corruption all along the line of the examination, confess it into my ear, and i will make the scarlet and crimson guilt white in the blood of my own son." these declarations of holy writ, which are a direct verbal statement from the lips of god, and which specify distinctly what he will do and will not do in the matter of sin, teach us that however deeply our souls shall be found to be stained, the divine pity outruns and exceeds the crime. "for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him. he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" here upon earth, there is no wickedness that surpasses the pardoning love of god in christ. the words which shakspeare puts into the mouth of the remorseful, but _impenitent_, danish king are strictly true: "what if this cursed hand were thicker than itself with brother's blood? is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens to wash it white as snow? whereto serves mercy, but to confront the visage of offence?"[ ] anywhere this side of the other world, and at any moment this side of the grave, a sinner, _if penitent_ (but penitence is not always at his control), may obtain forgiveness for all his sins, through christ's blood of atonement. he must not hope for mercy in the future world, if he neglects it here. there are no acts of pardon passed in the day of judgment. the utterance of christ in _that_ day is not the utterance, "thy sins are forgiven thee," but, "come ye blessed," or "depart ye cursed." so long, and only so long, as there is life there is hope, and however great may be the conscious criminality of a man while he is under the economy of redemption, and before he is summoned to render up his last account, let him not despair but hope in divine grace. now, he who has seriously "reasoned together" with god, respecting his own character, is far better prepared to find god in the forgiveness of sins, than he is who has merely brooded over his own unhappiness, without any reference to the qualities and claims of his judge. it has been a plain and personal matter throughout, and having now come to a clear and settled conviction that he is a guilty sinner, he turns directly to the great and good being who stands immediately before him, and prays to be forgiven, and _is_ forgiven. one reason why the soul so often gropes days and months without finding a sin-pardoning god lies in the fact, that its thoughts and feelings respecting religious subjects, and particularly respecting the state of the heart, have been too vague and indistinct. they have not had an immediate and close reference to that one single being who is most directly concerned, and who alone can minister to a mind diseased. the soul is wretched, and there may be some sense of sin, but there is no one to go to,--no one to address with an appealing cry. "oh that i knew where i might find him," is its language. "oh that i might come even to his seat. behold i go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but i cannot perceive him." but this groping would cease were there a clear view of god. there might not be peace and a sense of reconciliation immediately; but there would be a distinct conception of _the one thing needful_ in order to salvation. this would banish all other subjects and objects. the eye would be fixed upon the single fact of sin, and the simple fact that none but god can forgive it. the whole inward experience would thus be narrowed down to a focus. simplicity and intensity would be introduced into the mental state, instead of the previous confusion and vagueness. soliloquy would end, and prayer, importunate, agonizing prayer, would begin. that morbid and useless self-brooding would cease, and those strong cryings and wrestlings till day-break would commence, and the kingdom of heaven would suffer this violence, and the violent would take it by force. "when i _kept silence_; my bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long. for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer. i _acknowledged_ my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity i no longer _hid_. i said, i will _confess_ my transgressions unto the lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. for this,"--because this is thy method of salvation,--"shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found." (ps. xxxii. - .) self-examination, then, when joined with a distinct recognition of the divine character, and a conscious sense of god's scrutiny, paradoxical as it may appear, is the surest means of producing a firm conviction in a guilty mind that god is merciful, and is the swiftest way of finding him to be so. opposed as the divine nature is to sin, abhorrent as iniquity is to the pure mind of god, it is nevertheless a fact, that that sinner who goes directly into this dread presence with all his sins upon his head, in order to know them, to be condemned and crushed by them, and to confess them, is the one who soonest returns with peace and hope in his soul. for, he discovers that god is as cordial and sincere in his offer to forgive, as he is in his threat to punish; and having, to his sorrow, felt the reality and power of the divine anger, he now to his joy feels the equal reality and power of the divine love. and this is the one great lesson which every man must learn, or perish forever. the _truthfulness_ of god, in every respect, and in all relations,--his strict _fidelity to his word_, both under the law and under the gospel,--is a quality of which every one must have a vivid knowledge and certainty, in order to salvation. men perish through unbelief. he that doubteth is damned. to illustrate. men pass through this life doubting and denying god's abhorrence of sin, and his determination to punish it forever and ever. under the narcotic and stupefying influence of this doubt and denial, they remain in sin, and at death go over into the immediate presence of god, only to discover that all his statements respecting his determination upon this subject are _true_,--awfully and hopelessly true. they then spend an eternity, in bewailing their infatuation in dreaming, while here upon earth, that the great and holy god did not mean what he said. unbelief, again, tends to death in the other direction, though it is far less liable to result in it. the convicted and guilt-smitten man sometimes doubts the truthfulness of the divine promise in christ. he spends days of darkness and nights of woe, because he is unbelieving in regard to god's compassion, and readiness to forgive a penitent; and when, at length, the light of the divine countenance breaks upon him, he wonders that he was so foolish and slow of heart to believe all that god himself had said concerning the "multitude" of his tender mercies. christian and hopeful lay long and needlessly in the dungeon of doubting castle, until the former remembered that the key to all the locks was in his bosom, and had been all the while. they needed only to take god at his word. the anxious and fearful soul must believe the eternal judge _implicitly_, when he says: "i will justify thee through the blood of christ." god is truthful under the gospel, and under the law; in his promise of mercy, and in his threatening of eternal woe. and "if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself." he hath promised, and he hath threatened; and, though heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle of that promise shall not fail in the case of those who confidingly trust it, nor shall one iota or scintilla of the threatening fail in the instance of those who have recklessly and rashly disbelieved it. in respect, then, to both sides of the revelation of the divine character,--in respect to the threatening and the promise,--men need to have a clear perception, and an unwavering belief. he that doubteth in either direction is damned. he who does not believe that god is truthful, when he declares that he will "punish iniquity, transgression and sin," and that those upon the left hand shall "go away into everlasting punishment," will persist in sin until he passes the line of probation and be lost. and he who does not believe that god is truthful, when he declares that he will forgive scarlet and crimson sins through the blood of christ, will be overcome by despair and be also lost. but he who believes _both_ divine statements with equal certainty, and perceives _both_ facts with distinct vision, will be saved. from these two lessons of the text, we deduce the following practical directions: . first: in all states of religious anxiety, we should _betake ourselves instantly and directly to god_. there is no other refuge for the human soul but god in christ, and if this fails us, we must renounce all hope here and hereafter. "if this fail, the pillared firmament is rottenness, and earth's base built on stubble."[ ] we are, therefore, from the nature of the case, shut up to this course. suppose the religious anxiety arise from a sense of sin, and the fear of retribution. god is the only being that can forgive sins. to whom, then, can such an one go but unto him? suppose the religious anxiety arises from a sense of the perishing nature of earthly objects, and the soul feels as if all the foundation and fabric of its hope and comfort were rocking into irretrievable ruin. god is the only being who can help in this crisis. in either or in any case,--be it the anxiety of the unforgiven, or of the child of god,--whatever be the species of mental sorrow, the human soul is by its very circumstances driven to its maker, or else driven to destruction. what more reasonable course, therefore, than to conform to the necessities of our condition. the principal part of wisdom is to take things as they are, and act accordingly. are we, then, sinners, and in fear for the final result of our life? though it may seem to us like running into fire, we must nevertheless betake ourselves first and immediately to that being who hates and punishes sin. though we see nothing but condemnation and displeasure in those holy eyes, we must nevertheless approach them _just and simply as we are_. we must say with king david in a similar case, when he had incurred the displeasure of god: "i am in a great strait; [yet] let me fall into the hand of the lord, for very great are his mercies" ( chron. xx. ). we must suffer the intolerable brightness to blind and blast us in our guiltiness, and let there be an actual contact between the sin of our soul and the holiness of our god. if we thus proceed, in accordance with the facts of our case and our position, we shall meet with a great and joyful surprise. flinging ourselves helpless, and despairing of all other help,--_rashly_, as it will seem to us, flinging ourselves off from the position where we now are, and upon which we must inevitably perish, we shall find ourselves, to our surprise and unspeakable joy, caught in everlasting, paternal arms. he who loses his life,--he who _dares_ to lose his life,--shall find it. . secondly: in all our religious anxiety, we should _make a full and plain statement of everything to god_. god loves to hear the details of our sin, and our woe. the soul that pours itself out as water will find that it is not like water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. even when the story is one of shame and remorse, we find it to be mental relief, patiently and without any reservation or palliation, to expose the whole not only to our own eye but to that of our judge. for, to this very thing have we been invited. this is precisely the "reasoning together" which god proposes to us. god has not offered clemency to a sinful world, with the expectation or desire that there be on the part of those to whom it is offered, such a stinted and meagre confession, such a glozing over and diminution of sin, as to make that clemency appear a very small matter. he well knows the depth and the immensity of the sin which he proposes to pardon, and has made provision accordingly. in the phrase of luther, it is no painted sinner who is to be forgiven, and it is no painted saviour who is offered. the transgression is deep and real, and the atonement is deep and real. the crime cannot be exaggerated, neither can the expiation. he, therefore, who makes the plainest and most child-like statement of himself to god, acts most in accordance with the mind, and will, and gospel of god. if man only be hearty, full, and unreserved in confession, he will find god to be hearty, full, and unreserved in absolution. man is not straitened upon the side of the divine mercy. the obstacle in the way of his salvation is in himself; and the particular, fatal obstacle consists in the fact that he does not feel that he _needs_ mercy. god in christ stands ready to pardon, but man the sinner stands up before him like the besotted criminal in our courts of law, with no feeling upon the subject. the judge assures him that he has a boundless grace and clemency to bestow, but the stolid hardened man is not even aware that he has committed a dreadful crime, and needs grace and clemency. there is food in infinite abundance, but no hunger upon the part of man. the water of life is flowing by in torrents, but men have no thirst. in this state of things, nothing can be done, but to pass a sentence of condemnation. god cannot forgive a being who does not even know that he needs to be forgiven. knowledge then, self-knowledge, is the great requisite; and the want of it is the cause of perdition. this "reasoning together" with god, respecting our past and present character and conduct, is the first step to be taken by any one who would make preparation for eternity. as soon as we come to a right understanding of our lost and guilty condition, we shall cry: "be merciful to me a sinner; create within me a clean heart, o god." without such an understanding,--such an intelligent perception of our sin and guilt,--we never shall, and we never can. [footnote : shakspeare: hamlet, act iii. sc. .] [footnote : milton: comus, - .] sin is spiritual slavery john viii. .--"jesus answered them, verily, verily i say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." the word [greek: doulos] which is translated "servant," in the text, literally signifies a slave; and the thought which our lord actually conveyed to those who heard him is, "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin." the apostle peter, in that second epistle of his which is so full of terse and terrible description of the effects of unbridled sensuality upon the human will, expresses the same truth. speaking of the influence of those corrupting and licentious men who have "eyes full of adultery, and that _cannot_ cease from sin," he remarks that while they promise their dupes "liberty, they themselves are the servants [slaves] of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he _brought in bondage_." such passages as these, of which there are a great number in the bible, direct attention to the fact that sin contains an element of _servitude_,--that in the very act of transgressing the law of god there is a _reflex_ action of the human will upon itself, whereby it becomes less able than before to keep that law. sin is the suicidal action of the human will. it destroys the power to do right, which is man's true freedom. the effect of vicious habit in diminishing a man's ability to resist temptation is proverbial. but what is habit but a constant repetition of wrong decisions, every single one of which _reacts_ upon the faculty that put them forth, and renders it less strong and less energetic, to do the contrary. has the old debauchee, just tottering into hell, as much power of active resistance against the sin which has now ruined him, as the youth has who is just beginning to run that awful career? can any being do a wrong act, and be as sound in his will and as spiritually strong, after it, as he was before it? did that abuse of free agency by adam, whereby the sin of the race was originated, leave the agent as it found him,--uninjured and undebilitated in his voluntary power? the truth and fact is, that sin in and by its own nature and operations, tends to destroy all virtuous force, all holy energy, in any moral being. the excess of will to sin is the same as the defect of will to holiness. the degree of intensity with which any man loves and inclines to evil is the measure of the amount of power to good which he has thereby lost. and if the intensity be total, then the loss is entire. total depravity carries with it total impotence and helplessness. the more carefully we observe the workings of our own wills, the surer will be our conviction that they can ruin themselves. we shall indeed find that they cannot be _forced_, or ruined from the outside. but, if we watch the influence upon the _will itself_, of its own wrong decisions, its own yielding to temptations, we shall discover that the voluntary faculty may be ruined from within; may be made impotent to good by its own action; may surrender itself with such an intensity and entireness to appetite, passion, and self-love, that it becomes unable to reverse itself, and overcome its own wrong disposition and direction. and yet there is no _compulsion_, from first to last, in the process. the man follows himself. he pursues his own inclination. he has his own way and does as he pleases. he loves what he inclines to love, and hates what he inclines to hate. neither god, nor the world, nor satan himself, force him to do wrong. sin is the most spontaneous of self-motion. but self-motion has _consequences_ as much as any other motion. because transgression is a _self_-determined act, it does not follow that it has no reaction and results, but leaves the will precisely as it found it. it is strictly true that man was not necessitated to apostatize; but it is equally true that if by his own self-decision he should apostatize, he could not then and afterwards be as he was before. he would lose a _knowledge_ of god and divine things which he could never regain of himself. and he would lose a spiritual _power_ which he could never again recover of himself. the bondage of which christ speaks, when he says, "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin," is an effect within the soul itself of an unforced act of self-will, and therefore is as truly guilt as any other result or product of self-will,--as spiritual blindness, or spiritual hardness, or any other of the qualities of sin. whatever springs from will, we are responsible for. the drunkard's bondage and powerlessness issues from his own inclination and self-indulgence, and therefore the bondage and impotence is no excuse for his vice. man's inability to love god supremely results from his intense self-will and self-love; and therefore his impotence is a part and element of his sin, and not an excuse for it. "if weakness may excuse, what murderer, what traitor, parricide, incestuous, sacrilegious, may not plead it? all wickedness is weakness."[ ] the doctrine, then, which is taught in the text, is the truth that _sin is spiritual slavery_; and it is to the proof and illustration of this position that we invite attention. the term "spiritual" is too often taken to mean unreal, fanciful, figurative. for man is earthly in his views as well as in his feelings, and therefore regards visible and material things as the emphatic realities. hence he employs material objects as the ultimate standard, by which he measures the reality of all other things. the natural man has more consciousness of his body, than he has of his soul; more sense of this world, than of the other. hence we find that the carnal man expresses his conception of spiritual things, by transferring to them, in a weak and secondary signification, words which he applies in a strong and vivid way only to material objects. he speaks of the "joy" of the spirit, but it is not such a reality for him as is the "joy" of the body. he speaks of the "pain" of the spirit, but it has not such a poignancy for him as that anguish which thrills through his muscles and nerves. he knows that the "death" of the body is a terrible event, but transfers the word "death" to the spirit with a vague and feeble meaning, not realizing that the second death is more awful than the first, and is accompanied with a spiritual distress compared with which, the sharpest agony of material dissolution would be a relief. he understands what is meant by the "life" of the body, but when he hears the "eternal life" of the spirit spoken of, or when he reads of it in the bible, it is with the feeling that it cannot be so real and lifelike as that vital principle whose currents impart vigor and warmth to his bodily frame. and yet, the life of the spirit is more intensely real than the life of the body is; for it has power to overrule and absorb it. spiritual life, when in full play, is bliss ineffable. it translates man into the third heavens, where the fleshly life is lost sight of entirely, and the being, like st. paul, does not know whether he is in the body or out of the body. the natural mind is deceived. spirit has in it more of reality than matter has; because it is an immortal and indestructible essence, while matter is neither. spiritual things are more real than visible things; because they are eternal, and eternity is more real than time. statements respecting spiritual objects, therefore, are more solemnly true than any that relate to material things. invisible and spiritual realities, therefore, are the standard by which all others should be tried; and human language when applied to them, instead of expressing too much, expresses too little. the imagery and phraseology by which the scriptures describe the glory of god, the excellence of holiness, and the bliss of heaven, on the one side, and the sinfulness of sin with the woe of hell, on the other, come short of the sober and actual matter of fact. we should, therefore, beware of the error to which in our unspirituality we are specially liable; and when we hear christ assert that "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin," we should believe and know, that these words are not extravagant, and contain no subtrahend,--that they indicate a self-enslavement of the human will which is so real, so total, and so absolute, as to necessitate the renewing grace of god in order to deliverance from it. this bondage to sin may be discovered by every man. it must be discovered, before one can cry, "save me or i perish." it must be discovered, before one can feelingly assent to christ's words, "without me ye can do nothing." it must be discovered, before one can understand the christian paradox, "when i am weak, then am i strong." to aid the mind, in coming to the conscious experience of the truth taught in the text, we remark: i. sin is spiritual slavery, if viewed in reference to man's _sense of obligation to be perfectly holy_. the obligation to be holy, just, and good, as god is, rests upon every rational being. every man knows, or may know, that he ought to be perfect as his father in heaven is perfect, and that he is a debtor to this obligation until he has _fully_ met it. hence even the holiest of men are conscious of sin, because they are not completely up to the mark of this high calling of god. for, the sense of this obligation is an exceeding broad one,--like the law itself which it includes and enforces. the feeling of duty will not let us off, with the performance of only a part of our duty. its utterance is: "verily i say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till _all_ be fulfilled." law spreads itself over the whole surface and course of our lives, and insists imperatively that every part and particle of them be pure and holy. again, this sense of obligation to be perfect as god is perfect, is exceedingly deep. it is the most profound sense of which man is possessed, for it outlives all others. the feeling of duty to god's law remains in a man's mind either to bless him or to curse him, when all other feelings depart. in the hour of death, when all the varied passions and experiences which have engrossed the man his whole lifetime are dying out of the soul, and are disappearing, one after another, like signal-lights in the deepening darkness, this one particular feeling of what he owes to the divine and the eternal law remains behind, and grows more vivid, and painful, as all others grow dimmer and dimmer. and therefore it is, that in this solemn hour man forgets whether he has been happy or unhappy, successful or unsuccessful, in the world, and remembers only that he has been a _sinner_ in it. and therefore it is, that a man's thoughts, when he is upon his death-bed, do not settle upon his worldly matters, but upon his sin. it is because the human conscience is the very core and centre of the human being, and its sense of obligation to be holy is deeper than all other senses and sensations, that we hear the dying man say what the living and prosperous man is not inclined to say: "i have been wicked; i have been a sinner in the earth." now it might seem, at first sight, that this broad, deep, and abiding sense of obligation would be sufficient to overcome man's love of sin, and bring him up to the discharge of duty,--would be powerful enough to subdue his self-will. can it be that this strong and steady draft of conscience,--strong and steady as gravitation,--will ultimately prove ineffectual? is not truth mighty, and must it not finally prevail, to the pulling down of the stronghold which satan has in the human heart? so some men argue. so some men claim, in opposition to the doctrine of divine influences and of regeneration by the holy ghost. we are willing to appeal to actual experience, in order to settle the point. and we affirm in the outset, that exactly in proportion as a man hears the voice of conscience sounding its law within his breast, does he become aware, not of the strength but, of the bondage of his will, and that in proportion as this sense of obligation to be _perfectly_ holy rises in his soul, all hope or expectation of ever becoming so by his own power sets in thick night. in our careless unawakened state, which is our ordinary state, we sin on from day to day, just as we live on from day to day, without being distinctly aware of it. a healthy man does not go about, holding his fingers upon his wrist, and counting every pulse; and neither does a sinful man, as he walks these streets and transacts all this business, think of and sum up the multitude of his transgressions. and yet, that pulse all the while beats none the less; and yet, that will all the while transgresses none the less. so long as conscience is asleep, sin is pleasant. the sinful activity goes on without notice, we are happy in sin, and we do not feel that it is slavery of the will. though the chains are actually about us, yet they do not gall us. in this condition, which is that of every unawakened sinner, we are not conscious of the "bondage of corruption." in the phrase of st. paul, "we are alive without the law." we have no feeling sense of duty, and of course have no feeling sense of sin. and it is in this state of things, that arguments are framed to prove the mightiness of mere conscience, and the power of bare truth and moral obligation, over the perverse human heart and will. but the spirit of god awakens the conscience; that sense of obligation to be _perfectly_ holy which has hitherto slept now starts up, and begins to form an estimate of what has been done in reference to it. the man hears the authoritative and startling law: "thou shalt be perfect, as god is." and now, at this very instant and point, begins the consciousness of enslavement,--of being, in the expressive phrase of scripture, "_sold_ under sin." now the commandment "comes," shows us first what we ought to be and then what we actually are, and we "die."[ ] all moral strength dies out of us. the muscle has been cut by the sword of truth, and the limb drops helpless by the side. for, we find that the obligation is immense. it extends to all our outward acts; and having covered the whole of this great surface, it then strikes inward and reaches to every thought of the mind, and every emotion of the heart, and every motive of the will. we discover that we are under obligation at every conceivable point in our being and in our history, but that we have not met obligation at a single point. when we see that the law of god is broad and deep, and that sin is equally broad and deep within us; when we learn that we have never thought one single holy thought, nor felt one single holy feeling, nor done one single holy deed, because self-love is the root and principle of all our work, and we have never purposed or desired to please god by any one of our actions; when we find that everything has been required, and that absolutely nothing has been done, that we are bound to be perfectly holy this very instant, and as matter of fact are totally sinful, we know in a most affecting manner that "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin". but suppose that after this disheartening and weakening discovery of the depth and extent of our sinfulness, we proceed to take the second step, and attempt to extirpate it. suppose that after coming to a consciousness of all this obligation resting upon us, we endeavor to comply with it. this renders us still more painfully sensible of the truth of our saviour's declaration. even the regenerated man, who in this endeavor has the aid of god, is mournfully conscious that sin is the enslavement of the human will. though he has been freed substantially, he feels that the fragments of the chains are upon him still. though the love of god is the predominant principle within him, yet the lusts and propensities of the old nature continually start up like devils, and tug at the spirit, to drag it down to its old bondage. but that man who attempts to overcome sin, without first crying, "create within me a clean heart, o god," feels still more deeply that sin is spiritual slavery. when _he_ comes to know sin in reference to the obligation to be perfectly holy, it is with vividness and hopelessness. he sees distinctly that he ought to be a perfectly good being instantaneously. this point is clear. but instead of looking up to the hills whence cometh his help, he begins, in a cold legal and loveless temper, to draw upon his own resources. the first step is to regulate his external conduct by the divine law. he tries to put a bridle upon his tongue, and to walk carefully before his fellow-men. he fails to do even this small outside thing, and is filled with discouragement and despondency. but the sense of duty reaches beyond the external conduct, and the law of god pierces like the two-edged sword of an executioner, and discerns the thoughts and motives of the heart. sin begins to be seen in its relation to the inner man, and he attempts again to reform and change the feelings and affections of his soul. he strives to wring the gall of bitterness out of his own heart, with his own hands. but he fails utterly. as he resolves, and breaks his resolutions; as he finds evil thoughts and feelings continually coming up from the deep places of his heart; he discovers his spiritual impotence,--his lack of control over what is deepest, most intimate, and most fundamental in his own character,--and cries out: "i _am_ a slave, i am a _slave_ to myself." if then, you would know from immediate consciousness that "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin," simply view sin in the light of that obligation to be _perfectly_ pure and holy which necessarily, and forever, rests upon a responsible being. if you would know that spiritual slavery is no extravagant and unmeaning phrase, but denotes a most real and helpless bondage, endeavor to get entirely rid of sin, and to be perfect as the spirits of just men made perfect. ii. sin is spiritual slavery, if viewed in reference to the _aspirations_ of the human soul. theology makes a distinction between common and special grace,--between those ordinary influences of the divine spirit which rouse the conscience, and awaken some transient aspirations after religion, and those extraordinary influences which actually renew the heart and will. in speaking, then, of the aspirations of the human soul, reference is had to all those serious impressions, and those painful anxieties concerning salvation, which require to be followed up by a yet mightier power from god, to prevent their being entirely suppressed again, as they are in a multitude of instances, by the strong love of sin and the world. for though man has fallen into a state of death in trespasses and sins, so that if cut off from _every_ species of divine influence, and left _entirely_ to himself, he would never reach out after anything but the sin which he loves, yet through the common influences of the spirit of grace, and the ordinary workings of a rational nature not yet reprobated, he is at times the subject of internal stirrings and aspirations that indicate the greatness and glory of the heights whence he fell. under the power of an awakened conscience, and feeling the emptiness of the world, and the aching void within him, man wishes for something better than he has, or than he is. the minds of the more thoughtful of the ancient pagans were the subjects of these impulses, and aspirations; and they confess their utter inability to realize them. they are expressed upon every page of plato, and it is not surprising that some of the christian fathers should have deemed platonism, as well as judaism, to be a preparation for christianity, by its bringing man to a sense of his need of redemption. and it would stimulate christians in their efforts to give revealed religion to the heathen, did they ponder the fact which the journals of the missionary sometimes disclose, that the divine spirit is brooding with his common and preparatory influence over the chaos of paganism, and that here and there the heathen mind faintly aspires to be freed from the bondage of corruption,--that dim stirrings, impulses, and wishes for deliverance, are awake in the dark heart of paganism, but that owing to the strength and inveteracy of sin in that heart they will prove ineffectual to salvation, unless the gospel is preached, and the holy spirit is specially poured out in answer to the prayers of christians. now, all these phenomena in the human soul go to show the rigid bondage of sin, and to prove that sin has an element of servitude in it. for when these impulses, wishes, and aspirations are awakened, and the man discovers that he is unable to realize them in actual character and conduct, he is wretchedly and thoroughly conscious that "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin." the immortal, heaven-descended spirit, feeling the kindling touch of truth and of the holy ghost, thrills under it, and essays to soar. but sin hangs heavy upon it, and it cannot lift itself from the earth. never is man so sensible of his enslavement and his helplessness, as when he has a _wish_ but has no _will_.[ ] look, for illustration, at the aspirations of the drunkard to be delivered from the vice that easily besets him. in his sober moments, they come thick and fast, and during his sobriety, and while under the lashings of conscience, he wishes, nay, even _longs_, to be freed from drunkenness. it may be, that under the impulse of these aspirations he resolves never to drink again. it may be, that amid the buoyancy that naturally accompanies the springing of hope and longing in the human soul, he for a time seems to himself to be actually rising up from his "wallowing in the mire," and supposes that he shall soon regain his primitive condition of temperance. but the sin is strong; for the appetite that feeds it is in his blood. temptation with its witching solicitation comes before the will,--the weak, self-enslaved will. he _aspires_ to resist, but _will_ not; the spirit _would_ soar, but the flesh _will_ creep; the spirit has the _wish_, but the flesh has the _will_; the man longs to be sober, but actually is and remains a drunkard. and never,--be it noticed,--never is he more thoroughly conscious of being a slave to himself, than when he thus _ineffectually_ aspires and wishes to be delivered from himself. what has been said of drunkenness, and the aspiration to be freed from it, applies with full force to all the sin and all the aspirations of the human soul. there is no independent and self-realizing power in a mere aspiration. no man overcomes even his vices, except as he is assisted by the common grace of god. the self-reliant man invariably relapses into his old habits. he who thinks he stands is sure to fall. but when, under the influence of god's common grace, a man aspires to be freed from the deepest of all sin, because it is the source of all particular acts of transgression,--when he attempts to overcome and extirpate the original and inveterate depravity of his heart,--he feels his bondage more thoroughly than ever. if it is wretchedness for the drunkard to aspire after freedom from only a single vice, and fail of reaching it, is it not the depth of woe, when a man comes to know "the plague of his heart," and his utter inability to cleanse and cure it? in this case, the bondage of self-will is found to be absolute. at first sight, it might seem as if these wishes and aspirations of the human spirit, faint though they be, are proof that man is not totally depraved, and that his will is not helplessly enslaved. so some men argue. but they forget, that these aspirations and wishes are _never realized_. there is no evidence of power, except from its results. and where are the results? who has ever realized these wishes and aspirations, in his heart and conduct? the truth is, that every _unattained_ aspiration that ever swelled the human soul is proof positive, and loud, that the human soul is in bondage. these _ineffectual_ stirrings and impulses, which disappear like the morning cloud and the early dew, are most affecting evidences that "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin." they prove that apostate man has sunk, in one respect, to a lower level than that of the irrational creation. for, high ideas and truths cannot raise him. lofty impulses result in no alteration, or elevation. even divine influences leave him just where they find him, unless they are exerted in their highest grade of irresistible grace. a brute surrenders himself to his appetites and propensities, and lives the low life of nature, without being capable of aspirations for anything purer and nobler. but man does this very thing,--nay, immerses himself in flesh, and sense, and self, with an entireness and intensity of which the brute is incapable,--in the face of impulses and stirrings of mind that point him to the pure throne of god, and urge him to soar up to it! the brute is a creature of nature, because he knows no better, and can desire nothing better; but man is "as the beasts that perish," in spite of a better knowledge and a loftier aspiration! if then, you would know that "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin," contemplate sin in reference to the aspirations of an apostate spirit originally made in the image of god, and which, because it is not eternally reprobated, is not entirely cut off from the common influences of the spirit of god. never will you feel the bondage of your will more profoundly, than when under these influences, and in your moments of seriousness and anxiety respecting your soul's salvation, you aspire and endeavor to overcome inward sin, and find that unless god grant you his special and renovating grace, your heart will be sinful through all eternity, in spite of the best impulses of your best hours. these upward impulses and aspirations cannot accompany the soul into the state of final hopelessness and despair, though milton represents satan as sometimes looking back with a sigh, and a mournful memory, upon what he had once been,[ ]--yet if they should go with us there, they would make the ardor of the fire more fierce, and the gnaw of the worm more fell. for they would help to reveal the strength of our sin, and the intensity of our rebellion. iii. sin is spiritual slavery, if viewed in reference to the _fears_ of the human soul. the sinful spirit of man fears the death of the body, and the scriptures assert that by reason of this particular fear we are all our lifetime in bondage. though we know that the bodily dissolution can have no effect upon the imperishable essence of an immortal being, yet we shrink back from it, as if the sentence, "dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," had been spoken of the spirit,--as if the worm were to "feed sweetly" upon the soul, and it were to be buried up in the dark house of the grave. even the boldest of us is disturbed at the thought of bodily death, and we are always startled when the summons suddenly comes: "set thy house in order, for thou must die." again, the spirit of man fears that "fearful something after death," that eternal judgment which must be passed upon all. we tremble at the prospect of giving an account of our own actions. we are afraid to reap the harvest, the seed of which we have sown with our own hands. the thought of going to a just judgment, and of receiving from the judge of all the earth, who cannot possibly do injustice to any of his creatures, only that which is our desert, shocks us to the centre of our being! man universally is afraid to be judged with a righteous judgment! man universally is terrified by the equitable bar of god! again, the apostate spirit of man has an awful dread of eternity. though this invisible realm is the proper home of the human soul, and it was made to dwell there forever, after the threescore and ten years of its residence in the body are over, yet it shrinks back from an entrance into this untried world, and clings with the desperate force of a drowning man to this "bank and shoal of time." there are moments in the life of a guilty man when the very idea of eternal existence exerts a preternatural power, and fills him with a dread that paralyzes him. never is the human being stirred to so great depths, and roused to such intensity of action, as when it feels what the scripture calls "the power of an _endless_ life." all men are urged by some ruling passion which is strong. the love of wealth, or of pleasure, or of fame, drives the mind onward with great force, and excites it to mighty exertions to compass its end. but never is a man pervaded by such an irresistible and overwhelming influence as that which descends upon him in some season of religious gloom,--some hour of sickness, or danger, or death,--when the great eternity, with all its awful realities, and all its unknown terror, opens upon his quailing gaze. there are times in man's life, when he is the subject of movements within that impel him to deeds that seem almost superhuman; but that internal ferment and convulsion which is produced when all eternity pours itself through his being turns his soul up from the centre. man will labor convulsively, night and day, for money; he will dry up the bloom and freshness of health, for earthly power and fame; he will actually wear his body out for sensual pleasure. but what is the intensity and paroxysm of this activity of mind and body, if compared with those inward struggles and throes when the overtaken and startled sinner sees the eternal world looming into view, and with strong crying and tears prays for only a little respite, and only a little preparation! "millions for an inch of time,"--said the dying english queen. "o eternity! eternity! how shall i grapple with the misery that i must meet with in _eternity_,"--says the man in the iron cage of despair. this finite world has indeed great power to stir man, but the other world has an infinitely greater power. the clouds which float in the lower regions of the sky, and the winds that sweep them along, produce great ruin and destruction upon the earth, but it is only when the "windows of heaven are opened" that "the fountains of the great deep are broken up," and "all in whose nostrils is the breath of life die," and "every living substance is destroyed which is upon the face of the ground." when fear arises in the soul of man, in view of an eternal existence for which he is utterly unprepared, it is overwhelming. it partakes of the immensity of eternity, and holds the man with an omnipotent grasp. if, now, we view sin in relation to these great fears of death, judgment, and eternity, we see that it is spiritual slavery, or the bondage of the will. we discover that our terror is no more able to deliver us from the "bondage of corruption," than our aspiration is. we found that in spite of the serious stirrings and impulses which sometimes rise within us, we still continue immersed in sense and sin; and we shall also find that in spite of the most solemn and awful fears of which a finite being is capable, we remain bondmen to ourselves, and our sin. the dread that goes down into hell can no more ransom us, than can the aspiration that goes up into heaven. our fear of eternal woe can no more change the heart, than our wish for eternal happiness can. we have, at some periods, faintly wished that lusts and passions had no power over us; and perhaps we have been the subject of still higher aspirings. but we are the same beings, still. we are the same self-willed and self-enslaved sinners, yet. we have all our lifetime feared death, judgment, and eternity, and under the influence of this fear we have sometimes resolved and promised to become christians. but we are the very same beings, still; we are the same self-willed and self-enslaved sinners yet. oh, never is the human spirit more deeply conscious of its bondage to its darling iniquity, than when these paralyzing fears shut down upon it, like night, with "a horror of great darkness." when under their influence, the man feels most thoroughly and wretchedly that his sin is his ruin, and yet his sinful determination continues on, because "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin," has it never happened that, in "the visions of the night when deep sleep falleth upon men," a spirit passed before your face, like that which stood still before the temanite; and there was silence, and a voice saying, "man! man! thou must die, thou must be judged, thou must inhabit eternity?" and when the spirit had departed, and while the tones of its solemn and startling cry were still rolling through your soul, did not a temptation to sin solicit you, and did you not drink in its iniquity like water? have you not found out, by mournful experience, that the most anxious forebodings of the human spirit, the most alarming fears of the human soul, and the most solemn warnings that come forth from eternity, have no prevailing power over your sinful nature, but that immediately after experiencing them, and while your whole being is still quivering under their agonizing touch, you fall, you rush, into sin? have you not discovered that even that most dreadful of all fears,--the fear of the holy wrath of almighty god,--is not strong enough to save you from yourself? do you know that your love of sin has the power to stifle and overcome the mightiest of your fears, when you are strongly tempted to self-indulgence? have you no evidence, in your own experience, of the truth of the poet's words: "the sensual and the dark rebel in vain, slaves by their own compulsion." if, then, you would know that "whosoever committeth sin is the _slave_ of sin," contemplate sin in relation to the fears which of necessity rest upon a spirit capable, as yours is, of knowing that it must leave the body, that it must receive a final sentence at the bar of judgment, and that eternity is its last and fixed dwelling-place. if you would know with sadness and with profit, that sin is the enslavement of the will that originates it, consider that all the distressing fears that have ever been in your soul, from the first, have not been able to set you free in the least from innate depravity: but, that in spite of them all your will has been steadily surrendering itself, more and more, to the evil principle of self-love and enmity to god. call to mind the great fight of anguish and terror which you have sometimes waged with sin, and see how sin has always been victorious. remember that you have often dreaded death,--but you are unjust still. remember that you have often trembled at the thought of eternal judgment,--but you are unregenerate still. remember that you have often started back, when the holy and retributive eternity dawned like the day of doom upon you,--but you are impenitent still. if you view your own personal sin in reference to your own personal fears, are you not a slave to it? will or can your fears, mighty as they sometimes are, deliver you from the bondage of corruption, and lift you above that which you love with all your heart, and strength, and might? it is perfectly plain, then, that "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin," whether we have regard to the feeling of obligation to be perfectly holy which is in the human conscience; or to the ineffectual aspirations which sometimes arise in the human spirit; or to the dreadful fears which often fall upon it. sin must have brought the human will into a real and absolute bondage, if the deep and solemn sense of indebtedness to moral law; if the "thoughts that wander through eternity;" if the aspirations that soar to the heaven of heavens, and the fears that descend to the very bottom of hell,--if all these combined forces and influences cannot free it from its power. it was remarked in the beginning of this discourse, that the bondage of sin is the result of the _reflex_ action of the human will upon itself. it is not a slavery imposed from without, but from within. the bondage of sin is only a _particular aspect_ of sin itself. the element of servitude, like the element of blindness, or hardness, or rebelliousness, is part and particle of that moral evil which deserves the wrath and curse of god. it, therefore, no more excuses or palliates, than does any other self-originated quality in sin. spiritual bondage, like spiritual enmity to god, or spiritual ignorance of him, or spiritual apathy towards him, is guilt and crime. and in closing, we desire to repeat and emphasize this truth. whoever will enter upon that process of self-wrestling and self-conflict which has been described, will come to a profound sense of the truth which our lord taught in the words of the text. all such will find and feel that they are in slavery, and that their slavery is their condemnation. for the anxious, weary, and heavy-laden sinner, the problem is not mysterious, because it finds its solution in the depths of his own _self-consciousness_. he needs no one to clear it up for him, and he has neither doubts nor cavils respecting it. but, an objection always assails that mind which has not the key of an inward moral struggle to unlock the problem for it. when christ asserts that "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin," the easy and indifferent mind is swift to draw the inference that this bondage is its misfortune, and that the poor slave does not deserve to be punished, but to be set free. he says as st. paul did in another connection: "nay verily, but let them come themselves, and fetch us out." but this slavery is a _self_-enslavement. the feet of this man have not been thrust into the stocks by another. this logician must refer everything to its own proper author, and its own proper cause. let this spiritual bondage, therefore, be charged upon the _self_ that originated it. let it be referred to that self-will in which it is wrapped up, and of which it is a constituent element. it is a universally received maxim, that the agent is responsible for the _consequences_ of a voluntary act, as well as for the act itself. if, therefore, the human will has inflicted a suicidal blow upon itself, and one of the consequences of its own determination is a total enslavement of itself to its own determination, then this enslaving _result_ of the act, as well the act itself, must all go in to constitute and swell the sum-total of human guilt. the miserable drunkard, therefore, cannot be absolved from the drunkard's condemnation, upon the plea that by a long series of voluntary acts he has, in the end, so enslaved himself that no power but god's grace can save him. the marble-hearted fiend in hell, the absolutely lost spirit in despair, cannot relieve his torturing sense of guilt, by the reflection that he has at length so hardened his own heart that he cannot repent. the unforced will of a moral being must be held responsible for both its direct, and its _reflex_ action; for both its sin, and its _bondage_ in sin. the denial of guilt, then, is not the way out. he who takes this road "kicks against the goads." and he will find their stabs thickening, the farther he travels, and the nearer he draws to the face and eyes of god. but there is a way out. it is the way of self-knowledge and confession. this is the point upon which all the antecedents of salvation hinge. he who has come to know, with a clear discrimination, that he is in a guilty bondage to his own inclination and lust, has taken the very first step towards freedom. for, the redeemer, the almighty deliverer, is near the captive, so soon as the captive feels his bondage and confesses it. the mighty god walking upon the waves of this sinful, troubled life, stretches out _his_ arm, the very instant any sinking soul cries, "lord save me." and unless that appeal and confession of helplessness _is_ made, he, the merciful and the compassionate, will let the soul go down before his own eyes to the unfathomed abyss. if the sinking peter had not uttered that cry, the mighty hand of christ would not have been stretched forth. all the difficulties disappear, so soon as a man understands the truth of the divine affirmation: "o israel thou hast destroyed thyself,"--it is a real destruction, and it is thy own work,--"but in me is thy help." [footnote : milton: samson agonistes, - .--one key to the solution of the problem, how there can be bondage in the very seat of freedom,--how man can be responsible for sin, yet helpless in it,--is to be found in this fact of a reflex action of the will upon itself, or, a reaction of self-action. philosophical speculation upon the nature of the human will has not, hitherto, taken this fact sufficiently into account. the following extracts corroborate the view presented above. "my _will_ the enemy held, and _thence_ had made a chain for me, and bound me. for, of a perverse _will_ comes _lust_; and a lust yielded to becomes _custom_; and custom not resisted becomes _necessity_. by which links, as it were, joined together as in a chain, a hard bondage held me enthralled." augustine: confessions, viii. v. . "every degree of inclination contrary to duty, which is and must be sinful, implies and involves an equal degree of difficulty and inability to obey. for, indeed, such inclination of the heart to disobey, and the difficulty or inability to obey, are precisely one and the same. this kind of difficulty or inability, therefore, always is great according to the strength and fixedness of the inclination to disobey; and it becomes _total_ and _absolute_ [inability], when the heart is totally corrupt and wholly opposed to obedience.... no man can act contrary to his present inclination or choice. but who ever imagined that this rendered his inclination and choice innocent and blameless, however wrong and unreasonable it might be." samuel hopkins: works, i. - . "moral inability" is the being "unable to be willing." edwards: freedom of the will, part i, sect. iv. "propensities,"--says a writer very different from those above quoted,--"that are easily surmounted lead us unresistingly on; we yield to temptations so trivial that we despise their danger. and so we fall into perilous situations from which we might easily have preserved ourselves, but from which we now find it impossible to extricate ourselves without efforts so superhuman as to terrify us, and we finally fall into the abyss, saying to the almighty, 'why hast thou made me so weak?' but notwithstanding our vain pretext, he addresses our conscience, saying, 'i have made thee _too weak to rise from the pit_, because i made thee _strong enough not to fall therein_." rousseau: confessions, book ii.] [footnote : romans vii. - .] [footnote : some of the schoolmen distinguished carefully between the two things, and denominated the former, _velleitas_, and the latter, _voluntas_.] [footnote : milton: paradise lost, iv. - ; - .] the original and the actual relation of man to law. romans vii. .--"the commandment which, was ordained to life, i found to be unto death." the reader of st. paul's epistles is struck with the seemingly disparaging manner in which he speaks of the moral law. in one place, he tells his reader that "the law entered that the offence might abound;" in another, that "the law worketh wrath;" in another, that "sin shall not have dominion" over the believer because he is "not under the law;" in another, that christians "are become dead to the law;" in another, that "they are delivered from the law;" and in another, that "the strength of sin is the law." this phraseology sounds strangely, respecting that great commandment upon which the whole moral government of god is founded. we are in the habit of supposing that nothing that springs from the divine law, or is in any way connected with it, can be evil or the occasion of evil. if the law of holiness is the strength of sin; if it worketh wrath; if good men are to be delivered from it; what then shall be said of the law of sin? why is it, that st. paul in a certain class of his representations appears to be inimical to the ten commandments, and to warn christians against them? "is the law sin?" is a question that very naturally arises, while reading some of his statements; and it is a question which he himself asks, because he is aware that it will be likely to start in the mind of some of his readers. and it is a question to which he replies: "god forbid. nay i had not known sin, but by the law." the difficulty is only seeming, and not real. these apparently disparaging representations of the moral law are perfectly reconcilable with that profound reverence for its authority which st. paul felt and exhibited, and with that solemn and cogent preaching of the law for which he was so distinguished. the text explains and resolves the difficulty. "the commandment which was ordained to _life_, i found to be unto death." the moral law, in its own _nature_, and by the divine _ordination_, is suited to produce holiness and happiness in the soul of any and every man. it was ordained to life. so far as the purpose of god, and the original nature and character of man, are concerned, the ten commandments are perfectly adapted to fill the soul with peace and purity. in the unfallen creature, they work no wrath, neither are they the strength of sin. if everything in man had remained as it was created, there would have been no need of urging him to "become dead to the law," to be "delivered from the law," and not be "under the law." had man kept his original righteousness, it could never be said of him that "the strength of sin is the law." on the contrary, there was such a mutual agreement between the unfallen nature of man and the holy law of god, that the latter was the very joy and strength of the former. the commandment was ordained to life, and it was the life and peace of holy adam. the original relation between man's nature and the moral law was precisely like that between material nature and the material laws. there has been no apostasy in the system of matter, and all things remain there as they were in the beginning of creation. the law of gravitation, this very instant, rules as peacefully and supremely in every atom of matter, as it did on the morning of creation. should material nature be "delivered" from the law of gravitation, chaos would come again. no portion of this fair and beautiful natural world needs to become "dead" to the laws of nature. such phraseology as this is inapplicable to the relation that exists between the world of matter, and the system of material laws, because, in this material sphere, there has been no revolution, no rebellion, no great catastrophe analogous to the fall of adam. the law here was ordained to life, and the ordinance still stands. and it shall stand until, by the will of the creator, these elements shall melt with fervent heat, and these heavens shall pass away with a great noise; until a new system of nature, and a new legislation for it, are introduced. but the case is different with man. he is not standing where he was, when created. he is out of his original relations to the law and government of god, and therefore that which was ordained to him for life, he now finds to be unto death. the food which in its own nature is suited to minister to the health and strength of the well man, becomes poison and death itself to the sick man. with this brief notice of the fact, that the law of god was ordained to life, and that therefore this disparaging phraseology of st. paul does not refer to the intrinsic nature of law, which he expressly informs us "is holy just and good," nor to the original relation which man sustained to it before he became a sinner, let us now proceed to consider some particulars in which the commandment is found to be unto death, to every _sinful_ man. the law of god shows itself in the human soul, in the form of a _sense of duty_. every man, as he walks these streets, and engages in the business or pleasures of life, hears occasionally the words: "thou shalt; them shalt not." every man, as he passes along in this earthly pilgrimage, finds himself saying to himself: "i ought, i ought not." this is the voice of law sounding in the conscience; and every man may know, whenever he hears these words, that he is listening to the same authority that cut the ten commandments into the stones of sinai, and sounded that awful trumpet, and will one day come in power and great glory to judge the quick and dead. law, we say, expresses itself for man, while here upon earth, through the sense of duty. "a sense of duty pursues us ever," said webster, in that impressive allusion to the workings of conscience, in the trial of the salem murderers. this is the accusing and condemning _sensation_, in and by which the written statute of god becomes a living energy, and a startling voice in the soul. cut into the rock of sinai, it is a dead letter; written and printed in our bibles, it is still a dead letter; but wrought in this manner into the fabric of our own constitution, waylaying us in our hours of weakness, and irresolution, and secrecy, and speaking to our inward being in tones that are as startling as any that could be addressed to the physical ear,--undergoing this transmutation, and becoming a continual consciousness of duty and obligation, the law of god is more than a letter. it is a possessing spirit, and according as we obey or disobey, it is a guardian angel, or a tormenting fiend. we have disobeyed, and therefore the sense of duty is a tormenting sensation; the commandment which was ordained to life, is found to be unto death. i. in the first place, to go into the analysis, the sense of duty is a sorrow and a pain to sinful man, because it _places him under a continual restraint_. no creature can be happy, so long as he feels himself under limitations. to be checked, reined in, and thwarted in any way, renders a man uneasy and discontented. the universal and instinctive desire for freedom,--freedom from restraint,--is a proof of this. every creature wishes to follow out his inclination, and in proportion as he is hindered in so doing, and is compelled to work counter to it, he is restless and dissatisfied. now the sense of duty exerts just this influence, upon sinful man. it opposes his wishes; it thwarts his inclination; it imposes a restraint upon his spontaneous desires and appetites. it continually hedges up his way, and seeks to stop him in the path of his choice and his pleasure. if his inclination were only in harmony with his duty; if his desires and affections were one with the law of god; there would be no restraint from the law. in this case, the sense of duty would be a joy and not a sorrow, because, in doing his duty, he would be doing what he liked. there are only two ways, whereby contentment can be introduced into the human soul. if the divine law could be altered so that it should agree with man's sinful inclination, he could be happy in sin. the commandment having become like his own heart, there would, of course, be no conflict between the two, and he might sin on forever and lap himself in elysium. and undoubtedly there are thousands of luxurious and guilty men, who, if they could, like the eastern semiramis, would make lust and law alike in their decree;[ ] would transmute the law of holiness into a law of sin; would put evil for good, and good for evil, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter; in order to be eternally happy in the sin that they love. they would bring duty and inclination into harmony, by a method that would annihilate duty, would annihilate the eternal distinction between right and wrong, would annihilate god himself. but this method, of course, is impossible. there can be no transmutation of law, though there can be of a creature's character and inclination. heaven and earth shall pass away, but the commandment of god can never pass away. the only other mode, therefore, by which duty and inclination can be brought into agreement, and the continual sense of restraint which renders man so wretched be removed, is to change the inclination. the instant the desires and affections of our hearts are transformed, so that they accord with the divine law, the conflict between our will and our conscience is at an end. when i come to love the law of holiness and delight in it, to obey it is simply to follow out my inclination. and this, we have seen, is to be happy. but such is not the state of things, in the unrenewed soul. duty and inclination are in conflict. man's desires appetites and tendencies are in one direction, and his conscience is in the other. the sense of duty holds a whip over him. he yields to his sinful inclination, finds a momentary pleasure in so doing, and then feels the stings of the scorpion-lash. we see this operation in a very plain and striking manner, if we select an instance where the appetite is very strong, and the voice of conscience is very loud. take, for example, that particular sin which most easily besets an individual. every man has such a sin, and knows what it is, let him call to mind the innumerable instances in which that particular temptation has assailed him, and he will be startled to discover how many thousands of times the sense of duty has put a restraint upon him. though not in every single instance, yet in hundreds and hundreds of cases, the law of god has uttered the, "thou shalt not," and endeavored to prevent the consummation of that sin. and what a wearisome experience is this. a continual forth-putting of an unlawful desire, and an almost incessant check upon it, from a law which is hated but which is feared. for such is the attitude of the natural heart toward the commandment. "the carnal mind is _enmity_ against the law of god." the two are contrary to one another; so that when the heart goes out in its inclination, it is immediately hindered and opposed by the law. sometimes the collision between them is terrible, and the soul becomes; an arena of tumultuous passions. the heart and will are intensely determined to do wrong, while the conscience is unyielding and uncompromising, and utters its denunciations, and thunders its warnings. and what a dreadful destiny awaits that soul, in whom this conflict and collision between the dictates of conscience, and the desires of the heart, is to be eternal! for whom, through all eternity, the holy law of god, which was ordained to life peace and joy, shall be found to be unto death and woe immeasurable! ii. in the second place, the sense of duty is a pain and sorrow to a sinful man, because it _demands a perpetual effort_ from him. no creature likes to tug, and to lift. service must be easy, in order to be happy. if you lay upon the shoulders of a laborer a burden that strains his muscles almost to the point of rupture, you put him in physical pain. his physical structure was not intended to be subjected to such a stretch. his creator designed that the burden should be proportioned to the power, in such a manner that work should be play. in the garden of eden, physical labor was physical pleasure, because the powers were in healthy action, and the work assigned to them was not a burden. before the fall, man was simply to dress and keep a garden; but after the fall, he was to dig up thorns and thistles, and eat his bread in the sweat of his face. this is a _curse_,--the curse of being compelled to toil, and lift, and put the muscle to such a tension that it aches. this is not the original and happy condition of the body, in which man was created. look at the toiling millions of the human family, who like the poor ant "for one small grain, labor, and tug, and strive;" see them bending double, under the heavy weary load which they must carry until relieved by death; and tell me if this is the physical elysium, the earthly paradise, in which unfallen man was originally placed, and for which he was originally designed. no, the curse of labor, of perpetual effort, has fallen upon the body, as the curse of death has fallen upon the soul; and the uneasiness and unrest of the groaning and struggling body is a convincing proof of it. the whole physical nature of man groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, waiting for the adoption, that is the _redemption of the body_ from this penal necessity of perpetual strain and effort. the same fact meets us when we pass from the physical to the moral nature of man, and becomes much more sad and impressive. by creation, it was a pleasure and a pastime for man to keep the law of god, to do spiritual work. as created, he was not compelled to summon his energies, and strain his will, and make a convulsive resolution to obey the commands of his maker. obedience was joy. holy adam knew nothing of _effort_ in the path of duty. it was a smooth and broad pathway, fringed with flowers, and leading into the meadows of asphodel. it did not become the "straight and narrow" way, until sin had made obedience a toil, the sense of duty a restraint, and human life a race and a fight. by apostasy, the obligation to keep the divine law perfectly, became repulsive. it was no longer easy for man to do right; and it has never been easy or spontaneous to him since. hence, the attempt to follow the dictates of conscience always costs an unregenerate man an effort. he is compelled to make a resolution; and a resolution is the sign and signal of a difficult and unwelcome service. take your own experience for an illustration. did you ever, except as you were sweetly inclined and drawn by the renewing grace of god, attempt to discharge a duty, without discovering that you were averse to it, and that you must gather up your energies for the work, as the leaper strains upon the tendon of achilles to make the mortal leap. and if you had not become weary, and given over the effort; if you had entered upon that sad but salutary passage in the religious experience which is delineated in the seventh chapter of romans; if you had continued to struggle and strive to do your duty, until you grew faint and weak, and powerless, and cried out for a higher and mightier power to succor you; you would have known, as you do not yet, what a deadly opposition there is between the carnal mind and the law of god, and what a spasmodic effort it costs an unrenewed man even to _attempt_ to discharge the innumerable obligations that rest upon him. mankind would know more of this species of toil and labor, and of the cleaving curse involved in it, if they were under the same physical necessity in regard to it, that they lie under in respect to manual labor. a man _must_ dig up the thorns and thistles, he _must_ earn his bread in the sweat of his face, or he must die. physical wants, hunger and thirst, set men to work physically, and keep them at it; and thus they well understand what it is to have a weary body, aching muscles, and a tired physical nature. but they are not under the same species of necessity, in respect to the wants and the work of the soul. a man may neglect these, and yet live a long and luxurious life upon the earth. he is not driven by the very force of circumstances, to labor with his heart and will, as he is to labor with his hands. and hence he knows little or nothing of a weary and heavy-laden soul; nothing of an aching heart and a tired will. he well knows how much strain and effort it costs to cut down forests, open roads, and reduce the wilderness to a fertile field; but he does not know how much toil and effort are involved, in the attempt to convert the human soul into the garden of the lord. now in this demand for a _perpetual effort_ which is made upon the natural man, by the sense of duty, we see that the law which was ordained to life is found to be unto death. the commandment, instead of being a pleasant friend and companion to the human soul, as it was in the beginning, has become a strict rigorous task-master. it lays out an uncongenial work for sinful man to do, and threatens him with punishment and woe if he does not do it. and yet the law is not a tyrant. it is holy, just, and good. this work which it lays out is righteous work, and ought to be done. the wicked disinclination and aversion of the sinner have compelled the law to assume this unwelcome and threatening attitude. that which is good was not made death to man by god's agency, and by a divine arrangement, but by man's transgression.[ ] sin produces this misery in the human soul, through an instrument that is innocent, and in its own nature benevolent and kind. apostasy, the rebellion and corruption of the human heart, has converted the law of god into an exacting task-master and an avenging magistrate. for the law says to every man what st. paul says of the magistrate: "rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. wilt thou, then, not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. for he is the minister of god to thee for good: _but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid_." if man were only conformed to the law; if the inclination of his heart were only in harmony with his sense of duty; the ten commandments would not be accompanied with any thunders or lightnings, and the discharge of duty would be as easy, spontaneous, and as much without effort, as the practice of sin now is. thus have we considered two particulars in which the divine law, originally intended to render man happy, and intrinsically adapted to do so, now renders him miserable. the commandment which was ordained to life, he now finds to be unto death, because it places him under a continual restraint, and drives him to a perpetual effort. these two particulars, we need not say, are not all the modes in which sin has converted the moral law from a joy to a sorrow. we have not discussed the great subject of guilt and penalty. this violated law charges home the past disobedience and threatens an everlasting damnation, and thus fills the sinful soul with fears and forebodings. in this way, also, the law becomes a terrible organ and instrument of misery, and is found to be unto death. but the limits of this discourse compel us to stop the discussion here, and to deduce some practical lessons which are suggested by it. . in the first place, we are taught by the subject, as thus considered, that _the mere sense of duty is not christianity_. if this is all that a man is possessed of, he is not prepared for the day of judgment, and the future life. for the sense of duty, alone and by itself, causes misery in a soul that has not performed its duty. the law worketh wrath, in a creature who has not obeyed the law. the man that doeth these things shall indeed live by them; but he who has not done them must die by them. there have been, and still are, great mistakes made at this point. men have supposed that an active conscience, and a lofty susceptibility towards right and wrong, will fit them to appear before god, and have, therefore, rejected christ the propitiation. they have substituted ethics for the gospel; natural religion for revealed. "i know," says immanuel kant, "of but two beautiful things; the starry heavens above my head, and the sense of duty within my heart."[ ] but, is the sense of duty _beautiful_ to apostate man? to a being who is not conformed to it? does the holy law of god overarch him like the firmament, "tinged with a blue of heavenly dye, and starred with sparkling gold?" nay, nay. if there be any beauty in the condemning law of god, for man the _transgressor_, it is the beauty of the lightnings. there is a splendor in them, but there is a terror also. not until he who is the end of the law for righteousness has clothed me with his panoply, and shielded me from their glittering shafts in the clefts of the rock, do i dare to look at them, as they leap from crag to crag, and shine from the east even unto the west. we do not deny that the consciousness of responsibility is a lofty one, and are by no means insensible to the grand and swelling sentiments concerning the moral law, and human duty, to which this noble thinker gives utterance.[ ] but we are certain that if the sense of duty had pressed upon him to the degree that it did upon st. paul; had the commandment "come" to him with the convicting energy that it did to st. augustine, and to pascal; he too would have discovered that the law which was ordained to life is found to be unto death. so long as man stands at a distance from the moral law, he can admire its glory and its beauty; but when it comes close to him; when it comes home to him; when it becomes a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; then its glory is swallowed up in its terror, and its beauty is lost in its truth. then he who was alive without the law becomes slain by the law. then this ethical admiration of the decalogue is exchanged for an evangelical trust in jesus christ. . and this leads us to remark, in the second place, that this subject shows _the meaning of christ's work of redemption_. the law for an alienated and corrupt soul is a burden. it cannot be otherwise; for it imposes a perpetual restraint, urges up to an unwelcome duty, and charges home a fearful guilt. christ is well named the _redeemer_, because he frees the sinful soul from all this. he delivers it from the penalty, by assuming it all upon himself, and making complete satisfaction to the broken law. he delivers it from the perpetual restraint and the irksome effort, by so renewing and changing the heart that it becomes a delight to keep the law. we observed, in the first part of the discourse, that if man could only bring the inclination of his heart into agreement with his sense of duty, he would be happy in obeying, and the consciousness of restraint and of hateful effort would disappear. this is precisely what christ accomplishes by his spirit. he brings the human heart into harmony with the divine law, as it was in the beginning, and thus rescues it from its bondage and its toil. obedience becomes a pleasure, and the service of god, the highest christian liberty. oh, would that by the act of faith, you might experience this liberating effect of the redemption that is in christ jesus. so long as you are out of christ, you are under a burden that will every day grow heavier, and may prove to be fixed and unremovable as the mountains. that is a fearful punishment which the poet dante represents as being inflicted upon those who were guilty of pride. the poor wretches are compelled to support enormous masses of stone which bend them over to the ground, and, in his own stern phrase, "crumple up their knees into their breasts." thus they stand, stooping over, every muscle trembling, the heavy stone weighing them down, and yet they are not permitted to fall, and rest themselves upon the earth.[ ] in this crouching posture, they must carry the weary heavy load without relief, and with a distress so great that, in the poet's own language, "it seemed as he, who showed most patience in his look, wailing exclaimed: i can endure no more."[ ] such is the posture of man unredeemed. there is a burden on him, under which he stoops and crouches. it is a burden compounded of guilt and corruption. it is lifted off by christ, and by christ only. the soul itself can never expiate its guilt; can never cleanse its pollution. we urge you, once more, to the act of faith in the redeemer of the world. we beseech you, once more, to make "the redemption that is in christ jesus" your own. the instant you plead the merit of christ's oblation, in simple confidence in its atoning efficacy, that instant the heavy burden is lifted off by an almighty hand, and your curved, stooping, trembling, aching form once more stands erect, and you walk abroad in the liberty wherewith christ makes the human creature free. [footnote : "she in vice of luxury was so shameless, that she made liking to be lawful by promulged decree, to clear the blame she had herself incurr'd." dante: inferno, v. .] [footnote : romans vii. , .] [footnote : kant: kritik der praktischen vernunft (beschlusz).--de stael's rendering, which is so well known, and which i have employed, is less guarded than the original.] [footnote : compare the fine apostrophe to duty. praktische vernunft, p. , (ed. rosenkranz.)] [footnote : "let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway." rom. xi. .] [footnote : dante: purgatory x. - .] the sin of omission. matthew xix. .--"the young man saith unto him, all these things have i kept from my youth up: what lack i yet?" the narrative from which the text is taken is familiar to all readers of the bible. a wealthy young man, of unblemished morals and amiable disposition, came to our lord, to inquire his opinion respecting his own good estate. he asked what good thing he should do, in order to inherit eternal life. the fact that he applied to christ at all, shows that he was not entirely at rest in his own mind. he could truly say that he had kept the ten commandments from his youth up, in an outward manner; and yet he was ill at ease. he was afraid that when the earthly life was over, he might not be able to endure the judgment of god, and might fail to enter into that happy paradise of which the old testament scriptures so often speak, and of which he had so often read, in them. this young man, though a moralist, was not a self-satisfied or a self-conceited one. for, had he been like the pharisee a thoroughly blinded and self-righteous person, like him he never would have approached jesus of nazareth, to obtain his opinion respecting his own religious character and prospects. like him, he would have scorned to ask our lord's judgment upon any matters of religion. like the pharisees, he would have said, "we see,"[ ] and the state of his heart and his future prospects would have given him no anxiety. but he was not a conceited and presumptuous pharisee. he was a serious and thoughtful person, though not a pious and holy one. for, he did not love god more than he loved his worldly possessions. he had not obeyed that first and great command, upon which hang all the law and the prophets, conformity to which, alone, constitutes righteousness: "thou shalt _love_ the lord thy god with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind, and all thy strength." he was not right at heart, and was therefore unprepared for death and judgment. this he seems to have had some dim apprehension of. for why, if he had felt that his external morality was a solid rock for his feet to stand upon, why should he have betaken himself to jesus of nazareth, to ask: "what lack i yet?" it was not what he had done, but what he had left undone, that wakened fears and forebodings in this young ruler's mind. the outward observance of the ten commandments was right and well in its own way and place; but the failure to obey, from the heart, the first and great command was the condemnation that rested upon him. he probably knew this, in some measure. he was not confidently certain of eternal life; and therefore he came to the great teacher, hoping to elicit from him an answer that would quiet his conscience, and allow him to repose upon his morality while he continued to love this world supremely. the great teacher pierced him with an arrow. he said to him, "if them wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." this direction showed him what he _lacked_. this incident leads us to consider the condemnation that rests upon every man, for his _failure_ in duty; the guilt that cleaves to him, on account of what he has _not_ done. the westminster catechism defines sin to be "any _want of conformity_ unto, or any transgression of, the law of god." not to be conformed, in the heart, to the law and will of god, is as truly sin, as positively to steal, or positively to commit murder. failure to come up to the line of rectitude is as punishable, as to step over that line. god requires of his creature that he stand squarely _upon_ the line of righteousness; if therefore he is off that line, because he has not come up to it, he is as guilty as when he transgresses, or passes across it, upon the other side. this is the reason that the sin of omission is as punishable as the sin of commission. in either case alike, the man is off the line of rectitude. hence, in the final day, man will be condemned for what he lacks, for what he comes short of, in moral character. want of conformity to the divine law as really conflicts with the divine law, as an overt transgression does, because it carries man off and away from it. one of the greek words for sin [greek: (amurtanein)] signifies, to miss the mark. when the archer shoots at the target, he as really fails to strike it, if his arrow falls short of it, as when he shoots over and beyond it. if he strains upon the bow with such a feeble force, that the arrow drops upon the ground long before it comes up to the mark, his shot is as total a failure, as when he strains upon the bow-string with all his force, but owing to an ill-directed aim sends his weapon into the air. one of the new testament terms for sin contains this figure and illustration, in its etymology. sin is a want of conformity unto, a failure to come clear up to, the line and mark prescribed by god, as well a violent and forcible breaking over and beyond the line and the mark. the _lack_ of holy love, the _lack_ of holy fear, the _lack_ of filial trust and confidence in god,--the negative absence of these and other qualities in the heart is as truly sin and guilt, as is the positive and open violation of a particular commandment, in the act of theft, or lying, or sabbath-breaking. we propose, then, to direct attention to that form and aspect of human depravity which consists in coming short of the aim and end presented to man by his maker,--that form and aspect of sin which is presented in the young ruler's inquiry: "what lack i yet?" it is a comprehensive answer to this question to say, that every natural man lacks _sincere and filial love of god_. this was the sin of the moral, but worldly, the amiable, but earthly-minded, young man. endow him, in your fancy, with all the excellence you please, it still lies upon the face of the narrative, that he loved money more than he loved the lord god almighty. when the son of god bade him go and sell his property, and give it to the poor, and then come and follow him as a docile disciple like peter and james and john, he went away sad in his mind; for he had great possessions. this was a reasonable requirement, though a very trying one. to command a young man of wealth and standing immediately to strip himself of all his property, to leave the circle in which he had been born and brought up, and to follow the son of man, who had not where to lay his head, up and down through palestine, through good report and through evil report,--to put such a burden upon such a young man was to lay him under a very heavy load. looking at it from a merely human and worldly point of view, it is not strange that the young ruler declined to take it upon his shoulders; though he felt sad in declining, because he had the misgiving that in declining he was sealing his doom. but, had he _loved_ the lord god with all his heart; had he been _conformed unto_ the first and great command, in his heart and affections; had he not _lacked_ a spiritual and filial affection towards his maker; he would have obeyed. for, the circumstances under which this command was given must be borne in mind. it issued directly from the lips of the son of god himself. it was not an ordinary call of providence, in the ordinary manner in which god summons man to duty. there is reason to suppose that the young ruler knew and felt that christ had authority to give such directions. we know not what were precisely his views of the person and office of jesus of nazareth; but the fact that he came to him seeking instruction respecting the everlasting kingdom of god and the endless life of the soul, and the yet further fact that he went away in sadness because he did not find it in his heart to obey the instructions that he had received, prove that he was at least somewhat impressed with the divine authority of our lord. for, had he regarded him as a mere ordinary mortal, knowing no more than any other man concerning the eternal kingdom of god, why should his words have distressed him? had this young ruler taken the view of our lord which was held by the scribes and pharisees, like them he would never have sought instruction from him in a respectful and sincere manner; and, like them, he would have replied to the command to strip himself of all his property, leave the social circles to which he belonged, and follow the despised nazarene, with the curling lip of scorn. he would not have gone away in sorrow, but in contempt. we must assume, therefore, that this young ruler felt that the person with whom he was conversing, and who had given him this extraordinary command, had authority to give it. we do not gather from the narrative that he doubted upon this point. had he doubted, it would have relieved the sorrow with which his mind was disturbed. he might have justified his refusal to obey, by the consideration that this jesus of nazareth had no right to summon him, or any other man, to forsake the world and attach himself to his person and purposes, if any such consideration had entered his mind. no, the sorrow, the deep, deep sorrow and sadness, with which he went away to the beggarly elements of his houses and his lands, proves that he knew too well that this wonderful being who was working miracles, and speaking words of wisdom that never man spake, had indeed authority and right to say to him, and to every other man, "go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." though the command was indeed an extraordinary one, it was given in an extraordinary manner, by an extraordinary being. that young ruler was not required to do any more than you and i would be obligated to do, _in the same circumstances_. it is indeed true, that in the _ordinary_ providence of god, you and i are not summoned to sell all our possessions, and distribute them to the poor, and to go up and down the streets of this city, or up and down the high-ways and by-ways of the land, as missionaries of christ. but if the call were _extra-ordinary_,--if the heavens should open above our heads, and a voice from the skies should command us in a manner not to be doubted or disputed to do this particular thing, we ought immediately to do it. and if the love of god were in our hearts; if we were inwardly "conformed unto" the divine law; if there were nothing lacking in our religious character; we should obey with the same directness and alacrity with which peter and andrew, and james and john, left their nets and their fishing-boat, their earthly avocations, their fathers and their fathers' households, and followed christ to the end of their days. in the present circumstances of the church and the world, christians must follow the ordinary indications of divine providence; and though these do unquestionably call upon them to make far greater sacrifices for the cause of christ than they now make, yet they do not call upon them to sell _all_ that they have, and give it to the poor. but they ought to be ready and willing to do so, in case god by any remarkable and direct expression should indicate that this is his will and pleasure. should our lord, for illustration, descend again, and in his own person say to his people, as he did to the young ruler: "sell all that ye have, and give to the poor, and go up and down the earth preaching the gospel," it would be the duty of every rich christian to strip himself of all his riches, and of every poor christian to make himself yet poorer, and of the whole church to adopt the same course that was taken by the early christians, who "had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men, as every man had need." the direct and explicit command of the lord jesus christ to do any particular thing must be obeyed at all hazards, and at all cost. should he command any one of his disciples to lay down his life, or to undergo a severe discipline and experience in his service, he must be obeyed. this is what he means when he says, "if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. and whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (luke xiv. , ). the young ruler was subjected to this test. it was his privilege,--and it was a great privilege,--to see the son of god face to face; to hear his words of wisdom and authority; to know without any doubt or ambiguity what particular thing god would have him do. and he refused to do it. he was moral; he was amiable; but he refused _point-blank_ to obey the direct command of god addressed to him from the very lips of god. it was with him as it would be with us, if the sky should open over our heads, and the son of god should descend, and with his own lips should command us to perform a particular service, and we should be disobedient to the heavenly vision, and should say to the eternal son of god: "we will not." think you that there is nothing _lacking_ in such a character as this? is this religious perfection? is such a heart as this "conformed unto" the law and will of god? if, then, we look into the character of the young ruler, we perceive that there was in it no supreme affection for god. on the contrary, he loved _himself_ with all his heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. even his religious anxiety, which led him to our lord for his opinion concerning his good estate, proved to be a merely selfish feeling. he desired immortal felicity beyond the tomb,--and the most irreligious man upon earth desires this,--but he did not possess such an affection for god as inclined, and enabled, him to obey his explicit command to make a sacrifice of his worldly possessions for his glory. and this lack of supreme love to god was _sin_. it was a deviation from the line of eternal rectitude and righteousness, as really and truly as murder, adultery, or theft, or any outward breach of any of those commandments which he affirmed he had kept from his youth up. this coming short of the divine honor and glory was as much contrary to the divine law, as any overt transgression of it could be. for love is the fulfilling of the law. the whole law, according to christ, is summed up and contained, in these words: "thou shall _love_ the lord thy god with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself." to be destitute of this heavenly affection is, therefore, to break the law at the very centre and in the very substance of it. men tell us, like this young ruler, that they do not murder, lie, or steal,--that they observe all the commandments of the second table pertaining to man and their relations to man,--and ask, "what lack we yet?" alexander pope, in the most brilliant and polished poetry yet composed by human art, sums up the whole of human duty in the observance of the rules and requirements of civil morality, and affirms that "an honest man is the noblest work of god." but is this so? has religion reached its last term, and ultimate limit, when man respects the rights of property? is a person who keeps his hands off the goods and chattels of his fellow-creature really qualified for the heavenly state, by reason of this fact and virtue of honesty? has he attained the chief end of man?[ ] even if we could suppose a perfect obedience of all the statutes of the second table, while those of the first table were disobeyed; even if one could fulfil all his obligations to his neighbor, while failing in all his obligations to his maker; even if we should concede a perfect morality, without any religion; would it be true that this morality, or obedience of only one of the two tables that cover the whole field of human duty, is sufficient to prepare man for the everlasting future, and the immediate presence of god? who has informed man that the first table of the law is of no consequence; and that if he only loves his neighbor as himself, he need not love his maker supremely? no! affection in the heart towards the great and glorious god is the sum and substance of religion, and whoever is destitute of it is irreligious and sinful in the inmost spirit, and in the highest degree. his fault relates to the most excellent and worthy being in the universe. he comes short of his duty, in reference to that being who _more than any other one_ is entitled to his love and his services. we say, and we say correctly, that if a man fails of fulfilling his obligations towards those who have most claims upon him, he is more culpable than when he fails of his duty towards those who have less claims upon him. if a son comes short of his duty towards an affectionate and self-sacrificing mother, we say it is a greater fault, than if he comes short of his duty to a fellow-citizen. the parent is nearer to him than the citizen, and he owes unto her a warmer affection of his heart, and a more active service of his life, than he owes to his fellow-citizen. what would be thought of that son who should excuse his neglect, or ill-treatment, of the mother that bore him, upon the ground that he had never cheated a fellow-man and had been scrupulous in all his mercantile transactions! this but feebly illustrates the relation which every man sustains to god, and the claim which god has upon every man. our first duty and obligation relates to our maker. our fellow-creatures have claims upon us; the dear partners of our blood have claims upon us; our own personality, with its infinite destiny for weal or woe, has claims upon us. but no one of these; not all of them combined; have upon us that _first_ claim, which god challenges for himself. social life,--the state or the nation to which we belong,--cannot say to us: "thou shalt love me with all thy heart, and soul, and mind, and strength." the family, which is bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, cannot say to us: "thou shalt love us, with all thy soul, mind, heart, and strength." even our own deathless and priceless soul cannot say to us: "thou shalt love me supremely, and before all other beings and things." but the infinite and adorable god, the being that made us, and has redeemed us, can of right demand that we love and honor him first of all, and chiefest of all. there are two thoughts suggested by the subject which we have been considering, to which we now invite candid attention. . in the first place, this subject _convicts every man of sin_. our lord, by his searching reply to the young ruler's question, "what lack i yet?" sent him away very sorrowful; and what man, in any age and country, can apply the same test to himself, without finding the same unwillingness to sell all that he has and give to the poor,--the same indisposition to obey any and every command of god that crosses his natural inclinations? every natural man, as he subjects his character to such a trial as that to which the young ruler was subjected, will discover as he did that he lacks supreme love of god, and like him, if he has any moral earnestness; if he feels at all the obligation of duty; will go away very sorrowful, because he perceives very plainly the conflict between his will and his conscience. how many a person, in the generations that have already gone to the judgment-seat of christ, and in the generation that is now on the way thither, has been at times brought face to face with the great and first command, "thou shall love the lord thy god with all thy heart," and by some particular requirement has been made conscious of his utter opposition to that great law. some special duty was urged upon him, by the providence, or the word, or the spirit of god, that could not be performed unless his will were subjected to god's will, and unless his love for himself and the world were subordinated to his love of his maker. if a young man, perhaps he was commanded to consecrate his talents and education to a life of philanthropy and service of god in the gospel, instead of a life devoted to secular and pecuniary aims. god said to him, by his providence, and by conscience, "go teach my gospel to the perishing; go preach my word, to the dying and the lost." but he loved worldly ease pleasure and reputation more than he loved god; and he refused, and went away sorrowful, because this poor world looked very bright and alluring, and the path of self-denial and duty looked very forbidding. or, if he was a man in middle life, perhaps he was commanded to abate his interest in plans for the accumulation of wealth, to contract his enterprises, to give attention to the concerns of his soul and the souls of his children, to make his own peace with god, and to consecrate the remainder of his life to christ and to human welfare; and when this plain and reasonable course of conduct was dictated to him, he found his whole heart rising up against the proposition. our lord, alluding to the fact that there was nothing in common between his spirit, and the spirit of satan, said to his disciples, "the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (john xiv. ). so, when the command to love god supremely comes to this man of the world, in any particular form, "it hath nothing in him." this first and great law finds no ready and genial response within his heart, but on the contrary a recoil within his soul as if some great monster had started up in his pathway. he says, in his mind, to the proposition: "anything but that;" and, with the young ruler, he goes away sorrowful, because he knows that refusal is perdition. is there not a wonderful power to _convict_ of sin, in this test? if you try yourself, as the young man did, by the command, "thou shalt not kill," "thou shalt not steal," "thou shalt not commit adultery," you may succeed, perhaps, in quieting your conscience, to some extent, and in possessing yourself of the opinion of your fitness for the kingdom of god. but ask yourself the question, "do i love god supremely, and am i ready and willing to do any and every particular thing that he shall command me to do, even if it is plucking out a right eye, or cutting off a right hand, or selling all my goods to give to the poor?" try yourself by _this_ test, and see if you lack anything in your moral character. when this thorough and proper touch-stone of character is applied, there is not found upon earth a just man that doeth good and sinneth not. every human creature, by this test is concluded under sin. every man is found, lacking in what he ought to possess, when the words of the commandment are sounded in his ear: "thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind, and all thy strength." this sum and substance of the divine law, upon which hang all the other laws, convinces every man of sin. for there is no escaping its force. love of god is a distinct and definite feeling, and every person knows whether he ever experienced it. every man knows whether it is, or is not, an affection of his heart; and he knows that if it be wanting, the foundation of religion is wanting in his soul, and the sum and substance of sin is there. . and this leads to the second and concluding thought suggested, by the subject, namely, that _except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god._ if there be any truth in the discussion through which we have passed, it is plain and incontrovertible, that to be destitute of holy love to god is a departure and deviation from the moral law. it is a coming short of the great requirement that rests upon every accountable creature of god, and this is as truly sin and guilt as any violent and open passing over and beyond the line of rectitude. the sin of omission is as deep and damning as the sin of commission. "forgive,"--said the dying archbishop usher,--"forgive all my sins, especially my sins of omission." but, how is this lack to be supplied? how is this great hiatus in human character to be filled up? how shall the fountain of holy and filial affection towards god be made to gush up into everlasting life, within your now unloving and hostile heart? there is no answer to this question of questions, but in the person and work of the holy ghost. if god shall shed abroad his love in your heart, by the holy ghost which is given unto you, you will know the blessedness of a new affection; and will be able to say with peter, "thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee." you are shut up to this method, and this influence. to generate within yourself this new spiritual emotion which you have never yet felt, is utterly impossible. yet you must get it, or religion, is impossible, and immortal life is impossible. would that you might feel your straits, and your helplessness. would that you might perceive your total lack of supreme love of god, as the young ruler perceived his; and would that, unlike him, instead, of going away from the son of god, you would go to him, crying, "lord create within me a clean heart, and renew within me a right spirit." then the problem would be solved, and having peace with god through the blood of christ, the love of god would be shed abroad in your hearts, through the holy ghost given unto you. [footnote : john ix. .] [footnote : even if we should widen the meaning of the word "honest," in the above-mentioned dictum of pope, and make it include the latin "honestum," the same objection would lie against dictum. honor and high-mindedness towards man is not love and reverence towards god. the spirit of chivalry is not the spirit of christianity.] the sinfulness of original sin. matthew xix. .--"the young man saith unto him, all these things have i kept from my youth up: what lack i yet?" in the preceding discourse from these words, we discussed that form and aspect of sin which consists in "coming short" of the divine law; or, as the westminster creed states it, in a "want of conformity" unto it. the deep and fundamental sin of the young ruler, we found, lay in what he lacked. when our lord tested him, he proved to be utterly destitute of love to god. his soul was a complete vacuum, in reference to that great holy affection which fills the hearts of all the good beings before the throne of god, and without which no creature can stand, or will wish to stand, in the divine presence. the young ruler, though outwardly moral and amiable, when searched in the inward parts was found wanting in the sum and substance of religion. he did not love god; and he did love himself and his possessions. what man has omitted to do, what man is destitute of,--this is a species of sin which he does not sufficiently consider, and which is weighing him down to perdition. the unregenerate person when pressed to repent of his sins, and believe on the lord jesus christ, often beats back the kind effort, by a question like that which pilate put to the infuriated jews: "why, what evil have i done?" it is the subject of his actual and overt transgressions that comes first into his thoughts, and, like the young ruler, he tells his spiritual friend and adviser that he has kept all the commandments from his youth up. the conviction of sin would be more common if the natural man would consider his _failures_; if he would look into his heart and perceive what he is _destitute_ of, and into his conduct and see what he has left _undone_. in pursuing this subject, we propose to show, still further, the guiltiness of every man, from the fact that he _lacks the original righteousness that once belonged to him_. we shall endeavor to prove that every child of adam is under condemnation, or, in the words of christ, that "the wrath of god abides upon him" (john iii. ), because he is not possessed of that pure and perfect character which, his maker gave him in the beginning. man is culpable for not continuing to stand upon the high and sinless position, in which he was originally placed. when the young ruler's question is put to the natural man, and the inquiry is made as to his defects and deficiency, it is invariably discovered that he lacks the image of god in which he was created. and for a rational being to be destitute of the image of god is sin, guilt, and condemnation, because every rational being has once received this image. god has the right to demand from every one of his responsible creatures, all that the creature _might_ be, had he retained possession of the endowments which he received at creation, and had he employed them with fidelity. the perfect gifts and capacities originally bestowed upon man, and not the mutilated and damaged powers subsequently arising from a destructive act of self-will, furnish the proper rule of measurement, in estimating human merit or demerit. the faculties of intelligence and will as _unfallen_, and not as fallen, determine the amount of holiness and of service that may be demanded, upon principles of strict justice, from every individual. all that man "comes short" of this is so much sin, guilt, and condemnation. when the great sovereign and judge looks down from his throne of righteousness and equity, upon any one of the children of men, he considers what that creature was by _creation_, and compares his present character and conduct with the character with which he was originally endowed, and the conduct that would naturally have flowed therefrom. god made man holy and perfect. god created man in his own image (gen. i. ), "endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, having the law of god written in his heart, and power to fulfil it." this is the statement of the creed which we accept as a fair and accurate digest of the teachings of revelation, respecting the primitive character of man, and his original righteousness. and all evangelical creeds, however they may differ from each other in their definitions of original righteousness, and their estimate of the perfections and powers granted to man by creation, do yet agree that he stood higher when he came from the hand of god than he now stands; that man's actual character and conduct do not come up to man's created power and capacities. solemn and condemning as it is, it is yet a fact, that inasmuch as every man was originally made in the holy image of god, he ought, this very instant to be perfectly holy. he ought to be standing upon a position that is as high above his actual position, as the heavens are high above the earth. he ought to be possessed of a moral perfection without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. he ought to be as he was, when created in righteousness and true holiness. he ought to be dwelling high up on those lofty and glorious heights where he was stationed by the benevolent hand of his maker, instead of wallowing in those low depths where he has fallen by an act of apostasy and rebellion. nothing short of this satisfies the obligations that are resting upon him. an imperfect holiness, such as the christian is possessed of while here upon earth, does not come up to the righteous requirement of the moral law; and certainly that kind of moral character which belongs to the natural man is still farther off from the sum-total that is demanded. let us press this truth, that we may feel its convicting and condemning energy. when our maker speaks to us upon the subject of his claims and our obligations, he tells us that when we came forth from nonentity into existence, from his hand, we were well endowed, and well furnished. he tells us distinctly, that he did not create us the depraved and sinful beings that we now are. he tells us that these earthly affections, this carnal mind, this enmity towards the divine law, this disinclination towards religion and spiritual concerns, this absorbing love of the world and this supreme love of self,--that these were not implanted or infused into the soul by our wise, holy, and good creator. this is not his work. this is no part of the furniture with which mankind were set up for an everlasting existence. "god saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good." (gen. i. ). we acknowledge the mystery that overhangs the union and connection of all men with the first man. we know that this corruption of man's nature, and this sinfulness of his heart, does indeed, appear at the very beginning of his individual life. he is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity (ps. li. ). this selfish disposition, and this alienation of the heart from god, is _native_ depravity, is _inborn_ corruption. this we know both from revelation, and observation. but we also know, from the same infallible revelation, that though man is born a sinner from the sinful adam, he was created a saint in the holy adam. by origin he is holy, and by descent he is sinful; because there has intervened, between his creation and his birth, that "offence of one man whereby all men were made sinners" (rom. v. , ). though we cannot unravel the whole mystery of this subject, yet if we accept the revealed fact, and concede that god did originally make man in his own image, in righteousness and true holiness, and that man has since unmade himself, by the act of apostasy and rebellion,[ ]--if we take this as the true and correct statement of the facts in the case, then we can see how and why it is, that god has claims upon his creature, man, that extend to what this creature originally was and was capable of becoming, and not merely to what he now is, and is able to perform. when, therefore, the young ruler's question, "what lack i?" is asked and answered upon a broad scale, each and every man must say: "i lack original righteousness; i lack the holiness with which god created man; i lack that perfection of character which belonged to my rational and immortal nature coming fresh from the hand of god in the person of adam; i lack all that i should now be possessed of, had that nature not apostatized from its maker and its sovereign." and when god forms his estimate of man's obligations; when he lays judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; he goes back to the _beginning_, he goes back to _creation_, and demands from his rational and immortal creature that perfect service which, he was capable of rendering by creation, but which now he is unable to render because of subsequent apostasy. for, god cannot adjust his demands to the alterations which sinful man makes in himself. this would be to annihilate all demands and obligations. a sliding-scale would be introduced, by this method, that would reduce human duty by degrees to a minimum, where it would disappear. for, the more sinful a creature becomes, the less inclined, and consequently the less able does he become to obey the law of god. if, now, the eternal judge shapes his requisitions in accordance with the shifting character of his creature, and lowers his law down just as fast as the sinner enslaves himself to lust and sin, it is plain that sooner or later all moral obligation will run out; and whenever the creature becomes totally enslaved to self and flesh, there will no longer be any claims resting upon him. but this cannot be so. "for the kingdom of heaven,"--says our lord,--"is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. and unto one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one; and straightway took his journey." when the settlement was made. each and every one of the parties was righteously summoned to account for all that had originally been intrusted to him, and to show a faithful improvement of the same. if any one of the servants had been found to have "lacked" a part, or the whole, of the original treasure, because he had culpably lost it, think you that the fact that it was now gone from his possession, and was past recovery, would have been accepted as a valid excuse from the original obligations imposed upon him? in like manner, the fact, that man cannot reinstate himself in his original condition of holiness and blessedness, from which he has fallen by apostasy, will not suffice to justify him before god for being in a helpless state of sin and misery, or to give him any claims upon god for deliverance from it. god can and does _pity_ him, in his ruined and lost estate, and if the creature will cast himself upon his _mercy_, acknowledging the righteousness of the entire claims of god upon him for a sinless perfection and a perfect service, he will meet and find mercy. but if he takes the ground that he does not owe such an immense debt as this, and that god has no right to demand from him, in his apostate and helpless condition, the same perfection of character and obedience which holy adam possessed and rendered, and which the unfallen angels possess and render, god will leave him to the workings of conscience, and the operations of stark unmitigated law and justice. "the kingdom of heaven,"--says our lord,--"is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. and when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents; but forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. the servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, lord, have patience with me, and i will pay thee all. then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt" (matt, xviii. - ). but suppose that that servant had _disputed_ the claim, and had put in an appeal to justice instead of an appeal to mercy, upon the ground that inasmuch as he had lost his property and had nothing to pay with, therefore he was not obligated to pay, think you that the king would have conceded the equity of the claim? on the contrary, he would have entered into no argument in so plain a case, but would have "delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him." so likewise shall the heavenly father do also unto you, and to every man, who attempts to diminish the original claim of god to a perfect obedience and service, by pleading the fall of man, the corruption of human nature, the strength of sinful inclination and affections, and the power of earthly temptation. all these are man's work, and not that of the creator. this helplessness and bondage grows directly out of the nature of sin. "whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin. know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves slaves to obey, his slaves ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (john viii. ; rom. vi. ). in view of the subject as thus discussed, we invite attention to some practical conclusions that flow directly out of it. for, though we have been speaking upon one of the most difficult themes in christian theology, namely man's creation in holiness and his loss of holiness by the apostasy in adam, yet we have at the same time been speaking of one of the most humbling, and practically profitable, doctrines in the whole circle of revealed truth. we never shall arrive at any profound sense of sin, unless we know and feel our guilt and corruption by nature; and we shall never arrive at any profound sense of our guilt and corruption by nature, unless we know and understand the original righteousness and innocence in which we were first created. we can measure the great depth of the abyss into which, we have fallen, only by looking up to those great heights in the garden of eden, upon which our nature once stood beautiful and glorious, the very image and likeness of our creator. . we remark then, in the first place, that it is the duty of every man _to humble himself on account of his lack of original righteousness, and to repent of it as sin before god._ one of the articles of the presbyterian confession of faith reads thus: _every_ sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of god, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring _guilt_ upon the sinner, whereby he is "bound over to the wrath of god, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal."[ ] the creed which we accept summons us to repent of original as well as actual sin; and it defines original sin to be "the want of original righteousness, together with the corruption of the whole nature." the want of original righteousness, then, is a ground of condemnation, and therefore a reason for shame, and godly sorrow. it is something which man once had, ought still to have, but now lacks; and therefore is ill-deserving, for the very same reason that the young ruler's lack of supreme love to god was ill-deserving. if we acknowledge the validity of the distinction between a sin of omission and a sin of commission, and concede that each alike is culpable,[ ] we shall find no difficulty with this demand of the creed. why should not you and i mourn over the total want of the image of god in our hearts, as much as over any other form and species of sin? this image of god consists in holy reverence. when we look into our hearts, and find no holy reverence there, ought we not to be filled with shame and sorrow? this image of god consists in filial and supreme affection for god, such as the young ruler lacked; and when we look into our hearts, and find not a particle of supreme love to god in them, ought we not to repent of this original, this deep-seated, this innate depravity? this image of god, again, which was lost in our apostasy, consisted in humble constant trust in god; and when we search our souls, and perceive that there is nothing of this spirit in them, but on the contrary a strong and overmastering disposition to trust in ourselves, and to distrust our maker, ought not this discovery to waken in us the very same feeling that isaiah gave expression to, when he said that the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint; the very same feeling that david gave expression to, when he cried: "behold i was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me?" this is to repent of original sin, and there is no mystery or absurdity about it. it is to turn the eye inward, and see what is _lacking_ in our heart and affections; and not merely what of outward and actual transgressions we have committed. those whose idea of moral excellence is like that of the young ruler; those who suppose holiness to consist merely in the outward observance of the commandments of the second table; those who do not look into the depths of their nature, and contrast the total corruption that is there, with the perfect and positive righteousness that ought to be there, and that was there by creation,--all such will find the call of the creed to repent of original sin as well as of actual, a perplexity and an impossibility. but every man who knows that the substance of piety consists in positive and holy affections,--in holy reverence, love and trust,--and who discovers that these are wanting in him by nature, though belonging to him by creation, will mourn in deep contrition and self-abasement over that act of apostasy by which this great change in human character, this great lack was brought about. . in the second place, it follows from the subject we have discussed, that every man must, by some method, _recover his original righteousness, or be ruined forever_. "without holiness no man shall see the lord." no rational creature is fit to appear in the presence of his maker, unless he is as pure and perfect as he was originally made. holy adam was prepared by his creation in the image of god, to hold blessed communion with god, and if he and his posterity had never lost this image, they would forever be in fellowship with their creator and sovereign. holiness, and holiness alone, enables the creature to stand with angelic tranquillity, in the presence of him before whom the heavens and the earth flee away. the loss of original righteousness, therefore, was the loss of the wedding garment; it was the loss of the only robe in which the creature could appear at the banquet of god. suppose that one of the posterity of sinful adam, destitute of holy love reverence and faith, lacking positive and perfect righteousness, should be introduced into the seventh heavens, and there behold the infinite jehovah. would he not feel, with a misery and a shame that could not be expressed, that he was naked? that he was utterly unfit to appear in such a presence? no wonder that our first parents, after their apostasy, felt that they were unclothed. they were indeed stripped of their character, and had not a rag of righteousness to cover them. no wonder that they hid themselves from the intolerable purity and brightness of the most high. previously, they had felt no such emotion. they were "not ashamed," we are told. and the reason lay in the fact that, before their apostasy, they were precisely as they were made. they were endowed with the image of god; and their original righteousness and perfect holiness qualified them to stand before their maker, and to hold blessed intercourse with him. but the instant they lost their created endowment of holiness, they were conscious that they lacked that indispensable something wherewith to appear before god. and precisely so is it, with their posterity. whatever a man's theory of the future life may be, he must be insane, if he supposes that he is fit to appear before god, and to enter the society of heaven, if destitute of holiness, and wanting the divine image. when the spirit of man returns to god who gave it, it must return as good as it came from his hands, or it will be banished from the divine presence. every human soul, when it goes back to its maker, must carry with it a righteousness, to say the very least, equal to that in which it was originally created, or it will be cast out as an unprofitable and wicked servant. _all_ the talents entrusted must be returned; and returned with usury. a modern philosopher and poet represents the suicide as justifying the taking of his own life, upon the ground that he was not asked in the beginning, whether he wanted life. he had no choice whether he would come into existence or not; existence was forced upon him; and therefore he had a right to put an end to it, if he so pleased. to this, the reply is made, that he ought to return his powers and faculties to the creator in as _good condition_ as he received them; that he had no right to mutilate and spoil them by abuse, and then fling the miserable relics of what was originally a noble creation, in the face of the creator. in answer to the suicide's proposition to give back his spirit to god who gave it, the poet represents god as saying to him: "is't returned as 'twas sent? is't no worse for the wear? think first what you are! call to mind what you were! i gave you innocence, i gave you hope, gave health, and genius, and an ample scope. return you me guilt, lethargy, despair? make out the invent'ry; inspect, compare! then die,--if die you dare!"[ ] yes, this is true and solemn reasoning. you and i, and every man, must by some method, or other, go back to god as good as we came forth from him. we must regain our original righteousness; we must be reinstated in our primal relation to god, and our created condition; or there is nothing in store for us, but the blackness of darkness. we certainly cannot stand in the judgment clothed with original sin, instead of original righteousness; full of carnal and selfish affections, instead of pure and heavenly affections. this great lack, this great vacuum, in our character, must by some method be filled up with solid, and everlasting excellencies, or the same finger that wrote, in letters of fire, upon the wall of the babylonian monarch, the awful legend: "thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting," will write it in letters of fire upon our own rational spirit. there is but one method, by which man's original righteousness and innocency can be regained; and this method you well know. the blood of jesus christ sprinkled by the holy ghost, upon your guilty conscience, reinstates you in innocency. when that is applied, there is no more guilt upon you, than there was upon adam the instant he came from the creative hand. "there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus." who is he that condemneth, when it is christ that died, and god that justifies? and when the same holy spirit enters your soul with renewing power, and carries forward his work of sanctification to its final completion, your original righteousness returns again, and you are again clothed in that spotless robe with which your nature was invested, on that sixth day of creation, when the lord god said, "let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." ponder these truths, and what is yet more imperative, _act_ upon them. remember that you must, by some method, become a perfect creature, in order to become a blessed creature in heaven. without holiness you cannot see the lord. you must recover the character which you have lost, and the peace with god in which you were created. your spirit, when it returns to god, must by some method be made equal to what it was when it came forth from him. and there is no method, but the method of redemption by the blood and righteousness of christ. men are running to and fro after other methods. the memories of a golden age, a better humanity than they now know of, haunt them; and they sigh for the elysium that is gone. one sends you to letters, and culture, for your redemption. another tells you that morality, or philosophy, will lift you again to those paradisaical heights that tower high above your straining vision. but miserable comforters are they all. no golden age returns; no peace with god or self is the result of such instrumentality. the conscience is still perturbed, the forebodings still overhang the soul like a black cloud, and the heart is as throbbing and restless as ever. with resoluteness, then, turn away from these inadequate, these feeble methods, and adopt the method of god almighty. turn away with contempt from human culture, and finite forces, as the instrumentality for the redemption of the soul which is precious, and which ceaseth forever if it is unredeemed. go with confidence, and courage, and a rational faith, to god almighty, to god the redeemer. he hath power. he is no feeble and finite creature. he waves a mighty weapon, and sweats great drops of blood; travelling in the greatness of his strength. hear his words of calm confidence and power: "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and i will give you rest." [footnote : the augustinian doctrine, that the entire human species was created on the sixth day, existed as a _nature_ (not as individuals) in the first human pair, acted in and fell with them in the first transgression, and us thus fallen and vitiated by an act of self-will has been procreated or individualized, permits the theologian, to say that all men are equally concerned in the origin of sin, and to charge the guilt of its origin upon all alike.] [footnote : confession of faith. vi. vi.] [footnote : one of the points of difference between the protestant and the papist, when the dogmatic position of each was taken, related to the guilt of original sin,--the former affirming, and the latter denying. it is also one of the points of difference between calvinism and arminianism.] [footnote : coleridge; works, vii. .] the approbation of goodness is not the love of it. romans ii. -- .--"thou therefore which, teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through, breaking the law dishonorest thou god?" the apostle paul is a very keen and cogent reasoner. like a powerful logician who is confident that he has the truth upon his side, and like a pureminded man who has no sinister ends to gain, he often takes his stand upon the same ground with his opponent, adopts his positions, and condemns him out of his own mouth. in the passage from which the text is taken, he brings the jew in guilty before god, by employing the jew's own claims and statements. "behold thou art called a jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of god, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish. thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest that a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou god?" as if he had said: "you claim to be one of god's chosen people, to possess a true knowledge of him and his law; why do you not act up to this knowledge? why do you not by your character and conduct prove the claim to be a valid one?" the apostle had already employed this same species of argument against the gentile world. in the first chapter of this epistle to the romans, st. paul demonstrates that the pagan world is justly condemned by god, because, they too, like the jew, knew more than they practised. he affirms that the greek and roman world, like the jewish people, "when they knew god, glorified him not as god, neither were thankful;" that as "they did not like to retain god in their knowledge, god gave them over to a reprobate mind;" and that "knowing the judgment of god, that they which commit such things" as he had just enumerated in that awful catalogue of pagan vices "are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." the apostle does not for an instant concede, that the gentile can put in the plea that he was so entirely ignorant of the character and law of god, that he ought to be excused from the obligation to love and obey him. he expressly affirms that where there is absolutely no law, and no knowledge of law, there can be no transgression; and yet affirms that in the day of judgment every mouth must be stopped, and the whole world must plead guilty before god. it is indeed true, that he teaches that there is a difference in the degrees of knowledge which the jew and the gentile respectively possess. the light of revealed religion, in respect to man's duty and obligations, is far clearer than the light of nature, and increases the responsibilities of those who enjoy it, and the condemnation of those who abuse it; but the light of nature is clear and true as far as it goes, and is enough to condemn every soul outside of the pale of revelation. for, in the day of judgment, there will not be a single human creature who can look his judge in the eye, and say: "i acted up to every particle of moral light that i enjoyed; i never thought a thought, felt a feeling, or did a deed, for which my conscience reproached me." it follows from this, that the language of the apostle, in the text, may be applied to every man. the argument that has force for the jew has force for the gentile. "thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest that a man should not steal, dost thou steal?" you who know the character and claims of god, and are able to state them to another, why do you not revere and obey them in your own person? you who approve of the law of god as pure and perfect, why do you not conform your own heart and conduct to it? you who perceive the excellence of piety in another, you who praise and admire moral excellence in your fellow-man, why do you not seek after it, and toil after it in your own heart? in paying this tribute of approbation to the character of a god whom you do not yourself love and serve, and to a piety in your neighbor which you do not yourself possess and cultivate, are you not writing down your own condemnation? how can you stand before the judgment-seat of god, after having in this manner confessed through your whole life upon earth that god is good, and his law is perfect, and yet through that whole life have gone counter to your own confession, neither loving that god, nor obeying that law? "to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (james iv. .) the text then, together with the chains of reasoning that are connected with it, leads us to consider the fact, that a man may admire and praise moral excellence without possessing or practising it himself; that _the approbation of goodness is not the same as the love of it_.[ ] i. this is proved, in the first place, from the _testimony_ of both god and man. the assertions and reasonings of the apostle paul have already been alluded to, and there are many other passages of scripture which plainly imply that men may admire and approve of a virtue which they do not practise. indeed, the language of our lord respecting the scribes and pharisees, may be applied to disobedient mankind at large: "whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do ye not after their works: for they say, and do not." (matt, xxiii. .) the testimony of man is equally explicit. that is a very remarkable witness which the poet ovid bears to this truth. "i see the right,"--he says,--"and approve of it, but i follow and practise the wrong." this is the testimony of a profligate man of pleasure, in whom the light of nature had been greatly dimmed in the darkness of sin and lust. but he had not succeeded in annihilating his conscience, and hence, in a sober hour, he left upon record his own damnation. he expressly informed the whole cultivated classical world, who were to read his polished numbers, that he that had taught others had not taught himself; that he who had said that a man should not commit adultery had himself committed adultery; that an educated roman who never saw the volume of inspiration, and never heard of either moses or christ, nevertheless approved of and praised a virtue that he never put in practice. and whoever will turn to the pages of horace, a kindred spirit to ovid both in respect to a most exquisite taste and a most refined earthliness, will frequently find the same confession breaking out. nay, open the volumes of rousseau, and even of voltaire, and read their panegyrics of virtue, their eulogies of goodness. what are these, but testimonies that they, too, saw the right and did the wrong. it is true, that the eulogy is merely sentimentalism, and is very different from the sincere and noble tribute which a good man renders to goodness. still, it is valid testimony to the truth that the mere approbation of goodness is not the love of it. it is true, that these panegyrics of virtue, when read in the light of rousseau's sensuality and voltaire's malignity, wear a dead and livid hue, like objects seen in the illumination from phosphorus or rotten wood; yet, nevertheless, they are visible and readable, and testify as distinctly as if they issued from elevated and noble natures, that the teachings of man's conscience are not obeyed by man's heart,--that a man may praise and admire virtue, while he loves and practises vice. ii. a second proof that the approbation of goodness is not the love of it is found in the fact, that _it is impossible not to approve of goodness_, while it is possible not to love it. the structure of man's conscience is such, that he can commend only the right; but the nature of his will is such, that he may be conformed to the right or the wrong. the conscience can give only one judgment; but the heart and will are capable of two kinds of affection, and two courses of action. every rational creature is shut up, by his moral sense, to but one moral conviction. he must approve the right and condemn the wrong. he cannot approve the wrong and condemn the right; any more than he can perceive that two and two make five. the human conscience is a rigid and stationary faculty. its voice may be stifled or drowned, for a time; but it can never be made to titter two discordant voices. it is for this reason, that the approbation of goodness is necessary and universal. wicked men and wicked angels must testify that benevolence is right, and malevolence is wrong; though they hate the former, and love the latter. but it is not so with the human _will_. this is not a rigid and stationary faculty. it is capable of turning this way, and that way. it was created holy, and it turned from holiness to sin, in adam's apostasy. and now, under the operation of the divine spirit, it turns back again, it _converts_ from sin to holiness. the will of man is thus capable of two courses of action, while his conscience is capable of only one judgment; and hence he can see and approve the right, yet love and practise the wrong. if a man's conscience changed along with his heart and his will, so that when he began to love and practise sin, he at the same time began to approve of sin, the case would be different. if, when adam apostatised from god, his conscience at that moment began to take sides with his sin, instead of condemning it, then, indeed, neither ovid, nor horace, nor rousseau, nor any other one of adam's posterity, would have been able to say: "i see the right and _approve_ of it, while i follow the wrong." but it was not so. after apostasy, the conscience of adam passed the same judgment upon sin that it did before. adam heard its terrible voice speaking in concert with the voice of god, and hid himself. he never succeeded in bringing his conscience over to the side of his heart and will, and neither has any one of his posterity. it is impossible to do this. satan himself, after millenniums of sin, still finds that his conscience, that the accusing and condemning law written on the heart, is too strong for him to alter, too rigid for him to bend. the utmost that either he, or any creature, can do, is to drown its verdict for a time in other sounds, only to hear the thunder-tones again, waxing longer and louder like the trumpet of sinai. having thus briefly shown that the approbation of goodness is not the love of it, we proceed to draw some conclusions from the truth. . in the first place, it follows from this subject, that _the mere workings of conscience are no proof of holiness_. when, after the commission of a wrong act, the soul of a man is filled with self-reproach, he must not take it for granted that this is the stirring of a better nature within him, and is indicative of some remains of original righteousness. this reaction of conscience against his disobedience of law is as necessary, and unavoidable, as the action of his eyelids under the blaze of noon, and is worthy neither of praise nor blame, so far as he is concerned. it does not imply any love for holiness, or any hatred of sin. nay, it may exist without any sorrow for sin, as in the instance of the hardened transgressor who writhes under its awful power, but never sheds a penitential tear, or sends up a sigh for mercy. the distinction between the human conscience, and the human heart, is as wide as between the human intellect, and the human heart.[ ] we never think of confounding the functions and operations of the understanding with those of the heart. we know that an idea or a conception, is totally different from an emotion, or a feeling. how often do we remark, that a man may have an intellectual perception, without any correspondent experience or feeling in his heart. how continually does the preacher urge his hearers to bring their hearts into harmony with their understandings, so that their intellectual orthodoxy may become their practical piety. now, all this is true of the distinction between the conscience and the heart. the conscience is an _intellectual_ faculty, and by that better elder philosophy which comprehended all the powers of the soul under the two general divisions of understanding and will, would be placed in the domain of the understanding. conscience is a _light_, as we so often call it. it is not a _life_; it is not a source of life. no man's heart and will can be renewed or changed by his conscience. conscience is simply a law. conscience is merely legislative; it is never executive. it simply says to the heart and will: "do thus, feel thus," but it gives no assistance, and imparts no inclination to obey its own command. those, therefore, commit a grave error both in philosophy and religion, who confound the conscience with the heart, and suppose that because there is in every man self-reproach and remorse after the commission of sin, therefore there is the germ of holiness within him. holiness is _love_, the positive affection of the heart. it is a matter of the heart and the will. but this remorse is purely an affair of the conscience, and the heart has no connection with it. nay, it appears in its most intense form, in those beings whose feelings emotions and determinations are in utmost opposition to god and goodness. the purest remorse in the universe is to be found in those wretched beings whose emotional and active powers, whose heart and will, are in the most bitter hostility to truth and righteousness. how, then, can the mere reproaches and remorse of conscience be regarded as evidence of piety? . but, we may go a step further than this, though in the same general direction, and remark, in the second place, that _elevated moral sentiments are no certain proof of piety toward god and man_. these, too, like remorse of conscience, spring out of the intellectual structure, and may exist without any affectionate love of god in the heart. there is a species of nobleness and beauty in moral excellence that makes an involuntary and unavoidable impression. when the christian martyr seals his devotion to god and truth with his blood; when a meek and lowly disciple of christ clothes his life of poverty, and self-denial, with a daily beauty greater than that of the lilies or of solomon's array; when the poor widow with feeble and trembling steps comes up to the treasury of the lord, and casts in all her living; when any pure and spiritual act is performed out of solemn and holy love of god and man, it is impossible not to be filled with sentiments of admiration, and oftentimes, with an enthusiastic glow of soul. we see this in the impression which the character of christ universally makes. there are multitudes of men, to whom that wonderful sinless life shines aloft like a star. but they do not _imitate_ it. they admire it, but they do not love it.[ ] the spiritual purity and perfection of the son of god rays out a beauty which really attracts their cultivated minds, and their refined taste; but when he says to them: "take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for i am meek and lowly of heart; take up thy cross daily and follow me;" they turn away sorrowful, like the rich young man in the gospel,--sorrowful, because their sentiments like his are elevated, and they have a certain awe of eternal things, and know that religion is the highest concern; and sorrowful, because their hearts and wills are still earthly, there is no divine love in their souls, self is still their centre, and the self-renunciation that is required of them is repulsive. religion is submission,--absolute submission to god,--and no amount of mere admiration of religion can be a substitute for it. as a thoughtful observer looks abroad over society, he sees a very interesting class who are not far from the kingdom of god; who, nevertheless, are not _within_ that kingdom, and who, therefore, if they remain where they are, are as certainly lost as if they were at an infinite distance from the kingdom. the homely proverb applies to them: "a miss is as good as a mile." they are those who suppose that elevated moral sentiments, an aesthetic pleasure in noble acts or noble truths, a glow and enthusiasm of the soul at the sight or the recital of examples of christian virtue and christian grace, a disgust at the gross and repulsive forms and aspects of sin,--that such merely intellectual and aesthetic experiences as these are piety itself. all these may be in the soul, without any godly sorrow over sin, any cordial trust in christ's blood, any self-abasement before god, any daily conflict with indwelling corruption, any daily cross-bearing and toil for christ's dear sake. these latter, constitute the essence of the christian experience, and without them that whole range of elevated sentiments and amiable qualities, to which we have alluded, only ministers to the condemnation instead of the salvation of the soul. for, the question of the text comes home with solemn force, to all such persons. "thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking of the law, dishonorest thou god?" if the beauty of virtue, and the grandeur of truth, and the sublimity of invisible things, have been able to make such an impression upon your intellects, and your tastes,--upon that part of your constitution which is fixed and stationary, which responds organically to such objects, and which is not the seat of moral character,--then why is there not a corresponding influence and impression made by them upon your heart? if you can admire and praise them, in this style, why do you not _love_ them? why is it, that when the character of christ bows your intellect, it does not bend your will, and sway your affections? must there not be an inveterate opposition and resistance in the _heart_? in the heart which can refuse submission to such high claims, when so distinctly seen? in the heart which can refuse to take the yoke, and learn of a teacher who has already made such an impression upon the conscience and the understanding? the human heart is, as the prophet affirms, _desperately_ wicked, _desperately_ selfish. and perhaps its self-love is never more plainly seen, than in such instances as those of that moral and cultivated young man mentioned in the gospel, and that class in modern society who correspond to him. nowhere is the difference between the approbation of goodness, and the love of it, more apparent. in these instances the approbation is of a high order. it is refined and sublimated by culture and taste. it is not stained by the temptations of low life, and gross sin. if there ever could be a case, in which the intellectual approbation of goodness would develop and pass over into the affectionate and hearty love of it, we should expect to find it here. but it is not found. the young man goes away,--sorrowful indeed,--but he goes away from the redeemer of the world, _never to return_. the amiable, the educated, the refined, pass on from year to year, and, so far as the evangelic sorrow, and the evangelic faith are concerned, like the dying beaufort depart to judgment making no sign. we hear their praises of christian men, and christian graces, and christian actions; we enjoy the grand and swelling sentiments with which, perhaps, they enrich the common literature of the world; but we never hear them cry: "god be merciful to me a sinner; o lamb of god, that takest away the sin of the world, grant me thy peace; thou, o god, art the strength of my heart, and my portion forever." . in the third place, it follows from this subject, that in order to holiness in man there must be a change in his _heart and will_. if our analysis is correct, no possible modification of either his conscience, or his intellect, would produce holiness. holiness is an affection of the heart, and an inclination of the will. it is the love and practice of goodness, and not the mere approbation and admiration of it. now, suppose that the conscience should be stimulated to the utmost, and remorse should be produced until it filled the soul to overflowing, would there be in this any of that gentle and blessed affection for god and goodness, that heartfelt love of them, which is the essence of religion? or, suppose that the intellect merely were impressed by the truth, and very clear perceptions of the christian system and of the character and claims of its author were imparted, would the result be any different? if the _heart_ and _will_ were unaffected; if the influences and impressions were limited merely to the conscience and the understanding; would not the seat of the difficulty still be untouched? the command is not: "give me thy conscience," but, "give me thy _heart_." hence, that regeneration of which our lord speaks in his discourse with nicodemus is not a radical change of the conscience, but of the _will_ and _affections_. we have already seen that the conscience cannot undergo a radical change. it can never be made to approve what it once condemned, and to condemn what it once approved. it is the stationary legislative faculty, and is, of necessity, always upon the side of law and of god. hence, the apostle paul sought to commend the truth which he preached, to every man's conscience, knowing that every man's conscience was with him. the conscience, therefore, does not need to be converted, that is to say, made opposite to what it is. it is indeed greatly stimulated, and rendered vastly more energetic, by the regeneration of the heart; but this is not radically to alter it. this is to develop and educate the conscience; and when holiness is implanted in the will and affections, by the grace of the spirit, we find that both the conscience and understanding are wonderfully unfolded and strengthened. but they undergo no revolution or conversion. the judgments of the conscience are the same after regeneration, that they were before; only more positive and emphatic. the convictions of the understanding continue, as before, to be upon the side of truth; only they are more clear and powerful. the radical change, therefore, must be wrought in the heart and will. these are capable of revolutions and radical changes. they can apostatise in adam, and be regenerated in christ. they are not immovably fixed and settled, by their constitutional structure, in only one way. they have once turned from holiness to sin; and now they must be turned back again from sin to holiness. they must become exactly contrary to what they now are. the heart must love what it now hates, and must hate what it now loves. the will must incline to what it now disinclines, and disincline to what it now inclines. but this is a radical change, a total change, an entire revolution. if any man be in christ jesus, he is a new creature, in his will and affections, in his inclination and disposition. while, therefore, the conscience must continue to give the same old everlasting testimony as before, and never reverse its judgments in the least, the affections and will, the pliant, elastic, plastic part of man, the seat of vitality, of emotion, the seat of character, the fountain out of which proceed the evil thoughts or the good thoughts,--this executive, emotive, responsible part of man, must be reversed, converted, radically changed into its own contrary. so long, therefore, as this change remains to be effected in an individual, there is and can be no _holiness_ within him,--none of that holiness without which no man can see the lord. there may be within him a very active and reproaching conscience; there may be intellectual orthodoxy and correctness in religious convictions; he may cherish elevated moral sentiments, and many attractive qualities springing out of a cultivated taste and a jealous self-respect may appear in his character; but unless he _loves_ god and man out of a pure heart fervently, and unless his will is entirely and sweetly submissive to the divine will, so that he can say: "father not my will, but thine be done," he is still a natural man. he is still destitute of the spiritual mind, and to him it must be said, as it was to nicodemus: "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." the most important side of his being is still alienated from god. the heart with its affections; the will with its immense energies,--the entire active and emotive portions of his nature,--are still earthly, unsubmissive, selfish, and sinful. . in the fourth, and last place, we see from this subject _the necessity of the operation of the holy spirit, in order to holiness in man_. there is no part of man's complex being which is less under his own control, than his own will, and his own affections. this he discovers, as soon as he attempts to _convert_ them; as soon as he tries to produce a radical change in them. let a man whose will, from centre to circumference, is set upon self and the world, attempt to reverse it, and set it with the same strength and energy upon god and heaven, and he will know that his will is too strong for him, and that he cannot overcome himself. let a man whose affections cleave like those of dives to earthly good, and find their sole enjoyment in earthly pleasures, attempt to change them into their own contraries, so that they shall cleave to god, and take a real delight in heavenly things,--let a carnal man try to revolutionize himself into a spiritual man,--and he will discover that the affections and feelings of his heart are beyond his control. and the reason of this is plain. the affections and will of a man show what he _loves_, and what he is _inclined_ to. a sinful man cannot, therefore, overcome his sinful love and inclination, because he cannot _make a beginning_. the instant he attempts to love god, he finds his love of himself in the way. this new love for a new object, which he proposes to originate within himself, is prevented by an old love, which already has possession. this new inclination to heaven and divine things is precluded by an old inclination, very strong and very set, to earth and earthly things. there is therefore no _starting-point,_ in this affair of self-conversion. he proposes, and he tries, to think a holy thought, but there is a sinful thought already in the mind. he attempts to start out a christian grace,--say the grace of humility,--but the feeling of pride already stands in the way, and, what is more, remains in the way. he tries to generate that supreme love of god, of which he has heard so much, but the supreme love of himself is ahead of him, and occupies the whole ground. in short, he is baffled at every point in this attempt radically to change his own heart and will, because at every point this heart and will are already committed and determined. go down as low as he pleases, he finds sin,--_love_ of sin, and _inclination_ to sin. he never reaches a point where these cease; and therefore never reaches a point where he can begin a new love, and a new inclination. the late mr. webster was once engaged in a law case, in which he had to meet, upon the opposing side, the subtle and strong understanding of jeremiah mason. in one of his conferences with his associate counsel, a difficult point to be managed came to view. after some discussion, without satisfactory results, respecting the best method of handling the difficulty, one of his associates suggested that the point might after all, escape the notice of the opposing counsel. to this, mr. webster replied: "not so; go down as deep as you will, you will find jeremiah mason below you." precisely so in the case of which we are speaking. go down as low as you please into your heart and will, you will find your _self_ below you; you will find sin not only lying at the door, but lying in the way. if you move in the line of your feelings and affections, you will find earthly feelings and affections ever below you. if you move in the line of your choice and inclination, you will find a sinful choice and inclination ever below you. in chasing your sin through the avenues of your fallen and corrupt soul, you are chasing your horizon; in trying to get clear of it by your own isolated and independent strength, you are attempting (to use the illustration of goethe, who however employed it for a false purpose) to jump off your own shadow. this, then, is the reason why the heart and will of a sinful man are so entirely beyond his own control. they are _preoccupied_ and _predetermined_, and therefore he cannot make a beginning in the direction of holiness. if he attempts to put forth a holy determination, he finds a sinful one already made and making,--and this determination is _his_ determination, unforced, responsible and guilty. if he tries to start out a holy emotion, he finds a sinful emotion already beating and rankling,--and this emotion is _his_ emotion, unforced, responsible, and guilty. there is no physical necessity resting upon him. nothing but this love of sin and inclination to self stands in the way of a supreme love of god and holiness; but _it stands in the way._ nothing but the sinful affection of the heart prevents a man from exercising a holy affection; but _it prevents him effectually_. an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit; a sinful love and inclination cannot convert itself into a holy love and inclination; satan cannot cast out satan. there is need therefore of a divine operation to renew, to radically change, the heart and will. if they cannot renew themselves, they must _be_ renewed; and there is no power that can reach them but that mysterious energy of the holy spirit which like the wind bloweth where it listeth, and we hear the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. the condition of the human heart is utterly hopeless, were it not for the promised influences of the holy ghost to regenerate it. there are many reflections suggested by this subject; for it has a wide reach, and would carry us over vast theological spaces, should we attempt to exhaust it. we close with the single remark, that it should be man's first and great aim _to obtain the new heart_. let him seek this first of all, and all things else will be added unto him. it matters not how active your conscience may be, how clear and accurate your intellectual convictions of truth may be, how elevated may be your moral sentiments and your admiration of virtue, if you are destitute of an _evangelical experience_. of what value will all these be in the day of judgment, if you have never sorrowed for sin, never appropriated the atonement for sin, and never been inwardly sanctified? our lord says to every man: "either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt." the _tree itself_ must be made good. the heart and will themselves must be renewed. these are the root and stock into which everything else is grafted; and so long as they remain in their apostate natural condition, the man is sinful and lost, do what else he may. it is indeed true, that such a change as this is beyond your power to accomplish. with man it is impossible; but with god it is a possibility, and a reality. it has actually been wrought in thousands of wills, as stubborn as yours; in millions of hearts, as worldly and selfish as yours. we commend you, therefore, to the person and work of the holy spirit. we remind you, that he is able to renovate and sweetly incline the obstinate will, to soften and spiritualize the flinty heart. he saith: "i will put a new spirit within you; and i will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you an heart of flesh; that ye may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and ye shall be my people, and i will be your god." do not listen to these declarations and promises of god supinely; but arise and earnestly _plead_ them. take words upon your lips, and go before god. say unto him: "i am the clay, be _thou_ the potter. behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts _thou_ shalt make me to know wisdom. i will run in the way of thy commandments, when _thou_ shalt enlarge my heart. create within me a clean heart, o god, and renew within me a right spirit." _seek_ for the new heart. _ask_ for the new heart. _knock_ for the new heart. "for, if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him." and in giving the holy spirit, he gives the new heart, with all that is included in it, and all that issues from it. [footnote : see, upon this whole subject of conscience as distinguished from will, and of amiable instincts as distinguished from holiness, the profound and discriminating views of edwards: the nature of virtue, chapters v. vi. vii.] [footnote : compare, on this distinction, the author's' discourses and essays, p. sq.] [footnote : the reader will recall the celebrated panegyric upon christ by rousseau.] the use of fear in religion. proverbs ix. .--"the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom." luke xii. , .--"and i say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. but i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, i say unto you, fear him." the place which the feeling of fear ought to hold in the religious experience of mankind is variously assigned. theories of religion are continually passing from one extreme to another, according as they magnify or disparage this emotion. some theological schools are distinguished for their severity, and others for their sentimentalism. some doctrinal systems fail to grasp the mercy of god with as much vigor and energy as they do the divine justice, while others melt down everything that is scriptural and self-consistent, and flow along vaguely in an inundation of unprincipled emotions and sensibilities. the same fact meets us in the experience of the individual. we either fear too much, or too little. having obtained glimpses of the divine compassion, how prone is the human heart to become indolent and self-indulgent, and to relax something of that earnest effort with which it had begun to pluck out the offending right eye. or, having felt the power of the divine anger; having obtained clear conceptions of the intense aversion of god towards moral evil; even the child of god sometimes lives under a cloud, because he does not dare to make a right use of this needed and salutary impression, and pass back to that confiding trust in the divine pity which is his privilege and his birth-right, as one who has been sprinkled with atoning blood. it is plain, from the texts of scripture placed at the head of this discourse, that the feeling and principle of fear is a legitimate one.[ ] in these words of god himself, we are taught that it is the font and origin of true wisdom, and are commanded to be inspired by it. the old testament enjoins it, and the new testament repeats and emphasizes the injunction; so that the total and united testimony of revelation forbids a religion that is destitute of fear. the new dispensation is sometimes set in opposition to the old, and christ is represented as teaching a less rigid morality than that of moses and the prophets. but the mildness of christ is not seen, certainly, in the ethical and preceptive part of his religion. the sermon on the mount is a more searching code of morals than the ten commandments. it cuts into human depravity with a more keen and terrible edge, than does the law proclaimed amidst thunderings and lightnings. let us see if it does not. the mosaic statute simply says to man: "thou shalt not kill." but the re-enactment of this statute, by incarnate deity, is accompanied with an explanation and an emphasis that precludes all misapprehension and narrow construction of the original law, and renders it a two-edged sword that pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. when the hebrew legislator says to me: "thou shalt not kill," it is possible for me, with my propensity to look upon the outward appearance, and to regard the external act alone, to deem myself innocent if i have never actually murdered a fellow-being. but when the lord of glory tells me that "whosoever is angry with his brother" is in danger of the judgment, my mouth is stopped, and it is impossible for me to cherish a conviction of personal innocency, in respect to the sixth commandment. and the same is true of the seventh commandment, and the eighth commandment, and of all the statutes in the decalogue. he who reads, and ponders, the whole sermon on the mount, is painfully conscious that christ has put a meaning into the mosaic law that renders it a far more effective instrument of mental torture, for the guilty, than it is as it stands in the old testament. the lightnings are concentrated. the bolts are hurled with a yet more sure and deadly aim. the new meaning is a perfectly legitimate and logical deduction, and in this sense there is no difference between the decalogue and the sermon,--between the ethics of the old and the ethics of the new testament. but, so much more spiritual is the application, and so much more searching is the reach of the statute, in the last of the two forms of its statement, that it looks almost like a new proclamation of law. our lord did not intend, or pretend, to teach a milder ethics, or an easier virtue, on the mount of beatitudes, than that which he had taught fifteen centuries before on mt. sinai. he indeed pronounces a blessing; and so did moses, his servant, before him. but in each instance, it is a blessing upon condition of obedience; which, in both instances, involves a curse upon disobedience. he who is meek shall be blest; but he who is not shall be condemned. he who is pure in heart, he who is poor in spirit, he who mourns over personal unworthiness, he who hungers and thirsts after a righteousness of which he is destitute, he who is merciful, he who is the peace-maker, he who endures persecution patiently, and he who loves his enemies,--he who is and does all this in a perfect manner, without a single slip or failure, is indeed blessed with the beatitude of god. but where is the man? what single individual in all the ages, and in all the generations since adam, is entitled to the great blessing of these beatitudes, and not deserving of the dreadful curse which they involve? in applying such a high, ethereal test to human character, the founder of christianity is the severest and sternest preacher of law that has ever trod upon the planet. and he who stops with the merely ethical and preceptive part of christianity, and rejects its forgiveness through atoning blood, and its regeneration by an indwelling spirit,--he who does not unite the fifth chapter of matthew, with the fifth chapter of romans,--converts the lamb of god into the lion of the tribe of judah. he makes use of everything in the christian system that condemns man to everlasting destruction, but throws away the very and the only part of it that takes off the burden and the curse. it is not, then, a correct idea of christ that we have, when we look upon him as unmixed complacency and unbalanced compassion. in all aspects, he was a complex personage. he was god, and he was man. as god, he could pronounce a blessing; and he could pronounce a curse, as none but god can, or dare. as man, he was perfect; and into his perfection of feeling and of character there entered those elements that fill a good being with peace, and an evil one with woe. the son of god exhibits goodness and severity mingled and blended in perfect and majestic harmony; and that man lacks sympathy with jesus christ who cannot, while feeling the purest and most unselfish indignation towards the sinner's sin, at the same time give up his own individual life, if need be, for the sinner's soul. the two feelings are not only compatible in the same person, but necessarily belong to a perfect being. our lord breathed out a prayer for his murderers so fervent, and so full of pathos, that it will continue to soften and melt the flinty human heart, to the end of time; and he also poured out a denunciation of woes upon the pharisees (matt, xxiii.), every syllable of which is dense enough with the wrath of god, to sink the deserving objects of it "plumb down, ten thousand fathoms deep, to bottomless perdition in adamantine chains and penal fire." the utterances, "father forgive them, for they know not what they do: ye serpents, ye generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" both fell from the same pure and gracious lips. it is not surprising, therefore, that our lord often appeals to the principle of fear. he makes use of it in all its various forms,--from that servile terror which is produced by the truth when the soul is just waked up from its drowze in sin, to that filial fear which solomon affirms to be the beginning of wisdom. the subject thus brought before our minds, by the inspired word, has a wide application to all ages and conditions of human life, and all varieties of human character. we desire to direct attention to _the use and value of religious fear, in the opening periods of human life_. there are some special reasons why youth and early manhood should come under the influence of this powerful feeling. "i write unto you young men,"--says st. john,--"because ye are _strong_." we propose to urge upon the young, the duty of cultivating the fear of god's displeasure, because they are able to endure the emotion; because youth is the springtide and prime of human life, and capable of carrying burdens, and standing up under influences and impressions, that might crush a feebler period, or a more exhausted stage of the human soul. i. in the first place, the emotion of fear ought to enter into the consciousness of the young, because _youth is naturally light-hearted_. "childhood and youth," saith the preacher, "are vanity." the opening period in human life is the happiest part of it, if we have respect merely to the condition and circumstances in which the human being is placed. he is free from all public cares, and responsibilities. he is encircled within the strong arms of parents, and protectors. even if he tries, he cannot feel the pressure of those toils and anxieties which will come of themselves, when he has passed the line that separates youth from manhood. when he hears his elders discourse of the weight, and the weariness, of this working-day world, it is with incredulity and surprise. the world is bright before his eye, and he wonders that it should ever wear any other aspect. he cannot understand how the freshness, and vividness, and pomp of human life, should shift into its soberer and sterner forms; and he will not, until the "shades of the prison-house begin to close upon the growing boy."[ ] now there is something, in this happy attitude of things, to fill the heart of youth with gayety and abandonment. his pulses beat strong and high. the currents of his soul flow like the mountain river. his mood is buoyant and jubilant, and he flings himself with zest, and a sense of vitality, into the joy and exhilaration all around him. but such a mood as this, unbalanced and untempered by a loftier one, is hazardous to the eternal interests of the soul. perpetuate this gay festal abandonment of the mind; let the human being, through the whole of his earthly course, be filled with the sole single consciousness that _this_ is the beautiful world; and will he, can he, live as a stranger and a pilgrim in it? perpetuate that vigorous pulse, and that youthful blood which "runs tickling up and down the veins;" drive off, and preclude, all that care and responsibility which renders human life so earnest; and will the young immortal go through it, with that sacred fear and trembling with which he is commanded to work out his salvation? yet, this buoyancy and light-heartedness are legitimate feelings. they spring up, like wild-flowers, from the very nature of man. god intends that prismatic hues and auroral lights shall flood our morning sky. he must be filled with a sour and rancid misanthropy, who cannot bless the creator that there is one part of man's sinful and cursed life which reminds of the time, and the state, when there was no sin and no curse. there is, then, to be no extermination of this legitimate experience. but there is to be its moderation and its regulation. and this we get, by the introduction of the feeling and the principle of religious fear. the youth ought to seek an impression from things unseen and eternal. god, and his august attributes; christ, and his awful passion; heaven, with its sacred scenes and joys; hell, with its just woe and wail,--all these should come in, to modify, and temper, the jubilance that without them becomes the riot of the soul. for this, we apprehend, is the meaning of our lord, when he says, "i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, i say unto you, fear him." it is not so much any particular species of fear that we are shut up to, by these words, as it is the general habit and feeling. the fear of _hell_ is indeed specified,--and this proves that such a fear is rational and proper in its own place,--but our lord would not have us stop with this single and isolated form of the feeling. he recommends a solemn temper. he commands a being who stands continually upon the brink of eternity and immensity, to be aware of his position. he would have the great shadow of eternity thrown in upon time. he desires that every man should realize, in those very moments when the sun shines the brightest and the earth looks the fairest, that there is another world than this, for which man is not naturally prepared, and for which he must make a preparation. and what he enjoins upon mankind at large, he specially enjoins upon youth. they need to be sobered more than others. the ordinary cares of this life, which do so much towards moderating our desires and aspirations, have not yet pressed upon the ardent and expectant soul, and therefore it needs, more than others, to fear and to "stand in awe." ii. secondly, youth is _elastic, and readily recovers from undue depression_. the skeptical lucretius tells us that the divinities are the creatures of man's fears, and would make us believe that all religion has its ground in fright.[ ] and do we not hear this theory repeated by the modern unbeliever? what means this appeal to a universal, and an unprincipled good-nature in the supreme being, and this rejection of everything in christianity that awakens misgivings and forebodings within the sinful human soul? why this opposition to the doctrine of an absolute, and therefore endless punishment, unless it be that it awakens a deep and permanent dread in the heart of guilty man? now, we are not of that number who believe that thoughtless and lethargic man has been greatly damaged by his moral fears. it is the lack of a bold and distinct impression from the solemn objects of another world, and the utter absence of fear, that is ruining man from generation to generation. if we were at liberty, and had the power, to induce into the thousands and millions of our race who are running the rounds of sin and vice, some one particular emotion that should be medicinal and salutary to the soul, we would select that very one which our lord had in view when he said: "i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, i say unto you, fear him." if we were at liberty, and had the power, we would instantaneously stop these human souls that are crowding our avenues, intent only upon pleasure and earth, and would fill them with the emotions of the day of doom; we would deluge them with the fear of god, that they might flee from their sins and the wrath to come. but while we say this, we also concede that it is possible for the human soul to be injured, by the undue exercise of this emotion. the bruised reed may be broken, and the smoking flax may be quenched; and hence it is the very function and office-work of the blessed comforter, to prevent this. god's own children sometimes pass through a horror of great darkness, like that which enveloped abraham; and the unregenerate mind is sometimes so overborne by its fears of death, judgment, and eternity, that the entire experience becomes for a time morbid and confused. yet, even in this instance, the excess is better than the lack. we had better travel this road to heaven, than none at all. it is better to enter into the kingdom of god with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire. when the saints from the heavenly heights look back upon their severe religious experience here on earth,--upon their footprints stained with their own blood,--they count it a small matter that they entered into eternal joy through much tribulation. and if we could but for one instant take their position, we should form their estimate; we should not shrink, if god so pleased, from passing through that martyrdom and crucifixion which has been undergone by so many of those gentle spirits, broken spirits, holy spirits, upon whom the burden of mystery once lay like night, and the far heavier burden of guilt lay like hell. there is less danger, however, that the feeling and principle of fear should exert an excessive influence upon youth. there is an elasticity, in the earlier periods of human life, that prevents long-continued depression. how rare it is to see a young person smitten with insanity. it is not until the pressure of anxiety has been long continued, and the impulsive spring of the soul has been destroyed, that reason is dethroned. the morning of our life may, therefore, be subjected to a subduing and repressing influence, with very great safety. it is well to bear the yoke in youth. the awe produced by a vivid impression from the eternal world may enter into the exuberant and gladsome experience of the young, with very little danger of actually extinguishing it, and rendering life permanently gloomy and unhappy. iii. thirdly, youth is _exposed to sudden temptations, and surprisals into sin_. the general traits that have been mentioned as belonging to the early period in human life render it peculiarly liable to solicitations. the whole being of a healthful hilarious youth, who feels life in every limb, thrills to temptation, like the lyre to the plectrum. body and soul are alive to all the enticements of the world of sense; and in certain critical moments, the entire sensorium, upon the approach of bold and powerful excitements, flutters and trembles like an electrometer in a thunder-storm. all passionate poetry breathes of youth and spring. most of the catastrophes of the novel and the drama turn upon the violent action of some temptation, upon the highly excitable nature of youth. all literature testifies to the hazards that attend the morning of our existence; and daily experience and observation, certainly, corroborate the testimony. it becomes necessary, therefore, to guard the human soul against these liabilities which attend it in its forming period. and, next to a deep and all-absorbing _love_ of god, there is nothing so well adapted to protect against sudden surprisals, as a profound and definite fear of god. it is a great mistake, to suppose that apostate and corrupt beings like ourselves can pass through all the temptations of this life unscathed, while looking _solely_ at the pleasant aspects of the divine being, and the winning forms of religious truth. we are not yet seraphs; and we cannot always trust to our affectionateness, to carry us through a violent attack of temptation. there are moments in the experience of the christian himself, when he is compelled to call in the _fear_ of god to his aid, and to steady his infirm and wavering virtue by the recollection that "the wages of sin is death." "by the fear of the lord, men,"--and christian men too,--"depart from evil." it will not always be so. when that which is perfect is come, perfect love shall cast out fear; but, until the disciple of christ reaches heaven, his religious experience must be a somewhat complex one. a reasonable and well-defined apprehensiveness must mix with his affectionateness, and deter him from transgression, in those severe passages in his history when love is languid and fails to draw him. says an old english divine: "the fear of god's judgments, or of the threatenings of god, is of much efficiency, when some present temptation presseth upon us. when conscience and the affections are divided; when conscience doth withdraw a man from sin, and when his carnal affections draw him forth to it; then should the fear of god come in. it is a holy design for a christian, to counterbalance the pleasures of sin with the terrors of it, and thus to cure the poison of the viper by the flesh of the viper. thus that admirable saint and martyr, bishop hooper, when he came to die, one endeavored to dehort him from death by this: o sir, consider that life is sweet and death is bitter; presently he replied, life to come is more sweet, and death to come is more bitter, and so went to the stake and patiently endured the fire. thus, as a christian may sometimes outweigh the pleasures of sin by the consideration of the reward of god, so, sometimes, he may quench the pleasures of sin by the consideration of the terrors of god."[ ] but much more is all this true, in the instance of the hot-blooded youth. how shall he resist temptation, unless he has some _fear_ of god before his eyes? there are moments in the experience of the young, when all power of resistance seems to be taken away, by the very witchery and blandishment of the object. he has no heart, and no nerve, to resist the beautiful siren. and it is precisely in these emergencies in his experience,--in these moments when this world comes up before him clothed in pomp and gold, and the other world is so entirely lost sight of, that it throws in upon him none of its solemn shadows and warnings,--it is precisely now, when he is just upon the point of yielding to the mighty yet fascinating pressure, that he needs to feel an impression, bold and startling, from the _wrath_ of god. nothing but the most active remedies will have any effect, in this tumult and uproar of the soul. when the whole system is at fever-heat, and the voice of reason and conscience is drowned in the clamors of sense and earth, nothing can startle and stop but the trumpet of sinai.[ ] it is in these severe experiences, which are more common to youth than they are to manhood, that we see the great value of the feeling and principle of fear. it is, comparatively, in vain for a youth under the influence of strong temptations,--and particularly when the surprise is sprung upon him,--to ply himself with arguments drawn from the beauty of virtue, and the excellence of piety. they are too ethereal for him, in his present mood. such arguments are for a calmer moment, and a more dispassionate hour. his blood is now boiling, and those higher motives which would influence the saint, and would have some influence with him, if he were not in this critical condition, have little power to deter him from sin. let him therefore pass by the love of god, and betake himself to the _anger_ of god, for safety. let him say to himself, in this moment when the forces of satan, in alliance with the propensities of his own nature, are making an onset,--when all other considerations are being swept away in the rush and whirlwind of his passions,--let him coolly bethink himself and say: "if i do this abominable thing which the soul of god hates, then god, the holy and immaculate, will burn my spotted soul in his pure eternal flame." for, there is great power, in what the scriptures term "the terror of the lord," to destroy the edge of temptation. "a wise man feareth and departeth from evil." fear kills out the delight in sin. damocles cannot eat the banquet with any pleasure, so long as the naked sword hangs by a single hair over his head. no one can find much enjoyment in transgression, if his conscience is feeling the action of god's holiness within it. and well would it be, if, in every instance in which a youth is tempted to fling himself into the current of sin that is flowing all around him, his moral sense might at that very moment be filled with some of that terror, and some of that horror, which breaks upon the damned in eternity. well would it be, if the youth in the moment of violent temptation could lay upon the emotion or the lust that entices him, a distinct and red coal of hell-fire.[ ] no injury would result from the most terrible fear of god, provided it could always fall upon the human soul in those moments of strong temptation, and of surprisals, when all other motives fail to influence, and the human will is carried headlong by the human passions. there may be a fear and a terror that does harm, but man need be under no concern lest he experience too much of this feeling, in his hours of weakness and irresolution, in his youthful days of temptation and of dalliance. let him rather bless god that there is such an intense light, and such a pure fire, in the divine essence, and seek to have his whole vitiated and poisoned nature penetrated and purified by it. have you never looked with a steadfast gaze into a grate of burning anthracite, and noticed the quiet intense glow of the heat, and how silently the fire throbs and pulsates through the fuel, burning up everything that is inflammable, and, making the whole mass as pure, and clean, and clear, as the element of fire itself? such is the effect of a contact of god's wrath with man's sin; of the penetration of man's corruption by the wrath of the lord. iv. in the fourth place, the feeling and principle of fear ought to enter into the experience of both youth and manhood, _because it relieves from all other fear_. he who stands in awe of god can look down, from a very great height, upon all other perturbation. when we have seen him from whose sight the heavens and the earth flee away, there is nothing, in either the heavens or the earth, that can produce a single ripple upon the surface of our souls. this is true, even of the unregenerate mind. the fear in this instance is a servile one,--it is not filial and affectionate,--and yet it serves to protect the subject of it from all other feelings of this species, because it is greater than all others, and like aaron's serpent swallows up the rest. if we must be liable to fears,--and the transgressor always must be,--it is best that they should all be concentrated in one single overmastering sentiment. unity is ever desirable; and even if the human soul were to be visited by none but the servile forms of fear, it would be better that this should be the "terror of the lord." if, by having the fear of god before our eyes, we could thereby be delivered from the fear of man, and all those apprehensions which are connected with time and sense, would it not be wisdom to choose it? we should then know that there was but one quarter from which our peace could be assailed. this would lead us to look in that direction; and, here upon earth, sinful man cannot look at god long, without coming to terms and becoming reconciled with him. v. the fifth and last reason which we assign for cherishing the feeling and principle of fear applies to youth, to manhood, and to old age, alike: _the fear of god conducts to the love of god_. our lord does not command us to fear "him, who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell," because such a feeling as this is intrinsically desirable, and is an ultimate end in itself. it is, in itself, undesirable, and it is only a means to an end. by it, our torpid souls are to be awakened from their torpor; our numbness and hardness of mind, in respect to spiritual objects, is to be removed. we are never for a moment, to suppose that the fear of perdition is set before us as a model and permanent form of experience to be toiled after,--a positive virtue and grace intended to be perpetuated through the whole future history of the soul. it is employed only as an antecedent to a higher and a happier emotion; and when the purpose for which it has been elicited has been answered, it then disappears. "perfect love casteth out fear; for fear hath torment," ( john iv. .[ ]) but, at the same time, we desire to direct attention to the fact that he who has been exercised with this emotion, thoroughly and deeply, is conducted by it into the higher and happier form of religious experience. religious fear and anxiety are the prelude to religious peace and joy. these are the discords that prepare for the concords. he, who in the psalmist's phrase has known the power of the divine anger, is visited with the manifestation of the divine love. the method in the thirty-second psalm is the method of salvation. day and night god's hand is heavy upon the soul; the fear and sense of the divine displeasure is passing through the conscience, like electric currents. the moisture, the sweet dew of health and happiness, is turned into the drought of summer, by this preparatory process. then the soul acknowledges its sin, and its iniquity it hides no longer. it confesses its transgressions unto the lord,--it justifies and approves of this wrath which it has felt,--and he forgives the iniquity of its sin. it is not a vain thing, therefore, to fear the lord. the emotion of which we have been discoursing, painful though it be, is remunerative. there is something in the very experience of moral pain which brings us nigh to god. when, for instance, in the hour of temptation, i discern god's calm and holy eye bent upon me, and i wither beneath it, and resist the enticement because i fear to disobey, i am brought by this chapter in my experience into very close contact with my maker. there has been a vivid and personal transaction between us. i have heard him say: "if thou doest that wicked thing thou shalt surely die; refrain from doing it, and i will love thee and bless thee." this is the secret of the great and swift reaction which often takes place, in the sinner's soul. he moodily and obstinately fights against the divine displeasure. in this state of things, there is nothing but fear and torment. suddenly he gives way, acknowledges that it is a good and a just anger, no longer seeks to beat it back from his guilty soul, but lets the billows roll over while he casts himself upon the divine pity. in this act and instant,--which involves the destiny of the soul, and has millenniums in it,--when he recognizes the justice and trusts in the mercy of god, there is a great rebound, and through his tears he sees the depth, the amazing depth, of the divine compassion. for, paradoxical as it appears, god's love is best seen in the light of god's displeasure. when the soul is penetrated by this latter feeling, and is thoroughly sensible of its own worthlessness,--when, man knows himself to be vile, and filthy, and fit only to be burned up by the divine immaculateness,--then, to have the great god take him to his heart, and pour out upon him the infinite wealth of his mercy and compassion, is overwhelming. here, the divine indignation becomes a foil to set off the divine love. read the sixteenth chapter of ezekiel, with an eye "purged with euphrasy and rue," so that you can take in the full spiritual significance of the comparisons and metaphors, and your whole soul will dissolve in tears, as you perceive how the great and pure god, in every instance in which he saves an apostate spirit, is compelled to bow his heavens and come down into a loathsome sty of sensuality.[ ] would it be love of the highest order, in a seraph, to leave the pure cerulean and trail his white garments through the haunts of vice, to save the wretched inmates from themselves and their sins? o then what must be the degree of affection and compassion, when the infinite deity, whose essence is light itself, and whose nature is the intensest contrary of all sin, tabernacles in the flesh upon the errand of redemption! and if the pure spirit of that seraph, while filled with an ineffable loathing, and the hottest moral indignation, at what he saw in character and conduct, were also yearning with an unspeakable desire after the deliverance of the vicious from their vice,--the moral wrath, thus setting in still stronger relief the moral compassion that holds it in check,---what must be the relation between these two emotions in the divine being! is not the one the measure of the other? and does not the soul that fears god in a _submissive_ manner, and acknowledges the righteousness of the divine displeasure with entire acquiescence and no sullen resistance, prepare the way, in this very act, for an equally intense manifestation of the divine mercy and forgiveness? the subject treated of in this discourse is one of the most important, and frequent, that is presented in the scriptures. he who examines is startled to find that the phrase, "fear of the lord," is woven into the whole web of revelation from genesis to the apocalypse. the feeling and principle under discussion has a biblical authority, and significance, that cannot be pondered too long, or too closely. it, therefore, has an interest for every human being, whatever may be his character, his condition, or his circumstances. all great religious awakenings begin in the dawning of the august and terrible aspects of the deity upon the popular mind, and they reach their height and happy consummation, in that love and faith for which the antecedent fear has been the preparation. well and blessed would it be for this irreverent and unfearing age, in which the advance in mechanical arts and vice is greater than that in letters and virtue, if the popular mind could be made reflective and solemn by this great emotion. we would, therefore, pass by all other feelings, and endeavor to fix the eye upon the distinct and unambiguous fear of god, and would urge the young, especially, to seek for it as for hid treasures. the feeling is a painful one, because it is a _preparatory_ one. there are other forms of religious emotion which are more attractive, and are necessary in their place; these you may be inclined to cultivate, at the expense of the one enjoined by our lord in the text. but we solemnly and earnestly entreat you, not to suffer your inclination to divert your attention from your duty and your true interest. we tell you, with confidence, that next to the affectionate and filial love of god in your heart, there is no feeling or principle in the whole series that will be of such real solid service to you, as that one enjoined by our lord upon "his disciples first of all." you will need its awing and repressing influence, in many a trying scene, in many a severe temptation. be encouraged to cherish it, from the fact that it is a very effective, a very powerful emotion. he who has the fear of god before his eyes is actually and often kept from falling. it will prevail with your weak will, and your infirm purpose, when other motives fail. and if you could but stand where those do, who have passed through that fearful and dangerous passage through which you are now making a transit; if you could but know, as they do, of what untold value is everything that deters from the wrong and nerves to the right, in the critical moments of human life; you would know, as they do, the utmost importance of cherishing a solemn and serious dread of displeasing god. the more simple and unmixed this feeling is in your own experience, the more influential will it be. fix it deeply in the mind, that the great god is holy. recur to this fact continually. if the dread which it awakens casts a shadow over the gayety of youth, remember that you need this, and will not be injured by it. the doctrine commends itself to you, because you are young, and because you are strong. if it fills you with misgivings, at times, and threatens to destroy your peace of mind, let the emotion operate. never stifle it, as you value your salvation. you had better be unhappy for a season, than yield to temptation and grievous snares which will drown you in perdition. even if it hangs dark and low over the horizon of your life, and for a time invests this world with sadness, be resolute with yourself, and do not attempt to remove the feeling, except in the legitimate way of the gospel. remember that every human soul out of christ ought to fear, "for he that believeth not on the son, the wrath of god abideth on him." and remember, also, that every one who believes in christ ought not to fear; for "there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus, and he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life." and with this thought would we close. this fear of god may and should end in the perfect love that casteth out fear. this powerful and terrible emotion, which we have been considering, may and ought to prepare the soul to welcome the sweet and thrilling accents of christ saying, "come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden," with your fears of death, judgment, and eternity, "and i will give you rest." faith in christ lifts the soul above all fears, and eventually raises it to that serene world, that blessed state of being, where there is no more curse and no more foreboding. "serene will be our days, and bright, and happy will our nature be, when love is an unerring light, and joy its own security." [footnote : the moral and healthful influence of fear is implied in the celebrated passage in aristotle's poetics, whatever be the interpretation. he speaks of a _cleansing [greek: (katharsin)]_ of the mind, by means of the emotions of pity and terror [greek: (phobos)] awakened by tragic poetry. most certainly, there is no portion of classical literature so purifying as the greek drama. and yet, the pleasurable emotions are rarely awakened by it. righteousness and justice determine the movement of the plot, and conduct to the catastrophe; and the persons and forms that move across the stage are, not venus and the graces but, "ghostly shapes to meet at noontide; death the skeleton and time the shadow." all literature that tends upward contains the tragic element; and all literature that tends downward rejects it. Æschylus and dante assume a world of retribution, and employ for the purposes of poetry the fear it awakens. lucretius and voltaire would disprove the existence of such a solemn world, and they make no use of such an emotion.] [footnote : wordsworth: intimations of immortality.] [footnote : lucretius: de rerum natura, iii. sq.; v. sq.] [footnote : bates: discourse of the fear of god.] [footnote : "praise be to thee, glory to thee, o fountain of mercies: i was becoming more miserable and thou becoming nearer, thy right hand was continually ready to pluck me out of the mire, and to wash me thoroughly, and i knew it not; nor did anything call me back from a yet deeper gulf of carnal pleasures, but _the fear of death, and of thy judgment to come_; which, amid all my changes, never departed from my breast." augustine: confessions, vi. ., (shedd's ed., p. .)] [footnote : "si te luxuria tentat, objice tibi memoriam mortis tuae, propone tibi futuruin judicium, reduc ad memoriam futura tormenta, propone tibi acterna supplicia; et etiaim propone aute oculos tuos perpetuosignes infernorum; propone tibi horribiles poenas gehennae. memoria ardoris gehennae extinguat in te ardorem luxuriane." bernard: de modo bene vivendi. sermo lxvii.] [footnote : baxter (narrative, part i.) remarks "that fear, being an easier and irresistible passion, doth oft obscure that measure of love which is indeed within us; and that the soul of a believer groweth up by degrees from the more troublesome and safe operation of fear, to the more high and excellent operations of complacential love."] [footnote : "thus saith the lord god unto jerusalem, thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of canaan; thy father was an amorite, and thy mother an hittite. thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. and when i passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, i said unto thee when, thou wast in thy blood, live; yea i said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, live." ezekiel xvi. , , .] the present life as related to the future. luke xvi. .--"and abraham said, son remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." the parable of dives and lazarus is one of the most solemn passages in the whole revelation of god. in it, our lord gives very definite statements concerning the condition of those who have departed this life. it makes no practical difference, whether we assume that this was a real occurrence, or only an imaginary one,--whether there actually was such a particular rich man as dives, and such a particular beggar as lazarus, or whether the narrative was invented by christ for the purpose of conveying the instruction which he desired to give. the instruction is given in either case; and it is the instruction with which we are concerned. be it a parable, or be it a historical fact, our lord here teaches, in a manner not to be disputed, that a man who seeks enjoyment in this life as his chief end shall suffer torments in the next life, and that he who endures suffering in this life for righteousness' sake shall dwell in paradise in the next,--that he who finds his life here shall lose his life hereafter, and that he who loses his life here shall find it here after. for, we cannot for a moment suppose that such a being as jesus christ merely intended to play upon the fears of men, in putting forth such a picture as this. he knew that this narrative would be read by thousands and millions of mankind; that they would take it from his lips as absolute truth; that they would inevitably infer from it, that the souls of men do verily live after death, that some of them are in bliss and some of them are in pain, and that the difference between them is due to the difference in the lives which they lead here upon earth. now, if christ was ignorant upon these subjects, he had no right to make such representations and to give such impressions, even through a merely imaginary narrative. and still less could he be justified in so doing, if, being perfectly informed upon the subject, he knew that there is no such place as that in which he puts the luxurious dives, and no such impassable gulf as that of which he speaks. it will not do, here, to employ the jesuitical maxim that the end justifies the means, and say, as some teachers have said, that the wholesome impression that will be made upon the vicious and the profligate justifies an appeal to their fears, by preaching the doctrine of endless retribution, although there is no such thing. this was a fatal error in the teachings of clement of alexandria, and origen. "god threatens,"--said they,--"and punishes, but only to improve, never for purposes of retribution; and though, in public discourse, the fruitlessness of repentance after death be asserted, yet hereafter not only those who have not heard of christ will receive forgiveness, but the severer punishment which befalls the obstinate unbelievers will, it may be hoped, not be the conclusion of their history."[ ] but can we suppose that such a sincere, such a truthful and such a holy being as the son of god would stoop to any such artifice as this? that he who called himself the truth would employ a lie, either directly or indirectly, even to promote the spiritual welfare of men? he never spake for mere sensation. the fact, then, that in this solemn passage of scripture we find the redeemer calmly describing and minutely picturing the condition of two persons in the future world, distinctly specifying the points of difference between them, putting words into their mouths that indicate a sad and hopeless experience in one of them, and a glad and happy one in the other of them,--the fact that in this treatment of the awful theme our lord, beyond all controversy, _conveys the impression_ that these scenes and experiences are real and true,--is one of the strongest of all proofs that they are so. the reader of dante's inferno is always struck with the sincerity and realism of that poem. under the delineation of that luminous, and that intense understanding, hell has a topographic reality. we wind along down those nine circles as down a volcanic crater, black, jagged, precipitous, and impinging upon the senses at every step. the sighs and shrieks jar our own tympanum; and the convulsions of the lost excite tremors in our own nerves. no wonder that the children in the streets of florence, as they saw the sad and earnest man pass along, his face lined with passion and his brow scarred with thought, pointed at him and said: "there goes the man who has been in hell." but how infinitely more solemn is the impression that is made by these thirteen short verses, of the sixteenth chapter of luke's gospel, from the lips of such a being as jesus christ! we have here the terse and pregnant teachings of one who, in the phrase of the early creed, not only "descended into hell," but who "hath the keys of death and hell." we have here not the utterances of the most truthful, and the most earnest of all human poets,--a man who, we may believe, felt deeply the power of the hebrew bible, though living in a dark age, and a superstitious church,--we have here the utterances of the son of god, very god, of very god, and we may be certain that he intended to convey no impression that will not be made good in the world to come. and when every eye shall see him, and all the sinful kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, there will not be any eye that can look into his and say: "thy description, o son of god, was overdrawn; the impression was greater than the reality." on the contrary, every human soul will say in the day of judgment: "we were forewarned; the statements were exact; even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath" (ps. xc. ). but what is the lesson which we are to read by this clear and solemn light? what would our merciful redeemer have us learn from this passage which he has caused to be recorded for our instruction? let us listen with a candid and a feeling heart, because it comes to us not from an enemy of the human soul, not from a being who delights to cast it into hell, but from a friend of the soul; because it comes to us from one who, in his own person and in his own flesh, suffered an anguish superior in dignity and equal in cancelling power to the pains of all the hells, in order that we, through repentance and faith, might be spared their infliction. the lesson is this: _the man who seeks enjoyment in this life, as his chief end, must suffer in the next life; and he who endures suffering in this life, for righteousness' sake, shall be happy in the next._ "son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." it is a fixed principle in the divine administration, that the scales of justice shall in the end be made equal. if, therefore, sin enjoys in this world, it must sorrow in the next; and if righteousness sorrows in this world, it must enjoy in the next. the experience shall be reversed, in order to bring everything to a right position and adjustment. this is everywhere taught in the bible. "woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. blessed are ye that hunger now; for ye shall be filled. blessed are ye that weep now; for ye shall laugh" (luke vi. , , ). these are the explicit declarations of the founder of christianity, and they ought not to surprise us, coming as they do from him who expressly declares that his kingdom is not of this world; that in this world his disciples must have tribulation, as he had; that through much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of god; that whosoever doth not take up the cross daily, and follow him, cannot be his disciple. let us notice some particulars, in which we see the operation of this principle. what are the "good things" which dives receives here, for which he must be "tormented" hereafter? and what are the "evil things" which lazarus receives in this world, for which he will be "comforted" in the world to come? i. in the first place, the worldly man _derives a more intense physical enjoyment_ from this world's goods, than does the child of god. he possesses more of them, and gives himself up to them with less self-restraint. the majority of those who have been most prospered by divine providence in the accumulation of wealth have been outside of the kingdom and the ark of god. not many rich and not many noble are called. in the past history of mankind, the great possessions and the great incomes, as a general rule, have not been in the hands of humble and penitent men. in the great centres of trade and commerce,--in venice, amsterdam, paris, london,--it is the world and not the people of god who have had the purse, and have borne what is put therein. satan is described in scripture, as the "prince of this world" (john xiv. ); and his words addressed to the son of god are true: "all this power and glory is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever i will, i give it." in the parable from which we are discoursing, the sinful man was the rich man, and the child of god was the beggar. and how often do we see, in every-day life, a faithful, prayerful, upright, and pure-minded man, toiling in poverty, and so far as earthly comforts are concerned enjoying little or nothing, while a selfish, pleasure-seeking, and profligate man is immersed in physical comforts and luxuries. the former is receiving evil things, and the latter is receiving good things, in this life. again, how often it happens that a fine physical constitution, health, strength, and vigor, are given to the worldling, and are denied to the child of god. the possession of worldly good is greatly enhanced in value, by a fine capability of enjoying it. when therefore we see wealth joined, with health, and luxury in all the surroundings and appointments combined with taste to appreciate them and a full flow of blood to enjoy them, or access to wide and influential circles, in politics and fashion, given to one who is well fitted by personal qualities to move in them,--when we see a happy adaptation existing between the man and his good fortune, as we call it,--we see not only the "good things," but the "good things" in their gayest and most attractive forms and colors. and how often is all this observed in the instance of the natural man; and how often is there little or none of this in the instance of the spiritual man. we by no means imply, that it is impossible for the possessor of this world's goods to love mercy, to do justly, and to walk humbly; and we are well aware that under the garb of poverty and toil there may beat a murmuring and rebellious heart. but we think that from generation to generation, in this imperfect and probationary world, it will be found to be a fact, that when _merely_ earthly and physical good is allotted in large amounts by the providence of god; that when great incomes and ample means of luxury are given; in the majority of instances they are given to the enemies of god, and not to his dear children. so the psalmist seems to have thought. "i was envious,"--he says,--"when i saw the prosperity of the wicked. for there are no bands in their death; but their strength is firm. they are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish. behold these are the _ungodly_ who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. verily _i_ have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. for all day long have _i_ been plagued, and chastened every morning" (ps. lxxiii). and it should be carefully noticed, that the psalmist, even after further reflection, does not _alter_ his statement respecting the relative positions of the godly and the ungodly in this world. he sees no reason to correct his estimate, upon this point. he lets it stand. so far as this merely _physical_ existence is concerned, the wicked man has the advantage. it is only when the psalmist looks _beyond_ this life, that he sees the compensation, and the balancing again of the scales of eternal right and justice. "when i thought to know this,"--when i reflected upon this inequality, and apparent injustice, in the treatment of the friends and the enemies of god,--"it was too painful for me, until i went into the sanctuary of god,"--until i took my stand in the _eternal_ world, and formed my estimate there,--"_then_ understood i their end. surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down to destruction. how are they brought into desolation as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors." dives passes from his fine linen and sumptuous fare, from his excessive physical enjoyment, to everlasting perdition. ii. in the second place, the worldly man _derives more enjoyment from sin, and suffers less from it_, in this life, than does the child of god. the really renewed man cannot _enjoy_ sin. it is true that he does sin, owing to the strength of old habits, and the remainders of his corruption. but he does not really delight in it; and he says with st. paul: "what i would, that do i not; but what i hate, that do i." his sin is a sorrow, a constant sorrow, to him. he feels its pressure and burden all his days, and cries: "o wretched man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death." if he falls into it, he cannot live in it; as a man may fall into water, but it is not his natural element. again, the good man not only takes no real delight in sin, but his reflections after transgression are very painful. he has a tender conscience. his senses have been trained and disciplined to discern good and evil. hence, the sins that are committed by a child of god are mourned over with a very deep sorrow. the longer he lives, the more odious does sin become to him, and the more keen and bitter is his lamentation over it. now this, in itself, is an "evil thing." man was not made for sorrow, and sorrow is not his natural condition. this wearisome struggle with indwelling corruption, these reproaches of an impartial conscience, this sense of imperfection and of constant failure in the service of god,--all this renders the believer's life on earth a season of trial, and tribulation. the thought of its lasting forever would be painful to him; and if he should be told that it is the will of god, that he should continue to be vexed and foiled through all eternity, with the motions of sin in his members, and that his love and obedience would forever be imperfect, though he would be thankful that even this was granted him, and that he was not utterly cast off, yet he would wear a shaded brow, at the prospect of an imperfect, though a sincere and a struggling eternity. but the ungodly are not so. the worldly man loves sin; loves pleasure; loves self. and the love is so strong, and accompanied with so much enjoyment and zest, that it is _lust_, and is so denominated in the bible. and if you would only defend him from the wrath of god; if you would warrant him immunity in doing as he likes; if you could shelter him as in an inaccessible castle from the retributions of eternity; with what a delirium of pleasure would he plunge into the sin that he loves. tell the avaricious man, that his avarice shall never have any evil consequences here or hereafter; and with what an energy would he apply himself to the acquisition of wealth. tell the luxurious man, full of passion and full of blood, that his pleasures shall never bring down any evil upon him, that there is no power in the universe that can hurt him, and with what an abandonment would he surrender himself to his carnal elysium. tell the ambitious man, fired with visions of fame and glory, that he may banish all fears of a final account, that he may make himself his own deity, and breathe in the incense of worshipers, without any rebuke from him who says: "i am god, and my glory i will not give to another,"-assure the proud and ambitious man that his sin will never find him out, and with what a momentum will he follow out his inclination. for, in each of these instances there is a _hankering_ and a _lust_. the sin is _loved and revelled in_, for its own deliciousness. the heart is worldly, and therefore finds its pleasure in its forbidden objects and aims. the instant you propose to check or thwart this inclination; the instant you try to detach this natural heart from its wealth, or its pleasure, or its earthly fame; you discover how closely it clings, and how strongly it loves, and how intensely it enjoys the forbidden object. like the greedy insect in our gardens, it has fed until every fibre and tissue is colored with its food; and to remove it from the leaf is to tear and lacerate it. now it is for this reason, that the natural man receives "good things," or experiences pleasure, in this life, at a point where the spiritual man receives "evil things," or experiences pain. the child of god does not relish and enjoy sin in this style. sin in the good man is a burden; but in the bad man it is a pleasure. it is all the pleasure he has. and when you propose to take it away from him, or when you ask him to give it up of his own accord, he looks at you and asks: "will you take away the only solace i have? i have no joy in god. i take no enjoyment in divine things. do you ask me to make myself wholly miserable?" and not only does the natural man enjoy sin, but, in this life, he is much less troubled than is the spiritual man with reflections and self-reproaches on account of sin. this is another of the "good things" which dives receives, for which he must be "tormented;" and this is another of the "evil things" which lazarus receives, for which he must be "comforted." it cannot be denied, that in this world the child of god suffers more mental sorrow for sin, in a given period of time, than does the insensible man of the world. if we could look into the soul of a faithful disciple of christ, we should discover that not a day passes, in which his conscience does not reproach him for sins of thought, word, or deed; in which he does not struggle with some bosom sin, until he is so weary that he cries out: "oh that i had wings like a dove, so that i might fly away, and be at rest." some of the most exemplary members of the church go mourning from day to day, because their hearts are still so far from their god and saviour, and their lives fall so far short of what they desire them to be.[ ] their experience is not a positively wretched one, like that of an unforgiven sinner when he is feeling the stings of conscience. they are forgiven. the expiating blood has soothed the ulcerated conscience, so that it no longer stings and burns. they have hope in god's mercy. still, they are in grief and sorrow for sin; and their experience, in so far, is not a perfectly happy one, such as will ultimately be their portion in a better world. "if in this life only,"--says st. paul,--"we have hope in christ, we are of all men most miserable" ( cor. xv. ). but the stupid and impenitent man, a luxurious dives, knows nothing of all this. his days glide by with no twinges of conscience. what does he know of the burden of sin? his conscience is dead asleep; perchance seared as with a hot iron. he does wrong without any remorse; he disobeys the express commands of god, without any misgivings or self-reproach. he is "alive, without the law,"-as st. paul expresses it. his eyes stand out with fatness; and his heart, in the psalmist's phrase, "is as fat as grease" (ps. cxix. ). there is no religious sensibility in him. his sin is a pleasure to him without any mixture of sorrow, because unattended by any remorse of conscience. he is receiving his "good things" in this life. his days pass by without any moral anxiety, and perchance as he looks upon some meek and earnest disciple of christ who is battling with indwelling sin, and who, therefore, sometimes wears a grave countenance, he wonders that any one should walk so soberly, so gloomily, in such a cheery, such a happy, such a jolly world as this. it is a startling fact, that those men in this world who have most reason to be distressed by sin are the least troubled by it; and those who have the least reason to be distressed are the most troubled by it. the child of god is the one who sorrows most; and the child of satan is the one who sorrows least. remember that we are speaking only of _this_ life. the text reads: "thou _in thy lifetime_ receivedst thy good things, and likewise lazarus evil things." and it is unquestionably so. the meek and lowly disciple of christ, the one who is most entitled by his character and conduct to be untroubled by religious anxiety, is the very one who bows his head as a bulrush, and perhaps goes mourning all his days, fearing that he is not accepted, and that he shall be a cast-a-way; while the selfish and thoroughly irreligious man, who ought to be stung through and through by his own conscience, and feel the full energy of the law which he is continually breaking,--this man, who of all men ought to be anxious and distressed for sin, goes through a whole lifetime, perchance, without any convictions or any fears. and now we ask, if this state of things ought to last forever? is it right, is it just, that sin should enjoy in this style forever and forever, and that holiness should grieve and sorrow in this style forevermore? would you have the almighty pay a bounty upon unrighteousness, and place goodness under eternal pains and penalties? ought not this state of things to be reversed? when dives comes to the end of this lifetime; when he has run his round of earthly pleasure, faring sumptuously every day, clothed in purple and fine linen, without a thought of his duties and obligations, and without any anxiety and penitence for his sins,--when this worldly man has received all his "good things," and is satiated and hardened by them, ought he not then to be "tormented?" ought this guilty carnal enjoyment to be perpetuated through all eternity, under the government of a righteous and just god? and, on the other hand, ought not the faithful disciple, who, perhaps, has possessed little or nothing of this world's goods, who has toiled hard, in poverty, in affliction, in temptation, in tribulation, and sometimes like abraham in the horror of a great darkness, to keep his robes white, and his soul unspotted from the world,--when the poor and weary lazarus comes to the end of this lifetime, ought not his trials and sorrows to cease? ought he not then to be "comforted" in the bosom of abraham, in the paradise of god? there is that within us all, which answers, yea, and amen. such a balancing of the scales is assented to, and demanded by the moral convictions. hence, in the parable, dives himself is represented as acquiescing in the eternal judgment. he does not complain of injustice. it is true, that at first he asks for a drop of water,--for some slight mitigation of his punishment. this is the instinctive request of any sufferer. but when his attention is directed to the right and the wrong of the case; when abraham reminds him of the principles of justice by which his destiny has been decided; when he tells him that having taken his choice of pleasure in the world which he has left, he cannot now have pleasure in the world to which he has come; the wretched man makes no reply. there is nothing to be said. he feels that the procedure is just. he is then silent upon the subject of his own tortures, and only begs that his five brethren, whose lifetime is not yet run out, to whom there is still a space left for repentance, may be warned from his own lips not to do as he has done,--not to choose pleasure on earth as their chief good; not to take their "good things" in this life. dives, the man in hell, is a witness to the justice of eternal punishment. . in view of this subject, as thus discussed, we remark in the first place, that no man can have his "good things," in other words, his chief pleasure, in _both_ worlds. god and this world are in antagonism. "for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him" ( john i. , ). it is the height of folly, therefore, to suppose that a man can make earthly enjoyment his chief end while he is upon earth, and then pass to heaven when he dies. just so far as he holds on upon the "good things" of this life, he relaxes his grasp upon the "good things" of the next. no man is capacious enough to hold both worlds in his embrace. he cannot serve god and mammon. look at this as a _matter of fact_. do not take it as a theory of the preacher. it is as plain and certain that you cannot lay up your treasure in heaven while you are laying it up upon earth, as it is that your material bodies cannot occupy two portions of space at one and the same time. dismiss, therefore, all expectations of being able to accomplish an impossibility. put not your mind to sleep with the opiate, that in some inexplicable manner you will be able to live the life of a worldly man upon earth, and then the life of a spiritual man in heaven. there is no alchemy that can amalgamate substances that refuse to mix. no man has ever yet succeeded, no man ever will succeed, in securing both the pleasures of sin and the pleasures of holiness,--in living the life of dives, and then going to the bosom of abraham. . and this leads to the second remark, that every man must _make his choice_ whether he will have his "good things" now, or hereafter. every man is making his choice. every man has already made it. the heart is now set either upon god, or upon the world. search through the globe, and you cannot find a creature with double affections; a creature with _two_ chief ends of living; a creature whose treasure is both upon earth and in heaven. all mankind are single-minded. they either mind earthly things, or heavenly things. they are inspired with one predominant purpose, which rules them, determines their character, and decides their destiny. and in all who have not been renewed by divine grace, the purpose is a wrong one, a false and fatal one. it is the choice and the purpose of dives, and not the choice and purpose of lazarus. . hence, we remark in the third place, that it is the duty and the wisdom of every man to let this world go, and seek his "good things" _hereafter_. our lord commands every man to sit down, like the steward in the parable, and make an estimate. he enjoins it upon every man to reckon up the advantages upon each side, and see for himself which is superior. he asks every man what it will profit him, "if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul; or, what he shall give in exchange for his soul." we urge you to make this estimate,--to compare the "good things" which dives enjoyed, with the "torments" that followed them; and the "evil things" which lazarus suffered, with the "comfort" that succeeded them. there can be no doubt upon which side the balance will fall. and we urge you to take the "evil things" _now_, and the "good things" _hereafter_. we entreat you to copy the example of moses at the court of the pharaohs, and in the midst of all regal luxury, who "chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of christ, greater riches than the treasures in egypt: _for he had respect unto the recompense of reward_." take the _narrow_ way. what though it be strait and narrow; you are not to walk in it forever. a few short years of fidelity will end the toilsome pilgrimage; and then you will come put into a "wealthy place." we might tell you of the _joys_ of the christian life that are mingled with its trials and sorrows even here upon earth. for, this race to which we invite you, and this fight to which we call you have their own peculiar, solemn, substantial joy. and even their sorrow is tinged with glory. in a higher, truer sense than protesilaus in the poem says it of the pagan elysium, we may say even of the christian race, and the christian fight, "calm pleasures there abide--_majestic pains_."[ ] but we do not care, at this point, to influence you by a consideration of the amount of enjoyment, in _this_ life, which you will derive from a close and humble walk with god. we prefer to put the case in its baldest form,--in the aspect in which we find it in our text. we will say nothing at all about the happiness of a christian life, here in time. we will talk only of its tribulations. we will only say, as in the parable, that there are "evil things" to be endured here upon earth, in return for which we shall have "good things" in another life. there is to be a moderate and sober use of this world's goods; there is to be a searching sense of sin, and an humble confession of it before god; there is to be a cross-bearing every day, and a struggle with indwelling corruption. these will cost effort, watchfulness, and earnest prayer for divine assistance. we do not invite you into the kingdom of god, without telling you frankly and plainly beforehand what must be done, and what must be suffered. but having told you this, we then tell you with the utmost confidence and assurance, that you will be infinitely repaid for your choice, if you take your "evil things" in this life, and choose your "good things" in a future. we know, and are certain, that this light affliction which endures but for a moment, in comparison with the infinite duration beyond the tomb, will work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. we entreat you to look no longer at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal. learn a parable from a wounded soldier. his limb must be amputated, for mortification and gangrene have begun their work. he is told that the surgical operation, which will last a half hour, will yield him twenty or forty years of healthy and active life. the endurance of an "evil thing," for a few moments, will result in the possession of a "good thing," for many long days and years. he holds out the limb, and submits to the knife. he accepts the inevitable conditions under which he finds himself. he is resolute and stern, in order to secure a great good, in the future. it is the practice of this same _principle_, though not in the use of the same kind of power, that we would urge upon you. _look up to god for grace and help_, and deliberately forego a present advantage, for the sake of something infinitely more valuable hereafter. do not, for the sake of the temporary enjoyment of dives, lose the eternal happiness of lazarus. rather, take the place, and accept the "evil things," of the beggar. _look up to god for grace and strength_ to do it, and then live a life of contrition for sin, and faith in christ's blood. deny yourself, and take up the cross daily. expect your happiness _hereafter_. lay up your treasure _above_. then, in the deciding day, it will be said of you, as it will be of all the true children of god: "these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb." [footnote : shedd: history of doctrine, ii., sq.] [footnote : the early religious experience of john owen furnishes a striking illustration. "for a quarter of a year, he avoided almost all intercourse with men; could scarcely be induced to speak; and when he did say anything, it was in so disordered a manner as rendered him a wonder to many. only those who have experienced the bitterness of a wounded spirit can form an idea of the distress he must have suffered. compared with this anguish of soul, all the afflictions which befall a sinner [on earth] are trifles. one drop of that wrath which shall finally fill the cup of the ungodly, poured into the mind, is enough to poison all the comforts of life, and to spread mourning, lamentation, and woe over the countenance. though the violence of owen's convictions had subsided after the first severe conflict, they still continued to disturb his peace, and nearly five years elapsed from their commencement before he obtained solid comfort." orme: life of owen, chap. i.] [footnote : wordsworth: laodamia.] the exercise of mercy optional with god. romans ix. .--"for he saith to moses, i will have mercy on whom i will have mercy, and i will have compassion on whom i will have compassion." this is a part of the description which god himself gave to moses, of his own nature and attributes. the hebrew legislator had said to jehovah: "i beseech thee show me thy glory." he desired a clear understanding of the character of that great being, under whose guidance he was commissioned to lead the people of israel into the promised land. god said to him in reply: "i will make all my goodness pass before thee, and i will proclaim the name of the lord before thee; and i will be gracious to whom i will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom i will shew mercy."[ ] by this, god revealed to moses, and through him to all mankind, the fact that he is a merciful being, and directs attention to one particular characteristic of mercy. while informing his servant, that he is gracious and clement towards a penitent transgressor, he at the same time teaches him that he is under no obligation, or necessity, to shew mercy. grace is not a debt. "i will have mercy on whom i _will_ have mercy, and i will have compassion on whom i _will_ have compassion." the apostle paul quotes this declaration, to shut the mouth of him who would set up a claim to salvation; who is too proud to beg for it, and accept it as a free and unmerited favor from god. in so doing, he endorses the sentiment. the inspiration of his epistle corroborates that of the pentateuch, so that we have assurance made doubly sure, that this is the correct enunciation of the nature of mercy. let us look into this hope-inspiring attribute of god, under the guidance of this text. the great question that presses upon the human mind, from age to age, is the inquiry: is god a merciful being, and will he show mercy? living as we do under the light of revelation, we know little of the doubts and fears that spontaneously rise in the guilty human soul, when it is left solely to the light of nature to answer it. with the bible in our hands, and hearing the good news of redemption from our earliest years, it seems to be a matter of course that the deity should pardon sin. nay, a certain class of men in christendom seem to have come to the opinion that it is more difficult to prove that god is just, than to prove that he is merciful.[ ] but this is not the thought and feeling of man when outside of the pale of revelation. go into the ancient pagan world, examine the theologizing of the greek and roman mind, and you will discover that the fears of the justice far outnumbered the hopes of the mercy; that plato and plutarch and cicero and tacitus were far more certain that god would punish sin, than that he would, pardon it. this is the reason that there is no light, or joy, in any of the pagan religions. except when religion was converted into the worship of beauty, as in the instance of the later greek, and all the solemn and truthful ideas of law and justice were eliminated from it, every one of the natural religions of the globe is filled with sombre and gloomy hues, and no others. the truest and best religions of the ancient world were always the sternest and saddest, because the unaided human mind is certain that god is just, but is not certain that he is merciful. when man is outside of revelation, it is by no means a matter of course that god is clement, and that sin shall be forgiven. great uncertainty overhangs the doctrine of the divine mercy, from the position of natural religion, and it is only within the province of revealed truth that the uncertainty is removed. apart from a distinct and direct _promise_ from the lips of god himself that he will forgive sin, no human creature can be sure that sin will ever be forgiven. let us, therefore, look into the subject carefully, and see the reason why man, if left to himself and his spontaneous reflections, doubts whether there is mercy in the holy one for a transgressor, and fears that there is none, and why a special revelation is consequently required, to dispel the doubt and the fear. the reason lies in the fact, implied in the text, that _the exercise of justice is necessary, while that of mercy is optional_. "i will have mercy on whom i _please_ to have mercy, and i will have compassion on whom i _please_ to have compassion." it is a principle inlaid in the structure of the human soul, that the transgression of law _must_ be visited with retribution. the pagan conscience, as well as the christian, testifies that "the soul that sinneth it shall die." there is no need of quoting from pagan philosophers to prove this. we should be compelled to cite page after page, should we enter upon the documentary evidence. take such a tract, for example, as that of plutarch, upon what he denominates "the slow vengeance of the deity;" read the reasons which he assigns for the apparent delay, in this world, of the infliction of punishment upon transgressors; and you will perceive that the human mind, when left to its candid and unbiassed convictions, is certain that god is a holy being and will visit iniquity with penalty. throughout this entire treatise, composed by a man who probably never saw the scriptures of either the new or the old dispensation, there runs a solemn and deep consciousness that the deity is necessarily obliged, by the principles of justice, to mete out a retribution to the violator of law. plutarch is engaged with the very same question that the apostle peter takes up, in his second epistle, when he answers the objection of the scoffer who asks: where is the promise of god's coming in judgment? the apostle replies to it, by saying that for the eternal mind one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, and that therefore "the lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;" and plutarch answers it in a different manner, but assumes and affirms with the same positiveness and certainty that the vengeance will _ultimately come_. no reader of this treatise can doubt for a moment, that its author believed in the future punishment of the wicked,--and in the future _endless_ punishment of the incorrigibly wicked, because there is not the slightest hint or expectation of any exercise of mercy on the part of this divinity whose vengeance, though slow, is sure and inevitable.[ ] some theorists tell us that the doctrine of endless punishment contradicts the instincts of the natural reason, and that it has no foundation in the constitution of the human soul. we invite them to read and ponder well, the speculations of one of the most thoughtful of pagans upon this subject, and tell us if they see any streaks or rays of light in it; if they see any inkling, any jot or tittle, of the doctrine of the divine pity there. we challenge them to discover in this tract of plutarch the slightest token, or sign, of the divine mercy. the author believes in a hell for the wicked, and an elysium for the good; but those who go to hell go there upon principles of _justice_, and those who go to elysium go there upon the _same_ principles. it is justice that must place men in tartarus, and it is justice that must place them in elysium. in paganism, men must earn their heaven. the idea of _mercy_,--of clemency towards a transgressor, of pity towards a criminal,--is entirely foreign to the thoughts of plutarch, so far as they can be gathered from this tract. it is the clear and terrible doctrine of the pagan sage, that unless a man can make good his claim to eternal happiness upon the ground of law and justice,--unless he merits it by good works,--there is no hope for him in the other world. the idea of a forgiving and tender mercy in the supreme being, exercised towards a creature whom justice would send to eternal retribution, nowhere appears in the best pagan ethics. and why should it? what evidence or proof has the human mind, apart from the revelations made to it in the old and new testaments, that god will ever forgive sin, or ever show mercy? in thinking upon the subject, our reason perceives, intuitively, that god must of necessity punish transgression; and it perceives with equal intuitiveness that there is no corresponding necessity that he should pardon it. we say with confidence and positiveness: "god must be just;" but we cannot say with any certainty or confidence at all: "god must be merciful." the divine mercy is an attribute which is perfectly free and optional, in its exercises, and therefore we cannot tell beforehand whether it will or will not be shown to transgressors. we know nothing at all about it, until we hear some word from the lips of god himself upon the point. when he opens the heavens, and speaks in a clear tone to the human race, saying, "i will forgive your iniquities," then, and not till then, do they know the fact. in reference to all those procedures which, like the punishment of transgression, are fixed and necessary, because they are founded in the eternal principles of law and justice, we can tell beforehand what the divine method will be. we do not need any special revelation, to inform us that god is a just being, and that his anger is kindled against wickedness, and that he will punish the transgressor. this class of truths, the apostle informs us, are written in the human constitution, and we have already seen that they were known and dreaded in the pagan world. that which god _must_ do, he certainly will do. he _must_ be just, and therefore he certainly will punish sin, is the reasoning of the human mind, the-world over, and in every age.[ ] but, when we pass from the punishment of sin to the pardon of it, when we go over to the merciful side of the divine nature, we can come to no _certain_ conclusions, if we are shut up to the workings of our own minds, or to the teachings of the world of nature about us. picture to yourself a thoughtful pagan, like solon the legislator of athens, living in the heart of heathenism five centuries before christ, and knowing nothing of the promise of mercy which broke faintly through the heavens immediately after the apostasy of the first human pair, and which found its full and victorious utterance in the streaming, blood of calvary. suppose that the accusing and condemning law written, upon his conscience had shown its work, and made him conscious of sin. suppose that the question had risen within him, whether that dread being whom he "ignorantly worshipped," and against whom he had committed the offence, would forgive it; was there anything in his own soul, was there anything in the world around him or above him, that could give him an affirmative answer? the instant he put the question: will god _punish_ me for my transgression? the affirming voices were instantaneous and authoritative. "the soul that sinneth it shall die" was the verdict that came forth from the recesses of his moral nature, and was echoed and re-echoed in the suffering, pain, and physical death of a miserable and groaning world all around him. but when he put the other question to himself: will the deity _pardon_ me for my transgression? there was no affirmative answer from any source of knowledge accessible to him. if he sought a reply from the depths of his own conscience, all that he could hear was the terrible utterance: "the soul that sinneth it shall die." the human conscience can no more promise, or certify, the forgiveness of sin, than the ten commandments can do so. when, therefore, this pagan, convicted of sin, seeks a comforting answer to his anxious inquiry respecting the divine clemency towards a criminal, he is met only with retributive thunders and lightnings; he hears only that accusing and condemning law which is written on the heart, and experiences that fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation which st. paul describes, in the first chapter of romans, as working in the mind of the universal pagan world. but we need not go to solon, and the pagan world, for evidence upon this subject. why is it that a convicted man under the full light of the gospel, and with the unambiguous and explicit promise of god to forgive sins ringing in his ears,--why is it, that even under these favorable circumstances a guilt-smitten man finds it so difficult to believe that there is mercy for him, and to trust in it? nay, why is it that he finds it impossible fully to believe that jehovah is a sin-pardoning god, unless he is enabled so to do by the holy ghost? it is because he knows that god is under a necessity of punishing his sin, but is under no necessity of pardoning it. the very same judicial principles are operating in his mind that operate in that of a pagan solon, or any other transgressor outside of the revelation of mercy. that which holds back the convicted sinner from casting himself upon the divine pity is the perception that god must be just. this fact is certain, whether anything else is certain or not. and it is not until he perceives that god can be _both_ just and the justifier of him that believeth in jesus; it is not until he sees that, through the substituted sufferings of christ, god can _punish_ sin while at the same time he _pardons_ it,--can punish it in the substitute while he pardons it in the sinner,--it is not until he is enabled to apprehend the doctrine of _vicarious_ atonement, that his doubts and fears respecting the possibility and reality of the divine mercy are removed. the instant he discovers that the exercise of pardon is rendered entirely consistent with the justice of god, by the substituted death of the son of god, he sees the divine mercy, and that too in the high form of _self-sacrifice,_ and trusts in it, and is at peace. these considerations are sufficient to show, that according to the natural and spontaneous operations of the human intellect, justice stands in the way of the exercise of mercy, and that therefore, if man is not informed by divine revelation respecting this latter attribute, he can never acquire the certainty that god will forgive his sin. there are two very important and significant inferences from this truth, to which we now ask serious attention. . in the first place, those who deny the credibility, and divine authority, of the scriptures of the old and new testaments _shut up the whole world to doubt and despair_. for, unless god has spoken the word of mercy in this written revelation, he has not spoken it anywhere; and we have seen, that unless he has spoken such a merciful word _somewhere_, no human transgressor can be certain of anything but stark unmitigated justice and retribution. do you tell us that god is too good to punish men, and that therefore it must be that he is merciful? we tell you, in reply, that god is good when he punishes sin, and your own conscience, like that of plutarch, re-echoes the reply. sin is a wicked thing, and when the holy one visits it with retribution, he is manifesting the purest moral excellence and the most immaculate perfection of character that we can conceive of. but if by goodness you mean mercy, then we say that this is the very point in dispute, and you must not beg the point but must prove it. and now, if you deny the authority and credibility of the scriptures of the old and new testaments, we ask you upon what ground you venture to affirm that god will pardon man's sin. you cannot demonstrate it upon any _a priori_ and necessary principles. you cannot show that the deity is obligated to remit the penalty due to transgression. you can prove the necessity of the exercise of justice, but you cannot prove the necessity of the exercise of mercy. it is purely optional with god, whether to pardon or not. if, therefore, you cannot establish the fact of the divine clemency by _a priori_ reasoning,--if you cannot make out a _necessity_ for the exercise of mercy,--you must betake yourself to the only other method of proof that remains to you, the method of testimony. if you have the _declaration_ and _promise_ of god, that he will forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin, you may be certain of the fact,--as certain as you would be, could you prove the absolute necessity of the exercise of mercy. for god's promise cannot be broken. god's testimony is sure. but, by the supposition, you deny that this declaration has been made, and this promise has been uttered, in the written revelation of the christian church. where then do you send me for the information, and the testimony? have you a private revelation of your own? has the deity spoken to you in particular, and told you that he will forgive your sin, and my sin, and that of all the generations? unless this declaration has been made either to you or to some other one, we have seen that you cannot establish the _certainty_ that god will forgive sin. it is a purely optional matter with him, and whether he will or no depends entirely upon his decision, determination, and declaration. if he says that he will pardon sin, it will certainly be done. but until he says it, you and every other man must be remanded to the inexorable decisions of conscience which thunder out: "the soul that sinneth it shall die." whoever, therefore, denies that god in the scriptures of the old and new testaments has broken through the veil that hides eternity from time, and has testified to the human race that he will forgive sin, and has solemnly promised to do so, takes away from the human race the only ground of certainty which they possess, that there is pity in the heavens, and that it will be shown to sinful creatures like themselves. but this is to shut them up again, to the doubt and hopelessness of the pagan world,--a world without revelation. . in the second place, it follows from this subject, that mankind must _take the declaration and promise of god, respecting the exercise of mercy, precisely as he has given it_. they must follow the record _implicitly_, without any criticisms or alterations. not only does the exercise of mercy depend entirely upon the will and pleasure of god, but, the mode, the conditions, and the length of time during which the offer shall be made, are all dependent upon the same sovereignty. let us look at these particulars one by one. in the first place, the _method_ by which the divine clemency shall be manifested, and the _conditions_ upon which the offer of forgiveness shall be made, are matters that rest solely with god. if it is entirely optional with him whether to pardon at all, much more does it depend entirely upon him to determine the way and means. it is here that we stop the mouth of him who objects to the doctrine of forgiveness through a vicarious atonement. we will by no means concede, that the exhibition of mercy through the vicarious satisfaction of justice is an optional matter, and that god might have dispensed with such satisfaction, had he so willed. we believe that the forgiveness of sin is possible even to the deity, only through a substituted sacrifice that completely satisfies the demands of law and justice,--that without the shedding of expiating blood there is no remission of sin possible or conceivable, under a government of law. but, without asking the objector to come up to this high ground, we are willing, for the sake of the argument, to go down upon his low one; and we say, that even if the metaphysical necessity of an atonement could not be maintained, and that it is purely optional with god whether to employ this method or not, it would still be the duty and wisdom of man to take the record just as it reads, and to accept the method that has actually been adopted. if the sovereign has a perfect right to say whether he will or will not pardon the criminal, has he not the same right to say _how_ he will do it? if the transgressor, upon principles of justice, could be sentenced to endless misery, and yet the sovereign judge concludes to offer him forgiveness and eternal life, shall the criminal, the culprit who could not stand an instant in the judgment, presume to quarrel with the method, and dictate the terms by which his own pardon shall be secured? even supposing, then, that there were no _intrinsic_ necessity for the offering of an infinite sacrifice to satisfy infinite justice, the great god might still take the lofty ground of sovereignty, and say to the criminal: "my will shall stand for my reason; i decide to offer you amnesty and eternal joy, in this mode, and upon these terms. the reasons for my method are known to myself. take mercy in this method, or take justice. receive the forgiveness of sin in this mode, or else receive the eternal and just punishment of sin. can i not do what i will with mine own? is thine eye evil because i am good?" god is under no necessity to offer the forgiveness of sin to any criminal upon any terms; still less is he hedged up to a method of forgiveness prescribed by the criminal himself. again, the same reasoning will apply to the _time during which the offer of mercy shall be extended_. if it is purely optional with god, whether he will pardon my sin at all, it is also purely optional with him to fix the limits within which he will exercise the act of pardon. should he tell me, that if i would confess and forsake my sins to-day, he would blot them out forever, but that the gracious offer should be withdrawn tomorrow, what conceivable ground of complaint could i discover? he is under no necessity of extending the pardon at this moment, and neither is he at the next, or any future one. mercy is grace, and not debt. now it has pleased god, to limit the period during which the work of redemption shall go on. there is a point of time, for every sinful man, at which "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin" (heb. x. ). the period of redemption is confined to earth and time; and unless the sinner exercises repentance towards god and faith in the lord jesus christ, before his spirit returns to god who gave it, there is no redemption for him through eternal ages. this fact we know by the declaration and testimony of god; in the same manner that we know that god will exercise mercy at all, and upon any conditions whatever. we have seen that we cannot establish the fact that the deity will forgive sin, by any _a priori_ reasoning, but know it only because he has spoken a word to this effect, and given the world his promise to be gracious and merciful, in like manner, we do not establish the fact that there will be no second offer of forgiveness, in the future world, by any process of reasoning from the nature of the case, or the necessity of things. we are willing to concede to the objector, that for aught that we can see the holy ghost is as able to take of the things of christ, and show them to a guilty soul, in the next world, as he is in this. so far as almighty power is concerned, the divine spirit could convince men of sin, and righteousness, and judgment, and incline them to repentance and faith, in eternity as well as in time. and it is equally true, that the divine spirit could have prevented the origin of sin itself, and the fall of adam, with the untold woes that proceed therefrom. but it is not a question of power. it is a question of _intention_, of _determination_, and of _testimony_ upon the part of god. and he has distinctly declared in the written revelation, that it is his intention to limit the converting and saving influences of his spirit to time and earth. he tells the whole world unequivocally, that his spirit shall not always strive with man, and that the day of judgment which occurs at the end of this dispensation of grace, is not a day of pardon but of doom. christ's description of the scenes that will close up this redemptive economy,--the throne, the opened books, the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left hand, the words of the judge: "come ye blessed, depart ye cursed,"--proves beyond controversy that "_now_ is the accepted time, and _now_ is the day of salvation." the utterance of our redeeming god, by his servant david, is: "_to-day_ if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts." st. paul, in the epistle to the hebrews, informs the world, that as god sware that those israelites who did not believe and obey his servant moses, during their wanderings in the desert, should not enter the earthly canaan, so those, in any age and generation of men, who do not believe and obey his son jesus christ, during their earthly pilgrimage, shall, by the same divine oath, be shut out of the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of god (hebrews iii. - ). unbelieving men, in eternity, will be deprived of the benefits of christ's redemption, by the _oath_, the solemn _decision_, the judicial _determination_ of god. for, this exercise of mercy, of which we are speaking, is not a matter of course, and of necessity, and which therefore continues forever and forever. it is optional. god is entirely at liberty to pardon, or not to pardon. and he is entirely at liberty to say when, and how, and _how long_ the offer of pardon shall be extended. he had the power to carry the whole body of the people of israel over jordan, into the promised land, but he sware that those who proved refractory, and disobedient, during a _certain definite period of time_, should never enter canaan. and, by his apostle, he informs all the generations of men, that the same principle will govern him in respect to the entrance into the heavenly canaan. the limiting of the offer of salvation to this life is not founded upon any necessity in the divine nature, but, like the offer of salvation itself, depends upon the sovereign pleasure and determination of god. that pleasure, and that determination, have been distinctly made known in the scriptures. we know as clearly as we know anything revealed in the bible, that god has decided to pardon here in time, and not to pardon in eternity. he has drawn a line between the present period, during which he makes salvation possible to man, and the future period, when he will not make it possible. and he had a right to draw that line, because mercy from first to last is the optional, and not the obligated agency of the supreme being. therefore, _fear_ lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. for unto you is the gospel preached, as well as unto those israelites; but the word, did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. neither will it profit you, unless it is mixed with faith. god limiteth a certain day, saying in david, "_to-day_, after so long a time,"--after these many years of hearing and neglecting the offer of forgiveness,--"_to-day_, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." labor, therefore, _now_, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall, after the same example of unbelief, with those israelites whom the oath of god shut out of both the earthly and the heavenly canaan. [footnote : compare, also, the very full announcement of mercy as a divine attribute that was to be exercised, in exodus xxxiv. , . this is the more noteworthy, as it occurs in connection with the giving of the law.] [footnote : their creed lives in the satire of young (universal passion. satire vi.),--as full of sense, truth, and pungency now, as it was one hundred years ago. "from atheists far, they steadfastly believe god is, and is almighty--to _forgive_. his other excellence they'll not dispute; but mercy, sure, is his chief attribute. shall pleasures of a short duration chain a lady's soul in everlasting pain? will the great author us poor worms destroy, for now and then a sip of transient joy? no, he's forever in a smiling mood; he's like themselves; or how could he be good? and they blaspheme, who blacker schemes suppose. devoutly, thus, jehovah they depose, the pure! the just! and set up in his stead, a deity that's perfectly well-bred."] [footnote : plutarch supposes a form of punishment in the future world that is disciplinary. if it accomplishes its purpose, the soul goes into elysium,--a doctrine like that of purgatory in the papal scheme. but in case the person proves incorrigible, his suffering is _endless_. he represents an individual as having been restored to life, and giving an account of what he had seen. among other things, he "informed his friend, how that adrastia, the daughter of jupiter and necessity, was seated in the highest place of all, to punish all manner of crimes and enormities, and that in the whole number of the wicked and ungodly there never was any one, whether great or little, high or low, rich or poor, that could ever by force or cunning escape the severe lashes of her rigor. but as there are three sorts of punishment, so there are three several furies, or female ministers of justice, and to every one of these belongs a peculiar office and degree of punishment. the first of these was called [greek: poinae] or _pain_; whose executions are swift and speedy upon those that are presently to receive bodily punishment in this life, and which she manages after a more gentle manner, omitting the correction of slight offences, which need but little expiation. but if the cure of impiety require a greater labor, the deity delivers those, after death, to [greek: dikae] or _vengeance_. but when vengeance has given them over as altogether _incurable_, then the third and most severe of all adrastia's ministers, [greek: 'erinys] or _fury_, takes them in hand, and after she has chased and coursed them from one place to another, flying yet not knowing where to fly for shelter and relief, plagued and tormented with a thousand miseries, she plunges them headlong into an invisible abyss, the hideousness of which no tongue can express." plutarch: morals, vol. iv. p. . ed. . plato (gorgias . c.d. ed. bip. iv. ) represents socrates as teaching that those who "have committed the most extreme wickedness, and have become incurable through such crimes, are made an example to others, and suffer _forever_ ([greek: paschontas ton aei chronon]) the greatest, most agonizing, and most dreadful punishment." and socrates adds that "homer (odyssey xi. ) also bears witness to this; for he represents kings and potentates, tantalus, sysiphus, and tityus, as being tormented _forever_ in hades" ([greek: en adon ton aei chronon timoronmenos]).-in the aztec or mexican theology, "the wicked, comprehending the greater part of mankind, were to expiate their sin in a place of everlasting darkness." prescott: conquest of mexico, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : it may be objected, at this point, that mercy also is a necessary attribute in god, like justice itself,--that it necessarily belongs to the nature of a perfect being, and therefore might be inferred _a priori_ by the pagan, like other attributes. this is true; but the objection overlooks the distinction between the _existence_ of an attribute and its _exercise_. omnipotence necessarily belongs to the idea of the supreme being, but it does not follow that it must necessarily be _exerted_ in act. because god is able to create the universe of matter and mind, it does not follow that he _must_ create it. the doctrine of the necessity of creation, though held in a few instances by theists who seem not to have discerned its logical consequences, is virtually pantheistic. had god been pleased to dwell forever in the self-sufficiency of his trinity, and never called the finite into existence from nothing, he might have done so, and he would still have been omnipotent and "blessed forever." in like manner, the attribute of mercy might exist in god, and yet not be exerted. had he been pleased to treat the human race as he did the fallen angels, he was perfectly at liberty to do so, and the number and quality of his immanent attributes would have been the same that they are now. but justice is an attribute which not only exists of necessity, but must be _exercised_ of necessity; because not to exercise it would be injustice.-for a fuller exposition of the nature of justice, see shedd: discourses and essays, pp. - .] christianity requires the temper of childhood. mark x. .--"verily i say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of god as a little child, he shall not enter therein." these words of our lord are very positive and emphatic, and will, therefore, receive a serious attention from every one who is anxious concerning his future destiny beyond the grave. for, they mention an indispensable requisite in order to an entrance into eternal life. "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of god as a little child, he _shall not_ enter therein." the occasion of their utterance is interesting, and brings to view a beautiful feature in the perfect character of jesus christ. the redeemer was deeply interested in every age and condition of man. all classes shared in his benevolent affection, and all may equally partake of the rich blessings that flow from it. but childhood and youth seem to have had a special attraction for him. the evangelist is careful to inform us, that he took little children in his arms, and that beholding an amiable young man he loved him,--a gush of feeling went out towards him. it was because christ was a perfect man, as well as the infinite god, that such a feeling dwelt in his breast. for, there has never been an uncommonly fair and excellent human character, in which tenderness and affinity for childhood has not been a quality, and a quality, too, that was no small part of the fairness and excellence. the best definition that has yet been given of genius itself is, that it is the carrying of the feelings of childhood onward into the thoughts and aspirations of manhood. he who is not attracted by the ingenuousness, and trustfulness, and simplicity, of the first period of human life, is certainly wanting in the finest and most delicate elements of nature, and character. those who have been coarse and brutish, those who have been selfish and ambitious, those who have been the pests and scourges of the world, have had no sympathy with youth. though once young themselves, they have been those in whom the gentle and generous emotions of the morning of life have died out. that man may become hardhearted, skeptical and sensual, a hater of his kind, a hater of all that is holy and good, he must divest himself entirely of the fresh and ingenuous feeling of early boyhood, and receive in its place that malign and soured feeling which is the growth, and sign, of a selfish and disingenuous life. it is related of voltaire,--a man in whom evil dwelt in its purest and most defecated essence,--that he had no sympathy with the child, and that the children uniformly shrank from that sinister eye in which the eagle and the reptile were so strangely blended. our saviour, as a perfect man, then, possessed this trait, and it often showed itself in his intercourse with men. as an omniscient being, he indeed looked with profound interest, upon the dawning life of the human spirit as it manifests itself in childhood. for he knew as no finite being can, the marvellous powers that sleep in the soul of the young child; the great affections which are to be the foundation of eternal bliss, or eternal pain, that exist in embryo within; the mysterious ideas that lie in germ far down in its lowest depths,--he knew, as no finite creature is able, what is in the child, as well as in the man, and therefore was interested in its being and its well-being. but besides this, by virtue of his perfect humanity, he was attracted by those peculiar traits which are seen in the earlier years of human life. he loved the artlessness and gentleness, the sense of dependence, the implicit trust, the absence of ostentation and ambition, the unconscious modesty, in one word, the _child-likeness_ of the child. knowing this characteristic of the redeemer, certain parents brought their young children to him, as the evangelist informs us, "that he should touch them;" either believing that there was a healthful virtue, connected with the touch of him who healed the sick and gave life to the dead, that would be of benefit to them; or, it may be, with more elevated conceptions of christ's person, and more spiritual desires respecting the welfare of their offspring, believing that the blessing (which was symbolized by the touch and laying on of hands) of so exalted a being would be of greater worth than mere health of body. the disciples, thinking that mere children were not worthy of the regards of their master, rebuked the anxious and affectionate parents. "but,"--continues the narrative,--"when jesus saw it he was much displeased, and said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of god;" and then immediately explained what he meant by this last assertion, which is so often misunderstood and misapplied, by adding, in the words of the text, "verily i say unto you, whosoever shall not _receive the kingdom of god as a little child"_ that is with a child-like spirit, "he shall not enter therein." for our lord does not here lay down a doctrinal position, and affirm the moral innocence of childhood. he does not mark off and discriminate the children as sinless, from their parents as sinful, as if the two classes did not belong to the same race of beings, and were not involved in the same apostasy and condemnation. he merely sets childhood and manhood over-against each other as two distinct stages of human life, each possessing peculiar traits and tempers, and affirms that it is the meek spirit of childhood, and not the proud spirit of manhood, that welcomes and appropriates the christian salvation. he is only contrasting the general attitude of a child, with the general attitude of a man. he merely affirms that the _trustful_ and _believing_ temper of childhood, as compared with the _self-reliant_ and _skeptical_ temper of manhood, is the temper by which both the child and the man are to receive the blessings of the gospel which both of them equally need. the kingdom of god is represented in the new testament, sometimes as subjective, and sometimes as objective; sometimes as within the soul of man, and sometimes as up in the skies. our text combines both representations; for, it speaks of a man's "receiving" the kingdom of god, and of a man's "entering" the kingdom of god; of the coming of heaven into a soul, and of the going of a soul into heaven. in other passages, one or the other representation appears alone. "the kingdom of god,"--says our lord to the pharisees,--"cometh not with observation. neither shall they say, lo here, or lo there: for behold the kingdom of god is within you." the apostle paul, upon arriving at rome, invited the resident jews to discuss the subject of christianity with him. "and when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of god,"--to whom he explained the nature of the christian religion,--"persuading them concerning jesus, both out of the law of moses, and out of the prophets, from, morning till evening." the same apostle teaches the romans, that "the kingdom of god is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy ghost;" and tells the corinthians, that "the kingdom of god is not in word, but in power." in all these instances, the subjective signification prevails, and the kingdom of god is simply a system of truth, or a state of the heart. and all are familiar with the sentiment, that heaven is a state, as well as a place. all understand that one half of heaven is in the human heart itself; and, that if this half be wanting, the other half is useless,--as the half of a thing generally is. isaac walton remarks of the devout sibbs: "of this blest man, let this just praise be given, heaven was in him, before he was in heaven." it is only because that in the eternal world the imperfect righteousness of the renewed man is perfected, and the peace of the anxious soul becomes total, and the joy that is so rare and faint in the christian experience here upon earth becomes the very element of life and action,--it is only because eternity _completes_ the excellence of the christian (but does not begin it), that heaven, as a place of perfect holiness and happiness, is said to be in the future life, and we are commanded to seek a better country even a heavenly. but, because this is so, let no one lose sight of the other side of the great truth, and forget that man must "receive" the kingdom as well as "enter" it. without the right state of heart, without the mental correspondent to heaven, that beautiful and happy region on high will, like any and every other place, be a hell, instead of a paradise.[ ] a distinguished writer represents one of his characters as leaving the old world, and seeking happiness in the new, supposing that change of place and outward circumstances could cure a restless mind. he found no rest by the change; and in view of his disappointment says: "i will return, and in my ancestral home, amid my paternal fields, among my own people, i will say, _here, or nowhere_, is america."[ ] in like manner, must the christian seek happiness in present peace and joy in the holy ghost, and must here in this life strive after the righteousness that brings tranquillity. though he may look forward with aspiration to the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth a _perfected_ righteousness, yet he must remember that his holiness and happiness there is merely an expansion of his holiness and happiness here. he must seek to "receive" the kingdom of god, as well as to "enter" it; and when tempted to relax his efforts, and to let down his watch, because the future life will not oppose so many obstacles to spirituality as this, and will bring a more perfect enjoyment with it, he should say to himself: "be holy now, be happy here. _here, or nowhere_, is heaven." such being the nature of the kingdom of god, we are now brought up to the discussion of the subject of the text, and are prepared to consider: _in what respects, the kingdom of god requires the temper of a child as distinguished from the temper of a man, in order to receive it, and in order to enter it_. the kingdom of god, considered as a kingdom that is within the soul, is tantamount to religion. to receive this kingdom, then, is equivalent to receiving religion into the heart, so that the character shall be formed by it, and the future destiny be decided by it. what, then, is the religion that is to be received? we answer that it is the religion that is needed. but, the religion that is needed by a sinful man is very different from the religion that is adapted to a holy angel. he who has never sinned is already in direct and blessed relations with god, and needs only to drink in the overflowing and everflowing stream of purity and pleasure. such a spirit requires a religion of only two doctrines: first, that there is a god; and, secondly, that he ought to be loved supremely and obeyed perfectly. this is the entire theology of the angels, and it is enough for them. they know nothing of sin in their personal experience, and consequently they require in their religion, none of those doctrines, and none of those provisions, which are adapted to the needs of sinners. but, man is in an altogether different condition from this. he too knows that there is a god, and that he ought to be loved supremely, and obeyed perfectly. thus far, he goes along with the angel, and with every other rational being made under the law and government of god. but, at this point, his path diverges from that of the pure and obedient inhabitant of heaven, and leads in an opposite direction. for he does not, like the angels, act up to his knowledge. he is not conformed to these two doctrines. he does not love god supremely, and he does not obey him perfectly. this fact puts him into a very different position, in reference to these two doctrines, from that occupied by the obedient and unfallen spirit. these two doctrines, in relation to him as one who has contravened them, have become a power of condemnation; and whenever he thinks of them he feels guilty. it is no longer sufficient to tell him. that religion consists in loving god, and enjoying his presence,--consists in holiness and happiness. "this is very true,"--he says,--"but i am neither holy nor happy." it is no longer enough to remind him that all is well with any creature who loves god with all his heart, and keeps his commandments without a single slip or failure. "this is very true,"--he says again,--"but i do not love in this style, neither have i obeyed in this manner." it is too late to preach mere natural religion, the religion of the angels, to one who has failed to stand fully and firmly upon the principles of natural religion. it is too late to tell a creature who has lost his virtue, that if he is only virtuous he is safe enough. the religion, then, that a sinner needs, cannot be limited to the two doctrines of the holiness of god, and the creature's obligation to love and serve him,--cannot be pared down to the precept: fear god and practise virtue. it must be greatly enlarged, and augmented, by the introduction of that other class of truths which relate to the divine mercy towards those who have not feared god, and the divine method of salvation for those who are sinful. in other words, the religion for a transgressor is _revealed_ religion, or the religion of atonement and redemption. what, now, is there in _this_ species of religion that necessitates the meek and docile temper of a child, as distinguished from the proud and self-reliant spirit of a man, in order to its reception into the heart? i. in the first place, _the new testament religion offers the forgiveness of sins, and provides for it_. no one can ponder this fact an instant, without perceiving that the pride and self-reliance of manhood are excluded, and that the meekness and implicit trust of childhood are demanded. pardon and justification before god must, from the nature of the case, be a gift, and a gift cannot be obtained unless it is accepted _as such_. to demand or claim mercy, is self-contradictory. for, a claim implies a personal ground for it; and this implies self-reliance, and this is "manhood" in distinction from "childhood." in coming, therefore, as the religion of the cross does, before man with a gratuity, with an offer to pardon his sins, it supposes that he take a correspondent attitude. were he sinless, the religion suited to him would be the mere utterance of law, and he might stand up before it with the serene brow of an obedient subject of the divine government; though even then, not with a proud and boastful temper. it would be out of place for him, to plead guilty when he was innocent; or to cast himself upon mercy, when he could appeal to justice. if the creature's acceptance be of works, then it is no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work. but if it be by grace, then it is no more of works (rom. xi. ). if the very first feature of the christian religion is the exhibition of clemency, then the proper and necessary attitude of one who receives it is that of humility. but, leaving this argument drawn from the characteristics, of christianity as a religion of redemption, let us pass into the soul of man, and see what we are taught there, respecting the temper which he must possess in order to receive this new, revealed kingdom of god. the soul of man is guilty. now, there is something in the very nature of guilt that excludes the proud, self-conscious, self-reliant spirit of manhood, and necessitates the lowly, and dependent spirit of childhood. when conscience is full of remorse, and the holy eye of law is searching us, and fears of eternal banishment and punishment are rakeing the spirit, there is no remedy but simple confession, and childlike reliance upon absolute mercy. the sinner must be a softened child and not a hard man, he must beg a boon and not put in a claim, if he would receive this kingdom of god, this new testament religion, into his soul. the slightest inclination to self-righteousness, the least degree of resistance to the just pressure of law, is a vitiating element in repentance. the muscles of the stout man must give way, the knees must bend, the hands must be uplifted deprecatingly, the eyes must gaze with a straining gaze upon the expiating cross,--in other words, the least and last remains of a stout and self-asserting spirit must vanish, and the whole being must be pliant, bruised, broken, helpless in its state and condition, in order to a pure sense of guilt, a godly sorrow for sin, and a cordial appropriation of the atonement. the attempt to mix the two tempers, to mingle the child with the man, to confess sin and assert self-righteousness, must be an entire failure, and totally prevent the reception of the religion of redemption. in relation to the redeemer, the sinful soul should be a vacuum, a hollow void, destitute of everything holy and good, conscious that it is, and aching to be filled with the fulness of his peace and purity. and with reference to god, the being whose function it is to pardon, we see the same necessity for this child-like spirit in the transgressor. how can god administer forgiveness, unless there is a correlated temper to receive it? his particular declarative act in blotting out sin depends upon the existence of penitence for sin. where there is absolute hardness of heart, there can be no pardon, from the very nature of the case, and the very terms of the statement. can god say to the hardened judas: son be of good cheer, thy sin is forgiven thee? can he speak to the traitor as he speaks to the magdalen? the difficulty is not upon the side of god. the divine pity never lags behind any genuine human sorrow. no man was ever more eager to be forgiven than his redeemer is to forgive him. no contrition for sin, upon the part of man, ever yet outran the readiness and delight of god to recognize it, and meet it with a free pardon. for, that very contrition itself is always the product of divine grace, and proves that god is in advance of the soul. the father in the parable saw the son while he was a great way off, _before_ the son saw him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. but while this is so, and is an encouragement to the penitent, it must ever be remembered that unless there is some genuine sorrow in the human soul, there can be no manifestation of the divine forgiveness within it. man cannot beat the air, and god cannot forgive impenitency. ii. in the second place, the new testament religion proposes _to create within man a clean heart, and to renew within him a right spirit_. christianity not only pardons but sanctifies the human soul. and in accomplishing this latter work, it requires the same humble and docile temper that was demanded in the former instance. holiness, even in an unfallen angel, is not an absolutely self-originated thing. if it were, the angel would be worthy of adoration and worship. he who is inwardly and totally excellent, and can also say: i am what i am by my own ultimate authorship, can claim for himself the _glory_ that is due to righteousness. any self-originated and self-subsistent virtue is entitled to the hallelujahs. but, no created spirit, though he be the highest of the archangels, can make such an assertion, or put in such a claim. the merit of the unfallen angel, therefore, is a relative one; because his holiness is of a created and derived species. it is not increate and self-subsistent. this being so, it is plain that the proper attitude of all creatures in respect to moral excellence is a recipient and dependent one. but this is a meek and lowly attitude; and this is, in one sense, a child-like attitude. our lord knew no sin; and yet he himself tells us that he was meek and lowly of heart, and we well know that he was. he does not say that he was penitent. he does not propose himself as our exemplar in that respect. but, in respect to the primal, normal attitude which a finite being must ever take in reference to the infinite and adorable god, and the absolute underived holiness; in reference to the true temper which a holy man or a holy angel must possess; our lord jesus christ, in his human capacity, sets an example to be followed by the spirits of just men made perfect, and by all the holy inhabitants of heaven. in other words, he teaches the whole universe that holiness in a creature, even though it be complete, does not permit its possessor to be self-reliant, does not allow the proud spirit of manhood, does not remove the obligation to be child-like, meek, and lowly of heart. but if this is true of holiness among those who have never fallen, how much more true is it of those who have, and who need to be lifted up out of the abyss. if an angel, in reference to god, must be meek and lowly of heart; if the holy redeemer must in his human capacity be meek and lowly of heart; if the child-like temper, in reference to the infinite and everlasting father and the absolutely good, is the proper one in such exalted instances as these; how much more is it in the instance of the vile and apostate children of adam! besides the original and primitive reason growing out of creaturely relationships, there is the superadded one growing out of the fact, that now the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint, and from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in human nature. hence, our lord began his sermon on the mount in these words: "blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."[ ] the very opening of this discourse, which he intended should go down through the ages as a manifesto declaring the real nature of his kingdom, and the spirit which his followers must possess, asserts the necessity of a needy, recipient, asking mind, upon the part of a sinner. all this phraseology implies destitution; and a destitution that cannot be self-supplied. he who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is conscious of an inward void, in respect to righteousness, that must be filled from abroad. he who is meek is sensible that he is dependent for his moral excellence. he who is poor in spirit is, not pusillanimous as thomas paine charged upon christianity but, as john of damascus said of himself, a man of spiritual cravings, _vir desideriorum_. now, all this delineation of the general attitude requisite in order to the reception of the christian religion is summed up again, in the declaration of our text: "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of god _as a little child_, he shall not enter therein." is a man, then, sensible that his understanding is darkened by sin, and that he is destitute of clear and just apprehensions of divine things? does his consciousness of inward poverty assume this form? if he would be delivered from his mental blindness, and be made rich in spiritual knowledge, he must adopt a teachable and recipient attitude. he must not assume that his own mind is the great fountain of wisdom, and seek to clear up his doubts and darkness by the rationalistic method of self-illumination. on the contrary, he must go beyond his mind and open a _book_, even the book of revelation, and search for the wisdom it contains and proffers. and yet more than this. as this volume is the product of the eternal spirit himself, and this spirit conspires with the doctrines which he has revealed, and exerts a positive illuminating influence, he must seek communion therewith. from first to last, therefore, the darkened human spirit must take a waiting posture, in order to enlightenment. that part of "the clean heart and the right spirit" which consists in the _knowledge_ of divine things can be obtained only through a child-like bearing and temper. this is what our lord means, when he pronounces a blessing upon the poor in spirit, the hungry and the thirsting soul. men, in their pride and self-reliance, in their sense of manhood, may seek to enter the kingdom of heaven by a different method; they may attempt to _speculate_ their way through all the mystery that overhangs human life, and the doubts that confuse and baffle the human understanding; but when they find that the unaided intellect only "spots a thicker gloom" instead of pouring a serener ray, wearied and worn they return, as it were, to the sweet days of childhood, and in the gentleness, and tenderness, and docility of an altered mood, learn, as bacon did in respect to the kingdom of nature, that the kingdom of heaven is open only to the little child. again, is a man conscious of the corruption of his heart? has he discovered his alienation from the life and love of god, and is he now aware that a total change must pass upon him, or that alienation must be everlasting? has he found out that his inclinations, and feelings, and tastes, and sympathies are so worldly, so averse from spiritual objects, as to be beyond his sovereignty? does he feel vividly that the attempt to expel this carnal mind, and to induce in the place thereof the heavenly spontaneous glow of piety towards god and man, is precisely like the attempt of the ethiopian to change his skin, and the leopard his spots? if this experience has been forced upon him, shall he meet it with the port and bearing of a strong man? shall he take the attitude of the old roman stoic, and attempt to meet the exigencies of his moral condition, by the steady strain and hard tug of his own force? he cannot long do this, under the clear searching ethics of the sermon on the mount, without an inexpressible weariness and a profound despair. were he within the sphere of paganism, it might, perhaps, be otherwise. a marcus aurelius could maintain this legal and self-righteous position to the end of life, because his ideal of virtue was a very low one. had that high-minded pagan felt the influences of christian ethics, had the sermon on the mount searched his soul, telling him that the least emotion of pride, anger, or lust, was a breach of that everlasting law which stood grand and venerable before his philosophic eye, and that his virtue was all gone, and his soul was exposed to the inflictions of justice, if even a single thought of his heart was unconformed to the perfect rule of right,--if, instead of the mere twilight of natural religion, there had flared into his mind the fierce and consuming splendor of the noonday sun of revealed truth, and new testament ethics, it would have been impossible for that serious-minded emperor to say, as in his utter self-delusion he did, to the deity: "give me my dues,"--instead of breathing the prayer: "forgive me my debts." christianity elevates the standard and raises the ideal of moral excellence, and thereby disturbs the self-complacent feeling of the stoic, and the moralist. if the law and rule of right is merely an outward one, it is possible for a man sincerely to suppose that he has kept the law, and his sincerity will be his ruin. for, in this case, he can maintain a self-reliant and a self-satisfied spirit, the spirit of manhood, to the very end of his earthly career, and go with his righteousness which is as filthy rags, into the presence of him in whose sight the heavens are not clean. but, if the law and rule of right is seen to be an inward and spiritual statute, piercing to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and becoming a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, it is not possible for a candid man to delude himself into the belief that he has perfectly obeyed it; and in this instance, that self-dissatisfied spirit, that consciousness of internal schism and bondage, that war between the flesh and the spirit so vividly portrayed in the seventh chapter of romans, begins, and instead of the utterance of the moralist: "i have kept the everlasting law, give me my dues," there bursts forth the self-despairing cry of the penitent and the child: "o wretched man that i am.! who shall deliver me? father i have sinned against heaven and before thee." when, therefore, the truth and spirit of god, working in and with the natural conscience, have brought a man to that point where he sees that all his own righteousness is as filthy rags, and that the pure and stainless righteousness of jehovah must become the possession and the characteristic of his soul, he is prepared to believe the declaration of our text: "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of god as a little child, he shall not enter therein." the new heart, and the right spirit,--the change, not in the mere external behavior but, in the very disposition and inclination of the soul,--excludes every jot and tittle of self-assertion, every particle of proud and stoical manhood. such a text as this which we have been considering is well adapted to put us upon the true method of attaining everlasting life. these few and simple words actually dropped, eighteen hundred years ago, from the lips of that august being who is now seated upon the throne of heaven, and who knows this very instant the effect which they are producing in the heart of every one who either reads or hears them. let us remember that these few and simple words do verily contain the key to everlasting life and glory. in knowing what they mean, we know, infallibly, the way to heaven. "i tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which we see, and have not seen them: and to hear those things which we hear, and have not heard them." how many a thoughtful pagan, in the centuries that have passed and gone, would in all probability have turned a most attentive ear, had he heard, as we do, from the lips of an unerring teacher, that a child-like reception of a certain particular truth,--and that not recondite and metaphysical, but simple as childhood itself, and to be received by a little child's act,--would infallibly conduct to the elysium that haunted and tantalized him. that which hinders us is our pride, our "manhood." the act of faith is a child's act; and a child's act, though intrinsically the easiest of any, is relatively the most difficult of all. it implies the surrender of our self-will, our self-love, our proud manhood; and never was a truer remark made than that of ullmann, that "in no one thing is the strength of a man's will so manifested, as in his having no will of his own."[ ] "christianity,"--says jeremy taylor,--"is the easiest and the hardest thing in the world. it is like a secret in arithmetic; infinitely hard till it be found out by a right operation, and then it is so plain we wonder we did not understand it earlier." how hard, how impossible without that divine grace which makes all such central and revolutionary acts easy and genial to the soul,--how hard it is to cease from our own works, and really become docile and recipient children, believing on the lord jesus christ, and trusting in him, simply and solely, for salvation. [footnote : "concerning the object of felicity in heaven, we are agreed that it can be no other than the blessed god himself, the all-comprehending good, fully adequate to the highest and most enlarged reasonable desires. but the contemperation of our faculties to the holy, blissful object, is so necessary to our satisfying fruition, that without this we are no more capable thereof, than a brute of the festivities of a quaint oration, or a stone of the relishes of the most pleasant meats and drinks." howe: heaven a state of perfection.] [footnote : goethe: wilhelm meister, book vii., ch. iii.] [footnote : compare isaiah lxi. .] [footnote : ullmann: sinlessness of jesus, pt. i., ch. iii., § .] faith the sole saving act. john vi. , .--"then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might work the works of god? jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." in asking their question, the jews intended to inquire of christ what _particular_ things they must do, before all others, in order to please god. the "works of god," as they denominate them, were not any and every duty, but those more special and important acts, by which the creature might secure the divine approval and favor. our lord understood their question in this sense, and in his reply tells them, that the great and only work for them to do was to exercise faith in him. they had employed the plural number in their question; but in his answer he employs the singular. they had asked, what shall we do that we might work the _works_ of god,--as if there were several of them. his reply is, "this is the _work_ of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." he narrows down the terms of salvation to a single one; and makes the destiny of the soul to depend upon the performance of a particular individual act. in this, as in many other incidental ways, our lord teaches his own divinity. if he were a mere creature; if he were only an inspired teacher like david or paul; how would he dare, when asked to give in a single word the condition and means of human salvation, to say that they consist in resting the soul upon him? would david have dared to say: "this is the work of god,--this is the saving act,--that ye believe in me?" would paul have presumed to say to the anxious inquirer: "your soul is safe, if you trust in me?" but christ makes this declaration, without any qualification. yet he was meek and lowly of heart, and never assumed an honor or a prerogative that did not belong to him. it is only upon the supposition that he was "very god of very god," the divine redeemer of the children of men, that we can justify such an answer to such a question. the belief is spontaneous and natural to man, that something must be _done_ in order to salvation. no man expects to reach heaven by inaction. even the indifferent and supine soul expects to rouse itself up at some future time, and work out its salvation. the most thoughtless and inactive man, in religious respects, will acknowledge that thoughtlessness and inactivity if continued will end in perdition. but he intends at a future day to think, and act, and be saved. so natural is it, to every man, to believe in salvation by works; so ready is every one to concede that heaven is reached, and hell is escaped, only by an earnest effort of some kind; so natural is it to every man to ask with these jews, "what shall we _do_, that we may work the works of god?" but mankind generally, like the jews in the days of our lord, are under a delusion respecting the _nature_ of the work which must be performed in order to salvation. and in order to understand this delusion, we must first examine the common notion upon the subject. when a man begins to think of god, and of his own relations to him, he finds that he owes him service and obedience. he has a work to perform, as a subject of the divine government; and this work is to obey the divine law. he finds himself obligated to love god with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself, and to discharge all the duties that spring out of his relations to god and man. he perceives that this is the "work" given him to do by creation, and that if he does it he will attain the true end of his existence, and be happy in time and eternity. when therefore he begins to think of a religious life, his first spontaneous impulse is to begin the performance of this work which he has hitherto neglected, and to reinstate himself in the divine favor by the ordinary method of keeping the law of god. he perceives that this is the mode in which the angels preserve themselves holy and happy; that this is the original mode appointed by god, when he established the covenant of works; and he does not see why it is not the method for him. the law expressly affirms that the man that doeth these things shall live by them; he proposes to take the law just as it reads, and just as it stands,--to do the deeds of the law, to perform the works which it enjoins, and to live by the service. this we say, is the common notion, natural to man, of the species of work which must be performed in order to eternal life. this was the idea which filled the mind of the jews when they put the question of the text, and received for answer from christ, "this is the work of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." our lord does not draw out the whole truth, in detail. he gives only the positive part of the answer, leaving his hearers to infer the negative part of it. for the whole doctrine of christ, fully stated, would run thus: "no work _of the kind of which you are thinking_ can save you; no obedience of the law, ceremonial or moral, can reinstate you in right relations to god. i do not summon you to the performance of any such service as that which you have in mind, in order to your justification and acceptance before the divine tribunal. _this_ is the work of god,--this is the sole and single act which you are to perform,--namely, that you _believe_ on him whom he hath sent as a propitiation for sin. i do not summon you to works of the law, but to faith in me the redeemer. your first duty is not to attempt to acquire a righteousness in the old method, by doing something of yourselves, but to receive a righteousness in the new method, by trusting in what another has done for you." i. what is the _ground_ and _reason_ of such an answer as this? why is man invited to the method of faith in another, instead of the method of faith in himself? why is not his first spontaneous thought the true one? why should he not obtain eternal life by resolutely proceeding to do his duty, and keeping the law of god? why can he not be saved by the law of works? why is he so summarily shut up to the law of faith? we answer: because it is _too late_ for him to adopt the method of salvation by works. the law is indeed explicit in its assertion, that the man that doeth these things shall live by them; but then it supposes that the man begin at the beginning. a subject of government cannot disobey a civil statute for five or ten years, and then put himself in right relations to it again, by obeying it for the remainder of his life. can a man who has been a thief or an adulterer for twenty years, and then practises honesty and purity for the following thirty years, stand up before the seventh and eighth commandments and be acquitted by them? it is too late for any being who has violated a law even in a single instance, to attempt to be justified by that law. for, the law demands and supposes that obedience begin at the very _beginning_ of existence, and continue down _uninterruptedly_ to the end of it. no man can come in at the middle of a process of obedience, any more than he can come in at the last end of it, if he proposes to be accepted upon the ground of _obedience_. "i testify," says st. paul, "to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the _whole_ law" (gal. v. ). the whole, or none, is the just and inexorable rule which law lays down in the matter of justification. if any subject of the divine government can show a clean record, from the beginning to the end of his existence, the statute says to him, "well done," and gives him the reward which he has earned. and it gives it to him not as a matter of grace, but of debt. the law never makes a present of wages. it never pays out wages, until they are earned,---fairly and fully earned. but when a perfect obedience from first to last is rendered to its claims, the compensation follows as matter of debt. the law, in this instance, is itself brought under obligation. it owes a reward to the perfectly obedient subject of law, and it considers itself his debtor until it is paid. "now to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work" (rom. iv. ; xi. ). but, on the other hand, law is equally exact and inflexible, in case the work has not been performed. it will not give eternal life to a soul that has sinned ten years, and then perfectly obeyed ten years,--supposing that there is any such soul. the obedience, as we have remarked, must run parallel with the _entire_ existence, in order to be a ground, of justification. infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, old age, and then the whole immortality that succeeds, must all be unintermittently sinless and holy, in order to make eternal life a matter of debt. justice is as exact and punctilious upon this side, as it is upon the other. we have seen, that when a perfect obedience has been rendered, justice will not palm off the wages that are due as if they were some gracious gift; and on the other hand, when a perfect obedience has not been rendered, it will not be cajoled into the bestowment of wages as if they had been earned. there is no principle that is so intelligent, so upright, and so exact, as justice; and no creature can expect either to warp it, or to circumvent it. in the light of these remarks, it is evident that it is _too late_ for a sinner to avail himself of the method of salvation by works. for, that method requires that sinless obedience begin at the beginning of his existence, and never be interrupted. but no man thus begins, and no man thus continues. "the wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (ps. lviii. ). man comes into the world a sinful and alienated creature. he is by nature a child of wrath (eph. ii. ). instead of beginning life with holiness, he begins it with sin. his heart at birth is apostate and corrupt; and his conduct from the very first is contrary to law. such is the teaching of scripture, such is the statement of the creeds, and such is the testimony of consciousness, respecting the character which man brings into the world with him. the very dawn of human life is clouded with depravity; is marked by the carnal mind which is at enmity with the law of god, and is not subject to that law, neither indeed can be. how is it possible, then, for man to attain eternal life by a method that supposes, and requires, that the very dawn of his being be holy like that of christ's, and that every thought, feeling, purpose, and act be conformed to law through the entire existence? is it not _too late_ for such a creature as man now is to adopt the method of salvation by the works of the law? but we will not crowd you, with the doctrine of native depravity and the sin in adam. we have no doubt that it is the scriptural and true doctrine concerning human nature; and have no fears that it will be contradicted by either a profound self-knowledge, or a profound metaphysics. but perhaps you are one who doubts it; and therefore, for the sake of argument, we will let you set the commencement of sin where you please. if you tell us that it begins in the second, or the fourth, or the tenth year of life, it still remains true that it is _too late_ to employ the method of justification by works. if you concede any sin at all, at any point whatsoever, in the history of a human soul, you preclude it from salvation by the deeds of the law, and shut it up to salvation by grace. go back as far as you can in your memory, and you must acknowledge that you find sin as far as you go; and even if, in the face of scripture and the symbols of the church, you should deny that the sin runs back to birth and apostasy in adam, it still remains true that the first years of your _conscious_ existence were not years of holiness, nor the first acts which you _remember_, acts of obedience. even upon your own theory, you _begin_ with sin, and therefore you cannot be justified by the law. this, then, is a conclusive reason and ground for the declaration of our lord, that the one great work which every fallen man has to perform, and must perform, in order to salvation, is faith in _another's_ work, and confidence in _another's_ righteousness. if man is to be saved by his own righteousness, that righteousness must begin at the very beginning of his existence, and go on without interruption. if he is to be saved by his own good works, there never must be a single instant in his life when he is not working such works. but beyond all controversy such is not the fact. it is, therefore, impossible for him to be justified by trusting in himself; and the only possible mode that now remains, is to trust in another. ii. and this brings us to the second part of our subject. "this is the work of god, that ye _believe_ on him whom he hath sent." it will be observed that faith is here denominated a "work." and it is so indeed. it is a mental act; and an act of the most comprehensive and energetic species. faith is an active principle that carries the whole man with it, and in it,--head and heart, will and affections, body soul and spirit. there is no act so all-embracing in its reach, and so total in its momentum, as the act of faith in the lord jesus christ. in this sense, it is a "work." it is no supine and torpid thing; but the most vital and vigorous activity that can be conceived of. when a sinner, moved by the holy ghost the very source of spiritual life and energy, casts himself in utter helplessness, and with all his weight, upon his redeemer for salvation, never is he more active, and never does he do a greater work. and yet, faith is not a work in the common signification of the word. in the pauline epistles, it is generally opposed to works, in such a way as to exclude them. for example: "where is boasting then? it is excluded. by what law? of works? nay, but by the law of faith. therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law. knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of jesus christ, even we have believed in jesus christ, that we might be justified, by the faith of christ and not by the works of the law. received ye the spirit, by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"[ ] in these and other passages, faith and works are directly contrary to each other; so that in this connection, faith is not a "work." let us examine this point, a little in detail, for it will throw light upon the subject under discussion. in the opening of the discourse, we alluded to the fact that when a man's attention is directed to the subject of his soul's salvation, his first spontaneous thought is, that he must of _himself_ render something to god, as an offset for his sins; that he must perform his duty by _his own_ power and effort, and thereby acquire a personal merit before his maker and judge. the thought of appropriating another person's work, of making use of what another being has done in his stead, does not occur to him; or if it does, it is repulsive to him. his thought is, that it is his own soul that is to be saved, and it is his own work that must save it. hence, he begins to perform religious duties in the ordinary use of his own faculties, and in his own strength, for the purpose, and with the expectation, of _settling the account_ which he knows is unsettled, between himself and his judge. as yet, there is no faith in another being. he is not trusting and resting in another person; but he is trusting and resting in himself. he is not making use of the work or services which another has wrought in his behalf, but he is employing his own powers and faculties, in performing these his own works, which he owes, and which, if paid in this style, he thinks will save his soul. this is the spontaneous, and it is the correct, idea of a "work,"--of what st. paul so often calls a "work of the law." and it is the exact contrary of faith. for, faith never does anything in this independent and self-reliant manner. it does not perform a service in its own strength, and then hold it out to god as something for him to receive, and for which he must pay back wages in the form of remitting sin and bestowing happiness. faith is wholly occupied with _another's_ work, and _another's_ merit. the believing soul deserts all its own doings, and betakes itself to what a third person has wrought for it, and in its stead. when, for illustration, a sinner discovers that he owes a satisfaction to eternal justice for the sins that are past, if he adopts the method of works, he will offer up his endeavors to obey the law, as an offset, and a reason why he should be forgiven. he will say in his heart, if he does not in his prayer: "i am striving to atone for the past, by doing my duty in the future; my resolutions, my prayers and alms-giving, all this hard struggle to be better and to do better, ought certainly to avail for my pardon." or, if he has been educated in a superstitious church, he will offer up his penances, and mortifications, and pilgrimages, as a satisfaction to justice, and a reason why he should be forgiven and made blessed forever in heaven. that is a very instructive anecdote which st. simon relates respecting the last hours of the profligate louis xiv. "one day,"--he says,--"the king recovering from loss of consciousness asked his confessor, pere tellier, to give him absolution for all his sins. pere tellier asked him if he suffered much. 'no,' replied the king, 'that's what troubles me. i should like to suffer more, for the expiation of my sins.'" here was a poor mortal who had spent his days in carnality and transgression of the pure law of god. he is conscious of guilt, and feels the need of its atonement. and now, upon the very edge of eternity and brink of doom, he proposes to make his own atonement, to be his own redeemer and save his own soul, by offering up to the eternal nemesis that was racking his conscience a few hours of finite suffering, instead of betaking himself to the infinite passion and agony of calvary. this is a work; and, alas, a "_dead_ work," as st. paul so often denominates it. this is the method of justification by works. but when a man adopts the method of justification by faith, his course is exactly opposite to all this. upon discovering that he owes a satisfaction to eternal justice for the sins that are past, instead of holding up his prayers, or alms-giving, or penances, or moral efforts, or any work of his own, he holds up the sacrificial work of christ. in his prayer to god, he interposes the agony and death of the great substitute between his guilty soul, and the arrows of justice.[ ] he knows that the very best of his own works, that even the most perfect obedience that a creature could render, would be pierced through and through by the glittering shafts of violated law. and therefore he takes the "shield of faith." he places the oblation of the god-man,--not his own work and not his own suffering, but another's work and another's suffering,--between himself and the judicial vengeance of the most high. and in so doing, he works no work of his own, and no dead work; but he works the "work of god;" he _believes_ on him whom god hath set forth to be a propitiation for his sins, and not for his only but for the sins of the whole world. this then is the great doctrine which our lord taught the jews, when they asked him what particular thing or things they must do in order to eternal life. the apostle john, who recorded the answer of christ in this instance, repeats the doctrine again in his first epistle: "whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandment, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. and _this is his commandment_, that we should _believe_ on the name of his son jesus christ" ( john iii, , ). the whole duty of sinful man is here summed up, and concentrated, in the duty to trust in another person than himself, and in another work than his own. the apostle, like his lord before him, employs the singular number: "this is his commandment,"--as if there were no other commandment upon record. and this corresponds with the answer which paul and silas gave to the despairing jailor: "believe on the lord jesus christ,"--do this one single thing,--"and thou shalt be saved." and all of these teachings accord with that solemn declaration of our lord: "he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of god abideth on him." in the matter of salvation, where there is faith in christ, there is everything; and where there is not faith in christ, there is nothing. . and it is with this thought that we would close this discourse, and enforce the doctrine of the text. do whatever else you may in the matter of religion, you have done nothing until you have believed on the lord jesus christ, whom god hath, sent into the world to be the propitiation for sin. there are two reasons for this. in the first place, it is _the appointment and declaration of god_, that man, if saved at all, must be saved by faith in the person and work of the mediator. "neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (acts iv. ). it of course rests entirely with the most high god, to determine the mode and manner in which he will enter into negotiations with his creatures, and especially with his rebellious creatures. he must make the terms, and the creature must come to them. even, therefore, if we could not see the reasonableness and adaptation of the method, we should be obligated to accept it. the creature, and particularly the guilty creature, cannot dictate to his sovereign and judge respecting the terms and conditions by which he is to be received into favor, and secure eternal life. men overlook this fact, when they presume as they do, to sit in judgment upon the method of redemption by the blood of atonement and to quarrel with it. in the first punic war, hannibal laid siege to saguntum, a rich and strongly-fortified city on the eastern coast of spain. it was defended with a desperate obstinacy by its inhabitants. but the discipline, the energy, and the persistence of the carthaginian army, were too much for them; and just as the city was about to fall, alorcus, a spanish chieftain, and a mutual friend of both of the contending parties, undertook to mediate between them. he proposed to the saguntines that they should surrender, allowing the carthaginian general to make his own terms. and the argument he used was this: "your city is captured, in any event. further resistance will only bring down upon you the rage of an incensed soldiery, and the horrors of a sack. therefore, surrender immediately, and take whatever hannibal shall please to give. you cannot lose anything by the procedure, and you may gain something, even though it be little."[ ] now, although there is no resemblance between the government of the good and merciful god and the cruel purposes and conduct of a heathen warrior, and we shrink from bringing the two into any kind of juxtaposition, still, the advice of the wise alorcus to the saguntines is good advice for every sinful man, in reference to his relations to eternal justice. we are all of us at the mercy of god. should he make no terms at all; had he never given his son to die for our sins, and never sent his spirit to exert a subduing influence upon our hard hearts, but had let guilt and justice take their inexorable course with us; not a word could be uttered against the procedure by heaven, earth, or hell. no creature, anywhere can complain of justice. that is an attribute that cannot even be attacked. but the all-holy is also the all-merciful. he has made certain terms, and has offered certain conditions of pardon, without asking leave of his creatures and without taking them into council, and were these terms as strict as draco, instead of being as tender and pitiful as the tears and blood of jesus, it would become us criminals to make no criticisms even in that extreme case, but accept them precisely as they were offered by the sovereign and the arbiter. we exhort you, therefore, to take these terms of salvation simply as they are given, asking no questions, and being thankful that there are any terms at all between the offended majesty of heaven and the guilty criminals of earth. believe on him whom god hath sent, because it is the appointment and declaration of god, that if guilty man is to be saved at all, he must be saved by faith in the person and work of the mediator. the very disposition to quarrel with this method implies arrogance in dealing with the most high. the least inclination to alter the conditions shows that the creature is attempting to criticise the creator, and, what is yet more, that the criminal has no true perception of his crime, no sense of his exposed and helpless situation, and presumes to dictate the terms of his own pardon! . we might therefore leave the matter here, and there would be a sufficient reason for exercising the act of faith in christ. but there is a second and additional reason which we will also briefly urge upon you. not only is it the divine appointment, that man shall be saved, if saved at all, by the substituted work of another; but there are _needs_, there are crying _wants_, in the human conscience, that can be supplied by no other method. there is a perfect _adaptation_ between the redemption that is in christ jesus, and the guilt of sinners. as we have seen, we could reasonably urge you to believe in him whom god hath sent, simply because god has sent him, and because he has told you that he will save you through no other name and in no other way, and will save you in this name and in this way. but we now urge you to the act of faith in this substituted work of christ, because it has an _atoning_ virtue, and can pacify a perturbed and angry conscience; can wash out the stains of guilt that are grained into it; can extract the sting of sin which ulcerates and burns there. it is the idea of _expiation_ and _satisfaction_ that we now single out, and press upon your notice. sin must be expiated,--expiated either by the blood of the criminal, or by the blood of his substitute. you must either die for your own sin, or some one who is able and willing must die for you. this is founded and fixed in the nature of god, and the nature of man, and the nature of sin. there is an eternal and necessary connection between crime and penalty. the wages of sin is death. but, all this inexorable necessity has been completely provided for, by the sacrificial work of the son of god. in the gospel, god satisfies his own justice for the sinner, and now offers you the full benefit of the satisfaction, if you will humbly and penitently accept it. "what compassion can equal the words of god the father addressed to the sinner condemned to eternal punishment, and having no means of redeeming himself: 'take my only-begotten son, and make him an offering for thyself;' or the words of the son: 'take me, and ransom thy soul?' for this is what _both_ say, when they invite and draw man to faith in the gospel."[ ] in urging you, therefore, to trust in christ's vicarious sufferings for sin, instead of going down to hell and suffering for sin in your own person; in entreating you to escape the stroke of justice upon yourself, by believing in him who was smitten in your stead, who "was wounded for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities;" in beseeching you to let the eternal son of god be your substitute in this awful judicial transaction; we are summoning you to no arbitrary and irrational act. the peace of god which it will introduce into your conscience, and the love of god which it will shed abroad through your soul, will be the most convincing of all proofs that the act of faith in the great atonement does no violence to the ideas and principles of the human constitution. no act that contravenes those intuitions and convictions which are part and particle of man's moral nature could possibly produce peace and joy. it would be revolutionary and anarchical. the soul could not rest an instant. and yet it is the uniform testimony of all believers in the lord jesus christ, that the act of simple confiding faith in his blood and righteousness is the most peaceful, the most joyful act they ever performed,--nay, that it was the first _blessed_ experience they ever felt in this world of sin, this world of remorse, this world of fears and forebodings concerning judgment and doom. is the question, then, of the jews, pressing upon your mind? do you ask, what one particular single thing shall i do, that i may be safe for time and eternity? hear the answer of the son of god himself: "this is the work of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." [footnote : romans iii. , ; galatians ii. , iii. .] [footnote : the religious teacher is often asked to define the act of faith, and explain the way and manner in which the soul is to exercise it. "_how_ shall i believe?" is the question with which the anxious mind often replies to the gospel injunction to believe. without pretending that it is a complete answer, or claiming that it is possible, in the strict meaning of the word, to explain so simple and so profound an act as faith, we think, nevertheless, that it assists the inquiring mind to say, that whoever _asks in prayer_ for any one of the benefits of christ's redemption, in so far exercises faith in this redemption. whoever, for example, lifts up the supplication, "o lamb of god who takest away the sins of the world, grant me thy peace," in this prayer puts faith in the atonement, he trusts in the atonement, by _pleading_ the atonement,--by mentioning it, in his supplication, as the reason why he may be forgiven. in like manner, he who asks for the renewing and sanctifying influences of the holy ghost exercises faith, in these influences. this is the mode in which he expresses his _confidence_ in the power of god to accomplish a work in his heart that is beyond his own power. whatever, therefore, be the particular benefit in christ's redemption that one would trust in, and thereby make personally his own, that he may live by it and be blest by it,--be it the atoning blood, or be it the indwelling spirit,--let him _ask_ for that benefit. if he would trust _in_ the thing, let him ask _for_ the thing. since writing the above, we have met with a corroboration of this view, by a writer of the highest authority upon such points. "faith is that inward sense and act, of which prayer is the _expression_; as is evident, because in the same manner as the freedom of grace, according to the gospel covenant, is often set forth by this, that he that _believes_, receives; so it also oftentimes is by this, that he that _asks_, or _prays_, or _calls upon_ god, receives. 'ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. and all things whatsoever ye shall _ask in prayer, believing_, ye shall receive (matt. vii. , ; mark xi. ). if ye _abide_ in me and my words abide in you, ye shall _ask_ what ye will, and it shall be done unto you' (john xv. ). prayer is often plainly spoken of as the expression of faith. as it very certainly is in romans x. - : 'for the scripture saith, whosoever _believeth_ on him shall not be ashamed. for there is no difference between the jew and the greek: for the same lord over all is rich unto all that _call_ upon him; for whosoever shall _call_ upon the name of the lord shall be saved. 'how then shall they _call_ on him in whom they have not _believed_.' christian prayer is called the prayer of _faith_ (james v. ). 'i will that men everywhere lift up holy hands, without wrath and _doubting_ ( tim. ii. ). draw near in full assurance of _faith_' (heb. x. ). the same expressions that are used, in scripture, for faith, may well be used for prayer also; such as _coming_ to god or christ, and _looking_ to him. 'in whom we have boldness and _access_ with confidence, by the _faith_ of him' (eph. iii. )." edwards: observations concerning faith.] [footnote : livius: historia, lib. xxi. .] [footnote : anselm: cur deus homo? ii. .] speeches, addresses, and occasional sermons, by theodore parker, minister of the twenty-eighth congregational church in boston. in three volumes. vol. i. boston: horace b. fuller, (successor to walker, fuller, and company,) , washington street. . entered according to act of congress, in the year , by theodore parker, in the clerk's office of the district court of the district of massachusetts. to francis jackson, the foe 'gainst every form of wrong, the friend of justice, whose wide humanity contends for woman's natural and unalienable right; against his nation's cruelty protects the slave; in the criminal beholds a brother to be reformed; goes to men fallen among thieves,-- whom priests and levites sacramentally pass by,-- and seeks to soothe and heal and bless them that are ready to perish: with admiration for his unsurpassed integrity, his courage which nothing scares, and his true religion that would bring peace on earth and good-will to man, these volumes are thankfully dedicated by his minister and friend, theodore parker. preface. i have collected in these volumes several speeches, addresses and occasional sermons, which i have delivered at various times during the last seven years. most of them were prepared for some special emergency: only two papers, that on "the relation of jesus to his age and the ages," and that on "immortal life," were written without reference to some such emergency. all of them have been printed before, excepting the sermon "of general taylor," and the address on "the american scholar;" some have been several times reprinted. i do not know that they are worthy of republication in this permanent form, but the leading ideas of these volumes are very dear to me, and are sure to live as long as the human race shall continue. so i have published a small edition, hoping that the truths which i know are contained in these pages will do a service long after the writer, and the occasion of their utterance, have passed off and been forgot. i offer them to whom they may concern. theodore parker. august , . contents of volume i. i. the relation of jesus to his age and the ages.--a sermon preached at the thursday lecture, in boston, december , page ii. the true idea of a christian church.--a discourse at the installation of theodore parker as minister of the twenty-eighth congregational church in boston, on sunday, january , iii. a sermon of war.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, june , iv. a speech delivered at the anti-war meeting in fanueil hall, february , v. a sermon of the mexican war.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, june , vi. a sermon of the perishing classes in boston.--preached at the melodeon on sunday, august , vii. a sermon of merchants.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, november , viii. a sermon of the dangerous classes in society.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, january , ix. a sermon of poverty.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, january , x. a sermon of the moral condition of boston.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, february , i. the relation of jesus to his age and the ages.--a sermon preached at the thursday lecture, in boston, december , . john vii. . "have any of the rulers, or of the pharisees, believed on him?" in all the world there is nothing so remarkable as a great man; nothing so rare; nothing which so well repays study. human nature is loyal at its heart, and is, always and everywhere, looking for this its true earthly sovereign. we sometimes say that our institutions, here in america, do not require great men; that we get along better without than with such. but let a real, great man light on our quarter of the planet; let us understand him, and straightway these democratic hearts of ours burn with admiration and with love. we wave in his words, like corn in the harvest wind. we should rejoice to obey him, for he would speak what we need to hear. men are always half expecting such a man. but when he comes, the real, great man that god has been preparing,--men are disappointed; they do not recognize him. he does not enter the city through the gates which expectants had crowded. he is a fresh fact, brand new; not exactly like any former fact. therefore men do not recognize nor acknowledge him. his language is strange, and his form unusual. he looks revolutionary, and pulls down ancient walls to build his own temple, or, at least, splits old rocks asunder, and quarries anew fresh granite and marble. there are two classes of great men. now and then some arise whom all acknowledge to be great, soon as they appear. such men have what is true in relation to the wants and expectations of to-day. they say, what many men wished but had not words for; they translate into thought what, as a dim sentiment, lay a burning in many a heart, but could not get entirely written out into consciousness. these men find a welcome. nobody misunderstands them. the world follows at their chariot-wheels, and flings up its cap and shouts its huzzas,--for the world is loyal, and follows its king when it sees and knows him. the good part of the world follows the highest man it comprehends; the bad, whoever serves its turn. but there is another class of men so great, that all cannot see their greatness. they are in advance of men's conjectures, higher than their dreams; too good to be actual, think some. therefore, say many, there must be some mistake; this man is not so great as he seems; nay, he is no great man at all, but an impostor. these men have what is true not merely in relation to the wants and expectations of men here and to-day; but what is true in relation to the universe, to eternity, to god. they do not speak what you and i have been trying to say, and cannot; but what we shall one day years hence, wish to say, after we have improved and grown up to man's estate. now it seems to me, the men of this latter class, when they come, can never meet the approbation of the censors and guides of public opinion. such as wished for a new great man had a superstition of the last one in their minds. they expected the new to be just like the old, but he is altogether unlike. nature is rich, but not rich enough to waste any thing. so there are never two great men very strongly similar. nay, this new great man, perhaps, begins by destroying much that the old one built up with tears and prayers. he shows, at first, the limitations and defects of the former great man; calls in question his authority. he refuses all masters; bows not to tradition; and with seeming irreverence, laughs in the face of the popular idols. how will the "respectable men," the men of a few good rules and those derived from their fathers "the best of men and the wisest,"--how will they regard this new great man? they will see nothing remarkable in him except that he is fluent and superficial, dangerous and revolutionary. he disturbs their notions of order; he shows that the institutions of society are not perfect; that their imperfections are not of granite or marble, but only of words written on soft wax, which may be erased and others written thereon anew. he shows that such imperfect institutions are less than one great man. the guides and censors of public opinion will not honor such a man, they will hate him. why not? some others not half so well bred, nor well furnished with precedents, welcome the new great man; welcome his ideas; welcome his person. they say, "behold a prophet." * * * * * when jesus, the son of mary, a poor woman, wife of joseph the carpenter, in the little town of nazareth, when he "began to be about thirty years old," and began also to open his mouth in the synagogues and the highways, nobody thought him a great man at all, as it seems. "who are you?" said the guardians of public opinion. he found men expecting a great man. this, it seems, was the common opinion, that a great man was to arise, and save the church, and save the state. they looked back to moses, a divine man of antiquity, whose great life had passed into the world, and to whom men had done honor, in various ways; amongst others, by telling all sorts of wonders he wrought, and declaring that none could be so great again; none get so near to god. they looked back also to the prophets, a long line of divine men, so they reckoned, but less than the awful moses; his stature was far above the nation, who hid themselves in his shadow. now the well-instructed children of abraham thought the next great man must be only a copy of the last, repeat his ideas, and work in the old fashion. sick men like to be healed by the medicine which helped them the last time; at least, by the customary drugs which are popular. in judea, there were then parties of men, distinctly marked. there were the conservatives,--they represented the church, tradition, ecclesiastical or theocratical authority. they adhered to the words of the old books, the forms of the old rites, the tradition of the elders. "nobody but a jew can be saved," said they; "he only by circumcision, and the keeping of the old formal law; god likes that, he accepts nothing else." these were the pharisees, with their servants the scribes. of this class were the priests and the levites in the main, the national party, the native-hebrew party of that time. they had tradition, moses and the prophets; they believed in tradition, moses and the prophets, at least in public; what they believed in private god knew, and so did they. i know nothing of that. then there was the indifferent party; the sadducees, the state. they had wealth, and they believed in it, both in public and private too. they had a more generous and extensive cultivation than the pharisees. they had intercourse with foreigners, and understood the writers of ionia and athens which the pharisee held in abhorrence. these were sleek respectable men, who, in part, disbelieved the jewish theology. it is no very great merit to disbelieve even in the devil, unless you have a positive faith in god to take up your affections. the sadducee believed neither in angel nor resurrection--not at all in the immortality of the soul. he believed in the state, in the laws, the constables, the prisons and the axe. in religious matters, it seems the pharisee had a positive belief, only it was a positive belief in a great mistake. in religious matters the sadducee had no positive belief at all; not even in an error: at least, some think so. his distinctive affirmation was but a denial. he believed what he saw with his eyes, touched with his fingers, tasted with his tongue. he never saw, felt, nor tasted immortal life; he had no belief therein. there was once a heathen sadducee who said, "my right arm is my god!" there was likewise a party of come-outers. they despaired of the state and the church too, and turned off into the wilderness, "where the wild asses quench their thirst," building up their organizations free, as they hoped, from all ancient tyrannies. the bible says nothing directly of these men in its canonical books. it is a curious omission; but two jews, each acquainted with foreign writers, josephus and philo, give an account of these. these were the essenes, an ascetic sect, hostile to marriage, at least, many of them, who lived in a sort of association by themselves, and had all things in common. the pharisees and the sadducees had no great living and ruling ideas; none i mean which represented man, his hopes, wishes, affections, his aspirations and power of progress. that is no very rare case, perhaps, you will say, for a party in the church or the state to have no such ideas, but they had not even a plausible substitute for such ideas. they seemed to have no faith in man, in his divine nature, his power of improvement. the essenes had ideas; had a positive belief; had faith in man, but it was weakened in a great measure by their machinery. they, like the pharisee and the sadducee, were imprisoned in their organization, and probably saw no good out of their own party lines. it is a plain thing that no one of these three parties would accept, acknowledge, or even perceive the greatness of jesus of nazareth. his ideas were not their notions. he was not the man they were looking for; not at all the messiah, the anointed one of god, which they wanted. the sadducee expected no new great man unless it was a roman quæstor, or procurator; the pharisees looked for a pharisee stricter than gamaliel; the essenes for an ascetic. it is so now. some seem to think that if jesus were to come back to the earth, he would preach unitarian sermons, from a text out of the bible, and prove his divine mission and the everlasting truths, the truths of necessity that he taught, in the unitarian way, by telling of the miracles he wrought eighteen hundred years ago; that he would prove the immortality of the soul by the fact of his own corporeal resurrection. others seem to think that he would deliver homilies of a severer character; would rate men roundly about total depravity, and tell of unconditional election, salvation without works, and imputed righteousness, and talk of hell till the women and children fainted, and the knees of men smote together for trembling. perhaps both would be mistaken. so it was then. all these three classes of men, imprisoned in their prejudices and superstitions, were hostile. the pharisees said, "we know that god spake unto moses; but as for this fellow, we know not whence he is. he blasphemeth moses and the prophets; yea, he hath a devil, and is mad, why hear him?" the sadducees complained that "he stirred up the people;" so he did. the essenes, no doubt, would have it that he was "a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." tried by these three standards, the judgment was true; what could he do to please these three parties? nothing! nothing that he would do. so they hated him; all hated him, and sought to destroy him. the cause is plain. he was so deep they could not see his profoundness; too high for their comprehension; too far before them for their sympathy. he was not the great man of the day. he found all organizations against him; church and state. even john the baptist, a real prophet, but not the prophet, doubted if jesus was the one to be followed. if jesus had spoken for the pharisees, they would have accepted his speech and the speaker too. had he favored the sadducees, he had been a great man in their camp, and herod would gladly have poured wine for the eloquent galilean, and have satisfied the carpenter's son with purple and fine linen. had he praised the essenes, uttering their shibboleth, they also would have paid him his price, have made him the head of their association perhaps, at least, have honored him in their way. he spoke for none of these. why should they honor or even tolerate him? it were strange had they done so. was it through any fault or deficiency of jesus, that these men refused him? quite the reverse. the rain falls and the sun shines on the evil and the good; the work of infinite power, wisdom and goodness is before all men, revealing the invisible things, yet the fool hath said, ay, said in his heart, "there is no god!" jesus spoke not for the prejudices of such, and therefore they rejected him. but as he spoke truths for man, truths from god, truths adapted to man's condition there, to man's condition everywhere and always, when the pharisees, the sadducees, the essenes went away, their lips curling with scorn; when they gnashed on one another with their teeth, there were noble men and humble women, who had long awaited the consolation of israel, and they heard him, heard him gladly. yes, they left all to follow him. him! no, it was not him they followed; it was god in him they obeyed, the god of truth, the god of love. there were men not counted in the organized sects; men weary of absurdities; thirsting for the truth; sick, they knew not why nor of what, yet none the less sick, and waiting for the angel who should heal them, though by troubled waters and remedies unknown. these men had not the prejudices of a straightly organized and narrow sect. perhaps they had not its knowledge, or its good manners. they were "unlearned and ignorant men," those early followers of christ. nay, jesus himself had no extraordinary culture, as the world judges of such things. his townsmen wondered, on a famous occasion, how he had learned to read. he knew little of theologies, it would seem; the better for him, perhaps. no doubt the better for us that he insisted on none. he knew they were not religion. the men of galilee did not need theology. the youngest scribe in the humblest theological school at jerusalem, if such a thing were in those days, could have furnished theology enough to believe in a life-time. they did need religion; they did see it as jesus unfolded its loveliness; they did welcome it when they saw; welcome it in their hearts. if i were a poet as some are born, and skilled to paint with words what shall stand out as real, to live before the eye, and then dwell in the affectionate memory for ever, i would tell of the audience which heard the sermon on the mount, which listened to the parables, the rebukes, the beautiful beatitudes. they were plain men, and humble women; many of them foolish like you and me; some of them sinners. but they all had hearts; had souls, all of them--hearts made to love, souls expectant of truth. when he spoke, some said, no doubt, "that is a new thing, that the true worshipper shall worship in spirit and in truth, as well here as in jerusalem, now as well as any time; that also is a hard saying, love your enemies; forgive them, though seventy times seven they smite and offend you; that notion that the law and the prophets are contained, all that is essentially religious thereof, in one precept, love men as yourself, and god with all your might. this differs a good deal from the pharisaic orthodoxy of the synagogue. that is a bold thing, presumptuous and revolutionary to say, i am greater than the temple, wiser than solomon, a better symbol of god than both." but there was something deeper than jewish orthodoxy in their hearts; something that jewish orthodoxy could not satisfy, and what was yet more troublesome to ecclesiastical guides, something that jewish orthodoxy could not keep down, nor even cover up. sinners were converted at his reproof. they felt he rebuked whom he loved. yet his pictures of sin and sinners too, were any thing but flattering. there was small comfort in them. still it was not the publicans and harlots who laid their hands on the place where their hearts should be, saying, "you hurt our feelings," and "we can't bear you!" nay, they pondered his words, repenting in tears. he showed them their sin; its cause, its consequence, its cure. to them he came as a saviour, and they said, "thou art well-come," those penitent magdalens weeping at his feet. it would be curious could we know the mingled emotions that swayed the crowd which rolled up around jesus, following him, as the tides obey the moon, wherever he went; curious to see how faces looked doubtful at first as he began to speak at tabor or gennesareth, capernaum or gischala, then how the countenance of some lowered and grew black with thunder suppressed but cherished, while the face of others shone as a branch of stars seen through some disparted cloud in a night of fitful storms, a moment seen and then withdrawn. it were curious to see how gradually many discordant feelings, passion, prejudice and pride were hushed before the tide of melodious religion he poured out around him, baptizing anew saint and sinner, and old and young, into one brotherhood of a common soul, into one immortal service of the universal god; to see how this young hebrew maid, deep-hearted, sensitive, enthusiastic, self-renouncing, intuitive of heavenly truth, rich as a young vine, with clustering affections just purpling into ripeness,--how she seized, first and all at once, the fair ideal, and with generous bosom confidingly embraced it too; how that old man, gray-bearded, with baldness on his head, full of precepts and precedents, the lore of his fathers, the experience of a hard life, logical, slow, calculating, distrustful, remembering much and fearing much, but hoping little, confiding only in the fixed, his reverence for the old deepening as he himself became of less use,--to see how he received the glad inspirations of the joiner's son, and wondering felt his youth steal slowly back upon his heart, reviving aspirations, long ago forgot, and then the crimson tide of early hope come gushing, tingling on through every limb; to see how the young man halting between principle and passion, not yet petrified into worldliness, but struggling, uncertain, half reluctant, with those two serpents, custom and desire, that beautifully twined about his arms and breast and neck, their wormy folds, concealing underneath their burnished scales the dragon's awful strength, the viper's poison fang, the poor youth caressing their snaky crests, and toying with their tongues of flame--to see how he slowly, reluctantly, amid great questionings of heart, drank in the words of truth, and then, obedient to the angel in his heart, shook off, as ropes of sand, that hideous coil and trod the serpents underneath his feet. all this, it were curious, ay, instructive too, could we but see. they heard him with welcome various as their life. the old men said, "it is moses or elias; it is jeremiah, one of the old prophets arisen from the dead, for god makes none such, now-a-days, in the sterile dotage of mankind." the young men and maidens doubtless it was that said, "this is the christ; the desire of the nations; the hope of the world, the great new prophet; the son of david; the son of man; yes, the son of god. he shall be our king." human nature is loyal, and follows its king soon as it knows him. poor lost sheep! the children of men look always for their guide, though so often they look in vain. how he spoke, words deep and piercing; rebukes for the wicked, doubly rebuking, because felt to have come out from a great, deep, loving heart. his first word was, perhaps, "repent," but with the assurance that the kingdom of god was here and now, within reach of all. how his doctrines, those great truths of nature, commended themselves to the heart of each, of all simple-souled men looking for the truth! he spoke out of his experience; of course into theirs. he spoke great doctrines, truths vast as the soul, eternal as god, winged with beauty from the loveliness of his own life. had he spoken for the jews alone, his words had perished with that people; for that time barely, the echo of his name had died away in his native hamlet; for the pharisees, the sadducees, the essence, you and i had heard of him but as a rabbi; nay, had never been blest by him at all. words for a nation, an age, a sect, are of use in their place, yet they soon come to nought. but as he spoke for eternity, his truths ride on the wings of time; as he spoke for man, they are welcome, beautiful and blessing, wherever man is found, and so must be till man and time shall cease. he looked not back, as the pharisee, save for illustrations and examples. he looked forward for his direction. he looked around for his work. there it lay, the harvest plenteous, the laborers few. it is always so. he looked not to men for his idea, his word to speak; as little for their applause. he looked in to god, for guidance, wisdom, strength, and as water in the wilderness, at the stroke of moses, in the hebrew legend, so inspiration came at his call, a mighty stream of truth for the nation, faint, feeble, afraid, and wandering for the promised land; drink for the thirsty, and cleansing for the unclean. but he met opposition; o, yes, enough of it. how could it be otherwise? it must be so. the very soul of peace, he brought a sword. his word was a consuming fire. the pharisees wanted to be applauded, commended; to have their sect, their plans, their traditions praised and flattered. his word to them was, "repent;" of them, to the people, "such righteousness admits no man to the kingdom of heaven; they are a deceitful prophecy, blind guides, hypocrites; not sons of abraham, but children of the devil." they could not bear him; no wonder at it. he was the aggressor; had carried the war into the very heart of their system. they turned out of their company a man whose blindness he healed, because he confessed that fact. they made a law that all who believed on him, should also be cast out. well they might hate him, those old pharisees. his existence was their reproach; his preaching their trial; his life with its outward goodness, his piety within, was their condemnation. the man was their ruin, and they knew it. the cunning can see their own danger, but it is only men wise in mind, or men simple of heart, that can see their real, permanent safety and defence; never the cunning, neither then, neither now. jesus looked to god for his truth, his great doctrines not his own, private, personal, depending on his idiosyncracies, and therefore only subjectively true,--but god's, universal, everlasting, the absolute religion. i do not know that he did not teach some errors also, along with it. i care not if he did. it is by his truths that i know him, the absolute religion he taught and lived; by his highest sentiments that he is to be appreciated. he had faith in god and obeyed god; hence his inspiration, great, in proportion to the greater endowment, moral and religious, which god gave him, great likewise in proportion to his perfect obedience. he had faith in man none the less. who ever yet had faith in god that had none in man? i know not. surely no inspired prophet. as jesus had faith in man, so he spoke to men. never yet, in the wide world, did a prophet arise, appealing with a noble heart and a noble life to the soul of goodness in man, but that soul answered to the call. it was so most eminently with jesus. the scribes and pharisees could not understand by what authority he taught. poor pharisees! how could they? his phylacteries were no broader than those of another man; nay, perhaps he had no phylacteries at all, nor even a broad-bordered garment. men did not salute him in the market-place, sandals in hand, with their "rabbi! rabbi!" could such men understand by what authority he taught? no more than they dared answer his questions. they that knew him, felt he had authority quite other than that claimed by the scribes; the authority of true words, the authority of a noble life; yes, the authority which god gives a great moral and religious man. god delegates authority to men just in proportion to their power of truth, and their power of goodness; to their being and their life. so god spoke in jesus, as he taught the perfect religion, anticipated, developed, but never yet transcended. * * * * * this then was the relation of jesus to his age: the sectarians cursed him; cursed him by their gods; rejected him, abused him, persecuted him; sought his life. yes, they condemned him in the name of god. all evil says the proverb, begins in that name; much continues to claim it. the religionists, the sects, the sectarian leaders rejected him, condemned and slew him at the last, hanging his body on a tree. poor priests of the people, they hoped thereby to stifle that awful soul! they only stilled the body; that soul spoke with a thousand tongues. so in the times of old when the saturnian day began to dawn, it might be fabled that the old titanic race, lovers of darkness and haters of the light, essayed to bar the rising morning from the world, and so heaped pelion upon ossa, and olympus on pelion; but first the day sent up his crimson flush upon the cloud, and then his saffron tinge, and next the sun came peering o'er the loftiest height, magnificently fair--and down the mountain's slanting ridge poured the intolerable day; meanwhile those triple hills, laboriously piled, came toppling, tumbling down, with lumbering crush, and underneath their ruin hid the helpless giants' grave. so was it with men who sat in moses' seat. but this people, that "knew not the law," and were counted therefore accursed, they welcomed jesus as they never welcomed the pharisee, the sadducee or the scribe. ay, hence were their tears. the hierarchical fire burnt not so bright contrasted with the sun. that people had a simon peter, a james, and a john, men not free from faults no doubt, the record shows it, but with hearts in their bosoms, which could be kindled, and then could light other hearts. better still, there were marthas and marys among that people who "knew not the law" and were cursed. they were the mothers of many a church. * * * * * the character of jesus has not changed; his doctrines are still the same; but what a change in his relation to the age, nay to the ages. the stone that the builders rejected is indeed become the head of the corner, and its foundation too. he is worshipped as a god. that is the rank assigned him by all but a fraction of the christian world. it is no wonder. good men worship the best thing they know, and call it god. what was taught to the mass of men, in those days, better than the character of christ? should they rather worship the grecian jove, or the jehovah of the jews? to me it seems the moral attainment of jesus was above the hierarchical conception of god, as taught at athens, rome, jerusalem. jesus was the prince of peace, the king of truth, praying for his enemies--"father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" the jehovah of the old testament, was awful and stern, a man of war, hating the wicked. the sacerdotal conception of god at rome and athens was lower yet. no wonder then, that men soon learned to honor jesus as a god, and then as god himself. apostolical and other legends tell of his divine birth, his wondrous power that healed the sick, palsied and crippled, deaf and dumb and blind; created bread; turned water into wine, and bid obedient devils come and go, a power that raised the dead. they tell that nature felt with him, and at his death the strongly sympathizing sun paused at high noon, and for three hours withheld the day; that rocks were rent, and opening graves gave up their sainted dead, who trod once more the streets of zion, the first fruits of them that slept; they tell too how disappointed death gave back his prey, and spirit-like, jesus restored, in flesh and shape the same, passed through the doors shut up, and in a bodily form was taken up to heaven before the face of men! believe men of these things as they will. to me they are not truth and fact, but mythic symbols and poetry; the psalm of praise with which the world's rude heart extols and magnifies its king. it is for his truth and his life, his wisdom, goodness, piety, that he is honored in my heart; yes, in the world's heart. it is for this that in his name churches are built, and prayers are prayed; for this that the best things we know, we honor with his name. he is the greatest person of the ages; the proudest achievement of the human race. he taught the absolute religion, love to god and man. that god has yet greater men in store i doubt not; to say this is not to detract from the majestic character of christ, but to affirm the omnipotence of god. when they come, the old contest will be renewed, the living prophet stoned; the dead one worshipped. be that as it may, there are duties he teaches us far different from those most commonly taught. he was the greatest fact in the whole history of man. had he conformed to what was told him of men; had he counselled only with flesh and blood; he had been nothing but a poor jew--the world had lost that rich endowment of religious genius, that richest treasure of religious life, the glad tidings of the one religion, absolute and true. what if he had said, as others, "none can be greater than moses, none so great?" he had been a dwarf; the spirit of god had faded from his soul! but he conferred with god, not men; took counsel of his hopes, not his fears. working for men, with men, by men, trusting in god, and pure as truth, he was not scared at the little din of church or state, and trembled not, though pilate and herod were made friends only to crucify him that was a born king of the world. methinks i hear that lofty spirit say to you or me, poor brother, fear not, nor despair. the goodness actual in me is possible for all. god is near thee now as then to me; rich as ever in truth, as able to create, as willing to inspire. daily and nightly he showers down his infinitude of light. open thine eyes to see, thy heart to live. lo, god is here. ii. the true idea of a christian church.--a discourse at the installation of theodore parker as minister of the twenty-eighth congregational church in boston, january , . for nearly a year we have assembled within these walls from week to week,--i think not idly; i know you have not come for any trivial end. you have recently made a formal organization of yourselves for religious action. to-day, at your request, i enter regularly on a ministry in the midst of you. what are we doing; what do we design to do? we are here to establish a christian church; and a christian church, as i understand it, is a body of men and women united together in a common desire of religious excellence and with a common regard for jesus of nazareth, regarding him as the noblest example of morality and religion,--as the model, therefore, in this respect for us. such a church may have many rites, as our catholic brothers, or but few rites, as our protestant brothers, or no rites at all, as our brothers, the friends. it may be, nevertheless, a christian church; for the essential of substance, which makes it a religious body, is the union for the purpose of cultivating love to god and man; and the essential of form, which makes it a christian body, is the common regard for jesus, considered as the highest representative of god that we know. it is not the form, either of ritual or of doctrine, but the spirit which constitutes a christian church. a staff may sustain an old man, or a young man may bear it in his hands as a toy, but walking is walking, though the man have no staff for ornament or support. a christian spirit may exist under rituals and doctrines the most diverse. it were hard to say a man is not a christian, because he believes in the doctrine of the trinity, or the pope, while jesus taught no such doctrine; foolish to say one is no christian because he denies the existence of a devil, though jesus believed it. to make a man's christian name depend on a belief of all that is related by the numerous writers in the bible, is as absurd as to make that depend on a belief in all the words of luther, or calvin, or st. augustine. it is not for me to say a man is not theoretically a christian because he believes that slavery is a divine and christian institution; that war is grateful to god--saying, with the old testament, that god himself "is a man of war," who teaches men to fight, and curses such as refuse;--or because he believes that all men are born totally depraved, and the greater part of them are to be damned everlastingly by "a jealous god," who is "angry with the wicked every day," and that the few are to be "saved" only because god unjustly punished an innocent man for their sake. i will not say a man is not a christian though he believe all the melancholy things related of god in some parts of the old testament, yet i know few doctrines so hostile to real religion as these have proved themselves. in our day it has strangely come to pass that a little sect, themselves hooted at and called "infidels" by the rest of christendom, deny the name of christian to such as publicly reject the miracles of the bible. time will doubtless correct this error. fire is fire, and ashes ashes, say what we may; each will work after its kind. now if christianity be the absolute religion, it must allow all beliefs that are true, and it may exist and be developed in connection with all forms consistent with the absolute religion, and the degree thereof represented by jesus. the action of a christian church seems to be twofold: first on its own members, and then, through their means, on others out of its pale. let a word be said of each in its order. if i were to ask you why you came here to-day; why you have often come to this house hitherto?--the serious amongst you would say: that we might become better; more manly; upright before god and downright before men; that we might be christians, men good and pious after the fashion jesus spoke of. the first design of such a church then is to help ourselves become christians. now the substance of christianity is piety--love to god, and goodness--love to men. it is a religion, the germs whereof are born in your heart, appearing in your earliest childhood; which are developed just in proportion as you become a man, and are indeed the standard measure of your life. as the primeval rock lies at the bottom of the sea and appears at the top of the loftiest mountains, so in a finished character religion underlies all and crowns all. christianity, to be perfect and entire, demands a complete manliness; the development of the whole man, mind, conscience, heart and soul. it aims not to destroy the sacred peculiarities of individual character. it cherishes and develops them in their perfection, leaving paul to be paul, not peter, and john to be john, not jude nor james. we are born different, into a world where unlike things are gathered together, that there may be a special work for each. christianity respects this diversity in men, aiming not to undo but further god's will; not fashioning all men after one pattern, to think alike, act alike, be alike, even look alike. it is something far other than christianity which demands that. a christian church then should put no fetters on the man; it should have unity of purpose, but with the most entire freedom for the individual. when you sacrifice the man to the mass in church or state, church or state becomes an offence, a stumbling-block in the way of progress, and must end or mend. the greater the variety of individualities in church or state, the better is it, so long as all are really manly, humane and accordant. a church must needs be partial, not catholic, where all men think alike, narrow and little. your church-organ, to have compass and volume, must have pipes of various sound, and the skilful artist destroys none, but tunes them all to harmony; if otherwise, he does not understand his work. in becoming christians let us not cease to be men; nay, we cannot be christians unless we are men first. it were unchristian to love christianity better than the truth, or christ better than man. but christianity is not only the absolute religion; it has also the ideal-man. in jesus of nazareth it gives us, in a certain sense, the model of religious excellence. it is a great thing to have the perfect idea of religion; to have also that idea made real, satisfactory to the wants of any age, were a yet further greatness. a christian church should aim to have its members christians as jesus was the christ; sons of man as he was; sons of god as much as he. to be that it is not needful to observe all the forms he complied with, only such forms as help you; not needful to have all the thoughts that he had, only such thoughts as are true. if jesus were ever mistaken, as the evangelists make it appear, then it is a part of christianity to avoid his mistakes as well as to accept his truths. it is the part of a christian church to teach men so; to stop at no man's limitations; to prize no word so high as truth; no man so dear as god. jesus came not to fetter men, but free them. jesus is a model-man in this respect: that he stands in a true relation to men, that of forgiveness for their ill-treatment, service for their needs, trust in their nature, and constant love towards them,--towards even the wicked and hypocritical; in a true relation to god, that of entire obedience to him, of perfect trust in him, of love towards him with the whole mind, heart and soul; and love of god is also love of truth, goodness, usefulness, love of love itself. obedience to god and trust in god is obedience to these things, and trust in them. if jesus had loved any opinion better than truth, then had he lost that relation to god, and so far ceased to be inspired by him; had he allowed any partial feeling to overcome the spirit of universal love, then also he had sundered himself from god, and been at discord, not in harmony with the infinite. if jesus be the model-man, then should a christian church teach its members to hold the same relation to god that christ held; to be one with him; incarnations of god, as much and as far as jesus was one with god, and an incarnation thereof, a manifestation of god in the flesh. it is christian to receive all the truths of the bible; all the truths that are not in the bible just as much. it is christian also to reject all the errors that come to us from without the bible or from within the bible. the christian man, or the christian church, is to stop at no man's limitation; at the limit of no book. god is not dead, nor even asleep, but awake and alive as ever of old; he inspires men now no less than beforetime; is ready to fill your mind, heart and soul with truth, love, life, as to fill moses and jesus, and that on the same terms; for inspiration comes by universal laws, and not by partial exceptions. each point of spirit, as each atom of space, is still bathed in the tides of deity. but all good men, all christian men, all inspired men will be no more alike than all wicked men. it is the same light which is blue in the sky and golden in the sun. "all nature's difference makes all nature's peace." we can attain this relation to man and god only on condition that we are free. if a church cannot allow freedom it were better not to allow itself, but cease to be. unity of purpose, with entire freedom for the individual, should be the motto. it is only free men that can find the truth, love the truth, live the truth. as much freedom as you shut out, so much falsehood do you shut in. it is a poor thing to purchase unity of church-action at the cost of individual freedom. the catholic church tried it, and you see what came thereof: science forsook it, calling it a den of lies. morality forsook it, as the mystery of iniquity, and religion herself protested against it, as the mother of abominations. the protestant churches are trying the same thing, and see whither they tend and what foes rise up against them,--philosophy with its bible of nature, and religion with its bible of man, both the hand-writing of god. the great problem of church and state is this: to produce unity of action and yet leave individual freedom not disturbed; to balance into harmonious proportions the mass and the man, the centripetal and centrifugal powers, as, by god's wondrous, living mechanism, they are balanced in the worlds above. in the state we have done this more wisely than any nation heretofore. in the churches it remains yet to do. but man is equal to all which god appoints for him. his desires are ever proportionate to his duty and his destinies. the strong cry of the nations for liberty, a craving as of hungry men for bread and water, shows what liberty is worth, and what it is destined to do. allow freedom to think, and there will be truth; freedom to act, and we shall have heroic works; freedom to live and be, and we shall have love to men and love to god. the world's history proves that, and our own history. jesus, our model-man, was the freest the world ever saw! let it be remembered that every truth is of god, and will lead to good and good only. truth is the seed whereof welfare is the fruit; for every grain thereof we plant some one shall reap a whole harvest of welfare. a lie is "of the devil," and must lead to want and woe and death, ending at last in a storm where it rains tears and perhaps blood. have freedom, and you will sow new truth to reap its satisfaction; submit to thraldom, and you sow lies to reap the death they bear. a christian church should be the home of the soul, where it enjoys the largest liberty of the sons of god. if fettered elsewhere, here let us be free. christ is the liberator; he came not to drive slaves, but to set men free. the churches of old did their greatest work, when there was most freedom in those churches. here too should the spirit of devotion be encouraged; the soul of man communing with his god in aspirations after purity and truth, in resolutions for goodness, and piety, and a manly life. these are a prayer. the fact that men freely hold truths in common, great truths and universal; that unitedly they lift up their souls to god seeking instruction of him, this will prove the strongest bond between man and man. it seems to me that the protestant churches have not fully done justice to the sentiment of worship; that in taking care of the head we have forgotten the heart. to think truth is the worship of the head; to do noble works of usefulness and charity the worship of the will; to feel love and trust in man and god, is the glad worship of the heart. a christian church should be broad enough for all; should seek truth and promote piety, that both together might toil in good works. here should be had the best instruction which can be commanded; the freest, truest, and most manly voice; the mind most conversant with truth; the eloquence of a heart that runs over with goodness, whose faith is unfaltering in truth, justice, purity, and love; a faith in god, whose charity is living love to men, even the sinful and the base. teaching is the breathing of one man's inspiration into another, a most real thing amongst real men. in a church there should be instruction for the young. god appoints the father and mother the natural teachers of children; above all is it so in their religious culture. but there are some who cannot, many who will not fulfil this trust. hence it has been found necessary for wise and good men to offer their instruction to such. in this matter it is religion we need more than theology, and of this it is not mere traditions and mythologies we are to teach, the anile tales of a rude people in a dark age, things our pupils will do well to forget soon as they are men, and which they will have small reason to thank us for obscuring their minds withal; but it is the great, everlasting truths of religion which should be taught, enforced by examples of noble men, which tradition tells of, or the present age affords, all this to be suited to the tender years of the child. christianity should be represented as human, as man's nature in its true greatness; religion shown to be beautiful, a real duty corresponding to man's deepest desire, that as religion affords the deepest satisfaction to man, so it is man's most universal want. christ should be shown to men as he was, the manliest of men, the most divine because the most human. children should be taught to respect their nature; to consider it as the noblest of all god's works; to know that perfect truth and goodness are demanded of them, and by that only can they be worthy men; taught to feel that god is present in boston and to-day, as much as ever in jerusalem in the time of jesus. they should be taught to abhor the public sins of our times, but to love and imitate its great examples of nobleness, and practical religion, which stand out amid the mob of worldly pretenders in this day. then, too, if one of our members falls into unworthy ways, is it not the duty of some one to speak with him, not as with authority to command, but with affection to persuade? did any one of you ever address an erring brother on the folly of his ways with manly tenderness, and try to charm him back, and find a cold repulse? if a man is in error he will be grateful to one that tells him so; will learn most from men who make him ashamed of his littleness of life. in this matter it seems many a good man comes short of his duty. there is yet another way in which a church should act on its own household, and that is by direct material help in time of need. there is the eternal distinction of the strong and the weak, which cannot be changed. but as things now go there is another inequality not of god's appointment, but of man's perversity, the distinction of rich and poor--of men bloated by superfluous wealth and men starving and freezing from want. you know and i know how often the strong abuse their strength, exerting it solely for themselves and to the ruin of the weak; we all know that such are reckoned great in the world, though they may have grown rich solely by clutching at what others earned. in christianity, and before the god of justice, all men are brothers; the strong are so that they may help the weak. as a nation chooses its wisest men to manage its affairs for the nation's good, and not barely their own, so god endows charles or samuel with great gifts that they may also bless all men thereby. if they use those powers solely for their pleasure then are they false before men; false before god. it is said of the church of the friends that no one of their number has ever received the charity of an almshouse, or for a civil offence been shut up in a jail. if the poor forsake a church, be sure that the church forsook god long before. * * * * * but the church must have an action on others out of its pale. if a man or a society of men have a truth, they hold it not for themselves alone, but for all men. the solitary thinker, who in a moment of ecstatic action in his closet at midnight discovers a truth, discovers it for all the world and for eternity. a christian church ought to love to see its truths extend; so it should put them in contact with the opinions of the world, not with excess of zeal or lack of charity. a christian church should be a means of reforming the world, of forming it after the pattern of christian ideas. it should therefore bring up the sentiments of the times, the ideas of the times, and the actions of the times, to judge them by the universal standard. in this way it will learn much and be a living church, that grows with the advance of men's sentiments, ideas and actions, and while it keeps the good of the past will lose no brave spirit of the present day. it can teach much; now moderating the fury of men, then quickening their sluggish steps. we expect the sins of commerce to be winked at in the street; the sins of the state to be applauded on election days and in a congress, or on the fourth of july; we are used to hear them called the righteousness of the nation. there they are often measured by the avarice or the ambition of greedy men. you expect them to be tried by passion, which looks only to immediate results and partial ends. here they are to be measured by conscience and reason, which look to permanent results and universal ends; to be looked at with reference to the laws of god, the everlasting ideas on which alone is based the welfare of the world. here they are to be examined in the light of christianity itself. if the church be true, many things which seem gainful in the street and expedient in the senate-house, will here be set down as wrong, and all gain which comes therefrom seen to be but a loss. if there be a public sin in the land, if a lie invade the state, it is for the church to give the alarm; it is here that it may war on lies and sins; the more widely they are believed in and practised, the more are they deadly, the more to be opposed. here let no false idea or false action of the public go without exposure and rebuke. but let no noble heroism of the times, no noble man pass by without due honor. if it is a good thing to honor dead saints and the heroism of our fathers; it is a better thing to honor the saints of to-day, the live heroism of men who do the battle, when that battle is all around us. i know a few such saints; here and there a hero of that stamp, and i will not wait till they are dead and classic before i call them so and honor them as such, for "to side with truth is noble when we share her wretched crust, ere her cause bring fame and profit, and 'tis prosperous to be just; then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside, doubting in his abject spirit, till his lord is crucified, and the multitude make virtue of the faith they once denied; for humanity sweeps onward; where to-day the martyr stands, on the morrow crouches judas, with the silver in his hands; far in front the cross stands ready, and the crackling fagots burn, while the hooting mob of yesterday in silent awe return to glean up the scattered ashes into history's golden urn." do you not see that if a man have a new truth, it must be reformatory and so create an outcry? it will seem destructive as the farmer's plough; like that, it is so to tares and thistles, but the herald of the harvest none the less. in this way a christian church should be a society for promoting true sentiments and ideas. if it would lead, it must go before men; if it would be looked up to, it must stand high. that is not all: it should be a society for the promotion of good works. we are all beneath our idea, and therefore transgressors before god. yet he gives us the rain, the snow and the sun. it falls on me as well as on the field of my neighbor, who is a far juster man. how can we repent, cast our own sins behind us, outgrow and forget them better, than by helping others to work out their salvation? we are all brothers before god. mutually needful we must be; mutually helpful we should be. here are the ignorant that ask our instruction, not with words only, but with the prayer of their darkness, far more suppliant than speech. i never see an ignorant man younger than myself, without a feeling of self-reproach, for i ask: "what have i been doing to suffer him to grow up in nakedness of mind?" every man, born in new england, who does not share the culture of this age, is a reproach to more than himself, and will at last actively curse those who began by deserting him. the christian church should lead the movement for the public education of the people. here are the needy who ask not so much your gold, your bread, or your cloth, as they ask also your sympathy, respect and counsel; that you assist them to help themselves, that they may have gold won by their industry, not begged out of your benevolence. it is justice more than charity they ask. every beggar, every pauper, born and bred amongst us, is a reproach to us, and condemns our civilization. for how has it come to pass that in a land of abundance here are men, for no fault of their own, born into want, living in want, and dying of want? and that, while we pretend to a religion which says all men are brothers! there is a horrid wrong somewhere. here too are the drunkard, the criminal, the abandoned person, sometimes the foe of society, but far oftener the victim of society. whence come the tenants of our almshouses, jails, the victims of vice in all our towns? why, from the lowest rank of the people; from the poorest and most ignorant! say rather from the most neglected, and the public sin is confessed, and the remedy hinted at. what have the strong been doing all this while, that the weak have come to such a state? let them answer for themselves. now for all these ought a christian church to toil. it should be a church of good works; if it is a church of good faith it will be so. does not christianity say the strong should help the weak? does not that mean something? it once did. has the christian fire faded out from those words, once so marvellously bright? look round you, in the streets of your own boston! see the ignorant, men and women with scarce more than the stature of men and women; boys and girls growing up in ignorance and the low civilization which comes thereof, the barbarians of boston. their character will one day be a blot and a curse to the nation, and who is to blame? why, the ablest and best men, who might have had it otherwise if they would. look at the poor, men of small ability, weak by nature, born into a weak position, therefore doubly weak; men whom the strong use for their purpose, and then cast them off as we throw away the rind of an orange after we have drunk its generous juice. behold the wicked, so we call the weak men that are publicly caught in the cobweb of the law; ask why they became wicked; how we have aimed to reform them; what we have done to make them respect themselves, to believe in goodness, in man and god? and then say if there is not something for christian men to do, something for a christian church to do! every almshouse in massachusetts shows that the churches have not done their duty, that the christians lie lies when they call jesus "master" and men "brothers!" every jail is a monument, on which it is writ in letters of iron that we are still heathens, and the gallows, black and hideous, the embodiment of death, the last argument a "christian" state offers to the poor wretches it trained up to be criminals, stands there, a sign of our infamy, and while it lifts its horrid arm to crush the life out of some miserable man, whose blood cries to god against cain in the nineteenth century, it lifts that same arm as an index of our shame. is that all? oh, no! did not jesus say, resist not evil--with evil? is not war the worst form of that evil; and is there on earth a nation so greedy of war; a nation more reckless of provoking it; one where the war-horse so soon conducts his foolish rider into fame and power? the "heathen" chinese might send their missionaries to america, and teach us to love men! is that all? far from it. did not christ say, whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, do you even so unto them; and are there not three million brothers of yours and mine in bondage here, the hopeless sufferers of a savage doom; debarred from the civilization of our age, the barbarians of the nineteenth century; shut out from the pretended religion of christendom, the heathens of a christian land; chained down from the liberty unalienable in man, the slaves of a christian republic? does not a cry of indignation ring out from every legislature in the north; does not the press war with its million throats, and a voice of indignation go up from east and west, out from the hearts of freemen? oh, no. there is none of that cry against the mightiest sin of this age. the rock of plymouth, sanctified by the feet which led a nation's way to freedom's large estate, provokes no more voice than the rottenest stone in all the mountains of the west. the few that speak a manly word for truth and everlasting right, are called fanatics; bid be still, lest they spoil the market! great god! and has it come to this, that men are silent over such a sin? 'tis even so. then it must be that every church which dares assume the name of christ, that dearest name to men, thunders and lightens on this hideous wrong! that is not so. the church is dumb, while the state is only silent; while the servants of the people are only asleep, "god's ministers" are dead! in the midst of all these wrongs and sins, the crimes of men, society and the state, amid popular ignorance, pauperism, crime, and war, and slavery too--is the church to say nothing, do nothing; nothing for the good of such as feel the wrong, nothing to save them who do the wrong? men tell us so, in word and deed; that way alone is "safe!" if i thought so, i would never enter the church but once again, and then to bow my shoulders to their manliest work, to heave down its strong pillars, arch and dome, and roof, and wall, steeple and tower, though like samson i buried myself under the ruins of that temple which profaned the worship of god most high, of god most loved. i would do this in the name of man; in the name of christ i would do it; yes, in the dear and blessed name of god. it seems to me that a church which dares name itself christian, the church of the redeemer, which aspires to be a true church, must set itself about all this business, and be not merely a church of theology, but of religion; not of faith only, but of works; a just church by its faith bringing works into life. it should not be a church termagant, which only peevishly scolds at sin, in its anile way; but a church militant against every form of evil, which not only censures, but writes out on the walls of the world the brave example of a christian life, that all may take pattern therefrom. thus only can it become the church triumphant. if a church were to waste less time in building its palaces of theological speculation, palaces mainly of straw, and based upon the chaff, erecting air-castles and fighting battles to defend those palaces of straw, it would surely have more time to use in the practical good works of the day. if it thus made a city free from want and ignorance and crime, i know i vent a heresy, i think it would be quite as christian an enterprise, as though it restored all the theology of the dark ages; quite as pleasing to god. a good sermon is a good thing, no doubt, but its end is not answered by its being preached; even by its being listened to and applauded; only by its awakening a deeper life in the hearers. but in the multitude of sermons there is danger lest the bare hearing thereof be thought a religious duty, not a means, but an end, and so our christianity vanish in words. what if every sunday afternoon the most pious and manly of our number, who saw fit, resolved themselves into a committee of the whole for practical religion, and held not a formal meeting, but one more free, sometimes for the purpose of devotion, the practical work of making ourselves better christians, nearer to one another, and sometimes that we might find means to help such as needed help, the poor, the ignorant, the intemperate and the wicked? would it not be a work profitable to ourselves, and useful to others weaker than we? for my own part i think there are no ordinances of religion like good works; no day too sacred to help my brother in; no christianity like a practical love of god shown by a practical love of men. christ told us that if we had brought our gift to the very altar, and there remembered our brother had cause of complaint against us, we must leave the divine service, and pay the human service first! if my brother be in slavery, in want, in ignorance, in sin, and i can aid him and do not, he has much against me, and god can better wait for my prayer than my brother for my help! the saints of olden time perished at the stake; they hung on gibbets; they agonized upon the rack; they died under the steel of the tormentor. it was the heroism of our fathers' day that swam the unknown seas; froze in the woods; starved with want and cold; fought battles with the red right hand. it is the sainthood and heroism of our day that toils for the ignorant, the poor, the weak, the oppressed, the wicked. yes, it is our saints and heroes who fight fighting; who contend for the slave, and his master too, for the drunkard, the criminal; yes, for the wicked or the weak in all their forms. it is they that with weapons of heavenly proof fight the great battle for the souls of men. though i detest war in each particular fibre of my heart, yet i honor the heroes among our fathers who fought with bloody hand; peace-makers in a savage way, they were faithful to the light; the most inspired can be no more, and we, with greater light, do, it may be, far less. i love and venerate the saints of old; men who dared step in front of their age; accepted christianity when it cost something to be a christian, because it meant something; they applied christianity, so far as they knew it, to the lies and sins of their times, and won a sudden and a fiery death. but the saints and the heroes of this day, who draw no sword, whose right hand is never bloody, who burn in no fires of wood or sulphur, nor languish briefly on the hasty cross; the saints and heroes who, in a worldly world, dare to be men; in an age of conformity and selfishness, speak for truth and man, living for noble aims; men who will swear to no lies howsoever popular; who will honor no sins, though never so profitable, respected and ancient; men who count christ not their master, but teacher, friend, brother, and strive like him to practise all they pray; to incarnate and make real the word of god, these men i honor far more than the saints of old. i know their trials, i see their dangers, i appreciate their sufferings, and since the day when the man on calvary bowed his head, bidding persecution farewell with his "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," i find no such saints and heroes as live now! they win hard fare, and hard toil. they lay up shame and obloquy. theirs is the most painful of martyrdoms. racks and fagots soon waft the soul of god, stern messengers but swift. a boy could bear that passage, the martyrdom of death. but the temptation of a long life of neglect, and scorn, and obloquy, and shame, and want, and desertion by false friends; to live blameless though blamed, cut off from human sympathy, that is the martyrdom of to-day. i shed no tears for such martyrs. i shout when i see one; i take courage and thank god for the real saints, prophets and heroes of to-day. in another age, men shall be proud of these puritans and pilgrims of this day. churches shall glory in their names and celebrate their praise in sermon and in song. yea, though now men would steal the rusty sword from underneath the bones of a saint or hero long deceased, to smite off therewith the head of a new prophet, that ancient hero's son; though they would gladly crush the heart out of him with the tomb-stones they piled up for great men, dead and honored now, yet in some future day, that mob, penitent, baptized with a new spirit, like drunken men returned to sanity once more, shall search through all this land for marble white enough to build a monument to that prophet whom their fathers slew; they shall seek through all the world for gold of fineness fit to chronicle such names! i cannot wait; but i will honor such men now, not adjourn the warning of their voice, and the glory of their example, till another age! the church may cast out such men; burn them with the torments of an age too refined in its cruelty to use coarse fagots and the vulgar axe! it is no less to these men; but the ruin of the church. i say the christian church of the nineteenth century must honor such men, if it would do a church's work; must take pains to make such men as these, or it is a dead church, with no claim on us, except that we bury it. a true church will always be the church of martyrs. the ancients commenced every great work with a victim! we do not call it so; but the sacrifice is demanded, got ready, and offered by unconscious priests long ere the enterprise succeeds. did not christianity begin with a martyrdom? * * * * * in this way, by gaining all the truth of the age in thought or action, by trying public opinions with its own brave ideas, by promoting good works, applying a new truth to an old error, and with unpopular righteousness overcoming each popular sin, the christian church should lead the civilization of the age. the leader looks before, goes before, and knows where he is going; knows the way thither. it is only on this condition that he leads at all. if the church by looking after truth, and receiving it when it comes, be in unison with god, it will be in unison with all science, which is only the thought of god translated from the facts of nature into the words of men. in such a case, the church will not fear philosophy, nor in the face of modern science aim to reëstablish the dreams and fables of a ruder day. it will not lack new truth, daring only to quote, nor be obliged to sneak behind the inspired words of old saints as its only fortress, for it will have words just as truly inspired, dropping from the golden mouths of saints and prophets now. for leaders it will look not back, but forth; will fan the first faint sparkles of that noble fire just newly kindled from the skies; not smother them in the ashes of fires long spent; not quench them with holy water from jordan or the nile. a church truly christian, professing christ as its model-man, and aiming to stand in the relation he stood, must lead the way in moral enterprises, in every work which aims directly at the welfare of man. there was a time when the christian churches, as a whole, held that rank. do they now? not even the quakers--perhaps the last sect that abandoned it. a prophet, filled with love of man and love of god, is not therein at home. i speak a sad truth, and i say it in sorrow. but look at the churches of this city: do they lead the christian movements of this city--the temperance movement, the peace movement, the movement for the freedom of men, for education, the movement to make society more just, more wise and good, the great religious movement of these times--for, hold down our eyelids as we will, there is a religious movement at this day on foot, such as even new england never saw before;--do they lead in these things? oh, no, not at all. that great christian orator, one of the noblest men new england has seen in this century, whose word has even now gone forth to the nations beyond the sea, while his spirit has gone home to his father, when he turned his attention to the practical evils of our time and our land, and our civilization, vigorously applying christianity to life, why he lost favor in his own little sect! they feared him, soon as his spirit looked over their narrow walls, aspiring to lead men to a better work. i know men can now make sectarian capital out of the great name of channing, so he is praised; perhaps praised loudest by the very men who then cursed him by their gods. ay, by their gods he was accursed! the churches lead the christian movements of these times?--why, has there not just been driven out of this city, and out of this state, a man conspicuous in all these movements, after five and twenty years of noble toil; driven out because he was conspicuous in them! you know it is so, and you know how and by whom he is thus driven out![ ] christianity is humanity; christ is the son of man; the manliest of men; humane as a woman; pious and hopeful as a prayer; but brave as man's most daring thought. he has led the world in morals and religion for eighteen hundred years, only because he was the manliest man in it; the humanest and bravest man in it, and hence the divinest. he may lead it eighteen hundred years more, for we are bid believe that god can never make again a greater man; no, none so great. but the churches do not lead men therein, for they have not his spirit; neither that womanliness which wept over jerusalem, nor that manliness which drew down fire enough from heaven to light the world's altars for well-nigh two thousand years. there are many ways in which christ may be denied:--one is that of the bold blasphemer, who, out of a base and haughty heart mocks, scoffing at that manly man, and spits upon the nobleness of christ! there are few such deniers: my heart mourns for them. but they do little harm. religion is so dear to men, no scoffing word can silence that, and the brave soul of this young nazarene has made itself so deeply felt that scorn and mockery of him are but an icicle held up against the summer's sun. there is another way to deny him, and that is:--to call him lord, and never do his bidding; to stifle free minds with his words; and with the authority of his name to cloak, to mantle, screen and consecrate the follies, errors, sins of men! from this we have much to fear. the church that is to lead this century will not be a church creeping on all fours; mewling and whining, its face turned down, its eyes turned back. it must be full of the brave, manly spirit of the day, keeping also the good of times past. there is a terrific energy in this age, for man was never so much developed, so much the master of himself before. great truths, moral and political, have come to light. they fly quickly. the iron prophet of types publishes his visions, of weal or woe, to the near and far. this marvellous age has invented steam, and the magnetic telegraph, apt symbols of itself, before which the miracles of fable are but an idle tale. it demands, as never before, freedom for itself, usefulness in its institutions; truth in its teachings, and beauty in its deeds. let a church have that freedom, that usefulness, truth, and beauty, and the energy of this age will be on its side. but the church which did for the fifth century, or the fifteenth, will not do for this. what is well enough at rome, oxford or berlin, is not well enough for boston. it must have our ideas, the smell of our ground, and have grown out of the religion in our soul. the freedom of america must be there before this energy will come; the wisdom of the nineteenth century before its science will be on the churches' side, else that science will go over to the "infidels." our churches are not in harmony with what is best in the present age. men call their temples after their old heroes and saints--john, paul, peter, and the like. but we call nothing else after the old names; a school of philosophy would be condemned if called aristotelian, platonic, or even baconian. we out-travel the past in all but this. in the church it seems taught there is no progress unless we have all the past on our back; so we despair of having men fit to call churches by. we look back and not forward. we think the next saint must talk hebrew like the old ones, and repeat the same mythology. so when a new prophet comes we only stone him. a church that believes only in past inspiration will appeal to old books as the standard of truth and source of light; will be antiquarian in its habits; will call its children by the old names; and war on the new age, not understanding the man-child born to rule the world. a church that believes in inspiration now will appeal to god; try things by reason and conscience; aim to surpass the old heroes; baptize its children with a new spirit, and using the present age will lead public opinion, and not follow it. had christ looked back for counsel, he might have founded a church fit for abraham or isaac to worship in, not for the ages to come, or the age then. he that feels he is near to god, does not fear to be far from men; if before, he helps lead them on; if above, to lift them up. let us get all we can from the hebrews and others of old time, and that is much; but still let us be god's free men, not the gibeonites of the past. let us have a church that dares imitate the heroism of jesus; seek inspiration as he sought it; judge the past as he; act on the present like him; pray as he prayed; work as he wrought; live as he lived. let our doctrines and our forms fit the soul, as the limbs fit the body, growing out of it, growing with it. let us have a church for the whole man: truth for the mind; good works for the hands; love for the heart; and for the soul, that aspiring after perfection, that unfaltering faith in god which, like lightning in the clouds, shines brightest, when elsewhere it is most dark. let our church fit man, as the heavens fit the earth! * * * * * in our day men have made great advances in science, commerce, manufactures, in all the arts of life. we need, therefore, a development of religion corresponding thereto. the leading minds of the age ask freedom to inquire; not merely to believe, but to know; to rest on facts. a great spiritual movement goes swiftly forward. the best men see that religion is religion; theology is theology, and not religion; that true religion is a very simple affair, and the popular theology a very foolish one; that the christianity of christ is not the christianity of the street, or the state, or the churches; that christ is not their model-man, only "imputed" as such. these men wish to apply good sense to matters connected with religion; to apply christianity to life, and make the world a better place, men and women fitter to live in it. in this way they wish to get a theology that is true; a mode of religion that works, and works well. if a church can answer these demands, it will be a live church; leading the civilization of the times, living with all the mighty life of this age, and nation. its prayers will be a lifting up of the hearts in noble men towards god, in search of truth, goodness, piety. its sacraments will be great works of reform, institutions for the comfort and the culture of men. let us have a church in which religion, goodness towards men, and piety towards god, shall be the main thing; let us have a degree of that suited to the growth and demands of this age. in the middle ages, men had erroneous conceptions of religion, no doubt; yet the church led the world. when she wrestled with the state, the state came undermost to the ground. see the results of that supremacy--all over europe there arose the cloister, halls of learning for the chosen few, minster, dome, cathedral, miracles of art, each costing the wealth of a province. such was the embodiment of their ideas of religion, the prayers of a pious age done in stone, a psalm petrified as it rose from the world's mouth; a poor sacrifice, no doubt, but the best they knew how to offer. now if men were to engage in religion as in politics, commerce, arts; if the absolute religion, the christianity of christ, were applied to life with all the might of this age, as the christianity of the church was then applied, what a result should we not behold! we should build up a great state with unity in the nation, and freedom in the people; a state where there was honorable work for every hand, bread for all mouths, clothing for all backs, culture for every mind, and love and faith in every heart. truth would be our sermon, drawn from the oldest of scriptures, god's writing there in nature, here in man; works of daily duty would be our sacrament; prophets inspired of god would minister the word, and piety send up her psalm of prayer, sweet in its notes, and joyfully prolonged. the noblest monument to christ, the fairest trophy of religion, is a noble people, where all are well fed and clad, industrious, free, educated, manly, pious, wise and good. * * * * * some of you may now remember, how ten months and more ago, i first came to this house to speak. i shall remember it forever. in those rainy sundays the very skies looked dark. some came doubtingly, uncertain, looking around, and hoping to find courage in another's hope. others came with clear glad face; openly, joyfully, certain they were right; not fearing to meet the issue; not afraid to be seen meeting it. some came, perhaps, not used to worship in a church, but not the less welcome here; some mistaking me for a destroyer, a doubter, a denier of all truth, a scoffer, an enemy to man and god! i wonder not at that. misguided men had told you so, in sermon and in song; in words publicly printed and published without shame; in the covert calumny, slyly whispered in the dark! need i tell you my feelings; how i felt at coming to the town made famous by great men, mayhew, chauncy, buckminster, kirkland, holley, pierpont, channing, ware--names dear and honored in my boyish heart! need i tell you how i felt at sight of the work which stretched out before me? do you wonder that i asked: who is sufficient for these things? and said: alas, not i, thou knowest, lord! but some of you told me you asked not the wisdom of a wiser man, the ability of one stronger, but only that i should do what i could. i came, not doubting that i had some truths to say; not distrusting god, nor man, nor you; distrustful only of myself. i feared i had not the power, amid the dust and noises of the day, to help you see and hear the great realities of religion as they appeared to me; to help you feel the life of real religion, as in my better moments i have felt its truth! but let that pass. as i came here from sunday to sunday, when i began to feel your spirits prayed with mine a prayer for truth and life; as i looked down into your faces, thoughtful and almost breathless, i forgot my self-distrust; i saw the time was come; that, feebly as i know i speak, my best thoughts were ever the most welcome! i saw that the harvest was plenteous indeed: but the preacher, i feel it still, was all unworthy of his work! * * * * * brothers and sisters: let us be true to our sentiments and ideas. let us not imitate another's form unless it symbolize a truth to us. we must not affect to be singular, but not fear to be alone. let us not foolishly separate from our brothers elsewhere. truth is yet before us, not only springing up out of the manly words of this bible, but out of the ground; out of the heavens; out of man and god. whole firmaments of truth hang ever o'er our heads, waiting the telescopic eye of the true-hearted see-er. let us follow truth, in form, thought or sentiment, wherever she may call. god's daughter cannot lead us from the path. the further on we go, the more we find. had columbus turned back only the day before he saw the land, the adventure had been worse than lost. we must practise a manly self-denial. religion always demands that, but never more than when our brothers separate from us, and we stand alone. by our mutual love and mutual forbearance, we shall stand strong. with zeal for our common work, let us have charity for such as dislike us, such as oppose and would oppress us. let us love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for such as despitefully use us. let us overcome their evil speech with our own goodness. if others have treated us ill, called us unholy names, and mocked at us, let us forgive it all, here and now, and help them also to forget and outgrow that temper which bade them treat us so. a kind answer is fittest rebuke to an unkind word. if we have any truth it will not be kept hid. it will run over the brim of our urn and water our brother's field. were any truth to come down to us in advance from god, it were not that we might forestall the light, but shed it forth for all his children to walk by and rejoice in. "one candle will light a thousand" if it be itself lighted. let our light shine before men so that they may see our good deeds, and themselves praise god by a manly life. this we owe to them as to ourselves. a noble thought and a mean man make a sorry union. let our idea show itself in our life--that is preaching, right eloquent. do this, we begin to do good to men, and though they should oppose us, and our work should fail, we shall have yet the approval of our own heart, the approval of god, be whole within ourselves, and one with him. * * * * * some of you are venerable men. i have wondered that a youthful ardor should have brought you here. your silvery heads have seemed a benediction to my work. but most of you are young. i know it is no aping of a fashion that has brought you here. i have no eloquence to charm or please you with; i only speak right on. i have no reputation but a bad name in the churches. i know you came not idly, but seeking after truth. give a great idea to an old man, and he carries it to his grave; give it to a young man, and he carries it to his life. it will bear both young and old through the grave and into eternal heaven beyond. young men and women, the duties of the world fall eminently on you. god confides to your hands the ark which holds the treasures of the age. on young shoulders he lays the burden of life. yours is the period of passion; the period of enterprise and of work. it is by successive generations that mankind goes forward. the old, stepping into honorable graves, leave their places and the results they won to you. but departing they seem to say, as they linger and look back: do ye greater than we have done! the young just coming into your homes seem to say: instruct us to be nobler than yourselves! your life is the answer to your children and your sires. the next generation will be as you make it. it is not the schools but the people's character that educates the child. amid the trials, duties, dangers of your life, religion alone can guide you. it is not the world's eye that is on you, but god's; it is not the world's religion that will suffice you, but the religion of a man, which unites you with truth, justice, piety, goodness; yes, which makes you one with god! young men and women--you can make this church a fountain of life to thousands of fainting souls. yes, you can make this city nobler than city ever was before. a manly life is the best gift you can leave mankind; that can be copied forever. architects of your own weal or woe, your destiny is mainly in your own hands. it is no great thing to reject the popular falsehoods; little and perhaps not hard. but to receive the great sentiments and lofty truths of real religion, the christianity of christ; to love them, to live them in your business and your home, that is the greatest work of man. thereby you partake of the spirit and nature of god; you achieve the true destiny for yourself; you help your brothers do the same. when my own life is measured by the ideal of that young nazarene, i know how little i deserve the name of christian; none knows that fact so well as i. but you have been denied the name of christian because you came here, asking me to come. let men see that you have the reality, though they withhold the name. your words are the least part of what you say to men. the foolish only will judge you by your talk; wise men by the general tenor of your life. let your religion appear in your work and your play. pray in your strongest hours. practise your prayers. by fair-dealing, justice, kindness, self-control, and the great work of helping others while you help yourself, let your life prove a worship. these are the real sacraments and christian communion with god, to which water and wine are only helps. criticize the world not by censure only, but by the example of a great life. shame men out of their littleness, not by making mouths, but by walking great and beautiful amongst them. you love god best when you love men most. let your prayers be an uplifting of the soul in thought, resolution, love, and the light thereof shall shine through the darkest hour of trouble. have not the christianity of the street; but carry christ's christianity there. be noble men, then your works must needs be great and manly. * * * * * this is the first sunday of a new year. what an hour for resolutions; what a moment for prayer! if you have sins in your bosom, cast them behind you now. in the last year, god has blessed us; blessed us all. on some his angels waited, robed in white, and brought new joys; here a wife, to bind men closer yet to providence; and there a child, a new messiah, sent to tell of innocence and heaven. to some his angels came clad in dark livery, veiling a joyful countenance with unpropitious wings, and bore away child, father, sister, wife, or friend. still were they angels of good providence, all god's own; and he who looks aright finds that they also brought a blessing, but concealed, and left it, though they spoke no word of joy. one day our weeping brother shall find that gift and wear it as a diamond on his breast. the hours are passing over us, and with them the day. what shall the future sundays be, and what the year? what we make them both. god gives us time. we weave it into life, such figures as we may, and wear it as we will. age slowly rots away the gold we are set in, but the adamantine soul lives on, radiant every way in the light streaming down from god. the genius of eternity, star-crowned, beautiful, and with prophetic eyes, leads us again to the gates of time, and gives us one more year, bidding us fill that golden cup with water as we can or will. there stand the dirty, fetid pools of worldliness and sin; curdled, and mantled, film-covered, streaked and striped with many a hue, they shine there, in the slanting light of new-born day. around them stand the sons of earth and cry: come hither; drink thou and be saved! here fill thy golden cup! there you may seek to fill your urn; to stay your thirst. the deceitful element, roping in your hands, shall mock your lip. it is water only to the eye. nay, show-water only unto men half-blind. but there, hard by, runs down the stream of life, its waters never frozen, never dry; fed by perennial dews falling unseen from god. fill there thine urn, oh, brother-man, and thou shalt thirst no more for selfishness and crime, and faint no more amid the toil and heat of day; wash there, and the leprosy of sin, its scales of blindness, shall fall off, and thou be clean for ever. kneel there and pray; god shall inspire thy heart with truth and love, and fill thy cup with never-ending joy![ ] footnotes: [ ] rev. john pierpont. [ ] see note at the end of this volume. iii. a sermon of war, preached at the melodeon, on sunday, june , . exodus xv. . "the lord is a man of war." john iv. . "god is love." i ask your attention to a sermon of war. i have waited some time before treating this subject at length, till the present hostilities should assume a definite form, and the designs of the government become more apparent. i wished to be able to speak coolly and with knowledge of the facts, that we might understand the comparative merits of the present war. besides, i have waited for others, in the churches, of more experience to speak, before i ventured to offer my counsel; but i have thus far waited almost in vain! i did not wish to treat the matter last sunday, for that was the end of our week of pentecost, when cloven tongues of flame descend on the city, and some are thought to be full of new wine, and others of the holy spirit. the heat of the meetings, good and bad, of that week, could not wholly have passed away from you or me, and we ought to come coolly and consider a subject like this. so the last sunday i only sketched the back-ground of the picture, to-day intending to paint the horrors of war in front of that "presence of beauty in nature," to which with its "meanings" and its "lessons," i then asked you to attend. * * * * * it seems to me that an idea of god as the infinite is given to us in our nature itself. but men create a more definite conception of god in their own image. thus a rude savage man, who has learned only the presence of power in nature, conceives of god mainly as a force, and speaks of him as a god of power. such, though not without beautiful exceptions, is the character ascribed to jehovah in the old testament. "the lord is a man of war." he is "the lord of hosts." he kills men, and their cattle. if there is trouble in the enemies' city, it is the lord who hath caused it. he will "whet his glittering sword and render vengeance to his enemies. he will make his arrows drunk with blood, and his sword shall devour flesh!" it is with the sword that god pleads with all men. he encourages men to fight, and says, "cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." he sends blood into the streets; he waters the land with blood, and in blood he dissolves the mountains. he brandishes his sword before kings, and they tremble at every moment. he treads nations as grapes in a wine-press, and his garments are stained with their life's blood.[ ] a man who has grown up to read the older testament of god revealed in the beauty of the universe, and to feel the goodness of god therein set forth, sees him not as force only, or in chief, but as love. he worships in love the god of goodness and of peace. such is the prevalent character ascribed to god in the new testament, except in the book of "revelation." he is the "god of love and peace;" "our father," "kind to the unthankful and the unmerciful." in one word, god is love. he loves us all, jew and gentile, bond and free. all are his children, each of priceless value in his sight. he is no god of battles; no lord of hosts; no man of war. he has no sword, nor arrows; he does not water the earth nor melt the mountains in blood, but "he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." he has no garments dyed in blood; curses no man for refusing to fight. he is spirit, to be worshipped in spirit and in truth! the commandment is: love one another; resist not evil with evil; forgive seventy times seven; overcome evil with good; love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.[ ] there is no nation to shut its ports against another, all are men; no caste to curl its lip at inferiors, all are brothers, members of one body, united in the christ, the ideal man and head of all. the most useful is the greatest. no man is to be master, for the christ is our teacher. we are to fear no man, for god is our father. these precepts are undeniably the precepts of christianity. equally plain is it that they are the dictates of man's nature, only developed and active; a part of god's universal revelation; his law writ on the soul of man, established in the nature of things; true after all experience, and true before all experience. the man of real insight into spiritual things sees and knows them to be true. do not believe it the part of a coward to think so. i have known many cowards; yes, a great many; some very cowardly, pusillanimous and faint-hearted cowards; but never one who thought so, or pretended to think so. it requires very little courage to fight with sword and musket, and that of a cheap kind. men of that stamp are plenty as grass in june. beat your drum, and they will follow; offer them but eight dollars a month, and they will come--fifty thousand of them, to smite and kill.[ ] every male animal, or reptile, will fight. it requires little courage to kill; but it takes much to resist evil with good, holding obstinately out, active or passive, till you overcome it. call that non-resistance, if you will; it is the stoutest kind of combat, demanding all the manhood of a man. i will not deny that war is inseparable from a low stage of civilization; so is polygamy, slavery, cannibalism. taking men as they were, savage and violent, there have been times when war was unavoidable. i will not deny that it has helped forward the civilization of the race, for god often makes the folly and the sin of men contribute to the progress of mankind. it is none the less a folly or a sin. in a civilized nation like ourselves, it is far more heinous than in the ojibeways or the camanches. war is in utter violation of christianity. if war be right, then christianity is wrong, false, a lie. but if christianity be true, if reason, conscience, the religious sense, the highest faculties of man, are to be trusted, then war is the wrong, the falsehood, the lie. i maintain that aggressive war is a sin; that it is national infidelity, a denial of christianity and of god. every man who understands christianity by heart, in its relations to man, to society, the nation, the world, knows that war is a wrong. at this day, with all the enlightenment of our age, after the long peace of the nations, war is easily avoided. whenever it occurs, the very fact of its occurrence convicts the rulers of a nation either of entire incapacity as statesmen, or else of the worst form of treason; treason to the people, to mankind, to god! there is no other alternative. the very fact of an aggressive war shows that the men who cause it must be either fools or traitors. i think lightly of what is called treason against a government. that may be your duty to-day, or mine. certainly it was our fathers' duty not long ago; now it is our boast and their title to honor. but treason against the people, against mankind, against god, is a great sin, not lightly to be spoken of. the political authors of the war on this continent, and at this day, are either utterly incapable of a statesman's work, or else guilty of that sin. fools they are, or traitors they must be. * * * * * let me speak, and in detail, of the evils of war. i wish this were not necessary. but we have found ourselves in a war; the congress has voted our money and our men to carry it on; the governors call for volunteers; the volunteers come when they are called for. no voice of indignation goes forth from the heart of the eight hundred thousand souls of massachusetts; of the seventeen million freemen of the land how few complain; only a man here and there! the press is well-nigh silent. and the church, so far from protesting against this infidelity in the name of christ, is little better than dead. the man of blood shelters himself behind its wall, silent, dark, dead and emblematic. these facts show that it is necessary to speak of the evils of war. i am speaking in a city, whose fairest, firmest, most costly buildings are warehouses and banks; a city whose most popular idol is mammon, the god of gold; whose trinity is a trinity of coin! i shall speak intelligibly, therefore, if i begin by considering war as a waste of property. it paralyzes industry. the very fear of it is a mildew upon commerce. though the present war is but a skirmish, only a few random shots between a squad of regulars and some strolling battalions, a quarrel which in europe would scarcely frighten even the pope; yet see the effect of it upon trade. though the fighting be thousands of miles from boston, your stocks fall in the market; the rate of insurance is altered; your dealer in wood piles his boards and his timber on his wharf, not finding a market. there are few ships in the great southern mart to take the freight of many; exchange is disturbed. the clergyman is afraid to buy a book, lest his children want bread. it is so with all departments of industry and trade. in war the capitalist is uncertain and slow to venture, so the laborer's hand will be still, and his child ill-clad and hungry. in the late war with england, many of you remember the condition of your fisheries, of your commerce; how the ships lay rotting at the wharf. the dearness of cloth, of provisions, flour, sugar, tea, coffee, salt, the comparative lowness of wages, the stagnation of business, the scarcity of money, the universal sullenness and gloom--all this is well remembered now. so is the ruin it brought on many a man. yet but few weeks ago some men talked boastingly of a war with england. there are some men who seem to have no eyes nor ears, only a mouth; whose chief function is talk. of their talk i will say nothing; we look for dust in dry places. but some men thus talked of war, and seemed desirous to provoke it, who can scarce plead ignorance, and i fear not folly, for their excuse. i leave such to the just resentment sure to fall on them from sober, serious men, who dare to be so unpopular as to think before they speak, and then say what comes of thinking. perhaps such a war was never likely to take place, and now, thanks to a few wise men, all danger thereof seems at an end. but suppose it had happened--what would become of your commerce, of your fishing smacks on the banks or along the shore? what of your coasting vessels, doubling the headlands all the way from the st. john's to the nueces? what of your whale ships in the pacific? what of your indiamen, deep freighted with oriental wealth? what of that fleet which crowds across the atlantic sea, trading with east and west and north and south? i know some men care little for the rich, but when the owners keep their craft in port, where can the "hands" find work or their mouths find bread? the shipping of the united states amounts nearly to , , tons. at $ a ton, its value is nearly $ , , . this is the value only of those sea-carriages; their cargoes i cannot compute. allowing one sailor for every twenty tons burden, here will be , seamen. they and their families amount to , souls. in war, what will become of them? a capital of more than $ , , is invested in the fisheries of massachusetts alone. more than , men find profitable employment therein. if each man have but four others in his family, a small number for that class, here are more than , persons in this state alone, whose daily bread depends on this business. they cannot fish in troubled waters, for they are fishermen, not politicians. where could they find bread or cloth in time of war? in dartmoor prison? ask that of your demagogues who courted war! then, too, the positive destruction of property in war is monstrous. a ship of the line costs from $ , to $ , , . the loss of a fleet by capture, by fire, or by decay, is a great loss. you know at what cost a fort is built, if you have counted the sums successively voted for fort adams in rhode island, or those in our own harbor. the destruction of forts is another item in the cost of war. the capture or destruction of merchant ships with their freight, creates a most formidable loss. in the whole tonnage of the united states was scarce half what it is now. yet the loss of ships and their freight, in "the late war," brief as it was, is estimated at $ , , . then the loss by plunder and military occupation is monstrous. the soldier, like the savage, cuts down the tree to gather its fruit. i cannot calculate the loss by burning towns and cities. but suppose boston were bombarded and laid in ashes. calculate the loss if you can. you may say "this could not be," for it is as easy to say no, as yes. but remember what befell us in the last war; remember how recently the best defended capitals of europe, vienna, paris, antwerp, have fallen into hostile hands. consider how often a strong place, like coblentz, mentz, malta, gibraltar, st. juan d'ulloa, has been declared impregnable, and then been taken; calculate the force which might be brought against this town, and you will see that in eight and forty hours, or half that time, it might be left nothing but a heap of ruins smoking in the sun! i doubt not the valor of american soldiers, the skill of their engineers, nor the ability of their commanders. i am ready to believe all this is greater than we are told. still, such are the contingencies of war. if some not very ignorant men had their way, this would be a probability and perhaps a fact. if we should burn every town from the tweed to the thames, it would not rebuild our own city. but on the supposition that nothing is destroyed, see the loss which comes from the misdirection of productive industry. your fleets, forts, dock-yards, arsenals, cannons, muskets, swords and the like, are provided at great cost, and yet are unprofitable. they do not pay. they weave no cloth; they bake no bread; they produce nothing. yet from to , in forty-two years we expended in these things, $ , , , namely, for the navy, etc., $ , , ; for the army, etc., , , . for the same time, all other expenses of the nation came to but $ , , . more than eight ninths of the whole revenue of the nation was spent for purposes of war. in four years, from to , we paid in this way, $ , , . . in six years, from to , we paid annually on the average $ , , ; in all $ , , . our congress has just voted $ , , , as a special grant for the army alone. the , muskets at springfield, are valued at $ , , ; we pay annually $ , to support that arsenal. the navy-yard at charlestown, with its stores, etc., has cost $ , , . and, for all profitable returns, this money might as well be sunk in the bottom of the sea. in some countries it is yet worse. there are towns and cities in which the fortifications have cost more than all the houses, churches, shops, and other property therein. this happens not among the sacs and foxes, but in "christian" europe. then your soldier is the most unprofitable animal you can keep. he makes no railroads; clears no land; raises no corn. no, he can make neither cloth nor clocks! he does not raise his own bread, mend his own shoes, make his shoulder-knot of glory, nor hammer out his own sword. yet he is a costly animal, though useless. if the president gets his fifty thousand volunteers, a thing likely to happen--for though irish lumpers and hod-men want a dollar or a dollar and a half a day, your free american of boston will enlist for twenty-seven cents, only having his livery, his feathers, and his "glory" thrown in--then at $ a month, their wages amount to $ , a month. suppose the present government shall actually make advantageous contracts, and the subsistence of the soldier cost no more than in england, or $ a month, this amounts to $ , . here are $ , , a month to begin with. then, if each man would be worth a dollar a day at any productive work, and there are work days in the month, here are $ , , more to be added, making $ , , a month for the new army of occupation. this is only for the rank and file of the army. the officers, the surgeons, and the chaplains, who teach the soldiers to _wad_ their muskets with the leaves of the bible, will perhaps cost as much more; or, in all, something more than $ , , a month. this of course does not include the cost of their arms, tents, ammunition, baggage, horses, and hospital stores, nor the , gallons of whiskey which the government has just advertised for! what do they give in return? they will give us three things, valor, glory, and--talk; which, as they are not in the price current, i must estimate as i can, and set them all down in one figure = ; not worth the whiskey they cost. new england is quite a new country. seven generations ago it was a wilderness; now it contains about , , souls. if you were to pay all the public debts of these states, and then, in fancy, divide all the property therein by the population, young as we are, i think you would find a larger amount of value for each man than in any other country in the world, not excepting england. the civilization of europe is old; the nations old, england, france, spain, austria, italy, greece; but they have wasted their time, their labor and their wealth in war, and so are poorer than we upstarts of a wilderness. we have fewer fleets, forts, cannon and soldiers for the population, than any other "christian" country in the world. this is one main reason why we have no national debt; why the women need not toil in the hardest labor of the fields, the quarries and the mines; this is the reason that we are well fed, well clad, well housed; this is the reason that massachusetts can afford to spend $ , , a year for her public schools! war, wasting a nation's wealth, depresses the great mass of the people, but serves to elevate a few to opulence and power. every despotism is established and sustained by war. this is the foundation of all the aristocracies of the old world, aristocracies of blood. our famous men are often ashamed that their wealth was honestly got by working, or peddling, and foolishly copy the savage and bloody emblems of ancient heraldry in their assumed coats of arms, industrious men seeking to have a griffin on their seal! nothing is so hostile to a true democracy as war. it elevates a few, often bold, bad men, at the expense of the many, who pay the money and furnish the blood for war. war is a most expensive folly. the revolutionary war cost the general government directly and in specie $ , , . it is safe to estimate the direct cost to the individual states also at the same sum, $ , , ; making a total of $ , , . considering the interruption of business, the waste of time, property and life, it is plain that this could not have been a fourth part of the whole. but suppose it was a third, then the whole pecuniary cost of the war would be $ , , . at the beginning of the revolution the population was about , , ; so that war, lasting about eight years, cost $ for each person. to meet the expenses of the war each year there would have been required a tax of $ . on each man, woman and child! in the florida war we spent between $ , , and $ , , , as an eminent statesman once said, in fighting five hundred invisible indians! it is estimated that the fortifications of the city of paris, when completely furnished, will cost more than the whole taxable property of massachusetts, with her , souls. why, this year our own grant for the army is $ , , . the estimate for the navy is $ , , more; in all $ , , . suppose, which is most unlikely, that we should pay no more, why, that sum alone would support public schools, as good and as costly as those of massachusetts, all over the united states, offering each boy and girl, bond or free, as good a culture as they get here in boston, and then leave a balance of $ , , in our hands! we pay more for ignorance than we need for education! but $ , , is not all we must pay this year. a great statesman has said, in the senate, that our war expenses at present are nearly $ , a day, and the president informs your congress that $ , , more will be wanted for the army and navy before next june! for several years we spent directly more than $ , , for war purposes, though in time of peace. if a railroad cost $ , a mile, then we might build miles a year for that sum, and in five years could build a railroad therewith from boston to the further side of oregon. for the war money we paid in forty-two years, we could have had more than , miles of railroad, and, with dividends at seven per cent., a yearly income of $ , , . for military and naval affairs, in eight years, from to , we paid $ , , . this alone would have made , miles of railroad, and would produce at seven per cent., an annual income of $ , , . . in boston there are nineteen public grammar schools, a latin and english high school. the buildings for these schools twenty in number, have cost $ , . there are also primary schools, in as many houses or rooms. i know not their value, as i think they are not all owned by the city. but suppose them to be worth $ , . then all the school-houses of this city have cost $ , . the cost of these schools for this year is estimated at $ , . the number of scholars in them is , . harvard university, the most expensive college in america, costs about $ , a year. now the ship ohio, lying here in our harbor, has cost $ , , and we pay for it each year $ , more. that is, it has cost $ , more than these school-houses of this city, and costs every year $ , more than harvard university, and all the public schools of boston! the military academy at west point contains two hundred and thirty-six cadets; the appropriation for it last year, was $ , , a sum greater i think, than the cost of all the colleges in maine, new hampshire, vermont and massachusetts, with their , students. the navy-yard at charlestown, with its ordnance, stores, etc., cost $ , , . the cost of the churches in boston is $ , , ; the whole property of harvard university is $ , ; the school-houses of boston are worth $ , ; in all $ , , . thus the navy-yard at charlestown has cost almost as much as the churches and the school-houses of boston, with harvard college, its halls, libraries, all its wealth thrown in. yet what does it teach? our country is singularly destitute of public libraries. you must go across the ocean to read the history of the church or state; all the public libraries in america cannot furnish the books referred to in gibbon's rome, or gieseler's history of the church. i think there is no public library in europe which has cost three dollars a volume. there are six: the vatican, at rome; the royal, at paris; the british museum, at london; the bodleian, at oxford; the university libraries at gottingen and berlin--which contain, it is said, about , , volumes. the recent grant of $ , , for the army is $ , , more than the cost of those magnificent collections! there have been printed about , , different volumes, great and little, within the last years. if the florida war cost but $ , , , it is ten times more than enough to have purchased one copy of each book ever printed, at one dollar a volume, which is more than the average cost. now all these sums are to be paid by the people, "the dear people," whom our republican demagogues love so well, and for whom they spend their lives, rising early, toiling late, those self-denying heroes, those sainted martyrs of the republic, eating the bread of carefulness for them alone! but how are they to be paid? by a direct tax levied on all the property of the nation, so that the poor man pays according to his little, and the rich man in proportion to his much, each knowing when he pays and what he pays for? no such thing; nothing like it. the people must pay and not know it; must be deceived a little, or they would not pay after this fashion! you pay for it in every pound of sugar, copper, coal, in every yard of cloth; and if the counsel of some lovers of the people be followed, you will soon pay for it in each pound of coffee and tea. in this way the rich man always pays relatively less than the poor; often a positively smaller sum. even here i think that three-fourths of all the property is owned by one-fourth of the people, yet that three-fourths by no means pays a third of the national revenue. the tax is laid on things men cannot do without,--sugar, cloth, and the like. the consumption of these articles is not in proportion to wealth but persons. now the poor man, as a general rule, has more children than the rich, and the tax being more in proportion to persons than property, the poor man pays more than the rich. so a tax is really laid on the poor man's children to pay for the war which makes him poor and keeps him poor. i think your captains and colonels, those sons of thunder and heirs of glory, will not tell you so. they tell you so! they know it! poor brothers, how could they? i think your party newspapers, penny or pound, will not tell you so; nor the demagogues, all covered with glory and all forlorn, who tell the people when to hurrah and for what! but if you cipher the matter out for yourself you will find it so, and not otherwise. tell the demagogues, whig or democrat, that. it was an old roman maxim, "the people wished to be deceived; let them." now it is only practised on; not repeated--in public. let us deal justly even with war, giving that its due. there is one class of men who find their pecuniary advantage in it. i mean army contractors, when they chance to be favorites of the party in power; men who let steamboats to lie idle at $ a day. this class of men rejoice in a war. the country may become poor, they are sure to be rich. yet another class turn war to account, get the "glory," and become important in song and sermon. i see it stated in a newspaper that the duke of wellington has received, as gratuities for his military services, $ , , , and $ , a year in pensions! * * * * * but the waste of property is the smallest part of the evil. the waste of life in war is yet more terrible. human life is a sacred thing. go out into the lowest street of boston; take the vilest and most squalid man in that miserable lane, and he is dear to some one. he is called brother; perhaps husband; it may be father; at least, son. a human heart, sadly joyful, beat over him before he was born. he has been pressed fondly to his mother's arms. her tears and her smiles have been for him; perhaps also her prayers. his blood may be counted mean and vile by the great men of the earth who love nothing so well as the dear people, for he has no "coat of arms," no liveried servant to attend him, but it has run down from the same first man. his family is ancient as that of the most long descended king. god made him; made this splendid universe to wait on him and teach him; sent his christ to save him. he is an immortal soul. needlessly to spill that man's blood is an awful sin. it will cry against you out of the ground--cain! where is thy brother? now in war you bring together , men like him on one side, and , of a different nation on the other. they have no natural quarrel with one another. the earth is wide enough for both; neither hinders the sun from the other. many come unwillingly; many not knowing what they fight for. it is but accident that determines on which side the man shall fight. the cannons pour their shot--round, grape, canister; the howitzers scatter their bursting shells; the muskets rain their leaden death; the sword, the bayonet, the horses' iron hoof, the wheels of the artillery, grind the men down into trodden dust. there they lie, the two masses of burning valor, extinguished, quenched, and grimly dead, each covering with his body the spot he defended with his arms. they had no quarrel; yet they lie there, slain by a brother's hand. it is not old and decrepid men, but men of the productive age, full of lusty life. but it is only the smallest part that perish in battle. exposure to cold, wet, heat; unhealthy climates, unwholesome food, rum, and forced marches, bring on diseases which mow down the poor soldiers worse than musketry and grape. others languish of wounds, and slowly procrastinate a dreadful and a tenfold death. far away, there are widows, orphans, childless old fathers, who pore over the daily news to learn at random the fate of a son, a father, or a husband! they crowd disconsolate into the churches, seeking of god the comfort men took from them, praying in the bitterness of a broken heart, while the priest gives thanks for "a famous victory," and hangs up the bloody standard over his pulpit! when ordinary disease cuts off a man, when he dies at his duty, there is some comfort in that loss. "it was the ordinance of god," you say. you minister to his wants; you smoothe down the pillow for the aching head; your love beguiles the torment of disease, and your own bosom gathers half the darts of death. he goes in his time and god takes him. but when he dies in such a war, in battle, it is man who has robbed him of life. it is a murderer that is butchered. nothing alleviates that bitter, burning smart! others not slain are maimed for life. this has no eyes; that no hands; another no feet nor legs. this has been pierced by lances, and torn with the shot, till scarce any thing human is left. the wreck of a body is crazed with pains god never meant for man. the mother that bore him would not know her child. count the orphan asylums in germany and holland; go into the hospital at greenwich, that of the invalids in paris, you see the "trophies" of napoleon and wellington. go to the arsenal at toulon, see the wooden legs piled up there for men now active and whole, and you will think a little of the physical horrors of war. in boston there are perhaps about , able-bodied men between and . suppose them all slain in battle, or mortally hurt, or mown down by the camp-fever, vomito, or other diseases of war, and then fancy the distress, the heart-sickness amid wives, mothers, daughters, sons and fathers, here! yet , is a small number to be murdered in "a famous victory;" a trifle for a whole "glorious campaign" in a great war. the men of boston are no better loved than the men of tamaulipas. there is scarce an old family, of the middle class, in all new england, which did not thus smart in the revolution; many, which have not, to this day, recovered from the bloody blow then falling on them. think, wives, of the butchery of your husbands; think, mothers, of the murder of your sons! here, too, the burden of battle falls mainly on the humble class. they pay the great tribute of money; they pay also the horrid tax of blood. it was not your rich men who fought even the revolution; not they. your men of property and standing were leaguing with the british, or fitting out privateers when that offered a good investment, or buying up the estates of more consistent tories; making money out of the nation's dire distress! true, there were most honorable exceptions; but such, i think, was the general rule. let this be distinctly remembered, that the burden of battle is borne by the humble classes of men; they pay the vast tribute of money; the awful tax of blood! the "glory" is got by a few; poverty, wounds, death, are for the people! military glory is the poorest kind of distinction, but the most dangerous passion. it is an honor to man to be able to mould iron; to be skilful at working in cloth, wood, clay, leather. it is man's vocation to raise corn, to subdue the rebellious fibre of cotton and convert it into beautiful robes, full of comfort for the body. they are the heroes of the race who abridge the time of human toil and multiply its results; they who win great truths from god, and send them to a people's heart; they who balance the many and the one into harmonious action, so that all are united and yet each left free. but the glory which comes of epaulets and feathers; that strutting glory which is dyed in blood--what shall we say of it? in this day it is not heroism; it is an imitation of barbarism long ago passed by. yet it is marvellous how many men are taken with a red coat! you expect it in europe, a land of soldiers and blood. you are disappointed to find that here the champions of force should be held in honor, and that even the lowest should voluntarily enroll themselves as butchers of men! * * * * * yet more: aggressive war is a sin; a corruption of the public morals. it is a practical denial of christianity; a violation of god's eternal law of love. this is so plain that i shall say little upon it to-day. your savagest and most vulgar captain would confess he does not fight as a christian--but as a soldier; your magistrate calls for volunteers--not as a man loving christianity, and loyal to god; only as governor, under oath to keep the constitution, the tradition of the elders; not under oath to keep the commandment of god! in war the laws are suspended, violence and cunning rule everywhere. the battle of yorktown was gained by a lie, though a washington told it. as a soldier it was his duty. men "emulate the tiger;" the hand is bloody, and the heart hard. robbery and murder are the rule, the glory of men. "good men look sad, but ruffians dance and leap." men are systematically trained to burn towns, to murder fathers and sons; taught to consider it "glory" to do so. the government collects ruffians and cut-throats. it compels better men to serve with these and become cut-throats. it appoints chaplains to blaspheme christianity; teaching the ruffians how to pray for the destruction of the enemy, the burning of his towns; to do this in the name of christ and god. i do not censure all the men who serve: some of them know no better; they have heard that a man would "perish everlastingly" if he did not believe the athanasian creed; that if he questioned the story of jonah, or the miraculous birth of jesus, he was in danger of hell-fire, and if he doubted damnation was sure to be damned. they never heard that such a war was a sin; that to create a war was treason, and to fight in it wrong. they never thought of thinking for themselves; their thinking was to read a newspaper, or sleep through a sermon. they counted it their duty to obey the government without thinking if that government be right or wrong. i deny not the noble, manly character of many a soldier, his heroism, self-denial and personal sacrifice. still, after all proper allowance is made for a few individuals, the whole system of war is unchristian and sinful. it lives only by evil passions. it can be defended only by what is low, selfish, and animal. it absorbs the scum of the cities, pirates, robbers, murderers. it makes them worse, and better men like them. to take one man's life is murder; what is it to practise killing as an art, a trade; to do it by thousands? yet i think better of the hands that do the butchering than of the ambitious heads, the cold, remorseless hearts, which plunge the nation into war. in war the state teaches men to lie, to steal, to kill. it calls for privateers, who are commonly pirates with a national charter, and pirates are privateers with only a personal charter. every camp is a school of profanity, violence, licentiousness, and crimes too foul to name. it is so without sixty-five thousand gallons of whiskey. this is unavoidable. it was so with washington's army, with cornwallis's, with that of gustavus adolphus, perhaps the most moral army the world ever saw. the soldier's life generally unfits a man for the citizen's! when he returns from a camp, from a war, back to his native village, he becomes a curse to society and a shame to the mother that bore him. even the soldiers of the revolution, who survived the war, were mostly ruined for life, debauched, intemperate, vicious and vile. what loathsome creatures so many of them were! they bore our burden, for such were the real martyrs of that war, not the men who fell under the shot! how many men of the rank and file in the late war have since become respectable citizens? to show how incompatible are war and christianity, suppose that he who is deemed the most christian of christ's disciples, the well-beloved john, were made a navy-chaplain, and some morning, when a battle is daily looked for, should stand on the gun-deck, amid lockers of shot, his bible resting on a cannon, and expound christianity to men with cutlasses by their side! let him read for the morning lesson the sermon on the mount, and for text take words from his own epistle, so sweet, so beautiful, so true: "every one that loveth is born of god, and knoweth god, for god is love." suppose he tells his strange audience that all men are brothers; that god is their common father; that christ loved us all, showing us how to live the life of love; and then, when he had melted all those savage hearts by words so winsome and so true, let him conclude, "blessed are the men-slayers! seek first the glory which cometh of battle. be fierce as tigers. mar god's image in which your brothers are made. be not like christ, but cain who slew his brother! when you meet the enemy, fire into their bosoms; kill them in the dear name of christ; butcher them in the spirit of god. give them no quarter, for we ought not to lay down our lives for the brethren; only the murderer hath eternal life!" * * * * * yet great as are these three-fold evils, there are times when the soberest men and the best men have welcomed war, coolly and in their better moments. sometimes a people, long oppressed, has "petitioned, remonstrated, cast itself at the feet of the throne," with only insult for answer to its prayer. sometimes there is a contest between a falsehood and a great truth; a self-protecting war for freedom of mind, heart and soul; yes, a war for a man's body, his wife's and children's body, for what is dearer to men than life itself, for the unalienable rights of man, for the idea that all are born free and equal. it was so in the american revolution; in the english, in the french revolution. in such cases men say, "let it come." they take down the firelock in sorrow; with a prayer they go forth to battle, asking that the right may triumph. much as i hate war i cannot but honor such men. were they better, yet more heroic, even war of that character might be avoided. still it is a colder heart than mine which does not honor such men, though it believes them mistaken. especially do we honor them, when it is the few, the scattered, the feeble, contending with the many and the mighty; the noble fighting for a great idea, and against the base and tyrannical. then most men think the gain, the triumph of a great idea, is worth the price it costs, the price of blood. i will not stop to touch that question, if man may ever shed the blood of man. but it is plain that an aggressive war like this is wholly unchristian, and a reproach to the nation and the age. * * * * * now, to make the evils of war still clearer, and to bring them home to your door, let us suppose there was war between the counties of suffolk, on the one side, and middlesex on the other--this army at boston, that at cambridge. suppose the subject in dispute was the boundary line between the two, boston claiming a pitiful acre of flat land, which the ocean at low tide disdained to cover. to make sure of this, boston seizes whole miles of flats, unquestionably not its own. the rulers on one side are fools, and traitors on the other. the two commanders have issued their proclamations; the money is borrowed; the whiskey provided; the soldiers--americans, negroes, irishmen, all the able-bodied men--are enlisted. prayers are offered in all the churches, and sermons preached, showing that god is a man of war, and cain his first saint, an early christian, a christian before christ. the bostonians wish to seize cambridge, burn the houses, churches, college-halls, and plunder the library. the men of cambridge wish to seize boston, burn its houses and ships, plundering its wares and its goods. martial law is proclaimed on both sides. the men of cambridge cut asunder the bridges, and make a huge breach in the mill-dam, planting cannon to enfilade all those avenues. forts crown the hilltops, else so green. men, madder than lunatics, are crowded into the asylum. the bostonians rebuild the old fortifications on the neck; replace the forts on beacon-hill, fort-hill, copps-hill, levelling houses to make room for redoubts and bastions. the batteries are planted, the mortars got ready; the furnaces and magazines are all prepared. the three hills are grim with war. from copps-hill men look anxious to that memorable height the other side of the water. provisions are cut off in boston; no man may pass the lines; the aqueduct refuses its genial supply; children cry for their expected food. the soldiers parade, looking somewhat tremulous and pale; all the able-bodied have come, the vilest most willingly; some are brought by force of drink, some by force of arms. some are in brilliant dresses, some in their working frocks. the banners are consecrated by solemn words.[ ] your church-towers are military posts of observation. there are old testament prayers to the "god of hosts" in all the churches of boston; prayers that god would curse the men of cambridge, make their wives widows, their children fatherless, their houses a ruin, the men corpses, meat for the beast of the field and the bird of the air. last night the bostonians made a feint of attacking charlestown, raining bombs and red-hot cannon-balls from copps-hill, till they have burnt a thousand houses, where the british burnt not half so many. women and children fled screaming from the blazing rafters of their homes. the men of middlesex crowd into charlestown. in the mean time the bostonians hastily repair a bridge or two; some pass that way, some over the neck; all stealthily by night, and while the foe expect them at bunker's, amid the blazing town, they have stolen a march and rush upon cambridge itself. the cambridge men turn back. the battle is fiercely joined. you hear the cannon, the sharp report of musketry. you crowd the hills, the house-tops; you line the common, you cover the shore, yet you see but little in the sulphurous cloud. now the bostonians yield a little, a reinforcement goes over. all the men are gone; even the gray-headed who can shoulder a firelock. they plunge into battle mad with rage, madder with rum. the chaplains loiter behind. "pious men, whom duty brought, to dubious verge of battle fought, to shrive the dying, bless the dead!" the battle hangs long in even scale. at length it turns. the cambridge men retreat, they run, they fly. the houses burn. you see the churches and the colleges go up, a stream of fire. that library--founded amid want and war and sad sectarian strife, slowly gathered by the saving of two centuries, the hope of the poor scholar, the boast of the rich one--is scattered to the winds and burnt with fire, for the solid granite is blasted by powder, and the turrets fall. victory is ours. ten thousand men of cambridge lie dead; eight thousand of boston. there writhe the wounded; men who but few hours before were poured over the battle-field a lava flood of fiery valor--fathers, brothers, husbands, sons. there they lie, torn and mangled; black with powder; red with blood; parched with thirst; cursing the load of life they now must bear with bruised frames and mutilated limbs. gather them into hasty hospitals--let this man's daughter come to-morrow and sit by him, fanning away the flies; he shall linger out a life of wretched anguish unspoken and unspeakable, and when he dies his wife religiously will keep the shot which tore his limbs. there is the battle-field! here the horse charged; there the howitzers scattered their shells, pregnant with death; here the murderous canister and grape mowed down the crowded ranks; there the huge artillery, teeming with murder, was dragged o'er heaps of men--wounded friends who just now held its ropes, men yet curling with anguish, like worms in the fire. hostile and friendly, head and trunk are crushed beneath those dreadful wheels. here the infantry showered their murdering shot. that ghastly face was beautiful the day before--a sabre hewed its half away. "the earth is covered thick with other clay, which her own clay must cover, heaped and pent, rider and horse, friend, foe, in one red burial blent." again it is night. oh, what a night, and after what a day! yet the pure tide of woman's love, which never ebbs since earth began, flows on in spite of war and battle. stealthily, by the pale moonlight, a mother of boston treads the weary miles to reach that bloody spot; a widow she--seeking among the slain her only son. the arm of power drove him forth reluctant to the fight. a friendly soldier guides her way. now she turns over this face, whose mouth is full of purple dust, bit out of the ground in his extremest agony, the last sacrament offered him by earth herself; now she raises that form, cold, stiff, stony and ghastly as a dream of hell. but, lo! another comes, she too a woman, younger and fairer, yet not less bold, a maiden from the hostile town to seek her lover. they meet, two women among the corpses; two angels come to golgotha, seeking to raise a man. there he lies before them; they look. yes it is he you seek; the same dress, form, features too; it is he, the son, the lover. maid and mother could tell that face in any light. the grass is wet with his blood. the ground is muddy with the life of men. the mother's innocent robe is drabbled in the blood her bosom bore. their kisses, groans, and tears, recall the wounded man. he knows the mother's voice; that voice yet more beloved. his lips move only, for they cannot speak. he dies! the waxing moon moves high in heaven, walking in beauty amid the clouds, and murmurs soft her cradle song unto the slumbering earth. the broken sword reflects her placid beams. a star looks down and is imaged back in a pool of blood. the cool night wind plays in the branches of the trees shivered with shot. nature is beautiful--that lovely grass underneath their feet; those pendulous branches of the leafy elm; the stars and that romantic moon lining the clouds with silver light! a groan of agony, hopeless and prolonged, wails out from that bloody ground. but in yonder farm the whippoorwill sings to her lover all night long; the rising tide ripples melodious against the shores. so wears the night away,--nature, all sinless, round that field of woe. "the morn is up again, the dewy morn, with breath all incense and with cheek all bloom, laughing the clouds away with playful scorn, and living as if earth contained no tomb, and glowing into day." what a scene that morning looks upon! i will not turn again. let the dead bury their dead. but their blood cries out of the ground against the rulers who shed it,--"cain! where are thy brothers?" what shall the fool answer; what the traitor say? then comes thanksgiving in all the churches of boston. the consecrated banners, stiff with blood and "glory," are hung over the altar. the minister preaches and the singer sings: "the lord hath been on our side. he treadeth the people under me. he teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight. yea, he giveth me the necks of mine enemies; for the lord is his name;" and "it was a famous victory!" boston seizes miles square of land; but her houses are empty; her wives widows; her children fatherless. rachel weeps for the murder of her innocents, yet dares not rebuke the rod. i know there is no fighting across charles river, as in this poor fiction; but there was once, and instead of charles say rio grande; for cambridge read metamoras, and it is what your president recommended; what your congress enacted; what your governor issued his proclamation for; what your volunteers go to accomplish: yes, what they fired cannon for on boston common the other day. i wish that were a fiction of mine! * * * * * we are waging a most iniquitous war--so it seems to me. i know i may be wrong, but i am no partisan, and if i err, it is not wilfully, not rashly. i know the mexicans are a wretched people; wretched in their origin, history, and character. i know but two good things of them as a people--they abolished negro slavery, not long ago; they do not covet the lands of their neighbors. true, they have not paid all their debts, but it is scarcely decent in a nation, with any repudiating states, to throw the first stone at mexico for that! i know the mexicans cannot stand before this terrible anglo-saxon race, the most formidable and powerful the world ever saw; a race which has never turned back; which, though it number less than forty millions, yet holds the indies, almost the whole of north america; which rules the commerce of the world; clutches at new holland, china, new zealand, borneo, and seizes island after island in the furthest seas; the race which invented steam as its awful type. the poor, wretched mexicans can never stand before us. how they perished in battle! they must melt away as the indians before the white man. considering how we acquired louisiana, florida, oregon, i cannot forbear thinking that this people will possess the whole of the continent before many years; perhaps before the century ends. but this may be had fairly; with no injustice to any one; by the steady advance of a superior race, with superior ideas and a better civilization; by commerce, trade, arts, by being better than mexico, wiser, humaner, more free and manly. is it not better to acquire it by the schoolmaster than the cannon; by peddling cloth, tin, any thing rather than bullets? it may not all belong to this government, and yet to this race. it would be a gain to mankind if we could spread over that country the idea of america--that all men are born free and equal in rights, and establish there political, social, and individual freedom. but to do that, we must first make real these ideas at home. in the general issue between this race and that, we are in the right. but in this special issue, and this particular war, it seems to me that we are wholly in the wrong; that our invasion of mexico is as bad as the partition of poland in the last century and in this. if i understand the matter, the whole movement, the settlement of texas, the texan revolution, the annexation of texas, the invasion of mexico, has been a movement hostile to the american idea, a movement to extend slavery. i do not say such was the design on the part of the people, but on the part of the politicians who pulled the strings. i think the papers of the government and the debates of congress prove that. the annexation has been declared unconstitutional in its mode, a virtual dissolution of the union, and that by very high and well-known authority. it was expressly brought about for the purpose of extending slavery. an attempt is now made to throw the shame of this on the democrats. i think the democrats deserve the shame; but i could never see that the whigs, on the whole, deserved it any less; only they were not quite so open. certainly, their leaders did not take ground against it, never as against a modification of the tariff! when we annexed texas we of course took her for better or worse, debts and all, and annexed her war along with her. i take it everybody knew that; though now some seem to pretend a decent astonishment at the result. now one party is ready to fight for it as the other! the north did not oppose the annexation of texas. why not? they knew they could make money by it. the eyes of the north are full of cotton; they see nothing else, for a web is before them; their ears are full of cotton, and they hear nothing but the buzz of their mills; their mouth is full of cotton, and they can speak audibly but two words--tariff, tariff, dividends, dividends. the talent of the north is blinded, deafened, gagged with its own cotton. the north clamored loudly when the nation's treasure was removed from the united states bank; it is almost silent at the annexation of a slave territory big as the kingdom of france, encumbered with debts, loaded with the entailment of war! northern governors call for soldiers; our men volunteer to fight in a most infamous war for the extension of slavery! tell it not in boston, whisper it not in faneuil hall, lest you weaken the slumbers of your fathers, and they curse you as cowards and traitors unto men! not satisfied with annexing texas and a war, we next invaded a territory which did not belong to texas, and built a fort on the rio grande, where, i take it, we had no more right than the british, in , had on the penobscot or the saco. now the government and its congress would throw the blame on the innocent, and say war exists "by the act of mexico!" if a lie was ever told, i think this is one. then the "dear people" must be called on for money and men, for "the soil of this free republic is invaded," and the governor of massachusetts, one of the men who declared the annexation of texas unconstitutional, recommends the war he just now told us to pray against, and appeals to our "patriotism," and "humanity," as arguments for butchering the mexicans, when they are in the right and we in the wrong! the maxim is held up, "our country, right or wrong;" "our country, howsoever bounded;" and it might as well be, "our country, howsoever governed." it seems popularly and politically forgotten that there is such a thing as right. the nation's neck invites a tyrant. i am not at all astonished that northern representatives voted for all this work of crime. they are no better than southern representatives; scarcely less in favor of slavery, and not half so open. they say: let the north make money, and you may do what you please with the nation; and we will choose governors that dare not oppose you, for, though we are descended from the puritans we have but one article in our creed we never flinch from following, and that is--to make money; honestly, if we can; if not, as we can! look through the action of your government, and your congress. you see that no reference has been had in this affair to christian ideas; none to justice and the eternal right. nay, none at all! in the churches, and among the people, how feeble has been the protest against this great wrong. how tamely the people yield their necks--and say: "take our sons for the war--we care not, right or wrong." england butchers the sikhs in india--her generals are elevated to the peerage, and the head of her church writes a form of thanksgiving for the victory, to be read in all the churches of that christian land.[ ] to make it still more abominable, the blasphemy is enacted on easter sunday, the great holiday of men who serve the prince of peace. we have not had prayers in the churches, for we have no political archbishop. but we fired cannon in joy that we had butchered a few wretched men--half starved, and forced into the ranks by fear of death! your peace societies, and your churches, what can they do? what dare they? verily, we are a faithless and perverse generation. god be merciful to us, sinners as we are! * * * * * but why talk for ever? what shall we do? in regard to this present war, we can refuse to take any part in it; we can encourage others to do the same; we can aid men, if need be, who suffer because they refuse. men will call us traitors: what then? that hurt nobody in ' ! we are a rebellious nation; our whole history is treason; our blood was attainted before we were born; our creeds are infidelity to the mother-church; our constitution treason to our father-land. what of that? though all the governors in the world bid us commit treason against man, and set the example, let us never submit. let god only be a master to control our conscience! we can hold public meetings in favor of peace, in which what is wrong shall be exposed and condemned. it is proof of our cowardice that this has not been done before now. we can show in what the infamy of a nation consists; in what its real glory. one of your own men, the last summer, startled the churches out of their sleep,[ ] by his manly trumpet, talking with us, and telling that the true grandeur of a nation was justice, not glory; peace, not war. we can work now for future times, by taking pains to spread abroad the sentiments of peace, the ideas of peace, among the people in schools, churches--everywhere. at length we can diminish the power of the national government, so that the people alone shall have the power to declare war, by a direct vote, the congress only to recommend it. we can take from the government the means of war by raising only revenue enough for the nation's actual wants, and raising that directly, so that each man knows what he pays, and when he pays it, and then he will take care that it is not paid to make him poor and keep him so. we can diffuse a real practical christianity among the people, till the mass of men have courage enough to overcome evil with good, and look at aggressive war as the worst of treason and the foulest infidelity! now is the time to push and be active. war itself gives weight to words of peace. there will never be a better time till we make the times better. it is not a day for cowardice, but for heroism. fear not that the "honor of the nation" will suffer from christian movements for peace. what if your men of low degree are a vanity, and your men of high degree are a lie? that is no new thing. let true men do their duty, and the lie and the vanity will pass each to its reward. wait not for the churches to move, or the state to become christian. let us bear our testimony like men, not fearing to be called traitors, infidels; fearing only to be such. i would call on americans, by their love of our country, its great ideas, its real grandeur, its hopes, and the memory of its fathers--to come and help save that country from infamy and ruin. i would call on christians, who believe that christianity is a truth, to lift up their voice, public and private, against the foulest violation of god's law, this blasphemy of the holy spirit of christ, this worst form of infidelity to man and god. i would call on all men, by the one nature that is in you, by the great human heart beating alike in all your bosoms, to protest manfully against this desecration of the earth, this high treason against both man and god. teach your rulers that you are americans, not slaves; christians, not heathen; men, not murderers, to kill for hire! you may effect little in this generation, for its head seems crazed and its heart rotten. but there will be a day after to-day. it is for you and me to make it better; a day of peace, when nation shall no longer lift up sword against nation; when all shall indeed be brothers, and all blest. do this, you shall be worthy to dwell in this beautiful land; christ will be near you; god work with you, and bless you for ever! this present trouble with mexico may be very brief; surely it might be even now brought to an end with no unusual manhood in your rulers. can we say we have not deserved it? let it end, but let us remember that war, horrid as it is, is not the worst calamity which ever befalls a people. it is far worse for a people to lose all reverence for right, for truth, all respect for man and god; to care more for the freedom of trade than the freedom of men; more for a tariff than millions of souls. this calamity came upon us gradually, long before the present war, and will last long after that has died away. like people like ruler, is a true word. look at your rulers, representatives, and see our own likeness! we reverence force, and have forgot there is any right beyond the vote of a congress or a people; any good beside dollars; any god but majorities and force, i think the present war, though it should cost , men and $ , , , the smallest part of our misfortune. abroad we are looked on as a nation of swindlers and men-stealers! what can we say in our defence? alas, the nation is a traitor to its great idea,--that all men are born equal, each with the same unalienable rights. we are infidels to christianity. we have paid the price of our shame. there have been dark days in this nation before now. it was gloomy when washington with his little army fled through the jerseys. it was a long dark day from ' to ' . it was not so dark as now; the nation never so false. there was never a time when resistance to tyrants was so rare a virtue; when the people so tamely submitted to a wrong. now you can feel the darkness. the sack of this city and the butchery of its people were a far less evil than the moral deadness of the nation. men spring up again like the mown grass; but to raise up saints and heroes in a dead nation corrupting beside its golden tomb, what shall do that for us? we must look not to the many for that, but to the few who are faithful unto god and man. i know the hardy vigor of our men, the stalwart intellect of this people. would to god they could learn to love the right and true. then what a people should we be, spreading from the madawaska to the sacramento, diffusing our great idea, and living our religion, the christianity of christ! oh, lord! make the vision true; waken thy prophets and stir thy people till righteousness exalt us! no wonders will be wrought for that. but the voice of conscience speaks to you and me, and all of us: the right shall prosper; the wicked states shall die, and history responds her long amen. what lessons come to us from the past! the genius of the old civilization, solemn and sad, sits there on the alps, his classic beard descending o'er his breast. behind him arise the new nations, bustling with romantic life. he bends down over the midland sea, and counts up his children--assyria, egypt, tyre, carthage, troy, etruria, corinth, athens, rome--once so renowned, now gathered with the dead, their giant ghosts still lingering pensive o'er the spot. he turns westward his face, too sad to weep, and raising from his palsied knee his trembling hand, looks on his brother genius of the new civilization. that young giant, strong and mocking, sits there on the alleghanies. before him lie the waters, covered with ships; behind him he hears the roar of the mississippi and the far distant oregon--rolling their riches to the sea. he bends down, and that far ocean murmurs pacific in his ear. on his left, are the harbors, shops and mills of the east, and a five-fold gleam of light goes up from northern lakes. on his right, spread out the broad savannahs of the south, waiting to be blessed; and far off that mexique bay bends round her tropic shores. a crown of stars is on that giant's head, some glorious with flashing, many-colored light; some bloody red; some pale and faint, of most uncertain hue. his right hand lies folded in his robe; the left rests on the bible's opened page, and holds these sacred words--all men are equal, born with equal rights from god. the old says to the young: "brother, beware!" and alps and rocky mountains say "beware!" that stripling giant, ill-bred and scoffing, shouts amain: "my feet are red with the indians' blood; my hand has forged the negro's chain. i am strong; who dares assail me? i will drink his blood, for i have made my covenant of lies, and leagued with hell for my support. there is no right, no truth; christianity is false, and god a name." his left hand rends those sacred scrolls, casting his bibles underneath his feet, and in his right he brandishes the negro-driver's whip, crying again--"say, who is god, and what is right." and all his mountains echo--right. but the old genius sadly says again: "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not prosper." the hollow tomb of egypt, athens, rome, of every ancient state, with all their wandering ghosts, replies, "amen." footnotes: [ ] isaiah lxiii. - . _noyes's_ version. _the people._ . who is this that cometh from edom? in scarlet garments from bozrah? this, that is glorious in his apparel, proud in the greatness of his strength? _jehovah._ i, that proclaim deliverance, and am mighty to save. _the people._ . wherefore is thine apparel red, and thy garments like those of one that treadeth the wine-vat? _jehovah._ . i have trodden the wine-vat alone, and of the nations there was none with me. and i trod them in mine anger, and i trampled them in my fury, so that their life-blood was sprinkled upon my garments, and i have stained all my apparel. . for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my deliverance was come. . and i looked, and there was none to help, and i wondered, that there was none to uphold, therefore my own arm wrought salvation for me, and my fury, it sustained me. . i trod down the nations in my anger; i crushed them in my fury, and spilled their blood upon the ground. [ ] to show the differences between the old and new testament, and to serve as introduction to this discourse, the following passages were read as the morning lesson: exodus, xv. - ; sam. xxii. , - , ; xlv. - ; isa. lxvi. , ; joel, iii. - , and matt. v. - , - , - . [ ] such was the price offered, and such the number of soldiers then called for. [ ] see the appropriate forms of prayer for that service by the present bishop of oxford, in jay's address before the american peace society, in . [ ] _form of prayer and thanksgiving to almighty god._ "o lord god of hosts, in whose hand is power and might irresistible, we, thine unworthy servants, most humbly acknowledge thy goodness in the victories lately vouchsafed to the armies of our sovereign over a host of barbarous invaders, who sought to spread desolation over fruitful and populous provinces, enjoying the blessings of peace, under the protection of the british crown. we bless thee, o merciful lord, for having brought to a speedy and prosperous issue a war to which no occasion had been given by injustice on our part, or apprehension of injury at our hands! to thee, o lord, we ascribe the glory! it was thy wisdom which guided the counsel! thy power which strengthened the hands of those whom it pleased thee to use as thy instruments in the discomfiture of the lawless aggressor, and the frustration of his ambitious designs! from thee, alone, cometh the victory, and the spirit of moderation and mercy in the day of success. continue, we beseech thee, to go forth with our armies, whensoever they are called into battle in a righteous cause; and dispose the hearts of their leaders to exact nothing more from the vanquished than is necessary for the maintenance of peace and security against violence and rapine. "above all, give thy grace to those who preside in the councils of our sovereign, and administer the concerns of her widely extended dominions, that they may apply all their endeavors to the purposes designed by thy good providence, in committing such power to their hands, the temporal and spiritual benefit of the nations intrusted to their care. "and whilst thou preservest our distant possessions from the horrors of war, give us peace and plenty at home, that the earth may yield her increase, and that we, thy servants, receiving thy blessings with thankfulness and gladness of heart, may dwell together in unity, and faithfully serve thee, to thy honor and glory, through jesus christ our lord, to whom, with thee and the holy ghost, belong all dominion and power, both in heaven and earth, now and for ever. amen."--see a defence of this prayer, in the london "christian observer" for may, p. , _et seq._, and for june, p. , _et seq._ would you know what he gave thanks for on easter sunday? here is the history of the battle: "this battle had begun at six, and was over at eleven o'clock; the hand-to-hand combat commenced at nine, and lasted scarcely two hours. the river was full of sinking men. for two hours, volley after volley was poured in upon the human mass--the stream being literally red with blood, and covered with the bodies of the slain. at last, the musket ammunition becoming exhausted, the infantry fell to the rear, the horse artillery plying grape till not a man was visible within range. no compassion was felt or mercy shown." but "'twas a famous victory!" [ ] mr. charles sumner. iv. speech delivered at the anti-war meeting in faneuil hall, february , . mr. chairman,--we have come here to consult for the honor of our country. the honor and dignity of the united states are in danger. i love my country; i love her honor. it is dear to me almost as my own. i have seen stormy meetings in faneuil hall before now, and am not easily disturbed by a popular tumult. but never before did i see a body of armed soldiers attempting to overawe the majesty of the people, when met to deliberate on the people's affairs. yet the meetings of the people of boston have been disturbed by soldiers before now, by british bayonets; but never since the boston massacre on the th of march, ! our fathers hated a standing army. this is a new one, but behold the effect! here are soldiers with bayonets to overawe the majesty of the people! they went to our meeting last monday night, the hireling soldiers of president polk, to overawe and disturb the meetings of honest men. here they are now, and in arms! we are in a war; the signs of war are seen here in boston. men, needed to hew wood and honestly serve society, are marching about your streets; they are learning to kill men, men who never harmed us, nor them; learning to kill their brothers. it is a mean and infamous war we are fighting. it is a great boy fighting a little one, and that little one feeble and sick. what makes it worse is, the little boy is in the right, and the big boy is in the wrong, and tells solemn lies to make his side seem right. he wants, besides, to make the small boy pay the expenses of the quarrel. the friends of the war say "mexico has invaded our territory!" when it is shown that it is we who have invaded hers, then it is said, "ay, but she owes us money." better say outright, "mexico has land, and we want to steal it!" this war is waged for a mean and infamous purpose, for the extension of slavery. it is not enough that there are fifteen slave states, and , , men here who have no legal rights--not so much as the horse and the ox have in boston: it is not enough that the slaveholders annexed texas, and made slavery perpetual therein, extending even north of mason and dixon's line, covering a territory forty-five times as large as the state of massachusetts. oh, no; we must have yet more land to whip negroes in! the war had a mean and infamous beginning. it began illegally, unconstitutionally. the whigs say, "the president made the war." mr. webster says so! it went on meanly and infamously. your congress lied about it. do not lay the blame on the democrats; the whigs lied just as badly. your congress has seldom been so single-mouthed before. why, only sixteen voted against the war, or the lie. i say this war is mean and infamous all the more, because waged by a people calling itself democratic and christian. i know but one war so bad in modern times, between civilized nations, and that was the war for the partition of poland. even for that there was more excuse. we have come to faneuil hall to talk about the war; to work against the war. it is rather late, but "better late than never." we have let two opportunities for work pass unemployed. one came while the annexation of texas was pending. then was the time to push and be active. then was the time for massachusetts and all the north, to protest as one man against the extension of slavery. everybody knew all about the matter, the democrats and the whigs. but how few worked against that gross mischief! one noble man lifted up his warning voice;[ ] a man noble in his father,--and there he stands in marble; noble in himself--and there he stands yet higher up--and i hope time will show him yet nobler in his son, and there he stands, not in marble, but in man! he talked against it, worked against it, fought against it. but massachusetts did little. her tonguey men said little; her handymen did little. too little could not be done or said. true, we came here to faneuil hall and passed resolutions; good resolutions they were, too. daniel webster wrote them, it is said. they did the same in the state house; but nothing came of them. they say "hell is paved with resolutions;" these were of that sort of resolutions; which resolve nothing because they are of words, not works! well, we passed the resolutions; you know who opposed them; who hung back and did nothing, nothing good i mean; quite enough not good. then we thought all the danger was over; that the resolutions settled the matter. but then was the time to confound at once the enemies of your country; to show an even front hostile to slavery. but the chosen time passed over, and nothing was done. do not lay the blame on the democrats; a whig senate annexed texas, and so annexed a war. we ought to have told our delegation in congress, if texas were annexed, to come home, and we would breathe upon it and sleep upon it, and then see what to do next. had our resolutions, taken so warmly here in faneuil hall in , been but as warmly worked out, we had now been as terrible to the slave power as the slave power, since extended, now is to us! why was it that we did nothing? that is a public secret. perhaps i ought not to tell it to the people. (cries of "tell it.") the annexation of texas, a slave territory big as the kingdom of france, would not furl a sail on the ocean; would not stop a mill-wheel at lowell! men thought so. that time passed by, and there came another. the government had made war; the congress voted the dollars, voted the men, voted a lie. your representative, men of boston, voted for all three; the lie, the dollars, and the men; all three, in obedience to the slave power! let him excuse that to the conscience of his party; it is an easy matter. i do not believe he can excuse it to his own conscience. to the conscience of the world it admits of no excuse. your president called for volunteers, , of them. then came an opportunity such as offers not once in one hundred years, an opportunity to speak for freedom and the rights of mankind! then was the time for massachusetts to stand up in the spirit of ' , and say, "we won't send a man, from cape ann to williamstown--not one yankee man, for this wicked war." then was the time for your governor to say, "not a volunteer for this wicked war." then was the time for your merchants to say, "not a ship, not a dollar for this wicked war;" for your manufacturers to say, "we will not make you a cannon, nor a sword, nor a kernel of powder, nor a soldier's shirt, for this wicked war." then was the time for all good men to say, "this is a war for slavery, a mean and infamous war; an aristocratic war, a war against the best interests of mankind. if god please, we will die a thousand times, but never draw blade in this wicked war." (cries of "throw him over," etc.) throw him over, what good would that do? what would you do next, after you have thrown him over? ("drag you out of the hall!") what good would that do? it would not wipe off the infamy of this war! would not make it less wicked! that is what a democratic nation, a christian people ought to have said, ought to have done. but we did not say so; the bay state did not say so, nor your governor, nor your merchants, nor your manufacturers, nor your good men; the governor accepted the president's decree, issued his proclamation calling for soldiers, recommended men to enlist, appealing to their "patriotism" and "humanity." governor briggs is a good man, and so far i honor him. he is a temperance man, strong and consistent; i honor him for that. he is a friend of education; a friend of the people. i wish there were more such. like many other new england men, he started from humble beginnings; but unlike many such successful men of new england, he is not ashamed of the lowest round he ever trod on. i honor him for all this. but that was a time which tried men's souls, and his soul could not stand the rack. i am sorry for him. he did as the president told him. what was the reason for all this? massachusetts did not like the war, even then; yet she gave her consent to it. why so? there are two words which can drive the blood out of the cheeks of cowardly men in massachusetts any time. they are "federalism" and "hartford convention!" the fear of those words palsied the conscience of massachusetts, and so her governor did as he was told. i feel no fear of either. the federalists did not see all things; who ever did? they had not the ideas which were destined to rule this nation; they looked back when the age looked forward. but to their own ideas they were true; and if ever a nobler body of men held state in any nation, i have yet to learn when or where. if we had had the shadow of caleb strong in the governor's chair, not a volunteer for this war had gone out of massachusetts. i have not told quite all the reasons why massachusetts did nothing. men knew the war would cost money; that the dollars would in the end be raised, not by a direct tax, of which the poor man paid according to his little, and the rich man in proportion to his much, but by a tariff which presses light on property, and hard on the person; by a tax on the backs and mouths of the people. some of the whigs were glad last spring, when the war came, for they hoped thereby to save the child of their old age, the tariff of ' . there are always some rich men, who say "no matter what sort of a government we have, so long as we get our dividends;" always some poor men, who say "no matter how much the nation suffers, if we fill our hungry purses thereby." well, they lost their virtue, lost their tariff, and gained just nothing; what they deserved to gain. now a third opportunity has come; no, it has not come; we have brought it. the president wants a war tax on tea and coffee. is that democratic, to tax every man's breakfast and supper, for the sake of getting more territory to whip negroes in? (numerous cries of "yes.") then what do you think despotism would be? he asks a loan of $ , , for this war. he wants $ , , to spend privately for this war. in eight months past, he has asked i am told for $ , , . seventy-four millions of dollars to conquer slave territory! is that democratic too? he wants to increase the standing army, to have ten regiments more! a pretty business that. ten regiments to gag the people in faneuil hall. do you think that is democratic? some men have just asked massachusetts for $ , for the volunteers! it is time for the people to rebuke all this wickedness. * * * * * i think there is a good deal to excuse the volunteers. i blame them, for some of them know what they are about. yet i pity them more, for most of them, i am told, are low, ignorant men; some of them drunken and brutal. from the uproar they make here to-night, arms in their hands, i think what was told me is true! i say i pity them! they are my brothers; not the less brothers because low and misguided. if they are so needy that they are forced to enlist by poverty, surely i pity them. if they are of good families, and know better, i pity them still more! i blame most the men that have duped the rank and file! i blame the captains and colonels, who will have least of the hardships, most of the pay, and all of the "glory." i blame the men that made the war; the men that make money out of it. i blame the great party men of the land. did not mr. clay say he hoped he could slay a mexican? (cries, "no, he didn't.") yes, he did; said it on forefather's day! did not mr. webster, in the streets of philadelphia, bid the volunteers, misguided young men, go and uphold the stars of their country? (voices, "he did right!") no, he should have said the stripes of his country, for every volunteer to this wicked war is a stripe on the nation's back! did not he declare this war unconstitutional, and threaten to impeach the president who made it, and then go and invest a son in it? has it not been said here, "our country, howsoever bounded," bounded by robbery or bounded by right lines! has it not been said, all round, "our country, right or wrong!" i say i blame not so much the volunteers as the famous men who deceive the nation! (cries of "throw him over, kill him, kill him," and a flourish of bayonets.) throw him over! you will not throw him over. kill him! i shall walk home unarmed and unattended, and not a man of you will hurt one hair of my head. i say again it is time for the people to take up this matter. your congress will do nothing till you tell them what and how! your th congress can do little good. its sands are nearly run, god be thanked! it is the most infamous congress we ever had. we began with the congress that declared independence, and swore by the eternal justice of god. we have come down to the th congress, which declared war existed by the act of mexico, declared a lie; the congress that swore by the baltimore convention! we began with george washington, and have got down to james k. polk. it is time for the people of massachusetts to instruct their servants in congress to oppose this war; to refuse all supplies for it; to ask for the recall of the army into our own land. it is time for us to tell them that not an inch of slave territory shall ever be added to the realm. let us remonstrate; let us petition; let us command. if any class of men have hitherto been remiss, let them come forward now and give us their names--the merchants, the manufacturers, the whigs and the democrats. if men love their country better than their party or their purse, now let them show it. let us ask the general court of massachusetts to cancel every commission which the governor has given to the officers of the volunteers. let us ask them to disband the companies not yet mustered into actual service; and then, if you like that, ask them to call a convention of the people of massachusetts, to see what we shall do in reference to the war; in reference to the annexation of more territory; in reference to the violation of the constitution! (loud groans from crowds of rude fellows in several parts of the hall.) that was a tory groan; they never dared groan so in faneuil hall before; not even the british tories, when they had no bayonets to back them up! i say, let us ask for these things! your president tells us it is treason to talk so! treason is it? treason to discuss a war which the government made, and which the people are made to pay for? if it be treason to speak against the war, what was it to make the war, to ask for , men and $ , , for the war? why, if the people cannot discuss the war they have got to fight and to pay for, who under heaven can? whose business is it, if it is not yours and mine? if my country is in the wrong, and i know it, and hold my peace, then i am guilty of treason, moral treason. why, a wrong,--it is only the threshold of ruin. i would not have my country take the next step. treason is it, to show that this war is wrong and wicked! why, what if george iii., any time from ' to ' , had gone down to parliament and told them it was treason to discuss the war then waging against these colonies! what do you think the commons would have said? what would the lords say? why, that king, foolish as he was, would have been lucky, if he had not learned there was a joint in his neck, and, stiff as he bore him, that the people knew how to find it. i do not believe in killing kings, or any other men; but i do say, in a time when the nation was not in danger, that no british king, for two hundred years past, would have dared call it treason to discuss the war--its cause, its progress, or its termination! now is the time to act! twice we have let the occasion slip; beware of the third time! let it be infamous for a new england man to enlist; for a new-england merchant to loan his dollars, or to let his ships in aid of this wicked war; let it be infamous for a manufacturer to make a cannon, a sword, or a kernel of powder, to kill our brothers with, while we all know that they are in the right, and we in the wrong. i know my voice is a feeble one in massachusetts. i have no mountainous position from whence to look down and overawe the multitude; i have no back-ground of political reputation to echo my words; i am but a plain humble man; but i have a back-ground of truth to sustain me, and the justice of heaven arches over my head! for your sakes, i wish i had that oceanic eloquence whose tidal flow should bear on its bosom the drift-weed which politicians have piled together, and sap and sweep away the sand hillocks of soldiery blown together by the idle wind; that oceanic eloquence which sweeps all before it, and leaves the shore hard, smooth and clean! but feeble as i am, let me beg of you, fellow-citizens of boston, men and brothers, to come forward and protest against this wicked war, and the end for which it is waged. i call on the whigs, who love their country better than they love the tariff of ' ; i call on the democrats, who think justice is greater than the baltimore convention,--i call on the whigs and democrats to come forward and join with me in opposing this wicked war! i call on the men of boston, on the men of the old bay state, to act worthy of their fathers, worthy of their country, worthy of themselves! men and brothers, i call on you all to protest against this most infamous war, in the name of the state, in the name of the country, in the name of man, yes, in the name of god: leave not your children saddled with a war debt, to cripple the nation's commerce for years to come. leave not your land cursed with slavery, extended and extending, palsying the nation's arm and corrupting the nation's heart. leave not your memory infamous among the nations, because you feared men, feared the government; because you loved money got by crime, land plundered in war, loved land unjustly bounded; because you debased your country by defending the wrong she dared to do; because you loved slavery; loved war, but loved not the eternal justice of all-judging god. if my counsel is weak and poor, follow one stronger and more manly. i am speaking to men; think of these things, and then act like men. footnotes: [ ] john quincy adams. v. a sermon of the mexican war.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, june , . soon after the commencement of the war against mexico, i said something respecting it in this place. but while i was printing the sermon, i was advised to hasten the compositors in their work, or the war would be over before the sermon was out. the advice was like a good deal of the counsel that is given to a man who thinks for himself, and honestly speaks what he unavoidably thinks. it is now more than two years since the war began; i have hoped to live long enough to see it ended, and hoped to say a word about it when over. a month ago, this day, the th of may, the treaty of peace, so much talked of, was ratified by the mexican congress. a few days ago, it was officially announced by telegraph to your collector in boston, that the war with mexico was at an end. there are two things about this war quite remarkable. the first is, the manner of its commencement. it was begun illegally, without the action of the constitutional authorities; begun by the command of the president of the united states, who ordered the american army into a territory which the mexicans claimed as their own. the president says "it is ours," but the mexicans also claimed it, and were in possession thereof until forcibly expelled. this is a plain case, and as i have elsewhere treated at length of this matter,[ ] i will not dwell upon it again, except to mention a single fact but recently divulged. it is well known that mr. polk claimed the territory west of the nueces and east of the rio grande, as forming a part of texas, and therefore as forming part of the united states after the annexation of texas. he contends that mexico began the war by attacking the american army while in that territory and near the rio grande. but, from the correspondence laid before the american senate, in its secret session for considering the treaty, it now appears that on the th of november, , mr. polk instructed mr. slidell to offer a relinquishment of american claims against mexico, amounting to $ , , or $ , , , for the sake of having the rio grande as the western boundary of texas; yes, for that very territory which he says was ours without paying a cent. when it was conquered, a military government was established there, as in other places in mexico. the other remarkable thing about the war is, the manner of its conclusion. the treaty of peace which has just been ratified by the mexican authorities, and which puts an end to the war, was negotiated by a man who had no more legal authority than any one of us has to do it. mr. polk made the war, without consulting congress, and that body adopted the war by a vote almost unanimous. mr. nicholas p. trist made the treaty, without consulting the president; yes, even after the president had ordered him to return home. as the congress adopted mr. polk's war, so mr. polk adopted mr. trist's treaty, and the war illegally begun is brought informally to a close. mr. polk is now in the president's chair, seated on the throne of the union, although he made the war; and mr. trist, it is said, is under arrest for making the treaty, meddling with what was none of his business. * * * * * when the war began, there was a good deal of talk about it here; talk against it. but, as things often go in boston, it ended in talk. the news-boys made money out of the war. political parties were true to their wonted principles, or their wonted prejudices. the friends of the party in power could see no informality in the beginning of hostilities; no injustice in the war itself; not even an impolicy. they were offended if an obscure man preached against it of a sunday. the political opponents of the party in power talked against the war, as a matter of course; but, when the elections came, supported the men that made it with unusual alacrity--their deeds serving as commentary upon their words, and making further remark thereon, in this place, quite superfluous. many men,--who, whatever other parts of scripture they may forget, never cease to remember that "money answereth all things,"--diligently set themselves to make money out of the war and the new turn it gave to national affairs. others thought that "glory" was a good thing, and so engaged in the war itself, hoping to return, in due time, all glittering with its honors. so what with the one political party that really praised the war, and the other who affected to oppose it, and with the commercial party, who looked only for a market--this for merchandise and that for "patriotism"--the friends of peace, who seriously and heartily opposed the war, were very few in number. true, the "sober second thought" of the people has somewhat increased their number; but they are still few, mostly obscure men. now peace has come, nobody talks much about it; the news-boys have scarce made a cent by the news. they fired cannons, a hundred guns on the common, for joy at the victory of monterey; at philadelphia, baltimore, washington, new york, men illuminated their houses in honor of the battle of buena vista, i think it was; the custom-house was officially illuminated at boston for that occasion. but we hear of no cannons to welcome the peace. thus far, it does not seem that a single candle has been burnt in rejoicing for that. the newspapers are full of talk, as usual; flags are flying in the streets; the air is a little noisy with hurrahs, but it is all talk about the conventions at baltimore and philadelphia; hurrahs for taylor and cass. nobody talks of the peace. flags enough flap in the wind, with the names of rival candidates; but nowhere do the stripes and stars bear peace as their motto. the peace now secured is purchased with such conditions imposed on mexico, that while every one will be glad of it, no man, that loves justice, can be proud of it. very little is said about the treaty. the distinguished senator from massachusetts did himself honor, it seems to me, in voting against it on the ground that it enabled us to plunder mexico of her land. but the treaty contains some things highly honorable to the character of the nation, of which we may well enough be proud, if ever of any thing. i refer to the twenty-second and twenty-third articles, which provide for arbitration between the nations, if future difficulties should occur; and to the pains taken, in case of actual hostilities, for the security of all unarmed persons, for the protection of private property, and for the humane treatment of all prisoners taken in war. these ideas, and the language of these articles, are copied from the celebrated treaty between the united states and prussia, the treaty of . it is scarcely needful to add, that they were then introduced by that great and good man, benjamin franklin, one of the negotiators of the treaty. they made a new epoch in diplomacy, and introduced a principle previously unknown in the law of nations. the insertion of these articles in the new treaty is, perhaps, the only thing connected with the war, which an american can look upon with satisfaction. yet this fact excites no attention.[ ] still, while so little notice is taken of this matter, in public and private, it may be worth while for a minister, on sunday, to say a word about the peace; and, now the war is over, to look back upon it, to see what it has cost, in money and in men, and what we have got by it; what its consequences have been, thus far, and are likely to be for the future; what new dangers and duties come from this cause interpolated into our nation. we have been long promised "indemnity for the past, and security for the future:" let us see what we are to be indemnified for, and what secured against. the natural justice of the war i will not look at now. * * * * * first, then, of the cost of the war. money is the first thing with a good many men; the only thing with some; and an important thing with all. so, first of all, let me speak of the cost of the war in dollars. it is a little difficult to determine the actual cost of the war, thus far--even its direct cost; for the bills are not all in the hands of government; and then, as a matter of political party-craft, the government, of course, is unwilling to let the full cost become known before the next election is over. so it is to be expected that the government will keep the facts from the people as long as possible. most governments would do the same. but truth has a right of way everywhere, and will recover it at last, spite of the adverse possession of a political party. the indirect cost of the war must be still more difficult to come at, and will long remain a matter of calculation, in which it is impossible to reach certainty. we do not know yet the entire cost of the florida war, or the late war with england; the complete cost of the revolutionary war must forever be unknown. it is natural for most men to exaggerate what favors their argument; but when i cannot obtain the exact figures, i will come a good deal within the probable amount. the military and naval appropriations for the year ending in june, , were $ , , . ; for the next year, $ , , . ; the sum asked for the present year, till next june, $ , , ; making a whole of $ , , . . it is true that all this appropriation is not for the mexican war, but it is also true that this sum does not include all the appropriations for the war. estimating the sums already paid by the government, the private claims presented and to be presented, the $ , , to be paid mexico as purchase-money for the territory we take from her, the $ , , or $ , , to be paid our own citizens for their claims against her,--i think i am a good deal within the mark when i say the war will have cost $ , , before the soldiers are at home, discharged, and out of the pay of the state. in this sum i do not include the bounty-lands to be given to the soldiers and officers, nor the pensions to be paid them, their widows and orphans, for years to come. i will estimate that at $ , , more, making a whole of $ , , which has been paid or must be. this is the direct cost to the federal government, and of course does not include the sums paid by individual states, or bestowed by private generosity, to feed and clothe the volunteers before they were mustered into service. this may seem extravagant; but, fifty years hence, when party spirit no longer blinds men's eyes, and when the whole is a matter of history, i think it will be thought moderate, and be found a good deal within the actual and direct cost. some of this cost will appear as a public debt. statements recently made respecting it can hardly be trusted, notwithstanding the authority on which they rest. part of this war debt is funded already, part not yet funded. when the outstanding demands are all settled, and the treasury notes redeemed, there will probably be a war debt of not less than $ , , . at least, such is the estimate of an impartial and thoroughly competent judge. but, not to exaggerate, let us call it only $ , , . it will, perhaps, be said: part of this money, all that is paid in pensions, is a charity, and therefore no loss. but it is a charity paid to men who, except for the war, would have needed no such aid; and, therefore, a waste. of the actual cost of the war, some three or four millions have been spent in extravagant prices for hiring or purchasing ships, in buying provisions and various things needed by the army, and supplied by political favorites at exorbitant rates. this is the only portion of the cost which is not a sheer waste; here the money has only changed hands; nothing has been destroyed, except the honesty of the parties concerned in such transactions. if a farmer hires men to help him till the soil, the men earn their subsistence and their wages, and leave, besides, a profit to their employer; when the season is over, he has his crops and his improvements as the return for their pay and subsistence. but for all that the soldier has consumed, for his wages, his clothes, his food and drink, the fighting tools he has worn out, and the ammunition he has expended, there is no available return to show; all that is a clear waste. the beef is eaten up, the cloth worn away, the powder is burnt, and what is there to show for it all? nothing but the "glory." you sent out sound men, and they come back, many of them, sick and maimed; some of them are slain. the indirect pecuniary cost of the war is caused, first, by diverting some , men, engaged in the war directly or remotely, from the works of productive industry, to the labors of war, which produce nothing; and, secondly, by disturbing the regular business of the country, first by the withdrawal of men from their natural work; then, by withdrawing large quantities of money from the active capital of the nation; and, finally, by the general uncertainty which it causes all over the land, thus hindering men from undertaking or prosecuting successfully their various productive enterprises. if , men earn on the average but $ apiece, that alone amounts to $ , , . the withdrawal of such an amount of labor from the common industry of the country must be seriously felt. at any rate, the nation has earned $ , , less than it would have done, if these men had kept about their common work. but the diversion of capital from its natural and pacific direction is a greater evil in this case. america is rich, but her wealth consists mainly in land, in houses, cattle, ships, and various things needed for human comfort and industry. in money, we are poor. the amount of money is small in proportion to the actual wealth of the nation, and also in proportion to its activity which is indicated by the business of the nation. in actual wealth, the free states of america are probably the richest people in the world; but in money we are poorer than many other nations. this is plain enough, though perhaps not very well known, and is shown by the fact that interest, in european states, is from two to four per cent. a year, and in america from six to nine. the active capital of america is small. now in this war, a national debt has accumulated, which probably is or will soon be $ , , or $ , , . all this great sum of money has, of course, been taken from the active capital of the country, and there has been so much less for the use of the farmer, the manufacturer, and the merchant. but for this war, these , men and these $ , , would have been devoted to productive industry; and the result would have been shown by the increase of our annual earnings, in increased wealth and comfort. then war produced uncertainty, and that distrust amongst men. therefore many were hindered from undertaking new works, and others found their old enterprises ruined at once. in this way there has been a great loss, which cannot be accurately estimated. i think no man, familiar with american industry, would rate this indirect loss lower than $ , , ; some, perhaps, at twice as much; but to avoid all possibility of exaggeration, let us call it half the smallest of these sums, or $ , , , as the complete pecuniary cost of the mexican war, direct and indirect. what have we got to show for all this money? we have a large tract of territory, containing, in all, both east and west of the rio grande, i am told, between , and , square miles. accounts differ as to its value. but it appears, from the recent correspondence of mr. slidell, that in the president offered mexico, in money, $ , , for that territory which we now acquire under this new treaty. suppose it is worth more, suppose it is worth twice as much, or all the indirect cost of the war ($ , , ), then the $ , , are thrown away. now, for this last sum, we could have built a sufficient railroad across the isthmus of panama, and another across the continent, from the mississippi to the pacific. if such a road, with its suitable equipment, cost $ , a mile, and the distance should amount to , miles, then the $ , , would just pay the bills. that would have been the greatest national work of productive industry in the world. in comparison with it, the lake moeris and the pyramids of egypt, and the wall of china seem but the works of a child. it might be a work to be proud of till the world ends; one, too, which would advance the industry, the welfare, and general civilization of mankind to a great degree, diminishing, by half, the distance round the globe; saving millions of property and many lives each year; besides furnishing, it is thought, a handsome income from the original outlay. but, perhaps, that would not be the best use which might be made of the money; perhaps it would not have been wise to undertake that work. i do not pretend to judge of such matters, only to show what might be done with that sum of money, if we were disposed to construct works of such a character. at any rate, two pacific railroads would be better than one mexican war. we are seldom aware of the cost of war. if a single regiment of dragoons cost only $ , a year, which is a good deal less than the actual cost, that is considerably more than the cost of twelve colleges like harvard university, with its schools for theology, law, and medicine; its scientific school, observatory, and all. we are, taken as a whole, a very ignorant people; and while we waste our school-money and school-time, must continue so. a great man, who towers far above the common heads, full of creative thought, of the ideas which move the world, able to organize that thought into institutions, laws, practical works; a man of a million, a million-minded man, at the head of a nation, putting his thought into them; ruling not barely by virtue of his position, but by the intellectual and moral power to fill it; ruling not over men's heads, but in their minds and hearts, and leading them to new fields of toil, increasing their numbers, wealth, intelligence, comfort, morals, piety--such a man is a noble sight; a charlemagne, or a genghis khan, a moses leading his nation up from egyptian bondage to freedom and the promised land. how have the eyes of the world been fixed on washington! in darker days than ours, when all was violence, it is easy to excuse such men if they were warriors also, and made, for the time, their nation but a camp. there have been ages when the most lasting ink was human blood. in our day, when war is the exception, and that commonly needless, such a man, so getting the start of the majestic world, were a far grander sight. and with such a man at the head of this nation, a great man at the head of a free nation, able and energetic, and enterprising as we are, what were too much to hope? as it is, we have wasted our money, and got, the honor of fighting such a war. * * * * * let me next speak of the direct cost of the war in men. in april, , the entire army of the united states, consisted of , men; the naval force of about , . we presented the gratifying spectacle of a nation , , strong, with a sea-coast of , or , miles, and only , or , soldiers, and as many armed men on the sea, or less than , in all! few things were more grateful to an american than this thought, that his country was so nearly free from the terrible curse of a standing army. at that time, the standing army of france was about , men; that of russia nearly , it is said. most of the officers in the american army and navy, and most of the rank and file, had probably entered the service with no expectation of ever shedding the blood of men. the navy and army were looked on as instruments of peace; as much so as the police of a city. the first of last january, there was, in mexico, an american army of , regular soldiers, and a little more than , volunteers, the number cannot now be exactly determined, making an army of invasion of about , men. the naval forces, also, had been increased to , . estimating all the men engaged in the service of the army and navy; in making weapons of war and ammunition; in preparing food and clothing; in transporting those things and the soldiers from place to place, by land or sea, and in performing the various other works incident to military operations, it is within bounds to say that there were , or , men engaged indirectly in the works of war. but not to exaggerate, it is safe to say that , men were directly or indirectly engaged in the mexican war. this estimate will seem moderate, when you remember that there were about , teamsters connected with the army in mexico. here, then, were , men whose attention and toil were diverted from the great business of productive industry to merely military operations, or preparations for them. of course, all the labor of these men was of no direct value to the human race. the food and clothing and labor of a man who earns nothing by productive work of hand or head, is food, clothing, and labor thrown away; labor in vain. there is nothing to show for the things he has consumed. so all the work spent in preparing ammunition and weapons of war is labor thrown away, an absolute loss, as much as if it had been spent in making earthen pitchers and then in dashing them to pieces. a country is the richer for every serviceable plough and spade made in it, and the world the richer; they are to be used in productive work, and when worn out, there is the improved soil and the crops that have been gathered, to show for the wear and tear of the tools. so a country is the richer for every industrious shoemaker and blacksmith it contains; for his time and toil go to increase the sum of human comfort, creating actual wealth. the world also is better off, and becomes better through their influence. but a country is the poorer for every soldier it maintains, and the world poorer, as he adds nothing to the actual wealth of mankind; so is it the poorer for each sword and cannon made within its borders, and the world poorer, for these instruments cannot be used in any productive work, only for works of destruction. so much for the labor of these , men; labor wasted in vain. let us now look at the cost of life. it is not possible to ascertain the exact loss suffered up to this time, in killed, deceased by ordinary diseases, and in wounded; for some die before they are mustered into the service of the united states, and parts of the army are so far distant from the seat of government that their recent losses are still unknown. i rely for information on the last report of the secretary of war, read before the senate, april , , and recently printed. that gives the losses of parts of the army up to december last; other accounts are made up only till october, or till august. recent losses will of course swell the amount of destruction. according to that report, on the american side there had been killed in battle, or died of wounds received therein, , persons; there had died of diseases and accidents, , ; , have been wounded in battle, who were not known to be dead at the date of the report. this does not include the deaths in the navy, nor the destruction of men connected with the army in various ways, as furnishing supplies and the like. considering the sickness and accidents that have happened in the present year, and others which may be expected before the troops reach home, i may set down the total number of deaths on the american side, caused by the war, at , , and the number of wounded men at , . suppose the army on the average to have consisted of , men for two years, this gives a mortality of fifteen per cent. each year, which is an enormous loss even for times of war, and one seldom equalled in modern warfare. now, most of the men who have thus died or been maimed were in the prime of life, able-bodied and hearty men. had they remained at home in the works of peace, it is not likely that more than of the number would have died. so then , lives may be set down at once to the account of the war. the wounded men are of course to thank the war, and that alone, for their smart and the life-long agony which they are called on to endure. such is the american loss. the loss of the mexicans we cannot now determine. but they have been many times more numerous than the americans; have been badly armed, badly commanded, badly trained, and besides have been beaten in every battle; their number seemed often the cause of their ruin, making them confident before battle and hindering their retreat after they were beaten. still more, they have been ill provided with surgeons and nurses to care for the wounded, and were destitute of medicines. they must have lost in battle five or six times more than we have done, and have had a proportionate number of wounded. to "lie like a military bulletin" is a european proverb; and it is not necessary to trust reports which tell of or mexicans left dead on the ground, while the americans lost but five or six. but when we remember that only twelve americans were killed during the bombardment of vera cruz, which lasted five days; that the citadel contained more than , soldiers and over pieces of cannon, we may easily believe the mexican losses on the whole have been , men killed and perished of their wounds. their loss by sickness would probably be smaller than our own, for the mexicans were in their native climate, though often ill furnished with clothes, with shelter and provisions: so i will put down their loss by ordinary diseases at only , , making a total of , deaths. suppose their number of wounded was four times as great as our own, or , . i should not be surprised if this were only half the number. put all together and we have in total, americans and mexicans, , men wounded, more or less, and the greater part maimed for life; and we have , men killed on the field of battle, or perished by the slow torture of their wounds, or deceased of diseases caused by extraordinary exposures; , men maimed; , dead! * * * * * you all remember the bill which so hastily passed congress in may, , and authorized the war previously begun. you perhaps have not forgot the preamble, "whereas war exists by the act of mexico." well, that bill authorized the waste of $ , , of american treasure, money enough to have built a railroad across the isthmus of panama, and another to connect the mississippi and the pacific ocean; it demanded the disturbance of industry and commerce all over the land, caused by withdrawing $ , , from peaceful investments, and diverting , americans from their productive and peaceful works; it demanded a loss yet greater of the treasure of mexicans; it commanded the maiming of , men for life, and the death of , men in the prime and vigor of manhood. yet such was the state of feeling, i will not say of thought, in the congress, that out of both houses only sixteen men voted against it. if a prophet had stood there he might have said to the representative of boston, "you have just voted for the wasting of , , of the very dollars you were sent there to represent; for the maiming of , men and the killing of , more--part by disease, part by the sword, part by the slow and awful lingerings of a wounded frame! sir, that is the english of your vote." suppose the prophet, before the vote was taken, could have gone round and told each member of congress, "if there comes a war, you will perish in it;" perhaps the vote would have been a little different. it is easy to vote away blood, if it is not your own! * * * * * such is the cost of the war in money and in men. yet it has not been a very cruel war. it has been conducted with as much gentleness as a war of invasion can be. there is no agreeable way of butchering men. you cannot make it a pastime. the americans have always been a brave people; they were never cruel. they always treated their prisoners kindly--in the revolutionary war, in the late war with england. true, they have seized the mexican ports, taken military possession of the custom-houses, and collected such duties as they saw fit; true, they sometimes made the army of invasion self-subsisting, and to that end have levied contributions on the towns they have taken; true, they have seized provisions which were private property, snatching them out of the hands of men who needed them; true, they have robbed the rich and the poor; true, they have burned and bombarded towns, have murdered men and violated women. all this must of course take place in any war. there will be the general murder and robbery committed on account of the nation, and the particular murder and robbery on account of the special individual. this also is to be expected. you cannot set a town on fire and burn down just half of it, making the flames stop exactly where you will. you cannot take the most idle, ignorant, drunken, and vicious men out of the low population in our cities and large towns, get them drunk enough or foolish enough to enlist, train them to violence, theft, robbery, murder, and then stop the man from exercising his rage or lust on his own private account. if it is hard to make a dog understand that he must kill a hare for his master, but never for himself, it is not much easier to teach a volunteer that it is a duty, a distinction, and a glory to rob and murder the mexican people for the nation's sake, but a wrong, a shame, and a crime to rob or murder a single mexican for his own sake. there have been instances of wanton cruelty, occasioned by private licentiousness and individual barbarity. of these i shall take no further notice, but come to such as have been commanded by the american authorities, and which were the official acts of the nation. one was the capture of tabasco. tabasco is a small town several hundred miles from the theatre of war, situated on a river about eighty miles from the sea, in the midst of a fertile province. the army did not need it, nor the navy. it did not lie in the way of the american operations; its possession would be wholly useless. but one sunday afternoon, while the streets were full of men, women, and children, engaged in their sunday business, a part of the naval force of america swept by; the streets running at right angles with the river, were enfiladed by the hostile cannon, and men, women, and children, unarmed and unresisting, were mowed down by the merciless shot. the city was taken, but soon abandoned, for its possession was of no use. the killing of those men, women, and children was as much a piece of murder, as it would be to come and shoot us to-day, and in this house. no valid excuse has been given for this cold-blooded massacre; none can be given. it was not battle, but wanton butchery. none but a pequod indian could excuse it. the theological newspapers in new england thought it a wicked thing in dr. palfrey to write a letter on sunday, though he hoped thereby to help end the war. how many of them had any fault to find with this national butchery on the lord's day? fighting is bad enough any day; fighting for mere pay, or glory, or the love of fighting, is a wicked thing; but to fight on that day when the whole christian world kneels to pray in the name of the peacemaker; to butcher men and women and children, when they are coming home from church, with prayer-books in their hands, seems an aggravation even of murder; a cowardly murder, which a hessian would have been ashamed of. "but 'twas a famous victory." one other instance, of at least apparent wantonness, took place at the bombardment of vera cruz. after the siege had gone on for a while, the foreign consuls in the town, "moved," as they say, "by the feeling of humanity excited in their hearts by the frightful results of the bombardment of the city," requested that the women and children might be allowed to leave the city, and not stay to be shot. the american general refused; they must stay and be shot. perhaps you have not an adequate conception of the effect produced by bombarding a town. let me interest you a little in the details thereof. vera cruz is about as large as boston was in ; it contains about , inhabitants. in addition it is protected by a castle, the celebrated fortress of st. juan d' ulloa, furnished with more than , soldiers and over cannons. imagine to yourself boston as it was forty years ago, invested with a fleet on one side, and an army of , men on the land, both raining cannon-balls and bomb-shells upon your houses; shattering them to fragments, exploding in your streets, churches, houses, cellars, mingling men, women, and children in one promiscuous murder. suppose this to continue five days and nights; imagine the condition of the city; the ruins, the flames; the dead, the wounded, the widows, the orphans; think of the fears of the men anticipating the city would be sacked by a merciless soldiery; think of the women! thus you will have a faint notion of the picture of vera cruz at the end of march, . do you know the meaning of the name of the city? vera cruz is the true cross. "see how these christians love one another." the americans are followers of the prince of peace; they have more missionaries amongst the "heathen" than any other nation, and the president, in his last message, says, "no country has been so much favored, or should acknowledge with deeper reverence the manifestations of the divine protection." the americans were fighting mexico to dismember her territory, to plunder her soil, and plant thereon the institution of slavery, "the necessary back-ground of freedom." few of us have ever seen a battle, and without that none can have a complete notion of the ferocious passions which it excites. let me help your fancy a little by relating an anecdote which seems to be very well authenticated, and requires but little external testimony to render it credible. at any rate, it was abundantly believed a year ago; but times change, and what was then believed all round may now be "the most improbable thing in the world." at the battle of buena vista, a kentucky regiment began to stagger under the heavy charge of the mexicans. the american commander-in-chief turned to one who stood near him, and exclaimed, "by god, this will not do. this is not the way for kentuckians to behave when called on to make good a battle. it will not answer, sir." so the general clenched his fist, knit his brows, and set his teeth hard together. however, the kentuckians presently formed in good order and gave a deadly fire, which altered the battle. then the old general broke out with a loud hurrah. "hurrah for old kentuck," he exclaimed, rising in his stirrups; "that's the way to do it. give 'em hell, damn 'em," and tears of exultation rolled down his cheeks as he said it. you find the name of this general at the head of most of the whig newspapers in the united states. he is one of the most popular candidates for the presidency. cannons were fired for him, a hundred guns on boston common, not long ago, in honor of his nomination for the highest office in the gift of a free and christian people. soon we shall probably have clerical certificates, setting forth, to the people of the north, that he is an exemplary christian. you know how faneuil hall, the old "cradle of liberty," rang with "hurrah for taylor," but a few days ago. the seven wise men of greece were famous in their day; but now nothing is known of them except a single pungent aphorism from each, "know thyself," and the like. the time may come when our great men shall have suffered this same reduction descending, all their robes of glory having vanished save a single thread. then shall franklin be known only as having said, "don't give too much for the whistle;" patrick henry for his "give me liberty or give me death;" washington for his "in peace prepare for war;" jefferson for his "all men are created equal;" and general taylor shall be known only by his attributes rough and ready, and for his aphorism, "give 'em hell, damn 'em." yet he does not seem to be a ferocious man, but generous and kindly, it is said, and strongly opposed to this particular war, whose "natural justice" it seems he looked at, and which he thought was wicked at the beginning, though, on that account, he was none the less ready to fight it. one thing more i must mention in speaking of the cost of men. according to the report quoted just now, , american soldiers had deserted in mexico. some of them had joined the mexican army. when the american commissioners, who were sent to secure the ratification of the treaty, went to queretaro, they found there a body of american soldiers, and more were at no great distance, mustered into the mexican service. these men, it seems, had served out their time in the american camp, and notwithstanding they had, as the president says in his message, "covered themselves with imperishable honors," by fighting men who never injured them, they were willing to go and seek a yet thicker mantle of this imperishable honor, by fighting against their own country! why should they not? if it were right to kill mexicans for a few dollars a month, why was it not also right to kill americans, especially when it pays the most? perhaps it is not an american habit to inquire into the justice of a war, only into the profit which it may bring. if the mexicans pay best, in money, these , soldiers made a good speculation. no doubt in mexico military glory is at a premium, though it could hardly command a greater price just now than in america, where, however, the supply seems equal to the demand. the numerous desertions and the readiness with which the soldiers joined the "foe," show plainly the moral character of the men, and the degree of "patriotism" and "humanity" which animated them in going to war. you know the severity of military discipline; the terrible beatings men are subjected to before they can become perfect in the soldier's art; the horrible and revolting punishments imposed on them for drunkenness, though little pains were taken to keep the temptation from their eyes, and for disobedience of general orders. you have read enough of this in the newspapers. the officers of the volunteers, i am told, have generally been men of little education, men of strong passions and bad habits; many of them abandoned men, who belonged to the refuse of society. such men run into an army as the wash of the street runs into the sewers. when such a man gets clothed with a little authority, in time of peace, you know what use he makes of it; but when he covers himself with the "imperishable honors" of his official coat, gets an epaulette on his shoulder, a sword by his side, a commission in his pocket, and visions of "glory" in his head, you may easily judge how he will use his authority, or may read in the newspapers how he has used it. when there are brutal soldiers, commanded by brutal captains, it is to be supposed that much brutality is to be suffered. now desertion is a great offence in a soldier; in this army it is one of the most common; for nearly ten per cent of the american army has deserted in mexico, not to mention the desertions before the army reached that country. it is related that forty-eight men were hanged at once for desertion; not hanged as you judicially murder men in time of peace, privately, as if ashamed of the deed, in the corner of a jail, and by a contrivance which shortens the agony, and makes death humane as possible. these forty-eight men were hanged slowly; put to death with painful procrastinations, their agony wilfully prolonged, and death embittered by needless ferocity. but that is not all: it is related, that these men were doomed to be thus murdered on the day when the battle of churubusco took place. these men, awaiting their death, were told they should not suffer till the american flag should wave its stripes over the hostile walls. so they were kept in suspense an hour, and then slowly hanged one by one. you know the name of the officer on whom this barbarity rests: it was colonel harney, a man whose reputation was black enough and base enough before. his previous deeds, however, require no mention here. but this man is now a general, and so on the high road to the presidency, whenever it shall please our southern masters to say the word. some accounts say there were more than forty-eight who thus were hanged. i only give the number of those whose names lie printed before me as i write. perhaps the number was less; it is impossible to obtain exact information in respect to the matter, for the government has not yet published an account of the punishments inflicted in this war. the information can only be obtained by a "resolution" of either house of congress, and so is not likely to be had before the election. but at the same time with the execution, other deserters were scourged with fifty lashes each, branded with a letter d, a perpetual mark of infamy on their cheek, compelled to wear an iron yoke, weighing eight pounds, about their neck. six men were made to dig the grave of their companions, and were then flogged with two hundred lashes each. i wish this hanging of forty-eight men could have taken place in state street, and the respectable citizens of boston, who like this war, had been made to look on and see it all; that they had seen those poor culprits bid farewell to father, mother, wife, or child, looking wistfully for the hour which was to end their torment, and then, one by one, have seen them slowly hanged to death; that your representative, ye men of boston, had put on all the halters! he did help put them on; that infamous vote, i speak not of the motive, it may have been as honorable as the vote itself was infamous, doomed these eight and forty men to be thus murdered. yes, i wish all this killing of the , americans on the field of battle, and the , mexicans; all this slashing of the bodies of , wounded men; all the agony of the other , that have died of disease, could have taken place in some spot where the president of the united states and his cabinet, where all the congress who voted for the war, with the baltimore conventions of ' and ' , and the whig convention of philadelphia, and the controlling men of both political parties, who care nothing for this bloodshed and misery they have idly caused, could have stood and seen it all; and then that the voice of the whole nation had come up to them and said, "this is your work, not ours. certainly we will not shed our blood, nor our brothers' blood, to get never so much slave territory. it was bad enough to fight in the cause of freedom. in the cause of slavery--god forgive us for that! we have trusted you thus far, but please god we never will trust you again." * * * * * let us now look at the effect of this war on the morals of the nation. the revolutionary war was the contest for a great idea. if there were ever a just war it was that, a contest for national existence. yet it brought out many of the worst qualities of human nature on both sides, as well as some of the best. it helped make a washington, it is true, but a benedict arnold likewise. a war with a powerful nation, terrible as it must be, yet develops the energy of the people, promotes self-denial, and helps the growth of some qualities of a high order. it had this effect in england from to . true, england for that time became a despotism, but the self-consciousness of the nation, its self-denial and energy were amazingly stimulated; the moral effect of that series of wars was doubtless far better than of the infamous contest which she has kept up against ireland for many years. let us give even war its due: when a great boy fights with an equal, it may develop his animal courage and strength--for he gets as bad as he gives, but when he only beats a little boy that cannot pay back his blows, it is cowardly as well as cruel, and doubly debasing to the conqueror. mexico was no match for america. we all knew that very well before the war begun. when a nation numbering , , or , , of people can be successfully invaded by an army of , men, two thirds of them volunteers, raw, and undisciplined; when the invaders with less than , can march two hundred miles into the very heart of the hostile country, and with less than , can take and hold the capital of the nation, a city of , or , inhabitants, and dictate a peace, taking as much territory as they will--it is hardly fair to dignify such operations with the name of war. the little good which a long contest with an equal might produce in the conqueror, is wholly lost. had mexico been a strong nation we should never have had this conflict. a few years ago, when general cass wanted a war with england, "an old-fashioned war," and declared it "unavoidable," all the men of property trembled. the northern men thought of their mills and their ships; they thought how boston and new york would look after a war with our sturdy old father over the sea; they thought we should lose many millions of dollars and gain nothing. the men of the south, who have no mills and no ships and no large cities to be destroyed, thought of their "peculiar institution;" they thought of a servile war; they thought what might become of their slaves, if a nation which gave $ , , to emancipate her bondmen should send a large army with a few black soldiers from jamaica; should offer money, arms, and freedom to all who would leave their masters and claim their unalienable rights. they knew the southern towns would be burnt to ashes, and the whole south, from virginia to the gulf, would be swept with fire, and they said, "don't." the north said so, and the south; they feared such a war, with such a foe. everybody knows the effect which this fear had on southern politicians, in the beginning of this century, and how gladly they made peace with england soon as she was at liberty to turn her fleet and her army against the most vulnerable part of the nation. i am not blind to the wickedness of england more than ignorant of the good things she has done and is doing; a paradise for the rich and strong, she is still a purgatory for the wise and the good, and the hell of the poor and the weak. i have no fondness for war anywhere, and believe it needless and wanton in this age of the world, surely needless and wicked between father england and daughter america; but i do solemnly believe that the moral effect of such an old-fashioned war as mr. cass in thought unavoidable, would have been better than that of this mexican war. it would have ended slavery; ended it in blood no doubt, the worst thing to blot out an evil with, but ended it and for ever. god grant it may yet have a more peaceful termination. we should have lost millions of property and thousands of men, and then, when peace came, we should know what it was worth; and as the burnt child dreads the fire, no future president, or congress, or convention, or party would talk much in favor of war for some years to come. the moral effect of this war is thoroughly bad. it was unjust in the beginning. mexico did not pay her debts; but though the united states, in , acknowledged the british claims against ourselves, they were not paid till . our claims against england, for her depredations in , were not paid till ; our claims against france, for her depredations in - , were not paid us till . the fact that mexico refused to receive the resident minister which the united states sent to settle the disputes, when a commissioner was expected--this was no ground of war. we have lately seen a british ambassador ordered to leave spain within eight and forty hours, and yet the english minister of foreign affairs, lord palmerston, no new hand at diplomacy, declares that this does not interrupt the concord of the two nations! we treated mexico contemptuously before hostilities began; and when she sent troops into a territory which she had always possessed, though texas had claimed it, we declared that that was an act of war, and ourselves sent an army to invade her soil, to capture her cities, and seize her territory. it has been a war of plunder, undertaken for the purpose of seizing mexican territory, and extending over it that dismal curse which blackens, impoverishes, and barbarizes half the union now, and swiftly corrupts the other half. it was not enough to have louisiana a slave territory; not enough to make that institution perpetual in florida; not enough to extend this blight over texas--we must have yet more slave soil, one day to be carved into slave states, to bind the southern yoke yet more securely on the northern neck; to corrupt yet more the politics, literature, and morals of the north. the war was unjust at its beginning; mean in its motives, a war without honorable cause; a war for plunder; a quarrel between a great boy and a little puny weakling who could not walk alone, and could hardly stand. we have treated mexico as the three northern powers treated poland in the last century--stooped to conquer. nay, our contest has been like the english seizure of ireland. all the justice was on one side, the force, skill, and wealth on the other. i know men say the war has shown us that americans could fight. could fight!--almost every male beast will fight, the more brutal the better. the long war of the revolution, when connecticut, for seven years, kept , men in the field, showed that americans could fight; bunker hill and lexington showed that they could fight, even without previous discipline. if such valor be a merit, i am ready to believe that the americans, in a great cause like that of mexico, to resist wicked invasion, would fight as men never fought before. a republic like our own, where every free man feels an interest in the welfare of the nation, is full of the elements that make soldiers. is that a praise? most men think so, but it is the smallest honor of a nation. of all glories, military glory, at its best estate, seems the poorest. men tell us it shows the strength of the nation and some writers quote the opinions of european kings who, when hearing of the battles of monterey, buena vista, and vera cruz, became convinced that we were "a great people." remembering the character of these kings, one can easily believe that such was their judgment, and will not sigh many times at their fate, but will hope to see the day when the last king who can estimate a nation's strength only by its battles, has passed on to impotence and oblivion. the power of america--do we need proof of that? i see it in the streets of boston and new york; in lowell and in lawrence; i see it in our mills and our ships; i read it in those letters of iron written all over the north, where he may read that runs; i see it in the unconquered energy which tames the forest, the rivers, and the ocean; in the school-houses which lift their modest roof in every village of the north; in the churches that rise all over the freeman's land: would god that they rose higher, pointing down to man and to human duties, and up to god and immortal life! i see the strength of america in that tide of population which spreads over the prairies of the west, and, beating on the rocky mountains, dashes its peaceful spray to the very shores of the pacific sea. had we taken , men and $ , , , and built two railroads across the continent, that would have been a worthy sign of the nation's strength. perhaps those kings could not see it; but sensible men could see it and be glad. this waste of treasure and this waste of blood is only a proof of weakness. war is a transient weakness of the nation, but slavery a permanent imbecility. what falsehood has this war produced in the executive and legislative power; in both parties, whigs and democrats! i always thought that here in massachusetts the whigs were the most to blame; they tried to put the disgrace of the war on the others, while the democratic party coolly faced the wickedness. did far-sighted men know that there would be a war on mexico, or else on the tariff or the currency, and prefer the first as the least evil? see to what the war has driven two of the most famous men of the nation: one wished to "capture or slay a mexican;"[ ] the other could encourage the volunteers to fight a war which he had denounced as needless, "a war of pretexts," and place the men of monterey before the men of bunker hill;[ ] each could invest a son in that unholy cause. you know the rest: the fathers ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge. when a man goes on board an emigrant ship, reeking with filth and fever, not for gain, not for "glory," but in brotherly love, catches the contagion, and dies a martyr to his heroic benevolence, men speak of it in corners, and it is soon forgot; there is no parade in the streets; society takes little pains to do honor to the man. how rarely is a pension given to his widow or his child; only once in the whole land, and then but a small sum.[ ] but when a volunteer officer--for of the humbler and more excusable men that fall we take no heed, war may mow that crop of "vulgar deaths" with what scythe he will--falls or dies in the quarrel which he had no concern in, falls in a broil between the two nations, your newspapers extol the man, and with martial pomp, "sonorous metal blowing martial sounds," with all the honors of the most honored dead, you lay away his body in the tomb. thus is it that the nation teaches these little ones, that it is better to kill than to make alive. i know there are men in the army, honorable and high-minded men, christian men, who dislike war in general, and this war in special, but such is their view of official duty, that they obeyed the summons of battle, though with pain and reluctance. they knew not how to avoid obedience. i am willing to believe there are many such. but with volunteers, who, of their own accord, came forth to enlist, men not blinded by ignorance, not driven by poverty to the field, but only by hope of reward--what shall be said of them! much may be said to excuse the rank and file, ignorant men, many of them in want--but for the leaders, what can be said? had i a brother who, in the day of the nation's extremity, came forward with a good conscience, and perilled his life on the battle field, and lost it "in the sacred cause of god and his country," i would honor the man, and when his dust came home, i would lay it away with his fathers'; with sorrow indeed, but with thankfulness of heart, that for conscience' sake he was ready even to die. but had i a brother who, merely for his pay, or hope of fame, had voluntarily gone down to fight innocent men, to plunder their territory, and lost his life in that felonious essay--in sorrow and in silence, and in secrecy would i lay down his body in the grave; i would not court display, nor mark it with a single stone. see how this war has affected public opinion. how many of your newspapers have shown its true atrocity; how many of the pulpits? yet, if any one is appointed to tell of public wrongs, it is the minister of religion. the governor of massachusetts[ ] is an officer of a christian church; a man distinguished for many excellences, some of them by no means common: it is said, he is opposed to the war in private, and thinks it wicked; but no man has lent himself as a readier tool to promote it. the christian and the man seem lost in the office, in the governor! what a lesson of falseness does all this teach to that large class of persons who look no higher than the example of eminent men for their instruction. you know what complaints have been made, by the highest authority in the nation, because a few men dared to speak against the war. it was "affording aid and comfort to the enemy." if the war-party had been stronger, and feared no public opinion, we should have had men hanged for treason, because they spoke of this national iniquity! nothing would have been easier. a "gag law" is not wholly unknown in america. if you will take all the theft, all the assaults, all the cases of arson, ever committed in time of peace in the united states since the settlement of jamestown in , and add to them all the cases of violence offered to woman, with all the murders, they will not amount to half the wrongs committed in this war for the plunder of mexico. yet the cry has been and still is, "you must not say a word against it; if you do, you 'afford aid and comfort to the enemy.'" not tell the nation that she is doing wrong? what a miserable saying is that; let it come from what high authority it may, it is a miserable saying. make the case your own. suppose the united states were invaded by a nation ten times abler for war than we are, with a cause no more just, intentions equally bad; invaded for the purpose of dismembering our territory and making our own new england the soil of slaves; would you be still? would you stand and look on tamely while the hostile hosts, strangers in language, manners, and religion, crossed your rivers, seized your ports, burnt your towns? no, surely not. though the men of new england would not be able to resist with most celestial love, they would contend with most manly vigor; and i should rather see every house swept clean off the land, and the ground sheeted with our own dead; rather see every man, woman, and child in the land slain, than see them tamely submit to such a wrong: and so would you. no, sacred as life is and dear as it is, better let it be trodden out by the hoof of war, rather than yield tamely to a wrong. but while you were doing your utmost to repel such formidable injustice, if in the midst of your invaders men rose up and said, "america is in the right, and brothers, you are wrong, you should not thus kill men to steal their land; shame on you!" how should you feel towards such? nay, in the struggle with england, when our fathers perilled every thing but honor, and fought for the unalienable rights of man, you all remember, how in england herself there stood up noble men, and with a voice that was heard above the roar of the populace, and an authority higher than the majesty of the throne they said, "you do a wrong; you may ravage, but you cannot conquer. if i were an american, while a foreign troop remained in my land, i would never lay down my arms; no, never, never, never!" but i wander a little from my theme, the effect of the war on the morals of the nation. here are , or , men trained to kill. hereafter they will be of little service in any good work. many of them were the off-scouring of the people at first. now these men have tasted the idleness, the intemperance, the debauchery of a camp; tasted of its riot, tasted of its blood! they will come home before long, hirelings of murder. what will their influence be as fathers, husbands? the nation taught them to fight and plunder the mexicans for the nation's sake; the governor of massachusetts called on them in the name of "patriotism" and "humanity" to enlist for that work: but if, with no justice on our side, it is humane and patriotic to fight and plunder the mexicans on the nation's account, why not for the soldier to fight and plunder an american on his own account? ay, why not?--that is a distinction too nice for common minds; by far too nice for mine. see the effect on the nation. we have just plundered mexico; taken a piece of her territory larger than the thirteen states which fought the revolution, a hundred times as large as massachusetts; we have burnt her cities, have butchered her men, have been victorious in every contest. the mexicans were as unprotected women, we, armed men. see how the lust of conquest will increase. soon it will be the ambition of the next president to extend the "area of freedom" a little further south; the lust of conquest will increase. soon we must have yucatan, central america, all of mexico, cuba, porto rico, hayti, jamaica,--all the islands of the gulf. many men would gladly, i doubt not, extend the "area of freedom" so as to include the free blacks of those islands. we have long looked with jealous eyes on west indian emancipation--hoping the scheme would not succeed. how pleasant it would be to reëstablish slavery in hayti and jamaica, in all the islands whence the gold of england or the ideas of france have driven it out. if the south wants this, would the north object? the possession of the west indies would bring much money to new england, and what is the value of freedom compared to coffee and sugar and cotton? i must say one word of the effect this war has had on political parties. by the parties i mean the leaders thereof, the men that control the parties. the effect on the democratic party, on the majority of congress, on the most prominent men of the nation, has been mentioned before. it has shut their eyes to truth and justice; it has filled their mouths with injustice and falsehood. it has made one man "available" for the presidency who was only known before as a sagacious general, that fought against the indians in florida, and acquired a certain reputation by the use of bloodhounds, a reputation which was rather unenviable even in america. the battles in northern mexico made him conspicuous, and now he is seized on as an engine to thrust one corrupt party out of power, and to lift in another party, i will not say less corrupt, i wish i could; it were difficult to think it more so. this latter party has been conspicuous for its opposition to a military man as ruler of a free people; recently it has been smitten with sudden admiration for military men, and military success, and tells the people, without a blush, that a military man fresh from a fight which he disapproved of, is most likely to restore peace, "because most familiar with the evils of war!" in massachusetts the prevalent political party, as such, for some years seems to have had no moral principle; however, it had a prejudice in favor of decency: now it has thrown that overboard, and has not even its respectability left. where are its "resolutions?" some men knew what they were worth long ago; now all men can see what they are worth. the cost of the war in money and men i have tried to calculate, but the effect on the morals of the people, on the press, the pulpit, and the parties, and through them on the rising generation, it is impossible to tell. i have only faintly sketched the outline of that. the effect of the war on mexico herself, we can dimly see in the distance. the government of the united states has wilfully, wantonly broken the peace of the continent. the revolutionary war was unavoidable; but for this invasion there is no excuse. that god, whose providence watches over the falling nation as the falling sparrow, and whose comprehensive plans are now advanced by the righteousness and now by the wrath of man, he who stilleth the waves of the sea and the tumult of the people, will turn all this wickedness to account in the history of man,--of that i have no doubt. but that is no excuse for american crime. a greater good lay within our grasp, and we spurned it away. well, before long the soldiers will come back, such as shall ever come--the regulars and volunteers, the husbands of the women whom your charity fed last winter, housed and clad and warmed. they will come back. come, new england, with your posterity of states, go forth to meet your sons returning all "covered with imperishable honors." come, men, to meet your fathers, brothers. come, women, to your husbands and your lovers; come. but what! is that the body of men who a year or two ago went forth, so full of valor and of rum? are these rags the imperishable honors that cover them? here is not half the whole. where is the wealth they hoped from the spoil of churches? but the men--"where is my husband?" says one; "and my son?" says another. "they fell at jalapa, one, and one at cerro gordo; but they fell covered with imperishable honor, for 'twas a famous victory." "where is my lover?" screams a woman whom anguish makes respectable spite of her filth and ignorance;--"and our father, where is he?" scream a troop of half-starved children, staring through their dirt and rags. "one died of the vomit at vera cruz. your father, little ones, we scourged the naked man to death at mixcoac." but that troop which is left, who are in the arms of wife and child, they are the best sermon against war; this has lost an arm and that a leg; half are maimed in battle, or sickened with the fever; all polluted with the drunkenness, idleness, debauchery, lust, and murder of a camp. strip off this man's coat, and count the stripes welted into his flesh, stripes laid on by demagogues that love the people, "the dear people!" see how affectionately the war-makers branded the "dear soldiers" with a letter d, with a red-hot iron, in the cheek. the flesh will quiver as the irons burn; no matter: it is only for love of the people that all this is done, and we are all of us covered with imperishable honors! d stands for deserter,--aye, and for demagogue--yes, and for demon too. many a man shall come home with but half of himself, half his body, less than half his soul. "alas, the mother that him bare, if she could stand in presence there, in that wan cheek and wasted air, she would not know her child." "better," you say, "for us better, and for themselves better by far, if they had left that remnant of a body in the common ditch where the soldier finds his 'bed of honor;' better have fed therewith the vultures of a foreign soil, than thus come back." no, better come back, and live here, mutilated, scourged, branded, a cripple, a pauper, a drunkard, and a felon; better darken the windows of the jail and blot the gallows with unusual shame, to teach us all that such is war, and such the results of every "famous victory," such the imperishable honors that it brings, and how the war-makers love the men they rule! o christian america! o new england, child of the puritans! cradled in the wilderness, thy swaddling garments stained with martyrs' blood, hearing in thy youth the warwhoop of the savage and thy mother's sweet and soul-composing hymn: "hush, my child, lie still and slumber, holy angels guard thy bed; heavenly blessings, without number, rest upon thine infant head:" come, new england, take the old banners of thy conquering host, the standards borne at monterey, palo alto, buena vista, vera cruz, the "glorious stripes and stars" that waved over the walls of churubusco, contreras, puebla, mexico herself, flags blackened with battle and stiffened with blood, pierced by the lances and torn with the shot; bring them into thy churches, hang them up over altar and pulpit, and let little children, clad in white raiment and crowned with flowers, come and chant their lessons for the day: "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see god. "blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of god." then let the priest say, "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach unto any people. blessed is the lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. happy is that people that is in such a case. yea, happy is that people whose god is the lord, and jesus christ their saviour." then let the soldiers who lost their limbs and the women who lost their husbands and their lovers in the strife, and the men--wiser than the children of light--who made money out of the war; let all the people, like people and like priest, say "amen." * * * * * but suppose these men were to come back to boston on a day when, in civil style, as having never sinned yourself, and never left a man in ignorance and want to be goaded into crime, you were about to hang three men--one for murder, one for robbery with the armed hand, and one for burning down a house. suppose, after the fashion of "the good old times," you were to hang those men in public, and lead them in long procession through your streets, and while you were welcoming these returned soldiers and taking their officers to feast in "the cradle of liberty," they should meet the sheriff's procession escorting those culprits to the gallows. suppose the warriors should ask, "why, what is that?" what would you say? why, this: "these men, they broke the law of god, by violence, by fire and blood, and we shall hang them for the public good, and especially for the example, to teach the ignorant, the low, and the weak." suppose those three felons, the halters round their neck, should ask also, "why, what is that?" you would say, "they are the soldiers just come back from war. for two long years they have been hard at work, burning cities, plundering a nation, and butchering whole armies of men. sometimes they killed a thousand in a day. by their help, the nation has stolen seven hundred thousand square miles of land!" suppose the culprits ask, "where will you hang so many?" "hang them!" is the answer, "we shall only hang you. it is written in our bible that one murder makes a villain, millions a hero. we shall feast these men full of bread and wine; shall take their leader, a rough man and a ready, one who by perpetual robbery holds a hundred slaves and more, and make him a king over all the land. but as you only burnt, robbed, and murdered on so small a scale, and without the command of the president or the congress, we shall hang you by the neck. our governor ordered these men to go and burn and rob and kill; now he orders you to be hanged, and you must not ask any more questions, for the hour is already come." to make the whole more perfect--suppose a native of loo-choo, converted to christianity by your missionaries in his native land, had come hither to have "the way of god" "expounded unto him more perfectly," that he might see how these christians love one another. suppose he should be witness to a scene like this! * * * * * to men who know the facts of war, the wickedness of this particular invasion and its wide-extending consequences, i fear that my words will seem poor and cold and tame. i have purposely mastered my emotion, telling only my thought. i have uttered no denunciation against the men who caused this destruction of treasure, this massacre of men, this awful degradation of the moral sense. the respectable men of boston--"the men of property and standing" all over the state, the men that commonly control the politics of new england, tell you that they dislike the war. but they reëlect the men who made it. has a single man in all new england lost his seat in any office because he favored the war? not a man. have you ever known a northern merchant who would not let his ship for the war, because the war was wicked and he a christian? have you ever known a northern manufacturer who would not sell a kernel of powder, nor a cannon-ball, nor a coat, nor a shirt for the war? have you ever known a capitalist, a man who lives by letting money, refuse to lend money for the war because the war was wicked? not a merchant, not a manufacturer, not a capitalist. a little money--it can buy up whole hosts of men. virginia sells her negroes; what does new england sell? there was once a man in boston, a rich man too, not a very great man, only a good one who loved his country, and there was another poor man here, in the times that tried men's souls,--but there was not money enough in all england, not enough promise of honors, to make hancock and adams false to their sense of right. is our soil degenerate, and have we lost the breed of noble men? no, i have not denounced the men who directly made the war, or indirectly edged the people on. pardon me, thou prostrate mexico, robbed of more than half thy soil, that america may have more slaves; thy cities burned, thy children slain, the streets of thy capital trodden by the alien foot, but still smoking with thy children's blood: pardon me if i seem to have forgotten thee! and you, ye butchered americans, slain by the vomito, the gallows, and the sword; you, ye maimed and mutilated men, who shall never again join hands in prayer, never kneel to god once more upon the limbs he made you; you, ye widows, orphans of these butchered men, far off in that more sunny south, here in our own fair land, pardon me that i seem to forget your wrongs! and thou, my country, my own, my loved, my native land, thou child of great ideas and mother of many a noble son, dishonored now, thy treasure wasted, thy children killed or else made murderers, thy peaceful glory gone, thy government made to pimp and pander for lust of crime, forgive me that i seem over-gentle to the men who did and do the damning deed which wastes thy treasure, spills thy blood, and stains thine honor's sacred fold! and you, ye sons of men everywhere, thou child of god, mankind, whose latest, fairest hope is planted here in this new world,--forgive me if i seem gentle to thy enemies, and to forget the crime that so dishonors man, and makes this ground a slaughter-yard of men--slain, too, in furtherance of the basest wish! i have no words to tell the pity that i feel for them that did the deed. i only say, "father, forgive them, for they know full well the sin they do!" a sectarian church could censure a general for holding his candle in a catholic cathedral; it was "a candle to the pope"; yet never dared to blame the war. while we loaded a ship of war with corn and sent off the macedonian to cork, freighted by private bounty to feed the starving irishman, the state sent her ships to vera cruz, in a cause most unholy, to bombard, to smite, and to kill. father! forgive the state; forgive the church. it was an ignorant state. it was a silent church--a poor, dumb dog, that dared not bark at the wolf who prowls about the fold, but only at the lamb. yet ye leaders of the land, know this,--that the blood of thirty thousand men cries out of the ground against you. be it your folly or your crime, still cries the voice, "where is thy brother?" that thirty thousand--in the name of humanity i ask, "where are they?" in the name of justice i answer, "you slew them!" it was not the people who made this war. they have often enough done a foolish thing. but it was not they who did this wrong. it was they who led the people; it was demagogues that did it. whig demagogues and demagogues of the democrats; men that flatter the ignorance, the folly, or the sin of the people, that they might satisfy their own base purposes. in may, , if the facts of the case could have been stated to the voters, and the question put to the whole mass of the people, "shall we go down and fight mexico, spending two hundred million of dollars, maiming four and twenty thousand men, and butchering thirty thousand; shall we rob her of half her territory?"--the lowest and most miserable part of the nation would have said as they did say, "yes;" the demagogues of the nation would have said as they did say, "yes;" perhaps a majority of the men of the south would have said so, for the humanity of the nation lies not there; but if it had been brought to the great mass of the people at the north,--whose industry and skill so increase the national wealth, whose intelligence and morals have given the nation its character abroad,--then they, the great majority of the land, would have said "no. we will have no war! if we want more land, we will buy it in the open market, and pay for it honestly. but we are not thieves, nor murderers, thank god, and will not butcher a nation to make a slave-field out of her soil." the people would not have made this war. * * * * * well, we have got a new territory, enough to make one hundred states of the size of massachusetts. that is not all. we have beaten the armies of mexico, destroyed the little strength she had left, the little self-respect, else she would not so have yielded and given up half her soil for a few miserable dollars. soon we shall take the rest of her possessions. how can mexico hold them now--weakened, humiliated, divided worse than ever within herself. before many years, all of this northern continent will doubtless be in the hands of the anglo saxon race. that of itself is not a thing to mourn at. could we have extended our empire there by trade, by the christian arts of peace, it would be a blessing to us and to mexico; a blessing to the world. but we have done it in the worst way, by fraud and blood; for the worst purpose, to steal soil and convert the cities of men into the shambles for human flesh; have done it at the bidding of men whose counsels long have been a scourge and a curse--at the bidding of slaveholders. they it is that rule the land, fill the offices, buy up the north with the crumbs that fall from their political table, make the laws, declare hostilities, and leave the north to pay the bill. shall we ever waken out of our sleep; shall we ever remember the duties we owe to the world and to god, who put us here on this new continent? let us not despair. soon we shall have all the southern part of the continent, perhaps half the islands of the gulf. one thing remains to do--that is, with the new soil we have taken, to extend order, peace, education, religion; to keep it from the blight, the crime, and the sin of slavery. that is for the nation to do; for the north to do. god knows the south will never do it. is there manliness enough left in the north to do that? has the soil forgot its wonted faith, and borne a different race of men from those who struggled eight long years for freedom? do we forget our sires, forget our god? in the day when the monarchs of europe are shaken from their thrones; when the russian and the turk abolish slavery; when cowardly naples awakes from her centuries of sleep, and will have freedom; when france prays to become a republic, and in her agony sweats great drops of blood; while the tories of the world look on and mock and wag their heads; and while the angel of hope descends with trusting words to comfort her,--shall america extend slavery? butcher a nation to get soil to make a field for slaves? i know how easily the south can buy office-hunters; whig or democrat, the price is still the same. the same golden eagle blinds the eyes of each. but can she buy the people of the north? is honesty gone, and honor gone, your love of country gone, religion gone, and nothing manly left; not even shame? then let us perish; let the union perish! no, let that stand firm, and let the northern men themselves be slaves; and let us go to our masters and say, "you are very few, we are very many; we have the wealth, the numbers, the intelligence, the religion of the land; but you have the power, do not be hard upon us; pray give us a little something, some humble offices, or if not these at least a tariff, and we will be content." slavery has already been the blight of this nation, the curse of the north and the curse of the south. it has hindered commerce, manufactures, agriculture. it confounds your politics. it has silenced your ablest men. it has muzzled the pulpit, and stifled the better life out of the press. it has robbed three million men of what is dearer than life; it has kept back the welfare of seventeen millions more. you ask, o americans, where is the harmony of the union? it was broken by slavery. where is the treasure we have wasted? it was squandered by slavery. where are the men we sent to mexico? they were murdered by slavery; and now the slave power comes forward to put her new minions, her thirteenth president, upon the nation's neck! will the north say "yes?" but there is a providence which rules the world,--a plan in his affairs. shall all this war, this aggression of the slave power be for nothing? surely not. let it teach us two things: everlasting hostility to slavery; everlasting love of justice and of its eternal right. then, dear as we may pay for it, it may be worth what it has cost--the money and the men. i call on you, ye men--fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, to learn this lesson, and, when duty calls, to show that you know it--know it by heart and at your fingers' ends! and you, ye women--mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, i call on you to teach this lesson to your children, and let them know that such a war is sin, and slavery sin, and, while you teach them to hate both, teach them to be men, and do the duties of noble, christian, and manly men! behind injustice there is ruin, and above man there is the everlasting god. footnotes: [ ] in the massachusetts quarterly review, vol. i. article i. see also the paper on the administration of mr. polk, in vol. iii. art. viii. [ ] mr. trist introduced these articles into the treaty, without having instructions from the american government to do so; the honor, therefore, is wholly due to him. there were some in the senate who opposed these articles. [ ] see mr. clay's speech at the dinner in new orleans on forefathers' day. [ ] see mr. webster's speech to the volunteers at philadelphia. [ ] a case of this sort had just occurred in boston. [ ] mr. george n. briggs. vi. a sermon of the perishing classes in boston.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, august , . matthew xviii. . it is not the will of our father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. there are two classes of men who are weak and little: one is little by nature, consisting of such as are born with feeble powers, not strongly capable of self-help; the other is little by position, comprising men that are permanently poor and ignorant. when jesus said, it is not god's will that one of these little ones should perish, i take it he included both these classes--men little by nature, and men little by position. furthermore, i take it he said what is true, that it is not god's will one of these little ones should perish. now, a man may be said to perish when he is ruined, or even when he fails to attain the degree of manhood he might attain under the average circumstances of this present age, and these present men. in a society like ours, and that of all nations at this time, as hitherto, with such a history, a history of blood and violence, cunning and fraud; resting on such a basis--a basis of selfishness; a society wherein there is a preference of the mighty, and a postponement of the righteous, where power is worshipped and justice little honored, though much talked of, it comes to pass that a great many little ones from both these classes actually perish. if jesus spoke the truth, then they perish contrary to the will of god, and, of course, by some other will adverse to the will of god. in a society where the natural laws of the body are constantly violated, where many men are obliged by circumstances to violate them, it follows unavoidably that many are born little by nature, and they transmit their feebleness to their issue. the other class, men little by position, are often so hedged about with difficulties, so neglected, that they cannot change their condition; they bequeath also their littleness to their children. thus the number of little ones enlarges with the increase of society. this class becomes perpetual; a class of men mainly abandoned by the christians. in all forms of social life hitherto devised these classes have appeared, and it has been a serious question, what shall be done with them? seldom has it been the question, what shall be done for them? in olden time the spartans took children born with a weak or imperfect body, children who would probably be a hinderance to the nation, and threw them into a desert place to be devoured by the wild beasts, and so settled that question. at this day, the chinese, i am told, expose such children in the streets and beside the rivers, to the humanity of passers by; and not only such, but sound, healthy children, none the less, who, though strong by nature, are born into a weak position. many of them are left to die, especially the boys. but some are saved, those mainly girls. i will not say they are saved by the humanity of wealthier men. they become slaves, devoted by their masters to a most base and infamous purpose. with the exception of criminals, these abandoned daughters of the poor, form, it is said, the only class of slaves in that great country. neither the chinese nor the spartan method is manly or human. it does with the little ones, not for them. it does away with them, and that is all. i will not decide which is the worst of the two modes, the chinese or the spartan. we are accustomed to call both these nations heathen, and take it for granted they do not know it is god's will that not one of these little ones should perish. be that as it may, we do not call ourselves heathen; we pretend to know the will of god in this particular. let us look, therefore, and see how we have disposed of the little ones in boston, what we are doing for them or with them. let me begin with neglected and abandoned children. we all know how large and beautiful a provision is made for the public education of the people. about a fourth part of the city taxes are for the public schools. yet one not familiar with this place is astonished at the number of idle, vagrant boys and girls in the streets. it appears from the late census of boston, that there are , children between four and fifteen who attend no school. i am not speaking of truants, occasional absentees, but of children whose names are not registered at school, permanent absentees. if we allow that , of these are kept in some sort of restraint by their parents, and have, or have had, some little pains taken with their culture at home; that they are feeble and do not begin to attend school so early as most, or that they are precocious, and complete their studies before fifteen, or for some other good reason are taken from school, and put to some useful business, there still remain , children who never attend any school, turned loose into your streets! suppose there is some error in the counting, that the number is overstated one third, still there are left , young vagrants in the streets of boston! what will be the fate of these , children? some men are superior to circumstances; so well born they defy ill breeding. there may be children so excellent and strong they cannot be spoiled. surely there are some who will learn with no school; boys of vast genius, whom you cannot keep from learning. others there are of wonderful moral gifts, whom no circumstances can make vulgar; they will live in the midst of corruption and keep clean through the innate refinement of a wondrous soul. out of these , children there may be two of this sort; it were foolish to look for more than one in a thousand. the , depend mainly on circumstances to help them; yes, to make their character. send them to school and they will learn. give them good precepts, good examples, they will also become good. give them bad precepts, bad examples, and they become wicked. send them half clad and uncared for into your streets, and they grow up hungry savages greedy for crime. what have these abandoned children to help them? nothing, literally nothing! they are idle, though their bodies crave activity. they are poor, ill-clad, and ill-fed. there is nothing about them to foster self-respect; nothing to call forth their conscience, to awaken and cultivate their sense of religion. they find themselves beggars in the wealth of a city; idlers in the midst of its work. yes, savages in the midst of civilization. their consciousness is that of an outcast, one abandoned and forsaken of men. in cities, life is intense amongst all classes. so the passions and appetites of such children are strong and violent. their taste is low; their wants clamorous. are religion and conscience there to abate the fever of passion and regulate desire? the moral class and the cultivated shun these poor wretches, or look on with stupid wonder. our rule is that the whole need the physician, not the sick. they are left almost entirely to herd and consort with the basest of men; they are exposed early and late to the worst influences, and their only comrades are men whom the children of the rich are taught to shun as the pestilence. to be poor is hard enough in the country, where artificial wants are few, and those easily met, where all classes are humbly clad, and none fare sumptuously every day. but to be poor in the city, where a hundred artificial desires daily claim satisfaction, and where, too, it is difficult for the poor to satisfy the natural and unavoidable wants of food and raiment; to be hungry, ragged, dirty, amid luxury, wantonness and refinement; to be miserable in the midst of abundance, that is hard beyond all power of speech. look, i will not say at the squalid dress of these children, as you see them prowling about the markets and wharves, or contending in the dirty lanes and by-places into which the pride of boston has elbowed so much of her misery; look at their faces! haggard as they are, meagre and pale and wan, want is not the worst thing written there, but cunning, fraud, violence and obscenity, and worst of all, fear! amid all the science and refined culture of the nineteenth century, these children learn little; little that is good, much that is bad. in the intense life around them, they unavoidably become vicious, obscene, deceitful and violent. they will lie, steal, be drunk. how can it be otherwise? if you could know the life of one of those poor lepers of boston, you would wonder, and weep. let me take one of them at random out of the mass. he was born, unwelcome, amid wretchedness and want. his coming increased both. miserably he struggles through his infancy, less tended than the lion's whelp. he becomes a boy. he is covered only with rags, and those squalid with long accumulated filth. he wanders about your streets, too low even to seek employment, now snatching from a gutter half rotten fruit which the owner flings away. he is ignorant; he has never entered a school-house; to him even the alphabet is a mystery. he is young in years, yet old in misery. there is no hope in his face. he herds with others like himself, low, ragged, hungry and idle. if misery loves company, he finds that satisfaction. follow him to his home at night; he herds in a cellar; in the same sty with father, mother, brothers, sisters, and perhaps yet other families of like degree. what served him for dress by day, is his only bed by night. well, this boy steals some trifle, a biscuit, a bit of rope, or a knife from a shop-window; he is seized and carried to jail. the day comes for trial. he is marched through the streets in handcuffs, the companion of drunkards and thieves, thus deadening the little self-respect which nature left even in an outcast's bosom. he sits there chained like a beast; a boy in irons! the sport and mockery of men vulgar as the common sewer. his trial comes. of course he is convicted. the show of his countenance is witness against him. his rags and dirt, his ignorance, his vagrant habits, his idleness, all testify against him. that face so young, and yet so impudent, so sly, so writ all over with embryo villany, is evidence enough. the jury are soon convinced, for they see his temptations in his look, and surely know that in such a condition men will steal: yes, they themselves would steal. the judge represents the law, and that practically regards it a crime even for a boy to be weak and poor. much of our common law, it seems to me, is based on might, not right. so he is hurried off to jail at a tender age, and made legally the companion of felons. now the state has him wholly in her power; by that rough adoption, has made him her own child, and sealed the indenture with the jailer's key. his handcuffs are the symbol of his sonship to the state. she shuts him in her college for the little. what does that teach him; science, letters; even morals and religion? little enough of this, even in boston, and in most counties of massachusetts, i think, nothing at all, not even a trade which he can practise when his term expires! i have been told a story, and i wish it might be falsely told, of a boy, in this city, of sixteen, sent to the house of correction for five years because he stole a bunch of keys, and coming out of that jail at twenty-one, unable to write, or read, or calculate, and with no trade but that of picking oakum. yet he had been five years the child of the state, and in that college for the poor! who would employ such a youth; with such a reputation; with the smell of the jail in his very breath? not your shrewd men of business, they know the risk; not your respectable men, members of churches and all that; not they! why it would hurt a man's reputation for piety to do good in that way. besides, the risk is great, and it argues a great deal more christianity than it is popular to have, for a respectable man to employ such a youth. he is forced back into crime again. i say, forced, for honest men will not employ him when the state shoves him out of the jail. soon you will have him in the court again, to be punished more severely. then he goes to the state prison, and then again, and again, till death mercifully ends his career! who is to blame for all that? i will ask the best man among the best of you, what he would have become, if thus abandoned, turned out in childhood, and with no culture, into the streets, to herd with the wickedest of men! somebody says, there are "organic sins" in society which nobody is to blame for. but by this sin organized in society, these vagrant children are training up to become thieves, pirates and murderers. i cannot blame them. but there is a terrible blame somewhere, for it is not the will of god that one of these little ones should perish. who is it that organizes the sin of society? * * * * * let us next look at the parents of these vagrants, at the adult poor. it is not easy or needed for this purpose, to define very nicely the limits of a class, and tell where the rich end, and the poor begin. however, men may, in reference to this matter, be divided into three classes. the first acts on society mainly by their capital; the second mainly by their skill, mental and manual, by educated labor; and the third by their muscles, by brute force with little or no skill, uneducated labor. the poor, i take it, come mainly from this latter class. education of head or hand, a profession or a trade, is wealth in possibility; yes, wealth in prospect, wealth in its process of accumulation, for wealth itself is only accumulated labor, as learning is accumulated thought. most of our rich men have come out of this class which acts by its skill, and their children in a few years will return to it. i am not now to speak of men transiently poor, who mend their condition as the hours go by, who may gain enough, and perhaps become rich; but of men permanently poor, whom one year finds wanting, and the next leaves no better off; men that live, as we say, from hand to mouth, but whose hand and mouth are often empty. even here in boston, there is little of the justice that removes causes of poverty, though so much of the charity which alleviates its effects. those men live, if you can call it life, crowded together more densely, i am told, than in naples or paris, in london or liverpool. boston has its ghetto, not for the jews as at prague and at rome, but for brother christians. in the quarters inhabited mainly by the poor, you find a filthiness and squalor which would astonish a stranger. the want of comfort, of air, of water, is terrible. cold is a stern foe in our winters, but in these places, i am told that men suffer more from want of water in summer, than want of fire in winter.[ ] if your bills of mortality were made out so as to show the deaths in each ward of the city, i think all would be astonished at the results. disease and death are the result of causes, causes too that may for a long time be avoided, and in the more favored classes are avoided. it is not god's will that the rich be spared and the poor die. yet the greatest mortality is always among the poor. out of each hundred catholics who died in boston, from to , more than sixty-one were less than five years of age. the result for the last six years is no better. of one hundred children born amongst them, only thirty-eight live five years; only eleven become fifty! gray-haired irishmen we seldom see. yet they are not worse off than others equally poor, only we can more distinctly get at the facts. in the war with disease which mankind is waging, the poor stand in front of the fire, and are mowed down without pity! of late years, in boston, there has been a gradual increase in the mortality of children.[ ] i think we shall find the increase only among the children of the poor. of course it depends on causes which may be removed, at least modified, for the average life of mankind is on the increase. i am told, i know not if the authority be good, that mortality among the poor is greater in boston than in any city of europe. of old times the rich man rode into battle, shirted with mail, covered and shielded with iron from head to foot. arrows glanced from him as from a stone. he came home unhurt and covered with "glory." but the poor, in his leathern jerkin or his linen frock, confronted the war, where every weapon tore his unprotected flesh. in the modern, perennial battle with disease, the same thing takes place; the poor fall and die. the destruction of the poor is their poverty. they are ignorant, not from choice but necessity. they cannot, therefore, look round and see the best way of doing things, of saving their strength, and sparing their means. they can have little of what we call thrift, the brain in the hand for which our people are so remarkable. some of them are also little by nature, ill-born; others well born enough, were abandoned in childhood, and have not since been able to make up the arrears of a neglected youth. they are to fight the great battle of life, for battle it is to them, with feeble arms. look at the houses they live in, without comfort or convenience, without sun, or air, or water; damp, cold, filthy and crowded to excess. in one section of the city there are thirty-seven persons on an average in each house. consider the rents paid by this class of our brothers. it is they who pay the highest rate for their dwellings. the worth of the house is often little more than nothing, the ground it covers making the only value. i am told that twelve or fifteen per cent a year on a large valuation is quite commonly paid, and over thirty per cent on the actual value, is not a strange thing. i wish this might not prove true. but the misery of the poor does not end with their wretched houses and exorbitant rent. having neither capital nor store-room, they must purchase articles of daily need in the smallest quantities. they buy, therefore, at the greatest disadvantage, and yet at the dearest rates. i am told it is not a rare thing for them to buy inferior qualities of flour at six cents a pound, or $ . a barrel, while another man buys a month's supply at a time for $ or $ a barrel. this may be an extreme case, but i know that in some places in this city, an inferior article is now retailed to them at $ . the barrel. so it is with all kinds of food; they are bought in the smallest quantities, and at a rate which a rich man would think ruinous. is not the poor man, too, most often cheated in the weight and the measure? so it is whispered. "he has no friends," says the sharper; "others have broken him to fragments, i will grind him to powder!" and the grinding comes. such being the case, the poor man finds it difficult to get a cent beforehand. i know rich men tell us that capital is at the mercy of labor. that may be prophecy; it is not history; not fact. uneducated labor, brute force without skill, is wholly at the mercy of capital. the capitalist can control the market for labor, which is all the poor man has to part with. the poor cannot combine as the rich. true, a mistake is sometimes made, and the demand for labor is greater than the supply, and the poor man's wages are increased. this result was doubtless god's design, but was it man's intention? the condition of the poor has hitherto been bettered, not so much by the design of the strong, as by god making their wrath and cupidity serve the weak. under such circumstances, what marvel that the poor man becomes unthrifty, reckless and desperate? i know how common it is to complain of the extravagance of the poor. often there is reason for the complaint. it is a wrong thing, and immoral, for a man with a dependent family to spend all his earnings, if it be possible to live with less. i think many young men are much to be blamed, for squandering all their wages to please a dainty palate, or to dress as fine as a richer man, making only the heart of their tailor foolishly glad. such men may not be poor now, but destine themselves to be the fathers of poor children. after making due allowance, it must be confessed that much of the recklessness of the poor comes unavoidably from their circumstances; from their despair of ever being comfortable, except for a moment at a time. every one knows that unmerited wealth tempts a man to squander, while few men know, what is just as true, that hopeless poverty does the same thing. as the tortured indian will sleep, if his tormentor pause but a moment, so the poor man, grown reckless and desperate, forgets the future storms, and wastes in revel the solitary gleam of sunlight which falls on him. it is nature speaking through his soul. now consider the moral temptations before such men. here is wealth, food, clothing, comfort, luxury, gold, the great enchanter of this age, and but a plank betwixt it and them. nay, they are shut from it only by a pane of glass thin as popular justice, and scarcely less brittle! they feel the natural wants of man; the artificial wants of men in cities. they are indignant at their social position, thrust into the mews and the kennels of the land. they think some one is to blame for it. a man in new england does not believe it god's will he should toil for ever, stinting and sparing only to starve the more slowly to death, overloaded with work, with no breathing time but the blessed sunday. they see others doing nothing, idle as solomon's lilies, yet wasting the unearned bread god made to feed the children of the poor. they see crowds of idle women elegantly clad, a show of loveliness, a rainbow in the streets, and think of the rag which does not hide their daughter's shame. they hear of thousands of baskets of costly wine imported in a single ship, not brought to recruit the feeble, but to poison the palate of the strong. they begin to ask if wealthy men and wise men have not forgotten their brothers, in thinking of their own pleasure! it is not the poor alone who ask that. in the midst of all this, what wonder is it if they feel desirous of revenge; what wonder that stores and houses are broken into, and stables set afire! such is the natural effect of misery like that; it is but the voice of our brother's blood crying to god against us all. i wonder not that it cries in robbery and fire. the jail and the gallows will not still that voice, nor silence the answer. i wonder at the fewness of crimes, not their multitude. i must say that, if goodness and piety did not bear a greater proportion to the whole development of the poor than the rich, their crimes would be tenfold. the nation sets the poor an example of fraud, by making them pay highest on all local taxes; of theft, by levying the national revenue on persons, not property. our navy and army set them the lesson of violence; and, to complete their schooling, at this very moment we are robbing another people of cities and lands, stealing, burning, and murdering, for lust of power and gold. everybody knows that the political action of a nation is the mightiest educational influence in that nation. but such is the doctrine the state preaches to them, a constant lesson of fraud, theft, violence and crime. the literature of the nation mocks at the poor, laughing in the popular journals at the poor man's inevitable crime. our trade deals with the poor as tools, not men. what wonder they feel wronged! some city missionary may dawdle the matter as he will; tell them it is god's will they should be dirty and ignorant, hungry, cold and naked. now and then a poor woman starving with cold and hunger may think it true. but the poor know better; ignorant as they are, they know better. great nature speaks when you and i are still. they feel neglected, wronged, and oppressed. what hinders them from following the example set by the nation, by society, by the strong? their inertness, their cowardice, and, what does not always restrain abler men, their fear of god! with cultivated men, the intellect is often developed at the expense of conscience and religion. with the poor this is more seldom the case. the misfortunes of the poor do not end here. to make their degradation total, their name infamous, we have shut them out of our churches. once in our puritan meeting-houses, there were "body seats" for the poor; for a long time free galleries, where men sat and were not ashamed. now it is not so. a christian society about to build a church, and having $ , , does not spend $ , for that, making it a church for all, and keep $ , as a fund for the poor. no, it borrows $ , more, and then shuts the poor out of its bankrupt aisles. a high tower, or a fine-toned bell, yes, marble and mahogany, are thought better than the presence of these little ones whom god wills not to perish. i have heard ministers boast of the great men, and famous, who sat under their preaching; never one who boasted that the poor came into his church, and were fed, body and soul! you go to our churches--the poor are not in them. they are idling and lounging away their day of rest, like the horse and the ox. alas me, that the apostles, that the christ himself could not worship in our churches, till he sold his garment and bought a pew! many of our houses of public worship would be well named, "churches for the affluent." yet religion is more to the poor man than to the rich. what wonder then, if the poor lose self-respect, when driven from the only churches where it is thought respectable to pray! this class of men are perishing; yes, perishing in the nineteenth century; perishing in boston, wealthy, charitable boston; perishing soul and body, contrary to god's will; and perishing all the worse because they die slow, and corrupt by inches. as things now are, their mortality is hardly a curse. the methodists are right in telling them this world is a valley of tears; it is almost wholly so to them; and heaven a long june day, full of rest and plenty. to die is their only gain; their only hope. think of that, you who murmur because money is "tight," because your investment gives only twenty per cent. a year, or because you are taxed for half your property, meaning to move off next season; think of that, you who complain because the democrats are in power to-day, and you who tremble lest the whigs shall be in ' ; think of that, you who were never hungry, nor athirst; who are sick, because you have nothing else to do, and grumble against god, from mere emptiness of soul, and for amusement's sake; think of men, who, if wise, do not dare to raise the human prayer for life, but for death, as the only gain, the only hope, and you will give over your complaint, your hands stopping your mouth. what shall become of the children of such men? they stand in the fore-front of the battle, all unprotected as they are; a people scattered and peeled, only a miserable remnant reaches the age of ten! look about your streets, and see what does become of such as live, vagrant and idle boys. ask the police, the constables, the jails; they shall tell you what becomes of the sons. will a white lily grow in a common sewer; can you bleach linen in a tan-pit? yes, as soon as you can rear a virtuous population, under such circumstances. go to any state prison in the land, and you shall find that seven-eighths of the convicts came from this class, brought there by crimes over which they had no control; crimes which would have made you and me thieves and pirates. the characters of such men are made for them, far more than by them. there is no more vice, perhaps, born into that class; they have no more "inherited sin" than any other class in the land; all the difference, then, between the morals and manners of rich and poor, is the result of education and circumstances. the fate of the daughters of the poor is yet worse. many of them are doomed to destruction by the lust of men, their natural guardians and protectors. think of an able, "respectable" man, comfortable, educated and "christian," helping debase a woman, degrade her in his eyes, her eyes, the eyes of the world! why it is bad enough to enslave a man, but thus to enslave a woman--i have no words to speak of that. the crime and sin, foul, polluting and debasing all it touches, has come here to curse man and woman, the married and the single, and the babe unborn! it seems to me as if i saw the genius of this city stand before god, lifting his hands in agony to heaven, crying for mercy on woman, insulted and trodden down, for vengeance on man, who treads her thus infamously into the dust. the vengeance comes, not the mercy. misery in woman is the strongest inducement to crime. where self-respect is not fostered; where severe toil hardly holds her soul and body together amid the temptations of a city, and its heated life, it is no marvel to me that this sin should slay its victims, finding woman an easy prey. let me follow the children of the poor a step further--i mean to the jail. few men seem aware of the frightful extent of crime amongst us, and the extent of the remedy, more awful yet. in less than one year, namely, from the th of june, , to the d of june, , there were committed to your house of correction, in this city, , persons, a little more than one out of every fifty-six in the whole population that is more than ten years old. of these were women; men. five were sentenced for an indefinite period, and forty-seven for an additional period of solitary imprisonment. in what follows, i make no account of that. but the whole remaining period of their sentences amounts to more than years, or , days. in addition to this, in the year ending with june , , we sent from boston to the state prison, thirty-five more, and for a period of , days, of which were solitary. thus it appears that the illegal and convicted crime of boston, in one year, was punished by imprisonment for , days. now as boston contains but , persons of all ages, and only , that are over ten years of age, it follows that the imprisonment of citizens of boston for crime in one year, amounts to more than one day and twenty-one hours, for each man, woman, and child, or to more than three days and three hours, for each one over ten years of age. this seems beyond belief, yet in making the estimate, i have not included the time spent in jail before sentence; i have left out the solitary imprisonment in the house of correction; i have said nothing of the children, sentenced for crime to the house of reformation in the same period. what is the effect of this punishment on society at large? i will not now attempt to answer that question. what is it on the criminals themselves? let the jail-books answer. of the whole number, were sentenced for the second time; for the third; for the fourth; thirty-eight for the fifth; forty for the sixth; twenty-nine for the seventh; twenty-three for the eighth; twelve for the ninth; fifty for the tenth time, or more; and of the criminals punished for the tenth time, thirty-one were women! of the thirty-five sent to the state prison, fourteen had been there before; of the , sent to the house of correction, only were sent for the first time. there are two classes, the victims of society, and the foes of society, the men that organize its sins, and then tell us nobody is to blame. may god deal mercifully with the foes; i had rather take my part with the victims. yet is there one who wishes to be a foe to mankind? here are the sons of the poor, vagrant in your streets, shut out by their misery from the culture of the age; growing up to fill your jails, to be fathers of a race like themselves, and to be huddled into an infamous grave. here are the daughters of the poor, cast out and abandoned, the pariahs of our civilization, training up for a life of shame and pollution, and coming early to a miserable end. here are the poor, daughters and sons, excluded from the refining influences of modern life, shut out of the very churches by that bar of gold, ignorant, squalid, hungry and hopeless, wallowing in their death! are these the results of modern civilization; this in the midst of the nineteenth century, in a christian city full of churches and gold; this in boston, which adds $ , , a year to her actual wealth? is that the will of god? tell it not in china; whisper it not in new holland, lest the heathen turn pale with horror, and send back your missionaries, fearing they shall pollute the land! * * * * * there is yet another class of little ones. i mean the intemperate. within the last few years it seems that drunkenness has increased. i know this is sometimes doubted. but if this fact is not shown by the increased number of legal convictions for the crime, it is by the sight of drunken men in public and not arrested. i think i have not visited the city five times in the last ten months without seeing more or less men drunk in the streets. the cause of this increase it seems to me is not difficult to discover. all great movements go forward by undulations, as the waves of the rising tide come up the beach. now comes a great wave reaching far up the shore, and then recedes. the next, and the next, and the next falls short of the highest mark; yet the tide is coming in all the while. you see this same undulation in other popular movements; for example, in politics. once the great wave of democracy broke over the central power, washing it clean. now the water lies submissive beneath that rock, and humbly licks its feet. in some other day the popular wave shall break with purifying roar clean over that haughty stone and wash off the lazy barnacles, heaps of corrupting drift-weed, and deadly monsters of the deep. by such seemingly unsteady movements do popular affairs get forward. the reformed drunkards, it is said, were violent, ill-bred, theatrical, and only touched the surface. many respectable men withdrew from the work soon as the washingtonians came to it. it was a pity they did so; but they did. i think the conscience of new england did not trust the reformed men; that also is a pity. they seem now to have relaxed their efforts in a great measure, perhaps discouraged at the coldness with which they have in some quarters been treated. i know not why it is, but they do not continue so ably the work they once begun. besides, the state, it was thought, favored intemperance. it was for a long time doubted if the license-laws were constitutional; so they were openly set at nought, for wicked men seize on doubtful opportunities. then, too, temperance had gone, a few years ago, as far as it could be expected to go until certain great obstacles were removed. many leading men in the land were practically hostile to temperance, and, with some remarkable exceptions, still are. the sons of the pilgrims, last forefathers' day, could not honor the self-denial of the puritans without wine! the alumni of harvard university could never, till this season, keep their holidays without strong drink.[ ] if rich men continue to drink without need, the poor will long continue to be drunk. vices, like decayed furniture, go down. they keep their shape, but become more frightful. in this way the refined man who often drinks, but is never drunk, corrupts hundreds of men whom he never saw, and without intending it becomes a foe to society. then, too, some of our influential temperance men aid us no longer. beecher is not here; channing and ware have gone to their reward. that other man,[ ] benevolent and indefatigable, where is he? he trod the worm of the still under his feet, but the worm of the pulpit stung him, and he too is gone; that champion of temperance, that old man eloquent, driven out of boston. why should i not tell an open secret?--driven out by rum and the unitarian clergy of boston. whatsoever the causes may be, i think you see proofs enough of the fact, that drunkenness has increased within the last few years. you see it in the men drunken in the streets, in the numerous shops built to gratify the intemperate man. some of these are elegant and costly, only for the rich; others so mean and dirty, that one must be low indeed to wallow therein. but the same thing is there in both, rum, poison-drink. many of these latter are kept by poor men, and the spider's web of the law now and then catches one of them, though latterly but seldom here. sometimes they are kept, and, perhaps, generally owned, by rich men who drive through the net. i know how hard it is to see through a dollar, though misery stand behind it, if the dollar be your own, and the misery belong to your brother. i feel pity for the man who helps ruin his race, who scatters firebrands and death throughout society, scathing the heads of rich and poor, and old and young. i would speak charitably of such an one as of a fellow-sinner. how he can excuse it to his own conscience is his affair, not mine. i speak only of the fact. for a poor man there may be some excuse; he has no other calling whereby to gain his bread; he would not see his own children beg, nor starve, nor steal! to see his neighbor go to ruin and drag thither his children and wife, was not so hard. but it is not the shops of the poor men that do most harm! had there been none but these, they had long ago been shut, and intemperance done with. it is not poor men that manufacture this poison; nor they who import it, or sell by the wholesale. if there were no rich men in this trade there would soon be no poor ones! but how does the rich man reconcile it to his conscience? i cannot answer that. it is difficult to find out the number of drink-shops in the city. the assessors say there are eight hundred and fifty; another authority makes the number twelve hundred. let us suppose there are but one thousand. i think that much below the real number, for the assistant assessors found three hundred in a single ward! these shops are open morning and night. more is sold on sunday, it is said, than any other day in the week! while you are here to worship your father, some of your brothers are making themselves as beasts; yes, lower. you shall probably see them at the doors of these shops as you go home; drunk in the streets this day! to my mind, the retailers are committing a great offence. i am no man's judge, and cannot condemn even them. there is one that judgeth. i cannot stand in the place of any man's conscience. i know well enough what is sin; god, only, who is a sinner. yet i cannot think the poor man that retails, half so bad as the rich man who distils, imports, or sells by wholesale the infamous drug. he knew better, and cannot plead poverty as the excuse of his crime. let me mention some of the statistics of this trade before i speak of its effects. if there are one thousand drink-shops, and each sells liquor to the amount of only six dollars a day, which is the price of only one hundred drams, or two hundred at the lowest shops, then we have the sum of $ , , paid for liquor to be drunk on the spot every year. this sum is considerably more than double the amount paid for the whole public education of the people in the entire state of massachusetts! in boston alone, last year, there were distilled, , , gallons of spirit. in five years, from to , boston exported , , , and imported , , gallons. they burnt up a man the other day, at the distillery in merrimack street. you read the story in the daily papers, and remember how the by-standers looked on with horror to see the wounded man attempting with his hands to fend off the flames from his naked head! great heaven! it was not the first man that distillery has burned up! no, not by thousands. you see men about your streets, all afire; some half-burnt down; some with all the soul burned out, only the cinders left of the man, the shell and wall, and that tumbling and tottering, ready to fall. who of you has not lost a relative, at least a friend, in that withering flame, that terrible _auto da fe_, that hell-fire on earth? let us look away from that. i wish we could look on something to efface that ghastly sight. but see the results of this trade. do you wonder at the poverty just now spoken of; at the vagrant children? in the poor house at albany, at one time, there were persons, and of them were intemperate! ask your city authorities how many of the poor are brought to their almshouse directly or remotely by intemperance! do you wonder at the crime which fills your jails, and swells the tax of county and city? three fourths of the petty crime in the state comes from this source directly or remotely. your jails were never so full before! when the parents are there, what is left for the children? in prussia, the government which imprisons the father takes care of the children, and sends them to school. here they are forced into crime. as i gave some statistics of the cause, let me also give some of the effects. two years ago your grand jury reports that one of the city police, on sunday morning, between the hours of twelve and two, in walking from cornhill square to cambridge street, passed more than one hundred persons more or less drunk! in there were committed to your house of correction, for drunkenness, persons; in , ; in , up to the th of august, that is, in seven months and twenty-four days, . besides there have been already in this year, complained of at the police court and fined, but not sent to the house of correction. thus, in seven months and twenty-four days, persons have been legally punished for public drunkenness. in the last two months and a half persons were thus punished. in the first twenty-four days of this month, ninety-four! in the last year there were , persons committed to your watch-houses, more than the twenty-fifth of the whole population. the thousand drink-shops levy a direct tax of more than $ , , . that is only the first outlay. the whole ultimate cost in idleness, sickness, crime, death and broken hearts--i leave you to calculate that! the men who live in the lower courts, familiar with the sinks of iniquity, speak of this crime as "most awful!" yet in this month and the last, there were but nine persons indicted for the illegal sale of the poison which so wastes the people's life! the head of your police and the foreman of your last grand jury are prominent in that trade. does the government know of these things; know of their cause? one would hope not. the last grand jury in their public report, after speaking manfully of some actual evils, instead of pointing at drunkenness and bar-rooms, direct your attention "to the increased number of omnibuses and other large carriages in the streets." * * * * * these are sad things to think of in a christian church. what shall we do for all these little ones that are perishing? "do nothing," say some. "am i my brother's keeper?" asked the first cain, after killing that brother. he thought the answer would be, "no! you are not." but he was his brother's keeper, and abel's blood cried from the ground for justice, and god heard it. some say we can do nothing. i will never believe that a city which in twelve years can build near a thousand miles of railroad, hedge up the merrimack and the lakes of new hampshire; i will never believe that a city, so full of the hardiest enterprise and the noblest charity, cannot keep these little ones from perishing. why the nation can annex new states and raise armies at uncounted cost. can it not extirpate pauperism, prevent intemperance, pluck up the causes of the present crime? all that is lacking is the prudent will! it seems as if something could easily be done to send the vagrant children to school; at least to give them employment, and so teach them some useful art. if some are catholics, and will not attend the protestant schools, perhaps it would be as possible to have a special and separate school for the irish as for the africans. it was recently proposed in a protestant assembly to found sunday schools, with catholic teachers for catholic children. the plan is large and noble, and indicates a liberality which astonishes one even here, where some men are ceasing to be sectarian and becoming human. much may be done to bring many of the children to our sunday and week-day schools, as they now are, and so brands be snatched from the burning. the state farm school for juvenile offenders, which a good man last winter suggested to your legislature, will doubtless do much for these idle boys, and may be the beginning of a greater and better work. could the state also take care of the children when it locks the parents in a jail, there would be a nearer approach to justice and greater likelihood of obtaining its end. still the laws act cumbrously and slow. the great work must be done by good men, acting separately or in concert, in their private way. you are your brother's keeper; god made you so. if you are rich, intelligent, refined and religious, why you are all the more a keeper to the poor, the weak, the vulgar and the wicked. in the pauses of your work there will be time to do something. in the unoccupied hours of the sunday there is yet leisure to help a brother's need. if there are times when you are disposed to murmur at your own hard lot, though it is not hard; or hours when grief presses heavy on your heart, go and look after these children, find them employment, and help them to start in life; you will find your murmurings are ended, and your sorrow forgot. it does not seem difficult to do something for the poor. it would be easy to provide comfortable and convenient houses and at a reasonable rate. the experiment has been tried by one noble-hearted man, and thus far works well. i trust the same plan, or one better, if possible, will soon be tried on a larger scale, and so repeated, till we are free from that crowding together of miserable persons, which now disgraces our city. it seems to me that a store might be established where articles of good quality should be furnished to the poor at cost. something has already been done in this way, by the "trade's union," who need it much less. a practical man could easily manage the details of such a scheme. all reform and elevation of this class of men must begin by mending their circumstances, though of course it must not end there. expect no improvement of men that are hungry, naked, and cold. few men respect themselves in that condition. hope not of others what would be impossible for you! you may give better pay when that is possible. i can hardly think it the boast of a man, that he has paid less for his labor than any other in his calling. but it is a common boast, though to me it seems the glory of a pirate! i cannot believe there is that sharp distinction between week-day religion and sunday religion, or between justice and charity, that is sometimes pretended. a man both just and charitable would find his charity run over into his justice, and the mixture improve its quality. when i remember that all value is the result of work, and see likewise that no man gets rich by his own work, i cannot help thinking that labor is often wickedly underpaid, and capital sometimes as grossly over-fed. i shall believe that capital is at the mercy of labor, when the two extremes of society change places. is it christian or manly to reduce wages in hard times, and not raise them in fair times? and not raise them again in extraordinary times? is it god's will that large dividends and small wages should be paid at the same time? the duty of the employer is not over, when he has paid "the hands" their wages. abraham is a special providence for eliezer, as god, the universal providence, for both. the usages of society make a sharp distinction between the rich and poor; but i cannot believe the churches have done wisely, by making that distinction appear through separating the two, in their worship. the poor are, undesignedly, driven out of the respectable churches. they lose self-respect; lose religion. those that remain, what have they gained by this expulsion of their brothers? a beautiful and costly house, but a church without the poor. the catholics were wiser and more humane than that. i cannot believe the mightiest abilities and most exquisite culture were ever too great to preach and apply christianity among the poor; and that "the best sermons would be wasted on them." yet such has not been the practical decision here! i trust we shall yet be able to say of all our churches, however costly, "there the rich and poor meet together." they are now equally losers by the separation. the seventy ministers of boston--how much they can do for this class of little ones, if they will! it has been suggested by some kindly and wise men, that there should be a prisoners' home established, where the criminal, on being released from jail, could go and find a home and work. as the case now is, there is almost no hope for the poor offender. "legal justice" proves often legal vengeance, and total ruin to the poor wretch on whom it falls; it grinds him to powder! all reform of criminals, without such a place, seems to me worse than hopeless. if possible, such an institution seems more needed for the women, than even for the men: but i have not now time to dwell on this theme. you know the efforts of two good men amongst us, who, with slender means, and no great encouragement from the public, are indeed the friends of the prisoner.[ ] god bless them in their labors. we can do something in all these schemes for helping the poor. each of us can do something in his own sphere, and now and then step out of that sphere to do something more. i know there are many amongst you, who only require a word before they engage in this work, and some who do not require even that, but are more competent than i to speak that word. your committee of benevolent action have not been idle. their works speak for them. * * * * * for the suppression of intemperance, redoubled efforts must be made. men of wealth, education and influence must use their strength of nature, or position, to protect their brothers, not drive them down to ruin. temperance cannot advance much further among the people, until this class of men lend their aid; at least, until they withdraw the obstacles they have hitherto and so often opposed to its progress. they must forbear the use, as well as the traffic. i cannot but think the time is coming, when he who makes or sells this poison as a drink, will be legally ranked with other poisoners, with thieves, robbers, and house-burners; when a fortune acquired by such means will be thought infamous, as one now would be if acquired by piracy! i know good men have formerly engaged in this trade; they did it ignorantly. now, we know the unavoidable effects thereof. i trust the excellent example lately set by the government of the university, will be followed at all public festivals. we must still have a watchful eye on the sale of this poison. it is not the low shops which do the most harm, but the costly tippling-houses which keep the low ones in countenance, and thus shield them from the law and public feeling. it seems as if a law were needed, making the owner of a tippling-house responsible for the illegal sale of liquors there. then the real offender might be reached, who now escapes the meshes of the law. it has long ago been suggested that a temperance home was needed for the reformation of the unfortunate drunkard. it is plain that the jail does not reform him. those sent to jail for drunkenness are, on the average, sentenced no less than five times; some of them, fifteen or twenty times! of what use to shut a man in a jail, and release him with the certainty that he will come out no better, and soon return for the same offence? when as much zeal and ability are directed to cure this terrible public malady, as now go to increase it, we shall not thus foolishly waste our strength. you all know how much has been done by one man in this matter;[ ] that in four years he saved three hundred drunkards from the prison, two hundred of whom have since done well! if it be the duty of the state to prevent crime, not avenge it, is it not plain what is the way? however, a reform in this matter will be permanent only through a deeper and wider reform elsewhere. drunkenness and theft in its various illegal forms, are confined almost wholly to the poorest class. so long as there is unavoidable misery, like the present, pauperism and popular ignorance; so long as thirty-seven are crowded into one house, and that not large; so long as men are wretched and without hope, there will be drunkenness. i know much has been done already; i think drunkenness will never be respectable again, or common amongst refined and cultivated men; it will be common among the ignorant, the outcast and the miserable, so long as the present causes of poverty, ignorance and misery continue. for that continuance, and the want, the crime, the unimaginable wretchedness and death of heart which comes thereof, it is not these perishing little ones, but the strong that are responsible before god! it will not do for your grand juries to try and hide the matter by indicting "omnibuses and other large carriages;" the voice of god cries, where is thy brother?--and that brother's blood answers from the ground. what i have suggested only palliates effects; it removes no cause;--of that another time. these little ones are perishing here in the midst of us. society has never seriously sought to prevent it, perhaps has not been conscious of the fact. it has not so much legislated for them as against them. its spirit is hostile to them. if the mass of able-headed men were in earnest about this, think you they would allow such unthrifty ways, such a waste of man's productive energies? never! no, never. they would repel the causes of this evil as now an invading army. the removal of these troubles must be brought about by a great change in the spirit of society. society is not christian in form or spirit. so there are many who do not love to hear christianity preached and applied, but to have some halting theology set upon its crutches. they like, on sundays, to hear of the sacrifice, not to have mercy and goodness demanded of them. a christian state after the pattern of that divine man, jesus--how different it would be from this in spirit and in form! taking all this whole state into account, things, on the whole, are better here, than in any similar population, after all these evils. i think there can be no doubt of that; better now, on the whole, than ever before. a day's work will produce a greater quantity of needful things than hitherto. so the number of little ones that perish is smaller than heretofore, in proportion to the whole mass. i do not believe the world can show such examples of public charity as this city has afforded in the last fifty years. alas! we want the justice which prevents causes no less than the charity which palliates effects. see yet the unnatural disparity in man's condition: bloated opulence and starving penury in the same street! see the pauperism, want, licentiousness, intemperance and crime in the midst of us; see the havoc made of woman; see the poor deserted by their elder brother, while it is their sweat which enriches your ground, builds your railroads, and piles up your costly houses. the tall gallows stands in the back-ground of society, overlooking it all; where it should be the blessed gospel of the living god. what we want to remove the cause of all this is the application of christianity to social life. nothing less will do the work. each of us can help forward that by doing the part which falls in his way. christianity, like the eagle's flight, begins at home. we can go further, and do something for each of these classes of little ones. then we shall help others do the same. some we may encourage to practical christianity by our example; some we may perhaps shame. still more, we can ourselves be pure, manly, christian; each of us that, in heart and life. we can build up a company of such, men of perpetual growth. then we shall be ready not only for this special work now before us, to palliate effects, but for every christian and manly duty when it comes. then, if ever some scheme is offered which is nobler and yet more christian than what we now behold, it will find us booted, and girded, and road-ready. i look to you to do something in this matter. you are many; most of you are young. i look to you to set an example of a noble life, human, clean and christian, not debasing these little ones, but lifting them up. will you cause them to perish; you? i know you will not. will you let them perish? i cannot believe it. will you not prevent their perishing? nothing less is your duty. some men say they will do nothing to help liberate the slave, because he is afar off, and "our mission is silence!" well--here are sufferers in a nearer need. do you say, i can do but little to christianize society! very well, do that little, and see if it does not amount to much, and bring its own blessing--the thought that you have given a cup of cold water to one of the little ones. did not jesus say, "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ye have done it unto me?" since last we met, one of our number[ ] has taken that step in life commonly called death. he was deeply interested and active in the movement for the perishing classes of men. after his spirit had passed on, a woman whom he had rescued, and her children with her, from intemperance and ruin, came and laid her hand on that cold forehead whence the kindly soul had fled, and mourning that her failures had often grieved his heart before, vowed solemnly to keep steadfast forever, and go back to evil ways no more! who would not wish his forehead the altar for such a vow? what nobler monument to a good man's memory! the blessing of those ready to perish fell on him. if his hand cannot help us, his example may. footnotes: [ ] this evil is now happily removed, and all men rejoice in a cheap and abundant supply of pure water. [ ] see the valuable tables and remarks, by mr. shattuck, in his census of boston, pp. - . [ ] for this much needed reform at the academical table, we are indebted to the hon. edward everett, the president of harvard college. for this he deserves the hearty thanks of the whole community. [ ] rev. john pierpont. [ ] the editors of the "prisoners' friend." [ ] mr. john augustus. [ ] nathaniel f. thayer, aged . vii. a sermon of merchants.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, november , . ecclesiasticus xxvii. . as a nail sticketh fast between the joinings of the stones; so doth sin stick close between buying and selling. i ask your attention to a sermon of merchants, their position, temptations, opportunities, influence and duty. for the present purpose, men may be distributed into four classes. i. men who create new material for human use, either by digging it out of mines and quarries, fishing it out of the sea, or raising it out of the land. these are direct producers. ii. men who apply their head and hands to this material and transform it into other shapes, fitting it for human use; men that make grain into flour and bread, cotton into cloth, iron into needles or knives, and the like. these are indirect producers; they create not the material, but its fitness, use, or beauty. they are manufacturers. iii. men who simply use these things, when thus produced and manufactured. they are consumers. iv. men who buy and sell: who buy to sell, and sell to buy the more. they fetch and carry between the other classes. these are distributors; they are the merchants. under this name i include the whole class who live by buying and selling, and not merely those conventionally called merchants, to distinguish them from small dealers. this term comprises traders behind counters and traders behind desks; traders neither behind counters nor desks. there are various grades of merchants. they might be classed and symbolized according as they use a basket, a wheelbarrow, a cart, a stall, a booth, a shop, a warehouse, counting-room, or bank. still all are the same thing--men who live by buying and selling. a ship is only a large basket, a warehouse, a costly stall. your peddler is a small merchant going round from house to house with his basket to mediate between persons; your merchant only a great peddler sending round from land to land with his ships to mediate between nations. the israelitish woman who sits behind a bench in her stall on the rialto at venice, changing gold into silver and copper, or loaning money to him who leaves hat, coat, and other collaterals in pledge, is a small banker. the israelitish man who sits at frankfort on the maine, changes drafts into specie, and lends millions to men who leave in pledge a mortgage on the states of the church, austria or russia--is a pawnbroker and money-changer on a large scale. by this arithmetic, for present convenience, all grades of merchants are reduced to one denomination--men who live by buying and selling. all these four classes run into one another. the same man may belong to all at the same time. all are needed. at home a merchant is a mediator to go between the producer and the manufacturer; between both and the consumer. on a large scale he is the mediator who goes between continents, between producing and manufacturing states, between both and consuming countries. the calling is founded in the state of society, as that in a compromise between man's permanent nature and transient condition. so long as there are producers and consumers, there must be distributors. the value of the calling depends on its importance; its usefulness is the measure of its respectability. the most useful calling must be the noblest. if it is difficult, demanding great ability and self-sacrifice, it is yet more noble. a useless calling is disgraceful; one that injures mankind--infamous. tried by this standard, the producers seem nobler than the distributors; they than the mere consumers. this may not be the popular judgment now, but must one day become so, for mankind is slowly learning to judge by the natural law published by jesus--that he who would be greatest of all, must be most effectively the servant of all. there are some who do not seem to belong to any of the active classes, who are yet producers, manufacturers, and distributors by their head, more than their hand; men who have fertile heads, producers, manufacturers, and distributors of thought, active in the most creative way. here, however, the common rule is inverted: the producers are few--men of genius; the manufacturers many--men of talent; the distributors--men of tact, men who remember, and talk with tongue or pen, their name is legion. i will not stop to distribute them into their classes, but return to the merchant. the calling of the merchant acquires a new importance in modern times. once nations were cooped up, each in its own country and language. then war was the only mediator between them. they met but on the battle-field, or in solemn embassies to treat for peace. now trade is the mediator. they meet on the exchange. to the merchant, no man who can trade is a foreigner. his wares prove him a citizen. gold and silver are cosmopolitan. once, in some of the old governments, the magistrates swore, "i will be evil-minded towards the people, and will devise against them the worst thing i can." now they swear to keep the laws which the people have made. once the great question was, how large is the standing army? now, what is the amount of the national earnings? statesmen ask less about the ships of the line, than about the ships of trade. they fear an over-importation oftener than a war, and settle their difficulties in gold and silver, not as before with iron. all ancient states were military; the modern mercantile. war is getting out of favor as property increases and men get their eyes open. once every man feared death, captivity, or at least robbery in war; now the worst fear is of bankruptcy and pauperism. this is a wonderful change. look at some of the signs thereof. once castles and forts were the finest buildings; now exchanges, shops, custom-houses, and banks. once men built a chinese wall to keep out the strangers--for stranger and foe were the same; now men build railroads and steamships to bring them in. england was once a strong-hold of robbers, her four seas but so many castle-moats; now she is a great harbor with four ship-channels. once her chief must be a bold, cunning fighter; now a good steward and financier. not to strike a hard blow, but to make a good bargain is the thing. formerly the most enterprising and hopeful young men sought fame and fortune in deeds of arms; now an army is only a common sewer, and most of those who go to the war, if they never return, "have left their country for their country's good." in days gone by, constructive art could build nothing better than hanging gardens, and the pyramids--foolishly sublime; now it makes docks, canals, iron roads and magnetic telegraphs. saint louis, in his old age, got up a crusade, and saw his soldiers die of the fever at tunis; now the king of the french sets up a factory, and will clothe his people in his own cottons and woollens. the old douglas and percy were clad in iron, and harried the land on both sides of the tweed; their descendants now are civil-suited men who keep the peace. no girl trembles, though "all the blue bonnets are over the border." the warrior has become a shopkeeper. "lord stafford mines for coal and salt; the duke of norfolk deals in malt, the douglas in red herrings; and noble name and cultured land, palace and park, and vassal band, are powerless to the notes of hand of rothschild or the barings." of merchants there are three classes. i. merchant-producers, who deal in labor applied to the direct creation of new material. they buy labor and land, to sell them in corn, cotton, coal, timber, salt, and iron. ii. merchant-manufacturers, who deal in labor applied to transforming that material. they buy labor, wool, cotton, silk, water-privileges and steam-power, to sell them all in finished cloth. iii. merchant-traders, who simply distribute the article raised or manufactured. these three divisions i shall speak of as one body. property is accumulated labor; wealth or riches a great deal of accumulated labor. as a general rule, merchants are the only men who become what we call rich. there are exceptions, but they are rare, and do not affect the remarks which are to follow. it is seldom that a man becomes rich by his own labor employed in producing or manufacturing. it is only by using other men's labor that any one becomes rich. a man's hands will give him sustenance, not affluence. in the present condition of society this is unavoidable; i do not say in a normal condition, but in the present condition. * * * * * here in america the position of this class is the most powerful and commanding in society. they own most of the property of the nation. the wealthy men are of this class; in practical skill, administrative talent, in power to make use of the labor of other men, they surpass all others. now, wealth is power, and skill is power--both to a degree unknown before. this skill and wealth are more powerful with us than any other people, for there is no privileged caste, priest, king, or noble, to balance against them. the strong hand has given way to the able and accomplished head. once head armor was worn on the outside, and of brass, now it is internal and of brains. to this class belongs the power both of skill and of wealth, and all the advantages which they bring. it was never so before in the whole history of man. it is more so in the united states than in any other place. i know the high position of the merchants in venice, pisa, florence, nuremberg and basel, in the middle ages and since. those cities were gardens in a wilderness, but a fringe of soldiers hung round their turreted walls; the trader was dependent on the fighter, and though their merchants became princes, they were yet indebted to the sword, and not entirely to their calling, for defence. their palaces were half castles, and their ships full of armed men. besides those were little states. here the merchant's power is wholly in his gold and skill. rome is the city of priests; vienna for nobles; berlin for scholars; the american cities for merchants. in italy the roads are poor, the banking-houses humble; the cots of the laborer mean and bare, but churches and palaces are beautiful and rich. god is painted as a pope. generally in europe, the clergy, the soldiers, and the nobles are the controlling class. the finest works of art belong to them, represent them, and have come from the corporation of priests, or the corporation of fighters. here a new era is getting symbolized in our works of art. they are banks, exchanges, custom-houses, factories, railroads. these come of the corporation of merchants; trade is the great thing. nobody tries to secure the favor of the army or navy--but of the merchants. once there was a permanent class of fighters. their influence was supreme. they had the power of strong arms, of disciplined valor, and carried all before them. they made the law and broke it. men complained, grumbling in their beard, but got no redress. they it was that possessed the wealth of the land. the producer, the manufacturer, the distributor could not get rich: only the soldier, the armed thief, the robber. with wealth they got its power; by practice gained knowledge, and so the power thereof; or, when that failed, bought it of the clergy, the only class possessing literary and scientific skill. they made their calling "noble," and founded the aristocracy of soldiers. young men of talent took to arms. trade was despised and labor was menial. their science is at this day the science of kings. when graziers travel they look at cattle; weavers at factories; philanthropists at hospitals; dandies at their equals and coadjutors; and kings at armies. those fighters made the world think that soldiers were our first men, and murder of their brothers the noblest craft in the world; the only honorable and manly calling. the butcher of swine and oxen was counted vulgar--the butcher of men and women great and honorable. foolish men of the past think so now; hence their terror at orations against war; hence their admiration for a red coat; their zeal for some symbol of blood in their family arms; hence their ambition for military titles when abroad. most foolish men are more proud of their ambiguous norman ancestor who fought at the battle of hastings--or fought not--than of all the honest mechanics and farmers who have since ripened on the family tree. the day of the soldiers is well-nigh over. the calling brings low wages and no honor. it opens with us no field for ambition. a passage of arms is a passage that leads to nothing. that class did their duty at that time. they founded the aristocracy of soldiers--their symbol the sword. mankind would not stop there. then came a milder age and established the aristocracy of birth--its symbol the cradle, for the only merit of that sort of nobility, and so its only distinction, is to have been born. but mankind who stopped not at the sword, delays but little longer at the cradle; leaping forward it founds a third order of nobility, the aristocracy of gold, its symbol the purse. we have got no further on. shall we stop there? there comes a to-morrow after every to-day, and no child of time is just like the last. the aristocracy of gold has faults enough, no doubt, this feudalism of the nineteenth century. but it is the best thing of its kind we have had yet; the wisest, the most human. we are going forward and not back. god only knows when we shall stop, and where. surely not now, nor here. now the merchants in america occupy the place which was once held by the fighters and next by the nobles. in our country we have balanced into harmony the centripetal power of the government, and the centrifugal power of the people: so have national unity of action, and individual variety of action--personal freedom. therefore a vast amount of talent is active here which lies latent in other countries, because that harmony is not established there. here the army and navy offer few inducements to able and aspiring young men. they are fled to as the last resort of the desperate, or else sought for their traditional glory, not their present value. in europe, the army, the navy, the parliament or the court, the church and the learned professions offer brilliant prizes to ambitious men. thither flock the able and the daring. here such men go into trade. it is better for a man to have set up a mill than to have won a battle. i deny not the exceptions. i speak only of the general rule. commerce and manufactures offer the most brilliant rewards--wealth, and all it brings. accordingly the ablest men go into the class of merchants. the strongest men in boston, taken as a body, are not lawyers, doctors, clergymen, book-wrights, but merchants. i deny not the presence of distinguished ability in each of those professions; i am now again only speaking of the general rule. i deny not the presence of very weak men, exceedingly weak in this class; their money their only source of power. the merchants then are the prominent class; the most respectable, the most powerful. they know their power, but are not yet fully aware of their formidable and noble position at the head of the nation. hence they are often ashamed of their calling; while their calling is the source of their wealth, their knowledge, and their power, and should be their boast and their glory. you see signs of this ignorance and this shame: there must not be shops under your athenæum, it would not be in good taste; you may store tobacco, cider, rum, under the churches, out of sight, you must have no shop there; it would be vulgar. it is not thought needful, perhaps not proper, for the merchant's wife and daughter to understand business, it would not be becoming. many are ashamed of their calling, and, becoming rich, paint on the doors of their coach, and engrave on their seal, some lion, griffin, or unicorn, with partisans and maces to suit; arms they have no right to, perhaps have stolen out of some book of heraldry. no man paints thereon a box of sugar, or figs, or candles couchant; a bale of cotton rampant; an axe, a lapstone, or a shoe hammer saltant. yet these would be noble, and christian withal. the fighters gloried in their horrid craft, and so made it pass for noble, but with us a great many men would be thought "the tenth transmitter of a foolish face," rather than honest artists of their own fortune; prouder of being born than of having lived never so manfully. in virtue of its strength and position, this class is the controlling one in politics. it mainly enacts the laws of this state and the nation; makes them serve its turn. acting consciously or without consciousness, it buys up legislators when they are in the market; breeds them when the market is bare. it can manufacture governors, senators, judges, to suit its purposes, as easily as it can make cotton cloth. it pays them money and honors; pays them for doing its work, not another's. it is fairly and faithfully represented by them. our popular legislators are made in its image; represent its wisdom, foresight, patriotism and conscience. your congress is its mirror. this class is the controlling one in the churches, none the less, for with us fortunately the churches have no existence independent of the wealth and knowledge of the people. in the same way it buys up the clergymen, hunting them out all over the land; the clergymen who will do its work, putting them in comfortable places. it drives off such as interfere with its work, saying, "go starve, you and your children!" it raises or manufactures others to suit its taste. the merchants build mainly the churches, endow theological schools; they furnish the material sinews of the church. hence the metropolitan churches are in general as much commercial as the shops. * * * * * now from this position, there come certain peculiar temptations. one is to an extravagant desire of wealth. they see that money is power, the most condensed and flexible form thereof. it is always ready; it will turn any way. they see that it gives advantages to their children which nothing else will give. the poor man's son, however well born, struggling for a superior education, obtains his culture at a monstrous cost; with the sacrifice of pleasure, comfort, the joys of youth, often of eyesight and health. he must do two men's work at once--learn and teach at the same time. he learns all by his soul, nothing from his circumstances. if he have not an iron body as well as an iron head, he dies in that experiment of the cross. the land is full of poor men who have attained a superior culture, but carry a crippled body through all their life. the rich man's son needs not that terrible trial. he learns from his circumstances, not his soul. the air about him contains a diffused element of thought. he learns without knowing it. colleges open their doors; accomplished teachers stand ready; science and art, music and literature, come at the rich man's call. all the outward means of educating, refining, elevating a child, are to be had for money, and for money alone. then, too, wealth gives men a social position, which nothing else save the rarest genius can obtain, and which that, in the majority of cases lacking the commercial conscience, is sure not to get. many men prize this social rank above every thing else, even above justice and a life unstained. since it thus gives power, culture for one's children, and a distinguished social position, rank amongst men, for the man and his child after him, there is a temptation to regard money as the great object of life, not a means but an end; the thing a man is to get even at the risk of getting nothing else. it "answereth all things." here and there you find a man who has got nothing else. men say of such an one, "he is worth a million!" there is a terrible sarcasm in common speech, which all do not see. he is "worth a million," and that is all; not worth truth, goodness, piety; not worth a man. i must say, i cannot but think there are many such amongst us. most rich men, i am told, have mainly gained wealth by skill, foresight, industry, economy, by honorable painstaking, not by trick. it may be so. i hope it is. still there is a temptation to count wealth the object of life--the thing to be had if they have nothing else. the next temptation is to think any means justifiable which lead to that end,--the temptation to fraud, deceit, to lying in its various forms, active and passive; the temptation to abuse the power of this natural strength, or acquired position, to tyrannize over the weak, to get and not give an equivalent for what they get. if a man get from the world more than he gives an equivalent for, to that extent he is a beggar and gets charity, or a thief and steals; at any rate, the rest of the world is so much the poorer for him. the temptation to fraud of this sort, in some of its many forms, is very great. i do not believe that all trade must be gambling or trickery, the merchant a knave or a gambler. i know some men say so. but i do not believe it. i know it is not so now; all actual trade, and profitable too, is not knavery. i know some become rich by deceit. i cannot but think these are the exceptions; that the most successful have had the average honesty and benevolence, with more than the average industry, foresight, prudence and skill. a man foresees future wants of his fellows, and provides for them; sees new resources hitherto undeveloped, anticipates new habits and wants; turns wood, stone, iron, coal, rivers and mountains to human use, and honestly earns what he takes. i am told, by some of their number, that the merchants of this place rank high as men of integrity and honor, above mean cunning, but enterprising, industrious and far-sighted. in comparison with some other places, i suppose it is true. still i must admit the temptation to fraud is a great one; that it is often yielded to. few go to a great extreme of deceit--they are known and exposed: but many to a considerable degree. he that makes haste to be rich is seldom innocent. young men say it is hard to be honest; to do by others as you would wish them to do by you. i know it need not be so. would not a reputation for uprightness and truth be a good capital for any man, old or young? this class owns the machinery of society, in great measure,--the ships, factories, shops, water privileges, houses and the like. this brings into their employment large masses of working men, with no capital but muscles or skill. the law leaves the employed at the employer's mercy. perhaps this is unavoidable. one wishes to sell his work dear, the other to get it cheap as he can. it seems to me no law can regulate this matter, only conscience, reason, the christianity of the two parties. one class is strong, the other weak. in all encounters of these two, on the field of battle, or in the market-place, we know the result: the weaker is driven to the wall. when the earthen and iron vessel strike together, we know beforehand which will go to pieces. the weaker class can seldom tell their tale, so their story gets often suppressed in the world's literature, and told only in outbreaks and revolutions. still the bold men who wrote the bible, old testament and new, have told truths on this theme which others dared not tell--terrible words which it will take ages of christianity to expunge from the world's memory. there is a strong temptation to use one's power of nature or position to the disadvantage of the weak. this may be done consciously or unconsciously. there are examples enough of both. here the merchant deals in the labor of men. this is a legitimate article of traffic, and dealing in it is quite indispensable in the present condition of affairs. in the southern states, the merchant, whether producer, manufacturer or trader, owns men and deals in their labor, or their bodies. he uses their labor, giving them just enough of the result of that labor to keep their bodies in the most profitable working state; the rest of that result he steals for his own use, and by that residue becomes rich and famous. he owns their persons and gets their labor by direct violence, though sanctioned by law. that is slavery. he steals the man and his labor. here it is possible to do a similar thing: i mean it is possible to employ men and give them just enough of the result of their labor to keep up a miserable life, and yourself take all the rest of the result of that labor. this may be done consciously or otherwise, but legally, without direct violence, and without owning the person. this is not slavery, though only one remove from it. this is the tyranny of the strong over the weak; the feudalism of money; stealing a man's work, and not his person. the merchants as a class are exposed to this very temptation. sometimes it is yielded to. some large fortunes have been made in this way. let me mention some extreme cases; one from abroad, one near at home. in belgium the average wages of men in manufactories is less than twenty-seven cents a day. the most skilful women in that calling can earn only twenty cents a day, and many very much less.[ ] in that country almost every seventh man receives charity from the public: the mortality of operatives, in some of the cities, is ten per cent. a year! perhaps that is the worst case which you can find on a large scale even in europe. how much better off are many women in boston who gain their bread by the needle? yes a large class of women in all our great cities? the ministers of the poor can answer that; your police can tell of the direful crime to which necessity sometimes drives women whom honest labor cannot feed! i know it will be said, "buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest; get work at the lowest wages." still there is another view of the case, and i am speaking to men whose professed religion declares that all are brothers, and demands that the strong help the weak. oppression of this sort is one fertile source of pauperism and crime. how much there is of it i know not, but i think men seldom cry unless they are hurt. when men are gathered together in large masses, as in the manufacturing towns, if there is any oppression of this sort, it is sure to get told of, especially in new england. but when a small number are employed, and they isolated from one another, the case is much harder. perhaps no class of laborers in new england is worse treated than the hired help of small proprietors. then, too, there is a temptation to abuse their political power to the injury of the nation, to make laws which seem good for themselves, but are baneful to the people; to control the churches, so that they shall not dare rebuke the actual sins of the nation, or the sins of trade, and so the churches be made apologizers for lowness, practising infidelity as their sacrament, but in the name of christ and god. the ruling power in england once published a volume of sermons, as well as a book of prayers, which the clergy were commanded to preach. what sort of a gospel got recommended therein, you may easily guess; and what is recommended by the class of merchants in new england, you may as easily hear. * * * * * but if their temptations are great, the opportunities of this class for doing good are greater still. their power is more readily useful for good than ill, as all power is. in their calling they direct and control the machinery, the capital, and thereby the productive labor of the whole community. they can as easily direct that well as ill; for the benefit of all, easier than to the injury of any one. they can discover new sources of wealth for themselves, and so for the nation; they can set on foot new enterprises, which shall increase the comfort and welfare of man to a vast degree, and not only that, but enlarge also the number of men, for that always greatens in a nation, as the means of living are made easy. they can bind the rivers, teaching them to weave and spin. the introduction of manufactures into england, and the application of machinery to that purpose, i doubt not has added some millions of new lives to her population in the present century--millions that otherwise would never have lived at all. the introduction of manufactures into the united states, the application of water-power and steam-power to human work, the construction of canals and railroads, has vastly increased the comforts of the living. it helps civilize, educate and refine men; yes, leads to an increase of the number of lives. there are men to whom the public owes a debt which no money could pay, for it is a debt of life. what adequate sum of gold, or what honors could mankind give to columbus, to faustus, to fulton, for their works? he that did the greatest service ever done to mankind got from his age a bad name and a cross for his reward. there are men whom mankind are to thank for thousands of lives; yet men who hold no lofty niche in the temple of fame. by their control of the legislature the merchants can fashion more wisely the institutions of the land, promote the freedom of all, break off traditionary yokes, help forward the public education of the people by the establishment of public schools, public academies, and public colleges. they can frame particular statutes which help and encourage the humble and the weak, laws which prevent the causes of poverty and crime, which facilitate for the poor man the acquisition of property, enabling him to invest his earnings in the most profitable stocks,--laws which bless the living, and so increase the number of lives. they can thus help organize society after the christian idea, and promote the kingdom of heaven. they can make our jails institutions which really render their inmates better, and send them out whole men, safe and sound. we have seen them do this with lunatics, why not with those poor wretches whom now we murder? they too can found houses of cure for drunkards, and men yet more unfortunate when released from our prisons. by their control of the churches, and all our seminaries, public and private, they can encourage freedom of thought; can promote the public morals by urging the clergy to point out and rebuke the sins of the nation, of society, the actual sins of men now living; can encourage them to separate theology from mythology, religion from theology, and then apply that religion to the state, to society and the individual; can urge them to preach both parts of religion--morality, the love of man, and piety, the love of god, setting off both by an appeal to that great soul who was christianity in one person. in this way they have an opportunity of enlarging tenfold the practical value of the churches, and helping weed licentiousness, intemperance, want, and ignorance and sin, clean out of man's garden here. with their encouragement, the clergy would form a noble army contending for the welfare of men--the church militant, but preparing to be soon triumphant. thus laboring, they can put an end to slavery, abolish war, and turn all the nation's creative energies to production--their legitimate work. then they can promote the advance of science, of literature, of the arts--the useful and the beautiful. we see what their famed progenitors did in this way at venice, florence, genoa. i know men say that art cannot thrive in a republic. an opportunity is offered now to prove the falsehood of that speech, to adorn our strength with beauty. a great amount of creative, artistic talent is rising here and seeks employment. they can endow hospitals, colleges, normal schools, found libraries and establish lectures for the welfare of all. he that has the wealth of a king may spend it like a king, not for ostentation, but for use. they can set before men examples of industry, economy, truth, justice, honesty, charity, of religion at her daily work, of manliness in life--all this as no other men. their charities need not stare you in the face; like violets their fragrance may reach you before you see them. the bare mention of these things recalls the long list of benefactors, names familiar to you all--for there is one thing which this city was once more famous for than her enterprise, and that is her charity--the charity which flows in public;--the noiseless stream that shows itself only in the greener growth which marks its path. * * * * * such are the position, temptations, opportunities of this class. what is their practical influence on church and state--on the economy of mankind? what are they doing in the nation? i must judge them by the highest standard that i know, the standard of justice, of absolute religion, not out of my own caprice. bear with me while i attempt to tell the truth, which i have seen. if i see it not, pity me and seek better instruction where you can find it. but if i see a needed truth, and for my own sake refuse to speak, bear with me no more. bid me then repent. i am speaking of men, strong men too, and shall not spare the truth. there is always a conservative element in society; yes, an element which resists the further application of christianity to public affairs. once the fighters and their children were uppermost, and represented that element. then the merchants were reformatory, radical, in collision with the nobles. they were "whigs"--the nobles were "tories." the merchants formed themselves into companies, and got power from the crown to protect themselves against the nobles, whom the crown also feared. it is so in england now. the great revolution in the laws of trade lately effected there, was brought about by the merchants, though opposed by the lords. the anti-corn law league was a trades-union of merchants contending against the owners of the soil. there the lord of land, and by birth, is slowly giving way to the lord of money, who is powerful by his knowledge or his wealth. there will always be such an element in society. here i think it is represented by the merchants. they are backward in all reforms, excepting such as their own interest demands. thus they are blind to the evils of slavery, at least silent about them. how few commercial or political newspapers in the land ever seriously oppose this great national wickedness! nay, how many of them favor its extension and preservation! a few years ago, in this very city, a mob of men, mainly from this class, it is said, insulted honest women peaceably met to consult for the welfare of christian slaves in a christian land--met to pray for them! a merchant of this city says publicly, that a large majority of his brethren would kidnap a fugitive slave in boston; says it with no blush and without contradiction.[ ] it was men of this class who opposed the abolition of the slave-trade, and had it guaranteed them for twenty years after the formation of the constitution; through their instigation that this foul blot was left to defile the republic and gather blackness from age to age; through their means that the nation stands before the world pledged to maintain it. they could end slavery at once, at least could end the national connection with it, but it is through their support that it continues; that it acquires new strength, new boldness, new territory, darkens the nation's fame and hope, delays all other reformations in church and state and the mass of the people. yes, it is through their influence that the chivalry, the wisdom, patriotism, eloquence, yea, religion of the free states, are all silent when the word slavery is pronounced. the senate of massachusetts represents this more than any other class. but all last winter it could not say one word against the wickedness of this sin, allowed to live and grow greater in the land.[ ] just before the last election something could be said! do speech and silence mean the same thing? this class opposed abolishing imprisonment for debt, thinking it endangered trade. they now oppose the progress of temperance and the abolition of the gallows. they see the evils of war; they cannot see its sin; will sustain men who help plunge the nation into its present disgraceful and cowardly conflict; will encourage foolish young men to go and fight in this wicked war. a great man said, or is reported to have said, that perhaps it is not an american habit to consider the natural justice of a war, but to count its cost! a terrible saying that! there is a power which considers its justice, and will demand of us the blood we have wickedly poured out; blood of americans, blood of the mexicans! they favor indirect taxation, which is taxing the poor for the benefit of the rich; they continue to support the causes of poverty; as a class they are blind to this great evil of popular ignorance--the more terrible evils of licentiousness, drunkenness and crime! they can enrich themselves by demoralizing their brothers. i wish it was an american habit to count the cost of that. some "fanatic" will consider its justice. if they see these evils they look not for their cause; at least, strive not to remove that cause. they have long known that every year more money is paid in boston for poison drink to be swallowed on the spot, a drink which does no man any good, which fills your asylums with paupers, your jails with criminals, and houses with unutterable misery in father, mother, wife and child,--more money every year than it would take to build your new aqueduct and bring abundance of water fresh to every house![ ] if they have not known it, why it was their fault, for the fact was there crying to heaven against us all. as they are the most powerful class, the elder brothers, american nobles if you will, it was their duty to look out for their weaker brother. no man has strength for himself alone. to use it for one's self alone, that is a sin. i do not think they are conscious of the evil they do, or the evils they allow. i speak not of motives, only of facts. this class controls the state. the effects of that control appear in our legislation. i know there are some noble men in political life, who have gone there with the loftiest motives, men that ask only after what is right. i honor such men--honor them all the more because they seem exceptions to a general rule; men far above the spirit of any class. i must speak of what commonly takes place. our politics are chiefly mercantile, politics in which money is preferred, and man postponed. when the two come into collision, the man goes to the wall and the street is left clear for the dollars. a few years ago in monarchical france a report was made of the condition of the working population in the large manufacturing towns--a truthful report, but painful to read, for it told of strong men oppressing the weak.[ ] i do not believe that such an undisguised statement of the good and ill could be tolerated in democratic america; no, not of the condition of men in new england; and what would be thought of a book setting forth the condition of the laboring men and women of the south? i know very well what is thought of the few men who attempt to tell the truth on this subject. i think there is no nation in europe, except russia and turkey, which cares so little for the class which reaps down its harvests and does the hard work. when you protect the rights of all, you protect also the property of each and by that very act. to begin the other way is quite contrary to nature. but our politicians cannot say too little for men, nor too much for money. take the politicians most famous and honored at this day, and what have they done? they have labored for a tariff, or for free trade; but what have they done for man? nay, what have they attempted?--to restore natural rights to men notoriously deprived of them; progressively to elevate their material, moral, social condition? i think no one pretends it. even in proclamations for thanksgiving and days of prayer, it is not the most needy we are bid remember. public sins are not pointed out to be repented of. slaveholding states shut up in their jails our colored seamen soon as they arrive in a southern port. a few years ago, at a time of considerable excitement here on the slavery question, a petition was sent from this place by some merchants and others, to one of our senators, praying congress to abate that evil. for a long time that senator could find no opportunity to present the petition. you know how much was said and what was done! had the south demanded every tenth or twentieth bale of "domestics" coming from the north; had a petition relative to that grievance been sent to congress, and a senator unreasonably delayed to present it--how much more would have been said and done; when he came back he would have been hustled out of boston! when south carolina and louisiana sent home our messengers--driving them off with reproach, insult, and danger of their lives--little is said and nothing done. but if the barbarous natives of sumatra interfere with our commerce, why, we send a ship and lay their towns in ruins and murder the men and women! we all know that for some years congress refused to receive petitions relative to slavery; and we know how tamely that was borne by the class who commonly control political affairs! what if congress had refused to receive petitions relative to a tariff, or free trade, to the shipping interest, or the manufacturing interest? when the rights of men were concerned, three million men, only the "fanatics" complained. the political newspapers said "hush!" the merchant-manufacturers want a protective tariff; the merchant-importers, free trade; and so the national politics hinge upon that question. when massachusetts was a carrying state, she wanted free trade; now a manufacturing state, she desires protection. that is all natural enough; men wish to protect their interests, whatsoever they may be. but no talk is made about protecting the labor of the rude man, who has no capital, nor skill, nothing but his natural force of muscles. the foreigner underbids him, monopolizing most of the brute labor of our large towns and internal improvements. there is no protection, no talk of protection for the carpenter, or the bricklayer. i do not complain of that. i rejoice to see the poor wretches of the old world finding a home where our fathers found one before. yet if we cared for men more than for money, and were consistent with our principles of protection, why, we should exclude all foreign workmen, as well as their work, and so raise the wages of the native hands. that would doubtless be very foolish legislation--but perhaps not, on that account, very strange. i know we are told that without protection, our hand-worker, whose capital is his skill, cannot compete with the operative of manchester and brussels, because that operative is paid but little. i know not if it be true, or a mistake. but who ever told us such men could not compete with the slave of south carolina who is paid nothing? we have legislation to protect our own capital against foreign capital; perhaps our own labor against the "pauper of europe;" why not against the slave labor of the southern states? because the controlling class prefers money and postpones man. yet the slave-breeder is protected. he has, i think, the only real monopoly in the land. no importer can legally spoil his market, for the foreign slave is contraband. if i understand the matter, the importation of slaves was allowed, until such men as pleased could accumulate their stock. the reason why it was afterwards forbidden i think was chiefly a mercantile reason: the slave-breeder wanted a monopoly, for god knows and you know that it is no worse to steal grown men in africa than to steal new born babies in maryland, to have them born for the sake of stealing them. free labor may be imported, for it helps the merchant-producer and the merchant-manufacturer. slave labor is declared contraband, for the merchant-slave-breeders want a monopoly. this same preference of money over men appears in many special statutes. in most of our manufacturing companies the capital is divided into shares so large that a poor man cannot invest therein! this could easily be avoided. a man steals a candlestick out of a church, and goes to the state prison for a year and a day. another quarrels with a man, maims him for life, and is sent to the common jail for six months. a bounty is paid, or was until lately, on every gallon of intoxicating drink manufactured here and sent out of the country. if we begin with taking care of the rights of man, it seems easy to take care of the rights of labor and of capital. to begin the other way is quite another thing. a nation making laws for the nation is a noble sight. the government of all, by all, and for all, is a democracy. when that government follows the eternal laws of god, it is founding what christ called the kingdom of heaven. but the predominating class making laws not for the nation's good, but only for its own, is a sad spectacle; no reasoning can make it other than a sorry sight. to see able men prostituting their talents to such a work, that is one of the saddest sights! i know all other nations have set us the example, yet it is painful to see it followed, and here. our politics, being mainly controlled by this class, are chiefly mercantile, the politics of peddlers. so political management often becomes a trick. hence we have many politicians, and raise a harvest of them every year, that crop never failing, party-men who can legislate for a class; but we have scarce one great statesman who can step before his class, beyond his age, and legislate for a whole nation, leading the people and giving us new ideas to incarnate in the multitude, his word becoming flesh. we have not planters, but trimmers! a great statesman never came of mercantile politics, only of politics considered as the national application of religion to life. our political morals, you all know what they are, the morals of a huckster. this is no new thing; the same game was played long ago in venice, pisa, florence, and the result is well known. a merely mercantile politician is very sharp-sighted and perhaps far-sighted, but a dollar will cover the whole field of his vision and he can never see through it. the number of slaves in the united states is considerably greater than our whole population when we declared independence, yet how much talk will a tariff make, or a public dinner; how little the welfare of three million men! said i not truly, our most famous politicians are, in the general way, only mercantile party-men? which of these men has shown the most interest in those three million slaves? the man who in the senate of a christian republic valued them at twelve hundred million dollars! shall respectable men say, "we do not care what sort of a government the people have, so long as we get our dividends." some say so; many men do not say that, but think so and act accordingly! the government, therefore, must be so arranged that they get their dividends. this class of men buys up legislators, consciously or not, and pays them, for value received. yes, so great is its daring and its conscious power, that we have recently seen our most famous politician bought up, the stoutest understanding that one finds now extant in this whole nineteenth century, perhaps the ablest head since napoleon. none can deny his greatness, his public services in times past, nor his awful power of intellect. i say we have seen him, a senator of the united states, pensioned by this class, or a portion thereof, and thereby put mainly in their hands! when a whole nation rises up and publicly throws its treasures at the feet of a great man who has stood forth manfully contending for the nation, and bids him take their honors and their gold as a poor pay for noble works, why that sight is beautiful, the multitude shouting hosanna to their king, and spreading their garments underneath his feet! man is loyal, and such honors so paid, and to such, are doubly gracious; becoming alike to him that takes and those who give. yes, when a single class, to whom some man has done a great service, goes openly and makes a memorial thereof in gold and honors paid to him, why that also is noble and beautiful. but when a single class, in a country where political doings are more public than elsewhere in the whole world, secretly buys up a man, in high place and world-famous, giving him a retaining fee for life, why the deed is one i do not wish to call by name! could such men do this without a secret shame? i will never believe it of my countrymen.[ ] a gift blinds a wise man's eyes, perverts the words even of the righteous, stopping his mouth with gold so that he cannot reprove a wrong! but there is an absolute justice which is neither bought nor sold! i know other nations have done the same and with like effect. fight with silver weapons, said the delphic oracle, and you'll conquer all. it has always been the craft of despots to buy up aspiring talent; some with a title; some with gold. allegiance to the sovereign is the same thing on both sides of the water, whether the sovereign be an eagle or a guinea. some american, it is said, wrote the lord's prayer on one side of a dime, and the ten commandments on the other. the constitution and a considerable commentary might perhaps be written on the two sides of a dollar! this class controls the churches, as the state. let me show the effect of that control. i am not to try men in a narrow way, by my own theological standard, but by the standard of manliness and christianity. as a general rule, the clergy are on the side of power. all history proves this, our own most abundantly. the clergy also are unconsciously bought up, their speech paid for, or their silence. as a class, did they ever denounce a public sin? a popular sin? perhaps they have. do they do it now and here? take boston for the last ten years, and i think there has been more clerical preaching against the abolitionists than against slavery; perhaps more preaching against the temperance movement than in its favor. with the exception of disbelieving the popular theology, your evangelical alliance knows no sin but "original sin," unless indeed it be "organic sins," which no one is to blame for; no sinner but adam and the devil; no saving righteousness but the "imputed." i know there are exceptions, and i would go far to do them honor, pious men who lift up a warning, yes, bear christian testimony against public sins. i am speaking of the mass of the clergy. christ said the priests of his time had made a den of thieves out of god's house of prayer. now they conform to the public sins and apologize for popular crime. it is a good thing to forgive an offence: who does not need that favor and often? but to forgive the theory of crime, to have a theory which does that, is quite another thing. large cities are alike the court and camp of the mercantile class, and what i have just said is more eminently true of the clergy in such towns. let me give an example. not long ago the unitarian clergy published a protest against american slavery. it was moderate, but firm, and manly. almost all the clergy in the country signed it. in the large towns few: they mainly young men and in the least considerable churches. the young men seemed not to understand their contract, for the essential part of an ecclesiastical contract is sometimes written between the lines and in sympathetic ink. is a steamboat burned or lost on the waters, how many preach on that affliction! yet how few preached against the war? a preacher may say he hates it as a man, no words could describe his loathing at it, but as a minister of christ, he dares not say a word! what clergymen tell of the sins of boston,--of intemperance, licentiousness; who of the ignorance of the people; who of them lays bare our public sin as christ of old; who tells the causes of poverty, and thousand-handed crime; who aims to apply christianity to business, to legislation, politics, to all the nation's life? once the church was the bride of christ, living by his creative, animating love; her children were apostles, prophets, men by the same spirit, variously inspired with power to heal, to help, to guide mankind. now she seems the widow of christ, poorly living on the dower of other times. nay, the christ is not dead, and 'tis her alimony, not her dower. her children--no such heroic sons gather about her table as before. in her dotage she blindly shoves them off, not counting men as sons of christ. is her day gone by? the clergy answer the end they were bred for, paid for. will they say, "we should lose our influence were we to tell of this and do these things?"[ ] it is not true. their ancient influence is already gone! who asks, "what do the clergy think of the tariff, or free trade, of annexation, or the war, of slavery, or the education movement?" why no man. it is sad to say these things. would god they were not true. look round you, and if you can, come tell me they are false. we are not singular in this. in all lands the clergy favors the controlling class. bossuet would make the monarchy swallow up all other institutions, as in history he sacrificed all nations to the jews. in england the established clergy favors the nobility, the crown, not the people; opposes all freedom of trade, all freedom in religion, all generous education of the people: its gospel is the gospel for a class, not christ's gospel for mankind. here also the sovereign is the head of the church, it favors the prevailing power, represents the morality, the piety which chances to be popular, nor less nor more; the christianity of the street, not of christ. here trade takes the place of the army, navy, and court in other lands. that is well, but it takes also the place in great measure of science, art and literature. so we become vulgar, and have little but trade to show. the rich man's son seldom devotes himself to literature, science, or art; only to getting more money, or to living in idleness on what he has inherited. when money is the end, what need to look for any thing more? he degenerates into the class of consumers, and thinks it an honor. he is ashamed of his father's blood, proud of his gold. a good deal of scientific labor meets with no reward, but itself. in our country this falls almost wholly upon poor men. literature, science and art are mainly in their hands, yet are controlled by the prevalent spirit of the nation. here and there an exceptional man differs from that, but the mass of writers conform. in england, the national literature favors the church, the crown, the nobility, the prevailing class. another literature is rising, but is not yet national, still less canonized. we have no american literature which is permanent. our scholarly books are only an imitation of a foreign type; they do not reflect our morals, manners, politics, or religion, not even our rivers, mountains, sky. they have not the smell of our ground in their breath. the real american literature is found only in newspapers and speeches, perhaps in some novel, hot, passionate, but poor, and extemporaneous. that is our national literature. does that favor man--represent man? certainly not. all is the reflection of this most powerful class. the truths that are told are for them, and the lies. therein the prevailing sentiment is getting into the form of thought. politics represent the morals of the controlling class, the morals and manners of rich peter and david on a large scale. look at that index, you would sometimes think you were not in the senate of a great nation, but in a board of brokers, angry and higgling about stocks. once in the nation's loftiest hour, she rose inspired and said: "all men are born equal, each with unalienable rights; that is self-evident." now she repents her of the vision and the saying. it does not appear in her literature, nor church, nor state. instead of that, through this controlling class, the nation says: "all dollars are equal, however got; each has unalienable rights. let no man question that!" this appears in literature and legislation, church and state. the morals of a nation, of its controlling class, always get summed up in its political action. that is the barometer of the moral weather. the voters are always fairly represented. * * * * * the wicked baron, bad of heart, and bloody of hand, has passed off with the ages which gave birth to such a brood, but the bad merchant still lives. he cheats in his trade; sometimes against the law, commonly with it. his truth is never wholly true, nor his lie wholly false. he overreaches the ignorant; makes hard bargains with men in their trouble, for he knows that a falling man will catch at red-hot iron. he takes the pound of flesh, though that bring away all the life-blood with it. he loves private contracts, digging through walls in secret. no interest is illegal if he can get it. he cheats the nation with false invoices, and swears lies at the custom-house; will not pay his taxes, but moves out of town on the last of april.[ ] he oppresses the men who sail his ships, forcing them to be temperate, only that he may consume the value of their drink. he provides for them unsuitable bread and meat. he would not engage in the african slave-trade, for he might lose his ships and perhaps more; but he is always ready to engage in the american slave-trade, and calls you a "fanatic" if you tell him it is the worse of the two. he cares not whether he sells cotton or the man who wears it, if he only gets the money; cotton or negro, it is the same to him. he would not keep a drink-hole in ann street, only own and rent it. he will bring or make whole cargoes of the poison that deals "damnation round the land." he thinks it vulgar to carry rum about in a jug, respectable in a ship. he makes paupers, and leaves others to support them. tell not him of the misery of the poor, he knows better; nor of our paltry way of dealing with public crime, he wants more jails and a speedier gallows. you see his character in letting his houses, his houses for the poor. he is a stone in the lame man's shoe. he is the poor man's devil. the hebrew devil that so worried job is gone; so is the brutal devil that awed our fathers. nobody fears them; they vanish before cock-crowing. but this devil of the nineteenth century is still extant. he has gone into trade, and advertises in the papers; his name is "good" in the street. he "makes money;" the world is poorer by his wealth. he spends it as he made it, like a devil, on himself, his family alone, or worse yet, for show. he can build a church out of his gains, to have his morality, his christianity preached in it, and call that the gospel, as aaron called a calf--god. he sends rum and missionaries to the same barbarians, the one to damn, the other to "save," both for his own advantage, for his patron saint is judas, the first saint who made money out of christ. ask not him to do a good deed in private, "men would not know it," and "the example would be lost;" so he never lets a dollar slip out between his thumb and finger without leaving his mark on both sides of it. he is not forecasting to discern effects in causes, nor skilful to create new wealth, only spry in the scramble for what others have made. it is easy to make a bargain with him, hard to settle. in politics he wants a government that will insure his dividends; so asks what is good for him, but ill for the rest. he knows no right, only power; no man but self; no god but his calf of gold. what effect has he on young men? they had better touch poison. if he takes you to his heart, he takes you in. what influence on society? to taint and corrupt it all round. he contaminates trade; corrupts politics, making abusive laws, not asking for justice but only dividends. to the church he is the anti-christ. yes, the very devil, and frightens the poor minister into shameful silence, or, more shameless yet, into an apology for crime; makes him pardon the theory of crime! let us look on that monster--look and pass by, not without prayer. the good merchant tells the truth and thrives by that; is upright and downright; his word good as his bible-oath. he pays for all he takes; though never so rich he owns no wicked dollar; all is openly, honestly, manfully earned, and a full equivalent paid for it. he owns money and is worth a man. he is just in business with the strong; charitable in dealing with the weak. his counting-room or his shop is the sanctuary of fairness, justice, a school of uprightness as well as thrift. industry and honor go hand in hand with him. he gets rich by industry and forecast, not by slight of hand and shuffling his cards to another's loss. no men become the poorer because he is rich. he would sooner hurt himself than wrong another, for he is a man, not a fox. he entraps no man with lies, active or passive. his honesty is better capital than a sharper's cunning. yet he makes no more talk about justice and honesty than the sun talks of light and heat; they do their own talking. his profession of religion is all practice. he knows that a good man is just as near heaven in his shop as in his church, at work as at prayer; so he makes all work sacramental; he communes with god and man in buying and selling--communion in both kinds. he consecrates his week-day and his work. christianity appears more divine in this man's deeds than in the holiest words of apostle or saint. he treats every man as he wishes all to treat him, and thinks no more of that than of carrying one for every ten. it is the rule of his arithmetic. you know this man is a saint, not by his creed, but by the letting of his houses, his treatment of all that depend on him. he is a father to defend the weak, not a pirate to rob them. he looks out for the welfare of all that he employs; if they are his help he is theirs, and as he is the strongest so the greater help. his private prayer appears in his public work, for in his devotion he does not apologize for his sin, but asking to outgrow that, challenges himself to new worship and more piety. he sets on foot new enterprises which develop the nation's wealth and help others while they help him. he wants laws that take care of man's rights, knowing that then he can take care of himself and of his own, but hurt no man by so doing. he asks laws for the weak, not against them. he would not take vengeance on the wicked, but correct them. his justice tastes of charity. he tries to remove the causes of poverty, licentiousness, of all crime, and thinks that is alike the duty of church and state. ask not him to make a statesman a party-man, or the churches an apology for his lowness. he knows better; he calls that infidelity. he helps the weak help themselves. he is a moral educator, a church of christ gone into business, a saint in trade. the catholic saint who stood on a pillar's top, or shut himself into a den and fed on grass, is gone to his place--that christian nebuchadnezzar. he got fame in his day. no man honors him now; nobody even imitates him. but the saint of the nineteenth century is the good merchant; he is wisdom for the foolish, strength for the weak, warning to the wicked, and a blessing to all. build him a shrine in bank and church, in the market and the exchange, or build it not, no saint stands higher than this saint of trade. there are such men, rich and poor, young and old; such men in boston. i have known more than one such, and far greater and better than i have told of, for i purposely under-color this poor sketch. they need no word of mine for encouragement or sympathy. have they not christ and god to aid and bless them? would that some word of mine might stir the heart of others to be such; your hearts, young men. they rise there clean amid the dust of commerce and the mechanic's busy life, and stand there like great square pyramids in the desert amongst the arabians' shifting tents. look at them, ye young men, and be healed of your folly. it is not the calling which corrupts the man, but the men the calling. the most experienced will tell you so. i know it demands manliness to make a man, but god sent you here to do that work. the duty of this class is quite plain. they control the wealth, the physical strength, the intellectual vigor of the nation. they now display an energy new and startling. no ocean is safe from their canvas; they fill the valleys; they level the hills; they chain the rivers; they urge the willing soil to double harvests. nature opens all her stores to them; like the fabled dust of egypt her fertile bosom teems with new wonders, new forces to toil for man. no race of men in times of peace ever displayed so manly an enterprise, an energy so vigorous as this class here in america. nothing seems impossible to them. the instinct of production was never so strong and creative before. they are proving that peace can stimulate more than war. would that my words could reach all of this class. think not i love to speak hard words, and so often; say not that i am setting the poor against the rich. it is no such thing. i am trying to set the strong in favor of the weak. i speak for man. are you not all brothers, rich or poor? i am here to gratify no vulgar ambition, but in religion's name to tell their duty to the most powerful class in all this land. i must speak the truth i know, though i may recoil with trembling at the words i speak; yes, though their flame should scorch my own lips. some of the evils i complain of are your misfortune, not your fault. perhaps the best hearts in the land, no less than the ablest heads, are yours. if the evils be done unconsciously, then it will be greatness to be higher than society, and with your good overcome its evil. all men see your energy, your honor, your disciplined intellect. let them see your goodness, justice, christianity. the age demands of you a development of religion proportionate with the vigor of your mind and arms. trade is silently making a wonderful revolution. we live in the midst of it, and therefore see it not. all property has become movable, and therefore power departs from the family of the first-born, and comes to the family of mankind. god only controls this revolution, but you can help it forward, or retard it. the freedom of labor, and the freedom of trade, will work wonders little dreamed of yet; one is now uniting all men of the same nation; the other, some day, will weave all tribes together into one mighty family. then who shall dare break its peace? i cannot now stop to tell half the proud achievements i foresee resulting from the fierce energy that animates your yet unconscious hearts. men live faster than ever before. life, like money, like mechanical power, is getting intensified and condensed. the application of science to the arts, the use of wind, water, steam, electricity, for human works, is a wonderful fact, far greater than the fables of old time. the modern cadmus has yoked fire and water in an iron bond. the new prometheus sends the fire of heaven from town to town to run his errands. we talk by lightning. even now these new achievements have greatly multiplied the powers of men. they belong to no class; like air and water they are the property of mankind. it is for you, who own the machinery of society, to see that no class appropriates to itself what god meant for all. remember it is as easy to tyrannize by machinery as by armies, and as wicked; that it is greater now to bless mankind thereby, than it was of old to conquer new realms. let men not curse you, as the old nobility, and shake you off, smeared with blood and dust. turn your power to goodness, its natural transfiguration, and men shall bless your name, and god bless your soul. if you control the nation's politics, then it is your duty to legislate for the nation,--for man. you may develop the great national idea, the equality of all men; may frame a government which shall secure man's unalienable rights. it is for you to organize the rights of man, thus balancing into harmony the man and the many, to organize the rights of the hand, the head, and the heart. if this be not done, the fault is yours. if the nation play the tyrant over her weakest child, if she plunder and rob the feeble indian, the feebler mexican, the negro, feebler yet, why the blame is yours. remember there is a god who deals justly with strong and weak. the poor and the weak have loitered behind in the march of man; our cities yet swarm with men half-savage. it is for you, ye elder brothers, to lead forth the weak and poor! if you do the national duty that devolves on you, then are you the saviors of your country, and shall bless not that alone, but all the thousand million sons of men. toil then for that. if the church is in your hands, then make it preach the christian truth. let it help the free development of religion in the self-consciousness of man, with jesus for its pattern. it is for you to watch over this work, promote it, not retard. help build the american church. the roman church has been, we know what it was, and what men it bore; the english church yet stands, we know what it is. but the church of america--which shall represent american vigor aspiring to realize the ideas of christianity, of absolute religion,--that is not yet. no man has come with pious genius fit to conceive its litany, to chant its mighty creed, and sing its beauteous psalm. the church of america, the church of freedom, of absolute religion, the church of mankind, where truth, goodness, piety, form one trinity of beauty, strength, and grace--when shall it come? soon as we will. it is yours to help it come. for these great works you may labor; yes, you are laboring, when you help forward justice, industry, when you promote the education of the people; when you practise, public and private, the virtues of a christian man; when you hinder these seemingly little things, you hinder also the great. you are the nation's head, and if the head be wilful and wicked, what shall its members do and be? to this class let me say: remember your position at the head of the nation; use it not as pirates, but americans, christians, men. remember your temptations, and be warned in time. remember your opportunities--such as no men ever had before. god and man alike call on you to do your duty. elevate your calling still more; let its nobleness appear in you. scorn a mean thing. give the world more than you take. you are to serve the nation, not it you; to build the church, not make it a den of thieves, nor allow it to apologize for your crime, or sloth. try this experiment and see what comes of it. in all things govern yourselves by the eternal law of right. you shall build up not a military despotism, nor a mercantile oligarchy, but a state, where the government is of all, by all, and for all; you shall found not a feudal theocracy, nor a beggarly sect, but the church of mankind, and that christ which is the same yesterday, to-day and for ever, will dwell in it, to guide, to warn, to inspire, and to bless all men. and you, my brothers, what shall you become? not knaves, higgling rather than earn; not tyrants, to be feared whilst living, and buried at last amid popular hate; but men, who thrive best by justice, reason, conscience, and have now the blessedness of just men making themselves perfect. footnotes: [ ] i gather these facts from a review of major poussin's _belgique et les belges, depuis _, in a foreign journal. the condition of the merchant manufacturer i know not. [ ] subsequent events (in and ) show that he was right in his statement. what was thought calumny then has become history since, and is now the glory and boast of boston. [ ] mr. _robert j. walker_ published a letter in favor of the annexation of texas. in it he said: "upon the refusal of re-annexation ... the tariff as a practical measure falls wholly and for ever, and we shall thereafter be compelled to resort to direct taxes to support the government." notwithstanding this foolish threat, a large number of citizens of massachusetts remonstrated against annexation. the house of representatives, by a large majority, passed a resolve declaring that massachusetts "announces her uncompromising opposition to the further extension of american slavery," and "declares her earnest and unalterable purpose to use every lawful and constitutional measure for its overthrow and entire extinction," etc. but the senate voted that the resistance of the state was already sufficient! the passage in the text refers to these circumstances. [ ] it was then thought that the aqueduct would cost but $ , , . [ ] i refer to the report of m. villerme, in the _mémoires de l'institut, tom._ lxxi. [ ] this was printed in . in , and since, these men have publicly gloried in a similar act even more atrocious. [ ] keble, in one of his poems, represents a mother seeing her sportive son "enacting holy rites," and thus describes her emotions: "she sees in heart an empty throne, and falling, falling far away, him whom the lord hath placed thereon: she hears the dread proclaimer say, 'cast ye the lot, in trembling cast, the traitor to his place hath past,-- strive ye with prayer and fast to guide the dangerous glory where it shall abide.'" [ ] it is the custom in massachusetts to tax men in the place where they reside, on the first day of may; as the taxes differ very much in different towns of the same state, it is easy for a man to escape the burden of taxation. viii. a sermon of the dangerous classes in society.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, january , . matthew xviii. . if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? we are first babies, then children, then youths, then men. it is so with the nation; so with mankind. the human race started with no culture, no religion, no morals, even no manners, having only desires and faculties within, and the world without. now we have attained much more. but it has taken many centuries for mankind to pass from primeval barbarism to the present stage of comfort, science, civilization, and refinement. it has been the work of two hundred generations; perhaps of more. but each new child is born at the foot of the ladder, as much as the first child; with only desires and faculties. he may have a better physical organization than the first child; he certainly has better teachers; but he, in like manner, is born with no culture, no religion, no morals, even with no manners; born into them, not with them; born bare of these things and naked as the first child. he must himself toil up the ladder which mankind have been so long in constructing and climbing up. to attain the present civilization he must pass over every point which the race passed through. the child of the civilized man, born with a good organization and under favorable circumstances, can do this rapidly, and in thirty or forty years attains the height of development which it took the whole human race sixty centuries or more to arrive at. he has the aid of past experience and the examples of noble men; he travels a road already smooth and beaten. the world's cultivation, so slowly and painfully achieved, helps civilize him. he may then go further on, and cultivate himself; may transcend the development of mankind, adding new rounds to the ladder. so doing he aids future children, who will one day climb above his head, he possibly crying against them,--that they climb only to fall, and thereby sweep off him and all below; that no new rounds can be added to the old ladder. still, after all the helps which our fathers have provided, every future child must go through the same points which we and our predecessors passed through, only more swiftly. every boy has his animal period, when he can only eat and sleep, intelligence slowly dawning on his mind. then comes his savage period, when he knows nothing of rights, when all thine is mine to him, if he can get it. then comes his barbarous period, when he is ignorant and dislikes to learn; study and restraint are irksome. he hates the school, disobeys his mother; has reverence for nobody. nothing is sacred to him--no time, nor place, nor person. he would grow up wild. the greater part of children travel beyond this stage. the unbearable boy becomes a tolerable youth; then a powerful man. he loves his duty; outstrips the men that once led him so unwilling and reluctant, and will set hard lessons for his grandsire which that grandsire, perhaps, will not learn. the young learns of the old, mounts the ladder they mounted and the ladder they made. the reverse is seldom true, that the old climbs the ladder which the young have made, and over that storms new heights. now and then you see it, but such are extraordinary and marvellous men. in the old story saturn did not take pains to understand his children, nor learn thereof; he only devoured them up, till some outgrew and overmastered him. did the generation that is passing from the stage ever comprehend and fairly judge the new generation coming on? in the world, the barbarian passes on and becomes the civilized, then the enlightened. in the physical process of growth from the baby to the man, there is no direct intervention of the will. therefore the process goes on regularly, and we do not see abortive men who have advanced in years, but stopped growth in their babyhood, or boyhood. but as the will is the soul of personality, so to say, the heart of intellect, morals and religion, so the force thereof may promote, retard, disturb, and perhaps for a time completely arrest the progress of intellectual, moral and religious growth. still more, this spiritual development of men is hindered or promoted by subtle causes hitherto little appreciated. hence, by reason of these outward or internal hinderances, you find persons and classes of men who do not attain the average culture of mankind, but stop at some lower stage of this spiritual development, or else loiter behind the rest. you even find whole nations whose progress is so slow, that they need the continual aid of the more civilized to quicken their growth. outward circumstances have a powerful influence on this development. if a single class in a nation lingers behind the rest, the cause thereof will commonly be found in some outward hinderance. they move in a resisting medium, and therefore with abated speed. no one expects the same progress from a russian serf and a free man of new england. i do not deny that in the case of some men personal will is doubtless the disturbing force. i am not now to go beyond that fact, and inquire how the will became as it is. here is a man who, from whatever cause, is bodily ill-born, with defective organs. he stops in the animal period; is incapable of any considerable degree of development, intellectual, moral, or religious. the defect is in his body. others disturbed by more occult causes do not attain their proper growth. this man wishes to stop in his savage period, he would be a freebooter, a privateer against society, having universal letters-of-marque and reprisal; a perpetual arab, his rule is to get what he can, as he will and where he pleases, to keep what he gets. another stops at the barbarous age. he is lazy and will not work, others must bear his share of the general burden of mankind. he claims letters patent to make all men serve him. he is not only indolent, constitutionally lazy, but lazy, consciously and wilfully idle. he will not work, but in one form or another will beg or steal. yet a fourth stops in the half-civilized period. he will work with his hands, but no more. he cannot discover; he will not study to learn; he will not even be taught what has been invented and taught before. none can teach him. the horse is led to the water, or the water brought to the horse, but the beast will not drink. "the idle fool is whipt at school," but to no purpose. he is always an oaf. no college or tutor mends him. the wild ass will go out free, wild, and an ass. these four, the idiot, the pirate, the thief, and the clown are exceptional men. they remain stationary. meanwhile, mankind advances, continually, but not with an even front. the human race moves not by column or line, but by _échelon_ as it were. we go up by stairs, not by slopes. now comes a great man, of far-reaching and prospective sight, a moses, and he tells men that there is a land of promise, which they have a right to who have skill to win it. then lesser men, the calebs and joshuas, go and search it out, bringing back therefrom new wine in the cluster and alluring tales. next troops of pioneers advance, yet lesser men; then a few bold men who love adventure. then comes the army, the people with their flocks and herds, the priesthood with their ark of the covenant and the tabernacle, the title-deeds of the new lands which they have heard of but not seen. at last there comes the mixed multitude, following in no order, but not without shouting and tumult, men treading one another under foot, cowards looking back and refusing to march, old men dying without seeing their consolation. if you will lie down on the ground and take the profile of a great city, and see how hill, steeple, dome, tower, the roof of the tall house, gain on the sky, and then come whole streets of warehouses and shops, then common dwellings, then cheap, low tenements, you will have a good profile of man's march to gain new conquests in science, art, morals, religion, and general development. it is so in the family, a bright boy shooting before all the rest, and taking the thunder out of the adverse cloud for his brothers and sisters, who follow and grow rich with unscathed forehead. it is so in the nation, a few great men bearing the brunt of the storm, and wading through the surges to set their weaker brothers, screaming and struggling, with dry feet, in safety, on the firm land of science or religion. it is so in the world, a tall nation achieving art, science, law, morals, religion, and by the fact revealing their beauty to the barbarian race. in all departments of human concern there are such pioneers for the family, the nation or mankind. it is instructive to study this law of human progress, to see the de gamas and columbuses, aspiring men who dream of worlds to come and lead the perilous van; to see the vespuccis, the cortezes, the pizarros, who get rank and fame by following in their track; to see next the merchant adventurers, soldiers, sutlers and the like, who make money out of the new conquest, while the great discoverers had for meet reward the joy of their genius, the nobleness of their work, a sight of the world's future welfare from the prophet's mountain--a hard life, a bad name, and a grave unknown. now while there are those men in the van of society, who aspire at more, chiding and taxing mankind with idleness, cowardice, and even sin, there are yet those others who loiter on the way, from weakness or wilfulness, refusing to advance--idlers, cowards, sinners. if born in the rear, afar from civilization, they are left to die--the savages, the inferior races, the perishing classes of the world. if born in the centre of civilization, for a while they impede the march by actively hindering others, by standing in their way, or by plundering the rest--the dangerous classes of society. they too are slain and trodden under foot of men, and likewise perish. in most large families there is a bad boy, a black sheep in the flock, an ishmael whom abraham will drive out into the wilderness, to meet an angel if he can find one. that story of hagar and her son is very old, but verified anew each year in families and nations. so in society there are criminals who do not keep up with the moral advance of the mass, stragglers from the march, whom society treats as abraham his base-born boy, but sending them off with no loaf or skin of water, not even a blessing, but a curse; sending them off as cain went, with a bad name and a mark on their forehead! so in the world there are inferior nations, savage, barbarous, half-civilized; some are inferior in nature, some perhaps only behind us in development; on a lower form in the great school of providence--negroes, indians, mexicans, irish, and the like, whom the world treats as ishmael and the gibeonites got treated: now their land is stolen from them in war; their children, or their persons, are annexed to the strong as slaves. the civilized continually preys on the savage, reannexing their territory and stealing their persons--owning them or claiming their work. esau is rough and hungry, jacob smooth and well fed. the smooth man overreaches the rough; buys his birthright for a mess of pottage; takes the ground from underneath his feet, thereby supplanting his brother. so the elder serves the younger, and the fresh civilization, strong, and sometimes it may be wicked also, overmasters the ruder age that is contented to stop. the young man now a barbarian will come up one day and take all our places, making us seem ridiculous, nothing but timid conservatives! all these three, the reputed pests of the family, society, and the world, are but loiterers from the march, bad boys, or dull ones. criminals are a class of such; savages are nations thereof--classes or nations that for some cause do not keep up with the movement of mankind. the same human nature is in us all, only there it is not so highly developed. yet the bad boy, who to-day is a curse to the mother that bore him, would perhaps have been accounted brave and good in the days of the conqueror; the dangerous class might have fought in the crusades and been reckoned soldiers of the lord whose chance for heaven was most auspicious. the savage nations would have been thought civilized in the days when "there was no smith in israel." david would make a sorry figure among the present kings of europe, and abraham would be judged of by a standard not known in his time. there have been many centuries in which the pirate, the land-robber and the murderer were thought the greatest of men. now it becomes a serious question, what shall be done for these stragglers, or even with them? it is sometimes a terrible question to the father and mother what they shall do for their reprobate son who is an offence to the neighborhood, a shame, a reproach and a heart-burning to them. it is a sad question to society, what shall be done with the criminals--thieves, housebreakers, pirates, murderers? it is a serious question to the world, what is to become of the humbler nations--irish, mexicans, malays, indians, negroes? in the world and in society the question is answered in about the same way. in a low civilization, the instinct of self-preservation is the strongest of all. they are done with, not for; are done away with. it is the old testament answer:--the inferior nation is hewn to pieces, the strong possess their lands, their cities, their cattle, their persons, also, if they will; the class of criminals gets the prophet's curse: the two bears, the jail and the gallows, eat them up. in the family alone is the christian answer given; the good shepherd goes forth to seek the one sheep that has strayed and gone, lost upon the mountains; the father goes out after the poor prodigal, whom the swine's meat could not feed nor fill.[ ] the world, which is the society of nations, and society, which is the family of classes, still belong mainly to the "old dispensation," heathen or hebrew, the period of force. in the family there is a certain instinctive love binding the parent to the child, and therefore a certain unity of action, growing out of that love. so the father feels his kinship to his boy, though a reprobate; looks for the causes of his son's folly or sin, and strives to cure him; at least to do something for him, not merely with him. the spirit of christianity comes into the family, but the recognition of human brotherhood stops mainly there. it does not reach throughout society; it has little influence on national politics or international law--on the affairs of the world taken as a whole. i know the idea of human brotherhood has more influence now than hitherto; i think in new england it has a wider scope, a higher range, and works with more power than elsewhere. our hearts bleed for the starving thousands of ireland, whom we only read of; for the down-trodden slave, though of another race and dyed by heaven with another hue; yes, for the savage and the suffering everywhere. the hand of our charity goes through every land. if there is one quality for which the men of new england may be proud it is this, their sympathy with suffering man. still we are far from the christian ideal. we still drive out of society the ishmaels and esaus. this we do not so much from ill-will as want of thought, but thereby we lose the strength of these outcasts. so much water runs over the dam--wasted and wasting! * * * * * in all these melancholy cases what is it best to do? what shall the parents do to mend their dull boy, or their wicked one? there are two methods which may be tried. one is the method of force, sometimes referred to solomon, and recommended by the maxim, "spare not the rod and spoil the child." that is the old testament way, "stripes are prepared for the fool's back." the mischief is, they leave it no wiser than they found it. by the law of the hebrews, a man brought his stubborn and rebellious son before the magistrates and deposed: "this our son is stubborn and rebellious: he will not obey our voice. he is a glutton and a drunkard." thereupon, the men of the city stoned him with stones and so "put away the evil from amongst them!" that was the method of force. it may bruise the body; it may fill men with fear; it may kill. i think it never did any other good. it belonged to a rude and bloody age. i may ask intelligent men who have tried it, and i think they will confess it was a mistake. i think i may ask intelligent men on whom it has been tried, and they will say, "it was a mistake on my father's part, but a curse to me!" i know there are exceptions to that reply; still i think it will be general. a man is seldom elevated by an appeal to low motives; always by addressing what is high and manly within him. is fear of physical pain the highest element you can appeal to in a child; the most effectual? i do not see how satan can be cast out by satan. i think a saviour never tries it. yet this method of force is brief and compact. it requires no patience, no thought, no wisdom for its application, and but a moment's time. for this reason, i think, it is still retained in some families and many schools, to the injury alike of all concerned. blows and violent words are not correction, often but an adjournment of correction: sometimes only an actual confession of inability to correct. the other is the method of love, and of wisdom not the less. force may hide, and even silence effects for a time; it removes not the real causes of evil. by the method of love and wisdom the parents remove the causes; they do not kill the demoniac, they cast out the demon, not by letting in beelzebub, the chief devil, but by the finger of god. they redress the child's folly and evil birth by their own wisdom and good breeding. the day drives out and off the night. sometimes you see that worthy parents have a weak and sickly child, feeble in body. no pains are too great for them to take in behalf of the faint and feeble one. what self-denial of the father; what sacrifice on the mother's part! the best of medical skill is procured; the tenderest watching is not spared. no outlay of money, time, or sacrifice is thought too much to save the child's life; to insure a firm constitution and make that life a blessing. the able-bodied children can take care of themselves, but not the weak. so the affection of father and mother centres on this sickly child. by extraordinary attention the feeble becomes strong; the deformed is transformed, and the grown man, strong and active, blesses his mother for health not less than life. did you ever see a robin attend to her immature and callow child which some heedless or wicked boy had stolen from the nest, wounded and left on the ground, half living; left to perish? patiently she brings food and water, gives it kind nursing. tenderly she broods over it all night upon the ground, sheltering its tortured body from the cold air of night and morning's penetrating dew. she perils herself; never leaves it--not till life is gone. that is nature; the strong protecting the feeble. human nature may pause and consider the fowls of the air, whence the greatest once drew his lessons. human history, spite of all its tears and blood, is full of beauty and majestic worth. but it shows few things so fair as the mother watching thus over her sickly and deformed child, feeding him with her own life. what if she forewent her native instinct and the mother said, "my boy is deformed, a cripple--let him die?" where would be the more hideous deformity? if his child be dull, slow-witted, what pains will a good father take to instruct him; still more if he is vicious, born with a low organization, with bad propensities--what admonitions will he administer; what teachers will he consult; what expedients will he try; what prayers will he not pray for his stubborn and rebellious son! though one experiment fail, he tries another, and then again, reluctant to give over. did it never happen to one of you to be such a child, to have outgrown that rebellion and wickedness? remember the pains taken with you; remember the agony your mother felt; the shame that bowed your father's head so oft, and brought such bitter tears adown those venerable cheeks. you cannot pay for that agony, that shame, not pay the hearts which burst with both--yet uttering only a prayer for you. pay it back then, if you can, to others like yourself, stubborn and rebellious sons. has none of you ever been such a father or mother? you know then the sad yearnings of heart which tried you. the world condemned you and your wicked child, and said, "let the elders stone him with stones. the gallows waiteth for its own!" not so you! you said: "nay, now, wait a little. perchance the boy will mend. come, i will try again. crush him not utterly and a father's heart besides!" the more he was wicked, the more assiduous were you for his recovery, for his elevation. you saw that he would not keep up with the moral march of men; that he was a barbarian, a savage, yes, almost a beast amongst men. you saw this; yes, felt it too as none others felt. yet you could not condemn him wholly and without hope. you saw some good mixed with his evil; some causes for the evil and excuses for it which others were blind to. because you mourned most you pitied most--all from the abundance of your love. though even in your highest hour of prayer, the sad conviction came that work or prayer was all in vain--you never gave him over to the world's reproach, but interposed your fortune, character, yes, your own person, to take the blows which the severe and tyrannous world kept laying on. at last if he would not repent, you hid him away, the best you could, from the mocking sight of other men, but never shut him from your heart; never from remembrance in your deepest prayers. how the whole family suffers for the prodigal till he returns. when he comes back, you rejoice over one recovered olive-plant more than over all the trees of your field which no storm has ever broke or bowed. how you went forth to meet him; with what joy rejoiced! "for this my son was lost and is found," says the old man; "he was dead and is alive once more. let us pray and be glad!" with what a serene and hallowed countenance you met your friends and neighbors, as their glad hearts smiled up in their faces when the prodigal came home from riot and swine's-bread, a new man safe and sound! many such things have i seen, and hearts long cold grew bright and warm again. towards evening the clouds broke asunder; simeon saw his consolation and went home in sunlight and in peace. the general result of this treatment in the family is, that the dull boy learns by degrees, learns what he is fit for: the straggler joins the troop, and keeps step with the rest, nay, sometimes becomes the leader of the march: the vicious boy is corrected; even the faults of his organization get overcome, not suddenly, but at length. the rejected stone finds its place on the wall, and its use. such is not always the result. some will not be mended. i stop not now to ask the cause. some will not return, though you go out to meet them a great way off. what then? will you refuse to go? can you wholly abandon a friend or a child who thus deserts himself? is he so bad that he cannot be made better? perhaps it is so. can you not hinder him from being worse? are you so good that you must forsake him? did not god send his greatest, noblest, purest son to seek and save the lost? send him to call sinners to repent? when sinners slew him, did god forsake mankind? not one of those sinners did his love forget. does the good physician spend the night in feasting with the sound, or in watching with the sick? nay, though the sick man be past all hope, he will look in to soothe affliction which he cannot cure; at least to speak a word of friendly cheer. the wise teacher spends most pains with backward boys, and is most bountiful himself where nature seems most niggard in her gifts. what would you say if a teacher refused to help a boy because the boy was slow to learn; because he now and then broke through the rules? what if the mother said: "my boy is a sickly dunce, not worth the pains of rearing. let him die!" what if the father said: "he is a born villain, to be bred only for the gallows; what use to toil or pray for him! let the hangman take my son!" * * * * * what shall be done for criminals, the backward children of society, who refuse to keep up with the moral or legal advance of mankind? they are a dangerous class. there are three things which are sometimes confounded: there is error, an unintentional violation of a natural law. sometimes this comes from abundance of life and energy; sometimes from ignorance, general or special; sometimes from heedlessness, which is ignorance for the time. next there is crime, the violation of a human statute. suppose the statute also represents a law of god; the violation thereof may be the result of ignorance, or of design, it may come from a bad heart. then it becomes a sin--the wilful violation of a known law of god. there are many errors which are not crimes; and the best men often commit them innocently, but not without harm, violating laws of the body or the soul, which they have not grown up to understand. there have been many crimes; yes, conscious violations of man's law which were not sins, but rather a keeping of god's law. there are still a great many sins not forbidden by any human statute, not considered as crimes. it is no crime to go and fight in a wicked war; nay, it is thought a virtue. it was a crime in the heroes of the american revolution to demand the unalienable rights of man--they were "traitors" who did it; a crime in jesus to sum up the "law and the prophets," in one word, love; he was reckoned an "infidel," guilty of blasphemy against moses! now to punish an error as a crime, a crime as a sin, leads to confusion at the first, and to much worse than confusion in the end. but there are crimes which are a violation of the eternal principles of justice. it is of such, and the men who commit them, that i am now to speak. what shall be done for the dangerous classes, the criminals? the first question is, what end shall we aim at in dealing with them? the means must be suited to accomplish that end. we may desire vengeance; then the hurt inflicted on the criminal will be proportioned to the loss or hurt sustained by society. a man has stolen my goods, injured my person, traduced my good name, sought to take my life. i will not ask for the motive of his deeds, or the cause of that motive. i will only consider my own damage, and will make him smart for that. i will use violence--having an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. i will deliver him over to the tormentors till my vengeance is satisfied. if he slew my friend, or sought to slay but lacked the power, as i have the ability i will kill him! this desire of vengeance, of paying a hurt with a hurt, has still very much influence on our treatment of criminals. i fear it is still the chief aim of our penal jurisprudence. when vengeance is the aim, violence is the most suitable method; jails and the gallows most appropriate instruments! but is it right to take vengeance; for me to hurt a man to-day solely because he hurt me yesterday? if so, the proof of that right must be found in my nature, in the law of god; a man can make a statute, god only a right. as i study my nature, i find no such right; reason gives me none; conscience none; religion quite as little. doubtless i have a right to defend myself by all manly means; to protect myself for the future no less than for the present. in doing that, it may be needful that i should restrain, and in restraining seize and hold, and in holding incidentally hurt my opponent. but i cannot see what right i have in cold blood wilfully to hurt a man because he once hurt me, and does not intend to repeat the wrong. do i look to the authority of the greatest son of man? i find no allusion to such a right. i find no law of god which allows vengeance. in his providence i find justice everywhere as beautiful as certain; but vengeance nowhere. i know this is not the common notion entertained of god and his providence. i shudder to think at the barbarism which yet prevails under the guise of christianity; the vengeance which is sought for in the name of god! the aim may be not to revenge a crime, but to prevent it; to deter the offender from repeating the deed, and others from the beginning thereof. in all modern legislation the vindictive spirit is slowly yielding to the design of preventing crime. the method is to inflict certain uniform and specific penalties for each offence, proportionate to the damage which the criminal has done; to make the punishment so certain, so severe, or so infamous, that the offender shall forbear for the future, and innocent men be deterred from crime. but have we a right to punish a man for the example's sake? i may give up my life to save a thousand lives, or one if i will. but society has no right to take it, without my consent, to save the whole human race! i admit that society has the right of eminent domain over my property, and may take my land for a street; may destroy my house to save the town; perhaps seize on my store of provisions in time of famine. it can render me an equivalent for those things. i have not the same lien on any portion of the universe as on my life, my person. to these i have rights which none can alienate except myself, which no man has given, which all men can never justly take away. for any injustice wilfully done to me, the human race can render me no equivalent. i know society claims the right of eminent domain over person and life not less than over house and land--to take both for the commonwealth. i deny the right--certainly it has never been shown. hence to me, resting on the broad ground of natural justice, the law of god, capital punishment seems wholly inadmissible, homicide with the pomp and formality of law. it is a relic of the old barbarism--paying hurt for hurt. no one will contend that it is inflicted for the offender's good. for the good of others i contend we have no right to inflict it without the sufferer's consent. to put a criminal to death seems to me as foolish as for the child to beat the stool it has stumbled over, and as useless too. i am astonished that nations with the name of christian ever on their lips, continue to disgrace themselves by killing men, formally and in cold blood; to do this with prayers--"forgive us as we forgive;" doing it in the name of god! i do not wonder that in the codes of nations, hebrew or heathen, far lower than ourselves in civilization, we should find laws enforcing this punishment; laws too enacted in the name of god. but it fills me with amazement that worthy men in these days should go back to such sources for their wisdom; should walk dry-shod through the gospels and seek in records of a barbarous people to justify this atrocious act! famine, pestilence, war, are terrible evils, but no one is so dreadful in its effects as the general prevalence of a great theological idea that is false. it makes me shudder to recollect that out of the twenty-eight states of this union twenty-seven should still continue the gallows as a part of the furniture of a christian government. i hope our own state, dignified already by so many noble acts, will soon rid herself of the stain. let us try the experiment of abolishing this penalty, if we will, for twenty years, or but ten, and i am confident we shall never return to that punishment. if a man be incapable of living in society, so ill-born or ill-bred that you cannot cure or mend him, why, hide him away out of society. let him do no harm, but treat him kindly, not like a wolf but a man. make him work, to be useful to himself, to society, but do not kill him. or if you do, never say again, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us." what if he should take you at your word! what would you think of a father who to-morrow should take the old testament for his legal warrant, and bring his son before your mayor and aldermen because he was "stubborn and rebellious, a drunkard and a glutton," and they should stone him to death in front of the city hall! but there is quite as good a warrant in the old testament for that as for hanging a man. the law is referred to jehovah as its author. how much better is it to choke the life out of a man behind the prison wall? is not society the father of us all, our protector and defender? hanging is vengeance; nothing but vengeance. i can readily conceive of that great son of man, whom the loyal world so readily adores, performing all needful human works with manly dignity. artists once loved to paint the saviour in the lowly toil of lowly men, his garments covered with the dust of common life; his soul sullied by no pollution. but paint him to your fancy as an executioner; legally killing a man; the halter in his hands, hanging judas for high treason! you see the relation which that punishment bears to christianity. yet what was unchristian in jesus does not become christian in the sheriff. we call ourselves christians; we often repeat the name, the words of christ,--but his prayer? oh no--not that. there are now in this land, i think, sixteen men under sentence of death; sixteen men to be hanged till they are dead! is there not in the nation skill to heal these men? perhaps it is so. i have known hearts which seemed to me cold stones, so hard, so dry. no kindly steel had alchemy to win a spark from them. yet their owners went about the streets and smiled their hollow smiles; the ghastly brother cast his shadow in the sun, or wrapped his cloak about him in the wintry hour, and still the world went on though the worst of men remained unhanged. perhaps you cannot cure these men!--is there not power enough to keep them from doing harm; to make them useful? shame on us that we know no better than thus to pour out life upon the dust, and then with reeking hands turn to the poor and weak and say, "ye shall not kill." but if the prevention of crime be the design of the punishment, then we must not only seek to hinder the innocent from vice, but we must reform the criminal. do our methods of punishment effect that object? during the past year we have committed to the various prisons in massachusetts five thousand six hundred sixty-nine persons for crime. how many of them will be reformed and cured by this treatment, and so live honest and useful lives hereafter? i think very few. the facts show that a great many criminals are never reformed by their punishment. thus in france, taking the average of four years, it seems that twenty-two out of each hundred criminals were punished oftener than once; in scotland thirty-six out of the hundred. of the seventy-eight received at your state's prison the last year--seventeen have been sent to that very prison before. how many of them have been tenants of other institutions i know not, but as only twenty-three of the seventy-eight are natives of this state, it is plain that many, under other names, may have been confined in jail before. yet of these seventy-eight, ten are less than twenty years old.[ ] of thirty-five men sent from boston to the state's prison in one year, fourteen had been there before. more than half the inmates of the house of correction in this city are punished oftener than once! these facts show that if we aim at the reformation of the offender we fail most signally. yet every criminal not reformed lives mainly at the charge of society; and lives too in the most costly way, for the articles he steals have seldom the same value to him as to the lawful owner. it seems to me that our whole method of punishing crimes is a false one; that but little good comes of it, or can come. we beat the stool which we have stumbled over. we punish a man in proportion to the loss or the fear of society; not in proportion to the offender's state of mind; not with a careful desire to improve that state of mind. this is wise if vengeance be the aim; if reformation, it seems sheer folly. i know our present method is the result of six thousand years' experience of mankind; i know how easy it is to find fault--how difficult to devise a better mode. still the facts are so plain that one with half an eye cannot fail to see the falseness of the present methods. to remove the evil, we must remove its cause,--so let us look a little into this matter, and see from what quarter our criminals proceed. here are two classes. i. there are the foes of society; men that are criminals in soul, born criminals, who have a bad nature. the cause of their crime therefore is to be found in their nature itself, in their organization if you will. all experience shows that some men are born with a depraved organization, an excess of animal passions, or a deficiency of other powers to balance them. ii. there are the victims of society; men that become criminals by circumstances, made criminals, not born; men who become criminals, not so much from strength of evil in their soul, or excess of evil propensities in their organization, as from strength of evil in their circumstances. i do not say that a man's character is wholly determined by the circumstances in which he is placed, but all experience shows that circumstances, such as exposure in youth to good men or bad men, education, intellectual, moral, and religious, or neglect thereof entire or partial, have a vast influence in forming the character of men, especially of men not well endowed by nature. now the criminals in soul are the most dangerous of men, the born foes of society. i will not at this moment undertake to go behind their organization and ask, "how comes it that they are so ill-born?" i stop now at that fact. the cause of their crime is in their bodily constitution itself. this is always a small class. there are in new england perhaps five hundred men born blind or deaf. apart from the idiots, i think there are not half so many who by nature and bodily constitution are incapable of attaining the average morality of the race at this day; not so many born foes of society as are born blind or deaf. the criminals from circumstances become what they are by the action of causes which may be ascertained, guarded against, mitigated, and at last overcome and removed. these men are born of poor parents, and find it difficult to satisfy the natural wants of food, clothing, and shelter. they get little culture, intellectual or moral. the school-house is open, but the parent does not send the children, he wants their services, to beg for him, perhaps to steal, it may be to do little services which lie within their power. besides, the child must be ill-clad, and so a mark is set on him. the boy of the perishing classes, with but common endowments, cannot learn at school as one of the thrifty or abounding class. then he receives no stimulus at home; there every thing discourages his attempts. he cannot share the pleasure and sport of his youthful fellows. his dress, his uncleanly habits, the result of misery, forbid all that. so the children of the perishing herd together, ignorant, ill-fed, and miserably clad. you do not find the sons of this class in your colleges, in your high schools where all is free for the people; few even in the grammar schools; few in the churches. though born into the nineteenth century after christ, they grow up almost in the barbarism of the nineteenth century before him. children that are blind and deaf, though born with a superior organization, if left to themselves become only savages, little more than animals. what are we to expect of children, born indeed with eyes and ears, but yet shut out from the culture of the age they live in? in the corruption of a city, in the midst of its intenser life, what wonder that they associate with crime, that the moral instinct, baffled and cheated of its due, becomes so powerless in the boy or girl; what wonder that reason never gets developed there, nor conscience, nor that blessed religious sense learns ever to assert its power? think of the temptations that beset the boy; those yet more revolting which address the other sex. opportunities for crime continually offer. want impels, desire leagues with opportunity, and the result we know. add to all this the curse that creates so much disease, poverty, wretchedness, and so perpetually begets crime; i mean intemperance! that is almost the only pleasure of the perishing class. what recognized amusement have they but this, of drinking themselves drunk? do you wonder at this? with no air, nor light, nor water, with scanty food and a miserable dress, with no culture, living in a cellar or a garret, crowded, stifling, and offensive even to the rudest sense, do you wonder that man or woman seeks a brief vacation of misery in the dram-shop and in its drunkenness? i wonder not. under such circumstances how many of you would have done better? to suffer continually from lack of what is needful for the natural bodily wants of food, of shelter, of warmth, that suffering is misery. it is not too much to say, there are always in this city thousands of persons who smart under that misery. they are indeed a perishing class. almost all our criminals, victims and foes, come from this portion of society. most of those born with an organization that is predisposed to crime are born there. the laws of nature are unavoidably violated from generation to generation. unnatural results must follow. the misfortunes of the father are visited on his miserable child. cows and sheep degenerate when the demands of nature are not met, and men degenerate not less. only the low, animal instincts, those of self-defence and self-perpetuation get developed; these with preternatural force. the animal man wakes, becomes brutish, while the spiritual element sleeps within him. unavoidably then the perishing is mother of the dangerous class. i deny not that a portion of criminals come from other sources, but at least nine tenths thereof proceed from this quarter. of two hundred and seventy-three thousand, eight hundred and eighteen criminals punished in france from to , more than half were wholly unable even to read, and had been brought up subject to no family affections. out of seventy criminals in one prison at glasgow who were under eighteen, fifty were orphans having lost one or both parents, and nearly all the rest had parents of bad character and reputation. taking all the criminals in england and wales in , there were not eight in a hundred that could read and write well. in our country, where everybody gets a mouthful of education, though scarce any one a full meal, the result is a little different. thus of the seven hundred and ninety prisoners in the mount pleasant state's prison in new york, one hundred it is said could read and understand. yet of all our criminals only a very small proportion have been in a condition to obtain the average intellectual and moral culture of our times. our present mode of treating criminals does no good to this class of men, these victims of circumstances. i do not know that their improvement is even contemplated. we do not ask what causes made this man a criminal, and then set ourselves to remove those causes. we look only at the crime; so we punish practically a man because he had a wicked father; because his education was neglected, and he exposed to the baneful influence of unholy men. in the main we treat all criminals alike if guilty of the same offence, though the same act denotes very different degrees of culpability in the different men, and the same punishment is attended with quite opposite results. two men commit similar crimes, we sentence them both to the state prison for ten years. at the expiration of one year let us suppose one man has thoroughly reformed, and has made strict and solemn resolutions to pursue an honest and useful life. i do not say such a result is to be expected from such treatment; still it is possible, and i think has happened, perhaps many times. we do not discharge the man; we care nothing for his penitence; nothing for his improvement; we keep him nine years more. that is an injustice to him; we have robbed him of nine years of time which he might have converted into life. it is unjust also to society, which needs the presence and the labor of all that can serve. the man has been a burden to himself and to us. suppose at the expiration of his ten years the other man is not reformed at all; this result, i fear, happens in the great majority of cases. he is no better for what he has suffered; we know that he will return to his career of crime, with new energy and with even malice. still he is discharged. this is unjust to him, for he cannot bear the fresh exposure to circumstances which corrupted him at first, and he will fall lower still. it is unjust to society, for the property and the persons of all are exposed to his passions just as much as before. he feels indignant as if he had suffered a wrong. he says, "society has taken vengeance on me, when i was to be pitied more than blamed. now i will have my turn. they will not allow me to live by honest toil. i will learn their lesson. i will plunder their wealth, their roof shall blaze!" he will live at the expense of society, and in the way least profitable and most costly to mankind. this idle savage will levy destructive contributions on the rich, the thrifty, and the industrious. yes, he will help teach others the wickedness which himself once, and perhaps unavoidably learned. so in the very bosom of society there is a horde of marauders waging perpetual war against mankind. do not say my sympathies are with the wicked, not the industrious and good. it is not so. my sympathies are not confined to one class, honorable or despised. but it seems to me this whole method of keeping a criminal a definite time and then discharging him, whether made better or worse is a mistake. certainly it is so if we aim at his reformation. what if a shepherd made it a rule to look one hour for each lost sheep, and then return with or without the wanderer? what if a smith decreed that one hour and no more should be spent in shoeing a horse, and so worked that time on each, though half that time were enough--or sent home the beast with but three shoes, or two, or one, because the hour passed by? what if the physicians decreed, that all men sick of some contagious disease, should spend six weeks in the hospital, then, if the patient were found well the next day after admission, still kept him the other forty; or, if not mended at the last day, sent him out sick to the world? such a course would be less unjust, less inhuman, only the wrong is more obvious. to aggravate the matter still more, we have made the punishment more infamous than the crime. a man may commit great crimes which indicate deep depravity; may escape the legal punishment thereof by gold, by flight, by further crimes, and yet hold up his head unblushing and unrepentant amongst mankind. let him commit a small crime, which shall involve no moral guilt, and be legally punished--who respects him again? what years of noble life are deemed enough to wipe the stain out of his reputation? nay, his children after him, to the third generation, must bear the curse! the evil does not stop with the infamy. a guilty man has served out his time. he is thoroughly resolved on industry and a moral life. perhaps he has not learned that crime is wrong, but found it unprofitable. he will live away from the circumstances which before led him to crime. he comes out of prison, and the jail-mark is on him. he now suffers the severest part of his punishment. friends and relations shun him. he is doomed and solitary in the midst of the crowd. honest men will seldom employ him. the thriving class look on him with shuddering pity; the abounding loathe the convict's touch. he is driven among the dangerous and the perishing; they open their arms and offer him their destructive sympathy. they minister to his wants; they exaggerate his wrongs; they nourish his indignation. his direction is no longer in his own hands. his good resolutions--he knows they were good, but only impossible. he looks back, and sees nothing but crime and the vengeance society takes for the crime. he looks around, and the world seems thrusting at him from all quarters. he looks forward, and what prospect is there? "hope never comes that comes to all." he must plunge afresh into that miry pit, which at last is sure to swallow him up. he plunges anew, and the jail awaits him; again; deeper yet; the gallows alone can swing him clear from that pestilent ditch. but he is a man and a brother, our companion in weakness. with his education, exposure, temptation, outward and from within, how much better would the best of you become? no better result is to be looked for from such a course. of the one thousand five hundred and ninety-two persons in the state's prison of new york, four hundred have been there more than once. in five years, from to , there were punished in the house of correction in this city, five thousand seven hundred and forty-eight persons; of these three thousand one hundred and forty-six received such a sentence oftener than once. yes, in five years, three hundred and thirteen were sent thither, each ten times or more! how many found a place in other jails i know not. what if fathers treated dull or vicious boys in this manner at home--making them infamous for the first offence, or the first dulness, and then refusing to receive them back again? what if the father sent out his son with bad boys, and when he erred and fell, said: "you did mischief with bad boys once; i know they enticed you. i knew you were feeble and could not resist their seductions. but i shall punish you. do as well as you please, i will not forgive you. if you err again, i will punish you afresh. if you do never so well, you shall be infamous for ever!" what if a public teacher never took back to college a boy who once had broke the academic law--but made him infamous for ever? what if the physicians had kept a patient the requisite time in the hospital, and discharged him as wholly cured, but bid men beware of him and shun him for ever? that is just what we are doing with this class of criminals; not intentionally, not consciously--but doing none the less! let us look a moment more carefully, though i have already touched on this subject, at the proximate causes of crime in this class of men. the first cause is obvious--poverty. most of the criminals are from the lowest ranks of society. if you distribute men into three classes, the abounding, the thriving, the perishing, you will find the inmates of your prisons come almost wholly from the latter class. the perishing fill the sink of society, and the dangerous the sink of the perishing--for in that "lowest deep there is a lower depth." of three thousand one hundred and eighty-eight persons confined in the house of correction in this city, one thousand six hundred and fifty-seven were foreigners; of the five hundred and fifty sent from this city in five years to the state's prison, one hundred and eighty-five were foreigners. of five hundred and forty-seven females in the prison on blackwell's island at one time--five hundred and nineteen were committed for "vagrancy;" women with no capital but their person, with no friend, no shelter. examine minutely, you shall find that more than nine tenths of all criminals come from the perishing class of men. there all cultivation, intellectual, moral, religious, is at the lowest ebb. they are a class of barbarians; yes, of savages, living in the midst of civilization, but not of it. the fact, that most criminals come from this class, shows that the causes of the crime lie out of them more than in them; that they are victims of society, not foes. the effect of property in elevating and moralizing a class of men is seldom appreciated. historically the animal man comes before the spiritual. animal wants are imperious; they must be supplied. the lower you go in the social scale, the more is man subordinated to his animal appetites and demonized by them. nature aims to preserve the individual and repeat the species--so all passions relative to these two designs are preëminently powerful. if a man is born into the intense life of an american city, and grows up, having no contact with the loftier culture which naturally belongs to that intense life, why the man becomes mainly an animal, all the more violent for the atmosphere he breathes in. what shall restrain him? he has not the normal check of reason, conscience, religion, these sleep in the man; nor the artificial and conventional check of honor, of manners. the public opinion which he bows to favors obscenity, drunkenness, and violence. he is doubly a savage. his wants cannot be legally satisfied. he breaks the law, the law which covers property, then goes on to higher crimes. the next cause is the result of the first--education is neglected, intellectual, moral, and religious. now and then a boy in whom the soul of genius is covered with the beggar's rags, struggles through the terrible environment of modern poverty to die, the hero of misery, in the attempt at education! his expiring light only makes visible the darkness out of which it shone. boys born into this condition find at home nothing to aid them, nothing to encourage a love of excellence, or a taste for even the rudiments of learning. what is unavoidably the lot of such? the land has been the schoolmaster of the human race--but the perishing class scarce sees its face. poverty brings privations, misery, and that a deranged state of the system; then unnatural appetites goad and burn the man. the destruction of the poor is their poverty. they see wealth about them, but have none; so none of what it brings; neither the cleanliness, nor health, nor self-respect, nor cultivation of mind, and heart, and soul. i am told that no quaker has ever been confined in any jail in new england for any real crime. are the quakers better born than other men? nay, but they are looked after in childhood. who ever saw a quaker in an almshouse? not a fiftieth part of the people of new york are negroes, yet more than a sixth part of all the criminals in her four state's prisons are men of color. these facts show plainly the causes of crime. it is almost impossible to exaggerate the temptations of the perishing class in our great cities. in boston at this moment there are more than four hundred boys employed about the various bowling-alleys of the city, exposed to the intemperance, the coarseness, the general corruption of the men who mainly frequent those places. what will be their fate? shall i speak of their sisters; of the education they are receiving; the end that awaits them? poverty brings misery with its family of vices. a third cause of crime comes with the rest--intemperance, the destroying angel that lays waste the household of the poor. in our country, misery in a healthy man is almost proof of vice; but the vice may belong to one alone, and the misery it brings be shared by the whole family. a large proportion of the perishing class are intemperate, and a great majority of all our criminals. now, our present method is wholly inadequate to reform men exposed to such circumstances. you may punish the man, but it does no good. you can seldom frighten men out of a fever. can you frighten them from crime, when they know little of the internal distinction between right and wrong; when all the circumstances about them impel to crime? can you frighten a starving girl into chastity? you cannot keep men from lewdness, theft and violence, when they have no self-respect, no culture, no development of mind, heart, and soul. the jail will not take the place of the church, of the school-house, of home. it will not remove the causes which are making new criminals. it does not reform the old ones. shall we shut men in a jail, and when there treat them with all manner of violence, crush out the little self-respect yet left, give them a degrading dress, and send them into the world cursed with an infamous name, and all that because they were born in the low places of society and caught the stain thereof? the jail does not alter the circumstances which occasioned the crime, and till these causes are removed a fresh crop will spring out of the festering soil. some men teach dogs and horses things unnatural to these animals; they use violence and blows as their instrument of instruction. but to teach man what is conformable to his nature, something more is required. to return to the other class, who are born criminals. bare confinement in the prison alters no man's constitutional tendencies; it can no more correct moral or mental weakness or obliquity than it can correct a deficiency of the organs of sensation. you all know the former treatment of men born with defective or deranged intellectual faculties--of madmen and fools. we still pursue the same course towards men born with defective or deranged moral faculties, idiots and madmen of a more melancholy class, and with a like result. i know how easy it is to find fault, and how difficult to propose a better way; how easy to misunderstand all that i have said, how easy to misrepresent it all. but it seems to me that hitherto we have set out wrong in this undertaking; have gone on wrong, and, by the present means, can never remove the causes of crime nor much improve the criminals as a class. let me modestly set down my thoughts on this subject, in hopes that other men, wiser and more practical, will find out a way yet better still. a jail, as a mere house of punishment for offenders, ought to have no place in an enlightened people. it ought to be a moral hospital where the offender is kept till he is cured. that his crime is great or little, is comparatively of but small concern. it is wrong to detain a man against his will after he is cured; wrong to send him out before he is cured, for he will rob and corrupt society, and at last miserably perish. we shall find curable cases and incurable. i would treat the small class of born criminals, the foes of society, as maniacs. i would not kill them more than madmen; i would not inflict needless pain on them. i would not try to shame, to whip, or to starve into virtue men morally insane. i would not torture a man because born with a defective organization. since he could not live amongst men, i would shut him out from society; would make him work for his own good and the good of society. the thought of punishment for its own sake, or as a compensation for the evil which a man has done, i would not harbor for a moment. if a man has done me a wrong, calumniated, insulted, abused me with all his power, it renders the matter no better that i turn round and make him smart for it. if he has burned my house over my head, and i kill him in return, it does not rebuild my house. i cannot leave him at large to burn other men's houses. he must be restrained. but if i cure the man perhaps he will rebuild it, at any rate, will be of some service to the world, and others gain much while i lose nothing. when the victims of society violated its laws, i would not torture a man for his misfortune, because his father was poor, his mother a brute; because his education was neglected. i would shut him out from society for a time. i would make him work for his own good and the good of others. the evil he had caught from the world i would overcome by the good that i would present to him. i would not clothe him with an infamous dress, crowd him with other men whom society had made infamous, leaving them to ferment and rot together. i would not set him up as a show to the public, for his enemy, or his rival, or some miserable fop to come and stare at with merciless and tormenting eye. i would not load him with chains, nor tear his flesh with a whip. i would not set soldiers with loaded gun to keep watch over him, insulting their brother by mocking and threats. i would treat the man with firmness, but with justice, with pity, with love. i would teach the man; what his family could not do for him, what society and the church had failed of, the jail should do, for the jail should be a manual labor school, not a dungeon of torture. i would take the most gifted, the most cultivated, the wisest and most benevolent, yes, the most christian man in the state, and set him to train up these poor savages of civilization. the best man is the natural physician of the wicked. a violent man, angry, cruel, remorseless, should never enter the jail except as a criminal. you have already taken one of the greatest, wisest, and best men of this commonwealth, and set him to watch over the public education of the people.[ ] true, you give him little money, and no honor; he brings the honor to you, not asking but giving that. you begin to see the result of setting such a man to such a work, though unhonored and ill paid. soon you will see it more plainly in the increase of temperance, industry, thrift, of good morals and sound religion! i would set such a man, if i could find such another, to look after the dangerous classes of society. i would pay him for it; honor him for it. i would have a board of public morals to look after this matter of crime, a secretary of public morals, a christian censor, whose business it should be to attend to this class, to look after the jails and make them houses of refuge, of instruction, which should do for the perishing class what the school-house and the church do for others. i would send missionaries amongst the most exposed portions of mankind as well as amongst the savages of new holland. i would send wise men, good men. there are already some such engaged in this work. i would strengthen their hands. i would make crime infamous. if there are men whose crime is to be traced not to a defective organization of body, not to the influence of circumstances, but only to voluntary and self-conscious wickedness,--i would make these men infamous. it should be impossible for such a man, a voluntary foe of mankind, to live in society. i would have the jail such a place that the friends of a criminal of either class should take him as now they take a lunatic or a sick man, and bring him to the court that he might be healed if curable, or if not might be kept from harm and hid away out of sight. crime and sin should be infamous; not its correction, least of all its cure. i would not loathe and abhor a man who had been corrected and reformed by the jail more than a boy who had been reformed by his teacher, or a man cured of lunacy. i would have society a father who goes out to meet the prodigal while yet a great way off; yes, goes and brings him away from his riotous living, washes him, clothes him, and restores him to a right mind. there is a prosecuting attorney for the state; i would have also a defending attorney for the accused, that justice might be done all round. is the state only a step-mother? then is she not a christian commonwealth but a barbarous despotism, fitly represented by that uplifted sword on her public seal, and that motto of barbarous and bloody latin. i would have the state aid men and direct them after they have been discharged from the jail, not leave them to perish; not force them to perish. society is the natural guardian of the weak. i cannot think the method here suggested would be so costly as the present. it seems to me that institutions of this character might be made not only to support themselves, but be so managed as to leave a balance of income considerably beyond the expense. this might be made use of for the advantage of the criminal when he returned to society; or with it he might help make restitution of what he had once stolen. besides being less costly, it would cure the offender and send back valuable men into society. it seems to me that our whole criminal legislation is based on a false principle--force and not love; that it is eminently well adapted to revenge, not at all to correct, to teach, to cure. the whole apparatus for the punishment of offenders, from the gallows down to the house of correction, seems to me wrong; wholly wrong, unchristian, and even inhuman. we teach crime while we punish it. is it consistent for the state to take vengeance when i may not? is it better for the state to kill a man in cold blood, than for me to kill my brother when in a rage? i cannot help thinking that the gallows and even the jail, as now administered, are practical teachers of violence and wrong! i cannot think it will always be so. hitherto we have looked on criminals as voluntary enemies of mankind. we have treated them as wild beasts, not as dull or loitering boys. we have sought to destroy by death, to disable by mutilation or imprisonment, to terrify and subdue, not to convince, to reform, encourage, and bless. the history of the past is full of prophecy for the future. not many years ago we shut up our lunatics in jails, in dungeons, in cages; we chained the maniac with iron; we gave him a bottle of water and a sack of straw; we left him in filth, in cold and nakedness. we set strong and brutal men to watch him. when he cried, when he gnashed his teeth and tore his hair, we beat him all the more! they do so yet in some places, for they think a madman is not a brother but a devil. what was the result? madness was found incurable. now lunacy is a disease, to be prescribed for as fever or rheumatism; when we find an incurable case we do not kill the man, nor chain him, nor count him a devil. yet lunacy is not curable by force, by jails, dungeons, and cages; only by the medicine of wise men and good men. what if christ had met one demoniac with a whip and another with chains! you know how we once treated criminals! with what scourgings and mutilations, what brandings, what tortures with fire and red-hot iron! death was not punishment enough, it must be protracted amid the most cruel torments that quivering flesh could bear. the multitude looked on and learned a lesson of deadly wickedness. a judicial murder was a holiday! it is but little more than two hundred years since a man was put to death in the most enlightened country of europe for eating meat on friday; not two hundred since men and women were hanged in massachusetts for a crime now reckoned impossible! it is not a hundred years since two negro slaves were judicially burned alive in this very city! these facts make us shudder, but hope also. in a hundred years from this day will not men look on our gallows, jails, and penal law as we look on the racks, the torture-chambers of the middle ages, and the bloody code of remorseless inquisitors? we need only to turn our attention to this subject to find a better way. we shall soon see that punishment as such is an evil to the criminal, and so swells the sum of suffering with which society runs over; that it is an evil also to the community at large by abstracting valuable force from profitable work, and so a loss.[ ] we shall one day remember that the offender is a man, and so his good also is to be consulted. he may be a bad man, voluntarily bad if you will. still we are to be economical even of his suffering, for the least possible punishment is the best. already a good many men think that error is better refuted by truth than by fagots and axes. how long will it be before we apply good sense and christianity to the prevention of crime? one day we must see that a jail, as it is now conducted, is no more likely to cure a crime than a lunacy or a fever! hitherto we have not seen the application of the great doctrines of christianity; not felt that all men are brothers. so our remedies for social evils have been bad almost as the disease; remedies which remedied nothing, but hid the patient out of sight. all great criminals have been thought incurable, and then killed. what if the doctors found a patient sick of a disease which he had foolishly or wickedly brought upon himself, and then, by the advice of twelve other doctors, professionally killed him for justice or example's sake? they would do what all the states in christendom have done these thousand years. i cannot see why the legislature has not as good right to authorize the medical college thus to kill men, as to authorize the present forms of destroying life! we do not look the facts of crime fairly in the face. we do not see what heathens we are. why, there is not a christian nation in the world that has not a secretary of war, armies, soldiers, and the terrible apparatus of destruction. but there is not one that has a secretary of peace, not one that takes half the pains to improve its own criminals which it takes to build forts and fleets! yet it seems to me that a christian state should be a great peace society, a society for mutual advancement in the qualities of a man! do we not see that by our present course we are teaching men violence, fraud, deceit, and murder? what is the educational effect of our present political conduct, of our invasions, our battles, our victories; of the speeches of "our great men?" you all know that this teaches the poor, the low, and the weak that murder and robbery are good things when done on a large scale; that they give wealth, fame, power, and honors. the ignorant man, ill-born and ill-bred, asks: "why not when done on a small scale; why not good for me?" if it is right in the president of the united states to rob and murder, why not for the president of the united states bank? do famous men say, "our country however bounded," and vote to plunder a sister state? then why shall not the poor man, hungry and cold, say, "my purse however bounded," and seize on all he can get? give one a seat in congress if you will, and the other a noose of hemp, there is a god before whom seats in congress and hempen halters are of equal value, but who does justice to great and little! * * * * * to reform the dangerous classes of society, to advance those who loiter behind our civilization, we need a special work designed directly for the good of the criminals and such as stand on that perilous ground which slopes towards crime. some good men undertook this work long ago. they found much to do; a good deal to encourage them. some of them are well known to you, are laboring here in the midst of us. they need counsel, encouragement, and aid. we must not look coldly on their enterprise nor on them. they can tell far better than i what specific plans are best for their specific work. already have they accomplished much in this noble enterprise. the society for aiding discharged convicts is a prophecy of yet better things. soon i trust it will extend its kind offices to all the prisons, and its work be made the affair of the state. the plan now before your legislature for a "state manual labor school," designed to reform vicious children, is also full of promise. the wise and anonymous charity which so beautifully and in silence has dropped its gold into the chest for these poor outcasts, is itself its hundred-fold reward. institutions like that which we contemplate have been found successful in england, germany, and france. they actually reform the juvenile delinquent and bring up useful men, not hardened criminals.[ ] we are beginning to attend to this special work of removing the causes of crime, and restoring at least the young offenders. however, the greater portion of this work is not special and for the criminal, but general and for society. to change the treatment of criminals, we must change every thing else. the dangerous class is the unavoidable result of our present civilization; of our present ideas of man and social life. to reform and elevate the class of criminals, we must reform and elevate all other classes. to do that, we must educate and refine men. we must learn to treat all men as brothers. this is a great work and one of slow achievement. it cannot be brought about by legislation, nor any mechanical contrivance and reorganization alone. there is no remedy for this evil and its kindred but keeping the laws of god; in one word, none but christianity, goodness, and piety felt in the heart, applied in all the works of life, individually, socially, and politically. while educated and abounding men acknowledge no rule of conduct but self-interest, what can you expect of the ignorant and the perishing? while great men say without rebuke that we do not look at "the natural justice of a war," do you expect men in the lowest places of society, ignorant and brutish, pinched by want, to look at the natural justice of theft, of murder? it were a vain expectation. we must improve all classes to improve one; perhaps the highest first. different men acting in the most various directions, without concert, often jealous one of another, and all partial in their aims, are helping forward this universal result. while we are contending against slavery, war, intemperance, or party rage, while we are building up hospitals, colleges, schools, while we are contending for freedom of conscience, or teaching abstractly the love of man and love of god, we are all working for the welfare of this neglected class. the gallows of the barbarian and the gospel of christianity cannot exist together. the times are full of promise. mankind slowly fulfils what a man of genius prophesies; god grants what a good man asks, and when it comes, it is better than what he prayed for. footnotes: [ ] the allusion is to the following passages of scripture, which were read as the lesson for the day: numb. xiv.; kings, ii. - ; and luke, xv. [ ] see other statistics in "sermon of the perishing classes," pp. , . [ ] mr. horace mann. [ ] the period of confinement in our states' prisons differs a good deal in the various states, as will appear from the following table. whole no. in prison. average sentence. in conn. , march , , yrs. mos. va. , sept , , " " mass. , sept. , , " " la. , sept , , " " n. j. , sept. , , " " ky. , sept. , , " d. c. , nov. , , " " md. , " phila. , sept. , , " " the difference between the average term of punishment in connecticut and philadelphia is per cent! if the same result is effected by each, there has then been a great amount of gratuitous suffering in one case. [ ] i refer to the prisons at stretton-upon-dunmore in warwickshire, that at horn near hamburg, and the one at mettray near tours in france. the french penal code allows the guardian or relatives of an offender under age to take him from prison on giving bonds for his good behavior. while these pages were first passing through the press, i learned the happy effect which followed the execution of the license laws in this city. in , from the th of march to the th of april, there were sent to the house of correction for intemperance one hundred eighty-nine persons. during the same period of the year , only eighty-four have been thus punished! but alas, in the evil has returned, and the demon of drunkenness mows down the wretched in boston with unrestricted scythe. ix. a sermon of poverty.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, january , . proverbs x. . the destruction of the poor is their poverty. last sunday something was said of riches. to-day i ask your attention to a sermon of poverty. by poverty, i mean the state in which a man does not have enough to satisfy the natural wants of food, raiment, shelter, warmth and the like. from the earliest times that we know of, there have been two classes of men, the rich who had more than enough, the poor who had less. in one of the earliest books which treats of the condition of men, we find that abraham, a rich man, owns the bodies of three hundred men that are poor. in four thousand years, the difference between rich and poor in our part of america is a good deal lessened, not done away with. in new england property is more uniformly distributed than in most countries, perhaps more equally than in any land as highly civilized. but even here the old distinction remains in a painful form and extended to a pitiful degree. at one extreme of society is a body called the rich, men who have abundance, not a very numerous body, but powerful, first through the energy which accumulates money, and secondly, through the money itself. then there is a body of men who are comfortable. this class comprises the mass of the people in all the callings of life. out of this class the rich men come, and into it their children or grandchildren commonly return. few of the rich men of boston were sons of rich men; still fewer grandsons; few of them perhaps will be fathers of men equally rich; still fewer grandfathers of such. then there is the class that is miserable. some of them are supported by public charity, some by private, some of them by their toil alone--but altogether they form a mass of men who only stay in the world, and do not live in the best sense of that word. such are the great divisions of society in respect to property. however, the lines between these three classes are not sharp and distinctly drawn. there are no sharp divisions in nature; but for our convenience, we distinguish classes by their centre where they are most unlike, and not by their circumference where they intermix and resemble each other. the line between the miserable and comfortable, between the comfortable and rich, is not distinctly drawn. the centre of each class is obvious enough while the limits thereof are a dissolving view. the poor are miserable. their food is the least that will sustain nature, not agreeable, not healthy; their clothing scanty and mean, their dwellings inconvenient and uncomfortable, with roof and walls that let in the cold and the rain--dwellings that are painful and unhealthy; in their personal habits they are commonly unclean. then they are ignorant; they have no time to attend school in childhood, no time to read or to think in manhood, even if they have learned to do either before that. if they have the time, few men can think to any profit while the body is uncomfortable. the cold man thinks only of the cold; the wretched of his misery. besides this they are frequently vicious. i do not mean to say they are wicked in the sight of god. i never see a poor man carried to jail for some petty crime, or even for a great one, without thinking that probably, in god's eye, the man is far better than i am, and from the state's prison or scaffold, will ascend into heaven and take rank a great ways before me. i do not mean to say they are wicked before god; but it is they who commit the minor crimes, against decency, sobriety, against property and person, and most of the major crimes, against human life. i mean that they commit the crimes that get punished by law. they crowd your courts, they tenant your jails; they occupy your gallows. if some man would write a book describing the life of all the men hanged in massachusetts for fifty years past, or tried for some capital offence, and show what class of society they were from, how they were bred, what influences were about them in childhood, how they passed their sundays, and also describe the configuration of their bodies, it would help us to a valuable chapter in the philosophy of crime, and furnish mighty argument against the injustice of our mode of dealing with offenders. poverty is the dark side of modern society. i say modern society, though poverty is not modern, for ancient society had poverty worse than ours and a side still darker yet. cannibalism, butchery of captives after battle, frequent or continual wars for the sake of plunder, and the slavery of the weak--these were the dark side of society in four great periods of human history, the savage, the barbarous, the classic and the feudal. poverty is the best of these five bad things, each of which, however, has grimly done its service in its day. there is no poverty among the gaboon negroes. put them in our latitude, and it soon comes. nay, as they get to learn the wants of cultivated men, there will be a poorer class even in the torrid zone. poverty prevails in every civilized nation on earth; yes, in every savage nation in austere climes. let us look at some examples. england is the richest country in europe. i mean she has more wealth in proportion to her population than any other in a similar climate. look at her possessions in every corner of the globe; at her armies which europe cannot conquer; at her ships which weave the great commercial web that spreads all round about the world; at home what factories, what farms, what houses, what towns, what a vast and wealthy metropolis; what an aristocracy--so rich, so cultivated, so able, so daring, and so unconquered. but in that very english nation the most frightful poverty exists. look at the two sister islands: this the queen, and that the beggar of all nations; the rose and the shamrock; the one throned in royal beauty, the other bowed to the dust, torn and trampled under foot. in that capital of the world's wealth, in that centre of power far greater than the power of all the cæsars, there is the most squalid poverty. look at st. giles and st. james--that the earthly hell of want and crime, this the worldly heaven of luxury and power! put on the one side the stately nobility of england, well born, well bred, armed with the power of manners, the power of money, the power of culture and the power of place, and on the other side put the beggary of england, the two million paupers who are kept wholly on public or private charity; the three million laborers who formerly fed on potatoes, god knows what they feed on now, and all the other hungry sons of want who are kept in awe only by the growling lion who guards the british throne; and you see at once the result of modern civilization in the ablest, the foremost, the freest, the most practical and the richest nation in the old world. even here in new england, a country not two hundred and fifty years old, a little patch of cleared land on the edge of the continent, we hear of poverty which is frightful to think of. it is a serious question what shall be done for the poor; there are few that can tell what shall be done with them, or what is to become of them. want is always here in boston. misery is here. starvation is not unknown. what is now serious will one day be alarming. even now it is awful to think of the misery that lurks in this christian town. new england in fifty years has increased vastly in wealth, but poverty increases too. there has been a great advance in the productiveness of human labor; with our tools a man can do as much rude work in one day as he could in three days a hundred years ago. i mean work with the axe, the plough, the spade; of nicer work, yet more; of the most delicate work, see what machines do for him. the end is not yet; soon we shall have engines that will whittle granite, as a gang of saws cleaves logs into broad smooth boards. yet with all this advance in the productiveness of human toil, still there is poverty. a day's work now will bring a man greater proportionate pay than ever before in new england. i mean to say that the ordinary wages for an ordinary day's work will support a man comfortably and respectably longer than they ever would before. on the whole, the price of things has come down and the price of work has gone up. yet still there are the poor; there is want, there is misery, there is starvation. the community gives more than ever before; a better public provision is made for the poor, private benevolence is more active and works far more wisely--yet still there is poverty, want, misery unremoved, unmitigated, and, many think, immitigable! now i am not going to deny that poverty, like other forms of suffering, plays a part in the economy of the human race. if god's children will not work, or will throw away their bread, i do not complain that he sends them to bed without their supper--to a hard bed and a narrow and a cold. "earn your breakfast before you eat it," is not merely the counsel of poor richard, but of almighty god; it is a just counsel, and not hard. but is poverty an essential, substantial, integral element in human civilization, or is it an accidental element thereof, and transiently present; is it amenable to suppression? for my own part, i believe that all evil is transient, a thing that belongs to the process of development, not to the nature of man, or the higher forms of social life towards which he is advancing. if god be absolutely good, then only good things are everlasting. this general opinion which comes from my religion as well as my philosophy, affects my special opinion of the history and design of poverty. i look on it as on cannibalism, the butchery of captives, the continual war for the sake of plunder, or on slavery; yes, as i look on the diseases incident to childhood, things that mankind live through and outgrow; which, painful as they are, do not make up the greatest part of the entire life of mankind. if it shall be said that i cannot know this, that i have not a clear intellectual perception of the providential design thereof, or the means of its removal, still i believe it, and if i have not the knowledge which comes of philosophy, i have still faith, the result of instinctive trust in god. * * * * * let us look a little at the causes of poverty. some things we see best on a large scale. so let us look at poverty thus, and then come down to the smaller forms thereof. i. there may be a natural and organic cause. the people of lapland, iceland and greenland are a poor people compared with the scotch, the danes, or the french. there is a natural and organic cause for their poverty in the soil and climate of those countries, which cannot be changed. they must emigrate before they can become rich or comfortable in our sense of the word. hence their poverty is to be attributed to their geographical position. put the new englanders there, even they would be a poor people. thus the poverty of a nation may depend on the geographical position of the nation. suppose a race of men has little vigor of body or of mind, and yet the same natural wants as a vigorous race; put them in favorable circumstances, in a good climate, on a rich soil, they will be poor on account of the feebleness of their mind and body; put them in a stern climate, on a sterile soil, and they will perish. such is the case with the mexicans. soil and climate are favorable, yet the people are poor. suppose a nation had only one third part of the laplander's ability, and yet needed the result of all his power, and was put in the laplander's position, they would not live through the first winter. had they been mexicans who came to plymouth in , not one of them, it is probable, would have seen the next summer. take away half the sense or bodily strength of the bushmans of south africa, and though they might have sense enough to dig nuts out of the ground, yet the lions and hyenas would eventually eat up the whole nation. so the poverty of a nation may come from want of power of body or of mind. then if a nation increases in numbers more rapidly than in wealth, there is a corresponding increase of want. let the number of births in england for the next ten years be double the number for the last ten, without a corresponding creation of new wealth, and the english are brought to the condition of the irish. let the number of births in ireland in like manner multiply, and one half the population must perish for want of food. so the poverty of a nation may depend on the disproportionate increase of its numbers. then an able race, under favorable outward circumstances, without an over-rapid increase of numbers, if its powers are not much developed, will be poor in comparison with a similar race under similar circumstances, but highly developed. thus england, under egbert in the ninth century, was poor compared with england under victoria in the nineteenth century. the single town of liverpool, manchester, birmingham, or even sheffield, is probably worth many times the wealth of all england in the ninth century. so the poverty of a nation may depend on its want of development. old england and new england are rich, partly through the circumstances of climate and soil, partly and chiefly through the great vigor of the race, with only a normal increase of numbers, and partly through a more complete development of the nations. such are the chief natural and organic causes of poverty on a large scale in a nation. ii. the causes may be political. by political, i mean such as are brought about by the laws, either the fundamental laws, the constitution, or the minor laws, statutes. sometimes the laws tend to make the whole nation poor. such are the laws which force the industry of the people out of the natural channel, restricting commerce, agriculture, manufactures, industry in general. sometimes this is done by promoting war, by keeping up armies and navies, by putting the destructive work of fighting, or the merely conservative work of ruling, before the creative works of productive industry. france was an example of that a hundred years ago. spain yet continues such, as she has been for two centuries. sometimes this is done by hindering the general development of the nation, by retarding education, by forbidding all freedom of thought. the states of the church are an example of this when compared with tuscany; all italy and austria, when compared with england; spain, when compared with germany, france, and holland. sometimes this is brought about by keeping up an unnatural institution--as slavery, for example. south carolina is an instance of this, when compared with massachusetts. south carolina has many advantages over us, yet south carolina is poor while massachusetts is rich. sometimes this political action primarily affects only the distribution of wealth, and so makes one class rich and another poor. such is the case with laws which give all the real estate to the oldest son, laws which allow property to be entailed for a long time or forever, laws which cut men off from the land. these laws at first seem only to make one class rich and the others poor, and merely to affect the distribution of wealth in a nation, but they are unnatural and retard the industry of the people, and diminish their productive power, and make the whole nation less rich. legislation may favor wealth and not men--property which is accumulated labor, rather than labor which is the power that accumulates property. such legislation always endangers wealth in the end, lessening its quantity and making its tenure uncertain. two things may be said of european legislation in general, and especially of english legislation. first, that it has aimed to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few and keep it there. hence it favors primogeniture, entails monopolies of posts of profit and of honor. second, it has always looked out for the proprietor and his property, and cared little for the man without property; hence it always wanted the price of things high, the wages of men low, and in addition to natural and organic obstacles it continually put social impediments in the poor man's way. in england no son of a laborer could rise to eminence in the law or in medicine, scarcely in the church; no, not even in the army or navy. these two statements will bear examination. the genius of england has demanded these two things. the genius of america demands neither, but rejects both; demands the distribution of property, puts the rights of man first, the rights of things last. such are the political causes, and such their effects. iii. then there are social causes which make a nation poor. such are the prevalence of an opinion that industry is not respectable; that it is honorable to consume, disgraceful to create; that much must be spent, though little earned. the spanish nation is poor in part through the prevalence of this opinion. sometimes social causes seem only to affect a class. the pariahs in india must not fill any office that is well paid. they are despised, and of course they are poor and miserable. the blacks in new england are despised and frowned down, not admitted to the steamboat, the omnibus, to the school-houses in boston, or even to the meeting-house with white men; not often allowed to work in company with the whites; and so they are kept in poverty. in europe the jews have been equally despised and treated in the same way, but not made poor, because they are in many respects a superior race of men, and because they have the advantage of belonging to a nation whose civilization is older than any other in europe; a nation specially gifted with the faculty of thrift; a tribe whom none but other jews, scotchmen, or new englanders, could outwit, over-reach, and make poor. no ferdinand and isabella, no inquisition could so completely expel them from any country, as the superior craft and cunning of the yankee has driven them out of new england. there are jews in every country of europe, everywhere despised and maltreated, and forced into the corners of society, but everywhere superior to the men who surround them. such are the social causes which produce poverty. * * * * * now let us look at the matter on a smaller scale, and see the cause of poverty in new-england, of poverty in broad street and sea street. from the great mass let me take out a class who are accidentally poor. there are the widows and orphan children who inherit no estate; the able men reduced by sickness before they have accumulated enough to sustain them. then let me take out a class of men transiently poor, men who start with nothing, but have vigor and will to make their own way in the world. the majority of the poor still remain--the class who are permanently poor. the accidentally poor can easily be taken care of by public or private charity; the transient poor will soon take care of themselves. the young man who lives on six cents a day while studying medicine in boston, is doubtless a poor man, but will soon repay society for the slight aid it has lent him, and in time will take care of other poor men. so these two classes, the accidental and the transient poor, can easily be disposed of. what causes have produced the class that is permanently poor? what has just been said of nations, is true also of individuals. first, there are natural and organic causes of poverty. some men are born into the midst of want, ignorance, idleness, filthiness, intemperance, vice, crime; their earliest associations are debasing, their companions bad. they are born into the iceland of society, into the frigid zone, some of them under the very pole-star of want. such men are born and bred under the greatest disadvantages. every star in their horoscope has a malignant aspect, and sheds disastrous influence. i do not remember five men in new england, from that class, becoming distinguished in any manly pursuit,--not five. almost all of our great men and our rich men came from the comfortable class, none from the miserable. the old poverty is parent of new poverty. it takes at least two generations to outgrow the pernicious influence of such circumstances. then much of the permanent poverty comes from the lack of ability, power of body and of mind. in that iceland of society men are commonly born with a feeble organization, and bred under every physical disadvantage; the man is physically weak, or else runs to muscle and not brain, and so is mentally weak. his feebleness is the result of the poverty of his fathers, and his own want in childhood. the oak tree grows tall and large in a rich valley, stunted, small, and scrubby on the barren sand. again this class of men increase most rapidly in numbers. when the poor man has not half enough to fill his own mouth, and clothe his own back, other backs are added, other mouths opened. he abounds in nothing but naked and hungry children. further still, he has not so good a chance as the comfortable to get education and general development. a rude man, with superior abilities, in this century, will often be distanced by the well-trained man who started at birth with inferior powers. but if the rude man begin with inferior abilities, inferior circumstances, encumbered also with a load becoming rapidly more burdensome, you see under what accumulated disadvantages he labors all his life. so to the first natural and organic cause of poverty, his untoward position in society; to the second, his inferior ability; and to the third, the increase of his family, excessively rapid, we must add a fourth cause, his inferior development. an ignorant man, who is also weak in body, and besides that, starts with every disadvantage, his burdens annually increasing, may be expected to continue a poor man. it is only in most extraordinary cases that it turns out otherwise. to these causes we must add what comes therefrom as their joint result: idleness, by which the poor waste their time; thriftlessness and improvidence, by which they lose their opportunities and squander their substance. the poor are seldom so economical as the rich; it is so with children, they spoil the furniture, soil and rend their garments, put things to a wasteful use, consume heedlessly and squander, careless of to-morrow. the poor are the children of society. to these five causes i must add intemperance, the great bane of the miserable class. i feel no temptation to be drunken, but if i were always miserable, cold, hungry, naked, so ignorant that i did not know the result of violating god's laws, had i been surrounded from youth with the worst examples, not respected by other men, but a loathsome object in their sight, not even respecting myself, i can easily understand how the temporary madness of strong drink would be a most welcome thing. the poor are the prey of the rum-seller. as the lion in the hebrew wilderness eateth up the wild ass, so in modern society the rum-seller and rum-maker suck the bones of the miserable poor. i never hear of a great fortune made in the liquor trade, but i think of the wives that have been made widows thereby, of the children bereft of their parents, of the fathers and mothers whom strong drink has brought down to shame, to crime, and to ruin. the history of the first barrel of rum that ever visited new england is well known. it brought some forty men before the bar of the court. the history of the last barrel can scarcely be much better. such are the natural and organic causes which make poverty. with the exception of laws which allow the sale of intoxicating drink, i think there are few political causes of poverty in new england, and they are too inconsiderable to mention in so brief a sketch as this. however, there are some social causes of our permanent poverty. i do not think we have much respect for the men who do the rude work of life, however faithfully and well--little respect for work itself. the rich man is ashamed to have begun to make his fortune with his own hard hands; even if the rich man is not, his daughter is for him. i do not think we have cared much to respect the humble efforts of feeble men; not cared much to have men dear, and things cheap. it has not been thought the part of political economy, of sound legislation, or of pure christianity, to hinder the increase of pauperism, to remove the causes of poverty, yes, the causes of crime--only to take vengeance on it when committed! boston is a strange place; here is energy enough to conquer half the continent in ten years; power of thought to seize and tame the connecticut and the merrimack; charity enough to send missionaries all over the world; but not justice enough to found a high school for her own daughters, or to forbid her richest citizens from letting bar-rooms as nurseries of poverty and crime, from opening wide gates which lead to the almshouse, the jail, the gallows, and earthly hell! * * * * * such are the causes of poverty, organic, political, social. you may see families pass from the comfortable to the miserable class, by intemperance, idleness, wastefulness, even by feebleness of body and of mind; yet while it is common for the rich to descend into the comfortable class, solely by lack of the eminent thrift which raised their fathers thence, or because they lack the common stimulus to toil and save, it is not common for the comfortable to fall into the pit of misery in new england, except through wickedness, through idleness, or intemperance. it is not easy to study poverty in boston. but take a little inland town, which few persons migrate into, you will find the miserable families have commonly been so, for a hundred years; that many of them are descended from the "servants," or white slaves, brought here by our fathers; that such as fall from the comfortable classes, are commonly made miserable by their own fault, sometimes by idleness, which is certainly a sin, for any man who will not work, and persists in living, eats the bread of some other man, either begged or stolen--but chiefly by intemperance. three fourths of the poverty of this character, is to be attributed to this cause. now there is a tendency in poverty to drive the ablest men to work, and so get rid of the poverty, and this i take it is the providential design thereof. poverty, like an armed man, stalks in the rear of the social march, huge and haggard, and gaunt and grim, to scare the lazy, to goad the idle with his sword, to trample and slay the obstinate sluggard. but he treads also the feeble under his feet, for no fault of theirs, only for the misfortune of being born in the rear of society. but in poverty there is also a tendency to intimidate, to enfeeble, to benumb. the poverty of the strong man compels him to toil; but with the weak, the destruction of the poor is his poverty. an active man is awakened from his sleep by the cold; he arises and seeks more covering; the indolent, or the feeble, shiver on till morning, benumbed and enfeebled by the cold. so weakness begets weakness; poverty, poverty; intemperance, intemperance; crime, crime. every thing is against the poor man; he pays the dearest tax, the highest rent for his house, the dearest price for all he eats or wears. the poor cannot watch their opportunity, and take advantage of the markets, as other men. they have the most numerous temptations to intemperance and crime; they have the poorest safeguards from these evils. if the chief value of wealth, as a rich man tells us, be this--that "it renders its owner independent of others," then on what shall the poor men lean, neglected and despised by others, looked on as loathsome, and held in contempt, shut out even from the sermons and the prayers of respectable men? it is no marvel if they cease to respect themselves. the poor are the most obnoxious to disease; their children are not only most numerous, but most unhealthy. more than half of the children of that class, perish at the age of five. amongst the poor, infectious diseases rage with frightful violence. the mortality in that class is amazing. if things are to continue as now, i thank god it is so. if death is their only guardian, he is at least powerful, and does not scorn his work. in addition to the poor, whom these causes have made and kept in poverty, the needy of other lands flock hither. the nobility of old england, so zealous in pursuing their game, in keeping their entails unbroken, and primogeniture safe, have sent their beggary to new england, to be supported by the crumbs that fall from our table. so, in the same new england city, the extremes of society are brought together. here is health, elegance, cultivation, sobriety, decency, refinement--i wish there was more of it; there is poverty, ignorance, drunkenness, violence, crime, in most odious forms--starvation! we have our st. giles's and st. james's; our nobility, not a whit less noble than the noblest of other lands, and our beggars, both in a christian city. amid the needy population, misery and death have found their parish. who shall dare stop his ears, when they preach their awful denunciation of want and woe? good men ask, what shall we do? foreign poverty has had this good effect; it has shamed or frightened the american beggar into industry and thrift. poverty will not be removed till the causes thereof are removed. there are some who look for a great social revolution. so do i; only i do not look for it to come about suddenly, or by mechanical means. we are in a social revolution, and do not know it. while i cannot accept the peculiar doctrines of the associationists, i rejoice in their existence. i sympathize with their hope. they point out the evils of society, and that is something. they propose a method of removing its evils. i do not believe in that method, but mankind will probably make many experiments before we hit upon the right one. for my own part, i confess i do not see any way of removing poverty wholly or entirely, in one or two, or in four or five generations. i think it will linger for some ages to come. like the snow, it is to be removed by a general elevation of the temperature of the air, not all at once, and will long hang about the dark and cold places of the world. but i do think it will at last be overcome, so that a man who cannot subsist, will be as rare as a cannibal. "ye have the poor with you always," said jesus, and many who remember this, forget that he also said, "and when soever ye will, ye may do them good." i expect to see a mitigation of poverty in this country, and that before long. it is likely that the legal theory of property in europe will undergo a great change before many years; that the right to bequeathe enormous estates to individuals will be cut off; that primogeniture will cease, and entailments be broken, and all monopolies of rank and power come to an end, and so a great change take place in the social condition of europe, and especially of england. that change will bring many of the comfortable into the rich class, and eventually many of the miserable into the comfortable class. but i do not expect such a radical change here, where we have not such enormous abuses to surmount. i think something will be done in europe for the organization of labor, i do not know what; i do not know how; i have not the ability to know; and will not pretend to criticize what i know i cannot create, and do not at present understand. i think there will be a great change in the form of society; that able men will endeavor to remove the causes of crime, not merely to make money out of that crime; that intemperance will be diminished; that idleness in rich or poor will be counted a disgrace; that labor will be more respected; education more widely diffused; and that institutions will be founded, which will tend to produce these results. but i do not pretend to devise those institutions, and certainly shall not throw obstacles in the way of such as can or will try. it seems likely that something will be first done in europe, where the need is greatest. there a change must come. by and by, if it does not come peaceably, the continent will not furnish "special constables" enough to put down human nature. if the white republicans cannot make a revolution peacefully, wait a little, and the red republicans will make it in blood. "peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must," says mankind, first in a whisper, then in a voice of thunder. if powerful men will not write justice with black ink, on white paper, ignorant and violent men will write it on the soil, in letters of blood, and illuminate their rude legislation with burning castles, palaces and towns. while the social change is taking place never so peacefully, men will think the world is going to ruin. but it is an old world, pretty well put together, and, with all these changes, will probably last some time longer. human society is like one of those enormous boulders, so nicely poised on another rock, that a man may move it with a single hand. you are afraid to come under its sides, lest it fall. when the wind blows, it rocks with formidable noise, and men say it will soon be down upon us. now and then a rude boy undertakes to throw it over, but all the men who can get their shoulders under, cannot raise the ponderous mass from its solid and firm-set base. still, after all these changes have taken place, there remains the difference between the strong and the weak, the active and the idle, the thrifty and the spendthrift, the temperate and the intemperate, and though the term poverty ceases to be so dreadful, and no longer denotes want of the natural necessaries of the body, there will still remain the relatively rich and the relatively poor. but now something can be done directly, to remove the causes of poverty, something to mitigate their effects; we need both the palliative charity, and the remedial justice. tenements for the poor can be provided at a cheap rent, that shall yet pay their owner a reasonable income. this has been proved by actual experiment, and, after all that has been said about it, i am amazed that no more is done. i will not exhort the churches to this in the name of religion--they have other matters to attend to; but if capitalists will not, in a place like boston, it seems to me the city should see that this class of the population is provided with tenements, at a rate not ruinous. it would be good economy to do it, in the pecuniary sense of good economy; certainly to hire money at six per cent., and rent the houses built therewith, at eight per cent., would cost less than to support the poor entirely in almshouses, and punish them in jails. something yet more may be done, in the way of furnishing them with work, or of directing them to it; something towards enabling them to purchase food and other articles cheap. something might be done to prevent street beggary, and begging from house to house, which is rather a new thing in this town. the indiscriminate charity, which it is difficult to withhold from a needy and importunate beggar, does more harm than good. much may be done to promote temperance; much more, i fear, than is likely to be done; that is plainly the duty of society. intemperance is bad enough with the comfortable and the rich; with the poor it is ruin--sheer, blank and swift ruin. the example of the rich, of the comfortable, goes down there like lightning, to shatter, to blast, and to burn. it is marvellous, that in christian boston, men of wealth, and so above the temptation which lurks behind a dollar, men of character otherwise thought to be elevated, can yet continue a traffic which leads to the ruin and slow butchery of such masses of men. i know not what can be done by means of the public law. i do know what can be done by private self-denial, by private diligence. something also may be done to promote religion amongst the poor, at least something to make it practicable for a poor man to come to church on sunday, with his fellow-creatures who are not miserable--and to hear the best things that the ablest men in the church have to offer. we are very democratic in our state, not at all so in our church. in this matter the catholics put us quite to shame. if, as some men still believe, it be a manly calling and a noble, to preach christianity, then to preach it to men who stand in the worst and most dangerous positions in society; to take the highest truths of human consciousness, the loftiest philosophy, the noblest piety, and bring them down into the daily life of poor men, rude men, men obscure, unfriended, ready to perish; surely this is the noblest part of that calling, and demands the noblest gifts, the fairest and the largest culture, the loftiest powers. it is no hard thing to reason with reasoning men, and be intelligible to the intelligent; to talk acceptably and even movingly to scholars and men well read, is no hard thing if you are yourself well read and a scholar. but to be intelligible to the ignorant, to reason with men who reason not, to speak acceptably and movingly with such men, to inspire them with wisdom, with goodness and with piety, that is the task only for some men of rare genius who can stride over the great gulf betwixt the thrones of creative power, and the humble positions of men ignorant, poor and forgot! yet such men there are, and here is their work. something can be done for the children of the poor--to promote their education, to find them employment, to snatch these little ones from underneath the feet of that grim poverty. it is not less than awful, to think while there are more children born in boston of catholic parents than of protestant, that yet more than three fifths thereof die before the sun of their fifth year shines on their luckless heads. i thank god that thus they die. if there be not wisdom enough in society, nor enough of justice there to save them from their future long-protracted suffering, then i thank god that death comes down betimes, and moistens his sickle while his crop is green. i pity not the miserable babes who fall early before that merciful arm of death. they are at rest. poverty cannot touch them. let the mothers who bore them rejoice, but weep only for those that are left--left to ignorance, to misery, to intemperance, to vice that i shall not name; left to the mercies of the jail, and perhaps the gallows at the last. yet boston is a christian city--and it is eighteen hundred years since one great son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost! i see not what more can be done directly, and i see not why these things should not be done. still some will suffer: the idle, the lazy, the proud who will not work, the careless who will voluntarily waste their time, their strength, or their goods--they must suffer, they ought to suffer. want is the only schoolmaster to teach them industry and thrift. such as are merely unable, who are poor not by their fault--we do wrong to let them suffer; we do wickedly to leave them to perish. the little children who survive--are they to be left to become barbarians in the midst of our civilization? want is not an absolutely needful thing, but very needful for the present distress, to teach us industry, economy, thrift and its creative arts. there is nature--the whole material world--waiting to serve. "what would you have thereof?" says god. "pay for it and take it, as you will; only pay as you go!" there are hands to work, heads to think; strong hands, hard heads. god is an economist: he economizes suffering; there is never too much of it in the world for the purpose it is to serve, though it often falls where it should not fall. it is here to teach us industry, thrift, justice. it will be here no more when we have learned its lesson. want is here on sufferance; misery on sufferance; and mankind can eject them if we will. poverty, like all evils, is amenable to suppression. can we not end this poverty--the misery and crime it brings? no, not to-day. can we not lessen it? soon as we will. think how much ability there is in this town, cool, far-sighted talent. if some of the ablest men directed their thoughts to the reform of this evil, how much might be done in a single generation; and in a century--what could not they do in a hundred years? what better work is there for able men? i would have it written on my tombstone: "this man had but little wit, and less fame, yet he helped remove the causes of poverty, making men better off and better," rather by far than this: "here lies a great man; he had a great place in the world, and great power, and great fame, and made nothing of it, leaving the world no better for his stay therein, and no man better off." * * * * * after all the special efforts to remove poverty, the great work is to be done by the general advance of mankind. we shall outgrow this as cannibalism, butchery of captives, war for plunder, and other kindred miseries have been outgrown. god has general remedies in abundance, but few specific. something will be done by diffusing throughout the community principles and habits of economy, industry, temperance; by diffusing ideas of justice, sentiments of brotherly love, sentiments and ideas of religion. i hope every thing from that--the noiseless and steady progress of christianity; the snow melts, not by sunlight, or that alone, but as the whole air becomes warm. you may in cold weather melt away a little before your own door, but that makes little difference till the general temperature rises. still while the air is getting warm, you facilitate the process by breaking up the obdurate masses of ice and putting them where the sun shines with direct and unimpeded light. so must we do with poverty. it is only a little that any of us can do--for any thing. still we can do a little; we can each do by helping towards raising the general tone of society: first, by each man raising himself; by industry, economy, charity, justice, piety; by a noble life. so doing, we raise the moral temperature of the whole world, and just in proportion thereto. next, by helping those who come in our way; nay, by going out of our way to help them. in each of these modes, it is our duty to work. to a certain extent each man is his brother's keeper. of the powers we possess we are but trustees under providence, to use them for the benefit of men, and render continually an account of our stewardship to god. each man can do a little directly to help convince the world of its wrong, a little in the way of temporizing charity, a little in the way of remedial justice; so doing, he works with god, and god works with him. x. a sermon of the moral condition of boston.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, february , . samuel vii. . hitherto hath the lord helped us. a man who has only the spirit of his age can easily be a popular man; if he have it in an eminent degree, he must be a popular man in it: he has its hopes and its fears; his trumpet gives a certain and well-known sound; his counsel is readily appreciated; the majority is on his side. but he cannot be a wise magistrate, a just judge, a competent critic, or a profitable preacher. a man who has only the spirit of a former age can be none of these four things; and not even a popular man. he remembers when he ought to forecast, and compares when he ought to act; he cannot appreciate the age he lives in, nor have a fellow-feeling with it. he may easily obtain the pity of his age, not its sympathy or its confidence. the man who has the spirit of his own, and also that of some future age, is alone capable of becoming a wise magistrate, a just judge, a competent critic, and a profitable preacher. such a man looks on passing events somewhat as the future historian will do, and sees them in their proportions, not distorted; sees them in their connection with great general laws, and judges of the falling rain not merely by the bonnets it may spoil and the pastime it disturbs, but by the grass and corn it shall cause to grow. he has hopes and fears of his own, but they are not the hopes and fears of men about him; his trumpet cannot give a welcome or well-known sound, nor his counsel be presently heeded. majorities are not on his side, nor can he be a popular man. to understand our present moral condition, to be able to give good counsel thereon, you must understand the former generation, and have potentially the spirit of the future generation; must appreciate the past, and yet belong to the future. who is there that can do this? no man will say, "i can." conscious of the difficulty, and aware of my own deficiencies in all these respects, i will yet endeavor to speak of the moral condition of boston. * * * * * first, i will speak of the actual moral condition of boston, as indicated by the morals of trade. in a city like rome, you must first feel the pulse of the church, in st. petersburg that of the court, to determine the moral condition of those cities. now trade is to boston what the church is to rome and the imperial court to st. petersburg: it is the pendulum which regulates all the common and authorized machinery of the place; it is an organization of the public conscience. we care little for any pius the ninth, or nicholas the first; the dollar is our emperor and pope, above all the parties in the state, all sects in the church, lord paramount over both, its spiritual and temporal power not likely to be called in question; revolt from what else we may, we are loyal still to that. a little while ago, in a sermon of riches, speaking of the character of trade in boston, i suggested that men were better than their reputation oftener than worse; that there were a hundred honest bargains to one that was dishonest. i have heard severe strictures from friendly tongues, on that statement, which gave me more pain than any criticism i have received before. the criticism was, that i overrated the honesty of men in trade. now, it is a small thing to be convicted of an error--a just thing and a profitable to have it detected and exposed; but it is a painful thing to find you have overrated the moral character of your townsmen. however, if what i said be not true as history, i hope it will become so as prophecy; i doubt not my critics will help that work. love of money is out of proportion to love of better things--to love of justice, of truth, of a manly character developing itself in a manly life. wealth is often made the end to live for; not the means to live by, and attain a manly character. the young man of good abilities does not commonly propose it to himself to be a noble man, equipped with all the intellectual and moral qualities which belong to that, and capable of the duties which come thereof. he is satisfied if he can become a rich man. it is the highest ambition of many a youth in this town to become one of the rich men of boston; to have the social position which wealth always gives, and nothing else in this country can commonly bestow. accordingly, our young men that are now poor, will sacrifice every thing to this one object; will make wealth the end, and will become rich without becoming noble. but wealth without nobleness of character is always vulgar. i have seen a clown staring at himself in the gorgeous mirror of a french palace, and thought him no bad emblem of many an ignoble man at home, surrounded by material riches which only reflected back the vulgarity of their owner. other young men inherit wealth, but seldom regard it as a means of power for high and noble ends, only as the means of selfish indulgence; unneeded means to elevate yet more their self-esteem. now and then you find a man who values wealth only as an instrument to serve mankind withal. i know some such men; their money is a blessing akin to genius, a blessing to mankind, a means of philanthropic power. but such men are rare in all countries, perhaps a little less so in boston than in most other large trading towns; still, exceeding rare. they are sure to meet with neglect, abuse, and perhaps with scorn; if they are men of eminent ability, superior culture, and most elevated moral aims, set off, too, with a noble and heroic life, they are sure of meeting with eminent hatred. i fear the man most hated in this town would be found to be some one who had only sought to do mankind some great good, and stepped before his age too far for its sympathy. truth, justice, humanity, are not thought in boston to have come of good family; their followers are not respectable. i am not speaking to blame men, only to show the fact; we may meddle with things too high for us, but not understand nor appreciate. now this disproportionate love of money appears in various ways. you see it in the advantage that is taken of the feeblest, the most ignorant, and the most exposed classes in the community. it is notorious that they pay the highest prices, the dearest rents, and are imposed upon in their dealings oftener than any other class of men; so the raven and the hooded crow, it is said, seek out the sickliest sheep to pounce upon. the fact that a man is ignorant, poor, and desperate, furnishes to many men an argument for defrauding the man. it is bad enough to injure any man; but to wrong an ignorant man, a poor and friendless man; to take advantage of his poverty or his ignorance, and to get his services or his money for less than a fair return--that is petty baseness under aggravated circumstances, and as cowardly as it is mean. you are now and then shocked at rich men telling of the arts by which they got their gold--sometimes of their fraud at home, sometimes abroad, and a good man almost thinks there must be a curse on money meanly got at first, though it falls to him by honest inheritance. this same disproportionate love of money appears in the fact that men, not driven by necessity, engage in the manufacture, the importation, and the sale of an article which corrupts and ruins men by hundreds; which has done more to increase poverty, misery, and crime than any other one cause whatever; and, as some think, more than all other causes whatever. i am not speaking of men who aid in any just and proper use of that article, but in its ruinous use. yet such men, by such a traffic, never lose their standing in society, their reputation in trade, their character in the church. a good many men will think worse of you for being an abolitionist; men have lost their place in society by that name; even dr. channing "hurt his usefulness" and "injured his reputation" by daring to speak against that sin of the nation; but no man loses caste in boston by making, importing, and selling the cause of ruin to hundreds of families--though he does it with his eyes open, knowing that he ministers to crime and to ruin! i am told that large quantities of new england rum have already been sent from this city to california; it is notorious that much of it is sent to the nations of africa--if not from boston, at least from new england--as an auxiliary in the slave-trade. you know with what feelings of grief and indignation a clergyman of this city saw that characteristic manufacture of his town on the wharves of a mahometan city. i suppose there are not ten ministers in boston who would not "get into trouble," as the phrase is, if they were to preach against intemperance, and the causes that produce intemperance, with half so much zeal as they innocently preach "regeneration" and a "form of piety" which will never touch a single corner of the earth. as the minister came down, the spirit of trade would meet him on the pulpit stairs to warn him: "business is business; religion is religion; business is ours, religion yours; but if you make or even allow religion to interfere with our business, then it will be the worse for you--that is all!" you know it is not a great while since we drove out of boston the one unitarian minister who was a fearless apostle of temperance.[ ] his presence here was a grief to that "form of piety;" a disturbance to trade. since then the peace of the churches has not been much disturbed by the preaching of temperance. the effect has been salutary; no unitarian minister has risen up to fill that place! this same disproportionate love of money appears in the fact, that the merchants of boston still allow colored seamen to be taken from their ships and shut up in the jails of another state. if they cared as much for the rights of man as for money, as much for the men who sail the ship as for the cargo it carries, i cannot think there would be brass enough in south carolina, or all the south, to hold another freeman of massachusetts in bondage, merely for the color of his skin. no doubt, a merchant would lose his reputation in this city by engaging directly in the slave-trade, for it is made piracy by the law of the land.[ ] but did any one ever lose his reputation by taking a mortgage on slaves as security for a debt; by becoming, in that way or by inheritance, the owner of slaves, and still keeping them in bondage? you shall take the whole trading community of boston, rich and poor, good and bad, study the phenomena of trade as astronomers the phenomena of the heavens, and from the observed facts, by the inductive method of philosophy, construct the ethics of trade, and you will find one great maxim to underlie the whole: money must be made. money-making is to the ethics of trade what attraction is to the material world; what truth is to the intellect, and justice in morals. other things must yield to that; that to nothing. in the effort to comply with this universal law of trade, many a character gives way; many a virtue gets pushed aside; the higher, nobler qualities of a man are held in small esteem. this characteristic of the trading class appears in the thought of the people as well as their actions. you see it in the secular literature of our times; in the laws, even in the sermons; nobler things give way to love of gold. so in an ill-tended garden, in some bed where violets sought to open their fragrant bosoms to the sun, have i seen a cabbage come up and grow apace, with thick and vulgar stalk, with coarse and vulgar leaves, with rank unsavory look; it thrust aside the little violet, which, underneath that impenetrable leaf, lacking the morning sunshine and the dew of night, faded and gave up its tender life; but above the grave of the violet there stood the cabbage, green, expanding, triumphant, and all fearless of the frost. yet the cabbage also had its value and its use. there are men in boston, some rich, some poor, old and young, who are free from this reproach; men that have a well-proportioned love of money, and make the pursuit thereof an effort for all the noble qualities of a man. i know some such men, not very numerous anywhere, men who show that the common business of life is the place to mature great virtues in; that the pursuit of wealth, successful or not, need hinder the growth of no excellence, but may promote all manly life. such men stand here as violets among the cabbages, making a fragrance and a loveliness all their own; attractive anywhere, but marvellous in such a neighborhood as that. * * * * * look next on the morals of boston, as indicated by the newspapers, the daily and the weekly press. take the whole newspaper literature of boston, cheap and costly, good and bad, study it all as a whole, and by the inductive method construct the ethics of the press, and here you find no signs of a higher morality in general than you found in trade. it is the same centre about which all things gravitate here as there. but in the newspapers the want of great principles is more obvious, and more severely felt than in trade--the want of justice, of truth, of humanity, of sympathy with man. in trade you meet with signs of great power; the highway of commerce bears marks of giant feet. our newspapers seem chiefly in the hands of little men, whose cunning is in a large ratio to their wisdom or their justice. you find here little ability, little sound learning, little wise political economy; of lofty morals almost nothing at all. here, also, the dollar is both pope and king; right and truth are vassals, not much esteemed, nor over-often called to pay service to their lord, who has other soldiers with more pliant neck and knee. a newspaper is an instrument of great importance; all men read it; many read nothing else; some it serves as reason and conscience too: in lack of better, why not? it speaks to thousands every day on matters of great moment--on matters of morals, of politics, of finance. it relates daily the occurrences of our land, and of all the world. all men are affected by it; hindered or helped. to many a man his morning paper represents more reality than his morning prayer. there are many in a community like this who do not know what to say--i do not mean what to think, thoughtful men know what to think--about any thing till somebody tells them; yet they must talk, for "the mouth goes always." to such a man a newspaper is invaluable; as the idolater in the judges had "a levite to his priest," so he has a newspaper to his reason or his conscience, and can talk to the day's end. an able and humane newspaper would get this class of persons into good habits of speech, and do them a service, inasmuch as good habits of speech are better than bad. one portion of this literature is degrading; it seems purposely so, as if written by base men, for base readers, to serve base ends. i know not which is most depraved thereby, the taste or the conscience. obscene advertisements are there, meant for the licentious eye; there are loathsome details of vice, of crime, of depravity, related with the design to attract, yet so disgusting that any but a corrupt man must revolt from them; there are accounts of the appearance of culprits in the lower courts, of their crime, of their punishment; these are related with an impudent flippancy, and a desire to make sport of human wretchedness and perhaps depravity, which amaze a man of only the average humanity. we read of judge jeffreys and the bloody assizes in england, one hundred and sixty years ago, but never think there are in the midst of us men who, like that monster, can make sport of human misery; but for a cent you can find proof that the race of such is not extinct. if a penny-a-liner were to go into a military hospital, and make merry at the sights he saw there, at the groans he heard, and the keen smart his eye witnessed, could he publish his fiendish joy at that spectacle--you would not say he was a man. if one mock at the crimes of men, perhaps at their sins, at the infamous punishments they suffer--what can you say of him? it is a significant fact that the commercial newspapers, which of course in such a town are the controlling newspapers, in reporting the european news, relate first the state of the markets abroad, the price of cotton, of consols, and of corn; then the health of the english queen, and the movements of the nations. this is loyal and consistent; at rome, the journal used to announce first some tidings of the pope, then of the lesser dignitaries of the church, then of the discovery of new antiques, and other matters of great pith and moment; at st. petersburg, it was first of the emperor that the journal spoke; at boston, it is legitimate that the health of the dollar should be reported first of all. the political newspapers are a melancholy proof of the low morality of this town. you know what they will say of any party movement; that measures and men are judged on purely party grounds. the country is commonly put before mankind, and the party before the country. which of them in political matters pursues a course that is fair and just; how many of them have ever advanced a great idea, or been constantly true to a great principle of natural justice; how many resolutely oppose a great wrong; how many can be trusted to expose the most notorious blunders of their party; how many of them aim to promote the higher interests of mankind? what servility is there in some of these journals, a cringing to the public opinion of the party; a desire that "our efforts may be appreciated!" in our politics every thing which relates to money is pretty carefully looked after, though not always well looked after; but what relates to the moral part of politics is commonly passed over with much less heed. men would compliment a senator who understood finance in all its mysteries, and sneer at one who had studied as faithfully the mysteries of war, or of slavery. the mexican war tested the morality of boston, as it appears both in the newspapers and in trade, and showed its true value. there are some few exceptions to this statement; here and there is a journal which does set forth the great ideas of this age, and is animated by the spirit of humanity. but such exceptions only remind one of the general rule. in the sectarian journals the same general morality appears, but in a worse form. what would have been political hatred in the secular prints, becomes theological odium in the sectarian journals; not a mere hatred in the name of party, but hatred in the name of god and christ. here is less fairness, less openness, and less ability than there, but more malice; the form, too, is less manly. what is there a strut or a swagger, is here only a snivel. they are the last places in which you need look for the spirit of true morality. which of the sectarian journals of boston advocates any of the great reforms of the day? nay, which is not an obstacle in the path of all manly reform? but let us not dwell upon this, only look and pass by. i am not about to censure the conductors of these journals, commercial, political, or theological. i am no judge of any man's conscience. no doubt they write as they can or must. this literature is as honest and as able as "the circumstances will admit of." i look on it as an index of our moral condition, for a newspaper literature always represents the general morals of its readers. grocers and butchers purchase only such articles as their customers will buy; the editors of newspapers reveal the moral character of their subscribers as well as their correspondents. the transient literature of any age is always a good index of the moral taste of the age. these two witnesses attest the moral condition of the better part of the city; but there are men a good deal lower than the general morals of trade and the press. other witnesses testify to their moral character. * * * * * let me now speak of your moral condition as indicated by the poverty in this city. i have so recently spoken on the subject of poverty in boston, and printed the sermon, that i will not now mention the misery it brings. i will only speak of the moral condition which it indicates, and the moral effect it has upon us. in this age, poverty tends to barbarize men; it shuts them out from the educational influences of our times. the sons of the miserable class cannot obtain the intellectual, moral, and religious education which is the birthright of the comfortable and the rich. there is a great gulf between them and the culture of our times. how hard it must be to climb up from a cellar in cove place to wisdom, to honesty, to piety. i know how comfortable pharisaic self-righteousness can say, "i thank thee i am not wicked like one of these," and god knows which is the best before his eyes, the scorner, or the man he loathes and leaves to dirt and destruction. i know this poverty belongs to the state of transition we are now in, and can only be ended by our passing through this into a better. i see the medicinal effect of poverty, that with cantharidian sting it drives some men to work, to frugality and thrift; that the irish has driven the american beggar out of the streets, and will shame him out of the almshouse ere long. but there are men who have not force enough to obey this stimulus; they only cringe and smart under its sting. such men are made barbarians by poverty, barbarians in body, in mind and conscience, in heart and soul. there is a great amount of this barbarism in boston; it lowers the moral character of the place, as icebergs in your harbor next june would chill the air all day. the fact that such poverty is here, that so little is done by public authority, or by the ablest men in the land, to remove the evil tree and dig up its evil root; that amid all the wealth of boston and all its charity, there are not even comfortable tenements for the poor to be had at any but a ruinous rent--that is a sad fact, and bears a sad testimony to our moral state! sometimes the spectacle of misery does good, quickening the moral sense and touching the electric tie which binds all human hearts into one great family; but when it does not lead to this result, then it debases the looker-on. to know of want, of misery, of all the complicated and far-extended ill they bring; to hear of this, and to see it in the streets; to have the money to alleviate, and yet not to alleviate; the wisdom to devise a cure therefor, and yet make no effort towards it--that is to be yourself debased and barbarized. i have often thought, in seeing the poverty of london, that the daily spectacle of such misery did more in a year to debauch the british heart than all the slaughter at waterloo. i know that misery has called out heroic virtue in some men and women, and made philanthropists of such as otherwise had been only getters and keepers of gain. we have noble examples of that in the midst of us; but how many men has poverty trod down into the mire; how many has this sight of misery hardened into cold worldliness, the man frozen into mere respectability, its thin smile on his lips, its ungodly contempt in his heart! * * * * * out of this barbarism of poverty there come three other forms of evil which indicate the moral condition of boston; of that portion named just now as below the morals of trade and the press. these also i will call up to testify. * * * * * one is intemperance. this is a crime against the body; it is felony against your own frame. it makes a schism amongst your own members. the amount of it is fearfully great in this town. some of our most wealthy citizens, who rent their buildings for the unlawful sale of rum to be applied to an intemperate abuse, are directly concerned in promoting this intemperance; others, rich but less wealthy, have sucked their abundance out of the bones of the poor, and are actual manufacturers of the drunkard and the criminal. here are numerous distilleries owned, and some of them conducted, i am told, by men of wealth. the fire thereof is not quenched at all by day, and there is no night there; the worm dieth not. there out of the sweetest plant which god has made to grow under a tropic sun, men distil a poison the most baneful to mankind which the world has ever known. the poison of the borgias was celebrated once; cold-hearted courtiers shivered at its name. it never killed many; those with merciful swiftness. the poison of rum is yet worse; it yearly murders thousands; kills them by inches, body and soul. here are respectable and wealthy men, men who this day sit down in a christian church and thank god for his goodness, with contrite hearts praise him for that son of man who gave his life for mankind, and would gladly give it to mankind; yet these men have ships on the sea to bring the poor man's poison here, or bear it hence to other men as poor; have distilleries on the land to make still yet more for the ruin of their fellow christians; have warehouses full of this plague, which "outvenoms all the worms of nile;" have shops which they rent for the illegal and murderous sale of this terrible scourge. do they not know the ruin which they work; are they the only men in the land who have not heard of the effects of intemperance? i judge them not, great god! i only judge myself. i wish i could say, "they know not what they do;" but at this day who does not know the effect of intemperance in boston? i speak not of the sale of ardent spirits to be used in the arts, to be used for medicine, but of the needless use thereof; of their use to damage the body and injure the soul of man. the chief of your police informs me there are twelve hundred places in boston, where this article is sold to be drunk on the spot; illegally sold. the charitable association of mechanics, in this city, have taken the accumulated savings of more than fifty years, and therewith built a costly establishment, where intoxicating drink is needlessly but abundantly sold! low as the moral standard of boston is, low as are the morals of the press and trade, i had hoped better things of these men, who live in the midst of hard-working laborers, and see the miseries of intemperance all about them. but the dollar was too powerful for their temperance. here are splendid houses, where the rich man or the thrifty needlessly drinks. let me leave them; the evil demon of intemperance appears not there; he is there, but under well-made garments, amongst educated men, who are respected and still respect themselves. amid merriment and song the demon appears not. he is there, gaunt, bony, and destructive, but so elegantly clad, with manners so unoffending, you do not mark his face, nor fear his steps. but go down to that miserable lane, where men mothered by misery and sired by crime, where the sons of poverty and the daughters of wretchedness, are huddled thick together, and you see this demon of intemperance in all his ugliness. let me speak soberly: exaggeration is a figure of speech i would always banish from my rhetoric, here, above all, where the fact is more appalling than any fiction i could devise. in the low parts of boston, where want abounds, where misery abounds, intemperance abounds yet more, to multiply want, to aggravate misery, to make savage what poverty has only made barbarian; to stimulate passion into crime. here it is not music and the song which crown the bowl; it is crowned by obscenity, by oaths, by curses, by violence, sometimes by murder. these twine the ivy round the poor man's bowl; no, it is the upas that they twine. think of the sufferings of the drunkard himself, of his poverty, his hunger and his nakedness, his cold; think of his battered body; of his mind and conscience, how they are gone. but is that all? far from it. these curses shall become blows upon his wife; that savage violence shall be expended on his child. in his senses this man was a barbarian; there are centuries of civilization betwixt him and cultivated men. but the man of wealth, adorned with respectability and armed with science, harbors a demon in the street, a profitable demon to the rich man who rents his houses for such a use. the demon enters our barbarian, who straightway becomes a savage. in his fury he tears his wife and child. the law, heedless of the greater culprits, the demon, and the demon-breeder, seizes our savage man and shuts him in the jail. now he is out of the tempter's reach; let us leave him; let us go to his home. his wife and children still are there, freed from their old tormentor. enter: look upon the squalor, the filth, the want, the misery still left behind. respectability halts at the door with folded arms, and can no further go. but charity, the love of man which never fails, enters even there; enters to lift up the fallen, to cheer the despairing, to comfort and to bless. let us leave her there, loving the unlovely, and turn to other sights. in the streets, there are about nine hundred needy boys, and about two hundred needy girls, the sons and daughters mainly of the intemperate; too idle or too thriftless to work; too low and naked for the public school. they roam about--the nomadic tribes of this town, the gipsies of boston--doing some chance work for a moment, committing some petty theft. the temptations of a great city are before them.[ ] soon they will be impressed into the regular army of crime, to be stationed in your jails, perhaps to die on your gallows. such is the fate of the sons of intemperance; but the daughters! their fate--let me not tell of that. in your legislature they have just been discussing a law against dogs, for now and then a man is bitten and dies of hydrophobia. perhaps there are ten mad dogs in the state at this moment, and it may be that one man in a year dies from the bite of such. do the legislators know how many shops there are in this town, in this state, which all the day and all the year sell to intemperate men a poison that maddens with a hydrophobia still worse? if there were a thousand mad dogs in the land, if wealthy men had embarked a large capital in the importation or the production of mad dogs, and if they bit and maddened and slew ten thousand men in a year, do you believe your legislature would discuss that evil with such fearless speech? then you are very young, and know little of the tyranny of public opinion, and the power of money to silence speech, while justice still comes in, with feet of wool, but iron hands.[ ] there is yet another witness to the moral condition of boston. i mean crime. where there is such poverty and intemperance, crime may be expected to follow. i will not now dwell upon this theme, only let me say, that in , three thousand four hundred and thirty-five grown persons, and six hundred and seventy-one minors were lawfully sentenced to your jail and house of correction; in all, four thousand one hundred and six; three thousand four hundred and forty-four persons were arrested by the night police, and eleven thousand one hundred and seventy-eight were taken into custody by the watch; at one time there were one hundred and forty-four in the common jail. i have already mentioned that more than a thousand boys and girls, between six and sixteen, wander as vagrants about your streets; two hundred and thirty-eight of these are children of widows, fifty-four have neither parent living. it is a fact known to your police, that about one thousand two hundred shops are unlawfully open for retailing the means of intemperance. these are most thickly strown in the haunts of poverty. on a single sunday the police found three hundred and thirteen shops in the full experiment of unblushing and successful crime. these rum-shops are the factories of crime; the raw material is furnished by poverty; it passes into the hands of the rum-seller, and is soon ready for delivery at the mouth of the jail, or the foot of the gallows. it is notorious that intemperance is the proximate cause of three fourths of the crime in boston; yet it is very respectable to own houses and rent them for the purpose of making men intemperate; nobody loses his standing by that. i am not surprised to hear of women armed with knives, and boys with six-barrelled revolvers in their pockets; not surprised at the increase of capital trials. * * * * * one other matter let me name--i call it the crime against woman. let us see the evil in its type, its most significant form. look at that thing of corruption and of shame, almost without shame, whom the judge, with brief words, despatches to the jail. that was a woman once. no! at least, she was once a girl. she had a mother; perhaps, beyond the hills, a mother, in her evening prayer, remembers still this one child more tenderly than all the folded flowers that slept the sleep of infancy beneath her roof; remembers, with a prayer, her child, whom the world curses after it has made corrupt! perhaps she had no such mother, but was born in the filth of some reeking cellar, and turned into the mire of the streets, in her undefended innocence, to mingle with the coarseness, the intemperance, and the crime of a corrupt metropolis. in either case, her blood is on our hands. the crime which is so terribly avenged on woman--think you that god will hold men innocent of that? but on this sign of our moral state, i will not long delay. * * * * * put all these things together: the character of trade, of the press; take the evidence of poverty, intemperance, and crime--it all reveals a sad state of things. i call your attention to these facts. we are all affected by them more or less; all more or less accountable for them. * * * * * hitherto i have only stated facts, without making comparisons. let me now compare the present condition of boston with that in former times. every man has an ideal, which is better than the actual facts about him. some men amongst us put that ideal in times past, and maintain it was then an historical fact; they are commonly men who have little knowledge of the past, and less hope for the future; a good deal of reverence for old precedents, little for justice, truth, humanity; little confidence in mankind, and a great deal of fear of new things. such men love to look back and do homage to the past, but it is only a past of fancy, not of fact, they do homage to. they tell us we have fallen; that the golden age is behind us, and the garden of eden; ours are degenerate days; the men are inferior, the women less winning, less witty, and less wise, and the children are an untoward generation, a disgrace, not so much to their fathers, but certainly to their grandsires. sometimes this is the complaint of men who have grown old; sometimes of such as seem to be old without growing so, who seem born to the gift of age, without the grace of youth. other men have a similar ideal, commonly a higher one, but they place it in the future, not as an historical reality, which has been, and is therefore to be worshipped, but one which is to be made real by dint of thought, of work. i have known old persons who stoutly maintained that the pears and the plums and the peaches, are not half so luscious as they were many years ago; so they bewailed the existing race of fruits, complaining of "the general decay" of sweetness, and brought over to their way of speech some aged juveniles. meanwhile, men born young, set themselves to productive work, and, instead of bewailing an old fancy, realized a new ideal in new fruits, bigger, fairer, and better than the old. it is to men of this latter stamp, that we must look for criticism and for counsel. the others can afford us a warning, if not by their speech, at least by their example. it is very plain, that the people of new england are advancing in wealth, in intelligence, and in morality; but in this general march, there are little apparent pauses, slight waverings from side to side; some virtues seem to straggle from the troop; some to lag behind, for it is not always the same virtue that leads the van. it is with the flock of virtues, as with wild fowl--the leaders alternate. it is probable that the morals of new england in general, and of boston in special, did decline somewhat from to ; there were peculiar but well-known causes, which no longer exist, to work that result. in the previous fifteen years, it seems probable that there had been a rapid increase of morality, through the agency of causes equally peculiar and transient. to estimate the moral growth or decline of this town, we must not take either period as a standard. but take the history of boston, from to , from to , thence to , and you will see a gradual, but a decided progress in morality in each of these periods. it is not easy to prove this in a short sermon; i can only indicate the points of comparison, and state the general fact. from to , this progress is well marked, indisputable, and very great. let us look at this a little in detail, pursuing the same order of thought as before. it is generally conceded that the moral character of trade has improved a good deal within fifty or sixty years. it was formerly a common saying, that "if a yankee merchant were to sell salt water at high-tide, he would yet cheat in the measure." the saying was founded on the conduct of american traders abroad, in the west indies and elsewhere. now things have changed for the better. i have been told by competent authority, that two of the most eminent merchants of boston, fifty or sixty years ago, who conducted each a large business, and left very large fortunes, were notoriously guilty of such dishonesty in trade, as would now drive any man from the exchange. the facility with which notes are collected by the banks, compared to the former method of collection, is itself a proof of an increase of practical honesty; the law for settling the affairs of a bankrupt tells the same thing. now this change has not come from any special effort, made to produce this particular effect, and, accordingly, it indicates the general moral progress of the community. the general character of the press, since the end of the last century, has decidedly improved, as any one may convince himself of, by comparing the newspapers of that period, with the present; yet a publicity is now-a-days given to certain things which were formerly kept more closely from the public eye and ear. this circumstance sometimes produces an apparent increase of wrong-doing, while it is only an increased publicity thereof. political servility, and political rancor, are certainly bad enough, and base enough, at this day, but not long ago both were baser and worse; to show this, i need only appeal to the memories of men before me, who can recollect the beginning of the present century. political controversies are conducted with less bitterness than before; honesty is more esteemed; private worth is more respected. it is not many years since the federal party, composed of men who certainly were an honor to their age, supported aaron burr, for the office of president of the united states; a man whose character, both public and private, was notoriously marked with the deepest infamy. political parties are not very puritanical in their virtue at this day; but i think no party would now for a moment accept such a man as mr. burr, for such a post.[ ] there is another pleasant sign of this improvement in political parties: last autumn the victorious party, in two wards of this city, made a beautiful demonstration of joy, at their success in the presidential election, and on thanksgiving day, and on christmas, gave a substantial dinner to each poor person in their section of the town. it was a trifle, but one pleasant to remember. even the theological journals have improved within a few years. i know it has been said that some of them are not only behind their times, which is true, "but behind all times." it is not so. compared with the sectarian writings--tracts, pamphlets, and hard-bound volumes of an earlier day--they are human, enlightened, and even liberal. in respect to poverty, there has been a great change for the better. however, it may be said in general, that a good deal of the poverty, intemperance, and crime, is of foreign origin; we are to deal with it, to be blamed if we allow it to continue; not at all to be blamed for its origin. i know it is often said, "the poor are getting poorer, and soon will become the mere vassals of the rich;" that "the past is full of discouragement; the future full of fear." i cannot think so. i feel neither the discouragement nor the fear. it should be remembered that many of the fathers of new england owned the bodies of their laborers and domestics! the condition of the working man has improved, relatively to the wealth of the land, ever since. the wages of any kind of labor, at this day, bear a higher proportion to the things needed for comfort and convenience, than ever before for two hundred years. if you go back one hundred years, i think you will find that, in proportion to the population and wealth of this town or this state, there was considerably more suffering from native poverty then than now. i have not, however, before me the means of absolute proof of this statement; but this is plain, that now public charity is more extended, more complete, works in a wiser mode, and with far more beneficial effect; and that pains are now taken to uproot the causes of poverty--pains which our fathers never thought of. in proof of this increase of charity, and even of the existence of justice, i need only refer to the numerous benevolent societies of modern origin, and to the establishment of the ministry at large, in this city--the latter the work of unitarian philanthropy. some other churches have done a little in this good work. but none have done much. i am told the catholic clergy of this city do little to remove the great mass of poverty, intemperance, and crime among their followers. i know there are some few honorable exceptions, and how easy it is for protestant hostility to exaggerate matters; still, i fear the reproach is but too well founded, that the catholic clergy are not vigilant shepherds, who guard their sacred flock against the terrible wolves which prowl about the fold. i wish to find myself mistaken here. some of you remember the "old almshouse" in park-street; the condition and character of its inmates; the effect of the treatment they there received. i do not say that our present attention to the subject of poverty is any thing to boast of--certainly we have done little in comparison with what common sense demands; very little in comparison with what christianity enjoins; still it is something; in comparison with "the good old times," it is much that we are doing. there has been a great change for the better in the matter of intemperance in drinking. within thirty years, the progress towards sobriety is surprising, and so well marked and obvious that to name it is enough. probably there is not a "respectable" man in boston who would not be ashamed to have been seen drunk yesterday; even to have been drunk in ever so private a manner; not one who would willingly get a friend or a guest in that condition to-day! go back a few years, and it brought no public reproach, and, i fear, no private shame. a few years further back, it was not a rare thing, on great occasions, for the fathers of the town to reel and stagger from their intemperance--the magistrates of the land voluntarily furnishing the warning which a romantic historian says the spartans forced upon their slaves. it is easy to praise the fathers of new england; easier to praise them for virtues they did not possess, than to discriminate, and fairly judge those remarkable men. i admire and venerate their characters, but they were rather hard drinkers; certainly a love of cold water was not one of their loves. let me mention a fact or two: it is recorded in the probate office, that in , at the funeral of mrs. mary norton, widow of the celebrated john norton, one of the ministers of the first church in boston, fifty-one gallons and a half of the best malaga wine were consumed by the "mourners;" in , at the funeral of the rev. thomas cobbett, minister at ipswich, there were consumed one barrel of wine and two barrels of cider--"and as it was cold," there was "some spice and ginger for the cider." you may easily judge of the drunkenness and riot on occasions less solemn than the funeral of an old and beloved minister. towns provided intoxicating drink at the funeral of their paupers; in salem, in , at the funeral of a pauper, a gallon of wine and another of cider are charged as "incidental;" the next year, six gallons of rum on a similar occasion; in lynn, in , the town furnished "half a barrel of cider for the widow dispaw's funeral." affairs had come to such a pass, that in , the general court forbade the use of wine and rum at funerals. in , increase mather published his "wo unto drunkards." governor winthrop complains, in , that "the young folk gave themselves to drink hot waters very immoderately."[ ] but i need not go back so far. who that is fifty years of age, does not remember the aspect of boston on public days; on the evening of such days? compare the "election day," or the fourth of july, as they were kept thirty or forty years ago, with such days in our time. some of you remember the celebration of peace, in ; many of you can recollect the similar celebration in . on each of those days the inhabitants from the country towns came here to rejoice with the citizens of this town. compare the riot, the confusion, the drunkenness then, with the order, decorum, and sobriety of the celebration at the introduction of water last autumn, and you see what has been done in sixty or seventy years for temperance. a great deal of the crime in boston is of foreign origin: of the one thousand and sixty-six children vagrant in your streets, only one hundred and three had american parents; of the nine hundred and thirty-three persons in the house of correction here, six hundred and sixteen were natives of other countries; i know not how many were the children of irishmen, who had not enjoyed the advantages of our institutions. i cannot tell how many rum-shops are kept by foreigners.[ ] now in ireland no pains have been taken with the education of the people by the government; very little by the catholic church; indeed, the british government for a long time rendered it impossible for the church to do any thing in this way. for more than seventy years, in that catholic country, none but a protestant could keep a school or even be a tutor in a private family. a catholic schoolmaster was to be transported, and, if he returned, adjudged guilty of high treason, barbarously put to death, drawn and quartered. a protestant schoolmaster is as repulsive to a catholic, as a mahometan schoolmaster or an atheist would be to you. it is not surprising, therefore, that the irish are ignorant, and, as a consequence thereof, are idle, thriftless, poor, intemperate, and barbarian; not to be wondered at if they conduct like wild beasts when they are set loose in a land where we think the individual must be left free to the greatest extent. of course they will violate our laws, those wild bisons leaping over the fences which easily restrain the civilized domestic cattle; will commit the great crimes of violence, even capital offences, which certainly have increased rapidly of late. this increase of foreigners is prodigious: more than half the children in your public schools are children of foreigners; there are more catholic than protestant children born in boston. with the general and unquestionable advance of morality, some offences are regarded as crimes which were not noticed a few years ago. drunkenness is an example of this. an irishman in his native country thinks little of beating another or being beaten; he brings his habits of violence with him, and does not at once learn to conform to our laws. then, too, a good deal of crime which was once concealed is now brought to light by the press, by the superior activity of the police; and yet, after all that is said, it seems quite clear that what is legally called crime and committed by americans, has diminished a good deal in fifty years. such crime, i think, never bore so small a proportion to the population, wealth, and activity of boston, as now. even if we take all the offences committed by these strangers who have come amongst us, it does not compare so very unfavorably as some allege with the "good old times." i know men often look on the fathers of this colony as saints; but in , at a time when the whole state contained less than one tenth of the present population of boston, and they were scattered from weymouth fore-river to the merrimack, the first grand jury ever impanelled at boston "found" a hundred bills of indictment at their first coming together. if you consider the circumstances of the class who commit the greater part of the crimes which get punished, you will not wonder at the amount. the criminal court is their school of morals; the constable and judge are their teachers; but under this rude tuition i am told that the irish improve and actually become better. the children who receive the instruction of our public schools, imperfect as they are, will be better than their fathers; and their grandchildren will have lost all trace of their barbarian descent. i have often spoken of our penal law as wrong in its principle, taking it for granted that the ignorant and miserable men who commit crime do it always from wickedness, and not from the pressure of circumstances which have brutalized the man; wrong in its aim, which is to take vengeance on the offender, and not to do him a good in return for the evil he has done; wrong in its method, which is to inflict a punishment that is wholly arbitrary, and then to send the punished man, overwhelmed with new disgrace, back to society, often made worse than before,--not to keep him till we can correct, cure, and send him back a reformed man. i would retract nothing of what i have often said of that; but not long ago all this was worse; the particular statutes were often terribly unjust; the forms of trial afforded the accused but little chance of justice; the punishments were barbarous and terrible. the plebeian tyranny of the lord brethren in new england was not much lighter than the patrician despotism of the lord bishops in the old world, and was more insulting. let me mention a few facts, to refresh the memories of those who think we are going to ruin, and can only save ourselves by holding to the customs of our fathers, and of the "good old times." in , a man was fined forty pounds, whipped on the naked back, both his ears cut off, and then banished this colony, for uttering hard speeches against the government and the church at salem. in the first century of the existence of this town, the magistrates could banish a woman because she did not like the preaching, nor all the ministers, and told the people why; they could whip women naked in the streets, because they spoke reproachfully of the magistrates; they could fine men twenty pounds, and then banish them, for comforting a man in jail before his trial; they could pull down, with legal formality, the house of a man they did not like; they could whip women at a cart's tail from salem to rhode island, for fidelity to their conscience; they could beat, imprison, and banish men out of the land, simply for baptizing one another in a stream of water, instead of sprinkling them from a dish; they could crop the ears, and scourge the backs, and bore the tongues of men, for being quakers; yes, they could shut them in jails, could banish them out of the colony, could sell them as slaves, could hang them on a gallows, solely for worshipping god after their own conscience; they could convulse the whole land, and hang some thirty or forty men for witchcraft, and do all this in the name of god, and then sing psalms, with most nasal twang, and pray by the hour, and preach--i will not say how long, nor what, nor how! it is not yet one hundred years since two slaves were judicially burnt alive, on boston neck, for poisoning their master. but why talk of days so old? some of you remember when the pillory and the whipping-post were a part of the public furniture of the law, and occupied a prominent place in the busiest street in town. some of you have seen men and women scourged, naked, and bleeding, in state street; have seen men judicially branded in the forehead with a hot iron, their ears clipped off by the sheriff, and held up to teach humanity to the gaping crowd of idle boys and vulgar men. a magistrate was once brought into odium in boston, for humanely giving back to his victim a part of the ear he had officially shorn off, that the mutilated member might be restored and made whole. how long is it since men sent their servants to the "workhouse," to be beaten "for disobedience," at the discretion of the master? it is not long since the gallows was a public spectacle here in the midst of us, and a hanging made a holiday for the rabble of this city and the neighboring towns; even women came to see the death-struggle of a fellow-creature, and formed the larger part of the mob; many of you remember the procession of the condemned man sitting on his coffin, a procession from the jail to the gallows, from one end of the city to the other. i remember a public execution some fourteen or fifteen years ago, and some of the students of theology at cambridge, of undoubted soundness in the unitarian faith, came here to see men kill a fellow-man! who can think of these things, and not see that a great progress has been made in no long time. but if these things be not proof enough, then consider what has been done here in this century for the reformation of juvenile offenders; for the discharged convict; for the blind, the deaf, and the dumb; for the insane, and now even for the idiot. think of the numerous societies for the widows and orphans; for the seamen; the temperance societies; the peace societies; the prison discipline society; the mighty movement against slavery, which, beginning with a few heroic men who took the roaring lion of public opinion by the beard, fearless of his roar, has gone on now, till neither the hardest nor the softest courage in the state dares openly defend the unholy institution. a philanthropic female physician delivers gratuitous lectures on physiology to the poor of this city, to enable them to take better care of their houses and their bodies; an unpretending man, for years past, responsible to none but god, has devoted all his time and his toil to the most despised class of men, and has saved hundreds from the jail, from crime and ruin at the last. here are many men and women not known to the public, but known to the poor, who are daily ministering to the wants of the body and the mind. consider all these things, and who can doubt that a great moral progress has been made? it is not many years since we had white slaves, and a scotch boy was invoiced at fourteen pounds lawful money, in the inventory of an estate in boston. in , governor dudley complains that some of the founders of new england, in consequence of a famine, were obliged to set free one hundred and eighty servants, "to our extreme loss," for they had cost sixteen or twenty pounds apiece. seventy years since, negro slavery prevailed in massachusetts, and men did not blush at the institution. think of the treatment which the leaders of the anti-slavery reform met with but a few years ago, and you see what a progress has been made![ ] i have extenuated nothing of our condition; i have said the morals of trade are low morals, and the morals of the press are low; that poverty is a terrible evil to deal with, and we do not deal with it manfully; that intemperance is a mournful curse, all the more melancholy when rich men purposely encourage it; that here is an amount of crime which makes us shudder to think of; that the voice of human blood cries out of the ground against us. i disguise nothing of all this; let us confess the fact, and, ugly as it is, look it fairly in the face. still, our moral condition is better than ever before. i know there are men who seem born with their eyes behind, their hopes all running into memory; some who wish they had been born long ago: they might as well; sure it is no fault of theirs that they were not. i hear what they have to tell us. still, on the whole, the aspect of things is most decidedly encouraging; for if so much has been done when men understood the matter less than we, both cause and cure, how much more can be done for the future? * * * * * what can we do to make things better? i have so recently spoken of poverty that i shall say little now. a great change will doubtless take place before many years in the relations between capital and labor; a great change in the spirit of society. i do not believe the disparity now existing between the wealth of men has its origin in human nature, and therefore is to last for ever; i do not believe it is just and right that less than one twentieth of the people in the nation should own more than ten twentieths of the property of the nation, unless by their own head, or hands, or heart, they do actually create and earn that amount. i am not now blaming any class of men; only stating a fact. there is a profound conviction in the hearts of many good men, rich as well as poor, that things are wrong; that there is an ideal right for the actual wrong; but i think no man yet has risen up with ability to point out for us the remedy of these evils, and deliver us from what has not badly been named the feudalism of capital. still, without waiting for the great man to arise, we can do something with our littleness even now; the truant children may be snatched from vagrancy, beggary, and ruin; tenements can be built for the poor, and rented at a reasonable rate. it seems to me that something more can be done in the way of providing employment for the poor, or helping them to employment. in regard to intemperance, i will not say we can end it by direct efforts. so long as there is misery there will be continued provocation to that vice, if the means thereof are within reach. i do not believe there will be much more intemperance amongst well-bred men; among the poor and wretched it will doubtless long continue. but if we cannot end, we can diminish it, fast as we will. if rich men did not manufacture, nor import, nor sell; if they would not rent their buildings for the sale of intoxicating liquor for improper uses; if they did not by their example favor the improper use thereof, how long do you think your police would arrest and punish one thousand drunkards in the year? how long would twelve hundred rum-shops disgrace your town? boston is far more sober, at least in appearance, than other large cities of america, but it is still the headquarters of intemperance for the state of massachusetts. in arresting intemperance, two thirds of the poverty, three fourths of the crime of this city would end at once, and an amount of misery and sin which i have not the skill to calculate. do you say we cannot diminish intemperance, neither by law, nor by righteous efforts without law? oh, fie upon such talk. come, let us be honest, and say we do not wish to, not that we cannot. it is plain that in sixteen years we can build seven great railroads radiating out of boston, three or four hundred miles long; that we can conquer the connecticut and the merrimack, and all the lesser streams of new england; can build up lowell, and chicopee, and lawrence; why, in four years massachusetts can invest eight and fifty millions of dollars in railroads and manufactures, and cannot prevent intemperance; cannot diminish it in boston! so there are no able men in this town! i am amazed at such talk, in such a place, full of such men, surrounded by such trophies of their work! when the churches preach and men believe that mammon is not the only god we are practically to serve; that it is more reputable to keep men sober, temperate, comfortable, intelligent, and thriving, than it is to make money out of other men's misery; more christian, than to sell and manufacture rum, to rent houses for the making of drunkards and criminals, then we shall set about this business with the energy that shows we are in earnest, and by a method which will do the work. in the matter of crime, something can be done to give efficiency to the laws. no doubt a thorough change must be made in the idea of criminal legislation; vengeance must give way to justice, policemen become moral missionaries, and jails moral hospitals, that discharge no criminal until he is cured. it will take long to get the idea into men's minds. you must encounter many a doubt, many a sneer, and expect many a failure, too. men who think they "know the world," because they know that most men are selfish, will not believe you. we must wait for new facts to convince such men. after the idea is established, it will take long to organize it fittingly. much can be done for juvenile offenders, much for discharged convicts, even now. we can pull down the gallows, and with it that loathsome theological idea on which it rests,--the idea of a vindictive god. a remorseless court, and careful police, can do much to hinder crime;[ ] but they cannot remove the causes thereof. last year, a good man, to whom the state was deeply indebted before, suggested that a moral police should be appointed to look after offenders; to see why they committed their crime; and if only necessity compelled them, to seek out for them some employment, and so remove the causes of crime in detail. the thought was worthy of the age, and of the man. in the hands of a practical man, this thought might lead to good results. a beginning has already been made in the right direction, by establishing the state reform school for boys. it will be easy to improve on this experiment, and conduct prisons for men on the same scheme of correction and cure, not merely of punishment, in the name of vengeance. but, after all, so long as poverty, misery, intemperance, and ignorance continue, no civil police, no moral police, can keep such causes from creating crime. what keeps you from a course of crime? your morality, your religion? is it? take away your property, your home, your friends, the respect of respectable men; take away what you have received from education, intellectual, moral, and religious, and how much better would the best of us be than the men who will to-morrow be huddled off to jail, for crimes committed in a dram-shop to-day? the circumstances which have kept you temperate, industrious, respectable, would have made nine tenths of the men in jail as good men as you are. it is not pleasant to think that there are no amusements which lie level to the poor, in this country. in paris, naples, rome, vienna, berlin, there are cheap pleasures for poor men, which yet are not low pleasures. here there are amusements for the comfortable and the rich, not too numerous, rather too rare, perhaps, but none for the poor, save only the vice of drunkenness; that is hideously cheap; the inward temptation powerful; the outward occasion always at hand. last summer, some benevolent men treated the poor children of the city to a day of sunshine, fresh air, and frolic in the fields. once a year the children, gathered together by another benevolent man, have a floral procession in the streets; some of them have charitably been taught to dance. these things are beautiful to think of; signs of our progress, from "the good old times," and omens of a brighter day, when christianity shall bear more abundantly flowers and fruit even yet more fair. the morals of the current literature, of the daily press--you can change when you will. if there is not in us a demand for low morals, there will be no supply. the morals of trade, and of politics, the handmaid thereof, we can make better soon as we wish. * * * * * it has been my aim to give suggestions, rather than propose distinct plans of action; i do not know that i am capable of that. but some of you are rich men, some able men; many of you, i think, are good men. i appeal to you to do something to raise the moral character of this town. all that has been done in fifty years, or a hundred and fifty, seems very little, while so much still remains to do; only a hint and an encouragement. you cannot do much, nor i much: that is true. but, after all, every thing must begin with individual men and women. you can at least give the example of what a good man ought to be and to do, to-day; to-morrow you will yourself be the better man for it. so far as that goes, you will have done something to mend the morals of boston. you can tell of actual evils, and tell of your remedy for them; can keep clear from committing the evils yourself: that also is something. here are two things that are certain: we are all brothers, rich and poor, american and foreign; put here by the same god, for the same end, and journeying towards the same heaven, owing mutual help. then, too, the wise men and good men are the natural guardians of society, and god will not hold them guiltless, if they leave their brothers to perish. i know our moral condition is a reproach to us; i will not deny that, nor try to abate the shame and grief we should feel. when i think of the poverty and misery in the midst of us, and all the consequences thereof, i hardly dare feel grateful for the princely fortunes some men have gathered together. certainly it is not a christian society, where such extremes exist; we are only in the process of conversion; proselytes of the gate, and not much more. there are noble men in this city, who have been made philanthropic, by the sight of wrong, of intemperance, and poverty, and crime. let mankind honor great conquerors, who only rout armies, and "plant fresh laurels where they kill;" i honor most the men who contend against misery, against crime and sin; men that are the soldiers of humanity, and in a low age, amidst the mean and sordid spirits of a great trading town, lift up their serene foreheads, and tell us of the right, the true, first good, first perfect, and first fair. from such men i hear the prophecy of the better time to come. in their example i see proofs of the final triumph of good over evil. angels are they, who keep the tree of life, not with flaming sword, repelling men, but, with friendly hand, plucking therefrom, and giving unto all the leaves, the flower, and the fruit of life, for the healing of the nations. a single good man, kindling his early flame, wakens the neighbors with his words of cheer; they, at his lamp, shall light their torch and household fire, anticipating the beamy warmth of day. soon it will be morning, warm and light; we shall be up and a-doing, and the lighted lamp, which seemed at first too much for eyes to bear, will look ridiculous, and cast no shadow in the noonday sun. a hundred years hence, men will stand here as i do now, and speak of the evils of these times as things past and gone, and wonder that able men could ever be appalled by our difficulties, and think them not to be surpassed. still, all depends on the faithfulness of men--your faithfulness and mine. the last election has shown us what resolute men can do on a trifling occasion, if they will. you know the efforts of the three parties--what meetings they held, what money they raised, what talent was employed, what speeches made, what ideas set forth: not a town was left unattempted; scarce a man who had wit to throw a vote, but his vote was solicited. you see the revolution which was wrought by that vigorous style of work. when such men set about reforming the evils of society, with such a determined soul, what evil can stand against mankind? we can leave nothing to the next generation worth so much as ideas of truth, justice, and religion, organized into fitting institutions; such we can leave, and, if true men, such we shall. footnotes: [ ] rev. john pierpont [ ] this statement was made in ; subsequent events have shown that i was mistaken. it is now thought respectable and patriotic not only to engage in the slave-trade, but to kidnap men and women in boston. most of the prominent newspapers, and several of the most prominent clergy, defend the kidnapping. attempts have repeatedly been made to kidnap my own parishioners. kidnapping is not even a matter of church discipline in boston in . [ ] the conduct of public magistrates who are paid for serving the people, is not what it should be in respect to temperance. the city authorities allow the laws touching the sale of the great instrument of demoralization to be violated continually. there is no serious effort made to enforce these laws. nor is this all: the shameless conduct of conspicuous men at the supper given in this city after the funeral of john quincy adams, and the debauchery on that occasion, are well known and will long be remembered. at the next festival (in september, ), it is notorious, that the city authorities, at the expense of the citizens, provided a large quantity of intoxicating drink for the entertainment of our guests during the excursion in the harbor. it is also a matter of great notoriety, that many were drunk on that occasion. i need hardly add, that on board one of the crowded steamboats, three cheers were given for the "fugitive slave law," by men who it is hoped will at length become sober enough to "forget" it. when the magistrates of boston do such deeds, and are not even officially friends of temperance, what shall we expect of the poor and the ignorant and the miserable? "cain, where is thy brother?" may be asked here and now as well as in the bible story. [ ] the statistics of intemperance are instructive and surprising. of the one thousand two hundred houses in boston where intoxicating drink is retailed to be drunken on the premises, suppose that two hundred are too insignificant to be noticed, or else are large hotels to be considered presently; then there are one thousand common retail groggeries. suppose they are in operation three hundred and thirteen days in the year, twelve hours each day; that they sell one glass in a little less than ten minutes, or one hundred glasses in the day, and that five cents is the price of a glass. then each groggery receives $ a day, or $ , ( × ) in a year, and the one thousand groggeries receive $ , , . let us suppose that each sells drink for really useful purposes to the amount of $ per annum, or all to the amount of $ , ; there still remains the sum of $ , , spent for intemperance in these one thousand groggeries. this is about twice the sum raised by taxation for the public education of all the children in the state of massachusetts! but this calculation does not equal the cost of intemperance in these places; the receipts of these retail houses cannot be less than $ , per annum, or in the aggregate, $ , , . this sum in two years would pay for the new aqueduct. suppose the amount paid for the needless, nay, for the injurious use of intoxicating drink in private families, in boarding houses and hotels, is equal to the smallest sum above named ($ , , ), then it appears that the city of boston spends ($ , , + $ , , =) $ , , annually for an article that does no good to any but harm to all, and brings ruin on thousands each year. but if a school-house or a school costs a little money, a complaint is soon made. [ ] it must be remembered that this was written, not in , but in . [ ] in , "the reforming synod," assembled at boston, thus complained of intemperance, amongst other sins of the times: "that heathenish and idolatrous practice of health-drinking is too frequent. that shameful iniquity of sinful drinking is become too general a provocation. days of training and other public solemnities have been abused in this respect: and not only english but indians have been debauched by those that call themselves christians.... this is a crying sin, and the more aggravated in that the first planters of this colony did ... come into this land with a design to convert the heathen unto christ, but if instead of that they be taught wickedness ... the lord may well punish by them.... there are more temptations and occasions unto that sin publicly allowed of, than any necessity doth require. the proper end of taverns, &c., being for the entertainment of strangers ... a far less number would suffice," etc. cotton mather says of intemperance in his time: "to see ... a drunken man become a drowned man, is to see but a most retaliating hand of god. why we have seen this very thing more than threescore times in our land. and i remember the drowning of one drunkard, so oddly circumstanced; it was in the hold of a vessel that lay full of water near the shore. we have seen it so often, that i am amazed at you, o ye drunkards of new england; i am amazed that you can harden your hearts in your sin, without expecting to be destroyed suddenly and without remedy. yea, and we have seen the devil that has possessed the drunkard, throwing him into fire, and then kept shrieking fire! fire! till they have gone down to the fire that never shall be quenched. yea, more than one or two drunken women in this very town, have, while in their drink, fallen into the fire, and so they have tragically gone roaring out of one fire into another. o ye daughters of belial, hear and fear and do wickedly no more." the history of the first barrel of rum which was brought to plymouth has been carefully traced out to a considerable extent. nearly forty of the "pilgrims" or their descendants were publicly punished for the drunkenness it occasioned. [ ] over eight hundred in . [ ] this statement appears somewhat exaggerated in . [ ] in , the amount of goods stolen in boston, and reported to the police, beyond what was received, was more than $ , ; in , less than $ , . in , the police were twice as numerous as in the former year, and organized and directed with new and remarkable skill. appendix note to p. . some account of the installation of mr. parker. letter of the committee to mr. parker. boston, november , . dear sir:-- among your friends and congregation at the melodeon, a society has been organized according to law; and we have been instructed, as the standing committee, to invite you to become its minister. it gives us great pleasure to be the means to forward, in this small degree, the end proposed, and we cordially extend you the invitation, with the sincere hope that it will meet a favorable answer. we are, truly and respectfully, your friends, mark healey, john flint, levi b. meriam, amos coolidge, john g. king, sidney homer, henry smith, geo. w. robinson, c. m. ellis. to the rev. theodore parker, _west roxbury, mass_. mr. parker's reply. to mark healey, john flint, levi b. meriam, amos coolidge, john g. king, sidney homer, henry smith, george w. robinson, and c. m. ellis, esquires. dear friends:-- when i received your communication of the th ult. i did not hesitate in my decision, but i have delayed giving you a formal reply, in order that i might confer with my friends in this place, whom it becomes my painful duty to leave. i accept your invitation; but wish it to be provided that our connection may at any time be dissolved, by either party giving notice to the other of a desire to that effect, six months before such a separation is to take place. it is now nearly a year since i began to preach at the melodeon. i came at the request of some of you; but i did not anticipate the present result. far from it. i thought but few would come and listen to what was so widely denounced. but i took counsel of my hopes and not of my fears. it seems to me now that, if we are faithful to our duty, we shall in a few years build up a society which shall be not only a joy to our own hearts, but a blessing also to others, now strangers and perhaps hostile to us. i feel that we have begun a good work. with earnest desires for the success of our common enterprise, and a willingness to labor for the advancement of real christianity, i am, faithfully, your friend, theodore parker. _west roxbury, th dec., ._ * * * * * on sunday, january , , rev. theodore parker was installed as pastor of the twenty-eighth congregational society in boston. the exercises on the occasion were as follows:-- introductory hymn. prayer. voluntary on the organ. the chairman of the standing committee then addressed the congregation as follows:-- by the instructions of the society, the committee have made an arrangement with mr. parker, by which the services of this society, under its new organization, should commence with the new year; and this being our first meeting, it has been set apart for such introductory services as may seem fitting for our position and prospects. the circumstances under which this society has been formed, and its progress hitherto, are familiar to most of those present. it first began from certain influences which seemed hostile to the cause of religious freedom. it was the opinion of many of those now present, that a minister of the gospel, truly worthy of that name, was proscribed on account of his opinions, branded as a heretic, and shut out from the pulpits of this city. at a meeting of gentlemen held january , , the following resolution was passed:-- "_resolved_, that the rev. theodore parker shall have a chance to be heard in boston." to carry this into effect, this hall was secured for a place of meeting, and the numbers who have met here from sunday to sunday, have fully answered our most sanguine expectations. our meetings have proved that though our friend was shut out from the temples, yet "the people heard him gladly." of the effects of his preaching among us i need not speak. the warm feelings of gratitude and respect expressed on every side, are the best evidences of the efficacy of his words, and of his life. out of these meetings our society has naturally sprung. it became necessary to assume some permanent form--the labor of preaching to two societies, would of course be too much for mr. parker's health and strength--the conviction that his settlement in boston would be not only important for ourselves, but also for the cause of liberal christianity and religious freedom--these were some of the reasons which induced us to form a society, and invite him to become its minister. to this he has consented; with the understanding that the connection may be dissolved by either party, on giving six months notice to that effect. at his suggestion, and with the warm approval of the committee, we have determined to adopt the old congregational form of settling our minister; without the aid of bishop, churches, or ministers. as to our choice, we are, upon mature reflection, and after a year's trial, fully persuaded that we have found our minister, and we ask no ecclesiastical council to ratify our decision. as to the charge usually given on such occasions, we prefer to do without it, and trust to the conscience of our minister for his faithfulness. as to the right hand of fellowship, there are plenty of us ready and willing to give that, and warm hearts with it. and for such of the other ceremonies usual on such occasions, as mr. parker chooses to perform, we gladly accept the substitution of his services for those of any stranger. the old puritan form of settling a minister is, for the people to do it themselves; and this let us now proceed to do. in adopting this course, we are strongly supported both by principle and precedent. congregationalism is the republicanism of the church; and it is fitting that the people themselves should exercise their right of self-government in that most important particular, the choice and settlement of a minister. for examples, i need only remind you of the settlement of the first minister in new england, on which occasion this form was used, and that it is also used at this day by one of the most respectable churches in this city. * * * * * the society then ratified the proceedings by an unanimous vote; and mr. parker publicly signified that he adhered to his consent to become the minister of this society, and the organization of the society was thus completed. occasional hymn. discourse, by mr. parker. anthem. benediction. five sermons by the rt. rev. h.b. whipple, d.d., ll.d. bishop of minnesota preface my only excuse for printing these sermons is the request of friends who could not secure copies of them. they are printed as delivered, and the repetition of incidents was a part of the historical statement. the third and fifth sermons were preached without notes and reported by a stenographer. h.b.w. contents i. sermon at the opening services of the general convention, october ii. sermon at the faribault celebration of the centennial of the inauguration of george washington, - iii. sermon at the second annual meeting of the missionary council in washington, d.c., november iv. address in lambeth chapel, at the first session of the lambeth conference, july , v. sermon at the fourth annual convention of the brotherhood of st. andrew, in cleveland, ohio, sept. , i. sermon at the opening services of the general convention, october , . "we have heard with our ears, o god, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst their days, in the times of old."--psalm xliv. i. brethren: i shall take it for granted that there is a visible church; that it was founded by our lord jesus christ, and has his promise that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it. we believe that ours is a pure branch of the apostolic church; that it has a threefold ministry; that its two sacraments--baptism and the supper of the lord--are of perpetual obligation, and are divine channels of grace; that the faith once delivered to the saints is contained in the catholic creeds, and has the warrant of holy scripture which was written by inspiration of god. on this centennial day i shall speak of the history and mission of this branch of the church of our lord jesus christ. it was a singular providence that this continent, laden with the bounty of god, was unoccupied by civilization for thousands of years. america was discovered by a devout son of the latin church, whose name-- christopher, christ-bearer, and columbus, the dove--ought to have been the prophecy that he would bear the gospel to the new world. it was at a time when savonarola, with the zeal of a prophet of god and the eloquence of a chrysostom, was laboring to awaken the church to a new life. no nation ever had a nobler mission than spain. that mission was forfeited by unholy greed and untold cruelty. it was lost forever. other nations claimed the continent for their own. in the providence of god; this last of the nations was founded by the english-speaking race. i reverently believe that it was because they recognize as no other people the two truths which underlie the possibility of constitutional government, i.e., the inalienable rights of the individual citizen, and loyalty to government as a delegated trust from god, who alone has the right to govern. these lessons are intertwined with two thousand years of history. they reach back to the days when the savage briton came in contact with roman civilization and roman law, and have been deepened by centuries of christian influences which have changed our savage fathers into truth-speaking, liberty-loving christian men. more marvellous are the providences intertwined with the history of the church. it was planted by apostolic men, and numbered heroes like st. patrick and st. alban before the missionary augustine came to canterbury. through all of its history it has been the church of the english-speaking race. the liturgy contains the purest english of any book, except the english bible, which was translated by her sons. the ritual which augustine found in england came from the east; and the liturgy which he introduced was, by the advice of gregory, taken from many national churches. the venerable hooker said: "our liturgy was must be acknowledged as the singular work of the providence of god." in its services it represents the church of the english-speaking race. the exhortation to pray for the child to be baptized, the direction to put pure water into the font at each baptism, the sign of the cross, the words of the reception of the baptized, the joining of hands in holy matrimony, the "dust to dust" of the burial,--are peculiar to the offices of the english-speaking people. in the holy communion, the rubric found in all western churches, commanding the priest, after consecration, to kneel and worship the elements, never found a place in any service-book of the church of england. the book of common prayer has preserved for us catholic faith and catholic worship. the first english missionary priest in america of whose services we have record was master wolfall, who celebrated the holy communion in for the crews of martin forbisher on the shores of hudson bay, amid whose solitudes bishop horden has won whole heathen tribes to jesus christ. at about the same time the rev. martin fletcher, the chaplain of sir francis drake, celebrated the holy communion in the bay of san francisco, a prophecy that these distant shores should become our inheritance. a few years later ( ), divine service was held in the bay of st. john's, newfoundland, for sir humphrey gilbert, and when his ill-fated ship foundered at sea, the last words of the hero-admiral were, "we are as near heaven by sea as by land." the mantle of gilbert fell on sir walter raleigh, who was commissioned by queen elizabeth to bear the evangel of god's love to the new world. the faith behind the adventures of these men is seen in a woodcut of raleigh's vessels at anchor; a pinnace, with a man at the mast-head bearing a cross, approaching the shore with the message of the gospel. to some of us whose hearts have been touched with pity for the red men, its is a beautiful incident that the first baptism on these shores was that of an indian chief, mateo, on the banks of the roanoke. in may, , the first services on the shore of new england were held by the rev. richard seymour. missionary services in the wilderness were not unlike those of our pioneer bishops. "we did hang an awning to the trees to shield us from the sun, our walls were rails of wood, our seats unhewed trees, our pulpit a bar of wood--this was our 'church.'" it was in this church that the rev. robert hunt celebrated the first communion in virginia, june , . the missionary spirit of the times is seen when lord de la warr and his companions went in procession to the temple church in london to receive the holy communion. the rev. richard crashaw said in his sermon: "go forward in the strength of the lord, look not for wealth, look only for the things of the kingdom of god--you go to win the heathen to the gospel. practise it yourselves. make the name of christ honorable. what blessings any nation has had by christ must be given to all the nations of the earth." the first act of governor de la warr, on landing in virginia, was to kneel in silent prayer, and then, with the whole people, they went to church, where the services were conducted by the rev. richard burke. in the saintly alexander whittaker baptized pocahontas. disease and death often blighted the colonies, and yet the old battle cry rang out--"god will found the state and build the church." the work was marred by immoral adventurers, and it was not until these were repressed with a strong hand by sir thomas dale that a new life dawned in virginia. the first elective assembly of the new world met in . it was opened by prayer. its first enactment was to protect the indians from oppression. its next was to found a university. in the first legislative assembly which met in the choir of the church in jamestown, more than one year before the mayflower left the shores of england, was the foundation of popular government in america. time would fail me to tell the story inwrought in the lives of men like rev. william clayton of philadelphia, the rev. atkin williamson of south carolina, and the rev. john wesley and the rev. george whitefield, also sons of the church in georgia. the church of england had no rights in the english colony of massachusetts. the rev. william blaxton, the rev. richard gibson, and the rev. robert jordan endured privation and suffering, and were accused "as addicted to the hierarchy of the church of england," "guilty of offence against the commonwealth by baptizing children on the lord's day," and "the more heinous sin of provoking the people to revolt by questioning the divine right of the new england theocracy." an new life dawned on the church in america when, in , there was organized in england "the society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts." it awakened a new missionary spirit. princess anne, afterward queen of england, became its lifelong patron. the blessed work among the mohawks was largely due to her, and when these indians were removed to canada and left sheperdless, their chief, joseph brant, officiated as lay reader for twenty years. the men sent out by the society--the rev. samuel thomas, the rev. george keith, the rev. patrick gordon, the rev. john talbot, and others--were christian heroes. no fact in the history of the colonial church had so marked influence as the conversion of timothy cutler, james wetmore, samuel johnson, and daniel brown to the church. puritans mourned that the "gold had become dim." churchmen rejoiced that some of the foremost scholars in connecticut had returned to the church. i pass over the trials of the church in the eighteenth century, to the meeting of the continental congress in . it was proposed to open congress with prayer. objections were made on account of the religious differences of the delegates. old samuel adams arose, with his white hair streaming on his shoulders,--the same earnest puritan who, in , had written to england: "we hope in god that no such establishment as the protestant episcopate shall ever take place in america,"--and said: "gentlemen, shall it be said that it is possible that there can be any religious differences which will prevent men from crying to that god who alone can save them? i move that the rev. dr. duché, minister of christ church in this city, be asked to open this congress with prayer." john adams, writing to his wife, said: "never can i forget that scene. there were twenty quakers standing by my side, and we were all bathed in tears." when the psalms for the day were read, it seemed as if heaven was pleading for the oppressed: "o lord, fight thou against them that fight against me." "lord, who is like thee to defend the poor and the needy?" "avenge thou my cause, my lord, my god." on the th of july , congress published to the world that these colonies were, and of right ought to be, free. we believe that a majority of those who signed this declaration were sons of the church. the american colonists were not rebels; they were loyal, god-fearing men. the first appeal that congress made to the colonies was "for the whole people to keep one and the same day as a day of fasting and prayer for the restoration of the invaded rights of america, and reconciliation with the parent state." they stood for their inalienable rights, guaranteed to them by the magna charta, which nobles, headed by bishop stephen langton, had wrung from king john. the english clergy had at ordination taken an oath of allegiance to the british crown. many who sympathized with their oppressed country felt bound to pray for king george until another government was permanently established. others, like dr. provost, retired to private life. for two hundred years an episcopal church had no resident bishop. no child of the church received confirmation. no one could take orders without crossing the atlantic, where one man in five lost his life by disease or shipwreck. at one time the rev. william white was the only clergyman of the church in pennsylvania. even after we had received the episcopate, the outlook was so hopeless that one of her bishops said, "i am willing to do all i can for the rest of my days, but there will be no such church when i am gone." when william meade told chief justice marshall that he was to take orders in the episcopal church, the chief justice said, "i thought that this church had perished in the revolution." of the less than two hundred clergy, many had returned to england or retired to private life. in some of the colonies the endowments of the church had been confiscated. there was no discipline for clergy or laity, and it did seem as if the vine of the lord's planting was to perish out of the land. on the feast of the annunciation, , ten of the clergy of connecticut met in the glebe house at woodbury to elect a bishop. they met privately, for the church was under the ban of civil authority, and they feared the revival of bitter opposition to an american episcopate which might alarm the english bishops and defeat their efforts. they did not come to make a creed, or frame a liturgy, or found a church. they met to secure that which was lacking for the complete organization of the church, and thus perpetuate for their country that ministry whose continuity was witnessed through all the ages in a living body, which is the body of christ. i know of no greater heroism than that which sent samuel seabury to ask of the bishops of the church of england the episcopate for the scattered flock of christ. you remember the fourteen months' weary waiting, and when his prayer was refused in england, god led him to the persecuted church of scotland. now go with me to aberdeen; it is an upper room, a congregation of clergy and laity are present. the bishops and robert kilgour, bishop of aberdeen, arthur petrie, bishop of moray, and john skinner, coadjutor bishop of aberdeen, who preached the sermon. the prayers were ended; samuel seabury, a kingly man, kneels for the imposition of apostolic hands, and, according to the godly usage of the catholic church, is consecrated bishop, and made the first apostle for the new world. none can tell what, under god, we owe to those venerable men. they signed a concordat binding themselves and successors to use the prayer of invocation in the scottish communion office, which sets forth that truth which is inwrought in all the teachings of our blessed lord and his apostles, that the communion of the body and blood of christ is limited to the worthy receiver of this blessed sacrament. the consecration of seabury touched the heart of the english church. in the church of england did not have one bishop beyond its shores. there are to-day fifteen bishops in africa, six in china and japan, and twenty-three in australia and the pacific islands, ten in india, seven in the west indies, and eighty-five in british north america and the united states. every colony of the british empire and every state and territory of the united states has its own bishop, except the territory of alaska. on february th, , the rev. dr. samuel provost, d.d., were consecrated bishops in lambeth chapel, by john moore, archbishop of canterbury, william markham, archbishop of york, charles moss, bishop of bath and wells, and john hinchcliffe, bishop of peterborough. the sermon was preached by the chaplain of the primate. our minister to england, hon. john adams, urged the application of drs. provost and white, and in after years wrote: "there is no part of my life i look back with more satisfaction than the part i took--daring and hazardous as it was to myself and mine--in the introduction of episcopacy to america." samuel provost was a devoted patriot and one of the ripest scholars of america. in the convention which elected him bishop of new york were john jay, washington's chief justice, marinus willet, one of washington's favorite generals, james duane, john alsop, r.r. livingston, and william duer, members of the continental congress, and david brooks, commissary-general of the revolution, and personal friend of washington. if less prominent in his episcopal administration, bishop provost's name as a patriot was a tower of strength to the infant church. of bishop white we can say, as john adams said of roger sherman, "he was pure as an angel and firm as mount atlas." he was beloved and reverenced by all christian people. when congress declared the colonies independent states in , he at once took the oath of allegiance to the new government. when a friend warned him that he had put his neck in a halter, he replied: "i know the danger; the cause is just; i have put my faith in god." in he was elected chaplain of congress, and held the office (except when congress met in new york) until the capital was removed to washington. francis hopkinson, a distinguished signer of the declaration of independence, and other loyal sons of the country, were among those who elected him bishop of pennsylvania. one hundred years ago today the representatives of the church in the different states met to adopt a constitution. there had been tentative efforts to effect an organization and adopt a book of common prayer, all of which were overruled by the good providence of god. many not of our fold desired a liturgy. benjamin franklin published at his own expense a revised copy of the english liturgy. the house of bishops was composed of bishop seabury and bishop white. bishop provost was absent. in the house of clerical and lay deputies were the rev. abraham jarvis, the rev. robert smith, and the rev. samuel parker, who became bishops. they met to show the world that the charter of the church is perpetual, and that the church has the power to adapt herself to all the conditions of human society. they met to consolidate the scattered fragments of the church in the thirteen colonies into a national church, and secure for themselves and children catholic faith and worship in the book of common prayer. they builded wiser than they knew. they secured for the church self-government, free from all secular control. they preserved the traditions of the past, and yet every feature of executive, legislative, and judicial administration was in harmony with the constitution of the republic. they gave the laity a voice in the council of the church; they provided that bishops and clergy should be tried by their peers, and that the clergy and laity of each diocese should elect their own bishop subject to the approval of the whole church. there was the most delightful fraternal intercourse between the two bishops. in the words of our presiding bishop, "the blessed results of that convention were due, under the guidance of the holy spirit, to the steadfast gentleness of bishop white and the gentle steadfast--of bishop seabury." a century has passed. the church which was then everywhere spoken against is everywhere known and respected; the mantle of seabury, white, hobart, ravenscroft, eliot, de lancey, and kemper has fallen on others, and her sons are in the forefront of that mighty movement which will people this land with millions of souls. while we say with grateful hearts, "what hath god wrought!" we also say, "not unto us, o lord, not unto us, but unto thy nave give the praise." surely, an awful responsibility rests upon a church whose history is so full of the mercy of god. we are living in the great missionary age of the church. there is no nation on the earth to whom we may not carry the gospel. more than eight hundred millions of souls for whom christ died have not heard that there is a saviour. one of the hinderances to the speedy evangelization of the world is the division among christians,--alas! both within and without the church. our saviour said: "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." christians have been separated in hostile camps, and often divisions have ripened into hatred. the saddest of all is that the things which separate us are not necessary for salvation. the truths in which we agree are part of the catholic faith. in the words of dr. dollinger, "we can say each to the other as baptized, we are on either side, brothers and sisters in christ. in the great garden of the lord, let us shake hands over these confessional hedges, and let us break them down, so as to be able to embrace one another altogether. these hedges are doctrinal divisions about which either we or you are in error. if you are in the wrong, we do not hold you morally culpable; for your education, surroundings, knowledge, and training made the adherence to these doctrines excusable and even right. let us examine, compare, and investigate the matter together, and we shall discover the precious pearl of peace and unity; and then let us join hands together in cultivating and cleansing the garden of the lord, which is overgrown with weeds." there are blessed signs that the holy spirit is deepening the spiritual life of widely separated brothers. historical churches are feeling the pulsation of a new life from the incarnate god. all christian folk see that the holy spirit has passed over these human barriers and set his seal to the labors of separated brethren in christ. the ever-blessed comforter is quickening in christian hearts the divine spirit of charity. christians are learning more and more the theology which centres in the person of jesus christ. it is this which worldwide is creating a holy enthusiasm to stay the flood of intemperance, impurity, and sin at home, and gather lost heathen folk into the fold of christ. in our age every branch of the church can call over the roll of its confessors and martyr, and so link its history to the purest ages of the church. we would not rob them of one sheaf they have gathered into the garner of the lord. we share in every victory and we rejoice in every triumph. there is not one of that great company who have washed their robes white in the blood of the lamb, who is not our kinsman in christ. brothers in christ of every name, shall we not pray for the healing of the wounds of the body of christ, that the world may believe in him? we are perplexed by the unbelief and sin of our time. the christian faith is assailed not only with scoffs of old as celsus and julian, but also with the keenest intellectual criticism of divine revelation, the opposition of alleged scientific facts, and a corinthian worldliness whose motto is "eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." in many places christian homes are dying out. crime and impurity are coming in as a flood, and anarchy raises its hated form in a land where all men are equal before the law. the lines between the church and the world are dim. never did greater problems confront a council of the church. an apostolic church has a graver work than discussion about its name or the amending of its canons and rubrics. i fear that some of this unbelief is a revolt from a caricature of god. these mechanical ideas about the universe are the outcome of a mechanical theology which has lost sight of the fatherhood of god. there is much honest unbelief. in these yearnings of humanity, in its clubs, brotherhoods, and orders, in their readiness to share all things with their brothers, i see unconscious prophecies of the brotherhood of all men as the children of one god and father. denunciation will not silence unbelief. the name infidel has lost its terrors. there in only one remedy. it is in the spirit, the power, and the love of jesus christ. philosophy cannot touch the want. it offers no hand to grasp, no saviour to trust, no god to save. when men see in us the hand, the heart, and the love of christ, they will believe in the brotherhood of men and the fatherhood of god. there was nothing which impressed your bishops in the late visit to england more than the service in the cathedral at durham. the church, with its thousand years of history was thronged. the chants were sung by two thousand choristers in surplices. the sermon was preached by the bishop of western new york. this grand service was to set apart some bible readers and lay-preachers to go into the collieries to tell these toilers of the love of jesus christ. the same awful problems stare us in the face,--the centralization of swarms of souls in the cities; the wealth of the nation in fewer hands; competition making a life-and-death struggle for bread; the poorest sinking into hopeless despair; and the richest often forgetting that lazarus at his gate is a child of the same god and father. we, too, must send our best men and women wherever there is sin, sorrow, and death, to work and suffer, and, if need be, die for christ. we are living in the eventide of the world, when all things point toward the second coming of our king. god has placed the english-speaking people in the fore-part of the nations. they number one-tenth of the human family, and i believe god calls them to do the work of the last time. the wealth of the world is largely in christian hands. there never have been such opportunities for christian work. never such a harvest awaited the husbandman. you may tell me of difficulties and dangers. we have only one answer. sin, sorrow, and death are not the inventions of a christian priest. "there is only one name under heaven whereby any man can be saved." we have nothing to do with results. it is ours to work and pray, and pray and work and die. so falls the seed into the earth, and so god gives the harvest. when the church sends out embassies commensurate with the dignity of our king, it will be time to talk of failure. is the kingdom of christ the only kingdom which has not the right to lay tribute on its citizens? the only failure is the failure to do god's work. was it failure when dr. hill of blessed memory laid the foundation for that christian school which the wisest statesmen say is the chief factor in the regeneration of greece? was it failure when james lloyd breck, our apostle of the wilderness, carried the gospel to the indians? did williams, selwyn, and patteson fail in polynesia? was it failure when hoffman and auer died for christ in africa? have your great-hearted sons failed who have followed in the footsteps of the saintly kemper, and laid with tears and prayers foundations for christian schools which are the glory of the west? has the gospel failed in japan, where a nation is awakening into the life of christian civilization? never has god given his church more blessed rewards. the century which has passed is only our school of preparation. the voice of god's providence says: "speak to the children of israel that they go forward." we have some problems peculiar to ourselves. twenty-five years ago four millions of slaves received american citizenship. the nation owes them a debt of gratitude. during all the horrors of our civil war they were the protectors of southern women and children. knowing the failure of their masters would be the guarantee of the freedom, there was not one act that master or slave might wish to blot. we ought not to forget it, and god will not. to-day there are eight millions. they are here to stay. they will not be disfranchised. through them africa can be redeemed. they ought to be our fellow-citizens in the kingdom of god. in a great crisis of missions the holy ghost sent philip on a long journey to preach christ to one man of ethiopia. the same blessed spirit of god calls us in the love of christ to carry the gospel in the church to the millions of colored citizens of the united states. brethren, the time is short. since our last council nine of our noblest bishops have died. since i was consecrated, fifty-four bishops have entered into the rest if the people of god. it is eventide. a little more work, a few more toils and prayers, and we who have lived and loved and worked together shall have a harvest in heaven. ii. sermon at the faribault celebration of the centennial of the inauguration of george washington, - . "then samuel took a stone and set it between mizpeh and shen, and called the name of it ebeneser, saying, hitherto hath the lord helped us."-- samuel vii. . no words are more fitting on this centennial day. one hundred years ago george washington was inaugurated the first president of the united states. words are powerless to express the grateful thoughts which swell patriot hearts. save that people whom god led out of egypt with his pillar of fire and his pillar of cloud, i know of no nation whose history is so full of the bounty of god. this country was settled by englishmen. they were bound by ties of affection to the mother country. they were not rebels, they were loyal, god-fearing men. the english crown had violated rights which were guaranteed to them by the magna charta, which brave barons, headed by bishop stephen langton, had wrung from king john and which under god has made english-speaking people the representatives of constitutional government throughout the world. it was not until every plea for justice had been spurned, their sacred rights trampled upon, and the warnings of the wisest english statesmen unheeded, that the american colonies resolved to be independent and free. on the th of september, , fifty-five delegates, from eleven colonies, met in smith's tavern, philadelphia, and at the invitation of the carpenters of that city adjourned to their hall. questions arose as to the numerical influence of the colonies. patrick henry voiced the sentiment of congress, "i am not a virginian, i am an american." john jay, who represented the conservative element said, "we have not come to make a constitution; the measure of arbitrary power is not full, it must run over before we undertake to frame a government." it was proposed to open congress with prayer. objections were made on account of the religious differences of the delegates. old samuel adams rose, with his long white hair streaming on his shoulders (the same earnest puritan who in had written to england, "we hope in god that no such establishment as the protestant episcopate shall ever take place in america,") and said, "gentlemen, shall it be said that it is possible that there can be any religious difference which will prevent men from crying to that god who alone can save them? puritan as i am, i move that the rev. dr. duché, minister of christ church in the city, be asked to open this congress with prayer." john adams, writhing to his wife, said, "never can i forget that scene. there were twenty quakers standing by my side and we were all bathed in tears. when psalms for the day were read, it seemed as if heaven itself was pleading for the oppressed: 'o lord, fight thou against them that fight against me. lord, who is like unto thee to defend the poor and needy. avenge thou my cause, my lord and my god.'" although filled with indignation at the blood which had been shed in boston, congress nevertheless issued an appeal to the people of england: "you have been told that we are impatient of government and desire independency. these are calumnies. permit us to be free as you are, and our union with you will be our greatest glory. but if your ministers sport with human rights, if neither the voice of justice, the principles of the constitution, nor humanity will restrain them from shedding human blood in an impious cause, 'we will never submit.' we ask peace, liberty and safety, and for this we have laid our prayer at the feet of the king as a loving father." the battles at lexington, concord and ticonderoga preceded the second meeting of congress in may, . their plea for justice had been spurned. the outlook was dark as midnight. these brave men represented no government, they had no power to make laws, they had no officers to execute them, they could not impose customs, they had no army, they did not own a foot of land, they owed the use of their hall to the courtesy of the artisans of philadelphia. on the th of june congress made its first appeal to the people of twelve colonies, ( georgia was not represented). it was a solemn call for the whole people to observe one and the same day as a day of fasting and prayer "for the restoration of the invaded rights of america and reconciliation with the parent state." they who sought the protection of god knew that under god they must protect themselves. all hearts turned to george washington, a delegate from virginia, and he was unanimously chosen to be commander-in-chief. when congress met in july, , the people had been branded as traitors; the slaves of virginia had been incited to insurrection, the torch and tomahawk of the savage had been let loose on frontier settlements, an army of foreign mercenaries had landed on their shores, their ports were blockaded, an the army under washington for their defence only numbered , men. on the second day of july, , without one dissenting colony, the representatives of the thirteen colonies resolved that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the british crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of great britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." two days later benjamin harrison, the great-grandfather of our present president, the chairman of the committee of the whole, reported to congress the form in which that resolution was to be published to the world, and the reasons by which it was to be justified. it was the work of thomas jefferson, then aged thirty-three, and never did graver responsibility rest on a young man than the preparation of that immortal paper, and never was the duty more nobly fulfilled. in the original draft of the declaration there was the allegation that the king "had prostituted his negative by suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce in human beings." this was struck out, as mr. jefferson tells us, in "complaisance to south carolina and georgia, not without tenderness to northern brethren who held slaves." time forbids my calling over the roll of these noble patriots who signed their names to our magna charta. there is john adams, of whom jefferson said, "he was our colossus on that floor, and spoke with such power as to move us from our seats." benjamin franklin, printer philosopher and statesman. roger sherman, of whom john adams said, "he is honest as an angel and firm as mount atlas." charles carroll, who, when a member said, "oh, carroll, you will get off, there are so many carrolls," stepped back to the desk and wrote after his name, "of carrollton." john hancock, who, when elected speaker, benjamin harrison had playfully seated in the speaker's chair and said, "we will show mother britain how little we care for her, by making a massachusetts man our president, whom she has by proclamation excluded from pardon." a friend said to john hancock, "you have signed your name large." "yes," he replied, "i wish john bull to read it without spectacles." robert morris, the financier and treasurer of the revolution. elbridge gerry, the youngest member, the friend of gen. warren, to whom warren had said the night before the battle of bunker hill, "it is sweet to die for our country." what a roll of names! the silver-tongued rutledge, brave stockton, wise rush, lee--fifty-five noble names, not one of whom who did not know that, as one member said, "if we do not hang together, we shall hang separately." it was not timidity which made any of the delegates hesitate to take the irrevocable step. all the associations of their lives, all the traditions and memories of the past bound them by ties of kindred and affection to the mother country. they were venturing on an unknown sea; there were no charts to guide them, no precedents to follow. the truth was, as jefferson so tersely said, "the people wait for us to lead the way. the question is not whether by a declaration of independence we shall make ourselves what we are not, but whether we shall declare a fact which exists." so also john adams said, "the revolution was effected before the war commenced." i cannot tell the story of the seven year's war. the articles of confederation were sent to the states in , but the last of the thirteen states, maryland, did not adopt them until march, . congress under he confederacy dealt with the states and did not have the confidence or the love of the people. it required nine states to pass any measure of importance. during the war the confederacy was a pitiable failure. it issued bills which no one would take, its certificates of indebtedness and promises to pay were so worthless that it gave rise to the proverb, "not worth a continental." robert morris, the financier, pleaded hopelessly for help. alexander hamilton denounced the confederation as "neither fit for war nor peace." even washington, always hopeful, wrote in : "our troops are fast approaching nakedness; our hospitals are without medicine; our sick are without meat; our public works are at a standstill; in a word, we are at the end of our tether, and now or never deliverance must come." at last victory came--thanks to the generous assistance of france, to the heroism of leaders like lafayette, baron steuben, and hosts of others, who gave us their fortunes and hazarded their lives for america, the war was ended by the surrender of lord cornwallis. victor hugo said, "napoleon was not defeated at waterloo by the allied forces. it was god who conquered him." who that remembers trenton, valley forge, saratoga and yorktown, will not say god fought for our washington? in a quaker had occasion to pass through the woods near the headquarters of the army; hearing a voice, he approached the spot, and saw washington in prayer. returning home, he said to his wife: "all's well! all's well! washington will prevail. i have thought that no man can be a soldier and a christian. george washington has convinced me of my mistake." peace was declared in . i have a water-color of the building used as the department of state, in which the treaty of peace was signed--it was a building feet by . in may, , delegates from all the states, except rhode island, met in the state house in philadelphia, with george washington as president, to draft a constitution for these united states. all the delegates were convinced of the utter failure of the articles of confederation, all were convinced of the need of a stronger government. two parties honestly differed and were determined to fight it out to the bitter end. at one time it looked as if the convention must disband without effecting its object. franklin arose and said: "mr. president, the small progress we have made after five weeks is a melancholy proof of the imperfection of human understanding--we have gone back to ancient history for models of government--we have viewed modern states--we find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances--we are groping in the dark to find political truth, and are scarcely able to distinguish it when presented to us. how has it happened, sir, that we have not once thought of humbly applying to the father of lights to illumine our understandings? in the beginning of the contest with britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered. all of us have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. to that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means to establish our nation. have we forgotten our powerful friend? do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? i have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer i live the more convinced i am that god governs in the affairs of men. if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? we are told, sir in the sacred writings, that 'except the lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.' i firmly believe this, and i also believe that without his aid we shall succeed in our political building no better than the builders of babel. we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword to future ages. i therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of heaven an its blessing on our deliberations be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate." when the constitution was adopted, franklin rose, and pointing to the speaker's chair, on which was carved a sun half-hid by the horizon, said: "gentlemen, i have long watched that sun and wondered whether it was a rising or a setting sun--god has heard our prayers, it is a rising sun." this convention adopted the famous ordinance of , which guaranteed that slavery should never enter the north-west territory, and this, under god, saved the nation in the hour of trial. the constitution was ratified by eleven of the states in , and the first wednesday in january, , electors were chosen in all the ratifying states, except new york, where a conflict between the senate and assembly prevented a choice. in rhode island and north carolina no election was held. the person receiving the highest number of votes was to be president, the man receiving the next highest number was to be vice-president. washington received the whole number of votes, ; john adams received . they were elected the first president and vice-president of the united states. the world has only one washington. at sixteen he was county surveyor, the support of his widowed mother; at nineteen he was military inspector, with the rank of major; at twenty the governor of virginia sent him six hundred miles to ask the commander of the french forces "by what authority he had invaded the king's dominions"; at twenty-two he was colonel in command of a regiment under general braddock, and in the absence of a chaplain he read prayers daily himself. he saved the remnant of that ill-fated army from annihilation, and fifteen years after an aged indian chief came to see the man at whom he had fired many times and who was protected by the great spirit. at his entrance as a member of the legislature of virginia, the speaker greeted him with thanks for his military services. washington arose to reply and blushed and stammered. the speaker said, "mr. washington, your modesty only equals your valor." he was a member of the first continental congress of whom patrick henry said, "mr. rutledge, of south carolina, is the great orator, but for solid information and sound judgement col. washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." when with one voice congress chose him to be the commander-in-chief, he said, "i beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in this room, that i this day declare with the utmost sincerity that i do not think myself equal to the command i am honored with. no pecuniary consideration would tempt me to accept this position. i will keep an exact account of my expenses, those i doubt not you will discharge. i ask no more." the nation applauded the prudence, the wisdom, the bravery and patriotism of washington. frederick the great said, "his achievements are the most brilliant in military annals." napoleon directed that the standard of the french army should be hung with crape at his death. fox said of him in the british parliament, "illustrious man, it has been reserved for him to run the race of glory without the smallest interruption to his course." but the noblest eulogy ever uttered were the words of gen. henry lee: "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen." he had hoped to retire to private life, and wrote to lafayette, "i am a private citizen on the banks of the potomac, under the shadow of my own vine and fig tree. i have retired from all public employment and tread the walks of private life with heartfelt satisfaction." the country would not permit it. he had refused to be a candidate for the office of president and accepted the nation's unanimous call with a heavy heart. his last act before leaving for new york was to visit his aged mother, then eighty-two, and in the last year of her life. we can picture that tender farewell to one to whom he owed under god that beautiful faith which shed glory on his life. the journey to new york was one continued ovation. his virginia neighbors and friend gave him a god-speed and benediction. baltimore outdid itself in generous hospitality. philadelphia crowned him with laurel, the bells rang out their joyous peals, cannons thundered and the people with one voice shouted "long live the president." marvellous as was the enthusiasm of other cities, the people of trenton, who remembered the cruelties of the hessian in and their deliverance by washington, outdid them all. on a triumphal arch was written "dec. , . the hero who defended the mothers will defend the daughters." at elizabeth a committee of congress met him, and caesar never had so beautiful a flotilla as that of the sea captains and pilots who bore him to new york on the d of april. a week was spent in festivity. it is the th of april. in all the churches of new york there have been prayers for the new government and its chosen head. the streets swarm with people as the hour of noon approaches. every house-top and porch and window near to federal hall is packed with a dense mass. the president has been presented to the two houses of congress. the procession is formed. washington follows the senators and representatives to the balcony. around and behind him are his staff and distinguished patriots of the revolution. every eye is fixed on the stately, majestic man. a little over six feet high, his form perfect in outline and figure, a florid complexion, dark blue eyes deeply set, his rich brown hair now tinged with gray, firm jaws and broad nostrils, lighted by a benignant expression. such was the father of his country. the brave soldier trembles with emotion as the chancellor of the state of new york reads the oath; the hand of washington is on the open bible. was it a providence that they rested on the words, "his hands were made strong by the mighty god of israel?" the secretary would have raised the sacred book to the president's lips. washington said solemnly, "i swear, so help me god," and then bowed reverently kissed the book. he went to the senate chamber, and with stammering words, for his heart was almost too full for utterance, he delivered his inaugural address, and then turning to his friends said, "we will go to st. paul's church for prayers." it had been the habit of his life. his pastor, rev. lee massey, said, "no company ever withheld him from church."' his secretary, harrison, said, "whenever the general could be spared from the camp on the sabbath, he never failed to ride to some neighboring church to join in the worship of god." he claimed no praise for his matchless victories, but reverently gave all the glory to the blessing and protection of god. he knew, in the words of my friend robert c. winthrop, that "there can be no independence of god." the poet will sing and the orator describe eloquently the pageant of that day, but no incident will so touch the christian's heart as the first act of the president of the united states, kneeling reverently with his fellow-citizens in the public worship of god. the service which had been set forth and was this day used in st. paul's church by bishop provost, also a patriot of the revolution, and one who had suffered for his country's sake, was substantially the same used by us to-day. washington assumed office in the midst of dangers. edmund randolph, one of the foremost members of the constitutional convention, wrote to washington, "the constitution would never have been adopted but for the knowledge that you sanctioned it, and the expectation that you would execute it. it is in state of probation. you alone can give it stability." there was a stormy sea before the new ship of state. the bitter hatreds between federalist and anti-federalist were not healed. two states had not ratified the constitution--there were tokens in more than one direction of rebellion. without on dollar in the treasury, we were eighty millions in debt. the pirates of morocco had destroyed our commerce in the mediterranean, spain threatened the valley of the mississippi. our relations with england were full of bitter memories; a country larger than europe was to be protected, and we had a standing army of only men. washington called around him as advisers thomas jefferson, secretary of foreign affairs; alexander hamilton, secretary of the treasury; henry knox, secretary of war; edmund randolph, attorney-general, and john jay, chief justice, and by these men, under god, the crumbling confederacy was cemented into one nation. time forbids my reading you the words of wisdom, "apples of gold in pictures of silver," of washington's inaugural and farewell addresses. i wish i had time to tell how, with a prophet's eye, he saw the future of the west, and again and again urged the opening of lines of commerce to bind east and west together. after eight years of wise rule, such as befitted "the father of our country," he retired to the shades of mt. vernon, to be, as he had been through life, the helper of the helpless, the friend of the needy and the almoner of god. on the th of december, , he was exposed to a storm of sleet and rain, the severest form of quinsy set in; two days later, the th of december, he died. as friends stood weeping around his death-bed, he said with a smile, "o don't, don't; i am dying, but thank god i am not afraid to die." as the hour of his death drew near he asked to be left alone. they all went out and left him with god. there are lessons for our hearts to-day. government is a delegated trust from god, who alone has the right to govern. he gives to every nation the right to say in what form this trust shall be clothed. no man has the right to be his brother's master. take away the truth that government is a trust which comes from god, and you have left nothing between man and man but cunning and brute force. burke said, "this sacred trust of government does not arise from our conventions and compacts," but it gives our conventions and compacts all the force and sanction which they have. i shall be told that the name of god is not found in the constitution of the united states; it did not need to be when it was written on the people's hearts. while we commemorate the noble deeds of our fathers, which under god were this day crowned with success, we gratefully remember that our fathers' god has guided us through all dangers. what other nation has come out of the horrors of civil war with victors and vanquished vieing with each other in love for one common country? where has the hand of the assassin bowed the whole people by the leader's grave? this is no day for boasting or to call over the roll of our great dead. we have sinned deeply, and deeply have we paid the penalty. no hand but god's could have over-ruled our mistakes and given us our favored position to-day. we must not forget that no nation has ever survived the loss of its religion. the year which saw washington inaugurated president, saw in the fair land of lafayette the beginnings of that holocaust of murder which turned france into a hell. "the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom." no high-sounding words about freedom, no godless philosophy, no infidel creed, which robs men of homes here and heaven hereafter, can save this nation. "not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise," must be our song, as it was the song of our fathers. there are clouds and darkness on the horizon for the future. i see it in the impatience of law, in the jealousies between class and class, in the selfishness of the rich, and in the misery of the poor, in bribery and corruption in high places, and in the turbulence of mobs. i see it in the foul monster of intemperance and impurity which stalk unabashed through the land. but i see the greatest danger in that insidious teaching which robs humanity of an eternal standard of right, which makes morality prudence or imprudence, which limits man's horizon by the grave, and takes from hearts and homes god and christ and heaven. yet, i reverently believe that god has set us in the forefront of the nations to be, as our text says, "a beacon on the mountain-top," to lead on in his work in the last time. it may be that for our sins we shall walk again into the furnace, as we have walked and come out of it purified and fitted for the master's use. i sometimes lose faith in men, but i will not lose faith in god. it is ours to work and bide our time; so did our fathers, and so will god give the harvest. i should wrong my heart and yours to-day, if i forgot the daughters of the revolution. we might have had no washington but for the lessons he learned at that mother's knee, that his duty to god was to believe in him, to fear him and to love him with all his heart, with all his mind, with all his soul and with all his strength, to worship him, to give him thanks, to put his whole trust in him, to call on him, to honor his holy name and his word and to love him truly all the days of his life; that his duty towards his neighbor--was to love him as himself, and to do to all men as he would have them do unto him, to love, honor and succor his father and mother, to honor and obey the civil authority, to hurt nobody by word or deed, to be true and just in all his dealings, to bear no malice or hatred in his heart, to keep his hands from picking and stealing, and his tongue from evil speaking, lying and slandering, to keep his body in temperance, soberness and chastity. not to covet or desire other men's goods, but to learn and labor truly to get his own living and to do his duty in that state of life unto which it should please god to call him. we know this was the rule of his life. the father of his country found his solace, inspiration and help, as many of us have found it, in the love of a christian wife. there are no fairer names in our country's history than martha washington, abigail adams, elizabeth schuyler hamilton, sally foster otis, alice delancy izard, jane ketelas beekman, and many more, who made up the republican court of washington; and we do not forget humble names like mollie stark, whose lives were consecrated to their country. wives, mothers, daughters! none have places of greater influence in shaping and moulding our country than you. your power is the power of a christian mother, a christian wife, a christian daughter. in the darkest hour look to god, believe that your mission is a nobler one than to be a slave of fashion or the leader of a party. plant your feet on the rock of eternal truth--never speak with uncertain voice of the verities of the christian faith. for you st. paul said: "how knowest thou, o woman, but thou mayest save thy husband and thy child," and saving them a nation is saved. iii. _sermon at the second annual meeting of the missionary council in washington, d.c., nov. , _. "_the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever_."--revelation xi. . these words are god's surety that the prayers, the trials and the labors of his church shall be crowned with success. we are living in the great missionary age of the church. impenetrable barriers have been broken down. fast-closed doors have been opened. there is no country where we may not carry the gospel of jesus christ. divine providence has been fusing the nations of the earth into one common brotherhood. man has created nothing. the lightening would run its circuit in the garden of eden as well as when morse made it man's messenger. in the fullness of time god has lifted the veil from human eyes to see the mysteries of his bounty, and so prepare a highway for the coming of our king. i have no argument about the obligation of missions. it is eighteen hundred years too late for this. i speak to you to-day of the progress of the kingdom of christ. pray for me that the story may lead us to the foot of the cross to consecrate all that we have to his blessed service. at the close of the last century a thoughtful young englishman asked the governor of the east india company to go to india to preach the gospel. the answer was: "the man that would go to india upon that errand is as mad as a man who would put a torch to a powder magazine." a few years ago chunder sen, the great scholar of india, died. on his death-bed a friend asked him what he thought were the prospects of christianity in india. he answered: "jesus christ has conquered the heart of india." not that great battles are not yet to be fought, much weary work to be done, but with more than half a million of christians in india, which have been won in this century, we are certain that the nation will be won to christ. i turn to that dark continent which has had more of human sorrow bound up in its history than any place on earth. forty years ago in a cottage in the highlands of scotland an aged man said to his son: "david, you will have family prayer to-day, for when we part we shall never meet again until we meet before the great white throne." david livingstone read the thirty-fourth psalm, the key-note of that wonderful life, and then poured out his heart to god in prayer, threw his arms around his father's neck and kissed him; they parted never to meet again in this world, and so he went to africa. he did a wonderful work in the bechuana country. he was a carpenter, blacksmith, teacher, laborer, physician and minister to these poor souls, but the man's heart was in the interior of africa. one day, with about as much preparation as i take when i go to the north woods of minnesota, he left for the interior of africa. his route was along the path of slave traders, and every few days he came to some place where a poor woman had fainted in the chain-gang and had been strapped to a tree with her babe at her breast and left to be stung to death by insects. no wonder that he wrote in his journal, and blotted it with tears: "oh, god, when will the great sore of the world be healed?" when you remember that the followers of the false prophet are the only people engaged in this traffic in human flesh, and that to the poor african it means slavery or death, you have the answer to the stories of the progress of mohammedanism in africa. i cannot tell the story of his life. one day he was found dead on his knees in prayer in an african hut. that life had so impressed itself upon the heathen folk that they did what will always be a marvel of history. they wrapped the body in leaves. they covered it with pitch. they carried it nine months on their shoulders. they fought hostile tribes. they swam swollen rivers. they cut their way through impenetrable thickets, and at last stood at the door of a mission house in zanzibar, and said, "we have brought the man of god to be buried with his people." and so david livingstone sleeps in westminster abbey. our stanley took up livingstone's work, and he laid africa open to the gaze of the world. he travelled nine hundred and ninety-nine days, and the thousandth day reached the sea-coast. in all that journey he did not meet a single, solitary soul who had heard that jesus christ had come into the world. stanley tells the reason why he went back to africa. he said: "when i found livingstone i cared no more for missions than the veriest atheist in england. i had been a press reporter, and my business was to follow armies and to describe battles; to attend conventions and report speeches, but my heart had not been touched with sympathy for missions. when i found this grand old man i asked: 'what is he here for? is he crazy? is he cracked? i sat at his feet four months and i saw that a power above his will had taken possession of his life, and given him a hunger to lead poor heathen folk out of their darkness. "i have heard the same voice speaking to my heart, 'follow me,' and i go back to africa to finish livingstone's work." this was a few years ago. to-day there are fifteen christian bishops of our communion in africa. eight were present at the lambeth conference. one of them, bishop crowther, was captured when a boy ten years of age on a slave ship, placed in a mission school, transferred to a high school, then to the university, graduated with honors, and went back to africa as a bishop. as i looked in the face of that black man and thought of his wonderful history, i remembered another man from africa that carried the cross of my blessed master up the hill to calvary, and that this aged servant of christ was following in his blessed footsteps. another of these bishops was one of the manliest men that i ever looked upon; bishop smythies, the picture of manly beauty, honored by his university, beloved by friends, a face gentle and loving as that of st. john. when i thought of this man going on foot in the interior of africa, perhaps to die for christ, i could not keep back the tears, and i went to him and said, "my good brother, i cannot tell you how my heart goes out to you in loving sympathy." he smiled and said, "bishop, when the church in jerusalem had more work than it knew how to do, the holy ghost sent one of its ministers upon a long journey to convert one african. surely it is not much for the christians of christian england to send a christian bishop to millions who never heard there is a savior." and now i turn to the opposite quarter of the globe--australasia, new zealand, and polynesia. when i was a boy there was but one english settlement, and that was known throughout the world as botany bay, the abode of the most abandoned criminals of english civilization. there are to-day twenty-one bishops in those islands. i wish i could tell the story inwrought in the lives of selwyn, patteson, williams, and a host of others, some of whom have laid down their lives for christ. to-day cannibalism is a thing of the past. human sacrifices, thank god, are to be found nowhere on the earth. there is not one of those islands without its christian church, and in some of them the last vestige of heathenism has passed away. they have thousands of christian men and women under their native pastors. surely this is no time to talk about the failure of christian missions. now i turn to japan. less than forty year ago one of our brave american sailors, commodore perry, cast anchor on sunday morning in the harbor of yeddo. he called his officers and crew together for public worship, and they sang that old hymn of our fathers, "old hundred"; and the first sound that this hermit nation heard from her younger sister of the west was that grand old hymn. next year japan will have a constitutional government. it has already adopted the christian calendar. there are more that a million of children in their public schools. many of these schools are under the charge of christian men and women, and it is only a question of a few years when japan will take her place beside other christian nations. this is more wonderful when we remember that until recently there was a statute in japan that, "if any christian shall set his foot on the island of japan, or if the christian's god, jesus, shall come, he shall be beheaded." i turn to china. i wonder that its doors are open to christian missions when i remember that christian nations at the mouth of the cannon have forced upon that people that deadly drug which drags body and soul to death, that their names have been by-words and hissing in christian lands. the secret is that god sent to china a young englishman whose life was hid with christ in god. chinese gordon saved the nation of china, and his name will be a household word forever. surely a people where the poorest laborer can become the first prince of the realm if he becomes the first scholar, and if his son is a vagabond sinks to the place from which his father came, surely such a people have the elements to receive the gospel of christ. time would fail me to tell the story of missions in north america; i should begin at hudson's bay, where bishop john horden has lived thirty-five years amid its solitudes and won every one of its indian tribes to christianity. i should tell you of the bishop of athabasca, whose home is within the arctic circle, who could not attend the lambeth conference because he could not go and return the same year. i should tell of my young friend, the bishop of mackenzie river, when i knew that he spent nine months each year travelling upon snowshoes and three months in a birch-bark canoe; that the only way that he could carry to them the gospel was to follow them in the chase, hunt with them, fish with them, lie down in their wigwams in his blanket and always have waiting upon his lips the sweet story of the love of god, our father. i told him i wished he would give me his post-office address and i would send him books and papers; he said: "bishop, i am a thousand miles from a post-office and only get one mail a year." i should tell you of another, the bishop of rupertsland, dr. macrae, the only bishop in christendom who has a university made up of a roman catholic college, a presbyterian college, and a college of the church of england; so large-hearted that almost by one consent the people of manitoba have made him the president of their entire educational system. if i turn to our own land, it would be to tell you that one hundred years ago the church was a feeble folk, scattered along the atlantic coast and known as a people that were everywhere spoken against. thank god, to-day her voice is heard in the miner's camp, in the schoolhouse of the border, in the wigwam of the indians, and sturdy heralds are in the fore-front of that mighty movement which is peopling this land with its millions of souls. marvellous as is the progress of christian missions and the work which has been done in this century, it has largely been committed to the english-speaking race. in the providence of god races of men have been selected by him to do his work. two hundred years ago the english-speaking people of europe were less than many of the nations of the latin races. spain outnumbered england two to one. to-day there are one hundred and fifty millions of english-speaking people in the world, one-tenth of the entire human family. when we think of the future, that by the close of another century more than five hundred millions will be speaking one language, it leads us to ask, on bended knees, why has this commission been committed to this english-speaking race, and what are the responsibilities that rest upon our branch of the church of god? i reverently believe that it is because on its civil side it recognizes as no other race that government is a delegated trust from god, who alone has the right to govern. it represents constitutional government, and it has done so since bishop stephen langton, at the head of the nobles of england, wrung the _magna charta_ from king john, and henceforth recognized the sacredness of the citizen, who has been clothed with an individuality unlike any being who lives or will live in all the ages of eternity. on its religious side it recognizes the two truths which underlie the possibility of the reunion of christendom--the validity of all christian baptism in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and that the condition of fellowship in the church of god is faith in the incarnate son of god as contained in the old catholic creeds. surely we may hold up the olive branch of god's peace over all strife and divisions among the disciples of christ, and say "ye are brethren." when we remember that in the providence of god the greek tongue was spoken throughout the civilized world to prepare a way for the coming of his son and the preaching of the blessed gospel, we see in these facts forerunning tokens of his preparation for the second coming of jesus christ. if i had time to-day, i would love to tell you the story that is inwrought in the history of our noble missionary bishops; men who have hazarded their lives for the lord jesus. i wish i could tell you of their ventures of faith, foundations for christian schools which they have laid with prayers and watered with tears, and with a prophet's eye looked forward to a future when the land will swarm with millions of souls, that so by christian nurture and christian training the church may fulfil the master's words, "feed my lambs." i wish i could tell you of the work, dear to every bishop's heart, of the daughters of the cross; yes, and i would like to bring to this council some of the tempest-tossed and weary souls who have been led out of their darkness to the rest and peace and gladness of christian faith. i wish i could bring here some from the northern forests and the prairies of the west, the men of the trembling eye and the wandering foot, that they might thank you for having led them out of their heritage of anguish and sorrow into the light of the children of god. i may not close without a word of tribute to those who have fallen asleep. since our last general convention nine bishops have crossed the river and are waiting for us on the other shore. unbidden tears come as i remember the loving elliot, our st. john; welles, another holy herbert; brown, with his catholic heart that had room enough to take in all the poor and the sorrowful of his diocese; harris, every whit a great leader in our israel; dunlop, the soldier on the outpost, often debarred brotherly sympathy, who in loneliness and weariness bravely did his work. others who were patriarchs of the church of god--green, lee, potter and stevens--all men who were great leaders in the church of god, who bravely did their work, whose faces are upon every heart, and who have entered into rest. since i entered the house of bishops, fifty-three bishops have laid down their shepherd's staves and entered into rest. a word, and i have done. surely in such a day as this it is no time to discuss shibboleths. its is a time for brotherly sympathy and great-hearted work. with such responsibilities around us there must be no divisions among those who love the same saviour and look for the same heavenly home. i remember that at a critical period in our missionary work the venerable doctor dyer said to me with tears in his eyes, "strife is an awful price to pay for the best results, but strife among the kinsmen of christ in the presence of those for whom he died, and when wandering souls are going down to death, is almost an unpardonable sin." may i not ask you to-day, dear brothers and sisters, what have we done to help on in the great work which is to be done in the eventide of the world? what lonely missionary have we remembered in prayer during the past week? what wanderer have we tried with love to lead to the saviour? have we given the cost of the trimmings of a dress? have we made any sacrifices for him who gave himself for us? may i not ask you to-day here beside god's altar to consecrate all you have and are to his service? with some of us the eventide draws on. a little while, such a little while, just time enough to do his work, and then the end shall come. and when we reach that other home, next to seeing the saviour, next to having the old ties re-united, will be the comfort and the blessedness of meeting some one whom we helped heavenward and home. iv. _address in lambeth chapel, at the first session of the lambeth conference, july , _. most reverend and right reverend brethren: no assembly is fraught with such awful responsibility to god, as a council of the bishops of his church. since the holy spirit presided in the first council of jerusalem, faithful souls have looked with deep interest to the deliberations of those whom christ has made the shepherds of his flock, and to whom he gave his promise, "lo, i am with you always to the end of the world." the responsibility is greater when division has marred the beauty of the lamb's bride. our words and acts will surely hasten or (which god forbid) retard the reunion of christendom. feeling the grave responsibility which is imposed on me to-day, my heart cries out as did the prophet's, "i am a child and cannot speak." pray for me, venerable brethren, that god may help me to obey his word--"whatsoever i command, that shalt thou speak." i would kneel with you at our master's feet and pray that "the holy spirit may guide us into all truth." we meet as the representatives of national churches; each with its own peculiar responsibility to god for the souls intrusted to its care; each with all the rights of a national church, to adapt itself to the varying conditions of human society; and each bound to preserve the order, the faith, the sacraments, and the worship of the catholic church, for which it is a trustee. as we kneel by the table of our common lord we remember separated brothers. division has multiplied division until infidelity sneers at christianity as an effete superstition, and the modern sadducee, more bold than his jewish brother, denies the existence of god. millions for whom christ died have not so much as heard that there is a saviour. it will heal no divisions to say, who is at fault? the sin of schism does not lie at one door. if one has sinned by self-will, the other has sinned as deeply by lack of charity and love. the way to reunion looks difficult. to man it is impossible. no human _eirenicon_ can bridge the gulf of separation. there are unkind words to be taken back, alienations to be healed, and heartburnings to be forgiven. where we are blind, god can make a way. when "the god of peace" rules in all christian hearts, our lord's prayer will be answered--"that they all may be one, as thou, father, art in me, and i in thee, that they all may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." no one branch of the church is absolutely by itself alone the catholic church; all branches need reunion in order to the completeness of the church. there are blessed signs that the holy spirit is quickening christian hearts to seek for unity. we all know that this divided christianity cannot conquer the world. at a time when every form of error and sin is banded together to oppose the kingdom of christ, the world needs the witness of a united church. men must hear again the voice which peals through the lapse of centuries bearing witness to the "faith once delivered to the saints," or else for many souls there will be only rationalism and unbelief--while this sad, weary world, so full of sin and sorrow, is pleading for help, it is a wrong to christ and to the souls for whom he died that his children should be separated in rival folds. as baptised into christ we are brothers. notwithstanding the hedges of human opinions which men have builded in the garden of the lord, all who look for salvation alone through faith in jesus christ do hold the great verities of divine faith. the opinions which separate us are not necessary to be believed in order to salvation. the truths in which we agree are parts of the catholic faith. the holy spirit has passed over these human barriers, and set his seal to the labors of separated brethren in christ, and rewarded them in the salvation of many precious souls. the grace of the lord jesus christ and the renewing and sanctifying influences of the holy ghost are the same in the peasant in the cottage, and in the emperor on the throne. they share with us in the long line of confessors and martyrs for christ. we would not rob them of one sheaf which they have gathered in the garner of the lord. we rejoice that churches with a like historic lineage with us are seeking reunion. churches whose faith has been dimmed by coldness or clouded by error are being quickened into new life from the incarnate son of god. our hearts go out in loving sympathy to the old catholics of europe and america, whose names always will be linked with selwyn, wilberforce, and wordsworth, whittingham, kerfoot, and brown, in defence of the faith. it is with deep sorrow that we remember that the church of rome has separated herself from the teaching of the primitive church by additions to the faith once delivered to the saints, and by claiming for its bishop prerogatives which belong only to the divine head of the church while we honor the devotion and zeal of her missionary heroes, and rejoice at the good works of multitudes of her children, we lament that lack of charity which anathematizes disciples of christ who have carried the gospel to the ends of the earth. we bless god's holy name for the fraternal work which has been carried on under the guidance of the see of canterbury, and which we trust will lead ancient churches to a deeper personal faith in jesus christ. we are sad that some of our kinsmen in christ, children of one mother, have forsaken her ways. god can over-rule even this sorrow, so that it shall fall out to the furtherance of the gospel. they must take with them precious memories of the love and the faith of the mother whom they have forsaken, and of the liberty wherewith the truth in christ has made her children free--under god these may be a link in the chain of his providence to the restoration of unity. it is a singular providence that at this period of the world's history, when marvellous discoveries have united the people of divers tongues in common interests, he has placed the anglo-saxon race in the forefront of the nations. they are carrying civilization to the ends of the earth. they are bringing liberty to the oppressed, elevating the down-trodden, and are giving to all these divers tongues and kindreds their customs, traditions, and laws. i reverently believe that the anglo-saxon church has been preserved by god's providence (if her children will accept this mission) to heal the divisions of christendom, and lead on in his work to be done in the eventide of the world. she holds the truths which underlie the possibility of reunion, the validity of all christian baptism in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. she ministers the two sacraments of christ as of perpetual obligation, and makes faith in jesus christ, as contained in the catholic creeds, a condition of christian fellowship. the anglo-saxon church does not perplex men with theories and shibboleths which many a poor ephraimite cannot speak--she believes in god the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in jesus christ his only son, and in the holy ghost, three persons and one god, but she does not weaken faith in the triune god by human speculations about the trinity in unity. she believes that the sacred scriptures were written by inspiration of god, but she has no theory about inspiration. she holds up the atonement of christ as the only hope of a lost world; but she has no philosophy about the atonement. she teaches that it is through the holy ghost that men are united to christ. she ministers the sacraments appointed by christ as his channels of grace; but she has no theory to explain the manner of christ's presence to penitent believing souls. she does not explain what god has explained, but celebrates these divine mysteries, as they were held and celebrated for one thousand years after our lord ascended into heaven, before there was any east or west arrayed against each other in the church of god. surely we may and ought to be first to hold up the olive branch of peace over strife, and say, "sirs, ye are brethren." in so grave a matter as the restoration of organic unity, we may not surrender anything which is of divine authority, or accept terms of communion which are contrary to god's word. we cannot recognize any usurpation of the rights and prerogatives of national churches which have a common ancestry, lest we heal "the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly," and say "peace, where there is no peace;" but we do say that all which is temporary and of human choice or preference we will forego, from our love to our own kinsmen in christ. the church of the reconciliation will be an historical and catholic church in its ministry, its faith, and its sacraments. it will inherit the promises of its divine lord. it will preserve all which is catholic and divine. it will adopt and use all instrumentalities of any existing organization which will aid it in doing the lord's work. it will put away all which is individual, narrow, and sectarian. it will concede to all who hold the faith all the liberty wherewith christ hath made his children free. _missions_.--in the presence of brethren who bear in their bodies the marks of the lord jesus, i hardly know how to clothe in words my thoughts as i speak of missions. the providence of god has broken down impenetrable barriers--the doors of hermit nations have been opened; commerce has bound men in common interests, and so prepared "a highway for our god"--japan, india, china, africa, polynesia, amid the solitudes of icy north, and in the lands of tropic suns, world-wide there are signs of the coming of the kingdom of jesus christ. the veil which has so long blinded the eyes of the ancient people, our lord's kinsmen according to the flesh, is being taken away. we bless god for the good example of martyrs like patteson, mackenzie, parker, hannington, and others, who have laid down their lives for the lord jesus. we rejoice that our branch of the church has been counted worthy to add to the names of those who "came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb." "a great and effectual door is opened." there is no country on the earth where we may not carry the gospel. the wealth of the world is largely in christian hands. the church only needs faith to grasp the opportunity to do the work. in the presence of fields so white for the harvest, we must ask, "lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" . there must be unceasing, prevailing intercessory prayer for those whom we send out to heathen lands. the hearts of all christian nations were turned with anxious solicitude to that brave servant of god and his country in khartoum. shall we feel less for the servants of christ who have given up home and country to suffer and it may be to die for him? some of us remember that when missions were destroyed, when clouds were all around us, and the very ground drifting from under our feet, that we were made brave to work and wait for the salvation of god by the prayers which went up to god for us. when "prayers were made without ceasing of the church unto god," the fast-closed doors of the prison were opened for the apostles. it will be so again. . there must be the entire consecration of all unto christ. the wisdom of paul and the eloquence of apollos may plant, but "god alone giveth the increase." if success comes, if "the rod of the priesthood bud and blossom and bear fruit," it must be "laid up in the ark of god." he will not give his glory to another. the work is christ's. "we are ambassadors for him." "i have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit." . they who would win souls must have a ripe knowledge of the sacred scriptures. "they were written by inspiration of god. . . . that the man of god may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." our orders may be unquestioned, our doctrine perfect in every line and feature, but we shall not reach the hearts of men unless we preach christ out of an experimental knowledge of the truths of divine revelation. there is but one book which can bring light to homes of sorrow, one light to scatter clouds and darkness, one message to lead wandering folk unto god. this blessed book will be to every soldier and lonely missionary what it was to livingstone dying alone in africa, or to captain gardiner dead on the desolate shores of patagonia, whose finger pointed to the words, "the blood of jesus christ cleanseth from all sin." . we must love all whom christ loves. we may have the gift of teaching, we may understand all mysteries, we may have all knowledge, we may bestow all our goods to the poor, we may even give our bodies to be burned, but without that love which comes alone from christ, we shall be "as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." with st. paul we must say, "whereinsoever christ is preached i do rejoice, and will rejoice." . above all gifts we need the baptism of the holy ghost. when this consecration comes there will be no cry of an empty treasury. we shall no longer be weary with the bleating of lost sheep, to whom we have to say, i have no means and no shepherd to send you. _christian work_--we rejoice at every sign that christians realize that wealth is a sacred trust, for which they shall give an account. we rejoice more that they are giving that personal service which is a law of his kingdom. men and women of culture and gentle birth are going into the abodes of sickness and sorrow to comfort stricken homes and lead sinful folk to the saviour. brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and deaconesses are multiplying. never was there greater need for their holy work. many of our own baptized children have drifted away from all faith. to thousands god is a name, the bible a tradition, faith an opinion, and heaven and hell fables. but that which gives us the deepest sadness and makes all christian work more difficult is that so many of those to whom the people look for example have given up the bible, the lord's day, the house of god, and christian faith. alas! they are telling these weary toilers whose lives are clouded by anxiety and sorrow that there is no hereafter. "they know not what they do." they are sowing to the wind and will reap the whirlwind. may god show them the danger before if is too late! the loss of faith is the loss of everything; without it morality becomes prudence or imprudence. when the tie which binds man to god is broken all other ties snap asunder. no nation has survived the loss of its religion. we are appalled at the mad cry of anarchy which tramples all which we hold dear for time and eternity under its feet. we cannot look into its face without seeing the lineaments of that man of sin who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called god and worshipped." antichrist is he who usurps the place of christ. "he is antichrist who denieth the father and the son." our hearts go out in pity for those whose mechanical ideas of the universe may be a revolt from a mechanical theology which has lost sight of the fatherhood of god. we stand where two ways meet. we shall take care of the people or the people will take care of us. the people are the rulers; the power of the future is in their hands. limit their horizon to this life, let penury, sickness, and sorrow change the man to a wolf, let him know no god and father who hears his cry, no saviour to help, no brother to bind up his wounds, let there be on the one side wealth and luxury and wanton waste, and on the other side poverty, misery, and despair, and there will be, as there has been, a cry for blood. we wonder why men pass by the church to found clubs and brotherhoods and orders. they will have them, and they ought to have them, until the church is in its divine love what its founder designed it to be--the brotherhood in christ of the children of our god and father. what the world needs to-day is not alms, not hospitals, not homes of mercy alone. it needs the spirit and the power of the love of christ. it needs the voice, the ear, the hand, and the heart of christ seen in and working in his children. no powers of government, no _prestige_ of social position, no prerogatives of churchly authority can meet the issues of this hour; we have waited already too long. brotherhood men will have, and it will be the brotherhood of the commune, or brotherhood in christ as the children of our god and father. infidelity answers no questions, heals no wounds, fulfils no hopes. the gospel will do, is doing, to-day what it has done through all the ages: leading men out of sin and darkness and despair to the liberty of sons of god. in a day of division and unrest there will be many questions which perplex earnest souls. some will dwell on the subjective side of the faith, others will think most of its manifestations in the life. these questions will affect organization for christian work, public worship, and find expression in the ritual of the church. there is no room for differences if christ be first, christ be last, and christ in everything. the ritual of the church must be the expression of her life. it must symbolize her faith; it must be subject to her authority. as the years go by worship will be more beautiful. the "garments of the king's daughter may be of wrought gold," and she "clothed in raiment of needlework," but "she will have a name that she liveth and is dead," unless her "fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." lastly, to none is this council so dear as to those whose lives are spent in the darkness of heathenism, or who have gone out to new lands to lay foundations for the work of the church of god. in loneliness, with deferred hope, neglected by brethren, your only refuge to cry as a child to god, it is a joy for you to feel the beating of a brother's heart, and hear the music of a brother's voice, and kneel with brothers at the dear old trysting-place, the table of our lord. let us consecrate all we have and are to him, let us remember loved ones far away, let us gather all the work we have so long garnered in our hearts and lay it at his feet. we shall not have met in vain if out of the love learned of him we give each to the other, and to all fellow-laborers for him, a brother's love, a brother's sympathy, and a brother's prayers. i do not know how to clothe in words the thronging memories which cluster around us in this holy place, what searchings of heart, what cries to god, what communions with christ, what consolations of the holy spirit have been witnessed in this sacred place. i cannot call over the long roll of saints, confessors, and martyrs, whose "name are written in the lamb's book of life." two names will be remembered to-day by us all. one, that gentle archbishop longley, who in the greatness of his love saw with a prophet's eye the mission of the church and planned these conferences that our hearts might beat as one in the battle of the last time. the other, the wisest of counsellors and the most loving of brethren, the great-hearted archbishop tait, whose dying legacy to his brethren was "love one another." they have finished their course and entered into rest. a little more work, a few more trials, and we, too, shall finish our course. we are not two companies, the militant and triumphant are one. we are the advance and rear of one host travelling to the canaan of god's rest. god grant that we, too, may so follow christ that we may have an abundant entrance to his eternal kingdom. v. _sermon at the fourth annual convention of the brotherhood of st. andrew in cleveland, ohio, sept. , _. "_god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life_."--st. john, iii. . sin, sorrow and death have not been invented by christian priests. they are world facts, they belong to every home, and are hid in every man's heart. there can be no design without a designer, no law without a lawgiver, no creation without a creator. so i say, with the leading scientist of england, "god is a necessity of human thought." is this god an inexorable ruler, whose right is his infinite might? or is he an eternal father, whose might is his infinite right? and so the question comes home to the heart: does god care for us? the body is cared for. every invention of man ministers to the life that is between the cradle and the grave. man has created nothing. the lightning would run its circuit in the garden of eden as well as when morse made it man's messenger. the veil has been lifted so that man can look into god's storehouse and read laws as old as creation. but the body is not the man. you ask me how do i know i have a soul? i know it as i know i have a body--by self-consciousness. there is no place in this world where men are not compelled by absolute necessity to recognize the act and the will of a soul within, which directs the act. i ask again, does god care for me? i say it reverently, brother, you cannot conceive of a god who could create a world like this, if he can feel one throb of pity for his children, unless you believe he has provided a remedy for sin, sorrow, and death. the coming of god into the family of man is an absolute necessity of the very being of god. the incarnation is the outcome of the possibility that god can love. i turn then to this record and i ask, is this jesus the friend that the world has waited for and looked for? no one that has walked this earth could use the words which every day rested upon his lips: "i and the god you worship are one." "i am the bread that is come down from heaven, and the bread i shall give you is my flesh, and i give it for the life of the world." "i am the resurrection and the life; if any man shall believe in me, if he were dead he shall live"--unless he were god incarnate. the miracles of jesus were not violations of the laws of nature; they were the divine proofs that that god whose hand is behind every law of nature had come into the world to help those who needed help. when he multiplied bread in his hands, he did of his own will that which god does when he multiplies the wheat in the harvest. when he created the wine of cana, he did that of his own will which he does when he distills the dewdrop in the clusters of the vine. but that which unseals my heart, is the divine compassion, is the tender pity, is the love that never turns from the weary. if man had invented this gospel, the story of mary magdalene would never have been in the record. it is not in the wrecks strewn along the path of life that men would find those they would lift to the bosom of god. it is the divine eye that pities, it is the divine hand that is reached out to save. i follow him to the cross, i follow him to the grave, where we are going, where our loved ones are sleeping. the third day he came back from the darkness; he showed men, by the marks of the nails in his hands and by the print of the spear in his side, that he was the very jesus they parted with at the foot of the cross; and he ascended to heaven to be the friend of any aching heart that needs a friend at the right hand of god. the gospel of jesus christ is not a philosophy, it is not a dogma; it is the story of a person, a real hand to grasp, a real saviour to love, a real god to save. marvelous as is this story that never can grow old and will be the burden of the songs of the redeemed, more wonderful is the christ of history. men ask for proof. you do not ask for proof of a sun when the world is bending low with golden harvests the other day there was a gathering of great men, scholars, philosophers. it so happened that one man who had lost his faith, congratulated his fellows that superstition was dying out, that the day was at hand when christianity would be an effete thing of the past. james russell lowell rose, the blood rushing to his cheeks, and quietly said: "show me twelve miles square in the world in which i live where childhood is cared for, where womanhood is reverenced, where old age is protected, where life and property are absolutely safe, where it is possible for a decent man to live decently--where the gospel of jesus christ has not gone before and made that life possible; and then i will listen to your revilings of my master." can i go nearer your heart? there is a wide difference between men, but there is one side of human nature that is the same; it is that we call the heart--that which loves, that which fears, that which suffers, that which is the same in the poorest laborer that ever handled the spade as in the greatest scholar that ever graced a university. if we can get the rubbish from the heart, the good news of god sounds the same to all. when sir walter scott was dying, in suffering and agony he turned to lockhart and said, "read to me; i am in such agony." he said, "what book, sir walter?" "what book? there is but one book for a dying man; it is the story of the one that passed this way before me, of jesus the saviour." i stood the other day by the death-bed of one who, when i first met him was a savage warrior. he looked up in my face and said, "the great spirit has called me. i am going on the last journey. i am not afraid, for jesus is going with me and i shan't be lonesome on the road." brothers, it is to tell this story that you have banded yourselves together in the service of him who redeemed you with his precious blood. your motto must be the words of that sainted apostle whose honored name you bear: "we have found christ." for it is only when we have reached out our hand to grasp the hand of jesus, that, because we cannot help it, we reach out the other hand to help some one else. we cannot from the heart say, "our father," and not remember wandering brothers whom we may lead to the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world. the story is not for wage-workers alone, not for the poor in the attic and the cellar alone; it is for the man who lives in the marble house, it is for the trafficker in the market, it is for every one away from home and heaven and god. we must find the way to speak as one tempted man has the right to speak to a brother that is battling with temptation. it is not done by assailing sinners as you would besiege a city. we have tried hard words and the have answered us with a curse. it does no good to tell the poor wretch in the ditch, "it is your fault." we have led men to mount sinai, and their hearts would break if we led them to mount calvary. it is this that makes the life of an earnest minister of christ the happiest life that god ever gave to man. i am not here to-day to tell you what to do, but to tell you your master's secret, "if you give him the will, he will find for you the way." although you might be the veriest stammerer, if christ speaks out in all your life, you will be the best talker in the world. we must believe in our work; we cannot make others believe until we first believe ourselves. our feet must be upon the rock; there is no question of success or failure there. it may be athanasius against the world, but the athanasius and the faith of christ will conquer. and lastly, brothers, never since man has lived on the earth has there been an hour when a christian man might be so thankful to god that he can live and that he can work. in all the ages of this world's history there never have been such marvels before man's eyes as we see to-day. i speak not only of the wondrous secrets of god's storehouse, that, for some end in the councils of eternity, have been reserved for the last days. you are living at a time when impenetrable barriers have been broken down; when god is fusing the nations of the earth into a common brotherhood; when there is not a place in the wide world, where, if you will, you may not carry the gospel of jesus christ. nay, more; you are part of a race that god in his providence seems to have placed in the forefront of the nations of the earth. i am not speaking of anglo-saxons, but i am speaking of the race that god has been fusing out of every tongue, and tie, and kin of the earth; and they having one language, are, i believe, to do god's work in the last days. one hundred years ago english speaking people numbered less than many of the latin races of europe; to-day there are one hundred and fifty millions. and when i remember how god ordered that the greek tongue should become the tongue of the whole civilized world to prepare for the first preaching of the gospel; and when i think of all that god's providence has done for us, i can believe he calls us to lead on in the work of the last time. in the days when rome had overrun the world, if some one regiment was to be placed in the jaws of death, and perhaps upon that legion rested the fate of an empire, they came out in front of the assembled host, and kneeling down on one knee they raised their hands to heaven and took an oath to die for rome; and that was called the sacramental oath. and our saxon forefathers, when they came to the lord's trysting-place of love, thought it was a place for taking the oath anew. after our civil war, george peabody, one of our noblest americans, gave his fortune for schools in the desolated south. he visited the white sulphur springs. no king ever received so heart-felt a welcome. the south laid the homage of grateful hearts at his feet. an aged bishop, now in paradise--bishop wilmer, of louisiana, came to see him, and said: "mr. peabody, i am a southern man, and my heart goes out in love for the man who has been our benefactor. but, mr. peabody, if you are saved, it will not be because you gave your fortune to the needy. you will be saved, as the poorest laborer, for your faith in jesus christ." mr. peabody said, "i know that. i do believe in him; i do pray to him." "but," said bishop wilmer, "mr. peabody, the night before the saviour died for you, he instituted the sacrament of the holy communion, and he left a request for you to come and receive it. he has a gift for you. have you ever come to his table?" mr. peabody said, "i never knew that. no one ever told me. i knew about the holy communion, but i thought it was for saints--men who felt sure they were going to heaven. i never knew it was a place to come and receive a gift the saviour had for me." that day mr. peabody left the white sulphur springs. he knew that the holy communion was to be celebrated in his mother's church, at danvers, the next sunday. he reached danvers saturday, and at once called on the pastor and said, "i am coming to the holy communion tomorrow. i did not know it was my duty till a few days ago." and he did come. that was royal faith. not faith in water, not faith in bread and wine, not faith in priestly hands, but faith in christ. such faith as little children have who take the words just as they read and for all they mean, and then are safe in the everlasting arms. so let us to-day consecrate every thought and all we have to him, and giving him the will go out to do his work. and he will do the rest. we may fall in battle; we may sow the seed and die; but it will fall into the ground and god will give the harvest. when we reach the other home-- not a place of bodiless shades; not a confused throng of nameless spirits, but a home of brothers in our father's house--next to seeing the saviour, next to having the old times re-united, will be the comfort of meeting some one that we have helped home. and now to god the father, god the son, and god the holy ghost, be all might, majesty, dominion and power, world without end. amen. weighed and wanting addresses on the ten commandments by d. l. moody "tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." fleming h. revell company chicago : new york : toronto publishers of evangelical literature _copyright, , by the bible institute colportage association_. contents the ten commandments weighed in the balances the first commandment the second commandment the third commandment the fourth commandment the fifth commandment the sixth commandment the seventh commandment the eighth commandment the ninth commandment the tenth commandment the handwriting blotted out the ten commandments. _exodus : - _. i. thou shalt have no other gods before me. ii. thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for i the lord thy god am a jealous god, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. iii. thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain; for the lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. iv. remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. v. honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god giveth thee. vi. thou shalt not kill. vii. thou shalt not commit adultery. viii. thou shalt not steal. ix. thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. x. thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. weighed in the balances in the fifth chapter of daniel we read the history of king belshazzar. one chapter tells us all we know about him. one short sight of his career is all we have. he bursts in upon the scene and then disappears. the eastern feast. we are told that he made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before them. in those days a feast would sometimes last for six months in eastern countries. how long this feast had been going on we are not told, but in the midst of it, he "commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of god which was at jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." while this impious act was being committed, "in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." we are not told at what hour of the day or the night it happened. perhaps it was midnight. perhaps nearly all the guests were more or less under the influence of drink; but they were not so drunk but that they suddenly became sober as they saw something that was supernatural--a handwriting on the wall, right over the golden candlestick. every face turned deathly pale. "the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." in haste he sent for his wisest men to come and read that handwriting on the wall. they came in one after another, and tried to make it out; but they could not interpret it. the king promised that whoever could read it should be made the third ruler in the kingdom; that he should have gifts, and that a gold chain should be put round his neck. but the wise men tried in vain. the king was greatly troubled. at last, in the midst of the consternation, the queen came in, and she told the monarch, if he would only send for one who used to interpret the dreams of nebuchadnezzar, he could read the writing and tell him the interpretation thereof. so daniel was sent for. he was very familiar with it. he knew his father's handwriting. "this is the writing that was written, _mene, mene, tekel, upharsin_. this is the interpretation of the thing: _mene_--god hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. _tekel_--thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. _peres_--thy kingdom is divided, and given to the medes and persians." if some one had told the king an hour before that the time had come when he must step into the balances and be weighed, he would have laughed at the thought. but the vital hour had come. the weighing was soon over. the verdict was announced, and the sentence carried out. "in that night was belshazzar the king of the chaldeans slain, and darius the median took the kingdom." darius and his army came marching down those streets. there was a clash of arms. shouts of war and victory rent the air. that night the king's blood mingled with the wine of the banquet hall. judgment came upon him unexpectedly, suddenly: and probably ninety-nine out of every hundred judgments come in this way. death comes upon us unexpectedly; it comes upon us suddenly. perhaps you say: "i hope mr. moody is not going to compare me with that heathen king." i tell you that a man who does evil in these gospel days is far worse than that king. we live in a land of bibles. you can get the new testament for a nickel, and if you haven't got a nickel you can get it for nothing. many societies will be glad to give it to you free. we live in the full blaze of calvary. we live on this side of the cross, but belshazzar lived more than five hundred years on the other side. he never heard of jesus christ. he never heard about the son of god. he never heard about god except, perhaps, in connection with his father's remarkable vision. he probably had no portion of the bible, and if he had, probably he didn't believe it. he had no godly minister to point him to the lamb of god. don't tell me that you are better than that king. i believe that he will rise in judgment and condemn many of us. all this happened long centuries ago. let us get down to this century, to this year, to ourselves. we will come to the present time. let us imagine that now, while i am preaching, down come some balances from the throne of god. they are fastened to the very throne itself. it is a throne of equity, of justice. you and i must be weighed. i venture to say this would be a very solemn audience. there would be no trifling. there would be no indifference. no one would be thoughtless. some people have their own balances. a great many are making balances to be weighed in. but after all we must be weighed in god's balances, the balances of the sanctuary. it is a favorite thing with infidels to set their own standard, to measure themselves by other people. but that will not do in the day of judgment. now we will use god's law as a balance weight. when men find fault with the lives of professing christians, it is a tribute to the law of god. "tekel." it is a very short text. it is so short i am sure you will remember it: and that is my object, just to get people to remember god's own word. god's handwriting. let me call your attention to the fact that god wrote on the tables of stone at sinai as well as on the wall of belshazzar's palace. these are the only messages to men that god has written with his own hand. he wrote the commandments out twice, and spoke them aloud in the hearing of israel. if it were known that god himself was going to speak once again to man, what eagerness and excitement there would be. for nearly nineteen hundred years he has been silent. no inspired message has been added to the bible for nearly nineteen hundred years. how eagerly all men would listen if god should speak once more. yet men forget that the bible is god's own word, and that it is as truly his message to-day as when it was delivered of old. the law that was given at sinai has lost none of its solemnity. time cannot wear out its authority or the fact of its authorship. i can imagine some one saying--"i won't be weighed by that law. i don't believe in it." now men may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the bible, but i have never met an honest man that found fault with the ten commandments. infidels may mock the lawgiver and reject him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can't help admitting that the commandments are right. renan said that they are for all nations, and will remain the commandments of god during all the centuries. if god created this world, he must make some laws to govern it. in order to make life safe we must have good laws; there is not a country the sun shines upon that does not possess laws. now this is god's law. it has come from on high, and infidels and skeptics have to admit that it is pure. legislatures nearly all over the world adopt it as the foundation of their legal systems. "the law of the lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the lord is pure, making wise the simple: the statutes of the lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." now the question for you and me is--are we keeping these commandments? have we fulfilled all the requirements of the law? if god made us, as we know he did, he had a right to make that law; and if we don't use it aright it would have been better for us if we had never had it, for it will condemn us. we shall be found wanting. the law is all right, but are we right? an infidel's testimony. it is related of a clever infidel that he sought an acquaintance with the truths of the bible, and began to read at the books of moses. he had been in the habit of sneering at the bible, and in order to be able to refute arguments brought by christian men, he made up his mind, as he knew nothing about it, to read the bible and get some idea of its contents. after he had reached the ten commandments, he said to a friend: "i will tell you what i _used_ to think. i supposed that moses was the leader of a horde of banditti; that, having a strong mind, he acquired great influence over a superstitious people; and that on mount sinai he played off some sort of fireworks to the amazement of his ignorant followers, who imagined in their fear and superstition that the exhibition was supernatural. i have been looking into the _nature_ of that law. i have been trying to see whether i could add anything to it, or take anything from it, so as to make it better. sir, i cannot! it is perfect! the first commandment directs us to make the creator the object of our supreme love and reverence. that is right. if he be our creator, preserver, and supreme benefactor, we ought to treat him, and _none other_, as such. the second forbids idolatry. that certainly is right. the third forbids profanity. the fourth fixes a time for religious worship. if there be a god, he ought surely to be worshipped. it is suitable that there should be an outward homage significant of our inward regard. if god be worshipped, it is proper that some _time_ should be set apart for that purpose, when all may worship him harmoniously, and without interruption. one day in seven is certainly not too much, and i do not know that it is too little. the fifth commandment defines the peculiar duties arising from family relations. injuries to our neighbor are then _classified_ by the moral law. they are divided into offences against life, chastity, property, and character; and i notice that the greatest offence in each class is expressly forbidden. thus the greatest injury to life is murder; to chastity, adultery; to property, theft; to character, perjury. now the greatest offence must include the least of the same kind. murder must include every injury to life; adultery every injury to purity; and so of the rest. and the moral code is closed and perfected by a command forbidding every improper _desire_ in regard to our neighbors. i have been thinking, where did moses get that law? i have read history. the egyptians and the adjacent nations were idolaters; so were the greeks and romans; and the wisest or best greeks or romans never gave a code of morals like this. where did moses obtain that law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most enlightened ages? he lived at a period comparatively barbarous; but he has given a law in which the learning and sagacity of all subsequent time can detect no flaw. where did he obtain it? he could not have soared so far above his age as to have devised it himself. i am satisfied where he obtained it. it came down from heaven. it has convinced me of the truth of the religion of the bible." the infidel, (now an infidel no longer), remained to his death a firm believer in the truth of christianity. we call it the "mosaic" law, but it has been well said that the commandments did not originate with moses, nor were they done away with when the mosaic law was fulfilled in christ, and many of its ceremonies and regulations abolished. we can find no trace of the existence of any lawmaking body in those early times, no parliament or congress that built up a system of laws. it has come down to us complete and finished, and the only satisfactory account is that which tells us that god himself wrote the commandments on tables of stone. binding to-day. some people seem to think we have got beyond the commandments. what did christ say? "think not that i am come to destroy the law and the prophets; i am not come to destroy but to fulfil. for verily i say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." the commandments of god given to moses in the mount at horeb are as binding to-day as ever they have been since the time when they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people. the jews said the law was not given in palestine, (which belonged to israel), but in the wilderness, because the law was for all nations. jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but he did condemn those who did not obey them. because he gave new commandments it does not follow that he abolished the old. christ's explanation of them made them all the more searching. in his sermon on the mount he carried the principles of the commandments beyond the mere letter. he unfolded them and showed that they embraced more, that they are positive as well as prohibitive. the old testament closes with these words: "remember ye the law of moses my servant, which i commanded unto him in horeb for all israel, with the statutes and judgments. behold, i will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest i come and smite the earth with a curse." does that look as if the law of moses was becoming obsolete? the conviction deepens in me with the years that the old truths of the bible must be stated and restated in the plainest possible language. i do not remember ever to have heard a sermon preached on the commandments. i have an index of two thousand five hundred sermons preached by spurgeon, and not one of them selects its text from the first seventeen verses of exodus xx. the people must be made to understand that the ten commandments are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their violation. we do not want a gospel of mere sentiment. the sermon on the mount did not blot out the ten commandments. when christ came he condensed the statement of the law into this form: "thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." paul said: "love is the fulfilling of the law." but does this mean that the detailed precepts of the decalogue are superseded, and have become back numbers? does a father cease to give children rules to obey because they love him? does a nation burn its statute books because the people have become patriotic? not at all. and yet people speak as if the commandments do not hold for christians because they have come to love god. paul said: "do we then make void the law through faith? god forbid. yea, we establish the law." it still holds good. the commandments are necessary. so long as we obey, they do not rest heavy upon us; but as soon as we try to break away, we find they are like fences to keep us within bounds. horses need bridles even after they have been properly broken in. "we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." now, my friend, are you ready to be weighed by this law of god? a great many people say that if they keep the commandments, they do not need to be forgiven and saved through christ. but have you kept them? i will admit that if you perfectly keep the commandments, you do not need to be saved by christ; but is there a man in the wide world who can truly say that he has done this? young lady, can you say: "i am ready to be weighed by the law?" can you, young man? will you step into the scales and be weighed one by one by the ten commandments? now face these ten commandments honestly and prayerfully. see if your life is right, and if you are treating god fairly. god's statutes are just, are they not? if they are right, let us see if we are right. let us pray that the holy ghost may search each one of us. let us get alone with god and read his law--read it carefully and prayerfully, and ask him to show us our sins and what he would have us to do. first commandment "thou shalt have no other gods before me." my friend, are you ready to be weighed against this commandment? have you fulfilled, or are you willing to fulfil, all the requirements of this law? put it into one of the scales, and step into the other. is your heart set upon god alone? have you no other god? do you love him above father or mother, the wife of your bosom, your children, home or land, wealth or pleasure? if men were true to this commandment, obedience to the remaining nine would follow naturally. it is because they are unsound in this that they break the others. feeling after god. philosophers are agreed that even the most primitive races of mankind reach out beyond the world of matter to a superior being. it is as natural for man to feel after god as it is for the ivy to feel after a support. hunger and thirst drive him to seek for food, and there is a hunger of the soul that needs satisfying, too. man does not need to be commanded to worship, as there is not a race so high or so low in the scale of civilization but has some kind of a god. what he needs is to be directed aright. this is what the first commandment is for. before we can worship intelligently, we must know what or whom to worship. god does not leave us in ignorance. when paul vent to athens, he found an altar dedicated to "an unknown god," and he proceeded to tell of him whom we worship. when god gave the commandments to moses, he commenced with a declaration of his own character, and demanded exclusive recognition. "i am the lord thy god, which have brought thee out of the land of egypt, out of the house of bondage. thou shalt have no other gods before me." the rev. dr. dale says these words have great significance. "the jews knew jehovah as the god who had held back the waves like a wall while they fled across the sea to escape the vengeance of their enemies; they knew him as the god who had sent thunder, and lightning, and hail, plagues on cattle, and plagues on men, to punish the egyptians and to compel them to let the children of israel go; they knew him as the god whose angel had slain the firstborn of their oppressors, and filled the land from end to end with death, and agony, and terror. he was the same god, so moses and aaron told them, who by visions and voices, in promises and precepts, had revealed himself long before to abraham, isaac, and jacob. we learn what men are from what they say and from what they do. a biography of luther gives a more vivid and trustworthy knowledge of the man than the most philosophical essay on his character and creed. the story of his imprisonment and of his journey to worms, his letters, his sermons, and his table-talk, are worth more than the most elaborate speculations about him. the jews learned what god is, not from theological dissertations on the divine attributes, but from the facts of a divine history. they knew him for themselves in his own acts and his own words." some one asked an arab: "how do you know that there is a god?" "how do i know whether a man or a camel passed my tent last night?" he replied. god's footprints in nature and in our own experience are the best evidence of his existence and character. the israelites were exposed to danger. remember to whom this commandment was given, and we shall see further how necessary it was. the forefathers of the israelites had worshipped idols, not many generations back. they had recently been delivered out of egypt, a land of many gods. the egyptians worshipped the sun, the moon, insects, animals, etc. the ten plagues were undoubtedly meant by god to bring confusion upon many of their sacred objects. the children of israel were going up to take possession of a land that was inhabited by heathen, who also worshipped idols. there was therefore great need of such a commandment as this. there could be no right relationship between god and man in those days any more than to-day, until man understood that he must recognize god alone, and not offer him a divided heart. if he created us, he certainly ought to have our homage. is it not right that he should have the first and only place in our affections? no compromise. this is one matter in which no toleration can be shown. religious liberty is a good thing, within certain limits. but it is one thing to show toleration to those who agree on essentials, and another, to those who differ on fundamental beliefs. they were willing to admit any god to the roman pantheon. one reason why the early christians were persecuted was that they would not accept a place for jesus christ there. napoleon is said to have entertained the idea of having separate temples in paris for every known religion, so that every stranger should have a place of worship when attracted toward that city. such plans are directly opposed to the divine one. god sounded no uncertain note in this commandment. it is plain, unmistakable, uncompromising. we may learn a lesson from the way a farmer deals with the little shoots that spring up around the trunk of an apple tree. they look promising, and one who has not learned better might welcome their growth. but the farmer knows that they will draw the life-sap from the main tree, injuring its prospects so that it will produce inferior fruit. he therefore takes his axe and his hoe, and cuts away these suckers. the tree then gives a more plentiful and a finer crop. god's pruning-knife. "thou shalt not" is the pruning-knife that god uses. from beginning to end, the bible calls for wholehearted allegiance to him. there is to be no compromise with other gods. it took long years for god to impress this lesson upon the israelites. he called them to be a chosen nation. he made them a peculiar people. but you will notice in bible history that they turned away from him continually, and were punished with plague, pestilence, war and famine. their sin was not that they renounced god altogether, but that they wanted to worship other gods beside him. take the case of solomon as an example of the whole nation. he married heathen wives who turned away his heart after other gods, and built high places for their idols, and lent countenance to their worship. that was the history of frequent turnings of the whole nation away from god, until finally he sent them into captivity in babylon and kept them there for seventy years. since then the jews have never turned to other gods. hasn't the church to contend with the same difficulty to-day? there are very few who in their hearts do not believe in god, but what they will not do is give him exclusive right of way. missionaries tell us that they could easily get converts if they did not require them to be baptized, thus publicly renouncing their idols. many a person in our land would become a christian if the gate was not so strait. christianity is too strict for them. they are not ready to promise full allegiance to god alone. many a professing christian is a stumbling-block because his worship is divided. on sunday he worships god; on week days god has little or no place in his thoughts. false gods in america to-day. you don't have to go to heathen lands to-day to find false gods. america is full of them. whatever you make most of is your god. whatever you love more than god is your idol. many a mans heart is like some kaffirs' huts, so full of idols that there is hardly room to turn around. rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all classes of men and women are guilty of this sin. "the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbled himself." a man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother, of some precious gift that god has bestowed upon him. he may forget the giver, and let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift. many make a god of pleasure; that is what their hearts are set on. if some old greek or roman came to life again and saw men in a drunken debauch, would he believe that the worship of bacchus had died out? if he saw the streets of our large cities filled with harlots, would he believe that the worship of venus had ceased? others take fashion as their god. they give their time and thought to dress. they fear what others will think of them. do not let us flatter ourselves that all idolaters are in heathen countries. with many it is the god of money. we haven't got through worshipping the golden calf yet. if a man will sell his principles for gold, isn't he making it a god? if he trusts in his wealth to keep him from want and to supply his needs, are not riches his god? many a man says, "give me money, and i will give you heaven. what care i for all the glories and treasures of heaven? give me treasures here! i don't care for heaven! i want to be a successful business man." how true are the words of job: "if i have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, thou art my confidence; if i rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had begotten much; if i beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for i should have denied the god that is above." but all false gods are not as gross as these. there is _the atheist_. he says that he does not believe in god; he denies his existence, but he can't help setting up some other god in his place. voltaire said, "if there were no god, it would be necessary to invent one." so the atheist speaks of the great unknown, the first cause, the infinite mind, etc. then there is _the deist_. he is a man who believes in one god who caused all things: but he doesn't believe in revelation. he only accepts such truths as can be discovered by reason. he doesn't believe in jesus christ, or in the inspiration of the bible. then there is _the pantheist_, who says: "i believe that the whole universe is god. he is in the air, the water, the sun, the stars."; the liar and the thief included. moses' farewell message. let me call your attention to a verse in the thirty-second chapter of deuteronomy, thirty-first verse: "for their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." these words were uttered by moses, in his farewell address to israel. he had been with them forty years. he was their leader and instructor. all the blessings of heaven came to them through him. and now the old man is about to leave them. if you have never read his speech, do so. it is one of the best sermons in print. i know few sermons in the old or new testament that compare with it. i can see moses as he delivers this address. his natural activity has not abated. he still has the vigor of youth. his long white hair flows over his shoulders, and his venerable beard covers his breast. he throws down the challenge: "their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." has the human heart ever been satisfied with these false gods? can pleasure or riches fill the soul that is empty of god? how about the atheist, the deist, the pantheist? what do they look forward to? nothing! man's life is full of trouble; but when the billows of affliction and disappointment are rising and rolling over them, they have no god to call upon. "they shall cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense; but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble." therefore i contend "their rock is not as our rock." my friends, when the hour of affliction comes, they call in a minister to give consolation. when i was settled in chicago, i used to be called out to attend many funerals. i would inquire what the man was in his belief. if i found out he was an atheist, or a deist, or a pantheist, when i went to the funeral and in the presence of his friends said one word about that man's doctrine, they would feel insulted. why is it that in a trying hour, when they have been talking all the time against god--why is it that in the darkness of affliction they call in believers in that god to administer consolation? why doesn't the atheist preach no hereafter, no heaven, no god, in the hour of affliction? this very fact is an admission that "their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." the deist says there is no use in praying, because nothing can change the decrees of deity; god never answers prayer. is his rock as our rock? the bible is true. there is only one god. how many men have said to me: "mr. moody, i would give the world if i had your faith, your consolation, the hope you have with your religion." isn't that a proof that their rock is not as our rock? some years ago i went into a man's house, and when i commenced to talk about religion he turned to his daughter and said: "you had better leave the room. i want to say a few words to mr. moody." when she had gone, he opened a perfect torrent of infidelity upon me. "why did you send your daughter out of the room before you said this?" i asked. "well," he replied, "i did not think it would do her any good to hear what i said." is his rock as our rock? would he have sent his daughter out if he really believed what he said? no consolation except in god. no. there is no satisfaction for the soul except in the god of the bible. we come back to paul's words, and get consolation for time and eternity:--"we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other god but one. for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) yet to us there is but one god, the father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one lord jesus christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." my friend, can you say that sincerely? is all your hope centred on god in christ? are you trusting him alone? are you ready to step into the scales and be weighed against this first commandment? whole-hearted allegiance. god will not accept a divided heart. he must be absolute monarch. there is not room in your heart for two thrones. christ said: "no man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. ye cannot serve god and mammon." mark you, he did not say--"no man _shall_ serve. . . . ye _shall_ not serve. . . .", but "no man _can_ serve. . . . ye _can_ not serve. . . ." that means more than a command; it means that you cannot mix the worship of the true god with the worship of another god any more than you can mix oil and water. it cannot be done. there is not room for any other throne in the heart if christ is there. if worldliness should come in, godliness would go out. the road to heaven and the road to hell lead in different directions. which master will you choose to follow? be an out-and-out christian. "him only shalt thou serve." only thus can you be well pleasing to god. the jews were punished with seventy years of captivity because they worshipped false gods. they have suffered nearly nineteen hundred years because they rejected the messiah. will you incur god's displeasure by rejecting christ too? he died to save you. trust him with your whole heart, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. i believe that when christ has the first place in our hearts--when the kingdom of god is first in everything--we shall have power, and we shall not have power until we give him his rightful place. if we let some false god come in and steal our love away from the god of heaven, we shall have no peace or power. second commandment "thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for i the lord thy god am a jealous god, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." the first commandment, which we have just considered, points out the one true object of worship; this commandment is to tell us the right way in which to worship. the former commands us to worship god alone; this calls for purity and spirituality as we approach him. the former condemns the worship of false gods; this prohibits false forms. it relates more especially to outward acts of worship; but these are only the expression of what is in the heart. perhaps you will say that there is no trouble about this weight. we might go off to other ages or other lands, and find people who make images and bow down to them; but we have none here. let us see if this is true. let us step into the scales and see if we can turn them when weighed against this commandment. i believe this is where the battle is fought. satan tries to keep us from worshipping god aright, and from making him first in everything. if i let some image made by man get into my heart and take the place of god the creator, it is a sin. i believe that satan is willing to have us worship anything, however sacred,--the bible, the crucifix, the church,--if only we do not worship god himself. you cannot find a place in the bible where a man has been allowed to bow down and worship any one but the god of heaven and jesus christ his son. in the book of revelation, when an angel came down to john, he was about to fall down and worship him, but the angel would not let him. if an angel from heaven is not to be worshipped, when you find people bowing down to pictures, to images, even when they bow down to worship the cross, _it is a sin_. there are a great many who seem to be carried away with these things. "thou shalt have no other gods before me." "thou shalt not bow down thyself to any graven image." god wants us to worship him only, and if we do not believe that jesus christ is god manifest in the flesh we should not worship him. i have no more doubt about the divinity of christ than i have that i exist. worship involves two things: the internal belief, and the external act. we transgress in our hearts by having a wrong conception of god and of jesus christ before ever we give public expression in action. as some one has said, it is wrong to have loose opinions as well as to be guilty of loose practices. that is what paul meant when he said: "we ought not to _think_ that the godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art or man's device." the opinions that some people hold about christ are not in accordance with the bible, and are real violations of this second commandment. a question. the question at once arises--is this commandment intended to forbid the use of drawings and pictures of created things altogether? some contend that it does. they point to the jews and the mohammedans as a proof. the jews have never been much given to art. the mohammedans to this day do not use designs of animals, etc., in patterns. but i do not agree with them. i think god only meant to forbid images and other representations when these were intended to be used as objects of religious veneration. "thou shalt not make _unto thee_. . . . thou shalt not _bow down thyself_ to them, nor _serve_ them." in exodus we are told that god ordered the bowls of the golden candlestick for the tabernacle to be made "like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower;" and the robe of the ephod had a hem on which they were to put a bell and a pomegranate alternately. how could god order something that broke this second commandment? i believe that this commandment is a call for spiritual worship. it is in line with christ's declaration to that samaritan woman--"god is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in _spirit_ and in _truth_." this is precisely what is difficult for men to do. the apostles were hardly in their graves before they began to put up images of them, and to worship relics. people have a desire for something tangible, something that they can see. it is so much easier to live in the sense than in the spirit. that is why there is a demand for ritualism. some people are born puritans; they want a simple form of worship. others think they cannot get along without forms and ceremonies that appeal to the senses. and many a one whose heart is not sincere before god takes refuge in these forms, and eases his conscience by making an outward show of religion. the second commandment is to restrain this desire and tendency. god is grieved when we are untrue to him. god is love, and he is wounded when our affections are transferred to anything else. the penalty attached to this commandment teaches us that man has to reap what he sows, whether good or bad; and not only that, but his children have to reap with him. notice that punishment is visited upon the children unto the _third_ or the _fourth_ generation, while mercy is shown unto thousands, or (as it is more correctly) unto the _thousandth_ generation. the folly of images. think for a moment, and you will see how idle it is to try to make any representation of god. christians have tried to paint the trinity, but how can you depict the invisible? can you draw a picture of your own soul or spirit or will? moses impressed it upon israel that when god spake to them out of the midst of the fire they saw no manner of similitude, but only heard his voice. a picture or image of god must degrade our conception of him. it fastens us down to one idea, whereas we ought to grow in grace and in knowledge. it makes god finite. it brings him down to our level. it has given rise to the horrible idols of india and china, because they fashion these images according to their own notions. how would the president feel if americans made such hideous objects to resemble him as they make of their gods in heathen countries? isaiah bore down with tremendous irony upon the folly of idol makers: upon the smith who fashioned gods with tongs and hammers; and upon the carpenter who took a tree, and used part of it for a fire to warm himself and roast his meat, and made part of it in the figure of a man with his rule and plane and compass, and called it his god and worshipped it. "a deceived heart hath turned him aside." a man must be greater than anything he is able to make or manufacture. what folly then to think of worshipping such things! the tendency of the human heart to represent god by something that appeals to the senses is the origin of all idolatry. it leads directly to image-worship. at first there may be no desire to worship the thing itself, but it inevitably ends in that. as dr. maclaren says: "enlisting the senses as allies of the spirit is risky work. they are apt to fight for their own band when they once begin, and the history of all symbolical and ceremonial worship shows that the experiment is much more likely to end in sensualizing religion than in spiritualizing sense." pictures and images. but some one says--"i find pictures are a great help to me, and images. i know that they are not themselves sacred, but they help me in my devotions to fix my thoughts on god." when dr. trumbull was in northfield, he used an illustration that is a good answer to this. he said, "suppose a young man were watching from a window for his absent mother's return, with a wish to catch the first glimpse of her approaching face. would he be wise or foolish in putting up a photograph of her on the window-frame before him, as a help to bear her in as he looks for her coming? as there can be no doubt about the answer to that question, so there can be no doubt that we can best come into communion with god by closing our eyes to everything that can be seen with the natural eye, and opening the eyes of our spirit to the sight of god the spirit." i would a great deal sooner have five minutes communion with christ than spend years before pictures and images of him. whatever comes between my soul and my maker is not a help to me, but a hindrance. god has given different means of grace by which we can approach him. let us use these, and not seek for other things that he has distinctly forbidden. dr. dale says that in his college days he had an engraving of our lord hanging over his mantlepiece. "the calmness, the dignity, the gentleness, and the sadness of the face represented the highest conceptions which i had in those days of the human presence of christ. i often looked at it, and seldom without being touched by it. i discovered in the course of a few mouths that the superstitious sentiments were gradually clustering about it, which are always created by the visible representations of the divine. the engraving was becoming to me the shrine of god manifest in the flesh, and i understood the growth of idolatry. the visible symbol is at first a symbol and nothing more; it assists thought; it stirs passion. at last it is identified with the god whom it represents. if, every day, i bow before a crucifix in prayer, if i address it as though it were christ, though i know it is not, i shall come to feel for it a reverence and love which are of the very essence of idolatry." did you ever stop to think that the world has not a single picture of christ that has been handed down to us from his disciples? who knows what he was like? the bible does not tell us how he looked, except in one or two isolated general expressions as when it says--"his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men." we don't know anything definite about his features, the color of his hair and eyes, and the other details that would help to give a true representation. what artist can tell us? he left no keepsakes to his disciples. his clothes were seized by the roman soldiers who crucified him. not a solitary thing was left to be handed down among his followers. doesn't it look as if christ left no relics lest they should be held sacred and worshipped? history tells us further that the early christians shrank from making pictures and statues of any kind of christ. they knew him as they had seen him after his resurrection, and had promises of his continued presence that pictures could not make any more real. i have seen very few pictures of christ that do not repel me more or less. i sometimes think that it is wrong to have pictures of him at all. speaking of the crucifix dr. dale says; "it makes our worship and prayer unreal. we are adoring a christ who does not exist. he is not on the cross now, but on the throne. his agonies are passed forever. he has risen from the dead. he is at the right hand of god. if we pray to a dying christ, we are praying not to christ himself, but to a mere remembrance of him. the injury which the crucifix has inflicted on the religious life of christendom, in encouraging a morbid and unreal devotion, is absolutely incalculable. it has given us a dying christ instead of a living christ, a christ separated from us by many centuries instead of a christ nigh at hand." the indwelling christ. no one can say that we have nowadays any need of such things. "behold i stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, i will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." if christ is in our hearts, why need we set him before our eyes? "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am i in the midst of them." if we take hold of that promise by faith, what need is there of outward symbols and reminders? if the king himself is present, why need we bow down before statues supposed to represent him? to fill his place with an image (some one has said,) is like blotting the sun out of the heavens and substituting some other light in its place. "you cannot see him through chinks of ceremonialism; or through the blind eyes of erring man; or by images graven with art and man's device; or in cunningly devised fables of artificial and perverted theology. nay, seek him in his own word, in the revelation of himself which he gives to all who walk in his ways. so you will be able to keep that admonition of the last word of all the new testament revelation: 'little children, keep yourselves from idols.'" i believe many an earnest christian would be found wanting if put in the balances against this commandment. "tekel" is the sentence that would be written against them, because their worship of god and of christ is not pure. may god open our eyes to the danger that is creeping more and more into public worship throughout christendom! let us ever bear in mind christ's words in the fourth chapter of john's gospel, which show that true spiritual worship is not a matter of special times and special places because it is of all times and all places: "believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at jerusalem, worship the father. but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth: for the father seeketh such to worship him. god is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." third commandment "thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain; for the lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." i was greatly amazed not long ago in talking to a man who thought he was a christian, to find that once in a while, when he got angry, he would swear. i said: "my friend, i don't see how you can tear down with one hand what you are trying to build up with the other. i don't see how you can profess to be a child of god and let those words come out of your lips." he replied: "mr. moody, if you knew me you would understand. i have a very quick temper. i inherited it from my father and mother, and it is uncontrollable; but my swearing comes only from the lips." when god said, "i will not hold him guiltless that takes my name in vain," he meant what he said, and i don't believe any one can be a true child of god who takes the name of god in vain. what is the grace of god for, if it is not to give me control of my temper so that i shall not lose control and bring down the curse of god upon myself? when a man is born of god, god takes the "swear" out of him. make the fountain good, and the stream will be good. let the heart be right; then the language will be right; the whole life will be right. but no man can serve god and keep his law until he is born of god. there we see the necessity of the new birth. to take god's name "in vain" means either ( ) lightly, without thinking, flippantly; or ( ) profanely, deceitfully. using god's name irreverently. i think it is shocking to use god's name with so little reverence as is common nowadays, even among professing christians. we are told that the jews held it so sacred that the covenant name of god was never mentioned amongst them except once a year by the high priest on the day of atonement, when he went into the holy of holies. what a contrast that is to the familiar use christians make of it in public and private worship! we are apt to rush into god's presence, and rush out again, without any real sense of the reverence and awe that is due him. we forget that we are on holy ground. do you know how often the word "reverend" occurs in the bible? only once. and what is it used in connection with? god's name. psalm cxi. : "holy and reverend is his name." so important did the jewish rabbis consider this commandment that they said the whole world trembled when it was first proclaimed on sinai. using god's name profanely. but though there is far too much of this frivolous, familiar use of god's name, the commandment is broken a great deal more by profanity. taking the name of god in vain is blasphemy. is there a swearing man who reads this? what would you do if you were put into the balances of the sanctuary, if you had to step in opposite to this third commandment? think a moment. have you been taking god's name in vain to-day? i do not believe men would ever have been guilty of swearing unless god had forbidden it. they do not swear by their friends, their fathers or mothers, their wives or children. they want to show how they despise god's law. a great many men think there is nothing in swearing. bear in mind that god sees something wrong in it, and he says he will not hold men guiltless, even though society does. i met a man sometime ago who told me he had never sinned in his life. he was the first perfect man i had ever met. i thought i would question him, and began to measure him by the law. i asked him: "do you ever get angry?" "well," he said, "sometimes i do; but i have a right to do so. it is righteous indignation." "do you swear when you get angry?" he admitted he did sometimes. "then," i asked, "are you ready to meet god?" "yes," he replied, "because i never mean anything when i swear." suppose i steal a man's watch and he comes after me. "yes," i say, "i stole your watch and pawned it, but _i did not mean anything by it_. i pawned it and spent the money, but _i did not mean anything by it_." you would smile at and deride such a statement. ah, friends! you cannot trifle with god in that way. even if you swear without meaning it, it is forbidden by god. christ said: "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." you will be held accountable whether your words are _idle_ or _blasphemous_. a senseless habit. the habit of swearing is condemned by all sensible persons. it has been called "the most gratuitous of all sins," because no one gains by it; it is "not only sinful, but useless." an old writer said that when the accusing angel, who records men's words, flies up to heaven with an oath, he blushes as he hands it in. when a man blasphemes, he shows an utter contempt for god. i was in the army during the war, and heard men cursing and swearing. some godly woman would pass along the ranks looking for her wounded son, and not an oath would be heard. they would not swear before their mothers, or their wives, or their sisters; they had more respect for them than they had for god! isn't it a terrible condemnation that swearing held its own until it came to be recognized as a vulgar thing, a sin against society? men dropped it then, who never thought of its being a sin against god. there will be no swearing men in the kingdom of god. they will have to drop that sin, and repent of it, before they see the kingdom of god. how to keep from swearing. men often ask: "how can i keep from swearing?" i will tell you. if god puts his love into your heart, you will have no desire to curse him. if you have much regard for god, you will no more think of cursing him than you would think of speaking lightly or disparagingly of a mother whom you love. but the natural man is at enmity with god, and has utter contempt for his law. when that law is written on his heart, there will be no trouble in obeying it. when i was out west about thirty years ago, i was preaching one day in the open air, when a man drove up in a fine turn-out, and after listening a little while to what i was saying, he put the whip to his fine-looking steed, and away he went. i never expected to see him again, but the next night he came back, and he kept on coming regularly night after night. i noticed that his forehead itched--you have noticed people who keep putting their hands to their foreheads?--he didn't want any one to see him shedding tears--of course not! it is not a manly thing to shed tears in a religions meeting, of course! after the meeting i said to a gentleman: "who is that man who drives up here every night? is he interested?" "interested! i should think not! you should have heard the way he talked about you today." "well," i said, "that is a sign he is interested." if no man ever has anything to say against you, your christianity isn't worth much. men said of the master, "he has a devil," and jesus said that if they had called the master of the house beelzebub, how much more them of his household. i asked where this man lived, but my friend told me not to go to see him, for he would only curse me. i said: "it takes god to curse a man; man can only bring curses on his own head." i found out where he lived, and went to see him. he was the wealthiest man within a hundred miles of that place, and had a wife and seven beautiful children. just as i got to his gate i saw him coming out of the front door. i stepped up to him and said: "this is mr.--, i believe?" he said: "yes, sir; that is my name." then he straightened up and asked--"what do you want?" "well," i said, "i would like to ask you a question, if you won't be angry." "well, what is it?" "i am told that god has blessed you above all men in this part of the country; that he has given you wealth, a beautiful christian wife, and seven lovely children. i do not know if it is true, but i hear that all he gets in return is cursing and blasphemy." he said, "come in; come in." i went in. "now," he said, "what you said out there is true. if any man has a fine wife i am the man, and i have a lovely family of children, and god has been good to me. but do you know, we had company here the other night, and i cursed my wife at the table, and did not know it till after the company had gone. i never felt so mean and contemptible in my life as when my wife told me of it. she said she wanted the floor to open and let her down out of her seat. if i have tried once, i have tried a hundred times to stop swearing. you preachers don't know anything about it." "yes," i said, "i know all about it; i have been a drummer." "but," he said, "you don't know anything about a business-man's troubles. when he is harassed and tormented the whole time, he can't help swearing." "oh, yes," i said, "he can. i know something about it. i used to swear myself." "what! you used to swear?" he asked; "how did you stop?" "i never stopped." "why, you don't swear now, do you?" "no; i have not sworn for years." "how did you stop?" "i never stopped. it stopped itself." he said, "i don't understand this." "no," i said, "i know you don't. but i came up to talk to you, so that you will never want to swear again as long as you live." i began to tell him about christ in the heart; how that would take the temptation to swear out of a man, "well," he said, "how am i to get christ?" "get right down here and tell him what you want." "but," he said, "i was never on my knees in my life. i have been cursing all the day, and i don't know how to pray or what to pray for." "well," i said, "it is mortifying to have to call on god for mercy when you have never used his name except in oaths; but he will not turn you away. ask god to forgive you if you want to be forgiven." then the man got down and prayed--only a few sentences, but thank god, it is the short prayers, after all, which bring the quickest answers. after he prayed he got up and said: "what shall i do now?" i said, "go down to the church and tell the people there that you want to be an out-and-out christian." "i cannot do that," he said; "i never go to church except to some funeral." "then it is high time for you to go for something else," i said. after a while he promised to go, but did not know what the people would say. at the next church prayer-meeting, the man was there, and i sat right in front of him. he stood up and put his hands on the settee, and he trembled so much that i could feel the settee shake. he said: "my friends, you know all about me. if god can save a wretch like me, i want to have you pray for my salvation." that was thirty odd years ago. sometime ago i was back in that town, and did not see him; but when i was in california, a man asked me to take dinner with him. i told him that i could not do so, for i had another engagement. then he asked if i remembered him, and told me his name. "oh," i said, "tell me, have you ever sworn since that night you knelt in your drawing-room, and asked god to forgive you?" "no," he replied, "i have never had a desire to swear since then. it was all taken away." he was not only converted, but became an earnest, active christian, and all these years has been serving god. that is what will take place when a man is born of the divine nature. is there a swearing man ready to put this commandment into the scales, and step in to be weighed? suppose you swear only once in six months or a year--suppose you swear only once in ten years--do you think god will hold you guiltless for that act? it shows that your heart is not clean in god's sight. what are you going to do, blasphemer? would you not be found wanting? you would be like a feather in the balance. fourth commandment "remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." there has been an awful letting-down in this country regarding the sabbath during the last twenty-five years, and many a man has been shorn of spiritual power, like samson, because he is not straight on this question. can _you_ say that you observe the sabbath properly? you may be a professed christian: are you obeying this commandment? or do you neglect the house of god on the sabbath day, and spend your time drinking and carousing in places of vice and crime, showing contempt for god and his law? are you ready to step into the scales? where were you last sabbath? how did you spend it? i honestly believe that this commandment is just as binding to-day as it ever was. i have talked with men who have said that it has been abrogated, but they have never been able to point to any place in the bible where god repealed it. when christ was on earth, he did nothing to set it aside; he freed it from the traces under which the scribes and pharisees had put it, and gave it its true place. "the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." it is just as practicable and as necessary for men to-day as it ever was--in fact, more than ever, because we live in such an intense age. the sabbath was binding in eden, and it has been in force ever since. this fourth commandment begins with the word "remember," showing that the sabbath already existed when god wrote this law on the tables of stone at sinai. how can men claim that this one commandment has been done away with when they will admit that the other nine are still binding? i believe that the sabbath question to-day is a vital one for the whole country. it is the burning question of the present time. if you give up the sabbath the church goes; if you give up the church the home goes; and if the home goes the nation goes. that is the direction in which we are traveling. the church of god is losing its power on account of so many people giving up the sabbath, and using it to promote selfishness. how to observe the sabbath. "sabbath" means "rest," and the meaning of the word gives a hint as to the true way to observe the day. god rested after creation, and ordained the sabbath as a rest for man. he blessed it and hallowed it. "remember _the rest-day_ to keep it _holy_." it is the day when the body may be refreshed and strengthened after six days of labor, and the soul drawn into closer fellowship with its maker. true observance of the sabbath may be considered under two general heads: cessation from ordinary secular work, and religious exercises. i.--cessation from secular work. a man ought to turn aside from his ordinary employment one day in seven. there are many whose occupation will not permit them to observe sunday, but they should observe some other day as a sabbath. saturday is my day of rest because i generally preach on sunday, and i look forward to it as a boy does to a holiday. god knows what we need. ministers and missionaries often tell me that they take no rest-day; they do not need it because they are in the lord's work. that is a mistake. when god was giving moses instructions about the building of the tabernacle, he referred especially to the sabbath, and gave injunctions for its strict observance; and later, when moses was conveying the words of the lord to the children of israel, he interpreted them by saying that not even were sticks to be gathered on the sabbath to kindle fires for smelting or other purposes. in spite of their zeal and haste to erect the tabernacle, the workmen were to have their day of rest. the command applies to ministers and others engaged in christian work to-day as much as to those israelite workmen of old. works of necessity and of emergency. in judging whether any work may or may not be lawfully done on the sabbath, find out the reason and object for doing it. exceptions are to be made for works of necessity and works of emergency. by "_works of necessity_" i mean those acts that christ justified when he approved of leading one's ox or ass to water. watchmen, police, stokers on board steamers, and many others have engagements that necessitate their working on the sabbath. by "_works of emergency_" i mean those referred to by christ when he approved of pulling an ox or an ass out of a pit on the sabbath day. in case of fire or sickness a man is often called on to do things that would not otherwise be justifiable. a christian man was once urged by his employer to work on sunday. "does not your bible say that if your ass falls into a pit on the sabbath, you may pull him out?" "yes," replied the other; "but if the ass had the habit of falling into the same pit every sabbath, i would either fill up the pit or sell the ass." every man must settle the question as it effects unnecessary work, with his own conscience. no man should make another work seven days in the week. one day is demanded for rest. a man who has to work the seven days has nothing to look forward to, and life becomes humdrum. many christians are guilty in this respect. sabbath traveling. take, for instance, the question of sabbath traveling. i believe we are breaking god's laws by using the cars on sunday and depriving conductors and others of their sabbath. remember the fourth commandment expressly refers to "the stranger that is within thy gates." doesn't that touch sabbath travel? but you ask, "what are we to do? how are we to get to church?" i reply, on foot. it will be better for you. once when i was holding meetings in london, in my ignorance i made arrangements to preach four times in different places one sabbath. after i had made the appointments i found i had to walk sixteen miles; but i walked it, and i slept that night with a clear conscience. i have made it a rule never to use the cars, and if i have a private carriage, i insist that horse and man shall rest on monday. i want no hackman to rise up in judgment against me. my friends, if we want to help the sabbath, let business men and christians never patronize cars on the sabbath. i would hate to own stock in those companies, to be the means of taking the sabbath from these men, and have to answer for it at the day of judgment. let those who are christians at any rate endeavor to keep a conscience void of offence on this point. sabbath trading. there are many who are inclined to use the sabbath in order to make money faster. this is no new sin. the prophet amos hurled his invectives against oppressors who said, "when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?" covetous men have always chafed under the restraint, but not until the present time do we find that they have openly counted on sabbath trade to make money. we are told that many street car companies would not pay if it were not for the sabbath traffic, and the sabbath edition of newspapers is also counted upon as the most profitable. the railroad men of this country are breaking down with softening of the brain, and die at the age of fifty or sixty. they think their business is so important that they must run their trains seven days in the week. business men travel on the sabbath so as to be on hand for business monday morning. but if they do so god will not prosper them. work is good for man and is commanded, "six days shalt thou labor;" but overwork and work on the sabbath takes away the best thing he has. necessary and beneficial. the good effect on a nation's health and happiness produced by the return of the sabbath, with its cessation from work, cannot be overestimated. it is needed to repair and restore the body after six days of work. it is proved that a man can do more in six days than in seven. lord beaconsfield. said: "of all divine institutions, the most divine is that which secures a day of rest for man. i hold it to be the most valuable blessing conceded to man. it is the corner-stone of all civilization, and its removal might affect even the health of the people." mr. gladstone recently told a friend that the secret of his long life is that amid all the pressure of public cares he never forgot the sabbath, with its rest for the body and the soul. the constitution of the united states protects the president in his weekly day of rest. he has ten days, "sundays excepted," in which to consider a bill that has been sent to him for signature. every workingman in the republic ought to be as thoroughly protected as the president. if workingmen got up a strike against unnecessary work on the sabbath, they would have the sympathy of a good many. "our bodies are seven-day clocks," says talmage, "and they need to be wound up, and if they are not wound up they run down into the grave. no man can continuously break the sabbath and keep his physical and mental health. ask aged men, and they will tell you they never knew men who continuously broke the sabbath, who did not fail in mind, body, or moral principles." all that has been said about rest for man is true for working animals. god didn't forget them in this commandment, and man should not forget them either. ii.--religious activity. but "rest" does not mean idleness. no man enjoys idleness for any length of time. when one goes on a vacation, one does not lie around doing nothing all the time. hard work at tennis, hunting, and other pursuits fills the hours. a healthy mind must find something to do. hence the sabbath rest does not mean inactivity. "satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." the best way to keep off bad thoughts and to avoid temptation is to engage in active religious exercises. as regards these, we should avoid extremes. on the one hand we find a rigor in sabbath observance that is nowhere commanded in scripture, and that reminds one of the formalism of the pharisees more than of the spirit of the gospel. such strictness does more harm than good. it repels people and makes the sabbath a burden. on the other hand we should jealously guard against a loose way of keeping the sabbath. already in many cities it is profaned openly. when i was a boy the sabbath lasted from sundown on saturday to sundown on sunday, and i remember how we boys used to shout when it was over. it was the worst day in the week to us. i believe it can be made the brightest day in the week. every child ought to be reared so that he shall be able to say, with a friend, that he would rather have the other six days weeded out of his memory than the sabbath of his childhood. public worship. make the sabbath a day of religious activity. first of all, of course, is attendance at public worship. "there is a discrepancy," says john mcneill, "between our creed about the sabbath day and our actual conduct. in many families, at ten o'clock on the sabbath, attendance at church is still an open question. there is no open question on monday morning--'john, will you go to work to-day?'" a minister rebuked a farmer for not attending church, and said, "you know john you are never absent from market." "o," was the reply, "we _must_ go to market." some one has said that without the sabbath the church of christ could not, as a visible organization, exist on earth. another has said that "we need to be in the drill of observance as well as in the liberty of faith." human nature is so treacherous that we are apt to omit things altogether unless there is some special reason for doing them. a man is not likely to worship at all unless he has regularly appointed times and means for worship. family and private devotions are almost certain to be omitted altogether unless one gets into the habit, and has a special time set apart daily. a reminiscence. i remember blaming my mother for sending me to church on the sabbath. on one occasion the preacher had to send some one into the gallery to wake me up. i thought it was hard to have to work in the field all the week, and then to be obliged to go to church and hear a sermon i didn't understand. i thought i wouldn't go to church any more when i got away from home; but i had got so in the habit of going that i couldn't stay away. after one or two sabbaths, back again to the house of god i went. there i first found christ, and i have often said since, "mother, i thank you for making me go to the house of god when i didn't want to go." parents, if you want your children to grow up and honor you, have them honor the sabbath day. don't let them go off fishing, and getting into bad company, or it won't be long before they will come home and curse you. i know few things more beautiful than to see a father and mother coming up the aisle with their daughters and sons, and sitting down together to hear the word of god. it is a good thing to have the children, not in some remote loft or gallery, but in a good place, well in sight. though they cannot understand the sermon now, when they get older they won't desire to break away, they will continue attending public worship in the house of god. but we must not mistake the means for the end. we must not think that the sabbath is just for the sake of being able to attend meetings. there are some people who think they must spend the whole day at meetings or private devotions. the result is that at nightfall they are tired out, and the day has brought them no rest. the number of church services attended ought to be measured by the person's ability to enjoy them and get good from them, without being wearied. attending meetings is not the only way to observe the sabbath. the israelites were commanded to keep it in their dwellings as well as in holy convocation. the home, that centre of so great influence over the life and character of the people, ought to be made the scene of true sabbath observance. home observance. jeremiah classified godless families with the heathen: "pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up jacob, devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate." many mothers have written to me at one time or another to know what to do to entertain their children on the sabbath. the boys say, "i do wish 'twas night," or, "i do hate the sabbath," or, "i do wish the sabbath was over." it ought to be the happiest day in the week to them, one to be looked forward to with pleasure. in order to this end, many suggestions might be followed. make family prayers especially attractive by having the children learn some verse or story from the bible. give more time to your children than you can give on week days, reading to them and perhaps taking them to walk in the afternoon or evening. show by your conduct that the sabbath is a delight, and they will soon catch your spirit. set aside some time for religious instruction, without making this a task. you can make it interesting for the children by telling bible stories and asking them to guess the names of the characters. have sunday games for the younger children. picture books, puzzle maps of palestine, etc., can be easily obtained. sunday albums and sunday clocks are other devices. set aside attractive books for the sabbath, not letting the children have these during the week. by doing this, the children can be brought to look forward to the day with eagerness and pleasure. private observance. apart from public and family observance, the individual ought to devote a portion of the time to his own edification. prayer, meditation, reading, ought not to be forgotten. think of men devoting six days a week to their body, which will soon pass away, and begrudging one day to the soul which will live on and on forever: is it too much for god to ask for one day to be devoted to the growth and training of the spiritual senses, when the other senses are kept busy the other six days? if your circumstances permit, engage in some definite christian work--such as teaching in sunder school, or visiting the sick. do all the good you can sin keeps no sabbath, and no more should good deeds. there is plenty of opportunity in this fallen world to perform works of mercy and religion. make your sabbath down here a foretaste of the eternal sabbath that is in store for believers. you want power in your christian life, do you? you want holy ghost power? you want the dew of heaven on your brow? you want to see men convicted and converted? i don't believe we shall ever have genuine conversions until we get straight on this law of god. sabbath desecration. men seem to think they have a right to change the holy day into a _holiday_. the young have more temptations to break the sabbath than we had forty years ago. there are three great temptations: first, the trolley car, that will take you off into the country for a nickel to have a day of recreation; second, the bicycle, which is leading a good many christian men to give up their sabbath and spend the day on excursions; and the third, the sunday newspaper. twenty years ago christian people in chicago would have been horrified if any one had prophesied that all the theatres would be open every sabbath; but that is what has come to pass. if it had been prophesied twenty years ago that christian men would take a wheel and go off on sunday morning and be gone all day on an excursion, christians would have been horrified and would have said it was impossible; but that is what is going on to-day all over the country. the sunday newspaper. with regard to the sunday newspaper, i know all the arguments that are brought in its favor--that the work on it is done during the week, that it is the monday paper that causes sunday work, and so on. but there are two hundred thousand newsboys selling the paper on sunday. would you like to have your boy one of them? men are kept running trains in order to distribute the papers. would you like your sabbath taken away from you? if not, then practise the golden rule, and don't touch the papers. their contents make them unfit for reading any day, not to say sunday. some new york dailies advertise sunday editions of sixty pages. many dirty pieces of scandal in this and other countries are raked up and put into them. "eight pages of fun!"--that is splendid reading for sunday, isn't it? even when a so-called sermon is printed, it is completely buried by the fiction and news matter. it is time that ministers went into their pulpits and preached against sunday newspapers if they haven't done it already. put the man in the scales that buys and reads sunday papers. after reading them for two or three hours he might go and hear the best sermon in the world, but you couldn't preach anything into him. his mind is filled up with what he has read, and there is no room for thoughts of god. i believe that the archangel gabriel himself could not make an impression on an audience that has its head full of such trash. if you bored a hole into a man's head, you could not inject any thoughts of god and heaven. i don't believe that the publishers would allow their own children to read them. why then should they give them to my children and to yours? a merchant who advertises in sunday papers is not keeping the sabbath. it is a master-stroke of the devil to induce christian men to do this in order to make trade for monday. but if a man makes money, and yet his sons are ruined and his home broken up, what has he gained? ladies buy the sunday papers and read the advertisements of monday bargains to see what they can buy cheap. just so with their religion. they are willing to have it if it doesn't cost anything. if christian men and women refused to buy them, if christian merchants refused to advertise in them, they would soon die out, because that is where they get most of their support. they tell me the sunday paper has come to stay, and i may as well let it alone. never! i believe it is a great evil, and i shall fight it while i live. i never read a sunday paper, and wouldn't have one in my house. they are often sent me, but i tear them up without reading them. i will have nothing to do with them. they do more harm to religion than any other one agency i know. their whole influence is against keeping the sabbath holy. they are an unnecessary evil. can't a man read enough news on week days without desecrating the sabbath? we had no sunday papers till the war came, and we got along very well without them. they have been increasing in size and in number ever since then, and i think they have been lowering their tone ever since. if you believe that, help to fight them too. stamp them out, beginning with yourself. punishment or blessing? no nation has ever prospered that has trampled the sabbath in the dust. show me a nation that has done this, and i will show you a nation that has got in it the seeds of ruin and decay. i believe that sabbath desecration will carry a nation down quicker than anything else. adam brought marriage and the sabbath with him out of eden, and neither can be disregarded without suffering. when the children of israel went into the promised land god told them to let their land rest every seven years, and he would give them as much in six years as in seven. for four hundred and ninety years they disregarded that law. but mark you, nebuchadnezzar came and took them off into babylon, and kept them seventy years in captivity, and the land had its seventy sabbaths of rest. seven times seventy is four hundred and ninety. so they did not gain much by breaking this law. you can give god his day, or he will take it. on the other hand, honoring the fourth commandment brings blessing. "if thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words ('thine own' as contrasted with what god enjoins), then shalt thou delight thyself in the lord; and i will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of jacob thy father, for the mouth of the lord hath spoken it." i do not know what will become of this republic if we give up our christian sabbath. if satan can break the conscience down on one point, he can break it down on all. when i was in france in , i could not tell one day from the other. on sunday stores were open and buildings were erected, the same as on other days. see how quickly that country went down. one hundred years ago france and england stood abreast in the march of nations. where do they stand to-day? france undertook to wipe out the sabbath, and has pretty nearly wiped itself out, while england belts the globe. a firm stand. we have a fighting chance to save this nation, and what we want is men and women who have moral courage to stand up and say: "no, i will not touch the sunday paper, and all the influence i have i will throw dead against it. i will not go away on saturday evening if i have to travel on sunday to get back. i will not do unnecessary work on the sabbath. i will do all i can to keep it holy as god commanded." but some one says: "mr. moody, what are you going to do? i have to work seven days a week or starve." then starve! wouldn't it be a grand thing to have a martyr in the nineteenth century? "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." some one says the seed is getting very low; it has been a long time since we have had any seed. i would give something to erect a monument to such a martyr to his fidelity to god's law. i would go around the world to attend his funeral. we want to-day men who will make up their minds to do what is right, and stand by it if the heavens tumble on their heads. what is to become of christian associations and sunday schools, of churches and christian endeavor societies, if the christian sabbath is given up to recreation, and made a holiday? hasn't the time come to call a halt if men want power with god? let men call you narrow and bigoted, but be man enough to stand by god's law, and you will have power and blessing. that is the kind of christianity we want just now in this country. any man can go with the crowd, but we want men who will go against the current. sabbath-breaker, are you ready to step into the scales? fifth commandment "honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god giveth thee." we are living in dark days on this question too. it really seems as if the days the apostle paul wrote about are upon us: "in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, _disobedient to parents, unthankful_, unholy, _without natural affection_, despisers of those that are good, . . . ." if paul was alive to-day, could he have described the present state of affairs more truly? there are perhaps more men in this country that are breaking the hearts of their fathers and mothers, and trampling on the law of god, than in any other civilized country in the world. how many sons treat their parents with contempt, and make light of their entreaties? a young man will have the kindest care from parents; they will watch over him, and care for all his wants; and some bad companion will come in and sweep him away from them in a few weeks. how many young ladies have married against their parents' wishes, and have gone off and made their own life bitter! i never knew one case that did not turn out badly. they invariably bring ruin upon themselves, unless they repent. begin in the home. the first four commandments deal with our relations to god. they tell us how to worship and when to worship; they forbid irreverence and impiety in word and act. now god turns to our relations with each other, and isn't it significant that he deals first with family life? "god is going to show us our duty to our neighbor. how does he begin? not by telling us how kings ought to reign, or how soldiers ought to fight, or how merchants ought to conduct their business, but how boys and girls ought to behave at home." we can see that if their home life is all right, they are almost sure to fulfil the law both in regard to god and man. parents stand in the place of god to their children in a great many ways until the children arrive at years of discretion. if the children are true to their parents, it will be easier for them to be true to god. he used the human relationship as a symbol of our relationship to him both by creation and by grace. god is our father in heaven. we are his offspring. on the other hand, if they have not learned to be obedient and respectful at home, they are likely to have little respect for the law of the land. it is all in the heart; and the heart is prepared at home for good or bad conduct outside. the tree grows the way the twig is bent. "honor thy father and thy mother." that word "honor" means more than mere obedience--a child may obey through fear. it means love and affection, gratitude, respect. we are told that in the east the words "father" and "mother" include those who are "superiors in age, wisdom and in civil or religious station," so that when the jews were taught to honor their father and mother it included all who were placed over them in these relations, as well as their parents. isn't there a crying need for that same feeling to-day? the lawlessness of the present time is a natural consequence of the growing absence of a feeling of respect for those in authority. honor thy mother. it has been pointed out as worthy of notice that this commandment enjoins honor for _the mother_, and yet in eastern countries to the present day woman is held of little account. when i was in palestine a few years ago, the prettiest girl in jericho was sold by her father in exchange for a donkey. in many ancient nations, just as in certain parts of heathendom today, the parents are killed off as soon as they become old and feeble. can't we see the hand of god here, raising the woman to her rightful position of honor out of the degradation into which she had been dragged by heathenism? "honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the lord thy god giveth thee." i believe that we must get back to the old truths. you may make light of it, and laugh at it, young man, but remember that god has given this commandment, and you cannot set it aside. if we get back to this law, we shall have power and blessing. temporal blessing or curse. i believe it to be literally true that our temporal condition depends on the way we act upon this commandment. "honor thy father and mother, (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth." "honor thy father and thy mother, as the lord thy god hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the lord thy god giveth thee." "cursed is he that setteth light by his father or mother." "whoso curseth his father or mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness." it would be easy to multiply texts from the bible to prove this truth. experience teaches the same thing. a good, loving son generally turns out better than a refractory son. obedience and respect at home prepare the way for obedience to the employer, and are joined with other virtues that help toward a prosperous career, crowned with a ripe, honored old age. disobedience and disrespect for parents are often the first steps in the downward track. many a criminal has testified that this is the point where he first went astray. i have lived over sixty years, and i have learned one thing if i have learned nothing else--that no man or woman who dishonors father or mother ever prospers. young man, young woman, how do you treat your parents? tell me that, and i will tell you how you are going to get on in life. when i hear a young man speaking contemptuously of his grey-haired father or mother, i say he has sunk very low indeed. when i see a young man as polite as any gentleman can be when he is out in society, but who snaps up his mother and speaks unkindly to his father, i would not give the snap of my finger for his religion. if there is any man or woman on earth that ought to be treated kindly and tenderly, it is that loving mother or that loving father. if they cannot have your regard through life, what reward are they to have for all their care and anxiety? think how they loved you and provided for you in your early days. a mother's love. let your mind go back to the time when you were ill. did your mother neglect you? when a neighbor came in and said, "now, mother, you go and lie down; you have been up for a week; i will take your place for a night"--did she do it? no; and if the poor worn body forced her to it at last, she lay watching, and if she heard your voice, she was at your side directly, anticipating all your wants, wiping the perspiration away from your brow. if you wanted water, how soon you got it! she would gladly have taken the disease into her own body to save you. her love for you would drive her to any lengths. no matter to what depths of vice and misery you have sunk, no matter how profligate you have grown, she has not turned you out of her heart. perhaps she loves you all the more because you are wayward. she would draw you back by the bands of a love that never dies. filial ingratitude. when i was in england, i read of a man who professed to be a christian, who was brought before the magistrate for not supporting his aged father. he had let him go to the workhouse. my friends, i'd rather be content with a crust of bread and a drink of water than let my father or mother go to the workhouse. the idea of a professing christian doing such a thing! god have mercy on such a godless christianity as that! it is a withered up thing, and the breath of heaven will drive it away. don't profess to love god and do a thing like that. a friend of mine told me of a poor man who had sent his son to school in the city. one day the father was hauling some wood into the city, perhaps to pay his boy's bills. the young man was walking down the street with two of his school friends, all dressed in the very height of fashion. his father saw him, and was so glad that he left his wood, and went to the sidewalk to speak to him. but the boy was ashamed of his father, who had on his old working clothes, and spurned him, and said: "i don't know you." will such a young man ever amount to anything? never! i remember a very promising young man whom i had in the sunday school in chicago. his father was a confirmed drunkard, and his mother took in washing to educate her four children. this was her eldest son, and i thought that he was going to redeem the whole family. but one day a thing happened that made him go down in my estimation. the boy was in the high school, and was a very bright scholar. one day he stood with his mother at the cottage door--it was a poor house, but she could not pay for their schooling, and feed and clothe her children, and hire a very good house too, out of her earnings. when they were talking a young man from the high school came up the street, and this boy walked away from his mother. next day the young man said: "who was that i saw you talking to yesterday?" "oh, that was my washerwoman." i said: "poor fellow! he will never amount to anything." that was a good many years ago. i have kept my eye on him. he has gone down, down, down, and now he is just a miserable wreck. of course he would go down. ashamed of his mother that loved him and toiled for him, and bore so much hardship for him! i cannot tell you the contempt i had for that one act. let us look at a brighter picture. some years ago i heard of a poor woman who sent her boy to school and college. when he was to graduate, he wrote his mother to come, but she sent back word that she could not because her only skirt had already been turned once. she was so shabby that she was afraid he would be ashamed of her. he wrote back that he didn't care how she was dressed, and urged so strongly that she went. he met her at the station, and took her to a nice place to stay. the day came for his graduation, and he walked down the broad aisle with that poor mother dressed very shabbily, and put her into one of the best seats in the house. to her great surprise he was the valedictorian of the class, and he carried everything before him. he won a prize, and when it was given to him, he stepped down before the whole audience, and kissed his mother, and said: "here, mother, here is the prize. it is yours. i would not have had it if it had not been for you." thank god for such a man! the one glimpse the bible gives us of thirty out of the thirty-three years of christ's life on earth shows that he did not come to destroy this fifth commandment. the secret of all those silent years is embodied in that verse in luke's gospel--"and he went down with them and came to nazareth, and was subject to them." did he not set an example of true filial love and care when in the midst of the agonies of the cross he mode provision for his mother? did he not condemn the miserable evasions of this law by the pharisees of his own day: "well did isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. but in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. . . . full well do ye reject the commandment of god, that ye may keep your tradition. for moses said, honor thy father and thy mother; and, he that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death; but ye say, if a man shall say to his father or his mother, that wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me, is corban, (that is to say, given to god), ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother: making void the word of god by your tradition, which ye have delivered." i have read of one heathen custom in china, which would do us credit in this so-called christian country. on every new year's morning each man and boy, from the emperor to the lowest peasant, is said to pay a visit to his mother, carrying her a present varying in value according to his station in life. he thanks her for all she has done for him, and asks a continuance of her favor another year. abraham lincoln used to say: "all i have i owe to my mother." i would rather die a hundred deaths than have my children grow up to treat me with scorn and contempt. i would rather have them honor me a thousand times over than have the world honor me. i would rather have their esteem and favor than the esteem of the whole world. and any man who seeks the honor and esteem of the world, and doesn't treat his parents right, is sure to be disappointed: an exhortation. young man, if your parents are still living treat them kindly. do all you can to make their declining years sweet and happy. bear in mind that this is the only commandment that you may not always be able to obey. as long as you live, you will be able to serve god, to keep the sabbath, to obey all the other commandments, but the day comes to most men when father and mother die. what bitter feelings you will have when the opportunity has gone by, if you fail to show them the respect and love that is their due! how long is it since you wrote to your mother? perhaps you have not written home for months, or it may be for years. how often i get letters from mothers urging me to try and influence their sons! which would you rather be--a joseph or an absalom? joseph wasn't satisfied until he had brought his old father down into egypt. he was the greatest man in egypt, next to pharaoh; he was arrayed in the finest garments; he had pharaoh's ring on his hand, and a gold chain about his neck, and they cried before him, "bow the knee." yet when he heard jacob was coming, he hurried out to meet him. he wasn't ashamed of the old man, with his shepherds clothes. what a contrast we see in absalom. that young man broke his father's heart by his rebellion, and the jews are said to throw a stone at absalom's pillar to the present day, whenever they pass it, as a token of their horror of absalom's unnatural conduct. come, now, are you ready to be weighed? if you have been dishonoring your father and mother, step into the scales and see how quickly you will be found wanting. see how quickly you will strike the beam. i don't know any man who is much lighter than one who treats his parents with contempt. do you disobey them just as much as you dare? do you try to deceive them? do you call them old-fashioned, and sneer at their advice? how do you treat that venerable father and praying mother? you may be a professing christian, but i wouldn't give much for your religion unless it gets into your life and teaches you how to live. i wouldn't give a snap of my finger for a religion that doesn't begin at home and regulate your conduct toward your parents. sixth commandment "thou shalt not kill." i used to say: "what is the use of taking up a law like this in an audience where, probably, there isn't a man who ever thought of, or ever will commit murder?" but as one gets on in years, he sees many a murder that is not outright killing. i need not kill a person to be a murderer. if i get so angry that i wish a man dead, i am a murderer in god's sight. god looks at the heart and says he that hateth his brother is a murderer. first let us see what this commandment does not mean. it does not forbid the killing of animals for food and for other reasons. millions of rams and lambs and turtle-doves must have been killed every year for sacrifices under the mosaic system. christ himself ate of the passover lamb, and we are told definitely of cases where he ate fish himself and provided it for his disciples and the people to eat. it does not forbid the killing of burglars, etc., in self-defence. directly after the giving of the ten commandments, god laid down the ordinance that if a thief be found breaking in and be smitten that he die, it was pardonable. did not christ justify this idea of self-defence when he said: "if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up?" it does not forbid capital punishment. god himself set the death penalty upon violations of each of the first seven commandments, as well as for other crimes. god said to noah after the deluge--"whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed;" and the reason given is just as true to-day as it was then--"for in the image of god made he man." what it does forbid is the wanton, intentional taking of human life under wrong motives and circumstances. man is made in god's image. he is built for eternity. he is more than a mere animal. his life ought therefore to be held sacred. once taken, it can never be restored. in heathen lands human life is no more sacred than the life of animals; even in christian lands there are heartless and selfish men who hold it cheap; but god has invested it with a high value. an infidel philosopher of the eighteenth century said: "in the sight of god every event is alike important; and the life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster." "where is the crime," he asked, "of turning a few ounces of blood out of their channel?" such language needs no answer. the value of a man. let me give you a passage from h. l. hastings: "a friend of mine visited the fiji islands in , and what do you suppose an infidel was worth there then? you could buy a man for a musket, or if you paid money, for seven dollars, and after you had bought him you could feed him, starve him, work him, whip him, or eat him--they generally ate them, unless they were so full of tobacco they could not stomach them! but if you go there to-day you could not buy a man for seven million dollars. there are no men for sale there now. what has made the difference in the price of humanity? the twelve hundred christian chapels scattered over that island tell the story. the people have learned to read that book which says: 'ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of christ'; and since they learned that lesson, no man is for sale there." men tell me that the world is getting so much better. we talk of our american civilization. we forget the alarming increase of crime in our midst. it is said that there is no civilized country on the globe where murder is so frequently committed and so seldom punished. suicide. there is that other kind of murder that is increasing at an appalling rate among us--suicide. there have been infidels in all ages who have advocated it as a justifiable means of release from trial and difficulty; yet thinking men, as far back as aristotle, have generally condemned it as cowardly and unjustifiable under any conditions. no man has a right to take his own life from such motives any more than the life of another. it has been pointed out that the jewish race, the people of god, always counted length of days as a blessing. the bible does not mention one single instance of a good man committing suicide. in the four thousand years of old testament history it records only four suicides, and only one suicide in the new testament. saul, king of israel, and his armor-bearer, ahithophel, zimri and judas iscariot are the five cases. look at the references in the bible to see what kind of men they were. other kinds of murder. but i want to speak of other classes of murderers that are very numerous in this country, although they are not classified as murderers. the man who is the cause of the death of another through criminal carelessness is guilty. the man who sells diseased meat; the saloon-keeper whose drink has maddened the brain of a criminal; those who adulterate food; the employer who jeopardizes the lives of employees and others by unsafe surroundings and conditions in harmful occupations,--they are all guilty of blood where life is lost as a consequence. when i was in england in , i met a gentleman who claimed that they were ahead of us in the respect they had for the law. "we hang our murderers," he said, "but there isn't one out of twenty in your country that is hung." i said, "you are greatly mistaken, for they walk about these two countries unhung." "what do you mean?" "i will tell you what i mean," i said; "the man that comes into my house and runs a dagger into my heart for my money, is a prince compared with a son that takes five years to kill me and the wife of my bosom. a young man who comes home night after night drunk, and when his mother remonstrates, curses her grey hairs and kills her by inches, is the blackest kind of a murderer." that kind of thing is going on constantly all around us. one young man at college, an only son, whose mother wrote to him remonstrating against his gambling and drinking habits, took the letters out of the post-office, and when he found that they were from her, he tore them up without reading them. she said, "i thought i would die when i found i had lost my hold on that son." if a boy kills his mother by his conduct, you can't call it anything else than _murder_, and he is as truly guilty of breaking this sixth commandment as if he drove a dagger to her heart. if all young men in this country who are killing their parents and their wives by inches, should be hung this next week, there would be a great many funerals. how are you treating your parents? come, are you killing them? this sixth commandment follows very naturally after the fifth,--"honor thy father and thy mother." don't put any thorns in their pillows and make their last days miserable. bear in mind that the commandment refers not only to shooting a man down in cold blood; but he is the worst murderer who goes on, month after month, year after year, until he has crowded the life out of a sainted mother and put a godly father under the sod. the words of christ. let us look once again at the sermon on the mount, that men think so much of, and see what christ had to say: "ye have heard that it has been said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but i say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, raca, (an expression of contempt), shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, thou fool, (an expression of condemnation), shall be in danger of hell fire." "three degrees of murderous guilt," as has been said, "all of which can be manifested without a blow being struck; secret anger--the spiteful jeer--the open, unrestrained outburst of violent abusive speech." again, what does john say? "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." did you ever in your heart wish a man dead? that was murder. did you ever get so angry that you wished any one harm? then you are guilty. i may be addressing some one who is cultivating an unforgiving spirit. that is the spirit of the murderer, and needs to be rooted out of your heart. we can only read man's acts--what they have done. god looks down into the heart. that is the birthplace and home of the evil desires and intentions that lead to the transgression of all god's laws. listen once more to the words of jesus: "from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts--adulteries--fornications--murders --thefts--covetousness--wickedness--deceit--lasciviousness--an evil eye--blasphemy--pride--foolishness. . . ." may god purge our hearts of these evil things, if we are harboring them! ah, if many of us were weighed now, we should find belshazzar's doom written against us--"tekel--wanting!" seventh commandment "thou shalt not commit adultery." an english army-officer in india who had been living an impure life went around one evening to argue religion with the chaplain. during their talk the officer said: "religion is all very well, but you must admit that there are difficulties--about the miracles, for instance." the chaplain knew the man and his besetting sin, and quietly looking him in the face, answered: "yes, there are some things in the bible not very plain, i admit; but the seventh commandment is very plain." plain speaking. i would to god i could pass over this commandment, but i feel that the time has come to cry aloud and spare not. plain speaking about it is not very fashionable nowadays. "teachers of religion have by common consent banished from their public teaching all advice, warning or allusion in regard to love between the sexes," says dr. stalker. these themes are left to poets and novelists to handle. in an autobiography recently published in england, the writer attributed no small share of the follies and vices of his earlier years to his never having heard a plain, outspoken sermon on this seventh commandment. but though men are inclined to pass it by, god is not silent or indifferent in regard to it. when i hear any one make light of adultery and licentiousness, i take the bible and see how god has let his curse and wrath come down upon it. "thou shalt not commit adultery. . . . for this is a heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. for it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase. . . . by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? so he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. . . . whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. a wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. . . . know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god? be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind shall inherit the kingdom of god. . . . but fornication, and all uncleanness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving thanks. for this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god. let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of god upon the children of disobedience. be not ye therefore partakers with them. . . . whoremongers shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. . . . for without are whoremongers. . . ." these are a few of the threatenings and warnings contained in the old book, up to its closing chapter. it speaks plainly, without compromise. marriage and the home. this commandment is god's bulwark around marriage and the home. marriage is one of the institutions that existed in eden; it is older than the fall. it is the most sacred relationship that can exist between human beings, taking precedence even of the relationship of the parent and child. some one has pointed out that as in the beginning god created one man and one woman, this is the true order for all ages. where family ties are disregarded and dishonored, the results are always fatal. the home existed before the church, and unless the home is kept pure and undefiled, there can be no family religion and the church is in danger. adultery and licentiousness have swept nation after nation out of existence. did it not bring fire and brimstone from heaven upon sodom and gomorrah? what carried rome into ruin? the obscene frescoes and statues at pompeii and naples tell the tale. where there is no sacredness around the home, population dwindles; family virtues disappear; the children are corrupt from their very birth; the seeds of sure decay are already planted. in there were twenty-five thousand divorces in this country. i was on one of the fashionable streets of a prominent city some time ago, where every family except two in the whole street had either a son or a daughter that had been divorced. divorce and debauchery go hand in hand. we are not gaining much in turning away from this old law, are we? the devil's counterfeit. lust is the devil's counterfeit of love. there is nothing more beautiful on earth than a pure love, and there is nothing so blighting as lust. i do not know of a quicker, shorter way down to hell than by adultery and the kindred sins condemned by this commandment. the bible says that with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, but "whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart." lust will drive all natural affection out of a man's heart. for the sake of some vile harlot he will trample on the feelings and entreaties of a sainted mother and beautiful wife and godly sister. young man, are you leading an impure life? suppose god's scales should drop down before you, what would you do? are you fit for the kingdom of heaven? you know very well that you are not. you loathe yourself. when you look upon that pure wife or mother, you say, "what a vile wretch i am! the harlot is bringing me down to an untimely and dishonored grave." may god show us what a fearful sin it is! the idea of making light of it! i do not know of any sin that will make a man run down to ruin more quickly. i am appalled when i think of what is going on in the world; of so many young men living impure lives, and talking about the virtue of women as if it didn't amount to anything. this sin is coming in upon us like a flood at the present day. in every city there is an army of prostitutes. young men by hundreds are being utterly ruined by this accursed sin. the prodigal daughter. i think that the most infernal thing the sun shines on in america is the way woman is treated after she has been ruined by a man, often under fair promises of marriage. some one said that when the prodigal son came home he had the best robe and the fatted calf, but what does the prodigal daughter get? although she may have been more sinned against than sinning, she is cast out and ostracized by society. she is condemned to an almost hopeless life of degradation and shame, sinking step by step into a loathsome grave, unless she hurries her doom by suicide. but the wretch who has ruined her in body and soul, holds his head as high as ever, and society attaches no stain to him. if he had failed to pay his gambling debts or was detected cheating at cards, he would promptly be dropped by society; but he may boast of his impure life, and his companions will think nothing of it. parents who would not allow their daughters to become acquainted with a man who is rude in manners, sometimes do not hesitate to accept the society of men who are known to be impure. talk about stealing--a man who steals the virtue of a woman is the meanest thief that ever was on the face of the earth! one who goes into your house and steals your money is a prince compared with a vile libertine who takes the virtue of your sister, or steals the affection of your wife, and robs you of her; no sneakthief that ever walked the earth is so mean as he. how men pass laws to protect their property, but when that which is far nearer and dearer to them than money is taken, it is made light of! if a man should push a young lady into the river and she should be drowned, the law would lay hold of him, and he would be tried for murder and hung. but if he wins her affection and ruins her, and then casts her off, isn't he worse, than a murderer? there are some sins that are worse than murder, and that is one of them. if some one should treat your wife or sister so, you would want to shoot him as you would a dog. why do you not respect all women as you do your mother and sister? "what law of justice forgives the obscene bird of prey, while it kicks out of its path the soiled and bleeding dove?" god's coming judgment. god has appointed a day when this matter will be set right. "be not deceived: god is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." he will render to every man according to his deeds. you may walk down the aisle of the church and take your seat, thinking that no one knows of your sin. but god is on the throne, and he will surely bring you to judgment. do you believe that god will allow this infernal thing to go on,--women bearing all the blame while guilty men go unpunished? god has appointed a day when he will judge this world in righteousness, and the day is fast approaching. if you are guilty of this sin, do not let the day pass until you repent. if you are living in some secret sin, or are fostering impure thoughts, make up your mind that by the grace of god you will be delivered. i don't believe a man who is guilty of this sin is ever going to see the kingdom of god unless he repents in sackcloth and ashes, and does all he can to make restitution. an evil harvest. even in this life adultery and uncleanness bring their awful results, both physical and mental. the pleasure and excitement that lead so many astray at the beginning soon pass away, and only the evil remains. vice carries a sting in its tail, like the scorpion. the body is sinned against, and the body sooner or later suffers. "every sin that a man doeth is without the body: but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body," said paul. nature herself punishes with nameless diseases, and the man goes down to the grave rotten, leaving the effects of his sin to blight his posterity. there are nations whose manhood has been eaten out by this awful scourge. it drags a man lower than the beasts. it stains the memory. i believe that memory is "the worm that never dies," and the memory is never cleansed of obscene stories and unclean acts. even if a man repents and reforms he often has to fight the past. lust gave samson into the power of delilah, who robbed him of his strength. it led david to commit murder and called down upon him the wrath of god, and if he had not repented he would have lost heaven. i believe that if joseph had responded to the enticement of potiphar's wife, his light would have gone out in darkness. it ends in one or other of two ways: either in remorse and shame because of the realization of the loss of purity, with a terrible struggle against a hard taskmaster; or in hardness of heart, brutalizing of the finer senses, which is a more dreadful condition. we hear a good deal about intemperance nowadays. that sin advertises itself; it shows its marks upon the face and in the conduct. but this hides itself away under the shadow of the night. a man who tampers with this evil goes on step by step until his character is blasted, his reputation ruined, his health gone, and his life made as dark as hell. may god wake up the nation to see how this awful sin is spreading! will any one deny that the house of the strange woman is "the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death," as the bible says? are there not men whose characters have been utterly ruined for this life through this accursed sin? are there not wives who would rather sink into their graves than live? many a man went with a pure woman to the altar a few years ago, and promised to love and cherish her. now he has given his affections to some vile harlot, and brought ruin on his wife and children! are you guilty? young man, young woman, are you guilty, even in thought? bear in mind what christ said: "ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery: but i say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." how many would repent but that they are tied hand and foot, and some vile harlot, whose feet are fastened in hell, clings to him and says: "if you give me up, i will expose you!" can you step on the scales and take that harlot with you? if you are guilty of this awful sin, escape for your life. hear god's voice while there is yet time. confess your sin to him. ask him to snap the fetters that bind you. ask him to give you victory over your passions. if your right eye offends, pluck it out. if your right hand offends, cut it off. shake yourself like samson, and say: "by the grace of god i will not go down to an adulterer's grave." there is hope for you, adulterer. there is hope for you, adulteress. god will not turn you away if you truly repent. no matter how low down in vice and misery you may have sunk, you may be washed, you may be sanctified, you may be justified in the name of the lord jesus, and by the spirit of our god. remember what christ said to that woman which was a sinner--"thy sins are forgiven thee; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace;" and to that woman that was taken in adultery--"go, and sin no more." eighth commandment "thou shalt not steal." during the time of slavery, a slave was preaching with great power. his master heard of it, and sent for him, and said: "i understand you are preaching?" "yes," said the slave, "well, now," said the master, "i will give you all the time you need, and i want you to prepare a sermon on the ten commandments, and to bear down especially on stealing, because there is a great deal of stealing on the plantation." the slave's countenance fell at once. he said he wouldn't like to do that; there wasn't the warmth in that subject there was in others. i have noticed that people are satisfied when you preach about the sins of the patriarchs, but they don't like it when you touch upon the sins of to-day. that is coming too near home. but we need to have these old doctrines stated over and over again in our churches. perhaps it is not necessary to speak here about the grosser violations of this eighth commandment, because the law of the land looks after these; but a man or woman can steal without cracking safes and picking pockets. many a person who would shrink from taking what belongs to another person, thinks nothing of stealing from the government or from large public corporations, such as streetcar companies. if you steal from a rich man it is as much a sin as stealing from a poor man. if you lie about the value of things you buy, are you not trying to defraud the storekeeper? "it is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." on the other hand, many a person who would not steal himself, holds stock in companies that make dishonest profits; but "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." a young man in our bible institute in chicago got on the grip-car, and before the conductor came around to take the fare, they reached the institute and he jumped off without paying his fare. in thinking over that act he said: "that was not just right. i had my ride and i ought to pay the fare." he remembered the face of the conductor, and he went to the car barns and paid him the five cents. "well," the conductor said, "you are a fool not to keep it." "no," the young man said, "i am not. i got the ride, and i ought to have paid for it." "but it was my business to collect it." "no, it was my business to hand it to you." the conductor said, "i think you must belong to that bible institute." i have heard few things said of the institute that pleased me so much as that one thing. not long after that the conductor came to the institute and asked the student to come to see him. a cottage-meeting was started in his house; and not only himself but a number of others around there were converted as a result of that one act. you can hardly take up a paper now without reading of some cashier of a bank who has become a defaulter, or of some large swindling operation that has ruined scores, or of some breach of trust, or fraudulent failure in business. these things are going on all over the land. i would to god that we could have all gambling swept away. if christian men take the right stand, they can check it and break it up in a great many places. it leads to stealing. where the stream starts. the stream generally starts at home and in the school. parents are woefully lax in their condemnation and punishment of the sin of stealing. the child begins by taking sugar, it may be. the mother makes light of it at first, and the child's conscience is violated without any sense of wrong. by and by it is not an easy matter to check the habit, because it grows and multiplies with every new commission. the value of the thing that is stolen has nothing to say to the guilt of the act. two people were once arguing upon this point, and one said: "well, you will not contend that a theft of a pin and of a dollar are the same to god?" "when you tell me the difference between the value of a pin and of a dollar to god," said the other, "i will answer your question." the value or amount is not what is to be considered, but whether the act is _right_ or _wrong_. partial obedience is not enough: obedience must be entire. the little indulgences, the small transgressions are what drive religion out of the soul. they lay the foundation for the grosser sins. if you give way to little temptations, you will not be able to resist when great temptations come to you. god's weights. _extortioner_, are you ready to step into the scales? what will you do with the condemnation of god--"thou has taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbor's by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the lord god?" _employer_, are you guilty of sweating your employees? have you defrauded the hireling of his wages? have you paid starvation wages? "thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates. . . . what mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the lord god of hosts. . . . behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the lord of sabaoth." and you, _employee_, have you been honest with your employer? have you robbed him of his due by wasting your time when he was not looking? if god should summon you into his presence now, what would you say? let the _merchant_ step into the scales. see if you will prove light when weighed against the law of god. are you guilty of adulterating what you sell? do you substitute inferior grades of goods? are your advertisements deceptive? are your cheap prices made possible by defrauding your customers either in quantity or in quality? do you teach your clerks to put a french or an english tag on domestic manufactures, and then sell them as imported goods? do you tell them to say that the goods are all wool when you know they are half cotton? do you give short weight or measure? see what god says in his word: "shall i count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small: thou shalt not have in thy house divers measures, a great and a small: but thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the lord thy god giveth thee. . . . ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. just balances, just weights, a just ephah and a just hin, shall ye have." are you like those who said: "when will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?" "show me a people whose trade is dishonest," said fronde, "and i will show you a people whose religion is a sham." unless your religion can keep you honest in your business, it isn't worth much; it isn't the right kind. god is a god of righteousness, and no true follower of his can swerve one inch to the right or left without disobeying him. stolen goods a burden. i heard of a boy who stole a cannon-ball from a navy-yard. he watched his opportunity, sneaked into the yard, and secured it. but when he had it, he hardly knew what to do with it. it was heavy, and too large to conceal in his pocket, so he had to put it under his hat. when he got home with it, he dared not show it to his parents, because it would have led at once to his detection. he said in after years it was the last thing he ever stole. the story is told that one of queen victoria's diamonds valued at $ , was stolen from a jeweler's window, to whom it had been given to set. a few months afterward a miserable man died a miserable death in a poor lodging-house. in his pocket was found the diamond and a letter telling how he had not dared to sell it lest it should lead to his discovery and imprisonment. it never brought him anything but anxiety and pain. everything you steal is a curse to you in that way. the sin overreaches itself. a man who takes money that does not belong to him never gets any lasting comfort. he has no real pleasure, for he has a guilty conscience. he cannot look an honest man in the face. he loses peace of mind here, and all hope of heaven hereafter. "as the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. . . . let no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter; because that the lord is the avenger of all such." i may be speaking to some clerk who perhaps took five cents to-day out of his employer's drawer to buy a cigar; perhaps he took ten cents to get a shave, and thinks he will put it back to-morrow--no one will ever know it. if you have taken a cent, you are a thief. do you ever think how those little stealings may bring you to ruin? let your employer find it out. if he doesn't take you into court, he will discharge you. your hopes will be blasted, and it will be hard work to get up again. whatever condition you are in, do not take a cent that does not belong to you. rather than steal, go up to heaven in poverty--go up to heaven from the poor-house. be honest rather than go through the world in a gilded chariot of stolen riches. restitution. if you have ever taken money dishonestly, you need not pray god to forgive you and fill you with the holy ghost until you make restitution. if you have not got the money now to pay back, will to do it, and god accepts the willing mind. many a man is kept in darkness and unrest because he fails to obey god on this point. if the plough has gone deep, if the repentance is true, it will bring forth fruit. what use is there in my coming to god until i am willing to make it good, like zacchaeus, if i have done any man wrong or have taken anything from him falsely? "if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. none of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him." confession and restitution are the steps that lead up to forgiveness. until you tread those steps, you may expect your conscience to be troubled, your sin to haunt you. i was preaching in british columbia some years ago, and a young man came to me, and wanted to become a christian. he had been smuggling opium into the states. "well, my friend," i said, "i don't think there is any chance for you to become a christian until you make restitution." he said, "if i attempt to do that, i will fall into the clutches of the law, and i will go to the penitentiary." "well," i replied, "you had better do that than go to the judgment-seat of god with that sin upon your soul, and have eternal punishment. the lord will be very merciful if you set your face to do right." he went away sorrowful, but came back the next day, and said: "i have a young wife and child, and all the furniture in my house i have bought with money i have got in this dishonest way. if i become a christian, that furniture will have to go, and my wife will know it." "better let your wife know it, and better let your home and furniture go." "would you come up and see my wife?" he asked; "i don't know what she will say." i went up to see her, and when i told her, the tears trickled down her cheeks, and she said: "mr. moody, i will gladly give everything if my husband can become a true christian." she took out her pocketbook, and handed over her last penny. he had a piece of land in the united states, which he deeded over to the government. i do not know in all my backward track of any living man who has had a better testimony for jesus christ than that man. he had been dishonest, but when the truth came to him that he must make it right before god would help him, he made it right and then god used him wonderfully. no amount of weeping over sin, and saying that you feel sorry, is going to help it unless you are willing to confess, and make restitution. ninth commandment "thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." two out of the ten commandments deal with sins that find expression by the tongue--the third commandment, which forbids taking god's name in vain, and this ninth commandment, which forbids false witness against our neighbor. this two-fold prohibition ought to impress us as a solemn warning, especially as we find that the pages of scripture are full of condemnation of sins of the tongue. the psalms, proverbs and the epistle of james deal largely with the subject. truth necessary. organized society of a degree higher than that of the herding of animals and flocking of birds depends so much upon the power of speech, that without it we may say society would be impossible. language is an essential element in the social fabric. to its purpose it must be trustworthy. words must command confidence. anything which undermines the truth takes (as it were) the mortar out of the building and if general, must mean ruin. paul said--"wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth to his neighbor: for we are members one of another." note the reason given--"we are members one of another." all community, all union and fellowship would be shattered if a man did not know whether to believe his neighbor or not. the transgressions of this commandment are very varied in form, and very frequent. men and women of all ages have to guard against them. they include some of the most besetting sins. david said in his haste--"all men are liars." some one has remarked that if he had been living nowadays, he might say it without haste and not be very far wide of the truth. perjury. the bearing of false witness is forbidden, but this must not be limited merely to testimony given in the law court or under oath. isn't it a condemnation that men have to be put under oath in order to make sure of their speaking the truth? as a legal offence, _perjury_--the bearing of false witness when under oath--is one of the most serious crimes that can be committed. nearly every civilized nation visits it with heavy punishment. unless promptly checked, it would shake the very foundations of justice. _lying_--uttering or acting falsehood--and _slander_--the spreading of false reports tending to destroy the reputation of another--are two of the most common violations of this commandment. lying. we have got nowadays so that we divide lies into white lies and black lies, society lies, business lies, etc. the word of god knows no such letting-down of the standard. a lie is a lie, no matter what are the circumstances under which it is uttered, or by whom. i have heard that in siam they sew up the mouth of a confirmed liar. i am afraid if that was the custom in america, a good many would suffer. parents should begin with their children while they are young and teach them to be strictly truthful at all times. there is a proverb: "a lie has no legs." it requires other lies to support it. tell one lie and you are forced to tell others to back it up. slander. you don't like to have any one bear false witness against you, or help to ruin your character or reputation: then why should you do it to others? how public men are slandered in this country! none escape, whether good or bad. judgment is passed upon them, their family, their character, by the press and by individuals who know little or nothing about them. if one tenth that is said and written about our public men was true, half of them should be hung. slander has been called "tongue murder." slanderers are compared to flies that always settle on sores, but do not touch a man's good parts. if the archangel gabriel should come down to earth and mix in human affairs, i believe his character would be assailed inside of forty-eight hours. slander called christ a gluttonous man and a winebibber. he claimed to be the truth, but instead of worshipping him, men took him and crucified him. when any one spoke evil of another in the presence of peter the great, he used promptly to stop him, and say: "well, now, has he not got a bright side? tell me what you know good of him. it is easy to splash mud, but i would rather help a man to keep his coat clean." i need not stop to run through the whole catalogue of sins that are related to these three. falserumor--exaggeration--misrepresentation --insinuation--gossip--equivocation--holding back of the truth when it is due and right to tell it--disparagement--perversion of meaning: these are common transgressions of this ninth commandment, differing in form and degree of guilt according to the motive or manner of their expression. they bear false witness against a man before the tribunal of public opinion--a court whose judgment none of us escape. as so much of our life is passed in public view, any untruth that leads to a false judgment is a grievous wrong. a test of true religion. government of the tongue is made the test of true religion by james. "if any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. . . . for in many things we offend all. if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body:" just as a doctor looks at the tongue and can tell the condition of the bodily health, so a man's words are an index of what is within. truth will spring from a good heart: falsehood and deceit from a corrupt heart. when ananias kept back part of the price of the land, peter asked him--"why hath satan filled thine heart to lie unto the holy ghost?" satan is the father of lies and the promoter of lies: for good or evil. the tongue can be an instrument of untold good or incalculable evil. some one has said that a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. "thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. . . . they have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. . . . the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. . . . a wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit, . . ." bishop hall said that the tongues of busybodies are like the tails of samson's foxes--they carry firebrands and are enough to set the whole field of the world in a flame. "behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. for every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed and hath been tamed by mankind: but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. therewith bless we god, even the father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of god. out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. my brethren, these things ought not so to be. doth a fountain send forth at the same time sweet water and bitter? can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. but if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth." blighted hopes and blasted reputations are witness to its awful power. in many cases the tongue has murdered its victims. can we not all recall cases where men and women have died under the wounds of calumny and misrepresentation? history is full of such cases. words never called back. the most dangerous thing about it is that a word once uttered can never be obliterated. some one has said that lying is a worse crime than counterfeiting. there is some hope of following up bad coins until they are all recovered; but an evil word can never be overtaken. the mind of the hearer or reader has been poisoned, and human devices cannot reach in and cleanse it. lies can never be called back. a woman who was well known as a scandal-monger, went and confessed to the priest. he gave her a ripe thistle-top, and told her to go out and scatter the seeds one by one. she wondered at the penance, but obeyed; then she came and told the priest. he next told her to go and gather again the scattered seeds. of course she saw that it was impossible. the priest used it as an object-lesson to cure her of the sin of scandalous talk. the fate of the liar and slanderer. these sins are devilish, and the bible is severe in its denunciations of them. it contains many solemn warnings. "thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. . . . the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will i cut off. . . . lying lips are an abomination to the lord: but they that deal truly are his delight. . . . by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. . . . all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." whoso loveth and maketh a lie shall in no wise enter into the new jerusalem. how to overcome. "but, mr. moody," you say, "how can i check myself? how can i overcome the habit of lying and gossip?" a lady once said to me that she had got so into the habit of exaggerating that her friends said they could never understand her. the cure is simple, but not very pleasant. treat it as a sin, and confess it to god and the man whom you have wronged. as soon as you catch yourself lying, go straight to the person and confess you have lied. let your confession be as wide as your transgression. if you have slandered or lied about any one in public, let your confession be public. many a person says some mean, false thing about another in the presence of others, and then tries to patch it up by going to that person alone. that is not making restitution. i need not go to god with confession until i have made it right with that person, if it is in my power to do so; he will not hear me. hannah moore's method was a sure cure for scandal. whenever she was told anything derogatory of another, her invariable reply was: "come, we will go and ask if it be true." the effect was sometimes ludicrously painful. the talebearer was taken aback, stammered out a qualification, or begged that no notice might be taken of the statement. but the good lady was inexorable. off she took the scandal-monger to the scandalized to make inquiry and compare accounts. it is not likely that anybody ventured a second time to repeat a gossipy story to hannah moore. my friend, how is it? if god should weigh you against this commandment, would you be found wanting? "thou shalt not bear false witness." are you innocent or guilty? tenth commandment "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's." in the twelfth chapter of luke our saviour lifted two danger signals. "beware ye of the leaven of the pharisees, which is hypocrisy. . . . take heed and beware of covetousness." the greatest dupe the devil has in the world is the hypocrite; but the next greatest is the covetous man, "for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." i believe this sin is much stronger now than ever before in the world's history. we are not in the habit of condemning it as a sin. in his epistle to the thessalonians paul speaks of "the cloke of covetousness." covetous men use it as a cloke, and call it prudence, and foresight. who ever heard it confessed as a sin? i have heard many confessions, in public and private, during the past forty years, but never have i heard a man confess that he was guilty of this sin. the bible does not tell of one man who ever recovered from it, and in all my experience i do not recall many who have been able to shake it off after it had fastened on them. a covetous man or woman generally remains covetous to the very end. we may say that covetous desire plunged the human race into sin. we can trace the river back from age to age until we get to its rise in eden. when eve saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food and that it was desirable to the eyes, she partook of it, and adam with her. they were not satisfied with all that god had showered upon them, but coveted the wisdom of gods which satan deceitfully told them might be obtained by eating the fruit. she saw,--she desired--then she took! three steps from innocence into sin. a searching commandment. it would be absurd for such a law as this to be placed upon any human statute book. it could never be enforced. the officers of the law would be powerless to detect infractions. the outward conduct may be regulated, but the thoughts and intents of a man are beyond the reach of human law. but god can see behind outward actions. he can read the thoughts of the heart. our innermost life, invisible to mortal eye, is laid bare before him. we cannot deceive him by external conformity. he is able to detect the least transgression and shortcoming, so that no man can shirk detection. god cannot be imposed upon by the cleanness of the outside of the cup and the platter. surely we have here another proof that the ten commandments are not of human origin, but must be divine. this commandment, then, did not, even on the surface, confine itself to visible actions as did the preceding commandments. even before christ came and showed their spiritual sweep, men had a commandment that went beneath public-conduct and touched the very springs of action. it directly prohibited--not the wrong act, but the wicked desire that prompted the act. it forbade the evil thought, the unlawful wish. it sought to prevent--not only sin, but the desire to sin. in god's sight it is as wicked to set covetous eyes, as it is to lay thieving hands, upon anything that is not ours. and why? because if the evil desire can be controlled, there will be no outbreak in conduct. desires have been called "actions in the egg." the desire in the heart is the first step in the series that ends in action. kill the evil desire, and you successfully avoid the ill results that would follow upon its hatching and development. prevention is better than cure. we must not limit covetousness to the matter of money. the commandment is not thus limited; it reads, "thou shalt not covet. . . anything. . . ." that word "anything" is what will condemn us. though we do not join in the race for wealth, have we not sometimes a hungry longing for our neighbor's goodly lands--fine houses,--beautiful clothes,--brilliant reputation,--personal accomplishments,--easy circumstances,--comfortable surroundings? have we not had the desire to increase our possessions or to change our lot in accordance with what we see in others? if so, we are guilty of having broken this law. gods thoughts about covetousness. let us examine a few of the bible passages that bear down on this sin, and see what are god's thoughts about it. "_know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of god? be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves,_ nor covetous, _nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of god_." notice that the covetous are named between thieves and drunkards. we lock up thieves, and have no mercy on them. we loathe drunkards, and consider them great sinners against the law of god as well as the law of the land. yet there is far more said in the bible against covetousness than against either stealing or drunkenness. covetousness and stealing are almost like siamese twins--they go together so often. in fact we might add lying, and make them triplets. "the covetous person is a thief _in_ the shell. the thief is a covetous person _out of_ the shell. let a covetous person see something that he desires very much; let an opportunity of taking it be offered; how very soon he will break through the shell and come out in his true character as a thief." the greek word translated "covetousness" means--an inordinate desire of getting. when the gauls tasted the sweet wines of italy, they asked where they came from, and never rested until they had overrun italy. "_for this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and god_." there we have the same truth repeated; but notice that covetousness is called idolatry. the covetous man worships mammon, not god. "_moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear god, men of truth,_ hating covetousness; _and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens_." isn't it extraordinary that jethro, the man of the desert, should have given this advice to moses? how did he learn to beware of covetousness? we honor men to-day if they are wealthy and covetous. we elect them to office in church and state. we often say that they will make better treasurers just because we know them to be covetous. but in god's sight a covetous man is as vile and black as any thief or drunkard. david said: "the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the lord abhorreth." i am afraid that many who profess to have put away wickedness also speak well of the covetous. a sore evil. "_he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. when goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? the sleep of the laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. there is a sore evil which i have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt_." isn't that true? is the covetous man ever satisfied with his possessions? aren't they vanity? does he have peace of mind? don't selfish riches always bring hurt? the folly of covetousness is well shown in the following extract: "if you should see a man that had a large pond of water, yet living in continual thirst, nor suffering himself to drink half a draught for fear of lessening his pond; if you should see him wasting his time and strength in fetching more water to his pond, always thirsty, yet always carrying a bucket of water in his hand, watching early and late to catch the drops of rain, gaping after every cloud, and running greedily into every mire and mud in hopes of water, and always studying how to make every ditch empty itself into the pond; if you should see him grow grey in these anxious labors, and at last end a thirsty life by falling into his own pond, would you not say that such a one was not only the author of his own disquiet, but was foolish enough to be reckoned among madmen? but foolish and absurd as this character is, it does not represent half the follies and absurd disquiets of the covetous man." i have read of a millionaire in france, who was a miser. in order to make sure of his wealth, he dug a cave in his wine cellar so large and deep that he could go down into it with a ladder. the entrance had a door with a spring lock. after a time, he was missing. search was made, but they could find no trace of him. at last his house was sold, and the purchaser discovered this door in the cellar. he opened it, went down, and found the miser lying dead on the ground, in the midst of his riches. the door must have shut accidentally after him, and he perished miserably. a temptation and a snare. "_they that will be_, (that is, desire to be), _rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition_." the bible speaks of the deceitfulness of two things--"the deceitfulness of _sin_" and "the deceitfulness of _riches_." riches are like a mirage in the desert, which has all the appearance of satisfying, and lures on the traveler with the promise of water and shade; but he only wastes his strength in the effort to reach it. so riches never satisfy: the pursuit of them always turns out a snare. lot coveted the rich plains of sodom, and what did he gain? after twenty years spent in that wicked city, he had to escape for his life, leaving all his wealth behind him. what did the thirty pieces of silver do for judas? weren't they a snare? think of balaam. he is generally regarded as a false prophet, but i do not find that any of his prophecies that are recorded are not true; they have been literally fulfilled. up to a certain point his character shone magnificently, but the devil finally overcame him by the bait of covetousness. he stepped over a heavenly crown for the riches and honors that balak promised him. he went to perdition backwards. his face was set toward god, but he backed into hell. he wanted to die the death of the righteous, but he did not live the life of the righteous. it is sad to see so many who know god, miss everything for riches. then consider the case of gehazi. there is another man who was drowned in destruction and perdition by covetousness. he got more out of naaman than he asked for, but he also got naaman's leprosy. think how he forfeited the friendship of his master elisha, the man of god! so to-day lifelong friends are separated by this accursed desire. homes are broken up. men are willing to sell out peace and happiness for the sake of a few dollars. didn't david fall into foolish and hurtful lusts? he saw bathsheba, uriah's wife, and she was "very beautiful to look upon," and david became a murderer and an adulterer. the guilty longing hurled him into the deepest pit of sin. he had to reap bitterly as he had sowed. i heard of a wealthy german out west, who owned a lumber mill. he was worth nearly two millions of dollars, but his covetousness was so great that he once worked as a common laborer carrying railroad ties all day. it was the cause of his death. "_and achan answered joshua, and said, indeed i have sinned against the lord god of israel, and thus and thus have i done: when i saw among the spoils a goodly babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then i_ coveted them,_and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it_." he saw--he coveted--he took--he hid! the covetous eye was what led achan up to the wicked deed that brought sorrow and defeat upon the camp of israel. we know the terrible punishment that was meted out to achan. god seems to have set danger signals at the threshold of each new age. it is remarkable how soon the first outbreaks of covetousness occurred. think of eve in eden, achan just after israel had entered the promised land, ananias and sapphira in the early christian church. a root extractor. "_for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows_." the revised version translates it--"_a root of all kinds of evil_." this tenth commandment has therefore been aptly called a "root-extractor," because it would tear up and destroy this root. deep down in our corrupt nature it has spread. no one but god can rid us of it. matthew tells us that the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word of god. like the mississippi river, which chokes up its mouth by the amount of soil it carries down. isn't that true of many business-men to day? they are so engrossed with their affairs that they have not time for religion. they lose sight of their soul and its eternal welfare in their desire to amass wealth. they do not even hesitate to sell their souls to the devil. how many a man says, "we must make money, and if god's law stands in the way, brush it aside." the word "lucre" occurs five times in the new testament, and each time it is called "_filthy_ lucre." "a root of all kinds of evil." yes, because what will not men be guilty of when prompted by the desire to be rich? greed for gold leads men to commit violence and murder, to cheat and deceive and steal. it turns the heart to stone, devoid of all natural affection, cruel, unkind. how many families are wrecked over the father's will! the scramble for a share of the wealth smashes them to pieces. covetous of rank and position in society, parents barter sons and daughters in ungodly marriage. bodily health is no consideration. the uncontrollable fever for gold makes men renounce all their settled prospects, and undertake hazardous journeys--no peril can drive them back. it destroys faith and spirituality, turning men's minds and hearts away from god. it disturbs the peace of the community by prompting to acts of wrong. covetousness has more than once led nation to war against nation for the sake of gaining territory or other material resources. it is said that when the spaniards came over to conquer peru, they sent a message to the king, saying, "give us gold, for we spaniards have a disease that can only be cured by gold." dr. boardman has shown how covetousness leads to the transgression of every one of the commandments, and i cannot do better than quote his words: "coveting tempts us into the violation of the first commandment, worshipping mammon in addition to jehovah. coveting tempts us into a violation of the second commandment, or idolatry. the apostle paul expressly identifies the covetous man with an idolater: 'covetousness, which is idolatry.' again: coveting tempts us into violation of the third commandment, or sacrilegious falsehood: for instance, gehazi, lying in the matter of his interview with naaman the syrian, and ananias and sapphira, perjuring themselves in the matter of the community of goods. again: coveting tempts us into the violation of the fourth commandment, or sabbath-breaking. it is covetousness which encroaches on god's appointed day of sacred rest, tempting us to run trains for merely secular purposes, to vend tobacco and liquors, to hawk newspapers. again: coveting tempts us into the violation of the fifth commandment, or disrespect for authority; tempting the young man to deride his early parental counsels, the citizen to trample on civic enactments. again: covetousness tempts us into violation of the sixth commandment, or murder. recall how judas' love of money lured him into the betrayal of his divine friend into the hand of his murderers, his lure being the paltry sum of--say--fifteen dollars. again: covetousness tempts us into the violation of the seventh commandment, or adultery. observe how scripture combines greed and lust. again: covetousness tempts us into the violation of the eighth commandment, or theft. recall how it tempted achan to steal a goodly babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. again: covetousness tempts us into the violation of the ninth commandment, or bearing false witness against our neighbor. recall how the covetousness of ahab instigated his wife jezebel to employ sons of belial to bear blasphemous and fatal testimony against naboth, saying, 'thou didst curse god and the king.'" how to overcome. you ask me how you are to cast this unclean spirit out of your heart? i think i can tell you. in the first place, make up your mind that by the grace of god you will overcome the spirit of selfishness. you must overcome it, or it will overcome you. paul said: "mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake the wrath of god cometh on the children of disobedience." i heard of a rich man who was asked to make a contribution on behalf of some charitable object. the text was quoted to him--"he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." he said that the security might be good enough, but the credit was too long. he was dead within two weeks. the wrath of god rested upon him as he never expected. if you find yourself getting very miserly, begin to scatter, like a wealthy farmer in new york state i heard of. he was a noted miser, but he was converted. soon after, a poor man who had been burned out and had no provisions, came to him for help. the farmer thought he would be liberal and give the man a ham from his smoke-house. on his way to get it, the tempter whispered to him: "give him the smallest one you have." he had a struggle whether he would give a large or a small ham, but finally he took down the largest he could find. "you are a fool," the devil said. "if you don't keep still," the farmer replied, "i will give him every ham i have in the smoke house." mr. durant told me he woke up one morning to find that he was a rich man, and he said that the greatest struggle of his life then took place as to whether he would let money be his master, or he be master of money, whether he would be its slave, or make it a slave to him. at last he got the victory, and that was how wellesley college came to be built. in the next place, cultivate the spirit of contentment. "let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, i will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. so that we may boldly say, the lord is my helper, and i will not fear what man shall do unto me." contentment is the very opposite of covetousness, which is continually craving for something it does not possess. "be content with such things as ye have," not worrying about the future, because god has promised never to leave or forsake you. what does the child of god want more than this? i would rather have that promise than all the gold of the earth. would to god we might all be able to say with paul--"i have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel." the lord had made him partaker of his grace, and he was soon to be a partaker of his glory, and earthly things looked very small. "godliness with contentment is great gain," he wrote to timothy; "having food and raiment, therewith let us be content." observe that he puts godliness first. no worldly gain can satisfy the human heart. roll the whole world in, and still there would be room. may god tear the scales off our eyes if we are blinded by this sin. oh, the folly of it, that we should set our heart's affections upon anything below! "for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. . . . be thou not afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dieth he shall take nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him." the handwriting blotted out we have now considered the ten commandments, and the question for each one of us is--are we keeping them? if god should weigh us by them, would we be found wanting or not wanting? do we keep the law, the _whole_ law? are we obeying god with all our heart? do we render him a full and willing obedience? one law, not ten. these ten commandments are not ten different laws; they are one law. if i am being held up in the air by a chain with ten links and i break one of them, down i come, just as surely as if i break the whole ten. if i am forbidden to go out of an enclosure, it makes no difference at what point i break through the fence. "whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." "the golden chain of obedience is broken if one link is missing." we sometimes hear people pray to be preserved from certain sins, as if they were in no danger of committing others. i firmly believe that if a man begins by wilfully breaking one of these commandments it is much easier for him to break the others. i know of a gentleman who had a confidential clerk, and insisted on his going down sunday morning to work on his books. the young man had a good deal of principle, and at first refused, but he was anxious to keep in the good graces of his employer and finally yielded. he had not done that a great while before he speculated in stocks, and became a defaulter for $ , . the employer had him arrested and put in the penitentiary for ten years, but i believe he was just as guilty in the sight of god as that young man, for he led him to take the first step on the downward road. you remember the story of a soldier who was smuggled into a fortress in a load of hay, and opened the gates to his comrades. every sin we commit opens the door for other sins. all have come short. for fifteen hundred years man was under the law, and no one was equal to it. christ came and showed that the commandments went beyond the mere letter; and can any one since say that he has been able to keep them in his own strength? as the plummet is held up, we see how much we are out of the perpendicular. as we measure ourselves by that holy standard, we find how much we are lacking. as a child said, when reproved by her mother and told that she ought to do right: "how can i do right when there is no 'right' in me?" all have sinned and come short of the glory of god. there is none righteous, no, not one. i do not say that all are equally guilty of gross violations of the commandments. it needs a certain amount of reckless courage openly to break a law, human or divine; but it is easy to _crack_ them, as the child said. it has been remarked that the life of many professors of religion is full of fractures that result from little sins, little acts of temper and selfishness. it is possible to crack a costly vase so finely that it cannot be noticed by the observer; but let this be done again and again in different directions, and some day the vase will go to pieces at a touch. when we hear of some one who has had a lifelong reputation for good character and consistent living, suddenly falling into some shameful sin, we are shocked and puzzled. if we knew all, we would find that only the fall has been sudden, that he has been sliding toward it for years. away back in his life we should find numerous _cracked_ commandments. his exposure is only the falling of the vase to pieces. false weights. men have all sorts of weights that they think are going to satisfy, but they will find that they are altogether vanity, and lighter than vanity. the moral man is as guilty as the rest. his morality cannot save him. "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. . . . except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." i have often heard good people say that our meetings were doing good, they were reaching the drunkards, and gamblers, and harlots; but they never realized that they needed the grace of god for themselves. nicodemus was probably one of the most moral men of his day. he was a teacher of the law. yet christ said to him: "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." it is much easier to reach was a lamb without spot or blemish, his atoning death is efficacious for you and me. he had no sin of his own to atone for, and so god accepted his sacrifice. christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. we are righteous in god's sight because the righteousness of god which is by faith in jesus christ is unto all and upon all them that believe. if we had to live forever with our sins in the handwriting of god on the wall, it would be hell on earth. but thank god for the gospel we preach! if we repent, our sins will all be blotted out. "you, being dead in your sins, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all your trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." love the fulfilling of the law. if the love of god is shed abroad in your heart, you will be able to fulfil the law. paul reduced the commandments to one: "love is the fulfilling of the law." some one has written the following: "love to god will admit no other god. love resents everything that debases its object by representing it by an image. love to god will never dishonor his name. love to god will reverence his day. love to parents makes one honor them. hate, not love, is a murderer. lust, not love, commits adultery. love will give, but never steal. love will not slander or lie. love's eye is not covetous." are you ready? it is the height of madness to turn away and run the risk of being called by god to judgment and have no hope in christ. now is the day and hour to accept salvation, and then he will be with you. do you step aside and say: "i'm not ready yet. i want a little more time to prepare, to turn the matter over in my mind?" well, you have time, but bear in mind it is only the present; you do not know that you will have to-morrow. wasn't belshazzar cut off suddenly? would he have believed that that was going to be his last night, that he would never see the light of another sun? that banquet of sin didn't close as he expected. as long as you delay you are in danger. if you don't enter into the kingdom of heaven by god's way, you cannot enter at all. you must accept christ as your savior, or you will never be fit to be weighed. my friend, have you got him? will you remain as you are and be found wanting, or will you accept christ and be ready for the summons? "this is the record, that god hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his son. he that hath the son hath life: and he that hath not the son of god hath not life." may god open your heart to receive his son now! works by g. campbell morgan the crises of the christ. vo, cloth, net, $ . the spirit of god. mo, cloth, $ . . a first century message to twentieth century christians. mo, cloth, net, $ . . god's methods with man; in time--past, present and future. with colored chart. mo, paper, cents. cloth, $ . . wherein have we robbed god? malachi's message to the men of to-day. mo, cloth, cents. god's perfect will. mo, cloth, cents. life problems. little books series. long mo, cents. the ten commandments. studies in the law of moses and the law of christ. mo, cloth, cents. discipleship. little books series. long mo, cloth, c. the hidden years at nazareth. quiet hour series. mo, cloth, cents. the true estimate of life. mo, paper, cents. cloth, cents, net. "all things new" a message to new converts. mo, paper, cents. fleming h. revell company publishers the with christ series by andrew murray with christ in the school of prayer. thoughts on our training for the ministry of intercession. abide in christ. thoughts on the blessed life of fellowship with the son of god. like christ. thoughts on the blessed life of conformity to the son of god. holy in christ. thoughts on the calling of god's children to be holy as he is holy. the master's indwelling. northfield addresses, . the spirit of christ. thoughts on the indwelling of the holy spirit in the believer and the church. comprising the six great works in connection with which the author attained such world-wide favor as a writer of helpful and spiritual devotional works. the bindings are unique and attractive, and the price, which, in view of the fact that this is the authorized edition, upon which royalties are paid to the author, was already astonishingly low, has now been still further reduced. mo, cloth, each, cts.: the set of six volumes, boxed, $ . . fleming h. revell company chicago new york toronto publishers of evangelical literature images of public domain material from the google print project.) selected sermons of jonathan edwards [illustration: jonathan edwards.] selected sermons of jonathan edwards edited with introduction and notes by h. norman gardiner professor of philosophy in smith college new york the macmillan company london: macmillan & co., ltd. _all rights reserved_ copyright, , by the macmillan company. set up and electrotyped. published june, . norwood press j. s. cushing & co.--berwick & smith co. norwood, mass., u.s.a. contents page introduction vii sermons: i. god glorified in man's dependence ( ) ii. the reality of spiritual light ( ) iii. ruth's resolution ( ) iv. the many mansions ( ) v. sinners in the hands of an angry god ( ) vi. a strong rod broken and withered ( ) vii. farewell sermon ( ) notes introduction jonathan edwards was born october , , in what is now south windsor, conn., a part of the parish then known as "windsor farmes." his father, the rev. timothy edwards, the minister of the parish, a harvard graduate, was reputed a man of superior ability and polished manners, a lover of learning as well as of religion; in addition to his pastoral duties, he fitted young men for college, and his liberal views of education appear in the fact that he made his daughters pursue the same studies these youths did. his mother, a daughter of the rev. solomon stoddard, the minister of northampton, is said to have resembled her distinguished father in strength of character and to have surpassed her husband in the native vigor of her mind. as regards remoter ancestry and their intellectual and moral qualities, edwards seems also to have been well born; an exception, however, must be made of the eccentric and possibly insane grandmother on his father's side, whose outrageous conduct led to her divorce.[ ] brought up the only son in a family of ten daughters, apart from all distracting influences, in an atmosphere of religion and serious study in the home, amid natural surroundings of meadows, woods, and low-lying distant hills singularly conducive to a life of contemplation, the boy early developed that absorbing interest in the things of the spirit, and that astonishing acuteness of intellect which are the most prominent characteristics of his genius. while a mere child he spent much of his time in religious exercises and in conversation on religious matters with other boys, with some of whom he joined to build a booth in a retired spot in a swamp for secret prayer; he had besides several other such places for prayer in the woods to which he was wont to retire. his mind also dwelt much on the doctrines he was taught, especially on the doctrine of god's sovereignty in election, against which he at that time violently rebelled. when only ten years of age he wrote a short, quaint, somewhat humorous little tract on the immortality of the soul; at about twelve he composed a remarkably accurate and ingenious paper on the habits of the "flying spider." he entered the collegiate school of connecticut at saybrook--afterwards yale college--at thirteen, and in , shortly before his seventeenth birthday, graduated at new haven with the valedictory. in his sophomore year he made the acquaintance of locke's _essay on the human understanding_--a work which left a permanent impress on his thinking. he read it, he says, with a far higher pleasure "than the most greedy miser finds when gathering up handfuls of silver and gold from some newly-discovered treasure." under its influence he began a series of notes on the mind, with a view to a comprehensive treatise on mental philosophy. he also began, possibly somewhat later, a series of notes on natural science, with reference to a similar work on natural philosophy. it is in these early writings that we find the outlines of an idealistic theory which resembles, but was probably not at all derived from, that of berkeley, and which seems to have remained a determining factor in his speculations to the last.[ ] after graduating he continued to reside for two years in new haven, studying for the ministry. from august, , till the following april he supplied the pulpit of a small presbyterian congregation in new york, but declined the invitation to remain as their minister. after returning to his father's home in windsor, he received at least two other calls, one of which he seems to have accepted.[ ] in september, , he went to new haven to receive his master's degree, was appointed a tutor at the college, entered upon the active duties of that office in june, , and continued in the same till september, , when he resigned his tutorship to become colleague-pastor with his grandfather stoddard in the church at northampton. the spiritual history of edwards in these years of growth from youth to early manhood is recorded by his own hand in a narrative of personal experiences written at a later date for his own use, in fragments of a diary, and in a series of resolutions which he drew up for the conduct of his own life. these documents, which were first published by his biographer and descendant, sereno e. dwight, in , throw a flood of light on edwards's character and temperament, and serve to explain much in his life which would otherwise be obscure. he tells us in his narrative how the childish delight in the exercises of religion before referred to gradually declined; how at length "he turned like a dog to his vomit, and went on in the ways of sin;" then how, after much conflict of soul, he experienced toward the end of his college course a genuine conversion, issuing in a new life and, in the course of time, a deep and delightful sense of god's sovereignty, the excellency of christ, and the beauty of holiness. there is possibly some exaggeration in edwards's description of this lapse and this recovery, but it was at least a very real experience to him, and it doubtless contributed to the emphasis which he afterwards put on conversion in his preaching. his own state after this decisive change was at times one of mystic rapture--"a calm, sweet abstraction of soul from all the concerns of this world; and sometimes a kind of vision, or fixed ideas and imaginations, of being alone in the mountains or some solitary wilderness, far from all mankind, sweetly conversing with christ and wrapped and swallowed up in god." his diary is the record of a soul straining in its flight. he watches the fluctuations of his moods with almost morbid intensity, and yet in a way by no means merely conventional, and with a singular absence of sentimentality, so evidently sincere and, in a sense, objective are his observations. of his seventy resolutions, all written before he was twenty, the following may be taken as a specimen: it is the language of a mind as truly original as religious, and is eminently characteristic. "on the supposition that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having christianity always shining in its true lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed, _resolved_: to act just as i would do, if i strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time." and he did so act; these resolutions were not empty, they really determined his life. edwards was ordained at northampton, february , , being then in his twenty-fourth year. five months later, july , he married the beautiful sarah pierrepont, then seventeen, the daughter of the rev. james pierrepont, of new haven, one of the founders, and a prominent trustee, of yale college, and on her mother's side, the great-granddaughter of thomas hooker, "the father of the connecticut churches." edwards's description of her, written four years before their marriage, is famous.[ ] the union proved a singularly happy one, the intelligence, cheerfulness, piety, and practical sagacity of mrs. edwards combining to make her at once a congenial companion and a most useful helpmeet to her zealously devout, highly intellectual, but often low-spirited husband, immersed in his writings and his books. they had twelve children, all born in northampton. mr. stoddard died february , , leaving the young minister in full pastoral charge. it was a responsible undertaking for so young a man to guide the affairs of a church reputed the largest and wealthiest in the colony outside of boston, one too on which the venerable and venerated stoddard had stamped the impress of his strong personality during a ministry of nearly sixty years. edwards, as he later confesses, made mistakes. nevertheless, he succeeded in winning and holding the confidence, admiration, and affection of the people during the greater part of the twenty-three years of his ministry in northampton. he carried the church through two great periods of revival ( - , - ), and added over five hundred and fifty names to its membership.[ ] this, however, represents but a small part of his influence in these years. both by his preaching in northampton and elsewhere and by his published writings, notably his printed sermons and his works dealing with the revivals, in which must be included his treatise on the religious affections, he powerfully affected the currents of religious thought and life throughout new england and the neighboring colonies and, to some extent also, in england and scotland. his mission had been to recall the puritan churches, which for some seventy years had languished in a period of decline, to the old high puritan standards both of creed and of conduct, and to infuse into them a new spirit of vital piety. in this he was largely successful; and still to-day, in spite of wide departures from his theological system, he remains an effectual spiritual force in the churches inheriting the puritan tradition. the estrangement between edwards and his people began in , in connection with a case of discipline in which a large number of the youth belonging to the leading families of the town were brought under suspicion of reading and circulating immoral books.[ ] during the excitement of the revival the people had willingly accepted his high demands. but now, in the reaction, flesh and blood rebelled. edwards, however, was not the man to accommodate the claims of religion, as he conceived those claims, to the weaknesses of human nature. it would not be strange if, under the circumstances, the people looked on their minister as something of a spiritual dictator, exercising a kind of spiritual tyranny. still, this feeling, so far as it then existed, was not likely to have led to an open rupture, had it not been that four years later, on occasion of an application--the first in those years--for membership in the church, edwards sought to impose a new test of qualification. he required, namely, that the candidate for full communion should give evidence of being converted, and as such converted person, should make a public profession of godliness. this restriction ran counter to the principles and usage established by mr. stoddard, accepted by most of the neighboring churches, and hitherto followed by edwards himself, according to which, not only might persons be admitted to church membership on the terms of the "halfway covenant," but they might come to the lord's supper, if they desired to do so, even without the assurance of conversion, the hope being that the rite might itself prove a converting ordinance. edwards was now openly charged with seeking to lord it over the brethren, and the indignation was intense. he, on his part, was convinced of the correctness of his position, and was prepared to maintain it at all costs. the unhappy controversy lasted for two years: edwards dignified, courteous, disposed to be conciliatory, yet insisting on the recognition of his rights, and showing throughout his great moral and intellectual superiority; the people prejudiced, obstinate, refusing even to consider his views or to allow him to set them forth in the pulpit, bent only on getting rid of him. finally, on june , , the council, convened to advise on the matter, recommended, by a vote of to , the minority protesting, that the pastoral relations should be dissolved. the concurrent sentiment of the church was expressed by the overwhelming vote of about to of the male members. the next sunday but one edwards preached his farewell sermon.[ ] edwards was now forty-six years of age, unfitted, as he says, for any other business but study, and with a "numerous and chargeable family" to face the world with. the long controversy and the circumstances attending the dismissal had had a depressing effect on his spirits, and the outlook seemed to him gloomy in the extreme. but his trust was in god, and friends did not fail. from scotland came the offer of assistance in procuring him a charge there; his northampton adherents desired him to remain and form a separate church in the town. early in december he received a call from the little church in stockbridge, on the frontier, and about the same time an invitation from the commissioners in boston of the "society in london for propagating the gospel in new england and the parts adjacent" to become their missionary to the indians, who then formed a large part of the stockbridge settlement. after acquainting himself by a residence of several months in stockbridge with the conditions of the work, and after receiving satisfactory assurances, in a personal interview with the governor, with regard to the conduct of the indian mission, he accepted both of these proposals. he had scarcely done so when he received a call, with the promise of generous support, from a church in virginia. the opposition which had driven him from northampton followed him to stockbridge. for several years a persistent effort was made to obstruct his work, particularly his work among the indians, and even to secure his removal. but he successfully met this opposition, won the confidence of the indians, and greatly endeared himself to the "english." here, too, in the wilderness he found time and opportunity for the writing of those great treatises on the freedom of the will, on the end for which god created the world, on the nature of true virtue, and on the christian doctrine of original sin, which are the principal foundation of his theological reputation. meanwhile an event had occurred in edwards's family destined to have important consequences--the marriage of his daughter esther to the rev. aaron burr, president of nassau hall, in princeton.[ ] in september, , mr. burr died; two days later, the corporation appointed edwards as his successor. edwards was for various reasons reluctant to accept the appointment; he mistrusted his fitness, he especially feared that the duties of the office would seriously interrupt the literary work in which he was now engrossed. nevertheless, on the recommendation of a council called at his desire to advise in the matter, he accepted the call. he left stockbridge in january, and toward the end of the month reached princeton. but the only work he did as president of the college was to preach for five or six sundays and to give out themes in divinity to the senior class, with whom he afterwards discussed their papers on them. the small-pox was epidemic in the town when he arrived, and as a precautionary measure he had himself inoculated. the disease, mild at first, developed badly, and on march , , he died. from his death-bed he sent this tender and characteristic message to his wife, who was still in stockbridge: "give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her that the uncommon union, which has so long subsisted between us, has been of such a nature, as, i trust, is spiritual, and therefore will continue forever." his last words, also characteristic, were, "trust in god, and ye need not fear." a tall, spare man, with high, broad forehead, clear piercing eyes, prominent nose, thin, set lips and a rather weak chin, his whole appearance suggested the perspicacity of intellect and the integrity, refinement, and benevolence of character of one possessing little physical energy, little suited to practical affairs, but intensely alive in the spirit, intensely absorbed in the contemplation of things invisible and eternal. the two qualities, indeed, for which he is most distinguished are spirituality and intellectuality. spiritual-mindedness was the very core and essence of his being. religion was his element. god was to him absolute reality; his will and his thoughts alone constituted the ultimate truth and meaning of things. nor was this with edwards a mere philosophical speculation; it was the high region in which he drew vital breath, the solid ground on which he walked. he walked with god. he has been called the "saint of new england." like other saints, he too has on occasion his ecstasies.[ ] to this high spirituality, with its rich emotional coloring, was united a power and subtlety of intellect such as is possessed by only the very greatest masters of the mind. the spiritual world in which edwards moved was for him no mere shadowy realm of pious sentiment or vague aspiration, but a world whose main outlines, at least, were sharply defined for thought. he conceived it, namely, in accordance with the scheme of things systematized by calvin, but originally wrought out with the compelling force of transcendent genius by augustine. the theological thought of augustine is concerned--to put the matter as simply as possible--with the elaboration of four fundamental ideas: the absolute sovereignty of god; the absolute dependence of man; the supernatural revelation of a divinely originated plan of salvation administered by the church; and a philosophy of history according to which the whole created universe and the entire temporal course of events are ordered and governed from all eternity with reference to the establishment and triumph of a kingdom of saints in the church, the holy "city of god." augustine's conception of the church is modified, but not in principle rejected, by the protestant theologians; the other features of the scheme remain substantially unchanged. the idea of god's absolute sovereignty leads naturally, in connection with the motives supplied by certain teachings of scripture, roman jurisprudence, greek philosophy, and the experiences of a profound religious consciousness, to the doctrines of god's eternal foreknowledge, his "arbitrary," i.e., unconditional decrees,--the eternal world-plan,--predestination, election, the historic work of redemption, everlasting punishment for the unrepentant wicked, everlasting felicity for the elect saints. over against the sovereignty of god stands man's absolute dependence, historically conditioned, as regards his present spiritual capacities, by the fall, with original sin, total depravity, and the utter inability of man to recover by himself his lost heritage as its consequence. hence the great, the essential tragedy of human life--man naturally corrupt, in slavery to sin, at enmity with god, utterly incompetent to change a condition in which, by a sort of natural necessity, he is the subject of god's vindictive justice, utterly dependent for salvation on the free, unmerited grace of god, who has mercy on whom he will have mercy, while whom he will he hardeneth, revealing alike in mercy and in punishment the majesty of his divine and sovereign attributes. this, in general, is the scheme which edwards stands for, he most conspicuously of all men of modern times. his speculative genius gave to this scheme a metaphysical background, his logical acumen elaboration and defence. he modified it in some respects, e.g., in his doctrine of the will. what is more important, he gave a prominence to the inward state of man--the dispositions and affections of his mind and heart--which appreciably affected the relative values of the scheme, and which has, in fact, changed the entire complexion of the religious thought of new england. but as to the general scheme itself, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of life it expresses, there is nothing in that which is essentially original with edwards. in standing for these doctrines he but champions the great orthodox tradition. but however little original may be the content of his thought, there is nothing that is not in the highest degree original in his manner of thinking. the significant thing about edwards is the way he enters into the tradition, infuses it with his personality and makes it live. the vitality of his thought gives to its product the value of a unique creation. two qualities in him especially contribute to this result, large constructive imagination and a marvellously acute power of abstract reasoning. with the vision of the seer he looks steadily upon his world, which is the world of all time and space and existence, and sees it as a whole; god and souls are in it the great realities, and the transactions between them the great business in which all its movement is concerned; and this movement has in it nothing haphazard, it is eternally determined with reference to a supreme and glorious end, the manifestation of the excellency of god, the highest excellency of being. all the dark and tragic aspects of the vision, which for him is intensely real, take their place along with the other aspects, in a system, a system wherein every part derives meaning and worth from its relation to the whole. people have wondered how edwards, the gentlest of men, could contemplate, as he said he did, with sweetness and delight, the awful doctrine of the divine sovereignty interpreted, as he interpreted it, as implying the everlasting misery of a large part of the human race. the reason is no revolting indifference, callous and inhuman, to suffering; the reason is rather the personal detachment, the disinterested interest, the freedom from the "pathetic fallacy" of the great poet, the great constructive thinker. it is this large quality in edwards's imagination which is one source of his power. another is the thoroughness and ability with which he intellectually elaborates the details of his scheme. he wrote, indeed, no system of divinity; yet he is the very opposite of a fragmentary thinker, and few minds have been less episodic than was his. his intellectual constructions are large and solid. of the doctrines with which he deals, he leaves nothing undeveloped; with infinite patience he pushes his inquiries into every minute detail and remote consequence, putting his adversaries to confusion by the unremitting attack, the overwhelming massiveness of the argument. rarely indeed can one escape his conclusions who accepts his premises. moreover, by the thoroughness, acuteness and sincerity of his reasoning he powerfully stimulates the intellectual faculties. even in his most terrific sermons he never appeals to mere hope and fear, nor to mere authority; in them, as in his theological treatises, he is bent on demonstrating, within the limits prescribed by the underlying assumptions, the reasonableness of his doctrine, its agreement with the facts of life and the constitution of things, as well as with the inspired teachings of the word. now these qualities appear, as in his other writings, so also, and perhaps most conspicuously, in his sermons. edwards's chief public work and his chief reputation in his lifetime was as a preacher; the fame of his theological treatises is largely, indeed, posthumous. he was a great preacher. in the case of many of the older divines, it is difficult for us now to understand how they could ever have been considered great preachers: to us their sermons seem dry and insipid. but it is not so with edwards. even in print, after more than a hundred and fifty years, and notwithstanding the gulf which separates our age from his, his sermons are still deeply interesting. they are interesting because, among other things, they reveal a great and interesting personality. they are instinct with the energy of his intellect, they are vital with the vital touch of his genius. he preached his theology; some of his sermons--for instance, the sermon, or rather combination of sermons, on justification by faith--seem to be less sermons than highly elaborate theological disquisitions, adapted to the use of professional students. and there is doubtless no sermon of his which does not reflect, to some extent, his theological system. edwards was certainly impressed with the importance and advantage of a thorough knowledge of divine truth--the theme and title of one of his ablest discourses. he held that god had revealed himself not only to the heart, but to the mind of man, and that an intelligent apprehension of the revelation was indispensable, in some measure, alike to saving faith and to the development of christian character. but it would be a mistake to think of edwards as preaching the dry bones of his theology. he was far, indeed, from supposing, as some now seem to suppose, that a christian society can be the more perfectly organized in proportion as all definiteness of theological, that is, distinctively religious, conceptions is eliminated. he had too profound a respect for the intellect to exclude it from matters of the deepest speculative as well as practical moment, and he had too lofty an idea of religion to identify it either with vague, transcendental emotion or with merely personal, social, or political morality. his sermons, however, are by no means all of one type. on the contrary, they are of a great variety of types. they are "doctrinal," "practical," "experimental," and--taking into account the unpublished manuscripts--there is an unusually large number of "occasional" sermons.[ ] and there are a good many varieties within the types. but even when the sermons are most "doctrinal," the practical interest of a _living_ conviction of the truth is never absent. the abstract antithesis of thought and life, of theory and practice, as though thinking were not itself a doing or as though an attitude toward truth were not itself practical or capable of determining other practical attitudes, is an error from which edwards is wholesomely free. to say this is not necessarily to approve the content of his doctrinal preaching. the thought of the churches with which edwards was associated has moved away from his thought. he contended stoutly for his scheme of things, but he fought, it would seem, a losing fight. it is not that he has been refuted by abstract logic; the argument by which he has been set aside, so far as he has been set aside, is the logic of events. the change has been brought about no doubt by many influences. some of them seem purely sentimental. but there are two things at least of fundamental divergence in the character of our time--the development in us of a critically disciplined historical sense and the dominating influence in our modern science and philosophy of the idea of evolution. these have broken down those hard and fast distinctions between nature and the supernatural, nature and grace, human reason and divine revelation in which edwards delighted, at least in the form in which he habitually preached them. with the establishment, on the lines of historical criticism, of new canons of exegesis in the interpretation of scripture and with the gradual disappearance of the idea of the bible as an external authority, protestant christianity is at present confronting the question, whether the entire claim of christianity to be a supernatural revelation, in the sense in which the term "supernatural" is used by orthodox theologians, has not been misplaced. this is a question which edwards never raises and which he does not help us directly to solve. he has the mind of a speculative philosopher, has a very profound thought of god, grasps firmly the eternal spiritual significance of things; but he is deficient in the historical sense--his history of redemption is a wholly uncritical, dogmatic construction, and he is not speculative enough to find, or at least he works under conditions which prevent him from showing, the mediating principles by which the antitheses and contradictions of experience and theory can be reconciled and annulled. but to return to the sermons. edwards's sermons are constructed, in general, on a definite model. we have, first, the exposition of the text. we have, secondly, a clearly formulated statement of the doctrine, which is then developed under its appropriate and preannounced divisions. finally, we have what is variously called the improvement, use, or application, similarly developed. the "doctrine" is not usually an abstract theological dogma: it is simply the theme of the discourse stated in propositional form. thus an unpublished sermon on john i. , has this for its statement of doctrine: "when persons have truly come to christ themselves, they naturally desire to bring others also to him." another unpublished sermon on john iii. has this: "'tis no wonder that christ said that we must be born again." in another--also unpublished--from the text john i. the doctrine is the similarly simple statement, "'tis a great thing to be indeed a converted person." sometimes, though rarely, the statement of a doctrine is omitted altogether, the text itself being regarded as sufficiently defining the subject.[ ] this, however, is never the case with the application. indeed, so "practical" is edwards in his preaching that the application is sometimes much the larger part of the discourse. in the sermon on john i. , for example, it fills about two-thirds of the manuscript. in fact, the proportion of these parts, exposition, development of doctrine and application, depends entirely on the nature of the theme and the special ends of the sermon. and similarly of the length and number of the subdivisions. one feature is constant--strictly logical arrangement. however finely articulated the sermons may be, they are constructed so as to make a distinctly unified impression. nor is this unity of impression seriously interfered with, as a rule, by the length of the sermon. edwards was not in the habit of exhausting the attention of his audience. occasionally, however, he would develop his theme through two or more sermons. when these appear in the printed editions as a single discourse, the length naturally seems inordinate. in the manuscripts the parts of such compound sermons are indicated by the word "doc" (doctrine) at the divisions, suggesting that the preacher was wont, in renewing the theme, to remind his hearers of the precise nature of the subject under discussion.[ ] and as there was no confusion in the thought, so the style of edwards's sermons is singularly clear, simple and unstudied. he affects no graces, seeks no adornments, which the subject-matter itself and his interest in it do not naturally lend. "the style is the man" is a saying which peculiarly applies to him. the nobility, strength and directness of his thought, the vividness and largeness of his imagination, the truthfulness and elevation of his character, the intensity of his convictions, his impassioned earnestness are reflected in his discourses. they seem to have been to an unusual degree a spontaneous form of self-expression. but attention is never diverted from the subject to the skill of the workmanship. the object is not to delight, but to convince, and the attainment of this end is sought by direct methods of argument, persuasion and appeal. yet the style, though simple and straightforward, is very far from being barren. the sermons are full of great, rich, beautiful words; and there are many passages in them of wonderful charm as well as many of great sublimity and rhetorical power. but edwards's interest in these seems never merely verbal. he is not a maker of phrases. he makes use of striking metaphor and startling antithesis, his style is often picturesque, he well knows the rhetorical value of iteration, when the repeated phrase is employed in a varied context; but he never seeks to produce his effects by literary indirection. he can be easy, familiar, colloquial even, on occasion, if that suits his purpose; but he is never undignified, never vulgarly sensational, nor does he seem ever to be intentionally humorous. the construction of his sentences is often such as the pedantry of modern standards would condemn; but however old-fashioned, it is seldom indeed that the expression can be called whimsical or quaint. the most determining external influence on his style was unquestionably the old, so-called king james version of the english bible. his language is saturated with its thought and phraseology. and as he is intimately acquainted with it in all its parts, so he is continually quoting it and constantly surprising us with fresh discoveries, in novel collocations, of its variety, beauty and impressiveness. he was influenced also doubtless by his too exclusively theological and philosophical reading. but it is, in the end, the originality of his own genius, the depth and subtlety and force of his mind and the richness of his spiritual experiences, which we must regard as setting the stamp upon his style. edwards's sermons are hall-marked: they have not only interest as historical memorials of the religious conditions of their time; as the personal expressions of an original mind, working in traditional material, indeed, but animating and so refashioning it with the unique form of a great personality, they have also the value of literature. largely to the union of the intellectual and emotional elements mentioned--the definiteness of the message, the logical unity of the thought, the singleness and sincerity of the aim, the intensity of the conviction, the thorough knowledge of scripture, the profound acquaintance, through personal experience, of the religious movings of the human heart--must be attributed, in connection with the state of religious thought and feeling of the time and the respect aroused by the character of the preacher, the power which he exercised on his contemporaries. of his manner of preaching we have from his pupil, hopkins, the following authentic testimony. "his appearance in the desk was with a good grace, and his delivery easy, natural and very solemn. he had not a strong, loud voice, but appeared with such gravity and solemnity, and spake with such distinctness, clearness and precision, his words were so full of ideas, set in such a plain and striking light, that few speakers have been so able to demand the attention of an audience as he. his words often discovered a great degree of inward fervor, without much noise or external emotion, and fell with great weight on the minds of his hearers. he made but little motion of his head or hands in the desk, but spake as to discover the motion of his own heart, which tended in the most natural and effectual manner to move and affect others. "as he wrote his sermons out at large for many years, and always wrote a considerable part of most of his public discourses, so he carried his notes into the desk with him, and read the most that he wrote; yet he was not so confined to his notes, when he wrote at large, but that, if some thoughts were suggested, while he was speaking, which did not occur when writing, and appeared to him pertinent and striking, he would deliver them; and that with as great propriety, and oftener with greater pathos, and attended with a more sensible good effect on his hearers, than all he had wrote."[ ] * * * * * the sermons in the present volume have been selected as representative of edwards the preacher rather than of edwards the theologian. any such collection must include at least the following four: the sermon on man's dependence, the sermon on spiritual light, the enfield sermon and the farewell sermon. these are classic. moreover, they represent edwards in four of his most distinguishing aspects: as the powerful champion of a theology resting ultimately on the principle of a transcendent, righteous, sovereign will; as the equally convinced advocate of the mystical principle of an immediate, intuitive apprehension, through supernatural illumination, of divine truth; as the flaming revivalist, with pitiless logic and terrible realism of description, arousing, startling, overwhelming the sinner with the sense of impending doom; finally, as the rejected minister appealing, without rancor or bitterness, from the judgment of this world to the judgment of an infallible tribunal and displaying what must ever make him more interesting, more precious as a heritage to the church and the world, than any of his opinions or his works, the dignity and repose, the patience, strength and depth of a great character, perfected through suffering and apparent defeat, in what was virtually the apologia of his ministerial life. these sermons alone would suffice to justify edwards's reputation as the foremost preacher of his age. still, they cannot, of course, be taken as adequately representing the whole range and power of his discourses. in particular, the enfield sermon, which has loomed so large in the popular imagination of jonathan edwards, and which, in fact, is but one--to be sure, the most extreme--of a number of the same type, cannot be taken as fairly representative even of edwards's revival sermons. there has, therefore, been added, in this reference, a revival sermon of another type, the sermon on ruth's resolution. this sermon was chosen, not because it is better than some others, but because, while being an excellent sermon of its kind, it is also brief, and so better adapted to the scope of this volume. there has been further added, as representing a type distinctly different from any of the others, the funeral sermon entitled a strong rod broken and withered, which is certainly one of the noblest, in thought and expression, of edwards's discourses, and which is probably unique among his writings as dealing with the subject of civil government and the management of affairs. had space permitted, the picture of the christian statesman in this sermon might have been matched by the picture of the christian minister in one of the ordination sermons; but the omission is the less serious since the conception is so largely realized in edwards himself. the above six sermons were selected independently of the fact that they are among the ten published by their author; but this circumstance confirms the choice and, moreover, serves to authenticate the text. edwards has suffered not a little at the hands of his editors, particularly dwight, who seems to have been possessed by the idea that his author would appear to better advantage in a style and language more elegant and refined. "don't do as orpah did," pleads edwards in the ruth sermon; "do not as orpah did," is the feeble refinement of his editor. but even the generally accurate worcester or first american edition ( ) is not to be implicitly trusted; for instance, two whole pages are omitted at the end of the enfield sermon, giving to that sermon a startling and bizarre close, wholly out of keeping with edwards's habitual manner. later editions import other errors and, even while professing to follow the worcester edition, sometimes, in fact, follow not that edition, but dwight's (e.g., in the ruth sermon). the present text is based upon a careful comparison of the original editions, now very scarce, in the boston athenæum. the original expressions, 'tis, won't, don't, etc., as edwards himself printed them, have been restored, a number of verbal errors in the later editions corrected and several omitted lines recovered, besides the long passage already mentioned, which is, however, in dwight, at the end of the enfield sermon. no attempt, however, has been made to give a facsimile reproduction of the first editions with all their printer's errors, capricious spelling, antiquated punctuation and uncouth use of capitals and italics. these externalities could but distract the modern reader, while adding nothing essential to accuracy. in these respects, therefore, the more modern usage has been followed. the aim has simply been to give the exact words of the originals and to preserve their spirit, treating the sermons as sermons to be preached and not as essays to be read. accordingly, while avoiding the extremes of the first editions, italics have been used where edwards used them to mark divisions, or for special emphasis, somewhat more freely than would be customary now. this edition also follows his, and the biblical, use of ordinary type in personal pronouns referring to divine beings, the verbal reverence in the modern use of capitals being regarded as needless to enhance the real reverence of edwards's thought and possibly a little out of place. added words are enclosed within square brackets. besides the six sermons mentioned, the present collection includes one, the interesting if not exactly great sermon on the many mansions, which has not before been published. a copy of this sermon made for the late professor edwards a. park, of andover, was kindly put at the disposal of the editor by his son, the rev. dr. william e. park, of gloversville, n.y.; but it has also been carefully collated with the original manuscript. the editor has also examined the original manuscripts of all the other sermons in this volume, except that of the farewell sermon, which could not be discovered. these manuscripts are all in the collection of between eleven and twelve hundred of edwards's sermons now in the yale university library. most of these manuscripts are written in an exceedingly minute hand, with many abbreviations and occasionally with insertions in shorthand, on sheets of paper about - / Ã� - / in. in size, stoutly stitched together. the facsimile of the first page of the sermon on spiritual light given in this volume opposite p. is representative; a relatively small number are slightly larger. of the particular manuscripts some account will be found in the notes. the handling and deciphering of these manuscripts give one a curious sense of intimacy with the working of edwards's brain and heart: one is with him in his workshop and sees, as it were, the very thing in the making. one seems to feel the intensity of the excitement as, with his audience present in imagination, and with keen delight in the activity of literary creation, he works out his theme. one observes how alternative forms of expression, alternative lines of development, suggest themselves, and how now whole paragraphs, whole pages are struck off at white heat, while now, oftenest towards the end, the barest outlines are jotted down, to be filled out in delivery. but the manuscripts of the sermons which edwards himself published afford no help in the fixing of the text. the sermons as he printed them are invariably expanded and often greatly altered in other respects; and the copy prepared for the printer is no longer extant.[ ] this circumstance should not be overlooked in judging of sermons printed directly from the manuscripts. in the yale collection, there are sermons which were written out pretty fully; others are only fairly fully written out in parts, others again are mere skeletons. the majority of those of the northampton period are of the second sort. among the hundreds of edwards's unpublished sermons, there are doubtless many that it would be interesting to have in print just as they stand; it is doubtful if there are any which would add materially to his reputation as a preacher in comparison with the great sermons already published. the portrait of edwards in this volume is from a recent photograph of the original painting of . the photograph was kindly furnished by the present owner of the painting, mr. eugene p. edwards, of chicago, to whom the editor takes this opportunity of expressing his obligations. he also desires to express his thanks to dr. william e. park for the use of the copy of the sermon on the many mansions; to the publishers for allowing the extra space required for printing this new sermon; to professor franklin b. dexter for generous help in the study of the manuscripts and for permission to photograph the sermon on spiritual light; to mr. charles k. bolton, librarian of the boston athenæum, for courtesies in the use of the first editions; and to mr. george n. whipple of boston, for verifying a number of references. northampton, mass., march, . selected sermons of jonathan edwards i god glorified in man's dependence° cor. i. - .--that no flesh should glory in his presence. but of him are ye in christ jesus, who of god is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the lord. those christians to whom the apostle directed this epistle dwelt in a part of the world where human wisdom was in great repute; as the apostle observes in the d verse of this chapter, "the greeks seek after wisdom." corinth was not far from athens, that had been for many ages the most famous seat of philosophy and learning in the world. the apostle therefore observes to them how that god, by the gospel, destroyed and brought to nought their human wisdom. the learned grecians and their great philosophers by all their wisdom did not know god: they were not able to find out the truth in divine things. but after they had done their utmost to no effect, it pleased god at length to reveal himself by the gospel, which they accounted foolishness. he "chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and things that are despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are." and the apostle informs them why he thus did, in the verse of the text: _that no flesh should glory in his presence_, &c. in which words may be observed, . what god aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption, viz., that man should not glory in himself, but alone in god: _that no flesh should glory in his presence,--that, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the lord_. . how this end is attained in the work of redemption, viz., by that absolute and immediate dependence which men have upon god in that work for all their good. inasmuch as, first, all the good that they have is in and through christ; _he is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption_. all the good of the fallen and redeemed creature is concerned in these four things, and cannot be better distributed than into them; but christ is each of them to us, and we have none of them any otherwise than in him. _he is made of god unto us wisdom_: in him are all the proper good and true excellency of the understanding. wisdom was a thing that the greeks admired; but christ is the true light of the world, it is through him alone that true wisdom is imparted to the mind. 'tis in and by christ that we have _righteousness_: it is by being in him that we are justified, have our sins pardoned, and are received as righteous into god's favor. 'tis by christ that we have _sanctification_: we have in him true excellency of heart as well as of understanding; and he is made unto us inherent, as well as imputed righteousness. 'tis by christ that we have _redemption_, or actual deliverance from all misery, and the bestowment of all happiness and glory. thus we have all our good by christ, who is god. secondly, another instance wherein our dependence on god for all our good appears, is this, that it is god that has given us christ, that we might have these benefits through him; he _of god is made unto us wisdom, righteousness_, &c. thirdly, 'tis _of him_ that we are in christ jesus, and come to have an interest in him, and so do receive those blessings which he is made unto us. it is god that gives us faith whereby we close with christ. so that in this verse is shown our dependence on each person in the trinity for all our good. we are dependent on christ the son of god, as he is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. we are dependent on the father, who has given us christ, and made him to be these things to us. we are dependent on the holy ghost, for 'tis _of him that we are in christ jesus_; 'tis the spirit of god that gives faith in him, whereby we receive him and close with him. doctrine _god is glorified in the work of redemption in this, that there appears in it so absolute and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him._ here i propose to show, i., that there is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on god for all their good. and ii., that god hereby is exalted and glorified in the work of redemption. i. there is an absolute and universal dependence of the redeemed on god. the nature and contrivance of our redemption is such, that the redeemed are in every thing directly, immediately and entirely dependent on god: they are dependent on him for all, and are dependent on him every way. the several ways wherein the dependence of one being may be upon another for its good, and wherein the redeemed of jesus christ depend on god for all their good, are these, viz., that they have all their good _of_ him, and that they have all _through_ him, and that they have all _in_ him. that he is the cause and original whence all their good comes, therein it is _of_ him; and that he is the medium by which it is obtained and conveyed, therein they have it _through_ him; and that he is that good itself that is given and conveyed, therein it is _in_ him. now those that are redeemed by jesus christ do, in all these respects, very directly and entirely depend on god for their all. first, the redeemed have all their good _of_ god; god is the great author of it; he is the first cause of it, and not only so, but he is the only proper cause. 'tis of god that we have our redeemer: it is god that has provided a saviour for us. jesus christ is not only of god in his person, as he is the only begotten son of god, but he is from god, as we are concerned in him and in his office of mediator: he is the gift of god to us: god chose and anointed him, appointed him his work, and sent him into the world. and as it is god that gives, so 'tis god that accepts the saviour. as it is god that provides and gives the redeemer to buy salvation for us, so it is of god that salvation is bought: he gives the purchaser, and he affords the thing purchased. 'tis of god that christ becomes ours, that we are brought to him and are united to him: it is of god that we receive faith to close with him, that we may have an interest in him. eph. ii. , "for by grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of god." 'tis of god that we actually do receive all the benefits that christ has purchased. 'tis god that pardons and justifies, and delivers from going down to hell, and it is his favor that the redeemed are received into, and are made the objects of, when they are justified. so it is god that delivers from the dominion of sin, and cleanses us from our filthiness, and changes us from our deformity. it is of god that the redeemed do receive all their true excellency, wisdom and holiness; and that two ways, viz., as the holy ghost, by whom these things are immediately wrought, is from god, proceeds from him and is sent by him; and also as the holy ghost himself is god, by whose operation and indwelling the knowledge of divine things, and a holy disposition, and all grace, are conferred and upheld. and though means are made use of in conferring grace on men's souls, yet 'tis of god that we have these means of grace, and 'tis god that makes them effectual. 'tis of god that we have the holy scriptures; they are the word of god. 'tis of god that we have ordinances, and their efficacy depends on the immediate influence of the spirit of god. the ministers of the gospel are sent of god, and all their sufficiency is of him. cor. iv. , "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of god, and not of us." their success depends entirely and absolutely on the immediate blessing and influence of god. the redeemed have all. . of the _grace_ of god. it was of mere grace that god gave us his only begotten son. the grace is great in proportion to the dignity and excellency of what is given: the gift was infinitely precious, because it was a person infinitely worthy, a person of infinite glory; and also because it was a person infinitely near and dear to god. the grace is great in proportion to the benefit we have given us in him: the benefit is doubly infinite, in that in him we have deliverance from an infinite, because an eternal, misery; and do also receive eternal joy and glory. the grace in bestowing this gift is great in proportion to our unworthiness to whom it is given; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinitely ill of god's hands. the grace is great according to the manner of giving, or in proportion to the humiliation and expense of the method and means by which way is made for our having of the gift. he gave him to us dwelling amongst us; he gave him to us incarnate, or in our nature; he gave him to us in our nature, in the like infirmities in which we have it in our fallen state, and which in us do accompany and are occasioned by the sinful corruption of our nature. he gave him to us in a low and afflicted state; and not only so, but he gave him to us slain, that he might be a feast for our souls.° the grace of god in bestowing this gift is most free. it was what god was under no obligation to bestow: he might have rejected fallen man, as he did the fallen angels. it was what we never did any thing to merit. 'twas given while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. it was from the love of god that saw no excellency in us to attract it; and it was without expectation of ever being requited for it. and 'tis from mere grace that the benefits of christ are applied to such and such particular persons. those that are called and sanctified are to attribute it alone to the good pleasure of god's goodness, by which they are distinguished. he is sovereign, and hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. man hath now a greater dependence on the grace of god than he had before the fall. he depends on the free goodness of god for much more than he did then: then he depended on god's goodness for conferring the reward of perfect obedience: for god was not obliged to promise and bestow that reward: but now we are dependent on the grace of god for much more: we stand in need of grace, not only to bestow glory upon us, but to deliver us from hell and eternal wrath. under the first covenant we depended on god's goodness to give us the reward of righteousness; and so we do now. and not only so, but we stand in need of god's free and sovereign grace to give us that righteousness; and yet not only so, but we stand in need of his grace to pardon our sin and release us from the guilt and infinite demerit of it. and as we are dependent on the goodness of god for more now than under the first covenant, so we are dependent on a much greater, more free and wonderful goodness. we are now more dependent on god's arbitrary and sovereign good pleasure. we were in our first estate dependent on god for holiness: we had our original righteousness from him; but then holiness was not bestowed in such a way of sovereign good pleasure as it is now. man was created holy, and it became god to create holy all the reasonable creatures he created: it would have been a disparagement to the holiness of god's nature, if he had made an intelligent creature unholy. but now when a man is made holy, it is from mere and arbitrary grace; god may forever deny holiness to the fallen creature if he pleases, without any disparagement to any of his perfections. and we are not only indeed more dependent on the grace of god, but our dependence is much more conspicuous, because our own insufficiency and helplessness in ourselves is much more apparent in our fallen and undone state than it was before we were either sinful or miserable. we are more apparently dependent on god for holiness, because we are first sinful, and utterly polluted, and afterward holy: so the production of the effect is sensible, and its derivation from god more obvious. if man was ever holy and always was so, it would not be so apparent, that he had not holiness necessarily, as an inseparable qualification of human nature. so we are more apparently dependent on free grace for the favor of god, for we are first justly the objects of his displeasure and afterwards are received into favor. we are more apparently dependent on god for happiness, being first miserable and afterwards happy. it is more apparently free and without merit in us, because we are actually without any kind of excellency to merit, if there could be any such thing as merit in creature excellency. and we are not only without any true excellency, but are full of, and wholly defiled with, that which is infinitely odious. all our good is more apparently from god, because we are first naked and wholly without any good, and afterwards enriched with all good. . we receive all of the _power_ of god. man's redemption is often spoken of as a work of wonderful power as well as grace. the great power of god appears in bringing a sinner from his low state, from the depths of sin and misery, to such an exalted state of holiness and happiness. eph. i. , "and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power." we are dependent on god's power through every step of our redemption. we are dependent on the power of god to convert us, and give faith in jesus christ, and the new nature. 'tis a work of creation: "if any man be in christ, he is a new creature," cor. v. . "we are created in christ jesus," eph. ii. . the fallen creature cannot attain to true holiness, but by being created again: eph. iv. , "and that ye put on the new man, which after god is created in righteousness and true holiness." it is a raising from the dead: col ii. , , "wherein ye also are risen with him, through the faith of the operation of god, who hath raised him from the dead." yea, it is a more glorious work of power than mere creation, or raising a dead body to life, in that the effect attained is greater and more excellent. that holy and happy being and spiritual life which is reached in the work of conversion is a far greater and more glorious effect than mere being and life. and the state from whence the change is made, of such a death in sin, and total corruption of nature, and depth of misery, is far more remote from the state attained, than mere death or nonentity. 'tis by god's power also that we are preserved in a state of grace: pet. i. , "who are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation." as grace is at first from god, so 'tis continually from him, and is maintained by him, as much as light in the atmosphere is all day long from the sun, as well as at first dawning or at sunrising. men are dependent on the power of god for every exercise of grace, and for carrying on the work of grace in the heart, for the subduing of sin and corruption, and increasing holy principles, and enabling to bring forth fruit in good works, and at last bringing grace to its perfection, in making the soul completely amiable in christ's glorious likeness, and filling of it with a satisfying joy and blessedness; and for the raising of the body to life, and to such a perfect state, that it shall be suitable for a habitation and organ for a soul so perfected and blessed. these are the most glorious effects of the power of god that are seen in the series of god's acts with respect to the creatures. man was dependent on the power of god in his first estate, but he is more dependent on his power now; he needs god's power to do more things for him, and depends on a more wonderful exercise of his power. it was an effect of the power of god to make man holy at the first; but more remarkably so now, because there is a great deal of opposition and difficulty in the way. 'tis a more glorious effect of power to make that holy that was so depraved and under the dominion of sin, than to confer holiness on that which before had nothing of the contrary. it is a more glorious work of power to rescue a soul out of the hands of the devil, and from the powers of darkness, and to bring it into a state of salvation, than to confer holiness where there was no prepossession or opposition. luke xi. , , "when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." so 'tis a more glorious work of power to uphold a soul in a state of grace and holiness, and to carry it on till it is brought to glory, when there is so much sin remaining in the heart resisting, and satan with all his might opposing, than it would have been to have kept man from falling at first, when satan had nothing in man. thus we have shown how the redeemed are dependent on god for all their good, as they have all _of_ him. secondly, they are also dependent on god for all, as they have all _through_ him. 'tis god that is the medium of it, as well as the author and fountain of it. all that we have, wisdom and the pardon of sin, deliverance from hell, acceptance in god's favor, grace and holiness, true comfort and happiness, eternal life and glory, we have from god by a mediator; and this mediator is god, which mediator we have an absolute dependence upon as he _through_ whom we receive all. so that here is another way wherein we have our dependence on god for all good. god not only gives us the mediator, and accepts his mediation, and of his power and grace bestows the things purchased by the mediator, but he is the mediator. our blessings are what we have by purchase; and the purchase is made of god, the blessings are purchased of him, and god gives the purchaser; and not only so, but god is the purchaser. yea, god is both the purchaser and the price; for christ, who is god, purchased these blessings for us by offering up himself as the price of our salvation. he purchased eternal life by the sacrifice of himself: heb. vii. , "he offered up himself;" and ix. , "he hath appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself." indeed it was the human nature that was offered; but it was the same person with the divine, and therefore was an infinite price: it was looked upon as if god had been offered in sacrifice. as we thus have our good through god, we have a dependence on god in a respect that man in his first estate had not. man was to have eternal life then through his own righteousness; so that he had partly a dependence upon what was in himself; for we have a dependence upon that through which we have our good, as well as that from which we have it. and though man's righteousness that he then depended on was indeed from god, yet it was his own, it was inherent in himself; so that his dependence was not so immediately on god. but now the righteousness that we are dependent on is not in ourselves, but in god. we are saved through the righteousness of christ: he _is made unto us righteousness_; and therefore is prophesied of, jer. xxiii. , under that name of "the lord our righteousness." in that the righteousness we are justified by is the righteousness of christ, it is the righteousness of god: cor. v. , "that we might be made the righteousness of god in him." thus in redemption we han't only all things of god, but by and through him: cor. viii. , "but to us there is but one god, the father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one lord jesus christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." thirdly, the redeemed have all their good _in_ god. we not only have it of him, and through him, but it consists in him; he _is_ all our good. the good of the redeemed is either objective or inherent. by their objective good i mean that intrinsic object, in the possession and enjoyment of which they are happy. their inherent good is that excellency or pleasure which is in the soul itself. with respect to both of which the redeemed have all their good in god, or, which is the same thing, god himself is all their good. . the redeemed have all their _objective_ good in god. god himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. he is the highest good and the sum of all that good which christ purchased. god is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. god is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling-place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honor and glory. they have none in heaven but god; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. the lord god, he is the light of the heavenly jerusalem; and is the "river of the water of life," that runs, and "the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of god." the glorious excellencies and beauty of god will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of god will be their everlasting feast. the redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what will be seen of god in them. . the redeemed have all their _inherent_ good in god. inherent good is twofold; 'tis either excellency or pleasure. these the redeemed not only derive from god, as caused by him, but have them in him. they have spiritual excellency and joy by a kind of participation of god. they are made excellent by a communication of god's excellency: god puts his own beauty, i.e., his beautiful likeness, upon their souls: they are made partakers of the divine nature, or moral image of god, pet. i. . they are holy by being made partakers of god's holiness, heb. xii. . the saints are beautiful and blessed by a communication of god's holiness and joy, as the moon and planets are bright by the sun's light. the saint hath spiritual joy and pleasure by a kind of effusion of god on the soul. in these things the redeemed have communion with god; that is, they partake with him and of him. the saints have both their spiritual excellency and blessedness by the gift of the holy ghost, or spirit of god, and his dwelling in them. they are not only caused by the holy ghost, but are in the holy ghost as their principle. the holy spirit becoming an inhabitant, is a vital principle in the soul: he, acting in, upon and with the soul, becomes a fountain of true holiness and joy, as a spring is of water, by the exertion and diffusion of itself: john iv. , "but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that i shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,"--compared with chap. vii. , , "he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; but this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive." the sum of what christ has purchased for us is that spring of water spoken of in the former of those places, and those rivers of living water spoken of in the latter. and the sum of the blessings which the redeemed shall receive in heaven is that river of water of life that proceeds from the throne of god and the lamb, rev. xxii. ,--which doubtless signifies the same with those rivers of living water explained john vii. , , which is elsewhere called the "river of god's pleasures." herein consists the fulness of good which the saints receive by christ. 'tis by partaking of the holy spirit that they have communion with christ in his fulness. god hath given the spirit, not by measure unto him, and they do receive of his fulness, and grace for grace. this is the sum of the saints' inheritance; and therefore that little of the holy ghost which believers have in this world is said to be the earnest of their inheritance. cor. i. , "who hath also sealed us, and given us the spirit in our hearts." and chap. v. , "now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is god, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit." and eph. i. , , "ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession." the holy spirit and good things are spoken of in scripture as the same; as if the spirit of god communicated to the soul comprised all good things: matt. vii. , "how much more shall your heavenly father give good things to them that ask him?" in luke it is, chap. xi. , "how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him?" this is the sum of the blessings that christ died to procure, and that are the subject of gospel promises: gal. iii. , , "he was made a curse for us, that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith." the spirit of god is the great promise of the father: luke xxiv. , "behold, i send the promise of my father upon you." the spirit of god therefore is called "the spirit of promise," eph. i. . this promised thing christ received, and had given into his hand, as soon as he had finished the work of our redemption, to bestow on all that he had redeemed: acts ii. , "therefore, being by the right hand of god exalted, and having received of the father the promise of the holy ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye both see and hear." so that all the holiness and happiness of the redeemed is _in_ god. 'tis in the communications, indwelling and acting of the spirit of god. holiness and happiness are in the fruit, here and hereafter, because god dwells in them, and they in god. thus 'tis god that has given us the redeemer, and 'tis of him that our good is purchased: so 'tis god that is the redeemer and the price; and 'tis god also that is the good purchased. so that all that we have is _of_ god, and _through_ him, and _in_ him: rom. xi. , "for of him, and through him, and to him (or in him), are all things." the same in the greek that is here rendered _to him_ is rendered _in him_, cor. vii. . ii. god is glorified in the work of redemption by this means, viz., by there being so great and universal a dependence of the redeemed on him. . man hath so much the greater occasion and obligation to take notice and acknowledge god's perfections and all-sufficiency. the greater the creature's dependence is on god's perfections, and the greater concern he has with them, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of them. so much the greater concern any one has with, and dependence upon, the power and grace of god, so much the greater occasion has he to take notice of that power and grace. so much the greater and more immediate dependence there is on the divine holiness, so much the greater occasion to take notice of and acknowledge that. so much the greater and more absolute dependence we have on the divine perfections, as belonging to the several persons of the trinity, so much the greater occasion have we to observe and own the divine glory of each of them. that which we are most concerned with, is surely most in the way of our observation and notice; and this kind of concern with any thing, viz., dependence, does especially tend to commend and oblige the attention and observation. those things that we are not much dependent upon, 'tis easy to neglect; but we can scarce do any other than mind that which we have a great dependence on. by reason of our so great dependence on god and his perfections, and in so many respects, he and his glory are the more directly set in our view, which way soever we turn our eyes. we have the greater occasion to take notice of god's all-sufficiency, when all our sufficiency is thus every way of him. we have the more occasion to contemplate him as an infinite good, and as the fountain of all good. such a dependence on god demonstrates god's all-sufficiency. so much as the dependence of the creature is on god, so much the greater does the creature's emptiness in himself appear to be; and so much the greater the creature's emptiness, so much the greater must the fulness of the being be who supplies him. our having all _of_ god shows the fulness of his power and grace: our having all _through_ him shows the fulness of his merit and worthiness; and our having all _in_ him demonstrates his fulness of beauty, love and happiness. and the redeemed, by reason of the greatness of their dependence on god, han't only so much the greater occasion, but obligation to contemplate and acknowledge the glory and fulness of god. how unreasonable and ungrateful should we be if we did not acknowledge that sufficiency and glory that we do absolutely, immediately and universally depend upon! . hereby is demonstrated how great god's glory is considered comparatively, or as compared with the creature's. by the creature's being thus wholly and universally dependent on god, it appears that the creature is nothing and that god is all. hereby it appears that god is infinitely above us; that god's strength, and wisdom and holiness are infinitely greater than ours. however great and glorious the creature apprehends god to be, yet if he be not sensible of the difference between god and him, so as to see that god's glory is great, compared with his own, he will not be disposed to give god the glory due to his name. if the creature, in any respect, sets himself upon a level with god, or exalts himself to any competition with him, however he may apprehend that great honor and profound respect may belong to god from those that are more inferior, and at a greater distance, he will not be so sensible of its being due from him. so much the more men exalt themselves, so much the less will they surely be disposed to exalt god. 'tis certainly a thing that god aims at in the disposition of things in the affair of redemption (if we allow the scriptures to be a revelation of god's mind), that god should appear full, and man in himself empty, that god should appear all, and man nothing. 'tis god's declared design that others should not "glory in his presence"; which implies that 'tis his design to advance his own comparative glory. so much the more man "glories in god's presence," so much the less glory is ascribed to god. . by its being thus ordered, that the creature should have so absolute and universal a dependence on god, provision is made that god should have our whole souls, and should be the object of our undivided respect. if we had our dependence partly on god and partly on something else, man's respect would be divided to those different things on which he had dependence. thus it would be if we depended on god only for a part of our good, and on ourselves or some other being for another part: or if we had our good only from god, and through another that was not god, and in something else distinct from both, our hearts would be divided between the good itself, and him from whom, and him through whom we received it. but now there is no occasion for this, god being not only he from or of whom we have all good, but also through whom, and one that is that good itself, that we have from him and through him. so that whatsoever there is to attract our respect, the tendency is still directly towards god, all unites in him as the centre. use . we may here observe the marvellous wisdom of god in the work of redemption. god hath made man's emptiness and misery, his low, lost and ruined state into which he sunk by the fall, an occasion of the greater advancement of his own glory, as in other ways, so particularly in this, that there is now a much more universal and apparent dependence of man on god. though god be pleased to lift man out of that dismal abyss of sin and woe into which he was fallen, and exceedingly to exalt him in excellency and honor, and to a high pitch of glory and blessedness, yet the creature hath nothing in any respect to glory of; all the glory evidently belongs to god, all is in a mere and most absolute and divine dependence on the father, son and holy ghost. and each person of the trinity is equally glorified in this work: there is an absolute dependence of the creature on every one for all: all is _of_ the father, all _through_ the son, and all _in_ the holy ghost. thus god appears in the work of redemption as _all in all_. it is fit that he that is, and there is none else, should be the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the all, and the only, in this work. . hence those doctrines and schemes of divinity that are in any respect opposite to such an absolute and universal dependence on god, do derogate from god's glory, and thwart the design of the contrivance for our redemption. those schemes that put the creature in god's stead, in any of the mentioned respects, that exalt man into the place of either father, son or holy ghost, in any thing pertaining to our redemption; that, however they may allow of a dependence of the redeemed on god, yet deny a dependence that is so absolute and universal; that own an entire dependence on god for some things, but not for others; that own that we depend on god for the gift and acceptance of a redeemer, but deny so absolute a dependence on him for the obtaining of an interest in the redeemer; that own an absolute dependence on the father for giving his son, and on the son for working out redemption, but not so entire a dependence on the holy ghost for conversion and a being in christ, and so coming to a title to his benefits; that own a dependence on god for means of grace, but not absolutely for the benefit and success of those means; that own a partial dependence on the power of god for the obtaining and exercising holiness, but not a mere dependence on the arbitrary and sovereign grace of god; that own a dependence on the free grace of god for a reception into his favor, so far that it is without any proper merit, but not as it is without being attracted, or moved with any excellency; that own a partial dependence on christ, as he through whom we have life, as having purchased new terms of life, but still hold that the righteousness through which we have life is inherent in ourselves, as it was under the first covenant; and whatever other way any scheme is inconsistent with our entire dependence on god for all, and in each of those ways, of having all of him, through him, and in him, it is repugnant to the design and tenor of the gospel and robs it of that which god accounts its lustre and glory. . hence we may learn a reason why faith is that by which we come to have an interest in this redemption; for there is included in the nature of faith a sensibleness and acknowledgment of this absolute dependence on god in this affair. 'tis very fit that it should be required of all, in order to their having the benefit of this redemption, that they should be sensible of, and acknowledge the dependence on god for it. 'tis by this means that god hath contrived to glorify himself in redemption; and 'tis fit that god should at least have this glory of those that are the subjects of this redemption, and have the benefit of it. faith is a sensibleness of what is real in the work of redemption; and as we do really wholly depend on god, so the soul that believes doth entirely depend on god for all salvation, in its own sense and act. faith abases men and exalts god, it gives all the glory of redemption to god alone. it is necessary in order to saving faith, that man should be emptied of himself, that he should be sensible that he is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." humility is a great ingredient of true faith: he that truly receives redemption, receives it as a little child: mark x. , "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child, he shall not enter therein." it is the delight of a believing soul to abase itself and exalt god alone: that is the language of it, psalm cxv. , "not unto us, o lord, not unto us, but to thy name give glory." . let us be exhorted to exalt god alone, and ascribe to him all the glory of redemption. let us endeavor to obtain, and increase in a sensibleness of our great dependence on god, to have our eye to him alone, to mortify a self-dependent and self-righteous disposition. man is naturally exceeding prone to be exalting himself and depending on his own power or goodness, as though he were he from whom he must expect happiness, and to have respect to enjoyments alien from god and his spirit, as those in which happiness is to be found. and this doctrine should teach us to exalt god alone, as by trust and reliance, so by praise. _let him that glorieth, glory in the lord._ hath any man hope that he is converted and sanctified, and that his mind is endowed with true excellency and spiritual beauty, and his sins forgiven, and he received into god's favor, and exalted to the honor and blessedness of being his child, and an heir of eternal life: let him give god all the glory; who alone makes him to differ from the worst of men in this world, or the miserablest of the damned in hell. hath any man much comfort and strong hope of eternal life, let not his hope lift him up, but dispose him the more to abase himself and reflect on his own exceeding unworthiness of such a favor, and to exalt god alone. is any man eminent in holiness and abundant in good works, let him take nothing of the glory of it to himself, but ascribe it to him whose "workmanship we are, created in christ jesus unto good works." [illustration: facsimile of manuscript of first page of sermon "a divine and supernatural light."] ii a divine and supernatural light, immediately imparted to the soul by the spirit of god, shown to be both a scriptural and rational doctrine.° matt. xvi.--and jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, simon barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven. christ says these words to peter upon occasion of his professing his faith in him as the son of god. our lord was inquiring of his disciples, who men said he was; not that he needed to be informed, but only to introduce and give occasion to what follows. they answer, that some said he was john the baptist, and some elias, and others jeremias, or one of the prophets. when they had thus given an account who others said he was, christ asks them, who they said he was. simon peter, whom we find always zealous and forward, was the first to answer: he readily replied to the question, _thou art christ, the son of the living god_. upon this occasion, christ says as he does _to_ him, and _of_ him in the text: in which we may observe, . that peter is pronounced blessed on this account. _blessed art thou._--"thou art a happy man, that thou art not ignorant of this, that i am christ, the son of the living god. thou art distinguishingly happy. others are blinded, and have dark and deluded apprehensions, as you have now given an account, some thinking that i am elias, and some that i am jeremias, and some one thing, and some another; but none of them thinking right, all of them misled. happy art thou, that art so distinguished as to know the truth in this matter." . the evidence of this his happiness declared; viz., that god, and he only, had _revealed it_ to him. this is an evidence of his being _blessed_. first, as it shows how peculiarly favored he was of god above others; q. d., "how highly favored art thou, that others that are wise and great men, the scribes, pharisees and rulers, and the nation in general, are left in darkness, to follow their own misguided apprehensions; and that thou shouldst be singled out, as it were, by name, that my heavenly father should thus set his love on thee, simon barjona. this argues thee blessed, that thou shouldst thus be the object of god's distinguishing love." secondly, it evidences his blessedness also, as it intimates that this knowledge is above any that flesh and blood can reveal. "this is such knowledge as my father which is in heaven only can give: it is too high and excellent to be communicated by such means as other knowledge is. thou art blessed, that thou knowest that which god alone can teach thee." the original of this knowledge is here declared, both negatively and positively. positively, as god is here declared the author of it. negatively, as it is declared, that flesh and blood had not revealed it. god is the author of all knowledge and understanding whatsoever. he is the author of the knowledge that is obtained by human learning: he is the author of all moral prudence, and of the knowledge and skill that men have in their secular business. thus it is said of all in israel that were wise-hearted and skilful in embroidering, that god had filled them with the spirit of wisdom, exod. xxviii. . god is the author of such knowledge; but yet not so but that flesh and blood reveals it. mortal men are capable of imparting the knowledge of human arts and sciences, and skill in temporal affairs. god is the author of such knowledge by those means: flesh and blood is made use of by god as the mediate or second cause of it; he conveys it by the power and influence of natural means. but this spiritual knowledge, spoken of in the text, is what god is the author of, and none else: he reveals it, and flesh and blood reveals it not. he imparts this knowledge immediately, not making use of any intermediate natural causes, as he does in other knowledge. what had passed in the preceding discourse naturally occasioned christ to observe this; because the disciples had been telling how others did not know him, but were generally mistaken about him, and divided and confounded in their opinions of him: but peter had declared his assured faith, that he was the son of god. now it was natural to observe, how it was not flesh and blood that had revealed it to him, but god: for if this knowledge were dependent on natural causes or means, how came it to pass that they, a company of poor fishermen, illiterate men, and persons of low education, attained to the knowledge of the truth; while the scribes and pharisees, men of vastly higher advantages, and greater knowledge and sagacity in other matters, remained in ignorance? this could be owing only to the gracious distinguishing influence and revelation of the spirit of god. hence, what i would make the subject of my present discourse from these words is this doctrine viz., _that there is such a thing as a spiritual and divine light, immediately imparted to the soul by god, of a different nature from any that is obtained by natural means._ in what i say on this subject at this time i would i. show what this divine light is. ii. how it is given immediately by god, and not obtained by natural means. iii. show the truth of the doctrine. and then conclude with a brief improvement. i. i would show what this spiritual and divine light is. and in order to it, would show, first, in a few things what it _is not_. and here, . _those convictions that natural men may have of their sin and misery_, is not _this_ spiritual and divine light. men in a natural condition may have convictions of the guilt that lies upon them, and of the anger of god and their danger of divine vengeance. such convictions are from light or sensibleness of truth. that some sinners have a greater conviction of their guilt and misery than others, is because some have more light, or more of an apprehension of truth than others. and this light and conviction may be from the spirit of god; the spirit convinces men of sin: but yet nature is much more concerned in it than in the communication of that spiritual and divine light that is spoken of in the doctrine; 'tis from the spirit of god only as assisting natural principles, and not as infusing any new principles. common grace differs from special, in that it influences only by assisting of nature; and not by imparting grace, or bestowing anything above nature. the light that is obtained is wholly natural, or of no superior kind to what mere nature attains to, though more of that kind be obtained than would be obtained if men were left wholly to themselves: or, in other words, common grace only assists the faculties of the soul to do that more fully which they do by nature, as natural conscience or reason will, by mere nature, make a man sensible of guilt, and will accuse and condemn him when he has done amiss. conscience is a principle natural to men; and the work that it doth naturally, or of itself, is to give an apprehension of right and wrong, and to suggest to the mind the relation that there is between right and wrong and a retribution. the spirit of god, in those convictions which unregenerate men sometimes have, assists conscience to do this work in a further degree than it would do if they were left to themselves: he helps it against those things that tend to stupefy it, and obstruct its exercise. but in the renewing and sanctifying work of the holy ghost, those things are wrought in the soul that are above nature, and of which there is nothing of the like kind in the soul by nature; and they are caused to exist in the soul habitually, and according to such a stated constitution or law that lays such a foundation for exercises in a continued course, as is called a principle of nature. not only are remaining principles assisted to do their work more freely and fully, but those principles are restored that were utterly destroyed by the fall; and the mind thenceforward habitually exerts those acts that the dominion of sin had made it as wholly destitute of, as a dead body is of vital acts. the spirit of god acts in a very different manner in the one case from what he doth in the other. he may indeed act upon the mind of a natural man, but he acts in the mind of a saint as an indwelling vital principle. he acts upon the mind of an unregenerate person as an extrinsic, occasional agent; for in acting upon them, he doth not unite himself to them; notwithstanding all his influences that they may be the subjects of, they are still sensual, having not the spirit, jude . but he unites himself with the mind of a saint, takes him for his temple, actuates and influences him as a new, supernatural principle of life and action. there is this difference, that the spirit of god, in acting in the soul of a godly man, exerts and communicates himself there in his own proper nature. holiness is the proper nature of the spirit of god. the holy spirit operates in the minds of the godly by uniting himself to them, and living in them, and exerting his own nature in the exercise of their faculties. the spirit of god may act upon a creature, and yet not in acting communicate himself. the spirit of god may act upon inanimate creatures; as the spirit moved upon the face of the waters in the beginning of the creation; so the spirit of god may act upon the minds of men many ways, and communicate himself no more than when he acts upon an inanimate creature. for instance, he may excite thoughts in them, may assist their natural reason and understanding, or may assist other natural principles, and this without any union with the soul, but may act, as it were, as upon an external object. but as he acts in his holy influences and spiritual operations, he acts in a way of peculiar communication of himself; so that the subject is thence denominated spiritual. . _this_ spiritual and divine light _don't consist in any impression made upon the imagination_. it is no impression upon the mind, as though one saw any thing with the bodily eyes: 'tis no imagination or idea of an outward light or glory, or any beauty of form or countenance, or a visible lustre or brightness of any object. the imagination may be strongly impressed with such things; but this is not spiritual light. indeed when the mind has a lively discovery of spiritual things, and is greatly affected by the power of divine light, it may, and probably very commonly doth, much affect the imagination; so that impressions of an outward beauty or brightness may accompany those spiritual discoveries. but spiritual light is not that impression upon the imagination, but an exceeding different thing from it. natural men may have lively impressions on their imaginations; and we can't determine but that the devil, who transforms himself into an angel of light, may cause imaginations of an outward beauty, or visible glory, and of sounds and speeches and other such things; but these are things of a vastly inferior nature to spiritual light. . _this_ spiritual light is _not the suggesting of any new truths or propositions not contained in the word of god_. this suggesting of new truths or doctrines to the mind, independent of any antecedent revelation of those propositions, either in word or writing, is inspiration; such as the prophets and apostles had, and such as some enthusiasts pretend to. but this spiritual light that i am speaking of, is quite a different thing from inspiration: it reveals no new doctrine, it suggests no new proposition to the mind, it teaches no new thing of god, or christ, or another world, not taught in the bible, but only gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the word of god. . _'tis not every affecting view that men have of the things of religion that is this_ spiritual and divine light. men by mere principles of nature are capable of being affected with things that have a special relation to religion as well as other things. a person by mere nature, for instance, may be liable to be affected with the story of jesus christ, and the sufferings he underwent, as well as by any other tragical story: he may be the more affected with it from the interest he conceives mankind to have in it: yea, he may be affected with it without believing it; as well as a man may be affected with what he reads in a romance, or sees acted in a stage play. he may be affected with a lively and eloquent description of many pleasant things that attend the state of the blessed in heaven, as well as his imagination be entertained by a romantic description of the pleasantness of fairy-land, or the like. and that common belief of the truth of the things of religion that persons may have from education or otherwise, may help forward their affection. we read in scripture of many that were greatly affected with things of a religious nature, who yet are there represented as wholly graceless, and many of them very ill men. a person therefore may have affecting views of the things of religion, and yet be very destitute of spiritual light. flesh and blood may be the author of this: one man may give another an affecting view of divine things with but common assistance; but god alone can give a spiritual discovery of them. but i proceed to show, secondly, positively what this spiritual and divine light _is_. and it may be thus described: _a true sense of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the word of god, and a conviction of the truth and reality of them thence arising_. this spiritual light primarily consists in the former of these, viz., a real sense and apprehension of the divine excellency of things revealed in the word of god. a spiritual and saving conviction of the truth and reality of these things arises from such a sight of their divine excellency and glory; so that this conviction of their truth is an effect and natural consequence of this sight of their divine glory. there is therefore in this spiritual light, . _a true sense of the divine and superlative excellency of the things of religion_; a real sense of the excellency of god and jesus christ, and of the work of redemption, and the ways and works of god revealed in the gospel. there is a divine and superlative glory in these things; an excellency that is of a vastly higher kind and more sublime nature than in other things; a glory greatly distinguishing them from all that is earthly and temporal. he that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. he does not merely rationally believe that god is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of god in his heart. there is not only a rational belief that god is holy and that holiness is a good thing, but there is a sense of the loveliness of god's holiness. there is not only a speculatively judging that god is gracious, but a sense how amiable god is upon that account, or a sense of the beauty of this divine attribute. there is a twofold understanding or knowledge of good that god has made the mind of man capable of. the first, that which is merely speculative or notional; as when a person only speculatively judges that anything is, which, by the agreement of mankind, is called good or excellent, viz., that which is most to general advantage, and between which and a reward there is a suitableness, and the like. and the other is that which consists in the sense of the heart: as when there is a sense of the beauty, amiableness, or sweetness of a thing; so that the heart is sensible of pleasure and delight in the presence of the idea of it. in the former is exercised merely the speculative faculty, or the understanding, strictly so called, or as spoken of in distinction from the will or disposition of the soul. in the latter, the will, or inclination, or heart, are mainly concerned. thus there is a difference between having an opinion that god is holy and gracious, and having a sense of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. there is a difference between having a rational judgment that honey is sweet, and having a sense of its sweetness. a man may have the former, that knows not how honey tastes; but a man can't have the latter unless he has an idea of the taste of honey in his mind. so there is a difference between believing that a person is beautiful, and having a sense of his beauty. the former may be obtained by hearsay, but the latter only by seeing the countenance. there is a wide difference between mere speculative rational judging anything to be excellent, and having a sense of its sweetness and beauty. the former rests only in the head, speculation only is concerned in it; but the heart is concerned in the latter. when the heart is sensible of the beauty and amiableness of a thing, it necessarily feels pleasure in the apprehension. it is implied in a person's being heartily sensible of the loveliness of a thing, that the idea of it is sweet and pleasant to his soul; which is a far different thing from having a rational opinion that it is excellent. . there arises from this sense of divine excellency of things contained in the word of god _a conviction of the truth and reality of them_; and that either indirectly or directly. first, _indirectly_, and that two ways. . as the _prejudices that are in the heart_ against the truth of divine things _are hereby removed_; so that the mind becomes susceptive of the due force of rational arguments for their truth. the mind of man is naturally full of prejudices against the truth of divine things: it is full of enmity against the doctrines of the gospel; which is a disadvantage to those arguments that prove their truth, and causes them to lose their force upon the mind. but when a person has discovered to him the divine excellency of christian doctrines, this destroys the enmity, removes those prejudices, and sanctifies the reason, and causes it to lie open to the force of arguments for their truth. hence was the different effect that christ's miracles had to convince the disciples from what they had to convince the scribes and pharisees. not that they had a stronger reason, or had their reason more improved; but their reason was sanctified, and those blinding prejudices, that the scribes and pharisees were under, were removed by the sense they had of the excellency of christ and his doctrine. . it not only removes the hinderances of reason, but _positively helps reason_. it makes even the speculative notions the more lively. it engages the attention of the mind, with the more fixedness and intenseness to that kind of objects; which causes it to have a clearer view of them, and enables it more clearly to see their mutual relations, and occasions it to take more notice of them. the ideas themselves that otherwise are dim and obscure are by this means impressed with the greater strength, and have a light cast upon them; so that the mind can better judge of them: as he that beholds the objects on the face of the earth, when the light of the sun is cast upon them, is under greater advantage to discern them in their true forms and mutual relations than he that sees them in a dim starlight or twilight. the mind having a sensibleness of the excellency of divine objects, dwells upon them with delight; and the powers of the soul are more awakened and enlivened to employ themselves in the contemplation of them, and exert themselves more fully and much more to the purpose. the beauty and sweetness of the objects draws on the faculties, and draws forth their exercises: so that reason itself is under far greater advantages for its proper and free exercises, and to attain its proper end, free of darkness and delusion. but, secondly, a true sense of the divine excellency of the things of god's word doth more _directly_ and _immediately_ convince of the truth of them; and that because the excellency of these things is so superlative. there is a beauty in them that is so divine and godlike, that is greatly and evidently distinguishing of them from things merely human, or that men are the inventors and authors of; a glory that is so high and great that, when clearly seen, commands assent to their divinity and reality. when there is an actual and lively discovery of this beauty and excellency, it won't allow of any such thought as that it is a human work, or the fruit of men's invention. this evidence that they that are spiritually enlightened have of the truth of the things of religion is a kind of intuitive and immediate evidence. they believe the doctrines of god's word to be divine, because they see divinity in them; i.e., they see a divine, and transcendent, and most evidently distinguishing glory in them; such a glory as, if clearly seen, does not leave room to doubt of their being of god, and not of men. such a conviction of the truth of religion as this, arising, these ways, from a sense of the divine excellency of them, is that true spiritual conviction that there is in saving faith. and this original of it is that by which it is most essentially distinguished from that common assent which unregenerate men are capable of. ii. i proceed now to the second thing proposed, viz., to show _how this light is immediately given by god_, and not obtained by natural means. and here, . _'tis not intended that the natural faculties are not made use of in it._ the natural faculties are the subject of this light: and they are the subject in such a manner that they are not merely passive, but active in it; the acts and exercises of man's understanding are concerned and made use of in it. god, in letting in this light into the soul, deals with man according to his nature, or as a rational creature; and makes use of his human faculties. but yet this light is not the less immediately from god for that; though the faculties are made use of, 'tis as the subject and not as the cause; and that acting of the faculties in it is not the cause, but is either implied in the thing itself (in the light that is imparted) or is the consequence of it: as the use that we make of our eyes in beholding various objects, when the sun arises, is not the cause of the light that discovers those objects to us. . _'tis not intended that outward means have no concern in this affair._ as i have observed already, 'tis not in this affair, as it is in inspiration, where new truths are suggested: for here is by this light only given a due apprehension of the same truths that are revealed in the word of god; and therefore it is not given without the word. the gospel is made use of in this affair: this light is the "light of the glorious gospel of christ," cor. iv. . the gospel is as a glass, by which this light is conveyed to us, cor. xiii. : "now we see through a glass."--but, . when it is said that this light is given immediately by god, and not obtained by natural means, _hereby is intended, that 'tis given by god without making use of any means that operate by their own power, or a natural force_. god makes use of means; but 'tis not as mediate causes to produce this effect. there are not truly any second causes of it; but it is produced by god immediately. the word of god is no proper cause of this effect: it does not operate by any natural force in it. the word of god is only made use of to convey to the mind the subject matter of this saving instruction: and this indeed it doth convey to us by natural force or influence. it conveys to our minds these and those doctrines; it is the cause of the notion of them in our heads, but not of the sense of the divine excellency of them in our hearts. indeed a person can't have spiritual light without the word. but that don't argue that the word properly causes that light. the mind can't see the excellency of any doctrine, unless that doctrine be first in the mind; but the seeing of the excellency of the doctrine may be immediately from the spirit of god; though the conveying of the doctrine or proposition itself may be by the word. so that the notions that are the subject matter of this light are conveyed to the mind by the word of god; but that due sense of the heart, wherein this light formally consists, is immediately by the spirit of god. as for instance, that notion that there is a christ, and that christ is holy and gracious, is conveyed to the mind by the word of god: but the sense of the excellency of christ by reason of that holiness and grace, is nevertheless immediately the work of the holy spirit.--i come now, iii. to show _the truth of the doctrine_; that is, to show that there is such a thing as that spiritual light that has been described, thus immediately let into the mind by god. and here i would show briefly, that this doctrine is both _scriptural_ and _rational_. first, 'tis _scriptural_. my text is not only full to the purpose, but 'tis a doctrine that the scripture abounds in. we are there abundantly taught that the saints differ from the ungodly in this, that they have the knowledge of god, and a sight of god, and of jesus christ. i shall mention but few texts of many. john iii. , "whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, nor known him." john , "he that doeth good is of god: but he that doeth evil hath not seen god." john xiv. , "the world seeth me no more; but ye see me." john xvii. , "and this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true god, and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent." this knowledge, or sight of god and christ, can't be a mere speculative knowledge; because it is spoken of as a seeing and knowing wherein they differ from the ungodly. and by these scriptures it must not only be a different knowledge in degree and circumstances, and different in its effects; but it must be entirely different in nature and kind. and this light and knowledge is always spoken of as immediately given of god, matt. xi. , , : "at that time jesus answered and said, i thank thee, o father, lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. even so, father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. all things are delivered unto me of my father: and no man knoweth the son, but the father: neither knoweth any man the father, save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him." here this effect is ascribed alone to the arbitrary operation and gift of god, bestowing this knowledge on whom he will, and distinguishing those with it, that have the least natural advantage or means for knowledge, even babes, when it is denied to the wise and prudent. and the imparting of the knowledge of god is here appropriated to the son of god as his sole prerogative. and again, cor. iv. : "for god, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ." this plainly shows that there is such a thing as a discovery of the divine superlative glory and excellency of god and christ, and that peculiar to the saints: and also, that 'tis as immediately from god, as light from the sun: and that 'tis the immediate effect of his power and will; for 'tis compared to god's creating the light by his powerful word in the beginning of the creation; and is said to be by the spirit of the lord, in the th verse of the preceding chapter. god is spoken of as giving the knowledge of christ in conversion, as of what before was hidden and unseen in that, gal. i. , : "but when it pleased god, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his son in me." the scripture also speaks plainly of such a knowledge of the word of god as has been described, as the immediate gift of god, psal. cxix. : "open thou mine eyes, that i may behold wondrous things out of thy law." what could the psalmist mean when he begged of god to open his eyes? was he ever blind? might he not have resort to the law and see every word and sentence in it when he pleased? and what could he mean by those "wondrous things"? was it the wonderful stories of the creation and deluge, and israel's passing through the red sea, and the like? were not his eyes open to read these strange things when he would? doubtless by "wondrous things" in god's law, he had respect to those distinguishing and wonderful excellencies, and marvellous manifestations of the divine perfections and glory, that there was in the commands and doctrines of the word, and those works and counsels of god that were there revealed. so the scripture speaks of a knowledge of god's dispensation, and covenant of mercy, and way of grace towards his people, as peculiar to the saints, and given only by god, psal. xxv. : "the secret of the lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant." and that a true and saving belief of the truth of religion is that which arises from such a discovery, is also what the scripture teaches. as john vi. : "and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life;" where it is plain that a true faith is what arises from a spiritual sight of christ. and john xvii. , , : "i have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. for i have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that i came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me;" where christ's manifesting god's name to the disciples, or giving them the knowledge of god, was that whereby they knew that christ's doctrine was of god, and that christ himself was of him, proceeded from him, and was sent by him. again, john xii. , , : "jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. and he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. i am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." their believing in christ, and spiritually seeing him, are spoken of as running parallel. christ condemns the jews, that they did not know that he was the messiah, and that his doctrine was true, from an inward distinguishing taste and relish of what was divine, in luke xii. , . he having there blamed the jews, that though they could discern the face of the sky and of the earth, and signs of the weather, that yet they could not discern those times--or, as 'tis expressed in matthew, the signs of those times--he adds, yea, and why even of your own selves judge ye not what is right? i.e., without extrinsic signs. why have ye not that sense of true excellency, whereby ye may distinguish that which is holy and divine? why have ye not that savor of the things of god, by which you may see the distinguishing glory and evident divinity of me and my doctrine? the apostle peter mentions it as what gave them (the apostles) good and well grounded assurance of the truth of the gospel, that they had seen the divine glory of christ, pet. i. : "for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our lord jesus christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." the apostle has respect to that visible glory of christ which they saw in his transfiguration: that glory was so divine, having such an ineffable appearance and semblance of divine holiness, majesty and grace, that it evidently denoted him to be a divine person. but if a sight of christ's outward glory might give a rational assurance of his divinity, why may not an apprehension of his spiritual glory do so too? doubtless christ's spiritual glory is in itself as distinguishing, and as plainly showing his divinity, as his outward glory; and a great deal more: for his spiritual glory is that wherein his divinity consists; and the outward glory of his transfiguration showed him to be divine, only as it was a remarkable image or representation of that spiritual glory. doubtless, therefore, he that has had a clear sight of the spiritual glory of christ, may say, i have not followed cunningly devised fables, but have been an eyewitness of his majesty, upon as good grounds as the apostle, when he had respect to the outward glory of christ that he had seen. but this brings me to what was proposed next, viz., to show that, secondly, this doctrine is _rational_. . 'tis rational to suppose that _there is really such an excellency_ in divine things, that is so transcendent and exceedingly different from what is in other things, that, if it were seen, would most evidently distinguish them. we cannot rationally doubt but that things that are divine, that appertain to the supreme being, are vastly different from things that are human; that there is that godlike, high and glorious excellency in them, that does most remarkably difference them from the things that are of men; insomuch that if the difference were but seen, it would have a convincing, satisfying influence upon any one, that they are what they are, viz., divine. what reason can be offered against it? unless we would argue, that god is not remarkably distinguished in glory from men. if christ should now appear to any one as he did on the mount at his transfiguration; or if he should appear to the world in the glory that he now appears in in heaven as he will do at the day of judgment; without doubt, the glory and majesty that he would appear in, would be such as would satisfy every one that he was a divine person, and that religion was true: and it would be a most reasonable and well grounded conviction too. and why may there not be that stamp of divinity or divine glory on the word of god, on the scheme and doctrine of the gospel, that may be in like manner distinguishing and as rationally convincing, provided it be but seen! 'tis rational to suppose that when god speaks to the world, there should be something in his word or speech vastly different from men's word. supposing that god never had spoken to the world, but we had noticed that he was about to do it; that he was about to reveal himself from heaven and speak to us immediately himself, in divine speeches or discourses, as it were from his own mouth, or that he should give us a book of his own inditing: after what manner should we expect that he would speak? would it not be rational to suppose that his speech would be exceeding different from men's speech, that he should speak like a god; that is, that there should be such an excellency and sublimity in his speech or word, such a stamp of wisdom, holiness, majesty and other divine perfections, that the word of men, yea of the wisest of men, should appear mean and base in comparison of it? doubtless it would be thought rational to expect this, and unreasonable to think otherwise. when a wise man speaks in the exercise of his wisdom, there is something in every thing he says that is very distinguishable from the talk of a little child. so, without doubt, and much more, is the speech of god (if there be any such thing as the speech of god) to be distinguished from that of the wisest of men; agreeable to jer. xxiii. , . god having there been reproving the false prophets that prophesied in his name and pretended that what they spake was his word, when indeed it was their own word, says, "the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. what is the chaff to the wheat? saith the lord. is not my word like as a fire? saith the lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" . if there be such a distinguishing excellency in divine things, 'tis rational to suppose that _there may be such a thing as seeing it_. what should hinder but that it may be seen! it is no argument, that there is no such thing as such a distinguishing excellency, or that, if there be, that it can't be seen, that some don't see it, though they may be discerning men in temporal matters. it is not rational to suppose, if there be any such excellency in divine things, that wicked men should see it. 'tis not rational to suppose that those whose minds are full of spiritual pollution, and under the power of filthy lusts, should have any relish or sense of divine beauty or excellency; or that their minds should be susceptive of that light that is in its own nature so pure and heavenly. it need not seem at all strange that sin should so blind the mind, seeing that men's particular natural tempers and dispositions will so much blind them in secular matters; as when men's natural temper is melancholy, jealous, fearful, proud, or the like. . 'tis rational to suppose that _this knowledge should be given immediately by god_, and not be obtained by natural means. upon what account should it seem unreasonable, that there should be any immediate communication between god and the creature? it is strange that men should make any matter of difficulty of it. why should not he that made all things, still have something immediately to do with the things that he has made? where lies the great difficulty, if we own the being of a god, and that he created all things out of nothing, of allowing some immediate influence of god on the creation still? and if it be reasonable to suppose it with respect to any part of the creation, it is especially so with respect to reasonable, intelligent creatures; who are next to god in the gradation of the different orders of beings, and whose business is most immediately with god; who were made on purpose for those exercises that do respect god and wherein they have nextly to do with god: for reason teaches, that man was made to serve and glorify his creator. and if it be rational to suppose that god immediately communicates himself to man in any affair, it is in this. 'tis rational to suppose that god would reserve that knowledge and wisdom, that is of such a divine and excellent nature, to be bestowed immediately by himself, and that it should not be left in the power of second causes. spiritual wisdom and grace is the highest and most excellent gift that ever god bestows on any creature: in this the highest excellency and perfection of a rational creature consists. 'tis also immensely the most important of all divine gifts: 'tis that wherein man's happiness consists, and on which his everlasting welfare depends. how rational is it to suppose that god, however he has left meaner goods and lower gifts to second causes, and in some sort in their power, yet should reserve this most excellent, divine and important of all divine communications in his own hands, to be bestowed immediately by himself, as a thing too great for second causes to be concerned in! 'tis rational to suppose that this blessing should be immediately from god; for there is no gift or benefit that is in itself so nearly related to the divine nature, there is nothing the creature receives that is so much of god, of his nature, so much a participation of the deity: 'tis a kind of emanation of god's beauty, and is related to god as the light is to the sun. 'tis therefore congruous and fit, that when it is given of god, it should be nextly from himself, and by himself, according to his own sovereign will. 'tis rational to suppose that it should be beyond a man's power to obtain this knowledge and light by the mere strength of natural reason; for 'tis not a thing that belongs to reason, to see the beauty and loveliness of spiritual things; it is not a speculative thing, but depends on the sense of the heart. reason, indeed, is necessary in order to it, as 'tis by reason only that we are become the subjects of the means of it; which means i have already shown to be necessary in order to it, though they have no proper causal influence in the affair. 'tis by reason that we become possessed of a notion of those doctrines that are the subject matter of this divine light; and reason may many ways be indirectly and remotely an advantage to it. and reason has also to do in the acts that are immediately consequent on this discovery: a seeing the truth of religion from hence is by reason; though it be but by one step, and the inference be immediate. so reason has to do in that accepting of, and trusting in christ, that is consequent on it. but if we take reason strictly, not for the faculty of mental perception in general, but for ratiocination, or a power of inferring by arguments; i say, if we take reason thus, the perceiving of spiritual beauty and excellency no more belongs to reason than it belongs to the sense of feeling to perceive colors, or to the power of seeing to perceive the sweetness of food. it is out of reason's province to perceive the beauty or loveliness of any thing: such a perception don't belong to that faculty. reason's work is to perceive truth and not excellency. it is not ratiocination that gives men the perception of the beauty and amiableness of a countenance, though it may be many ways indirectly an advantage to it; yet 'tis no more reason that immediately perceives it than it is reason that perceives the sweetness of honey: it depends on the sense of the heart. reason may determine that a countenance is beautiful to others, it may determine that honey is sweet to others; but it will never give me a perception of its sweetness.--i will conclude with a very brief improvement of what has been said. first, this doctrine may lead us to reflect on the goodness of god, that has so ordered it, that a saving evidence of the truth of the gospel is such as is attainable by persons of mean capacities and advantages, as well as those that are of the greatest parts and learning. if the evidence of the gospel depended only on history, and such reasonings as learned men only are capable of, it would be above the reach of far the greatest part of mankind. but persons with but an ordinary degree of knowledge are capable, without a long and subtile train of reasoning, to see the divine excellency of the things of religion: they are capable of being taught by the spirit of god, as well as learned men. the evidence that is this way obtained is vastly better and more satisfying than all that can be obtained by the arguings of those that are most learned, and greatest masters of reason. and babes are as capable of knowing these things as the wise and prudent; and they are often hid from these when they are revealed to those: cor. i. , , "for ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. but god hath chosen the foolish things of the world...." secondly, this doctrine may well put us upon examining ourselves, whether we have ever had this divine light that has been described let into our souls. if there be such a thing indeed, and it be not only a notion or whimsy of persons of weak and distempered brains, then doubtless 'tis a thing of great importance, whether we have thus been taught by the spirit of god; whether the light of the glorious gospel of christ, who is the image of god, hath shined unto us, giving us the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ; whether we have seen the son, and believed on him, or have that faith of gospel doctrines that arises from a spiritual sight of christ. thirdly, all may hence be exhorted earnestly to seek this spiritual light. to influence and move to it, the following things may be considered. . this is the most _excellent and divine_ wisdom that any creature is capable of. 'tis more excellent than any human learning; 'tis far more excellent than all the knowledge of the greatest philosophers or statesmen. yea, the least glimpse of the glory of god in the face of christ doth more exalt and ennoble the soul than all the knowledge of those that have the greatest speculative understanding in divinity without grace. this knowledge has the most noble object that is or can be, viz., the divine glory or excellency of god and christ. the knowledge of these objects is that wherein consists the most excellent knowledge of the angels, yea, of god himself. . this knowledge is that which is above all others _sweet and joyful_. men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from this divine light shining into the soul. this light gives a view of those things that are immensely the most exquisitely beautiful, and capable of delighting the eye of the understanding. this spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart. there is nothing so powerful as this to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace and brightness in this stormy and dark world. . this light is such as effectually influences the inclination, and _changes the nature of the soul_. it assimilates the nature to the divine nature, and changes the soul into an image of the same glory that is beheld: cor. iii. , "but we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the lord." this knowledge will wean from the world and raise the inclination to heavenly things. it will turn the heart to god as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. this light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close with christ. it conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed. it causes the heart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and acquiesce in the revelation of christ as our saviour. it causes the whole soul to accord and symphonize with it, admitting it with entire credit and respect, cleaving to it with full inclination and affection; and it effectually disposes the soul to give up itself entirely to christ. . this light, and this only, _has its fruit in an universal holiness of life_. no merely notional or speculative understanding of the doctrines of religion will ever bring to this. but this light, as it reaches the bottom of the heart, and changes the nature, so it will effectually dispose to an universal obedience. it shows god's worthiness to be obeyed and served. it draws forth the heart in a sincere love to god, which is the only principle of a true, gracious and universal obedience. and it convinces of the reality of those glorious rewards that god has promised to them that obey him. iii ruth's resolution° ruth i. .--and ruth said, intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, i will go; and where thou lodgest, i will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy god my god. the historical things in this book of ruth seem to be inserted into the canon of the scripture especially on two accounts: first, because christ was of ruth's posterity. the holy ghost thought fit to take particular notice of that marriage of boaz with ruth, whence sprang the saviour of the world. we may often observe it, that the holy spirit who indited the scriptures, often takes notice of little things, minute occurrences, that do but remotely relate to jesus christ. secondly, because this history seems to be typical of the calling of the gentile church, and indeed of the conversion of every believer. ruth was not originally of israel, but was a moabitess, an alien from the commonwealth of israel: but she forsook her own people, and the idols of the gentiles, to worship the god of israel, and to join herself to that people. herein she seems to be a type of the gentile church, and also of every sincere convert. ruth was the mother of christ; he came of her posterity: so the church is christ's mother, as she is represented, rev. xii., at the beginning. and so also is every true christian his mother: matt. xii. , "whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." christ is what the soul of every one of the elect is in travail with in the new birth. ruth forsook all her natural relations and her own country, the land of her nativity, and all her former possessions there, for the sake of the god of israel; as every true christian forsakes all for christ. psalm xlv. , "hearken, o daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house." naomi was now returning out of the land of moab into the land of israel with her two daughters in law, orpah and ruth; who will represent to us two sorts of professors of religion: orpah, that sort that indeed make a fair profession, and seem to set out well, but dure but for a while, and then turn back; ruth, that sort that are sound and sincere, and therefore are steadfast and persevering in the way that they have set out in. naomi in the preceding verses represents to these her daughters the difficulties of their leaving their own country to go with her. and in this verse may be observed, . the remarkable conduct and behavior of ruth on this occasion; with what inflexible resolution she cleaves to naomi and follows her. when naomi first arose to return from the country of moab into the land of israel, orpah and ruth both set out with her; and naomi exhorts them both to return. and they both of them wept, and seemed as if they could not bear the thoughts of leaving her, and appeared as if they were resolved to go with her: verse , "and they said unto her, surely we will return with thee unto thy people." then naomi says to them again, "turn again, my daughters, go your way," &c. and then they were greatly affected again, and orpah returned and went back. now ruth's steadfastness in her purpose had a greater trial, but yet is not overcome: "she clave unto her," verse . then naomi speaks to her again, verse , "behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law." and then she shows her immovable resolution in the text and following verse. . i would particularly observe that wherein the virtuousness of this her resolution consists, viz., that it was for the sake of the god of israel, and that she might be one of his people, that she was thus resolved to cleave to naomi: "thy people shall be my people, and thy god my god." it was for god's sake that she did thus; and therefore her so doing is afterwards spoken of as a virtuous behavior in her, chap. ii. , : "and boaz answered and said unto her, it hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy mother in law since the death of thine husband: and how thou hast left thy father, and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. the lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the lord god of israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." she left her father and mother, and the land of her nativity, to come and trust under the shadow of god's wings: and she had indeed a full reward given her, as boaz wished; for besides immediate spiritual blessings to her own soul and eternal rewards in another world, she was rewarded with plentiful and prosperous outward circumstances in the family of boaz. and god raised up david and solomon of her seed, and established the crown of israel (the people that she chose before her own people) in her posterity; and--which is much more--of her seed he raised up jesus christ, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed. from the words thus opened, i observe this for the subject of my present discourse: _when those that we have formerly been conversant with, are turning to god, and joining themselves to his people, it ought to be our firm resolution, that we will not leave them; but that their people shall be our people, and their god our god._ it sometimes happens, that of those who have been conversant one with another, that have dwelt together as neighbors, and have been often together as companions, or have been united in near relation, and have been together in darkness, bondage and misery in the service of satan, some are enlightened, and have their minds changed, are made to see the great evil of sin, and have their hearts turned to god, and are influenced by the holy spirit of god to leave their company that are on satan's side to go and join themselves with that blessed company that are with jesus christ; they are made willing to forsake the tents of wickedness, to dwell in the land of uprightness with the people of god. and sometimes this proves a final parting or separation between them and those that they have been formerly conversant with. though it may be no parting in outward respects, they may still dwell together and may converse one with another; yet in other respects, it sets them at a great distance one from another: one is a child of god, and the other the enemy of god; one is in a miserable, and the other in a happy condition; one is a citizen of the heavenly zion, the other is under condemnation to hell. they are no longer together in those respects wherein they used to be together. they used to be of one mind to serve sin and do satan's work; now they are of contrary minds. they used to be together in worldliness and sinful vanity; now they are of exceeding different dispositions. they are separated as they are in different kingdoms; the one remains in the kingdom of darkness, the other is translated into the kingdom of god's dear son. and sometimes they are finally separated in these respects; while one dwells in the land of israel, and in the house of god, the other, like orpah, lives and dies in the land of moab. now 'tis lamentable when it is thus. 'tis awful being parted so. 'tis doleful, when of those that have formerly been together in sin, some turn to god, and join themselves with his people, that it should prove a parting between them and their former companions and acquaintance. it should be our firm and inflexible resolution in such a case that it shall be no parting, but that we will follow them, that their people shall be our people, and their god our god; and that for the following reasons: i. because their _god_ is a glorious god. there is none like him, who is infinite in glory and excellency. he is the most high god, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. his name is excellent in all the earth, and his glory is above the earth and the heavens. among the gods there is none like unto him; there is none in heaven to be compared to him, nor are there any among the sons of the mighty that can be likened unto him. their god is the fountain of all good, and an inexhaustible fountain; he is an all-sufficient god, able to protect and defend them, and do all things for them. he is the king of glory, the lord strong and mighty, the lord mighty in battle: a strong rock, and a high tower. there is none like the god of jeshurun, who rideth on the heaven in their help, and in his excellency on the sky. the eternal god is their refuge, and underneath are everlasting arms. he is a god that hath all things in his hands, and does whatsoever he pleases: he killeth and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up; he maketh poor and maketh rich: the pillars of the earth are the lord's. their god is an infinitely holy god; there is none holy as the lord. and he is infinitely good and merciful. many that others worship and serve as gods are cruel beings, spirits that seek the ruin of souls; but this is a god that delighteth in mercy; his grace is infinite and endures forever. he is love itself, an infinite fountain and ocean of it. such a god is their god! such is the excellency of jacob! such is the god of them who have forsaken their sins and are converted! they have made a wise choice who have chosen this for their god. they have made a happy exchange indeed, that have exchanged sin and the world for such a god! they have an excellent and glorious saviour, who is the only-begotten son of god; the brightness of his father's glory; one in whom god from eternity had infinite delight; a saviour of infinite love; one that has shed his own blood and made his soul an offering for their sins, and one that is able to save them to the uttermost. ii. their _people_ are an excellent and happy people. god has renewed them, and instamped his own image upon them, and made them partakers of his holiness. they are more excellent than their neighbors, prov. xii. . yea, they are the excellent of the earth, psalm xvi. . they are lovely in the sight of the angels; and they have their souls adorned with those graces that in the sight of god himself are of great price. the people of god are the most excellent and happy society in the world. that god whom they have chosen for their god is their father; he has pardoned all their sins, and they are st peace with him; and he has admitted them to all the privileges of his children. as they have devoted themselves to god, so god has given himself to them. he is become their salvation and their portion: his power and mercy and all his attributes are theirs. they are in a safe state, free from all possibility of perishing: satan has no power to destroy them. god carries them on eagle's wings, far above satan's reach, and above the reach of all the enemies of their souls. god is with them in this world; they have his gracious presence. god is for them; who then can be against them? as the mountains are round about jerusalem, so jehovah is round about them. god is their shield and their exceeding great reward; and their fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ. and they have the divine promise and oath that in the world to come they shall dwell forever in the glorious presence of god. it may well be sufficient to induce us to resolve to cleave to those that forsake their sins and idols to join themselves with this people, that god is with them, zech. viii. : "thus saith the lord of hosts; in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a jew, saying, we will go with you: for we have heard that god is with you." so should persons as it were take hold of the skirt of their neighbors and companions that have turned to god, and resolve that they will go with them, because god is with them. iii. _happiness_ is nowhere else to be had, but in their god, and with their people. there are that are called gods many, and lords many. some make gods of their pleasures; some choose mammon for their god; some make gods of their own supposed excellencies, or the outward advantages they have above their neighbors: some choose one thing for their god, and others another. but men can be happy in no other god but the god of israel: he is the only fountain of happiness. other gods can't help in calamity; nor can any of them afford what the poor empty soul stands in need of. let men adore those other gods never so much, and call upon them never so earnestly, and serve them never so diligently, they will nevertheless remain poor, wretched, unsatisfied, undone creatures. all other people are miserable, but that people whose god is the lord.--the world is divided into two societies. there are the people of god, the little flock of jesus christ, that company that we read of, rev. xiv. . "these are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. these are they which follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth. these were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto god and to the lamb." and there are those that belong to the kingdom of darkness, that are without christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of israel, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without god in the world. all that are of this latter company are wretched and undone; they are the enemies of god, and under his wrath and condemnation. they are the devil's slaves, that serve him blindfold, and are befooled and ensnared by him, and hurried along in the broad way to eternal perdition. iv. when those that we have formerly been conversant with are turning to god, and to his people, their _example_ ought to influence us. their example should be looked upon as the call of god to us to do as they have done. god, when he changes the heart of one, calls upon another; especially does he loudly call on those that have been their friends and acquaintance. we have been influenced by their examples in evil; and shall we cease to follow them when they make the wisest choice that ever they made, and do the best thing that ever they did? if we have been companions with them in worldliness, in vanity, in unprofitable and sinful conversation, it will be a hard case, if there must be a parting now, because we be not willing to be companions with them in holiness and true happiness. men are greatly influenced by seeing one another's prosperity in other things. if those whom they have been much conversant with grow rich, and obtain any great earthly advantages, it awakens their ambition and eager desire after the like prosperity. how much more should they be influenced, and stirred up to follow them, and be like them, when they obtain that spiritual and eternal happiness that is of infinitely more worth than all the prosperity and glory of this world! v. our resolutions to cleave to and follow those that are turning to god, and joining themselves to his people, ought to be _fixed_ and _strong_, because of the great difficulty of it. if we will cleave to them, and have their god for our god, and their people for our people, we must mortify and deny all our lusts, and cross every evil appetite and inclination, and forever part with all sin. but our lusts are many and violent. sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with less difficulty; but 'tis heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill of divorce, utterly to send them away. but this we must do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to god. yea, we must not only forsake sin, but must, in a sense, forsake all the world: luke xiv. , "whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all he hath, he cannot be my disciple." that is, he must forsake all in his heart, and must come to a thorough disposition and readiness actually to quit all for god and the glorious spiritual privileges of his people, whenever the case may require it; and that without any prospect of any thing of the like nature, or any worldly thing whatsoever, to make amends for it; and all to go into a strange country, a land that has hitherto been unseen; like abraham, who being called of god, "went out of his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, for a land that god should show him, not knowing whither he went." thus it was a hard thing for ruth to forsake her native country and her father and mother, her kindred and acquaintance, and all the pleasant things she had in the land of moab, to dwell in the land of israel, where she never had been. naomi told her of the difficulties once and again. they were too hard for her sister orpah; the consideration of them turned her back after she was set out. her resolution was not firm enough to overcome them. but so firmly resolved was ruth, that she broke through all; she was steadfast in it, that, let the difficulty be what it would, she would not leave her mother in law. so persons had need to be very firm in their resolution to conquer the difficulties that are in the way of cleaving to them who are indeed turning from sin to god. our cleaving to them, and having their god for our god and their people for our people, depends on our resolution and choice; and that in two respects. . the firmness of resolution in using means in order to it, is _the way to have means effectual_. there are means appointed in order to our becoming some of the true israel and having their god for our god; and the thorough use of these means is the way to have success; but not a slack or slighty use of them. and that we may be thorough, there is need of strength of resolution, a firm and inflexible disposition and bent of mind to be universal in the use of means, and to do what we do with our might, and to persevere in it. matt. xi. , "the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." . a choosing of their god and their people, with a full determination and with the whole soul, is _the condition of an union with them_. god gives every man his choice in this matter: as orpah and ruth had their choice, whether they would go with naomi into the land of israel, or stay in the land of moab. a natural man may choose deliverance from hell; but no man doth ever heartily choose god and christ, and the spiritual benefits that christ has purchased, and the happiness of god's people, till he is converted. on the contrary, he is averse to them; he has no relish of them; and is wholly ignorant of the inestimable worth and value of them. many carnal men do seem to choose these things, but do it not really: as orpah seemed at first to choose to forsake moab to go into the land of israel. but when naomi came to set before her the difficulty of it, she went back; and thereby showed that she was not fully determined in her choice, and that her whole soul was not in it as ruth's was. application the use that i shall make of what has been said is to move sinners to this resolution, with respect to those amongst us that have lately turned to god, and joined themselves to the flock of christ. through the abundant mercy and grace of god to us in this place, it may be said of many of you that are in a christless condition, that you have lately been left by those that were formerly with you in such a state. there are those that you have formerly been conversant with that have lately forsaken a life of sin and the service of satan, and have turned to god, and fled to christ, and joined themselves to that blessed company that are with him. they formerly were with you in sin and in misery; but now they are with you no more in that state or manner of life. they are changed, and have fled from the wrath to come; they have chosen a life of holiness here and the enjoyment of god hereafter. they were formerly your associates in bondage, and were with you in satan's business; but now you have their company no longer in these things. many of you have seen those you live with, under the same roof, turning from being any longer with you in sin, to be with the people of jesus christ. some of you that are husbands have had your wives; and some of you that are wives have had your husbands; some of you that are children have had your parents; and parents have had your children; many of you have had your brothers and sisters; and many your near neighbors and acquaintance and special friends; many of you that are young have had your companions: i say, many of you have had those that you have been thus concerned with, leaving you, forsaking that doleful life and wretched state that you still continue in. god, of his good pleasure and wonderful grace, hath lately caused it to be so in this place that multitudes have been forsaking their old abodes in the land of moab, and under the gods of moab, and going into the land of israel, to put their trust under the wings of the lord god of israel. though you and they have been nearly related, and have dwelt together, or have been often together and intimately acquainted one with another, they have been taken and you hitherto left. o let it not be the foundation of a final parting! but earnestly follow them; be firm in your resolution in this matter. don't do as orpah did, who, though at first she made as though she would follow naomi, yet when she had the difficulty of it set before her went back: but say as ruth, "i will not leave thee; but where thou goest, i will go: thy people shall be my people, and thy god my god." say as she said, and do as she did. consider the excellency of their god and their saviour, and the happiness of their people, the blessed state that they are in, and the doleful state that you are in. you who are old sinners, who have lived long in the service of satan, have lately seen some that were with you, that have travelled with you in the paths of sin these many years, that with you enjoyed great means and advantages, that have had calls and warnings with you, and have with you passed through remarkable times of the pouring out of god's spirit in this place, and have hardened their hearts and stood it out with you, and with you have grown old in sin; i say, you have seen some of them turning to god, i.e., you have seen those evidences of it in them, whence you may rationally judge that it is so. o let it not be a final parting! you have been thus long together in sin, and under condemnation; let it be your firm resolution, that, if possible, you will be with them still, now they are in a holy and happy state, and that you will follow them into the holy and pleasant land. you that tell of your having been seeking salvation for many years, though, without doubt, in a poor dull way, in comparison of what you ought to have done, have seen some that have been with you in that respect, that were old sinners and old seekers, as you are, obtaining mercy. god has lately roused them from their dulness, and caused them to alter their hand, and put them on more thorough endeavors; and they have now, after so long a time, heard god's voice, and have fled for refuge to the rock of ages. let this awaken earnestness and resolution in you. resolve that you will not leave them. you that are in your youth, how many have you seen of your age and standing that have of late hopefully chosen god for their god and christ for their saviour! you have followed them in sin, and have perhaps followed them into vain company; and will you not now follow them to christ? and you that are children, there have lately been some of your sort that have repented of their sins, and have loved the lord jesus christ, and trusted in him, and are become god's children, as we have reason to hope: let it stir you up to resolve to your utmost to seek and cry to god, that you may have the like change made in your hearts, that their people may be your people, and their god your god. you that are great sinners, that have made yourselves distinguishingly guilty by the wicked practices you have lived in, there are some of your sort that have lately (as we have reason to hope) had their hearts broken for sin, and have forsaken it, and trusted in the blood of christ for the pardon of it, and have chosen a holy life, and have betaken themselves to the ways of wisdom: let it excite and encourage you resolutely to cleave to them and earnestly to follow them. let the following things be here considered:-- . that your soul is as precious as theirs. it is immortal as theirs is; and stands in as much need of happiness, and can as ill bear eternal misery. you were born in the same miserable condition that they were, having the same wrath of god abiding on you. you must stand before the same judge; who will be as strict in judgment with you as with them; and your own righteousness will stand you in no more stead before him than theirs; and therefore you stand in as absolute necessity of a saviour as they. carnal confidences can no more answer your end than theirs; nor can this world or its enjoyments serve to make you happy without god and christ more than them. when the bridegroom comes, the foolish virgins stand in as much need of oil as the wise, matt. xxv. at the beginning. . unless you follow them in their turning to god, their conversion will be a foundation of an eternal separation between you and them. you will be in different interests and in exceeding different states, as long as you live; they the children of god, and you the children of satan; and you will be parted in another world; when you come to die, there will be a vast separation made between you: luke xvi. , "and besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." and you will be parted at the day of judgment. you will be parted at christ's first appearance in the clouds of heaven. while they are caught up in the clouds to meet the lord in the air, to be ever with the lord, you will remain below, confined to this cursed ground, that is kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. you will appear separated from them while you stand before the great judgment-seat, they being at the right hand, while you are set at the left: matt. xxv. , , "and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." and you shall then appear in exceeding different circumstances. while you stand with devils, in the image and deformity of devils, and in ineffable horror and amazement, they shall appear in glory, sitting upon thrones, as assessors with christ, and as such passing judgment upon you, cor. vi. . and what shame and confusion will then cover you, when so many of your contemporaries, your equals, your neighbors, relations and companions, shall be honored, and openly acknowledged and confessed by the glorious judge of the universe and redeemer of saints, and shall be seen by you sitting with him in such glory, and you shall appear to have neglected your salvation, and not to have improved your opportunities, and rejected the lord jesus christ, the same person that will then appear as your great judge, and you shall be the subjects of wrath, and, as it were, trodden down in eternal contempt and disgrace! dan. xii. , "some shall rise to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." and what a wide separation will the sentence then passed and executed make between you and them! when you shall be sent away out of the presence of the judge with indignation and abhorrence, as cursed and loathsome creatures, and they shall be sweetly accosted and invited into his glory as his dear friends and the blessed of his father! when you, with all that vast throng of wicked and accursed men and devils, shall descend with loud lamentings and horrid shrieks into that dreadful gulf of fire and brimstone, and shall be swallowed up in that great and everlasting furnace, while they shall joyfully, and with sweet songs of glory and praise, ascend with christ, and all that beauteous and blessed company of saints and angels, into eternal felicity, in the glorious presence of god, and the sweet embraces of his love; and you and they shall spend eternity in such a separation and immensely different circumstances! and that however you have been intimately acquainted and nearly related, closely united and mutually conversant here in this world; and how much soever you have taken delight in each other's company! shall it be so after you have been together a great while, each of you in undoing yourselves, enhancing your guilt, and heaping up wrath, that their so wisely changing their minds and their course, and choosing such happiness for themselves, should now at length be the beginning of such an exceeding and everlasting separation between you and them? how awful will it be to be parted so! . consider the great encouragement that god gives you, earnestly to strive for the same blessing that others have obtained. there is great encouragement in the word of god to sinners to seek salvation, in the revelation we have of the abundant provision made for the salvation even of the chief of sinners, and in the appointment of so many means to be used with and by sinners, in order to their salvation; and by the blessing which god in his word connects with the means of his appointment. there is hence great encouragement for all, at all times, that will be thorough in using of these means. but now god gives extraordinary encouragement in his providence, by pouring out his spirit so remarkably amongst us, and bringing savingly home to himself all sorts, young and old, rich and poor, wise and unwise, sober and vicious, old self-righteous seekers and profligate livers: no sort are exempt. there is now at this day amongst us the loudest call and the greatest encouragement and the widest door open to sinners, to escape out of a state of sin and condemnation that perhaps god ever granted in new england. who is there that has an immortal soul so sottish as not to improve such an opportunity, and that won't bestir himself with all his might now? how unreasonable is negligence, and how exceeding unseasonable is discouragement, at such a day as this! will you be so stupid as to neglect your soul now? will any mortal amongst us be so unreasonable as to lag behind, or look back in discouragement when god opens such a door? let every single person be thoroughly awake! let every one encourage himself now to press forward, and fly for his life! . consider how earnestly desirous they that have obtained are that you should follow them, and that their people should be your people, and their god your god. they desire that you should partake of that great good that god has given them, and that unspeakable and eternal blessedness that he has promised them. they wish and long for it. if you do not go with them, and are not still of their company, it won't be for want of their willingness, but your own. that of moses to hobab is the language of every true saint of your acquaintance to you, numb. x. , "we are journeying unto the place of which the lord said, i will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the lord hath spoken good concerning israel." as moses, when on his journey through the wilderness, following the pillar of cloud and fire, invited hobab, that he had been acquainted with and nearly allied to out of the land of midian, where moses had formerly dwelt with him, to go with him and his people to canaan, to partake with them in the good that god had promised them; so do those of your friends and acquaintance invite you, out of a land of darkness and wickedness, where they have formerly been with you, to go with them to the heavenly canaan. the company of saints, the true church of christ, invite you. the lovely bride calls you to the marriage supper. she hath authority to invite guests to her own wedding; and you ought to look on her invitation and desire as the call of christ the bridegroom; for it is the voice of his spirit in her: rev. xxii. , "the spirit and the bride say, come." where seems to be a reference to what had been said, chap. xix. - , "the marriage of the lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. and he saith unto me, write, blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the lamb." 'tis with respect to this her marriage supper that she, from the motion of the spirit of the lamb in her, says, come. so that you are invited on all hands; all conspire to call you. god the father invites you: this is the king that has made a marriage for his son; and he sends forth his servants, the ministers of the gospel, to invite the guests. and the son himself invites you: 'tis he that speaks, rev. xvii. , "and let him that heareth say, come; and let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let him come." he tells us who he is in the foregoing verse, "i jesus, the root and offspring of david, the bright and morning star." and god's ministers invite you, and all the church invites you; and there will be joy in the presence of the angels of god that hour that you accept the invitation. . consider what a doleful company that will be that be left after this extraordinary time of mercy is over. we have reason to think that there will be a number left. we read that when ezekiel's healing waters increased so abundantly, and the healing effect of them was so very general; yet there were certain places, where the water came, that never were healed: ezek. xlvii. - , "and it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. and it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from en-gedi even unto en-eglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. but the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt." and even in the apostles' times, when there was such wonderful success of the gospel, yet wherever they came, there were some that did not believe: acts xiii. , "and when the gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the lord; and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed." and chap. xxviii. , "and some believed, and some believed not." so we have no reason to expect but there will be some left amongst us. 'tis to be hoped it will be a small company. but what a doleful company will it be! how darkly and awfully will it look upon them! if you shall be of that company, how well may your friends and relations lament over you, and bemoan your dark and dangerous circumstances! if you would not be one of them, make haste, delay not and look not behind you. shall all sorts obtain, shall every one press into the kingdom of god, while you stay loitering behind in a doleful undone condition? shall every one take heaven, while you remain with no other portion but this world? now take up that resolution, that if it be possible you will cleave to them that have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them. count the cost of a thorough, violent, and perpetual pursuit of salvation, and forsake all, as ruth forsook her own country and all her pleasant enjoyments in it. don't do as orpah did; who set out, and then was discouraged, and went back: but hold out with ruth through all discouragement and opposition. when you consider others that have chosen the better part, let that resolution be ever firm with you: "where thou goest, i will go; where thou lodgest, i will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy god my god." iv the many mansions° john xiv. .--in my father's house are many mansions. in these words may be observed two things, . the thing described, viz., christ's father's house. christ spoke to his disciples in the foregoing chapter as one that was about to leave them. he told 'em, verse , "now is the son of man glorified, and god is glorified in him," and then goes to giving of them counsel to live in unity and love one another, as one that was going from them. by which they seemed somewhat surprised and hardly knew what to make of it. and one of them, viz., peter, asked him where he was going; verse , "simon peter said unto him, lord, whither goest thou?" christ did not directly answer and tell him where he was going, but he signifies where in these words of the text, viz., to his father's house, i.e., to heaven, and afterwards, in the verse , he tells 'em plainly that he was going to his father. . we may observe the description given of it, viz., that in it there are many mansions. the disciples seemed very sorrowful at the news of christ's going away, but christ comforts 'em with that, that in his father's house where he was going there was not only room for him, but room for them too. there were many mansions. there was not only a mansion there for him, but there were mansions enough for them all; there was room enough in heaven for them. when the disciples perceived that christ was going away, they manifested a great desire to go with him, and particularly peter. peter in the latter part of the foregoing chapter asked him whither he went to that end that he might follow him. christ told him that whither he went he could not follow him now, but that he should follow him afterwards. but peter, not content with christ, seemed to have a great mind to follow him now. "lord," says he, "why cannot i follow thee now?" so that the disciples had a great mind still to be with christ, and christ in the words of the text intimates that they shall be with him. christ signifies to 'em that he was going home to his father's house, and he encourages 'em that they shall be with him there in due time, in that there were many mansions there. there was a mansion provided not only for him, but for them all (for judas was not then present), and not only for them, but for all that should ever believe in him to the end of the world; and though he went before, he only went to prepare a place for them that should follow. the text is a plain sentence; 'tis therefore needless to press any doctrine in other words from it: so that i shall build my discourse on the words of the text. there are two propositions contained in the words, viz., i, that heaven is god's house, and ii, that in this house of god there are many mansions. prop. i. heaven is god's house. an house of public worship is an house where god's people meet from time to time to attend on god's ordinances, and that is set apart for that and is called god's house. the temple of solomon was called god's house. god was represented as dwelling there. there he had his throne in the holy of holies, even the mercy-seat over the ark and between the cherubims. sometimes the whole universe is represented in scripture as god's house, built with various stories one above another: amos ix. , "it is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven;" and ps. civ. , "who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters." but the highest heaven is especially represented in scripture as the house of god. as to other parts of the creation, god hath appointed them to inferior uses; but this part he has reserved for himself for his own abode. we are told that the heavens are the lord's, but the earth he hath given to the sons of men. god, though he is everywhere present, is represented both in old testament and new as being in heaven in a special and peculiar manner. heaven is the temple of god. thus we read of god's temple in heaven, rev. xv. . solomon's temple was a type of heaven; it was made exceeding magnificent and, costly partly to that end, that it might be the most lively type of heaven. the apostle paul in his epistle to the hebrews does from time to time call heaven the holy of holies, as being the antitype not only of the temple of solomon, but of the most holy place in that temple, which was the place of god's most immediate residence: heb. ix. , "he entered in once into the holy place;" verse , "for christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself." houses where assemblies of christians worship god are in some respects figures of this house of god above. when god is worshipped in them in spirit and truth, they become the outworks of heaven and as it were its gates. as in houses of public worship here there are assemblies of christians meeting to worship god, so in heaven there is a glorious assembly, or church, continually worshipping god: heb. xii. , , "but ye are come unto mount sion, [and unto] the city of the living god, the heavenly jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, that are written in heaven." heaven is represented in scripture as god's dwelling-house; ps. cxiii. , "who is like [unto] the lord our god, who dwelleth on high," and ps. cxxiii. , "unto thee i lift up mine eyes, o thou that dwellest in the heavens." heaven is god's palace. 'tis the house of the great king of the universe; there he has his throne, which is therefore represented as his house or temple; ps. xi. , "the lord is in his holy temple; the lord's throne is in heaven." heaven is the house where god dwells with his family. god is represented in scripture as having a family; and though some of this family are now on earth, yet in so being they are abroad and not at home, but all going home: eph. iii. , "of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." heaven is the place that god has built for himself and his children. god has many children, and the place designed for them is heaven; therefore the saints, being the children of god, are said to be of the household of god, eph. ii. : "now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of god." god is represented as a householder or head of a family, and heaven is his house. heaven is the house not only where god hath his throne, but also where he doth as it were keep his table, where his children sit down with him at his table and where they are feasted in a royal manner becoming the children of so great a king: luke xxii. , "that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom;" matt. xxvi. , "but i say unto you, i will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom." god is the king of kings, and heaven is the place where he keeps his court. there are his angels and archangels that as the nobles of his court do attend upon him. prop. ii. there are many mansions in the house of god. by many mansions is meant many seats or places of abode. as it is a king's palace, there are many mansions. kings' houses are wont to be built very large, with many stately rooms and apartments. so there are many mansions in god's house. when this is spoken of heaven, it is chiefly to be understood in a figurative sense, and the following things seem to be taught us in it. . there is room in this house of god for great numbers. there is room in heaven for a vast multitude, yea, room enough for all mankind that are or ever shall be; luke xiv. , "lord it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room." it is not with the heavenly temple as it often is with houses of public worship in this world, that they fill up and become too small and scanty for those that would meet in them, so that there is not convenient room for all. there is room enough in our heavenly father's house. this is partly what christ intended in the words of the text, as is evident from the occasion of his speaking them. the disciples manifested a great desire to be where christ was, and christ therefore, to encourage them that it should be as they desired, tells them that in his father's house where he was going were many mansions, i.e., room enough for them. there is mercy enough in god to admit an innumerable multitude into heaven. there is mercy enough for all, and there is merit enough in christ to purchase heavenly happiness for millions of millions, for all men that ever were, are or shall be. and there is a sufficiency in the fountain of heaven's happiness to supply and fill and satisfy all: and there is in all respects enough for the happiness of all. . there are sufficient and suitable accommodations for all the different sorts of persons that are in the world: for great and small, for high and low, rich and poor, wise and unwise, bond and free, persons of all nations and all conditions and circumstances, for those that have been great sinners as well as for moral livers; for weak saints and those that are babes in christ as well as for those that are stronger and more grown in grace. there is in heaven a sufficiency for the happiness of every sort; there is a convenient accommodation for every creature that will hearken to the calls of the gospel. none that will come to christ, let his condition be what it will, need to fear but that christ will provide a place suitable for him in heaven. this seems to be another thing implied in christ's words. the disciples were persons of very different condition from christ: he was their master, and they were his disciples; he was their lord, and they were the servants; he was their guide, and they were the followers; he was their captain, and they the soldiers; he was the shepherd, and they the sheep; [he was, as it were, the] father, [and they the] children; he was the glorious, holy son of god, they were poor, sinful, corrupt men. but yet, though they were in such different circumstances from him, yet christ encourages them that there shall not only be room in heaven for him, but for them too; for there were many mansions there. there was not only a mansion to accommodate the lord, but the disciples also; not only the head, but the members; not only the son of god, but those that are naturally poor, sinful, corrupt men: as in a king's palace there is not only a mansion or room of state built for the king himself and for his eldest son and heir, but there are many rooms, mansions for all his numerous household, children, attendants and servants. . it is further implied that heaven is a house that was actually built and prepared for a great multitude. when god made heaven in the beginning of the world, he intended it for an everlasting dwelling-place for a vast and innumerable multitude. when heaven was made, it was intended and prepared for all those particular persons that god had from eternity designed to save: matt. xxv. , "come, ye blessed [of my father, inherit the kingdom] prepared for you [from the foundation of the world]." and that is a very great and innumerable multitude: rev. vii. , "after this i beheld, and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes." heaven being built designedly for these was built accordingly; it was built so as most conveniently to accommodate all this multitude: as a house that is built for a great family is built large and with many rooms in it; as a palace that is built for a great king that keeps a great court with many attendants is built exceeding great with a great many apartments; and as an house of public worship that is built for a great congregation is built very large with many seats in it. . when it is said, ["in my father's house are many mansions"], it is meant that there are seats of various dignity and different degrees and circumstances of honor and happiness. there are many mansions in god's house because heaven is intended for various degrees of honor and blessedness. some are designed to sit in higher places there than others; some are designed to be advanced to higher degrees of honor and glory than others are; and, therefore, there are various mansions, and some more honorable mansions and seats, in heaven than others. though they are all seats of exceeding honor and blessedness, yet some are more so than others. thus a palace is built. though every part of the palace is magnificent as becomes the palace of a king, yet there are many apartments of various honor, and some are more stately and costly than others, according to the degree of dignity. there is one apartment that is the king's presence-chamber; there are other apartments for the next heir to the crown; there are others for other children; and others for their attendants and the great officers of the household: one for the high steward, and another for the chamberlain, and others for meaner officers and servants. another image of this was in solomon's temple. there were many mansions of different degrees of honor and dignity. there was the holy of holies, where the ark was that was the place of god's immediate residence, where the high priest alone might come; and there was another apartment called the holy place, where the other priests might come; and next to that was the inner court of the temple, where the levites were admitted: and there they had many chambers or mansions built for lodging-rooms for the priests; and next to that was the court of israel where the people of israel might come; and next to that was the court of the gentiles where the gentiles, those that were called the "proselytes of the gate," might come. and we have an image of this in houses built for the worship of christian assemblies. in such houses of god there are many seats of different honor and dignity, from the most honorable to the most inferior of the congregation. not that we are to understand the words of christ so much in a literal sense, as that every saint in heaven was to have a certain seat or room or place of abode where he was to be locally fixed. 'tis not the design of the scriptures to inform us much about the external circumstances of heaven or the state of heaven locally considered; but we are to understand what christ says chiefly in a spiritual sense. persons shall be set in different degrees of honor and glory in heaven, as is abundantly manifested in scripture: which may fitly be represented to our imaginations by there being different seats of various honor, as it was in the temple, as it is in kings' courts. some seats shall be nearer the throne than others. some shall sit next to christ in glory: matt. xx. , "to sit on my right hand and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my father." christ has doubtless respect to these different degrees of glory in the text. when he was going to heaven and the disciples were sorrowful at the thoughts of parting with their lord, he lets them know that there are seats or mansions of various degrees of honor in his father's house, that there was not only one for him, who was the head of the church and the elder brother, but also for them that were his disciples and younger brethren. christ also may probably have respect not only to different degrees of glory in heaven, but different circumstances. though the employment and happiness of all the heavenly assembly shall in the general be the same, yet 'tis not improbable that there may be circumstantial difference. we know what their employment [is] in general, but not in particular. we know not how one may be employed to subserve and promote the happiness of another, and all to help one another. some may there be set in one place for one office or employment, and others [in] another, as 'tis in the church on earth. god hath set every one in the body as it hath pleased him; one is the eye, another the ear, another the head, etc. but because god has not been pleased expressly to reveal how it shall be in this respect, therefore i shall not insist upon it, but pass to make some improvement of what has been offered. i. here is encouragement for sinners that are concerned and exercised for the salvation of their souls, such as are afraid that they shall never go to heaven or be admitted to any place of abode there, and are sensible that they are hitherto in a doleful state and condition in that they are out of christ, and so have no right to any inheritance in heaven, but are in danger of going to hell and having their place of eternal abode fixed there. you may be encouraged by what has been said, earnestly to seek heaven; for there are many mansions there. there is room enough there. let your case be what it will, there is suitable provision there for you; and if you come to christ, you need not fear but that he will prepare a place for you; he'll see to it that you shall be well accommodated in heaven. but ii. i would improve this doctrine in a twofold exhortation. . let all be hence exhorted earnestly to seek that they may be admitted to a mansion in heaven. you have heard that this is god's house; it is his temple. if david, when he was in the wilderness of judah and in the land of geshur and of the philistines, so longed that he might again return into the land of israel that he might have a place in the house of god here on earth, and prized a place there so much, though it was but that of a door-keeper, how great a happiness will it be to have a place in this heavenly temple of god! if they are looked upon as enjoying a high privilege that have a seat appointed them in kings' courts or in apartments in kings' palaces, especially those that have an abode there in the quality of the king's children, then how great a privilege will it be to have an apartment or mansion assigned to us in god's heavenly palace, and to have a place there as his children! how great is their glory and honor that are admitted to be of the household of god! and seeing there are many mansions there, mansions enough for us all, our folly will be the greater if we neglect to seek a place in heaven, having our minds foolishly taken up about the worthless, fading things of this world. here consider three things: ( ) how little a while you can have any mansion or place of abode in this world. now you have a dwelling amongst the living. you have a house or mansion of your own, or at least one that is at present for your use, and now you have a seat in the house of god; but how little a while will this continue! in a very little while, and the place that now knows you in this world will know you no more. the habitation you have here will be empty of you; you will be carried dead out of it, or shall die at a distance from it, and never enter into it any more, or into any other abode in this world. your mansion or place of abode in this world, however convenient or commodious it may be, is but as a tent that shall soon be taken down, but a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. your stay is as it were but for a night. your body itself is but a house of clay which will quickly moulder and tumble down, and you shall have no other habitation here in this world but the grave. thus god in his providence is putting you in mind by the repeated instances of death that have been in the town within the two weeks past, both in one house: in which death he has shown his dominion over old and young. the son was taken away first before the father, being in his full strength and flower of his days; and the father, who was then well and having no appearance of approaching death, followed in a few days: and their habitation and their seat in the house of god in this world will know them no more. take warning by these warnings of providence to improve your time that you may have a mansion in heaven. we have a house of worship newly created amongst us which now you have a seat in, and probably are pleased with the ornaments of it; and though you have a place in so comely a house, yet you know not how little a while you shall have a place in this house of god. here are a couple snatched away by death that had met in it but a few times, that have been snatched out of it before it was fully finished and never will have any more a seat in it. you know not how soon you may follow, and then of great importance will it be to you to have a seat in god's house above. both of the persons lately deceased were much on their death-beds warning others to improve their precious time. the first of them was much in expressing his sense of the vast importance of an interest in christ, as i was a witness, and was earnest in calling on others to improve their time, to be thorough, to get an interest in christ, and seemed very desirous that young people might receive council and warning from him, as the words of a dying man, to do their utmost to make sure of conversion; and a little before he died left a request to me that i would warn the young people in his room. god has been warning of you in his death and the death of his father that so soon followed. the words of dying persons should be of special weight with us, for then they are in circumstances wherein they are most capable to look on things as they are and judge aright of 'em,--between both worlds as it were. still that we must all be in. let our young people, therefore, take warning from hence, and don't be such fools as to neglect seeking a place and mansion in heaven. young persons are especially apt to be taken with the pleasing things of this world. you are now, it may be, much pleased with hopes of your future circumstances in this world; [and you are now, it may be, much] pleased with the ornaments of that house of worship that you with others have a place in. but, alas, do you not too little consider how soon you may be taken away from all these things, and no more forever have any part in any mansion or house or enjoyment or happiness under the sun? therefore let it be your main care to secure an everlasting habitation for hereafter. ( ) consider when you die, if you have no mansion in the house of god in heaven, you must have your place of abode in the habitation of devils. there is no middle place between them, and when you go hence, you must go to one or the other of these. some have a mansion prepared for them in heaven from the foundation [of the world]; others are sent away as cursed into everlasting burnings prepared for the [devil and his angels]. consider how miserable those must be that shall have their habitation with devils to all eternity. devils are foul spirits; god's great enemies. their habitation is the blackness of darkness; a place of the utmost filthiness, abomination, darkness, disgrace and torment. o, how would you rather ten thousand times have no place of abode at all, have no being, than to have a place [with devils]! ( ) if you die unconverted, you will have the worse place in hell for having had a seat or place in god's house in this world. as there are many mansions, places of different degrees of honor in heaven, so there are various abodes and places or degrees of torment and misery in hell; and those will have the worst place there that [dying unconverted, have had the best place in god's house here]. solomon speaks of a peculiarly awful sight that he had seen, that of a wicked man buried that had gone [from the place of the holy], eccl. viii. . such as have had a seat in god's house, have been in a sense exalted up to heaven, set on the gate of heaven, [if they die unconverted, shall be] cast down to hell. . the second exhortation that i would offer from what has been said is to seek a high place in heaven. seeing there are many mansions of different degrees of honor and dignity in heaven, let us seek to obtain a mansion of distinguished glory. 'tis revealed to us that there are different degrees of glory to that end that we might seek after the higher degrees. god offered high degrees of glory to that end, that we might seek them by eminent holiness and good works: cor. ix. , "he that sows sparingly [shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully]." it is not becoming persons to be over anxious about an high seat in god's house in this world, for that is the honor that is of men; but we can't too earnestly seek after an high seat in god's house above, by seeking eminent holiness, for that is the honor that is of god. 'tis very little worth the while for us to pursue after honor in this world, where the greatest honor is but a bubble and will soon vanish away, and death will level all. some have more stately houses than others, and some are in higher office than others, and some are richer than others and have higher seats in the meeting-house than others; but all graves are upon a level. one rotting, putrefying corpse is as ignoble as another; the worms are as bold with one carcass as another. but the mansions in god's house above are everlasting mansions. those that have seats allotted 'em there, whether of greater or lesser dignity, whether nearer or further from the throne, will hold 'em to all eternity. this is promised, rev. iii. : "him that overcometh i will make him a pillar in the temple [of my god, and he shall go no more out]." if it be worth the while to desire and seek high seats in the meeting-house, where you are one day in a week, and where you shall never come but few days in all; if it be worth the while much to prize one seat above another in the house of worship only because it is the pew or seat that is ranked first in number, and to be seen here for a few days, how will it be worth the while to seek an high mansion in god's temple and in that glorious place that is the everlasting habitation of god and all his children! you that are pleased with your seats in this house because you are seated high or in a place that is looked upon honorable by those that sit round about, and because many can behold you, consider how short a time you will enjoy this pleasure. and if there be any that are not suited in their seats because they are too low for them, let them consider that it is but a very little while before it will [be] all one to you whether you have sat high or low here. but it will be of infinite and everlasting concern to you where your seat is in another world. let your great concern be while in this world so to improve your opportunities in god's house in this world, whether you sit high or low, as that you may have a distinguished and glorious mansion in god's house in heaven, where you may be fixed in your place in that glorious assembly in an everlasting rest. let the main thing that we prize in god's house be, not the outward ornaments of it, or a high seat in it, but the word of god and his ordinances in it. and spend your time here in seeking christ, that he may prepare a place for you in his father's house, that when he comes again to this world, he may take you to himself, that where he is, there you may be also. v sinners in the hands of an angry god° deuteronomy xxxii. .--their foot shall slide in due time. in this verse is threatened the vengeance of god on the wicked unbelieving israelites, that were god's visible people, and lived under means of grace; and that notwithstanding all god's wonderful works that he had wrought towards that people, yet remained, as is expressed verse , void of counsel, having no understanding in them; and that, under all the cultivations of heaven, brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. the expression that i have chosen for my text, _their foot shall slide in due time_, seems to imply the following things relating to the punishment and destruction that these wicked israelites were exposed to. . that they were _always_ exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. this is implied in the manner of their destruction's coming upon them, being represented by their foot's sliding. the same is expressed, psalm lxxiii. : "surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction." . it implies that they were always exposed to _sudden_, unexpected destruction; as he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he can't foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once, without warning, which is also expressed in that psalm lxxiii. , : "surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. how are they brought into desolation, as _in a moment_!" . another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of _themselves_, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down. . that the reason why they are not fallen already, and don't fall now, is only that god's appointed time is not come. for it is said that when that due time, or appointed time comes, _their foot shall slide_. then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. god won't hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall to destruction; as he that stands in such slippery declining ground on the edge of a pit that he can't stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost. the observation from the words that i would now insist upon is this, _there is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of god._ by the mere pleasure of god, i mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but god's mere will had in the least degree or in any respect whatsoever any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. the truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations. . there is no want of _power_ in god to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. men's hands can't be strong when god rises up: the strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. he is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel that has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the number of his followers. but it is not so with god. there is no fortress that is any defence against the power of god. though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of god's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. we find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so 'tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by; thus easy is it for god, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. what are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down! . they _deserve_ to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against god's using his power at any moment to destroy them. yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of sodom, "cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" luke xiii. . the sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and 'tis nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and god's mere will, that holds it back. . they are _already_ under a sentence of condemnation to hell. they don't only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of god, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that god has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell: john iii. , "he that believeth not is condemned already." so that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is: john viii. , "ye are from beneath:" and thither he is bound; 'tis the place that justice, and god's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law, assigns to him. they are now the objects of that very _same_ anger and wrath of god, that is expressed in the torments of hell: and the reason why they don't go down to hell at each moment is not because god, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as angry as he is with many of those miserable creatures that he is now tormenting in hell, and do there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. yea, god is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth, yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, that, it may be, are at ease and quiet, than he is with many of those that are now in the flames of hell. so that it is not because god is unmindful of their wickedness, and don't resent it, that he don't let loose his hand and cut them off. god is not altogether such a one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. the wrath of god burns against them; their damnation don't slumber; the pit is prepared; the fire is made ready; the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. the glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened her mouth under them. . the _devil_ stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment god shall permit him. they belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. the scripture represents them as his _goods_, luke xi. . the devils watch them; they are ever by them, at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back; if god should withdraw his hand by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. the old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if god should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost. . there are in the souls of wicked men those hellish _principles_ reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell-fire, if it were not for god's restraints. there is laid in the very nature of carnal men a foundation for the torments of hell: there are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell-fire. these principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of god upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the heart of damned souls, and would beget the same torments in 'em as they do in them. the souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, isaiah lvii. . for the present god restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "hitherto shalt thou come, and no further;" but if god should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all afore it. sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if god should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. the corruption of the heart of man is a thing that is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by god's restraints, whenas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into a fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone. . it is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no _visible means of death_ at hand. 'tis no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he don't see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. the manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages shows that this is no evidence that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step won't be into another world. the unseen, unthought of ways and means of persons' going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they won't bear their weight, and these places are not seen. the arrows of death fly unseen at noonday; the sharpest sight can't discern them. god has so many different, unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending 'em to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear that god had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. all the means that there are of sinners' going out of the world are so in god's hands, and so absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it don't depend at all less on the mere will of god, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case. . natural men's _prudence_ and _care_ to preserve their own _lives_, or the care of others to preserve them, don't secure 'em a moment. this, divine providence and universal experience does also bear testimony to. there is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death; but how is it in fact? eccles. ii. , "how dieth the wise man? as the fool." . all wicked men's _pains_ and _contrivance_ they use to escape _hell_, while they continue to reject christ, and so remain wicked men, don't secure 'em from hell one moment. almost every natural man that hears of hell flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security, he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do; every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes won't fail. they hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the bigger part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done: he don't intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take care that shall be effectual, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. but the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. the bigger part of those that heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those that are now alive; it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. if it were so that we could come to speak with them, and could inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be subjects of that misery, we, doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "no, i never intended to come here: i had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; i thought i should contrive well for myself: i thought my scheme good: i intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; i did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: death outwitted me: god's wrath was too quick for me. o my cursed foolishness! i was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what i would do hereafter; and when i was saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me." . god has laid himself under _no obligation_, by any promise, to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. god certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. but surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace that are not the children of the covenant, and that do not believe in any of the promises of the covenant, and have no interest in the mediator of the covenant. so that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, 'tis plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in christ, god is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction. so that thus it is, that natural men are held in the hand of god over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and god is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is god in the least bound by any promise to hold 'em up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out; and they have no interest in any mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. in short they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed god. application the use may be of _awakening_ to unconverted persons in this congregation. this that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of christ. that world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. _there_ is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of god; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of. there is nothing between you and hell but the air; 'tis only the power and mere pleasure of god that holds you up. you probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but don't see the hand of god in it, but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. but indeed these things are nothing; if god should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it. your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if god should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. were it not that so is the sovereign pleasure of god, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun don't willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and satan; the earth don't willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air don't willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of god's enemies. god's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve god with, and don't willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. and the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. there are the black clouds of god's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of god, it would immediately burst forth upon you. the sovereign pleasure of god, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff of the summer threshing floor. the wrath of god is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. 'tis true, that judgment against your evil work has not been executed hitherto; the floods of god's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are continually rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of god that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. if god should only withdraw his hand from the floodgate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of god would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it. the bow of god's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of god, and that of an angry god, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. thus are all you that never passed under a great change of heart by the mighty power of the spirit of god upon your souls; all that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin to a state of new and before altogether unexperienced light and life, (however you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of god, and may be strict in it), you are thus in the hands of an angry god; 'tis nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. however unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, peace and safety: now they see, that those things that they depended on for peace and safety were nothing but thin air and empty shadows. the god that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours. you have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince: and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. 'tis ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world after you closed your eyes to sleep; and there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that god's hand has held you up. there is no other reason to be given why you han't gone to hell since you have sat here in the house of god, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you don't this very moment drop down into hell.° o sinner! consider the fearful danger you are in. 'tis a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that god whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell. you hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce god to spare you one moment. and consider here more particularly several things concerning that wrath that you are in such danger of. . _whose_ wrath it is. it is the wrath of the infinite god. if it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. the wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, that have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. prov. xx. , "the fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul." the subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. but the greatest earthly potentates, in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty creator and king of heaven and earth: it is but little that they can do when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. all the kings of the earth before god are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. the wrath of the great king of kings is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. luke xii. , , "and i say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. but i will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, i say unto you, fear him." . 'tis the _fierceness_ of his wrath that you are exposed to. we often read of the _fury_ of god; as in isaiah lix. : "according to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." so isaiah lxvi. , "for, behold, the lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." and so in many other places. so we read of god's _fierceness_, rev. xix. . there we read of "the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty god." the words are exceeding terrible: if it had only been said, "the wrath of god," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but 'tis not only said so, but "the fierceness and wrath of god." the fury of god! the fierceness of jehovah! oh, how dreadful must that be! who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! but it is not only said so, but "the fierceness and wrath of almighty god." as though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. oh! then, what will be the consequence! what will become of the poor worm that shall suffer it! whose hands can be strong! and whose heart endure! to what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this! consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. that god will execute the fierceness of his anger implies that he will inflict wrath without any pity. when god beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will god then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you should not suffer beyond what strict justice requires: nothing shall be withheld because it is so hard for you to bear. ezek. viii. , "therefore will i also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will i have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will i not hear them." now god stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy: but when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of god, as to any regard to your welfare; god will have no other use to put you to, but only to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but only to be filled full of wrath: god will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that 'tis said he will only "laugh and mock," prov. i. , , &c. how awful are those words, isaiah lxiii. , which are the words of the great god: "i will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and i will stain all my raiment." 'tis perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz., contempt and hatred and fierceness of indignation. if you cry to god to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favor, that instead of that he'll only tread you under foot: and though he will know that you can't bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he won't regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he'll crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. he will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt; no place shall be thought fit for you but under his feet, to be trodden down as the mire of the streets. . the misery you are exposed to is that which god will inflict to that end, that he might _show_ what that _wrath_ of _jehovah_ is. god hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that provoke 'em. nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with shadrach, meshech, and abednego; and accordingly gave order that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it; but the great god is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. rom. ix. , "what if god, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" and seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, to show how terrible the unmixed, unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of jehovah is, he will do it to effect. there will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. when the great and angry god hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will god call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. isa. xxxiii. , , , "and the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. hear, ye that are far off, what i have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. the sinners in zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," &c. thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness, of the omnipotent god shall be magnified upon you in the ineffable strength of your torments. you shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. isa. lxvi. , , "and it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the lord. and they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." . it is _everlasting_ wrath. it would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of almighty god one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity: there will be no end to this exquisite, horrible misery. when you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all; you will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty, merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. so that your punishment will indeed be infinite. oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! all that we can possibly say about it gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: for "who knows the power of god's anger?" how dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! but this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. oh, that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! there is reason to think that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. we know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. it may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. if we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing it would be to think of! if we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! how might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! but alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell! and it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, before this year is out. and it would be no wonder if some persons that now sit here in some seats of this meeting-house in health, and quiet and secure, should be there before to-morrow morning. those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest, will be there in a little time! your damnation don't slumber; it will come swiftly and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. you have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. 'tis doubtless the case of some that heretofore you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair. but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of god, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. what would not those poor, damned, hopeless souls give for one day's such opportunity as you now enjoy! and now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him and pressing into the kingdom of god. many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very likely in the same miserable condition that you are in are in now a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him that has loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of god. how awful is it to be left behind at such a day! to see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! to see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit! how can you rest for one moment in such a condition? are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at suffield,[ ] where they are flocking from day to day to christ? are there not many here that have lived long in the world that are not to this day born again, and so are aliens from the commonwealth of israel and have done nothing ever since they have lived but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? oh, sirs, your case in an especial manner is extremely dangerous; your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. don't you see how generally persons of your years are passed over and left in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of god's mercy? you had need to consider yourselves and wake thoroughly out of sleep; you cannot bear the fierceness and the wrath of the infinite god. and you that are young men and young women, will you neglect this precious season that you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities and flocking to christ? you especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as it is with those persons that spent away all the precious days of youth in sin and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. and you children that are unconverted, don't you know that you are going down to hell to bear the dreadful wrath of that god that is now angry with you every day and every night? will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted and are become the holy and happy children of the king of kings? and let every one that is yet out of christ and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women or middle-aged or young people or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of god's word and providence. this acceptable year of the lord that is a day of such great favor to some will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. men's hearts harden and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls. and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. god seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the bigger part of adult persons that ever shall be saved will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on that great outpouring of the spirit upon the jews in the apostles' days, the election will obtain and the rest will be blinded. if this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born to see such a season of the pouring out of god's spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. now undoubtedly it is as it was in the days of john the baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit may be hewn down and cast into the fire. therefore let every one that is out of christ now awake and fly from the wrath to come. the wrath of almighty god is now undoubtedly hanging over great part of this congregation. let every one fly out of sodom. "_haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest ye be consumed._" vi god's awful judgment in the breaking and withering of the strong rods of a community° ezek. xix. .--her strong rods were broken and withered. in order to a right understanding and improving these words, these four things must be observed and understood concerning them. . _who she is_ that is here represented as having had strong rods, viz., the jewish community, [who] here, as often elsewhere, is called the people's mother. she is here compared to a vine planted in a very fruitful soil, verse . the jewish church and state is often elsewhere compared to a vine; as psalm lxxx. , &c., isai. v. , jer. ii. , ezek. xv., and chapter xvii. . . what is meant by _her strong rods_, viz., her wise, able, and well qualified magistrates or rulers. that the rulers or magistrates are intended is manifest by verse : "and she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule." and by rods that were strong, must be meant such rulers as were well qualified for magistracy, such as had great abilities and other qualifications fitting them for the business of rule. they were wont to choose a rod or staff of the strongest and hardest sort of wood that could be found, for the mace or sceptre of a prince; such a one only being counted fit for such a use: and this generally was overlaid with gold. it is very remarkable that such a strong rod should grow out of a weak vine; but so it had been in israel, through god's extraordinary blessing, in times past. though the nation is spoken of here, and frequently elsewhere, as weak and helpless in itself and entirely dependent as a vine, that is the weakest of all trees, that can't support itself by its own strength, and never stands but as it leans on or hangs by something else that is stronger than itself; yet god had caused many of her sons to be strong rods, fit for sceptres; he had raised up in israel many able and excellent princes and magistrates in days past, that had done worthily in their day. [illustration: the meeting-house at northampton in which edwards preached. erected .] . it should be understood and observed what is meant by these strong rods being _broken and withered_, viz., these able and excellent rulers being removed by death. man's dying is often compared in scripture to the withering of the growth of the earth. . it should be observed _after what manner_ the breaking and withering of these strong rods is here spoken of, viz., as a great and awful calamity that god had brought upon that people. 'tis spoken of as one of the chief effects of god's fury and dreadful displeasure against them. "but she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong rods were broken and withered, the fire hath consumed them." the great benefits she enjoyed while her strong rods remained are represented in the preceding verse: "and she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches." and the terrible calamities that attended the breaking and withering of her strong rods, are represented in the two verses next following the text: "and now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. and fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit." and in the conclusion in the next words is very emphatically declared the worthiness of such a dispensation to be greatly lamented: "so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. this is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation." that which i therefore observe from the words of the text to be the subject of discourse at this time, is this: _when god by death removes from a people those in place of public authority and rule that have been as strong rods, 'tis an awful judgment of god on that people, and worthy of great lamentation._ in discoursing on this proposition, i would, i. show what kind of rulers may fitly be called strong rods. ii. show why the removal of such rulers from a people, by death, is to be looked upon as an awful judgment of god on that people, and is greatly to be lamented. i. i would observe what qualifications of those who are in public authority and rule may properly give them the denomination of _strong rods_. . one qualification of rulers whence they may properly be denominated strong rods is _great ability for the management of public affairs_. when they that stand in place of public authority are men of great natural abilities, when they are men of uncommon strength of reason and largeness of understanding; especially when they have remarkably a genius for government, a peculiar turn of mind fitting them to gain an extraordinary understanding in things of that nature, giving ability, in an especial manner, for insight into the mysteries of government, and discerning those things wherein the public welfare or calamity consists and the proper means to avoid the one and promote the other; an extraordinary talent at distinguishing what is right and just from that which is wrong and unequal, and to see through the false colors with which injustice is often disguised, and unravel the false, subtle arguments and cunning sophistry that is often made use of to defend iniquity; and when they have not only great natural abilities in these respects, but when their abilities and talents have been improved by study, learning, observation and experience; and when by these means they have obtained great actual knowledge; when they have acquired great skill in public affairs and things requisite to be known in order to their wise, prudent, and effectual management; when they have obtained a great understanding of men and things, a great knowledge of human nature and of the way of accommodating themselves to it, so as most effectually to influence it to wise purposes; when they have obtained a very extensive knowledge of men with whom they are concerned in the management of public affairs, either those that have a joint concern in government or those that are to be governed; and when they have also obtained a very full and particular understanding of the state and circumstances of the country or people that they have the care of, and know well their laws and constitution and what their circumstances require; and likewise have a great knowledge of the people of neighbor nations, states, or provinces with whom they have occasion to be concerned in the management of public affairs committed to them; these things all contribute to the rendering those that are in authority fit to be denominated strong rods. . when they have not only great understanding but _largeness of heart and a greatness and nobleness of disposition_, this is another qualification that belongs to the character of a strong rod. those that are by divine providence set in places of public authority and rule are called _gods_, and _sons of the most high_, psalm lxxxii. . and therefore 'tis peculiarly unbecoming them to be of a mean spirit, a disposition that will admit of their doing those things that are sordid and vile; as when they are persons of a narrow, private spirit, that may be found in little tricks and intrigues to promote their private interest, will shamefully defile their hands to gain a few pounds, are not ashamed to nip and bite others, grind the faces of the poor and screw upon their neighbors, and will take advantage of their authority or commission to line their own pockets with what is fraudulently taken or withheld from others. when a man in authority is of such a mean spirit, it weakens his authority and makes him justly contemptible in the eyes of men and is utterly inconsistent with his being a _strong rod_. but on the contrary, it greatly establishes his authority, and causes others to stand in awe of him, when they see him to be a man of greatness of mind, one that abhors those things that are mean and sordid, and not capable of a compliance with them; one that is of a public spirit, and not of a private, narrow disposition; a man of honor, and not a man of mean artifice and clandestine management for filthy lucre, and one that abhors trifling and impertinence, or to waste away his time, that should be spent in the service of god, his king, or his country, in vain amusements and diversions and in the pursuit of the gratifications of sensual appetites; as god charges the rulers in israel, that pretended to be their great and mighty men, with being mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink. there don't seem to be any reference to their being men of strong heads and able to bear a great deal of strong drink, as some have supposed. there is a severe sarcasm in the words; for the prophet is speaking of the great men, princes and judges in israel (as appears by the verse next following), which should be mighty men, strong rods, men of eminent qualifications, excelling in nobleness of spirit, of glorious strength and fortitude of mind; but instead of that, they were mighty or eminent for nothing but gluttony and drunkenness. . when those that are in authority are endowed with much of _a spirit of government_, this is another thing that entitles them to the denomination of strong rods. when they not only are men of great understanding and wisdom in affairs that appertain to government, but have also a peculiar talent at using their knowledge and exerting themselves in this great and important business, according to their great understanding in it; when they are men of eminent fortitude and are not afraid of the faces of men, are not afraid to do the part that properly belongs to them as rulers, though they meet with great opposition, and the spirits of men are greatly irritated by it; when they have a spirit of resolution and activity, so as to keep the wheels of government in proper motion and to cause judgment and justice to run down as a mighty stream; when they have not only a great knowledge of government and the things that belong to it in the theory, but it is, as it were, natural to them to apply the various powers and faculties with which god has endowed them, and the knowledge they have obtained by study and observation, to that business, so as to perform it most advantageously and effectually. . _stability and firmness of integrity, fidelity and piety in the exercise of authority_ is another thing that greatly contributes to, and is very essential in, the character of a strong rod. when he that is in authority is not only a man of strong reason and great discerning to know what is just, but is a man of strict integrity and righteousness, is firm and immovable in the execution of justice and judgment; and when he is not only a man of great ability to bear down vice and immorality, but has a disposition agreeable to such ability; is one that has a strong aversion to wickedness and is disposed to use the power god has put into his hands to suppress it; and is one that not only opposes vice by his authority, but by his example; when he is one of inflexible fidelity, will be faithful to god whose minister he is to his people for good, is immovable in his regard to his supreme authority, his commands and his glory, and will be faithful to his king and country; will not be induced by the many temptations that attend the business of men in public authority basely to betray his trust; will not consent to do what he thinks not to be for the public good for his own gain or advancement, or any private interest; is one that is well principled, and is firm in acting agreeably to his principles, and will not be prevailed with to do otherwise through fear or favor, to follow a multitude, or to maintain his interest in any on whom he depends for the honor or profit of his place, whether it be prince or people; and is also one of that strength of mind, whereby he rules his own spirit,--these things do very eminently contribute to a ruler's title to the denomination of a _strong rod_. . and lastly, it also contributes to the strength of a man in authority by which he may be denominated a _strong rod_, when he is in _such circumstances as give him advantage_ for the exercise of his strength for the public good; as his being a person of honorable descent, of a distinguished education, his being a man of estate, one that is advanced in years, one that has long been in authority, so that it is become, as it were, natural for the people to pay him deference, to reverence him, to be influenced and governed by him and submit to his authority; his being extensively known and much honored and regarded abroad; his being one of a good presence, majesty of countenance, decency of behavior, becoming one in authority; of forcible speech, &c. these things add to his strength and increase his ability and advantage to serve his generation in the place of a ruler, and therefore in some respect serve to render him one that is the more fitly and eminently called a _strong rod_. i now proceed, ii. to show that when such strong rods are broken and withered by death, 'tis an awful judgment of god on the people that are deprived of them and worthy of great lamentation. and that on two accounts: . by reason of the many _positive benefits_ and blessings to a people that such rulers are the instruments of. almost all the prosperity of a public society and civil community does, under god, depend on their rulers. they are like the main springs or wheels in a machine that keep every part in their due motion, and are in the body politic, as the vitals in the body natural, and as the pillars and foundation in a building. civil rulers are called "the foundations of the earth," psalm lxxxii. , and xi. . the prosperity of a people depends more on their rulers than is commonly imagined. as they have the public society under their care and power, so they have advantage to promote the public interest every way; and if they are such rulers as have been spoken of, they are some of the greatest blessings to the public. their influence has a tendency to promote their wealth and cause their temporal possessions and blessings to abound: and to promote virtue amongst them, and so to unite them one to another in peace and mutual benevolence, and make them happy in society, each one the instrument of his neighbor's quietness, comfort and prosperity; and by these means to advance their reputation and honor in the world; and which is much more, to promote their spiritual and eternal happiness. therefore, the wise man says, eccles. x. , "blessed art thou, o land, when thy king is the son of nobles." we have a remarkable instance and evidence of the happy and great influence of such a strong rod as has been described to promote the universal prosperity of a people in the history of the reign of solomon, though many of the people were uneasy under his government, and thought him too rigorous in his administration (see kings xii. ). "judah and israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from dan even to beersheba, all the days of solomon," kings iv. . "and he made silver to be among them as stones for abundance," chap x. . "and judah and israel were many, eating and drinking and making merry," [chap. iv. ]. the queen of sheba admired and was greatly affected with the happiness of the people under the government of such a strong rod: kings x. , , says she, "happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. blessed be the lord thy god which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of israel; because the lord loved israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice." the flourishing state of the kingdom of judah, while they had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, is taken notice of in our context: "her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches." such rulers are eminently the ministers of god to his people for good: they are great gifts of the most high to a people and blessed tokens of his favor and vehicles of his goodness to them, and therein images of his own son, the grand medium of all god's goodness to fallen mankind: and therefore, all of them are called _sons of the most high_. all civil rulers, if they are, as they ought to be, such strong rods as have been described, will be like the son of the most high, vehicles of good to mankind, and like him, will be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springeth out of the earth, by clear shining after rain. and therefore, when a people are bereaved of them, they sustain an unspeakable loss and are the subjects of a judgment of god that is greatly to be lamented. . on account of the _great calamities_ such rulers are _a defence from_. innumerable are the grievous and fatal calamities which public societies are exposed to in this evil world, which they can have no defence from without order and authority. if a people are without government, they are like a city broken down and without walls, encompassed on every side by enemies and become unavoidably subject to all manner of confusion and misery. government is necessary to _defend communities from miseries from within themselves_; from the prevalence of intestine discord, mutual injustice and violence; the members of the society continually making a prey one of another, without any defence one from another. rulers are the heads of union in public societies, that hold the parts together; without which nothing else is to be expected than that the members of the society will be continually divided against themselves, every one acting the part of an enemy to his neighbor, every one's hand against every man and every man's hand against him; going on in remediless and endless broils and jarring till the society be utterly dissolved and broken in pieces and life itself, in the neighborhood of our fellow creatures, becomes miserable and intolerable. we may see the need of government in societies by what is visible in families, those lesser societies of which all public societies are constituted. how miserable would these little societies be, if all were left to themselves, without any authority or superiority in one above another or any head of union and influence among them? we may be convinced by what we see of the lamentable consequences of the want of a proper exercise of authority and maintenance of government in families that yet are not absolutely without all authority. no less need is there of government in public societies, but much more, as they are larger. a very few may possibly, without any government, act by concert, so as to concur in what shall be for the welfare of the whole; but this is not to be expected among a multitude, constituted of many thousands, of a great variety of tempers, and different interests. as government is absolutely necessary, so there is a necessity of _strong rods_ in order to it: the business being such as requires persons so qualified: no other being sufficient for, or well capable of the government of, public societies: and therefore, those public societies are miserable that have not such strong rods for sceptres to rule: eccles. x. , "woe to thee, o land, when thy king is a child." as government, and strong rods for the exercise of it, are necessary to preserve public societies from dreadful and fatal calamities arising from among themselves; so no less requisite are they to _defend the community from foreign enemies_. as they are like the pillars of a building, so they are also like the walls and bulwarks of a city: they are under god the main strength of a people in a time of war and the chief instruments of their preservation, safety and rest. this is signified in a very lively manner in the words that are used by the jewish community in her lamentations to express the expectations she had from her princes: lam. iv. , "the breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, under his shadow we shall live among the heathen." in this respect also such strong rods are sons of the most high and images or resemblances of the son of god, viz., as they are their saviours from their enemies; as the judges that god raised up of old in israel are called, nehem. ix. : "therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies." thus both the prosperity and safety of a people under god, depends on such rulers as are _strong rods_. while they enjoy such blessings, they are wont to be like a vine planted in a fruitful soil, with her stature exalted among the thick branches, appearing in her height with the multitude of her branches; but when they have no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule, they are like a vine planted in a wilderness that is exposed to be plucked up and cast down to the ground, to have her fruit dried up with the east wind, and to have fire coming out of her own branches to devour her fruit. on these accounts, when a people's strong rods are broken and withered, 'tis an awful judgment of god on that people, and worthy of great lamentation: as when king josiah (who was doubtless one of the strong rods referred to in the text) was dead, the people made great lamentation for him, chron. xxxv. , : "and they brought him to jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. and all judah and jerusalem mourned for josiah. and jeremiah lamented for josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations." application i come now to apply these things to our own case, under the late awful frown of divine providence upon us in removing by death that honorable person in public rule and authority, an inhabitant of this town and belonging to this congregation and church, who died at boston the last lord's day. he was eminently a _strong rod_ in the forementioned respects. as to his natural abilities, strength of reason, greatness and clearness of discerning and depth of penetration, he was one of the first rank: it may be doubted whether he has left his superior in these respects in these parts of the world. he was a man of a truly great genius, and his genius was peculiarly fitted for the understanding and managing of public affairs. and as his natural capacity was great, so was the knowledge that he had acquired, his understanding being greatly improved by close application of mind to those things he was called to be concerned in, and by a very exact observation of them and long experience in them. he had indeed a great insight into the nature of public societies, the mysteries of government and the affairs of peace and war: he had a discerning that very few have of the things wherein the public weal consists, and what those things are that do expose public societies, and of the proper means to avoid the latter and promote the former. he was quick in his discerning, in that in most cases, especially such as belonged to his proper business, he at first sight would see further than most men when they had done their best; but yet he had a wonderful faculty of improving his own thoughts by meditation, and carrying his views a greater and greater length by long and close application of mind. he had an extraordinary ability to distinguish right and wrong in the midst of intricacies and circumstances that tended to perplex and darken the case: he was able to weigh things, as it were, in a balance, and to distinguish those things that were solid and weighty from those that had only a fair show without substance, which he evidently discovered in his accurate, clear and plain way of stating and committing causes to a jury, from the bench, as by others hath been observed. he wonderfully distinguished truth from falsehood, and the most labored cases seemed always to lie clear in his mind, his ideas properly ranged--and he had a talent of communicating them to every one's understanding, beyond almost any one; and if any were misguided, it was not because truth and falsehood, right and wrong, were not well distinguished. he was probably one of the ablest politicians that ever new england bred: he had a very uncommon insight into human nature, and a marvellous ability to penetrate into the particular tempers and dispositions of such as he had to deal with, and to discern the fittest way of treating them, so as most effectually to influence them to any good and wise purpose. and never perhaps was there a person that had a more extensive and thorough knowledge of the state of this land and its public affairs, and of persons that were jointly concerned in them: he knew this people and their circumstances, and what their circumstances required: he discerned the diseases of this body, and what were the proper remedies, as an able and masterly physician. he had a great acquaintance with the neighboring colonies, and also the neighbor nations on this continent, with whom we are concerned in our public affairs: he had a far greater knowledge than any other person in the land of the several nations of indians in these northern parts of america, their tempers, manners and the proper way of treating them, and was more extensively known by them than any other person in the country: and no other person in authority in this province had such an acquaintance with the people and country of canada, the land of our enemies, as he. he was exceeding far from a disposition and forwardness to intermeddle with other people's business; but as to what belonged to the offices he sustained and the important affairs that he had the care of, he had a great understanding of what belonged to them. i have often been surprised at the length of his reach, and what i have seen of his ability to foresee and determine the consequences of things, even at a great distance, and quite beyond the sight of other men. he was not wavering and unsteady in his opinion: his manner was never to pass a judgment rashly, but was wont first thoroughly to deliberate and weigh an affair; and in this, notwithstanding his great abilities, he was glad to improve [by] the help of conversation and discourse with others, and often spake of the great advantage he found by it; but when, on mature consideration, he had settled his judgment, he was not easily turned from it by false colors and plausible pretences and appearances. and besides his knowledge of things belonging to his particular calling as a ruler, he had also a great degree of understanding in things belonging to his general calling as a christian. he was no inconsiderable divine. he was a wise casuist, as i know by the great help i have found from time to time by his judgment and advice in cases of conscience wherein i have consulted him: and indeed i scarce knew the divine that i ever found more able to help and enlighten the mind in such cases than he. and he had no small degree of knowledge in things pertaining to experimental religion; but was wont to discourse on such subjects, not only with accurate doctrinal distinctions, but as one intimately and feelingly acquainted with these things. he was not only great in speculative knowledge, but his knowledge was practical; such as tended to a wise conduct in the affairs, business and duties of life; so as properly to have the denomination of wisdom, and so as properly and eminently to invest him with the character of a wise man. and he was not only eminently wise and prudent in his own conduct, but was one of the ablest and wisest counsellors of others in any difficult affair. the greatness and honorableness of his disposition was answerable to the largeness of his understanding. he was naturally of a great mind. in this respect he was truly the _son of nobles_. he greatly abhorred things which were mean and sordid, and seemed to be incapable of a compliance with them. how far was he from trifling and impertinence in his conversation! how far from a busy, meddling disposition! how far from any sly and clandestine management to fill his pockets with what was fraudulently withheld or violently squeezed from the laborer, soldier or inferior officer! how far from taking advantage from his commission or authority or any superior power he had in his hands, or the ignorance, dependence or necessities of others, to add to his own gains with what property belonged to them, and with what they might justly expect as a proper reward for any of their services! how far was he from secretly taking bribes offered to induce him to favor any man in his cause, or by his power or interest to promote his being advanced to any place of public trust, honor or profit! how greatly did he abhor lying and prevaricating! and how immovably steadfast was he to exact truth! his hatred of those things that were mean and sordid was so apparent and well known, that it was evident that men dreaded to appear in any thing of that nature in his presence. he was a man remarkably of a public spirit, a true lover of his country and greatly abhorred the sacrificing the public welfare to private interest. he was very eminently endowed with a spirit of government. the god of nature seemed to have formed him for government, as though he had been made on purpose, and cast into a mould by which he should be every way fitted for the business of a man in public authority. such a behavior and conduct was natural to him as tended to maintain his authority and possess others with awe and reverence, and to enforce and render effectual what he said and did in the exercise of his authority. he did not _bear the sword in vain_: he was truly a _terror to evil doers_. what i saw in him often put me in mind of that saying of the wise man, prov. xx. , "the king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes." he was one that was not afraid of the faces of men; and every one knew that it was in vain to attempt to deter him from doing what, on mature consideration, he had determined he ought to do. every thing in him was great and becoming a man in his public station. perhaps never was there a man that appeared in new england to whom the denomination of a _great man_ did more properly belong. but though he was one that was great among men, exalted above others in abilities and greatness of mind and in place of rule, and feared not the faces of men, yet he feared god. he was strictly conscientious in his conduct, both in public and private. i never knew the man that seemed more steadfastly and immovably to act by principle and according to rules and maxims, established and settled in his mind by the dictates of his judgment and conscience. he was a man of strict justice and fidelity. faithfulness was eminently his character. some of his greatest opponents that have been of the contrary party to him in public affairs, yet have openly acknowledged this of him, that he was a faithful man. he was remarkably faithful in his public trusts: he would not basely betray his trust, from fear or favor. it was in vain to expect it, however men might oppose him or neglect him, and how great soever they were. nor would he neglect the public interest, wherein committed to him, for the sake of his own ease, but diligently and laboriously watched and labored for it night and day. and he was faithful in private affairs as well as public: he was a most faithful friend, faithful to any one that in any case asked his counsel; and his fidelity might be depended on in whatever affair he undertook for any of his neighbors. he was a noted instance of the virtue of temperance, unalterable in it, in all places, in all companies, and in the midst of all temptations. though he was a man of a great spirit, yet he had a remarkable government of his spirit; and excelled in the government of his tongue. in the midst of all provocations he met with, among the multitudes he had to deal with, and the great multiplicity of perplexing affairs in which he was concerned, and all the opposition and reproaches he was at any time the subject of; yet what was there that ever proceeded out of his mouth that his enemies could lay hold of? no profane language, no vain, rash, unseemly and unchristian speeches. if at any time he expressed himself with great warmth and vigor, it seemed to be from principle and determination of his judgment, rather than from passion. when he expressed himself strongly and with vehemence, those that were acquainted with him, and well observed him from time to time, might evidently see it was done in consequence of thought and judgment, weighing the circumstances and consequences of things. the calmness and steadiness of his behavior in private, particularly in his family, appeared remarkable and exemplary to those who had most opportunity to observe it. he was thoroughly established in those religious principles and doctrines of the first fathers of new england, usually called the _doctrines of grace_, and had a great detestation of the opposite errors of the present fashionable divinity, as very contrary to the word of god and the experience of every true christian. and as he was a friend to truth, so he was a friend to vital piety and the power of godliness, and ever countenanced and favored it on all occasions. he abhorred profaneness, and was a person of a serious and decent spirit, and ever treated sacred things with reverence. he was exemplary for his decent attendance on the public worship of god. who ever saw him irreverently and indecently lolling and laying down his head to sleep, or gazing and staring about the meeting-house in time of divine service? and as he was able (as was before observed) to discourse very understandingly of experimental religion, so to some persons with whom he was very intimate, he gave intimations sufficiently plain, while conversing of these things, that they were matters of his own experience. and some serious persons in civil authority that have ordinarily differed from him in matters of government, yet, on some occasional close conversation with him on things of religion, have manifested a high opinion of him as to real experimental piety. as he was known to be a serious person, and an enemy to a profane or vain conversation, so he was feared on that account by great and small. when he was in the room, only his presence was sufficient to maintain decency; though many were there that were accounted gentlemen and great men, who otherwise were disposed to take a much greater freedom in their talk and behavior than they dared to do in his presence. he was not unmindful of death, nor insensible of his own frailty, nor did death come unexpected to him. for some years past he has spoken much to some persons of dying and going into the eternal world, signifying that he did not expect to continue long here. added to all these things that have been mentioned to render him eminently a _strong rod_, he was attended with many circumstances which tended to give him advantage for the exerting of his strength for the public good. he was honorably descended, was a man of considerable substance, had been long in authority, was extensively known and honored abroad, was high in the esteem of the many tribes of indians in the neighborhood of the british colonies, and so had great influence upon them above any other man in new england; god had endowed him with a comely presence and majesty of countenance, becoming the great qualities of his mind and the place in which god had set him. in the exercise of these qualities and endowments, under these advantages, he has been, as it were, a father to this part of the land, on whom the whole county had, under god, its dependence in all its public affairs, and especially since the beginning of the present war.° how much the weight of all the warlike concerns of the county (which above any part of the land lies exposed to the enemy) has lain on his shoulders, and how he has been the spring of all motion and the doer of every thing that has been done, and how wisely and faithfully he has conducted these affairs, i need not inform this congregation. you well know that he took care of the county as a father of a family of children, not neglecting men's lives and making light of their blood; but with great diligence, vigilance and prudence applying himself continually to the proper means of our safety and welfare. and especially has this his native town, where he has dwelt from his infancy, reaped the benefit of his happy influence: his wisdom has been, under god, very much our guide, and his authority our support and strength, and he has been a great honor to northampton and ornament to our church. he continued in full capacity of usefulness while he lived; he was indeed considerably advanced in years, but his powers of mind were not sensibly abated, and his strength of body was not so impaired but that he was able to go long journeys, in extreme heat and cold, and in a short time. but now this "strong rod is broken and withered," and surely the judgment of god therein is very awful, and the dispensation that which may well be for a lamentation. probably we shall be more sensible of the worth and importance of such a strong rod by the want of it. the awful voice of god in this providence is worthy to be attended to by this whole province, and especially by the people of this county, but in a more peculiar manner by us of this town. we have now this testimony of the divine displeasure added to all the other dark clouds god has lately brought over us, and his awful frowns upon us. 'tis a dispensation, on many accounts, greatly calling for our humiliation and fear before god; an awful manifestation of his supreme, universal and absolute dominion, calling us to adore the divine sovereignty and tremble at the presence of this great god. and it is a lively instance of human frailty and mortality. we see how that none are out of the reach of death, that no greatness, no authority, no wisdom and sagacity, no honorableness of person or station, no degree of valuableness and importance exempts from the stroke of death. this is therefore a loud and solemn warning to all sorts to prepare for their departure hence. and the memory of this person who is now gone, who was made so great a blessing while he lived, should engage us to show respect and kindness to his family. this we should do both out of respect to him and to his father, your former eminent pastor, who in his day was, in a remarkable manner, a father to this part of the land in spirituals, and especially to this town, as this his son has been in temporals.--god greatly resented it, when the children of israel did not show kindness to the house of jerubbaal that had been made an instrument of so much good to them: judges viii. , "neither showed they kindness to the house of jerrubbaal, according to all the good which he had showed unto israel." vii a farewell sermon° cor. i. .--as also you have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the lord jesus. the apostle, in the preceding part of the chapter, declares what great troubles he met with in the course of his ministry. in the text and two foregoing verses, he declares what were his comforts and supports under the troubles he met with. there are four things in particular. . that he had approved himself to his own conscience, verse : "for our own rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of god, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward." . another thing he speaks of as matter of comfort is, that as he had approved himself to his own conscience, so he had also to the consciences of his hearers, the corinthians, whom he now wrote to, and that they should approve of him at the day of judgment. . the hope he had of seeing the blessed fruit of his labors and sufferings in the ministry, in their happiness and glory, in that great day of accounts. . that, in his ministry among the corinthians, he had approved himself to his judge, who would approve and reward his faithfulness in that day. these three last particulars are signified in my text and the preceding verse; and, indeed, all the four are implied in the text. 'tis implied that the corinthians had acknowledged him as their spiritual father and as one that had been faithful among them, and as the means of their future joy and glory at the day of judgment, and one whom they should then see, and have a joyful meeting with as such. 'tis implied, that the apostle expected at that time to have a joyful meeting with them before the judge, and with joy to behold their glory, as the fruit of his labors; and so they would be his rejoicing. 'tis implied also that he then expected to be approved of the great judge, when he and they should meet together before him; and that he would then acknowledge his fidelity, and that this had been the means of their glory; and that thus he would, as it were, give them to him as his crown of rejoicing. but this the apostle could not hope for, unless he had the testimony of his own conscience in his favor. and therefore the words do imply, in the strongest manner, that he had approved himself to his own conscience. there is one thing implied in each of these particulars, and in every part of the text, which is that point i shall make the subject of my present discourse, viz.: doct[rine] _ministers, and the people that are under their care, must meet one another before christ's tribunal at the day of judgment._ ministers, and the people that have been under their care, must be parted in this world, how well soever they have been united: if they are not separated before, they must be parted by death; and they may be separated while life is continued. we live in a world of change, where nothing is certain or stable; and where a little time, a few revolutions of the sun bring to pass strange things, surprising alterations, in particular persons, in families, in towns and churches, in countries and nations. it often happens, that those who seem most united, in a little time are most disunited, and at the greatest distance. thus ministers and people, between whom there has been the greatest mutual regard and strictest union, may not only differ in their judgments, and be alienated in affection, but one may rend from the other, and all relation between them be dissolved; the minister may be removed to a distant place, and they may never have any more to do with one another in this world. but if it be so, there is one meeting more that they must have, and that is in the last great day of accounts. here i would show, i. in what manner ministers, and the people who have been under their care, shall meet one another at the day of judgment. ii. for what purposes. iii. for what reasons god has so ordered it, that ministers and their people shall then meet together in such a manner, and for such purposes. i. i would show, in some particulars, in what manner ministers, and the people who have been under their care, shall meet one another at the day of judgment. concerning this i would observe two things in general. . that they shall not then meet only as all mankind must then meet, but there will be something peculiar in the manner of their meeting. . that their meeting together at that time shall be very different from what used to be in the house of god in this world. . they shall not meet at that day as all the world must then meet together. i would observe a difference in two things. ( ) as to a clear actual view, and distinct knowledge and notice of each other. although the whole world will be then present, all mankind of all generations gathered in one vast assembly, with all of the angelic nature, both elect and fallen angels; yet we need not suppose that every one will have a distinct and particular knowledge of each individual of the whole assembled multitude, which will undoubtedly consist of many millions of millions. though 'tis probable that men's capacities will be much greater than in the present state, yet they will not be infinite; though their understanding and comprehension will be vastly extended, yet men will not be deified. there will probably be a very enlarged view that particular persons will have of various parts and members of that vast assembly, and so of the proceedings of that great day; but yet it must needs be, that according to the nature of finite minds, some persons and some things at that day shall fall more under the notice of particular persons than others; and this (as we may well suppose) according as they shall have a nearer concern with some than others, in the transactions of the day. there will be special reason why those who have had special concerns together in this world, in their state of probation, and whose mutual affairs will be then to be tried and judged, should especially be set in one another's view. thus we may suppose that rulers and subjects, earthly judges and those whom they have judged, neighbors who have had mutual converse, dealings and contests, heads of families and their children and servants, shall then meet, and in a peculiar distinction be set together. and especially will it be thus with ministers and their people. 'tis evident by the text that these shall be in each other's view, shall distinctly know each other, and shall have particular notice one of another at that time. ( ) they shall meet together, as having a special concern one with another in the great transactions of that day. although they shall meet the whole world at that time, yet they will not have any immediate and particular concern with all. yea, the far greater part of those who shall then be gathered together, will be such as they have had no intercourse with in their state of probation, and so will have no mutual concerns to be judged of. but as to ministers, and the people that have been under their care, they will be such as have had much immediate concern one with another, in matters of the greatest moment, that ever mankind have to do one with another in. therefore they especially must meet and be brought together before the judge, as having special concern one with another in the design and business of that great day of accounts. thus their meeting, as to the manner of it, will be diverse from the meeting of mankind in general. . their meeting at the day of judgment will be very diverse from their meetings one with another in this world. ministers and their people, while their relation continues, often meet together in this world. they are wont to meet from sabbath to sabbath, and at other times, for the public worship of god, and administration of ordinances, and the solemn services of god's house. and besides these meetings, they have also occasions to meet for the determining and managing their ecclesiastical affairs, for the exercise of church discipline, and the settling and adjusting those things which concern the purity and good order of public administrations. but their meeting at the day of judgment will be exceeding diverse, in its manner and circumstance, from any such meetings and interviews as they have one with another in the present state. i would observe how, in a few particulars. ( ) now they meet together in a preparatory mutable state, but then in an unchangeable state. now sinners in the congregation meet their minister in a state wherein they are capable of a saving change, capable of being turned, through god's blessing on the ministrations and labors of their pastor, from the power of satan unto god; and being brought out of a state of guilt, condemnation and wrath, to a state of peace and favor with god, to the enjoyment of the privileges of his children, and a title to their eternal inheritance. and saints now meet their minister with great remains of corruption, and sometimes under great spiritual difficulties and affliction: and therefore are yet the proper subjects of means of an happy alteration of their state, consisting in a greater freedom from these things, which they have reason to hope for in the way of an attendance on ordinances, and of which god is pleased commonly to make his ministers the instruments. and ministers and their people now meet in order to the bringing to pass such happy changes; they are the great benefits sought in their solemn meetings in this world. but when they shall meet together at the day of judgment, it will be far otherwise. they will not then meet in order to the use of means for the bringing to effect any such changes; for they will all meet in an unchangeable state. sinners will be in an unchangeable state: they who then shall be under the guilt and power of sin, and have the wrath of god abiding on them, shall be beyond all remedy or possibility of change, and shall meet their ministers without any hopes of relief or remedy, or getting any good by their means. and as for the saints, they will be already perfectly delivered from all their before remaining corruption, temptation, and calamities of every kind, and set forever out of their reach; and no deliverance, no happy alteration, will remain to be accomplished in the way of the use of means of grace, under the administrations of ministers. it will then be pronounced, "he that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still." ( ) then they shall meet together in a state of clear, certain and infallible light. ministers are set as guides and teachers, and are represented in scripture as lights set up in the churches; and in the present state meet their people from time to time in order to instruct and enlighten them, to correct their mistakes, and to be a voice behind them, when they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, saying, "this is the way, walk in it;" to evince and confirm the truth by exhibiting the proper evidences of it, and to refute errors and corrupt opinions, to convince the erroneous and establish the doubting. but when christ shall come to judgment, every error and false opinion shall be detected; all deceit and illusion shall vanish away before the light of that day, as the darkness of the night vanishes at the appearance of the rising sun; and every doctrine of the word of god shall then appear in full evidence, and none shall remain unconvinced; all shall know the truth with the greatest certainty, and there shall be no mistakes to rectify. now ministers and their people may disagree in their judgments concerning some matters of religion, and may sometimes meet to confer together concerning those things wherein they differ, and to hear the reasons that may be offered on one side and the other; and all may be ineffectual as to any conviction of the truth: they may meet and part again, no more agreed than before; and that side which was in the wrong may remain so still; sometimes the meetings of ministers with their people in such a case of disagreeing sentiments are attended with unhappy debate and controversy, managed with much prejudice and want of candor; not tending to light and conviction, but rather to confirm and increase darkness, and establish opposition to the truth and alienation of affection one from another. but when they shall hereafter meet together, at the day of judgment, before the tribunal of the great judge, the mind and will of christ will be made known; and there shall no longer be any debate or difference of opinions; the evidence of the truth shall appear beyond all dispute, and all controversies shall be finally and forever decided. now ministers meet their people in order to enlighten and awaken the consciences of sinners: setting before them the great evil and danger of sin, the strictness of god's law, their own wickedness of heart and practice, the great guilt they are under, the wrath that abides upon them, and their impotence, blindness, poverty, and helpless and undone condition: but all is often in vain; they remain still, notwithstanding all their ministers can say, stupid and unawakened, and their consciences unconvinced. but it will not be so at their last meeting at the day of judgment; sinners, when they shall meet their minister before their great judge, will not meet him with a stupid conscience: they will then be fully convinced of the truth of those things which they formerly heard from him, concerning the greatness and terrible majesty of god, his holiness, and hatred of sin, and his awful justice in punishing it, the strictness of his law, and the dreadfulness and truth of his threatenings, and their own unspeakable guilt and misery: and they shall never more be insensible of these things: the eyes of conscience will now be fully enlightened, and never shall be blinded again: the mouth of conscience shall now be opened, and never shall be shut any more. now ministers meet with their people, in public and private, in order to enlighten them concerning the state of their souls; to open and apply the rules of god's word to them, in order to their searching their own hearts, and discerning the state that they are in. but now ministers have no infallible discerning of the state of the souls of their own people; and the most skilful of them are liable to mistakes, and often are mistaken in things of this nature. nor are the people able certainly to know the state of their minister, or one another's state; very often those pass among them for saints, and it may be eminent saints, that are grand hypocrites; and on the other hand, those are sometimes censured, or hardly received into their charity, that are indeed some of god's jewels. and nothing is more common than for men to be mistaken concerning their own state: many that are abominable to god, and the children of his wrath, think highly of themselves, as his precious saints and dear children. yea, there is reason to think that often some that are most bold in their confidence of their safe and happy state, and think themselves not only true saints, but the most eminent saints in the congregation, are in a peculiar manner a smoke in god's nose. and thus it undoubtedly often is in those congregations where the word of god is most faithfully dispensed, notwithstanding all that ministers can say in their clearest explications and most searching applications of the doctrines and rules of god's word to the souls of their hearers, in their meetings one with another. but in the day of judgment they shall have another sort of meeting; then the secrets of every heart shall be made manifest, and every man's state shall be perfectly known: cor. iv. , "therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of god." then none shall be deceived concerning his own state, nor shall be any more in doubt about it. there shall be an eternal end to all the ill conceit and vain hopes of deluded hypocrites, and all the doubts and fears of sincere christians. and then shall all know the state of one another's souls: the people shall know whether their minister has been sincere and faithful, and the ministers shall know the state of every one of their people, and to whom the word and ordinances of god have been a savor of life unto life, and to whom a savor of death unto death. now in this present state it often happens that when ministers and people meet together to debate and manage their ecclesiastical affairs, especially in a state of controversy, they are ready to judge and censure one another with regard to each other's views and designs, and the principles and ends that each is influenced by; and are greatly mistaken in their judgment, and wrong one another with regard to each other's views and designs and the principles and ends that each is influenced by, and are greatly mistaken in their judgment, and wrong one another in their censures. but at that future meeting, things will be set in a true and perfect light, and the principles and aims that every one has acted from shall be certainly known; and there will be an end to all errors of this kind, and all unrighteous censures. ( ) in this world, ministers and their people often meet together to hear of and wait upon an unseen lord; but at the day of judgment they shall meet in his most immediate and visible presence. ministers, who now often meet their people to preach to 'em the king eternal, immortal, and invisible, to convince 'em that there is a god, and declare to 'em what manner of being he is, and to convince 'em that he governs and will judge the world, and that there is a future state of rewards and punishments, and to preach to 'em a christ in heaven and at the right hand of god in an unseen world, shall then meet their people in the most immediate sensible presence of this great god, saviour and judge, appearing in the most plain, visible and open manner, with great glory, with all his holy angels, before them and the whole world. they shall not meet them to hear about an absent christ, an unseen lord and future judge; but to appear before that judge, and as being set together in the presence of that supreme lord, in his immense glory and awful majesty, whom they have heard so often of in their meetings together on earth. ( ) the meeting, at the last day, of ministers, and the people that have been under their care, will not be attended by any one with a careless, heedless heart. with such an heart are their meetings often attended in this world by many persons, having little regard to him whom they pretend unitedly to adore in the solemn duties of his public worship, taking little heed to their own thoughts or frame of their minds, not attending to the business they are engaged in, or considering the end for which they are come together. but the meeting at that great day will be very different: there will not be one careless heart, no sleeping, no wandering of mind from the great concern of the meeting, no inattentiveness to the business of the day, no regardlessness of the presence they are in, or of those great things which they shall hear from christ at that meeting, or that they formerly heard from him and of him by their ministers, in their meeting in a state of trial, or which they shall now hear their ministers declaring concerning them before their judge. having observed these things concerning the manner and circumstances of this future meeting of ministers and the people that have been under their care, before the tribunal of christ at the day of judgment, i now proceed, ii. to observe to what purposes they shall then meet. . to give an account, before the great judge, of their behavior one to another in the relation they stood in to each other in this world. ministers are sent forth by christ to their people on his business, are his servants and messengers; and, when they have finished their service, they must return to their master to give him an account of what they have done, and of the entertainment they have had in performing their ministry. thus we find, in luke xiv. - , that when the servant who was sent forth to call the guests to the great supper had done his errand, and finished his appointed service, he returned to his master, and gave him an account of what he had done, and of the entertainment he had received. and when the master, being angry, sent his servant to others, he returns again, and gives his master an account of his conduct and success. so we read, in heb. xiii. , of ministers being rulers in the house of god, "that watch for souls, as those that must give account." and we see by the forementioned luke xiv., that ministers must give an account to their master, not only of their own behavior in the discharge of their office, but also of their people's reception of them, and of the treatment they have met with among them. and therefore, as they will be called to give an account of both, they shall give an account at the great day of accounts in the presence of their people; they and their people being both present before their judge. faithful ministers will then give an account with joy, concerning those who have received them well and made a good improvement of their ministry; and these will be given 'em, at that day, as their crown of rejoicing. and, at the same time, they will give an account of the ill treatment of such as have not well received them and their messages from christ: they will meet these, not as they used to do in this world, to counsel and warn them, but to bear witness against them, and as their judges and assessors with christ, to condemn them. and on the other hand, the people will, at that day, rise up in judgment against wicked and unfaithful ministers who have sought their own temporal interest more than the good of the souls of their flock. . at that time ministers, and the people who have been under their care, shall meet together before christ, that he may judge between them, as to any controversies which have subsisted between them in this world. so it very often comes to pass in this evil world, that great differences and controversies arise between ministers and the people that are under their pastoral care. though they are under the greatest obligations to live in peace, above persons in almost any relation whatever; and although contests and dissensions between persons so related are the most unhappy and terrible in their consequences, on many accounts, of any sort of contentions; yet how frequent have such contentions been! sometimes a people contest with their ministers about their doctrine, sometimes about their administrations and conduct, and sometimes about their maintenance; and sometimes such contests continue a long time; and sometimes they are decided in this world according to the prevailing interest of one party or the other, rather than by the word of god and the reason of things; and sometimes such controversies never have any proper determination in this world. but at the day of judgment there will be a full, perfect and everlasting decision of them. the infallible judge, the infinite fountain of light, truth and justice, will judge between the contending parties, and will declare what is the truth, who is in the right, and what is agreeable to his mind and will. and in order hereto the parties must stand together before him at the last day; which will be the great day of finishing and determining all controversies, rectifying all mistakes and abolishing all unrighteous judgments, errors and confusions, which have before subsisted in the world of mankind. . ministers, and the people that have been under their care, must meet together at that time to receive an eternal sentence and retribution from the judge, in the presence of each other, according to their behavior in the relation they stood in one to another in the present state. the judge will not only declare justice, but he will do justice between ministers and their people. he will declare what is right between them, approving him that has been just and faithful, and condemning the unjust; and perfect truth and equity shall take place in the sentence which he passes, in the rewards he bestows and the punishments which he inflicts. there shall be a glorious reward to faithful ministers: to those who have been successful: dan. xii. , "and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever;" and also to those who have been faithful, and yet not successful: isa. xlix. , "then i said, i have labored in vain, i have spent my strength for nought: yet surely my judgment is with the lord, and my reward with my god." and those who have well received and entertained them shall be gloriously rewarded: matt. x. , , "he that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." such people, and their faithful ministers, shall be each other's crown of rejoicing: thess. ii. , , "for what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence of our lord jesus christ at his coming? for ye are our glory and joy." and in the text, _we are your rejoicing, as ye also are ours, in the day of the lord jesus_. but they that evil entreat christ's faithful ministers, especially in that wherein they are faithful, shall be severely punished: matt. x. , , "and whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. verily i say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the sinners of sodom and gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city." deut. xxxiii. - , "and of levi he said, let thy urim and thy thummim be with thy holy one.... they shall teach jacob thy judgments, and israel thy law.... bless, lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again." on the other hand, those ministers who are found to have been unfaithful shall have a most terrible punishment. see ezek. xxxiii. ; matt. xxiii. - . thus justice shall be administered at the great day to ministers and their people. and to that end they shall meet together, that they may not only receive justice to themselves, but see justice done to the other party: for this is the end of that great day, to reveal or declare the righteous judgment of god, rom. ii. . ministers shall have justice done them, and they shall see justice done to their people: and the people shall receive justice and see justice done to their minister. and so all things will be adjusted and settled forever between them; every one being sentenced and recompensed according to his works, either in receiving and wearing a crown of eternal joy and glory, or in suffering everlasting shame and pain. i come now to the next thing proposed, viz., iii. to give some reasons why we may suppose god has so ordered it, that ministers, and the people that have been under their care, shall meet together at the day of judgment, in such a manner and for such purposes. there are two things which i would now observe: . the mutual concerns of ministers and their people are of the greatest importance. the scripture declares, that god will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. 'tis fit that all the concerns and all the behavior of mankind, both public and private, should be brought at last before god's tribunal, and finally determined by an infallible judge: but it is especially requisite that it should be thus, as to affairs of very great importance. now the mutual concerns of a christian minister and his church and congregation are of the vastest importance: in many respects, of much greater moment than the temporal concerns of the greatest earthly monarchs and their kingdoms or empires. it is of vast consequence how ministers discharge their office, and conduct themselves towards their people in the work of the ministry, and in affairs appertaining to it. 'tis also a matter of vast importance, how a people receive and entertain a faithful minister of christ, and what improvement they make of his ministry. these things have a more immediate and direct respect to the great and last end for which man was made, and the eternal welfare of mankind, than any of the temporal concerns of men, whether public or private. and therefore 'tis especially fit that these affairs should be brought into judgment and openly determined and settled in truth and righteousness; and that to this end, ministers and their people should meet together before the omniscient and infallible judge. . the mutual concerns of ministers and their people have a special relation to the main things appertaining to the day of judgment. they have a special relation to that great and divine person who will then appear as judge. ministers are his messengers, sent forth by him; and, in their office and administrations among their people, represent his person, stand in his stead, as those that are sent to declare his mind, to do his work and to speak and act in his name. and therefore 'tis especially fit that they should return to him, to give an account of their work and success. the king is judge of all his subjects, they are all accountable to him. but it is more especially requisite that the king's ministers, who are especially intrusted with the administrations of his kingdom, and that are sent forth on some special negotiation, should return to him, to give an account of themselves, and their discharge of their trust, and the reception they have met with. ministers are not only messengers of the person who at the last day will appear as judge, but the errand they are sent upon, and the affairs they have committed to them as his ministers, do most immediately concern his honor and the interest of his kingdom. the work they are sent upon is to promote the designs of his administration and government; and therefore their business with their people has a near relation to the day of judgment; for the great end of that day is completely to settle and establish the affairs of his kingdom, to adjust all things that pertain to it, that every thing that is opposite to the interests of his kingdom may be removed, and that every thing which contributes to the completeness and glory of it may be perfected and confirmed, that this great king may receive his due honor and glory. again, the mutual concerns of ministers and their people have a direct relation to the concerns of the day of judgment, as the business of ministers with their people is to promote the eternal salvation of the souls of men and their escape from eternal damnation; and the day of judgment is the day appointed for that end, openly to decide and settle men's eternal state, to fix some in a state of eternal salvation and to bring their salvation to its utmost consummation, and to fix others in a state of everlasting damnation and most perfect misery. the mutual concerns of ministers and people have a most direct relation to the day of judgment, as the very design of the work of the ministry is the people's preparation for that day. ministers are sent to warn them of the approach of that day, to forewarn them of the dreadful sentence then to be pronounced on the wicked, and declare to them the blessed sentence then to be pronounced on the righteous, and to use means with them that they may escape the wrath which is then to come on the ungodly, and obtain the reward then to be bestowed on the saints. and as the mutual concerns of ministers and their people have so near and direct a relation to that day, it is especially fit that those concerns should be brought into that day, and there settled and issued; and that in order to this, ministers and their people should meet and appear together before the great judge at that day. application the improvement i would make of the things which have been observed, is to lead the people here present who have been under my pastoral care to some reflections, and give them some advice suitable to our present circumstances; relating to what has been lately done in order to our being separated, as to the relation we have heretofore stood in one to another; but expecting to meet each other before the great tribunal at the day of judgment. the deep and serious consideration of that our future most solemn meeting is certainly most suitable at such a time as this; there having so lately been that done, which, in all probability, will (as to the relation we have heretofore stood in) be followed with an everlasting separation. how often have we met together in the house of god in this relation! how often have i spoke to you, instructed, counselled, warned, directed and fed you, and administered ordinances among you, as the people which were committed to my care, and whose precious souls i had the charge of! but in all probability this never will be again.° the prophet jeremiah (chap. xxv. ), puts the people in mind how long he had labored among them in the work of the ministry: "from the thirteenth year of josiah the son of amon king of judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the lord came unto me, and i have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking." i am not about to compare myself with the prophet jeremiah; but in this respect i can say as he did, that "i have spoken the word of god to you unto the three and twentieth year, rising early and speaking." it was three and twenty years, the th day of last february, since i have labored in the work of the ministry, in the relation of a pastor to this church and congregation. and though my strength has been weakness, having always labored under great infirmity of body, besides my insufficiency for so great a charge in other respects, yet i have not spared my feeble strength, but have exerted it for the good of your souls. i can appeal to you as the apostle does to his bearers, gal. iv. , "ye know how through infirmity of the flesh i preached the gospel unto you." i have spent the prime of my life and strength in labors for your eternal welfare. you are my witnesses, that what strength i have had i have not neglected in idleness, nor laid out in prosecuting worldly schemes and managing temporal affairs, for the advancement of my outward estate, and aggrandizing myself and family; but have given myself wholly to the work of the ministry, laboring in it night and day, rising early and applying myself to this great business to which christ appointed me. i have found the work of the ministry among you to be a great work indeed, a work of exceeding care, labor and difficulty: many have been the heavy burdens that i have borne in it, which my strength has been very unequal to. god called me to bear these burdens; and i bless his name, that he has so supported me as to keep me from sinking under them, and that his power herein has been manifested in my weakness; so that although i have often been troubled on every side, yet i have not been distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed. but now i have reason to think my work is finished which i had to do as your minister: you have publicly rejected me, and my opportunities cease. how highly therefore does it now become us to consider of that time when we must meet one another before the chief shepherd! when i must give an account of my stewardship, of the service i have done for, and the reception and treatment i have had among, the people he sent me to: and you must give an account of your own conduct towards me, and the improvement you have made of these three and twenty years of my ministry. for then both you and i must appear together, and we both must give an account, in order to an infallible, righteous and eternal sentence to be passed upon us by him who will judge us with respect to all that we have said or done in our meeting here, all our conduct one towards another, in the house of god and elsewhere, on sabbath days and on other days; who will try our hearts and manifest our thoughts, and the principles and frames of our minds, will judge us with respect to all the controversies which have subsisted between us, with the strictest impartiality, and will examine our treatment of each other in those controversies. there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid which shall not be known; all will be examined in the searching, penetrating light of god's omniscience and glory, and by him whose eyes are as a flame of fire; and truth and right shall be made plainly to appear, being stripped of every veil; and all error, falsehood, unrighteousness and injury shall be laid open, stripped of every disguise; every specious pretence, every cavil and all false reasoning shall vanish in a moment, as not being able to bear the light of that day. and then our hearts will be turned inside out, and the secrets of them will be made more plainly to appear than our outward actions do now. then it shall appear what the ends are which we have aimed at, what have been the governing principles which we have acted from, and what have been the dispositions we have exercised in our ecclesiastical disputes and contests. then it will appear whether i acted uprightly, and from a truly conscientious, careful regard to my duty to my great lord and master, in some former ecclesiastical controversies, which have been attended with exceeding unhappy circumstances and consequences: it will appear whether there was any just cause for the resentment which was manifested on those occasions. and then our late grand controversy, concerning the qualifications necessary for admission to the privileges of members in complete standing in the visible church of christ, will be examined and judged in all its parts and circumstances, and the whole set forth in a clear, certain and perfect light. then it will appear whether the doctrine which i have preached and published concerning this matter be christ's own doctrine, whether he will not own it as one of the precious truths which have proceeded from his own mouth, and vindicate and honor as such before the whole universe. then it will appear what is meant by "the man that comes without the wedding garment"; for that is the day spoken of, matt. xxii. , wherein such an one shall be bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. and then it will appear whether, in declaring this doctrine, and acting agreeable to it, and in my general conduct in the affair, i have been influenced from any regard to my own temporal interest or honor, or desire to appear wiser than others; or have acted from any sinister, secular views whatsoever; and whether what i have done has not been from a careful, strict and tender regard to the will of my lord and master, and because i dare not offend him, being satisfied what his will was, after a long, diligent, impartial and prayerful inquiry; having this constantly in view and prospect to engage me to great solicitude not rashly to determine truth to be on this side of the question, where i am now persuaded it is, that such a determination would not be for my temporal interest, but every way against it, bringing a long series of extreme difficulties and plunging me into an abyss of trouble and sorrow. and then it will appear whether my people have done their duty to their pastor with respect to this matter; whether they have shown a right temper and spirit on this occasion; whether they have done me justice in hearing, attending to and considering what i had to say in evidence of what i believed and taught as part of the counsel of god; whether i have been treated with that impartiality, candor and regard which the just judge esteemed due; and whether, in the many steps which have been taken and the many things that have been said and done in the course of this controversy, righteousness and charity and christian decorum have been maintained; or, if otherwise, to how great a degree these things have been violated. then every step of the conduct of each of us in this affair, from first to last, and the spirit we have exercised in all shall be examined and manifested, and our own consciences shall speak plain and loud, and each of us shall be convinced, and the world shall know; and never shall there be any more mistake, misrepresentation or misapprehension of the affair to eternity. this controversy is now probably brought to an issue between you and me as to this world; it has issued in the event of the week before last: but it must have another decision at that great day, which certainly will come, when you and i shall meet together before the great judgment seat: and therefore i leave it to that time, and shall say no more about it at present. but i would now proceed to address myself particularly to several sorts of persons. i. to those who are professors of godliness amongst us. i would now call you to a serious consideration of that great day wherein you must meet him who has heretofore been your pastor, before the judge whose eyes are as a flame of fire. i have endeavored, according to my best ability, to search the word of god, with regard to the distinguishing notes of true piety, those by which persons might best discover their state, and most surely and clearly judge of themselves. and these rules and marks i have from time to time applied to you in the preaching of the word to the utmost of my skill, and in the most plain and searching manner that i have been able, in order to the detecting the deceived hypocrite and establishing the hopes and comforts of the sincere. and yet 'tis to be feared, that after all that i have done, i now leave some of you in a deceived, deluded state; for 'tis not to be supposed that among several hundred professors, none are deceived. henceforward i am like to have no more opportunity to take the care and charge of your souls, to examine and search them. but still i entreat you to remember and consider the rules which i have often laid down to you during my ministry, with a solemn regard to the future day when you and i must meet together before our judge; when the uses of examination you have heard from me must be rehearsed again before you, and those rules of trial must be tried, and it will appear whether they have been good or not; and it will also appear whether you have impartially heard them, and tried yourselves by them; and the judge himself, who is infallible, will try both you and me: and after this none will be deceived concerning the state of their souls. i have often put you in mind that, whatever your pretences to experiences, discoveries, comforts and joys have been, at that day every one will be judged according to his works; and then you will find it so. may you have a minister of greater knowledge of the word of god and better acquaintance with soul cases, and of greater skill in applying himself to souls, whose discourses may be more searching and convincing; that such of you as have held fast deceit under my preaching may have your eyes opened by his; that you may be undeceived before that great day. what means and helps for instruction and self-examination you may hereafter have is uncertain; but one thing is certain, that the time is short, your opportunity for rectifying mistakes in so important a concern will soon come to an end. we live in a world of great changes. there is now a great change come to pass; you have withdrawn yourselves from my ministry under which you have continued for so many years: but the time is coming, and will soon come, when you will pass out of time into eternity; and so will pass from under all means of grace whatsoever. the greater part of you who are professors of godliness have (to use the phrase of the apostle) "acknowledged me in part": you have heretofore acknowledged me to be your spiritual father, the instrument of the greatest good to you that ever is or can be obtained by any of the children of men. consider of that day when you and i shall meet before our judge, when it shall be examined whether you have had from me the treatment which is due to spiritual children, and whether you have treated me as you ought to have treated a spiritual father. as the relation of a natural parent brings great obligations on children in the sight of god; so much more, in many respects, does the relation of a spiritual father bring great obligations on such whose conversation and eternal salvation they suppose god has made them the instrument of: cor. iv. . "for though you have ten thousand instructors in christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in christ jesus i have begotten you through the gospel." ii. now i am taking my leave of this people i would apply myself to such among them as i leave in a christless, graceless condition; and would call on such seriously to consider of that solemn day when they and i must meet before the judge of the world. my parting with you is in some respects in a peculiar manner a melancholy parting; inasmuch as i leave you in most melancholy circumstances; because i leave you in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity, having the wrath of god abiding on you, and remaining under condemnation to everlasting misery and destruction. seeing i must leave you, it would have been a comfortable and happy circumstance of our parting if i had left you in christ, safe and blessed in that sure refuge and glorious rest of the saints. but it is otherwise. i leave you far off, aliens and strangers, wretched subjects and captives of sin and satan and prisoners of vindictive justice; without christ and without god in the world. your consciences bear me witness, that while i had opportunity, i have not ceased to warn you and set before you your danger. i have studied to represent the misery and necessity of your circumstances in the clearest manner possible. i have tried all ways that i could think of tending to awaken your consciences, and make you sensible of the necessity of your improving your time, and being speedy in flying from the wrath to come and thorough in the use of means for your escape and safety. i have diligently endeavored to find out and use the most powerful motives to persuade you to take care for your own welfare and salvation. i have not only endeavored to awaken you, that you might be moved with fear, but i have used my utmost endeavors to win you: i have sought out acceptable words, that if possible i might prevail upon you to forsake sin, and turn to god, and accept of christ as your saviour and lord. i have spent my strength very much in these things. but yet, with regard to you whom i am now speaking to, i have not been successful: but have this day reason to complain in those words, jer. vi. : "the bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away." 'tis to be feared that all my labors, as to many of you, have served no other purpose but to harden you; and that the word which i have preached, instead of being a savor of life unto life, has been a savor of death unto death. though i shall not have any account to give for the future of such as have openly and resolutely renounced my ministry, as of a betrustment committed to me: yet remember you must give account for yourselves of your care of your own souls, and your improvement of all means past and future, through your whole lives. god only knows what will become of your poor, perishing souls, what means you may hereafter enjoy, or what disadvantages and temptations you may be under. may god in his mercy grant that, however all past means have been unsuccessful, you may have future means which may have a new effect; and that the word of god, as it shall be hereafter dispensed to you, may prove as the fire and the hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. however, let me now at parting exhort and beseech you not wholly to forget the warnings you have had while under my ministry. when you and i shall meet at the day of judgment, then you will remember 'em: the sight of me, your former minister, on that occasion, will soon revive 'em in your memory; and that in a very affecting manner. o don't let that be the first time that they are so revived. you and i are now parting one from another as to this world; let us labor that we mayn't be parted after our meeting at the last day. if i have been your faithful pastor (which will that day appear, whether i have or no), then i shall be acquitted, and shall ascend with christ. o do your part, that in such a case it may not be so, that you should be forced eternally to part from me and all that have been faithful in christ jesus. this is a sorrowful parting that now is between you and me, but that would be a more sorrowful parting to you than this. this you may perhaps bear without being much affected with it, if you are not glad of it; but such a parting in that day will most deeply, sensibly and dreadfully affect you. iii. i would address myself to those who are under some awakenings. blessed be god that there are some such, and that (although i have reason to fear i leave multitudes in this large congregation in a christless state) yet i do not leave them all in total stupidity and carelessness about their souls. some of you that i have reason to hope are under some awakenings, have acquainted me with your circumstances; which has a tendency to cause me, now i am leaving you, to take my leave of you with peculiar concern for you. what will be the issue of your present exercise of mind i know not: but it will be known at that day, when you and i shall meet before the judgment seat of christ. therefore now be much in consideration of that day. now i am parting with this flock, i would once more press upon you the counsels i have heretofore given, to take heed of being slighty in so great a concern, to be thorough and in good earnest in the affair, and to beware of backsliding, to hold on and hold out to the end. and cry mightily to god, that these great changes that pass over this church and congregation don't prove your overthrow. there is great temptation in them; and the devil will undoubtedly seek to make his advantage of them, if possible to cause your present convictions and endeavors to be abortive. you had need to double your diligence, and watch and pray, lest you be overcome by temptation. whoever may hereafter stand related to you as your spiritual guide, my desire and prayer is, that the great shepherd of the sheep would have a special respect to you, and be your guide (for there is none teacheth like him), and that he who is the infinite fountain of light would "open your eyes, and turn you from darkness unto light, and from the power of satan unto god; that you may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified, through faith that is in christ;" that so, in that great day, when i shall meet you again before your judge and mine, we may meet in joyful and glorious circumstances, never to be separated any more. iv. i would apply myself to the young people of the congregation. since i have been settled in the work of the ministry in this place i have ever had a peculiar concern for the souls of the young people, and a desire that religion might flourish among them: and have especially exerted myself in order to it; because i knew the special opportunity they had beyond others, and that ordinarily those whom god intended mercy for, were brought to fear and love him in their youth. and it has ever appeared to me a peculiarly amiable thing, to see young people walking in the ways of virtue and christian piety, having their hearts purified and sweetened with a principle of divine love. and it has appeared a thing exceeding beautiful, and what would be much to the adorning and happiness of the town, if the young people could be persuaded when they meet together, to converse as christians, and as the children of god; avoiding impurity, levity and extravagance; keeping strictly to the rules of virtue, and conversing together of the things of god and christ and heaven. this is what i have longed for: and it has been exceeding grievous to me when i have heard of vice, vanity and disorder among our youth. and so far as i know my own heart, it was from hence that i formerly led this church to some measures for the suppressing of vice among our young people, which gave so great offence, and by which i became so obnoxious.° i have sought the good, and not the hurt of our young people. i have desired their truest honor and happiness, and not their reproach; knowing that true virtue and religion tended not only to the glory and felicity of young people in another world, but their greatest peace and prosperity, and highest dignity and honor, in this world; and above all things to sweeten and render pleasant and delightful even the days of youth. but whether i have loved you and sought your good more or less, yet god in his providence now calling me to part with you, committing your souls to him who once committed the pastoral care of them to me, nothing remains but only (as i am now taking my leave of you) earnestly to beseech you, from love to yourselves, if you have none to me, not to despise and forget the warnings and counsels i have so often given you; remembering the day when you and i must meet again before the great judge of quick and dead; when it will appear whether the things i have taught you were true, whether the counsels i have given you were good, and whether i truly sought your good, and whether you have well improved my endeavors. i have, from time to time, earnestly warned you against frolicking (as it is called), and some other liberties commonly taken by young people in the land. and whatever some may say in justification of such liberties and customs, and may laugh at warnings against them, i now leave you my parting testimony against such things; not doubting but god will approve and confirm it in that day when we shall meet before him.° v. i would apply myself to the children of the congregation, the lambs of this flock, who have been so long under my care. i have just now said that i have had a peculiar concern for the young people; and in so saying i did not intend to exclude you. you are in youth, and in the most early youth: and therefore i have been sensible that if those that were young had a precious opportunity for their souls' good, you who are very young had, in many respects, a peculiarly precious opportunity. and accordingly i have not neglected you: i have endeavored to do the part of a faithful shepherd, in feeding the lambs as well as the sheep. christ did once commit the care of your souls to me as your minister; and you know, dear children, how i have instructed you, and warned you from time to time; you know how i have often called you together for that end; and some of you, sometimes, have seemed to be affected with what i have said to you. but i am afraid it has had no saving effects as to many of you; but that you remain still in an unconverted condition, without any real saving work wrought in your souls, convincing you thoroughly of your sin and misery, causing you to see the great evil of sin, and to mourn for it, and hate it above all things, and giving you a sense of the excellency of the lord jesus christ, bringing you with all your hearts to cleave to him as your saviour, weaning your hearts from the world, and causing you to love god above all, and to delight in holiness more than in all the pleasant things of this earth; and so that i now leave you in a miserable condition, having no interest in christ, and so under the awful displeasure and anger of god, and in danger of going down to the pit of eternal misery. but now i must bid you farewell: i must leave you in the hands of god; i can do no more for you than to pray for you. only i desire you not to forget, but often think of the counsels and warnings i have given you, and the endeavors i have used, that your souls might be saved from everlasting destruction. dear children, i leave you in an evil world, that is full of snares and temptations. god only knows what will become of you. this the scripture hath told us, that there are but few saved; and we have abundant confirmation of it from what we see. this we see, that children die as well as others: multitudes die before they grow up; and of those that grow up, comparatively few ever give good evidence of saving conversion to god. i pray god to pity you, and take care of you, and provide for you the best means for the good of your souls; and that god himself would undertake for you to be your heavenly father and the mighty redeemer of your immortal souls. do not neglect to pray for yourselves: take heed you ben't of the number of those who cast off fear and restrain prayer before god. constantly pray to god in secret; and often remember that great day when you must appear before the judgment seat of christ, and meet your minister there, who has so often counselled and warned you. i conclude with a few words of advice to all in general, in some particulars, which are of great importance in order to the welfare and prosperity of this church and congregation. . one thing that greatly concerns you, as you would be a happy people, is the maintaining of family order. we have had great disputes how the church ought to be regulated; and indeed the subject of these disputes was of great importance: but the due regulation of your families is of no less, and, in some respects, of much greater importance. every christian family ought to be as it were a little church, consecrated to christ, and wholly influenced and governed by his rules. and family education and order are some of the chief of the means of grace. if these fail, all other means are like to prove ineffectual. if these are duly maintained, all the means of grace will be like to prosper and be successful. let me now, therefore, once more, before i finally cease to speak to this congregation, repeat and earnestly press the counsel which i have often urged on heads of families here, while i was their pastor, to great painfulness in teaching, warning and directing their children; bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the lord; beginning early, where there is yet opportunity, and maintaining a constant diligence in labors of this kind; remembering that, as you would not have all your instructions and counsels ineffectual, there must be government as well as instructions, which must be maintained with an even hand and steady resolution, as a guard to the religion and morals of the family and the support of its good order. take heed that it be not with any of you as with eli of old, who reproved his children but restrained them not; and that, by this means, you don't bring the like curse on your families as he did on his. and let children obey their parents, and yield to their instructions, and submit to their orders, as they would inherit a blessing and not a curse. for we have reason to think, from many things in the word of god, that nothing has a greater tendency to bring a curse on persons in this world, and on all their temporal concerns, than an undutiful, unsubmissive, disorderly behavior in children towards their parents. . as you would seek the future prosperity of this society, it is of vast importance that you should avoid contention. a contentious people will be a miserable people. the contentions which have been among you, since i first became your pastor, have been one of the greatest burdens i have labored under in the course of my ministry: not only the contentions you have had with me, but those which you have had one with another about your lands and other concerns: because i knew that contention, heat of spirit, evil speaking, and things of the like nature, were directly contrary to the spirit of christianity, and did, in a peculiar manner, tend to drive away god's spirit from a people and to render all means of grace ineffectual, as well as to destroy a people's outward comfort and welfare. let me therefore earnestly exhort you, as you would seek your own future good hereafter, to watch against a contentious spirit.° if you would see good days, seek peace, and ensue it, pet. iii. , . let the contention which has lately been about the terms of christian communion, as it has been the greatest of your contentions, so be the last of them. i would, now i am preaching my farewell sermon, say to you, as the apostle to the corinthians, cor. xiii. , : "finally, brethren, farewell. be perfect, be of one mind, live in peace; and the god of love and peace shall be with you." and here i would particularly advise those that have adhered to me in the late controversy, to watch over their spirits and avoid all bitterness towards others. your temptations are, in some respects, the greatest; because what has been lately done is grievous to you. but however wrong you may think others have done, maintain, with great diligence and watchfulness, a christian meekness and sedateness of spirit; and labor, in this respect, to excel others who are of the contrary part. and this will be the best victory: for "he that rules his spirit, is better than he that takes a city." therefore let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. indulge no revengeful spirit in any wise; but watch and pray against it; and, by all means in your power, seek the prosperity of the town: and never think you behave yourselves as becomes christians, but when you sincerely, sensibly and fervently love all men, of whatever party or opinion, and whether friendly or unkind, just or injurious, to you or your friends, or to the cause and kingdom of christ. . another thing that vastly concerns the future prosperity of this town, is, that you should watch against the encroachments of error; and particularly arminianism and doctrines of like tendency. you were, many of you, as i well remember, much alarmed with the apprehension of the danger of the prevailing of these corrupt principles near sixteen years ago. but the danger then was small in comparison of what appears now. these doctrines at this day are much more prevalent than they were then: the progress they have made in the land, within this seven years, seems to have been vastly greater than at any time in the like space before: and they are still prevailing and creeping into almost all parts of the land, threatening the utter ruin of the credit of those doctrines which are the peculiar glory of the gospel, and the interests of vital piety. and i have of late perceived some things among yourselves that show that you are far from being out of danger, but on the contrary remarkably exposed. the older people may perhaps think themselves sufficiently fortified against infection; but it is fit that all should beware of self-confidence and carnal security, and should remember those needful warnings of sacred writ, "be not high-minded, but fear;" and "let him that stands, take heed lest he fall." but let the case of the older people be as it will, the rising generation are doubtless greatly exposed. these principles are exceeding taking with corrupt nature, and are what young people, at least such as have not their hearts established with grace, are easily led away with. and if these principles should greatly prevail in this town, as they very lately have done in another large town i could name, formerly greatly noted for religion, and so for a long time, it will threaten the spiritual and eternal ruin of this people in the present and future generations. therefore you have need of the greatest and most diligent care and watchfulness with respect to this matter. . another thing which i would advise to, that you may hereafter be a prosperous people, is, that you would give yourselves much to prayer. god is the fountain of all blessing and prosperity, and he will be sought to for his blessing. i would therefore advise you not only to be constant in secret and family prayer, and in the public worship of god in his house, but also often to assemble yourselves in private praying societies. i would advise all such as are grieved for the afflictions of joseph, and sensibly affected with the calamities of this town, of whatever opinion they be with relation to the subject of our late controversy, often to meet together for prayer, and to cry to god for his mercy to themselves, and mercy to this town, and mercy to zion and the people of god in general through the world. . the last article of advice i would give (which doubtless does greatly concern your prosperity), is, that you would take great care with regard to the settlement of a minister, to see to it who, or what manner of person he is that you settle; and particularly in these two respects: ( ) that he be a man of thoroughly sound principles in the scheme of doctrine which he maintains. this you will stand in the greatest need of, especially at such a day of corruption as this is. and in order to obtain such a one, you had need to exercise extraordinary care and prudence. i know the danger. i know the manner of many young gentlemen of corrupt principles, their ways of concealing themselves, the fair, specious disguises they are wont to put on, by which they deceive others, to maintain their own credit, and get themselves into others' confidence and improvement, and secure and establish their own interest, until they see a convenient opportunity to begin more openly to broach and propagate their corrupt tenets. ( ) labor to obtain a man who has an established character, as a person of serious religion and fervent piety. it is of vast importance that those who are settled in this work should be men of true piety, at all times, and in all places; but more especially at some times, and in some towns and churches. and this present time, which is a time wherein religion is in danger, by so many corruptions in doctrine and practice, is in a peculiar manner a day wherein such ministers are necessary. nothing else but sincere piety of heart is at all to be depended on, at such a time as this, as a security to a young man, just coming into the world, from the prevailing infection, or thoroughly to engage him in proper and successful endeavors to withstand and oppose the torrent of error and prejudice against the high, mysterious, evangelical doctrines of the religion of jesus christ, and their genuine effects in true experimental religion. and this place is a place that does peculiarly need such a minister, for reasons obvious to all. if you should happen to settle a minister who knows nothing truly of christ and the way of salvation by him, nothing experimentally of the nature of vital religion; alas, how will you be exposed as sheep without a shepherd! here is need of one in this place, who shall be eminently fit to stand in the gap and make up the hedge, and who shall be as the chariots of israel and the horsemen thereof. you need one that shall stand as a champion in the cause of truth and the power of godliness. having briefly mentioned these important articles of advice, nothing remains but that i now take my leave of you, and bid you all _farewell_; wishing and praying for your best prosperity. i would now commend your immortal souls to him, who formerly committed them to me, expecting the day, when i must meet you again before him, who is the judge of quick and dead. i desire that i may never forget this people, who have been so long my special charge, and that i may never cease fervently to pray for your prosperity. may god bless you with a faithful pastor, one that is well acquainted with his mind and will, thoroughly warning sinners, wisely and skilfully searching professors, and conducting you in the way to eternal blessedness. may you have truly a burning and shining light set up in this candlestick; and may you, not only for a season, but during his whole life, and that a long life, be willing to rejoice in his light. and let me be remembered in the prayers of all god's people that are of a calm spirit, and are peaceable and faithful in israel, of whatever opinion they may be with respect to terms of church communion. and let us all remember and never forget our future solemn meeting on that great day of the lord; the day of infallible decision and of the everlasting and unalterable sentence. amen. notes god glorified in man's dependence . =god glorified.= the title-page of the original edition of this sermon, the first work published by the author, reads as follows: "god glorified in the work of redemption by the greatness of man's dependance upon him, in the whole of it. preached on the publick lecture in boston, july , . and published at the desire of several, ministers and others, in boston, who heard it. by jonathan edwards a.m. pastor of the church of christ in northampton. judges . .--lest israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me. boston: printed by s. kneeland, and t. green, for d. henchman, at the corner shop on the south-side of the town-house. ." the public or thursday lecture, dating from the ordination of the rev. john cotton, in , continued with occasional interruptions till the siege of , later revived and existing, it is claimed, still, or until recently (see dr. samuel a. eliot's preface to _pioneers of religious liberty in america_, boston, ), was famous among the social and religious institutions of colonial boston. at one time the general court regularly adjourned for it; that the governor should keep christmas and neglect it, was regarded by old judge sewall as a matter of grave reproach. the preachers were selected from the most eminent divines, not only of boston, but throughout the colony. it is recorded, for instance, of solomon stoddard, edwards's grandfather and predecessor in the northampton pastorate, that he annually attended the harvard commencement and the day after preached the public lecture. it was a great honor, therefore, for edwards, a young man of twenty-seven, to be invited to preach on this foundation. he himself seems to have fully appreciated both the honor and the opportunity. the original manuscript shows the most careful preparation. in the statement of the doctrine, for example, there are several erasures and corrections before the right formula is hit upon. the printed sermon shows still more elaboration. edwards chose as his subject one aspect of a theme which was central and controlling in his thought--god's sovereignty. his mind had dwelt on this subject in all its bearings from childhood. he had especially meditated upon it as it related to the doctrine of decrees, a doctrine which he found at first revolting, but in the end "exceedingly pleasant, bright, and sweet." no one since augustine has emphasized as he has done the absolute sovereignty of god and the corresponding dependence of man. this conception of god's arbitrary will--arbitrary, not as irrational or unrelated to the divine justice and benevolence, but as being "without restraint, or constraint, or obligation"--was not only the backbone of his system, but its heart, the principle which animates and pulses through the whole of it. it is the ultimate basis alike of his philosophy and of his religious faith. in this his first publication as in the great theological treatises which were his last, he is everywhere the prophet-like champion of this supreme idea in opposition to all those schemes of divinity, generally denominated arminian, which implied in his view a degree of independence in man inconsistent with the absolute sovereignty he regarded as the distinguishing glory of god. the sermon created a profound impression, as is evident both from the immediate demand for its publication, indicated on the title-page, and from the commendatory preface to the original edition signed by two of the foremost ministers of boston, the rev. thomas prince, of the old south church, and the rev. william cooper, of the brattle street church. "it was with no small difficulty," these gentlemen write, "that the author's youth and modesty were prevailed on, to let him appear a preacher in our public lecture, and afterwards to give us a copy of his discourse, at the desire of diverse ministers, and others who heard it. but, as we quickly found him to be a workman that need not be ashamed before his brethren, our satisfaction was the greater, to see him pitching upon so noble a subject, and treating it with so much strength and clearness, as the judicious will perceive in the following composure: a subject which secures to god his great design, in the work of fallen man's redemption by the lord jesus christ, which is evidently so laid out, as that the glory of the whole should return to him the blessed ordainer, purchaser, and applier; a subject which enters deep into practical religion; without the belief in which, that must soon die in the hearts and lives of men. we cannot, therefore, but express our joy and thankfulness, that the great head of the church is pleased still to raise up, from among the children of his people, for the supply of his churches, those who assert and maintain these evangelical principles; and that our churches, notwithstanding all their degeneracies, have still a high value for just principles, and for those who publicly own and teach them. and, as we cannot but wish and pray, that the college in the neighbouring colony, as well as our own, may be a fruitful mother of many such sons as the author; so we heartily rejoice, in the special favour of providence, in bestowing such a rich gift on the happy church of northampton, which has, for so many lustres of years, flourished under the influence of such pious doctrines, taught them in the excellent ministry of their late venerable pastor, whose gift and spirit we hope will long live and shine in his grandson, to the end that they may abound in all the lovely fruits of evangelical humility and thankfulness, to the glory of god." . =it was of mere grace ... for our souls.= this passage may serve to illustrate the way edwards expanded his sermons for the press (see introduction, p. xxix). the manuscript reads as follows: "the grace in giving this gift was great in proportion to our unworthiness, it was given to us who instead of meriting that of g. which is of such infinite value merited infinite ill of him." then follows a space, above and beneath which, between the lines, are the words, "in proportion to the blessedness we have benefit we have given in him." continuing: "the giver in giving this gift is great according to the manner of giving. he gave him to us incarnate he gave him to us slain that he might be a feast to our souls." the reality of spiritual light . =divine and supernatural light.= the original title-page of this, the author's second published sermon, reads as follows: "a divine and supernatural light, immediately imparted to the soul by the spirit of god, shown to be both a scriptural, and rational doctrine; in a sermon preach'd at northampton, and published at the desire of some of the hearers. by jonathan edwards, a.m. pastor of the church there. job , . whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? prov. , . the lord giveth wisdom. is. , . look ye blind, that ye may see. . pet. , . until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts. boston: printed by s. kneeland and t. green, m,dcc,xxxiv." the sermon has a preface in which edwards modestly disclaims any forwardness or vanity in publishing it and begs his readers to peruse it without prejudice on this score, or because of the unfashionableness of the subject. this to the general public. what he says to his own people shows how affectionate their relations to their young minister were at this time and how high his regard was for them; it has a pathetic interest in view of their passionate rejection of him at the last. "i have reason to bless god," he writes, "that there is a more happy union between us, than that you should be prejudiced against any thing of mine, because 'tis mine." he felicitates them on having been instructed in such doctrines as those in the sermon from the beginning. "and i rejoice in it," he adds, "that providence, in this day of corruption and confusion, has cast my lot where such doctrines, that i look upon so much the life and glory of the gospel, are not only own'd, but where there are so many, in whom the truth of them is so apparently manifest in their experience, that any one who has had the opportunity of acquaintance with them, in such matters, that i have had, must be very unreasonable to doubt of it." this is justly regarded as "one of the most beautiful and most eloquent" of edwards's sermons (a. v. g. allen, _jonathan edwards_, p. ). it was preached at a time when the signs were multiplying of an increased interest in religion among the people of northampton, preluding the great revival of the next and the following years. the original manuscript bears the date, august, . the death of mr. stoddard in had removed the restraints of a long-established and unquestioned authority, and the results, as edwards describes them, were deplorable. "it seemed," he says, "to be a time of extraordinary dullness in religion: licentiousness for some years greatly prevailed among the youth of the town; they were many of them very much addicted to night walking, and frequenting the tavern, and lewd practices, wherein some by their example exceedingly corrupted others." "but in two or three years ... there began to be a sensible amendment of these evils," and "at the latter end of the year , there appeared a very unusual flexibleness and yielding to advice" in the young (_narrative of surprising conversions_). the improved conditions reacted on the preacher and, as a consequence, we have the sermon on spiritual light. the principle enunciated in this sermon is the cardinal and controlling principle of the whole revival. the revival is just its exhibition and the experienced evidence, for edwards at least, of its truth. nothing in his account of the movement is more impressive than the way he studies it, tracing minutely the details of the process, wondering at its variety, whereby the holy spirit makes real and effectual the divine message (see allen, _op. cit._ pp. ff.). there was nothing essentially new in the principle itself; that god directly influences the soul, that the soul is capable of an immediate intuition of divine things, this had been the common teaching of all, and especially of all the christian, mystics. indeed, it may be doubted whether religion as a form of personal experience does not universally involve a consciousness of some such transcendent relationship (see w. james, _varieties of religious experience_, boston, , _passim_). what was new in edwards's formulation of the doctrine was his manner of defining it, the way in which he relates it to the other parts of his system, his insistence on the supernatural character of this divine illumination, his sharp distinction between common and special grace. his doctrine of supernatural light appears, in fact, as a necessary corollary of his conception of the relation of man and god in the work of redemption expressed in his sermon on man's dependence. it is partly, at least, from this point of view that it seems to him not only scriptural, but reasonable. it was a doctrine intimately connected with his views of conversion. it was on this account no less than because of its emphasis of a mystical rather than a moral or legal principle in religion, that edwards can speak of the doctrine as "unfashionable." the tendency of the age was to find more power in the natural constitution of man than he was willing to allow. historically, however, it is in just this emphasis on the inner experience of the light and life of god in the heart that edwards makes the transition from the older calvinism to the more liberal theology of our own day. the manuscript of this sermon is more than usually full of erasures and insertions, making it almost impossible to read, but suggesting something of the labor and care expended on its composition. it is written on twenty-six pages of the size of the facsimile in this volume, the last page containing only a line and a half. but the printed sermon is more fully elaborated. ruth's resolution . =ruth's resolution.= this sermon was one of five "discourses on various important subjects, nearly concerning the great affair of the soul's eternal salvation: viz. i. justification by faith alone. ii. pressing into the kingdom of god. iii. ruth's resolution. iv. the justice of god in the damnation of sinners. v. the excellency of jesus christ. delivered in northampton, chiefly in the time of the late wonderful pouring out of the spirit of god there. by jonathan edwards a.m. pastor of the church of christ in northampton. deut. iv. [ ]--take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life. boston: printed and sold by s. kneeland and t. green, in queen street over against the prison. mdccxxxviii." the first four of these discourses were preached during the revival of - and were selected by the desire of the people as those from which they had derived special benefit; the fifth was selected by edwards himself at the request of some persons from a neighboring town who heard it, and because he thought that a sermon on the excellency of christ might appropriately follow the others, which were of an awakening character. they were prefixed to the american reprint of the _narrative of surprising conversions_, which was first published in england. the cost of their publication was defrayed by the congregation,--a clear evidence of their deep interest, as they were at the time heavily burdened by the expenses of the new meeting-house. see dwight, _life of edwards_, pp. f.; cf. n. here following, p. . the sermon on ruth's resolution has been selected as the shortest of the above discourses to illustrate a type of revival sermon in marked contrast to the sermon on sinners in the hands of an angry god. they all, however, bear out edwards's own testimony concerning his preaching: "i have not only endeavored to awaken you, that you might be moved with fear, but i have used my utmost endeavors to win you" (farewell sermon). the manuscript of the sermon is dated april, , and it seems to have been printed very nearly as it was written. the many mansions . =the many mansions.= the ms. of this hitherto unpublished sermon is dated, "the sabbath after the seating of the new meeting house, dec. , ." the occasion was one of special interest to the people of northampton. the old meeting-house, erected in , had become too small for the congregation and dangerously dilapidated; in fact, on a sunday in march in the year the new building was completed, while edwards was preaching, just after he had "laid down his doctrines" from the text, "behold, ye despisers, wonder and perish," the front gallery, "with a noise like a clap of thunder," suddenly and dramatically fell. fortunately--by a special providence, it seemed to edwards--no one of the hundred and fifty persons, more or less, involved in the catastrophe perished, or even had a bone broken, and only ten were hurt "so as to make any great matter of it." but the event showed that the building of a new meeting-house had been undertaken none too soon. the question of this new building had been brought forward in the town meeting of the spring of , but it was first decided on in november, , determined in part, no doubt, by the great revival of that year, when sixty, eighty, and a hundred were received into the church on successive communions. it then took two years to complete the structure. incidentally, sixty-nine gallons of rum, besides numerous barrels of "cyder" and beer, were consumed by the workmen during the erection of the framework alone. sixty men were engaged at s. a day for this part of the work, "they keeping themselves"--as deacon hunt's journal has it--"excepting drinks." when the building, like several others of the period, a commodious, oblong structure with a tower, belfry and weather-cock vane at one end of it, was nearly finished, the important matter of seating the congregation was taken up. this also was an affair of the town. it had already been decided at the annual town meeting in the spring to have pews along the walls and "seats" or benches only on both sides of the "alley" (broad aisle). the actual plan of the sittings, still extant, shows pews also around the benches on the floor, separated from the wall-pews by the narrow aisles, and five pews in the gallery. these pews were of the high, square variety, with seats on hinges, and were evidently regarded as places of superior dignity. towards the end of the year, the town held a series of meetings with especial reference to the seating. the question of primary importance concerned the apportioning of the sittings according to social rank. at the meeting in november, a committee of five of the most prominent citizens was instructed to draw up "their scheam or platt for seating of the meeting house and present it to the town" for approval. the following month the committee was further instructed by the following votes: " . voted that in seating the new meeting house the committee have respect principally to men's estate. " . to have regard to men's age. " . voted that some regard and respect [be paid] to men's usefullness, but in a less degree." and that no mistake should be made, a committee of six was appointed to "estimate the pews and seats," that is, to "dignify" or appraise their social value. another connected question concerned the seating of the sexes. at the meeting in november, it was voted that males should be at the south, females at the north, end; the men at the right of the pulpit, the women at the left. at the first meeting in december the town distinctly refused to allow men and their wives to sit together. but this was clearly opposed to the sentiment of some of the more influential members of the community, for at the adjourned meeting four days later, when "the question was put whether the committee be forbidden to seat men & their wives together, especially such as incline to sit together: it passed in the negative." under this indirect and qualified authorization, married people were for the most part seated together in the pews, but apart on the benches, while in some cases the husband was assigned to a pew and the wife to a bench. the events and conditions here described are reflected in edwards's sermon, especially in what he says of the extent of the "accommodations" in heaven and in his remarks on the "seats of various dignity and different degrees and circumstances of honor and happiness" there, as compared with what we find in houses of worship on earth. as indicating the size of edwards's northampton congregation, it may be interesting to observe that the seating-plan above referred to contains the names of nearly six hundred persons. and he had his audience all about him. the pulpit, surmounted by a huge sounding board, was in the middle of one of the longer sides of the building, not at the end, as is the custom now. for further particulars, see j. r. trumbull, _history of northampton_, vol. ii, chap. vi. this sermon is more fully written out than most of edwards's unpublished sermons. in preparing the copy for the present volume, the editor had in mind the general analogy of the other sermons here published. the abbreviations--x (christ), g. (god), f. h. (father's house), etc.--have accordingly been interpreted, and omitted sentences or phrases, indicated in the ms. by dashes or spaces, have been supplied from the context. all such additions, however, are inserted within square brackets. sinners in the hands of an angry god . =sinners in the hands of an angry god.= the full title-page of this, edwards's most famous sermon, read in the original edition as follows: "sinners in the hands of an angry god. a sermon preached at enfield, july th . at a time of great awakenings; and attended with remarkable impressions on many of the hearers. by jonathan edwards a.m. pastor of the church of christ in northampton. amos ix. , .--though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will i bring them down. and though they hide themselves in the top of carmel, i will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will i command the serpent, and he shall bite them. boston: printed and sold by s. kneeland and t. green in queen street over against the prison, ." benjamin trumbull in his _history of connecticut_ (new haven, ), vol. ii, p. , records the circumstances under which this sermon was delivered as told to him by mr. wheelock, a minister from connecticut (enfield, conn., was at that time included in hampshire county, mass.), who heard it. "while the people in neighboring towns," writes trumbull, "were in great distress for their souls, the inhabitants of that town were very secure, loose, and vain. a lecture had been appointed at enfield, and the neighboring people, the night before, were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the inhabitants, and in such fear that god would, in his righteous judgment, pass them by, while the divine showers were falling all around them, as to be prostrate before him a considerable part of it, supplicating mercy for their souls. when the time appointed for the lecture came, a number of the neighboring ministers attended, and some from a distance. when they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and vain. the people hardly conducted themselves with common decency. the rev. mr. edwards, of northampton, preached, and before the sermon was ended, the assembly appeared deeply impressed and bowed down, with an awful conviction of their sin and danger. there was such a breathing of distress and weeping, that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he might be heard. this was the beginning of the same great and prevailing concern in that place, with which the colony in general was visited." the circumstances, thus, under which this sermon was preached were exceptional; the excitement of the great awakening was at its height; the congregation to whom the sermon was addressed were notorious for their apathy; edwards doubtless felt that an exceptionally strong presentation of their danger was necessary to arouse them. and this sermon is probably the most tremendous of its kind ever delivered by a christian minister. the kind, however, was by no means exceptional in edwards's preaching, particularly at this period. believing as he did that the decisions of men in this life were fraught with the most momentous issues to all eternity, he held it his bounden duty to present these issues before them in the liveliest manner possible.[ ] the justice of god in the damnation of sinners; the future punishment of the wicked unavoidable and intolerable; the eternity of hell torments; when the wicked shall have filled up the measure of their sin, wrath will come upon them to the uttermost; the end of the wicked contemplated by the righteous; or, the torments of the wicked in hell, no occasion of grief to the saints in heaven; wicked men useful in their destruction only,--these are among the titles of his sermons. moreover, there is reason to believe that this very sermon, or its like, was used on other occasions besides the one to which it is explicitly ascribed. there is a tradition[ ] that edwards preached it once when whitfield had disappointed an audience by not appearing, and that he produced a great effect by it. the manuscript is dated _june_, , which suggests that it may have been preached in northampton, or elsewhere, the month before it was attended with such remarkable impressions on the hearers in enfield. but still more significant is the existence of an undated second sermon from the same text. in this, which was undoubtedly of earlier origin, the thought is somewhat differently worked out: it is less lurid, less fully elaborated, less terrific; but it contains many of the ideas, for example, on the uncertainty of life, the suddenness with which destruction may overtake the sinner, etc., that are found in the enfield sermon. edwards was evidently fascinated by the theme; he works it out with the sure touch of a great artist, with the intellectual force of the skilled dialectician. and he proclaims his message with the intensity of conviction of an old testament prophet. no wonder his hearers were moved. the effect would certainly have been less great had there been any note or personal vindictiveness in the preaching. but there is nothing of this; it is not in this sense that the sermon can be called "imprecatory." on the contrary, so far as edwards's personal attitude is concerned, it is not difficult to detect in it the pathos and the pity of the gentlest of men weeping over the senseless folly of those who, blind to impending destruction, refuse repeated invitations of safety (cf. matt. xxiii. ). for the rest, he is quite impersonal, detached; the truth he preaches is sure, awful, but objective. on the modern reader the sermon is likely to produce a very painful impression, unless he, for his part, reads it in the same impersonal, detached way. it is not only the realism of the presentation, but the harshness of the doctrine, which offends. edwards, for instance, frequently speaks of the reason why sinners are not immediately cast into hell; but the reason assigned is not the mercy or goodness or love of god, but his mere power and sovereign pleasure. this is one aspect of the truth of the spiritual universe as edwards sees it. he is not a sentimentalist; he proclaims the truth as he finds it. as far as edwards himself is concerned, there is nothing in the whole sermon, or in any of his "imprecatory" sermons, so called, half as revolting as dante's attitude towards sinners in hell. take, for instance, the case of filippo argenti in the lake of mud (_inferno_, canto viii.): "'master, i should much like to see him ducked in this broth before we depart from the lake.' and he to me, 'ere the shore allows thee to see it thou shalt be satisfied; it will be fitting that thou enjoy such a desire.' after this a little i saw such rending of him by the muddy folk that i still praise god therefor, and thank him for it. all cried, 'at filippo argenti!' and the raging florentine spirit turned upon himself with his teeth." . =the god that holds you ... drop down into hell.= this is probably the best remembered paragraph in this all too well remembered sermon. comparison with the original manuscript shows some interesting variants from the printed text, and at the same time gives evidence of the deliberateness with which the sentences were wrought out with reference to their calculated effect. for both reasons the passage is here reproduced as written. "you are over the pit of hell in gods hand very much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire & 'tis nothing but for god to let you go & you fall in." (here follow four undecipherable lines, which apparently, however, do not belong in this connection. the passage then continues on the next page of the ms.) "& this g. that thus holds you in his hand is very angry with you & dreadfully provoked. ____ his wrath burns like fire. ____ you are lothsome and hatefull in his eyes & and worthy to be burnt--he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire you are ten thous. times more loathsome in his eyes than the most noisome insect in the eyes of us men ____ & you have offended him a thous. times so much as ever an obstinate rebel did his prince. ____ & yet you are in his hands & tis nothing at all but his mere pleasure that he keeps you from falling into hell every moment ____ there is no other reason to be given why you did not go to hell last night why you did not wake up in hell after you had closed your eyes to sleep & there is no other reason to be given why you have [not] drop'd since you rose in the morning ____ yea since you sit on here in the house of g. provoking his pure eyes by your sinfull wicked manner of attending his holy worship ____ yea there is nothing else to be given as the reason why you don't this very moment drop down into hell." between the sentences here separated by longer spaces, lines curving from the lower part of the preceding to the upper part of the following are drawn, indicating possibly rhetorical pauses in the delivery and suggesting to the modern reader a succession of waves, wave on wave of horror, each more overwhelming than the one that went before. the above passage is contained in the manuscript under division i. of the "application," division ii. beginning, "and consider here more particularly" (p. ). the four divisions thereafter following correspond roughly to those in the printed edition, but are mere headings, and differ from the six divisions first sketched. inserted in the manuscript is a loose sheet containing in edwards's handwriting a careful outline of the whole sermon, such as he might have made when preparing the sermon for the press or used as notes for preaching. the manuscript of the entire sermon is short, but twenty-two pages of writing and one blank leaf. a strong rod broken . =god's awful judgment.= the manuscript of this sermon is dated, "on occasion of the death of col. stoddard june ." it consists of fifty-two pages of the usual size of edwards's manuscript sermons, but with the unusual feature of being written in double columns. the paper used was partly that of letters addressed to edwards, the writing being in places across the address, and the stamp marks being removed; partly--about twenty pages--pieces of fine, soft paper, deep cut around the upper edges, believed to be scraps of the paper used by mrs. edwards and her daughters in making fans. the sermon is evidently written at high pressure, with few corrections and fairly fully. the title-page of the first edition reads as follows: "a strong rod broken and withered. a sermon preached in northampton, in the lord's day, june . on the death of the honourable john stoddard, esq. often a member of his majesty's council, for many years chief justice of the court of common pleas for the county of hampshire, judge of the probate of wills, and chief colonel of the regiment, &c. who died in boston june . . in the th year of his age. by jonathan edwards a.m. pastor of the first church in northampton. dan. iv. --he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what dost thou? boston printed by rogers and fowle for j. edwards in cornhill ." colonel stoddard was the eighth child and fourth son of the rev. solomon stoddard, and therefore edwards's uncle on his mother's side. he was a man of great prominence in all the leading affairs of the town, the county, and the colony. "his life," says trumbull (_history of northampton_, vol. ii, p. ), "was the connecting link between the two series of great leaders who controlled the affairs of western massachusetts for nearly a century and three-quarters. his predecessors were john pynchon of springfield and samuel partridge of hatfield; following him came joseph hawley and caleb strong of northampton, and these five men were the leaders in the colony, the province and the state." he was a stalwart upholder of royalty and the royal prerogative, and for this reason had many opponents; but the general esteem in which he was held is evidenced by his many offices and by the fact that he was seventeen times reëlected the representative of the county to the general court. he was a valued friend of governor shirley, in connection with whom there is a characteristic story of him. it is that he once called and asked to see the governor when the latter had a party dining with him, but declined the servant's invitation to come in. the company were surprised and shocked at what they regarded as an act of discourtesy to the chief magistrate. "what is the gentleman's name?" asked the governor. "i think," replied the servant, "he told me his name was stoddard." "is it?" said the governor. "excuse me, gentlemen, if it is col. stoddard, i must go to him." (from _dwight's travels_, vol. i, p. , quoted by trumbull, _op. cit._ p. .) his death removed one of edwards's strongest supporters and probably contributed to the tragic issue of the great controversy in which the preacher was now engaged. in this connection it is interesting to find that colonel stoddard in helped to lay out the township of stockbridge and that he had much to do toward establishing the mission to the indians there, to the conduct of which edwards was called after his dismissal from northampton. edwards's sermon is an eulogy, but there is every reason to suppose that it gives on the whole a just impression of stoddard's character, services, and attainments. on him, see further trumbull, _op. cit._ vol. ii, chap. xiii. . =present war.= king george's french and indian war ( - - ). colonel stoddard, as commander of the hampshire forces, directed the military operations in that part of the country until his death. major israel williams of hatfield, who later succeeded to the command, writing under date of june , , to secretary willard, says: "we are now like sheep without a shepherd.... god has been pleased to take him (who was in a great measure our wisdom and strength and glory) from us at a time when we could least spare him." (trumbull, _op. cit._ vol. ii, p. .) farewell sermon . =a farewell sermon.= "a farewel-sermon preached at the first precinct in northampton, after the people's publick rejection of their minister, and renouncing their relation to him as pastor of the church there, on june . occasion'd by difference of sentiments, concerning the requisite qualifications of members of the church, in compleat standing. by jonathan edwards, a.m. acts xx. . ye know, from the first day that i came into asia, after what manner i have been with you, at all seasons. ver. . and how i kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house. ver. , . wherefore i take you to record this day, that i am pure from the blood of all men: for i have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of god. gal. iv. , . where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for i bear you record, that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. am i then become your enemy, because i tell you the truth? boston printed and sold by s. kneeland over against the prison in queen-street. ."--title-page of the first edition. the preface to this sermon is a document so important for the understanding of it, that it is here, as is usual also in other editions, printed in full. _preface._ it is not unlikely, that some of the readers of the following sermon may be inquisitive concerning the circumstances of the difference between me and the people of northampton, that issued in that separation between me and them, which occasioned the preaching of this farewell sermon. there is, by no means, room here for a full account of that matter: but yet it seems to be proper, and even necessary, here to correct some gross misrepresentations, which have been abundantly, and ('tis to be feared) by some affectedly and industriously made, of that difference: such as, that i insisted on persons being assured of their being in a state of salvation, in order to my admitting them into the church; that i required a particular relation of the method and order of a person's inward experience, and of the time and manner of his conversion, as the test of his fitness for christian communion; yea, that i have undertaken to set up a pure church, and to make an exact and certain distinction between saints and hypocrites, by a pretended infallible discerning [of] the state of men's souls; that in these things i had fallen in with those wild people, who have lately appeared in new england, called separatists; and that i myself was become a grand separatist; and that i arrogated all the power of judging of the qualifications of candidates for communion wholly to myself, and insisted on acting by my sole authority, in the admission of members into the church, &c. in opposition to these slanderous representations, i shall at present only give my reader an account of some things which i laid before the council, that separated between me and my people, in order to their having a just and full view of my principles relating to the affair in controversy. long before the sitting of the council, my people had sent to the reverend mr. clark of salem village, desiring him to write in opposition to my principles. which gave me occasion to write to mr. clark, that he might have true information what my principles were. and in the time of the sitting of the council, i did, for their information, make a public declaration of my principles before them and the church, in the meeting-house, of the same import with that in my letter to mr. clark, and very much in the same words: and then, afterwards, sent in to the council in writing, an extract of that letter, containing the information i had given to mr. clark, in the very words of my letter to him, that the council might read and consider it at their leisure, and have a more certain and satisfactory knowledge what my principles were. the extract which i sent in to them was in the following words: "i am often and i don't know but pretty generally, in the country, represented as of a new and odd opinion with respect to the terms of christian communion, and as being for introducing a peculiar way of my own. whereas i don't perceive that i differ at all from the scheme of dr. watts in his book entitled, _the rational foundation of a christian church, and the terms of christian communion_; which, he says, is the common sentiment of all reformed churches. i had not seen this book of dr. watts' when i published what i have written on the subject. but yet i think my sentiments, as i have expressed them, are as exactly agreeable to what he lays down, as if i had been his pupil. nor do i at all go beyond what dr. doddridge plainly shows to be his sentiments, in his _rise and progress of religion_, and his _sermons on regeneration_, and his paraphrase and notes on the new testament. nor indeed, sir, when i consider the sentiments you have expressed in your letters to major pomroy and mr. billing, can i perceive but that they come exactly to the same thing that i maintain. you suppose the sacraments are not converting ordinances: but that, 'as seals of the covenant, they presuppose conversion, especially in the adult; and that it is visible saintship, or, in other words, a credible profession of faith and repentance, a solemn consent to the gospel covenant, joined with a good conversation, and competent measure of christian knowledge, is what gives a gospel right to all sacred ordinances: but that it is necessary to those that come to these ordinances, and in those that profess a consent to the gospel covenant, that they be sincere in their profession,' or at least should think themselves so.--the great thing which i have scrupled in the established method of this church's proceeding, and which i dare no longer go on in, is their publicly assenting to the form of words rehearsed on occasion of their admission to the communion, without pretending thereby to mean any such thing as any hearty consent to the terms of the gospel covenant, or to mean any such faith or repentance as belong to the covenant of grace, and are the grand conditions of that covenant: it being, at the same time that the words are used, their known and established principle which they openly profess and proceed upon, that men may and ought to use these words and mean no such thing, but something else of a nature far inferior; which i think they have no distinct, determinate notion of; but something consistent with their knowing that they do not choose god as their chief good, but love the world more than him, and that they do not give themselves up entirely to god, but make reserves; and in short, knowing that they do not heartily consent to the gospel covenant, but live still under the reigning power of the love of the world, and enmity to god and christ. so that the words of their public profession, according to their openly established use, cease to be of the nature of any profession of gospel faith and repentance, or any proper compliance with the covenant: for 'tis their profession, that the words, as used, mean no such thing. the words used under these circumstances, do at least fail of being a _credible_ profession of these things. i can conceive of no such virtue in a certain set of words, that it is proper, merely on the making of these sounds, to admit persons to christian sacraments, without any regard to any pretended meaning of these sounds: nor can i think that any institution of christ has established any such terms of admission into the christian church. it does not belong to the controversy between me and my people, how particular or large the profession should be that is required. i should not choose to be confined to exact limits as to that matter; but rather than contend, i should content myself with a few words, briefly expressing the cardinal virtues or acts implied in a hearty compliance with the covenant, made (as should appear by inquiry into the person's doctrinal knowledge) understandingly; if there were an external conversation agreeable thereto: yea, i should think, that such a person, solemnly making such a profession, had a right to be received as the object of a public charity, however he himself might scruple his own conversion, on account of his not remembering the time, not knowing the method of his conversion, or finding so much remaining sin, &c. and (if his own scruples did not hinder his coming to the lord's table) i should think the minister or church had no right to debar such a professor, though he should say he did not think himself converted; for i call that a profession of godliness, which is a profession of the great things wherein godliness consists, and not a profession of his own opinion of his good estate." northampton, may , . thus far my letter to mr. clark. the council having heard that i had made certain draughts of the covenant, or forms of a public profession of religion which i stood ready to accept of from the candidates for church communion, they, for their further information, sent for them. accordingly i sent them four distinct draughts or forms, which i had drawn up about a twelvemonth before, as what i stood ready to accept of (any one of them) rather than contend and break with my people. the two shortest of these forms are here inserted for the satisfaction of the reader. they are as follows. "i hope i do truly find a heart to give up myself wholly to god, according to the tenor of that covenant of grace which was sealed in my baptism; and to walk in a way of that obedience to all the commandments of god, which the covenant of grace requires, as long as i live." another, "i hope i truly find in my heart a willingness to comply with all the commandments of god, which require me to give up myself wholly to him, and to serve him with my body and my spirit. and do accordingly now promise to walk in a way of obedience to all the commandments of god, as long as i live." such kind of professions as these i stood ready to accept, rather than contend and break with my people. not but that i think it much more convenient, that ordinarily the public profession of religion that is made by christians should be much fuller and more particular; and that (as i hinted in my letter to mr. clark) i should not choose to be tied up to any certain form of words, but to have liberty to vary the expressions of a public profession the more exactly to suit the sentiments and experience of the professor, that it might be a more just and free expression of what each one finds in his heart. and moreover it must be noted, that i ever insisted on it, that it belonged to me as a pastor, before a profession was accepted, to have full liberty to instruct the candidate in the meaning of the terms of it, and in the nature of the things proposed to be professed; and to inquire into his doctrinal understanding of these things, according to my best discretion; and to caution the person, as i should think needful, against rashness in making such a profession, or doing it mainly for the credit of himself or his family, or from any secular views whatsoever, and to put him on serious self-examination, and searching his own heart, and prayer to god to search and enlighten him that he may not be hypocritical and deceived in the profession he makes; withal pointing forth to him the many ways in which professors are liable to be deceived. nor do i think it improper for a minister in such a case, to inquire and know of the candidate what can be remembered of the circumstances of his christian experience; as this may tend much to illustrate his profession and give a minister great advantage for proper instructions: though a particular knowledge and remembrance of the time and method of the first conversion to god is not to be made the test of a person's sincerity, nor insisted on as necessary in order to his being received into full charity. not that i think it at all improper or unprofitable, that in some special cases a declaration of the particular circumstances of a person's first awakening and the manner of his convictions, illuminations and comforts, should be publicly exhibited before the whole congregation, on occasion of his admission into the church; though this be not demanded as necessary to admission. i ever declared against insisting on a relation of experience, in this sense (viz., a relation of the particular time and steps of the operation of the spirit in first conversion), as the term of communion: yet, if by a relation of experiences, he meant a declaration of experience of the great things _wrought_, wherein true grace and the essential acts and habits of holiness consist; in this sense, i think an account of a person's experiences necessary in order to his admission into full communion in the church. but that in whatever inquiries are made, and whatever accounts are given, neither minister nor church are to set up themselves as searchers of hearts, but are to accept the serious, solemn profession of the well instructed professor, of a good life, as best able to determine what he finds in his own heart. these things may serve in some measure to set right those of my readers who have been misled in their apprehensions of the state of the controversy between me and my people, by the forementioned misrepresentations. jonathan edwards. . =but in all probability this will never be again.= it is sometimes asserted that edwards never again occupied the pulpit in northampton. this is not true. he preached, in fact, twelve sundays, though, to be sure, not consecutively and only when other supplies could not be secured, before his removal to stockbridge. there is perhaps more reason for the statement of dr. hopkins, quoted by dwight (_op. cit._ p. ), that the town at last--it is thought in november, --voted that he should preach no longer. but the records of town and precinct are alike silent on this matter, the only vote bearing on it being one passed by the precinct in november, "to pay mr. edwards £ old tenor per sabbath for the time he preached here since he was dismissed." trumbull, who has established this fact (_history of northampton_, vol. ii, p. ), says that the last sermon by edwards in northampton was in the afternoon of october , , from the text heb. xi. . but even this is doubtful; for among the manuscripts in new haven, professor dexter discovered a sermon on cor. iv. marked as preached in northampton, may , and in a book of plans of sermons at least three notes of texts and doctrines of the same period marked as designed for northampton. (f. b. dexter, _the manuscripts of jonathan edwards_, p. .) . =by which i became so obnoxious.= the excitement of the great awakening was followed by a period of laxity. in edwards was informed that a number of the young people of his congregation, of both sexes, were reading immoral books, which fostered lascivious and obscene conversation. to check the evil, he preached a sermon, of the frankness of which we may judge from the published sermon on "joseph's temptation," from heb. xii. , , and after the service communicated to the brethren of the church the evidence in his possession with a view to further action. a committee of inquiry was appointed to assist the pastor in examining into the affair at a meeting at his house. edwards then read the names of the young people to be summoned as witnesses or as accused, but without discriminating between the two classes. when the names were thus published, it was found that most of the leading families of the town were implicated. "the town was suddenly all on a blaze." many of the heads of families refused to proceed with the investigation; many of the young people summoned to the meeting refused to come, and those who did come acted with insolence. edwards never thereafter succeeded in reëstablishing his authority. for years not a single candidate appeared for admission to the church. see hopkins, _life of edwards_ ( ), pp. ff. dwight, _op. cit._ pp. f., copies hopkins's account almost verbatim, but without acknowledgment. . =i have ... meet before him.= the company keeping and worldly amusements of the young people were an old grievance with edwards. writing of the period before the revival of - , he says, "it was their manner very frequently to get together in conventions of both sexes, for mirth and jollity, which they called frolicks; and they would often spend the greater part of the night in them, without any regard to order in the families they belong to." how the young people amused themselves in these "conventions," we can only conjecture; it is certain that some, at least, of the parents saw no harm in them. but edwards's idea of family government was very different. "he allowed not his children to be from home after nine o'clock at night, when they went abroad to see their friends and companions. neither were they allowed to sit up much after that time, in his own house, when any came to make them a visit. if any gentleman desired acquaintance with his daughters, after handsomely introducing himself, by properly consulting the parents, he was allowed all proper opportunity for it: a room and fire, if needed; but must not intrude on the proper hours of rest and sleep, or the religion and order of the family." (hopkins, _op. cit._ p. .) we have reason to think that some of the "other liberties commonly taken by young people in the land" were calculated to favor anything rather than refinement and spirituality. . =a contentious spirit.= history in a general way corroborates the following testimony of edwards concerning the contentious spirit in the people of northampton: "there were some mighty contests and controversies among them in mr. stoddard's day, which were managed with great heat and violence; some great quarrels in the church, wherein mr. stoddard, great as his authority was, knew not what to do with them. in one ecclesiastical controversy in mr. stoddard's day, wherein the church was divided into two parties, the heat of spirit was raised to such a degree, that it came to hard blows. a member of one party met the head of the opposite party and assaulted him and beat him unmercifully. there has been for forty or fifty years a sort of settled division of the people into two parties, somewhat like the court and country party in england (if i may compare small things with great). there have been some of the chief men in the town, of chief authority and wealth, that have been great proprietors of their lands, who have had one party with them. and the other party, which has commonly been the greatest, have been of those who have been jealous of them, apt to envy them, and afraid of their having too much power and influence in town and church. this has been a foundation of innumerable contentions among the people, from time to time, which have been exceedingly grievous to me, and by which doubtless god has been dreadfully provoked, and his spirit grieved and quenched, and much confusion and many evil works have been introduced." letter of july , to rev. thomas gillespie. cf. trumbull, _history of northampton_, vol. ii, p. . footnotes: [ ] see j. a. stoughton, _windsor farmes_, p. and p. n. students of heredity may perhaps here find a clew to the character of edwards's brilliant, wayward grandson, aaron burr. [ ] see h. n. gardiner, _the early idealism of edwards_ in jonathan edwards: a retrospect, pp. - : boston, . cf. j. h. maccracken, _the sources of jonathan edwards's idealism_, philos. rev., xi. ff. (jan. ). [ ] that to the church at bolton, conn. but for some reason, not now apparent, he was never installed there. see s. simpson, _jonathan edwards--a historical review_, hartford seminary record. xiv. (november, ). [ ] first printed by dwight, _life of president edwards_, p. , and frequently reproduced. it has been compared to dante's description of beatrice, which in pure lyric quality it certainly equals, though it lacks the latter's sensuous coloring and imaginative idealization. the comparison is made by a. v. g. allen, _the place of edwards in history_, in jonathan edwards: a retrospect, p. ; the contrast is pointed out by john de witt, stockbridge ( ), oration, p. (pub. by the berkshire conference). [ ] solomon clark, _historical catalogue of the northampton first church_, pp. - (northampton, ), prints the list in full. [ ] see note, p. . [ ] it is impossible here to go into the history of this famous controversy. something concerning it will be found in the notes, pp. ff.; dwight, _op. cit._, pp. - , prints the documents from edwards's journal in full; the records of the church are silent. it should be stated, perhaps, in fairness to the northampton people, that the pastoral relation was not then, as is sometimes supposed, regarded as indissoluble; six clergymen were "dismissed" from neighboring churches between and . moreover, edwards, eminent as he undoubtedly was as a preacher, was to them only the parish minister; his great fame as a theologian was established later. cf. trumbull, _history of northampton_, ii, . it is also not unreasonable to suppose that the spiritual capacities of the people had been overstimulated. the later repentance of joseph hawley (see dwight, _op. cit._, p. ), edwards's cousin, who had taken a leading part in the movement against him, concerns only the spirit of the opposition; it does not seriously question the wisdom, under the circumstances, of the separation. [ ] aaron burr, the vice-president of the united states, who killed alexander hamilton in a duel, was their son. [ ] see, e.g., the incident recorded by dwight, _op. cit._, p. , where the rapture lasts for about an hour, accompanied for the greater part of the time "with tears and weeping aloud." [ ] see f. b. dexter, _the manuscripts of jonathan edwards_, p. . (reprinted from the proceedings of the mass. hist. soc., march, .) [ ] as, e.g., in the great ethical sermon on the sin of theft and of injustice from the text, "thou shalt not steal." works, worcester reprint, iv, . [ ] examples of this are found in the manuscript sermons on john i. and john i. , , which are here taken as typical. [ ] samuel hopkins, _life of edwards_, p. . [ ] as illustrating the expansion in the printed sermon as compared with the manuscript prepared for preaching, see note p. . [ ] the next neighbor town. [ ] "if i am in danger of going to hell, i should be glad to know as much as possibly i can of the dreadfulness of it. if i am very prone to neglect due care to avoid it, he does me the best kindness who does most to represent to me the truth of the case, that sets forth my misery and danger in the liveliest manner."--sermon on the distinguishing marks of a work of the spirit of god. [ ] as professor a. v. g. allen informs the editor in a letter, jan. , . transcriber's notes: passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. passages in bold are indicated by =bold=. the original text includes several intentional blank spaces. these are represented by ____ in this text version. the misprint "dont" has been corrected to "don't" (page ). a discourse on the evils of dancing delivered march , , before the congregation of the german reformed salem church of harrisburg, pa., by the pastor, the rev. john f. mesick, published by the vestry. harrisburg: theo: fenn, printer. . harrisburg, march , a. d. . rev. john f. mesick--_dear sir:_ on last sabbath evening, th inst., you preached a sermon to our congregation on "_the evils of dancing_." as this is a custom which is in much practise even by those who consider themselves patterns in society, and, who generally comprise the youth, and say that it is an innocent amusement. we would esteem it as a favor if you would furnish us with a copy thereof for publication that it may be circulated in our sabbath schools, among the votaries of dancing, the parents and friends of those who have been assenting to it, in the hope that they may read it and learn its evil consequences, and abstain from its practice hereafter, and be satisfied that its use is not in character with the present age, whatever may have seemingly commended it in former days. john c. bucher, geo. p. wiestling, george zinn, daniel w. gross, elias zollinger, jacob shell, luther reiley, george beatty, rudolph f. kelker, samuel b. keyser, valentine egle, george l. kunkel. * * * * * harrisburg, march , . _to the vestry of the german reformed salem church:_ dear brethren: although the discourse preached on sabbath evening last, was prepared during the preceding week as a regular duty, without a thought in reference to a request of this kind; yet as you have been pleased to express a wish to see it in print, in the hope of extending its usefulness, the manuscript is at your service. with sincere esteem and affection, yours, &c., john f. mesick. the evils of dancing. romans, xii. .--"be not conformed to this world." the bible is the only rule for all who wish to be saved. the professed christian, not only, but every unconverted man, must bow to its precepts, if he would gain the favor of god. there is but one way, and but one gate of entrance into the kingdom of heaven, for saint and for sinner. whatever, therefore, shall be acknowledged to be the duty of the covenanted follower of the lamb, is equally the duty of every individual who stands disconnected with the visible church. it is a doctrine of revelation that, both classes of persons will be judged by the same law, and will be tried with equal impartiality and rigor. we are taught that, what divine justice shall demand from the one, it will demand from the other; and that there is no respect of persons with god. the human race, as dependent and accountable agents, are placed on the same moral level in his sight. each commandment of his word is addressed to every hearer of the gospel. and all are under obligation to obey its injunctions, as they value the eternal welfare of their immortal spirits. it is on this incontrovertible principle that i shall proceed to speak from the text: "be not conformed to this world,"--assuming it as an undeniable truth that, what god requires of his children, he also exacts from the people of the world; and that whatever is inconsistent with the reputation or character of a good church member, is no less inconsistent with the eternal salvation of those persons who have not made a public profession of religion. we take our ground boldly on this portion of scripture, and assert that the fashionable amusement of dancing, is contrary to the _spirit_ and _aim_ of the gospel, and, therefore, is opposed to the revealed will of god. your attention is invited to two points: first--to the necessity of non-conformity to the world; and secondly--to the facts proving that dancing is an act of conformity to the world. i. we begin with _the necessity of non-conformity to the world_. the scripture sense of the term, _world_, is that collection of idolaters, unbelievers, and wicked men who constitute the great bulk of the inhabitants of our globe; in short all persons who do not belong to the kingdom of god. _this definition_ corresponds with the declarations of christ: "my kingdom is not of this world;" "ye are not of the world, even as i am not of the world;" "if ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." the sentiment of the text is not the voice of a solitary passage, but is amply sustained by other portions of the word of god. there are many similar precepts addressed to believers: "arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest; because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction;" "wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the lord, and touch not the unclean thing." "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him." "know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with god?" "ye cannot serve god and mammon." "choose ye this day whom ye will serve." "if the lord be god, follow him; but if baal, follow him." these commandments of our heavenly father, are not _hard sayings_ to the soul that has been delivered from this present evil world through faith in jesus; for it has acquired through the work of the spirit, a holy resignation to every intimation of the divine will, and supreme delight in god as infinitely lovely, which causes every other source of pleasure or of happiness to become tasteless and insipid. to carnal minds, we admit, that they will sound like tyrannical edicts, because they seem to them to take away their natural liberty; shutting them up from the pursuit of that kind of enjoyment for which they pant, which they know not where to find, and in search of which they wander "through earth, its gay pleasures to trace." but to souls renewed by divine grace, the yoke of christ is easy and his burden light. true christians, the heirs of glory, are separated from the world, not only by profession, not only by external badges, but what is of higher moment, by their character and spirit. they are essentially a peculiar people; singular in their opinions and practices, and created unto good works. they are distinguished by a conversation in heaven. they move through society as pilgrims and strangers on the earth. they keep themselves unspotted from the world, as temples of the holy ghost. they seek in heaven an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, as heirs of god and joint heirs with jesus christ. and they reflect the love and holiness of jesus, as those who bear the saviour's image. _a wide and unalterable distinction exists, therefore_, between the servants of god and the people of the world, a distinction as perceptible as that which divides the night from the day, and the darkness from the light. "the one are born from above, the other from beneath. the one are quickened by divine grace; the other are dead in trespasses and sins. the one are governed by the spirit of god, and the other are under the dominion of satan. the one consult the glory of god, and cheerfully resign all for christ; the other make self the centre around which they move." such irreconcilable discordance in the primary elements of their character forbids the thought of their amalgamation. we might as reasonably expect that oil and water would commingle and become one fluid, as that true christians should blend their hopes and interests with those of the world. the natural and ardent opposition, growing out of their respective principles and aims, renders a separation between them inevitable, absolutely necessary, necessary at least for the safety, comfort, consistency, and usefulness of believers. there is no need of further exposition, to show that the injunction of the text is deep-laid in the very constitution of things--and is the natural result of the incompatible differences between submission to the will of god and rebellion against his moral government. the followers of christ can never consent to a compromise involving these principles, unless they are willing to sacrifice his cause. allegiance to heaven demands that true christians should never shrink in the hour of trial from the ignominy or suffering of the cross. if they would be holy, they must possess the courage to dare to be singular, and to meet the world's derisive laugh on account of the tenderness of their consciences, or their inexperience in the vanities and customs of fashionable life. they should receive as an honor its scorn and ridicule, when heaped upon them because they continue faithful to christ; because they implicitly follow the directions of his humbling doctrines before men; and because they steadily maintain the line of separation between the church and the world. no man deserves the name of christian, no man can indulge a good hope of salvation, unless his faith in christ is productive of non-conformity to the world; a stand which is indispensable to his separation from a perishing race and his incorporation into the kingdom of heaven. ii. in the second place we proceed _to adduce the facts proving that dancing is an act of conformity to the world_. . even if could be shown that it is a _healthful amusement_, the position assumed by the text, would exclude it from the recreations of those who love and obey god, imposing on them the obligation to refrain from it, and to resort to other means of exercise, to which no valid objection could be made. no apology, we are sure, can be offered for dancing, as usually conducted, _more weak_ than the common one, that it promotes the health of the body. some thing doubtless might be accomplished by it for the attainment of this object, if it were practised in the day-time and in the open air. but usually, in obedience to the arbitrary decree of fashion, _the most unseasonable hour, and the most unfavorable circumstances are chosen_. many an untimely death has been the dreadful penalty incurred by exposure on such occasions; and the fearful blow has generally fallen among the ranks of lovely woman. follow the fragile, venturesome forms of our delicate, modernly dressed ladies to the ball room. they pass from their habitations, arrayed in a garb whose style and materials would render it a fit garment to be worn only at mid-summer; covered with a light wrapper, lest the decorations of the toilet should be deranged, and protected from the snow or frozen pavement only by thin soled shoes. they spend several hours together under the excitement of lively strains of music, and of the glittering array of beauty and fashion, in a chamber brilliant with a multitude of dazzling lights, and crowded with guests to the destruction of the vital properties of the atmosphere; and in physical exertions to which they have been unaccustomed, and which open all the pores of the skin. the system is also deranged by loading the stomach with indigestible food, and by encroaching on the ordinary and necessary hours of repose. then with heated and wearied frames, in that state peculiarly exposed to the injurious action of the cold, they suddenly exchange the warm temperature of the assembly chamber for the chilliness of the damp night air--the tropic of the ball room for the siberia of the street. alas! what a perilous price to pay for the admiration of the fashionable throng, or for the fleeting gratification of the hour. in that wintry blast consumption smites his smiling victims, and fills up the weekly calendar of his fearful ravages. in our large cities, where this insane contempt of health and life is sanctioned by the uniform practice of the god-forgetting multitude, this fell destroyer snatches his prey from the ranks of fashion by scores, and scourges them more fatally than the pestilence. and yet individuals can be found in the midst of our community, so devoid of wisdom and foresight as to advocate the introduction of this pernicious amusement into our social circles. we trust that if they cannot be reached by any higher motives, that a regard for the health and lives which will be sacrificed to this modern idol, will induce them to pause, and to consider well the way of their steps. . the position assumed by the text, would exclude dancing from the list of christian diversions, even if it could be shown _that it is innocent in itself_. this, however, is a point which the worldling labors in vain to prove by the most skilful use of religious sophistry. persons on whose judgment we rely with great confidence in matters of this sort, have abandoned the idea which they, in common with others, once entertained, that dancing, if properly regulated, might be harmless. it is their settled opinion, founded on considerable personal experience and on observation, "that the nature of the amusement itself, even in its least exceptionable forms and in limited exercise, is such--that it has a tendency to inflame passion, to poison virtue, to endanger purity, and to lead on to gross and deadly evils." modern dancing, as generally practised, is a gay and guilty pleasure. it receives no warrant from the bible. the only kind of dances recorded in the sacred scriptures, are religious dances, forming part of the worship of god: "with the exception of that of the vain fellows devoid of shame, of the irreligious families described by job, and of herodias"--which are no more an example for us because they are recorded in the sacred narrative, than the treachery of judas iscariot, in betraying his master with a kiss. but then we must remember the fact that the religious dance was practised only on joyful occasions; that it was performed in the day time, in the open air, and only by one of the sexes at a time. there is not a historical notice in the word of god, of _promiscuous dancing_ either as an act of worship or amusement. and those persons were reckoned among the vilest of mankind who perverted dancing from a sacred use to mere purposes of amusement. at the present time, as we cast our eyes over the map of the world, we discover that dancing is still practised as an important part of religious worship by the inhabitants of all heathen countries; by the indians of our own western forests; by the superstitious natives of africa, and by the effeminate and luxurious asiatics. but as employed among the ceremonies of idolatry in southern asia, it has been changed from the slow measured movements, practised by the ancient greeks and romans, to a style, which one missionary remarks, "would not be tolerated on the boards of the lowest theatre in europe, or in america." dancing girls, arrayed in the most costly ornaments of dress, and quite equal in skill to some of the modern exhibitors of that art in the theatres of civilized lands, are invariably connected with heathen temples in the east indies, as their constant attendants. let us turn our attention from these regions of idolatry, and inquire among what nations of christendom this amusement is most popular, that we may trace it throughout its various existing associations. at the head of what are usually denominated civilized countries, we must place france, italy and spain, where on the sabbath it is deemed entirely consistent with the claims of christianity to go to the house of god in the morning, and to a bull-fight and a dance in the public gardens in the afternoon. and it might be an instructive commentary as to the evil effects of this amusement on the morals of those nations, to go more into particulars, were it not that the facts concerning the virtue, purity and chastity of the fashionable circles of france and italy, disclosed by travellers, are too appalling to be repeated. in england the chief patrons of the dance are their card-playing, theatre-going, and horse-racing aristocracy; who are indebted to their purse and to their title for their standing in society; who are too indolent generally to cultivate their minds; and who are seldom capable of gaining distinction, except by extravagance and debauchery. in these _higher_ circles no man is deemed respectable who cannot "trip it on the light fantastic toe." and that person is scouted as a mawkish prude or a hypocritical fanatic, who scruples to go the whole round of these _elegant_ amusements. says a writer of this class: "he must be a desperate gnat-strainer who gives and goes to dances and yet objects to cards. the strictest pharisee in the land, indeed, _could find no argument against it_." this is a modest assumption which we have no time to notice. in commenting on this quotation, it is sufficient for our present purpose to remark that the opinions and practices of the fashionable world, compel us to class these recreations in the same category. let us now look at the _introduction_ of this fashionable amusement into the united states. it comes from the gay saloons of paris and of london, and it is an imitation of the corrupt and ruinous fashions of the old world. it is the entering wedge of luxury and licentiousness, the fatal antagonists to the purity and simplicity of our republican institutions and manners. look again at the _tutors_ of this art, to whom fond parents entrust their beloved children, to enable them to acquire this agreeable indulgence, and you will generally find that they are the very refuse of foreign cities; men destitute of either stability or principle; who, on account of their profession, are not esteemed worthy of an introduction into the social circle of the families by whom they are employed. every judicious person must acknowledge that there is great danger that the tender and susceptible minds of youth will be contaminated by such associates. there is not a family in our land, so high or well governed, but that its children are more or less exposed to temptation and destruction; and we cannot, therefore, with too great jealousy or care guard against the beginnings of evils. look, also, at the style and character of those modern dances, which are most admired and most fashionable; and you will perceive at a glance that their movements, attitudes and evolutions are repugnant to a natural sense of propriety, and inconsistent with that unsullied purity of mind which we consider inseparable from the individual to whom we would yield the homage of our hearts. the soul that commands the love of the virtuous, must be spotless as the unfallen snow. genuine attachment can be based only on esteem. in all honesty, therefore, we must strike that from the list of innocent amusements, which, from its very nature, involves such a perilous trial of moral principles; that contact with it almost inevitably inflicts a loss of mental refinement, if not positive pollution, by opening the doors to a licentious imagination. there are other evils of great magnitude, which strip off the mask of innocency from this frivolous and sinful amusement. it occasions a loss of precious time, which god has given for nobler objects. it produces dissipation of mind, disqualifying it for the ordinary and serious duties of life. it wastes money, which some cannot well afford to give away, or which might be much better employed in furnishing the means of intellectual improvement, or in works of benevolence. it encourages extravagance in dress; inflating the mind with intolerable vanity and pride, and training up our sons and daughters to become reckless spendthrifts, despising honest industry and commendable economy. it is ordinarily connected with the use of wine and of strong drinks, casting down unwary youth from the path of sobriety, into the depth of poverty and drunkenness. finally, it indisposes the soul to _religion_, exciting folly, levity, and kindred corruptions of the human heart, and begetting disgust for the worship and service of god. miss beecher, who ranks with the most distinguished ladies of our country, and who owes her reputation to those circumstances only, which should command esteem under our democratic institutions, to her intelligence, refinement, and virtue, speaks of this art in the strongest terms of disapprobation. "in the fifteen years during which she had the care of young ladies, she affirms she has _never known any case_ where learning this art, and following the amusement, did not have a _bad effect_, either on the habits, the intellect, the feelings or the health." a testimony so respectable, ought certainly to satisfy every mind, which is governed by truth and reason, as to the evils of dancing. . but a higher consideration, why dancing should be discountenanced, and that indeed which decides the course of duty, is, _that it is an amusement by which the world is distinguished from the kingdom of jesus christ_. it is part and parcel of an _education for the world_. its object is the acquisition of a graceful carriage, an easy movement, and elegant manners. its aim is to prepare an individual for introduction into society with advantage. and its design does not extend beyond the success of his worldly prospects. no one has ever had the hardihood to maintain that fashionable dancing is a medium of divine blessings to the soul; that it secures the influences of the holy spirit; or that it prepares the mind for the hallowed exercises of the closet. no one ever yet adopted the absurd idea that it was a substitute for faith and repentance; that it was a means of recommendation to god; or that it was an accomplishment for the employments of heaven. no one ever yet expected that a revival of religion would commence in a ball room; or that thoughtless sinners would be converted by going to a cotillion. these significant facts plainly show on which side of the dividing line, between the church and the world it is to be placed. they forbid mistake. dancing, so far from being a means of grace, is a part of a counter system of means; devised by the god-forgetting, pleasure-seeking multitude, to exclude their maker from their minds and from his own world. their chief desire is to banish all serious thoughts of their sinfulness, guilt and danger; of their obligations and duties to their creator; and of death, judgment and eternity. to escape reflection they flee to the excitements of the dance and of the revel; where art exhausts its skill and music lavishes its power to divert and engross the attention. amid scenes of delusive splendor, which, to the youthful imagination, appear as enchanting as the creations of poetic fancy, they contrive for a brief season to lose the pang of remorse, and to snatch a draught of feverish and unsatisfactory joy. true happiness and solid peace are perpetual strangers in the artificial gayeties, and gaudy splendors of fashionable circles; where too often the honied words of flattery disguise a hollow heart; and the studied smile, and merry laugh, are assumed to conceal the sting of envy, jealousy and chagrin. the bright illusions by which the young are spell-bound, gradually fade away before the light of experience. and it is no uncommon thing in these resorts of worldly pleasure, to find the utmost gayety of manner in unnatural union with sadness of soul, produced by the discovery of the selfish passions, covertly working beneath the surface in all minds present; or by the sudden and irresistible conviction of its folly as an occupation for an immortal being. especially on the return of the votaries of pleasure to the solitude of their chamber, have they been overwhelmed with remorse and the keen upbraidings of conscience. but in all this sadness there is no religion; for it is only the sorrow of the world. it has no higher claim to approbation than the regrets of the wilful and deliberate murderer. it cannot atone for the wrong which it has committed; and it does not terminate in the purpose to renounce the sin in which it originates. hence if any spiritual good grows out of these melancholy emotions it is by accident. in vain, therefore, will the advocates of dancing attempt to escape the dilemma in which they are involved. the practice of this amusement is altogether a worldly matter. its obvious tendency is to keep dying sinners from thinking of the salvation of their souls; by pre-occupying their time and attention with earthly delights, and by tempting them to cast off fear and to restrain prayer. its natural result is to incite infatuated youth to ridicule serious christians and faithful ministers of the gospel, as fanatical, gloomy and righteous over much. it confirms them in a spirit of levity and thoughtlessness, emboldening them to mock at sin, to trifle with the most awful truths, and to go down gaily to the gates of eternal death. no other measure is needed on the part of the god of this world, than to keep the votaries of pleasure engaged in such vain amusements, to insure their destruction in hell. the more alluring this tempting bait is to their carnal taste, the more certainly will they become a prey to the great enemy of souls. they are condemned already because they believe not; and they need commit no other sin than to neglect the great salvation to perish under the withering curse of the almighty. there is but a step between them and death. the next hour spent by them in such frivolous enjoyments may be their last. for aught that they know the very ground on which they revel, may cleave beneath their feet, and entomb their immortal spirits in eternal woe. to run the giddy round of the amusements of the fashionable world, under these hazardous circumstances, is as great a madness as to sport with arrows, fire-brands and death. to each individual, therefore, i must say by divine authority, in reference to this particular pleasure, see to it, that you "be not conformed to this world." in opposing this message, you do not quarrel with the speaker, but with god. your sovereign commands; and at the judgment seat he will exact obedience at your hands. to every professing christian, who has joined in the dance, i am in duty bound to say, without qualification or reserve, that he has broken his covenant with god; by which he pledged himself to withdraw his affections from the world and to renounce its pomp and vanities forever. that act is a violation of the promise, as obligatory as an oath, because uttered before high heaven; to be governed by the example of christ, to live for the salvation of souls, and to labor for the glory of god. it is an infraction of the vow of self-consecration, voluntarily, deliberately, and prayerfully assumed; under all the circumstances which could impart sacredness to the verbal declarations of dying men, to forsake all for christ, and to be crucified to sin and to the world. it would be just, it would be no more than you might expect, that god would do unto you as you have done unto him; that as you have broken the contract between yourself and him by neglecting your engagements, that he should decline to perform those stipulations which are dependent on its conditions, leaving you to perish in the paths of transgression in which you have delighted to wander. the dancing professor of religion, not only destroys himself but does immense injury to the souls of unconverted men. he encourages all who live without hope and without god in the world to persevere in their neglect of religion, and to go on securely in the entire round of fashionable amusements. they will naturally suppose that if it is consistent with preparation for heaven, for him to venture so far within the enchanted circle of worldly gratifications, that there can be no harm in their proceeding a few steps further. it is true, _all_ of the unconverted may not reason in this manner, because their own consciences will testify that the misconduct of others is not the rule of duty, but there are many who will--the young, the ignorant, and the inexperienced, the weak in moral principle, the vacillating in purpose, and the strongly tempted; all of whom, will be led by the ignis fatuus light of your inconsistent and pernicious example, away from the path of piety and peace, into the slippery and downward course of sin, remorse, and eternal death. and at the judgment-seat of christ, you will appear with the blood of lost souls on the skirts of your garments. the dancing professor of religion _gives offence to his brethren in the church_. the fact that among this number, some of the weaker members may be found is no excuse for the deed. at the same time we think it a point of great moment, that the most eminent and exemplary christians, and the most zealous and intelligent ministers of the gospel, of all denominations, have put on it their seal of condemnation. they maintain that they cannot discover any sanction for this art, in the example of the blessed saviour or of his holy apostles. they contend that it unfits them for prayer and for communion with god; and that they cannot pass from the dissipating excitement of the crowded and noisy ball-room to the throne of grace, and do their duty there with comfort or profit. they say that they cannot ask god's blessing on the employments of an evening so spent; and that the next time they attempt to warn unconverted men of the dangers to which they are exposed in the world, that they feel rebuked by the remembrance of their own conduct to that degree that they are afraid and ashamed to open their mouths on the subject. for these obvious reasons the ecclesiastical bodies of several religious denominations in our country, have expressed their deliberate opinion of its inconsistency; and have recorded their protest against it by a formal vote. and for the same reasons, the most active, self-denying and benevolent friends of the redeemer in every community, never give their presence to the ball-room, and are deeply grieved with those nominal church-members who do. under these circumstances what is duty? what would paul do? such was his anxiety for the salvation of others, that on this account, things lawful, and therefore much more unlawful he would resign. the tenderness of his concern for the spiritual welfare of others exceeded so far all selfish considerations that he declared--"if meat make my brother to offend, i will eat no meat while the world standeth; lest i make my brother to offend." "it is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." this is the bible rule. and against those who disregard it, a fearful malediction has been uttered by the great head of the church. "whoso shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." the dancing professor of religion, by his inconsistent example, paralyzes the energies of the church. he is a _false_ witness against christ and his cause. he does not recommend but disgraces the christian name. the people of the world do not esteem him more highly on account of his conformity to their peculiar practices; on the contrary they do not believe that he is _any better_ than themselves. they have no confidence in _such_ members of the church; they look upon them as hypocrites or mere professors of religion; they do not believe that they are converted and refer to their example only by way of excuse. they may applaud their beauty, they may admire their wit, they may emulate their accomplishments, they may envy their wealth, they may copy their manners, and they may imitate their style of dress--but they never speak respectfully of their religion. not unfrequently they make their inconsistencies a subject of satirical remark. "see, that church member!" say they, "to-day he is the star of fashion, and the leader of the midnight dance--to-morrow he occupies the chief seat in the sanctuary, and is in appearance a most devout and humble worshipper." experience and the word of god, teach but one method by which the gay, frivolous, wicked and proud world, can be won over to the service of the redeemer; and that is to hold up to its view the truth, through the medium of an irreproachable example; on the one hand rebuking its follies and sins, and on the other, showing it a more excellent way. it cannot be denied, that the people of the world are often strongly tempted to skepticism by the conduct of the dancing professor of religion. they are led to inquire--is there any _reality_ in the work of the holy spirit? here is a man that asserts that he has been born again, but where is the evidence? what does he do more than others? with his lips he declares that god is his portion; that religion is his chief concern, and that heaven is his home. but by his actions he says more plainly than words can indicate, that his supreme happiness lies in the world, that christ is a hard task-master, and that his anticipations of religious comfort have been disappointed. it is no wonder, that unconverted men with such stumbling-blocks in their pathway, turn a deaf ear to the gospel. amid the perplexity of mind too often produced by the glaring inconsistencies apparent between gods truth, and gods professed people; nothing short of the almighty power of the holy spirit, can persuade unconverted men to believe, "that godliness is profitable for all things." on these carnal members of the church, must rest, therefore, the larger portion of the guilt incurred in a congregation by grieving the spirit of god, and by infecting the minds of sinners with an uncontrollable degree of levity. to their worldliness must be attributed in a great measure, the check which is given to the progress of the glorious gospel in converting perishing souls from satan unto god. and it is a question which they must settle with their consciences, "how can they meet these charges at the bar of the final judge?" the dancing professor of religion robs the church of the benefit of his services. his moral influence in the community where he resides and is known, is destroyed. like samson shorn of his locks, he is destitute of strength. he has not only lost the spirit of prayer, but he has no power at a throne of grace, "the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the lord." his approaches to the mercy seat become lifeless and heartless. and it is no marvel, that eventually he deserts the closet, the social meeting for prayer, and the house of god. such a professor of religion is a contrast to the prevailing spirit of the age, which is characterized by efforts to enlarge the borders of the kingdom of god in the conversion of sinners. he lives devoid of spiritual consolation himself, and by exciting prejudices against vital piety, keeps others away from the fountain of life. he leads thoughtless sinners down to hell, whilst he tells them that he is conducting them to heaven. with one hand he pulls down the kingdom of christ, and with the other he builds up the kingdom of satan. he betrays his master with a kiss. he grieves the souls of all the well wishers of zion. he brings down the displeasure of a righteous god on his holy heritage. he is far worse than an open enemy, for he strews the path that leads to perdition with tempting flowers, and he whispers peace in the ears of sinners who are walking in the ways of death. he is a traitor among the soldiers of the cross. he is an achan in the camp of israel. and the same inconsistency and guilt which are chargeable on the dancing professor of religion, rest in a great measure on those members of the church, who, although they do not indulge in this gay pleasure themselves, yet grant permission to their children to attend this kind of assemblies. the danger, whatever it is, certainly is as great for the members of the household, as for its head. and the word of god lays down the principle, that it is the duty of parents, to use their authority to prevent their offspring from following any amusement in which they think it would be wrong to engage themselves. fathers and mothers, therefore, who consent that their children shall learn and practice this art, are sadly neglecting their parental duties, and are to no inconsiderable extent partakers of this sin of their sons and daughters. it is an act of cold blooded cruelty to the souls of those whom they ought to love most tenderly. and we would ask, how can they approach the mercy seat for prayer in faith, with the petition on their lips, "lead us not into temptation,"--whilst they have thrown the tender lambs of their little flock into the very jaws of the lion? they certainly are not so destitute of sensibility or understanding, that they would tempt their poor confiding little ones to dance, amid the rocking of an earthquake, or the roaring of a thunder storm, or whilst standing on the edge of a slippery precipice. how then can they with any claim to the feelings of common humanity, cast their children into the vortex of worldly pleasures, where they are momentarily exposed to the infinitely greater evil of having body and soul dashed to pieces on the rocks of eternal damnation? in view of such considerations, every christian parent ought to come to the unalterable determination of bringing up his family with the understanding that they are neither to know nor practice this fashionable amusement. the just application of the principles introduced into this discourse, destroys this worldly pleasure root and branch. their true interpretation is the language of total abstinence,--"touch not, taste not, handle not." they allow no compromise with this social evil. and in cases which admit of doubt, and where it is hard to draw the line, because the impropriety is not so manifest, they utter their interdict. it is wrong, therefore, for christian families, among themselves or with a few friends, to practice dancing as an amusement. it is their duty to refrain from it, if for no other reason, because it is one of the distinctive badges of the ungodly world; and because they are bound to make the line of demarcation between the church and the world plain and visible. in opposition, to this sacred obligation, it is a poor excuse to alledge that it is only a family affair. the family circle needs to be enlarged, only by the addition of a few guests, to impart to the parlor much of the appearance of a ball-room. safety, consistency and usefulness, demand that every follower of christ should renounce it altogether. to see the true nature and character of this amusement we must view it in the light of eternity. let us contrast the merriment and folly of one of these gay and trifling assemblages, with the pure, earnest and solemn worship of the glorious intelligences gathered around the throne of the infinite god. how evanescent are their joys in contrast with the eternal blessedness of that bright circle of seraphic intelligences! how different is their estimate of sin, from that which is formed by the holy sovereign of the universe! they jest and laugh whilst trampling under foot his righteous laws; but he frowns on each transgression with a look of awful displeasure, and is "angry with the wicked every day." again, what an extreme of condition under god's moral government, does the gaiety and levity of that giddy company present to the weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, of the damned in hell!--many of whom, in their life time indulged in the same guilty pleasures; and with whom, the principal actors of this scene might in one instant be associated forever, by a single word of an offended and neglected god. or who would not be shocked in turning from the contemplation of the sad spectacle of the crucifixion; the body of jesus mangled, rent, covered with a gore of blood, his dying groans sounding in the ear!--to the levity and laughter of the ball-room, crowded by those whose sins have nailed him to the accursed tree and opened all his wounds anew. but look forward a few years, or months only it may be; and how diverse will be circumstances of thoughtless trifles! they cannot live forever. together with us, they are treading the path to the tomb, and there is one coming to meet them whose presence is a terror to all transgressors. yet into its darkness they must descend, and before that infinite being they must shortly stand. from the noise, splendor, and mirth of the ball-room, they must pass to the silence, gloom and grief, of the chamber of death. the giddy, vain, perhaps, scoffing circle of revellers, must be exchanged for the anxious, sorrowful, weeping company of relatives and friends. the showy finery of the ball dress, must be replaced by the winding sheet and the grave cloths. that form which under the tutoring hand of art, moved with such grace, through all the evolutions of the dance, must lie icy cold in the embrace of death. then they will have done with earthly things. no music with its dulcet notes will wake the echoes of the dreary caverns of the dead; no jovial companions will relieve the dullness of the grave; no dance will fill the void of slow revolving ages. the worm will feed on them sweetly there, and their souls will receive according to the deeds done in the body. when this event arrives the votaries of pleasure will turn pale with terror. they will beg for life. the absorbing inquiry will be "what must i do to be saved?" but then, oh! how horrible the thought--it may be too late. unconverted sinner flee these scenes of guilty pleasures as the gates of perdition. prepare without delay to meet thy god. let the golden moments of life's short day, be consecrated to prayer, to repentance, and to faith in jesus. then, too, mayest thou ascend at death, to that bright and better world, where the saints forever reign, and where from before the light of god's countenance, sin, darkness and sorrow, flee away, and where the soul is filled with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. old wine and new: occasional discourses. by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d., author of "evangel," "knight-banneret," "coals from the altar," "pauline charity," and "edens of italy." new york: thomas whittaker, and bible house. . copyright, , by joseph cross. franklin press: rand, avery, and company, boston. dedicatory epistle. to thomas whittaker, esq., publisher, new york. my dear friend: in former times and other lands, when one wrote a book, he inscribed the volume to some distinguished personage--a bishop, a baron, a monarch, a magnate in the world of letters--through whose name it might win its way to popular favor, and achieve a success hardly to be hoped for from its own merit. such overshadowing oaks seemed necessary to shield from sun and storm the tender undergrowth; and the dew that lay all night upon their branches the breezy morning shook off in showers of diamonds upon the humbler herbage at their roots. in an age pre-eminently of self-reliance and a country characterized no less by personal than political independence, authors have learned at length to walk alone, marching right into the heart of the public with no patronage but that of the publisher; and if a book have not the intrinsic qualities to bear the scorching beams and freezing blasts of criticism, down it must go amidst the _débris_ of earth's abortive ambitions and ruined hopes. not so much from conscious need of help as from high esteem of the noblest personal qualities, therefore, i beg leave upon this page to couple with my own a worthier name. two years ago, when i placed in your trusty hands the manuscript of knight-banneret, i had the least possible idea of the harvest which might grow from so humble a seed-grain cast into a very questionable soil. the result was an encouraging disappointment; and evangel soon followed, enlarging the horizon of hope; and edens of italy sent a refreshing aroma over all the landscape; and coals from the altar kindled assuring beacon-fires for the adventurer; and pauline charity, supported by faith and hope, walked forth in queenly state. during the publication of these several productions, so pleasant has been our intercourse--so great your kindness, candor, courtesy, magnanimity, hospitality, and every other social virtue--that i look back upon the period as one of the happiest of my life; and now, at the close of the feast, hoping that our last bout may be the best, i cordially invite you to share with me old wine and new. yours till paradise, joseph cross nov. , . preface. dear reader: in the preface to pauline charity, did not the writer promise thee that volume should be his last? some months later, however, at the bottom of the homiletical barrel, he found a few old acquaintances, in threadbare and tattered guise, smiling reproachfully out of the dust of an undeserved oblivion. he beckoned them forth, gave them new garments, and bade them go to the printer. and lo! here they are--twenty-two of them--in comely array, with fresh-anointed locks, knocking modestly at thy door. if any of the former groups from the same family were deemed worthy of thy hospitality--if any of the twenty-two evangelists gladdened thy soul with good tidings--if any of the twenty-two knights-banneret stimulated thy zeal in the holy conflict--if any of the twenty white-hooded sisters of charity warmed thy heart with words of loving kindness--if any of the sixty seraphs, winged with sunbeams, laid upon thy lips a coal from the altar--if any of the twelve cherubs, fresh from the edens of italy, led thee through pleasant paths to goodly palaces and blooming arbors--turn not away unheard these twenty-two strangers, but welcome them graciously to the fellowship of thy house, and perchance the morrow's dawn may disclose the wings beneath their robes. but if tempted to discard them as the vagrant offspring of a senile vanity thrust out to seek their fortune in the world of letters, know thou that such temptation is of the father of lies. for not all of these are thy patriarch's benjamins--sons of his old age. the leader of the band is his very reuben--the beginning of his strength. another is his lion-bannered judah, washing his garments in the blood of grapes. in another may be recognized his long-lost joseph, found at last in pharaoh's chariot. and several others, peradventure, more ancient than thy father, though bearing neither gray beard nor wrinkled brow. and the consciousness of a better ambition than vanity ever inspired prompts their commission to the public, to speak a word in season to him that is weary--to comfort the mourners in zion, giving them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for weeping, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, and filling the vale of bochim with songs in the night. nay, if the mixture of metaphors be not offensive to thy fastidious rhetoric, these brethren are sent down into egypt to procure corn for thee and thy little ones, o reader! that ye perish not in the famine of the land. "go to! the tropical language is misleading. we open the door to thy children, and find nothing but a hamper of wine--twenty-two bottles--some labelled old, and others new." as thou wilt, my gentle critic! perhaps twenty-two jars of water only. yet healthfully clear, and sweet to the taste, it is hoped thou wilt find the beverage; and if the lord, present at the feast, but deign to look at it, thou mayest wonder that the good wine has been kept till now. of edward irving, when he died fifty years ago, a london editor wrote: "he was the one man of our time who more than all others preached his life and lived his sermons." to preach one's life were hardly apostolical, though to live one's sermons might be greatly christian. at the former the author never aimed; of the latter there is little danger of his being suspected. yet this book is in some sort the record of his personal history. for a farewell gift to the world, he long contemplated an autobiography--had actually begun the work, written more than a hundred pages, and sketched a promising outline of the whole; when, in an hour of indigestion, becoming disgusted, he dropped the enterprise, and made his manuscript a burnt offering to the "blues." as a substitute for the failure, these discourses represent him in the successive stages of his ministry, being arranged in the chronological order of production and delivery, with dates and occasions in footnotes--the only autobiography he could produce, the only one doubtless to be desired. should grace divine make it in any measure effectual to the spiritual illumination of those who honor it with a perusal, he will sing his _nunc dimittis_ with thankful heart, and wait calmly for the day when every faithful worker "shall have praise of god." farewell. j. c. feast of all saints, . contents. discourse. i. filial hope. ii. rest for the weary. iii. my beloved and friend. iv. refuge in god. v. parental discipline. vi. joy of the law. vii. sojourning with god. viii. building for immortality. ix. wail of bereavement. x. wisdom and weapons. xi. love tested. xii. manifold temptations. xiii. contest and coronation. xiv. calvary token. xv. heroism triumphant. xvi. fraternal forgiveness. xvii. christ with his ministers. xviii. kept from evil. xix. contending for the faith. xx. the fruitless fig-tree. xxi. christian contentment. xxii. "ye know the grace." old wine and new. i. filial hope.[ ] beloved, now are we the sons of god; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.-- john iii. . "i am to depart, you to remain; but which shall have the happier lot, who can tell?" so spake socrates to his friends just before he drank the fatal hemlock. in all the utterances of the ancient philosophy there is no sadder word. the uncertainty of the hereafter, the impenetrable gloom that shrouds the state of the departed, sets the contemplative soul shivering with mortal dread. like the expiring hobbes, more than two thousand years later, the grand old athenian felt himself "taking a leap in the dark." in his case, however, there was more excuse than in that of the modern unbeliever. the dayspring from on high had not yet visited mankind. the morning star was still below the horizon. four centuries must pass before the rising sun of righteousness could bring the perfect day. the christ came, the true light of the world; and life and immortality, dawning from his manger, culminated upon his sepulchre. redeeming love has revealed to us more of god and man than all the sages of antiquity ever knew; and our reviving and ascending redeemer has shed a flood of radiance upon the grave and whatever lies beyond. in the immortal christ we have a sufficient answer to the patriarch's question--"if a man die, shall he live again?" in his mysteriously constituted personality taking our nature into union with the godhead, by his vicarious passion ransoming that nature, and then rising with it from the dead and returning with it to heaven, he assures all who believe in him of an actual alliance with the living god and all the blissful immunities of life eternal. and thus the apostle's statement becomes the best expression of our filial hope in christ: "beloved, now are we the sons of god; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." the ground of our glorious hope as disciples of christ is found in our gracious state as sons of god. but is not this the relation of all men? originally it was, but is not now. by creation indeed "we all are his offspring," but not by adoption and regeneration. sin has cut off from that original relation the whole progeny of adam, and disinherited us of all its rights and privileges. the paternal likeness is effaced from the human soul. alienated from the life of god, men have become children of the wicked one. only by restoring grace--"a new creation in christ jesus"--can they regain what they have lost. to effect this, came forth the only begotten from the bosom of the father, and gave himself upon the cross a ransom for the sinful race. whosoever believeth in him is saved, restored, forgiven, renewed after the image of his creator in righteousness and true holiness. jesus himself preached to nicodemus the necessity of this new birth, and "born of god" is the apostolic description of the mighty transformation. more than any outward ordinance is here expressed--more than mere morality, or reformation of life--a clean heart created, a right spirit renewed, the inception of a higher life whereby the soul becomes partaker of the divine nature. all this, through faith in christ, by the power of the holy ghost. now there is reconciliation and amity with god--"an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." more; there is sympathy, and sweet communion, and joyful co-operation, and spiritual assimilation, and oneness of will and desire, and free access to the throne of grace in every time of need. "and because ye are sons, god hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying--abba, father." "and if children, then heirs--heirs of god, and joint-heirs with jesus christ." and oh! what an inheritance awaits us in the glorious manifestation of our lord, when all his saints shall be glorified together with him! for, "it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." our sonship, you see, is the ground of our hope. our hope, you will now see, is worthy of our sonship. at present, indeed, our glorious destiny is not apparent. by faith we see it, dim and distant, as through the shepherds' glass; in hope we wait for it with calm patience, or press toward it with strong desire; but what it is--"the glory that shall be revealed in us"--we know not, and cannot know, till mortality shall be swallowed up of life. it is spiritual; we are carnal. it is heavenly; we are earthly. it is infinite; we are finite. it is altogether divine: we are but human. some of god's artists, as st. paul and st. john, have given us gorgeous pictures of it, which we gaze at with shaded eyes; but while we study them, we cannot help feeling that they fall far short of the copied original. in our present state, what idea can we form of the condition of the soul, and the mode of its subsistence, when dislodged from the body? nay, what idea can we form of the natural body developing into the spiritual, and all its rudimental powers unfolding in their perfection? or, to speak more accurately and more scripturally, what idea can we form of the resurrection body, awaking from its long sleep in the dust, re-organized and re-invested--with new beauties, perhaps new organs, new senses, new faculties, all glorious in immortality? and the enfranchised intellect, who can guess the grandeur of its destiny--what new provinces of thought, new discoveries of truth, new revelations of science, new disclosures of the mysteries of nature and of god? and the spirit--the ransomed and purified spirit--who can imagine what perfection of love, what affluence of joy, what transports of worship and of song, what society and fellowship with the saints in light, it shall enjoy when it has entered its eternal rest? we know not how the statue looks till we see it unveiled; and the whole creation, as st. paul writes to the romans, is waiting for the unveiling of the sons of god. now they are his hidden ones--hidden in the shadow of his wings, in the secret place of his tabernacle--their life hidden with christ in god--their character and true glory hidden from the world--their ineffable destiny and reward hidden from themselves, till their dear lord shall appear, and they also shall appear with him in glory. and well is it that our knowledge of the better world to come is so obscure and imperfect--necessarily obscure and imperfect, because god hath graciously revealed only what was essential to our salvation; for if he had revealed all that he might have revealed--if we could foresee and comprehend all that awaits us in the blessed everlasting future--we might have been so dazed and delighted with the splendors of the vision, as to be incapable of business, unfit for society, and better out of the world than in it. wisely, therefore, god hath veiled the future, even from his saints. the oak is in the acorn, but we cannot divine its form, and must await its manifestation in the tree. yet this we know, saith the apostle--and surely this ought to satisfy our highest ambition of knowledge--"that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." appear he certainly will. let us not lose sight of this blessed hope. it is his own promise to the disciples on the eve of his departure: "i will come again, and receive you unto myself; and where i am, there ye shall be also." and the angels of the ascension reiterate the assurance to them, as they stand gazing after him from the mount of olives: "this same jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven"--that is, visibly, personally, gloriously, in the clouds, with the holy angels. and what saith the apostle? "christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him, he shall appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation"--the second advent as real as the first, and as manifest to human sight. to such statements no mystical or figurative meaning can be given, without violence done to the language. not in the destruction of jerusalem was the prediction fulfilled; nor has it since been fulfilled, nor ever can be, in any revival or enlargement of the church; neither does jesus come to his disciples at death, but through death they pass to him. come at length he will, however, and every eye shall see him sitting upon the throne of his glory. the redemption of our humanity by price pledges a further redemption by power, which cannot be accomplished without his personal return to the ransomed planet. "and we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." that likeness to our lord must be both corporeal and spiritual. st. paul speaks of the whole church as "waiting for the adoption--to wit, the redemption of the body;" and elsewhere states that the saviour for whom we look "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body"--spiritualizing the natural, sublimating the material, endowing the physical organism with powers like his own, and adorning the long-dishonored dust with the radiant beauty of immortality. yet more wonderful must be the change wrought upon the intellectual and spiritual nature. to be like "god manifest in the flesh"--what is it but to realize a mental development and maturity far transcending all that the wisest ever attained to in this mortal state, perpetual union of our redeemed humanity with the divinity, and a blissful process of assimilation going on forever? christ is light without darkness; and to be like him implies a clearness of understanding and a certitude of truth free from all prejudice, distortion, and blinding error. christ is divine charity incarnate; and to be like him is to love as he loved--with the ardor, the intensity, the self-forgetfulness, which drew him to the manger and led him to the cross. christ is immaculate holiness made visible to men; and to be like him is to be as spotless, as faultless, as free from iniquity, perversity, hypocrisy, impurity, as he who could challenge the world with the demand--"which of you convinceth me of sin?" christ is every moral excellence combined and blended in human character; and to be like him is to be subject to all those high principles and noble impulses which give him infinite preeminence as a model to mankind, and make him in angelic estimation "the fairest among ten thousand and altogether lovely." christ is the king whom god the father hath exalted above all powers and principalities even in heavenly places; and to be like him is to reign with him, partners of his glory upon an imperishable throne, when all the dominions of earth shall have passed away as a forgotten dream. all this, and much beside that no human imagination can conceive, is manifestly comprehended in the apostolic statement, that "he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe"--men and angels, the whole universe, beholding in every disciple a perfect _facsimile_ of the glorified master. and thus the declaration is triumphantly verified: "we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." spirit is invisible. in his essence, we shall never see god. that men might see him, he became incarnate in human flesh. except in the person of jesus christ, his creatures will never see him. but even christ is far away, gone back to heaven, and seen only by faith. often, no doubt, his disciples wish they could see him with their eyes of flesh; but they never will till his promised personal return. with the apostle, they are ever thinking and speaking of him whom, not having seen, they love; in whom, though now they see him not, yet believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. but often, looking at him even by faith through the disturbing and distorting media of prejudice and passion, they make sad mistakes about him, about his complex nature, his divine perfections, his human character, his former work in the flesh, his present mediation with the father, his spiritual relation to the church, his headship over the redeemed creation. we can appreciate another only through his like within ourselves, our sympathy with his moral qualities. wanting such sympathy, vice never appreciates virtue, the carnal never discerns the spiritual, the selfish never understands the benevolent and disinterested. failing to discover the true substratum of character, they mistake motives, ridicule peculiarities, and give no credit for qualities which they cannot perceive. thus, through the imperfection of our sympathy with the saviour, or the utter want of such sympathy, even when we regard him by faith, we see him not as he is. ask the world, "what think ye of christ?" you will get a great variety of answers. one will tell you he is a myth, a phantom, a creation of genius, that never had a real historic existence. another will call him a pretender, an impostor, a false prophet, utterly unworthy of human credit and confidence. another pronounces him an amiable enthusiast, and a very good man; but self-deceived as to his mission and ministry, and not a teacher sent from god. another deems him a wise moralist, enunciating principles and precepts such as the world never heard before; and in his life, an example of all that is pure and excellent; but not essential and eternal god, nor a vicarious sacrifice for human sin. but here is one who regards him as supremely divine, and yet "the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world;" and, by the nail-prints in his palms and the thorn-marks on his brow, so shall he be recognized when he cometh in his kingdom, and the nations of the quickened dead go marching to his throne. all mistakes about him will thus be corrected; and those who have seen him only through a glass darkly, shall see him face to face; and all who have loved and honored him as their saviour, and trusted in him as their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, awaking in his likeness from the dust, shall begin the antiphon which preludes the eternal song: "this is our god! we have waited for him, and he will save us! this is the lord! we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!" oh that we all may then be found like him, and see him as he is! [ ] the author's first sermon, preached at pompey hill, onondaga county, n.y., on the sixteenth anniversary of his nativity, july , --written afterwards, and often repeated during the fifty-four years of his ministry--the thought here faithfully reproduced, the language but little changed. ii. rest for the weary.[ ] come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest.--matt. xi. . a fine legend is related of st. jerome. many years he dwelt in bethlehem, the town of his dear lord's nativity. hard by was the cave, formerly occupied as a stable, in which the blessed babe was born. here the holy man spent many a night in prayer and meditation. during one of these--waking or sleeping, we know not--he saw the divine infant, a vision of most radiant beauty. overwhelmed with love and wonder, the saint exclaimed: "what shall i give thee, sweet child? i will give thee all my gold!" "heaven and earth are mine," answered the lovely apparition, "and i have need of nothing; but give thy gold to my poor disciples, and i will accept it as given to myself." "willingly, o blessed jesus! will i do this," replied the saint; "but something i must give thee for thyself, or i shall die of sorrow!" "give me, then, thy sins," rejoined the christ, "thy troubled conscience, thy burden of condemnation!" "what wilt thou do with them, dear jesus?" asked jerome in sweet amazement. "i will take them all upon myself," was the reply; "gladly will i bear thy sins, quiet thy conscience, blot out thy condemnation, and give thee my own eternal peace." then began the holy man to weep for joy, saying: "ah, sweet saviour! how hast thou touched my heart! i thought thou wouldst have something good from me; but no, thou wilt have only the evil! take, then, what is mine, and grant me what is thine; so am i helped to everlasting life!" this, my dear brethren, is what jesus, with unspeakable compassion, offers to do for us all. he would have us bring the several burdens under which we toil and faint, and lay them down at his feet. pardon for guilt he would give us, peace for trouble, assurance for doubt and fear, and for all our fruitless agony divine repose. see how miserably men mistake his gospel, when they regard it merely as a set of doctrines to be believed, of duties to be performed, of ceremonies to be observed, instead of a mercy to be received, a blessing to be enjoyed, a salvation offered for our acceptance. it is indeed the unspeakable gift of god, the sovereign remedy of all our ills; in which, as rational and immortal beings, fallen in adam, but redeemed by christ, we have an infinite interest. there is a tenderness in the invitation, combined with a moral sublimity, demanding for its utterance the melody of an angel's tongue, with the accompaniment of a seraph's harp; and we ought to listen to the words of jesus to-day with a faith, a love, a joy, such as simon, james and john never knew, nor the pardoned sinner of magdala, sitting in rapt wonder at the master's feet. "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." how suitable was this address to those who first heard it, laboring and heavy laden with the costly rites and burdensome observances of the levitical law! those rites and observances required a large portion of their time and a larger expenditure of money; yet of their real nature and meaning the common people knew very little, and therefore felt them to be a burden which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. types and symbols they were of better things to come; but they could not take away sin, nor quiet a troubled conscience, nor give any assurance of the reconciliation and favor of heaven. for this, god must be manifested in human flesh, the prince of peace must come and set up his kingdom among men, by the blood of his sacrifice redeeming us from the curse of the violated law, and securing an eternal salvation to all them that obey him. jesus here assures the jews that he is what john the baptist has already proclaimed him--"the lamb of god that taketh away the sins of the world." it is as if he had said: "come away from your bloody altars and sacrificial fires. these are but the shadows, of which i am the substance; the prophecies, of which i am the fulfilment. in me they all find their meaning and their virtue, and by my mission as the promised saviour they are set aside forever. come unto me, and i will give you rest." some there were, no doubt, among the hearers of jesus, who were laboring and heavy laden with vain efforts to justify themselves by the deeds of the law. the jews imagined that by doing more than their duty they could make god their debtor, and by extra acts of piety and mercy insure their own salvation as a matter of sheer justice. and even among christians, who profess to take christ as their only saviour and his merit as the only ground of their justification before god, are there not many who are not altogether free from this pharisaic leaven, endeavoring by their moral virtues and perfect obedience to make amends for the errors and delinquencies of the past? but creature merit is absurd, sinful merit impossible, and "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified." the creature belongs to the creator; and loving the creator with all his soul, and serving the creator with all his energies, and continuing that love and service without fault or failure throughout all the immortal duration of his being, he merely renders to god his own, and is still an unprofitable servant. but the sinner, already in arrears of duty to the creator, can never, by yielding to god what is always due even from sinless creatures, satisfy the demands of the law upon its transgressor; and without some other means and method of pardon, which the divine wisdom alone can reveal, the old debt remains uncancelled upon the books, and no power can avert the penalty. moreover, the sinner by his sin becomes incapable of offering to god any true love or acceptable service without divine grace prevening and co-operating to that end, so that no possible credit can accrue to human virtue and obedience, but all the glory must redound to god. christ calls us away from all such futile hopes and fruitless endeavors. "i am your saviour," he saith; "by no other name can you be saved; by no other medium can you come to the father; through no merit but mine can you obtain absolution from your guilt; through no sacrifice or intercession but mine can you know that peace and purity for which you have hitherto striven and struggled in vain; come unto me, and i will give you rest." and still another class, found in every large gathering of men and women, especially wherever the dayspring from on high hath dawned, there must have been among these hearers of the divine preacher--those, namely, who were laboring and heavy laden with the conscious burden of their guilt. true it is, indeed, that such as are going on still in their trespasses do not commonly feel their sins to be a burden. they rejoice in them, and roll them as a sweet morsel under their tongues, talking of them as if it were a fine thing to be foolish and an honor to be infamous. but when the law of god is effectually brought home to the understanding and the heart--when they see themselves in the light of the divine holiness, and the whole inner man seems converted into conscience--then they feel that sin "is an evil and exceeding bitter thing," and cry out with the terrified philippian, "what must i do to be saved?" or exclaim with the awakened and illuminated saul, "oh! wretched man that i am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" or, smiting a guilty breast, pray with the publican of the parable, "god be merciful to me a sinner!" "as writhes the gross material part when in the furnace cast, so writhes the soul the victim of remorse! remorse--a fire that on the verge of god's commandment burns, and on the vitals feeds of all who pass!"[ ] and remorse is accompanied with terror, and fearful apprehensions of the wrath to come. condemned already, the affrighted sinner sees a more formidable sword than that of damocles hanging over his head. amidst all his carnal pleasures and social enjoyments, he is like that prince of norway, who went to his wedding festival well knowing that it would end in his execution; and at the altar, and in the gay procession, and over the table loaded with luxuries, and through palatial halls strewed with flowers and ringing with music and merriment, saw everywhere and heard continually the preparations for the fatal hour. the agony of such a situation how can we imagine? i once knew an awakened sinner who described himself as enclosed in the centre of a granite mountain, no room to move a muscle, no seam or crevice through which one ray of light could reach him--picture of utter helplessness and absolute despair! ah! my brethren! he who made the granite may dissolve it, or reduce the solid mountain to dust! and is there any guilt or misery from which the mighty to save cannot deliver the soul that trusts in him? your sin may be great, but his mercy is greater. your enemies may threaten, but has he not conquered them and nailed them to his cross? to whom, then, will you apply for help, but to your divine and all-sufficient saviour? go not to human philosophy, "which leads to bewilder and dazzles to blind," but cannot satisfy the mind nor tranquillize the conscience. go not to the ritual law of israel, which could never make the comers thereunto perfect; nor to the blessed saints and martyrs, none of whom can avail you as mediators between your sinful souls and god; nor depend upon sacraments and sermons, for these can aid you only as they bring you into spiritual contact with christ, the light and life of the world. hear him calling--rise and obey the call--"come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." rest is a pleasant word--how pleasant to the husbandman, toiling on through the long summer day! how pleasant to the traveller, pressing forward with his load to the end of his tedious journey! how pleasant to the mariner, after tossing for weeks on stormy seas, stepping upon his native shore and hasting away to his childhood's home! how pleasant to the warrior, when, having won the last battle of his last campaign, he returns with an honorable discharge to his mother's cottage among the hills! rest is what we all want, and what jesus offers to the weary and heavy laden soul. i saw a young lady bowed down with grief at the memory of her sins; and when i spoke to her, she looked up with a smile that made rainbows on her tears, and said: "o sir! i have had more happiness weeping over my sins for the last half hour than i ever had in sinning through all my life!" and if "the seeing eye, the feeling sense, the mystic joys of penitence," have in them so much sweetness for the soul, what shall we say of "the speechless awe that dares not move, and all the silent heaven of love!" it is the rest of conscious pardon and satisfied desire; the rest of faith, seeing the invisible and grasping the infinite; of hope, reposing in the infallible promise and anticipating a blissful immortality; of resignation, losing its own will in the will of god, and leaving all things to the disposal of the divine wisdom and goodness; of perfect confidence and trust, saying with st. paul: "i know whom i have believed, and am persuaded that, he is able to keep that which i have committed unto him against that day." christ is the love of god incarnate in our nature; and where shall the loving john find rest, but in the bosom of the eternal love? and, tossed by many a tempest, or racked with keenest pain, why should not the weary and heavy-laden disciple of the divine man of sorrows sing like one of his faithful servants whose flesh and spirit were being torn asunder by anguish:-- "yet, gracious god, amid these storms of nature, thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm reign through the realm of conscience. all within lies peaceful, all composed. 'tis wondrous grace keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom, though stained with sins and follies, yet serene in penitential peace and cheerful hope, sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood. thy vital smiles amid this desolation, like heavenly sunbeams hid behind the clouds, break out in happy moments. with bright radiance cleaving the gloom, the fair celestial light softens and gilds the horrors of the storm, and richest cordial to the heart conveys. oh! glorious solace of immense distress! a conscience and a god! this is my rock of firm support, my shield of sure defence against infernal arrows. rise, my soul! put on thy courage! here's the living spring of joys divinely sweet and ever new-- a peaceful conscience and a smiling heaven! my god! permit a sinful worm to say, thy spirit knows i love thee. worthless wretch! to dare to love a god! yet grace requires, and grace accepts. thou seest my laboring mind. weak as my zeal is, yet my zeal is true; it bears the trying furnace. i am thine, by covenant secure. incarnate love hath seized, and holds me in almighty arms. what can avail to shake me from my trust? amidst the wreck of worlds and dying nature, i am the lord's, and he forever mine!"[ ] hear ye, then, the loving words of jesus. the invitation is unlimited; the grace is free for all. no sin is too great to be forgiven, no burden too heavy to be removed, no power in earth or hell able to keep you back from christ. however dark your minds, however hard your hearts, however dead your spirits, hear and answer: "i will arise and go!" "just as i am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, o lamb of god, i come!" lo! with outstretched arms he hastes to meet you, with tokens of welcome and the kiss of peace. "ready for you the angels wait, to triumph in your blest estate; tuning their harps, they long to praise the wonders of redeeming grace." all heaven, with expectant joy, awaits your coming. come, and satisfy the soul that travailed for you in olivet! come, and gladden the heart that broke for you upon the cross! come, and at the nail-pierced feet find your eternal rest! [ ] preached in syracuse, n.y., ; at weston-super-mare, somersetshire, eng., .] [ ] pollok. [ ] isaac watts in his last illness. iii. my beloved and friend.[ ] this is my beloved, and this is my friend, o daughters of jerusalem!--song of sol. v. . by the ablest interpreters and critics of holy scripture, the song of solomon has generally been regarded as an epithalamium, or nuptial canticle. but, like many other parts of the sacred volume, doubtless, it has a mystical and secondary application, which is more important than the literal and primary. the true solomon is christ, and the church is his beautiful shulamite. in this chapter, the bride sings the glory of her divine spouse, and our text concludes the description. but what is thus true of the church in her corporate capacity, is true also of her individual members; and without its verification in their personal experience, it could not be thoroughly verified in the organic whole. every regenerate and faithful soul may say of the heavenly bridegroom: "this is my beloved, and this is my friend, o daughters of jerusalem!" christ for a beloved--the son of god for a friend! what nobler theme could occupy our thoughts? what sublimer privilege invest the saints in light? so constituted is man, that love and friendship are necessary to his happiness, almost essential to his existence. accumulate in your coffers the wealth of all kingdoms, and gather into your diadems the glories of the greatest empires. bid every continent, island and ocean bring forth their hidden treasures, and pour the sparkling tribute at your feet. subsidize and appropriate whatever is precious in the solar planets or magnificent in the stellar jewellery of heaven, and hold it all by an immortal tenure. yet, without at least one kindred spirit to whom you might communicate your joy, one congenial soul from whom you might claim sympathy in your sorrow, the loveless heart were still unsatisfied-- "the friendless master of the worlds were poor!" among the children of men, however, love and friendship, in one respect or another, will always be found defective, liable to many irregularities and interruptions, painful suspicions and sad infirmities, which mar their beauty, tarnish their purity, and imbitter their consolations, turning the ambrosia into wormwood and the nectar into gall. sometimes they are manifest only in words, and smiles, and hollow courtesies, and other external tokens; while the heart is as void of all true affection and confidence as the whitewashed sepulchre is of life and beauty. beginning with flattery, they often proceed by hypocrisy, and end in betrayal. or if there be sincerity in the outset, it may prove as impotent as childhood, as changeful as autumn winds, or as fleeting as the morning cloud. or if not destroyed by some trivial offence, or suffered to die of cold neglect, their ties are clipped at length by the shears of fate, and no love or friendship is possible in the everlasting banishment of the unblest. but amidst all the sad uncertainties of human attachments, how pleasant it is to know that "there is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother"--a beloved whose affection is sincere, ardent, unchanging, imperishable--who can neither deceive nor forsake those who have entered into covenant with him--from whom death itself will not divide us, but bring us to a nearer and sweeter fellowship with him than we are capable now of imagining! enoch walked with god till he was less fit for earth than for heaven, and st. john leaned upon the heart of jesus till his own pulse beat in unison with the divine. drawn into this blissful communion, every true disciple becomes one spirit with the lord. christ calls his servants friends, receives them into his confidence, and reveals to them the secrets of his kingdom. not ashamed to own them now, he will confess them hereafter before his father and the holy angels. "they shall be mine," saith he, "in that day when i make up my jewels." and the happy bride, dwelling with ineffable delight upon the perfections of her spouse, and anticipating the fulfilment of his promise when he cometh in his glory, concludes her song of joy with the declaration--"this is my beloved, and this is my friend, o daughters of jerusalem." what, then, are the conditions on which such intimacy of the soul with christ is to be established? nothing is required but what is in the very nature of things necessary. prophet, priest and king, he can take into amicable alliance with him only such as respect and honor him in these relations. the prophet cannot be the beloved and the friend of those who refuse to hear his word; nor the priest, of those who reject his sacrifice and intercession; nor the king, of those who are still in arms against his gracious government. we must love him, if we would have his love; we must show ourselves friendly, if we would enjoy his friendship. having died to redeem us, he ever lives to plead for us, and by a thousand ambassadors he offers us his love and friendship; but, no response on our part, no sympathy or co-operation, how can we call him our beloved and our friend? "can two walk together except they be agreed?" there must be reconciliation and assimilation. we must submit to christ's authority, and co-operate with his mercy. we must love what he loves, and hate what he hates. his friends must be our friends, and his enemies our enemies. the world, the flesh, and the devil, we must for his sake renounce; reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto god through jesus christ our lord. does not st. paul tell us that as many as have been baptized into christ have put on christ?[ ] what does he mean? that in baptism we not only enter into covenant with christ, but also assume his character, and profess our serious purpose to walk as he walked, conformed to his perfect example, and governed by the same divine principles. as when one puts on the peculiar habit of the benedictines or the franciscans, he declares his intention to obey the rules and copy the life of st. benedict or st. francis, the founders of those orders; so, in putting on the christian habit when you are baptized, you avow yourself the disciple of christ, and openly declare your death thenceforth to sin and your new birth to righteousness. and without any thing in your heart and life corresponding to such a reality, how can you say of jesus--"this is my beloved, and this is my friend, o daughters of jerusalem!" but where there are no attractive qualities, there can be neither love nor friendship. something there must be to inspire affection and confidence. in our divine beloved resides every mental grace and every moral virtue. our heavenly friend is "the fairest among ten thousand and altogether lovely." of the excellency of christ all the charms of nature afford but the faintest images, and poetry and eloquence falter in the celebration of his praise. i ask your attention here to a few particulars. jesus is always perfectly sincere. with him there are no shams, no mere pretences, no unmeaning utterances of love or friendship. all is real, all is most significant, and there are depths in his heart which no line but god's can fathom. and his ardor is equal to his sincerity. "behold how he loved him!" said the jews when they saw him weeping at the tomb of lazarus. "behold how he loveth them!" say the angels when they witness the far more wonderful manifestations of his friendship for the saints. let the profane speak of damon and pythias, and the pious talk of david and jonathan; there is no other heart like that of jesus christ, no other bond so strong as that which binds him to his disciples. and his disinterestedness is commensurate with his ardor. in human friendships we often detect some selfish end; christ seeks not his own glory or profit, but sacrifices himself for our salvation. no earthly affection is greater than that which lays down life for a friend; christ died for us while we were yet enemies, upon the cross prayed for those who nailed him there, and from the throne still offers eternal life to those who are constantly crucifying him afresh and putting him to open shame. and in all his gracious fellowship with those who love him, it is their good he seeks, their honor he consults, their great and endless comfort he wishes to secure. and not less wonderful are his patience and forbearance toward them. how meekly he endured the imperfections of the chosen twelve as long as he remained with them in the flesh! how tenderly he bore their misconceptions of his purpose, their misconstructions of his language, their fierce and fiery tempers, their slowness of heart to believe! how beautifully his patience carried him through all his life of suffering, and sustained him in the bitter anguish of the cross! and since his return to heaven, how often, and in how many ways, have his redeemed people put his forbearance to the proof! try any other friend as you try jesus, and see how long he will endure it. but our divine beloved will not faint nor be weary, till he have accomplished in us his work of grace, and brought us in safety to his father's house. and who ever matched him in beneficence and bounty? "he is able," saith the apostle, "to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think." his ability is as large as his love, and that is immeasurable and inconceivable. other friends, loving us sincerely, may want power to help us; he hath all power in heaven and earth. they may be far away in the time of need; he saith--"lo! i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." as the vine gives its life to the branches, as the shepherd gives his time and care to the sheep, as the monarch gives riches and honors to his favorites, as the royal spouse gives himself and all he has to his chosen bride, so gives christ to his elect, making them joint-heirs with himself to all that he inherits as the only begotten son of god--unspeakable grace now, eternal glory hereafter! "all things are yours, and ye are christ's, and christ is god's!" and what confiding intimacy find we in this heavenly friendship! the father, the brother, the husband, live in the same house, occupy the same room, eat and drink at the same table, with their beloved; christ comes into our hearts, takes up his abode there, and feasts with us, and we with him. "shall i hide from abraham," said jehovah, "the thing that i do?" "therefore abraham was called the friend of god." "the secret of the lord is with them that fear him," saith the psalmist, "and he will show them his covenant." "henceforth i call you not servants," said jesus to the twelve, "but i have called you friends, for whatsoever i have received of my father i have made known unto you." "eye hath not seen," writes st. paul, "nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which god hath prepared for them that love him; but god hath revealed them to us by his spirit; for the spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of god." every true disciple, like ignatius, carries the crucified in his heart, and knows and comprehends with all saints, the lengths and breadths and depths and heights of the love that passeth knowledge, being filled with the fulness of god. and all this is unfailing and everlasting. having loved his own who were in the world, christ loved them unto the end, loved them still upon his cross, and ceased not to love them when he left them and returned to the father, but remembered his promise to pray for them, and to send them another comforter who should abide with them forever, and finally to come again and receive them unto himself, that where he is they might be also. nearly nineteen centuries are past since he ascended whence he came, and still the promise holds good, and the lapse of ages has not diminished his affection, and to-day he loves his friends as tenderly as when he talked so sweetly with the little flock at the last supper and along the path to olivet. death, which dissolves all other friendships, confirms this forever. "i have a desire to depart," wrote the heroic christian prisoner from rome--"i have a desire to depart, and to be with christ, which is far better." not long had the dear old man to wait. one morning--the th of june, a.d. --the door of his dungeon opened, st. paul went forth, walked a mile along the way to ostia, with his hands bound behind him knelt down, the sweep of a sword gleamed over him like the flash of an angel's wing, and the servant was with his lord! thus, dear brethren, we see the incomparable qualities of our beloved, the divine excellences of our friend. perfect wisdom is here, perfect knowledge, perfect prudence, perfect justice, perfect purity, perfect benevolence, perfect magnanimity, with immutability and immortality--whatever is necessary to win and hold the heart--all blending in the character of christ. is he not the very friend we need? how, without him, can we bear to live or dare to die? what are riches, culture, power, splendor, without his love? what can our poor human friends do for us in the hour of death? what could worlds of such friends do for us in the day of judgment? "in the name of the lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge." flee away, ye heavens! dissolve, thou earth! and vanish! it is my beloved that cometh with his chariots! it is my friend that sitteth upon the throne! oh! my brethren! christ jesus loves to make new friends, though he never abandons the old. let us accept his gracious overtures, and join ourselves unto the lord in an everlasting covenant. the poorest and vilest of us all would he take home to his heart, and love him freely and forever. the most unworthy of all the human race would he gladly introduce to the fellowship of saints and the innumerable company of angels, and seat the pardoned sinner at his side upon the throne. oh! when i enter the metropolis, and hail the immortal millions of the blood-washed, and kneel to kiss the nail-pierced feet of the king, while all the harps and voices that have welcomed me go silent for his gracious salutation, with what rapture, as i rise, shall i look round upon the happy multitude and say--"this is my beloved, and this is my friend, o daughters of jerusalem!" [ ] preached at a wedding festival, . [ ] gal. iii. . iv. refuge in god.[ ] be thou my strong rock, for a house of defence to save me.--ps. xxxi. . on a superb arch in one of the halls of the alhambra, the traveller reads as he enters: "i seek my refuge in the lord of the morning." the sentiment is worthy of holy scripture, whence doubtless it was taken by the writer of the koran. more than two thousand years earlier than mohammed, moses had said to the beloved tribes, just before he ascended to his mountain death-bed: "the eternal god is thy refuge, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms." and how often does king david, environed with dangers and oppressed with sorrows, comfort himself with the assurance of an almighty protection and support! "thou art my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my god, my strength, in whom i will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." "in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock; and now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies that are round about me." "thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy; i will abide in thy tabernacle forever, i will trust in the covert of thy wings." "thou art my hiding-place: thou wilt preserve me from trouble; thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance." and so in a hundred other passages of his psalms, and notably in the words we have chosen as the basis of this discourse: "be thou my strong rock, for a house of defence to save me." in all such utterances, there seems to be some reference to the hebrew cities of refuge, whither the manslayer fled from the avenger of blood, where he remained unmolested till he could have an impartial hearing, and whence, if found innocent of premeditated murder, he finally came forth acquitted amidst the congratulations of his family and friends. here is the double idea of escape from persecution and security from punishment; and with reference to both these, the psalmist seeks his refuge in the lord of the morning. the first idea is refuge from persecution. david's persecutions were varied, and violent, and long continued. how sadly he tells the story, and pours out his melting soul in song! deceitful and bloody men, full of all subtlety and malignity, compassed him about like bees, like strong bulls of bashan, like a troop of lions from the desert. daily they imagined mischief against him, and consulted together to cast him down from his excellency. they laid to his charge things which he knew not. to the spoiling of his soul, they rewarded him evil for good. with hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon him with their teeth. as with a sword in his bones, they reproached him; saying continually, "where is now thy god?" in his adversity they openly rejoiced, and with his misfortunes made themselves merry. they persecuted him whom god had smitten, and talked to the grief of him whom the most high had wounded. with cruel hatred they hated him; yea, they tore him in pieces, and ceased not. with these woful complaints agree the recorded facts of his life. one while we see him pursued like a partridge upon the mountains by the royal army, with his royal father-in-law at its head; from whom he escapes only by frequent flight, concealment in caverns, and weary sojourn at the court of a pagan king. and later in life we behold him driven from his throne, and chased from house and hold, by his own insurgent son; while shimmei comes forth to curse the weeping fugitive, and cast stones at the lord's anointed; and ahithophel, his former familiar friend and courtly _confidant_, with whom he has often taken sweet counsel and walked in the house of god, lifts up the heel against him, and basely goes over to the standard of the conspirators. no wonder he exclaims, as with the sigh of a breaking heart: "save me, o god; for the waters are come in unto my soul. i sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; i am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. i am weary of my crying; my throat is dried; mine eyes fail, while i wait for my god. they that hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head; they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty.... thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor. reproach hath broken my heart, and i am full of heaviness. and i looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but i found none."[ ] "i mourn in my complaint and make a noise, because of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. my heart is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me; fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. oh that i had wings like a dove! for then would i flee away, and be at rest; lo! then would i wander far off, and remain in the wilderness; i would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest."[ ] vain wish, o disquieted and trembling soul! no wings, no distance, no solitude, can save thee. nearer at hand thou shalt find thy refuge, even in the lord of the morning. and well knows the persecuted king where to look for succor and consolation. "o lord, my god! in thee do i put my trust. save me from them that persecute me, and deliver me; lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver."[ ] "show thy marvellous loving-kindness, o thou that savest by thy right hand them that put their trust in thee from those who rise up against them! keep me as the apple of thine eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wing, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies who compass me about."[ ] "plead my cause, o lord! with them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me. take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help; draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me. say unto my soul, i am thy salvation."[ ] how expressive is all this of utter helplessness, and reliance upon the living god! what fervent prayer is here! what faith in a personal power and a special providence which no human agency can baffle or resist! proud mortals! talk no more of the strong will, the valiant arm, the dauntless courage, and your own self-sufficiency! "cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." "trust ye in the lord forever, for in the lord jehovah is everlasting strength." what is the strategy of generals and the prowess of armies, to him "who rideth upon the heavens in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky"? faith as a grain of mustard-seed is better than all your military science, and the prayer of the humblest peasant is mightier than embattled millions. the prayer of faith divides the sea, cleaves the granite, marshals the troops of the tempest, and makes the angels of god our allies. "when i call upon thee, then shall mine enemies be put to flight; this i know, for god is on my side." such is david's confidence; such, my brethren, be ours! is not every attribute of jehovah in league with the devout believer, and all his infinite resources pledged to the support of his servants? and without any doubt of a divine hearing or fear of ultimate failure, every persecuted christian may pray to the god of david: "be thou my strong rock, for a house of defence to save me." the second idea is refuge from punishment. the chief element of david's distress is a painful consciousness of guilt. it is conscience that wrings the wormwood for him into every cup of sorrow. it is remorse for past transgression that turns his tears into gall and makes his persecutions intolerable. pure and innocent, he might defy his enemies, he might glory in tribulations. but he is forced to regard the wicked as god's sword for the punishment of his sins; and in all his pleadings we hear the voice of the penitent--sad confessions, bitter self-reproaches, touching appeals to the mercy of heaven. "lord, what wait i for? my hope is in thee. deliver me from my transgressions; make me not a reproach of the foolish.... remove thy stroke away from me; i am consumed by the blow of thy hand."[ ] "deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink. let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up. hear me, o lord! for thy loving-kindness is good. turn unto me, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies; and hide not thy face from thy servant, for i am in trouble. hear me speedily."[ ] a good man, we all know, may be surprised by temptation, and so fall into grievous sin. thus some of god's holiest servants have committed enormous crimes. not the single or occasional act, however, constitutes character; but the habit of a man's life--his dominant impulse and prevailing tendency. to judge st. peter, for example, by the one solitary instance of defection, were manifestly unfair; when his whole course, up to that moment, and ever afterward, was marked by uncompromising fidelity to the master, with the most heroic daring and enduring in his service. far more just were it to estimate the man by the tears which he wept when the reproving glance brought home the guilt to his conscience, and by his subsequent earnest endeavors to undo the evil he had done and honor the saviour he had denied. apply this principle to the royal penitent. who ever more truly loved god, or more honestly sought to serve him? was not holy obedience the tenor and tendency of his life? if he erred in numbering the people--if he took uriah's wife to his bosom, and slew the husband to conceal the crime--it was under the power of peculiar temptation, which we, having never experienced, are quite incapable of estimating; and those deplorable deeds are the only recorded exceptions--the manifest violent contradictions--to a long life of singular piety, purity and uprightness. and now, made sensible of his sin, mark you how bitterly he grieves for it, and how earnestly he groans for its forgiveness:-- "have mercy upon me, o god! according to thy loving-kindness; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. for i acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. against thee, thee only, have i sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.... purge me with hyssop, and i shall be clean; wash me, and i shall be whiter than snow. make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. create in me a clean heart, o god! and renew a right spirit within me. cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. then will i teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. deliver me from blood-guiltiness, o god! thou god of my salvation! and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness."[ ] what keen remorse and penitential shame are here! was there ever a more ingenuous confession, a more thorough contrition, a more profound humility, or a more utter self-despair? the royal sinner seems to see the sin in all its hideousness, and to hate it with unutterable hatred. he seeks no subterfuge, attempts no extenuation; but charges the guilt home, with all its aggravations, upon his own soul. never can he forgive his folly, nor weep tears, enough to express his sorrow for the fault. would to heaven we might all thus feel our guilt, and haste to the shelter of the divine mercy! sinners--great sinners--are we all. is there one of us that has not sinned more deeply than david ever did? and, instead of being an exceptional act, our sin has been the habit of our lives. justice, with double-flaming sword, is hard upon our heels. what shall we do, or whither turn, for safety? to thee, o crucified love! we come; and, with broken hearts, cast ourselves down at thy feet. all other saviours we renounce: all other merits we disclaim; all other sacrifices we abjure. thou of god art made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. perishing, we implore thy mercy. take us to the arms that were stretched upon the cross. hide us in the heart that was opened by the soldier's spear. when we faint in the valley of the shadow of death, let us feel the assuring pressure of the nail-pierced hand. when the heavens are flaming above and the earth is dissolving beneath, "be thou our strong rock, for a house of defence to save us"! [ ] preached in ithaca, n.y., . [ ] ps. lxix. - , , . [ ] ps. lv. - . [ ] ps. vii. , . [ ] xvii. , . [ ] xxxv. - . [ ] ps. xxxvii, , , . [ ] ps. lxix. - . [ ] ps. li. - , - . v. parental discipline.[ ] his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.-- sam. iii. . few things in the bible are more beautiful than the child-life of samuel. a gift of the loving god to a devout but sorrowful woman, his mother gladly gave him back to the giver, and he ministered before the lord in the sanctuary at shiloh. at that time eli was both high-priest and magistrate in israel. as a man of god, and to him much more than a father, samuel seems to have loved him very tenderly and honored him very highly. to ease himself somewhat of his onerous duties, perhaps, eli had raised his two sons, hophni and phinehas, to the dignity of the priesthood. in the exercise of their sacred trust, the young men had committed great excesses and abuses. from all sides the fact came to the ears of their father. sweetly and gently he remonstrated with the offenders, but neglected to hold them back with the strong hand of parental authority. probably from the first there had been some radical defect in the moral discipline of the family. an amiable and indulgent father, eli had neglected the severer duty which his sacred office, even more than his paternal relation, imposed upon him. to make him sensible of his great delinquency, the guilt of his sons must be brought home upon his hoary head. "divinely called and strongly moved, a prophet from a child approved," samuel is commissioned to announce to him the heavy tidings, that god will judge his house forever, because "his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not." in the outset, we cannot help observing the difference between the sons of eli and his little ward. samuel received his first lessons from the lips of a godly mother in the quiet home at ramah. from his earliest consciousness he knew that he was to be a nazarite, consecrated wholly to the service of jehovah. his special training afterward in the house of the lord was well adapted to fit him for the grand career before him. the gross misconduct of some who ought to have set him the best example must have wounded deeply his innocent heart, while it impressed him strongly with the deadly evil of sin and the mischief resulting inevitably from the relaxation of morals among the rulers of the people and the ministers of religion. growing up in daily contact with the mysteries and symbols of the divine service, the sacred ritual which was to hophni and phinehas merely an empty form was to him replete with the spirit and power of holiness, elevating his thoughts, purifying his feelings, and moulding his whole character to its noble design. the names and things with which he was constantly occupied conformed him gradually but unalterably to god's gracious purpose, and made him the steadfast and uncompromising servant of the most high--the man to reprove, rebuke, exhort, instruct the people--to retrieve losses, restore justice, reform abuses, assuage excitements, reduce chaos to order, establish the schools of the prophets, and wield a controlling power over the throne. such a ministry required a character of steady growth, and the personal influence of a consistent and holy life. none of your modern revivals could ever have made a samuel. true it is, indeed, that some of god's most eminent servants--as st. paul and st. augustine--were converted in manhood, after a wasted youth of sin and crime; yet such instances are no real exceptions to the rule, that god directs the training of his servants from childhood, shaping his instruments by every act of his providence. st. paul was thoroughly educated in the rabbinical learning of his day, and well acquainted with greek literature and greek philosophy, and so far prepared for his christian apostleship to both jews and gentiles; and the logical and rhetorical studies of st. augustine unconsciously made him the great christian dialectician that he was, while the sensual indulgences of his earlier years intensified his knowledge both of the power of sin and the efficacy of divine grace which he was to preach to others. generally, the lord's most honored servants, like samuel, have been chosen from their childhood, and nourished up for their special ministry under the hallowed influence of his truth and worship. some of them, it is true, were afterward for a while occupied in other callings, before they went to their divinely appointed labor. moses was a shepherd in the very wilderness through which he was to lead the lord's beloved, and on the very mountain where he was to receive for them a law from the lips of god. david also was a shepherd, and a musician, and a warrior, and a fugitive, and an outcast from his country; and by all these conditions and experiences was he trained for his future pre-eminence, as the king of israel, and the psalmist of the sanctuary, and the man after god's own heart. and chrysostom was a lawyer, and ambrose was a civilian and a prefect, and cyprian was a professor of rhetoric, before they entered upon their nobler life-work for christ and the church. in all these cases, to which many others might be added, god's good providence wisely ordered the discipline of his servants, through knowledge, and sorrow, and conflict, and a great variety of experiences, out of which were developed those characters and qualities which were essential to their success in the high calling for which they were designed. and so with the holy baptist, chosen to be the immediate harbinger of the messiah; and the galilæan fishermen, whom he afterward ordained as his apostles; and timothy, appointed the first bishop of ephesus; and luther, the destined sword of heaven to papal rome. and so it was with samuel, from his very birth consecrated to god, growing up in the house of the lord, becoming the prophet and judge of his people, the invincible champion of truth and righteousness; with such heroic energy maintaining the authority of the divine law, rebuking iniquity in high places, withstanding the current of the national degeneracy, and like an angel of god pronouncing the doom of a fallen monarch, that "all israel even from dan to beersheba knew that samuel was established to be a prophet of the lord." to return to eli and his sons. the father's fault seems to have been too much indulgence, too much tenderness, perhaps too much timidity, to restrain his consecrated lads from their wicked practices. the power he had, but would not assert it. the father's authority in his family at that age of the world was absolute and unquestionable. this fact leaves eli's conduct without excuse. he remonstrated with the offenders, but far too feebly. their crimes were of the very worst character, and aggravated by their sacred profession and holy environments; yet he had for them but a few soft and gentle words, scarcely strong enough to be called a reproof, without any assertion of authority as father, high-priest, or judge. one of our best biblical critics renders the text: "his sons made themselves accursed, and he frowned not upon them." but while we animadvert upon the guilty negligence of eli, let no parent plead the different customs of our day, the higher civilization of the race, or the diminished degree of parental authority, as an excuse for his own delinquency. every father and mother are responsible for the moral restraint of the children that god has given them, and fearful beyond all estimate must be the consequences of disregarding the duty. such is the tendency of human nature to evil, that it begins to show itself ordinarily at a very early period of life, and the utmost care should be taken to check it in its first manifestations. for this purpose it may be necessary to interpose the strength of the parental will in curbing the will of the child. those who are taught from their infancy to submit their own will to the will of father or mother are more likely in later life to yield themselves to the will of god. the wise mother of the wesleys has left on record these words for our guidance in this important matter: "in order to form the mind of the child, the first thing to be done is to conquer the will and bring it into an obedient temper. this is the only strong and rational foundation of a religious education, without which both precept and example will be ineffectual. as self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whatever cherishes this in children insures their after wretchedness and irreligion, and whatever checks and mortifies it promotes their future happiness and piety." who will presume to question this statement? and if correct, is not robert hall's remark equally true--that "indulgent parents are cruel to their children and to posterity"? but who can calculate the consequences? the fallow ground left unsown is soon sown by the winds with every vagrant seed of evil. one sin leads to another, the less generally to the greater; and by the inception of a single wrong principle in childhood, the young man who might have been a model of virtue becomes a curse to society, and the young woman who ought to have proved a priceless jewel turns out a mere package of dry goods if not something worse. true, these moral wrecks may possibly be recovered by converting grace; but such cases are extremely uncommon, and when they do occur they are regarded as miracles of mercy; and often, alas! the effect is as evanescent as the morning cloud and early dew. generally, those who have grown up without religious restraint go on still in their trespasses, living without god and dying without hope. "as in individuals, so in nations," writes the rev. charles kingsley, "unbridled indulgence of the passions must produce, and does produce, frivolity, effeminacy, slavery to the appetite of the moment, a brutalized and reckless temper, before which prudence, energy, national feeling, any and every feeling which is not centred in self, perishes utterly. the old french _noblesse_ gave a proof of this law which will last as a warning beacon to the end of time.... it must be so. the national life is grounded on the life of the family, is the development of it; and where the root is corrupt, the tree must be corrupt also." a fearful truth for the contemplation of christian patriotism! imagine an utter indifference to the morals of the rising generation all at once to prevail throughout the country, and all efforts for the spiritual culture of the young suddenly to cease; would not the frightful ruin rush over the land with the rapidity of an avalanche and the ubiquity of a deluge, instant and everywhere, in your highways and your byways, at your altars and your hearths, sweeping before it every thing pure and lovely--every thing valuable to existence, precious to recollection, or cheering in the visions of hope? this side of the subject is not pleasing; let us look at the obverse. no moral maxim is sounder than that of the royal sage: "train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." the principles of virtue early implanted insure the future saint and hero. a thoroughly good character impressed upon youth cleaves to the man forever. exceptions, indeed, there may be--very saddening and disheartening exceptions. it does sometimes happen that those who seem at least to have been brought up in the nurture and admonition of the lord subsequently decline from the way of wisdom and become vicious in their lives. but such cases are too rare to affect the rule. and in these instances, is it not likely that we are deceived often by appearances? may not the religious culture have been radically defective in its principle or culpably incomplete in its process? was not the child committed to incompetent hands, that marred the character they should have made; or abandoned to the influence of an evil world, and exposed to the contagion of bad example, before his virtuous principles were sufficiently confirmed and fortified? an accurate knowledge of all the facts would no doubt develop some capital defect in the education; would show something essential omitted, or something of evil mingled with the good, some base alloy blended with the pure metal, some infant viper coiled unseen among the buddings and bloomings of spring. but i have the confidence to affirm that apostasy from the principles of a good christian education very seldom occurs--so seldom, indeed, that the instances might almost be pronounced anomalous. it is a maxim attested by general if not universal experience, that upon the qualities acquired in childhood depends the character of manhood and old age. childhood is the period of docility and impressibility, when habits of thought and feeling are formed with the greatest facility; and such habits, once formed, are extremely difficult to destroy; and the good wrought in the soul at that tender age, growing with its growth and strengthening with its strength, is almost invariably retained to the latest hour of life. ordinarily, no doubt, we are guided more by habit than by reason. to walk in the old way is much easier than to strike out a new. in this respect, taste follows the same law as thought and action. if the child has formed a taste for virtue, the potent law of habit insures its perpetuity. the virtuous taste prompts to virtuous deeds, and the virtuous deeds confirm the virtuous taste. thus, by a reflex action, virtue proves its own conservator. daily the habit grows stronger and the motive more efficacious. daily the heart is more and more fortified against the assaults of temptation. daily the world loses something of its fascination, its false maxims something of their plausibility, its apologies and solicitations something of their persuasive power. as with the body, so with the spirit. habitual inaction enfeebles the faculties, and renders their occasional operation inefficient and fruitless. on the contrary, by habitual exercise one becomes capable of performing with ease what were otherwise laborious and difficult, if not quite impossible. thus the young, accustomed to resist their evil passions, will afterward keep them in due control without any very strenuous struggle; and the seeds of a pure morality, sown in early life, will strike their roots deep into the soil, and spring up in perpetual blossom and fruitage. the person is thenceforth virtuous, not without effort, but certainly with less effort than if he had never accustomed himself to virtue. the habit of virtue has made virtue amiable, and her service becomes a labor of love, her yoke easy and her burden light. in speaking thus of the power of habit, which has been called "a second nature," i would not exclude from the process of education the agency of divine grace, nor lose sight of it as a necessary factor to the best results. divine grace, indeed, has much to do with the formation of the habit, and must co-operate with every agency employed in the work. without divine grace, there is nothing wise, nothing strong, nothing holy; and after all the efforts of parents, pastors, teachers--however great or however small the measure of success attained--we lift our hands to heaven and sing:-- "thou all our works in us hast wrought, our good is all divine; the praise of every virtuous thought and righteous word is thine. from thee, through jesus, we receive the power on thee to call; in whom we are, and move, and live-- our god, our all in all." an infidel objected to sending his little daughter to the sunday school, "because," said he, "they learn things there which they never forget." the infidel was a philosopher. knowledge is indestructible. the fact or the principle once acquired is never lost. the soul's past thoughts, feelings, impressions, and operations, are its inalienable property. they are engraven upon an imperishable tablet, and no power can efface the record. though some parts of our experience may be but dimly and vaguely remembered, and much that we have learned may seem to be irrevocably forgotten, yet the mind is in possession of a law which, when brought into action, will completely restore the entire train of its former phenomena. they are not dead, but sleeping; and we know not what event at some future day may be the trump of their resurrection. the seed that lies buried in the earth through the long and dreary winter will germinate in spring-time and fructify in summer. therefore let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. christian parents! it is yours to begin at the cradle a work whose blessed influence shall extend beyond the tomb. by the principles you impart to your little ones, you insure the virtue and the christianity of generations to come; you kindle lights to burn amidst the world's darkness when the faint glimmering of your own is gone; you adorn the living temple of the lord with pillars of strength and beauty which shall challenge angelic admiration when all the colonnaded glories of earth's capitals are calcined by the fires of doom. to such an achievement, what are all the treasures of monarchs, and all the splendors of empire, and all the applause of heroism, and all the renown of authorship, and all the fascination of eloquence, and all the entrancing power of song? who has any fear of god, any love of country, any affection for his children, any regard for the welfare of posterity? by all these i implore you, and by every other consideration that ought to move the heart of man, awake to the work which heaven enjoins and every instinct of nature urges upon you! your time, money, knowledge, influence--how can they be better employed than in the christian culture of the young immortals committed to your care? in the beautiful form you cherish, there is something far more beautiful--a jewel worth immeasurably more than the casket which contains it--a spirit that must live and think and feel when this planet shall have become a chaos, when out of that chaos shall have arisen the new _cosmos_ over which christ is to rule in righteousness forever. shall this precious thing perish through your faithlessness to so sublime a trust? shall harps be wanting in heaven, and white-robed ministrants before the throne, through the recreancy of any bearing the christian name and honored with the title of father or mother? what is reason's estimate of the parental tenderness which provides so laboriously for the body, but totally neglects the soul--which regards so sedulously the interests of time, but utterly overlooks the concerns of eternity? to see your little ones wandering unrestrained in the broad way to ruin, or trained for this world only, as if there were not another beyond--oh! is it not enough to make their guardian angels turn away their faces and weep beneath their wings? the church is here to help you, but she requires your co-operation. the sunday school is here to second your endeavors, but little can that do without your countenance and contribution. men of israel, help! christ calls upon you from his cross to help. juvenile vice and blasphemy through all your streets seem imploring you to help. will you respond to the appeal? the result may be a blessing to your own house. the recollection will warm your heart amidst the chills of death. sweet little minstrels with crowns shall rehearse the story to you when the cemetery and the sea are delivering up their dead. not less, perhaps, than the eloquent preacher in the great congregation, the humble teacher of an infant-class may be shedding light into the dark places of the earth--may be scattering flower-seeds and raindrops over the face of the desert. even more, it may be, than the consecrated minister at the altar of god, the liberal contributor to this beneficent agency is kindling a holy fire which shall burn when the stars have gone out--is touching the strings of a harp that shall send its melodies through eternity. o merciful god! when the seventh trump is sounding, and the quickened dead are gathering before thy throne, let it not be said of any in this assembly--"his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not"! [ ] preached at a sunday-school convention, . vi. joy of the law.[ ] in the last day, that great day of the feast, jesus stood and cried, saying--if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.--john vii. . at three great annual festivals all the men of all the tribes of israel were required to appear before the lord in jerusalem. one of these was the feast of tabernacles, kept in commemoration of the sojourn of their fathers in the wilderness, and as a special thanksgiving to god after the ingathering of the autumnal harvest. its duration was strictly seven days, from the th to the d of the month tisri; but it was followed by a day of holy convocation, distinguished by sacrifices and peculiar observances of its own, which was sometimes called the eighth day. during the seven days the people dwelt in booths formed of the branches of the palm, the pine, the olive, the myrtle, and other trees of thick foliage; and these temporary huts lined every street of the city, and covered all the surrounding hills. the public burnt-offerings, and the private peace-offerings as well, were more numerous than those of any other of the great national festivals. the bullocks sacrificed were seventy; but besides these were offered every day two rams, fourteen lambs, and a kid for a sin-offering. the long lines of booths everywhere, and the sacrificial solemnities and processions, must have furnished a grand spectacle by day; and the lamps, the torches, the music, the joyful gatherings in the temple-courts, must have given a still more festive character to the night. no other feast of the hebrews was half so joyous as the feast of tabernacles; and therefore it was eminently fitting that it should be observed, as it was, with much more than its ordinary interest at the dedication of solomon's temple, again by ezra after the restoration of the sacred structure, and a third time by judas maccabæus when he had expelled the syrians and re-established the true worship of jehovah. the seven days accomplished, the eighth was ushered in with the glad sound of trumpets, summoning the multitudes to the holy convocation. during the seven days they had offered sacrifices for the seventy nations of the earth, as well as for themselves; the eighth was israel's own day, and the sacrifices offered were exclusively for the people of the covenant, adding to the daily offerings already mentioned a bullock, a ram, seven lambs, and a goat for a sin-offering. as soon as the morning trumpets sounded, the booths were all dismantled, and the thronging thousands from every quarter hastened to the temple. the sacrifice was already on the altar, and the high-priest stood by in his more than regal array, with his numerous white-robed ministers. a priestly procession entered at the water-gate, bringing water in a golden vessel from the neighboring pool of siloam. approaching the altar, the bearer ascended the sacred slope, and delivered his burden into the hands of the high-priest; while the trumpets sent forth a joyous peal, to which the people responded with a shout that shook the city. part of the water, mingled with wine, was then poured into the grooves of the altar around the morning sacrifice, and the rest was distributed among the attendant priests, who drank it amidst the grateful acclamations of the multitude; and finally the great choir, chanting to every instrument of music, poured forth the song of isaiah--"with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation!" this was called "the joy of the law;" and there is a rabbinical proverb to the effect, that he who has never witnessed it has never seen rejoicing. it was intended as a commemoration of the miracle of the smitten rock in horeb, which the apostle tells us prefigured christ; and it must have been just after this grand solemnity, or in connection with its impressive evening compline, that "jesus stood and cried, saying--if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." here are four things full of instruction for us--the time, the speaker, the manner, and the invitation. in these we shall find the very marrow of the gospel, worth more to our souls than all the revelations of science and all the speculations of philosophy. let us give them earnest and devout attention, and may god grant us the aid of his grace! first, the time is to be noticed. "in the last day, that great day of the feast"--when there was present a vast concourse of the people. three million have been counted in attendance at the feast of tabernacles. what an audience, what an inspiration, for an orator! how would cicero have triumphed before such an assembly! jesus needed no such impulse. his mind was ever full of light, his heart overflowing with love. he wanted but the opportunity to pour forth his divine speech upon the people, and surely he never had a better than now. how did his doctrine distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and the showers upon the grass! great lesson for his servants, who ought to make their master their model, and let no good occasion slip for pouring the light of life into benighted souls! "in the last day, that great day of the feast"--when they were occupied with the most interesting observances of the national solemnity. another might have said: "they will not hear me; they are too much absorbed to listen." jesus was a better philosopher. conscious of his own power, he knew perfectly the hearts of men. never could his hearers recall the joy of the law, without recollecting the voice, the figure, the beaming countenance, of the strange young rabbi from galilee, who stood forth in the midst of the great congregation, and dropped such heavenly words into their hearts. "who was he? what meant he? could any mere mortal have spoken so? is the messiah at length come? let us seek him again, and hear more from those marvellous lips!" another grand lesson for his servants, who ought to study to environ their teachings with associations which cannot fail, with every happy hour, by every happy memory, to recall the truths they have uttered and revive the impressions produced by their preaching. "in the last day, that great day of the feast"--when the pleasant season was drawing to its close, and the people were ready to disperse and return to their respective homes. the last words of a dear departing friend linger long in the memory. the last utterances of a dying father or mother cannot soon be effaced from the mind of the child. the last sermon of a loved and honored pastor, before he leaves us to feed another flock, may impress us more profoundly than any thing he ever said to us before. the mere fact that it is the last time, that we may never see that face again, never again hear that familiar voice, brings home the truth with a vivid power, which can hardly fail to make it effective, even with those who have hitherto heard with indifference. many who are now listening to our lord will never listen to him again. before another feast of tabernacles they may be in their graves, or he in heaven. to some present he may have preached many sermons, but will never preach another. it is their last opportunity, which seals up their account to the judgment. how must the thought have wrought upon a mind like his! what earnestness given to every word! what tenderness to every tone! touching lesson again for us, my brethren! who ought to preach every lord's day as if it were our last! as if death stood beside us saying--"shoot thou god's arrows, and i will shoot mine!" as if the peal of doom were already ringing in our ears, and the graves around us delivering up their dead! next, the speaker is to be observed. it is jesus, the saviour, heralded by prophets, escorted by angels, proclaimed by the eternal father with an audible voice from heaven. a divine teacher, he comes to preach the acceptable year of the lord--an incarnation of the father's love, to unfold the secrets of the father's heart to sinners, and make known the purpose of his tender mercy in their salvation. throughout galilee, and judæa, and some of the neighboring provinces, he has already gone, preaching the kingdom of heaven and calling the people to repentance. he speaks as one having authority, and not as the scribes. everywhere miracles attest his mission, and demonstrate his doctrine. the wisdom of his words is too much for the cunning sophistry of his enemies, and an eloquence of sublime simplicity forces conviction upon unwilling minds and takes the hearts of thousands captive. and now, in the temple, on one of the most popular occasions of religious worship and festivity, he is speaking to the people of things pertaining to their eternal peace. can any who hear him ever forget those gracious utterances? "happy souls!" methinks i hear you say, "happy souls, to have listened to such a teacher! could i have been there! could i have heard but once for half an hour! how eagerly would i have listened! how gladly responded to his invitation!" alas, my friends! how our own hearts deceive us! had we been present, we should probably have done very much as most of the jews did, and some of us might have shown still greater blindness of mind or hardness of heart. have we not to-day the same gospel preached to us? are not those who occupy our pulpits the accredited ambassadors of christ? is it not his word they speak, his claims they urge, his love they proclaim, and his salvation they offer? and how receive we the message and respond to the demand? with hearty faith, and grateful tears, and earnest obedience? nay, do not many of us despise our own mercy, and reject the gracious counsel of god, not knowing the day of our visitation? even we who profess faith in christ and call ourselves his disciples--are we made wiser and better by the weekly recurrence of the blessed opportunity? "god hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son." every gospel sermon delivered to us is a message from the throne of heaven. it is as if christ every sunday morning descended afresh from the father, and stood before us in the pulpit, and stretched forth to us the hands once nailed to the shameful cross; with many amplifications and additional arguments repeating what he said in the temple on "the last day--that great day of the feast." "see, then, that ye refuse not him that speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven." thirdly, the manner is to be considered. "jesus stood and cried." the attitude is instructive. jewish teachers generally sat. so did jesus on the mount. here he stands--stands ready to bestow--stands ready to depart. ready to bestow, he is ever standing--more ready to bestow than we to receive. delighting in mercy, he waits to be gracious. all the day long he stretches out inviting hands to the perishing. all the night he lingers with dew-sprinkled locks at the door. now, if ever, is the accepted time; now, if ever, the day of salvation. while jesus waits, there is hope for the worst. but he who stands may soon depart. mercy is limited by justice. probation is bounded by destiny. if we heed not its compassionate plea, even love must leave us, hopelessly hardened in our sin. jerusalem rejected her messiah, and perished in spite of his tears. "how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" "jesus stood and cried." this last word is suggestive. the orator much in earnest speaks loudly. demosthenes thundered from the _bema_. cicero's speech rang like a trumpet-call through the forum. one hebrew prophet in his commission is directed to cry aloud, spare not, lift up his voice like a trumpet. another, pre-announcing the messianic mercy, like one who has found a spring in the desert and shouts to his comrades of the caravan, sends out his call upon the wind: "ho! every one that thirsteth! come ye to the waters!" had jesus desired to limit his salvation to a few unconditionally elected favorites, would he not have restricted the invitation? with such a policy, walking quietly through the crowd, seeking out his elect here and there, calling them privately in undertones to their peculiar privilege, would certainly seem to have been in better keeping than an undiscriminating stentorian cry from a conspicuous position to the multitude. but, intending the mercy for all, he offers it to all. does he mock them with an invitation which is insincere? oh! better we know the love divine! the water of life is not the private property of a churl, streaming from a statue in a little park, surrounded by a lofty granite wall, with an iron gate locked against the public, while a few favored individuals, as selfish as himself, are furnished each with a key; but an open fountain in the field, without inclosure or obstruction, clearer than the clitumnus and more copious than the san antonio, issuing like the outlet of a subterranean ocean from the base of the everlasting hills; while the son of god, more glorious than the morn upon the mountains, stands over it crying with voice that reaches every nation: "if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink!" finally, the invitation is to be regarded. who here is not athirst? some thirst for riches, some for honors, some for pleasures, a few perhaps--may grace enlarge the number--for the water of salvation. gold cannot satisfy the soul; the more we have, the more we crave. the world has not enough of glory in its gift to fill the aching voids of ambition; elevation evokes aspiration, and at the last summit the cry is still "excelsior!" one after another, all sensuous enjoyments pall upon the taste; and fluttering like butterflies from flower to flower, and sipping like honey-bees every sweet of field and forest, we learn at length with a sated solomon that all is vanity. the gilding of an empty cup can never satisfy the thirsty soul. "we were made for god," says st. augustine, "and our hearts are restless till they repose in him." for god, even the living god, david thirsted long ago; and here, incarnate in our nature, stands the divine object of his desire, crying to the world: "if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink!" but there is something, see you not? for the thirsty soul to do. christ cannot save us till we come. he is indeed, as st. paul calls him, "the saviour of all men, especially of them that believe"--of all men, because he has opened the fountain for all and invited all to the fountain--especially of them that believe, because they accept the invitation and come to him for supply. whoever, whatever, wherever you are--however great your obstructions, and however numerous and enormous your sins--called, you may come; coming, you will receive; receiving, you shall be satisfied forever. "rivers of living water," jesus offers every believer in him. see the adaptation--"water"--to assuage your thirst, to refresh the weary soul, to revive him who is fainting and dying. observe the quality--"living water"--not a stagnant pool, but a salient spring, a fountain that never fails, a well of water within springing up unto everlasting life. behold the abundance--"rivers of living water"--not one great stream, but many--an inexhaustible supply, having its source in a shoreless and unfathomable sea-- "its streams the whole creation reach, so plenteous is the store; enough for all, enough for each, enough forevermore!" but the coming is not all. come and what? come and see? come and explore? come and investigate? come and analyze the water, and discuss its qualities, and speculate about its probable effects? come and praise the fountain, and commend it to others, and enjoy its cool retreats, and admire its beautiful environs, and congratulate your friends upon its conveniences, and applaud the benevolence that opened it for the benefit of all? nay, come and drink. not all the water from the smitten rock could save the israelite that would not drink. not all the river of the water of life flowing through the city of god can quench the thirst of the soul that declines it. personally you must appropriate the mercy. personally you must experience its restoring power. salvation is not a theory, but a fact; not a speculation, but a consciousness; not an ethical system to be reasoned out by superior intellect, but a divine blessing to be taken into the believing heart. it is a new life received from the fountain-life of the world. gushing from the throne of god and the lamb, "clear as crystal," with a copiousness and an energy which no dam can stay nor dike restrain, it offers its refreshment to all, free as the air, the dew, the rain, or the sunlight of heaven. drink, and you shall never thirst again. drink, and find your immortality in the draught! [ ] preached in rochester, n.y., . vii. sojourning with god.[ ] ye are strangers and sojourners with me.--lev. xxv. . i have a dear friend to-day on the atlantic. four days ago, in new-york harbor, i accompanied him to the floating palace that bears him to europe; and put a book into his hand, which may furnish him some entertainment on the voyage, and some service perhaps in the land of art and beauty for which he is bound. next lord's day he hopes to spend in london; and thence, after a short pause, to proceed to rome, where he means to remain three months or more. a summer in that city is to an american somewhat hazardous on the score of health, and the facilities for seeing and exploring are far less favorable than they are in the winter. yet, as this is the only season he can command for the purpose, he is willing to encounter the dangers and dispense with some of the advantages, for the sake of a brief sojourn in the grand old metropolis that dominated the world in the days of the cæsars, and has since ruled it with a rod of iron in the hands of the popes. in "the historic city" he will meet with much to entertain a mind like his--highly cultivated and richly stored with classic lore; and for all that he wishes to accomplish, he will find his opportunity far too brief. but he will not be at home there--a transient and unsettled visitor. every thing will be different from what he has been accustomed to in his own country--government different--society different--manners and customs different--churches and worship different--dress, diet and language different--architecture, public institutions, general aspect of the city, and natural scenery on all sides, quite different from any thing he ever saw before. and while he daily encounters new objects of absorbing interest--new wonders of art--new treasures of antiquity--new illustrations and confirmations of history, and feels the charm of a thousand beauties to which he has not been accustomed, the very contrast will make him confess that he is a stranger and sojourner, and think frequently of his home beyond the sunset, and sigh for the fellowship of the dear hearts far over the western sea. and should he go farther, and visit the ruined lands of the nile--the jordan--the euphrates, and wander over the silent wastes that once smiled with golden harvests, glowed with gorgeous cities, and teemed with tumultuous populations; everywhere--on the burning sands of the desert--in the savage solitudes of the mountains--amidst the crumbling memorials of ancient civilizations and religions--in the tent of the arab, the wayside encampment, and the comfortless caravansera--he will constantly require the pledge of chieftains, the protection of princes, the safe conduct of governments, and the covenanted friendship of the rude nomadic tribes among whom he makes his temporary abode. this is the idea of our text: "ye are strangers and sojourners with me." it is god speaking to his chosen people, about to take possession of the promised land, instructing them concerning their polity and conduct in their new home and relations. one of the specific directions given them is, that they are not to sell the land forever, because it belongs to him, and they are his wards--tenants at will, dwelling on his domain, under his patronage and protection. for six years he leased to them the land, so to say; but every seventh year he reclaimed it as his own, and it was to be neither tilled nor sown; and after seven such sabbatic years, in the fiftieth year, which was the year of jubilee, every thing reverted with a still more special emphasis to the divine proprietor; and the people were not permitted to reap or gather any thing that grew of itself that year even from the unworked soil, but were to subsist on the product of the former years laid up in store for that purpose. all this to teach them that the domain was jehovah's, and they were only privileged occupants under him--that he was their patron, protector, benefactor, while they were strangers and sojourners with god. in a general sense, these sacred words describe the condition of all men. all live by sufferance on the lord's estate, fed and sustained by his bounty. whether we recognize his rights and claims or not, all we have belongs to him, and the continuance of every privilege depends upon his will. you may revolt against his authority, and fret at what you call fate; but his providence orders all, and death is only your eviction from the trust and tenure you have abused. what is your life, and what control has any man over his destiny? a shadow on the ground, a vapor in the air, an arrow speeding to the mark, an eagle hasting to the prey, a post hurrying past with despatches, a swift ship gliding out of sight over the misty horizon--these are the scripture emblems of what we are. every day is but a new stage in the pilgrim's progress--every act and every pulse another step toward the tomb. the frequent changes of fortune teach us that nothing here is certain but uncertainty, nothing constant but inconstancy, nothing real but unreality, nothing stable but instability. the loveliest spot we ever found on earth is but a halting-place for the traveller--an oasis for the caravan in the desert. the world itself, and all that it contains, present only the successive scenes of a moving panorama; and our life is the passage of a weaver's shuttle--a flying to and fro--a mere coming and going--an entry and an exit. for we are strangers and sojourners with god. but what is in a general sense thus true of all, is in a special sense true of the spiritual and heavenly-minded. as abraham was a stranger and a sojourner with the canaanite and the egyptian--as jacob and his sons were strangers and sojourners with pharaoh, and the fugitive david with the king of gath--so all godly people acknowledge themselves strangers and sojourners with god. this is the picture of the christian life that better than almost any other expresses the condition and experiences of our lord's faithful followers--not at home here--ever on the move--living among aliens and enemies--subject to many privations and occasional persecutions--every morning hearing afresh the summons, "arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest"--practically confessing, with patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, "here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." the world knew not their master, and knows not them. if they were of the world, the world would love its own; because they are not of the world, but he has chosen them out of the world, therefore the world hateth them. wholly of another character--another profession--another pursuit--aiming at other ends, and cheered by other hopes--the carnal, selfish, unbelieving world cannot possibly appreciate them, and they are constantly misunderstood and misrepresented by the world. regarding not the things which are seen and temporal, but the things which are unseen and eternal, they are often stigmatized as fools and denounced as fanatics. far distant from their home, and surrounded by those who have no sympathy with them, they show their heavenly citizenship by heavenly tempers, heavenly manners, heavenly conversation, all hallowed by the spirit of holiness. so one of the fathers in the second century describes the christians of his time: "they occupy their own native land, but as pilgrims in it. they bear all as citizens, and forbear all as foreigners. every foreign land is to them a fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign. they are in the flesh, but they walk not after the flesh. they live on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. they die, but with death their true life begins. poor themselves, they make many rich; destitute, they have all things in abundance; despised, they are glorified in contempt. in a word--what the soul is in the body, christians are in the world. the soul inhabits the body, but is not derived from it; and christians dwell in the world, but are not of it. the immortal soul sojourns in a mortal tent; and christians inhabit a perishable house, while looking for an imperishable in heaven." to such heavenly-mindedness, my dear brethren, we all are called; and without something of this spirit, whatever our professions and formalities, we do but belie the name of christian. "if ye then be risen with christ, seek those things which are above, where christ sitteth, on the right hand of god; set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth; for ye are dead, and your life is hid with christ in god; when christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory." bowed down with many a burden and weary because of the way, how much is there to cheer and comfort us in god's good word to his suffering pilgrims--"ye are strangers and sojourners with me"! there is the idea of friendly recognition. as the nomad chief receives the tourist into his tent, and assures him of his favor by the "covenant of salt;" so god hath made with us an everlasting covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure; since which, he can never disown us, never forsake us, never forget us, never cease to care for his own. there is the idea of pleasant communion. as in the arab tent, between the sheik and his guest, there is a free interchange of thought and feeling; so between god and the regenerate soul a sweet fellowship is established, with perfect access and unreserved confidence. "the secret of the lord is with them that fear him," and his delight is in his saints, who are the excellent of the earth. there is the idea of needful refreshment. "turn in and rest a little," saith the patriarch to the wayfarers; and then brings forth bread and wine--the best that his store affords--to cheer their spirits and revive their strength. god spreads a table for his people in the wilderness. with angels' food he feeds them, and their cup runs over with blessing. he gives them to eat of the hidden manna, and restores their fainting souls with the new wine of the kingdom. there is the idea of faithful protection. the arab who has eaten with you will answer for your safety with his own life, and so long as you remain with him none of his tribe shall harm a hair of your head. believer in jesus! do you not dwell in the secret place of the most high, and abide under the shadow of the almighty? has he not shut you, like noah, into the ark of your salvation? is not david's rock your rock, your fortress, your high tower, and unfailing city of refuge? there is the idea of infallible guidance. the oriental host will not permit his guest to set forth alone, but goes with him on every new track, grasps his hand in every steep ascent, and holds him back from the brink of every precipice. god said to israel: "i will send my angel before thy face, to lead thee in the way, and bring thee into the land whither thou goest." yea, he said more: "my presence shall go with thee, and i will give thee rest." both promises are ours, my brethren; and something better than the pillar of cloud and fire, or the manifest glory of the resident god upon the mercy-seat, marches in the van of his pilgrim host through the wilderness, and will never leave us till the last member of his redeemed israel shall have passed clean over jordan! there is the idea of a blessed destiny. their divine guide is leading them "to a good land, that floweth with milk and honey"--"to a city of habitation"--"a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is god"--"a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens"--the father's house of "many mansions," where christ is now as he promised preparing a place for his people, and where they are at last to be with him and behold his glory. oh! with what a sweet and restful confidence should we dismiss our groundless fears of the future, saying with the psalmist--"thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory!" the pilgrim has a home; the weary has a resting-place; the wanderer in the wilderness is a "fellow-citizen with the saints and of the household of faith;" and often have we seen him in the evening twilight, after a long day's march over stony mountain and sultry plain, sitting at the door of the tent just pitched for the night, with calm voice singing: "one sweetly solemn thought comes to me o'er and o'er-- i'm nearer to my home to-night than e'er i was before-- nearer the bound of life, where falls my burden down-- nearer to where i leave my cross, and where i take my crown!" and with the next rising sun, like a giant refreshed with new wine, joyfully resuming his journey, from the first eminence attained gazing a moment through his glass at the distant glory of the gold-and-crystal city, then bounding forward and making the mountains ring with the strain: "there is my house and portion fair, my treasure and heart are there, and my abiding home; for me my elder brethren stay, and angels beckon me away, and jesus bids me come!" the saintly monica, after many years of weeping at the nail-pierced feet, has at length received the answer to her prayers in the conversion of one dearer to her than life; and is now ready, with good old simeon, to depart in peace, having seen the salvation of the lord: "as for me, my son, nothing in this world hath longer any charm for me. what i do here, or why i should remain, i know not. but one wish i had, and that god has abundantly granted me. bury me where thou wilt, for nowhere am i far from god!" dark to some of you, o ye strangers and sojourners with god! may be the valley of the shadow of death; but ye cannot perish there, for he whose fellowship is immortality is still with you, and you shall soon be with him as never before! black and cold at your feet rolls the river of terrors; but lift your eyes a little, and you see gleaming through the mist the pearl-gates beyond! there "the captain of the lord's host" is already preparing your escort! "even now is at hand the angelical band-- the convoy attends-- an invincible troop of invisible friends! ready winged for their flight to the regions of light, the horses are come-- the chariots of israel to carry us home!" [ ] preached in charleston, s.c., soon after a year's sojourn beyond the sea, . viii. building for immortality.[ ] so they built and prospered.-- chron. xiv. . in the fairest of italian cities stands the finest of terrestrial structures--a campanile or bell-tower, twenty-five feet square, two hundred and seventy-three feet high, built of white and colored marble in alternate blocks, covered with a royal luxuriance of sculpture framed in medallions, studded everywhere with the most beautiful statuary disposed in gothic niches, and finished from base to battlement like a lady's cabinet inlaid with pearl and gold. it would seem as if nothing more perfect in symmetry, more exquisite in workmanship, or more magnificent in ornamentation, could possibly be achieved by human genius. pure as a lily born of dew and sunshine, the approaching tourist sees it rising over the lofty roof of the duomo, like the pillar of cloud upon the tabernacle; and when he enters the piazza, and finds it standing apart in its majestic altitude, and looking down upon the vestal loveliness of the tuscan santa maria, he can think only of the angel of the annunciation in the presence of the blessed virgin. whoever has gazed upon its grand proportions, and studied the details of its exquisite execution, will feel no astonishment at being told that such a structure could not now be built in this country for less than fifty millions of our money; nor will he wonder that jarvis, in his "art hints," has pronounced it "the noblest specimen of tower-architecture the world has to show;" that charles the fifth declared it was "fit to be inclosed with crystal, and exhibited only on holy-days;" and that the florentines themselves, whenever they would characterize any thing as extremely beautiful, say it is "as fine as the campanile." gentlemen, you have reared a nobler edifice! nobler, not because more costly, for your pecuniary outlay is as nothing in the comparison. nobler, not because the material is more precious, and the architecture more perfect; for what is a pile of brick to such a miracle in marble? or where is the american builder that would dream of competing with giotto? nobler, not because there is a larger and richer-toned bell in the gilded cupola, to summon the inmates to study and recitation, or to morning and evening worship; for the great bell of the campanile is one of the grandest pieces of resonant metal ever cast; and its voice, though soft as flute-tones at eventide coming over the water, is rich and majestic as an angel's song. far nobler, however, in its purpose and utility; for that wonder of italian architecture is the product of florentine pride and vanity in the days of a prosperous republic--a less massive but more elegant tower of babel, expressing the ambition of its builders; and though standing in the cathedral piazza, its chief conceivable objects are mere show and sound; while the end and aim of this edifice is the development of mind, the formation of character, the creation of a loftier intellectual manhood, the reproduction of so much of the lost image of god as may be evolved by the best media and methods of human education. the excellence of your structure, then, consists mainly in this--that it is only a scaffold, with derricks, windlasses, and other apparatus and implements, for building something immeasurably more excellent. here the thinking power is to be quickened, and the logical faculty is to be awakened and invigorated. this is to be effected, not so much by the knowledge acquired, as by the effort called out for its acquisition. the teacher is to measure his success, not by the number and variety of terms, rules, formulas and principles he has impressed upon the memory, but by the amount of mental power and independence he has imparted to his pupil. true, in educating the mind, knowledge of some sort must be acquired; but the thoroughness of the education depends no more upon the quantity of the acquisition, than the health of the guest upon the abundance of the banquet. the mental food, as well as the material, must be digested and assimilated. it follows that those exercises which require close and consecutive thinking, thorough analysis, clear discrimination and accurate definition, are best adapted to develop the higher faculties of the mind. mathematics, metaphysics, dialectics and philology must form the granite basis of your building, sustaining the solid tiers of rich and varied marbles. then comes the æsthetic culture. first the substantial, afterward the ornamental--this is the natural order, to reverse which were to begin building the tower at the top. the very idea of the ornamental supposes something substantial to be ornamented. no man will attempt to polish the sponge, or paint a picture on the vacant air, or rear a stone cathedral on a sunset cloud. there is no lily-bloom without the sustaining stalk, nor magnolia grandiflora without the sturdy and stately tree. "wood, hay, stubble," are not fit materials for jewelry; but "gold, silver, precious stones," may be wrought into a thousand forms of beauty, sparkling with myriad splendors. the solid marble superstructure resting upon its deep foundations of granite, firm as the seated hills, can scarcely be too finely finished or too sumptuously adorned. upon a thorough mental culture sit gracefully, and quite at home, philosophy, history, poetry, eloquence, music, painting--all in literature and the arts that can refine the taste, refresh the heart, and lead the fancy captive. to the mind thus disciplined and adorned, a pleasant path is opened to the broadest and richest fields of intellectual inquiry, where it may range at will with the freedom of an angel's wing, charmed with beauties such as eden never knew, thrilled with melodies such as the leaden ear of ignorance never heard, rejoicing in a fellowship of wisdom worthy of the enfranchised sons of god, and realizing the truth so finely expressed by the greatest of german poets:-- "only through beauty's morning gate, canst thou to knowledge penetrate; the mind, to face truth's higher glances, must swim some time in beauty's trances; the heavenly harping of the muses, whose sweetest trembling through thee rings, a higher life into thy soul infuses, and wings it upward to the soul of things." but is there not something still better, which ought to be an element in every process of human education? what is man? merely an intellectual animal? nay, but he has a spirit within him allied to angels and to god. the higher nature calls for culture no less than the lower. to the development and discipline of the rational and æsthetic faculties must be subjoined "the nurture and admonition of the lord." otherwise we educate only the inferior part of the man, and leave the superior to chance and the devil. make scholars of your children, but do not omit to make them christians. lead them to parnassus, but let them go by the way of calvary. conduct them to olympus, but let them carry the dew of olivet upon their sandals. make them drink deeply from the wells of human wisdom, but deny them not the living water whereof if one drink he shall never thirst again. why should a "wise master-builder" hesitate to connect religion with science and literature in the edification and adornment of the soul? does not religion favor the most thorough mental discipline and contribute to the harmonious development of all the spiritual powers? does not christianity stimulate the mind to struggle against difficulties, ennoble the struggle by investing it with the dignity of a duty, and render the duty delightful by the hope of a heavenly reward? "knowledge is power;" but what knowledge is so mighty as that which christ brought from the bosom of the father? poetry and philosophy have their charms; but what poetry is like that of the holy spirit, and what philosophy like that of redeeming love? god's holy evangel enlarges and strengthens the mind by bringing it into contact with the sublimest truths, and making it familiar with the profoundest mysteries. it rectifies our perverted reason, corrects our erroneous estimates, silences the imperious clamour of the passions, and removes the stern embargo which the corrupt heart lays upon the aspiring intellect. it sings us the sweetest songs, preaches to us the purest morality, and presents for our imitation the noblest examples of beneficence and self-denial. under its blessed influence the soul expands to grasp the thought of god and receive the infinite riches of his love. and shall we wrong our sons and daughters by withholding from them this noblest agency of the higher mental and spiritual culture-- "the fountain-light of all our day, the master-light of all our seeing"-- and turn them over, with all their instinctive yearnings after the true, the good, the pure, the divine, to the blind guidance of a sceptical sciolism, and the bewildering vagaries of a rationalistic infidelity? "no," to use the language of the late canon melville, "we will not yield the culture of the understanding to earthly husbandmen; there are heavenly ministers who water it with a choicer dew, and pour upon it the beams of a brighter sun, and prune its branches with a kinder and more skilful hand. we will not give up the reason to stand always as a priestess at the altars of human philosophy; she hath a more majestic temple to tread, and more beautiful robes to walk in, and incense rarer and more fragrant to offer in golden censers. she does well when boldly exploring god's visible works; she does better when she submits to spiritual teaching, and sits with mary at the saviour's feet." gentlemen, it is impossible to overstate the importance of religious culture in the work of education. every interest of time and eternity urges it upon your attention. your children are accountable and immortal creatures. "give them divine truth," says channing, "and you give them more than gems and gold; give them christian principles, and you give them more than thrones and diadems; imbue their hearts with a love of virtue, and you enrich them more than by laying worlds at their feet." your doctrine may distil as the dew upon the grass, and as the small rain upon the tender herb; but in some future emergency of life, the silent influence shall assert itself in a might more irresistible than the stormy elements when they go forth to the battles of god. if the work be faithfully done, the impression produced shall not be that of the sea-fowl on the sand, effaced by the first wave of the rising tide; but the enduring grooves cut by the chariot-wheels of the king of trembling as he rides through the mountain ranges, and the footprints of his fiery steeds left deep in the everlasting rocks. forward, then, with your noble endeavor! you are building for eternity. you are rearing temples of living stones which shall survive all the changes and chances of earth and time, and look sublimely down upon the world's catastrophe. up! up with your immortal campanile! it is compacted of imperishable gems, cemented with gold from the mines of god. no marble sculpture may adorn its niches and cornices; but angel forms shall walk its battlements in robes of living glory. no hollow metal may swing in its vaulted _loggie_, sending sweet echoes over the distant hills, and charming the song-birds to silence along the flowery val d'arno; but richer and holier melodies, ringing out from its heavenly altitudes, shall mingle with the music of the spheres, and swell the many-voiced harmony of the city of god! [ ] preached at the opening of a new college edifice, . ix. wail of bereavement.[ ] have pity upon me, have pity upon me, o ye my friends; for the hand of god hath touched me.--job xix. . nothing is more important, yet few things are more difficult, than the proper control of our spirits in the time of trouble. there are two extremes to be avoided; stoicism and despondency. stoicism feels too little; despondency, too much. the former hardens the heart; the latter breaks down the spirit. the one is a want of sensibility; the other, a lack of fortitude. this is an affected contempt of suffering; that, a practical abandonment of hope. midway between the two lies the path of duty and happiness. st. paul, quoting from king solomon, warns us against them both: "my son, despise not thou the chastening of the lord"--that is stoicism; "neither faint when thou art rebuked of him"--that is despondency. israel is charged with the former: "thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; they have made their faces harder than a rock." job fell into the latter: "have pity upon me, have pity upon me, o ye my friends; for the hand of god hath touched me." no piece of history is more affecting than that of the perfect man of uz. for the trial of his fortitude and his fidelity, the almighty delivered him up, with certain restrictions, into the hand of satan. the sabeans and the chaldæans robbed him of his oxen, his asses, and his camels, and slew his servants with the edge of the sword. fire from heaven consumed his flocks in the field, and all his children perished together in a tempest. he was smitten "with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown; and he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes." his wife, the last on earth that ought to have been unkind to him, assailed him with bitter mockery; saying, "dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse god and die!" three friends, more faithful than the rest, came from afar to see and console him in his sufferings; and when they beheld the greatness of his grief they sat down with him in speechless astonishment; and surely that seven days' silence was better than any words of condolence they could have spoken. but when "job opened his mouth and cursed his day," and related the sad story of all his troubles, they too became his censors, charging him with hypocrisy, and secret wickedness, and oppression of the poor and needy. these allegations stung him to the heart. oh! was it not enough that god had forsaken him; that satan had assailed him with all his weapons; that predatory bands had stripped him of his possessions; that the elements of nature had conspired against his prosperity; that his seven sons and three daughters had been taken from him in one day; that his body had become a mass of putrid disease, a loathsome living death; and that the wife of his youth looked upon him no more with affection, but treated him with cold indifference or haughty scorn? must these wise and excellent men, the last friends left to him, join the cruel mockery, and accuse the upright of oppression, impiety, and every evil work? "the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?" the good man's heart is crushed; he is ready to give up all for lost; and he pours forth his whole soul in this passionate appeal: "have pity upon me, have pity upon me, o ye my friends; for the hand of god hath touched me." it is permitted us to complain under such afflictions, provided we do not "charge god foolishly." there is no guilt in tears, if they are not tears of despair. it is no crime to feel our loss. insensibility is no virtue--has no merit--wins no reward. religion does not destroy nature, but regulates it; does not remove sorrow, but sanctifies it; does not cauterize the human heart, but enables us to "rejoice evermore," and teaches us to "glory in tribulations also." abraham mourned for sarah; joseph mourned for jacob; david mourned for jonathan, and even for wicked absalom; "devout men carried stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him;" and jesus, the pattern "man of sorrows," groaned in spirit, and wept at the grave of lazarus. these chastisements are intended for our improvement; but if they are not felt, their end is not realized. if we have no sense of the stroke, how shall we submit to the hand that smites us? if our hearts are seared against all painful impressions, god is defeated in the purpose of his providence, and the best means of our salvation prove ineffectual; for he that is not sensible of his affliction will continue secure in his sin. the loss of one who is very dear to us--a husband and father, upon whom we depend so much for counsel, support, protection and happiness--must inflict a very deep wound; and who shall forbid that wound to bleed? none may say to the widow, "weep not;" but he that can also say to the dead, "young man, arise." grief must have vent, or it will break the heart. tears must flow, or they will fester in their fountains. it is cruel to deny one the relief of mourning, when mourning is so often its own relief. sorrow calls for sympathy. compassion is better than counsel. it is a great alleviation, when we can pour out our grief into another's bosom. sympathy divides the sorrow, and leaves but half the load. "bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of christ." this is what the troubled patriarch longed for, but could not find. his kindred were estranged from him, and all his inward friends abhorred him: his servants responded not to his call, and the wife of his bosom regarded him as an alien. no wonder that he exclaims, as if his heart were breaking, "have pity upon me, have pity upon me, o ye my friends; for the hand of god hath touched me." but it is better to complain to god than to man. he will appreciate my complaint he knoweth my heart. he seeth my sincerity. he pitieth me with more than a father's pity. his word can still the storm and calm the sea. his look can turn my darkness into light. he hath invited me to call upon him in the day of trouble, adding, "i will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." he hath said, "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." the apostle saith, "is any among you afflicted? let him pray." david saith, "i cried unto the lord with my voice; with my voice unto the lord did i make my supplication. i poured out my complaint before him; i showed before him my trouble. when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path." there is a psalm--the cii.--on purpose for the afflicted, and this is its title: "a prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the lord." the afflicted may complain; when he is overwhelmed he may complain even unto the lord; yea, he may pour out his complaint before him, as one poureth out water; and here is an inspired formula of woe which he may employ in the divine presence without fear of extravagance or impropriety. sorrow sometimes renders one speechless: "i am so troubled," saith david, "that i cannot speak." oh! what a relief when we can empty our anguish into the ear and the heart of god! such prayer is not incompatible with perfect submission to the divine will. "i was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it;" dumb as it respects murmuring, but not as it respects prayer, for the next words are, "remove thy stroke away from me; i am consumed by the blow of thy hand." jesus in gethsemane exhibits a pattern of perfect submission joined with fervent prayer. he "prayed earnestly," "in an agony," "with strong crying and tears;" thrice prostrating himself upon the ground; thrice imploring the father, "if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;" but as often adding, "nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." oh! yes; you may complain, in the spirit of pious subordination; but you ought to guard against the excess of sorrow. to grieve too much were as great an evil as not to grieve at all. where, then, is the proper limit, and when does sorrow become excessive, and therefore sinful? i answer: your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it renders you unmindful of your remaining mercies. it might be much worse with you than it is. you have forfeited all your comforts, yet god has withdrawn but few of them. are those that remain worth nothing to you because others have been removed? will you relish the less the fruit that is left, because some of it was blighted by untimely frost? you should set the higher value upon what you have, and enjoy the blessing with a grateful heart. your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it causes you to forget the grief of others. you are not the only sufferer in the world, nor is there any thing very peculiar in your afflictions. thousands have experienced similar troubles, losses, bereavements. some have parted with more than husband and father--have lost all at once, and are left to tread the dreary earth alone. you are doubtless acquainted with many with whom you would not now exchange conditions. and can you be so selfish as to forget all griefs but your own? your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it makes you indifferent to the public welfare. poor old eli was less afflicted by the death of his two sons than by the loss of the ark of the lord, because with that was so intimately connected the prosperity of his people, the object dearest to his heart. a spartan mother, who had five sons in the battle, stood at the gate of the city when a messenger came with tidings. "how prospers the fight?" she inquired. "thy five sons are slain," answered the messenger. "i did not ask after my sons," replied the patriotic woman, "but how prospers the fight?" "we have won the day," said the other, "and sparta is safe." "then let us be thankful to the gods," exclaimed the inquirer, "for our continued freedom." her private griefs were swallowed up in her concern for the public good. your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it disqualifies you for the duties of your position. "nothing in nature, much less conscious being, was e'er created solely for itself." you live for others. your friends have claims upon you. your families and fellow-citizens require your beneficent activities. you cannot cast off this responsibility. it is written in your inmost nature. it is interwoven with the very constitution of human society. wherefore the noble faculty of speech, the high prerogative of reason, the sweet flow of domestic sympathies, and the congregation of men in communities, with statutes and civil compacts, and distinctions of rank and office? all these indicate your duty to the human brotherhood; and if you grieve so as to unfit yourselves for that duty, you defeat the end of the divine benevolence. your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it blinds you to the grand purposes of providence. poor job saith, "my soul is weary of my life," and again and again he desireth the quiet shelter of the grave. yet do we find him piously inquiring into the reasons and final causes of the almighty's mysterious dealings with him: "i will say unto god, do not condemn me; show me wherefore thou contendest with me." we are well assured that "affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground." all things are under the restraint and control of infinite wisdom and love. in every pain you suffer, whether appointed or permitted only, god is seeking your good. it were a double loss, doubly aggravated, first to lose your friend, and then to lose the benefit of the loss. is not the loss of the former sufficient, without adding to it, by your immoderate grief, the infinitely greater loss of the latter? your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it refuses the proffered consolations of friendship. when jacob rent his robe, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned many days for joseph, and all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him, he refused to be comforted, saying, "i will go down into the grave unto my son mourning." "in ramah was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; rachel weeping for her children, refuseth to be comforted because they are not." to decline the needed consolation when it is offered, is certainly a sin. there is some little excuse for the children of israel in egypt, when moses spake unto them of the promised deliverance, and "they hearkened not unto him for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage." the dying rachel would have called her son benoni, "the son of my sorrow," but that would have been too sad a remembrancer to jacob of his beloved wife, and he called him benjamin, "the son of my right hand." your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it will not accept relief even from the hand of god. he hath assured you that his grace is sufficient for you, and invited you to come to him for help in time of need. yea, he is a present help in trouble; and he saith, "i will never leave thee nor forsake thee." to all who ask, he "giveth liberally, and upbraideth not." and will you not ask and receive, that your joy may be full? he hath not given you breath merely for sighs and groans, nor articulate utterance for ungrateful complaints of his providence. he hath afflicted you, perhaps, on purpose to draw you to himself; and will you thus defeat the designs of his mercy? will you turn your back upon him when you need him most? will you refuse to pray when prayer is most necessary for you? to whom will you go for aid, if not to god? where will you find comfort, if not in his love? when will you seek the throne of grace, if not in time of trouble? oh! how sweet is it to say with the psalmist, "in the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul." your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it preys upon your health and endangers your constitution. grief unreasonably indulged soon devours the vigor of the physical system. this is an effectual method of suicide, not less guilty than a resort to the knife, the rope, the river, the pistol, or the poison. some drink themselves to death, and others grieve themselves to death; who shall pronounce the former more criminal than the latter? sorrow sometimes kills as suddenly as a bullet or a poniard through the heart; and sometimes it acts as a deadly potion, slow but sure. the food never nourishes, that is always mingled with tears. when your grief is so great, that no balmy airs, nor beautiful scenes, nor pleasant melodies, nor sympathies of friendship, nor solacements of society, nor consolations of religion, can soothe or refresh the soul, then your health is impaired, your strength gradually wastes away, the world loses too soon the benefit of your life, and you haste unsummoned to the judgment. this is the sorrow of the world which worketh death. your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it sours and imbitters the spirit against both god and man. this deplorable effect, instead of the peaceable fruits of righteousness, is often produced by affliction, when the providence is misinterpreted and perverted. then the heart murmurs against god; saying with david, "i have cleansed my hands in vain;" or with jeremiah, "my strength and hope are perished from the lord;" or with jonah, "i do well to be angry, even unto death." i have known persons indulge their grief to such a degree, that they loved nothing, enjoyed nothing, took interest in nothing, cared not for their nearest friends, grew indifferent to society, found no relief in solitude, turned away from the house of god, spurned his holy oracles, hated books, hated nature, hated the very sunlight, neglected their own persons, and spent life in a continual groan. this is rebellion against providence. "why doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sin?" how much better to say, "i know, o lord, that thy judgments are right, and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me!" your sorrow is excessive, and therefore sinful, when it continues so long as to become the settled habitude of the soul. the time for mourning has been limited by all wise nations, and the wisest have generally made it shortest. the egyptians, who knew not god, mourned seventy days for jacob; joseph, his son, only forty-seven days. israel mourned thirty days for aaron, and thirty days for moses, but only seven days for saul. the inward sorrow, however, may last much longer than the outward show. the formal ceremony is soon laid aside; while the stricken heart carries its wound, still bleeding, to the grave. but the first poignancy of grief should not be allowed to continue too long, lest it produce the injurious effects of which i have already spoken. when it is not only indulged, but cherished as a luxury, it soon becomes sinful. when the mourner persists in nursing his woe, and feeds it with melancholy reflections in silence and seclusion, heeding neither the dissuasives of friendship nor the solacements of religion, he despises his own mercy and injures his own soul. remember your departed friends with tenderness, but let your sorrow be subdued and holy, and aid the healing art of nature with the balm of grace to shorten as much as may be the term of its continuance. "but it is my best friend that hath smitten me. it is the stroke of my heavenly father that hath wounded me. for god maketh my heart soft, and the almighty troubleth me. he hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. he hath destroyed me on every side, and i am gone; and my hope hath he removed like a tree. have pity upon me, have pity upon me, o ye my friends; for the hand of god hath touched me." then it is a painful touch. it is grievous to be smitten by a friend, and the stroke of the father breaks the heart of the child. your bereavement is indeed a fiery trial, a sword in the bones, a spear that pierceth to the soul. i pity your sufferings, and wonder not at your complaint. but it is a common touch. "what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" who hath not lost a friend? who hath not sat in the shadow of the tomb? even the immaculate saviour suffered in the flesh. "it pleased the lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief." and can you hope for exemption? and it is a righteous touch. the creator is also the proprietor, and he has an unquestionable right to resume what he hath loaned. all are his; and shall he not do what he will with his own? shall not the master of the garden gather his own fruits, the commander of the army dispose of his own men? what claim have you upon him for happiness? and how much more misery do you deserve than you have ever suffered! and it is a needful touch. the loving father never inflicts a needless stroke. your delinquency calls for chastisement. your forgetfulness of eternity requires the stern admonitions of death. the creature that has usurped the creator's place must be removed. the heart that has grown fast to the world must be torn away. the tree that has struck its roots so deep into the soil must be loosened before it can be transplanted. and it is a skilful touch. the musician is familiar with all the keys and powers of his instrument. the physician is well acquainted with the character of the disease and the qualities of the application. god's understanding is infinite, and his wisdom is infallible. he knoweth perfectly, when, and where, and how, and by what special means, most effectually to touch the human heart. "learn to lie passive in his hand, and trust his heavenly skill." and it is a tender touch. "faithful are the wounds of a friend." "like as a father pitieth his children, so the lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust." "a bruised reed will he not break, and the smoking flax will he not quench." the wound must be probed, but the surgeon will do it gently, and soothe the pain with cordials. "he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men;" but "for your profit, that ye may be partakers of his holiness." he correcteth his people with loving-kindness, "most merciful when most severe." and oh! is it not a blessed touch? it is the touch of a sword, which subdues the rebel will; the touch of a hammer, which breaks the stony heart; the touch of a fire, which separates the dross from the gold; the touch of a light, which illuminates the darkness within; the touch of a key, which opens the royal palace to the king; the touch of a fountain, which washes away sin and uncleanness; the touch of a sceptre, which assures of the monarch's gracious acceptance; the touch of a master, who asserts his claim and takes his property; the touch of a saviour, rescuing the soul which he hath ransomed with his blood; the touch of a lapidary, polishing an immortal gem for emmanuel's crown! god's dealings are mysterious but merciful. "clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." he saith to us, as he once said to simon, "what i do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." "a bruised reed he will not break; affliction all his children feel; he smites them for his mercy's sake; he wounds to heal." the christian, like the captain of his salvation, is made perfect through sufferings. his present griefs are the pledges of future joys. the gloomy night shall soon give place to an eternal day. such are the ways of god. and shall my ignorance impeach his perfect knowledge, and my folly arraign his infinite wisdom, and my evil complain of his transcendent goodness, and my weakness refuse the aid of his almighty arm? "the lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will i hope in him." strange were it indeed to hear one say: "alas! i am undone, for i have nothing left but god." but is not this practically the language of the believer who sinks into a state of despondency under providential bereavements? he that has god for his portion could not be enriched by the bequest of a kingdom, by the inheritance of a world. the heir of god is heir of all things. zeno, who lost his whole fortune in a shipwreck, afterwards declared that it was the best voyage he ever made, because it led him to the study of philosophy and virtue. happy for you, my friends, if your afflictions lead you to christ! happy, if, losing a friend, you find a saviour! receive, i beseech you, this chastisement as a new proof of your heavenly father's love. learn something from heathen seneca, who said he enjoyed his friends as one who was soon to lose them, and lost them as if he had them still. nay, learn rather from him who bore your griefs and carried your sorrows; who, with the burden of all our accumulated woes pressing upon a sinless heart, exclaimed--"father, not my will, but thine, be done!" thus shall your loss disclose to you the pearl of great price, and enrich you with the imperishable wealth of the kingdom of god! [ ] preached at a funeral, . x. wisdom and weapons.[ ] wisdom is better than weapons of war.--eccles. ix. . we glory in the excellence of our arms. we boast of our superiority in this respect to the ancients. we attach great importance to such advantages, and rely upon them for the success of our campaigns. it is well. let these things be properly estimated. but are we not in danger of overlooking what is much more essential to our prosperity? is there nothing better than guns and bayonets? the royal preacher gives the preference to wisdom. wisdom is the right use of knowledge, the pursuit of worthy ends by proper means; and if we take the word in this its ordinary sense, the truth of the text will be obvious to all. but in the writings of king solomon, as often in other parts of the holy scriptures, wisdom has another and higher meaning--piety, practical religion, conformity of heart and life to the law of god; and attaching this signification to the term, who can question the statement of the wisest of monarchs, "wisdom is better than weapons of war"? we will begin with some simple illustrations of this proposition in its lower application to secular affairs, and thus prepare the way for more copious discourse concerning its higher application to spiritual matters. and may god mercifully grant me persuasive words, and you "a wise and understanding heart"! "wisdom is better than weapons of war," because it gains its advantages at less expense. weapons of war are very costly, and millions of money are required to insure their success. but wisdom wants no gold. "more precious than rubies," it is "without money and without price." "wisdom is better than weapons of war," because it wins its victories without sacrificing human life. weapons of war strew the field with mangled and ghastly corpses, and fill the land with widows and orphans and broken hearts. but wisdom sheds no blood. its tendency is to preserve life, and not to destroy. it resorts to counsel instead of appealing to the sword, and subdues its enemies without endangering its friends. "wisdom is better than weapons of war," because it leaves no wrecks or ruins as the landmarks of its progress. weapons of war spread desolation and destruction on all sides; and buildings burned, and plantations devastated, and wealth scattered to the wind, everywhere attest the evils of international contention. but wisdom wastes no property. it accomplishes its beneficent purposes without injuring any man's estate. it turns no fruitful field into a wilderness, and disfigures the landscape with no smouldering heaps of demolished habitations. "wisdom is better than weapons of war," because it gives no encouragement to the malevolent and wicked passions. weapons of war produce hatred, contempt, revenge, a thirst for blood; converting men into fiends, and rendering earth the counterpart of hell. but wisdom makes no enemies. it conciliates. it attracts love, inspires confidence, and binds communities and nations together in fraternal amity. it breathes something of the spirit of christ's evangel, and echoes the angelic proclamation--"peace on earth, good-will toward men." "wisdom is better than weapons of war," because its achievements are always of a much more valuable character. weapons of war may overcome brute force, breaking the power of armies, subverting the thrones of monarchs, and arresting the course of incipient revolutions; while the mind remains unconvinced, the will unsubdued, and the heart still strong in its enmity. but wisdom eradicates the principle of hostility. it blasts the bitter fruit in the bud. it disarms enemies by making them friends. it occupies the mind, subjugates the will, and leads captive the heart. therefore it is said, "he that winneth souls is wise." these illustrations of the text in its lower application must suffice. proceed we now to the higher. wisdom is true religion, evangelical godliness; and this, whatever view we take of it, will be found superior to weapons of war. we see its superiority in the excellence of its nature. weapons are material: wisdom is spiritual. weapons are terrestrial; wisdom is celestial. weapons are worn upon the person: wisdom is seated in the soul. weapons are wielded by the warrior: wisdom controls its possessor. weapons are of earthly origin, human invention, satanic suggestion: wisdom, like "every good and perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights." it is a beam divine, by which we see the invisible. it is the breath of god, inspiring a new life, and imparting a new nature. it is an influence from the infinite spirit, quickening the dead conscience, and purifying the polluted heart. it is a gracious power, which subjugates, exterminates all that is hostile to holiness within, "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of christ," and nerving every faculty to the conquest of the mighty host of spiritual foes that "beleaguer the human soul." we read its superiority in the importance of its objects. weapons are employed both for aggressive and for defensive purposes: so is wisdom, but in a very different way. are weapons used to gain freedom? so is wisdom, but it is the freedom of the soul. to acquire riches? so is wisdom, but they are the "durable riches of righteousness." to augment power? so is wisdom, but it is power over the passions and the habits. to repel invasion? so is wisdom, but it is the invasion of the prince of darkness. to expel enemies? so is wisdom, but they are the enemies intrenched within us. to extend dominion? so is wisdom, but it is the dominion of the world's redeemer. to subjugate nations? so is wisdom, but they are the nations fighting against god. to liberate captives? so is wisdom, but they are the captives of sin and satan. to gratify revenge? so is wisdom, but it is revenge against the destroyers of our race. to secure commendation? so is wisdom, but it is the commendation of the eternal judge of quick and dead. to achieve glory and honor? so is wisdom, but it is the glory of a heavenly inheritance and the honor of an imperishable kingdom. these are objects worthy of angelic enterprise, and illustrative of the transcendent excellence of wisdom. we observe its superiority in the purity of its principles. weapons foster and encourage evil passions in the human heart, and stimulate all its corrupt and vicious propensities; while wisdom eradicates them, originates the opposite virtues, and cultivates in all their "beauty of holiness" the gracious "fruits of the spirit." on the one side we see pride; on the other, humility. on the one side, contempt; on the other, courteous respect. on the one side, distrust; on the other, ingenuous confidence. on the one side, restless ambition; on the other, tranquil contentment. on the one side, grasping avarice; on the other, open-handed beneficence. on the one side, bitter emulation; on the other, mutual aid and sympathy. on the one side, injustice and oppression; on the other, due regard for the rights of all. on the one side, deceit and wily treachery; on the other, unswerving truth and uncompromising fidelity. on the one side, turbulence, confusion and anarchy; on the other, the reign of divine law and angelic order. on the one side, savage brutality and diabolical cruelty; on the other, tears for all woes and help for all needs. on the one side, bitter and implacable malignity; on the other, the spontaneous flow of brotherly kindness and charity. on the one side, the desperate wrath and fury of revenge; on the other, meekness, gentleness, oblivion of injuries, and all the mind of jesus. on the one side, an impious disregard of the almighty's government; on the other, a profound reverence for his holy name, with an earnest desire to know and a settled purpose to do his blessed will. on the one side, an exemplification of the spirit and temper of hell; on the other, a practical illustration of those pure affections and hallowed influences which make men resemble the angels, and render our life "as the days of heaven upon earth." these are the ennobling principles of wisdom. we perceive its superiority in the grandeur of its alliances. weapons may secure an alliance with the governments of the world, with its wealth and power, its learning and eloquence, its useful and decorative arts, the glory of its monarchs, the policy of its statesmen, the influence of its sages, and the splendid renown of its conquerors. but wisdom boasts of loftier alliances with "the saints that are in the earth, and the excellent in whom is all its delight;" "a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people;" the _élite_ of the universe, the "sons and daughters of the lord almighty," "whose names are in the book of life," whose robes of light, and harps of gold, and thrones of power, and crowns of glory, and palms of victory, await them in the city of "many mansions," the "house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens." it connects itself by invisible but indissoluble ties with the redeemed denizens of the "city of god," the purest and noblest men that ever lived and died, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, philanthropists and reformers, "the salt of the earth," and "the light of the world," "doers of illimitable good, gainers of inestimable glory." it claims community with the cherubim and the seraphim, spirits of light and love, the unshorn strength and unsullied purity of heaven. it lays hold upon the throne of god, and establishes an everlasting covenant with the almighty, and interests the ruler and proprietor of the universe in its cause. such an alliance secures divine sympathy, heavenly recognition, efficient co-operation, help for all needs, succor in all troubles, defence against all dangers, deliverance from all enemies, the triumphant success of all enterprises, and the enjoyment of "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in christ jesus." and with this magnificent endowment of privileges, unknown to the hero of the battle-field, wisdom, strong in her weakness, rich in her poverty, happy in her misfortunes, tranquil amidst popular commotions, and fearless of ten thousand foes, sits singing in the house of her pilgrimage-- "not from the dust my joys or sorrows spring; let all the baleful planets shed their mingled curses round my head, their mingled curses i despise, if but the great eternal king look through the clouds and bless me with his eyes." we confess its superiority in the character of its achievements. with arms men conquer inferiors or equals: through wisdom they overcome beings vastly greater than themselves--greater in number, in nature, in knowledge, in cunning, in courage, in energy, in endurance, in all the facilities and resources of warfare, except such as are furnished by the grace of god. with arms we vanquish human enemies: through wisdom, superhuman. with arms we vanquish external enemies: through wisdom, internal. with arms we vanquish visible enemies: through wisdom, invisible. with arms we vanquish mortal enemies: through wisdom, immortal. with arms we vanquish earthly enemies: through wisdom, heavenly principalities and powers dethroned and doomed. with arms we subdue provinces and subvert empires: through wisdom, overcome self, and bring our own rebellious nature under the government of god; and he who accomplishes this, saith solomon, "is better than the mighty--than he that taketh a city." alexander is said to have conquered the world. vain boast! the world was not half conquered. but "he that is born of god," st. john tells us, "overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." faith is the theological synonyme of wisdom. faith is the foundation of all true religion. faith, wisdom, is real heroism. and it was through this the holy men of old achieved their splendid triumphs and won their immortal honors. and it is through this that the christian still overcomes the world; overcomes its spirit; its false philosophy; its evil customs and fashions; its cunning strategy, and its open violence; the shallow sophistry of its unbelief, and the affected valor of its impiety; the fascination of its soft seductions and all the fury of its fierce revenge. faith, with hope and charity for its allies, sprinkled with "the blood of the lamb," and bold in "the word of its testimony," with the eagle's eye and the lion's courage, goes forth to the holy conflict; and all the missiles of malice, ridicule and infidelity--as cannon-balls by cotton-bales--are effectually repelled by the meekness and gentleness of its spirit; and the enemy at length succumbs to the virtue that he finds invincible. this is real victory! this is the sublime triumph of wisdom! we behold its superiority in the measures and motives of its warfare. here is a perfect contrast. arms triumph by physical force and energy: wisdom prevails by the persuasiveness of truth, the gentleness of charity, the beauty of holiness, and the spirit of the lord. the soldier seeks the aid of science and strategy: wisdom adheres to the simplicity of the gospel, repudiating all art, concealment, disingenuous trickery, such as false colors, masked batteries, treacherous ambuscades, and challenges its enemies with an honest front upon the open field. the military hero is cheered on by the voice of popular applause: wisdom has no admiring multitudes, seeks no encouragement from the world, but pursues its spiritual warfare in silence and in secret, "all unnoticed and unknown, loved and prized by god alone." there is much in "the pomp and circumstance of glorious war" to stimulate the combatants: wisdom has all the stern reality of the conflict, without any of its inspiring accompaniments--the martial strain, the glittering ranks, the floating banners, the roar of artillery, the shout of charging squadrons, and the clash of resounding steel. the mailed knight of the battle-field may gather strength from emulation: wisdom knows no emulation but that of love and good works--no fierce competition or contentious rivalry--striving only to excel in kindness of heart, sweetness of temper, and the moral likeness of the son of god. you may be encouraged to the conflict by the hope of gain: wisdom has no expectation of earthly profit--no spoils to be won, no cities to be sacked, no mansions to be robbed, no bank-vaults to be rifled; but it forsakes all to follow christ, and is content to practise his daily self-denial. you may look forward to worldly distinctions and honors: wisdom seeks no promotion short of the kingdom of heaven--no fame of heroism, no record in history, no celebration in song, no decoration of stars and wreaths, no triumphal arches, nor monumental pillars, nor statues in the temples of the gods. nay, the times have been when those noble heroes who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, though the world was unworthy of them, were deemed unworthy of the world; had trial of cruel mocking and scourging, of bonds and imprisonments; were tortured, not accepting deliverance; were tempted, stoned, burned, beheaded, crucified, sawn asunder; wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, and concealed themselves in dens and caves of the earth; being destitute, afflicted, tormented. "but wisdom is justified of her children." we discover its superiority in the certainty of its final success. arms may fail for want of discipline and skill: wisdom has drilled her soldiers, teaching their hands to war and their fingers to fight. arms may fail for want of strength to wield them: wisdom girdeth us with strength unto the battle; and nerved by her influence, the feeblest in our ranks can run through a troop and leap over a wall. arms may fail for want of competent officers: wisdom rejoices in the "captain of the lord's host," "the lion of the tribe of judah," with his eyes of flame, his vesture dipped in blood, many crowns upon his head, and a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth, followed by the armies of heaven, going forth conquering and to conquer. arms may fail for want of sufficient defences: wisdom is environed with "a wall of fire," a living circumvallation of seraphim and cherubim; and "the name of jehovah is a strong tower, into which the righteous runneth and is safe." arms may fail for want of timely re-enforcements: wisdom can call to her aid at any moment "twelve legions of angels;" and, could we see their splendid array, the mountain is continually aflame with the artillery and cavalry of god. arms may be rendered useless by the overwhelming forces of the foe: wisdom leads "a great multitude that no man can number;" any one of whom can chase a thousand, and two can put ten thousand to flight; as gideon, with his three hundred, routed and destroyed the myriads of midian. you may be unsuccessful in battle from a variety of inevitable accidents: wisdom never breaks her blade, nor bursts her musket, nor loses her bayonet, nor dismounts her artillery, nor drops a chance match into the magazine; and her batteries can never be stormed, nor her forces flanked, nor her trains captured, nor her ammunition exhausted, nor her officers out-generalled and circumvented by superior strategy. your troops may lack the proper support of the government: jehovah has pledged all his infinite resources to the aid of wisdom in "the good fight of faith;" and his word shall not fail till heaven and earth pass away. your hopes may perish upon the very verge of victory: what soldier of wisdom ever left the field without the spoils of a vanquished foe? "yea, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that hath loved us." success, therefore, is certain. "the victory is the lord's, and he giveth it to whomsoever it pleaseth him." let the enemy boast, and rage, and threaten! "who hath hardened himself against the lord and prospered?" the sea shall drown them; the earth shall devour them; the fire of heaven shall consume them; the stars in their courses shall fight against them; or they shall perish at the blast of an angel's breath under the very walls of the city of god! however the line of battle may waver for a season, however the fortunes of the field may vacillate between victory and defeat, the word of god is sure, and wisdom shall triumph at the last. we recognize its superiority in the ineffable glory of its issues. "lamentation and mourning and woe" follow the triumph of arms, and the land bewails the unreturning brave: the victories of wisdom are universal blessings, cheering the earth and gladdening the skies; and wherever she prevails, the desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose; and "the voice of salvation and praise is in the tabernacles of the righteous, saying, the right hand of the lord is exalted! the right hand of the lord doeth valiantly!" the warrior may win a splendid spoil; and the capture of vast stores and precious treasures--the acquisition of cities, kingdoms, continents--may reward his valor: wisdom "winneth souls"--more costly than all the gems of golconda, and all the gold of california--the most magnificent structures ever reared, and the most extensive empires ever formed. the victor may feel a proud gratification in his success, but it is necessarily mingled with much of unhappiness: the achievements of wisdom afford "fulness of joy, and pleasures forevermore"--joy without any mixture of sorrow, pleasures without any interval of pain. the commendation of superiors and the applause of the multitude are often imbittered to the conqueror by the envy of rivals and the malice of foes: but the "well done, good and faithful servant!" of the eternal judge shall be re-echoed by the happy universe, and the saints and the seraphim shall compass you about with songs of deliverance, and every detractive tongue shall be shut up in the bottomless pit forever. history will record your heroism, eloquence will emblazon your victory, and poetry will perpetuate your praise; and the pencil, the chisel, the temple, the towering column and triumphal arch, will transmit your fame to future generations: but the christian's memorial is in the new jerusalem, "the new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness"--"a new name, which no man knoweth, save he that receiveth it"--a new creation, glowing with the image of its creator, over which the morning stars shall sing together, and all the sons of god shall shout for joy. the renown of your heroic deeds may fill the world and flourish over your grave: but wisdom shall inherit "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." the brass will tarnish, and the marble will moulder, and the voice of the orator will go silent, and the minstrel shall sing no more in the sepulchre; but wisdom's "praise is not of men, but of god;" "and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." pharaoh perished; but moses is immortal. ahab went down to the dust; but elijah drove his steeds of flame through the sapphire firmament. saul fell in his blood upon gilboa; but the tuneful son of jesse still leads the symphonies of the church in the wilderness, while the cherubim and the seraphim around the throne join in his choral hallelujahs. egypt is a desert, and babylon is a heap of ruins, and nineveh looks sadly up from her ancient sepulchre by the tigris, and the imperial mother of nations sits in melancholy widowhood upon the bank of the "yellow tiber;" but joseph, and daniel, and the captive tobit, and "paul, the prisoner of jesus christ," have found "a city of habitation," "whose builder and maker is god"-- "where age hath no power o'er the fadeless frame, where the eye is fire and the heart is flame!" the roman conqueror returned in triumph, with large display of spoils and prisoners; and a magnificent array went forth to meet him, and the populace rent the heavens with shouts of welcome, and the wall of the city was torn down for his entrance, and splendid offerings sparkled at his feet, and stately structures over-arched his head, and rich odors perfumed the air, and sweet music enlivened the scene: oh! who shall tell of wisdom's coronation in the metropolis of the universe--the unnumbered millions of the ransomed, with palms and crowns and lutes, amid the radiance of angelic beauty too bright for mortal eyes, singing as the sound of many waters and mighty thunderings unto him that loved them and washed them in his blood! "wisdom is better than weapons of war." are you satisfied with the proof? then rally to the standard of wisdom, join her forces, fight her battles, win her rewards, sing her transcendent glories, and share the blissful immunities and emoluments of her victorious veterans forever! why do you hesitate? are you afraid of the opinions or the speeches of others? oh! for shame! you have plenty of martial courage; where is your moral courage? you can march up to the mouth of the cannon and rush upon the point of the bayonet; why quail you at the scoff of the infidel and the scorn of the blasphemer? come out, come out, on the side of truth and righteousness! enrol yourselves with the saints, under "the captain of your salvation!" defiant of earth and fearless of hell, put on your arms, and away to the field, and take part in the conflict, that you may have place in the coronation! "soldier, go--but not to claim mouldering spoils of earthborn treasure, not to build a vaunting name, not to dwell in tents of pleasure. dream not that the way is smooth, hope not that the thorns are roses, turn no wishful eye of youth where the sunny beam reposes. thou hast sterner work to do-- hosts to cut thy passage through; close behind the gulfs are burning-- forward! there is no returning. "soldier, rest--but not for thee spreads the world her downy pillow; on the rock thy couch must be, while around thee chafes the billow: thine must be a watchful sleep, wearier than another's waking; such a charge as thou dost keep brooks no moment of forsaking. sleep as on the battle-field-- girded--grasping sword and shield: those thou canst not name or number steal upon thy broken slumber. "soldier, rise--the war is done: lo! the hosts of hell are flying! 'twas thy god the battle won; jesus vanquished them by dying. pass the stream--before thee lies all the conquered land of glory; hark! what songs of rapture rise! these proclaim the victor's story. soldier, lay thy weapons down, quit the sword and take the crown; triumph! all thy foes are banished, death is slain, and earth has vanished!" [ ] preached to soldiers in camp, . xi. love tested.[ ] simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me?--john xxi. . were the dear lord to appear personally in our midst this morning, addressing one after another by name, and putting the same question thus pointedly to all, who would answer in the negative? who would frankly confess so base an ingratitude? who of all this assembly would, by the acknowledgment of so flagrant an impiety, write himself down with the reprobate? however negligently or wickedly men live, few are willing to admit that they are utterly wanting in love to him who loved them to the death. but is love to christ indeed so common? with a few exceptions of unbelief so blasphemous as to shock ordinary irreligion, are all men truly his friends? are they so taken with his teaching, so enamoured of his virtue, so captivated by the beauty of his character, that they are ready to forsake all to become his disciples, and prove the sincerity of their attachment by the cheerful endurance of the severest sufferings? do they generally accord to him his claims, practically observe his requirements, and devote all their energies to his service? do they so believe in him as the one only mediator between god and man, the one only name under heaven given among men by which they can be saved, that they renounce all others and cling with the tenacity of a death-grasp to his cross? let us ask ourselves the question. let us enter solemnly into conference with our own hearts. let every one bring his consciousness, his recollection, the facts of his life, to the test. "do i truly love the lord jesus? will my love bear the ordeal of a faithful and impartial scrutiny? is my conduct, public and private, such as to put the matter beyond all doubt and controversy? should my crucified friend come visibly into the church, take me by the hand, look straight into my eyes, and say, as he did to 'simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me?' could i answer as promptly, as honestly, as emphatically, as the apostle did--'lord, thou knowest that i love thee'!" no superfluous or unprofitable inquiry is this, my dear brethren; but a matter of infinite moment, addressing itself immediately to each individual soul. had jesus deemed it a question of little consequence, think you he would have put it thrice in so searching a manner to st. peter? does not the repetition seem to imply a danger of mistake and self-deception? yet the question obviously supposes the apostle might know with certainty whether he really loved or not. and if he, why not we? i will not put it to your consciousness, in which any man may be deceived; but the manifestation and fruits of love furnish certain practical tests, quite easy of application and far less liable to mistake; so that no soul, well instructed in the principles of christianity, need remain in ignorance of so vital a matter. here, however, before we proceed any farther, a word of explanation and caution seems necessary. the passion of love, as we all know well enough, is innate. we naturally love our friends and all that is pleasing and attractive to us. but to this general rule love to christ jesus is certainly an exception. so fallen and sinful are we, that we cannot love that which is holy, perfect, divine, without the enlightening and purifying spirit of grace from above. so blinded is our sight, so depraved and perverted our moral taste, that christ is to us as a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness, and there is no beauty that we should desire him. his sublime purity we cannot appreciate; his beauty of holiness we cannot endure. we must be regenerate, quickened together with christ, raised from a death in trespasses and sins to a new life in righteousness. possible it may be, indeed, for the infant, consecrated to christ in baptism, to "lead the rest of his life according to this beginning;" from the very font, daily increasing in god's holy spirit more and more, until he come to christ's everlasting kingdom. but if, as commonly happens, the fact prove otherwise--if there has been a defection from baptismal grace--there must be a return to the bond of the covenant, and a renewal by the power of the holy ghost, or there can be no true love to christ. and those who now sincerely and supremely love him may know precisely when and where the blessed restoration took place, and the sun of righteousness arose upon them with healing in his wings. and others, not baptized in childhood, may have a vivid recollection of the place and the moment in which they first discovered the light of the glory of god in the face of jesus christ, and the redeemer began to be unspeakably precious to their souls. love to christ, therefore, is not natural, but supernatural--not the result of self-culture, but the product of divine grace--a new and heavenly principle shed abroad in the heart by the power of the holy ghost. the test of which let us now apply; and may god help us to do so with honest and faithful heart! "simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me?" if you love the lord jesus, you will think of him with pleasure. love produces tender thoughts of the beloved. you cannot cease to think of them even when long absent. can those who love the saviour ever forget him? will not their meditation of him always be sweet? how is it with you? can you say with the psalmist--"the desire of our soul is unto thy name, and to the remembrance of thee"? do you think often of jesus, and dwell with delight upon his love? do you meditate sweetly of him in the night-watches? is the thought of him ineffably pleasing and joyful to your soul? if you love the lord jesus, you will delight in communion with him. love finds its greatest happiness in the presence of the beloved. long absence is painful, and hopeless separation is intolerable. every opportunity of communion with christ, therefore, the saints value as a high privilege and seize with eager joy. the word in which he speaks to them is their sweetest music; the closet in which they meet with him is their highest pisgah; the table at which he feeds them is the very antepast of heaven. is this your experience? do you love to speak with christ in prayer? do you joyfully listen to the messages of his grace, and read with pleasure the epistles of his love? do you feast with a keen relish upon the heavenly manna and the new wine of the kingdom which he provides for you in the "rich banquet of his flesh and blood"? can you appeal to him in the language of the psalmist--"lord, i have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth"? and when deprived of its privileges, do you exclaim with him--"my soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of the lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living god; when shall i come and appear before him?" if you love the lord jesus, you will constantly aim and study to please him. with regard to any undecided course of action, you will not ask, "how will this please others?" but, "how will it please christ?" him whom your soul loveth, whatever the effect upon your neighbors, you will never be willing to displease. you would rather offend every friend you have on earth than the heavenly "friend that sticketh closer than a brother." "ye are my friends," saith he, "if ye do whatsoever i command you." and again he saith, "if any man love me, he will keep my words." hearty obedience is the best proof of love. if you truly love him, your obedience will be prompt, earnest, constant, uniform, unquestioning and uncompromising. try yourselves, my brethren, by this criterion. is the word of christ the supreme law of your life? in all things, do you seek his pleasure, and rejoice to do his will? are his commandments grievous to you, or do you find his yoke easy and his burden light? do you esteem his service a hard bondage, or the blessed freedom of the sons of god? is it your meat and drink to do his will, as it was his to do the will of his father? he is now challenging your affection, as delilah challenged that of samson: "how canst thou say, i love thee, when thy heart is not with me?" if you love the lord jesus, you will rejoice even in suffering for his sake. what was it but love stronger than death to him who died for them that made the apostles glory in tribulations, sing hymns of praise at midnight in their dungeons, wear their chains and manacles more proudly than princes ever wore their jewels, and welcome the scourge and the cross which completed their conformity to the divine man of sorrows? and why did ignatius chant so cheerfully among the lions, and polycarp pour forth his thanksgiving so joyfully as he stood unbound in the flames? and why did so many christians, in the early persecutions of the church, rush to the tribunal to confess their faith in christ, hastening to share the fiery coronation of their bishops and their brethren? there is but one answer to these questions; and if you love christ as they loved him, you will be ready to make any sacrifice or endure any suffering for his glory. like moses, who "esteemed the reproach of christ greater riches than all the treasures of egypt," you will "choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." like the hebrew captives in babylon, you will prefer the company of the king's lions to the society of his courtiers, and the sevenfold heat of the chaldæan furnace to the perfumed breezes that regale the royal gardens. hard sayings are these to ears like yours? have you no sympathy, then, with the prince of sufferers? are you not ready to take up your cross, and follow him to calvary? if not, how can you say, "we love him because he first loved us"? if you love the lord jesus, you will love those who are the special objects of his love. love to him is one half of his religion; love to his followers is the other half. the latter is the fruit of the former, and the best evidence of its reality. "by this," saith our saviour, "shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." and did he not pray for his little flock, that they might love one another as he had loved them? and does not his most loving apostle plainly tell us that this is the proof of our having passed from death to life? and does not st. paul assure us that it is "the bond of perfectness" and "the fulfilling of the law"--more important than faith, knowledge, miracles, the grandest eloquence, the largest beneficence, and even martyrdom itself? how can you love christ, and not love christians? if you love the father, will you not love his children? if you love the master, will you not love his servants? truly loving your monarch, can you fail to love your loyal fellow-subjects? what proof give you, then, of your love to the brethren? do you prefer their society to that of the world? do you delight to converse with those who delight to converse with christ and to converse with you about him? is it a great pleasure to you to do them kind offices, supply their temporal needs, promote their spiritual well-being, and cheer and comfort them in the manifold sorrows of life? is their interest as dear to you as your own, their reputation, and the salvation of their souls? if not, how can it be said that you love them as you love yourself? and, failing in this, where is the proof of your love to him who laid down his life for us all? if you love the lord jesus, you will sympathize with him in his grief for those who love him not. over the jews who rejected him jesus wept upon olivet, and for the romans who crucified him he prayed upon his cross. and when his loving heart broke beneath the burden of its anguish, think you he ceased to grieve for a guilty and ungrateful world? as he looks down from his mediatorial throne upon the multitudes who everywhere spurn the gospel of his grace and seek death in the error of their way--despising the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of god--does he not still weep and pray for the perishing neglecters of so great salvation, and seek those who can weep and pray with him, in whose tears and intercessions he can pour forth the full measure of his loving sorrow for the undone? and, loving him, will you not respond to his compassionate lamentations, feeling as he feels for the impenitent ingrates who are despising their own mercy and trampling upon the precious blood of their redemption? how is it with you, dear brethren? am i saying what sounds strange to you, if not absurd and preposterous? have you never wept for the wicked as elisha did when he foresaw the cruelties of hazael, or as st. paul did when he told his brethren of the enemies of the cross of christ? have you never said with david--"i beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not thy law"? tell me not that you love christ, while you have no sympathy with his love for sinners--no self-sacrificing zeal to save them, pulling them out of the fire! if you love the lord jesus, you will look for his glorious appearing and long for his eternal fellowship. this was the one great gladdening hope of the apostles and all the early christians. before his departure, their dear master had promised them that he would come again, and receive them unto himself; and with perfect faith in his word, they joyfully waited and watched for his return in the clouds of heaven. and still the expectant bride is on the outlook for her absent lord; and often we hear her from behind the lattice of her chamber-window calling--"make haste, my beloved! and be thou like the young hart upon the mountains of spices!" what christian soul does not respond to the sweet words of milton? "come forth out of thy royal chambers, o prince of all the kings of the earth; put on the visible robes of thy imperial majesty; take up that unlimited sceptre which thy almighty father hath bequeathed thee; for now the voice of thy bride calls thee, and all things sigh to be renewed!" what saint of jesus does not thrill to the eloquent strain of edward irving? "blessed consummation of this weary and sorrowful world! i give it welcome; i hail its approach with joy; i wait its coming more than they that watch for the morning! o my lord, come away! hasten, with all thy congregated ones! my soul desireth to see the king in his beauty, and the beautiful ones he shall bring along with him!" verily, "herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world." but were he this very day revealed from heaven in flaming fire, should we take lute and timbrel and go forth to welcome him to his ransomed world, or fly to the rocks and mountains to hide from his presence and escape from his wrath? in a great earthquake which shook a vast city, when the people said it was the day of judgment and sought where they might take refuge from their judge, a certain poor man began to cry out--"oh! is it so? is it so? then whither shall i go to meet my lord? on what mountain shall i stand to see my saviour?" oh! to greet the redeemer in his glory--who that loves him does not leap for joy at the expectation? "for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of god;" and the saints in their redeemed bodies "shall be caught up in the clouds to meet him in the air, and so shall we ever be with the lord." again the happy bride looks forth and cries--"the voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills!" and you, my dear brethren, if you truly love your saviour, so far from dreading him as your judge, will hail him as your friend; when the sound of his chariot-wheels, heard from pole to pole, shall gladden the graves of his beloved; and the voice of rejoicing and praise, rising from the tabernacles of the righteous, shall roll its thunder-chant through all the realms of joy! take, then, these _criteria_, and test your love to christ. surely the result will be worth the examination. for what transcendent importance, everywhere in holy scripture, is given to this divine principle! and in all ages, especially all christian ages, what fine things have been said and sung of love! not to recite the sublime statements of st. john and the inspired raptures of st. paul, with which you are all familiar; the great bishop of hippo calls it "that sweet and sacred bond of the soul, having which the poorest is rich, wanting which the richest is poor;" while the golden-mouthed orator of antioch declares it "the grandest mastery of the passions, and the noblest freedom of the redeemed man." the prince of schoolmen, the angelical doctor, writes: "divine love surpasseth science, and is more perfect than understanding; for we love more deeply than we know, and love dwelleth in the heart, while knowledge remaineth without." the greatest military chieftain of modern times remarked to his friend in st. helena: "i have conquered nations by the sword; jesus christ overcame the world by love." a more heroic spirit--st. catherine of sienna--says: "love was the cord that bound the god-man to the cross; the nails could not have held him there, had not love bound him fast." the martyr-monk of florence--savonarola--cheering his fellow-sufferers in the kingdom and patience of jesus, assures them that love to the dear lord "plucks the sting of death and disinherits the grave," and that he who thus conquers satan in his final assault upon the soul "has won the battle of life." and here is the noble testimony of thomas à kempis: "nothing is sweeter or purer than love; nothing is higher, or broader, or fuller; nothing more pleasant, or more excellent, or more heroic, in earth or heaven. weary, it is not tired; oppressed, it is not straitened; alarmed, it is not confounded; sleeping, it is ever watchful; like a living flame and burning torch, forcing its way upward and overcoming all things." finally, eloquence takes wing, and soars with her sister song; chanting in the strain of sir walter scott-- "love rules the court, the camp, the grove; and men below, and saints above; for love is heaven, and heaven is love!" or with charles wesley from his fire-chariot at the gates of pearl-- "by faith we are come to our permanent home; by hope we the rapture improve; by love we still rise, and look down on the skies, for the heaven of heavens is love!" in conclusion, let me repeat what i said in the outset. the question of our lord is a plain matter of fact, about which there need be no uncertainty; and every one of us, with careful self-examination, may be able to answer it at once. i have heard some honest christians sing: "'tis a point i long to know; oft it causes anxious thought; do i love the lord or no? am i his, or am i not?" discard that verse, my brethren! its theology is worse than its poetry. for a filial love, or a conjugal love, about which the wife or the child is uncertain, you would not give a farthing. do not the anxious thought and the longing to know indicate at least some small degree of love? not loving at all, you would care nothing about it, you would be quite indifferent to the question. dim indeed the spark may be in your bosom; but bless ye the lord that it is not utterly gone out, and answer his gracious inquiry with this better verse: "lord, it is my chief complaint, that my love is still so faint; yet i love thee, and adore; oh for grace to love thee more!" so praying, the breath of the holy spirit will soon blow the spark into flame; and when the master asks once more, "lovest thou me?" with bounding heart you will reply: "lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee!" [ ] preached in london, eng., . xii. manifold temptations.[ ] wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, may be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of jesus christ.-- pet. i. , . why is not the christian life a perpetual joy? why do so many sincere christians seem often melancholy and unhappy? the human heart is easily moved, and very little is necessary to set it vibrating with pleasant emotion. the voice of a happy child, the carol of a forest bird, the beauty of an opening rose, the glory of a sunset sky, the coming of a valued friend, the visitation of a vagrant dream, the recollection of a peaceful hour, the wind that chases away the misty cloud, even a word in season fitly spoken, may fill the soul with tranquil happiness or raise it to an ecstasy of delight. why, then, should not the believer in jesus rejoice evermore with joy unspeakable and full of glory? with the glad tidings which the gospel brings us, the love of god in christ which it reveals, the assurance of redemption, the remission of sins, the communion of saints, the ministry of angels, the visions of paradise restored, the anticipated epiphany of our lord in his glory, the advent of the new jerusalem in all its golden magnificence, the restitution and renovation of this disordered _cosmos_, the awakening of the body from its long sleep in the sepulchre, and the life everlasting of the just in the many mansions of their father's house, why do we not make the valley of baca ring with the prelude of our eternal song? strange, indeed, that all this should have so little power to cheer, and gladden the people of god in the house of their pilgrimage--that christian enjoyment should seem in general so feeble and so fleeting, when it ought to flow on with the constant strength and increase of a great river to its repose in the amplitude of an unsounded sea. the apostle in the text solves for us the mystery. it is not that there is nothing in christianity to cheer and elevate the feelings. in the great mercy of god, which hath begotten us again to a new and living hope by the certain resurrection of our crucified lord--in the prospect of an imperishable inheritance reserved for us in heaven, and the perfect assurance of our divine preservation till that inheritance shall be revealed--we do indeed "greatly rejoice," exult with gladness, leap with exuberant joy; though now for a little while, as necessary for our spiritual discipline, we may be put to grief in "manifold temptations." faith we have in these glorious disclosures of christ's evangel, and that faith is genuine, efficient, sometimes quite triumphant; but at present, perhaps, the gold is in the furnace, enduring the test from which it shall soon come forth purified, beautified, fit for the coronal of our expected king. the word temptation sometimes means enticement, and sometimes trial. we are tempted when we are enticed to evil, whether by satan, or his servants, or our own evil hearts; and we are tempted when our faith is tried, when our virtue is tested, when our character is put to the proof, whether by the malice of men or the providence of god. evidently, the term here is to be taken in the latter sense. the temptations of which the apostle speaks are trials, such as those of job, jacob, david, the holy prophets and martyrs, all in every age who live godly in christ jesus. "manifold temptations" are complicated trials--trial within trial--one infolding another--one overlapping another--many involved in one--all so interlaced and bound up together that we cannot analyze them, cannot even trace the threads of the tangled skein. the grief or "heaviness" which they produce does not necessarily indicate a want of trust in god, or of submission to his holy will. the firmest believer and most steadfast disciple may sometimes, through outward affliction, walk in darkness and have no light, even while he trusts in the name of the lord and stays himself upon his god. christ never doubted his father's love, nor feared the issue of his mighty undertaking; yet when the hour and the power of darkness came upon him, he "began to be sorrowful," "sore amazed," and "very heavy." "not my will, but thine, be done"--was the language of his guiltless lips, when bowed in his baptism of blood beneath a burden which might have crushed a world. so his suffering servants patiently endure their tribulations, glorifying god in the midst of the fire, and singing with the royal psalmist--"why art thou cast down, o my soul! and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in god, for i shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance!" christianity offers us no exemption from the ills of life, but gives us grace to bear them, and sanctifies all to our highest good. it is as true now as in the days of david, "many are the afflictions of the righteous;" and after more than eighteen centuries, the apostolic statement needs no qualification--"it is through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of heaven." the thwarted scheme; the blighted hope; the ill-requited love; the frequent betrayal of confidence; the falseness or fickleness of trusted friendship; the cross of shame laid by another's hand upon the shoulder; the deep anxiety about the future, which robs the present of more than half its joys; the sudden failure of health, withering the bloom of youth, or bringing down the strength of stalwart manhood; the moral defection of one long loved and cherished, involving the irretrievable ruin of a character as dear to you as your own; the death-couch where, day by day and night by night, the mother fans the flickering spark of life in her darling child; the dear mounds in the cemetery, where affection fondly strews her memorial blossoms, and keeps them fresh and fragrant with her tears; many a secret grief, too sacred for the stranger to meddle with, and too tender to be breathed into the ear of the most familiar friend; and more than all, christ's virgin bride weeping in sackcloth and ashes--a broken-hearted captive that cannot sing the lord's song in the land of the idolater and the oppressor;--these are some of the fiery trials and manifold temptations by which a gracious providence is disciplining us for our better destiny. but the ordeal is as varied as the shades of character and the aspects of human life. now we have fears within; anon we have fightings without; then deep calleth unto deep at the noise of god's water-spouts, and all his waves and billows are gone over us. but the lord rideth in the tempest and sitteth upon the flood; saying to the fiery steeds of the one and the angry waters of the other--"hitherto, but no farther!" no chance is here; all is beneficent design and transcendent wisdom, restricting and controlling the agencies of our providential discipline as our spiritual interests may require. "now," not always--"for a season," not forever--"if need be," not without the ascertained--are the lord's beloved subjected to these terrible ordeals. the probation must precede the award. the shock of battle comes before the victor's triumph. be not disheartened, but hold fast to your hope. the tide that is gone out will soon return. the revolving wheel that has brought you so low will soon lift you on high. but there is no rose without its thorn, nor dayspring unheralded by the darkness. our light afflictions are but for a moment. like summer showers they come and go, leaving the heaven brighter and the earth more beautiful. many a sore chastening, over which we have wept with a sorrow almost inconsolable, has proved one of the greatest blessings that god ever granted us in this vale of tears. what is needful for us, he knows better than we. the refiner sits by his furnace; and the hotter the fire, the shorter the process and the more thorough the purification. the physician watches by his patient, with his hand upon the pulse, observing every symptom, and thrilling to every throb of pain. the trial cannot be too severe for his purpose, nor too long continued for our good. god wants to see how much joy, how little sorrow, he can mingle in our cup, with perfect safety to our spiritual health, and a long series of experiments may be required for the perfect solution of the problem. he is leading us through the great and terrible wilderness to a city of habitation; and as we look back from the hills of our goodly heritage upon the rough path of our pilgrimage, the whole journey may seem to us as a dream when one awaketh. not all of the christian's sufferings are the products of christianity; many of his bitterest griefs are altogether of his own creation; and yet there is not an evil he endures, from which christianity does not propose to evolve good for him--not a dark cloud which it does not glorify with its beams, nor a crown of thorns which it does not convert into a jewelled diadem. but while the burden is mercifully lightened, it is not at once removed. the aim of our heavenly father is not so much to take it away, as to enable us so to bear it that it may become a blessing. thus he would test our faith, develop its strength, prove its reality and efficiency. but why should faith be thus tested? why not rather the whole christian character? because faith is the root of character; and as is the root, so is the tree. the test of faith is practically the test of character, and in this fact lies the obvious value of the test. it is the law of the universe, and an essential factor in the process of our salvation. look at this mass of gold just brought from the mine. how beautiful! how precious! but there are impurities in it. the true metal must be disengaged from all baser substances. cast it into the crucible. "see! it is melted!" yes, but not destroyed. "is it not welded to the alloy?" no; it is separated from it--purified--glorified! so with our faith. too precious to be purchased, even a single grain of it, with all the gold-fields of the world, it must be purged of its dross, and made easily distinguishable from the common counterfeits which deceive mankind. god gives it to the furnace. does it perish in the process? nay, it is as imperishable as christ, and as enduring as the soul. the ordeal proves its genuineness and develops its latent lustre. the principle is universal, and everywhere manifest--evolved by nature, illustrated by providence--testing laws, customs, institutions, civilizations--awarding due honors to the wise, the pure, the brave, the true-hearted--consigning the false, the foolish, the indolent, the pusillanimous, to merited oblivion or infamy. over the pearl-gates of the city of god is inscribed: "blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the lord hath promised to them that love him." abraham's faith was tried by fire in the plain of mamre and on the mount moriah. st. peter's faith was tried by fire in the garden, in the basilica, and at the saviour's cross. in eden, the first adam's innocence was tested to our shame; in the wilderness of judæa, the second adam's obedience was tested to our glory. before the birth of humanity, angelic loyalty passed through its ordeal in the heavenly places; and when the fulness of the prophetic times was come, god made proof of his love to a fallen race by a trial which shook the earth and rocked the thrones of hell. "if these things are done in the green tree, what shall not be done in the dry?" every thing else tested, why not christian character? for, what is christian character? is it not a man's protest against sin, his declaration of a new life in christ, his assertion of a citizenship in heaven and joint heirship with the son of god? surely, this is a matter of sufficient moment to require a test, and no test can be too rigid that brings out the blessed reality. think not strange, then, of the fiery ordeal. providence is thus co-operating with grace for your sanctification. bruised by tribulation, the flowers of christian virtue give out more freely their fragrant odors; and the clusters of the vine of god must be trodden in the wine-press before they yield the precious juice which shall gladden the children of the kingdom. "when he hath tried me," saith job, "i shall come forth as gold." by trial faith is transmuted into works, and by works faith shall be justified before the assembled worlds. "the egyptians, whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see no more forever." courage, ye fearful saints! the clouds which are gathering over you shall rain righteousness upon you; the lightning that blinds you reveals the chariot of your king; the thunder that terrifies you assures you of his love. courage! his glorious epiphany is at hand. forth shall he come from the pavilions of the sky, with an escort of many angels, and anthems that wake the echoes of eternity. then shall the tears of earth become the gems of heaven; and the tuneful sorrows of every psalmist shall rise, thrilling, into choral hallelujahs! and who will ever regret the "heaviness through manifold temptations" which hath wrought in him a meetness for the bliss immortal, or behold with aught but joy ineffable the precious gold of his faith which was tried with fire, now "found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of jesus christ!" [ ] preached at east brent, somersetshire, eng., . xiii. contest and coronation.[ ] i am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. i have fought a good fight; i have finished my course; i have kept the faith. henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.-- tim. iv. - . i go back eighteen centuries and a half into the past, and find myself in a grand old syrian city. about midday i ride out at a western gate along a great highway looking toward a picturesque group of mountains. straight before me towers the white head of hermon, like that of a patriarch amidst his children. on my right and left are groves and gardens and smiling villas, a paradise of verdure and beauty, as far as the eye can reach. on this road marched abraham two thousand years before me, and jacob returning from padan-aram, and jonah going to nineveh, and all israel in chains to babylon. enough, surely, in these objects, to stir the dullest brain and kindle the coldest heart. thus occupied, my attention is suddenly arrested by a troop of horsemen riding briskly toward the city. their leader is a young man, of rather low stature, with keen black eye, and stern and determined aspect. a single look is sufficient to assure me that he is no common man, and here on no common errand. it is the tiger of tarsus, in fierce pursuit of some of the lambs of the good shepherd. a few christians from jerusalem, driven out by persecution, have come hither for refuge; and saul, with full authority, self-solicited, is on their track, "breathing out threatening and slaughter." you know the rest. blessed be the lightning-stroke that consecrated what it smote, and made the bold persecutor the bravest apostle of the crucified! thirty years later, in the world's metropolis, i visit the mammertine prison adjoining the forum. who is this, sitting on a block of travertine, with a tablet on his knee, a stylus in his hand, and a little ewer-shaped lamp at his side? as he looks up a moment from his writing, i see something in his face that reminds me of the young officer at the head of that vengeful expedition. he is indeed the same man--the same, and yet another. toil, hardship, privation, imprisonment, and cruel treatment of all kinds, have wrought sad changes in his physical frame. bent, bald, almost blind, though not more than sixty-five years old, i should hardly have recognized him without a word from his warder. one of nero's victims, he waits here calmly for the hour of his release by the sword. already doomed perhaps by sentence of the tyrant--it is not certain--neither he nor his keeper knows--he has undertaken another letter--most likely the last he will ever write--to timothy, his "dearly beloved son." abounding with godly counsel and encouragement to an intrepid and zealous young bishop, it is full also of the most inspiring utterances of christian faith and hope. among other incentives to diligence and fidelity, he adduces his own experience and expectation, and these are his words of cheer: "i am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. i have fought a good fight; i have finished my course; i have kept the faith. henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." not all called to be ministers and martyrs of christ, we are all called to be his constant and uncompromising followers; and in the humblest sphere of christian discipleship there is demand for the utmost activity and zeal, and in many cases for the heroic martyr-spirit commended to the bishop and exemplified in the apostle. let us see, then, what instruction we can get from the text. the first thing here to be noted is the apostle's calm contemplation of his present position: "i am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." in a popular work of fiction two characters are taking final leave of each other. the one is full of heart and hope; the other, deeply dejected and despondent. "farewell," is the last sad word of the latter--"farewell! your way leads upward to happiness; mine downward--to happiness also." such helpless resignation to the inevitable, in one form or another, we may all have witnessed. few things are more common in human experience; and the dying, however much they have loved life or dreaded death, yield themselves at last to what cannot be averted or avoided. but in the apostle's language there is something more than this stolid and sullen submission. there is cheerful faith and buoyant hope--a conscious triumph over all the evils of life and all the terrors of death. i had a friend very ill. for three days his life hung in doubt with his physician. when he began to recover, he said to me: "death came and looked me in the face; but, thank god! i could look him in the face without fear." here stands a man face to face with the last enemy in a far more terrible form. to die as a public criminal at the hand of the executioner is very different from lying down to sleep one's self into another world--very different even from falling in the field fighting for all that is dearest to the patriotic heart. yet the apostle speaks of his fate as calmly as if he were about only to set out on a journey or embark for a voyage. the manner of his death he already knows. a roman citizen, he cannot be burned, strangled, or crucified, like some of his brethren; and nero, devil as he is, can do no worse than take off his head and send him to his saviour. he is ready to be offered as a sacrifice--poured out as a libation; and the time of his departure--the loosing of the hawser--the lifting of the anchor--is at hand, when he shall sail out upon the ocean of eternity. a good man, dying, said: "i am in the valley, and it is dark; i feel the waters, and they are cold." not so the apostle. all with him is bright, hopeful, joyous. his last hours are the best of his life. it is not a stoical indifference to suffering, nor a disgust with the world that has misused him, nor a weariness of his holy work. long since he learned in every state to be content. some years ago he was in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with christ, but willing to remain a while in the flesh for the benefit of his brethren. for him, to live is christ, to die is gain. living or dying, he is the lord's, and christ is magnified in his flesh. at peace with heaven and earth, what has he to fear from either? knowing whom he has believed, and confident that he is able to keep that which he has committed to his custody, he is ready at the beck of the executioner to go forth from his dungeon, and his last walk on the ostian way shall be the triumphal march of the conqueror. the second thing here to be noted is the apostle's pleasing review of his accomplished career: "i have fought a good fight; i have finished my course; i have kept the faith." the reference is to the old grecian games--the olympian, the isthmian, the nemean, and the pythian. these festivals, we are informed, originated with pelops, were brought to perfection by hercules and atreus, and restored by iphitus when they had fallen into neglect. very popular they were, celebrated with great pomp and ceremony, and made use of to mark memorable events and public eras--that of consuls at rome, of archons at athens, of priestesses at argos. from greece they passed to italy; and were so much in vogue at the world's metropolis, that an ancient author speaks of them as not less important to the people than their bread. with these spectacles both st. paul and his beloved timothy must have been well acquainted, and in the writings of the former no metaphors are more frequent than those drawn from the grecian games. "i have fought a good fight"--literally, striven a good strife, or agonized a good agony. the reference is to the athletic contests of the arena--wrestling, boxing, and fighting with swords. the apostle's life had been a perpetual struggle and conflict. he says he has "fought with beasts at ephesus"--a metaphorical description doubtless of his fierce encounter there with the enemies of christianity. wherever he went, he met hosts of foes, marshalled under the banners of jewish prejudice and pagan superstition. and the world assailed him with all its enginery of temptation and persecution; and the native corruption of his own heart caused him many a sore conflict, though in all these things he was more than conqueror through the victorious captain of his salvation. as with st. paul, so with all christians; baptized into a warfare with the world, the flesh and the devil; and signed with the sign of the cross in token of this consecration as christ's servants and soldiers to their life's end. but this is "a good fight"--in a good cause, under a good captain, with good arms, good allies, good comrades, good supplies, good success, and good rewards--in all respects better than the patriot's battle for freedom, the crusader's conflict for the holy sepulchre, or any competition ever maintained in the arenas of greece and rome. "i have finished my course." the figure is changed. seated with fifty or sixty thousand spectators in the circus maximus, we are looking down upon the _stadium_, where men stripped to the waist, with eyes fixed upon the goal, are rushing along for the prize. there goes st. paul! "swiftest and foremost of the race, he carries victory in his face, he triumphs while he runs!" forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forward to those which are before, how eagerly he presses toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus! with our apostle this is a favorite illustration of the christian life--its steady aim, its strenuous action, its habitual self-denial, and patient endurance to the end. "know ye not," he writes to the corinthians, "that they who run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? so run that ye may obtain.... they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible." and in the epistle to the hebrews we read: "seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us." so all christians must run, never pausing in their progress, nor for a moment relaxing their energies, till from the goal they can look back and say--"i have finished my course." "i have kept the faith." here seems to be a reference to the strict rules and rigid discipline to be observed in both these methods of competition. in the arena and on the _stadium_ every thing was duly ordered and prescribed, nothing left to chance or choice, and he that strove for the mastery was not crowned except he strove lawfully. in the race, there must be no deviation from the line marked out for the runner; in the combat, no unfairness nor violation of the rules. "i therefore so run, not as uncertainly," saith the apostle; "so fight i, not as one that beateth the air; but i keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest after having preached to others i myself should be rejected." "would you obtain a prize in the olympic games?" said a pagan philosopher. "a noble design! but consider the requirements and the consequences. you must live by rule; you must eat when you are not hungry; you must abstain from agreeable food; you must habituate yourself to suffer cold and heat; in one word, you must surrender yourself in all things to the guidance of a physician." "the just shall live by his faith." without adherence to this rule, there is no reward. "the life which i live in the flesh," saith st. paul, "i live by the faith of the son of god." it is faith that strengthens the christian _agonisti_ with might in the inner man. it is faith that unites the soul to christ, and overcomes the world. the shipwreck of faith is the shipwreck also of a good conscience. keep the faith, and it will keep you. st. paul kept it, and triumphed in martyrdom. the third thing here to be noted is the apostle's joyful foresight of his glorious coronation: "henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." the object of the apostle's hope is no garland of withering leaves or fading flowers, such as honored the victor in the grecian games; nor a diadem of gems and gold, such as glorified imperial brows at rome. he had sowed righteousness, and righteousness he hoped to reap. he had wrought righteousness, and righteousness was to be his reward. the principle of the competition was the chief jewel of the expected crown. the victor's award must show the character of the conflict. and what, to such a prize, are all the splendors of royalty, with all the magnificent pageantry and subsequent privileges of an olympian triumph? imperishable, it is called "a crown of life," and "a crown of glory that fadeth not away." in the convent of sant onofrio, i have seen the wreath intended for the living tasso, but delayed too long, and placed by the _fratti_ upon the brow of the dead; and, though very carefully preserved, it was all sear, and crisp, and falling to decay; but upon your heads, o ye righteous! shall your crowns flourish, when this earth and these heavens are no more. the judge who awarded the prize to the victor at the grecian games might decide unjustly, either through culpable partiality, or from involuntary error; but "the lord, the righteous judge," who is to decide the fate of the christian _agonisti_, is no respecter of persons, and his perfect knowledge and infallible wisdom render mistakes with him impossible. st. paul's imperial judge was the very incarnation of iniquity; but christ "shall judge the world in righteousness," and "reward every man according to his works." the crown was not conferred as soon as the racer reached the goal or the gladiator gave the fatal thrust, but was reserved till the contests were all over and ended, and the claims of the several candidates were carefully canvassed and adjudicated. so the "crown of righteousness" is "laid up" to be given "at that day," when the lord jesus shall come to be glorified in his saints. one says, "we must die first;" st. paul tells us we must rise first. blessed, indeed, are the dead in christ; but their blessedness cannot be consummated till their lord return from heaven and they appear with him in glory. and to whom, or how many, is the crown to be given? "to all them that love his appearing." all the contestants shall then be collected, and every victor crowned. christ hath crowns enough for the whole assembly of his saints, and the most illustrious of his apostles would not wish to wear them all. the humblest and obscurest christian shall have his portion in the royal inheritance. there is only one condition--that we "love his appearing." this was the chief mark of his first followers. through all their bitter conflicts, their hope clung to the master's promise. have we such hope? rejoice then, and be exceeding glad! fight on; stretch forward; hold fast your precious faith. in the crown that glitters in the hand of your judge, is there not sufficient indemnity for all the agony of the conflict? to this prospect, alas! there is an appalling contrast. some are fighting an evil fight, running a ruinous race, repudiating the only faith that can save the soul. think you by unrighteousness to win the crown of righteousness? "be not deceived; god is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." even in the grecian contests, the unsuccessful candidate found all his toil and struggle utterly unprofitable at the end. and you who never enter the lists, who take no part in the competition, who are mere spectators of the earnestness and the agony of others--will you dare, when the judge cometh, to stand forth and claim the crown for which you have never striven? "awake to righteousness!" condemned already, dead in trespasses and sins, aliens from the church and strangers to the covenant--what hope is there for you, but in god's regenerating grace, a thorough change of heart and life, a moral transformation of character which shall make you new creatures in christ jesus? not yet is it all too late. come and offer yourselves as candidates for the heavenly competition. grace will accept your late repentance, and you will have nothing to regret but your long delay. we challenge you to the contest. all heaven awaits your decision. how long halt you? it is high time you were determined. step forward, take your position, and struggle for the crown of righteousness which the righteous judge shall give that day to all who love his appearing! [ ] preached at brighton, eng., . xiv. calvary token.[ ] as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the lord's death till he come.-- cor. xi. . between chattanooga and atlanta occurred some of the severest conflicts of the american civil war. for more than a hundred miles the fields are covered with battle-scars, and every hill-top bears traces of fortifications. near one of the most memorable places may now be seen a cemetery, where northern and southern soldiers, side by side, await the resurrection. visiting it a year after the struggle was over and ended, i found an east-tennessee farmer sitting by a grave at the head of which he had just erected a handsome marble. to my question--"was the soldier lying here your son?" he answered: "no, sir; he was my neighbor. i was drafted for the army; my family were all sick; i knew not how to leave them; i was sadly perplexed and troubled. a young man came to me, and said: 'you shall not go; i will go for you; i have no family to care for.' glad to remain with those who needed me so much, i accepted his generous offer. he went, but never returned. i have brought this stone more than a hundred miles, to set it at the head of his grave. look there, stranger!" i followed with my eyes the direction of his finger, and read under the name of the noble dead: "he died for me!" and we both bowed the head, and wept. my dear brethren, there is one far nobler who died for you and me. with a disinterestedness unparalleled in the annals of war, he took our place in a fiercer conflict than was ever waged for freedom or for empire. fighting our battle, he fell; but falling, conquered all our foes. triumphant he rose from the dead, and ascended on high, leading our captivity captive. at the right hand of the throne of god, in our nature redeemed and glorified, "he ever liveth to make intercession for us." all that we have or hope of good we owe to his dying love. but in an upper chamber at jerusalem, with a few chosen witnesses present, just before he went forth to the final engagement, he instituted for us a perpetual memorial of his unexampled charity. taking bread, he blessed, and brake, and gave to his disciples, saying: "take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me." then, taking the cup, he gave to them, saying: "drink ye all of this; for this is my blood of the new covenant, shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; do this in remembrance of me." this finished, he chanted part of the great hallel with the beloved twelve, as if the victory were already won; then gave them his valedictory address, and went out to die. and some twenty-four years later, the great apostle paul, in a letter to the christians of corinth, having narrated the facts just as they are recorded by the evangelists, adds these solemn words for the benefit of his brethren in all subsequent ages: "as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the lord's death till he come." here, then, is the precious calvary token bequeathed by the dear saviour to his redeemed church. while we contemplate it, hear we not a voice from the excellent glory bidding us take off the shoes from our feet? approaching the altar to gaze upon the great sacrificial memorial, the ground we tread is holier than that on which moses stood before the bush that burned in horeb. there is more of god seen here than in all the fires of sinai. there he made known his law; here he reveals his love. there we read his will; here we behold his heart. no other ordinance, even of the new and everlasting covenant, contains so much of majesty, so much of mystery, so much of sanctity, and at the same time so much of mercy, as the eucharistic feast; in which the messiah stands forth to our faith at once the sacrifice and the sacrificer, in the same sacred solemnity instituting an everlasting memorial and a perpetual priesthood. to us, more than eighteen centuries after the fact, if we have any right feeling and clear perception, the solemn transaction in the upper room, "on that sad memorable night," must wear an aspect far more interesting than it wore at the moment even to the apostles themselves. for we are able to view the matter more deliberately and more dispassionately than they could, and with many additional side-lights to aid our apprehension of the divine truths involved. certainly no act of the saviour has laid his church under greater obligation, none has exhibited in more attractive colors the relations he sustains to his redeemed people. taking the bread and the cup, does he not remind us of his having taken our flesh and blood? presenting them with solemn benediction to the father, does he not intimate to us the offering of his humanity to heaven as a sacrifice for our sins? giving them to his disciples with the command to eat and drink, does he not assure us that he is ours with all the infinite benefits of his incarnation and atonement forever? ordering the apostles and their apostolical successors as his priests to do what they have just seen him do as their lord, does he not furnish us a perpetual commemoration of his redeeming love, and a perpetual demonstration of his quickening power, till his return in glorious majesty from heaven to rule the world he ransomed with his blood? under both the hebrew and the heathen rituals, the meat-offering and the drink-offering were inseparable from every piacular sacrifice; and without the conjunctive offering of bread and wine, it is difficult to see how either hebrew or heathen could have regarded the death of christ as an expiation for sin. as the death of a martyr, indeed, they might well enough have taken it; but as a sacrifice for human transgression, how could they have received it, unaccompanied by the holy supper? were the bread and wine the body and blood of christ in the physical sense maintained by the church of rome, their perpetual presentation by personal intercession before the father's throne would be superfluous and even impossible, while the voluntary death of our dear lord upon the cross would be unnecessary and suicidal. were they the body and blood of christ in the merely emblematical sense maintained by the ultra-protestant sects, they would constitute for us no sufficient assurance of his ever-living mediation in heaven, nor to god any effectual remembrancer of his suffering in the flesh for the expiation of our guilt. therefore those denominations who deny the propitiatory character of his passion have little care or scruple about the due observance of this most sacred festival-- "rich banquet of his flesh and blood." "this do," said the divine author of the institution, "in remembrance of me"--strictly, "for my memorial;" not merely remembering me--reminding yourselves and others of me; but memorializing god the father--reminding him of the self-presentation of his well-beloved son as an offering and a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor for our salvation. in doing this, we do not repeat the once offered and forever accepted propitiation for our guilt--a thing which, indeed, we cannot do, and which no word of holy scripture warrants us in attempting; but we present a spiritual memorial of that propitiation, setting forth in the sight of god the perfect work and infinite merit of our personal redeemer; we present the consecrated bread and wine, and with them we present ourselves and the whole catholic church, to him who delivered up his own son for us all, and accepted that son's unknown sorrows and sufferings as a sufficient satisfaction for all human sin. this is the essence of the eucharistic oblation, the anti-typical peace-offering, the great sacrifice of the faithful. how unworthy are we of so sublime a service! and how should we cleanse ourselves to appear with such a gift at the portals of the heavenly sanctuary! in the presence of the chosen twelve presenting to the father the meat-offering and drink-offering of the true paschal lamb, the appointed high-priest of our profession solemnly attested to heaven and earth the sacrificial character of his ensuing sufferings, and pledged himself to the speedy accomplishment of the great sin-offering once for all. enjoining upon his apostles the perpetual continuance of the same ministration by an unfailing succession of consecrated men, he provided the church with a proof and the world with a token of the everlasting endurance and efficacy of that sacrifice, once offered, often commemorated, and eternally acceptable to god. instituting a memorial for all subsequent ages of the completeness and perpetuity of his personal sacrifice, he instituted also the means of appropriating its benefits; and the christian meat-offering and drink-offering being so intimately associated with the christian sacrifice, the partaker in faith of the one is partaker in fact of the other, truly eating the flesh and drinking the blood of god's incarnate son. hear the saviour's memorable words in the capernaum synagogue: "verily, verily, i say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you; whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and i will raise him up in the last day; for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and i in him." hard sayings were these to some who heard them, and hard they still are to all self-blinded unbelievers; but, as st. augustine says, they are hard only to the hardened, and incredible only to the incredulous. to us who believe, though mysterious, they are very precious. we apprehend their spiritual meaning, and rejoice in the privilege which they open to our faith. eating and drinking at the lord's table, we become partakers of his life, his holiness, and his immortality. here we participate with the eternal father in his joy over the accomplished work of his beloved son, and with that beloved son himself in his joy over the redeemed church--his treasure and his bride; while heaven and earth unite in the glad festival of faith--the hidden manna and the new wine of the kingdom. and if the living christ be thus in you, dear brethren! what outward enemy is too strong for you--what duty too arduous--what ordeal too severe? away with your doubts and fears, o ye faint-hearted disciples! can you not trust him who, in the power of an endless life, has established his throne in your hearts? with christ, all things are yours, and no agency of earth or hell can rob you of your regal inheritance! contingent upon the sacrifice of the cross, and from that sacrifice deriving all its meaning and its merit, the eucharistic sacrament itself becomes relatively sacrificial. as beforehand there was a continual sacrificial anticipation of immanuel's atoning death, so after the event is there a continual sacramental commemoration of the accomplished purpose and prophecy. both the jewish passover which foreshadowed the future fact, and the christian eucharist which to-day commemorates the fact historical, are sacrificial on the same principle and by the same rule--their relation to the cross of calvary which gives them all their virtue and their value. the agony is over, and christ dieth no more; the atonement once made without the walls of jerusalem is still presented by our divine high-priest before the mercy-seat within the vail. to all who believe, it is efficacious forever, needing no annual or even millennial repetition. but in the eucharistic sacrament, with prayers and thanksgivings, we lift up the reeking cross before the eternal father, and plead the sufferings of his well-beloved for our salvation. we say to god: "behold this broken bread; it is the mangled flesh of thy christ! behold this purple cup; it is the blood which he shed for our sins! behold at thy right hand our slaughtered paschal lamb, and for his sake have mercy upon us and save us!" thus we say the holy eucharist is relatively sacrificial--sacrificial from its inseparable connection with the redeemer's sacrifice. but even in this sense--the only one admissible to a true faith--the holy eucharist could not be sacrificial, were not its ministers in a corresponding sense sacerdotal. as the sacrament becomes relatively sacrificial by representing the saviour's sacrifice, so its ministers become relatively sacerdotal by representing his person and functions. commencing in the paschal chamber an ever-during sacrifice by ministering in person its accompanying meat-offering and drink-offering, he commenced there also the order of an ever-during priesthood by empowering his apostolic ministry to perpetuate that meat-offering and drink-offering forever. and, conferring sacerdotal functions upon the apostolic ministry, he conferred them upon that ministry alone. if he did not intend to limit to the twelve and their consecrated followers the power of consecrating and dispensing the sacramental bread and wine, why were not the whole five hundred brethren, or all the vast concourse of followers from galilee, admitted to the original celebration? the selection of the few proves the exclusion of the many, and restricts the perpetual prerogative to the ministry of apostolical succession. the sacerdotal oblation being essential, the sacerdotal celebration is equally essential. the priest must consecrate; the priest must administer; or there is no divinely authorized memorial of the one everlasting sacrifice. no such memorial, where is the recognized bond, connecting the body on earth to its glorified head in heaven? no such bond, what becomes of the church, and what assurance has she of an eternal inheritance? that bond secure, the church is invincible and immortal; the city of god stands upon a rock which no shock of colliding worlds can shake; all her happy people, instinct with the life of their lord, walking in white robes her streets of gold. and the apostolic series of sacerdotal ministers continuing to the end of time, the conjoined memorial of consecrated bread and wine shall still bind the successive generations of the faithful to the sacrificial cross, till he who for our great and endless comfort instituted the holy mystery nearly two thousand years ago shall return with all his flaming cohorts from the skies to take us to himself forever. "as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the lord's death till he come." [ ] preached at porto bello, edinburgh, scot., . for much of the thought contained in this discourse the author is indebted to the <sc>christology of the old testament</sc>, by the honored rector of his childhood, the rev. joseph stephenson, a.m., late of lympsham, somersetshire, eng. xv. heroism triumphant.[ ] now thanks be unto god, which always causeth us to triumph in christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.-- cor. ii. . the grandest of all human pageants was a roman triumph. this honor was conferred only upon the emperor or the general who had conquered a province, or achieved some signal victory. the conqueror was arrayed in rich purple robes, embroidered with flowers and figures of gold. his buskins were adorned with pearls and costly gems, and a wreath of laurel or a crown of gold was set upon his head. in one hand he held a laurel branch, the emblem of victory; and in the other his truncheon, the symbol of authority and power. he was borne in a magnificent chariot, drawn generally by white horses, but sometimes by other animals. pompey had elephants; mark antony, lions; heliogabalus, tigers; marcus aurelius, reindeer. musicians led the procession, playing triumphal marches; and heralds, proclaiming the achievements of the victorious hero. these were followed by young men, leading the victims, with gilded horns and garlanded heads, intended for sacrifice. next came the wagons, loaded with the spoils and trophies of the conquered foe; succeeded by the captured horses, camels, elephants, and gayly decorated carriages; and after these, the captive kings, queens, princes, and generals, loaded with chains. then was seen the triumphal chariot, outdoing all other magnificence; before which boys swung censers and maidens strewed flowers; while the people, as it passed, prostrated themselves and shouted, "_io triumphe!_" immediately behind marched the sentries; and the procession was closed by the priests and their attendants, with the various sacrificial utensils, and a white ox destined for the chief victim. entering the city by the porta capaena, passing through the triumphal arch, and proceeding along the via sacra, the splendid _cortége_ moved on toward the capitol; at the foot of which the captives divided, some led to the mammertine and tullian dungeons on the right, while the others went straight forward to the temple of jupiter capitolinus; the former doomed to death, the latter made tributaries if not even allies of imperial rome. meanwhile, the temples all being open, every altar smoked with sacrificial fires, and clouds of incense filled the city and sweetened all the air. with such spectacles the corinthians were not unacquainted. about two hundred years before st. paul wrote this epistle, lucius mummius, the roman consul, had conquered all achaia; had destroyed corinth, chalcus and thebes; and, by order of the senate, had been honored with a splendid triumph and the surname of achaicus. over the same people the apostle now has a triumph, but it is a triumph of very different character--a triumph in christ by the power of the gospel, the glory of which he ascribes to god alone. as in a roman triumph the smoke of altars and the odor of incense filled the city with a pleasant perfume, so the name and the doctrine of christ preached by him and his colleagues pervaded corinth and all the surrounding country--wherever those holy men had labored--with odors as of eden; and the apostles appeared as triumphing in christ over idols, demons, devils--over ignorance, prejudice, scepticism, superstition, false philosophy, and all the powers of darkness; yet appropriating no praise to themselves, but attributing all to the wisdom and the mercy of god. indeed, it is god's triumph, not theirs. he has first triumphed over them, and is now making them the partners of his triumph. better expressing the sense of the greek original, trench and alford read, "leadeth us in triumph;" and other eminent critics give us substantially the same rendering; while conybeare and howson, in their admirable work on the "life and epistles of st. paul," thus translate the language of the text: "but thanks be to god, who leads me on from place to place in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies of christ; and by me sends forth the knowledge of himself, a stream of fragrant incense, throughout the world." a pretty free translation, it is true; but embodying, no doubt, the precise meaning of the writer. "st. paul regarded himself," says fausett, "as a signal trophy of god's victorious power in christ; his almighty conqueror leading him about through all the cities of the greek and roman world, as an illustrious example of his power at once to subdue and to save." the foe of christ was now the servant of christ. grace divine had subdued and disarmed him. the rebel, the persecutor, the conspirator with hell, was brought into subjection, and rejoiced in his burden as a blessing. as to be led in triumph by man is miserable degradation, so to be led in triumph by the lord of hosts is highest honor and blessedness. our only true triumphs are god's triumphs over us. his defeats of us are our only true victories. near the gate of damascus the lion is smitten into a lamb by the hand of the crucified; and in a short time the lamb has become his bravest champion. brought into willing obedience, he falls into christ's triumphal train, ascends into christ's triumphal chariot; and, in full sympathy with christ, becomes the partner of his triumph. bengal writes--"who shows us in triumph"--that is, not only as conquered by christ, but as conquering with him. our victory is the fruit of his victory over us; and the open showing of that, so far from being our shame, is our greatest glory. therefore saith the apostle--and it is the most heroic utterance of the prince of heroes: "god forbid that i should glory, save in the cross of our lord jesus christ; by whom the world is crucified unto me, and i unto the world." and from this evangel of the crucifixion, which he lives to preach and will die to defend, arises the fragrant odor with which he and his companions are filling the world. as the approach of the triumphal procession is made manifest by the sweet perfume scattered far and wide by incense-bearers in the conqueror's train, so the heavenly victor makes use of his vanquished to herald the victories of his grace and diffuse like fragrant odors the saving knowledge of his name. it is the triumph of grace over sin, the triumph of truth over error, the triumph of faith over unbelief, the triumph of divine love over human selfishness. it is the right triumphing over the wrong, the pure triumphing over the impure, the heavenly triumphing over the earthly, the spiritual triumphing over the sensual, the eternal triumphing over the temporal, the true religion triumphing over all superstition. it is god by christ triumphing in man, and man through christ triumphing with god; who leads us in triumph as his captives, shows us in triumph as his trophies, and "maketh manifest by us the savor of his knowledge in every place." you see, my brethren, that the apostolic work was missionary work--that the church, as constituted by these heroic and holy men under the leadership of their divine lord, was a missionary society--the primitive propaganda of the christian faith. they were sent forth by the captain of their salvation to conquer the nations for christ, and gather captives from all countries into his triumphal procession. for this work st. paul was added to the original number, and from his peculiar fitness by education and spiritual endowment became the most successful of them all. and the constitution of the church is still unchanged; and our high calling in christ jesus has never been revoked; and your bishops and clergy to-day are but heralds and incense-bearers in the train of immanuel's triumph; and every faithful communicant, and every baptized believer, and every humble neophyte, are triumphing with the heavenly conqueror. surely here is a demand for all our faith, for all our zeal, for all our moral heroism; and for an embassy like ours, "more than twelve legions of angels" might have been commissioned from the skies. alas! where sleep our energies? where slumber the holy fires within our hearts? calm and secure, here we sit in our christian assemblies. with something of the spirit we pray, with something of the spirit we sing, and with much of the understanding we do both. with reverent delight we hear the word of grace, and with unspeakable gladness welcome its revelations of the unseen and the eternal. with our best faculties we inquire into its meaning, seek elucidations of it in ancient literature and modern criticism, and rejoice in its accumulating confirmations from history and from science. we worship with a comely ritual derived from the fathers, and celebrate the sacramental mysteries of our redemption in words that have warmed the hearts of martyrs. but while thus occupied, how little think we of the millions around us who for the same mercies are constantly invoking heaven with the voice of all their sins and sorrows! for us, christ "hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by his gospel;" they follow their friends to the burial, and mourn for them without hope, no star gleaming over the grave, nor seraph beckoning out of the darkness beyond; they lie down to die, but above the pallid day no halo gathers, no seraph wings are hovering, no sweet familiar voices inviting to an eternal fellowship of joy. have we no loving compassions for them, no desire to rescue and save their souls alive? oh! look at the heathen world, where satan holds undisputed empire, and man has never felt the power of christian civilization. look at the dark places of the earth, full of the habitations of cruelty; where belial reigns supreme, and moloch revels in fire and blood. look at the countries that languish under the curse of the crescent, where sense misnamed faith triumphs over reason, and strong delusion has quenched the last beam of divine knowledge, and obscured every ray of intellectual truth. look at jacob's heritage of milk, and honey, "destroyed by the wickedness of them that dwell therein"--the most beautiful of lands, the very garden of god, by ignorance and barbarism turned into a sterile waste and delivered up to the tenantry of noisome and noxious creatures. look at the exiled children of abraham, a vagabond race, roaming everywhere, and nowhere finding rest; the curse of their rejection branded on every brow, and reprobation written in every feature of an unmistakable physiognomy; their synagogues little better than mohammedan mosques and pagan temples, their worship an empty and abrogated ceremonial, and mammon substituted for the messiah. look at the villanous impostures of the vatican, and the notorious corruptions of faith and worship wherever the roman mystagogue holds sway; the habitual invocation of saints and martyrs; the adoration of images, pictures, and relics; the monstrous abuses and manifold abominations of the confessional; the doctrines of indulgence, purgatory, and human merit; the blasphemous dogmas of papal supremacy and infallibility, and the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin; with the legitimate and lamentable fruits--an abject and atheistic priesthood, and a thriftless and degraded people. look at your own country, christian though it is called--your own city, highly as it is favored of heaven; and see how far the masses lie from the living god; how his name is profaned, his altars abandoned, while every place of amusement is thronged with merry votaries of pleasure, and drunken men reel athwart the path of church-going people, and the house of her whose steps take hold on hell stands in the very shadow of the sanctuary, and libidinous songs and blasphemous oaths form the horrible counterpart to your sacred psalmody; on all sides temples of bacchus and beelzebub, with scenes of revelry and riot, debauchery and blood, where dissipation discards all disguise, impurity all shame, and impiety all fear. look at your western states and territories--fields demanding a hundred missionaries where you have one; a numerous and constantly increasing population scattered over a vast extent of country, with only here and there a church and a school, like solitary torches a thousand miles apart struggling to dispel the deeper than egyptian darkness of half a world; while rome is rearing her temples and convents everywhere, everywhere establishing her brotherhoods and sisterhoods, founding orphan-asylums and educational institutes, exercising a powerful influence over the development of the youthful mind, and poisoning the wells whence the people are to draw the water of their salvation; and heresy and schism are setting up their tabernacles, and agnostic infidelity is travelling _pari passu_ with population, and myriads of redeemed immortals are perishing for lack of knowledge. look at your fair and sunny south-land, lately devastated by contending armies; churches in ashes, cities in ruins, fenceless plantations growing up to forests; bishops and clergymen wofully impoverished, and forced to resort to secular occupations for subsistence; earnest and anxious spirits, shipwrecked in the collision of sectarian crafts, struggling desperately in the dark waters of doubt, and longing to see the life-boats of the church upon the billows; four million slaves in a state of semi-barbarism suddenly set at liberty like so many unfledged cagelings turned out to the wintry tempest, amidst hawks, and owls, and eagles, and every beast of prey; many of them already relapsing into their ancestral superstitions, suspecting one another as wizards and witches, practising hideous rites and abominable incantations, worshipping some exceptionally ugly old hag as a new incarnation of the divinity, and dancing with demoniac noises over the graves of their dead. no fancy pictures are these which i present, nor overwrought descriptions of realities. impossible were it to find language or figures to exaggerate the wretchedness of humanity unrelieved by the gracious revelations of god. in comparison of the moral ruin around us, what was the late catastrophe of a hundred south-american cities, whelming in a common destruction men, women and children to the number of forty or fifty thousand? should some pilgrim from a distant sphere, traversing the ethereal space with wings of light, chance to cross the orbit of our fallen planet, and cast a momentary glance down at our condition, might he not hurry past with a shudder, suspecting that hell had emptied itself upon earth, and the unhappy race had been given over unredeemed to the dominion of the devil? but why dwell on this dismal theme? oh! i could tell you of victories demanding another david to sing them or another isaiah to record them, till every loving heart should leap for joy and exult in hope of millennial triumph. but i would fain stir your compassion. i am feeling for your purse-strings among your heart-strings. i want to play a tune upon your spirits which shall echo in colorado, and make music in new mexico, and reverberate from the heights of the himalaya, and gladden the hills round about jerusalem. can we survey the valley of vision, and not prophesy to all the winds of god? can we see millions of immortal beings crushed by the dominion of satan, and not cry amain to the prince of peace to come and unseat the great usurper, and establish his own universal and everlasting empire? and how shall we pray successfully, if we answer not our own prayers by pouring our offerings into the lord's treasury? how shall we arrest the long carnival of crime, and error, and delusion, and infidelity, if we bestir not all our christian energies, occupying every available position, evoking every beneficent agency of the church, barricading with bibles and prayer-books the teeming way to ruin, and bridging with the blessed cross the mouth of the flaming pit? thus, my brethren! may we save souls from death, and give new joy to benevolence in other worlds, and gladden the heart that eighteen hundred years ago quivered for us upon the point of the roman spear, and fill the reverberant universe with the shout of the apostle--"now thanks be unto god, which always causeth us to triumph in christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place!" [ ] preached at a missionary meeting in new york, . xvi. fraternal forgiveness.[ ] so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.--matt. xviii. . when john wesley was in georgia, he was dining one day with gov. oglethorpe. a negro waiter at the table committing a careless blunder, the governor said to his guest: "see this good-for-nothing servant; he is always doing wrong, though he knows that i never forgive." "does your excellency never forgive?" replied mr. wesley; "then it is to be hoped that your excellency never does wrong." a beautiful reproof; and the more effectual, no doubt, from its gentleness. those who need forgiveness for their own faults, certainly ought to forgive the faults of others. "forgive, and ye shall be forgiven;" but "he shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy." this is the lesson taught us in the gospel for the day,[ ] which i shall endeavor to unfold and apply. for moral elevation, the passage is very remarkable. found in some old greek or roman volume--in some parchment dug up from herculaneum or pompeii--on some tablet or cylinder discovered amidst the _débris_ of nineveh or babylon--it would have awakened the wonder of the world, and men would never have been weary of praising its transcendent charity. the jewish rabbis taught that a man might forgive an injury a second or even a third time, but never a fourth. when st. peter asked--"how oft shall my brother trespass against me, and i forgive him? until seven times?" he doubled the rabbinical measure of mercy, doubtless imagining that he had reached the ultimate limit, and that his divine master even could require no more. how must he and his brethren have been astonished when jesus answered: "i say not unto thee, until seven times; but, until seventy times seven!" what! four hundred and ninety times? but jesus puts a definite number for an indefinite. "count not your acts of clemency," he seems to say; "be your forgiveness of a brother as free as the air you breathe or the light you enjoy--your love as unlimited as the illimitable heaven above you." then he puts the matter strongly before them in a parable: a certain king calls his servants--the collectors of his taxes and revenues--to account. one of them is found frightfully in arrears--owing his lord ten thousand talents--a debt which he can never pay. the king orders the sale of the delinquent, with his family and all his effects. falling at the royal feet, he implores patience, and promises the impossible. touched with pity, the king forgives the debt. but the forgiven goes to a fellow-servant who owes him the small sum of a hundred pence, seizes him by the throat, and demands immediate payment. the helpless debtor falls before him, and pleads with him as he himself had lately pleaded with the king. the creditor, however, is inexorable; and into prison the poor man must go till the debt is paid. the sad matter is reported to the king, who recalls the subject of his clemency, rebukes his cruelty, revokes his own act of forgiveness, and delivers the unmerciful over to the tormentors till the last farthing shall be paid. finally, in application of the parable, the divine teacher adds: "so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." god's mercy to man, and man's unmercifulness to his fellow, are the two principal things set forth in the parable. let us look at them both, and see how the former enhances the latter, and enforces the duty of fraternal forgiveness. to have any right appreciation of the master's mercy, we must know something of the amount of the servant's debt. ten thousand talents was an enormous sum. the delinquent was a viceroy, and the amount he owed was the revenue of a province. in those days large debts were not uncommon. julius cæsar owed, beyond his assets, $ , , ; mark antony, $ , , ; curio, $ , , ; milo, $ , , . an attic talent was about $ , ; which, multiplied by , , would make the debt $ , , . but if the jewish talent of silver is meant, it would amount to $ , , ; if the jewish talent of gold, to $ , , . now let each talent stand for a sin-- , sins! reduce the talents to dollars, and take every dollar for a sin-- , , sins! reduce the dollars to dimes, and let every dime represent a sin-- , , , sins! reduce the dimes to cents, and let every cent be considered a sin-- , , , sins! perhaps, however, our dear lord never intended by the number of talents to intimate the number of our sins, any more than by the seventy times seven he meant to say how often we should forgive an offending brother. in each case the idea is that of indefinite number, unlimited extent. but if the seventy times seven means mercy without measure, what can the ten thousand talents denote but guilt beyond all human calculation or imagination? think you any estimate of the number and enormity of our sins can be an exaggeration? "who can tell how oft he offendeth?" "my sins are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me." "my sins are increased over my head so that i am not able to look up." far better and holier than the best of us, my brethren, was the man who wrote these statements, and left them for an everlasting testimony against those who are pure in their own eyes. if david had such consciousness of sin, what must our consciousness be if we knew ourselves as well? they are the self-blinded, self-hardened, self-deceived, who fancy themselves innocent and glory in their virtue. even the great apostle called himself "the chief of sinners," and declared that in himself dwelt "no good thing." there is no danger, then, of extravagance in any estimate of our sins of which our arithmetic is capable. so let us proceed a little farther. take our lord's summary of the first table of the law: "thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." here is required the surrender of the whole man as a living sacrifice to his divine creator and sovereign proprietor. this is his unquestionable claim upon every moment of our existence throughout its immortal duration. a duty this which we cannot omit for a single second without robbing god; and every minute that we neglect it, comprising sixty seconds, we may be said to repeat the sacrilege sixty times; every hour, , times; every day, , times; every year, , , times; in twenty years, , , times; and in forty years, , , , times. but these are sins of omission only, and that in relation to a single phase of duty; add all the other instances, and we must multiply the sum by multiplied millions. then we must take our positive sins--our violations of the divine law by thought, word and deed--open sins and secret, public and private, personal and social--sins defying all enumeration, and difficult even of classification; and, adding all together, we must multiply the sum by all our faculties, facilities and gracious incentives for doing god's blessed will, and aggravate all by the innumerable mercies and inestimable blessings which he has diffused over our lives as his sunbeams over the earth. and its any thing short of infinite mercy adequate to the forgiveness of such a debt? for all this, however unwilling, we must give account to god; and how terrible the array, when conscience shall summon forth from the secret chambers of memory every sin of which we have been guilty, and every evil act and every neglect of duty shall stand out distinct and clear in the light of eternal judgment! how shall we meet the reckoning? in all the eternity to come, what satisfaction can we offer for our faults? can we alter the facts, undo the deeds, repair the wrongs, recall the time, or efface the record? nay, the account remains uncancelled, and the debt can never be paid. soul and body, with all the capabilities of both, the creature belongs to the creator; and by an original and perpetual obligation, perfect love and blameless obedience are his constant duty. beyond this he can never go. even though he commit no sin, neglect no duty, he can offer to the creator no service whatever that is not justly required of him as a creature. by his utmost efforts forever, he simply renders to god what is his indisputable due. how, then, can the transgressor hope to pay the new and additional debt which he has incurred by innumerable crimes? before he can do a single meritorious act, even his original obligation to god as his creature must be cancelled; but to cancel that is more than the creator himself can do, the obligation being inseparable from the relation. as to human merit, therefore, the case is hopeless. what, then, is to be done? sell the debtor, with his wife and children? such procedure on the part of the creditor was allowed by ancient law. but in what slave-mart of the universe shall god sell the sinner? who will want him but satan? and satan has him already, self-sold, and bound by indefeasible indenture. nay, by this part of the parable our lord presents justice as ministering to mercy. the menace of punishment opens the way for pardon, and the hopeless condition of the debtor enhances the clemency of the king. see the poor wretch, prostrate at the royal feet, imploring a little indulgence, and promising what is utterly beyond his power. so, on a bed of sickness, stung by conscience and confronted by doom, often has the most incorrigible transgressor vowed reparation for a vicious life, only to augment his guilt by disregarding the vow on the return of health and strength. but if the sinner cannot pay, god can forgive. if neither saints nor angels can wrest the culprit from the grasp of justice, yet heaven has found a ransom to save his soul from the pit. jesus interposes with "a price all price beyond;" the debt is overpaid in the blood of the cross; through the compassion of the king the debtor is released from his bonds; and the angels tune their harps to sing "the blessedness of the man whose unrighteousness is forgiven and whose sin is covered!" so far the parable illustrates god's mercy to man; what remains is a sad picture of man's too frequent unmercifulness to his brother, and the just punishment of his cruelty visited upon the delinquent. here are five points worthy of our attention; which, duly considered, may serve to impress upon our minds the duty of fraternal forgiveness. first, we have the two creditors, with their respective claims. the king represents god in his relation to man; the first servant represents man in his relation to mankind. god has his supreme claims, as creator and sovereign lord, upon the love, worship and obedience of the whole human race; while man has his subordinate claims, as an equal and a brother, upon the justice, the kindness, the sympathy and the charity of all other men--sometimes, as patron and official superior, upon the reverence, submission and loyal service of a particular part of them. then, we have the two debtors, with the different amounts of debt. both are servants, holding a like relation to the king. both are in arrears, the one to the king, the other to his fellow-servant. ought not a common bond and a common condition to produce in them mutual kindness and sympathy? but how great the disparity of their debts! ten thousand talents, and a hundred pence--the latter less than a millionth part of the former--if the gold talent is intended, less than a hundred millionth. surely if the king could forgive the greater, it were a small matter with his servant to forgive the less. in comparison of our sins against god, what are our brother's sins against us? "as the small dust of the balance, lighter than vanity itself." next, we have the two arrests, with the opposite methods of their making. calmly and kindly, in his accustomed way, worthy of his royal dignity, and just as he treated others, the king calls his servant to account. this proceeding was to be expected, and involves neither harshness nor severity. but when the man is found so culpably in arrears with nothing to pay--a case which could not happen without great dishonesty and wickedness--the king orders, as he has legal right to do, the sale of the culprit, with his family and effects, to satisfy some small part of the royal claim against him. now mark the very different conduct of the criminal. no sooner is he released than he goes out--not staying a moment to express his gratitude or admire the mercy shown him--finds the man who owes him fifteen dollars: and, with a violence unprovoked and inexcusable, lays hands on him, takes him by the throat, and exclaims, "pay me that thou owest!" could there be a more unlovely contrast to the conduct of the king? such is the difference between god's dealing with guilty men and man's dealing with his delinquent brother; the former all mildness and forbearance, the latter all harshness and severity. again, we have the two pleas, with their contrary receptions by the creditors. the two pleas are identical; the two receptions, quite opposite. the first servant falls down before the king, saying, "have patience with me, and i will pay thee all;" so falls down the second servant before the first, with the very same words upon his lips. not forgiveness, but merciful indulgence, is what each debtor craves of his creditor; and full payment is what each promises. the payment of a hundred _denarii_ seems quite practicable, and not at all improbable; but the payment of ten thousand talents is beyond all power except that of royalty itself. yet the wretched impossibility moves the royal heart to compassion; while the feasible and probable meets with stern and cruel refusal from the servile defaulter--all mercy on the one side, all implacability on the other. if, when overwhelmed with conscious guilt, you smote upon your breast and implored the divine mercy, your penitential tears moved the compassion of heaven, how can you now harden your heart against the like plea of an offending brother? even if he offer no plea, can you be utterly indifferent to his grief? is this the spirit of him who prayed for those who were nailing him to the cross? perhaps your brother's heart is almost breaking, while he is too proud to apologize. a kind word, a look of love, might melt him into tears at your feet. oh! give him that word, that look! it will restore to your arms a brother--to your heart a peace like that of heaven. finally, we have the two issues, with their consequences in impressive contrast. great as his debt is, the king's debtor is released and forgiven; but the servant's debtor, owing so small a sum, is cast into prison till he shall pay the debt. but how shall he pay it in prison? nay, it is not to secure payment that he is incarcerated, so much as to gratify the malignity of a wicked and revengeful heart. after so great a mercy shown to himself, the creditor cannot show the smallest mercy to his fellow-servant. and there the poor man must lie, in a private dungeon, amidst filth and darkness, his creditor his jailor, no comforts nor supplies but what are furnished him by friends without, no hope of deliverance till death comes to his release. such is the contrast between god's dealing with man, and man's dealing with his brother. he compassionately forgives; we cruelly proceed to punish. or if we pretend to forgive, how different is our forgiveness from his! god forgives gladly; we reluctantly. god forgives promptly; we after long delay. god forgives completely; we but partially and imperfectly. god forgives from the heart; we only with outward formalities. god forgives very tenderly; we with indifference or contempt. god forgives and forgets the crime; we cherish the bitter memory for many years. god forgives and takes the pardoned sinner to his heart; we thrust him away from our presence and our fellowship forever. god forgives so lovingly that he is said to delight in mercy and rejoice over the pardoned; we with such coldness, such hatred, such haughty disdain, that to meet the object of our clemency in heaven would spoil our joy! that the cruel severity of the servile creditor should touch the hearts of his fellow-servants with sorrow is no matter of wonder. stern and inexorable as were the laws of the age, no man without grief or anger could witness such inhumanity. in our day the case would have convoked an indignation meeting, if not a mob; with denunciatory resolutions, if not the prompt application of the code of judge lynch. the better method, however, is chosen; and the sad matter is prudently reported to the king. the king recalls the late object of his amazing clemency, in a dignified but very pointed speech remonstrates with him, and then delivers him to the tormentors till he shall pay the last farthing of the debt once forgiven. a righteous but terrible punishment! a state criminal, he goes to the public prison, the royal dungeons--perhaps, like the mammertine and tullian at rome, three stories under ground. the debtor's prison, however, was ordinarily in the house of the creditor--often in his cellar; where the prisoner was kept in chains, subject to the creditor's will, to be tortured or slain as he chose. slaves were there on purpose to torment him, and make his life as wretched as possible. they scourged him, beat him with rods, racked him with engines, pulled out his teeth, plucked out his nails, burned out his eyes, cut off his nose and ears, tore and mangled his flesh with hooks and pincers--to make him disclose his hidden treasures, to induce his friends to pay his debt for him, or simply to gratify a diabolical spirit of revenge. that all this has its counterpart in god's retribution upon the implacable, though almost too terrible for our faith, is the plain teaching of the parable. men and angels rise up in remonstrance with heaven against the unforgiving. and when the divine heart-searcher calls him to judgment, what answer can he make to the dread animadversions of the angry king? dare he now pray, as he often did on earth, "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors!" will he lift up his voice and sing, as he used to do in the church, "that mercy i to others show, that mercy show to me!" it was a mockery then; he will not repeat it now. speechless as the unrobed intruder at the marriage feast, he stands trembling before his judge. angels of justice, take him away! let us not see his anguish, nor hear his lamentation! showing no mercy, he has lost all claim upon mercy. conscience his eternal tormentor, any spot in the universe may be his dungeon of despair. ask him now the question he has often asked with a sneer--"is there a hell, and where is it?" he lays his hand upon his heart and answers--"there is, and it is here!" angels of justice, take him away! "so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." [ ] preached in st. john's, buffalo, n.y., . [ ] twenty-second sunday after trinity. xvii. christ with his ministers.[ ] lo! i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.--matt. xxviii. . the agony of redemption is accomplished. the lately crucified and buried is alive forevermore. forty days he has walked the earth in his resurrection body, instructing and comforting his disciples. the time is come for his return to the father. he must enter into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of god for us. if he go not away, the comforter will not come--the baptism of fire and power will not descend upon the church. but before his departure, he renews the commission of his apostles: "all power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth; go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost; teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever i have commanded you; and lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." ye publicans and fishermen, what an embassy! how vast the field! how grand the work! how glorious the promise! heaven never gave a sublimer commission; man never went forth under a mightier sanction, or on a nobler errand. to utter the words which were syllabled in thunder from out the flames of sinai, to publish the love that was written in blood upon the cleft rocks of calvary, to administer the sacramental mysteries of the new and everlasting covenant, to negotiate a perpetual amnesty with this revolted and ruined province of jehovah's empire, to convert perishing souls from sin to righteousness and build them up in the blessed faith that saves,--this is to do what for ages has occupied the purest spirits and loftiest intellects of our race, and enlisted the interest and the energies of seraphim and cherubim, and furnished constant employment for all the agencies of the infinite goodness and wisdom and power. how poor in the comparison are all earthly diplomacies and royal ministries! thrones, triumphs, the homage of the living world, and the praise of a thousand generations to come,--what were these to the office and dignity of heaven's ambassador! how should the christian minister tremble beneath the burden that weighs down the angel's wing, or rejoice to bear the tidings sung by celestial voices over the hills of bethlehem! and who were sufficient for these things, but for the master's promise appended to the command--"lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!" "lord, it is enough. with such assurance, we will go. with such assistance, we will preach. with such encouragement, we will baptize. with so mighty a patronage, we will summon the nations to thy feet. if thou be with us, we shall fear nothing, we can do all things. if thou aid and defend us, no enemy is invincible, no achievement is impracticable. in court or camp, in palace or prison, in temple or forum, in city or desert, to jews or gentiles, princes or peasants, scholars or rustics, sages or savages, we will gladly set forth thy claims and offer thy salvation." so might the apostles have answered their ascending lord; and so, in effect, they did answer him. they went forth everywhere, and preached the kingdom of the crucified. mighty in spirit, they conferred not with flesh and blood. strong in faith and hope, they consulted neither present appearances nor future probabilities. constrained by the love of christ, they hastened, with his message of grace, from city to city, from province to province, from nation to nation. nothing retards them; nothing intimidates them. the word of the lord is as fire shut up in their bones, and they are weary with forbearing. they must speak, or they will die; and though they die, they will speak. they cry aloud, and spare not. in the dungeons they lift up their voices, and in the tempests of the sea they are not silent. before awful councils and sceptred rulers they bear witness to the precious truth. under the crimson scourge and on the cruel rack they steadfastly maintain their testimony. death only can effectually interdict their prophesying: and even in the agonies of death, ere yet the organs of speech are paralyzed, they offer christ's salvation to their murderers, tenderly beseech those who are mocking their tortures, and bless with loving words the lips that are cursing them out of the world. and with what effect, let the early triumphs of the gospel testify; idols abolished; temples abandoned; cities converted; churches planted everywhere; whole provinces embracing the faith of jesus; monarchs upon their thrones trembling before manacled preachers; christianity spreading, even during the lifetime of the apostles, as far northward as scythia, southward as ethiopia, eastward as parthia and india, westward as gaul, spain, and the british isles; and a little later, assuming the imperial purple, and lifting the labarum, glorified with the cross, as the signal of salvation to the nations; and all this, because christ hath said, and so far hath fulfilled the saying,--"lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." but the promise is ours. it extends through all time. it can never be obsolete, while christ hath an ordained servant upon earth. who talks of change? who says the apostolic office, with its high prerogatives and awful responsibilities, was intended only for a season, and has long since passed away? who sneers and scoffs at the claim of the holy catholic church to this sublime descent on the part of her chief pastors, and the consequent connection of the whole body of her clergy, through a regular series of ordinations, with the blessed men first commissioned by our divine lord to go forth and disciple all nations? and hath the master abandoned those who are obeying the mandate and perpetuating the sacred succession? hath the word forever settled in heaven come utterly to naught, and the rock dissolved on which the church was founded, and the gates of hell prevailed against her? true, the direct inspiration is withdrawn, and the miraculous endowments are no more; but these are not essential to the apostolate, and were not intended to be permanent; being only the needful authentication of a new revelation from heaven, and therefore discontinued as soon as the christian faith was once well established among men. the work of the ministry, however, is the same, and its divine sanctions are the same, and its three orders are the perpetual ordinance of jesus christ. ay, and its conflicts are the same, and its succors and consolations in all its sorrows and sufferings are the same, and the faithful servant is still as much as ever the object of his master's loving care. whoever else may abandon him, the glorified man of sorrows saith, "i will never leave thee nor forsake thee." wherever he goes, christ attends him. wherever he labors, christ sustains him. wherever he preaches the gospel or administers the sacraments, he has the express authority and assured blessing of their heavenly author. as the lord stood by st. paul, and strengthened him, when all men forsook him; so will he stand by his ministers in every time of trial, and strengthen them for every duty and every danger. trusting in his might, they will never be left to their own weakness. depending upon his counsel, they will never be abandoned to their own poor expedients. weary and faint, his arm will support them. doubtful and perplexed, his wisdom will direct them. destitute and afflicted, his bounty will relieve them. persecuted and calumniated, his providence will vindicate them. faithful to their sacred functions, all their teachings will be clothed with a divine power, and every priestly act will be hallowed with a heavenly unction. o my brethren! beside all your baptismal fonts to-day, at all your altars, and in all your pulpits, stands he of the wounded hands, the mangled feet, the thorn-pierced brow, and the ever-open side, saying,--"lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!" and do we not need such assurance? what is the end and aim of the gospel ministry? to undo the work of the devil; to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of satan unto god; to reconcile them to the law of holiness, and bring their rebellious thoughts into captivity to the obedience of christ; to draw them against the stream of their carnal inclinations and worldly ambitions and interests; to make them love what they naturally hate, and hate what they naturally love; to graft the degenerate plant of a strange vine into a new and heavenly stock, that, nourished by its life, it may bring forth the wholesome fruits of righteousness; to assure the penitent of the divine pardon, and feed the faithful with the bread that cometh down from heaven; to perfect the saints in that precious knowledge, and edify the church in that holy faith, which are the sources of all spiritual excellence and the earnests of eternal life; in short, to subvert the seat of the great usurper, and build upon its wreck the imperishable throne of the prince of peace, and give back into the hand of him whose right it is the sceptre of a ruined world restored. are these achievements to be wrought without the master's presence? are these victories to be won without the captain of our salvation? what saith the holy apostle? "not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing, as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of god, who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament, even of the spirit that giveth life." christ with us is at once the guaranty and the glory of our success. if the word proves powerful to save the hearer, it is because christ is with the preacher. if the water conveys regenerating grace to the infant, it is because christ is with the baptizer. if the consecrated bread and wine impart spiritual comfort and nourishment to the faithful, it is because christ is with the celebrant. if the appointed absolution and benediction give peaceful assurance of pardon and heavenly succor to the penitent believer, it is because christ is with the officiating priest. if christ were not with him, all his learning, his logic and eloquence, were but a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. if christ were not with him, all his sublime sacerdotal functions, though instituted and ordained by christ himself, were as powerless upon the spirits of men as the moonbeams upon the frozen sea. if christ were not with him, the blind eye would not be opened, the dead conscience would not be quickened, the rebel against god would not be subdued, the lost wanderer from the fold would not be restored, the moral leper would still remain festering in his fatal impurity. oh! who could undertake the work of the ministry, with the least hope of winning souls, awakening sinners, edifying the body of christ, or accomplishing effectually any of the objects of his divine commission, without the infallible promise--"lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!" moreover, it is important, in the work of human salvation, that the excellency of the power should be of god, and not of us, that no flesh may glory in his presence. when joab had captured the city of rabbah, he sent for king david to come and claim the honor of the achievement. when garibaldi had conquered the two sicilies, he sent for victor emmanuel to come and take possession of the united kingdom. and christ must have the credit of his servants' success in the good fight of faith. the warfare is ours; the crown belongs to him who giveth us the victory. "not unto us, o lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the praise, for thy loving mercy and for thy truth's sake." but if we could accomplish aught without his aid, the honor would be ours, and not the master's; and there would be no justice nor reason in the command, "he that glorieth, let him glory in the lord." therefore the divine wisdom hath ordered that all our success shall depend upon the divine blessing; and to this end, christ is ever present with those whom he hath commissioned, helping them mightily with his holy spirit. all the power of the gospel to convert the soul, all the power of the sacraments to purify the heart, all the efficiency of christ's ambassadors in establishing and fortifying the church, is attributable to this unction of the holy one. was it not the angel in the waters of bethesda, that gave them their healing virtue? was it not jehovah in the waters of the jordan, that cured the leprosy of naaman the syrian? and what is it but the gracious presence of christ in the preached word and the administered ordinance, that renders them effectual to the salvation of those who believe? is it not as true to-day, as it was when he said it, nearly nineteen centuries ago, "without me ye can do nothing"? without christ, what were our knowledge but ignorance, our wisdom but folly, our eloquence but noise? what our profession but an imposture, our ritual but a solemn farce, and all our zeal but painted fire? it is god that "always causeth us to triumph in christ, and maketh manifest by us the savor of his knowledge in every place." he who girds us with the sword must nerve the arm that wields it. now and forever, "we see the lamb in his own light," and shine only by the reflection of his glory. the ministry, in its three orders, with all their spiritual endowments, is the gift of christ to the church; and through these his chosen representatives, though he is ascended on high, he still hath his tabernacle with men, and dwelleth manifestly among them; and millions of saints, throughout the earth and throughout the ages, united in one body, inspired by one spirit, saved through one calling, sealed with one baptism, professing one faith, cherishing one hope, obeying one lord, and adoring one god and father of all, are built up in him, a spiritual house, a temple of living stones, whose foundations are deeper than the earth, and whose towers are lost in the empyrean. this great truth, so humiliating to the pride of man, and so glorifying to the grace of god--this great truth, that all depends upon christ, let us keep constantly in view; listening for the master's feet behind his messengers, and looking for the master's blessing in all their ministrations; ever inviting his presence, and never forgetting his promise--"lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." and to you, my dear brother, who are now to be set apart to the functions of the christian priesthood, the redeemer's assurance hath a special significance. here we are, seeking the lost sheep in the wilderness, rescuing the shipwrecked from the devouring waves, plucking with fear the perishing out of the fire. to this blessed end we have devoted all our studies and directed all our labors. this is the glorious aim to which we have consecrated the flower of youth and the ripe fruit of manhood. how consoling and encouraging the master's promise of his constant presence! here is the answer to every anxious question. here is the solution of every painful doubt. christ is with us; therefore our priesthood involves the gift of a heavenly power. christ is with us; therefore our gospel is vital truth, instinct with a quickening spirit. christ is with us; therefore our sacraments are not mere naked signs, but divine mysteries, infolding the grace of life. christ is with us; therefore the holy catholic church is not a ghastly corpse, but a living body, composed of living members, united to a living head. christ is with us; therefore let us not weary in our blessed work, nor faint under the burden and heat of the day; but look cheerfully forward to the result, and lighten the toil of tillage with the hope of harvest. trials are inevitable. the work of the ministry is no holiday amusement. he that follows christ must know the fellowship of his suffering. he that preaches the glad tidings must be partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. he that cultivates immanuel's land must expect often to plough the rock and gather his sheaves from the naked granite. you have embarked in a voyage which is to be contested with pirates as well as tornadoes; and if you would save the treasure, you must be ready to scuttle the ship, though you go down with it. you have set out in a campaign which requires that you should burn the bridges behind you, and brave the iron storm of battle, and march through the bristling forest of bayonets, and wrestle unto the death with the powers and principalities of other worlds. but gird up your loins like a man, in the strength of the lord of hosts. stand firmly for the truth as it is in jesus. contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. hold no parley with expediency. be independent as a prophet, and intrepid as an angel, though gentle as jesus christ. let all men see that you fear nothing but god, hate nothing but sin, and seek nothing but souls. call things honestly by their right names, and never show yourself ashamed of the church and her teaching. let every sermon be an echo of the ancient catholic symbols, a melodious voice in the mighty anthem that comes ringing down the ages. be faithful to your flock in parochial visitation, with godly counsel and timely prayer. let the sound of your footsteps on the stairs be music to the widow and orphans in the garret, the light of your countenance sunshine in the dismal basement, and your presence a benediction at the bed of death. take heed to yourself, and suffer not your spirit to be chafed and soured by adverse criticism or unfriendly speech. allow nothing to hinder the regularity of your private devotions, or rob you of your daily communion with christ. come always from your closet to the chancel and the pulpit, filled with your master's charity, and fired with your master's zeal. then shall you come to your people "in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of peace," verifying by every message and every ministration the master's precious words--"lo! i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." o my brethren! what a glorious investiture is the gospel ministry! whereunto shall i liken it, or with what comparison shall it be compared? is there a glory in science? ours is the knowledge of the unknown god. is there a glory in letters? ours is the living lore of the immortals. is there a glory in poetry? ours is the burden of the angelic antiphons. is there a glory in eloquence? ours is the sweet persuasiveness of a heavenly inspiration. is there a glory in heroism? we bear the banners of the lord in the good fight of faith. is there a glory in royalty? we share the sceptre and the diadem with the prince of the kings of the earth. is there a glory in philanthropy? we preach the incarnate love of heaven, born in a cave, cradled in a manger, baptized with blood in olivet, and enthroned over a ransomed universe upon the cross. is there a glory in the æsthetic arts? but where are the forms and colors to rival those with which we are adorning the new jerusalem? and what are the finest bronzes and marbles to the living statuary with which we are peopling her palaces? and who shall ever speak of purple robes and jewelled crowns, that has once beheld the immortal beauty of the humblest saint in heaven? "the glory of the terrestrial is one, and the glory of the celestial is another;" and the platos and homers, the tullys and virgils, the shakspeares and goethes, the bacons and humboldts, the raphaels and angelos, the cæsars and napoleons, the washingtons and wellingtons, with whose fame the earth is ringing, drawn into comparison with the men of the pulpit and the altar, have no glory by reason of the glory which excelleth; and i would rather be a priest of christ, with the apostolic seal and signature to my commission, than wear all the laurels ever won by genius, and enjoy all the triumphs that ever rewarded valor, and sit secure in peerless enthronement over a vassal world! faithful unto death, nobler functions await us, and loftier ministrations in a temple not made with hands. who shall tell the privileges of a celestial priesthood? who shall sing the raptures of an eternal eucharist? already we enjoy the earnest. we have learned something of the ritual, and are practising the prelude of the anthem. we stand at the gate, and catch bright glimpses of the inner glory, and hear the ravishing minstrelsy of the host, and inhale the perfume from the golden altar. soon the portal shall open, and we shall be summoned to enter; and the white-vested elders shall advance to meet us, with greetings of gladdest welcome; and visions of beauty, such as mortal eyes were never blessed withal, shall smite the sense with sweet bewilderment; and voices of wondrous melody, with the accompaniment of many harps, shall be heard chanting through the corridors--"come in, ye blessed of the lord! come in!" and of all our blissful fellowships in the everlasting home of the faithful, our happy intercourse with the best and purest that ever lived and died, and our long-desired re-union, realized at length, with those we have loved and lost, this shall be the crown--to be with him in his glory world without end, who made good his promise to be with us in our ministry "unto the end of the world!" [ ] preached at the ordination to the priesthood of the rev. robert a. holland, in st. george's church, st. louis, . xviii. kept from evil.[ ] i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.--john xvii. . so pleaded the departing shepherd for the little flock he was leaving. though the petition primarily respected the apostles and first believers, there is no impropriety in extending its application to their successors down to the end of time. we, too, are in the world and exposed to evil; we, too, are incapable of self-protection, and dependent upon the merciful guardianship of heaven; and christ invokes the father's love for our preservation as for theirs: "i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." how often does it happen that the christian pilgrim, weary of the way and worn out with sorrow, or longing for a higher sphere and a holier companionship, exclaims with job, "i loathe it, i would not live alway;" or cries out with david, "o that i had wings like a dove! for then would i fly away and be at rest;" or responds in the depths of his heart to the sentiment of st. paul, "we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." and who shall blame this longing for rest, this sighing for home, this desire of a better country? who would not quit the scene of toil and strife and danger for the regions of eternal blessedness and peace? who that has any perception of spiritual good, any appreciation of moral excellence, any sympathy with the pure and the true, does not prefer heaven to earth? the desire, however, should be tempered with submission, and the christian should await with patience his heavenly father's will. god has much for his saints to do here below. they are lights in the darkness, living springs in the desert, bethesda fountains for the perishing. they are the noahs, the josephs, the daniels of the world: yea the abrahams, in whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed. they are witnesses of christ, proofs of his redeeming love, specimens of his renewing power, and pledges of his final victory. they must remain a while to win sinners from the error of their way and save souls from death. they must remain a while to adorn and strengthen the church, to comfort their fellow-christians, and relieve surrounding misery. they must remain a while to glorify the author and finisher of their faith, to weaken the kingdom of satan, thwart his malicious design, mortify his pride, and hasten his fall. they must remain a while to exercise and improve their own virtues and graces by works of piety and charity, that so they may perfect their moral likeness to their lord, and secure for themselves a loftier station and a brighter portion among the saints in light. the world itself, indeed, exists for their sake, and through their influence with god on its behalf: and if all the saints had been taken away with their ascending saviour, "we should have been as sodom, and like unto gomorrah." all which if we duly consider, we cannot fail to perceive the wisdom and goodness of the master's request for his disciples, "i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." now, what is "the evil" from which christ would have his people kept?--sorrow? no: "blessed are they that mourn." poverty? no: "blessed are ye poor." persecution? no: "blessed are the persecuted." temptation? no: "blessed is the man that endureth temptation." all these and all other "afflictions of the righteous" are turned into benefits and beatitudes by the wondrous alchemy of redeeming love. over-ruled by divine providence and sanctified by divine grace, they are the occasions and instruments of a salutary discipline, working together for good to those who love god, calling into exercise the holiest feelings and highest faculties of the regenerate soul, and perfecting the believer for his "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." none of these, therefore, is the evil from which christ would have his disciples kept. what is it then? for he manifestly has some specific evil in view. it is sin, the great moral evil; or satan, the dread personal evil; or both, for sin and satan are inseparable. these only can rob you of your peace, comfort, confidence, purity, spiritual strength, communion with god, and joyful hope of immortality; and from these effectually preserved, no earthly affliction or misfortune, no malice or might of wicked men, can work you any possible harm, or dim by a single ray one star of your celestial diadem. from these, therefore,--from the power of sin and the delusions of satan--christ would have his followers kept; and from these to guard them, he prayed so fervently to his father in heaven. two of the chief forms of the evil he deprecates in their behalf are heresy and schism, with the uncharitableness which they always engender, and in which they often originate. he prays that they may be one in him, as he is one with the father--united by one faith, cemented by one love, incorporated in one body--that thus all mankind may be effectually convinced of the truth and excellence of his gospel. and oh! how important must that be, for which the redeemer prays! there is nothing else important in the comparison. it is not important that we should be rich: the poor are to possess the kingdom. it is not important that we should be mighty: god hath chosen the feeble for his agents. it is not important that we should be distinguished: he hath promised to crown the lowly with everlasting honors. it is not important that we should be comfortable: "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." but oh! it is important, beyond the power of tongue to tell or heart to conceive, that we should be preserved pure and holy amidst surrounding depravity and pollution, that we should ever maintain "the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." let us, then, join our petition to that of the great redeemer, and watch against the deceitfulness of sin, and guard against the wiles and works of satan, and co-operate with the grace of god to effect our own salvation, and never forget that preservation from evil is better than translation to paradise! he who hath redeemed us would not have us again captured. he who hath purified us would not have us again polluted. he who hath restored our title to the kingdom would not have us again disinherited. he who hath wrought in us an incipient preparation for his glory would not have us again disqualified for our destiny. he who hath given his life for our ransom, his flesh and blood for our nourishment, and all his eternal fulness for the endowment of our immortality, can never be indifferent to the spiritual wants and welfare of those who have been baptized into his death; and the request which he breathed so sweetly for his disciples while he was yet with them on earth, he has been repeating for all his people ever since he returned to heaven, "i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." trusting in him who thus pleads for his disciples, and seconding his gracious intercession with our own supplications, what have we to fear? shall jesus pray in vain for his redeemed? shall he fail those who have committed their all to his advocacy? will not the father hear the petitions offered in the name of the son with whom he is ever well pleased? coming boldly through his merit and mediation to the throne of grace, shall we not certainly obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need? will god leave to the lion and the wolf the sheep for whom the divine shepherd cares so lovingly and pleads so earnestly? "fear not, little flock! it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." and "if god be for us, who can be against us?" what evil agency or influence shall harm those who "dwell in the secret place of the most high and abide under the shadow of the almighty?" are not the redeemed of his dear son his jewels, his _segulla_, his peculiar treasure? will he not hide them in the hollow of his hand, and guard them as the apple of his eye? "who shall lay any thing to the charge of god's elect? it is god that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? it is christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of god, who also maketh intercession for us. who shall separate us from the love of christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. for i am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus, our lord." such is st. paul's confidence, and such should be ours. but such confidence requires our hearty co-operation with him who is always praying for our preservation from evil. we must steadfastly resist all temptations to sin. we must stand firmly and fight bravely against the world, the flesh, and the devil. we must avail ourselves constantly of all the helps which the church offers us in her services and her sacraments. god's grace is for those who ask it earnestly and use it faithfully. it is not in the power of omnipotence to save from sin and satan those who endeavor not to save themselves. you must be workers together with god, my dear brethren; and then all his attributes and resources are pledged to your success, and neither earth nor hell can do you any harm. suffer, then, the word of exhortation, and forget not that the kingdom is taken by force and held by continual struggle. especially important are these counsels and cautions to you who have just ratified your covenant with god in confirmation. your rector assures me he never knew a more pleasant task than that which he enjoyed in preparing you for the hands of the bishop. as you sat before him in the lecture-room, he felt it a sweet privilege to talk to you so freely of christian duty and responsibility. and when a new name was added to the list of candidates, he said in his heart--"here is another gem for my master's crown, another guest for his table, another chorister for his choir!" and he passed the new-comer over into the hands which were spiked for him to the cross, and his faith heard the angels rejoicing over one more sinner that repented. and many a time, no doubt, returning from the lecture to the privacy of his chamber, he knelt and commended you all, with tears of love and joy, to him who gathereth the lambs with his arms and carrieth them in his bosom. and often, during that sweet lenten season, i know, he wrestled for you with the angel of the covenant through the livelong night, and ceased not till the blessing came upon the wings of the morning. shall all his labor be lost upon you? shall the fruit be blasted in the bud? shall satan and his servants triumph over the grace of god? shall souls over which seraphs have sung hallelujahs excite the mirth and mockery of fiends by their fall? "watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." observe daily your closet devotions. never deny your saviour by forsaking the holy eucharist. cleave to your church whatever may be her fortunes. let no uncharitableness in the family drive you from your mother's bosom. let no wound that bleeds in your own breast imbitter you against any of her children. oh! how painful it is, to see people who are angry at others wreaking their revenge upon themselves! out of malice to their brethren murdering their own immortal souls! spurning the bread of life and the wine of the kingdom because they have a quarrel with the hand that offers them! refusing to take another step toward heaven, and plunging incontinently back toward the gulf of hell, because they have conceived a dislike to some person who was travelling in their company! "if angels weep, it is at such a sight!" oh! do ye not so, beloved! hold fast whereunto ye have attained. let no man take your crown. most heartily "i commend you to god, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to save your souls, and to give you inheritance with them that are sanctified through faith in christ jesus." and in all my petitions for you at "the throne of the heavenly grace," i repeat the loving words of "the chief shepherd" for his little flock--"i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." [ ] preached, immediately after a confirmation, at a parochial mission, illinois, . xix. contending for the faith.[ ] beloved, when i gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.--jude . and if such exhortation were needful then, when prophecy and miracles and the gift of tongues were still in the church, authenticating the mission of the apostles, confirming the doctrines which they taught, and commending the common salvation to all who heard them; much more now, when all these signs and wonders have long since disappeared, and those holy men of god have been for eighteen centuries enjoying their repose in paradise--now, when the predicted perilous times of the last days are come, and heresies and schisms everywhere abound, and human reason is exalted above divine revelation, and religion is denuded of all that is supernatural, and omnipotence is subjected to the laws of science, and answers to prayer are pronounced impossible, and christ is robbed of his essential glory, and man is become his own redeemer, and every article of the ancient creeds is called in question, and the authority of the church in matters of faith is scoffed at as an exploded absurdity, and the old dogmatic formulas of christian theology are consigned to oblivion and the bats, and every one's private judgment is worth more to him than the decisions of all the [oe]cumenical councils, and there are not wanting those in every community who deem it wiser to make a religion for themselves than to accept that which has been given to them from heaven. surely, now, if ever, might some faithful and uncompromising servant of jesus christ, inditing an epistle to his christian brethren, assert the necessity of exhorting them to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. what, then, is this faith? and why and how must we contend for it? these questions allow me to answer. as you all probably know, the word faith is used in different senses. suffice it at present to say, there is a subjective faith, and there is an objective faith. the former is the act and habit of believing, which characterizes the christian life; the latter is the divine truth believed, comprehending the whole body of christian doctrine. when it is said we are justified by faith, we are saved by faith, we walk by faith, we live by faith, it is manifestly the habitual act of christian believing that is intended--of relying upon christ and trusting in him, as our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; when st. paul speaks of holding the mystery of the faith, exhorts the corinthians to stand fast in the faith, encourages timothy to fight the good fight of faith, testifies of himself that he has kept the faith, it is evidently the system of christian truth that he refers to--the doctrine that christ came to reveal, sent his servants to proclaim, and established his church on earth to maintain. this objective faith, being at once for all time and for all people authoritatively delivered to the saints--in the primitive creeds by apostolic tradition, in the christian scriptures by inspiration of god--admits of no alteration or addition, and needs none to adapt it to the ever-changing circumstances of men. what it was eighteen hundred years ago it is to-day; and what it is to-day it will be eighteen hundred years to come. mutation is the law of all things earthly; but heavenly truth is immutable and eternal. science is progressive, developing gradually by the slow process of induction; but the faith was delivered all at once, during the lifetime of our lord on earth and the ministry of his inspired apostles, and can never be made more perfect than it was in the beginning. there are no new revelations in religion, no new discoveries of christian truth. we must take the gospel as it comes to us, without attempting to improve or presuming to mutilate the system. the church, in her militant probation, may pass through many successive phases; but the faith, like its divine author, is "the same yesterday and to-day and forever." and for this christians are called to contend--not for progress, not for science, not for freedom, not for glory, not for life itself; but for what is more precious than any or all of these--"the faith once delivered to the saints." "earnestly contend?" whence this necessity? what more at variance with the prevalent ideas of the day? who dreams now of warfare in the cause of christian truth? is not christianity pre-eminently the religion of peace and love? must we reject and oppose, as unsound or heretical, every thing that does not happen to fall within the limits of our own particular belief? may not every man hold his own opinion without assailing that of another man? is not the gospel platform broad enough to afford room for all? earnestly contend? "this is a hard saying; who can hear it?" i answer: there is one faith delivered, not many faiths; there is one system of divine truth revealed, not many systems. that one faith, that one system, whatever it is, we are required to adopt and maintain, to keep as we would keep a treasure, to guard as we would guard the crown-jewels of our king, to fight for as we would fight for what is dearer to us than life, and devote ourselves with the zeal of martyrs to its propagation among those who are ignorant of the blessing. the apostles knew nothing of compromise in matters of faith, and they bequeathed an unfinished warfare to their followers; who maintained the cause heroically, among sages and savages, in temples and dungeons, before thrones and tribunals, on the rack and amid the flames. all this, we know, is the very opposite of the popular sentiment of the age. few among us seem to have any conception of a christian's duty to defend the truth as it is in jesus "to the last of their blood and their breath," battling and dying for a creed. the spear and the shield of the warrior are laid aside, and the trumpet no longer sounds for the battle, because peace is deemed more precious than purity, and controversy is more deprecated than false doctrine, and a man's belief is regarded as having nothing to do with his conduct and his character. but the apostles knew that the church held a trust which involved inevitable warfare, and would turn the world into a battle-ground. this trust they transmitted, through their successors, from generation to generation, to us; and we are signed with the sign of the cross in baptism, as a token of our consecration to "the good fight of faith." the struggle may be strenuous as that of the wrestler in the arena, or fierce as that of the hero in the marshalled host; but this is every man's duty, to maintain the faith against all assailants, and strive to win for it a home in every human heart. do men light a candle to put it under a bushel or a bed? does the sun refuse to shine lest he should offend the bat or blind the owl? and shall the christian conceal his faith or suppress his convictions to please those who hate the light because their deeds are evil? nay, let him proclaim it boldly and defend it bravely, like a knight-banneret in the army of the lord of hosts; and, whatever the cost, let him urge its claims with becoming zeal upon all whom his voice can reach. to neglect this is not charity, but apathy; not humility, but lukewarmness; not liberality of opinion, but infidelity to christ. "the lord hath spoken; who can but prophesy?" christ hath commanded us to proselyte all nations; shall we be recreant to our responsibility? what value do we set upon the faith which we are not willing to defend--which we attempt not to teach to the world? where is his love for man, or his loyalty to christ, who says nothing, does nothing, gives nothing, for the diffusion of this heavenly light? his creed may be right, but his life is wrong. he may have a christian head, but he has no christian heart. he entertains the faith as a guest, but he does not fight for it as a prize. here, then, is the lesson of the text: our duty, the duty of all christians, to contend earnestly for the dogmatic faith of the church. amid the deluge of ignorance and error and sin, this is the only ark of safety. amid the mighty conflict of human speculations and philosophies, this is the only evangel of hope. from the beginning the faith has ever had its enemies and assailants. wherever angels lodge, the sodomites will batter at the door. all along through the ages, the saints have had to fight for the one faith, and they must fight for it to the end. oh! not of peaceful homes, and tranquil communities, and brethren dwelling together in unity, do the words of the apostle breathe; but of divided tongues, and imbittered spirits, and the tenderest relations of life bristling around us like the iron front of battle; and as one who rides along the line of his marshalled host, he shouts to us across the centuries, and bids us earnestly contend for the faith. all those sublime verities for which "the noble army of martyrs" bled, are committed to the vigilance and championship not only of the clergy, but of each baptized believer. some are to vindicate them by argument; all by practical exhibitions of their regenerating power. who does not kindle at the thought of being associated in such a struggle with st. paul and st. john, with ignatius and polycarp, with athanasius and augustine--men whose names yet thrill the hearts of millions? now let us have done with concessions. away with truce and armistice. the faith is worth the conflict. none can afford to be neutral. we must all fight or perish. look practically, then, at the solemn necessity before you. "multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision; for the day of the lord is near in the valley of decision." arise, my brethren, armed with the whole armor of god, and go forth to battle! remember that the saints of all ages are with you; that the victor lamb is the captain of your host; that the weapons of your warfare are mighty through god; that your guerdon is an unfading crown of glory, and your destined home a house eternal in the heavens! go and contend for the faith, as those contended who now sleep in jesus! go and battle valiantly under his banner, who hath promised you a seat in his throne! [ ] preached at a convocation, illinois, . xx. the fruitless fig-tree.[ ] how soon is the fig-tree withered away!--matt. xxi. . next friday we follow our saviour to the cross. the last few days before his death are crowded with some of the most significant acts of his ministry. one of these we are now called to contemplate--the withering of the fruitless fig-tree by his word. to-day being the anniversary of that event, it is appropriately chosen as the theme of our discourse. like all the other miracles of our lord, this is a parable in action. the fruitless tree represents the jewish people, and its fate foreshadows their terrible doom. in this interpretation we are warranted by a parable of the divine teacher uttered a few days earlier--that of the barren fig-tree in the vineyard, for which the vine-dresser intercedes with the proprietor and obtains a further probation. the apostles, who had heard the parable and now saw the miracle, could scarcely fail to connect the one with the other, and to refer both to the infidelity and fearful punishment of the chosen people, as they exclaimed--"how soon is the fig-tree withered away!" fifteen hundred years before, god had brought a goodly shoot out of egypt, and planted it in a very fruitful hill, and hedged it about with wondrous providences, and watered it with constant dews and seasonable rains, and enriched the soil around it with a thousand gracious appliances, and waited on it patiently with a careful and diligent husbandry. and it sent down its roots deep into the earth, and threw up its leafy branches high toward heaven, and gave good promise of abundant fruit. then he sent his prophets to prune it, and stir the soil around it, and watch over it night and day. and the wild beast that gnawed its bark was pierced by the arrow of the almighty, and the hand that raised an axe against it fell smitten by the lightning of heaven. but, instead of producing figs, it wasted its luxuriant life in leaves. then came the proprietor in person, hungering for the fruit of his labor; and, finding none, he tarried and toiled with it three years, and watered with frequent tears its deceitful foliage. but all was in vain, and he was forced at last to pronounce its doom, and leave it blasted and decaying upon its fruitful hill. let us drop the figure. never before the incarnation was there another people so highly favored as the hebrews. god chose them for his own, and established his covenant with them, and talked with them from heaven, and dwelt in their midst upon the mercy-seat, and led them forty years with a pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness, and smote every enemy that rose up against them, and exterminated mighty nations to make room for them in canaan, and brought them into the goodly land which he had promised to their fathers--a land flowing with milk and honey, which he gave them for a perpetual inheritance. but how often they forgot his covenant, and forsook his ordinances, and turned aside after other gods, and provoked him to anger with their inventions! then he hewed them by the prophets and chastised them by the heathen, but they would not return from their evil ways. he permitted their cities to be sacked, their young men to be slain in battle, their virgins to be carried away captive, and their kings to serve in chains at the tables of the uncircumcised. when they returned to him with weeping and supplication, he returned to them with loving-kindness and tender mercies. "is ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since i spake against him, i do earnestly remember him still. therefore my heart is troubled for him. i will surely have mercy upon him, saith the lord." but after all, when christ came, he found only fruitless foliage upon his long-cherished fig-tree. mint, anise, and cummin were scrupulously tithed; but the weightier matters of the law--judgment, mercy and faith--were altogether neglected and forgotten. the phylacteries were large, the prayers were loud and long, the chief seats in the synagogue were always occupied, and no poor man in vain stretched forth his hand for alms; but the religion of the jew ran all to superstitious observances and ostentatious formalities, divine precepts were sacrificed to human traditions, a nation of hypocrites could not produce the fruits of righteousness; and, given up at last to the grossest self-delusion, they rejected their king and crucified the lord of glory. how graciously he had labored! how anxiously he had watched and waited! and yet there was no grateful return for all his arduous toil and loving care. but is he willing to cut down the worthless tree, or blast it with his curse? see! he is crossing the ridge of olivet on his way to jerusalem, riding in triumph amidst the acclamations of the multitude who have witnessed his miracles and confessed his messiahship, his path carpeted with their garments and covered with branches of the palm. reaching the brow of the hill, he looks down upon the beautiful city, lying like a jewelled crown before him. he thinks of all his labor for her children, and all their base ingratitude and suicidal unbelief. he knows that those who are now shouting him on his way with hosannahs will soon be clamoring for his crucifixion and mocking around his cross. full well he knows that the chosen race will shortly have filled up the measure of their guilt, and wrath will come upon them to the uttermost. and as the vision of their ruin rises upon the eye of his spirit, with the long ages of unparalleled tribulation and despair which must succeed the catastrophe of the beloved city, he weeps as only infinite compassion can weep, and laments as only an incarnate god can lament:--"oh that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes; for the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and shall keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." in about sixty years all is fulfilled--the temple burned, the streets heaped with the dead, the plough driven over the ruins, and the hopeless remnant of a reprobate race scattered in isolated exile over the face of the earth. the curse has fallen, and "how soon is the fig-tree withered away!" and we, my brethren--shall we not take warning from the fate of the unfaithful people? "dried up from the roots," the old jewish tree has been torn from the soil and cast into the fire; and we--alien shoots from without the enclosure--have been transplanted into the vineyard of the lord. disinherited and undone, the murderers of god's messiah are strangers and fugitives to-day over the face of the planet; but we have succeeded to their inheritance, glorified with new revelations of grace and truth. baptized into a better covenant, with a better mediator than moses, we rejoice in the mercies and immunities of a better theocracy than israel ever knew. in the midst of our camp jehovah has pitched his tabernacle; and by the more glorious ministration of the spirit, through the word and sacraments of an everlasting testament, he is seeking to make us fruitful in righteousness and true holiness. brought nigh to god by adoption and regeneration, we become heirs of his kingdom and joint-heirs with his first-born--partakers of his life and expectants of his immortality. and now we have enjoyed another season of merciful visitation, and the daily services of lent have been like vernal sun and shower to the fig-tree. have we borne fruit, or only leaves? has our penitential humiliation been real and effectual, or only feigned and perfunctory? have these thirty-six days in the holy mount deepened our communion with god and intensified our love of holiness? are we purer and wiser than we were on ash-wednesday--stronger to resist evil and do good--more like christ in meekness and charity and self-denial? be assured, my dear brethren, that your privileges bring with them a fearful responsibility. if you have received the grace of god in vain, your lent has been a curse, and not a blessing; and the mercies by which you have failed to profit have enhanced unspeakably your condemnation. "he that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes;" and "he that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." ah! how many of us have no heart for the service of god--no pleasure in that which enraptures the seraphim! conscience impels them one way, but inclination draws them more powerfully the other; and duty is constantly sacrificed to carnal gratifications, worldly interests, and vain ambitions. they fear god, but love him not; and though they cannot sin without a tremor, the tremor is not strong enough to repress the sin. generally at church, they do all they can to support the public worship and encourage the heart of the clergy; but here ends their all of duty, their all of practical religion, their all of gratitude for the unspeakable love of christ--mere foliage without any satisfying fruit. and what can the end be but a blasting malediction from the master? long, indeed, may he continue his merciful efforts to make such christians fruitful; but when his grace is habitually rejected or perverted--when his holy spirit is forced to strive in vain with an obdurate heart and a will obstinately set on evil--he will withhold his favors, or grant them less frequently and in inferior measure. meanwhile sins multiply, bad habits grow stronger, the roots of vice strike deeper, and its branches grow broader and higher; till at length comes the hot wind from the desert, beneath which every green thing becomes crisp and sear. christ rejected, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, and he who has lived in impenitence dies in despair. oh! when conscience presents the long catalogue of uncancelled crimes, and only a few moments of wasted life remain, what can the dying sinner do? when his broken vows, abused mercies, and neglected opportunities, through all the corridors of memory come trooping up like the vengeful ghosts of the murdered, whither will he fly for refuge? or the advent of the last enemy may be a sudden surprise, unexpected as the crash of a ship under full sail upon some sunken rock; launching the poor soul, all unprovided, with a shudder and a shriek into an unsounded sea. or if a little space be given the delinquent, yet through the violence of his disorder the mind may be quite incapable of a rational repentance, drifting like the wrecked mariner upon a spar at the mercy of wind and wave. but in whatever form and with whatever circumstances death may come, he comes ever to the impenitent as an avenger--avenger of god's neglected mercy--avenger of christ's insulted love; and a fearful thing it is--fearful beyond all power of language to express--to die without hope in christ and unreconciled to god. oh! to be forced out at midnight, amidst howling tempests and roaring billows--no compass to guide nor star to cheer--on the eternal voyage! beware, then, beloved, lest that come upon you which our blessed lord foretold of those who rejected his mission: "ye shall die in your sins, and where i am ye cannot come." with only two exceptions, christ's recorded miracles are all works of mercy, wrought for the relief of suffering and the consolation of sorrow; and even these exceptions, which may be called miracles of judgment--performed, the one upon irrational animals, and the other on an insensible tree--show the aversion of his tender heart to severity and vengeance. he is long-suffering, unwilling that any should perish, desiring that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. he smites only where he cannot cure. as long as there is any hope of reformation, he spares the unthankful and the evil; and never, till all possibility of salvation is past, does he visit the incorrigible with punishment. justice must have its claim as well as mercy; and, mercy rejected, justice must avenge. the terribleness of the retribution makes nothing against its righteousness; and though it send a tremor through all the worlds of god, the obstinate transgressor shall not go unpunished. very terrible indeed it is, and imagination staggers beneath the apprehension of the wrath of the lamb; but terrible also was the deluge, and the fate of sodom, and the slaughter of the egyptian first-born, and the overthrow of pharaoh and his host, and the end of korah and his mutinous company, and the destruction of seventy thousand israelites at a stroke, and the death of a hundred and eighty-five thousand assyrians in a single night, and the sudden catastrophe of nineveh and babylon with all their pomp and their power, and the wrath which fell in its manifold final infliction upon the chosen people when the day of their merciful visitation was over and ended; but the terribleness of the vengeance did not stay the avenging hand of justice, when mercy, with broken heart, retired and left the guilty to their fate. and the dawn of the last day will be terrible, and the coming of the son of man will be terrible, and the destruction of the antichrist will be terrible, and the conflagration of the universe will be terrible, and terrible beyond all precedent the punishment of reprobate impenitence when the lord jesus with his holy angels shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire! the tree may long lift its green boughs to the sun and toss its gay blossoms to the breeze; but when the master comes for fruit and finds nothing but a deceitful promise, smitten with his curse it shall quickly wither away. let us make haste to avert the vengeance. in this our gracious day--this clement mediatorial hour--let us invoke the holy spirit to aid us in bringing forth fruit meet for repentance. think not that the work will be easier in coming years, when passion is weakened, and temptation is lessened, and coercive grace comes to conquer the rebel will and reclaim the alien heart. alas! by every hour's delay you are riveting the fetters of evil habit, and multiplying and consolidating the barriers to your salvation; and the special grace for which you wait will never come till god shall revise his evangel and christ change the whole economy of his kingdom. now is your time for conversion, and a better moment will never occur between this and eternity. hark! it is the voice of the master: "cut it down! why cumbereth it the ground?" hark! it is the voice of the vine-dresser: "lord! let it alone till another lent! i will renew my efforts; i will redouble my endeavors; i will try some new expedients; peradventure next year will reward thy forbearance with the long-expected fruit!" oh! prayer of crucified compassion! shall it not be answered? oh! prophecy of ill-requited mercy! shall it not be fulfilled? beloved, it is for you to say. god hath spoken, and uttered all his heart. henceforth all depends upon yourselves. answer your saviour's prayer, fulfil your saviour's prophecy, and so avert the judgment of unfruitfulness; or else prepare for the unutterable alternative--your saviour's blighting curse! [ ] preached at a parochial mission in memphis, tenn., . xxi. christian contentment.[ ] i have learned, in whatsoever state i am, therewith to be content.--phil. iv. . an instance of the moral sublime, which none can fail to admire, and all should endeavor to emulate. what an ornament of the gospel is such a spirit! what a commendation of christianity is such a testimony! no human philosophy, no stoical indifference, no diligence of self-discipline, ever elevated the soul of man to so serene and pure an atmosphere--nothing but that religion which the son of god brought with him from heaven to earth, the tendency and design of which is to raise its human subjects from earth to heaven. "i have learned, in whatsoever state i am, therewith to be content." contentment is satisfaction with one's lot or condition. the word conveys the idea of fulness and sufficiency. it is opposed to envy, which is displeased with the prosperity of others. it is opposed to ambition, which is not satisfied with equality, but aspires to superiority. it is opposed to avarice, which grasps all it can reach, keeps all it obtains, and "sayeth not it is enough." it is opposed to anxiety, which is always taking needless thought for the morrow, saying, "what shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" it is opposed to murmuring and repining, which is an ungrateful distrust of god, an unjust arraignment of his providence, an impious impeachment of his wisdom and goodness, a presumptuous spirit of rebellion against his righteous government. st. paul's statement seems to express complete and perfect satisfaction. in the highest sense this is applicable only to jehovah, who is el shaddai, god all-sufficient. but in a lower sense it is true, to a greater or less degree, of all good men. they have no sufficiency in themselves, but their sufficiency is of god. of his fulness they have all received--the unsearchable riches of christ. with the fatness of his house they are abundantly satisfied, and he makes them drink from the river of his pleasures. this is the only satisfying portion of the soul. without this, men may be indifferent--may be jovial and reckless; but these are not contentment--are perhaps the very opposites of contentment; indifference, the sullen obstinacy of a perverse and rebellious will, as far from contentment as it is from submission; jovial recklessness, the effort of a restless heart to throw off its burden of care and trouble--the revolt of the whole man against providence and against conscience. but when divine love brings us to its banqueting-house, and god becomes our shield and exceeding great reward, then the fluctuating soul returns to its native rest, like naphthali satisfied with favor and full with the blessing of the lord. when the apostle says--"i have learned, in whatsoever state i am, therewith to be content," no one can imagine that he refers to his former state of sin; for of that he constantly speaks in terms of strong regret, and as long as he lived he never ceased to sorrow for the evil he had done. nor are we to suppose that he means to express his full satisfaction with his present state of grace; for he is always hungering and thirsting after the fulness of god; and no christian can be fully satisfied with his spiritual attainments till he awakes in the likeness of his lord. if there can be any doubt of the apostle's meaning, the verses immediately following may solve it: "i know both how to be abased and how to abound; everywhere, and in all things, i am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need; i can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me." these several conditions he had tested by experience; and found himself able, by the grace of god, to maintain a calm and unperturbed spirit amidst all their trying vicissitudes: thoroughly assured that all were ordered or overruled by infinite wisdom and love, and must therefore work together for his good. in another place he says: "most gladly will i glory in mine infirmities, that the power of christ may rest upon me; therefore i take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for christ's sake; for when i am weak, then am i strong." to be content in success and prosperity, were easy enough; but to be content in trials such as these, immeasurably surpasses the power of the unsanctified human heart. the apostle, however, bore his tribulations, not merely with patient submission and quiet fortitude, but even with exultation; rejoicing evermore; in every thing giving thanks; counting the heaviest cross his greatest blessing; with all his heart glorying in the fellowship of his saviour's suffering; willing to live or die, because in life or death god would be magnified in his body; and when the alternative presents itself in imminent prospect, perplexed only as to which he ought to prefer: "i am in a strait betwixt two; having a desire to depart and be with christ, which is far better; nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you; and having this confidence, i know that i shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant by my coming to you again." what heroic resignation is here! what disinterested charity! what transcendent sublimity of hope! and how had the apostle attained to such experience? in what school, from what teacher, had he learned so great a lesson? certainly not from nature, nor from any human system of morality. ever since man went forth from the blessed garden, he has been a restless and unhappy creature, always seeking repose for his spirit in some inferior good, and ever disappointed in the end. contentment is a lesson to be learned, and to be learned only, in the school of christ. there st. paul learned it, not at the feet of gamaliel. there he learned it, under the tuition of providence, aided by the holy spirit of grace, by a long and painful course of discipline--by hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, desertion and persecution, shipwreck and dungeon, scourging and stoning, a life of perpetual conflict, and the frequent menace of death. so others have learned it. and what a blessed lesson it is, well learned! aaron, when his sons were smitten, "held his peace." and eli, when informed of coming judgments, said: "it is the lord; let him do what seemeth him good." and job, bereft of every earthly comfort, exclaimed: "the lord gave, and the lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the lord." and david, trained in every school of affliction, is ever singing of the loving-kindness of the lord, and extolling the excellence of his mercy which endureth forever. such contentment as these instances exemplify, nothing can produce but the grace of god in co-operation with his providence, the one purifying and the other disciplining the heart. but when we learn to draw water from the wells of salvation, we shall imbibe contentment with the draught. believing in christ as our saviour, we shall confide in god as our father. all made right within, all will be right without. an almighty friend in heaven--"a very present help in trouble," we have no real cause for anxious thought or disquieting fear. faith overcomes all apprehension of evil, and enables every saint to sing with the psalmist--"the lord is my portion, faith my soul, therefore will i hope in him;" and to say with the apostle--"i have learned, in whatsoever state i am, therewith to be content." brethren, let us aspire to this apostolic experience. in this grace, why should we not equal st. paul? is it not the high calling of every christian? and what reason for discontent have we, that this noble hero had not? our present state, like his, is god's appointment, and only for a season; and the discipline of sorrow and conflict may be no less needful for us than it was for him, and the result no less a blessing. how much worldly good is necessary for any of us? how much wealth, honor, happiness? most of our wants are artificial and unreal. we create them, or imagine them, and then complain that they are not supplied. our first needs--our only absolute needs--are food and raiment; and having these, we are divinely counselled to be content. and many have been content with much less of them than we possess, and no health for their enjoyment--have been content without either sufficient food or comfortable raiment, and for years scarcely an hour of exemption from pain--content in great poverty and utter destitution, on the bed of sickness, in the gloom of the dungeon, under the foreshadow of martyrdom--consoling themselves with the assurance that god hath chosen the poor of this world, the afflicted, the persecuted, rich in faith, and heirs, of his heavenly kingdom. and to be content--is it not, after all, the best way to be well supplied? "seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." will not the good shepherd provide for his confiding sheep? will not he who clothes the lilies and feeds the sparrows regard your necessities, o ye of little faith? can you not trust the bounty of your king, the affection of your father? "cast all your care upon him, for he careth for you." jacob asked food and raiment, and god gave him also abundant flocks and herds. solomon prayed for a wise and understanding heart, and received in addition great riches and honor. with the divine love you are rich, whatever else you lack; without it poor, whatever else you possess. and what avails your discontent? what can it bring you but present trouble and future regret? why disquiet yourselves in vain? can all your anxiety change the color of a hair, or add a moment to your little all of life? does not god know what is best for you, and will he alter his wise and gracious economy to gratify your foolish and capricious desires? what claim have you on him? what service have you ever done him? what benefit has he ever received from your virtue? nay, you are sharers of a thousand blessings, not one of which have you merited. rightly estimating yourselves, instead of murmuring against god, you would be ready to say with the pilgrim patriarch: "i am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and truth which thou hast shown unto thy servant." but discontent is ingratitude. recently redeemed from the iron furnace, shall the children of israel complain of their hard fare in the wilderness, spurn the manna, clamor for flesh, and talk of the fish they freely ate in egypt, of the cucumbers and the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlics? let them remember the toils of the brick-kiln, the voice of the oppressor, the scourge of the task-master, and all the burdens which there imbittered their lives. and you, have you not infinitely more ground for gratitude than for grumbling? god's mercies, fresh every morning and new every evening, crowd the day and crown the night. one single gift hath he bestowed--one unspeakable gift--the channel through which all others flow--worth more than a solar system to every child of adam. redeemed by the blood of christ, every moment becomes an inestimable mercy; nay, every breath becomes a thousand mercies; nay, every pulse metes out incalculable mercies by the million; and while we receive them, what deserve we but reprobation and ruin infinite? add to these the many great and exceeding precious promises with which the bible overflows, all pointing to an incorruptible inheritance reserved for you in heaven; and tell me, have you no cause to be content? all things ours--god with all his communicable fulness--christ with all his riches of grace and glory--heaven with all its clustering honors and immunities--who will not say: "return unto thy rest, o my soul! for the lord hath dealt bountifully with thee"? ye who now like lazarus have your evil things on earth, will you not hereafter with lazarus be comforted in abraham's bosom? oh! what is poverty to you who are to inherit all things--heirs of god and joint-heirs with jesus christ? what are toil and pain, reproach and persecution, the utter prostration of health, the loss of every living friend, and the burial of all you ever loved below, to you who look for your lord's return from heaven, the renovation of the world, the redemption of the body, the immortal fellowship of the just, and the termination of all the sad vicissitudes of time in the blissful calm of eternal content? and those of you who are trying to content yourselves with these fleeting vanities! know ye not that your treasures will decay, your glories wither, and all the delights of sense perish with the world? what will you do when the ground dissolves beneath you, and the atmosphere around you becomes flame? a surer trust we proffer you, and a nobler felicity. come and feed your famishing souls with the hidden manna of god, and slake your spirit's thirst from the fountain of living waters. here, in the love of god--here, in the blood of christ--here, in the assurance of pardon--here, resting upon the rock of ages--here, anchored in a sure and steadfast hope--you shall learn at last the tranquil blessedness of true content! [ ] preached at seneca falls, n.y., aug. , --the last actual pulpit-utterance of the author. xxii. "ye know the grace."[ ] ye know the grace of our lord jesus christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.-- cor. viii. . to the rich, commonly, what is more terrible than poverty? so great, sometimes, their dread of it, that they seek to avoid or avert it by measures the most dishonorable and even the most desperate. rather than be poor, many will practise the worst hypocrisies or commit the greatest crimes. for thirty pieces of silver, more than one judas has sold his saviour to the murderers and his own soul to satan; and to escape the possible condition of lazarus at his gate, many a dives has slain himself in his palace. horrified at such insanity, we scarcely wonder at the fear from which it springs. the noblest spirits quake at the thought of want, and a prospective reverse of fortune is enough to make the bravest quail. yet are there cases on record in which men and women, for some worthy principle, have cheerfully welcomed absolute privation, or patiently endured the destitution of all things. the fear of god, the love of truth, devotion to duty, domestic affection, patriotic sentiment, disinterested philanthropy--have not some of these again and again led the dwellers in palaces to the hovel and the hermitage, substituting for the downy couch a pallet of straw, for the purple and fine linen a suit of sack-cloth, and for the daily sumptuous banquet a crust of bread and a cup of water? while we recognize in such cases only a conscientious service rendered to god or a life of superior charity to his rational and immortal creatures, we can but admire and honor the noble principle that thus renounces the conveniences and advantages of high birth and ample fortune for the lowest conditions of civilized humanity. the impulse is divine; the spirit is that of christ. some become poor through misfortune, some through improvidence, some through criminal indulgence, these through stanch adherence to duty. if they had not relinquished their riches, they must have repudiated the authority of conscience and let go their hold on virtue. poverty has saved its thousands, where wealth has ruined its tens of thousands. here we are reminded of one who was originally rich beyond all human conception, but became poorer than the poorest that ever trod the earth--not because he desired the change, nor because he could not help it, nor because it was his bounden duty, nor because a superior bade him, nor because the perishing implored him, but because he loved us with an infinite love--beyond all imagination of men or angels. "'twas mercy moved his heavenly mind, and pity brought him down." first, then, we must think of the poverty of christ as the manifestation of his grace. what was it but purest goodness, gratuitous favor, unmerited compassion, that moved him to forsake his glory and become the brother of worms and the man of sorrows? what saw he in this revolted province of his boundless empire, that he should come to seek and save the self-destroyed? among all the myriads of adam's children, what one quality was there worthy of his love? who solicited his aid, or repented of his own sin? what obligation pressed or necessity impelled the saviour? had he remained indifferent to our helpless woes in the heavenly mansions, who could have impeached one of his perfections? had he smitten this guilty planet from its orbit, and sent it staggering among the stars--a reprobate world--a warning to the universe of the ruin wrought by sin--might not the minstrelsy of heaven have chanted over its catastrophe--"just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints!" perfectly he foreknew all that awaited him in his mission of mercy; yet with what divine alacrity did he vacate his throne, leave the bosom of his father, and retire from the adoring host of heaven--as if a loftier throne, a more loving bosom, and a worthier concourse of worshippers, were ready to greet him in the world to which he came! "o love that passeth knowledge! words are vain! language is lost in wonder so divine!" secondly, we must consider the poverty of christ in contrast with his previous riches. how much we commiserate the poor who have seen better days! his better days what human art shall depict or finite mind conceive? lift up your thoughts to the glorious state of the eternal son in the bosom of god the father. as yet the worlds are not; no star reflects his smile, nor seraph chants his praise; but, possessed of every divine excellence in the most transcendent degree, he has within himself an infinite source of happiness. now he arises to the work of creation, and myriads of self-luminous suns, each with his retinue of rejoicing planets, begin their eternal march around his throne. all are his, created by him and for him; and all their countless billions of rational and immortal beings own him as their supreme lord, and adore him as the sole giver of every good and perfect gift. down from all this glory he descended into one of the poorest provinces of his illimitable realm, assuming the frail and suffering nature of its fallen people, "and god with god was man with men." having a body and a soul like ours, he was liable to all our temptations and infirmities; and suffering--the just for the unjust--that he might bring us to god, he became poorer than the poorest of those whom by his poverty he sought to redeem. surely, had he so chosen, with all the pomp and splendor of royal state he might have made his advent; but see! he comes as the first-born of an obscure family--a stable his birthplace--a manger his cradle; through all the years of his youth, subject to his parents, and toiling at joseph's side with the carpenter's saw and plane; and when at the age of thirty he enters upon his messianic mission, having no home but such as a poor fisherman can offer him at capernaum; often hungering and thirsting over the fields and fountains of his own creation, everywhere hated for his love and persecuted for his purity; and at last basely betrayed into the hands of his enemies, abandoned and denied by his disciples, falsely accused of blasphemy, and cruelly condemned to the cross; while the powers of hell, in all their might and their malice, co-operate with the murderers of the lord's anointed; and the loving father, laying on him the iniquities of us all, withdraws from the scene of infamous horrors, and leaves the immaculate victim to die alone in the darkness. "o lamb of god! was ever pain-- was ever love--like thine?" thirdly, we must contemplate the poverty of christ in relation to the enrichment of his people. for our sake it was--for our benefit--as our substitute--he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. "what are a million of human lives," said the great napoleon, "to the scheme of a man like me?" infinitely more sublime was the scheme of jesus christ, sacrificing no human interest to his own ambition, but enriching all his followers with the durable riches of righteousness. benevolence, not ambition, was the grand impulse of his action. to save mankind from sin and satan--to quicken dead souls with the power of an endless life--he came forth from the father, sojourned in voluntary exile among rebels, and joyfully laid down his life for their redemption. how much the apostles write of "the riches of his grace"! how sweetly they assure us that he "hath chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him"! he became poorer than we, to make us as rich as himself--joint-heirs with him to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved for us in heaven. already, indeed, the believer is rich in faith, rich in love, rich in peace, rich in joy, and rich in hope; but when the dear lord shall return to consummate in glory the salvation thus begun by grace, the saints shall enter with him the everlasting kingdom, satisfied with his likeness and radiant with his joy. rejoice then, o my brother! in the unsearchable riches of christ. is the culprit enriched by pardon on the scaffold? so christ hath pardoned thee. is the exile enriched by the edict that calls him home? so christ hath recalled the banished. is the leper enriched by the cure of his foul disease? so christ cleanses the soul that comes to him. is the disinherited enriched by the restoration of his lost estate? jesus has bought back for us our forfeited possessions, and made them ours by an everlasting covenant. is the prisoner enriched by the power that gives him freedom? if the son makes us free, we are free indeed, and hell cannot enslave the ransomed soul. is the alien child enriched by adoption into the royal household, making him heir to the crown? brought nigh by redeeming blood, i become interested in all that belongs to my lord, and whatever he receives from the father i am to share with him in the kingdom of his glory. his voluntary poverty in my behalf makes him my brother and associates me with him upon the throne. taking my earthly station, he raises me to his heavenly honors. bearing my manifold infirmities, he assures me of a share in his infinite blessedness. emptying himself of his glory for me, he fills me with all the fulness of god! thus we know the grace of our lord jesus christ--not, indeed, in all the amplitude of its extension, nor in all the plenitude of its comprehension; but adequately to our necessity as sinners, and adequately to our duty and privilege as christians--we know it, and rejoice in it with unspeakable joy. what returns shall we make, or how express our gratitude? shall we be like him who, having promised mercury part of his nuts, ate the kernels himself, and gave the god the shells? shall we not imitate the macedonian churches, that first gave their own selves to the lord, and then sent their liberal collections to the poor saints at jerusalem? when we have given ourselves, what else can we withhold from him who gave all his wealth to enrich us, and has enriched us most by giving us himself? "the mite my willing hand can give, at jesus' feet i lay; his grace the tribute will receive, and heaven at large repay." [ ] written in the last days of september, , but never preached. the rev. dr. joseph cross's works. +_knight banneret._+ sermons. by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. vol. pp. mo, cloth. $ . . "its literary qualities will charm still another class of readers, for imagination has filled its pages with pictures from near and from far; fancy has lavished its every color upon them; they gleam with an unstinted splendor of rhetoric, or glow with an eager, consuming intensity of conviction."--_am. church review._ "the sermons are serious and conservative in theological position, practical and assisted toward their end by an unusual amount of illustration and metaphor."--_the independent._ "they [the sermons] are pervaded by an intensely earnest spirit, full of christ and his salvation, and suited to be useful. the author's style and method of treatment are oratorical, and we find many vigorous and eloquent passages."--_lutheran quarterly._ "the diction is always magnificent, always elegant, and the thought never fails of clearness."--_the living church._ "they are true and brave and zealous presentations of questions of practical moment; and their perusal will give new strength and a new inspiration to every honest reader."--_syracuse daily journal._ "they are distinguished by remarkable intellectual force, point and brilliancy of statement, short, vigorous sentences, and a desire to benefit his fellows by teaching them the truth."--_the keystone._ +_evangel._+ sermons for parochial missions. by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. vol. pp. mo, cloth. $ . . "not for a long time have we pored over pages glowing with so much gospel power and spiritual radiance."--_michigan christian advocate._ "this volume of sermons is one of the very best we have recently met with for the lay reader or for family reading."--_church guardian._ "they appeal more to the feelings than do the ordinary sermons of church pastors; but preaching of this kind is needed. the idea that all sermons must follow a fixed model, either in style and arrangement or in length, tends to a lifeless formalism. dr. cross has an original way, and is very strong in his presentation of truth."--_the churchman._ "many books of sermons which are regarded as models have in them much less of thought and gospel truth."--_american literary churchman._ "they unfold and enforce wisely and winningly the fundamental truths of the gospel, and are direct and impressive in style."--_the congregationalist._ "there is in them just what is indispensable to success on such occasions,--the flowing earnestness of a spirit that burns with the love and glory of the message it has to deliver."--_the living church._ _+edens of italy.+_ by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. with more than one hundred illustrations, map, and index. vol. royal vo, cloth extra, gilt edges. $ . . "he writes without exaggeration, and with a strong sense of enjoyment in a land that constantly surprises him by its varied beauty.... the work takes the reader along by its clearness, and there is no better test of a descriptive book."--_cincinnati commercial._ "the book is one of the most attractive among those intended for holiday gifts."--_new-york tribune._ "this is one of the handsomest and most substantial of the higher-class gift-books of the season.... the external appearance of the work is exceedingly attractive, the stamped design of the cover being in the most perfect taste. the literary execution of dr. cross's book is of a very high order. the author is a master of descriptive style; and his learning and information, though unobtrusive, are both extensive and accurate. the study of his subject occupied many months of intelligent and careful observation."--_good literature._ "either because the subjects themselves are wondrously rich and varied in interest, or because the writer is most happily gifted in the treatment of these subjects, or for both reasons combined, this book abounds with very choice and delightful entertainment. it may be compared to a string of gems, all of the richest kinds, sparkling and flashing with radiant and ever-varying beauty, or to a garden filled with a great variety of the rarest flowers and fruits: while the descriptions and pen-pictures are transparently faithful to truth, they also seem to be the very essence of poetry. the reader is fascinated; he seems to be travelling upon enchanted ground.... "the work in its mechanical execution throughout, in paper, type, and binding, is a splendid specimen of book-making."--_northern christian advocate._ "there are very few cities and spots that are omitted in this excellent work, which has been written and prepared with experience and care. we know of no work at a reasonable price that answers in its stead."--_boston sunday globe._ "one of the elegant books of the season is 'edens of italy,' by rev. dr. joseph cross."--_springfield republican._ "the author has written from a full mind and richly-laden memory, aided by careful notes taken on the spot. the readable quality of the book is aided by the clearest typographic expression, and the numerous illustrations make the volume a feast to the eye. even in this day of attractive bindings, this one is noticeable for its extreme beauty. the coloring is refined and tasteful; and the decorative design, which is beautiful and appropriate in conception, has been artistically carried out. as a whole, the cover is charming in effect, and reflects great credit on the taste of the house which issues the volume. on the principle of honor to whom honor is due, it seems hardly just that it is not customary to permit artists who furnish designs for book-covers, to reap what measure of glory and profit there is to be had from being publicly credited with the work they do."--_art interchange._ _+coals from the altar.+_ sermons for the christian year. by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. vols. mo, cloth. $ . each. vol. i., advent to ascension. vol. ii., ascension to advent. "they are aptly named 'coals from the altar,' for they are admirably adapted to kindle a flame of fire in the christian heart. the author's wealth of imagery, his warm sympathy and personal appeals, his fine descriptive powers and flow of language, his deep pathos and tenderness, do not need the fervor and emphasis of the living voice to send home the arrow of truth; but his sermons touch the feelings equally when addressed to the eye, by means of type, and become an efficient ministry of good."--_the churchman._ "evangelic truth and apostolic order have no better definition and defence in the whole range of sermonic literature, than in these glowing 'coals from the altar'"--_the standard of the cross._ "they are written in a most moderate tone, with much force and beauty of language, and with great earnestness and tenderness appeal to the hearts and consciences of readers. for family reading and for lay reading we can warmly recommend these sermons."--_the church guardian_, halifax. "the sermons are eminently scriptural, terse and accurate in style, and are excellent illustrations of good principles in homiletics."--_lutheran observer._ "dr. cross shows himself an eloquent and able thinker, and his sermons are full of spiritual fervor."--_the american bookseller._ +_pauline charity._+ discourses on the thirteenth chapter of st. paul's first epistle to the corinthians. by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. vol. mo, cloth. $ . . "these sermons are eminently instructive and stimulating; the great central truth of practical religion is forcibly presented and well illustrated, and the discourse is often marked with special vigor and eloquence."--_zion's herald._ "these are clear, instructive, thoroughly evangelical, and highly edifying. they will serve as good models for young ministers, in style, spirit, and directness of address."--_lutheran observer._ "the sermons included in the volume before us are vigorous and fluent; and, though the author calls them 'old-fashioned homilies,' they are neither dry nor antiquated in style or thought."--_good literature._ "these are of sermons which leave an influence that the hearer carries into his daily thought and conduct."--_boston globe._ +_old wine and new_+. occasional discourses. by the rev. joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. vol. mo, cloth. _just issued._ copies mailed postpaid on receipt of price. thomas whittaker, publisher, and bible house, new york. by joseph cross, d.d., ll.d. knight-banneret: sermons. mo, cloth, $ . evangel: sermons for parochial missions. mo, cloth . edens of italy. profusely illustrated. to, cloth, extra, gilt edges . tree calf . morocco antique . coals from the altar: sermons for the christian year. volume i., from advent to ascension. volume ii., from ascension to advent. mo, cloth, each . pauline charity: discourses on the thirteenth chapter of saint paul's first epistle to the corinthians. mo, cloth . old wine and new: occasional discourses. mo, cloth . thomas whittaker, _publisher_, and bible house......new york. [transcriber's note: italicized text is indicated with _underscores_, bold text with +plus+ signs. the oe-ligature character is shown as "[oe]". speeches, addresses, and occasional sermons, by theodore parker, minister of the twenty-eighth congregational church in boston. in three volumes. vol. iii. boston: horace b. fuller, (successor to walker, fuller, and company,) , washington street. . entered according to act of congress, in the year , by theodore parker, in the clerk's office of the district court of the district of massachusetts. contents of volume iii. i. a speech at a meeting of the citizens of boston in faneuil hall, march , , to consider the speech of mr. webster page ii. a speech at the new england anti-slavery convention in boston, may , iii. a discourse occasioned by the death of the late president taylor.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, july , iv. the function and place of conscience, in relation to the laws of men; a sermon for the times.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, september , v. the state of the nation, considered in a sermon for thanksgiving day.--preached at the melodeon, november , vi. the chief sins of the people.--a sermon delivered at the melodeon, on fast day, april , vii. the three chief safeguards of society, considered in a sermon at the melodeon, on sunday, july , viii. the position and duties of the american scholar.--an address delivered at waterville, august , i. speech at a meeting of the citizens of boston, in faneuil hall, march , , to consider the speech of mr. webster. mr. president and fellow citizens: it is an important occasion which has brought us together. a great crisis has occurred in the affairs of the united states. there is a great question now before the people. in any european country west of russia and east of spain, it would produce a revolution, and be settled with gunpowder. it narrowly concerns the material welfare of the nation. the decision that is made will help millions of human beings into life, or will hinder and prevent millions from being born. it will help or hinder the advance of the nation in wealth for a long time to come. it is a question which involves the honor of the people. your honor and my honor are concerned in this matter, which is presently to be passed upon by the people of the united states. more than all this, it concerns the morality of the people. we are presently to do a right deed, or to inflict a great wrong on others and on ourselves, and thereby entail an evil upon this continent which will blight and curse it for many an age. it is a great question, comprising many smaller ones:--shall we extend and foster slavery, or shall we extend and foster freedom? slavery, with its consequences, material, political, intellectual, moral; or freedom, with the consequences thereof? a question so important seldom comes to be decided before any generation of men. this age is full of great questions, but this of freedom is the chief. it is the same question which in other forms comes up in europe. this is presently to be decided here in the united states by the servants of the people, i mean, by the congress of the nation; in the name of the people; for the people, if justly decided; against them, if unjustly. if it were to be left to-morrow to the naked votes of the majority, i should have no fear. but the public servants of the people may decide otherwise. the political parties, as such, are not to pass judgment. it is not a question between whigs and democrats; old party distinctions, once so sacred and rigidly observed, here vanish out of sight. the party of slavery or the party of freedom is to swallow up all the other parties. questions about tariffs and banks can hardly get a hearing. on the approach of a battle, men do not talk of the weather. four great men in the senate of the united states have given us their decision; the four most eminent in the party politics of the nation--two great whigs, two great democrats. the shibboleth of their party is forgotten by each; there is a strange unanimity in their decision. the herod of free trade and the pilate of protection are "made friends," when freedom is to be crucified. all four decide adverse to freedom; in favor of slavery; against the people. their decisions are such as you might look for in the politicians of austria and russia. many smaller ones have spoken on this side or on that. last of all, but greatest, the most illustrious of the four, so far as great gifts of the understanding are concerned, a son of new england, long known, and often and deservedly honored, has given his decision. we waited long for his words; we held our peace in his silence; we listened for his counsel. here it is; adverse to freedom beyond the fears of his friends, and the hopes even of his foes. he has done wrong things before, cowardly things more than once; but this, the wrongest and most cowardly of them all: we did not look for it. no great man in america has had his faults or his failings so leniently dealt with; private scandal we will not credit, public shame we have tried to excuse, or, if inexcusable, to forget. we have all of us been proud to go forward and honor his noble deeds, his noble efforts, even his noble words. i wish we could take a mantle big and black enough, and go backward and cover up the shame of the great man who has fallen in the midst of us, and hide him till his honor and his conscience shall return. but no, it cannot be; his deed is done in the face of the world, and nothing can hide it. we have come together to-night in faneuil hall, to talk the matter over, in our new england way; to look each other in the face; to say a few words of warning, a few of counsel, perhaps something which may serve for guidance. we are not met here to-night to "calculate the value of the union," but to calculate the worth of freedom and the rights of man; to calculate the value of the wilmot proviso. let us be cool and careful, not violent, not rash; true and firm, not hasty or timid. important matters have brought our fathers here many times before now. before the revolution, they came here to talk about the molasses act, or the sugar act, or the stamp act, the boston port bill, and the long list of grievances which stirred up their manly stomachs to the revolution; afterwards, they met to consult about the embargo, and the seizure of the chesapeake, and many other matters. not long ago, only five years since, we came here to protest against the annexation of texas. but before the revolution or after it, meetings have seldom been called in faneuil hall on such solemn occasions as this. not only is there a great public wrong contemplated, as in the annexation of texas, but the character and conduct of a great public servant of the people come up to be looked after. this present conduct of mr. webster is a thing to be solemnly considered. a similar thing once happened before. in , a senator from massachusetts was disposed to accept a measure the president had advised, because he had "recommended" it "on his high responsibility." "i would _not consider_," said the senator, "i would _not deliberate_, i would _act_."[ ] he did so; and with little deliberation, with small counsel, as men thought at the time, he voted for the embargo, and the embargo came. this was a measure which doomed eight hundred thousand tons of shipping to rot at the wharf. it touched the pockets of new england and all the north. it affected the daily meals of millions of men. there was indignation, deep and loud indignation; but it was political in its nature and personal in its form; the obnoxious measure was purely political, not obviously immoral and unjust. but, long as john quincy adams lived, much as he did in his latter years for mankind, he never wholly wiped off the stain which his conduct then brought upon him. yet it may be that he was honest in his vote; it may have been an error of judgment, and nothing more; nay, there are men who think it was no error at all, but a piece of political wisdom. a senator of massachusetts has now committed a fault far greater than was ever charged upon mr. adams by his most inveterate political foes. it does not directly affect the shipping of new england and the north: i wish it did. it does not immediately concern our daily bread; if it were so, the contemplated wrong would receive a speedy adjustment. but it concerns the liberty of millions of men yet unborn. let us look at the matter carefully. here is a profile of our national action on the subject now before the people. in , we agreed to import no more slaves after that year, and never finally repealed this act of agreement. in , we declared that all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in , we formed the confederacy, with no provision for the surrender of fugitive slaves. in , we shut out slavery from the northwest territory for ever, by the celebrated proviso of mr. jefferson. in , the constitution was formed, with its compromises and guarantees. in , the importation of slaves was forbidden. but, in , we annexed louisiana, and slavery along with it. in , we annexed florida, with more slavery. in , we legally established slavery in the territory west of the mississippi, south of deg. min. in , we annexed texas, with three hundred and twenty-five thousand five hundred and twenty square miles, as a slave state. in , we acquired, by conquest and by treaty, the vast territory of california and new mexico, containing five hundred and twenty-six thousand and seventy-eight square miles. of this, two hundred and four thousand three hundred and eighty-three square miles are south of the slave line--south of deg. min. here is territory enough to make more than thirty slave states of the size of massachusetts. at the present day, it is proposed to have some further action on the matter of slavery. connected with this subject, four great questions come up to be decided:-- . shall four new slave states at any time be made out of texas? this is not a question which is to be decided at present, yet it is one of great present importance, and furnishes an excellent test of the moral character and political conduct of politicians at this moment. the other questions are of immediate and pressing concern. here they are:-- . shall slavery be prohibited in california? . shall slavery be prohibited in new mexico? . what laws shall be passed relative to fugitive slaves? mr. webster, in this speech, defines his position in regard to each of these four questions. . in regard to the new states to be made hereafter out of texas, he gives us his opinion, in language well studied, and even with an excess of caution. let us look at it, and the resolution which annexed texas. that declares that "new states ... not exceeding four in number, in addition to said state of texas ... may hereafter, by the consent of said state, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the federal constitution. and such states ... shall be admitted with or without slavery, as the people of each state asking admission may desire." i will not stop to consider the constitutionality of the joint resolution which annexed texas. mr. webster's opinion on that subject is well known. but the resolution does two things: . it confers a power, the power to make four new states on certain conditions; a qualified power, restricted by the terms of the act. d. it imposes an obligation, namely, the obligation to leave it to the people of the new state to keep slaves or not, when the state is admitted. the words _may be_, etc., indicate the conferring of a power: the words _shall be_, etc., the imposing of an obligation. but as the power is a qualified power, so is the obligation a qualified obligation; the _shall be_ is dependent on the _may be_, as much as the _may be_ on the _shall_. admitting in argument what mr. webster has denied, that congress had the constitutional right to annex texas by joint resolution, and also that the resolution of one congress binds the future congress, it is plain congress may admit new states from texas, on those conditions, or refuse to admit them. this is plain, by any fair construction of the language. the resolution does not say, they _shall_ be formed, only "_may_ be formed," and "shall be entitled to admission, under the provisions of the federal constitution"--not in spite of those provisions. the provisions of the constitution, in relation to the formation and admission of new states, are well known, and sufficiently clear. congress is no more bound to admit a new slave state formed out of texas, than out of kentucky. but mr. webster seems to say that congress is bound to make four new states out of texas, when there is sufficient population to warrant the measure, and a desire for it in the states themselves, and to admit them with a constitution allowing slavery. he says, "its guaranty is, that new states shall be made out of it,... and that such states ... may come in as slave states," etc. quite the contrary. it is only said they "_may be_ formed," and admitted "under the provisions of the constitution." the _shall be_ does not relate to the fact of admission. then he says, there is "a solemn pledge," "that if she shall be divided into states, those states may come in as slave states." but there is no "solemn pledge" that they _shall come_ in at all. i make a "solemn pledge" to john doe, that if ever i give him any land, it shall be a thousand acres in the meadows on connecticut river; but it does not follow from this that i am bound to give john doe any land at all. this solemn pledge is worth nothing, if congress says to new states, you shall not come in with your slave constitution. to make this "stipulation with texas" binding, it ought to have provided that "new states ... shall be formed out of the territory thereof ... such states shall be entitled to admission, in spite of the provisions of the constitution." even then it would be of no value; for as there can be no moral obligation to do an immoral deed, so there can be no constitutional obligation to do an unconstitutional deed. so much for the first question. you see that mr. webster proposes to do what we never stipulated to do, what is not "so nominated in the bond." he wrests the resolution against freedom, and for the furtherance of the slave power! and . mr. webster has given his answer to the second and third questions, which may be considered as a single question, shall slavery be legally forbidden by congress in california and new mexico? mr. webster is opposed to the prohibition by congress. here are his words: "now, as to california and new mexico, i hold slavery to be excluded from those territories by a law even superior to that which admits and sanctions it in texas. i mean the law of nature, of physical geography, the law of the formation of the earth."... "i will say further, that if a resolution or a law were now before us to provide a territorial government for new mexico, i would not vote to put any prohibition into it whatever. the use of such a prohibition would be idle, as it respects any effect it would have upon the territory: and i would not take pains to reaffirm an ordinance of nature, nor to reënact the will of god." "the gentlemen who belong to the southern states would think it a taunt, an indignity; they would think it an act taking away from them what they regard as a proper equality of privilege" ... "a plain theoretic wrong," "more or less derogatory to their character and their rights." "african slavery," he tells us, "cannot exist there." it could once exist in massachusetts and new hampshire. very little of this territory lies north of mason and dixon's line, the northern limit of maryland; none above the parallel of forty-two degrees; none of it extends fifty miles above the northern limit of virginia; two hundred and four thousand three hundred and fifty-three square miles of it lie south of the line of the missouri compromise, south of ° ´. almost all of it is in the latitude of virginia and the carolinas. if slavery can exist on the west coast of the atlantic, i see not why it cannot on the east of the pacific, and all the way between. there is no reason why it cannot. it will, unless we forbid it by positive laws, laws which no man can misunderstand. why, in , it was thought necessary to forbid slavery in the northwest territory, which extends from the ohio river to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude. not exclude slavery from california and new mexico, because it can never exist there! why, it was there once, and mexico abolished it by positive law. abolished, did i say! we are not so sure of that; i mean, not sure that the senate of the united states is sure of it. not a month before mr. webster made this very speech, on the th and th of last february, mr. davis, the senator from mississippi, maintained that slavery is not abolished in california and new mexico. he denies that the acts abolishing slavery in mexico were made by competent powers; denies that they have the force of law. but even if they have, he tells us, "suppose it be conceded that by law it was abolished--could that law be perpetual? could it extend to the territory after it became the property of the united states? did we admit territory from mexico, subject to the constitution and laws of mexico? did we pay fifteen million dollars for jurisdiction over california and new mexico, that it might be held subordinate to the laws of mexico?" the commissioners of mexico, he tells us, did not think that "we were to be bound by the edicts and statutes of mexico." they pressed this point in the negotiation, "the continuation of their law for the exclusion of slavery;" and mr. trist told them he could not make a treaty on that condition; if they would "offer him the land covered a foot thick with pure gold, upon the single condition that slavery should be excluded therefrom, i could not entertain the offer for a moment." does not mr. webster know this? he knows it too well. but mr. davis goes further. he does not think slavery is excluded by legislation stronger than a joint resolution. this is his language: "i believe it is essential, on account of the climate, productions, soil, and the peculiar character of cultivation, that we shall, during its first settlement, have that slavery [african slavery] in a part, at least, of california and new mexico." now on questions of "a law of nature and physical geography," the senator from mississippi is as good authority as the senator from massachusetts, and a good deal nearer to the facts of the case. in the house of representatives, mr. clingman, of north carolina, amongst others, wants new mexico for slave soil. pass the wilmot proviso over this territory, and the question is settled, disposed of for ever. omit to pass it, and slavery will go there, and you may get it out if you can. once there, it will be said that the "compromises of the constitution" are on its side, and we have no jurisdiction over the slavery which we have established there. hear what mr. foote said of a similar matter on the th of june, , in his place in the senate: "gentlemen have said this is not a practical question, that slaves will never be taken to oregon. with all deference to their opinion, i differ with them totally. i believe, if permitted, slaves would be carried there, and that slavery would continue, at least, as long as in maryland or virginia. ['the whole of oregon' is north of forty-two degrees.] the pacific coast is totally different in temperature from the atlantic. it is far milder.... green peas are eaten in the oregon city at christmas. where is the corresponding climate to be found on this side the continent? where we sit--near the thirty-ninth? no, sir; but to the south of us." "the latitude of georgia gives, on the pacific, a tropical climate." "the prohibition of slavery in the laws of oregon was adopted for the express purpose of excluding slaves." "a few had been brought in; further importations were expected; and it was with a view to put a stop to them, that the prohibitory act was passed." now, mr. foote of mississippi--"hangman foote," as he has been called--understands the laws of the formation of the earth as well as the distinguished senator from massachusetts. why, the inhabitants of that part of the northwest territory, which now forms the states of indiana and illinois, repeatedly asked congress to allow them to introduce slaves north of the ohio; and but for the ordinance of ' , that territory would now be covered with the mildew of slavery! but i have not yet adduced all the testimony of mr. foote. last year, on the d of february, , he declared: "no one acquainted with the vast mineral resources of california and new mexico, and who is aware of the peculiar adaptedness of slave labor to the development of mineral treasures, can doubt for a moment, that were slaves introduced into california and new mexico, being employed in the mining operations there in progress, their labor would result in the acquisition of pecuniary profits not heretofore realized by the most successful cotton or sugar planter of this country?" does not mr. webster know this? perhaps he did not hear mr. foote's speech last year; perhaps he has a short memory, and has forgotten it. then let us remind the nation of what its senator forgets. not know this--forget it? who will credit such a statement? mr. webster is not an obscure clergyman, busy with far different things, but the foremost politician of the united states. but why do i mention the speeches of mr. foote, a year ago? here is something hardly dry from the printing-press. here is an advertisement from the "mississippian" of march th, , the very day of that speech. the "mississippian" is published at the city of jackson, in mississippi. "california, "the southern slave colony. "citizens of the slave states, desirous of emigrating to california with their slave property, are requested to send their names, number of slaves, and period of contemplated departure, to the address of 'southern slave colony,' jackson, miss.... "it is the desire of the friends of this enterprise to settle in the richest mining and agricultural portions of california, and to have the uninterrupted enjoyment of slave property. it is estimated that, by the first of may next, the members of this slave colony will amount to about five thousand, and the slaves to about ten thousand. the mode of effecting organization, &c., will be privately transmitted to actual members. "jackson (miss.), feb. , . "dtf. what does mr. webster say in view of all this? "if a proposition were now here for a government for new mexico, and it was moved to insert a provision for the prohibition of slavery, i would not vote for it." why not vote for it? there is a specious pretence, which is publicly proclaimed, but there is a real reason for it which is not mentioned! in the face of all these facts, mr. webster says that these men would wish "to protect the everlasting snows of canada from the pest of slavery by the same overspreading wing of an act of congress." exactly so. if we ever annex labrador--if we "re-annex" greenland, and kamskatka, i would extend the wilmot proviso there, and exclude slavery forever and forever. but mr. webster would not "reaffirm an ordinance of nature," nor "reënact the will of god." i would. i would reaffirm nothing else, enact nothing else. what is justice but the "ordinance of nature?" what is right but "the will of god?" when you make a law, "thou shalt not kill," what do you but "reënact the will of god?" when you make laws for the security of the "unalienable rights" of man, and protect for every man the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are you not re-affirming an ordinance of nature? not reënact the will of god? why, i would enact nothing else. the will of god is a theological term; it means truth and justice, in common speech. what is the theological opposite to "the will of god?" it is "the will of the devil." one of the two you must enact--either the will of god, or of the devil. the two are the only theological categories for such matters. _aut deus aut diabolus._ there is no other alternative, "choose you which you will serve." so much for the second and third questions. let us now come to the last thing to be considered. what laws shall be enacted relative to fugitive slaves? let us look at mr. webster's opinion on this point. the constitution provides--you all know that too well--that every person "held to service or labor in one state,... escaping into another, shall be delivered up." by whom shall he be delivered up? there are only three parties to whom this phrase can possibly apply. they are, . individual men and women; or, . the local authorities of the states concerned; or, . the federal government itself. it has sometimes been contended that the constitution imposes an obligation on you, and me, and every other man, to deliver up fugitive slaves. but there are no laws or decisions that favor that construction. mr. webster takes the next scheme, and says, "i always thought that the constitution addressed itself to the legislatures of the states, or to the states themselves." "it seems to me that the import of the passage is, that the state itself ... shall cause him [the fugitive] to be delivered up. that is my judgment." but the supreme court, some years ago, decided otherwise, that "the business of seeing that these fugitives are delivered up resides in the power of congress and the national judicature." so the matter stands now. but it is proposed to make more stringent laws relative to the return of fugitive slaves. so continues mr. webster--"my friend at the head of the judiciary committee has a bill on the subject now before the senate, with some amendments to it, which i propose to support, with all its provisions, to the fullest extent." everybody knows the act of congress of , relative to the surrender of fugitive slaves, and the decision of the supreme court in the "prigg case," . but everybody does not know the bill of mr. webster's "friend at the head of the judiciary committee." there is a bill providing "for the more effectual execution of the third clause of the second section of the fourth article of the constitution of the united states." it is as follows:-- _"be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america, in congress assembled_, that when a person held to service or labor, in any state or territory of the united states, under the laws of such state or territory, shall escape into any other of the said states or territories, the person to whom such service or labor may be due, his or her agent, or attorney, is hereby empowered to seize or arrest such fugitive from service or labor, and to take him or her before any judge of the circuit or district courts of the united states, or before any commissioner or clerk of such courts, or marshal thereof, or before any postmaster of the united states, or collector of the customs of the united states, residing or being within such state wherein such seizure or arrest shall be made; and, upon proof to the satisfaction of such judge, commissioner, clerk, postmaster, or collector, as the case may be, either by oral testimony or affidavit taken before and certified by any person authorized to administer an oath under the laws of the united states, or of any state, that the person so seized or arrested, under the laws of the state or territory, from which he or she fled, owes service or labor to the person claiming him or her, it shall be the duty of such judge, commissioner, clerk, marshal, postmaster, or collector, to give a certificate thereof to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, which certificate shall be a sufficient warrant for taking and removing such fugitive from service or labor to the state or territory from which he or she fled. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that when a person held to service or labor, as mentioned in the first section of this act, shall escape from such service or labor, therein mentioned, the person to whom such service or labor may be due, his or her agent or attorney, may apply to any one of the officers of the united states named in said section, other than a marshal of the united states, for a warrant to seize and arrest such fugitive; and upon affidavit being made before such officer (each of whom, for the purposes of this act, is hereby authorized to administer an oath or affirmation), by such claimant, his or her agent, that such person does, under the laws of the state or territory from which he or she fled, owe service or labor to such claimant, it shall be and is hereby made the duty of such officer, to and before whom such application and affidavits are made to issue his warrant to any marshal of any of the courts of the united states, to seize and arrest such alleged fugitive, and to bring him or her forthwith, or on a day to be named in such warrant, before the officer issuing such warrant, or either of the other officers mentioned in said first section, except the marshal to whom the said warrant is directed, which said warrant or authority, the said marshal is hereby authorized and directed in all things to obey. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that upon affidavit made as aforesaid, by the claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney, after such certificate has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend that such fugitive will be rescued by force from his or their possession, before he can be taken beyond the limits of the state in which the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer making the arrest, to retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to the state whence he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant, his agent or attorney. and to this end, the officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so many persons as he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain them in his service, so long as circumstances may require. the said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to receive the same compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses as are now allowed by law, for transportation of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the district within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the treasury of the united states: _provided_, that before such charges are incurred, the claimant, his agent, or attorney, shall secure to said officer payment of the same, and in case no actual force be opposed, then they shall be paid by such claimant, his agent or attorney. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, when a warrant shall have been issued by any of the officers under the second section of this act, and there shall be no marshal or deputy marshal within ten miles of the place where such warrant is issued, it shall be the duty of the officer issuing the same, at the request of the claimant, his agent, or attorney, to appoint some fit and discreet person, who shall be willing to act as marshal, for the purpose of executing said warrant; and such persons so appointed shall, to the extent of executing such warrant, and detaining and transporting the fugitive named therein, have all the power and the authority, and he, with his assistants, entitled to the same compensation and expenses, provided in this act, in cases where the services are performed by the marshals of the courts. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that any person who shall knowingly and wilfully obstruct or hinder such claimant, his agent, or attorney, or any person or persons assisting him, her or them, in so serving or arresting such fugitive from service or labor, or shall rescue such fugitive from such claimant, his agent, or attorney, when so arrested, pursuant to the authority herein given or declared, or shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor, to escape from such claimant, his agent, or attorney, or shall harbor or conceal such person, after notice that he or she was a fugitive from labor, as aforesaid, shall, for either of the said offences, forfeit and pay the sum of one thousand dollars, which penalty may be recovered by, and for the benefit of, such claimant, by action of debt in any court proper to try the same, saving, moreover, to the person claiming such labor or service, his right of action for, on account of, the said injuries, or either of them. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that when such person is seized and arrested, under and by virtue of the said warrant, by such marshal, and is brought before either of the officers aforesaid, other than said marshal, it shall be the duty of such officer to proceed in the case of such person, in the same way that he is directed and authorized to do, when such person is seized and arrested by the person claiming him, or by his or her agent, or attorney, and is brought before such officer or attorney, under the provisions of the first section of this act." this is the bill known as "mason's bill," introduced by mr. butler of south carolina, on the th of january last. this is the bill which mr. webster proposes to support, "with all its provisions to the fullest extent." it is a bill of abominations, but there are "some amendments to it," which modify the bill a little. look at them. here they are. the first provides in addition to the fine of one thousand dollars for aiding and abetting the escape of a fugitive, for harboring and concealing him, that the offender "shall also be imprisoned twelve months." the second amendment is as follows--"and in no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such fugitive be admitted in evidence." these are mr. mason's amendments, offered on the twenty-third of last january. this is the bill, "with some amendments," which mr. webster says, "i propose to support, with all its provisions, to the fullest extent." mr. seward's bill was also before the senate--a bill granting the fugitive slave a trial by jury in the state where he is found, to determine whether or not he is a slave. mr. webster says not a word about this bill. he does not propose to support it. suppose the bill of mr. webster's friend shall pass congress, what will the action of it be? a slave-hunter comes here to boston, he seizes any dark-looking man that is unknown and friendless, he has him before the postmaster, the collector of customs, or some clerk or marshal of some united states court, and makes oath that the dark man is his slave. the slave-hunter is allowed his oath. the fugitive is not allowed his testimony. the man born free as you and i, on the false oath of a slave-hunter, or the purchased affidavit of some one, is surrendered to a southern state, to bondage life-long and irremediable. will you say, the postmaster, the collector, the clerks and marshals in boston would not act in such matters? they have no option; it is their official business to do so. but they would not decide against the unalienable rights of man--the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. that may be, or may not be. the slave-hunter may have his "fugitive" before the collector of boston, or the postmaster of truro, if he sees fit. if they, remembering their old testament, refuse to "bewray him that wandereth," the slave-hunter may bring on his officer with him from georgia or florida; he may bring the custom-house officer from mobile or wilmington, some little petty postmaster from a town you never heard of in south carolina or texas, and have any dark man in boston up before that "magistrate," and on his decision have the fugitive carried off to louisiana or arkansas, to bondage for ever. the bill provides that the trial may be had before any such officer, "residing or being" in the state where the fugitive is found! there were three fugitives at my house the other night. ellen craft was one of them. you all know ellen craft is a slave; she, with her husband, fled from georgia to philadelphia, and is here before us now. she is not so dark as mr. webster himself, if any of you think freedom is to be dealt out in proportion to the whiteness of the skin. if mason's bill passes, i might have some miserable postmaster from texas or the district of columbia, some purchased agent of messrs. bruin & hill, the great slave-dealers of the capitol, have him here in boston, take ellen craft before the caitiff, and on his decision hurry her off to bondage as cheerless, as hopeless, and as irremediable as the grave! let me interest you in a scene which might happen. suppose a poor fugitive, wrongfully held as a slave--let it be ellen craft--has escaped from savannah in some northern ship. no one knows of her presence on board; she has lain with the cargo in the hold of the vessel. harder things have happened. men have journeyed hundreds of miles bent double in a box half the size of a coffin, journeying towards freedom. suppose the ship comes up to long wharf, at the foot of state street. bulk is broken to remove the cargo; the woman escapes, emaciated with hunger, feeble from long confinement in a ship's hold, sick with the tossing of the heedless sea, and still further etiolated and blanched with the mingling emotions of hope and fear. she escapes to land. but her pursuer, more remorseless than the sea, has been here beforehand; laid his case before the official he has brought with him, or purchased here, and claims his slave. she runs for her life, fear adding wings. imagine the scene--the flight, the hot pursuit through state street, merchants' row--your magistrates in hot pursuit. to make the irony of nature still more complete, let us suppose this shall take place on some of the memorable days in the history of america--on the th of april, when our fathers first laid down their lives "in the sacred cause of god and their country;" on the th of june, the d of december, or on any of the sacramental days in the long sad history of our struggle for our own freedom! suppose the weary fugitive takes refuge in faneuil hall, and here, in the old cradle of liberty, in the midst of its associations, under that eye of samuel adams, the bloodhounds seize their prey! imagine mr. webster and mr. winthrop looking on, cheering the slave-hunter, intercepting the fugitive fleeing for her life. would not that be a pretty spectacle? propose to support that bill to the fullest extent, with all its provisions! ridiculous talk! does mr. webster suppose that such a law could be executed in boston? that the people of massachusetts will ever return a single fugitive slave, under such an act as that? then he knows his constituents very little, and proves that he needs "instruction."[ ] "slavery is a moral and religious blessing," says somebody in the present congress. but it seems some thirty thousand slaves have been blind to the benefits--moral and religious benefits--which it confers, and have fled to the free states. mr. clingman estimates the value of all the fugitive slaves in the north at $ , , . delaware loses $ , in a year in this way; her riches taking to themselves not wings, but legs. maryland lost $ , in six months. i fear mr. mason's bill and mr. webster's speech will not do much to protect that sort of "property" from this kind of loss. such action is prevented "by a law even superior to that which admits and sanctions it in texas." such are mr. webster's opinions on these four great questions. now, there are two ways of accounting for this speech, or, at least, two ways of looking at it. one is, to regard it as the work of a statesman seeking to avert some great evil from the whole nation. this is the way mr. webster would have us look at it, i suppose. his friends tell us it is a statesmanlike speech--very statesmanlike. he himself says _vera pro gratis_[ ]--true words in preference to words merely pleasing. _etsi meum ingenium non moneret necessitas cogit_--albeit my own humor should not prompt the counsel, necessity compels it. the necessity so cogent is the attempt to dissolve the union, in case the wilmot proviso should be extended over the new territory. does any man seriously believe that mr. webster really fears a dissolution of this union undertaken and accomplished on this plea, and by the southern states? i will not insult the foremost understanding of this continent by supposing he deems it possible. no, we cannot take this view of his conduct. the other way is to regard it as the work of a politician, seeking something beside the permanent good of a great nation. the lease of the presidency is to be disposed of for the next four years by a sort of auction. it is in the hands of certain political brokers, who "operate" in presidential and other political stock. the majority of those brokers are slaveholders or pro-slavery men; they must be conciliated, or they will "not understand the nod" of the candidate--i mean of the man who bids for the lease. all the illustrious men in the national politics have an eye on the transaction, but sometimes the bid has been taken for persons whose chance at the sale seemed very poor. general cass made his bid some time ago. i think his offer is recorded in the famous "nicholson letter." he was a northern man, and bid non-intervention--the unconstitutionality of any intervention with slavery in the new territory. mr. clay made his bid, for old kentucky "never tires," the same old bid that he has often made--a compromise. mr. calhoun did as he has always done. i will not say he made any bid at all; he was too sick for that, too sick for any thought of the presidency. perhaps at this moment the angel of death is dealing with that famed and remarkable man. nay, he may already have gone where "the servant is free from his master, and the weary are at rest;" have gone home to his god, who is the father of the great politician and the feeblest-minded slave. if it be so, let us follow him only with pity for his errors, and the prayer that his soul may be at rest. he has fought manfully in an unmanly cause. he seemed sincerely in the wrong, and spite of the badness of the cause to which he devoted his best energies, you cannot but respect the man. last of all, mr. webster makes his bid for the lease of "that bad eminence," the presidency. he bids higher than the others, of course, as coming later; bids non-intervention, four new slave states in texas, mason's bill for capturing fugitive slaves, and denunciation of all the anti-slavery movements of the north, public and private. that is what he bids, looking to the southern side of the board of political brokers. then he nods northward, and says, the wilmot proviso is my "thunder;" then timidly glances to the south and adds, but i will never use it. i think this is the only reasonable way in which we can estimate this speech--as a bid for the presidency. i will not insult that mighty intellect by supposing that he, in his private heart, regards it in any other light. mr. calhoun might well be content with that, and say "organize the territories on the principle of that gentleman, and give us a free scope and sufficient time to get in--we ask nothing but that, and we never will ask it." such are the four great questions before us; such mr. webster's answers thereunto; such the two ways of looking at his speech. he decides in advance against freedom in texas, against freedom in california, against freedom in new mexico, against freedom in the united states, by his gratuitous offer of support to mr. mason's bill. his great eloquence, his great understanding, his great name, give weight to all his words. pains are industriously taken to make it appear that his opinions are the opinions of boston. is it so? [cries of no, no.] that was rather a feeble cry. perhaps it is the opinion of the prevailing party in boston. [no, no.] but i put it to you, is it the opinion of massachusetts? [loud cries of no, no, no.] well, so i say, no; it is not the opinion of massachusetts. * * * * * before now, servants of the people and leaders of the people have proved false to their employers, and betrayed their trust. amongst all political men who have been weighed in the balance, and found wanting, with whom shall i compare him? not with john quincy adams, who, in , voted for the embargo. it may have been the mistake of an honest intention, though i confess i cannot think so yet. at any rate, laying an embargo, which he probably thought would last but a few months, was a small thing compared with the refusal to restrict slavery, willingness to enact laws to the disadvantage of mankind, and the voluntary support of mason's iniquitous bill. besides, mr. adams lived a long life; if he erred, or if he sinned in this matter, he afterwards fought most valiantly for the rights of man. shall i compare mr. webster with thomas wentworth, the great earl of strafford, a man "whose doubtful character and memorable end have made him the most conspicuous character of a reign so fertile in recollections?" he, like webster, was a man of large powers, and once devoted them to noble uses. did wentworth defend the "petition of right?" so did webster many times defend the great cause of liberty. but it was written of strafford, that "in his self-interested and ambitious mind," patriotism "was the seed sown among thorns!" "if we reflect upon this man's cold-blooded apostasy on the first lure to his ambition, and on his splendid abilities, which enhanced the guilt of that desertion, we must feel some indignation at those who have palliated all his iniquities, and embalmed his memory with the attributes of patriot heroism. great he surely was, since that epithet can never be denied without paradox to so much comprehension of mind, such ardor and energy, such courage and eloquence, those commanding qualities of soul, which, impressed upon his dark and stern countenance, struck his contemporaries with mingled awe and hate ... but it may be reckoned a sufficient ground for distrusting any one's attachment to the english constitution, that he reveres the name of strafford." his measures for stifling liberty in england, which he and his contemporaries significantly called "thorough" in the reign of charles i., were not more atrocious, than the measures which daniel webster proposes himself, or proposes to support "to the fullest extent." but strafford paid the forfeit--tasting the sharp and bitter edge of the remorseless axe. let his awful shade pass by. i mourn at the parallel between him and the mighty son of our own new england. would god it were not thus! for a sadder parallel, i shall turn off from the sour features of that great british politician, and find another man in our own fair land. this name carries us back to "the times that tried men's souls," when also there were souls that could not stand the rack. it calls me back to "the famous year of ' ;" to the little american army in the highlands of new york; to the time when the torch of american liberty which now sends its blaze far up to heaven, at the same time lighting the northern lakes and the mexique bay, tinging with welcome radiance the eastern and the western sea, was a feeble flame flickering about a thin and hungry wick, and one hand was raised to quench in darkness, and put out forever, that feeble and uncertain flame. gentlemen, i hate to speak thus. i honor the majestic talents of this great man. i hate to couple his name with that other, which few americans care to pronounce. but i know no deed in american history, done by a son of new england, to which i can compare this, but the act of benedict arnold! shame that i should say this of any man; but his own motto shall be mine--vera pro gratis--and i am not responsible for what he has made the truth; certainly, _meum ingenium non moneret, necessitas cogit_! i would speak with all possible tenderness of any man, of every man; of such an one, so honored, and so able, with the respect i feel for superior powers. i would often question my sense of justice, before i dared to pronounce an adverse conclusion. but the wrong is palpable, the injustice is open as the day. i must remember, here are twenty millions, whose material welfare his counsel defeats; whose honor his counsel stains; whose political, intellectual, moral growth he is using all his mighty powers to hinder and keep back. "_vera pro gratis. necessitas cogit. vellem, equidem, vobis placere, sed multo malo vos salvos esse, qualicunque erga me animo futuri estis._" let me take a word of warning and of counsel from the same author; yes, from the same imaginary speech of quintus capitolinis, whence mr. webster has drawn his motto:--_ante portas est bellum: si inde non pellitur, jam intra mænia erit, et arcem et capitolium scandet, et in domos vestras vos persequetur._ the war [against the extension of slavery, not against the volscians, in this case] is before your very doors: if not driven thence, it will be within your walls [namely, it will be in california and new mexico]; it will ascend the citadel and the capitol [to wit, it will be in the house of representatives and the senate]; and it will follow you into your very homes [that is, the curse of slavery will corrupt the morals of the nation]. _sedemus desides domi, mulierum ritu inter nos altercantes; præsenti pace læti, nec cernentes_ ex otio illo brevi multiplex bellum rediturum. we [the famous senators of the united states] sit idle at home, wrangling amongst ourselves like women [to see who shall get the lease of the presidency], glad of the present truce [meaning that which is brought about by a compromise], not perceiving that for this brief cessation of trouble, a manifold war will follow [that is, the "horrid internecine war" which will come here, as it has been elsewhere, if justice be too long delayed]! it is a great question before us, concerning the existence of millions of men. to many men in politics, it is merely a question of party rivalry; a question of in and out, and nothing more. to many men in cities, it is a question of commerce, like the establishment of a bank, or the building of one railroad more or less. but to serious men, who love man and love their god, this is a question of morals, a question of religion, to be settled with no regard to party rivalry, none to fleeting interests of to-day, but to be settled under the awful eye of conscience, and by the just law of god. shall we shut up slavery or extend it? it is for us to answer. will you deal with the question now, or leave it to your children, when the evil is ten times greater? in , there was not a slave in georgia; now, two hundred and eighty thousand. in , in all the united states, but two hundred thousand; now, three millions. in , let mr. webster's counsels be followed, there will be thirty millions. thirty millions! will it then be easier for your children to set limits to this crime against human nature, than now for you? our fathers made a political, and a commercial, and a moral error--shall we repeat it? they did a wrong; shall we extend and multiply the wrong? was it an error in our fathers; not barely a wrong--was it a sin? no, not in them; they knew it not. but what in them to establish was only an error, in us to extend or to foster is a sin! perpetuate slavery, we cannot do it. nothing will save it. it is girt about by a ring of fire which daily grows narrower, and sends terrible sparkles into the very centre of the shameful thing. "joint resolutions" cannot save it; annexations cannot save it--not if we re-annex all the west indies; delinquent representatives cannot save it; uninstructed senators, refusing instructions, cannot save it, no, not with all their logic, all their eloquence, which smites as an earthquake smites the sea. no, slavery cannot be saved; by no compromise, no non-intervention, no mason's bill in the senate. it cannot be saved in this age of the world until you nullify every ordinance of nature, until you repeal the will of god, and dissolve the union he has made between righteousness and the welfare of a people. then, when you displace god from the throne of the world, and instead of his eternal justice, reënact the will of the devil, then you may keep slavery; keep it forever, keep it in peace. not till then. the question is, not if slavery is to cease, and soon to cease, but shall it end as it ended in massachusetts, in new hampshire, in pennsylvania, in new york; or shall it end as in st. domingo? follow the counsel of mr. webster--it will end in fire and blood. god forgive us for our cowardice, if we let it come to this, that three millions or thirty millions of degraded human beings, degraded by us, must wade through slaughter to their unalienable rights. mr. webster has spoken noble words--at plymouth, standing on the altar-stone of new england; at bunker hill, the spot so early reddened with the blood of our fathers. but at this hour, when we looked for great counsel, when we forgot the paltry things which he has often done, and said, "now he will rouse his noble soul, and be the man his early speeches once bespoke," who dared to fear that olympian head would bow so low, so deeply kiss the ground? try it morally, try it intellectually, try it by the statesman's test, world-wide justice; nay, try it by the politician's basest test, the personal expediency of to-day--it is a speech "not fit to be made," and when made, not fit to be confirmed. "we see dimly in the distance what is small and what is great, slow of faith how weak an arm may turn the iron helm of fate; but the soul is still oracular; amid the market's din, list the ominous stern whisper from the delphic cave within-- 'they enslave their children's children, who make compromise with sin.'" footnotes: [ ] mr. john quincy adams. [ ] alas, a single year taught me the folly of this confidence in boston! see no. vi. of this volume. [ ] motto of mr. webster's speech. ii. speech at the new england anti-slavery convention in boston, may , . mr. president,--if we look hastily at the present aspect of american affairs, there is much to discourage a man who believes in the progress of his race. in this republic, with the declaration of independence for its political creed, neither of the great political parties is hostile to the existence of slavery. that institution has the continual support of both the whig and democratic parties. there are now four eminent men in the senate of the united states, all of them friends of slavery. two of these are from the north, both natives of new england; but they surpass their southern rivals in the zeal with which they defend that institution, and in the concessions which they demand of the friends of justice at the north. these four men are all competitors for the presidency. not one of them is the friend of freedom; he that is apparently least its foe, is mr. benton, the senator from missouri. mr. clay, of kentucky, is less effectually the advocate of slavery than mr. webster, of massachusetts. mr. webster himself has said, "there is no north," and, to prove it experimentally, stands there as one mighty instance of his own rule. in the senate of the united states, only seward and chase and hale can be relied on as hostile to slavery. in the house, there are root and giddings, and wilmot and mann, and a few others. "but what are these among so many?" see "how it strikes a stranger." here is an extract from the letter of a distinguished and learned man,[ ] sent out here by the king of sweden to examine our public schools: "i have just returned from washington, where i have been witnessing the singular spectacle of this free and enlightened nation being buried in sorrow, on account of the death of that great advocate of slavery, mr. calhoun. mr. webster's speech seems to have made a very strong impression upon the people of the south, as i have heard it repeated almost as a lesson of the catechism by every person i have met within the slave territory. it seems now to be an established belief, that slavery is not a _malum necessarium_, still less an evil difficult to get rid of, but desirable soon to get rid of. no, far from that; it seems to be considered as quite a natural, most happy, and essentially christian institution!" not satisfied with keeping an institution which the more christian religion of the mohammedan bey of tunis has rejected as a "sin against god," we seek to extend it, to perpetuate it, even on soil which the half-civilized mexicans made clear from its pollutions. the great organs of the party politics of the land are in favor of the extension; the great political men of the land seek to extend it; the leading men in the large mercantile towns of the north--in boston, new york, and philadelphia--are also in favor of extending slavery. all this is plain. but, sir, as i come up here to this convention year after year, i find some signs of encouragement. even in the present state of things, the star of hope appears, and we may safely and reasonably say, "now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed" in anti-slavery. let us look a little at the condition of america at this moment, to see what there is to help or what to hinder us. first, i will speak of the present crisis in our affairs; then of the political parties amongst us; then of the manner in which this crisis is met; next of the foes of freedom; and last, of its friends. i will speak with all coolness, and try to speak short. by the middle of anniversary week, men get a little heated; i am sure i shall be cool, and i think i may also be dull. there must be unity of action in a nation, as well as in a man, or there cannot be harmony and welfare. as a man "cannot serve two masters" antagonistic and diametrically opposed to one another, as god and mammon, no more can a nation serve two opposite principles at the same time. now, there are two opposite and conflicting principles recognized in the political action of america: at this moment, they contend for the mastery, each striving to destroy the other. there is what i call the american idea. i so name it, because it seems to me to lie at the basis of all our truly original, distinctive and american institutions. it is itself a complex idea, composed of three subordinate and more simple ideas, namely: the idea that all men have unalienable rights; that in respect thereof, all men are created equal; and that government is to be established and sustained for the purpose of giving every man an opportunity for the enjoyment and development of all these unalienable rights. this idea demands, as the proximate organization thereof, a democracy, that is, a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government after the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of god; for shortness' sake, i will call it the idea of freedom. that is one idea; and the other is, that one man has a right to hold another man in thraldom, not for the slave's good, but for the master's convenience; not on account of any wrong the slave has done or intended, but solely for the benefit of the master. this idea is not peculiarly american. for shortness' sake, i will call this the idea of slavery. it demands for its proximate organization, an aristocracy, that is, a government of all the people by a part of the people--the masters; for a part of the people--the masters; against a part of the people--the slaves; a government contrary to the principles of eternal justice, contrary to the unchanging law of god. these two ideas are hostile, irreconcilably hostile, and can no more be compromised and made to coalesce in the life of this nation, than the worship of the real god and the worship of the imaginary devil can be combined and made to coalesce in the life of a single man. an attempt has been made to reconcile and unite the two. the slavery clauses of the constitution of the united states is one monument of this attempt; the results of this attempt--you see what they are, not order, but confusion. * * * * * we cannot have any settled and lasting harmony until one or the other of these ideas is cast out of the councils of the nation: so there must be war between them before there can be peace. hitherto, the nation has not been clearly aware of the existence of these two adverse principles; or, if aware of their existence, has thought little of their irreconcilable diversity. at the present time, this fact is brought home to our consciousness with great clearness. on the one hand, the friends of freedom set forth the idea of freedom, clearly and distinctly, demanding liberty for each man. this has been done as never before. even in the senate of the united states it has been done, and repeatedly during the present session of congress. on the other hand, the enemies of freedom set forth the idea of slavery as this has not been done in other countries for a long time. slavery has not been so lauded in any legislative body for many a year, as in the american senate in . some of the discussions remind one of the spirit which prevailed in the roman senate, a. d. , when about four hundred slaves were crucified, because their master, pedanius secundus, a man of consular dignity, was found murdered in his bed. i mean to say, the same disregard of the welfare of the slaves, the same willingness to sacrifice them--if not their lives, which are not now in peril, at least their welfare, to the convenience of their masters. anybody can read the story in tacitus,[ ] and it is worth reading, and instructive, too, at these times. here are some of the statements relative to slavery made in the thirty-first congress of the united states. hearken to the testimony of the hon. mr. badger, of north carolina: "it is clear that this institution [slavery] not only was not disapproved of, but was expressly recognized, approved, and its continuance sanctioned by the divine lawgiver of the jews." "whether an evil or not, it is not a sin; it is not a violation of the divine law. "what treatment did it receive from the founder of the gospel dispensation? it was approved, first negatively, because, in the whole new testament, there is not to be found one single word, either spoken by the saviour, or by any of the evangelists or apostles, in which that institution is either directly or indirectly condemned; and also affirmatively." this he endeavors to show, by quoting the passages from st. paul, usually quoted for that purpose. nothing would be easier than for st. paul to have said--'slaves, be obedient to your heathen masters; but i say to you, feeling masters, emancipate your slaves; the law of christ is against that relation, and you are bound, therefore, to set them at liberty.' no such word is spoken. thus far goes the hon. senator badger, of north carolina. mr. brown, of mississippi, goes further yet. he knows what some men think of slavery, and tells them, "very well, think so; but keep your thoughts to yourselves." he is not content with bidding the "freest and most enlightened nation in the world," be silent on this matter: he is not content, with mr. badger, to declare that if an evil, it is not a sin, and to find it upheld in the old testament, and allowed in the new testament; he tells us that he "regards slavery as a great moral, social, political and religious blessing--a blessing to the slave, and a blessing to the master." thus, the issue is fairly made between the two principles. the contradiction is plain. the battle between the two is open, and in sight of the world. but this is not the first time there has been a quarrel between the idea of slavery and the idea of freedom in america. the quarrel has lasted, with an occasional truce, for more than sixty years. in six battles, slavery has been victorious over freedom. . in the adoption of the constitution supporting slavery. . in the acquisition of louisiana, as slave territory. . in the acquisition of florida as slave territory. . in making the missouri compromise. . in the annexation of texas as a slave state. . in the mexican war--a war, mean and wicked, even amongst wars. since the revolution, there have been three instances of great national importance, in which freedom has overcome slavery; there have been three victories: . in prohibiting slavery from the northwest territory, before the adoption of the constitution. . in prohibiting the slave-trade in . i mean, in prohibiting the african slave-trade; the american slave-trade is still carried on in the capital of the united states. . the prohibition of slavery in oregon may be regarded as a third victory, though not apparently of so much consequence as the others. now comes another battle, and it remains to be decided whether the idea of slavery or the idea of freedom is to prevail in the territory we have conquered and stolen from mexico. the present strife is to settle that question. now, as before, it is a battle between freedom and slavery; one on which the material and spiritual welfare of millions of men depends; but now the difference between freedom and slavery is more clearly seen than in ; the consequences of each are better understood, and the sin of slavery is felt and acknowledged by a class of persons who had few representatives sixty years ago. it is a much greater triumph for slavery to prevail now, and carry its institutions into new mexico in , than it was to pass the pro-slavery provisions of the constitution in . it will be a greater sin now to extend slavery, than it was to establish it in , when slaves were first brought to virginia. ever since the adoption of the constitution, protected by that shield, mastering the energies of the nation, and fighting with that weapon, slavery has been continually aggressive. the slave-driver has coveted new soil; has claimed it; has had his claim allowed. louisiana, florida, texas, california and new mexico are the results of southern aggression. now the slave-driver reaches out his hand towards cuba, trying to clutch that emerald gem set in the tropic sea. how easy it was to surrender to great britain portions of the oregon territory in a high northern latitude! had it been south of ° ´, it would not have been so easy to settle the oregon question by a compromise. so when we make a compromise there, "the reciprocity must be all on one side." * * * * * let us next look at the position of the political parties with respect to the present crisis. there are now four political parties in the land. . there is the government party, represented by the president, and portions of his cabinet, if not the whole of it. this party does not attempt to meet the question which comes up, but to dodge and avoid it. shall freedom or slavery prevail in the new territory? is the question. the government has no opinion; it will leave the matter to be settled by the people of the territory. this party wishes california to come into the union without slavery, for it is her own desire so to come; and does not wish a territorial government to be formed by congress in new mexico, but to leave the people there to form a state, excluding or establishing slavery as they see fit. the motto of this party is inaction, not intervention. king james i. once proposed a question to the judges of england. they declined to answer it, and the king said, "if ye give no counsel, then why be ye counsellors?" the people of the united states might ask the government, "if ye give us no leading, then why be ye leaders?" this party is not hostile to slavery; not opposed to its extension. * * * * * . then there is the whig party. this party has one distinctive idea; the idea of a tariff for protection; whether for the protection of american labor, or merely american capital, i will not now stop to inquire. the whig party is no more opposed to slavery, or its extension, than the government party itself. however there are two divisions of the whigs, the whig party south, and the whig party north. the two agree in their ideas of protection, and their pro-slavery character. but the whig party south advocates slavery and protection; the whig party north, protection and slavery. in the north there are many whigs who are opposed to slavery, especially to the extension of slavery; there are also many other persons, not of the whig party, opposed to the extension of slavery; therefore in the late electioneering campaign, to secure the votes of these persons, it was necessary for the whig party north to make profession of anti-slavery. this was done accordingly, in a general form, and in special an attempt was made to show that the whig party was opposed to the extension of slavery. hear what senator chase says on this point. i read from his speech in the senate, on march , :-- "on the whig side it was urged, that the candidate of the philadelphia convention was, if not positively favorable to the proviso, at least pledged to leave the matter to congress free from executive influence, and ready to approve it when enacted by that body." general cass had written the celebrated "nicholson letter," in which he declared that congress had no constitutional power to enact the proviso. but so anxious were the democrats of the north to assume an anti-slavery aspect,--continues mr. chase,--that "notwithstanding this letter, many of his friends in the free states persisted in asserting that he would not, if elected, veto the proviso; many also insisted that he regarded slavery as excluded from the territories by the mexican laws still in force; while others maintained that he regarded slavery as an institution of positive law, and congress as constitutionally incompetent to enact such law, and that therefore it was impossible for slavery to get into the territories, whether mexican law was in force or not." this, says mr. chase, was the whig argument:-- "prohibition is essential to the certain exclusion of slavery from the territories. if the democratic candidate shall be elected, prohibition is impossible, for the veto will be used: if the whig candidate shall be elected, prohibition is certain, provided you elect a congress who will carry out your will. vote, therefore, for the whigs." such was the general argument of the whig party. let us see what it was in massachusetts in special. here i have documentary evidence. this is the statement of the whig convention at worcester in , published shortly before the election:-- "we understand the whig party to be committed in favor of the principles contained in the ordinance of , the prohibition of slavery in territory now free, and of its abolition wherever it can be constitutionally effected." they professed to aim at the same thing which the free soil party aimed at, only the work must be done by the old whig organization. free soil cloth must be manufactured, but it must be woven in the old whig mill, with the old whig machinery, and by the old whig weavers. see what the convention says of the democratic party:-- "we understand the democratic party to be pledged to decline any legislation upon the subject of slavery, with a view either to its prohibition or restriction in places where it does not exist, or to its abolition in any of the territories of the united states." there is no ambiguity in that language. men can talk very plain when they will. still there were some that doubted; so the great and famous men of the party came out to convince the doubters that the whigs were the men to save the country from the disgrace of slavery. here let me introduce the testimony of mr. choate. this which follows is from his speech at salem. he tells us the great work is, "the passage of a law to-day that california and new mexico shall remain forever free. that is ... an object of great and transcendent importance:... we should go up to the very limits of the constitution itself ... to defeat the always detested, and forever-to-be detested object of the dark ambition of that candidate of the baltimore convention, who has consented to pledge himself in advance, that he will veto the future law of freedom!" "is there a whig upon this floor who doubts that the strength of the whig party next march will extend freedom to california and new mexico, if by the constitution they are entitled to freedom at all? is there a member of congress that would not vote for freedom?" [_sancta simplicitas! ora pro nobis!_] "is there a single whig constituency, in any free state in this country, that would return any man that would not vote for freedom? do you believe that daniel webster himself could be returned, if there was the least doubt upon this question?" that is plain speech. but, to pass from the special to the particular, hear mr. webster himself. what follows is from his famous speech at marshfield, september, . "general cass (he says) will have the senate; and with the patronage of the government, with the interest that he, as a northern man, can bring to bear, coöperating with every interest that the south can bring to bear, we cry _safety_ before we are out of the woods, if we feel that there is no danger as to these new territories!" "in my judgment, the interests of the country and the feelings of a vast majority of the people require that a president of these united states shall be elected, who will neither use his official influence to promote, nor who feels any disposition in his heart to promote, the further extension of slavery in this country, and the further influence of it in the public councils." speaking of the free soil party and the buffalo platform, he says--"i hold myself to be as good a free soil man as any of the buffalo convention." of the platform he says--"i can stand upon it pretty well." "i beg to know who is to inspire into my breast a more resolute and fixed determination to resist, unyieldingly, the encroachments and advances of the slave power in this country, than has inspired it, ever since the day that i first opened my mouth in the councils of the country." if such language as this would not "deceive the very elect," what was more to the point, it was quite enough to deceive the electors. but now this language is forgotten; forgotten in general by the whig party north; forgotten in special by those who seemed to be the exponents of the whig party in massachusetts; forgotten at any rate by the nine hundred and eighty-seven men who signed the letter to mr. webster; and in particular it is forgotten by mr. webster himself, who now says that it would disgrace his own understanding to vote for the extension of the wilmot proviso over the new territory! there were some men in new england who did not believe the statements of the whig party north in , because they knew the men that uttered the sentiments of the whig party south. the leaders put their thumbs in the eyes of the people, and then said, "do you see any dough in our faces?" "no!" said the people, "not a speck." "then vote our ticket, and never say we are not hostile to slavery so long as you live." at the south, the whig party used language somewhat different. here is a sample from the new orleans bee:-- "general taylor is from birth, association, and conviction, identified with the south and her institutions; being one of the most extensive slaveholders in louisiana--and supported by the slaveholding interest, as opposed to the wilmot proviso, and in favor of securing the privilege to the owners of slaves to remove with them to newly acquired territory." * * * * * . then there is the democratic party. the distinctive idea of the democrats is represented by the word anti-protection, or revenue tariff. this party, as such, is still less opposed to slavery than the whigs; however, there are connected with it, at the north, many men who oppose the extension of slavery. this party is divided into two divisions, the democratic party south, and the democratic party north. they agree in their idea of anti-protection and slavery, differing only in the emphasis which they give to the two words. the democrats of the south say slavery and anti-protection; the democrats north, anti-protection and slavery. thus you see, that while there is a specific difference between democrats and whigs, there is also a generic agreement in the matter of slavery. according to the doctrine of elective affinities, both drop what they have a feeble affinity for, and hold on with what their stronger affinity demands. the whigs and democrats of the south are united in their attachment to slavery, not only mechanically, but by a sort of chemical union. mr. cass's nicholson letter is well known. he says congress has no constitutional right to restrict slavery in the territories. here is the difference between him and general taylor. general taylor does not interfere at all in the matter. if congress puts slavery in, he says, very well! if congress puts slavery out, he says the same, very well! but if congress puts slavery out, general cass would say, no. you shall not put it out. one has the policy of king log, the other that of king serpent. so far as that goes, log is the better king. so much for the democratic party. * * * * * . the free soil party opposes slavery so far as it is possible to do, and yet comply with the constitution of the united states. its idea is declared by its words,--no more slave territory. it does not profess to be an anti-slavery party in general, only an anti-slavery party subject to the constitution. in the present crisis in the congress of the united states, it seems to me the men who represent this idea, though not always professing allegiance to the party, have yet done the nation good and substantial service. i refer more particularly to messrs. chase, seward and hale in the senate, to messrs. root, giddings and mann in the house. those gentlemen swear to keep the constitution; in what sense and with what limitations, i know not. it is for them to settle that matter with their own consciences. i do know this, that these men have spoken very noble words against slavery; heroic words in behalf of freedom. it is not to be supposed that the free soil party, as such, has attained the same convictions as to the sin of slavery, which the anti-slavery party has long arrived at. still they may be as faithful to their convictions as any of the men about this platform. if they have less light to walk by, they have less to be accountable for. for my own part, spite of their short-comings, and of some things which to me seem wrong in the late elections in new england, i cannot help thinking they have done good as individuals, and as a party; it seems to me they have done good both ways. i will honor all manly opposition to slavery, whether it come up to my mark, or does not come near it. i will ask every man to be true to his conscience, and his reason, not to mine. in speaking of the parties, i ought not to omit to say a word or two respecting some of the most prominent men, and their position in reference to this slavery question. it is a little curious, that of all the candidates for the presidency, mr. benton, of missouri, should be the least inclined to support the pretensions of the slave power. but so it is. of mr. cass, nothing more need be said at present; his position is defined and well known. but a word must be said of mr. clay. he comes forward, as usual, with a "compromise." here it is, in the famous "omnibus bill." in one point it is not so good as the government scheme. general taylor, as the organ of the party, recommends the admission of california, as an independent measure. he does not huddle and lump it together with any other matters; and in this respect, his scheme is more favorable to freedom than the other; for mr. clay couples the admission of california with other things. but in two points mr. clay's bill has the superiority over the general's scheme. . it limits the western and northern boundaries of texas, and so reduces the territory of that state, where slavery is now established by law. yet, as i understand it, he takes off from new mexico about seventy thousand square miles, enough to make eight or ten states like massachusetts, and delivers it over to texas to be slave soil; as mr. webster says, out of the power of congress to redeem from that scourge. . it does not maintain that congress has no power to exclude slavery in admitting a new state; whereas, if i understand the president in his message, he considers such an act "an invasion of their rights."[ ] let us pass by mr. clay, and come to the other aspirant for the presidency. at the philadelphia convention, mr. webster, at the most, could only get one half the votes of new england; several of these not given in earnest, but only as a compliment to the great man from the north. now, finding his presidential wares not likely to be bought by new england, he takes them to a wider market; with what success we shall one day see. something has already been said in the newspapers and elsewhere, about mr. webster's speech. no speech ever delivered in america has excited such deep and righteous indignation. i know there are influential men in boston, and in all large towns, who must always have somebody to sustain and applaud. they some time since applauded mr. webster, for reasons very well known, and now continue their applause of him. his late speech pleases them; its worst parts please them most. all that is as was to be expected; men like what they must like. but, in the country, among the sober men of massachusetts and new england, who prize right above the political expediency of to-day, i think mr. webster's speech is read with indignation. i believe no one political act in america, since the treachery of benedict arnold, has excited so much moral indignation, as the conduct of daniel webster. but i pass by his speech, to speak of other things connected with that famous man. one of the most influential pro-slavery newspapers of boston, calls the gentlemen who signed the letter to him, the "retainers" of mr. webster. the word is well chosen and quite descriptive. this word is used in a common, a feudal, and a legal sense. in the common sense, it means one who has complete possession of the thing retained; in the feudal sense, it means a dependent or vassal, who is bound to support his liege lord; in the legal sense, it means the person who hires an attorney to do his business; and the sum given to secure his services, or prevent him from acting for the opposite party, is called a retaining fee. i take it the word "retainers," is used in the legal sense; certainly it is not in the feudal sense, for these gentlemen do not owe allegiance to mr. webster. nor is it in its common sense, for events have shown that they have not a "complete possession" of mr. webster. now, a word about this letter to him. mr. webster's retainers--nine hundred and eighty-seven in number--tell him, "you have pointed out to a whole people the path of duty, have convinced the understanding, and touched the conscience of a nation." "we desire, therefore, to express to you our entire concurrence in the sentiments of your speech, and our heartfelt thanks for the inestimable aid it has afforded towards the preservation and perpetuation of the union." they express their entire concurrence in the sentiments of his speech. in the speech, as published in the edition "revised and corrected by himself," mr. webster declares his intention to support the famous fugitive slave bill, and the amendments thereto, "with all its provisions, to the fullest extent." when the retainers express their "entire concurrence in the sentiments of the speech," they express their entire concurrence in that intention. there is no ambiguity in the language; they make a universal affirmation--(_affirmatio de omni_). now mr. webster comes out, by two agents, and recants this declaration. let me do him no injustice. he shall be heard by his next friend, who wishes to amend the record, a correspondent of the boston courier, of may th:-- "the speech now reads thus:--'my friend at the head of the judiciary committee has a bill on the subject, now before the senate, with some amendments to it, which i propose to support, with all its provisions, to the fullest extent.' changing the position of the word _which_, and the sentence would read thus:--'my friend at the head of the judiciary committee has a bill on the subject, now before the senate, which, with some amendments to it, i propose to support, with all its provisions, to the fullest extent.'" "call you that backing your friends?" really, it is too bad, after his retainers have expressed their "entire concurrence in the sentiments of the speech," for him to back out, to deny that he entertained one of the sentiments already approved of and concurred in! can it be possible, we ask, that mr. webster can resort to this device to defend himself, leaving his retainers in the lurch? it does not look like him to do such a thing. but the correspondent of the courier goes on as follows:-- "we are authorized to state, first--that mr. webster did not revise this portion of his speech, with any view to examine its exact accuracy of phrase; and second--that mr. webster, at the time of the delivery of the speech, had in his desk three amendatory sections,... and one of which provides expressly for the right of trial by jury." but who is the person "authorized to state" such a thing? professor stuart informs the public that it "comes from the hand of a man who might claim a near place to mr. webster, in respect to talent, integrity, and patriotism." still, this recantation is so unlike mr. webster, that one would almost doubt the testimony of so great an unknown as is the writer in the courier. but mr. stuart removes all doubt, and says--"i merely add, that mr. webster himself has personally assured me that his speech was in accordance with the correction here made, and that he has now in his desk the amendments to which the corrector refers." so the retainers must bear the honor, or the shame, whichsoever it may be, of volunteering the advocacy of that remarkable bill. when paul was persecuted for righteousness' sake, how easily might "the offence of the cross" have been made to cease, by a mere transposition! had he pursued that plan, he need not have been let down from the wall in a basket: he might have had a dinner given him by forty scribes, at the first hotel in jerusalem, and a doctor of the law to defend him in a pamphlet. but, alas! in mr. webster's case, admitting the transposition is real, the transubstantiation is not thereby effected; the transfer of the _which_ does not alter the character of the sentence to the requisite degree. the bill, which he volunteers to advocate, contains provisions to this effect: that the owner of a fugitive slave may seize his fugitive, and, on the warrant of any "judge, commissioner, clerk, marshal, postmaster, or collector," "residing or being" within the state where the seizure is made, the fugitive, without any trial by jury, shall be delivered up to his master, and carried out of the state. now, this is the bill which mr. webster proposes "to support, with all its provisions, to the fullest extent." let him transfer his _which_, it does not transubstantiate his statement so that he can consistently introduce a section which "provides expressly for the right of trial by jury." this attempt to evade the plain meaning of a plain statement, is too small a thing for a great man. i make no doubt that mr. webster had in his desk, at the time alleged, a bill designed to secure the trial by jury to fugitive slaves, prepared as it is set forth. but how do you think it came there, and for what purpose? last february mr. webster was intending to make a very different speech; and then, i make no doubt, it was that this bill was prepared, with the design of introducing it! but i see no reason for supposing, that when he made his celebrated speech, he intended to introduce it as an amendment to mr. mason's or butler's bill. it is said that he will present it to the senate. let us wait and see.[ ] but, since the speech at washington, mr. webster has said things at boston, almost as bad. here they are; extracts from his speech at the revere house. i quote from the report in the daily advertiser. "neither you nor i shall see the legislation of the country proceed in the old harmonious way, until the discussions in congress and out of congress upon the subject, to which you have alluded [the subject of slavery], shall be, in some way, suppressed. take that truth home with you--and take it as truth." a very pretty truth that is to take home with us, that "discussion" must be "suppressed!" again, he says:-- "sir, the question is, whether massachusetts will stand to the truth against temptation [that is the question]! whether she will be just against temptation! whether she will defend herself against her own prejudices! she has conquered every thing else in her time; she has conquered this ocean which washes her shore; she has conquered her own sterile soil; she has conquered her stern and inflexible climate; she has fought her way to the universal respect of the world; she has conquered every one's prejudices but her own. the question now is, whether she will conquer her own prejudices!" the trumpet gives no uncertain sound; but before we prepare ourselves for battle, let us see who is the foe. what are the "prejudices" massachusetts is to conquer? the prejudice in favor of the american idea; the prejudice in favor of what our fathers called self-evident truths; that all men "are endowed with certain unalienable rights;" that "all men are created equal," and that "to secure these rights, governments are instituted amongst men." these are the prejudices massachusetts is called on to conquer. there are some men who will do this "with alacrity;" but will massachusetts conquer her prejudices in favor of the "unalienable rights of man?" i think, mr. president, she will first have to forget two hundred years of history. she must efface lexington and bunker hill from her memory, and tear the old rock of plymouth out from her bosom. these are prejudices which massachusetts will not conquer, till the ocean ceases to wash her shore, and granite to harden her hills. massachusetts has conquered a good many things, as mr. webster tells us. i think there are several other things we shall try our hand upon, before we conquer our prejudice in favor of the unalienable rights of man. there is one pleasant thing about this position of mr. webster. he is alarmed at the fire which has been kindled in his rear. he finds "considerable differences of opinion prevail ... on the subject of that speech," and is "grateful to receive ... opinions so decidedly concurring with" his own,--so he tells the citizens of newburyport. he feels obliged to do something to escape the obloquy which naturally comes upon him. so he revises his speech; now supplying an omission, now altering a little; authorizes another great man to transpose his relative pronoun, and anchor it fast to another antecedent; appeals to amendments in the senatorial desk, designed to secure a jury trial for fugitive slaves; derides his opponents, and compares them with the patriots of ancient times. here is his letter to the citizens of newburyport--a very remarkable document. it contains some surprising legal doctrines, which i leave others to pass upon. but in it he explains the fugitive slave law of , which does not "provide for the trial of any question whatever by jury, in the state in which the arrest is made." "at that time," nobody regarded any of the provisions of that bill as "repugnant to religion, liberty, the constitution, or humanity;" and he has "no more objections to the provisions of this law, than was seen to them" by the framers of the law itself. if he sees therein nothing "repugnant to religion, liberty, the constitution, or humanity," then why transpose that relative pronoun, and have an amendment "which provides expressly for the right of trial by jury?" "in order to allay excitement," he answers, "and remove objections." "there are many difficulties, however, attending any such provision [of a jury trial]; and a main one, and perhaps the only insuperable one, has been created by the states themselves, by making it a penal offence in their own officers, to render any aid in apprehending or securing such fugitives, and absolutely refusing the use of their jails for keeping them in custody, till a jury could be impanelled, witnesses summoned, and a regular trial be had." think of that! it is massachusetts, pennsylvania, ohio, and new york, which prohibit the fugitive from getting a trial for his freedom, before a jury of twelve good men and true! but mr. webster goes on: "it is not too much to say, that to these state laws is to be attributed the actual and practical denial of trial by jury in these cases." generally, the cause is thought to precede the effect, but here is a case in which, according to mr. webster, the effect has got the start of the cause, by more than fifty years. the fugitive slave law of congress, which allowed the master to capture the runaway, was passed in ; but the state laws he refers to, to which "is to be attributed the actual and practical denial of trial by jury in these cases," were not passed till after . "to what base uses may we come at last!" mr. webster would never have made such a defence of his pro-slavery conduct, had he not been afraid of the fire in his rear, and thought his retainers not able to put it out. he seems to think this fire is set in the name of religion: so, to help us "conquer our prejudices," he cautions us against the use of religion, and quotes from the private letter of "one of the most distinguished men in england," dated as late as the th of january--"religion is an excellent thing in every matter except in politics: there it seems to make men mad." in this respect, it seems religion is inferior to money, for the proverbs tell us that money "answereth all things;" religion, it seems, "answereth all things," except politics. poor mr. webster! if religion is not good in politics, i suppose irreligion is good there; and, really, it is often enough introduced there. so, if religion "seems to make men mad" in politics, i suppose irreligion makes them sober in politics. but mr. webster, fresh from his transposition of his own relative, explains this: his friend ascribes the evils not to "true and genuine religion," but to "that fantastic notion of religion." so, making the transposition, it would read thus: "that fantastical notion of religion," "is an excellent thing in any matter except politics." alas! mr. webster does not expound his friend's letter, nor his own language, so well as he used to expound the constitution. but he says, "the religion of the new testament is as sure a guide to duty in politics, as in any other concern of life." so, in the name of "conscience and the constitution," professor stuart comes forward to defend mr. webster, "by the religion of the new testament; that religion which is founded on the teachings of jesus and his apostles." how are the mighty fallen! mr. webster makes a "great speech," lending his mighty influence to the support and extension of slavery, with all its attendant consequences, which paralyze the hand of industry, enfeeble the thinking mind, and brutify the conscience which should discern between right and wrong; nine hundred and eighty-seven of his retainers in boston, thank him for reminding them of their duty. but still the fire in his rear is so hot, that he must come on to boston, talk about having discussion suppressed, and ask massachusetts to conquer her prejudices. that is not enough. he must go up to andover, and get a minister to defend him, in the name of "conscience and the constitution," supporting slavery out of the old testament and new testament. "to what mean uses may we not descend!" there is a "short and easy method" with professor stuart, and all other men who defend slavery out of the bible. if the bible defends slavery, it is not so much the better for slavery, but so much the worse for the bible. if mr. stuart and mr. webster do not see that, there are plenty of obscurer men that do. of all the attacks ever made on the bible, by "deists" and "infidels," none would do so much to bring it into disrepute, as to show that it sanctioned american slavery. it is rather a remarkable fact, that an orthodox minister should be on mr. webster's paper, endorsing for the christianity of slavery. let me say a word respecting the position of the representative from boston. i speak only of his position, not of his personal character. let him, and all men, have the benefit of the distinction between their personal character, and official conduct. mr. winthrop is a consistent whig; a representative of the idea of the whig party north, protection and slavery. when he first went into congress, it was distinctly understood that he was not going to meddle with the matter of slavery; the tariff was the thing. all this was consistent. it is to be supposed that a northern whig will put the mills of the north before the black men of the south: and "property before persons," might safely be writ on the banner of the whig party, north or south. mr. winthrop seems a little uneasy in his position. some time ago he complained of a "nest of vipers" in boston, who had broken their own teeth in gnawing a file; meaning the "vipers" in the free soil party, i suppose, whose teeth, however, have a little edge still left on them. he finds it necessary to define his position, and show that he has kept up his communication with the base-line of operations from which he started. this circumstance is a little suspicious. unlike mr. webster, mr. winthrop seems to think religion is a good thing in politics, for in his speech of may th, he says--"i acknowledge my allegiance to the whole constitution of the united states.... and whenever i perceive a plain conflict of jurisdiction and authority between the constitution of my country and the laws of my god, my course is clear. i shall resign my office, whatever it may be, and renounce all connection with public service of any sort." that is fair and manly. he will not hold a position under the constitution of the united states which is inconsistent with the constitution of the universe. but he says--"there are provisions in the constitution [of the united states, he means, not of the universe], which involve us in painful obligations, and from which some of us would rejoice to be relieved; and this [the restoration of fugitive slaves], is one of them. but there is none, none, in my judgment, which involves any conscientious or religious difficulty." so he has no "conscientious or religious" objection to return a fugitive slave. he thinks the constitution of the united states "avoids the idea that there can be property in man," but recognizes "that there may be property in the service or labor of man." but when it is property in the service of man without value received by the servant, and a claim which continues to attach to a man and his children forever, it looks very like the idea of property in man. at any rate, there is only a distinction in the words, no difference in the things. to claim the sum of the accidents, all and several of a thing, is practically to claim the thing. mr. winthrop once voted for the wilmot proviso, in its application to the oregon territory. some persons have honored him for it, and even contended that he also was a free soiler. he wipes off that calumny by declaring, that he attached that proviso to the oregon bill for the purpose of defeating the bill itself. "this proviso was one of the means upon which i mainly relied for the purpose." "there can be little doubt," he says, "that this clause had its influence in arresting the bill in the other end of the capitol," where it was "finally lost." that is his apology for appearing to desire to prevent the extension of slavery. it is worth while to remember this. unlike mr. webster, he thinks slavery may go into new mexico. "we may hesitate to admit that nature has everywhere [in the new territory] settled the question against slavery." still he would not now pass the proviso to exclude slavery. it "would ... unite the south as one man, and if it did not actually rend the union asunder, would create an alienation and irritation in that quarter of the country, which would render the union hardly worth preserving." "is there not ample reason for an abatement of the northern tone, for a forbearance of northern urgency upon this subject, without the imputation of tergiversation and treachery?" here i am reminded of a remarkable sentence in mr. webster's speech at marshfield, in relation to the northern men who helped to annex texas. here it is:-- "for my part, i think that dough-faces is an epithet not sufficiently reproachful. now, i think such persons are dough-faces, dough-heads, and dough-souls, that they are all dough; that the coarsest potter may mould them at pleasure to vessels of honor or dishonor, but most readily to vessels of dishonor." the representative from boston, in the year , has small objection to the extension of slave soil. hearken to his words:-- "i can never put the question of extending slave soil on the same footing with one of directly increasing slavery and multiplying slaves. if a positive issue could ever again be made up for our decision, whether human beings, few or many, of whatever race, complexion or condition, should be freshly subjected to a system of hereditary bondage, and be changed from free men into slaves, i can conceive that no bonds of union, no ties of interest, no cords of sympathy, no consideration of past glory, present welfare, or future grandeur, should be suffered to interfere, for an instant, with our resolute and unceasing resistance to a measure so iniquitous and abominable. there would be a clear, unquestionable moral element in such an issue, which would admit of no compromise, no concession, no forbearance whatever.... a million of swords would leap from their scabbards to assert it, and the union itself would be shivered like a prince rupert's dress in the shock. "but, sir, the question whether the institution of slavery, as it already exists, shall be permitted to extend itself over a hundred or a hundred thousand more square miles than it now occupies, is a different question.... it is not, in my judgment, such an issue that conscientious and religious men may not be free to acquiesce in whatever decision may be arrived at by the constituted authorities of the country.... it is not with a view of cooping up slavery ... within limits too narrow for its natural growth;... it is not for the purpose of girding it round with lines of fire, till its sting, like that of the scorpion, shall be turned upon itself,... that i have ever advocated the principles of the ordinance of ." mr. mann, i think, is still called a whig, but no member of the free soil party has more readily or more ably stood up against the extension of slavery. his noble words stand in marvellous contrast to the discourse of the representative from boston. mr. mann represents the country, and not the "metropolis." his speech last february, and his recent letter to his constituents, are too well known, and too justly prized, to require any commendation here. but i cannot fail to make a remark on a passage in the letter. he says, if we allow mr. clay's compromise to be accepted, "were it not for the horrible consequences which it would involve, a roar of laughter, like a _feu de joie_, would run down the course of the ages." he afterwards says--"should the south succeed in their present attempt upon the territories, they will impatiently await the retirement of general taylor from the executive chair to add the 'state of cuba' ... to this noble triumph." one is a little inclined to start such a laugh himself at the idea of the south waiting for that event before they undertake that plan! mr. mann says: "if no moral or religious obligation existed against holding slaves, would not many of those opulent and respectable gentlemen who signed the letter of thanks to mr. webster, and hundreds of others, indeed, instead of applying to intelligence offices for domestics, go at once to the auction room, and buy a man or a woman with as little hesitancy or compunction as they now send to brighton for beeves?" this remark has drawn on him some censures not at all merited. there are men enough in boston, who have no objection to slavery. i know such men, who would have been glad if slavery had been continued here. are boston merchants unwilling to take mortgages on plantations and negroes? do northern men not acquire negroes by marrying wealthy women at the south, and keep the negroes as slaves? if the truth could be known, i think it would appear that dr. palfrey had lost more reputation in boston than he gained, by emancipating the human beings which fell to his lot. but here is a story which i take from the boston republican. it is worth preserving as a monument of the morals of boston in , and may be worth preserving at the end of the century:-- "a year or two since, a bright-looking mulatto youth, about twenty years of age, and whose complexion was not much, if any, darker than that of the great 'expounder of the constitution,' entered the counting-room, on some errand for his master, a kentuckian, who was making a visit here. a merchant on one of our principal wharves, who came in and spoke to him, remarked to the writer that he once owned this 'boy' and his mother, and sold them for several hundred dollars. upon my expressing astonishment to him that he could thus deal in human flesh, he remarked that 'when you are among the romans, you must do as the romans do.' i know of others of my northern acquaintances, and good whigs too, who have owned slaves at the south, and who, if public opinion warranted it, would be as likely, i presume, to buy and sell them at the north." i have yet to learn that the controlling men of this city have any considerable aversion to domestic slavery.[ ] mr. mann's zeal in behalf of freedom, and against the extension of slavery, has drawn upon him the indignation of mr. webster, who is grieved to see him so ignorant of american law. but mr. mann is able to do his own fighting. * * * * * so much for the political parties and their relation to the matters at issue at this moment. still, there is some reason to hope that the attempt to extend slavery, made in the face of the world, and supported by such talent, will yet fail; that it will bring only shame on the men who aim to extend and perpetuate so foul a blight. the fact that mr. webster's retainers must come to the rescue of their attorney; that himself must write letters to defend himself, and must even obtain the services of a clergyman to help him--this shows the fear that is felt from the anti-slavery spirit of the north. depend upon it, a politician is pretty far gone when he sends for the minister, and he thinks his credit failing when he gets a clergyman on his paper to indorse for the christian character of american slavery. here i ought to speak of the party not politicians, who contend against slavery not only beyond the limits of the constitution, but within those limits; who are opposed not only to the extension, but to the continuance of slavery; who declare that they will keep no compromises which conflict with the eternal laws of god,--of the anti-slavery party. mr. president, if i were speaking to whigs, to democrats, or to free soil men, perhaps i might say what i think of this party, of their conduct, and their motives; but, sir, i pass it by, with the single remark, that i think the future will find this party where they have always been found. i have before now attempted to point out the faults of this party, and before these men; that work i will not now attempt a second time, and this is not the audience before which i choose to chant its praises. * * * * * there are several forces which oppose the anti-slavery movement at this day. here are some of the most important. the demagogues of the parties are all or nearly all against it. by demagogue i mean the man who undertakes to lead the people for his own advantage, to the harm and loss of the people themselves. all of this class of men, or most of them, now support slavery--not, as i suppose, because they have any special friendship for it, but because they think it will serve their turn. some noble men in politics are still friends of the slave. the demagogues of the churches must come next. i am not inclined to attribute so much original power to the churches as some men do. i look on them as indications of public opinion, and not sources thereof--not the wind, but only the vane which shows which way it blows. once the clergy were the masters of the people, and the authors of public opinion to a great degree; now they are chiefly the servants of the people, and follow public opinion, and but seldom aspire to lead it, except in matters of their own craft, such as the technicalities of a sect, or the form of a ritual. they may lead public opinion in regard to the "posture in prayer," to the "form of baptism," and the like. in important matters which concern the welfare of the nation, the clergy have none or very little weight. still, as representatives of public opinion, we really find most of the clergy, of all denominations, arrayed against the cause of eternal justice. i pass over this matter briefly, because it is hardly necessary for me to give any opinion on the subject. but i am glad to add, that in all denominations here in new england, and perhaps in all the north, there are noble men, who apply the principles of justice to this question of the nation, and bear a manly testimony in the midst of bad examples. some of the theological newspapers have shown a hostility to slavery and an attachment to the cause of liberty which few men expected; which were quite unknown in those quarters before. to do full justice to men in the sects who speak against this great and popular sin of the nation, we ought to remember that it is harder for a minister than for almost any other man to become a reformer. it is very plain that it is not thought to belong to the calling of a minister, especially in a large town, to oppose the actual and popular sins of his time. so when i see a minister yielding to the public opinion which favors unrighteousness, and passing by, in silence and on the other side, causes which need and deserve his labors and his prayers, i remember what he is hired for, and paid for,--to represent the popular form of religion; if that be idolatry, to represent that. but when i see a minister oppose a real sin which is popular, i cannot but feel a great admiration for the man. we have lately seen some examples of this. yet, on the other side, there are some very sad examples of the opposite. here comes forward a man of high standing in the new england churches, a man who has done real service in promoting a liberal study of matters connected with religion, and defends slavery out of what he deems the "infallible word of god,"--the old testament and new testament. well, if christianity supports american slavery, so much the worse for christianity, that is all. perhaps i ought not to say, _if_ christianity supports slavery. we all know it does not, never did, and never can. but if paul was an apologist for slavery, so much the worse for paul. if calvinism or catholicism supports slavery, so much the worse for them, not so much the better for slavery! i can easily understand the conduct of the leaders of the new york mob: considering the character of the men, their ignorance and general position, i can easily suppose they may have thought they were doing right in disturbing the meetings there. considering the apathy of the public authorities, and the attempt, openly made by some men,--unluckily of influence in that city,--to excite others to violence, i have a good deal of charity for rynders and his gang. but it is not so easy to excuse the conspicuous ecclesiastical defenders of slavery. they cannot plead their ignorance. let them alone, to make the best defence they can. the toryism of america is also against us. i call that man a tory, who prefers the accidents of man to the substance of manhood. i mean one who prefers the possessions and property of mankind to man himself, to reason and to justice. of this toryism we have much in america, much in new england, much in boston. in this town, i cannot but think the prevailing influence is still a tory influence. it is this which is the support of the demagogues of the state and the church. toryism exists in all lands. in some, there is a good deal of excuse to be made for it. i can understand the toryism of the duke of medina sidonia, and of such men. if a man has been born to great wealth and power, derived from ancestors for many centuries held in admiration and in awe; if he has been bred to account himself a superior being, and to be treated accordingly, i can easily understand the toryism of such a man, and find some excuse for it. i can understand the tory literature of other nations. the toryism of the "london quarterly," of "blackwood," is easily accounted for, and forgiven. it is, besides, sometimes adorned with wit, and often set off by much learning. it is respectable toryism. but the toryism of men who only know they had a grandfather by inference, not by positive testimony; who inherited nothing but their bare limbs; who began their career as tradesmen or mechanics,--mechanics in divinity or law as well as in trade,--and get their bread by any of the useful and honorable callings of life--that such men, getting rich, or lifting their heads out of the obscurity they were once in, should become tories, in a land, too, where institutions are founded on the idea of freedom and equity and natural justice--that is another thing. the toryism of american journals, with little scholarship, with no wit, and wisdom in homoeopathic doses; the toryism of a man who started from nothing, the architect of his own fortune; the toryism of a republican, of a yankee, the toryism of a snob,--it is toryism reduced to its lowest denomination, made vulgar and contemptible; it is the little end of the tail of toryism. let us loathe the unclean thing in the depth of our soul, but let us pity the poor tory; for he, also, in common with the negro slave, is "a man and a brother." then the spirit of trade is often against us. mr. mann, in his letter, speaks of the opposition made to wilberforce by the "guinea merchants" of liverpool, in his attempts to put an end to the slave-trade. the corporation of liverpool spent over ten thousand pounds in defence of a traffic, "the worst the sun ever shone upon." this would seem to be a reflection upon some of the merchants of boston. it seems, from a statement in the atlas, that mr. mann did not intend his remarks to apply to boston, but to new york and philadelphia, where mass meetings of merchants had been held, to sustain mr. clay's compromise resolutions. although mr. mann did not apply his remarks to boston, i fear they will apply here as well as to our sister cities. i have yet to learn that the letter of mr. webster's retainers was any less well adapted to continue and extend slavery, than the resolutions passed at new york and philadelphia. i wish the insinuations of mr. mann did not apply here. one of the signers of the letter to mr. webster incautiously betrayed, i think, the open secret of the retainers when he said--"i don't care a damn how many slave states they annex!" this is a secret, because not avowed; open, because generally known, or at least believed, to be the sentiment of a strong party in massachusetts. i am glad to have it also expressed; now the issue is joined, and we do not fight in the dark. it has long been suspected that some inhabitants of boston were engaged in the slave-trade. not long since, the brig "lucy anne," of boston, was captured on the coast of africa, with five hundred and forty-seven slaves on board. this vessel was built at thomaston in ; repaired at boston in , and now hails from this port. she was commanded by one "captain otis," and is owned by one "salem charles." this, i suppose, is a fictitious name, for certainly it would not be respectable in boston to extend slavery in this way. even mr. winthrop is opposed to that, and thinks "a million swords would leap from their scabbards to oppose it." but it may be that there are men in boston who do not think it any worse to steal men who were born free, and have grown up free in africa, and make slaves of them, than to steal such as are born free in america, before they are grown up. if we have the old testament decidedly sustaining slavery, and the new testament never forbidding it; if, as we are often told, neither jesus nor his early followers ever said a word against slavery; if scarcely a christian minister in boston ever preaches against this national sin; if the representative from boston has no religious scruples against returning a fugitive slave, or extending slavery over a "hundred or a hundred thousand square miles" of new territory; if the great senator from massachusetts refuses to vote for the wilmot proviso, or reaffirm an ordinance of nature, and reënact the will of god; if he calls on us to return fugitive slaves "with alacrity," and demands of massachusetts that she shall conquer her prejudices; if nine hundred and eighty-seven men in this vicinity, of lawful age,[ ] are thankful to him for enlightening them as to their duty, and a professor of theology comes forward to sanction american slavery in the name of religion--why, i think mr. "salem charles," with his "captain otis," may not be the worst man in the world, after all! let us pity him also, as "a man and a brother." * * * * * such is the crisis in our affairs; such the special issue in the general question between freedom and slavery; such the position of parties and of great men in relation to this question; such the foes to freedom in america. on our side, there are great and powerful allies. the american idea is with us; the spirit of the majority of men in the north, when they are not blindfolded and muzzled by the demagogues of state and church. the religion of the land, also, is on our side; the irreligion, the idolatry, the infidelity thereof, all of that is opposed to us. religion is love of god and love of man: surely, all of that, under any form, catholic or quaker, is in favor of the unalienable rights of man. we know that we are right; we are sure to prevail. but in times present and future, as in times past, we need heroism, self-denial, a continual watchfulness, and an industry which never tires. let us not be deceived about the real question at issue. it is not merely whether we shall return fugitive slaves without trial by jury. we will not return them with trial by jury! neither "with alacrity," nor "with the solemnity of judicial proceedings!" it is not merely whether slavery shall be extended or not. by and by there will be a political party with a wider basis than the free soil party, who will declare that the nation itself must put an end to slavery in the nation; and if the constitution of the united states will not allow it, there is another constitution that will. then the title, defender and expounder of the constitution of the united states, will give way to this,--"defender and expounder of the constitution of the universe," and we shall reaffirm the ordinance of nature, and reënact the will of god. you may not live to see it, mr. president, nor i live to see it; but it is written on the iron leaf that it must come; come, too, before long. then the speech of mr. webster, and the defence thereof by mr. stuart, the letter of the retainers and the letters of the retained, will be a curiosity; the conduct of the whigs and democrats an amazement, and the peculiar institution a proverb amongst all the nations of the earth. in the turmoil of party politics, and of personal controversy, let us not forget continually to move the previous question, whether freedom or slavery is to prevail in america. there is no attribute of god which is not on our side; because, in this matter, we are on the side of god. mr. president: i began by congratulating you on the favorable signs of the times. one of the most favorable is the determination of the south to use the powers of government to extend slavery. at this day, we exhibit a fact worse than christendom has elsewhere to disclose; the fact that one sixth part of our population are mere property; not men, but things. england has a proletary population, the lowest in europe; we have three million of proletaries lower than the "pauper laborers" of england, which the whig protectionists hold up to us in terror. the south wishes to increase the number of slaves, to spread this blot, this blight and baneful scourge of civilization over new territory. hot-headed men of the south declare that, unless it is done, they will divide the union; famous men of the north "cave in," and verify their own statements about "dough-faces" and "dough-souls." all this is preaching anti-slavery to the thinking men of the north; to the sober men of all parties, who prefer conscience to cotton. the present session of congress has done much to overturn slavery. "whom the gods destroy they first make mad." footnotes: [ ] mr. silgeström. [ ] annal. lib. xiv. cap. , _et seq._ [ ] executive documents: house of representatives, no. , p. . [ ] since the delivery of the above, mr. webster has introduced his bill, providing a trial by jury for fugitive slaves. if i understand it, mr. webster does not offer it as a substitute for the judiciary bill on the subject, does not introduce it as an amendment to that or to any thing else. nay, he does not formally introduce it--only lays it before the senate, with the desire that it may be printed! the effect it is designed to produce, it is very easy to see. the retainers can now say--see! mr. webster himself wishes to provide a trial by jury for fugitives! some of the provisions of the bill are remarkable, but they need not be dwelt on here. [ ] while this is passing through the press, i learn that several wealthy citizens of boston are at this moment owners of several hundreds of slaves. i think they would lose reputation among their fellows if they should set them free. [ ] it has since appeared that several of those persons were at the time, and still are, holders of slaves. their conduct need excite no surprise. iii. a discourse occasioned by the death of the late president taylor.--preached at the melodeon, july , . last sunday, on a day near the national anniversary, something was said of the relation which the american citizen bears to the state, and of the duties and rights which belong to that relation. since then an event has occurred which suggests another topic of a public nature, and so i invite your attention to a discourse of the general position and duties of an american ruler, and in special of the late president taylor. it is no pleasant task to rise to speak so often on such themes as this, but let us see what warning or guidance we can gather from this occasion. * * * * * in order that a man should be competent to become a complete political ruler and head of the american people, he ought to be distinguished above other men in three particulars. first, he ought to have just political ideas in advance of the people, ideas not yet organized into institutions in the state. then he will be a leader in ideas. next, he ought to have a superior power of organizing those ideas, of putting them into institutions in the state. then he will be a leader in the matter of organizing ideas. then he ought to have a superior power of administering the institutions after they are made. then he will be a leader in the matter of administering institutions. an eminent degree of these three qualities constitutes genius for statesmanship, genius, too, of a very high order. a man who really and efficiently leads in politics must possess some or all of these qualities; without them, or any of them, he can only seem to lead. he and the people both may think he is the leader, and call him so; but he that shall lead others aright, must himself be on the right road and in advance of them. to perform the functions of a leader of men, the man must be eminently just also, true to the everlasting right, the law of god; otherwise he can never possess in the highest degree, or in a competent degree, the power of ideas, of organization, of administration. a man eminently just, and possessing these three qualities is a leader by nature; if he is also put into the conventional position of leader, then he bears the same relation to the people, which the captain of a ship, skilful and competent, would bear to the ship's company who were joint owners with him, and had elected him to his office, expecting that he would serve them as captain while he held the office of captain. the complete and perfect leader must be able to originate just political ideas, to organize them justly, to administer the organization with justice. but these three powers are seldom united in the same man; so, practically, the business of leading, and therefore of ruling, is commonly distributed amongst many persons; not concentrated in one man's hands. i think we have as yet had no statesman in america who has enjoyed each and all of these three talents in an eminent degree. no man is so rich as mankind. any one of them is a great gift, entitling the man to distinction; but the talent for administration is not very rare. it is not difficult to find a man of good administrative ability with no power to invent, none to organize the inventions of other men. how many men can work all day with oxen yoked to a plough; how few could invent a plough or tame wild cattle. it is not hard to find men capable of managing political machinery, of holding the national plough and conducting the national team, when both are in the field, and there is the old furrow to serve as guide. that is all we commonly look for in an american politician. he is to follow the old constitutional furrow, and hold the old plough, and scatter a little democratic or whig seed, furnished by his party, not forgetting to give them the handsel of the crop. that is all we commonly look for in an american politician, leaving it for some bright but obscure man in the mass of the people to discover a new idea, and to devise the mode of its organization. then the politician, perched aloft on his high place and conspicuous, holds the string of the kite which some unknown men have thought out, made up, and hoisted with great labor; he appears to be the great man because he sits and holds the string, administering the kite, and men look up and say, "see there, what a great man he is! is not this the foremost man of the age?" in this way the business of ruling the nation is made a matter of mere routine, not of invention or construction. the ruler is to tend the public mill; not to make it, or to mend it; not to devise new and better mills, not even to improve the old one. we may be thankful if he does not abuse and leave it worse than he found it. he is not to gather the dam, only to shut the gate at the right time, and at the right time open it; to take sufficient toll of all comers, and now and then make a report of the grinding, or of what he sees fit to communicate to the owners of the mill. as it is a part of the written constitution of the land that all money bills shall originate with the house of representatives, so it is a part of the unwritten custom that political ideas in advance of the people shall not originate with the nominal rulers of the nation, but elsewhere. one good thing results from this: we are not much governed, but much let alone. the american form of government has some great merits; this i esteem the greatest; that it lets the people alone so much. in forming ourselves into a state, we agreed with one another not to meddle and make politically with individuals so much as other nations had done. it is a long time since we have had a man of large genius for politics at the head of affairs in america. i think we could not mention more than one who had any genius for just political ideas in advance of the people. skilful administrators we have had in great abundance in politics as in other matters. nature herself seems democratic in her action here, and all our great movements appear to be brought about by natural power diffused amongst many men of talent, not by natural power condensed into a single man of genius. so long as this is the case, the present method of letting alone is the best one. the american nation has marched on without much pioneering on the part of its official rulers, no one of them for a long time being much in advance of the million; and while it is so it is certainly best that the million are very much left to themselves. but if we could have a man as much in advance of the people in all these three qualities, and especially in the chief quality--as the skilful projector of a cotton mill is in advance of the girls who tend the looms, in all that relates to the projection of a cotton mill,--then we should know what it was to have a real leader, a ruler who could be the schoolmaster of the nation, not ruling over our bodies by fear, but in the spirit of love, setting us lessons which we could not have devised, nor even understand without his help; one who preserves all the good of the old, and adds thereto much new good not seen before, and so instructs and helps forward the people. but as the good god has not sent such a man, and he is not to be made by men, only found, nor in the least helped in any of those three qualities by all the praise we can pour on him; so it comes to pass that an ordinary ruler is a person of no very great consequence. his importance is official and not personal, and as only the person dies, not the office, the death of such an one is not commonly an affair of much significance. suppose after mr. tyler or mr. polk had taken the oath of office, he had appointed a common clerk, a man of routine and experience, as his factotum, with power to affix the presidential name to necessary documents, and then had quietly and in silence departed from this life, how much would the nation have lost? a new and just political idea; an organization thereof? no such thing. if the public press had kept the secret, we should not have found out their death till this time. the obscure clerk could tend the mill as well as his famous master who would not be missed. louis xiv. said, "the state! that is i." he was the state. so when the ruler dies, the state is in peril. if the king of prussia, the emperor of russia or austria, or the pope of rome were to die, there would be a revolution, and nobody knows what would come of it; for there the ruler is master of the people, who are subjects, not citizens, and the old master dying, it is not easy to yoke the people to the chariot of a new one. here the people are the state; and though the power of general taylor was practically greater than that of any monarch in europe, save nicholas, william, and ferdinand, yet at his death all the power passes into the hands of his successor, with no noise, no tumult, not even the appearance of a street constable. i think that was a sublime sight--the rule over twenty millions of people, jealous of their rights, silently, by due course of law, passes into the hands of another man at dead of night, and the next morning the nation is just as safe, just as quiet and secure as before, no fear of change perplexing them. that was a sublime sight--one of the fair things which comes of a democracy. here the ruler is servant, and the people master; so the death of a president, like mr. van buren, or any of his successors, harrison or tyler or polk, would really have been a very unimportant event; not so momentous as the death of one of the ablest doctors in boston, for should the physician die, your chance of life is diminished by that fact. if dr. channing had died at the age of forty, before he wrote his best works, his death would have been a greater calamity than that of any or all of the four presidents just named, as soon as their inaugural address was delivered; for dr. channing had some truths to tell, which there was nobody else to deliver at that time. no president since jefferson, i think, has done the nation so much good as the opening of the erie canal in new york, or the chief railroads in massachusetts, or the building up of any one of the half dozen large manufacturing towns in new england. mr. cunard, in establishing his line of atlantic steamers, did more for america than any president for five-and-twenty years. the discovery of the properties of sulphuric ether, the devising of the magnetic telegraph, was of more advantage to this nation, than the service of any president for a long time. i think i could mention a few men in boston, any one of whom has been of more service than four or five presidents; and, accordingly, the death of any one of those would be a greater calamity than the demise of all those presidents the day after election. with us the president is only one spoke in the wheel, and if that is broken we always have a spare spoke on hand, and the wheel is so made that without stopping the mill, the new spoke drops into the place of the old one and no one knows the change till told thereof. if mr. polk had really been the ablest man in the land, a creator and an organizer, his death would have been a public calamity, and the whole nation would have felt it, as boston or new york would feel the loss of one of its ablest manufacturers or merchants, lawyers or doctors. that would deprive us of the services of a man which could not be supplied. we have always spare men of routine, but not spare men of genius. dr. channing has been missed ever since his death, and the churches of boston, poor enough before, are the poorer for his absence. so has john quincy adams, old as he was, been missed in the house of representatives. the enemy of freedom may well rejoice that his voice is still. but who misses general harrison or mr. polk? what interest languishes in consequence of their departure? what idea, what right, lost thereby a defender? if sir robert peel were to die, the british nation would feel the loss. we attach a false importance to the death of a president. great calamities were apprehended at the death of general harrison. but what came? whigs went out of office and democrats went into office. had jefferson died before the declaration of independence, or washington any time after it, or before the termination of his official service, or john adams before the end of the war, that would have been a great calamity; for i know not where we should have found another jefferson, to see so distinctly, and write down so plain the great american idea, or another washington to command an army without money, without provisions, without hats and shoes, as that man did. the death of samuel adams, in , would have been a terrible misfortune to america. but the death of general harrison only made a change in the cabinet, not in the country; it affected the politicians more than the people. we are surrounded in the world with nations ruled by kings, who are the masters of the people; hard masters too! when they die the people mourn, not always very wisely, not always sincerely, but always with ceremony. the mourning for george iv. and william iv. in england, i doubt not, was more splendid and imposing than that for edward the confessor and oliver cromwell; and that for louis xv. outdid that for henry iv. in a monarchy, men always officially mourn their king, whether it be king log, or king snake, or king christian; we follow the example of those states. if some of the men, whose death would be the greatest calamity, should die, the newspapers would not go into mourning; we should not have a day of fasting set apart; no minister would think it "an inscrutable providence;" only a few plain country people would come together and take up the dust, disenchanted of the genius which gave it power over other and animated clay, to lay it down in the ground. there would be no catafalques in the street; but the upper mountain-tops would miss that early sun which kissed their foreheads, while all below the world was wrapped in drowsy mist, and the whole race of man would be losers by the fading out of so much poetry, or truth, or justice, love and faith. * * * * * the office of president of the united states is undeniably one of great importance. if you put in it a great man, one with ability to invent, to organize and to administer, he has a better opportunity to serve mankind than most kings of europe. i know of no position in the world more desirable for a really great man, a man with a genius for statesmanship, a million-minded man, than to take this young, daring, hopeful nation, so full of promise, so ready for work, and lead them forward in the way of political righteousness, giving us ideas, persuading us to build institutions thereof, and make the high thought of a man of genius the common life of a mighty nation, young as yet and capable of taking any lesson of national nobility which the most gifted man can devise; to be the ruler, not over russian serfs, but american freemen, citizens, not subjects; to be the schoolmaster for twenty millions, and they such promising pupils, loving hard lessons; and the men that set them, the most enterprising race of persons in the world, who have already learned something of christianity and the idea of personal freedom,--why that is a noble ambition. i do not wonder that a man of great powers should covet this great position, and feel a noble dissatisfaction and unrest until he found himself there, gravitating towards it as naturally as the mississippi to the ocean. put in it such men as i point to, one with the intellect of a webster, the conscience of a channing, the philanthropy of much humbler men; let him aim at the welfare of the nation and mankind; let him have just political ideas in advance of the nation, and, in virtue thereof, ability to solve the terrible social and political questions of this age; careless of his popularity and reputation, but careful of his conscience and his character, let him devote himself to the work of leading this people, and what an office is that of president of the united states in the middle of the nineteenth century! he would make this nation a society for mutual improvement twenty millions strong; not king log, not king stork, but king good-man, king christian if you will, he would do us a service, dignifying an office which was itself a dignity. but if it be so noble for such a man, working with such an aim, for such an end; when a little man is in that office, with no ideas in advance of the people, and incapable of understanding such as have them; with no ability to organize the political ideas not yet organized, and applied to life; a man of routine; not ruling for the nation, but the ruler of a party and for a party, his ambition only to serve the party; an ordinary man, surrounding himself with other ordinary men; with ordinary habits, ordinary aims, ordinary means, and aiming at the ordinary ends of an adventurer; careless of his conscience and character, but careful of his party-popularity and temporary reputation,--why the office becomes painful to think of; and the officer, his state is not kingly, it is vulgar and mean, and low! so the lighthouse on the rocks of boston harbor, is a pleasant thing to see and to imagine, with its great lamp looking far out to sea, and shining all night long, a star of special providence; seen afar off, when stormy skies shut other stars from sight, it assures the mariner of his whereabouts, guides the whaler and the indiaman safe into port and peace, bringing wealth to the merchant, and a husband to the lingering wife, almost a widow in the cheating sea's delay and her own heart-sickness from hope so long deferred. but take away the great lamp, leaving all else; put in its place a little tallow candle of twenty to the pound, whose thin glitter could not be seen a mile off, spite of the burnished reflectors at its side, and which requires constant picking and trimming to keep the flame alive, and at its best estate flickers with every flutter of the summer wind,--what would the lighthouse be to look upon or to imagine? what a candlestick for what a candle! praise it as much as you will; flatter it in the newspapers; vote it "adequate" and the "tallest beacon in the world;" call it the "pharos of america;" it is all in vain; at the best, it can only attract moths and mosquitoes on a serene night; and when the storm thunders on that sepulchral rock, it is no light at all; and the whaler may be split asunder, and the indiaman go to the grave, and the wealth of the merchant be scattered as playthings for the sea, and the bones of the mariner may blanch the bottom of the deep, for all the aid which that thin dazzle can furnish, spite of its lofty tower and loftier praise! to rule a bank, a factory, or a railroad, when the officer is chosen for business and not charity, to command a packet-ship or a steamboat, you will get a man of real talent in his line of work; one that has some history, who has made his proof-shot, and shown that he has some mettle in him. but to such a pass has the business of ruling a nation arrived, that, of all the sovereigns of christian europe, it is said not more than two, nicholas of russia, and oscar of sweden, would have been distinguished if born in private stations. the most practical and commercial nation in the world, possessing at this moment a power more eminently great than that of the roman empire in its palmy time, has for a ruler a quite ordinary woman, who contributes neither ideas nor organizations, and probably could not administer wisely the affairs of a single shire in the island. in this respect, the highest stations of political life seem to have become as barren as the dead sea. in selecting our rulers in america, it is long since we have had a man of large powers, even of the sort which the majority of men appreciate in a contemporary. i have sometimes thought men were selected who were thought not strong enough to hurt us much, forgetting that a weak man may sometimes hurt us as much more than a strong one would. * * * * * after all this preliminary, let me now say something of the late president taylor, only further premising that i am here to tell the truth about him, so far as i know it, and nothing more or less. i am not responsible for the facts of the case, only for the correct statement thereof. there have been men who were not disposed to do him justice; there were men enough to flatter and overpraise him while alive, and there will probably be enough of such now that he is dead. much official panegyric has there been already, and much more is in prospect. i think i need not be called on for any contribution of that sort. i wish to weigh him in an even balance, neither praising nor blaming without cause. to eulogize is one thing; to deal justly, another and quite different. * * * * * zachary taylor was born on the th of november, , in orange county, virginia. his father, richard taylor, was a soldier during a part of the revolutionary war, had a colonel's commission in , and appears to have been a valuable officer and a worthy man. in he removed to kentucky, where he resided until his death. he was a farmer, a man of property and influence in kentucky, then a new country. he was one of the framers of the constitution of that state; several times in the legislature, and the first collector of the port of louisville, then a port of entry. zachary, the third son, followed the business of farming until he was more than twenty-three years of age. during his childhood he received such an education as you can imagine in a new and wild country like kentucky sixty years ago. however, it is said his father took great pains with his education, and he enjoyed the instruction of a schoolmaster from connecticut, who is still living. hence it is plain the best part of his education must have come, not from the schoolmaster, but from the farm, the woods, and the connection with his parents and their associates. what a man learns at school, even in boston, is but a small part of his education. in general taylor's case, it is probable that things had much more to do with his culture than words. men nursed on greek and latin would probably have called him an uneducated man; with equal justice he might call many a scholar an uneducated man. to speak and write with grammatical accuracy is by no means the best test of education. fondness for a military life is natural in a man born and bred as he was, living in a country where the vicinity of the indians made every man a quaker or a soldier. about , volunteers were raised in the west to oppose the expected movements of aaron burr, a traitor to his country, a bold, bad man, who had been the candidate of the federalists for the presidency; perhaps the worst man we had had in politics up to that time. mr. taylor joined one of the companies of volunteers. in he was appointed lieutenant in the army of the united states, joined the forces, was soon sent to new orleans, was seized with the yellow fever, and returned home. in he was married to miss margaret smith, of maryland. in he was employed in expeditions against the indians in the northwest of the united states. here he was under the command of general harrison. in he was made captain, and had the command of a block-house and stockade called fort harrison, on the wabash river, soon after the declaration of war against england. this place was attacked by a strong body of indians. captain taylor with less than fifty men, defended it with vigor and success. in consequence of his services on that occasion, he was promoted to the rank of brevet major. during the rest of the war, he continued in service on the frontiers, and seems to have done his duty faithfully as a soldier. after the war was over, in , the army was diminished to a peace establishment, and major taylor reduced to the rank of captain. in consequence of this, he withdrew from the army, but, after a few months, returned, and was then, or subsequently, restored to his former rank as major. for several years he was employed in such various military services, in the west and south-west, as must be performed in a time of peace. in he was made lieutenant-colonel. in he became colonel, and in that year, with a command of four hundred men, he served under general atkinson, in the expedition against the sacs and other indians led by the celebrated black hawk. afterwards he was intrusted with the command of fort crawford, where he remained till , when he was ordered to florida, to fight against the seminole indians. it was here that he made use of the bloodhounds to hunt the poor savages from their hiding-places in the woods. you know what mr. pitt once said of the spanish use of this weapon in the sixteenth century, but the animals imported from cuba, where they had been trained to hunt runaway slaves, were of no value when put upon the track of red men. i do not know who originated the scheme of employing the bloodhounds. it has often been ascribed to general taylor, and with good reason, i believe, has it been denied that he was the author of that plan. it was of no great honor to the nation, let who would invent it; and few men will be sorry that it did not turn out well. it was thought colonel taylor displayed a good deal of skill, in contending with the indians in florida, and, accordingly, he was made brevet brigadier-general, in . after finishing the conquest of the indians, he left florida, in . it is said that fighting against the indians is a good school for a soldier. general taylor served long at this work, and served faithfully. in the florida war, his conduct as general is said to have been noble. in , he was made commander of that portion of the american army in the south-west of the united states, and in , removed his family from kentucky to baton rouge, in louisiana, which has since been his home. in he was ordered to texas, and had command of the "army of occupation," and subsequently of the "army of invasion." in the war against mexico, it is thought by competent judges that he displayed a good deal of military skill. he was beloved by his soldiers, and seems to have won their confidence, partly by success, partly by military talent, but also in part by his character, which was frank, honest, just and unpretending. i have heard of no instance in the whole war, in which cruelty is chargeable upon him. several anecdotes are related of his kindliness, generosity, and openness of heart. no doubt they are true. war is a bloody trade; it makes one shudder to think of it in its terrible details; but the soldier is not necessarily a malignant or a cruel man; that bloody and profane command, so well known, uttered in the heat of conflict, when the battle seemed to waver, does not imply any peculiar cruelty or ill-will. it is only one of the accidents of war, which shows more clearly what its substance is. i am no judge of warlike operations and of military skill, and therefore shall not pretend to pass judgment on matters which i know i do not understand; i shall not inquire as to the military value of the laurels he won at resaca de la palma, at monterey, and at buena vista. but, in our judgment, we ought to remember one circumstance: that is, the inferiority of the mexicans. they were beaten, i think, in every considerable battle throughout the whole war; no matter who commanded. general scott landed at vera cruz, captured the city, and the far-famed castle of st. juan d'ulloa, garrisoned by four thousand three hundred and ninety soldiers, and the american loss amounted to thirteen men killed, and sixty-three hurt! general scott took possession of the great port of the nation, with less than twenty thousand soldiers, with only about fifteen thousand troops; marched nearly two hundred miles into the interior, fighting his way, and garrisoning the road behind him, sometimes even subsisting his army in the country which he conquered as he went on; and finally took the capital, a city with nearly two hundred thousand inhabitants, with less than six thousand soldiers. suppose an army of that size were to land at newburyport, with the intention of marching to worcester, not two hundred miles, but only fifty or sixty, how many do you think would ever reach the spot? why, suppose the american men did nothing, there are women enough in massachusetts to throw every soldier into the merrimac! i do not believe that this inferiority of the mexican arises so much from the superior bravery of the americans; almost any male animal will fight on small provocation; your mexican male, as well as your american, on as small provocation, and as desperately. but the american soldier was always well armed, furnished with every thing that modern science makes terrible in war; well clad, well fed, well paid, he went voluntarily to the work. the mexicans were ill armed, ill clad, ill fed, often not paid at all, and sometimes brought to fight against their will. the difference does not end here: the main reliance of the mexican government, the regular soldiers, the presidiales, were men who seemed to have most of the vices of old garrison soldiers, with most of the faults of new recruits; or, as another has said, himself a soldier in the war, "all the vices engendered in a garrison life; all the cowardice which their constant defeats by the indians had created; all the laziness contracted in an idle monotonous existence, and very little military skill." the new levies came unwillingly, and were often only "food for powder." on the american side was a small body of veteran soldiers, low and coarse men--it is the policy of america to have the rank and file of our army in peace composed usually of such--but full of brute courage; accustomed to all sorts of hardships and exposure; under a discipline rigorous and almost perfect; wonted to danger, and weaned from fear; careless of life almost to desperation; full of confidence in their commander, and of contempt for their foe. the volunteers brought with them the characteristic ardor of americans, their confidence of success, their contempt of toil and of danger; familiar with fire-arms from their youth, they soon learned the discipline of the camp. you see what a difference this makes between the two armies; but the chief superiority of the american soldiers was this--they came from a country where there is a complete national unity of action. so the government could trust the army, and the army the government; the soldiers had confidence in their commander, confidence in their country, confidence in their cause; while the mexicans had no national unity of action, the people little confidence in the government, the government as little in the people; the nation but little trust in the army, and the army little in the nation; the soldiers had great fear of the enemy, little faith in their officers, and the officers little in their men. did you ever see a swarm of bees when the queen bee was dead, and moths had invaded the hive? the mexicans were much in the same state. the result was what had readily been foreseen: at the battle of buena vista, on the one side, there were twenty-one thousand five hundred and fifty-three mexicans; on the other, four thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine american soldiers, of which only four hundred and seventy-six were regulars. yet the american loss, in killed, wounded and missing, was but seven hundred and forty-six, while that of the mexican army was nearly two thousand men lost. if the mexicans had done the same proportionate execution, every american would have been killed long before night. all these things ought to be taken into account, in making up our mind about the difficulty of the enterprise. still, after this allowance is made, it must be confessed the american invasion of mexico was a remarkable undertaking, distinguished for its boldness, not to say its rashness, and almost unparalleled in the history of modern wars. it certainly did require great coolness, courage, and prudence, on the part of general taylor, to conduct his part of the expedition. he had those qualities, but it has not yet been proved or shown to be probable, that he had the nobler qualities which make a great general. the kind of warfare he was engaged in, does not bring to light the high qualities of a man like gustavus adolphus, frederick the great, or napoleon. perhaps general taylor had them, but they did not appear. * * * * * the mexican war was unfortunate for the administration which carried it on, for the political party which caused the war. the success of general taylor attracted the attention of the people, and the obscure soldier took popular rank before the president of the united states. unconsciously the vicarious suitor, courting public favor for his master, won good graces for himself. the political party which began the war, was eclipsed by the triumph of its own soldier; and the slave-power which projected the war seems likely to be ruined by the success of the enterprise. it has been said, that he was averse to the mexican war which he fought in; i know not whether this be true or false. but if true, it deserves to be remembered in his defence, that the soldier is only an active tool, as much the instrument of his employer as the spade of the workman whose foot crowds it into the ground. the soldier, high or low, must obey the men who have the official right to command him, his free-will merging in that of his superior. if general taylor had thought the mexican war unjust and wicked, and in consequence had resigned his commission, he would have been covered with obloquy and contempt in the eyes of military men, and the officials of government. most of the newspapers of the land would have attacked him, called him a coward, a traitor and a fanatic; their condemnation would have been worth as much as their praise is now. in estimating his character we ought to remember this fact, for few men do more than their office demands of them, or more than public opinion can approve. such was the success of general taylor in war, at the head of a few thousand men, that public attention was turned towards him, and in a few months the obscure frontier soldier was the most prominent man in the nation. in he received the nomination of the whig convention at philadelphia, for president, and in due time was elected. his election was certainly one of the most remarkable that ever took place in america. it is worth while to look at it for a moment. there was nothing very remarkable in the man to entitle him to that eminent distinction; if there were, the nation was very slow in finding it out. he was a farmer till about twenty-four years old; then a common lieutenant four years more. in the next twenty years he got no higher than to the rank of a "frontier colonel;" he attained that dignity in fact, at the age of forty-eight. he was not made general till the fifty-fifth year of his age. but for the mexican war, i suppose he would, at this day, be as obscure as any other general in the united states' army; nobody would think he was the "second washington," "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," as his creatures have declared. other military men have been chosen to the presidency. but washington was much more than a soldier; in "a time that tried men's souls" to the utmost, he had carried the nation through eight years of most perilous warfare, more by his character than any eminent military skill, and so had become endeared to the hearts of the people as no american had ever been before. general jackson, at first educated as a lawyer, was a man of large talents, distinguished as a governor, as a senator, and as a judge of the supreme court of tennessee, before he was elected president, or nominated for that office. general harrison, a man of small abilities, surely not more than a third-rate politician in ohio, was yet familiar with the routine of political affairs. he had been a member of the legislature of ohio, of both branches of the congress of the united states, and minister to colombia. general taylor, with an education very imperfect, had passed his life, from twenty-four to sixty-four, on the frontiers and in the army; had never held any civil office; had seldom voted, and though an excellent officer in the sphere of duty he had occupied, did not appear to be the most promising man in the nation to select for its highest and most difficult office. the defence of a log-house in against a troop of indians, the conquest of black hawk, the rout of the seminoles, the gaining of half-a-dozen battles in mexico, at the head of a few thousand soldiers, does not seem exactly an adequate schooling to prepare a common man to lead and rule twenty million americans with the most complicated government in the world. it certainly was surprising, that he should be nominated for that office; and more so, that the nomination should be confirmed by the people. it is not surprising, that the distinguished senator of massachusetts should call this "a nomination not fit to be made;" the wonder is, he deemed it fit to be confirmed. in selecting him for our chief, the nation went hap-hazard, and made a leap in the dark. no prudent man in boston would hire a cook or a coachman with such inadequate recommendations as general taylor had to prove his fitness for his place. had a sensible man on election day asked the nation, "what do you know about the man you vote for?" the people would have been sadly puzzled to seek for an answer. the reasons which led to his selection were partly special, and partly of a general and popular character. it is instructive for us to look at them, now that we can do it coolly. i suppose this was the special cause of his nomination: the leaders of the whig party thought they could not elect either of their most prominent men. if they went before the people with nothing but their idea,--the protection of property by a tariff, and a representative of that idea, however able and well trained, they feared defeat; such as they had met with in the last campaign, when the democratic party, with a man almost unknown to the people, a tricky lawyer from tennessee, had yet carried the day against one of the oldest and ablest politicians in the country. so the whig leaders availed themselves of the temporary popularity of a successful general to give an accidental triumph to their party, and apparently to their idea. that i think was the specific reason which led the politicians to nominate him. doubtless there were other private reasons, weighty to certain individuals, that need not be touched upon. but the general reasons, which gave him weight with the mass of the people and secured his election, ought to be stated for our serious reflection. . there was no one of the great leaders of either party whom the people had much confidence in. i am sorry to say so, but i do not think there is much in any of them to command the respect of a nation, and make us swear fealty to those men. there were two candidates of the whig party; from one of them you might expect a compromise; from the other you were not certain even of that. the democratic candidate had not a name to conjure with. the free soil candidate--was he a man to trust in such times as these? did you see your king and chief in any one of those four men? was any one of them fit to be the political schoolmaster of this nation? what "ground and lofty tumbling" have we had from all four of them? . general taylor was not mixed up with the grand or petty intrigues of the parties, their quarrels and struggles for office. men knew little about him; if little good, certainly little not good; little evil in comparison with any of the others. sometimes you take a man whom you do not know, in preference to an old acquaintance whom you have known too long and too well to trust. . then general taylor had shown himself a rough, honest, plain, straight-forward man, and withal mild and good-natured. apparently, there was much in him to attract and deserve the good-will of the nation. his likeness went abroad through the country like a proclamation; it was the rude, manly, firm, honest, good-natured, homely face of a backwoodsman. his plain habits, plain talk, and modest demeanor reminded men of the old english ballad of "the king and the miller" and the like, and won the affections of honest men. i doubt not the fact that general harrison had once lived in a log cabin, and, other things failing, did drink "hard cider," gave him thousands of votes. the candidate was called "old rough and ready," and there was not a clown in field or city but could understand all that was meant by those terms. even his celebrated horse contributed to his master's election, and drew votes for the president by the thousand. . then he was a successful soldier. the dullest man in the alleghany mountains, or in the low lanes of new york and boston, or the silliest behind the counters of a city shop, can understand fighting, and remember who won a battle. it is wholly needless for such to inquire what the battle was fought for. hence military success is always popular with the multitude, and will be, i suppose, for some ages in america as everywhere else. our churches know no god but the "lord of hosts," "a man of war!" . then he was a southern man, and all our masters must be from the south, or of it, devoted to its peculiar institution. if he had been born in barnstable county, and owned a little patch of yellow sand at cape cod, and had the freeman's hatred of slavery, even churubusco and buena vista would not have given him the votes of the convention, and his war-horse might have lived till this day, he would not have carried his master to the presidency. he was a slaveholder, as seven presidents had been before him, holding office for eight-and-forty years. there are some men at the north, chiefly in the country towns, who think it is not altogether right for a man to steal his brother; such men were to be propitiated. so it was diligently rumored abroad in the north, that the candidate was "opposed to slavery," that he would "probably emancipate his slaves as soon as he was elected." i am told that some persons who heard such a story, actually believed it; i think nobody who told it believed any such thing. the fact that he was a slaveholder, that he had lately purchased one hundred and fourteen men, women, and children, and kept them at hard work for his advantage, showed the value of such a story; and the opposite statement, publicly and industriously circulated at the south, that he loved slavery, desired its extension, and hated the wilmot proviso, shows the honesty of some of the men at the north, who, knowing these facts, sought to keep them secret. these seem to have been the chief reasons which procured his nomination and election. it is easy to see that such a man, though as honest as washington, must be eminently unfit for the high office of president of the united states. he knew little or nothing of the political history of the country, or of the political questions then up for solution; little or nothing of the political men. he had the honesty to confess it. he declared that he was not fit for the office, not acquainted with the political measures of the day, and only consented to be brought from his obscurity, when great men told him he was the only man that could "save the union." he was no statesman, and knew nothing of politics, less than the majority of the more cultivated mechanics, merchants and farmers. he was a soldier, and knew something of fighting, at least of fighting indians and mexicans. if you should take a man of the common abilities, intellectual and moral, the common education, a farmer from northfield, a skipper from provincetown, a jobber from boston, a bucket-maker from hingham, and appoint him chief justice of the supreme court of massachusetts, with the duty of selecting all his associate judges, i think he would be about as competent for the office as general taylor for the post he was elected to. in such a case as i have supposed, the new "judge" must depend on other men, who will tell him what to do; his only safety would be in relying on their advice. then they would be the chief justice, not he. under such circumstances, the leaders of one party nominated him. i must confess such an act, committed by such men, seems exceedingly rash. it was done by the very men who ought, above all others, to have known better. this is one of the many things we have had, which show thinking men how little we can rely on our political chiefs. the nomination once made, the election followed. the wise men told the multitude: "you must vote for him," and the multitude voted. you know how angry men were if you did not believe in his fitness for the office; how it became a test of "patriotism" to believe in him. now the good man is cold in death, how base all that seems! when such a man under such circumstances comes into such an office, you do not know whether the deeds which receive his official sanction, the papers published under his name, the speeches he delivers, and the messages he sends, are his or not his. it is probable that he has little to do with them; they are his officially, not personally; he writes state papers by their signature. some of his speeches were undoubtedly made for him. you know it once happened that a speech, alleged to have been made by him at a public meeting, was sent on by telegraph, and published by the party organ, in one of our great cities, and he was taken sick before the meeting was held, and could not speak at all. that speech betrayed the trick of the administration: it was a speech he had never heard of. from this one act judge of many more. in his arduous office, he must choose advisers, but he wants advisers to advise him to choose advisers. much will depend on his first step; that must needs be in the dark. since this is so, i shall pass over his brief administration with very few words. i do not know how much it was the administration of general taylor, or how far it was that of his cabinet. i do not know who made the cabinet. the messages, in his official term, were as good as usual; but who made the messages? one thing is clear: he promised to be the president of the country, not of a party; to remove no man from office except for reasons not political. neither promise was kept. it was plain that other elements interfered and counteracted the honest intentions of that honest man. general jackson rewarded his "friends" and punished his "enemies," men who voted against him. mr. jefferson had done the same. but i doubt if the administration of either of these men was so completely a party administration as that of general taylor. men were continually removed from office purely for political reasons. the general character of his appointments to office, you can judge of better than i. it seems to me the removal of subordinate officers from their station on account of their vote is one great evil in the management of our institutions. of what consequence is it whether the postmaster at eastham or west-newton, the keeper of the lighthouse at cape anne, or the clay pounds of truro, or the district attorney in boston, or the tide-waiters at nantucket are "good whigs," or not good whigs? * * * * * what shall i say of the character of the man who has left this high office; of him on the whole? some men can be as eloquent on a ribbon as on a raphael. they find no difficulty in calling general taylor "the second washington." i like the first washington too much to call any one by that name lightly. general harrison was the "second washington" ten years ago. general jackson ten years before that. i think there is another "second washington" getting ready, and before the century ends we shall perhaps have five or six of this family. but the world does not breed great men every day. i must confess it, i have not seen any thing very great in general taylor, though i have diligently put my eye to the magnifying glasses of his political partisans; neither have i seen any thing uncommonly mean and little in him, though i have also looked through the minifying glasses of his foes. to be a frontier soldier for forty years, to attain the rank of colonel at the age of forty-eight, after twenty-four years of service, to become a brigadier-general at fifty-four, is no great thing. to defend a log-house, to capture black hawk, to use bloodhounds in war, and to extirpate the seminole indians from the everglades of florida, to conquer the mexicans at churubusco and monterey, does not require very high qualities of mind and heart. but in all the offices he ever held, he appears to have done his official duty openly and honestly. he was a good officer, a plain, blunt, frank, open, modest man. no doubt he was "rough and ready;" his courage was never questioned. his integrity is above suspicion. all this is well known. but is all this enough to make a great man in the middle of this century; a great man in america, and for such an office? judge for yourselves. i sincerely believe that he was more of a man than his political supporters thought him; that he had more natural sagacity, more common sense, more firmness of purpose, and very much more honesty than they expected or desired. rumors reach me that he was not found quite so manageable as his "friends" and admirers had hoped; that he had some conscience and a will of his own. it seems to me that he honestly intended to be an honest and impartial ruler, the president of his country; that he took washington for his general model; that he never sought the office, and at first did not desire it, but when he came to it endeavored to deserve well of his country and do well by mankind. but with the best intentions, what could such a man do, especially with such foes, and more especially with such friends. it is said he was a religious man: sometimes that means that a man loves god and loves men; sometimes that he is superstitious, formal, hypocritical, that he does not love men, and is afraid of god, or of a devil. i do not know in which sense the word is used in reference to him. but it appears to me that he was a man of veracity, honest, upright, and downright too; a good father, a good husband, a good friend, faithful to his idea of duty; very plain, very unpretending, mild and yet firm, good-natured, free and easy. there were many that loved him; a rare circumstance among politicians. he was a temperate man, also, remarkably temperate, and such temperance as his is not a very common virtue in high political and social stations in america, as we all know too well. these are all the good qualities i can make out his title to. i suppose there are some ten thousand men in massachusetts that are his equals in all these qualities, as honest, as able, and as patriotic as he. it is hardly worth while to worship those qualities in a president which are not rare in farmers, and traders, and butchers and mechanics. there are two things which seem to me decidedly wrong in his public career. his partisans at the north claimed that he was hostile to slavery. i never could find any reason for that opinion: at the south his friends insisted that he was the decided friend of slavery. when his opinion was asked on this matter, he remained steadily and pertinaciously silent. to me this does not seem honest or manly. then he was a slaveholder, not by compulsion, as some pretend they hold men in bondage, not by inheritance. he was a slaveholder from choice, and only three years ago bought one hundred and fourteen human beings and kept them as his slaves. this fact must be considered in estimating the character and value of the man. i know that money is the popular god of america; that slaveholding is one of the canonical forms of worshipping that god, sanctioned by the constitution and the laws and the legislature of the land, by its literature and by its churches. i know men in boston, who would have no more scruple in buying and selling a black man as a slave, or a white man if they could catch and keep him, than they would have of buying a cow at brighton. there are men in massachusetts that have grown rich by the slave-trade. it does not hurt their reputation; it is no impeachment of their religious character. now i do not expect a frontier colonel, busy in fighting indians half his life, dogging them with cuban bloodhounds, to be more enlightened on such a matter than merchants, manufacturers, lawyers, ministers and professors of theology in new england. it may be that he had the same opinion as professor stuart, that slavery was allowed in the new testament and sanctioned in the old testament; such a good thing that paul and james said never a word against it. we should not judge such a man as you would judge a unitarian minister in boston or doctors of divinity at andover. born as he was, bred as he had been, living in a camp, sustained by the public opinion of the press, the state and the church, it would not be surprising if it had never occurred to him that it was wrong to steal men. but the fact is to be taken into the account in determining the elevation of his character. it is now plain that he found the office of president a heavy burden; that it cost him his life. it seems to me the conduct of some of our public men towards him was ungenerous, not to say unjust and shameful. an honest man, he looked for honest foes and honest friends; but his hardest battles were fought after he had ceased to be a soldier. well, he has gone to his rest and his recompense. to his family the affliction is sudden, painful and terrible. what vicissitudes in their life--from the obscurity of their former home to the glaring publicity of that high station; then in so brief a time the honored and well-beloved head is silent and cold forever! the nation may well drop its tears of sympathy for those whom its election has robbed of a father and a husband; the ghastly honors of the office are poor recompense for the desolation it has brought into a quiet and once happy home. he has gone to his reward. he leaves the government in the hands of an obscure man, whom the nation knows very little of, whom no one would ever have thought of making president; a man selected certainly for no eminence of faculty, intellectual or moral. there is some cause to fear, perhaps some little for hope.[ ] two very important questions are now before the nation: shall we extend over the territory conquered from mexico the awful blight which now mildews the material welfare of the south, and curses with a threefold ban the intellect, the conscience and the religion of the land? shall congress pass that infamous fugitive slave measure, known as mr. mason's bill, with mr. webster's indorsement on it? i know not how his death will affect these things. who knows the intentions of the late president? or those of his successor? he has power to bless, he may use it only to curse the land. let us wait and see. the fact that the "great compromiser" now represents the administration in the senate, the rumor of the appointment of the senator of boston to the highest place in the cabinet, are things of ill omen for freedom, and bid us fear the worst. however, it may be that this event will affect the politicians more than the people. last tuesday night general taylor ceased to be mortal. his soul went home to god. he that fought against the mexican and the indian has gone to meet the god of the red man as well as the white. he who claimed to own the body and the soul of more than a hundred of his fellow creatures, enriched by the unrequited toil, which they unwillingly gave him when stung by the lash of his hireling overseers, has gone home to the father of negro slaves, who is no respecter of persons; gone where the servant is free from his master. black and white, conqueror and vanquished, the bond and the free, alike come up before the infinite father, whose perfect justice is perfect love; and there the question is, "what hast thou done with the talent committed unto thee?" the same question is asked of the president; the same of the slave; yea, it will one day be asked of you and me! "an old man, wearied with the storms of state," now only asks a little earth for charity. costly heathen pageants there will be in these streets to his memory, and politicians will, i suppose, hold their drunken and profane debauch over his grave, as over the tomb of that far-famed friend of freedom who died two years ago. but he has ceased to be mortal. the memory of his battle-fields faded from before his dying sight. power rests no longer in his hands; victory perches on another banner. his ear is still, and his heart is cold. how hollow sounds the voice of former flattery! his riches go to other men; his slaves will be called by his name no more; the scourge that goads them to unpaid toil is now owned by another man. his fame goes back to such as gave; the accident of an accident succeeds him in the presidential chair; only the man, not the officer, goes home to god, with what of goodness and piety he had won. his manhood is all that he can carry out of the world; elected or rejected, a conqueror or conquered, it is now the same to him; and it may be the humblest female slave who only earned the bread which her master only ate, and got an enforced concubinage for pay, takes rank in heaven far before the man whom the nation honored with its highest trust, and for whom the official senate and low-browed church send out their hollow groans. "the glories of our birth and state are shadows, not substantial things. there is no armor against fate: death lays his icy hand on kings. sceptre and crown must tumble down, and in the dust be equal made, with the poor crooked scythe and spade. "some men with swords may reap the field, and plant fresh laurels where they kill; but their strong arms at last must yield, they tame but one another still. early or late they stoop to fate, and must give up their murmuring breath, when they, pale captives, creep to death. "the garlands wither on his brow: then boast no more his mighty deeds, upon death's purple altar now, see where the victor victim bleeds. all heads must come to the cold tomb, only the actions of the just smell sweet and blossom in the dust." if he could speak to us from his present position, methinks he would say: countrymen and friends! you see how little it availed you to agitate the land and put a little man in a great place. it is not the hurrah of parties that will "save the union," it is not "great men." it is only justice. remember that atheism is not the first principle of a republic; remember there is a law of god, the higher law of the universe, the everlasting right; i thought so once, and now i know it. remember that you are accountable to god for all things; that you owe justice to all men, the black not less than the white; that god will demand it of you, proud, wicked nation, careful only of your gold, forgetful of god's high law! before long each of you shall also come up before the eternal. then and there it will not avail you to have compromised truth, justice, love, but to have kept them. righteousness only is the salvation of a state; that only of a man. footnotes: [ ] the above was written in july, . since then the ground of hope has wholly vanished; the ground for fear remains alone. the following statement may suggest a thought the other side of the ocean, if no shame on this side among politicians and their priests: elisha brazealle, a planter of jefferson county in the state of mississippi, was taken sick, and as he lay oppressed with a loathsome disease, a slave of his, a bright mulatto or quadroon, nursed him, and, as was believed, through her nursing, saved him from death. he was a man of feeling and did not forget her kindness, but took her to ohio and there educated her. she made rapid progress, and soon became his wife. he made or caused to be made a legal and sound deed of emancipation, and had it legally and formally recorded in ohio and mississippi. lawyers, in both states, said she was free, safe, and that no power in the south, or elsewhere, could legally deprive her or her children of freedom. mr. brazealle returned to mississippi with his wife; they had a son, and named him john munroe brazealle. after some years mr. brazealle sickened and died, leaving a will in which he recited the deed of emancipation, declared his intention to ratify it, and devised all his property to his son, acknowledging him in the will to be such. some poor and distant relations of his in north carolina, whom he did not know, and for whom he did not care, hearing of his death, went on to mississippi and claimed the property devised by mr. brazealle to his son. they instituted a suit for the recovery of the property. the case came before william l. sharkey, "chief justice of the high court of errors and appeals" for that state. it is reported in howard's mississippi reports, vol. ii. p. , _et seq._ judge sharkey declared the act of emancipation "an offence against morality, pernicious and detestable as an example," set aside the will, gave to those distant relations the property which mr. brazealle had devised to his son, and in addition declared that son and his mother to be slaves. here is his own language:-- "the state of the case shows conclusively that the contract had its origin in an offence against morality, pernicious and detestable as an example."... "the consequence [of the decision] is, that the negroes john munroe and his mother, are still slaves, and a part of the estate of elisha brazealle." "john munroe being a slave cannot take the property as devised; and i apprehend it is equally clear that it cannot be held in trust for him." while these volumes are in the press, i learn that mr. fillmore has appointed judge sharkey to the honorable and lucrative post of consul to havana. iv. the function and place of conscience, in relation to the laws of men: a sermon for the times.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, september , . acts : . "herein do i exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward god and toward men." there are some things which are true, independent of all human opinions. such things we call facts. thus it is true that one and one are equal to two, that the earth moves round the sun, that all men have certain natural unalienable rights, rights which a man can alienate only for himself, and not for another. no man made these things true; no man can make them false. if all the men in jerusalem and ever so many more, if all the men in the world, were to pass a unanimous vote that one and one were not equal to two, that the earth did not move round the sun, that all men had not natural and unalienable rights, the opinion would not alter the fact, nor make truth false and falsehood true. so there are likewise some things which are right, independent of all human opinions. thus it is right to love a man and not to hate him, to do him justice and not injustice, to allow him the natural rights which he has not alienated. no man made these things right; no man can make them wrong. if all the men in jerusalem and ever so many more, if all the men in the world, were to pass a unanimous vote that it was right to hate a man and not love him, right to do him injustice and not justice, right to deprive him of his natural rights not alienated by himself, the opinion would not alter the fact, nor make right wrong and wrong right. there are certain constant and general facts which occur in the material world, the world of external perception, which represent what are called the laws of matter, in virtue of which things take place so and not otherwise. these laws are the same everywhere and always; they never change. they are not made by men, but only discovered by men, are inherent in the constitution of matter, and seem designed to secure the welfare of the material world. these natural laws of matter, inherent in its constitution, are never violated, nor can be, for material nature is passive, or at least contains no element or will that is adverse to the will of god, the ultimate cause of these laws as of matter itself. the observance of these laws is a constant fact of the universe; "the most ancient heavens thereby are fresh and strong." these laws represent the infinity of god in the world of matter, his infinite power, wisdom, justice, love and holiness. so there are likewise certain constant and general facts which occur in what may be called the spiritual world, the world of internal consciousness. they represent the laws of spirit--that is of the human spirit--in virtue of which things are designed to take place so and not otherwise. these laws are the same everywhere and always; they never change. they are not made by men, but only discovered by men. they are inherent in the constitution of man, and as you cannot conceive of a particle of matter without extension, impenetrability, figure and so on, no more can you conceive of man without these laws inhering in him. they seem designed to secure the welfare of the spiritual world. they represent the infinity of god in the world of man, his infinite power, wisdom, justice, love and holiness. but while matter is stationary, bound by necessity, and man is progressive and partially free, to the extent of a certain tether, so it is plain that there may be a will in the world of man adverse to the will of god, and thus the laws of man's spirit may be violated to a certain extent. the laws of matter depend for their execution only on the infinite will of god, and so cannot be violated. the laws of man depend for their execution also on the finite will of man, and so may be broken.[ ] let us select a portion of these laws of the human spirit; such as relate to a man's conduct in dealing with his fellow men, a portion of what are commonly called moral laws, and examine them. they partake of the general characteristics mentioned above; they are universal and unchangeable, are only discovered and not made by man, are inherent in man, designed to secure his welfare, and represent the infinity of god. these laws are absolutely right; to obey them is to be and do absolutely right. so being and doing, a man answers the moral purpose of his existence, and attains moral manhood. if i and all men keep all the laws of man's spirit, i have peace in my own heart, peace with my brother, peace with my god; i have my delight in myself, in my brother, in my god, they theirs and god his in me. what is absolutely right is commonly called justice. it is the point in morals common to me and all mankind, common to me and god, to mankind and god; the point where all duties unite--to myself, my brethren, and my god; the point where all interests meet and balance--my interests, those of mankind, and the interests of god. when justice is done, all is harmony and peaceful progress in the world of man; but when justice is not done, the reverse follows, discord and confusion; for injustice is not the point where all duties and all interests meet and balance, not the point of morals common to mankind and me, or to us and god. we may observe and study the constant facts of the material world, thus learn the laws they represent, and so get at a theory of the world which is founded on the facts thereof. such a theory is true; it represents the thought of god, the infinity of god. then for every point of theory we have a point of fact. instead of pursuing this course we may neglect these constant facts, with the laws they represent, and forge a theory which shall not rest on these facts. such a theory will be false and will represent the imperfection of men, and not the facts of the universe and the infinity of god. in like manner we may study the constant facts of the spiritual world, and, in special, of man's moral nature, and thereby obtain a rule to regulate our conduct. if this rule is founded on the constant facts of man's moral nature, then it will be absolutely right, and represent justice, the thought of god, the infinity of god, and for every point of moral theory we shall have a moral fact. instead of pursuing that course, we may forge a rule for our conduct, and so get a theory which shall not rest on those facts. such a rule will be wrong, representing only the imperfection of men. in striving to learn the laws of the universe, the wisest men often go astray, propound theories which do not rest upon facts, and lay down human rules for the conduct of the universe, which do not agree with its nature. but the universe is not responsible for that; material nature takes no notice thereof. the opinion of an astronomer, of the american academy, does not alter a law of the material universe, or a fact therein. the philosophers once thought that the sun went round the earth, and framed laws on that assumption; but that did not make it a fact; the sun did not go out of his way to verify the theory, but kept to the law of god, and swung the earth round him once a year, say the philosophers what they might say, leaving them to learn the fact and thereby correct their theory. in the same way, before men attain a knowledge of the absolute right, they often make theories which do not rest upon the facts of man's moral nature, and enact human rules for the conduct of men which do not agree with the moral nature of man. these are rules which men make and do not find made. they are not a part of man's moral nature, writ therein, and so obligatory thereon, no more than the false rules for the conduct of matter are writ therein, and so obligatory thereon. you and i are no more morally bound to keep such rules of conduct, because king pharaoh or king people say we shall, than the sun is materially bound to go round the earth every day, because hipparchus and ptolemy say it does. the opinion or command of a king, or a people, can no more change a fact and alter a law of man's nature, than the opinion of a philosopher can do this in material nature. we learn the laws of matter slowly, by observation, experiment, and induction, and only get an outside knowledge thereof, as objects of thought. in the same way we might study the facts of man's moral nature, and arrive at rules of conduct, and get a merely outside acquaintance with the moral law as something wholly external. the law might appear curious, useful, even beautiful, moral gravitation as wonderful as material attraction. but no sense of duty would attach us to it. in addition to the purely intellectual powers, we have a faculty whose special function it is to discover the rules for a man's moral conduct. this is conscience, called also by many names. as the mind has for its object absolute truth, so conscience has for its object absolute justice. conscience enables us not merely to learn the right by experiment and induction, but intuitively, and in advance of experiment; so, in addition to the experimental way, whereby we learn justice from the facts of human history, we have a transcendental way, and learn it from the facts of human nature, from immediate consciousness. it is the function of conscience to discover to men the moral law of god. it will not do this with infallible certainty, for, at its best estate, neither conscience nor any other faculty of man is absolutely perfect, so as never to mistake. absolute perfection belongs only to the faculties of god. but conscience, like each other faculty, is relatively perfect,--is adequate to the purpose god meant it for. it is often immature in the young, who have not had time for the growth and ripening of the faculty, and in the old, who have checked and hindered its development. here it is feeble from neglect, there from abuse. it may give an imperfect answer to the question, what is absolutely right? now, though the conscience of a man lacks the absolute perfection of that of god, in all that relates to my dealing with men, it is still the last standard of appeal. i will hear what my friends have to say, what public opinion has to offer, what the best men can advise me to, then i am to ask my own conscience, and follow its decision; not that of my next friend, the public, or the best of men. i will not say that my conscience will always disclose to me the absolutely right, according to the conscience of god, but it will disclose the relatively right, what is my conviction of right to-day, with all the light i can get on the matter; and as all i can know of the absolute right, is my conviction thereof, so i must be true to that conviction. then i am faithful to my own conscience, and faithful to my god. if i do the best thing i can know to-day, and to-morrow find a better one and do that, i am not to be blamed, nor to be called a sinner against god, because not so just to-day as i shall be to-morrow. i am to do god's will soon as i know it, not before, and to take all possible pains to find it out; but am not to blame for acting childish when a child, nor to be ashamed of it when grown up to be a man. such is the function of conscience. * * * * * having determined what is absolutely right, by the conscience of god, or at least relatively right, according to my conscience to-day, then it becomes my duty to keep it. i owe it to god to obey his law, or what i deem his law; that is my duty. it may be uncomfortable to keep it, unpopular, contrary to my present desires, to my passions, to my immediate interests; it may conflict with my plans in life; that makes no difference. i owe entire allegiance to my god. it is a duty to keep his law, a personal duty, my duty as a man. i owe it to myself, for i am to keep the integrity of my own consciousness; i owe it to my brother, and to my god. nothing can absolve me from this duty, neither the fact that it is uncomfortable or unpopular, nor that it conflicts with my desires, my passions, my immediate interests, and my plans in life. such is the place of conscience amongst other faculties of my nature. * * * * * i believe all this is perfectly plain, but now see what it leads to. in the complicated relations of human life, various rules for the moral conduct of men have been devised, some of them in the form of statute laws, some in the form of customs, and, in virtue of these rules, certain artificial demands are made of men, which have no foundation in the moral nature of man; these demands are thought to represent duties. we have the same word to describe what i ought to do as subject to the law of god, and what is demanded of me by custom, or the statute. we call each a duty. hence comes no small confusion: the conventional and official obligation is thought to rest on the same foundation as the natural and personal duty. as the natural duty is at first sight a little vague, and not written out in the law-book, or defined by custom, while the conventional obligation is well understood, men think that in case of any collision between the two, the natural duty must give way to the official obligation. for clearness' sake, the natural and personal obligation to keep the law of god as my conscience declares it, i will call duty; the conventional and official obligation to comply with some custom, keep some statute, or serve some special interest, i will call business. here then are two things--my natural and personal duty, my conventional and official business. which of the two shall give way to the other,--personal duty or official business? let it be remembered that i am a man first of all, and all else that i am is but a modification of my manhood, which makes me a clergyman, a fisherman, or a statesman; but the clergy, the fish, and the state, are not to strip me of my manhood. they are valuable in so far as they serve my manhood, not as it serves them. my official business as clergyman, fisherman, or statesman, is always beneath my personal duty as man. in case of any conflict between the two, the natural duty ought to prevail and carry the day before the official business; for the natural duty represents the permanent law of god, the absolute right, justice, the balance-point of all interests; while the official business represents only the transient conventions of men, some partial interest; and besides the man who owes the personal duty, is immortal, while the officer who performs the official business, is but for a time. at death, the man is to be tried by the justice of god, for the deeds done, and character attained, for his natural duty, but he does not enter the next life as a clergyman, with his surplice and prayer-book, or a fisherman, with his angles and net, nor yet as a statesman, with his franking privilege, and title of honorable and member of congress. the officer dies, of a vote or a fever. the man lives forever. from the relation between a man and his occupation, it is plain, in general, that all conventional and official business is to be overruled by natural personal duty. this is the great circle, drawn by god, and discovered by conscience, which girdles my sphere, including all the smaller circles, and itself included by none of them. the law of god has eminent domain everywhere, over the private passions of oliver and charles, the special interests of carthage and of rome, over all customs, all official business, all precedents, all human statutes, all treaties between judas and pilate, or england and france, over all the conventional affairs of one man or of mankind. my own conscience is to declare that law for me, yours for you, and is before all private passions, or public interests, the decision of majorities, and a world full of precedents. you may resign your office, and escape its obligations, forsake your country, and owe it no allegiance, but you cannot move out of the dominions of god, nor escape where conscience has not eminent domain. see some examples of a conflict between the personal duty and the official business. a man may be a clergyman, and it may be his official business to expound and defend the creed which is set up for him by his employers, his bishop, his association, or his parish, to defend and hold it good against all comers; it may be, also, in a certain solemn sort, to please the audience, who come to be soothed, caressed, and comforted,--to represent the average of religion in his society, and so to bless popular virtues and ban unpopular vices, but never to shake off or even jostle with one of his fingers the load of sin, beloved and popular, which crushes his hearers down till they are bowed together and can in nowise lift themselves up; unpopular excellence he is to call fanaticism, if not infidelity. but his natural duty as a man, standing in this position, overrides his official business, and commands him to tell men of the false things in their creed, of great truths not in it; commands him to inform his audience with new virtue, to represent all of religion he can attain, to undo the heavy burdens of popular sin, private or national, and let the men oppressed therewith go free. excellence, popular or odious, he is to commend by its own name, to stimulate men to all nobleness of character and life, whether it please or offend. this is his duty, however uncomfortable, unpopular, against his desires, and conflicting with his immediate interests and plans of life. which shall he do? his official business, and pimp and pander to the public lust, with base compliance serving the popular idols, which here are money and respectability, or shall he serve his god? that is the question. if the man considers himself substantially a man, and accidentally a clergyman, he will perform his natural duty; if he counts the priesthood his substance, and manhood an accident of that, he will do only his official business. i may be a merchant, and my official business may be to buy, and sell, and get gain; i may see that the traffic in ardent spirits is the readiest way to accomplish this. so it becomes my official business to make rum, sell rum, and by all means to induce men to drink it. but presently i see that the common use of it makes the thriving unthrifty, the rich less wealthy, the poor miserable, the sound sick, and the sane mad; that it brings hundreds to the jail, thousands to the almshouse, and millions to poverty and shame, producing an amount of suffering, wretchedness, and sin, beyond the power of man to picture or conceive. then my natural duty as man is very clear, very imperative. shall i sacrifice my manhood to money?--the integrity of my consciousness to my gains by rum-selling? that is the question. and my answer will depend on the fact, whether i am more a man or more a rum-seller. suppose i compromise the matter, and draw a line somewhere between my natural duty as man, and my official business as rum-seller, and for every three cents that i make by iniquity, give one cent to the american tract society, or the board for foreign missions, or the unitarian association, or the excellent society for promoting the gospel among the indians (and others) in north america. that does not help the matter; business is not satisfied, though i draw the line never so near to money; nor conscience, unless the line comes up to my duty. i am a citizen, and the state says, "you must obey all the statutes made by the proper authorities; that is your official business!" suppose there is a statute adverse to the natural law of god, and the convictions of my own conscience, and i plead that fact in abatement of my obligation to keep the statute, the state says, "obey it, none the less, or we will hang you. religion is an excellent thing in every matter except politics; there it seems to make men mad." shall i keep the commandment of men, or the law of my god? a statute was once enacted by king pharaoh for the destruction of the israelites in egypt; it was made the official business of all citizens to aid in their destruction: "pharaoh charged all his people saying, every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive." it was the official business of every egyptian who found a hebrew boy to throw him into the nile,--if he refused, he offended against the peace and dignity of the kingdom of egypt, and the form of law in such case made and provided. but if he obeyed, he murdered a man. which should he obey, the lord pharaoh, or the lord god? that was the question. i make no doubt that the priests of osiris, orus, apis, isis, and the judges, and the justices of the peace and quorum, and the members of congress of that time said, "keep the king's commandment, oh ye that worship the crocodile and fear the cat, or ye shall not sleep in a whole skin any longer!" so said every thing that loveth and maketh a lie. king charles ii. made a statute some one hundred and ninety years ago, to punish with death the remnant of the nine-and-fifty judges who had brought his father's head to the block, teaching kings "that they also had a joint in their necks." he called on all his subjects to aid in the capture of these judges. it was made their official business as citizens to do so; a reward was offered for the apprehension of some of them "alive or dead;" punishment hung over the head of any who should harbor or conceal them. three of these regicides, who had adjudged a king for his felony, came to new england. many americans knew where they were, and thought the condemnation of charles i. was the best thing these judges ever did. with that conviction ought they to have delivered up these fugitives, or afforded them shelter? in time of peril, when officers of the english government were on the lookout for some of these men, a clergyman in the town where one of them was concealed, preached, it is said, on the text "bewray not him that wandereth," an occasional sermon, and put the duty of a man far before the business of a citizen. when sir edmund andros was at new haven looking after one of the judges, and attended public worship in the same meeting-house with the fugitive, the congregation sung an awful hymn in his very ears.[ ] would the men of connecticut have done right, bewraying him that wandered, and exposing the outcast, to give up the man who had defended the liberties of the world and the rights of mankind against a tyrant,--give him up because a wanton king, and his loose men and loose women, made such a commandment? one of the regicides dwelt in peace eight-and-twenty years in new england, a monument of the virtue of the people. of old time the roman statute commanded the christians to sacrifice to jupiter; they deemed it the highest sin to do so, but it was their official business as roman citizens. some of them were true to their natural duty as men, and took the same cross jesus had borne before them; peter and john had said at their outset to the authorities--"whether it be right in the sight of god to hearken unto you more than unto god, judge ye." the emperor once made it the official business of every citizen to deliver up the christians. but god made it no man's duty. nay, it was each man's duty to help them. in such cases what shall a man do? you know what we think of men who comply basely, and save their life with the loss of their soul. you know how the christian world honors the saints and martyrs, who laid down their lives for the sake of truth and right; a handful of their dust, which was quieted of its trouble by the headsman's axe seventeen hundred years ago, and is now gathered from the catacombs of saint agnes at rome--why it is enough to consecrate half of the catholic churches in new england. as i have stood among their graves, have handled the instruments with which they tasted of bitter death, and crumbled their bones in my hands,--i keep their relics still with reverend awe--i have thought there was a little difference between their religion, and the pale decency that haunts the churches of our time, and is afraid lest it lose its dividends, or its respectability, or hurt its usefulness, which is in no danger. do i speak of martyrs for conscience' sake? to-day is st. maurice's day, consecrated to him and the "thebæan legion." maurice appears to have been a military tribune in the christian legion, levied in the thebais, a part of egypt. in the latter part of the third century this legion was at octodurum, near the little village of martigni, in valais, a swiss canton, under the command of maximian, the associate emperor, just then named herculeus, going to fight the bagaudæ. the legion was ordered to sacrifice to the gods after the heathen fashion. the soldiers refused; every tenth man was hewn down by maximian's command. they would not submit, and so the whole legion, as the catholic story tells us, perished there on the d of september, fifteen hundred and fifty-three years ago this day. perhaps the account is not true; it is probable that the number of martyrs is much exaggerated, for six thousand soldiers would not stand still and be slaughtered without striking a blow. but the fact that the catholic church sets apart one day in the calendar to honor this alleged heroism, shows the value men put on fidelity to conscience in such cases. last winter a bill for the capture of fugitive slaves was introduced into the senate of the united states of america; the senator who so ably represented the opinions and wishes of the controlling men of this city, proposed to support that bill, "with all its provisions to the fullest extent;" that bill, with various alterations, some for the better, others for the worse, has become a law--it received the vote of the representative from boston, who was not sent there, i hope, for the purpose of voting for it. that statute allows the slaveholder, or his agent, to come here, and by summary process seize a fugitive slave, and, without the formality of a trial by jury, to carry him back to eternal bondage. the statute makes it the official business of certain magistrates to aid in enslaving a man; it empowers them to call out force enough to overcome any resistance which may be offered, to summon the bystanders to aid in that work. it provides a punishment for any one who shall aid and abet, directly or indirectly, and harbor or conceal the man who is seeking to maintain his natural and unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. he may be fined a thousand dollars, imprisoned six months, and be liable to a civil action for a thousand dollars more! this statute is not to be laid to the charge of the slaveholders of the south alone; its most effective supporters are northern men; boston is more to be blamed for it than charleston or savannah, for nearly a thousand persons of this city and neighborhood, most of them men of influence through money if by no other means, addressed a letter of thanks to the distinguished man who had volunteered to support that infamous bill, telling him that he had "convinced the understanding and touched the conscience of the nation." a man falls low when he consents to be a slave, and is spurned for his lack of manhood; to consent to be a catcher of fugitive slaves is to fall lower yet; but to consent to be the defender of a slave-catcher--it is seldom that human nature is base enough for that. but such examples are found in this city! this is now the law of the land. it is the official business of judges, commissioners and marshals, as magistrates, to execute the statute and deliver a fugitive up to slavery; it is your official business and mine, as citizens, when legally summoned, to aid in capturing the man. does the command make it any man's duty? the natural duty to keep the law of god overrides the obligation to observe any human statute, and continually commands us to love a man and not hate him, to do him justice, and not injustice, to allow him his natural rights not alienated by himself; yes, to defend him in them, not only by all means legal, but by all means moral. let us look a little at our duty under this statute. if a man falls into the water and is in danger of drowning, it is the natural duty of the bystanders to aid in pulling him out, even at the risk of wetting their garments. we should think a man a coward who could swim, and would not save a drowning girl for fear of spoiling his coat. he would be indictable at common law. if a troop of wolves or tigers were about to seize a man, and devour him, and you and i could help him, it would be our duty to do so, even to peril our own limbs and life for that purpose. if a man undertakes to murder or steal a man, it is the duty of the bystanders to help their brother, who is in peril, against wrong from the two-legged man, as much as against the four-legged beast. but suppose the invader who seizes the man is an officer of the united states, has a commission in his pocket, a warrant for his deed in his hand, and seizes as a slave a man who has done nothing to alienate his natural rights--does that give him any more natural right to enslave a man than he had before? can any piece of parchment make right wrong, and wrong right? the fugitive has been a slave before: does the wrong you committed yesterday, give you a natural right to commit wrong afresh and continually? because you enslaved this man's father, have you a natural right to enslave his child? the same right you would have to murder a man because you butchered his father first. the right to murder is as much transmissible by inheritance as the right to enslave! it is plain to me that it is the natural duty of citizens to rescue every fugitive slave from the hands of the marshal who essays to return him to bondage; to do it peaceably if they can, forcibly if they must, but by all means to do it. will you stand by and see your countrymen, your fellow-citizens of boston, sent off to slavery by some commissioner? shall i see my own parishioners taken from under my eyes and carried back to bondage, by a man whose constitutional business it is to work wickedness by statute? shall i never lift an arm to protect him? when i consent to that, you may call me a hireling shepherd, an infidel, a wolf in sheep's clothing, even a defender of slave-catching if you will; and i will confess i was a poor dumb dog, barking always at the moon, but silent as the moon when the murderer came near. i am not a man who loves violence. i respect the sacredness of human life. but this i say, solemnly, that i will do all in my power to rescue any fugitive slave from the hands of any officer who attempts to return him to bondage. i will resist him as gently as i know how, but with such strength as i can command; i will ring the bells, and alarm the town; i will serve as head, as foot, or as hand to any body of serious and earnest men, who will go with me, with no weapons but their hands, in this work. i will do it as readily as i would lift a man out of the water, or pluck him from the teeth of a wolf, or snatch him from the hands of a murderer. what is a fine of a thousand dollars, and jailing for six months, to the liberty of a man? my money perish with me, if it stand between me and the eternal law of god. i trust there are manly men enough in this house to secure the freedom of every fugitive slave in boston, without breaking a limb or rending a garment. one thing more i think is very plain, that the fugitive has the same natural right to defend himself against the slave-catcher, or his constitutional tool, that he has against a murderer or a wolf. the man who attacks me to reduce me to slavery, in that moment of attack alienates his right to life, and if i were the fugitive, and could escape in no other way, i would kill him with as little compunction as i would drive a mosquito from my face. it is high time this was said. what grasshoppers we are before the statute of men! what goliaths against the law of god! what capitalist heeds your statute of usury when he can get illegal interest? how many banks are content with six _per cent._ when money is scarce? did you never hear of a merchant evading the duties of the custom-house? when a man's liberty is concerned, we must keep the law, must we? betray the wanderer, and expose the outcast?[ ] in the same manner the natural duty of a man overrides all the special obligations which a man takes on himself as a magistrate by his official oath. our theory of office is this: the man is sunk in the magistrate; he is _un homme couvert_; his individual manhood is covered up and extinguished by his official cap; he is no longer a man, but a mere president, general, governor, representative, sheriff, juror, or constable; he is absolved from all allegiance to god's law of the universe when it conflicts with man's law of the land; his official business as a magistrate supersedes his natural duty as a man. in virtue of this theory, president polk, and his coadjutors in congress and out of it, with malice aforethought and intent to rob and to kill, did officially invade mexico, and therein "slay, kill, and murder" some thousands of men, as well americans as mexicans. this is thought right because he did it officially. but the fact that he and they were magistrates, doing official business, did not make the killing any the less a wrong than if he and they had been private men, with general lopez and not general taylor to head or back them. the official killing of a man who has not alienated his right to life, is just as much a violation of the law of god, and the natural duty of a man, as the unofficial killing of such a person. because you and i and some other foolish people put a man in a high office, and get him to take an oath, does that, all at once, invest him with a natural right to kill anybody he sees fit; to kill an innocent mexican? all his natural rights he had before, and it would be difficult to ascertain where the people could find the right to authorize him to do a wrong. a man does not escape from the jurisdiction of natural law and the dominion of god by enlisting in the army, or by taking the oath of the president; for justice, the law paramount of the universe, extends over armies and nations. a little while ago a murderer was hanged in boston, by the sheriff of suffolk county, at the command of the governor and council of massachusetts, by the aid of certain persons called grand and petit jurors, all of them acting in their official capacity, and doing the official business they had sworn to do. if it be a wrong thing to hang a man, or to take his life except in self-defence, and while in imminent peril, then it is not any less a wrong because men do it in their official character, in compliance with their oath. i am speaking of absolute wrong, not merely what is wrong relatively to the man's own judgment, for i doubt not that all those officers were entirely conscientious in what they did, and therefore no blame rests on them. but if a man believes it wrong to take human life deliberately, except in the cases named, then i do not see how, with a good conscience, he can be partaker in the death of any man, notwithstanding his official oath. let me suppose a case which may happen here, and before long. a woman flies from south carolina to massachusetts to escape from bondage. mr. greatheart aids her in her escape, harbors and conceals her, and is brought to trial for it. the punishment is a fine of one thousand dollars and imprisonment for six months. i am drawn to serve as a juror, and pass upon this offence. i may refuse to serve, and be punished for that, leaving men with no scruples to take my place, or i may take the juror's oath to give a verdict according to the law and the testimony. the law is plain, let us suppose, and the testimony conclusive. greatheart himself confesses that he did the deed alleged, saving one ready to perish. the judge charges, that if the jurors are satisfied of that fact, then they must return that he is guilty. this is a nice matter. here are two questions. the one, put to me in my official capacity as juror, is this: "did greatheart aid the woman?" the other, put to me in my natural character as man, is this: "will you help punish greatheart with fine and imprisonment for helping a woman obtain her unalienable rights?" i am to answer both. if i have extinguished my manhood by my juror's oath, then i shall do my official business and find greatheart guilty, and i shall seem to be a true man; but if i value my manhood, i shall answer after my natural duty to love a man and not hate him, to do him justice, not injustice, to allow him the natural rights he has not alienated, and shall say "not guilty." then foolish men, blinded by the dust of courts, may call me forsworn and a liar; but i think human nature will justify the verdict.[ ] in cases of this kind, when justice is on one side and the court on the other, it seems to me a conscientious man must either refuse to serve as a juror, or else return a verdict at variance with the facts and what courts declare to be his official business as juror; but the eyes of some men have been so long blinded by what the court declares is the law, and by its notion of the juror's function, that they will help inflict such a punishment on their brother, and the judge decree the sentence, in a case where the arrest, the verdict and the sentence are the only wrong in which the prisoner is concerned. it seems to me it is time this matter should be understood, and that it should be known that no official oath can take a man out of the jurisdiction of god's natural law of the universe. a case may be brought before a commissioner or judge of the united states, to determine whether daniel is a slave, and therefore to be surrendered up. his official business, sanctioned by his oath, enforced by the law of the land, demands the surrender; his natural duty, sanctioned by his conscience, enforced by absolute justice, forbids the surrender. what shall he do? there is no serving of god and mammon both. he may abandon his commission and refuse to remain thus halting between two opposites. but if he keeps his office, i see not how he can renounce his nature and send back a fugitive slave, and do as great a wrong as to make a free man a slave! suppose the constitution had been altered, and congress had made a law, making it the business of the united states' commissioners to enslave and sell at public outcry all the red-haired men in the nation, and forbid us to aid and abet their escape, to harbor and conceal them under the same penalties just now mentioned; do you think any commissioner would be justified before god by his oath in kidnapping the red-haired men, or any person in punishing such as harbored or concealed them, such as forcibly took the victims out of the hand of officials who would work mischief by statute? will the color of a hair make right wrong, and wrong right? suppose a man has sworn to keep the constitution of the united states, and the constitution is found to be wrong in certain particulars: then his oath is not morally binding, for before his oath, by his very existence, he is morally bound to keep the law of god as fast as he learns it. no oath can absolve him from his natural allegiance to god. yet i see not how a man can knowingly, and with a good conscience, swear to keep what he deems wrong to keep, and will not keep, and does not intend to keep. it seems to me very strange that men so misunderstand the rights of conscience and their obligations to obey their country. not long ago, an eminent man taunted one of his opponents, telling him he had better adhere to the "higher law." the newspapers echoed the sneer, as if there were no law higher than the constitution. latterly, the democratic party, even more completely than the whig party, seems to have forgotten that there is any law higher than the constitution, any rights above vested rights.[ ] an eminent theologian of new england, who has hitherto done good and great service in his profession, grinding off the barb of calvinism, wrote a book in defence of slave-catching, on "conscience and the constitution," a book which not only sins against the sense of the righteous in being wicked, but against the worldliness of the world in being weak,--and he puts the official business of keeping "a compact" far before the natural duty of keeping a conscience void of offence, and serving god. but suppose forty thieves assemble on fire island, and make a compact to rob every vessel wrecked on their coast, and reduce the survivors to bondage. suppose i am born amongst that brotherhood of pirates, am i morally bound to keep that compact, or to perform any function which grows out of it? nay, i am morally bound to violate the compact, to keep the pirates from their plunder and their prey. instead of forty thieves on fire island, suppose twenty millions of men in the united states make a compact to enslave every sixth man--the dark men--am i morally bound to heed that compact, or to perform any function which grows out of it? nay, i am morally bound to violate the compact, in every way that is just and wise. the very men who make such a compact are morally discharged from it as soon as they see it is wrong. the forty jews who bound themselves by wicked oath to kill paul before they broke their fast,--were they morally bound to keep their word? nay, morally bound to break it. i will tell you a portion of the story of a fugitive slave whom i have known. i will call his name joseph, though he was in worse than egyptian bondage. he was "owned" by a notorious gambler, and once ran away, but was retaken. his master proceeded to punish him for that crime, took him to a chamber, locked the door, and lighted a fire; he then beat the slave severely. after that he put the branding-iron in the fire, took a knife,--i am not telling of what took place in algiers, but in alabama,--and proceeded to cut off the ears of his victim! the owner's wife, alarmed at the shrieks of the sufferer, beat down the door with a sledge-hammer, and prevented that catastrophe. afterwards, two slaves of this gambler, for stealing their master's sheep, were beaten so that they died of the stripes. the "minister" came to the funeral, told the others that those were wicked slaves, who deserved their fate; that they would never "rise" in the general resurrection, and were not fit to be buried! accordingly their bodies were thrown into a hole and left there. joseph ran away again; he came to boston; was sheltered by a man whose charity never fails; he has been in my house, and often has worshipped here with us. shall i take that man and deliver him up?--do it "with alacrity?" shall i suffer that gambler to carry his prey from this city? will you allow it--though all the laws and constitutions of men give the commandment? god do so unto us if we suffer it.[ ] this we need continually to remember: that nothing in the world without is so sacred as the eternal law of god; of the world within nothing is more venerable than our own conscience, the permanent, everlasting oracle of god. the urim and thummim were but jewish or egyptian toys on the breast-plate of the hebrew priest; the delphic oracle was only a subtle cheat, but this is the true shekinah and presence of god in your heart: as this ----"pronounces lastly on each deed, of so much fame in heaven expect your meed." if i am consciously and continually false to this, it is of no avail that i seem loyal to all besides; i make the light that is in me darkness, and how great is that darkness! the centre of my manhood is gone, and i am rotten at my heart. men may respect me, honor me, but i am not respectable, i am a base, dishonorable man, and like a tree, broad-branched, and leafed with green, but all its heart gnawed out by secret worms, at some slight touch one day, my rotten trunk will fall with horrid squelch, bringing my leafy honors to dishonored dust, and men will wonder that bark could hide such rottenness and ruin. but if i am true to this legate of god, holding his court within my soul, then my power to discover the just and right will enlarge continually; the axis of my little life will coincide with the life of the infinite god, his conscience and my own be one. then my character and my work will lie in the plane of his almighty action; no other will in me, his infinite wisdom, justice, holiness, and love, will flow into me, a ceaseless tide, filling with life divine and new the little creeklets of my humble soul. i shall be one with god, feel his delight in me and mine in him, and all my mortal life run o'er with life divine and bless mankind. let men abhor me, yea, scourge and crucify, angels are at hand; yes, the father is with me! * * * * * how we mistake. men think if they can but get wickedness dignified into a statute, enrolled in the capitol, signed by the magistrates, and popular with the people, that all is secure. then they rejoice, and at their "thanksgiving dinner," say with the short-lived tyrant in the play, after he had slain the rightful heirs of england's throne, and set his murderous hoof on justice at every step to power,-- "now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer" ... and think that sin sits fast and rides secure.[ ] but no statute of men is ever fixed on man till it be first the absolute, the right, the law of god. all else lasts but its day, forever this, forever still the same. by "previous questions," men may stop debate, vote down minorities with hideous grin, but the still small voice of justice will whisper in the human heart, will be trumpet-tongued in history to teach you that you cannot vote down god. in your private character, if you would build securely, you must build on the natural law of god, inherent in your nature and in his; if the nation would build securely, it must build so. out of their caprice, their selfishness, and their sin, may men make statutes, to last for a day, built up with joyous huzzas, and the chiming of a hundred guns, to come down with the curses of the multitude, and smitten by the thunder of god; but to build secure, you must build on the justice of the almighty. the beatitudes of jesus will outlast the codes of all the tyrants of the old world and the new. so i have seen gamblers hurry and huddle up their booths at a country muster, on the unsmoothed surface of a stubble-field, foundation good enough for such a structure, not a post plumb, to endure a single day of riot, drunkenness, and sin; but to build a pyramid which shall outlast empires, men lay bare the bosom of the primeval rock, and out of primeval rock they build thereon their well-joined work, outlasting syria, greece, carthage, rome, venerable to time, and underneath its steadfast foot the earthquakes pass all harmlessly away. all things conspire to overturn a wrong. every advance of man is hostile to it. reason is hostile; religion is its deadly foe; the new-born generation will assail it, and it must fall. of old it was written, "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not prosper," and the world's wide walls, from the remotest bounds of peopled space, laugh out their loud and long "amen!" let iniquity be never so old and respectable, get all the most eminent votes, have the newspapers on her side, guns fired at her success, it all avails nothing; for this is god's world, not a devil's, and his eternal word has gone forth that right alone shall last forever and forever. * * * * * oh, young man, now in the period of the passions, reverence your conscience. defer that to no appetite, to no passion, to no foolish compliance with other men's ways, to no ungodly custom, even if become a law. ask always "is it right for me?" be brave and self-denying for conscience' sake. fear not to differ from men; keeping your modesty, keep your integrity also. let not even your discretion consume your valor. fear not to be scrupulously upright and pure; be afraid neither of men's hate, nor even of their laugh and haughty scorn, but shudder at the thought of tampering with your sense of right, even in the smallest matters. the flesh will come up with deceitful counsels--the spirit teaching the commandments of god; give both their due. be not the senses' slave, but the soul's free man. oh brother man, who once wert young, in the period of ambition, or beyond it, if such a time there be, can you trust the selfishness, the caprice, the passions, and the sin of men, before your own conscience, renounce the law of god for the customs of men? when your volcanic mountain has been capped with snow, interest, subtler than all the passions of the flesh, comes up to give her insidious counsel. "on our side," says she, "is the applause of men; feasting is with us; the wise and prudent are here also, yea, the ancient and honorable, men much older than thy father; and with gray hairs mottling thy once auburn head, wilt thou forsake official business, its solid praise, and certain gain, for the phantom of natural duty, renounce allegiance to warm human lies for the cold truth of god remote and far!" say, "get thee behind me," to such counsellors; "i will not stain my age by listening to your subterranean talk." oh, brother man, or old or young, how will you dare come up before your god and say: "oh lord, i heard, i heard thy voice in my soul, at times still and small, at times a trumpet talking with me of the right, the eternal right, but i preferred the low counsels of the flesh; the commands of interest i kept; i feared the rich man's decorous rage; i trembled at the public roar, and i scorned alike my native duty and thy natural law. lo, here is the talent thou gavest me, my sense of right. i have used each other sense, this only have i hid; it is eaten up with rust, but thus i bring it back to thee. take what is thine!" who would dare thus to sin against infinite justice? who would wish to sin against it when it is also infinite love, and the law of right is but the highway on which the almightiness of the father comes out to meet his prodigal, a great way off, penitent and returning home, or unrepentant still, refusing to be comforted, and famishing on draff and husks, while there is bread of heavenly life enough and yet to spare, comes out to meet us, to take us home, and to bless us forever and forever? footnotes: [ ] the terms _laws of the human spirit_, _spiritual laws_, &c., are sometimes used to denote exclusively those laws which man _must_ keep, not merely what he _ought_ to keep, laws in relation to which man has no more freedom than a mass of marble. the words are used above in a different sense. [ ] why dost thou, tyrant, boast abroad thy wicked works to praise? dost thou not know there is a god, whose mercies last alwaies? * * * * on mischiefe why sett'st thou thy minde, and wilt not walke upright? thou hast more lust false tales to find, than bring the truth to light. thou dost delight in fraud and guile, in mischiefe, bloud and wrong. thy lips have learned the flattering stile, oh false deceitful tongue. therefore shall god for aye confound, and pluck thee from thy place; thy seed root out from off the ground, and so shall thee deface. the just, when they behold thy fall, with feare shall praise the lord; and in reproach of thee withall, crie out with one accord:-- "behold the man that woulde not take the lord for his defence; but of his goods his god did make, and trust his corrupt sense. but i, as olive, fresh and green, shall spring and spread abroad; for why? my trust all times hath been, upon the living god! "for this therefore will i give praise to thee with heart and voyce; i will set forth thy name alwayes, wherein thy saints rejoyce." _psalm lii. in sternhold and hopkins._ [ ] it has been said that the fugitive slave law cannot be executed in boston. let us not be deceived. who would have thought a year ago, that the senator of boston would make such a speech as that of last march, that so many of the leading citizens of boston would write such a letter of approval, that such a bill could pass congress, and a man be found in this city (mr. samuel a. eliot) to vote for it and get no rebuke from the people! yet a single man should not endure the shame alone, which belongs in general to the leading men of the city. the member for boston faithfully represented the public opinion of his most eminent constituents, lay and clerical. here is an account of what took place in new york since the delivery of the sermon. [from the new york tribune.] "slave catching in new york--first case under the law. "the following case, which occurred yesterday, is one of peculiar interest, from the fact of its being the first case under the new fugitive slave law. it will be noticed that there is very little of the 'law's delay' here; the proceedings were as summary as an arkansas court audience could desire. "u. s. commissioner's office--before commissioner gardiner.--_examination as to james hamlet, charged to be a fugitive slave, the property of mary brown, of baltimore._--no person was present as counsel for accused, and only one colored man. he is a light mulatto. the marshal said mr. wood had been there. the commissioner said they would go on, and if counsel came in, he would read proceedings. "_thomas j. clare_ (a man with dark eyes and hair), sworn.--am thirty years of age; clerk for merchant's shot manufacturing company in baltimore; know james hamlet; he is slave of mary brown, a mother-in-law of mine, residing in baltimore; have known hamlet about twenty years; he left my mother-in-law about two years ago this season, by absenting himself from the premises, the dwelling where he resided in baltimore; she is entitled to his services; he is a slave for life; she never parted with him voluntarily; she came into possession of him by will from john g. brown, her deceased husband; the written paper shown is an extract from his will; she held him under that from the time she inherited him till he escaped, as i have testified; this is the man (pointing to hamlet, a light mulatto man, about twenty-four or twenty-five years of age, looking exceedingly pensive). "_gustavus brown_, sworn.--am twenty-five years of age; reside in new york; clerk with a. m. fenday, front street; resided before coming here in baltimore; i know james hamlet; i have known him since a boy; he is a slave to my mother; he is a slave for life; my mother inherited him under the will of my father; he left her service by running away, i suppose; absenting himself from the house in the city of baltimore, about two years since; i have seen him several times, within the last six months, in the city; first time i saw him was in april last; my mother is still entitled to possession of him; she never has parted with him; the man sitting here (hamlet) is the man. "mr. asa child, counsellor at law, here came into the room, and took his seat; he said he had been sent to this morning, through another, by a gentleman with whom hamlet had lived in this city (mr. s. n. wood), but he had no directions in the matter; he merely came to see that the law is properly administered, and supposed it would be without him. "mr. child was then shown the law, the power of attorney to mr. clare, the affidavit of mr. clare on which hamlet was arrested--and the testimony thus far. "_mr. clare_, cross-examined by mr. child.--i married mrs. brown's daughter about seventeen years ago; hamlet has always lived with us in the family: i am in her family now, and was at the time he went away; think he is about twenty-eight years of age (he looks much younger than that--his features are very even, as those of a white person of the kind); he occasionally worked at the shot tower where i worked; he was hired there as a laborer, and mrs. brown got the benefit of him--that is, when i had no other use for him; he had formerly been employed as a drayman; after i married into the family some year or two, we lived together, i furnishing the house; such wages as i got for the man it was returned to mrs. brown, to be used as she saw fit; i was her agent to get employment for him as i could; i had him in various occupations; i have a power of attorney; i have no further interest in him than he is her property, and we wish to get him back to maryland again, where he left. "_mr. brown_, cross-examined.--left home th march last. was home when hamlet went away. at the time he was engaged at the shot tower business. "mr. child said he had no further questions to ask. he supposed the rules of the law had been complied with. "mr. gardiner, the commissioner, then said, i will deliver the fugitive over to the marshal, to be delivered over to the claimant. "mr. child suggested if that was the law. the commissioner then said he would hand him, as the law said, to the claimant, and if there should be any danger of rescue, he would deliver him to the united states marshal. "the united states marshal said he had performed his duty in bringing him in. "mr. clare said he would demand such aid from the united states marshal, as would secure the delivery of the man to his owner in baltimore. "mr. child suggested that it must be an affidavit that he apprehends a rescue. mr. clare said that he did so apprehend. "mr. talmadge, the marshal, said he would have to perform his duty, if called upon. "mr. child replied he supposed he would, but there were doubts as to the form. "the necessary papers were made out by the commissioner, mr. clare swearing he feared a rescue, and hamlet was delivered to him, thence to the united states marshal, and probably was conveyed with all possible despatch to baltimore, a coach being in waiting at the door; and he was taken off in irons, an officer accompanying the party." here is the charge of judge mclean in a similar case. "no earthly power has a right to interpose between a man's conscience and his maker. he has a right, an inalienable and absolute right, to worship god according to the dictates of his own conscience. for this he alone must answer, and he is entirely free from all human restraint to think and act for himself. "but this is not the case when his acts affect the rights of others. society has a claim upon all its citizens. general rules have been adopted in the form of laws, for the protection of the rights of persons and things. these laws lie at the foundation of the social compact, and their observance is essential to the maintenance of civilization. in these matters the law, and not conscience, constitutes the rule of action you are sworn to decide this case according to the law and testimony; and you become unfaithful to the solemn injunctions you have taken upon yourselves, when you yield to an influence which you call conscience, that places you above the law and the testimony. "such a rule can only apply to individuals; and when assumed as a basis of action on the rights of others, it is utterly destructive of all law. what may be deemed a conscientious act by one individual, may be held criminal by another. in view of one, the act is meritorious; in the view of the other, it should be punished as a crime. and each has the same right, acting under the dictates of his conscience, to carry out his own view. this would overturn the basis of society. we must stand by the law. we have sworn to maintain it. it is expected that the citizens of the free states should be opposed to slavery. but with the abstract principles of slavery we have nothing to do. as a political question there could be no difference of opinion among us on the subject. but our duty is found in the constitution of the union, as construed by the supreme court. the fugitives from labor we are bound, by the highest obligations, to deliver up on claim of the master being made; and there is no state power which can release the slave from the legal custody of his master. "in regard to the arrest of fugitives from labor, the law does not impose active duties on our citizens generally. they are not prohibited from exercising the ordinary charities of life towards the fugitive. to secrete him or convey him from the reach of his master, or to rescue him when in legal custody, is forbidden; and for doing this a liability is incurred. this gives to no one a just ground of complaint. he has only to refrain from an express violation of the law, which operates to the injury of his neighbor." he seems to think the right to hold slaves as much a natural right as the absolute right to worship god according to the "dictates of conscience." one man has an unalienable right to liberty, other men an unalienable right to alienate and take it from him! here is something in a different spirit from a boston newspaper. "the fugitive slave bill. "this infamous bill has finally passed both branches of congress.[a] my opinion on this subject may have little weight with those who voted for it, but may help sustain the sinking spirit of some poor disconsolate one, who, having fled from the land of oppressors, is anxiously looking to see if there is any one who will give him a cheering look, or a kind reception, or who dares to give him a crust of bread, or a cup of water, and help him on his way. "allow me to say to such an one, that if pursued by the merciless slaveholder, and every other door in boston is shut against him, there is a door that will be open at no. beach street, and that the fear of fines and imprisonment will be ineffectual when the pursuer shall demand his victim. if he enters before the fleeing captive is safe, it will be at his peril. i am opposed to war, and all the spirit of war; even to all preparations for what is called self-defence in times of peace; yet i should resist the pursuer, and not allow him to enter my dwelling until he was able to tread me under his feet. i will not trample upon any law, either of my own state, or of the nation, that does not conflict with my conscientious duty to my god; but jesus has commanded, saying, 'all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.' "if, for no crime, i had been taken and sold, and deprived of all the rights of my manhood, and degraded to the rank of a beast of burden; not only deprived of the opportunity to labor for the support of my wife and children, but even deprived of their kind sympathy and companionship, whenever the interest or will of my oppressors should require it; and i should, at the peril of my life, flee from my oppressors, and they should pursue me to the dwelling of some poor disciple of jesus, it may be that of a colored man, and i should beg of him to protect me, and help me to escape from the pursuer's grasp, should i not hope, if he was a christian, he would give me bread and water, and help me on my way, regardless of the fines and imprisonment that such a kind act might render him liable to? could i expect to meet the approbation of my lord, if i did not do as much for the fleeing slave? can there be a christian, in this land of the pilgrims, who will not do it, and besides, do all in his power to prevent any one of those senators or representatives in congress who voted for that infamous bill from ever again misrepresenting any portion of the friends of freedom, in boston or elsewhere? it is said, this is a law of the land, and must be obeyed: to such i would say, 'whether it be right in the sight of god to hearken unto men more than unto god, judge ye,' "i prefer to obey god, if in so doing i must break the laws of men and be punished, rather than violate the laws of god and obey the laws of men, to escape fines and imprisonments, or even death. "boston, sept. , . t. gilbert." here is yet more: "the fugitive slave bill. "messrs. editors:--the bold and manly avowal of your correspondent, mr. t. gilbert, in last evening's traveller, in commenting upon what he very justly denominates the 'infamous fugitive slave bill,' is but the very echoing of thousands of hearts equally true to the cause of freedom, and who seek the elevation of the down-trodden sons and daughters of american slavery. that gentleman, acting upon the dictates of an enlightened patriotism, and in deep sympathy with the fleeing captive, has the courage to avow his determination to throw wide open his door, and offers to make his house--even though he should stand alone among his fellow-citizens--an asylum to the fugitive slave, in his retreat from the prison-house of bondage. the paramount claims which he awards to the divine law over that which is but human, and therefore necessarily imperfect, commend his spirited letter to the consideration of all those that have in any way aided in the passage of a bill at variance with the first principles of civil freedom, and in direct hostility to the instruction of that great teacher who hath commanded us to 'do unto others as we would that they should do unto us.' that the determination of your correspondent may be true and unfaltering, is the hearty prayer of one, at least, of his fellow-citizens, who is ready at all times to cooperate in making an asylum for the fugitive slave, even though bonds and imprisonments should prove the penalty. george w. carnes. "boston, sept. , ." here follow some characteristic remarks on the terror which the fugitives here in boston feel in apprehension of being torn from their families and their freedom. "the fugitive slave law. "the colored people had a grand time last evening, at zion's chapel in church street. their object was to denounce the fugitive slave law; and this was done with hearty good-will, or, we should say, malediction. "the steam would have been well up, without any extraneous elements of excitement; but what added a special interest to the occasion, and raised the temperament to blood-heat, was the announcement, made by mr. downing, that the wife of james hamlet (the fugitive slave who was returned to his owner in baltimore, a few days since, under a process of law), had died yesterday, of grief and convulsions. "this filled the measure of indignation which burned in the bosoms of all present, against a law which, besides its other abominations, could produce such fatal effects. in the fever of the moment, a contribution was called for, to defray the expense of her funeral, and about twenty dollars was collected. "shortly after, information was received that it was all a mistake about her dying of convulsions, or in any other way; and that she was as well as ever. this was a damper upon the enthusiasm of the occasion, but the money was already collected, and seeing it could not be applied just now to defray her funeral expenses, it was very properly decided to apply it to her living expenses. the meeting adjourned. "mrs. hamlet was in our office yesterday, accompanied by her mother and a colored man. she appeared to be in good health (though of course distressed at the misfortune of her husband), and we hope she will live a thousand years. she certainly shall, if his return will have that effect."--_n. y. journal of commerce._ i print these passages, hoping that some hundred years hence they may be found in some old library, and valued as monuments of the state of christianity in the free states in the year . [a] i call this bill _infamous_, because by it the man or woman who is charged with being a slave is deprived of all the means of self-defence allowed to those who are charged with crimes, and to be delivered up summarily, without the right of trial by jury, or any other proper means of proving the charge groundless. is it a worse crime to be a slave than a thief or a murderer? [ ] the function of the jury. there are two theories of the function of the jury in criminal trials. one i will call the theory of the government; the other the theory of the people. the first has of late been insisted on in certain courts, and laid down by some judges in their charges to the jury. the second lies, perhaps dimly, in the consciousness of the people, and may be gathered from the conduct of juries in trials where the judges' law would do obvious injustice to the prisoner. i. according to the theory of the government. the judge is to settle the law for the jury. this involves two things: . he is to declare the law denouncing punishment on the alleged crime. . to declare what constitutes the crime. then the jury are only to determine whether the prisoner did the deed which the judge says constitutes the crime. he, exclusively, is to decide what is the law, and what deed constitutes the crime; they only to decide if the prisoner did the deed. for example, to take a case which has not happened yet, to my knowledge: john doe is accused of having eaten a medford cracker; and thereupon, by direction of the government, has been indicted by a grand jury for the capital offence of treason, and is brought before a traverse jury for trial. the judge tells the jury, . that eating a medford cracker constitutes the crime of treason. . that there is a law denouncing death on that crime. then the jury are to hearken to the evidence, and if it is proved to their satisfaction that john doe ate the medford cracker, they are to return a verdict of guilty. they are only to judge of the matter of fact, and take the law on the judge's authority. ii. according to the theory of the people, in order to render their verdict, the jury are to determine three things: . did the man do the deed alleged? . if so, is there a legal and constitutional statute denouncing punishment upon the crime? here the question is twofold: (_a_) as to the deed which constitutes the crime, and (_b_) as to the statute which denounces the crime. . if all this is settled affirmatively, then, shall this man suffer the punishment thus legally and constitutionally denounced? for example: john doe is accused of having eaten a medford cracker, is indicted for treason, and brought to trial; the judge charges as above. then the jury are to determine: . did john doe eat the medford cracker in the manner alleged? . if so: (_a_) does that deed constitute the crime of treason? and (_b_) is there a legal and constitutional statute denouncing the punishment of death on that crime? . if so likewise, shall john doe suffer the punishment of death? the first question, as to the fact, they are to settle by the evidence presented in open court, according to the usual forms, and before the face of the prisoner; the testimony of each witness forms one element of that evidence. the jury alone are to determine whether the testimony of the witnesses proves the fact. the second question, (_a_) as to the deed which constitutes the crime, and (_b_) as to the law which denounces the crime, they are to settle by evidence; the testimony of the judge, of the states' attorney, of the prisoner's counsel, each forms an element of that evidence. the jury alone are to determine whether that testimony proves that the deed constitutes the crime, and that there is a law denouncing death against it; and the jury are to remember that the judge and the attorney who are the creatures of the government, and often paid to serve its passions, may be, and often have been, quite as partial, quite as unjust, as the prisoner's counsel. the third question, as to punishing the prisoner, after the other questions are decided against him, is to be settled solely by the mind and conscience of the jury. if they know that john doe did eat the medford cracker; that the deed legally constitutes the crime of treason, and that there is a legal and constitutional statute denouncing death on that crime, they are still to determine, on their oath as jurors, on their manhood as men, whether john doe shall suffer the punishment of death. they are jurors to do justice, not injustice; what they think is justice, not what they think injustice. the government theory, though often laid down in the charge, is seldom if ever practically carried out by a judge in its full extent. for he does not declare on his own authority what is the law and what constitutes the crime, but gives the statutes, precedents, decisions and the like; clearly implying by this very course that the jury are not to take his authority barely, but his reasons if reasonable. in the majority of cases, the statute and the ruling of the court come as near to real justice as the opinion of the jury does; then if they are satisfied that the prisoner did the deed alleged, they return a verdict of guilty with a clear conscience, and subject the man to what they deem a just punishment for an unjust act. their conduct then seems to confirm the government theory of the jurors' function. lawyers and others sometimes reason exclusively from such cases, and conclude such is the true and actual theory thereof. but when a case occurs, wherein the ruling of the judge appears wrong to the jury; when he declares legal and constitutional what they think is not so; when he declares that a trifling offence constitutes a great crime; when the statute is manifestly unjust, forbidding what is not wrong, or when the punishment denounced for a real wrong is excessive, or any punishment is provided for a deed not wrong, though there is no doubt of the facts, the jury will not convict. sometimes they will acquit the prisoner; sometimes fail to agree. the history of criminal trials in england and america proves this. in such cases the jury are not false to their function and jurors' oath, but faithful to both, for the jurors are the "country"--the justice and humanity of men. suppose some one should invent a machine to be used in criminal trials for determining the testimony given in court. let me call it a martyrion. this instrument receives the evidence and determines and reports the fact that the prisoner did, or did not, do the deed alleged. according to the government theory, the martyrion would perfectly perform all the functions of the jury in a criminal case; but would any community substitute the machine for the jury of "twelve good men and true?" if the jury is to be merely the judge's machine, it had better be of iron and gutta-percha than of human beings. in philadelphia, some years ago, a man went deliberately and shot a person who had seduced his sister under circumstances of great atrocity. he was indicted for wilful murder. there was no doubt as to the fact, none as to the law, none as to the deed which constituted that crime. the jury returned, "not guilty"--and were justified in their verdict. in , in new jersey, a man seduced the wife of another, under circumstances even more atrocious. the husband, in open day, coolly and deliberately shot the seducer; was tried for wilful murder. here, too, there was no doubt of the fact, of the law, or the deed which constituted the crime of murder; but the jury, perfectly in accordance with their official function, returned "not guilty." the case of william penn in , who was tried under the conventicle act, is well known. the conduct of many english juries who would not condemn a fellow-creature to death for stealing a few pounds of money, is also well known, and shows the value of this form of trial to protect a man from a wicked law. i think most men will declare the verdict of "not guilty" in the case of j. p. zenger, tried for high treason in new york in , a righteous judgment, made in strict accordance with the official function of the jurors; but it was plainly contrary to the evidence as well as to the ruling of the court. see mr. parker's defence, p. , _et seq._ for further remarks on the function of the jury (boston, ). [ ] so it appeared in september, ; but since then the whig party has vindicated its claim to the same bad eminence as the democratic party. [ ] the person referred to fled away from boston, and in one of the british provinces found the protection for his unalienable rights, which could not be allowed him in new england. [ ] this refers to a speech of mr. webster, occasioned by the passage of the fugitive slave law. v. the state of the nation, considered in a sermon for thanksgiving day.--preached at the melodeon, november , . proverbs xiv. . righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. we come together to-day, by the governor's proclamation, to give thanks to god for our welfare, not merely for our happiness as individuals or as families, but for our welfare as a people. how can we better improve this opportunity, than by looking a little into the condition of the people? and accordingly i invite your attention to a sermon of the state of this nation. i shall try to speak of the condition of the nation itself, then of the causes of that condition, and, in the third place, of the dangers that threaten, or are alleged to threaten, the nation. * * * * * first, of our condition. look about you in boston. here are a hundred and forty thousand souls, living in peace and in comparative prosperity. i think, without doing injustice to the other side of the water, there is no city in the old world, of this population, with so much intelligence, activity, morality, order, comfort, and general welfare, and, at the same time, with so little of the opposite of all these. i know the faults of boston, and i think i would not disguise them; the poverty, unnatural poverty, which shivers in the cellar; the unnatural wealth which bloats in the parlor; the sin which is hid in the corners of the jail; and the more dangerous sin which sets up christianity for a pretence; the sophistry which lightens in the newspapers, and thunders in the pulpit:--i know all these things, and do not pretend to disguise them; and still i think no city of the old world, of the same population, has so much which good men prize, and so little which good men deplore. see the increase of material wealth; the buildings for trade and for homes; the shops and ships. this year boston will add to her possessions some ten or twenty millions of dollars, honestly and earnestly got. observe the neatness of the streets, the industry of the inhabitants, their activity of mind, the orderliness of the people, the signs of comfort. then consider the charities of boston; those limited to our own border, and those which extend further, those beautiful charities which encompass the earth with their sweet influence. look at the schools, a monument of which the city may well be proud, in spite of their defects. but boston, though we proudly call it the athens of america, is not the pleasantest thing in new england to look at; it is the part of massachusetts which i like the least to look at, spite of its excellence. look further, at the whole of massachusetts, and you see a fairer spectacle. there is less wealth at provincetown, in proportion to the numbers, but there is less want; there is more comfort; property is more evenly and equally distributed there than here, and the welfare of a country never so much depends upon the amount of its wealth, as on the mode in which its wealth is distributed. in the state, there are about one hundred and fifty thousand families--some nine hundred and seventy-five thousand persons, living with a degree of comfort, which, i think, is not anywhere enjoyed by such a population in the old world. they are mainly industrious, sober, intelligent, and moral. every thing thrives; agriculture, manufactures, commerce. "the carpenter encourages the goldsmith; he that smites the anvil, him that smootheth with the hammer." look at the farms, where intelligent labor wins bread and beauty both, out of the sterile soil and climate not over-indulgent. behold the shops all over the state; the small shops where the shoemaker holds his work in his lap, and draws his thread by his own strong muscles; and the large shops where machines, animate with human intelligence, hold, with iron grasp, their costlier work in their lap, and spin out the delicate staple of sea island cotton. look at all this; it is a pleasant sight. look at our hundreds of villages, by river, mountain, and sea; behold the comfortable homes, the people well fed, well clad, well instructed. look at the school-houses, the colleges of the people; at the higher seminaries of learning; at the poor man's real college further back in the interior, where the mechanic's and farmer's son gets his education, often a poor one, still something to be proud of. look at the churches, where, every sunday, the best words of hebrew and of christian saints are read out of this book, and all men are asked, once in the week, to remember they have a father in heaven, a faith to swear by, and a heaven to live for, and a conscience to keep. i know the faults of these churches. i am not in the habit of excusing them; still i know their excellence, and i will not be the last man to acknowledge that. look at the roads of earth and iron which join villages together, and make the state a whole. follow the fisherman from his rocky harbor at cape ann; follow the mariner in his voyage round the world of waters; see the industry, the intelligence, and the comfort of the people. i think massachusetts is a state to be thankful for. there are faults in her institutions and in her laws, that need change very much. in her form of society, in her schools, in her colleges, there is much which clamors loudly for alteration,--very much in her churches to be christianized. these changes are going quietly forward, and will in time be brought about. i love to look on this state, its material prosperity, its increase in riches, its intelligence and industry, and the beautiful results that are seen all about us to-day. i love to look on the face of the people, in halls and churches, in markets and factories; to think of our great ideas; of the institutions which have come of them; of our schools and colleges, and all the institutions for making men wiser and better; to think of the noble men we have in the midst of us, in every walk of life, who eat an honest bread, who love mankind, and love god, who have consciences they mean to keep, and souls which they intend to save. the great business of society is not merely to have farms, and ships, and shops,--the greater shops and the less,--but to have men; men that are conscious of their manhood, self-respectful, earnest men, that have a faith in the living god. i do not think we have many men of genius. we have very few that i call great men; i wish there were more; but i think we have an intelligent, an industrious, and noble people here in massachusetts, which we may be proud of. let us go a step further. new england is like massachusetts in the main, with local differences only. all the north is like new england in the main; this portion is better in one thing; that portion worse in another thing. our ideas are their ideas; our institutions are the same. some of the northern states have institutions better than we. they have added to our experience. in revising their constitutions and laws, or in making new ones, they go beyond us, they introduce new improvements, and those new improvements will give those states the same advantage over us, which a new mill, with new and superior machinery, has over an old mill, with old and inferior machinery. by and by we shall see the result, and take counsel from it, i trust. all over the north we find the same industry and thrift, and similar intelligence. here attention is turned to agriculture, there to mining; but there is a similar progress and zeal for improvement. attention is bestowed on schools and colleges, on academies and churches. there is the same abundance of material comfort. population advances rapidly, prosperity in a greater ratio. everywhere new swarms pour forth from the old hive, and settle in some convenient nook, far off in the west. so the frontier of civilization every year goes forward, further from the ocean. fifty years ago it was on the ohio; then on the mississippi; then on the upper missouri: presently its barrier will be the rocky mountains, and soon it will pass beyond that bar, and the tide of the atlantic will sweep over to the pacific--yea, it is already there! the universal yankee freights his schooner at bangor, at new bedford, and at boston, with bricks, timber, frame-houses, and other "notions," and by and by drops his anchor in the smooth pacific, in the bay of st. francis. we shall see there, ere long, the sentiments of new england, the ideas of new england, the institutions of new england; the school-house, the meeting-house, the court-house, the town-house. there will be the same industry, thrift, intelligence, morality, and religion, and the idle ground that has hitherto borne nothing but gold, will bear upon its breast a republic of men more precious than the gold of ophir, or the rubies of the east. here i wish i could stop. but this is not all. the north is not the whole nation; new england is not the only type of the people. there are other states differing widely from this. in the southern states you find a soil more fertile under skies more genial. through what beautiful rivers the alleghanies pour their tribute to the sea! what streams beautify the land in georgia, alabama, louisiana, and mississippi! there genial skies rain beauty on the soil. nature is wanton of her gifts. there rice, cotton, and sugar grow; there the olive, the orange, the fig, all find a home. the soil teems with luxuriance. but there is not the same wealth, nor the same comfort. only the ground is rich. you witness not a similar thrift. strange is it, but in , the single state of new york alone earned over four million dollars more than the six states of north and south carolina, georgia, alabama, louisiana, and mississippi! the annual earnings of little massachusetts, with her seven thousand and five hundred square miles, are nine million dollars more than the earnings of all florida, georgia, and south carolina! the little county of essex, with ninety-five thousand souls in , earned more than the large state of south carolina, with five hundred and ninety-five thousand. in those states we miss the activity, intelligence, and enterprise of the north. you do not find the little humble school-house at every corner; the frequent meeting-house does not point its taper finger to the sky. villages do not adorn the margin of the mountain, stream and sea; shops do not ring with industry; roads of earth and iron are poorer and less common. temperance, morality, comfort are not there as here. in the slave states, in , there were not quite three hundred and two thousand youths and maidens in all the schools, academies, and colleges of the south; but in , in the free states of the north there were more than two million two hundred and twelve thousand in such institutions! little rhode island has five thousand more girls and boys at school than large south carolina. the state of ohio alone has more than seventeen thousand children at school beyond what the whole fifteen slave states can boast. the permanent literature of the nation all comes from the north; your historians are from that quarter--your sparkses, your bancrofts, your hildreths, and prescotts, and ticknors; the poets are from the same quarter--your whittiers, and longfellows, and lowells, and bryants; the men of literature and religion--your channings, and irvings, and emersons--are from the same quarter! preaching--it is everywhere, and sermons are as thick almost as autumnal leaves; but who ever heard of a great or famous clergyman in a southern state? of a great and famous sermon that rang through the nation from that quarter? no man. your edwards of old time, and your beechers, old and young, your channing and buckminster, and the rest, which throng to every man's lips--all are from the north. nature has done enough for the south; god's cup of blessing runs over--and yet you see the result! but there has been no pestilence at the south more than at the north; no earthquake has torn the ground beneath their feet; no war has come to disturb them more than us. the government has never laid a withering hand on their commerce, their agriculture, their schools and colleges, their literature and their church. still, letting alone the south and the north as such, not considering either exclusively, we are one nation. what is a nation? it is one of the great parties in the world. it is a sectional party, having geographical limits; with a party organization, party opinions, party mottoes, party machinery, party leaders, and party followers; with some capital city for its party head-quarters. there has been an assyrian party, a british, a persian, an egyptian, and a roman party; there is now a chinese party, and a russian, a turkish, a french, and an english party; these are also called nations. we belong to the american party, and that includes the north as well as the south; and so all are brothers of the same party, differing amongst ourselves--but from other nations in this, that we are the american party, and not the russian nor the english. we ought to look at the whole american party, the north and south, to see the total condition of the people. now at this moment there is no lack of cattle and corn and cloth in the united states, north or south, only they are differently distributed in the different parts of the land. but still there is a great excitement. men think the nation is in danger, and for many years there has not been so great an outcry and alarm amongst the politicians. the cry is raised, "the union is in danger!" and if the union falls, we are led to suppose that every thing falls. there will be no more thanksgiving days; there will be anarchy and civil war, and the ruin of the american people! it is curious to see this material plenty, on the one side, and this political alarm and confusion on the other. this condition of alarm is so well known, that nothing more need be said about it at this moment. * * * * * let me now come to the next point, and consider the causes of our present condition. this will involve a consideration of the cause of our prosperity and of our alarm. . first, there are some causes which depend on god entirely; such as the nature of the country, soil, climate, and the like; its minerals, and natural productions; its seas and harbors, mountains and rivers. in respect to these natural advantages, the country is abundantly favored, but the north less so than the south. tennessee, virginia and alabama, certainly have the advantage over maine, new hampshire and ohio. that i pass by; a cause which depends wholly on god. . then again, this is a wide and new country. we have room to spread. we have not to contend against old institutions, established a thousand years ago, and that is one very great advantage. i make no doubt that in crossing the ocean, our fathers helped forward the civilization of the world at least a thousand years; i mean to say, it would have taken mankind a thousand years longer to reach the condition we have attained in new england, if the attempt had of necessity been made on the soil of the old world and in the face of its institutions. . then, as a third thing, much depends on the peculiar national character. well, the freemen in the north and south are chiefly from the same race, this indomitable caucasian stock; mainly from the same composite stock, the tribe produced by the mingling of saxon, danish and norman blood. that makes the present english nation, and the american also. this is a very powerful tribe of men, possessing some very noble traits of character; active and creative in all the arts of peace; industrious as a nation never was before; enterprising, practical; fond of liberty, fond also of law, capable of organizing themselves into great masses, and acting with a complete concert and unity of action. in these respects, i think this tribe, which i will call the english tribe, is equal to any race of men in the world that has been or is; perhaps superior to any race that has been developed hitherto. but in what relates to the higher reason and imagination, to the affections and to the soul, i think this tribe is not so eminent as some others have been. north and south, the people are alike of anglo-norman descent. . another cause of our prosperity, which depends a great deal on ourselves, is this--the absence of war and of armies. in france, with a population of less than forty millions, half a million are constantly under arms. the same state of things prevails substantially in austria, prussia, and in all the german states. here in america, with a population of twenty millions, there is not one in a thousand that is a soldier or marine. in time of peace, i think we waste vast sums in military preparations, as we did in actual war not long since. still, when i compare this nation with others, i think we have cause to felicitate ourselves on the absence of military power. . again, much depends on the past history of the race; and here there is a wide difference between the different parts of the country. new england was settled by a religious colony. i will not say that all the men who came here from to were moved by religious motives; but the controlling men were brought here by these motives, and no other. many who cared less for religious ideas, came for the sake of a great moral idea, for the sake of obtaining a greater degree of civil freedom than they had at home. now the pilgrims and the puritans are only a little ways behind us. the stiff ruff, the peaked beard, the "prophesying book" are only six or seven generations behind the youngest of us. the character of the puritans has given to new england much of its present character and condition. they founded schools and colleges; they trained up their children in a stern discipline which we shall not forget for two centuries to come. the remembrance of their trials, their heroism, and their piety affects our preaching to-day, and our politics also. the difference between new england and new york, from to , is the difference between the sons of the religious colony and the sons of the worldly colony. you know something of new york politics before the revolution, and also since the revolution; the difference between new york and new england politics at that time, is the difference between the sons of religious men and the sons of men who cared very much less for religion. just now, when i said that all the north is like new england, i meant substantially so. the west is our own daughter. new england has helped people the western part of the state of new york; and the best elements of new england character mingling with others, its good qualities will appear in the politics of that mighty state. the south, in the main, had a very different origin from the north. i think few if any persons settled there for religion's sake; or for the sake of freedom in the state. it was not a moral idea which sent men to virginia, georgia and carolina. "men do not gather grapes of thorns." the difference of the seed will appear in the difference of the crop. in the character of the people of the north and south, it appears at this day. the north is not to be praised, nor the south to be blamed for this; they could not help it: but certainly it is an advantage to be descended from a race of industrious, moral and religious men; to have been brought up under their training, to have inherited their ideas and institutions,--and this is a circumstance which we make quite too little account of. i pass by that. . there are other causes which depend on ourselves entirely. much depends on the political and social organization of the people. there is no denying that government has a great influence on the character of the people; on the character of every man. the difference between the development of england and the development of spain at this day, is mainly the result of different forms of government; for three centuries ago the spaniards were as noble a race as the english. a government is carried on by two agencies: the first is public opinion, and the next is public law,--the fundamental law which is the constitution, and the subsidiary laws which carry out the ideas of the constitution. in a government like this, public opinion always precedes the laws, overrides them, takes the place of laws when there are none, and hinders their execution when they do not correspond to public opinion. thus the public opinion of south carolina demands that a free colored seaman from the north shall be shut up in jail, at his employer's cost. the public opinion of charleston is stronger than the public law of the united states on that point, stronger than the constitution, and nobody dares execute the laws of the united states in that matter. these two things should always be looked at, to understand the causes of a nation's condition--the public opinion, as well as the public law. let me know the opinions of the men between twenty-five and thirty-five years of age, and i know what the laws will be. now in public opinion and in the laws of the united states, there are two distinct political ideas. i shall call one the democratic, and the other the despotic idea. neither is wholly sectional; both chiefly so. each is composed of several simpler ideas. each has enacted laws and established institutions. this is the democratic idea: that all men are endowed by their creator with certain natural rights, which only the possessor can alienate; that all men are equal in these rights; that amongst them is the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that the business of the government is to preserve for every man all of these rights until he alienates them. this democratic idea is founded in human nature, and comes from the nature of god who made human nature. to carry it out politically is to execute justice, which is the will of god. this idea, in its realization, leads to a democracy, a government of all, for all, by all. such a government aims to give every man all his natural rights; it desires to have political power in all hands, property in all hands, wisdom in all heads, goodness in all hearts, religion in all souls. i mean the religion that makes a man self-respectful, earnest, and faithful to the infinite god, that disposes him to give all men their rights, and to claim his own rights at all times; the religion which is piety within you, and goodness in the manifestation. such a government has laws, and the aim thereof is to give justice to all men; it has officers to execute these laws, for the sake of justice. such a government founds schools for all; looks after those most who are most in need; defends and protects the feeblest as well as the richest and most powerful. the state is for the individual, and for all the individuals, and so it reverences justice, where the rights of all, and the interests of all, exactly balance. it demands free speech; every thing is open to examination, discussion, "agitation," if you will. thought is to be free, speech to be free, work to be free, and worship to be free. such is the democratic idea, and such the state which it attempts to found. the despotic idea is just the opposite:--that all men are _not_ endowed by their creator with certain natural rights which only the possessor can alienate, but that one man has a natural right to overcome and make use of some other men for his advantage and their hurt; that all men are _not_ equal in their rights; that all men have _not_ a natural right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that government is _not_ instituted to preserve these natural rights for all. this idea is founded on the excess of human passions, and it represents the compromise between a man's idleness and his appetite. it is not based on facts eternal in human nature, but on facts transient in human nature. it does not aim to do justice to all, but injustice to some; to take from one man what he ought not to lose, and give to another what he ought not to get. this leads to aristocracy in various forms, to the government of all by means of a part and for the sake of a part. in this state of things political power must be in few hands; property in few hands; wisdom in few heads; goodness in few hearts, and religion in few souls. i mean the religion which leads a man to respect himself and his fellow men; to be earnest, and to trust in the infinite god; to demand his rights of other men and to give their rights to them. neither the democratic nor the despotic idea is fully made real anywhere in the world. there is no perfect democracy, nor perfect aristocracy. there are democrats in every actual aristocracy; despots in every actual democracy. but in the northern states the democratic idea prevails extensively and chiefly, and we have made attempts at establishing a democratic government. in the southern states the despotic idea prevails extensively and chiefly, and they have made attempts to establish an aristocratic government. in an aristocracy there are two classes: the people to be governed, and the governing class, the nobility which is to govern. this nobility may be movable, and depend on wealth; or immovable, and depend on birth. in the southern states the nobility is immovable, and depends on color. in , in the north there were ten million free men, and in the south five million free men and three million slaves. three eighths of the population have no human rights at all--privileges as cattle, not rights as men. there the slave is protected by law, as your horse and your ox, but has no more human rights. here, now, is the great cause of the difference in the condition of the north and south; of the difference in the material results, represented by towns and villages, by farms and factories, ships and shops. here is the cause of the difference in schools, colleges, churches, and in the literature; the cause of the difference in men. the south, with its despotic idea, dishonors labor, but wishes to compromise between its idleness and its appetite, and so kidnaps men to do its work. the north, with its democratic idea, honors labor; does not compromise between its idleness and its appetite, but lays its bones to the work to satisfy its appetite; instead of kidnapping a man who can run away, it kidnaps the elements, subdues them to its command, and makes them do its work. it does not kidnap a freeman, but catches the winds, and chains them to its will. it lays hands on fire and water, and breeds a new giant, which "courses land and ocean without rest," or serves while it stands and waits, driving the mills of the land. it kidnaps the connecticut and the merrimac; does not send slave-ships to africa, but engineers to new hampshire; and it requires no fugitive slave law to keep the earth and sea from escaping, or the rivers of new england from running up hill. this is not quite all! i have just now tried to hint at the causes of the difference in the condition of the people, north and south. now let me show the cause of the agitation and alarm. we begin with a sentiment; that spreads to an idea; the idea grows to an act, to an institution; then it has done its work. men seek to spread their sentiments and ideas. the democratic idea tries to spread; the despotic idea tries to spread. for a long time the nation held these two ideas in its bosom, not fully conscious of either of them. both came here in a state of infancy, so to say, with our fathers; the democratic idea very dimly understood; the despotic idea not fully carried out, yet it did a great mischief in the state and church. in the declaration of independence, writ by a young man, only the democratic idea appears, and that idea never got so distinctly stated before. but mark you, and see the confusion in men's minds. that democratic idea was thus distinctly stated by a man who was a slaveholder almost all his life; and unless public rumor has been unusually false, he has left some of his own offspring under the influence of the despotic and not the democratic idea; slaves and not free men. in the constitution of the united states these two ideas appear. it was thought for a long time they were not incompatible; it was thought the great american party might recognize both, and a compromise was made between the two. it was thought each might go about its own work and let the other alone; that the hawk and the hen might dwell happily together in the same coop, each lay her own eggs and rear her own brood, and neither put a claw upon the other. in the mean time each founded institutions after its kind; in the northern states, democratic institutions; in the southern, aristocratic. what once lay latent in the mind of the nation has now become patent. the thinking part of the nation sees the difference between the two. some men are beginning to see that the two are completely incompatible, and cannot be good friends. others are asking us to shut our eyes and not see it, and they think that so long as our eyes are shut, all things will go on peacefully. such is the wisdom of the ostrich. at first the trouble coming from this source was a very little cloud, far away on the horizon, not bigger than a man's hand. it seemed so in , when the brave senator from massachusetts, a hartford convention federalist, a name that calls the blood to some rather pale cheeks now-a-days, proposed to alter the constitution of the united states, and cut off the north from all responsibility for slavery. it was a little cloud not bigger than a man's hand; now it is a great cloud which covers the whole hemisphere of heaven, and threatens to shut out the day. in the last session of congress, ten months long, the great matter was the contest between the two ideas. all the newspapers rung with the battle. even the pulpits now and then alluded to it; forgetting their decency, that they must preach "only religion," which has not the least to do with politics and the welfare of the state. each idea has its allies, and it is worth while to run our eye over the armies and see what they amount to. the idea of despotism has for its allies: . the slaveholders of the south with their dependents; and the servile class who take their ideas from the prominent men about them. this servile class is more numerous at the south than even at the north. . it has almost all the distinguished politicians of the north and south; the distinguished great politicians in the congress of the nation, and the distinguished little politicians in the congresses of the several states. . it has likewise the greater portion of the wealthy and educated men in many large towns of the north; with their dependents and the servile men who take their opinions from the prominent class about them. and here, i am sorry to say, i must reckon the greater portion of the prominent and wealthy clergy, the clergy in the large cities. once this class of men were masters of the rich and educated; and very terrible masters they were in madrid and in rome. now their successors are doing penance for those old sins. "it is a long lane," they say, "which has no turn," and the clerical has had a very short and complete turn. when i say the majority of the clergy in prominent situations in the large cities, are to be numbered among the allies of the despotic idea, and are a part of the great pro-slavery army, i know there are some noble and honorable exceptions, men who do not fear the face of gold, but reverence the face of god. then on the side of the democratic idea there are: . the great mass of the people at the north; farmers, mechanics, and the humbler clergy. this does not appear so at first sight, because these men have not much confidence in themselves, and require to be shaken many times before they are thoroughly waked up. . beside that there are a few politicians at the north who are on this side; some distinguished ones in congress, some less distinguished ones in the various legislatures of the north. . next there are men, north and south, who look at the great causes of the welfare of nations, and make up their minds historically, from the facts of human history, against despotism. then there are such as study the great principles of justice and truth, and judge from human nature, and decide against despotism. and then such as look at the law of god, and believe christianity is sense and not nonsense; that christianity is the ideal for earnest men, not a pretence for a frivolous hypocrite. some of these men are at the south; the greater number are in the north; and here again you see the difference between the son of the planter and the son of the puritan. here are the allies, the threefold armies of despotism on the one side, and of democracy on the other. * * * * * now it is not possible for these two ideas to continue to live in peace. for a long time each knew not the other, and they were quiet. the men who clearly knew the despotic idea, thought, in , it would die "of a rapid consumption:" they said so; but the culture of cotton has healed its deadly wound, at least for the present. after the brief state of quiet, there came a state of armed neutrality. they were hostile, but under bonds to keep the peace. each bit his thumb, but neither dared say he bit it at the other. now the neutrality is over; attempts are made to compromise, to compose the difficulty. various peace measures were introduced to the senate last summer; but they all turned out war measures, every one of them. now there is a trial of strength between the two. which shall recede? which be extended? freedom or slavery? that is the question; refuse to look at it as we will,--refrain or refrain not from "political agitation," that is the question. in the last congress it is plain the democratic idea was beaten. congress said to california, "you may come in, and you need not keep slaves unless you please." it said, "you shall not bring slaves to washington for sale, you may do that at norfolk, alexandria, and georgetown, it is just as well, and this 'will pacify the north.'" utah and new mexico were left open to slavery, and fifty thousand or seventy thousand square miles and ten million dollars were given to texas lest she should "dissolve the union,"--without money or men! to crown all, the fugitive slave bill became a law. i think it is very plain that the democratic idea was defeated, and it is easy to see why. the three powers which are the allies of the despotic idea, were ready, and could act in concert--the southern slaveholders, the leading politicians, the rich and educated men of the northern cities, with their appendages and servile adherents. but since then, the conduct of the people in the north, and especially in this state, shows that the nation has not gone that way yet. i think the nation never will; that the idea of freedom will never be turned back in this blessed north. i feel sure it will at last overcome the idea of slavery. i come to this conclusion, firstly, from the character of the tribe: this anglo-norman-saxon tribe loves law, deliberation, order, method; it is the most methodical race that ever lived. but it loves liberty, and while it loves law, it loves law chiefly because it keeps liberty; and without that it would trample law under foot. see the conduct of england. she spent one hundred millions of dollars in the attempt to wipe slavery from the west indies. she keeps a fleet on the coast of africa to put down the slave-trade there--where we also have, i think, a sloop-of-war. she has just concluded a treaty with brazil for the suppression of the slave-trade in that country, one of her greatest achievements in that work for many years. see how the sons of the puritans, as soon as they came to a consciousness of what the despotic idea was, took their charters and wiped slavery clean out, first from massachusetts, and then from the other states, one after another. see how every northern state, in revising its constitution, or in making a new one, declares all men are created equal, that all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. then the religion of the north demands the same thing. professors may try to prove that the old testament establishes slavery; that the new testament justifies the existence of slavery; that paul's epistle to philemon was nothing more than another fugitive slave law, that paul himself sent back a runaway; but it does not touch the religion of the north. we know better. we say if the old testament does that and the new testament, so much the worse for them both. we say, "let us look and see if paul was so benighted," and we can judge for ourselves that the professor was mistaken more than the apostle. again, the spirit of the age, which is the public opinion of the nations, is against slavery. it was broken down in england, france, italy, and spain; it cannot stand long against civilization and good sense; against the political economy and the religious economy of the civilized world. the genius of freedom stands there, year out, year in, and hurls firebrands into the owl's nest of the prince of darkness, continually,--and is all this with no effect? besides that, it is against the law of god. that guides this universe, treating with even-handed justice the great geographical parties, austrian, roman, british, or american, with the same justice wherewith it dispenses its blessings to the little local factions that divide the village for a day, marshalling mankind forward in its mighty progress towards wisdom, freedom, goodness towards men, and piety towards god. of the final issue i have no doubt; but no man can tell what shall come to pass in the mean time. we see that political parties in the state are snapped asunder: whether the national party shall not be broken up, no man can say. in , on the th day of november, no man in old england or new england could tell what would bring forth. no man, north or south, can tell to-day what will bring to pass. he must be a bold man who declares to the nation that no new political machinery shall be introduced, in the next thirty years, to our national mill. we know not what a day shall bring forth, but we know that god is on the side of right and justice, and that they will prevail so long as god is god. * * * * * now, then, to let alone details, and generalize into one all the causes of our condition, this is the result: we have found welfare just so far as we have followed the democratic idea, and enacted justice into law. we have lost welfare just so far as we have followed the despotic idea, and made iniquity into a statute. so far as we have reaffirmed the ordinance of nature and reënacted the will of god, we have succeeded. so far as we have refused to do that, we have failed. of old it was written, "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." * * * * * and now a word of our dangers. there seems no danger from abroad; from any foreign state, unless we begin the quarrel; none from famine. the real danger, in one word, is this--that we shall try to enact injustice into a law, and with the force of the nation to make iniquity obeyed. see some of the special forms of injustice which threaten us, or are already here. i shall put them into the form of ideas. . one, common among politicians is, that the state is for a portion of the people, not the whole. thus it has been declared that the constitution of the united states did not recognize the three million slaves as citizens, or extend to them any right which it guarantees to other men. it would be a sad thing for the state to declare there was a single child in the whole land to whom it owed no protection. what, then, if it attempts to take three millions from under its shield? in obedience to this false idea, the counsel has been given, that we must abstain from all "political agitation" of the most important matter before the people. we must leave that to our masters, for the state is for them, it is not for you and me. they must say whether we shall "agitate" and "discuss" these things or not. the politicians are our masters, and may lay their fingers on our lips when they will. . the next false idea is,--that government is chiefly for the protection of property. this has long been the idea on which some men legislated, but on the th day of this month, the distinguished secretary of state, in a speech at new york, used these words: "the great object of government is the protection of property at home and respect and renown abroad." you see what the policy must be where the government is for the protection of the hat, and only takes care of the head so far as it serves to wear a hat. here the man is the accident, and the dollar is the substance for which the man is to be protected. i think a notion very much like this prevails extensively in the great cities of america, north and south. i think the chief politicians of the two parties are agreed in this--that government is for the protection of property, and every thing else is subsidiary. with many persons politics are a part of their business; the state-house and the custom-house are only valued for their relation to trade. this idea is fatal to a good government. think of this, that "the great object of government is the protection of property." tell that to samuel adams, and john hancock, and washington, and the older winthrops, and the bradfords and carvers! why! it seems as if the buried majesty of massachusetts would start out of the ground, and with its bible in its hand say--this is false! . the third false idea is this--that you are morally bound to obey the statute, let it be never so plainly wrong and opposed to your conscience. this is the most dangerous of all the false ideas yet named. ambitious men, in an act of passion, make iniquity into a law, and then demand that you and i, in our act of prayer, shall submit to it and make it our daily life; that we shall not try to repeal and discuss and agitate it! this false idea lies at the basis of every despot's throne, the idea that men can make right wrong, and wrong right. it has come to be taught in new england, to be taught in our churches--though seldom there, to their honor be it spoken, except in the churches of commerce in large towns--that if wrong is law, you and i must do what it demands, though conscience declares it is treason against man and treason against god. the worst doctrines of hobbes and filmer are thus revived. i have sometimes been amazed at the talk of men who call on us to keep the fugitive slave law, one of the most odious laws in a world of odious laws--a law not fit to be made or kept. i have been amazed that they should dare to tell us the law of god, writ on the heavens and our hearts, never demanded we should disobey the laws of men! well, suppose it were so. then it was old daniel's duty at darius's command to give up his prayer; but he prayed three times a day, with his windows up. then it was john's and peter's duty to forbear to preach of christianity; but they said, "whether it be right in the sight of god to hearken unto you more than unto god, judge ye." then it was the duty of amram and jochebed to take up their new-born moses and cast him into the nile, for the law of king pharaoh, commanding it, was "constitutional," and "political agitation" was discountenanced as much in goshen as in boston. but daniel did not obey; john and peter did not fail to preach christianity; and amram and jochebed refused "passive obedience" to the king's decree! i think it will take a strong man all this winter to reverse the judgment which the world has passed on these three cases. but it is "innocent" to try. however, there is another ancient case, mentioned in the bible, in which the laws commanded one thing and conscience just the opposite. here is the record of the law:--"now both the chief priests and the pharisees had given a commandment, that if any one knew where he [jesus] were, he should show it, that they might take him." of course, it became the official and legal business of each disciple who knew where christ was, to make it known to the authorities. no doubt james and john could leave all and follow him, with others of the people who knew not the law of moses, and were accursed; nay the women, martha and mary, could minister unto him of their substance, could wash his feet with tears, and wipe them with the hairs of their head. they did it gladly, of their own free will, and took pleasure therein, i make no doubt. there was no merit in that--"any man can perform an agreeable duty." but there was found one disciple who could "perform a disagreeable duty." he went, perhaps "with alacrity," and betrayed his saviour to the marshal of the district of jerusalem, who was called a centurion. had he no affection for jesus? no doubt; but he could conquer his prejudices, while mary and john could not. judas iscariot has rather a bad name in the christian world: he is called "the son of perdition," in the new testament, and his conduct is reckoned a "transgression;" nay, it is said the devil "entered into him," to cause this hideous sin. but all this it seems was a mistake; certainly, if we are to believe our "republican" lawyers and statesmen, iscariot only fulfilled his "constitutional obligations." it was only "on that point," of betraying his saviour, that the constitutional law required him to have any thing to do with jesus. he took his "thirty pieces of silver"--about fifteen dollars; a yankee is to do it for ten, having fewer prejudices to conquer--it was his legal fee, for value received. true, the christians thought it was "the wages of iniquity," and even the pharisees--who commonly made the commandment of god of none effect by their traditions--dared not defile the temple with this "price of blood;" but it was honest money. it was as honest a fee as any american commissioner or deputy will ever get for a similar service. how mistaken we are! judas iscariot is not a traitor; he was a great patriot; he conquered his "prejudices," performed "a disagreeable duty" as an office of "high morals and high principle;" he kept the "law" and the "constitution," and did all he could to "save the union;" nay, he was a saint, "not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." "the law of god never commands us to disobey the law of man." _sancte iscariote ora pro nobis._ it is a little strange to hear this talk in boston, and hear the doctrine of passive obedience to a law which sets christianity at defiance, taught here in the face of the adamses, and hancock, and washington! it is amazing to hear this talk, respecting such a law, amongst merchants. do they keep the usury laws? i never heard of but one money-lender who kept them,[ ] and he has been a long time dead, and i think he left no kith nor kin! the temperance law,--is that kept? the fifteen gallon law,--were men so very passive in their obedience to that, that they could not even "agitate?" yet it violated no law of god--was not unchristian. when the government interferes with the rumsellers' property, the law must be trod under foot; but when the law insists that a man shall be made a slave, i must give up conscience in my act of prayer, and stoop to the vile law men have made in their act of passion! it is curious to hear men talk of law and order in boston, when the other day one or two hundred smooth-faced boys, and youths beardless as girls, could disturb a meeting of three or four thousand men, for two hours long; and the chief of the police, and the mayor of the city stood and looked on, when a single word from their lips might have stilled the tumult and given honest men a hearing.[ ] talk of keeping the fugitive slave law! come, come, we know better. men in new england know better than this. we know that we ought not to keep a wicked law, and that it must not be kept when the law of god forbids! but the effect of a law which men cannot keep without violating conscience, is always demoralizing. there are men who know no higher law than the statute of the state. when good men cannot keep a law that is base, some bad ones will say, "let us keep no law at all,"--then where does the blame lie? on him that enacts the outrageous law. the idea that a statute of man frees us from obligation to the law of god, is a dreadful thing. when that becomes the deliberate conviction of the great mass of the people, north or south, then i shall despair of human nature; then i shall despair of justice, and despair of god. but this time will never come. one of the most awful spectacles i ever saw, was this: a vast multitude attempting, at an orator's suggestion, to howl down the "higher law," and when he said, "will you have this to rule over you?" they answered, "never!" and treated the "higher law" to a laugh and a howl! it was done in faneuil hall;[ ] under the eyes of the three adamses, hancock, and washington; and the howl rung round the venerable arches of that hall! i could not but ask, "why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? the rulers of the earth set themselves, and kings take counsel against the lord and say, 'let us break his bands asunder, and cast off his yoke from us.'" then i could not but remember that it was written, "he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the lord shall have them in derision. he taketh up the isles as a very little thing, and the inhabitants of the earth are as grasshoppers before him." howl down the law of god at a magistrate's command! do this in boston! let us remember this--but with charity. men say there is danger of disunion, of our losing fealty for the constitution. i do not believe it yet! suppose it be so. the constitution is the machinery of the national mill; and suppose we agree to take it out and put in new; we might get worse, very true, but we might get better. there have been some modern improvements; we might introduce them to the state as well as the mill. but i do not believe there is this danger. i do not believe the people of massachusetts think so. i think they are strongly attached to the union yet, and if they thought "the union was in peril--this day," and every thing the nation prizes was likely to be destroyed, we should not have had a meeting of a few thousands in faneuil hall, but the people would have filled up the city of worcester with a hundred thousand men, if need be; and they would have come with the cartridge-box at their side, and the firelock on their shoulder. that is the way the people of massachusetts would assemble if they thought there was real danger. i do not believe the south will withdraw from the union, with five million free men, and three million slaves. i think massachusetts would be no loser, i think the north would be no loser; but i doubt if the north will yet allow them to go if so disposed. do you think the south is so mad as to wish it? but i think i know of one cause which may dissolve the union--one which ought to dissolve it, if put in action: that is, a serious attempt to execute the fugitive slave law, here and in all the north. i mean an attempt to recover and take back all the fugitive slaves in the north, and to punish, with fine and imprisonment, all who aid or conceal them. the south has browbeat us again and again. she has smitten us on the one cheek with "protection," and we have turned the other, kissing the rod; she has smitten that with "free trade." she has imprisoned our citizens; driven off, with scorn and loathing, our officers sent to ask constitutional justice. she has spit upon us. let her come to take back the fugitives--and, trust me, she "will wake up the lion." in my humble opinion, this law is a wedge--sharp at one end, but wide at the other--put in between the lower planks of our ship of state. if it be driven home, we go to pieces. but i have no thought that that will be done quite yet. i believe the great politicians, who threatened to drive it through the gaping seams of our argosy, will think twice before they strike again. nay, that they will soon be very glad to bury the wedge "where the tide ebbs and flows four times a day." i do not expect this of their courage, but of their fears; not of their justice--i am too old for that--but of their concern for property, which it is the "great object of government" to protect. i know how some men talk in public, and how they act at home. i heard a man the other day, at faneuil hall, declare the law must be kept, and denounce, not very gently, all who preached or prayed against it, as enemies of "all law." but that was all talk, for this very man, on that very day, had violated the law; had furnished the golden wheels on which fugitives rode out of the reach of the arms which the marshal would have been sorry to lift. i could tell things more surprising--but it is not wise just now![ ] i do not believe there is more than one of the new england men who publicly helped the law into being, but would violate its provisions; conceal a fugitive; share his loaf with a runaway; furnish him golden wings to fly with. nay, i think it would be difficult to find a magistrate in new england, willing to take the public odium of doing the official duty.[ ] i believe it is not possible to find a regular jury, who will punish a man for harboring a slave, for helping his escape, or fine a marshal or commissioner for being a little slow to catch a slave.[ ] men will talk loud in public meetings, but they have some conscience after all, at home. and though they howl down the "higher law" in a crowd, yet conscience will make cowards of them all, when they come to lay hands on a christian man, more innocent than they, and send him into slavery forever! one of the commissioners of boston talked loud and long, last tuesday, in favor of keeping the law. when he read his litany against the law of god, and asked if men would keep the "higher law," and got "never" as the welcome, and amen for response--it seemed as if the law might be kept, at least by that commissioner, and such as gave the responses to his creed. but slave-hunting mr. hughes, who came here for two of our fellow-worshippers,[ ] in his georgia newspaper, tells a different story. here it is, from the "georgia telegraph," of last friday. "i called at eleven o'clock at night, at his [the commissioner's] residence, and stated to him my business, and asked him for a warrant, saying that if i could get a warrant, i could have the negroes [william and ellen craft] arrested. he said the law did not authorize a warrant to be issued: that it was my duty to go and arrest the negro without a warrant, and bring him before him!" this is more than i expected. "is saul among the prophets?" the men who tell us that the law must be kept, god willing, or against his will--there are puritan fathers behind them also; bibles in their houses; a christ crucified, whom they think of; and a god even in their world, who slumbers not, neither is weary, and is as little a respecter of parchments as of persons! they know there is a people, as well as politicians, a posterity not yet assembled, and they would not like to have certain words writ on their tombstone. "traitor to the rights of mankind," is no pleasant epitaph. they, too, remember there is a day after to-day; aye, a forever; and, "inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have not done it unto me," is a sentence they would not like to hear at the day of judgment.[ ] much danger is feared from the "political agitation" of this matter. great principles have never been discussed without great passions, and will not be, for some time, i suppose. but men fear to have this despotic idea become a subject of discussion. last spring, mr. webster said here in boston, "we shall not see the legislation of the country proceed in the old harmonious way, until the discussion in congress and out of congress, upon the subject [of slavery] shall be in some manner suppressed. take that truth home with you!" we have lately been told that political agitation on the subject must be stopped. so it seems this law, like that which daniel would not keep, is one that may not be changed, and must not be talked of. now there are three modes in which attempts may be made to stop the agitation. . by sending "----troops, with guns and banners, cut short our speeches and our necks, and break our heads to mend our manners." that is the austrian way, which has not yet been tried here, and will not be. . by sending lecturers throughout the land, to stir up the people to be quiet, and agitate them till they are still; to make them sign the pledge of total abstinence from the discussion of this subject. that is not likely to effect the object. . for the friends of silence to keep their own counsel--and this seems as little likely to be tried, as the others to succeed. strange is it to ask us to forbear to talk on a subject which involves the welfare of twenty million men! as well ask a man in a fever not to be heated, and a consumptive person not to cough, to pine away and turn pale. miserable counsellors are ye all, who give such advice. but we have seen lately the lion of the democrats, and the lamb of the whigs, lie down together, joined by this opinion, so gentle and so loving, all at once, that a little child could lead them, and so "fulfil the sure prophetic word." yes, we have seen the herod of one party, and the pilate of the other, made friends for the sake of crucifying the freedom of mankind. but there is one way in which, i would modestly hint, that we might stop all this talk "in congress and out of congress," that is, to "discuss" the matter till we had got at the truth, and the whole truth; then to "agitate" politically, till we had enacted justice into law, and carried it out all over the north, and all over the south. after that there would be no more discussion about the fugitive slave bill, than about the "boston port bill;" no more agitation about american slavery, than there is about the condition of the people of babylon before the flood. i think there is no other way in which we are likely to get rid of this discussion. * * * * * such is our condition, such its causes, such our dangers. now, for the lesson, look a moment elsewhere. look at continental europe, at rome, austria, prussia, and the german states--at france. how uncertain is every government! france--the stablest of them all! remember the revolution which two years ago shook those states so terribly, when all the royalty of france was wheeled out of paris in a street cab. why are those states so tottering? whence those revolutions? they tried to make iniquity their law, and would not give over the attempt! why are the armies of france five hundred thousand strong, though the nation is at peace with all the world? because they tried to make injustice law! why do the austrian and german monarchs fear an earthquake of the people? because they tread the people down with wicked laws! whence came the crushing debts of france, austria, england? from the same cause: from the injustice of men who made mischief by law! it is not for men long to hinder the march of human freedom. i have no fear for that, ultimately,--none at all, simply for this reason, that i believe in the infinite god. you may make your statutes; an appeal always lies to the higher law, and decisions adverse to that get set aside in the ages. your statutes cannot hold him. you may gather all the dried grass and all the straw in both continents; you may braid it into ropes to bind down the sea; while it is calm, you may laugh, and say, "lo, i have chained the ocean!" and howl down the law of him who holds the universe as a rosebud in his hand--its every ocean but a drop of dew. "how the waters suppress their agitation," you may say. but when the winds blow their trumpets, the sea rises in its strength, snaps asunder the bonds that had confined his mighty limbs, and the world is littered with the idle hay! stop the human race in its development and march to freedom? as well might the boys of boston, some lustrous night, mounting the steeples of this town, call on the stars to stay their course! gently, but irresistibly, the greater and the lesser bear move round the pole; orion, in his mighty mail, comes up the sky; the bull, the ram, the heavenly twins, the crab, the lion, the maid, the scales, and all that shining company, pursue their march all night, and the new day discovers the idle urchins in their lofty places, all tired, and sleepy, and ashamed. it is not possible to suppress the idea of freedom, or forever hold down its institutions. but it is possible to destroy a state; a political party with geographical bounds may easily be rent asunder. it is not impossible to shiver this american union. but how? what clove asunder the great british party, one nation once in america and england? did not our fathers love their father-land? aye. they called it home, and were loyal with abundant fealty; there was no lack of piety for home. it was the attempt to make old english injustice new england law! who did it,--the british people? never. their hand did no such sacrilege! it was the merchants of london, with the "navigation act;" the politicians of westminster with the "stamp act;" the tories of america, who did not die without issue, that for office and its gold would keep a king's unjust commands. it was they, who drove our fathers into disunion against their will. is here no lesson? we love law, all of us love it; but a true man loves it only as the safeguard of the rights of man. if it destroy these rights, he spurns it with his feet. is here no lesson? look further then. do you know how empires find their end? yes, the great states eat up the little. as with fish, so with nations. aye, but how do the great states come to an end? by their own injustice, and no other cause. they would make unrighteousness their law, and god wills not that it be so. thus they fall; thus they die. look at these ancient states, the queenliest queens of earth. there is rome, the widow of two civilizations,--the pagan and the catholic. they both had her, and unto both she bore daughters and fair sons. but, the niobe of nations, she boasted that her children were holier and more fair than all the pure ideas of justice, truth, and love, the offspring of the eternal god. and now she sits there, transformed into stone, amid the ruins of her children's bones. at midnight i have heard the owl hoot in the coliseum and the forum, giving voice to desolation; and at midday i have seen the fox in the palace where augustus gathered the wealth, the wit, the beauty and the wisdom of a conquered world; and the fox and the owl interpreted to me the voice of many ages, which came to tell this age, that though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not prosper. come with me, my friends, a moment more, pass over this golgotha of human history, treading reverent as you go, for our feet are on our mothers' grave, and our shoes defile our fathers' hallowed bones. let us not talk of them; go further on, look and pass by. come with me into the inferno of the nations, with such poor guidance as my lamp can lend. let us disquiet and bring up the awful shadows of empires buried long ago, and learn a lesson from the tomb. come, old assyria, with the ninevitish dove upon thy emerald crown! what laid thee low? "i fell by my own injustice. thereby nineveh and babylon came, with me, also, to the ground." oh queenly persia, flame of the nations, wherefore art thou so fallen, who troddest the people under thee, bridgedst the hellespont with ships, and pouredst thy temple-wasting millions on the western world? "because i trod the people under me, and bridged the hellespont with ships, and poured my temple-wasting millions on the western world. i fell by my own misdeeds!" thou muselike, grecian queen, fairest of all thy classic sisterhood of states, enchanting yet the world with thy sweet witchery, speaking in art, and most seductive song, why liest thou there with beauteous yet dishonored brow, reposing on thy broken harp? "i scorned the law of god; banished and poisoned wisest, justest men; i loved the loveliness of flesh, embalmed it in the parian stone; i loved the loveliness of thought, and treasured that in more than parian speech. but the beauty of justice, the loveliness of love, i trod them down to earth! lo, therefore have i become as those barbarian states--as one of them!" oh manly and majestic rome, thy sevenfold mural crown, all broken at thy feet, why art thou here? it was not injustice brought thee low; for thy great book of law is prefaced with these words, justice is the unchanging, everlasting will to give each man his right! "it was not the saint's ideal: it was the hypocrite's pretence! i made iniquity my law. i trod the nations under me. their wealth gilded my palaces,--where thou mayst see the fox and hear the owl,--it fed my courtiers and my courtezans. wicked men were my cabinet counsellors, the flatterer breathed his poison in my ear. millions of bondmen wet the soil with tears and blood. do you not hear it crying yet to god? lo here have i my recompense, tormented with such downfall as you see! go back and tell the new-born child, who sitteth on the alleghanies, laying his either hand upon a tributary sea, a crown of thirty stars about his youthful brow--tell him that there are rights which states must keep, or they shall suffer wrongs! tell him there is a god who keeps the black man and the white, and hurls to earth the loftiest realm that breaks his just, eternal law! warn the young empire that he come not down dim and dishonored to my shameful tomb! tell him that justice is the unchanging, everlasting will to give each man his right. i knew it, broke it, and am lost. bid him to know it, keep it, and be safe!" * * * * * "god save the commonwealth!" proclaims the governor. god will do his part,--doubt not of that. but you and i must help him save the state. what can we do? next sunday i will ask you for your charity; to-day i ask a greater gift, more than the abundance of the rich, or the poor widow's long remembered mite. i ask you for your justice. give that to your native land. do you not love your country? i know you do. here are our homes and the graves of our fathers; the bones of our mothers are under the sod. the memory of past deeds is fresh with us; many a farmer's and mechanic's son inherits from his sires some cup of manna gathered in the wilderness, and kept in memory of our exodus; some stones from the jordan, which our fathers passed over sorely bested and hunted after; some aaron's rod, green and blossoming with fragrant memories of the day of small things when the lord led us--and all these attach us to our land, our native land. we love the great ideas of the north, the institutions which they founded, the righteous laws, the schools, the churches too--do we not love all these? aye. i know well you do. then by all these, and more than all, by the dear love of god, let us swear that we will keep the justice of the eternal law. then are we all safe. we know not what a day may bring forth, but we know that eternity will bring everlasting peace. high in the heavens, the pole-star of the world, shines justice; placed within us, as our guide thereto, is conscience. let us be faithful to that "which though it trembles as it lowly lies, points to the light that changes not in heaven." footnotes: [ ] the late mr. john parker. [ ] this took place at a meeting in faneuil hall to welcome mr. george thompson. [ ] at the "union meeting" two days before the delivery of this sermon. [ ] nor even yet. november , . [ ] subsequent events have shown the folly of this statement. clergymen, it is said, are wont to err, by overrating the moral principle of men. see the next sermon. [ ] recent experiments fortunately confirm this, and, spite of all the unjust efforts to pack a jury, none has yet been found to punish a man for such a "crime." [ ] mr. william craft, and mrs. ellen craft. [ ] this also appears to have been a mistake. still i let the passage stand, though it is apparently not at all true. vi. the chief sins of the people.--a sermon delivered at the melodeon, boston, on fast day, april , . my friends,--this is a day of public humiliation and prayer. we have one every year. it is commonly in the city churches only a farce, because there is no special occasion for it, and the general need is not felt. but such is the state of things in the union at this moment, and particularly in boston, that, if it were not a custom, it would be a good thing, even if it were for the first time in the history of our country, to have such a day for humiliation and prayer, that we consider the state of the nation, and look at our conduct in reference to the great principles of religion, and see how we stand before god; for these are times that try men's souls. last sunday, i purposely disappointed you, and turned off from what was nearest to your heart and was nearest to mine,--a subject that would have been easy to preach on without any preparation. then i asked you to go to the fountain of all strength, and there prepare yourselves for the evils that we know not of. to-day, the governor has asked us to come together, and consider, in the spirit of christianity, the public sins of the community, to contemplate the value of our institutions, and to ask the blessing of god on the poor, the afflicted, and the oppressed. i am glad of this occasion; and i will improve it, and ask your attention to a sermon of the chief sins of this people. i have said that these are times that try men's souls. this is such an occasion as never came before, and, i trust, never will again. i have much to say to you, much more than i intend to say to-day, much more than there are hours enough in this day to speak. many things i shall pass by. i shall detain you to-day somewhat longer than is my wont; but do not fear, i will look out for your attention. i simply ask you to be calm, to be composed, and to hear with silence what i have to say. to understand these things, we must begin somewhat far off. the purpose of human life is to form a manly character, to get the best development of body and of spirit,--of mind, conscience, heart, soul. this is the end: all else is the means. accordingly, that is not the most successful life in which a man gets the most pleasure, the most money or ease, the most power of place, honor, and fame; but that in which a man gets the most manhood, performs the greatest amount of human duty, enjoys the greatest amount of human right, and acquires the greatest amount of manly character. it is of no importance whether he win this by wearing a hod upon his shoulders, or a crown upon his head. it is the character, and not the crown, i value. the crown perishes with the head that wore it; but the character lives with the immortal man who achieved it; and it is of no consequence whether that immortal man goes up to god from a throne or from a gallows. every man has some one preponderating object in life,--an object that he aims at and holds supreme. perhaps he does not know it. but he thinks of this in his day-dreams, and his dreams by night. it colors his waking hours, and is with him in his sleep. sometimes it is sensual pleasure that he wants; sometimes money; sometimes office, fame, social distinction; sometimes it is the quiet of a happy home, with wife and children, all comfortable and blessed; sometimes it is excellence in a special science or art, or department of literature; sometimes it is a special form of philanthropy; and sometimes it is the attainment of great, manly character. this supreme object of desire is sometimes different at different times in a man's life, but in general is mainly the same all through. for "the child is father of the man," and his days bound each to each, if not by natural piety, then by unnatural profaneness. this desire may act with different intensity in the active and passive periods, in manhood and in age. it is somewhat modified by the season of passion, and by the season of ambition. if this object of special desire be worthy, so is the character in general; if base, so is the man. for this special desire becomes the master-motive in the man; and, if strong, establishes a unity in his consciousness, and calls out certain passions, appetites, powers of mind and conscience, heart and soul; and, in a long life, the man creates himself anew in the image of his ideal desire. this desire, good or bad, which sways the man, is writ on his character, and thence copied into the countenance; and lust or love, frivolity or science, interest or principle, mammon or god, is writ on the man. still this unity is seldom whole and complete. with most men there are exceptional times, when they turn off a little from their great general pursuit. simeon the stylite comes down from his pillar-top, and chaffers in the market-place with common folks. jeffries is even just once or twice in his life, and wilkes is honorable two or three times. even when the chief desire is a high and holy one, i should not expect a man to go through life without ever committing an error or a sin. when i was a youngster, just let loose from the theological school, i thought differently; but at this day, when i have felt the passions of life, and been stirred by the ambitions of life, i know it must be expected that a man will stumble now and then. i make allowances for that in myself, as i do in others. these are the exceptional periods in a man's life,--the eddies in the stream. the stream runs down hill all the time, though the eddy may for a time apparently run up. now, as with men, so it is with nations. the purpose of national life is to bring forth and bring up manly men, who do the most of human duty, have the most of human rights, and enjoy the most of human welfare. so that is not the most successful nation which fills the largest space, which occupies the longest time, which produces the most cattle, corn, cotton, or cloth, but that which produces the most men. and, in reference to men, you must count not numbers barely, but character quite as much. that is not the most successful nation which has an exceptional class of men, highly cultured, well-bodied, well-minded, well-born, well-bred, at the one end of society; and at the other a mighty multitude, an instantial class, poor, ill-born, ill-bred, ill-bodied, and ill-minded too, as in england; but that is the most successful nation which has the whole body of its people well-born, well-bred, well-bodied, and well-minded too; and those are the best institutions which accomplish this best; those worst, which accomplish it least. the government, the society, the school, or the church, which does this work, is a good government, society, school, or church; that which does it not, is good for nothing. as with men, so with nations. each has a certain object of chief desire, which object prevails over others. the nation is not conscious of it,--less so, indeed, than the individual; but, silently, it governs the nation's life. sometimes this chief desire is the aggrandizement of the central power,--the monarchy: it was so once in france; but, god be praised! is not so now. then devotion to the king's person was held as the greatest national excellence, and disrespect for the king was treason, the greatest national crime. the people must not dare to whisper against their king. sometimes it is the desire to build up an aristocracy. it was once so in venice. it may be an aristocracy of priests, of soldiers, of nobles, or an aristocracy of merchants. sometimes it is to build up a middle class of gentry, as in basel and berne. it may be a military desire, as in ancient rome; it may be ecclesiastical ambition, as in modern rome; or commercial ambition, as in london and many other places. the chief object of desire is not always the same in the course of a nation's history. a nation now greatens the centripetal power, strengthening the king and weakening the people; now it greatens the centrifugal power, weakening the king and strengthening the people. but, commonly, you see some one desire runs through all the nation's history, only modified by its youth, or manhood, or old age, and by circumstances which react upon the nation as the nation acts upon them. this chief object of desire may be permanent, and so govern the whole nation for all its history. or it may be, on the other hand, a transient desire, which is to govern it for a time. in either case, it will appear prominently in the controlling classes; either in the classes which control all through, or in such as last only for a time. thus the military desire appeared chiefly in the patricians of old rome, and not much in the plebeians; the commercial ambition appeared in the nobles of venice; the ecclesiastical in the priests of modern rome, where the people care little for the church, though quite as much perhaps as it deserves. as the chief desire of the individual calls out appetites and passions, which are the machinery of that desire, and reconstructs the man in its image; so the desire of a nation, transient or permanent, becoming the master-motive of the people, calls out certain classes of men, who become its exponents, its machinery, and they make the constitution, institutions, and laws to correspond thereto. as with one man, so with the millions, there may be fluctuations of purpose for a time. i cannot expect that one man, or many men, will always pursue an object without at some time violating fundamental principles. i might have thought so once. but as i live longer, and see the passion and the ambition of men, see the force of circumstances, i know better. no ship sails across the ocean with a straight course, without changing a sail: it frequently leaves its direct line, now "standing" this way, now that; and the course is a very crooked one, although, as a whole, it is towards the mark. america is a young nation, composite, not yet unified; and it is, therefore, not quite so easy to say what is the chief desire of the people; but, if i understand american history, this desire is the love of individual liberty. nothing has been so marked in our history as this. we are consciously, in part, yet still more unconsciously, aiming at democracy,--at a government of all the people, by all the people, and for the sake of all the people. of course that must be a government by the higher law of god, by the eternal justice to which you and i and all of us owe reverence. we all love freedom for ourselves; one day we shall love it for every man,--for the tawny indian and the sable negro, as much as for you and me. this love of freedom has appeared in the ideas of new england,--and new england was once america; it was once the soul, although not the body of america. it appeared in its political action and its ecclesiastical action, in the state and in the church, and in all the little towns. in general, every change in the constitution of a free state makes it more democratic; every change in local law is for democracy, not against it. we have broken with the old feudal tradition,--broken forever with that. i think this love of individual liberty is the specific desire of the people. if we are proud of any thing, it is of our free institutions. i know there are men who are prouder of wealth than of any thing else: by and by i shall have a word to say of them. but in massachusetts, new england, in the north, if we should appeal to the great body of the people, and "poll the house," and ask of all what they were proudest of, they would not say, of our cattle, or cotton, or corn, or cloth; but it is of our freedom, of our men and women. leaving out of the calculation the abounding class, which is corrupt everywhere, and the perishing class, which is the vassal as it is the creature of the abounding class, and as corrupt and selfish here as everywhere, we shall find that seven-eighths of the people of new england are eminently desirous of this one thing. this desire will carry the day in any fifty years to come, as it has done in two hundred and fifty years past. the great political names of our history are all on its side: washington, the adamses--both of them, god bless them!--jefferson, madison, jackson, these were all friends of liberty. i know the exceptions in the history of some of these men, and do not deny them. other american names, dear to the people, are of the same stamp. the national literature, so far as we have any national literature, is democratic. i know there is what passes for american literature, because it grows on american soil, but which is just as far from being indigenous to america as the orange is from being indigenous to cape cod. this literature is a poor, miserable imitation of the feudal literature of old europe. perhaps it is now the prominent literature of the time. one day america will take it and cast it out from her. the true american literature is very poor, is very weak, is almost miserable now; but it has one redeeming quality,--it is true to freedom, it is true to democracy. in the revolution this desire of the nation was prominent, and came to consciousness. it was the desire of the most eminent champions of liberty. at one time in the history of the nation, the platform of speakers was in advance of the floor that was covered by the people at large, because at that time the speakers became conscious of the idea which possessed the hearts of the people. that is the reason why john hancock, the two adamses, and jefferson, came into great prominence before the people. they were more the people than the people themselves; more democratic than the democrats. i know, and i think it must be quite plain in our history, that this has been the chief desire of the people. if so, it determines our political destination. however, with nations as with men, there are exceptional desires; one of which, with the american nation at present, is the desire for wealth. just now, that is the most obvious and preponderate desire in the consciousness of the people. it has increased surprisingly in fifty years. it is the special, the chief desire of the controlling class. by the controlling class, i mean what are commonly called "our first men." i admit exceptions, and state the general rule. with them every thing gives way to money, and money gives way to nothing, neither to man nor to god. see some proofs of this. there are two ways of getting money; one is by trade, the other is by political office. the pursuit of money, in one or the other of these ways, is the only business reckoned entirely "commendable" and "respectable." there are other callings which are very noble in themselves, and deemed so by mankind; but here they are not thought "commendable" and "respectable," and accordingly you very seldom see young men, born in what is called "the most respectable class of society," engaged in any thing except the pursuit of money by trade or by office. there are exceptions; but the sons of "respectable men," so called, seldom engage in the pursuit of any thing but money by trade or office. this is the chief desire of a majority of the young men of talent, ambition, and education. even in colleges more respect is paid to money than to genius. the purse is put before the pen. in the churches, wealth is deemed better than goodness or piety. it names towns and colleges; and he is thought the greatest benefactor of a university who endows it with money, not with mind. in giving name to a street in boston, you call the wealthy end after a rich man, and only the poor end after a man that was good and famous. money controls the churches. it draws veils of cotton over the pulpit window, to color "the light that cometh from above." as yet the churches are not named after men whose only virtue is metallic, but the recognized pillars of the churches are all pillars of gold. festus does not tremble before paul, but paul before festus. the pulpit looks down to the pews for its gospel, not up to the eternal god. is there a rich pro-slavery man in the parish? the minister does not dare read a petition from an oppressed slave asking god that his "unalienable rights" be given him. he does not dare to ask alms for a fugitive. st. peter is the old patron saint of the holy catholic church. st. hunker is the new patron saint of the churches of commerce, catholic and protestant. money controls the law as well as the gospel. the son of a great man and noble is forgotten if the father dies poor; but the mantle of the rich man falls on the son's shoulders. if the son be only half so manly as his sire, and twice as rich, he is sure to be doubly honored. money supplies defects of character, defects of culture. it is deemed better than education, talent, genius, and character, all put together. was it not written two thousand years ago in the proverbs, it "answereth all things?" look round and see. it does not matter how you get or keep it. "the end justifies the means." edmund burke, or somebody else, said "something must be pardoned to the spirit of liberty." now it is "something must be pardoned" to the love of money, nothing "to the spirit of liberty." we find that rich men will move out of town on the last day of april, to avoid taxation on the first day of may. that is nothing. it is very "respectable," very "honorable," indeed! i do not believe that there is any master-carpenter or master-blacksmith in boston who would not be ashamed to do so. but men of the controlling classes do not hesitate! no matter how you get money. you may rent houses for rum-shops and for brothels; you may make rum, import rum, sell rum, to the ruin of the thousands whom you thereby bring down to the kennel and the almshouse and the jail. if you get money by that, no matter: it is "clean money," however dirtily got. a merchant can send his ships to sea, and in the slave-trade acquire gold, and live here in boston, new york, or philadelphia; and his gold will be good sterling gold, no matter how he got it! in political office, if you are a senator from california or oregon, you may draw "constructive mileage," and pay yourself two or three thousand dollars for a journey never made from home, and two or three thousand more back to your home. so you filch thousands of dollars out of the public purse, and you are the "honorable senator" just as before. you have got the money, no matter how. you may be a senator from massachusetts, and you may take the "trust fund," offered you by the manufacturers of cotton, and be bound as their "retained attorney," by your "retaining fee," and you are still "the honorable senator from massachusetts," not hurt one jot in the eyes of the controlling classes. if you are secretary of state, you may take forty or fifty thousand dollars from state street and wall street, and suffer no discredit at all. at one end of the union they will deny the fact as "too atrocious to be believed" at this end they admit it, and say it was "honorable in the people to give it," and "honorable in the secretary to take it." "alas! the small discredit of a bribe scarce hurts the master, but undoes the scribe." it would sound a little strange to some people, if we should find that the judges of a court had received forty or fifty thousand dollars from men who were plaintiffs in that court. you and i would remember that a gift blindeth the eyes of the prudent, how much more of the profligate! but it would be "honorable" in the plaintiffs to give it; "honorable" in the judges to take it! hitherto i have called your attention to the proofs of the preponderance of money. i will now point you to signs, which are not exactly proofs, of this immediate worship of money. see these signs in boston. when the old south church was built, when christ's church in salem street, when king's chapel, when brattle square church, they were respectively the costliest buildings in town. they were symbols of religion, as churches always are; symbols of the popular esteem for religion. out of the poverty of the people, great sums of money were given for these "houses of god." they said, like david of old, it is a shame that we dwell in a palace of cedars, and the ark of the most high remains under the curtains of a tent. how is it now? a crockery shop overlooks the roof-tree of the church where once the eloquence of a channing enchanted to heaven the worldly hearts of worldly men. now a hotel looks down on the church which was once all radiant with the sweet piety of a buckminster. a haberdasher's warehouse overtops the church of the blessed trinity; the roof of the shop is almost as tall as the very tower of the church. these things are only symbols. let us compare boston, in this respect, with any european city that you can name; let us compare it with gay and frivolous vienna, the gayest and most frivolous city of all europe, not setting paris aside. for though the surface of life in paris sparkles and glitters all over with radiant and iridescent and dazzling bubbles, empty and ephemeral, yet underneath there flows a stream which comes from the great fountain of nature, and tends on to the ocean of human welfare. no city is more full of deep thought and earnest life. but in vienna it is not so. yet even there, above the magnificence of the herrengasse, above the proud mansions of the esterhazys and the schwartzenbergs and the lichtensteins, above the costly elegance of the imperial palace, st. stephen's church lifts its tall spire, and points to god all day long and all the night, a still and silent emblem of a power higher than any mandate of the kings of earth; ay, to the infinite god. men look up to its cross overtowering the frivolous city, and take a lesson! here, trade looks down to find the church. i am glad that the churches are lower than the shops. i have said it many times, and i say it now. i am glad they are less magnificent than our banks and hotels. i am glad that haberdashers' shops look down on them. let the outward show correspond to the inward fact. if i am pinched and withered by disease, i will not disguise it from you by wrappages of cloth; but i will let you see that i am shrunken and shrivelled to the bone. if the pulpit is no nearer heaven than the tavern-bar, let that fact appear. if the desk in the counting-room is to give law to the desk in the church, do not commit the hypocrisy of putting the pulpit-desk above the counting-room. let us see where we are. * * * * * the consequence of such causes as are symbolized by these facts must needs appear in our civilization. men tell us there is no law higher than mercantile! do you wonder at it? it was said in deeds before words; the architecture of boston told it before the politicians. money is the god of our idolatry. let the fact appear in his temples. money is master now, all must give way to it,--that to nothing: the church, the state, the law, is not for man, but money. let the son of a distinguished man beat a watchman, knowing him to be such, and be brought before a justice (it would be "levying war" if a mulatto had done so to the marshal); he is bailed off for two hundred dollars. but let a black man have in his pockets a weapon, which the constitution and laws of massachusetts provide that any man may have if he please, he is brought to trial and bound over for--two hundred dollars, think you? no! but for six hundred dollars! three times as much as is required of the son of the secretary of state for assaulting a magistrate![ ] the secretary of state publicly declared, a short time since, that "the great object of government is the protection of property at home, and respect and renown abroad." i thank him for teaching us that word! that is the actual principle of the american government. in all countries of the world, struggles take place for human rights. but in all countries there is a class who desire a privilege for themselves adverse to the rights of mankind: they are commonly richer and abler-minded than the majority of men; they can act in concert. between them and mankind there is a struggle. the quarrel takes various forms. the contest has been going on for a long time in europe. there, it is between the aristocracy of birth, and the aristocracy of wealth; for there it is not money, but birth, that makes noble. in this struggle the aristocracy of birth is gradually giving way to the aristocracy of gold. a long and brilliant rent-roll makes up for a short and obscure pedigree. in that great movement for human freedom which has lasted a thousand years, the city has generally represented right in its conflict with might. so, in the middle ages, the city, the home of the trader, of the mechanic, of the intelligent man, was democratic. there freedom got organized in guilds of craftsmen. but the country was the home of the noble and his vassals, the haughty, the ignorant, and the servile. then the country was aristocratic. it was so in the great struggles between the king and the people in england and france, in italy and holland. in america there is no nobility of birth--it was the people that came over, not monarchy, not aristocracy; they did not emigrate. the son of guy fawkes and the son of charlemagne are on the same level. i know in boston some of the descendants of henri quatre, the greatest king of france. i know also descendants of thomas wentworth, "the great earl of strafford;" and yet they are now obscure and humble men, although of famous birth. i do not say it should not be so; but such is the fact. here the controversy is not between distinguished birth and money; it is between money on the one hand, and men on the other; between capital and labor; between usurped privilege and natural right. here, the cities, as the seat of wealth, are aristocratic; the country, as the seat of labor, is democratic. we may see this in boston. almost all the journals in the city are opposed to a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people. take an example from the free soil movement, which, so far as it goes, is democratic. i am told that of the twenty-one journals in massachusetts that call themselves "democratic," eighteen favor the free soil movement, more or less; and that the three which do not are all in the cities. the country favors the temperance movement, one of the most democratic of all; for rum is to the aristocracy of gold, what the sword once was to the aristocracy of blood; the castles of the baron, and the rum-shops of the capitalist, are alike fortresses adverse to the welfare of mankind. the temperance movement finds little favor in the cities. in the country he who works with manly hands is held in esteem; in the city, in contempt. here laboring men have no political influence, and little confidence in themselves. they have been accustomed to do as they were told,--to do as their "masters" bid. i call a man a tory who, for himself or for others, seeks a privilege adverse to the rights of mankind; who puts the accidents of men before the substance of manhood. i may safely say the cities, in the main, are tory towns; that boston, in this sense, is a tory town. they are so, just as in the middle ages the cities were on the other side. this is unavoidable in our form of civilization just now. accordingly, in all the great cities of the north, slavery is in the ascendant: but, as soon as we get off the pavement, we come upon different ideas; freedom culminates and rises to the meridian. in america the controlling class in general are superior to the majority in money, in consequent social standing, in energy, in practical political skill, and in intellectual development; in virtue of these qualities, they are the controlling class. but in general they are inferior to the majority of men in justice, in general humanity, and in religion,--in piety and goodness. respectability is put before right; law before justice; money before god. with them religion is compliance with a public hearsay and public custom; it is all of religion, but piety and goodness; its chief sacrament is bodily presence in a meeting-house; its only sacrifice, a pew-tax. i know there are exceptions, and honor them all the more for being so very exceptional: they are only enough to show the rule. in the main, this controlling class governs the land by two instruments: the first is the public law; the next is public opinion. the law is what was once public opinion, or thought to be; is fixed, written, and supposed to be understood by somebody. public opinion is not written, and not fixed; but the opinion of the controlling class overrides and interprets the law,--bids or forbids its execution. public opinion can make or unmake a law; interpret as it chooses, and enforce or forbid its execution as it pleases. * * * * * such being the case, and such being the chief transient national desire just now, the controlling class consider the state as a machine to help them make money. a great politician, it is said, once laid down this rule,--"take care of the rich, and the rich will take care of the poor." perhaps he did not say that, though he did say that "the great object of government is the protection of property at home, and respect and renown abroad." such being the case, laws are made accordingly, and institutions are modified accordingly. let me give an example. in all the towns of new england, town-money is raised by taxes on all the people, and on all the property. the rich man is taxed according to his riches, and the poor man according to his poverty. but the national money is raised by taxation not in proportion to a man's wealth. a bachelor in new england, with a million dollars, pays a much smaller national tax than a carpenter who has no money at all, but only ten children, the poor man's blessing. the mechanic, with a family of twelve, pays more taxes than the southern planter owning a tract of land as wide as the town of worcester, with fifteen hundred slaves to till it. this, i say, is not an accident. it is the work of politicians, who know what they are about, and think a blunder is worse than a sin; and, sin as they may, they do not commit such blunders as that. this controlling class, with their dependents, their vassals, lay and clerical--and they have lay as well as clerical vassals, and more numerous, if less subservient--keep up the institution of slavery. two hundred years ago, that was the worst institution of europe. our fathers, breaking with feudal institutions in general, did not break with this: they brought it over here. but when the nation, aroused for its hour of trial, rose up to its great act of prayer, and prayed the declaration of independence, all the nation said "amen" to the great american idea therein set forth. every northern state reaffirms the doctrine that "all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with unalienable rights, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." but in spite of this, and of the consciousness that it is true, while the northern states have cast out this institution, the southern states have kept it. the nation has adopted, extended, and fostered it. this has been done, notwithstanding the expectation of the people in that it would soon end. it has been done against the design of the constitution, which was "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty;" against the idea of america, that "all men have an equal and unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" against all religion, all humanity, all right, ay, and against the conscience of a majority of the people. well, a law was passed last september, that would have been atrocious two hundred years ago: you all know it. i have no words to describe it by. for the last two hundred years, the english race has not invented an adjective adequate to describe it. the english language is used up and broken down by any attempt to describe it. that law was not the desire of the people; and, could the nation have been polled north and south, three fourths would have said "no!" to the passage of that law. it was not passed to obtain the value of the slaves escaped, for in seven months twenty slaves have not been returned! it was not a measure looking to legal results, but it was a political measure, looking to political results: what those results will be we shall see in due time. * * * * * in america the controlling class is divided into two great parties: one is the slave power in the states of the south; the other is the money power in the cities of the north. there are exceptional men in both divisions--men that own slaves, and yet love freedom and hate slavery. there are rich men in northern cities who do the same; all honor to them. but in general it is not so; nay, it is quite otherwise. they are hostile to the great idea of america. let me speak with the nicety of theological speech. these two divisions are two "persons" in one "power;" there is only one "nature" in both, one "will." if not the same nature, it is a like nature: homoi-ousia, if not homo-ousia! the fugitive slave law was the act of the two "persons," representing the same "nature," and the same "will." it was the result of a union of the slave power of the south with the money power of the north: the philistines and the hebrews ploughed with the same heifer. there is sometimes an excuse or a palliation for a wicked deed. there was something like one for the "gag law," the "alien and sedition law," although there is no valid excuse for either of these laws, none to screen their author from deserved reproach. there is no excuse for the fugitive slave law; there was no occasion for it. you all know how it was brought about; you remember the speech of mr. webster on the th of march, , a day set apart for the blessed martyrs, saints perpetua and felicitas. we all know who was the author of that law. it is mr. webster's fugitive slave law! it was his "thunder," unquestioned and unquestionable. you know what a rapid change was wrought in the public opinion of the controlling classes, soon after its passage. first the leading whigs went over. i will not say they changed their principles, god knows, not i, what principles they have, i will only say they altered their "resolutions," and ate their own words. true, the whigs have not all gone over. there are a few who still cling to the old whig-tree, after it has been shaken and shaken, and thrashed and thrashed, and brushed and brushed, by politicians, as apple-trees in autumn. there are still a few little apples left, small and withered no doubt, and not daring to show their dishonored heads just now, but still containing some precious seeds that may do service by and by. whig journal after journal went over; politician after politician "caved in" and collapsed. at the sounding of the rams' horns of slavery, how quick the whig jericho went down! its fortresses of paper resolutions rolled up and blew away. of course, men changed only after "logical conviction." of course, nobody expected a "reward" for the change, at least only in the world to come. were they not all christians? true, on the th of june last, seventy-five years after the battle of bunker hill, mr. webster said in the senate, that if the north should vote for the fugitive slave bill, a tariff was expected. but that was of no moment, no more than worldly riches to "the elect." of course, a man has a right to change his opinions every ten minutes, if he has a good and sufficient reason. of course, these men expected no offices under this or any future president! but presently the fugitive slave law became a whig doctrine, a test of party fidelity and fitness for office! you all remember the "union" meeting in boston. on that occasion, democrats "of the worst kind" suddenly became "respectable." the very democratic prince of devils was thought to be as good a "gentleman" as any in the city. it was curious to see the effect of the fugitive slave law on the democratic party. democrat after democrat "caved in;" journal after journal went over; horse, foot, and dragoons, they went over. the democratic party north, and american slavery south, have long been accustomed to accommodate themselves with the same nag after the old fashion of "ride and tye." in the cities, democrats went over in tribes; entire democratic zabulons and nephthalims, whole galilees of democratic gentiles, all at once saw great whig light; and to them that sat in the shadow of freedom, slavery sprung up. that portion of the whig party which did not submit, became as meek, ay, became meeker even than the beast which the old prophet in the fable is alleged to have ridden; for, though beaten again and again,--because alarmed at seeing the angel of freedom that bars the way before the great whig balaam, who has been bidden by his master to go forth and curse the people of the lord,--it dares not open its mouth and say, "what have i done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?" * * * * * but when such a law is hostile to the feelings of a majority of the people, to their conscience and their religion, how shall we get the law executed? that is a hard matter. in russia and in austria it would be very easy. russia has an army five hundred or eight hundred thousand strong; and that army is ready. but here there is no such army. true, the president asked congress to give him greater power, and the answer came from the slave party south, not from the money party north, "no! you have more now than you know how to use." failing in this attempt, what was to be done that the law might be executed? two things must be done: a false idea must persuade the people to allow it to be done; base men must be found to do it. a word upon each point. * * * * * i. the false idea is set on foot, that the people are morally bound to obey any law which is made until it is repealed. general haynau wrote a letter, not long ago, to the subalterns in the austrian army, and thus quoth he: "you are bound to obey the law. it is none of your business whether the law is constitutional or not; that is our affair." so went it with our officers here. we are told that there is "no such thing as a higher law," "no rule of conduct better than that enacted by the law of the land." conscience is only to tell you to keep the statutes. religion consists in "fearing god and serving the king." you are told that religion bids you to "fear god and keep the commandments," no matter what these commandments may be. no matter whether it be king ahab, or king peter the cruel: you are told,--"mr. republican, what right have you to question the constitutionality or justice of any thing? your business is to keep the law." religion is a very excellent thing, quotes mr. webster, except when it interferes in politics; then it makes men mad. it is instructive to see the different relations which religion has sustained to law, at different periods of the world's history. at some other time i may dwell more at length upon this; now i will say but one word. at the beginning, religion takes precedence of law. before there is any human government, man bows himself to the source of law, and accepts his rule of conduct from his god. by and by, some more definite rule is needed, and wise men make human laws; but they pretend to derive these from a divine source. all the primitive lawgivers, moses, minos, zaleucus, numa, and the rest, speak in the name of god. for a long time, law comes up to religion for aid and counsel. at length law and religion, both imperfect, are well established in society, religion being the elder sister; both act as guardians of mankind. institution after institution rises up, all of them baptized by religion and confirmed by law, taking the sacrament from the hands of each. at length it comes to pass that law seeks to turn religion out of doors. politicians, intoxicated with ambition, giddy with power, and sometimes also drunk with strong drink, make a statute which outrages all the dictates of humanity, and then insist that it is the duty of sober men to renounce religion for the sake of keeping the wicked statute of the politicians. all tyrants have done so! in the north, the majority of men think that the law of man is subordinate to religion--the statutes of man beneath the law of god; that as ethics, personal morals, are amenable to conscience, so politics, national morals, are amenable to the same conscience; and that religion has much to do with national as with individual life. depend upon it, that idea is the safeguard of the state and of the law. it will preserve it, purify it, and keep it; but it will scourge every wicked law out of the temple of justice with iron whips, if need be. depend upon it, when we lose our hold of that idea, all hope of order is gone. but there is no danger; we are pretty well persuaded, that the law of god is a little greater than the statute of an accidental president unintentionally chosen for four years. when we think otherwise, we may count our case hopeless, and give up all. but with the controlling class of men it is not so. they tell us that we must keep any law, constitutional or not, legal or not, just or unjust: first, that we must submit passively, and let the government execute it; next, we must actively obey it, and with alacrity when called upon to execute it ourselves. this doctrine is the theory advanced in most of the newspapers of boston. it is preached in some of the pulpits, though, thank god! not in all. this doctrine appears in the charge of the judge of the circuit court to the grand jury.[ ] i believe that judge to be a good and excellent and honorable man; i never heard a word to the contrary, and i am glad to think that it is so.[ ] i have to deal only with his opinions; not with his theoretic doctrines of law, of which latter i profess to know nothing; but with the theoretic doctrines of morality he lays down. of morality i do profess to know something. he says some excellent things in his charge, which i am glad were said. he is modest in some places, and moderate in others. he does not think that a dozen black men taking a fugitive out of court are guilty of "levying war," and therefore should be hanged, drawn, and quartered, if you can catch them. all honor to his justice. he does not say, as the secretary of state, that we must suppress discussion and stop agitation. he says we may agitate as much as we have a mind to; may not only speak against a law, but may declaim against it, which is to speak strongly. i thank the judge for this respect for the constitution. but with regard to the higher and lower law, he has some peculiar opinions. he supposes a case: that the people ask him, "which shall we obey, the law of man or the law of god?" he says, "i answer, obey both. the incompatibility which the question assumes does not exist." so, then, here is a great general rule, that between the "law of man" and the "will of god" there is no incompatibility, and we must "obey both." now let us see how this rule will work. if i am rightly informed, king ahab made a law that all the hebrews should serve baal, and it was the will of god that they should serve the lord.--according to this rule of the judge, they must "obey both." but if they served baal, they could not serve the lord. in such a case, "what is to be done?"--we are told that elijah gathered the prophets together; "and he came unto all the people, and said, how long halt ye? if the lord be god, follow him; but if baal, then follow him." our modern prophet says, "obey both. the incompatibility which the question assumes does not exist." such is the difference between judge elijah and judge peleg. let us see how this rule will work in other cases; how you can make a compromise between two opposite doctrines. the king of egypt commanded the hebrew nurses, "when you do the office of a midwife to the hebrew women, if it be a son ye shall kill him." i suppose it is plain to the judge of the circuit court that this kind of murder, killing the new-born infants, is against "the will of god;" but it is a matter of record that it was according to "the law of man." suppose the hebrew nurses had come to ask judge sprague for his advice. he must have said, "obey both!" his rule is a universal one. another decree was once made as it is said, in the old testament, that no man should ask any petition of any god for thirty days, save of the king, on penalty of being cast into the den of lions. suppose daniel--i mean the old daniel, the prophet--should have asked him, what is to be done? should he pray to darius or pray to god? "obey both!" would be the answer. but he cannot, for he is forbid to pray to god. we know what daniel did do. the elders and scribes of jerusalem commanded the christians not to speak or to teach at all in the name of jesus; but peter and john asked those functionaries, "whether it be right in the sight of god to hearken unto you more than unto god, judge ye." our judge must have said, there is no "incompatibility;" "obey both!" what "a comfortable scripture" this would have been to poor john bunyan! what a great ethical doctrine to st. paul! he did not know such christianity as that. before this time a certain man had said, "no man can serve two masters." but there was one person who made the attempt, and he also is eminent in history. here was "the will of god," to do to others as you would have others do to you: "love thy neighbor as thyself." here is the record of "the law of man:" "now both the chief priests and the pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he [jesus] were, he should show it that they might take him." judas, it seems, determined to "obey both,"--"the law of man" and "the will of god."--so he sat with jesus at the last supper, dipped his hand in the same dish, and took a morsel from the hand of christ, given him in token of love. all this he did to obey "the will of god." then he went and informed the commissioner or marshal where jesus was. this he did to obey "the law of man." then he came back, and found christ,--the agony all over, the bloody sweat wiped off from his brow, presently to bleed again,--the angel of strength there with him to comfort him. he was arousing his sleeping disciples for the last time, and was telling them, "pray, lest ye enter into temptation."--judas came and gave him a kiss. to the eleven it seemed the friendly kiss, obeying "the will of god." to the marshal it also seemed a friendly kiss,--obeying "the law of man." so, in the same act, he obeys "the law of god" and "the will of man," and there is no "incompatibility!" of old it was said, "thou canst not serve god and mammon." he that said it, has been thought to know something of morals,--something of religion. till the fugitive slave law was passed, we did not know what a great saint iscariot was. i think there ought to be a chapel for him, and a day set apart in the calendar. let him have his chapel in the navy-yard at washington. he has got a priest there already. and for a day in the calendar--set apart for all time the seventh of march! let us look at some other things in that judge's address to the grand jury. "unjust and oppressive laws may indeed be passed by human government. but if infinite and inscrutable wisdom permits political society ... to establish such laws, may not the same wisdom permit and require individuals ... to obey them?" ask the prophets in such a case, if they would have felt themselves permitted and required to obey them! ask the men who were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection; who had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; who were stoned and sawn asunder; who were slain with the sword; who wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, destitute, afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy! ask the apostles, who thanked god they were counted worthy to suffer shame in the name of christ! ask paul, who was eight times publicly beaten, thrice shipwrecked; and in perils of waters, of robbers, of the heathen, of false brethren--that worst of all peril! nay, ask christ; let the crucified reply,--whether, when a wicked law is made, and we are commanded to keep it, god means we should! ask the men who, with their ocean-wearied feet, consecrated the rock of plymouth forever! ask the patriots of the revolution! what do they say? i will not give the answer. even the martyred jesuits say no. who is it that says yes? judas and the judge. let them go--each "to his own place." let me say no more of them. this attempt to keep the people down by false doctrine, is no new thing. but to say that there is no law higher than what the state can make, is practical atheism. it is not a denial of god in his person; that is only speculative atheism. it is a denial of the functions and attributes of god; that is real atheism. if there is no god to make a law for me, then there is no god for me. the law of the land is so sacred, it must override the law of god, must it? let us see if all the laws of the united states are kept everywhere. let a black man go to south carolina in a ship, and we shall see. let the british minister complain that south carolina puts british subjects in jail, for the color of their skin. mr. secretary clayton tells him, we cannot execute the laws of the united states in south carolina. why not? because the people of south carolina will not allow it! are the laws of massachusetts kept in boston, then? the usury law says, thou shalt not take more than six per cent. on thy money. is that kept? there are thirty-four millions of banking capital in massachusetts, and i think that every dollar of this capital has broken this law within the past twelve months; and yet no complaint has been made. there are three or four hundred brothels in this city of boston, and ten or twelve hundred shops for the sale of rum. all of them are illegal: some are as well known to the police as is this house; indeed, a great deal more frequented by some of them, than any house of god. does anybody disturb them? no! i have a letter from an alderman who furnishes me with facts of this nature, who says, that "some of the low places are prosecuted, some broken up." last saturday night, the very men who guarded mr. sims, i am told, were playing cards in his prison-house, contrary to the laws of massachusetts. in court square, in front of the court-house, is a rum-shop, one of the most frequented in the city, open at all hours of the day, and, for aught i know, of the night too. i never passed when its "fire was quenched," and its "worm" dead. is its owner prosecuted? how many laws of massachusetts have been violated this very week, in this very city, by the slave-hunters here, by the very officers of the state? what is the meaning of this? every law which favors the accumulation of money, must be kept; but those which prohibit the unjust accumulation of money by certain classes--they need not be kept.[ ] no doubt it would be a great pity to have the city government careful to keep the laws of the city,--to suppress rum-shops, and save the citizens from the almshouse, the jail, and the gallows. such laws may be executed at truro and wellfleet; but it is quite needless for the officers of "the athens of america," to attend to the temperance laws.[ ]--what a pity for the magistrates of boston to heed the laws of the state! no; it is the fugitive slave law that they must keep. * * * * * ii. a great deal of pains has been taken to impress the people with their "moral duty to obey the fugitive slave law." to carry it out, government needs base men; and that, my brothers, is a crop which never fails. rye and wheat may get blasted many times in the course of years; the potato may rot; apples and peaches fail. but base men never fail. put up your black pirate-flag in the market-place, offer "money and office," and they will come as other carrion-vultures to their prey. the olive, the fig, and the orange are limited in their range; even indian corn and oats will not grow everywhere; but base men are indigenous all the world over, between the tropics, and under a polar sky. no bad scheme ever failed for lack of bad men to carry it out. do you want to kill baptists and quakers in boston? there are the men for you. to hang "witches" at salem? there are hangmen in plenty on gallows hill. would james the second butcher his subjects? he found his "human" tools ready. would elizabeth murder the puritans and catholics? there was no lack of ruffians. would bloody mary burn the protestants? there were more executioners than victims. would the spanish inquisition torture and put to death the men for whom christ died? she found priests and "gentlemen," ready for their office. would nero murder the christians, and make a spectacle of their sufferings? rome is full of scoundrels to do the deed, and teems with spectators rushing to the amphitheatre at the cry of "christians to the lions!" all finding a holiday in their brothers' agony. would the high-priests crucify the son of man? they found a commissioner to issue the mandate, a marshal to enforce it, a commissioner to try him by illegal process,--for the process against christ was almost as unconstitutional as that against sims,--they found a commissioner ready to condemn christ, against his own conscience, soldiers ready to crucify him. ay! and there was a peter to deny him, and a judas to betray, and now there is a judge with his legal ethics, to justify the betrayal! i promised not to speak of judas or the judge again, but they will come up before me! it is true, that, if in boston, some judicial monster should wish to seethe a man in a pot of scalding water, he would find another john boilman in boston, as judge jeffries found one in england, in . the churches of new england, and the north, have had their trials. in my time they have been tried in various ways. the temperance reformation tried them. they have had perils on account of slavery. the mexican war tried them; the fugitive slave law has put them to the rack. but, never in my day, have the churches been so sorely tried, nor done so well as now. the very letter of the new testament on the one side, and of the old testament on the other, both condemned the law; the spirit of them both was against all slavery. there are two great sects in christendom,--the churches of christianity, and the churches of commerce. the churches of christianity always do well: they think that religion is love to god, and love to man. but the churches of commerce, which know no higher law, what should they do? some of the ministers of the churches of commerce were wholly silent. why so? the poor ministers were very modest all at once. now, modesty is a commendable virtue; but see how it works. here is a man who has given his mind ten, twenty, or thirty years to the study of theology, and knows every hebrew particle of the old testament, and every greek particle of the new testament, as well as he knows the lord's prayer; every great work on the subject of christianity, from nicodemus down to norton. let him come out and say that the old testament was written like other books; let him say that the miracles of the old and new testament are like the miracles of the popish legends; then, ministers in their pulpits, who never studied theology or philosophy, or pretended to study, only to know, the historical development of religion in the world,--they will come down instantly upon our poor man, call his doctrines "false," and call him an "infidel," an "atheist." but let a rich parishioner, or a majority of the rich parishioners, be in favor of the fugitive slave law, and all at once the minister is very modest indeed. he says to his people, by silence or by speech, "i do not understand these things; but you, my people, who all your lives are engaged in making money and nothing else, and worship mammon and nothing else, you understand them a great deal better than i do. my modesty forbids me to speak. let us pray!"[ ] some ministers have been silent; others have spoken out in favor of the lower law, and in derision of the higher law. here is a famous minister, the very chief of his denomination, reported in the newspapers to have said that he would surrender his own mother to slavery rather than have the union dissolved! i believe him this time. a few years ago, that minister printed, in the organ of his sect, that the existence of god was "not a certainty!" he did not mean to say that he doubted or disbelieved it, only that it was "not a certainty!" i should suppose that he had gone further in that direction, and thought the non-existence of god was "a certainty." but he is not quite original in this proposed sacrifice. he has been preceded and outbid by a spanish catholic. here is the story in señor de castro's history of the spanish protestants, written this very year. i can tell the story shorter than it is there related. in , there lived a man in valladolid, who had two protestant daughters, being himself a catholic. the inquisition was in full blast, and its fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than before. this man, according to the commandment of the priests and pope, complained to the inquisitors against his daughters, who were summoned to appear before them. they were tried, and condemned to be burned alive, at his suggestion. he furnished the accusation, brought forward the evidence, and was the only witness in the case. that was not all. after this condemnation, he went round his own estates, and from selected trees cut down morsels of wood, and carried them to the city to use in burning his own daughters. he was allowed to do this, and of course the priest commended him for his piety and love of god! thus, in , in valladolid, a father at noon-day, with wood from his own estate, on his own complaint and evidence, with his own hands, burned his two daughters alive; and the catholic church said, well done! now, in my opinion, the hidalgo of valladolid a little surpasses the unitarian doctor of divinity. i do not know what "recompense of reward" the spanish hidalgo got for his deed; but the american divine, for his offer, has been put into "one of the priests' offices, that he might eat a piece of bread." he has been appointed, as the newspapers say, a chaplain of the navy at washington. verily he has his reward. but there have been found men in boston to go a little further. last thanksgiving day, i said it would be difficult to find a magistrate in boston to take the odium of sending a fugitive back to slavery. i believed, after all, men had some conscience, although they talked about its being a duty to deliver up a man to bondage. pardon me, my country, that i rated you too high! pardon me, town of boston, that i thought your citizens all men! pardon me, lawyers, that i thought you had been all born of mothers! pardon me, ruffians, who kill for hire! i thought you had some animal mercy left, even in your bosom! pardon me, united states' commissioners, marshals, and the like, i thought you all had some shame! pardon me, my hearers, for such mistakes. one commissioner was found to furnish the warrant! pardon me, i did not know he was a commissioner; if i had, i never would have said it! spirits of tyrants, i look down to you! shade of cain, you great first murderer, forgive me that i forgot your power, and did not remember that you were parent of so long a line! and you, my brethren, if hereafter i tell you that there is any limit of meanness or wickedness which a yankee will not jump over, distrust me, and remind me of this day, and i will take it back! let us look at the public conduct of any commissioner who will send an innocent man from boston into slavery. i would speak of all men charitably; for i know how easy it is to err, yea, to sin. i can look charitably on thieves, prowling about in darkness; on rumsellers, whom poverty compels to crime; on harlots, who do the deed of shame that holy woman's soul abhors and revolts at; i can pity the pirate, who scours the seas doing his fiendish crimes--he is tempted, made desperate by a gradual training in wickedness. the man, born at the south, owning slaves, who goes to africa and sells adulterated rum in exchange for men to retail at cuba,--i cannot understand the consciousness of such a man; yet i can admit that by birth and by breeding he has become so imbruted, he knows no better. nay, even that he may perhaps justify his conduct to himself. i say i think his sin is not so dreadful as that of a commissioner in boston who sends a man into slavery. a man commits a murder, inflamed by jealousy, goaded by desire of great gain, excited by fear, stung by malice, or poisoned by revenge, and it is a horrid thing. but to send a man into slavery is worse than to murder him. i should rather be slain than enslaved. to do this, inflamed by no jealousy, goaded by no desire of great gain,--only ten dollars!--excited by no fear, stung by no special malice, poisoned by no revenge,--i cannot comprehend that in any man, not even in a hyena. beasts that raven for blood do not kill for killing's sake, but to feed their flesh. forgive me, o ye wolves and hyenas! that i bring you into such company. i can only understand it in a devil! when a man bred in massachusetts, whose constitution declares that "all men are born free and equal;" within sight of faneuil hall, with all its sacred memories; within two hours of plymouth rock; within a single hour of concord and lexington; in sight of bunker hill,--when he will do such a deed, it seems to me that there is no life of crime long enough to prepare a man for such a pitch of depravity; i should think he must have been begotten in sin, and conceived in iniquity, and been born "with a dog's head on his shoulders;" that the concentration of the villany of whole generations of scoundrels would hardly be enough to fit a man for a deed like this! you know the story of thomas sims. he crept on board a boston vessel at savannah. perhaps he had heard of boston, nay, even of faneuil hall, of the old cradle of liberty, and thought this was a christian town, at least human, and hoped here to enjoy the liberty of a man. when the ship arrived here, the first words he spoke were, "are we up there?" he was seized by a man who at the court-house boasted of his cruelty towards him, who held him by the hair, and kept him down, seeking to kidnap and carry him back into slavery. he escaped! but a few weeks pass by: the man-stealers are here; the commissioner issues his warrant; the marshals serve it in the night. last thursday night,--when odious beasts of prey, that dare not face the light of heaven, prowl through the woods,--those ruffians of the law seized on their brother-man. they lie to the bystanders, and seize him on a false pretence. there is their victim--they hold him fast. his faithless knife breaks in his hand; his coat is rent to pieces. he is the slave of boston.[ ] can you understand his feelings? let us pass by that. his "trial!" shall i speak of that? he has been five days on trial for more than life, and has not seen a judge! a jury? no,--only a commissioner! o justice! o republican america! is this the liberty of massachusetts? where shall i find a parallel with men who will do such a deed,--do it in boston? i will open the tombs, and bring up most hideous tyrants from the dead. come, brood of monsters, let me bring you up from the deep damnation of the graves wherein your hated memories continue for all time their never-ending rot. come, birds of evil omen! come, ravens, vultures, carrion-crows, and see the spectacle! come, see the meeting of congenial souls! i will disturb, disquiet, and bring up the greatest monsters of the human race! tremble not, women; tremble not, children; tremble not, men! they are all dead! they cannot harm you now! fear the living, not the dead. come hither, herod the wicked. thou that didst seek after that young child's life, and destroyedst the innocents! let me look on thy face! no; go! thou wert a heathen! go, lie with the innocents thou hast massacred. thou art too good for this company! come, nero! thou awful roman emperor! come up! no; thou wast drunk with power! schooled in roman depravity. thou hadst, besides, the example of thy fancied gods! go, wait another day. i will seek a worser man. come hither, st. dominic! come, torquemada!--fathers of the inquisition! merciless monsters, seek your equal here! no; pass by! you are no companions for such men as these! you were the servants of atheistic popes, of cruel kings. go to, and get you gone. another time i may have work for you,--not now; lie there and persevere to rot. you are not yet quite wicked and corrupt enough for this comparison. go, get ye gone, lest the sun turn back at sight of ye! come up, thou heap of wickedness, george jeffries!--thy hands deep purple with the blood of thy murdered fellow men! ah, i know thee! awful and accursed shade! two hundred years after thy death, men hate thee still, not without cause! let me look upon thee! i know thy history. pause and be still, while i tell it to these men. brothers, george jeffries "began in the sedition line." "there was no act, however bad, that he would not resort to to get on." "he was of a bold aspect, and cared not for the countenance of any man." "he became the avowed, unblushing slave of the court, and the bitter persecutor and unappeasable enemy of the principles he had before supported." he "was universally insolent and over-bearing." "as a judge, he did not consider the decencies of his post, nor did he so much as affect to be impartial, as became a judge." his face and voice were always unamiable. "all tenderness for the feelings of others, all self-respect were obliterated from his mind." he had "a delight in misery, merely as misery," and "that temper which tyrants require in their worst instruments." "he made haste to sell his forehead of brass and his tongue of venom to the court." he had "more impudence than ten carted street-walkers;" and was appropriately set to a work "which could be trusted to no man who reverenced law, or who was sensible of shame." he was a "commissioner" in . you know of the "bloody assizes" which he held, and how he sent to execution three hundred and twenty persons in a single circuit. "the whole country was strewed with the heads and limbs of his victims." yet a man wrote that "a little more hemp might have been usefully employed." he was the worst of the english judges. "there was no measure, however illegal, to the execution of which he did not devotedly and recklessly abandon himself." "during the stuart reigns, england was cursed by a succession of ruffians in ermine, who, for the sake of court favor, wrested the principles of law, the precepts of religion, and the duties of humanity; but they were all greatly outstripped by jeffries." such is his history. come, shade of a judicial butcher! two hundred years thy name has been pilloried in face of the world, and thy memory gibbeted before mankind! let us see how thou wilt compare with those who kidnap men in boston! go seek companionship with them! go claim thy kindred, if such they be! go tell them that the memory of the wicked shall rot,--that there is a god; an eternity; ay! and a judgment too! where the slave may appeal against him that made him a slave, to him that made him a man. what! dost thou shudder? thou turn back? these not thy kindred! why dost thou turn pale, as when the crowd clutched at thy life in london street? it is true, george jeffries, and these are not thy kin. forgive me that i should send thee on such an errand, or bid thee seek companionship with such--with boston hunters of the slave! thou wert not base enough! it was a great bribe that tempted thee! again i say, pardon me for sending thee to keep company with such men! thou only struckst at men accused of crime; not at men accused only of their birth! thou wouldst not send a man into bondage for two pounds! i will not rank thee with men who, in boston, for ten dollars, would enslave a negro now! rest still, herod! be quiet, nero! sleep, st. dominic, and sleep, o torquemada! in your fiery jail! sleep, jeffries, underneath "the altar of the church" which seeks with christian charity to hide your hated bones. "but," asks a looker-on, "what is all this for?" oh! to save the union. "a precious union which needs a saving such as this! and who are to rend the union asunder?" why, men that hate slavery and love freedom for all mankind. "is this the way to make them love the union and slavery, and hate freedom for all mankind?" we know none better. "what sort of a measure is this fugitive slave law?" oh! it is a "peace measure." don't you see how well it works? how quiet the city? in the country not a mouse stirring? there will not be a word against the peace measure in all new england on this fast day. blessed are the peace-makers, saith lord! "but you have great warrant for such deeds?" oh yes, the best in the world,--the example of washington. he also "saved the union." "so men blaspheme." let me tell you a little of that great man. shortly after the passage of the law of , a favorite female slave of washington's wife ran away from the president of the new republic, and went into new hampshire. she lived at portsmouth. washington wrote to mr. whipple, a united states' marshal, i think, or, at any rate, an officer of the united states, saying that he should like to have the woman sent back to him, if it could be done without tumult, and without shocking the principles and the feelings of the people. he added that the slave was a favorite of his wife. mr. whipple wrote back, and said,--it cannot be done without tumult, nor without shocking the principles and feelings of the people. washington said no more! the woman died at a great age, a few years ago, at portsmouth. that was the example of washington,--the man who at his death freed his slaves! would to god he had done it before! but they that come at the eleventh hour shall never be cast out from my charity. * * * * * see what is the consequence of this measure! see what has been the condition of boston for the past week! read the mingled truth and lies in the newspapers; look at men's faces in the street; listen to their talk; see the court-house in chains; see one hundred policemen on guard, and three companies of military picketed in faneuil hall; behold the people shut out from the courts--i will not say of justice! see the officers of massachusetts made slave-hunters--against the law; constitutional rights struck down--against the law; sheriffs refusing to serve writs--against the law; see the great civil rights our fathers gained five hundred years ago, the trial by jury, by our "peers," by the "law of the land," all cloven down; the writ of "personal replevin" made null--no sheriff daring to execute a law made to suit such a case as this, made but eight years ago! where is your high sheriff? where is your governor? see the judges of massachusetts bend beneath that chain; see them bow down, one by one, and kneel, and creep, and cringe, and crouch, and crawl, under the chain! note the symbol! that was the chain on the neck of the commonwealth, visible on the necks of the judges as they entered the bastile of boston,--the barracoon of boston! a few years ago, they used to tell us, "slavery is an abstraction;" "we at the north have nothing to do with it," now liberty is only an abstraction! here is a note just handed me in the pulpit:-- "marshal tukey told me this morning, that his orders were _not merely to keep the peace_, but to _assist the united states' marshal in detaining and transporting the slave_; that he _knew he was violating the state law, as well as i did_; but it was not his responsibility, but that of the mayor and aldermen. i thought you might like to know this." well, my brethren, i know boston has seen sad days before now. when the stamp act came here in our fathers' time, it was a sad day; they tolled the bells all over town, and mayhew wished "they were cut off that trouble you." it was a sad day when the tea came here, although, when it went down the stream, all the hills of new england laughed. and it was a sadder day still, the th of june, , when our fathers fought and bled on yonder hill, all red from battle at concord and lexington, and poured sheeted death into the ranks of their enemies, while the inhabitants of this town lifted up their hands, but could not go to assist their brethren in the field; and when, to crown all their sadness, they saw four hundred of the houses of their sister town go up in flames to heaven, and could not lend a helping hand! a sadder day when they fired one hundred guns in boston for the passage of the fugitive slave law. it was the saddest day of all, when a man was kidnapped in boston by the men of boston, and your court-house hung with chains. it was not from the tyrants of the other side of the world that this trouble came! if you could have seen what i have this morning, at sunrise, one hundred of the police of this city, contrary to the laws of the state, drilling with drawn swords, to learn to guard a man whilst he should be carried into bondage! and who do you suppose was at their head? a man bearing an honorable name--samuel adams! tell it not in massachusetts; let not your children hear of this, lest they curse the mothers that bore them. it is well that we should have a day of fasting and humiliation and prayer, when such things are done here. well, my brethren, these are only the beginning of sorrows. there will be other victims yet; this will not settle the question. what shall we do? i think i am a calm man and a cool man, and i have a word or two to say as to what we shall do. never obey the law. keep the law of god. next i say, resist not evil with evil; resist not now with violence. why do i say this? will you tell me that i am a coward? perhaps i am; at least i am not afraid to be called one. why do i say, then, do not now resist with violence? because it is not time just yet; it would not succeed. if i had the eloquence that i sometimes dream of, which goes into a crowd of men, and gathers it in its mighty arm, and sways them as the pendent boughs of yonder elm shall be shaken by the summer breeze next june, i would not give that counsel. i would call on men, and lift up my voice like a trumpet through the whole land, until i had gathered millions out of the north and the south, and they should crush slavery forever, as the ox crushes the spider underneath his feet. but such eloquence is given to no man. it was not given to the ancient greek who "shook the arsenal and fulmined over greece." he that so often held the nobles and the mob of rome within his hand, had it not. he that spoke as never man spake, and who has since gathered two hundred millions to his name, had it not. no man has it. the ablest must wait for time! it is idle to resist here and now. it is not the hour. if in they had attempted to carry out the revolution by force, they would have failed. had it failed, we had not been here to-day. there would have been no little monument at lexington "sacred to liberty and the rights of mankind," honoring the men who "fell in the cause of god and their country." no little monument at concord; nor that tall pile of eloquent stone at bunker hill, to proclaim that "resistance to tyrants is obedience to god." success is due to the discretion, heroism, calmness, and forbearance of our fathers: let us wait our time. it will come--perhaps will need no sacrifice of blood. resist, then, by peaceful means; not with evil, but with good. hold the men infamous that execute this law; give them your pity, but never give them your trust, not till they repent. then swiftly forgive. agitate, discuss, petition, and elect to office men whom you can trust; not men who never show their face in the day of darkness and of peril. choose men that are men. i suppose that this man will be carried back to slavery. the law of the united states has been cloven down; the law of massachusetts cloven down. if we have done all that we can we must leave the result to god. it is something that a man can only be kidnapped in boston by riding over the law, and can only be tried in a court-house surrounded by chains, when the crouching judges crawl under the iron of slavery to enter their house of bondage; that even on fast day it is guarded by one hundred police, and three companies of military are picketed in faneuil hall--the "sims brigade!"[ ] the christians saw christ crucified, and looked on from afar; sad, but impotent. the christians at rome saw their brethren martyred, and could not help them: they were too weak. but the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church. to-day is st. bademus' day: three hundred and seventy-six years after christ, that precious saint was slain because he would not keep the commandment of the king. by crucified redeemers shall mankind be saved. if we cannot prevent crucifixion, let us wait for the redemption. shall i ask you to despair of human liberty and rights? i believe that money is to triumph for the present. we see it does in boston, philadelphia, new york, and washington: see this in the defence of bribery; in the chains of the court-house; in the judges' pliant necks; in the swords of the police to-day; see it in the threats of the press to withdraw the trade of boston from towns that favor the unalienable rights of man! will the union hold out? i know not that. but, if men continue to enforce the fugitive slave law, i do not know how soon it will end; i do not care how soon the union goes to pieces. i believe in justice and the law of god; that ultimately the right will prevail. wrong will prevail for a time, and attract admiration. i have seen in a haberdasher's shop-window the figure of a wooden woman showily arrayed, turning round on a pivot, and attracting the gaze of all the passers-by; but ere long it is forgotten. so it will be with this transient love of slavery in boston; but the love of right will last as long as the granite in new hampshire hills. i will not tell you to despair of freedom because politicians are false; they are often so. despair of freedom for the black man! no, never. not till heaven shakes down its stars; nay, not till the heart of man ceases to yearn for liberty; not till the eternal god is hurled from his throne, and a devil takes his place! all the arts of wicked men shall not prevail against the father; nay, at last, not against the son. the very scenes we have witnessed here,--the court-house in chains,--the laws of massachusetts despised,--the commonwealth disgraced,--these speak to the people with an eloquence beyond all power of human speech. here is great argument for our cause. this work begets new foes to every form of wrong. there is a day after to-day,--an eternity after to-morrow. let us be courageous and active, but cool and tranquil, and full of hope. these are the beginning of sorrows; we shall have others, and trials. continued material prosperity is commonly bad for a man, always for a nation. i think the time is coming when there will be a terrible contest between liberty and slavery. now is the time to spread ideas, not to bear arms. i know which will triumph: the present love of thraldom is only an eddy in the great river of the nation's life; by and by it will pass down the stream and be forgot. liberty will spread with us, as the spring over the new england hills. one spot will blossom, and then another, until at last the spring has covered the whole land, and every mountain rejoices in its verdant splendor. o boston! thou wert once the prayer and pride of all new england men, and holy hands were laid in baptism on thy baby brow! thou art dishonored now; thou hast taken to thy arms the enemies of men. thou hast betrayed the slave; thy brother's blood cries out against thee from the ground. thou art a stealer of mankind. in thy borders, for long years, the cradle of liberty has been placed. the golden serpent of commerce has twined its snaky folds about it all, and fascinated into sleep the child. tread lightly, soldiers: he yet may wake. yes, in his time this child shall wake, and boston shall scourge out the memory of the men who have trodden her laws under foot, violated the dearest instincts of her heart, and profaned her religion. i appeal from boston, swollen with wealth, drunk with passion, and mad against freedom--to boston in her calm and sober hour. o massachusetts, noble state, the mother that bore us all; parent of goodly institutions and of noble men, whose great ideas have blessed the land!--how art thou denied, dishonored, and brought low! one of thine own hired servants has wrought this deed of shame, and rent the bosom which took him as an adopted son. shall it be always thus? i conjure thee by all thy battle-fields,--by the remembrance of the great men born of thee, who battled for the right, thy franklin, hancock, the adamses--three in a single name,--by thine ideas and thy love of god,--to forbid forever all such deeds as this, and wipe away thy deep disgrace. america, thou youngest born of all god's family of states! thou art a giant in thy youth, laying thine either hand upon thine either sea; the lakes behind thee, and the mexique bay before. hast thou too forgot thy mission here, proud only of thy wide-spread soil, thy cattle, corn, thy cotton, and thy cloth? wilt thou welcome the hungarian hero, and yet hold slaves, and hunt poor negroes through thy land? thou art the ally of the despot, thyself out-heathening the heathen turk. yea, every christian king may taunt thee with thy slaves. dost thou forget thine own great men,--thy washington, thy jefferson? forget thine own proud words prayed forth to god in thy great act of prayer? is it to protect thy wealth alone that thou hast formed a state? and shall thy wealth be slaves? no, thou art mad. it shall not be. one day thou wilt heed the lessons of the past, practise thy prayer, wilt turn to god, and rend out of thy book the hated page where slavery is writ. thy sons who led thee astray in thy madness, where shall they appear? and thou our god, the father of us all, father and mother too, parent of freemen, parent also of the slave, look down upon us in our sad estate. look down upon thy saints, and bless them; yea, bless thy sinners too; save from the wicked heart. bless this town by thy chastisement; this state by thine afflictions; this nation by thy rod. teach us to resist evil and with good, till we break the fetters from every foot, the chains from every hand, and let the oppressed go free. so let thy kingdom come; so may thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. footnotes: [ ] the above paragraph refers to cases which had then recently occurred, and were known to everybody. [ ] mr. peleg sprague. [ ] the above paragraph was written in april, , and was only historical, not also prophetic. [ ] it was well known that the laws of massachusetts were violated, but no prosecution of the offenders was ever begun. the committee to whom the matter was referred, thought that the supreme court of massachusetts was not to be trusted to vindicate the laws of the state, against kidnappers in boston. [ ] in november, , the city marshal reports to the board of aldermen, the following facts:--there are fifteen hundred places in boston, where intoxicating drinks are sold, in violation of the laws of massachusetts. kept by americans, kept by foreigners, open on sunday, groceries that keep intoxicating drink, other places, all the "first class hotels," except four, have open bars, for the sale of intoxicating drink. the government of boston, which violated the laws of massachusetts, to kidnap a man, and deliver him to his tormentors, asks the city marshal to give such information as is calculated to check the progress of crime and intemperance. he reports--"execute the laws!" in , boston has the honor of kidnapping one of her inhabitants, and sending him to slavery, and of supporting fifteen hundred rum-shops, in continual violation of the laws of massachusetts. [ ] while these volumes are getting printed, one of the sectarian newspapers of boston publishes the following paragraph:-- "the english railways are all in use on the sabbath, and all evidently under a curse. their stock is ruinously low. three hundred and fifty millions of dollars have been embarked in these enterprises, and the average dividends which they pay is but three per cent. and more than this, a large number of fatal accidents have occurred of late. while we regret that the business men of england, who control these lines, have not wisdom enough to see the folly of making haste to be rich, in defiance of the ordinances of god, we rejoice that so many of the railroad operators in this country, rest on the sabbath day, according to the commandment." see note [b]** on p. . [ ] the tattered garment is still kept as a melancholy monument of the civilization of boston in the middle of the nineteenth century. [ ] mr. sims was sent off to bondage in the barque acorn by the city authorities of boston. i believe he is the first man ever returned as a fugitive slave from massachusetts by the form of law since the adoption of the constitution. arrived at savannah, he was immediately conducted to prison. his mother and other relatives were not allowed to see him. he was cruelly and repeatedly scourged. meantime the citizens of boston, who had aided in kidnapping him, and had accompanied him to savannah, were publicly feasted by the inhabitants of georgia. the present fate of mr. sims is unknown to me. nov. th, . vii. the three chief safeguards of society.--considered in a sermon at the melodeon, on sunday, july , . proverbs xiv. . righteousness exalteth a nation. this is the first sunday after the anniversary of the national birth-day. it seems proper, on this occasion, to go beyond matters merely personal, and affecting us only as individuals. i will speak of the duties of man in a wider sphere; of political affairs. so i ask your attention to a sermon of the safeguards of society. i choose this subject, because some men profess a fear that american society is in danger, and because some persons are busily teaching doctrines which seem hostile to the very design of society itself. i shall not speak of politics as economy, but as morality, and look at the affairs of state from a religious point of view. we are often told, that human society is of divine appointment,--society meaning the mass of men living together in a certain fellowship. if this means that man is by nature a social being, and in their progressive development men must unite and form societies, then, it is true, society is of divine appointment. but so is a farm; for man is by nature and position an agricultural being, and in their progressive development men make farms and practise agriculture. agriculture is as necessary as society.--but it does not follow from this, that the egyptian, the flemish, or the american mode of agriculture is of divine appointment, and men bound by god to practise that, or to limit themselves thereto; and it no more follows that the egyptian, the flemish, or the american mode of society is of divine appointment, and men bound by god to limit themselves to it. it would be thought ridiculous to claim divinity for dutch farming, or any other special mode of farming; but it is just as ridiculous to claim divinity for dutch society, or any other society. the farm and the society are alike and equally the work of men. then we are often told, that human government is of divine appointment, and men morally bound to submit to it,--government being used as a collective term to include the political, ecclesiastical, and social establishments of a people, and the officers who administer them. if this means, that, at a certain stage of man's progressive political development, it is necessary to have certain political, ecclesiastical, and social establishments, such as a monarchy or an aristocracy, with persons to administer them, then it is true, and government is of divine appointment.--but the fence of a farm is just as necessary to agriculture, at a certain stage of agricultural development, as government to society. however, it does not follow from this, that a stone-wall or a rail-fence is of divine appointment; and it no more follows that a monarchy or an aristocracy is of divine appointment. it would be thought ridiculous for a farmer to claim divinity for his fence; it is just as absurd for a politician to claim it for his government. both are alike and equally the work of men. again it is said that human statutes are of divine appointment, and therefore binding on the conscience of men. if this means, that, at a certain stage of social and political development, men must form certain rules for social and political conduct, then it is true, and human statutes are of divine appointment. but rules for agricultural conduct are just as necessary for the farm and the garden as political rules for society and the state, and so equally divine.--but it does not follow from this, that the agricultural rules for the farm and the garden laid down by columella the roman, or cobbett the briton, are of divine appointment; and it no more follows that the political rules for society and the state laid down by the men of new england or the men of new holland,--by men "fore-ordained" at birth to be lawgivers, or by men "elected" in manhood to make laws,--are of divine appointment. it would be thought ridiculous for a british farmer to claim divinity for tusser's "five hundred points of good husbandry;" but it is just as absurd for a british politician to claim divinity for the british constitution, or the statutes of the realm. rules for farming the land and rules for farming the people are alike and equally the work of men. still further, it is said that human officers to execute the statutes, administer the government, and sustain society, are also of divine appointment; and hence we are morally bound to employ, honor, and obey them. if this means, that at a certain stage of man's social, political, and legal development, it is necessary to have certain persons whose official business it shall be to execute those statutes, then it is true, and human officers are of divine appointment. but it is just as necessary to have certain persons, whose official business it shall be to execute the rules for farming the land; and so the agricultural officers are just as much of divine appointment as the political. but it does not follow that ploughman keith and reaper gibson are such by the grace of god, and therefore we are morally bound to employ, honor, and obey them; and it no more follows that king ferdinand or president fillmore are such by the grace of god, and we morally bound to employ, honor, and obey them. it would be thought ridiculous for keith and gibson to claim divinity for their function of ploughman or reaper; but it is equally absurd for fillmore and ferdinand to claim divinity for their function of president or king. the farm-office and the state-office are alike and equally the work of men. yet it is often taught that society, government, statutes, and officers are peculiarly and especially of divine appointment, in a very different sense from that mentioned just now; and therefore you and i are morally bound to respect all the four. we are told this by men who would be astonished if any one should claim divine appointment for farm-fences, rules of husbandry, for ploughmen and reapers.--this is sometimes done by persons who know no better. in conformity with that fourfold claim of divinity for things of human appointment, we are told that the great safeguard of man's social welfare is this,--entire subordination of the individual to the community, subordination in mind and conscience, heart and soul; entire submission to the government; entire obedience to the statute; entire respect for the officer; in short, the surrender of the individual to the state, of his mind to the public opinion, of his conscience to the public statute, of his religion to some bench of attorneys, and his will to the magistrate. this fourfold subordination of the individual is demanded, no matter what the community, the government, the statutes, or the officers may be.--let us look a little more narrowly into this matter, and see what is the purpose, the end, and aim of individual human life, and of social human life; then we may be the better able to determine what are the safeguards thereof. * * * * * what is man here on earth to accomplish? he is to unfold and perfect himself, as far as possible, in body and spirit; to attain the full measure of his corporeal and spiritual powders, his intellectual, moral, affectional, and religious powers; to develop the individual into a complete man. that, i take it, is the purpose, the end, the scope, and final cause of individual life on earth. accordingly, that is the best form of individual life which does this most completely; that worst which does it least. he is the most fortunate man who gets the greatest development of his body and his spirit in all their several and appropriate functions: all else is means thereto, and this the end thereof. ease, wealth, honor, fame, power, and all the outward things men wish for, and all such things as are valuable, are means to this end, no more. wise men do not account him lucky who comes into the world born to riches, distinction, thrones of power; but him who goes out of it wise, just, good, and holy. accordingly, all else is to be subordinated to the attainment of this purpose; this to nothing. but what faculties of the individual are to rule and take precedence? the highest over the lowest; the lasting over the transient; the eternal over the perishing. i will wound my hand to save my head, subordinating the less to the greater. not barely to live, but to live nobly, is my purpose. i will wound or sacrifice my body to save the integrity of my spirit, to defend the rights of my mind, of my conscience, of my affections, of my religious faculty--my soul. conscience, when awakened, commands this. prophets of the old testament, and apostles of the new testament, martyrs of all the churches under heaven, are historical witnesses to this instinct of human nature. millions of soldiers have been found ready to sacrifice the life of their body to the integrity of their spirit: they would die, but not run. man is social by nature: gregarious by instinct, he is social with self-conscious will. to develop the individual into the perfect man, men must mix and mingle. society is the condition of individual development. moses or newton, living all alone, would not have attained the human dignity of a clown or a savage; they would never have mastered articulate speech: the gregarious elephant, the lonely eagle, would surpass these men, born to the mightiest genius. society, companionship of men, is both a necessity and a comfort, a good in itself, a means to other good. as the great purpose of human life is to develop the individual into the complete and perfect man in body and spirit, so the purpose of society is to help furnish the means thereto; to defend each, and furnish him an opportunity and all possible help to become a complete and perfect man. individuals are the monads, the primitive atoms, of which society is composed: its power, its perfection, depend primarily on the power and perfection of the individuals, as much so as the weight of a pendulum or of mount sheehallin depends on the primitive atoms thereof. destroy the individuality of those atoms, human or material,--all is gone. to mar the atom is to mar the mass. to preserve itself, therefore, society is to preserve the individuality of the individual. such is its general purpose: this involves several particulars. one is purely negative in its form,--to prevent men from hurting one another. in early ages, that was the chief business of society which men had become conscious of. society was recognized as an instrument to help accomplish two things: first, to defend itself against other societies or collections of men, and so preserve the integrity of the mass. this was done by means of armies, forts, fleets, and all the artillery of war. the next thing was, within itself, to defend the many feeble from the few that are strong, or the few strong from the many weak; to preserve the integrity of the individuals, the atoms which compose the mass. this was done by statutes of prohibition, declaring, "thou shalt not." this defence from foreign or domestic harm involves two things: first, the protection of the person, the substance of the community or the individual; and, next, the protection of the property, the accident of the social or individual person. all this may be comprised in one term as the negative function of society, appearing in two modes, as it protects from foreign or domestic hurt. this function is performed consciously: one community says to other communities, "you shall not hurt me," and to its own members, "you must not hurt one another," and knows what it is about in so doing. some of the nations of europe have scarcely got beyond this; their government seems to acknowledge no function but this negative one. then comes the positive function of society. that is, to furnish opportunities for the mass, as such, to develop itself; and the individual, as such, to develop himself, individually and socially, and exercise all his faculties in his own way; subject only to this rule, that he hurts nobody else. see how this is done abroad between society and society. this community agrees with others, that they, mutually, shall not only not injure each other, but positively help one another. "protect my citizens by your statutes, whilst in your land; and i will do the same with yours," says belgium to france. that is agreed upon. "let my ships into your harbors," says england, "come whence they may, and with what they may bring; and i will do the same by yours." america says, "agreed;" and it is so to the good of both. thus each christian nation secures for itself opportunities for development in all other christian countries, and so helps the person, and also his property. this is done by treaties; and each nation has its ministers and consuls to lie abroad, and help accomplish this work. this is the foreign part of the positive function of society, and is destined to a great expansion in times to come. see how it is done at home, and the whole furnishes positive helps to the special parts. society establishes almshouses, hospitals, schools, colleges, churches, and post-offices; coins money as a standard measure of all values; builds roads of earth, of water, or of iron; carries letters; surveys the land; prints books telling of its minerals, plants, and living things that swim or creep or fly or walk; puts light-houses along the coast, and breakwaters to protect a port. thus society furnishes its members a positive help for the mind, body, and estate; helps the individual become a complete and perfect man, by affording him facilities for the development of his substance, and the possession of his accidents. this is the domestic part of the positive function of society. some men, as the socialists in france, wish to extend it much further, making the government patriarchal to bless,--not, as of old, despotic to curse. this also is done with a distinct self-consciousness of the immediate end and the means thereto. but the greater part of this positive work is done with no such distinct consciousness thereof: it is brought about by the men living together; is done, not by government, but by society. the presence of numbers increases the intellectual temperature, so to say, and quickens the social pulse. machines are invented, science extended, new truths in morals and religion are found out, literature and art create new loveliness, and men become greater and more noble, while society takes no heed; and so all are helped. the government often only checks this work. by most subtle contrivances, though not of you and me, a provision is made for the great. without willing it, we prepare a cradle for every giant, ready to receive him soon as he is born. a young woman has a rare genius for music; no legal and constitutional provision has been made for her, society having no instinctive and prophetic consciousness of such an advent; but men with music in their souls, and spell-bound by their ears, are drawn together, and encourage her sweet soul into all the wildest, sweetest, and most bewildering witchery of song. if some lad of marvellous genius is born in the woods, men seek him out, and train him up with the accumulated wisdom of ten thousand years, that this newest diamond from the mine of god may be appropriately set. so it is with a thousand other things; and thus society calls out the dainties of the cook, the machine of the inventor, the orator's persuasive power, the profound thought of the thinker, the poet's vision and his faculty divine, the piety of the highest saint god sends. thus, spite of all the herods in jerusalem, a crown is got ready for him that is born king of the world; wise men are always waiting for the star which goes before the new-born son of god; and, though that star stand still over a stable, they are ready on the spot with their myrrh, their frankincense, and their gold. society has its shepherds watching their flock, and its angels to proclaim the glad tidings of great joy to all mankind. while society, in its positive function, thus helps the strong, it provides also for the weak, and gives them the benefit of the strong man's protection: thus the individuality of the ablest and the most feeble is defended at the same time. this is done in part by private charity; in part also by the organized public charity. the sick, the poor, the crazy, the lame, the blind, the deaf, are sacredly cared for. even the fool is not left in his folly, but the wisdom of society watches over his impotent and wretched brain. thus the two extremes of the human race are provided for: the man of vast genius and a tough body gets his culture and his place; and from his station in the senate, the pulpit, or the closet, sends out his thunder, his lightning, or his sunshine over all the land, to save the people and to bless; while the lame man, the lunatic woman, the blind boy, the poor and sickly little girl, born with the scrofulous worm feeding on her cheek,--all have the benefit of the manifold power of society. the talent of a webster, the genius of an emerson, the frailty of an unacknowledged child left on the doorstone at night, to die next month in the almshouse, all have their place in the large cradle of society, whose coverlet wraps them all,--the senator, the poet, and the fool. attend a meeting of the alumni of harvard college, of the heads of the railroads or factories of new england, a convention of merchants, naturalists, metaphysicians, of the senate of the nation, you see how society gives place and protection to the best heads in the state. then go to some house of industry, and see the defence afforded for the worst; you see what a wonderful contrivance society itself is. i say a contrivance, yet it is not the contrivance chiefly of solon or charlemagne, but of almighty god; a contrivance for three things,--to prevent men from hurting one another in person or property; to give the strong and the weak the advantage of living together; and thus to enable each to have a fair chance for the development of his person and the acquisition of property. the mechanism of society, with its statical and dynamical laws, is the most marvellous phenomenon in the universe. thereby we are continually building wiser than we know, or rather the providence of the father builds by us, as by the coral insect of pacific seas, foundations for continents which we dream not of. * * * * * these three things are the general end of society, and indispensable to the purpose of life. to attain them, there must be a certain amount of individual variety of action, a certain amount of social unity of action; and the two must be to a certain degree balanced into equilibrium. the larger the amount of individual variety and social unity of action, the more complete the equilibrium of the two, the more completely is the purpose of individual and social life accomplished and attained: the atom is not sacrificed to the mass, nor the mass to the atom; the individual gains from being a citizen, the citizen from his individuality; all are the better for each, and each for all. to accomplish this purpose, men devise certain establishments,--institutions, constitutions, statutes--human machinery for attaining the divine end in the individual and the social form. but here is the condition of existence which all these establishments must conform to. every thing in nature has a certain constant mode of action: this, we call a law of nature. the laws of nature are universal, unchangeable, and perfect as god, whose mind they in part express. to succeed in any thing, we must find out and keep the natural laws relating thereto. there are such laws for the individual,--constant modes of action which belong to human nature, writ therein by god. my mind and conscience are the faculties by which i learn these laws. conscience perceives by instinct; mind sees afterwards by experiment. there are also such laws for society, constant modes of action, which belong to human nature in its social form. they are also written in the nature of man. the mind and conscience of the individuals who make up the society are the faculties by which these laws likewise are found out. these laws, constant modes of individual or social action, are the sole and exclusive basis of human establishments which help attain the end of individual and social life. what conforms to these natural rights is called right; what conforms not, is wrong. a mill-dam or a monument must conform to the statical laws of matter, or not serve the purpose it was meant for; a mill or a steam-engine must conform to the dynamical laws of matter, or it is also useless. so all the social establishments of mankind, designed to further the positive or negative functions of society, must conform to the laws of human nature, or they will fail to achieve the purposes of individual and social life. as i come to individual self-consciousness, i give utterance to these natural laws, or my notion of them, in certain rules of conduct which i make for myself. i say, "this will i do, for it is right; that will i not do, for it is wrong." these are my personal resolutions, personal statutes. i make them in my high act of prayer, and in my common life seek to conform thereto. when i rise higher, in another act of prayer which has a greater experience for its basis and so represents more life, i shall revise the old rules of conduct, and make new ones that are better. the rules of conduct derive all their objective and real value from their conformity with the law of god writ in my nature; all their subjective and apparent value, from their conformity to my notions of the law of god. the only thing which makes it right, and an individual moral duty for me to keep my resolutions, is, that they themselves are right, or i believe them so. now, as i see they are wrong, or think i see it, i shall revise or change them for better. accordingly, i revise them many times in my life: now by a gradual change, the process of peaceful development; now by a sudden change, under conviction of sin, in penitence for the past, and great concern of mind for the future, by the process of personal revolution. but these rules of conduct are always provisional,--my ladder for climbing up to the purposes of individual life. i will throw them away as soon as i can get better. they are amenable subjectively to my notion of right, and objectively to right itself,--to conscience and to god. as the individuals, all, the majority, or some controlling men, come to social self-consciousness, they express these natural laws, or their notion thereof, in certain rules of social conduct. they say, "this shall all men do, for it is right; that shall no man do, for it is wrong." the nation makes its social resolutions, social statutes, in its act of prayer; for legislation is to the state what prayer is to the man,--often an act of penitence, of sorrow, of fear, and yet of faith, hope, and love. when it rises higher, it revises and makes better rules of conduct: they derive all their objective and real value from their conformity with the law of god; all their subjective and apparent value, from their conformity with the nation's notion thereof. the only thing which makes it right, and a social moral duty for society, or any of its members, to keep these social statutes, is that they are right, or thought so. in the progress of society, its rules of conduct get revised a good many times: now it is done by gradual, peaceful development; now by sudden and stormy revolutions, when society is penitent for the sin of the past, and in great anxiety and concern of mind through fear of the future. these social statutes are only provisional, to help men climb up to the purpose of social life. they are all amenable subjectively to the notion of right; objectively to right itself,--to the conscience of the individuals and to god. then society appoints officers whose special conventional function is to see to the execution of these social rules of conduct. they are legally amenable to the rules of conduct they are to carry out; socially amenable to the community that appoints them; individually amenable to their own conscience and to god. to sum up all this in one formula: officers are conventionally amenable to society; society, with its officers and its rules of conduct, amenable to the purpose of society; the design of individual life, to the individuals that compose it; individuals, with their rules of conduct, amenable each to his own conscience; and all to the law of the universe, to the eternal right, which represents the conscience of god. so far as society is right, government right, statutes right, officers right, all may justly demand obedience from each: for though society, government, statutes, and officers are mere human affairs, as much so as farms, fences, top-dressing, and reapers, and are as provisional as they; yet right is divine, is of god, not merely provisional and for to-day, but absolute and for eternity. so, then, the moral duty to respect the government, to keep the statutes, to obey the officers, is all resolvable into the moral duty of respecting the integrity of my own nature, of keeping the eternal law of nature, of obeying god. if government, statutes, officers, command me to do right, i must do it, not because commanded, but because it is right; if they command me to do wrong, i must refuse, not because commanded, but because it is wrong. there is a constitution of the universe: to keep that is to preserve the union between man and man, between man and god. to do right is to keep this constitution: that is loyalty to god. to keep my notion of it is loyalty to my own soul. to be false to my notion thereof is treason against my own nature; to be false to that constitution is treason against god. the constitution of the universe is not amenable to men: that is the law of god, the higher law, the constant mode of action of the infinite father of all. in that he lives and moves, and has his being. * * * * * it is now easy to see what are the safeguards of society, the things which promote the end and aim of society,--the development of the body and spirit of all men after their law,--and thus help attain the purpose of individual life. i will mention three of these safeguards, in the order of their importance. first of all, is righteousness in the people: a religious determination to keep the law of god at all hazards; a sacred and inflexible reverence for right; a determined habit of fidelity each to his own conscience. this, of course, implies a hatred of wrong; a religious and determined habit of disobeying and resisting every thing which contradicts the law of god, of disobeying what is false to this and our conscience. there is no safeguard for society without this. it is to man what impenetrability, with the other primary qualities, is to matter. all must begin with the integral atoms, with the individual mind and conscience; all be tried by that test, personal integrity, at last. what is false to myself i must never do,--at no time, for no consideration, in nowise. this is the doctrine of the higher law; the doctrine of allegiance to god; a doctrine which appears in every form of religion ever taught in the world; a doctrine admitted by the greatest writers on the foundation of human law, from cicero to lord brougham. even bentham comes back to this. i know it is now-a-days taught in the united states, that, if any statute is made after the customary legal form, it is morally binding on all men, no matter what the statute may be; that a command to kidnap a black man and sell him into slavery, is as much morally binding as a command for a man to protect his own wife and child. a people that will practically submit to such a doctrine is not worthy of liberty, and deserves nothing but law, oppressive law, tyrannical law; and will soon get what it deserves. if a people has this notion, that they are morally bound to obey any statute legally made, though it conflict with public morals, with private conscience, and with the law of god, then there is no hope of such a people; and the sooner a tyrant whips them into their shameful grave, the better for the world. trust me, to such a people the tyrant will soon come. where the carcass is thither will the vultures be gathered together. let no man put asunder the carrion and the crow. so much for the first and indispensable safeguard. * * * * * the next is derivative therefrom, righteousness in the establishments of the people. under this name i include three things, namely, institutions, constitutions, and statutes. institutions are certain modes of operation, certain social, ecclesiastical, or political contrivances for doing certain things. thus an agricultural club is a social institution to help farming; a private school is a social institution for educating its pupils; a church is an ecclesiastical institution for the promotion of religion; an aristocracy is a political institution for governing all the people by means of a few, and for the sake of a few; a congress of senators and representatives is a legislative institution for making statutes; a jury of twelve men is a judicial institution to help execute the statutes; universal suffrage is a democratic institution for ruling the state. constitutions are fundamental rules of conduct for the nation, made by the highest human authority in the land, and only changeable thereby, determining what institutions shall be allowed, how administered, by whom and in what manner statutes shall be made. statutes are particular rules of conduct to regulate the action of man with man, of individuals with the state, and of the state with individuals. statutes are amenable to the constitutions; the constitutions to the institutions; they to the people; all subjectively to the conscience of the individual, and objectively to the conscience of god. establishments are the machinery which a people contrives wherewith to carry out its ideas of the right or the expedient. in the present state of mankind, they are indispensable to accomplish the purpose of individual life. there are indeed a few men who for their good conduct, after they are mature, require no human laws whatever. they regulate themselves by their idea of right, by their love of truth, of justice, of man and god. they see the law of god so clear that they need no prohibitive statutes to restrain them from wrong. they will not lie nor steal, though no statutes forbid, and all other men both lie and steal; not if the statutes command falsehood and theft. these men are saints. the wealth of athens could not make aristides unjust. were all men like jesus of nazareth, statutes forbidding wrong would be as needless as sails to a shark, a balloon to a swallow, or a railroad to the lightning of heaven. this is always a small class of men, but one that continually increases. we all look to the time when this will include all men. no man expects to find law books and courts in the kingdom of heaven. then there is a class, who need these statutes as a well-known rule of conduct to encourage them to do right, by the assurance that all other men will likewise be made to do so, even if not willing. they see the law of god less clear and strong, and need human helps to keep it. this class comprises the majority of mankind. the court-house helps them, though they never use it; the jail helps them, though never in it. these are common men. they are very sober in connecticut; not very sober in california. then there is a third class who will do wrong, unless they are kept from it by punishment or the fear thereof. they do not see the law of god, or will not keep it if they do. the court-house helps them; so does the jail, keeping them from actual crime while there, deterring while out of it. take away the outward restraints, their seeming virtue falls to pieces like a barrel without its hoops. these are knaves. i think this class of men will continually diminish with the advance of mankind; that the saints will grow common, and the knaves get scarce. good establishments promote this end; those of new england, especially the schools, help forward this good work, to convert the knaves to common men, to transfigure the common men to saints. bad establishments, like many in austria, ireland, and south carolina, produce the opposite effect: they hinder the development of what is high and noble in man, and call out what is mean and low; for human laws are often instruments to debauch a nation. if a nation desires to keep the law of god, good establishments will help the work; if it have none such, it must make them before it can be at peace. they are as needful as coats and gowns for the body. sometimes the consciousness of the people is far in advance of its establishments, and there must be a revolution to restore the equilibrium. it is so at rome, in austria and prussia. all these countries are on the brink of revolution, and are only kept down by the bayonet. it was so here seventy-five years ago, and our fathers went through fire and blood to get the establishments they desired. they took of the righteousness in the people, and made therefrom institutions, constitutions, and statutes. so much for the second and derivative safeguard. * * * * * the third is righteousness in the public officers, good men to administer the establishments, manage the institutions, expound and enforce the constitutions and execute the statutes, and so represent the righteousness of the people. in the hands of such men as see the purpose of social and individual life, and feel their duty to keep the integrity of their conscience and obey the law of god, even bad establishments are made to work well, and serve the purpose of human life; because the man puts out the evil of the institution, constitution, or statute, and puts his own righteousness in its place. there was once a judge in new england who sometimes had to administer bad laws. in these cases, he told the jury, "such is the law, common or enacted; such are the precedents; such the opinions of judge this and judge that; but justice demands another thing. i am bound by my oath as judge to expound to you the law as it is; you are bound by oath as jurors to do justice under it; that is your official business here to-day." such a man works well with poor tools; with good ones he would work much better. by the action of such men, aided by public opinion which they now follow and now direct, without any change of legislation, there is a continual progress of justice in the establishments of a nation. bad statutes are dropped or corrected, constitutions silently ameliorated, all institutions made better. thus wicked laws become obsolete. there is a law in england compelling all men to attend church. nobody enforces it. put a bad man to administer the establishments, one who does not aim at the purpose of society, nor feel bound to keep the higher law of god, the best institutions, constitutions, statutes, become ineffectual, because the man puts out the good thereof, and puts in his own evil. the best establishments will be perverted to the worst of purposes. rome had all the machinery of a commonwealth; with cæsar at the head it became a despotism. in , france had the establishments of a republic; with napoleon for first consul, you know what it became: it soon was made an empire, and the constitution was trodden under foot. in , france has the institutions of a democracy; with louis napoleon as chief, you see what is the worth of the provisions for public justice. what was the constitution of england good for under the thumb of charles i. and james ii.? what was the value of the common law, of the trial by jury, of magna charta, "such a fellow as will have no sovereign," with a george jeffries for judge, a james ii. for king, and such juries as corrupt sheriffs brought together? they were only a mockery. what were the charters of new england against a wicked king and a corrupt cabinet? connecticut went out of the court and into the charter oak for self-preservation. what were all the institutions of christianity when alexander vi. dishonored the seat even of the pope? put a saint, who feels his duty to keep the law of god, in office, even bad rules will work well. but put a man who recognizes no law of god, not into a jail, but in a great office; give him courts and courtiers, fleets and armies, nay, only newspapers and "union committees" to serve him, you see what will be done. the resolute determination of the people to obey the law of god, the righteousness of their establishments, will be of small avail, frustrated by the wickedness of the men in power. the english parliament once sent a fleet to aid the huguenots at rochelle. king charles i. gave the admiral secret orders to surrender his ships to the enemy he was sent to oppose! the purpose of all human life may be as foully betrayed by wicked men in a high place. in a monarchy, the king is answerable for it with his neck; in a republic there is the same danger; but, where all seems to proceed from the people, it may be more difficult to do justice to a wicked officer. so much for the third safeguard, also derivative from the first. to make a good house, you want good materials,--solid stone, sound bricks, sound timber; a good plan, and also good builders. so, as safeguards of society, to achieve its purpose, you want good material,--a righteous people who will be faithful to their own conscience, and obey god and reverence the law of nature; a good plan,--righteous establishments, institutions, constitutions, statutes conformable to the laws of god; and you want good builders,--righteous officers to represent the eternal justice of the father. you want this threefold righteousness. * * * * * how are we provided with these three safeguards just now? have we this righteousness in the people?--which is the first thing. perhaps there is no nation with a higher reverence for justice, and more desire to keep the law of god; at least we have been told so, often enough. i think the nation never had more of it than now; never so much. but here are whole classes of men who practically seem to have no reverence for god's law; who declare there is no such thing; whose conduct is most shamefully unrighteous in all political matters. they seek to make us believe there is no law above the caprice of man. of such i will speak by and by. it is plain there is not righteousness enough in the people to hinder us from doing what we know is contrary to the law of god. thus, we keep one sixth part of the people in a state of slavery. this we do in violation of our own axiom, declared to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their creator with the unalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. we have here three millions of slaves: if things go on as now, there will be twelve millions before the century ends. we need not say we cannot help it. slavery in america is as much our work as democracy, as free schools, as the protestant form of religion. at the declaration, we might have made the slaves free; at the time of the confederation; at the formation of the constitution. but no! there was not righteousness enough in the people to resist the temptation of eating the bread which others earn. american slavery has always been completely in the power of the american people. we may abolish it any time we will. we might have restricted it to the old states, which had it before, and so have kept it out of kentucky, tennessee, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, florida, and all that mighty realm west of the great river. no! we took pains to extend it there. we fought with mexico to carry slavery into the "halls of the montezumas," whence a half-barbarous people drove it away. we long to seize on cuba, and yet other lands, to plant there our "american institution." we are indignant when austria unjustly seizes an american in hungary, and hales him to prison; but have nothing to say when slave states systematically confine the colored freemen of the north, or when georgia offers a large reward for the head of a citizen of boston. we talk of the "pauper labor of europe." it is pauper labor, very much of it. i burn with indignation at the men who keep it so. but it is not slave labor. paupers spin cotton at manchester, and at glasgow, say the whigs. who raises cotton at south carolina and mississippi? the spoil of the slave is in our houses. we are a republic, but the only nation of the christian world whose fields are tilled by chattel slaves. to such a degree has covetousness blinded the eyes of the whole nation. in saying all this, i will not say that we are less righteous than other nations. no other people has had the same temptation. it has been too great for america. slavery is loved as well in boston as in new orleans. the love of liberty is strong with us; but it is liberty for ourselves we love, not for our brother man whom we can oppress and enthrall. this vice is not confined to the south. i look on some of the clergymen of the north as only chaplains of the slave-driver. look at the next safeguard of society. setting aside the institution of slavery, and the statutes relating thereto, i think we have the most righteous establishments in the world. by no means perfect, they produce the greatest variety of action in the individuals, the greatest unity of action in society, and afford an opportunity to achieve the purpose of social and individual life. here is the great institution of democracy, the government of all, by all, and for all, resting on the american idea, that all men have natural rights which only the possessor can alienate; that all are equal in their rights; that it is the business of government to preserve them all for each man. under this great institution of a free state, there naturally come the church, the school, the press,--all free. in politics, and all depending thereon, we are coming to recognize this principle, that restraint is only to be exercised for the good of all, the restrainer and the restrained. let me single out two excellent institutions, not wholly american,--the contrivance for making laws, and that for executing them. to make laws, the people choose the best men they can find and confide in, and set them to this work. they aim to take all the good of past times, of the present times, and add to it their private contribution of justice. each state legislature is a little political academy for the advancement of jural science and art. they get the wisest and most humane men to aid them. then after much elaboration the law is made. if it works well in one state it is soon tried in others; if not, it is repealed and ceases to be. the experience of mankind has discovered no better way than this of popular legislation, for organizing the ideal justice of the people into permanent forms. if there is a man of moral and political genius in the community, he can easily be made available to the public. the experiment of popular legislation has been eminently successful in america. then, still further, we have officers chosen by the people for a limited time, to enforce the laws when made,--the executive; others to expound them,--the judiciary. it is the official business of certain officers to punish the man who violates the laws. in due and prescribed form, they arrest the man charged with the offence. now, two things are desirable: one to protect society, in all its members, from injury by any one acting against its just laws; the other is, to protect the man complained of from being hurt by government when there is no law against him, or when he has not done the deed alleged, or from an unjust punishment, even if it be legal. in despotic countries, little is thought of this latter; and it goes hard with a man whom the government complains of, even if there is no positive statute against the crime charged on him, or when he is innocent of the deed alleged. nothing can screen him from the lawful punishment, though that be never so unjust. the statute and its administration are a rule without mercy. but in liberal governments a contrivance has been devised to accomplish both these purposes,--the just desire of society to execute its laws; the just desire of the individual to have justice done. that is the trial by a jury of twelve men, not officers of the government, but men taken for this purpose alone from the bosom of the community, with all their human sympathies and sense of responsibility to god about them. the jury are to answer in one word "guilty" or "not guilty." but it is plain they are to determine three things: first, did the prisoner do the deed alleged, and as alleged? next, if so, is there a legal and constitutional statute forbidding it, and decreeing punishment therefor? and then, if so, shall the prisoner for that deed suffer the punishment denounced by that law?[ ] human statutes partake of human imperfections. see the checks against sudden, passionate, or unjust legislation. we choose legislators, and divide them into two branches, a senate and a house of representatives, each to aid and check the other. if a bill pass one house, and seem unjust to the other, it is set aside. if both approve of it, a third person has still a qualified negative; and, if it seems unjust to him, he sets it aside. if it passes this threefold ordeal, it becomes a statute of the land. see the checks in the execution of the laws which relate to offences. before they can be brought against any man, in any matter beyond a trifle, a jury of his peers indict him for the offence. then, before he can be punished, twelve men of his peers must say with one accord, "you shall inflict the penalties of the statute upon this man." this trial by jury has long been regarded as one of the most important of the secondary safeguards of society. it has served to defend the community against bad citizens, and the citizens against an evil establishment,--bad institutions, bad constitutions, bad statutes; against evil officers, bad rulers, bad judges, bad sheriffs. if the community has much to fear from bad citizens, here is the offensive armor, and the jury do not bear the sword in vain. if its citizens have much to fear from a wicked government, oppressive, grasping, tyrannical, desirous of pretending law where there is none, declaring "ship-money" and other enormities constitutional, or pressing a legal statute beyond justice, making it treason to tell of the wickedness of officers,--here is the defensive armor, and the jury do not bear in vain the shield of the citizen. sometimes the citizens have more to fear from the government than from all other foes. louis xiv. was a great robber, and plundered and murdered more of his subjects than all the other alleged felons in the sixteen millions of frenchmen. the honest burghers of paris had more to fear from the monarch in the tuileries than from the murderer in the faubourg st. antoine, or the cut-purse in the rue st. jacob. charles i. was a more dangerous enemy to our fathers in england and america than all the other thieves and murderers in the realm. what were all the indians in new england, for peril to its christian citizens, compared to charles ii. and his wicked brother? what was a foot-pad to henry viii.? he plundered a province, while the robber only picked a pocket. the trial by jury has done manly service. it was one of the first bulwarks of human society, then barbarous and feeble, thrown up by the germanic tribe which loved order, but loved justice too. it is a line of circumvallation against the loose, unorganized wickedness of the private ruffian; a line of contravallation also against the organized wickedness of the public government. it began before there were any regular courts or written laws; and, ever since, it has done great service when corrupt men in high places called a little offence "treason"; when corrupt judges sought to crush down the people underneath oppressive laws to advance themselves; and when corrupt witnesses were ready to "enlarge" their testimony so as to "dispatch" the men accused; yea, to swear black was black, and then, when the case seemed to require it, swear white was black. any man who reads the history of england under the worst of kings, the worst of ministers, the worst of judges, and with the worst of witnesses, and compares it with other nations, will see the value of the trial by jury as a safeguard of the people. the bloody mary had to punish the jurors for their verdict of acquittal, before she could accomplish her purposes of shame. george iii., wishing to collect a revenue in the american colonies, without their consent or any constitutional law, found the jury an obstacle he could not pass over. attorneys might try john hancock for smuggling in his "sloop liberty:" no jury would convict. the tea, a vehicle of unjust taxation, went floating out of boston bay in a most illegal style. no attempt was made to try the offenders; the magistrates knew there was a jury who would not convict men for resisting a wicked law. men must be taken "over seas for trial" by a jury of their enemies, before the wicked laws of a wicked ministry could be brought upon the heads of the resolute men of america. it is of great importance to keep this institution pure; to preserve its spirit, with such expansion as the advance of mankind requires. otherwise, the laws may be good, the constitutions good, institutions good, the disposition of the people good; but, with a wicked minister in the cabinet, a wicked judge on the bench, a wicked attorney at the bar, and a wicked witness to forswear himself on the stand,--and all these can easily be had; you can purchase your wicked witnesses; nay, sometimes one will volunteer and "enlarge his testimony,"--a man's life and liberty are not safe for a moment. the administration may grasp any man at will. the minister represents the government; the judge, the attorney, all represent the government. it has often happened that all these had something to gain by punishing unjustly some noble man who opposed their tyranny, and they used their official power to pervert justice and ruin the state, that they might exalt themselves. the jury does not represent the government, but "the country;" that is, the justice, the humanity, the mercy of mankind. this is its great value. have we the third safeguard, righteous officers? i believe no nation ever started with nobler officers than we chose at first. but i think there has been some little change from washington down through the tylers and the polks to the present administration. john adams, in coming to the presidency, found his son in a high office, and asked his predecessor if it were fit for the president to retain his own son in office. washington replied, it would be wrong for you to appoint him; but i hope he will not be discharged from office, and so the country be deprived of his valuable services, merely "because he is your son!" what a satire is this on the conduct of men in power at this day! we have had three "second general washingtons" in the presidential chair since ; two new ones are now getting ready, "standing like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start," for that bad eminence. these three past and two future "washingtons" have never displayed any very remarkable family likeness to the original--who left no descendant--in this particular.[ ] i pass over the general conduct of our executive and judicial officers, which does not seem to differ much from that of similar functionaries in england, in france, in italy, austria, turkey, and spain. but i must speak of some special things in the conduct of some of these persons,--things which ought to be looked at on such a day as this, and in the light of religion. attempts have lately been made in this city to destroy the juror's power to protect the citizen from the injustice of government,--attempts to break down this safeguard of individual liberty. we have seen a judge charge the grand jury, that, in case of conflict between the law of god and the statutes made by men, the people must "obey both." then we have seen an attempt made by the government to get a partial jury, who should not represent the country, but should have prejudices against the prisoner at the bar. we have seen a man selected as foreman of the jury who had previously, and before witnesses, declared that all the persons engaged in the case which was to come before him, "ought to be hung." we have seen a man expelled from the jury, after he had taken the juror's oath, because he declared that he had "a general sympathy with the down-trodden and oppressed here and everywhere," and so did not seem likely to "dispatch" the prisoner, as the government desired. this is not all: the judge questions the jurors before their oath, and refuses to allow any one to be impanelled who doubts the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law. even this is not the end: he charges the jury thus selected, packed, picked, and winnowed, that they are to take the law as he lays it down; that they are only judges of the fact, he exclusively of the law; and, if they find that the prisoner did the deed alleged, then they must return him "guilty" of the offence charged. i am no lawyer: i shall not speak here with reference to usages and precedents of the past, only with an eye to the consequences for the future. if the court can thus select a jury to suit itself, mere creatures of its own, what is the use of a jury to try the fact? see the consequences of this decision, that no man shall serve as juror who doubts the constitutionality of a law, and that the jurors are not judges of the law itself, as well as the fact. let me suppose some cases which may happen. the constitution of the united states provides that congress shall not prohibit the free exercise of religion. suppose that congress should pass a law to punish any man with death who should pray to the "father, son, and holy ghost." the government wishes to punish an obnoxious orthodox minister for violating this "form of law." it is clearly unjust; but the judge charges the grand jury they are to "obey both" the laws of god and the statutes of men. the grand jury indict the man. he is brought for trial. the law is obviously unconstitutional; but the judge expels from the jury all who think the law is unconstitutional. he selects the personal enemies of the accused, and finds twelve men foolish enough or wicked enough to believe it is constitutional to do what the constitution declares must not be done; and then proceeds to trial, selecting for foreman the man who has said, "all men that thus pray ought to be hung!" what is the value of your constitution? the jury might convict, the judge sentence, the president issue his warrant, and the man be hanged in twenty-four hours, for doing a deed which the constitution itself allows, and christendom daily practises, and the convictions of two hundred million men require! it is alleged the jury must not judge of the law, but only of the fact. see the consequences of this principle in several cases. the secretary of state has declared the rescuing of shadrach was "treason," and, of course, punishable with death. suppose the court had charged the jury, that to rescue a man out of the hands of an incompetent officer--an offence which in boston has sometimes been punished with a fine of five dollars--was "levying war" against the united states, and they were only to find if the prisoner did the deed; and, if so, return a verdict of guilty. suppose the jury are wicked enough to accept his charge, where is the protection of the citizen? the government may say, to smuggle goods into boston harbor is "levying war" and hang a man for treason who brings on shore an ounce of camphor in his pocket without paying duties! is not the jury, in such a case, to judge what the law makes treason?--to decide for itself? there was once a law making it felony without benefit of clergy to read the bible in the english language. suppose the government, wishing to make away with an obnoxious man, should get him indicted next term for this offence, and the judge should declare that the old law is still in force. is the jury not to judge whether we live under the bloody mary, or the constitution of massachusetts?--whether what was once law is so now? if not, then the laws of king darius or king pharaoh may be revived whenever judge hategood sees fit, and faithful must hang for it.[ ] suppose the judge makes a law himself, declaring that, if any one speaks against the justice of the court, he shall be whipped with forty stripes save one, and gets a man indicted under it and brought to trial--is the jury not to judge if there be such a law? then we might as well give up all legislation, and leave all to the "discretion of the court." a judge of the united states court was once displaced on account of mental imbecility. was judge simpleton to determine what was law, what not, for a jury of intelligent men? another judge, not long ago, in boston, in his place in court, gave an opinion in a most important affair, and was drunk when he gave it. i do not mean he was horizontally drunk, but only so that his friends feared "he would break down in court, and expose himself." was the opinion of a drunken judge to be taken for law by sober men? suppose the judge is not a simpleton nor a drunkard, but is only an ordinary lawyer and a political partisan, and appointed to his office because he is a fawning sycophant, and will interpret the law to suit the ambition of the government--a thing that has happened in this city. is he to lay down the law for the jurors who aim only to live in honorable morality, to hurt no one, and give every man his due? suppose the attorneys at the bar know the law better than the attorney on the bench,--a thing that daily happens,--are not the jurors to decide for themselves? i have chosen fictitious cases to try the principle. extreme cases make shipwreck of a wicked law, but are favoring winds to bring every just statute into its happy harbor at the last. will you say we are not likely to suffer from such usurpation? you know what we have suffered within three months past. god only knows what is to come. but no man is ever to seek for a stick if he wishes to beat a dog, or for a cross if he would murder his saviour. the only way to preserve liberty is by eternal vigilance: we must be jealous of every president, every minister, every judge, every officer, from a king to the meanest commissioner he appoints to kidnap men. you have seen the attempts made to sap and undermine one of the most valuable safeguards of our social welfare,--seen that it excited very little attention; and i wish to warn you of the danger of a false principle. i have waited for this day to speak on this theme. executive tyranny, with soldiers at its command, must needs be open in its deeds of shame. it may waste the money of the public which cleaves to the suspected hands of its officers: it is not so easy to get the necks of those it hates; for we have no star-chamber of democracy, and here the executive has not many soldiers at command, must ask before it can get them. it did ask, and got "no" for answer. legislative tyranny must needs be public, and is easily seen. but judicial tyranny is secret, subtle, unseen in its action; and all experience shows it is one of the most dangerous forms of tyranny. a corrupt judge poisons the wells of human society.[ ] scroggs and jeffries are names deservedly hated by mankind, and there are some american names likely to be added to them. the traditionary respect entertained here for an office which has been graced by some of the noblest men in the land, doubles our danger. but an attack is made on another safeguard of society, yet more important. we have been told that there is no law higher than a human statute, no law of god above an act of the american congress. you know how this doctrine of the supremacy of the lower law has been taught in the high places of the state, in the high places of the church, and in the low places of the public press. you know with what sneers men have been assailed who appealed to conscience, to religion, and said, "the law of god is supreme; above all the enactments of mortal men." you have been witness to attempts to howl down the justice of the almighty. we have had declamation and preaching against the law of god. it is said the french assembly, some fifty or sixty years ago, voted that there should be no public worship of god; that there was no god to worship; but it was left for politicians and preachers of america, in our time, to declare that there is no law above the caprice of mortal men. did the french "philosophers" decree speculative atheism? the american "wise men" put it in practice. they deny the function of god. "he has nothing to do with mankind." this doctrine is one of the foulest ever taught, and tends directly to debauch the conscience of the people. what if there were no law higher than an act of parliament? what would become of the parliament itself? there is such a thing conceivable as personal, speculative atheism. i think it is a very rare thing. i have never known an atheist: for, with all about us speaking of god; all within us speaking of him; every telescope revealing the infinite mind in nebulæ resolved to groups of systems of suns; every microscope revealing the infinite father, yea, mother of the world, in a drop of water, a grain of perishing wood, or an atom of stone; every little pendulum revealing his unchanging law on a small scale; and this whole group of solar systems, in its slow and solemn swing through heavenly space, disclosing the same law on a scale which only genius at first can comprehend,--it is not easy to arrive at personal, speculative atheism. it would be a dreadful thing, the stark denial of a god. to say there is no infinite mind in finite matter, no order in the universe, in providence only a fate, no god for all, no father for any, only an inextinguishable nothing that fills the desert and illimitable ether of space and time, the whence and whither of all that are,--such a belief is conceivable; but i do not believe that there is a single atheist living on the whole round world. there is no general danger of personal, speculative atheism. when m. lalande declared that he saw no god through his telescope, though he meant not to deny the real god of nature, the world rang with indignation at an astronomer undevout and mad. but practical, political atheism has become a common thing in america, in new england. this is not a denial of the essence of god and his being, but of his function as supreme ruler of the church, of the state, of the people, of the universe. of that there is danger. the devil of ambition tempts the great man to it; the devil of covetousness, the little man. both strike hands, and say, "there is no higher law;" and low men lift up their mean foreheads in the pulpits of america and say, "it is the voice of a god, and not of a man. there is no higher law." the greatest understanding of this land, with haughty scorn, has lately said, "the north mountain is very high; the blue ridge, higher still; the alleghanies higher than either; and yet this 'higher law' ranges further than an eagle's flight above the highest peaks of the alleghanies."[ ] the impious taunt was received with "laughter" by men who have long acted on the maxim that there is no law of god, and whose state is impoverished by the attempt to tread his law under foot. i know men in america have looked so long at political economy that they have forgotten political morality, and seem to think politics only national housekeeping, and he the best ruler who buys cheapest and sells dearest. but i confess i am amazed when statesmen forget the lessons of those great men that have gone before us, and built up the social state, whose "deep foundations have been laid with prayer." what! is there no law above the north mountain; above the blue ridge; higher than the alleghanies? why, the old hebrew poet told us of one "which removeth the mountains, and they know not; which overturneth them in his anger; which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. lo! he goeth by me, and i see him not; he passeth on also, but i perceive him not." yes, there is one--his law "an eagle's flight above the alleghanies"--who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, whose strong hand setteth fast the mountains; yea, one who hath weighed the mountains in scales; before whom all nations are as a very little thing. yes, father in heaven! before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art god. yea, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. thy name alone is excellent; thy glory above the earth and heaven! no higher law for states than the poor statutes they enact! "among the assemblies of the great a greater ruler takes his seat; the god of heaven as judge surveys these 'gods of earth' and all their ways:-- 'why will you frame oppressive laws? or why support the unrighteous cause? when will you once defend the poor, that foes may vex the saints no more?' they know not, lord, nor will they know; dark are the ways in which they go; their name of 'earthly gods' is vain, for they shall fall and die like men." it would be a great calamity for this nation to lose all of its mighty riches, and have nothing left but the soil we stand on. but, in seven or eight generations, it would all be restored again; for all the wealth of america has been won in less time. we are not two hundred and fifty years from jamestown and plymouth. it would be a great misfortune to lose all the foremost families of the nation. but england lost hers in the war of the roses; france, in her revolution. nature bore great men anew, and fresh families sprung up as noble as the old. but, if this generation in america could believe that there was no law of god for you and me to keep,--say the acts of congress what they might say,--no law to tame the ambition of men of mountain greatness, and curb the eagle's flight of human tyranny, that would be a calamity which the nation would never recover from. no! then religion would die out; affection fall dead; conscience would perish; intellect give up the ghost, and be no more. no law higher than human will! no watchmaker can make a long pendulum vibrate so quick as a short. in this very body there is that law. i wake and watch and will; my private caprice turns my hand, now here, now there. but who controls my breath? who bids this heart beat all day long, and all the night, sleep i or wake? whose subtle law holds together these particles of flesh, of blood, and bone in marvellous vitality? who gives this eye its power to see, and opens wide the portal of the ear? and who enchants, with most mysterious life, this wondrous commonwealth of dust i call myself? it is the same hand whose law is "higher than the blue ridge," an "eagle's flight above the alleghanies." who rules the state, and, out of a few stragglers that fled here to new england for conscience sake, built up this mighty, wealthy state? was it carver and winthrop who did all this; standish and saltonstall? was it the cunning craftiness of mightiest men that consciously, well knowing what they did, laid the foundations of our new england state and our new england church? why, the boys at school know better. it was the eternal god whose higher law the pilgrim and the puritan essayed to keep, not knowing whereunto the thing would grow. shall the fool say in his heart there is no god? he cannot make a hair grow on his head but by the eternal law of his father in heaven. will the politician say there is no law of god for states? ask the sorrowing world; let austria and hungary make reply. nay, ask the southern states of america to show us their rapid increase in riches, in civilization; to show us their schools and their scholars, their literature, their science, and their art! no law of god for states! it is writ on the iron leaf of destiny, "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a curse to any people." let the wicked hand of the south join with the northern wicked hand, iniquity shall not prosper. but the eye of the wicked shall fail; they shall not escape; their hope shall be as giving up the ghost, because their tongue and their doings are against the lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust, if they cast away the law of the lord, and despise the word of the holy one. in america the people are strongly attached to the institutions, constitutions, and statutes of the land. on the whole, they are just establishments. if not, we made them ourselves, and can make them better when we will. the execution of laws is also popular. nowhere in the world is there a people so orderly, so much attached to law, as the people of these northern states. but one law is an exception. the people of the north hate the fugitive slave law, as they have never hated any law since the stamp act. i know there are men in the northern states who like it,--who would have invented slavery, had it not existed long before. but the mass of the northern people hate this law, because it is hostile to the purpose of all just human law, hostile to the purpose of society, hostile to the purpose of individual life; because it is hostile to the law of god,--bids the wrong, forbids the right. we disobey that, for the same reason that we keep other laws: because we reverence the law of god. why should we keep that odious law which makes us hated wherever justice is loved? because we must sometimes do a disagreeable deed to accomplish an agreeable purpose? the purpose of that law is to enable three hundred thousand slaveholders to retake on our soil the men they once stole on other soil! most of the city churches of the north seem to think that is a good thing. very well: is it worth while for fifteen million freemen to transgress the plainest of natural laws, the most obvious instincts of the human heart, and the plainest duties of christianity, for that purpose? the price to pay is the religious integrity of fifteen million men; the thing to buy is a privilege for three hundred thousand slaveholders to use the north as a hunting-field whereon to kidnap men at our cost. judge you of that bargain. * * * * * but i must end this long discourse. the other day i spoke of the vices of passion: great and terrible evils they wrought. they were as nothing to the vices of calculation. passion was the flesh, ambition the devil. there are vices of democracy, vices of radicalism; very great vices they are too. you may read of them in hume and alison. they are painted black as night and bloody as battle in tory journals of england, and the more vulgar tory journals of america. democracy wrought terrible evils in britain in cromwell's time; in france at her revolution. but to the vices, the crimes, the sins of aristocracy, of conservatism,--they are what the fleeting lust of the youth is to the cool, hard, calculating, and indomitable ambition of the grown man. radicalism pillaged governor hutchinson's house, threw some tea into the ocean; conservatism set up its stamp act, and drove america into revolution. radicalism helped shadrach out of court; conservatism enacted the fugitive slave bill. radicalism sets up a republic that is red for six months; conservatism sets up a red monarchy covered with blood for hundreds of years. judge you from which we have the most to fear. * * * * * such are the safeguards of society; such our condition. what shall we do? nobody would dare pretend to build a church except on righteousness; that is, the rock of ages. can you build a state on any other foundation--that house upon the sand? what should you think of a minister of the church who got his deacons together, and made a creed, and said, "there is no higher law; no law of god. you, laymen, must take our word for your guidance, and do just as we bid you, and violate the plainest commands of conscience?" what would be atheism in a minister of the church,--is that patriotism in a minister of the state? a bad law is a most powerful instrument to demoralize and debauch the people. if it is a law of their own making, it is all the worse. there is no real and manly welfare for a man, without a sense of religious obligation to god; none in a family, none in a church, none in a state. we want righteousness in the people, in their establishments, in their officers. i adjure you to reverence a government that is right, statutes that are right, officers that are right; but to disobey every thing that is wrong. i entreat you by your love for your country, by the memory of your fathers, by your reverence for jesus christ, yea, by the deep and holy love of god which jesus taught, and you now feel. footnotes: [ ] see note on function of the jury, above, p. . [ ] in these times of political corruption, when a postmaster in a country village is turned out of office for voting for a representative to congress who exposed the wickedness of a prominent member of the cabinet, it is pleasant to read such letters as those of washington to benjamin lincoln, march , , and to bushrod washington, july , , in sparks's writings of washington, vol. ix. p. , _et seq._, and x. p. , _et seq._ [ ] in the pilgrim's progress, bunyan gives a case which it is probable was fictitious only in the names of the parties. faithful was indicted before lord hategood for a capital offence. mr. envy testified. then the judge asked him, hast thou any more to say? envy replied: "my lord, i could say much more, only i would not be tedious to the court. yet, if need be, when the other gentlemen have given in their evidence, rather than any thing should be wanting that will dispatch him, i will enlarge my testimony against him." lord hategood stated the law--there were three statutes against the prisoner: . the act of king pharaoh, in exodus ; . that of king nebuchadnezzar in daniel ; and . that of king darius in daniel . the jury took "the law from the ruling of the court," and, having been carefully packed, to judge from the names, and all just men expelled from their number, they readily found such a verdict as the government had previously determined upon. the same thing, _mutatis mutandis_, has been attempted in america, in boston, and we may fear that in some instances it will succeed. [ ] since the first publication of this sermon we have seen eight-and-thirty men indicted for treason under the fugitive slave law, because they resisted the attempt to kidnap one of their number, and killed one of the kidnappers. this indictment was found at the instigation of an officer of the government, who adds new infamy to the name of the great first murderer. [ ] speech at capon springs. viii. the position and duties of the american scholar.--an address delivered at waterville, august , . men of a superior culture get it at the cost of the whole community, and therefore, at first owe for their education. they must pay back an equivalent, or else remain debtors to mankind, debtors forever; that is, beggars or thieves, such being the only class that are thus perpetually in debt and a burden to the race. it is true that every man, the rudest prussian boor, as well as von humboldt, is indebted to mankind for his culture, to their past history and their existing institutions, to their daily toil. taking the whole culture into the account, the debt bears about the same ratio to the receipt in all men. i speak not of genius, the inborn faculty which costs mankind nothing, only of the education thereof, which the man obtains. the irishman who can only handle his spade, wear his garments, talk his wild brogue, and bid his beads, has four or five hundred generations of ancestors behind him, and is as long descended, and from as old a stock, as the accomplished patrician scholar at oxford and berlin. the irishman depends on them all, and on the present generation for his culture. but he has obtained his development with no special outlay and cost of the human race. in getting that rude culture, he has appropriated nothing to himself which is taken from another man's share. he has paid as he went along, so he owes nothing in particular for his education; and mankind has no claim on him as for value received. but the oxford graduate has been a long time at school and college; not earning, but learning; living therefore at the cost of mankind, with an obligation and an implied promise to pay back when he comes of age and takes possession of his educated faculties. he therefore has not only the general debt which he shares with all men, but an obligation quite special and peculiar for his support while at study. this rule is general, and applies to the class of educated men with some apparent exceptions, and a very few real ones. some men are born of poor but strong-bodied parents, and endowed with great abilities; they inherit nothing except their share of the general civilization of mankind, and the onward impulse which that has given. these men devote themselves to study; and having behind them an ancestry of broad-shouldered, hard-handed, stalwart, temperate men, and deep-bosomed, red-armed and industrious mothers, they are able to do the work of two or three men at the time. such men work while they study; they teach while they learn; they hew their own way through the wood by superior strength and skill born in their bones, with an axe themselves have chipped out from the stone, or forged of metal, or paid for with the result of their first hewings. they are specially indebted to nobody for their culture. they pay as they go, owing the academic ferryman nothing for setting them over into the elysium of the scholar. only few men ever make this heroic and crucial experiment. none but poor men's sons essay the trial. nothing but poverty has whips sharp enough to sting indolent men, even of genius, to such exertion of the manly part. but even this proud race often runs into another debt: they run up long scores with the body, which must one day be paid "with aching head and squeamish heart-burnings." the credit on account of the hardy fathers, is not without limit. it is soon exhausted; especially in a land where the atmosphere, the institutions, and the youth of the people all excite to premature and excessive prodigality of effort. the body takes a mortgage on the spendthrift spirit, demands certain regular periodic payments, and will one day foreclose for breach of condition, impede the spirit's action in the premises, putting a very disagreeable keeper there, and finally expel the prodigal mortgagor. so it often happens, that a man, who in his youth scorned a pecuniary debt to mankind, and would receive no favor even to buy culture with, has yet, unconsciously and against his will, contracted debts which trouble him in manhood, and impede his action all his life; with swollen feet and blear eyes famous griesbach pays for the austere heroism of his penurious and needy youth. the rosy bud of genius, on the poor man's tree, too often opens into a lean and ghastly flower. could not burns tell us this? with the rare exceptions just hinted at, any man of a superior culture owes for it when obtained. sometimes the debt is obvious: a farmer with small means and a large family sends the most hopeful of his sons to college. look at the cost of the boy's culture. his hands are kept from work that his mind may be free. he fares on daintier food, wears more and more costly garments. other members of the family must feed and clothe him, earn his tuition-fees, buy his books, pay for his fuel and room-rent. for this the father rises earlier than of old, yoking the oxen a great while before day of a winter's morning, and toils till long after dark of a winter's night, enduring cold and hardship. for this the mother stints her frugal fare, her humble dress; for this the brothers must forego sleep and pastime, must toil harder, late and early both; for this the sisters must seek new modes of profitable work, must wear their old finery long after it is finery no more. the spare wealth of the family, stinted to spare it, is spent on this one youth. from the father to the daughters, all lay their bones to extraordinary work for him; the whole family is pinched in body that this one youth may go brave and full. even the family horse pays his tax to raise the education fee. men see the hopeful scholar, graceful and accomplished, receiving his academic honors, but they see not the hard-featured father standing unheeded in the aisle, nor the older sister in an obscure corner of the gallery, who had toiled in the factory for the favored brother, tending his vineyard, her own not kept, who had perhaps learned the letters of greek to hear him recite the grammar at home. father and sister know not a word of the language in which his diploma is writ and delivered. at what cost of the family tree is this one flower produced? how many leaves, possible blossoms, yea, possible branches have been absorbed to create this one flower, which shall perpetuate the kind, after being beautiful and fragrant in its own season? yet, while these leaves are growing for the blossom's sake, and the life of the tree is directed thither with special and urgent emphasis, the difference between branch and blossom, leaf and petal, is getting more and more. by and by the two cannot comprehend each other; the acorn has forgotten the leaf which reared it, and thinks itself of another kin. grotius, who speaks a host of languages, talking with the learned of all countries, and of every age, has forgot his mother tongue, and speech is at an end with her that bore him. the son, accomplished with many a science, many an art, ceases to understand the simple consciousness of his father and mother. they are proud of him--that he has outgrown them; he ashamed of them when they visit him amid his scholarly company. to them he is a philosopher; they only clowns in his eyes. he learns to neglect, perhaps to despise them, and forgets his obligation and his debt. yet by their rudeness is it that he is refined. his science and literary skill are purchased by their ignorance and uncouthness of manner and of speech. had the educational cost been equally divided, all had still continued on a level; he had known no latin, but the whole family might have spoken good english. for all the difference which education has made betwixt him and his kinsfolk he is a debtor. in new england you sometimes see extremes of social condition brought together. the blue-frocked father, well advanced, but hale as an october morning, jostles into boston in a milk-cart, his red-cheeked grand-daughter beside him, also coming for some useful daily work, while the youngest son, cultured at the cost of that grand-daughter's sire and by that father's toil, is already a famous man; perhaps also a proud one, eloquent at the bar, or powerful in the pulpit, or mighty in the senate. the family was not rich enough to educate all the children after this costly sort; one becomes famous, the rest are neglected, obscure, and perhaps ignorant; the cultivated son has little sympathy with them. so the men that built up the cathedrals of strasbourg and milan slept in mean hutches of mud and straw, dirty, cold, and wet; the finished tower looks proudly down upon the lowly thatch, all heedless of the cost at which itself arose. it is plain that this man owes for his education; it is plain whom he owes. but all men of a superior culture, though born to wealth, get their education in the same way, only there is this additional mischief to complicate the matter: the burden of self-denial is not borne by the man's own family, but by other fathers and mothers, other brothers and sisters. they also pay the cost of his culture, bear the burden for no special end, and have no personal or family joy in the success; they do not even know the scholar they help to train. they who hewed the topstone of society are far away when it is hoisted up with shouting. most of the youths now-a-days trained at harvard college are the sons of rich men, yet they also, not less, are educated at the public charge; beneficiaries not of the "hopkins' fund," but of the whole community. society is not yet rich enough to afford so generous a culture to all who ask, who deserve, or who would pay for it a hundred-fold. the accomplished man who sits in his well-endowed scholarship at oxford, or rejoices to be "master of trinity," though he have the estate of the westminsters and sutherlands behind him, is still the beneficiary of the public, and owes for his schooling. in the general way among the industrious classes of new england, a boy earns his living after he is twelve years old. if he gets the superior education of the scholar solely by the pecuniary aid of his father or others, when he is twenty-five and enters on his profession, law, medicine, or divinity, politics, school-keeping, or trade, he has not earned his latin grammar; has rendered no appreciable service to mankind; others have worked that he might study, and taught that he might learn. he has not paid the first cent towards his own schooling; he is indebted for it to the whole community. the ox-driver in the fields, the pavior in the city streets, the laborer on the railroad, the lumberer in the woods, the girl in the factory, each has a claim on him. if he despises these persons, or cuts himself off from sympathy with them; if he refuses to perform his function for them after they have done their possible to fit him for it; he is not only the perpetual and ungrateful debtor, but is more guilty than the poor man's son who forgets the family that sent him to college: for that family consciously and willingly made the sacrifice, and got some satisfaction for it in the visible success of their scheme, nay, are sometimes proud of the pride which scorns them, while with the mass of men thus slighted there is no return for their sacrifice. they did their part, faithfully did it; their beneficiary forgets his function. the democratic party in new england does not much favor the higher seminaries of education. there has long been a suspicion against them in the mass of the community, and among the friends of the public education of the people a serious distrust. this is the philosophy of that discontent: public money spent on the higher seminaries is so much taken from the humbler schools, so much taken from the colleges of all for the college of the few; men educated at such cost have not adequately repaid the public for the sacrifice made on their account; men of superior education have not been eminently the friends of mankind, they do not eminently represent truth, justice, philanthropy, and piety; they do not point men to lofty human life, and go thitherward in advance of mankind; their superior education has narrowed their sympathies, instead of widening; they use their opportunities against mankind, and not in its behalf; think, write, legislate, and live not for the interest of mankind, but only for a class; instead of eminent wisdom, justice, piety, they have eminent cunning, selfishness, and want of faith. these charges are matters of allegation; judge you if they be not also matters of fact. now there is a common feeling amongst men that the scholar is their debtor, and, in virtue of this, that they have a right to various services from him. no honest man asks the aid of a farmer or a blacksmith without intending to repay him in money; no assembly of mechanics would ask another to come two hundred miles and give them a month's work, or a day's work. yet they will ask a scholar to do so. what gratuitous services are demanded of the physician, of the minister, of the man of science and letters in general! no poor man in boston but thinks he has a good claim on any doctor; no culprit in danger of liberty or life but will ask the services of a lawyer, wholly without recompense, to plead his cause. the poorest and most neglected class of men look on every good clergyman as their missionary and minister and friend; the better educated and more powerful he is, the juster and greater do they feel their claim on him. a pirate in jail may command the services of any christian minister in the land. most of the high achievements in science, letters and art, have had no apparent pay. the pay came beforehand: in general and from god, in the greater ability, "the vision and the faculty divine," but in particular also and from men, in the opportunity afforded them by others for the use and culture thereof. divinely and humanly they are well paid. men feel that they have this right to the services of the scholar, in part because they dimly know that his superior education is purchased at the general cost. hence, too, they are proud of the few able and accomplished men, feeling that all have a certain property therein, as having contributed their mite to the accumulation, by their divine nature related to the men of genius, by their human toil partners in the acquirements of the scholar. this feeling is not confined to men who intellectually can appreciate intellectual excellence. the little parish in the mountains, and the great parish in the city, are alike proud of the able-headed and accomplished scholar, who ministers to them; though neither the poor clowns of the village nor the wealthy clowns of the metropolis could enter into his consciousness and understand his favorite pursuits or loftiest thought. both would think it insulting to pay such a man in full proportion to his work or their receipt. nobody offers a salary to the house of lords: their lordship is their pay, and they must give back, in the form of justice and sound government, an equivalent for all they take in high social rank. they must pay for their nobility by being noble lords. * * * * * how shall the scholar pay for his education? he is to give a service for the service received. thus the miller and the farmer pay one another, each paying with service in his own kind. the scholar cannot pay back bread for bread, and cloth for cloth. he must pay in the scholar's kind, not the woodman's or the weaver's. he is to represent the higher modes of human consciousness; his culture and opportunities of position fit him for that. so he is not merely to go through the routine of his profession, as minister, doctor, lawyer, merchant, schoolmaster, politician, or maker of almanacs, and for his own advantage; he is also to represent truth, justice, beauty, philanthropy, and religion--the highest facts of human experience; he must be common, but not vulgar, and, as a star, must dwell apart from the vulgarity of the selfish and the low. he may win money without doing this, get fame and power, and thereby seem to pay mankind for their advance to him, while he rides upon their neck; but as he has not paid back the scholar's cost and in the scholar's way, he is a debtor still, and owes for his past culture and present position. * * * * * such is the position of the scholar everywhere, and such his consequent obligation. but in america there are some circumstances which make the position and the duty still more important. beside the natural aristocracy of genius, talent, and educated skill, in most countries there is also a conventional and permanent nobility based on royal or patrician descent and immovable aristocracy. its members monopolize the high places of society, and if not strong by nature are so by position. those men check the natural power of the class of scholars. the descendant of some famous chief of old time, takes rank before the bacons, the shakspeares, and the miltons of new families, born yesterday, to-day gladdened and gladdening with the joy of their genius, usurps their place, and for a time "shoves away the worthy bidden guest" from the honors of the public board. here there is no such class: a man born at all is well born; with a great nature, nobly born; the career opens to all that can run, to all men that wish to try; our aristocracy is movable, and the scholar has scope and verge enough. germany has the largest class of scholars; men of talent, sometimes of genius, of great working power, exceedingly well furnished for their work, with a knowledge of the past and the present. on the whole, they seem to have a greater power of thought than the scholars of any other land. they live in a country where intellectual worth is rated at its highest value. as england is the paradise of the patrician and the millionnaire, so is germany for the man of thought; goethe and schiller, and the humboldts took precedence of the mere conventional aristocracy. the empire of money is for england; that of mind is for germany. but there the scholar is positively hindered in his function by the power of the government, which allows freedom of thought, and by education tends to promote it, yet not its correlative freedom of speech, and still less the consequent of that--freedom of act. revelations of new thought are indeed looked for, and encouraged in certain forms, but the corresponding revolution of old things is forbidden. an idea must remain an idea; the government will not allow it to become a deed, an institution, an idea organized in men. the children of the mind must be exposed to die, or, if left alive, their feet are cramped, so that they cannot go alone; useless, joyless, and unwed, they remain in their father's house. the government seeks to establish national unity of action, by the sacrifice of individual variety of action, personal freedom; every man must be a soldier and a christian, wearing the livery of the government on the body and in the soul, and going through the spiritual exercises of the church, as through the manual exercise of the camp. in a nation so enlightened, personal freedom cannot be wholly sacrificed, so thought is left free, but speech restricted by censorship--speech with the human mouth or the iron lips of the press. now, as of old, is there a controversy between the temporal and the spiritual powers, about the investiture of the children of the soul. then, on the other side, the scholar is negatively impeded by the comparative ignorance of the people, by their consequent lack of administrative power and self-help, and their distrust of themselves. there a great illumination has gone on in the upper heavens of the learned, meteors coruscating into extraordinary glory; it has hardly dawned on the low valleys of the common people. if it shines there at all, it is but as the northern aurora with a little crackling noise, lending a feeble and uncertain light, not enough to walk with, and no warmth at all; a light which disturbs the dip and alters the variation of the old historical compass, bewilders the eye, hides the stars, and yet is not bright enough to walk by without stumbling. there is a learned class, very learned and very large, with whom the scholar thinks, and for whom he writes, most uncouthly, in the language only of the schools, and, if not kept in awe by the government, they are contented that a thought should remain always a thought; while in their own heart they disdain all authority but that of truth, justice, and love, they leave the people subject to no rule but the priest, the magistrate, and old custom, which usurp the place of reason, conscience, and the affections. there is a very enlightened pulpit, and a very dull audience. in america, it is said, for every dough-faced representative there is a dough-faced constituency, but in germany there is not an intelligent people for each intelligent scholar. so on condition a great thought be true and revolutionary, it is hard to get it made a thing. ideas go into a nunnery, not a family. phidias must keep his awful jove only in his head; there is no marble to carve it on. eichhorn and strauss, and kant and hegel, with all their pother among the learned, have kept no boor from the communion-table, nor made him discontented with the despotism of the state. they wrote for scholars, perhaps for gentlemen, for the enlightened, not for the great mass of the people, in whom they had no confidence. there is no class of hucksters of thought, who retail philosophy to the million. the million have as yet no appetite for it. so the german scholar is hindered from his function on either hand by the power of the government, or the ignorance of the people. he talks to scholars and not men; his great ideas are often as idle as shells in a lady's cabinet. in america all is quite different. there are no royal or patrician patrons, no plebeian clients in literature, no immovable aristocracy to withstand or even retard the new genius, talent, or skill of the scholar. there is no class organized, accredited and confided in, to resist a new idea; only the unorganized inertia of mankind retards the circulation of thought and the march of men. our historical men do not found historical families; our famous names of to-day are all new names in the state. american aristocracy is bottomed on money which no unnatural laws make steadfast and immovable. to exclude a scholar from the company of rich men, is not to exclude him from an audience that will welcome and appreciate. then the government does not interfere to prohibit the free exercise of thought. speaking is free, preaching free, printing free. no administration in america could put down a newspaper or suppress the discussion of an unwelcome theme. the attempt would be folly and madness. there is no "tonnage and poundage" on thought. it is seldom that lawless violence usurps the place of despotic government. the chief opponent of the new philosophy is the old philosophy. the old has only the advantage of a few years; the advantage of possession of the ground. it has no weapons of defence which the new has not for attack. what hinders the growth of the new democracy of to-day?--only the old democracy of yesterday, once green, and then full blown, but now going to seed. everywhere else walled gardens have been built for it to go quietly to seed in, and men appointed, in god's name or the states', to exterminate as a weed every new plant of democratic thought which may spring up and suck the soil or keep off the sun, so that the old may quietly occupy the ground, and undisturbed continue to decay and contaminate the air. here it has nothing but its own stalk to hold up its head, and is armed with only such spines as it has grown out of its own substance. here the only power which continually impedes the progress of mankind, and is conservative in the bad sense, is wealth, which represents life lived, not now a-living, and labor accumulated, not now a-doing. thus the obstacle to free trade is not the notion that our meat must be home-grown and our coat home-spun, but the money invested in manufactures. slavery is sustained by no prestige of antiquity, no abstract fondness for a patriarchal institution, no special zeal for "christianity" which the churches often tell us demands it, but solely because the americans have invested some twelve hundred millions of dollars in the bodies and souls of their countrymen, and fear they shall lose their capital. whitney's gin for separating the cotton from its blue seed, making its culture and the labor of the slave profitable, did more to perpetuate slavery than all the "compromises of the constitution." the last argument in its favor is always this: it brings money, and we would not lose our investment. weapon a man with iron he will stand and fight; with gold, he will shrink and run. the class of capitalists are always cowardly; here they are the only cowardly class that has much political or social influence. here gold is the imperial metal; nothing but wealth is consecrated for life: the tonsure gets covered up or grown over; vows of celibacy are no more binding than dicers' oaths; allegiance to the state is as transferable as a cent, and may be alienated by going over the border; church-communion may be changed or neglected; as men will, they sign off from church and state; only the dollar holds its own continually, and is the same under all administrations, "safe from the bar, the pulpit and the throne." obstinate money continues in office spite of the proscriptive policy of polk and taylor; the laws may change, south carolina move out of the nation, the constitution be broken, the union dissolved, still money holds its own. that is the only peculiar weapon which the old has wherewith to repel the new. here, too, the scholar has as much freedom as he will take; himself alone stands in his own light, nothing else between him and the infinite majesty of truth. he is free to think, to speak, to print his word and organize his thought. no class of men monopolize public attention or high place. he comes up to the genius of america, and she asks: "what would you have, my little man?" "more liberty," lisps he. "just as much as you can carry," is the answer. "pay for it and take it, as much as you like, there it is." "but it is guarded!" "only by gilded flies in the daytime; they look like hornets, but can only buzz, not bite with their beak, nor sting with their tail. at night it is defended by daws and beetles, noisy but harmless. here is marble, my son, not classic and famous as yet, but good as the parian stone; quarry as much as you will, enough for a nymph or a temple. say your wisest and do your best thing; nobody will hurt you!" not much more is the scholar impeded by the ignorance of the people, not at all in respect to the substance of his thought. there is no danger that he will shoot over the heads of the people by thinking too high for the multitude. we have many authors below the market; scarce one above it. the people are continually looking for something better than our authors give. no american author has yet been too high for the comprehension of the people, and compelled to leave his writings "to posterity after some centuries shall have passed by." if he has thought with the thinkers and has something to say, and can speak it in plain speech, he is sure to be widely understood. there is no learned class to whom he may talk latin or sanscrit, and who will understand him if he write as ill as immanuel kant; there is not a large class to buy costly editions of ancient classics, however beautiful, or magnificent works on india, egypt, mexico--the class of scholars is too poor for that, the rich men have not the taste for such beauty--but there is an intelligent class of men who will hear a man if he has what is worth listening to and says it plain. it will be understood and appreciated, and soon reduced to practice. let him think as much in advance of men as he will, as far removed from the popular opinion as he may, if he arrives at a great truth he is sure of an audience, not an audience of fellow-scholars, as in germany, but of fellow-men; not of the children of distinguished or rich men--rather of the young parents of such, an audience of earnest, practical people, who, if his thought be a truth, will soon make it a thing. they will appreciate the substance of his thought, though not the artistic form which clothes it. this peculiar relation of the man of genius to the people comes from american institutions. here the greatest man stands nearest to the people, and without a mediator speaks to them face to face. this is a new thing: in the classic nations oratory was for the people, so was the drama, and the ballad; that was all their literature. but this came to the people only in cities: the tongue travels slow and addresses only the ear, while swiftly hurries on the printed word and speaks at once to a million eyes. thucydides and tacitus wrote for a few; virgil sang the labors of the shepherd in old ascræan verse, but only to the wealthy wits of rome. "i hate the impious crowd and stave them off," was the scholar's maxim then. all writing was for the few. the best english literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is amenable to the same criticism, except the dramatic and the religious. it is so with all the permanent literature of europe of that time. the same must be said even of much of the religious literature of the scholars then. the writings of taylor, of barrow, and south, of bossuet, massillon and bourdaloue, clergymen though they were, speaking with a religious and therefore a universal aim, always presuppose a narrow audience of men of nice culture. so they drew their figures from the schoolmen, from the greek anthology, from heathen classics and the christian fathers. their illustrations were embellishments to the scholar, but only palpable darkness to the people. this fact of writing for a few nice judges was of great advantage to the form of the literature thus produced, but a disadvantage to the substance thereof, a misfortune to the scholar himself, for it belittled his sympathies and kept him within a narrow range. even the religious literature of the men just named betrays a lack of freedom, a thinking for the learned and not for mankind; it has breathed the air of the cloister, not the sky, and is tainted with academic and monastic diseases. so the best of it is over-sentimental, timid, and does not point to hardy, manly life. only luther and latimer preached to the million hearts of their contemporaries. the dramatic literature, on the other hand, was for box, pit and gallery; hence the width of poetry in its great masters; hence many of its faults of form; and hence the wild and wanton luxuriance of beauty which flowers out all over the marvellous field of art where shakspeare walked and sung. in the pulpit, excellence was painted as a priest, or monk, or nun, loving nothing but god; on the stage, as a soldier, magistrate, a gentleman or simpleman, a wife and mother, loving also child and friend. only the literature of the player and the singer of ballads was for the people. here all is changed, every thing that is written is for the hands of the million. in three months mr. macaulay has more readers in america than thucydides and tacitus in twelve centuries. literature, which was once the sacrament of the few, only a shew-bread to the people, is now the daily meat of the multitude. the best works get reprinted with great speed; the highest poetry is soon in all the newspapers. authors know this, and write accordingly. it is only scientific works which ask for a special public. but even science, the proudest of the day, must come down from the clouds of the academy, lay off its scholastic garb, and appear before the eyes of the multitude in common work-day clothes. to large and mainly unlearned audiences agassiz and walker set forth the highest teachings of physics and metaphysics, not sparing difficult things, but putting them in plain speech. emerson takes his majestic intuitions of truth and justice, which transcend the experience of the ages, and expounds them to the mechanics' apprentices, to the factory girls at lowell and chicopee, and to the merchants' clerks at boston. the more original the speaker, and the more profound, the better is he relished; the beauty of the form is not appreciated, but the original substance welcomed into new life over the bench, the loom, and even the desk of the counting-house. of a deep man the people ask clearness also, thinking he does not see a thing wholly till he sees it plain. from this new relation of the scholar to the people, and the direct intimacy of his intercourse with men, there comes a new modification of his duty: he is to represent the higher facts of human consciousness to the people, and express them in the speech of the people; to think with the sage and saint, but talk with common men. it is easy to discourse with scholars, and in the old academic carriage drive through the broad gateway of the cultivated class; but here the man of genius is to take the new thought on his shoulders and climb up the stiff, steep hill, and find his way where the wild asses quench their thirst, and the untamed eagle builds his nest. hence our american scholar must cultivate the dialectics of speech as well as thought. power of speech without thought, a long tongue in an empty head, calls the people together once or twice, but soon its only echo is from an audience of empty pews. thought without power of speech finds little welcome here; there are not scholars enough to keep it in countenance. this popularity of intelligence gives a great advantage to the man of letters, who is also a man. he can occupy the whole space between the extremes of mankind; can be at once philosopher in his thought and people in his speech, deliver his word without an interpreter to mediate, and, like king mithridates in the story, talk with the fourscore nations of his camp each in his own tongue. further still, there are some peculiarities of the american mind, in which we differ from our english brothers. they are more inclined to the matter of fact, and appeal to history; we, to the matter of ideas, and having no national history but of a revolution, may appeal at once to human nature. so while they are more historical, fond of names and precedents, enamoured of limited facts and coy towards abstract and universal ideas, with the maxim, "stand by the fixed," we are more metaphysical, ideal, do not think a thing right because actual, nor impossible because it has never been. the americans are more metaphysical than the english; have departed more from the old sensational philosophy, have welcomed more warmly the transcendental philosophy of germany and france. the declaration of independence and all the state constitutions of the north begin with a universal and abstract idea. even preaching is abstract and of ideas. calvinism bears metaphysical fruit in new england. this fact modifies still more the function of the duty of the scholar. it determines him to ideas, to facts for the ideas they cover, not so much to the past as the future, to the past only that he may guide the present and construct the future. he is to take his run in the past to acquire the momentum of history, his stand in the present and leap into the future. in this manner the position and duty of the scholar in america are modified and made peculiar; and thus is the mode determined for him, in which to pay for his education in the manner most profitable to the public that has been at the cost of his training. there is a test by which we measure the force of a horse or a steam-engine: the raising of so many pounds through so many feet in a given time. the test of the scholar's power is his ability to raise men in their development. in america there are three chief modes of acting upon the public, omitting others of small account. the first is the power which comes of national wealth; the next, that of political station; the third, power of spiritual wealth, so to say, eminent wisdom, justice, love, piety, the power of sentiments and ideas, and the faculty of communicating them to other men, and organizing them therein. for the sake of shortness, let each mode of power be symbolized by its instrument, and we have the power of the purse, of the office, and the pen. the purse represents the favorite mode of power with us. this is natural in our present stage of national existence and human development; it is likely to continue for a long time. in all civilized countries which have outgrown the period when the sword was the favorite emblem, the purse represents the favorite mode of power with the mass of men; but here it is so with the men of superior education. this power is not wholly personal, but extra-personal, and the man's centre of gravity lies out of himself, less or more; somewhere between the man and his last cent, the distance being greater or less as the man is less or greater than the estate. this is wielded chiefly by men of little education, except the practical culture which they have gained in the process of accumulation. their riches they get purposely, their training by the way and accidentally. it is a singular misfortune of the country, that, while the majority of the people are better cultivated and more enlightened than any other population in the world, the greater part of the wealth of the nation is owned by men of less education and consequently of less enlightenment than the rich men of any leading nation in europe. in england and france the wealth of this generation is chiefly inherited, and has generally fallen to men carefully trained, with minds disciplined by academic culture. here wealth is new, and mainly in the hands of men who have scrambled for it adroitly and with vigor. they have energy, vigor, forecast, and a certain generosity, but as a class, are narrow, vulgar, and conceited. nine tenths of the property of the people is owned by one tenth of the persons, and these capitalists are men of little culture, little moral elevation. this is an accident of our position unavoidable, perhaps transient; but it is certainly a misfortune that the great estates of the country, and the social and political power of such wealth, should be mainly in the hands of such men. the melancholy result appears in many a disastrous shape: in the tone of the pulpit, of the press, and of the national politics; much of the vulgarity of the nation is to be ascribed to this fact, that wealth belongs to men who know nothing better. the office represents the next most popular mode of power. this also is extra-personal, the man's centre of gravity is out of himself, somewhere between him and the lowest man in the state; the distance depending on the proportion of manhood in him and the multitude, if the office is much greater than the man, then the officer's centre of gravity is further removed from his person. this is sought for by the ablest and best educated men in the land. but there is a large class of educated persons who do not aspire to it from lack of ability, for in our form of government it commonly takes some saliency of character to win the high places of office and use respectably this mode of power, while it demands no great or lofty talents to accumulate the largest fortune in america. it is true the whirlwind of an election, by the pressure of votes, may, now and then, take a very heavy body up to a great height. yet it does not keep him from growing giddy and ridiculous while there, and after a few years lets him fall again into complete insignificance, whence no hercules can ever lift him up. a corrupt administration may do the same, but with the same result. this consideration keeps many educated men from the political arena; others are unwilling to endure the unsavory atmosphere of politics, and take part in a scramble so vulgar; but still a large portion of the educated and scholarly talent of the nation goes to that work. the power of the pen is wholly personal. it is the appropriate instrument of the scholar, but it is least of all desired and sought for. the rich man sends his sons to trade, to make too much of inheritance yet more by fresh acquisitions of superfluity. he does not send them to literature, art or science. you find the scholar slipping in to other modes of action, not the merchants and politicians migrating into this. he longs to act by the gravity of his money or station, not draw merely by his head. the office carries the day before the pen; the purse takes precedence of both. educated men do not so much seek places that demand great powers, as those which bring much gold. self-denial for money or office is common, for scholarship rare and unpopular. to act by money, not mind, is the ill-concealed ambition of many a well-bred man; the desire of this colors his day-dream, which is less of wisdom and more of wealth, or of political station; so a first-rate clergyman desires to be razed to a second-rate politician, and some "tall admiral" of a politician consents to be cut down and turned into a mere sloop of trade. the representative in congress becomes a president of an insurance office or a bank, or the agent of a cotton mill; the judge deserts his station on the bench and presides over a railroad; the governor or senator wants a place in the post-office; the historian longs for a "chance in the custom-house." the pen stoops to the office, that to the purse. the scholar would rather make a fortune by a balsam of wild cherry than write hamlet or paradise lost for nothing; rather than help mankind by making a paradise regained. the well-endowed minister thinks how much more money he might have made had he speculated in stocks and not theology, and mourns that the kingdom of heaven does not pay in this present life fourfold. the professor of greek is sorry he was not a surveyor and superintendent of a railroad, he should have so much more money; that is what he has learned from plato and diogenes. we estimate the skill of an artist like that of a peddler, not by the pictures he has made, but by the money. there is a mercantile way of determining literary merit not by the author's books, but by his balance with the publisher. no church is yet called after a man who is merely rich, something in the new testament might hinder that; but the ministers estimate their brother minister by the greatness of his position, not of his character; not by his piety and goodness, not even by his reason and understanding, the culture he has attained thereby, and the use he makes thereof, but by the wealth of his church and the largeness of his salary; so that he is not thought the fortunate and great minister who has a large outgo of spiritual riches, rebukes the sins of the nation and turns many to righteousness, but he who has a large material income, ministers, though poorly, to rich men, and is richly paid for that function. the well-paid clergymen of a city tell the professor of theology that he must teach "such doctrines as the merchants approve," or they will not give money to the college, and he, it, and "the cause of the lord" will all come to the ground at the same time and in kindred confusion. so blind money would put out the heavenly eyes of science, and lead her also to his own ditch. it must not be forgotten that there are men in the midst of us, rich, respectable and highly honored with social rank and political power, who practically and in strict conformity with their theory, honor judas, who made money by his treachery, far more than jesus who laid down his life for men, whose money is deemed better than manhood. it must indeed be so. any outrage that is profitable to the controlling portion of society is sure to be welcome to the leaders of the state, and is soon pronounced divine by the leaders of the church. it would seem as if the pen ought to represent the favorite mode of power at a college; but even there the waters of pactolus are thought fairer than the castalian, heliconian spring, or "siloa's brook that flowed fast by the oracle of god." the college is named after the men of wealth, not genius. how few professorships in america bear the names of men of science or letters, and not of mere rich men! which is thought the greatest benefactor of a college, he who endows it with money or with mind? even there it is the purse, not the pen that is the symbol of honor, and the university is "up for california," not parnassus. even in politics the purse turns the scale. let a party wrestle never so hard it cannot throw the dollar. money controls and commands talent, not talent money. the successful shopkeeper frowns on and browbeats the accomplished politician, who has too much justice for the wharf and the board of brokers; he notices that the rich men avert their eye, or keep their beaver down, trembles and is sad, fearing that his daughter will never find a fitting spouse. the purse buys up able men of superior education, corrupts and keeps them as its retained attorneys, in congress or the church, not as counsel but advocate, bribed to make the worse appear the better reason, and so help money to control the state and wield its power against the interest of mankind. this is perfectly well known; but no politician or minister, bribed to silence or to speech, ever loses his respectability because he is bought by respectable men,--if he get his pay. in all countries but this the office is before the purse; here the state is chiefly an accessory of the exchange, and our politics only mercantile. this appears sometimes against our will, in symbols not meant to tell the tale. thus in the house of representatives in massachusetts, a codfish stares the speaker in the face--not a very intellectual looking fish. when it was put there it was a symbol of the riches of the state, and so of the commonwealth. with singular and unconscious satire it tells the legislature to have an eye "to the main chance," and, but for its fidelity to its highest instincts and its obstinate silence, might be a symbol good enough for the place. now after the office and the purse have taken their votaries from the educated class, the ablest men are certainly not left behind. three roads open before our young hercules as he leaves college, having respectively as finger-post, the pen, the office, and the purse. few follow the road of letters. this need not be much complained of; nay it might be rejoiced in, if the purse and the office in their modes of power did represent the higher consciousness of mankind. but no one contends it is so. still there are men who devote themselves to some literary callings which have no connection with political office, and which are not pursued for the sake of great wealth. such men produce the greater part of the permanent literature of the country. they are eminently scholars; permanent scholars who act by their scholar-craft, not by the state-craft of the politician, or the purse-craft of the capitalist. how are these men paying their debt and performing their function? the answer must be found in the science and the literature of the land. american science is something of which we may well be proud. mr. liebig in germany has found it necessary to defend himself from the charge of following science for the loaves and fishes thereof, and he declares that he espoused chemistry not for her wealthy dower, not even for the services her possible children might render to mankind, but solely for her own sweet sake. amongst the english race, on both sides of the ocean, science is loved rather for the fruit than the blossom; its service to the body is thought of more value than its service to the mind. a man's respectability would be in danger, in america, if he loved any science better than the money or fame it might bring. it is characteristic of us that a scholar should write for reputation and gold. here, as elsewhere, the unprofitable parts of science fall to the lot of poor men. when the rich man's son has the natural calling that way, public opinion would dissuade him from the study of nature. the greatest scientific attainments do not give a man so high social consideration as a political office or a successful speculation--unless it be the science which makes money. scientific schools we call after merely rich men, not men of wealthy minds. it is true we name streets and squares, towns and counties after franklin, but it is because he keeps the lightning from factories, churches, and barns; tells us not "to give too much for the whistle," and teaches "the way to make money plenty in every man's pocket." we should not name them after cuvier and la place. notwithstanding this, the scientific scholars of america, both the home-born and the adopted sons, have manfully paid for their culture, and done honor to the land. this is true of men in all departments of science,--from that which searches the deeps of the sky to that which explores the shallows of the sea. individuals, states, and the nation have all done themselves honor by the scientific researches and discoveries that have been made. the outlay of money and of genius for things which only pay the head and not the mouth of man, is beautiful and a little surprising in such a utilitarian land as this. time would fail me to attend to particular cases. look at the literature of america. reserving the exceptional portion thereof to be examined in a moment, let us study the instantial portion of it, american literature as a whole. this may be distributed into two main divisions: first comes the permanent literature, consisting of works not designed merely for a single and transient occasion, but elaborately wrought for a general purpose. this is literature proper. next follows the transient literature, which is brought out for a particular occasion, and designed to serve a special purpose. let us look at each. the permanent literature of america is poor and meagre; it does not bear the mark of manly hands, of original, creative minds. most of it is rather milk for babes than meat for men, though much of it is neither fresh meat nor new milk, but the old dish often served up before. in respect to its form, this portion of our literature is an imitation. that is natural enough, considering the youth of the country. every nation, like every man, even one born to genius, begins by imitation. raphael, with servile pencil, followed his masters in his youth, but at length his artistic eye attracted new-born angels from the calm stillness of their upper heaven, and with liberal, free hand, with masterly and original touch, the painter of the newness amazed the world. the early christian literature is an imitation of the hebrew or the classic type: even after centuries had passed by, sidonius, though a bishop of the church, and destined to become a saint, uses the old heathen imagery, referring to triptolemus as a model for christian work, and talks about triton and galatea, to the christian queen of the goths. saint ambrose is a notorious imitator of pagan cicero. the christians were all anointed with jewish nard; and the sour grapes they ate in sacrament have set on edge their children's teeth till now. the modern nations of europe began their literature by the driest copies of livy and virgil. the germans have the most original literature of the last hundred years. but till the middle of the past century their permanent literature was chiefly in latin and french, with as little originality as our own. the real poetic life of the nation found vent in other forms. it is natural therefore, and according to the course of history, that we should begin in this way. the best political institutions of england are cherished here, so her best literature, and it is not surprising that we are content with this rich inheritance of artistic toil. in many things we are independent, but in much that relates to the higher works of man, we are still colonies of england. this appears not only in the vulgar fondness for english fashions, manners and the like, which is chiefly an affectation, but in the servile style with which we copy the great or little models of english literature. sometimes this is done consciously, oftener without knowing it. but the substance of our permanent literature is as faulty as its form. it does not bear marks of a new, free, vigorous mind at work, looking at things from the american point of view, and though it put its thought in antique forms, yet thinking originally and for itself. it represents the average thought of respectable men, directed to some particular subject, and their average morality. it represents nothing more; how could it while the ablest men have gone off to politics or trade? it is such literature as almost anybody might get up if you would give him a little time to make the preliminary studies. there is little in it that is national; little individual and of the writer's own mind; it is ground out in the public literary mill. it has no noble sentiments, no great ideas, nothing which makes you burn; nothing which makes you much worse or much better. you may feed on this literature all your days, and whatsoever you may gain in girth, you shall not take in thought enough to add half an inch to your stature. out of every hundred american literary works printed since the century began, about eighty will be of this character. compare the four most conspicuous periodicals of america with the four great quarterlies of england, and you see how inferior our literature is to theirs--in all things, in form and in substance too. the european has the freedom of a well-bred man--it appears in the movement of his thought, his use of words, in the easy grace of his sentences, and the general manner of his work; the american has the stiffness and limitations of a big, raw boy in the presence of his schoolmaster. they are proud of being english, and so have a certain lofty nationality which appears in their thought and the form thereof, even in the freedom to use and invent new words. our authors of this class seem ashamed that they are americans, and accordingly are timid, ungraceful and weak. they dare not be original when they could. hence this sort of literature is dull. a man of the average mind and conscience, heart and soul, studies a particular subject a short time--for this is the land of brief processes--and writes a book thereof, or thereon; a critic of the same average makes his special study of the book, not its theme, "reviews" the work; is as ready, and able to pass judgment on bowditch's translation of la place in ten days after its appearance as ten years, and distributes praise and blame, not according to the author's knowledge, but the critic's ignorant caprice, and then average men read the book and the critique with no immoderate joy or unmeasured grief. they learn some new facts, no new ideas, and get no lofty impulse. the book was written without inspiration, without philosophy, and is read with small profit. yet it is curious to observe the praise which such men receive, how soon they are raised to the house of lords in english literature. i have known three american sir walter scotts, half a dozen addisons, one or two macaulays, a historian that was hume and gibbon both in one; several burnses, and miltons by the quantity, not "mute," the more is the pity, but "inglorious" enough; nay, even vain-glorious at the praise which some penny-a-liner, or dollar-a-pager foolishly gave their cheap extemporary stuff. in sacred literature it is the same: in a single winter at boston we had two american saint johns, in full blast for several months. though no felix trembles, there are now extant in the united states not less than six american saint pauls, in no manner of peril except the most dangerous--of idle praise. a living, natural, and full-grown literature contains two elements. one is of mankind in general; that is human and universal. the other is of the tribe in special, and of the writer in particular. this is national and even personal: you see the idiosyncracy of the nation and the individual author in the work. the universal human substance accepts the author's form, and the public wine of mankind runs into the private bottle of the author. thus the hebrew literature of the old testament is fresh and original in substance and in form; the two elements are plain enough, the universal and the particular. the staple of the psalms of david is human, of mankind, it is trust in god; but the twist, the die, the texture, the pattern, all that is hebrew--of the tribe, and personal--of david, shepherd, warrior, poet, king. you see the pastoral hill-sides of judea in his holy hymns; nay, "uriah's beauteous wife" now and then sidles in to his sweetest psalm. the old testament books smell of palestine, of its air and its soil. the rose of sharon has hebrew earth about its roots. the geography of the holy land, its fauna and its flora both, even its wind and sky, its early and its latter rain, all appear in the literature of historian and bard. it is so in the iliad. you see how the sea looked from homer's point of view, and know how he felt the west wind, cold and raw. the human element has an ionian form and a homeric hue. the ballads of the people in scotland and england are national in the same way; the staple of human life is wrought into the scottish form. before the germans had any permanent national literature of this character, their fertile mind found vent in legends, popular stories, now the admiration of the learned. these had at home the german dress, but as the stories travelled into other lands, they kept their human flesh and blood, but took a different garb and acquired a different complexion from every country which they visited, and, like the streams of their native swabia, took the color of the soil they travelled through. the permanent and instantial literature of america is not national in this sense. it has little that is american; it might as well be written by some book-wright in leipsic or london, and then imported. the individuality of the nation is not there, except in the cheap, gaudy binding of the work. the nationality of america is only stamped on the lids, and vulgarly blazoned on the back. is the book a history? it is written with no such freedom as you should expect of a writer, looking at the breadth of the world from the lofty stand-point of america. there is no new philosophy of history in it. you would not think it was written in a democracy that keeps the peace without armies or a national jail. mr. macaulay writes the history of england as none but a north-briton could do. astonishingly well-read, equipped with literary skill at least equal to the masterly art of voltaire, mapping out his subject like an engineer, and adorning it like a painter, you yet see, all along, that the author is a scotchman and a whig. nobody else could have written so. it is of mr. macaulay. but our american writer thinks about matters just as everybody else does; that is, he does not think at all, but only writes what he reads, and then, like the good-natured bear in the nursery story, "thinks he has been thinking." it is no such thing, he has been writing the common opinion of common men, to get the applause of men as common as himself. is the book of poetry? the substance is chiefly old, the form old, the allusions are old. it is poetry of society, not of nature. you meet in it the same everlasting mythology, the same geography, botany, zoölogy, the same symbols; a new figure of speech suggested by the sight of nature, not the reading of books, you could no more find than a fresh shad in the dead sea. you take at random eight or ten "american poets" of this stamp, you see at once what was the favorite author with each new bard; you often see what particular work of shelley, or tennyson, or milton, or george herbert, or, if the man has culture enough, of goethe, or uhland, jean paul, or schiller, suggested the "american original." his inspiration comes from literature, not from the great universe of nature or of human life. you see that this writer has read percy's reliques, and the german wunderhorn; but you would not know that he wrote in a republic--in a land full of new life, with great rivers and tall mountains, with maple and oak trees that turn red in the autumn, amongst a people who hold town-meetings, have free schools for everybody, read newspapers voraciously, who have lightning rods on their steeples, ride in railroads, are daguerreotyped by the sun, and who talk by lightning from halifax to new orleans, who listen to the whippoorwill and the bobolink, who believe in slavery and the declaration of independence, in the devil and the five points of calvinism. you would not know where our poet lived, or that he lived anywhere. reading the iliad, you doubt that homer was born blind; but our bard seems to have been deaf also, and for expressing what was national in his time, might likewise have been dumb. is it a volume of sermons? they might have been written at edinburgh, madrid, or constantinople as well as in new england; as well preached to the "homo sapiens" of linnæus, or the man in the moon, as to the special audience that heard, or heard them not, but only paid for having the things preached. there is nothing individual about them; the author seems as impersonal as spinoza's conception of god. the sermons are like an almanac calculated for the meridian of no place in particular, for no time in special. there is no allusion to any thing american. the author never mentions a river this side of the jordan; knows no mountain but lebanon, zion, and carmel, and would think it profane to talk of the alleghanies and the mississippi, of monadnock and the androscoggin. he mentions babylon and jerusalem, not new york and baltimore; you would never dream that he lived in a church without a bishop, and a state without a king, in a democratic nation that held three million slaves, with ministers chosen by the people. he is surrounded, clouded over, and hid by the traditions of the "ages of faith" behind him. he never thanks god for the dew and snow, only for "the early and the latter rain" of a classic sacred land; a temperance man, he blesses god for the wine because the great psalmist did so thousands of years ago. he speaks of the olive and the fig-tree which he never saw, not of the apple-tree and the peach before his eyes all day long, their fruit the joy of his children's heart. if you guessed at his time and place, you would think he lived, not under general taylor, but under king ahab, or jeroboam; that his audience rode on camels or in chariots, not in steam-cars; that they fought with bows and arrows against the children of moab; that their favorite sin was the worship of some graven image, and that they made their children pass through the fire unto moloch, not through the counting-house unto mammon. you would not know whether the preacher was married or a bachelor, rich or poor, saint or sinner; you would probably conclude he was not much of a saint, nor even much of a sinner. the authors of this portion of our literature seem ashamed of america. one day she will take her revenge. they are the parasites of letters, and live on what other men have made classic. they would study the holy land, greece, etruria, egypt, nineveh, spots made famous by great and holy men, and let the native races of america fade out, taking no pains to study the monuments which so swiftly pass away from our own continent. it is curious that most of the accounts of the indians of north america come from men not natives here, from french and germans; and characteristic that we should send an expedition to the dead sea, while wide tracts of this continent lie all untouched by the white man's foot; and, also, that while we make such generous and noble efforts to christianize and bless the red, yellow, and black heathens at the world's end, we should leave the american indian and negro to die in savage darkness, the south making it penal to teach a black man to write or read. yet, there is one portion of our permanent literature, if literature it may be called, which is wholly indigenous and original. the lives of the early martyrs and confessors are purely christian, so are the legends of saints and other pious men: there was nothing like this in the hebrew or heathen literature; cause and occasion were alike wanting for it. so we have one series of literary productions that could be written by none but americans, and only here: i mean the lives of fugitive slaves. but as these are not the work of the men of superior culture, they hardly help to pay the scholar's debt. yet all the original romance of america is in them, not in the white man's novel. * * * * * next is the transient literature, composed chiefly of speeches, orations, state papers, political and other occasional pamphlets, business reports, articles in the journals, and other productions designed to serve some present purpose. these are commonly the work of educated men, though not of such as make literature a profession. taking this department as a whole, it differs much from the permanent literature; here is freshness of thought and newness of form. if american books are mainly an imitation of old models, it would be difficult to find the prototype of some american speeches. they "would have made quintilian stare and gasp." take the state papers of the american government during the administration of mr. polk, the speeches made in congress at the same time, the state papers of the several states--you have a much better and more favorable idea of the vigor and originality of the american mind, than you would get from all the bound books printed in that period. the diplomatic writings of american politicians compare favorably with those of any nation in the world. in eloquence no modern nation is before us, perhaps none is our equal. here you see the inborn strength and manly vigor of the american mind. you meet the same spirit which fells the forest, girdles the land with railroads, annexes texas and covets cuba, nicaragua, all the world. you see that the authors of this literature are workers also. others have read of wild beasts; here are the men that have seen the wolf. a portion of this literature represents the past, and has the vices already named. it comes from human history and not human nature; as you read it, you think of the inertia and the cowardliness of mankind; nothing is progressive, nothing noble, generous or just, only respectable. the past is preferred before the present; money is put before men, a vested right before a natural right. such literature appears in all countries. the ally of despotism, and the foe of mankind, it is yet a legitimate exponent of a large class of men. the leading journals of america, political and commercial, or literary, are poor and feeble; our reviews of books afford matter for grave consideration. you would often suppose them written by the same hand which manufactures the advertisements of the grand caravan, or some patent medicine; or when unfavorable, by some of the men who write defamatory articles on the eve of an election. but a large part of this transient literature is very different in its character. its authors have broken with the traditions of the past; they have new ideas, and plans for putting them in execution; they are full of hope; are national to the extreme, bragging and defiant. they put the majority before institutions; the rights of the majority before the privilege of a few; they represent the onward tendency and material prophecy of the nation. the new activity of the american mind here expresses its purpose and its prayer. here is strength, hope, confidence, even audacity; all is american. but the great idea of the absolute right does not appear, all is more national than human; and in what concerns the nation, it is not justice, the point where all interests are balanced, and the welfare of each harmonizes with that of all, which is sought; but the "greatest good of the greatest number;" that is, only a privilege had at the cost of the smaller number. here is little respect for universal humanity; little for the eternal laws of god which override all the traditions and contrivances of men; more reverence for a statute, or constitution, which is indeed the fundamental law of the political state, but is often only an attempt to compromise between the fleeting passions of the day and the immutable morality of god. amid all the public documents of the nation and the several states, in the speeches and writings of favorite men, who represent and so control the public mind, for fifty years, there is little that "stirs the feelings infinite" within you; much to make us more american, not more manly. there is more head than heart; native intellect enough; culture that is competent, but little conscience, or real religion. how many newspapers, how many politicians in the land go at all beyond the whig idea of protecting the property now accumulated, or the democratic idea of ensuring the greatest material good of the greatest number? where are we to look for the representative of justice, of the unalienable rights of all the people and all the nations? in the triple host of article-makers, speech-makers, lay and clerical, and makers of laws, you find but few who can be trusted to stand up for the unalienable rights of men; who will never write, speak, nor vote in the interests of a party, but always in the interest of mankind, and will represent the justice of god in the forum of the world. this literature, like the other, fails of the high end of writing and of speech: with more vigor, more freedom, more breadth of vision, and an intense nationality, the authors thereof are just as far from representing the higher consciousness of mankind, just as vulgar as the tame and well-licked writers of the permanent literature. here are the men who have cut their own way through the woods, men with more than the average intelligence, daring and strength, but with less than the average justice which is honesty in the abstract, less than the average honesty which is justice concentrated upon small particulars. examine both these portions of american literature, the permanent and the fleeting--you see their educated authors are no higher than the rest of men. they are the slaves of public opinion, as much as the gossip in her little village. it may not be the public opinion of a coterie of crones, but of a great party; that makes little odds, they are worshippers of the same rank, idolaters of the same wealth; the gossiping granny shows her littleness the size of life, while their deformity is magnified by the solar microscope of high office. many a popular man exhibits his pigmy soul to the multitude of a whole continent, idly mistaking it for greatness. they are swayed by vulgar passions, seek vulgar ends, address vulgar motives, use vulgar means; they may command by their strength, they cannot refine by their beauty or instruct by their guidance, and still less inspire by any eminence of manhood which they were born to or have won. they build on the surface-sand for to-day, not on the rock of ages forever. with so little conscience, they heed not the solemn voice of history, and respect no more the prophetic instincts of mankind. to most men the approbation of their fellows, is one of the most desirable things. this approbation appears in the various forms of admiration, respect, esteem, confidence, veneration and love. the great man obtains this after a time, and in its highest forms, without seeking it, simply by faithfulness to his nature. he gets it, by rising and doing his work, in the course of nature, as easily and as irresistibly as the sun gathers to the clouds the evaporation of land and sea, and like the sun to shed it down in blessings on mankind. little men seek this, consciously or not knowing it, by stooping, cringing, flattering the pride, the passion, or the prejudice of others. so they get the approbation of men, but never of man. sometimes this is sought for by the attainment of some accidental quality, which low-minded men hold in more honor than the genius of sage or poet, or the brave manhood of some great hero of the soul. in england though money is power, it is patrician birth which is nobility, and valued most; and there, accordingly, birth takes precedence of all, of genius and even of gold. men seek the companionship or the patronage of titled lords, and social rank depends upon nobility of blood. the few bishops in the upper house do more to give conventional respectability to the clerical profession there, than all the solid intellect of hooker, barrow, and of south, the varied and exact learning of philosophic cudworth, the eloquence and affluent piety of taylor, and butler's vast and manly mind. in america social rank depends substantially on wealth, an accident as much as noble birth, but movable. here gold takes precedence of all,--of genius, and even of noble birth. "though your sire had royal blood within him, and though you possess the intellect of angels too, 'tis all in vain;--the world will ne'er inquire on such a score:--why should it take the pains? 'tis easier to weigh purses, sure, than brains." wealth is sought, not merely as a means of power but of nobility. when obtained, it has the power of nobility: so poor men of superior intellect and education, powerful by nature, not by position, fear to disturb the opinion of wealthy men, to instruct their ignorance or rebuke their sin. hence the aristocracy of wealth, illiterate and vulgar, goes unrebuked, and debases the natural aristocracy of mind and culture which bows down to it. the artist prostitutes his pencil and his skill, and takes his law of beauty from the fat clown, whose barns and pigs and wife he paints for daily bread. the preacher does the same; and though the stench of the rum-shop infests the pulpit, and death hews down the leaders of his flock, the preacher must cry "peace, peace," or else be still, for rum is power! but this power of wealth has its antagonistic force--the power of numbers. much depends on the dollar. nine tenths of the property is owned by one tenth of all these men--but much also on the votes of the million. the few are strong by money, the many by their votes. each is worshipped by its votaries, and its approbation sought. he that can get the men controls the money too. so while one portion of educated men bows to the rich, and consecrates their passion and their prejudice, another portion bows, equally prostrate, to the passions of the multitude of men. the many and the rich have each a public opinion of their own, and both are tyrants. here the tyranny of public opinion is not absolutely greater than in england, germany or france, but is far greater in comparison with other modes of oppression. it seems inherent in a republic; it is not in a republic of noble men. but here this sirocco blows flat to the ground full many an aspiring blade. wealth can establish banks, or factories; votes can lift the meanest man into the highest political place, can dignify any passion with the name and force of human law; so it is thought by the worshippers of both, seeking the approbation of the two, that public opinion can make truth of lies, and right even out of foulest wrong. politicians begin to say, there is no law of god above the ephemeral laws of men. there are few american works of literature which appeal to what is best in men; few that one could wish should go abroad and live. america has grown beyond hope in population, the free and bond, in riches, in land, in public material prosperity, but in a literature that represents the higher elements of manliness far less than wise men thought. they looked for the fresh new child; it is born with wrinkles and dreadfully like his grandmother, only looking older and more effete. our muse does not come down from an american parnassus, with a new heaven in her eye, men not daring to look on the face of anointed beauty, coming to tell of noble thought, to kindle godlike feelings with her celestial spark, and stir mankind to noble deeds. she finds parnassus steep and high and hard to climb; the air austere and cold, the light severe, too stern for her effeminate nerves. so she has a little dwelling in the flat and close-pent town, hard by the public street; breathes its boeotian breath; walks with the money-lenders at high change; has her account at the bank, her pew in the most fashionable church and least austere; she gets approving nods in the street, flattery in the penny-prints, sweetmeats and sparkling wine in the proper places. what were the inspirations of all god's truth to her? he "taunts the lofty land with little men." * * * * * there still remains the exceptional literature; some of it is only fugitive, some meant for permanent duration. here is a new and different spirit: a respect for human nature above human history, for man above all the accidents of man, for god above all the alleged accidents of god; a veneration for the eternal laws which he only makes and man but finds; a law before all statutes, above all constitutions, and holier than all the writings of human hands. here you find most fully the sentiments and ideas of america, not such as rule the nation now, but which, unconsciously to the people, have caused the noble deeds of our history, and now prophesy a splendid future for this young giant here. these sentiments and ideas are brought to consciousness in this literature. here a precedent is not a limitation; a fact of history does not eclipse an idea of nature; an investment is not thought more sacred than a right. here is more hope than memory; little deference to wealth and rank, but a constant aspiration for truth, justice, love and piety; little fear of the public opinion of the many or the few, rather a scorn thereof, almost a defiance of it. it appears in books, in pamphlets, in journals, and in sermons, sorely scant in quantity as yet. new and fresh, it is often greatly deficient in form; rough, rude and uncouth, it yet has in it a soul that will live. its authors are often men of a wide and fine culture, though mainly tending to underrate the past achievements of mankind. they have little reverence for great names. they value the greek and hebrew mind for no more than it is worth. with them a wrong is no more respected because well descended, and supported by all the riches, all the votes; a right, not less a right because unjustly kept out of its own. these men are american all through; so intensely national, that they do not fear to tell the nation of the wrong it does. the form of this literature is american. it is indigenous to our soil, and could come up in no other land. it is unlike the classic literature of any other nation. it is american as the bible is hebrew, and the odyssey is greek. it is wild and fantastic, like all fresh original literature at first. you see in it the image of republican institutions--the free school, free state, free church; it reflects the countenance of free men. so the letters of old france, of modern england, of italy and spain reflect the monarchic, oligarchic, and ecclesiastic institutions of those lands. here appears the civilization of the nineteenth century, the treasures of human toil for many a thousand years. more than that, you see the result of a fresh contact with nature, and original intuitions of divine things. acknowledging inspiration of old, these writers of the newness believe in it now not less, not miraculous, but normal. here is humanity that overleaps the bounds of class and of nation, and sees a brother in the beggar, pirate, slave, one family of men variously dressed in cuticles of white or yellow, black or red. here, too, is a new loveliness, somewhat akin to the savage beauty of our own wild woods, seen in their glorious splendor an hour before autumnal suns go down and leave a trail of glory lingering in the sky. here, too, is a piety somewhat heedless of scriptures, liturgies, and forms, and creeds; it finds its law written in nature, its glorious everlasting gospel in the soul of man; careless of circumcision and baptismal rites, it finds the world a temple, and rejoices everywhere to hold communion with the infinite father of us all, and keep a sacrament in daily life, conscious of immortality, and feeding continually on angel's bread. the writers of this new literature are full of faults; yet they are often strong, though more by their direction than by native force of mind; more, by their intuitions of the first good, first perfect and first fair, than through their historical knowledge or dialectic power. their ship sails swift, not because it is sharper built, or carries broader sails than other craft, but because it steers where the current of the ocean coincides with the current of the sky, and so is borne along by nature's wind and nature's wave. uninvited, its ideas steal into parlor and pulpit, its kingdom coming within men and without observation. the shoemaker feels it as he toils in his narrow shop; it cheers the maiden weaving in the mill, whose wheels the merrimac is made to turn; the young man at college bids it welcome to his ingenuous soul. so at the breath of spring new life starts up in every plant; the sloping hills are green with corn, and sunny banks are blue and fragrant with the wealth of violets, which only slept till the enchanter came. the sentiments of this literature burn in the bosom of holy-hearted girls, of matrons and of men. ever and anon its great ideas are heard even in congress, and in the speech of old and young, which comes tingling into most unwilling ears. this literature has a work to do, and is about its work. let the old man crow loud as he may, the young one will crow another strain, for it is written of god, that our march is continually onward, and age shall advance over age forever and forever. already america has a few fair specimens from this new field to show. is the work history? the author writes from the stand-point of american democracy; i mean philanthropy, the celestial democracy, not the satanic; writes with a sense of justice and in the interest of men; writes to tell a nation's purpose in its deeds, and so reveal the universal law of god, which overrules the affairs of states as of a single man. you wonder that history was not before so writ that its facts told the nation's ideas, and its labors were lessons, and so its hard-won life became philosophy. is it poetry the man writes? it is not poetry like the old. the poet has seen nature with his own eyes, heard her with his own mortal, bodily ears, and felt her presence, not vicariously through milton, uhland, ariosto, but personally, her heart against his heart. he sings of what he knows, sees, feels, not merely of what he reads in others' song. common things are not therefore unclean. in plain new england life he finds his poetry, as magnets iron in the blacksmith's dust, and as the bee finds dew-bright cups of honey in the common woods and common weeds. it is not for him to rave of parnassus, while he knows it not, for the soul of song has a seat upon monadnock, wachusett, or katahdin, quite as high. so scottish burns was overtaken by the muse of poetry, who met him on his own bleak hills, and showed him beauty in the daisy and the thistle, and the tiny mouse, till to his eye the hills ran o'er with loveliness, and caledonia became a classic land. is it religion the author treats of? it is not worship by fear, but through absolute faith, a never-ending love; for it is not worship of a howling and imperfect god, grim, jealous and revengeful, loving but a few, and them not well, but of the infinite father of all mankind, whose universal providence will sure achieve the highest good of all that are. these men are few; in no land are they numerous, or were or will be. there were few hebrew prophets, but a tribe of priests; there are but few mighty bards that hover o'er the world; but here and there a sage, looking deep and living high, who feels the heart of things, and utters oracles which pass for proverbs, psalms and prayers, and stimulate a world of men. they draw the nations, as conjoining moon and sun draw waters shore-ward from the ocean-springs; and as electrifying heat they elevate the life of men. under their influence you cannot be as before. they stimulate the sound, and intoxicate the silly, but in the heart of noble youths their idea becomes a fact, and their prayer a daily life. scholars of such a stamp are few and rare, not without great faults. for every one of them there will be many imitators, as for each lion a hundred lion-flies, thinking their buzz as valiant as his roar, and wondering the forest does not quake thereat, and while they feed on him fancy they suck the breasts of heaven. * * * * * such is the scholars' position in america: such their duty, and such the way in which they pay the debt they owe. will men of superior culture not all act by scholar-craft and by the pen? it were a pity if they did. if a man work nobly, the office is as worthy, and the purse as blessed in its work. the pen is power; the office is power; the purse is power; and if the purse and office be nobly held, then in a high mode the cultivated man pays for his bringing up, and honors with wide sympathies the mass of men who give him chance to ride and rule. if not; if these be meanly held, for self and not for man, then the scholar is a debtor and a traitor too. the scholar never had so fair a chance before; here is the noblest opportunity for one that wields the pen; it is mightier than the sword, the office, or the purse. all things concede at last to beauty, justice, truth and love, and these he is to represent. he has what freedom he will pay for and take. let him talk never so heroic, he will find fit audience, nor will it long be few. men will rise up and welcome his quickening words as vernal grass at the first rains of spring. a great nation which cannot live by bread alone, asks for the bread of life; while the state is young, a single great and noble man can deeply influence the nation's mind. there are great wrongs which demand redress; the present men who represent the office and the purse will not end these wrongs. they linger for the pen, with magic touch to abolish and destroy this ancient serpent-brood. shall it be only rude men and unlettered who confront the dragons of our time which prowl about the folds by day and night, while the scholar, the appointed guardian of mankind, but "sports with amaryllis in the shade, or with the tangles of neæra's hair?" the nation asks of her scholar better things than ancient letters ever brought; asks his wonders for the million, not the few alone. great sentiments burn now in half-unconscious hearts, and great ideas kindle their glories round the heads of men. unconscious electricity, truth and right, flashes out of the earth, out of the air. it is for the scholar to attract this ground-lightning and this lightning of the sky, condense it into useful thunder to destroy the wrong, then spread it forth a beauteous and a cheering light, shedding sweet influence and kindling life anew. a few great men of other times tell us what may be now. nothing will be done without toil--talent is only power of work, and genius greater power for higher forms of work--nothing without self-denial; nothing great and good save by putting your idea before yourself, and counting it dearer than your flesh and blood. let it hide you, not your obesity conceal the truth god gave you to reveal. the quality of intellectual work is more than the quantity. out of the cloudy world homer has drawn a spark that lasts three thousand years. "one, but a lion," should be the scholar's maxim; let him do many things for daily need; one great thing for the eternal beauty of his art. a single poem of dante, a book for the bosom, lives through the ages, surrounding its author with the glory of genius in the night of time. one sermon on the mount, compact of truths brought down from god, all molten by such pious trust in him, will stir men's hearts by myriads, while words dilute with other words are a shame to the speaker, and a dishonor to men who have ears to hear. it is a great charity to give beauty to mankind; part of the scholar's function. how we honor such as create mere sensuous loveliness! mozart carves it on the unseen air; phidias sculptures it out from the marble stone; raphael fixes ideal angels, maidens, matrons, men, and his triple god upon the canvas, and the lofty angelo, with more than amphionic skill, bids the hills rise into a temple which constrains the crowd to pray. look, see how grateful man repays these architects of beauty with never-ending fame! such as create a more than sensuous loveliness, the homers, miltons, shakspeares, who sing of man in never-dying and creative song--see what honors we have in store for such; what honor given for what service paid! but there is a beauty higher than that of art, above philosophy and merely intellectual grace: i mean the loveliness of noble life; that is a beauty in the sight of man and god. this is a new country, the great ideas of a noble man are easily spread abroad; soon they will appear in the life of the people, and be a blessing in our future history to ages yet unborn. a few great souls can correct the licentiousness of the american press, which is now but the type of covetousness and low ambition; correct the mean economy of the state, and amend the vulgarity of the american church, now the poor prostitute of every wealthy sin. oh ingenuous young maid or man, if such you are,--if not, then let me dream you such; seek you this beauty, complete perfection of a man, and having this, go hold the purse, the office, or the pen, as suits you best; but out of that life, writing, voting, acting, living in all forms, you shall pay men back for your culture, and in the scholar's noble kind, and represent the higher facts of human thought. will men still say, "this wrong is consecrated; it has stood for ages and shall stand for ever!" tell them, "no. a wrong, though old as sin, is not now sacred, nor shall it stand!" will they say, "this right can never be; that excellence is lovely but impossible!" show them the fact, who will not hear the speech; the deed goes where the word fails, and life enchants where rhetoric cannot persuade. past ages offer their instruction, much warning and a little guidance, many a wreck along the shore of time, a beacon here and there. far off in the dim distance, present as possibilities, not actual as yet, future generations, with broad and wishful eyes, look at the son of genius, talent, educated skill, and seem to say, "a word for us; it will not be forgot!" truth and beauty, god's twin daughters, eternal both, yet ever young, wait there to offer each faithful man a budding branch, in their hands budding, in his to blossom and mature its fruit, wherewith he sows the field of time, gladdening the millions yet to come. end of vol. iii. an address, delivered at the interment of mrs. harriet storrs, consort of rev. richard s. storrs, braintree, mass. july , . by rev. john codman, d. d. printed for private distribution. boston: munroe and francis. . address. there are some events, in the providence of god, so completely overwhelming as to render it extremely difficult, almost impossible, to give utterance to the full feelings of the soul through the medium of words. language refuses its aid to relieve the burdened heart; and the oppressed spirit finds itself more inclined to the deep silence of grief, than to the expression of its sorrows by the human voice. when the heart-rending intelligence reached us of the event that has filled our souls with grief and dismay, we felt that no language could relieve our distress or mitigate our sorrow. we were dumb: we opened not our mouth. our hearts bled--and they bled most freely in silence. but the solemnities of the occasion await us, and the usages of society demand, that we should attempt to give utterance, in the presence of our fellow creatures, to those feelings, which we can pour out before our compassionate god and saviour in sighs and tears, without the intervention of set forms of speech. but where shall we find words to express the depth of our affliction? where shall we find language to depict the character of the dear departed--or to administer comfort and support to the beloved survivors? mysterious heaven! how unsearchable are thy judgments, and thy ways past finding out! we bow before that holy and righteous being, whose inspiration gave us _understanding_, and who has the undoubted right to resume the gift which he bestowed. we know that all his ways are just and equal, and that he will not hold us accountable for any act, committed in the absence of that mental and moral power by which we are enabled to distinguish between right and wrong. on the painful and distressing circumstances, by which our ever lamented and beloved friend is numbered among the silent dead, we will dwell no longer than to express an entire and unwavering conviction, that her character and present condition cannot in the least degree be affected by the manner of her removal from this sublunary state. we have not the shadow of a doubt, that the spiritual intelligence, which once beamed upon us with such mild and gentle lustre, and which was, for a short season, shrouded in darkness, is now rekindled by the same gracious hand that so mysteriously overshadowed it, to burn, with increasing and never-ending brightness, with seraphs that surround the throne of god. it is utterly impossible for the speaker to do justice to the character of our much loved friend, though it has been his privilege to have known her worth for nearly thirty years. the circle of christians which, at the time of his first acquaintance with her, then resided in our metropolis, many of whom are now in heaven, were distinguished for deep and ardent piety. surrounded as they were by fashionable and increasing errors, they maintained their integrity and held fast their attachment to the doctrines of grace. the precious names of mrs. waters, and mrs. mason, and other aged saints, are embalmed in the memory of many a child of god. with these venerable pilgrims was associated a young disciple, who, with all the loveliness of youthful attractions, separated herself from the world, and consecrated herself to the service of her god and saviour. from the prayers and conversation of these aged saints, through the blessing of god, she seemed to receive a peculiar unction of spirit, which was strikingly characteristic of her future course. in all plans of usefulness, which, though small and few when compared with those which distinguish this stirring age, no one took a more decided and active part. her peculiarly affectionate manner ingratiated her with many, who were won by her mild and lovely spirit to congeniality of sentiment and effort. her usefulness at that period, in the sphere in which she moved, was by no means inconsiderable; but the great head of the church had still more important and interesting duties for her to perform. there are few situations in life that present more promising fields of usefulness to a pious, devoted female, than that of the wife of a minister of a united parish. even the pastor himself, with his additional opportunities of affording instruction from the sacred desk, can scarcely exert a greater or a happier influence upon the minds and hearts of his congregation, than is often produced by the more humble, but not less important labours of his devoted companion. her influence is not unfrequently greater than his, especially upon her own sex, and upon the tender, opening minds of the lambs of the flock. in the promotion of benevolent enterprize, by female associations, and in maternal counsels and prayers for the children of the church, she finds her appropriate and successful sphere, though upon the whole congregation, in their varied seasons of prosperity and adversity, her silent but benign influence is felt like the dew of hermon, like the dew that descended upon the mountains of zion. from the more diversified and exciting scenes of usefulness in a city our departed friend was called to the more arduous and self-denying labours that devolve upon the conscientious wife of the pastor of a country parish. with what untiring zeal, with what scrupulous fidelity, she discharged these duties, i need only appeal to this crowded, this weeping, this afflicted assembly! from lisping infancy to hoary age, the testimony is one and the same. the children of affliction remember with affectionate gratitude her tender sympathy and her active benevolence. with the spirit of her divine master, it may be truly said, that "in all their afflictions she was afflicted." mothers, with their youthful charge, will never forget her wise counsels and her fervent prayers. the aged and infirm will pour out their benedictions upon her memory, and even babes and sucklings will lisp the praises of one, who watched with maternal solicitude over their cradles, and taught them to pronounce the name of jesus. but, great and painful as this bereavement is to this afflicted people,--their griefs are almost forgotten, when we turn to the chief mourner in this scene of deep and heart-rending calamity. god help thee, my brother!--the god of jacob, the angel of the covenant sustain thee! that your brethren, your people, the church of christ, your numerous and attached friends, feel for you, you cannot doubt. could they have averted the dreadful blow, how readily would they have hastened to your relief. but no human precaution could turn aside the fatal stroke. dethroned reason will find opportunity to escape the most vigilant eye, and to elude the most watchful care. but dwell not, my brother, on circumstances which were beyond human control, and which affect not in the least degree the accountability of the dear departed. bury in the grave, to which we are soon to assign these precious relics, as far as possible, the memory of the awful circumstances that attended their dissolution, and think only of the bright and happy spirit, of what she _was_, and what she _is_. o! she was every thing which a fond husband could desire in a companion of his life and labours; truly a help-mate for him in his temporal and spiritual concerns, in his family, and in his parish; in the social circle, and in the widely extended plans of usefulness in which the devoted servant of christ is sometimes engaged beyond the limits of his congregation. my brother, in the repeated domestic bereavements which you have sustained, you have indeed been greatly afflicted, but you have also been greatly blessed. to the lot of but few does it fall to have been united to two such companions to cheer them in their pilgrimage through this vale of tears.[a] their sainted spirits are waiting to receive you to those blessed mansions where reason holds her unclouded empire, where sighing and sorrow can never come, where death can never enter, and where sin can never defile. but not yet, my brother. the lord hath need of you to work in his vineyard. from your repeated and heart-rending trials you will be better qualified, than ever for that important work which the lord has assigned you in his american israel. go on then, my brother, and spend and be spent for christ; and when you shall have performed your appointed service, you shall be welcomed by those whom you have loved on earth to the society of the redeemed--to the vision of jesus--to the presence of god. and you, the dear and only child of the lamented dead! my heart bleeds for you. your loss is indeed irreparable; but a mother's prayers are your legacy, and they are better than thousands of gold and silver. how much she loved you, and how closely you were entwined about the fibres of her heart, is abundantly evident from the affecting fact, that maternal solicitude, struggling with departing reason, directed her to the bed of her sleeping child to bid him a last and long farewell. although the affecting circumstances of her removal can never be obliterated from your memory, think less of them than of the pious counsels, the holy example, the fervent prayers of your much-loved mother. let these dwell on your mind, and they will be a restraint, a comfort, and a support to you under all the various trials of life to which you may be called. god bless you, my dear child! may your life be spared to your surviving parent, to console him in his deep affliction, and to be the prop of his declining years. the near relatives of our departed friend claim and receive our tender and affectionate sympathy. more especially do we feel for that afflicted sister, who, while she mourns with us on this affecting occasion, has the additional trial of watching around the sick bed of a beloved husband, deprived also of the exercise of his reason. may she be supported, in this season of her deep affliction, by the consolations of that holy religion, which are neither few nor small. and may all the relatives and the numerous christian friends of the deceased, whether present or absent, be graciously sustained under this painful bereavement, and bow, with humble submission, to the will of god. friends of this church and congregation, with you too we heartily sympathize. you have been called in divine providence to repeated trials. we bear record to your disinterested regard to the cause of evangelical religion in our growing country, in consenting to the arrangement by which, for a definite period, you have been deprived of the immediate services of your beloved pastor. you have hitherto had the consolation, and it has been one of no small importance, of the presence and laborious efforts for your good of the partner of his life. with what exemplary patience, with what admirable self-denial, she sustained the peculiar trials of her situation, watching around the couch of a dying brother,[b] administering to the comfort of your late youthful pastor,[c] adopting into her family the orphan and the fatherless,[d] while her best earthly friend was laboriously employed in the service of the church, are well known to you all, and ought to be suitably appreciated. how far she fell a sacrifice to these painful deprivations--to this uncommon self-denial, is known only to him, who is best acquainted with the intimate connection between the body and the mind.[e] that she died in your service--in the service of her family--and in the service of her god and saviour, cannot admit of a doubt. you will delight, i know, to cherish her memory, to dwell upon her virtues, and to imitate her example. and now, my respected hearers and friends, it only remains, that we deposit these precious relics in yonder receptacle of the dead! there to rest, till the trump of the archangel awake the sleeping dust. then, when the millions of the dead shall burst the cerements of the grave, we doubt not that the bright form of our departed friend, arrayed in immortal youth and vigour, will ascend to meet the lord in the air, and enter with him into his glory. footnotes: [footnote a: mrs. sarah strong storrs, the first wife of the bereaved husband, was the daughter of rev. nathan woodhull, of newtown, long island; married april , --died april , , aged years. eminently devoted to the service of her lord in life, and sweetly cheered by his presence in death.] [footnote b: rev. charles b. storrs, president of the western reserve college, who left the world for heaven, after five weeks sickness at braintree, sept. , .] [footnote c: rev. edwards a. park.] [footnote d: the two little sons of rev. c. b. storrs.] [footnote e: her feelings on this subject are briefly noticed in her diary. after alluding to the circumstances of the case, and to what she believed to be the ruling motives of her husband in his request to his people for liberty to engage in the service of home missions, she says:-- "i think in no instance of my life have i felt more entirely willing to be in god's hands, and to have him dispose of us as he pleases. my trembling head at times anticipates evil to my dear husband--and my selfish heart, in anticipating the days and nights of loneliness that await me, is ready to say,--'how can i give thee up?' but i would not dare to cherish these feelings. god has an entire right to do with us as he pleases--and i would love him for doing just as he does. but o! strengthen us for our coming trials!"] note. mrs. storrs had been for months declining in health--a fact more evident to herself than to others, because she still continued to discharge her usual domestic duties with alacrity and cheerfulness. but often, the conviction of her mind on this subject extorted from her the remark--"my constitution is breaking up--i cannot long live." though the remark had never fallen from her lips in other years, it was too little heeded by her friends. it was on the evening of march th, , that she was suddenly seized with a delirium that indicated inflammation on the brain. a physician was immediately called, and his skilful applications seemed to be blessed; the disease yielded; and after a few days, reason resumed its seat; not however to hold it as formerly, but only to sway a broken sceptre, and fill the minds of friends with constant alarms. from this time till the first of june, the struggle between disease and nature was constant, and the issue doubtful; but on the whole, it was evident that the _mind_ was losing its power of judgment, and submitting to the control of a bewildered imagination. her most judicious friends judged it expedient to change the scene, and try the effect of new objects and the revival of old friendships on her disordered system. she herself, having been often benefitted by the fatigues and various occurrences of journeying, consented to the measure with some cheerfulness. and on the th of june, we left our home, and leisurely pursued our way to the western part of the state, calling freely on those friends she had long known and loved, and sharing largely in their kind attentions. but nothing could restore to her mind its balance. occasionally cheerful for an hour--but habitually brooding over some imagined impropriety of conduct, or deficiency of faith and love, she fancied herself a burden to the world, a curse to the church, and an alien from god. it was july th when we reached home. and by this time, the disease had advanced so far, as to leave but short intervals between the ravings of delirium. her agonies, in her oft repeated language, were "inexpressible." her bodings were fearful. and it was on the morning of the th instant, between the hours of five and six o'clock, that she eluded the long continued vigilance of her family, and secured time enough to execute a deed, which of all others she most abhorred when of sane mind--a deed, which she believed to be _right_, because dethroned reason left her a prey to the imagination that the honor of god, and the interests of zion demanded it. inscrutable mystery! a more devoted friend of jesus--a more humble and self-denying disciple--a more laborious and consistent co-worker with the saints--a more prayerful and active promoter of the great cause of benevolence--is rarely to be met with in any age, or in any land. aside of all the fond partialities of one who for fifteen years has known the blessedness of the most intimate companionship with so eminent a child of god, i deem it duty to say, in present circumstances, that her duties were always her pleasures--her religious privileges, her sweetest delights--her grand aim, in all things, the glory of god;--her trust was reposed in his promises alone--her hopes were founded on christ--and her only desired reward was, the consciousness of honoring the religion she professed. she rests with prophets and apostles. so saith the spirit, and her works do follow her. r. s. storrs. braintree, july , . obituary notice. written by rev. b. b. edwards, and published in the boston recorder. died at braintree, mass. on thursday morning, july , mrs. harriet storrs, wife of the rev. richard s. storrs, in the th year of her age. she was a daughter of the late mr. samuel moore of charlestown. her mind was first deeply convinced of the importance of personal piety in listening to the sermons of the rev. dr. griffin then minister of the park street church. she became a member of the old south church, when the rev. joshua huntington was its pastor. the depth of the loss sustained by her friends and by the church of christ, cannot easily be estimated. in her character was that rare union of lovely natural qualities with intelligent, elevated piety, which sweetens domestic life; throws such charms over the intercourse of friendship as all persons can feel but none describe; and which exhibits in a most striking manner what that state was from which man fell, and to which the grace of the holy spirit can restore him. the path of her life was covered over with evidences of her kindness. every where she lived for the happiness of those around her. her benign inquiries, her cheerful footsteps, her sweet smiles, the same in joy and grief, those mysterious lines on the countenance, which almost ally the sympathies of humanity to the purity of angels, seemed to say to all whom she met, that she was their servant for jesus's sake. she was truly the light and joy of her domestic circle, shedding the calm and steady lustre of true piety; in her humility apparently unconscious of the blessings which her presence afforded; and always prompt to give all the glory of any goodness in herself and others, to her lord and redeemer. she discharged the interesting obligations, which devolve on the wife of a clergyman, with singular readiness, kind feeling and success. she was aware of the responsible and delicate nature of many of her duties, and habitually looked for guidance to the great head of the church. he was graciously pleased to hear her prayers, and to bless her labors. her name will long be like precious balm in the hearts of multitudes, who testify, with entire unanimity, to the value of her labors of love. for several months past, "her soul has been full of trouble," for she thought that god had "laid her in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps, that his wrath was lying hard upon her," "that she was cast out of his sight, and should never again be permitted to look towards his holy temple." "she longed for death" and it has come; and we doubt not that her glorified spirit is in that land where the inhabitant shall not say "i am sick," where they "hunger no more, neither thirst any more; and where god shall wipe away tears from off all faces." the funeral of mrs. storrs was attended on friday afternoon in the meetinghouse of the first church in braintree. we never saw evidences of more unaffected and heartfelt grief, than were exhibited by the large congregation convened on this occasion. prayers were offered by the rev. messrs. gile of milton, and perkins of weymouth, two appropriate funeral anthems were sung, and a very interesting and affecting address was pronounced by the rev. dr. codman of dorchester. * * * * * transcriber's notes page : changed hasiened to hastened (how readily would they have hasiened to your relief.) transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. minor typographical errors and inconsistencies have been silently normalized. inconsistent capitalizations of christian and christianity have been left as in the original. a sermon delivered before his excellency edward everett, governor, his honor george hull, lieutenant governor, the honorable council, and the legislature of massachusetts, on the anniversary election, january , . by mark hopkins, d. d. president of williams college. boston: dutton and wentworth, printers to the state. . commonwealth of massachusetts. senate, january , . _ordered_, that messrs. filley, quincy, and kimball, be a committee to present the thanks of the senate to the rev. mark hopkins, d. d. for the discourse yesterday delivered by him, before the government of the commonwealth, and to request a copy thereof for publication. attest, charles calhoun, _clerk_. sermon. acts v. . we ought to obey god rather than man. man was made for something higher and better, than either to make, or to obey, merely human laws. he is the creature of god, is subject to his laws, and can find his perfection, and consequent happiness, only in obeying those laws. as his moral perfection, the life of his life, is involved in this obedience, it is impossible that any power should lay him under obligation to disobey. the known will of god, if not the foundation of right, is its paramount rule, and it is because human governments are ordained by him, that we owe them obedience. we are bound to them, not by compact, but only as god's institutions for the good of the race. this is what the bible, though sometimes referred to as supporting arbitrary power, really teaches. it does not support arbitrary power. rightly understood, it is a perfect rule of duty, and as in every thing else, so in the relations of subjects and rulers. it lays down the true principles, it gives us the guiding light. when the general question is whether human governments are to be obeyed, the answer is, "he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of god." "the powers that be are ordained of god." but when these powers overstep their appointed limits, and would lord it over the conscience, and come between man and his maker, then do we hear it uttered in the very face of power, and by the voice of inspiration, no less than of indignant humanity, "we ought to obey god rather than men." it has been in connexion with the maintenance of this principle, first proclaimed by an apostle of christ eighteen hundred years ago, that all the civil liberty now in the world has sprung up. it is to the fearless assertion of this principle by our forefathers, that we owe it that the representatives of a free people are assembled here this day to worship god according to the dictates of their own consciences, to seek to him for wisdom in their deliberations, and to acknowledge the subordination of all human governments to that which is divine. permit me then, as appropriate to the present occasion, to call the attention of this audience, st. to the grounds on which all men are bound to adhere to the principle stated in the text; and d. to the consequences of such adherence, on the part, both of subjects, and of rulers. * * * * * i observe, then, that we ought to obey god rather than men, because human governments are comparatively so limited and negative in their bearing upon the great purposes, first, of individual, and second, of social existence. the purposes for which man was made, must evidently involve in their accomplishment, both his duty and his happiness; and nothing can be his duty which would contravene those purposes. among them, as already intimated, the highest is the moral perfection of the individual; for as it is by his moral nature that man is distinguished from the inferior animals, so it is only in the perfection of that nature, that his perfection, as man, can consist. as absolute perfection can belong only to god, that of man must be relative, that is, it must consist in the proper adjustment of relations, and especially in the relation of his voluntary actions to the end for which god designed him. this is our idea of perfection, when we affirm it of the works of man. it involves, mainly, such a relation of parts as is necessary to the perfect accomplishment of the end in view. a watch is perfect when it is so constructed that its motions exactly correspond in their little revolutions with those of the sun in the heavens; and man is perfect when his will corresponds in its little circle of movement with the will of god in heaven. this correspondence, however, is not to be produced by the laws of an unconscious mechanism, but by a voluntary, a cheerful, a filial co-operation. it is this power of controlling his faculties with reference to an ultimate end, of accepting or rejecting the purpose of his being, as indicated by god in the very structure of his powers, and proclaimed in his word, that contradistinguishes man from every inferior being, and gives scope for what is properly termed, character. inferior beings have qualities by which they are distinguished, they have characteristics, but not _character_, which always involves a moral element. a brute does not govern its own instincts, it is governed by them. a tree is the product of an agency which is put forth through it, but of which it is not conscious, and which it does not control. but god gives man to himself, and then sets before him, in the tendency of every thing that has unconscious life towards its own perfection, the great moral lesson that nature was intended to teach. he then causes every blade of grass, and every tree, to become a preacher and a model, calling upon him to put forth his faculties, not without law, but to accept the law of his being, and to work out a character and a happiness in conformity with that. it is, as i have said, the power which man has to accept or reject this law of his being, the great law of love, that renders him capable of character, and it is evidently as a theatre, on which this may be manifested, that the present scene of things is sustained. not with more certainty do the processes of vegetation point to the blossoms and the fruit as the results to which they conspire, than does every thing in the nature and condition of man indicate the formation of a specific, voluntary, moral character, as the purpose for which god placed him here. but this purpose is not recognized at all by human governments, and we have only to observe the limited and negative agency which they incidentally bring to bear upon it, to see how insignificant must be their claims when they would come into conflict with those of the government of god. i observe then, first, that human governments regard man solely as the member of a community; whereas it is chiefly as an individual, that the government of god regards him. isolate a man from society, take him beyond the reach of human government, and his faculties are not changed. he is still the creature of god, a dweller in his universe, retaining every thing he ever possessed that was noble in reason, or grand in destiny, and in his solitude, where yet he would not be alone, the government of god would follow him, and would require of him such manifestations of goodness as he might there exercise--the adoration of his creator, resignation to his will, and a temperate and prudent use of the blessings within his power. indeed, so far as responsibility is concerned, the divine government considers man, whether in solitude or in a crowd, solely as an individual, and produces an isolation of each as complete as if he were the only person in the universe. god knows nothing of divided responsibility, and whether acting alone, or as a member of a corporation or of a legislature, every man is responsible to him for just what he does as a moral being, and for nothing more. the responsibility of each is kept disentangled from that of all others, and lies as well defined in the eye of god, as if that eye were fixed upon him alone. the kingdom of god is within man, and there it is, in the secret soul of each, that the contest between light and darkness, between god and satan is going on, and in the struggle, in the victory or the defeat, he who walks the city is as much alone as the hermit in his cell. it is over the thoughts of man, his affections, his passions, his purposes, which mock at human control, that the government of god claims dominion; it is with reference to these, and not to the artificial index of appearances which we set to catch the eye of the world, that the register of heaven is kept. on the other hand, how very few of the moral actions of man can human government reach, how imperfectly can it reach even these! it is only of overt acts, those which it can define, and which can be proved before a human tribunal, that it can take cognizance; and its treatment even of these can never be adjusted to the varying shades of guilt. it has no eye to reach the springs of action. it may see the movements of the machinery above, perplexed, and apparently contradictory; but it cannot uncover the great wheel, and look in upon the simple principle which makes character, and sets the whole in motion. but i observe again, that human governments are not only thus limited, but are also chiefly negative in their influence upon the formation of individual character. there is, indeed, a positive and widely pervading moral influence connected with the character, and station, and acts, of those who are in authority. this cannot be too prominently stated, the responsibility connected with it cannot be too carefully regarded; still this influence is entirely incidental, and is the same in kind with that exerted by any distinguished private individual. human governments have also positive power to furnish _facilities_, as distinguished from _inducements_. they can authorise and guard the issue of paper money, to give facilities to men of business; they can lay down rail-roads, thus opening facilities to the spirit of enterprise, and calling out the neglected resources of the state; they can too, and our fathers did it, construct and keep in repair the _rail-roads of the mind_, thus giving facilities to the poorest boy in the glens of the mountains to come out and be an honor to his country. still, human government is chiefly a system of restraint for the purpose of protection. its object is to give equal protection to all in using their faculties as they please, provided they do not interfere with the rights of others. it does not propose to furnish inducements, but to enable men to live quiet and peaceable lives, while they act in view of the great inducements furnished by the government of god. in saying this, i do not undervalue the benefits conferred by human governments, but only assign them their true place. the office performed by them is indispensable. they are the enclosure of the field, without which certainly nothing could come to maturity; but they are not the soil and the rain, and the sunshine, which cause vegetation to spring up. these are furnished by the government of god, which is not only a system of restraint and protection, but also, and chiefly, of inducements to excellence. into the ear of the humblest of its subjects it whispers, as it points upward, "glory," "honor," "immortality," "eternal life." it is parental in its character, makes us members of a family, gives us objects of affection, and by its perfect standard of moral excellence, and the character of god which it sets before us, it purifies and elevates the mind. without a god to whom he is related and accountable, man has neither dignity nor hope. without god, the universe has no cause, its contrivances indicate no intelligence, its providence no goodness, its related parts and processes no unity, its events no convergence to one grand result, and the glorious spectacle presented in the earth and the heavens, instead of calling forth admiration and songs, is an enigma perplexing to the intellect, and torturing to the heart. seen in its connexion with god, the universe of matter is as the evening cloud that lies in the sunlight, radiant, and skirted with glory; without him it is the same cloud cold and dark when that sunlight is gone. without god, man is an orphan; he has no protector here, and no father's house in which he may hope for a mansion hereafter. his life is at his own disposal, and has no value except in relation to his personal and present enjoyment. on the other hand, as the idea of god is received, and his relations to the universe are intimately felt, unity and harmony are introduced into our conceptions of that which is without, and acquiescence and hope reign within. nature, as more significant, becomes more a companion. her quiet teachings and mute prophecies, her indexes pointing to the spirit land, instead of being felt as a mockery, are in accordance with the best hopes, and the revealed destiny of man. life, too, assumes a new aspect. a common destiny is set before all, and the consciousness of it runs as a thread of sympathy through the race. the poor man is elevated when he sees that the principle of duty may be tried and strengthened in his humble sphere, as well as in those that are higher, and his labor becomes a cheerful service done with good will from the heart. every duty to man becomes doubly sacred as due also to god, and the humblest life, pursued from a conscientious regard to his will, is invested with an unspeakable dignity. it is indeed, i may remark, this view of life that furnishes the only possible ground of equality. men are upon an equality only as they are equally upon trial in the sight of god, and nothing will ever reconcile them to the unavoidable inequalities of the present state, but the consciousness that their circumstances were allotted to them by him who best knew what trials they would need, and whose equal eye regards solely the degree in which their moral nature is improved by the trial. when this is felt, there is, under all circumstances, a basis for dignity without pride, for activity without restlessness, for diversity of condition without discord. and not only the aspect of life in the relations of men to each other, but its end also is changed. the moral nature assumes its true position, and, acting in the presence of a perfect law as its standard, and of a perfect gospel as its ground of hope, the idea of true liberty dawns upon the mind. this consists in the coincidence of the affections and inclinations with correct principle. it is only when the internal constitution of a reasonable being is in harmony with the law under which he acts, that he is conscious of no restraint, and knows what true freedom is. the chief value of what is commonly called liberty, consists in the opportunity it gives to use our faculties without molestation for the attainment of this. this is that glorious liberty of the sons of god, of which the scriptures speak. it is not a mere freedom from restraint which may be abused for the purposes of wrong-doing; and become a curse, merely making the difference between a brute enclosed and a brute at large; but it is, in its commencement, the resolute adoption of the law of conscience and of god as the rule of life; in its progress, a successful struggle with whatever opposes this law; in its completion, the harmonious and joyful action of every power in its fulfilment. this is the only liberty known under the government of god. he who knows it not is the slave of sin. he who struggles not for it, is in a contented bondage of which physical slavery is but a feeble type. the perfection of this liberty is only another name for moral perfection, which, as i have said, is the great end of the individual; and as the direct motives and means for the attainment of this are furnished only by the government of god, it is evident that "we ought to obey god rather than men." having thus spoken of the effect of human government upon man in his individual character, i now proceed to inquire, whether it is equally limited and negative in its bearing upon him in his social condition. and here i remark, that it is only incidentally that human government is necessary to man as a social being at all. society was before government, and if man had retained his original state, it might, perhaps, have existed without it till the end of time. man is constituted by his creator a social being; he has faculties to the expansion and perfection of which society is requisite, but he has no faculties the necessities of which constitute him a political being. there must be politicians, just as there must be farmers, and merchants, and physicians, that they and others may enjoy social life; but social life is corrupted when politics enter largely into it. it is not sufficiently noticed, that it is through social institutions and habits far more than through political forms, that the happiness or misery of man is produced. it was not from the oppressions of the government, but from a corrupted social state, that the prophet of old wished to flee into the wilderness. it was because his people were all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men, because every brother would supplant, and every neighbor would walk with slanders. such a state of things may exist under any form of political organization. it may exist under ours. men may be loud in their praise of republican forms, and yet be false, and unkind, and litigious; they may be indolent, and profane, and sabbath breakers, and gamblers, and licentious, and intemperate. yes, and there may be neighborhoods of such men, and the place where they assemble nightly, hard by a banner that creaks in the wind, may be the liveliest image of hell that this earth can present. i certainly know, and my hearers are fortunate if they do not know, neighborhoods in this land of liberty and equality, where the only use made of liberty is to render families and society wretched, and where the only equality, is an equality in vice and social degradation, which no man is permitted even to attempt to rise above without constant annoyance. better, far better, is family affection, and kind neighborhood under a regal, or even a despotic government, than such liberty as this. government then is not an end, but a means. society is the end, and government should be the agent of society, to benefit man in his social condition. the extent to which it can do this will depend on its form, and the power with which it is entrusted. absolute power, which should be used for this purpose, is generally abused. considering itself as having interests distinct from those of the people, it too often seeks to keep them in a state of degradation, and to appropriate to itself the largest possible share of those blessings which ought to be equally diffused. "get out of my sunlight," said diogenes to alexander the great: "get out of my sunlight"--cease to obstruct the free circulation of blessings intended for all, might the people say under any arbitrary form of government ever yet administered. still, such a government, when under the direction of wisdom and benevolence, has power to produce great social and moral revolutions for the good of mankind. such a revolution was commenced by peter the great, and his measures, though necessary, were such as none but an absolute monarch could have adopted. aside from christianity, the judicious exercise of such a power is the only hope of a people debased beyond a certain point. the king of prussia can maintain a better and more efficient system of schools, than any republican government. he can provide qualified teachers, and can compel the children to attend. but when, as in this country, government is the direct agent of society, when it is so far controlled by the people as to secure the majority at least from oppression, being merely an expression of the will of that majority, it can have no power to produce moral and social reformations. laws do not execute themselves, and in such a state of things they cannot be effectually executed if the violation of them is upheld by public sentiment. in such a case, when vices begin to creep in, and the tendency of things is downwards, we must have a force different from that of the government; we must have _moral_ power. here religion comes in, and must come in, or "the beginning of the end" has come. the intellect must be enlightened, and the conscience quickened, and moral life infused into the mass; the good and the evil must commingle in free conflict, and public sentiment must be changed. when this is done, when patriotism, and philanthropy, and religion, have caused an ebb-tide in the flood of evil that was coming up over the land, then government may come in, not to carry forward a moral reformation by force, but to erect a barrier against the return of that tide. it can secure what these agents have gained. it can put a shield into the hands of society, with which it can, if it pleases, protect itself against that selfishness and malignity which always lurk in its borders, and which moral influence cannot reach. if, for example, polygamy were established among us as it is among the turks, a government like ours could do nothing for its removal. but religion could awaken a sense of obligation, and statistics could point out the number of poor women and uneducated children thrown by it for support mainly upon those who had pledged themselves to be the husband of one wife, and christian and philanthropic effort might show that it was injurious to individuals, and families, and the state; and then a law might be passed, as there has been, to defend society against this evil. this inefficacy of our government to produce moral and social reformations should be well understood, because it throws the fearful responsibility of maintaining our institutions directly upon the people, where it must rest. a government originating in society, can have but slight ground to stand on in resisting its downward tendency. that there is in society such a tendency, all history shows. as nations have become older, they have invariably become more corrupt. they have never reached that point in general morality at which men cease to corrupt each other by associating together. such a tendency, not counteracted, must be fatal to republican governments, for republican government is self-government, and as the internal law becomes feeble, external force must be increased; and accordingly we find that every people hitherto, have either been under regal power from the beginning, or have, in time, reached a point in corruption, when that power became necessary. republican government then, is not so much the cause of a good social state, as its sign. it can never be borne up, with its stars and stripes floating, upon the surface of a society that is not strongly impregnated with virtue. take this away, and it goes down by its own weight, and the beast of tyranny, with its seven heads and ten horns, comes up out of the troubled waters. here is the turning point with us. all depends upon the influences that go to form the character of our people. those who control these influences will really govern the country. to this point we turn our eyes anxiously. at this point we look to legislators to stand in their lot, and do what is appropriate to their station. at this point we look especially to fathers and mothers, the guardians of domestic virtue.--those waters will be sweet that are fed by sweet springs. we look to christian ministers, to enlightened teachers, to patriotic authors and editors, to every good citizen. if there ever was a country in which all these were called upon to do their utmost, this is that country; if there ever was a government that was called upon to second in every proper way the efforts of these, this is that government. to all these we look; but our trust is only in the influences they may bring to bear from the blessed gospel of christ, from the government of god. "we ought to obey god rather than men." * * * * * i have thus shown, as fully as the time would permit, though far too briefly to do justice to the subject, the grounds on which we ought to obey god rather than men. these are to be found in the relation of the divine, and of human government respectively, to the ends of individual, and of social existence. but the occasion on which the text was uttered, a subject having directly refused obedience to rulers lawfully constituted, will lead us to consider the effects of the principle of the text when acted upon by men in those relations in which civil liberty is directly involved--in the relations of subjects and of rulers. what then will be the effect of an adherence to this principle on the part of subjects, as such? there is a tendency in irresponsible power to accumulate. it first gains control over property, and life, and every thing from which a motive to resistance based on the interests of the present life, could be drawn. but it is not satisfied with this. nothing avails it so long as there is a mordecai sitting at the king's gate that does not rise up and do it reverence. it must also control the conscience, and make the religious nature subservient to its purposes. accordingly, the grand device of the enemies of civil liberty, has been so to incorporate religion with the government, that all those deep and ineradicable feelings which are associated with the one, should also be associated with the other, and that he who opposed the government should not only bring upon himself the arm of the civil power, but also the fury of religious zeal. the most melancholy and heart-sickening chapter in the history of man, is that in which are recorded the enormities committed by a lust of power, and by malignity, in alliance with a perverted religious sentiment. the light that was in men has become darkness, and that darkness has been great. the very instrument appointed by god for the deliverance and elevation of man, has been made to assist in his thraldom and degradation. when christianity appeared, the alliance of religion with oppressive power was universal. in such a state of things, there seemed no hope for civil liberty but in bringing the conscience out from this unholy alliance, and putting it in a position in which it must show its energies in opposition to power. this christianity did. it brought the conscience to a point where it not only might resist human governments, but where, as they were then exercised, it was compelled to resist them. this appeared when the text was uttered, and there was then a rock raised in the ocean of tyranny which has not been overflowed to this day. the same qualities which make the conscience so potent an ally of power, must, when it is enlightened by a true knowledge of god and of duty, and when immortality is clearly set before the mind, make it the most formidable of all barriers to tyranny and oppression. by thus bringing the moral nature of man to act in opposition to power, and by giving him light, and strength, and foothold, to enable him to sustain that opposition, christianity has done an inestimable service, and has placed humanity at the only point where its highest grandeur appears. at this point, sustained by principle, and often in the person of the humblest individual, it bids defiance to all the malice of men to wrest from it its true liberty. it bids tyranny do its worst, and though its ashes may be scattered to the winds, it leaves its startling testimony, and the inspiration of its great example to coming times. the power to do this, christianity alone can give. no other religion has ever so demonstrated its evidences to the senses, and caused its adaptations to the innermost wants of the soul to be felt, as to enable man to stand alone against the influence of whatever was dear in affection, and flattering in promises, and fearful in torture. other religions have had their _victims_, who have been led, amidst the plaudits of surrounding multitudes, to throw themselves under the wheels of a system already established; but not their _martyrs_, who, when duty has permitted it, have fled to the fastnesses of the mountains; and when it has not, have stood upon their rights, and contested every inch of ground, and met death soberly and firmly, only when it was necessary. when this has been done by multitudes it has caused power to respect the individual, to respect humanity; and while christianity was wading through the blood of ten persecutions, it was fighting more effectually than had ever been done before, the battles of civil liberty. the call to obey god rather than men met with a response, and it is upon this ground that the battle has been opened in every case in which civil liberty now exists. it is upon this ground alone that it can be maintained. i deem it of great importance that this point should be fully and often presented, because it is vital, and because there are constant attempts made to obscure it. whatever elevates the individual, whatever gives him worth in his own estimation and that of others, whatever invests him with moral dignity, must be favorable both to pure morality and to civil liberty. hence it is that these are both incidental results of christianity. they are not the gifts which she came to bestow--these are life and immortality. they are not the white raiment in which her followers are to walk in the upper temple; but they are the earthly garments with which she would clothe the nations--they are the brightness which she leaves in her train as she moves on towards heaven, and calls on men to follow her there. these belong to her alone. infidels may filch her morality, as they have often done, and then boast of their discoveries. but in their hands that morality is lopped off from the body of faith on which it grew, and produces no fruit. they may boast, as they do, of a liberty which they never could have achieved. but under its protection they advance doctrines and advocate practices which would corrupt it into license. their only strength lies in endeavoring, in the sacred name of liberty, to corrupt the virtuous, and to excite the hatred of the vicious against those restraints without which liberty cannot exist, and society has no ground of security. "promising liberty to others, they are themselves the servants of corruption." liberty cannot exist without morality, nor general morality without a pure religion. the doctrine thus stated is fully confirmed by history. the reformation by luther was made on strictly religious grounds. he found an opposition between the decrees of the pope and the commands of god, and it was the simple purpose, resolutely adhered to, to obey god rather than men, that caused europe to rock to its centre. in the train of this religious reformation civil liberty followed, but became settled and valuable only as religious liberty was perfected. it was every where on the ground of conscience towards god that the first stand was taken, and in those countries where the struggle for religious liberty commenced but did not succeed, as in spain and italy, civil liberty has found no resting place for the sole of her foot to this day. it is conceded even by hume that england owes her civil liberty to the puritans, and the history of the settlement and progress of this country as a splendid exemplification of the principle in question, needs but to be mentioned here. in speaking thus of the resistance of christian subjects to the government, perhaps i should guard against being misunderstood. in no case can it be a factious resistance. it cannot be stimulated by any of the ordinary motives to such resistance--by discontent, or passion, or ambition, or a love of gain. in no case can it show itself in the disorganizing, the aggressive, and in a free government, the suicidal spirit of mobs. christians have in their eye a grand and a holy object, and all they wish is to go forward, without violating the rights of others, to its attainment. in so doing they set themselves in opposition to nobody, but merely exercise an inalienable right, and if others oppose them, they must still go forward and obey god, be the consequences what they may. * * * * * we will now consider, as was proposed, the effect of an adherence to the principle of the text on the part of rulers. this becomes appropriate from the peculiar form of our government, and the relation which the rulers hold to the people. rulers have indeed, in all countries, need to be exhorted to obey god, but when their will is supreme, and their power is independent of the people, there can be no propriety in exhorting them to obey god rather than men. in this country, however, this principle needs to be enforced upon legislators and rulers quite as much as upon the people, perhaps even more. it is at this point, if i mistake not, that we are to look for the danger peculiar to our institutions through those in authority. in other countries the danger is from the accumulation and tyrannical use of power. with us, limited as is the tenure of office, there is little danger of direct oppression. the danger is that those who are in office, and those who wish for it, will, for the sake of immediate popularity, lend the sanction of their names to doctrines and practices, which, if carried into effect, must destroy all government. how is it else that mobs should often escape with so little rebuke? how is it else that we hear such extravagant and disorganizing doctrines maintained in regard to the rights of a majority respecting property, and their power to set aside any guaranties of former legislatures? certainly the people are the fountain of power. they establish the government, they have a right to alter it; but when it is established, the state becomes personified through it, and its acts are to be consistent. when it is established, it _is_ a government, it has authority, it becomes god's institution, and those who administer it are to obey god rather than men. wo to this country, when the people shall become to those in place, the object of adulation and of an affected idolatry. wo to this country, when the people shall cease to reverence the government as the institution of god because it is established through them; when they shall suppose that it is in such a sense theirs, that they can supersede its acts in any way except by constitutional forms. there is also another reason why the principle of the text ought to be especially regarded by the rulers of this country. so far as a nation can be considered and treated as a moral person, its character must be indicated by the acts of its rulers. accordingly, we find that under every form of government, god has made nations responsible, as in the natural course of things they evidently must be, for what is done by their rulers. but if this is so in monarchical governments, where the agency of the people is so little connected with public acts, much more must it be so in one like ours. here the rulers represent the people more immediately. they indicate in the eyes of the world, the moral condition of the people, and hence the peculiar responsibility of those who act under the oath of god in making and administering the laws of a representative government. if it can ever be required of god to vindicate his administration by the treatment of any people, it must be of one whose government is thus administered. i observe then that the principle of the text should be adopted by rulers, because it furnishes the only broad and safe basis of political action. the adoption of this principle i consider the first requisite of a wise, in opposition to a cunning and temporizing statesman. statesmanship, as distinguished from that skilful combination of measures which has for its object personal advancement, consists very much in a perception of the connexion there is between the prosperity of states, and the accordance of their laws and social institutions with the laws of justice, and benevolence, and temperance, which are the laws of god. the laws of god are uniform. the general tendencies which he has inwrought into the system will take effect, and nothing, not shaped in accordance with these can stand. now it is an attempt to evade the effect of these tendencies by expedients in particular instances and for the sake of particular ends, that has been called statesmanship; while he only is the true statesman who sees what these tendencies are, and shapes his laws and institutions in accordance with them. the mere politician, if i may so designate him, perceives the movements which take place in the different parts of society relatively to each other, and is complacently skilful in adjusting them to his purposes, but he fails to see that general movement by which the whole is drifted on together, and which is bearing society to a point where elements that he had not dreamed of will be called into action, and where his petty expedients will become in a moment, but as the barriers of sand which the child raises upon the beach, when the tide begins to rise. "i tremble for my country," said an american statesman, in a sentence, which, though awfully ominous in the connexion in which it was uttered, does equal honor to his head and his heart, "i tremble for my country when i remember that god is just." in that sentence are involved the principles of that higher statesmanship before which the expedients of merely expert men dwindle into nothing. he knew not how, or where, or when, the blow might fall; but he knew that there was always a joint in the harness of injustice, where the arrow of retribution, though it might seem to be speeding at a venture, would surely find its way. the higher movements of divine providence include the lower. sooner or later all particular, and for a time apparently anomalous cases are brought under its general rules, and he has read the history of the past with little benefit, who has failed to see how the giant machinery of that providence, in the intermediate spaces of which there is ample room for the free play of human agency, takes up the results of that agency as they are wrought out, and applies them to the execution of its own uniform laws, and the accomplishment of its own predicted purposes. these purposes, as declared by those divine records whose prophecies have now become history, were often such as no human sagacity, looking merely at second causes, could have anticipated, such as no human power then existing could have effected. still, they were wrought out in conformity with that higher, and uniform, and all-encompassing movement with reference to which he who stands at the helm should guide the state, but to ascertain which, he must not take his bearings from the shifting headlands of circumstances, but must lift his eye to those eternal principles which abide ever the same. on this subject there is written upon the walls of the past a lesson for statesmen that needs no interpreter. look at babylon. who is it that stands before its walls, and utters its doom? it is a despised jew. and who is he that walks in pride upon those walls, and as he points to that mighty city as the centre of civilization and power, as combining every advantage of climate and of commerce, mocks at that doom? it is a politician of those days. the voice of the prophet is uttered, and it seems to pass idly upon the wind. the eye of sense sees no effect. no clouds gather, no lightnings descend. but that voice was not in vain. the waters of desolation heard it in their distant caves, and never ceased to rise till they had whelmed palace and tower and temple in one undistinguished ruin. even now that voice abides there, and hangs as a spirit of the air over that desolation, and the arabian hears it, warning him not to pitch his tent there, and the wild beast of the desart and the owl and the satyr hear it, and come up and dwell and dance there. look at jerusalem. who is he that stands upon mount olivet and weeps as he looks upon the city, and assigns, as the cause of his tears, that he would often have gathered her children together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but she would not? ah! what political jew would have thought of _that_! he would have turned his attention to the purposes of governors and the intrigues of courts. into his estimate of the causes that might affect the prosperity of jerusalem, the moral temper of the nation as indicated by its rejection of jesus of nazareth, would not have entered. and yet, it was from this rejection, even in the way of natural consequence, from the want of those moral qualities which only a regard to his teachings could have produced among them, that the destruction of the jews resulted. nothing else could have destroyed their fool-hardy confidence in god, or have allayed those fiendish passions which led contending factions to fill the streets of the city with dead bodies even in the midst of the siege. but they would not have his spirit; they would not have him to reign over them, and we know that from the moment the words dropped from his lips, "your house is left unto you desolate," that was a doomed city, and no political skill could have deferred the horrors of a siege and of a final overthrow, such as was not from the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be. and not only from babylon and jerusalem, but from the grave of every nation buried in antiquity, from nineveh, and tyre, and edom, and egypt, there comes a voice calling upon rulers to be "just, ruling in the fear of god." the true cause of their destruction was the attitude which they assumed towards the will, and worship, and people of god. it is from these moral causes, between which and the result there is no immediate, nor, to the superficial eye, perceptible connexion, that i fear most for the stability of our institutions. it is when the sun is shining most brightly, and the face of the sky shows, it may be, not a single cloud, that the elements of the tornado are ascending most rapidly; and it is when men are in prosperity and in fancied security that they become presumptuous, and that a disastrous train of causes is silently put in motion, as resistless as the tornado. upon this point of security, the eye of the true statesman is fixed. it is here that he sees the danger and provides against it; while the mere politician knows nothing, and sees nothing, till he begins, when it is too late, to see the lightnings, and hear the thunders of embodied wrath. can, then, the rulers of this country, in disregard of the warnings of all past time, with a full understanding of the claims and of the controlling agency of the great moral principles of god's government, go on in obedience to men rather than god, and make laws in disregard, or defiance of his will? if so, then, from the reciprocal influence of rulers and people, our experiment of self-government would seem to be hopeless. then _must_ god scourge this people as he has scourged others. then are the untoward symptoms of the present time, but as the white spot that shows the leprosy. then will the altar of liberty decay, and the fire upon it will go out, and there will be heard by those who watch in her temple, as of old in the desecrated temple of god, the voice of its presiding spirit saying, "let us go hence," and that temple, towards which the eyes of the nations were turned with hope, shall become the haunt of every unclean thing, and shall only wait the hand of violence to leave not one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. in view of such consequences, i cannot but feel that the solemn words of our saviour are as applicable to legislators and rulers in their public, as in their private capacity. "and i say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. but i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: fear him which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell, yea i say unto you, fear him." * * * * * to his excellency the governor, these sentiments are addressed, as putting him in remembrance, as he stands upon the threshold of a new official year, of that which ought ever to be uppermost in the mind of the chief magistrate of a christian people, of the paramount authority of god, and of the necessity there is that all human legislation should coincide with the principles of his government. it is a great and a sacred trust which the people of this commonwealth commit to their chief magistrate, and they expect it will be used in the fear of god, and for the good of this whole people. that trust is in tried hands, and we rejoice in the belief that it is safely deposited. especially, may i be permitted to say, does it give me pleasure to welcome to the chair of state one in whose civic wreath literary honors are entwined, and who can forget the toils and lay aside the dignities of office, to cheer the young scholar on his way. long may our literary institutions continue to raise up those who shall add to the dignity of office, the grace of learning, and the sanctity of private virtue; and who, while they devote their labors more particularly to the good of their own state, shall be regarded as belonging to the union and to the world. to his honor the lieutenant governor, to the honorable council and senate, and to the assembled representatives of the people, the sentiments of this discourse are addressed, as the descendants of those who showed in the hour of peril, that they feared god rather than men. following their example, you have come up, as you are about to enter upon your responsible duties, to present, in this venerable house, thanksgivings and supplications to the lord god of our fathers; and to do homage in the name of the republic, to his institutions. this is well. but that republic expects of you that you will imitate, not merely in form, but also in spirit, the bright examples that are set before you, that you will act from principle, that you will "obey god rather than men." so doing the commonwealth will be safe, for it is the simple wisdom of goodness, that alone is truly wise. speeches, addresses, and occasional sermons, by theodore parker, minister of the twenty-eighth congregational church in boston. in three volumes. vol. ii. boston: horace b. fuller, (successor to walker, fuller, and company,) , washington street. . entered according to act of congress, in the year , by theodore parker, in the clerk's office of the district court of the district of massachusetts. contents of volume ii. i. a sermon of the spiritual condition of boston.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, february , page ii. some thoughts on the most christian use of the sunday.--a sermon preached at the melodeon, on sunday, january , iii. a sermon of immortal life.--preached at the melodeon on sunday, september , iv. the public education of the people.--an address delivered before the onondaga teachers' institute at syracuse, new york, october , v. the political destination of america, and the signs of the times.--an address delivered before several literary societies in vi. a discourse occasioned by the death of john quincy adams.--delivered at the melodeon, on sunday, march , vii. a speech at a meeting of the american anti-slavery society, to celebrate the abolition of slavery by the french republic, april , viii. a speech at faneuil hall, before the new england anti-slavery convention, may , ix. some thoughts on the free soil party, and the election of general taylor, december, a sermon of the spiritual condition of boston.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, february , . matthew viii. . by their fruits ye shall know them. last sunday i said something of the moral condition of boston; to-day i ask your attention to a sermon of the spiritual condition of boston. i use the word spiritual in its narrower sense, and speak of the condition of this town in respect to piety. a little while since, in a sermon of piety, i tried to show that love of god lay at the foundation of all manly excellence, and was the condition of all noble, manly development; that love of truth, love of justice, love of love, were respectively the condition of intellectual, moral, and affectional development, and that they were also respectively the intellectual, moral, and affectional forms of piety; that the love of god as the infinite father, the totality of truth, justice, and love was the general condition of the total development of man's spiritual powers. but i showed, that sometimes this piety, intellectual, moral, affectional or total, did not arrive at self-consciousness; the man only unconsciously loving the infinite in one or all these modes, and in such cases the man was a loser by frustrating his piety, and allowing it to stop in the truncated form of unconsciousness. now what is in you will appear out of you; if piety be there in any of these forms, in either mode, it will come out; if not there, its fruits cannot appear. you may reason forward or backward: if you know piety exists, you may foretell its appearance; if you find fruits thereof, you may reason back and be sure of its existence. piety is love of god as god, and as we only love what we are like, and in that degree, so it is also a likeness to god. now it is a general doctrine in christendom that divinity must manifest itself; and, in assuming the highest form of manifestation known to us, divinity becomes humanity. however, that doctrine is commonly taught in the specific and not generic form, and is enforced by an historical and concrete example, but not by way of a universal thesis. it appears thus: the christ was god; as such he must manifest himself; the form of manifestation was that of a complete and perfect man. i reject the concrete example, but accept the universal doctrine on which the special dogma of the trinity is erected. from that i deduce this as a general rule: if you follow the law of your nature, and are simple and true to that, as much of godhead as there is in you, so much of manhood will come out of you, and, as much of manhood comes out of you, so much of godhead was there within you; as much subjective divinity, so much objective humanity. such being the case, the demands you can make on a man for manliness must depend for their answer on the amount of piety on deposit in his character; so it becomes important to know the condition of this town in respect of piety, for if this be not right in the above sense, nothing else is right; or, to speak more clerically, "unless the lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain," and unless piety be developed or a-developing in men, it is vain for the minister to sit up late of a saturday night to concoct his sermon, and to rise up early of a sunday morning to preach the same; he fights but as one that beateth the air, and spends his strength for that which is nought. they are in the right, therefore, who first of all things demand piety: so let us see what signs or proof we have, and of what amount of piety in boston. to determine this, we must have some test by which to judge of the quality, distinguishing piety from impiety, and some standard whereby to measure the quantity thereof; for though you may know what piety is in you, i what is in me, and god what is in both and in all the rest of us, it is plain that we can only judge of the existence of piety in other men, and measure its quantity by an outward manifestation thereof, in some form which shall serve at once as a trial test and a standard measure. now, then, as i mentioned in that former sermon, it is on various sides alleged that there are two outward manifestations of piety, a good deal unlike: each is claimed by some men as the exclusive trial test and standard measure. let me say a word of each. i. some contend for what i call the conventional standard; that is, the manifestation of piety by means of certain prescribed forms. of these forms there are three modes or degrees: namely, first, the form of bodily attendance on public worship; second, the belief in certain doctrines, not barely because they are proven true, or known without proof, but because they are taught with authority; and third, a passive acquiescence in certain forms and ceremonies, or an active performance thereof. ii. the other i call the natural standard; that is, the manifestation of piety in the natural form of morality in its various degrees and modes of action. * * * * * it is plain, that the amount of piety in a man or a town, will appear very different when tested by one or the other of these standards. it may be that very little water runs through the wooden trough which feeds the saw-mill at niagara, and yet a good deal, blue and bounding, may leap over the rock, adown its natural channel. in a matter of this importance, when taking account of a stock so precious as piety, it is but fair to try it by both standards. * * * * * let us begin with the conventional standard, and examine piety by its manifestation in the ecclesiastical forms. here is a difficulty at the outset, in determining upon the measure, for there is no one and general ecclesiastical standard, common to all parties of christians, from the catholic to the quaker; each measures by its own standard, but denies the correctness of all the others. it is as if a foot were declared the unit of long measure, and then the actual foot of the chief justice of a state, were taken as the rule by which to correct all measurements; then the foot would vary as you went from north carolina to south, and, in any one state, would vary with the health of the judge. however, to do what can be done with a measure thus uncertain, it is plain, that, estimated by any ecclesiastical standard, the amount of piety is small. there is, as men often say, "a general decline of piety;" that is a common complaint, recorded and registered. but what makes the matter worse to the ecclesiastical philosopher, and more appalling to the complainers, is this: it is a decline of long standing. the disease which is thus lamented is said to be acute, but is proved to be chronic also; only it would seem, from the lamentations of some modern jeremiahs, that the decline went on with accelerated velocity, and, the more chronic the disease was, the acuter it also became. tried by this standard, things seem discouraging. to get a clearer view, let us look a little beyond our own borders, at first, and then come nearer home. the catholic church complains of a general defection. the majority of the christian church confesses that the protestant reformation was not a revival of religion, not a "great awakening," but a great falling to sleep; the faith of luther and calvin was a great decline of religion--a decline of piety in the ecclesiastical form; that modern philosophy, the physics of galileo and newton, the metaphysics of descartes and of kant, mark another decline of religion--a decline of piety in the philosophical form; that all the modern democracy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, marks a yet further decline of religion--a decline of piety in the political form; that all the modern secular societies, for removing the evils of men and their sins, mark a yet fourth decline of religion--a decline of piety in the philanthropic form. certainly, when measured by the mediæval standard of catholicism, these mark four great declensions of piety, for, in all four, the old principle of subordination to an external and personal authority is set aside. all over europe this decline is still going on; ecclesiastical establishments are breaking down; other establishments are a-building up. pius the ninth seems likely to fulfil his own prophecy, and be the last of the popes; i mean the last with temporal power. there is a great schism in the north of europe; the germans will be catholics, but no longer roman. the old forms of piety, such as service in latin, the withholding of the bible from the people, compulsory confession, the ungrateful celibacy of a reluctant priesthood--all these are protested against. it is of no avail that the holy coat of jesus, at treves, works greater miracles than the apostolical napkins and aprons; of no avail that the virgin mary appeared on the nineteenth of september, , to two shepherd-children, at la salette, in france. what are such things to ronge and wessenberg? neither the miraculous coat, nor the miraculous mother, avails aught against this untoward generation, charm they never so wisely. the decline of piety goes on. by the new constitution of france, all forms of religion are equal; the catholic and the protestant, the mahometan and the jew, are equally sheltered under the broad shield of the law. even spain, the fortress walled and moated about, whither the spirit of the middle ages retired and shut herself up long since, womanning her walls with unmanly priests and kings, with unfeminine queens and nuns--even spain fails with the general failure. british capitalists buy up her convents and nunneries, to turn them into woollen mills. monks and nuns forget their beads in some new handicraft; sister mary, who sat still in the house, is now also busy with serving, careful, indeed, about more things than formerly, but not cumbered nor troubled as before. meditative rachels, and hannahs, long unblest, who sat in solitude, have now become like practical dorcas, making garments for the poor; the bank is become more important than the inquisition. the order of st. francis d'assisi, of st. benedict, even of st. dominic himself, is giving way before the new order of arkwright, watt, and fulton,--the order of the spinning jenny and the power-loom. it is no longer books on the miraculous conception, or meditations on the five wounds of the saviour, or commentaries on the song of songs which is solomon's, that get printed there: but fiery novels of eugene sue, and george sand; and so extremes meet. protestant establishments share the same peril. a new sect of protestants rises up in germany, who dissent as much from the letter and spirit of protestantism, as the protestants from catholicism; men that will not believe the infallibility of the bible, the doctrine of the trinity, the depravity of man, the eternity of future punishment, nor justification by faith--a justification before god, for mere belief before men. the new spirit gets possession of new men, who cannot be written down, nor even howled down. excommunication or abuse does no good on such men as bauer, strauss, and schwegler; and it answers none of their questions. it seems pretty clear, that in all the north of germany, within twenty years, there will be entire freedom of worship, for all sects, protestant and catholic. in england, protestantism has done its work less faithfully than in germany. the protestant spirit of england came here two hundred years ago, so that new and protestant england is on the west of the ocean; in england, an established church lies there still, an iceberg in the national garden. but even there, the decline of the ecclesiastical form of piety is apparent: the new bishops must not sit in the house of lords, till the old ones die out, for the number of lords spiritual must not increase, though the temporal may; the new attempt, at oxford and elsewhere, to restore the middle ages, will not prosper. bring back all the old rites and forms into leeds and manchester; teach men the theology of thomas aquinas, or of st. bernard; bid them adore the uplifted wafer, as the very god, men who toil all day with iron mills, who ride in steam-drawn coaches, and talk by lightning in a whisper, from the irk to the thames,--they will not consent to the philosophy or the theology of the middle ages, nor be satisfied with the old forms of piety, which, though too elevated for their fathers in the time of elizabeth, are yet too low for them, at least too antiquated. dissenters have got into the house of commons; the test-act is repealed, and a man can be a captain in the army, or a postmaster in a village, without first taking the lord's supper, after the fashion of the church of england. some men demand the abandonment of tithes, the entire separation of church and state, the return to "the voluntary principle" in religion. "the battering ram which levelled old sarum," and other boroughs as corrupt, now beats on the church, and the "church is in danger." men complain of the decline of piety in england. an intelligent and very serious writer, not long ago, lamenting this decline, in proof thereof, relates, that formerly men began their last wills, "in the name of god, amen;" and headed bills of lading with, "shipped in good order, by the grace of god;" that indictments for capital crimes charged the culprit with committing felony, "at the instigation of the devil," and now, he complains, these forms have gone out of use. in america, in new england, in boston, when measured by that standard, the same decline of piety is apparent. it is often said that our material condition is better than our moral; that in advance of our spiritual condition. there is a common clerical complaint of a certain thinness in the churches; men do not give their bodily attendance, as once they did; they are ready enough to attend lectures, two or three in a week, no matter how scientific and abstract, or how little connected with their daily work, yet they cannot come to the church without teasing beforehand, nor keep awake while there. it is said the minister is not respected as formerly. true, a man of power is respected, heard, sought, and followed, but it is for his power, for his words of grace and truth, not for his place in a pulpit; he may have more influence as a man, but less as a clergyman. ministers lament a prevalent disbelief of their venerable doctrines; that there is a concealed skepticism in regard to them, often not concealed. this, also, is a well-founded complaint; the well-known dogmas of theology were never in worse repute; there was never so large a portion of the community in new england who were doubtful of the trinity, of eternal damnation, of total depravity, of the atonement, of the godhead of jesus, of the miracles of the new testament, and of the truth of every word of the bible. a complaint is made, that the rites and forms which are sometimes called "the ordinances of religion," are neglected; that few men join the church, and though the old hedge is broken down before the altar, yet the number of communicants diminishes, and it is no longer able-headed men, the leaders of society, who come; that the ordinances seem haggard and ghastly to young men, who cannot feed their hungry souls on such a thin pittance of spiritual aliment as these afford; that the children are not baptized. these things are so; so in europe, catholic and protestant; so in america, so in boston. notwithstanding the well-founded complaint that our modern churches are too costly for the times, we do not build temples which bear so high a proportion to our wealth as the early churches of boston; the attendance at meeting does not increase as the population; the ministers are not prominent, as in the days of wilson, of cotton, and of norton; their education is not now in the same proportion to the general culture of the times. harvard college, dedicated to "christ and the church," designed at first chiefly for the education of the clergy, graduates few ministers; theological literature no longer overawes all other. the number of church members was never so small in proportion to the voters as now; the number of protestant births never so much exceeded the number of protestant baptisms. young men of superior ability and superior education have little affection for the ministry; take little interest in the welfare of the church. nay, youths descended from a wealthy family seldom look that way. it is poor men's sons, men of obscure family, who fill the pulpits; often, likewise, men of slender ability, eked out with an education proportionately scant. the most active members of the churches are similar in position, ability, and culture. these are undeniable facts. they are not peculiar to new england. you find them wherever the voluntary principle is resorted to. in england, in catholic countries, you find the old historic names in the established church; there is no lack of aristocratic blood in clerical veins; but there and everywhere the church seems falling astern of all other craft which can keep the sea. since these things are so, men who have only the conventional standard wherewith to measure the amount of piety, only that test to prove its existence by, think we are rapidly going to decay; that the tabernacle is fallen down, and no man rises to set it up. they complain that zion is in distress; theological newspapers lament that there are no revivals to report; that "the lord has withheld his arm," and does not "pour out his spirit upon the churches." ghastly meetings are held by men with sincere and noble heart, but saddened face; speeches are made which seem a groan of linked wailings long drawn out. men mourn at the infidelity of the times, at the coldness of some, at the deadness of others. all the sects complain of this, yet each loves to attribute the deadness of the rival sects to their special theology; it is unitarianism which is choking the unitarians, say their foes, and the unitarians know how to retort after the same fashion. the less enlightened put the blame of this misfortune on the good god who has somehow "withheld his hand," or omitted to "pour out his spirit,"--the people perishing for want of the open vision. others put the blame on mankind; some on "poor human nature," which is not what might have been expected, not perceiving that if the fault be there it is not for us to remedy, and if god made man a bramble-bush, that no wailing will make him bear figs. yet others refer this condition to the use made of human nature, which certainly is a more philosophical way of looking at the matter. now there is one sect which has done great service in former days, which is, i think, still doing something to enlighten and liberalize the land, and, i trust, will yet do more, more even than it consciously intends. the name of unitarian is deservedly dear to many of us, who yet will not be shackled by any denominational fetters. this sect has always been remarkable for a certain gentlemanly reserve about all that pertained to the inward part of religion; other faults it might have, but it did not incur the reproach of excessive enthusiasm, or a spirituality too sublimated and transcendental for daily use. this sect has long been a speckled bird among the denominations, each of which has pecked at her, or at least cawed with most unmelodious croak against this new-fledged sect. it was said the unitarians had "denied the lord that bought them;" that theirs was the church of unbelief--not the church of christ, but of no-christ; that they had a bible of their own, and a thin, poor bible, too; that their ways were ways of destruction; "touch not, taste not, handle not," was to be written on their doctrines; that they had not even the grace of lukewarmness, but were moral and stone-cold; that they looked fair on the side turned towards man, but on the godward side it was a blank wall with no gate, nor window, nor loop-hole, nor eyelet for the holy ghost to come through; that their prayers were only a show of devotion to cover up the hard rock of the flinty heart, or the frozen ground of morality. their faith, it was said, was only a conviction after the case was proven by unimpeachable evidence, and good for nothing; while belief without evidence, or against proof, seems to be the right ecclesiastical talisman. for a long time the unitarian sect did not grumble unduly, but set itself to promote the cultivation of reason and apply that to religion; to cultivate morality and apply it to life; and to demand the most entire personal freedom for all men in all matters pertaining to religion. hence came its merits; they were very great merits, too, and not at all the merits of the times, held in common with the other sects. i need not dwell on this, and the good works of unitarianism, in this the most unitarian city in the world; but as a general thing the unitarians, it seems to me, did neglect the culture of piety; and of course their morality, while it lasted, would be unsatisfactory, and in time would wither and dry up because it had no deepness of earth to grow out of. the unitarians, as a general thing, began outside, and sought to work inward, proceeding from the special to the general, by what might be called the inductive mode of religious culture; that was the form adopted in pulpits, and in families so far as there was any religious education attempted in private. that is not the method of nature, where all growth is the development of a living germ, which by an inward power appropriates the outward things it needs, and grows thereby. hence came the defects of unitarianism, and they were certainly very great defects; but they came almost unavoidably from the circumstances of the times. the sensational philosophy was the only philosophy that prevailed; the orthodox sects had always rejected a part of that philosophy, not in the name of science, but of piety, and they supplied its place not with a better philosophy, but with tradition, speaking with an authority which claimed to be above human nature. it was not in the name of reason that they rejected a false philosophy, but in the name of religion often denounced all philosophy and the reason which demanded it. the unitarians rejected that portion of orthodoxy, became more consistent sensationalists, and arrived at results which we know. now it is easy to see their error; not difficult to avoid it; but forty or fifty years ago it was almost impossible not to fall into this mistake. sometimes it seems as if the unitarians were half conscious of this defect, and so dared not be original, but borrowed orthodox weapons, or continued to use trinitarian phrases long after they had blunted those weapons of their point, and emptied the phrases of their former sense. in the controversy between the orthodox and unitarians, neither party was wholly right: the unitarians had reason to charge the orthodox with debasing man's nature, and representing god as not only unworthy, but unjust, and somewhat odious; the trinitarians were mainly right in charging us with want of conscious piety, with beginning to work at the wrong end; but at the same time it must be remembered, that, in proportion to their numbers, the unitarians have furnished far more philanthropists and reformers than any of the other sects. it is time to confess this on both sides. for a long time the unitarian sect did not complain much of the decline of piety; it did not care to have an organization, loving personal freedom too well for that, and it had not much denominational feeling; indeed, its members were kept together, not so much by an agreement and unity of opinion among themselves, as by a unity of opposition from without; it was not the hooks on their shields that held the legion together with even front, but the pressure of hostile shields crowded upon them from all sides. they did not believe in spasmodic action; if a body was dead, they gave it burial, without trying to galvanize it into momentary life, not worth the spark it cost; they knew that a small cloud may make a good many flashes in the dark, but that many lightnings cannot make light. they stood apart from the violent efforts of other churches to get converts. the converts they got commonly adhered to their faith, and in this respect differed a good deal from those whom "revivals" brought into other churches; with whom christianity sprung up in a night, and in a night also perished. some years ago, when this city was visited and ravaged by revivals, the unitarians kept within doors, gave warning of the danger, and suffered less harm and loss from that tornado than any of the sects. unitarianism seems, in this city, to have done its original work; so the company is breaking up by degrees, and the men are going off, to engage in other business, to weed other old fields, or to break up new land, each man following his own sense of duty, and for himself determining whether to go or stay. but at the same time, an attempt is made to keep the company together; to cultivate a denominational feeling; to put hooks and staples on the shields which no longer offer that formidable and even front; to teach all trumpets to give the same sectarian bray, all voices to utter the same war-cry. the attempt does not succeed; the ranks are disordered, the trumpets give an uncertain sound, and the soldiers do not prepare themselves for denominational battle; nay, it often happens that the camp lacks the two sinews of war--both money, and men. hence the denominational view of religious affairs has undergone a change; i make no doubt a real and sincere change, though i know this has been denied, and the change thought only official. the men i refer to are sincere and devout men; some of them quite above the suspicion of mere official conduct. this sect is now the loudest in its wailing; these christian jeremiahs tell us that we do not realize spiritual things, that we are all dead men, that there is no health in us. these cold unitarian thomases crowd unwontedly together in public to bewail the spiritual weather, the dearth of piety in boston, the "general decline of religion" in new england. church unto church raises the macedonian cry, "come over and help us!" the opinion seems general that piety is in a poor way, and must have watchers, the strongest medicine, and nursing quite unusual, or it will soon be all over, and unitarianism will give up the ghost. various causes have i heard assigned for the malady; some think that there has been over-much preaching of philosophy, though perhaps there is not evidence to convict any one man in particular of the offence; that philosophy is the dog in the manger, who keeps the hungry unitarian flock from their spiritual hay, and cut-straw, which are yet of not the smallest use to him. but look never so sharp, and you do not find this dangerous beast in the neighborhood of the fold. others think that there has been also an excess of moral preaching, against the prevalent sins of the nation, i suppose--but few individuals seem liable to conviction on that charge. yet others think this decline comes from the fact that the terrors have not been duly and sufficiently administered from the pulpit; that while catholics and methodists thrive under such influences, the unitarian widows are neglected in the weekly ministration of terror and of threat; that there has not been so much an excess of lightning in the form of philosophy or morality, but only a lack of thunder. this temporary movement among the unitarians of boston is natural; in some respects it is what our fathers would have called "judicial." the unitarians have been cold, have looked more at the outward manifestations of goodness than at the inward spirit of piety which was to make the manifestations; they have not had an excess of philosophy, or of morality, but a defect of piety. they have been more respectable than pious. they have not always quite rightly appreciated the enthusiasm of sterner and more austere sects; not always done justice to the inwardness of religion those sects sought to promote. when their churches get a little thin, and their denominational affairs a little disturbed, it is quite natural these unitarians should look after the cause and pass over to lamentations at the present state of things; while looking at the community from the new point of view, it is quite natural that they should suppose piety on the decline, and religion dying out. yes, in general it is plain that, if men have no eyes but conventional eyes, no spirit but that of the ecclesiastical order they serve in, and of the denomination they belong to, it is natural for them to think that because piety does not flow in the old ecclesiastical channel, it does not flow anywhere, and there is none at all to run. thus it is easy to explain the complaint of the catholics at the great defection of the most enlightened nations of europe; the lamentation of the protestants at the heresy of the most enlightened portion of their sect; and the unitarian wail over the general decline of piety in the city of boston. some men can only judge the present age by the conventional standard of the past, and as the old form of piety does not appear, they must conclude there is no piety. * * * * * let us now recur to the other or natural standard, and look at the manifestation of piety in the form of morality. last sunday i spoke of our moral condition; and it appeared that morals were in a low state here when compared with the ideal morals of christianity. now as the outward deed is but the manifestation of the inward life, and objective humanity the index of subjective divinity, so the low state of morals proves a low state of piety; if the heart of this town was right towards god, then would its hand also be right towards man. i am one of those who for long years have lamented the want of vital piety in this people. we not only do not realize spiritual things, but we do not make them our ideals. i see proofs of this want of piety in the low morals of trade, of the public press; in poverty, intemperance, and crime; in the vices and social wrongs touched on the last sunday. i judge the tree by its fruit. but it is not on this ground that the ecclesiastical complaint is based. men who make so much ado about the absence of piety, do not appeal for proof thereof to the great vices and prominent sins of the times; they see no sign of that in our trade and our politics; in the misery that festers in putrid lanes, one day to breed a pestilence, which it were even cheaper to hinder now, than cure at a later time; nobody mentions as proof the mexican war, the political dishonesty of officers, the rapacity of office-seekers, the servility of men who will tamely suffer the most sacred rights of three millions of men to be trodden into the dust. matters which concern millions of men came up before your congress; the great senator of massachusetts loitered away the time of the session here in boston, managing a lawsuit for a few thousand dollars, and no fault was publicly found with such neglect of public duty; but men see no lack of piety indicated by this fact, and others like it; they find signs of that lack in empty pews, in a deserted communion-table, in the fact that children, though brought up to reverence truth and justice, to love man and to love god, are not baptized with water; or in the fact that unitarianism or trinitarianism is on the decline! how many wailings have we all heard or read, because the puritan churches of boston have not kept the faith of their grim founders; what lamentations at the rising up of a sect which refuses the doctrine of the trinity, or at the appearance of a few men who, neglecting the common props of christianity, rest it, for its basis, on the nature of man and the nature of god: though almost all the eminent philanthropy of the day is connected with these men, yet they are still called "infidel," and reviled on all hands! the state of things mentioned in the last sermon does indicate a want of piety, a deep and a great want. i do not see signs of that in the debt and decay of churches, in absence from meetings, in doubt of theological dogmas, in neglect of forms and ceremonies which once were of great value; but i do see it in the low morals of trade, of the press; in the popular vices. on a national scale i see it in the depravity of political parties, in the wicked war we have just fought, in the slavery we still tolerate and support. yes, as i look on the churches of this city, i see a want of piety in the midst of us. if eminent piety were in them, and allowed to follow its natural bent, it would come out of them in the form of eminent humanity; they would lead in the philanthropies of this day, where they hardly follow. in this condition of the churches i see a most signal proof of the low estate of piety; they do not manifest a love of truth, which is the piety of the intellect; nor a love of justice, which is the piety of the moral sense; nor a love of love, which is the piety of the affections; nor a love of god as the infinite father of all men, which is the total piety of the whole soul. for lack of this internal divinity there is a lack of external humanity. who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? this is what i complain of, what i mourn over. the clergymen of this city are most of them sincere men, i doubt not; some of them men of a superior culture; many of them laborious men; most, perhaps all of them, deeply interested in the welfare of the churches, and the promotion of piety. but how many of them are marked and known for their philanthropy, distinguished for their zeal in putting down any of the major sins of our day, zealous in any work of reform? i fear i can count them all on the fingers of a single hand; yet there are enough to bewail the departure of monastic forms, and of the theology which led men in the dimness of a darker age, but cannot shine in the rising light of this. i find no fault with these men; i blame them not; it is their profession which so blinds their eyes. they are as wise and as valiant as the churches let them be. what sect in all this land ever cared about temperance, education, peace betwixt nations, or even the freedom of all men in our own, so much as this sect cares for the baptizing of children with water, and that for the baptizing of men; this for the doctrine of the trinity, and all for the infallibility of the bible? do you ask the sects to engage in the work of extirpating concrete wrong? it is in vain; each reformer tries it--the mild sects answer, "i pray thee have me excused;" the sterner sects reply with awful speech. a distinguished theological journal of another city thinks the philanthropies of this day are hostile to piety, and declares that true spiritual christianity never prevails where men think slavery is a sin. a distinguished minister of a highly respectable sect declares the temperance societies unchristian, and even atheistical. he reasons thus: the church is an instrument appointed by god and christ, to overcome all forms of wrong, intemperance among the rest; to neglect this instrument and devise another, a temperance society, to wit, is to abandon the institutions of god and christ, and so it is unchristian and atheistical. in other words, here is intemperance, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, in our way; there is an old wooden beetle, which has done great service of old time, and is said to have been made by god's own hand; men smite therewith the stone or smite it not; still it lies there a stone of stumbling and a stone of shame; other men approach, and with a sledge-hammer of well-tempered steel smite the rock, and break off piece after piece, smoothing the rough impracticable way; they call on men to come to their aid, with such weapons as they will. but our minister bids them beware; the beetle is "of the lord," the iron which breaks the rock in pieces is an unchristian and atheistical instrument. yet was this minister an earnest, a pious, and a self-denying man, who sincerely sought the good of men. he had been taught to know no piety but in the church's form. i would not do dishonor to the churches; they have done great service, they still do much; i would only ask them to be worthy of their christian name. they educate men a little, and allow them to approach emancipation, but never to be free and go alone. * * * * * i see much to complain of in the condition of piety; yet nothing to be alarmed at. when i look back, it seems worse still, far worse. there has not been "a decline of piety" in boston of late years. religion is not sick. last sunday, i spoke of the great progress made in morality within fifty years; i said it was an immense progress within two hundred years. now, there cannot be such a progress in the outward manifestation without a corresponding and previous development of the inward principle. morality cannot grow without piety more than an oak without water, earth, sun, and air. let me go back one hundred years; see what a difference between the religious aspect of things then and now! certainly there has been a great growth in spirituality since that day. i am not to judge men's hearts; i may take their outward lives as the test and measure of their inward piety. will you say the outward life never completely comes up to that? it does so as completely now as then. compare the toleration of these times with those; compare the intelligence of the community; the temperance, sobriety, chastity, virtue in general. look at what is now done in a municipal way by towns and states for mankind; see the better provision made for the poor, for the deaf, the dumb, the blind, for the insane, even for the idiot; see what is done for the education of the people--in schools, academies, colleges, and by public lectures; what is done for the criminal to prevent the growth of crime. see what an amelioration of the penal laws; how men are saved and restored to society, who had once been wholly lost. see what is done by philanthropy still more eminent, which the town and state have not yet overtaken and enacted into law; by the various societies for reform--those for temperance, for peace, for the discipline of prisons, for the discharged convicts, for freeing the slave. see this anti-slavery party, which, in twenty years, has become so powerful throughout all the northern states, so strong that it cannot be howled down, and men begin to find it hardly safe to howl over it; a party which only waits the time to lift up its million arms, and hurl the hateful institution of slavery out of the land! all these humane movements come from a divine piety in the soul of man. a tree which bears such fruits is not a dead tree; is not wholly to be despaired of; is not yet in a "decline," and past all hope of recovery. is the age wanting in piety, which makes such efforts as these? yes, you will say, because it does no more. i agree to this, but it is rich in piety compared to other times. ours is an age of faith; not of mere belief in the commandments of men, but of faith in the nature of man and the commandments of god. this prevailing and contagious complaint about the decline of religion is not one of the new things of our time. in the beginning of the last century, dr. colman, first minister of the church in brattle street, lamented in small capitals over the general decline of piety:--"the venerable name of religion and of the church is made a sham pretence for the worst of villanies, for uncharitableness and unnatural oppression of the pious and the peaceable;" "the perilous times are come, wherein men are lovers only of their own selves." "ah, calamitous day," says he, "into which we are fallen, and into which the sins of our infatuated age have brought us!" he looks back to the founders of new england; they "were rich in faith, and heirs of a better world," "men of whom the world was not worthy;" "they laid in a stock of prayers for us which have brought down many blessings on us already." samuel willard bewailed "the checkered state of the gospel church;" it was "in every respect a gloomy day, and covered with thick clouds." we retire yet further back, to the end of the seventeenth century; a hundred and sixty or seventy years ago, dr. increase mather, not only in his own pulpit, but also at "the great and thursday lecture," lamented over "the degeneracy and departing glory of new england." he complained that there was a neglect of the sabbath, of the ordinances, and of family worship; he groaned at the lax discipline of the churches, and looked, says another, "as fearfully on the growing charity as on the growing vices of the age." he called the existing generation "an unconverted generation." "atheism and profaneness," says he, "have come to a prodigious height;" "god will visit" for these things; "god is about to open the windows of heaven, and pour down the cataracts of his wrath ere this generation ... is passed away." if a comet appeared in the sky, it was to admonish men of the visitation, and make "the haughty daughters of zion reform their pride of apparel." "the world is full of unbelief" (that is, in the malignant aspect and disastrous influence of comets), "but there is an awful scripture for them that do profanely condemn such signal works!" one of the present and well-known indications of the decline of piety, that is often thought a modern luxury, and ridiculously denounced in the pulpit, which has done its part in fostering the enjoyment, was practised to an extent that alarmed the prim shepherds of the new england flock in earlier days. the same dr. mather preached a series of sermons "tending to promote the power of godliness," and concludes the whole with a discourse "of sleeping at sermons," and says: "to sleep in the public worship of god is a thing too frequently and easily practised; it is a great and a dangerous evil." "sleeping at a sermon is a greater sin than speaking an idle word. therefore, if men must be called to account for idle words, much more for this!" "gospel sermons are among the most precious talents which any in this world have conferred upon them. but what a sad account will be given concerning those sermons which have been slept away! as light as thou makest of it now, it may be conscience will roar for it upon a death-bed!" "verily, there is many a soul that will find this to be a dismal thought at the day of judgment, when he shall remember so many sermons i might have heard for my everlasting benefit, but i slighted and slept them all away. therefore consider, if men allow themselves in this evil their souls are in danger to perish." "it is true that a godly man may be subject unto this as well as unto other infirmities; but he doth not allow himself therein." "the name of the glorious god is greatly prophaned by this inadvertency." "the support of the evangelical ministry is ... discouraged." he thought the character of the pulpit was not sufficient explanation of this phenomenon, and adds, in his supernatural way, "satan is the external cause of this evil;" "he had rather have men wakeful at any time than at sermon time." the good man mentions, by way of example, a man who "had not slept a wink at a sermon for more than twenty years together," and also, but by way of warning, the unlucky youth in the acts who slept at paul's long sermon, and fell out of the window, and "was taken up dead." sleeping was "adding something of our own to the worship of god;" "when nadab and abihu did so, there went out fire from the lord and consumed them to death." "the holy god hath not been a little displeased for this sin." "it is not punished by men, but therefore the lord himself will visit for it." "tears of blood will trickle down thy dry and damned cheeks forever and ever, because thou mayest not be so happy as to hear one sermon, or to have one offer of grace more throughout the never-ending dayes of eternity." other men denounced their "wo to sleepy sinners," and issued their "proposals for the revival of dying religion." dr. mather thought there was "a deluge of prophaneness," and bid men "be much in mourning and humiliation that god's bottle may be filled with tears." he thought piety was going out because surplices were coming in; it was wicked to "consecrate a church;" keeping christmas was "like the idolatry of the calf." the common-prayer, an organ, a musical instrument in a church, was "not of god." such things were to our worthy fathers in the ministry what temperance and anti-slavery societies are to many of their sons--an "abomination," "unchristian and atheistic!" the introduction of "regular singing" was an indication to some that "all religion is to cease;" "we might as well go over to popery at once." inoculation for the smallpox was as vehemently and ably opposed as the modern attempt to abolish the gallows; it was "a trusting more to the machinations of men than to the all-wise providence of god." "when the enchantments of this world," says the ecclesiastical historian, "caused the rising generation more sensibly to neglect the primitive designs and interests of religion propounded by their fathers; a change in the tenor of the divine dispensation towards this country was quickly the matter of every one's observation." "our wheat and our pease fell under an unaccountable blast." "we were visited with multiplied shipwrecks;" "pestilential sicknesses did sometimes become epidemic among us." "indians cruelly butchered many hundreds of our inhabitants, and scattered whole towns with miserable ruins." "the serious people throughout the land were awakened by these intimations of divine displeasure to inquire into the causes and matters of the controversie." accordingly, , a synod was convened at boston, to "inquire into the causes of the lord's controversie with his new england people," who determined the matter.[ ] a little later, in , the general court considered the subject anew, and declared, that "a corruption of manners, attended with inexcusable degeneracies and apostacies ... is the cause of the controversie." we "are now arriving at such an extremity, that the axe is laid to the root of the trees, and we are in eminent danger of perishing, if a speedy reformation of our provoking evils prevent it not." in , cotton mather complains that "our manifold indispositions to recover the dying power of godliness, were successive calamities, under all of which, our apostacies from that godliness, have rather proceeded than abated." "the old spirit of new england has been sensibly going out of the world, as the old saints in whom it was have gone; and, instead thereof, the spirit of the world, with a lamentable neglect of strict piety, has crept in upon the rising generation." you go back to the time of the founders and fathers of the colony, and it is no better. in , mr. wilson, who had "a singular gift in the practice of discipline," on his death-bed declared, that "god would judge the people for their rebellion and self-willed spirit, for their contempt of civil and ecclesiastical rulers, and for their luxury and sloth," and before that he said, "people rise up as corah, against their ministers." "and for our neglect of baptizing the children of the church,... i think god is provoked by it. another sin i take to be the making light ... of the authority of the synods." john norton, whose piety was said to be "grace, grafted on a crab-stock," in , growled, after his wont, on account of the "heart of new england, rent with the blasphemies of this generation." john cotton, the ablest man in new england, who "liked to sweeten his mouth with a piece of calvin, before he went to sleep," and was so pious that another could not swear while he was under the roof, mourned at "the condition of the churches;" and, in , on his death-bed, after bestowing his blessing on the president of harvard college, who had begged it of him, exhorted the elders to "increase their watch against those declensions, which he saw the professors of religion falling into."[ ] in , such was the condition of piety in boston, that it was thought necessary to banish a man, because he did not believe in original sin. in , a fast was appointed, "to deplore the prevalence of the small-pox, the want of zeal in the professors of religion, and the general decay of piety." "the church of god had not been long in this wilderness," thus complains a minister, one hundred and fifty years ago, "before the dragon cast forth several floods to devour it; but not the least of these floods was one of the antinomian and familistical heresies." "it is incredible what alienations of mind, and what a very calenture the devil raised in the country upon this odd occasion." "the sectaries" "began usually to seduce women into their notions, and by these women, like their first mother, they soon hooked in the husbands also." so, in , the synod of cambridge was convened, to despatch "the apostate serpent:" one woman was duly convicted of holding "about thirty monstrous opinions," and subsequently, by the civil authorities, banished from the colony. the synod, after much time was "spent in ventilation and emptying of private passions," condemned eighty-two opinions, then prevalent in the colony, as erroneous, and decided to "refer doubts to be resolved by the great god." even in , john wilson lamented "the dark and distracted condition of the churches of new england." "the good old times," when piety was in a thriving state, and the churches successful and contented, lay as far behind the "famous johns," as it now does behind their successors in office and lamentation. then, as now, the complaint had the same foundation: ministers and other good men could not see that new piety will not be put into the old forms, neither the old forms of thought, nor the old forms of action. in the days of wilson, cotton, and norton, there was a gradual growth of piety; in the days of the mathers, of colman, and willard, and from that time to this, there has been a steady improvement of the community, in intellectual, moral, and religious culture. some men could not see the progress two hundred years ago, because they believed in no piety, except as it was manifested in their conventional forms. it is so now. mankind advances by the irresistible law of god, under the guidance of a few men of large discourse, who look before and after, but amid the wailing of many who think each advance is a retreat, and every stride a stumble. now-a-days nobody complains at "the ungodly custom of wearing long hair;" no dandy is dealt with by the church, for his dress; the weakest brother is not offended by "regular singing,"--so it be regular,--"by organs and the like;" nobody laments at "the reading of scripture lessons," or "the use of the lord's prayer" in public religious services, or is offended, because a clergyman makes a prayer at a funeral, and solemnizes a marriage,--though these are "prelatical customs," and were detested by our fathers. yet, other things, now as much dreaded, and thought "of a bad and dangerous tendency," will one day prove themselves as innocent, though now as much mourned over. many an old doctrine will fade out, and though some think a star has fallen out of heaven, a new truth will rise up and take its place. it is to be expected that ministers will often complain of "the general decay of religion." the position of a clergyman, fortunate in many things, is unhappy in this: he seldom sees the result of his labors, except in the conventional form mentioned above. the lawyer, the doctor, the merchant and mechanic, the statesman and the farmer, all have visible and palpable results of their work, while the minister can only see that he has baptized men, and admitted them to his church; the visible and quotable tokens of his success, are a large audience, respectable and attentive, a thriving sunday school, or a considerable body of communicants. if these signs fail, or become less than formerly, he thinks he has labored in vain; that piety is on the decline, for it is only by this form that he commonly tests and measures piety itself. hence, a sincere and earnest minister, with the limitations which he so easily gets from his profession and social position, is always prone to think ill of the times, to undervalue the new wine which refuses to be kept in the old bottles, but rends them asunder; hence he bewails the decline of religion, and looks longingly back to the days of his fathers. but you will ask, why does not a minister demand piety in its natural form? blame him not; unconsciously he fulfils his contract, and does what he is taught, ordained, and paid for doing. it is safe for a minister to demand piety of his parish, in the conventional form; not safe to demand it in the form of morality--eminent piety, in the form of philanthropy: it would be an innovation; it would "hurt men's feelings;" it might disturb some branches of business; at the north, it would interfere with the liquor-trade; at the south, with the slave-trade; everywhere it would demand what many men do not like to give. if a man asks piety in the form of bodily attendance at church, on the only idle day in the week, when business and amusement must be refrained from; in the form of belief in doctrines which are commonly accepted by the denomination, and compliance with its forms,--that is customary; it hurts nobody's feelings; it does not disturb the liquor-trade, nor the slave-trade; it interferes with nothing, not even with respectable sleep in a comfortable pew. a minister, like others loves to be surrounded by able and respectable men; he seeks, therefore, a congregation of such. if he is himself an able man, it is well; but there are few in any calling, whom we designate as able. our weak man cannot instruct his parishioners; he soon learns this, and ceases to give them counsel on matters of importance. they would not suffer it, for the larger includes the less, not the less the larger. he is not strong by nature; their position overlooks and commands his. he must speak and give some counsel; he wisely limits himself to things of but little practical interest, and his parishioners are not offended: "that is my sentiment exactly," says the most worldly man in the church, "religion is too pure to be mixed up with the practical business of the street." the original and effectual preaching in such cases, is not from the pulpit down upon the pews, but from the pews up to the pulpit, which only echoes, consciously or otherwise, but does not speak. in a solar system, the central sun, not barely powerful from its position, is the most weighty body; heavier than all the rest put together; so with even swing they all revolve about it. our little ministerial sun was ambitious of being amongst large satellites; he is there, but the law of gravitation amongst men is as certain as in matter; he cannot poise and swing the system; he is not the sun thereof, not even a primary planet, only a little satellite revolving with many nutations round some primary, in an orbit that is oblique, complicated, and difficult to calculate; now waxing in a "revival," now waning in a "decline of piety," now totally eclipsed by his primary that comes between him and the light which lighteth every man. put one of the cold thin moons of saturn into the centre of the solar system,--would the universe revolve about that little dot? loyal matter with irresistible fealty gravitates towards the sun, and wheels around the balance-point of the world's weight, be it where it may, called by whatever name. while ministers insist unduly on the conventional manifestation of piety, it is not a thing unheard of for a layman to resolve to go to heaven by the ecclesiastical road, yet omit resolving to be a good man before he gets there. such a man finds the ordinary forms of piety very convenient, and not at all burdensome; they do not interfere with his daily practice of injustice and meanness of soul; they seem a substitute for real and manly goodness; they offer a royal road to saintship here and heaven hereafter. is the man in arrears with virtue, having long practised wickedness and become insolvent? this form is a new bankrupt law of the spirit, he pays off his old debts in the ecclesiastical currency--a pennyworth of form for a pound of substantial goodness. this bankrupt sinner, cleared by the ecclesiastical chancery, is a solvent saint; he exhorts at meetings, strains at every gnat, and mourns over "the general decay of piety," and teaches other men the way in which they should go--to the same end. "so morning insects that in muck begun, shine, buzz, and fly-blow in the evening sun." i honor the founders of new england; they were pious men--their lives proved it; but domineered over by false opinions in theology, they put their piety into very unnatural and perverted forms. they had ideas which transcended their age; they came here to make those ideas into institutions. that they had great faults, bigotry, intolerance, and superstition, is now generally conceded. they were picked men, "wheat sifted out of three kingdoms," to plant a new world withal. they have left their mark very deep and very distinct in this town, which was their prayer and their pride. it may seem unjust to ourselves to compare a whole community like our own with such a company as filled boston in the first half century of its existence,--men selected for their spiritual hardihood; but here and now, in the midst of boston, are men quite as eminent for piety who as far transcend this age, as the puritans and the pilgrims surpassed their time. the puritan put his religion into the ecclesiastical form; not into the form of the roman or the english church, but into a new one of his own. his descendant, inheriting his father's faith in god, and stern self-denial, but sometimes without his bigotry, intolerance, and superstition, with little fear but with more love of god, and consequently with more love of man, puts his piety into a new form. it is not the form of the old church; the church of the puritans is to him often what the church of the pope and the prelates was to his ungentle sire. he puts his piety into the form of goodness; eminent piety becomes philanthropy, and takes the shape of reform. in such men, in many of their followers, i see the same trust in god, the same scorn of compromising right and truth, the same unfaltering allegiance to the eternal father, which shone in the pilgrims who founded this new world, which fired the reformers of the church; yes, which burned in the hearts of paul and john. piety has not failed and gone out; each age has its own forms thereof; the old and passing can never understand the new, nor can they consent to decrease with the increase of the new. once, men put their piety into a church, catholic or protestant; they made creeds and believed them; they devised rites and symbols, which helped their faith. it was well; but we cannot believe those creeds, nor be aided by such symbols and such rites. why pretend to drag a weighty crutch about because it helped your father once, wandering alone and in the dark, sounding on his dim and perilous way? once earthen roads were the best we knew, and horses' feet had shoes of swiftness; now we need not, out of reverence, refuse the iron road, the chariot and the steed of flame; nor out of irreverence need we spurn the path our fathers trod; sorely bested and hunted after, tear-bedewed and travel-stained, they journeyed there, passing on to their god. if the mother that bore us were never so rude, and to our eyes might seem never so graceless now, still she was our mother, and without her we should not have been born. wives and children may men have, and manifold; each has but one mother. the great institution we call the christian church has been the mother of us all; and though in her own dotage she deny our piety, and call us infidel, far be it from me to withhold the richly earned respect. behind a decent veil, then, let us hide our mother's weakness, and ourselves pass on. once piety built up a theocracy, and men say it was divine; now piety, everywhere in christendom, builds up democracies; it is a diviner work. * * * * * the piety of this age must manifest itself in morality, and appear in a church where the priests are men of active mind and active hand; men of ideas, who commune with god and man through faith and works, finding no truth is hostile to their creed, no goodness foreign to their litany, no piety discordant with their psalm. the man who once would have built a convent and been its rigorous chief, now founds a temperance society, contends against war, toils for the pauper, the criminal, the madman, and the slave, for men bereft of senses and of sense. the synod of dort and of cambridge, the assembly of divines at westminster, did what they could with what piety they had; they put it into decrees and platforms, into catechisms and creeds. but the various conventions for reform put their piety into resolves and then into philanthropic works. i do not believe there has ever been an age when piety bore so large a place in the whole being of new england as at this day, or attendance on church-forms so small a part. the attempts made and making for a better education of the people, the lectures on science and literature abundantly attended in this town, the increased fondness for reading, the better class of books which are read--all these indicate an increased love of truth, the intellectual part of piety; societies for reform and for charity show an increase of the moral and affectional parts of piety; the better, the lovelier idea of god which all sects are embracing, is a sign of increased love of god. thus all parts of piety are proving their existence by their work. the very absence from the churches, the disbelief of the old sour theologies, the very neglect of outward forms and ceremonies of religion, the decline of the ministry itself, under the present circumstances, shows an increase of piety. the baby-clothes were well and wide for the baby; now, the fact that he cannot get them on, shows plainly that he has outgrown them, is a boy and no longer a baby. once piety fled to the church as the only sanctuary in the waste wide world, and was fondly welcomed there, fed and fostered. when power fled off from the church--"wilt thou also go away?" said she; "lord," said piety, "to whom shall we go? thou only hast the words of everlasting life." once convents and cathedrals were what the world needed as shelter for this fair child of god; then she dwelt in the grim edifice that our fathers built, and for a time counted herself "lodged in a lodging where good things are." now is she grown able to wander forth fearless and free, lodging where the night overtakes her, and doing what her hands find to do, not unattended by the providence which hitherto has watched over and blessed her. i respect piety in the hebrew saints, prophets, and bards, who spoke the fiery speech, or sung their sweet and soul-inspiring psalm: "out from the heart of nature rolled the burdens of the bible old." i honor piety among the saints of greece, clad in the form of philanthropy and art, speaking still in dramas, in philosophies, and song, and in the temple and the statue too: "not from a vain and shallow thought his awful jove young phidias brought." i admire at the piety of the middle ages, which founded the monastic tribes of men, which wrote the theologies, scholastic and mystic both, still speaking to the mind of men, or in poetic legends insinuated truth; which built that heroic architecture, overmastering therewith the sense and soul of man: "the passive master lent his hand to the vast soul that o'er him planned: and the same power that reared the shrine, bestrode the tribes that knelt therein." but the piety which i find now, in this age, here in our own land, i respect, honor, and admire yet more; i find it in the form of moral life; that is the piety i love, piety in her own loveliness. would i could find poetic strains as fit to sing of her--but yet such "loveliness needs not the foreign aid of ornament, but is, when unadorned, adorned the most." let me do no dishonor to other days, to hebrew or to grecian saints. unlike and hostile though they were, they jointly fed my soul in earliest days. i would not underrate the mediæval saints, whose words and works have been my study in a manlier age; yet i love best the fair and vigorous piety of our own day. it is beautiful, amid the strong, rank life of the nineteenth century, amid the steam-mills and the telegraphs which talk by lightning, amid the far-reaching enterprises of our time, and 'mid the fierce democracies, it is beautiful to find this fragrant piety growing up in unwonted forms, in places where men say no seed of heaven can lodge and germinate. so in a june meadow, when a boy, and looking for the cranberries of another year, faded and tasteless, amid the pale but coarse rank grass, and discontented that i found them not, so i have seen the crimson arethusa or the cymbidium shedding an unexpected loveliness o'er all the watery soil and all the pale and coarse rank grass, a prophecy of summer near at hand. so in october, when the fields are brown with frost, the blue and fringed gentian meets your eye, filling with thankful tears. there is no decline of piety, but an increase of it; a good deal has been done in two hundred years, in one hundred years, yes, in fifty years. let us admit, with thankfulness of heart, that piety is in greater proportion to all our activity now than ever before: but then compare ourselves with the ideal of human nature, our piety with the ideal piety, and we must confess that we are little and very low. boston is the most active city in the world, the most enterprising. in no place is it so easy to obtain men's ears and their purses for any good word and work. but think of the evils we know of and tolerate; think of an ideal christian city, then think of boston; of a christian man, aye of christ himself, and then think of you and me, and we are filled with shame. if there were a true, manly piety in this town, in due proportion to our numbers, wealth, and enterprise, how long would the vices of this city last? how long would men complain of a dead body of divinity and a dead church, and a ministry that was dead? how long would intemperance continue, and pauperism, in boston; how long slavery in this land? * * * * * last sunday, in the name of the poor, i asked you for your charity. to-day i ask for dearer alms: i ask you to contribute your piety. it will help the town more than the little money all of us can give. your money will soon be spent; it feeds one man once; we cannot give it twice, though the blessing thereof may linger long in the hand which gave. few of us can give much money to the poor; some of us none at all. this we can all give: the inspiration of a man with a man's piety in his heart, living it out in a man's life. your money may be ill spent, your charity misapplied, but your piety never. after all, there is nothing you can give which men will so readily take and so long remember as this. mothers can give it to their daughters and their sons; men, after spending thereof profusely at home, can coin their inexhausted store into industry, patience, integrity, temperance, justice, humanity, a practical love of man. a thousand years ago, it was easy to excuse men if they chiefly showed religion in the conventional pattern of the church. forms then were helps, and the nun has been mother to much of the charity of our times. it is easy to excuse our fathers for their superstitious reverence for rites and forms. but now, in an age which has its eyes a little open, a practical and a handy age, we are without excuse if our piety appears not in a manly life, our faith in works. to give this piety to cheer and bless mankind, you must have it first, be cheered and blessed thereby yourself. have it, then, in your own way; put it into your own form. do men tell you, "this is a degenerate age," and "religion is dying out?" tell them that when those stars have faded out of the sky from very age, when other stars have come up to take their place, and they too have grown dim and hollow-eyed and old, that religion will still live in man's heart, the primal, everlasting light of all our being. do they tell you that you must put piety into their forms; put it there if it be your place; if not, in your place. let men see the divinity that is in you by the humanity that comes out from you. if they will not see it, cannot, god can and will. take courage from the past, not its counsel; fear not now to be a man. you may find a new eden where you go, a river of god in it, and a tree of life, an angel to guard it; not the warning angel to repel, but the guiding angel to welcome and to bless. * * * * * it was four years yesterday since i first came here to speak to you; i came hesitatingly, reluctant, with much diffidence as to my power to do what it seemed to me was demanded. i did not come merely to pull down, but to build up, though it is plain much theological error must be demolished before any great reform of man's condition can be brought about. i came not to contend against any man, or sect, or party, but to speak a word for truth and religion in the name of man and god. i was in bondage to no sect; you in bondage to none. when a boy i learned that there is but one religion though many theologies. i have found it in christians and in jews, in quakers and in catholics. i hope we are all ready to honor what is good in each sect, and in rejecting its evil not to forget our love and wisdom in our zeal. when i came i certainly did not expect to become a popular man, or acceptable to many. i had done much which in all countries brings odium on a man, though perhaps less in boston than in any other part of the world. i had rejected the popular theology of christendom. i had exposed the low morals of society, had complained of the want of piety in its natural form. i had fatally offended the sect, small in numbers, but respectable for intelligence and goodness, in which i was brought up. i came to look at the signs of the times from an independent point of view, and to speak on the most important of all themes. i thought a house much smaller than this would be much too large for us. i knew there would be fit audience; i thought it would be few, and the few would soon have heard enough and go their ways. i know i have some advantages above most clergymen: i am responsible to no sect; no sect feels responsible for me; i have rejoiced at good things which i have seen in all sects; the doctrines which i try to teach do not rest on tradition, on miracles, or on any man's authority; only on the nature of man. i seek to preach the natural laws of man. i appeal to history for illustration, not for authority. i have no fear of philosophy. i am willing to look a doubt fairly in the face, and think reason is sacred as conscience, affection, or the religious faculty in man. i see a profound piety in modern science. i have aimed to set forth absolute religion, the ideal religion of human nature, free piety, free goodness, free thought. i call that christianity, after the greatest man of the world, one who himself taught it; but i know that this was never the christianity of the churches, in any age. i have endeavored to teach this religion and apply it to the needs of this time. these things certainly give me some advantages over most other ministers. of the disadvantages which are personal to myself, i need not speak in public, but some which come from my position, ought to be noticed with a word. the walls of this house, the associations connected with it, furnish little help to devotion; we must rely on ourselves wholly for that. other clergymen, by their occasional exchanges, can present their hearers with an agreeable variety in substance and in form. a single man, often heard, becomes wearisome and unprofitable, for "no man can feed us always." this i feel to be a great disadvantage which i labor under. your kindness and affectionate indulgence make me feel it all the more. but one man cannot be twenty men. when i came here i knew i should hurt men's feelings. my theology would prove more offensive and radical than men thought; the freedom of speech which men liked at a distance would not be pleasing when near at hand; my doctrines of morality i knew could not be pleasing to all men; not to all good men. i saw by your looks that in my abstractions i did not go too far for your sympathy, or too fast for your following. i soon found that my highest thought and most pious sentiment were most warmly welcomed as such; but when i came to put abstract thought and mystical piety into concrete goodness, and translate what you had accepted as christian faith into daily life; when i came to apply piety to trade, politics, life in general, i knew that i should hurt men's feelings. it could not be otherwise. yet i have had a most patient and faithful hearing. one thing i must do in my preaching: i must be in earnest. i cannot stand here before you and before god, attempting to teach piety and goodness, and not feel the fire and show the fire. the greater the wrong, the more popular, the more must i oppose it, and with the clearer, abler speech. it is not necessary for me to be popular, to be acceptable, even to be loved. it is necessary that i should tell the truth. but let that pass. you come hither week after week, it is now year after year that you come, to listen to one humble man. do you get poor in your souls? does your religion become poor and low? are you getting less in the qualities of a man? if so, then leave me, to empty seats, to cold and voiceless walls; go elsewhere, and feed your souls with a wise passiveness, or an activity wiser yet. such is your duty; let no affection for me hinder you from performing it. the same theology, the same form suits not all men. but if it is not so, if i do you good, if you grow in mind and conscience, heart and soul, then i ask one thing--let your piety become natural life, your divinity become humanity. footnotes: [ ] the synod declared: "that god hath a controversie with his new england people is undeniable." "there are visible manifest evils, which without doubt the lord is provoked by." . "a great and visible decay of the power of godliness amongst many professors in these churches." . "pride doth abound in new england. many have offended god by strange apparel." . "church fellowship and other divine institutions are grossly neglected." "quakers are false worshippers," "and anabaptists ... do no better than set up an altar against the lord's altar." . "the holy and glorious name of god hath been polluted;" "because of swearing the land mourns." "it is a frequent thing for men to sit in prayer-time ... and to give way to their own sloth and sleepiness." "we read of but one man in scripture that slept at a sermon, and that sin had like to have cost him his life." . "there is much sabbath-breaking; since there are multitudes that do profanely absent themselves from the public worship of god,... walking abroad and travelling ... being a common practice on the sabbath day." "worldly unsuitable discourses are very common upon the lord's day." "this brings wrath, fires, and other judgments upon a professing people." . "as to what concerns families and government thereof, there is much amiss." "children and servants ... are not kept in due subjection." "this is a sin which brings great judgments, as we see in eli's and david's family." . "inordinate passions, sinful heats and hatreds, and that amongst church members." . "there is much intemperance:" "it is a common practice for town-dwellers, yea, and church members, to frequent public houses, and there to misspend precious time." . "there is much want of truth amongst men." "the lord is not wont to suffer such an iniquity to pass unpunished." . "inordinate affection unto the world." "there hath been in many professors an insatiable desire after land and worldly accommodations; yea, so as to forsake churches and ordinances, and to live like heathen, only so that they might have elbow-room in the world. farms and merchandisings have been preferred before the things of god." "such iniquity causeth war to be in the gate, and cities to be burned up." "when lot did forsake the land of canaan and the church which was in abraham's family, that so he might have better worldly accommodations in sodom, god fired him out of all." "there are some traders that sell their goods at excessive rates; day-laborers and mechanics are unreasonable in their demands." . "there hath been opposition to the work of reformation." . "a public spirit is greatly wanting in the most of men." . "there are sins against the gospel, whereby the lord has been provoked." "christ is not prized and embraced in all his offices and ordinances as ought to be." [ ] in , mr. samuel symonds wrote to governor winthrop, as follows: "i will also mention the text preached upon at our last fast, and the propositions raised thereupon, because it was so seasonable to new england's condition. jeremiah : ; for i will restore health to thee, and heal thee of thy wounds, saith the lord; because they called thee an outcast, saying, this is zion, whom noe man careth for. " . prop. that sick tymes doe passe over zion. " . that sad and bitter neglect is the portion, aggravation and affliction of zion in the tyme of his sicknesse and wounds, but especially in the neglect of those that doe neglect it, and yet, notwithstanding, doe acknowledge it to be zion. " . that the season of penitent zion's passion, is the season of god's compassion. "this sermon tended much to the settling of godly minds here in god's way, and to raise their spirits, and, as i conceive, hath suitable effects." ii. some thoughts on the most christian use of the sunday.--a sermon preached at the melodeon, on sunday, january , . mark ii. . the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. from past ages we have received many valuable institutions, that have grown out of the transient wants or the permanent nature of man. amongst these are two which have done a great service in promoting the civilization of mankind, which still continue amongst us. i speak now of the institution of sunday, and that of preaching. by the one, a seventh part of the time is separated from the common pursuits of life, in order that it may be devoted to bodily relaxation, and to the culture of the spiritual powers of man; by the other, a large body of men, in most countries the best educated class, are devoted to the cultivation of these spiritual powers. such at least is the theory of those two institutions, be their effect in practice what it may. this morning, let us look at one of them, and so i invite your attention to some thoughts relative to the sunday--to the most christian and profitable use of that day. there is a stricter party of christians amongst us, who speak out their opinions concerning the sunday; this comprises what are commonly called the more "evangelical" sects. there is a party less strict in many particulars, comprising what are commonly called the more "liberal" sects. they have hitherto been comparatively silent on this theme. their opinions about the sunday have not usually been so plainly spoken out, but have been made apparent by their actions, by occasional and passing words, rather than by full, distinct, and emphatic declarations. the stricter party, of late years, have been growing a little more strict; the party less strict likewise advance in the opposite direction. recently, a call has been published by a few men, for a convention to consult and take some steps towards the less rigid course, for the purpose, as i understand it, of making the sunday even more valuable than it is now. i take it for granted that both parties desire to make the best possible use of the sunday--the use most conducive to the highest interests of mankind; that they desire this equally. there are good men on both sides, the more and the less strict; pious men, in the best sense of that word, may be found on both sides. there is no need of imputing bad motives to either party in order to explain the difference between the two. such is the aspect of the two parties in the field, looking opposite ways, but at one another. it seems likely that there will be a quarrel, and, as is usual in such cases, hard words on each side, hard thoughts and unkind feelings on both sides. before the quarrel begins, and our eyes are blinded by the dust of controversy; before our blood is fired, and we become wholly incapable of judgment--let us look coolly at the matter, and ask, do we need any change in respect to the observance of the sunday? are the present opinions respecting the origin, nature, and original design of that institution just and true? is the present mode of observing it the most profitable that can be devised? the inquiry is one of great importance. to answer these questions, it is necessary to go back a little into the history of the hebrew sabbath and the christian sunday. however, it is not needful to go much into detail, or consume this precious hour in a learned discussion on antiquarian matters which concern none but scholars. with the hebrews the actual observance of saturday--the sabbath--as a day rest, seems to be of pretty late origin. the first mention of it in authentic hebrew history, as actually observed, occurs about two hundred years after samuel, and about six hundred after moses--a little less than nine hundred before christ. the passage is found in kings : ; a child had died, as the narrative relates--the mother wished to send for elisha, "the man of god." her husband objects, saying, "wherefore wilt thou go to him to-day? it is neither new moon nor sabbath." this connection with the new moon is significant. in the earlier historical books of joshua, judges, the two books of samuel, and the first of kings, there is no mention of the sabbath, not the least allusion to it. this seems to have been the origin of its observance:--the worship of one god, with the distinctive name jehovah, gradually got established in the hebrew nation; for this they seem largely indebted to moses. gradually this worship of jehovah became connected with a body of priests, who were regularly organized at length, and claimed descent from levi--some of them from aaron, his celebrated descendant, the elder brother of moses. the rise of the levitical priesthood is remarkable, and easily traced in the old testament. some books are entirely destitute of a levitical spirit, such as genesis and judges; others are filled with it, as leviticus, deuteronomy, and the books of chronicles. with the priesthood it seems there came the observance of certain days for religious or festal purposes--new moon days, full moon days, and the like. these seem to have been derived from the nations about them, with whom the moon--deified as astarte, the queen and mother of heaven, and under other names--was long an object of worship. the observance of those days points back to the period when fetichism, the worship of nature, was the prominent form of religion. with the other days of religious observance came the seventh day, called the sabbath. no one knows its true historical origin. the statement respecting its origin, in the fourth commandment, and elsewhere in the old testament, can hardly be accepted as literally true by any one in this century. no scientific man, in the present stage of philosophic inquiry, will believe that god created the universe in six days, and then rested on the seventh. did other nations observe this day before the hebrews; was it also connected with some fetichistic form of worship; what was the historical event which led to the selection of that day in special? this it is easy to ask, but perhaps not possible to answer. these are curious questions; they are of little practical importance to us at this moment. after the hebrew institutions of religion got fixed--the worship of jehovah, the levitical priesthood, and the peculiar forms of sacrifice--it became common to refer their origin back to the time of moses, who lived fourteen or fifteen hundred years before christ. since few memorials from his age have come down to us, it is plain we can know little of him. but from the impression which his character left on his nation, and through them on the whole world; from the myths so early connected with his name, it seems pretty clear that he was one of the greatest and most extraordinary men that ever lived. mankind seldom tell great things of little men. it is difficult to say what share he had in making the laws of the hebrew nation which are commonly referred to him,--and, as it is popularly taught, revealed to him directly by jehovah. perhaps we are not safe in referring to him even the whole of the ten commandments; surely not in any one of their present forms.[ ] was the sabbath observed as a day of rest before moses? was its observance enforced by him? was it even known to him? these questions are not easily answered. this is only certain: from the time of moses to that of jehoram, a period of about six hundred years, there is no historical mention of its observance, not the least allusion to it. yet we have documents which treat of that period,--the books of joshua, judges, samuel, and the kings,--some of them historical documents, which go into the minute detail of the national peculiarities, and were evidently written with a good deal of concern for strict integrity and truth; they refer to the national rite of circumcision. now, if the sabbath had been observed during that period, it is difficult to believe it would have received no passing notice in those historical books. but not only is there no mention of it therein, none even in the times of david and solomon, who favored the priesthood so strongly; but in the book of chronicles, the most levitical book in the bible, at a date more than two hundred years later than the time of jehoram, it is distinctly declared that the sabbath had not been kept for nearly five hundred years.[ ] but even if this statement is true, which is scarcely probable, it is plain from the frequent mention of the sabbath in the writings of the latter part of that period--isaiah, jeremiah, and others--that the institution was one well known and highly regarded by religious men. after the return from the babylonian exile, it seems to have been kept with considerable rigor; this we learn from the book of nehemiah. the hebrew law, as it is contained in the pentateuch, is a singular mixture of conflicting statutes, evidently belonging to different ages, many of them wholly unsuitable to the condition of the people when the laws are alleged to have been given. however, they are all referred back to the time of moses in the pentateuch itself, and by the popular theology at the present day. in the law the command is given to keep the seventh day as a day of rest, and that command is referred distinctly to jehovah himself. the reason is given for choosing that day:--"for in six days the lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed;" the sabbath, therefore, was to be kept in commemoration of the fact, that after jehovah had spent the week in creating the world, "he rested and was refreshed." it was to be a day of rest for master and slave, for man and beast. a special sacrifice was offered on that day, in addition to the usual ceremonies, but no provision was made for the religious instruction of the people. the sabbath was what its hebrew name implies, a rest from all labor. the law, in general terms, forbade all work; but, not content with that, it descends to minute details, specifically prohibiting by statute the gathering or preparation of food on the sabbath, even of food to be consumed on that day itself; the lighting of a fire, or the removal from one's place; and, by a decision where the statute did not apply, forbade the gathering of sticks of wood. the punishment for violating the sabbath in general, or in any one of these particulars, was death: "whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death." however, amusement was not prohibited, nor eating and drinking, only work. the command, "let no man go out of his place on the seventh day," at a later period, was liberally interpreted, and a man was allowed to go two thousand cubits, a sabbath-day's journey. long after the time of moses, some of the hebrews returned from exile amongst a more civilized and refined people. it seems probable that only the stricter portion returned and established themselves in the land of their fathers. nehemiah, their leader, enforced the observance of the sabbath with a strictness and rigor of which earlier times afford no evidence. but the nation was not content with making it a day of idleness. they established synagogues, where the people freely assembled on the sabbath and other public days, for religious instruction, and thus founded an excellent institution which has shown itself fruitful of good results. so far as i know, that is the earliest instance on record of provision being made for the regular religious instruction of the whole people. experience has shown its value, and now all the most highly civilized nations of the earth have established similar institutions. however, in the synagogues the business of religious instruction was not at all in the hands of the priests, but in those of the people, acting in their primary character without regard to levitical establishments. a priest, as such, is never an instructor of the people; he is to go through his ritual, not beyond it. it is easy to learn from the new testament what were the current opinions about the sabbath in the time of christ. it was unlawful to gather a head of wheat on the sabbath, as a man walked through the fields; it was unlawful to cure a sick man, though that cure could be effected by a touch or a word; unlawful for a man to walk home and carry the light cushion on which he had lain. what was unlawful was reckoned wicked also; for what is a crime in the eyes of the priest, he commonly pretends is likewise a sin before the eyes of god. yet it was not unlawful to eat, drink, and be merry on the sabbath; nor to lift a sheep out of the ditch; nor to quarrel with a man who came to deliver mankind from their worst enemies. it was lawful to perform the rite of circumcision on the sabbath, but unlawful to cure a man of any sickness. jesus once placed these two, the allowing of that ritual mutilation and the prohibition of the humane act of curing the sick on the sabbath, in ridiculous contrast. in the fourth gospel he goes further, and actually denies the alleged ground for the original institution of the sabbath; he denies that god had ever ceased from his work, or rested: "my father worketh hitherto."[ ] however, in effecting these cures he committed a capital offence; the pharisees so regarded it, and took measures to insure his punishment. it does not appear that they were illegal measures. it is probable they took regular and legal means to bring him to condign punishment as a sabbath-breaker. he escaped by flight. such was the sabbath with the hebrews, such the recorded opinion of jesus concerning it. there were also other days in which labor was forbidden, but with them we have nothing to do at present. jesus taught piety and goodness without the hebrew limitations; of course, then, the new wine of christianity could not be put into the old bottles of the jews. their fast days and sabbath days, their rites and forms, were not for him. * * * * * now, not long after the death of christ, his followers became gradually divided into two parties. first, there were the jewish christians; that was the oldest portion, the old school of christians. they are mentioned in ecclesiastical history as the ebionites, nazarines, and under yet other names. peter and james were the great men in that division of the early christians. matthew, and the author of the gospel according to the hebrews, were their evangelists. the church at jerusalem was their strong-hold. they kept the whole hebrew law; all its burdensome ritual, its circumcision and its sacrifices, its new-moon days and its full-moon days, sabbath, fasts, and feasts; the first fifteen bishops of the church at jerusalem were circumcised jews. it seems to me they misunderstood jesus fatally; counting him nothing but the messiah of the old testament, and christianity, therefore, nothing but judaism brightened up and restored to its original purity. i have often mentioned how strongly matthew, taking him for the author of the first gospel, favors this way of thinking. he represents jesus as commanding his disciples to observe all the mosaic law, as the pharisees interpreted that law,[ ] though such a command is utterly inconsistent with the general spirit of christ's teachings, and even with his plain declaration, as preserved in other parts of the same gospel. it is worthy of note, that this command is peculiar to matthew. but there is another instance of the same jewish tendency, though not so obvious at first sight. matthew represents jesus as saying, "the son of man," that is, the messiah, "is lord even of the sabbath day." accordingly, he is competent to expound the law correctly, and determine what is lawful to do on that day. in matthew, therefore, jesus, in his character of messiah, is represented as giving a judicial opinion, and ruling that it "is lawful to do well on the sabbath days." now, mark and luke represent it a little different. in mark, jesus himself declares that "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath." matthew entirely omits that remarkable saying. according to mark, jesus declares in general terms, that man is of more consequence than the observance of the sabbath, while matthew only considers that the messiah is "lord of the sabbath day." the cause of this diversity is quite plain. matthew was a jewish christian, and thought christianity was nothing but restored judaism. * * * * * the other party may be called liberal christians, though they must not be confounded with the party which now bears that name. they were the new school of the early christians. they rejected the hebrew law, so far as it did not rest on human nature, and considered that christianity was a new thing; christ, not a mere jew, but a universal man, who had thrown down the wall of partition between jews and gentiles. all the old, artificial distinctions, therefore, were done away with at once. paul was the head of the liberal party among the primitive christians. he was considered a heretic; and though he was more efficient than any of the other early preachers of christianity, yet the author of the apocalypse thought him not worthy of a place in the foundation of the new jerusalem, which rests on the twelve apostles.[ ] the fourth gospel with peculiarities of its own, is written wholly in the interest of this party; james is not mentioned in it at all, and peter plays but quite a subordinate part, and is thrown into the shade by john. the disciples are spoken of as often misunderstanding their great teacher. these peculiarities cannot be considered as accidental; they are monuments of the controversy then going on between the two parties. paul stood in direct opposition to the jewish christians. this is plain from the epistle to the galatians, in which the heads of the rival sects appear very unlike the description given of them in the book of acts. the observance of jewish sacred days was one of the subjects of controversy. let us look only at the matter of the sabbath, as it came in question between the two parties. paul exalts christ far above the messianic predictions of the old testament, calling him an image of the invisible god, and declaring that all the fulness of divinity dwells in him, and adds, that he had annulled the old hebrew law. "therefore," says paul, "let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath."[ ] here he distinctly states the issue between the two christian sects. elsewhere he speaks of the jewish party, as men that "would pervert the gospel of christ," by teaching that a man was "justified by the works of the law;" that is, by a minute observance of the hebrew ritual.[ ] paul rejects the authority of the old testament. the law of moses was but a schoolmaster's servant, to bring us to christ; man had come to christ, and needed that servant no longer; the law was a taskmaster and guardian set over man in his minority, now he had come of age, and was free; the law was a shadow of good things, and they had come; it was a law of sin and death, which no man could bear, and now the law of the spirit of life, as revealed by jesus christ, had made men free from the law of sin and death. such was the work of the glorious gospel of the blessed god. thus sweeping off the authority of the old law in general, he proceeds to particulars: he rejects circumcision, and the offering of sacrifices; rejects the distinction of nations as jew and gentile; the distinction of meats as clean and unclean, and all distinction of days, as holy and not holy. if one man thought one day holier than another day; if another man thought all days equally holy, he would have each man true to his conviction, but not seek to impose that conviction on his brothers. such was paul's opinion of "the law of moses;" such, of the sabbath; the christians were not "subject to ordinances." * * * * * let us come now to the common practice of the early christians. the apostles went about and preached christianity, as they severally understood it. they spoke as they found opportunity; on the sabbath to the jews in the synagogues, and on other days, as they found time and hearers. it does not appear from the new testament, that they limited themselves to any particular day; they were missionaries, some of them remained but a little while in a place, making the most of their time. it seems that the early christians, who lived in large towns, met every day for religious purposes. but as that would be found inconvenient, one day came to be regarded as the regular time of their meetings. the jewish christians observed the sabbath with pharisaic rigor, while the liberal christians neglected it. but both parties of christians observed, at length, the first day of the week as a peculiar day. no one knows when this observance of the sunday began; it is difficult to find proof in the new testament, that the apostles regarded it as a peculiar day; it seems plain that paul did not. but it is certain that in the second century after jesus, the christians in general did so regard it, and perhaps all of them. why was the sunday chosen as the regular day for religious meeting? it was regarded as the day on which jesus rose from the dead; and, following the mythical account in genesis, it was the day on which god began the creation, and actually created the light. here there were two reasons for the selection of that day; both are frequently mentioned by the early christian writers. sunday, therefore, was to them a symbol of the new creation, and of the light that had come into the world. the liberal christians, in separating from the jewish sabbath, would naturally exalt the new religious day. athanasius, i think, is the first who ascribes a divine origin to the institution of sunday. he says, "the lord changed this day from the sabbath to the sunday;" but athanasius lived three centuries after christ, and seems to have known little about the matter. the officers and the order of services in the churches on the sunday seem derived from the usages of the jewish synagogues. the sunday was thus observed: the people came together in the morning; the exercises consisted of readings from the old testament and such writings of the christians as the assembly saw fit to have read to them. in respect to these writings there was a wide difference in the different churches, some accepting more and others less. the overseer, or bishop, made an address, perhaps an exposition of the passage of scripture. prayers were said and hymns chanted; the lord's supper was celebrated. the form no doubt differed, and widely, too, in different places. it was not the form of servitude but the spirit of freedom, they observed. but all these things were done, likewise, on other days; the lord's supper could be celebrated on any day, and is on every day by the catholic church, even now; for the catholics have been true to the early practices in more points than the protestants are willing to admit. in some places it is certain there was a "communion" every day. sunday was regarded holy by the early christians, just as certain festivals are regarded holy by the catholics, the episcopalians, and the lutherans, at this day; as the new englanders regard thanksgiving day as holy. other days, likewise, were regarded as holy; were used in the same manner as the sunday. such days were observed in honor of particular events in the life of jesus, or in honor of saints and martyrs, or they were days consecrated by older festivals belonging to the more ancient forms of religion. in the catholic church such days are still numerous. it is only the puritans who have completely rejected them, and they have been obliged to substitute new ones in their place. however, there was one peculiarity of the sunday which distinguished it from most or all other days. it was a day of religious rejoicing. on other days the christians knelt in prayer; on the sunday they stood up on joyful feet, for light had come into the world. sunday was a day of gladness and rejoicing. the early christians had many fasts; they were commonly held on wednesdays and fridays, often on saturday also, the more completely to get rid of the jewish superstition which consecrated that day; but on sunday there must be no fast. he would be a heretic who should fast on sunday. it is strictly forbidden in the "canons of the apostles;" a clergyman must be degraded and a layman excommunicated, for the offence. says st. ignatius, in the second century, if the epistle be genuine, "every lover of christ feasts on the lord's day." "we deem it wicked," says tertullian in the third century, "to fast on the sunday, or to pray on our knees." "oh," says st. jerome, "that we could fast on the sunday, as paul did and they that were with him." st. ambrose says, the "manichees were damned for fasting on the lord's day." at this day the catholic church allows no fast on sunday, save the sunday before the crucifixion; even lent ceases on that day. it does not appear that labor ceased on sunday, in the earliest age of christianity. but when sunday became the regular and most important day for holding religious meetings, less labor must of course be performed on that day. at length it became common in some places to abstain from ordinary work on the sunday. it is not easy to say how early this was brought about. but after christianity had become "respectable," and found its way to the ranks of the wealthy, cultivated and powerful, laws got enacted in its favor. now, the romans, like all other ancient nations, had certain festal days in which it was not thought proper to labor unless work was pressing. it was disreputable to continue common labor on such days without an urgent reason; they were pretty numerous in the roman calendar. courts did not sit on those days; no public business was transacted. they were observed as christmas and the more important saints' days in catholic countries; as thanksgiving day and the fourth of july with us. in the year three hundred and twenty-one, constantine, the first christian emperor of rome, placed sunday among their ferial days. this was perhaps the first legislative action concerning the day. the statute forbids labor in towns, but expressly excludes all prohibition of field-labor in the country.[ ] about three hundred and sixty-six or seven, the council of laodicea decreed that christians "ought not to judaize and be idle on the sabbath, but to work on that day; especially observing the lord's day, and if it is possible, as christians, resting from labor." afterwards the emperor theodosius forbade certain public games on sunday, christmas, epiphany, and the whole time from easter to pentecost. justinian likewise forbade theatrical exhibitions, races in the circus, and the fights of wild beasts, on sunday, under severe penalties. this was done in order that the religious services of the christians might not be disturbed. by his laws the sunday continued to be a day in which public business was not to be transacted. but the christmas days, the fifteen days of easter, and numerous other days previously observed by christians or pagans, were put in the same class by the law. all this it seems was done from no superstitious notions respecting those days, but for the sake of public utility and convenience. however, the rigor of the jewish sabbatical laws was by no means followed. labors of love, _opera caritatis_, were considered as suitable business for those days. the very statute of theodosius recommended the emancipation of slaves on sunday. all impediments to their liberation were removed on that day, and though judicial proceedings in all other matters were forbidden on sunday, an exception was expressly made in favor of emancipating slaves. this statute was preserved in the code of justinian.[ ] all these laws go to show that there were similar customs previously established among the christians, without the aid of legislation. about the middle of the sixth century the council of orleans forbade labor in the fields, though it did not forbid travelling with cattle and oxen, the preparation of food, or any work necessary to the cleanliness of the house or the person--declaring that rigors of that sort belong more to a jewish than to a christian observance of the day. that, i think, is the earliest ecclesiastical decree which has come down to us forbidding field-labor in the country; a decree unknown till five hundred and thirty-eight years after christ. but before that, in the year three hundred and thirteen, the council of elvira in spain decreed, that if any one in a city absented himself three sundays consecutively from the church, he should be suspended from communion for a short time. such a regulation, however, was founded purely on considerations of public utility. many church establishments have thought it necessary to protect themselves from desertion by similar penal laws. in catholic countries, at the present day, the morning of sunday is appropriated to public worship, the people flocking to church. but the afternoon and evening are devoted to society, to amusement of various kinds. nothing appears sombre, but every thing has a festive air; even the theatres are open. sunday is like christmas, or a thanksgiving day in boston, only the festive demonstrations are more public. it is so in the protestant countries on the continent of europe. work is suspended, public and private, except what is necessary for the observance of the day; public lectures are suspended; public libraries closed; but galleries of paintings and statues are thrown open and crowded; the public walks are thronged. in southern germany, and, doubtless, elsewhere, young men and women have i seen in summer, of a sunday afternoon, dancing on the green, the clergyman, protestant or catholic, looking on and enjoying the cheerfulness of the young people. americans think their mode of keeping sunday is unholy; they, that ours is jewish and pharisaical. in paris, sometimes, courses of scientific lectures are delivered after the hours of religious services, to men who are busy during the week with other cares, and who gladly take the hours of their only leisure day to gain a little intellectual instruction. when england was a catholic country, catholic notions of sunday of course prevailed. labor was suspended; there was service in the churches, and afterwards there were sports for the people, but they were attended with quarrelling, noise, uproar, and continual drunkenness. it was so after the reformation. in the time of elizabeth, the laws forbade labor except in time of harvest, when it was thought right to work, if need were, and "save the thing that god hath sent." some of the protestants wished to reform those disorders, and convert the sunday to a higher use. the government, and sometimes the superior clergy, for a long time interfered to prevent the reform, often to protect the abuse. the "book of sports," appointed to be read in churches, is well known to us from the just indignation with which it filled our fathers. now, it is plain, that in england, before the reformation, the sunday was not appropriated to its highest use; not to the highest interests of mankind; no, not to the highest concerns, which the people, at that time, were capable of appreciating. the attempts, made then and subsequently, by government, to enforce the observance of the day, for purposes not the highest, led to a fearful reaction; that to other and counter reactions. the ill consequences of those movements have not yet ceased on either side of the ocean. the puritans represented the spirit of reaction against ecclesiastical and other abuses of their time, and the age before them. let me do these men no injustice. i honor the heroic virtues of our fathers not less because i see their faults; see the cause of their faults, and the occasion which demanded such masculine and terrible virtues as the puritans unquestionably possessed. i speak only of their doctrine of the sunday. they were driven from one extreme to the other, for oppression makes wise men mad. they took mainly the notions of the sabbath, which belong to the later portions of the old testament; they interpreted them with the most pharisaical rigor, and then applied them to the sunday. did they find no warrant for that rigor in the new testament? they found enough in the old; enough in their own character, and their consequent notions of god. they thus introduced a set of ideas respecting the sunday, which the christian church had never known before, and rigidly enforced an observance thereof utterly foreign both to the letter and spirit of the new testament. they made sunday a terrible day; a day of fear, and of fasting, and of trembling under the terrors of the lord. they even called it by the hebrew name--the sabbath. the catholics had said it was not safe to trust the scriptures in the hands of the people, for an inspired word needed an expositor also inspired. the abuse which the puritans made of the bible by their notions of the sunday, seemed a fulfilment of the catholic prophecy. but the catholics did not see what is plain to all men now--that this very abuse of sunday and scripture was only the reaction against other abuses, ancient, venerated, and enforced by the catholic church itself. every sect has some institution which is the symbol of its religious consciousness, though not devised for that purpose. with the early christians, it was their love-feasts and communion; with the catholics, it is their gorgeous ritual with its ancient date and divine pretensions--a ritual so imposing to many; with the quakers, who scorn all that is symbolic, the symbol equally appears in the plain dress and the plain speech, the broad brim, and _thee_ and _thou_. with the puritans, this symbol was the sabbath, not the sunday. their sabbath was like themselves, austere, inflexible as their "divine decrees;" not human and of man, but hebrew and of the jews, stern, cold, and sad. the puritans were possessed with the sentiment of fear before god; they had ideas analogous to that sentiment, and wrought out actions akin to those ideas. they brought to america their ideas and sentiments. behold the effect of their actions. let us walk reverently backward, with averted eyes to cover up their folly, their shame, and their sin, as they could not walk to conceal the folly of their progenitors. the puritans are the fathers of new england and her descendant states; the fathers of the american idea; of most things in america that are good; surely, of most that is best. they seem made on purpose for their work of conquering a wilderness and founding a state. it is not with gentle hands, not with the dalliance of effeminate fingers, that such a task is done. the work required energy the most masculine, in heart, head, and hands. none but the puritans could have done such a work. they could fast as no men; none could work like them; none preach; none pray; none could fight as they fought. they have left a most precious inheritance to men who have the same greatness of soul, but have fallen on happier times. yet this inheritance is fatal to mere imitators, who will go on planting of vineyards, where the first planter fell intoxicated with the fruit of his own toil. this inheritance is dangerous to men who will be no wiser than their ancestors. let us honor the good deeds of our fathers; and not eat, but reverently bury their honored bones. the puritans represented the natural reaction of mankind against old institutions that were absurd or tyrannical. the catholic church had multiplied feast days to an extreme, and taken unnecessary pains to promote fun and frolic. the puritans would have none of the saints' days in their calendar; thought sport was wicked; cut down maypoles, and punished a man who kept christmas after the old fashion. the catholic church had neglected her golden opportunities for giving the people moral and religious instruction; had quite too much neglected public prayer and preaching, but relied mainly on sensuous instruments--architecture, painting, music. in revenge, the puritan had a meeting-house as plain as boards could make it; tore the pictures to pieces; thought an organ "was not of god," and had sermons long and numerous, and prayers full of earnestness, zeal, piety, and faith, in short, possessed of all desirable things except an end. did the catholics forbid the people the bible, emphatically the book of the people--the puritan would read no other book; called his children hebrew names, and reënacted "the laws of god" in the old testament, "until we can make better." did henry and elizabeth underrate the people and overvalue the monarchy, nature had her vengeance for that abuse, and the puritan taught the world that kings, also, had a joint in their necks. the puritans went to the extreme in many things: in their contempt for amusements, for what was graceful in man or beautiful in woman; in their scorn of art, of elegant literature, even of music; in their general condemnation of the past, from which they would preserve little excepting what was hebrew, which, of course, they over-honored as much as they undervalued all the rest. in their notions respecting the sunday they went to the same extreme. the general reason is obvious. they wished to avoid old abuses, and thought they were not out of the water till they were in the fire. but there was a special reason, also: the english are the most empirical of all nations. they love a fact more than an idea, and often cling to an historical precedent rather than obey a great truth which transcends all precedents. the national tendency to external things, perhaps, helped lead them to these peculiar notions of the sabbath. the precedent they found in "the chosen people," and established, as they thought, by god himself. * * * * * the ideas of the puritans respecting the sunday are still cherished in the popular theology of new england. there is one party in our churches possessed of many excellences, which has always had the merit of speaking out fully what it thinks and feels. at this day that party still represents the puritanic opinions about the sunday, though a little modified. they teach that god created the world in six days, and rested the seventh; that he commanded mankind, also, to rest on that day; commanded a man to be stoned to death for picking up sticks of a saturday; that by divine authority the first day of the week was substituted for the seventh, and therefore that it is the religious duty of all men to rest from work on that day, for the hebrew law of the sabbath is binding on christians for ever. it is maintained that abstinence from work on sunday is as much a religious duty as abstinence from theft or hatred; that the day must be exclusively devoted to religion, in the technical sense of that word, to public or private worship, to religious reading, thought, or conversation. to attend church on that day is thought to be a good in itself, though it should lead to no further good, and therefore a duty as imperative as the duty of loving man and god. the preacher may not edify, still the duty of attending to his ministration of the word remains the same; for the attendance is a good in itself. it is taught that work, that amusement, common conversation, the reading of a book not technically religious, is a sin, just as clearly a sin as theft or hatred, though perhaps not so great. writing a letter, even, is denounced as a sin, though the letter be written for the purpose of arresting the progress of a war, and securing life and freedom to millions of men. now, it is very plain that such ideas are not consistent with the truth. in the language of the church, they are a heresy. as we learn the facts of the case we must give up such ideas concerning the sunday. it is like any other day. christianity knows no classes of days, as holy or profane; all days are the lord's days, all time holy time. * * * * * but then comes the other question, what is the best use to be made of the day; the use most conducive to the highest interests of mankind? will it be most profitable to "give up the sunday," to use it as the catholics do, as the puritans did, or to adopt some other method? to answer these questions fairly, let us look and see the effects of the present notions about the sunday, and the stricter mode of observing it here in new england. the experience of two hundred years is worth looking at. let us look at the good effects first. the good and evil of any age are commonly bound so closely together, that in plucking up the tares, there is danger lest the wheat also be uprooted, at least trodden down. in america, especially in new england, every thing is intense, with of course a tendency to extravagance, to fanaticism. look at some of the most obvious signs of that intensity. no conservatism in the world is so bigoted as american conservatism; no democracy so intense. nowhere else can you find such thorough-going defenders of the existing state of things, social, ecclesiastical, civil; such defenders of drunkenness, ignorance, superstition, slavery, and war; nowhere such radical enemies to the existing state of things; such foes of drunkenness, ignorance, superstition, slavery, and war. no "revivals of religion" are like the american; none of old were like these. see how the american soldiers fight; how the american men will work. puritanism was intense enough in england; in the new world it was yet more so. our fathers were intense calvinists; more calvinistic than calvin--they became hopkinsian. they hated the pope; kings and bishops were their aversion. they feared god. did they love him--love him as much? they had an intense religious activity, but they had another intensity. it is better that we should say it, rather than men who do not honor them. that intensity of action, when turned towards material things, or, as they called them, "carnal things," needed some powerful check. it was found in their bigotry and superstition. in such an age as theirs, when the reformation broke down all the ordinary restraints of society, and rent asunder the golden ties which bound man to the past; when the anglican church ended in fire, and the english monarchy in blood; when men full of piety thanked god for the fire and the bloodshed, and felt the wrongs of a thousand years driving them almost to madness--what was there to keep such men within bounds, and restrain them from the wildest license and unbridled anarchy? nothing but superstition; nothing short of fear of hell. they broke down the monarchy; they trod the church under their feet. she who had once been counted as the queen and mother of society, was now to be regarded only as the apocalyptical woman in scarlet, the mother of abominations, bride of the devil, and queen of hell. the old testament wrought on the minds of these men like a charm, to stimulate and to soothe. "one day," said they, "is made holy by god; in it shall no work be done by man or beast, or thing inanimate. on that day all must attend church as an act of religion." here, then, was a bar extending across the stream of worldliness, filling one seventh part of its channel, wide and deep, and wonderfully interrupting its whelming tide. i admire the divine skill which compounds the gases in the air; which balances centripetal and centrifugal forces into harmonious proportions,--those fair ellipses in the unseen air; but still more marvellous is that same skill, diviner now, which compounds the folly and the wisdom of mankind; balances centripetal and centrifugal forces here, stilling the noise of kings and the tumult of the people, making their wrath to serve him, and the remnant thereof restraining forever. on sunday, master and man, the slave stolen from the wilderness, the servant--a christian man bought from some christian conqueror,--must cease from their work. did the covetous, the cruel, the strong, oppress the weak for six days, the sabbath said, "hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." the servant was free from his master, and the weary was at rest. the plough stood still in the furrow; the sheaf lay neglected in the field; the horse and the ox enjoyed their master's sabbath of rest, all heedless of the divine decrees, of election or reprobation, yet not the less watched over by that dear providence which numbered the hairs of the head, and overruled the falling of a sparrow for the sparrow's good. all must attend church, master and man, rich and poor, oppressor and oppressed. good things and great things got read out of the bible, it was the book of the people, the new testament, written much of it in the interest of all mankind, with special emphasis laid on the rights of the weak and the duties of the strong. good things got said in sermon and in prayer. the speakers must think, the hearers think, as well as tremble. begin to think in a circle narrow as a lady's ring, or the assembly's catechism, you will think out; for thought, like all movement, tends to the right line. calvinism has always bred thinkers, and when barbarism was the first danger was perhaps the only thing which could do it. calvinism, too, has always shown itself in favor of popular liberty to a certain degree, and though it stops far short of the mark, yet goes far beyond the catholic or episcopalian. sunday, thus enforced by superstition, has yet been the education-day of new england; the national school-time for the culture of man's highest powers; therein have the clergy been our educators, and done a vast service which mankind will not soon forget. it was good seed they sowed on this soil of the new world; the harvest is proof of that. they builded wiser than they knew. their unconscious hands constructed the thought of god. even their superstition and bigotry did much to preserve church and clergy to us; much also to educate and develop the highest powers of man. but for that superstition we might have seen the same anarchy, the same unbridled license in the seventeenth century, which we saw in the eighteenth, as a consequence of a similar revolution, a similar reaction; only it would have been carried out with the intensity of that most masculine and earnest race of men. how much further english atrocities would have gone than the french did go; how long it would have taken mankind, by their proper motion, to reascend from a fall so adverse and so low, i cannot tell. i see what saved them from the plunge. true, the sunday was not what it should be, more than the week; preaching was not what it should be, more than practice. but without that sunday, and without that preaching, new england would have been a quite different land; america another nation altogether; the world by no means so far advanced as now. new england with her descendants has always been the superior portion of america. i flatter no man's prejudice, but speak a plain truth. she is superior in intelligence, in morality--that is too plain for proof. the prime cause of that superiority must be sought in the character of the fathers of new england; but a secondary and most powerful cause is to be found also in those two institutions--sunday and preaching. why is it that all great movements, from the american revolution down to anti-slavery, have begun here? why is it that education societies, missionary societies, bible societies, and all the movements for the advance of mankind, begin here? why, it is no more an accident than the rising of the tide. find much of the cause in the superior character, and therefore in the superior aims of the forefathers, much also will be found due to this--once in the week they paused from all work; they thought of their god, who had delivered them from the iron house and yoke of bondage; they listened to the words of able men, exhorting them to justice, piety, and a heavenly walk with god; they trembled at fear of hell; they rejoiced at hope of heaven. the church--no, the "meeting-house"--was the common property of all; the minister the common friend. the slave looked up to him; the chief magistrate dared not look down on him. for more than a hundred years the ablest men of new england went into the pulpit. no talent was thought too great, no learning too rich and profound, no genius too holy and divine, for the work of teaching men their highest duty, and helping to their highest bliss. he was the minister to all. there was not then a church for the rich, and a chapel for the poor; the rich and the poor met together, for one god was the maker of them all--their father too; they had one gospel, one redeemer,--their brother not less than their god; they journeyed toward the same heaven, which had but one entrance for great and little; they prayed all the same prayer. the effect of this socialism of religion is seldom noticed; so we walk on moist earth, not thinking that we tread on the thunder-cloud and the lightning. but it is not in human nature for men of intense religious activity to meet in the same church, sing the same psalm, pray the same prayer, partake the same elements of communion, and not be touched with compassion--each for all, and all for each. the same causes which built up religion in new england, built up democracy along with it. is it not easy to see the cause which made the rich men of new england the most benevolent of rich men; gave them their character for generosity and public spirit--yes, for eminent humanity? the acorn is not more obviously the parent of the oak than those two institutions of new england the parent of such masculine virtues as distinguish her sons. regarded merely as a day of rest from labor, the sunday has been of great value to us. considering the intense character of the nation, our tendency to material things, and our restless love of work, it seems as if a moses of the nineteenth century, legislating for us, would enact two rest-days in the week, rather than one. it is a good thing that a man once a week pauses from his work, arrays himself in clean garments, and is at rest. regarded in its other aspects, sunday has aided the intellectual culture of the people to a degree not often appreciated. to many a man, yes, to most men, it is their only reading day, and they will read "secular" books, spite of the clerical admonition. many a poor boy in new england, who has toiled all the week, and would gladly have studied all the night, did not obstinate nature forbid, has studied stealthily all sunday, not jeremiah and the prophets, but homer and the mathematics, and risen at length to eminence amongst cultivated men;--he has to thank the sunday for the beginnings of that manly growth. the moral and religious effect of the day is yet more important. one seventh part of the time was to be devoted to moral and religious culture. the clergy watched diligently over sunday, as their own day. work was then the accident; religion was the business. every thing with us becomes earnest; sunday as earnest as the week. it must not be spent idly. perhaps no body of clergymen, for two hundred years, on the whole, were ever so wakeful and active as the american. they also are earnest and full of intensity, especially in the more serious sects. i think i am not very superstitious; not often inclined to lean on my father's staff rather than walk on my own feet; not over-much accustomed to take things on trust because they have been trusted to all along: but i must confess that i see a vast amount of good achieved by the aid of these two institutions, the sunday and preaching, which could not have been done without them. i know i have my prejudices; i love the sunday; a professional bias may warp me aside, for i am a preacher--the pulpit is my joy and my throne. judge you how far my profession and my prejudice have led me astray in estimating the value of the sunday, its preaching, and the good they have achieved for us in new england. i know what superstition, what bigotry, has been connected with both; i know it has kept grim and terrible guard about these institutions. i look upon that superstition and bigotry, as on the old new england guns which were fought with in the indian wars, the french wars, and the revolution;--things that did service when men knew not how to defend what they valued most with better tools and more christian. i look on both with the same melancholy veneration, but honor them the more that now they are old, battered, unfit for use and covered with rust; i would respectfully hang them up, superstition and the musket, side by side; honorable, but harmless, with their muzzles down, and pray god it might never be my lot to handle such ungodly weapons, though in a cause never so humane and holy. * * * * * let us look a little at the ill effects of these notions of the sunday and the observance which they led to. it is thought an act of religion to attend church and give a mere bodily presence there. hence the minister often relies on this circumstance to bring his audience together; preaches sermons on the duty of going to church, while ingenuous boys blush for his weakness, and ask, "were it not better to rely on your goodness, your piety, your wisdom; on your superior ability to teach men, even on your eloquence, rather than tell them it is an act of religion to come and hear you, when both they and you are painfully conscious that they are thereby made no wiser, no better, nor more christian?" this notion is a dangerous one for a clergyman. it flatters his pride and encourages his sloth. it blinds him to his own defects, and leads him to attribute his empty benches to the perverseness of human nature and the carnal heart, which a few snow-flakes can frighten from his church, while a storm will not keep them from a lecture on science or literature. no doubt it is a man's duty to seek all opportunities of becoming wiser and better. so far as church-going helps that work, so far it is a duty. but to count it in itself, irrespective of its consequences, an act of religion, is to commit a dangerous error, which has proved fatal to many a man's growth in goodness and piety. let us look to the end, not merely at the means. this notion has also a bad effect on the hearers. it is thought an act of religion to attend church, whether you are edified or not by sermon, by psalm, or prayer; an act of religion, though you could more profitably spend the time in your own closet at home, or with your own thoughts in the fields. of course, then, he who attends once a day is thought a christian to a certain degree; if twice, more so; if thrice, why that denotes an additional amount of growth in grace. in this way the day is often spent in a continual round of meetings. sermon follows sermon; prayer treads upon the footsteps of prayer; psalm effaces psalm, till morning, afternoon, evening, all are gone. the sunday is ended and over; the man is tired--but has he been profited and made better thereby? the sermons and the prayers have cancelled one another, been heard and forgot. they were too numerous to remember or produce their effect. so on a summer's lake, as the winds loiter and then pass by, ripple follows ripple, and wave succeeds to wave, yet the next day the wind has ceased and the unstable water bears no trace left there by all the blowings of the former day, but bares its incontinent bosom to the frailest and most fleeting clouds. another ill effect follows from regarding attendance at church as an act of religion in itself:--it is forgotten that a man cannot teach what he does not know. if you have more manhood than i, more religion; if you are the more humane and the more divine, it is idle for me to try and teach you divinity and humanity; idle in you to make believe you are taught. the less must learn of the greater, not the greater directly of the less. it is too often forgotten by the preacher that his hearers may be capable of teaching him; that he cannot fill them out of an emptiness, but a fulness. hence, it comes to pass that no one, how advanced soever, is allowed to graduate, so to say, from the church. perhaps it may do a great man, mature in christianity, good to sit down with his fellows and hear a little man talk who knows nothing of religion; it may increase his sympathy with mankind. it can hardly be an act of religion to such a man so advanced in his goodness and piety; perhaps not the best use he could make of the hour. the current opinion hinders social tendencies. a man must not meet with his friend and neighbor, or if he does, he must talk with bated breath, with ghostly countenance, and of a ghostly theme. from this abuse of the sunday comes much of the cold and unsocial character which strangers charge us with. as things now go, there are many who have no opportunity for social intercourse except the hours of the sunday. then it is forbidden them. so they suffer and lose much of the charm of life; become ungenial, unsocial, stiff, and hard, and cold. this notion hinders men, also, from intellectual culture. they must read no book but one professedly religious. such works are commonly poor and dull; written mainly by men of little ability, of little breadth of view; not written in the interest of mankind, but only of a sect--the calvinists or unitarians. a good man groans when he looks over the immense piles of sectarian books written with good motives, and read with the most devout of intentions, but which produce their best effect when they lead only to sleep. yet it is commonly taught that it is religion to spend a part of sunday in reading such works, in listening, or in trying to listen, or in affecting to try and listen, to the most watery sermons, while it is wicked to read some "secular" book, philosophy, history, poem, or tale, which expands the mind and warms the heart. our poor but wisdom-seeking boy must read his homer only by stealth. there are many men who have no time for intellectual pursuits, none for reading, except on sunday. it is cruel to tell them they shall read none but sectarian books or listen only to sectarian words. but there are other evils yet. these notions and the corresponding practice tend to make religion external, consisting in obedience to form, in compliance with custom; while religion is and can be only piety and goodness, love to god and love to man. to keep the sunday idle, to attend church, is not being religious. it is easy to do that; easy to stop there, and then to look at real, manly saints, who live in the odor of sanctity, whose sentiment is a prayer, their deeds religion, and their whole life a perpetual communion with god, and say, "infidel! unbeliever." then, as one day is devoted to religion, it is thought that is enough; that religion has no more business in the world than the world in religion. so division is made of the territory of mortal life, in which partition worldliness has six days, while poor religion has only the sunday, and content with her own limits, feels no salient wish to absorb or annex the week! it is painful to see this abuse of an institution so noble. no commonness of its occurrence renders it less painful. it is painful to be told that men of the most scrupulous sects on sunday, are in the week the least scrupulous of men. but even in religious matters it is thought all things which pertain directly to the religious welfare of men are not proper to be discussed on sunday. one must not preach against intemperance, against slavery, against war, on sunday. it is not "evangelical;" not "preaching the gospel." yet it is thought proper to preach on total depravity, on eternal damnation; to show that god will damn forever the majority of mankind; that the apostle peter was a unitarian. the sunday is not the time, the pulpit not the place, preaching not the instrument, wherewith to oppose the monstrous sins of our day, and secure education, temperance, peace, freedom, for mankind. it is not evangelical, not christian, to do that of a sunday! yet wonderful to say, it is not thought very wicked to hold a political caucus on sunday for the merest party purposes; not wicked at all to work all day at the navy-yards in fitting out vessels, if they are only vessels of war; not at all wicked to toil all sunday, if it is only in aiming to kill men in regular battle. theological newspapers can expend their cheap censure on a member of congress for writing a letter on sunday, yet have no word of fault to find with the order which sets hundreds to work on sunday in preparing armaments of war; not a word against the war which sets men to butcher their christian brothers on the day which christians celebrate as the anniversary of christ's triumph over death! these things show that we have not yet arrived at the most profitable and christian mode of using the sunday; and when i consider these abuses i wonder not that the cry of "infidel" is met by the unchristian taunt, yet more deserved and biting, "thou hypocrite!" i wonder not that some men say, "let us away with the sunday altogether; and if we have no place for rest, we will have none for hypocrisy." the efforts honestly made by good and honest men, to judaize the day still more; to revive the sterner features of ancient worship; to put a yoke on us which neither we nor our fathers could bear; to transform the christian sunday into the jewish sabbath, must lead to a reaction. abuse on one side will be met by abuse on the other; despotic asceticism by license; judaism by heathenism. superstition is the mother of denial. men will scorn the sunday; abuse its timely rest. its hours that may be devoted to man's highest interests will be prostituted to low aims, and worldliness make an unbroken sweep from one end of the month to the other; and then it will take years of toil before mankind can get back and secure the blessings now placed within an easy reach. i put it to you, men whose heads time has crowned with white, or sprinkled with a sober gray, if you would deem it salutary to enforce on your grandchildren the sabbath austerities which your parents imposed on you? in your youth was the sunday a welcome day; a genial day; or only wearisome and sour? was religion, dressed in her sabbath dress, a welcome guest; was she lovely and to be desired? your faces answer. let us profit by your experience. * * * * * how can we make the sunday yet more valuable? if we abandon the superstitious notions respecting its origin and original design, the evils that have hitherto hindered its use will soon perish of themselves. they all grow out of that root. if men are not driven into a reaction by pretensions for the sunday which facts will not warrant; if unreasonable austerities are not forced upon them in the name of the law, and the name of god; there is no danger in our day that men will abandon an institution which already has done so much service to mankind. let sunday and preaching stand on their own merits, and they will encounter no more opposition than the common school and the work-days of the week. then men will be ready enough to appropriate the sunday to the highest objects they know and can appreciate. tell men the sunday is made for man, and they will use it for its highest use. tell them man is made for it, and they will war on it as a tyrant. i should be sorry to see the sunday devoted to common work; sorry to hear the clatter of a mill, or the rattle of the wheels of business on that day. i look with pain on men engaged needlessly in work on that day; not with the pain of wounded superstition, but a deeper regret. i would not water my garden with perfumes when common water was at hand. we shall always have work enough in america; hand-work, and head-work, for common purposes. there is danger that we shall not have enough of rest, of intellectual cultivation, of refinement, of social intercourse; that our time shall be too much devoted to the lower interests of life, to the means of living and not the end. i would not consider it an act of religion to attend church: only a good thing to go there when the way of improvement leads through it; when you are made wiser and better by being there. i am pained to see a man spend the whole of a sunday in going to church,--and forgetting himself in getting acquainted with the words of the preachers. i think most intelligent hearers, and most intelligent and christian preachers, will confess that two sermons are better than three, and one is better than two. one need only look at the afternoon face of a congregation in the city, to be satisfied of this. if one half the day were devoted to public worship, the other half might be free for private studies of men at home, for private devotion, for social relaxation, for intercourse with one's own family and friends. then sunday afternoon and evening would afford an excellent opportunity for meetings for the promotion of the great humane movements of the day, which some would think not evangelical enough to be treated of in the morning. would it be inconsistent with the great purposes of the day, inconsistent with christianity, to have lectures on science, literature, and similar subjects delivered then? i do not believe the catholic custom of spending the sunday afternoon in england, before the reformation, was a good one. it diverted men from the higher end to the lower. i cannot think that here and now we need amusement so much as society, instruction, refinement, and devotion. yet it seems to me unwise to restrain the innocent sports of children of a sunday, to the same degree that our fathers did; to make sunday to them a day of gloom and sadness. thoughtful parents are now much troubled in this matter; they cannot enforce the old discipline, so disastrous to themselves; they fear to trust their own sense of what is right;--so, perhaps, get the ill of both schemes, and the good of neither. there are in boston about thirty thousand catholics, twenty-five thousand of them, probably, too ignorant to read with pleasure or profit any book. at home, amusement formed a part of their sunday service; it was a part of their religion to make a festive use of sunday afternoon. what shall they do? is it christian in us by statute to interdict them from their recreation? with the exception of children and these most ignorant persons, it does not appear that there is any class amongst us who need any part of the sunday for sport. i am not one of those who wish "to give up the sunday;" indeed there are few such men amongst us; i would make it yet more useful and profitable. i would remove from it the superstition and the bigotry which have so long been connected with it; i would use it freely, as a christian not enslaved by the letter of judaism, but made free by an obedience to the law of the spirit of life. i would use the sunday for religion in the wide sense of that word; use it to promote piety and goodness, for humanity, for science, for letters, for society. i would not abuse it by impudent license on the one hand, nor by slavish superstition on the other. we can easily escape the evils which come of the old abuse; can make the sunday ten times more valuable than it is even now; can employ it for all the highest interests of mankind, and fear no reaction into libertinism. the sunday is made for man, as are all other days; not man for the sunday. let us use it, then, not consuming its hours in a jewish observance; not devote it to the lower necessities of life, but the higher; not squander it in idleness, sloth, frivolity, or sleep; let us use it for the body's rest, for the mind's culture, for head and heart and soul. men and women, you have received the sunday from your fathers, as a day to be devoted to the highest interests of man. it has done great service for them and for you. but it has come down accompanied with superstition which robs it of half its value. it is easy for you to make the day far more profitable to yourselves than it ever was to your fathers; easy to divest it of all bigotry, to free it from all oldness of the letter; easy to leave it for your children an institution which shall bless them for ages yet to come: or it is easy to bind on their necks unnatural restraints; to impose on their conscience and understanding absurdities which at last they must repel with scorn and contempt. it is in your hands to make the sunday jewish or christian. footnotes: [ ] these celebrated commandments have come down to us in three distinct forms; namely, in exodus xx., in exodus xxxiv., and in deut. v. the differences between these several codes are quite remarkable and significant. [ ] chron. : . [ ] john : - , and : - . [ ] matthew : - . [ ] rev. : . [ ] coloss. : . [ ] galat. : . [ ] justinian, _cod._ lib. iii. tit. xii. l. . [ ] _cod._, lib. iii. tit. xii. l. . see also, l. and . iii. a sermon of immortal life.--preached at the melodeon, on sunday, september , . wisdom of solomon iii. , . the souls of the righteous are in the hands of god: their hope is full of immortality. it is the belief of mankind that we shall all live forever. this is not a doctrine of christianity alone. it belongs to the human race. you may find nations so rude that they live houseless, in caverns of the earth; nations that have no letters, not knowing the use of bows and arrows, fire or even clothes, but no nation without a belief in immortal life. the form of that belief is often grotesque and absurd; the mode of proof ridiculous; the expectations of what the future life is to be are often childish and silly. but notwithstanding all that, the fact still remains, the belief that the soul of a man never dies. how did mankind come by this opinion? "by a miraculous revelation," says one. but according to the common theory of miraculous revelations, the race could not have obtained it in this way, for according to that theory the heathen had no such revelations; yet we find this doctrine the settled belief of the whole heathen world. the greeks and romans believed it long before christ; the chaldees, with no pretence to miraculous inspiration, taught the idea of immortality; while the jews, spite of their alleged revelations, rested only in the dim sentiment thereof. it was not arrived at by reasoning. it requires a good deal of hard thinking to reason out and prove this matter. yet you find this belief among nations not capable as yet of that art of thinking and to that degree, nations who never tried to prove it, and yet believe it as confidently as we. the human race did not sit down and think it out; never waited till they could prove it by logic and metaphysics; did not delay their belief till a miraculous revelation came to confirm it. it came to mankind by intuition; by instinctive belief, the belief which comes unavoidably from the nature of man. in this same way came the belief in god; the love of man; the sentiment of justice. men could see, and knew they could see, before they proved it; before they had theories of vision; without waiting for a miraculous revelation to come and tell them they had eyes, and might see if they would look. some faculties of the body act spontaneously at first--so others of the spirit. immortality is a fact of man's nature, so it is a part of the universe, just as the sun is a fact in the heavens and a part of the universe. both are writings from god's hand; each therefore a revelation from him, and of him; only not miraculous, but natural, regular, normal. yet each is just as much a revelation from him as if the great soul of all had spoken in english speech to one of us and said, "there is a sun there in the heavens, and thou shalt live for ever." yes, the fact is more certain than such speech would make it, for this fact speaks always--a perpetual revelation, and no words can make it more certain. as a man attains consciousness of himself, he attains consciousness of his immortality. at first he asks proof no more of his eternal existence than of his present life; instinctively he believes both. nay, he does not separate the two; this life is one link in that golden and electric chain of immortality; the next life another and more bright, but in the same chain. immortality is what philosophers call an ontological fact; it belongs essentially to the being of man, just as the eye is a physiological fact and belongs to the body of man. to my mind this is the great proof of immortality: the fact that it is written in human nature; written there so plain that the rudest nations have not failed to find it, to know it; written just as much as form is written on the circle, and extension on matter in general. it comes to our consciousness as naturally as the notions of time and space. we feel it as a desire; we feel it as a fact. what is thus in man is writ there of god who writes no lies. to suppose that this universal desire has no corresponding gratification, is to represent him, not as the father of all but as only a deceiver. i feel the longing after immortality, a desire essential to my nature, deep as the foundation of my being; i find the same desire in all men. i feel conscious of immortality; that i am not to die; no, never to die, though often to change. i cannot believe this desire and consciousness are felt only to mislead, to beguile, to deceive me. i know god is my father, and the father of the nations. can the almighty deceive his children? for my own part, i can conceive of nothing which shall make me more certain of my immortality. i ask no argument from learned lips. no miracle could make me more sure; no, not if the sheeted dead burst cerement and shroud, and rising forth from their honored tombs stood here before me, the disenchanted dust once more enchanted with that fiery life; no, not if the souls of all my sires since time began came thronging round, and with miraculous speech told me they lived and i should also live. i could only say, "i knew all this before, why waste your heavenly speech!" i have now indubitable certainty of eternal life. death removing me to the next state, can give me infallible certainty. but there are men who doubt of immortality. they say they are conscious of the want, not of the fact. they need a proof. the exception here proves the rule. you do not doubt your personal and conscious existence now; you ask no proof of that; you would laugh at me should i try to convince you that you are alive and self-conscious. yet one of the leaders of modern philosophy wanted a proof of his as a basis for his science, and said,--"i am because i think." but his thought required proof as much as his being; yes, logically more, for being is the ground of thinking, not thinking of being. at this day there are sound men who deny the existence of this outward world, declaring it only a dreamworld. this ground, they say, and yonder sun have being but in fancy, like the sun and ground you perchance dreamed of last night whose being was only a being-dreamed. these are exceptional men, and help prove the common rule, that man trusts his senses and believes an outward world. yet such are more common amongst philosophers than men who doubt of their immortal life. you cannot easily reason those men out of their philosophy and into their senses, nor by your own philosophy perhaps convince them that there is an outward world. i think few of you came to your belief in everlasting life through reasoning. your belief grew out of your general state of mind and heart. you could not help it. perhaps few of you ever sat down and weighed the arguments for and against it, and so made up your mind. perhaps those who have the firmest consciousness of the fact are least familiar with the arguments which confirm that consciousness. if a man disbelieves it, if he denies it, his opinion is not often to be changed immediately or directly by argument. his special conviction has grown out of his general state of mind and heart, and is only to be removed by a change in his whole philosophy. i am not honoring men for their belief, nor blaming men who doubt or deny. i do not believe any one ever willingly doubted this; ever purposely reasoned himself into the denial thereof. men doubt because they cannot help it; not because they will, but must. there are a great many things true which no man as yet can prove true; some things so true that nothing can make them plainer, or more plainly true. i think it is so with this doctrine, and therefore, for myself, ask no argument. with my views of man, of god, of the relation between the two, i want no proof, satisfied with my own consciousness of immortality. yet there are arguments which are fair, logical, just, which satisfy the mind, and may, perhaps, help persuade some men who doubt, if such men there are amongst you. i think that immortality is a fact of consciousness; a fact given in the constitution of man: therefore a matter of sentiment. but it requires thought to pick it out from amongst the other facts of consciousness. though at first merely a feeling, a matter of sentiment, on examination it becomes an idea--a matter of thought. it will bear being looked at in the sharpest and dryest light of logic. truth never flinches before reason. it is so with our consciousness of god; that is an ontological fact, a fact given in the nature of man. at first it is a feeling, a matter of sentiment. by thought we abstract this fact from other facts; we find an idea of god. that is a matter of philosophy, and the analyzing mind legitimates the idea and at length demonstrates the existence of god, which we first learned without analysis, and by intuition. a great deal has been written to prove the existence of god, and that by the ablest men; yet i cannot believe that any one was ever reasoned directly into a belief in god, by all those able men, nor directly out of it by all the skeptics and scoffers. indirectly such works affect men, change their philosophy and modes of thought, and so help them to one or the other conclusion. the idea of immortality, like the idea of god, in a certain sense, is born in us, and fast as we come to consciousness of ourselves we come to consciousness of god, and of ourselves as immortal. the higher we advance in wisdom, goodness, piety, the larger place do god and immortality hold in our experience and inward life. i think that is the regular and natural process of a man's development. doubt of either seems to me an exception, an irregularity. causes that remove the doubt must be general more than special. * * * * * however, in order to have a basis of thought and reasoning, as well as of intuition and reason, let me mention some of the arguments for everlasting life. i. the first is drawn from the general belief of mankind. the greatest philosophers and the most profound and persuasive religious teachers of the whole world have taught this. that is an important fact, for these men represent the consciousness of mankind in the highest development it has yet reached, and in such points are the truest representatives of man. what is more, the human race believes it, not merely as a thing given by miraculous revelation, not as a matter proven by science, not as a thing of tradition resting on some man's authority, but believes it instinctively, not knowing and not asking why, or how; believes it as a fact of consciousness. now in a matter of this sort the opinion of the human race is worth considering. i do not value very much the opinion of a priesthood in rome or judea, or elsewhere on this point, or any other, for they may have designs adverse to the truth. but the general sentiment of the human race in a matter like this is of the greatest importance. this general sentiment of mankind is a quite different thing from public opinion, which favors freedom in one country and slavery in another; this sentiment of mankind relates to what is a matter of feeling with most men. it is only a few thinkers that have made it a matter of thought. the opinion of mankind, so far as we know, has not changed on this point for four thousand years. since the dawn of history, man's belief in immortality has continually been developing and getting deeper fixed. still more, this belief is very dear to mankind. let me prove that. if it were true that one human soul was immortal and yet was to be eternally damned, getting only more clotted with crime and deeper bit by agony as the ages went slowly by, then immortality were a curse, not to that man only, but to all mankind--for no amount of happiness, merited or undeserved, could ever atone or make up for the horrid wrong done to that one most miserable man. who of you is there that could relish heaven, or even bear it for a moment, knowing that a brother was doomed to smart with ever greatening agony, while year on year, and age on age, the endless chain of eternity continued to coil round the flying wheels of hell? i say the thought of one such man would fill even heaven with misery, and the best man of men would scorn the joys of everlasting bliss, would spurn at heaven and say, "give me my brother's place; for me there is no heaven while he is there!" now it has been popularly taught, that not one man alone, but the vast majority of all mankind, are thus to be condemned; immortal only to be everlastingly wretched. that is the popular doctrine now in this land. it has been so taught in the christian churches these sixteen centuries and more--taught in the name of christ! such an immortality would be a curse to men, to every man; as much so to the "saved" as to the "lost;" for who would willingly stay in heaven, and on such terms? surely not he who wept with weeping men! yet in spite of this vile doctrine drawn over the world to come, mankind religiously believes that each shall live for ever. this shows how strong is the instinct which can lift up such a foul and hateful doctrine and still live on. tell me not that scoffers and critics shall take away man's faith in endless life: it has stood a harder test than can ever come again. * * * * * ii. the next argument is drawn from the nature of man. . all men desire to be immortal. this desire is instinctive, natural, universal. in god's world such a desire implies the satisfaction thereof equally natural and universal. it cannot be that god has given man this universal desire of immortality, this belief in it, and yet made it all a mockery. man loves truth; tells it; rests only in it; how much more god who is the trueness of truth. bodily senses imply their objects--the eye light, the ear sound; the touch, the taste, the smell, things relative thereto. spiritual senses likewise foretell their object,--are silent prophecies of endless life. the love of justice, beauty, truth, of man and god, points to realities unseen as yet. we are ever hungering after noblest things, and what we feed on makes us hunger more. the senses are satisfied, but the soul never. . then, too, while this composite body unavoidably decays, this simple soul which is my life decays not. reason, the affections, all the powers that make the man, decay not. true, the organs by which they act become impaired. but there is no cause for thinking that love, conscience, reason, will, ever become weaker in man; but cause for thinking that all these continually become more strong. was the mind of newton gone when his frame, long over-tasked, refused its wonted work? . here on earth, every thing in its place and time matures. the acorn and the chestnut, things natural to this climate, ripen every year. a longer season would make them no better nor bigger. it is so with our body--that, under proper conditions, becomes mature. it is so with all the things of earth. but man is not fully grown as the acorn and the chestnut; never gets mature. take the best man and the greatest--all his faculties are not developed, fully grown and matured. he is not complete in the qualities of a man; nay, often half his qualities lie all unused. shall we conclude these are never to obtain development and do their work? the analogy of nature tells us that man, the new-born plant, is but removed by death to another soil, where he shall grow complete and become mature. . then, too, each other thing under its proper conditions not only ripens but is perfect also after its kind. each clover-seed is perfect as a star. every lion, as a general rule, is a common representation of all lionhood; the ideal of his race made real in him, a thousand years of life would not make him more. but where is the adamitic man; the type and representative of his race, who makes actual its idea? even jesus bids you not call him good; no man has all the manhood of mankind. yes, there are rudiments of greatness in us all, but abortive, incomplete, and stopped in embryo. now all these elements of manhood point as directly to another state as the unfinished walls of yonder rising church intimate that the work is not complete, that the artist here intends a roof, a window there, here a tower, and over all a heaven-piercing spire. all men are abortions, our failure pointing to the real success. nay, we are all waiting to be born, our whole nature looking to another world, and dimly presaging what that world shall be. death, however we misname him, seasonable or out of time, is the birth-angel, that alone. . besides, the presence of injustice, of wrong, points the same way. the fact that one man goes out of this life in childhood, in manhood, at any time before the natural measure of his days is full; the fact that any one is by circumstances made wretched; that he is hindered from his proper growth and has not here his natural due--all intimates to me his future life. i know that god is just. i know his justice too shall make all things right, for he must have the power, the wish, the will therefor, to speak in human speech. i see the injustice in this city, its pauperism, suffering, and crime, men smarting all their life, and by no fault of theirs. i know there must be another hemisphere to balance this; another life, wherein justice shall come to all and for all. else god were unjust; and an unjust god to me is no god at all, but a wretched chimera which my soul rejects with scorn. i see the autumn prefigured in the spring. the flowers of may-day foretold the harvest, its rosy apples and its yellow ears of corn. as the bud now lying cold and close upon the bark of every tree throughout our northern clime is a silent prophecy of yet another spring and other summers, and harvests too; so this instinctive love of justice scantly budding here and nipped by adverse fate, silently but clearly tells of a kingdom of heaven. i take some miserable child here in this city, squalid in dress and look, ignorant and wicked too as most men judge of vagrant vice, made so by circumstances over which that child had no control; i turn off with a shudder at the public wrong we have done and still are doing; but in that child i see proof of another world, yes, heaven glittering from behind those saddened eyes. i know that child has a man's nature in him, perhaps a channing's trusting piety; perhaps a newton's mind; has surely rudiments of more than these; for what were channing, newton, both of them, but embryo men? i turn off with a shudder at the public wrong, but a faith in god's justice, in that child's eternal life, which nothing can ever shake. * * * * * iii. a third argument is drawn from the nature of god. he, as the infinite, the unconditioned, the absolute, is all-powerful, all-wise, all-good. therefore he must wish the best of all possible things; must know the best of all possible things; must will the best of all possible things, and so bring it to pass. life is a possible thing; eternal life is possible. neither implies a contradiction; yes, to me they seem necessary, more than possible. now, then, as life, serene and happy life, is better than non-existence, so immortality is better than perpetual death. god must know that, wish that, will that, and so bring that about. man, therefore, must be immortal. this argument is brief indeed, but i see not how it can be withstood. i do not know that one of you doubts of eternal life. if any does, i know not if these thoughts will ever affect his doubt. still, i think each argument is powerful; to one that thinks, reasons, balances, and then decides, exceeding powerful. all put together form a mass of argument which, as it seems to me, no logic can resist. yet i beg you to understand that i do not rest immortality on any reasoning of mine, but on reason itself; not on these logical arguments, but on man's consciousness, and the instinctive belief which is common to the human race. i believed my immortality before i proved it; believed it just as strongly then as now. nay, could some doubter rise, and, to my thinking, vanquish all these arguments, i should still hold fast my native faith, nor fear the doubter's arms. the simple consciousness of men is stronger than all forms of proof. still, if men want arguments--why, there they are. * * * * * the belief in immortality is one thing; the special form thereof, the definite notion of the future life, another and quite different. the popular doctrine in our churches i think is this: that this body which we lay in the dust shall one day be raised again, the living soul joined on anew, and both together live the eternal life. but where is the soul all this time, between our death-day and our day of rising? some say it sleeps unconscious, dead all this time; others, that it is in heaven now, or else in hell; others, in a strange and transient home, imperfect in its joy or woe, waiting the final day and more complete account. it seems to me this notion is absurd and impossible: absurd in its doctrine relative to the present condition of departed souls; impossible in what it teaches of the resurrection of this body. if my soul is to claim the body again, which shall it be, the body i was born into, or that i died out of? if i live to the common age of men, changing my body as i must, and dying daily, then i have worn some eight or ten bodies. so at the last, which body shall claim my soul, for the ten had her? the soul herself may claim them all. but to make the matter still more intricate, there is in the earth but a certain portion of matter out of which human bodies can be made. considering all the millions of men now living, the myriads of millions that have been before, it is plain, i think, that all the matter suitable for human bodies has been lived over many times. so if the world were to end to-day, instead of each old man having ten bodies from which to choose the one that fits him best, there would be ten men, all clamoring for each body! shall i then have a handful of my former dust, and that alone? that is not the resurrection of my former body. this whole doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh seems to me impossible and absurd. i know men refer this, as many other things no better, to jesus. i find no satisfactory evidence that he taught the resurrection of the body; there is some evidence that he did not. i know it was the doctrine of the pharisees of his time, of paul, the early christians, and more or less of the christian churches to this day. in christ's time in judea, there were the sadducees, who taught the eternal death of men; the pharisees who taught the resurrection of the flesh and its reunion with the soul; the essenes, who taught the immortality of the soul, but rejected the resurrection of the body. paul was a pharisee, and in his letters taught the resurrection of the dead, the belief of the pharisees. from him it has come down to us, and in the creed of many churches it is still written, "i believe in the resurrection of the flesh." many doubted this in early times, but the council of nice declared all men accursed who dared to doubt the resurrection of the flesh. i mention this as absurd and impossible, because it is still, i fear, the popular belief, and lest some should confound the doctrine of immortality with this tenet of the pharisees. let it be remembered the immortality of the soul is one thing, the resurrection of the body another and quite different. * * * * * what is this future life? what can we know of it besides its existence? some men speak as if they knew the way around heaven as around the wards of their native city. what we can know in detail is cautiously to be inferred from the nature of man and the nature of god. i will modestly set down what seems to me. it must be a conscious state. man is by his nature conscious; yes, self-conscious. he is progressive in his self-consciousness. i cannot think a removal out of the body destroys this consciousness; rather that it enhances and intensifies this. yet consciousness in the next life must differ as much from consciousness here as the ripe peach differs from the blossom, or the bud, or the bark, or the earthly materials out of which it grew. the child is no limit to the man, nor my consciousness now to what i may be, must be hereafter. it must be a social state. our nature is social; our joys social. for our progress here, our happiness, we depend on one another. must it not be so there? it must be an advance upon our nature and condition here. all the analogy of nature teaches that. things advance from small to great; from base to beautiful. the girl grows into a woman; the bud swells into the blossom, that into the fruit. the process over, the work begins anew. how much more must it be so in the other life. what old powers we shall discover now buried in the flesh; what new powers shall come upon us in that new state, no man can know; it were but poetic idleness to talk of them. we see in some great man, what power of intellect, imagination, justice, goodness, piety, he reveals, lying latent in us all. how men bungle in their works of art! no raphael can paint a dew-drop or a flake of frost. yet some rude man, tired with his work, lies down beneath a tree, his head upon his swarthy arm, and sleep shuts, one by one, these five scant portals of the soul, and what an artist is he made at once! how brave a sky he paints above him, with what golden garniture of clouds set off; what flowers and trees, what men and women does he not create, and moving in celestial scenes! what years of history does he condense in one short minute, and when he wakes, shakes off the purple drapery of his dream as if it were but worthless dust and girds him for his work anew! what other powers there are shut up in men less known than this artistic phantasy; powers of seeing the distant, recalling the past, predicting the future, feeling at once the character of men--of this we know little, only by rare glimpses at the unwonted side of things. but yet we know enough to guess there are strange wonders there waiting to be revealed. what form our conscious, social, and increased activity shall take, we know not. we know of that no more than before our birth we knew of this world, of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, or the things which they reveal. we are not born into that world, have not its senses yet. this we know, that the same god, all-powerful, all-wise, all-good, rules there and then, as here and now. who cannot trust him to do right and best for all? for my own part, i feel no wish to know how or where, or what i shall be hereafter. i know it will be right for my truest welfare; for the good of all. i am satisfied with this trust. yet the next life must be a state of retribution. thither we carry nothing but ourselves, our naked selves. our fortune we leave behind us; our honors and rank return to such as gave; even our reputation, the good or ill men thought we were, clings to us no more. we go thither without our staff or scrip; nothing but the man we are. yet that man is the result of all life's daily work; it is the one thing which we have brought to pass. i cannot believe men who have voluntarily lived mean, little, vulgar and selfish lives, will go out of this and into that, great, noble, generous, good, and holy. can the practical saint and the practical hypocrite enter on the same course of being together? i know the sufferings of bad men here, the wrong they do their nature, and what comes of that wrong. i think that suffering is the best part of sin, the medicine to heal it with. what men suffer here from their wrong-doing is its natural consequence; but all that suffering is a mercy, designed to make them better. every thing in this world is adapted to promote the welfare of god's creatures. must it not be so in the next? how many men seem wicked from our point of view, who are not so from their own; how many become infamous through no fault of theirs; the victims of circumstances, born into crime, of low and corrupt parents, whom former circumstances made corrupt! such men cannot be sinners before god. here they suffer from the tyranny of appetites they never were taught to subdue; they have not the joy of a cultivated mind. the children of the wild indian are capable of the same cultivation as children here; yet they are savages. is it always to be so? is god to be partial in granting the favors of another life? i cannot believe it. i doubt not that many a soul rises up from the dungeon and the gallows, yes, from dens of infamy amongst men, clean and beautiful before god. christ, says the gospel, assured the penitent thief of sharing heaven with him--and that day. many seem inferior to me, who in god's sight must be far before me; men who now seem too low to learn of me here, may be too high to teach me there. i cannot think the future world is to be feared, even by the worst of men. i had rather die a sinner than live one. doubtless justice is there to be done; that may seem stern and severe. but remember god's justice is not like a man's; it is not vengeance, but mercy; not poison, but medicine. to me it seems tuition more than chastisement. god is not the jailer of the universe, but the shepherd of the people; not the hangman of mankind, but their physician; yes, our father. i cannot fear him as i fear men. i cannot fail to love. i abhor sin, i loathe and nauseate thereat; most of all at my own. i can plead for others and extenuate their guilt, perhaps they for mine; not i for my own. i know god's justice will overtake me, giving me what i have paid for. but i do not, cannot fear it. i know his justice is love; that if i suffer, it is for my everlasting joy. i think this is a natural state of mind. i do not find that men ever dread the future life, or turn pale on their death-bed at thought of god's vengeance, except when a priesthood has frightened them to that. the world's literature, which is the world's confession, proves what i say. in greece, in classic days, when there was no caste of priests, the belief in immortality was current and strong. but in all her varied literature i do not remember a man dying, yet afraid of god's vengeance. the rude indian of our native land did not fear to meet the great spirit, face to face. i have sat by the bedside of wicked men, and while death was dealing with my brother, i have watched the tide slow ebbing from the shore, but i have known no one afraid to go. say what we will, there is nothing stronger and deeper in men than confidence in god, a solemn trust that he will do us good. even the worst man thinks god his father; and is he not? tell me not of god's vengeance, punishing men for his own glory! there is no such thing. talk not to me of endless hell, where men must suffer for suffering's sake, be damned for an eternity of woe. i tell you there is no such thing, nor can there ever be. does not even the hireling shepherd, when a single lamb has gone astray, leave the ninety and nine safe in their fold, go forth some stormy night and seek the wanderer, rejoicing to bring home the lost one on his shoulders? and shall god forget his child, his frailest or most stubborn child; leave him in endless misery, a prey to insatiate sin, that grim, bloodthirsty wolf, prowling about the human fold? i tell you no; not god. why, this eccentric earth forsakes the sun awhile, careering fast and far away, but that attractive power prevails at length, and the returning globe comes rounding home again. does a mortal mother desert her son, wicked, corrupt and loathsome though he be? if so, the wiser world cries, shame! but she does not. when her child becomes loathsome and hateful to the world, drunk with wickedness, and when the wicked world puts him away out of its sight, strangling him to death, that mother forgets not her child. she had his earliest kiss from lips all innocent of coming ill, and she will have his last. yes, she will press his cold and stiffened form to her own bosom; the bosom that bore and fed the innocent babe yearns yet with mortal longing for the murdered murderer. infamous to the world, his very dust is sacred dust to her. she braves the world's reproach, buries her son, piously hoping, that as their lives once mingled, so their ashes shall. the world, cruel and forgetful oft, honors the mother in its deepest heart. do you tell me that culprit's mother loves her son more than god can love him? then go and worship her. i know that when father and mother both forsake me, in the extremity of my sin, i know my god loves on. oh yes, ye sons of men, indian and greek, ye are right to trust your god. do priests and their churches say no!--bid them go and be silent forever. no grain of dust gets lost from off this dusty globe; and shall god lose a man from off this sphere of souls? believe it not. i know that suffering follows sin, lasting long as the sin. i thank god it is so; that god's own angel stands there to warn back the erring balaams, wandering towards woe. but god, who sends the rain, the dew, the sun, on me as on a better man, will, at last, i doubt it not, make us all pure, all just, all good, and so, at last, all happy. this follows from the nature of god himself, for the all-good must wish the welfare of his child; the all-wise know how to achieve that welfare; the all-powerful bring it to pass. tell me he wishes not the eternal welfare of all men, then i say, that is not the god of the universe. i own not that as god. nay, i tell you it is not god you speak of, but some heathen fancy, smoking up from your unhuman heart. i would ask the worst of mothers, did you forsake your child because he went astray, and mocked your word? "oh no," she says; "he was but a child, he knew no better, and i led him right, corrected him for his good, not mine!" are we not all children before god; the wisest, oldest, wickedest, god's child! i am sure he will never forsake me, how wicked soever i become. i know that he is love; love, too, that never fails. i expect to suffer for each conscious, wilful wrong; i wish, i hope, i long to suffer for it. i am wronged if i do not; what i do not outgrow, live over and forget here, i hope to expiate there. i fear a sin; not to outgrow a sin. * * * * * a man who has lived here a manly life, must enter the next under the most favorable circumstances. i do not mean a man of mere negative goodness, starting in the road of old custom, with his wheels deep in the ruts, not having life enough to go aside, but a positively good man, one bravely good. he has lived heaven here, and must enter higher up than a really wicked man, or a slothful one, or one but negatively good. he can go from earth to heaven, as from one room to another, pass gradually, as from winter to spring. to such an one, no revolution appears needed. the next life, it seems, must be a continual progress, the improvement of old powers, the disclosure or accession of new ones. what nobler reach of thought, what profounder insight, what more heavenly imagination, what greater power of conscience, faith and love, will bless us there and then, it were vain to calculate, it is far beyond our span. you see men now, whose souls are one with god, and so his will works through them as the magnetic fire runs on along the unimpeding line. what happiness they have, it is they alone can say. how much greater must it be there; not even they can tell. here the body helps us to some things. through these five small loop-holes the world looks in. how much more does the body hinder us from seeing? through the sickly body yet other worlds look in. he who has seen only the daylight, knows nothing of that heaven of stars, which all night long hang overhead their lamps of gold. when death has dusted off this body from me, who will dream for me the new powers i shall possess? it were vain to try. time shall reveal it all. i cannot believe that any state in heaven is a final state, only a condition of progress. the bud opens into the blossom, the flower matures into the fruit. the salvation of to-day is not blessedness enough for to-morrow. here we are first babes of earth, with a few senses, and those imperfect, helpless and ignorant; then children of earth; then youths; then men, armed with reason, conscience, affection, piety, and go on enlarging these without end. so methinks it must be there, that we shall be first babes of heaven, then children, next youths, and so go on growing, advancing and advancing--our being only a becoming more and more, with no possibility of ever reaching the end. if this be true, then there must be a continual increase of being. so, in some future age, the time will come, when each one of us shall have more mind, and heart, and soul, than christ on earth; more than all men now on earth have ever had; yes, more than they and all the souls of men now passed to heaven;--shall have, each one of us, more being than they all have had, and so more truth, more soul, more faith, more rest and bliss of life. * * * * * do men of the next world look in upon this? are they present with us, conscious of our deeds or thoughts? who knows? who can say aye or no? the unborn know nothing of the life on earth; yet the born of earth know somewhat of them, and make ready for their coming. who knows but men born to heaven are waiting for your birth to come--have gone to prepare a place for us? all that is fancy, and not fact; it is not philosophy, but poetry; no more. of this we may be sure, that what is best will be; what best for saint or sinner; what most conducive to their real good. that is no poetry, but unavoidable truth, which all mankind may well believe. there are many who never attained their true stature here, yet without blameworthiness of theirs; men cheated of their growth. many a milton walks on his silent way, and goes down at last, not singing and unsung. how many a possible newton or descartes has dug the sewers of a city, and dies, giving no sign of the wealthy soul he bore! "chill penury repressed his noble rage, and froze the genial current of the soul." what if the best of you had been born slaves in north carolina, or among savages at new zealand; nay, in some of the filthy cellars of boston, and turned friendless into the streets; what might you have become? surely not what you are; yet, before god, you might, perhaps, be more deserving, and, at death, go to a far higher place. what is so terribly wrong here, must be righted there. it cannot be that god will thrust a man out of heaven, because his mother was a savage, a slave, a pauper, or a criminal. it is men's impiety which does so here, not heaven's justice there! how the wrong shall be righted i know not, care not now to know; of the fact i ask no further certainty. many that are last shall be first. it may be that the pirate, in heaven, having outgrown his earthly sins, shall teach justice to the judge who hanged him here. they who were oppressed and trampled on, kept down, dwarfed, stinted and emaciate in soul, must have justice done them there, and will doubtless stand higher in heaven than we, who, having many talents, used them poorly, or hid them idle in the dirt, knowing our father's will, yet heeding not. it was jesus that said, many shall come from the east and the west, and sit down in the kingdom of god, and men, calling themselves saints, be thrust out. * * * * * shall we remember the deeds of the former life; this man that he picked rags out of the mud in the streets, and another that he ruled nations? who can tell; nay, who need care to ask? such a remembrance seems not needed for retribution's sake. the oak remembers not each leaf it ever bore, though each helped to form the oak, its branch and bole. how much has gone from our bodies! we know not how it came or went! how much of our past life is gone from our memory, yet its result lives in our character! the saddler remembers not every stitch he took while an apprentice, yet each stitch helped form the saddle. * * * * * shall we know our friends again? for my own part i cannot doubt it; least of all when i drop a tear over their recent dust. death does not separate them from us here. can life in heaven do it? they live in our remembrance; memory rakes in the ashes of the dead, and the virtues of the departed flame up anew, enlightening the dim cold walls of our consciousness. much of our joy is social here; we only half enjoy an undivided good. god made mankind, but sundered that into men, that they might help one another. must it not be so there, and we be with our real friends? man loves to think it; yet to trust is wiser than to prophesy. but the girl who went from us a little one may be as parent to her father when he comes, and the man who left us have far outgrown our dream of an angel when we meet again. i cannot doubt that many a man who not long ago left his body here, now far surpasses the radiant manliness which jesus won and wore; yes, is far better, greater, too, than many poorly conceive of god. * * * * * there are times when we think little of a future life. in a period of success, serene and healthy life; the day's good is good enough for that day. but there comes a time when this day's good is not enough; its ill too great to bear. when death comes down and wrenches off a friend from our side; wife, child, brother, father, a dear one taken; this life is not enough. oh, no, not to the coldest, coarsest, and most sensual man. i put it to you, to the most heartless of you all, or the most cold and doubting--when you lay down in the earth your mother, sister, wife, or child, remembering that you shall see their face no more, is life enough? do you not reach out your arms for heaven, for immortality, and feel you cannot die? when i see men at a feast, or busy in the street, i do not think of their eternal life; perhaps feel not my own. but when the stiffened body goes down to the tomb, sad, silent, remorseless, i feel there is no death for the man. that clod which yonder dust shall cover is not my brother. the dust goes to its place, the man to his own. it is then i feel my immortality. i look through the grave into heaven. i ask no miracle, no proof, no reasoning for me. i ask no risen dust to teach me immortality. i am conscious of eternal life. but there are worse hours than these: seasons bitterer than death, sorrows that lie a latent poison in the heart, slowly sapping the foundations of our peace. there are hours when the best life seems a sheer failure to the man who lived it, his wisdom folly, his genius impotence, his best deed poor and small; when he wonders why he was suffered to be born; when all the sorrows of the world seem poured upon him; when he stands in a populous loneliness, and though weak, can only lean in upon himself. in such hour he feels the insufficiency of this life. it is only his cradle-time, he counts himself just born; all honors, wealth and fame are but baubles in his baby hand; his deep philosophy but nursery rhymes. yet he feels the immortal fire burning in his heart. he stretches his hands out from the swaddling-clothes of flesh, reaching after the topmost star, which he sees, or dreams he sees, and longs to go alone. still worse, the consciousness of sin comes over him; he feels that he has insulted himself. all about him seems little; himself little, yet clamoring to be great. then we feel our immortality; through the gairish light of day we see a star or two beyond. the soul within us feels her wings, contending to be born, impatient for the sky, and wrestles with the earthly worm that folds us in. "mysterious night! when our first parent knew thee from report divine, and heard thy name, did he not tremble for this lovely frame, this glorious canopy of light and blue? yet 'neath a curtain of translucent dew, bathed in the rays of the great setting flame, hesperus with the host of heaven came; and lo, creation widened in man's view. who could have thought such darkness lay concealed within thy beams, o sun? or who could find, whilst fly and leaf and insect stood revealed, that to such countless orbs thou mad'st us blind? why do we then shun death with anxious strife? if light can thus deceive, wherefore not life?" i would not slight this wondrous world. i love its day and night. its flowers and its fruits are dear to me. i would not wilfully lose sight of a departing cloud. every year opens new beauty in a star; or in a purple gentian fringed with loveliness. the laws too of matter seem more wonderful the more i study them, in the whirling eddies of the dust, in the curious shells of former life buried by thousands in a grain of chalk, or in the shining diagrams of light above my head. even the ugly becomes beautiful when truly seen. i see the jewel in the bunchy toad. the more i live, the more i love this lovely world; feel more its author in each little thing; in all that is great. but yet i feel my immortality the more. in childhood the consciousness of immortal life buds forth feeble, though full of promise. in the man it unfolds its fragrant petals, his most celestial flower, to mature its seed throughout eternity. the prospect of that everlasting life, the perfect justice yet to come, the infinite progress before us, cheer and comfort the heart. sad and disappointed, full of self-reproach, we shall not be so forever. the light of heaven breaks upon the night of trial, sorrow, sin; the sombre clouds which overhung the east, grown purple now, tell us the dawn of heaven is coming in. our faces, gleamed on by that, smile in the new-born glow; we are beguiled of our sadness before we are aware. the certainty of this provokes us to patience, it forbids us to be slothfully sorrowful. it calls us to be up and doing. the thought that all will at last be right with the slave, the poor, the weak, and the wicked, inspires us with zeal to work for them here, and make it all right for them even now. there is small merit in being willing to die; it seems almost sinful in a good man to wish it when the world needs him here so much. it is weak and unmanly to be always looking and sighing voluptuously for that. but it is of great comfort to have in your soul a sure trust in immortality; of great value here and now to anticipate time and live to-day the eternal life. that we may all do. the joys of heaven will begin as soon as we attain the character of heaven and do its duties. that may begin to-day. it is everlasting life to know god, to have his spirit dwelling in you, yourself at one with him. try that and prove its worth. justice, usefulness, wisdom, religion, love, are the best things we hope for in heaven. try them on--they will fit you here not less becomingly. they are the best things of earth. think no outlay of goodness and piety too great. you will find your reward begin here. as much goodness and piety, so much heaven. men will not pay you--god will; pay you now; pay you hereafter and for ever. iv. the public education of the people.--an address delivered before the onondaga teachers' institute, at syracuse, new york, october , . education is the developing and furnishing of the faculties of man. to educate the people is one of the functions of the state. it is generally allowed in the free states of america, that the community owes each child born into it a chance for education, intellectual, moral, and religious. hence the child has a just and recognized claim on the community for the means of this education, which is to be afforded him, not as a charity, but as a right. the fact indicates the progress mankind has made in not many years. once the state only took charge of the military education of the people; not at all of their intellectual, moral, or religious culture. they received their military discipline, not for the special and personal advantage of the individuals, thomas and oliver, but for the benefit of the state. they received it, not because they were men claiming it in virtue of their manhood, but as subjects of the state, because their military training was needful for the state, or for its rulers who took the name thereof. then the only culture which the community took public pains to bestow on its members, was training them to destroy. the few, destined to command, learned the science of destruction, and the kindred science of defence; the many, doomed to obey, learned only the art to destroy, and the kindred art of defence. the ablest men of the nation were sought out for military teachers, giving practical lessons of the science and the art; they were covered with honor and loaded with gold. the wealth of the people and their highest science went to this work. institutions were founded to promote this education, and carefully watched over by the state, for it was thought the commonwealth depended on disciplined valor. the soldier was thought to be the type of the state, the archetype of man; accordingly the highest spiritual function of the state was the production of soldiers. * * * * * most of the civilized nations have passed through that stage of their development: though the few or the many are still taught the science or the art of war in all countries called christian, there is yet a class of men for whom the state furnishes the means of education that is not military; means of education which the individuals of that class could not provide for themselves. this provision is made at the cost of the state; that is, at the cost of every man in the state, for what the public pays, you pay and i pay, rich or poor, willingly and consciously, or otherwise. this class of men is different in different countries, and their education is modified to suit the form of government and the idea of the state. in rome the state provides for the public education of priests. rome is an ecclesiastical state; her government is a theocracy--a government of all the people, but by the priests, for the sake of the priests, and in the name of god. place in the church is power, bringing honor and wealth; no place out of the church is of much value. the offices are filled by priests, the chief magistrate is a priest, supposed to derive his power and right to rule, not democratically, from the people, or royally, by inheritance,--for in theory the priest is as if he had no father, as theoretically he has no child,--but theocratically from god. in rome the priesthood is thought to be the flower of the state. the most important spiritual function of the state, therefore, is the production of priests; accordingly the greatest pains are taken with their education. institutions are founded at the public cost, to make priests out of men; these institutions are the favorites of government, well ordered, well watched over, well attended, and richly honored. institutions for the education of the people are of small account, ill endowed, watched over but poorly, thinly attended, and not honored at all. the people are designed to be subjects of the church, and as little culture is needed for that, though much to make them citizens thereof, so little is given. as there are institutions for the education of the priests, so there is a class of men devoted to that work; able men, well disciplined, sometimes men born with genius, and always men furnished with the accomplishments of sacerdotal and scientific art; very able men, very well disciplined, the most learned and accomplished men in the land. these men are well paid and abundantly honored, for on their faithfulness the power of the priesthood, and so the welfare of the state, is thought to depend. without the allurement of wealth and honors, these able men would not come to this work; and without the help of their ability, the priests could not be well educated. hence their power would decline; the class, tonsured and consecrated but not instructed, would fall into contempt; the theocracy would end. so the educators of the priests are held in honor, surrounded by baits for vulgar eyes; but the public educators of the people, chiefly women or ignorant men, are held in small esteem. the very buildings destined to the education of the priests are conspicuous and stately; the colleges of the jesuits, the propaganda, the seminaries for the education of priests, the monasteries for training the more wealthy and _regular_ clergy, are great establishments, provided with libraries, and furnished with all the apparatus needful for their important work. but the school-houses for the people are small and mean buildings, ill made, ill furnished, and designed for a work thought to be of little moment. all this is in strict harmony with the idea of the theocracy, where the priesthood is mighty and the people are subjects of the church; where the effort of the state is toward producing a priest. * * * * * in england the state takes charge of the education of another class, the nobility and gentry; that is, of young men of ancient and historical families, the nobility, and young men of fortune, the gentry. england is an oligarchical state; her government an aristocracy, the government of all by a few, the nobility and gentry, for the sake of a few, and in the name of a king. there the foundation of power is wealth and birth from a noble family. the union of both takes place in a wealthy noble. there, nobility is the blossom of the state; aristocratic birth brings wealth, office, and their consequent social distinction. political offices are chiefly monopolized by men of famous birth or great riches. the king, the chief officer of the land, must surpass all others in wealth, and the pomp and circumstance which comes thereof, and in aristocracy of birth. he is not merely noble but royal; his right to rule is not at all derived from the people, but from his birth. thus he has the two essentials of aristocratic influence, birth and wealth, not merely in the heroic degree, but in the supreme degree. as the state is an aristocracy, its most important spiritual function is the production of aristocrats; each noble family transmits the full power of its blood only to a single person--the oldest son; of the highest form, the royal, only one is supposed to be born in a generation, only one who receives and transmits in full the blood royal. as the nobility are the blossom of the state, great pains must be taken with the education of those persons born of patrician or wealthy families. as england is not merely a military or ecclesiastical state, though partaking largely of both, but commercial, agricultural and productive in many ways; as she holds a very prominent place in the politics of the world, so there must be a good general education provided for these persons; otherwise their power would decline, the nobility and gentry sink into contempt, and the government pass into other hands,--for though a man may be born to rank and wealth, he is not born to knowledge, nor to practical skill. hence institutions are founded for the education of the aristocratic class: oxford and cambridge, "those twins of learning," with their preparatories and help-meets. the design of these institutions is to educate the young men of family and fortune. the aim in their academic culture is not as in pagan rome, a military state, to make soldiers, nor as in christian rome, to turn out priests; it is not, as in the german universities, to furnish the world with scholars and philosophers, men of letters and science, but to mature and furnish the gentleman, in the technical sense of that word, a person conventionally fitted to do the work of a complicated aristocratic state, to fill with honor its various offices, military, political, ecclesiastical or social, and enjoy the dignity which comes thereof. these universities furnish the individual who resorts thither with opportunities not otherwise to be had; they are purchased at the cost of the state, at the cost of each man in the state. the alumnus at oxford pays his term-bills, indeed, but the amount thereof is a trifle compared to the actual cost of his residence there; mankind pays the residue. these institutions are continually watched over by the state, which is the official guardian of aristocratic education; they are occasionally assisted by grants from the public treasury, though they are chiefly endowed by the voluntary gifts of individual men. but these private gifts, like the public grants, come from the earnings of the whole nation. they are well endowed, superintended well, and richly honored; their chancellors and vice-chancellors are men of distinguished social rank; they have their representatives in parliament; able men are sought out for teachers, professors, heads of houses; men of good ability, of masterly education, and the accomplishments of a finished gentleman; they are well paid, and copiously rewarded with honors and social distinction. gentility favors these institutions; nobility watches over them, and royalty smiles upon them. in this threefold sunlight, no wonder that they thrive. the buildings at their service are among the most costly and elegant in the land; large museums are attached to them, and immense libraries; every printer in england, at his own cost, must give a copy of each book he publishes to cambridge and oxford. what wealth can buy, or artistic genius can create, is there devoted to the culture of this powerful class. but while the nobility and gentry are reckoned the flower of the state, the common people are only the leaves, and therefore thought of small importance in the political botany of the nation. their education is amazingly neglected; is mainly left to the accidental piety of private christians, to the transient charity of philanthropic men, or the "enlightened self-interest" of mechanics and small-traders, who now and then found institutions for the education of some small fraction of the multitude. but such institutions are little favored by the government, or the spirit of the dominant class; gentility does not frequent them, nor nobility help them, nor royalty watch over to foster and to bless. the parliament, which voted one hundred thousand pounds of the nation's money for the queen's horses and hounds, had but thirty thousand to spare for the education of her people. no honor attends the educators of the people; no wealth is heaped up for them; no beautiful buildings are erected for their use; no great libraries got ready at the public charge; no costly buildings are provided. you wonder at the colleges and collegiate churches of oxford and of cambridge; at the magnificence of public edifices in london, new or ancient--the house of parliament, the bank, the palaces of royal and noble men, the splendor of the churches--but you ask, where are the school-houses for the people? you go to bridewell and newgate for the answer. all this is consistent with the idea of an aristocracy. the gentleman is the type of the state; and the effort of the state is towards producing him. the people require only education enough to become the servants of the gentleman, and seem not to be valued for their own sake, but only as they furnish pabulum for the flower of the oligarchy. in rome and england, great sums have been given by wealthy men, and by the state itself, to furnish the means of a theocratic or aristocratic education to a certain class; and to produce the national priests, and the national gentlemen. there public education is the privilege of a few, but bought at the cost of the many; for the plough-boy in yorkshire, who has not culture enough to read the petition for daily bread in the lord's prayer, helps pay the salary of the master of trinity, and the swine-herd in the roman campagna, who knows nothing of religion, except what he learns at christmas and easter, by seeing the pope carried on men's shoulders into st. peter's, helps support the propaganda and the roman college. the privileged classes are to receive an education under the eye of the state, which considers itself bound to furnish them the means of a public education, partly at the individual's cost, chiefly at the cost of the public. the amount of education depends on three things:--on the educational attainments of the human race; on the wealth and tranquillity of the special nation, enabling it to avail itself of that general attainment; and on the natural powers and industry of the particular individual in the nation. such is the solidarity of mankind that the development of the individual thus depends on that of the race, and the education of a priest in rome or a gentleman in england is the resultant of these three forces,--the attainment of mankind, the power of the nation, and the private character and conduct of the man himself. each of these three is a variable and not a constant quantity. so the amount of education which a man can receive at oxford or at rome fluctuates and depends on the state of the nation and of the world; but as the attainments of mankind have much increased within a few years, as the wealth of england has increased, and her tranquillity become more secure, you see how easy it becomes for the state to offer each gentleman an amount of education which it would have been quite impossible to furnish in the time of the yorks and the lancasters. * * * * * in america things are quite other and different. i speak of the free states of the north; the slave states have the worst features of an oligarchy combined with a theocratic pride of caste, which generates continual unkindness; there the idea of the state is found inconsistent with the general and public education of the people; it is as much so in south carolina as in england or rome; even more so, for the public and general culture of all is only dangerous to a theocracy or aristocracy while it is directly fatal to slavery. in england, and still more in catholic rome, the churches--themselves a wonderful museum of curiosities, and open all the day to all persons--form an important element for the education of the most neglected class. but slavery and education of the people are incommensurable quantities. no amount of violence can be their common measure. the republic, where master and slave were equally educated, would soon be a red-republic. the slave-master knows this, and accordingly puts education to the ban, and glories in keeping three million barbarians in the land, and, of course, suffers the necessary degradation which comes thereof. but in the free states of the north the government is not a theocracy, or an aristocracy; the state, in theory is not for the few, nor even for the majority, but for all; classes are not recognized, and therefore not protected in any privilege. the government is a democracy, the government of all, by all, for all, and in the name of all. a man is born to all the rights of mankind; all are born to them, so all are equal. therefore, what the state pays for, not only comes at the cost of all, but must be for the use and benefit of all. accordingly, as a theocracy demands the education of priests, and an aristocracy that of the nobility and the gentry, so a democracy demands the education of all. the aim must be, not to make priests and gentlemen of a few, a privileged class, but to make men of all; that is, to give a normal and healthy development of their intellectual, moral, affectional and religious faculties, to furnish and instruct them with the most important elementary knowledge, to extend this development and furnishing of the faculties as far as possible. institutions must be founded for this purpose--to educate all, rich and poor, men well-born with good abilities, men ill-born with slender natural powers. in new england, these institutions have long since been founded at the public cost, and watched over with paternal care, as the ark of our covenant, the palladium of our nation. it has been recognized as a theory, and practised on as a fact, that all the property in the land is held by the state for the public education of the people, as it is for their defence; that property is amenable to education as to military defence. in a democracy there are two reasons why this theory and practice prevail. one is a political reason. it is for the advantage of the state; for each man that keeps out of the jail and the poor-house, becomes a voter at one-and-twenty; he may have some office of trust and honor; the highest office is open before him. as so much depends on his voting wisely, he must have a chance to qualify himself for his right of electing and of being elected. it is as necessary now in a democracy, and as much demanded by the idea thereof, that all should be thus qualified by education, as it once was in a military state, that all should be bred up soldiers. the other is a philosophical reason. it is for the advantage of the individual himself, irrespective of the state. the man is a man, an integer, and the state is for him; as well as a fraction of the state, and he for it. he has a man's rights; and, however inferior in might to any other man, born of parentage how humble soever, to no wealth at all, with a body never so feeble, he is yet a man, and so equal in rights to any other man born of a famous line, rich and able; of course he has a right to a chance for the best culture which the educational attainment of mankind, and the circumstances of the nation render possible to any man; to so much thereof as he has the inborn power and the voluntary industry to acquire. this conclusion is getting acted on in new england, and there are schools for the dumb and the blind, even for the idiot and the convict. so, then, as the idea of our government demands the education of all, the amount of education must depend on the same three variables mentioned before; it must be as good as it is possible for them to afford. the democratic state has never done its political and educational duty, until it affords every man a chance to obtain the greatest amount of education which the attainment of mankind renders it possible for the nation, in its actual circumstances, to command, and the man's nature and disposition render it possible for him to take. looking at the matter politically, from the point of view of the state, each man must have education enough to exercise his rights of electing and being elected. it is not easy to fix the limits of the amount; it is also a variable continually increasing. looking at the matter philosophically, from the point of view of the individual, there is no limit but the attainment of the race and the individual's capacity for development and growth. only a few men will master all which the circumstances of the nation and the world render attainable; some will come short for lack of power, others for lack of inclination. make education as accessible as it can now be made, as attractive as the teachers of this age can render it, the majority will still get along with the smallest amount that is possible or reputable. only a few will strive for the most they can get. there will be many a thousand farmers, traders, and mechanics in their various callings, manual and intellectual, to a single philosopher. this also is as it should be, and corresponds with the nature of man and his function on the earth. still all have the natural right to the means of education to this extent, by fulfilling its condition. to accomplish this work, the democratic education of the whole people, with the aim of making them men, we want public institutions founded by the people, paid for by the public money; institutions well endowed, well attended, watched over well, and proportionably honored; we want teachers, able men, well disciplined, well paid, and honored in proportion to their work. it is a good thing to educate the privileged classes, priests in a theocracy, and gentlemen in an aristocracy. though they are few in number, it is a great work; the servants thereof are not too well paid, nor too much held in esteem in england, nor in rome, nor too well furnished with apparatus. but the public education of a whole people is a greater work, far more difficult, and should be attended with corresponding honor, and watched over even more carefully by the state. after the grown men of any country have provided for their own physical wants, and insured the needful physical comforts, their most important business is to educate themselves still further, and train up the rising generation to their own level. it is important to leave behind us cultivated lands, houses and shops, railroads and mills, but more important to leave behind us men grown, men that are men; such are the seed of material wealth,--not it of them. the highest use of material wealth is its educational function. now the attainments of the human race increase with each generation; the four leading nations of christendom, england, france, germany, and the united states, within a hundred years, have apparently, at the least, doubled their spiritual attainments; in the free states of america, there is a constant and rapid increase of wealth, far beyond the simultaneous increase of numbers; so not only does the educational achievement of mankind become greater each age, but the power of the state to afford each man a better chance for a better education, greatens continually, the educational ability of the state enlarging as those two factors get augmented. the generation now grown up, is, therefore, able and bound to get a better culture than their fathers, and leave to their own children a chance still greater. each child of genius, in the nineteenth century, is born at the foot of the ladder of learning, as completely as the first child, with the same bodily and spiritual nakedness; though of the most civilized race, with six, or sixty thousands of years behind him, he must begin with nothing but himself. yet such is the union of all mankind, that, with the aid of the present generation, in a few years he will learn all that mankind has learned in its long history; next go beyond that, discovering and creating anew; and then draw up to the same height the new generation, which will presently surpass him. * * * * * a man's education never ends, but there are two periods thereof, quite dissimilar, the period of the boy, and that of the man. education in general is the developing and instructing the faculties, and is, therefore, the same in kind to both man and boy, though it may be brought about by different forces. the education of the boy, so far as it depends on institutions, and conscious modes of action, must be so modified as to enable him to meet the influences which will surround him when he is a man; otherwise, his training will not enable him to cope with the new forces he meets, and so will fail of the end of making him a man. i pass over the influence of the family, and of nature, which do not belong to my present theme. in america, the public education of men is chiefly influenced by four great powers, which i will call educational forces, and which correspond to four modes of national activity: i. the political action of the people, represented by the state; ii. the industrial action of the people, represented by business; iii. the ecclesiastical action of the people, represented by the church; iv. the literary action of the people, represented by the press. i now purposely name them in this order, though i shall presently refer to them several times, and in a different succession. these forces act on the people, making us such men as we are; they act indirectly on the child before he comes to consciousness; directly, afterwards, but most powerfully on the man. what is commonly and technically called education--the development and instruction of the faculties of children, is only preparatory; the scholastic education of the boy is but introductory to the practical education of the man. it is only this preparatory education of the children of the people that is the work of the school-masters. their business is to give the child such a development of his faculties, and such furniture of preliminary knowledge, that he can secure the influence of all these educational forces, appreciating and enhancing the good, withstanding, counteracting, and at last ending the evil thereof, and so continue his education; and at the same time that he can work in one or more of those modes of activity, serving himself and mankind, politically by the state, ecclesiastically by the church, literarily by the press, or at any rate, industrially by his business. to give children the preparatory education necessary for this fourfold receptivity, or activity, we need three classes of public institutions: i. free common schools; ii. free high schools; iii. free colleges. of these i will presently speak in detail, but now, for the sake of shortness, let me call them all collectively by their generic name--the school. it is plain the teachers who work by this instrument ought to understand the good and evil of the four educational forces which work on men grown, in order to prepare their pupils to receive the good thereof, and withstand the evil. so then let us look a moment at the character of these educational forces, and see what they offer us, and what men they are likely to make of their unconscious pupils. let us look at the good qualities first, and next at the evil. it is plain that business, the press, and politics all tend to promote a great activity of body and mind. in business, the love of gain, the enterprising spirit of our practical men in all departments, their industry, thrift and forecast, stimulate men to great exertions, and produce a consequent development of the faculties called out. social distinction depends almost wholly on wealth; that never is accumulated by mere manual industry, such is the present constitution of society, but it is acquired by the higher forms of industry, in which the powers of nature serve the man, or he avails himself of the creations of mere manual toil. hence there is a constant pressure towards the higher modes of industry for the sake of money; of course, a constant effort to be qualified for them. so in the industrial departments the mind is more active than the hand. accordingly it has come to pass that most of the brute labor of the free states is done by cattle, or by the forces of nature--wind, water, fire--which we have harnessed by our machinery, and set to work. in new england most of the remaining work which requires little intelligence is done by irishmen, who are getting a better culture by that very work. men see the industrial handiwork of the north, and wonder; they do not always see the industrial head-work, which precedes, directs and causes it all; they seldom see the complex forces of which this enterprise and progress are the resultant. there is no danger that we shall be sluggards. business now takes the same place in the education of the people that was once held by war: it stimulates activity, promotes the intercourse of man with man, nation with nation; assembling men in masses, it elevates their temperature, so to say; it leads to new and better forms of organization; it excites men to invention, so that thereby we are continually acquiring new power over the elements, peacefully annexing to our domain new provinces of nature--water, wind, fire, lightning--setting them to do our work, multiplying the comforts of life, and setting free a great amount of human time. it is not at all destructive; not merely conservative, but continually creates anew. its creative agent is not brute force, but educated mind. a man's trade is always his teacher, and industry keeps a college for mankind, much of our instruction coming through our hands; with us, where the plough is commonly in the hands of him who owns the land it furrows, business affords a better education than in most other countries, and develops higher qualities of mind. there is a marked difference in this respect between the north and south. there was never before such industry, such intense activity of head and hand in any nation in a time of peace. the press encourages the same activity, enterprise, perseverance. both of these encourage generosity; neither honors the miser, who gets for the sake of getting, or "starves, cheats, and pilfers to enrich an heir;" he does not die respectably in boston, who dies rich and bequeaths nothing to any noble public charity. it encourages industry which accumulates with the usual honesty, and for a rather generous use. the press furnishes us with books exceedingly cheap. we manufacture literature cheaper than any nation except the chinese. even the best books, the works of the great masters of thought, are within the reach of an industrious farmer or mechanic, if half a dozen families combine for that purpose. the educational power of a few good books scattered through a community, is well known. then the press circulates, cheap and wide, its newspapers, emphatically the literature of men who read nothing else: they convey intelligence from all parts of the world, and broaden the minds of home-keeping youths, who need not now have homely wits. the state, also, promotes activity, enterprise, hardihood, perseverance and thrift. the american government is eminently distinguished by these five qualities. the form of government stimulates patriotism, each man has a share in the public lot. the theocracies, monarchies, and aristocracies of old time have produced good and great examples of patriotism, in the few or the many; but the nobler forms of love of country, of self-denial and disinterested zeal for its sake, are left for a democracy to bring to light. here all men are voters, and all great questions are, apparently and in theory, left to the decision of the whole people. this popular form of government is a great instrument in developing and instructing the mind of the nation. it helps extend and intensify the intelligent activity which is excited by business and the press. such is the nature of our political institutions that, in the free states, we have produced the greatest degree of national unity of action, with the smallest restriction of personal freedom, have reconciled national unity with individual variety, not seeking uniformity; thus room is left for as much individualism as a man chooses to take; a vast power of talent, enterprise and invention is left free for its own work. elsewhere, save in england, this is latent, kept down by government. since this power is educated and has nothing to hold it back; since so much brute work is done by cattle and the forces of nature, now domesticated and put in harness, and much time is left free for thought, more intelligence is demanded, more activity, and the citizens of the free states have become the most active, enterprising and industrious people in the world; the most inventive in material work. in all these three forms of action there is much to stir men to love of distinction. the career is open to talent, to industry; open to every man; the career of letters, business, and politics. our rich men were poor men; our famous men came of sires else not heard of. the laurel, the dollar, the office, and the consequent social distinction of men successful in letters, business and politics, these excite the obscure or needy youth to great exertions, and he cannot sleep; emulation wakes him early, and keeps him late astir. behind him, scattering "the rear of darkness," stalk poverty and famine, gaunt and ugly forms, with scorpion whip to urge the tardier, idler man. the intense ambition for money, for political power, and the social results they bring, keeps men on the alert. so ambition rises early, and works with diligence that never tires. the church, embracing all the churches under that name, cultivates the memory of men, and teaches reverence for the past; it helps keep activity from wandering into unpopular forms of wickedness or of unbelief. men who have the average intelligence, goodness and piety, it keeps from slipping back, thus blocking to rearward the wheels of society, so that the ascent gained shall not be lost; men who have less than this average it urges forward, addressing them in the name of god, encouraging by hope of heaven, and driving with fear of hell. it turns the thought of the people towards god; it sets before us some facts in the life, and some parts of the doctrine, of the noblest one who ever wore the form of man, bidding us worship him. the ecclesiastical worship of jesus of nazareth is, perhaps, the best thing in the american church. it has the sunday and the institution of preaching under its control. a body of disciplined men are its servants; they praise the ordinary virtues; oppose and condemn the unpopular forms of error and of sin. petty vice, the vice of low men, in low places, is sure of their lash. they promote patriotism in its common form. indirectly, they excite social and industrial rivalry, and favor the love of money by the honor they bestow upon the rich and successful. but at the same time they temper it a little, sometimes telling men, as business or the state does not, that there is in man a conscience, affection for his brother-man, and a soul which cannot live by bread alone; no, not by wealth, office, fame and social rank. they tell us, also, of eternity, where worldly distinctions, except of orthodox and heterodox, are forgotten, where wealth is of no avail; they bid us remember god. such are the good things of these great national forces; the good things which in this fourfold way we are teaching ourselves. the nation is a monitorial school, wonderfully contrived for the education of the people. i do not mean to say that it is by the forethought of men that the american democracy is at the same time a great practical school for the education of the human race. this result formed no part of our plan, and is not provided for by the constitution of the united states; it comes of the forethought of god, and is provided for in the constitution of the universe. now each of these educational forces has certain defects, negative evils, and certain vices, positive evils, which tend to misdirect the nation, and so hinder the general education of the people: of these, also, let me speak in detail. the state appeals to force, not to justice; this is its last appeal; the force of muscles aided by force of mind, instructed by modern science in the art to kill. the nation appeals to force in the settlement of affairs out of its borders. we have lately seen an example of this, when we commenced war against a feeble nation, who, in that special emergency, had right on her side, about as emphatically as the force was on our side. the immediate success of the enterprise, the popular distinction acquired by some of the leaders, the high honor bestowed on one of its heroes, all this makes the lesson of injustice attractive. it may be that a similar experiment will again be tried, and doubtless with like success. certainly there is no nation this side of the water which can withstand the enterprise, the activity, the invention, industry and perseverance of a people so united, and yet so free and intelligent. another successful injustice of this character, on a large scale, will make right still less regarded, and might honored yet more. the force we employ out of our borders, might opposed to right, we employ also at home against our brethren, and keep three millions of them in bondage; we watch for opportunities to extend the institution of slavery over soil unpolluted by that triple curse, and convert the constitution, the fundamental law of the land, into an instrument for the defence of slavery. the men we honor politically, by choosing them to offices in the state, are commonly men of extraordinary force, sometimes, it is true, only of extraordinary luck, but of only ordinary justice; men who, perhaps, have mind in the heroic degree, but conscience of the most vulgar pattern. they are to keep the law of the united states when it is wholly hostile to the law of the universe, to the everlasting justice of god. i am not speaking to politicians, professional representatives of the state; not speaking for political effect; not of the state as a political machine for the government of the people. i am speaking to teachers, for an educational purpose; of the state as an educational machine, as one of the great forces for the spiritual development of the people. now by this preference of force and postponement of justice at home and abroad, in the selection of men for office, with its wealth, and rank, and honor, by keeping the law of the land to the violation of the law of god, it is plain we are teaching ourselves to love wrong; at least to be insensible to the right. what we practise on a national scale as a people, it is not easy to think wrong when practised on a personal scale, by this man and that. the patriotism, also, which the state nurses, is little more than that old testament patriotism which loves your countryman, and hates the stranger; the affection which the old testament attributes to jehovah, and which makes him say, "i loved jacob, and i hated esau;" a patriotism which supports our country in the wrong as readily as in the right, and is glad to keep one sixth part of the nation in bondage without hope. it is not a patriotism which, beginning here, loves all the children of god, but one that robs the mexican, enslaves the african, and exterminates the indian. these are among the greater evils taught us by the political action of the people as a whole. if you look at the action of the chief political parties, you see no more respect for justice in the politics of either party, than in the politics of the nation, the resultant of both; no more respect for right abroad, or at home. one party aims distinctively at preserving the property already acquired; its chief concern is for that, its sympathy there; where its treasure is, is also its heart. it legislates, consciously or otherwise, more for accumulated wealth, than for the laboring man who now accumulates. this party goes for the dollar; the other for the majority, and aims at the greatest good of the greatest number, leaving the good of the smaller number to most uncertain mercies. neither party seems to aim at justice, which protects both the wealth that labor has piled up, and the laborer who now creates it; justice, which is the point of morals common to man and god, where the interests of all men, abroad and at home, electing and elected, greatest number and smallest number, exactly balance. falsehood, fraud, a willingness to deceive, a desire for the power and distinction of office, a readiness to use base means in obtaining office--these vices are sown with a pretty even hand upon both parties, and spring up with such blossoms and such a fruitage as we all see. the third political party has not been long enough in existence to develop any distinctive vices of its own. i shall not speak of the public or private character of the politicians who direct the state; no doubt that is a powerful element in our national education; but as a class, they seem no better and no worse than merchants, mechanics, ministers and farmers, as a class; so in their influence there is nothing peculiar, only their personal character ceases to be private, and becomes a public force in the education of the people. * * * * * the churches have the same faults as the state. there is the same postponement of justice and preference of force, the same neglect of the law of god in their zeal for the statutes of men; the same crouching to dollars or to numbers. however, in the churches these faults appear negatively, rather than as an affirmation. the worldliness of the church is not open, self-conscious and avowed; it is not, as a general thing, that human injustice is openly defended, but rather justice goes by default. but if the churches do not positively support and teach injustice, as the state certainly does, they do not teach the opposite, and, so far as that goes, are allies of the state in its evil influence. the fact that the churches, as such, did not oppose the war, and do not oppose slavery, its continuance, or its extension; nay, that they are often found its apologists and defenders, seldom its opponents; that they not only pervert the sacred books of the christians to its defence, but wrest the doctrines of christianity to justify it; the fact that they cannot, certainly do not, correct the particularism of the political parties, the love of wealth in one, of mere majorities in the other; that they know no patriotism not bounded by their country, none coextensive with mankind; that they cannot resist the vice of party spirit--these are real proofs that the church is but the ally of the state in this evil influence. but the church has also certain specific faults of its own. it teaches injustice by continually referring to the might of god, not his justice; to his ability and will to damn mankind, not asking if he has the right? it teaches that in virtue of his infinite power, he is not amenable to infinite justice, and to infinite love. thus, while the state teaches, in the name of expediency and by practice, that the strong may properly be the tyrants of the weak, the mighty nation over the feeble, the strong race over the inferior, that the government may dispense with right at home and abroad--the church, as theory in christ's name, teaches that god may repudiate his own justice and his own love. the churches have little love of truth, as such, only of its uses. it must be such a truth as they can use for their purposes; canonized truth; truth long known; that alone is acceptable and called "religious truth;" all else is "profane and carnal," as the reason which discovers it. they represent the average intelligence of society; hence, while keeping the old, they welcome not the new. they promote only popular forms of truth, popular in all christendom, or in their special sect. they lead in no intellectual reforms; they hinder the leaders. negatively and positively, they teach, that to believe what is clerically told you in the name of religion, is better than free, impartial search after the truth. they dishonor free thinking, and venerate constrained believing. when the clergy doubt, they seldom give men audience of their doubt. few scientific men not clerical believe the bible account of creation,--the universe made in six days, and but a few thousand years ago,--or that of the formation of woman, and of the deluge. some clerical men still believe these venerable traditions, spite of the science of the times; but the clerical men who have no faith in these stories not only leave the people to think them true and miraculously taught, but encourage men in the belief, and calumniate the men of science who look the universe fairly in the face and report the facts as they find them. the church represents only the popular morality, not any high and aboriginal virtue. it represents not the conscience of human nature, reflecting the universal and unchangeable moral laws of god, touched and beautified by his love, but only the conscience of human history, reflecting the circumstances man has passed by, and the institutions he has built along the stream of time. so, while it denounces unpopular sins, vices below the average vice of society, it denounces also unpopular excellence, which is above the average virtue of society. it blocks the wheels rearward, and the car of humanity does not roll down hill; but it blocks them forward also. no great moral movement of the age is at all dependent directly on the church for its birth; very little for its development. it is in spite of the church that reforms go forward; it holds the curb to check more than the rein to guide. in morals, as in science, the church is on the anti-liberal side, afraid of progress, against movement, loving "yet a little sleep, a little slumber;" conservative and chilling, like ice, not creative, nor even quickening, as water. it doffs to use and wont; has small confidence in human nature, much in a few facts of human history. it aims to separate piety from goodness, her natural and heaven-appointed spouse, and marry her to bigotry, in joyless and unprofitable wedlock. the church does not lead men to the deep springs of human nature, fed ever from the far heights of the divine nature, whence flows that river of god, full of living water, where weary souls may drink perennial supply. while it keeps us from falling back, it does little directly to advance mankind. in common with the state, this priest and levite pass by on the other side of the least developed classes of society, leaving the slave, the pauper, and the criminal, to their fate, hastening to strike hands with the thriving or the rich. these faults are shared in the main by all sects; some have them in the common, and some in a more eminent degree, but none is so distinguished from the rest as to need emphatic rebuke, or to deserve a special exemption from the charge. such are the faults of the church of every land, and must be from the nature of the institution; like the state, it can only represent the average of mankind. i am not speaking to clergymen, professional representatives of the church, not of the church as an ecclesiastical machine for keeping and extending certain opinions and symbols; not for an ecclesiastical purpose; i speak to teachers, for an educational purpose, of the church as an educational machine, one of the great forces for the spiritual development of the people. * * * * * the business of the land has also certain vices of its own; while it promotes the virtues i have named before, it does not tend to promote the highest form of character. it does not promote justice and humanity, as one could wish; it does not lead the employer to help the operative as a man, only to use him as a tool, merely for industrial purposes. the average merchant cares little whether his ship brings cloth and cotton, or opium and rum. the average capitalist does not wish the stock of his manufacturing company divided into small shares, so that the operatives can invest their savings therein and have a portion of the large dividends of the rich; nor does he care whether he takes a mortgage on a ship or a negro slave, nor whether his houses are rented for sober dwellings, or for drunkeries; whether the state hires his money to build harbors at home, or destroy them abroad. the ordinary manufacturer is as ready to make cannons and cannon-balls to serve in a war which he knows is unjust, as to cast his iron into mill-wheels, or forge it into anchors. the common farmer does not care whether his barley feeds poultry for the table, or, made into beer, breeds drunkards for the almshouse and the jail; asks not whether his rye and potatoes become the bread of life, or, distilled into whiskey, are deadly poison to men and women. he cares little if the man he hires become more manly or not; he only asks him to be a good tool. whips for the backs of negro slaves are made, it is said, in connecticut with as little compunction as bibles are printed there; "made to order," for the same purpose--for the dollar. the majority of blacksmiths would as soon forge fetter-chains to enslave the innocent limbs of a brother-man, as draught-chains for oxen. christian mechanics and pious young women, who would not hurt the hair of an innocent head, have i seen at springfield, making swords to slaughter the innocent citizens of vera cruz and jalapa. the ships of respectable men carry rum to intoxicate the savages of africa, powder and balls to shoot them with; they carry opium to the chinese; nay, christian slaves from richmond and baltimore to new orleans and galveston. in all commercial countries, the average vice of the age is mixed up with the industry of the age, and unconsciously men learn the wickedness long intrenched in practical life. it is thought industrial operations are not amenable to the moral law, only to the law of trade. "let the supply follow the demand" is the maxim. a man who makes as practical a use of the golden rule as of his yard-stick, is still an exception in all departments of business. even in the commercial and manufacturing parts of america, money accumulates in large masses; now in the hands of an individual, now of a corporation. this money becomes an irresponsible power, acting by the laws, but yet above them. it is wielded by a few men, to whom it gives a high social position and consequent political power. they use this triple form of influence, pecuniary, social and political, in the spirit of commerce, not of humanity, not for the interest of mankind; thus the spirit of trade comes into the state. hence it is not thought wrong in politics to buy a man, more than in commerce to buy a ship; hence the rights of a man, or a nation, are looked on as articles of trade, to be sold, bartered, and pledged; and in the senate of the united states, we have heard a mass of men, more numerous than all our citizens seventy years ago, estimated as worth twelve hundred millions of dollars. in most countries business comes more closely into contact with men than the state, or the church, or the press, and is a more potent educator. here it not only does this, but controls the other three forces, which are mainly instruments of this; hence this form of evil is more dangerous than elsewhere, for there is no power organized to resist it as in england or rome; so it subtly penetrates everywhere, bidding you place the accidents before the substance of manhood, and value money more than man. * * * * * notwithstanding the good qualities of the press, the books it multiplies, and the great service it renders, it also has certain vices of its own. from the nature of the thing the greater part of literature represents only the public opinion of the time. it must therefore teach deference to that, not deference to truth and justice. it is only the eminent literature which can do more than this; books, which at first fall into few hands though fit, and like the acorns sown with the mulleins and the clover, destined to germinate but slowly, long to be over-topped by an ephemeral crop, at last, after half an hundred years, shall mature their own fruit for other generations of men. the current literature of this age only popularizes the thought of the eminent literature of the past. great good certainly comes from this, but also great evil. of all literature, the newspapers come most into contact with men--they are the literature of the people, read by such as read nothing else; read also by such as read all things beside. taken in the mass, they contain little to elevate men above the present standard. the political journals have the general vice of our politics, and the special faults of the particular party; the theological journals have the common failings of the church, intensified by the bigotry of the sects they belong to; the commercial journals represent the bad qualities of business. put all three together, and it is not their aim to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, nor to promote justice, the whole of justice, and nothing but justice. the popular literature helps bring to consciousness the sentiments and ideas which prevail in the state, the church, and business. it brings those sentiments and ideas intimately into connection with men, magnetizing them with the good and ill of those three powers, but it does little directly to promote a higher form of human character. so, notwithstanding the good influence of these four modes of national activity in educating the grown men of america, they yet do not afford the highest teaching which the people require, to realize individually the idea of a man, and jointly that of a democracy. the state does not teach perfect justice; the church does not teach that, or love of truth. business does not teach perfect morality, and the average literature, which falls into the hands of the million, teaches men to respect public opinion more than the word of god, which transcends that. thus these four teach only the excellence already organized or incorporated in the laws, the theology, the customs, and the books of the land. i cannot but think these four teachers are less deficient here than in other lands, and have excellences of their own, but the faults mentioned are inseparable from such institutions. an institution is an organized thought; of course, no institution can represent a truth which is too new or too high for the existing organizations, yet that is the truth which it is desirable to teach. so there will always be exceptional men, with more justice, truth and love than is represented by the institutions of the time, who seem therefore hostile to these institutions, which they seek to improve and not destroy. contemporary with the priests of judah and israel were the prophets thereof, antithetic to one another as the centripetal and centrifugal forces, but, like them, both necessary to the rhythmic movement of the orbs in heaven, and the even poise of the world. in rome and in england the idea of a theocracy and an aristocracy has become a fact in the institutions of the land, which accordingly favor the formation of priests and gentlemen. the teachers of the educated class, therefore, may trust to the machinery already established to do their work, only keeping off the spirit of the age which would make innovations; and such is the respectability and popular esteem of the institutions, that this is done easier than men think, by putting an exceptional book in the index at rome or in the academical fire at oxford. but here, the idea of a democracy is by no means so well established and organized in institutions. it is new, and while a theocrat and an aristocrat are respected everywhere, a democrat is held in suspicion; accordingly, to make men, the teacher cannot trust his educational machinery, he must make it, and invent anew as well as turn his mill. * * * * * these things being so, it is plain the teachers in the schools should be of such a character that they can give the children what they will most want when they become men; such an intellectual and moral development that they can appreciate and receive the good influence of these four educational forces, and withstand, resist, and exterminate the evil thereof. in the schools of a democracy which are to educate the people and make them men, you need more aboriginal virtue than in the schools of an aristocracy or a theocracy, where a few are to be educated as gentlemen or priests. since the institutions of the land do not represent the idea of a democracy, and the average spirit of the people, which makes the institutions, represents it no more, if the children of the people are to become better than their fathers, it is plain their teachers must be prophets, and not priests merely; must animate them with a spirit higher, purer and more holy than that which inspires the state, the church, business, or the common literature of the times. as the teacher cannot impart and teach what he does not possess and know, it is also plain that the teacher must have this superior spirit. * * * * * to accomplish the public education of the children of the people, we need the three classes of institutions just mentioned: free common schools, free high schools and free colleges. let me say a word of each. the design of the common school is to take children at the proper age from their mothers, and give them the most indispensable development, intellectual, moral, affectional and religious; to furnish them with as much positive, useful knowledge as they can master, and, at the same time, teach them the three great scholastic helps or tools of education--the art to read, to write and calculate. the children of most parents are easily brought to school, by a little diligence on the part of the teachers and school committee; but there are also children of low and abandoned, or, at least, neglected parents, who live in a state of continual truancy; they are found on the banks of your canals; they swarm in your large cities. when those children become men, through lack of previous development, instruction and familiarity with these three instruments of education, they cannot receive the full educational influence of the state and church, of business and the press: they lost their youthful education, and therefore they lose, in consequence, their manly culture. they remain dwarfs, and are barbarians in the midst of society; there will be exceptional men whom nothing can make vulgar; but this will be the lot of the mass. they cannot perform the intelligent labor which business demands, only the brute work, so they lose the development which comes through the hand that is active in the higher modes of industry, which, after all, is the greatest educational force; accordingly, they cannot compete with ordinary men, and remain poor; lacking also that self-respect which comes of being respected, they fall into beggary, into intemperance, into crime; so, from being idlers at first, a stumbling-block in the way of society, they become paupers, a positive burden which society must take on its shoulders; or they turn into criminals, active foes to the industry, the order, and the virtue of society. now if a man abandons the body of his child, the state adopts that body for a time; takes the guardianship thereof, for the child's own sake; sees that it is housed, fed, clad, and cared for. if a man abandons his child's spirit, and the child commits a crime, the state, for its own sake, assumes the temporary guardianship thereof, and puts him in a jail. when a man deserts his child, taking no concern about his education, i venture to make the suggestion, whether it would not be well, as a last resort, for the state to assume the guardianship of the child for its own sake, and for the child's sake. we allow no one, with ever so thick a skin, to grow up in nakedness; why should we suffer a child, with however so perverse a parent, to grow up in ignorance and degenerate into crime? certainly, a naked man is not so dangerous to society as an ignorant man, nor is the spectacle so revolting. i should have less hope of a state where the majority were so perverse as to continue ignorant of reading, writing and calculating, than of one where they were so thick-skinned as to wear no clothes. in massachusetts, there is an asylum for juvenile offenders, established by the city of boston, a farm school for bad boys, established by the characteristic benevolence of the rich men of that place, and a state reform school under the charge of the commonwealth: all these are for lads who break the laws of the land. would it not be better to take one step more, adopt them before they offended, and allow no child to grow up in the barbarism of ignorance? has any man an unalienable right to live a savage in the midst of civilization? we need also public high schools, to take children where the common schools leave them, and carry them further on. some states have done something towards establishing such institutions; they are common in new england. some have established normal schools, special high schools for the particular and professional education of public teachers. without these, it is plain there would not be a supply of competent educators for the public service. then we need free colleges, conducted by public officers, and paid for by the public purse. without these the scheme is not perfect. the idea which lies at the basis of the public education of a people in a democracy, is this: every man, on condition of doing his duty, has a right to the means of education, as much as a right, on the same condition, to the means of defence from a public enemy in time of war, or from starvation in time of plenty and of peace. i say every man, i mean every woman also. the amount of education must depend on the three factors named before,--on the general achievement of mankind, the special ability of the state, and the particular power of the individual. if all is free, common schools, high schools, and colleges, boys and girls of common ability and common love of learning, will get a common education; those of greater ability, a more extended education, and those of the highest powers, the best culture which the race can now furnish, and the state afford. hitherto no nation has established a public college, wholly at the public cost, where the children of the poor and the rich could enjoy together the great national charity of superior education. to do this is certainly not consistent with the idea of a theocracy or an aristocracy, but it is indispensable to the complete realization of a democracy. otherwise the children of the rich will have a monopoly of superior education, which is the case with the girls everywhere--for only the daughters of rich men can get a superior education, even in the united states--and with boys in england and france, and of course the offices, emoluments and honors which depend on a superior education; or else the means thereof will be provided for poor lads by private benefactions, charity-funds and the like, which some pious and noble man has devoted to this work. in this case the institutions will have a sectarian character, be managed by narrow, bigoted men, and the gift of the means of education be coupled with conditions which must diminish its value, and fetter the free spirit of the young man. this takes place in many of the collegiate establishments of the north, which, notwithstanding those defects, have done a great good to mankind. the common schools giving their pupil the power of reading, writing and calculating, developing his faculties and furnishing him with much elementary knowledge, put him in communication with all that is written in a common form, in the english tongue; its treasures lie level to his eye and hand. the high school and the college, teaching him also other languages, afford him access to the treasures contained there; teaching him the mathematics and furnishing him with the discipline of science, they enable him to understand all that has hitherto been recorded in the compendious forms of philosophy, and thus place the child of large ability in connection with all the spiritual treasures of the world. in the mean time, for all these pupils, there is the material and the human world about them, the world of consciousness within. they can study both and add what they may to the treasures of human discovery or invention. it seems to me that it is the duty of the state to place the means of this education within the reach of all children of superior ability,--a duty that follows from the very idea of a democracy, not to speak of the idea of christianity. it is not less the interest of the state to do so, for then, youths, well born, with good abilities, will not be hindered from getting a breeding proportionate to their birth, and from occupying the stations which are adequately filled only by men of superior native abilities, enriched by culture, and developed to their highest power. then the work of such stations will fall to the lot of such men, and of course be done. eminent ability, talent, or genius, should have eminent education, and so serve the nation in its eminent kind; for when god makes a million-minded man, as once or twice in the ages, or a myriad-minded man, as he does now and then, it is plain that this gift also is to be accounted precious, and used for the advantage of all. i say no state has ever attempted to establish such institutions; yet the government of the united states has a seminary for the public education of a few men at the public cost. but it is a school to qualify men to fight; they learn the science of destruction, the art thereof, the kindred art and science of defence. if the same money we now pay for military education at west point were directed to the education of teachers of the highest class, say professors and presidents of colleges; if the same pains were taken to procure able men, to furnish them with the proper instruction for their special work, and give them the best possible general development of their powers, not forgetting the moral, the affectional and the religious, and animating them with the philanthropic spirit needed for such a work, how much better results would appear! but in the present intellectual condition of the people it would be thought unworthy of a nation to train up school-masters! but is it only soldiers that we need? all these institutions are but introductory, a preparatory school, in three departments, to fit youths for the great educational establishment of practical life. this will find each youth and maiden as the schools leave him, moulding him to their image, or moulded by him to a better. so it is plain what the teachers are to do:--besides teaching the special branches which fall to their lot, they are to supply for the pupils, the defects of the state, of the church, of business, and the press, especially the moral defects. for this great work of mediating between the mother and the world, for so furnishing and fitting the rising generation, introducing them into practical life, that they shall receive all the good of these public educational forces with none of the ill, but enhance the one while they withstand the other, and so each in himself realize the idea of man, and all in their social capacity, the idea of a democracy--it is also plain what sort of men we need for teachers: we need able men, well endowed by nature, well disciplined by art; we need superior men--men juster than the state, truer and better than the churches, more humane than business, and higher than the common literature of the press. there are always men of that stamp born into the world; enough of them in any age to do its work. how shall we bring them to the task? give young men and women the opportunity to fit themselves for the work, at free common schools, high schools, normal schools, and colleges; give them a pay corresponding to their services, as in england and rome; give them social rank and honor in that proportion, and they will come; able men will come; men well disciplined will come; men of talent and even genius for education will come. in the state you pay a man of great political talents large money and large honors; hence there is no lack of ability in politics, none of competition for office. in the church you pay a good deal for a "smart minister," one who can preach an audience into the pews and not himself out of the pulpit. talent enough goes to business; educated talent too, at least with a special education for this, honor, and social distinction. private colleges and theological schools, often, have powerful men for their professors and presidents; sometimes, men of much talent for education; commonly, men of ripe learning and gentlemanly accomplishments. even men of genius seek a place as teachers in some private college, where they are under the control of the leaders of a sect--and must not doubt its creed, nor set science a-going freely lest it run over some impotent theological dogma--or else of a little coterie, or close corporation of men selected because radical or because conservative, men chosen not on account of any special fitness for superintending the superior education of the people, but because they were one-sided, and leaned this way in massachusetts and that in virginia. able men seek such places because they get a competent pay, competent honors, competent social rank. senators and ambassadors are not ashamed to be presidents of a college, and submit to the control of a coterie, or a sect, and produce their results. if such men can be had for private establishments to educate a few to work in such trammels and such company, certainly, it is not difficult to get them for the public and for the education of all. as the state has the most children to educate, the most money to pay with, it is clear, not only that they need the best ability for this work, but that they can have it soon as they make the teacher's calling gainful and respectable. in england and rome, the most important spiritual function of the state is the production of the gentleman and the priest; in democratic america it is the production of the man. some nations have taken pains with the military training of all the people, for the sake of the state, and made every man a soldier. no nation has hitherto taken equivalent pains with the general education of all, for the sake of the state and the sake of the citizens;--"the heathens of china" have done more than any christian people, for the education of all. this was not needed in a theocracy, nor an aristocracy; it is essential to a democracy. this is needed politically; for where all men are voters, the ignorant man, who cannot read the ballot which he casts; the thief, the pirate, and the murderer, may, at any time, turn the scale of an election, and do us a damage which it will take centuries to repair. ignorant men are the tools of the demagogue; how often he uses them, and for what purposes, we need not go back many years to learn. let the people be ignorant and suffrage universal, a very few men will control the state, and laugh at the folly of the applauding multitude whose bread they waste, and on whose necks they ride to insolence and miserable fame. america has nothing to fear from any foreign foe; for nearly forty years she has had no quarrel but of her own making. such is our enterprise and our strength, that few nations would, carelessly, engage in war with us; none, without great provocation. in the midst of us, is our danger; not in foreign arms, but in the ignorance and the wickedness of our own children, the ignorance of the many, the wickedness of the few who will lead the many to their ruin. the bulwark of america is not the army and navy of the united states, with all the men at public cost instructed in the art of war; it is not the swords and muskets idly bristling in our armories; it is not the cannon and the powder carefully laid by; no, nor is it yet the forts, which frown in all their grim barbarity of stone along the coast, defacing the landscape, else so fair: these might all be destroyed to-night, and the nation be as safe as now. the more effectual bulwark of america is her schools. the cheap spelling-book, or the vane on her school-house is a better symbol of the nation than "the star-spangled banner;" the printing press does more than the cannon; the press is mightier than the sword. the army that is to keep our liberties--you are part of that, the noble army of teachers. it is you, who are to make a great nation greater, even wise and good,--the next generation better than their sires. europe shows us, by experiment, that a republic cannot be made by a few well-minded men, however well-meaning. they tried for it at rome, full of enlightened priests; in germany, the paradise of the scholar, but there was not a people well educated, and a democracy could not stand upright long enough to be set a-going. in france, where men are better fitted for the experiment than elsewhere in continental europe, you see what comes of it--the first step is a stumble, and for their president, the raw republicans chose an autocrat, not a democrat; not a mere soldier, but only the name of a soldier; one that thinks it an insult if liberty, equality, and fraternity be but named! think you a democracy can stand without the education of all; not barely the smallest pittance thereof which will keep a live soul in a live body, but a large, generous cultivation of mind and conscience, heart and soul? a man, with half an eye, can see how we suffer continually in politics for lack of education among the people. some nations are priest-ridden, some king-ridden, some ridden of nobles; america is ridden by politicians, a heavy burden for a foolish neck. our industrial interests demand the same education. the industrial prosperity of the north, our lands yearly enriching, while they bear their annual crop; our railroads, mills and machines, the harness with which we tackle the elements,--for we domesticate fire and water, yes, the very lightning of heaven--all these are but material results of the intelligence of the people. our political success and our industrial prosperity, both come from the pains taken with the education of the people. halve this education, and you take away three fourths of our political welfare, three fourths of our industrial prosperity; double this education, you greaten the political welfare of the people, you increase their industrial success fourfold. yes, more than that, for the results of education increase by a ratio of much higher powers. it seems strange that so few of the great men in politics have cared much for the education of the people; only one of those, now prominent before the north, is intimately connected with it. he, at great personal sacrifice of money, of comfort, of health, even of respectability, became superintendent of the common schools of massachusetts, a place whence we could ill spare him, to take the place of the famous man he succeeds. few of the prominent scholars of the land interest themselves in the public education of the people. the men of superior culture think the common school beneath their notice; but it is the mother of them all. none of the states of the north has ever given this matter the attention it demands. when we legislate about public education, this is the question before us:--shall we give our posterity the greatest blessing that one generation can bestow upon another? shall we give them a personal power which will create wealth in every form, multiply ships, and roads of earth, or of iron; subdue the forest, till the field, chain the rivers, hold the winds as its vassals, bind with an iron yoke the fire and water, and catch and tame the lightning of god? shall we give them a personal power which will make them sober, temperate, healthy, and wise; that shall keep them at peace, abroad and at home, organize them so wisely that all shall be united, and yet, each left free, with no tyranny of the few over the many, or the little over the great? shall we enable them to keep, to improve, to double manifold the political, social, and personal blessings they now possess; shall we give them this power to create riches, to promote order, peace, happiness--all forms of human welfare, or shall we not? that is the question. give us intelligent men, moral men, men well developed in mind and conscience, heart and soul, men that love man and god, industrial prosperity, social prosperity, and political prosperity, are sure to follow. but without such men, all the machinery of this threefold prosperity is but a bauble in a child's hand, which he will soon break or lose, which he cannot replace when gone, nor use while kept. rich men, who have intelligence and goodness, will educate their children, at whatever cost. there are some men, even poor men's sons, born with such native power that they will achieve an education, often a most masterly culture; men whom no poverty can degrade, or make vulgar, whom no lack of means of culture can keep from being wise and great. such are exceptional men; the majority, nine tenths of the people, will depend, for their culture, on the public institutions of the land. if there had never been a free public school in new england, not half of her mechanics and farmers would now be able to read, not a fourth part of her women. i need not stop to tell what would be the condition of her agriculture, her manufactures, her commerce; they would have been, perhaps, even behind the agriculture, commerce and manufactures of south carolina. i need not ask what would be the condition of her free churches, or the republican institutions which now beautify her rugged shores and sterile soil; there would be no such churches, no such institutions. if there had been no such schools in new england, the revolution would yet remain to be fought. take away the free schools, you take away the cause of our manifold prosperity; double their efficiency and value, you not only double and quadruple the prosperity of the people, but you will enlarge their welfare--political, social, personal--far more than i now dare to calculate. i know men object to public schools; they say, education must be bottomed on religion, and that cannot be taught unless we have a state religion, taught "by authority" in all our schools; we cannot teach religion, without teaching it in a sectarian form. this objection is getting made in new york; we have got beyond it in new england. it is true, all manly education must be bottomed on religion; it is essential to the normal development of man, and all attempts at education, without this, must fail of the highest end. but there are two parts of religion which can be taught in all the schools, without disturbing the denominations, or trenching upon their ground, namely, piety, the love of god, and goodness, the love of man. the rest of religion, after piety and goodness are removed, may safely be left to the institutions of any of the sects, and so the state will not occupy their ground. it is often said that superior education is not much needed; the common schools are enough, and good enough, for it is thought that superior education is needed for men as lawyers, ministers, doctors, and the like, not for men as men. it is not so. we want men cultivated with the best discipline, everywhere, not for the profession's sake, but for man's sake. every man with a superior culture, intellectual, moral, and religious, every woman thus developed, is a safeguard and a blessing. he may sit on the bench of a judge or a shoemaker, be a clergyman or an oysterman, that matters little, he is still a safeguard and a blessing. the idea that none should have a superior education but professional men--they only for the profession's sake--belongs to dark ages, and is unworthy of a democracy. * * * * * it is the duty of all men to watch over the public education of the people, for it is the most important work of the state. it is particularly the duty of men who, hitherto, have least attended to it, men of the highest culture, men, too, of the highest genius. if a man with but common abilities has attained great learning, he is one of the "public administrators," to distribute the goods of men of genius, from other times and lands, to mankind, their legal heirs. why does god sometimes endow a man with great intellectual power, making, now and then, a million-minded man? is that superiority of gift solely for the man's own sake? shame on such a thought. it is of little value to him unless he use it for me; it is for your sake and my sake, more than for his own. he is a precious almoner of wisdom; one of the public guardians of mankind, to think for us, to help us think for ourselves; born to educate the world of feebler men. i call on such men, men of culture, men of genius, to help build up institutions for the education of the people. if they neglect this, they are false to their trust. the culture which hinders a man from sympathy with the ignorant, is a curse to both, and the genius which separates a man from his fellow-creatures, lowlier born than he, is the genius of a demon. * * * * * men and women, practical teachers now before me, a great trust is in your hands; nine tenths of the children of the people depend on you for their early culture, for all the scholastic discipline they will ever get; their manly culture will depend on that, their prosperity thereon, all these on you. when they are men, you know what evils they will easily learn from state and church, from business and the press. it is for you to give them such a developing and such a furnishing of their powers, that they will withstand, counteract and exterminate that evil. teach them to love justice better than their native land, truth better than their church, humanity more than money, and fidelity to their own nature better than the public opinion of the press. as the chief thing of all, teach them to love man and god. your characters will be the inspiration of these children; your prayers their practice, your faith their works. the rising generation is in your hands, you can fashion them in your image, you will, you must do this. great duties will devolve on these children when grown up to be men; you are to fit them for these duties. since the revolution, there has not been a question before the country, not a question of constitution or confederacy, free trade or protective tariff, sub-treasury or bank, of peace or war, freedom or slavery, the extension of liberty, or the extension of bondage--not a question of this sort has come up before congress, or the people, which could not have been better decided by seven men, honest, intelligent, and just, who loved man and god, and looked, with a single eye, to what was right in the case. it is your business to train up such men. a representative, a senator, a governor may be made, any day, by a vote. ballots can make a president out of almost any thing; the most ordinary material is not too cheap and vulgar for that. but all the votes of all the conventions, all the parties, are unable to make a people capable of self-government. they cannot put intelligence and justice into the head of a single man. you are to do that. you are the "sacred legion," the "theban brothers" to repel the greatest foes that can invade the land, the only foes to be feared; you are to repel ignorance, injustice, unmanliness, and irreligion. with none else to help you, in ten years' time you can double the value of your schools; double the amount of development and instruction you annually furnish. so doing, you shall double, triple, quadruple, multiply manifold the blessings of the land. you can, if you will. i ask if you will? if your works say "yes," then you will be the great benefactors of the land, not giving money, but a charity far nobler yet, education, the greatest charity. you will help fulfil the prophecy which noble men long since predicted of mankind, and help found the kingdom of heaven on earth; you will follow the steps of that noblest man of men, the great educator of the human race, whom the christians still worship as their god. yes, you will work with god himself; he will work with you, work for you, and bless you with everlasting life. v. the political destination of america and the signs of the times.--delivered before several literary societies, . every nation has a peculiar character, in which it differs from all others that have been, that are, and possibly from all that are to come; for it does not yet appear that the divine father of the nations ever repeats himself and creates either two nations or two men exactly alike. however, as nations, like men, agree in more things than they differ, and in obvious things too, the special peculiarity of any one tribe does not always appear at first sight. but if we look through the history of some nation which has passed off from the stage of action, we find certain prevailing traits which continually reappear in the language and laws thereof; in its arts, literature, manners, modes of religion--in short, in the whole life of the people. the most prominent thing in the history of the hebrews is their continual trust in god, and this marks them from their first appearance to the present day. they have accordingly done little for art, science, philosophy, little for commerce and the useful arts of life, but much for religion; and the psalms they sung two or three thousand years ago are at this day the hymns and prayers of the whole christian world. three great historical forms of religion, judaism, christianity, and mahometanism, all have proceeded from them. he that looks at the ionian greeks finds in their story always the same prominent characteristic, a devotion to what is beautiful. this appears often to the neglect of what is true, right, and therefore holy. hence, while they have done little for religion, their literature, architecture, sculpture, furnish us with models never surpassed, and perhaps not equalled. yet they lack the ideal aspiration after religion that appears in the literature and art, and even language of some other people, quite inferior to the greeks in elegance and refinement. science, also, is most largely indebted to these beauty-loving greeks for truth is one form of loveliness. if we take the romans, from romulus their first king, to augustulus the last of the cæsars, the same traits of national character appear, only the complexion and dress thereof changed by circumstances. there is always the same hardness and materialism, the same skill in organizing men, the same turn for affairs and genius for legislation. rome borrowed her theology and liturgical forms; her art, science, literature, philosophy, and eloquence; even her art of war was an imitation. but law sprung up indigenous in her soil; her laws are the best gift she offers to the human race,--the "monument more lasting than brass," which she has left behind her. we may take another nation, which has by no means completed its history, the saxon race, from hengist and horsa to sir robert peel: there also is a permanent peculiarity in the tribe. they are yet the same bold, handy, practical people as when their bark first touched the savage shores of britain; not over religious; less pious than moral; not so much upright before god, as downright before men; servants of the understanding more than children of reason; not following the guidance of an intuition, and the light of an idea, but rather trusting to experiment, facts, precedents, and usages; not philosophical, but commercial; warlike through strength and courage, not from love of war or its glory; material, obstinate, and grasping, with the same admiration of horses, dogs, oxen, and strong drink; the same willingness to tread down any obstacle, material, human or divine, which stands in their way; the same impatient lust of wealth and power; the same disposition to colonize and reannex other lands; the same love of liberty and love of law; the same readiness in forming political confederations. in each of these four instances, the hebrews, the ionians, the romans, and the anglo-saxon race, have had a nationality so strong, that while they have mingled with other nations in commerce and in war, as victors and vanquished, they have stoutly held their character through all; they have thus modified feebler nations joined with them. to take the last, neither the britons nor the danes affected very much the character of the anglo-saxons; they never turned it out of its course. the normans gave the saxon manners, refinement, letters, elegance. the anglo-saxon bishop of the eleventh century, dressed in untanned sheep-skins, "the woolly side out and the fleshy side in;" he ate cheese and flesh, drank milk and mead. the norman taught him to wear cloth, to eat also bread and roots, to drink wine. but in other respects the norman left him as he found him. england has received her kings and her nobles from normandy, anjou, the provence, scotland, holland, hanover, often seeing a foreigner ascend her throne; yet the sturdy anglo-saxon character held its own, spite of the new element infused into its blood: change the ministries, change the dynasties often as they will, john bull is obstinate as ever, and himself changes not; no philosophy or religion makes him less material. no nation but the english could have produced a hobbes, a hume, a paley, or a bentham; they are all instantial and not exceptional men in that race. * * * * * now this idiosyncrasy of a nation is a sacred gift; like the genius of a burns, a thorwaldsen, a franklin, or a bowditch, it is given for some divine purpose, to be sacredly cherished and patiently unfolded. the cause of the peculiarities of a nation or an individual man we cannot fully determine as yet, and so we refer it to the chain of causes which we call providence. but the national persistency in a common type is easily explained. the qualities of father and mother are commonly transmitted to their children, but not always, for peculiarities may lie latent in a family for generations, and reappear in the genius or the folly of a child--often in the complexion and features: and besides, father and mother are often no match. but such exceptions are rare, and the qualities of a race are always thus reproduced, the deficiency of one man getting counterbalanced by the redundancy of the next: the marriages of a whole tribe are not far from normal. some nations, it seems, perish through defect of this national character, as individuals fail of success through excess or deficiency in their character. thus the celts, that great flood of a nation which once swept over germany, france, england, and, casting its spray far over the alps, at one time threatened destruction to rome itself, seem to have been so filled with love of individual independence that they could never accept a minute organization of human rights and duties, and so their children would not group themselves into a city, as other races, and submit to a strong central power, which should curb individual will enough to insure national unity of action. perhaps this was once the excellence of the celts, and thereby they broke the trammels and escaped from the theocratic or despotic traditions of earlier and more savage times, developing the power of the individual for a time, and the energy of a nation loosely bound; but when they came in contact with the romans, franks and saxons, they melted away as snow in april--only, like that, remnants thereof yet lingering in the mountains and islands of europe. no external pressure of famine or political oppression now holds the celts in ireland together, or gives them national unity of action enough to resist the saxon foe. doubtless in other days this very peculiarity of the irish has done the world some service. nations succeed each other as races of animals in the geological epochs, and like them, also, perish when their work is done. the peculiar character of a nation does not appear nakedly, without relief and shadow. as the waters of the rhone, in coming from the mountains, have caught a stain from the soils they have traversed which mars the cerulean tinge of the mountain snow that gave them birth, so the peculiarities of each nation become modified by the circumstances to which it is exposed, though the fundamental character of a nation, it seems, has never been changed. only when the blood of the nation is changed by additions from another stock is the idiosyncrasy altered. now, while each nation has its peculiar genius or character which does not change, it has also and accordingly a particular work to perform in the economy of the world, a certain fundamental idea to unfold and develop. this is its national task, for in god's world, as in a shop, there is a regular division of labor. sometimes it is a limited work, and when it is done the nation may be dismissed, and go to its repose. _non omnia possumus omnes_ is as true of nations as of men; one has a genius for one thing, another for something different, and the idea of each nation and its special work will depend on the genius of the nation. men do not gather grapes of thorns. in addition to this specific genius of the nation and its corresponding work, there are also various accidental or subordinate qualities, which change with circumstances, and so vary the nation's aspect that its peculiar genius and peculiar duty are often hid from its own consciousness, and even obscured to that of the philosophic looker-on. these subordinate peculiarities will depend first on the peculiar genius, idea and work of the nation, and next on the transient circumstances, geographical, climactic, historical and secular, to which the nation has been exposed. the past helped form the circumstances of the present age, and they the character of the men now living. thus new modifications of the national type continually take place; new variations are played, but on the same old strings and of the same old tune. once circumstances made the hebrews entirely pastoral, now as completely commercial; but the same trust in god, the same national exclusiveness appear, as of old. as one looks at the history of the ionians, romans, saxons, he sees unity of national character, a continuity of idea and of work; but it appears in the midst of variety, for while these remained ever the same to complete the economy of the world, subordinate qualities--sentiments, ideas, actions--changed to suit the passing hour. the nation's _course_ was laid towards a certain point, but they stood to the right hand or the left, they sailed with much canvas or little, and swift or slow, as the winds and waves compelled: nay, sometimes the national ship "heaves to," and lies with her "head to the wind," regardless of her destination; but when the storm is overblown resumes her course. men will carelessly think the ship has no certain aim, but only drifts. * * * * * the most marked characteristic of the american nation is love of freedom; of man's natural rights. this is so plain to a student of american history, or of american politics, that the point requires no arguing. we have a genius for liberty: the american idea is freedom, natural rights. accordingly, the work providentially laid out for us to do seems this,--to organize the rights of man. this is a problem hitherto unattempted on a national scale, in human history. often enough attempts have been made to organize the powers of priests, kings, nobles, in a theocracy, monarchy, oligarchy, powers which had no foundation in human duties or human rights, but solely in the selfishness of strong men. often enough have the mights of men been organized, but not the rights of man. surely there has never been an attempt made on a national scale to organize the rights of man as man; rights resting on the nature of things; rights derived from no conventional compact of men with men; not inherited from past generations, nor received from parliaments and kings, nor secured by their parchments; but rights that are derived straightway from god, the author of duty and the source of right, and which are secured in the great charter of our being. at first view it will be said, the peculiar genius of america is not such, nor such her fundamental idea, nor that her destined work. it is true that much of the national conduct seems exceptional when measured by that standard, and the nation's course as crooked as the rio grande; it is true that america sometimes seems to spurn liberty, and sells the freedom of three million men for less than three million annual bales of cotton; true, she often tramples, knowingly, consciously, tramples on the most unquestionable and sacred rights. yet, when one looks through the whole character and history of america, spite of the exceptions, nothing comes out with such relief as this love of freedom, this idea of liberty, this attempt to organize right. there are numerous subordinate qualities which conflict with the nation's idea and work, coming from our circumstances, not our soul, as well as many others which help the nation perform her providential work. they are signs of the times, and it is important to look carefully among the most prominent of them, where, indeed, one finds striking contradictions. * * * * * the first is an impatience of authority. every thing must render its reason, and show cause for its being. we will not be commanded, at least only by such as we choose to obey. does some one say, "thou shalt," or "thou shalt not," we ask, "who are you?" hence comes a seeming irreverence. the shovel hat, the symbol of authority, which awed our fathers, is not respected unless it covers a man, and then it is the man we honor, and no longer the shovel hat. "i will complain of you to the government!" said a prussian nobleman to a yankee stage-driver, who uncivilly threw the nobleman's trunk to the top of the coach. "tell the government to go to the devil!" was the symbolical reply. old precedents will not suffice us, for we want something anterior to all precedents; we go beyond what is written, asking the cause of the precedent and the reason of the writing. "our fathers did so," says some one. "what of that?" say we. "our fathers--they were giants, were they? not at all, only great boys, and we are not only taller than they, but mounted on their shoulders to boot, and see twice as far. my dear wise man, or wiseacre, it is we that are the ancients, and have forgotten more than all our fathers knew. we will take their wisdom joyfully, and thank god for it, but not their authority, we know better; and of their nonsense not a word. it was very well that they lived, and it is very well that they are dead. let them keep decently buried, for respectable dead men never walk." tradition does not satisfy us. the american scholar has no folios in his library. the antiquary unrolls his codex, hid for eighteen hundred years in the ashes of herculaneum, deciphers its fossil wisdom, telling us what great men thought in the bay of naples, and two thousand years ago. "what do you tell of that for?" is the answer to his learning. "what has pythagoras to do with the price of cotton? you may be a very learned man; you can read the hieroglyphics of egypt, i dare say, and know so much about the pharaohs, it is a pity you had not lived in their time, when you might have been good for something; but you are too old-fashioned for our business, and may return to your dust." an eminent american, a student of egyptian history, with a scholarly indignation declared, "there is not a man who cares to know whether shoophoo lived one thousand years before christ, or three." the example of other and ancient states does not terrify or instruct us. if slavery were a curse to athens, the corruption of corinth, the undoing of rome, and all history shows it was so, we will learn no lesson from that experience, for we say, "we are not athenians, men of corinth, nor pagan romans, thank god, but free republicans, christians of america. we live in the nineteenth century, and though slavery worked all that mischief then and there, we know how to make money out of it, twelve hundred millions of dollars, as mr. clay counts the cash." the example of contemporary nations furnishes us little warning or guidance. we will set our own precedents, and do not like to be told that the prussians or the dutch have learned some things in the education of the people before us, which we shall do well to learn after them. so when a good man tells us of their schools and their colleges, "patriotic" school-masters exclaim, "it is not true; our schools are the best in the world! but if it were true, it is unpatriotic to say so; it aids and comforts the enemy." jonathan knows little of war; he has heard his grandfather talk of lexington and saratoga; he thinks he should like to have a little touch of battle on his own account: so when there is difficulty in setting up the fence betwixt his estate and his neighbors, he blusters for awhile, talks big, and threatens to strike his father; but, not having quite the stomach for that experiment, falls to beating his other neighbor, who happens to be poor, weak, and of a sickly constitution; and when he beats her at every step,-- "for 'tis no war, as each one knows, when only one side deals the blows, and t' other bears 'em,"-- jonathan thinks he has covered himself "with imperishable honors," and sets up his general for a great king. poor jonathan--he does not know the misery, the tears, the blood, the shame, the wickedness, and the sin he has set a-going, and which one day he is to account for with god who forgets nothing! yet while we are so unwilling to accept the good principles, to be warned by the fate, or guided by the success, of other nations, we gladly and servilely copy their faults, their follies, their vice and sin. like all upstarts, we pique ourselves on our imitation of aristocratic ways. how many a blusterer in congress,--for there are two denominations of blusterers, differing only in degree, your great blusterer in congress and your little blusterer in a bar-room,--has roared away hours long against aristocratic influence, in favor of the "pure democracy," while he played the oligarch in his native village, the tyrant over his hired help, and though no man knows who his grandfather was, spite of the herald's office, conjures up some trumpery coat of arms! like a clown, who, by pinching his appetite, has bought a gaudy cloak for sabbath wearing, we chuckle inwardly at our brave apery of foreign absurdities, hoping that strangers will be astonished at us--which, sure enough, comes to pass. jonathan is as vain as he is conceited, and expects that the fiddlers, and the trollopes, and others, who visit us periodically as the swallows, and likewise for what they can catch, shall only extol, or at least stand aghast at the brave spectacle we offer, of "the freest and most enlightened nation in the world;" and if they tell us that we are an ill-mannered set, raw and clownish, that we pick our teeth with a fork, loll back in our chairs, and make our countenance hateful with tobacco, and that with all our excellences we are a nation of "rowdies,"--why, we are offended, and our feelings are hurt. there was an african chief, long ago, who ruled over a few miserable cabins, and one day received a french traveller from paris, under a tree. with the exception of a pair of shoes, our chief was as naked as a pestle, but with great complacency he asked the traveller, "what do they say of me at paris?" such is our dread of authority, that we like not old things; hence we are always a-changing. our house must be new, and our book, and even our church. so we choose a material that soon wears out, though it often outlasts our patience. the wooden house is an apt emblem of this sign of the times. but this love of change appears not less in important matters. we think "of old things all are over old, of new things none are new enough." so the age asks of all institutions their right to be: what right has the government to existence? who gave the majority a right to control the minority, to restrict trade, levy taxes, make laws, and all that? if the nation goes into a committee of the whole and makes laws, some little man goes into a committee of one and passes his counter resolves. the state of south carolina is a nice example of this self-reliance, and this questioning of all authority. that little brazen state, which contains only about half so many free white inhabitants as the single city of new york, but which none the less claims to have monopolized most of the chivalry of the nation, and its patriotism, as well as political wisdom--that chivalrous little state says, "if the nation does not make laws to suit us; if it does not allow us to imprison all black seamen from the north; if it prevents the extension of slavery wherever we wish to carry it--then the state of south carolina will nullify, and leave the other nine-and-twenty states to go to ruin!" men ask what right have the churches to the shadow of authority which clings to them--to make creeds, and to bind and to loose! so it is a thing which has happened, that when a church excommunicates a young stripling for heresy, he turns round, fulminates his edict, and excommunicates the church. said a sly jesuit to an american protestant at rome, "but the rites and customs and doctrines of the catholic church go back to the second century, the age after the apostles!" "no doubt of it," said the american, who had also read the fathers, "they go back to the times of the apostles themselves; but that proves nothing, for there were as great fools in the first century as the last. a fool or a folly is no better because it is an old folly or an old fool. there are fools enough now, in all conscience. pray don't go back to prove their apostolical succession." there are always some men who are born out of due season, men of past ages, stragglers of former generations, who ought to have been born before dr. faustus invented printing, but who are unfortunately born now, or, if born long ago, have been fraudulently and illegally concealed by their mothers, and are now, for the first time, brought to light. the age lifts such aged juveniles from the ground, and bids them live, but they are sadly to seek in this day; they are old-fashioned boys; their authority is called in question; their traditions and old wives' fables are laughed at, at any rate disbelieved; they get profanely elbowed in the crowd--men not knowing their great age and consequent venerableness; the shovel hat, though apparently born on their head, is treated with disrespect. the very boys laugh pertly in their face when they speak, and even old men can scarce forbear a smile, though it may be a smile of pity. the age affords such men a place, for it is a catholic age, large-minded, and tolerant,--such a place as it gives to ancient armor, indian bibles, and fossil bones of the mastodon; it puts them by in some room seldom used, with other old furniture, and allows them to mumble their anilities by themselves; now and then takes off its hat; looks in, charitably, to keep the mediæval relics in good heart, and pretends to listen, as they discourse of what comes of nothing and goes to it; but in matters which the age cares about, commerce, manufactures, politics, which it cares much for, even in education, which it cares far too little about, it trusts no such counsellors, nor tolerates, nor ever affects to listen. then there is a philosophical tendency, distinctly visible; a groping after ultimate facts, first principles, and universal ideas. we wish to know first the fact, next the law of that fact, and then the reason of the law. a sign of this tendency is noticeable in the titles of books; we have no longer "treatises" n the eye, the ear, sleep, and so forth, but in their place we find works professing to treat of the "philosophy" of vision, of sound, of sleep. even in the pulpits, men speak about the "philosophy" of religion; we have philosophical lectures, delivered to men of little culture, which would have amazed our grandfathers, who thought a shoemaker should never go beyond his last, even to seek for the philosophy of shoes. "what a pity," said a grave scotchman, in the beginning of this century, "to teach the beautiful science of geometry to weavers and cobblers." here nothing is too good or high for any one tall and good enough to get hold of it. what audiences attend the lowell lectures in boston--two or three thousand men, listening to twelve lectures on the philosophy of fish! it would not bring a dollar or a vote, only thought to their minds! young ladies are well versed in the philosophy of the affections, and understand the theory of attraction, while their grandmothers, good easy souls, were satisfied with the possession of the fact. the circumstance, that philosophical lectures get delivered by men like walker, agassiz, emerson, and their coadjutors, men who do not spare abstruseness, get listened to, and even understood, in town and village, by large crowds of men, of only the most common culture; this indicates a philosophical tendency, unknown in any other land or age. our circle of professed scholars, men of culture and learning, is a very small one, while our circle of thinking men is disproportionately large. the best thought of france and germany finds a readier welcome here than in our parent land: nay, the newest and the best thought of england, finds its earliest and warmest welcome in america. it was a little remarkable, that bacon and newton should be reprinted here, and la place should have found his translator and expositor coming out of an insurance office in salem! men of no great pretensions object to an accomplished and eloquent politician: "that is all very well; he made us cry and laugh, but the discourse was not philosophical; he never tells us the reason of the thing; he seems not only not to know it, but not to know that there is a reason for the thing, and if not, what is the use of this bobbing on the surface?" young maidens complain of the minister, that he has no philosophy in his sermons, nothing but precepts, which they could read in the bible as well as he; perhaps in heathen seneca. he does not feed their souls. one finds this tendency where it is least expected: there is a philosophical party in politics, a very small party it may be, but an actual one. they aim to get at everlasting ideas and universal laws, not made by man, but by god, and for man, who only finds them; and from them they aim to deduce all particular enactments, so that each statute in the code shall represent a fact in the universe; a point of thought in god; so, indeed, that legislation shall be divine in the same sense that a true system of astronomy is divine--or the christian religion--the law corresponding to a fact. men of this party, in new england, have more ideas than precedents, are spontaneous more than logical; have intuitions, rather than intellectual convictions, arrived at by the process of reasoning. they think it is not philosophical to take a young scoundrel and shut him up with a party of old ones, for his amendment; not philosophical to leave children with no culture, intellectual, moral, or religious, exposed to the temptations of a high and corrupt civilization, and then, when they go astray--as such barbarians needs must, in such temptations--to hang them by the neck for the example's sake. they doubt if war is a more philosophical mode of getting justice between two nations, than blows to settle a quarrel between two men. in either case, they do not see how it follows, that he who can strike the hardest blow is always in the right. in short, they think that judicial murder, which is hanging, and national murder, which is war, are not more philosophical than homicide, which one man commits on his own private account. theological sects are always the last to feel any popular movement. yet all of them, from the episcopalians to the quakers, have each a philosophical party, which bids fair to outgrow the party which rests on precedent and usage, to overshadow and destroy it. the catholic church itself, though far astern of all the sects, in regard to the great movements of the age, shares this spirit, and abroad, if not here, is wellnigh rent asunder by the potent medicine which this new daniel of philosophy has put into its mouth. everywhere in the american churches there are signs of a tendency to drop all that rests merely on tradition and hearsay, to cling only to such facts as bide the test of critical search, and such doctrines as can be verified in human consciousness here and to-day. doctors of divinity destroy the faith they once preached. true, there are antagonistic tendencies, for, soon as one pole is developed, the other appears; objections are made to philosophy, the old cry is raised--"infidelity," "denial," "free-thinking." it is said that philosophy will corrupt the young men, will spoil the old ones, and deceive the very elect. "authority and tradition," say some, "are all we need consult; reason must be put down, or she will soon ask terrible questions." there is good cause for these men warring against reason and philosophy; it is purely in self-defence. but this counsel and that cry come from those quarters before mentioned, where the men of past ages have their place, where the forgotten is re-collected, the obsolete preserved, and the useless held in esteem. the counsel is not dangerous; the bird of night, who overstays his hour, is only troublesome to himself, and was never known to hurt a dovelet or a mouseling after sun-rise. in the night only is the owl destructive. some of those who thus cry out against this tendency, are excellent men in their way, and highly useful, valuable as conveyancers of opinions. so long as there are men who take opinions as real estate, "to have and to hold for themselves and their heirs forever," why should there not be such conveyancers of opinions, as well as of land? and as it is not the duty of the latter functionary to ascertain the quality or the value of the land, but only its metes and bounds, its appurtenances and the title thereto; to see if the grantor is regularly seized and possessed thereof, and has good right to convey and devise the same, and to make sure that the whole conveyance is regularly made out,--so is it with these conveyancers of opinion; so should it be, and they are valuable men. it is a good thing to know that we hold under scotus, and ramus, and albertus magnus, who were regularly seized of this or that opinion. it gives an absurdity the dignity of a relic. sometimes these worthies, who thus oppose reason and her kin, seem to have a good deal in them, and, when one examines, he finds more than he looked for. they are like a nest of boxes from hingham and nuremburg, you open one, and behold another; that, and lo! a third. so you go on, opening and opening, and finding and finding, till at last you come to the heart of the matter, and then you find a box that is very little, and entirely empty. * * * * * yet, with all this tendency--and it is now so strong that it cannot be put down, nor even howled down, much as it may be howled over--there is a lamentable want of first principles, well known and established; we have rejected the authority of tradition, but not yet accepted the authority of truth and justice. we will not be treated as striplings, and are not old enough to go alone as men. accordingly, nothing seems fixed. there is a perpetual see-sawing of opposite principles. somebody said ministers ought to be ordained on horseback, because they are to remain so short a time in one place. it would be as emblematic to inaugurate american politicians, by swearing them on a weathercock. the great men of the land have as many turns in their course as the euripus or the missouri. even the facts given in the spiritual nature of man are called in question. an eminent unitarian divine regards the existence of god as a matter of opinion, thinks it cannot be demonstrated, and publicly declares that it is "not a certainty." some american protestants no longer take the bible as the standard of ultimate appeal, yet venture not to set up in that place reason, conscience, the soul getting help of god; others, who affect to accept the scripture as the last authority, yet, when questioned as to their belief in the miraculous and divine birth of jesus of nazareth, are found unable to say yes or no, not having made up their minds. in politics, it is not yet decided whether it is best to leave men to buy where they can buy cheapest, and sell where they can sell dearest, or to restrict that matter. it was a clear case to our fathers, in ' , that all men were "created equal," each with "unalienable rights." that seemed so clear, that reasoning would not make it appear more reasonable; it was taken for granted, as a self-evident proposition. the whole nation said so. now, it is no strange thing to find it said that negroes are not "created equal" in unalienable rights with white men. nay, in the senate of the united states, a famous man declares all this talk a dangerous mistake. the practical decision of the nation looks the same way. so, to make our theory accord with our practice, we ought to recommit the declaration to the hands which drafted that great state-paper, and instruct mr. jefferson to amend the document, and declare that "all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, if born of white mothers; but if not, not." in this lack of first principles, it is not settled in the popular consciousness, that there is such a thing as an absolute right, a great law of god, which we are to keep, come what will come. so the nation is not upright, but goes stooping. hence, in private affairs, law takes the place of conscience, and, in public, might of right. so the bankrupt pays his shilling in the pound, and gets his discharge, but afterwards, becoming rich, does not think of paying the other nineteen shillings. he will tell you the law is his conscience; if that be satisfied, so is he. but you will yet find him letting money at one or two per cent. a month, contrary to law; and then he will tell you that paying a debt is a matter of law, while letting money is only a matter of conscience. so he rides either indifferently--now the public hack, and now his own private nag, according as it serves his turn. so a rich state borrows money and "repudiates" the debt, satisfying its political conscience, as the bankrupt his commercial conscience, with the notion that there is no absolute right; that expediency is the only justice, and that king people can do no wrong. no calm voice of indignation cries out from the pulpit and the press and the heart of the people, to shame the repudiators into decent morals; because it is not settled in the popular mind that there is any absolute right. then, because we are strong and the mexicans weak, because we want their land for a slave-pasture and they cannot keep us out of it, we think that is reason enough for waging an infamous war of plunder. grave men do not ask about "the natural justice" of such an undertaking, only about its cost. have we not seen an american congress vote a plain lie, with only sixteen dissenting voices in the whole body; has not the head of the nation continually repeated that lie; and do not both parties, even at this day, sustain the vote? now and then there rises up an honest man, with a great christian heart in his bosom, and sets free a score or two of slaves inherited from his father; watches over and tends them in their new-found freedom: or another, who, when legally released from payment of his debts, restores the uttermost farthing. we talk of this and praise it, as an extraordinary thing. indeed it is so; justice is an unusual thing, and such men deserve the honor they thus win. but such praise shows that such honesty is a rare honesty. the northern man, born on the battle-ground of freedom, goes to the south and becomes the most tyrannical of slave-drivers. the son of the puritan, bred up in austere ways, is sent to congress to stand up for truth and right, but he turns out a "dough-face," and betrays the duty he went to serve. yet he does not lose his place, for every dough-faced representative has a dough-faced constituency to back him. it is a great mischief that comes from lacking first principles, and the worst part of it comes from lacking first principles in morals. thereby our eyes are holden so that we see not the great social evils all about us. we attempt to justify slavery, even to do it in the name of jesus christ. the whig party of the north loves slavery; the democratic party does not even seek to conceal its affection therefor. a great politician declares the mexican war wicked, and then urges men to go and fight it; he thinks a famous general not fit to be nominated for president, but then invites men to elect him. politics are national morals, the morals of thomas and jeremiah, multiplied by millions. but it is not decided yet that honesty is the best policy for a politician; it is thought that the best policy is honesty, at least as near it as the times will allow. many politicians seem undecided how to turn, and so sit on the fence between honesty and dishonesty. mr. facing-both-ways is a popular politician in america just now, sitting on the fence between honesty and dishonesty, and, like the blank leaf between the old and new testaments, belonging to neither dispensation. it is a little amusing to a trifler to hear a man's fitness for the presidency defended on the ground that he has no definite convictions or ideas! there was once a man who said he always told a lie when it would serve his special turn. it is a pity he went to his own place long ago. he seemed born for a party politician in america. he would have had a large party, for he made a great many converts before he died, and left a numerous kindred busy in the editing of newspapers, writing addresses for the people, and passing "resolutions." it must strike a stranger as a little odd, that a republic should have a slaveholder for president five sixths of the time, and most of the important offices be monopolized by other slaveholders; a little surprising that all the pulpits and most of the presses should be in favor of slavery, at least not against it. but such is the fact. everybody knows the character of the american government for some years past, and of the american parties in politics. "like master, like man," used to be a true proverb in old england, and "like people, like ruler," is a true proverb in america; true now. did a decided people ever choose dough-faces?--a people that loved god and man, choose representatives that cared for neither truth nor justice? now and then, for dust gets into the brightest eyes; but did they ever choose such men continually? the people are always fairly represented; our representatives do actually represent us, and in more senses than they are paid for. congress and the cabinet are only two thermometers hung up in the capital, to show the temperature of the national morals. but amid this general uncertainty there are two capital maxims which prevail amongst our huxters of politics: to love your party better than your country, and yourself better than your party. there are, it is true, real statesmen amongst us, men who love justice and do the right, but they seem lost in the mob of vulgar politicians and the dust of party editors. since the nation loves freedom above all things, the name democracy is a favorite name. no party could live a twelvemonth that should declare itself anti-democratic. saint and sinner, statesman and politician, alike love the name. so it comes to pass that there are two things which bear that name; each has its type and its motto. the motto of one is, "you are as good as i, and let us help one another." that represents the democracy of the declaration of independence, and of the new testament; its type is a free school, where children of all ranks meet under the guidance of intelligent and christian men, to be educated in mind, and heart, and soul. the other has for its motto, "i am as good as you, so get out of my way." its type is the bar-room of a tavern--dirty, offensive, stained with tobacco, and full of drunken, noisy, quarrelsome "rowdies," just returned from the mexican war, and ready for a "buffalo hunt," for privateering, or to go and plunder any one who is better off than themselves, especially if also better. that is not exactly the democracy of the declaration, or of the new testament; but of--no matter whom. * * * * * then, again, there is a great intensity of life and purpose. this displays itself in our actions and speeches; in our speculations; in the "revivals" of the more serious sects; in the excitements of trade; in the general character of the people. all that we do we overdo. it appears in our hopefulness; we are the most aspiring of nations. not content with half the continent, we wish the other half. we have this characteristic of genius: we are dissatisfied with all that we have done. somebody once said we were too vain to be proud. it is not wholly so; the national idea is so far above us that any achievement seems little and low. the american soul passes away from its work soon as it is finished. so the soul of each great artist refuses to dwell in his finished work, for that seems little to his dream. our fathers deemed the revolution a great work; it was once thought a surprising thing to found that little colony on the shores of new england; but young america looks to other revolutions, and thinks she has many a plymouth colony in her bosom. if other nations wonder at our achievements, we are a disappointment to ourselves, and wonder we have not done more. our national idea out-travels our experience, and all experience. we began our national career by setting all history at defiance--for that said, "a republic on a large scale cannot exist." our progress since has shown that we were right in refusing to be limited by the past. the political ideas of the nation are transcendant, not empirical. human history could not justify the declaration of independence and its large statements of the new idea: the nation went behind human history and appealed to human nature. we are more spontaneous than logical; we have ideas, rather than facts or precedents. we dream more than we remember, and so have many orators and poets, or poetasters, with but few antiquaries and general scholars. we are not so reflective as forecasting. we are the most intuitive of modern nations. the very party in politics which has the least culture, is richest in ideas which will one day become facts. great truths--political, philosophical, religious--lie a-burning in many a young heart which cannot legitimate nor prove them true, but none the less feels, and feels them true. a man full of new truths finds a ready audience with us. many things which come disguised as truths under such circumstances pass current for a time, but by and by their bray discovers them. the hope which comes from this intensity of life and intuition of truths is a national characteristic. it gives courage, enterprise, and strength. they can who think they can. we are confident in our star; other nations may see it or not, we know it is there above the clouds. we do not hesitate at rash experiments--sending fifty thousand soldiers to conquer a nation with eight or nine millions of people. we are up to every thing, and think ourselves a match for any thing. the young man is rash, for he only hopes, having little to remember; he is excitable, and loves excitement; change of work is his repose; he is hot and noisy, sanguine and fearless, with the courage that comes from warm blood and ignorance of dangers; he does not know what a hard, tough, sour old world he is born into. we are a nation of young men. we talked of annexing texas and northern mexico, and did both; now we grasp at cuba, central america,--all the continent,--and speak of a railroad to the pacific as a trifle for us to accomplish. our national deeds are certainly great, but our hope and promise far outbrags them all. if this intensity of life and hope have its good side, it has also its evil; with much of the excellence of youth we have its faults--rashness, haste, and superficiality. our work is seldom well done. in english manufactures there is a certain solid honesty of performance; in the french a certain air of elegance and refinement: one misses both these in american works. it is said america invents the most machines, but england builds them best. we lack the phlegmatic patience of older nations. we are always in a hurry, morning, noon and night. we are impatient of the process, but greedy of the result; so that we make short experiments but long reports, and talk much though we say little. we forget that a sober method is a short way of coming to the end, and that he who, before he sets out, ascertains where he is going and the way thither, ends his journey more prosperously than one who settles these matters by the way. quickness is a great desideratum with us. it is said an american ship is known far off at sea by the quantity of canvas she carries. rough and ready is a popular attribute. quick and off would be a symbolic motto for the nation at this day, representing one phase of our character. we are sudden in deliberation; the "one-hour rule" works well in congress. a committee of the british parliament spends twice or thrice our time in collecting facts, understanding and making them intelligible, but less than our time in speech-making after the report; speeches there commonly being for the purpose of facilitating the business, while here one sometimes is half ready to think, notwithstanding our earnestness, that the business is to facilitate the speaking. a state revises her statutes with a rapidity that astonishes a european. yet each revision brings some amendment, and what is found good in the constitution or laws of one state gets speedily imitated by the rest; each new state of the north becoming more democratic than its predecessor. we are so intent on our purpose that we have no time for amusement. we have but one or two festivals in the year, and even then we are serious and reformatory. jonathan thinks it a very solemn thing to be merry. a frenchman said we have but two amusements in america--theology for the women and politics for the men; preaching and voting. if this be true, it may help to explain the fact that most men take their theology from their wives, and women politics from their husbands. no nation ever tried the experiment of such abstinence from amusement. we have no time for sport, and so lose much of the poetry of life. all work and no play does not always make a dull boy, but it commonly makes a hard man. we rush from school into business early; we hurry while in business; we aim to be rich quickly, making a fortune at a stroke, making or losing it twice or thrice in a lifetime. "soft and fair, goes safe and far," is no proverb to our taste. we are the most restless of people. how we crowd into cars and steamboats; a locomotive would well typify our fuming, fizzing spirit. in our large towns life seems to be only a scamper. not satisfied with bustling about all day, when night comes we cannot sit still, but alone of all nations have added rockers to our chairs. all is haste, from the tanning of leather to the education of a boy, and the old saw holds its edge good as ever--"the more haste the worse speed." the young stripling, innocent of all manner of lore, whom a judicious father has barrelled down in a college, or law-school, or theological seminary, till his beard be grown, mourns over the few years he must spend there awaiting that operation. his rule is, "to make a spoon or spoil a horn;" he longs to be out in the world "making a fortune," or "doing good," as he calls what his father better names "making noisy work for repentance, and doing mischief." so he rushes into life not fitted, and would fly towards heaven, this young icarus, his wings not half fledged. there seems little taste for thoroughness. in our schools as our farms, we pass over much ground but pass over it poorly. in education the aim is not to get the most we can, but the least we can get along with. a ship with over-much canvas and over-little ballast were no bad emblem of many amongst us. in no country is it so easy to get a reputation for learning--accumulated thought, because so few devote themselves to that accumulation. in this respect our standard is low. so a man of one attainment is sure to be honored, but a man of many and varied abilities is in danger of being undervalued. a spurzheim would be warmly welcomed, while a humboldt would be suspected of superficiality, as we have not the standard to judge him by. yet in no country in the world is it so difficult to get a reputation for eloquence, as many speak and that well. it is surprising with what natural strength and beauty the young american addresses himself to speak. some hatter's apprentice, or shoemaker's journeyman, at a temperance or anti-slavery meeting, will speak words like the blows of an axe, that cut clean and deep. the country swarms with orators, more abundantly where education is least esteemed--in the west or south. we have secured national unity of action for the white citizens, without much curtailing individual variety of action, so we have at the north pretty well solved that problem which other nations have so often boggled over; we have balanced the centripetal power, the government and laws, with the centrifugal power, the mass of individuals, into harmonious proportions. if one were to leave out of sight the three million slaves, one sixth part of the population, the problem might be regarded as very happily solved. as the consequences of this, in no country is there more talent, or so much awake and active. in the south this unity is attained by sacrificing all the rights of three million slaves, and almost all the rights of the other colored population. in despotic countries this unity is brought about by the sacrifice of freedom, individual variety of action, in all except the despot and his favorites; so, much of the nation's energy is stifled in the chains of the state, while here it is friendly to institutions which are friendly to it, goes to its work, and approves itself in the vast increase of wealth and comfort throughout the north, where there is no class of men which is so oppressed that it cannot rise. one is amazed at the amount of ready skill and general ability which he finds in all the north, where each man has a little culture, takes his newspaper, manages his own business, and talks with some intelligence of many things--especially of politics and theology. in respect to this general intellectual ability and power of self-help, the mass of people seem far in advance of any other nation. but at the same time our scholars, who always represent the nation's higher modes of consciousness, will not bear comparison with the scholars of england, france, and germany, men thoroughly furnished for their work. this is a great reproach and mischief to us, for we need most accomplished leaders, who by their thought can direct this national intensity of life. our literature does not furnish them; we have no great men there; irving, channing, cooper, are not names to conjure with in literature. one reads thick volumes devoted to the poets of america, or her prose writers, and finds many names which he wonders he never heard of before, but when he turns over their works, he finds consolation and recovers his composure. american literature may be divided into two departments: the permanent literature, which gets printed in books, that sometimes reach more than one edition; and the evanescent literature, which appears only in the form of speeches, pamphlets, reviews, newspaper articles, and the like extempore productions. now our permanent literature, as a general thing, is superficial, tame, and weak; it is not american; it has not our ideas, our contempt of authority, our philosophical turn, nor even our uncertainty as to first principles, still less our national intensity, our hope, and fresh intuitive perceptions of truth. it is a miserable imitation. love of freedom is not there. the real national literature is found almost wholly in speeches, pamphlets, and newspapers. the latter are pretty thoroughly american; mirrors in which we see no very flattering likeness of our morals or our manners. yet the picture is true: that vulgarity, that rant, that bragging violence, that recklessness of truth and justice, that disregard of right and duty, are a part of the nation's everyday life. our newspapers are low and "wicked to a fault;" only in this weakness are they un-american. yet they exhibit, and abundantly, the four qualities we have mentioned as belonging to the signs of our times. as a general rule, our orators are also american, with our good and ill. now and then one rises who has studied demosthenes in leland or francis, and got a second-hand acquaintance with old models: a man who uses literary commonplaces, and thinks himself original and classic because he can quote a line or so of horace, in a western house of representatives, without getting so many words wrong as his reporter; but such men are rare, and after making due abatement for them, our orators all over the land are pretty thoroughly american, a little turgid, hot, sometimes brilliant, hopeful, intuitive, abounding in half truths, full of great ideas; often inconsequent; sometimes coarse; patriotic, vain, self-confident, rash, strong, and young-mannish. of course the most of our speeches are vulgar, ranting, and worthless, but we have produced some magnificent specimens of oratory, which are fresh, original, american, and brand new. the more studied, polished, and elegant literature is not so; that is mainly an imitation. it seems not a thing of native growth. sometimes, as in channing, the thought and the hope are american, but the form and the coloring old and foreign. we dare not be original; our american pine must be cut to the trim pattern of the english yew, though the pine bleed at every clip. this poet tunes his lyre at the harp of goethe, milton, pope, or tennyson. his songs might be better sung on the rhine than the kennebec. they are not american in form or feeling; they have not the breath of our air; the smell of our ground is not in them. hence our poet seems cold and poor. he loves the old mythology; talks about pluto--the greek devil, the fates and furies--witches of old time in greece, but would blush to use our mythology, or breathe the name in verse of our devil, or our own witches, lest he should be thought to believe what he wrote. the mother and sisters, who with many a pinch and pain sent the hopeful boy to college, must turn over the classical dictionary before they can find out what the youth would be at in his rhymes. our poet is not deep enough to see that aphrodite came from the ordinary waters, that homer only hitched into rhythm and furnished the accomplishment of verse to street-talk, nursery tales, and old men's gossip in the ionian towns; he thinks what is common is unclean. so he sings of corinth and athens, which he never saw, but has not a word to say of boston, and fall river, and baltimore, and new york, which are just as meet for song. he raves of thermopylæ and marathon, with never a word for lexington and bunker-hill, for cowpens, and lundy's lane, and bemis's heights. he loves to tell of the ilyssus, of "smooth-sliding mincius, crowned with vocal reeds," yet sings not of the petapsco, the susquehanna, the aroostook, and the willimantick. he prates of the narcissus and the daisy, never of american dandelions and blue-eyed grass; he dwells on the lark and the nightingale, but has not a thought for the brown thrasher and the bobolink, who every morning in june rain down such showers of melody on his affected head. what a lesson burns teaches us, addressing his "rough bur-thistle," his daisy, "wee crimson tippit thing," and finding marvellous poetry in the mouse whose nest his plough turned over! nay, how beautifully has even our sweet poet sung of our own green river, our waterfowl, of the blue and fringed gentian, the glory of autumnal days. hitherto, spite of the great reading public, we have no permanent literature which corresponds to the american idea. perhaps it is not time for that; it must be organized in deeds before it becomes classic in words; but as yet we have no such literature which reflects even the surface of american life, certainly nothing which portrays our intensity of life, our hope, or even our daily doings and drivings, as the odyssey paints old greek life, or don quixote and gil bias portray spanish life. literary men are commonly timid; ours know they are but poorly fledged as yet, so dare not fly away from the parent tree, but hop timidly from branch to branch. our writers love to creep about in the shadow of some old renown, not venturing to soar away into the unwinged air, to sing of things here and now, making our life classic. so, without the grace of high culture, and the energy of american thought, they become weak, cold, and poor; are "curious, not knowing, not exact, but nice." too fastidious to be wise, too unlettered to be elegant, too critical to create, they prefer a dull saying that is old to a novel form of speech, or a natural expression of a new truth. in a single american work,--and a famous one too,--there are over sixty similes, not one original, and all poor. a few men, conscious of this defect, this sin against the holy spirit of literature, go to the opposite extreme, and are american-mad; they wilfully talk rude, write in-numerous verse, and play their harps all jangling, out of tune. a yet fewer few are american without madness. one such must not here be passed by, alike philosopher and bard, in whose writings "ancient wisdom shines with new-born beauty," and who has enriched a genius thoroughly american in the best sense, with a cosmopolitan culture and literary skill, which were wonderful in any land. but of american literature in general, and of him in special, more shall be said at another time. * * * * * another remarkable feature is our excessive love of material things. this is more than a utilitarianism, a preference of the useful over the beautiful. the puritan at plymouth had a corn-field, a cabbage-garden, and a patch for potatoes, a school-house, and a church, before he sat down to play the fiddle. he would have been a fool to reverse this process. it were poor economy and worse taste to have painters, sculptors, and musicians, while the rude wants of the body are uncared for. but our fault in this respect is, that we place too much the charm of life in mere material things,--houses, lands, well-spread tables, and elegant furniture,--not enough in man, in virtue, wisdom, genius, religion, greatness of soul, and nobleness of life. we mistake a perfection of the means of manliness for the end--manhood itself. yet the housekeeping of a shakspeare, milton, franklin, had only one thing worth boasting of. strange to say, that was the master of the house. a rich and vulgar man once sported a coach and four, and at its first turn-out rode into the great commercial street of a large town in new england. "how fine you must feel with your new coach and four," said one of his old friends, though not quite so rich. "yes," was the reply, "as fine as a beetle in a gold snuff-box." all of his kindred are not so nice and discriminating in their self-consciousness. this practical materialism is a great affliction to us. we think a man cannot be poor and great also. so we see a great man sell himself for a little money, and it is thought "a good operation." a conspicuous man, in praise of a certain painter, summed up his judgment with this: "why, sir, he has made twenty thousand dollars by his pictures." "a good deal more than michael angelo, leonardo, and raphael together," might have been the reply. but it is easier to weigh purses than artistic skill. it was a characteristic praise bestowed in boston on a distinguished american writer, that his book brought him more money than any man had ever realized for an original work in this country. "commerce," said mr. pitt, "having got into both houses of parliament, privilege must be done away,"--the privilege of wit and genius, not less than rank. clergymen estimate their own and their brothers' importance, not by their apostolical gifts, or even apostolic succession, but by the value of the living. all other nations have this same fault, it may be said. but there is this difference: in other nations the things of a man are put before the man himself; so a materialism which exalts the accidents of the man--rank, wealth, birth, and the like--above the man, is not inconsistent with the general idea of england or austria. in america it is a contradiction. besides, in most civilized countries, there is a class of men living on inherited wealth, who devote their lives to politics, art, science, letters, and so are above the mere material elegance which surrounds them. that class has often inflicted a deep wound on society, which festers long and leads to serious trouble in the system, but at the same time it redeems a nation from the reproach of mere material vulgarity; it has been the source of refinement, and has warmed into life much of the wisdom and beauty which have thence spread over all the world. in america there is no such class. young men inheriting wealth very rarely turn to any thing noble; they either convert their talents into gold, or their gold into furniture, wines, and confectionary. a young man of wealth does not know what to do with himself or it; a rich young woman seems to have no resource but marriage! yet it must be confessed, that at least in one part of the united states wealth flows freely for the support of public institutions of education. here it is difficult for a man of science to live by his thought. was bowditch one of the first mathematicians of his age? he must be at the head of an annuity office. if socrates should set up as a dealer in money, and outwit the brokers as formerly the sophists, and shave notes as skilfully as of old, we should think him a great man. but if he adopted his old plan, what should we say of him? manliness is postponed and wealth preferred. "what a fine house is this," one often says; "what furniture; what feasting. but the master of the house!--why every stone out of the wall laughs at him. he spent all of himself in getting this pretty show together, and now it is empty, and mocks its owner. he is the emblematic coffin at the egyptian feast." "oh, man!" says the looker-on, "why not furnish thyself with a mind, and conscience, a heart and a soul, before getting all this brass and mahogany together; this beef and these wines?" the poor wight would answer,--"why, sir, there were none such in the market!"--the young man does not say, "i will first of all things be a man, and so being will have this thing and the other," putting the agreeable after the essential. but he says, "first of all, by hook or by crook, i will have money, the manhood may take care of itself." he has it,--for tough and hard as the old world is, it is somewhat fluid before a strong man who resolutely grapples with difficulty and will swim through, it can be made to serve his turn. he has money, but the man has evaporated in the process; when you look he is not there. true, other nations have done the same thing, and we only repeat their experiment. the old devil of conformity says to our american adam and eve, "do this and you shall be as gods," a promise as likely to hold good as the devil's did in the beginning. a man was meant for something more than a tassel to a large estate, and a woman to be more than a rich housekeeper. with this offensive materialism we copy the vices of feudal aristocracy abroad, making our vulgarity still more ridiculous. we are ambitious or proud of wealth, which is but labor stored up, and at the same time are ashamed of labor which is wealth in process. with all our talk about democracy, labor is thought less honorable in boston than in berlin and leipsic. thriving men are afraid their children will be shoemakers, or ply some such honorable and useful craft. yet little pains are taken to elevate the condition or improve the manners and morals of those who do all the manual work of society. the strong man takes care that his children and himself escape that condition. we do not believe that all stations are alike honorable if honorably filled; we have little desire to equalize the burdens of life, so that there shall be no degraded class; none cursed with work, none with idleness. it is popular to endow a college; vulgar to take an interest in common schools. liberty is a fact, equality a word, and fraternity, we do not think of yet. in this struggle for material wealth and the social rank which is based thereon, it is amusing to see the shifting of the scenes; the social aspirations of one and the contempt with which another rebuts the aspirant. an old man can remember when the most exclusive of men, and the most golden, had scarce a penny in their purse, and grumbled at not finding a place where they would. now the successful man is ashamed of the steps he rose by. the gentleman who came to boston half a century ago, with all his worldly goods tied up in a cotton handkerchief, and that not of so large a pattern as are made now-a-days, is ashamed to recollect that his father was a currier, or a blacksmith, or a skipper at barnstable or beverly; ashamed, also, of his forty or fifty country cousins, remarkable for nothing but their large hands and their excellent memory. nay, he is ashamed of his own humble beginnings, and sneers at men starting as he once started. the generation of english "snobs" came in with the conqueror, and migrated to america at an early day, where they continue to thrive marvellously--the chief "conservative party" in the land. through this contempt for labor, a certain affectation runs through a good deal of american society, and makes our aristocracy vulgar and contemptible. what if burns had been ashamed of his plough, and franklin had lost his recollection of the candle-moulds and the composing stick? mr. chubbs, who got rich to-day, imitates mr. swipes, who got rich yesterday, buys the same furniture, gives similar entertainments, and counts himself "as good a man as swipes, any day." nay, he goes a little beyond him, puts his servants in livery, with the "chubbs arms" on the button; but the new-found family arms are not descriptive of the character of the chubbses, or of their origin and history--only of their vanity. then mr. swipes looks down on poor chubbs, and curls his lip with scorn; calls him a "parvenu," "an upstart," "a plebeian;" speaks of him as one of "that sort of people," "one of your ordinary men;" "thrifty and well off in the world, but a little vulgar." at the same time mr. swipes looks up to mr. bung, who got rich the day before yesterday, as a gentleman of old family and quite distinguished, and receives from that quarter the same treatment he bestows on his left-hand neighbor. the real gentleman is the same all the world over. such are by no means lacking here, while the pretended gentlemen swarm in america. chaucer said a good word long ago: "--this is not mine intendément to clepen no wight in no age only gentle for his lineáge; but whoso that is virtuous, and in his port not outragéous: when such one thou see'st thee beforn, though he be not gentle born, thou mayest well see this in soth, that he is gentle, because he doth as 'longeth to a gentleman; of them none other deem i can; for certainly withouten drede, a churl is deeméd by his deed, of high or low, as ye may see, or of what kindred that he be." it is no wonder vulgar men, who travel here and eat our dinners, laugh at this form of vulgarity. wiser men see its cause, and prophesy its speedy decay. every nation has its aristocracy, or controlling class: in some lands it is permanent, an aristocracy of blood; men that are descended from distinguished warriors, from the pirates and freebooters of a rude age. the nobility of england are proud of their fathers' deeds, and emblazon the symbols thereof in their family arms, emblems of barbarism. ours is an aristocracy of wealth, not got by plunder, but by toil, thrift, enterprise; of course it is a movable aristocracy: the first families of the last century are now forgot, and their successors will give place to new names. now earning is nobler than robbing, and work is before war; but we are ashamed of both, and seek to conceal the noble source of our wealth. an aristocracy of gold is far preferable to the old and immovable nobility of blood, but it has also its peculiar vices: it has the effrontery of an upstart, despises its own ladder, is heartless and lacks noble principle, vulgar and cursing. this lust of wealth, however, does us a service, and gives the whole nation a stimulus which it needs, and, low as the motive is, drives us to continual advancement. it is a great merit for a nation to secure the largest amount of useful and comfortable and beautiful things which can be honestly earned, and used with profit to the body and soul of man. only when wealth becomes an idol, and material abundance is made the end, not the means, does the love of it become an evil. no nation was ever too rich, or overthrifty, though many a nation has lost its soul by living wholly for the senses. now and then we see noble men living apart from this vulgarity and scramble; some rich, some poor, but both content to live for noble aims, to pinch and spare for virtue, religion, for truth and right. such men never fail from any age or land, but everywhere they are the exceptional men. still they serve to keep alive the sacred fire in the hearts of young men, rising amid the common mob as oaks surpass the brambles or the fern. * * * * * in these secondary qualities of the people which mark the special signs of the times, there are many contradictions, quality contending with quality; all by no means balanced into harmonious relations. here are great faults not less than great virtues. can the national faults be corrected? most certainly; they are but accidental, coming from our circumstances, our history, our position as a people--heterogeneous, new, and placed on a new and untamed continent. they come not from the nation's soul; they do not belong to our fundamental idea, but are hostile to it. one day our impatience of authority, our philosophical tendency, will lead us to a right method, that to fixed principles, and then we shall have a continuity of national action. considering the pains taken by the fathers of the better portion of america to promote religion here, remembering how dear is christianity to the heart of all, conservative and radical--though men often name as christian what is not--and seeing how truth and right are sure to win at last,--it becomes pretty plain that we shall arrive at true principles, laws of the universe, ideas of god; then we shall be in unison also with it and him. when that great defect--lack of first principles--is corrected, our intensity of life, with the hope and confidence it inspires, will do a great work for us. we have already secured an abundance of material comforts hitherto unknown; no land was ever so full of corn and cattle, clothing, comfortable houses, and all things needed for the flesh. the desire of those things, even the excessive desire thereof, performs an important part in the divine economy of the human race; nowhere is its good effect more conspicuous than in america, where in two generations the wild irishman becomes a decent citizen, orderly, temperate, and intelligent. this done or even a-doing, as it is now, we shall go forth to realize our great national idea, and accomplish the great work of organizing into institutions the unalienable rights of man. the great obstacle in the way of that is african slavery--the great exception in the nation's history; the national sin. when that is removed, as soon it must be, lesser but kindred evils will easily be done away; the truth which the land-reformers, which the associationists, the free-traders, and others, have seen, dimly or clearly, can readily be carried out. but while this monster vice continues, there is little hope of any great and permanent national reform. the positive things which we chiefly need for this work, are first, education, next, education, and then education, a vigorous development of the mind, conscience, affections, religious power of the whole nation. the method and the means for that i shall not now discuss. the organization of human rights, the performance of human duties, is an unlimited work. if there shall ever be a time when it is all done, then the race will have finished its course. shall the american nation go on in this work, or pause, turn off, fall, and perish? to me it seems almost treason to doubt that a glorious future awaits us. young as we are, and wicked, we have yet done something which the world will not let perish. one day we shall attend more emphatically to the rights of the hand, and organize labor and skill; then to the rights of the head, looking after education, science, literature, and art; and again to the rights of the heart, building up the state with its laws, society with its families, the church with its goodness and piety. one day we shall see that it is a shame, and a loss, and a wrong, to have a criminal, or an ignorant man, or a pauper, or an idler, in the land; that the jail, and the gallows, and the almshouse are a reproach which need not be. out of new sentiments and ideas, not seen as yet, new forms of society will come, free from the antagonism of races, classes, men--representing the american idea in its length, breadth, depth, and height, its beauty and its truth, and then the old civilization of our time shall seem barbarous and even savage. there will be an american art commensurate with our idea and akin to this great continent; not an imitation, but a fresh, new growth. an american literature also must come with democratic freedom, democratic thought, democratic power--for we are not always to be pensioners of other lands, doing nothing but import and quote; a literature with all of german philosophic depth, with english solid sense, with french vivacity and wit, italian fire of sentiment and soul, with all of grecian elegance of form, and more than hebrew piety and faith in god. we must not look for the maiden's ringlets on the baby's brow; we are yet but a girl; the nameless grace of maturity, and womanhood's majestic charm, are still to come. at length we must have a system of education, which shall uplift the humblest, rudest, worst born child in all the land; which shall bring forth and bring up noble men. an american state is a thing that must also be; a state of free men who give over brawling, resting on industry, justice, love, not on war, cunning, and violence,--a state where liberty, equality, and fraternity are deeds as well as words. in its time the american church must also appear, with liberty, holiness, and love for its watchwords, cultivating reason, conscience, affection, faith, and leading the world's way in justice, peace, and love. the roman church has been all men know what and how; the american church, with freedom for the mind, freedom for the heart, freedom for the soul, is yet to be, sundering no chord of the human harp, but tuning all to harmony. this also must come; but hitherto no one has risen with genius fit to plan its holy walls, conceive its columns, project its towers, or lay its corner-stone. is it too much to hope all this? look at the arena before us--look at our past history. hark! there is the sound of many million men, the trampling of their freeborn feet, the murmuring of their voice; a nation born of this land that god reserved so long a virgin earth, in a high day married to the human race,--rising, and swelling, and rolling on, strong and certain as the atlantic tide; they come numerous as ocean waves when east winds blow, their destination commensurate with the continent, with ideas vast as the mississippi, strong as the alleghanies, and awful as niagara; they come murmuring little of the past, but, moving in the brightness of their great idea, and casting its light far on to other lands and distant days--come to the world's great work, to organize the rights of man. vi. a discourse occasioned by the death of john quincy adams. delivered at the melodeon, in boston, march , . within a few days one of the most distinguished statesmen of the age has passed away; a man who has long been before the public, familiarly known in the new world and the old. he was one of the prominent monuments of the age. it becomes us to look at his life, works, and public character, with an impartial eye; to try him by the christian standard. let me extenuate nothing, add nothing, and set down nought from any partial love or partial hate. his individuality has been so marked in a long life, his good and evil so sharply defined, that one can scarcely fail to delineate its most important features. god has made some men great and others little. the use of great men is to serve the little men; to take care of the human race, and act as practical interpreters of justice and truth. this is not the hebrew rule, nor the heathen, nor the common rule, only the christian. the great man is to be the servant of mankind, not they of him. perhaps greatness is always the same thing in kind, differing only in mode and in form, as well as degree. the great man has more of human nature than other men, organized in him. so far as that goes, therefore, he is more me than i am myself. we feel that superiority in all our intercourse with great men, whether kings, philosophers, poets, or saints. in kind we are the same; different in degree. in nature we find individuals, not orders and genera; but for our own convenience in understanding and recollecting, we do a little violence to nature, and put the individuals into classes. in this way we understand better both the whole and each of its parts. human nature furnishes us with individual great men; for convenience we put them into several classes, corresponding to their several modes or forms of greatness. it is well to look at these classes before we examine any one great man; this will render it easier to see where he belongs and what he is worth. actual service is the test of actual greatness; he who renders, of himself, the greatest actual service to mankind, is actually the greatest man. there may be other tests for determining the potential greatness of men, or the essential; this is the christian rule for determining the actual greatness. let us arrange these men in the natural order of their work. first of all, there are great men who discover general truths, great ideas, universal laws, or invent methods of thought and action. in this class the vastness of a man's genius may be measured, and his relative rank ascertained by the transcendency of his ideas, by the newness of his truth, by its practical value, and the difficulty of attaining it in his time, and under his peculiar circumstances. in literature it is such men who originate thoughts, and put them into original forms; they are the great men of letters. in philosophy we meet with such; and they are the great men of science. thus socrates discovered the philosophical method of minute analysis that distinguished his school, and led to the rapid advance of knowledge in the various and even conflicting academies, which held this method in common, but applied it in various ways, well or ill, and to various departments of human inquiry; thus newton discovered the law of gravitation, universal in nature, and by the discovery did immense service to mankind. in politics we find similar, or analogous men, who discover yet other laws of god, which bear the same relation to men in society that gravitation bears to the orbs in heaven, or to the dust and stones in the street; men that discover the first truths of politics, and teach the true method of human society. such are the great men in politics. we find corresponding men in religion; men who discover an idea so central that all sectarianism of parties or of nations seems little in its light; who discover and teach the universal law which unifies the race, binding man to man, and men to god; who discover the true method of religion conducting to natural worship without limitation, to free piety, free goodness, free thought. to my mind such are the greatest of great men, when measured by the transcendency of their doctrine and the service they render to all. by the influence of their idea, letters, philosophy, and politics become nobler and more beautiful, both in their forms and their substance. such is the class of discoverers; men who get truth at first hand, truth pertaining either especially to literature, philosophy, politics, religion, or at the same time to each and all of them. * * * * * the next class consists of such as organize these ideas, methods, truths, and laws; they concretize the abstract, particularize the general; they apply philosophy to practical purposes, organizing the discoveries of science into a railroad, a mill, a steam-ship, and by their work an idea becomes fact. they organize love into families, justice into a state, piety into a church. wealth is power, knowledge is power, religion power; they organize all these powers, wealth, knowledge, religion, into common life, making divinity humanity, and that society. this organizing genius is a very great one, and appears in various forms. one man spreads his thought out on the soil, whitening the land with bread-corn; another applies his mind to the rivers of new england, making them spin and weave for the human race; this man will organize his thought into a machine with one idea, joining together fire and water, iron and wood, animating them into a new creature, ready to do man's bidding; while that with audacious hand steals the lightning of heaven, organizes his plastic thought within that pliant fire, and sends it of his errands to fetch and carry tidings between the ends of the earth. another form of this mode of greatness is seen in politics, in organizing men. the man spreads his thought out on mankind, puts men into true relations with one another and with god; he organizes strength, wisdom, justice, love, piety; balances the conflicting forces of a nation, so that each man has his natural liberty as complete as if the only man, yet, living in society, gathers advantages from all the rest. the highest degree of this organizing power is the genius for legislation, which can enact justice and eternal right into treaties and statutes, codifying the divine thought into human laws, making absolute religion common life and daily custom, and balancing the centripetal power of the mass, with the centrifugal power of the individual, into a well-proportioned state, as god has balanced these two conflicting forces into the rhythmic ellipses above our heads. it need not be disguised, that politics are the highest business for men of this class, nor that a great statesman or legislator is the greatest example of constructive skill. it requires some ability to manage the brute forces of nature, or to combine profitably nine-and-thirty clerks in a shop; how much more to arrange twenty millions of intelligent, free men, not for a special purpose, but for all the ends of universal life! such is the second class of great men; the organizers, men of constructive heads, who form the institutions of the world, the little and the great. * * * * * the next class consists of men who administer the institutions after they are founded. to do this effectually and even eminently, it requires no genius for original organization of truths freshly discovered, none for the discovery of truths, outright. it requires only a perception of those truths, and an acquaintance with the institutions wherein they have become incarnate; a knowledge of details, of formulas, and practical methods, united with a strong will and a practised understanding,--what is called a turn for affairs, tact, or address; a knowledge of routine and an acquaintance with men. the success of such men will depend on these qualities; they "know the ropes" and the soundings, the signs of the times; can take advantage of the winds and the tides. in a shop, farm, ship, factory, or army, in a church or a state, such men are valuable; they cannot be dispensed with; they are wheels to the carriage; without them cannot a city be inhabited. they are always more numerous than both the other classes; more such are needed, and therefore born. the american mind, just now, runs eminently in this direction. these are not men of theories, or of new modes of thought or action, but what are called practical men, men of a few good rules, men of facts and figures, not so full of ideas as of precedents. they are called common-sense men; not having too much common-sense to be understood. they are not likely to be fallen in with far off at sea; quite as seldom out of their reckoning in ordinary weather. such men are excellent statesmen in common times, but in times of trouble, when old precedents will not suit the new case, and men must be guided by the nature of man, not his history, they are not strong enough for the place, and get pushed off by more constructive heads. these men are the administrators, or managers. if they have a little less of practical sense, such men fall a little below, and turn out only critics, of whom i will not now stop to discourse. to have a railroad, there must have been first the discoverers, who found out the properties of wood and iron, fire and water, and their latent power to carry men over the earth; next, the organizers, who put these elements together, surveyed the route, planned the structure, set men to grade the hill, to fill the valley, and pave the road with iron bars; and then the administrators, who, after all that is done, procure the engines, engineers, conductors, ticket-distributors, and the rest of the "hands;" they buy the coal and see it is not wasted, fix the rates of fare, calculate the savings, and distribute the dividends. the discoverers and organizers often fare hard in the world, lean men, ill clad and suspected, often laughed at, while the administrator is thought the greater man, because he rides over their graves and pays the dividends, where the organizer only called for the assessments, and the discoverer told what men called a dream. what happens in a railroad happens also in a church, or a state. let us for a moment compare these three classes of great men. measured by the test referred to, the discoverers are the greatest of all. they anticipate the human race, with long steps, striding before their kind. they learn not only from the history of man, but man's nature; not by empirical experience alone, but by a transcendent intuition of truth, now seen as a law, now as an idea. they are wiser than experience, and by divination through their nobler nature know at once what the human race has not learned in its thousands of years, kindling their lamp at the central fire now streaming from the sky, now rushing broad-sheeted and terrible as ground-lightning from the earth. of such men there are but few, especially in the highest mode of this greatness. a single one makes a new world, and men date ages after him. next in order of greatness comes the organizer. he, also, must have great intellect, and character. it is no light work to make thoughts things. it requires mind to make a mill out of a river, bricks, iron, and stone, and set all the connecticut to spinning cotton. but to construct a state, to harness fittingly twenty million men, animated by such divergent motives, possessing interests so unlike--this is the greatest work of constructive skill. to translate the ideas of the discoverer into institutions, to yoke men together by mere "abstractions," universal laws, and by such yoking save the liberty of all and secure the welfare of each--that is the most creative of poetry, the most constructive of sciences. in modern times, it is said, napoleon is the greatest example of this faculty; not a discoverer, but an organizer of the highest power and on the largest scale. in human history he seems to have had no superior, perhaps no equal. some callings in life afford little opportunity to develop the great qualities above alluded to. how much genius lies latent no man can know; but he that walks familiarly with humble men often stumbles over masses of unsunned gold, where men proud in emptiness, looked only for common dust. how many a milton sits mute and inglorious in his shop; how many a cromwell rears only corn and oxen for the world's use, no man can know. some callings help to light, some hide and hinder. but there is none which demands more ability than politics; they develop greatness, if the man have the germ thereof within him. true, in politics, a man may get along with a very little ability, without being a discoverer or an organizer; were it otherwise we should not be blessed with a very large house, or a crowded senate. nay, experience shows that in ordinary times one not even a great administrator may creep up to a high place and hang on there awhile. few able administrators sit on the thrones of europe at this day. but if power be in the man, the hand of politics will draw out the spark. in america, politics more than elsewhere demand greatness, for ours is, in theory, the government of all, for all, and by all. it requires greater range of thought to discover the law for all than for a few; after the discovery thereof it is more difficult to construct a democracy than a monarchy, or an aristocracy, and after that is organized, it is more difficult to administer. it requires more manhood to wield at will "the fierce democratie" of america than to rule england or france; yet the american institutions are germane to human nature, and by that fact are rendered more easy, complicated as they are. in politics, when the institutions are established, men often think there is no room for discoverers and organizers; that administrators alone are needed, and choose accordingly. but there are ideas well known, not yet organized into institutions: that of free trade, of peace, of universal freedom, universal education, universal comfort, in a word, the idea of human brotherhood. these wait to be constructed into a state without injustice, without war, without slavery, ignorance, or want. it is hardly true that infinity is dry of truths, unseen as yet; there are truths enough waiting to be discovered; all the space betwixt us and god is full of ideas, waiting for some columbus to disclose new worlds. men are always saying there is no new thing under the sun, but when the discoverer comes, they see their mistake. we want the new eye. * * * * * now, it is quite plain where we are to place the distinguished person of whom i speak. mr. adams was not a discoverer; not an organizer. he added no truth to mankind, not known before, and even well known; he made no known truth a fact. he was an administrator of political institutions. taking the whole land into consideration, comparing him with his competitors, measuring him by his apparent works, at first sight he does not seem very highly eminent in this class of political administrators. nay, some would set him down, not an administrator so much as a political critic. here there is danger of doing him injustice, by neglecting a fact so obvious, that it is seldom seen. mr. adams was a northern man, with northern habits, methods, and opinions. by the north, i mean the free states. the chief business of the north is to get empire over nature; all tends to that. young men of talents become merchants, merchant-manufacturers, merchant-traders. the object directly aimed at, is wealth; not wealth by plunder, but by productive work. now, to get dominion over nature, there must be education, universal education, otherwise there is not enough intelligent industry, which alone insures that dominion. with widespread intelligence, property will be widely distributed, and, of course, suffrage and civil power will get distributed. all is incomplete without religion. i deny not that these peculiarities of the north, come, also, from other sources, but they all are necessary to attain the chief object thereof--dominion over the material world. the north subdues nature by thought, and holds her powers in thrall. as results of this, see the increase in wealth which is signified by northern railroads, ships, mills, and shops; in the colleges, schools, churches, which arise; see the skill developed in this struggle with nature, the great enterprises which come of that, the movements of commerce, manufactures, the efforts--and successful, too--for the promotion of education, of religion. all is democratic, and becomes more so continually, each descendant founding institutions more liberal than those of the parent state. men designedly, and, as their business, become merchants, mechanics, and the like; they are politicians by exception, by accident, from the necessity of the case. few northern men are politicians by profession; they commonly think it better to be a collector or a postmaster, than a senator, estimating place by money, not power. northern politicians are bred as lawyers, clergymen, mechanics, farmers, merchants. political life is an accident, not an end. in the south, the aim is to get dominion over men; so, the whole working population must be in subjection, in slavery. while the north makes brute nature half intelligent, the south makes human nature half brutal, the man becoming a thing. talent tends to politics, not trade. young men of ability go to the army or navy, to the public offices, to diplomatic posts, in a word, to politics. they learn to manage men. to do this, they not only learn what men think, but why they think it. the young man of the north seeks a fortune; of the south, a reputation and political power. the politician of the south makes politics the study and work of his whole life; all else is accidental and subordinate. he begins low, but ends high; he mingles with men; has bland and agreeable manners; is frank, honorable, manly, and knows how to persuade. see the different results of causes so unlike. the north manages the commercial affairs of the land, the ships, mills, farms, and shops; the spiritual affairs, literature, science, morals, education, religion;--writes, calculates, instructs, and preaches. but the south manages the political affairs, and has free-trade or tariff, war or peace, just as she will. of the eight presidents who were elected in fifty years, only three were northern men. each of them has retired from office, at the end of a single term, in possession of a fortune, but with little political influence. each of the five southern presidents has been twice elected; only one of them was rich. there is no accident in all this. the state of rhode island has men that can administer the connecticut or the mississippi; that can organize niagara into a cotton factory; yes, that can get dominion over the ocean and the land: but the state of south carolina has men that can manage the congress, can rule the north and south, and make the nation do their bidding. so the south succeeds in politics, but grows poor, and the north fails in politics, but thrives in commerce and the arts. there great men turn to politics, here to trade. it is so in time of peace, but, in the day of trouble, of storms, of revolution like the old one, men of tall heads will come up from the ships and the shops, the farms and the colleges of the north, born discoverers and organizers, the aristocracy of god, and sit down in the nation's councils to control the state. the north made the revolution, furnished the men, the money, the ideas, and the occasion for putting them into form. at the making of the constitution, the south out-talked the north; put in such claims as it saw fitting, making the best bargain it could, violating the ideas of the revolution, and getting the north, not only to consent to slavery, but to allow it to be represented in congress itself. now, the south breaks the constitution just when it will, puts northern sailors in its jails, and the north dares not complain, but bears it "with a patient shrug." an eastern merchant is great on a southern exchange, makes cotton rise or fall, but no northern politician has much weight at the south, none has ever been twice elected president. the north thinks it is a great thing to get an inoffensive northern man as speaker, in the house of representatives. the south is an aristocracy, which the democracy of the north would not tolerate a year, were it at the north itself. now it rules the land, has the northern masses, democrats and whigs, completely under its thumb. does the south say, "go," they hasten; "come," they say "here we are;" "do this," they obey in a moment; "whist," there is not a mouse stirring in all the north. does the south say "annex," it is done; "fight," men of the north put on the collar, lie lies, issue their proclamations, enroll their soldiers, and declare it is moral treason for the most insignificant clergyman to preach against the war. all this needs to be remembered in judging of mr. adams. true he was regularly bred to politics, and "to the manor born;" but he was a new england man, with northern notions, northern habits, and though more than fifty years in public life, yet he seems to have sought the object of new england far more than the object of the south. measure his greatness by his service; but that is not to be measured by immediate and apparent success. * * * * * in a notice so brief as this, i can say but little of the details of mr. adams's life, and purposely pass over many things, dwelling mainly on such as are significant of his character. he was born at quincy, the th of july, ; in he went to europe with his father, then minister to france. he remained in europe most of the time, his powers developing with rapidity and promise of future greatness, till , when he returned and entered the junior class in harvard college. in , he graduated with distinguished honors. he studied law at newburyport, with judge parsons, till , and was a lawyer in boston, till . that may be called the period of his education he enjoyed the advantages of a residence abroad, which enabled him to acquire a knowledge of foreign languages, modes of life, and habits of thought. his father's position brought the son in contact with the ablest men of the age. he was secretary of the american minister to russia at the age of fourteen. he early became acquainted with franklin and jefferson, men who had a powerful influence on his youthful mind. for three years he was a student with judge parsons, a very remarkable man. these years, from to , form a period marked by intense mental activity in america and in europe. the greatest subjects which claim human attention, the laws that lie at the foundation of society, the state, the church, and the family, were discussed as never before. mr. adams drew in liberty and religion from his mother's breast. his cradle rocked with the revolution. when eight years old, from a hill-top hard by his house he saw the smoke of charlestown, burning at the command of the oppressor. the lullaby of his childhood was the roar of cannon at lexington and bunker hill. he was born in the gathering of the storm, of a family that felt the blast, but never bent thereto; he grew up in its tumult. circumstances like these make their mark on the character. his attention was early turned to the most important matters. in , he wrote several papers in the "centinel," at boston, on neutral rights, advising the american government to remain neutral in the quarrel between france, our ally, and others; the papers attracted the attention of washington, who appointed the author minister to holland. he remained abroad in various diplomatic services in that country, in russia and england, till , when he was recalled by his father, and returned home. it was an important circumstance, that he was abroad during that time when the nation divided into two great parties. he was not called on to take sides with either; he had a vantage ground whence he could overlook both, approve their good and shun their evil. the effect of this is abundantly evident in all his life. he was not dyed in the wool by either political party,--the moral sense of the man drowned in the process of becoming a federalist or a democrat. in , he was elected to the senate of massachusetts, yet not wholly by the votes of one party. in , he was chosen to the senate of the united states. in the massachusetts legislature he was not a strict party man; he was not elected to the senate by a strictly party vote. in , he was inaugurated as professor of rhetoric and oratory at harvard university, and continued in that office about three years. in , he resigned his place in the senate. in , he was sent by mr. madison as minister to russia, and remained abroad in various ministries and commissions, till , when he returned, and became secretary of state under mr. monroe. this office he filled till he became president, in . in , failing of reëlection, he retired to private life. in , he was elected as one of the representatives to congress from massachusetts, and continued there till his death, the first president that ever sat in an american congress. it will be fifty-four years the thirtieth of next may, since he began his public career. what did he aim at in that long period? at first sight, it is easy to see the aim of some of the conspicuous men of america. it has obviously been the aim of mr. clay to build up the "american system," by the establishment of protective duties; that of mr. calhoun to establish free trade, leaving a man to buy where he can buy cheapest, and sell where he can sell dearest. in respect to these matters the two are exactly opposite to one another--antithetic as the poles. but each has also, and obviously, another aim,--to build up the institution of slavery in the south. in this they agree, and if i understand them aright, this is the most important political design of each; for which mr. calhoun would forego even free trade, and mr. clay would "compromise" even a tariff. looked at in reference to their aims, there is a certain continuity of action in both these gentlemen. i speak not now of another object which both have equally and obviously aimed at; not of the personal, but the political object. at first sight, it does not appear that mr. adams had any definite scheme of measures which he aimed to establish; there is no obvious unity of idea, or continuity of action, that forces itself upon the spectator. he does not seem to have studied the two great subjects of our political economy, finance and trade, very deeply, or even with any considerable width of observation or inquiry; he had no financial or commercial hobby. he has worked with every party, and against every party; all have claimed, none held him. now he sides with the federalists, then with the democrats; now he opposes france, showing that her policy is that of pirates; now he contends against england; now he works in favor of general jackson, who put down the nullification of south carolina with a rough hand; then he opposes the general in his action against the bank; now he contends for the indians, then for the negroes; now attacks masonry, and then free trade. he speaks in favor of claiming and holding "the whole of oregon;" then against annexing texas. but there is one sentiment which runs through all his life: an intense love of freedom for all men; one idea, the idea that each man has unalienable rights. these are what may be called the american sentiment, and the american idea; for they lie at the basis of american institutions, except the "patriarchal," and shine out in all our history--i should say, our early history. these two form the golden thread on which mr. adams's jewels are strung. love of human freedom in its widest sense is the most marked and prominent thing in his character. this explains most of his actions. studied with this in mind, his life is pretty consistent. this explains his love of the constitution. he early saw the peculiarity of the american government; that it rested in theory on the natural rights of man, not on a compact, not on tradition, but on somewhat anterior to both, on the unalienable rights universal in man, and equal in each. he looked on the american constitution as an attempt to organize these rights; resting, therefore, not on force, but natural law; not on power, but right. but with him the constitution was not an idol; it was a means, not an end. he did more than expound it; he went back of the constitution, to the declaration of independence, for the ideas of the constitution; yes, back of the declaration to human nature and the laws of god, to legitimate these ideas. the constitution is a compromise between those ideas and institutions and prejudices existing when it was made; not an idol, but a servant. he saw that the constitution is "not the work of eternal justice, ruling through the people," but the work "of man; frail, fallen, imperfect man, following the dictates of his nature, and aspiring to be perfect."[ ] though a "constitutionalist," he did not worship the constitution. he was much more than a "defender of the constitution,"--a defender of human rights. mr. adams had this american sentiment and idea in an heroic degree. perhaps no political man now living has expressed them so fully. with a man like him, not very genial or creative, having no great constructive skill, and not without a certain pugnacity in his character, this sentiment and idea would naturally develop themselves in a negative form, that of opposition to wrong, more often than in the positive form of direct organization of the right; would lead to criticism oftener than to creation. especially would this be the case if other men were building up institutions in opposition to this idea. in him they actually take the form of what he called "the unalienable right of resistance to oppression." his life furnishes abundant instances of this. he thought the indians were unjustly treated, cried out against the wrong; when president, endeavored to secure justice to the creeks in georgia, and got into collision with governor troup. he saw, or thought he saw, that england opposed the american idea, both in the new world and the old. in his zeal for freedom he sometimes forgot the great services of england in that same cause, and hated england, hated her with great intensity of hatred, hated her political policy, her monarchy, and her aristocracy, mocked at the madness of her king, for he thought england stood in the way of freedom.[ ] yet he loved the english name and the english blood, was "proud of being himself descended from that stock," thinking it worth noting, "that chatham's language was his mother tongue, and wolfe's great name compatriot with his own." he confessed no nation had done more for the cause of human improvement. he loved the common law of england, putting it far above the roman law, perhaps not without doing a little injustice to the latter.[ ] the common law was a rude and barbarous code. but human liberty was there; a trial by jury was there; the habeas corpus was there. it was the law of men "regardful of human rights." this sentiment led him to defend the right of petition in the house of representatives, as no other man had dared to do. he cared not whether it was the petition of a majority, or a minority; of men or women, free men or slaves. it might be a petition to remove him from a committee, to expel him from the house, a petition to dissolve the union--he presented it none the less. to him there was but one nature in all, man or woman, bond or free, and that was human nature, the most sacred thing on earth. each human child had unalienable rights, and though that child was a beggar or slave, had rights, which all the power in the world, bent into a single arm, could not destroy nor abate, though it might ravish away. this induced him to attempt to procure the right of suffrage for the colored citizens of the district of columbia. this sentiment led him to oppose tyranny in the house of representatives, the tyranny of the majority. in one of his juvenile essays, published in , contending against a highly popular work, he opposed the theory that a state has the right to do what it pleases, declaring it had no right to do wrong.[ ] in his old age he had not again to encounter the empty hypothesis of thomas paine, but the substantial enactment of the "representatives" of the people of the united states. the hypothesis was trying to become a fact. the south had passed the infamous gag-law, which a symbolical man from new hampshire had presented, though it originated with others.[ ] by that law the mouth of the north was completely stopped in congress, so that not one word could be said about the matter of slavery. the north was quite willing to have it stopped, for it did not care to speak against slavery, and the gag did not stop the mouth of the northern purse. you may take away from the north its honor, if you can find it; may take away its rights; may imprison its free citizens in the jails of louisiana and the carolinas; yes, may invade the "sacred soil of the north," and kidnap a man out of boston itself, within sight of faneuil hall, and the north will not complain; will bear it with that patient shrug, waiting for yet further indignities. only when the northern purse is touched, is there an uproar. if the postmaster demands silver for letters, there is instant alarm; the repeal of a tariff rouses the feelings, and an embargo once drove the indignant north to the perilous edge of rebellion! mr. adams loved his dollars as well as most new england men; he looked out for their income as well; guarded as carefully against their outgo; though conscientiously upright in all his dealings, kind and hospitable, he has never been proved generous, and generosity is the commonest virtue of the north; is said to have been "close," if not mean. he loved his dollars as well as most men, but he loved justice more; honor more; freedom more; the unalienable rights of man far more. he looked on the constitution as an instrument for the defence of the rights of man. the government was to act as the people had told how. the federal government was not sovereign; the state government was not sovereign;[ ] neither was a court of ultimate appeal;--but the people was sovereign; had the right of eminent domain over congress and the constitution, and making that, had set limits to the government. he guarded therefore against all violation of the constitution, as a wrong done to the people; he would not overstep its limits in a bad cause; not even in a good one. did mr. jefferson obtain louisiana by a confessed violation of the constitution, mr. adams would oppose the purchase of louisiana, and was one of the six senators who voted against it. making laws for that territory, he wished to extend the trial by jury to all criminal prosecutions, while the law limited that form of trial to capital offences. before that territory had a representative in congress, the american government wished to collect a revenue there. mr. adams opposed that too. it was "assuming a dangerous power;" it was government without the consent of the governed, and therefore an unjust government. "all exercise of human authority must be under the limitation of right and wrong." all other power is despotic, and "in defiance of the laws of nature and of god."[ ] this love of freedom led him to hate and oppose the tyranny of the strong over the weak, to hate it most in its worst form; to hate american slavery, doubtless the most infamous form of that tyranny now known amongst the nations of christendom, and perhaps the most disgraceful thing on earth. mr. adams called slavery a vessel of dishonor so base that it could not be named in the constitution with decency. in , he wished to lay a duty on the importation of slaves, and was one of five senators who voted to that effect. he saw the power of this institution--the power of money and the power of votes which it gives to a few men. he saw how dangerous it was to the union; to american liberty, to the cause of man. he saw that it trod three millions of men down to the dust, counting souls but as cattle. he hated nothing as he hated this; fought against nothing so manfully. it was the lion in the pathway of freedom, which frightened almost all the politicians of the north and the east and the west, so that they forsook that path; a lion whose roar could wellnigh silence the forum and the bar, the pulpit and the press; a lion who rent the constitution, trampled under foot the declaration of independence, and tore the bible to pieces. mr. adams was ready to rouse up this lion, and then to beard him in his den. hating slavery, of course he opposed whatever went to strengthen its power; opposed mr. atherton's gag-law; opposed the annexation of texas; opposed the mexican war; and, wonderful to tell, actually voted against it, and never took back his vote. when secretary of state, this same feeling led him to oppose conceding to the british the right of searching american vessels supposed to be concerned in the slave-trade, and when representative to oppose the repeal of the law giving "protection" to american sailors. it appeared also in private intercourse with men. no matter what was a man's condition, mr. adams treated him as an equal. * * * * * this devotion to freedom and the unalienable rights of man, was the most important work of his life. compared with some other political men, he seems inconsistent, because he now opposes one evil, then its opposite evil. but his general course is in this direction, and, when viewed in respect to this idea, seems more consistent than that of mr. webster, or calhoun, or clay, when measured by any great principle. this appears in his earlier life. in , he became a member of the massachusetts senate. the majority of the general court were federalists. it was a time of intense political excitement, the second year of mr. jefferson's administration. the custom is well known--to take the whole of the governor's council from the party which has a majority in the general court. on the th of may, , mr. adams stood up for the rights of the minority. he wanted some anti-federalists in the council of governor strong, and as senator threw his first vote to secure that object. such was the first legislative action of john quincy adams. in the house of representatives, in , the first thing he did was to present fifteen petitions for the abolition of slavery in the district of columbia, though, from constitutional scruples, opposed to granting the petitions. the last public act of his life was this:--the question was before the house on giving medals to the men distinguished in the mexican war; the minority opposing it wanted more time for debate; the previous question was moved, mr. adams voted for the last time,--voted "no," with unusual emphasis; the great loud no of a man going home to god full of "the unalienable right of resistance to oppression," its emphatic word on his dying lips. there were the beginning, the middle, and the end, all three in the same spirit, all in favor of mankind; a remarkable unity of action in his political drama. somebody once asked him, what are the recognized principles of politics? mr. adams answered that there were none: the recognized precepts are bad ones, and so not principles. but, continued the inquirer, is not this a good one--to seek "the greatest good of the greatest number?" no, said he, that is the worst of all, for it looks specious while it is ruinous. what shall become of the minority, in that case? this is the only principle,--"to seek the greatest good of all." i do not say there were no exceptions to this devotion to freedom in a long life; there are some passages in his history which it is impossible to justify, and hard to excuse. in early life he was evidently ambitious of place, and rank, and political power. i must confess, it seems to me, at some times, he was not scrupulous enough about the means of attaining that place and power. he has been much censured for his vote in favor of the embargo, in . his vote, howsoever unwise, may easily have been an honest vote. to an impartial spectator at this day, perhaps it will be evidently so. his defence of it i cannot think an honest defence, for in that he mentions arguments as impelling him to his vote which could scarcely have been present to his mind at the time, and, if they were his arguments then, were certainly kept in silence--they did not appear in the debate,[ ] they were not referred to in the president's message.[ ] i am not to praise mr. adams simply because he is dead; what is wrong before is wrong after death. it is no merit to die; shall we tell lies about him because he is dead? no, the egyptian people scrutinized and judged their kings after death--much more should we our fellow-citizens, intrusted with power to serve the state. "a lavish and undistinguishing eulogium is not praise." i know what coals of terrible fire lie under my feet, as i speak of this matter, and how thin and light is the coat of ashes deposited there in forty years; how easily they are blown away at the slightest breath of "hartford convention," or the "embargo," and the old flame of political animosity blazes forth anew, while the hostile forms of "federalists" and "democrats" come back to light. i would not disquiet those awful shades, nor bring them up again. but a word must be said. the story of the embargo is well known: the president sent his message to the senate recommending it, and accompanied with several documents. the message was read and assigned to a committee; the ordinary rule of business was suspended; the bill was reported by the committee; drafted, debated, engrossed, and completely passed through all its stages, the whole on the same day, in secret session, and in about four hours! yet it was a bill that involved the whole commerce of the country, and prostrated that commerce, seriously affecting the welfare of hundreds of thousands of men. eight hundred thousand tons of shipping were doomed to lie idle and rot in port. the message came on friday. some of the senators wanted yet further information and more time for debate, at least for consideration,--till monday. it could not be! till saturday, then. no; the bill must pass now, no man sleeping on that question. mr. adams was the most zealous for passing the bill. in that "debate," if such it can be called, while opposing a postponement for further information and reflection, he said, "the president has recommended the measure on his high responsibility; i would _not consider_, i would _not deliberate_; i would _act_. doubtless the _president possesses such further information as will justify the measure_!"[ ] to my mind, that is the worst act of his public life; i cannot justify it. i wish i could find some reasonable excuse for it. what had become of the "sovereignty of the people," the "unalienable right of resistance to oppression?" would _not consider_; would _not deliberate_; would _act_ without doing either; leave it all to the "high responsibility" of the president, with a "doubtless" he has "further information" to justify the measure! it was a shame to say so; it would have disgraced a senator in st. petersburg. why not have the "further information" laid before the senate? what would mr. adams have said, if president jackson, tyler, or polk, had sent such a message, and some senator or representative had counselled submissive action, without considering, without deliberation? with what appalling metaphors would he describe such a departure from the first duty of a statesman; how would the tempestuous eloquence of that old patriot shake the hall of congress till it rung again, and the nation looked up with indignation in its face! it is well known what mr. adams said in , when mr. polk, in the house of representatives, seemed over-laudatory of the president: "i shall never be disposed to interfere with any member who shall rise on this floor and pronounce a panegyric upon the chief magistrate. 'no, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, and crook the pregnant hinges of the knee where thrift may follow fawning.'" yet the future of mr. polk was not so obvious in , as the reward of mr. adams in . this act is particularly glaring in mr. adams. the north often sends men to washington who might have done it without any great inconsistency; men, too, not so remarkable for infirmity in the head, as for that less pardonable weakness in the knees and the neck; men that bend to power "right or wrong." mr. adams was not afflicted with that weakness, and so the more to be censured for this palpable betrayal of a trust so important. i wish i could find some excuse for it. he was forty years old; not very old, but old enough to know better. his defence made the matter worse. the massachusetts legislature disapproved of his conduct; chose another man to succeed him in the senate. then mr. adams resigned his seat, and soon after was sent minister to russia, as he himself subsequently declared,[ ] "in consequence of the support he had for years given to the measures of mr. jefferson's administration against great britain." but his father said of that mission of his son, "aristides is banished because he is too just."[ ] it is easy to judge of the temper of the times, when such words as those of the father could be said on such an occasion, and that by a man who had been president of the united states! when a famine occurs, disease appears in the most hideous forms; men go back to temporary barbarism. in times of political strife, such diseases appear of the intellectual and moral powers. no man who did not live in those times can fully understand the obliquity of mind and moral depravity which then displayed themselves amongst those otherwise without reproach. says mr. adams himself, referring to that period, "imagination in her wildest vagaries can scarcely conceive the transformation of temper, the obliquities of intellect, the perversions of moral principle, effected by junctures of nigh and general excitement." however, it must be confessed that this, though not the only instance of injustice, is the only case of servile compliance with the executive to be found in the whole life of the man. it was a grievous fault, but grievously did he answer it; and if a long life of unfaltering resistance to every attempt at the assumption of power is fit atonement, then the expiation was abundantly made. about the same time, mr. adams was chairman of a committee of the senate, appointed to consider the case of a senator from ohio. his conduct, on that occasion, has been the theme of violent attack, and defence as violent. to the calm spectator, at this day, his conduct seems unjustifiable, inconsistent with the counsels of justice, which, though moving with her "pace of snail," looks always towards the right, and will not move out of her track, though the heavens fall. while mr. adams was president, hayti became free; but he did not express any desire that the united states should acknowledge her independence, and receive her minister at washington,--an african plenipotentiary. in his message,[ ] he says, "there are circumstances that have hitherto forbidden the acknowledgment," and mentions "additional reasons for withholding that acknowledgment." in the instructions to the american functionary, sent to the celebrated congress of panama, it is said, the president "is not prepared now to say that hayti ought to be recognized as an independent sovereign power;" he "does not think it would be proper at this time to recognize it as a new state." he was unwilling to consent to the independence of cuba, for fear of an insurrection of her slaves, and the effect at home. the duty of the united states would be "to defend themselves against the contagion of such near and dangerous examples," that would "constrain them ... to employ all means necessary to their security." that is, the president would be constrained to put down the blacks in cuba, who were exercising "the unalienable right of resistance to oppression," for fear the blacks in the united states would discover that they also were men, and had "unalienable rights!" had he forgotten the famous words, "resistance to tyrants is obedience to god?" the defence of such language on such an occasion is, that mr. adams's eyes were not yet open to the evil of slavery. that is a good defence, if true. to me it seems a true defence. even great men do not see every thing. in , fisher ames, while delivering the eulogy on general washington, censured even the british government, because, "in the wilds of africa, it obstructed the commerce in slaves!" no man is so wise as mankind. it must be confessed that mr. adams, while secretary of state, and again, while president, showed no hostility to the institution of slavery. his influence all went the other way. he would repress the freedom of the blacks, in the west indies, lest american slavery should be disturbed, and its fetters broke; he would not acknowledge the independence of hayti, he would urge spain to make peace with her descendants, for the same reason--"not for those new republics," but lest the negroes in cuba and porto rico should secure their freedom. he negotiated with england, and she paid the united states more than a million of dollars[ ] for the fugitive slaves who took refuge under her flag during the late war. mr. adams had no scruples about receiving the money during his administration. an attempt was repeatedly made by his secretary, mr. clay, through mr. gallatin, and then through mr. barbour, to induce england to restore the "fugitive slaves who had taken refuge in the canadian provinces," who, escaping from the area of freedom, seek the shelter of the british crown.[ ] nay, he negotiated a treaty with mexico, which bound her to deliver up fugitive slaves, escaping from the united states--a treaty which the mexican congress refused to ratify! should a great man have known better? great men are not always wise. afterwards, public attention was called to the matter; humble men gave lofty counsel; mr. adams used different language, and recommended different measures. but long before that, on the th of december, , mr. pickering, his colleague in the senate of the united states, offered a resolution, for the purpose of amending the constitution, so as to apportion representatives, and direct taxes among the states, according to their free inhabitants. but there are other things in mr. adams's course and conduct, which deserve the censure of a good man. one was, the attempt to justify the conduct of england, in her late war with china, when she forced her opium upon the barbarians with the bayonet. to make out his case, he contended that "in the celestial empire ... the patriarchal system of sir robert filmer, flourished in all its glory," and the chinese claimed superior dignity over all others; they refused to hold equal and reciprocal commercial intercourse with other nations, and "it is time this enormous outrage upon the rights of human nature, and the first principles of the laws of nations, should cease."[ ] it is true, the chinese were "barbarians;" true, the english carried thither the bible and christianity, at least their own christianity. but, even by the law of nations, letting alone the law of nature, the barbarians had a right to repel both bible and christianity, when they came in a contraband shape--that of opium and cannon balls. to justify this outrage of the strong against the weak, he quite forgets his old antipathy to england, his devotion to human freedom, and the sovereignty of the people, calling the cause of england "a righteous cause." he defended the american claim to the whole of oregon, up to ° ´. he did not so much undertake to make out a title to either, by the law of nature or of nations, but cut the matter short, and claimed the whole of oregon, on the strength of the first chapter of genesis. this was the argument: god gave mankind dominion over all the earth;[ ] between christian nations, the command of the creator lays the foundation of all titles to land, of titles to territory, of titles to jurisdiction. then in the psalms,[ ] god gives the "uttermost part of the earth for a possession" to the messiah, as the representative of all mankind, who held the uttermost parts of the earth in chief. but the pope, as head of the visible church, was the representative of christ, and so, holding under him, had the right to give to any king or prelate, authority to subdue barbarous nations, possess their territory, and convert them to christianity. in , the pope, in virtue of the above right, gave the american continent to the spanish monarchs, who, in time, sold their title to the people of the united states. that title may be defective, as the pope may not be the representative of christ, and so the passage in the psalms will not help the american claim, but then the united states will hold under the first clause in the testament of god, that is, in genesis. the claim of great britain is not valid, for she does not want the land for the purpose specified in that clause of the testament, to "replenish the earth and subdue it." she wants it, "that she may keep it open as a hunting-ground," while the united states want it, that it may grow into a great nation, and become a free and sovereign republic.[ ] this strange hypothesis, it seems, lay at the bottom of his defence of the british in their invasion of china. it would have led him, if consistent, to claim also the greater part of mexico. but, as he did not publicly declare his opinion on that matter, no more need be said concerning it. * * * * * such was the most prominent idea in his history; such the departures from it. let us look at other events in his life. while president, the most important object of his administration was the promotion of internal improvements, especially the internal communication between the states. for this purpose the government lent its aid in the construction of roads and canals, and a little more than four millions of dollars were devoted to this work in his administration. on the th of july, , he helped break ground for the chesapeake and ohio canal, thinking it an important event in his life. he then said there were three great steps in the progress of america. the first was the declaration of independence and the achievement thereof; the second, the union of the whole country under the constitution; but the third was more arduous than both of the others: "it is," said he, "the adaptation of the powers, physical, moral, and intellectual, of the whole union, to the improvement of its own condition; of its _moral_ and _political_ condition, by wise and liberal institutions; by the cultivation of the understanding and the heart; by academies, schools, and learned institutions; by the pursuit and patronage of learning and the arts; of its _physical_ condition, by associated labor to improve the bounties and supply the deficiencies of nature; to stem the torrent in its course; to level the mountain with the plain; to disarm and fetter the raging surge of the ocean."[ ] he faithfully adhered to these words in his administration. he was careful never to exceed the powers which the constitution prescribed for him. he thought the acquisition of louisiana was "accomplished by a flagrant violation of the constitution,"[ ] and himself guarded against such violations. he revered the god of limits, who, in the roman mythology, refused to give way or remove, even for jupiter himself. no man was ever more conscientious on that ground. to him the constitution meant something; his oath to keep it meant something. no great political event occurred in his administration; the questions which now vex the country had not arisen. there was no quarrel between freedom and slavery; no man in congress ventured to denounce slavery as a crime; the african slave-trade was thought wrong, not the slavery which caused it. party lines, obliterated under mr. monroe's administration, were viewed and marked with a good deal of care and exactness; but the old lines could not be wholly restored. mr. adams was not the president of a section of the country; not the president of a party, but of the nation. he favored no special interest of a class, to the injury of another class. he did not reward his friends, nor punish his foes; the party of the spoils, patent or latent at all times, got no spoils from him. he never debauched his country by the removal and appointment of officers. had he done otherwise, done as all his successors have done, used his actual power to promote his own ambition, no doubt he might have been reëlected. but he could not stoop to manage men in that way. no doubt he desired a reëlection, and saw the method and means to effect that, but conscience said, "it is not right." he forbore, lost his election, and gained--we shall soon see what he gained. on the th of july, , at a public dinner at edgefield court-house, south carolina, mr. mcduffie said, "mr. adams came into power upon principles utterly subversive of the republican system; substituting the worst species of aristocracy, that of speculating politicians and office-hunters, in the place of a sound and wholesome republican democracy." when mr. adams retired from office, he could remember, with the virtuous athenian, that no man had put on mourning for him because unjustly deprived of his post. was an office-holder or an office-wanter a political friend of mr. adams, that did not help him; a foe, that did not hinder. he looked only to the man's ability and integrity. i wish it was no praise to say these things; but it is praise i dare not apply to any other man since washington. mr. adams once said, "there is no official act of the chief magistrate, however momentous, or however minute, but it should be traceable to a dictate of duty, pointing to the welfare of the people." that was his executive creed. * * * * * as a public servant, he had many qualities seldom united in the same person. he was simple, and unostentatious; he had none of the airs of a great man; seemed humble, modest, and retiring; caring much for the substance of manhood, he let the show take care of itself. he carried the simplicity of a plain new england man into the president's house, spending little in its decorations--about one fourth, it is said, of the amount of his successor. in his housekeeping, public or private, there was only one thing much to be boasted of and remarked upon: strange to say, that was the master of the house. he was never eclipsed by his own brass and mahogany. he had what are called democratic habits, and served himself in preference to being served by others. he treated all that were about him with a marked deference and courtesy, carrying his respect for human rights into the minutest details of common life. he was a model of diligence, though not, perhaps, very systematic. his state papers, prepared while he was minister, secretary, or member of congress, his numerous orations and speeches, though not always distinguished for that orderly arrangement of parts which is instinctive with minds of a high philosophical character, are yet astonishing for their number, and the wide learning they display. he was well acquainted with the classic and most modern languages; at home in their literature. he was surprisingly familiar with modern history; perhaps no political man was so thoroughly acquainted with the political history of america, and that of christian europe for the last two hundred years. he was widely read and profoundly skilled in all that relates to diplomacy, and to international law. he was fond of belles-lettres, and commented on shakspeare more like a professor than a layman in that department. few theologians in america, it is said, were so widely read in their peculiar lore as he. he had read much, remembered much, understood much. however, he seems to have paid little attention to physical science, and perhaps less to metaphysical. his speeches and his conversation, though neither brilliant, nor rich in ideas, astonished young men with an affluence of learning, which seemed marvellous in one all his life devoted to practical affairs. but this is a trifle: to achieve that, nothing is needed but health, diligence, memory, and a long life. mr. adams had all these requisites. he had higher qualities: he loved his country, perhaps no man more so; he had patriotism in an heroic degree, yet was not thereby blinded to humanity. he thought it a vital principle of human society, that each nation should contribute to the happiness of all; and, therefore, that no nation should "regulate its conduct by the exclusive or even the paramount consideration of its own interest."[ ] yet he loved his country, his whole country, and when she was in the wrong he told her so, because he loved her. this, said he, would be a good sentiment: "our country! may she be always successful; but, whether successful or not, may she be always in the right." he saw the faults of america, saw the corruption of the american government. he did not make gain by this in private, but set an honest face against it. he was a conscientious man. this peculiarity is strongly marked in most of his life. he respected the limit between right and wrong. he did not think it unworthy of a statesman to refer to moral principles, to the absolutely right. i do not mean to say, that in his whole life there was no departure from the strict rule of duty. i have mentioned already some examples, but kept one more for this place: he pursued persons with a certain vindictiveness of spirit. i will not revive again the old quarrels, nor dig up his hard words, long ago consigned to oblivion; it would be unjust to the living. he was what is called a good hater. if he loved an idea, he seemed to hate the man who opposed it. he was not content with replying; he must also retort, though it manifestly weakened the force of the reply. in his attacks on persons he was sometimes unjust, violent, sharp, and vindictive; sometimes cruel, and even barbarous. did he ever forgive an enemy? every opponent was a foe, and he thrashed his foes with an iron hoof and winnowed them with a storm. the most awful specimens of invective which the language affords can be found in his words--bitter, revengeful, and unrelenting. i am sorry to say these things; it hurts my feelings to say them, yours not less to hear them. but it is not our fault they are true; it would be mine, if, knowing they were true, i did not on this occasion point them out in warning words. mr. adams says that roger williams was conscientious and contentious; it is equally true of himself. perhaps mr. adams had little humor, but certainly a giant's wit; he used it tyrannously and like a giant. wit has its place in debate; in controversy it is a legitimate weapon, offensive and defensive. after one has beaten the single barley-corn of good sense out of a whole wagon-load of chaff, the easiest way to be rid of the rubbish is to burn it up with the lightning of wit; the danger is, that the burning should begin before the separation is made; that the fire consume the good and bad indifferently. when argument is edged and pointed with wit, it is doubly effective; but when that edge is jagged with ill-will, poisoned, too, with personal spleen, then it becomes a weapon unworthy of a man. sometimes mr. adams used his wit as fairly as his wisdom; and bags of wind, on which hercules might have stamped and beaten a twelvemonth, but in vain--at a single puncture from that keen wit gave up their ghost and flattened into nothing; a vanity to all men, but a vexation of spirit to him who had blown them so full of his own soul. but sometimes, yes, often, mr. adams's wit performs a different part: it sits as a judge, unjust and unforgiving, "often deciding wrong, and when right from wrong motives." it was the small dagger with which he smote the fallen foe. it is a poor praise for a famous man, churchman, or statesman, to beat a blackguard with his own weapons. it must be confessed, that in controversy, mr. adams's arrows were sharp and deftly delivered; but they were often barbed, and sometimes poisoned. true, he encountered more political opposition than any man in the nation. for more than forty years he has never been without bitter and unrelenting enemies, public and private. no man in america, perhaps, ever had such provocations; surely, none had ever such opportunities to reply without retorting. how much better would it have been, if, at the end of that long life and fifty years' war, he could say he had never wasted a shot; had never sinned with his lips, nor once feathered his public arrow with private spleen! wise as he was, and old, he never learned that for undeserved calumny, for personal insult and abuse, there is one answer, christian, manly, and irrefutable--the dignity of silence. a just man can afford to wait till the storm of abuse shall spend its rage and vanish under the rainbow, which itself furnishes and leaves behind. the retorting speech of such a man may be silvern or iron; his silence, victorious and golden. it is easy to censure mr. adams for such intemperance of speech and persecution of persons; unfortunately, too easy to furnish other examples of both. we know what he spoke--god only what he repressed. who knows out of how deep a fulness of indignation such torrents gush? tried by the standard of other men, his fellow politicians of america and europe, he was no worse than they, only abler.[ ] the mouse and the fox have as great a proportionate anger as the lion, though the one is ridiculous and the other terrific. mr. adams must be tried by his own standard, the rule of right, the standard of conscience and of christianity; then surely he did wrong. for such a man the vulgarity of the offence is no excuse. with this and the other exceptions he appears a remarkably conscientious man in his public life. he may often have erred, as all men, without violating his own sense of right. while he was president he would not consent to any "public manifestation of honors personal to himself." he would not accept a present, for his bible taught him what experience continually enforces, that a gift blinds the eyes of wise men and perverts their judgment. while at st. petersburg, the russian minister of the interior, then an old man, felt uneasy on account of the presents accepted during his official service, and, calculating the value of all gifts received, returned it to the imperial treasury. this fact made an impression on mr. adams, and led to a resolution which he faithfully kept. when a bookseller sent him a costly bible, he kept the book, but paid its full value. no bribes, no pensions in any form, ever soiled justice in his hands. he would never be indebted to any body of men, lest they might afterwards sway him from the right path. because he was a conscientious man he would never be the servant of a party, and never was. it was of great advantage to him that he was absent while the two chief parties were forming in the united states. he came into the massachusetts legislature as a federalist, but some anti-federalists also voted for him. his first vote showed he was not limited by the common principles of a party. he was chosen to the senate of the united states, not by a party vote. at first he acted mainly with the federalists, though not always voting with his colleague; but in acted with the administration in the matter of the embargo. this was the eventful crisis of his life; this change in his politics, while it gave him station and political power, yet brought upon him the indignation of his former friends; it has never been forgotten nor forgiven. be the outward occasion and inward motive what they may, this led to the sundering of friendships long cherished and deservedly dear; it produced the most bitter experience of his life. political men would naturally undertake to judge his counsel by its probable and obvious consequences, the favor of the executive, rather than attribute it to any latent motive of patriotism in his heart. while at the head of the nation he would not be the president of a party, but of the people; when he became a representative in congress he was not the delegate of a party, but of justice and the eternal right, giving his constituents an assurance that he would hold himself in allegiance to no party, national or political. he has often been accused of hatred to the south; i can find no trace of it. "i entered congress," says he, "without one sentiment of discrimination between the north and south." at first he acted with mr. jackson, to arrest the progress of nullification, for the democracy of south carolina was putting in practice what the federalists of new england have so often been alleged to have held in theory, and condemned on that allegation. here he was consistent. in , he approved the spirit of the same president in demanding justice of france; but afterwards he did not hesitate to oppose, and perhaps abuse him. he had a high reverence for religion; none of our public men more. he aimed to be a christian man. signs of this have often been sought in his habits of church-going, of reading the bible; they may be found rather in the general rectitude of his life, public and private, and in the high motives which swayed him, in his opposition to slavery, in the self-denial which cost him his reëlection. in his public acts he seems animated by the thought that he stood in the presence of god. though rather unphilosophical in his theology, resting to a great degree on the authority of tradition and the letter, and attaching much value to forms and times, he yet saw the peculiar excellence of christianity,--that it recognized "love as the paramount and transcendent law of human nature." i do not say that his life indicates the attainment of a complete religious repose, but that he earnestly and continually labored to achieve that. you shall find few statesmen, few men, who act with a more continual and obvious reference to religion as a motive, as a guide, as a comfort. he was, however, no sectarian. his devotion to freedom appeared, where it seldom appears, in his notions about religion. he thought for himself, and had a theology of his own, rather old-fashioned, it is true, and not very philosophical or consistent, it may be, and in that he was not very singular, but he allowed others to think also for themselves, and have a theology of their own. mr. adams was a unitarian. it is no great merit to be a unitarian, or a calvinist, or a catholic, perhaps no more merit to be one than the other. but he was not ashamed of his belief when unitarianism was little, despised, mocked at, and called "infidelity" on all sides. when the unitarian church at washington, a small and feeble body, met for worship in an upper room--not large, but obscure, over a public bathing-house--john quincy adams, the secretary of state and expecting to be president, came regularly to worship with them. it was not fashionable; it was hardly respectable, for the unitarians were not then, as now, numerous and rich: but he went and worshipped. it was no merit to think with any sect, it was a great merit to dare be true to his convictions. in his theology, as in politics, he feared not to stand in a minority. if there ever was an american who loved the praise of god more than the praise of men, i believe mr. adams was one. his devotion to freedom, his love of his country, his conscientiousness, his religion, are four things strong and noticeable in his character. you shall look long amongst our famous men before you find his equal in these things.[ ] * * * * * somebody says, no man ever used all his intellectual faculties as far as possible. if any man is an exception to this rule, it is mr. adams. he was temperate and diligent; industrious almost to a fault, though not orderly or systematic. his diplomatic letters, his orations, his reports and speeches, all indicate wide learning, the fruit of the most remarkable diligence. the attainments of a well-bred scholar are not often found in the american congress, or the president's house. yet he never gives proof that he had the mind of a great man. in his special department of politics he does not appear as a master. he has no great ideas with which to solve the riddles of commerce and finance; has done little to settle the commercial problems of the world,--for that work there is needed not only a retrospective acquaintance with the habits and history of men, but the foresight which comes from a knowledge of the nature of things and of man. his chief intellectual excellence seems to have been memory; his great moral merit, a conscientious and firm honesty; his practical strength lay in his diligence. his counsels seem almost always to have come from a knowledge of human history, seldom to have been prompted by a knowledge of the nature of man. hence he was a critic of the past, or an administrator of the present, rather than a prophetic guide for the future. he had many facts and precedents, but few ideas. few examples of great political foresight can be quoted from his life; and therein, to his honor be it spoken, his heart seems to have out-travelled his head. the public affairs of the united states seem generally to be conducted by many men of moderate abilities, rather than by a few men of great genius for politics. * * * * * mr. adams wrote much. some of his works are remarkable for their beauty, for the graceful proportions of their style, and the felicity of their decoration. such are his celebrated lectures on rhetoric and oratory, which are sufficiently learned and sagacious, not very philosophical, but written in an agreeable style, and at the present day not wholly without value. his review of the works of fisher ames, i speak only of the rhetoric, is, perhaps, the finest of his compositions. some of his productions are disorderly, ill-compacted, without "joints or contexture," and homely to a fault: this oration is a growth out of a central thought, marked by an internal harmony; that, a composition, a piece of carpentry distinguished by only an outward symmetry of members; others are neither growth nor composition, only a mass of materials huddled and lumped together. most of his later productions, with the exception of his congressional speeches, are hard, cold, and unfinished performances, with little order in the thoughts, and less beauty in the expression. his extemporaneous speeches have more of both; they are better finished than his studied orations. he could judge and speak with fury, though he wrote with phlegm. his illustrations are usually drawn from literature, not from nature or human life; his language is commonly cold, derived from the roman stream which has been filtered through books, rather than from the deep and original well of our saxon home. his published letters are compact, written in a cold style, without playfulness or wit, with no elegance, and though mostly business letters, they are not remarkable for strength or distinctness. his diligence appears in verse as well as prose. he wrote much that rhymed tolerably; little that was poetical. the same absence of nature, the same coldness and lack of inspiration, mark his poetry and prose. but in all that he wrote, with the exceptions mentioned above, though you miss the genial warmth, the lofty thought, the mind that attracts, embraces, warms, and inspires the reader, you find always a spirit of humanity, of justice, and love to god. mr. adams was seldom eloquent. eloquence is no great gift. it has its place among subordinate powers, not among the chief. alas for the statesman or preacher who has only that to save the state withal! washington had none of it, yet how he ruled the land! no man in america has ever had a political influence so wide and permanent as mr. jefferson; yet he was a very indifferent writer, and never made a speech of any value. the acts of washington, the ideas of jefferson, made eloquence superfluous. true, it has its value: if a man have at command the electricity of truth, justice, love, the sentiments and great ideas thereof, it is a good thing to be able with olympian hand to condense that electric fire into bolted eloquence; to thunder and lighten in the sky. but if a man have that electric truth, it matters little whether it is moses that speaks, or only aaron; whether or not paul's bodily presence be weak and his speech contemptible: it is moses' thought which thunders and lightens out of sinai; it is paul's idea that is powerful and builds up the church. of true eloquence, the best thoughts put in the best words, and uttered in the best form, mr. adams had little, and that appeared mainly in the latter part of his life. hundreds have more. what passes for eloquence is common in america, where the public mouth is always a-going. his early orations are poor in their substance and faulty in their form. his ability as an orator developed late; no proofs of it appear before he entered the house of representatives, at a good old age. in his manner of speaking there was little dignity and no grace, though sometimes there was a terrible energy and fire. he was often a powerful speaker--by his facts and figures, by his knowledge, his fame, his age, and his position, but most of all by his independent character. he spoke worthily of great men, of madison or lafayette, kindling with his theme, and laying aside all littleness of a party. however, he was most earnest and most eloquent not when he stood up the champion of a neglected truth, not when he dwelt on great men now venerable to us all, but when he gathered his strength to attack a foe. incensed, his sarcasm was terrific; colossal vanity aspiring to be a ghenghis khan, at the touch of that ithuriel spear shrank to the dimensions of tom thumb. his invective is his masterpiece of oratoric skill. it is sad to say this, and to remember, that the greatest works of ancient or of modern rhetoric, from the thundering philippics of demosthenes down to the sarcastic and crazy rattle of lord brougham, are all of the same character, are efforts against a personal foe! men find hitherto the ablest acts and speech in the same cause,--not positive and creating, but critical and combative,--in war. if mr. adams had died in , he would have been remembered for awhile as a learned man; as an able diplomatist, who had served his country faithfully at home and abroad; as a president spotless and incorruptible, but not as a very important personage in american history. his mark would have been faint and soon effaced from the sands of time. but the last period of his life was the noblest. he had worn all the official honors which the nation could bestow; he sought the greater honor of serving that nation, who had now no added boon to give. all that he had done as minister abroad, as senator, as secretary, and president, is little compared with what he did in the house of representatives; and while he stood there, with nothing to hope, with nothing to fear, the hand of justice wrote his name high up on the walls of his country. it was surprising to see at his first attendance there, men who, while he was president, had been the loudest to call out "coalition, bargain, intrigue, corruption," come forward and express the involuntary confidence they felt in his wisdom and integrity, and their fear, actual though baseless, that his withdrawal from the committee on manufactures would "endanger the very union itself."[ ] great questions soon came up: nullification was speedily disposed of; the bank and the tariff got ended or compromised, but slavery lay in the consciousness of the nation, like the one dear but appalling sin in a man's heart. some wished to be rid of it, northern men and southern men. it would come up; to justify that, or excuse it, the american sentiment and idea must be denied and rejected utterly; the south, who had long known the charms of bathsheba, was ready for her sake to make way with uriah himself. to remove that monstrous evil, gradually but totally, and restore unity to the nation, would require a greater change than the adoption of the constitution. to keep slavery out of sight, yet in existence, unjustified, unexcused, unrepented of, a contradiction in the national consciousness, a political and deadly sin, the sin against the holy spirit of american liberty, known but not confessed, the public secret of the people--that would lead to suppressing petitions, suppressing debate in congress and out of congress, to silencing the pulpit, the press, and the people. under these circumstances, mr. adams went to congress, an old man, well known on both sides the water, the presidential laurels on his brow, independent and fearless, expecting no reward from men for services however great. in respect to the subject of slavery, he had no ideas in advance of the nation; he was far behind the foremost men. he "deprecated all discussion of slavery or its abolition, in the house, and gave no countenance to petitions for the abolition of slavery in the district of columbia or the territories." however, he acquired new ideas as he went on, and became the congressional leader in the great movement of the american mind towards universal freedom. here he stood as the champion of human rights; here he fought, and with all his might. in , by the celebrated resolution, forbidding debate on the subject of slavery, the south drove the north to the wall, nailed it there into shameful silence. a "northern man with southern principles," before entering the president's chair, declared, that if congress should pass a law to abolish slavery in the district of columbia, he would exercise his veto to prevent the law.[ ] mr. adams stood up manfully, sometimes almost alone, and contended for freedom of speech. did obstinate men of the north send petitions relative to slavery, asking for its abolition in the district or elsewhere? mr. adams was ready to present the petitions. did women petition? it made no difference with him. did slaves petition? he stood up there to defend their right to be heard. the south had overcome many an obstacle, but that one fearless soul would not bend, and could not be broken. spite of rules of order, he contrived to bring the matter perpetually before congress, and sometimes to read the most offensive parts of the petitions. when arkansas was made a state, he endeavored to abolish slavery in its domain; he sought to establish international relations with hayti, and to secure the right of suffrage for the colored citizens of the district of columbia. the laws which forbid blacks to vote in the northern states he held "in utter abhorrence." he saw from afar the plots of southern politicians, plots for extending the area of slavery, for narrowing the area of freedom, and exposed those plots. you all remember the tumult it excited when he rose in his place holding a petition from slaves; that the american congress was thrown into long and disgraceful confusion. you cannot have forgotten the uproar which followed his presenting a petition to dissolve the union![ ] i know few speeches more noble and manly than his on the right of petition,--occasioned by that celebrated attempt to stifle debate, and on the annexation of texas. some proposed to censure him, some clamored, "expel him," some cried out, "burn the petitions!" and "him with them," screamed yet others. some threatened to have him indicted by the grand jury of the district, "or be made amenable to _another tribunal_," hoping to see "an incendiary brought to condign punishment." "my life on it," said a southern legislator, "if he presents that petition from slaves, we shall yet see him within the walls of the penitentiary." some in secret threatened to assassinate him in the streets. they mistook their man; with justice on his side he did "not fear all the grand juries in the universe." he would not curl nor cringe, but snorted his defiance in their very face. in front of ridicule, of desertion, obloquy, rage, and brutal threats, stood up that old man, bald and audacious, and the chafed rock of cohasset stands not firmer mid the yesty waves, nor more triumphant spurns back into the ocean's face the broken billows of the storm. that new england knee bent only before his god. that unpretending man--the whole power of the nation could not move him from his post. men threatened to increase the slave power. said one of the champions of slavery with prophetic speech, but fatal as cassandra's in the classic tale, americans "would come up in thousands to plant the lone star of the texan banner on the mexican capital.... the boundless wealth of captured towns and rifled churches, and a lazy, vicious, and luxurious priesthood, would soon enable texas to pay her soldiery and redeem her state debt, and push her victorious arms to the very shores of the pacific. and would not all this extend the bounds of slavery? yes, the result would be, that before another quarter of a century the extension of slavery would not stop short of the western ocean." against this danger mr. adams armed himself, and fought in the holiest cause--the cause of human rights. i know few things in modern times so grand as that old man standing there in the house of representatives, the compeer of washington, a man who had borne himself proudly in kings' courts, early doing service in high places, where honor may be won; a man who had filled the highest office in any nation's gift; a president's son, himself a president, standing there the champion of the neediest of the oppressed: the conquering cause pleased others; him only, the cause of the conquered. had he once been servile to the hands that wielded power? no thunderbolt can scare him now! did he once make a treaty and bind mexico to bewray the wandering fugitive who took his life in his hand and fled from the talons of the american eagle? now he would go to the stake sooner than tolerate such a deed! when he went to the supreme court, after an absence of thirty years, and arose to defend a body of friendless negroes torn from their home and most unjustly held in thrall; when he asked the judges to excuse him at once both for the trembling faults of age and the inexperience of youth, the man having labored so long elsewhere that he had forgotten the rules of court; when he summed up the conclusion of the whole matter, and brought before those judicial but yet moistening eyes the great men whom he had once met there--chase, cushing, martin, livingston, and marshall himself; and while he remembered them that were "gone, gone, all gone," remembered also the eternal justice that is never gone,--why the sight was sublime. it was not an old patrician of rome who had been consul, dictator, coming out of his honored retirement at the senate's call, to stand in the forum to levy new armies, marshal them to victory afresh, and gain thereby new laurels for his brow;--but it was a plain citizen of america, who had held an office far greater than that of consul, king, or dictator, his hand reddened by no man's blood, expecting no honors, but coming in the name of justice to plead for the slave, for the poor barbarian negro of africa, for cinque and grabbo, for their deeds comparing them to harmodius and aristogeiton, whose classic memory made each bosom thrill. that was worth all his honors,--it was worth while to live fourscore years for that. when he stood in the house of representatives, the champion of the rights of a minority, of the rights of man, he stood colossal. frederick the great seems doubly so, when, single-handed, "that son of the dukes of brandenburg" contended against austria, france, england, russia, kept them all at bay, divided by his skill, and conquered by his might. surely he seems great, when measured merely by his deeds. but, in comparison, frederick the great seems frederick the little: for adams fought not for a kingdom, nor for fame, but for justice and the eternal right; fought, too, with weapons tempered in a heavenly stream![ ] he had his reward. who ever missed it? from mythological cain, who slew his brother, down to judas iscariot, and aaron burr; from jesus of nazareth, down to the least man that dies or lives--who ever lost his reward? none. no; not one. within the wicked heart there dwells the avenger, with unseen hands, to adjust the cord, to poison the fatal bowl. in the impenetrable citadel of a good man's consciousness, unseen by mortal eyes, there stands the palladium of justice, radiant with celestial light; mortal hands may make and mar,--this they can mar not, no more than they can make. things about the man can others build up or destroy; but no foe, no tyrant, no assassin, can ever steal the man out of the man. who would not have the consciousness of being right, even of trying to be right, though affronted by a whole world, rather than conscious of being wrong, and hollow, and false, have all the honors of a nation on his head? of late years, no party stood up for mr. adams, "the madman of massachusetts," as they called him, on the floor of congress; but he knew that he had, and in his old age, done one work,--he had contended for the unalienable rights of man, done it faithfully. the government of god is invisible, his justice the more certain,--and by that mr. adams had his abundant reward. but he had his poorer and outward rewards, negative and positive. for his zeal in behalf of freedom he was called "a monarchist in disguise," "an alien to the true interests of his country," "a traitor." a slaveholder from kentucky published to his constituents that he "was sincerely desirous to check that man, for if he could be removed from the councils of the nation, or silenced upon the exasperating subject to which he had devoted himself, none other, i believe, could be found hardy enough or bad enough to fill his place." it was worth something to have an enemy speak such praise as that: but the slaveholder was wrong in his conjecture; the north has yet other sons not less hardy, not more likely to be silenced. still more praise of a similar sort:--at a fourth of july dinner at walterborough, in south carolina, this sentiment was proposed and responded to with nine cheers: "may we never want a democrat to trip up the heels of a federalist, or a hangman to prepare a halter for john quincy adams." considering what he had done and whence those rewards proceeded, that was honor enough for a yet greater man. let me turn to things more grateful. mr. adams, through lack of genial qualities, had few personal friends, yet from good men throughout the north there went up a hearty thanksgiving for his manly independence, and prayers for his success. brave men forgot their old prejudices, forgot the "embargo," forgot the "hartford convention," forgot all the hard things which he had ever said, forgot his words in the senate, forgot their disappointments, and said--"for this our hearts shall honor thee, thou brave old man!" in , when, for the first time, he visited the west, to assist at the foundation of a scientific institution, all the west rose up to do him reverence. he did not go out to seek honors, they came to seek him. it was the movement of a noble people, feeling a noble presence about them no less than within. when cicero, the only great man whom rome never feared, returned from his exile, all italy rose up and went out to meet him; so did the north and the west welcome this champion of freedom, this venerable old man. they came not to honor one who had been a president, but one who was a man. that alone, said mr. adams, with tears of joy and grief filling his eyes, was reward enough for all that he had done, suffered, or undertaken. yes, it was too much; too much for one man as the reward of one life! you all remember the last time he was at any public meeting in this city. a man had been kidnapped in boston, kidnapped at noon-day, "on the high road between faneuil hall and old quincy," and carried off to be a slave! new england hands had seized their brother, sold him into bondage for ever, and his children after him. in the presence of slavery, as of arms, the laws are silent,--not always men. then it appears who are men, who not! a meeting was called to talk the matter over, in a plain way, and look in one another's faces. who was fit to preside in such a case? that old man sat in the chair in faneuil hall; above him was the image of his father, and his own; around him were hancock and the other adams,--washington, greatest of all; before him were the men and women of boston, met to consider the wrongs done to a miserable negro slave; the roof of the old cradle of liberty spanned over them all. forty years before, a young man and a senator, he had taken the chair at a meeting called to consult on the wrong done to american seamen, violently impressed by the british from an american ship of war, the unlucky chesapeake; some of you remember that event. now, an old man, clothed with half a century of honors, he sits in the same hall, to preside over a meeting to consider the outrage done to a single slave; a greater outrage--alas, not done by a hostile, not by an alien hand! one was the first meeting of citizens he ever presided over, the other was the last; both for the same object--the defence of the eternal right. * * * * * but i would not weary you. his death was noble; fit ending for such a life. he was an old man, the last that had held a diplomatic office under washington. he had uttered his oracles; had done his work. the highest honors of the nation he had worthily worn; but, as his townsmen tell us,--caring little for the president, and much for the man,--that was very little in comparison with his character. the good and ill of the human cup he had tasted, and plentifully, too, as son, husband, father. he had borne his testimony for freedom and the rights of mankind; he had stood in congress almost alone; with a few gallant men had gone down to the battlefield, and if victory escaped him, it was because night came on. he saw others enter the field in good heart, to stand in the imminent deadly breach; he lived long enough for his own welfare, for his own ambition; long enough to see the seal broken,--and then, this aged simeon, joyful in the consolation, bowed his head and went home in peace. his feet were not hurt with fetters; he died with his armor on; died like a senator in the capitol of the nation; died like an american, in the service of his country; died like a christian, full of immortality; died like a man, fearless and free! you will ask, what was the secret of his strength? whence did he gain such power to stand erect where others so often cringed and crouched low to the ground? it is plain to see: he looked beyond time, beyond men; looked to the eternal god, and fearing him forgot all other fear. some of his failings he knew to be such, and struggled with them though he did not overcome. a man, not over-modest, once asked him what he most of all lamented in his life, and he replied, "my impetuous temper and vituperative speech; that i have not always returned good for evil, but in the madness of my blood have said things that i am ashamed of before my god!" as the world goes, it needed some greatness to say that. when he was a boy, his mother, a still woman, and capable, deep-hearted, and pious, took great pains with his culture; most of all with his religious culture. when, at the age of ten, he was about to leave home for years of absence in another land, she took him aside to warn him of temptations which he could not then understand. she bade him remember religion and his god--his secret, silent prayer. often in his day there came the earthquake of party strife; the fire, the storm, and the whirlwind of passion; he listened--and god was not there; but there came, too, the remembrance of his mother's whispered words; god came in that memory, and earthquake and storm, the fire and the whirlwind were powerless, at last, before that still small voice. beautifully did she write to her boy of ten, "great learning and superior abilities will be of little value ... unless virtue, honor, truth, and integrity, are added to them. remember that you are accountable to your maker for all your words and your actions." "dear as you are to me," says this more than spartan, this christian mother, "dear as you are to me, i would much rather you should have found your grave in the ocean you have crossed, or that any untimely death cross you in your infant years, than see you an immoral, profligate, or graceless child. let your observations and comparisons produce in your mind an abhorrence of domination and power--the parents of slavery, ignorance, and barbarism. may you be led to an imitation of that disinterested patriotism and that noble love of your country, which will teach you to despise wealth, titles, pomp, and equipage, as mere external advantages, which cannot add to the internal excellence of your mind, or compensate for the want of integrity and virtue." she tells him in a letter, that her father, a plain new england clergyman, of braintree, who had just died, "left you a legacy more valuable than gold or silver; he left you his blessing, and his prayers that you might become a useful citizen, a guardian of the laws, liberty, and religion of your country.... lay this bequest up in your memory and practise upon it; believe me, you will find it a treasure that neither moth nor rust can destroy." if a child have such a mother, there is no wonder why he stood fearless, and bore a charmed life which no opposition could tame down. i wonder more that one so born and by such a mother bred, could ever once bend a servile knee; could ever indulge that fierce and dreadful hate; could ever stoop to sully those hands which hers had joined in prayer. it ill accords with teachings like her own. i wonder that he could ever have refused to "deliberate." religion is a quality that makes a man independent; disappointment will not render such an one sour, nor oppression drive him mad, nor elevation bewilder; power will not dazzle, nor gold corrupt; no threat can silence and no fear subdue. there are men enough born with greater abilities than mr. adams, men enough in new england, in all the walks of man. but how many are there in political life who use their gifts so diligently, with such conscience, such fearless deference to god?--nay, tell us one. i have not spared his faults; i am no eulogist, to paint a man with undiscriminating praise. let his follies warn us, while his virtues guide. but look on all his faults, and then compare him with our famous men of the north or the south; with the great whigs or the great democrats. ask which was the purest man, the most patriotic, the most honest; which did his nation the smallest harm and the greatest good; which for his country and his kind denied himself the most. shall i examine their lives, public and private, strip them bare and lay them down beside his life, and ask which, after all, has the least of blemish and the most of beauty? nay, that is not for me to do or to attempt. in one thing he surpassed most men,--he grew more liberal the more he grew old, ripening and mellowing, too, with age. after he was seventy years old, he welcomed new ideas, kept his mind vigorous, and never fell into that crabbed admiration of past times and buried institutions, which is the palsy of so many a man, and which makes old age nothing but a pity, and gray hairs provocative of tears. this is the more remarkable in a man of his habitual reverence for the past, in one who judged oftener by the history than by the nature of man. times will come when men shall look to that vacant seat. but the thunder is silent, the lightning gone; other men must take his place and fill it as they can. let us not mourn that he has gone from us; let us remember what was evil in him, but only to be warned of ambition, of party strife, to love more that large charity which forgives an enemy, and, through good and ill, contends for mankind. let us be thankful for the good he has said and done, be guided by it and blessed. there is a certain affluence of intellectual power granted to some men, which provokes admiration for a time, let the man of myriad gifts use his talent as he may. such merely cubic greatness of mind is matter of astonishment rather than a fit subject for esteem and praise. of that, mr. adams had little, as so many of his contemporaries had more. in him what most commands respect is, his independence, his love of justice, of his country and his kind. no son of new england has been ever so distinguished in political life. but it is no great thing to be president of the united states; some men it only makes ridiculous. a worm on a steeple's top is nothing but a worm, no more able to fly than while creeping in congenial mud; a mountain needs no steeple to lift its head and show the world what is great and high. the world obeys its great men, stand where they may. after all, this must be the greatest praise of mr. adams: in private he corrupted no man nor woman; as a politician he never debauched the public morals of his country, nor used public power for any private end; in public and private he lived clean and above board; he taught a fearless love of truth and the right, both by word and deed. i wish i could add, that was a small praise. but as the times go, as our famous men are, it is a very great fame, and there are few competitors for such renown; i must leave him alone in that glory. doubtless, as he looked back on his long career, his whole life, motives as well as actions, must have seemed covered with imperfections. i will seek no further to disclose his merits, or "draw his frailties from their dead abode." he has passed on, where superior gifts and opportunities avail not, nor his long life, nor his high station, nor his wide spread fame; where enemies cease from troubling, and the flattering tongue also is still. wealth, honor, fame, forsake him at the grave's mouth. it is only the living soul, sullied or clean, which the last angel bears off in his arms to that world where many that seem first shall be last, and the last first; but where justice shall be lovingly done to the great man full of power and wisdom who rules the state, and the feeblest slave whom oppression chains down in ignorance and vice--done by the all-seeing father of both president and slave, who loves both with equal love. the venerable man is gone home. he shall have his praise. but who shall speak it worthily? mean men and little, who shrank from him in life, who never shared what was manliest in the man, but mocked at his living nobleness, shall they come forward and with mealy mouths, to sing his requiem, forgetting that his eulogy is their own ban? some will rejoice at his death; there is one man the less to fear, and they who trembled at his life may well be glad when the earth has covered up the son she bore. strange men will meet with mutual solace at his tomb, wondering that their common foe is dead, and they are met! the herods and pilates of contending parties may be made friends above his grave, and clasping hands may fancy that their union is safer than before; but there will come a day after to-day! let us leave him to his rest. the slave has lost a champion who gained new ardor and new strength the longer he fought; america has lost a man who loved her with his heart; religion has lost a supporter; freedom an unfailing friend, and mankind a noble vindicator of our unalienable rights. it is not long since he was here in our own streets; three winter months have scantly flown: he set out for his toil--but went home to his rest. his labors are over. no man now threatens to assassinate; none to expel; none even to censure. the theatrical thunder of congress, noisy but harmless, has ended as it ought, in honest tears. south carolina need ask no more a halter for that one northern neck she could not bend nor break. the tears of his country are dropped upon his urn; the muse of history shall write thereon, in letters not to be effaced, the one great man since washington, whom america had no cause to fear. to-day that venerable form lies in the capitol,--the disenchanted dust. all is silent. but his undying soul, could we deem it still hovering o'er its native soil, bound to take leave yet lingering still, and loath to part, that would bid us love our country, love man, love justice, freedom, right, and above all, love god. to-morrow that venerable dust starts once more to join the dear presence of father and mother, to mingle his ashes with their ashes, as their lives once mingled, and their souls again. let his native state communicate her last sad sacrament, and give him now, it is all she can, a little earth for charity. but what shall we say as the dust returns? "where slavery's minions cower before the servile power, he bore their ban; and like the aged oak, that braved the lightning's stroke, when thunders round it broke, stood up a man. "nay, when they stormed aloud, and round him like a cloud, came thick and black,-- he single-handed strove, and like olympian jove, with his own thunder drove the phalanx back. "not from the bloody field, borne on his battered shield, by foes o'ercome;-- but from a sterner fight, in the defence of right, clothed with a conqueror's might, we hail him home. "his life in labors spent, that 'old man eloquent' now rests for aye;-- his dust the tomb may claim;-- his spirit's quenchless flame, his 'venerable name,'[ ] pass not away."[ ] footnotes: [ ] see _social compact_, etc. providence, , p. , _et al._ [ ] see _address at washington_, th of july, . second edition, cambridge, _passim_. [ ] reference is made to his _speech in the house of representatives_, may th and th, . (boston, .) it is a little remarkable, that the false principle of the common law, on which mr. adams was commenting, as laid down by blackstone, is corrected by a writer, m. pothier, who rests on the civil law for his authority. see pp. - , and , . [ ] _answer to paine's rights of man_ (london, ), originally published in the columbian centinel. the london edition bears the name of _john adams_ on the title-page. [ ] mr. atherton. [ ] see _oration at quincy_, , p. , _et seq._ (boston, .) [ ] the _social compact_, etc., etc. (providence, ). p. . [ ] see pickering's _letter to governor sullivan, on the embargo_. boston, . john quincy adams's _letter to the hon. h. g. otis_, etc. boston, . pickering's _interesting correspondence_, . _review of the correspondence between the hon. john adams and the late william cunningham_, etc. . but see, also, mr. adams's "appendix" to the above letter, published _sixteen_ years after the vote on the embargo. baltimore, . mr. pickering's _brief remarks on the appendix_. august, . [ ] reference is here made to british "_orders in council_" of nov. d, . they were not officially made known to the american congress till feb. th, . they were, however, published in the national intelligencer, the morning on which the message was sent to the senate, dec. th, , but were not mentioned in that document, nor in the debate. [ ] i copy this from the first letter of mr. pickering. mr. adams wrote a letter (to h. g. otis) in reply to this of mr. pickering, but said nothing respecting the words charged upon him; but in , in an appendix to that letter, he denies that he expressed the "sentiment" which mr. pickering charged him with. but he _does not deny the words themselves_. they rest on the authority of mr. pickering, his colleague in the senate, a strong party man, it is true, perhaps not much disposed to conciliation, but a man of most unquestionable veracity. the "sentiment" speaks for itself. [ ] adams's _remarks in the house of representatives_, jan. , . [ ] _correspondence between the hon. john adams and the late william cunningham, esq._ boston, , letter xliii. p. . [ ] march th, . [ ] see mr. adams's _message_, dec. , . the exact sum was $ , , . . [ ] see mr. clay's letter to mr. a. h. everett, april th, ; to mr. middleton, respecting the intervention of the emperor of russia, may th, and dec. th, ; to mr. gallatin, may th, and june th, , and feb. th, . _executive documents_, second session of the th congress, vol. i. [ ] report of mr. adams's _lecture on the chinese war_, in the boston atlas, for dec. th and th, . [ ] genesis i. - . [ ] psalms ii. - . [ ] see mr. adams's _speech on oregon_, feb. th, . arguments somewhat akin to this, may be found also in the oration delivered at newburyport, before cited. [ ] _address on breaking ground for the chesapeake and ohio canal._ [ ] _jubilee of the constitution_, p. . [ ] _lecture on china._ [ ] see his defence of this in his _address to his constituents at braintree_, sept. th, . boston, , p. , _et seq._ [ ] in a public address, mr. adams once quoted the well-known words of tacitus (annal vi. ), _par negotiis neque supra_,--applying them to a distinguished man lately deceased. a lady wrote to inquire whence they came. mr. adams informed her, and added, they could not be adequately translated in less than seven words in english. the lady replied that they might be well translated in five--_equal to, not above, duty_, but better in three--john quincy adams. [ ] _remarks_ of mr. cambreleng. [ ] mr. van buren. [ ] see the _debates of the house_, january d and following, ; or mr. adams's own account of the matter in his _letters to his constituents_, etc. (boston, .) see, too, his _series of speeches on the right of petition and the annexation of texas_, january th and following, . (printed in a pamphlet. washington, .) [ ] "acer et indomitus, quo spes, quoque ira vocasset, ferre manum, et nunquam temerando parcere ferro; successus urgere suos; instare favori numinis; impellens quiequid sibi summa petenti obstaret, gaudensque viam fecisse ruina." [ ] _clarum et venerabile nomen._ [ ] the above lines are from the pen of the rev. john pierpont. vii. speech at a meeting of the american anti-slavery society, to celebrate the abolition of slavery by the french republic, april , . mr. chairman,--the gentleman before me[ ] has made an allusion to rome. let me also turn to that same city. underneath the rome of the emperors, there was another rome; not seen by the sun, known only to a few men. above, in the sunlight, stood rome of the cæsars, with her markets and her armies, her theatres, her temples, and her palaces, glorious and of marble. a million men went through her brazen gates. the imperial city, she stood there, beautiful and admired, the queen of nations. but underneath all that, in caverns of the earth, in the tombs of dead men, in quarries whence the upper city had been slowly hewn, there was another population, another rome, with other thoughts; yes, a devout body of men, who swore not by the public altars; men whose prayers were forbidden; their worship disallowed, their ideas prohibited, their very lives illegal. time passed on; and gradually rome of the pagans disappeared, and rome of the christians sat there in her place, on the seven hills, and stretched out her sceptre over the nations. so underneath the laws and the institutions of each modern nation, underneath the monarchy and the republic, there is another and unseen state, with sentiments not yet become popular, and with ideas not yet confirmed in actions, not organized into institutions, ideas scarcely legal, certainly not respectable. slowly from its depths comes up this ideal state, the state of the future; and slowly to the eternal deep sinks down the actual state, the state of the present. but sometimes an earthquake of the nations degrades of a sudden the actual; and speedily starts up the ideal kingdom of the future. such a thing has just come to pass. in france, within five-and-forty days, a new state has arisen from underneath the old. men, whose words were suppressed, and their ideas reckoned illegal but two months ago, now hold the sceptre of five-and-thirty millions of grateful citizens, hold it in clean and powerful hands. a great revolution has taken place; one which will produce effects that we cannot foresee. it is itself the greatest act of this century. god only knows what it will lead to. we are here to express the sympathy of republicans for a new republic. we are here to rejoice over the rising hopes of a new state, not to exult over the fallen fortunes of the bourbons. louis philippe has done much which we may thank him for. he has kept mainly at peace the fiercest nation of the world; has kept the peace of europe for seventeen years. let us thank him for that. he has consolidated the french nation, helped to give them a new unity of thought and unity of action, which they had not before. perhaps he did not intend all this. since he has brought it about, let us thank him for it, even if his conduct transcended his intention. but, most of all, i would thank this "citizen king" for another thing. his greatest lesson is his last. he has shown that five-and-thirty millions of frenchmen, in this nineteenth century, are only to be ruled by justice and the eternal law of right. we have seen this crafty king, often wise and always cunning, driven from his throne. he was the richest man in europe, and the embodiment of the idea of modern wealth. he had an army the best disciplined, probably, in the world, and, as he thought, completely in his power. he had a chamber of peers of his own appointment; a chamber of deputies almost of his own election. he ruled a nation that contained three hundred thousand office-holders, appointed by himself, and only two hundred and forty thousand voters! who sat so safe as the citizen king on his throne, surrounded by republican institutions! so confident was he, as the journals tell, that he bade a friend stop a day or two, "and see how i will put down the people!" for once, this shrewd calculator reckoned without his host. well, we have seen this man, this citizen monarch, who married his children only to kings, rush from his place; his peers and his deputies were unavailing; his office-holders could not sustain him; his army "fraternized with the people;" and he, forgetful of his own children, ignominiously is hustled out of the kingdom, in a street cab, with nothing but a five-franc piece in his pocket. for the lesson thus taught, let us thank him most of all. men tell us it is too soon to rejoice: "perhaps the revolution will not hold;" "it will not last;" "the kings of europe will put it down." when a sound, healthy child is born, the friends of the family congratulate the parents then; they do not wait till the child has grown up, and got a beard. now this is a live child; it is well born in both senses, come of good parentage, and gives signs of a good constitution. let us rejoice at its birth, and not wait to see if it will grow up. let us now baptize it in the crystal fountain of our own hope. in a great revolution, there are always two things to be looked at, namely, the actions, and the ideas which produce the actions. the actions i will say little of; you have all read of them in the newspapers. some of the actions were bad. it is not true that all at once the french have become angels. there are low and base men, who swarm in the lanes and alleys of paris; for that great city also is like all capitals, girt about with a belt of misery, of vice and of crime, eating into her painful loins. it was a bad thing to sack the tuileries; to burn bridges, and chateaux, and railroad stations. property is under the insurance of mankind, and the human race must pay in public for private depredations. it was a bad thing to kill men; the human race cannot make up that loss; only suffer and be penitent. i am sorry for these bad actions; but i am not surprised at them. you cannot burn down the poor dwelling of a widow in boston, but some miserable man will steal pot or pan, in the confusion of the fire. how much more should we expect pillage and violence in the earthquake which throws down a king! i have said enough of the actions; but there was one deed too symbolical to be passed by. in the garden of the tuileries, before the great gate of the palace, there stands a statue of spartacus, a colossal bronze, his broken chain in the left hand, his roman sword in the right. spartacus was a roman gladiator. he broke his chains; gathered about him other gladiators, fugitive slaves, and assembled an army. he and his comrades fought for freedom; they cut off four consular armies sent against them; at last the hero fell amid a heap of men, slain by his own well-practised hand. when the people took the old and emblematic french throne, and burned it solemnly with emblematic fire, they stripped off some of the crimson trappings of the royal seat, made a tiara thereof, and bound it on the gladiator's brazen head! but red is the color of revolution, the color of blood; the unconscious gladiator was an image too savage for new france. so they hid the roman sword in his hand, and wreathed it all over with a chaplet of flowers! let us say a word of the ideas. three ideas filled the mind of the nation: the idea of liberty, equality and fraternity. three noble words. liberty meant liberty of all. so, at one word, they set free the slaves, and, if my friend's ciphers are correct, at once three hundred thousand souls rise up from the ground disenthralled, free men. that is a great act. a population as large as the whole family of our sober sister connecticut, all at once find their chains drop off, and they are free: not beasts, but men. this may not hold. our declaration of independence was not the confederation of ' --still less was it the constitution of ' . the french may be as false as the americans to their idea of liberty. at any rate, it is a good beginning. let us rejoice at that. equality means that all are equal before the law; equal in rights, however unequal in mights. so all titles of nobility come at once to the ground. the royal family is like the family of our presidents. the chamber of peers is abolished. universal suffrage is decreed; all men over twenty-one are voters. men here in america say, "the french are not ready for that." no doubt the king thought so. at any rate, he was not ready for it. but it is not a thing altogether unknown in france. it has been tried several times before. the french constitution was accepted by the whole people in ; napoleon was made consul by the whole people; made emperor by the whole people. even in , the "acte additionelle" to the "charte" was accepted by the whole people. to decree universal suffrage was the most natural thing in the world. those two ideas, liberty and equality, have long been american ideas; they were never american facts. america sought liberty only for the whites. our fathers thought not of universal suffrage. but france has not only attempted to make our ideas into facts; she has advanced an idea not hinted at in the american declaration; the idea of fraternity. by this she means human brotherhood. this points not merely to a political, but to a social revolution. it is not easy for us to understand how a government can effect this. here, all comes from the people, and the people have to take care of the government, meaning thereby the men in official power; have to furnish them with ideas, and tell them what application to make thereof. there all comes from the government. so the new provisional government of france must be one that can lead the nation; have ideas in advance of the nation. accordingly, it proposes many plans which with us could never have come from any party in power. here, the government is only the servant of the people. there, it aims to be the father and teacher thereof; a patriarchal government with christian thoughts and feelings. but as an eloquent man is to come after me, whose special aim is to develop the idea of human brotherhood into social institutions, i will not dwell on this, save to mention an act of the provisional authorities. they have abolished the punishment of death for all political offences. you remember the guillotine, the massacres of september, the drowning in the loire and the seine, the dreadful butchery in the name of the law. put this new decree side by side with the old, and you see why spartacus, though crowned by a revolution, bears peaceful blossoms in his hand. but let us hasten on; time would fail me to speak of the cause or point out the effect of this movement of the people. only a word concerning the objections made to it. some say, "it is only an extempore affair. men drunk with new power are telling their fancies, and trying in their heat to make laws thereof." it is not so. the ideas i have hinted at have been long known and deeply cherished by the best minds in france. last autumn, m. lamartine, in his own newspaper, for the deputy for macon is an editor, published the "programme and confession of his political faith."[ ] others say, "the whole thing seems rash." well, so it does; so does any good thing seem rash to all except the man who does it, and such as would do it if he did not. what is rash to one is not to another. it is dangerous for an old man to run, fatal for him to leap, while his grandson jumps over wall and ditch without hurt. the american revolution was a rash act; the english revolution a rash act; the protestant reformation was a rash act. was it safe to withstand the revolution? did the king of the french find it so? yet others say, "the leaders are unknown," "lamartine, you might as well put any man in the street at the head of the nation." but when the american revolution begun, who, in england, had ever heard of john hancock, president of the congress? to the men who knew him, john hancock was a country trader, the richest man in a town of ten thousand inhabitants: that did not sound very great at london. samuel adams, and john adams, and thomas jefferson, and all the other men, what did the world know of them? only that they had been christened with hebrew names. why, george washington was only, as gen. braddock called him, "a young buckskin." but the world heard of these men afterwards. let us leave the french statesmen to make to the future what report of themselves they can! let me tell a story of dupont de l'eure, the head of the government at this moment. he was one of the movers of the revolution of . he dined with the citizen king, once, in some council. at the table, he and the king differed; the king affirmed, and dupont denied. said the king, "do you tell me i lie?" said dupont, "when the king says yes, and dupont de l'eure replies no, france will know which to believe!" the king said, "yes, we will put the people down;" dupont said, "no, you shall not put the people down;" and now france knows which to believe. again, say others yet, "war may come; royalty may come back, despotism may come back. other kings will interpose, and put down a republic." other kings interpose to put down the french! perhaps they will. they tried it in , but did not like the experiment very well. they will be well off if they do not find it necessary to put down a republic a little nearer at hand; their anti-revolutionary work may begin at home. war followed the american revolution. it cost money, it cost men. but if we calculate the value of american ideas, they are worth what they cost. even the french revolution, with all its carnage, robbery and butchery, is worth what it cost. but it is possible that war will not come. from a foreign war, france has little to fear. there seems little danger that it will come at all. what monarchy will dare fight republican france? internal trouble may indeed come. it is to be expected that the new republic will make many a misstep. but is it likely that all the old tragedies will be enacted again? surely not; the burnt child dreads the fire. besides, the france of ' is not the france of ' . there is no triple despotism weighing on the nation's neck, a trinity of despotic powers--the throne, the nobility, the church. the king has fled; the nobles have ceased to be; the church seems republican. there is no hatred between class and class, as before. the men of ' sought freedom for the middle class, not for all classes, neither for the high, nor for the low. religion pervades the church and the people, as never before. better ideas prevail. it is not the gospel of jean jaques, and the scoffing negations of voltaire, that are now proclaimed to the people; but the broad maxims of christian men; the words of human brotherhood. the men of terror knew no weapon but the sword; the provisional government casts the sword from its hands, and will not shed blood for political crimes. still, troubles may come; war may come from without, and, worse still, from within; the republic may end. but if it lasts only a day, let us rejoice in that day. suppose it is only the dream of the nation; it is worth while to dream of liberty, of equality, of fraternity; and to dream that we are awake, and trying to make them all into institutions and common life. what is only a dream now, will be a fact at last. next sunday is the election day of france; six millions of voters are to choose nine hundred representatives! shall not the prayers of all christian hearts go up with them on that day, a great deep prayer for their success? the other day, the birthday of washington, the calm, noiseless spirit of death came to release the soul of the patriarch of american statesmen. while his sun was slowly sinking in the western sky, the life-star of a new nation was visibly rising there, far off in the east. a pagan might be pardoned for the thought, that the intrepid soul of that old man foresaw the peril, and, slowly quitting its hold of the worn-out body, went thither to kindle anew the flames of liberty he fanned so often here. that is but a pagan thought. this is a christian thought: the same god who formed the world for man's abode, presides also in the movements of mankind, and directs their voluntary march. see how this earth has been brought to her present firm and settled state. by storm and earthquake, continent has been rent from continent; oceans have swept over the mountains, and the scars of ancient war still mark our parent's venerable face. so is it in the growth of human society: it is the child of pain; revolutions have rocked its cradle, war and violence rudely nursed it into hardy life. good institutions, how painfully, how slowly have they come! "slowly as spreads the green of earth o'er the receding ocean's bed, dim as the distant stars come forth, uncertain as a vision slow, has been the old world's toiling pace, ere she can give fair freedom place." let us welcome the green spot, when it begins to spread; let us shout as the sterile sea of barbarism goes back; let us rejoice in the vision of good things to come; let us welcome the distant and rising orb, for it is the bethlehem star of a great nation, and they who behold it may well say--"peace on earth, and good-will to men." footnotes: [ ] mr. wendell phillips. [ ] see the _courier des etats unis_, for nov. , , which contains passages from m. lamartine's programme, which set forth all the schemes that the provisional government had afterwards tried to carry out. viii. speech at faneuil hall, before the new england anti-slavery convention, may , . the design of the abolitionists is this,--to remove and destroy the institution of slavery. to accomplish this well, two things are needed, ideas and actions. of the ideas first, and then a word of the actions. what is the idea of the abolitionists? only this, that all men are created free, endowed with unalienable rights; and in respect of those rights, that all men are equal. this is the idea of christianity, of human nature. of course, then, no man has a right to take away another's rights; of course, no man may use me for his good, and not my own good also; of course, there can be no ownership of man by man; of course, no slavery in any form. such is the idea, and some of the most obvious doctrines that follow from it. now, the abolitionists aim to put this idea into the minds of the people, knowing that if it be there, actions will follow fast enough. it seems a very easy matter to get it there. the idea is nothing new; all the world knows it. talk with men, democrats and whigs, they will say they like freedom in the abstract, they hate slavery in the abstract. but you find that somehow they like slavery in the concrete, and dislike abolitionism when it tries to set free the slave. slavery is the affair of the whole people; not congress, but the nation, made slavery; made it national, constitutional. not congress, but the voters, must unmake slavery; make it un-constitutional, un-national. they say congress cannot do it. well, perhaps it is so; but they that make can break. if the people made slavery, they can unmake it. you talk with the people; the idea of freedom is there. they tell you they believe the declaration of independence--that all men are created equal. but somehow they contrive to believe that negroes now in bondage are an exception to the rule, and so they tell us that slavery must not be meddled with, that we must respect the compromises of the constitution. so we see that respect for the constitution overrides respect for the inalienable rights of three millions of negro men. now, to move men, it is necessary to know two things--first, what they think, and next, why they think it. let us look a little at both. in new england, men over twenty-one years old may be divided into two classes. first, the men that vote, and secondly, the men that choose the governor. the voters in massachusetts are some hundred and twenty thousand; the men that choose the governor, who tell the people how to vote, whom to vote for, what laws to make, what to forbid, what policy to pursue--they are not very numerous. you may take one hundred men out of boston, and fifty men from the other large towns in the state--and if you could get them to be silent till next december, and give no counsel on political affairs, the people would not know what to do. the democrats would not know what to do, nor the whigs. we are a very democratic people, and suffrage is almost universal; but it is a very few men who tell us how to vote, who make all the most important laws. do i err in estimating the number at one hundred and fifty? i do not like to exaggerate--suppose there are six hundred men, three hundred in each party; that six hundred manage the political action of the state, in ordinary times. i need not stop to ask what the rest of the people think about freedom and slavery. what do the men who control our politics think thereof? i answer, they are not opposed to slavery; to the slavery of three millions of men. they may not like slavery in the abstract, or they may like it, i do not pretend to judge; but slavery in the concrete, at the south, they do like; opposition to that slavery, in the mildest form, or the sternest, they do hate. that is a serious charge to bring against the prominent rulers of the state. let me call your attention to a few facts which prove it. look at the men we send to congress. there are thirty-one new england men in congress. by the most liberal construction you can only make out five anti-slavery men in the whole number. who ever heard of an anti-slavery governor of massachusetts in this century? men know what they are about when they select candidates for election. do the voters always know what they are about when they choose them? then these men always are in favor of a pro-slavery president. the president must be a slaveholder. there have been fifteen presidential elections. men from the free states have filled the chair twelve years, or three terms; men from the slave states forty-four years, or eleven terms. during one term, the chair was filled by an amphibious presidency, by general harrison, who was nothing but a concrete availability, and john tyler, who was--john tyler. they called him an accident; but there are no accidents in politics. a slaveholder presides over the united states forty-eight years out of sixty! do those men who control the politics of new england not like it? it is no such thing. they love to have it so. we have just seen the democratic party, or their leaders, nominate general cass for their candidate--and general cass is a northern man; but on that account is he any the less a pro-slavery man? he did oppose the south once, but it was in pressing a war with england. everybody knows general cass, and i need say no more about him. but the northern whigs have their leaders--are they anti-slavery men? not a whit more. next week you will see them nominate, not the great eastern whig, though he is no opponent of slavery, only an expounder and defender of the constitution; not the great western whig, the compromiser, though steeped to the lips in slavery; no, they will nominate general taylor, a man who lives a little further south, and is at this moment dyed a little more scarlet with the sin of slavery. but go a step further as to the proof. those men who control the politics of massachusetts, or new england, or the whole north, they have never opposed the aggressive movements of the slave power. the annexation of texas, did they oppose that? no, they were glad of it. true, some earnest men came up here in faneuil hall, and passed resolutions, which did no good whatever, because it was well known that the real controllers of our politics thought the other way. then followed the mexican war. it was a war for slavery, and they knew it; they like it now--that is, if a man's likings can be found out by his doings, not his occasional and exceptional deeds, but his regular and constant actions. they knew that there would be a war against the currency, a war against the tariff, or a war against mexico. they chose the latter. they knew what they were about. the same thing is shown by the character of the press. no "respectable" paper is opposed to slavery; no whig paper, no democratic paper. you would as soon expect a catholic newspaper to oppose the pope and his church, for the slave power is the pope of america, though not exactly a pious pope. the churches show the same thing; they also are in the main pro-slavery, at least not anti-slavery. there are some forty denominations or sects in new england. mr. president, is one of these anti-slavery? not one! the land is full of ministers, respectable men, educated men--are they opposed to slavery? i do not know a single man, eminent in any sect, who is also eminent in his opposition to slavery. there was one such man, dr. channing; but just as he became eminent in the cause of freedom, he lost power in his own church, lost caste in his own little sect; and though men are now glad to make sectarian capital out of his reputation after he is dead, when he lived, they cursed him by their gods! then, too, all the most prominent men of new england fraternize with slavery. massachusetts received such an insult from south carolina as no state ever before received from another state in this union; an affront which no nation would dare offer another, without grinding its sword first. and what does massachusetts do? she does--nothing. but her foremost man goes off there, "the schoolmaster that gives no lessons,"[ ] to accept the hospitality of the south, to take the chivalry of south carolina by the hand; the defender of the constitution fraternizes with the state which violates the constitution, and imprisons his own constituents on account of the color of their skin. put all these things together, and they show that the men who control the politics of massachusetts, of all new england, do not oppose or dislike slavery. * * * * * so much for what they think; and now for the why they think so. first, there is the general indifference to what is absolutely right. men think little of it. the anglo-saxon race, on both sides of the water, have always felt the instinct of freedom, and often contended stoutly enough for their own rights. but they never cared much for the rights of other men. the slaves are at a distance from us, and so the wrong of this institution is not brought home to men's feelings as if it were our own wrong. then the pecuniary interests of the north are supposed to be connected with slavery, so that the north would lose dollars if the south lost slaves. no doubt this is a mistake; still, it is an opinion currently held. the north wants a market for its fabrics, freight for its ships. the south affords it; and, as men think, better than if she had manufactures and ships of her own, both of which she could have, were there no slaves. all this seems to be a mistake. freedom, i think, can be shown to be the interest of both north and south. yet another reason is found in devotion to the interests of a party. tell a whig he could make whig capital out of anti-slavery, he would turn abolitionist in a moment, if he believed you. tell a democrat that he can make capital out of abolition, and he also will come over to your side. but the fact is, each party knows it would gain nothing for its political purposes by standing out for the rights of man. the time will come, and sooner too than some men think, when it will be for the interest of a party to favor abolition; but that time is not yet. it does seem strange, that while you can find men who will practise a good deal of self-denial for their sect or their party, lending, and hoping nothing in return, you so rarely find a man who will compromise even his popularity for the sake of mankind. then again, there is the fear of change. men who control our politics seem to have little confidence in man, little in truth, little in justice, and the eternal right. therefore, while it is never out of season to do something for the tariff, for the moneyed interests of men, they think it is never in time to do much for the great work of elevating mankind itself. they have no confidence in the people, and take little pains to make the people worthy of confidence. so any change which gives a more liberal government to a people, which gives freedom to the slave, they look on with distrust, if not alarm. in , when the french expelled the despotic king who encumbered their throne, what said massachusetts, what said new england, in honor of the deed? nothing. your old men? nothing. your young men? not a word. what did they care for the freedom of thirty millions of men? they were looking at their imports and exports. in , when england set free eight hundred thousand men in a day, what did massachusetts say about that? what had new england to say? not a word in its favor from these political leaders of the land. nay, they thought the experiment was dangerous, and ever since that it is with great reluctance you can get them to confess that the scheme works well. in , when france again expels her king, and all the royalty in the kingdom is carted off in a one-horse cab--when the broadest principles of human government are laid down, and a great nation sets about the difficult task of moving out of her old political house, and into a new one, without tearing down the old, without butchering men in the process of removal,--why, what has boston to say to that? what have the political leaders of massachusetts, of new england, to say? they have nothing to say for liberty; they are sorry the experiment was made; they are afraid the french will not want so much cotton; they have no confidence in man, and fear every change. such are their opinions, to judge by what they do; such the reasons thereof, judging by what they say. * * * * * but now how can we change this, and get the idea of freedom into men's minds? something can be done by the gradual elevation of men, by schools and churches, by the press. the churches and colleges of new england have not directly aided us in the work of abolishing slavery. no doubt by their direct action they have retarded that work, and that a good deal. but indirectly they have done much to hasten the work. they have helped educate men; helped make men moral, in a general way; and now this moral power can be turned to this special business, though the churches say, "no, you shall not." i see before me a good and an earnest man,[ ] who, not opening his mouth in public against slavery, has yet done a great service in this way: he has educated the teachers of the commonwealth, has taught them to love freedom, to love justice, to love man and god. that is what i call sowing the seeds of anti-slavery. the honored and excellent secretary of education,[ ] who has just gone to stand in the place of a famous man, and i hope to fill it nobly, has done much in this way. i wish in his reports on education he had exposed the wrong which is done here in boston, by putting all the colored children in one school, by shutting them out of the latin school and the english high school. i wish he had done that duty, which plainly belongs to him to do. but without touching that, he has yet done, indirectly, a great work towards the abolition of slavery. he has sown the seeds of education wide spread over the state. one day these seeds will come up; come up men, men that will both vote and choose the governor; men that will love right and justice; will see the iniquity of american slavery, and sweep it off the continent, cost what it may cost, spite of all compromises of the constitution, and all compromisers. i look on that as certain. but that is slow work, this waiting for a general morality to do a special act. it is going without dinner till the wheat is grown for your bread. so we want direct and immediate action upon the people themselves. the idea must be set directly before them, with all its sanctions displayed, and its obligations made known. this can be done in part by the pulpit. dr. channing shows how much one man can do, standing on that eminence. you all know how much he did do. i am sorry that he came so late, sorry that he did not do more, but thankful for what he did do. however, you cannot rely on the pulpit to do much. the pulpit represents the average goodness and piety; not eminent goodness and piety. it is unfair to call ordinary men to do extraordinary works. i do not concur in all the hard things that are said about the clergy, perhaps it is because i am one of them; but i do not expect a great deal from them. it is hard to call a class of men all at once to rise above all other classes of men, and teach a degree of virtue which they do not understand. but you may call them to be true to their own consciences. so the pulpit is not to be relied on for much aid. if all the ministers of new england were abolitionists, with the same zeal that they are protestants, universalists, methodists, calvinists, or unitarians, no doubt the whole state would soon be an anti-slavery state, and the day of emancipation would be wonderfully hastened. but that we are not to look for. much can be done by lecturers, who shall go to the people and address them, not as whigs or democrats, not as sectarians, but as men, and in the name of man and god present the actual condition of the slaves, and show the duty of the north and the south, of the nation, in regard to this matter. for this business, we want money and men, the two sinews of war; money to pay the men, men to earn the money. they must appeal to the people in their primary capacity, simply as men. much also may be done by the press. how much may be done by these two means, and that in a few years, these men[ ] can tell; all the north and south can tell. men of the most diverse modes of thought can work together in this cause. here on my right is mr. phillips, an old-fashioned calvinist, who believes all the five points of calvinism. i am rather a new-fashioned unitarian, and believe only one of the five points, the one mr. phillips has proved--the perseverance of the saints; but we get along without any quarrel by the way. some men will try political action. the action of the people, of the nation, must be political action. it may be constitutional, it may be un-constitutional. i see not why men need quarrel about that. let not him that voteth, condemn him that voteth not; nor let not him that voteth not, condemn him that voteth, but let every man be faithful to his own convictions. it is said, the abolitionists waste time and wind in denunciation. it is partly true. i make no doubt it inspires the slaveholder's heart to see division amongst his foes. i ought to say his friends, for such we are. he thinks the day of justice is deferred, while the ministers thereof contend. i do not believe a revolution is to be baptized with rose-water. i do not believe a great work is to be done without great passions. it is not to be supposed that the leviathan of american slavery will allow himself to be drawn out of the mire in which he has made his nest, and grown fat and strong, without some violence and floundering. when we have caught him fairly, he will put his feet into the mud to hold on by; he will reach out and catch hold of every thing that will hold him. he has caught hold of mr. clay and mr. webster. he will catch hold of general cass and general taylor. he will die, though slowly, and die hard. still it is a pity that men who essay to pull him out, should waste their strength in bickerings with one another, or in needless denunciation of the leviathan's friends. call slaveholding, slaveholding; let us tell all the evils which arise from it, if we can find language terrible enough; let us show up the duplicity of the nation, the folly of our wise men, the littleness of our great men, the baseness of our honorable men, if need be; but all that with no unkind feelings toward any one. virtue never appears so lovely as when destroying sin, she loves the sinner, and seeks to save him. absence of love is absence of the strongest power. see how much mr. adams lost of his influence, how much he wasted of his strength, by the violence with which he pursued persons. i am glad to acknowledge the great services he performed. he wished to have every man stand on the right side of the anti-slavery line; but i believe there were some men whom he would like to have put there with a pitch-fork. on the other hand, dr. channing never lost a moment by attacking a personal foe; and see what he gained by it! however, i must say this, that no great revolution of opinion and practice was ever brought about before with so little violence, waste of force, and denunciation. consider the greatness of the work: it is to restore three millions to liberty; a work, in comparison with which the american revolution was a little thing. yet consider the violence, the denunciation, the persecution, and the long years of war, which that revolution cost. i do not wonder that abolitionists are sometimes violent; i only deplore it. remembering the provocation, i wonder they are not more so and more often. the prize is to be run for, "not without dust and heat." working in this way, we are sure to succeed. the idea is an eternal truth. it will find its way into the public mind, for there is that sympathy between man and the truth, that he cannot live without it and be blessed. what allies we have on our side! true, the cupidity, the tyranny, the fear and the atheism of the land are against us. but all the nobleness, all the honor, all the morality, all the religion, are on our side. i was sorry to hear it said, that the religion of the land opposed us. it is not true. religion never opposed any good work. i know what my friend meant, and i wish he had said it, calling things by their right names. it is the irreligion of the land that favors slavery; it is the idolatry of gold; it is our atheism. of speculative atheism there is not much; you see how much of the practical! we are certain of success; the spirit of the age is on our side. see how the old nations shake their tyrants out of the land. see how every steamer brings us good tidings of good things; and do you believe america can keep her slaves? it is idle to think so. so all we want is time. on our side are truth, justice, and the eternal right. yes, on our side is religion, the religion of christ; on our side are the hopes of mankind, and the great power of god. footnotes: [ ] this was a sentiment offered at a public dinner given by the citizens of charleston, s. c., to hon. daniel webster. [ ] rev. cyrus pierce, teacher of the normal school at newton. [ ] hon. horace mann. [ ] messrs. garrison, phillips and quincy. ix. some thoughts on the free soil party and the election of general taylor. december, . the people of the united states have just chosen an officer, who, for the next four years, will have more power than any monarch of europe; yet three years ago he was scarcely known out of the army in florida, and even now has appeared only in the character of a successful general. his supporters at the north intend, by means of his election, to change the entire commercial policy of the country, and perhaps, also, its financial policy; they contemplate, or profess to contemplate, a great change. yet the election has been effected without tumult or noise; not a soldier has drawn his bayonet; scarcely has a constable needed his official rod to keep order withal. in europe, at the same time, the beginning of a change in the national dynasty or the national policy is only attempted by violence, by soldiers with arms ready for fight, by battle and murder. one day or another, men will be wise enough to see the cause of this difference, and insular statesmen in england, who now sneer at the new government in america, may learn that democracy has at least one quality--that of respecting law and order, and may live to see ours the oldest government in the whole caucasian race. since the election is now over, it is worth while to look a moment at the politics and political parties of the country, that we may gain wisdom for the future, and perhaps hope; at any rate, may see the actual condition of things. each political party is based on an idea, which corresponds to a truth, or an interest. it commonly happens that the idea is represented as an interest, and the interest as an idea, before either becomes the foundation of a large party. now when a new idea is introduced to any party, or applied to any institution, if it be only auxiliary to the old doctrines incarnated therein, a regular growth and new development take place; but when the new idea is hostile to the old, the development takes place under the form of a revolution, and that will be greater or less in proportion to the difference between the new idea and the old doctrine; in proportion to their relative strength and value. as aristotle said of seditions, a revolution comes on slight occasions, but not of slight causes;[ ] the occasion may be obvious and obviously trivial, but the cause obscure and great. the occasion of the french revolution of was afforded by the attempt of the king to prevent a certain public dinner: he had a legal right to prevent it. the cause of the revolution was a little different; but some men in america and england, at first, scarcely looked beyond the occasion, and, taking that for the cause, thought the frenchmen fools to make so much ado about a trifle, and that they had better eat their _soupe maigre_ at home, and let their victuals stop their mouths. the occasion of the american revolution may be found in the stamp-act, or the sugar-act, the writs of assistance, or the boston port-bill; some men, even now, see no further, and logically conclude the colonists made a mistake, because for a dozen years they were far worse off than before the "rebellion," and have never been so lightly taxed since. such men do not see the cause of the revolution, which was not an unwillingness to pay taxes, but a determination to govern themselves. at the present day it is plain that a revolution, neither slow nor silent, is taking place in the political parties of america. the occasion thereof is the nomination of a man for the presidency who has no political or civil experience, but who has three qualities that are important in the eyes of the leading men who have supported and pushed him forward: one is, that he is an eminent slaveholder, whose interests and accordingly whose ideas are identical with those of the slaveholders; the next, that he is not hostile to the doctrines of northern manufacturers respecting a protective tariff; and the third, that he is an eminent and very successful military commander. the last is an accidental quality, and it is not to be supposed that the intelligent and influential men at the north and south who have promoted his election, value him any more on that account, or think that mere military success fits him for his high office, and enables him to settle the complicated difficulties of a modern state. they must know better; but they must have known that many men of little intelligence are so taken with military glory that they will ask for no more in their hero; it was foreseen, also, that honest and intelligent men of all parties would give him their vote because he had never been mixed up with the intrigues of political life. thus "far-sighted" politicians of the north and south saw that he might be fairly elected, and then might serve the purposes of the slaveholder, or the manufacturer of the north. the military success of general taylor, an accidental merit, was only the occasion of his nomination by the whigs; his substantial merit was found in the fact, that he was supposed, or known, to be favorable to the "peculiar institution" of the south, and the protective policy of the manufacturers at the north: this was the cause of his formal nomination by the whig convention of philadelphia, and his real nomination by members of the whig party at washington. the men of property at the south wanted an extension of slavery; the men of property at the north, a high protective tariff; and it was thought general taylor could serve both purposes, and promote the interests of the north and south. such is the occasion of the revolution in political parties: the cause is the introduction of a new idea into these parties entirely hostile to some of their former doctrines. in the electioneering contest, the new idea was represented by the words "free soil." for present practice it takes a negative form: "no more slave states, no more slave territory," is the motto. but these words and this motto do not adequately represent the idea, only so much thereof as has been needful in the present crisis. before now there has been much in the political history of america to provoke the resentment of the north. england has been ruled by various dynasties; the american chair has been chiefly occupied by the southern house, the dynasty of slaveholders: now and then a member of the northern house has sat on that seat, but commonly it has been a "northern man with southern principles," never a man with mind to see the great idea of america, and will to carry it out in action. still the spirit of liberty has not died out of the north; the attempt to put an eighth slaveholder in the chair of "the model republic," gave occasion for that spirit to act again. the new idea is not hostile to the distinctive doctrine of either political party; neither to free trade, nor to protection; so it makes no revolution in respect to them: it is neutral, and leaves both as it found them. it is not hostile to the general theory of the american state, so it makes no revolution there; this idea is assumed as self-evident, in the declaration of independence. it is not inimical to the theory of the constitution of the united states, as set forth in the preamble thereto, where the design of the constitution is declared to be "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." there are clauses in the constitution, which are exceptions to this theory, and hostile to the design mentioned above; to such, this idea will one day prove itself utterly at variance, as it is now plainly hostile to one part of the practice of the american government, and that of both the parties. we have had several political parties since the revolution: the federalists, and anti-federalists,--the latter shading off into republicans, democrats, and loco focos; the former tapering into modern whigs, in which guise some of their fathers would scarcely recognize the family type. we have had a protective party and an anti-protective party; once there was a free-trade party, which no longer appears in politics. there has been a national bank party, which seems to have gone to the realm of things lost on earth. in the rise and fall of these parties, several dramas, tragic and comic, have been performed on the american boards, where "one man in his time plays many parts," and stout representatives of the hartford convention find themselves on the same side with worshippers of the gerrymander, and shouting the same cry. it is kindly ordered that memory should be so short, and brass so common. none of the old parties is likely to return; the living have buried the dead. "we are all federalists," said mr. jefferson, "we are all democrats," and truly, so far as old questions are concerned. it is well known that the present representatives of the old federal party, have abjured the commercial theory of their predecessors; and the men who were "jacobins" at the beginning of the century, curse the new french revolution by their gods. at the presidential election of , there were but two parties in the field--democrats and whigs. as they both survive, it is well to see what interests or what ideas they represent. they differ accidentally in the possession and the desire of power; in the fact that the former took the initiative, in annexing texas, and in making the mexican war, while the latter only pretended to oppose either, but zealously and continually coöperated in both. then, again, the democratic party sustains the sub-treasury system, insisting that the government shall not interfere with banking, shall keep its own deposits, and give and take only specie in its business with the people. the whig party, if we understand it, has not of late developed any distinctive doctrine, on the subject of money and financial operations, but only complained of the action of the sub-treasury; yet, as it sustained the late bank of the united states, and appropriately followed as chief mourner at the funeral thereof, uttering dreadful lamentations and prophecies which time has not seen fit to accomplish, it still keeps up a show of differing from the democrats on this matter. these are only accidental or historical differences, which do not practically affect the politics of the nation to any great degree. the substantial difference between the two is this: the whigs desire a tariff of duties which shall directly and intentionally protect american industry, or, as we understand it, shall directly and intentionally protect manufacturing industry, while the commercial and agricultural interests are to be protected indirectly, not as if they were valuable in themselves, but were a collateral security to the manufacturing interest: a special protection is desired for the great manufactures, which are usually conducted by large capitalists--such as the manufacture of wool, iron, and cotton. on the other hand, the democrats disclaim all direct protection of any special interest, but, by raising the national revenue from the imports of the nation, actually afford a protection to the articles of domestic origin to the extent of the national revenue, and much more. that is the substantial difference between the two parties--one which has been much insisted on at the late election, especially at the north. is this difference of any practical importance at the present moment? there are two methods of raising the revenue of a country: first, by direct taxation,--a direct tax on the person, a direct tax on the property; second, by indirect taxation. to a simple-minded man direct taxation seems the only just and equal mode of collecting the public revenue: thereby, the rich man pays in proportion to his much, the poor to his little. this is so just and obvious, that it is the only method resorted to, in towns of the north, for raising their revenue. but while it requires very little common sense and virtue to appreciate this plan in a town, it seems to require a good deal to endure it in a nation. the four direct taxes levied by the american government since have been imperfectly collected, and only with great difficulty and long delay. to avoid this difficulty, the government resorts to various indirect modes of taxation, and collects the greater part of its revenue from the imports which reach our shores. in this way a man's national tax is not directly in proportion to his wealth, but directly in proportion to his consumption of imported goods, or directly to that of domestic goods, whose price is enhanced by the duties laid on the foreign article. so it may happen that an irish laborer, with a dozen children, pays a larger national tax than a millionnaire who sees fit to live in a miserly style. besides, no one knows when he pays or what. at first it seems as if the indirect mode of taxation made the burden light, but in the end it does not always prove so. the remote effect thereof is sometimes remarkable. the tax of one per cent, levied in massachusetts on articles sold by auction, has produced some results not at all anticipated. now since neither party ventures to suggest direct taxation, the actual question between the two is not between free trade and protection, but only between a protective and a revenue tariff. so the real and practical question between them is this: shall there be a high tariff or a low one? at first sight a man not in favor of free trade might think the present tariff gave sufficient protection to those great manufactures of wool, cotton, and iron, and as much as was reasonable. but the present duty is perhaps scarcely adequate to meet the expenses of the nation, for with new territory new expenses must come; there is a large debt to be discharged, its interest to be paid; large sums will be demanded as pensions for the soldiers. since these things are so, it is but reasonable to conclude that, under the administration of the whigs or democrats, a pretty high tariff of duties will continue for some years to come. so the great and substantial difference between the two parties ceases to be of any great and substantial importance. in the mean time another party rises up, representing neither of these interests; without developing any peculiar views relative to trade or finance, it proclaims the doctrine that there must be no more slave territory, and no more slave states. this doctrine is of great practical importance, and one in which the free soil party differs substantially from both the other parties. the idea on which the party rests is not new; it does not appear that the men who framed the constitution, or the people who accepted it, ever contemplated the extension of slavery beyond the limits of the united states at that time; had such a proposition been then made, it would have been indignantly rejected by both. the principle of the wilmot proviso boasts the same origin as the declaration of independence. the state of feeling at the north occasioned by the missouri compromise is well known, but after that there was no political party opposed to slavery. no president has been hostile to it; no cabinet; no congress. in , mr. pickering, a senator from massachusetts, brought forward his bill for amending the constitution, so that slaves should not form part of the basis of representation; but it fell to the ground, not to be lifted up by his successors for years to come. the refusal of john quincy adams, while president, to recognize the independence of hayti, and his efforts to favor the slave power, excited no remark. in , for the first time the anti-slavery votes began seriously to affect the presidential election. at that time the whigs had nominated mr. clay as their candidate, a man of great powers, of popular manners, the friend of northern industry, but still more the friend of southern slavery, and more directly identified with that than any man in so high a latitude. the result of the anti-slavery votes is well known. the bitterest reproaches have been heaped on the men who voted against him as the incarnation of the slave power; the annexation of texas, though accomplished by a whig senate, and the mexican war, though only sixteen members of congress voted against it, have both been laid to their charge; and some have even affected to wonder that men conscientiously opposed to slavery could not forget their principle for the sake of their party, and put a most decided slaveholder, who had treated not only them but their cause with scorn and contempt, in the highest place of power. the whig party renewed its attempt to place a slaveholder in the president's chair, at a time when all europe was rising to end for ever the tyranny of man. general taylor was particularly obnoxious to the anti-slavery men. he is a slaveholder, holding one or two hundred men in bondage, and enlarging that number by recent purchases; he employs them in the worst kind of slave labor, the manufacture of sugar; he leaves them to the mercy of overseers, the dregs and refuse of mankind; he has just returned from a war undertaken for the extension of slavery; he is a southern man with southern interests, and opinions favorable to slavery, and is uniformly represented by his supporters at the south, as decidedly opposed to the wilmot proviso, and in favor of the extension of slavery. we know this has been denied at the north; but the testimony of the south settles the question. the convention of democrats in south carolina, when they also nominated him, said well, "his interests are our interests:... we know that on this great, paramount, and leading question of the rights of the south [to extend slavery over the new territory], he is for us and he is with us." said a newspaper in his own state, "general taylor is from birth, association, and conviction, identified with the south and her institutions, being one of the most extensive slaveholders in louisiana, and supported by the slaveholding interest; is opposed to the wilmot proviso, and in favor of procuring the privilege to the owners of slaves to remove with them to newly acquired territory." the southerners evidently thought the crisis an important one. the following is from the distinguished whig senator, mr. berrien. "i consider it the most important presidential election, especially to southern men, which has occurred since the foundation of the government. "we have great and important interests at stake. if we fail to sustain them now, we may be forced too soon to decide whether we will remain in the union, at the mercy of a band of fanatics or political jugglers, or reluctantly retire from it for the preservation of our domestic institutions, and all our rights as freemen. if we are united, we can sustain them; if we divide on the old party issues, we must be victims. "with a heart devoted to their interests on this great question, and without respect to party, i implore my fellow-citizens of georgia, whig and democratic, to forget for the time their party divisions: to know each other only as southern men: to act upon the truism uttered by mr. calhoun, that on this vital question,--the preservation of our domestic institutions,--the southern man who is furthest from us, is nearer to us than any northern man can be; that general taylor is identified with us, in feeling and interest, was born in a slaveholding state, educated in a slaveholding state, is himself a slaveholder; that his slave property constitutes the means of support to himself and family; that he cannot desert us without sacrificing his interest, his principle, the habits and feelings of his life; and that with him, therefore, our institutions are safe. i beseech them, therefore, from the love which they bear to our noble state, to rally under the banner of zachary taylor, and, with one united voice, to send him by acclamation to the executive chair." all this has been carefully kept from the sight of the people at the north. there have always been men in america, who were opposed to the extension and the very existence of slavery. in , the best and the most celebrated statesmen were publicly active on the side of freedom. some thought slavery a sin, others a mistake, but nearly all in the convention thought it an error. south carolina and georgia were the only states thoroughly devoted to slavery at that time. they threatened to withdraw from the union, if it were not sufficiently respected in the new constitution. if the other states had said, "you may go, soon as you like, for hitherto you have been only a curse to us, and done little but brag," it would have been better for us all. however, partly for the sake of keeping the peace, and still more for the purpose of making money by certain concessions of the south, the north granted the southern demands. after the adoption of the constitution, the anti-slavery spirit cooled down; other matters occupied the public mind. the long disasters of europe; the alarm of the english party, who feared their sons should be "conscripts in the armies of napoleon," and the violence of the french party, who were ready to compromise the dignity of the nation, and add new elements to the confusion in europe; the subsequent conflict with england, and then the efforts to restore the national character, and improve our material condition,--these occupied the thought of the nation, till the missouri compromise again disturbed the public mind. but that was soon forgotten; little was said about slavery. in the eighteenth century, it was discussed in the colleges and newspapers, even in the pulpits of the north; but, in the first quarter of the nineteenth, little was heard of it. manufactures got established at the north, and protected by duties; at the south, cotton was cultivated with profit, and a heavy duty protected the slave-grown sugar of louisiana. the pecuniary interests of north and south became closely connected, and both seemed dependent on the peaceable continuance of slavery. little was said against it, little thought, and nothing done. southern masters voluntarily brought their slaves to new england, and took them back, no one offering the african the conventional shelter of the law, not to speak of the natural shelter of justice. we well remember the complaint made somewhat later, when a judge decided that a slave, brought here by his master's consent, became, from that moment, free! but where sin abounded, grace doth much more abound. there rose up one man who would not compromise, nor be silent,--who would be heard.[ ] he spoke of the evil, spoke of the sin--for all true reforms are bottomed on religion, and while they seem adverse to many interests, yet represent the idea of the eternal. he found a few others, a very few, and began the anti-slavery movement. the "platform" of the new party was not an interest, but an idea--that "all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights." every truth is also a fact; this was a fact of human consciousness, and a truth of necessity. the time has not come to write the history of the abolitionists,--other deeds must come before words; but we cannot forbear quoting the testimony of one witness, as to the state of anti-slavery feeling in new england in . it is the late hon. harrison gray otis, a former mayor of boston, who speaks in his recent letter. "the first information received by me, of a disposition to agitate this subject in our state, was from the governors of virginia and georgia, severally remonstrating against an incendiary newspaper, published in boston, and, as they alleged, thrown broadcast among their plantations, inciting to insurrection and its horrid results. it appeared, on inquiry, that no member of the city government [of boston] had ever heard of the publication. some time afterwards it was reported to me by the city officers, that they had ferreted out the paper and its editor; that his office was an obscure hole, his only visible auxiliary a negro boy, and his supporters a very few insignificant persons of all colors. this information.... i communicated to the above-named governors, with an assurance of my belief that the new fanaticism had not made, nor was likely to make, proselytes among the respectable classes of our people." such was the state of things in . anti-slavery had "an obscure hole" for its head-quarters; the one agitator, who had filled the two doughty governors of virginia and georgia with uncomfortable forebodings, had a "negro boy" "for his only visible auxiliary," and none of the respectable men of boston had heard of the hole, of the agitator, of the negro boy, or even of the agitation. one thing must be true: either the man and the boy were pretty vigorous, or else there was a great truth in that obscure hole; for, in spite of the governors and the mayors, spite of the many able men in the south and the north, spite, also, of the wealth and respectability of the whole land, it is a plain case that the abolitionists have shaken the nation, and their idea is the idea of the time; and the party which shall warmly welcome that is destined before long to override all the other parties. one thing must be said of the leaders of the anti-slavery movement. they asked for nothing but justice; not justice for themselves--they were not socratic enough to ask that,--but only justice for the slave; and to obtain that, they forsook all that human hearts most love. it is rather a cheap courage that fought at monterey and palo alto, a bravery that can be bought for eight dollars a month; the patriotism which hurras for "our side," which makes speeches at faneuil hall, nay, which carries torch-lights in a procession, is not the very loftiest kind of patriotism; even the man who stands up at the stake, and in one brief hour of agony anticipates the long torment of disease, does not endure the hardest, but only the most obvious kind of martyrdom. but when a man, for conscience' sake, leaves a calling that would insure him bread and respectability; when he abjures the opinions which give him the esteem of honorable men; when, for the sake of truth and justice, he devotes himself to liberating the most abused and despised class of men, solely because they are men and brothers; when he thus steps forth in front of the world, and encounters poverty and neglect, the scorn, the loathing, and the contempt of mankind--why, there is something not very common in that. there was once a man who had not where to lay his head, who was born in "an obscure hole," and had not even a negro boy for his "auxiliary;" who all his life lived with most obscure persons--eating and drinking with publicans and sinners; who found no favor with mayors or governors, and yet has had some influence on the history of the world. when intelligent men mock at small beginnings, it is surprising they cannot remember that the greatest institutions have had their times which tried men's souls, and that they who have done all the noblest and best work of mankind, sometimes forgot self-interest in looking at a great truth; and though they had not always even a negro boy to help them, or an obscure hole to lay their heads in, yet found the might of the universe was on the side of right, and themselves workers with god! the abolitionists did not aim to found a political party; they set forth an idea. if they had set up the interest of the whigs or the democrats, the manufacturers or the merchants, they might have formed a party and had a high place in it, with money, ease, social rank and a great name in the party--newspapers. some of them had political talents, ideas more than enough, the power of organizing men, the skill to manage them, and a genius for eloquence. with such talents, it demands not a little manliness to keep out of politics and in the truth. to found a political party there is no need of a great moral idea: the whig party has had none such this long time; the democratic party pretends to none and acts on none; each represents an interest which can be estimated in dollars; neither seems to see that behind questions of political economy there is a question of political morality, and the welfare of the nation depends on the answer we shall give! so long as the abolitionists had nothing but an idea, and but few men had that, there was no inducement for the common run of politicians to join them; they could make nothing by it, so nothing of it. the guardians of education, the trustees of the popular religion, did not like to invest in such funds. but still the idea went on, spite of the most entire, the most bitter, the most heartless and unrelenting opposition ever known in america. no men were ever hated as the abolitionists; political parties have joined to despise, and sectarian churches to curse them. yet the idea has gone on, till now all that is most pious in the sects, most patriotic in the parties, all that is most christian in modern philanthropy, is on its side. it has some representative in almost every family, save here and there one whose god is mammon alone, where the parents are antediluvian and the children born old and conservative, with no faculty but memory to bind them to mankind. it has its spokesmen in the house and the senate. the tide rises and swells, and the compact wall of the whig party, the tall ramparts of the democrats, are beginning to "cave in." as the idea has gained ground, men have begun to see that an interest is connected with it, and begun to look after that. one thing the north knows well--the art of calculation, and of ciphering. so it begins to ask questions as to the positive and comparative influence of the slave power on the country. who fought the revolution? why the north, furnishing the money and the men, massachusetts alone sending fourteen thousand soldiers more than all the present slave states. who pays the national taxes? the north, for the slaves pay but a trifle. who owns the greater part of the property, the mills, the shops, the ships? the north. who writes the books--the histories, poems, philosophies, works of science, even the sermons and commentaries on the bible? still the north. who sends their children to school and college? the north. who builds the churches, who founds the bible societies, education societies, missionary societies, the thousand-and-one institutions for making men better and better off? why the north. in a word, who is it that in seventy years has made the nation great, rich, and famous for her ideas and their success all over the world? the answer is, still the north, the north. well, says the calculator, but who has the offices of the nation? the south. who has filled the presidential chair forty-eight years out of sixty? nobody but slaveholders. who has held the chief posts of honor? the south. who occupy the chief offices in the army and navy? the south. who increases the cost of the post-office and pays so little of its expense?[ ] the south. who is most blustering and disposed to quarrel? the south. who made the mexican war? the south. who sets at nought the constitution? the south. who would bring the greatest peril in case of war with a strong enemy? why the south, the south. but what is the south most noted for abroad? for her three million slaves; and the north? for her wealth, freedom, education, religion! then the calculator begins to remember past times--opens the account-books and turns back to old charges: five slaves count the same as three freemen, and the three million slaves, which at home are nothing but property, entitle their owners to as many representatives in congress as are now sent by all the one million eight hundred thousand freemen who make the entire population of maine, new hampshire, vermont, rhode island, and massachusetts, and have created a vast amount of property worth more than all the slave states put together! then the north must deliver up the fugitive slaves, and ohio must play the traitor, the kidnapper, the bloodhound, for kentucky! the south wanted to make two slave states out of florida, and will out of texas; she makes slavery perpetual in both; she is always bragging as if she made the revolution, while she only laid the embargo, and began the late war with england,--but that is going further back than is needful. the south imprisons our colored sailors in her ports, contrary to justice, and even contrary to the constitution. she drove our commissioners out of south carolina and louisiana, when they were sent to look into the matter and legally seek for redress. she affronts the world with a most odious despotism, and tried to make the english return her runaway slaves, making the nation a reproach before the world; she insists on kidnapping men even in boston; she declares that we shall not abolish slavery in the capital of the union; that she will extend it in spite of us from sea to sea. she annexed texas for a slave-pasture, and then made the mexican war to enlarge that pasture, but the north must pay for it; she treads the constitution under her feet, the north under her feet, justice and the unalienable rights of man under her feet. the north has charged all these items and many more; now they are brought up for settlement, and, if not cancelled, will not be forgot till the muse of history gives up the ghost; some northern men have the american sentiment, and the american idea, put the man before the dollar, counting man the substance, property the accident. the sentiment and idea of liberty are bottomed on christianity, as that on human nature; they are quite sure to prevail; the spirit of the nation is on their side--the spirit of the age and the everlasting right. it is instructive to see how the political parties have hitherto kept clear of anti-slavery. it is "no part of the whig doctrine;" the democrats abhor it. mr. webster, it is true, once claimed the wilmot proviso as his thunder, but he cannot wield it, and so it slips out of his hands, and runs round to the chair of his brother senator from new hampshire.[ ] no leading politician in america has ever been a leader against slavery. even mr. adams only went as he was pushed. true, among the whigs there are giddings, palfrey, tuck, mann, root, and julian; among the democrats there is hale--and a few others; but what are they among so many? the members of the family of truth are unpopular, they make excellent servants but hard masters, while the members of the family of interest are all respectable, and are the best company in the world; their livery is attractive; their motto, "the almighty dollar," is a passport everywhere. now it happens that some of the more advanced members of the family of truth fight their way into "good society," and make matrimonial alliances with some of the poor relations of the family of interest. straightway they become respectable; the church publishes the banns; the marriage is solemnized in the most christian form; the attorney declares it legal. so the gospel and law are satisfied, truth and interest made one, and many persons after this alliance may be seen in the company of truth who before knew not of her existence. the free soil party has grown out of the anti-slavery movement. it will have no more slave territory, but does not touch slavery in the states, or between them, and says nothing against the compromises of the constitution; the time has not come for that. the party has been organized in haste, and is composed, as are all parties, of most discordant materials, some of its members seeming hardly familiar with the idea; some are not yet emancipated from old prejudices, old methods of action, and old interests; but the greater part seem hostile to slavery in all its forms. the immediate triumph of this new party is not to be looked for; not desirable. in massachusetts they have gained large numbers in a very short period, and under every disadvantage. what their future history is to be, we will not now attempt to conjecture; but this is plain, that they cannot remain long in their present position; either they will go back, and, after due penance, receive political absolution from the church of the whigs, or the democrats,--and this seems impossible,--or else they must go forward where the idea of justice impels them. one day the motto "no more slave territory" will give place to this, "no slavery in america." the revolution in ideas is not over till that is done, nor the corresponding revolution in deeds while a single slave remains in america. a man who studies the great movements of mankind feels sure that that day is not far off; that no combination of northern and southern interest, no declamation, no violence, no love of money, no party zeal, no fraud and no lies, no compromise, can long put off the time. bad passions will ere long league with the holiest love of right, and that wickedness may be put down with the strong hand which might easily be ended at little cost and without any violence, even of speech. one day the democratic party of the north will remember the grievances which they have suffered from the south, and, if they embrace the idea of freedom, no constitutional scruple will long hold them from destroying the "peculiar institution." what slavery is in the middle of the nineteenth century is quite plain; what it will be at the beginning of the twentieth it is not difficult to foresee. the slave power has gained a great victory: one more such will cost its life. south carolina did not forget her usual craft in voting for a northern man that was devoted to slavery. * * * * * let us now speak briefly of the conduct of the election. it has been attended, at least in new england, with more intellectual action than any election that i remember, and with less violence, denunciation, and vulgar appeals to low passions and sordid interest. massachusetts has shown herself worthy of her best days; the free soil vote may be looked on with pride, by men who conscientiously cast their ballot the other way. men of ability and integrity have been active on both sides, and able speeches have been made, while the vulgarity that marked the "harrison campaign" has not been repeated. in this contest the democratic party made a good confession, and "owned up" to the full extent of their conduct. they stated the question at issue, fairly, clearly, and entirely; the point could not be mistaken. the baltimore convention dealt honestly in declaring the political opinions of the party; the opinions of their candidate on the great party questions, and the subject of slavery, were made known with exemplary clearness and fidelity. the party did not fight in the dark; they had no dislike to holding slaves, and they pretended none. in all parts of the land they went before the people with the same doctrines and the same arguments; everywhere they "repudiated" the wilmot proviso. this gave them an advantage over a party with a different policy. they had a platform of doctrines; they knew what it was; the party stood on the platform; the candidate stood on it. the whig party have conducted differently; they did not publish their confession of faith. we know what was the whig platform in and in . but what is it in ? particular men may publish their opinions, but the doctrines of the party are "not communicated to the public." for once in the history of america there was a whig convention which passed no "resolutions;" it was the convention at philadelphia. but on one point, of the greatest importance too, it expressed the opinions of the whigs: it rejected the wilmot proviso, and mr. webster's thunder, which had fallen harmless and without lightning from his hands, was "kicked out of the meeting!" as the party had no platform, so their candidate had no political opinions. "what!" says one, "choose a president who does not declare his opinions,--then it must be because they are perfectly well known!" not at all: general taylor is raw in politics, and has not taken his first "drill!" "then he must be a man of such great political and moral ability, that his will may take the place of reason!" not at all: he is known only as a successful soldier, and his reputation is scarcely three years old. mr. webster declared his nomination "not fit to be made," and nobody has any authentic statement of his political opinions; perhaps not even general taylor himself. in the electioneering campaign there has been a certain duplicity in the supporters of general taylor: at the north it was maintained that he was not opposed to the wilmot proviso, while at the south quite uniformly the opposite was maintained. this duplicity had the appearance of dishonesty. in new england the whigs did not meet the facts and arguments of the free soil party; in the beginning of the campaign the attempt was made, but was afterwards comparatively abandoned; the matter of slavery was left out of the case, and the old question of the sub-treasury and the tariff was brought up again, and a stranger would have thought, from some whig newspapers, that that was the only question of any importance. few men were prepared to see a man of the ability and experience of mr. webster in his electioneering speeches pass wholly over the subject of slavery. the nation is presently to decide whether slavery is to extend over the new territory or not; even in a commercial and financial point of view, this is far more important than the question of banks and tariffs; but when its importance is estimated by its relation to freedom, right, human welfare in general,--we beg the pardon of american politicians for speaking of such things,--one is amazed to find the whig party of the opinion that it is more important to restore the tariff of than to prohibit slavery in a country as large as the thirteen states which fought the revolution! it might have been expected of little, ephemeral men--minute politicians, who are the pest of the state,--but when at such a crisis a great man rises,[ ] amid a sea of upturned faces, to instruct the lesser men, and forgets right, forgets freedom, forgets man, and forgets god, talking only of the tariff and of banks, why a stranger is amazed, till he remembers the peculiar relation of the great man to the moneyed men,--that he is their attorney, retained, paid, and pensioned to do the work of men whose interest it is to keep the question of slavery out of sight. if general cavaignac had received a pension from the manufacturers of lyons and of lisle, to the amount of half a million of francs, should we be surprised if he forgot the needy millions of the land? nay, only if he did not forget them! it was a little hardy to ask the anti-slavery men to vote for general taylor; it was like asking the members of a temperance society to choose an eminent distiller for president of their association. still, we know that honest anti-slavery men did honestly vote for him. we know nothing to impeach the political integrity of general taylor; the simple fact that he is a slaveholder, seems reason enough why he should not be president of a nation who believe that "all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights." men will be astonished in the next century to learn that the "model republic," had such an affection for slaveholders. here is a remarkable document, which we think should be preserved: deed of sale. "john hagard, sr. to zachariah taylor. "_received for record, th feb., ._ "_this indenture_, made this twenty-first day of april, eighteen hundred and forty-two, between john hagard, sr., of the city of new orleans, state of louisiana, of one part, and zachariah taylor, of the other part, _witnesseth_, that the said john hagard, sr., for and in consideration of the sum of _ninety-five thousand dollars_ to him in hand paid, and secured to be paid, as hereafter stated by the said zachariah taylor, at and before the sealing and delivering of these presents, has this day bargained, sold, and delivered, conveyed, and confirmed, and by these presents does bargain, sell, deliver, and confirm unto the said zachariah taylor, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that plantation and tract of land:... "also, all the following slaves--nelson, milley, peldea, mason, willis, rachel, caroline, lucinda, ramdall, wirman, carson, little ann, winna, jane, tom, sally, gracia, big jane, louisa, maria, charles, barnard, mira, sally, carson, paul, sansford, mansfield, harry oden, harry horley, carter, henrietta, ben, charlotte, wood, dick, harrietta, clarissa, ben, anthony, jacob, hamby, jim, gabriel, emeline, armstead, george, wilson, cherry, peggy, walker, jane, wallace, bartlett, martha, letitia, barbara, matilda, lucy, john, sarah, bigg ann, allen, tom, george, john, dick, fielding, nelson, or isom, winna, shellod, lidney, little cherry, puck, sam, hannah or anna, mary, ellen, henrietta, and two small children:--also, all the horses, mules, cattle, hogs, farming utensils, and tools, now on said plantation--together with all and singular, the hereditaments, appurtenances, privileges, and advantages unto the said land and slaves belonging or appertaining. _to have and to hold_ the said plantation and tract of land and slaves, and other property above described, unto the said zachariah taylor, his heirs and assigns, for ever, and to his and to their only proper use, benefits, and behoof, for ever. and the said john hagard, sr., for himself, his heirs, executors, and administrators, does covenant, promise, and agree to and with said zachariah taylor, his heirs and assigns, that the aforesaid plantation and tract of land and slaves, and other property, with the appurtenances, unto the said zachariah taylor, his heirs, and assigns against the claim or claims of all persons whomsoever claiming or to claim the same, or any part or parcel thereof, shall and will warrant, and by these presents for ever defend. "_in testimony whereof_, the said john hagard, sr., has hereunto set his hand and seal, the day and year first above written." if this document had been discovered among some egyptian papyri, with the date before christ, it would have been remarkable as a sign of the times. in a republic, nearly four thousand years later, it has a meaning which some future historian will appreciate. the free soil party have been plain and explicit as the democrats; they published their creed in the celebrated buffalo platform. the questions of sub-treasury and tariff are set aside; "no more slave territory" is the watchword. in part they represent an interest, for slavery is an injury to the north in many ways, and to a certain extent puts the north into the hands of the south; but chiefly an idea. nobody thought they would elect their candidate, whosoever he might be; they could only arrest public attention and call men to the great questions at issue, and so, perhaps, prevent the evil which the south was bent on accomplishing. this they have done, and done well. the result has been highly gratifying. it was pleasant and encouraging to see men ready to sacrifice their old party attachments and their private interests, oftentimes, for the sake of a moral principle. i do not mean to say that there was no moral principle in the other parties--i know better. but it seems to me that the free soilers committed a great error in selecting mr. van buren as their candidate. true, he is a man of ability, who has held the highest offices and acquitted himself honorably in all; but he had been the "northern man, with southern principles;" had shown a degree of subserviency to the south, which was remarkable, if not singular or strange: his promise, made and repeated in the most solemn manner, to veto any act of congress, abolishing slavery in the capital, was an insult to the country, and a disgrace to himself. he had a general reputation for instability, and want of political firmness. it is true, he had opposed the annexation of texas, and lost his nomination in by that act; but it is also true that he advised his party to vote for mr. polk, who was notoriously in favor of annexation. his nomination, i must confess, was unfortunate; the buffalo convention seems to have looked at his availability more than his fitness, and, in their contest for a principle, began by making a compromise of that very principle itself. it was thought he could "carry" the state of new york; and so a man who was not a fair representative of the idea, was set up. it was a bad beginning. it is better to be defeated a thousand times, rather than seem to succeed by a compromise of the principle contended for. still, enough has been done, to show the nation that the dollar is not almighty; that the south is not always to insult the north, and rule the land, annexing, plundering, and making slaves when she will; that the north has men who will not abandon the great sentiment of freedom, which is the boast of the nation and the age. general taylor is elected by a large popular vote; some voted for him on account of his splendid military success; some because he is a slaveholder, and true to the interests of the slave power; some because he is a "good whig," and wants a high tariff of duties. but we think there are men who gave him their support, because he has never been concerned in the intrigues of a party, is indebted to none for past favors, is pledged to none, bribed by none, and intimidated by none; because he seems to be an honest man, with a certain rustic intelligence; a plain blunt man, that loves his country and mankind. we hope this was a large class. if he is such a man, he will enter upon his office under favorable auspices, and with the best wishes of all good men. but what shall the free soil party do next? they cannot go back,--conscience waves behind them her glittering wings and bids them on; they cannot stand still, for as yet their measures and their watchword do not fully represent their idea. they must go forward, as the early abolitionists went, with this for their motto: "no slavery in america." "he that would lead men, must walk but one step before them;" says somebody. well, but he must think many steps before them, or they will presently tread him under their feet. the present success of the idea is doubtful; the interests of the south will demand the extension of slavery;[ ] the interests of the party now coming into power, will demand their peculiar boon. so another compromise is to be feared, and the extension of slavery yet further west. but the ultimate triumph of the genius of freedom is certain. in europe, it shakes the earth with mighty tread; thrones fall before its conquering feet. while in the eastern continent, kings, armies, emperors, are impotent before that power, shall a hundred thousand slaveholders stay it here with a bit of parchment? footnotes: [ ] [greek: greek: gignontai men oun hai staseis ou peri mikrôn all' ek mikrôn, stasiazousi de peri megalôn.]--aristotle's _polit._, lib. v. chap. , § . [ ] william lloyd garrison. [ ] the following table shows the facts of the case:-- cost of post-office in slave states for the year ending july st, , $ , , receipts from post-office, , cost of post-office in free states for the year ending july st, , $ , , receipts from post-office, , , so the southern post-office cost the nation $ , , and the northern post-office paid the nation $ , , making a difference of $ , , against the south. [ ] mr. john p. hale. [ ] hon. daniel webster. [ ] the following extract, from the _charleston mercury_, shows the feeling of the south. "pursuant to a call, a meeting of the citizens of orangeburg district was held to-day, th november, in the court-house, which was well filled on the occasion.... gen. d. f. jamison then rose, and moved the appointment of a committee of twenty-five, to take into consideration the continued agitation by congress of the question of slavery;... the committee, through their chairman, gen. jamison, made the following report:-- "the time has arrived when the slaveholding states of the confederacy must take decided action upon the continued attacks of the north against their domestic institutions, or submit in silence to that humiliating position in the opinions of mankind, that longer acquiescence must inevitably reduce them to.... the agitation of the subject of slavery commenced in the fanatical murmurings of a few scattered abolitionists, to whom it was a long time confined; but now it has swelled into a torrent of popular opinion at the north; it has invaded the fireside and the church, the press and the halls of legislation; it has seized upon the deliberations of congress, and at this moment is sapping the foundations, and about to overthrow the fairest political structure that the ingenuity of man has ever devised. "the overt efforts of abolitionism were confined for a long period to annoying applications to congress, under color of the pretended right of petition; it has since directed the whole weight of its malign influence against the annexation of texas, and had wellnigh cost to the country the loss of that important province; but emboldened by success and the inaction of the south, in an unjust and selfish spirit of national agrarianism it would now appropriate the whole public domain. it might well have been supposed that the undisturbed possession of the whole of oregon territory would have satisfied the non-slaveholding states. this they now hold, by the incorporation of the ordinance of into the bill of the last session for establishing a territorial government for oregon. that provision, however, was not sustained by them from any apprehension that the territory could ever be settled from the states of the south, but it was intended as a gratuitous insult to the southern people, and a malignant and unjustifiable attack upon the institution of slavery. "we are called upon to give up the whole public domain to the fanatical cravings of abolitionism, and the unholy lust of political power. a territory, acquired by the whole country for the use of all, where treasure has been squandered like chaff, and southern blood poured out like water, is sought to be appropriated by one section, because the other chooses to adhere to an institution held not only under the guaranties that brought this confederacy into existence, but under the highest sanction of heaven. should we quietly fold our hands under this assumption on the part of the non-slaveholding states, the fate of the south is sealed, the institution of slavery is gone, and its existence is but a question of time.... your committee are unwilling to anticipate what will be the result of the combined wisdom and joint action of the southern portion of the confederacy on this question; but as an initiatory step to a concert of action on the part of the people of south carolina, they respectfully recommend, for the adoption of this meeting, the following resolutions:-- "_resolved_, that the continued agitation of the question of slavery, by the people of the non-slaveholding states, by their legislatures, and by their representatives in congress, exhibits not only a want of national courtesy, which should always exist between kindred states, but is a palpable violation of good faith towards the slaveholding states, who adopted the present constitution 'in order to form a more perfect union.' "_resolved_, that while we acquiesce in adopting the boundary between the slaveholding and non-slaveholding states, known as the missouri compromise line, we will not submit to any further restriction upon the rights of any southern man to carry his property and his institutions into territory acquired by southern treasure and by southern blood. "_resolved_, that should the wilmot proviso, or any other restriction, be applied by congress to the territories of the united states, south of deg. min. north latitude, we recommend to our representative in congress, as the decided opinion of this portion of his district, to leave his seat in that body, and return home. "_resolved_, that we respectfully suggest to both houses of the legislature of south carolina, to adopt a similar recommendation as to our senators in congress from this state. "_resolved_, that upon the return home of our senators and representatives in congress, the legislature of south carolina should be forthwith assembled to adopt such measures as the exigency may demand. "the resolutions were then submitted, _seriatim_, and, together with the report, were unanimously adopted." wondrous love and other gospel addresses by d. l. moody author of "prevailing prayer" "sovereign grace" etc. delivered during messrs. moody and sankey's first campaign in england pickering & inglis paternoster row, london, e.c. bothwell street, glasgow, c. george iv. bridge, edinburgh _the world-wide library_ the seeking saviour by dr. w. p. mackay author of "grace and truth" how and when do we become children of god? answers by well-known men the good shepherd by h. forbes witherby abundant grace by dr. w. p. mackay author of "grace and truth" forgiveness, life and glory by sir s. arthur blackwood wondrous love: original addresses by d. l. moody first issued in made and printed in great britain contents christ's boundless compassion the new birth the blood (two addresses) christ all in all naaman the syrian one word--"gospel" the way of salvation eight "i wills" of christ the right kind of faith the dying thief wondrous love god loved the world of sinners lost and ruined by the fall; salvation full, at highest cost, he offers free to all. oh, 'twas love, 'twas wondrous love, the love of god to me; it brought my saviour from above, to die on calvary! e'en now by faith i claim him mine, the risen son of god; redemption by his death i find, and cleansing through the blood. love brings the glorious fulness in, and to his saints makes known the blessed rest from inbred sin, through faith in christ alone. believing souls, rejoicing go; there shall to you be given a glorious foretaste, here below, of endless life in heaven. of victory now o'er satan's power let all the ransomed sing, and triumph in the dying hour through christ, the lord, our king. wondrous love _addresses by_ d. l. moody christ's boundless compassion "and jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick."--matthew xiv. . it is often recorded in scripture that jesus was moved by compassion; and we are told in this verse that after the disciples of john had come to him and told him that their master had been beheaded, that he had been put to a cruel death, he went out into a desert place, and the multitude followed him, and that when he saw the multitude he had "compassion" on them, and healed their sick. if he were here to-night in person, standing in my place, his heart would be moved as he looked down into your faces, because he could also look into your hearts, and could read the burdens and troubles and sorrows you have to bear. they are hidden from my eye, but he knows all about them, and so when the multitude gathered round about him, he knew how many weary, broken, and aching hearts there were there. but he is here to-night, although we cannot see him with the bodily eye, and there is not a sorrow, or trouble, or affliction which any of you are enduring but he knows all about it; and he is the same to-night as he was when here upon earth--the same jesus, the same man of compassion. when he saw that multitude he had compassion on it, and healed their sick; and i hope he will heal a great many sin-sick souls here, and will bind up a great many broken hearts. and let me say, in the opening of this sermon, that there is no heart so bruised and broken but the son of god will have compassion upon you, if you will let him. "he will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." he came into the world to bring mercy, and joy, and compassion, and love. if i were an artist i should like to draw some pictures to-night, and put before you that great multitude on which he had compassion. and then i would draw another painting of that man coming to him full of leprosy, full of it from head to foot. there he was, banished from his home, banished from his friends, and he comes to jesus with his sad and miserable story. and now, my friends, let us make the bible stories real, for that is what they are. think of that man. think how much he had suffered. i don't know how many years he had been away from his wife and children and home; but there he was. he had put on a strange and particular garb, so that anybody coming near him might know that he was unclean. and when he saw any one approaching him he had to raise the warning cry, "unclean! unclean! unclean!" aye, and if the wife of his bosom were to come out to tell him that a beloved child was sick and dying, he durst not come near her, he was obliged to fly. he might hear her voice at a distance, but he could not be there to see his child in its last dying moments. he was, as it were, in a living sepulchre; it was worse than death. there he was, dying by inches, an outcast from everybody and everything, and not a hand put out to relieve him. oh, what a terrible life! then think of him coming to christ, and when christ saw him, it says he was moved with compassion. he had a heart that beat in sympathy with the poor leper, he had compassion on him, and the man came to him and said, "lord, if thou wilt, thou cant make me clean." he knew there was no one to do it but the son of god himself, and the great heart of christ was moved with compassion towards him. hear the gracious words that fell from his lips--"i will; be thou clean!" and the leprosy fled, and the man was made whole immediately. look at him now on his way back home to his wife and children and friends! no longer an outcast, no longer a loathsome thing, no longer cursed with that terrible leprous disease, but going back to his friends rejoicing. now, my friends, you may say you pity a man who was so badly off, but did it ever strike you that you are a thousand times worse off? the leprosy of the soul is far worse than the leprosy of the body. i would rather a thousand times have the body full of leprosy than go down to hell with the soul full of sin. a good deal better that this right hand of mine were lopped off, that this right foot should decay, and that i should go halt and lame and blind all the days of my life, than be banished from god by the leprosy of sin. hear the wailing and the agony and the woe that is going up from this earth caused by sin! if there is one poor sin-sick soul filled with leprosy here to-night, if you come to christ he will have compassion on you, and say, as he did to that man, "i will; be thou clean." the dead raised. well, now we come to the next picture that represents him as moved with compassion. look into that little home. there is a poor widow sitting there. perhaps a few months before she had buried her husband, and now she has an only son. how she dotes upon him! she looks to him to be her stay and her support and friend in her old age. she loves him far better than her own life-blood. but see, at last sickness enters the dwelling, and death comes with it, and lays his ice-cold hand upon the young man. you can see that widowed mother watching over him day and night; but at last those eyes are closed, and that loved voice is hushed, she thinks, for ever. she will never see or hear him more after he is buried out of her sight. and so the hour comes for his burial. many of you have been in the house of mourning, and have been with your friends when they have gone to the grave and looked at the loved one for the last time. there is not one here, i dare say, who has not lost some beloved one. i never went to a funeral and saw a mother take the last look of her child but it has pierced my heart, and i could not keep back the tears at such a sight. well, the mother kisses her only son on that poor, icy forehead; it is her last kiss, her last look, and now the body is covered up, and they put him on the bier and start for the place of burial. she had a great many friends, the little town of nain was moved at the sight of the widow's only son being borne away. i see that great crowd as they come pushing out of the gates; but over yonder are thirteen men, weary, and dusty, and tired, and they have to stand by the wayside to let this great crowd pass by, and the son of god is in this group, and the others with him are his disciples. and he looked upon that scene and saw the mother with her broken heart; he saw it bleeding, crushed, and wounded, and it touched his heart. yes, the great heart of the son of god was moved with compassion, and he came up and touched the bier, and said, "young man, arise!" and the young man came forth. i can see the multitude startled and astonished; i can see the widowed mother going back rejoicing with the morning rays of the resurrection shining in her heart. yes, he had indeed compassion on her. and there is not a widow in this hall but christ's voice will respond to your trouble and give you peace. oh, dear friends, let me say to you whose hearts are aching, you need a friend like jesus. he is just the friend the widow needs; he is just the friend every poor bleeding heart needs; he will have compassion on you and will bind up your wounded, bleeding heart if you will only come to him just as you are. he will receive you, without upbraiding or chastising, to his loving bosom, and say, "peace, be still," and you can walk in the unclouded sunlight of his love from this night. christ will be worth more to you than all the world besides. he is just the friend that all of you need; and i pray god you may every one of you know him from this hour as your saviour and friend. the man who was robbed and spoiled. the next picture which i shall show you to illustrate christ's compassion is the man that was going down to jericho and fell among thieves. they had taken away his coat, aye, and if he had a watch they would have taken that as well. however, they took his money, and stripped him, and left him half dead. look at him wounded, bleeding, dying; and now comes down the road a priest, and he looks upon the scene. his heart might have been touched, but he was not moved with compassion enough to help the poor man. he might have said, "poor fellow"; but he passed by on the other side and left him. after him came down a levite, and he said, "poor man"; but he was not moved with compassion to help him. ah, there are a good many like the priest and levite! perhaps some of you coming down to this hall meet a drunkard reeling in the street, and just say, "poor fellow," or it may be you laugh because he stammers out some foolish thing. we are very unlike the son of god. at last a samaritan came down that way, and he looked down on the man and had compassion on him. he got off his beast, and took oil and poured it into his wounds, and bound them up, and took him out of the ditch, helpless as he was, and placed him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. that good samaritan represents your christ and mine. he came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. young man, have you come to london, and fallen in with bad companions? have they taken you to theatres and vicious places, and left you bleeding and wounded? oh, come to-night to the son of god, and he will have compassion on you, and take you off from the dunghill, and transform you, and lift you up into his kingdom, and into the heights of his glory, if you will only let him! i do not care who you are; i do not care what your past life may have been. as he said to the poor woman caught in adultery, "neither do i condemn thee: go, and sin no more." he had compassion upon her, and he will have compassion on you. that man coming down from jerusalem to jericho represents thousands in london, and that good samaritan represents the son of god. young man, jesus christ has set his heart on saving you. will you receive his love and compassion? do not have such hard thoughts about the son of god. do not think he has come to condemn you. he has come to save you. the prodigal. but i should like to draw another picture, another scene--that young man going away from his home that we read of in the fifteenth chapter of luke; an ungrateful man, an ungrateful wretch as ever one saw. he could not wait for his inheritance till his father was dead, he wanted his share at once; and so he said to his father, "give me the goods that belong to me," and his good old father gives him the goods, and away he goes. i can see him now as he starts on his journey, full of pride, boastful and arrogant, going out to see life, off in grand style to some foreign country--say, going down to london. how many have come down to london, that being the far country to them, squandering all their money. yes, he was a popular man as long as he had money. his friends last as long as his money lasts; a very popular young man in london, "hail-fellow-well-met" greets him everywhere. he always paid the liquor bill and cigars. yes, he had plenty of friends in london. what grand folly! but when his money was gone, where were his friends? oh, you that serve the devil, you have a hard master! well, when the prodigal's money was all gone, of course they laughed at him, and called him a fool; and so he was. what a blind, misguided young man he was! just see what he lost. he lost his father's home, his table and food, and testimony, and every comfort, and lost his work, except what he got down there while feeding those swine. he was in an unlawful business. and that's just what the backslider is doing; he is in the devil's pay. you are losing your time and testimony. no one has any confidence in a backslider; for even the world despises such a character. this young man lost his testimony. look at him amongst the swine. at last one in that far country comes along, and, taking stock of him, says, "look at that miserable, wretched, dirty, barefooted fellow taking care of swine." "ah," says the prodigal, "don't talk to me like that. why, my father's a rich man, and has got servants better dressed than you are." "don't tell me that," says the other. "if you had such a father as that, i know very well he wouldn't own you." and no one would believe him. he had lost his testimony. no one believes a backslider. let him talk about his enjoyment with god, nobody believes it. oh, poor backslider, i pity you! you had better come home again. well, at last the poor prodigal comes to himself, and he says, "i will arise and go to my father," and now he starts. look at him as he goes along, pale and hungry, with his head down; his strength is exhausted, and perhaps disease in his frame, and so shattered that no one would know him but his father. love is keen to detect its object. the old man has often been longing for his return. i can see him many a night up on the house-top looking out to catch a glimpse of him. many a long night he has wrestled with god that his prodigal son might come back. everything he had heard from that far country told him his boy was going to ruin as fast as he could go. the old man spent much time in prayer for him, and at last faith begins to arise, and he says, "i believe god will send back my boy"; and one day the old man sees afar off that long-lost boy. he does not know him by his dress, but he detected the gait of him, and he says to himself, "yes, that's my boy." i see him now pass down the stairs; he rushes along the highway; he is running. ah! that is just like god. many a time in the bible god is represented as running; he is in great haste to meet the backslider. yes, the old man is running; he sees him afar off, and he has compassion on him. the boy wanted to tell him his story what he had done, and where he had been, but the old man could not wait to hear him; his heart was filled with compassion, and he took him to his loving bosom. the boy wanted to go down into the kitchen, but the old man would not let him. no, but he bade the servants put shoes on his feet, and a ring on his finger, and kill the fatted calf, and make merry. the prodigal has come home, the wanderer has returned, and the old man rejoices over the backslider's return. oh, backslider, come home, and there will be joy in your heart and in the heart of god. may god bring the backsliders back to-night--this very hour. say as the poor prodigal did, "i will arise and go to my father," and on the authority of god i tell you god will receive you; he will blot out your sins, and restore you to his love, and you shall walk again in the light of his reconciled countenance. christ weeps over jerusalem. but look again. he comes to mount olivet. he is under the shadow of the cross. the city bursts upon him. yonder is the temple; he sees it in all its grandeur and glory. the people are shouting, hosanna to the son of david! they are breaking off the palm branches, and taking off their garments, and spreading them before him, still shouting, hosanna to the son of david! and bowing down before him. but he forgets it all. yes, even calvary with all its sorrow he forgets. gethsemane lay there at the foot of the hill; he forgot it too. as he looked upon the city which he loved, the great heart of the son of god was moved with compassion, and he cried aloud, "o jerusalem, jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would i have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" my friends, look at him there weeping over jerusalem. what a wonderful city it might have been. how exalted to heaven it was. oh, if they had only known the day of their visitation, and had received instead of rejected their king, what a blessing he would have been to them! oh, poor backslider, behold the lamb of god weeping over you, and crying to you to come to him, and receive shelter and refuge from the storm which has yet to sweep over this earth! look at poor peter, see what he does. he denied the lord, and swore he never knew him. if ever he needed sympathy, if ever he needed his disciples round him, it was that night, when they were bringing false witnesses against him, that he might be condemned to death; and there was peter, one of his foremost disciples, swearing he never knew him. he might have turned on peter and said, "peter, is it true you don't know me? is it true you have forgotten how i cured and healed your wife's mother when she lay at the point of death? is it true you have forgotten how i raised you up when you were sinking in the sea? is it true, peter, you forgot how you were with me on the mount of transfiguration, when heaven and earth came together, and you heard the voice speaking from the clouds? is it true you have forgotten that mountain scene when you wanted to build the three tabernacles? is it true, peter, you have forgotten me?" yes, thus he might have taunted poor peter; but instead of that he just gave him one look of compassion that broke his heart, and he went out and wept bitterly. the persecuting saul. again, look at that bold blasphemer and persecutor who was going to stamp out the early church, and was breathing out threatenings and slaughter, when christ met him on his way to damascus. it is the same jesus still. listen, and hear what he says--"saul, saul, why persecutest thou me?" why, he could have smitten him to the earth with a look or a breath; but instead of that, the heart of the son of god was moved with compassion, and he cries out, "saul, saul, why persecutest thou me?" if there is a persecutor here to-night, i would ask you, "why persecute jesus?" he loves you, sinner; he loves you, persecutor. you never received anything but goodness and kindness and love from him. and saul cried out, "who art thou?" and he answered, "i am jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." it is hard to fight against such a loving friend, to contend against one who loves you as i do; and down comes the proud, persecuting saul, down upon his face, and he cried out, "lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" and the lord told him, and he went and did it. may the lord have compassion upon the infidel, and sceptic, and persecutor. let me ask you, my friend, is there any reason why you should hate christ, or why your heart should be turned against him? i remember a story about a teacher telling the scholars all to follow jesus, and how they might all be missionaries, and go out to work for others. and one day one of the smallest came to her and said, "i asked such and such a one to come with me, and they said they would like to come, but their father was an infidel." "why don't you love jesus?" and the young child wanted to know what an infidel was, and the teacher went on to explain to her. and one day, when she was on her way to school, this infidel was coming out of the post office with his letters in his hand, when the child ran up to him, and said, "why don't you love jesus?" he thought at first to push her aside, but the child pressed it home again, "why don't you love jesus?" if it had been a man, the infidel would have resented it; but he did not know what to do with the child, and with tears in her eyes she asked him again, "oh! please, tell me, why don't you love jesus?" he went on to his office, but he felt as if every letter he opened read, "why don't you love jesus?" he attempted to write, with the same result; every letter seemed to ask him, "why don't you love jesus?" and he threw down his pen in despair, and went out of his office, but he could not get rid of the question; it was asked by a still small voice within, and as he walked along it seemed as if the very ground and the very heavens whispered to him, "why don't you love jesus?" at last he went home, and there it seemed as if his own children asked him the question, so he said to his wife, "i will go to bed early to-night," thinking to sleep it away; but when he laid his head on the pillow it seemed as if the pillow whispered it to him. so he got up about midnight, and said, "i can find out where christ contradicts himself, and i'll search it out and prove him a liar." well, the man got up, and turned to the gospel of john, and read on from the beginning until he came to the words, "god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." what love! he thought; and at last the old infidel's heart was stirred. he could find no reason for not loving jesus, and down he went on his knees and prayed, and before the sun rose the old infidel was in the kingdom of god. i will challenge any one on the face of the earth to find any reason for not loving christ. it is only here on earth men think they have a reason for not doing so. in heaven they know him, and they shout, "worthy is the lamb that was slain." oh, sinner, if you knew him you would have no wish to find a reason for not loving him. he is "the chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely." i can imagine a good many saying, "i should like very much to become a christian, and i should like to know how i can come to him, and be saved." come to him as a personal friend. for twenty years i have made this a rule. christ is just as habitually near, as personally present to me as any other person living; and when i have any troubles, trials, and afflictions, i go to him with them. when i want counsel i go to him, just as if i could talk face to face with him. twenty years ago god met me one night and took me to his bosom, and i would sooner give up my life to-night than give up christ, or that i should leave him, or that he should leave me, and that i should have no one to bear my burdens, or tell my sorrows to. why, he is worth more than all the world beside; and to-night he will have compassion upon you as he had upon me. i tried for weeks to find a way to him, and i just went and laid my burden upon him, and then he revealed himself to me, and i have ever since found him a true and sympathizing friend, just the friend you need. go right straight to him. you need not go to this man or that man, to this church or that church. "i am the way, the truth, and the life." there is no name so dear to the americans as that of abraham lincoln, and in an audience like this in america you would see the tears trickle down many a cheek at his name: he is very dear to us americans. do you want to know the reason why? i will tell you. he was a man of compassion; he was very gentle, and was noted for his heart of sympathy for the down-trodden and the poor. no one went to him with a tale of sympathy but he had compassion on them, no matter how far down they were in the scale of society. he always took an interest in the poor. there was a time in our history when we thought he had too much compassion. many of our soldiers did not understand army discipline, and a great many were not true to the army regulations. they intended to be, but they did not understand them. many a man consequently went wrong, and they were court-martialed and condemned to be shot; but abraham lincoln would always pardon them; and at length the nation rose up against him, and said that he was to merciful, and ultimately they got him to give out that if a man was court-martialed he must be shot, that there would be no more reprieves. the sleeping sentinel. a few weeks after this, news came that a young soldier had been sleeping at his post. he was court-martialed, and condemned to be shot. the boy wrote to his mother, "i do not want you to think i do not love my country, but it came about in this way: my comrade was sick, and i went out on picket for him; and the next night he ought to have come, but still being sick i went out for him again, and without intending it i fell asleep. i did not intend to be disloyal." it was a very touching letter, and the mother and father said there is no chance, there will be no more reprieves. but there was a little girl in that home, and she knew that abraham lincoln had a little boy, and how he loved that little boy; and she said if abraham lincoln knew how my father and mother loved my brother he would never allow him to be shot, and she took the train to go and plead for her brother; and when she got to the president's mansion the difficulty arose how was she to get past the sentinel. so she told him her story, and the tears ran down his cheeks, and he let her pass. but the next trouble was how to get past the secretary and the other officials. however, she succeeded in getting, unobstructed, into his private room, and there were the senators and ministers busy with state affairs. the president saw the child, and called her to him, and said, "my child, what can i do for you?" and she told him her story. the big tears rolled down his cheeks. he was a father, and his heart was full; he could not stand it. he treated the girl with kindness, and then having reprieved the boy, gave him thirty days furlough, and sent him home to see his mother. his heart was full of compassion. and, let me tell you, christ's heart is more full of compassion than any man's. you are condemned to die for your sins; but if you come to him he will say, "loose him, and let him go" (john xi.). he will rebuke satan, and the dead shall live. go to him as that little girl went to the president, and tell him all; keep nothing from him, and he will say, "go in peace." the touch of compassion. let me ask the poor backslider, did you ever feel the touch of the hand of jesus? if so, you will know it again, for there is love in it. there is a story told in connection with our war of a mother who received a despatch that her boy was mortally wounded. she went down to the front, as she knew that those soldiers told to watch the sick and wounded could not watch her boy as she would. so she went to the doctor, and said, "would you like me to take care of my boy?" the doctor said, "we have just let him go to sleep, and if you go to him the surprise will be so great it might be dangerous to him. he is in a very critical state. i will break the news to him gradually." "but," said the mother, "he may never wake up. i should so dearly like to see him." oh, how she longed to see him! and finally the doctor said, "you can see him, but if you wake him up and he dies, it will be your fault." "well," she said, "i will not wake him up if i may only go by his dying cot and see him." well, she went to the side of the cot. her eyes had longed to see him; and as she gazed upon him she could not keep her hand off that pallid forehead, and she laid it gently there. there was love and sympathy in that hand, and the moment the slumbering boy felt it, he said, "oh, mother, have you come?" he knew there was sympathy and affection in the touch of that hand. and if you, oh, sinner, will let jesus reach out his hand and touch your heart, you, too, will find there is sympathy and love in it. that every lost soul here may be saved, and come to the arms of our blessed saviour, is the prayer of my heart! jesus, my saviour, to bethlehem come, born in a manger to sorrow and shame; oh it was wonderful blest be his name, seeking for me, for me. jesus, my saviour, on calvary's tree, paid my great debt, and my soul he set free; oh, it was wonderful, how could it be! dying for me, for me. the new birth "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god."--john iii. much less inherit it. he can't even get a glimpse of the kingdom of god except he be born again. i believe this is the most important subject that will ever come before us in this world. i don't believe there is any truth in the whole bible so important as the truth brought out in the third chapter of the gospel of john. it is the a b c of god's alphabet. if a man is unsound on regeneration, he is unsound on everything. that is really the foundation-stone; and he must get the foundation right. if he don't, what is the good of trying to build a house? now, christ says plainly, "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." but although regeneration or the new birth is taught so plainly in the third chapter of john, i don't believe there is any truth in the whole bible that there is such great darkness about as this great truth. there are a great many like the man that saw men as trees walking. many christians do not seem to be clear about this new birth. born a christian. only this afternoon, as i was in the inquiry-room, a person came in, and i said, "are you a christian?" "why," she says, "of course i am." "well," i said, "how long have you been one?" "oh, sir, i was born one!" "oh! indeed, then i am very glad to take you by the hand; i congratulate you; you are the first woman i ever met who was born a christian; you are more fortunate than others; they are born children of adam." she hesitated a little, and then tried to make out that, because she was born in england, she was a christian. there are many who have the idea, that because they are born in a christian country, they have been born of the spirit. now, in this third chapter of john, the new birth is brought out so plain, that if any one will read it carefully and prayerfully, i think his eyes will soon be opened. that which is born of the flesh is flesh; it remains flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit, and remains spirit. so, when a man is born of god, he has god's nature. when a man is born of his parents, he receives their nature, and they received the nature of their parents, and you can trace it back to adam. but when a man is born of god, or born from above, or born of the spirit--that is the way the holy ghost puts it in that third verse--he receives god's nature, and then it is he leaves the life of the flesh for the life of the spirit. before i go on i want to say one thing, and that is, what this new birth, or being born of the spirit, is not. a great many think they have been born again because they go to church. a great many say, "oh, yes, i am a christian; i go to church every sabbath!" let me say here that there is no one that goes to church so regularly in all london as satan. he is always there before the minister, and he is the last one out of the church. there is not a church in london, or a chapel, but that he is a regular attendant of it. the idea that he is only down in the slums and lanes and alleys of london is a false idea. he is wherever the word is preached; it is his business to be there, and catch away the seed. he is here to-night. some of you may go to sleep, but he won't. some of you may not listen to the sermon, but he will. he will be watching, and when the seed is just entering into some heart he will go and catch it away. a christian because baptized. another class say, "oh, yes, i am a christian, because i was baptized." now, i want to say here that baptism is one thing, and being born again is another. because a person is baptized, you cannot say that that is the new birth. would you call that being born from above? you cannot baptize a man into the kingdom of god. now, bear that in mind. if i could save men by baptizing them, you would not catch me preaching. i would get water and baptize them; that would be the quickest way. it would be no use to be praying and pleading for men to flee from the wrath of god. but you can never get them into the kingdom of god by baptism. baptism is all right in its place. i am not here crying down church ordinances; i am talking about the new birth: and there are a great many, i believe, being deceived on this one point, that because they have been baptized at some time in their life they have become christians. but that is not the new birth; that is not being born from above and of the spirit. do not let satan deceive you, my friends, on that point, for it is a very important truth; and we want to have every one here to understand, and i hope the spirit of god will make plain the difference between baptism and regeneration, or being born of the spirit. joining the church. there is another class that say, "oh, yes, i became a christian when i joined the church." that is not being born again. what has that to do with the new birth, being united with the church on earth? there are a great many united with the church who are on their way to death and ruin. a great many have no hope of eternal life who are church members. one of the twelve christ chose to follow him turned out a hypocrite and a traitor; he was not loyal to christ at heart. my friends, don't build your hope of heaven upon some profession of your faith, but bear in mind you must be born of god. now just let me stop a minute, and you think, and ask yourselves this question, "have i been born again?" it is the most solemn question that will ever come before you down here, "have i been born from above? have i been born of the spirit?" it is not making some new resolutions. you have made enough of them. i never met any one who had not made some good resolutions in their life. it is not trying to do good. a great many say, "i try to do the best i can, and i think it will come out all right." what is that to do with the new birth and the new creation? god does not promise salvation to him that tries to do the best he can, but to him that believeth, or that is born of the spirit; for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." the new birth instantaneous. now, i believe this new birth is instantaneous. i have met a great many people who cannot tell the day or the hour of their conversion; but there must have been a time when they passed from death unto life--when they were born of the spirit. there must have been a time when their names were written in the book of life. they may not be conscious of the day, or the hour, or the week, or the month, or the year; but, my friends, i beg of you to be sure that you have been born of the spirit. don't be deceived upon this one truth, because christ himself says, "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." the flesh cannot serve god. as i said before, when i was born of my parents i received their nature, i received the nature of the flesh; and i cannot serve god in the flesh. "god is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." and before a man can worship god he must be born of god; he must be born of the spirit. then with this new birth, with this new life, he can serve god; then the yoke is easy, and the burden is light. a man may as well try to fly to the moon as to serve god before he has been born of the spirit; it is utterly impossible. the natural man is at enmity against god; his natural heart is at war with god; it always has been, and it always will be. and not only that, but you cannot make it better. god never mends, he creates anew; therefore don't be trying to patch up that old adam nature. god says, "it shall never come into my presence." therefore god has just set it aside. but he tells us how we are to come into his presence, and how we are to get into his kingdom. this is worthy to be borne in mind. you cannot educate men into it. that is what the world is trying to do. but he that climbeth up by some other way than the lord's way, the same is a thief and a robber. you had better be born into it in god's way. we have a law in america that no man shall be president of the united states that has not been born on american soil. we have a great many englishmen come to america, and a great many men from all parts of the world, and yet i have never heard one complain of that law. they say america has the right to say who shall be president. i come here to your country, and i do not complain because you have a queen to reign over you. what right have i to complain? has not england a right to say who shall rule it, and who shall be its queen? foreigners have no right to interfere. and i would like to ask you this question, has not god a right to say who shall come into his kingdom, and how we shall come? now, my friend, god tells us here we are to come into his kingdom by the new birth. we must be born from above, born of the spirit, and then we get a nature that goes out towards god. if you take a drunken man, and put him on the very pavement of heaven, he will not be happy there. the drunkard doesn't want heaven. what is he to do there? he has no whisky to drink there, and he has none of his old companions. what is he to do? he would say, "this is hell to me. i don't want to stay here." a man that cannot spend one sabbath on earth among god's people, what is he to do with that eternal sabbath, with those that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb? a man must have a spiritual nature before he wants to go to heaven. heaven cannot have any attractions to a man until he is born of the spirit. the moral need the new birth. now let us go back to the man to whom christ said these words. i often rejoice he didn't say this to the woman at the well, nor to mary magdalene. if he had said it to them, people would have said, "oh, that poor woman needs to be converted; but i am a moralist; i don't need to be converted. regeneration will do for harlots, thieves, and drunkards, but we moralists do not need it." but who did christ say it to? he said it to nicodemus. who was he? he belonged to the house of bishops. nicodemus stood very high; he was one of the church dignitaries; he stood as high as any man in jerusalem, except the high priest himself. he belonged to the seventy rulers of the jews; he was a doctor of divinity, and taught the law. there is not one word of scripture against him; he was a man that stood out before the whole nation as of pure and spotless character. what does christ say to him? "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." i can see a scowl on his forehead. he says, "what do you mean by being born again--born from above, born of the spirit? now i am old, can i a second time enter my mother's womb, and be born again?" jesus saith, "verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of god." he didn't take back what he had said, but he repeated it. i can imagine nicodemus was like tens of thousands of men in london to-day. the moment you talk to them about regeneration or conversion, there is a scowl on their forehead. they say, "i don't understand it." of course, the natural man doesn't understand spiritual things. it is a matter of revelation. a great many men try to investigate and find out god. suppose you spend a little of your time in asking god to reveal himself to you. reason cannot understand this new birth. i heard some time ago of some commercial travellers who went to hear a man preach. they came back to the hotel, and were sitting in the smoking-room talking, and they said the minister did not appeal to their reason, and they would not believe anything they could not reason out. there was an old man sitting there listening, and he said to them, "you say you won't believe anything you can't reason out?" "no, we won't." the old man said, "as i was coming in the train yesterday, i noticed some sheep, and cattle, and swine, and geese, all eating grass. now, can you tell me by what process that same grass was turned into feathers, hair, bristles, and wool?" "well, no, we can't just tell you that." "do you believe it is a fact?" "oh, yes, it is a fact." "i thought you said you would not believe anything you could not reason out?" "well, we can't help believing that; that is a fact we see before our eyes." "well," said the old man, "i can't help but believe in regeneration and a man being converted, although i cannot explain how god converted him." christ's illustration. now, the illustration which christ used to nicodemus was the wind. "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth." now, you cannot see the spirit of god work in this audience; but i hope and pray he may be working now in the hearts of many, convincing them of sin! do you believe more than ever that you are a sinner? well, that is the work of the holy ghost. the devil never told you you are a sinner; he tries to make you believe that you are good enough. if you believe to-night that you have sinned against god, that is the work of the holy ghost. he is here at work. we cannot see him, but there are a great many who know he is here. suppose i should say, "i don't believe in the wind, and that it must be all imagination; i have lived thirty-seven years, and have never seen the wind. it is folly for men to talk about the wind." i can just imagine that boy there saying, "why, i know more than that man; i know there is wind, for it blew my hat off this very day into the mud, and i have often felt it blowing in my face." my friends, you have never felt the wind more than i have felt the spirit of god. you have never seen the effects of the wind more than i have seen the effects of the spirit of god, and of the working of the holy ghost, and there are hundreds of witnesses here who would testify the same thing. yet this invisible power does its work in creation, and the mighty invisible power of god does its work effectively in the spiritual sphere. new life in christ means the breaking of old fetters. god can change the drunkard. it may be that i am talking now to some poor drunkard here. when he comes into his house his children listen, and hear by the footfall that their father is coming home drunk, and the little things run away and hide from him as if he was some horrid demon. his wife begins to tremble. many a time has that great, strong arm been brought down on her weak, defenceless body. many a day has she carried about marks from that man's violence. he ought to be her protector, support, and stay; but he has become her tormentor. his home is like hell upon earth; there is no joy there. there may be one such here to-night who hears the good news that he can be born again, and receive a nature from heaven, and receive the spirit of god. god can give him power to hurl the infernal cup from him. god will give him grace to trample satan under his feet, and the drunkard will then become a sober man. go to that house three months hence, and you find it neat and clean. as you draw near that home you hear singing; not the song of the drunkard, that is gone, all things have become new. he has been born of god, and is singing one of the songs of zion: "rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee." or perhaps he is singing that good old hymn that his mother taught him when he was a little boy: "there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from immanuel's veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains." he has become a child of god, an heir of heaven. his children are climbing up his knee, and he has his arms round their necks. that dark home is now changed into a little bethel on earth. god dwells there now. yes; god has done all that, and that is regeneration. the worth of good resolves. then some of you may have been saying, "i wish mr. moody would tell us how we are to become christians, for he says that we cannot be christians by trying to do good and by making new resolutions." many a time you have been at a meeting like this, and have resolved to turn over a new leaf, and you may now form another good resolution. if you do, you will break it. what are you going to do? if it is a new birth you are to have, you cannot create life. can you bring life to the dead? all the wise men in london cannot do it. god alone is the author of life; and if you have the new birth, it must be god's work. when the jubilee singers were in the north of england my family went to see them, and my little boy asked why they didn't wash the black off their faces. i told him it was because they were born black. the ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots. you cannot save yourself. there is a man dying--can you put new life into him? or can you raise up a dead body by saying, "young man, arise"? that is the work of god. your souls are dead in trespasses and sins, and only the lord jesus christ can speak life. the beggar and the prince. i imagine some of you will say, "haven't i anything to do?" well, you haven't. salvation has been worked out for you by another. many go all round the world in search of honour or possessions. salvation is worth thousands of times more than any thing earth can produce; but you don't get it that way. god has but one price for salvation. do you want to know what it is? it is without money and without price. rowland hill said that most auctioneers found they had hard work to get people up to their price, but that he had hard work to get people down to his. "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of god is eternal life." who will have it now? i say to you, young man, will you have this gift? suppose i was going over london bridge, and saw a poor miserable beggar, bare-footed, coatless, hatless, with no rags hardly to cover his nakedness, and right behind him, only a few yards, there was the prince of wales with a bag of gold, and the poor beggar was running away from him as if he was running away from a demon, and the prince of wales was hallooing after him, "oh, beggar, here is a bag of gold!" why, we should say the beggar had gone mad to be running away from the prince of wales with the bag of gold. sinner, that is your condition. the prince of heaven wants to give you eternal life, and you are running away from him. the dying soldier. then you say, "if it is not by working in earnest, how am i to be saved?" i will tell you; scripture will tell you--that is better. take the illustration christ used to nicodemus; you could not have a better. he took him to the remedy: "as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (john iii. , ). now there is the remedy. how am i to be saved? by looking to christ; just by looking. it's very cheap, isn't it? very simple, isn't it? just look away to the lamb of god now and be saved. what says the great wilderness preacher? "behold the lamb of god, which taketh away the sin of the world." you might say the whole plan of salvation is in two words--giving; receiving. god gives; i receive. i remember, after one of the terrible battles in the american civil war--i was in the army, tending soldiers--and i had just laid down one night, past midnight, to get a little rest, when a man came and told me that a wounded soldier wanted to see me. i went to the dying man. he said, "i wish you to help me to die." i said, "i would help you to die if i could. i would take you on my shoulders and carry you into the kingdom of god if i could; but i cannot. i can tell you of one who can." and i told him of christ being willing to save him; and how christ left heaven and came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. i just quoted promise after promise, but all was dark, and it almost seemed as if the shades of eternal death were gathering around his soul. i could not leave him, and at last i thought of this third chapter of john, and i said to him, "look here, i am going to read to you now a conversation that christ had with a man that went to him when he was in your state of mind, and inquired what he was to do to be saved." i just read that conversation to the dying man, and he lay there with his eves rivetted upon me, and every word seemed to be going home to his heart, which was open to receive the truth. when i came to the verse where it says, "as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life"--the dying man cried, "stop, sir. is that there?" "yes, it is all here." then he said, "won't you please read it to me again?" i read it the second time. the dying man brought his hands together, and he said, "bless god for that. won't you please read it to me again?" i read through the whole chapter, but long before the end of it he had closed his eyes. he seemed to lose all interest in the rest of the chapter, and when i got through it his arms were folded on his breast, he had a sweet smile on his face; remorse and despair had fled away. his lips were quivering, and i leant over him, and heard him faintly whisper from his dying lips, "as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." he opened his eyes, and fixed his calm, deathly look on me, and he said, "oh, that is enough; that is all i want"; and in a few hours he pillowed his dying head upon the truth of those two verses, and rode away on one of the saviour's chariots, and took his seat in the kingdom of god. oh, sinner, you can be saved now if you will! look and live. may god help every lost one here to look on the lamb of god, which taketh away the sin of the world. the blood "and almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission."--heb. ix. . no man can give a satisfactory reason for the hope that is in him if he is a stranger to the "blood." at the very commencement of the bible we find reference made to the subject in genesis iii. : "unto adam also and to his wife did the lord god make coats of skins, and clothed them." in this verse we get the first glimpse of blood. certainly god could not have clothed adam and eve with the skins of beasts unless he had shed blood. here, then, we have the innocent suffering for the guilty--the doctrine of substitution in the garden of eden. god dealt with adam in grace before he dealt in judgment. death came by sin. adam had sinned, and the lord came down to make the way of escape. god came to him as a loving friend, and not to hurl him from the earth. adam could have said to eve, "though the lord has driven us out of the garden of eden, he loves us," for this coat is a token of love. god put a lamp of promise into adam's hand before he drove him out; for he said, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." did you ever think what a terrible state of things it would be if man was allowed to live for ever in his lost, ruined state? it was from love to adam that god drove him out of eden, that he should not live for ever. god put the cherubim with a flaming sword there. but now christ has taken the sword out of his hand, and opened wide the gate, so that we can come in and eat. adam might have been in eden ten thousand years, and then be led astray by satan; but now "our life is hid with christ in god." man is safer with the second adam out of eden than with the first adam in eden. let us next turn to genesis iv. : "and abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. and the lord had respect unto abel and to his offering." cain and abel were brought up outside of eden, and had the same parents, and both received the same instruction as to how they were to draw near to god; but cain came in his own way, while abel came in the way god commanded. cain said to himself, "i am not going to bring a bleeding lamb. here is the grain and the beautiful fruit that i have raised by my industry; and i'm sure it looks better than blood, and i'm not going to bring blood." now it was not that there was any difference between these two men, but it was the offering which each brought. one came in the way god had marked out, and the other in a way of his own. now there are a great many just like that at the present day. they prefer what is agreeable to the eye, as cain did his beautiful corn and fruit, and they do not like the doctrine of the blood of atonement. but any religion that makes light of the blood is the work of the devil, even if an angel from heaven came down to preach salvation through any other means. undoubtedly on the morning of creation god marked out the way a man might come to him; and abel walked in god's way, and cain in his own. perhaps cain could not bear the sight of blood, and so he took that which god had cursed and laid it upon the altar. there are many cainites in the church even now; and some have got into the pulpit, and they preach against the doctrine of the blood, and that we can get to heaven without the blood. from the time adam went out of eden there have been abelites and cainites. the abelites come by the way of the blood--the way god had marked out for them. the cainites come by their own way. they repudiate the doctrine of the blood, and say it does not atone for sin. but it is better to take god's word than man's opinion. again, turn to genesis viii. : "and noah builded an altar unto the lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar." we have thus passed over the first two thousand years, and have come to the second dispensation. the thought i want to call your attention to is this: the first thing noah did when he got out of the ark was to build an altar and slay the animals, thus putting blood between him and his sin. the second dispensation is founded upon blood; and these animals were taken through the flood in the ark that they might illustrate the indispensable necessity of the shedding of blood. abraham offering up isaac. again, in genesis xxii. , it is written: "and abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son." the ram was typical, and was offered up in the place of abraham's son. god loved abraham so much that he spared his son; but he so loved the world that he would not spare his own son, but gave him up freely for us all. it may be that from the top of the mountain abraham saw a glorious sight. he saw christ going up calvary carrying his cross. he saw that mountain peak sprinkled with blood; and he saw that sacrifices were to go on until the true isaac made his appearance and offered himself for us all. abraham had the altar built, and he was ordered to take his only son, and to bind him, and to slay him; and he bound that boy, and everything was ready. he took the knife, and was about to slay him, because it was the will and command of god. he did not know what it meant; but he obeyed. would that there were more men like him now, ready to obey god in the dark without asking the reason why! the old man took his son, and he told him the secret that he had hid from him all the journey--that god had told him to offer him up as a sacrifice. and he bound the boy hand and foot, and laid him all ready on the altar; and just when he was about to stretch forth his hand and slay him, he heard a voice from heaven calling to him: "abraham, abraham, spare thy son." god was more merciful to the son of abraham than to his own, for he gave him up freely for us all. he opened up to him the curtain of time, and showed him christ coming in the future; and abraham saw his sins laid on christ and was glad. the passover. in exodus xii. we read: "and the blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where ye are: and when i see the blood, i will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you." god did not say, when i see your good deeds; when i see how you have prayed, and wept, and cried. no; but "when i see the blood i will pass over you. the blood shall be a token." what was it saved those men? was it their good resolutions or their works? it was the blood. "when i see the blood i will pass over you." very likely when some of the lords, and dukes, and great men rode through goshen, and saw the israelites sprinkling their dwellings, they said they never saw such foolishness, and that they were spoiling their houses. they were to sprinkle the door-posts and lintels of their houses with the blood, but not the threshold. god would not have the blood trampled upon, but that is what the world at the present day is doing. some preachers speak not of the death of christ, but his life, because it is more pleasing to the natural ear; but the life of christ may be preached for ever and it will not save any man, if his death is left out. a live lamb could not have kept death out of the houses of goshen. god did not say that he wanted a live lamb at every door, but to have the lintels and door-posts sprinkled with the blood of the lamb. people sometimes say, "if i was as good as that minister, that preached the gospel for fifty years"; or, "if i was as good as that mother, who did so and so for her children"; but if we are behind the blood of god's son, we are just as safe as any christian that has ever walked the face of the earth. it is not a long life of usefulness that makes men and women acceptable to god. we must work for christ; but we get salvation as a gift, and then begin to work because we cannot help it. all the work a person does before he becomes converted goes for nothing. the little child down in goshen behind the blood of the lamb was just as safe as joshua, or any man in the whole town. the angel of death passed by when he saw the blood. the little tiny fly was as safe in the ark with noah as the elephant. it was equally the ark that saved the fly and the elephant, and it is the blood that saves the weakest and the strongest. when death came that night with his sword, he entered the palace of the prince, and went into the houses of the great and mighty, and they all had to pay tribute to death; for the first-born in egypt was smitten down that night. the only thing that kept death out was death itself. the only way that death can be met is by death. i have sinned, and must die; or get some one to die for me. the great question is--have you got the token? if death should come after any one of us to-night, are we sheltered behind the blood? that is the point. it is the blood that atones. not my good resolutions, or prayers, or position in society, or what i have done, but what has been done by another. god looks for the token. take another illustration. suppose a man wanted to go from london to liverpool, and he got into a railway carriage, he would soon hear the guard running along the platform crying out for tickets. a man might be rich or he might be poor, black or white, he might be learned or unlearned, that was not what the guard wanted to know--he wanted to see the tickets; for the ticket was the token, and if you have got a ticket you pass. no death where the blood was. the egyptians looked at the israelites killing a lamb and sprinkling the blood on the door-posts no doubt as a very foolish proceeding, but not one house in the city, upon the doorposts and lintels of which the blood was not sprinkled, escaped; no matter who were the inhabitants, rich or poor, that night there was no difference. there was a wail heard in every habitation, from the palace to the meanest hovel where the blood _had not_ been sprinkled, but where it _had_ been sprinkled death was kept out. that showed clearly the truth, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission. let no man or woman be guilty of laughing at this doctrine, that "the blood of jesus christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin." in the eleventh verse of the same chapter we read, "and thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the lord's passover." why you have not got more power is because you don't feed on the lamb; and this is why there are so many weak christians. the lamb not only atones for our sins, but we are to feed upon the lamb. we have got a wilderness journey before us, as the children of israel had. after we are saved we are to feed upon christ; he is the true bread from heaven. if i don't feed my soul with the true bread from heaven i am sickly, and have not power to go and work for christ; and that is the reason, i believe, why so few in the church have power. some people think if they get one glimpse of christ that is enough. some think much of their dinner; why should not god's children think a good deal of their spiritual food? we should no more think of laying in spiritual food to last for ten years than we should bodily food. a good many people are living on stale manna. a man in ireland said to his boy, "i want you to eat two breakfasts. do you know why?" the boy said he understood one was for his body and the other for his soul. all christians should similarly take two breakfasts, for the soul and for the body. the passover was to be to the jews the beginning of months. "this month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you" (exodus xii. ). all the years that they had been in bondage went for naught, because this was the first month of the year to them. and in like manner throughout all the years that we have served the devil, and all the time that we have been in egypt, whatever good we may have done in this world is to be reckoned as naught. everything dates back to the passover night--to the time the blood was put upon the door-posts. all the time we are serving the world goes for naught. if you have not come to calvary you are losing time. everything you do on the wrong side of the cross counts for naught; the first thing is to be saved by faith in christ, and then we commence our pilgrimage to heaven. we don't start, as some people suppose, from the cradle to heaven. we start from the cross. we have got a fallen nature that is taking us hellward. we must be born of the spirit, and sheltered by the blood, and then we become pilgrims for heaven. each man was to take a lamb for his house. "and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb." the lamb was not too little for a household, but the household might be too little for the lamb. christ was enough for every household, enough and to spare, and we ought to pray that salvation may come to every member of our households. let us next turn to exodus xxix. : "and thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar." even aaron could not come to god until he sprinkled blood round about the altar; and when the high priest went into the holy of holies, he had to take blood with him. from the time when adam fell there has been no other way by which a man can approach god than by the blood. you cannot have an audience of god until you come by that appointed way. so it has been for years. when adam fell in eden he broke the golden chain that linked humanity to the throne of god, but christ came and made atonement for that fall. again, observe in leviticus viii. : "and he slew it; and moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot." i used to read a passage like this, and say it seemed absurd. i think i understand it now. the blood _upon the ear_ means that we are to hear the voice of god. the unconverted man does not understand the voice of god; and we are told that when the voice of god was heard, the uncircumcised said that it thundered. they did not know the difference between god's voice and thunder. without the blood we cannot hear the voice of god and understand it. a man must be sheltered behind the blood before he can hear god's voice. the blood _upon the hand_ signifies that a man may work for god. you cannot work for god until you are sheltered behind the blood; and until you are sheltered it all stands for naught. you may build churches, endow colleges, pay ministers and missionaries; but it all goes for naught until you are sheltered behind the blood. don't let any one deceive you on this point. don't let satan deceive you by telling you that you can get to heaven by some other way. they asked christ, "what must we do that we may work the works of god?" perhaps these men had got their pockets full of money, and were ready and willing to build churches. christ told them that the work of god was that they should believe in his son. but they were not willing to do such a small thing; they would rather do some greater thing; but that was not what was wanted. you cannot do anything to please god until you believe. "behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." people may work day and night, and even work themselves to death; but they never will do right until they do what god requires them to do. the blood _on the toe_ of the right foot was to show that aaron was to walk with god. when adam fell, communion with god was broken. before he had walked with god; but the moment he sinned he fell out of communion with him; and from that time to this god has been trying to get man back into communion. god is full of truth and justice. his justice must be met; and after that has been met he is satisfied. god never walked with men until he put them behind the blood at goshen. what could stand before them then? they passed through the red sea, and god said to joshua, "take this country, and no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life." in the days of joshua there were whole regiments of giants; but one stripling from the lord's hosts defeated the giant of gath. if god is with us, the giants will be like grasshoppers; but if god is not with us, it will be different. i would rather have ten men separated from the world than ten thousand nominal christians who go to the prayer-meeting to-night and the ball to-morrow. in leviticus xvi. it is said: "he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times." it seems as if god originally gave adam a life by which he held communion with him; but on the day that he broke the command he lost that communion. and ever since god has been trying to get men back into communion with himself. but how could god be just and the justifier of sinners? that is done through the blood of christ. "the life of the flesh is in the blood." god demands blood to atone for sin. man's life was forfeited, and he had to die, or pay the wages of death. he could not pay the penalty and live; so he wanted a substitute. every man had sinned, and could not be a substitute for his fellow; but christ was sinless, and could become the substitute for man; and he has become that substitute, because he has died in the room and stead of man to satisfy the law. then the question for each and every one to answer is, whether they will love him and serve him who has died to redeem them by his precious blood. in leviticus xvii. , we read: "for the life of the flesh is in the blood: and i have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." there may be some who are saying, why does god demand blood? some one said to me: "i detest your god; he demands blood. i don't believe in such a god; for my god is merciful to all." i want to say, my god is full of mercy! but don't be so blind as to believe that god is not just, and that he has not got a government. suppose queen victoria didn't like any man to be deprived of his liberty, and she threw all her prisons open, and was so merciful that she could not bear any one to suffer for guilt, how long would she hold the sceptre? how long would she rule this empire? not twenty-four hours. those very men who cry out about god being merciful would say: "we don't want such a queen." god is just. god is merciful, but he will not take an unredeemed sinner into heaven. if he did, the redeemed would plant the banner of indignant remonstrance round the throne, and there would be a revolt in heaven. god said to adam, on the day thou sinnest thou shalt surely die. sin entered, and brought death into the world. god's word must be kept. i must either die, or get somebody to die for me; and in the fulness of time christ comes forward to die for the sinner. he was without sin; but if he had committed one sin, he would have had to die for his own sin. the life of the flesh is in the blood; and it is not blood he demands really; it is life, and life has been forfeited. we have sinned, and death must come, or justice must take its course. glory to god in the highest because he sent his son, born of a woman, to take our nature and die in our stead, tasting death for every man. you take this blood out of this body of mine, and life is gone. god demands blood. he demands life. man has sinned; therefore life must be forfeited, and i must die, or find somebody to die for me. my friends, i have only just touched this subject. if you read your bibles carefully you will find the scarlet thread running through the bible. it commenced in eden and flows on to revelation. i cannot find anything to tell me the way to heaven but by the blood. this book (holding up the bible) wouldn't be worth carrying home if you take the scarlet thread out of it; and it doesn't teach anything else; for the blood commences in genesis, and goes on to revelation. that is what this book is written for. it tells its own story; and if a man should come and preach another gospel, don't you believe him. if an angel should come and preach anything else, don't believe it. don't trifle with the subject of the blood. in your dying hour you would give more to be sheltered behind this blood than for all the world. a mother's love. in the time of the californian gold fever a man went to the diggings, and left his wife to follow him some time afterwards. while on her voyage with her little boy, the vessel caught fire; and as there was a powder-magazine on board, the captain knew when the flames reached it the ship would be blown up. the fire could not be got under, so they took to the life-boats; but there was not room for all. as the last boat pushed off, the mother and boy stood on the deck. one of the sailors said there was room for another. what did the mother do? she decided to perish herself in order to save her boy. she dropped him into the boat, and with a mother's last look, said: "if you should live to see your father, tell him that i died in your place." do you think when that boy grew up he could fail to love that mother who died to save him? my friends, this is a faint type of what christ has done for you and me. he died for our sins. he left heaven for that purpose. will you go away saying, i see no beauty in him. may god break every heart here! you will need him when you come to cross the swelling of jordan. you will need him when you go up to the bar of god. god forbid that when death comes it should find you without christ, and without god, and without hope! not only is the vitally important subject of the "blood of christ" referred to frequently in the old testament, but likewise in many places in the new testament. let us turn to the second chapter of the acts of the apostles, and verses - , "him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of god, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." what is this but the bloodshedding and death of christ? read also acts iv. ; v. ; vii. ; viii. ; x. ; xvii. ; xviii. ; hebrews ix. ; peter i. ; and many other passages will be found if the word _blood_ is referred to in a concordance. redemption. a friend of mine was in ireland, and saw a little irish boy who had caught a sparrow, and the poor little bird was trembling and panting in his hand, from which it wanted to get away. it was evidently very much affrighted. the gentleman told the boy to let it go, as the bird could not do him any good; but the boy said he would not let it escape, for he had been chasing it for three hours before he could catch it. the gentleman then offered to buy the bird, and the boy agreed to a price, which was paid. he took the poor bird and held it out on his palm, where it sat for a time, scarcely able to realise the fact that it had got its liberty; but at last it flew away, chirping, as if to say to the gentleman, "you have redeemed me." that is an illustration of what is meant by redemption. satan is stronger than any man upon earth, and there is no match for him but christ. the lion of calvary--the lion of the tribe of judah--he is stronger than the lion of hell. when christ on calvary said, "it is finished!" it was the shout of the conqueror. he came to redeem the world by his death. once when i was re-visiting my native village i was going to a neighbouring town to preach, and saw a young man coming from a house in a carriage, in which was seated an old woman. i felt interested in them, and asked my companion who they were. i was told to look at the adjoining meadow and pasture, and great barns that were on the farm, as well as a good house. "well," said my companion, "that young man's father drank that all up, and left his wife in the poorhouse. the young man went away and worked until he had got money enough to redeem that farm, and now it is his own, and he is taking his mother to church." that is another illustration of redemption. in the first adam we have lost all, but the second adam has redeemed everything by his death. a friend of mine who was in paris went to a great meeting of jews, at which one of the leading men presided, and that man said the jews had the honour of killing the christian's god; and those jews stamped and applauded at the statement. they were proud of the act, and cried out, "his blood be upon us, and upon our children," and that imprecation has been literally fulfilled in their history. now his blood either cries for our peace and salvation or for our condemnation. peace. in colossians i. it is written, "having made peace through the blood of the cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, i say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." that is what the blood of the cross does, it brings peace. in romans v. it is written, "therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of god." in this three things are stated: there is _justification_ for the past as well as peace. as the believer looks back to calvary, the blood speaks peace and pardon for guilt. then there is _grace_ for the present, and _glory_ for the future. in john xix. it is written, "but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water." there is a striking fact intimated in this verse. the spear that went into the side of the son of god was the crowning act of sin, the culminating crime of earth and hell. i don't see how they could have done a more cruel thing than that. what act could have been more black and hellish? and the blood came out and covered the spear, and a fountain was thus opened in the house of david for sin. the blood touched the roman spear, and it was not long before the roman government became at least nominally christian. the blood ran down from his side upon the earth, and this earth has been redeemed by him; for he will have the world by and by. he is the true sovereign, and he will ere long cast out the prince of darkness, and sway his sceptre from end to end of this earth. a little longer, and he will personally return and set up his millennial kingdom and reign over this earth. he has redeemed the earth by his blood, and he will have all he has redeemed. oneness in christ. has the blood touched you? the blood of christ makes us one, brings us into the family of god, and enables us to cry, "abba, father." at the time of the american war, during the days of slavery in america, when there was much political strife and strong prejudice against the black men, especially by irishmen, i heard a preacher say, that when he came to the cross for salvation he seemed to find a poor negro on one side and an irishman on the other side, and the blood came trickling down upon them and made them one. there may be strife in the world, but those whom christ has redeemed he has made one family. we are blood relatives. when i go before an audience, there is hardly a person i have seen before; but as i begin to talk about the king their eyes light up, and i see they are kinsmen, they are blood relatives, and in a short time i become attached to them. a man may go into a town a perfect stranger, but as soon as he finds out those who love god, they will be one. i wish christians had more of this oneness. i hope the time will soon come when sectarian walls will be broken down, and people will not want to ask whether you belong to the established, wesleyan, or baptist churches. if washed in the blood, we are blood relatives. i believe god will judge the world by the blood. "what have you done with that blood?" will be the great question in that day. if we make light of it, and send back an insulting message, saying we don't stand in need of it, we shall stand speechless before god's tribunal. if we make light of that blood, what is going to become of our souls? justification. the only way a man can be brought within the family of god is by the blood, as it is said in romans iii. , "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in christ jesus"; and again in romans v. , "much more then, being now _justified by his blood_, we shall be saved from wrath through him." justified from all things from which we could not be by the law of moses. when god looks into his ledger, there is nothing found against the man who is washed in the blood. one plunge in the crimson fountain, and the sinner is justified in the sight of god. christ was raised from the grave for the justification of all who put their trust in him, and such are not only pardoned men but justified men. justification is more than pardon. it is said of an emperor of russia that he sent on one occasion for two noblemen who were charged with some conspiracy, and one he found to be perfectly innocent, so he sent him home justified; but the other was proved guilty, but was pardoned. they both returned home, but ever afterwards would stand very differently in the estimation of their sovereign and neighbours. from that may be seen the difference between pardon and justification. confidence. when a man is justified he can go through the world with his head erect. satan may come to him, and say, "you are a sinner"; but the reply would be, "i know that, but god has forgiven me through christ"; as it is written in revelation i. , "and from jesus christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. unto him that loved us, and washed us in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto god the father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever." many people try to come to christ, but think they cannot come unless they first become good. but he loves all christians even before their sins are washed away. he loves them, and then washes them in his own blood. it is wonderful love! to think that he loves them first and then washes them in his blood from their sins! there is no devil in hell that can pluck them out of his hand. they are perfectly safe; for they are washed in the blood of the lamb. no remission without blood. it is said in hebrews ix. , "and almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood there is no remission." it is utterly impossible that a man can be saved who makes light of the blood. there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved than the name of christ jesus. are we willing to receive what christ has already done? the salvation of those who trust in him was already worked out when he said upon the cross, "it is finished." in matthew xxvi. we get the words of christ himself: "for this is my blood of the new testament, which was shed for many for the remission of sins." that was what christ himself said about the blood. he could have saved his life, but he loved the human family so much that he shed his blood for their redemption. he opened that fountain referred to in the lines: "there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from emmanuel's veins." that hymn will last as long as the church, and so will others like: "rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee." there is a great deal about the blood in these hymns, and they will all live. every hymn into which the scarlet thread is woven will live. there is another sweet hymn that will last through all ages: "just as i am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me." in hebrews x. we read, "having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." when christ's work was done, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom. god came out of the holy of holies, and man can now go in. he makes all his people in this dispensation kings and priests. every one can come right into the presence of god himself. in the jewish dispensation none but the high priests could enter into the holy of holies; but the veil being rent, god came out and man can go in through the veil of his flesh. "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." let us hold fast the profession of our faith. the new and living way has been opened by his blood. the only thing that christ left down here was his blood. when he ascended to heaven, he took with him his flesh and his bones, but his shed blood was left on this earth. the blood has two cries. it either cries for my damnation, or for my salvation. if i make light of the blood, and trample it under my feet, then it cries out for god's condemnation; but if i am sheltered behind the blood, there is no condemnation for me. god dealt in judgment with cain; and when pilate wanted to know what to do with christ, he washed his hands and said he was innocent. the jews said, "let his blood be upon us and our children, not to save us, but to condemn us." would that they had said, "let his blood be upon us to save us and protect us." nearly years have rolled away, and the jews are wanderers on the face of the earth without a king. their having been scattered all these years, what a proof it is the word of god is true! may our prayer be to-day, his blood be upon us and our children, not to condemn us, but to save us. let that be our prayer, that we may know what it is to be sheltered behind the blood of god's dear son. the blood of the cross speaks peace. if i am sheltered behind the blood, there is peace, but there is no peace until my sin is covered. if you had committed sin against a man, you would get no peace until that was forgiven. men are running after peace; and if it could be bought in the market, many would give hundreds of thousands of pounds to secure it. the blood of christ speaks peace, and it will bring peace to every guilty conscience and aching heart to-day if you only seek it. in hebrews x. , , we read: "he that despised moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the son of god, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace?" to me these are very solemn verses. i don't see how any one can sit here and hear these verses read and be content to remain unsaved. "they died without mercy"; but how much more sore will be the punishment of those who live in this age with an open bible, which tells how christ died to redeem us, and make us heirs of heaven. in revelation xii. , we read: "and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." they overcame by the blood. i don't believe there is a word in the bible satan is fearing more than the word "blood." judging from past experience, i shall probably receive many letters to-morrow attacking me for what i have said to-day. these letters will say it is heathenish to stand up and preach what would only do for an unenlightened age. may god forgive those who dare to say such things. if you will read your bible in the light of calvary, you will find there is no other way of coming to heaven but by the blood. the devil does not fear ten thousand preachers who preach a bloodless religion. a man who preaches a bloodless religion is doing the devil's work, and i don't care who he is. victory through the blood. it is said of old dr. alexander, of princeton seminary, that when he parted with the students who were going to preach the gospel, he would take them by the hand, and say, "young man, make much of the blood--make much of the blood." as i have travelled up and down christendom i have found out that a minister who gives a clear sound upon this doctrine is successful. a man who covers up the cross, though he may be an intellectual man, and draw large crowds, cannot touch the heart and conscience. there will be no life there, and his church will be like a gilded sepulchre. those men who preach the doctrine of the cross, holding up christ as the sinner's only hope of heaven, and as the sinner's only substitute, and make much of the blood, god honours, and souls are always saved where that truth is preached. i would say, make much of the blood. may god help us to make much of the blood of his son. it cost god so much to give us this blood, and shall we try to keep it from the world which is perishing from the want of it? the world can get along without us, but not without christ. let us preach christ in season and out of season. let us go to the sick and dying, and hold up the saviour who came to seek and save them, and died to redeem them. christ will conquer. it is said of julian the apostate in rome, that when he was trying to stamp out christianity he was pierced in the side by an arrow. he pulled the arrow out, and taking a handful of blood as it flowed from the wound, threw it into the air, shouting, "thou galil�an, thou hast conquered!" yes, this galilæan is going to conquer. may god help us to give no uncertain sound on this doctrine. i would rather give up my life than give up this doctrine. take that away, and what is my hope in heaven? am i to depend upon my works? away with them when it comes to the question of salvation. i must get salvation distinct and separate from works, for it is "to him that worketh not, but believeth on christ." none will walk the celestial pavement of heaven but those washed in the blood. the first man that went up from this earth was probably abel. you can see abel putting his little lamb upon the altar, thus placing blood between him and his sin. abel sang a song the angels could not join in. there must have been one solo song of redemption in heaven, because abel had no one to join him. but there is a great chorus now, for the redeemed have been going up for six thousand years, and they sing of him who is worthy to receive honour because he died to save us from condemnation. robes made white through the blood. in revelation vii. , we read: "and i said unto him, sir, thou knowest. and he said to me, these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb." sinner, how are you going to get your robes clean if you don't get them washed in the blood of the lamb? how are you going to wash them? can you by yourself make them clean? oh, may we all reach that paradise above! there they are singing the sweet song of redemption, and may it be the happy lot of each of us to join them. it may be only a short time, at the longest, before we shall be there, and shout the song of redemption, and sing the sweet song of moses and the lamb. there "they hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of water: and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." at that day sceptics and scoffers will pray for the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and cover them from the wrath of god. if you die without christ, without hope, and without god, where will you be? sinner, be wise! don't make light of the blood! the dying saint. an aged minister of the gospel, when dying, said, "bring me the bible." putting his finger upon the verse, "the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sin," he said, "i die in the hope of this verse." it wasn't his fifty years' preaching, nor his long life in the lord's service, but the blood of christ, upon which he relied. when we stand before god's tribunal we shall be pure, even as he is pure, if we are washed in the blood of the lamb. the precious blood. during the american war a doctor heard a man saying, "blood, blood, blood!" the doctor thought this was because he had seen so much blood shed upon battlefields, and endeavoured to soothe his mind. the man smiled, and said, "i wasn't thinking of the blood upon the battlefield, but i was thinking how precious the blood of christ is to me as i am dying." as he died his lips quivered, "blood, blood, blood!" and he was gone. oh, it will indeed be precious when we come to our dying bed! it will then be worth more to us than all the world! one sin is enough to exclude us from heaven, but one drop of christ's blood is sufficient to cover all our sins. beware how you treat the gospel message of redemption through the blood. the down grade. a stage-driver away on the pacific coast--as i was told when i was there about three years ago--while lying on his dying bed, kept moving one of his feet up and down, saying, "i am on the down grade, and cannot reach the brake." as they told me of it, i thought how many were on the down grade, and could not reach the brake, and were dying without god and without hope. i plead with you as a fellow-traveller; don't go out of this hall without saying, "heaven is my home, and god is my father." don't let the scoffers laugh you into hell; they cannot laugh you out of it. the blood is upon the mercy-seat, and while it is upon the mercy-seat you can enter into the kingdom. god says, "there is the blood; it is all i have to give. as long as it is there, there is hope for you. i am satisfied with the finished work of my son, and will you be satisfied?" don't leave this meeting until you can claim this as yours. how dark and sad it is to go to the bedside of a dying infidel or atheist, or one who is dying without the light of the resurrection morn. but if we trust to christ, death has lost its sting, and the grave its victory. an eminent minister in america, alfred cookman, the robert mccheyne of his day, was dying, and when his friends were gathered round his couch, waiting to see him depart to be with christ, his face lit up, and with a shout of triumph he said, "i am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the lamb!" and this echoes and re-echoes through america to-day: "i am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the lamb!" may these be our last words, and may an abundant entrance be granted us into the gates of the heavenly city! who, who are these, beside the chilly wave, just on the borders of the silent grave; shouting jesus power to save, washed in the blood of the lamb. sweeping through the gates of the new jerusalem washed in the blood of the lamb. christ all in all read colossians iii. . christ is all in all to every one who has truly found him. he is our saviour, redeemer, deliverer, shepherd, teacher, and also sustains toward us many more offices, to which i desire to call your attention. . if we turn to luke ii. , , we find christ is there announced as our saviour: "behold, i bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. for unto you is born this day in the city of david _a saviour_, which is christ the lord." we learn to know christ as our saviour, to meet him on mount calvary, to look on him as the bleeding lamb of god, before we know him as our redeemer, deliverer, and shepherd. now, looking round upon this vast assembly, i, who do not know the hearts of the people, cannot know whether you can say that christ is your saviour. there are many, i trust, who can say this, and who rejoice in his salvation; while, without being uncharitable, i am afraid there are many who know nothing personally of jesus as their saviour. he is offered to every one of you to-day as a saviour; "god gave him up freely for us all," that we all through him might be saved. if you are belonging to this world, i can prove that you have a saviour. if you belonged to some other planet, such as the moon or any of the stars, then i could not say a saviour was offered to you; for it is not revealed whether the people of these distant worlds, even if they are inhabited, require salvation or not. but this i know, that every man on this globe has a saviour offered him. salvation free to all. i have no sympathy with those men who try to limit god's salvation to a certain few. i believe that christ died for all who will come. i have received many letters finding fault with me, and saying i surely don't believe the doctrine of election. i do believe in election; but i have no business to preach that doctrine to the world at large. the world has nothing to do with election; it has only to do with the invitation, "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." that is the message for the sinner. i am sent to preach the gospel to all. after you have received salvation, we can talk about election. it's a doctrine for christians, for the church, not for the unconverted world. our message is "good tidings, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day a saviour, which is christ the lord." all people, this saviour is proffered to you. accept him, and god will accept you; reject him, and god will reject you. your eternal destiny depends on your refusal or otherwise to accept the proffered saviour. the case is simply one of giving and taking. god gives; i receive. we must, then, first of all know christ as our saviour. . but he is still more: he is our redeemer. supposing i saw a man tumble into a river, and i were to jump in and rescue him, i should be a saviour to him--i should have saved him. but when i brought the man ashore, i should probably leave him, and do nothing further. but the lord does more. he not only saves us, but he redeems us--that is, buys us back. he ransoms us from the power of sin, as if i should promise to watch over that rescued man for ever, and see that he did not again fall into the water. the lord not only saves us from spiritual death, but he redeems us for ever that death can never touch us. liberty to the captives. when i was at richmond, u.s., the coloured people were going to have a meeting. it was the first day of their freedom. i went to the african church, and never before or since heard such bursts of native eloquence. "mother," said one, "rejoice to-day. your little child has been sold from you for the last time; your posterity are for ever free. glory to god in the highest! young men, you have heard the driver's whip for the last time; you are free to-day! young maidens, you have been put up on the auction-block for the last time!" they spoke right out, they shouted for joy; their prayers had been answered, it was the gospel to them. in like manner jesus christ proclaims liberty to the captives. some have accepted it; some, like the poor negroes, scarcely believe the good tidings; but it is none the less true. christ has come to redeem us from the slavery of sin. now, who will accept of that redemption? there was one coloured woman, a servant in an inn in the southern states, who could not believe she was free. "be's i free, or be i not?" she asked of a visitor. her master told her she was not, her coloured brethren told her she was. for two years she had been free without knowing it. she represents a great many in the church of god to-day. they can have liberty, and yet they don't know it. . again, christ is our deliverer. the children of israel were not only saved and redeemed from the bondage of the egyptians, but they were also _delivered_, that they should not be led back again into bondage. many are afraid; they think they are not able to hold on, and therefore shrink from making a profession. but christ is able to keep you from falling; he is able to deliver you in the dark hour of trial and temptation, from every evil device of satan, and from the snare of the fowler. in isaiah xlix. , we read: "shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? but thus saith the lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for i will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and i will save thy children." i will save him; i will deliver him. the children of israel were _saved_ from the cruel bondage of egypt, they were led out of the land of goschen; but still they were not fully _delivered_. the great host of the egyptians was thundering behind them. it was not till they had passed safely through the red sea, which closing behind them, swallowed up the host of the enemy--it was not till then that they were free, that they were delivered. and similarly in our times of danger we shall find it to be true of christ, "he delivered my soul"; and again in job xxxiii. , "then he is gracious unto him, and saith, deliver him from going down to the pit: i have found a ransom. his flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth! he shall pray unto god, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." here we have the saving, the redeeming, the deliverance from the pit. man is fallen into the deep pit, he is kept there a lawful captive by one who is mighty. if he is to be brought back from the darkness of the pit to see the light, then we must have a ransom. here god comes forward, and says, "i have found a ransom." christ is the ransom, and he will deliver us. sound out the cry, "christ is our deliverer." he is mighty to save, he is able to deliver. a leader. . but now we need something more. look back again to the children of israel; when they had marched gloriously through the red sea, they had been saved, redeemed, and delivered; but was that all they required? no; they had been brought into the wilderness. what now do they need? they must have a way to go in the pathless desert. they required a leader. then christ is the way and the leader. are we in difficulties, in doubt, or in perplexity? christ is our way. "i am the way, the truth, and the life" (john x.). i have heard some say, "well, if i am converted, and become religious, i don't know what church i would go to. there are so many different churches and denominations. i really don't know which is the right one." hence some people are bewildered, and do not know which is the true way. well, i would say to such, look only to him who says, "i am the way." he is the only true way, and if you want to reach the kingdom you have only to follow him. we may be in darkness, but he is able to lead us in the right path. he is the shepherd of his flock. he will go before us and lead us. he is calling upon us to arise and follow him, and he will lead us by a way we know not; he will guide us to the green pastures if we only look to him. the pillar of cloud. all that the children of israel had to do was to follow the cloud. if the cloud rested, they rested; if the cloud moved forward, then they moved. i can imagine that the first thing moses did, when the grey dawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the cloud was still over the camp. by night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up the camp, and filling them with a sense of god's protecting care; by day it was a cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun's rays, and sheltering them from the sight of their enemies. israel's shepherd could lead them through the pathless desert. why? because he made it. he knew every grain of sand in it. they could not have a better leader through the wilderness than its creator. and, sinner, can you, in all your difficulties or doubts and fears, have a better leader than jehovah? oh, i do like that good old hymn: "guide me, o thou great jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land; i am weak, but thou art mighty, hold me with thy powerful hand. bread of heaven, feed me till i want no more." yes, that is the true prayer of the bewildered sinner, god is _able_, and still more, he is _willing_, to lead us, and to feed us. "thou gayest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst" (nehemiah ix. ). he is still as able to lead any of us as he was four thousand years ago to lead the children of israel, "for i am the lord; i change not." to every one of us he says, "fear not, i will lead thee; i will help thee." wonderful thing, is it not, to have god to help us on our way? in our western countries, when men go out hunting into the dense backwoods, where there are no roads or paths of any kind, they take their hatchet and cut a little chip out of the bark of the trees as they go along, and then they easily find their way by these "blazes." they call it "blazing the way." and so, if you will allow me the expression, christ has "blazed the way." he has travelled the road himself, and knowing the way, he tells us to follow him, and he will lead us safe on high. . now we have seen christ is our saviour, redeemer, deliverer, leader, or way. but he is more than all that; he is our light. "i am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." he shall have the very "light of life." yes, it is the privilege of every christian to walk in an unclouded sky. but do we walk thus in an unclouded sky? no, most christians are often in darkness. if i were to ask this congregation if they were all walking in the light, i believe there is scarcely one, if he spoke the true feeling of his heart, but would reply, "no, i am often in darkness." why is that? it is because we are not following christ, and keeping close to him. we are much in darkness when we might be in the light. suppose the windows of this building were all closed, and we were complaining of the darkness, what would any one say to us? why, they would say, "admit the light; open the windows all round, and you'll soon have plenty of light." similarly we must let in christ, who is the light, and open our minds to receive him, and we shall soon walk in light. there is a great deal of darkness at the present time, even in the hearts of god's own people. but follow him, and then you will have plenty of light. then christ will show to each of us that he is "the light"; and he will do more, he will set us on fire with his light, that we also may shine as lights in this dark world. may god help his own people to shine brightly, to flash out of darkness, that men may take knowledge of us that we have been with jesus. but remember, the world hates the light. christ was the light of the world, and the world sought to extinguish it at calvary. now he has left his people to shine. "ye are the light of the world." he has left us here to shine. he means us to be "living epistles, known and read of all men." the world is certain to watch, and to read you and me. if we are inconsistent, then you may be sure the world will take occasion to stumble at us. the world finds plenty of difficulties on the way; let us see that we christians do not add more stumbling-blocks by our un-christlike walk. god help us to keep our lights burning clear and brilliant! out west a friend of mine was walking along one of the streets one dark night, and saw approaching him a man with a lantern. as he came up close to him he noticed by the bright light that the man had got no eyes. he went past, but the thought struck him, "surely that man is blind." he turned round, and said, "my friend, are you not blind?" "yes." "then what have you got the lantern for?" "i carry the lantern that people may not stumble over me, of course," said the blind man. let us take a lesson from that blind man, and hold up our light, burning with the clear radiance of heaven, that men may not stumble over us. . objectors have said that it's all moonshine about christ's people being lights on the way. well, that's just what we believe; we reflect the light of christ. reflected light. just like the moonshine, our light is borrowed light. when we are living in the light of our saviour we shine with his light: somewhat like the face of moses, which shone after he had been in the mount with god. let us live in an atmosphere of heaven, and we cannot help shining. but whenever we get downcast and weak in faith, then we are sure to lose our light. i remember during the american war i was in a prayer meeting. we were all very dark and gloomy. things had been going against us for some time. at last an old man got up, and said, "what is the matter with us, that we are downhearted and sad? it is simply our lack of faith." moses, joshua, and david were men strong in faith. they believed, and therefore god honoured them. whence comes our want of faith? god is not dead. he is as powerful, as willing, to help to-day as ever he was. why, then, are we not full of faith in him? it is god-dishonouring to forget that he still has power, although our armies are defeated, and all seems dark and gloomy. get above the clouds. i will tell you what happened to me some time ago when i was out west. i wanted to reach the summit of one of the western mountains. i had been told that sunrise was very beautiful when seen from the summit. we got up to the half-way house one afternoon, where we were to rest till midnight, and then set out for the top. soon a little party of us started with a good guide. before a great while it began to rain, and then it became a regular storm of thunder and lightning. i thought there was little use in going on, and said to the guide, "guess we'd better turn back; we won't see anything this morning, with all these clouds." "oh," said the guide, "i expect we'll soon get through these clouds, and get above them, and then we'll have a glorious view." so we went on, whilst the thunders were rumbling right about our ears. but soon we began to get above the thunder-cloud; the air was quite clear, and when the sun rose we had a splendid view of his rays as they tinged the hilltops; and then, as the glorious sunshine began to break on where we stood, we could see the dark cloud far beneath our mountain height. that's what god's people want--to get into the clear air above the stormy clouds, and to climb higher away up to the mountain peak. there you'll catch the first rays from the sun of righteousness far above the clouds and mists. some of you may be in great darkness and gloom; but fear not, climb higher, get nearer to the master, and soon you'll catch his bright rays on your own soul, and they will sparkle back upon others. keep the lower lights burning. we must live as children of the light, not as children of the darkness. if we are dark and sorrowful, how is the world to know that we are children of peace, and joy, and gladness? our determination must be to keep our lights burning. a few years ago, at the mouth of cleveland harbour there were two lights, one at each side of the bay, called the upper and lower lights; and, to enter the harbour safely by night, vessels must sight both of these lights. these western lakes are more dangerous sometimes than the great ocean. one wild, stormy night a steamer was trying to make her way into the harbour. the captain and the pilot were anxiously watching for the lights. by and by the pilot was heard to say, "do you see the lower lights?" "no," was the reply; "but i fear we have passed them." "ah, there are the lights," said the pilot! "and they must be, from the bluff on which they stand, the upper lights. we have passed the lower lights, and have lost our chance of getting into the harbour." what was to be done? they looked back, and saw the dim outline of the lower lighthouse against the sky. the lights had gone out. "can't you turn her head round?" "no; the night is too wild for that. she won't answer her helm." the storm was so fearful that they could do nothing. they tried again to make for the harbour, but they went crash against the rocks, and sank to the bottom. very few escaped; the great majority found a watery grave. why? simply because the lower lights had gone out. and with us the upper lights are all right. christ himself is the upper light, and we are the lower lights, and the cry to us is, _keep the lower lights burning_, that is what we have to do. in the place god has put us he expects us to shine, to be living witnesses, to be a bright and shining light. while we are here our work is to shine for him, and he will lead us safe to the sunlit shore of canaan, where there is no more night. . but christ is more than our light on the way; for he is our teacher. what a wonderful thing to have a teacher sent from heaven. "if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (james i. ). "if any lack wisdom": i am afraid there are a great many of us who lack wisdom, and even the best of us at times will be in perplexity. there are moments in the life of us all when we seem in a fix; we just stand still, and say, "what shall i do? i don't know what is the best way." oh, leave it with god, he will himself be our teacher! "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and _learn of me_." here is a wonderful teacher. he has had a school for many thousand years; he has had the best men in his school; but still there's room for another scholar there. his college is not too full yet, and the teacher is the one sent from heaven. any one, every one in this assembly may join this school. jesus will welcome you there. are you in doubt about anything? ask jesus; he will tell you. anxious sinner, seek the good teacher, as nicodemus did: "master, we know thou art a teacher sent from god." if you seek him thus he will direct you. he will keep you, and lead you into green pastures and by the still waters. i met a woman the other day who was full of infidel doubts and fancies. she could not believe. reading for some time infidel works had thrown a dark and gloomy pall over her mind. it made me sad to see her in such a case. some of you may be like her. i wish you would take christ as your teacher, and then all darkness would flee away. christ is able to teach us. see how he taught the disciples. he never wearied of their learning from him. so he will teach us if we will only listen to him. the old judge converted. i remember, as i was coming out of the daily prayer meeting in one of our american cities a few years ago, a lady said she wished to speak to me; her voice trembled with emotion, and i saw at once that she was heavily burdened by something or other. she said she had long been praying for her husband, and she wanted to know if i would go to see him; she thought it might do him some good. what is his name? "judge---," and she mentioned one of the most eminent politicians in the state. "i have heard of him," i said; "i am afraid i need not go, he is a booked infidel; i cannot argue with him." "that is not what he wants," said the lady. "he has had too much argument already. go and speak to him about his soul." i said i would, although i was not very hopeful. i went to his house, was admitted to his room, and introduced myself as having come to speak to him about salvation. "then you have come on a very foolish errand," said he; "there's no use in attacking me, i tell you that. i am proof against all these things, i don't believe in them." well, i saw it was no use arguing with him; so i said, "i'll pray for you, and i want you to promise me that when you are converted you'll let me know." "oh, yes, i'll let you know," he said in a tone of sarcasm. "oh, yes, i'll let you know when i'm converted!" i left him, but i continued to pray for him. some time subsequently i heard that the old judge was converted. i was again preaching in that city a while after that, and when i had done talking the judge himself came to me, and said: "i promised i'd let you know when i was converted; i have come to tell you of it. have you not heard of it?" "yes; but i would like to hear from you how it happened." "well," said the judge, "one night, some time after you called on me, my wife had gone to the meeting; there was no one in the house but the servants. i sat by the drawing-room fire, and i began to think: suppose my wife is right, that there is a heaven and a hell; and suppose she is on the right way to heaven, where am i going? i just dismissed the thought. but a second thought came: surely he who created me is able to teach me. yes, i thought, that is so. then why not ask him? i struggled against it, but at last, though i was too proud to get down on my knees, i just said, 'father, all is dark; thou who created me canst teach me.' somehow, the more i prayed the worse i felt. i was very sad. i did not wish my wife to come home and find me thus, so i slipped away to bed, and when she came into the room i pretended to be asleep. she got down on her knees and prayed. i knew she was praying for me, and that for many long years she had been doing so. i felt as if i could have jumped up and knelt beside her; but no, my proud heart would not let me, so i lay still, pretending to be asleep. but i didn't sleep that night. i soon changed my prayer; it was now, 'o god, save me; take away this terrible burden.' i didn't believe in christ even yet. i thought i'd go right straight to the father himself. but the more i prayed i only became the more miserable; my burden grew heavier. the next morning i did not wish to see my wife, so i said 'i was not well, and wouldn't wait for breakfast.' i went to the office, and when the boy came i sent him home for a holiday. when the clerks came i told them they might go for the day. i closed the office doors: i wanted to be alone with god. i was almost frantic in my agony of heart. i cried to god to take away this load of sin. at last i fell on my knees, and cried, 'for jesus christ's sake take away this load of sin.' at length i went to my wife's pastor, who had been praying with her for my conversion for years, and the same minister who had prayed with my mother before she died. as i walked down the street the verse that my mother had taught me came into my mind, 'whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.' well, i thought, i have asked god, and here i am going to ask a man. i won't go. i believe i am a christian. i turned and went home. i met my wife in the hall as i entered. i caught her hand, and said, 'i am a christian now.' she turned quite pale; she had been praying for twenty-one years for me, and yet she could not believe the answer had come. we went into our room, and knelt down by the very bedside where she had so often knelt to pray for her husband. there we erected our family altar; and for the first time our voices mingled in prayer. and i can only say that the last three months have been the happiest months ever i spent in my life." since then that judge has lived a consistent christian life; and all because he came to god, asking for guidance. if there is one here to-day whose mind is filled with such infidel thoughts, go honestly to god, and he will teach you the right way through the dark wilderness of infidelity. he won't leave you in darkness or doubt. it is the devil's own work to lead men into such doubts; well he knows if he once gets them there he has them pretty safe. it is satan's work to keep you in ignorance or doubt. it is god's work to teach you. the teacher is christ; he is appointed by god for this work. god help us all to accept him as our teacher. . now we have seen christ as our saviour, redeemer, deliverer, leader, light, and teacher. but he is still more; he is also our shepherd. a very sweet thought it is to me, "the lord is my shepherd; i shall not want." there is not one here, except the very babes, who does not understand the work of a shepherd. he watches over his flock, protects them from danger, feeds them, leads them into the best pastures. in fact, the rd psalm is just a statement of the duties of a good shepherd: "the lord is my shepherd; i shall not want," etc. you want to be fed; are you going to wander about seeking something to satisfy the cravings of your soul? then, i tell you, you never will find anything to satisfy the longings of your heart. the world cannot, and never could, satisfy a hungry soul. the lord jesus can--he is the true shepherd. he is seeking to restore your soul, to lead you back to the paths of righteousness. even to death will he lead you, and safely through its shadow guide you to a better land. mother, father, will you claim him as your shepherd? young man, young woman, will you have him as your shepherd? my little child, will you have jesus as your shepherd? he will lead safely and softly. you can, all of you, if you will. for "god gave him up freely for us all," that he might have us for his flock. he will lead us through life, down to the banks of the jordan; he will lead us across the dark river into his kingdom. he is a tender, loving shepherd. i sometimes meet people in the anxious inquiry-room who are nourishing hard, bitter feelings against god, generally because they have been afflicted. a mother said to me the other day, "ah, mr. moody, god has been unjust to me; he has come and taken away my child." dear afflicted mothers, has god not removed your children to a pure and happy life? you may not understand it now, but you will by and by. he wants to lead you up there. the eastern shepherd. a friend of mine, who had been in eastern lands, told me he saw a shepherd who wanted his flock to cross a river. he went into the water himself and called them; but no, they would not follow him into the water. what did he do? why, he girded up his loins and lifted a little lamb under each arm, and plunged right into the stream, and crossed it without even looking back. whenever he lifted the lambs, the old sheep looked up into his face and began to bleat for them; but when he plunged into the water the dams plunged after him, and then the whole flock followed. when they got to the other side he put down the lambs, and they were quickly joined by their mothers, and there was a happy meeting. my friend says he noticed the pastures on the other side were much better and the fields greener; and on this account the shepherd was leading them across. our great palestine shepherd does that. that child which he has taken from the earth is but removed to green pastures of canaan, and the shepherd means to draw your hearts after it, to teach you to "set your affections on things above." when he has taken your little mary, edith, or julia, accept it as a call to look upward and beyond. you, mother, are you weeping bitter tears for your little one? do not weep! your child has gone to the place where there is neither weeping nor sorrow. would you have it return? surely never. christ is our shepherd--faithful and loving. though sickness, or trouble, or even death itself, should come to our house, and claim our dearest ones, still they are not lost, but only gone before. god help each one of us to have him as our shepherd. if time permitted, i should like to take up the subject of christ as our justification, our wisdom, our righteousness, the friend that sticketh closer than a brother; but it would take a whole eternity to tell what christ is to his people, and what he does for them. i remember when i was preaching on this subject in scotland, after i had done, i said to a man that "i was sorry i could not finish the subject for want of time." "finish the subject," said the scotchman, "why, that would require all eternity, and even then it would not be complete; it will be the occupation of heaven." . once more, let us look at christ as our burden-bearer. oh, i love to think of him as the bearer of our burdens as well as our sin-bearer. he carries our sins, although they are more numerous than the hairs of our heads. great and terrible as these burdens are, god has laid them all on jesus. "o christ, what burdens bowed thy head! our load was laid on thee." that aspect of his burden-bearing we have already looked at in his work as saviour and redeemer. i wish now to take up the sweet thought, which has been a great comfort to me. "surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." glorious, is it not, to know we have such a saviour? can you feel that he has lifted your burden off your shoulders on to his own shoulder? then you will feel light in heart. a light heart. on one occasion, after i had been talking this way, a woman came forward, and said, "oh, mr. moody, it's all very well for you to talk like that, about a _light heart_. but you are a young man, and if you had a heavy burden like me you would talk differently. i could not talk in that way, my burden is too great." i replied, "but it's not too great for jesus." "oh," she said, "i cannot cast it on him." "why not? surely it is not too great for him. it is not that he is feeble. but it is because you will not leave it to him. you're like many others. they will not leave it with him. they go about hugging their burden, and yet crying out against it. what the lord wants is, you to leave it with him, to let him carry it for you. then you will have a light heart, sorrow will flee away, and there will be no more sighing. what is your burden, my friend, that you cannot leave with christ?" she replied, "i have a son who is a wanderer on the face of the earth. none but god knows where he is." "cannot christ find him, and bring him back?" "i suppose he can." "then go and tell jesus, and ask him to forgive you for doubting his power and willingness; you have no right to mistrust him." she went away much comforted, and i believe she ultimately had her wandering boy restored to her! a mother's prayer answered. this circumstance reminds me of a pious father and mother in our country, whose eldest son had gone to chicago to a situation. a neighbour of theirs was in the city on some business, and he met the young man reeling along the streets drunk. he thought, "how am i to tell his parents?" when he returned to his village, he went and called out the father, and told him. it was a terrible blow to that father, but he said nothing to the mother till the little ones had all gone to rest; the servants had retired, and all was quiet in that little farm on the western prairies. they drew up their chairs to the little drawing-room table, and then he told her the sad news. "our boy has been seen drunk on the streets of chicago--drunk." ah, that mother was sorely hurt; they did not sleep much that night, but spent the hours in fervent prayers for their boy. about daybreak the mother felt an inward conviction that all would be well. she told the father "she had cast it on the lord, had left her son with jesus, and she felt he would save him." one week from that time the young man left chicago, took a journey of three hundred miles into the country; and when he reached his home, he walked in, and said, "mother, i've come home to ask you to pray for me." ah, her prayer had reached heaven; she had cast her burden on jesus, and he had borne it for her. he took the burden, presented her prayer sprinkled with the atoning blood, and got it answered. in two days that young man returned to chicago rejoicing in the saviour. what a wonderful thing it is to have christ as our burden-bearer! how easy, how light do our cares become when cast upon him! do you say christ is nothing to you? if so, it is only because you won't have him. he is to all who will accept him a saviour from death, a redeemer from the power of sin, a deliverer from our enemies, a leader through the wilderness; he is the way himself, he is light in the darkness, he is a teacher to his people, he is the shepherd of his flock, our justification, wisdom, righteousness, elder brother, burden-bearer. he is in fact "our all in all." then come to christ; oh, come to-day, the father, son, and spirit say, the bride repeats the call, for he will cleanse your guilty stains, his love will soothe your weary pains, for christ is all in all. naaman the syrian read kings v. i wish to call your attention to a man rather than to a text; to one who was a great man in his own country, and very honourable; one whom the king delighted to honour. he stood high in position; he was captain of the host of the king of syria; but he was a leper, and that threw a blight over his whole life. now, you cannot have a better type of a sinner than naaman was. i don't care who nor what he is, nor what position he holds--all men alike have sinned, and all have to bear the same burden of death. "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of god." all men must stand in judgment before god; what a gloom that throws over our whole life! _but he was a leper_. there was no physician to help him in syria. none of the eminent doctors in damascus could do him any good. neither could any in jerusalem. there was no balm in gilead. if he was to get rid of the leprosy, the power must come from on high. it must be some one unknown to naaman, for he did not know god. the little missionary. but i will tell you what they had in syria--they had one of god's children there, and she was a little girl, a simple captive maid. naaman knew nothing about her, though she was one of his household. he knew nothing about this little israelite. i can imagine her one day as she said to mrs. naaman, her mistress, that there was a prophet in her country that could cure her master of his leprosy. "would to god," the maid said, "my lord were with the prophet in samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy." there's faith for you! "why," says the mistress, "what are you talking about? did you ever hear of anybody being cured of leprosy?" "ah," said the little girl, "it is true, i can assure you; we have got physicians down there that can cure any one." so at last some one told the king about what the little maid of israel had said. now, naaman stood high in the king's favour, for he had recently won a great victory. he was called a lord, perhaps he was a prince, a sort of syrian prince bismarck, who stood near the throne. so the king said, "you had better go down to samaria, and see if there is anything in it, and i will give you letters of introduction to the king of israel." money will not buy salvation. yes, he would give naaman letters of introduction to the king. that's just man's idea. the notion was, that if anybody could help him, it was the king, and that the king had power both with god and man. oh, my friends, it is a good deal better to know a man that knows god! a man acquainted with god has more power than any earthly potentate. gold can't do everything. well, away goes naaman down to samaria with his kingly introduction, and he takes with him a lot of gold and silver. that is man's idea again; he is going to pay for a great doctor, and he took about £ , sterling, as far as i can make it out, to pay for the doctor's bill. there are a good many men who would willingly pay that sum if with it they could buy the favour of god, and get rid of the curse of sin. yes, if money could do it, how many would buy salvation! but, thank god, it is not in the market for sale. you must buy it at god's price, and that is "without money and without price." naaman found that out. and now, my dear friends, did you ever ask yourselves, which is the worst--the leprosy of sin, or the leprosy of the body? why, for my own part, i would a thousand times sooner have the leprosy of the body eating my eyes out, and feet, and arms! i would rather be loathsome in the sight of my fellow-men, than die with the leprosy of sin in my soul, and be banished from god for ever! the leprosy of the body is bad, but the leprosy of sin is a thousand times worse. it has cast angels out of heaven, it has ruined the best and strongest men that ever lived in the world. oh, how it has pulled men down! the leprosy of the body could not do that. but to proceed. there is one thing about naaman that i like, and that is his earnestness of purpose. he was thoroughly in earnest. he was quite willing to go one hundred and fifty miles, and to take the advice of this little maid. a good many people say, "oh, i don't like such and such a minister; i should like to know where he comes from, and what he has done, and whether any bishop has laid his hands on his head." my dear friends, never mind the minister, it is the message you want. why, if some one were to send me a telegraph message, and the news were important, i shouldn't stop to ask about the messenger who brought it. i should want to read the news; i should look at the message, and not at the boy who brought it. and so it is with god's message. the good news is everything, the minister nothing. the syrians looked down with contempt on the israelites, and yet this great man was willing to take the good news at the hands of this little maiden, and listened to the words that fell from her lips. why, if i got lost in london, i should be willing to ask anybody which way to go, even if it were only a shoeblack boy; and, in point of fact, a boy's word in such a case is often better than a man's. it is the way i want, not the person who directs me. human pride brought low. but there was one drawback in naaman's case. though he was willing to take the advice of the little girl, he was not willing to take the remedy. the stumbling-block of pride stood in his way. the remedy the prophet offered him was a terrible blow to his pride. i have no doubt he expected a grand reception from the king of israel, to whom he brought letters of introduction. he had been victorious on many a field of battle, and held high rank in the army; perhaps we may call him major-general naaman of syria, or he might have been higher in rank even than that; and bearing with him kingly credentials, he expected no doubt a distinguished reception. but instead of the king rushing out to meet him, he, when he heard of naaman's arrival, and his object, simply rent his mantle, and said, "am i god, to kill and to make alive?" but at last the king bethinks himself of elisha the prophet, and he says, "there is a subject in my kingdom who may be able to help you and cure your leprosy." and i can imagine naaman's pride reasoning thus: "surely the prophet will feel very much exalted and flattered that i, the great syrian general, should come and call upon him." and so, probably, full of those proud thoughts, he drives up to the prophet's humble dwelling with his chariot, four-in-hand, and his splendid retinue. yes, naaman drove up in grand style to the prophet's abode, and as nobody seemed to be coming out to greet him, he sent in his message: "tell the prophet major-general naaman of syria has arrived, and wishes to see him." the prophet's message. elisha takes it very coolly. he does not come out to see him, but as soon as he learns his errand he sends his servant to tell him to dip seven times in the river jordan, and he shall be clean. now that was a terrible blow to his pride. i can imagine him saying to his servant, "what did you say? did i understand you aright? dip seven times in jordan! why, we call the river jordan a _ditch_ in our country." but the only answer he got was, "the prophet says, go and dip seven times in the jordan, and thy flesh shall become like the flesh of a little child." i can fancy naaman's indignation as he asks, "are not abana and pharpar, rivers of damascus, better than all the waters of israel? may i not wash in them, and be clean?" so he turned and went away in a rage. the fact was, the jordan never had any great reputation as a river. it flowed into the dead sea, and that sea never had a harbour to it, and its banks were not half so beautiful as those of the rivers of damascus; for damascus was one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it is said that when mahomet beheld it he turned his head aside for fear it should divert his thoughts from heaven. naaman turned away in a rage. "ah," he said, "here am i, a great conqueror, a successful general on the battlefield, holding the very highest rank in the army, and yet this prophet does not even come out to meet me; he simply sends a message. why, i thought he would surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the lord his god, and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper." i thought. there it is; i never knew a man yet who, when talked to about his sins, didn't always say, "yes, but i _thought_ so and so." "mr. moody," they say, "i will tell you what _i think_; i will tell you _my opinion_." in the fifty-fifth chapter of isaiah it says, "god's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways our ways." and so it was with naaman. in the first place he thought a good big doctor's fee would do it all, and settle everything up. and besides that there was another thing he thought; he thought going to the king with his letters of introduction would do it. yes, those were naaman's first thoughts. _i thought_. exactly so. he turned away in rage and disappointment. he thought the prophet would have come out to him very humble and very subservient, and bid him do some great things. instead of that elisha, who was very likely busy writing, did not even come to the door or the window; he merely sent out the message, "tell him to dip seven times in the jordan." and away went naaman, saying, _i thought, i thought, i thought_. i have heard that tale so often that i am tired of it. i will tell you just what i think about it, and what i advise you to do--"give it up," and take god's words, god's thoughts, god's ways. i never yet knew a man converted just in the time and manner he expected to be. now there is a class of people in our country who have been looked down upon there, just as they have been in yours; i mean the methodists. and i have heard people say, "well, if ever i am converted, it won't be in a methodist church; you won't catch me there." now, i never knew a man say that but, at last, if converted at all, it was in a methodist church. a man to be converted has to give up his will, his ways, and his thoughts. and i have noticed this, that when a man says, "well, if ever i am converted, it will be in this way or that," god leads him in quite a contrary direction. and so naaman, after his anger had abated and cooled down a little, took a second thought, which proved the best, although his pride had been so dreadfully humbled. the simple remedy. whilst naaman was thus wavering in his mind, and thinking on what was best to be done, one of his servants drew near and made a very sensible remark: "my lord, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean?" yes, and there is a great deal of truth in that. why, if elisha had said to him, "go back to syria on your hands and knees," he would most likely have done it. if he had said, "go back all the way on one foot," he would have tried to do it. or if he had said, "give ten thousand pieces of gold for the medicine i shall offer thee, and thou shalt be cleansed," no doubt he would have done it. but to tell him merely to dip in the river jordan seven times, why, it seemed absurd on the face of it. well, this servant suggested to him that he had better go down to the jordan and try the remedy, as it was a very simple one. i can fancy naaman, still reluctant to believe in it, saying, "why, if there is such cleansing power in the waters of jordan, would not every leper in israel go down and dip in them, and be healed?" "well, but you know," urges the servant, "now that you have come a hundred and fifty miles, don't you think you had better do what he tells you; for after all you can but try it; and he sends word distinctly, my lord, that your flesh shall come again as that of a little child." and so naaman accepts this word in season. his anger is cooling down; he has got over the first flush of his indignation, and he says, "well, i think i might as well try it." that was the starting-point of his faith, although still he thought it a foolish thing, and could not bring himself to believe that the result would be what the prophet had said. how many men have told me right to my face they did not believe a man could be saved by simply obeying god. faith, they thought, was not enough, they must do something. they will have it that there must be a little asking, and reasoning, and striving, and wrestling with god, before they can get the blessing. foolish questions. i recollect once praying with a man for his conversion, and just when i thought conviction had been brought home to him, he turned round and said, "who do you think melchisedek was, mr. moody?" and then i have had others who, when i have been praying with them that their sins might be taken away, would turn round and ask me, "do you believe in infant baptism, mr. moody?" my friends, you need not trouble yourselves about those questions, but, if you wish to be saved, just do as the bible tells you. believe on the lord jesus christ, and thou shalt be saved (acts xvii. ). the salvation of god requires from the sinner an unconditional surrender. well, at last naaman's will was conquered, and subdued, and broken; and he had faith, and he surrendered. i recollect when general grant was besieging a town which was the stronghold of the southern confederacy, some of the officers sent word that they would leave the city if he would let them go with their men. but general grant sent word, "no, nothing but an unconditional surrender!" then they sent word that they would go if he would let them take their flag with them. but the answer was, "no, an unconditional surrender." at last the beleaguered walls were broken down, and the city entered, and then the enemy made a complete and unconditional surrender. well, it was so with naaman, he got to that point when he was willing to obey, and the scripture tells us, "to obey is better than to sacrifice." obedience. so he goes down to the river and takes the first dip, and as he comes up, i can imagine him looking at himself, and saying to his servant, "there, there i am, no better than i was when i went in. if one-seventh of the leprosy was gone, i should be content." well, down he goes a second time, and he comes up puffing and blowing as much a leper as ever; and so he goes down again and again, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time, with the same result, as much a leper as ever. and the people standing on the banks of the river probably said, as they certainly would in our day, "why, that man has gone clean out of his mind." so when he comes up the sixth time, he looks at himself, and says, "ah, no better. what a fool i have made of myself. how they will all laugh at me. i wouldn't have the generals and aristocracy of damascus know that i have been dipping in this way in jordan for all the world. however, as i have gone so far, i'll make the seventh plunge." he has not altogether lost faith, and down he goes the seventh time, and comes up again. he looks at himself, and shouts aloud for joy. "lo, i am well! my leprosy is all gone, all gone! my flesh has come again as that of a little child. i never knew such a thing. i never felt so happy in all my life. i thought i was a great and a happy man when i accomplished that victory; but, thank god, praise god, i am the happiest man alive!" so he comes up out of jordan and puts on his clothes, and goes back to the prophet, and wants to pay him. that's just the old story, naaman wants to give money for his cure. how many people want to do the same nowadays? why, it would have spoiled the story of grace if the prophet had taken anything. you may give a thank-offering to god's cause, not to purchase salvation, but because you are saved. the prophet elisha refused to take anything, and i can imagine no one felt more rejoiced than he did. so naaman starts back to damascus a very different man than he was when he left it. the dark cloud has gone from his mind; he is no longer a leper, in fear of dying from a loathsome disease. he lost the leprosy in jordan when he did what the man of god told him; and if you obey the voice of god, even while i am speaking to you, the burden of your sins will fall from off you, and you shall be cleansed. it is all done by the power of faith. well, you may be sure when he got home there was no small stir in naaman's house. i can just see his wife, mrs. naaman, when he gets back; she has been watching and looking out of the window for him with a great burden on her heart. and when she asks him, "well, husband, how is it?" i can see the tears running down his cheeks as he says, "thank god, i am well"; and then they embrace each other, and pour out mutual expressions of rejoicing and gladness; and the servants are just as glad as their master and mistress, as they have been waiting eagerly for the news; and there never was a happier household than naaman's now that he has got rid of the leprosy. and so, my friends, it will be with your own households if you will only get rid of the leprosy of sin to-day. not only will there be joy in your own hearts and at home, but there will also be joy among the saints in heaven. another thought is suggested to us by this history of naaman in the fifteenth verse of the chapter; and which shows what naaman's faith led him to believe. "and he returned to the man of god, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, behold, now i know that there is no god in all the earth, but in israel: now therefore, i pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant." now what i want particularly to call your attention to is the words, i know. there is no hesitation about it, no qualifying the expression. naaman doesn't now say, "i think"; no, he says, "i know there is a god who has power to forgive sins and to cleanse the leprosy." then there is another thought. naaman left only one thing in samaria, and that was his sin, his leprosy; and the only thing god wishes you to leave with him is your sin. and yet it is the only thing you seem not to care about giving up. "oh," you say, "i love leprosy, it is so delightful, i can't give it up; i know god wants it, that he may make me clean. but i can't give it up." why, what downright madness it is for you to love leprosy; and yet that is your condition. "ah, but," says some one, "i don't believe in sudden conversions." don't you? well, how long did it take naaman to be cured? the seventh time he went down, away went the leprosy. read the great conversions recorded in the bible. saul of tarsus, zacchæus, and a host of others; how long did it take the lord to bring them about? why, they were effected in a minute. we are born in iniquity, shapen in it, dead in trespasses and sin; but when spiritual life comes it comes in a moment, and we are free both from sin and death. the other day, as i was walking down the street, i heard some people laughing and talking aloud, and one of them said, "well, there will be no difference, it will be all the same a hundred years hence." and the thought flashed across my mind, "will there be no difference? where will you be a hundred years hence?" young man, just ask yourself the question, "where shall i be?" some of you who are getting on in years may be in eternity ten years hence. where will you be, on the left or the right hand of god? i cannot tell your feelings, but i can my own. a hundred years hence all this vast audience will be gone. some will probably be gone in less than a week, in less than a month or a year, and at the best we shall all be gone in a few more years. i ask you once again, "where will you spend eternity? where will you be a hundred years hence?" the converted nobleman. i heard the other day of a man who came a few years ago from the continent, and brought letters with him to eminent physicians from the emperor. and the letters said, "this man is a personal friend of mine, and we are afraid he is going to lose his reason; do all you can for him." so the doctor asked him if he had lost any dear friend in his own country, or any position of importance, or what it was that was weighing on his mind. and the young man said, "no; but my father and grandfather and myself were brought up infidels, and for the last two or three years this thought has been haunting me, 'where shall i spend eternity?' and the thought of it follows me day and night." the doctor said, "you have come to the wrong physician, but i will tell you of one who can cure you"; and he told him of christ, and read to him the fifty-third chapter of isaiah, "with his stripes we are healed." and the young man said, "doctor, do you believe that?" the doctor told him he did, and prayed and wrestled with him, and at last the dear light of calvary shone on his soul, and a few years ago he was writing to this self-same doctor as only one christian can to another. he had settled the question in his own mind at last where he would spend eternity; and i ask you sinners to settle it before you leave this hall to-night. it is for you to decide. shall it be with the saints, and martyrs, and prophets, or in the dark caverns of hell, amidst blackness and darkness for ever? make haste to be wise; for "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" decide now. at our church in chicago i was closing the meeting one day, when a young soldier got up and entreated the people to decide for christ at once. he said he had just come from a dark scene. a comrade of his, he said, who had enlisted with him, had a father who was always entreating him to become a christian, and in reply he always said he would when the war was over. at last he was wounded, and was put into the hospital, but got worse and was gradually sinking. one day, a few hours before he died, a letter came from his sister, but he was too bad to read it. oh, it was such an earnest letter! the comrade read it to him, but he did not seem to understand it, he was so weak, till it came to the last sentence, which said, "oh, my dear brother, when you get this letter, will you not accept your sister's saviour?" the dying man sprang up from his cot, and said, "what do you say? what do you say?" and then, falling back on his pillow, feebly exclaimed, "_it is too late! it is too late!_" my dear friends, thank god it is not _too late_ for you to-day. the master is still calling you. are you going to let present opportunity pass without coming to christ? are you going to let these solemn moments come to an end without entering the ark? let every one of us, young and old, rich and poor, come to christ at once, and he will put all our sins away. only a step to jesus, o why not come, and say, gladly to thee, my saviour, i give myself away. one word--"gospel" read cor. xv. i shall take for my text the one word "gospel." i do not think there is a word in the english language that is so little understood in this christian land of england as this very word "gospel." we have heard it from our earliest childhood up. there is not a day, and with many of us not an hour during the day, but that we hear the word "gospel." and yet, i say, a partaker of the gospel is a long time before he really knows the meaning of the word. it means "good tidings." i think it would do us good sometimes to get a dictionary and hunt up the meaning of some of the words we use so often; some of those bible words, such as "gospel" and "christ." i think it would change our ideas. i think this would be a very joyful meeting to-night, if every one really believed that the gospel is good news. let a man or a boy bring a despatch into this audience and hand it to any one here, and if that brings good news you can see it immediately in the man's face; his face lights up when he opens the despatch. you can see he really believes it. and if it is really good news, if it brings him the tidings of a long-lost boy coming home, why, if his wife is sitting next to him, he passes the despatch to her; he wants her to have knowledge of it too. he does not wait for her to ask for it; he does not wait till they get home. so when i preach, those who really believe the gospel, if i am near enough to look into their eyes, i see their faces light up and they look remarkably sharp; but those who do not believe it put on a long face, and look as if you had brought them a death-warrant, or invited them to attend a funeral. the best news in the world. no better news ever came out of heaven than the gospel. no better news ever fell upon the ears of the family of man than the gospel. hark! hear those shepherds talking to one another after the angels had gone away. they believed the message, and they were full of joy. you can see them on the way now to bethlehem. they said, "let us go and see what has taken place." and what was the message that the angels brought to those shepherds? "behold, i bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. for unto you is born this day in the city of david a saviour." now, if those shepherds had been like a good many people at the present time, they would have said, "we do not believe it is good news. it is all excitement. those angels want to get up a revival. those angels are trying to excite us. don't you believe them." that is what satan is saying now. "don't you believe the gospel is good news." because he knows the moment a man believes good news, he just receives it. i never saw a man in all my life that did not like good news. and every man and woman that is under the power of the devil does not believe the gospel is good news. the moment you are out from under his power and influence then you believe it. may god grant that the gospel may sink deep into your hearts, and that you may believe it and be saved. it is the best news that ever came to this sin-cursed world. it means "good spell," or, in other words, "god's spell." we are dead in trespasses and sin, and god wants us to be reconciled. it is a gospel of reconciliation, and god is shouting from the heights of glory, "oh, ye men, i am reconciled, now be ye reconciled!" we have glorious news to tell you--god is reconciled and beseeches his subjects to be reconciled. the great apostle says, "we beseech you in christ's stead, be ye reconciled to god." the moment a man believes the gospel, down goes his arm of rebellion, and the unequal controversy is over. a light from calvary crosses his path, and he can walk in unclouded sun, if he will. it is the privilege of every man and woman in this vast assembly from this hour to walk in unclouded sun if they will. what has brought darkness into the world? darkness came because of sin, and the man who does not believe the gospel is blinded by the god of this world. now i want to tell you why i like the gospel. it is because it has been the very best news i have ever heard. that is just the reason i like to preach it. because it has done me so much good. i do not think a man can preach the gospel until he believes it himself. a man must know it down deep in his own heart before he can tell it out; and then he tells it out but very poorly at the best. poor ambassadors. we are very poor ambassadors and messengers; but never mind the messenger, take hold of the message--that is what you want. if a boy brought me good news to-night, i would not care about the look of the boy; i would not care whether he was black or white, learned or unlearned. the message is what would do me good. a great many look at the messenger instead of the message. never mind the messenger. my friends, get hold of the message to-night. the gospel is what saves, and what i want now is that you may believe the gospel now. christ died for our sins. paul says in this fifteenth chapter of the st of corinthians what the gospel is. he says, "i declare unto you the gospel." and the first thing he states in the declaration to these corinthians is this: "christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." that was the old-fashioned gospel. i hope we never will get away from it. i don't want anything but that old, old story. some people have itching ears for something new. bear in mind there is no new gospel. christ died for our sins. if he did not, how are we going to get rid of them? would you insult the almighty by offering the fruits of this frail body to atone for sin? if christ did not die for our sins, what is going to become of our souls? and then he goes on to tell that christ was buried, and that christ rose again. christ risen. he burst asunder the bands of death. death could not hold him. i can imagine, when they laid him in joseph's sepulchre, if our eyes could have been there, we should have seen death sitting over that sepulchre, saying, "i have him; he is my victim. he said he was the resurrection and the life. now i have hold of him in my cold embrace. look at him. there he is; he has had to pay tribute to me. some thought he was never going to die. some thought i would not get him. but he is mine." but look again. the glorious morning comes, and the son of man bursts asunder the bands of death, and came out of the sepulchre. we do not worship a dead god, but a saviour who still lives. yes, he rose from the grave; and then they saw him ascend. that is what paul calls the gospel. not only christ's death and burial, but his ascension into heaven. he went up and took his seat at the right hand of god, and he will come back again. the gospel consists of five things: christ's death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming again; for "i will come again," said he. thanks be to god, he is coming back by and by. he will come and take the kingdom; he will sway his sceptre from the rivers to the ends of the earth. a little while and he shall rule and reign. let us lift up our heads and rejoice that the time of our redemption draweth near. let us get back to the simple gospel--christ died for our sins. we must know christ at calvary first, as our substitute, as our redeemer; and the moment we accept of him as our saviour and our redeemer, then it is that we become partakers of the gospel. the moment i believe on the lord jesus christ as my substitute, as my saviour, that moment i get light and peace. i know some people say, "oh, it is not christ's death, it is christ's life. do not be preaching so much about the death of christ, preach about his life." my friends, that never will save any one. paul says, "i declare unto you the gospel. christ died"--not christ lived--"christ died for our sins," "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." now, when i accept of christ as my saviour, as my substitute, then i am justified from all things which i could not be by the law of moses. personal reminiscences. the reason i like the gospel is, that it has taken out of my path the worst enemies i ever had. my mind rolls back to twenty years ago, before i was converted, and i think very often how dark it used to seem at times as i thought of the future. there was death--what a terrible enemy it seemed! i was brought up in a little village in new england. it was the custom there when a person was buried to toll out the age of the man at his funeral. i used to count the strokes of the bell. death never entered that village and tore away one of the inhabitants but i always used to count the tolling of the bell. sometimes it would be away up to seventy, or between seventy and eighty; beyond the life allotted to man, when man seemed living on borrowed time when cut off. sometimes it would be clear down in the teens, and childhood, and death would take away one of my own age. it used to make a solemn impression on me; i used to be a great coward. when it comes to death, some men say, "i do not fear it." i feared it, and felt terribly afraid when i thought of the cold hand of death feeling for the cords of life, and being launched out to eternity, to go to an unknown world. i used to have terrible thoughts of god; but they are all gone now. death has lost its sting. and as i go on through the world i can shout now, when the bell is tolling, "o death, where is thy sting?" and i hear a voice come rolling down from calvary, "buried in the bosom of the son of god." he robbed death of its sting; he took the sting of death into his own bosom. if you take a wasp, and just take the sting out of that wasp, you will not be afraid of it any more than you would of a little fly. the sting has been taken out. and you need not be afraid of death if you are in christ. christ died for your sin. the penalty, the wages of sin is death. christ received the wages on calvary, and therefore there is no condemnation. all that death can get now is this old adam. i do not care how quickly i get rid of it. i will get a better body, a resurrected body, a glorified body, a body much better than this. yes, my friends, "to die," says the apostle, "is gain." the fear of death. if a man is in christ, let death come. suppose death should come stealing up into this pulpit, and should lay his cold, icy hand upon my heart, and it should cease to throb; i should rise to another world, and should be present with the king. i should be absent from the body, but present with the lord. that is not bad news. there is no use in trying to conceal it, death is an enemy to a man's rest. what a glorious thought to think that when you die you will sink into the arms of jesus, and that he will carry you away to yon world of light. a little while longer here, a few more tears, and then you can gain an unbroken rest in yon world of light. the gospel turns that enemy into a friend, and you even shout for death. well, then, i used to go and look into the cold, silent grave, and i used to think of that terrible hour when i would have to be laid down in the grave, and this body would be eaten up with the worm. but now the grave has lost its terror and gloom; i can go and look down into the grave and shout over it, and cry out, "o grave, where is thy victory?" and i hear a shout coming up from the grave; it is the shout of the conqueror, of him who has been down and measured the depth of it, of my lord and saviour: "because i live, ye shall live also." yes, the grave has lost its victory. the grave has no terror to the man in christ jesus. the gospel takes that enemy out of the way. sin put away. again, i thought all my sins would be blazed out before the great white throne; that every sin committed in childhood and in secret, and every secret thought, and every evil desire, would be blazed out before the assembled universe; that every thing done in the dark would be brought to light. but, thanks be to god, the gospel tells me my sins are all put away in christ. out of love to my soul, he has taken all my sins and cast them behind his back. that is a safe place to have sin, behind god's back. god never turns back; he always marches on. he will never see your sins if they are behind his back. that is one of his own illustrations. out of love to my soul, he has taken all my sins upon him; not a part. he takes them all out of the way. there is no condemnation to him that is in christ jesus. you may just pile up your sins till they rise up like a dark mountain, and then multiply them by ten thousand for those you cannot think of; and after you have tried to enumerate all the sins you have ever committed, just let me bring one verse in, and then that mountain will melt away--"the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sin." the blood covers the sin. what god cannot do. in ireland, some time ago, a teacher asked a little boy if there was anything that god could not do, and the little fellow said, "yes; he cannot see my sins through the blood of christ." that is just what he cannot do. the blood covers them. is it not good news to get rid of your sin? you come here a sinner, and if you believe the gospel your sins are taken away. "believe on the lord jesus christ, and thou shalt be saved." you shall be justified from all things, which you could not be by the law of moses. by believing, or by receiving the gospel, christ becomes yours. only think, young man, you are invited to accept of the gospel, you are invited to make an exchange--to get rid of all your sins, and to take christ in the place of them. is not that wonderful? what a foolish young man you will be not to make the bargain. the lord says, "i will take your sins, and give you myself in the place of them." but a great many say, "no"; and just hug the sin to their bosom. may god help you to come up, sinner, to-night, and receive the lord jesus christ as your way, your truth, and your life. there is another name which used to haunt me a good deal-- the great judgment-day. i used to think that was a terrible day when i should be summoned before god, and could not tell till then whether i should have a seat on his right hand or on his left. until i stood before the great white throne of judgment i could not tell whether i should hear the voice of god saying, "depart from me, ye cursed," or whether god would say, "enter thou into the joy of the lord." but the gospel tells me that question is already settled--"there is now no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus." listen to this verse--"verily, verily"--and when you see that word "verily, verily" in scripture, you may know there is something very important coming; it means, "mind what i tell you," or, "truly, truly"--"truly, truly, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath [h-a-t-h, hath] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation [that means, into judgment]; but is passed from death unto life." well, now, i am not coming into judgment for sin. the question has been settled, because christ was judged for me, and died in my stead, and i go free. is not that good news? i heard of a man praying the other day that i might lay hold of eternal life. i could not have said amen to that. i laid hold of eternal life twenty years ago when i was converted. what is the gift of god if it is not eternal life? and that is what god wants to give to every one in this hall to-night, and it is the greatest gift that can be bestowed on any one down here in this dark world. if an angel came straight from the throne of god on to this platform, and proclaimed to this vast assembly that god had sent him here to offer to this audience any one thing they might ask, that each one should have his own petition granted, what would be the cry in this audience? there would be but one cry coming up from you, and the shout would make heaven ring--"eternal life! eternal life!" everything would float away into the dim past. there is not anything a man values more than his life. let a man worth a million sterling be on a wrecked vessel, and if he could just save his life for six months by giving that million, he would give it in an instant. the gift of god is eternal life; and is it not one of the greatest marvels that we have to stand and plead, and pray men to take this gift. may god help you to take it now. do not listen to satan any longer. reach out the hand of faith and take it now. young man, "believe on the lord jesus christ, and thou shalt be saved." trust him to save you now, and then there will be no condemnation. death will have lost his sting, the grave and its victory will be safe out of the way, and the judgment will be past for you. believe the gospel. lay hold of eternal life while god is offering it to you. be reconciled to-night. take your stand hard by the cross, and you are saved for time and eternity. i am told that at rome, if you go up a few steps on your hands and knees, that is nine years out of purgatory. if you take one step now you are out of purgatory for time and eternity. you used to have two steps into glory--out of self into christ, out of christ into glory. but there is a shorter way now with only one step--out of self into glory, and you are saved. may god help you to take the step now! flee, my friends, to-night to calvary, and get under the shadow of the cross. the fire on the prairie. out in our western country, in the autumn, when men go hunting, and there has not been for months any rain, sometimes the prairie grass catches fire, and there comes up a very strong wind, and the flames just roll along twenty feet high over that western desert, and go at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour, consuming man and beast. when the hunters see it coming, what do they do? they know they cannot run as fast as the fire can run. not the fleetest horse can escape from that fire. they just take a match and light the grass around them, and let the flames sweep, and then they get into the burnt district and stand safe. they hear the flames roar as they come along, they see death coming towards them, but they do not fear, they do not tremble, because the fire has swept over the place where they are, and there is no danger. there is nothing for the fire to burn. there is one mountain peak that the wrath of god has swept over--that is, mount calvary, and that fire spent its fury upon the bosom of the son of god. take your stand here by the cross, and you will be safe for time and eternity. escape for your life; flee to yon mountain, and you are saved this very minute. oh, may god bring you to calvary under the shadow of the cross now! then let death and the grave come. you will shout, "glory to god in the highest." we will laugh at death and glory in the grave, and just know this, that we are safe, sheltered by the precious blood of the lamb. there is no condemnation to him that is in christ jesus. god is coming down and beseeching you to take the pardon. every man and woman here has broken the law, and he that has broken the least of the laws is guilty of all. i am sure i am not talking to one man or woman in this audience to-night who can say they have not broken the law. "now and to-morrow." you have all sinned and come short of the glory of god, but god comes, and says, "i will pardon you. come now, and let us reason together." "now" is one of the words of the bible the devil is afraid of. he says, "do not be in a hurry; there is plenty of time; do not be saved now." he knows the influence of that word "now." "to-morrow" is the devil's word. the lord's word is "now." god says, "come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." scarlet and crimson are two fast colours; you cannot get the colour out without destroying the garment. god says, "though your sins be as scarlet and crimson, i will make them as wool and snow. i will do it." that is the way god reasons. he puts the pardon in the face of the sinner the first thing. that is a queer way of reasoning, but god's thoughts are not our thoughts; and so, my friends, if you want to be saved, the lord says he will pardon you. the governor in the condemned cell. a few years ago, when pennsylvania had a christian governor, there was a young man down in one of the counties who was arrested for murder. he was brought before the court, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. his friends thought there would be no trouble in getting a reprieve or pardon. because the governor was a christian man, they thought he would not sign the death-warrant. but he signed it. they called on the governor, and begged of him to pardon the young man. but the governor said, "no, the law must take its course, and the man must die." i think the mother of the young man called on the governor and pleaded with him, but the governor stood firm, and said, "no, the man must die." a few days before the man was executed, the governor took the train to the county where the man was imprisoned. he went to the sheriff of the county, and said to him, "i wish you to take me to that man's cell, and leave me alone with him a little while, and do not tell him who i am till i am gone." the governor went to the prison, and talked to the young man about his soul, and told him that although he was condemned by man to be executed, god would have mercy upon him and save him, if he would accept pardon from god. he preached christ, and told him how christ came to seek and to save sinners; and having explained as he best knew how the plan of salvation, he got down and prayed, and after praying he shook hands with him and bade him farewell. some time after the sheriff passed by the condemned man's cell, and he called him to the door of the cell, and said, "who was that man that talked and prayed with me so kindly?" the sheriff said, "that was governor pollock." the man turned deathly pale, and he threw up both his hands, and said, "was that governor pollock? was that kind-hearted man the governor? oh, sheriff, why did you not tell me? if i had known that was the governor, i would have fallen at his feet and asked for pardon; i would have pleaded for pardon and for my life. oh, sir, the governor has been here, and i did not know it." reconciliation. sinner, i have got good news to tell you. there is one greater than the governor here to-night, and he wants to pardon every one. he does not want you to go away condemned. he wants to bring you from under condemnation; to pardon every soul. will you have the pardon, or will you despise the gift of god? will you despise the mercy of god? oh, this night, while god is beseeching you to be reconciled, let me join with your praying mother, with your praying father, with your godly minister, with your sabbath-school teacher, and all your praying friends; let me join my voice with theirs to plead with you to-night to be reconciled. make up your mind now, while i am speaking, that you will not cross your threshold until you are reconciled, and there will be joy in heaven to-night over your decision. oh, may god bring hundreds to a decision to-night! an englishman told me some time ago a little story of reconciliation, which illustrates this truth. we want to preach the gospel of reconciliation; the good news that god is reconciled. god does not say he can do, but that he has done it. you must accept what he has done. the story is this: there was an englishman who had an only son; and only sons are often petted, and humoured, and ruined. this boy became very headstrong, and very often he and his father had trouble. one day they had a quarrel, and the father was very angry, and so was the son; and the father said he wished the boy would leave home and never come back. the boy said he would go, and would not come into his father's house again till he sent for him. the father said he would never send for him. well, away went the boy. but when a father gives up a boy, a mother does not. you mothers will understand that, but the fathers may not. you know there is no love on earth so strong as a mother's love. a great many things may separate a man and his wife; a great many things may separate a father from a son; but there is nothing in the wide world that can ever separate a true mother from her child. to be sure, there are some mothers that have drunk so much liquor that they have drunk up all their affection. but i am talking about a true mother; and she would not cast off her boy. a mother's affection. well, this mother began to write and plead to the boy to write to his father first, and his father would forgive him; but the boy said, "i will never go home till father asks me." she pleaded with the father, but the father said, "no, i will never ask him." at last the mother was brought down to her sickbed, broken-hearted, and when she was given up by the physicians to die, the husband, anxious to gratify her last wish, wanted to know if there was not anything he could do for her before she died. the mother gave him a look; he well knew what it meant. then she said, "yes, there is one thing you can do, you can send for my boy. that is the only wish on earth you can gratify. if you do not pity him and love him when i am dead and gone, who will?" "well," said the father, "i will send word to him that you want to see him." "no," she says, "you know he will not come for me. if ever i see him you must send for him." at last the father went to his office and wrote a despatch in his own name, asking the boy to come home. as soon as he got the invitation from his father, he started off to see his dying mother. when he opened the door to go in he found his mother dying and his father by the bedside. the father heard the door open, and saw the boy, but instead of going to meet him he went to another part of the room, and refused to speak to him. his mother seized his hand--how she had longed to press it! she kissed him, and then said, "now, my son, just speak to your father. you speak first, and it will all be over." but the boy said, "no, mother, i will not speak to him until he speaks to me." she took her husband's hand in one hand and the boy's in the other, and spent her dying moments and strength in trying to bring about a reconciliation. just as she was expiring she could not speak, so she put the hand of the wayward boy into the hand of the father, and passed away. the boy looked at the mother, and the father at the wife; and at last the father's heart broke, and he opened his arms, and took that boy to his bosom, and by that body they were reconciled. sinner, that is only a faint type, a poor illustration, because god is not angry with you. god gives you christ, and i bring you to-night to the dead body of christ. i ask you to look at the wounds in his hands and feet, and the wound in his side. my friends, gaze upon his five wounds. and i ask you, "will you not be reconciled?" when he left heaven, he went clear down to the manger that he might get hold of the vilest sinner, and put the hand of the wayward prodigal into that of the father, and he died that you and i might be reconciled. if you take my advice, you will not go out of this hall to-night until you are reconciled. "be ye reconciled." oh, this gospel of reconciliation! my friends, come home to-night. your father wants you to come. say as the prodigal did of old, "i will arise and go to my father," and there will be joy in heaven. the way of salvation read acts xvi. , i shall not preach a sermon; i have just one thought, and that is, to tell every anxious soul what they must do "to be saved." that is the first question of every one who is honestly and really inquiring "the way of salvation," and, god helping me, i will try to-night to make it plain to all. believing. if i say to you, "believe on the lord jesus christ," you will reply, "oh, believe! i have heard that word till i am sick and tired of it. scarcely a week but i hear it in the church, or at a prayer-meeting, or at some drawing-room meeting." you have all heard it over and over again; i don't suppose there is a child here over five years of age but can repeat that text. what you want is, to know how to believe--what it is to believe. some of you say, "we all believe that christ came into the world to seek and to save the lost; and that he that believeth shall be saved." but the devils believe, and are not saved. ay, they believe and tremble! you must believe _on_ the lord jesus christ, and not merely _about_ him, and then you will know what _salvation_ is. receiving. well, we'll take another word which means the same thing; perhaps you'll get hold of it better. "he came unto his own, and his own received him not. but as many as _received_ him, to them gave he power to become the sons of god, even to them that believe on his name." bear in mind, "received _him_." that's it; not receiving a doctrine or a belief, but receiving _him_. it is a person we must receive. now, my experience of the last few years is, that we all want to have the _power_ before we receive christ. that is, we want to _feel_ we are in christ before we will receive him. but we cannot love god and feel his presence until we have received him into our hearts. it is just like a boy with a ball; he throws it to you. well, you must catch it before you throw it back again. that is the real meaning of "believe"--it is "receive"--receive christ as yours. i don't know any verse in the bible that god has blessed to more souls than john i. : "to as many as received him, to them gave he power." i don't know any better illustration i could have than matrimony; for every other one doesn't hold good in some points; but i think this is one of the best i could use. some of you smile at this illustration, but the bible uses it, and if god uses it in his word, why should not i? in the old testament he uses it--"i am married unto you" (jer. iii. ). jesus himself uses it, when he speaks of the bride in john iii. . paul uses it in his epistles, as in romans vii. , as an illustration of the union between christ and his church. now, it is an illustration you can all understand; there is no one here but knows what it means. when a man offers himself, the woman must do either of two things--either receive or reject him. so every soul in this hall must do one of these two things--"receive" or "reject" christ. well, if you receive him, that is all you have to do, he has promised power. the rich husband. there was a shop-girl in chicago, a few years ago; one day she could not have bought a pound's worth of anything; the next day she could go and buy a thousand pounds' worth of whatever she wanted. what made the difference? why, she had married a rich husband; that was all. she had received him, and of course all he had became hers. and so we can have power, if you only receive christ. remember, you can have no power without him; you will fail, fail constantly, until you receive him into your heart; and i have scripture authority to say that christ will receive every soul that will only come to him. seeking a wife. you know that abraham sent his servant eliezer a long journey to get a wife for his son isaac. when eliezer had got rebekah, he wanted to be up and off with the young bride; but her mother and brother said, "no, she shall wait awhile." when eliezer was determined to go, they said, "we will inquire of the damsel." and when rebekah appeared, they said to her, "wilt thou go with this man?" that was a crisis in her life. she could not have said "no." undoubtedly it cost her an effort; it would, of course, be a struggle. she had to give up her parents, home, companions, all that she loved, and go with this stranger. but look at her reply; she said, "i will go." i have come to-night to get a bride for my master. "wilt thou go with this man?" i can tell you one thing that eliezer could not tell rebekah; he could not say, "isaac loves you." isaac had never seen his bride. but i can say, "my master loves you!" he gave himself for you. ah, that is love! but bear in mind, my friends, that the moment rebekah made up her mind to accept isaac he became everything to her, so that she did not feel she was giving up anything for him. ah, what a mistake some people make! they say, "i'd like to become a christian if i hadn't to give up so much." just turn round and look at the other side. you don't have to give up anything--you have simply to receive; and when you have received christ, everything else vanishes away pretty quick. christ fills you, so that you don't feel these things to be worth a thought. when a bride marries a man, it is generally love that prompts her. if any one is here that really loves a man, is she thinking of how much she will have to give up? no; that wouldn't be love. love doesn't feed upon itself, it feeds upon the person who is loved. so, my friends, it is not by looking at what you will have to give up, but by looking at what you will receive, that you will be enabled to accept the saviour. what is christ to you? what is he willing to be to you, if you will have him? won't you be made heirs of heaven, joint-heirs with christ--to reign with him for ever and ever--to be his--to be with him where he is--to be what he is? think, then, of what he is, and of what he gives. you don't need to trouble yourselves at present about what you have to give up. receive him, and all these things will appear utterly insignificant. i used to think of what i would have to give up. i dearly loved many of the pleasures of this earth; but now i'd as soon go out into your streets and eat the dirt as do those things. god doesn't say, "give up this and that." he says, "here is the son of my bosom--receive him." when you do receive him, everything else goes. stop that talk about giving up; let christ save you, and all these things will go for nothing. mark the words, "to as many as received him, to them gave he power." now, my friends, will you go with this man? you have often heard about christ; you know as much about him as any one on this platform perhaps; but did you ever know a man or woman who regretted receiving him? no man ever regretted receiving christ; but i have heard of thousands who have been followers of the devil, and have regretted it bitterly. and i notice that it is always the most faithful followers of the devil who are regretting it most. take jesus. my friends, accept my advice, and take jesus with you when you leave this hall. remember, he is the gift of god offered to _whosoever_. you belong to that class, don't you? just take _him_; that's the first thing you have to do. when you go to cut down a tree, you don't take the axe and commence to hew down the branches. no, you begin right down at the root. so here, you must take christ, and then you will get power to resist the world, the flesh, and the devil. ruth and orpah. now, another case--ruth and orpah. many are like these two young widows. a crisis had come in their lives; they had lost their husbands, and had been living up there in the mountains of moab. often had they visited the graves of their dear ones, and perhaps planted a few flowers there, and watered them with their tears. now, naomi is about to return to her native land, and they think they will go a bit of the road with her. it is a sad parting; but now the crisis comes. down in the valley they embrace each other, and give the parting kiss. then they both say they will go with naomi, but she warns them of the difficulties and the trials which might await them. so orpah says, "i will go back to my people"; but ruth cannot leave her mother, and says she will go with her. orpah turns back alone, and i can see her on the top of the hill; she stops, and turns round for a last look. and naomi says to ruth, "behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people, and unto her gods; return thou after thy sister-in-law." what does ruth say? "entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, i will go; and where thou lodgest, i will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy god my god." her choice was made. poverty here or suffering and want yonder, she would share naomi's lot. a blessed decision. orpah loved naomi, but not enough to leave all for her; while ruth loved her mother so much, that the leaving of her people seemed nothing to her. oh, may god draw out all your hearts, so that you may leave _all_ and follow him! we never hear any more of orpah; the curtain falls upon her life. perhaps she died away up in the mountains of moab, without god and without hope. but how different with ruth! she becomes famous in history; she is one of the few women whose names have come along down the roll of ages; and she is brought into the royal line of heaven. i have an idea that god blessed her for that decision. and he will bless you if you decide in a like manner. who will say to-night, as ruth did, "i will follow thee; and thy god shall be my god"? will any one take up the language of ruth? is there not a ruth here? if there is, the master is calling. i'll take another word. i have been speaking of "receive"; the next word i want your attention to is, trusting. many get hold of that when they cannot get hold of "believe" or "receive." you all know what it is to trust. if it were not for trust, there would be a terrible commotion in this building to-night. if you could not trust that the roof was firmly put up, you would get out pretty quick; and if you could not trust these chairs to support you, how long would you sit on them? why, you wouldn't have come here at all if you didn't trust our word that there would be an address. now, it is just the same trust that god wants. it is no miraculous trust or faith, but just the same kind, only the object is different. instead of trusting in these earthly things, or in an arm of flesh, you are asked to trust in the son of god. the dublin merchant. in dublin i was speaking to a lady in the inquiry-room, when i noticed a gentleman walking up and down before the door. i went forward and said, "are you a christian?" he was very angry, and turned on his heel and left me. the following sunday night i was preaching about "receiving," and i put the question, "who'll receive him now?" that young man was present, and the question sank into his heart. the next day he called upon me--he was a merchant in that city--and said, "do you remember me?" "no, i don't." "do you remember the young man who answered you so roughly the other night?" "yes, i do." "well, i've come to tell you i am saved." "how did it happen?" "why, i was listening to your sermon last night, and when you asked, 'who'll receive him now?' god put it into my heart to say, 'i will'; and he has opened my eyes to see his son now." i don't know why thousands should not do that here to-night. if you are ever to be saved, why not now? but another point you must remember-- salvation is a free gift, and it is a free gift _for us_. can you buy it? it is a free gift, presented to "whosoever." suppose i were to say, i will give this bible to "whosoever"; what have you got to do? why, nothing but take it. but a man comes forward, and says, "i'd like that bible very much." "well, didn't i say 'whosoever'?" "yes; but i'd like to have you say my name." "well, here it is." still he keeps eyeing the bible, and saying, "i'd like to have that bible; but i'd like to give you something for it. i don't like to take it for nothing." "well, i am not here to sell bibles; take it, if you want it." "well, i want it; but i'd like to give you something for it. let me give you a penny for it; though, to be sure, it's worth twenty or thirty shillings." well, suppose i took the penny; the man takes up the bible, and marches away home with it. his wife says, "where did you get that bible?" "oh, i bought it." mark the point; when he gives the penny it ceases to be a gift. so with salvation. if you were to pay ever so little, it would not be a gift. the uselessness of trying. man is always trying to do something. this miserable word "try" is keeping thousands out of heaven. when i hear men speak of "trying," i generally tell them it is the way down to death and hell. i believe more souls are lost through "trying" than any other way. you have often tried, and as often failed; and as long as you keep trying you will fail. drop that word, then, and take as your sure foothold for eternity, "trust." "though he slay me, yet will i trust him" i that is the right kind of trust. would to god that you would all say, "i will trust him now, to-night." did you ever hear of any one going down to hell trusting in jesus? i never did. this very night, if you commit yourself to him, the battle will be over. you are complaining you don't _feel_ better. well, remember, the child must be born before it can be taught. so we cannot learn of god until we receive him. we must be born--born again--_i.e._ the new birth, ere we can feel. christ must be in us the hope of glory. how can he be in us if we don't receive him and trust him? present salvation. another verse that has been used a great deal during the past two years, and i feel that i rest my own salvation on it, is john v. . i trust god will write it on your hearts, and burn it down into your souls. "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, _hath_ everlasting life." thank god for that "hath." i had a few men in the inquiry-room the other night who could not find peace. i said, "do you believe the bible?" "yes, sir." "i think i will prove you don't. turn up john v. ." they turned it up. "read the verse." "'he that heareth my word--'" "you believe that?" "yes, sir." "'and believeth on him that sent me--'" "you believe god sent jesus?" "yes." "well, read on." "'hath everlasting life.'" "you believe you _have_ everlasting life?" "no, we don't." "oh, i thought you didn't believe in the bible!" what right have you to cut a verse in two, and say you believe the one half, but not the other? it plainly says, that he who believes "hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." why, if you believe god's words, you can say, "i have passed from darkness into light." just by resting on that one little word in the present tense we may have "assurance" now. we don't need to wait till we die, and till the great day of judgment, to find it out. "take, take!" a lady in glasgow came to me, and said, "mr. moody, you are always saying 'take, take!' is there any place in the bible where it says 'take,' or is it only a word you use? i have been looking in the bible for it, but cannot see it." "why," i said, "the bible is sealed with it; it is almost the last word in the bible. 'and the spirit and the bride say, come. and let him that heareth say, come. and let him that is athirst come. and whosoever will, let him _take_ the water of life freely.'" "well," she said, "i never saw that before. is that all i have to do?" "yes, the bible says so." and she took it, just there. god says, "let him take"; who can stop us if god says it? all the devils in hell cannot hinder a poor soul from taking, if god says "take." my friends, are you going to "take" to-night? are you going to let these precious meetings pass without getting christ--without being able to look up and say, "christ is my saviour, god is my father, heaven is my home"? an anxious inquirer. a lady came to my house the other night, anxious about her soul; but after some conversation she left, without finding peace. she came again, and i asked, "what is the trouble?" "i haven't got peace." i took her to this verse, "he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life" (john iii. ). i just held up that little word "hath" to her, and turned to john v. , and vi. . there these words were spoken by jesus, and they are all linked on to believing on the son. after we had talked for some time, she looked in my face earnestly, and said, "i have got it!" and went away rejoicing in the saviour's love. if you seek life you can have it now, as you sit upon your seat. the word "hath" occurs again in isa. liii. : "all we like sheep have gone astray;... and the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." our iniquity has been laid upon christ, and the lord is not going to demand payment twice. "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." the debt paid. suppose i owed mr. wanamaker a thousand pounds, and i became a bankrupt; i would have nothing to pay, so he might send me to prison. but suppose mr. stone heard of it, and says, "i don't want to see moody taken to prison." so he pays the debt for me, and gets the receipt. when i see the receipt, i know that i am free. but mr. wanamaker finds out that i didn't pay it, and gets me hauled off to court. he says he must have me pay it myself, or i must go to prison. i show the receipt. "why," says the judge, "the debt is paid." mr. wanamaker says, "moody didn't pay it." would any judge in the land support him? no; it is paid, and cannot be demanded again. well, if man do not ask payment twice, will god? no, certainly not! the case is this: the debt has been paid, our sins have been atoned for. christ himself has redeemed us, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with his precious blood; therefore we are free. but remember, although salvation is so free for us, it cost god a great deal to redeem us. he had an only son, and he gave him up freely for us. what a wonderful gift! if you make light of so great a salvation, how can you escape the damnation of hell? the great question. now, one question: what are you going to do with christ? you have got to settle that question. you may get angry, like a man a short time ago, who marched out of a church, saying, "what right has that american to make such a statement?" but it is true; you must settle it. pilate wanted to shirk the responsibility, and sent jesus to herod; but he was forced to a decision. when the jews forced him to decide, he washed his hands, and said he "was innocent of this just man's blood." but did that take away his guilt? no. an angel may be here, hovering over this audience, and he is listening to what is said. some one may say, "i will receive him; i will delay no longer." immediately the angel will wing his way right up to the pearly gates, and tell the news that another sinner has been saved. there will be a new song ringing through the courts of heaven over sinners repenting. god will issue the command to write down their names in the book of life, and to get rooms ready for them in the new jerusalem, where we all will soon be. guilty, but safe. a man was once being tried for a crime, the punishment of which was death. the witnesses came in one by one, and testified to his guilt; but there he stood, quite calm and unmoved. the judge and the jury were quite surprised at his indifference; they could not understand how he could take such a serious matter so calmly. when the jury retired, it did not take them many minutes to decide on the verdict "guilty"; and when the judge was passing the sentence of death upon the criminal, he told him how surprised he was that he could be so unmoved in the prospect of death. when the judge had finished, the man put his hand in his bosom, pulled out a document, and walked out of the dock a free man. ah, that was how he could be so calm; it was a free pardon from his king, which he had in his pocket all the time. the king had instructed him to allow the trial to proceed, and to produce the pardon only when he was condemned. no wonder, then, that he was indifferent as to the result of the trial. now, that is just what will make us joyful in the great day of judgment; we have got a pardon from the great king, and it is sealed with the blood of his son. the chicago fire. after the chicago fire took place, a great many things were sent to us from all parts of the world. the boxes they came in were labelled "for the people who were burned out," and all a man had to do was to prove that he had been burned out, and he got a share. so here, you have but to prove that you are poor, miserable sinners, and there's help for you. if every man who is ruined and lost will cling to "try," there is no hope; but if he give it all up as a bad job, then christ will save him. the law condemns us, but christ saves us. the lost scholar. the superintendent of a sabbath school in edinburgh was walking down the street one day, when he met a policeman leading a little boy by the hand, who was crying bitterly. he stopped, and asked the policeman what was the matter with the boy. "oh," said the officer, "he has got lost." the superintendent asked to look at him. they went to a lamp, and held up the little fellow. why, in a moment the boy knew his superintendent, and flew to his arms. the gentleman took him from the policeman, and the boy was comforted. the law has got us, but let us flee into jesus' arms, and we are safe. a friend of mine in the north told me of a poor scottish lassie, who was very anxious about her soul. he told her to read isaiah liii. she replied, "i canna read, and i canna pray; jesus, take me as i am!" that was the true way; and jesus just took her as she was. let him take you this night, just as you are, and he will receive you to his arms. three years seeking jesus. one night, when preaching in philadelphia, right down by the side of the pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me as if she were drinking in every word. it is precious to preach to people like that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor. i got interested in her, and after i had done talking, i went and spoke to her. "are you a christian?" "no, i wish i was; i have been seeking jesus for three years." i said, "there must be some mistake." she looked strangely at me, and said, "don't you believe me?" "well, no doubt you thought you were seeking jesus; but it don't take an anxious sinner three years to meet an anxious saviour." "what am i to do, then?" "the matter is, you are trying to _do_ something; you must just believe on the lord jesus christ." "oh, i am sick and tired of the word, 'believe, believe, believe!' i don't know what it is." "well," i said, "we'll change the word; take 'trust.'" "if i say, i'll trust him, will he save me?" "no, i don't say that; you may _say_ a thousand things, but if you _do_ trust him." "well," she said, "i do trust him; but," she added in the same breath, "i don't feel any better." "ah, i've got it now! you've been looking for feelings for three years, instead of for jesus. faith is up above, not down here." people are always looking for feelings. you are getting up a new translation of the bible here, and if the men who are translating it would only put in _feelings_ instead of _faith_, what a rush there would be for that bible. but if you look from genesis to revelation, you cannot find feelings attached to salvation. we must rise above feelings. so i said to this lady, "you cannot control your feelings; if you could, what a time you'd have! i know i would never have the toothache or the headache." feelings, the devil's stratagem. "feelings" is the last plank the devil sticks out, just as your feet are getting on the "rock of ages." he sees the poor trembling sinner just finding his way to the saviour, when he shoves out this plank, and the poor sinner thinks he's "all right now." some sermon you have heard arouses you, but then you feel all right when you get on this plank. six months after, perhaps, you are dying, and the devil comes along when you think you're quite safe. "ah," he tells you, "that was my work; i made you feel good." and where are you then? oh, take your stand on god's word, then you cannot fail. his word has been tried for six thousand years, and it has not failed. so i said to the lady, "have no more to do with feelings; but, like job, say, 'though he slay me, yet will i trust in him.'" she looked at me a few minutes, and then, putting her hand to take mine, she said, "mr. moody, i trust the lord jesus christ to save my soul to-night." then she went to the elders and said the same words. as she passed out she met one of the church officers, and, shaking his hand, said again, "i trust the lord jesus to save my soul." next night she was right before me again. i shall never forget her beaming face; the light of eternity was shining in her eyeballs! she went into the inquiry-room. i wondered what she was going there for; but when i got there, i found her with her arms round a lady friend, saying, "it's only to trust him. i have found it so." from that night she was one of the best workers in the inquiry-room, and whenever i met a difficult case, i got her to speak to the person, and she was sure to help them. "worthy of all acceptation." surely you can trust god to-night. you must have a very poor opinion of god if you cannot trust him. you have only to come to him thus--receive him, trust him. what more can you do, and what less can you do than trust him? is he not worthy of it? now, let us be perfectly still a moment, and while the voice of man is hushed, let us think of one passage of scripture "behold, i stand at the door and knock." that is christ standing at the door of your heart, knocking; and he says, "if any man hear my voice, and open the door, i will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me." will any one to-night pull back the bolts, and say, "enter, thou welcome, thrice welcome one. blessed saviour, come in." god grant that all here may do this! eight "i wills" of christ read matt. xi. , i wish to call your attention to eight "i wills" of christ. . the first one you will find in matthew xi. : "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for i am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." now i never met a person that did not want rest. that man or woman is not living on the face of the earth that doesn't want rest. we read of the rich man that was going to pull down his barns and build larger, saying to his soul, "take thine ease, there is plenty laid up in store, so now take thy rest." merchants toil day and night to amass money, in order that they may get rest. men leave their families and friends and go round the world to earn money, in the hope that they may get rest. sailors plough the sea, and are away from home for months to get money, in order that it may bring them rest. in fact, if rest could be bought in the market, there are many hundreds in london who would be paying a very high price for it; but though money can't buy it, nevertheless by believing the word of god you can get it without money and without price. "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and _i will give you rest_." now when _we_ say "we will," it doesn't mean much very often. perhaps we don't intend to keep our word when we say we will do a thing; or if we do mean to keep it, we very often fail for want of ability to make our promise good. but bear in mind, god never breaks his promise; he never makes a mistake; he never fails to fulfil his word. and the words i have read may be relied on; for they are not the words of man, but of the son of god--"come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and i will give you rest." this tells us of the only place where we can find rest. there is no other place where a man can by any possibility find rest for his soul. bear this in mind: it is not coming to some creed, it is not coming to some particular church, or to some particular doctrine, but to christ. "come unto _me_." it is the coming to a personal christ that alone gives peace and rest to the soul. peace. now, in john xiv. , there is a promise which is very precious to me. christ says, "peace i leave with you"; i am going away, but i am not going to take away my peace from you; that i leave behind me. "my peace i give unto you." mark that little expression "my _peace_"--"my peace i give unto you." a good many people look for their peace from worldly sources, but when they do find it they don't get much out of it, for the devil can play on men's feelings as men play on a harp, and can delude them into almost anything. but if we go to christ for it, we do get what we want, we get rest for the soul, and until we do go to him we shall never get it. there are a good many things which disturb our peace; but nothing can disturb the peace of god. you might take this little island, and throw it right into the atlantic, and it would make a great stir and commotion in this world, but i don't think that god would be moved on his eternal throne by it; it would not disturb him in the heavens, high and lifted up above all the earth. let us have the peace of god, and then we shall have rest. again he says, "these things have i spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you." christ's joy, not our own joy. when we come to a personal christ, and our souls are stayed on him, then we get rest, and peace, and joy. that is a rest that nothing can disturb; that is peace that flows on like a river; that is joy for evermore. . now, the next "i will" is in john vi. . i can imagine some of you people saying, "ah, if i were only good enough to come, i would come, and get this rest, and peace, and joy." but if you will read the verse i am speaking of, you will find it says, "him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out." surely that is broad enough--is it not? i don't care who the man or woman is; i don't care what your trials, what your troubles, what your sorrows, or what your sins are, if you will only come straight to the master, he will not cast you out. come then, poor sinner; come just as you are, and take him at his word. there was a wild and prodigal young man who came into one of our meetings. he was running a headlong career to ruin, but the spirit of god got hold of him. whilst i was conversing with him, and endeavouring to bring him to christ, i quoted this verse to him. i held it right up to him, and led his mind right up to it, for some time, and at last light seemed to break in upon him, and he seemed to find comfort from it, so i told him to stick to that verse. well, after he had left, on his way home the devil met him. why, i don't believe that any man ever starts to go to christ but the devil strives somehow or other to meet him and trip him up. and even after he has come to christ the devil comes, and tries to assail him with doubts, and make him believe there is something wrong in it. and so this young man was met by satan, who whispered to him, "how do you know that is a right translation?" so that brought him for a while to a standstill, and threw him into darkness again. but he remembered my telling him to stick to that text, and there he was, after satan had put that into his mind, holding on to it, but he did not find peace till two o'clock. he then said to himself, "i will stick to it anyhow, and if it is not the right translation, when i get to the bar of god i will tell him i didn't know it was wrong, because i didn't understand anything about greek and latin." "him that cometh to me i will in nowise cast out." if you will only come to him, i have got good authority to tell you that christ will receive you to-day--yea, this very hour. the kings and princes of this world, when they issue invitations, call round them the rich, the mighty and powerful, the honourable and the wise; but the lord, when he was on earth, called round him the vilest of the vile. "this man," they said, "receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." publicans, sinners, and harlots pressed into the kingdom of god in his days. this man receiveth sinners. here in london there is no society that would have such a man as john bunyan once was in their company; yet the lord saved him, and welcomed him into his kingdom. here is some poor miserable drunkard cast out by his father and mother, and deserted by all his friends, but the lord has received him. i have known some of the most miserable outcasts that were ever seen, cast out and despised by everybody, and yet the lord has received them. take him then at his word to-day, and accept his invitation, "him that cometh to me i will in nowise cast out." but you say i must just get rid of my sins first, and then i will come to him. why, that's just like a man dying of the scarlet fever saying, "oh, i'll wait till i get rid of the fever before i send for a doctor!" why, it is just because you are a sinner, and cannot get rid of your sins, that you need a saviour. if i was dying for want of bread, it would be just as reasonable for me to say, "when i have got rid of this hunger, then i will begin to eat." it is because i am hungry that i need to eat, and it is because we are sinners that we need christ. it is because a man is sick that he needs a physician, and christ is the physician of the soul. . in luke v. we read of the leper coming to christ, and the lord said unto him, "i will: be thou clean." and immediately the leprosy left him. that's another _i will_ i want to call your attention to. now, if there is any man or woman here full of the leprosy of sin, if you will but go to the master and tell all your case to him, he will speak to you as he did to that poor leper, and say, "i will: be thou clean," and the leprosy of your sins will flee away from you. it is the lord, and the lord alone, that can forgive sins. there is his word, just look it right over, "i will: be thou clean," and then put that with the other verse, "him that cometh to me i will in nowise cast out." the devil's castaways. one day when whitfield was preaching, he said the lord was so anxious to save souls that he would take in the devil's castaways. lady huntingdon remonstrated with him, and said he ought not to make such statements. a little while after, however, there came to his preaching a poor fallen woman, an outcast from society. she was labouring under deep conviction of sin, and before long she found peace in her saviour, and was received right into the kingdom of god. now if there is a poor sinner here, let him take this one verse, and then keep in his mind that poor leper coming to christ. the law forbade him to come, but christ is above the law. "the law came by moses, but grace and truth by jesus christ." now, you can make a wonderful exchange to-day. you can have health in the place of sickness; you can get rid of everything that is vile and hateful in the sight of god. the son of god comes down, and says, "i will take away your leprosy, and give you health in its stead. i will take away that terrible disease that is ruining your body and soul, and give you my righteousness in its stead. i will clothe you with the garments of salvation." is it not a wonderful thing? that's what he means when he says _i will_. oh, lay hold of this "i will!" . now turn to matthew x. : "whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will i also confess before my father which is in heaven." there's the "i will" of confession. now, that's the next thing that takes place after a man is saved. we have been washed in the blood of the lamb, and the next thing is to get our mouths opened. we have to confess christ here in this dark world, and tell his love to others. we are not to be ashamed of the son of god. a man thinks it a great honour when he has achieved a victory that causes his name to be mentioned in parliament, or in the presence of the queen and her court. a very great honour. and in china, we read, the highest ambition of the successful soldier is to have his name written in the palace or temple of confucius. but just think of having your name mentioned in the kingdom of heaven by the prince of glory, by the son of god, because you confess him here on earth. you confess him here; he will confess you yonder. if you wish to be brought into the clear light of liberty, you must take your stand on christ's side. i have known many christians go groping about in darkness, and never get into the clear light of the kingdom, because they were ashamed to confess the son of god. don't be ashamed, christians, to let your friends, and even your enemies, know that you are on god's side. . the next _i will_ is the "i will" of service. there are a good many christians here, i believe, that have been quickened and aroused to say, "i want to do some service for christ." well, christ says, "follow me, and i will make you fishers of men." there is no christian who cannot help to bring some one to the saviour. christ says, "and i, if i be lifted up, will draw all men unto me"; and our business is just to lift up christ, and live to him. you may go on preaching like the angel gabriel; but if you live like a devil, your preaching goes for nothing. i do not care how eloquent you are, and what beautiful language you use, your preaching goes for nothing. it is no good following this man or that man; follow christ, and him only. he says, i will make you fishers of men. peter had a good haul on the day of pentecost. i doubt if he ever caught so many fish in one day as he did men on that day of pentecost. why, it would have broken every net they had on board, if they had had to drag up three thousand fishes. our lord said, "follow me, peter, and i will make you a fisher of men"; and peter simply obeyed him, and there, on that day of pentecost, we see the result. but there is one reason, and a great reason, why so many do not succeed. i have been asked by a great many good men, "why is it we don't have any results? we work hard, pray hard, and preach hard, and yet the success does not come." i will tell you. it is because a good many people spend all their time mending their nets. no wonder they never catch anything. inquiry meetings. but the great matter is to _hold inquiry meetings_, and thus pull the net in, and see if you have caught anything. if you are always mending and setting the net, you won't catch many fish. whoever heard of a man going out to fish, and setting his net, and then letting it stop there, and never pulling it in? why, everybody would laugh at the man's folly. there was a minister in manchester who came to me one day, and said, "i wish you would tell me why we ministers don't succeed better than we do." so i brought before him this idea of pulling in the net, and i said, you ought to pull in your nets. i said there are many ministers in manchester who can preach much better than i can, but then i pull in the net. many people have objections to inquiry meetings, but i urged upon him the importance of them, and the minister said, "i never did pull in the net; i will try next sunday." he did so, and eight persons, anxious inquirers, went into his study. the next sunday he came down to see me, and said he had never had such a sunday in his life. he had met with marvellous blessing. the next time he drew the net there were forty, and when he came to see me at the opera house the other day, he said to me joyfully, "moody, i have had eight hundred conversions this last year! it is a great mistake i did not begin earlier to pull in the net." so, my friends, if you want to catch men, just pull in the net. if you only catch one, it will be something. it may be a little child, but i have known a little child convert a whole family. why, you don't know what's in that little dull-headed boy in the inquiry-room; he may become a martin luther, a reformer that shall make the world tremble--you cannot tell. god uses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. god's promise is as good as a bank of england note--"i promise to pay so-and-so," and here is one of christ's promissory notes--"if you will follow me, i will make you fishers of men." will you not lay hold of the promise, and trust it, and follow him now? but then, if you wish to catch men, you must use a little--what shall i say?-- common sense. that's the plain english of it. if a man preaches the gospel, and preaches it faithfully, he ought to expect results then and there. but after he has proclaimed the glad tidings, let him have an inquiry meeting, and, if necessary, a second meeting, and go to the people's houses and talk and pray with them, and in that way hundreds will be brought to god. i believe it is the privilege of god's children to reap the fruit of their labour three hundred and sixty-five days in the year. "well, but," say some, "is there not a sowing time as well as harvest?" yes, it is true, there is; but then, you can sow with one hand, and reap with the other. what would you think of a farmer who went on sowing all the year round, and never thought of reaping? i repeat it, we want to sow with one hand, and reap with the other; and if we look for the fruit of our labours, we shall see it. "if i be lifted up, i will draw all men unto me." we must lift christ up, and then seek men out, and bring them to him. then, again, you must use the right kind of bait. a good many people don't do this, and then they wonder they are not successful. you see them getting up all kinds of entertainments with which to try and catch men. they go the wrong way to work. i will tell you what this perishing world wants: it wants christ and him crucified. there's a void in every man's bosom that wants filling up, and if we only approach them with the right kind of bait we shall catch them. this poor world needs a saviour; and if we are going to be successful in catching men, we must preach christ crucified--_not his life only, but his death_. and if we are only faithful in doing this we shall succeed. and why? because there is his promise: "if you follow me, i will make you fishers of men." and that promise holds just as good to you and me as it did to his disciples, and is as true now as it was in their time. "they that are wise shall shine like the sun in the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever." think then of the exalted privilege of turning one soul to christ. you set a stream in motion that shall go on running for ages after you are gone. "blessed are they that die in the lord; for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." paul and his writings. think of paul up yonder. why people are going up every day and every hour, the men and women that have been brought to christ through his writings. he set streams in motion that have flowed on for more than a thousand years. i can imagine men going up there and saying, "paul, i thank thee for writing that letter to the ephesians; i found christ in that." "paul, i thank thee for writing that epistle to the corinthians." "paul, i found christ in that epistle to the philippians." "i thank thee, paul, for that epistle to the galatians; i found christ in that." and so, i suppose, they are going up still, thanking paul all the while for what he had done. ah, when paul was put in prison he did not fold his hands and sit down in idleness. no, he began to write; and his epistles have come down through the long ages of time, and brought thousands on thousands to a knowledge of christ crucified. yes, christ said to paul, "i will make thee a fisher of men if thou wilt follow me," and he has been fishing for souls ever since. the devil thought he had done a very wise thing when he got paul into prison, but he was very much mistaken; he overdid it for once. i have no doubt paul has thanked god ever since for that philippian gaol, and his stripes and imprisonment there. i am sure the world has made more by it than we shall ever know till we get to heaven. . we find the next "i will" is in john xiv. : "i will not leave you comfortless." to me it is a sweet thought, that christ has not left us alone in this dark wilderness here below. although he has gone up on high, and taken his seat by the father's throne, he has not left us. the better translation is, "i will not leave you orphans." he did not leave joseph when they cast him into prison. "god was with him." when daniel was cast into the den of lions, they had to put the almighty in with him. they were so bound together that they could not be separated, and so god went down into the den of lions with daniel. no separation. if we have got christ with us we can do all things. do not let us be thinking how weak we are. let us lift up our eyes to him, and think of him as our elder brother, who has all power given to him in heaven and on earth. he says: "lo, i am with you, even to the end of the world." some of our children and friends leave us, and it is a very sad hour when some member of our family goes to a distant country--perhaps to australia. but, thank god, the believer and christ shall never be separated. he is with us here, and we shall be with him in person by and by. we shall be with him, and see him in his beauty by and by. but not only is he with us, but he has sent us the holy ghost, who will tell us all things. let us honour the holy ghost by acknowledging that he is here in our midst. he has got power to give sight to the blind, liberty to the captive, and to open the ears of the deaf that they may hear the glorious words of the gospel. . then there is another _i will_ in john vi. ; it occurs four times in the chapter: "i will raise him up at the last day." the "i will" of resurrection. to me it is a very sweet thought to think that i have a saviour who has power over death. my blessed master holds the keys of death and hell. i pity the poor unbeliever and the poor infidel. they have no hope in resurrection. but every child of god can open that chapter and read the promise, and his heart ought to leap within him for joy as he reads it. you know the tradesman generally puts the best specimen of his wares in the window to show us the quality of his stock. and so, when christ was down here, he gave us a specimen of what he could do. he just raised three from the dead, that we might know what power he had. there was ( ) jairus's daughter, ( ) the widow's son, and ( ) lazarus of bethany. he raised all three of them, so that every doubt might be swept away from our hearts. how dark and gloomy this world would be if we had no hope in the resurrection; but now, when we lay our little children down in the grave, although it is in sorrow, it is not without hope. we have seen them pass away, we have seen them in the terrible struggle with death; but there has been one star to illumine the darkness and gloom--the thought, that though the happy circle has been broken on earth, it shall be completed again in yon world of heavenly light. you that have lost a loved one rejoice as you read that "i will." those that have died in christ shall come forth again by and by. the darkness shall flee away, and the morning light of the resurrection shall dawn upon us. it is only a little while, and he that has said it shall come, his voice shall be heard in the grave--"i will raise him up at the last day." precious promise! precious _i will!_ . now, the next _i will_ is in john xvii. : "father, i will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where i am." the "i will" of glory. that was in his last prayer in the guest-chamber, on the last night before he was crucified and died that terrible death on calvary. i see some here whose countenances begin to light up at the thought that they shall be with the king in his beauty by and by. yes; there is a glorious day before us in the future. some think that on the first day they are converted they have got everything. to be sure, we get salvation for the past, and peace for the present; but then there is the glory for the future. that's what kept paul rejoicing. he said, "these light afflictions, these few stripes, these few brickbats and stones that they throw at me--why, the glory that is beyond excels them so much that i count them as nothing, nothing at all, so that i may win christ." and so, when things go against us, let us cheer up; let us remember that the night will soon pass away, and the morning dawn upon us. death never comes there. it is banished from that heavenly land. sickness, and pain, and sorrow come not there to mar that grand and glorious home where we shall be by and by with the master. god's family will be all together there. glorious future, my friends! yes, glorious day! and it may be a great deal nearer than many of us think. during these few dark days we are here, let us stand steadfast and firm, and by and by we shall be in the unbroken circle in yon world of light, and have the king in our midst. the sinner's "i will." and now there is just one _i will_ that i want you to say, and that is the _i will_ of the sinner. you have got the eight "i wills" of christ: ( ) he will give us rest; ( ) he will not cast out the vilest, but will receive all that come; ( ) he will make us clean; ( ) he will confess us as his; ( ) he will make us successful winners of souls; ( ) he will not leave us comfortless; ( ) he will raise us up at the last day; and ( ) he wills that we be with him in glory. and now i want sinners to say, "i will arise, and go to my father." who will say it this afternoon? who will come to god as the poor prodigal did? i can see him now. perhaps he is looking over those blue hills; and away in the distance he can see the home he has left, and he knows that there's a loving father, a grey-headed man there; and he says, i perish here in a foreign land, while there is bread enough and to spare in that home which i have left; "i will arise, and go to my father." that was the turning-point in his life. that was a glorious thing to do, was it not, sinner? when mr. spurgeon preached the other day in the west end, he summed up the things his audience had got over. some of you, he said, have got over the prayers of faithful sabbath-school teachers who used to weep over you, and come to the house and talk to you. you resisted all their entreaties, and got over their influence. and you have got over your mother's tears and prayers, and she, perhaps, sleeps in the grave to-day; you have got over the tears and prayers of your father and of your minister, who has prayed with you and wept with you, a godly, faithful minister. there was a time when his sermons got right hold of you, but you have got over them now, and his sermons make no impression on you; you have been through special meetings, and they have made no impression on you, they have not touched you. still, you say, you are getting on. well, so you are; but bear in mind, you are getting on as fast as you can to hell, and there is not one man in ten thousand who can hope to be saved after he has grown so hard-hearted. oh, my friends, say i will arise to-day! let there be joy in heaven to-day over your return. we read in luke xv., "there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth." may many return now, and live. i am lost, and yet i know, earth can never heal my woe i will rise at once and go, jesus died for me. the right kind of faith "sirs, what must i do to be saved?"--acts xvi. . i do not know of any more important truth to bring out than the answer to this question, because that is the beginning of everything with regard to the divine life. a man must know he is saved before there is any peace, or joy, or comfort. the answer to the question is, "believe on the lord jesus christ, and thou shalt be saved"; and the question that comes right after that from almost every one is, "what is it to believe?" i believe that jesus christ is the son of god; i believe that he came into the world to save sinners. well, and so do the devils. the devils not only believe, but they tremble. i can believe intellectually that jesus christ is able and willing to save, and yet be as far from the kingdom of god as any man who never heard about jesus christ. to believe that he can and is willing to save you, won't save you. i will now take up the word "faith," which means believing. the bible definition of faith. people say, "what is faith?" now the bible definition of faith is perhaps as good as any one that we know of. we are told in hebrews xi., "now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." now faith is--what? the substance, or, as you have it in the margin, "ground" or "confidence." in other words, faith is dependence upon the veracity of another. why, all business is carried on on this principle of faith. let men lose confidence one in another, and see how quick business could cease here in london. let men withdraw their confidence, and see what would take place in the commercial world to-morrow. it was faith that brought you here. if you had not faith to believe that there would be a meeting in this hall, you would not have come. somebody said there are three things about faith--knowledge, assent, and laying hold, and it is the last clause that is safe. not the knowledge. a great many people say, "i believe christ is able to save." they give their assent, and say, "i believe" but that does not save. it is the last clause, the laying hold, that saves, and that is what we want to press upon you. faith has an outward look, not an inward one. hundreds of people spend time in looking at their own hearts, but faith is an outward look. we are to have faith in god, and not in man. a great many people place their faith in men, and they pin their faith to other people's doctrines and creeds. not long ago i heard of a man who was asked what he believed. he said he believed what his church believed. "what does your church believe?" "the church believes what i believe." and that was all they could get out of him. there are a great many in that same state of mind. they believe what the church believes, but they do not know what the church believes. if their church teaches it, they believe it. all the churches in the world can't save a soul. it is not to have faith in this church or that church, this doctrine or that doctrine, this man or that man, but it is to have faith in the man christ jesus at the right hand of god. that is the only faith that will ever save a soul. put no confidence in man. let me call your attention to a few verses where god has warned us not to put faith in man: jeremiah xvii. : "thus saith the lord; cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the lord. for he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. blessed is the man that trusteth in the lord, and whose hope the lord is." you will find some men have not faith in god; they are like a tree that is withered and blasted. and there is a man perhaps right along next to them who has strong faith in god; "he is like a tree planted by the rivers of water; his leaf also shall not wither." why? he trusts in the living god. "happy is the man that hath the god of jacob for his help." cursed is the man that leaneth upon an arm of flesh, and trusteth in man. the same thought is brought out in isaiah xxx.: "woe to the rebellious children, saith the lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of egypt! therefore shall the strength of pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of egypt your confusion." in one place he says, "woe," and in another place he says, "cursed be the man." it is a terrible thing for man to put faith in man. then psalm cxlvi. : "put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. happy is he that hath the god of jacob for his help, whose hope is in the lord his god." now here we are told very plainly by god that we are not to put our trust in this man or that man--not to lean upon an arm of flesh. all the ministers in the world and all the potentates in the church put together cannot save one soul. it is thoroughly impossible. it is the lord that can save, and the lord alone; therefore we want to get our eyes away from man, from the church, and right straight up to the man christ jesus. we read in mark xi. whom we are to believe in. christ says--and how sweet it sounds--"have faith in god." i never saw a man or woman in my life that had faith in god who was confounded, i do not care what their troubles or trials were. have faith in god, and not in man. the great delusion of our day. we are living in very strange days. some people tell us it does not make any difference what a man believes if he is only sincere. one church is just as good as another if you are only sincere. i do not believe any greater delusion ever came out of the pit of hell than that. it is ruining more souls at the present time than anything else. i never read of any men more sincere or more earnest than those men at mount carmel, those false prophets. they were terribly in earnest. some people say, "why, if these men are holding, as you say, error, why should they be so in earnest?" those prophets of baal were the most earnest men i ever read of. you do not read of men getting so in earnest now that they take knives and cut themselves. look at them leaping upon their altars; hear their cry, "o baal! o baal!" we never heard that kind of prayer on this platform. they acted like madmen. they were terribly in earnest, yet did god hear their cry? they were all slain. "i believe one religion is just as good as another, if you are only sincere in what you believe." it is one of the devil's lies. have faith in god, not in man. i don't care how good a man is, don't you put your faith in him. his breath departs from him, he dies, and where is your help? our god never dies, our god never will disappoint us if we put our faith in him. "have faith in god," says christ. i saw some time ago some men arranging to go up in a balloon fastened to the car. they had one rope fastened, and by some mistake that rope got untied, and instead of seizing hold of the car they seized hold of the rope. one of them let go; the other just hung on, and he was swept away in the heavens and lost. "it did not make any difference; if he had hung on to the car it would have been just the same," you say, "if he was only sincere." why, that man was very sincere when he seized hold of that rope, yet he was lost--perished in his earnestness. my friends, bear in mind if you do not believe on the lord jesus christ you must perish. it is god that says it--not man. some people say, "he is such a good man, i cannot help but believe him; it is all right because he is such a good man, and he holds that doctrine." paul says, "if a man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." and if gabriel should come right down here to-night, and commence to proclaim a different gospel from this platform, i would get out of the hall, and would not listen to him. deceivers and dark days. deceivers are going out into the world who would deceive even the very elect if they could. i believe we are living in dark days. error is coming in on all sides, and it is a time when we must maintain the faith. "i have kept the faith," says paul. the good old doctrine of our forefathers, and of the puritans, is a good deal better than your new doctrine at the present time, that is just doing away with christ, with hell, and even with heaven. let us cling to the word of god, and have faith in god. there was a young man god sent down to bethel, and told him to prophesy against it. he was not to eat and drink in the place, nor to go back by the same way as he went. down the young man went. the king asked him to go to his palace, but he refused. no, god had told him to go and prophesy, not to eat and drink. but there was an old prophet, and he sent out word to tell him an angel had told him to invite him, and the young man obeyed the voice of the angel rather than god, and then he started home another way, and a lion met him and slew him. we are not to put our faith in this man or that man, not even in a prophet if it is contrary to the word of god; not to believe the best man living if it is contrary to the word of god. if god says it, let us take our stand upon it. god's word will stand when these men and their names have been swept away and forgotten. there have always been false teachers, men trying to teach us it does not make any difference what a man believes if he is only sincere. my friends, let us have faith in the living god, and then it will be light where it is darkness now. how to get faith. now, just turn to john xx. i can imagine some of you saying, "i would like to have faith in god, but i do not know how to get it; i have been praying a long time for faith." i used to pray, "o god, give me faith," and at the same time i was all the time neglecting the bible. here it stands; see how we are to get faith: "but these are written that ye might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god; and that believing ye might have life through his name." now john took up his pen and wrote the gospel for one express purpose. what was it? that men might believe that jesus christ was the son of god. every chapter but two in john speaks of believing, and if you run through the gospel and mark out the word "believe," you would find what that gospel is written for. it is, "believe, believe, believe, believe," and it keeps right on to that one thing. he took up his pen and wrote that gospel that we might believe, and by believing we get life. then turn to romans x. : "how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! but they have not all obeyed the gospel. for esaias saith, lord, who hath believed our report? so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of god." do you want to know how to get faith? it is to get acquainted with god. jehovah says, "acquaint now thyself with me, and be at peace." we find the people that are best acquainted with god have the most peace. it is the people that do not know god that do not trust him. the people that know god put their trust in him. i never knew a man to be well acquainted with god who did not trust him. the more you know of a true man the more you trust him. i met a man ten years ago for the first time; i had not much faith in him, because i did not know much about him. in the course of a year i got well acquainted with him, and found him to be a true man; then i had more faith in him; the second year i had still more; and this year i have more faith in him than ever, because i know him well now. if you know god you cannot help trusting him. little willie. i wanted to teach my little boy what faith was some time ago, and so i put him on a table. he was a little fellow two years old. i stood back three or four feet, and said, "willie, jump." the little fellow said, "pa, i'se afraid." i said, "willie, i will catch you; just look right at me, and jump"; and the little fellow got all ready to jump, and then looked down again, and says, "i'se afraid." "willie, didn't i tell you i would catch you? will pa deceive you? now, willie, look me right in the eye, and jump, and i will catch you"; and the little fellow got all ready the third time to jump, but he looked on the floor, and said, "i'se afraid." "didn't i tell you i would catch you?" "yes." at last i said, "willie, don't take your eyes off me," and i held the little fellow's eyes, and i said, "now jump; don't look at the floor"; and he leaped into my arms. then he said to me, "let me jump again." i put him back, and, the moment he got on the table he jumped, and after that, when he was on the table, and i was standing five or six feet away, i heard him cry, "pa, i'se coming," and had just time to rush and catch him. he seemed to put too much confidence in me. but you cannot put too much confidence in god. now faith never looks down; it looks right up. god says, "trust me," and god will bring us through all our difficulties, if we will only trust him. who will trust him to-night? who will have faith in him to-night? "whatsoever he saith unto thee, do it," is what the mother of christ said at the wedding; and whatsoever god speaks to you, do it. if god tells you to run, run. if god says, "believe," believe, and you will always be safe in doing just what god tells you to do. unbelief the greatest enemy. i have a great admiration for the old coloured woman who said, if god told her to jump through a stone wall she would jump; getting through the wall was god's work, not hers, and she would do whatever god told her to do. the greatest enemy god and man have got is unbelief. christ found it on both sides of the cross. it was the very thing that put him to death. the jews did not believe him; they did not believe god had sent him; they took him to calvary and murdered him; and the first thing we find after he got up out of the grave was unbelief again. thomas, one of his own disciples, did not believe he had risen. he said, thomas, feel these wounds; and thomas did, and believed, and said "my lord and my god." now those christians here that have learnt to trust god in past years will bear me out in this, that the more they know of god, the more they can trust him. why? they have found god to be true. when man has failed, god never has failed; and when every one else has disappointed them, god has proved true. now, you that never trusted him, won't you just leap right into his arms to-night? won't you just take him at his word, and believe on him now? the greatest insult to god. it is considered you cannot offer a man a greater insult than to tell him he is a liar. unbelief is telling god he is a liar. why, suppose a man said, "mr. moody, i have no faith in you whatever," don't you think it would grieve me? there is not anything that would wound a man much more than to be told that you do not have any faith in him. a great many men say, "oh, i have profound reverence and respect for god." yes, profound respect, but not faith. why, it is a downright insult! suppose a man says, "mr. moody, i have profound respect for you, profound admiration for you, but i do not believe a word you say." i wouldn't give much for his respect or admiration; i wouldn't give much for his friendship. god wants us to put our faith in him. how it would wound a mother's feelings to hear her children say, "i do love mamma so much, but i don't believe what she says." how it would grieve that mother. and that is about the way a great many of god's professed children talk. some men seem to think it is a great misfortune that they do not have faith. bear in mind it is not a misfortune, but it is the damning sin of the world. god's word is always kept. is there any reason why you should not have faith in god? has god ever broken his word? i will defy any infidel to come forward and put his finger on any promise god has ever made to man that he has not kept. i can show you for years how the devil has lied, and how he has broken every promise he has made. what a lie he told adam and eve; and yet i can find a thousand men that will believe one of the devil's lies quicker than i can find one man that believes god's truth. men will believe lies; but when it gets to real truth, then how few will believe the word of god. why should not every man and woman in this house have faith in god? why should not every one put confidence in him now, and trust god to save them? and let me say, if you are ever saved, you will have to come to this one point of trusting to god for salvation. you never will be saved until you put your trust and confidence in god. setting the seal. look at john iii. : "he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that god is true." in those days men used to wear a signet ring, with their initials, and instead of signing their names, they used to take the ring and seal the document. that was setting to their seal; that was an endorsement. and now god comes down into this unbelieving world, and says, "who will set to his seal that i am true?" and so i want to ask the friends in this hall, who will set to his seal or her seal that god is true? it is a great deal better for us to make ourselves liars and god true than to try and make ourselves out true and god a liar. that is what many men will do. who will set to his seal that god is true? unbelief says, "i won't." faith says, "i will set to my seal." oh, may god help many now to say, "i will set to my seal that god is true" this very hour; and, my friends, the moment you do set your seal that god is true, and put your faith in god, then comes the peace, the happiness you have been looking for so long! no peace without trust. a great many people go looking for peace and happiness before they trust. there will be no peace, no happiness, no joy, until you put your trust in god. the joy that flows through the christian's heart is the result of trusting god. suppose i meet a man to-night leaping for joy, laughing at the top of his voice. i say, "my friend, what makes you so happy?" "oh, i don't know; i am so happy i cannot contain my feelings!" what would you say? why, you would say the man had gone mad. but suppose i meet a man whom i have seen out here night after night begging, and i say to him, "hullo, beggar, is that you?" "don't call me a beggar; i am no longer a beggar." "are not you the man who has been begging here every night?" "yes." "where did you get your good clothes? how is this you are not a beggar?" "no, i am no beggar; i am worth a thousand pounds." "how is that?" "well, sir, last night i was here begging, and a man came along and put a thousand pounds in my hand." "how did you know it was good money?" "i took it to the bank of england, and they gave me gold for it." "how was it done?" "well, i just held out my hand, and he came and put a cheque right into it, and i took it to the bank and got gold for it." "did you really get it in that way?" "yes." "how do you know it was the right kind of hand?" "why," says the beggar, "what do i care about the hand, i have got the money." faith is the hand that reaches out and takes the blessing. any faith that brings me to christ is the right kind of faith, and instead of looking at your faith look to christ. some one has said, faith sees a thing in god's hand, and says, "i will have it." unbelief sees it there, and says, "god won't give it me." look to god by faith to-night and have salvation. who will have it? every man and woman may have it if they will but put their trust in god. is not god worthy of our confidence? is not god worthy of our trust? you must have a poor opinion of god if you cannot trust him. we consider we have a poor opinion of a man if we cannot trust him. if a man should tell me something, and i did not believe a word he said, i would have a very poor opinion of the man. faith is putting confidence in god's word. take hold of his word to-night. he will save all that will come--not only that, but he will save you when you do come. away with everything but christ, and take him now. who will take god at his word to-night? some one has said, "faith is saying yes to god." who will say yes to-night, and take it? now, is it too much to ask or to expect that every person in this hall should put their faith in god? if god does not save us, who will? men cannot, the church cannot, creeds and doctrines cannot; the sacraments cannot save; baptism cannot save. you must have a living personal christ, and god presents him to the world. who will take him? who will have christ--who will trust him? faith says, i will. is it not the very best thing you can do? can you do a better thing than trust to god for salvation? "what must i do to be saved?" believe on the lord jesus christ, or trust the lord jesus christ for salvation, and trust him now. story of a condemned man. away back some years ago it is recorded in history of a man that was condemned to be put to death, that when he came to lay his head on the block the prince asked him if there was any one petition that he could grant him, and all that the condemned man asked for was a glass of water. they went and got him a tumbler of water, and when he got it his hand trembled so that he could not get it to his mouth. the prince said to him, "your life is safe until you drink that water." he took the prince at his word, and dashed the water to the ground. they could not gather it up, and so he saved his life. my friends, you can be saved to-night by taking god at his word. the water of life is offered to "whosoever will." take it now, and live. faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of god (rom. x. ). faith is not what we see or feel, it is a simple trust; in what a god of love has said of jesus as the just. the dying thief read luke xxiii. - i am going to take as my text a man who was the last one saved before christ went to heaven, or before he died on the cross, and the story of his conversion ought to give hope to every man. we have got an account of the conversion of all classes of people in the bible. there is not one class left out. there is the richest and the poorest; the greatest and the smallest; all classes of men, and all classes of women. there are so many people nowadays talking against sudden conversions, that i think the very best thing we can do is to see what the scripture says about it--to see how long it takes god to convert a soul. if i read my bible correctly, there were eight thousand converted in two days. that was a good number in a short time, was it not? we have not got to that yet; i wish we had. but i feel sure, if the church of god would only wake up, we should see something like it. never too late. well, this man was not only a thief, but a reviler of god, right upon the threshold of eternity, a most depraved and abandoned wretch. matthew tells us: "and the two thieves cast the same in his teeth." you would have thought they would have been doing something better than that, coming so near death and the grave; and that their thoughts would have been made very solemn in the face of not only death, but after death the judgment. instead of that, they were reviling christ, and casting accusations in his teeth a few hours before their death. well, i do not think this thief could have sunk any further, until he sunk into hell. though so far off jesus found him. matthew and mark both tell us that these two thieves reviled him. john says nothing about their reviling; in fact, he does not tell us about one of them being converted. the first we get of it is in luke xxiii. , where we find him saying to the other thief, "dost not thou fear god?" solomon, the wise man, says, "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of god." now, there we have the beginning of wisdom in this thief. he began to _fear_ god. i hope there will be hundreds in this building who will fear him; for that is the true beginning of wisdom. conviction of sin. now, the next thing was, the man was convicted. no man is likely to be converted until he is first convicted of sin. this thief was convicted. and what convicted him? he heard no sermon from christ. the rulers were then deriding him. the chief men of his own country had found him guilty of blasphemy, and had condemned him to die the death of the cross. the chief men of the realm were there wagging their heads and mocking him. what was it then that convicted this poor thief? he had seen christ perform no miracles; he had heard no wonderful words fall from his lips; he saw no glittering crown upon his brow. true, it was written over his cross, "jesus, the king of the jews"; but where was his kingdom? he saw nothing of the jews paying homage to him. the jews were putting him to death. there was no sceptre in his hand. true, he had been crowned a little while before, but only with thorns, and yet amidst it all this poor thief was convicted after fear fell upon him. the power of love. what convicted him? i will tell what i think convicted him, though i could not teach it dogmatically but i think it was the saviour's prayer. when the lord jesus cried out from the very depths of his soul, "father, forgive them," conviction flashed into his heart. he must have said, "why, this is more than a man; he has got a very different spirit from me. i could not ask god to forgive them. i would call down fire from heaven to consume them, and i would call upon god to smite them with blindness as elijah did, and i would sweep them from this mountain if i had the power." that's what he must have thought as he heard the piercing cry go up, "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." ah, it was love that broke his heart. in those days, when they crucified a man, they used to scourge him. this poor man had been taken into the court, and tried and condemned by the judge; but that had not broken his heart. he had been led forth and scourged; but that had not broken his heart. and now they had nailed him to the cross; but even that had not broken his heart. there he is reviling his god. but when he saw that loving saviour, he got a glimpse of his love, and that one glimpse broke his heart. i heard of a young man once who was very hardhearted. his father loved him as he loved his own life. he had tried everything he could to win that prodigal boy back. when his father was dying, they sent for him; but he refused to come. but after his father's death, he returned home to attend the funeral; but not a tear fell from his eyes. he followed that father to his resting-place, and never dropped a tear over his grave. but when they got home, and the will was read, they found that father had not forgotten his prodigal boy, but had remembered him kindly in his will; and that proof of the father's love just broke his heart. and so i think it must have been with the thief when he heard the saviour crying, "father, forgive them; for they know not what they do"; it pierced like an arrow down into his heart, and he was convicted. confession follows conviction. well, then, the next point in this man was, he confessed his sin. he says to his brother thief, "we are suffering justly; we deserve it." i never knew a man saved till he took his stand as a sinner. cain never confessed his sin. judas never confessed his sin to god, though he went and confessed it to man. now, i want to say that i am not come here to urge you to confess your sins to any man, unless you have done some sin against him and he is stumbling over it; if so, go and confess that certainly. we must not confess our sins to any but god. i have not much sympathy with the class of people that are always running to this man and that man to confess their sins. there is no priest on earth that can forgive sins. i have got a high priest who is "a priest for ever after the order of melchizedek." the only man we have a record of in scripture who confessed his sins to man was judas, and he went right out and hung himself. faith in christ. the next thing about this thief was his faith in christ jesus. we talk about the faith of abraham and moses; why, this thief had the most remarkable faith of any man on record. he took his stand at the very head of the class, passing by many who had wonderful faith. he heard no sermon, saw no sceptre in christ's hand, no crown on his brow, nor witnessed any marvellous works, yet he had wondrous faith. why, god was twenty-five years toning up abraham's faith. god met moses in the burning bush, and went up into the mountains and talked with him; and isaiah saw god lifted up on his throne; but not so with this thief. there were many who had met christ and seen wonderful things. his disciples had heard him discourse, and had seen him raise the dead, and yet they had forsaken and left him. yet here amidst the darkness and gloom this poor thief had faith in him; for although the jews had nailed his hands and feet to the cross, they did not nail his eyes, and he could look at him. they did not nail his heart to the cross, and it is with the heart man believeth, as we read in romans, and with his heart _he believed_. there's faith for you. not ashamed of christ. then the next thing is, he confessed christ at that dark period. it was the darkest hour of christ's pilgrimage down here. we will never see another dark hour like that. the sin of the world was on him; heaven was closed against him--locked, bolted, and barred. he was now hanging on the tree bearing our sins; and it is written, "cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." and even god had to hide his face from him, for he could not look on sin, and christ was then bearing the sin of all the world. i believe that's what christ meant in the garden of gethsemane, when he prayed that the cup might pass from him. up to that time he saw his father's face, and he knew he was blessed of him, and from time to time a voice came from heaven, "this is my beloved son." but now he was taking our place before god as a sinner, and god had to hide his face from him. yes, it was breaking the saviour's heart; and now, when darkness is coming over creation, and the moon is to be turned into blood, and the sun is about to veil its face because it cannot look upon the terrible scene, and peter, one of his most conspicuous disciples, had denied him with a curse, and swore that he never knew him, and judas, one of his own disciples, had gone out and sold him for thirty pieces of silver, and the chief men of the nation were mocking him, saying, "he saved others, let him save himself, if he be the christ"--amidst all this darkness and gloom, out comes this signal faith of the thief, "lord, remember me," he called him lord there and then; and he said to the other thief, "this man hath done nothing amiss." thank god for that confession. there's faith and confession for you. if you want to be saved, you must have faith in christ, and be ready to confess him before all men. "lord, remember me." look at the prayer of the thief. people say, "oh, pray for salvation, and you will get it!" yes, but bear in mind you must have faith in christ before you can pray. he had got faith in christ, and now he calls him "lord." it was the sound of a young convert's voice, "lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." it was not a very long prayer, but it was a prayer red-hot, one right out of his heart. some people tell you they cannot pray without a prayer-book. but the poor thief had no prayer-book; and if there had been any prayer-books then, there was nobody to give him one. he wanted salvation, he simply wanted to be saved, and he cried from his heart, "lord, remember me!" and a more eloquent prayer never was heard or printed on earth. but not only that, he got more than he asked, for he only asked to be remembered. we always get more than we ask when we come to the lord. the world's last look at christ. now, when a great man dies, people are very anxious to get his last words and acts. it is sweet to get the last words of the son of god. the last sight the world had of christ was on the cross. they have never seen him since. we have no record that any uncircumcised eye beheld christ after he rose from the dead. the last glimpse the world had of christ was saving a poor sinner as he hung upon the cross, saving him from the very jaws of hell, and the grasp of satan. christ snatched him out of the very grasp of the devil, and said unto him, "this day shalt thou be with me in paradise." the lion of the tribe of judah conquered the lion of hell, when he snatched the dying thief as a lamb out of satan's grasp. "this day shalt thou be with me in paradise." that's the glorious gospel. free from the law. there is no condemnation to them that are in christ jesus. free! free! in the days of wilberforce, when slavery was abolished, and it was said that no slave could live under the union jack, because a bill had been passed declaring every man free, the news had got abroad, and when the captain of a ship was going to a distant island in the slave dominions, the negroes were on the watch to get the news and make sure if it were true. they were anxious to know if the bill had passed that they were really free. and when the captain came in sight of the little island, there they were waiting to get the tidings, and the captain put his trumpet up to his mouth, and shouted across the island, "free! free!" and the cry was taken up and echoed through the island, "free! free!" and they shouted for joy, because they were slaves no longer. i bring you good news. the son of god will speak the word, "free." he spoke the words on the cross, and the poor thief was a free man, and satan could not hold him. then think of the contrast! in the morning led out a poor condemned man, cursing and reviling the son of god himself; in the evening singing the new song of redemption. that evening i see him hard by the throne, singing the sweet song of moses and the lamb. in the morning cursing, in the evening singing, "glory to god in the highest." was it not a change? what a contrast! think of it, o sinner. condemned in the morning by man, cast out as too vile for earth; in the evening good enough for heaven; in the evening washed in the blood of the lamb, and christ ready to receive him into the kingdom of heaven. christ was not ashamed to walk down the crystal pavement of heaven with him. he heard the shout on the cross when christ called out, "it is finished!" how his soul must have thrilled with joy at that shout! he said, "my salvation is completed now." he saw the spear thrust into that side and the blood flow out, and i can see the sparkle on his face lit up with glory. "without the shedding of blood there is no remission." it was a sad sight, but glorious. the best thing to do. now, young man, do you want him to save you? are you ready to confess him as your lord and saviour, and take your stand by the master, and say from this hour, i will serve the lord jesus? if so, it will be the best night in your life up to this time. the best thing you can do is to yield to christ at once. every true christian would give you that advice, and if i could shout clear up to the throne, and ask the saviour what he would have you to do, i should hear a voice rolling down from heaven, and saying, "tell him to seek salvation." when the poor thief was converted, it was probably the first time he had ever heard of the lord jesus christ, or had been invited. but it is surely not so with you. how many people keep putting salvation off and off, until it is one day too late! there are so many that live in the future. it is better you should be wise, and enter into the kingdom of god now. let your prayer, like that of the poor thief, go up from your heart, "lord, remember me," and you will not ask in vain. a timely conversion. a minister in edinburgh tells a story of the conversion of a young man who was working in one of the mining districts. when the meeting at one of the churches was over on a particular evening, he saw him standing by a pillar in the church, the rest having gone out, all but two or three, and they asked this man if he was not going home. he said, "i have made up my mind that i will not leave this church till i become a christian"; so they stopped and talked and prayed with him. it was the best thing he could do. i would like every man here to do the same thing. make up your minds that you won't leave till you have settled about your soul for eternity. well, the next day, while this young man was working in the mine, the coal fell in upon him, and before he died, he had just strength enough left to say to his companions, "it's a good thing that i settled it last night--a very good thing." young man, i will leave you to answer the question, was it not a good thing he settled it that night? a young man, who was in the army during the civil war, told me that when he heard that his brother, from whom he had never been separated, had joined a certain regiment, he went right away and put his name down under his brother's. they messed together, marched together, and fought shoulder to shoulder. at last his brother was struck with a minnie ball, and he fell mortally wounded by his side. he saw too plainly that he must die, and as the battle was raging, and he could do nothing to save him, he put his brother's knapsack under his head, and made him as comfortable as he could, and bending over him, kissed him, bade him good-bye, and left him to die. as he was going away, his brother said, "charlie, come back, and let me kiss you upon your lips." "as i bent over him," said the young soldier who told me the story, "he kissed me on my lips, and said, 'take that home to mother, and tell her that i died praying for her'; and as i turned away from him, i could hear him say, 'this is glory,' and as he lay weltering in his blood, and i wondered what he meant, i asked him what was glory. he said, 'charlie, it's glorious to die looking up--i see christ in heaven.'" dying looking up. if you want to die looking up and seeing christ, seek the kingdom of god. you may never hear the call again. do not leave this place without making up your mind to settle the solemn question of eternity at once. transcriber's note: italic text is denoted by _underscores_. minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. [illustration: cover] [illustration: titlepage] faith and duty sermons on free texts with reference to the church-year by the rev. louis buchheimer pastor of the evangelical lutheran church of our redeemer, st. louis, mo. [illustration: logo] st. louis, mo. concordia publishing house contents. page first sunday in advent. gen. , second sunday in advent. rev. , . . third sunday in advent. cor. , fourth sunday in advent. luke , christmas. cor. , last sunday in the year. isaiah , new year's day. matt. , epiphany sunday. john , first sunday after epiphany. eccl. , second sunday after epiphany. hebr. , third sunday after epiphany. john , . fourth sunday after epiphany. matt. , - fifth sunday after epiphany. matt. , . septuagesima sunday. matt. , sexagesima sunday. john , quinquagesima sunday. rom. , first sunday in lent. exodus , - second sunday in lent. tim. , third sunday in lent. luke , fourth sunday in lent. matt. , fifth sunday in lent. exodus , palm sunday. gen. , - easter. john , . first sunday after easter. john , second sunday after easter. john , - third sunday after easter. matt. , . fourth sunday after easter. col. , fifth sunday after easter. eph. , ascension. mark , sunday after ascension. luke , pentecost. zech. , trinity sunday. cor. , first sunday after trinity. matt. , second sunday after trinity. acts , third sunday after trinity. matt. , - fourth sunday after trinity. matt. , fifth sunday after trinity. acts , . sixth sunday after trinity. tim. , seventh sunday after trinity. luke , eighth sunday after trinity. tim. , ninth sunday after trinity. luke , - tenth sunday after trinity. cor. , and eleventh sunday after trinity. rom. , twelfth sunday after trinity. prov. , thirteenth sunday after trinity. matt. , fourteenth sunday after trinity. pet. , - fifteenth sunday after trinity. pet. , sixteenth sunday after trinity. kings , - seventeenth sunday after trinity. cor. , - eighteenth sunday after trinity. kings , nineteenth sunday after trinity. john , - twentieth sunday after trinity. luke , - twenty-first sunday after trinity. luke , - twenty-second sunday after trinity. gal. , twenty-third sunday after trinity. mark , - humiliation and prayer sunday. dan. , reformation. ps. , - first sunday in advent. come thou and all thy house into the ark.--_gen. , ._ the bible, from beginning to end, is a series of object lessons. god sets before us certain persons, things, events, and bids us look at and learn from them, just as the teacher at school draws a diagram on the blackboard, and tells the children to look at and learn from it. no word, or single incident, recorded in the bible, is wasted or useless; what may, at first glance, sometimes appear trifling and unimportant to us, may, on closer examination, mean very much, like the decimal point in arithmetic or the accent on a word. so it is with the words of the text just quoted. they may seem insignificant, yet are they most important. the present season, beginning with this sunday, is called advent. we are accustomed, in the four weeks before christmas, to direct our minds to christ's advent or coming. this advent, we say, is threefold: first, there is christ's coming in the flesh, when as a little babe he lay in the manger at bethlehem, taking upon himself the form of abraham, made in the likeness of human flesh, and performing the pilgrimage of an earthly life that he might thus save man. again, we distinguish his second coming, _i. e._, his return, as we confess in the creed, "to judge the quick and the dead," when, arrayed in all the power and majesty of almightiness, he shall come to execute vengeance upon the evildoers, vindicate and take home with himself those who believed in him. and between these two comings lies a third, which we are wont to designate "his spiritual coming," by which we mean his coming and knocking at the door of our hearts for admission. this coming is not visible, however, as the other two, but invisible, yet none the less real on that account, and it is carried on by means of his word and sacraments, through the instrumentality of the preaching of the gospel and the administration of holy baptism and the lord's supper, for the execution of which he has founded a divine institution called the church. to that church he has entrusted the work of gospel preaching and sacramental giving. she, if true to her calling and message, is the conservatory of his truth, the disseminator of his kingdom upon earth. it is within her pales that he dispenses salvation. outside of the church he does not promise to bestow forgiveness of sin and the blessings of his grace. how these preliminary remarks bear upon the selection and consideration of our text, what precious and instructive lessons we may gather from the comparison, that let us see, and may we be wise and heed. "come thou and all thy house into the ark," reads the command of god. we immediately perceive with what account of ancient history that connects. the people of the old world, the antediluvians, as they are generally called, had become so corrupt in morals and life that god determined their destruction and said: "the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence," yet, to show his desire to save them, he appointed his servant noah to preach righteousness to them, and directed him to build an ark as an evidence that he was minded to carry out his purpose, and as a means of safety for noah. few, however, none, in fact, except noah and his immediate family, eight souls in all, took the warning to heart. many a one of that perverse generation, we may surmise, even assisted in the construction of the ark, and the patriarchal minister would exhort them to forsake their sins and worship god, only to be sneered at for his credulity and ridiculed for his nonsensical eccentricity of building such a boathouse. but the hundred and twenty years given for probation expired, and noah receives directions to embark. "come thou," is the command, "into the ark." just one week is allowed to bring into the ark all his family, and the birds and beasts to be preserved, and then--what an unusual sound it must have been--the door was shut, not by noah's, or any human hand, but by the hand of jehovah; for it is written: "and the lord shut him in," and now, amid the war of heaven's artillery and the shaking of the earth, the fountains of the deep burst open, and the windows of the skies break loose, and the greatest and most terrible calamity revelation records is on. imagination cannot portray the scenes that must have then been enacted,--how, forgetful of everything but self-preservation, they fled towards the singular building, which but a little before they had insolently defied; how, perhaps laboring in their distraction to scramble up its huge sides, the angry tide of waters keeps them down, and with a cry of despair they dash into the watery abyss; how some, climbing up to the loftiest pinnacle and summit of the mountains, in the hope that perhaps at the end the door may be opened to receive a few more, they see the wondrous ship dashing along, gallant and safe, and hear that gurgling sound, the death requiem of their race, rising higher and higher. oh! who can describe the anguish, the woe, the cursing of self. but it was now too late, and yet, whose fault was it? provision had been made, probation time had been granted them; there was none to blame but themselves. god's warnings are not empty sounds, his institutions not for ridicule and rejection. and now, more generally, for the application. we, too, have an ark, a new testament ark. god, himself, as the divine architect and artificer, has built it; he devised the plans, he selected the material, and employs the noahs in its construction; daily do we see before our eyes its towers and walls, hear regularly and pleadingly the bells sending out the invitation: "come thou into the ark." you know what this ark is,--it's the holy christian church, that divine structure which by him has been finished these years. there, in the midst of a world of sin and depravity, upon which god has pronounced his righteous judgments as clearly as upon the race of antediluvians, it stands,--the great, the capacious gospel ark, a refuge of safety; come whatever jehovah may commission upon our guilty world, it is certain to ride safely above the tumultuous tempest and bring us gallantly to the celestial mountain, the ararat of heaven. my dear hearer, have you entered into that ark? is your name enrolled among the list of passengers? and why not? make known the reason of your backwardness. in other words, without figure, lay before you the question: why are you not a church-member? why do you stand aloof from the church? why do you not join? i shall listen to a few of your reasons, and then tell you why you ought to join. perhaps you are laboring under the fear that there is not room enough for you in the ark, that you are not invited among them to whom the gracious offer is tendered. banish that thought instantly from your mind. "not room enough in the ark!" "not wanted!" "come thou and thy house into the ark." you know the beautiful parable of the great supper, to which all and sundry were invited, and after everything had been precisely done as the master had commanded, the servant comes and tells the master of the house: "yet there is room." a striking truth! those words reveal that the christian ark is not yet fully tenanted, that, as the invitation is still out, you are yet in time. "not _room_--not _wanted_!" god forbid that such a thought should in your breasts be found. "come unto me," declared your savior, "come thou into the ark." but you say: "i do belong to the church, the so-called 'big church,' _i. e._, to the number of those who still profess to be christians, who uphold christian principles and live good moral lives, who aim at what is right, and i am just as good and honest as any in the church." perhaps so, my dear friend, perhaps more so, for not all that profess to be church-members are such; some are slimy and wily hypocrites. but _you_, as an honorable and professing christian, ought to be a church-member, for you know that christ does not acknowledge the "big church" of which you are speaking. you cannot put asunder what christ has joined together. he has joined these two things together, himself and the church; outside of his ark he promises no salvation, and you have no right to expect it. for what is the church? it is christ's provision for the salvation of man,--how? by the preaching of his holy word and the administration of his sacraments, as we heard. is the word of god preached in the "big church"? is baptism administered, the lord's communion received? how can faith in the savior then be wrought, maintained, forgiveness of sins secured, hope and salvation? "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of god," says the bible. "if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples, indeed," says the savior. "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." "except ye eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." i doubt not that many of the antediluvians did not despise the ark outright. who knows but what they might have thought there was something to it,--when the great calamity comes we shall be all right,--and that they told the preacher of righteousness: "never mind about us, noah, our record is still good." but salvation was in the ark, and there it is to-day; you cannot separate christ from his church, christliness from churchliness, for the church is christ's, and christ is in his church; and i know not, from the study of god's word, the bible, what right any man has to stand aloof from the christian church and call himself a christian. the "big church" is a big delusion. "yes, i recognize that i ought to belong to the church, but i do not like to bind myself," pleads another. bind yourself? to what? to a life of godliness, to a conduct becoming a christian, to the duties incumbent upon a member? why, if you are a christian at all, you are bound by these things already. the further few hours occasionally given to the deliberation of congregational affairs ought not to deter you. you are bound already, why speak about binding yourself? and you certainly do not want to be unbound,--for in the ark alone is your safety. there are yet other reasons why some do not join the church. in our materialistic age, there are hundreds whom the love of money keeps out of the house of god. it costs something, and they shun costs, no matter for what purpose--ever so noble. they hold connections which the church cannot sanction, belong to organizations against which it finds itself compelled to testify, and because people cannot bear to have their connections reproved, and do not stop to weigh and consider what the church has to say, they immediately, without any further ado, break off all relation with the church, and raise the cry against it of being too strict, and stay away from the preaching and the sacraments, none of which have been denied them, and to which they are warmly invited and heartily welcomed. they will once have to answer for it. the invitation remains: "come thou and all thy house into the ark."-- and now, having listened to why some people do not belong to the church, let us regard a few reasons why each and every christian ought to be a church-member. first, there is the positive command of god. the lord said unto noah--commanded, directed him: "come thou and all thy house into the ark." his directions to us and ours are not less specific. his third commandment reads: "thou shalt sanctify the holyday." where does the sanctification of that day take place but in his church, in the observance of its institutions? he warns: "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is." again, take all such clear passages in which he commands us to profess piety as this: "i say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him will i also confess before my father which is in heaven," which, if it means anything, certainly means that we must either be publicly and openly rated among his confessors, or he will not consent to acknowledge us among his saints. how can a man be a proper child of god who will not so much as give his name as a believer? what guarantee has he to count securely on salvation if he refuses to say before men whether he takes christ as his redeemer, or not? it is true: "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness," but it is equally true: "with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." church-membership is not optional; it is imperative, it is based upon god's command. another reason for church-membership is, that a christian must advance his master's cause. if you are at liberty to decline connection with christ's church, then i am; if one is, all are, and how, then, can there be the maintenance of the ministry, the furtherance of the manifest kingdom of god? we pray daily: "hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." when is god's name hallowed? when does his kingdom come? and by what influences and agencies is his will done on earth but by this organization established by himself for that purpose,--his holy church? who keeps up the work of the ministry with its schools of education, who maintains the propagation of the faith by the support of missions, and all those other efforts essential to the preservation and spreading of christ's kingdom, and you, as a disciple of christ, should be found standing aloof from it, not helping along yourself, yea, by your passive indifference and non-cooperation setting a bad example unto others? your duty in this respect is as plain as noah's,--you should get into the ark. and, reason last. it promotes your own good. aside from what we have already emphasized, there is something in the simple matter of being known and feeling committed as a member of a church which strengthens and helps a man. it restrains where otherwise there would be no restraint. it induces to arouse a livelier sense of religious obligations, stimulates to stricter fidelity in the observance of things which otherwise are easily neglected, secures the watch and oversight of experienced christians, and, withal, gives a force and quickening which comes from conviction that one is rated as a disciple of christ and looked to for example in faith, in word, and in deeds. it brings spiritual things and christian duty closer home. if conscientiously attended to, it is a blessing to you, and it makes you a blessing to others. let this suffice on this subject at this time. let those who have held and are holding membership draw a rule from what has been said for the regulation of their conduct. so divine and essential a cause enlists their endeavors. let them make it their business to honor it, to widen and extend its influences by being punctual at the services, by being particular in the observance of its sacraments, by being uncompromising in the belief and defense of its faith, by being active in encouraging all efforts necessary to its life and success. and those who have hitherto stood aloof from the church, or who are mere lingerers about its gates, let them also learn from this the unsatisfactoriness of their position, and be admonished of the duty and necessity that is upon them if they would find god and salvation. "come thou and thy family into the ark,"--what time could be more opportune than this first day of another year of god's grace? consider the matter, and may it lead you to lay your vow upon god's altar and have your name recorded on the roster of the church. amen. second sunday in advent. and i saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it. and i saw the dead, small and great, stand before god; and the books were opened; and another book was opened which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works; and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.--_rev. , . . ._ we are all acquainted, my beloved, with the verdict that was once pronounced upon king belshazzar of babylon,--how, seated one night at a royal banquet, with his princes, his wives and concubines, eating, drinking, and making merry, there suddenly appeared upon the wall of his palace the ghostly fingers of a man's hand tracing in clear and distinct letters the words: "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." when the king saw the mysterious script and surmised its probable meaning, his countenance was changed, the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. the wisest man in his realm was sent for, one daniel, the lord's prophet, interprets the words and tells him: "mene: god has numbered thy kingdom and finished it. tekel: thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. upharsin: thy kingdom is divided and given to the medes and persians." nor was it the space of two hours before the verdict met its fulfillment. darius, the king of the medes, by a subterranean passage, dug under the city's walls, broke into the city. belshazzar was slain that night, and his mighty empire shattered like chaff before the wind. "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin," that is the handwriting which one might appropriately inscribe over the portals of this day. loving and warning as was the picture which we contemplated on the last lord's day, where we observed our savior riding in royal state, in the city of david, and heard the prophet's prediction: "tell ye the daughter of sion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon a colt," just as tremendous and awfully solemn is the account in to-day's gospel, which presents to us that selfsame king transformed into a judge, his meekness into righteous display, his offers of salvation into sentences of sharpness, justice, and retribution, parceling out to every one, as he did unto belshazzar at babylon, the just verdict of his deed. it is christ's "second advent," his coming to judge the quick and the dead, that forms the topic of our present contemplation, and taking up the account read from revelations, step by step, may god's holy spirit make our consideration of it a blessing to your souls. four things enlist our devotion: _i. the judge_; _ii. the judged_; _iii. the books_; _iv. the results_. the first thing that arrested the apostle's eye was the throne. "and i saw a great white throne," he tells us. thrones are the seats of kings and sovereigns, and they are always associated with the idea of regal splendor and magnificence. just so the meaning is, that when the blessed and only potentate, the king of kings and lord of lords, appears in the clouds of heaven, he will be surrounded with the manifestations of grandeur, majesty, and dominion, as the gospel indicates when it says: "then shall ye see the son of man coming in great glory," and things are particularly specified, too, regarding this throne. it is a "great throne," like the one which isaiah, the prophet, saw in one of his visions "high and lifted up," so that the millions and myriads of earth can easily discern it as the spot where they shall hear their eternal destiny read out. and it was also a "white" throne. white, in the language of the bible and of all nations, is the mark of purity and holiness, and when, accordingly, the throne is designated as being "white," it means that white decisions will be rendered there, stainless judgment, unspotted by the least prejudice, crookedness, partiality, or mistakes; none will think of questioning their equity, or dream of appealing to any higher court. their verdict will be final and fair. the next object that attracted the apostle's eye was the judge himself: "and i saw him that sat on it." no further description of the personal appearance of the judge is given. john simply says: "i saw him," whence it follows that he can be seen, and, accordingly, it could not have been the absolute, invisible god, who cannot be seen. who, then, was it? it was none other than jesus christ, of whom we confess in the second article that he was born of the virgin mary, was crucified, dead and buried, and the third day rose again, and, ascending into heaven, shall come again to judge the quick and the dead. this is the plain teaching of scripture throughout. christ jesus, the son of man, wearing the very nature of those whom he judges, will be the judge. "god hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." but not any longer as the gentle, compassionate savior, as the lamb of god that taketh away the sin of the world, but as the lion of the tribe of judah, as the judge from whose face the earth and the heavens will flee away, and the unrighteous call out in despair: "ye mountains, fall upon us, and ye hills, hide us from him that sitteth on the throne." and think not, we would here add, that we are describing matters of imagination, such as poets and painters may dwell upon. we are describing things that will really happen. john saw these things in vision. you and i shall one day see these things in reality. "behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." where shall be _our_ place, what _our_ portion at that time, in that day? this we learn from the next point of consideration: who shall be the judged? "and i saw the dead, small and great, stand before god." by the "dead" here are meant _all mankind_, the entire family of earth, all of woman born, from adam down to the last offspring of human race,--they must all appear before the judgment-seat of christ. it is computed that there are more than eighty millions of inhabitants in our land. this is about one-twentieth part of the entire population of the globe, which, at this time, is calculated at one billion five hundred millions. these one billion five hundred millions will be all gathered together into one thronging assemblage, and not they only, but also, in addition, the two hundred generations of men who have preceded us, and those generations--how many we know not, god knoweth--that will still live in the earth between these days and the last general judgment. these all, which no man can number, shall be judged. it says: "the great and small." there will be no distinction of age, size, color, or nation, condition or rank, those of high degree and those of low estate, the rich and the poor, the sovereign and his subjects, the man of silvery hair and the infant of a span long, the distinguished scholar and the untutored savage, husband and wife, pastor and people, apostles and sinners,--all shall stand before god. all the dead, whose bodies were once consigned by loving hands to quiet resting-chambers beneath mother earth, those whose bones lie bleached upon the desert's sands or alpine mountains, those whose corpse was lowered down into watery depths,--immaterial how, when, or where dead,--these all shall yield up their tents when the trumpet of the archangel sounds to gather the children of men unto judgment. and with the parties thus arrayed at the bar, we proceed to the judgment itself. "and the books were opened, and another book was opened which is the book of life. and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books." two sets of books are here spoken of: first, two books, and then another book. other passages in god's word also speak of books in connection with the judgment. what the character of these books spoken of is we are not at a loss to determine; the one is the book of god's remembrance, and the other is the book of god's word. not as if god in reality employs books to make his entries; the all-knowing king needs no such helps to remind him of men's actions. his all-capacious mind knows all things and forgets nothing. the idea is: just as men, in their manifold dealings, do not trust to their memories, but use memoranda and records in order to be able to refer to them as occasion requires, just so, in condescension to our way of thinking, figuratively speaking, god represents himself as keeping a book in which he has an exact record of what has been done by any creature, past, present, and future. and an exact record it will be, accurate in the minutest detail. not only man's general character, the sum total of his life, whether (taken altogether) he was, on the whole, a worldly or a pious man, or the like, will be taken into account, but every trifling act, good or bad, of which his entire life was composed. the word is: "god shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." everything. nothing shall be kept back, nothing will be overlooked. that thought that passed so rapidly through your mind as hardly to be noticed, that word that so hastily escaped your lips, all the deliberate and determined actions which have left their stain upon your life, all these, down to the secret sin that you have been so successful in hiding from the sight of man, all, whether done in childhood, youth, manhood, or old age, all that has been committed or omitted, will be opened out to public view by the all-seeing, all-remembering judge. this is the first book, the book of remembrance. and the divine arbiter opens another book. we have no difficulty in recognizing it at once. it is to us a familiar volume,--"the word that i have spoken, the same shall judge you in the last day," is the language of the judge himself. that book, we contend, is the guide and rule of our faith and actions in this life; it is also the statute-book of heaven, the touchstone by which our hearts and lives are to be tried in the life hereafter. plain enough are the directions that book tells you. "thou shalt love the lord, thy god, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." plainly does it speak to you and to all of heaven, of judgment, of eternity, of faith, of holiness, and of the new birth and conversion; plainly does it inform you of him who redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that he that believeth in the son hath eternal life, and he that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of god abideth on him. in brief, according to that opened bible man shall be justified or condemned. here is the standard, the rule. how important, my beloved, that we should see on what terms we stand with our bibles now--whether they justify us, or whether they condemn us. oh, for that oft-neglected divine book! but there is a third book to be opened. that is the book of life, and "whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." it was a custom generally observed at the courts of princes to keep a list of the persons employed in their service, of the officers of their armies, and sometimes even the names of the soldiers; and when it is said in the bible that a person's name is written in the book of life, it means that he particularly belongs to god, is enrolled among his friends and followers. it is also probable that the early christian churches, like our churches now, kept lists of their members, and that this term "book of life" was derived from such a custom, it being regarded that any one on the list was also an assured member of heaven. and how may i know whether my name is inscribed in this book of life? "he that believeth in the son hath eternal life," and "he that believeth not in the son, shall not see life, but the wrath of god abideth on him." what determines our eternal destiny, our acceptance or rejection by the judge, is our personal belief and faith in jesus christ; on that depends our salvation, our being enrolled or canceled from the book of life. "jesus, thy blood and righteousness, my jewels are, my glorious dress; in these before my god i'll stand when summoned to his own right hand." nothing else will avail but faith in jesus christ, the son of god, our redeemer. that places our name in the book of life; with that men will stand or fall. "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." but does not the record here, verse , and the bible _elsewhere_, emphasize that we will be judged according to our works, according to what we have done? indeed, but this does not contradict salvation by faith in christ jesus; our faith, to prove itself genuine, must work and does work. if there are no works, we may rest assured there is no faith. at the last day our works will be inquired into to ascertain the nature of our faith. if there is no love toward the brethren of jesus, no manifestation of christ's spirit toward christ's suffering members, we may take it for granted that faith is dead. our works come into account as fruits of our faith; but faith in christ jesus is the principle on which all stand or fall, for--what will the outcome of that final judgment be? "and they shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." the bible everywhere speaks, in connection with the day of judgment, of mankind being separated into two distinct portions. now the wheat and tares grow together. there is a difference between them, even at the present, which the skilled eye in many instances can detect, but, as yet, they run together, and there is no severance of them into separate fields or pastures. it will not always be so. infidels and christians will one day cease to live under the same roof, or believers and unbelievers to be unequally yoked together, or the children of the devil and the children of god to be intermingled in the same families, firms, and societies. when men come to appear before their judge, the record is: "he shall separate them one from another, and shall set the good as sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left." in ancient times the left and right hand of a judge meant much. to be placed on the right hand signified acceptance, acquittal; on the left hand, condemnation, rejection. and he shall say to them on his right hand: "come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." and, addressing himself to the other, there break from the lips of the judge the dark, desolating words: "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." one shudders to speak them, but here are the words from the lips of the almighty judge himself. who can alter them? on the one side is an inheritance, a realm of divine blessedness, a kingdom which knows no evil, a life which knows no death. on the other side gapes a lake of unquenchable fire, never, indeed, meant or made for men. punishments are there, and tears that ever fall, and flames that ever burn, and miseries that never exhaust. exactly what it is i cannot tell, and wish that none may ascertain. i can only rehearse the expressions of god's word upon the subject,--"blackness of darkness, worm that dieth not, weeping and gnashing of teeth"; and no representation is more awful than the one employed in the text, "a lake of fire," seething, sweltering, weltering fire, that shall never be quenched, everlasting burning. and why, brethren, bring before you these solemn truths? is it to torment you before the time? no, indeed, but as he himself in to-day's gospel declares, "that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the son of man," that you be sincere believers and worshipers here on earth, diligent in good works, and on that day be rated among those who shall inherit their father's kingdom, and to that end: king of majesty, tremendous, who dost free salvation send us, fount of pity, then befriend us, with the favored sheep, o place us! nor amid the goats abase us, to thine own right hand upraise us! amen. third sunday in advent. they are the messengers of the churches.--_ cor. , ._ st. paul the apostle was laboring in macedonia. he had there learned that through the famine which then prevailed the pious converts in judea were in pecuniary straits. he had applied for aid in their behalf to the brethren in macedonia, and they, considering their poverty, had responded in the most liberal manner to his appeal. he informs the church of corinth of this large benevolence, and states his conviction that the corinthian believers, who were so much richer than those of macedonia, would not allow themselves to be outdone in the extent of their bounty. not satisfied with having informed them by letter, he also sends to them titus and other christian ministers to explain to them fully the wants of their suffering brethren and to raise the necessary supplies. now, it appeared requisite for the information of those who were not sufficiently acquainted with the men sent that they should carry with them some introduction, some credentials. st. paul, therefore, accredits them in the words of the text: "whether any do inquire of titus or of our brethren, they are the messengers of the churches and the glory of christ." it is not my intention, on the present occasion, to dwell upon the circumstances to which our text most immediately refers. my object is to impress upon your minds the solemn character of the ministerial office as explained by the expression: "messengers of the churches." the epistle of this sunday suggests this, and the fact that it is the ----th anniversary of my ministry among you lends it a personal coloring. two chief items commend our thoughts: _i. the office of christ's ministers_, _ii. the duty of christ's people,--what is it?_ the office of christ's ministers,--what is it? announces paul in the text: "they are the messengers of the churches." we all know the office of a messenger. it is to bear a message from one person to another person. this figure is frequently made use of in the bible to illustrate the intercourse between god and man. thus it is employed in reference to the lord himself. from all eternity he had been in the bosom of the father, and when the fullness of time was come, he appeared in the form of a man, to make known, to declare, the message of the father. that message was the unfolding of the everlasting covenant whereby god might be just and yet pardon and save the sinner. hence, the prophet malachi predicts christ's coming under this very name of messenger: "the lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in." our blessed lord, accordingly, was a messenger. the angels, also, have often been employed to bring messages from god to man. they, likewise, are spoken of under this title. the greek word which we translate "angel" means "messenger." the vision which jacob saw at bethel, the angels of god ascending and descending upon the ladder, aptly represents the services of those heavenly beings who are continually descending and ascending with tidings respecting the business which is being transacted between heaven and earth. hence, the angel, or messenger, who appeared to zacharias and told the purpose of his visit from the courts above: "i am gabriel," said he, "that stand in the presence of god, and am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings." but, besides the lord jesus and the angels, it has pleased god in his mercy and condescension to make use of _men_ as his messengers to the human race, and so they are described in the word of god. we read: "thus spake haggai, the lord's messenger," and st. paul, in writing to the philippians, respecting their minister, says: "i supposed it necessary to send unto you epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor, but your messenger." but, alas, through the corruption of our common nature, everything human is liable to be perverted. there are many who profess to be the lord's messengers, who are not such. it is, accordingly, intimated in the scripture, for the warning of lord's people, that there are two classes of messengers, the evil and the good. in the history and prophecies of the old testament we read of false prophets who were not sent, and yet they ran and taught the people perverse doctrines and led many away from the true service of the living god. in the days of israel in the wilderness there were korah, dathan and abiram, who, contrary to the spirit of god, taught the people to rebel against moses and aaron. the prophet jeremiah speaks of a very busy set of false prophets who did not stand in the lord's counsel and misled his people. and in the new testament they are not missing,--there were the pharisees, judas, hymenaeus, and alexander. st. paul bitterly complains about some who, to gain their own selfish purposes, pretended to be apostles, but who were not. our lord admonishes that, at all times of the christian dispensation, we may expect false prophets wearing the clothing of sheep. now, how are we to distinguish between the real and pretended messengers of christ? the lord himself has told us: "by their fruits ye shall know them." if, therefore, a minister does not bring forth the proper fruits, say what he will to the contrary, he is not accredited by christ,--he is not the lord's messenger. one chief point by which we may judge is the "fruits of the lips." what message does he deliver? is it the lord's message, or is it some conceit of his own? the popish priest, who preaches salvation by works, the intercession of the virgin, the lying delusion of purgatory, delivers not the lord's message. the unitarian minister, who talks of the virtues of humanity, who denies the trinity, the atonement of the redeemer, the converting and sanctifying operations of the holy spirit, he, too, certainly does not deliver the lord's message. and to come nearer to ourselves, he who professes to be a lutheran minister, and who yet denies the doctrine of justification by faith only, who does not preach the regenerating power of the holy sacrament of baptism, and the real presence of christ's body and blood in the lord's supper, he, likewise, whatever may be his profession to the contrary, does not deliver the lord's message. what is the lord's message? the voice said: "cry," and the faithful messenger said: "what shall i cry?" "all flesh is grass. the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our god shall stand forever." "the prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath _my word_, let him speak my word faithfully." "preach the word," was st. paul's advice to timothy. "preach the word"; "be instant" with that word "in season and out of season"; in the pulpit and out of the pulpit; in the schoolroom and on the platform; in the sick chamber and in the abodes of health; in the highways and in the byways. only one-half of a minister's duty is done when the services of the sanctuary are over, and the marriages, funerals, and baptisms are performed. "the minister," one has remarked, "is a physician. he has a vast field before him. he has to study a variety of constitutions. he has to furnish himself with the knowledge of the whole system of remedies. he is to be a man of skill and expediency. if one thing fails, he must know how to apply another. he must be able to speak a word in season, to deliver the lord's message to the saint and to the sinner, to the heavy-laden and to the presumptuous, to the contrite and to the inquirer,--to all, in short, that come." "for the priest's lips," says malachi, "should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth." for this reason, he will unceasingly be on the lookout for tidings. he will not, indeed, originate new things. he will not speak anything which comes into his own head, but he will diligently study what the word of the lord says, and that will he, no matter who may be present in the congregation, boldly and unreservedly deliver. he will deliver the whole counsel of god. he will be zealous for the truth, and neither teach nor tolerate any manner or degree of error; but, above all, he will preach, as the most important part of his message, christ jesus. other preaching may inform the head and please the ear, but it is the setting forth of christ in all his willingness to pardon, christ in all his mightiness to save, which alone can storm the outworks and force the citadel of the heart. it is not the flowery language and the rounded period, embellished with sparkling figures and brilliant metaphors, that will of itself win souls to the lord. no, it is the discriminating, earnest, and affectionate preaching of christ, whether in the polished language of the scholar or in the ruder accents of a less accomplished zeal,--it is this preaching alone which is worthy of the name. the minister of christ has a much more important matter in hand than some imagine. as a faithful messenger, he is to deliver, not information about political issues, lectures on morals, literature, and topics of the day, but he is to give hearers a full exhibition of christ as he is revealed in the bible and ought to be imprinted on every human heart,--the sinner's hope, the sinner's refuge, the sinner's surety and substitute, the sinner's high priest and advocate, the sinner's all and in all. this, dear members and hearers, is the message. and oh, what a blessing such a message is! how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth these good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth these good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation. as refreshing rain upon the dry, parched soil, so is such a faithful message to them that hear him. and this is the character which he who now addresses you is anxious to sustain, as minister of this congregation. for ---- years have i preached this message of redemption among you. most graciously have you received it at my lips, which leads me to thank god and take courage, asking for the spirit's influence to make that message effectual. this, then, is the duty of christ's ministers. what, to come to the next consideration, is the duty of christ's people? if it is the duty of christ's ministers to declare his message, it is equally the duty of christ's people to receive that message. now, it is well to note that, according to god's word, our message is twofold. it is law, and it is gospel. both we are to proclaim,--the law, which demands, threatens, and condemns in its sharpness and terror, and shows us our sin and the wrath of god; and the gospel, which shows us our savior and the grace of god, and offers forgiveness, life, and salvation in its sweetness and comfort. can you bear to be thus slain by the law? can you bear to speak with the lesson of this sunday--the ministry of john the baptist, the man girt about with a leathern girdle, expressing himself in the language of bold reproof, and declaring that "even now the ax is laid unto the root of the trees," and that "every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire"? can you bear to be told that, virtuous as many of you may be, you must seek salvation as sinners? can you bear to be told that, if any man will be christ's disciple, he must deny himself daily, and take up his cross, and follow his lord wherever he may lead? can you bear to have it forced upon you: "be not conformed to this world"? these things belong to the message, and we would not be ministers of the gospel of christ without telling you them. and remember, too, that you must receive them not with your ears only, but with your hearts. believe me, it is not enough to come hither and to attend these messages, and as you quit the sanctuary to say you are pleased with the sermons you hear. highly as we, that are ministers, value your kind regard and affectionate esteem, we miss our object if that is all we accomplish. no, beloved, we seek not your praise, but you. we want your eye to pass on from the servant to his master, from the messenger to him that sent him. like john, we are but his voice, the voice of one that crieth amid this wilderness and waste. he that cometh is christ. we are but the tube, or trumpet, through which he speaks. forget thus the messenger, shut your eyes upon the preacher, and think of the savior. hear his voice, let that go to your heart. one more duty,--assist the messenger. various are the means and channels in which that may be done. we have in our midst a willing band of sunday-school teachers; what are they doing but helping to bring the message to the hearts of our youth? we have those who are not ashamed or afraid to invite others to come and hear the message spoken in public, those who encourage some to go and hear it in private, in catechetical instruction. then, too, are our church societies laboring usefully in the lord. many are the means and ways in which these messengers may be assisted in the performance of their duty, and to so assist in the duty of all. my dear members, may god continue to bless, as he has visibly and bountifully blessed, these past years, his message and his messengers and those that hear it! the lord hear and answer this our petition for our great redeemer's sake! amen. fourth sunday in advent. the dayspring from on high hath visited us.--_luke , ._ in directing our attention to this text, we would regard, _i. by whom the words were spoken_, and _ii. of whom they were spoken_. at the time of our savior's birth the spiritual conditions in the land of israel were distressingly sad; religious life had become very degenerate and corrupt; all manner of sects, like the pharisees and sadducees, with their stiff and ossified formalism, ceremonialism, materialism, had caused a dark eclipse to come over the once living faith of god's chosen people. things were droughty and dead. but no period is ever so desperate, the church of god never so forlorn and miserable as not to have in it some true children of faith, yea, when things are at the worst, divine goodness is sure to interfere to bring about a change for the better; and so it was in these desolate days of judaism. residing in the hill country of judea was an aged couple; they had lived long together without being blessed with offspring. this, with the jews, was not only a defect in matrimonial happiness, but a positive reproach. the name of this pair was zacharias and elizabeth. zacharias was a priest, and elizabeth was of the daughters of aaron, and the testimony given of their character in holy scripture is that they were both righteous before god, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the lord blameless--a devout and honorable pair. one day, so runs the story in the beginning verses of the gospel of st. luke, while he was engaged in his ministry, offering incense in the temple, there appeared unto zacharias at the right-hand side of the altar an angel of god, and told him that his prayers were answered and that he would receive a son, whom he should call john. zacharias startled at the heavenly apparition, and quite forgetful of the birth of an isaac and samson and samuel, and that what happened of old might again happen, since nothing is impossible with god, he skeptically asked for a sign as the proof of the angel's message, whereupon the angel replied: "i am gabriel, that stand in the presence of god, and am sent to speak unto thee and show thee these glad tidings. and, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." when zacharias came out of the temple to the multitude of worshipers that had been impatiently waiting for his return, he beckoned to the people with his hand, and they perceived that he had seen a vision. nine months had elapsed after that miraculous visitation and annunciation of the angel, when the details in the paragraph immediately preceding our text came to pass. elizabeth, having received the fulfillment of the heavenly message, and a company of her neighbors and relatives having gathered for the circumcision of the child, a question of friendly contention arose over the name, the most of them being in favor of calling him after the name of his father, zacharias. zacharias, being consulted and asking for a slate whereupon to write his opinion, wrote the name john. by this writing he showed that he consented in the name of the child according to the angel's direction, and it says: "his mouth was immediately opened and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised god in a song of blessing and joy." this song of zacharias, which is called the "benedictus," because it begins with the word "benedictus" or blessed, is one of the treasured songs of the church. significant--as we read that song it is that his own circumstances largely are overlooked or disregarded. two grand and miraculous events had just happened to him, the birth of a son and the recovery of speech. these, it may be supposed, would have primarily employed his mind and called forth his praise and adoration to god; but whilst he does speak a few words of exultation over his son, a great, more transporting, and august theme fills his breast; he thinks in pious rapture of the prophecies that have gone before, the promises of god by the mouth of his inspired servants, that he would send a mighty savior to deliver his people. now that his own son, who was to be the forerunner of the lord and messenger, was born, he sees the incarnation of this almighty deliverer begun; under prophetic inspiration he proclaims what first happened six months after: "blessed be the lord god of israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people," and none among us are less interested in this propitious event than zacharias was. we have before us the same prophecies that zacharias had; we have the same need of this savior, and we desire the same blessings from him which he did. why, then, should it not be the rapture of our hearts, the topic of our triumphant song, as it was of his? with pious joy let us hail the glorious festival that shall be upon us in a few days, and in this may our reflection on our text aid us. "the dayspring from on high hath visited us." it is interesting to note how to one whose heart is wrapped up in christ every object becomes a preacher, a memorial. that beautiful star, last in the train of night and first in the forehead of morning, sings of him who is the bright morning star. that orb in the skies, shedding the benignant rays over the earth, tells of him who is the sun of righteousness with healing in his wings. the bread which i eat becomes to me a symbol of him who is the bread of life; the water which i drink reminds me of the living water whereof who drinks shall never thirst again. in brief, christ is seen in everything, in every object of external nature, and so with the figure employed by zacharias in these words: "the dayspring," or, as we would say--the dawn of the morning. beautiful is dawn. the ancient poets have represented it as a lovely maiden rising from the waters of the east (casting aside the gloomy veil of night), and hastening forward on the foremost rays of light, to open the gates of day, whilst her rosy fingers scatter abroad the drops of sparkling dew. zacharias employs the same illustration only to a subject more noble. he sees messiah near at hand, breaking on the world just like the approach of dawn. yes, the vision of his coming is so clear that he says not, "the dayspring shall visit us," but, "the dayspring hath visited us." let us spend a few moments in considering, not every, but a few features that connect with this description of our lord as the "dayspring from on high." and here, to begin with, we have a significant thought. "the dayspring from on high" suggests his _origin_. the day-dawn comes from the heaven; it is not of man's ordering and making, but of god's; it bears the imprint of the creator's hand, and for this reason the bible styles him "the father of lights," and says: "every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights." so with this dayspring, christ,--he is from on high. his origin and his coming are divine. we sing: true son of the father, he comes from the skies, to be born of a virgin he does not despise. this earth is not his home, as it says: "the dayspring from on high hath visited us." he came from elsewhere and he departed again elsewhere. from eternity he lay in the bosom of the father, and when the fullness of time was come, he descended upon this earth and tabernacled among us thirty and three years, and then returned to the glory whence he came forth. it was, indeed, a transcendent sojourn, a visit that spells everything, that connects with salvation and blessedness. yes, it was only a visit; he was from on high. to use the words of the nicene creed: christ is true god, begotten of the father from eternity, god of god, light of light (note that expression as in accordance with the figure in the text), very god of very god, begotten, not made; being of one substance with the father, who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the holy ghost of the virgin mary, and was made man. verily, he was the dayspring from on high. again, observe _the manner of his coming_,--how like the day-dawn. what so gentle as the light of morning, rising mutely in the brightening east and pouring the light so softly that never a leaf is stirred; noiselessly, peacefully does it make its approach. so when the savior was born, he came into the world silently and unobtrusively. all heaven was moved and followed him down to the threshold of earth; but few on earth were aware of it. one solitary star pointed to the humble birthplace, and the hymn that sang of it was heard only at night by a few watching shepherds, and his whole life partook of the same character. for which reason we sing in one of our favorite hymns: as his coming was in peace, noiseless, full of gentleness, let the same mind be in me that was ever found in thee. he came like the dawn in its soft and silent approach. then, also, in another manner. not suddenly, nor all at once. the sun's rising is a gradual and progressive thing. first, there is but a faint gray twilight, softening the darkness and heralding what is to come, then a few dim purple streaks spread upon the far eastern horizon, followed shortly by the golden tips of the great luminary lifting the gates of the morning. so with our divine dayspring. from all eternity it was determined that this dayspring should come. adam, going weeping from a paradise lost, and after him seth and enoch and noah and shem and abraham beheld from afar the early dawn, the dim and vague streaks. the types and holy sacrifices offered in the temple after that, the psalms and prophecies given by god's inspired servants, gave still nearer and clearer views of what was to come. zacharias exults as he sees the tips, as it were, beginning to appear. and we, with the whole christian world, are hastening these days in spirit to see the sun rising over the hills of judea in bethlehem's town. how in its promises and preparations--its gradual development--was the coming of christ like the day-spring, the rising dawn. nor can we afford to overlook one other feature in the manner of christ's visit as the dayspring. the sun comes every morning, shining for all and singling out none. there is a universality of kindness about it. the poorest man and the richest, all classes and all things, have the same access to its undivided radiance. how much is this like christ's coming! "god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son." "behold," was the angelic proclamation on christmas night, "i bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to _all_ people." the christmas story enters into the world with the broad universal look of daylight. it is as wide and open to all as is this earth. it singles out none, it excludes none, it wishes to bless a whole guilty world with the same impartiality as the sun. the christmas message is unlimited in its invitation: "come hither, ye faithful, o come, one and all." silently, gradually, universally, hath and doth the dayspring from on high visit us. and why--that is the concluding feature of our contemplation, why has it visited us? what is its object in doing so? the sun is the dispenser of the world's light and warmth and fruitfulness. without the day-dawn everything would be chilliness, darkness, desolation, and death. let the sun arise, shoot forth his cheering and enlivening rays,--the dormant germs start up, the buds swell, the birds sing, and man goes forth to ply the occupation of his hands. christ is the same to the human race. he rose above the darkness of judaism and over the night of heathenism. he declared: "i am the light of the world." "when once thou visitest the heart, the truth begins to shine." new life, new energy, new understanding takes hold upon the dormant and dead soul, and the fruits of righteousness spring up. to quote the text and language of zacharias: "to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." there is not the least exaggeration about it; wherever christ is preached, the darkness flees as night flies before the sun, the clouds of ignorance and superstition pass away. pardon of sin, purity of morals, comfort in affliction, triumph in death,--these are a portion of what follows. do these things not constitute the light of life of man? what else does? is, to conclude, christ such a light to you? would you permit this season to pass without diligently inquiring whether "the dayspring from on high" has visited your souls? do you rejoice at his coming with holy joy? invigorating, inspiring is the sight of a morning dawn; are you so welcoming again the dayspring from on high about to send its healing beams, its cheering, holy splendor upon our world? open your hearts to receive and to realize the significance and blessedness of this "dayspring from on high, which by the tender mercy of our god hath visited us." amen. christmas. thanks be unto god for his unspeakable gift.--_ cor. , ._ joy to the world,--the lord is come, let earth receive her king, let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing. with these words of exultation would i greet you on this festival morn. joy to the world, the lord is come; the king, messiah, after weeks of preparation, is making his triumphal entry into the habitation of men. indeed, the long expected guest, with whom our thoughts, songs, and services in the past season of advent were occupied, has at length arrived. how shall we receive him? when he first came, nineteen hundred and ---- years ago, in bethlehem's town, there was a stir and commotion. wise men suspended their studies and speculations and followed the sign in the firmament which conducted them to the place where the young child lay; an angel from heaven was sent as a herald to proclaim the glad tidings of great joy, while the multitude of the heavenly host eagerly descended to congratulate men and made the celestial heights resound with their seraphic acclamation: "glory to god in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." and, taking up that chant: "our heart from very joy doth leap, our lips no more can silence keep." dull like the ground he walks upon must be the man who, amongst the holy demonstration that is upon the social world, the cheerful merrymaking that is in earth's homes, the radiations of festivities and greetings of cordiality and good will, will not feel a pulsation of that cheer and brightness in his own heart. how this fact of our christian faith, our savior's birth, god's assumption of mutual flesh, the coming of the most high to tabernacle among men, has been more than any other an occasion of universal rejoicing, the center of earth's noblest and holiest joy in family and in the sanctuary! is it not fitting that it should be so? merry christmas, happy christmas, blessed christmas, we bid thee welcome! we rejoice that in the rounds of the calendar it has come again. and how shall we observe it? how receive its spiritual and highest blessedness unto ourselves? by lighting up a few candles on our trees? decorating our windows and walls with some sprigs of garlands and green? by attending a few services during which we are present in body, but largely absent in spirit? the quiet contemplation, the sinking of our minds into the great mystery of godliness: god manifested in the flesh, the realization as it comes from pious meditation of what it all means to us and to all mankind, and that when the external glamor and motion shall have passed over, it shall have left us benefited and blessed in soul, beloved, is not this, after all, for us christians, the true significance of this holiday time? and it is in harmony with this, that we would bring to our minds the words of the text. let us devoutly, with concentrated and holy thoughts, regard god's gift, for thus reads the text: "thanks be unto god for his unspeakable gift." i. _which is this gift?_ ii. _note what is said about it._ iii. _our conduct respecting it._ which is it? god, my beloved hearers, is always good. his very name, god, which means good, bespeaks that. continually is he bestowing gifts and favors upon us. "his constant mercies," declares the psalmist, "are new to us every morning." what is there which we possess that he has not given us?--clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and home, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my goods. but there is one gift that excels and outstrips them all. our children, in the course of the year, are being constantly provided with all that they need to support their bodies and lives, articles of food and dress and mind, and yet the best donations we afford them, those which cause their youthful hearts to skip as the lambs, are invariably given in the days of christmas festivity. so with the beneficent parent on high,--always good and gracious, yet his foremost and most excellent gift he bestows at this time. and which is it? yonder, in bethlehem's manger, it lies. insignificant enough as you gaze upon it with outward eyes: how tiny, unpretentious, judged by the standard of men; what lowly quarters, what unfavorable circumstances, what socially unassuming people; that woman watching over the child, those shepherds hastening thither from their humble toil,--certainly nothing there to impress one. and this is heaven's foremost and precious gift, the gift of all gifts. is that the best that god can give us? yes. for various reasons. in determining the value of earthly donations, different considerations weigh and prevail. for once, it is the sentiment that prompted that gift; it frequently is not so much the mercantile value of the gift as it is the considerations, the spirit, the sentiment, and affection that go along with it; and there, after all, rests its real power and beauty. regard god's christmas gift. the apostle calls it "unspeakable"; he declares that it towers in its value and majesty beyond the reach of language and beyond the power of human expression. 'tis truly so. what sentiment prompted it? "god so _loved_ the world that he gave his only-begotten son." there we have the motive, his love. and why did he love man? because he was so lovable? nay, man had rebelled against him, had raised himself up in disobedience against him and his holy commandments and was at enmity with him, and still god loved him, loved the child that had forsaken and sinned against him, and so loved him that he spared not his dearest and his best, but delivered him up for us all. oh! the greatness of that charity, that love divine, all love excelling, love that passed all knowledge and understanding and expression too,--that supplied the gift unspeakable, says the apostle. again, when we are the recipients of gifts, we examine them, we give them careful scrutiny, we desire to know: what is that which we have received? apply that to god's christmas gift. what is it? he tells us: "unto you is born this day a savior, which is christ, the lord." not a star, not a world, not any created thing, but christ, the lord. veiled in flesh the godhead see, hail th' incarnate deity. pleased as man with man to dwell, jesus, our emmanuel. o the mystery, the impenetrable mystery of the gift! as you sit down and meditate upon it, as you reflect and gaze upon that divine child, reason is confounded, thought is pushed to confusion, faith stands in profound contemplation on the brink of this sea, too deep for human intelligence to fathom, too broad for man's mind to encircle, and yet, let us not stagger at the wonderful fact. we are standing to-day, my beloved, in the presence of the greatest miracle of time. we behold here no ordinary child. it's deity in humanity, divinity in infancy. in this little body is bound up god's immensity, in this babe's weakness is enclosed heaven's almightiness. this child resting at his mother's breast (who can grasp it?) is the lord of glory, the worshipful creator of the universe, god blest forevermore. such is the nature of the gift--"unspeakable," as the apostle declares. again, we consider the purpose of the gift. there are every variety and quality of gifts bestowed at this season: ornamental ones, serving the purpose of decoration and embellishment, beautiful for the eye to behold; useful ones, administering to the necessity and the comforts of their recipients. how about god's christmas gift? ah! for human lips to speak out its value. again we lisp, "unspeakable." what illustrations might i employ? you lift up your eyes and encounter the bright rays of the sun; what would this world be without the light and warmth that comes from its radiant face? you feel the drops of rain falling in gentle showers; what would the soil be without these rivulets and streams that fructify its acres? yet all such illustrations are too improper to express what this world would spiritually be without christ. said the angel: "unto you is born this day, in the city of david, a savior." in that word you have the key of christmas and the purpose of god's christmas gift. "a savior"--what a chapter that opens before us! back to the days of paradise does it conduct us, when man was dwelling in innocence, fell and falling, carrying himself and all his posterity to universal and eternal destruction. sin, that most terrible of all evils upon the soul, thorns and thistles upon the ground, misery and sickness and death upon the body, the whole creation groaning and travailing in pain,--this was the sorry consequence, and this is the sad, sad story as it is read in the history of every man's life and of the world at large. and whence was deliverance to come? from man? helpless, powerless, hopeless creature, how could he cancel the curse that rested upon soul and body and ailing earth? a more powerful one held him at his mercy; and what could he do to pluck out the sting of death beneath whose dominion he had completely fallen? a more dismal condition could never exist. what man needed was a savior, a deliverer mightier than the forces that held him bound, and such a one god had promised man. adam and eve, leaving paradise, were consoled by the prediction of the seed of the woman that should bruise the head of the serpent--the savior, abraham, seth, enoch, noah, isaac, and jacob looked forward to that deliverer and were sustained by the hope: ah, that the savior soon would come to break our bondage and lead us home! succeeding saints and prophets took up the pleading strain, and sang and prophesied of his advent, and finally, when the fullness of time was come, he arrived; and what did he bring? the supply of man's foremost and chief requisite--what is that? wealth, affluence of estate? support of body? not so. this is not man's foremost need. education of mind, culture of intellect? neither that. what is it? deliverance from sin, death, and the power of the devil, and the salvation of man's immortal soul; for what is a man profited though he should gain the whole world, and possess all treasures and mines of knowledge, and possess not and know not how to save his soul? beloved, when you reflect what this world would be without this divine christmas gift, then we might well ask, would life be worth living without him? it would, indeed, be a dark chapter, a barren and gloomy prison cell. and so, having regarded these various particulars, we almost instinctively give voice to the apostle's declaration: "thanks be unto god for his unspeakable gift." that brings us to the concluding part of our consideration. a donation so transcendent calls for some corresponding attitude. what would we think of a child accepting its holiday gifts without showing appreciation, and speaking not a word of acknowledging thanks? nothing is more rude than ingratitude. that spoils it all. look at the interest the heavenly inhabitants took in that unspeakable gift. they came down with gracious messages concerning it. they were all present and sang their highest songs when the savior was born. their conduct was just such as we may expect from beings so pure, so intelligent, and yet it was not to them, nor for them. "unto us a child is born, unto us this son is given." it is for us and for our salvation that the lord of glory came and was made man. here is a thought that ought to stir us to a higher pitch of emotion and gratitude. people have capacities to appreciate favors, to acknowledge good, to feel the worth of help when great and pressing need is upon them; why not over against this amazing goodness of god? oh! that any human heart should be found weighted down by such leaden dullness that it should fail in its adoring thankfulness to god for his unspeakable gift. far better such had never been born! and thankfulness and rejoicing, if genuine, is never selfish. observe our children at this time. when they have received their gifts, they do not selfishly hug them to themselves, place them in a corner, and strive to keep others from seeing them; they run about displaying what kindness has bestowed, shout and make commotion, nor feel happier than when others--their playmates and companions--come to share in their merriment. it is not different with god's christmas gift; it is designed to be the occasion of universal joy. "i bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." "god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son." a certain ancient writer remarks: "were some explorer to discover the real elixir of life by which life and health and youth might be made perpetual, with what shouts of triumph and songs of joy would the discovery be heralded forth!" friend would rush to bear the glad tidings to friend, over hill and mountain; across valley and plain would the joyful tidings roll, until there were no solitary inhabitant, be his dwelling ever so remote or concealed, but would have found it out. beloved, here is the true elixir of life, in bethlehem's manger; there is the fountain of perpetual health and youth. let the glorious truth, then, receive universal proclamation; let the tawny african in his dark jungle, the eskimo in his icy, squalid hut, the dweller in the most distant isle, and the man, woman, and child that lives with you and next to you,--let one and all hear the glad news that god's unspeakable gift has come to earth. yes, let this blessed truth spread till every sinful and sorrowing brother may rejoice with us, and that from earth and sky may echo forth in grateful refrain: "thanks be unto god for his unspeakable gift," now on these present christmas festivals, and then when these earthly celebrations will have passed over into the celebration of heaven, we shall see and adore him who was once a babe in bethlehem, but now sitteth upon the throne, god blessed forevermore. amen. last sunday in the year. we all do fade as a leaf.--_isaiah , ._ there is perhaps no truth which is more generally admitted and which is more frequently referred to than that life is short and time is fleeting, that--"man born of a woman," as job expresses it, "is of few days and full of trouble. he cometh forth like a flower and is cut down." every tolling knell that resounds its muffled voice from the church's spire, every painful sickness that casts us upon a weary and dreary couch, every change of season in nature's annual round and tearing off one leaf after the other from the calendar, until the present date, the st day of its last messenger, bids us discard the whole,--all these are just so many solemn and constant monitors reminding us of the brevity, the rapidity of time's flight. and yet, with all these numerous and unmistakable evidences of the transitoriness of all earthly things, how little of an abiding impression they produce! who of us, in thoughtful reflection, does not admit the necessity of asking in this matter for divine instruction and of preparing ourselves for the time when time shall be no more, and when we shall be called upon to give account of how we have used our earthly days, and to leave this world and all its concerns? it is to this that i would invite your thoughts on this day which marks the concluding day of another chapter of life's calendar. may god's holy spirit teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom, as i endeavor to explain and apply the words of our text. human life, man's natural existence, is most aptly represented by the figure before employed, the fading of a leaf. more than two thousand years ago did the inspired penman, the prophet isaiah, write these lines, and yet its truth is preached to us with unfailing regularity and solemnity in every recurring autumn. as we go out into the woods towards the close of each successive summer, we observe a gradual change in the appearance of the trees. we see the leaves, first one and then another, and then by degrees all of them alike, changing their green for a brown and yellow hue, at length, till, shriveling at the edges and loosening their hold to their native boughs, the wet and the cold and the wind cause them to fall to the ground with a sound so soft that it is almost silence and there, by the action of the elements, they soon decay and mingle with the earth, out of which they were first produced. just so, my brethren, it is with ourselves. as soon as we begin to live, we begin to die. "our hearts like muffled drums are beating funeral marches to the grave." if we succeed in adhering to the tree of life during the spring and summer of man's allotted years, autumn and winter of old age will certainly overtake us, and we shall sink away as surely and as silently as the descending leaves in fall, our spirits returning to god, who gave them, and our bodies mingling with the dust from which they were taken. we look over the annals of the world,--where are those mighty conquerors, a hannibal, a cæsar, an alexander, a napoleon, who once made whole nations tremble and kingdoms fall? where are those brilliant statesmen, a bismarck, a webster, a calhoun, and a clay, upon whose lips admiring senates hung with wonder and delight? where are the poets, the historians, the warriors, the divines, who, each in his day and generation, were the theme of general conversation, and were lauded with the tribute of a nation's praise? "like the baseless fabric of a vision,"--gone. it is related of xerxes, the powerful king of persia, that when about to cross from asia over to conquer greece, he ordered a review to be made of all his forces on the shores of the hellespont. a magnificent throne was erected upon a lofty peak. seated on this pinnacle of gold, he gazed upon the unnumbered millions below him on ship and shore. no sight could have been more dazzling or more august. the hillsides were white with tents, the sea with ships. gay banners floating in the sun, glittering with gold and silver, weakened the eye by their brightness and beauty; whatever unbounded wealth and intense love of display could produce or suggest was there, and in the midst of such transcendent glory and deepest homage, where multitudinous nobles were urging to kiss the hem of his garment and worshiped him as a god, the great king, xerxes, wept. amazed at such an act, expressive of feelings so contrary to those in which they were indulging, they reverently inquired the cause of his tears. "alas," said he, "of all this vast multitude not one will be left upon the earth a hundred years hence." that was said more than two thousand years ago. how many generations have followed that, over which he wept and uttered this sad truth! we occupy their places now for a few days, and then we shall lie beside them. of the congregation that is looking up into my face this morning, twenty, thirty, fifty years, where shall it be? the church bell will be rung out, i hope, from its steeple, but it shall be rung by other hands, and for other worshipers. this pulpit will be filled by another preacher and the pews by other listeners. as you would pass in your way home from its door, in your family and social circles, how you would miss the old and once familiar forms, yea, perhaps our very homes will be occupied by strangers. as the prophet says: "we all do fade as a leaf." lest our subject should be rendered useless by being too general, i will proceed, without further delay, to apply our text and this by addressing the various classes of persons among you, so that all, by the baptism of the holy ghost, may derive some spiritual benefit. that our text refers not to one class, but to every, is evident from the word "all,"--"we all do fade as a leaf." it applies itself, then, first to the young. not only in autumn and winter, but even in the spring and early months of the year, leaves are seen to fall. and similarly, as the inscriptions upon the many tombstones in our last resting-places will testify, so many of the human family disappear in infancy and youth. it is a mournful sight to see them thus carried off in the vigor and tenderness of opening bloom, but it's one that ought to convey solemn teaching to those of youthful years. and what teaching? wise king solomon has expressed it in these words: "remember thy creator in the days of thy youth." and why? because it is the most favorable time, the most god-honoring time, the most profitable. at no other time is the soul so capable of deep and abiding impressions, are the affections more easily touched and moved, are we more accessible to the influences of emotions and truth. it is preeminently the choosing time, the valley of decision, in which at almost every step we do or leave undone something which has its effect, for good or ill, upon one's future habits and character and eternity; and you can only be prepared to determine matters that call for decision when you have made the great decision; you can choose and act safely and wisely in all the other departments of life, the social, the intellectual, the moral, only when you have taken a decisive stand upon the subject of religion. hence, our savior urgently entreats young people: "seek ye first," first in point of importance and first in point of years, "the kingdom of heaven." ah, my young members, if the sun does not dispel the mists pretty early in the morning, you may look with reasonable certainty for a foggy day, and so if the sun of righteousness, christ jesus, does not early in the day of your lives dispel the mists of unbelief and sin, the chances are that it will be more or less gloomy obstruction the rest of your lives. you will never be such christians as you would have been; there will not be the development of character as if you had started at the right time, and there will always be a feeling of regret in your heart. note, then, that this is the time to begin to serve god; now is the time to put the yoke of christ upon your necks and to break yourselves in for lives of usefulness. and what is more god-honoring? religion is always an ornament, it decorates the silvery locks and the wrinkled brow, but it looks exquisitely attractive and suitable when worn by youth. god accepts the sinner at all times, even when he comes with tottering footsteps and with stooped back; but is it right to do service to another and make him suspend his claim as your rightful lord to satisfy the world and the flesh, his degrading rivals, to sow wild oats in the springtime of your years and send him forth to gather among the stubbles the gleanings of life, after the enemy has secured the harvest? nay, to him belong the first-born of your days, the first-fruits of your season, the price of your love and devotion,--give them. you will never regret it. incalculable are the benefits of early piety, beneficial for body and business, for character and connections, for mind and morals, for after-life and life after death; for, as our text inculcates, your earthly existence hangs but on a slender, frail, and feeble fiber. do you know of none in your circle of acquaintances swept low by the grim reaper whom we call death? and what assurance have you, my youthful hearers, that you may not be among his victims in the succeeding year? glory not, then, in your health and strength. pride yourself not on anything which is so feeble and frail, but seek those solid blessings which are to be found in christ jesus, and make true preparation against the time when you shall go hence and be no more. "remember thy creator," thy redeemer, thy sanctifier, "in the days of thy youth." again, the text addresses itself to the middle-aged. scarcely a summer passes over our heads but some tempests, lightning, hail, rain, and thunder, rage in the sky, and these commotions of the elements drive myriads of leaves, although then firmly grown and filled with sap, from their branches to the ground, and there, like those that fall later, they fade away. it is so with man. in the midst of all his hustling industry and matured vigor, when, as job says, his bones are moistened with marrow, he is liable to be carried off by various diseases and casualties. absalom died before his father. the list of orphans in the bible is not small, and among us those attired in sable garments, because of those whose sun has gone down at noon, are not few. a tender leaf, which the first strong wind, the first descending shower loosens in its hold,--that is man in the strength of his days. and what does that teach those of maturer years? that they presume not on their sturdiness, and that they forget not, amidst the distractions of all manner of connection for what life has been given, and correspondingly rightly improve it. life has been given us for a high and noble purpose; it is not only a time of preparation and of probation for the world to come, it is a time of activity, of usefulness in the service of god and fellow-man, and "he most lives who thinks the most, feels the noblest, acts the best." there are those who live a mere animal life, whose sublimest principle and purpose is embodied in the motto: "let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall be dead." as for god, heaven, and eternity, there is none. there are those who live a mere worldly life; gaining a livelihood and property, acquiring a social standing and a position, perhaps a ribbon or a medal,--that's their life's chief object and design. there are those who lead bad lives, diabolical lives, making society miserable and families wretched; and there are those who lead good lives, morally and socially, providing things honestly in the sight of all men. but there is one class that, according to scripture, lives a right life, a life that will bear the sight of the judge eternal and receive his heavenly plaudit: "well done, thou good and faithful servant," and that is the man and the woman who lives a christian life, a life in christ jesus, who, while believing in him as their only lord and savior, are seeking to imitate his precepts; who live to his glory, with the furtherance of his kingdom constantly in mind; who make everything that they undertake and do conducive to the praise and honor of their god; who delight to render their time, talents, and means in such a service. any other kind of a life but that is a life of god's grace neglected, of moments wasted in selfishness, in indolence, in sensuality often, in wickedness, and it fails of the purpose for which time has been given. let us be careful, then, how we employ it; never live a week in vain; having something at the close of it for the reviewing eye to fix upon; something for god, for your fellow-creatures, for yourself. live for christ, and thus best live while you live, and be best prepared when you are called upon to die, for as you live, thus will you die, and thus will you be judged. there remains, however, one more class to which our text refers with great propriety, and that is the aged. if the young and middle-aged may fall, the old must; there is no remedy or human skill, or physician's antidote against the wrinkled brow, the failing memory, and the stiffening of the joints. "the days of our years," says the psalmist, "are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." how soon this may take place, who can declare? what attitude, then, becomes those who have upon them declining years? i know no better answer than to gaze upon that patriarchal couple in to-day's gospel, simeon and anna; what a beautiful picture of declining life as it is calmed and brightened by the comforts of religion and the hope of nearing heaven. how impressive to see them meet in the temple of god, and taking upon their arms the blessed object of their faith and prayer for all those long rolling years, speaking of him, as it says, unto all them that looked for redemption in jerusalem, finally singing their "lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." "the hoary head is a crown of glory," says solomon, "if it be found in the way of righteousness." let the aged saints, then, among us use their advancing years to speak, as years' and hearts' experience alone can speak, of him who is their salvation and consolation; let them, by the respect due them, cause us to more greatly respect him whom they have learned to know, and by their lives be an example to the younger generations how to live. having, then, regarded our text: "we all do fade as a leaf," let us have learned, as these years pass away, how to receive the crown, incorruptible, and undefiled, and which passeth not away. amen. new year's day. our father which art in heaven.--_matt. , ._ dr. luther, after his inimitable fashion, once remarked: "the lord's prayer is the greatest martyr upon earth. it is a pity above all pity that such a prayer by such a master should be so terribly abused in all the earth. many pray the lord's prayer a thousand times a year, and though they prayed it a thousand years, yet have they not properly prayed one letter thereof." it is a sweeping and striking assertion. the truth of his remarks, however, who would wish to contest? take, in evidence, the words of the text. the opening words of that divine prayer taught by the lord himself are indeed familiar words,--no service but we recite them, no day but a christian ought to recite them; yet, have we ever regarded the deep significance that is contained, the inspiration that is hidden, in them? a little reflection will prove how appropriate they are for this day, the beginning of a new year in civil life. _our father_,--that expresses, i. _trust in god_, ii. _obedience in duty_, iii. _submission in affliction_. all these we need for our encouragement and spiritual profit to-day. what sacred associations cluster around the word "father"! the thought of him, _if he was a father indeed_, was inwoven into all our youthful plans and early ambitions. we knew no worldly care when we dwelt beneath his sheltering roof; as we grew in years, we increased also in confidence in him. he was our adviser in doubt, our protector in danger, our supporter in perplexity. a true father is the best earthly friend while he is alive, and after he is gone, there gathers around his memory a halo of tender remembrance. all that is generous, manly, noble, and wise is to a loving son treasured up in the word "father." but the earthly significance, the human fatherhood, does not exhaust the meaning of this blessed name; it is but a mere pattern and shadow of that relationship which god sustains to his people. he is a "father"; we, then, are his children by nature and adoption, by creation and redemption, and, as children, we may go to him, and with all confidence and boldness ask him as dear children ask their dear father. and such confidence, such trustful looking up in faith and reliance to him as our father, is a becoming attitude to-day. we stand upon the shores of another year, as it lifts itself, veiled in mist, from the great ocean of the future. futurity means uncertainty, and uncertainty suggests anxiety. say not that it is not so. as god created man, he is forecasting in his thoughts. it is as easy and natural for us to have regard to what is before us as it is for the waters of the mississippi to flow towards the gulf. nor does god forbid it. says wise king solomon: "a wise man deviseth his way." he forms his plans, he frames his resolutions, he has his ambitions, his object in life that he wishes to attain. it is not a sign of sanity or of christianity to walk into the future blindfolded, irresolutely, improvidently. the business man who at this time looks over his stock and ledger and strikes a balance of profit and loss, so as to make prudent arrangement for the business of the incoming year, the man of family who gazes upon the members seated about his table, and, considering demands and expenditures, weighs his income and ability to make ends meet, or whatever situation you may be in, or relation you may sustain, an intelligent, provident, weighing, considering, looking into the future is legitimate, wise, proper. but that is one thing; another thing, and not an uncommon thing, rather too prevalent, is to look into the future with fear, trembling of heart, and anxiety of mind. "oh, how shall we ever get through; it's been none too rosy in the past, income scant, debts, some yet to pay, children growing up, health not to boast of,"--what a dreadful nightmare these considerations are to many people at the start of a new year; how it crushes out all good cheer, happiness, the very thing men are wishing each other! 'tis foolish, 'tis needless, and godless! a man bending and staggering along the road under the weight of a heavy load met a passing wagon; he was invited to get in. he did so, but he still kept the load on his back. foolish man! yet that's the common attitude. god's chariot drives up to us this morning, overtaking us on life's way. "get in, traveler, i will bear thee along," is the invitation. "cast all your cares upon me. i will care for you." "thank you, kind lord, but i prefer to bear the load myself." there is a being that has brought us into this world,--father, we call him. he is a resourceful father, having all forces and agencies of sky, land, and sea, all the operations of men, angels, and beasts at his command; he is a loving father; he has pleasure in the children after his heart. silly child, you say, that will start to cry and make a great ado because it has conceived the notion that its wealthy father cannot feed and clothe it any longer. is it not just as incongruous, my dear christian, for you to perplex yourself with thoughts of anguish that god cannot provide for you any more? "he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" he should neglect his loving providence, leave and forsake thee this year? o ye of little faith! in one of the books handed to our children at christmas time is the history of a familiar and beautiful german hymn. reduced by financial straits to sell his only means of support, his violin, a poor musician took it to the pawnshop of a jew. as he gave it up, he looked lovingly at it, and tearfully asked the jew if he might play one more tune upon it. "you don't know," he said, "how hard it is to part with it. for ten years it has been my companion; if i had nothing else, i had it. of all the sad hearts that have left your door, there has been none so sad as mine." whereupon, pausing for a moment, he seized the instrument and commenced a tune so exquisitely soft that even the jew listened, in spite of himself. then, laying aside the instrument, he said, "as god will," and rushed from the shop, only to be stopped at the door by a stranger, who, having listened, said to him, "could you tell me where i could obtain a copy of that song? i would willingly give a florin for it." "i will give it to you without the florin." the stranger happened to be the swedish ambassador, and when he heard the poor man's story, his troubles ended then and there. redeeming the instrument, he called his landlady and his friends, and sang, to his own accompaniment, his own sweet hymn, no. in our hymn-book, of which this is the first stanza: leave god to order all thy ways, and hope in him, whate'er betide, thou'lt find him, in the evil days, thine all-sufficient strength and guide. who trusts in god's unchanging love builds on a rock that naught can move. this is the first reflection that lies in these introductory words, "our father." it expresses trustful looking up to him at the beginning of the year. and, _again_, it supplies obedience in duty. it is a part of the father's relation to direct and control, as well as provide, for his children. he has a rightful authority over his household, the right to tell them what to do and how to do. none other with our heavenly father. the new year means new activities, new problems, new duties. with the morrow the tradesman, the mechanic, and the clerk will return to the work of his calling, the student to his books, and the housewife will be as busy as ever before. the great machinery of secular life will all clatter and hum in all its complexity and parts. and in the church, there will not, as there dare not be, a standstill. much still remains to be done. how shall we face it? in our own strength? "with might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected." after our own plans, doing things to suit our own selves? is that the way it is in a well-regulated household? there is one whose law obtains, whose word determines, whose wish regulates it all. so ought it be with our life's duties. no matter what may be the occupation of your head and of your hands, whether you be a physician ministering to the alleviation of human ills, or a carpenter constructing the earthly home for man to dwell therein, our blessed lord was both, physician and carpenter. whether life's work finds you busy with the pen, like matthew, the publican, sitting at the receipt of custom, or, like martha, cumbered and concerned about many things, one reigning principle ought to be governing it all, as it governed the life of him who was our example in all things, this: "my work is to do the will of him that sent me." begin your work with him, consecrate it to him, conduct it with him. serve him in it. there are two ways of doing everything--with god and without god. you may go to your work on monday morning with god or without god; you may discharge its thousand and one different details with god or without god; your fellow-workman and companions may not know the difference, and yet, my dear hearer, it makes all the difference in the world, and a difference even for the world to come, whether you do your work with a glance of the eye upward and a spirit that says, "our father." work without god is drudgery, duty cold and stern; it lacks inspiration, warmth, joyful energy. it is done because it must. it makes the worker a slave. that is not the way god would have us perform it, and it is not the work--neither in family, nor shop, nor church, that brings grand results. whenever you feel your service becoming irksome or your duties degenerating, done with little conscientiousness and still less joy, then speak, "our father"; and when you saunter forth knowing that you are going to perform your father's business, then the direst and most uninteresting things of daily life will acquire a new importance in your eyes, and will be done with a spring of elasticity and gladsomeness. let me ask you to try this heavenly specific, and you will find that bending over your toil, with these thoughts, it will be lit up with radiance and significance hitherto inexperienced and duty will be merged into delight. this is the second consideration, when we can truly and intelligently say, "our father," life's work becomes transfigured with a new meaning and joy. in such a spirit go hence to this year's employments. do them with god. one other phase of human experience remains to be touched upon at this time. the lord himself hath said by the mouth of solomon: "he that spareth the rod hateth the child," and he is too wise a father to think of training his children without discipline. it is by sending them trials that he leads them to bethink themselves and to return when they have been backsliding, develops them in character, and prepares them for the discharge of arduous and important duties. whatever we may regard this method of dealing with us, this is his method, and it will be no different with the incoming year. what shape that trial will take, this none can say in advance; it may bring sickness to ourselves or to our near and dear ones; pain of body, feverish tossing, restless nights, weary days; it may bring reverses in fortune; the position we thought so secure may pass into the hands of another; our income may decrease, trade languish, accidents and expenses multiply; it may be that the grim visitor will invade our homes, a casket, little or large, be placed into our rooms to remind us that in the midst of life we are in death. god alone, who knows the future, knows. and when these ordeals occur, it is well to keep before us a few things. in the first place, we must recognize that, however strange and unwelcome these experiences are, 'tis he who sends them, and gives them just because he deals with us as his children. discipline is a privilege that a father reserves for his own children. one does not get himself to correct the faults of all the young people in the neighborhood. you direct your efforts along that line to your own, and only because of your affectionate interest in them do you visit them with correction. even so it is with god, and when we are suffering from his hands, instead of thinking that he has forgotten us, we ought to see in the chastisement a new evidence of his continued regard for us. the trials sent us, my dear hearers, are the tokens of a heavenly father's affection, and happy art thou if in life's salutary discipline you have learned to look up and say, "thy will be done." then, knowing from whom it proceeds--to mention the second consideration,--you will be wonderfully sustained. to illustrate, a story from my holiday reading: a little girl sent on an errand had to cross a wide but shallow stream, but there were firm and tried stepping-stones all the way over. "oh! i'm afraid," said the child to a lady who was passing. "why are you afraid, there are stones all the way over. see how easily i can cross it." very timidly the little girl began to cross. "just one step at a time is all you have to take," said the kind guide. so one step followed another--the first few were the hardest to take,--and soon she was safe on the other shore, smiling at her fears. "it is not so hard after all," she remarked, "just one step at a time brought us over." beloved, when troubles come,--they are sure to, in this year also,--do not look so much at the waters before you, but at the stepping-stones the father has placed for your feet. here is a strong, firm stepping-stone that has often sustained me: "as thy days, so shall thy strength be." here is another: "the lord is my shepherd, i shall not want." have a few such stepping-stones, select one in particular for this year. this, perhaps, will do, small, but weighty, "our father." amen. epiphany sunday. i am the light of the world.--_john , ._ underneath rome, the ancient capital of the world, and extending for miles and miles between the river tiber and the mediterranean sea, are those mysterious passages called the catacombs. how far they go, whither they lead, at what exact point they terminate, no living man can tell. from the examinations of the learned who have explored them for some little distance, at some few points, we know that they are long and narrow quarries in the rock; underground roads mined out of the soft volcanic tufa, or stone, on both sides of which the early christians, who would not burn, but insisted on burying their dead, would deposit their departed, and where during these fierce persecutions they would also assemble for worship. these passages are but high enough to walk upright through them; they are so narrow in width that you can touch the sides on either hand, as you grope along, and they are unutterably silent and dark. if you strain your eye forward, you see nothing beyond the few feet which the feeble torch or flickering candle illumines; if you look up, the rock is there; if you gaze to the right or to the left, you see the shallow niches, like shelves, one over another, where are strewn the bones of the dead, crumbling into dust and ashes; and gazing behind you, you feel a choking sensation at the heart, that if your light should go out, or your guide should forsake you, you would never find your way back,--as it is a well-known fact that many too curious in their researches have disappeared. such, then, are the catacombs, a subterranean home of death, a place of impenetrable darkness. and, my beloved, what better emblem could be found to illustrate what this world is like, without the gospel of jesus christ, than the hopeless labyrinths of darkness underneath the city of rome? take the time when our savior pronounced these words of our text, or when, as epiphany suggests to us, those wise men came from the east, following the star,--what darkness was spread over the earth! with the exception of the one people, numbering only a few millions at most, and these sunk away in general apostasy, aside from the little wax lights of the jews, there was universal gloom. around them, to the farthest limit of the earth, including enlightened and refined greece and rome, the whole world of man lay in heathenism and idolatry, feeling after god, but knowing him not, worshiping and serving creatures rather than the ever-blessed creator. think of egypt's adoration of bulls, rams, cats, bugs, birds, and crocodiles! think of the assyrian's worship, or of any of those people of antiquity, rendering to beasts or to heroes and the spirits of dead men, like the chinese and japanese and hindoos of this day, the homage due unto the living god! add to this the attendant miseries, shameless debaucheries, cruelties, revolting abominations, practiced all over in the name and belief of honoring god and meriting the favor of heaven, and it may well be said, the world was darkness, pitch black darkness. and it is so even to this present day where christianity has not yet shed its redeeming light. it is so with every human soul; the darkness of ignorance, of sin, of misery is upon it. the man whose understanding has not yet been enlightened by the beams of spiritual truth is just like a tourist groping along, and stumbling among, the bones and dust of the catacombs. he knows not what he is living for, as little as the underground passenger knows whither he is going. whenever misfortune and sorrow comes, there is none to turn to for consolation. whenever conscience is troubled and agitated with a sense of its guilt, and there are times when the spectral hand of conscience, like in the case of king belshazzar, writes bitter things against them, there is no remedy or peace. when death comes, it is all gloom, spiritual night, a prison-house, a catacomb. all our knowledge, sense, and sight lie in deepest darkness shrouded, till god's brightness breaks our night by the beams of truth unclouded. and that is the lesson of this season, which means manifestation, that is the message of christ to the world of man and to each soul. he is the light. as god at the beginning of the world, when it was a huge mass of confused matter, wrapped in unpenetrable darkness, spake the word: "let there be light," and there was light, so, when humanity at the beginning of these ---- years was spiritual darkness, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and men saw his glory, the glory of the only-begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. addressing ourselves to our text, let us _i. trace some points of resemblance between christ and light_; _ii. note the conduct which becomes us toward this light_. the purest and most untarnishable thing in this world is light. snow is pure, so is ice, water, and air, but each of these will admit of defilement, may be marred and polluted. it is not so with light. man's hand cannot soil it. no corruption can infest or cleave to it. nothing can defile its rays or attach pollution to its beams. and such is christ. all creatures have shown themselves liable to sin and moral taint, but christ passed through the world of sin as a sunbeam through a house of filth and disease, and came forth as pure and blessed as he sprang from god himself. he took on him sin's form, that he might endure sin's due, but sin's stain he never knew. in bethlehem's manger, he was the holy child. he lived a human life, oppressed with all its cares and temptations, grew up among its corrupt children, suffered its coarseness, its rebuffs, and its villainies, but with all this he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. he was the spotless lamb of god, pure; for he was the light. again, light is as bright as it is pure. things are bright in proportion as they are full of light. the day is bright when no clouds shut out the sun. the scenery is bright when illumined by the greatest number of rays. the hope is bright when it is freest from gloomy forebodings and fullest of the light of promise. and such is christ. he is brightness, "the brightness of the father's glory," and his office is to dispense brightness. that is the brightest time in the soul when there is most of christ in it. that is the brightest page on which most of christ is found. that is the brightest sermon in which most of christ is heard. that is the brightest life in which most of christ is seen. that is the brightest world in which christ is most fully received; and that heart, that home, that church is but confusion and darkness where christ is not. light, likewise, is free. it comes without cost, and it comes everywhere. no poverty is so great as to debar from its blessing, nor is there an open crevice, a nook or corner in all this wide world into which it is unwilling to enter, or where it fails to throw its heavenlike smiles. the halls of the great and the huts of the humble does it gild alike, and that without money and without price. as related, it is free, and so is christ. the command is: "go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." there is no place nor spot where its beams are not to be diffused, no heart into which it does not struggle for entrance. to the poor as well as to the rich, to jews as well as to gentiles is christ offered equally freely, and on the same terms of free grace to each and all willing to accept him. he is the true light, ready to lighten every man that cometh into the world. another quality that pertains to the nature of light is that it is revealing. darkness obscures. where it is not light, a pit may gape at our feet, a murderer may be waiting in our path, a dagger aimed at our heart; we do not see and know, our vision is held. it requires light to perceive these things. and so in the spiritual world, christ is the great revealer. by him we come to know god and our true selves. by him we learn who and where we are, what our needs are, and how to relieve them. one of the hardest things in the world is to make people believe that they are guilty and lost beings. the reason is, they are in the dark. they need the light to show them themselves. and that light is christ. only let a man examine himself in the light of christ's life and teaching, and it will not be long until he sees that self of his to be a mere mass of guilt, and things appearing quite differently in this world of imperfection and sin. and to mention the final feature, light is life-giving. without light the world is dead. where the sun rarely shines, or not at all, there is barrenness, dreariness, perpetual winter, desolation. it is the warming light of spring that starts the dormant germs, that swells the buds, and clothes the vineyards, the field, and the woods with vegetation, fragrance, and plenty. so with the spiritual light. where christ is not, life is not, there is spiritual barrenness, winter upon the soul. but when his beams shine in upon the soul, the seeds of virtue put forth, the tree of faith lifts up its fragrant bloom, and the fruits and flowers of love and grace spring and bud. thus, by a few comparisons with the material, natural light, have we sought to explain in what sense christ is called, or rather calls himself, the light. let us inquire how we ought to conduct ourselves toward him. first of all, if you would enjoy the blessings of this light, you must receive the light; the outward illumination must be followed by a corresponding inward one. what good does the light do the man who, when its morning rays shine into his room, will pull down the shades and close the shutters and pull the cover of his couch over his head? it's only the worse for the man. the thing is to receive it, to throw open the shutters of your heart, and to let its radiant sunbeams burst into its every corner and crevice. that is what it is for, and we fail of its purpose and benefit if we fail to so treat it. what if the incoming rays do show us the dust that lies upon furniture and floor? should we therefore dislike it, reject it, or should we cleanse the furniture and the floor? what if the spiritual sun reveals to us our darling sins and ignorances? should we therefore avoid it and dislike it? it is extremely sorry to see the attitude of the most of mankind, how they will cling like bats and owls to darkness who fly away to some dismal haunts, and there sit and blink whenever a ray of spiritual sunlight reaches them. christ himself said: "men love darkness rather than light." let it not be so to us. let us accept and profess it, take its blessed rays into our souls. and, again, let us reflect it. the bible directs us not only to be radiant and luminous ourselves, but to give light and shining so as to enlighten others, just like the moon and the planets, who, borrowing their light from the sun, are directed to do service in their way and sphere. so, borrowing from the sun of righteousness, we must shine forth, each in his respective sphere. "let your light so shine before men," says our savior, "that they may see your good works." and be it understood this pertains to every christian, to be a lamp and light-dispensing orb. parents are called to a large share in this office. young men and young women in the sunday-school partake in the same commission. the officers to be installed this morning, every man, woman, and child in the church have a large and responsible share, and charged to let his or her light shine in carrying light to the souls of others. with this opening of the new year let us be reminded of our christian duty. having seen the sun of righteousness rising over the hilltops of bethlehem, and rejoicing in its spiritual splendors, see that the benefits be of lasting impression. ask yourselves, at the outset, where its sundays will find you. and know they are the rays of brightening and illumination in sacred thoughts and improvements, the days in which the divine word shines forth in its radiancy and the gracious light of salvation flashes in its glory; then, how can you be children of light and yet forsake the assembling of yourselves together where the light is? how can you thus be light-bearers, according to god's direction? and so in every particular. taking on the brightness of the true light, may it exhibit itself in your energies and activities. "no man lighteth a candle and putteth it under a bushel or under a bed, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the house." let it be in your houses, and if in the past year the candle of your faith and devotion has been flickering low, it's an opportune time to trim the wick afresh and to brighten the flame. we have seen that christ is the true and only light. let us believe in him and walk in him, now in this day of gospel brightness and salvation,--so that we may become partakers of that still more stupendous epiphany, that glorious manifestation, when the son of man shall appear in full splendor of his glory to take us home to the inheritance of the saints in light. amen. first sunday after epiphany. remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.--_eccl. , ._ there is no idea, my beloved, more common among men than this, that not childhood, nor youth, nor manhood, but old age is the most suitable period for becoming religious. the argument in support of this idea runs thus: in old age we have less to do with the affairs of this world, and consequently shall have more time and leisure for those of the next; then this world will afford us little enjoyment and pleasure, and with our passions quenched, with hair turning gray, hands palsied, limbs tottering, can we fail to recognize these as the heralds of the grim king and hear his voice that says: "be ready, the judge is at the door"? as a vessel, rocked by storms and falling to pieces, makes all haste to get to port, so will we. so runs the argument. prevalent as this idea is, it's a wild fancy, a mocking and baseless delusion. for various reasons: at no time is change of heart more difficult than in old age. not as if god's grace were less powerful then, but because the difficulties of conversion increase with years; the heart grows more callous, the sinful habits stronger. take a sapling, for instance; it bends to your hand, turning this way or that, as you will. when seventy springs have clothed it with leaves and the sun of seventy summers has added to its breadth and height, it scorns, not yours only, but a giant's strength. every year of the seventy, adding fiber to its body and firmness to the fibers, has increased the difficulty of bending it. in the matter of our everlasting welfare it is much the same. advancing time hardens the fibers of man's heart. of all tasks we know, there is none so difficult as to touch the feelings and rouse the conscience of godless old age. moreover, it is an extremely doubtful matter whether we shall ever reach old age. few do, and the probability is that we shall not. of all our race, nearly half die in infancy. another large proportion sinks into the grave ere the summer of life is past. ask that aged man with stooping form and slow gait, where the playmates are of his childhood; where the boys that sat by him at the desk in school; where the youths, flushed with health and full of hope, with whom he started in the race of life; where his fellow-workmen or partners in business. with one blow of his hand, one sentence of his lips, god may dash all our expectations of threescore years and ten to pieces. this night thy soul shall be required of thee, and then think of the folly that suggests that old age is the best for getting an interest in christ, peace with god, and a meetness for the kingdom of heaven. do men act with such infatuation in other and far less important matters? here is a man who insures his life,--why? because, he will tell you, life is uncertain, because nothing is more uncertain, because the chances are he may not live to be old; "and if i would be cut off suddenly, what is to become of my family?" men regard this worldly prudence. but, oh, that man would reason as soundly and act as wisely where high interests are at stake! let me change but a little the terms of that question: if you should be cut off suddenly and early, what is to become of your family, and ask: if you should die suddenly and early, what is to become of your soul? let me this morning, prompted by the gospel-lesson of this sunday, which presents to us the youthful savior in the temple, ask you, especially my young hearers, to ponder with me the words of our text: "remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth." we shall consider, _i. that youth is the most favorable season in which to begin a religious course_; _ii. point out some of the beneficial results of early piety_; _iii. conclude with a word of general application_. youth, my beloved, is the most favorable time to begin a religious course, because, we would say, in the first place, it's the critical time of a person's life. childhood receives impressions easily, but these impressions, while lively, are not deep or abiding. how soon the infant forgets its mother and transfers its love to another, and the children that stood so pitiful at a parent's casket, a few weeks afterward are as buoyant and gay at their play as the happiest of their playmates. manhood, again, on the other hand, like the solid rock, retains impressions once made, but does not easily receive them; what the intellect has gained in ripeness, the heart has lost in tenderness; and impressibility, lying between these two periods, is youth; then it is that our minds, like the wax to which the seal, or the clay to which the mold is applied, possess both the power of receiving impressions and the power of retaining them. then the character is fixed; then the turn is taken either for god or for the world; then the road is entered which determines our future destiny. it is an old and trite saying, found in another tongue, "what the boy does not learn, the man does not know." in youth the powers are more volatile, the memory is receptive and tenacious. the mind is lively and vigorous, the affections are more easily touched and moved, we are more accessible to the influence of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, we engage in an enterprise with more expectation, ardor, and zeal.--moreover, the season of youth will be found to contain the fewest obstacles, and is most free from the troubles which afterward embitter, cares which afterward perplex, and the schemes which engross, and engagements which hinder one in more advanced and connected life. and, hence, it has been the advice of the wise men: "in the morning sow thy seed." it is the young and tender root that penetrates the soil; it is when the fibers are delicate that, entering the fissures, it passes into the heart of the rock; and the earlier the mind is brought in contact with religion and becomes acquainted with its great and immense objects, the more thoroughly in after life will it comprehend and, like a root wrapped around the rock, the more firmly hold to it. it is the young recruits that become the best soldiers, and young apprentices the best mechanics, and the best christians, in like manner, are those who have been so early. run, in evidence of that, over the list of names which god so honorably distinguished in history, joseph, samuel, david, solomon, jonah, timothy, john,--and you will observe that in almost all cases they are examples of early piety. and if we come to later times and read the biographies of those that have been eminent in god's kingdom, like our great reformer, dr. luther, and his colaborers, of dr. walther, and scores and hundreds of others, the almighty seems to have acted almost invariably by the same rule, and appears to have seldom conferred distinguished honor, with very few exceptions, except on early piety. they were all men that feared the lord in their youth. how important and reasonable, then, is youth to begin a religious course. and, again, we would remark, it is, of all others, the most honorable period in which to begin a course of godliness. religion is an ornament. piety in any situation or age is pleasing to the most high. it is well, when the world cannot fill our hearts, to turn our trembling steps from its broken cisterns to the fountain of living waters. it is a grand testimony to religion to see a gray and bent old man standing by the door of mercy and with loud and urging knocking imploring god to open and let him in; but it's exquisitely more attractive and noble to see a youth in the beauty and dew of his age giving himself to christ and a life of high and holy virtues. would you thank any one to offer you the shell without the kernel, or the stalk without the flower, or a purse without the money? and think you god is pleased with the dregs of the cup, the refuse and few declining years of a man's life? is it fair and reasonable that men should employ their time and talents, their health and their strength, and their genius to serve satan, the world, and the flesh, god's degrading rivals, and then ask him to gather among the stubble of life after the enemy has secured the harvest? in the old testament god commanded that green ears had to be offered; the _first_ had to be chosen for his services: the _first_-born of man, the _first_-born of beasts, the _first_ fruits of the field. it was an honor becoming the lord they worshiped to serve him first. and, correspondingly, it is your duty in the new testament that you should give him the first-born of your days, the first fruits of your reason, the prime of your affections. it is with such sacrifices that god is well pleased. the apostle john was the youngest disciple; he was called the disciple whom jesus loved. it's the most suitable and honorable, and it is the most profitable and advantageous. it has its reward. that is our second consideration, _viz._, the beneficial results of early piety. here we would note, as the first advantage, that to serve god in youth is a safeguard, a defense against vice and temptations. no age, indeed, is secure. till we arrive in heaven and have laid off this body of sin and infirmities we are never safe. here, like travelers in the mountains, where a coating of snow hides the treacherous ice, and one false step may prove the christian's ruin, we walk in slippery places, and have need to lean on an arm stronger than our own. still youth is of all ages the most dangerous. with its ardent temper, its inexperience, its credulity, taking appearances for realities, its impatience of restraint, its unbroken passions, and feeble hands to control and guide them, it requires the utmost care and vigilance. "lead us not into temptation," should be its daily, constant, earnest prayer. we read at times in our public prints of the wrecks that happen on the shores of our great lakes or the ocean, of vessels gone down in disaster and storms. what is that list of wrecked vessels to the number of men and women who year by year are wrecked in their youth on the dangers and vices of our towns,--our town? what a graveyard of virtue, honor, and honesty! let the places of business where employers show no regard to the welfare, but only to the work of those in their service; let the houses where no friendly interest is taken in their domestics; let the halls of public amusement, the haunts of drunkenness, and the hells of vice, give up their secrets, as the sea does the drowned cast upon the beach, and we should have a roll like the prophet's, "written without and within with lamentations, mourning, and woe," as shocking, if not more so, as the field of battle, covered with the carnage of war. and out upon the scene, from the virtuous influence of home and school, steps the unsophisticated youth, a thousand avenues of seduction opening around him and a siren voice singing at the entrance of each. evil companions surround him, erroneous publications ensnare his eye, means and opportunities of temptation and sin. he may flatter himself that his own good sense and moral feelings will render him secure, but as the wise king solomon says: "he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool." the force of examples, the influence of circumstances, the voice of railing and ridicule, the fascinations of the pleasure party, stifle the finest resolutions, and often render us an astonishment to ourselves, as the old proverb says: "give the devil an inch, and he will take an ell." no, depend upon it, there is nothing that will do to keep you virtuous, noble, and happy but a hearty consecration of soul and body to the god that loves you, and the savior that redeemed you, nothing else than the restraints which that god inspires in his holy law, and the helps that he provides in the rules and ordinances of his church. let a young christian love the habitation of his house, the place where his honor dwelleth, and let him follow the savior's direction to watch and pray, and he will retain an undefiled soul in an undefiled body. nor only thus before god, but as it says of the youthful savior in to-day's gospel. he increased in favor with god and _man_. early piety is honored, commands the respect of every right thinking person in this world. you will remember how the sterling piety of the youthful joseph was honored by potiphar and afterwards by the king of egypt himself. nor need i remind you how daniel and the other three hebrew youths, because of the excellent spirit of piety that was in them, was promoted to the highest post of dignity and responsibility in the chaldean empire, and whilst god does not promise you that if you seek him in your youth, you will be advanced to sit among princes and to rule kingdoms, he promises you honor and respect, in whatever station you may be placed. the most worldly people and religiously careless people would rather have the godly lad in their employ, the young man who is loyal to his conscience and of genuine integrity of character, who will do his duty, "not with eye-service, but in singleness of heart, as unto the lord," than any other kind. in brief, as the apostle says, you will find that "godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." let me, then, in conclusion, charge you, my dear hearers, to consecrate to the lord the first fruits of your days. "remember," says our text, "thy creator in the days of thy youth." what though frivolous men and thoughtless women ridicule your devotion, and scoff at your churchgoing and professions! what though some shallow-minded companions charge you with fanaticism or singularity, hypocrisy or pride! the day is fast coming when they will be compelled to justify your conduct, to confess that you have chosen the better part, and to mourn that they neglected to seek the savior in the morning of their existence. and to those among you who have feared the lord from your youth, and are now glorifying your redeemer in the maturity of life, i would say: "go on, earnestly pursue the glorious course which you have begun; be not weary in your religious life, grow in grace as you advance in years, be illustrations and stimulating examples unto others, and thus spend your life usefully for god and man, before the evil days come and the years draw nigh, when you will say: "i have no pleasure in them," when eternity stands at the door, and you will face your maker. god strengthen you in this determination for christ's sake. amen." second sunday after epiphany. marriage is honorable in all.--_hebr. , ._ "and god saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." these words of holy scripture immediately following the statement: "and god created man in his image, male and female created he them," contain the divine verdict regarding the social relation that we call matrimony or marriage. declared the all-wise god: "it was very good." that, however, was in the holy and happy days of paradise, in the midst of righteousness, purity, and bliss. sin entered, and things changed; the image of the divine maker was forfeited, that purity effaced, over that bliss was written in indelible letters: "paradise lost." what, then, became of the marriage relation? was it, too, dissolved, forfeited, lost? wonderful providence! from that universal wreck,--of the few things which god permitted man to carry with him, remains, to insure him happiness and welfare in the midst of a world otherwise steeped in misery and tears, the marriage estate. it was not lost. the gospel-lesson of to-day presents the savior as being present at a marriage feast, and records that on that occasion he changed water into wine and manifested forth his glory. by his presence and by that miracle he also manifested forth, endorsed, sanctioned, and placed his divine approbation upon matrimony, as he once did amid the scenes of eden's creation and loveliness. nothing could be more significant than that, when the god-man came to found his kingdom upon earth, and entered upon his messianic work, his first work should have been wrought in honor of the wedding tie. and so god's word speaks of marriage throughout. when the apostle desires a comparison to set forth the holy and pure relation between christ and his church, he knows none more sublime and noble than the union that exists between man and woman in wedlock, for which reason the church is called christ's bride--christ is called her bridegroom. to raise one's tongue or pen in impiety or censure against marriage is to raise them against heaven and christ. to set up in its place the teaching and practice of celibacy, by which men and women are divested, in the name of religion, from the ties and duties of family; to turn away, or in any manner to advocate what may break down the proper relation between the sexes, is casting reproach upon god's institution, and a perversion of true religion, as it is of nature's laws. to speak depreciatingly, disparagingly of marriage, to arch the brow, to puck the lips up in a smile, when it is called "holy" matrimony, and in any way to entertain light and derogatory views concerning it and family life, is to get oneself into conflict with, and to invite the ill favor of, him who has thrown a sacred hedge around the institution, when on sinai's mountain, in his ten commandments, he commanded how we should regard this estate. "marriage," says the apostle in our text, "is honorable in all." there is nothing concerning it that is unworthy, unholy, hindersome to piety and salvation. the son of god would not have graced with his presence and miracle those galilean nuptials if it had not been holy throughout. concerning the honorableness of that estate would i speak at this time a few words of plainness and truth. may he who is called the god of families bless them to our instruction! among the views concerning matrimony, there is also this one, taught by men sitting in professors' chairs and senselessly repeated by the ungodly multitude, that, as man has evolved from a lower to a higher form of existence, so morality and also matrimony have only gradually, in the course of many centuries, yes, thousands of years, evolved to what it now is. originally man knew as little of matrimony as the beasts of the field. little by little, pride and self-interest induced especially strong men to take unto themselves, and keep with themselves, one or a few of the other sex, and so it eventually grew into a custom and rule that one man and one woman should form a union for life, and in evidence of that they will even point to the bible, the instance of abraham, who beside his wife, sarah, had her maid, hagar, and jacob had two, really four wives, and david, solomon, in fact, all the jews among the old testament kings practiced polygamy,--it was only with the introduction of christianity that monogamy, the union of one man and one woman, and the indissolubleness of the marriage-tie, became general rule. what folly of folly, contrary to all sacred and secular story! without entering too explicitly upon this subject, do we not read in the chapters of genesis that when pharaoh of egypt had cast his eyes upon sarah, thinking she was abraham's sister, that after he had been rightly informed, he at once desisted from his advances and made explanation? and did not abimelech, when about to fall into a like error, offer apology and make restitution? is it not plain from these cases that they well knew that the marriage relation was not to be broken, that one man was not to take another man's wife? moreover, it never occurred to abraham, or any of the patriarchs, to put away from themselves their wives, for any reasons, and these men lived nearly two thousand years before christ. how absurd the contention that men originally lived without a knowledge of the sanctity of marriage! turning to secular history, we have record of the same. rome, for instance, was founded in the eighth century before christ. its first citizens were robbers, and such as had been banished for gross offenses from other cities of italy. but concerning the marriage relation--they did not live as brutes. every physically able inhabitant was legally required to wed, and for several centuries not a solitary case of divorce occurred. such a thing was regarded simply impossible. it was not until late centuries, when effeminacy had taken hold upon the city, that we hear of those social abominations. the same may be said of our heathen forefathers, the german and teutonic tribes; marriage, with them, was held in highest respect. this, then, is the true view according to bible and history. god instituted marriage at creation, and god ordained that it should be a union between one man and one woman, and that this union is indissoluble and inseparable. as everything else, however, suffered by the fall of man into sin, so also this divine regulation. the corruption at the time of the flood was such that god destroyed the world on that very account. "they took them wives of all that they chose," is the sacred account. it is with regret that we read of men like abraham, jacob, david, who were not found strong enough to resist the common corruption, but were deplorably drawn into looseness of the marriage ties. how was it at the time of the savior? the teaching of the synagogue was, that "whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement." when it entered a man's mind to get rid of his wife, all he needed to do was to write upon a piece of parchment: "i divorce myself from my wife," have it signed by two or three witnesses, and the wife had to go; or if it occurred to a woman to sever herself from her husband, she demanded a writing of divorcement from him, and if he refused, life became miserable, or she would simply run away, as herodias did from her husband, philip, and married her husband's brother, herod antipas. and these occurrences were not done with blushing reserve, those guilty of it boasted of it. beloved, are we not rapidly falling upon such times? the miserable revelations that come from our courts are veritable cesspools reeking with stench and bestial filth. as one eminent jurist has expressed it: "broken marriages are as common as broken window-panes." divorce, what is it practically, in effect, but enabling men and women to live in successive polygamy? now, over against this and all like influences and evils that would break down the honor of marriage, our lord clearly and emphatically laid down god's law. here it is: "they are no more twain, but one flesh." "what, therefore, god has joined together, let not man put asunder," and again, "whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery, and whosoever marrieth her that is put away committeth adultery." these words are as clear as language can be. only one exception does christ give to the rule, matt. , : "whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication." fornication means unfaithfulness to each other in the marriage relation. illicit intercourse with another person, that is given as the exception, as a just cause for severance. as for other causes, the bible recognizes not one. and even in cases of fornication it does not _demand_ a divorce. that, then, is the position of the scripture and of our church. this is the practice of her clergy. again, another particular that tends to the honorableness of the marriage state, as pointed out in the text, is the high purpose which it is intended to serve according to the will of god. the family life is the foundation of human society. married life, without seeking to fulfill its first purpose, the perpetuating of the human race and the bringing up of one's offspring in the proper manner, is to undermine, frustrate, that foundation of the state. this leads me to refer to an evil which i hardly know how to speak of, which should be named in the blackest of evils,--i mean the willful intention and resolve to defeat the first of those purposes for which matrimony was instituted by god. it comes looming up on the view of this generation as a great, a growing, an almost national crime. the foundation of a home is the first thing intended in matrimony. but some deliberately resolve that there shall be no home, or at least that it shall be as narrow, as limited, as possible. be it to avoid pain, be it to shrink the duty of the parent, be it to remain free to enjoy the world,--arts base and black, devices which in the old testament were punished by death, are used to carry out these ungodly and absurd resolves; ungodly, because it would not be possible more grossly to outrage god's law than in this way; absurd, because a marriage contracted with that understanding and intention is a contradiction, a misnomer, a fraud on society and on the church. and so i say, as god's minister and in his name, as we who must speak fearlessly, that this act of deliberately preventing the formation of a home is a crime, and one which brings down curses from a god of justice, who knows and who rewards according to our deeds. "marriage," be it noted, "is honorable in all"; it is a holy and pure estate, and holiness must prevail therein. and now let us regard the other part of our discourse: if marriage is a holy estate, then it must be entered honorably and must be continued honorably. marriage ought to be entered honorably. there is something appalling in the thoughtlessness, the irresponsibility with which young people will contract marriage; there seems to be often no apparent sense of the gravity of the act, no reflection upon what is involved. a pleasant face, captivating demeanor, money, or position are not infrequently the flimsy threads that tie the conjugal knot. but how can any one who is a christian enter upon that relation which, more than any other, affects the whole life, without consulting and seeking the blessing of the divine author? yet it is done, and alas! done only too often by those who ought to know better. some contract acquaintanceship, keep company, and have an interchange of hearts, and never think of their god and savior in connection with it. religion, in fact, seems unwelcome and out of place to many at such a time, whilst one heart-felt prayer to him in connection with such an acquaintance would in thousands of cases have prevented anguish of souls from which there is no refuge but the grave. in other words, whether you will be happy or unhappy in the marriage life depends largely upon the companion of your choice. therefore, when choosing a life's companion, ask god for his counsel to give you the spouse of his choice; and when you marry, marry honorably. the contracting parties in to-day's gospel-lesson were not a runaway couple, or jesus would not have honored their wedding feast with his presence. nor did they marry from sheer necessity to hide the results of sin. their relatives and friends, and, if still living, their parents were there; they had asked for and received the honest and unqualified consent of the latter. it is not an idle service or the mere acknowledgment of a civil contract, but a proper and significant christian act to have marriage solemnized by a religious ceremony, conducted by a minister of the church, and blessed in the name of the father, son, and holy ghost. no christian man or woman should ever think of contracting a marriage alliance at which a servant of god is not present to invoke the savior's blessing. marriage should be entered into reverently, discreetly, and in the fear of god. nor can i in this connection refrain from calling attention to the good old church custom called in english "publishing the banns," the persons asking for the prayer of a christian congregation upon their union. thus, in the ways indicated, does a christian enter upon marriage "honorably." and having entered upon it thus, it ought to be so continued. there is one thing that married couples ought ever to remember, this: that they are both sinners. if they bear that in mind, they will not look for imaginary perfections in their life's partner, and will, conscious of their own shortcomings, bear with the shortcomings of the other. and where there is this conviction that both are sinners, they will find their balance in the savior of sinners. it is well enough to bring into married life an amiable disposition, the happy faculty of controlling one's temper, but, believe me, the best thing to bring along, the most effective safeguard against discord and estrangement, is the fear of the lord, the mutual respect for god's law and authority. temporary differences, quarrels even, may arise in that home, but cannot remain. the husband has been hard and unkind, but will be prompt to make amends. if the wife has been contrary, quarrelsome, or has in other ways angered her husband, the love of christ will not let her rest, but to acknowledge and seek reconciliation. there is nothing like genuine religion to regulate the household, to take off the frictions of daily life, to educate us in self-denial, in bearing and forbearing with one another. let us, then, keep before us the dignity of the estate, and conduct ourselves honorably therein, until god shall summon us from this earthly relation to the marriage feast of the lamb on high. amen. third sunday after epiphany. whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that i shall give him shall be a well of water springing up into everlasting life. the woman saith unto him, sir, give me this water.--_john , . ._ our blessed lord, having provoked by his preaching and by his miracles the enmity of the pharisees, they began to plot his destruction. to escape their persecutions, his hour having not yet come, he departed for galilee, between which territory and judea lay the province of samaria, through which, accordingly, as the holy writer expresses it, he must needs go. the first place at which he stopped was sychar, one of the cities of samaria. in its vicinity was a well, called jacob's well, in all probability because the patriarch jacob had caused it to be dug. arriving there about the sixth hour, or noon, fatigued with the toils of the day, he seated himself, while his disciples went into the city to purchase food. he could easily have relieved his wants by a miracle, but his miracles he employed only for the relief of others. while thus resting and alone, there cometh a woman of samaria to draw water. our lord at once resolved to benefit her. he was one who sowed by all waters, and with him one hearer was enough to justify the finest sermon. he introduced himself to her by asking a favor, the best way that could have been selected. it must be spoken to the credit of our poor humanity that a request for a favor is always regarded as allowable. there are men and women whom you would not dare speak to on the street, without expecting to be reproachfully treated, but whom you may with perfect confidence ask a small favor of, such as the time of day, a drink of water, or the like. jesus saith to her: "give me to drink." the woman is astonished, for she saw, by his features and his dress, that he was a jew. then saith the woman of samaria unto him: "how is it that thou, being a jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of samaria?" it was a very natural question. the jews regarded contact with a samaritan disreputable. their touch was pollution; to spend the night at the house of one of them was to reproach a family for generations. a jew would not speak to a samaritan, much less ask a favor of one. but the mind of jesus knew nothing of this narrow bigotry, this odious illiberality. his object was to benefit all, and he, therefore, freely conversed with all. his answer was: "if thou knewest the gift of god, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." the savior, as you will have noted from your bible reading, often seizes upon incidents and objects before the eyes of his hearers to shadow forth spiritual truths. thus, when he had fed the multitude with bread, he spoke of himself as "the bread which cometh from heaven and giveth eternal life." being at jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, when the people in crowds drew water from the pool of siloam, he cried with a loud voice: "if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." so here he takes occasion to elevate this woman's thoughts from the earthly water to the heavenly. still supposing, however, that jesus referred to common water, she objects to him: "sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence, then, hast thou this living water?" and to suppose that he could find better water elsewhere would imply that he was greater than jacob, who esteemed this the best in all the territory, and so she adds: "art thou greater than our father jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children and his cattle?" jesus, pitying her ignorance, and bearing with her weakness, began more fully to explain the properties of that water of which he spoke. he said to her: "whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that i shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." the woman, still taking the words in a natural sense, was disposed to turn them into ridicule, and she begged the savior by all means to give her some of that excellent water which would prevent her from ever thirsting again and would render it unnecessary for her to come so far and draw water. she says: "sir, give me this water, that i thirst not, neither come hither to draw." to check her impatience, jesus shows that he was perfectly acquainted with her character. he bids her call her husband. the woman replied: "i have no husband." then came the crushing exposure; jesus said to her: "thou hast well said, i have no husband; for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly." she, at once convinced of jesus' prophetic character, adroitly changes the subject. said she: "our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and ye say that in jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." this was opening up an interesting topic. when the jews returned after the babylonian captivity, they went to rebuild the temple at jerusalem. the samaritans proposed to bear part of the expense, and to worship with them, as they accepted some of the jewish laws and ceremonies. the jews rejected their offer, and would have nothing to do with them. the samaritans then built a temple of their own on mount gerizim. hence, the woman wished to be informed by this prophet which was the right place, mount gerizim or jerusalem. the reply of jesus was full of instruction; with great stateliness and dignity he said: "woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at jerusalem worship the father. ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for salvation is of the jews. but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth; for the father seeketh such to worship. god is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." the woman, hearing these instructions, without disputing with jesus, but also without approving entirely of what he said, refers the entire decision of the question to the coming of the messiah. "i know that messiah cometh, which is called christ; when he is come, he will tell us all things," to which jesus replies: "i that speak unto thee am he." here the disciples, returning from the city, interrupted the conversation. the woman went back to the city and told the people of the wonderful stranger. full of curiosity, they came out to see jesus, and prevailed on him to stay two days with them, and "many," records the sacred writer, "of the samaritans of that city believed on him." there are a number of important lessons that we may profitably dwell upon from this interview between christ and that woman of samaria. we shall restrict ourselves to the most outstanding one. our lord teaches us here the nature of salvation; he compares it to water. it is noteworthy and most suggestive that whatever in the material world is most useful and highly valuable to man is also the most common and most abundant. things which can, without serious loss and injury to any one, be dispensed with, or which serve merely or mainly to give pleasure, such as gold, diamonds, and jewels, exquisite foreign fruit, these alone are rare, the property of a few. but what all men need, and most largely ministers to their comfort and enjoyment,--the wholesome food, the pure, refreshing water, the air, and the light,--these are spread out in free, unstinted store before rich and poor, young and old, one and all.--but besides this material world there is another with which we have to do, an unseen spiritual world, in which our souls are living and breathing, and there the same law obtains. god has abundantly supplied us with what we need. two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered with water. you find water all over and everywhere, in oceans, rivers, springs, wells, sufficient to supply all the wants of man. so, too, there is not a meager quantity, but an abundance of living water. if all the human beings who have ever lived upon this earth could come to this heavenly fountain in a body, there would be water enough and to spare, and it is everywhere and for everybody. it is for americans, for europeans, for the inhabitants of asia, africa and the islands of the sea. there never will be a diminution of its vast and boundless supply. nor will god permit any barrier to hedge it in. like the water in your homes, salvation is being brought to your doors; it is gushing forth like a stream at your feet now, and it flows through the very aisles of this church, and filters into every pew. and like natural water, christ's water of salvation possesses like qualities. to mention the particular he dwells upon in this text, jesus answered and said to her, "whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that i shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." the soul has its desires, its yearnings, its appetites, as well as the body, and it is miserable until that thirst is satisfied. and how is this done? certainly not by anything of man's provision. the various schools of man's wisdom, philosophy, have tried it, and we have their confession that they failed to find what they sought. the same may truly be said of this world's pleasures, possessions, and honors. these things, being earthly, leave the soul as thirsty as before, yea, even worse, like sailors in distress who drink the ocean's brine; it will but increase their thirst a hundredfold. "but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst." christ's water, alone, is able to satisfy the thirst of the human soul.--the reason is very apparent. man's happiness depends, first of all, upon a right relation to his god; as long as that is severed or strained, satisfaction and peace of heart are out of the question. and it is only he, that divine person, who sat upon jacob's well, that has this supply of living water. we are made for god, and our hearts remain thirsty and restless until they find satisfaction and repose in him. but, you will note, it says: "whosoever drinketh of the water that i give him." christ gives it, but there is something, accordingly, for the thirsty soul to do. water cannot quench the thirst unless it is taken; not all the water in the river at the foot of our city can save a man that does not partake of it. nor can christ's water of life assuage the thirst of a soul that declines it. there must be personal appropriation, or it fails of the blessed effects. not as if there is anything meritorious in that, any more than it is a merit for one to drink a glass of water to allay his physical thirst. and yet, it is only thus that one becomes partaker of it; and the only reason why so many fail of its blessed effects is,--they do not drink it. it is told of a ship that its supply of fresh water was exhausted. the passengers and crew on board were at the point of perishing. for several days they had lacked water, and were almost frenzied. at last a vessel was sighted in the distance. they raised their cry: "give us water, water; we are dying for water!" the reply came back, "let down your buckets! you are in the mouth of the amazon! you have fresh water all around you." they had been floating three days in fresh water and knew it not. it is so spiritually. ignorance is what keeps many from salvation. the churches, like vast reservoirs and pumping stations, are seeking to supply the masses with the knowledge of christ and his gospel. they are actually floating like these perishing souls in the midst of religion, and yet they dip not their buckets to fill. with some it is because they are too indifferent, and with others, because of sheer stupidity they care not to give such matters concern. it is positively surprising to see how many otherwise intelligent and wide-awake men and women will be found altogether destitute of the first things, the a b c of christian teaching and principles. ask them to select the real things of man's life, to tell you the true purpose of existence, touch on matters of eternity, soul and god, and they are as ignorant of those things as children of the value of currency, who will tear to pieces a five-dollar bill and cling to their five-cent picture-book, or who will at any time take in exchange for a ten-dollar gold piece a large, glittering ball of christmas tinsel. they know not, and so they value not, and allow the treasures of heaven, the gift of god, as our savior called it, the blessed water of life, to flow by undrunk and unimproved. to this first reason, ignorance, may be rightfully added another,--prejudice. there is a vast amount of that against christ's religion. in fact, there is in every material heart a feeling of aversion against the whole thing, and, strange enough, those who might be expected to be most favorably inclined toward salvation, the outwardly good, honest, and honored, are, as a rule, set against it. their self-sufficiency is in the way. take the case before us. it was a most unpromising one, this woman. the reproof openly given by a stranger, a jew at that, would have irritated many a one. some would have replied by abusive language. others would have denied the charge, especially as it did not appear probable that this unknown person could uphold them. but the samaritan had different sentiments, and bears out the statement of our lord that the publicans and sinners were nearer the kingdom of heaven than the pharisees, who were so devout in their outward appearances. some of the most unpromising characters prove the most promising, and those whom we should have regarded as giving christ cordial welcome, the religionists of his time, were offended at him. so to-day, there are numbers of those who regard themselves good enough or not worse than many others and these very church people, and so are never seen in a house of christian worship, except to see some one married, or buried; who will read anything and everything, and who are ready to meet with you and talk with you on every topic except one, and that is religion. prejudice, my beloved, prejudice, short-sighted, cruel, unreasonable. but, to conclude; to us, my dear hearers, as to this woman of sychar, has the savior come. he is sitting not only, as of old, on jacob's well, he is sitting aside you in the pew, he is offering you the same water of life. why not take and drink it? people will go far and spend much to drink of earthly springs for bodily invigoration and health. here is the life-water, which alone can give health to the soul, and which springs up into eternal life. oh! that some of its life-giving drops may fall upon your hearts in these moments to soften them into penitence and holy resolve: "sir, give me of this water." i heard the voice of jesus say, behold, i freely give the living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink and live. i came to jesus and i drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now i live in him. amen. fourth sunday after epiphany. and straightway jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. but the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was contrary. and in the fourth watch of the night, jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out in fear. but straightway jesus spake unto them, saying, be of good cheer; it is i; be not afraid.--_matt. , - ._ our blessed lord was both, he was true god and he was true man. to-day's gospel-lesson presents him to us in the fishermen's boat, weary and sleeping on a pillow. there is humanity; for of god it says: "behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep." again, the same story presents him as commanding the winds and the waves. there is godship; for of god alone can it be said: "thou rulest the raging of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them." and this remarkable contrast you will find running through all his earthly history. you enter the stable at bethlehem. you see a babe slumbering on its mother's lap. you say, "this is mary's child." presently a company of shepherds enter, and tell what they heard and saw while keeping watch over their flocks by night. scarcely have they finished their description, when wise men from the east appear, alleging that they have been guided thither by a star, and worshiping the child with costly offerings. you stand on jordan's bank and mingle with the thousands who have come to hear the word and submit to the baptism of john. you behold one, jesus of nazareth, going down to be baptized, but you think little of it, for he differs, apparently, in nothing from those by whom he is surrounded. but as he comes up from the water, the heavens are opened, and the spirit of god descends like a dove, and lights upon him, while from the celestial heights comes a voice, "this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased." you accompany him to the grave of lazarus, and you see the tears trickle down his cheeks, and you realize that he is a man; for neither deity nor angels weep. but soon you behold lazarus come forth from his sepulcher in answer to his word of power, and once more you ask in wonder verging on adoration: "what manner of man is this?" and so till you see him on the cross, his back lacerated with the scourge, and his brow bleeding from the pressure of the crown of thorns. you hear the words, "it is finished," and see the pale cast of death settle on his countenance. but on the third day after, you meet him in the upper room at evening, extending his hand in resurrection greeting: "peace be unto you." now, what shall we make of this wonderful dualism, as we may call it? there remains nothing for us to do but to accept that christ was true god and true man. no other interpretation or explanation will do. our church, in the standard confession, in the third article of the augsburg confession, thus voices its belief, and to that we subscribe. we teach that god the son became man and was born of the virgin mary; that the two natures, the human and the divine, inseparably united in one person, are one christ, who is true god and man. so much as to the great doctrinal truth taught in the scripture-reading of to-day. it contains also a very instructive and comforting practical truth. we shall regard as our topic:-- _the experience of christ's disciples on the sea of galilee a picture of christ's people on the sea of life_, noting, _i. their adversity_, _ii. their security_. the poet has said that human life is bits of gladness and of sorrow, strangely crossed and interlaid; bits of cloud belt and of rainbow, in deep alternation braid; bits of storm when winds are warring, bits of calm when blasts are stay'd, bits of silence and of uproar, bits of sunlight and of shade. and it's more than poetic fancy; it is stern reality. like that sea of galilee, the sea of life is sometimes calm and sometimes stormy, sometimes reposing under the soft smiles of a sunshiny sky, and sometimes ruffled and whipped by the restless gales. wearied from the toils and turmoils of the day, our lord constrains his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitude away. when he had done this, he retired. whither? into a neighboring mountain. for what? to pray. he wished to be alone; his heart yearned for communication with his father; he also needed strength and preparation for the work and conflicts of the morrow. how could he secure it? by prayer. how suggestive and instructive for us. our lord needed thus to strengthen and prepare himself for life's difficulties and battles. let us learn a lesson from him,--discover where the secret of our power lies. but while thus engaged, his disciples were in danger upon the sea. a fearful storm, one of those sudden, violent squalls, peculiar to the sea of galilee, had arisen, and was lashing the sea with violent fury. try as they might, and they were accustomed to the sails and oars, they were perfectly helpless, and the greatest misfortune was that the master was not with them. had he been there, even though asleep, they might have roused and brought him to their rescue. but, alas! he was far away. consternation and despair seized hold upon them, when, at a sudden, they discern in the distance the form of a man walking on the foaming crests of the waters. what? could it be he? indeed, there he was, and he speaks to them. no sooner did he set his foot on the ship than the tossing waters sank down to their quiet bed. there was a great calm. beloved, these stories of the bible have not been written for entertainment, but as the apostle declares: "whatever was written aforetime was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." life has its times of prosperities, and it has its times when the wind is contrary and wave dashes fast upon wave. the occasion of this storm may be various. sometimes it is the matter of livelihood. circumstances over which we have no control overwhelm us, embarrass us. try as hard as we may, like these disciples, who made only thirty furlongs, we can make no headway; yes, in spite of our willingness and energy, we go backward; reverses set in, loss is ours. we are mightily tossed by the waves, and the clouds look dreadfully frowning and dark. sometimes it is bodily ailment; suffering of one sort or another comes over us like a destructive wave; we are called to battle with disease, the probabilities and improbabilities of ever becoming strong again,--it is bitter experience. or it may be the wave of bereavement. like this little fisherman's craft, we are carried down into the depths of heart-rending sorrow; our eyes are wet with tears; before us closes the grave upon one whom we would have given the whole world to retain. contrary winds! dashing billows! rolling, tossing sea! and imagine not that by believing the gospel, your being a christian, will make you exempt from these storms. we are sometimes told: do what is right, and you will not suffer. it sounds very plausible, but it is not true,--very unfrequently otherwise. why was joseph cast into prison? he did that which was right. why were the martyrs put to death? these disciples in the path of duty when the storm came upon them were doing what had been commanded by the lord. you may not infrequently be exposed to fierce blasts by being a christian consistent, consecrated in life and duties. it matters not what your profession or portion in life may be, whether you are a christian or not, godly or ungodly, rich or poor, famous or obscure, the storms of life will certainly, with more or less violence, overtake you. there is no exemption, no escape from them. now, what shall we think, what say, to sustain ourselves amid experiences like that? it may be well enough to note the experience of those disciples yonder on the sea of galilee. "and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear." what could it be, that moving form? a man? no, impossible! how could a man tread upon the waters? then it must be a ghost, an apparition, a grim visitor from the other worlds. and as this idea forced itself upon them, they could not refrain from crying out with terror. thus, my dear hearers, god's people are sometimes perplexed, when scenes of distress appear, and bereavement, humiliation, and sorrow appear upon life's sea. they are sometimes disposed to cry out with terror, "what can it mean?"--these dark and threatening forms. surely, a loving and beneficent god would not alarm his children, and add still greater anxiety and anguish to their already fierce battling with the waves and the elements. my beloved, that is just what god does, and wisdom on our part, our sustaining strength, and the comfort consists in this, that we recognize that form, nor, mistaking it, cry out in terror. that storm on the galilean sea was not an accident, it did not come by chance, it was sent by and with the permission of the governor of the winds and the waves; and when the billows were rolling fiercest and fastest, his hand was there guiding and controlling. none less so with the streams of life. these are not accidental, but intentional. they do not come by chance, but are sent by, and with the permission of, the governor of the universe, and when the billows are rolling fast, his hand is guiding and controlling our afflictions. perplexing as they may be, they are part of god's grand and sovereign system of dealing with us. it is he, his providence, his divine appointment and arrangement, not some strange, unmerciful power, which people call fate, chance, nature, but the divine form of our blessed savior. that is the first thing we must bear in mind amid life's storms. "but straightway jesus spoke unto them, saying, be of good cheer; it is i; be not afraid." human lips cannot describe the effect which these words uttered by that familiar voice must have had upon them. in a moment the whole truth flashed upon their minds,--the apparition so much dreaded was no other than he whom, above all others, they longed to see. there is a common expression in english, which speaks of "blessings in disguise." such are all of life's untoward happenings to a christian--"blessings in disguise." that galilean experience in the night and storm gave to these disciples enlarged ideas of the master and his power, it developed their faith and trust in him. not for all the toil and terrors would they have foregone it. they never forgot it. beloved, the time will come when you will look back upon that experience that wrenched your soul, that household cross that proved so heavy, that disheartening reverse that caused a big black mark to be drawn through your life's prospects and plans, those hours of dread and darkness, as the very occasions of your highest blessings, the making of yourselves. the "evils of life"--speak not thus--are blessings in disguise. "nearer, my god, to thee, nearer to thee, e'en though it be a cross that raiseth me." have you ever seen anything but a cross raise men? the smiles of prosperity, the sunshiny sky, the even waves of the sea of life are not the means calculated to raise a soul nearer to god; that takes the buffetings, the storms, and the rising billows (blessings in disguise), sent by a wise god in loving purpose. and one more. when the disciples recognized and realized that it was their master, their fear vanished. let the winds blow, the ship toss, and the waves run high, they felt secure,--he was with them. it is a simple thought, yet it constitutes the whole of religion, the essence of faith, our comfort in life, our hope in death, our all in all, this one thought: he is with us, jesus, the master. i am thinking this moment of a man,--his eyesight impaired, sickness upon his body, his head bending low with age, striving hard to live, afraid to die. the religion of christ was never his, and he desires none of it now. a more melancholy lot never was man's as he is tossed about with many a conflict and many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, dissatisfied, unhappy. i am thinking of another,--his eyes have not seen the light of day for eight years; his once powerful frame is now as delicate as a child's, his hair is gray from much weariness and pain; but none was ever more cheerful, submissive, hopeful, and happy. the difference? the one has recognized the divine form walking on the surging billows, and has taken him into his life's boat; the other has not, and will not do so. with the one it is a "great calm," stillness, joy. with the other, tumult, danger, and despair. that is the difference,--_what_ a difference! so, whether it be sickness, or that the world goes against us, or that we are straitened in our means of living, or experiencing the loss of the dearest and nearest; not _from_ them has christ and christianity promised to save us, but _in_ them, trusting in him, it has promised, and that we shall feel safe. and that is the one great practical lesson of the day's texts, that is why they are recorded in the bible, that we may have this faith, this comfort and hope. then in the day of trouble we shall think of something more than the mere earthly and temporal look of the trouble; we should all think of god in it, of god guiding it, and of his sheltering and sustaining hand in it. then when we are sick, our thoughts would not be so taken up with the mere pains and annoyances we suffer, the probabilities or the improbabilities of our getting back to health and strength again; but whether we get better or not, the remembrance of the hand of our savior in it will make us feel easy, submissive, and patient under it, as no other strength can. and so with all other trouble. amid the waves of the sea of life, which is seldom calm, and often swells into mountainous billows, let us heed the voice of the savior, "be of good cheer, it is i." let us toil on. no contrary wind can last forever. after a time we shall reach the other shore, and when we touch that, we shall be done with these storms. then will there be a great calm. amen. fifth sunday after epiphany. the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.--_matt. , . ._ a number of our lord's discourses were addressed to those who were engaged in agriculture. to such were uttered the parables of the sower, of the wicked husbandmen, of the mustard seed, and to-day's gospel of the wheat and tares. others of these discourses were spoken more immediately to his own disciples, the most of whom had been fishermen on the lake of galilee, and to them mightily appealed an illustration like that which we are about to consider. they had often experienced what our lord so simply describes. they had gone forth in their boats to fish, and after they had drawn their nets to shore, they had made an examination of what they contained, and out of the meshes they had gathered the good into vessels, for sale or for use, and that which was worthless they had thrown away. a very simple figure setting forth a very affecting and awakening truth. may the holy ghost solemnize our minds and write some abiding impressions on all our hearts! the subject divides itself into two parts. it shows us, _i. the present mixed character of the churches_; _ii. the future separation_. the kingdom of heaven, that is, the church, is likened by our lord to a net cast into the sea. the net spoken of is not the ordinary casting-net, but a seine, or hauling-net, which was sometimes half a mile in length, leaded below that it might drag the bottom of the sea, and kept above the water with large corks. a net of such dimensions will naturally enclose fish of all sizes and kinds, some bad and others good, some valuable and others worthless, some in the best condition, others out of season, dead, or putrid, and unfit for human food. and so it is with the net of the gospel. it is a large, capacious draw-net; it is not merely let down into one stream or river, but it sweeps the ocean, the wide and open sea of the world, and its threads are so strong, so well knitted together that scarcely a single fish can escape. in other words, we have here a picture of the all-embracing church of christ, the preaching of the gospel to every nation. but as the divine fishermen, the ministers of christ, cast their net into this universal sea and enclose an abundance of human fishes, not all are of the same quality; it's a mixed and motley multitude. "in the visible church there is a deal of trash and rubbish, refuse, and vermin, as well as fish," says an old commentator. in this our own blessed country, where the gospel is preached in nearly , , sermons every year, and where churches and chapels rear their spires on the right hand and on the left, there are many professed christians, and those who belong to the visible church, but they are not alike. they were baptized in infancy, and many of them renewed their solemn covenant at god's altar in confirmation. but there their religion ends. they never seek god's face in private prayer. they profane and desecrate god's holy day. they neglect god's sanctuary. they never read god's word. they are daily supported by god's bounty, but they cherish no more gratitude to the author of all their blessings than if they were sticks or stones. what are such baptized christians in reality but vile refuse in the net. others, again, are not so pronounced in their conduct; they do observe to some extent the proprieties of a religious life; they are seen now and then inside of god's house, and have their names enrolled upon the communicant or membership list of some church, send their children to sunday-school, and withhold not at times a charitable hand. but, then, that is the whole of their religion. they do not believe in always running to church, in being so awfully sanctimonious; a person can be a christian, read his bible, and pray at home just as well.--that's the type of many. it is the form without the power. the virgin's lamp of profession is there, the oil of god's spirit is not there, or very, very low. and, in addition to these various classes, there is a "remnant," as the apostle calls it, in many places a very small remnant, "according to the election of grace." these are they, and some such are now hearing me who have received the truth for the love of it, and who have embraced the gospel as it has embraced them. they belong not to them that are "good enough," and "if god accepts any one, he cannot pass them by," but being convinced by the holy ghost that they are poor, soul-sick sinners, they seek christ's blood as their only remedy and christ's righteousness as their only ground of acceptance, and flee to christ's cross as their only hope, and seek to adorn this doctrine by a consistent and holy life and a diligent and conscientious attendance upon the word and sacraments. these, my beloved, are some of the various classes of the mixed and motley multitude that are now being gathered into the net, the outward church, and yet it is sheer impossibility to distinguish between them. they are so closely mixed together; people may live in the same houses, walk together the same street, sit side by side in the same pew, listen to the same preacher, kneel at the same sacramental altar, and at last lie down, amid sacred ceremony, in the same burial plot, and yet may be inwardly utterly dissimilar, the one from the other, the one genuine, the other spurious; the one be finally saved, the other ultimately lost.--this is something which we cannot determine, which our natural, material eye cannot discern. but that is the teaching of our text,--there will come a time when this will be made manifest. as in the drag-net, first of every sort are gathered together in the same enclosure only for a little while, till the nets are drawn in to the shore, so in the spiritual net, the outward church of christ on earth, the opposite descriptions of mankind are equally enclosed, but only for a season, a brief season; they will presently be divided. says our parable: "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." when the net shall be full, when the last saved of the number of god's elect shall be gathered in, the examination will be made, and the separation will take place. there is a time set in god's everlasting purposes,--we know not when, indeed, that time will be according to the measurement of our years, but we know that it will be when the gospel shall have fulfilled that which it has been sent for; for, according to the master-fisher, it must not return void and empty, but full. and so the net is now filling, faster at some times than at others, all along continuing to be filled until it will be drawn to shore, the shore of eternity; and then will the dividing process take place. from this parable, and from the corresponding one of the wheat and the tares, we see what a mistake we make if we expect to find anywhere a perfect church upon earth. to expect the church to be a community of perfect saints is to expect more than its divine founder ever expected, according to the words of his own parables. there was a balaam among the prophets of god, and achan in the camp of israel, a judas numbered with the twelve apostles, an ananias and sapphira connected with the first little flock in jerusalem. in the corinthian, galatian, and ephesian churches, planted and superintended by st. paul, there arose bad ministers and disreputable private christians. no wonder, then, that in our church and charges there should be found reprehensible and undesirable material, and no preaching, however powerful and faithful, no discipline, however strict and prudent, no watchfulness, however careful and ready, can ever make it otherwise. even to the end of the world the goats will mingle with the sheep, the tares grow up with the wheat, whilst the nets are being filled, the bad fish will be gathered with the good. perfection is not to be found this side of heaven. the second error pointed out by this part of our subject is this, that we must not seek, by force or persecution, to get rid of what _we_ may call putrid or unprofitable fish. church discipline is, indeed, enjoined in the scripture in regard to doctrine and in regard to practice. when paul writes to titus: "rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith," and advises the corinthians concerning the man guilty of incest, "put away from among yourselves that wicked person,"--when a person has become manifest as an outspoken disbeliever or as an open transgressor of god's law, flagrant in his morals, then it becomes incumbent upon a congregation to admonish, to discipline, for the saving of his soul, that person. church discipline is not intended to cast away, but to bring back to proper belief and proper conduct, to save a person's soul, to keep him in the net, by removing his error and inducing him to live a decent life. however, if such a one obstinately persists in his wickedness, then it commends itself to every one that he can no longer be admitted to fellowship. but it is not this quality of fish that our parable speaks about. in fact, such, to make it plainer, are no fish at all; they are vermin, lizards, or whatever species of reptile you wish to name them. a man that is outspoken in unbelief and profligate in his morals is not within the gospel net. christ in this parable is speaking of such people as wished to be recognized as christians, confess themselves as spiritual and converted children of the kingdom, and as long as they do that, we may have our serious doubts as to their sincerity; we may, as we see their faults and obliqueness of conduct, consider their christianity of a rather dubious specimen or type--hypocritical is the common term. but it's not for us to read them out of the membership of the saints, much less dare the church deny them access to the house of god, or resort to external force, police or military measures to enforce her teachings and persecute those who differ from her. has that ever been done, you question? my dear hearers, the robes of the professing church are red with the blood of saints, because it has failed to heed the parables of our consideration to-day. we think of a john huss, a forerunner of the reformation, taken to the stake at constance, burned as an arch-heretic; of the albigenses and waldenses, persecuted, slaughtered by the so-called holy christian church, banished for no other cause but adherence to their bibles. we call to our remembrance the scenes of the inquisition, the horrible treatments and tortures, when rome undertook to separate the bad from the good, and destroyed thousands of christians better than herself, , in the netherlands, , in france. we can still hear the bells tolling on that fatal day, august , , called st. bartholomew's day, when the signal for a massacre was given that cost , huguenots their lives in the streets of paris. time fails us to speak of england and germany with their gruesome thirty years of religious war, of the countries where fanaticism, armed with the sword, wished to root out what it thought was tares, and cast away the bad fish; and let us mark that the pope resides not only in rome, but there are a multitude of little popes everywhere, judging and pronouncing on one another, with all the stringency and self-confidence of their colossal type in rome, their anathemas, and who would, if they could, quickly and radically empty the net. but, says the savior, let them be gathered together until the day of separation. and by whom, to continue the parable, will the separation be made? not by the fishermen, the ministers; for they are liable to make great and fatal mistakes. ministers cannot see people's hearts. they may often think, "these are god's elect," when god says, "i know them not," and the reverse. no, my brethren, ministers will be sifted like the rest, themselves be classed either with the wicked or the just, and, strange as it may sound, those who have cast the nets, may themselves be cast away. god will, therefore, according to the parable, employ brighter agents for this important work. "the angels," it says, "shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just." the same is told in the parable of the tares. "the reapers are the angels"; and they will do their work with perfect accuracy. they will make no mistakes. the angel that passed over the houses in egypt committed no error. every house on whose door-posts was the blood he spared, while in every house where the blood was not seen he left a first-born dead. so, in the separation on the final day, these celestial reapers will see at a glance who have been justified by the lord and sanctified by the spirit, and who have not. not one will escape their discerning eye. oh! what a separation that will be. there will be no haste, no precipitation; all will be calm and judicial. the angels will "sit down," as the term is, to denote the calm inquiry and the patient investigation of each member of the visible church; and the good they will then gather into vessels, into the mansions above; but the bad will they cast away into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. methinks that these concluding words of our lord are the most terrible that can be anywhere found, and yet, withal, they are the words of a loving savior, graciously telling us beforehand what the result of the final separation will be. well may we heed for our instruction the solemn appeal: "who hath ears to hear, let him hear." there only remains now for me, to rivet these lessons upon your minds, two further remarks: first, be not offended; secondly, be not deceived. too often do we hear the remark, "there are too many hypocrites in the church, i don't care to associate with such people." you are right, my dear friend; but such a clear-sighted person as you are will certainly not judge a christian church by the faulty character of some of its members. have you remained unmarried because some people have proved failures in marriage? or do you keep your children from being educated because some educated people are great rascals? is this the fault of marriage or education? and will you contend that the word of god and the water of holy baptism make those who hear and receive it hypocrites and spiritual counterfeits? what hollowness of reasoning! you would not spurn the gold because it is embedded in quartz, or discard the diamond because it lies buried in sand, or refuse the daylight because there is a spot on the sun. you know too well that a cause must be judged by its principles, its teachings, and not by the faults and failures of its adherents. and so when the question arises as to your connection with the church of christ, it is for you to consider the principles and doctrine of that, and act accordingly. again, be not deceived. we are all of us, in a sense, in the net; and in the net are to be found of every kind, good and bad. which are we? christ tells us that _many_--not a few--many at the last day, will cry to him, saying, "lord, we have heard thy ministers preach, and by them thou hast taught us in our churches;" but he will say: "depart from me; i never knew you." do you, then, belong among the good? _i. e._, those who have their souls appareled in the garments of christ's goodness? in other words, are you a sincere and simple believer in christ jesus? then shall you be cast into the vessels. may god grant us a favorable judgment when the drag-net of the gospel is drawn to the everlasting shore! amen. septuagesima sunday. is thine eye evil because i am good?--_matt. , ._ such was the question put by the householder, in the parable, to the laborers that murmured against him. he had gone forth early in the morning to hire men for his vineyard. he discovers that those engaged at first were not enough, so he continues to go forth at different times during the day to the market-place to employ others. with those first hired he had made a stipulated contract, fixing the wages at so much; with those later hired no such fixed agreement was made, but merely the general promise given that he would pay them whatever was fair and just. in the evening, when the work was over, and the steward ready to pay off the men, he directed to give them all one and the same coin; each was to receive a penny, the value of which, considering all things, was about $ . in our present-day currency, a common laborer's wage. whereupon, relates the parable, those who had been in the vineyard all the day thought themselves hardly, unjustly treated. they said, "these last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal with us which have borne the burden of the day." "so i have," said the master of the vineyard to one of those murmurers; i have paid you alike, but have you not received your just due, the sum you agreed for? "take that thine is, and go thy way. have i not the right to do as i like with my own money?" and so, if i choose to remunerate these men after the manner that i have, what hurt or worry is that to thee? "is thine eye evil because i am good?" let us regard for our study and profit this morning this one particular, "the evil eye," noting _i. its nature_, _ii. its cure_. and may god bless his word! what, to begin with, is meant by an "evil eye"? it may in different places of the bible mean different things. what is meant in the text is clear enough. the evil eye here is such an eye as the laborers in the vineyard had when they looked askance at their neighbor's good fortune. an evil eye, therefore, is a grudging, an envious eye. to say of any one in this sense that he has an evil eye, is the same as saying that he is of a grudging, an envious turn of mind. now, this particular turn of mind is far more common than it ought to be. the divine householder still has occasion to ask, "is thine eye evil?" it is a spirit very general, in truth, it is the moral epidemic of the world, it is found everywhere, and more or less in everybody, yourself, my dear hearers, myself not excepted. we open our bibles, and we read of ahab, king of israel, dwelling in the midst of affluence and of plenty, yet he goes to his royal palace, heavy and displeased, and lays himself down on his bed and will not eat,--why? his evil eye grudged a poor vineyard which naboth would not surrender. haman was the favorite of king ahasuerus, the mighty ruler of babylon. all the princes of persia pay him respect and riches are his; the evil eye has stung his heart, and he says, "all this availeth me nothing, so long as i see mordecai, the jew, sitting at the king's gate, who will not bow to me." nor is it confined to the rich, this grudging cast of mind. coming down the ladder of life, who were the people that murmured against the owner of the vineyard? were they not common laborers, who had been hired to work for the day, day laborers? and the disease is prevalent among them yet to-day. the disposition to grumble and tease themselves into dissatisfaction and discontent over the good estate of their more favored and fortunate fellow-men, is not this the fundamental heresy of socialism, the evil eye? again, coming from the various classes of men to the different spheres of life, in the private and social sphere, what mean those jealousies and rivalries that are ever dividing a neighbor from a neighbor, friend from friend, relatives from relatives? because the one possesses more of this world's money or goods, because one is more attractive and amiable in person, has greater intellectual endowments, is more popular, eloquent, skilled, holds a position superior, he becomes the occasion for a brother or a sister or a neighbor to envy him, and the butt of all sorts of petty and annoying uncharitableness on the part of relatives. example: because he was beloved by his father and had dreamed a dream which showed him superior to them, joseph was hated by his brothers, and they could not speak peaceably to him. no, let us beware of flattering ourselves that this malignant eye is not in the church. the vineyard of the parable symbolizes the church. the minister of the gospel who looks askance with green-eyed jealousy at another whose efforts are crowned with greater success than his own; the sunday-school teacher who throws up the work in wounded self-love because some one else occupies the place and prestige he or she covets; the over-sensitive member who smarts under the feeling that his or her talents are not sufficiently recognized, their efforts duly respected and flattered, and so withdraws altogether from every kind of cooperation and enterprise, may all look into, and carefully examine, their spiritual eyesight in the light of this text. and having regarded the prevalency of the evil eye, what shall we say to it? it is something foolish. it shows a want of thought. people are envied for their superiority in fortune and estate, but the distinction between the gifts of god to man are not so wide as you may think. the rich man has his park, the poor man can look at it and enjoy it without the expense of maintaining it. some people live in a stately mansion, but they have to pay very heavily for the privilege. the rich man has his valuable picture gallery; but to see the sun rise in the morning and set in golden splendor in the evening is a picture such as no human artist can paint. the poor man possesses not, it is true, some of the conveniences and delights of the better favored, but, in return, he is free from the many embarrassments to which they are subject. by the simplicity and uniformity of his life he is delivered from a variety of cares. his plain meal eaten with relish and appetite is more delicious than the luxurious banquet. you are acquainted with the story that tells of the king who invited a dissatisfied subject of his realm to visit him in his palace. he put a rich spread before him in his banquet hall, and asked him to indulge heartily. but the man instantly turned pale, and his appetite was gone, as, accidentally looking up, he beheld a sharp sword suspended by a tiny thread over his head. then why envy the man whom god has gifted with talents of mind and tongue? greater gifts entail greater responsibilities, toil, study, and more arduous duties. foolish! moreover, what does all this envy of a fellow-man's better fortune avail? for me to pine over my neighbor's better fortune, for me to covet his superior talents of mind or beauty of person, will not make me more attractive and talented. what folly, then, because you are not so fortunate as another to make yourself miserable over it! "envy," says a certain writer, "is the source of endless vexation, an instrument of self-torture, a rottenness in the bones, a burning, festering ulcer of the soul." but the evil eye is not only foolish, it is more, it is positively sinful, and to indulge in such a spirit leads into all sorts of misery and woe. because she was envious, mother eve stretched out her hand, and, eating, brought a blight on paradise and a curse over god's creation. because envy filled his heart, the first child born into this world rose up and slew his innocent brother. because of envy joseph was cast into the pit by his brothers. why was david persecuted by king saul? why did ahab shed the blood of naboth? why did the high priests, the scribes and pharisees seek the death of the holiest and best that ever trod this earth, and did not rest till they fastened their eyes upon his agonizing form on the cross? what was it? envy. it has ever been the mother of every evil work and vice. and its workings are to-day no different than then. in how many thousand ugly shapes does it show itself! now, this is the most important part, how may it be overcome? what is the remedy, or the remedies, that might be suggested? the laborers had been called into the vineyard, the householder was under no obligation to hire them; that he did so was by his own free choice. in a much higher sense, the heavenly householder has placed us into this world. he has given us certain things, certain talents; some of us have received more, some less, but all that all of us have in body, mind, and estate we have from him. "what hast thou that thou hast not received?" "by the grace of god i am what i am." whatever we have we have from god. seeing this, and that all alike are but the recipients of god's gifts, for me to be envious of another, whom god has given more, argues dissatisfaction, discontent with god's will and ways. god well knows how to distribute his gifts, and why he distributes them as he does; and so let no one of us arraign his providence. you have and receive just what is fair, and just that you should receive, and so learn to be content with that. "take that thine is, and go thy way." that would i suggest as the first remedy against envy,--contentment, a sense of the conviction that what we have is given us all by grace, god's kind favor, and that he gives us just what is proper and right. the second remedy is this, that we bear in mind that envy is the spirit of the devil. heaven and heavenly creatures are never envious; hell and its occupants are aflame with it. envy is against the fifth commandment, which reads: "thou shalt not kill," a disposition of the heart that lusteth unto murder. st. paul classifies it among the works of the flesh, putting it in such company as adultery, fornication, idolatry, murder, drunkenness, and the like, and over and against such things and associations a christian's mind and conduct is plain. we must fight it and avoid it. not the evil spirit, but the spirit, the holy spirit, is to rule in our hearts, and christ's spirit is a spirit of love, not the evil eye, but the good eye, the eye that wishes good and rejoices in the good of his neighbor. since we cannot have both an evil and a good eye, it is for us to consult the heavenly oculist. let us pray god to help us against this murderous spirit; it is a work of the flesh; in a word, ask him for the "good eye," and use it. that is, cultivate the spirit of rejoicing over the good fortune and success of another, giving due recognition to his talents and his endeavors, thanking god that, if one cannot himself do it so well, there is another whom he has given the means and ability to serve him. remedy second, then: root it out with god's help. he can do that, and he will do that, if we ask him. and to come back to the parable, it is only the workman who puts aside the evil eye that is acceptable in the lord's vineyard and does his work well. the person that is always bent on his own honor, dignity, and self-consciousness is easily offended, and easily draws back. the superiority or success of another unnerves him, and not infrequently he acts like a balking horse. not so the person who has been with the divine oculist, and has received in the place of the evil the good eye. he is willing to pluck grapes in a corner of the lord's vineyard where they are not so plentiful and luscious. what if there was a st. paul and an augustine and a luther and a walther, and if to-day we have men in the ministry who quite overshadow me? shall i for that reason keep my hands from filling grapes into my church basket? nevermore. should you, because you are no church officer or esteemed pillar in the sanctuary? even if you cannot pluck some grapes, you may at least hold the basket. the church has a place for everybody; five times did the householder go out to hire laborers. it has a place for you; but when you come, leave behind you the evil eye. for that the church has no place. let every one think seriously over the text, examine his eyesight, ask god's forgiveness, for christ's sake, for the sins he has committed in this respect, and help with his divine help to overcome it, so that he may be found an approved laborer in god's vineyard. amen. sexagesima sunday. search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.--_john , ._ this year marks an event of more than passing interest to the english-speaking world, _viz._, the tercentenary or th birthday of the translation of the bible. it was in , early in the summer, when, after seven years of the most painstaking labors, the most scholarly men of that time completed and turned over for publication their manuscripts. it was styled the king james version or translation, because it was with the help and patronage of that monarch of england, king james, that it was issued; and so as the germans speak of dr. luther's bible translation, the english speak of king james' version. it is this translation of god's word that lies before us, for though in the past three centuries there have been more than a score of worthy revisions, none has dislodged this from its place of supremacy, and so it is fitting that grateful mention should be made of the glorious work, the blessings of which continue to flow out to us whenever we open the holy pages. it must be remembered that the bible, prior to these translations, was a sealed book. one seal was the tyrannical policy of the church of rome, that forbade the people to read it for themselves. chained to the altar of some cathedral or to the wall of some library, like that which luther discovered in the university at erfurt, it was securely clasped and locked. the only persons who had anything to do with it were the monks, who in their dark and obscure cells would spend their days mechanically copying the sacred parchments. it was in this respect, indeed, a sealed book. another seal were the languages in which it was written, so that, even if the people had possessed a copy, they would for that reason have been unable to read it; hebrew, greek, and latin were things they could not understand and read. and to this might be added another seal, _viz._, that the church of rome had well seen to it that the majority of the people could not read at all. ignorance among the masses was profound. now, thank god, no such seals exist. there is no prohibition of bible reading in this land. there are to-day more bibles than ever; it is the very best seller of all books, and no one dares forbid us to read god's word as freely as we please. we also have the scriptures in our own tongue, and never has there been a time in the world's history when people were as universally able to read. and yet, glorious as this all is, is it not true that the bible is a book that is shut and sealed? which is that seal? that seal, my dear hearers, is one of the people's own making, one that they themselves place upon it,--it is a lack of genuine study of it. they do not go and search the scriptures that they may learn the wonderful things it has to teach them. if, then, i shall succeed in a measure to break that seal, and to stimulate you to bible study, i shall consider that god has blessed the humble effort of his servant. we shall regard this morning: _i. why you should read your bibles._ _ii. how you should read them._ why you should read them. because god says so. "search the scriptures," is his plain and authoritative command. we are well enough acquainted with the arguments of rome that would tell us it is a great mistake to let every layman read the bible. see what confusion it has caused. whence came all these hundred and one different sects, these endless conflicting opinions, this skepticism among you protestants? is it not because you permit every one, without distinction and discrimination, to read the bible? to which we answer: by no means. that is not the fault of the bible. that some have wrested the scripture to their own harm, misused it, does not do away with its proper use. god has beautifully made this world, and it is full of his blessing; that some, in selfishness and sinfulness, abuse it, is not his fault nor that of his gifts. he has given man his only-begotten son for their salvation; the fact that hundred thousands do not accept and believe in him is not god's fault, nor his son's, nor his gospel's, nor his church's fault. just as destitute of all sound reason it is to place the abuses which some have made with the bible to the bible itself. no, clearly, distinctly, positively rings out god's command: "search the scriptures." he bids us do it. he points to each and every one of us, as if to say, "thou do it." does it not lie in the very nature of the book? for whom did he cause it to be written? for the clergy, that the ministers might have some texts to preach on? no more so than he gave the ten commandments only to the clergy. they are the universal possession, they are for all the laity as well as the clergy. and to whom, as you examine the inspired volume, are most of its contents directed? there are the fourteen letters, or epistles, of st. paul. a few of them, like those to timothy and titus, are addressed to a clergyman, but the greater majority are addressed to the congregations at rome, at ephesus, at philippi, at thessalonica, and so forth, to the members accordingly. moreover, the direction in many places is, that the hearers should examine what the preachers say, lest they preach something contrary to the scriptures. how could the hearers do this if they were prohibited from reading the bible? away, then, with this opinion that is gaining ground, that the bible is a professional clergyman's text-book, and let the personal application strike home in your own case, thou shalt search the scriptures. and one other reason does god furnish us in the text why we should read it. he says, "for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me." those are deep, wonderful words; they tell what bible reading benefits, brings us, _viz._, eternal life. that this present life is not all there is to life, that there is a life besides and after this, that all men in all ages and in all countries have conjectured; that life is dependent upon a right relation to god, this, too, an inward monitor, called conscience, however unwelcome may be its voice, tells every one with greater or less distinctness; but how man is to get into right relations with his god, to that problem one book, the bible, and it alone, holds the key. what is that key? the text says it: "search the scriptures; for in them ye think we have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." "me," is the speaker, jesus christ, and doing what the text directs, we find that everywhere does it link "life" with christ. "i," says jesus, "am the way, and the truth, and the life." "i am the resurrection and the life." "i am come that ye might have life." the writings of the apostles are full of the same thought: "in him was life." "he that hath the son hath life." "he that believeth not the son shall not see life." "this is life eternal to know thee, the only true god, and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent." would we, then, have life, life that is life indeed, spiritual life, life that passes over into eternal life, then must we find it in christ, and this is the teaching of the text, and its application to us; to find christ you must read your bible. outside of what the bible tells us there is no salvation, no hope, no life. let that thought, i pray you, sink down indelibly into your minds. there are some certain truths which men may know without the bible,--that there is a god; that this god has certain attributes; that he is almighty, all-knowing, holy, just, gracious; for it is only an almighty being that could have created, only an all-wise being that could so adequately have fitted up this universe. men also know without the bible that there is a difference between good and evil, and that the one is to be done and the other left undone. likewise they have a strong notion that man is immortal, and that there is a future state. these few things men may know without the scriptures, and these few even only imperfectly. but when it comes to the questions: who is god? what is his will? what his purposes toward us men, purposes of damnation for offenses and sins committed against his holiness? what guarantee have you that there is a life beyond this? and what sort of a life is it? who has ever brought us information regarding it? what can afford me peace against a conscience that convicts me of wrong and offense against the holy god? when, as stated, it comes to deal with such and innumerable other questions, there is only one source of information, one book that can enlighten and instruct us, and that is this book which god himself has inspired to be written; in which he has revealed himself, according to his person and his attributes; in which he proclaims his plan of salvation for the sinful and condemned race of men, and opens out to them with divine assurance the gates of immortality and life. there is none equal to it, nothing like it, it stands in a class all to itself,--it is not man's book, but god's. wouldst thou, then, my dear hearer, know these things that affect thy soul, thy salvation, thy everlasting destiny, then take this volume and read. so much as to the first concern, why we should read it. because god commands it. because of what it brings us. and now let us regard: how should we read it? here i would say, first, regularly, with pious consistency. it is well enough for a person to come to church on sunday. as long as he does that, and attends to what is going on there, his soul is not left altogether without spiritual nourishment. but church comes only once a week, and if the soul gets no spiritual food beyond what it may pick up there, i leave you to judge whether it is likely to shoot up into a strong and healthy growth of godliness. the first psalm describes the godly man as delighting in the law of the lord, and in his law doth he meditate both day and night. time, indeed, for the most of us may be very limited; but none of us--i say that without fear of challenge--but can, if he wishes and so wills, find a few minutes to read a verse or two when he comes home in the evening, or before he goes to work in the morning, or while going to work, and a couple of verses well thought over will do a person more good than whole chapters swallowed without thought. resolve to do but this little, my dear hearers, and god, who judges us according to our means, and who looked with greater favor on the two mites of the poor widow than on all the golden offerings of the rich, will accept your two verses and enable your souls to grow and gain strength by this their daily food. the doctors tell us that our health is largely determined by the regularity of our habits, and this is as true of our spiritual health as of our bodily. there is none of us who fails to take a glance at the daily paper,--why not at the bible? be regular. then, again, as you have time, read it carefully. that is the direction of the text. the word "search" in the original is a very strong one, much stronger than "read." it may be rendered "ransack." turn up and down,--bring all your industry to bear upon the quest. one trouble with our hearers is that they imagine that they are pretty well familiar with all the bible has to tell them, and the result is that they miss the wealth of its hidden treasures. but there is no royal road to bible knowledge. it calls for thought, earnest research, and thorough investigation. for that reason every one, to become right practical, every member of the family should have a bible of his or her own, of clear type and good paper, and of substantial binding. on the margin that bible ought to have the marginal references of which i spoke to you at length in a former service. in the rear of your bible have a concordance; there you will find a large number of passages on a certain topic, for instance, prayer. look them up in your bible, compare them, and you will learn what the bible has to say regarding prayer. so of other subjects, such as faith, charity, redemption, and the like. it is profitable and delightful work. it is like digging out gold. you will not mind the labor in the fascinating charm it has for you. and to this you may add as a most helpful guide a good commentary written by some sincere lover of god's word. what other devout and learned students of god's word have written it is well for us to profit by in our understanding of the precious volume. not a charm or an ornament to keep on our shelves or to lock up in our closets, not a story-book to read for amusement, is the bible, but, as the text tells us, the means of giving us eternal life in christ jesus; and so we ought to make use of it. there, then, it is--holy bible, book divine, our chief treasure in this sin-darkened world, giving strength, comfort, and salvation. ah! who should not prize it, read it, search it? god make us ministers and our members bible students; how much better ministers, how much better members we would then be! may god bless the words of our lips and the meditation of our hearts! amen. quinquagesima sunday. for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of god.--_rom. , ._ a few days more, and we shall have entered upon lent. what is lent? lent is a time of several weeks which for ages has been set apart among christians for a period of more than usual seriousness. as observed in our church, it is a time marked out from the rest of the year as more especially devoted to the contemplation of those vital truths on which our christian religion is founded. to be brief, lenten time with us is passion time. passion, in simple english, means suffering, more particularly, the suffering of christ. accordingly, passion time, or passion tide, is the season when we are more especially called upon to commemorate, and call to mind, and ponder, and think over the suffering of our savior, christ, those scenes announced in the gospel when he was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and by them was falsely accused, reviled, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, and at last crucified. in order that we might do that in the proper manner, as we ought to do, the church, from the earliest period, has appointed the forty days of lent, just as it has appointed the four sundays in advent, to be a preparation for christmas. for there are two great seasons in the year which it behooves every christian to conscientiously observe, if he wishes to pay dutiful honor to his savior. the first season is christmas, in memory of his loving kindness in coming down from heaven, putting on the nature of man. the other season is lent, to commemorate his dying love. both these seasons are so important, of such moment to the welfare of the soul, that the church has set apart the four sundays which come before christmas and the forty days which come before easter as a time of preparation. the wisdom of such an arrangement no one can doubt. just like the early bell on sunday is meant to call us to get ready for church, the service of god's house, so advent and lent call us to get ready for christmas and good friday. when a musical instrument has been laid by for a while, it needs tuning, or it will make but sorry music. the minds and hearts of most christians, too, require to be gotten into tune before they can bear their part fitly and harmoniously in the services by which the church commemorates the death and resurrection of her lord. and how? what is the best way to prepare for a profitable and advantageous lent? that is conditioned by another question: what was it that delivered our blessed lord into the hands of those wicked men, that caused him that shameful treatment, mockery, and finally nailed him to the cross? the malice of the chief priest, the treachery of judas, the cowardice of pontius pilate? deeper, my beloved, deeper; they were but the instrumental, not the procuring cause. the real cause, you know it, was something else,--sin. to do away with, to secure the pardon of that, christ died. then it is plain, that in order to understand the value of his suffering, to observe that season aright, we must begin with being convinced of the evil, of the exceeding hatefulness and danger of sin. here is the first elementary truth which meets us at the threshold of lent, without which it will be of no more value to you than a lock without a key, a mine without a shaft; herein consists its best preparation, to secure a right conviction of sin. that, god blessing the effort, shall be the intent of our sermon. when the ostrich, scouring along the sandy desert, finds that it cannot escape the huntsman, it is said to thrust its head into a bush, and fancying that the danger which it ceases to see has ceased to exist, it remains there, quite tranquil, to receive the death-blow of the huntsman. poor, senseless, stupid bird! yet not one degree more so than is the folly of many who are not birds, but possessed of reason and soul. plenty there are who, shutting their eyes to the evil, burrowing their heads in the sand-heap of excuses and false peace, thus hide until the fatal stroke of death puts an end to their earthly career, and opening their eyes in a place where there is no repentance, as the rich man in the parable, they realize that it is too late. if we turn to the bible, it teaches that there are two great classes or kinds of sin; and if we turn to the witness within and the evidence without, we shall find what the bible tells us everywhere corroborated and borne out. the one kind of sin is the original or birth sin, that all men are naturally engendered, are conceived and born in sin; that is, they are all, from their mother's womb, full of evil desires and propensities, and that this is the fountainhead of all other, or actual, sins, such as evil thoughts, words, and deeds. there are many who reject this doctrine; they contend that when man is born into this world, his soul is as pure as the snow that comes down in beautiful flurries from the sky, and as perfect as the vessel that passes from the potter's hand; they tell us that we are god's favorite creatures, that he has made us lords of the creation and heirs of eternal life, and that, therefore, it is quite impossible that we should be so prone to sin, as our church, setting forth the doctrine of the bible in her confession, declares us to be. but they are willfully ignorant. the question whether we are prone to sin from our cradles upward is a mere question of fact. one has only to look into one's own heart, and what do you find there, good or evil? you will say, a little of both. be it so; but tell me, or rather tell yourselves, honestly and truly, which of the two cost you the most trouble to learn, and which of the two comes the easier? is there a doubt? does one contract good habits easier than bad, or the reverse? is it easier for a sober man to become a drunkard than for a poor, miserable, besotted drunkard to trace his steps back and to become sober? or, another point of view. ask mothers, accustomed to watch their children from earliest infancy, whether every child that has come under their observation had not something to learn that was good, and something to unlearn that was evil. now, whence did this evil come from? it cannot have been taught to the child, for the evil showed itself at a time before all teaching; it had it naturally. and so it is in other things. the good wheat must be sown and looked after, or it will never amount to much. the weeds sprout up and spread of themselves, and it is as great a labor to keep them down as to get the good wheat up. the truth is, "like begetteth like." "in adam's fall we sinned all." the fountain was polluted, so is the stream; sin is born in the bone, as it were, and without god's help we can no more mend it than a sick man can mend and cure himself without the help of a physician. but this original sin is not the only kind. though men deny that, they cannot deny the other, what our catechism calls actual sin. like trees in the forest does it surround them. where is the man that dares affirm that he has never been guilty of doing what he should never have done, or guilty of not doing what he should have done? lives there a person so happy as to look back on the past and feel no remorse, or forward to the future and feel no fear? what? is there no page of your history that you would obliterate, no leaf that, with god's permission, you would tear from the book of life's story? to david's prayer, "lord, remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions," have you no solemn and hearty amen? if you could be carried back to the starting-post, and stood again at your mother's knee, and sat again at the old school desk with companions that are now changed, or scattered, or dead, or gone, were you to begin life anew, would you run the selfsame course, would you live over the selfsame life? is there no speech to unsay, no act to undo, no day, sunday, or evening to spend better? no one among those with whom you are now living or among those that have gone before--to whom you would bear yourself otherwise than you have done? where is there a breathing man that can say: "i am pure in my heart. i am clear from all sin"? if he does, he deceives himself, the truth is not in him. as well deny your existence as deny the existence of actual sin. but what men will not deny they will seek to excuse. it were amusing, if it were not a matter so serious, to observe with what palliation and apologies defenses are thrown up by which, after all, men's sins do not look so exceedingly sinful. thus there be those who say: if we are naturally born to evil, as the bible says and our experience testifies, we cannot help it, and how can it be a fault of ours if we do wrong? and how can god blame and punish us for not being better than he made us? it is thus that scotland's famous poet, burns, sings: thou knowest that thou hast formed me with passions wild and strong, and listening to their witching voice has often led me wrong. in other words, i am a sinner, but the fault is not mine, but god's. or, again, they ascribe the blame to the power of temptation. "the serpent beguiled me," was the excuse of the first sinner; it is still, in a more or less measure, the excuse of every sinner. temptation came upon them so suddenly and with such stealth and vehemence that it swept them off their feet before they were aware of it. or (once more), like the original sinner, they lay their blame upon their fellow-man. "the woman that thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and i did eat." what parent or mother has not discovered, in correcting a disobedient boy, that he is uniformly punishing the wrong one? it was always the other boy who brought about the evil act, and so, invariably, it is the bad company, evil influences, peculiar surroundings, locality, that make people to sin. whatever the palliatives and excuses, my beloved hearers, the thing will not do; it is vain and ignoble, and, in part, what has been said is blasphemy. in the first place, whatever prompted, tempted the act, the act was done by the sinner himself, and not by another; he knew of it, he consented to it, he gave his members and body to it. it is also useless to say that he was swept away by temptation. the same excuse might the suicide plead who seeks the river, stands on its brink, and, leaping in, is swept off to his watery grave. we go down like samson to delilah; we stand in the way of sinners, we frequent the places of guilty pleasures, and then, falling, complain about the strength of temptation. away with all such subterfuges and opiates that simply drug the conscience! what is sin? sin, says god's word, is the transgression of the law, the most terrible and abominable thing in this world. sin is that which drove man out of paradise garden, robbed him of the divine image, severed the happy relation between him and his creator, and plunged him into accursedness and misery. sin is a disease which turns all moral beauty into rottenness, causes all grief and distress, breaks hearts, and fills our cemeteries, man's worst, man's most ruinous and most formidable enemy, that dogs his every footstep in this life, and calls down upon his body and soul the wrath and eternal damnation from a god who hates and who punishes sin. what greater comfort, then, than to know how and where to receive deliverance and remedy from it. it has been stated before among the excuses that man is born a sinner, and because born so, he cannot be blamed for sinning, any more than a sick person for dying. he cannot help it. that seems very plausible, indeed. it would be very unjust to blame a sick person for dying, provided there were no remedies; but in a country where there are plenty of physicians and the sick have only to send for them,--if in such a country a sick man is obstinate, and will not send for a physician, nor take the means of being made well, he is to blame, and if he dies, he is guilty of his own death. and suppose now that the physician does not wait to be sent for, that he comes of his own accord to the sick man's bedside, that he brings a medicine of rare herbs in his hand, and says to the sick man: "my friend, i heard you were very sick, and so i came to see you and fetch you a medicine which is a certain cure if you take it. never mind your poverty, i ask no payment." but the sick man refuses it; he does not like its look, or he finds it is bitter to take, or a neighbor has told him not to heed the physician, and he dies. who is to blame? that's our case precisely. we have a soul's sickness. but a great physician is come to us. he has a dear remedy, a specific, made of the most precious ingredients, _viz._, his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. he brings that medicine to our doors. shall we refuse to take it? shall we say that we will have none of it? we may do so; there is no compulsion; this heavenly physician foists himself on none. but whose shall be the blame, who be the loser? be wise, then. lenten time is repenting time. may we, as it says in the collect, so pass through this holy time of our lord that we may obtain the pardon of our sins. may we enter this incoming season with a solemn earnestness toward spiritual things, with a resolve to spend its days in sacred devotion under the cross, and with sorrow over our past failures set ourselves to a better and more consecrated life. and to this may the good lord graciously incline the hearts of every one of us! amen. first sunday in lent. then came amalek, and fought with israel in rephidim. and moses said unto joshua, choose us out men, and go out, fight with amalek; to-morrow i will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of god in mine hand. so joshua did as moses had said to him and fought with amalek; and moses, aaron, and hur went up to the top of the hill. and it came to pass, when moses held up his hand, that israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, amalek prevailed. but moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon: and aaron and hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side: and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. and joshua discomfited amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.--_exodus , - ._ an impressive picture of modern art is that which has for its scene the evil one, the devil, sitting at a table playing a game of chess. bending over the board, with the self-possession of a master, reclines the adversary of man. at the opposite side is a young man. there is a look of diabolical glee upon the dark brow of satan, whilst the features of his playmate wear the signs of deepest agony; for, alas! that which the youth has staked on the results of the game seems hopelessly lost--his immortal soul. back of the young man, unseen by him, the artist has painted a calm, benignant figure. it is his guardian angel, or better still, the angel of the covenant, the lord, whose heavenly skill at last checkmates the destroyer. this is not merely poetic and artist's fancy. it is with no cloudy vagueness that the existence of a spirit of evil is revealed in the holy scriptures. there are many these days who are disposed to laugh at the account which tells us of man's temptation and fall in the garden as a myth, an oriental hyperbole, and to characterize the closing chapters of revelation, which inform us of the tempter's fall and fate, as allegory and romance. but there still remains scattered throughout the bible, in connection with every prominent bible character and bible event, mention of a personal agent of evil, the foe of god and the foe of man, bent with restless activity and mastery of deceit upon the destruction of souls and the corruption of the creation of god. not a matter of speculation is this belief in the existence and power of the chief of fallen angels, and far wiser and prudent were it if, in place of talking of, people, in humble acceptation of god's word, would recognize their foe, and seek the strength and means to contend with him. what we need against the arch-enemy of our souls is the simple faith and the bold defiance that breathes forth in the life, the words, and the hymns of our great reformer, a spirit which prompted him to do--what is perhaps only a tradition, yet fully characterizes the man--_viz._, that when his mighty imagination had conjured up before him the very form and face of the wicked one, he took his inkstand and hurled it at him, leaving behind, as memento, an ugly spot upon the wall of his study. it is of this conflict with the prince of darkness that the text speaks. three particulars would we note: _i. the foe to be encountered_; _ii. the weapons employed_; _iii. the victory achieved_, and as moses was distinctly bidden by god in the th verse of the chapter from which our text has been taken: "write these for a memorial in a book," let us write the words spoken for a memorial on the tablet of our hearts. we meet the people of god in rephidim engaged in a fierce encounter with the amalekites. no doubt, the lord could have led his people safely through the wilderness without any such conflicts if he had chosen to do so, but he had his own, wise designs in permitting them. and so with satan's workings and attacks people may argue and speculate. why did god ever permit such a dangerous foe to exert his malicious power and tempt mankind? suffice it to answer: it thus seemed good unto him, and is in perfect accordance with his almightiness and wisdom. the amalekites, the people with whom the israelites were in conflict, were the descendants of esau, amalek having been his grandson, and as is wont to be with relatives, unfortunately, the hatred which esau entertained toward his brother jacob had become transplanted upon his children, yea, seems to have grown the more bitter, deeper, and malignant as time progressed. and the offspring of both multiplied into a great and prosperous people. the amalekites at this time occupied a large tract of land extending from the confines of idumea to the shores of the red sea. when, therefore, israel crossed over and encamped at the mount of sinai, they were close upon their borders; but they offered them no injury nor provocation, and far from invading their territory, they were turning rapidly away from it when amalek assaulted them, and that in a most dastardly manner; for, not daring to engage them in front, they smote the hindmost of them, even all that were faint and weary, who had lagged behind and were alike incapable of resistance or flight. when moses became aware of the enemy, he issues command unto joshua, the military leader: "choose us out men, and go out, and fight with amalek; to-morrow i will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of god in mine hand." "so joshua did as moses had said to him, and fought with amalek; and moses, aaron, and hur went up to the top of the hill." and whilst the battle was raging in the valley, whilst the swords were clashing, the warriors grappling, the wounded groaning, and the fighting masses surging to and fro in fierce and bloody encounter, moses was stationed upon the brow of mount sinai, lifting up his hands in prayer and intercession to the god of battles. an encouraging sight! from that ancient battle-ground, a picture and pattern, we would direct our eyes unto ourselves. like as of old, we are warriors of the lord, soldiers of jesus christ. we have our amalek, the old evil foe, who means deadly woe. let us take our stand by the side of moses in the mountain, and for a few moments look at the enemy. foremost, the leader of the host, is that original tempter, deceiver, destroyer, and murderer, that wicked one, the father of lies, the prince of darkness, the roaring lion that goes about seeking whom he may destroy. marshaled around him, as their mighty captain, are legions of lesser spirit-beings which arithmetic cannot begin to calculate. scripture tells us that satan could spare seven devils to torment one poor sinner. what, then, must their number be? and as the amalekites, they hate us with a perfect hatred. having by their bad ambition and pride lost heaven and being hurled to the bottomless pit, they are now most bitterly and irreconcilably opposed to everything that stands in connection with the redeemer and his redeemed. to think that we, who are equally fallen into sin, should be restored to grace, accepted to the very thrones they have lost, is more than their envy can endure. for this reason they pursue us through life, dog our every step, and press us to the very gate of death. what tactics does this spiritual enemy employ? as the enemy in the field, by false signals, feigned movements, masked batteries, and every strategic art, seeks to conceal his position, disguises his plan of attack, just so our spiritual enemies seek to beguile by a thousand stratagems and schemes to mislead the unwary and inexperienced and bring to fall the strongest. as in the case of the amalekites, they attack you in your most vulnerable points and at a time when you are faint and weakest; and they are as vigilant as they are cunning. always and everywhere they are on the watch for souls. if you come to the house of god, they are here before you; if you enter your room in prayer, you cannot shut them out. by day they compass your path, by night they surround your pillow. wherever you are they are; whatever you say, they hear it; whatever you do, they perceive it. from our birth to our burial--a frightful thought!--we are perpetually watched by myriads of malignant eyes, unclean and accursed spirits, ready to avail themselves of every opportunity to do us harm and ruin all our hopes. or need we any examples for what harm they have done? behold that lovely pair fresh from the creator's hand walking the groves of eden, and behold again the outcasts--we know the cause. observe job, that perfect man of uz, robbed of his property and his children, and smitten in body with a sore disease. who was it that instigated judas to betray the lord, peter to deny him, all jerusalem to clamor for his blood, the roman governor to condemn him to the cross? st. john said in his day that the whole world was lying in the bosom of the evil one, and it is much the same to this present day. all men are more or less subject to his influences, and two-thirds of the human race controlled by this evil genius. this, then, is the foe with whom we are obliged to contend. but how can the lamb cope with the lion? how can we expect to conquer that enemy who conquered our first parents in the strength of their original purity? truly, "with might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected." and yet we have nothing to fear. we have a precious ally, we battle under a valiant, an unconquerable leader. the lord of hosts is with us, just so we are firm in the strife and rightly use the weapons he has furnished us. and which are these? reading the th verse of our text, we find it distinctly mentioned: "and joshua discomfited amalek and his people with the edge of the sword." and which is our spiritual sword? for our enemy being spiritual, it is evident our weapon must be likewise. saint paul gives answer when he says in ephesians: "take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of god." here, then, christian warrior, is a weapon, better than damascus blades. with this our lord defeated satan in the wilderness; with this st. peter pierced the hearts of thousands on pentecost; with this st. paul made felix tremble, and agrippa, as he confessed to paul, was almost persuaded by him to become a christian; with this martin luther prevailed against the son of belial and his besotted minions. grasp it firmly, wield it vigorously. or do you claim you do not know how? then permit me to give you a few general directions. you are all familiar with the story of david and goliath,--how the great champion of the philistines daily came forth, cursing and challenging the people of god, until one day a shepherd lad of bethlehem comes into the camp and with a stone from his sling stretches the huge form of the giant flat upon the ground. you, my beloved, are spiritual davids; the smooth pebbles you have gathered up from the brook of god's word are the holy ten commandments; learn to sling these aright, and you are invincible. are you, for instance, tempted to speak the lord's name irreverently, then place pebble, called the second, in your spiritual sling, which says: "thou shalt not take the name of the lord, thy god, in vain," and your tempter will fall flat like philistia's giant. are you tempted to negligence, indifference in regard to the lord's day and the lord's house, take no. . would satan tempt a young christian to disobedience, to indecency, or an old christian to dishonesty, intemperance, coveteousness,--whatever the sin may be, select the proper pebble, and victory is yours. "this world's prince may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none, he's judged, the deed is done, one little word can fell him." then, too, let us remember that we are "more than conquerors through him that loves us." in his strength let us battle. when the devil would deceive us, or seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice, let us cast ourselves upon him who vanquished the evil foe. his cross is our strength. let us hold that up before him, and he will skulk away in sullen retreat. the precious gospel of christ will quench all the fiery darts of doubt, unbelief, and despair which the hellish enemy would shoot into our hearts. thus with the law and the gospel we can conquer him. nor is this all. another powerful weapon is placed at our command. most graphically does our text describe it when it says: "and moses, aaron, and hur went up to the top of the hill. and it came to pass, when moses held up his hand, that israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, amalek prevailed." the israelites would not have conquered had they not fought. but the other is equally as true: they would not have conquered had moses not prayed. the real decision in the matter seemed not so much in the conflict in the valley as with the man of prayer, the suppliant on the mountain. and here, my dear christian, still rests your power. much as people may sneer at prayer in these atheistic and skeptic times, prayer is the hand that moves the world. "satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." our lord warning peter addresses him, "simon peter, behold, satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; but i have prayed for thee"; and his constant exhortation in the sore hour of gethsemane was, "watch and pray lest ye fall into temptation." how many a one when he asks himself, how was it possible that i should have fallen so deeply and strayed so far from my god? will hear his conscience whisper: you had grown indifferent, neglectful in your devotion and your prayers, and hence came your failure. prayer must be incessant and mutual. two are better than one, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. moses, aaron, and hur, together they prevailed. where man and wife join in sacred communion to the god of families, his blessing will rest upon them, and the evil one be kept at bay. where a congregation is strong in devout and earnest looking to god, it can accomplish wonders against the prince of darkness and the wickedness of the world. when the day closed and the sun had sunk beneath the battle-ground in rephidim, the victory was won; amalek was defeated. it was israel's first achievement, but not their last. amalek continued to harass them, and even saul and david had to take up arms against them. nor is it different with us. the spiritual campaign lasts "until we draw our fleeting breath, till our eyelids close in death"; hence, "from strength to strength go on, wrestle, and fight, and pray, tread all the powers of darkness down, and win the well-fought day." and if at times your hands would grow weary and your knees weak amidst the conflict in the valley, then look up like israel of old to the mountain from whence cometh your help, to that blessed knoll where hangs our divine moses with his arms extended,--look up to the cross. amen. second sunday in lent. demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.--_ tim. , ._ there is nothing sadder, my beloved hearers, nothing more calculated to strike dread into the heart, than the punishment of a deserter in the army. the offender is led before his regiment, and after the rehearsal of his disgrace to his fellow-soldiers, his arms are pinioned, his eyes bandaged, and an open coffin stands ready to receive his lifeless body. the file of soldiers aim at the one fluttering heart, and the lightning-like death ends the dreadful scene. and why is a deserter's doom made so awful? simply because the crime of desertion is so great, its demoralizing effect which it would have on the army so fatal, that it must be punished in the most telling and fearful manner. history, both sacred and secular, has put no deeper brand of infamy than on deserters. benedict arnold stands forth as an instance of the one, judas iscariot as an instance of the other. american history holds up the one before us, bandaged, pinioned, shot through with the bullets of a nation's abhorrence and malediction, whilst the other, judas, is a name detested as far as the bible is read and to the day of doom. in our text we read of another deserter. his name is demas, and the apostle paul has set the mark of infamy upon him. who, we question, was this man demas? and what was the nature of his offense? we know very little of his early career, but that little is most favorable. he had been an associate of st. paul in the ranks of christ's followers. paul more than once makes honorable mention of his name. when he wrote his letter to the church at colossae, he coupled the name of demas with that of st. luke. he thus writes: "luke, the beloved physician, and demas greet you," which shows that he must have been favorably known in the church, and that his greetings must have been highly thought of, else would the apostle not have forwarded them through his own letter. and one more fact do we know of him. he not only professed love toward christ, but he had once suffered for his christian profession. he most likely had worn the honorable mark of prison chains in the name and for the sake of christ. in his letter to philemon, st. paul, remembering his companions in suffering, writes: "there salute thee epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in christ jesus; marcus, aristarchus, demas, and lucas, my fellow-laborers." so the apostle once wrote from a roman prison of demas, and it was from the same prison that he afterwards sadly penned these painful words: "demas hath forsaken me." and why? did his health fail? did he go to labor elsewhere? paul tells us: "demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." there we have the reason, and it is one that we shall more clearly regard in our instruction these moments. on the previous lord's day we considered the first great enemy of our soul, satan. to-day we come to the second, the world, reserving the third, the flesh, god willing, for next sunday. to deal practically and directly with the matter, let us ask the questions: _i. what is worldliness, and how can i tell whether i am worldly or not?_ _ii. how can i overcome my worldliness?_ and may god's wisdom and blessing attend our meditation! if we read our bible carefully, my beloved, we shall be impressed, overwhelmed by the number of scripture passages which refer to god's people and their relation to this world. these passages are found in the old testament and in the new, and they are plain-spoken, their own interpretation. in the old testament they are such as these: "deliver my soul from men of the world, who have their portion in this life." "and ye shall be holy unto me, for i, the lord, am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine." in the new testament we find the passages still more explicit and manifold. to begin with, there is nothing that jesus teaches with greater frequency or with greater positiveness than this fact, that we are to be unworldly in our christian life. "ye are not of the world," he declares, "for i have chosen you out of the world." "ye cannot serve god and mammon." "what shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" and as the master, so his apostles. "be not conformed," exhorts paul, "to this world." "be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." "come out from among them, and be ye separate." james writes: "the friendship of the world is enmity with god. whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of god." "true religion before god is to keep oneself unspotted from the world." and to finish our quotations with the words of st. john: "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. if any one love the world, the love of the father is not in him." there is nothing uncertain about these statements. their teaching is clear. they declare that there is a broad and ineffaceable line of demarcation between the people of god and the world. they are so far apart that no man can belong to both at the same time. to try to do so produces an absurd piety and a sham, is as foolish as trying to mix light and darkness, oil and water. they refuse to mix. it means either--or, one or the other. either christianity will have the sway, and it will conquer and eradicate the world, or the world will have the sway, and it will efface christianity. the world proposes a compromise, it is true, but the compromise always means death; that is why it proposes it. how imperative, then, that we should analyze what worldliness is and plant an interrogation in our heart: am i worldly? what, then, is worldliness? there are some who have no difficulty whatever in defining it. "worldliness," why, that's easily explained; going to races, theaters, balls, playing euchre and dressing flashily--that's it. no doubt it is; but worldliness does not confine itself merely to theaters and balls, cards and dress. there are hundreds of people who have never been inside of a ballroom, rarely or never attended a theater, and yet they may be intensely worldly for all that. worldliness implies something vastly more and deeper. it is something which affects not only the external acts of a person, but the heart; something which is determined by the spirit with which we do things, and not so much by the things with which we have to do. it is not the earth, the objects and the people that fill this earth, that we may not love, but the way in which we love these objects and people that constitute the world. "worldliness," i answer, is a condition of the heart. let us look into this a little closer. it has to do with the inner spirit of the man or the woman. demas' mistake was that he loved the world. did not paul love the world? did he not love it when he renounced ease, gain, promotion, and station, and threw his whole soul into the holy effort of saving a poor lost world for christ? do we not read that god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son? and that only-begotten son, did he not love the world when he gave his heart's blood to redeem it? yes, they loved it and showed their love by lifting it out of its sinful and guilty condition. in the same way you and i may love the world that we may do it good, and so give more of our time, money, talents, and energy to win it back to god. but that was not the love that brought demas to fall, and against which we are warned. no, something quite different,--the world's ways, maxims, aims, ease, pleasures, and fascinations. tradition tells us that demas afterwards became a priest in a heathen temple. if so, it was no doubt because he found more gain in silver and gold than in the service of christ. how do you regard the things of the world in your heart, and how do you regard the people of the world? that is what determines worldliness. if you love pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than your bible, any house better than god's, any person better than your savior, you are worldly. you are surrounded by people who do not fear god, who do not keep his commandments, who have no treasure in heaven, no plans or purposes which extend beyond the grave, minus faith, minus hope, minus all spiritual life,--what is your attitude toward such? do you make your choice of friends from these professed worldly men and women? if so, you are worldly. i assure you some of our worst foes are our ungodly friends. then, you may reply, we cannot go into society at all, we must live secluded lives. the bible does not say that. what it says is that, when we go into society, we ought to take our christianity with us. our lord went into society, and wherever he went, they felt the sacredness which was about him. you go into society, what is the result? do you influence it, or are you influenced by it? what effect has it upon your religious life and professions? does it secularize you and make you unfit for prayer? does it silence your testimony of christ, and cool down your interest and enthusiasm for the church? know, then, that it is making you worldly. a woman who cannot be recognized in society as a christian by her modest dress and her pure ways, and the tone and topic of her conversation, is a worldling. the man who can do business, and not be known as a christian by his business scruples and methods and spirit, is a worldling. if a worldling can truthfully say of you, "he is no better than i am," you are a worldling. if you live as a worldling, you are a worldling. that needs no argument. but, after all, be it noted that, however it manifests itself in manner, dress, social companionship, and conduct, worldliness primarily is a temper, spirit, and disposition of the heart. "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." the world would have done demas no harm if he had not loved it. it will do us no harm as long as we keep it out of our hearts. but here is where lurks the very danger,--it so easily, so silently, and very gradually insinuates itself into the heart. to use an illustration: in olden times the sailors, a race given to superstition, used to tell that somewhere in the indian ocean there was a magnetic rock that rose from the deep with power of attraction. silently a ship was drawn towards this rock, nearer and nearer, and gradually one by one the bolts were drawn out of the vessel's side by the magnetic power. the end was that, when the doomed vessel had drawn so near that every bolt and clamp was unloosed, the whole fabric fell apart, and the crew and cargo would sink down into the waters. so stands the magnetic rock of worldliness, enchantments, and fascinations. its attraction is slow, silent, and yet powerfully it draws the soul that comes within its range. under its spell, bolt after bolt of good resolutions, clamp after clamp of christian duty are drawn out, until at length the whole structure of christian profession falls together, a pitiable wreck. attracted by the things of time and sense, the affections become chilled, the mind step by step full of the world. o for the poor victims, thousands of them, equally as promising, that have foundered like this unfortunate demas! we can see them floating everywhere on the surface of society, like spiritual driftwood, alas! see them in the church keeping up a little outward appearance and forms of religion, but generally found absent from their pew and taking little or no interest in matters of the church. and in what way, coming to the second consideration, may we overcome this dangerous evil, worldliness? the bible does not leave us without answer. as worldliness is a disposition of heart, it first aims at that. we are not to spend our time in saying this is worldly and that in formulating absolute and universal rules and binding church-members to them. it is not so much a matter of correct outward conduct as of correct inward principles. if the blood is in good condition, the complexion will be. if the heart is right, the conduct will be, and so the apostle, getting at the root of the cause, says: "be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed," by the renewing of your minds. christianity is a spiritual power. when the soul opens to it, the holy spirit resets and new-creates the spirit of the man, so that he looks away from earth to heaven, and from the things of this world to the things of god and eternity. another bent is given to his feelings and his aims. he walks in the light of a new sun. he feels the presence of a new law drawing him in a different direction. he sees with other eyes, estimates things by another rule, and is moved by other principles. and as he yields to this new graft upon his nature, he instinctively realizes what is contrary to it. he does not need outward rules, it is plainly told him from within. the written word is at hand to direct in many cases, and in questions of doubt the honest consultation of his own moral sense, the life of faith in the soul, will tell him where the line is to be drawn between him and the world. and to mention one other way. if you would overcome worldliness, look after your associations. the bible is full of admonitions and illustrations to that effect, but one perhaps stands out in boldest type, the story of lot. he moved out of his simple patriarchal life into sodom, the world center of his age, and the result you know. his family became hopelessly worldly, he himself without influence and power among men, and the end was destruction of his estate and judgment upon his unfortunate wife. if not quite as disastrous, the result is always the same in character. keep godly associations and connections, attend to the house of god. we need the fellowship of god's people to respiritualize and recharge our depressed christian lives. it should be a place of strengthening to you. make its people your special companions and confidants; have some from among its membership with whom you are on terms of intimacy and friendship. it is wonderful how much we are influenced by our environment and fellowship; let us, then, be careful to live with god and with god's people. to conclude,--god help us by his grace and holy spirit so to live in this world as to live above it and look beyond it, diligently use the means he has given us for strength and fidelity, and preserve us from the deadly snare of that great enemy of our soul, the godless, christless world. nor, let us ever remember, can we successfully meet this enemy without looking for strength to that divine source upon which our eyes are centered at this season, the cross of our adorable savior. he that kneels in devotion at the foot of the cross, that has the love of him that suffered and died for us upon that cross spread abroad in his heart, cannot divide that heart with his rival, and enemy, and obtain force and power to combat against his assaults. without him we can do nothing. with him we can prevail. grant that i thy passion view with repentant grieving, nor thee crucify anew by unholy living. how could i refuse to shun every sinful pleasure, since for me god's only son suffered without measure? amen. third sunday in lent. now when the pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner.--_luke , ._ our lord was reclining at a social meal in the house of simon the pharisee, when, unbidden, a woman enters the room, and, standing at the feet of jesus, bursts into tears. she had not come for that purpose, but stationed aside of the lord, she was so overcome that she could not restrain her emotion, and as the tears fall thick and fast upon the feet of her lord, she wipes them with her hair, and kissing them, anoints them with costly ointment. the whole transaction is so simple and touching that we feel at once interested in the stranger. it is a question much discussed by bible students who this woman was. it has been said it was mary magdalene, but that is a mistake; nor was it mary, the sister of martha and lazarus of bethany. her name, for wise and kind reasons, is withheld from the church. but we are not left entirely in suspense about her history. from several incidents in this chapter we infer that she lived in the city of nain where our lord raised up the widow's son. furthermore, we are told that she was a sinner; that means here, she had abandoned herself to a life of sin and impurity, and finally, it seems quite probable, judging from the precious quality of the ointment used, that she was a person of some wealth and fortune. what fixes our attention most is that she was a sinner, and a penitent sinner at that. what was the precise character of her transgression we are not told; but whether she had been an adulteress, or, being unmarried, had yielded to her depraved dispositions, and was leading a life of criminal voluptuousness, one thing is certain, she had reason to weep and lament. if she was guilty of the former,--adultery, unfaithfulness to her own spouse,--what opinion must a woman form of herself that has committed this offense? and if she was guilty of the last-named transgression, prostitution, no tears could have been too bitter. human words fail to describe the condition of a woman who has arrived at such a depth of dissoluteness as to eradicate every degree of modesty, hand herself over to infamy that overthrows the whole social life, and converts mankind into a state of putrefaction and decay. if there is one offense that is calculated to become a perpetual source of sorrow, piercing the heart with thousand arrows of sad reflection and remorse, fixing daggers in the souls of loving parents, and covering one's family with public disgrace, it is the offense which defiles the most sacred and inviolable relation of human life. and however it may be done, we ought never to speak of such crime in the way of extenuation. holy scripture characterizes such not as pitiable, but as criminal, not as imposed upon, but as deceiving, not as corrupt, but as corrupters, the only course for whom is to do as this penitent, prostrate themselves in tears at the feet of him who will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. these introductory remarks point to us the topic which shall employ our further contemplation this morning. we have considered the first great enemy of our souls, the devil, that wicked spirit who walketh about seeking whom he may devour, and the second, the world, and now we come to the third, the flesh, in contemplating which _we shall note a few of the most prevalent forms in which it manifests itself_, and secondly, _how we may overcome it_. may god grant his divine blessing! there are topics, my beloved, which if a minister treats of them, he will be regarded indelicate and forward, and which if he does not treat of them, he will be charged with timidity and neglect of duty. his course, however, is clear. as a faithful steward of divine truth, he must declare the whole counsel of god, irrespective of criticism and fear, lest any man's soul be required at his hands. no diligent attendant of god's house will have failed to have marked the reigning note in the epistle readings of the last sundays. that note is a call to purity and sanctity of life. "abstain from fornication,"--"but fornication and all uncleanness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints, for ye know that no whoremonger nor unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god,"--solemn words, and not superfluous words either, as little now as then, or since the beginning of man's sinful career. we turn to the pages of holy writ,--what is it that brought on that most terrible calamity, all except eight persons going down in the waters of a universal flood? the sacred volume answers: "when man began to multiply on the face of the earth, the sons of god saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took them wives of all which they chose. then it repented the lord that he had made man," and the judgment was let loose for destruction. what was it that caused sodom and gomorrah, the cities of the plain, to go down in fire and brimstone? the still gurgling sea of salt and death gives back the answer of its brutality and uncleanness. what caused the twenty and three thousand to perish in one day, their white carcasses to strew the wilderness sand? moses tells us: fornication, sensuality, and impurity. and who is not bent with grief as he reads of david and of solomon? and the hearts of mankind are as full of impurity now as then, in thoughts, words, deeds, and dress. there are spectacles to be seen in places of amusement, there are reports to be read in our public prints, which indicate little or no improvement, though decking themselves with the name of christian and moral. what st. paul wrote: "it is a shame even to speak of these things which are done of them in secret," is still true and too true, alas! of some professed christians. fire, my beloved, is a most valuable, an indispensable agent of the human race. what would we do without it? but fire must remain within bounds. woe if it overleaps them! then it becomes a terrible and destructive power! man's body, likewise, is a great and noble instrument, a fine handiwork of god, with powers for good; but it must remain within its bounds, it must always be kept as a servant in subjection. woe to man's happiness and the welfare of others when it overleaps its legitimate bounds, and the servant becomes the master, a tyrant, and a destroyer! "i keep under my body and bring it into subjection," says paul. our great business as christians is to learn to control our body, its lusts and desires; to subdue and master it, to bring it into a pure and honorable service, above and beyond its own miserable gratification. "dearly beloved," writes st. peter, "i beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." yes, back in the days of mount sinai, god voiced his will in words of fire and thunder on stony tablets: "thou shalt not commit adultery," which means we are to lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each curb, guard, and control the sinful desires of the flesh. nor is this unchastity, the overstepping of the proper relation between the sexes, the sinful indulgence of man's lower nature, the only temptation that comes from the flesh. from the long list enumerated by the apostle in his letters we shall select one other. that is _intemperance_, the too free indulgence in stimulating drinks. nor can it be questioned that a word in this respect is occasionally in place. the history of strong drink is the history of ruin, of tears, and of blood. it is perhaps the greatest curse that ever scourged the earth. other evils have slain their thousands, but this has slain its tens of thousands. it is simply impossible to picture the crime of which it is the cause. it is the mississippi among the rivers of wretchedness. it is an evil which is limited to no age, no nation, no sex, no period and call of life. it has taken the poor man at his toil and the rich man in his palace, the statesman in the halls of legislature, and the workingman on the street, the preacher in the pulpit, and the layman in the pew, and plunged them into a common ruin. since the time that noah came out of the ark and planted vineyards and drank of their wines, nearly five thousand years ago, we see the foul and murderous track, destroying some of the mightiest intellects, some of the happiest homes, some of the noblest specimens of man. it has supplied every jail, penitentiary, almshouse, and charity hospital with inmates, and flooded every city with bestiality and crime. it empties the pockets, disgraces the character, brutalizes the affections, brings disease to the body and poison to the intellect. it does infinitely worse,--it bars the soul out of heaven; for thus it is written: "no drunkard shall enter the kingdom of heaven." such is the result of appetites indulged, what it means when the flesh gains the supremacy, when a person turns himself over to become a slave of his lusts and excesses. nor let any one say as he looks upon such a miserable victim of this vice: "i shall never be like him." god grant that we may not, but "let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." the drunkard once thought the same. no one can be certain that he will not yet fill a drunkard's grave, unless he learn and employ the lessons which god has given us to overcome this enemy, the flesh. and which are these lessons, and how may this enemy be overcome? we shall mention two. the first is this: "keep thy heart with all diligence." our enemies are not only without, they are within. it is our savior who remarks: "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adultery, fornication," and other shameful sins. and the enemies within are the more dangerous, just as a traitor in our city is worse than the enemy without the walls. so, then, our first attention must be given to that. keep, _i. e._, watch, garrison the heart. how? keep from thoughts and purposes of sin. as long as we live in this sinful body, in the midst of a perverse generation and unchastisement, our eyes will behold scenes, our ears hear language, our imagination suggest pictures that are impure and lewd, but it's for the christian to watch that such gazes of the eye do not become purposeful, not to permit the imagination loose reins and range, that unvirtuous thoughts are not indulged in, but repressed; as dr. luther expresses it: "you cannot prevent the devil from shooting arrows of evil thoughts into your heart, but take care that you do not let such arrows stick and grow there." the young christian, who buys a ticket to the average theater, with its abounding sensualities, has no right to complain if his imagination is impure. can any one take coals of fire into his bosom and not be burned, handle pitch and not be soiled? the man and woman who delight in reading lewd books, sensational, spicy newspaper reports, who gaze upon indecent pictures, suggestive sights as they are euphemistically termed, who listen to smutty stories, evil communications, foolish jestings, as st. paul calls them; the woman who mixes in loose company, dresses indecently, and allows the thoughts to dwell upon any subjects which connect with such sin, need not wonder if the heart is invaded and influenced with unholy sentiments, and fleshly appetites run riot. guard your heart, what transpires therein, and what enters in, with all diligence. it was a wise man, in fact, the wisest of all men, one who, speaking from own sad experience, gave this advice. heed it, my dear hearer, heed it! and, again, the second lesson furnished by the holy apostle is this: "walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." there is a mine of wisdom in that. our religion not only tells us what not to do, it also tells us what to do; it is not only negative, it is positive. there are two ways of dealing with temptation. the one way is negative, the other is positive. "thou shalt not commit adultery," that is negative. we are to eradicate vice, that is positive. the effectual safeguard against drink is not prohibition. neither the most cunningly devised laws, nor the most unrelenting persecution of liquor dealers, nor any other device of man can arrest this terrible evil. to successfully combat it, to make the poor victim a worthy and honored member of society, requires some stronger and firmer basis, some more controlling motive than mere earthly considerations. "put on the lord jesus," is st. paul's plain direction, "and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." the eye that has gazed upon the cross of calvary with penitence and faith, the heart that has been regenerated by the washing of the holy ghost, and in whose soul is diffused the spirit of god, and who strives to walk in the spirit, he, and only he, can escape the temptations of the dreaded serpent of intemperance. and so, whatever the habit, you cannot wrestle successfully with a vicious habit, unless you cultivate a higher and different taste, a love for the things of god's spirit. life, to be safe, must stand for something, not simply against something, must express itself in the spirit, not simply suppress itself in the lust of the flesh. from away back in the past comes to us a voice, the voice of a young man who, when tempted by the dark-eyed adulteress in egypt, said: "how, then, can i do this great wickedness and sin against god?" oh, that the young and the old would let these words of joseph incessantly ring in their ears! a positive attachment, devotion to god will prompt us to be and to do what he wants you to be and to do, and as it inspires you to do what is right, it keeps you from doing that which is wrong. and here again, to conclude, in our combat against this enemy of our soul we cannot stand upright unless we have some mightier power to sustain us. we know as lenten christians whence this power flows. how can any one who has looked up to that divine sufferer in faith crucify him anew by unholy living? the thought of what he has done for us, the love that prompted him to shed his holy, precious blood for our sins, will restrain us from falling a victim to this insidious and wicked enemy. the lord grant us repentance over past falls, gracious forgiveness, and strength! plenteous grace with thee is found, grace to cover all my sin; let the healing streams abound, make and keep me pure within. amen. fourth sunday in lent. woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!--_matt. , ._ it has grown a custom with us to regard on this particular sunday some particular phase of sin. now there is a sin which very many people think little about; that is the sin of making others sin. they feel that they are accountable for their own sins, the sins of their hands, tongues, and thoughts, but as to responsibility for what others have done, they feel no guilt that belongs exclusively to them. and yet, when one reflects on the matter; when we consider how we are all bound up with one another, what influence we exert, what our words and deeds cause others to do, how, without our knowing it, others have taken our example to encourage themselves in what is wrong, thinking they could not go wrong if following in our steps; when we reflect that the first sin committed in the world was the sin of making others sin, that of the devil tempting eve to disobey god, and that the first evil consequence of man's fall was that eve, when she had sinned herself, was to make her husband sin also,--we begin to realize that it is a real sin, and a common sin, the sin of making others do wrong; nor can there be any doubt or mistake as to our lord's judgment concerning it. our blessed savior, in the course of his ministry, denounced woes upon other sins. he said: "woe unto thee, chorazin! woe unto thee, bethsaida! woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! woe unto that man by whom the son of man is betrayed!" but when he said: "woe unto the world because of offenses!" he qualifies it; he bitterly adds: "for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh! it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." it could have been no ordinary occasion, it can be no common sin that could have drawn from the merciful lips of our redeemer, that could have wrung from his loving heart, so tremendous a condemnation. let us regard, then, _i. in what way we may cause others to sin. ii. how we may prevent it._ may god's spirit make the words spoken profitable and instructive to every one of you! causing others to sin may be done in two ways: by direct temptation and by evil example. sin loves companionship; having done wrong themselves, men look for others to do wrong with them. there are but few sins that men can do alone. they require some one to sin with them. there is nothing an infidel loves so much as when he can gain the ear of some unsophisticated person to fill his mind with ungodliness and infamy. the vile libertine never gloats more in fiendish glee than when he can, by flattery or love of dress and amusement, make some innocent girl the tool of his debauched sensuality. it seems the delight of some to teach others the habit of taking god's name in vain. what shall we say of those foul brothels that, like poisonous mushrooms, pollute our cities, leading men's steps down to the house of the strange woman; what of the conventional drinking-houses and pool-rooms and gambling dens, the haunts of profanity, intemperance, and profligacy; what of the playhouses with their usual performances, beautifying vice and placing a low estimate on marriage and morals? what are those but just so many places and occasions of direct temptation to sin? and those who conduct and foster them are under the condemnation of this text. what are they but vultures that feed on the carrion of sin, making men's lusts and depraved animal passions a source of ungodly gain? no words would be a more truthful sign to place over the entrance of such places than these of matt. , : "woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!" but this is not the only way in which men may transgress this text. there are, be it said to the credit of our race, men who have not much scruple about doing wrong themselves, but who have not so far lost nobleness and generosity of mind as not to shrink from directly tempting others who are as yet free from guilt. they think little of the sin themselves, still they would not have others share their bad experience. however, though they would not like to bring on their souls the sin of directly tempting others, they forget what judgment they are heaping on themselves by their evil example. and here it is that we are all more or less concerned. it may be well to observe that in the paragraph preceding our text the lord is speaking of little children, and so, we may consider, first, the responsibility of parents. there are but few parents who do not desire to bring up their children well, and to this end are careful to teach them to be truthful and honest, pure, gentle, and unselfish. but of how little avail to teach these things as theories and principles when the example which parents set is precisely the opposite to their teaching! when the head of the family commands his children to attend divine service, but himself does not, what, in fact, is he teaching but to stay away? or does he think for one moment that the children are so foolish as not to reason thus: if it were really my duty to go to church, would not my father go himself? why do what my father fails to do? or if the wife and mother is seen by her offspring to practice deception in little things, resorts readily to untruth, is not "in" when she is "in," and the like, how quick they are to notice it, and grow up to think that truth and honesty are to be held as theories, rather than practiced as virtues. nor need we restrict it merely to the home sphere, it applies to every other, school, college, workshop, friendship. without limit is the effect of unconscious example. we uttered it as a mere joke, or what we styled as a harmless way of getting out of a difficulty, but the falsehood we uttered has stuck, and taken root in some one's mind near us, and blossomed into a full-blown way of lying, which he says he learned from us, and defends by our example. because when we were young, we looked up and trusted and admired some one, a teacher, a friend, on account of their attractiveness, or brilliancy, or personal magnetism, we imitated them, and that, perhaps, in things not at all commendable. and what we have done and do, others in time do with us. the minister who will tell his members and catechumens, you must mind only what i preach and not what i _do_, is a caricature and disgrace to his office. the religious teacher of the sunday-school who goes to places of frolic, and is seen by his or her pupils, or by the grown sisters and brothers of these pupils, who then defend their presence there because they, the teachers of religion, were there,--such teachers are dropping evil seed which strengthens others in wickedness, and do well to examine their conduct and character under the sharp lens of this text. the young man or, for all that, he, too, of advanced years, who is seen seeking his couch in the late hours of night, or the small hours of morn, apart from his family and the companionship of reputable associates, may also reflect how this is likely to affect the honor and peace of the home, and serve as an example for others. enough has been said, i take it, to make plain what is meant. and is this a sin to think little of? let us awake to our responsibility! no man liveth to himself. the moral impulse, the influence we exert, the example we set, god holds us answerable for them. what, then, to come to the next particular, shall we do if we have become guilty in this respect? i was once told of a man who on his deathbed had something on his conscience which greatly disturbed him. he had not been a bad man, from the world's standpoint, and it was only a boyish freak. what he related was this: "i was going across a common one day, and i saw a sign-post at the crossroads, pointing the way to two different places. the post was old, the sign easily removed, and so for fun i took down the arms and changed them, so as to make them point to the wrong roads. it was a foolish thing, but of late years it has continually haunted me. and now on my deathbed it greatly troubles me to think how many a poor, weary man crossing that common i have sent on the wrong road." beloved, this is a parable of life, nor leave it till you are on your deathbed. think if by your example you have ever sent any poor fellow-creature toiling across the common of this life on the wrong road, the road which leads to destruction, instead of the narrow way which leads to heaven! think if by any example of yours you have removed the guiding post which would have led the man aright had you not pointed out the wrong way, and if your conscience accuse you of this, repent of your guilt and ask god honestly and humbly for his forgiveness. that is the first thing we ought to do. and, in the second place, we must give most careful heed to ourselves. one thing we must never forget: we are christians, christ's disciples, and concerning his disciples, christ says: "ye are the salt of the earth, ye are the light of the world." that is their distinctive property, their mission. salt is an active principle; it works, and purifies, and diffuses its saltiness. so, too, it behooves us, by speech and pen, by example and influence, by suffrage and legislation, by every agency in our power, to set ourselves against the social sins of our land and age,--intemperance, lord's day desecration, uncharitableness, lewdness, insubordination, which, like cancers, have fastened themselves upon the moral and religious life of our nation, and are fast destroying its vitality. we are to be a salt, a savor of moral health to all who come into contact with us, and a light, so the savior directs. "let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven." we had respect to the evil example of parents,--why, correspondingly, should it not make for good? we find not uncommonly that the child catches the words, nay, even the tone of voice which he has heard his father use. will he not be still more likely to catch his other habits?--to be mild and kind, sober and industrious, if the manner and behavior of his father are marked by mildness, kindness, sobriety, and diligence? and so in all deportments. they are familiar lines, fraught with deep thought: lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time. let's leave some such footprints, some stimulating, ennobling influence and example, around and behind us. these, then, are the truths presented by the text. let them be seriously and deeply considered. may god by his grace deliver us from the bitter "woe" of having given offense, causing others to sin, and grant us wisdom and power to turn many into the right way through faith in christ jesus, the savior of sinners. amen. fifth sunday in lent. when i see the blood, i will pass over you.--_exodus , ._ the one grand theme, the central, all-pervading subject of the bible, from beginning to end, is redemption by the blood of christ. it matters not who held the pen, whether moses in the land of midian, or david in the mountains of israel, or daniel in the court of babylon, paul, a prisoner at rome, or john amid the bleak rocks of the isle of patmos,--one golden thread runs through all their records. just as in an orchestra the various notes and chords of the musicians' instruments express the one central idea of the composition they are rendering, so whatever chords are touched by the hands of the holy writers in god's book, one keynote vibrates, that is, _salvation through the blood of the lamb_. "the blood of jesus christ, god's son, cleanses us from all sin," is the testimony of st. john. "ye know that ye were redeemed by the precious blood of christ," is the plea of saint peter. "justified by his blood," is the gospel of st. paul. and the voices of heaven blend with those of earth, for thus is the saints' eternal song: "worthy is the lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to god by his blood." and this is the church's theme on this particular sunday, as it reads in the epistle: "christ by his blood hath obtained eternal redemption for us." the past sundays in lent have we been seeking to learn what sin is and what sin does; how could we more appropriately spend this service than to consider how we may be saved from sin, and in that may the scripture selected profitably aid us. eight times had pharaoh's hardened heart brought sorrow upon the people of egypt. as one calamity after another was fulfilled, he seemed softened for a while and willing to comply with god's command to let his people israel go, but no sooner was the pressing plague removed than he again defied the lord of heaven. and now the tenth, the last and most dreadful and desolating of visitations, was to be sent. the king and his people are informed that, if israel were not allowed straightway to depart, the first-born in every home shall, at one and the same hour, be slain. but before the destroying angel started on his sorrowful mission, the israelites were directed to kill a lamb, to take its blood and besprinkle therewith the headpiece and the two sideposts of their dwellings. this was god's sacred mark. wherever that crimson sign would appear, the messenger of judgment was to pass over and spare. it was as told. at the hour of midnight the avenging angel swept over the land. all the first-born were slain. not a house where there was not one dead. in pharaoh's palace and in the pauper's hovel, stricken hearts bewailed the countenance of their eldest suddenly darkened by death. only in the houses of the hebrews there was security and peace, because the blood was on their doors. such is the simple historical event connected with our text, designed by god to foreshadow a far greater and more important event, an event that was to bear upon the whole race of man wherever, whenever, and however found. three leading thoughts are suggested thereby: _i. all men, like the inhabitants of egypt, are exposed to the destruction and penalty of death._ _ii. a means of escape has been supplied._ _iii. one condition that connects with that escape._ and may god's holy spirit work enlightenment and conviction! that man, to take up the first point, is exposed to destruction and death, is the clear and abundant testimony of scripture, and it tells why. "all have sinned," it says, and, "the wages of sin is _death_." "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." and is there a single heart among the sons and daughters of adam that dare offer remonstrance? since the time that the first human pair, smitten by the sense of guilt, hid themselves from the presence of the lord god among the trees of the garden, and their first-born son, with his hands reddened by a brother's blood, declared that his punishment was greater than he could bear, down to the ignoble disciple who, after selling the life of his master for filthy lucre, unable to bear the upbraidings of conscience, went and hanged himself, the consciousness of having broken god's law and exposed one's self to the righteous displeasure of the great lawgiver, has haunted and pained man everywhere and at all times, and filled him with a fear which all his own efforts and every human appliance is powerless to remove. why go farther than our own selves? is there a person here who can declare that never for a moment has his soul's surface been disturbed by feelings of regret, who can truthfully affirm that he has never known what it means to experience remorse for duty neglected, for wrong spoken or done? we have sought on previous sundays to drive home to your conscience the terrors of the law on matters of the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments; and do you mean to say that in a review of your past life you have no slightest pain of self-reproach along these lines? if not, then your spirit has been cast in a different mold from all others, or your memory and conscience are both fast asleep. i take it that all are ready to acknowledge not only that there is a law, a law written in god's word, as well as in your own hearts, but that we have also broken that law time and again, and thereby--to quote the familiar words of our catechism--"have we exposed ourselves to god's wrath and displeasure, temporal death, and eternal damnation." this is the a b c of christianity. and is there a way of escape, as in the case of egypt's death and destruction? no possibility of its being said: "i will pass over you"? ah, it is here that we come to the heart and center of our holy religion, its pith and core, its holiest of holy. sprinkled upon the headpieces and the two posts of their doors was the blood, god's own sacred mark. a lamb, none over a year old, none with the slightest taint or blemish upon it, was made to yield up its life in sacrifice to secure that blood. need i inform you what that typified, of whom that lamb was a type and shadow? that unblemished lamb of sacrifice referred to christ, "the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world." that innocent blood which turned aside the angel of death foreshowed the blood of christ, who through the spirit offered himself without spot to god. yonder upon that post with its two beams, reddened by crimson drops, is the fulfillment, the realization, of it all. simple, is it not? god, by the application of a coat of blood upon its homes, could redeem israel from the avenging stroke. it was not for any among them to speculate about it, to doubt and refuse it. to do so would have meant disaster. only in that blood was security, safety, and deliverance. there are many these days who are offended at the blood doctrine of the cross; they will have none of it; it's puerile to them. they know not whereof they speak. it reflects heaven's profoundest wisdom; it was thus, and only thus, that the authority and dignity of god's law could be maintained, and yet the transgressor pass unpunished. the supreme, the perfect and sinless lawgiver himself, even the eternal son, bearing the penalty in the room of those by whom it had been incurred, and on whom it must otherwise and most justly have fallen,--this is the only way in which peace could have been reinstated between god and man, deliverance made possible. and this, even this, is the great burden of the gospel message, the only balm of peace to the troubled soul, the only solid ground of hope for another life,--without which all in this world would be darkness, disorder, and despair. imagine a prisoner under sentence of death in his lonely cell; the last morning sun he ever expects to gaze on streaming through his grated window, and the sound of busy hammers erecting his gallows ringing in his ears, and, then, unbar the bolts of his prison, and instead of leading him out to execution, put into his hands the governor's pardon, and bid him go forth and enjoy till life's latest time the best and sweetest it can offer. or think of a crew of voyagers on a dark and stormy sea, a fearful hurricane above, all around perilous rocks and quicksand, and the vessel threatening every moment to part asunder below,--think of them wafted all at once into a peaceful harbor and landed on a hospitable shore. figure yourselves placed in such and kindred perilous circumstances, and followed by a like happy deliverance, and you will still have only a dim shadow of the glorious and blessed reality to which our text points. far more terrible than bodily bondage, more appalling than death of the body, is the terror and the doom that attends a soul exposed to the extent of god's wrath and destruction, and from that--deliverance, safety, and escape through the blood of the lamb. there is, however, one point still that practically and to each of us is the most important of all. it is not said simply: "i will pass over you," but, "when i see the blood, i will pass over you." it was not enough that the paschal lamb had been slain. nor was it sufficient that the most high lamb merely purpose to spare them as his chosen people. if they would escape the calamity that was to fall upon their heathen oppressors, they must sprinkle the blood of that lamb openly on the posts of their doors. and even so it is not enough that god will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth; not enough that the lamb of god was slain to take away the sins of a guilty world, unless that blood is sprinkled by faith on the heart, unless, in other words, christ is taken by each separately and individually as his or her savior. it is faith which forms the grand connecting link between the priceless blessings of redemption and the perishing sinner's soul. what avails it to the wretch who is being borne down by a rapid current nearer and nearer to the fatal cataract to throw him a rope if he will not grasp it? or what to him whose dwelling is in flames, to place a ladder for his rescue, if he will not so much as step upon it? even so, what will it serve any of us, but only fearfully to heighten our condemnation, to be told of the great salvation, and have that salvation pressed on us in almost every form of persuasive appeal, as the only means of escape from death and destruction, if we still refuse to it the homage of our hearts, and deem ourselves perfectly safe without, and treat it as an idle tale? christ's blood has been shed, but before it can work its wonders, can stay the arm of divine justice uplifted to smite, that blood must be sprinkled, too; and the reason why it is not sprinkled on some, why it is not sprinkled on all who have heard of it, why all such do not feel in their hearts and display in their lives its cleansing, sanctifying power, is, and can only be, their willful, stubborn unbelief. how it is with you whom i am now addressing it is not for me to say. those only who are thus marked have any right to count themselves to the lord's people, and to set themselves at the savior's table. let us hold, not as a dry doctrine, but as a blessed truth, that apart from christ's blood there is no salvation. let us fix our hearts with deeper and more prayerful love on him; let it be ours with a glow of spiritual fervor, a joy with which nothing else will compare, to confess: my hope is built on nothing less than jesus' blood and righteousness. amen. palm sunday. and god said unto jacob, arise, go up to bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto god that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of esau, thy brother. then jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments. and let us arise, and go up to bethel; and i will make there an altar unto god, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which i went.--_gen. , - ._ the passage before us refers to a very interesting part in the history of jacob. to escape the fury of his brother, esau, whom he had deprived of the patriarchal blessing, jacob, at the proposal of his mother, rebecca, flees to the house of his uncle, laban. on the first night of his journey he dreamed he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, angels ascending and descending upon it, god standing at the top; and god also speaks to the poor pilgrim resting on a stone beneath. he assures jacob that he was the lord god "of abraham, thy father, and the god of isaac." he promises to give the land of canaan to his seed, to render his offspring illustrious and innumerable as the stars of heaven, and finally, in one of his descendants, to bless all the families of the earth; and to accommodate himself still more to the condition in which jacob then was, he added: "and behold, i am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for i will not leave thee until i have done that which i have spoken to thee of." deeply impressed with this vision of god's presence, jacob arose. but before he proceeded upon his journey, he vowed a vow, saying: "if god will be with me and will keep me in this way that i go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that i come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the lord be my god, and this stone which i have set for a pillar shall be god's house, and of all that thou shalt give me i will surely give the tenth unto thee." twenty years had passed since that occasion, years of hard service and vexation, when jacob resolves to return home. he crosses the ford of jabbok, where he wrestled with the angel, and comes to shalem. here he buys a piece of ground, builds an altar, and lingers for seven or eight years; he was now enjoying the delights, the comforts of home and of plenty. god had fulfilled his engagement with him to the letter,--he had been with him and defended him, led him back to his country in peace and prospered him, who had had nothing but a staff in his hand when he fled before the face of his brother, until he was now two bands. but where is now his vow, where his altar, where the tenth of all his possessions, as he had promised? nor does he show the least disposition to redeem, to perform it; and so it becomes necessary for god himself to stir him up; and thus reads the first verse of the text: "and god said unto jacob, arise, go up to bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar unto god that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of esau, thy brother." from this little piece of history let us seek to derive some instructive observations, and pertinent with this sunday, the character of which is well known to you. first, we may note how soon the influence of impressive scenes wears away, how quickly we lose the sense of god's mercies, and the religious feelings they produce. if a person had seen jacob on the morning after his vision, when he was leaving the spot made sacred by his experience there, and had said to him: "god will accomplish all thy desires; he will guide and keep thee, and bring thee back enriched and multiplied, but thou wilt live year after year unmindful of thy vow," he would have exclaimed, "what! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" how were the israelites affected when god appeared at the red sea? they sang his praise, they resolved to distrust him no more. they said, "all that the lord commandeth us will we do." but they soon forgot his words and the wonders he had shown them. they murmured, and they rebelled time and again; all their vows and promises were written in the sand, and the first returning wave of trouble washed them out. if some kind of spiritual device, after the manner of our present day, could be invented to secure our feelings in certain periods and conditions of life, so that we might afterwards review them and compare ourselves, what revelations it would disclose! like a sieve, full while lowered, but, when raised up, empty and dripping, or like water, which has a natural tendency to be cold, if it has not a perpetual fire below to keep it warm, so do we constantly need means and helps; so necessary is it to have our minds stirred up by way of remembrance; and as we learn from our text, god also does that. he reminds his people of forgotten duties. various are his ways of doing so. one of his principal designs are afflictions. when difficulties are upon us, it is then that we remember former deliverances and vows, and our ingratitude in not keeping them. another such witness and monitor is man's conscience, which accuses the transgressor, and often presses a thorn into man's side. ministers of the gospel are also god's remembrancers. their business is, not to bring strange things to your ears, to entertain you with novelties or speculation, but their calling is to remind you of things you already know. as st. peter writes: "i will therefore put you in remembrance of these things, though ye once knew them," and st. paul says: "if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of jesus christ." and our text furthermore shows us that good and pious characters give heed to these reminders. there is where we perceive a difference between christians and others. christians, it is true, are encompassed with faults and infirmities, they may err; they may fall, but there is in them a principle which secures their rising again. a man who is only asleep is easily distinguished from one who is dead; the difference will appear as soon as you try to wake them; the one remains motionless, the other stirs and springs up. the branch of a tree may bend down to the earth under a pressure, but remove the load, and it is upright again. when our lord looked only upon peter, "he went out and wept bitterly." jacob here does not argue the matter with the lord. he does not seek to excuse himself. thus reads the second verse: "then jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments." here we may stop a moment to emphasize the truth that there may be wickedness in a religious family. we find "strange gods" even in jacob's, the patriarch's, household, and we may view such a condition in two ways,--first, as a good man's affliction, and also as a good man's own fault. an affliction it certainly is to behold wickedness in one's family. it is bad enough to have bodily sickness and ailment in the house, but it is immensely worse to have sin, the plague and pestilence of the soul. but, could we see things as god sees them, could we trace back effects to their cause, we would ofttimes not be surprised at the disorder and wickedness which prevails. how many masters of families resemble eli, whose "sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not,"--or david, "who had never displeased adonijah at any time in saying, why hast thou done so?" others, again, have provoked them to anger, till they are discouraged; while they preach humility and meekness in words, they practice pride and passion by example; while they send them to receive the nurture and admonition of the lord at the hands of others, they rarely or ever recommend religion by their own personal behavior,--and they then wonder at irregularities in their households. rather ought they wonder at their own folly in seeking "to gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles." observe jacob here, he would not go alone, but calls upon his family, and all that are with him; everybody must attend. and thus our religious interest should not be confined to ourselves alone, we must bring our families along with us to the exercise of devotion. in our own families we possess authority and influence, and this authority and influence we are to employ for religious as well as civil purposes. god holds us answerable for it. there is nothing more lovely than the members of a family going to the house of god in company. such families are nurseries of their churches, and it is with delight that a minister addresses a hopeful audience made up of a number of amiable, orderly, serious-minded families. but oh! how it pains one to see you separated, and coming in alone,--the wife without the husband, the father without the son, the mother without the daughter. reflect on these things, my beloved. it is sometimes said that so few of those who make their confirmation vow remain loyal. to me it is inspiring that so many do remain loyal when you consider the influence and the atmosphere in the homes they come from. never a christian word escapes the lips of the mother; all kinds of political, secular newspapers and books are daily read, never a line of god's word or a church-paper. all sorts of time set aside for visits and trivialities on god's day, never for divine service. there remains yet the third and last verse: "and let us arise and go up to bethel; and i will make there an altar unto god, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which i went." jacob arrives at bethel, he looks around, he discovers the stone, now covered with moss, which, twenty-eight years ago, had served as his pillow. what feelings must have throbbed through his soul! what shame! what joy! and he fulfills his vow, erects an altar, does god honor and service, and gives the tenth to him of all he possesses. the application of all this? to you who have this day laid down upon god's altar your vow of allegiance, let jacob be to you an example of warning. god greatly disapproved of jacob's delay, his forgetting and breaking of promise, and, as we heard, he himself suffered by it,--wickedness, strange gods, had gotten into his household. vastly more noble than his conduct was that of the woman who one day appeared in the temple leading by the hand a lad, and, presenting him to the high priest, said: "for this child i prayed, and the lord hath given me my petition which i asked of him. therefore, also, i have lent him to the lord; as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the lord." you know who he was--samuel, afterwards israel's high priest and judge. may you prove to be samuels brought hither to the temple, become useful members. it is only thus you may glorify god. or, those who, perchance like jacob, have neglected their vows, who blush to recall them, let them take this episode to heart, strive with the aid of that god who called jacob's vow to remembrance to fulfill their engagements; following the patriarch, may they say: "let us go up to bethel," that means, to the house of god. the lord grant you christian courage and determination! amen. easter. marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.--_john , . ._ "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in hope of the resurrection to eternal life, through our lord jesus christ." these solemn words, pronounced at the most solemn time, at the close of man's earthly career, are familiar words, and each lord's day do we confess in words equally as familiar: "i believe in the resurrection of the body." in that committal and confession we say much. we voice a belief that is peculiarly, distinctively christian. natural reason, assisted by some light lingering in tradition and borrowed from the jews, was able to spell out the immortality of the soul; but that the body should rise again, that there should be another life for this corporeal frame, was a hope which has been brought to light by revelation only. when natural man hears the doctrine the first time, the mere natural mind marvels. the next thing it does, as the philosophers at athens, when paul preached it unto them,--it mocks. "can these dry bones live?" is still the unbeliever's sneer. the doctrine of the resurrection is a lamp kindled by a hand which once was pierced. it is linked with the resurrection of our blessed lord, and is one of the brightest gems in his crown. throughout the writings of the holy apostles do we find them giving great prominence to this truth. the apostle paul, as he describes the gospel by which true believers are saved, says: "i deliver unto you first of all that which i received,--how that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures," and argues that, "if christ be not raised," both your faith and our preaching are "in vain." in the early church the doctrine of the resurrection was the main battle-ax and weapon of war. wherever the first missionaries went, they made this prominent that the dead would rise again to be judged by the man christ, according to the gospel. it is, indeed, the keystone of the christian arch. let us, then, to the honor of christ jesus, the risen one, regard this article of our faith so prominent in the easter thought of man, observing _i. the certainty of the resurrection_, _ii. its results_. "the hour is coming," saith the savior. those words spoken by the mouth of truth express certainty. there are some events which may or may not be. kingdoms and the great powers of the earth may stand or they may fall, their throne broken into dust and their might wither like autumn leaves. events which we suppose inevitable may never come to pass, another wheel in the machinery of providence may make things revolve in quite another fashion from what our puny wisdom would foretell. there is nothing certain on this earth, in fact, but uncertainty. but the resurrection is certain, whatever else may be contingent or doubtful. "the hour cometh," it surely cometh. in the divine decree it has been so unchangeably fixed. "the hour," saith christ. i suppose he calls it an hour to intimate how very near it is in his esteem, since we do not begin to look at an exact hour of an event when it is extremely remote. an event which will not occur for hundreds of years is at first looked for and noted by the year, and only when we are reasonably near it, do men talk of the day of the month, and we are coming very near it when we look for the precise hour. christ intimates to us that, whether we think so or not, in god's thoughts the day of resurrection is very near. he would have us think _god's_ thought about it, not reckon any time too distantly and the event far away. this, too, is practical wisdom, to bring close up to us that which is inevitable, and to act towards it after a manner as though it were but to-morrow when the trumpet might sound. and most significantly does our lord speak of that "hour." he calls it "the hour." we read of hours that have been big with the fate of nations; hours in which the welfare of millions trembled in the balances; hours in which the die was cast for peace or for war; hours that have been called "crises" in history. but here is the culminating crisis of all, the master, the royal, the august hour that is coming. every second, every swing of the pendulum, every beat of the heart of time is bringing it nearer; silently, surely, we are drifting along the river of time to the ocean of eternity, and there is nothing to stop the constant flight. we pass on. "marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice." "all that are in the graves,"--by this term is meant, not only all whose bodies are actually in the grave at this time, but all who ever were buried, though their bones may have mingled with the elements, been scattered by the winds, dissolved in the waves, or merged into vegetable forms, all who have lived and have died--all these. all! what a numberless number! think of the inhabitants of this world at the time of the flood, more numerous then than now when men's numbers are so terribly thinned out by death! think from the time of the flood onward, of adam's vast offspring! nineveh, babylon, and chaldea, and persia, and greece, and rome were enormous empires of antiquity. the parthians and scythians, and tartars, and goths, and huns in the middle ages, what teeming hives of humanity; and our present communities and nations, what a numberless band! think of ethiopia and the whole continent of africa; remember india and japan and the land of the setting sun; in all lands great tribes of men have come and have gone to rest in their sepulchers. what millions upon millions lie buried in china this day, a country of millions. what innumerable hosts are slumbering in the land of the pyramids, embalmed in egypt of old. and every one, all who have ever lived of woman born,--not one shall be left in the tomb. _all_,--all the righteous and the wicked; all that were engulfed in the sea; all that slumber in the lap of the earth; all the great and the humble, all the children of luxury and the sons of toil; all the wise and all the foolish; all the beloved and the despised. there shall not be one single individual omitted, nor you, my dear hearer. as surely as you sit here this morning, so surely shall you stand before the son of man. you shall not be forgotten; your departed spirit shall have its appointed place, and your body, which once contained it, shall have its place, till, by the power of god, it shall be restored to your spirit again at the sounding of the last trumpet. it is a wondrous truth, and yet, as the savior directs, "marvel not at this," so as to doubt it, though you may marvel at it and adore the lord, who shall bring it to pass. and so it continues: "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice." yes, that ear that was buried a thousand years ago, and of which there was not the slightest relic left, that ear so long lost in silence, it shall hear--hear the almighty voice of that god who made man's ear at the beginning, who makes the ear of the newborn babe now, and is able, according to the working whereby he is able to do all things, to renew and refashion the ear, and hearing it shall start up, as the next words say, "shall come forth." it is not in the power of man's speech or imagination to conceive what a spectacle it shall be when, as the heavens are passing with a great noise, and the elements are burning with furnace heat, the angels are sounding the arrival of the great day of judgment, we shall see the multitudes in the valleys of the dead rising up from land and sea, from mountain top and deep ravines, swarming up a great and countless number before the bar of their judge. ah, what a sight it will be! what a wonder! and how will they look? you may naturally inquire. in answer i would say on the basis of god's word: like themselves. to each one will be given "his own body." our resurrected body, whatever it may exactly be and however different and superior it will undoubtedly be to our present body, will yet in some way be identical with our present body, and it will so far retain the appearance and individuality of our present body that in that future resurrected body we shall easily be recognized by those who knew us, and will be known as the same distinct personalities which we are now known to be in our present body. "though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall i see god." we pass on to weigh the results. the text goes on to say: "and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." from this we gather that the whole family will be divided as it is even now, indeed, into two, and only two, classes of characters: "they that have done good," and "they that have done evil." who are those who have done good? by nature no one is "good." we are all sinners. there is none righteous, no, not one. the best of us are unprofitable servants. we can only be "good" in our way, and that is by having the goodness of another, the goodness of christ set down to our account. then, when we are thus joined to christ by faith in him, we shall, from principle, strive to do good. good, my beloved, is a word that may be measured according to those who use it. the "evil man," the unpardoned sinner, may "do good" in his sense and the sense of the world,--good to you, to his child, his wife, his friend, but he has no care for god, no reverence, no esteem for the great lawgiver. therefore, that which may be good to you may be ill to god, because done for no right motive, even perhaps done with a wrong motive. it depends upon what position i occupy towards my god and christ that determines on the day of resurrection, and that position is either for or against him; there is no middle, mixed, or mingled character. i am either a pardoned sinner or an unpardoned sinner, and my destiny will be accordingly. and what will that destiny be? either "life" or "damnation." "life" does not mean here mere existence; for both will exist, and exist forever, the "evil" and the "good." but "life" means happiness, joy, rapture, bliss; in fact, it is a term so comprehensive that it needs no small time to express all that it means. as for the other, theirs shall be a resurrection to damnation; their bodies and souls will come under the condemnation of god,--to use our savior's word, "shall be damned." we are shocked at the very sound of the word. we may well be so; we should be ten thousand-fold more shocked, if we really knew what the word fully means. it is vain for us to describe it, and we are loath to describe it. it were better for such that they had never been born, never awakened. from so terrible a portion, from thy wrath and from evil damnation, good lord, deliver us! we have thus seen, first, the certainty of resurrection, and secondly, the results. it remains, in conclusion, to draw one or two lessons from the text. the first is a lesson of consolation. we are frequently called upon to stand beside opened graves; some of you have stood there lately. what comfort for our wounded spirits is such meditation: to never mourn with regard to the souls of the righteous because they are forever with the lord. the only mourning that we permit among christians concerns the body, and here god's word offers us the assurance: weep not as though you had cast your treasure into the sea, where you will never find it again. you have only laid it by in a casket, whence you shall receive it again brighter and more beautiful than before. thou shalt look again with thine own eyes into those eyes which have spoken love to thee so often. thy child shall see thee again. that departed friend and father and mother, having loved his lord as thou dost, shall once rejoice with thee in the land where they die no more. it is but a short parting; it will be an eternal meeting. forever with the lord, we shall also be forever with each other. "let us comfort one another," says the apostle, "with these words." the other lesson is that of self-examination. if we are to rise, some to rewards and some to punishments, what--let each conscience ask--what shall be my position? where shall i stand? that depends upon what your life and your life's principles have been. what has it been? to amass wealth? to procure honor? to provide for your family? if so, it has been deficient. life's object and duty is to prepare for life, for the resurrection unto life. and to prepare for that, you must undergo a resurrection right now. there is as great a difference between men now as there will be hereafter. at present we have all living bodies, but in those living bodies, what is the state of the soul? there are in some living bodies living souls. there are in other living bodies souls that are dead. and that dead soul must be resurrected to life, or salvation is out of question; and that resurrection must take place _now_; it is too late hereafter. it takes place when you now give heed to that same divine voice that shall start the dead into life, the voice of christ jesus in his gospel and church. "he that believeth on him hath life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." easter calls for a rising up to spiritual life now, that it may be a resurrection unto eternal life, when all the dead shall come forth from the grave at the voice of him who this day so gloriously arose from the tomb. may we be partakers of both! amen. first sunday after easter. but when the morning was now come, jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples knew not that it was jesus.--_john , ._ the last chapter of the gospel of st. john takes us back to some of the scenes and circumstances of christ after his resurrection. the immediate text portrays to us how seven men come slowly and thoughtfully down to the narrow beach, enter a boat, and push out a little way from the land. they are clad in the coarse garb of galilean fishermen. their faces are bronzed by exposure to the wind and the sun; their hands calloused from dragging the dripping net and pulling the laboring oar. but they are men destined to hold the highest mark among the great teachers of mankind. foremost among them is simon peter, fiery soul, as ready to smite with the sword as to weep in sorrow at a look from his lord. after him follows john, the gentle and loving, who leaned on his master's bosom at the passover. then comes thomas, the slow and distrustful, so honest in his doubts and so yielding in his confession. then james, who was the first to seal his faith with the blood of martyrdom. lastly nathanael is mentioned, the upright and guileless, whilst the names of two are withheld. says simon peter to this number: "i go a-fishing." the rest join in, and soon the crew sets sail for the higher waters, but with no success. the long hours pass in fruitless toil; day creeps into evening, evening into night, night into morning, and still they cast and cast, and catch nothing. at earliest dawn a figure appears on the beach, and a voice is heard speaking to them. the text tells who it was. for some reason, as our text states, they do not distinguish him. perhaps it is because they are not expecting him, and it is still morning twilight, and they cannot see distinctly, or, what is more probable, because some change has come over his risen body like that which on resurrection sunday had prevented mary magdalene and the two disciples journeying to emmaus from readily recognizing him. taking him, quite probably, to be a fish-dealer, one of those who daily came out at dawn from the town to meet the boats and make their purchase, they hear a voice coming to them from the dim shore, saluting them,--to translate the question into our english idiomatic equivalent, boys, what luck? "none," answer the weary fishermen. again the voice sings out to them, "cast." no sooner done than their net was filled with fishes. and then at once, by a spiritual instinct, rather than by the vision of his eyes, john knew who this stranger was, and said to the rest, "it is the lord." whereupon, "when simon peter heard that it was the lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea." it is this beautiful incident that we shall regard in a few phases, in accordance with this season and practical life. in the first place, let us note that the resurrected lord revealed himself, and still reveals himself to us in the midst of our daily work. the lord came to these men while occupied with the toils and duties of their trade. many are the instances in which it has pleased god to show his special favor to persons while earnestly occupied with their ordinary callings. david was summoned from the care of his father's flock to be israel's king. elisha was following the plow when called to be elijah's successor. it was to faithful shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night that the angel choirs were sent to announce the birth of the prince of peace, and here, while the disciples were busily engaged in their familiar toils, it was that jesus came and manifested himself to them. was there not something very instructive in this appearance at such a time? it showed that jesus ratified their decision to be up and doing. it showed that he was present with them in the midst of all their work. it showed, too, that upon his presence depended entirely the success of their labors, for before his arrival they had caught nothing; their nets were only filled with seaweeds. it was through his direction and through his direction alone, that their nets at last were filled with fish. what a lesson this for all faithful toilers, whether on sea or on shore, the lesson that jesus is with us in our daily tasks, whatever these tasks may be. we know that jesus himself once stood in the ranks of the world's toil. many a day, for many a year, he wrought in the sweat of his brow in the carpenter shop at nazareth. he thus stamped with the approval of his own example the work of every toiler, and showed the high dignity that belongs to all honest labor. by this manifestation of the risen jesus to those fishermen of galilee he sanctified and glorified the work of his children. like that dim figure on the shore of the sea of tiberias, jesus stands over against us, watching us with eyes of sympathy, and waiting to bless us with his counsel and help. he has not changed. he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. let us not forget this glorious truth as we bend over our desks, or machines, stand behind sale counters, or move in household duties; the thought: jesus is looking on, will shed its hallowed light upon the "common task," as it is styled, fill us with courage and cheerfulness, though our own work be irksome and hard, and enable us to do it faithfully, to quote the words of the apostle, "not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, as unto the lord," who looketh on. again, we note, jesus revealed himself to his disciples on this occasion, not only in the midst of their daily work, but in the _hour of their failure and disappointment_. they had gone forth to catch fish; but they had caught nothing. they were wet and cold, weary and hungry. and it was to these tired and disappointed men that the lord appeared. he filled their nets with fish; he filled their hearts with the joy of his presence, nor did he forget their bodily comfort and needs, he kindled a fire upon the shore, and provided for them a welcome meal of fish and bread. and christ's methods, my beloved, have not altered with the years. that scene on lake gennesaret is an allegory with a deep meaning for ourselves. it reminds us that our schemes and plans and endeavors, toil however hard we may, not infrequently meet with disappointment. we have perhaps all of us experienced what the poet says: oh! it is hard to work for god, to rise and take his part; upon this battle-field of earth, and not sometimes lose heart. he hides himself so wondrously as though there were no god, he is least seen when all the powers of ill are most abroad. or, he deserts us at the hour; the light is all but lost, and seems to leave us to ourselves just when we need him most. and yet, to speak with the text, though we may recognize him not, he is tenderly watching us from the shore. he has long since passed over to his glory. but while his disciples are yet on these waters, he keeps himself near the margin, and looks down upon them in their toil. his great heart is with us all in our disappointments, difficulties, and disheartening endeavors, and in some way, at the right time, he will come, just as yonder on the sea of galilee, to help us. let us believe that, and go ahead with our present duties, steadily, bravely, hopefully. hopefully, i repeat; there is all the difference in the world between working with hope and without it. the sailor on the raft sinks into despair as long as there is no vessel in sight, but let a ship appear on the far horizon, and immediately he is alert, and seeks by every means in his power to attract the attention of those on board, if, haply, he may be saved. in the same way, if we lose the hope of christ's help, we shall give up and break down. let us hold on, no matter what we are required to contend against in the battle of life, in the lord's cause, and rest assured that at length christ will come to us with such strength and supply as will abundantly compensate us for the toil and worry. let us believe that, or we shall fail in our undertakings. nor only, to follow our text, in the midst of work and disappointment, but in the time of spiritual doubt and difficulty does jesus reveal himself. in those days the hearts of the disciples were burdened with many regrets and uncertainties and fears. in that stern of that very boat perchance their master had often reclined, upon those same waters, and as they sat throughout those long and weary hours with the sails idly flapping, or plying the long, heavy oars, the waves splashing against the side of the boat, how these various sights and sounds must have reminded them irresistibly of one who used to be beside them constantly, and of the vanished happiness when they had been his pupils and his friends. that life of close companionship was ended now. their beloved master had been taken from them by wicked hands and crucified and slain. and, though since he had already appeared to them after his resurrection, and assured them of his living presence and power, yet he had appeared only to vanish away, and they did not know exactly how they were to think of jesus, or what he would have them do. they were in a state of spiritual doubt and uncertainty, full of regrets for the vanished past, and with no clear outlook for the years to come. jesus appears to them on this morning. they learn more fully who he was, and also what he would have them do. immediately following this description is the interview he had with peter, three times directing him, "feed my lambs, feed my sheep." he was teaching them all the while a valuable lesson. up to this time they had been in visible companionship with the lord; he was now educating them into the thought that, though his visible form should be withdrawn, his personal presence would be with them still. in short, he was preparing them to believe the great truth, on which the very existence of the christian church depends, and which he announced to them in the words of his parting promise: "lo, i am with you alway, even unto the ends of the world." it is quite similar with believers now. our faith is often sorely tried, we are "tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt." we need those things; the lord is thereby educating us, teaching us some lesson or lessons, so that our faith may become stronger, purer, and better. "doubt," one has said who lived long ago, "doubt is the daughter of the devil." there is that kind of a doubt which is the sign of an enlarging faith. of that sort was thomas. how gloriously it was removed, and he the better for it! so with these men here, and so with us. not seldom do we find a soul must be tossed all night upon a dark, tempestuous sea of doubt and misgiving before jesus comes with the morning light to speak his word of peace, and to make all things plain. this leads to the last thought, _viz._, that jesus reveals himself to the eyes of those who love him. we must not think that work, or disappointment, or religious doubt, in themselves, insure the vision of the lord. on the contrary, it may be these things precisely that veil him from our sight. sometimes a man's work so absorbs his heart that he has no thoughts left for spiritual things. and sometimes worldly disappointments only make a man hard, bitter, and cynical, while spiritual doubt drives him into sheer unbelief and black despair. a certain condition of heart is needful in order that these things become blessings, the occasion of fresh revelations of the lord. this narrative suggests which it is. it was john who saw jesus first in the figure that stood on the shore, and john, as we know, was the disciple who loved jesus most and best, and there was a real connection between these two facts. it was the love of john's heart, rather than the sharpness of his eyes, that enabled him to say, "it is the lord"; for love detects the loved one afar off, and where others see only the indistinguishable figure of a man, it cries: "nay, it is he himself." and love, my beloved, is still and always a great condition of spiritual knowledge. "he that loveth me," said jesus, "shall be loved of my father, and i will love him and will manifest myself to him." often, like those fishermen of galilee, we have to face life's duties and burdens with a dull and heavy heart; if there is love to christ, he will appear to our faith, if not to our sight, filling our hearts with the joy of his presence and compelling us to say in wonder and delight: "it is the lord." god grant that we may know him in this life, so that when the morning of eternity dawns upon us, we may see christ standing on the shore of heaven and hear his words of welcome. amen. second sunday after easter. so when they had dined, jesus saith to simon peter, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these? he saith unto him, yea, lord, thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my lambs. he saith to him the second time, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me? he saith unto him, yea, lord, thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my sheep. he saith unto him the third time, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me? peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? and he said unto him, lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee. jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep.--_john , - ._ it was on the shore of the sea of galilee. the first pale shafts of the rising sun were shooting across the eastern sky, revealing seven fishermen out upon the water in a little boat. all night they had been toiling, rowing and letting down their nets, but nothing had they caught. disheartened by their fruitless toil, they were just about to give up further attempt when a once familiar form is seen standing upon the beach, and they hear a voice telling them to cast the net on the right side of the ship. they heed the direction, and the success which follows--a draught of one hundred and fifty-three fishes--confirms them in their belief that it was their risen master who had given the command. thereupon they drag the boats to shore, and find a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon and bread, whilst he whom all know to be the lord, but whom none from holy awe dares ask, "who art thou?" bids them, "come and eat." it is here that our text sets in--one of the most pathetic incidents in sacred story. to understand it properly, we go back in spirit to that scene in the high priest's palace when peter, the bold and courageous, whose impulsiveness had caused him to promise great things, had shamefully and cowardly denied his master in the hour of distress. thrice had he averred that he knew not the man of whom they spoke, and aggravated his offense by denunciations and an oath. it was a grievous, a most terrible fall for the apostle, one that virtually excluded him from the circle of his fellow-disciples and from his holy office; and whilst it is true that he had wept in sorrowing repentance when the eye of his master had met his insignificant look, yet the occurrence was such as to demand a personal heart-to-heart interview and setting aright. this interview took place on the shores of the sea of galilee, after the miraculous draught of fish. everything tended to prepare the apostle for the holy scene. it was just three years before, at the same sea, after a similar miracle, that the lord had established him in his ministerial office. the early hour reminded him of the morning watch, that fire of coals answered to that fire of coals in the palace of caiaphas,--all of this must have touched peter's heart to the quick, made him exquisitively sensitive to the scene that followed. the particulars of that scene we shall now ponder, regarding, _i. the examination_, _ii. the charge_. when they had finished their meal, jesus said to simon peter, "simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me?" each designation is touchingly significant. "simon, son of jonas." why not "peter," the name he had himself once bestowed? because he had proved himself anything but a peter, a rock man. it was not as peter, as a rock, but as simon, son of flesh and blood, that he had acted in denying his lord. "simon, son of jonas, lovest thou _me_?" remembering what had occurred, how divine, how unspeakably tender a word! "lovest thou _me_?" even him whom thou didst say and confirm with an oath, "i know not the man," and more than these, as thou didst boastfully claim: "although all should be offended because of thee, yet will i never be offended." truly, a rigid examination if accompanied by the same look that once brought tears to his eyes, calculated to cut down deep into his innermost soul. moreover, the lord repeats the inquiry three times, evidently as a reminder of the thrice shameful denial. and what does the disciple reply? sad almost unto death, he would prefer to turn aside and give vent to his feelings in silent tears. but the lord has put a question to him, and speak he must, and so he responds with great tact and deep emotion, "yea, lord, thou knowest that i love thee." and the last time, with additional force, "lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee," as though he said: "others may misjudge me, these brethren and apostles, those servants in the high priest's palace, but thou, lord, the omniscient, knowest that i love thee." and we may believe that it was so. on the day of pentecost, when boldly confessing his master in the face of thousands, until the day when, pinned to the cross in rome, he at last made good his promise, "though i should die with thee, yet will i not deny thee,"--in all this we have the evidence of that love thrice avowed. and has that original scene on the shore of the sea of galilee and that question no concern and no application whatever for us? no superfluous or unprofitable inquiry, my dear hearers. if the lord were to appear personally in our midst this morning, look straight into your eyes, and, addressing you by your name, say, as he did to simon, son of jonas: "lovest thou me?" could you answer as promptly, as heartily as the apostle did, "yea, lord, thou knowest that i love thee"? or are there no tests by which to find out? it was written by a pious man, but it is poor, unchristian theology: 'tis a point i long to know, oft it causes anxious thought, do i love the lord or no? am i his, or am i not? we need only settle down to a faithful and impartial scrutiny with ourselves to find out, "lovest thou me more than these?" what "these"? love, according to its object, has been variously classified. there is social affection, or love of friends. in spite of much that has been said about the fickleness of friends and friendships, there is no darker lot and no gloomier epitaph could be inscribed upon the monument of any man than that: "he lived and died without a friend." history gives us many noble testimonies of its strength and beauty. we think of the bible account of david and jonathan. again, more beautiful and binding is the affection which subsists in the family circle. the bond that ties together husband and wife, that unites together brothers and sisters, brought up around the same domestic hearths, sharing in common joys and sorrows, how strong and enduring it ought to be, and especially that which exists between parents and the child. the recollection of a noble parent, of a devoted mother, time nor place nor change can ever uproot the affection from the heart. but, asks the voice of our text: "lovest thou me more than these?" there is one toward whom we sustain a still nearer and holier relation, one whose care surpasses that of an earthly parent, and whose love is more deep and sublime and unfailing than a mother's, even he who has created you, redeemed you, and who crowns not only your life, but your whole eternity with his goodness. it matters not what, and hence you may embrace in that riches, honor, property, possessions, fame and name, or even self,--there is one who requires that all these should be held in subordination to a still higher, all-sustaining affection. "lovest thou me"--is the question, "more than these," and where is the evidence? if you love a person, you will delight in the fellowship and company of that person. love finds its greatest happiness in the presence of the beloved. the thought of a long absence is painful, or hopeless separation, intolerable. it is so with him who asks "lovest thou me?" every opportunity of communion with him the believer values as a privilege. the word in which he speaks to him, the place in which he meets with him, the table which he spreads for him, these are his greatest delight, his favorite and fondest resort. again, if you love some one, you will constantly aim to please that person. you will be considerate of his feelings, you will refrain from any conduct that might be displeasing, and strive in every possible way to be of service and help to his interests. it is none else with christ. consideration for him and obedience to him, and that as a pleasure and privilege, is a criterion of our love to him; and this alone you will find where there is true attachment. the maiden that loves will think nothing of leaving a pleasant home to cast her lot with the man of her devotion. the mother will spend herself, unselfishly sacrifice her comfort, strength, and even life itself, for the objects of her affection, and this rule applies to the christian sphere.--no man ever possessed true love for christ who was not willing to lay down in sacrifice what he cherished highly. here, then, are a few criterions, and now, with all sincerity, repeat the question once more, "lovest thou me?" lovest thou my word, my house, my sacraments? is my service thy delight? what sacrifice art thou bringing? shall the savior say unto thee as delilah said unto samson: "how canst thou say, i love thee, when thy heart is not with me?" or are you able to say with the apostle, "lord, thou knowest that i love thee"? may we all be brought to love and adore, with our whole, undivided heart, him who loved us and gave himself for us, and who is the model and source of all pure and ennobling lives. but there is yet another consideration for us to weigh in the text. peter, making threefold confession of his attachment, is three times, after each answer, commanded, "feed my lambs," "feed my sheep." a desperate cause, in this passage as in a few others, wants to find a proof of peter's supremacy. there is a certain pontiff who wears a triple crown--the tiara--upon his head, styles himself peter's successor, and seals his briefs and documents with the "fisherman's ring," and he affects to rule all christendom in virtue of the right conferred on that apostle by christ. but in vain do we seek the scripture for any such reference, and surely no such sense is implied here. that scene on the shores of the sea of galilee can by no means be interpreted to mean that peter was being exalted above his fellow-apostles. neither could we regard it as a reproof and abasement. none other had so sorrowfully forfeited his charge as peter had, and it was not necessary to reinstate them. where, then, is the exaltation? nor is there any such a sense implied in the words themselves. "feed my lambs," is christ's direction. romanism, you will observe, exalts the ruling; you can see that in such words as pope, cardinal, primate, bishop, prelate, diocesan, throne, and so forth. protestantism emphasizes the "feeding." protestantism makes much of preaching, rome but little. rome exalts the clergy, protestantism gives prominence to the congregation. it is easy enough to decree and lord it over, it is not so easy to feed. and food is what a flock explicitly needs. it can live without edicts, it cannot live without food. observe, also, the pronoun "my" sheep. the flock was not peter's, it was the flock of peter's lord. the flock does not belong to the under-shepherd; it belongs to the chief shepherd. and did not peter himself--and that is one reason why his letters are never read in the romish church--very strongly denounce the very things which it is asserted that christ had invested him with: lordship over the church, a separate hierarchical priesthood, and refuse such honors as are freely given to his successor? as luther has well said: "popery never drew its doctrine from the bible, but uses it as a means to thrust upon the world an audacious system which has its origin somewhere else." nor can we leave entirely unnoticed the difference the lord makes between his people,--"feed my lambs," and again, "feed my sheep." some of christ's flock are lambs, lambs in years. perhaps there are more lambs than sheep, more true members of christ in the nursery and in the sunday-school and in the christian day-school than in the assembly of the adults, and these we are to feed, and it becomes those who are invested with the sacred office, and those who are supporting the sacred office, to dispense to them wholesome and health-sustaining spiritual food. our responsibilities in this respect are great, and all the greater because the more secular knowledge would crowd out religious, the many things that are now regarded needful, and set aside "the one thing needful." "feed my lambs," and, "feed my sheep," says the chief shepherd. see that they get the proper food and get it in proper proportion. and "my sheep;" we are not always to remain lambs. christian life is a growth. first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. first babes, and then we need milk; afterwards adults, and then we need meat. alas! that, like the writer of the letter to the hebrews, we are sometimes constrained to complain "that many of you who ought by this time be teachers, are yet needing again that one teach them the first rudiments of the oracles of god, having become such as have need of milk and not of solid food." this was a crisis in peter's life. hitherto he had been tended as a sheep, henceforth he was to tend as a shepherd. having been converted, that is to say, having been turned again to his master, he is henceforth to strengthen his brethren. what hinders us from doing likewise, pastors and teachers, educating, tending, and feeding the flock of god? this is the privilege of the laity, not less than of the ministry. when the laity really do their work, they, too, are really a ministry, true shepherds. but let us evermore keep in mind--which was the first part of our sermon--that the essential qualification, the principle of such service, as it is the only thing that will render your work delightful and carry you through all difficulties, is love to christ, "lovest thou me more than these?--feed my sheep." amen. third sunday after easter. neither do men, light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.--_matt. , . ._ the religion of jesus christ is the religion of everyday life. he touched the common things, and, like a magic wand, they changed into the finest gold. he went into the kitchen for a text, and transfigured the meal, the dough in the bread wrought into a parable of god's working grace. he went into the garden or the woods, and found a lesson in the springing seed and the flowers which carpeted the ground. "consider the lilies," he said in his sermon on the mount. he went on board the fishing boat, and the nets become a picture of the kingdom of heaven. here, in this immediate verse, our lord steps into an eastern or oriental house for a text and speaks under the illustration of an article which is to be found in every home, of a candle, or rather, a lamp. the apostle peter, who was present at the original preaching, must have carefully noted the comparison, for he speaks in to-day's epistle-lesson in nearly the same language as his master when he admonishes his hearers to let people see their good works and thus glorify god. may we do likewise as we shall now regard, under god's blessing, the christian's duty to let his light shine before men, observing, _i. how this is done_; _ii. why it ought to be done_. be it noted, my beloved, at the outset, that man, in and of himself, is not a light; he is darkness. says the apostle, writing to the ephesians, "ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye a light in the lord." how did they get light? not by worldly science and learning. many are very learned and literate, and yet their souls are enwrapped in thick darkness and without hope in the world. and there are those who are illiterate, incompetent to read and write, who rejoice in this light as the star of their hope. in the eighth chapter of john the lord says: "i am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." jesus christ, then, and he alone, is the one true light. to have light, light unto eternal life, you must seek, embrace him as your savior, your righteousness, the propitiation and reconciliation for your sins. you must recognize in him the wisdom of god and the way to god. here you have in what sense christians are lights, _viz._, by jesus christ. the sun shines by its own inherent light, the moon by borrowed light. in itself a dark body the moon shines only because the light of the sun falls upon it and is reflected from it. christ is the sun of righteousness, resplendent in his own glory, which he had before ever the world was. we have our light from christ, the true light, which lights every man, says the bible, that cometh into the world. and what dispensation is made of this light? "neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." a candle or lamp under a bushel would be of no advantage to any one. a light locked up in a cupboard would leave the house in darkness. correspondingly, we christians are meant to be lights that can be seen. a man cannot be a christian in secret. it is a delusion if a person thinks he might be a christian privately for himself, that he need not associate with, join the church, or make a public confession of his faith. in the days of christ many of the chief rulers believed on him, but because of the pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogues. it is said of them that they loved the praise of men more than the praise of god, and had their reward. we, my brethren, as christ's people, must not keep our religion locked up or hidden; we must not be ashamed of it, and we must not be selfish about it. if you believe in the truth of the gospel; if you hold the doctrine of the church; if you reverence the bible; if you are given to prayer,--hang out the light, let others know it, put that precious lamp where others may share it. what use is there to tell us that such and such a person is a burning and shining light in the religious world, unless we can see his light shining before men? they are no more helps as guides than a lighthouse whose lantern is gone out; no one is the better for it. and this light is twofold; it is a light of warning, and it is a light of holy example.--a light of warning. if you look at a great railway station at night, you will see numbers of lamps, some showing a red, some a green, some a white light. these are all warnings to the many trains leaving or entering the station, and upon them depends the safety of hundreds of lives. if the signal man fails to show the red light when there is danger, wholesale destruction follows. dear hearers, there are times when we are called upon to show the danger signal. if we see a relative or friend deliberately going into danger, taking a course which means ruin to his character, ruin to his soul, what is our duty? are we to say, i am very sorry, and thus hide our light under a bushel? no, we must try to stop a brother from destruction; we must say a word of warning, kindly, tactfully, but firmly; we must say, for god's sake, stop! if you see an acquaintance imbibing too freely, frequenting the place at the corner, show him the danger, hang out the red light. if you see young people neglecting religious duties, slinking about after dark in bad company, going with those who bet and gamble,--let them go? no; try to turn them on a safe road; hang out the red light, the danger signal. i once read of a man who was engaged as a laborer on a railway. one stormy night, when he returned to his cabin, he found that a sudden landslide had occurred, and that part of the track was blocked where the express would pass in a few moments. would he remain quiet and let the accident happen? what could he do to show the danger signal? he had in his cabin an old lantern lighted by a piece of candle, but that would not show the red light. then, when the roar of the advancing train was audible in the distance, he seized a glass flask and with the broken neck cut into the veins of his wrist he let the blood color the lantern, and the candle shone through it with a dim red light, and this, scarcely able to stand, he held up on high, just in time to stop the express at the edge of destruction. take that illustration for what it is worth, just so it impresses you with the importance of showing the red danger signal unto others. and so it is also with the signal light that is clear and white, the signal of holy example. let that also shine. as we look carefully at our text, it would seem as if the master had two spheres in mind when he spoke these words. we are told that when the lamp or candle is put in its proper place and doing its proper work, it gives light to _all_ in the house. there is nothing like household religion. sometimes professing christians are very bright and shining lights in public, and quite dark in private, in the home and family circle. the right sort of christianity shows a pure, clear light amid the troubles, worries, and anxieties of home. it will not do for the wife to be a shining light in society or at the public meeting, and at home be fretful and unkind to her husband, a constant scold and a scare to her children, perpetually complaining and quarreling. it will not do for men to make brilliant speeches on the blessings and benefits of christianity, if they show no example of it by the fireside. take care of the home light; let it shine clear there, if anywhere. but not only there! a lady who was once asked to unite with a society of the church, no circumstances or other considerations preventing, declined, replying that she had a society to look after with which none compared. which is that? "that society is my family." there was truth in that; the family is the chief society. parents are to exercise a christian example in the home. christian discipleship, like charity, begins there. but it does not end there, nor is it restricted there. "no man liveth unto himself, neither alone unto his family." he belongs to his country, to his church, to the world, to mankind at large, and has duties toward them. "ye are the light of the world," is the language of the savior. what will men not do to gain followers for a party in politics and otherwise! and in matters of salvation, church, gospel, eternal life, we should be timid, silent, diffident, shy, reluctant to open our mouths and assert our convictions, stand aside, and place our convictions under a bushel? surely, that's not letting the light shine. so much as to the nature and mission of this spiritual light. in conclusion, a word as to the blessedness that attends it. this blessedness, in part, affects ourselves. blessing others, we are blessed. gaining others, we gain. i think here, by way of illustration, of the two travelers who, plodding along through snow and bitter cold, discovered a man lying by the roadside frozen and numbed. said the one, "i cannot stay here to attend to this fellow, i must take care of my own life." the other, like the good samaritan of old, remarked, "i cannot pass on without having made some attempt to restore him," whereupon he set about to rub him with all his might. his efforts were rewarded; after a little while the unfortunate man opened his eyes, and, arising, went with his rescuer. what surprise was theirs when, passing along, they saw the man who had selfishly and heartlessly continued his way, lying frozen to death. the good samaritan, by his labor of love, had stirred his blood into intense circulation, and thereby saved his own life. spiritually it is just that way. seeking to win others for eternal life, we win eternal life for ourselves. our faith is strengthened, charity increased, we are blessed in our deed. and this is the second consideration,--our father in heaven is glorified. that is the great thing we must aim at in everything we do in religion. in this center the lives of all our actions must meet. we must not only endeavor to glorify god ourselves, but must do all we can to bring others to glorify him. we have considered a grand spiritual truth, our exalted position and calling. conscious of it, may we shed forth the beams of illumination for the lightening and the brightening of a dark and gloomy world, receiving supply from the true and only light, christ jesus, until we shall dwell in the world where god himself is the light and where we shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. amen. fourth sunday after easter. teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the lord.--_col. , ._ we read in the th chapter of genesis that when jacob, the patriarch, was fleeing from the wrath of his brother esau into the land of mesopotamia, while resting at night upon a stone for his pillow, he had a wonderful dream. a ladder extended from heaven to earth, angels ascending and descending upon it, and god, standing at the top, spoke to the heartsore traveler beneath. that vision was highly typical. the ladder was a symbol of the intimate connection that existed between him and the god of his fathers, abraham and isaac; the angels ascending and descending, were a symbol that his prayers and sighs had come up before the heavenly throne, whilst the words of the almighty were a guarantee that his journey would take a prosperous end, and cheerfully, we are told, did the patriarch take up his pilgrim staff and resume his route in the morrow. now as it is with all things we find written in the old testament, so with this also. we have the reality of what jacob experienced in dream only. the ladder which now extends between heaven and earth, connecting us pilgrims or strangers with our heavenly home, that ladder is jesus christ, man's mediator, who declares, "i am the way; no man cometh unto the father but by me."--the word of the almighty, then spoken, we have, greatly amplified, in this divine revelation, this holy volume before us; nor are the angels, these celestial messengers, missing to carry on communication and intercourse between god and sinful man. figuratively and symbolically speaking, these angels stand for all those agencies, exercises, and accompaniments by which the soul is lifted up to heaven and god, and by which we are spiritually helped and edified, and it is one such holy agency and accompaniment of sacred truth that we wish to consider in these moments of devotion. st. paul speaks in our immediate text of "teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." let us regard these words, and may ours be the same confession as jacob's at bethel: "how venerable is this place! this is none other but the house of god and this is the gate of heaven." "o sing unto the lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous things." "make a joyful noise unto the lord, sing forth the honor of his name, with the harp, with trumpets and the sound of cornet. praise ye the lord." these are the words of the th psalm of david, and it was with this psalm that the service began, in the ancient church, on the fourth sunday after easter. the name of the sunday is cantate, which means "singing sunday," and probably there is no time in the course of the civil church-year more appropriate to raise one's voice in rejoicing and heart-felt song. in nature a new era of revival and tender growth has gone forth; the earth is clothed with loveliness, refreshed with energy, and from birds and blades, from flowering buds and a tender branch goes up a joyful melody and proclamation to their creator; and when we come into his sanctuary, the house of his word and his worship, and reflect on the blessed easter scene from which we are just coming, we have reason to tune our voices in strains of loudest and loveliest anthems, and an appropriate and beautiful thing it certainly is to bring this noblest of human arts to the aid of the soul in its communication with god. since time immemorial has the power of music been acknowledged over the heart of man. "let me make the songs of the people," said a celebrated statesman, "and i care not who makes the laws." an illustrious greek philosopher was not far wrong when he stated that the human soul was closely allied to rhythm and harmony, and we know that the court of rome feared the sacred hymns of luther as much, if not more, than his publications and fiery eloquence. turning to the holy scriptures, we observe a constant recognition of music in the old testament and in the new. standing on the shores of the red sea, moses, the man of god, chants forth the gratitude of his people after their safe deliverance from egypt's bondage in song, whilst miriam, his sister, responds with timbrel and dance. david, the anointed shepherd boy, takes his harp and charms into tranquillity the ferocious spirit of saul. elisha, when he would prophesy, calls for a minstrel, and under his playing the prophet's heart grows warm and his lips eloquent with a message from god. and where do we hear of more magnificent renderings than in the temple at jerusalem, thousands of voices organized in costly choir to chant with accompaniment of complete orchestra, the psalms written by their monarch, david, called the sweet singer of israel. cherubim and seraphim are incessantly praising god in thrice "holy to the god of sabaoth," and angels' choirs filled the midnight stillness of bethlehem's plains. add to this zacharias' _benedictus_ and mary's _magnificat_, which have lent their hallowed inspiration to ages since in the christian church, and if there is one scene which impresses every reader of his bible, and to which he looks forward with pure delight, it is the worship of the lamb in revelation, the joining of the celestial choir in hymns of endless melody. desiring to bear our part in that tuneful service, can our lips be silent on earth? nay, music is one of god's good and perfect gifts, of which to-day's epistle speaks as coming down from above. true, like all other good gifts to man, it has been seized upon and perverted for evil purpose by the enemy. satan it is who has levied upon music and made sad havoc in the line of song. but shall we abandon to him the territory? shall we not make reprisal upon the enemy, consecrate to the divine giver his first-fruits? and unquestionably, in the worship of our lutheran church, hymnology has a larger and a more correct province than in any other body of christians. i have listened to various music, i have heard entranced the melting tones of the _miserere_ in early mass at the catholic cathedral, the sweetly attuned antiphons of a vested episcopal choir. i have listened to solos and quartets, accomplished tunes, composed by masters; but what do all these solos, superbly rendered, amount to when in god's worship the congregation itself sits mute in its pews, deprived of every response, as in the catholic church, or too indolent to respond, as in many others? is it christian, is it churchly, is it consistent with our text or the spirit of true worship, that ninety-nine tongues of a hundred be silent in the house of the lord? when the minister turns to the people and says, "the lord be with you," is he supposed to address only four singers and an organist? no, my dear hearers, praise is the duty and privilege of all the people, and to deny or stint them in a share in it is to wrong their souls and insult their maker. a well-tuned solo is good, the chorus of the choir is better, but best of all is the response and song of the entire congregation, sending up its confession and praise to the god of heaven. there is nothing more solemn and pleasing to the lord of sabaoth than a singing congregation, and nothing more dull and spiritless than singing wailed forth in melody calculated to freeze the last spark of holy fire upon the altar of the heart. having emphasized which is the best form of songful worship, that by the congregation, let us regard it a little more closely. the singing of a congregation of worshipers is, as it were, the preaching of the congregation, is the confession which it renders on its part and in behalf of its faith, is the amen which it places upon the words and utterances of the preacher. the most important place, it must ever be maintained, in a truly evangelical service, is the exposition, the setting forth of god's word. a worship consisting exclusively of singing, commonly called a song service, is an innovation in lutheran church life, and a very questionable one at that. the object of our attendance at church is not to hear "sweet music,"--this can be better answered at the concert or the oratorio,--honest christian people come to hear god's word, to build up their souls in divine truth. the sweetest tune sung by the lips of angels or of man cannot replace the least passage of the bible, for it alone is the power of god unto salvation. christianity is not rapturous ecstasy, super-induced by fine melody, not emotional feeling; christianity means repentance and faith. there is nothing, no symphonies and oratorios, no strains, that can bring peace and rest to a sinner's heart, but only and solely the simple words of the lord received and believed. the sermon, then, occupies the central position of the worship, just as the sun is the center of the solar system, and, in turn, determines the true place of the song and music. it is the noble handmaiden, preceding and accompanying the preaching of the word, the sweet odors which carry our devotion and sacrifice upward to heaven, in harmony with the utterance of the speaker. it is thus we value our hymns as the finest ornament of our evangelical worship, and nothing is more significant than to find in your homes the christian hymn-book lying upon god's book. and what does a careful survey of that hymn-book reveal to us? we would not from any feeling of denominational pride detract any from the grandeur of hymns originated in dissenting bodies, many of which are embodied in our hymnal, but if there is one church whose voice swells out loudly among the hymnody of christendom, that can look with satisfaction on its collection of sacred songs, it is our beloved lutheran zion with its stately and majestic chorals, its incomparable anthems. there is about our hymns a spirit of divine power; they are the expressions of our christian faith, church-hymns in the fullest and best sense, not only inspiring and devotional, but educating and instructive, designed to lead us in our way to salvation and heaven. take, for instance, the various seasons of the church-year: advent, expectant and exultant over the coming of the savior of man; christmas, what hymns will compare with those of our church in childlike simplicity and depth of feeling? passion-tide, with its solemn lines: "o bleeding head and wounded," "o lamb of god most holy;" easter-tide, with its stirring hallelujahs. how doctrinally sound are our hymns of faith, how cheering our hymns of praise, how touching the melodies of penitence and death! referring to our text, we find the first requisite for a correct church-hymn is this: to bring god's word closer to us. the apostle says: "teaching." our hymns will stand the test of this standard. in the days of the reformation they were one of the most beneficial means of winning hearts and conquering lands for bible truth and bible church. many a priest, history records, was sung down from the pulpit and out of the church by the congregation joining in a lutheran hymn, and later, in the dreary days of rationalism, when man's folly was put in the place of god's wisdom, it was these church-hymns which still afforded spiritual food to the children of god, and till this day, wherever those tried and heavenly true hymns resound, we can cheerfully be persuaded that they assert their influence in making men wise unto salvation. nor are they merely calculated to instruct, but also to cheer and inspire. there is scarcely another power that will ease the heart, strengthen and sustain the lagging and downcast spirit, as will a heartfelt "commit whate'er may grieve thee," and kindred hymns. in the darkest moments of his life, david tuned his harp and bade sorrow and grief flee. in philippi's dungeon, at the hour of midnight, paul and silas raised their voices in melody of praise. after days of bitter conflict and labor the reformer would produce his lute, and sing unto the lord a pleasant song, to the joy of the angels and the chagrin of the devil. gustavus adolphus, sweden's valiant hero of the faith, who fought and died for religious liberty, never entered a battle without prostrating himself with his army before the lord of heaven and singing, "a mighty fortress is our god," "fear not, o little flock, the foe." sacred story tells us of saul, that whenever the evil spirit came over him, the king would send for david, and under his tune find relief from his torments. nor has the spiritual song lost any of this soothing element. "the singing of songs and hymns purifieth our thoughts," says a church-father, "represses sensuality, stirs the heart to pure emotions, awakens a love and a longing for the beauty of holiness, moves to holy contrition and godly sobriety." no wonder that luther ranked music next to theology of pure religion, effectual as it is in warding off satan's suggestions, and aiding us in becoming better and more noble, and hence, in harmony with this sunday, cantate, we are justified in bringing this topic to your consideration, especially in our times, which are replete with so much vain and shoddy music, senseless and overwrought travesties, often set to tunes that are a perfect scandal and shame upon all divine worship, and better suited for the opera than for the house of god. let us rejoice in this good gift god has bestowed upon us, and diligently use it in our churches and homes until it shall be our happy lot to join the multitudes of those who shall raise their voices to pour forth their everlasting song, and cause the city of god to ring with anthems of perpetual worship. amen. fifth sunday after easter. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.--_eph. , ._ among the things that people believed in olden times was a certain stone, called a touchstone. by means of this stone it was claimed one could determine whether a gem or a precious piece of jewelry was genuine or not. the sham diamond might glitter ever so brightly, the sham gold externally deceive the eye, let the touchstone be applied, and its real character would at once appear. spiritually, in religion, there is such a touchstone by which those who profess to serve god can discover whether they are genuine christians or not, whether their religion is pure gold or inferior metal, whether their faith is a gem of great price or only worthless imitation, useless dross. that touchstone of true spiritual life is prayer, communion with his god, for as a man communeth with his god, so he is. how, then, does this touchstone apply to you? are you a man, or woman, of prayer? what sort of christian are you? nor can it be said that we need no instruction on this subject. we must be taught to pray just as we must be taught how to write and talk correctly. let us, then, in all simplicity, with plainness of speech and practicalness of purpose, consider. _i. when, ii. where, and iii. how we should pray_: and may god's holy spirit, the lord of prayer, attend with his blessing our meditation. there are many passages in holy scripture which seem to command impossibilities, and we tacitly pass them by as not intended for us. this cannot be a wise or safe thing to do, for god does not command impossibilities. so with the text, "praying always." in other places we read, "pray without ceasing," "continue constant in prayer." our first thought may be, that's beyond us. how, in this busy life of ours, shall we ever be able to give ourselves over to never-ceasing prayer? a few minutes a day, a special prayer occasionally at special seasons or special emergencies, that's about all we can afford. that is a mistaken notion of these texts of prayer. it is a familiar expression: "prayer is the christian's vital breath," the christian's native air. we are always breathing. ceasing to breathe means death. so with the spiritual life. for a person not to pray means spiritual death. every one who is a christian prays; not to pray stamps him as a non-christian. and yet, as in the bodily sphere a distinction exists between breathing and using that breath for speaking, so we must draw a distinction between "prayer" and "saying prayers." a christian, as he is always breathing naturally, so he is always breathing spiritually. he lives a life of prayer; he is always in such a state of faith and heart and spirit that he can lift up his heart in prayer. even when we are silent, we breathe; even when a christian is not "saying prayers," engaged in forms of worship, he is in a spiritual frame of mind, and is living a life of prayer. to pray always is to live as in god's presence, to be constantly conscious of him. and still, true as it is that a christian is always living a life of prayer, there must be times for prayer--times when we engage in "saying prayers." there is more in this matter of habit than many persons think. it means regularity, and makes it both easy and pleasant. there is no absolute rule on this subject, no technical limit. each one must determine himself how often he ought to pray daily. david, in the psalm, says, "evening and morning and at noon will i pray." daniel was accustomed to kneel upon his knees three times a day. there is, if we may so speak, a natural propriety in thus thrice addressing the throne of grace. three times a day we are accustomed to feed our bodies, and this very act may suggest to us that our souls need similar attention. "men shall not live by bread alone." we have our blessed lord's example for it. the holiest and most fruitful christian lives have been lived by men and women who thus prayed not less than three times a day. the early christians were exemplary in the discharge of this duty. what christian, arising from his bed in the morning, can neglect his prayer? everything seems to invite him to lift up his heart unto god. when we arise from our beds, it is like a resurrection from the dead, and it seems almost impossible for a pious mind not to view it in that divine light, thanking god for his waking; and as he sallies forth from his home, not knowing what a day may bring forth, and feeling his weakness and frailty and danger, the temptation to which he is every moment exposed, how can he do it without first raising his eyes and thoughts on high, committing himself to the faithful creator, and invoking his protection and strength? moreover, knowing that everything is resting upon his blessing, he should invoke it upon the occupation of his mind and hands. direct, control, suggest this day, all i may deign, or do, or say, that all my powers, with all their might, in thy sole glory may unite. when we thus go forth into the world, it is with an atmosphere of devotion around us. and then again at night-time, when we have given all our strength to the work of our calling, tired and exhausted from the toil of the day, and our couches invite us to repose, who can look back on the blessings of the day without being moved to gratitude to him who kept us safely through it? there was this and that of the day's transaction that deserves a calm retrospect in the sight of the lord, confession of one's discrepancy and wrong-doing. and who can resign himself to sleep, the emblem of death, and to his bed, the type of his grave, without saying a few words of christian committal? and who, during the day, cannot find a few moments to lift up his thoughts on high? nor, beloved fellow-christians and church-members, neglect to speak grace at your table; there are blessings, direct and indirect, which connect with that pious and time-honored custom which no household can afford to forego. frequently the only time when the family meets during the day, it forms a link of spirituality between its members. it is no little means of keeping the devil out and bringing the dove of peace back. permit not this grand old and well-tried custom to lapse into disuse; hold fast to it as a sacred heirloom transmitted from your godly parents. thus have your fixed, established season of prayer. and it is good not only to have stated times, but also stated places for prayers. this is our second consideration: where? you can pray anywhere. you can hold audience with god at your own option. the place is not essential to prayer. peter prayed on the housetop, paul in prison, daniel in the lions' den, jonah in the fish's belly. the lord is everywhere, and his ears are always open to the cries of his people. but the law of association is the friend of religion. as you speed to your labors in the morning, as you sit for recuperation in the shade of one of our beautiful parks, as you are busy with your duties in kitchen and workshop, your heart can go out to god in devotion. and so it is well to have a little nook somewhere, a spot especially suggestive to us of prayer. there is help in this. daniel had his spot, where, when he came in from the excitement of the court, he could kneel down and pray to his god. his window opened towards jerusalem, not accidentally, but by special arrangement, and his eyes swept over the western hills until vision was lost in the distance; his imagination swept onward till he stood in the courts of the lord's house on zion's hill, heard its holy songs, and inhaled the incense that arose from its sacred altars. there is something dear to us in such a spot. our lord, in his direction on prayer, enjoins: "enter into thy closet and pray." it was the custom of the jews to have certain private rooms on the flat top of their homes which they especially reserved for devotional purposes. one such place you certainly ought to have. god in his word calls our churches "houses of prayer." it is a significant title. not only preaching ought to employ us in the holy place, for what profit is there in preaching, the best of preaching, if there is no outgoing of the heart to god? no singing, no music that has not in it the element of devotion can make melody in his ear. prayer is an essential part of our service, at the altar and in the pulpit; and it ought to be in the pew. it is here at least, in god's temple, that the christian soul ought to find a spot, and regularly, where, amid the distressing scenes of earth, it can come to itself, where it can feel and commune in the ear of god, where, lifting itself above the sordidness and the perversity of this earth, it can bathe in the invigorating atmosphere of a nobler world, and draw inspiration for the affairs of life, in a few moments of communion with a higher power. let, i beseech you, this house be to you a house of prayer, and have a similar place in your own home. there's wisdom and great help in that. having answered the _when_ and _where_, let us now note the _how_. by this we do not mean the posture in prayer, whether we ought to pray standing or kneeling; neither do we mean whether we ought to use a fixed prayer, committed to memory, or pray extempore, out of the heart, finding our own words. i do not think it is wise to use no form as a rule. extempore prayers are apt to lack both orderly arrangement and fullness, and when weary or dull, or our thoughts are wandering, we cannot make prayers for ourselves,--we want to have a form of devout words put into our mouths. those simple, yet stately prayers of our catechism and hymn-book have been, and are still, the inspiration of thousands of the most devout of god's children. and yet, there is one danger. using a regular form of prayer statedly may lead to listlessness and lifelessness. it is not only the romanist who, counting his beads and making his crossings and prostrations, nor the mohammedan, who at the priest's call from the mosque falls upon his knees, who does not pray, but the protestant may say or read his addresses to god, and yet not pray. there is a difference between saying prayer and praying. prayer, to be right, must be offered up in the spirit of prayer, and by the spirit of prayer is meant a devotional tone and temper of the mind and the heart. reads our text: "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit." it is the heart that prays, not the knees, nor the hands, nor the lips. to hasten over the words heedlessly, anxious to be done as quickly as possible, to do it because it's a custom, and perhaps with a superstitious fear that if we do not do it, something might befall us, is making a mockery of prayer. we ought to pray, but we must pray in earnest, with faith, reverence, sincerity, as if we meant it. as it has been expressed: god does not look at the arithmetic of our prayers, how many there may be; nor does he look at the logic of our prayers, how methodical and nicely arranged they may be; nor at the rhetoric, how beautiful they may be. what he looks at is the sincerity of our prayers, how earnest they are. and lose not the spirit in your prayers; that is the one direction of to-day's text. and the other is, "praying always with all perseverance," _i. e._, prayer must be constant, unceasing. the apostle knew the defects of earth-born man, and, knowing, bids them to beware of being tardy in their prayer. there is a good reason why. prayer is spiritual breath, we said. if a man's breathing is bad, if it is hurried, fitful, some mortal mischief is at work. even so spiritually. if our prayers are hurried, if they are irregular, if we regard them as disagreeable duties, if they are not the natural and necessary consequences of our spiritual life, natural and necessary as breathing is to every living man, then that life is sadly weak and diseased. why are we so weak in christian faith? why so wayward and sluggish in our christian life? why have sinful habits such power over us? it is because we breathe, _i. e._, pray, so badly. how is it possible to work for god, or fight for him, if we are tardy in holding communion with him? think it over, my dear fellow-christian, and may it aid you in making you a man, a woman, of prayer! for what is a man of prayer? see yonder mountain. below is its gigantic base; then your eye runs up the mountain side, and you see--what? that the peak is lost in the clouds. so is the man of prayer. his feet stand upon the earth, his heart is in the clouds; there is a something that keeps him in constant communion with god. there lies his strength. we call it "prayer." amen. ascension. so, then, after the lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of god.--_mark , ._ the christian church, from the beginning, has made the ascension of our lord the subject of a special annual festival and service, and with excellent reason. the ascension of christ ranks in importance with his birth, his death, and his resurrection. strange to say, however, much less attention is given to it. many are prompt and devout in noting and observing christmas, good friday, and easter, but when it comes to the glorious ascension, the heavenly enthronement of our blessed lord, though furnishing equal cause for our gratitude and rejoicing, few seem to so regard it, and make little over its celebration. this ought not to be. christ's ascension into heaven is one of the great foundation truths of our christian faith, a part of the fundamental creed. "he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of god the father almighty," we recite in the apostles' confession. the ancient prophets spoke repeatedly of it, christ, himself, on several occasions foretold it, and the apostles and evangelists, most of whom were eye-witnesses of it, testify to it, and, moreover, it is also full of blessedness and precious consolation for those who enter into it with spirit and understanding, as one of the sick, after a sermon on christ's ascension, preached by our missionary in the city hospital, exclaimed, "thank god for this precious truth of christ's ascension!" the man was right. it is a truth full of strength for a christian's faith, hope, and love, that it well behooves us to regard it, considering _i. its significance for him_; _ii. its significance for us_. st. paul, summing up the history of our savior's life, says: "without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: god was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." that is the last item, the capstone, as it were, of his life. his work upon earth was completed, the purpose for which he had come perfected; there was nothing for him to do. "it is finished," he had spoken upon the cross. moreover, he could not remain upon earth, and eventually die again as a man, for he had conquered death. what, then, was left for him to do but to return where he had come forth, to ascend on high? this ascension was not a vanishing out of sight, as, for instance, when christ vanished out of sight in the case of the disciples of emmaus; nor was it a concealment of himself, as he concealed himself from the jews in the temple when they lifted up stones to cast at him; nor was it a transfiguration of his body, as on mount tabor, when his face shone as the sun and his garment was white with light. by christ's ascension we mean that christ, according to body and soul, was taken up in a visible manner, by a true and local motion ascending into the clouds, so that now "body and soul" he is in heaven. we shall not speculate, throw up all manner of questions how this could be, but accept the statement of trustworthy, reliable witnesses, men of unimpeachable veracity, that so it was, and we know that it was not the only case of such heavenly ascension. the bible records two others; the one occurred in the days before the flood, when it states of enoch "that god took him and he was seen no more"; and the other took place after the flood, when elijah, the prophet, was conveyed in a fiery chariot into ethereal realms. these old testament incidents were types of christ's ascension. the ascension of our lord stands out as an indisputable fact, witnessed by many. the exact time, place, and circumstances are all minutely given. thus, what is the first particular of its significance for him, it shows that he was the divine being which the bible states, that he was divine god blessed forevermore. and we rejoice at this elevation of his. how delightful it is to-day to lift up our eyes and behold him who for our sakes became a babe in the poverty and humiliation of bethlehem's stall, him whose life was one uninterrupted series of woes, him who was despised and rejected of men, whose head was pierced by the crown of thorns, and in whose hand was placed the insulting rod, who hung suspended from the cross,--how delightful to see him worshiped by the host of heaven, conquering, triumphing, receiving the very honor that behooves him as the true god. on this day we invite and unite with all christendom in "bringing forth the royal diadem, and crowning him lord of all." as he once said to nicodemus: "no man ascendeth up into heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man, which is in heaven." the ascension of christ is evidence that he was the god-man, having come from heaven. again, christ's ascension shows that his work on earth was accomplished, and that he had done that work well. when our government sends an ambassador to effect a treaty with a foreign nation, and on his return home this ambassador is received with public demonstrations of joy, and is accorded a seat of honor in the national capitol, this reception is proof that he has performed his mission well, to the satisfaction of the government. the event which we to-day commemorate, this gladsome reception of christ into heaven, this exaltation to the right hand of god the father, prove conclusively that the work he had been sent to do was done and was done well, to the complete satisfaction of the father. this is implied already in the text by the word "sat." he sat down. sitting is a posture, an attitude of rest. god rested on the seventh day, after all his work of creation was finished. christ now sits upon his throne, at the right hand. that is a mark of honor. when we read that bathsheba, the queen-mother, went in to see solomon, her royal son, she was placed on a throne at the king's right hand, in token of the respect he paid to her as his parent. so when the same term is used in the case of our savior, it means that christ, in his human form, as man,--for as god he needed not to be glorified,--that christ the man was lifted up into the exalted dignity of heaven, high above all the powers and dignities of the angels, that at the name of jesus every knee must bow and every tongue confess that he is lord, to the glory of god the father. the right hand also implies power. our right hand, as a rule, is the stronger hand. so when scripture speaks of god's right hand, we are well aware that that is not to be taken literally, since god is a spirit and has no parts of a man, but is a figure of speech, to imply his majesty and power. christ's taking his seat at his right hand means that christ, the god-man, as our catechism says, ruleth and reigneth with infinite, eternal majesty and power over all creatures and works of god's hand. to quote his own words, expressed to his disciples at his departure, "all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." yes, it is one of the great and glorious truths of our holy christian faith that he who was born in bethlehem, crucified on calvary, and buried in joseph's tomb, is now enthroned as the lord of angels, the head over all things, and that he particularly takes care of his church. that this is indeed the case we may learn from the experience of saul. when saul was smitten down on the way to damascus, he was asked by a heavenly voice, "saul, saul, why persecutest thou me?" saul was persecuting the christians, but the voice says "me." jesus thus identifies himself with his people. their interests are his interests, their sufferings, his sufferings. they are the apple of his eye: no harm can come to them but when he permits it. what consolation this thought ought to afford to believers amidst all the sorrows of life! but this leads us already to consider of what significance christ's ascension is to _us_. we sing in one of our ascension hymns: th' atoning work is done, the victim's blood is shed, and jesus now is gone his people's cause to plead. he stands in heav'n, their great high priest, and bears their names upon his breast. reference is here made to the great day of atonement, when the jewish high priest, bearing on his breast the plate upon which were inserted the twelve stones, each stone of which was engraved with the name of one of the tribes of israel, and having in his hand the blood of sacrifice, would take it into the holy of holies, and presenting it before the ark of the covenant, would intercede, ask forgiveness for the sins of the people whose representative he was. so our great high priest, having given his life a sacrifice for our sins, passes into the holy of holies, there to make intercession for us, for which reason we speak of christ as our advocate, our spokesman, for instance, when it says: "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father." the best of us are continually coming short, but there stands our mutilated and meritorious brother, holding up the hands that felt the nails, ever pleading in our behalf, ever drawing down upon us the compassionate mercy of an offended god. yes, "he stands in heav'n, our great high priest, and bears our names upon his breast." and, again, in christ's ascension we have an earnest pledge of our own. he is the head, and, "where the head is," we sing to-day, "well we know the members he has left below in time he surely gathers." he is our forerunner, and a forerunner means that others are on the same way to the same place. his entering for us implies our entrance also. christ did not only take our human nature upon him for thirty-three years, while he dwelt upon earth among us, then, however, discarding it as a worthless and worn-out garment,--he took it along with him into heaven and glory, and we are branches of the same vine, joined with him in the same organism, and thus his ascension is virtually our ascension, the first-fruits of a like harvest to follow. taking our stand to-day on mount olive and gazing on the blessed savior as he mysteriously mounts up into the high heavens, we behold our lord clearing a way for us into that upper world, and giving us an example of how all believers are to ascend at one time to the same heavenly realms. "in our blessed lord's ascension we by faith behold our own." he has told us, "i go to prepare a place for you. where i am, there shall also my servants be." how the ascension of christ confirms our faith, animates our hope! who can question that there is as much to awaken our grateful joy in our savior's ascension as in any other event of this marvelous destiny? christmas joy is right, and easter joy is right; but there is no less reason to give due honor to the event of our devotion to-day, so blessed, so assuring, so vital. and if we have duly entered into the joyous truths of our faith, the practical effect is plain. the apostle directs us, "seek those things which are above, where christ sitteth on the right hand of god. set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." "where your treasure is," the savior said, "there will your heart be also." christ is the christian's treasure, and since he has ascended into heaven, there is a corresponding uplifting of our love to that home of blessedness whither he has gone, and which he is making ready for his believing people. these, then, are some of the chief thoughts which connect with the event we are commemorating to-day. to this ascended savior let us anew render our devout homage. anew let us give him our love, our gratitude, our faith, our service. let our lives, down to their very close, be spent in him and for him. then, too, the day shall come when we also shall go up in triumph. angels of god will then also escort us as conquerors to the skies, and we shall be and reign forever with him. grant us this, o christ! amen. sunday after ascension. for whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory, and in his father's, and of the holy angels.--_luke , ._ it is an awful doom that our text bids us to look forward to, that when christ comes in his glory and in his father's and of his holy angels, then he shall be ashamed of us, refuse to acknowledge us, and yet we are inclined to think, at first sight, that, so far as it depends on our being ashamed of christ, there is not so much fear. there is much that is wrong among us. but being ashamed of christ, ashamed of being known as his disciples, ashamed of his name and religion, does not seem one of our shortcomings and dangers. were not the words rather applicable to the early disciples than to us and our days? and true it is, as the gospel to-day presents, that confessing christ was a very different thing then from what it is now. when first the gospel was preached among men, not to be ashamed of christ meant nothing more or less than that a man was ready to leave everything in this world and to die for christ. when all the powers of earth, jews and gentiles, were arrayed against the new faith, when men were brought before kings and rulers, and simply told that, unless they would deny christ, they would be thrown to the wild beasts, or buried alive, or be sent to prison to labor like convicts all the rest of their days; or when almost everybody took it for granted that the gospel was mere folly, and that every one who followed it was the most stupid and obstinate of bigots; in other words, when believing and confessing christ meant to be laughed at, jeered at, mockery, persecution, and martyrdom,--at such seasons we can understand the suitableness and solemnity of christ's warning to them. but those times, thank god, have passed away; the gospel is no longer met with fagot and sword. the open profession of religion does no one any hurt in life, exposes him to no special mockery or insult, causes no unfavorable or unpleasant feelings towards him. yes, so far from its going against him, he will not infrequently stand higher and have more credit. and yet, let us not be led into mistakes. this easiness in being religious, which without contradiction is greater nowadays than it ever was in the world since christ came into it, must not blind us to the spirit of our lord's words. they have a meaning still, and, while men are men, will continue to have to the world's end. _i. in what way, or ways, they apply to us_; _ii. what is the one main lesson they would bring home to us_,--that let us, under the guidance and blessing of the holy spirit, consider. there is, my beloved, extant among us these days a confession of christ that is general. by general we mean it does not like to go into particulars. and it is in the general that we are so brave and bold in professing not to be ashamed of christ. take, to make the test, that upon which our religion rests, the holy bible. people respect it as a sacred book; something is missing in a christian home if it is not there; they reverence it in the general. but when it comes to the particular, how little is it really pondered; how little do men feel bound by its particular statements; how easily are its direct communications set aside when they conflict with their notions or feelings or wishes. did god actually create man out of the dust of the ground, or is he the creature of evolution? is the account of the fall of man into sin to be taken literally, or is it only an allegory, a poetic interpretation, a childish and primitive way to account for sin and its sad consequences? is there a personal devil, or is the devil only to stand for evil in the abstract? the narrative of balaam, or jonah, of the men in the fiery oven,--are they to be received as they read? and when it comes to the new testament,--how are we to understand the conception of the virgin birth of our savior? how his glorious ascension? how his descent into hell? how his words of the sacrament: "take, eat; this is my body. take, drink; this is my blood," literally or figuratively, "is" meaning "represents"? does baptism work forgiveness of sin? is it the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy ghost, as st. paul says to titus, chapter ? go, and question among christ's followers, consult the thousands of books that are flooding the market,--what do they teach? they are ashamed to admit that god created the world in six days of twenty-four hours each; it's unscientific; they blush at the accounts of balaam's ass and of jonah's whale. the blood doctrine of the cross, that christ has redeemed us by his holy, precious blood and by his innocent suffering and death, is repugnant to many. christ's body and blood in the sacrament, baptism the means of a new birth,--they are abashed to acknowledge such teachings. it is the tendency of the age to acknowledge everything in general, and in particular nothing, nothing distinct and definite. people are ashamed of the words of christ. why tinker and twist in order not to make the writings say but the one thing they do say? what is this but being ashamed? and as in the doctrine, so in matters of religious duty. to speak first, in general. we come to church. others around us do the same. it's the fashion to do so. but let us ask ourselves, what if everybody around us did not do so? there are places and associations where it is not customary; some of us get among such also: no one goes;--at the very utmost one service a sunday is thought the full limit. at such times are we shy of doing differently from other people when we know and feel what is right? what is this but being, in reality, ashamed of his words? or take the lord's table,--how many know that they ought to come to the lord's table, know and acknowledge what the lord's command is, and not only that, but in their hearts would like to come, and yet they stay away because they are ashamed to do what other people don't do, of being asked, perchance, sneering questions, of its being said that they are seeking to set themselves up and making more pretense of religion than their neighbors. what is this but staying away because they are ashamed to confess christ and his words before men? one instance would i emphasize this morning in particular, and that is church-membership. people are ashamed of the church, not in general,--they regard it as a charitable institution. they have no objection to go there, nor do they mind, if the minister is a fascinating speaker, to part with a little spare change. but there is where the connection ends. with many--their number is tens of thousands--the doctrine is, that one can be just as good and hopeful outside of the church as in it, that as long as they maintain a general uprightness of behavior, do not defraud any one, live on kindly terms with their neighbors, act as honorable citizens and profess belief in a higher being, it does not matter whether they just believe this or that doctrine or not, whether they are confirmed or not, whether they attend public worship, or consult their own ease and pleasure on that subject. indeed, they can see no difference between conformity to the moral teachings and rules of some order, odd fellows' associations or masonic fraternity, and the church of christ. in a word, they confound mere outward respectability and godliness with the teachings of christianity, and place man's organizations, secular societies, on a common par and level with god's organization, christ's church, and they quite forget that, in matters of religion and sound morality, it is not for them, nor any man, to point out the way and set up the standard, but humbly to bow to the requirements, and walk in the way which god has ordained and appointed for us to walk in. and now turn to christ and his word,--what does it say? the teaching there is, that outside of his church, and apart from those acts of baptism, holy communion, public worship, and public identification with the lord's people, there is no right christianity and confession of him. the statement and impression throughout is to this effect that a man's religion is spurious and sorely lacking if it does not bring him into the common fellowship of believers, if it does not lead him to live and move and have his being in observance of the christian ordinances, and maintaining christian recognition and membership in the communion of the saints. can any one think for a moment that in those early days of persecution, when it meant either--or, life or death, people distinguished between being a christian or a church-member? to be one meant to be the other. and now go and ask people to join the church. ask our young members, when arriving at the age of twenty-one years, to come in and help, to support with means and vote, give a little of their time, and see whether they regard it a privilege and a delight, a god-enjoined duty. in general there is churchliness; and in particular flimsy excuses, pretexts, subterfuges are offered. and why, to come to our next consideration, why is this? what is the cause? why this distinction between the early disciples and our present-day confessors of christ? there was one thing they possessed, which is now so largely lacking,--what is it? christianity those days, we heard, meant personal sacrifice, persecution, martyrdom. thank god that form is now over. to-day we see not the church weeping in sackcloth and ashes at the graves of her slaughtered children, nor hear the coliseum ringing with the wild shouts: "_christianos ad leones_: christians to the lions!" and yet, while not so striking, something of the same vigorous principle, of the same spirit, must characterize the conduct of every christian. "if any man will follow after me," says the master, be my disciple, "let him deny himself." there must be readiness, now as of old, to suffer for righteousness' sake. i am glad to note there still is. young men go out into the ministry, from their associations and their kin, into places the crudest and the rudest to preach the gospel of christ, enduring poverty, calumny, and finally are broken down in health, thrown upon the charity of a cold, unfeeling world. we know some women who were lured by fair appearance into marriage by young men who won their love, and who, though now abused, lampooned, mocked, are holding fast to their faith. we know of some who, in order to attend to their religious worship and duty, have sacrificed positions of better income, and we know of some who have forfeited money and social honor by giving up their connection with beneficiary and fraternal societies. but for these the christian faith would perish from the earth. they are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. yet, apart from these, what is the religious life of christians? is it not simply a matter of convenience, custom, inheritance, yes, sometimes of fashion or of business? do we not find numbers of christians who cannot give for god's worship an hour out of the hours a week, who would not lift a finger or a foot to help a sinking brother, to save a wandering boy, to speak a kind word to restrain a wayward girl, who, like cain, his brother's murderer, insolently reply, "am i my brother's keeper?" yes, as we survey the average christian life to-day, it seems to have lost all strenuousness. tact, worldly wisdom, policy, not truth, god's wisdom, principles, more of profession than deeds, more of criticism than service. we see clergymen begging people if they won't be christians, urging them to accept the glorious blessing of salvation, or, if professing christians, humbly beseeching them to fulfill their vows, asking oft with fear and trembling for a little pittance to keep up the grand work, and when given, given as if an act of favor and grace, not from the conviction that they owe it to god and grace, whose it is, who demands it. oh! it is pitiable, a mock and farce upon the religion we profess. when we think of the apostles and evangelists and martyrs for jesus' sake, how they parted with homes, occupations, possessions, and even life itself for christ and his word, we have reason, every one of us, to hang our heads in shame. what the church needs to-day are those who are not ashamed of christ and his word, _i. e._, men and women who will do their duty without ceasing; men and women who, when they have done their duty, will not be expecting the praise of men, but who find their reward in their service; men and women who are ready to sacrifice of their time, their labors, their money, themselves; men and women who, when principle, divine truth, is at stake, will stand by and rather go down, upholding what is right, than surrender to that which may be popular and fashionable, but is wrong. my beloved, the religion of the twentieth century is no other than the religion of the first century. it calls for self-denial, sacrifice. to what extent has it entered, and does it enter, into your religious life? examine yourself in the sight of him who said: "whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and in his father's and of the holy angels." amen. pentecost. not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the lord of hosts.--_zech. , ._ we shall first explain, and then seek to apply the words read. the lord, through the prophet zechariah, addresses this message to zerubbabel under remarkably instructive circumstances. zerubbabel was the prince and leader of the jews, under whom the first company of the exiles, numbering about , , returned from the seventy years' captivity in babylon. on reaching jerusalem, he with his fellow-exiles promptly set about the work of building the second temple. they laid the foundations with great rejoicing, in high hope of speedily and successfully completing the work. but seeing the smallness of their resources and the vastness of the work, the large numbers who opposed, and the fewness of those who helped, also hearing the old men, who remembered the glory of the former, _i. e._, solomon's temple, say, as they looked with tears on the crude beginning before them, "it is as nothing in comparison," zerubbabel and his people became discouraged and ceased from the work. for fully fifteen years nothing was done. to arouse the leader and stir up the people, to resume and press forward the work, the lord by zechariah now addresses them. though they are poor and weak in comparison with the builders of the first temple, yet the lord will have them know that this work is not wholly theirs, but is emphatically his, and must therefore be accomplished. by way of teaching them how this would be done, he sent them an impressive symbolic vision recorded in the verses immediately preceding the line of the text. the prophet sees a candlestick all of gold, having seven branches, and on the top of each branch nine lamps. on the right side of the candlestick is a living olive tree, and on the left side a similar olive tree. these trees pour from themselves a plentiful and unfailing supply of oil into the central bowl of the candlestick. then the prophet asks what the vision means. the reply given are the words of the text: "not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the lord of hosts." the meaning evidently is this: as the candlestick--which stands for the church--is furnished without cost or labor, with an unfailing and abundant supply of oil--oil being the symbol of the holy ghost--from the living olive trees, so will the spirit of the lord furnish abundant power and resources in ways within his power, to enable his servants to successfully complete the building of his house. thus, instructed and encouraged, leader and people promptly resume the work laid aside fifteen years before. there was no lack of materials. the building advanced rapidly to completion. in the sixth year afterwards the house was dedicated to god. as the people looked upon the great structure in its completeness, every stone and timber, from the lowest foundation to the highest pinnacle, seemed to reecho the language of the text. it is done, not by might nor by power, but by the spirit of the lord of hosts. such is the original meaning and application, but it by no means exhausts the lesson,--rather suggests a much wider and universal use. in the new testament and the church of christ it is also most emphatically true that all depends upon the light-giving, life giving, power-giving of the spirit of god. it was so on the first pentecost, which we commemorate to-day; it is just so now. the source of the church's life, and its success, is the energy of god's spirit. that is the one prominent thought and truth that we would meditate and impress upon our minds in these moments of instruction. men are accustomed to look on the outward appearance. they are disposed to trust to material resources. thus, quite naturally, they are inclined to fall into the error that god's cause, the preservation and extension of christ's church, are dependent upon the same things, that these same things are necessary to the success of the gospel truth. thus, to be more explicit, they have a notion that wealth and worldly influence are such necessary helps. we see money exercising a nearly unlimited sway for external comfort and enjoyment. we behold how those who possess it secure respect and homage, thousands standing ready to do with hireling eagerness their slightest wish. to the success of every scheme, whether material or intellectual, money in our day would appear to be the one thing needful. it is called the _nervus rerum_, the nerve of things. and is the church exempt? how is it to be supported at home, how the heathen brought within its fold, unless the ear of the rich and the powerful be first gained and their purse-strings opened to supply the financial aid? has it not come to this, that, when inquiring as to the prosperity of a particular congregation, wealth suggests itself as the most prominent, and piety and high moral worth as only subordinate ideas, if, indeed, these occur to people at all? now it would be foolish to contend that money and wealth may not be, and actually are, a means in god's providence to further his cause. we need money, but, let it be noted, not as a necessary, but as only a very accidental means. to take any other view of the matter is to put it in the place of god, whence alone it can derive its efficiency. any one who has given calm and careful attention to the history of the church, from the first publication of our holy faith by christ himself down to the present day, will have found that the favor of the rich and the powerful is not essential to its advancement. in the period of its rise and apparently greatest weakness, when it had only a few poor fishermen for its adherents and advocates, its growth was most rapid. after wealth began to make itself felt, its progress was retarded, and internal decay set in. by that we do not say that such has been, and naturally is, the result of every influence of this sort, but simply that the cause of divine truth is independent of all such agencies for its vitality and effective power. riches and civil power cannot in themselves, and irrespective of the divine blessing, promote the cause of christ in the world. that, i know, every one professing himself a christian is ready at once to allow, and yet in view of the undue prominence that is made over the matter, it is proper to call heed to the warning contained in the text. let us not overestimate and exaggerate the value of money in spiritual matters. again, it is well to remark that the cause of christ is not dependent for its advancement on personal talents and high intellectual endowments. how much is not made of that these days! correct enough, as the supernatural gifts of the spirit ceased with the early christian age, the christian church, guided by common prudence, as well as by the express statements of the bible, has ever since required that those who occupy the sacred office should possess such an amount of mental culture as might fit them to interpret, expound, and apply the truths of scripture, but that there is danger of overestimating and idolizing the intellectual ability of these office-holders to the practical neglect of the truth they present, is only too lamentably apparent. since the day that paul, apollos, and cephas divided the favor of the church of corinth, the one being for paul, the other for apollos, and the third for peter, this partiality, or favoritism, has been very common and yet is. add to this the growing intelligence of the age, its high and general standard of education, and the loud cry for men of talents and superior scholarship is strong and pronounced. these things, accordingly, are not to be despised or neglected; on the contrary, cultivated. but let us not for one moment believe that gospel truth is dependent on learning and genius to keep it awake. learning and genius and oratory are nothing except when they are blessed; nay, without the blessing they are likely to be productive of injury, just in proportion as they are great. let us beware of regarding them in any higher or different way. unless an energy or agency superior to that of man pave the way for truth to enter, the finest scholarship and the most persuasive eloquence will not force a passage. what that energy and agency is the text tells us. one other agency and resource upon which too much stress is laid is this: we have fallen upon a generation of fuss, bustle, trumpet-blowing, and advertising. it would almost seem as if many of us believed that we were to take the world by storm. we see it in every department, and the church is falling in line. we have all sorts of noisy demonstrations and manifestations; ministers advertise themselves and their sermons under ridiculous announcements, as if to draw the crowd, and not rather regenerating their heart, were the only and sole purpose. let us beware of placing too much significance on this matter of advertising. we must not be forgetful of the master's direction: "let your light shine before men." "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick." and yet, it is well to remember that vision of elijah, when he stood upon mount horeb, and the lord wished to speak to his servant. first there was a terrific earthquake that shook the ground; "but," it says, "the lord was not in the earthquake." that was followed by a terrific whirlwind rending the trees and causing havoc around; "but," it says, "the lord was not in the whirlwind." then, following it, came a fire; "but," it says, "the lord was not in the fire." then, when tranquillity reigned again, and earth and skies lay in silence, "came a still, small voice." the lord was in that. he is still in the still, small voice of gospel grace. let the ministers preach this gospel grace in all its purity and in all faithfulness, and it will do the work. it is the only instrument the spirit employs in changing a man's nature. let him and his members live that gospel, let them show in their characters and behavior that they have been born again and are sustained by the agency of the holy spirit; that they are temples of god, and the spirit dwelleth in them, and thus by a godlike life commend the religion they profess; let them both, minister and members, be found where they were all with one accord on the first pentecost, in one place, that one place the place of worship; and let them both be doing what the first disciples were doing,--praying for the outpouring of the spirit, upon themselves and their cause, and, verily, as god's promise is true, they shall not fail of a pentecostal outpouring, success, and blessing upon their undertaking. summon all your forces, mention all your resources. "not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the lord of hosts." god, holy spirit, we invoke thee, come into our hearts, take possession of them, come into our homes, rule there. come into our churches and our church. come, and thy people bless, and give thy word success, for thou, and thou only, canst and must do so. amen. trinity sunday. the grace of the lord jesus christ, and the love of god, and the communion of the holy ghost, be with you all.--_ cor. , ._ we are entering to-day upon the second part of the christian church-year. the seasons and festivals of the church-year may be compared to a river that takes its rise, like the stream which washes the banks of our city, in some small and distant lake, and then ever continues to grow, widen, and deepen, until it becomes a majestic flow, and finally empties into the vast gulf of the ocean. we have seen in the past months the river of grace and salvation issuing as a tiny rivulet from under a humble manger on bethlehem's plains, passing through the gorge of nazareth, flowing along the banks of jordan, sweeping past the cities of galilee and judea, lifting up its surging billows to the height of calvary and olivet, until it overflowed the world with its heavenly billows on the day of pentecost. by that river it has been our good fortune to linger each sunday, to dip up of its waters many a draught for our thirsty souls, and bathe in its currents for the washing away of our sins. to-day, however, we are called to ascend to its source, to leave bethlehem, nazareth, and judea behind, to climb above golgotha's mount and olivet's top, yes, to soar beyond the cloud which once received our ascended lord out of sight, and to gaze upon a gulf, an ocean, which has no boundary and no shore. to speak in simple and unadorned speech: it is the subject of god himself which we are invited to contemplate, the most overwhelming, mysterious, deepest of them all. "who by searching," asks job, "can find out god? who can find out the almighty to perfection?" and yet there are some things which we can and which we must know, for the subject of god is at the base of all things, of all religion. without the right knowledge of god no man is a right man, and no one can rightly adjust himself to his place in this world or in the next. let us, then, approach the great mystery of godliness, letting heavenly wisdom be our teacher.-- to-day's festival is called the festival of the trinity. what is the doctrine of the trinity? for it certainly behooves every one to understand what is meant thereby, and this doctrine is held by all the christian churches. whosoever believes it, becomes a member of the church. whoever rejects it, ceases to belong to the christian church, and becomes a heretic. scripture tells us on the one hand that god is one, that there are not three gods, but one god; on the other hand, that the father is god, that our blessed lord jesus, the son, is god, that the holy ghost is god, each person being a perfect god, yet so joined, each to each, that they constitute one invisible god. we are taught that these three persons are uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal, almighty, equal in glory, majesty, and power. none is before, none after, none greater or less than another; they are coeternal and coequal. that is the plain teaching of god's holy word. the father, the son, and the holy ghost, each of them is god, and yet there are not three gods, but one god. how these three persons are so united as to make up only one god, so that the persons are neither confounded, nor the substance divided, we are nowhere told in scripture. on this, as with regard to many other matters, we must be content to be ignorant. that is a great hardship to the pride of the would-be wise. and so in the earliest ages men arose and strove against this doctrine of the trinity. the first violent strife that agitated the early christian church was just on this point. arius, a certain bishop, would not accept the simple statement of scripture that christ is god, in the same sense as the father is god; he would make him inferior in divine nature. a most fierce controversy was waged, which ended in arius' being branded a heretic, as, indeed, he was, and the true faith being only the more clearly confessed in the creeds of the church, called the athanasian and the nicene creed. does this doctrine sound strange and hard to believe to the carnal understanding? let those who would be wise come forward, and prove their right to be admitted into the mystery of heaven, by showing that they have fully mastered the lesser mysteries of earth. let them tell us, for instance, why the needle of the compass always turns toward the north. perhaps they will say, because it is in its nature to do so. but that is no answer. our question is, _why_ does the needle so turn? what secret and invisible hand twists it around and causes it to point always the same way? or, if this be too puzzling a question, perhaps these wise people who think it so great a hardship that they are not permitted to understand god, may tell us a little about themselves. they can perhaps teach us how it comes to pass that the blood keeps flowing unceasingly through our veins, without our being aware of it, except when we are in a high fever. we grow tired with labor or with exercise, we tire even with doing nothing, but the blood never ceases in its flow; from the hour of our birth, day and night, summer and winter, year after year, it keeps on with its silent round, never stopping, till it stops once for all. how, i ask, can these things be? no answer. and this is not the only matter by any means. there is, for instance, sleep. who does not sleep? one-third of our lifetime is spent in sleep. who can say what this is? and if you cannot,--and no one can,--let those who know nothing about the how and the why in so many, yea, in most of earthly matters, not be so very much surprised that they cannot understand the existence of that invisible, that eternal, that infinite spirit whom we call god. but though scripture has only told us _that_ these things are, without teaching us _how_ they are, yet for the sake of showing that the mystery of the trinity is not so utterly at variance with what we find in earthly things, as unbelievers would fain persuade us, for the sake of proving how possible it is, even according to our limited notions, for that which is three in one sense to be one in another sense, learned and pious men have busied themselves in seeking out likenesses for the trinity among the things of this world. these likenesses, it should be borne in mind, are very imperfect, and they do not give us a full and just idea of the glorious trinity; yet such comparisons may help us in attaching some sort of notion to the words of the creed, may keep those words from lying dead in our minds or, rather, on our tongues. one such likeness or comparison is the glorious object which our eyes see in the sky--the sun. that grand orb yonder, from which all life doth come, may be compared to the father, from whom all blessings flow. from it issues light. this we may compare to the second person of the trinity, who came forth from the father, and who john tells us is the true light, which lights every man that cometh into this world. but besides this, there comes from the sun, heat, which is different from light, and may exist altogether without it. this heat of the sun may not imperfectly be compared to the holy ghost, the lord and giver of life, as the creed calls him, for heat is the great fosterer of life. thus we have, first, the sun in the sky; secondly, the light which issues from the sun; thirdly, the heat which accompanies the light--three separate and distinguishable things; for the sun viewed as an orb is one thing, the light sent forth from it is another thing, the heat still another; and yet, what can be more undivided than the sun, its light and its warmth? to mention another.--as with the most glorious of heavenly bodies, so with the purest of earthly bodies--water. here, too, we have, first, the fountain, high up among the rocks, far out of man's reach, answering to the father; secondly, the stream which issues from the fountain, and flows down into the valley for the use of man, which may be likened to jesus christ, the son; thirdly, the mist which rises from the water, and falls in rain or dew upon the thirsty ground, which, i need hardly state, answers to the holy ghost, who, as we regarded last sunday, came down visibly, like the rain, with a sound as of a rushing mighty wind on the apostles, but who now descends gently and silently, like the dew, in the silence of night, on the heart of the believer. and these comparisons may be multiplied without number. thus you are yourself a trinity, a three in one, consisting of body, soul, and spirit. a clover leaf is one, yet has three lobes. a tree is roots, trunk, and branches, yet one tree. time is past, present, and future; constitutes one thing,--time. by these comparisons we do not make the difficulty in the mystery of the trinity conceivable to man's reason. what god is in himself,--how the son is the only-begotten of the father; how the holy ghost proceeds from the father; how the father, son, and holy ghost abide forever in inseparable union and trinity,--these are questions of no importance for us to know, and therefore god has not thought fit to reveal them to us more clearly. and having considered the doctrine of the trinity, as expressed in the words of the text and of scripture at large, let us draw a few practical lessons from it. many regard the doctrine of the trinity to be what is called a speculative doctrine only, that is to say, a doctrine concerning which men may think and conjecture and dispute for their amusement, but of no effect or importance in real life. this is a mistake. the doctrine of the holy trinity is eminently practical and eminently profitable. our religion is founded upon it. deny or think lightly of this article of our faith, and you remove the very corner-stone. if it be not true that christ jesus is god in the same degree and sense that the father is, then he was not god at all, then he was a creature, then his redemption is none-availing,--"for no man can redeem his brother,"--then, in other words, we have no savior, and our faith is vain, and our salvation a delusion, and all that brings us together in christian worship is false; for in whose name, then, have we been baptized, for what purpose do we recite the creed, and does the minister at the end of the service pronounce the blessing, and the congregation sing the doxology? you will observe that this doctrine lies at the very center and heart of all our faith and worship, of all our christian life of joy and hope. and some exceedingly profitable lessons does it teach us. one is humility. to hear some people talk, one would suppose them the embodiment of all wisdom; they are so self-consequential and conceited as if they knew it all, and what they cannot figure out on their fingers or by the rule of two is not worth accepting. let such learn in view of this doctrine to put their hand upon their mouth, and their mouth into the dust, and learn to confess their insignificance and folly. it is said of augustine, the great bishop, that he was once in great distress of mind how he might comprehend and describe this article concerning the three-one god. when thus engaged, he tells that he dreamed that he was walking along the seashore; he saw a little child who had dug a hole into the sand, and was employed dipping the ocean water into the hole with a shell. "what are you doing?" said the church-father. "oh," replied the little one, "nothing, only trying to empty this sea here into the hole." laughingly he rejoined, "you will never be able to do that, will you?" "indeed," answered the child, "and thou wouldst empty the mysteries of the infinite triune god with the little dipper of thy thoughts!" let us guard against being overly wise. study to be humble when it comes to matters of god and our holy religion. and, to conclude, let us encourage ourselves by such meditation to joyous and childlike faith. god is great beyond all searching; therefore, may we rest assured that all is well in his hands and management. a farmer once remarked to dr. luther that he could not understand the creed when it speaks of god almighty. "neither can i nor all the doctors," said the reformer, "but only believe it in all simplicity, and take that god almighty for thy lord, and he will take care of thee and all thou hast, and bring thee safely through all thy troubles." the same is true with regard to the second part of the trinity. "if god," says the apostle, "spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" and the holy spirit coming into our hearts, changing, sustaining, and enlightening us--ought not a devout consideration of this loving, redeeming, sanctifying work of the triune god prompt us to trust in him--for life, in death, for time and eternity? to the great one in three the highest praises be hence evermore! his sovereign majesty may we in glory see, and through eternity love and adore. amen. first sunday after trinity. and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.--_matt. , ._ truth, my beloved, never changes; it is always the same. what was true years ago, is true to-day; what is true to-day, will be true years to come. and this is emphatically so with regard to heavenly truth. there is no new revelation in religion. what the bible taught of old, it teaches now; we have no new bible. the christian faith, like its founder, is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. thank god that it is so; that among the ever-changing things of earth, the constantly fluctuating and shifting ideas and opinions of men, firmer than the rock of gibraltar, more solid than the mountains, there stands the word of our god. and this pertains also to the doctrine which this day's gospel prominently sets before us, the doctrine of future punishment. it is only recently that the public prints quoted the minister of a prominent church as saying: "modern christianity has happily grown away from the old traditional doctrine of hell. the church no longer believes in a place of literal fire and brimstone, into which all unbelievers are cast for an eternity of torment. even the most rigid orthodoxy allows wide latitude of belief in the problem of future punishment." such utterances are very prevalent, and have caused untold confusion of thought. the matter, however, is very simple. it is not a question of what some certain minister thinks, however prominent he may be; neither are we to be guided by what modern christianity thinks, for modern christianity ought not think and believe differently from ancient christianity, since christianity ought to be ever the same; nor are we concerned what was the old traditional doctrine, since tradition is not, nor has it ever been, a criterion for us. the only determining factor in this, as in all articles of our religious belief, is, what saith the scripture? nor may it be superfluous, in approaching the subject of to-day's instruction, to warn against another element, which is sentimentality. sentiment in its place and sphere is noble and good; but it must remain within its place and sphere. when it comes into conflict with god's teaching, or when it sets itself against the teachings of god's word, and, because it cannot think or feel how a loving and righteous god could do or permit certain things, then sentiment degenerates into sickly sentimentality, becomes ignoble and sinful. we must never allow our emotion to outrun our sober reason, and, least of all, to set itself against the statements of religion and the arrangements of a holy and all-wise god. and what is that arrangement in respect to the future? two main thoughts would we dwell upon at this time: _i. hell, what is it?--its nature. ii. how long does it last?--its duration._ whenever a general in war wishes to surprise his enemy, he seeks to conceal himself from him, endeavors to make his antagonist believe that he is not at all about, or that he is not as formidable as the other might think. just so the infernal enemy of men's souls seek to delude them into the belief that there is no hell; that, at any rate, it is not what some would make it out to be. hell is within you; it's the pinching of conscience in this life, or the misery you have to endure here. at the most, it is not terrible, it is not going to last forever; there is going to be a final and universal restoration; all unbelievers will ultimately be delivered. all this passes for naught. whether there is a future life, and of what sort that future life is--only one can positively tell us, and that is god--i repeat, _positively_ tell us. human reason and philosophy have conjectured its probability or its possibility, but as to its _certainty_, that we have exclusively from the book of god's revelations--the bible. and the bible tells us, in plain, unmistakable terms, as plainly as it tells us that there is a heaven and a god, that there is a hell. to discredit it is to discredit the bible, to contradict our blessed lord, to shut one's eyes willfully against the truth, and what is it? something within us--something confined to this world? never does the bible so speak. hell, according to the scriptures, refers always to the future. so in the parable of the rich man and lazarus. the rich man _died_, and _then_, after his death, in hell, he lifted up his eyes. when this life is over, the scenes of this world have faded upon their vision, then, for the unrepentant and unsaved, comes hell. and what is it? to give it with one word--punishment. "these," declares the eternal judge, "shall go away into everlasting punishment." this punishment is twofold; it is outward and it is inward. man consists of body and of soul; both are the instruments of his guilt and condemnation; both receive the just reward of their deeds. whenever scripture speaks of future punishment, it uses expressions like these: "darkness, blackness of darkness, thirst, fire, lake burning with fire and brimstone." the gospel parable represents the rich man begging for a drop of water to cool his tongue. it has been said that this is nothing but imagery, mere drapery, pictorial embellishment; but it is _true_. imagery and the figure are always less terrible than the reality. it may be idle curiosity to speculate as to whether this fire which the bible speaks of is material fire, how god can support life in the burnings of hell,--though we know that he sustained the companions of daniel in a hot furnace in the days of king nebuchadnezzar whose image they would not worship. waiving all such questions as to the nature of the fire, the place where it is, and the extent to which it is inflicted, the fact that scripture almost always employs the idea of fire to express the sufferings of hell leads one to believe that there unhappy sufferers literally endure torments like those which men burning in flames feel; and without running into all sorts of revolting descriptions, so much is plain: hell is pain, acute sensation of the body, the sense of feeling physical suffering; and coupled with this outward punishment is the _inward_ anguish of mind, remorse of conscience. thus, in the parable, abraham speaks to the rich man, "son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things." memory will be a dreadful source of misery. here, again, we shall not enter upon any speculations as to the workings of mind and conscience in future retributions, but we know what agony remorse of conscience occasions in this world. it has made strong men tremble, it has smitten the knees of belshazzar together in the midst of his pleasure. it has forced many a one to confess his misdeed, to give evidence against himself, and seek punishment to escape its excruciating agony. terrible is an awakened conscience, and yonder it shall be fully awakened. it will have to do homage to an offended and avenging god; be obliged to say to itself, you are the author of your own punishment, you suffer for your own sins. the recollection of his selfishness, his uncharitableness, sensuality, of possessions, and of opportunities abused and misspent, as in the case of this rich man in the parable, will cause him keen and tormenting self-reproach. anguish, inward and outward, and all this aggravated by the society, the companionship about them. imagine the associates in yonder accursed place! no wonder that the unfortunate subject of to-day's parable plaintively pleads: "i pray thee, father, that thou wouldst send lazarus to my father's house; for i have five brothers, lest they also come into this place of torment." the thought, not that of pity,--for pity and sympathy are unknown in hell,--but of increasing his misery, knowing how much he was guilty toward them in leading them astray by scoffing word and lewd example,--it was this that wrung from his lips this plea. how awful such association! how dreadful it is all! so much as to the first particular, what hell is: outward and inward punishment in the society of the damned. and such punishment, it is further revealed here, is ceaseless in its duration. many theories are taught to the contrary. it is contended by some that this punishment is only for a time, then follows annihilation of the wicked, they cease to exist. others, again, hold that all the wicked will be finally restored to god's favor and heaven; that they are now only in a state of trial and probation; that hell will come to an end. i grant you that we would be very much inclined to believe that if we could. but what say the scriptures? there is not a single word in all the bible which indicates that there will be probation, another chance, after death. as the tree falleth, so it lies. when the sand has run out of the glass of life, there is no reversion of the glass, the period of grace is gone. "there is a great gulf fixed, says the gospel, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence." what plainer words could be spoken: "these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." mark the comparison,--everlasting punishment, life eternal. if you tamper with, lessen the one, you do so with the other; the only thing in fairness is to accept them thus strictly and expressly, meaning just what they say. _eternity_, that is the word which is written over the portals of the blessed, over the place of the cursed. thus in its dread and awful solemnity have i set this subject before you. why? because it is the duty of a faithful servant of god to declare to his people the whole counsel of his master, and do so unreservedly. a much abused subject is the subject of "hell,"--from the playwright who works it up for public amusement, to the swearer who uses it in his foul mouth to add poison and fury to his oath, to the over-sensitive churchmen who treat the passages which treat of hell like a waxen nose that they can twist and turn to suit, and who would not recite in the creed: "christ descended into hell," since it sounds so bad. over against these and all other perversions it behooves us to vindicate the clear and unmistakable teaching of the bible. it is the savior himself who tells us to-day's parable, who spoke the words of our text, and it is for us to believe and declare what he says, to avoid all levity in the matter and all vain speculation, and to give it its proper weight and place. but above all, this dreadful subject is held up before us that we may know how to escape the terrors portrayed. how? "god so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "he has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me, that i may be his own and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness and blessedness." that is the purpose of the gospel. god wants none to perish, not one soul has he destined to eternal perdition; he would have all men to be saved. he has made every provision to save man from everlasting doom. the terrors of yonder place magnify the riches of that grace which in jesus christ delivers from it. let us adore the wisdom, the unspeakable mercy that would spare us from such a doom. let us turn to the cross, employ the time of grace in faith and in wholesome service and life,-- so whene'er the signal's given us from earth to call away, borne on angels' wings to heaven, glad the summons to obey, may we ready, may we ready, rise and reign in endless day. amen. second sunday after trinity. and as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, felix trembled, and answered, go thy way for this time; when i have a convenient season, i will call for thee.--_acts , ._ felix, the man here mentioned, was the roman governor or procurator of judea. felix is a latin word and means "happy." but felix was not happy, for no wicked person can be happy, and felix was a wicked person. tacitus, the historian, says of him: "in the practice of all kinds of cruelty and lust, felix exercised the power of a king with the temper of a slave." a sample we have here given. it reads in the previous verse: "after certain days, ... felix came with his wife." strictly taken, she was not his wife, but, being persuaded to elope to him from her husband, the two were living together in an adulterous alliance. and before this man appears a prisoner, unpretentious-looking, loaded with chains. he had stood before the governor once before in answer to certain charges made by his countrymen, and had so ably and convincingly defended himself that, had it not been, as it says in the next verse, that felix expected to realize something out of the case by way of a bribe, he would have set him free. as it was, the governor had been so impressed with paul's (for none other was the prisoner) forceful speech that he requested the apostle to give him a more explicit account concerning the religion he preached. he arranges the occasion, and the champion of the cross gladly availed himself of the opportunity. we do not know the precise course which he followed in his address to felix, but his general outline was based on the same principles that every good christian sermon is based on, viz., faith and practice. first he spoke concerning the faith in christ, that is, the christian faith, laying down its fundamental and cardinal facts and doctrines. but as a sick man will never send for the physician till he is aware of his danger, so the sinner will never betake himself to the redeeming blood of his savior till he becomes sensible of his lost and sinful condition. the apostle, therefore, not only preaches the gospel; he also preaches the law. "he reasoned," it says, "of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." no topics could have been more appropriate. felix was a high-ranked magistrate, accustomed to see every one prostrate at his feet. paul points out to him that though there be various gradations in social life, the one a king, the other a subject, the one stepping on a carpet of down and gold, the other walking barefoot through the dust, in the sight of god all these distinctions avail not. yea, having higher opportunities, a man's responsibilities are but the greater, and woe if in the discharge of his office a man measure not up to the responsibilities. thus, turning to the next particular, he reasoned of temperance, _i. e._, the right government of the passions; he showed him how intemperance degrades the character, debases society, and invites the punishment of god, and, finally, placing his sermon on still higher ground, he draws away for a moment from the eyes of felix the bandage that concealed the sight of futurity, and ushers him in thought before the judgment-bar of his unalterable judge. he had invited this prisoner, far-famed for his topic and eloquence, to give a display of his powers, but he had never supposed such a presentation. as the divine word, the two-edged sword of the spirit, wielded by such an arm, cut into the joints and marrow of the profligate sinner's conscience. it had the same effect which the handwriting on the wall once had upon belshazzar of babylon. he moved about uneasily, his color changed, his knees smote one against the other; "he trembled," it says. the truth had smitten to the heart, and then? was truth victorious? did virtue conquer? did the judgment-hall echo the words of the philippian jailer, "what shall i do to be saved?" or, like the publican, did he smite upon his breast, saying, "god be merciful to me a sinner"? how the angels would have rejoiced, and felix would have been what his name means, "happy." but satan knew his man too well. in a moment the smitten sinner had rallied from his shock; with a grace and courtesy, truly admirable if it had not been so disastrous, he says: "go thy way for this time; when i have a convenient season, i will call for thee." the story of felix has been written for our admonition. god grant that like an arrow it may smite into the joints and marrow of our conscience to-day. our theme is: the convenient season, noting, _i. a few things that hinder the convenient season; ii. the delusion of putting it off._ we have heard felix' plea; it was not an abrupt turning away from the topics paul had spoken to him of. he did not declare in express terms that he would never embrace the faith in christ, that he would not renounce iniquity and prepare for the final account. no, his answer implies that he would do all this, but he begs to be excused from doing it for the present. "when i have a convenient season, i will call for thee." felix' plea is still a most prevalent plea. perhaps it is the most prevalent plea, never advanced so much as in our times. it is not that people are deliberately determined to rush into the arms of the devil and hell; many of the most thoughtless and the most profligate, convicted by the emotions of conscience within and the presentation of religion, still have the intention that some time or other, bye and bye, they are going to become more serious, to reform. the drunkard will some day abandon his cups, the swearer his profanity, the lewd man his profligacy, but not just now. and not only these, the thoughtless, the profligate, but those who are very thoughtful and of excellent standing and morals. what a universal plea it is! there is one class, they are "too young to be religious. youth is the time of gayety. even if they do not sow wild oats, they must have their pleasure. as they advance in years, they will eventually grow more serious." let me caution you, my young hearers! of all other seasons, youth is the fittest for god and godliness. no man ever became more disposed to be religious by mere age. he may become more thoughtful and serious, but thoughtfulness and seriousness is not yet religion. the duty enjoined is: "remember thy creator in the days of thy youth," and it is a solemn fact that the greater number of those who are christians indeed have been so in early life.--so be not deceived! the present time is the most convenient season. you can never enjoy a better. another apology and hindrance which multitudes offer against the convenient season is what they style "business." i suppose felix had occasion to offer that, too. the office of a governor was no lazy one; he had a large docket of pending cases, a considerable correspondence, many distracting cares. correspondingly, at the present, there be those who are occupied in providing for their wants, gaining a livelihood for their families, accumulating a fortune. it is impossible for them just now, but in a few years they will have more leisure; their property will be greater, their anxiety lessened, and then, relieved of pressing cares, they will devote their time and their attention to god's service. sad mistake! business never lets up. the world gives no man leisure for the consideration of the greater business of salvation. i have known those who have urged this excuse ten, nearly twenty years ago; they still urge it, and will continue to do so so long as they live. some may regard it as a witticism, but it was immensely serious when a child recently informed its mother that the child did not think papa was going to heaven, and asked why, replied, "he can't possibly leave the store." we have a number of that class in connection with our membership. it is a sorry business that keeps any man away from the main business, the one thing needful. one more plea would we regard, that is health. how many, when aroused to the importance of attending to matters spiritual, will seek to soothe the clamors of conscience by the reflection: it is true, i must be renewed and holy, or i will perish. i cannot go to heaven as i am, but i hope to be better before i die. i will look after these things when i get sick; then i shall have leisure for reflection. with nothing else to do then, i will repent and make my peace with god. oh! the folly and the wickedness of such reasoning! not only does it reflect on god's religion, as if it were a tyranny and a grievous yoke that one puts off as long as it is possible, not only is it god-dishonoring, giving unto the devil and to the world, the lord's foremost rivals, the best fruits of one's days, and turning over to him the stubble and the dregs left in the cup of life, but who knows the time of his death, the time appointed when he shall go hence, and whether occasion shall be left for any reflection? like a lightning flash it may summon us into the presence of the almighty. and even granted that everything shall be propitious in that respect, have you ever seen persons on a sick- or death-bed? their pulse feverish and their body weak; their senses so impaired that they seem utterly unable to collect their thoughts; and this is the time that people want to select for religious reflection? then, too, when does the bible say that a man can convert himself at any time that he chooses? the bible speaks of only one solitary case of death-bed, or eleventh-hour repentance, and that is the instance of the dying thief on the cross. and there is a tremendously wide difference between him and the people who offer up that plea. the dying malefactor had never deferred his conversion to his dying day; he had never put religion off until then. so his case does not belong under consideration at all, though it is always quoted by such delinquents. no, there is only one convenient season, and there is only one course to pursue in view of it. that one convenient season is now, and the only one course to pursue in view of it is to seize hold upon and attend to its demands. we have all seen mottoes on the walls of business offices: "do it now," "never put off until to-morrow what can be done to-day," "now or never," "make hay while the sun shines." and as you see them at their worldly interests, they follow those mottoes; they are up and about, straining every nerve, using every moment to gain an advantage. yes, as you study the whole working creation of god, you will discover that everything is on time: the birds know when to fly southward; the stars of heaven meet all their appointments; the earth is believed to make a circuit of five hundred millions of miles and back again at the winter and spring solstice on the second, yes, on the millionth part of a second. there is only one who wastes time, and that in the most important matter, and that creature is _man_. observe in this the terrible delusion of procrastination. and it cheats us all, more or less; or how--to make the application to ourselves who are church-members--how is it that we can hear the things which we hear sunday after sunday, and on many other occasions, things which, so far from denying or contradicting, we like to hear, we would be uncomfortable not to hear, and agree with them and still go on living and doing as if they were mere words and meant nothing, if it were not that we fancy to ourselves a time when it will suit us not only to agree with them, but actually to put them in practice,--a time when we shall pray in earnest, though we are careless about praying now,--a time when we shall take up the reading of the bible, though we neglect it now,--a time when we shall be gentle, and loving, and heavenly-minded, and pure, whatever to the contrary we may be now? but is it not a delusion? if you are putting off saying your prayers regularly and earnestly because it is not convenient now, do you really think that the time will come when it will be easier, and more natural for you to do this? if you are still putting off, as so many have, and are putting off for years, what yet they acknowledge to be a christian's bounden duty, employing the much-needed means of grace, the coming to the lord's holy sacrament, can you really expect that anything will happen to you which somehow or other will be the opportunity you cannot find now of hearing the gospel and drawing near to that blessed communion? reflect! felix waited for a convenient season. it never came; it will never come where he is now. let him be a lesson to us. the convenient season is just now,--and let us beware of trifling with it. of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, it might have been. and of all devices by which the devil throws a loop around the sinner's neck, the most effective is this: "a more convenient season!" "not yet." my dear hearers, i have again, like my great predecessor, the apostle, made an appeal to you to accept the faith as it is in christ jesus. what say you? with felix: "not now," or, "i will"? o for the right choice! god gives you the opportunity to make it now. will you not seize it? amen. third sunday after trinity. and as jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named matthew sitting at the receipt of custom; and he said unto him, follow me. and he arose and followed him. and it came to pass, as jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. and when the pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? but when jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. but go ye and learn what that meaneth, i will have mercy, and not sacrifice; for i am not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.--_matt. , - ._ the text just heard contains much of interest and importance--first, for the history which it gives, and secondly, for the gospel which it preaches. we shall consider both for our encouragement and instruction. it was in capernaum, the capital of galilee, on the borders of lake tiberias. jesus was walking by the seaside when he saw a man named matthew sitting at the receipt of customs, collecting the duties, or taxes, on goods landed from the vessels. to all human appearance this collector of customs, or publican, as they were called, was a very unlikely person to become a convert, much less an apostle. publicans, or taxgatherers, in those days were held in very ill repute. one reason for this was that they were in the employ of the roman government, and no patriotic, loyal-hearted jew would permit himself to be employed by these despised and oppressive gentiles. another reason was that those who were thus employed generally managed to make it profitable for themselves. by practicing fraud and distortion upon their own countrymen, overcharging and collecting more than was due, they succeeded in accumulating means, and many, like zaccheus, a large fortune. there is nothing to show that matthew was guilty of such extortion and fraud, but he was by office and occupation connected with this odious and unprincipled set of men; nor is it necessary for us to believe that he was altogether free from the taint that attached to them. and yet, out of the ranks of these base and detested publicans, jesus did not disdain to take at least one of those twelve men whom he chose to be the heralds of his gospel, the great leaders of his kingdom to a perishing world. good men, let us learn from this, often come from despised and unworthy classes. outward circumstances do not always prove as unfavorable nor as adverse to piety as we are apt to imagine. there is often a wide contrast between outward appearances and inward realities. it may be that matthew inwardly was very much disposed to follow jesus when addressed by him. it is not for us to discern what is going on in the inner man. we may hear the blasphemer uttering a vile oath and pass him by as one on the verge of perdition, while the heart of the poor wretch at the very moment may be bursting with anguish and filled with self-reproach, and one word of kindness might melt him into contrition and love. we see another amid the wild whirl of earthly dissipation and pleasure, and may suppose that it would be casting pearls before swine to waste a word on religious topics with him, while he may be aching with a sense of the emptiness of the world, and a single expression of christian kindness may draw from him a confession of the vanity of all his pleasures, and the inquiry, who will show me any permanent and real good? never let us judge of the hopelessness of man's salvation by the mere outward appearance. no den of infamy is so vile, no hall of skepticism, or haunt of worldliness is so impenetrable, no prison cell so deep or polluted, but that jesus can gather thence gems that shall shine in his crown. who was ever a more devoted follower of christ than mary magdalene?--and yet she once had seven devils. who was more voluptuous, depraved, and infamous in his course as a young man than augustine, who became the great bishop of hippo and one of the most illustrious doctors of the church? and what did jesus see in any of us to lead him to visit us with his salvation? was there any such native excellence in your character, or such a purity in your conduct, when out of christ, that god was attracted thereby and stooped from heaven to save you, because it was a pity that so much worth and goodness should be lost forever? oh, no, not for our merits, but of his own infinite mercy does he save us, and if we feel aright, we shall never think that we deserved to be saved, while the vile sinner deserved to be damned, but that all of us are sinners worthy of god's wrath and curse, and that none have reason for boasting. viewed in that light, we shall not wonder that christ chose an apostle from that most ill-favored class of men known in palestine at the time. and the call was not unheeded. it is not necessary to assume that the call came to matthew as a clap of thunder out of a clear sky. matthew, as a dweller in capernaum, where our savior was preaching and performing some of his most noted miracles, and as a man who daily had to do with people of all classes, could not have been without some knowledge of what was going on. in all likelihood he had seen and heard christ, and so was not wholly without preparation for what happened when the great teacher and wonder-worker came into his office and said to him, "follow me." and what was the decision? our text informs us: he left all, rose up, and followed christ. promptly, cheerfully, he surrendered his worldly interests, unites his fortune and his future with the master. it was not so in every instance. we know that the same call was extended to others, who at once propounded something else to be attended to. the one remarked, "lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father;" another, "lord, i will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house," and still another, it says, "went away sorrowing," because he was not willing to separate himself from his great possessions. it is so to this very day and hour. to every one that hears the gospel the word is: "follow me." there are those who heed it like matthew. then others who hear the same call make a thousand excuses, but never reach the point of honest decision. obedience, as it is the first virtue of a child, in a soldier, or a servant, so it is the first virtue in a christian. when you hear the blessed savior's voice, asking you to take up the obligations of a christian faith and life, then respond like matthew, instantly, promptly. and not only was it prompt and ready obedience, it was steadfast, persevering. it was not a spirit of momentary enthusiasm that presently died away. never again did he return to his old profession. with unfaltering devotion did he cling to our lord, and finally laid down his life in his cause. there are those who, when they hear the merciful call of the savior, are prompt enough sometimes to follow. they are greatly captivated with the christian profession. they like the distinction it gives them, the new attitude and surroundings in which they are placed, the gaining of new friends, sympathies and credit with which it invests them. but when it comes to the serious side,--and christian discipleship has a serious side,--it does not mean only wearing a bright uniform and carrying a flag, but standing on guard, enduring hardships as a good soldier of christ. then the cross becomes too heavy for them, and by and by they are offended, their zeal expires, and their once flaming devotion dies. matthew was not of that class; his decision was as honest, thorough, and enduring as it was prompt, and in this he is an example for us. nor was this all. not only did matthew follow the savior, but the subsequent verse informs us that he made a great feast for the master. we can easily see the motives of the man in making this feast. "my lord has had mercy on me," he would say, "and i wish to do something to testify my love and gratitude to him. i will make an entertainment in his honor, and i will invite my old friends among the publicans to it, for it may be that his words of power may reach their hearts as they did mine, and turn them from their sins." that, my beloved, is one of the strongest evidences of a truly converted soul--anxiety and concern for the soul of others. a person that has found the savior is anxious that others should find him, too. christianity is not like gold, which every one wishes to secrete for his own use, but it is like a full fountain--it runs over; like the sun--it must shine forth. and so we behold the savior now seated in the midst of a large company of publicans and sinners. but have you, my dear hearers, ever known of a noble and holy work, no matter what it is, that did not meet with some criticism? some carping voice is bound to be always heard, and so here. that jesus was found in such company, and agreed to be a guest with such society, was a scandal in the eyes of the ceremonial, self-righteous jews, and "he it was who claimed to be the long-expected messiah." it was conclusive evidence to them that he was a sheer impostor, a glutton and wine-bibber, equally as bad as those whom he met on such familiar terms. nor were they slow in making known their conclusions. they uttered their malignant feelings, not to jesus himself, but to his disciples. when jesus learned their cavils, it does not appear that he was ruffled in the least. he knew his mission, for what purpose he had come into this world, and so with all firmness we hear him setting forth his association with these ill-reputed people as in accord not only with the best principles of common sense, but with the whole spirit and intent of his messiahship. "but when jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." sin is a sickness, a disease, and these publicans and sinners were very deeply under the power of this disease. now, where should a physician be but with the sick and the dying? is a doctor to be blamed for entering a hospital full of suffering invalids? is it not rather a blessed demonstration of his fidelity to his profession to go to such ailing people? well, then, what right had these self-constituted saints and judges to find fault? they claimed to be good and holy people. they kept the law. they were _whole_. they had no need of a physician to make them better,--so they thought. why, then, was the great healer of souls to confine himself to them? thus upon their own principles and common sense, christ amply justified his conduct. there is a double lesson to be drawn from our text. first, if you have always maintained a good moral character, through the restraints of a religious education and of god's grace, be thankful for it; it is, indeed, a great mercy to have been kept from gross sins, and it will be a great help to you in a life of godliness. but be careful that you do not rest salvation upon it, make a savior of your own goodness, and so refuse christ, without whom you will be damned as surely as the vilest transgressor. beware that your outward decency of character does not puff you up and make you think that such as you can never be lost. there is no other name but that of christ whereby you can be saved, and you must come to him weary and heavy-laden, just as the vilest sinner does, if you would find rest to your soul. on the other hand, if there be one present who has fallen into gross transgression, so that it seems almost too much for him to hope to be forgiven, let him hear the words of jesus, "i came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," and let him be encouraged. is there any wound this great physician cannot heal? is there any sin the grace of jesus cannot pardon, or his blood wash away? doubt not his infinite compassion, doubt not his almighty power. lay your soul in his hands. though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. oh! that, like matthew of old, we might yield ourselves to his gracious summons, go down to our houses, humble, obedient believers in him who came into this world to call sinners to repentance. amen. fourth sunday after trinity. and i will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.--_matt. , ._ fixed in our church calendar for the th of june is saint peter the apostle's day. we do not, as a rule, observe these days, or minor festivals, as they are styled. and it may be asked why we have them given in our church calendar and observe them at all. in answer we would say that we do not, like the romanists, regard the saints as mediators, do not address prayers to them, nor ask them to pray for us. and we differ further from the romanists in that we place none in our church calendar as saints save such as are clearly set forth in that character in the word of god. rome is continually adding new saints to her list. any one who has been eminently holy--in the odor of sanctity--is canonized by the pope, and his or her name placed in the calendar; and there are instances on record where other influences besides piety placed it there. we place the word "saint" before none but those who, we are sure from god's word, are deserving of it. nor even all of these do we thus honor. enoch and elijah were translated into heaven and are assuredly among god's saints. the same is true of abraham and moses, joseph and daniel. but we never speak of st. abraham, st. moses, and the like. in this matter we follow our lord's rule: "he that is least in the kingdom," meaning the church he came to establish, "is greater than he," and select for our list only new testament persons; and here, again, those especially near to him, such as the evangelists and apostles, and so we speak of st. peter, st. matthew, st. paul. these we honor because christ honored them. on his birthday each year we extol the virtues of a washington; on reformation day we speak on the character and life-work of a luther. why should we not, therefore, on one day of the year, especially when it falls on a sunday, note for our instruction what god in his word has recorded of these favored servants? only ignorance and prejudice could ever find fault with such an observance of these days and minor festivals which the church in her wisdom purposes, and so from the lesson of this day would we regard the latter part. an important truth is it, a truth which has given rise to endless controversy, that this line sets forth to us. we shall inquire, _i. what is the office or the power of the keys? ii. how is it exercised?_ in the opinion of some, these words addressed to peter on that memorable occasion when he confessed jesus to be the christ, the son of the living god, gave to peter a direction to take charge of divine affairs. the religious destiny of the race was placed in his hands. it was for him to save or condemn at will, and this power and commission he then turned over to his successor, alleged to be the pope at rome. that was the common interpretation for hundreds of years. in consequence of that we have such happenings in history as that which took place at canossa, when henry iv of germany, deposed from his royal office through the influence of the pope, came over the alps to secure the holy father's absolution. he presented himself at the gate of gregory vii, and made his humble petition. he was ordered to remain at the gate and abstain from food; he was further ordered to strip himself of the royal purple and put on hair-cloth. at the end of three weary days of penance, standing out in the cold and snow, and nearly famished, he was required to go into the presence of pope gregory and kiss his feet. then this "vicar of god," as he styled himself, was pleased to say, "_absolvo te_," "i absolve thee." and what child knows not the account of tetzel, who, with an armful of indulgences and a chest bearing the inscription: "soon as the money in the chest doth ring, the soul at once to heaven doth spring," sold as an article of merchandise, for so much consideration, so many and such great sins? the confessional, the extreme unction, the deliverance of souls from purgatory, these and other adjuncts and accessories that have risen from the claim of the romish church to the power of the keys, they allege were once given to st. peter. but it rests, like so many other claims of that church, upon a serious misinterpretation and perversion of the passage. in the following chapter our lord says to the whole band of apostles: "whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." and this he said not only on one occasion to them all, but on several. on this particular occasion he said it especially to peter because peter had acted as the spokesman of the rest and rendered a grand confession. never do we find that any command, blessing, office, or grace was ever conferred here or anywhere upon peter which was not conferred equally and also upon all the apostles of the lord. nor can it be shown from the bible, nor from the history of the church in apostolic times, or from those who lived next after the apostles, that peter ever asserted, or sought to assert, such authority. on the contrary, peter, in his epistles, invariably refers to himself as simply one of the apostles, in no way the superior of the others, and when the first christian synod was held, though he was present, it was james that presided and gave the official judgment of the assembly. if god's authority prevails, we must dismiss the romish dogma which would entrench itself in this text as a falsehood, without the remotest claim to our respect. no, not to peter exclusively was given the power of the keys; not even to the twelve apostles exclusively, in the sense that it belonged to them personally. they received it as a power, a commission, which belonged to the church. in the th chapter of st. matthew, speaking of this very thing, the savior directs: "and if he neglect to hear them, tell it to the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. verily, i say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." correctly does our catechism define the office of the keys. it says: "the office of the keys is the peculiar church power which christ has given to his church on earth, to forgive the sins of the penitent unto them, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent." we learn, then, who is invested with this authority, _viz._, the church, the congregation of believers. it is something which belongs to all christians, not to one apostle only, or to twelve apostles only, but to every congregation that is met around the word and the sacrament. they have this jurisdiction and power. what jurisdiction and power? the power that attaches to the office of the keys is twofold. it is used to lock and to unlock, to fasten and to open the door. first, there is the power to fasten and to lock. we call this administering discipline. this is necessary to the health and life of the church. in the corinthian church a certain man was guilty of a nameless crime. possibly of good social standing, his offense was winked at. st. paul, however, exhorts the corinthian congregation to deal summarily with him; he exhorts them to meet in the name of the lord, and deliver this evil-doer over to satan in the hope that he might come to his senses and be reclaimed--"for the destruction of the flesh," as the phrase is. in another place he writes: "i have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. put away from among yourselves that wicked person." it was what we call suspension, excommunication, or the ban. it is not a pleasant duty by any means, as little as it is a pleasant thing to amputate, to cut off a member of the body; but if the member be gangrenous and a menace to the life of the body, and nothing but an amputation will do, then let it be done. a congregation is answerable before the head of the church; it must keep its membership and roster clear; it dare not permit among its membership impenitent and manifest sinners, those who are despisers of god's means of grace, the word and the sacrament, whose morals are a blot, whose lives are a stench in the nostrils of the believers and of the world. such, after due hearing, exhortation, remonstrance, must be turned out. they have no place in the company of christians. this is the exercise of the office of the keys in the one direction. in general, it is to be deplored that the christian churches do not exercise this power as they ought. it would mean the reawakening and recovery of many a sinner. the other part of the office of the keys is what is called absolution, the power to forgive sins. that power the church has committed to it, as we heard in the text, by christ himself. there is much misconception on this among even christians; to some it is no small stumbling-block. it need not be. the matter is quite simple and plain. could peter forgive sins? the lord says so. could the apostles forgive sins? the lord says so. can the church, through its called ministers, forgive sins? the lord says so. yes, we may press the question still further and ask, can every christian forgive sins? what the church, as the collective body of christians, can do, that each christian can do as an individual. yes, every christian can forgive sins. how is that to be understood? peter, as peter, as a man, could not forgive sins of himself and by his own authority. no man can forgive sins--that is a divine prerogative. but christ gave to peter the charge, the commission, to do so. the power, then, was not in peter, but in the charge, the commission. when the governor of our state issues a pardon and sends a messenger to deliver it, it is rightly and properly said that the messenger brings pardon to the prisoner. the power, of course, is not of the messenger, but of the governor, as vested in the message of pardon. equally so the gospel is the message of pardon to sinful men. the ministers of christ, as the messengers of the churches, proclaim that message. the power of the pardon does not depend upon them, their general piety or impiety; the power of the pardon rests upon him that gave it, the great governor of the church. and yet, can it not be justly, truthfully, and properly said in their case, as in the case mentioned, that the messengers bring pardon to the prisoners, that they forgive sins? so our lord spoke, so our catechism speaks, and so we may speak. not the power of absolute forgiveness does the text confer upon the church, but that of declarative forgiveness. but this declaration of forgiveness, it must be held, is real forgiveness. when the church forgives sins, they are forgiven. the words of christ say that as distinctly as words can say it. "whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them." the pardon brought by the messenger is a real pardon, as certain and valid as if the governor had brought it himself. and so, declares our catechism, when in the confessional service the minister pronounces the forgiveness of sins, you are to receive it as from god himself and in no wise to doubt, but firmly to believe that by it your sins are forgiven before god in heaven. this is the teaching of god's word in regard to the loosing power of the office of the keys. a comforting teaching it is. we christians, it is true, have the assurance of forgiveness already in our baptism, in the general preaching of the gospel, and in the lord's supper; but that does not make absolution superfluous. battling, as we have daily to do, against flesh and blood, disturbed as we are by many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, how uplifting the words of absolution addressed to you directly, individually: "my son, my daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee!" god preserve us from all abuse, perversion, and misunderstanding of his word and ministry, and give us the comfort and blessing that come from both! amen. fifth sunday after trinity. and ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him, said, brother saul, the lord, even jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the holy ghost. and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized.--_acts , , ._ we hear in the gospel of this sunday how by speech and by miracle our lord called four of his disciples from their fishing boats to the labors of his ministry. his first selection fell upon persons from the humble walks of life, plain, unlettered fishermen, toilers for their daily bread in a lowly occupation. there was divine wisdom in the choice. being of the common people, they knew the thoughts, feelings, and habits of the common people, and so could best adapt themselves and their preaching to the general masses. but the time came when god, for the propagation of his saving gospel, for the upbuilding of his church, needed another sort and stamp of man, a man whose learning, eloquence, and boldness should elevate the gospel before the eyes of all the world. and then as now he was not at a loss to secure such a chosen vessel. we shall regard in these moments sacred to devotion the call or conversion of st. paul. about the time that the boy jesus was found in the temple seated among the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions, far to the northwest of jerusalem, in the heathen city of tarsus, there was born a babe, born of strict jewish parents, of the tribe of benjamin, but also, because his father in some way had become a roman citizen, also born to the rights and privileges of roman citizenship. being a bright child, of great natural gifts, he was given careful training at home in the schools of his native city, and then sent to jerusalem, to finish his education under the care and tuition of gamaliel, the most renowned rabbi of the jewish land then living. his family, apparently well to do, spared no expense to make him one of the most learned men of his day; nor did they fail in their attempt, as his writings, masterpieces of composition and logic, abundantly testify. the first mention that we have of paul, or, rather, at that time saul, is in connection with the scenes that led up to the murder of stephen, the first christian martyr. when the christian religion began to spread in the very center of judaism, jerusalem, great disputation arose between its followers and the jews. and saul, who belonged to the strictest sect of the jewish religion, the pharisees, and was a man of strong feeling and enthusiastic in temper, soon became involved in these discussions, and so we find that when the mob took stephen and ignominiously stoned him to death, it says of saul: "he was consenting unto his death," and that the murderers "laid down their clothes at a young man's feet named saul." nor did he stop here. his whole being was so aflame with religious zeal that he knew only one purpose of life, and that was to blot out the name of that detestable founder of the new religion and his followers. accordingly, we read in acts that "saul made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women, committed them to prison." and not satisfied with his work at jerusalem, he began to extend his persecution to distant cities. the opening verses of this chapter read: "and saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto jerusalem." damascus, in syria, now the oldest city in the world, had opened its gates as a refuge to the christians, and provided with legal papers from the high priests, he set out at the head of an armed and mounted force to bring those christians at damascus to terms. but he did not. in the affairs of men it ever remains true: man proposes, god disposes, and most wonderfully did he dispose in the case of saul of tarsus. it was high noon in syria, the sun standing in its zenith. on the road leading from jerusalem to damascus could be heard the clattering of horses' hoofs. the horsemen could already see the beautiful city rising upon their sight and its gates swinging open, when, suddenly, there came a flash from the sky, and "a light above the brightness of the sun" shone round about them, with such overwhelming effect that it struck the chief with blindness, smote him to the ground, and filled every man with terror and dismay. and to this brilliancy of light was added a clear and distant voice ringing through the air, "saul, saul, why persecutest thou me?" like pointed steel these words went down into saul's heart. he had been persecuting the christians, and now comes a voice from heaven, saying, "why persecutest thou me?" what! could it be possible that god identifies himself with these people he, saul, was seeking to destroy? could it be true that he whom his nation had crucified was indeed the messiah, risen and alive? overcome with remorse, saul raises his sightless eyeballs on high and asks, "who art thou, o lord?" and back comes the quick reply, "i am jesus, whom thou persecutest." that was too much for him. here was the voice of jehovah himself,--what could he do but submit? trembling and astonished he said, "lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" the victory was won. the galilean had conquered. "arise," said he, "and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." for three days saul lay sick in damascus unable to see, to move, to eat and drink by reason of the great convulsions that had shaken up his body and soul, but during that time undergoing a change which has placed his name among the great and noble members of the kingdom of heaven. at the close of these never-to-be-forgotten days god sent to him one of the faithful disciples, or christians, living at damascus, ananias by name. ananias at first was very reluctant to go, having heard such evil report of the man, but the lord had said, "go," and that settled the matter. he found the dreaded saul lying on his couch, addressed him with brotherly kindness, told him why he had come, and laid his hands upon him. "and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized." this interesting narrative shall we view as to the subject of conversion and as to its significance to the church. taking up some practical lessons on the subject of conversion: what was there in st. paul's case that need not be looked for in other cases? and what was there in it that is common to every case? let us look at st. paul's case. he was called in a miraculous manner by the savior. it was a miracle to prove the truth of christianity in that early day. but now we have no ground to look for like circumstances in the conversion of any one in our day. if saul of tarsus saw jesus appearing to him in the way, the sinner must not, for this reason, also expect to be visited by some remarkable call, dream, vision, or supernatural impression upon his mind. again, saul fell to the earth, and was in great distress of mind and body for three days. it does not follow from this that every unconverted person must be in such distress before he can take a step in the right direction. the ethiopian eunuch, of whom we read in the preceding chapter, received the word without any such process, and "went on his way rejoicing." of the three thousand who were converted in one day it is merely said: "they gladly received the word and were baptized." sometimes true christians feel much uneasiness and anxiety because they cannot point to any such distinguishing moments in their experience. they have never passed through the mental anguish that others speak of. they have never felt as saul of tarsus must have felt those three days of blindness. such persons forget that in most of the cases recorded in the gospel there were no experiences of this kind, but conversion consisted simply in the cordial and quiet acceptance of the lord jesus. again, in paul's case there was something to fix the precise time of his conversion. he could name the day, the very hour, when he fell upon the ground trembling and afraid. is it, therefore, necessary that every believer should be able to designate the precise time of his conversion? not one christian out of ten can tell the date of his conversion. it is generally the case that the grosser the sins are, the more marked will the change be. when any one who has made himself conspicuous in crime and wickedness is converted, it is like the lighting of a candle in a room utterly dark. there is a sudden change from darkness to light. it is, therefore, easy to fix the precise time when darkness ceased and light prevailed. but the case is very different from those who have been molded and influenced from youth up by religious teaching and training. how was it possible for timothy to tell when he commenced to be a christian? he was instructed from his youth in the holy scriptures. he could not remember the time when he was not pious and god-fearing. he always belonged to the lord--in his childhood, in his youth, in his manhood. the same is true of john the baptist. how could he tell when he was converted? he was sanctified from his birth, we are told. where, then, was there room for a sudden and marked change in him? yes, i am free to remark that it is just what god wants in the case of each one. he does not want us to know the precise time of our conversion. he does not want any one to give a part of his life to sin and satan, so that a sudden, marked, and definite change seems necessary. he does not want you to act the part of an infidel for awhile, in order that you may be able to tell us the day or the hour when you became a believer. no, god wants your whole life; from beginning to end it is to be consecrated to god, our savior. and does it not follow from this, that the more faithfully our children are instructed in the doctrines and duties of our holy religion, in the family, in the sunday-school, and in the catechetical class, the less the number will become of those who can point to the particular time of their conversion? the whole work of the sunday-school throughout and the whole work of the pastor in the catechetical class has this grand object in mind, to make a timothy out of every child, one who is instructed in the holy scriptures from his youth, and who knows no time when he did not belong to the lord. finally, we may observe that saul's conversion was unsought by himself. he set out on his way to damascus full of hatred against christ and his disciples. he had not a single desire to become his follower. in this also his conversion is singular. we are not to expect, as some seem to do, that we may carelessly continue in our worldly affairs, or in sinful pleasures, or in other opposition to god; and nevertheless some time almighty grace will strike us to the ground, and raise us up christians. god may do that, but the general rule is that god does not do that. the general rule is that god is found by those who seek him. the eunuch was reading the scriptures when philip preached christ to him. nathaniel was meditating and praying under the fig-tree when he was led to the savior. lydia was at the place of prayer when the lord opened her heart, and she attended to the things spoken by paul. the samaritans were listening to philip's preaching when they were brought to believe. all were using the means of grace, and were brought to a saving knowledge of the truth. so with us this day,--by the word of god, in private reading, in public preaching he converts souls. in this particular conversion, paul's case differs from others.--what, however, do we find in every case of true conversion, no matter how varied the circumstances are? conversion is to turn from the love and practice of sin, and through faith in the son of god to the love and practice of holiness. when a man has conviction of sin, believes in, and depends on, jesus as his savior, he is converted, and it matters not how, when, or where. never could there be such a conviction, such a belief, such a striving, unless there has previously been a change, and that change we call conversion. believe it that when a man can look up like the man saul of tarsus, and say, "lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" he is a converted man.-- viewed as a public event in its significance to the christian church, the conversion of paul is one of the strongest external proofs furnished us in the bible for the truth of the christian religion. if it can be established that saul became paul, then the gospel must be true, and all that it tells us of jesus as our divine lord and redeemer must be true. and there has never yet been a man who has dared to deny the historical truth of this conversion, or to contradict that saul _did_ become paul. at the beginning of the last century sir gilbert west and lord lyttleton, two great literary lights of england, determined on a masterstroke for the suppression of the gospel. it seemed to them that the two greatest miracles of the christian religion were christ's resurrection and saul's conversion. gilbert west agreed to write a refutation of the resurrection of christ, and lord lyttleton a refutation of the conversion of saul. at the conclusion of their work they met by appointment. lord lyttleton asked, "what is the result of your work?" the answer was: "i have thoughtfully investigated the resurrection of christ, and have come to the conclusion that he who is said to have come forth from the sepulcher of joseph's garden was, as he claimed to be, the veritable son of god." and lord lyttleton said: "i have fully investigated the narrative of the conversion of st. paul, and am satisfied that this man, on his journey along the damascus highway, really saw jesus of nazareth, and that this jesus was the very christ of god." no other conclusion can be reached as we enter upon the study of the character of the man, and the results that have come from that event. to finish our meditation with a personal application: st. paul, whose conversion we have considered, wrote much for the instruction of all after ages, but he never penned more memorable words than these, words which perhaps have been oftener quoted than any sentence of any writer that ever lived--may god enable you to take the words home to your heart--: "this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners, of which i am chief." paul's conversion is a beacon-light to encourage us never to despair for the worst and most hopeless of sinners. if grace could take a blasphemer and persecutor like saul, then there is hope for you and for me. may we realize it! amen. sixth sunday after trinity. having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.--_ tim. , ._ things are not always what they seem. there is much deception, sham, pretense in this world. and religion forms no exception; much that passes under that name is not such in reality. the text just quoted distinguishes between "the form of godliness" and "the power of godliness," thus intimating that there may be one without the other. all created things indeed have some form. we cannot think of anything without form. every essence and substance manifests itself in some shape, through some medium, external substance; and so religion finds expression in outward forms, in prayer, in this institution called the church, in that book called the bible, in the sacraments and other ordinances. but, whilst we cannot have religion without form, there may be form without religion. not every eye sees, though it was created for that purpose; not every ear, though it have the perfect form, hears. we discover eyes without seeing and ears without hearing, and in like manner we discover the form of godliness with none of its power. a man may appear very religious, and yet not be religious. the bible and history both are full of such. thus, st. paul in his day came to the city of athens and was constrained to confess: "i observe, o men of athens, that ye are exceedingly devout." judging by the form, he saw, in that representative city of heathenism, a great degree of religiousness and devotion; gods and goddesses, altars and temples, stood on the right hand and on the left, carved out in the most exquisite marble, with the most exquisite skill. every public edifice was a sanctuary. the theaters were ascribed to the deities. as any scholar of ancient history knows, the streets and markets, the groves and public places were full and overflowing with the figures and statues of jupiter and diana, and every other god and goddess which their imagination had invented. yes, the men of athens were exceedingly religious, and, withal, they were notoriously ungodly, and paul could not help expressing himself to that effect. again, take the religionists mentioned in to-day's gospel--the scribes and the pharisees. as to the form of religion, they were scrupulous to the last degree. on their phylacteries, and on the frontlet which they wore between their eyes, were passages of scripture such as: "hear, o israel! the lord, your god is one lord." they fasted twice in the week, more than the law required. they paid tithes, not only of the common products of the field, but of their garden herbs, mint, anise, and cinnamon. they were extremely careful as to their cleansings. thus the washing of hands in the six books of the mishna, written by the jewish rabbis, is prescribed: one and one-half eggshells full of water must be used; the hands must be lifted in a certain position when the water is poured upon them; then the right must rub the left and the left the right; then they must be held in a downward incline, palms upside down, so that the water may drop off. and the towel must be properly held. thirty chapters alone in that jewish book treat of the cleansing of cups and platters. and yet, in spite of all this scrupulosity and punctiliousness and ceremonialism, the savior had occasion to declare in the opening words of to-day's gospel-lesson: "except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven." the form was there, the show of godliness, but something vitally essential was missing; our text calls it "the power." nor would we confine this formation of religion to ancient heathen or judaism. an acquaintance of mine tells of a scene recently witnessed in the city of mexico. a company of men were shuffling cards, and casting dice, and indulging in profane and unholy jests in a drinking-house, when suddenly the ringing of a bell was heard without. a procession of priests was passing through the streets bearing the consecrated water to the bedside of the dying. at the sound all in the iniquitous place fell upon their knees and muttered their prayers. the bell ceased, and they resumed their pleasure. what was this but the form of godliness without the power? nor need we go to distant mexico to find the same manifestation among the devotees of the same religion,--ceremonialism, grand and spectacular, the waking early at the break of day to perform one's worship, the lighting of candles and bending of knees before graven images, the ceaseless twisting of the rosary beads, and making of crucifixes and anointing with holy oil and water. what are these but the forms of godliness without the power thereof? let us not be uncharitable, but the words of the savior press themselves upon one's lips: except your righteousness exceed that which so garbs itself, and puts in the place of christ another's righteousness, which is the righteousness of such hollow ceremonies, pretensions, and good works, it shall not avail to enter into the kingdom of god. and is protestantism exempt? are there no formalists among those who profess to be members of, and visit, our churches? is there no outward ceremonial observance there, no form of godliness without the power thereof? as we pointed out, everything has a form, and that form needs attention. injure the shell, and the kernel will be impaired. refuse to give due respect to your body, and its immortal tenant, the soul, will leave it. and so in religion. the outward must be attended to. it will not do to say, i need not go to church, god is everywhere, i can worship him just as well under the trees of the park, under the blue canopy of the great temple of nature, as in the four walls of a building. the church is god's; it is there he has recorded his name, and promised to convey his grace and blessing as nowhere else. godliness and churchliness are joined together, and it is not for any man to divorce them, to put them asunder. the godly man, it will ever be found, is the best churchman. it will not do to say: i can be just as good a christian and stay away from the sacrament of the lord's table,--it is only a form. granting it is, it is a form which god has commanded by and through which he communicates life and salvation to men's souls. you do not despise to drink the water of the mississippi river because it flows through pipes and comes out at the faucet. and so you ought not reject life, grace, and salvation promised by god, because he has laid it down for you in the partaking of bread and wine in his sacrament, which is the channel by and through which he conveys it to your soul. the same may be said of all the ordinances of religion,--prayer, the reading of the bible, the saying of prayers. these things must be attended to. they are the forms in which it expresses itself--takes shape. and yet, we must beware of mistaking the shape for the substance, the shell for the kernel, the body for the soul. going to church as a mere form saves no one; neither does going to the sacrament. to read the bible, for instance, merely to find out what a fine literary product it is, has no religious value; and to mumble one's prayers in a thoughtless and spiritless way, our lord tells us, is worthless, yes, it may be an abomination to him. what good does food do you if you do not digest it, take the strength out of it, the necessary qualities? equally so with the spiritual food. religion as a form, a mere external life, a show, avails nothing; rather, it is a snare of delusion by which men may deceive themselves and others. when, then,--that is the question to which our text leads up,--when have we the form of godliness together with the power thereof? in order to have true religion, two things are necessary, the new birth and the new life. first, the new birth. "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." religion, first of all, above all, aims at and affects the heart. it is this which is primarily concerned. "this people," the lord complains, "draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." "give me, my son," my daughter, "thy _heart_," is the request of the merciful lord. whoever has sat under the pulpit of god, listening to his instructions and exhortations, or scanning the pages of his holy word, that has not had his feelings stirred and his soul warmed after the manner of those two disciples on their way to emmaus, to whom the risen lord opened the scripture, whereupon they confessed, "did not our heart burn within us?" whose bosom has failed to beat higher with noble resolution and holy endeavor when kneeling before his god in prayer or at the sacred communion? in a word, whose inner life has not been touched by the spirit of god, and who has not undergone a change of mind which brings him to see things by faith in christ, in a new light? the promise is: "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." "if thou shalt believe in thine heart, thou shalt be saved." the heart belongs to true religion, and true religion belongs into the heart. this is the first requisite and essence of godliness--a new heart. the other requisite is the new life. it is the natural and the necessary outflow of the new birth. when the heart has been changed by the spirit of god, the new life will show itself. the lord once remarked, "by their fruits ye shall know them." you cannot be a bad citizen, an undutiful parent, a spiteful husband, a fretful, quarrelsome wife, an unscrupulous business man, and, at the same time, a good christian. it does not exhibit the power of godliness to listen devoutly to a sermon on righteousness, and temperance, and purity, and straightway imbibe freely from the intoxicating cup, speak words of profanity, and do things that are tainted. if you would discover if the works of a clock are right, we look at the hands; so by our hands and deeds we may test whether our hearts are right. you cannot be in possession of an evil tongue, of a lustful eye, of a covetous, selfish, miserly hand, and, at the same time, of a pious and devout mind. if our text teaches anything, it teaches that godliness is a "power," an energy which renews and sanctifies men. but when there is power, it exerts and manifests itself. then there must be, in order to have true religion, a regenerated heart and a corresponding life. how, then, to make a few direct words of application, is it with you, my dear hearer? one of the chief sources of offense, they tell us, is that those who profess godliness are so woefully short of it. "they are everlastingly running to church, praying, and hymn singing, but they live and act like heathen." not infrequently that charge comes from an ugly and malicious, fault-finding spirit. let us see to it that it is only that, a mean, unfair charge, that, as far as we are concerned, it be not true. let us in the light of our text see to it that we have not only the form of godliness, but the power thereof, that our heart is right with god, and endeavor earnestly and conscientiously to make our head and tongues and hands right. god strengthen us in this resolution! lord jesus, it is thy religion we profess. keep us by thy holy spirit to be true disciples of it, to our soul's welfare, our fellow-man's uplift, and thy glory. amen. seventh sunday after trinity. are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before god?--_luke , ._ our lord always spoke in the plainest possible terms. whenever a vital truth was to be stated, an important doctrine to be set forth, he did it in language so clear that no one could misunderstand. the statement of our text this morning shares that quality. "are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before god?" the little creature mentioned is one of the most insignificant that could be thought of; the lord selected it just for the sake of that utter insignificance to bring out a significant and all-inspiring truth. that truth is this: that god is in relation with everything that exists; that he superintends all; that there is nothing so minute as to be overlooked or forgotten. we call this the doctrine of god's providence, and a most prominent teaching of god's word it is, as also one of the most cheering and practical. prompted by the gospel-lesson of to-day, which shows us our blessed lord as providing miraculously for the four thousand with seven loaves and a few small fishes, let us _i. seek to establish the doctrine of god's providence_; _ii. show its application and effect upon us and our lives_. "i believe that god has made me and all creatures, that he has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them," thus we confess in the explanation of the first article of our creed, and what our catechism thus confesses, the sacred scriptures with especial clearness teach. god did not only, as some are willing to admit, create the universe, but he also now governs it personally and completely. it is the theory of our modern evolutionists and materialists that god has left the world to govern and develop itself, that, having placed it under certain natural laws, it must take care of itself, wholly independent of god's interference. as melanchthon once characterized their position: "they think of god as a shipbuilder, who, when he has completed his vessel, launches it and then leaves it, or like a clock which you wind up, and then let run off." a different impression is that received from god's holy book. that assures us that, so far from turning over his government to unalterable laws, so far from retiring from his works to dwell apart in his own unapproachable godhead in some distant sphere, unconcerned and uncaring for such a world and such creatures as we, there is nothing done, nor said, nor thought, nor felt by man but he knows it and notes it, and orders his dealings with reference to it. his providence includes every event,--the rise and fall of nations and states, the experiences and vicissitudes of the church, the occurrences of the history of each family, the unnumbered instances which make up the life of each individual, no matter what their character. his supreme hand is in and over them all. those words which we so commonly use in daily speech--chance, accident, strictly and consistently regarded, are untruthful, for there is no such thing as chance, an accident; nothing happens but it has been determined in his wisdom, and is sent, directed, or permitted according to his will. chance or accident rule in nothing--god's providence in all. what more satisfactory assurance would we desire for that than what is told us in the text? it was a customary thing to see sold in the market-place of jerusalem, as an article of merchandise, the little creatures here mentioned. the price was a minimum, five sparrows for two farthings, equal at the most, to two cents of our money. our lord, in referring to it, calls attention to the little regard taken by men of this poor little bird, and brings out in vivid and grand contrast the regard taken of it by god. "and not one of them is forgotten before god." elsewhere, in one of the psalms, god says: "i know all the fowls upon the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are in my sight." we watch in their season of immigration the flight of birds, when in long flocks they cross the sky, passing from the north to the south, or back again. to think that each in those countless tribes is known, as if by name, to its creator, not one confounded with the other in the view of god! we observe the tiny sparrow as it skips from ground to housetop, busily gathering its food, or the frail materials wherewith to construct its nest below our house roof; how little we reflect that every one of them is numbered in that sight which nothing can escape, and that in the ephemeral history of the poor little bird, of which the great god and savior deigns to speak, not one item is forgotten, each is seen and known and retained in a faithful memory; "not forgotten," implying a knowledge that lasts, a consideration though the thing known may no longer exist. this, then, is the way we are taught to think about our god. all things that transpire, all that has been and shall be--all are embraced within the circle of god's unforgetting, all-remembering knowledge, vision, providence. that is the christian doctrine as taught by our lord in such plain illustrations as this, and as preached by his apostles on the pages of the old and new testament throughout. let us now ask of the application. that it means something to us when the lord says about god's not forgetting one of the sparrows sold in the market-place of jerusalem is a matter of course. what does it mean? the doctrine of god's providence is, we would thus consider it first, a stern and restraining truth. consider for a moment,--there is nothing about you, or in you, or of you, but god knows and sees it all, the thoughts of your mind, the desires of your heart, the motives of your deeds. he spieth out all your ways, he understandeth your thoughts afar off. yesterday, for example, he saw you when your eyes first opened to the light, and he traced your steps till they closed once more in sleep. you know what you did, and he also knows. you may have thought yourself unobserved, and some things there are which you should prefer to forget, wish that you could conceal them, ashamed or afraid to have them known. god does not forget, from him you cannot conceal; all the while you are standing in the concentrated blaze of a light, brighter than the brightest sun, and eyes that see everything are reading you through and through. that is, as stated, a stern and awful truth. but let us not deceive ourselves concerning it. let us remember that there is no privacy anywhere for us, though we may long for it, and many live as if they had it. our follies and vanities, our erring steps, our ugly temper and evil disposition, every idle word that you spoke, every oath that has fallen from your lips, every vile action, every dollar you have wasted in luxury, folly, or withheld in miserly selfishness, every influence you have exerted, apt to lead a brother or sister astray,--god sees and knows them all. you are read like a book by the reader of the lives of all men. man, my beloved hearers, needs a check upon him, a hand to keep him straight. he has it in this belief. a person cannot go far wrong who believes that god sees and knows all. the sense of his nearness is a moral force, a thousandfold greater than any other that can be named. he that thinks thus of his god is ever putting to himself the question whether god approves what he is about at any given moment. that saves him; it acts as a constant check; it is a lantern to his feet, a light to his paths, a bridle to his lips. and god knows we all need to be so held in. that communities are defiled, that the social order is imperiled, that men are shocked at the growing ravages of sin, and souls are ruined one by one, we may trace these things to their sole cause, the losing sight of the fact that god's eye is on them always, and that they are accountable to him for what they do. let the doctrine of god's providence be generally rejected, and it is only a question of time till that comes to pass again which once occurred in the days of noah, when god saw that the wickedness of man was great, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. here, then, is a truth which may be called the beginning of the moral law, the foundation of christian ethics, the alpha and omega of christian practice. the doctrine of god's providence is a stern and restraining doctrine. but there is another side to the picture. to that shall we turn for the greatest comfort and peace that mortal man can know. "are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before god?" "ye are," continues the master, "of more value than many sparrows." if one of them cannot fall to the ground unnoticed by our father, how much more in his thoughts, (that is the evident line of argumentation,) are we, his children, made in his likeness, redeemed by his own precious blood. what should there be for us each day and hour but loving, unwavering trust. it cannot fail to impress every reader of his bible how it dwells continually upon this very point. our lord knew what a burdensome world this is, and how easily perplexed men are. he has sought in all possible manner and ways to bring home to us the truth we are considering. he has given us precious and numerous promises. "trust in the lord and do good," is one of them, "so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." another is: "whoso putteth his trust in the lord shall be safe." still others: "my grace is sufficient for thee:" "i will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." these might be multiplied from the scriptures by the score and hundred. and again he has sought to impress his divine providence upon us by numberless examples. there is, for instance, noah. noah trusted him, and lo! when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the floods rose, and millions of the ungodly sank into a watery grave, sheltered and shut in by god's protecting hand, the ancient saint outrode the deluge in safety, with his family. elijah, alone yonder in the wilderness, in time of famine, trusted him, and, behold, even the ravens, divinely bidden, came flying with bread to feed him. and so david, and daniel, and peter, and all of god's illustrious saints whose biography the bible records, put their trust in his governing providence, and never were ashamed, and their experience has been the universal experience and testimony of all who have ever really put their faith in him, and that applies as much to us as to them. come what will, the true and trusting child of god feels secure. "have we trials and temptations, is there trouble anywhere?" is ghastly pestilence mowing down its victims? is financial depression over all the land, labor unobtainable, wages low, and bread scarce? has sickness prostrated one? has death broken the family circle, and is the heart bleeding under bereavement? in the midst of it all the christian sees the wise, loving, all-governing providence of god, the almighty and all-gracious hand of his own divine heavenly father; and in this assurance, that god is thus in all that befalls him, his soul is filled with abiding calmness. there is nothing, amid it all, which is more calculated to banish our cares, to throw sunshine across life's path, to make us more content, than the belief that our god holds the reins of universal rule, and that all is controlled and guided by his wise and kind hand. and this, to conclude, also gives a christian strength and encouragement in his work. the thought that god is near us, the feeling that he is working with us, gives an impulse, a force which nothing else can impart. to rise in the morning with that sense of divine presence, that god sees all our endeavors, is to take up one's work with an entirely different mood than where that feeling is missing. nor are we then easily discouraged; it gives us renewed inspiration, the courage required for long, steady, earnest work. we have considered a glorious truth of christian doctrine from the lips of him who never exaggerated, never erred. lay hold of it, believe it, not languidly, but as a power in your lives, and be happy in such belief. amen. eighth sunday after trinity. o timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.--_ tim. , ._ everything in this world is liable to be spoiled. there is nothing safe against the doings of corruption. the holiest things are often perverted, the richest flowers blasted in their bud. man himself, as the psalmist tells us, was made but a little lower than the angels, but his glory was soon tarnished, and he frequently sinks a little lower than the brute. there is none, though he appear as a veritable saint among men, who is beyond the reach of danger. and it is so also with religion. beautiful as is religion, and pure as it is, coming from the mind and bosom of god, it is liable to be spoiled in the hands and hearts of its professors. such at least is the teaching of the text and the testimony of experience. just like the crystal mountain stream in its course from the virgin spring down to the ocean gathers some of the unclean and filthy deposits of the shores it washes, so the waves of religion, in flowing through many lands and hearts, have taken up some of their noxious and poisonous ingredients; while purifying and refreshing the earth, the noble river contracts some of its corruptions. the jews, for instance, had a pure religion, communicated to them by the patriarchs and prophets, but heathenish elements were continually mingling with it. moloch and other hideous idols would now and then stand in the very presence of jehovah's temple, and the priests of baal oft took the place of the sons of aaron. when christ came, the jewish religion was exceedingly tainted and corrupted with gentileism and other defiling influences. the christian religion in its turn has fared no better, starting out on the pure basis of its divine master's directions; but it has been subject to the same influences. it was given to the world as a plain, simple system. but when kings and emperors began to take it into favor, magnificent outward ceremonies were instituted, privileged orders were appointed; bishops and other high authorities were set up, claiming extraordinary power, and at last what started as christianity became little more than baptized heathenism. masses, penances, and confessionals took the stead of christ and his righteousness. in place of the old heathen gods were placed patron saints. venus of the greeks became mary of the christians. the true glory of the church was gone, until god in his mercy turned back the tide to his own revelation and book, the holy bible. that was in the days of the lutheran reformation. but that did not settle matters; the soil of misguided religion and of man's perverted opinion has been defiling, and is still defiling, its pure and holy waters. it need not be. christianity is as simple as simplicity can be, its teaching is as clear as is the sunlight in its noonday radiancy; but, of course, it must be guarded, protected against corruption on the part of man's delirious and sickly reason. this is the caution st. paul makes in our text to his beloved pupil timothy, when he directs him: "o timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called, which some professing have erred concerning the faith." there are two classes of science falsely so called that have erred concerning the faith. the one is the worldly science, and the other the christian science, and concerning both classes i would ask for your most careful attention. when speaking of science, it must be observed at the outset that true science and the revelation of god are not at variance. how can they be? the book of nature and the book of religion have been written by one and the same hand, and cannot contradict each other. what man by investigation can find out in nature cannot be of a character to make him doubt or deny the truthfulness of religion as laid down in the bible. but this is what some of the men of supposed higher learning are doing. they look askance at religion. they shake their wise heads, and, putting on their eye-glasses, superciliously state that the bible is not what people think it is. they are willing to admit that it is a book of much good history, a book of sublime poetry, a book of excellent moral precepts, a book which admirably describes human nature, a book from which all men may gather a great deal of practical wisdom and comforting promise, but many of its texts are spurious or faulty, it is not altogether up to date in their opinion. the geologist has bored into the earth, and found that the various compositions must make it much older than moses seems to say. the astronomer has put his telescope into the heavens and finding our planet, the earth, the smallest among heavenly bodies, considers it too insignificant to be the object of all that divine concern the bible speaks about. the anatomist has examined the skulls of dead men, and comparing the one with the other, questions whether they have all proceeded from one human pair. the natural historian has never found a race of snakes with power of speech, and so he puts down the account of the serpent in eden as a myth. the people of the earth speak hundreds of languages, and hence it must be a mere dream that there was once a time when "the whole earth was of one language and one speech." miracles, they say, are so contrary to the general experience of mankind that they must be rejected as falsehood and fiction, and thus might we continue to give the objections of these wiseacres, called scientists, who are looked up to with undisguised admiration by numbers. it would lead us too far, though nothing might afford us greater pleasure to examine these objections in their true light.--we will only ask, how do these wise people know what length of time it took the almighty god to form the various strata which compose the crust of the earth? how can they tell that this world of ours is too small to engage jehovah so deeply for its welfare? how can they prove that the human race and language do not extend back to one common stock? how dare they deny the credibility of miracles in the face of the many wonders which are spread about them every day, and appear every season in their sight? what authority have they for their high-sounding, but hollow assertions? they think themselves wise, but in fact they are but babes in these matters, and those who follow them are their senseless dupes. the truth is that with all the advances of knowledge which have so wonderfully marked the last three hundred years, searching heaven and earth and sea, knocking at every door and gathering wisdom from every source, there has not come to light one truth to contradict these holy records, or to require the relinquishment of one word in all the great volume of god. only a few instances to prove what i state. it has been but a few years since newton laid open the laws of gravitation, and yet the scriptures spoke of the earth being hung "upon nothing," as if familiar with the whole subject, before human science had begun to form even the feeblest guesses in the case. again, take the theory of wind currents, and of the circulation of the blood, why, read the st, th and th chapters of ecclesiastes, and observe where solomon describes it at least , years ago. and so in every case. you may lack understanding or research, you may fail to grasp its truth, by reason of its being too wonderful to you, but as far as being false and spurious, let no man dare to raise that charge against god's religion and book. our wisdom, at best, is only fragmentary, as st. paul says, "we know only in part." no man, not even a scientist, is the personification of all wisdom, and ought not so consider himself. let every man be a liar, but never accuse god's truthfulness. avoid such, as st. paul says in our text, as being profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called. this, then, as much as worldly science is concerned, and now let us turn to the other species which calls itself christian science, but which is neither christian nor science,--not christian, because it has erred from the faith, as our text puts it, and not a science, because, to quote our text again, it is falsely so called. it might be well to approach the matter more closely. in the first place, it must be noted that christian science is nothing new; it is, to be candid, a rehash of what is termed in church history, gnosticism. in the early christian church, about the year after christ, there arose certain heretics, montanus and his prophetesses maximilla and priscilla, who advocated theories and things similar to those in our days advanced with so much zealousness by the late mrs. mary baker g. eddy, the founder and high priestess of the church of christian scientists. these heretical views referred to also found adherents in the early church, so that the excellent bishop irenaeus, of lyons, wrote a book against them called, "the refutation of christian science falsely so called." mrs. eddy very deftly succeeded in bolstering up these ancient opinions, and launched them forth in the various editions of her book called "science and health, with a key to the scriptures." i have carefully gone over that book, and i confess i am overwhelmed with shame to think that any one who lays claim to christianity or to well-balanced reason can earnestly believe such matter. to mention only a few of her doctrines:--the bible says john , : "there are three that bear record in heaven: the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and these three are one." mrs. eddy says: "the theory of three persons in the godhead reminds us of heathen gods." in other words, she stamps the christian doctrine of the trinity as heathenish. the bible says, rom. , : "by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." mrs. eddy calls this an "illusion," purely imaginary; there is no such thing as death. naturally, then, in line with this, she also rejects christ's redeeming us from sin, stating that the time is not distant when these common views about christ's redemption will undergo a great change. in other words, while she mentions christ's name with seemingly the greatest reverence in her book, she calls him a fraud and deceiver, because the bible tells us in just these words that christ came to save his people from their sins, came to destroy the works of the devil, came to redeem them that were under the law. but mrs. eddy spurns the existence of a personal devil, denies the existence of sin, and rejects redemption. such passages as john , : "the blood of jesus christ, god's son, cleanseth us from all sin," are "hideous" to her. her entire system is nothing else than unchristian bosh. i say "unchristian" because, on closer investigation, there is not a single particle of christian doctrine and belief that she does not openly or indirectly at least overthrow. it is true, she claims "faith in the bible"; the title of her book is, "science and health, with a key to the scriptures," but it is a key that binds, but does not unlock. her comment to the very first verse of the scripture: "in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth," is this: "this creation consists in the developing of spiritual ideas and their identities, which are grasped and reflected by the unending spirit." that may be mrs. eddy's creation of the world, but it certainly was not the creation which the first chapter of genesis tells us about. but let us go on to the second chapter of the bible. this does not suit mrs. eddy, as she expressly states it is diametrically opposed to scientific truth, and "inspired by falsehood and error," and in consequence she rejects the second chapter of genesis entirely. we could go on at this rate, but enough has been shown to characterize mrs. eddy's "key to the scriptures." and alas! that men should be carried away with such barefaced craftiness and such thick-coated and consummate falsehood! oh, may it teach us to love to study our bible! but there is still another phase of christian science of which we must speak, would we do it justice, and that is the healing phase. mrs. eddy claims that she has restored the sick and brought back the dying to life. "science and health" and our community have been repeatedly agitated by specimens of this healing ability. it is well known to every one that christian science in its treatment of disease starts from the fundamental theory that there is no sickness and disease, as it says in their text-book, "science and health": "you call it neuralgia; this is all delusion, imagination. you expose your body to a certain temperature, and your delusion says that you catch a cold or get catarrh. but such is not the case; it is only the effect of your imagination." the consequence of this fallacy is that no medical remedies are resorted to; in fact, to a christian scientist ignorance of medicine is bliss. mrs. eddy warns against a knowledge of medicine as a hindrance to learning her system. stopping here for a moment to show the unscripturalness of all this, i would but briefly call your attention to such passages as is. and kings , where we read: "and isaiah, the prophet of the lord, said to hezekiah the king, let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover." or, turning to an instance from the new testament, st. paul the apostle writes in tim. , to his afflicted pupil: "drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities," thus suggesting a medicinal tonic or medicine. our lord approved of physicians when he said: "they that be whole," that is, healthy, "need not a physician," which evidently implies that the sick do need a physician, and we know from col. , that there was a physician among the first disciples of the christian church, and that was none other than the man who wrote the third and the fifth book in the new testament, namely, st. luke. it says in col. , : "luke, the beloved physician, greets you." and moreover, when we read that in the days of his flesh the sick and the palsied and the lame, and those afflicted otherwise, came to jesus and he healed them, does not christian science, denying that there is no sickness, no palsy, and no disease, brand our lord as a liar and a fraud? god protect us from such abomination! but let us come to the final question: by what power or remedy does christian science heal, or, rather, claim to heal? answer: by denying the existence of matter, of sickness, of death, and by seeking to give the mind complete mastery. just imagine it is not so! prayer is employed, but mrs. eddy does not attach as much importance to that as some of her followers, and from what we have heard, such prayer is not the prayer of faith, for she has far erred from god and the faith. god certainly does not answer such vain and profane babbling of lips that speak falsehood and lies. the whole christian science is a blustering, high-strung delusion. st. paul gives a true characterization of it thess. , : "it is after the working of satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." god grant that we may "avoid profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called." with our hearts firmly grounded in the simple truth as it is in jesus, and laid down in the volume before us, let us hold fast through god's grace what we have. it is the power, the only power, unto salvation. amen. ninth sunday after trinity. and he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. and he thought within himself, saying, what shall i do, because i have no room where to bestow my fruits? and he said, this will i do: i will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will i bestow all my fruits and my goods. and i will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. but god said unto him, thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward god.--_luke , - ._ it is a serious matter to call any man a fool. it ought never to be done except when circumstances make it imperatively necessary. christ, you know, employs very strong language in reference to this in the sermon on the mount when he says: "whosoever shall say to his brother: raca, shall be in danger of the council, but whoever shall say: thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire." but we must bear in mind that our lord does not condemn the expression "thou fool" in itself, but rather the spirit in which it is spoken. he does not affirm that it is wrong to say that a fool is a fool, even to his face, but that it is intensely wrong to do so from a feeling of hatred, from spite; and so when god in the words just quoted says to the rich man, "thou fool," he says so, not because he hated him, but because it was a fact, because he pitied his miserable condition, and because he wishes to deter others from following his example. to deter others from following his example, by the guidance of god's holy spirit, is what we shall attempt to do in our pulpit instruction this morning. permit me simply and briefly to direct your attention to two points in this striking parable, _i. that the rich man spoken of in this parable was in some respects a wise man_; _ii. in some, and the chief respects, a foolish one_. that this man was in some respects a wise man, of this we have sufficient evidence before us. in the first place, he was a rich man. it says: "the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." it is very often said that anybody can make money, that it requires no extraordinary powers to become rich, that those who have prospered in the world are more indebted to adventitious circumstances than to any merits of their own, and true it is that men without intelligence, without education, without genius, are sometimes, through a favorable combination of circumstances, enabled to accumulate a vast amount of wealth. yet, as a rule, riches are acquired by those who work hard, who rise early and go to bed late, who devote themselves with untiring energy to the serious business of life. the great law is that "the hand of the diligent maketh rich." success is a prize which can only be secured by those who diligently seek it. the very fact of this man being rich was in itself a strong proof of his prudence; for the two, riches and good common sense, stand, as a rule, connected. again, we are told that the land brought forth plentifully. what did that prove? anything further than that the land was fertile? it proved that he was a skillful farmer, that he cultivated his land well, that he knew how to make the most of it. for while it is true that the abundance of the harvest depends on many circumstances over which man has no control, such as the refreshing dew, the genial rain, and the life-giving sunshine, so that after man has done his best it is god who must give the increase, we ought also to remember that god invariably observes the laws which he himself has established: he never causes corn to grow where seed has not been sown; he never makes the uncultivated soil bring forth at the same rate as that which is properly tilled; the smiles of providence and the help of god do not attend the indolent, and the careless and thoughtless. if a man would reap abundantly, he must sow abundantly, use the brains god has given him, and conform to god's laws; and so, when the land brings forth plentifully, it is a proof that it belongs to a skillful and prudent farmer. and he was careful of his goods. he thought within himself: "what shall i do because i have no room where to bestow my fruits?" there was nothing wrong in this thinking, planning, and contriving. it would have been an unpardonable negligence on his part to let the corn rot in the fields for want of sufficient room to store it in, and it would have been hardly natural to expect him to distribute that for which he had no room among the poor. doubtless it is the duty of those who are very prosperous to be also very liberal; according as they receive from god, so ought they contribute to god's institutions. but god nowhere commands them to give away _all_ they have to spare after supplying their own immediate wants. men are perfectly justified in storing up for the future, in laying aside, and allowing to increase what they have no need of at the present. and it's the part of a thoughtful man who likes to make the most of his advantages and opportunities so to do. say what people, demagogues, and unprincipled orators may, and envy them as they do, those who increase wealth in an honest way have an unquestionable claim upon our respect. they are, as it were, the sinews of human society. wealth is a mighty agent in the spread of civilization and good. without wealth, railroads could not be constructed, ships could not be launched, towns, mansions, and harbors could not be built, most of the conveniences and comforts of civilized life could not be secured. barbarous nations, you will find, are always poor. this man, from all accounts, did not acquire his riches by defrauding his neighbors or by wild and hazardous speculations, but in the exercise of a legitimate and respectable calling; he was entitled to it, he was deservedly respected. nor did he--in this there was also a degree of wisdom--deny himself the comforts which his possessions were able to afford him. he was not a tight-fisted, miserly fellow who half starved through fear of spending his money, denying himself the things necessary to make life more enjoyable. rather the man who, like him, says to himself, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, than the man who in possession of abundance of this world's goods denies himself its comforts. so far, then, we have many favorable traits in his character, some of which we might do well to imitate. he was an industrious, skillful, contemplating, wide-awake person who, in a business, social way, stood well with all who knew him. but this only makes the remaining part of his conduct, which we shall now consider, all the more deplorable. but god said unto him, "thou fool." why did god address him thus? because, first, all his thoughts were centered upon himself. with him everything was _i_, _myself_, and _mine_. _my fruits_, _my goods_, says he, as if they were absolutely his own, as if he owed them entirely to his own skill and industry, and had a right to apply them to his own selfish ends. the man with all his worldly wisdom--and he has many like himself--had not mastered one very essential and elementary truth, namely this, that nothing that we have, nothing that we are, comes from ourselves; if we possess anything, we have either inherited it or earned it. if we have inherited it, it is not we who gave life, energy, power to those who have bequeathed to us what we have. if we have earned it, it was not we who gave ourselves the active brain, the strong arm, and steady nerve that did the work. at the most we have improved, made the most of a gift. our powers, moral and intellectual, physical and spiritual, come from the author of our life; our life itself is a gift. "it is god who hath made us, and not we ourselves." we do not exist as of right, we exist on sufferance and as a matter of bounty. we are stewards, trustees. we hold what we hold on trust, as life-tenants, for an unseen lord. the first thing this man ought to have done when he found that his lands were crowned with plenty was to bow down before the heavenly throne and say: "father of all mercies, i thank thee that thou hast remembered thine unworthy servant, and hast so bountifully prospered the labor of his hands." but no, he says not a word about god or to god; all he said was about himself and to himself. "my" fruits and "my" goods--is his language. and as he received them without thought or thanks to god, he also used them. it is this feature which our lord emphasizes when he remarks: "so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward god." selfishness is the basest of all sins. it is the most repulsive, degraded, and degrading form of depravity, and to our shame it must be confessed that it is the peculiar fault of man. the whole constitution of nature is a standing protest against it. no created object exists for its own sake, or to serve its own ends; but everything contributes its share to the well-being of the rest of creation. think of the sun, the most glorious of visible objects, how from day to day, from year to year, it lavishes its light upon the earth, giving life and beauty and freshness to the vegetable and animal kingdoms. or think of the clouds, how with unwearied constancy they drink the waters of the ocean, not to retain them in their own bosoms, but to pour them down in plentiful showers, both on barren mountains and on fertile plains; or how this earth, after supplying generation after generation, is as productive as ever, and its mines inexhaustible. everything, in fact, seems to teach the grand doctrine that it is better to give than to receive. man alone, heaven's chief recipient, forms the contrast. he is selfish, and herein consists his folly. can we think of these things, and not blush at our own selfishness? again, his folly appears in this, that he provided only for the flesh, the least important part of his nature. 'tis true, he talks about his soul, but only in such a way as if he hardly distinguished it from his body, and as if it ought to have been well satisfied with the things which his body only enjoyed. "and i will say to my soul," said he, "soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." but god said to him, "thou fool." he talked like a madman, like one beside himself, and hence he deserved the severest rebuke. for what is man? not anything that he owns; not anything material that he can so handle as to make it serve his purpose; not even the bodily frame with which he will part company at death. essentially, man is a spirit, enclosed in a bodily frame. the soul is the man, and that soul calls for first and best consideration. the contrary course is folly. it is quite proper for us to be careful of our bodies, to provide things suitable for our present condition; indeed, it is necessary to do so. alas! that rational and heaven-born creatures should confine their attentions exclusively to, "what shall we eat, what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" and utterly neglect their souls, feed their bodies sumptuously every day, and leave their souls to perish with hunger. is this right? is it reasonable to do this? man has been created for a higher purpose, and his ambition ought to be higher than to find blessedness in eating, drinking, and sensual pleasures. these things cannot appease the cravings of his soul. man needs god for his portion and christ for his savior; it is only as he believes the gospel that true peace is his. and, lastly, he provided only for _time_, the least important portion of his existence. what a glorious place this world would be, what a glorious time it would be eating, drinking, and being merry, according to the ideal of the flesh, if--well, if it were not for one thing. what is that? the summons quoted here in our text. "thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee." "many years," the man had said. "this night," god said, and from that decree there was no appeal and is no exception. that awful truth is applicable to every one of woman born and just as uncertain. look around you, my dear hearers, within the circuit of your own experience, and see if you do not recognize the picture in the parable--an indolent, indifferent epicureanism whispering to itself, "soul, take thine ease; don't be alarmed, eat, drink, and be merry," broken in upon by the same message flashed from heaven coming in a railway accident, in a sinking steamer, by death in the hunting field, or the river's waves, or by the sudden stoppage of the heart's action. "thou fool, this hour thy soul shall be required of thee,"--and how do you know whether the next summons may not mean you? learn from this parable the terrible uncertainty of human affairs, and, above all, learn from it the lesson of wisdom, _viz._, to look forward to the future, to forecast as to how it will be with you when the scenes and pursuits of this busy world will have ended. there is a life beyond this. be wise, then, and provide for it. how? to speak with our text: "by being rich towards god." hear the gospel. believe that jesus suffered and died for you, reconciled you with god and heaven. become members of god's kingdom on earth, the christian church. make diligent use of the means of grace, the word and the sacraments, and thus be prepared and blessed in time and for eternity. amen. tenth sunday after trinity. for as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is christ. and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.--_ cor. , and ._ there is, perhaps, nothing more remarkable, when you study the life of the church at large and of each congregation individually, than the little interest which its members take in each other. in most cases the entire concern of the membership devolves on a few, or perhaps on the pastor alone; in many instances the amount of interest and sympathy which is shown to each other extends only to a formal, a very cool, social recognition; in some there is not even the interest which secures that. people go in and out of the same church-building, month after month, year after year, without as much as knowing, or caring to know the name of their fellow-member or worshiper. when difficulties arise and embarrassments, those who belong to the christian church feel no more liberty to call on a member of the church for counsel or aid than they would on any other person; when disheartened and discouraged, in need of sympathy and a kind word, they have no reason to suppose that a single member of the church sympathizes with them. and when living in the neglect of christian duty, none of the members ever stop to administer an admonition or gentle rebuke to keep the backslider from a melancholy fall. in a word, people are left to take care of themselves very much alone; and this is the more remarkable when you consider the condition of those who largely make up the membership of a congregation like ours. many of them are young and inexperienced in christian life, gained from families where there is no religion, no kindred to help them on to god, rather, where they are exposed to influences that would draw them aside, and where every effort ought to be made to keep them in the fold. the reflections, my beloved, and the constant cry, "what is the church doing for its members? see how other organizations are helping each other, how they care for their constituents," have led me to propose for our consideration this morning: _what are the duties which the members of the church owe to each other?_ we shall inquire _i. what the christian church is_, _ii. note a few traits which ought to distinguish its members_. may god's spirit make the sermon a profitable one. first, what the christian church is. the christian church is an organization, a body, separate, different from all other organizations or bodies. it has a separate origin, a separate purpose. it has separate principles and law. as to its origin--the church is divine. it is not a human institution. it is not a mere voluntary association, such as an odd fellows' society, a masonic fraternity, a mutual improvement club, an insurance company. none of these have in them any higher wisdom, authority, or goodness than human experience or contrivance has given them. it is different with the church. god made the first churches, and through them he made all other churches. what the church teaches in her creed is not from man, but from god. his revelation, the sacraments she administers, are divine institutions, god-appointed, and all the terms and the spiritual process by which people come to be part and parcel of the church are directly from god. men can no more make a church than they can make a world. it is altogether a thing of god. though human agencies are employed in its perpetuation, it is altogether of god. this, it may be well to emphasize, is a point which does not enter into the practical consideration of men as it should. people come to church or stay away the same as they would go or stay away from a lecture on human science, politics, or travels. they forget that in the one case they are dealing with men and the things of men, in the other with god and the things of god. they listen to the preaching of the word as they would listen to a candidate for political favor, except with a little more drowsiness and indifference. they forget that it is but man speaking in the one case, and that it is god, though by a man, speaking to them in the other. people all gaze more idly upon a baptism or an administration of the lord's supper than upon the shams and mockeries of a stage play, not reflecting that the one is mere empty buffoonery, whilst the other is a transaction upon which angels are gazing with reverence, and in which god is setting forth the precious riches of his almighty grace. they are great on praising their unions, clubs, lodges, fellowships, regarding them as the very connections for true fellowship, benefit, and improvement, and setting aside that organization without which the good that is in those connections would never have been. the little light with which those societies shine is only a borrowed light, reflecting feebly the spirit and principles of the church which they largely despise. beloved, these are no hasty utterances on my part. they are the words of deliberation and truth. there is a laxative goodishness, a weak religiousness spreading in our churches that holds other organizations just as good as god's organization. the fact is that the true and certain divinity, the god character of the church, hardly enters any more into men's hearts. let it be once rightly grasped and felt that the church, as such, is a thing of god, that god's name and saving grace are linked with it, and that it is the channel, conservatory of heaven's truth and saving grace, by which alone men's souls are saved. let those who profess to be christians avoid any and every connection that holds teachings, rituals, prayers, and practices contrary to its teachings, prayers, and practices, and the church would not be shorn so much of her strength and be so little thought of. if men are "brethren" in other connections besides the "brotherhood of christ," which is the church, hold with one hand to idolatry and with the other to christianity, it need not be wondered that their zeal is a divided one, and, in most cases, the church receives the smallest division. the first general thought, then, is this: the church is god's. says the text, it is the body of christ, distinct from all man-made associations, and so to be honored. and what--to consider the second and larger part of our discourse--are some of the distinguishing traits of its members? by what are they to know each other and to be known of one another? other societies have their pledges and badges. in some it is a secret sign known only to the initiated, the brethren of the craft; in others it is some peculiarity of speech or of dress, the cut of the cap or the hair. now, it is remarkable that the savior and his apostles prescribed no such external badge of membership, more remarkable because, perhaps, every society then, as now, could be known by such an outward badge. the jew would be known everywhere by his broad phylacteries and the borders of his garments; the roman soldier had some mark wrought with imperishable dye in the skin; the greek introduced into the eleusinian mysteries had some outward method of expressing that fact to the world. and nothing would have been easier than for the savior to have appointed some such emblem for his followers. but in the sacred record there is not even a distant intimation of any such badge by which christ's people or christ's ministers are to be externally so distinguished. and yet, was there no badge, no mark of distinction? there was. what was it? permit me, in answer, to quote a few passages. "a new commandment i give unto you, that ye love one another as i have loved you. by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." "we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." "he that loveth not his brother abideth in death." "if a man say, i love god, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love god whom he hath not seen?" "be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love." "as touching brotherly love, ye have no need that i write you, for ye yourselves are taught of god to love one another." and the story of john the apostle is well known. in his old age of years he was carried to the church, and when he was asked whether he had anything to say, he would feebly respond, "children, love one another." not by signs, peculiarity of dress, or password--by attachment for each other were christ's followers to be distinguished the world over, in all ages. in his church they were to feel that, regardless of wealth, learning, office, or other human distinctions, they were on a level, that they had common wants, had been redeemed by the same precious blood, were going to the same heaven, and were in every respect "brethren." and under this conviction of feeling they were to hold to each other, love each other. my dear hearers, did this love ever in the history of the church form such a distinguishing badge? it did. the time was when the attachment of christians for each other was such as to impress the world with the reality of their religion, and with the fact that they belonged to the family of the redeemed. "see," said the heathen in the early days of christianity, "how these christians love one another, and how ready they are to lay down their lives for each other." is it so now? i answer for anything that you can tell, if persecutions were to arise, those scenes of ancient martyrdom story might be acted over again. but if there is not this love of which the savior and his apostles speak as a distinguishing characteristic of his church, let it be for all of us a matter of self-examination and reflection. i, as a servant of the master, can only tell what he requires of his disciples. again, a second trait and duty required,--they are to be characterized by sympathy for those of its members who suffer. the members of the church are indeed expected and required to have sympathy for all who are afflicted, but the idea is that they are sympathizing with each other in a peculiar manner. christians are exposed to the same kind of afflictions as others. they are liable to sickness and bereavement and poverty like others, and, in addition, they have sources of sorrow peculiar to themselves,--internal conflicts and struggles, persecutions and trials on account of their religion; and in these, as well as in the occasions of joy, they are supposed to find cordial sympathy and interest among their brethren. that is the idea set forth in the text when it says: "and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it." such is the formation of our body, the constitution of the nervous fibers and the tissues, that pain in one part affects the whole frame; that joy in one part diffuses itself over all. a pain in the heart, the side, or in one of the limbs does not confine itself there, leaving the rest of the body in a state fitted for its usual employments, but every part sympathizes with that which is affected. and so the pleasure which we receive from beauty of objects seen by the eye, or from the melody and harmony of music as perceived by the ear, is diffused over the whole frame, and we are filled with enjoyments. so is the church which is the body of christ. what affects one member is supposed to affect all. what gives pain to one gives pain to all. what honors one honors all. as an injury done to a nerve in the body, though so small as not to be traceable to an unpracticed eye, may be felt at the remotest extremities, so is the body of christ. the dishonor done to the obscurest member should be felt by all; the honor done to that member should produce rejoicing. without any officious intermeddling with the private concerns of individuals, there should be such an interest felt in the common welfare of the whole that each might depend on the sympathy of his brethren at all times and in all circumstances. say not that "so it is not." the consideration now, the savior's teaching, is that so it ought to be, and that every member of his church should strive to make it so. and one more duty must we mention, however briefly. it is this: as an essential to healthful congregational life there must be mutual admonition among the members. here is the fundamental principle laid down by the savior. "if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone." you are not to blazon his fault abroad, you are not to allow the suspicion that he has done you wrong to lie, and rankle, and fester in your own mind. you are not to allow it to make you cold and distant, and evasive and repulsive when you meet him, without his knowing the cause; you are not to send an anonymous letter or a message by any one. you are to go to him and see him by himself, and give him an opportunity of explanation, or confession. it is a painful duty, and it is not a duty that devolves on the pastor, but according to the rule laid down by the savior, upon a brother, _i. e._, clearly every one who is a member of the church. beloved, the more i study congregational life and gather practical experience, the wiser does the lord's rule appear to me in preserving the welfare of the church. let us all strive to conform to it. let us openly and frankly treat each other like brethren. if you have been offended by a brother, or if you have offended a brother, here is the rule that guides you; if you see a congregational member wandering from the path of true religion, going astray from church and godliness, fail not to do your duty by him, by an attempt to admonish and reclaim him. we have set before us to-day what the church is, and what the characteristics of its members are,--a peculiar love founded on their common hope of heaven, and their attachment to a common savior, sympathy with each other in joy and sorrow, and a common interest and proper admonition when going astray. god grant that all of us may rightly understand and may strive to live up to these things, so that the church may answer its high and holy purpose, the salvation of men's souls through faith in christ, to whom in all matter be glory and honor forever. amen. eleventh sunday after trinity. therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law.--_rom. , ._ whoever has read his bible with attention must have observed that there are some passages which, at first view, appear hard to reconcile. take, for instance, the passage before us. st. paul here says "that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law," and to confirm his assertion produces the example of abraham. "abraham believed god, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." st. james in his letter, the second chapter, produces the same example, that of abraham, and draws from it a conclusion directly contradictory. he says: "ye see, then, that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." can any two opinions be more opposite in appearance? and as may be expected, all manner of conjectures have been presented. i will not tire you with a tenth part of these interpretations. only two shall i mention as a specimen. a writer of great eminence, recognizing the difficulty in its full strength, allows that it is not only hard, but impossible to reconcile the two apostles, and concludes that, since it is impossible to hold both their sentiments, we must abide by him who wrote the last. accordingly, he gives up the doctrine of faith without works, supposing that st. paul wrote with carelessness of expression, and that st. james wrote after him to clear up what paul had obscurely or inaccurately expressed. again we would note that our great reformer, dr. martin luther, having felt the power of st. paul's doctrine in his own soul, that he would have defied an angel from heaven to oppose it, when his adversaries pressed him with the passage from st. james, styled it an epistle of straw, because, in his opinion, it did not urge christ sufficiently strong. but what of an explanation of these apparently so contradictory passages? is there an explanation? indeed, a simple and satisfactory one. god's truth never clashes. when st. paul speaks of justification, he means the justification of our persons,--how we may be accepted by a just and holy god, that is, by faith, and by faith alone, not by works. when st. james in his letter speaks of justification, he speaks of the profession as believers, how a man proves, shows, that he has faith, and that he can only show that he has faith in one way, namely, by his works. st. james, in his epistle, is addressing such of his day as _said_ they had faith, though it had no influence upon their hearts and conduct. he shows that their hope is vain. he asks: "what doth it profit though a man say he hath faith, and hath not works? can faith save him?"--that is, can such an idle, empty faith save him? he quotes an example: "if a brother or sister be destitute, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit?" would such empty professions of charity prove a man to have charity? no more, does he argue, would a person's mere assertion that he has faith, unless it were followed by good works, justify his profession. a christian's faith is proved to be what it ought to be by works, and not by mere empty profession of faith. and so the example of abraham is pertinent in both cases. according to st. paul, "abraham believed," had faith in god, and god counted it unto him for righteousness, accepted him by faith, and being thus accepted, abraham, already justified before god in person, showed that he had the true faith by the effects which it produced in his heart and life, and when god directed him to offer his son isaac upon the altar, he obeyed. thus, concludes the apostle james, his obedience, his works, justified his faith, his profession as a believer. in a word, st. paul speaks of the justification of our persons, and that is by faith, and by faith alone, and st. james speaks of the justification of our faith, and that is by works. viewed thus, there is no discrepancy, no difficulty, and having taken up the subject, let us continue to consider these two statements, perfectly consistent with each other:-- _i. that there is no acceptance or justification for any of us with god but through jesus christ received by faith, and that in this concern of justification works of every kind are absolutely excluded._ _ii. that where faith in jesus christ exists, it must show itself by works._ to begin with,--what is it for a man to be justified? when a person has been brought to trial for any offense and has been found guilty, he must make satisfaction for this offense. if he is able to make a sufficient satisfaction for his offense, either through his own ability or that of his friends, and the law accepts such an indemnification, the criminal departs from the trial justified. he is not, indeed, an innocent man, but he is so regarded by the law, and though guilty, he would be no more liable to prosecution and punishment for that offense than a person who had never committed it. now this is the way in which we are justified before god. we are guilty beings; the sentence of eternal punishment is pronounced upon us; we have no ability of our own to make satisfaction to the court of the just judge. but an almighty friend has died to make satisfaction for us; god is ready to accept this satisfaction, and in consideration of it he releases us from the penalty of eternal death to restore us to his favor, in a word, to justify us, to treat us as innocent. a person who is found in christ, having the infinite merits of his savior to plead for his justification, is no longer liable to punishment. but how do we secure this satisfaction of an almighty savior? again the text answers: by faith. take, in illustration, the incident of peter's walking on the sea. we have in our natural state nothing more substantial under our feet to keep us from sinking into everlasting destruction than peter had from sinking into the watery deep, and it is only when we realize our situation as he did, when we feel our entire helplessness and destitution of hope as he did, when we cast the imploring look and hold out the same suppliant hand, confident that he is able and willing to save, that we exercise a gospel faith, receive all that christ has ever done or suffered in our behalf. faith is the hand that lays hold on the savior, and so justifies. again, "we are justified," is the apostle's assertion, "without the deeds of the law." in the first chapter of this epistle to the romans, paul labors to show that the gentiles had sinned against the law of nature which was written in their hearts, and in the second and third chapters, that the jews had equally transgressed their written law, and then, having thus shown that all the world is guilty before god, he concludes: "therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified." in other words, that good works are of no account in our justification, they cannot set us right with god,--make us acceptable with him, cannot gain his favor. that is the teaching of the scripture and the doctrine of the church. declares the fourth article of the augsburg confession: "we teach that men cannot be justified before god by their own powers, deservings, or works, but are accounted righteous in grace only through the merit of our lord jesus christ received by faith." nor is there a lesson which we learn more slowly. it is a task most difficult for us to give up the idea of merit in ourselves, to feel that we can do nothing, absolutely nothing, towards purchasing the favor of god. talk with the sick and the dying upon the grounds of their hope, and they will often be found pleading that they have always endeavored to live good lives, and have never been guilty of any gross sins, showing by such language that they are clinging to their own good works, instead of trusting to the heaven-procuring righteousness of god. converse with christians, even some of our church-members, and they will often speak in such a way as to show that they are placing some merit in their good character or endeavors to serve god. with one foot they may indeed be standing on the rock of salvation, but the other is too often still in the miry clay of our own deservings. we must learn to rest wholly on christ. we must pray god to break down every vain dependence, to look away, with loathing and disgust, from anything that we possess or can do, to receive a crucified redeemer as our only hope. "nothing in my hand i bring, simply to thy cross i cling." this is the first proposition, that there is no acceptance with god but through faith, and that in this concern works of every kind are absolutely excluded. but this proposition, simple and plain as it is, must not be perverted. it will not do, then, to say, it matters not what our lives are, just so we only have faith in christ. when the scriptures assert that we are justified by faith, they do not mean a faith which leaves us indifferent to our practice. the faith that saves a man is of the kind that has a prevailing and ennobling influence upon the hearts and lives of those who possess it. because man cannot gain salvation by his own righteousness and works, he must beware of falling into the fatal and ruinous delusion that he can abolish righteousness and good works. god demands good character and good works from his people. the same apostle who declares in the epistle: "by faith we are justified," adds: "and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but i labored more abundantly than they all." the bible wants every christian to be busy; his life should be filled with fruits of good. but these things must be put in their right place; and which is that? as an evidence of the faith within us. faith saves us, but good character and good works prove that we have this saving faith. the truth of the matter is that to set little store on good works is an immoral and most pestilent heresy. the works by which we recommend religion and adorn the doctrine of god, our savior; the works which spring from love to christ and aim at the glory of god, the works by which a good man blesses society and leaves the world better than he has found it, are not worthless and "filthy rags," but they are the gracious and graceful ornament of a blood-bought soul, the fruits of god's spirit within us, the clear and comfortable evidence of our being the children of god; and in this st. paul and st. james agree. whereas a faith that professes to believe in christ, and denies him in character and works, is not only unprofitable, but loathsome and offensive, a dead carcass. god grant that we have all rightly understood that we place our sole and undivided dependence for salvation upon our blessed redeemer, and that we evidence such faith in him by the virtues of a holy character and the performance of godly acts. to god be all glory in christ jesus! amen. twelfth sunday after trinity. train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.--_prov. , ._ it has grown to be a custom to speak at this time a few words concerning our youth. no one, i trust, will dispute the wisdom, nor question the appropriateness of this. after months of relaxation and rest our little ones have returned to the walls and duties of school life. god grant his blessing that they may become intelligent citizens, worthy and useful members of the commonwealth. that is our pious wish and prayer, and for such wish we have reason abundant. perhaps there has been no time when the matter of education and bringing up of our children has called for so much thought and concern as at the present. statisticians tell us what startling conditions prevail in our country in respect to wrongdoing, that murders, unchastity, forgeries like a tidal wave are sweeping our land far above what it is in other countries, and that a large percentage of these crimes are being perpetuated by mere striplings of boys. by far the larger number of the inmates of our penal institutions--work-house and penitentiary--are young men. our reform schools--good shepherd institutions and similar places--house boys and girls by the hundreds, causing one to heave a sigh of inexpressible sadness. look over the docket of our juvenile court, and it convinces you beyond cavil that there is enough to justify its existence; and then we have said nothing about the stubbornness against parents and superiors, flippancy, and other sins of youth daily on the increase. and who is to blame? said an honorable judge of this city lately: "i do say that there is a fearful amount of depravity among the children in the cities of this country, and i don't blame the children as much as those who put them into existence, the parents;" and continuing, he says: "we are prating entirely too much about the unreal and unsubstantial. after all, the real questions are the ones that affect the homes and the children in the homes, and because we have neglected them, we are reaping the ill results." the testimony of thousands of others could be quoted to the same effect. sufficient reason, accordingly, why we should direct attention to this vital subject. god blessing his word spoken, let us regard the text which reads: "train up a child in the way he should go," noticing that this is done, _i. by instruction_, _ii. by example_, _iii. by discipline_. first in order to a proper training of the young belongs instruction, and by that we mean religious instruction, education not of the mind only, but of the heart. we have no quarrel with education of the mind, the culture of our children in all the accomplishments and acquisitions of facts and sciences; on the contrary, we regard intellectual knowledge, to speak with king solomon, as more precious than rubies and more to be chosen than fine gold; we hail with delight every facility and agency that would make our children just as bright as possible, and commend the spirit that makes our schools among the most elegant and conspicuous of public buildings. and yet, education of the mind alone will not do; we might point in evidence of that to the refined nations of antiquity. is not ancient greece with its music, painting, poetry, and the arts the model of modern states? and who has not heard and read of the romans and the ancient egyptians and persians? go to your public libraries and see the books on its shelves and the mutilated statues of apollo, juno, and the like that tell of their genius. why did these nations not last? why did the fabric of their grandeur crumble to pieces? because it was not combined with the unperishable principle of virtue, and their want of virtue resulted from their want of religion. far more simple, however, is the consideration that man is not only mind, but soul, and that this soul is preeminently what makes the man, here and hereafter; that it is upon the attention given to that soul that man's happiness, or the reverse, depends. hence, the importance and duty of educating the soul. and that duty--where does it begin? most assuredly where god first put the children--that is the home. at as early a period as possible, as soon as the little ones begin to think and to reason, it is for us to bring them into uninterrupted contact with the sublime and simple truths of god's word. you cannot begin too early. from veriest infancy let them breathe the air of a religious atmosphere. the names of god, jesus, heavenly father, words like heaven, angels, bible, church, and others of this kind, let them be used over and over, constantly in the hearing of the child. at first they convey but little meaning to it. but the brain retains even what it at first does not understand, and day by day the impression deepens and the understanding grows. moreover, parents cannot begin too early to teach the child to abhor sin. mothers should give especial attention to their little daughters and train them in maidenly modesty and chastity, reticence and reserve. and this home education does not cease when the children at tender age are sent to the sunday-school and the parochial school. what great things are expected from that short lesson on a sunday morning! how unreasonable to look for results of any amount unless there be the cooperation of the parents with the teachers. how many parents cooperate with the christian instructors? how often do parents inquire about the catechism and bible history lesson? sing with their children the religious songs taught? if parents fail to interest themselves in what is going on in this way, never speak to the little ones about their work, of what little value must this appear to the children. it needs the earnest and ardent cooperation of the parents. and so when it comes to confirmation. what is confirmation? a course of religious instruction by the pastor. my beloved, have you ever reflected what a most excellent appointment that is? what would our lutheran church be and do with it? those few months spent in personal instruction with the pastor have been the most fruitful period of many a life, have laid a foundation, solid and impenetrable--and god prevent the day that parents would begrudge the hours devoted to that purpose, or regard the securing of a public school diploma higher than the certificate of confirmation. as the new term is about to open, let parents and sponsors carefully weigh this matter!--we train the children, in the first place, by religious instruction. again, it has been stated, by example. to bring up a child in the way it should go, you should go that way yourself. an ounce of example is better than a pound of precept. if children are to honor parents, parents ought to honor themselves and each other. if father and mother are rude to each other, no wonder if the example be soon followed. if father and mother are unpunctual in their hours, irreverent and vulgar in gesture and speech, it needs no sage to tell what the effect would be. children need models more than criticism. boys do not learn honesty and girls modesty so much from text-books--the parents are the best living encyclopedia of practical morality. what can one expect where the father is heard blaspheming his creator, lives in debauchery, drowning his reason in liquor, spending his time and his earnings for purposes and in places unbecoming. how many a boy's soul has been poisoned by filthy talk heard from an adult's lips! an irreverent joke on some bible story has well-nigh shattered the faith of many a lad! and it will never improve the moral condition of the young where the mothers are "white" liars, practice deception upon their husbands, and indulge in eavesdropping and gossip and find their chief delight with the world, its amusements and pleasures. it well becomes us to examine ourselves and our homes in this respect. two things in particular have tended to break down the religious prestige of parents and to make our homes irreligious homes. the first is this: the lack of family worship and prayer. in many, aye, most cases the family altar has, to quote the language of another, "been carried to the woodshed, and there demolished for kindling." what multitude of homes are veritable boarding houses! each member of the household comes, goes, eats, and sleeps at will. when you add to that the rush and push of modern business life, the spirit of the age, which regards religion lightly, the multiplied evening enjoyments, we have no time for family worship. but right there we are making an irreparable mistake--as foolish and worse than taking the roof off our house. dear christian parent, put that bible back where it belongs; let never a day pass but a chapter is heard in your dwelling. consider what i say, and the lord grant you courage and blessing! parents who do not fear and love god and live according to his commandments, what reason have they to complain when their children, misled by them, fail to fear and love god and live according to his commandments? so the second means of training up a child in the way he should go is by example. the third is discipline. foolishness is in the heart of a child. "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth," says the bible, and this foolish and evil heart shows itself very early and ugly betimes, and then needs restraint. children must be trained in the way they should go, also in this particular; namely, to control their passions, to master their self-will; to render obedience, respect, deference to parents and all elders. a child is in a very precarious condition if it has gained the impression that it is too much for papa and mamma, and that it cannot be made to mind, and that papa and mamma cannot do a thing with it. and if the parents unfailingly take the side of their children when something comes up between them and some other party, as the teachers and neighbors, they may be certain that they are making all around good-for-nothing children of them. children should be compelled to curb themselves, and not allow ugly words to come over their lips, or to frown, and scowl, and get into a fit of anger whenever they receive an order, or are reprimanded.--and how are parents to overcome disrespect and insubordination of children? first of all, they must cease to coddle their children, and connive at their faults, or laugh at their rudeness and misbehavior. again, god, by the pen of solomon, has set down a word in the bible which needs mentioning to-day: "he that spareth the rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." the rod indeed should be used with caution and good common sense, and only in extreme cases of disobedience and wickedness. parents should be heedful in this respect. when a child does a trifling wrong, not out of malice, but out of mischief or thoughtlessness, parents must not resort to extreme severity. parents should take the trouble to train their children, to talk to them, to explain what is right and wrong, to get the consent of their will, and persuade them to obey, and it is only after all patience and clemency has been exhausted and the child remains intractable that the rod will come in for its share of training. it is a well-known dictum of luther, that the apple and the rod must go together, that is, love must be combined with justice, otherwise children feel abused, and become embittered.--but neither must we refrain from using the rod for the good of the child, nor can we begin too early. and one thing more do we emphasize in this important matter of children's training: keep your child out of bad company. boys and girls are often allowed to run wild, early and late, with all kinds of companions, in all sorts of places, and this has marked the beginning of many a boy's and girl's downfall. you would not suffer your little ones in the company of children infected with some malignant disease. but some parents seem to dread such ailments more than the vicious and degrading influence of ill-trained children; they never inquire about the character of their children's playmates, about the nature of the games indulged in. on a sunday morning parents will leave their children at home, feasting on the comic section of the sunday paper, a flagrant exhibition of the criminal meanness and spitefulness of some bad boy. to pass by other things, the five-cent theaters, or nickelodeons, may present wholesome pictures at times, but enough has been said and written to convince us that the nature of the entertainment offered is in many cases, if not in the most, of a low and trivial order. it is certainly a training in the wrong direction if children can talk fluently about plays, actors, and actresses. let a child taste that sort of opiate, and life elsewhere will seem dull and insipid, and the outcome far from the paths of righteousness and religion. may god, according to the riches of his mercy, bless the words spoken so that they may arouse us parents to renewed endeavors, multiplied zeal, and irresistible enthusiasm in our duties over against our youth. to his great parent heart and parent care we commend them and us. amen. thirteenth sunday after trinity. and the king shall answer and say unto them, verily i say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.--_matt. , ._ we christians are sometimes at a loss whether to regard it as a matter of congratulation or as a matter of disdain when we hear people who otherwise repudiate our blessed lord, who have no use for his teaching and his church, quoting him as an authority and a model. thus there be those who say with great emphasis that jesus christ was a socialist, yes, the first and real socialist; he loved the common people and severely arraigned the rulers of his nation. others, when they find it convenient, contend that christ was no temperance man. did he not perform a miracle, turning water into wine? while others contend that christ was a great philanthropist; his purpose and mission was to make this world a better place to live in; wherefore he fed the hungry, healed the sick, and devoted himself to the betterment of social conditions generally. whether our lord was a socialist, or not, that depends upon the definition, "what is a socialist?" unfortunately, there are as many different definitions of socialism as there are individual socialists; scarcely two are perfectly agreed. suffice it to say that, in the popular acceptance of the word, jesus of nazareth was not a socialist; and we do not feel greatly flattered to have him so rated. the same is true when he is quoted as a non-temperance man, in the mouth of those whose use of wine and other intoxicants consists mostly in the abuse. and as to our lord being a philanthropist, whose mission was the betterment of social conditions, this, while a favorite idea, is far from the whole truth. what does our lord himself say was his mission in this world? he declares that he came "to seek and to save that which was lost." he says: "i am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly." what did he mean by "life"? surely not the hand-breadth of time which we are living here and now. to him man was more than a creature whose wants were only those of a stomach and its appurtenances. it is true, he did not minimize the present life. he relieved men of their distresses and healed their sicknesses; but that was quite subordinate to his greater work. the emphasis was always placed on their eternal interests. "the life," he said, "is more than meat and the body than raiment." his great question was, "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" what are health and comfort and wealth, and all earth's emoluments in comparison with the life hereafter? christ's mission was to make it possible for men to attain to that high destiny; and this he did by sacrificing himself and dying on the cross for them, in expiation of their sins, so that, whosoever would believe in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. this, be it ever kept before us, was the purpose and mission of christ. it is not true that the ministry of christ had to do principally with the temporal welfare of men. to say so is to contradict his words and belittle his work. he did champion the poor; he did vindicate the rights of the working classes; he did insist on happy homes and just government and the betterment of society every way. but he came to be a savior, he came to save the soul from the ravages and penalty of sin; and when people quote him in favor of one thing only, and that the inferior part, and reject the other and the superior, it is only a half truth, and not to our lord's credit. and as people judge in these matters concerning christ, so concerning his church. the scripture-lesson of this sunday, treating of this subject, tells us of the good samaritan and his work of love. let us, for once, take for our topic of instruction: _i. the wrong view and attitude of the church over against the works of benevolence. ii. which is the correct bible teaching and practice?_ the lord grant us understanding and wisdom! there is no question that the expectation of the multitude regarding the churches has largely changed. formerly the one and only thing which it was expected for the churches to do was to preach the gospel, to minister to people's souls. public opinion now is to the effect that the business of the church is along the lines of social science and social service. there are churches to-day which have, accordingly, been practically transformed into hospitals, for the healing of nervous diseases, and there are social settlements, supported by christian people, where baths and gymnasiums, play-rooms, lunch counters, musicales, moving pictures, and scientific lectures have free sway. "not only with the unseen and eternal has the church to do, but with the seen and temporal. give a man a square meal, a good suit of clothes, better social conditions for him and his children, and you will have better success as to his soul. let the churches preach that and practice that, and they will come up to their proper ideal and purpose." beloved, as to what is the proper ideal and purpose of the church, that is for him to say who founded the church; and what does he say? of himself he said, as we heard: "the son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost," and to his disciples he said: "as the father hath sent me," into the world, "so send i you," that is, to seek and to save those who were lost in sin. and this salvation is to be accomplished in what way? by social science and service? his direction is: "go ye and preach the gospel." that, be it noted, is _the_ purpose and mission of the church. "teach the gospel," the tidings how man's soul may be saved from the guilt and power of sin through jesus christ, their savior. that is the heaven-appointed sphere and commission, at home and abroad. the object of our missionaries in foreign lands is not to heal the sick and teach the heathen how to wear clothes, and cultivate the fields. to civilize is not yet to christianize. their duty is to preach the gospel, and invite souls to christ. they may have to do other things, such as translating the scriptures, helping the poor, and treating their sick bodies, but always with one thing in mind, namely, the winning of souls to christ as their savior from sin. and so among us. let us beware of putting that which is only subordinate, the improvement of material conditions, in the place of the higher purpose of the church, the winning of souls. god's method, however men may be in love with their own, is always the best. men's method is this: give men better social conditions, improve their circumstances, and you will improve their souls. god's method is the reverse: first improve their souls, and you will improve their social condition. the gospel does not aim directly at improving men's circumstances, it aims at improving men themselves. but no sooner does it bring about a moral improvement in men than they bring about a noticeable improvement in their surroundings. search the history of all christian countries and communities, and see whether it is not so. which are the richest and most prosperous and flourishing nations in our day? countries like germany, england, america, countries that have received most abundantly of the gospel of jesus christ. let us beware, then, of having our attention and efforts directed from the main thing. some of those social service features may serve a good purpose as far as they go, but only when they are in line with the great mission of the church as the lord gave it: the preaching of the gospel. a few years ago, when japan began to emerge from barbarism, the thoughtful people of that country were accustomed to say quite candidly that they wanted our western civilization, but were not prepared to accept christ with it, and this is the attitude of china just now. one of her great statesmen has said: "we purpose to keep the philosophy of confucius, but we are ready to believe the religion of christ for its fruits." this will not do. neither japan, china, nor any individual can borrow the clothes of religion and leave the vital thing out of it. this is precisely the tendency in these days. people would reject the gospel, yet would take advantage of the blessed results which flow from it. we learn, then, that the preaching of the gospel is the first purpose of the church of christ; to that it must direct its main effort; therein lies its life and success, and all other undertakings must be subordinate and in harmony with that. in other words, the greatest charity, the noblest act of good samaritanism is that which aims at a person's soul, and that help can only be effected by the gospel of christ; that is the oil and the wine which the heavenly samaritan has designed to be poured into the soul's wounds of sinful and dying man.--but this does not exclude that the church should practice good samaritanism towards men's bodies. on the contrary, this is her lord's direction. and the church has ever done so, and is doing so, as a whole and in her individual members. this is our second consideration. no duty is more constantly enjoined by the scripture than that of contributing to the necessity of others. we think, for instance, of the savior's words to the rich young ruler: "sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." the christian congregation at jerusalem had a treasury out of which distribution was made continually as any man had need. st. paul tells of collections that were taken for brethren who were in distress because of the famine which prevailed throughout judea. in the days of early christianity we read of much almsgiving; beautiful instances are on record of believers who, constrained by the love of christ, gave away large estates and gladly spent the rest of their days in poverty for their brethren's sake. hospitals, institutions never before known, were erected by wealthy christians, and the story of laurentius is well known, who, when ordered by the roman officials to produce the treasures which it was thought the christians had in hiding, brought out the aged, the sick, and the crippled, and remarked, "these are our treasures." and the church is not slack concerning works of benevolence now. look at the chain of institutions of every kind that are maintained within the bounds of our synod, by our congregations in this city. whence comes the revenue for the support of our orphanage, altenheim, hospital, city mission? from the pockets of the hearts of those who attend the public worship of god. this past week there was laid to rest a man who, whatever may be our verdict concerning his work and the organization of which he was the founder and head, the salvation army,--rev. wm. booth,--it cannot be denied that such a religious movement could only have sprung up on christian soil, fostered by christian principles of charity and beneficence. and what pertains to the church at large pertains to each of us individually. in the text the lord jesus, sitting in judgment upon each child of adam, says: "what ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." what words could be more pointed! how those few words tell us why and to whom we are to show beneficence. "ye have done it unto me,"--that infirm and aged one for whom you have provided a permanent and comfortable home, "ye have done it unto me." those "least of all my brethren,"--those orphaned children whom ye have sheltered in a christian home or a suitable institution, "ye have done it unto me." that coin and dollar which you have given unto worthy charity--to the man or woman, battling against life's odds and reverses,--"ye have done it unto me." beloved, never let the springs of your christian charity dry up because of ingratitude, sorry experiences; it was, after all, not that destitute one that you were dealing with, but him. we have regarded in our reflection to-day, first, what is the chief mission of christ and of his church, namely, the saving of the soul, and that this is effected by the preaching of the gospel; secondly, that where there is concern for men's souls, there will be charity shown toward their bodies also. in other words, where the love of christ has taken possession of the heart, there it will also show itself in deeds of love to christ's destitute brethren. my beloved hearer, what is the measure of your love? what are you doing unto the lord's brethren and thus unto him? remember that on that day an inspection is going to be made, a report openly rendered. what kind of report will yours be? lord, give us ever a kind heart, a charitable hand, and through thy grace the reward which thou hast promised in heaven for those who served thee on earth. amen. fourteenth sunday after trinity. and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.--_ pet. , - ._ it is a very easy thing, my beloved, to be a christian, and it is a very difficult thing to be a christian. that may sound paradoxical and strange, but it is soberness and truth. it is very easy to be a christian by name, but it is very difficult to be one in reality. it is an undeniable fact that there are people who call themselves after the savior, and yet are a disgrace even to common decency; whilst others again keep slightly more within the bounds of morality, yet their tempers remain unsubdued, their tongues unbridled, they mind earthly things, and there is little or no difference between them and the people of the world. even when they have connected themselves with the church, and taken formal discipleship and membership upon themselves, this inconsistency appears. some are great saints on great occasions, when there is a chance to shine in the esteem of men, but are glaringly deficient in private spheres and duties, and are very leaden and dull where no applause is forthcoming. others can always be depended upon where it costs them nothing, but when burdens are to be borne, their interest lies somewhere else. still others are generous enough with their means, but expect their dollars to answer in place of a pure life and to counterbalance a vast deal of self-indulgence and unsanctity. another class are those who are full of zeal and energy, provided they are allowed to do everything their own way, and are not compelled to cooperate with certain other people whom they despise. and so there are multitudes of chaotic, one-sided, undeveloped, unsatisfactory professing christians whose conduct is anything but consistent with their claims, and in little accord with him whose name they would bear. now turn to the scripture,--read the descriptions given in the holy writings of what constitutes a full-fledged christian, and holding up the picture before your spiritual eyes, begin to compare the modern christian with the scriptural one, the real one with the nominal. for what is a christian? a christian is, first of all, a person who has been justified by faith in christ; that is his real character and standing, and as long as he remains true in his faith and to his savior, he remains a christian. but this does not offset, but rather involves, that the faith by which we are justified and saved must be a live, an active and vigorous principle, which draws after it a train of noble virtues and good works; we must not only be christians, but show it; we must not only have justifying grace, but also sanctifying grace, leading us forward in our christian profession. we christians must not be like mill-wheels which move indeed, but always stand in the same place, or like mill-horses which go round and round, but never get beyond the one narrow circle. nay, we must advance in christian holiness, go forward to the full measure of our stature as a christian. this is the principal thought that the various sundays of trinity urge upon us, and again in harmony with which we find our text. these words point out to us: _i. the additions we are to make to our faith_; _ii. the manner in which we must make these additions_. may god bless our meditations upon them! the apostle begins: "add to your faith virtue." you will observe he does not want his readers to seek after faith,--that he supposes them to possess already,--he addresses them as believers, and calls upon them to add to their belief, as if he would say: you claim to have faith (it is a good thing to have), but you seem to forget that faith without works is dead, that christianity is not only a spiritual religion, but a practical one. what does a foundation amount to if the superstructure be not reared? nothing; it is a beginning without a progress. just so with faith,--it is _the_ chief requisite of christian religion, and must not be a scheme of doctrine which lies asleep in the mind and never stimulates. abraham had faith, and he offered up isaac. moses had faith, and he esteemed the afflictions and hardships of the people of israel greater rather than the treasures of egypt. abel and noah had faith; it led the one to build, and the other to die the death of a martyr. and so you, claiming to have faith, "add to your faith virtue." this is the first addition mentioned. virtue here does not signify goodness in general, but a particular quality; it means as much as fortitude, courage, bravery,--add to your faith courage. and the exhortation was indeed necessary in those days of the apostle's writing. heathenism and judaism were making common cause to despise, persecute, and malign the followers of the new religion. many of the followers of christ had to sacrifice home, country, family, and friends, and wander about as the offscouring of the earth. temptations and distractions of the most dangerous kind were assailing them. and it could not be otherwise; if not rooted and grounded, firm, courageous, inflexible, they would surely make shipwreck. it is no less necessary this day. the world is not more a friend to religion and religionists now than it was then. it is not an easy thing to encounter adverse opinion, to incur the sneers and frowns of relatives and associates, or the scorn of persons in business and society. it is not a pleasant feeling to find yourself in a small and despised minority, and that minority ofttimes lacking in appreciation, sympathy, and cooperation. when you add to these the petty jealousies, misrepresentations, and stabs in the back, hypocrisies and ingratitude, one is prone to become discouraged, and to drop off in sullenness and despondency. what we need in such moments of weakness to support our flagging minds and faltering energies is virtue,--courage, moral and religious resolve to do and to dare, to show ourselves as men, and not as moral cowards and fretting babes. fie on a peter that denied his master before the taunts of a maid, and shame on the disciples who forsook him in the hour of emergency. how noble does there appear in comparison that roman soldier at pompeii who stood in his place when the avalanche of lava and fire was engulfing the city, where, over a thousand years afterwards, he was excavated with his sword drawn and still guarding the city gate. o for a stand to our profession and to god's word till he shall say, "it is enough," for a little boldness, holy determination, courage, firmness to follow our convictions and to voice them, regardless of the reproach we may endure, or the losses we may sustain. the second addition to our faith mentioned is "knowledge." a knowledge of the truth as it is in christ, these people to whom st. peter wrote indeed had. but there are such heights and depths, lengths and breadths in christian knowledge that the greatest of saints can never get done learning it. the most knowing are like children on the seashore. though they may gather the many precious pebbles and beautiful shells, the vast ocean of truth still lies unexplored before them, and we need all strive after a deeper and cleaner insight into the mysteries of god and of his grace. a person once told me that some people know too much, and that their very wisdom in sacred things spoils their piety. this may be where the knowledge is merely a thing of the head and not affecting the heart, but it will be a sad day for christianity if ever it comes to accept the maxim: "ignorance is the mother of devotion." another once told me that it was useless for him to go to church, for he knew it all. mistaken man! i saw him on his deathbed and found his soul so destitute of true knowledge that he had not enough wherewith to die in peace. let us not be deceived! never can we come to the strength and stature of men and women in christ except we search and study the scripture, listen attentively to the exposition of the word. even what is most familiar to us we need to have continually repeated in our ears, lest we forget it, or our piety will go out and die, just like a lamp that is not supplied with oil. for not only theoretical knowledge does the apostle mean here, but, i take it, practical knowledge, that knowledge which we ordinarily call prudence, which is knowledge applied to action. and it is a quality which a christian must seek to cultivate. a christian ought to grow wiser as he grows older. a christian is intent on studying his character and his ways. he seeks to make every day an improvement or correction of the former, deriving strength from his very weaknesses and firmness from his falls. a christian distinguishes times, places, circumstances; he does not rashly offer his opinion, but discerns when to speak and when to keep silence. when he reproves, he does so with skill; when he gives, he does so with judgment. a christian does not overrate his position and talents, nor does he underrate them; he is willing to approve things that are excellent, even if he is not the first to advance them, and is upright enough to speak against what is wrong, even if it might not be popular. but alas, what numbers there are of normal christians whose temper, character, disposition marks no improvement; they are the same year in and year out, no better, no holier, no stronger in christian life; their christian experience and advancement is equal to naught. "the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way," says solomon, and the apostle exhorts: "add to your faith knowledge." thirdly, "add to your faith temperance," _i. e._, moderation. keep your passions within due bounds and your desires regulated. having dwelt at length on this quality recently, we pass on to the next: "add to your faith patience." things are not always to our fancy and taste. the weather is not always fair and the roads agreeable. men and things are liable to vex us, torment us, our circumstances and connections prove galling and exacting. nothing is then more desirable than an antidote to strengthen and invigorate the soul than patience. it prepares you for every changing scene and every suffering hour. it sustains you under afflictions, and gives you that calmness and resignation which so much becomes the christian. nothing is more dishonoring and disnobling than to behold that disposition which must continually be pampered and stroked and rocked like a child, under the slightest provocation and disfavorableness will froth and foam. amid life's ills practice patience. as the holy scripture expresses it: "let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." of the remaining virtues mentioned we next have "godliness," meaning the fear and love of god as it is shown in our lives, pervading our actions and controlling our every deed. here is the difference between morality and religion. an unbeliever, a non-christian, may conduct himself just as civilly and respectably outwardly as a believer, as a christian. outwardly, i say, the difference between the two lies in this: the one does it from consideration, probably, of gain in society, or probably from a fear of avoiding the penitentiary, whereas the christian is prompted in his conduct by motives and considerations toward his god. you cannot be godly without being moral; you can pose for moral, and still not be godly. godliness consists in this, to bring god into every part of life, to make him the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end of all we do; and it is only when we do that, and when we make his word our rule and his glory our aim, that life is what it is intended to be, and answers the purpose for which the creator has given it. to live without godliness is like an arrow without point and feather,--it will never hit the target. where there is godliness, it will be attended by the other two virtues mentioned, "brotherly kindness" and "charity." where there is water, there it is wet; where there is a tree, there it is shady; where there are right sentiments toward god, there will also be right sentiments toward our fellow-christians and fellow-men. it matters not how they may differ in age, they possess the same powers of conscience, reason, and mentality; they are liable to the same afflictions, are members of the same family, travelers to the same heavenly grace; they need the same assistance and cheer, hence i am to exercise toward them brotherly kindness and charity. but the last is surely not in this case the least, for charity is the highest attainment in practical christianity, the fulfilling of the law, the bond of perfectness, and, need i add? the most difficult of all christian virtues. this charity manifests itself in our conduct toward the brethren. it is the opposite of that hasty spirit and temper which is ever finding fault and breaking out in sudden and rash anger. it is that benignant spirit which does not reckon up the injuries received with a view of having satisfaction for them. it pities men's infirmities and moral failures, and makes ample allowances for them. nor does it scramble for its own gratification in disregard of others' rights, dues, and comforts, but seeks to serve all men as it would serve itself. nor does it lose heart and give up in disgust when all meets with discouragements and obstructions, ingratitude on the part of those for whom it labors and lives. it is willing to forgive and forget, to defend, and to put the best construction on everything. it is the highest and best test of christian character, the most important, the most exalted, the most enduring of all virtues. we wonder that the apostle mentions it last in the divine category of christian graces, directing us to add to our faith. let us now proceed, secondly, to inquire how this is to be accomplished. the apostle tells us in our text. it is by giving all diligence, and in order that we might do so, remember these things deserve your diligence, that diligence will secure them, that they cannot be secured without diligence. they deserve your diligence. it is pitiable to see how many thousands are employing their zeal, and wasting their strength and spending their money, talents, and time upon practically nothing. examine the objects for which most men are striving, the aim for which they are living, and ask yourselves, does it reward their toils and indemnify them for the sacrifices they make? but this cannot be said of spiritual blessings and virtues. these are in the sight of god of great price, and necessary to man in his true and real character. they enrich him, dignify him; they are his chief interest and his glory, making him a blessing to himself and to all around him. or who can conceive a higher purpose and model of existence than a man or woman, pious, moral, courageous, wise, self-denying, gentle, kind and benevolent? secondly, diligence will secure them. in the career of worldly good, in the sea of life few obtain the prize, and the race is not always to the swiftest nor the battle to the strongest; wealth and good fortune do not always fall to the lot of men that strove after them, nor fame to those that covet it. here the principle obtains: "ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." "to the righteous there is a sure reward." and finally i stated, there is no attaining these virtues without diligence. diligence is indispensable in whatever you undertake. you must labor "for the meat that perisheth." the bread upon your table--through what a succession of processes it must pass before it is ready for use. the same may be said of your clothing; in fact, of everything else. "on earth naught precious is obtained but what is painful too," and perhaps we would not value and esteem things if it were not so. and what is true of temporal gifts pertains to spiritual equally as well. awake, then, my dear fellow-christian, be zealous, be progressive; it is the only way to prosper. remember religion is not airy notions, sleepy wishes, feeble resolutions, and your strength is not to sit still. the learned are daily adding to their intellectual treasures, the rich are adding house to house and field to field, and none of them say: "it is enough." will you as a christian not add to your faith knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity? reflect and apply, by the help of god. amen. fifteenth sunday after trinity. casting all your cares upon him, for he careth for you.--_ pet. , ._ in that wonderful book which, next to the bible, has been most extensively circulated in the english language, _viz._, bunyan's "pilgrim's progress," there is a scene which is most impressive. it represents to us christian fleeing from the city of this world, with a large bundle upon his shoulders. he comes to a place somewhat elevated; upon that place stands a cross, and a little below there is a sepulcher, and as he comes up with the cross, the bundle looses from off his shoulders and rolls away, till it comes to the mouth of the sepulcher, where it rolls in and he sees it no more. how many as they have read or seen the picture of the quaint old story have wished that it might be so with them as it was with christian, that the load which they are bearing might slip off their backs, leaving the heart light and spirit free. and there is no reason why it may not, provided they take it, like christian, to the proper place. what is set forth in the allegory, that, according to st. peter in the text, may be experienced in reality and in truth. god grant that with the holy spirit's aid we may acquire the art. three thoughts are set before us: _i. that every child of man has a burden to bear_; _ii. what he should do with it_; iii. _why he should so dispose of it_. a distinguished german preacher, speaking on the gospel of this sunday, remarked that man in this world has a solemn companion that follows him whithersoever he goeth. like a shadow, it will cling to his footsteps, dogging his every movement and occupying his every moment. in the silence of the chamber it will steal through the keyhole, and when slumber is about to fall upon his weary eyelids, it will whisper rest-disturbing messages into his ear. no spot is too desolate, no mind immune against its perplexing assaults. the german calls the name of this dreary attendant "sorge." our text calls it "care," meaning anxious care, solicitude, distracting fear. that, as stated, is the burden of every child of adam. it may not externally appear so,--it may be hidden behind silken tapestry or marble apartments,--but it is there. people look at a king; they gaze upon a rich mansion, see its occupants, driving forth in an elegant equipage. they think, "what a favored lot is theirs!" they realize not the dark shadow of care sitting behind the coachman, and realize not what the poet expresses thus: "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." nor can it be said that it has lessened. we have made mighty advancement; never was the world so rich in material things, never did we possess so many devices for lightening human toil and tasks, and yet due likely to the speed at which we have to move, the high pressure at which we have to live, the complexity of the social organism of which we form a part, it is a matter of fact that the man and the woman of to-day are getting more nervous and highly strung, less able to bear their burdens calmly and patiently. worry, constant distraction, and disquietude are wearing out many people before their time. and what are they worrying about? what is the burden of their care? various. with some it is the burden of ill health, bodily indisposition. that's an extremely heavy burden, one that takes the color out of the sky and the sweetness out of life, to spend most or a great deal of our time in bed or on a sofa,--no taste for food, a throbbing head, a laboring heart, constant and gnawing agony, nights often filled with sleeplessness and days with weariness. this is trying, indeed. with others it is business burdens. rivalry is keen, competition acute, thousands are the things to harass and perplex and annoy the man of industry. the lord, in the gospel, mentions a whole array of burdens that rise from the question: "what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?" worldly sustenance, the apprehension of poverty, of future years, of loss of property, of health, of coming deaths and sorrow in the family, the changes and disasters that might come, the miscarrying of our plans, the possible ill success of our labors,--these things are the burdens that make men full of worrying cares. and what can you do to rid yourself of this? there are those who would drown their worry. they take to the intoxicating cup. it's a miserable expedient, a ruin to body and soul; and oh! for the shame and remorse added to the load of ills. others turn to the gay and glittering world, to some place and company where men and women are apparently happy. for a time the thing may work well. as the child of care goes up and down within the great dance-hall and through the illuminated gardens, where the merry voices of laughter and song ring out, and instruments are discoursing sweet music, it may seem wise to have disposed of the burden that way. but--what when the entertainment is over, and your wraps carefully labeled with your name are handed back to you? then back come the old sorrows, perhaps with new ones added.--and one other expedient might we think of: have some one bear the burden with you. there is good reason and sound sense in this. men in trouble instinctively seek human sympathy; a sorrow shared is a sorrow lessened. fortunate the person that has an ear and a heart to which he can apply for comfort and strength. but there also is danger. friendship is an uncertain thing; it is often too delicate to bear much handling, it evaporates under pressure. few are the friends that care, or are able to bear, the burdens of others; and again, there are friends who are not really such, who will betray your confidence, secretly rejoice over your ill fortune, and even use it to harm you. beware of a man whose breath is in his nostrils. so, then, we are shut up to one effective resource, and that is the course given in the text: "casting all your cares upon him." what does that mean? it means two things: in the first place, it means trust in god's providence. there is a providence which has brought us into this world and is taking us through it. and it is for us to practically, not only theoretically, believe this. theoretically, we may hold very correct views on the subject, but it is practically, in the application to the affairs and scenes of our own life, that we may fall short. and alas! that many of those who call themselves christians do fall short. else why these perplexing anxieties, this tormenting solicitude? if they believe in god, who has pledged that he will ever provide for them, and without whose permission not a hair of their head can fall, why do they yield to the same unbelieving fears as the worldling? we christians believe in an almighty maker and provider, that he has given us these bodies, our families and all. we furthermore believe that he knows what our wants really are, and we hold that it is in his power to supply our wants. besides, he has pledged himself by his almighty character to supply them. surely, it is a great inconsistency and unbelief to find christians showing the spirit of worldly carefulness, losing the comfort of trust in god amidst a host of distracting cares. if there is a word more expressive of christian character than any other, it is this one, trust,--trust in god, trust in jesus to save, in his spirit to sanctify, in his providence to provide; trust amidst perplexity and mystery, for the future, the present, in life and in death,--in all things trust in god. yes, dear child of affliction and sorrow, god loves you. he has redeemed you by the blood of his own dear son. he cares for you. he knows your ailments, and he would not permit his children to suffer anything to their hurt. believe that. to give way to contrary feeling and expressions is to dishonor and provoke god. when a father knows that he can uphold a child in any threatening danger, he does not like to hear the continual expression of that child's fears and apprehensions. it vexes him. when we have chosen a pilot, he would be offended, were he to find us trembling as to the safety of the ship; he would throw up the helm, and tell us to guide for ourselves, since we had no confidence in his skill. it is doubting our heavenly father's wisdom, it is distrusting his power and goodness, and contradicting his gracious powers and pledges to be overanxious. the thing is to look up to, and confide in him: "god never does forsake in need the soul that trusts in him indeed." and with this trust goes something else, and that something else is prayer. "be careful for nothing," says the apostle in another place, "but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be known to god." prayer: what is there to it? nothing, if you have never tried it; and since ours is such a prayerless age, it is such an anxious age. would they be cured of the evil, they must follow the apostle's direction, so simple and yet so effective. prayer is god's specific, his antidote, against care. in one of two ways god answers the request of every care-worn soul. sometimes he takes away the thing that troubles it. sometimes he still allows them to remain, but fills the soul itself with such grace and strength that it learns to smile at its old fears, and refuses to be fretted and worried any more. try it, thou anxious, distracted, worried soul, go to the lord, speak out in his ear whatsoever gives thee worry,--anxiety for worldly sustenance, illness, concern of family, solicitude for those who are at a distance, and how many moments of dejection you might save yourself. as an old commentator says: "care cannot live in the presence of prayer; but prayer extinguisheth care as water extinguisheth fire." to conclude, there will always be burdens, and anxieties will never fail, but we have god's instruction as to how to treat them. let us commit to memory such a text as this. let us in moments of gloom repeat it over and over again, and oh! how like christian in "pilgrim's progress" anxious cares will roll off your shoulders; distrust, impatience, and fear will yield to holy hope, prayerful committal, humble and peaceful trust. god bless and impress his word to that effect! amen. sixteenth sunday after trinity. in those days was hezekiah sick unto death. and the prophet isaiah, the son of amoz, came to him, and said unto him, thus saith the lord, set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the lord, saying: i beseech thee, o lord, remember now how i have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. and hezekiah wept sore. and it came to pass, afore isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the lord came to him, saying, turn again, and tell hezekiah, the captain of my people, thus saith the lord, the god of david, thy father, i have heard thy prayer, i have seen thy tears: behold, i will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the lord. and i will add unto thy days fifteen years.--_ kings , - ._ none reading the gospel-lessons of these successive sundays with an observing mind will have failed to discover that they treat of life's ills, its sufferings and sorrows. last sunday it was the matter of care, anxiety, worry concerning which our lord gave us instruction; the sunday before ten lepers--the picture of intense bodily affliction--appear upon the scene; and previous to that we heard of the deaf-mute and of the good samaritan administering his work of love, until in to-day's scripture, as if the climax, we observe a young man, under circumstances the most pathetic, being carried out to his burial-place. nor can we do more wisely than to follow the line of thought thus indicated, for which reason we have selected the foregoing text. may we, under god's blessing, learn its comforting and practical truths! three things would we note from the scripture: _i. king hezekiah's affliction_; _ii. his recovery_; _iii. what he gained from his experience_. the verses before us tell us that just after the destruction of the army of sennacherib, which had been laying siege to jerusalem, king hezekiah was prostrated with a dangerous malady, the result, most probably, of the fatigue and anxiety in connection with the defense of his capital. at first it would seem that he had little apprehension as to the issue of his illness, but when the prophet isaiah told him that his disease was mortal, and bade him set his house in order, his heart sank within him. he was yet a young man, possibly forty years, in the prime of life; he had just escaped a great peril; the lord had given him a marvelous, yea, miraculous deliverance, from the hands of the assyrian oppressor, and he was a good man, a pious king, who, more than any other since the time of david, was zealous for the honor of jehovah among the people. but now all these hopes were dashed to the ground; the cherished purpose of his heart frustrated, his life's work promptly cut short; and as he thought over these things, he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the lord, and wept sore. he could not understand god's dealings with him. why had he been delivered from the assyrian king if he was thus and now to be removed? to what end had all his efforts in the interest of true religion been if he was to be cut down before they could be carried through? it was like the gardener plucking the flower before it was opened, like the builder destroying his own structure before it was finished. it was not hezekiah's case alone; there have been and are many others since. it is an old problem and a constantly recurring problem: why does god deal so, and why does he deal so with those who are his people? in reply, i would say that a full answer to that problem has not been furnished us, and yet there is some light cast upon it by this and other accounts in god's word.--first of all, would we ward off the rash conclusion, so commonly heard and everywhere repeated, that because we are afflicted, we cannot be the objects of god's love, that, if a person is sick and suffering, he must have done something, committed some sin or sins which have brought upon him such affliction. how frequently does this lamentation reach a pastor's ear, "what have i done that god should thus deal with me?" the savior distinctly warned his disciples against such a conclusion, that particular suffering is always the consequence of some particular wickedness. it is clear that all such reasoning in the case of hezekiah was unwarranted; he had done no special sin; he was not a sinner above all other sinners; his ailment came in the course that all bodily ailments come. why, then, make such conclusions regarding ourselves and others? no, god's word offers a different explanation. the savior, on one occasion, speaking of the sickness of his friend lazarus, said, "this sickness is for the glory of god." let us mark that statement. the design of god in the affliction of his people is to show forth his glory. in what respect? how? in two respects, in the afflicted one himself and upon others. god's glory is advanced by the afflicted person, if the person afflicted is helped by the affliction in his spiritual growth, is made firmer in faith, established in christian character. luther numbered trials as among his best instructors. the psalmist records the experience of multitudes when he says: it is good for me that i have been afflicted. when afflictions have this effect, they are to the glory of god. then, again, the afflictions of god's people may redound to his glory in the effects which they may have upon others, to silence the gainsayer, convert the careless, or educate the weak believer into stronger faith. an instance of that is job. the calamities came upon him to prove the utter falseness of the assertion made by satan that job was serving god for what he could make thereby; and i doubt not that even in our days many christians have been sorely afflicted just to show the unbelieving, scoffing element by whom they are surrounded how firm and abiding their faith is, and how lovingly god can sustain them in their deepest distress. sometimes, too, through the sufferings of a believer the indifferent and careless are awakened and led to the lord. the affliction of a parent has been a blessing to a son or daughter; the illness of a wife, borne with christian submission, has led many a man to christ, while all of us are strengthened in our faith by the sight of the calm and simple trustfulness of a dear one on whom god's hand has been laid. afflictions are often to the glory of god. these reflections may not, indeed, fully explain the mystery why god lays low his people, but it lessens it. in any case it ought to keep us from that rash and altogether too common conclusion that because we are afflicted we are particularly faulty. the contrary seems really true. when the teacher desires to demonstrate his own excellence as an instructor, he takes not the poorest, but the best pupil and subjects him to the severest examination; so sometimes, i think, the lord exposes his dearest people to fierce trials, just because he knows their strength and would thereby commend that faith by which they stand to the acceptance of their fellow-men. that is the first consideration that we would direct attention to: hezekiah, the beloved, pious, god-praying king of judah, was laid low with a serious malady. and so, as the apostle expresses it, let god's people not think it strange concerning the fiery trial that cometh upon them as though some strange thing had happened unto them. the very best of men are often the greatest sufferers. again, we notice the conduct of hezekiah. his case was hopeless. the prophet had been directed to tell him: "set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." what does the king do? the record says: "he turned his face to the wall." was it to conceal his grief at the fatal intelligence he had received from the prophet? was it to be more unmolested from the presence of his attendants, or because the wall was on that side of his mansion which faced toward the temple of god? we are not told; but it says: "he turned his face to the wall, and prayed." he had a place whither he went in his distress. when all earthly hopes vanished and all help seemed at an end, he addressed himself directly and immediately to him in whose hands alone rests the outcome of life and of death. pouring out his heart in tearful sobs, he pleads with the lord, tells him of his sincerity of life and purpose to serve him, and of god's promises to his people to give length of days; and he who by the mouth of his prophet had directed: "call upon me in the day of trouble, and i will deliver thee," had his ears open unto his cry. he is not displeased with the outpouring of their souls to him, he delights in it, and it has power with him. yes, it is by this very conduct that one can test whose they are and whom they serve. to whomsoever they first go in the time of their extremity, to which refuge they betake themselves when calamity is overtaking them, determines, more than anything else, whether they are god's followers or not. to use an illustration: traveling once, there was among my fellow-passengers a little girl who romped about and was at home with everybody, and while she was frolicking around it might have been difficult to tell whom she belonged to, she seemed so much the property of every one; but when the engine gave a loud, long shriek, and we went thundering along into a dark tunnel, the little one made one bound and ran to nestle in a lady's lap. then one knew who was her mother. so in the day of prosperity, it may be occasionally difficult to say whether a man is a christian or not, but let him be sent through some dark, damp tunnel of severe affliction, and you will see at once to whom he belongs. that will infallibly reveal it. take a note of it, my beloved hearer, and when affliction comes, observe to whom you flee for help; that is a sure test whether you are christ's and christ is yours. to recur to the narrative,--hezekiah's appeal was not without results. as he lay there tearfully communing with his own heart and with god, isaiah returned to his chamber with a message of healing assuring him that he should go up to the temple on the third day, and directed him to take a lump of figs and place it upon the boil. this simple direction goes to refute and correct some errors very common in our day. the one is that remedies are to be absolutely tabooed, that they do no good; faith and prayer alone are to be resorted to to effect a cure. the theory, and the heresy that has prompted it, are set at naught by this one direction, in which god's prophet, under the direction of the almighty physician, specified the remedy to be used. and the other error which it sets at naught is, that medical remedies have, in themselves, aside from god, any virtue or value. too much does suffering humanity rely upon medicine; the drug bottle has become with many a veritable idol; that is their god who is going to help them. the application of figs to boils was a remedy known before isaiah suggested it, in all likelihood it had been tried in hezekiah's case without result; now, at the prophet's injunction, it is tried again and effectively. in other words, this time god worked through it, and so it proved of value. all the medicine in the world is worthless if he does not put divine properties into it. and so let us beware of idolizing the medicine, and forgetting over it him who put the good into it, and when we take it, let us not fail to offer up with it prayer to him who can and must make it efficacious. and so it came about, through the use of the means which the prophet prescribed, that hezekiah improved,--_improved_, i repeat, only physically, to natural strength and health? is that all that his sickness was intended for, that is included in his recovery? is that all that our affliction is intended for, that, having been confined to the sick-room for a while, we return to our work and calling as before? hezekiah was a wiser man than that. the song that he wrote after his recovery, recorded in the th chapter of isaiah, shows that looking death in the face had not failed of good results. no man, if he be a thinking man, can be brought to the brink of the grave, and raised almost as if from the dead, without some benefit from the experience. for one thing, it ought to make him a better christian. "nearer, my god, to thee, nearer to thee, e'en though it be a cross that raiseth me." luther was wont to say that his three great teachers were prayer, study, and trial, and any reader of his life can perceive that if it had not been for the experiences that he passed through, he would not have been the sturdy character that he was. what the tempering is to the iron, giving it the toughness and endurance of steel, that afflictions are to the soul. the wind might shake and uproot the stripling of a tree, but its blasts are harmless to the oak that has passed through many a hurricane and storm. and so unbelief may give out its miserable twaddle, the faithless world raise its scoffing and deriding tongue, the man who once turned his face to the wall and prayed will not be upset, he knows whom he has believed, what he has experienced in his own soul and life. and, again, as it strengthened his faith in god, hezekiah, after his recovery, was a faithful servant of the lord, using his kingly authority to bring his people back to the true worship of jehovah. simply enough; a man who has been in the very grip of the last enemy and has recovered, cannot but reason thus: "what if i had died? these possessions would have been no longer mine. they cannot, therefore, be mine at all in the highest sense; they must have been entrusted to me by god, and i must use them for god." usefulness, in most cases, is the result of discipline, the trials we have passed through. who is the sympathetic person? you will find it to be him who has passed through similar affliction that you are passing through. who is the one that is willing to give a helping hand? not the priest and the levite, who, if we knew their prior testing, never knew a serious affliction,--but the good samaritan, who very likely knew from personal experience what it meant to be waylaid. and so, to conclude, despise not the chastening of the almighty. learn to look upon it aright; go to the right source for relief, and thus derive from it the spiritual benefit which god designs. may you lay up what you have heard against that time when you need it, for there comes a time when you will need it. amen. seventeenth sunday after trinity. for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is jesus christ. now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. if any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.--_ cor. , - ._ in order to understand these startling words we must, in the first place, gain a clear idea of the picture which lay before the apostle's mind. he sees the church of christ as a building, harmonious in structure, every part fitting into, and each stone supporting, the other, thus presenting that oneness which the divine architect designed it to have. the foundation of the building had been laid once for all, but for the uprearing of the walls men are to bring the materials. no materials except those worthy of god and of the precious foundation on which they are to be built, ought to be brought and laid there. nothing but the pure and eternal truths of the faith revealed in the scriptures ought to be preached as the doctrine of the gospel and the church. this was the ideal, perfect picture which stood out before the mind of the apostle. but he also spoke of men placing perishable and vile materials upon the walls of god's building, using "wood, hay, stubble," substances unworthy to be made a part of christ's spiritual temple. what did the apostle mean by "wood, hay, and stubble"? the church of corinth, whom he addresses, had lost, so far as some of its members were concerned, that perfectness which ought to characterize the whole body. there was a working towards disunion. envying and strife, factions, and a disposition to make this or that man the religious leader and guide, had been allowed to disturb the harmony of the congregation. the names of men had become watchwords. parties rallied around apollo, mistaking his eloquence for the gospel to which it ought to lead; around cephas, that is, peter, because of his prominent position; around paul, because he brought out certain doctrines into special prominence. and so, instead of regarding these men as doing each his own part in helping to maintain and preserve the whole truth, they foolishly set up this or that one, apollo, or peter, or paul, as their favorite. still, notwithstanding all these outworkings of a carnal or earthly spirit, there was as yet no rupture. the organic unity of all believers and builders remained unbroken. individuals differed in opinions, but the church had still only one creed. there were parties, but no denominations; factions, but no sects; strifes, but no schism. but even these cannot be allowed to disfigure the furnished temple, the church of the final future. the apostle looked beyond the poor work which narrow-minded men were doing at corinth to the day when, as he tells in another place, that same church which had been built upon the one foundation shall be presented to god, "not having spot or wrinkle," but "holy and without blemish." that day, he says, "will try every man's work, of what sort it is." whatsoever is worthy of christ, the solid and precious stone, shall abide, and the builder thereof shall have, along with eternal life, a reward due to his faithfulness to god's plan and design. but the human materials which unwise and ignorant workmen brought--all these shall be burned with the cleansing fire and go for nothing, but the builder himself shall be saved, because his own soul was built upon jesus christ, as the foundation of his faith and as his redeemer. that is the meaning of the apostle's solemn teaching. and now for the application. that application may be made unto each christian. we are all builders, and it is for us to use the proper materials. what is built upon christ, from faith in him and love to him, according to his mind and the honor of his cause and church, is "gold and silver and precious stones." what is done to serve self, the gratification of one's vanity and ambition, is to heap up stubble for themselves which cannot abide in the day of testing fire. but the more special application in accord with the text is that which pertains to the church as a whole, of the various bodies of christians, the many denominations of christendom. concerning these let us speak a few words, taking occasion, _i. to explain our position_, _ii. to regard our duty in this respect_. "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is jesus christ." the church is a building reared upon that foundation. therefore, there is and can be but one church. as the apostle says in the epistle-lesson: "one lord, one faith, one baptism," so he says there is _one body_. to rend the body of christ, to divide his church into different sects, where altar is set up against altar, ministry against ministry, is contrary to the will and purpose of its founder. some look amiably upon this babel of beliefs and unbeliefs and counterbeliefs, think well of and would justify all so-called churches, consider one as good as another, and meekly settle down in the nearest, because "they are all aiming at the same end." this is not the teaching of the bible nor the position of our church. not as if we read the members of these denominations out of the church of christ. we admit that they are built upon christ, the foundation, and we furthermore admit that they are building some gold, silver, and precious stones upon that foundation. to be more specific. take the roman catholic church. we have many things in common with the catholic church. it believes with us in the divinity of the trinity, in the godhead of christ, in the personality of the holy ghost, in the divinity of the vicarious atonement, in the inspiration of the scriptures. far be it from me to contend that in the catholic church souls cannot be saved. notwithstanding the many grave errors the catholic church has clung to up to this hour, it has produced characters, true, noble children of god, whose lives we may profitably study. nearer to us stand the so-called reformed churches, by which term we understand the episcopalians, presbyterians, congregationalists, methodists, baptists. with these protestant churches we have in common the great fundamental principles of the reformation, namely, first: that the word of god is the only source of religious knowledge and the only judge in matters of salvation, and secondly, justification before god by christ through faith only. thus it stands in the matter of doctrine; nor can we dispute that in matters of practical christianity they are zealous, even putting us to blush. we all love to hear that the bible is the most widely read book in the world. but to whose efforts is this mainly due? what little we do is far outdistanced by the work of societies principally supported by methodists, baptists, and presbyterians. we glory that we accept the whole bible, but who studies the bible as a whole most earnestly? i well know that we teach bible history in our schools, and that we also have many earnest bible readers, but if i could show you at greater length what is done for the study of the whole bible by both young and old people in some of the churches mentioned, you would confess that at least many of our younger and older people are put to shame in this respect too. we point with satisfaction and pride to the mighty changes which the gospel has wrought in heathen lands,--but who for the most brought them that gospel of christ? who has footed the bills? we preach as no other church does that the grace of christ is powerful to rescue the vilest, the most degraded sinners,--but who goes after them and labors the most extensively among them? who, to mention one more particular, gives most liberally for the support of the church and for charity? lutherans? roman catholics and others. of course, it is not all gold that glitters, and splendid things could also be said to the glory of our church. who first gave the bible to the people? through whom has the whole church been redeemed from the bondage of antichrist? who was the first to begin modern mission work? but our present purpose is to point out that the various churches are, thank god, also adding gold, silver, and precious stones upon the foundation which has been laid, which is christ jesus. but is that all?--fair-minded as we are to the one, should we be short-sighted as to the other, namely, that they are also building worthless, perishable material, material of their own human choosing, "wood, hay, and stubble"? who, enlightened by the plain gospel, as it shines to us from every page of the sacred book, can help but see that the errors of the roman catholic church are many; that they seriously obscure the truth; that they lessen the merits of christ; that, among the masses, they produce a mere formal religion devoid of soul and life? their divinity of the church, with its visible head upon earth, the pope, of purgatory, mass, worship of the virgin and the saints, indulgences, confessional,--are these not wood, hay, and stubble? and coming to the reformed churches, which of them believes in baptismal regeneration, accepts baptism to be a christening? which believes in the real presence of christ's body and blood in the sacrament? not one. then, again, the baptists insist, contrary to god's word, that immersion is the only mode of baptism; he that has not been completely put under water has not been baptized. likewise they sneer at infant baptism. the episcopalian upholds as divine his form of church government,--so that, if a minister has not been ordained by an episcopalian bishop, he is no minister. the methodist overestimates the knowledge of one's conversion, and, like all of the reformed churches, cultivates a spirit of legalism, placing religion in such things as abstaining from intoxicants. the presbyterian church has never yet revoked the teaching of their catechism that god has elected certain persons to damnation, and insists upon its form of government as divine. "wood, hay, and stubble," teachings and practices that are not according to the teachings of god in his bible. what about them? the text declares that the fire will try the christian work of all the ages. every religious system not in harmony with god's will, all human speculations which men have woven around the truths of the bible, all the wood and the stubble, though brought with pious hands and placed in sincerity upon the one foundation, shall turn to ashes and wither like grass. and yet, because of that foundation, and the faith of those who wrought thereupon, they themselves shall be saved. we would distinguish between sectarian systems and the individuals gathered under them. we recognize the unity of all christians as believers in christ, but we can never recognize these divisions of christ's spiritual body. that would be sanctioning the "wood, hay, and stubble." what, then, is our duty--to come to the second consideration--in this respect? so sensitive, my beloved hearers, have people become these days that when a clear scriptural presentation of this matter is given, they will stop up their ears, and without giving thought or attention, will say: illiberal, uncharitable, bigoted! we are none of these. not illiberal; we are just as liberal as god's plain word permits us to be. we are not uncharitable;--the greatest charity is to tell a person the greatest amount of truth. and as to the charge of bigotry, that shows so much ill-feeling and bad judgment that we dismiss it without comment. the truth is, that, guided by the bible, we cannot justify and hold fellowship with religious societies that teach doctrines contrary to the bible, without sinning in a twofold way. first, we would mislead our own people to believe that the differences are of no fundamental character, that it makes no difference whether you believe that christ's body and blood are in the sacrament, or not, whether children are baptized and regenerated in baptism, or not, and so forth. that would be practically denying the faith; and secondly, by fellowshiping with these denominations, we would be endorsing their errors, and arouse the impression that it makes little or no difference whether they believe in the bible, or not. when a man builds a house, he is very much on the alert that no shoddy, inferior material enters into the building; not one joint or door but it should measure up to the specifications. strange that in the infinitely more important building of christ's church, people should be so indifferent as to the material and of things measuring up to the specifications of god's word, and allow "wood, hay, and stubble" to take the place of gold, silver, and precious stones. god protect us against indifference. and then, to conclude, the members of what church are we? the character, legitimacy, and proper christianity of a church is its true, clear, unmistakable confession of the doctrines of the scripture, and it is our right to say that these doctrines are embraced, held, and taught by us, and were thus held and taught by us before any of the multitudinous sects and parties about us had a being. the mother of protestantism,--what church is it? it was born, existed, and was mighty in strength before them all, and upon them rests the burden of proof and apology for their separate being. and we should go borrowing to them, or hesitate to speak a modest word in our favor? my church, my church, my dear old church! i love her ancient name, and god forbid a child of hers should ever do her shame. her mother-care i'll ever share, her child i am alone, till he who gave me to her arms shall call me to his own. amen. eighteenth sunday after trinity. and elijah came unto all the people and said, how long halt ye between two opinions? if the lord be god, follow him; but if baal, then follow him. and the people answered him not a word.--_ kings , ._ it was a remarkable, but wise decision that king solomon once rendered in a difficult case which was brought before him. two women came to him with an infant to which they both asserted a mother's claim, the one contending that the other had overlaid her child, and taken hers from her before she was awake, and laid her own dead child in its place, whilst the other asserted that the contrary was the truth, saying, "the dead child is hers, and the living is mine." and now it was for the king to decide. but how was it to be done? solomon calls for a sword. "divide," he commands, "the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other." then spake, says the holy record, the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, "o my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." but the other said, "let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it." solomon instantly recognized the true mother's heart. "give her the child," he said. the same it is with god, our true heavenly parent. he does not want his children divided; he will have them entirely, as a whole living sacrifice, or not at all. the sum of his commandment and will regarding us, as repeated in to-day's gospel lesson, is: "thou shalt love the lord, thy god, with _all_ thy heart, and with _all_ thy soul, and with _all_ thy mind." of that would we remind ourselves in our present worship, taking for our instruction the scripture read as our text. with the aid of the holy spirit we note elijah's challenge on mount carmel,--_a call to christian decision_. _i. the question at issue: "is the lord god?"_ _ii. the obligation involved, "then follow him."_ israel had had many wicked kings since the suicide of its first monarch, saul, upon mount gilboa, but none more so than ahab. the crowning iniquity of this unprincipled and despicable prince was the introduction of the idol called baal into israel. baal signifies governor or ruler, and was the name given in the east to the chief male idol of the heathen. to the honor of this idol, temples were erected, bloody sacrifices offered, and the most shameful things perpetrated. ahab had married jezebel, the daughter of the idolatrous king of the sidonians, and under her sway the worship of this idol had become sinfully popular in israel. four hundred and fifty priests served at his altar, and nearly an equally large number were appointed to the worship of his mate, ashtaroth, for every male idol was wont to have his goddess. this abominable form of idolatry was going on in the land where god had thundered from the sides of sinai as his first requirement: "thou shalt have no other gods before me," and had declared: "my glory will i not give to another, nor my praise to graven images"; and in consequence the judgments of jehovah were not slow to follow. no rain or dew had fallen for the space of three years, the heaven was as brass, and the earth like a nether grindstone.--famine stalked throughout the land, when one day, as ahab was wandering up and down the country searching for food, he met the stern and fearless prophet of jehovah, elijah, called the tishbite. "art thou he," asks the king, "that troubleth israel?" elijah retorts: "not i have troubled israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandment of the lord, and thou hast followed baalim." and so the contest is on, not so much between elijah and ahab as between the supremacy of jehovah and baal. how is the dispute to be settled? elijah proposes a method. all israel should be convened at a place specified, mount carmel. two altars were to be erected, one by the champions of baal, another by himself. sacrifice was to be laid thereupon, and the god that would answer by fire to devour the sacrifice should be recognized victor. the test is accepted. you, as well-informed bible readers, know the outcome. after futile attempts by the priests of baal to secure the hearing of their god, elijah addresses his god. in fervent prayer he raises his eyes and hands and heart to heaven. no sooner had the last words escaped the prophet's lips than down came the fire of god consuming the whole sacrifice and the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench, whilst the fickle people fell on their faces, crying: "the lord, he is god; the lord, he is god." elijah then follows up his victory by commanding them to seize the whole group of baal's priests and slay them at the brook kishon. thus did jehovah terribly and surely vindicate his honor and majesty. what lesson may be gathered from this thrilling story? beloved, the conflict between the forces of the true god and his opponents is not yet over, and, as of old, that conflict, in the final issue, centers in a question. at that time it was, "is jehovah the lord god?" formulated by the lord himself in the gospel-lesson of this day, it now reads: "what think ye of christ? whose son is he?" or, in other words, is he, jesus christ, god? around that question are rallied the religious forces of to-day. the answer to that question determines men's attitude, their position on the one side or on the other; their answer to that question decides the destiny of every individual soul. according as the gospel of jesus christ is accepted or rejected, will men stand or fall. what is it in its significance but the conflict of mount carmel over again? and how is this vital question to be decided? for the determining of the question, "is jesus christ god?" there are many proofs, all of them conclusive and incontrovertible. we might point to christ's spotless character and his immaculate life. "which of you," he challenged his enemies, "convinceth me of sin?" and none who has ever examined into his life and character but is unstinted in his admiration and praise. "he was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners"; he was divine. we could point furthermore to his teaching. merely human mind and merely human lips never conceived and spake as he spake. as you study our lord's utterances, what loftiness in his maxims, what profundity of wisdom in his discourses! the hearers of his time were constrained to exclaim, "never man spake as this man speaketh," and he taught as one having authority and not as the scribes. no wonder, for he was the teacher come from god,--he was god. we could point out the divine influence his religion has exerted upon the world. why do the nations write in the enumeration of time? who has taken possession of everything great and grand in our age? rather, should i say, who has made that which is great and grand in art, in music, in literature--the masterpieces, the sublimest productions? whom do they treat of? the civilization of to-day--whose product is it but of his religion? thus stamping it and its founder as divine, as god. but, my beloved, after all these and manifold other proofs have been adduced, there remains one more which, more than any other proof, brings home to us the conviction that christ is god, not only intellectually, but morally, spiritually. from the scene upon mount carmel i would direct you to a scene upon another mount, mount calvary. there, too, we witness a sacrifice; there, too, lies a victim upon an altar, the altar of the cross. the fire of god's wrath comes from heaven to consume that sacrifice. how is that a proof of christ's divinity? because it solves, as nothing else can solve, the great problem of religion, "how can man be saved, justified before god?" "no man can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to god a ransom for him." it required one more than mere man to do that--god himself. what man can look upon that calvary scene and contemplate the significance of it, but exclaim with the roman centurion under the cross, "truly, this was the son of god,"--nor gaze upon the print of the nails in his hands, and the mark of the spear gash in his side, but confess, with the multitude upon mount carmel, "jehovah--jesus, he is the god! jehovah--jesus, he is the god!" there is no proof so powerful that christ is god but the sacrifice of calvary; yea, he who accepts not that sacrifice, together with the resurrection of christ, believes not in christ. that old testament scene and sacrifice points, and is a type, of the new testament scene and sacrifice. may the impression and the confession it produced be the same on the lips of every one of us, as it was yonder on mount carmel,--"the lord, even christ, is god. he is my god." and now let us note the obligation it involved. the particular offense with which elijah charges the people on this occasion is "halting." the word translated "halting" is old english. it does not mean standing still, but limping. elijah's question, "how long halt ye between two opinions?" accordingly means, "why do you not make up your minds; why do you not take a positive stand one way or the other and instead of vacillating between the worship of baal and the worship of jehovah, accepting neither fully, seize on to one or the other with full conviction, and follow that with _all_ your heart?" decision, the taking of a position and holding to it, is the appeal of the prophet. and is his appeal not applicable in our own day? is there no halting, limping, swaying, and swerving between two opinions? it is of just such people that our modern and immediate community is full; they take an intermediate position, a sort of betwixt and between; they are not out and out christians, and still they wish to be rated as christians. they admit their reverence for the bible; they would not question anything taught on its testimony; they take delight in hearing occasionally a christian preacher, attending upon christian services; there is scarcely a mental or moral persuasion in favor of christianity which they do not cheerfully entertain; they would not think of having their children grow up unchristened or a marriage in the family performed without a christian minister, and when trouble and sorrow comes upon them, they look to christian sources for consolation. and still, when the test comes for them to confess themselves in the appointed way as christ's disciples, to take their places at the family table of the christian church, they have their excuses; they turn their backs and go off on to something else. "they've not been confirmed"; perchance, "they want to consider." as stated, our immediate neighborhood is full of such halting, compromising, so-near-and-yet-so-far people. what they want is not to "consider," but to act. time for deliberation they have had plenty and long enough. one year, ten years, finds them still "considering." what they need is decision, action, and not to arrive at that is to remain in a state of sin and of danger, of ingratitude to god and discomfort to their own soul. if i am addressing any such, and i know that i am, let them not be offended, but earnestly regard and give up a position so unworthy, unsatisfactory, god and christ-dishonoring. but does the appeal of the prophet in no wise apply to those who have made a pronounced confession, who have taken a stand, and whose names appear on the roster as his followers? is there no indecision of conduct there, no limping, no dividing of one's heart between baal and jehovah? the ordinary type of christian and church-member is not a person of fixedness, determination, neither in doctrine nor in practice. baal still has his altar, only decked out in a different shape:--in the market-places of business, in the houses of amusements, in the halls of secret organizations and lodges. it is not an unusual thing to see men and women in our churches going to the lord's sacrament and belonging to societies which know not christ and will have none of him, reject his godship and his sacrifice upon calvary. it is not an unusual thing to hear men and women, young and old, singing hymns and doxologies and speaking words of christian prayer, and then lifting up their voices in speech and song that tells not whose they are and whom they serve. the trouble with all of us is that we are not as outspoken in our testimony, as consistent and faithful, and unflinching as we ought to be, as our christian duty and the honor of our lord calls for and deserves. having performed our vows and service to god in his temple, we are content to go back to the world and to business, forgetful that there, too, we should bear faithful witness for our lord. from the text of the day may you form the noble resolution: "i will be always and altogether the servant of god, the follower of christ; in which resolution do thou, lord, sustain me to the end." thine forever! god of love, hear us from thy throne above. thine forever may we be here and in eternity. amen. nineteenth sunday after trinity. after this there was a feast of the jews; and jesus went up to jerusalem. now there is at jerusalem, by the sheep-market, a pool which is called in the hebrew tongue bethesda, having five porches. in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water; whosoever, then, first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. and a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. when jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, wilt thou be made whole? the impotent man answered him, sir, i have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but while i am coming, another steppeth down before me. jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. and immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.--_john , - ._ the most serious charge that can be placed against mankind is this, that when the gospel is proclaimed to them, that gospel is rejected, that when pardon and salvation of god is offered, that offer is coldly and indifferently turned aside. we are sometimes surprised at this. we ought not to be. the same coldness and indifference was manifested years ago. it says: "christ came into his own, and his own received him not." to-day's gospel records to us the cure of the paralytic. it was a most remarkable and convincing evidence that he who could bring to his feet this debilitated and disabled man was indeed the messiah, the savior of the world. but no; it started a wrangling among his enemies about the power of forgiveness of sin, and caused him to be haunted with hatred and malice. and as a parallel passage to that gospel miracle is the record here in the fifth chapter of st. john, part of which we have just heard. let us notice now, _i. the history of the miracle_; _ii. the instruction it imparts_. "after this," says the evangelist, that is, after jesus had conversed with the woman of samaria at jacob's well, and after he had healed the nobleman's son who was lying sick at capernaum, "there was a feast of the jews." the feast, it is generally supposed, was the passover. and "jesus went up," out of galilee into judea, "to jerusalem." he went thither not only that he might pay all due regard to the temple and to the law, but also that he might have an opportunity of manifesting himself and his doctrine to a greater number of people. "now," says the next verse, "there is at jerusalem by the sheep-market," or sheep-gate, a "pool," or a bath, the ordinary purpose of which was for bathing or swimming, but on account of the supernatural character of the water was called bethesda, that is, the house, or place, of mercy. around this pool, or bath, were built five porches, porticos, or verandas, which served to shelter from the heat and the cold those who frequented the place. in these porches "there lay a great multitude of impotent folk;" some of them were "blind," some "halt" (or lame), and others were "withered," that is, their sinews and muscles were disabled, withered in one particular part of the body, as the man with the withered hand, or all over, as in the case of the paralytic, whose friends had to bear him on a litter. these patients, at least most of them, were probably deemed incurable by ordinary methods, and therefore they were carried to bethesda to wait and hope for a miraculous recovery there; for it pleased god (in order to show that he had not forsaken his chosen people, but was operating among them) to send "an angel" who went down at certain seasons into the pool and "troubled the water," by which troubling of it, and by the extraordinary motion that followed, the sick were informed of the time of the angel's descent, and, "whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in" was instantly healed, while those who bathed afterwards obtained no relief. all sorts of opinions have been advanced as to this healing spring. that it was not the natural virtue, as in the case of mineral springs in this country, that wrought the cure, is evident from the circumstance that not one disease, but all manners of disease were healed by it; that these cures were performed not always, but only at the seasons appointed by god, and that not all who stepped in, but _one_ only was healed after the troubling of the water. what became of this fountain we are not told; very likely its miraculous properties did not continue for many years. in the porches around this pool was an impotent man; he had labored under a bodily infirmity for thirty and eight years. how long he had waited at the pool we know not, but certainly for a considerable period. but it was hoping against hope. the man was so utterly helpless that even if he saw the water disturbed, whilst he was slowly dragging himself along, another stepped in before him. when jesus, therefore, passed by and saw him in this helpless condition, and knowing his past history, he asked him, "wilt thou be made whole?" the man does not even give direct answer, but narrates the story of his long and futile expectation, whereupon jesus gives this command: "rise, take up thy bed and walk," when instantly, easily, as if the withered limbs had been thrilled with electric sparks, the man arises, takes up his bed, and walks away. such is the history of the miracle; and now let us regard some of the instructions it imparts. our interest is naturally divided between the man who had lain sick such a number of years, the pool, and the cure. and, surely, a long and wearisome time he had had of it,--thirty and eight years. the woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of our savior's garment, had borne her affliction twelve years, but that was scarcely one-third as long, and she was still able to be up and about. as then, so now. the number of those who lie on pallets and are bent low with sickness is larger than superficiality credits; in fact, those who have never been racked with pain, distressed with fever, are few and far between. how many ever give thought as to this providential dealing--have stopped to ask whence it comes, or what profit and lessons may be in it? it has been remarked by a famous writer that there are two chapters of human history that shall never be read upon the earth; the one chapter is the chapter of the dying. the feelings and emotions, the inexpressible thoughts and sensations that pass through the soul when the things of this world fade upon the senses, and the doors of eternity are about to swing open, is an experience which no human tongue or pen can describe, is something which none but ourselves can discover. and another chapter is the chapter of the sick and the ailing, as it is written in quietness within the narrow space of a couch and four walls, alternating perhaps with the operating table and passing through the dark valley of the shadow of death. and yet, something of this chapter may still be read, and most remarkable, significant, and ofttimes blessed things are experienced in the sickroom. who dare say that the world in its present condition would be what it still is without this check, this intruder upon the affairs of life? most men are inclined to regard sickness as a calamity, as a positive misfortune, a smiting scourge. it is not that. it has blessings both to the one afflicted and to those around him. sickness may contribute to the development of the noblest qualities of the mind and heart. in the rush and tug of life men are too much inclined to concern themselves with the affairs of this life, to lose sight of the greater value of the unseen and eternal. put such a one from the excitement of business and the frivolity of this world's fashions and pleasures prostrate upon his back with the hot fingers of disease clutching for his vitals or the sharp pains striking upon the heartstrings, and he must be thoughtless, even base, whose appreciation of the merely earthly things does not fall, and who does not learn that with all his boasted strength and all that he has and hopes for, he is only a pilgrim and stranger on this earth, and that there is something more worthy than what is seen and temporal. oh! the quiet reflections of a sickbed. many a man is indebted to them for a revelation which has been the wisdom and power of god unto his salvation when the message of church and its servant had but very little effect. the parched lips of disease are often more eloquent and effective than man's lips. and he that fails of this salutary end of affliction, does not come forth a better person, more devoted and consecrated to his god, has missed the purpose for which it was sent, and gone out of the way of the almighty. of this man in the text we may have the assurance that the experience of thirty-eight years remained indelibly upon his mind and enrolled him among the faithful disciples of christ. may it serve likewise in your case, my dear hearer, at the sickbed of many of whom i have had occasion and may yet be called to minister. and not only for the person afflicted, but for those attending and affected by the affliction, sickness is a blessing, a positive messenger of good and mercy. it is when disease has broken in upon their habitation that many a man has first learned to appreciate the kindly ministry of his life's partner; has keenly felt what this world would be like should death part them asunder, and the hearts sometimes estranged have again become reconciled and determined to bear and forbear. it is when the little cheek is hard pressed against the feverish and aching pillow that we feel how intensely we love that boy and girl and would sacrifice everything else dear to us to keep them. yes, there is nothing in human experience to bring into larger and better exercise our common love and sympathy and to show that there is still some nobility, kindness, and pity in our shattered humanity than in the care and memories that cluster around the sickbed. would to god that these experiences touching the hearts that perhaps for long time were dead would be of longer duration, for commonly they are so quickly forgotten and so easily erased from the mind. so much as to the first suggestion--the man's sickness. the place where he was lying was called bethesda, which means house of mercy. nor need i inform you which is the true bethesda, the house of mercy, provided for the cure of those souls who are spiritually halt, blind, withered, and weak. that's the church of jesus christ, and in that place there was a pool, as we heard, endowed with miraculous properties, greatly valued, thronged about by patients. to that pool we have in our bethesda an exact and superior counterpart, a blessed fountain from which issues the stream of health and salvation upon the sinful and diseased race of man, a water allied not only with the contact of an angel, but with the presence of the savior himself. you know of what water i am speaking, you yourselves have been committed into this salutary flood. it is the sacrament of holy baptism. it might be well to speak a few words on the subject. what bethesda's part was for the body, that, my beloved, is holy baptism to the soul. it was a means of restoration and recovery, it gave health back to the limbs and frame. so does baptism. "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins," said ananias to saul. "a washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy ghost," says paul. "it works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation," says luther. baptism is the means by which the holy ghost operates in a soul, the outward washing which you see with your eyes is a type of the washing which god's power affects invisibly. we speak of baptism in our church not only as a rite, a ceremony, a form of initiation, but as a means of grace, as a means of salvation, by which we are christened, that is, made christians. to elucidate. outside of our city there are enormous reservoirs holding millions of tons of water, and we daily see vast tanks holding thousands of cubic feet of gas. but all of these would be useless unless pipes are laid to convey their currents. lay those pipes, and you have the means of securing water in your homes and light in your dwellings. so the sacraments, of which baptism is one, are means by which god's blessings are brought to our souls. it's not an idle ceremony which one can dispense with at liberty, nor is it something which people can wait with till they are old enough to be taught the christian faith and to understand it; as well might they dispense with the supply of water and illumination, or wait until they themselves can lay the pipes. no; god has given us the means, now we must use them, and use them as early as possible. if this man had spoken as disparagingly of the pool of bethesda as some people speak of baptism, and had in consequence kept away from its waters, he would not have met with christ, and would have remained a cripple all his days. it is for us to use god's means, and to hold with the scripture that no man is a christian until he has been baptized. of course, there is this difference between the impotent man in the gospel and some in our community. he _could_ not enter the healing water, they _will_ not. they lie by the side of bethesda, but, not believing in the healing waters, are never benefited as to their own souls. there are many objections made against baptism. to repeat and publicly set aright one objection sometimes met with in our circles: what good does baptism do? see how many children turn out bad afterwards notwithstanding. what good does it do? i answer: the same good that it does if you had water and illumination connection, and then cut it off. no good; on the contrary, if, having been made god's children, christians, in baptism, we afterwards live as heathen, so much the worse the sin as our savior particularly warns this man who was healed. "behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee." but had the man nevertheless gone back to his sinful life, would that have made the healing of no account? and so the fact that people once baptized live in sin does not make baptism of no account. marriage is not a failure because some who have married have proved failures. when a man enlists in the army, the form of enlistment makes him a soldier, but not necessarily a good soldier; he may prove to be a coward and traitor, but it put him in a position to lead a brave and useful life and to win honor and glory; if he chooses otherwise, it is his own fault. so in baptism we are made christians, but it is our own fault if we afterwards turn out bad christians. baptism is the beginning, the means, not the end. we are put on the right road, we are made god's children, citizens of his kingdom of heaven. it is our own fault, not the sacrament, if we develop into prodigals, wander out of the right road, prove cowardly soldiers and bad citizens. as to the third suggestion made, the cure, let us briefly note that the condition of that poor paralytic is the perfect emblem of our human nature, of ourselves without christ. as he was diseased and helpless in body, so are we all diseased and helpless in soul. to a miracle of grace he owed his recovery; and where he found his cure, we must find ours. he stands before us this very moment again, that omnipotent son of god, that compassionate savior, and asks, "wilt thou be made whole?" wilt thou receive the absolution of thy god, the forgiveness of thy sins, through the mediation of my suffering and death? nothing else can remove the palsy of our nature, nothing else can give health and soundness.--let us, then, who feel our malady and wish it removed, answer, yes, lord, i will be whole. jesus, give me true repentance by thy spirit come from heaven. whisper this transporting sentence, "son, thy sins are all forgiven." amen. twentieth sunday after trinity. and he said also to the people, when ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower; and so it is. and when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, there will be heat; and it cometh to pass. ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?--_luke , - ._ men have always been solicitous about the weather. in the morning they are desirous to know what the day will bring forth; in the evening, what sort of temperature it will be on the morrow. curiosity, in part, a lack of something more important to think and talk about, and, in part, the regulation of one's duties and work prompt this concern. it has ever been so. in the holy land, when the sky was aglow with the exquisite tints of an oriental sunset, it meant fair weather the next day; when the west wind, sweeping over the great or mediterranean sea laden with moisture blew over the land, it was a safe indication of rain, whereas the breezes coming from the sterile and desert plains of the east portended a heated season and continued drouth. we have similar indications. flocks of birds, at this season, flying across our city in search of a more congenial home, tell us of approaching winter. not relying on such indications alone, the government has established everywhere meteorological stations; weather forecasts are distributed broadcast, wireless telegraphy flashes out the approach of devastating storms, thus forewarning navigation and securing protection to citizens and property and life. all of which is commendable, argues forethought, wisdom, which god has designed that men should exercise. nor does our lord in the text in any wise disapprove of such precautions and measures. he would have us make application of that same forethought, wise provision, with respect to another sphere. "as you study the weather," is his direction, so you ought with equally observing and wakeful mind study the times, watch the signs, regard the phenomena that appear in the political, civil, social, mercantile, domestic skies, marking their bearing on the affairs of god's kingdom, and exercise respecting them the same forethought and sense of provision. that duty shall we now do in these moments of public worship, noting as our theme: _a few signs of the times and the corresponding duties of christians and church-members. we shall observe:_ _i. three such outstanding signs_; _ii. what it becomes us to do_. the first outstanding sign, prevailing and predominating characteristic of our times, that we shall mention is commercialism. to explain:--the question of "what shall we eat, what shall we drink, and wherewith shall we be clothed," has always and everywhere been a live question. men must live, and "to live" means the possession of the things just mentioned, food and drink, dress and property, the possession of this earth's goods; but it is a question whether in the history of the world these matters have bulged out so prominently and so monopolized the efforts and attention of men as at the present and in our own country. with the avenues of success open to every man that is industrious and intelligent, with competition keen, demanding concentration of energy and effort, gaining a livelihood and a little of this earth's goods has become like a whirlpool which draws and drags everything into its devouring current and vortex. the spirit of commerce is supreme; not, i suppose, that everybody loves money and this earth's goods simply and only for its own sake, but there is an excitement and fascination in having it; it stands for the standard of efficiency and worth and influence among men, so that all are scrambling and scheming for it. listen to the trend of conversation, the topic of discussion in people's homes--what is it? show a man a material advantage that he may secure, often at the sacrifice of honesty and principle, and he is your undying friend. now, with men's minds thus set, it is but a natural consequence that it should affect their heart, endanger their spiritual life. business, indeed, is not incompatible with piety. a man may be a devout christian and church-member and an excellent business man, but it may so preoccupy his mind and preengage his heart that he ceases to think about religious matters at all. it is not an uncommon thing to see a man attentive unto the things of the lord, intent in the services and the meetings of the church; when anything special is to be done, he is on hand to help. business responsibilities increase, he becomes less earnest in these respects; he has to rise so early in the morning that he has no time or thought for prayer; he comes home so tired in the evening that he has no consideration for anything else, and if he goes out, it is in the interest of business. even the lord's day is levied upon, and when it comes, his mind is perchance more occupied while he sits under the pulpit with his figures than with the sermon. tell him he is being missed,--the retort is the common, trite answer, "no time." but the real reason lies deeper. he has gotten into the current, he is being drawn into the whirlpool of commercialism, and if there be any who feel that i have been holding up a mirror wherein you have seen yourselves, let me urge upon you to take heed. you are paying too much for your material success, and if you do not return to your old anchorage, you may find yourself where you had never thought to get--afar from christ, his worship and service. there is nothing better than for a man occasionally to take his bearings, to find where he is located, and whether he is holding his own against the stream of opposite tendency that is flowing through our social life, in which he is drifting, being carried in opposite direction, among those who pass from the neglecting to the despising and rejecting of the great salvation. hand in hand with this tendency of our times there is another: indifferentism. certainly, if everything is gauged by the measurement of dollars and cents, then men's thoughts are absorbed by material considerations. it is quite natural that religion should be placed on the same low basis. indifferentism generally resolves itself into a question. that question is, "what's the use? what's the use of prayer? has it ever brought you any gain? what have you that you wouldn't have if you had not prayed?" "what's the use of going to church? what benefit has it ever brought you? it has not fetched you one customer, one penny of profit, rather the reverse--it has been an expense, easily avoidable." "what's the use of going to the lord's supper? a man may be a christian for all that." "god governs the world, his providence overrules it all, but it is, after all, the man who plans and plods that wins out, so why be concerned about this overruling providence?" "when the end comes, well, then i hope there is a place where those who, like myself, have tried to be honest and upright will finally get to. i am willing to risk my chances. what is the use of being over-much concerned about the future?" it is not that our times are stubbornly and positively atheistic and infidelic; perhaps there was never less of that than now. but comparatively few in speech or person or in print venture to attack christianity as a system. the danger lies elsewhere. we have lapsed into a state of indifference. there is a passing away of an earnestness of conviction, of moral stamina, of strength of belief. what was once accepted as god's truth is now called into question. "don't emphasize creed, doctrine, destructive belief; we have gotten beyond that." yes, we have gotten beyond that, and in consequence have gotten and are daily getting into a current that shall find us contending for the simplest truths of the christian faith. what fad, however unscriptural and irrational, but it finds multitudes of followers. consider the greatest fad that is sweeping over the land--christian science. how is it possible that such an absolutely heretical, nonsensical system of unchristian, anti-biblical statement should ever have had such a phenomenal growth, if our people were not so dreadfully indifferent in matters of bible teaching? the same is true of the russellites, whose publications are being distributed broadcast over the land, who deny the simple doctrines of hell and resurrection, and foretell the time of christ's coming to judgment and to reign in unadulterated bliss for thousand years. the catechism is denounced from the pulpits. "why instruct the juvenile mind in such fetters of theology?" "what is there to confirmation?--teaching children in their teens to confess a faith they do not half comprehend?" the good old bible book--"is it really what has been claimed for it?" do not most clergymen of progressive ideas put allegorical interpretations upon its stories, for instance, the fall of man into sin? do not many learned scholars point out what they claim to be discrepancies, and say it must be considered and weighed just like every other book in which are some good things and some inferior? and the sorry consequence of all this? it is this, that we have no positive conviction at all, that the majority are like a vessel without a guiding compass or a determinate course, floating hither and thither, as the wavering current of whims or opinion may chance to drive them. and if, to note the application, we are asked whether we join in this trend of thought of the times, this contemptuous treatment of the word of god and catechism, we should answer with an emphatic "no." but are we quite sure that we have not imbibed a little of it unconsciously? after so much has been said about the old-fashioned hell,--a hard doctrine for sentimental souls to believe,--why not mitigate it a little, and believe that after this life poor sinners have another chance?--'tis true, the savior does say, "this do in remembrance of me," "but i guess i'll not be condemned if i do not go to his sacrament." beloved hearer, you may flatter yourself that it will have no effect upon you, but unless you conscientiously and determinedly watch it, you will find yourself yielding to it. beloved, we watchmen on the towers of zion, scanning the skies and observing the signs, are everywhere noting the indifference among our older members, among our young people, and the only thing to do is to get back to the old anchorage, to place our faith firmly and securely upon the rock of eternal truth, _i. e._, the grand old bible. its words are truth and nothing but the truth. let that be our guide in doctrine, in practice. what that says let us believe; what that forbids let us forsake; that will put us right and keep us right. these vagaries and fluctuating opinions of men and women will pass away like the clouds of the air; but even though heaven and earth pass away, god's word will not pass away. our safety and happiness lies in adhering to what it teaches and following its directions.--when the storm-clouds are gathering in the horizon and the weather bureau flashes out the danger signals, then it is wisdom to seek shelter, to get under somewhere. there is such an ark of safety yet, and that is the church of christ, where his cross and gospel are preached, held and confessed, uncompromisingly. take your place there as a consistent, positive member, and avoid indifference in religious matters. and one more disastrous sign of the times would we regard. i need not remind you that the brightest jewel that we possess under the constitution of this country is religious liberty. its wise and pious framers, knowing both from reason and from sharp experience that religious liberty can only exist in the strict separation of church and state, adopted every precaution to prevent the admission of anything hostile to religious liberty, to go into the political machinery of the state. their object was "a free church in a free country." it is well known, not suspicion merely, but known by those who have the best understanding of the times, that a spirit has of late years prevailed which is intensely hostile to the civil and religious principles of our government. there have been some bold encroachments on the part of a subtle and formidable antagonist. you know whom i mean--rome, dangerous rome, which does not believe in the separation of church and state, which acknowledges but one head, who is the embodiment of temporal, political, and spiritual power, which openly and unequivocally asserts that the civil authority is subordinate to the church. rome's representatives have been loaded with official favors and flatteries; rome's interests have been fostered with the most fatal insidiousness by political leaders; rome has been caressed, and complimented, and taken into confidence and alliance with those in authority. what is the meaning of all this? sordid maneuvers of diplomacy and craft undermining the fundamental principles and rights of our constitution, menacing clouds in the sky that threaten our civil liberty. and what is to be done? we ought to know; the name which graces our denomination points the way. luther gave rome its death-wound in his day by wielding so powerfully the sword, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of god. let us grasp that selfsame sword; let us teach the doctrines which he taught so effectively to its overthrow, and we, too, shall prevail. point out the soul-destroying errors of rome, and you unarm her spiritually. and again, as citizens, let us make a determined and combined movement to repel the creeping invasion, the subtle but forceful and successful invasion of popery. the political leading men of our day may not be conscious of it; let us hope, in the judgment of charity, that they are not; but it is perfectly clear that the influence of that dark and mysterious and tremendous system is upon them. for us who have studied and know rome it becomes to counteract, eradicate every tendency that would break down or reduce our constitutional liberties. we have mentioned three specific signs--commercialism, indifferentism, romanism. let us, keeping our eyes open, beware of the destructive power of the first, the deadening influence of the second, the insidious danger of the third, and so pass through these things temporal that we lose not the things eternal. amen. twenty-first sunday after trinity. for which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to build, and was not able to finish.--_luke , - ._ in the pass of thermopylae, in the country of greece, there stands a monument, world-renowned, erected to leonidas and his valiant three hundred. it bears the inscription: "go, stranger, and tell at sparta that we died here fighting to the last in obedience to our laws," and commemorates that thrilling event when leonidas with his three hundred successfully held the pass of thermopylae against tremendous odds until betrayed into the hands of the enemy. what it bears magnificent witness to is the quality of loyalty, steadfastness. the same noble quality does god require, look for, in his people. the apostle in to-day's epistle, summing up the conduct of the spiritual soldier, says: "stand, therefore, and having done all, stand," and again, emphasizing the same virtue, he remarks: "watching thereunto with all perseverance." it is not the boldest regiment that always makes the best record, but that which holds out the longest. it is not the most enthusiastic christian and ardent church-member that wins his master's commendation, but he that proves "faithful." the parable of our text brings home to us the same lesson. it tells us of a man who contemplates the erection of a tower. before entering upon his enterprise, he first sets down and, with pencil in hand, figures the cost, whether his funds will permit him to undertake the matter, lest, having begun and failing, he become the laughing-stock of his neighbors, and the uncompleted structure a monument to his folly. equally so, does the savior point out, is it, in another sphere, the realm of religion. a person hears the call of religion, feels its power and promptings, its necessity and claims; his heart is persuaded, his mind is made up, he ought to, and wants to be, a christian, in the words of the parable, he contemplates the erection of the tower, but ordinary prudence bids that he should sit down and consider the costs, lest, beginning and not completing, the venture end in dismal failure, and he become the object of mockery and contempt. and yet is it not this ordinary, common-sense method, which they apply so keenly otherwise, that so many disregard in matters of soul? why else would there be so many apostates, fallings away, in the ranks of confessed believers? let us, then, wisely and for once sit down for a few moments in public christian worship, and consider this matter, noting: _the parable of the tower--an exhortation to christian steadfastness._ we shall group our remarks around two chief thoughts: _i. what does it cost to be a christian?_ _ii. does it pay to be one?_ to begin with, let it be noted that christianity connects with cost; it _does_ cost to be a christian. there is a type of religion which is not only a very easy, but a most inexpensive kind. putting on the garment and speaking the language of godliness, it is stranger to its power. however, that type is not the building of a tower, rather of a shack, a flimsy construction which the slightest wind-storm and rising rivulet will soon sweep away. in building a substantial structure, the first concern is the foundation. you do not see that, it is hidden from view; yet upon that foundation rests the building, and it is just as strong as its foundation. so, spiritually, the main part of christianity is hidden, it is something that takes place away from human view; yet upon that unseen experience rests its reality, its strength. what is that experience? in laying a foundation, there is, first, the excavation, the removal of the soil, of all obstructions and obstacles. this is difficult work and costly work. so, spiritually, religion calls for the removal of obstacles, obstructions, soil. man's heart is not fit to build the tower of christ's religion, it must undergo a change; "old things must pass away." there must be a plowing up. there are painful memories to be recalled, sins to be mourned over, habits and ways of thinking and doing to be given up, likes and loves and feelings to be renounced. it is as true now as it ever was that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god." we call this repentance, contrition, sorrow over one's sin. it means the reconstruction and transformation of one's nature, and costs many a pang, many a sigh, many an inner struggle and protest. then, when the rubbish and soil have been removed, the excavation has taken place; there must be a laying of the foundation. which that foundation is, is plain. "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is jesus christ." belief in christ, faith in the savior, must follow, else there can be no tower. my dear hearer, have you undergone that change of heart, experienced that inner sorrow? have you paid the first cost? laying a foundation without building thereupon does not answer the purpose. we must add a superstructure, and this also costs. and what is the superstructure? st. paul speaks of it when he writes: "i beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of god that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service," when he says to the corinthians: "ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify god in your bodies and in your spirits, which are god's," or quite briefly remarks: "for me to live is christ." we call this adding of the superstructure, consecration, and what does it involve? everything. beginning with yourself, it levies upon your body, your mind, your soul, your time, talents, influence, possessions, property, money, your all. it is just to this particular, of consecration, dedication of oneself and possessions, that christ refers in the verses preceding the text: "if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple." earthly love, domestic relations, material considerations--nothing is permitted to stand in the way of absolute and entire consecration of oneself, and all one has and possesses, to christ. beloved, is this not a particular which many who profess to be christians do not apprehend? when they are called upon to give themselves, of their time and means and ability, to the cause of the lord, they feel and act as though some great thing is being asked of them, that they are doing something superfluous. they need not feel so. it is a matter they ought to have weighed when they entered upon christian life. god lays his hand upon all that you are, and all that you have, and says: "this is mine," and only he and she are building properly upon the foundation which is christ who say: "here, lord, am i and all that is mine. upon thy altar it lies in holy consecration. lord, what wilt thou have me do?" and one other cost would we mention. it costs courage. not exactly the same courage as when called upon, in the early centuries, to face the tortures of the rack, the beasts of the coliseum and the flames of the martyr's stake, yet a courage, none the less noble, a moral courage. there are plenty of things to discourage us. "is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to god?" no, it is not. it is full of conflicts and criticisms and sharp collisions. if so many christians of our day have such a good and easy time of it, is it not because they are not christians after the style of the apostles and the early martyrs? satan is still the god of this world, and one need only take a decided stand against him, and the things that belong to him, to find it out. yes, it costs something to be a christian, a consecrated church-member. a christian cannot be, cannot act and do, as non-christians, non-church-members act and do. aye, does it not frequently call for courage even to be known as a church-member? the finger of scorn is pointed and the sneer of sarcasm is hurled at many a one for that. nor only from those that are without; discouragement frequently comes from those who are within. christians are the communion of saints, but their behavior toward each other is not always saintly. human nature, everywhere ugly and crabbed, is apt to make itself manifest there too. appreciation deserved, gratitude looked for, is not always received. and this is very trying, betimes; in fact, some think that it is beyond all endurance, judging by their withdrawal. but have those that so feel ever thought it over? whoever builds a house without having some unpleasantness, and sometimes great unpleasantness? but does he, therefore, desist from completing the structure? know, my dear hearer, whatever may be the nature of the annoyances, difficulties, and hindrances to christian life and church-membership, they belong to the costs, and when they occur, face them with becoming courage and steadfastness. a sorry soldier that will throw away his gun and quit the ranks because of the discouragements in the way! this, then, is what it costs to be a christian--repentance, consecration, courage. and are the returns adequate to the cost? what benefit is there in being a christian, erecting such a tower? does it pay? there are people who think not. they consider that they make the most by keeping aloof. whether they have done it by careful figuring out, like the man in the parable, is doubtful, but they are persuaded in their own mind that they are the gainers by not identifying themselves with christ and his church. they do not like religious restraints. they wish to be free to do as they please. they can enjoy more of the comforts and pleasures of life, can pursue their ways with less compunction, make more money, gain more friends, if they keep themselves out of the church entanglements and obligations. so they reason and congratulate themselves. but what advantage have they over us? the truth is that there is not a single relation or human interest in which it does not pay to be a christian. to specify briefly: it pays to be a christian physically; godliness teaches and inculcates all those laws and things that produce and promote health, the welfare of one's body. it pays to be a christian materially, in one's labors and business. to be a good man, to have the reputation of honesty, is as fine a business capital as any one would want. it pays domestically; the home where godliness prevails approaches the ideal home and is the strongest bulwark of society. the same holds good with regard to the joys of life. "religion was never devised to make our pleasures less." religion sanctifies our pleasures; it draws the checkreins upon ungodly extravagances and excesses; and so it pays also in this respect. and when it comes to the dark side of life, the manifold difficulties and troubles that accompany man in his abode here below, "when other helpers fail and comforts flee"--oh, for the power, the comfort, the divine support of religion! and we have said nothing yet of the strictly spiritual advantages. it pays to be a christian; a christian possesses a good conscience, which is more valuable than all of this world's possessions, the sunshine of god's forgiveness and favor through faith in his savior; the blessed joy and inspiration that comes from prayer and worship of god. nor does the matter stop there. when the scenes of this time and world fade upon our vision; when, passing through the dark and shadowy valley and before the judgment seat of him to whom we must give account; when the glories of the golden city open and the crown immortal is placed upon our brow,--then we shall realize that it pays to be a christian. to conclude,--there should be any right-thinking, calculating person that, having begun, will fail to complete the building of this tower? how foolish before god and men, how dangerous! be steadfast! be wise!-- "build on, my soul, till death shall bring thee to thy god; he'll take thee at thy parting breath to thy divine abode." amen. twenty-second sunday after trinity. brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.--_gal. , ._ the christian church is frequently compared with a hospital. the comparison is correct. christ calls himself a physician; then those to whom he has come to heal are sick, and the institution which he has established for the spiritually soul-sick is the church. not for those who regard themselves well, who in self-righteous haughtiness would be no sinners, but for those who, acknowledging their soul-sickness, are looking for healing from the physician of souls, christ jesus, is this divine institution. the church, we may aptly say, is a hospital. in a hospital, however, we have respect to proper treatment, we desire to become rid of our ailment, and are ready to submit to any course and remedy that will promote our healing. equally so in the spiritual hospital ought we to be ready and thankful for any method and manner of treatment that helps us become rid of our sins, our faults, our errors. such a course, suggested by the gospel-lesson, would we for once regard in this morning devotion. let us consider _a christian's duty toward an erring brother_, noting, _i. what this duty is_; _ii. how it is to be performed_; _iii. some of the happy results_. "brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." what the apostle here commands is this: if a christian, a member of a congregation, falls, those who are standing are to help him up again. if he falls into error of doctrine, they are to bring him to the belief of the bible truth, and if he falls into some sin of life, they are to remonstrate with him, so that he may repent and return into the way of right. that this is one of the most difficult of christian duties is true, and that it is a duty grossly neglected by christians is true also. but for that reason it becomes all the more necessary to call attention to it. "thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him," we read lev. . solomon says: "rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." a greater than solomon, even our savior, has said: "if thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault." again, st. paul directs: "reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering." these are but a few of many similar texts of scripture that might be cited to show that to reprove an erring fellow-christian is just as solemn and weighty as that which tells us, "thou shalt not steal," or admonishes to read our bibles, and attend on public worship. and be it noted, this is every christian's duty. it will not do to say: let the pastor do it, or let those do it who are better qualified than myself. it is indeed the pastor's duty, and it is the duty of those of whom you say they are better qualified than yourself, and it is also your duty; for thus says the apostle: "ye which are spiritual restore such an one." if you are spiritual, if you are a christian, it is your duty to apply brotherly admonition; and is it right to shift your duty on to the shoulders of others? christians may easily sin by depending too much on the pastor to do everything. the pastor cannot be everywhere, cannot see everything, and often it is wrong to tell him about everything. the direction here is not only for the pastors, but for all the members. that question of qualification is indeed a delicate thing. the truth is that those who think themselves qualified, and therefore use impertinent boldness, are generally not qualified for effectual brotherly admonition. if god has placed you into such a situation that you see a brother in danger of losing his soul through error, sin, or despondency, then let not the feeling of disqualification seal your lips, but sigh to god to open your lips to speak a word of instruction, rebuke, or comfort as it seems needed. remember, it is a duty, this matter of christian reproof, something which god has plainly and strongly commanded us to perform. this is our first consideration. however, if brotherly admonition is to have the proper effect, it must be applied in the right way. "brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault." that does not mean that a christian should make it his business to rebukingly approach others for little and insignificant faults. in that case he would soon be regarded as a faultfinder, an overly eager critic, and would no more be listened to. brotherly admonition should be applied in such things by which the brother's soul is endangered if left to go on therein. i shall mention a few,--neglect of attendance upon divine worship and sacrament, intemperance, when one is convinced that the visits to the drinkhouse are too frequent, habitually frequenting the playhouse, the dancing-floor, living in some secret sin, using ungodly, profane speech, being irreconcilable with one's housemates or fellow-members. these are faults, and when one is overtaken in such a fault, then it becomes my christian duty and yours to restore such a one--how? in the spirit of meekness, with mildness, kindness, humility. nothing is more opposed to the spirit in which christian rebuke is to be administered than harshness, haughtiness, abruptness, overbearing manner. hard words are apt to incite opposition and stubbornness. a reproof kindly given is like a healing oil. a tornado destroys, a mild breeze refreshes. brotherly admonition is only then indeed brotherly when given in a brotherly manner. in reproving an offending brother, we must make it apparent that it is his highest good that we honestly seek; it must be obvious that we have no personal dislike to gratify, no spleen to vent, no feeling of superiority. it must be manifest to him that we do it from a sincere conviction of duty, from a feeling that if we did not care for him and sincerely desire his happiness as a christian, we could never be induced to attempt this painful duty. this is the spirit with compassion for the offended. there must be a spirit like this, and oh! the power in christian rebuke when administered like this. it will subdue and reclaim anything but a heart of adamant. but this meekness must be mingled with humbling conviction of our own frailty and liability to sin. "considering," wrote the apostle, "thyself, lest thou also be tempted." we must go to the erring brother with that gentle and subdued spirit resulting from conviction and practical view of our own numerous sins, and a holy fear of falling ourselves, that we may soon need the christian reproof of a brother for our own faults. fraternal kindness and gentleness does not exclude--what we must yet mention--firmness. the hand of the surgeon who amputates a diseased limb or growth from the human body, must be a steady hand, unmoved by the cries and the writhing of the patient. it is not cruelty, but kindness to the sufferer, that keeps the surgeon undiverted and firm to his purpose till the operation is performed. so he that would successfully administer christian reproof must have his heart firmly set on the work. he must go about it with an inflexible determination to accomplish, by god's aid, what he attempts. the wincing irritability, ill temper, and provoking replies of the offended must not for a moment divert him from his purpose, or throw him off his guard. he must approach with the purpose of winning him back to truth and the path of righteousness. hating the sin, but loving the sinner, he must hold on until the person has been saved or proved to be incorrigible, a manifest and unrepentant sinner. so much as to the manner--"with meekness and firmness." and are there any happy effects to be realized from the faithful performance of this duty? that is the last general thought to be presented, namely, the blessed consequences of christian reproof. the first happy effect is that it will free the christian who performs this duty from being partaker of others' sins, and will give him a peace of conscience which he cannot otherwise enjoy. god has solemnly warned us christians: "be ye not partakers of other men's sins." now that professing christian who fails to rebuke or reprove a brother whom he knows to be in fault, silently assents to that brother's sin. his conduct obviously shows that he either does not consider his brother as sinning at all, or that his fault is so trivial that it is not necessary to tell him of it. that is the inference which the erring brother himself draws. now we are, to some extent, the keepers of our brother's soul, and if we do not use the means and the influences which we might use to free him from his faults, god will hold us accountable, partakers, a portion of the guilt attaches to us. we may complain of this as hard if we choose, but this will not alter the case. there are two ways in which we can free ourselves from being partakers of other men's sins. the one is by living holy lives ourselves; the other, christian reproof to them for their faults. not only must our lives testify, but our lips. you would pardon the personal illustration. we were friends. six years did we occupy the same desk and room together. a sin was fastening itself upon him, the general word for it is "tippling," fancy drinking. i remonstrated with him, as talented a student as ever was. he has long fallen from the christian ministry, and his body lies in a drunkard's grave, one of the saddest experiences of my life. but one consolation,--i spoke to him words of christian reproof. would you be untarnished by the guilt of other men's sins, and blessed with a peace of conscience to be procured on no other terms, be faithful in the performance of this duty. a second happy effect of the faithful performance of this duty is that it will prevent the evil of talebearing and backbiting. a prevalent, giant evil this, also in some of our churches among christians. anything that would remedy this evil ought to be hailed with gladness. god has brought his authority to bear on it in the direct command: "thou shalt not go up and down in the land as a talebearer; thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." the lord jesus himself has laid down the law that christians are not permitted to talk about the faults of others till they have gone to them and told them their faults alone. how much this rule is regarded some of our consciences can testify. but let it be done, and you will see how talebearing and backbiting will cease; for either as you go to the erring brother or sister in the spirit in which reproof ought to be administered you will find, in not a few instances, that you were mistaken, that the person is not guilty in the matter, as you had supposed, and then, of course, you cannot go about speaking of his fault; or if you find that he is actually at fault to the extent that you thought he was, he will no doubt, on faithful reproof, make an apology, and then, with what face can you go about talking to others of his fault? if there is anything distressing, causing permanent estrangement, discord, and heart-burning, it is to take up evil reports against each other, circulate them without ever going to the person incriminated, and inquiring into the truth or falsehood of what is spread. and this devilish work will cease or become rare, and the calumniator will be regarded as doing the work of his father, the devil, if christians will faithfully perform the duty of reproof in the right spirit. to repeat,--if we have anything to say of a brother, let us say it first to him. let us say nothing in his absence that we should be afraid to utter in his presence. and when any one comes with an evil report against another, let us refuse to listen to him, unless he can assure us that he has said all that he is going to utter to the person whom it most concerns. it will check, prevent the evil of talebearing. and to mention briefly one other blessed effect,--it will promote a feeling of brotherliness and promote prosperity of the congregation. to speak to a delinquent brother, give him to understand that he is missed and doing amiss, is to give him to understand, at the same time, that he is thought of, that we should like to have him to be what his own conscience testifies he ought to be; and this consideration, kindly and firmly made, cannot but make him, if he is not past all correction, feel attracted and attached toward those who are concerned about him. to keep the unity of spirit in the bonds of peace, to banish prejudice, hatred, to promote and build up a strong, solid, permanent church-body in which the members cling to each other, christian reproof is a most valuable means. christian reproof is something which deeply concerns the spiritual life and growth of a congregation. to conclude: how far, christian brethren, have we been faithful to the admonition of the text? have you ever, since connected with this church, made one serious attempt to reclaim an erring brother or sister? there is, i know, a little of this spirit among us; may it prosper and grow, and the lord will surely give his blessing. amen. twenty-third sunday after trinity. and jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury. and many that were rich cast in much. and there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. and he called unto him his disciples and saith unto them, verily, i say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury. for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all she had, even all her living.--_mark , - ._ the words just read from sacred story are the simple record of a pious deed performed more than a thousand years ago in the city of jerusalem. it speaks of a poor woman modestly putting in her contribution into the treasury of the temple. at the time to which the text refers the savior had just silenced the cavils and objections of the scribes and sadducees, as we heard in the gospel of to-day, and was remaining in the temple a few moments longer and taking his seat near the place where the people were wont to deposit their offerings. as he watched the multitudes surging to and fro and with his all-seeing eye scanned the various depositors placing their gifts into the receptacle, he had nothing to say. but when a poor widow came along, unnoticed and overlooked, as the artists generally picture her, with a little one at her side and an infant upon her breast, and drops in her insignificant coin of two paltry mites, there was something that broke the current of his thoughts, and calling his disciples, he directed their attention to the humble gift and the unpretentious offerer. though that gorgeous temple has long passed away, and the magnificent city is in ruins, that simple act of piety lives on, as fresh and beautiful as the moment of its performance. this sunday has been set aside in the course of the church-year for the consideration of christian beneficence. it is an eminently proper and legitimate topic, and one on which instruction and stirring up is needed the same as on any other. some think such sermons aside from the gospel, but that only shows how imperfect is their knowledge, and how important it is to bring the matter forth from the obscurity to which some would consign it. paul frequently introduces it into his doctrinal epistles. the savior himself embraced in it many of his discourses, and it is difficult to see how any christian minister is discharging his duty of faithfully and fully declaring the counsel of god to his people who fails betimes to give it a prominent place in his pulpit ministrations. let us regard as our theme this morning: _the widow's mite, an encouraging model of christian beneficence, observing_, _i, the motive why we should give_; _ii. the measure and proportion in which we should give_; _iii. the method how we should give_. may god bless the presentation of his word! first, the motive of giving. what prompted this poor widow to give? she had been worshiping in the temple, had witnessed the beautiful and inspiring services, had been edified by the instruction of god's word, her heart was warmed and stirred with appreciation for these spiritual blessings, and as she passes out with the throng and views the receptacle at the entrance, well knowing what it had been placed there for, she cannot resist, but under a sense of obligation, a strong feeling to reciprocate, and do something toward the maintenance of god's house, she draws forth two little coins and drops them in, then, more destitute of means, but richer in heart, proceeds on her way. and the like motives ought to prevail with us. we confess in the creed: "i believe that god has made me and all creatures, that he richly and daily provides me, that he defends me against all danger"; that jesus christ, our lord, has redeemed us lost and condemned creatures; that the holy ghost has called us by the gospel, enlightened us with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps us in the true faith; and for all that, what shall we render for god's gifts? his blessings are indeed always freely bestowed, without any merit or worthiness on our part; nevertheless, they call for gratitude, recognition, appreciation. and in consideration of gifts so unspeakable is any offering of gold, or frankincense, or myrrh too large? what ointment of spikenard too costly? the spirit of showing gratitude, as in the case of this widow, is one motive, and a most beautiful and god-honoring one, why we ought to give to him: the honor of his name and the spread and prosperity of his cause--in his temple. the other is this,--the sense of our obligation. he desires and commands us to do so. everywhere in the scripture of god do we find the matter of giving, especially for religious purposes, spoken of with commendation and inculcated as part of the very essence and life of true godliness, whether we look to the old testament or to the new testament, to prophets, apostles, or christ himself, the language is the same. "honor the lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase." "to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices god is well pleased." in to-day's gospel the lord plainly enough says: "render unto cæsar the things that are cæsar's, and unto god the things that are god's." in a certain sense it is all his, of course. "the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof." the silver and the gold are his. but it belongs to his wisdom and providence to make us his stewards in the disposition of his, and in that disposition he lays down very emphatically the law: "render unto me the things that are mine." every penny that we possess is stamped with the divine image and superscription. he still sits over against the treasury, and observes what we are putting into the receptacle, whether we are giving unto him what it is our duty to give. these are, then, the motives,--gratefulness and dutifulness. and now as to the _measure_, the amount of christian giving--the how much. as we turn to the record, two parties are distinguished. the one wealthy.--"many," it says, "that were rich cast in much." that the rich should give and gave largely, and that this was the case not with a few, but with numbers of them, was to their honor, especially since the practice has never been common, experience showing that "many that are rich do not cast in much." and the other, indigent, the poor, selected by way of a specific example--a widow. the idea sometimes is that poor people ought not be asked to give. this is a mistake. poor people can give, and ought to give, out of their poverty, as well as rich people ought to give out of their riches. poor people can hurt themselves, and injure their souls, and prove themselves niggardly and illiberal by not giving just as well as rich people can. true, they cannot give as much as the more favored, in the actual amount of their gifts, but they _can_ give as much in proportion to their means. we often hear people say, if they were only rich, willingly would they contribute to every good cause, and munificent things would they do with their money. but all such charitable words and sentiments are just nothing. the thing is to give the gift of poverty, if poor, without being ashamed of it, and not to sentimentalize about the great things we would do if we were rich. the fact is that few people ever get rich, and if wealth increases, desires, styles of living, and general expenses increase with it, and the wealthy man has so many expenditures, so many demands to meet, so many drains upon him, that he is just about as poor in his riches as he was without them. this is the plain fact in the vast majority of cases. indeed, exceptions are very rare. it is, therefore, a mere matter of self-deception for people to talk how liberal they would be if they were rich. moreover, what are we coming to if we regard only the rich as under obligation to give? no! christian liberality is a thing for the poor as well as the rich, and for the most part facts prove that the poor are more liberal than the rich. to come back to our text: such were the donors our savior recognized, both poor and rich. let us note, furthermore, their contribution. while the rich gave much, the widow "threw in" only "two mites," which make a farthing, with us half a cent. it is easy to conceive what the givers themselves would think of their donations. the rich would be satisfied, imagining that they had done their duty, if not more than was required of them, while the poor widow would deem what she had done unworthy of notice, and, perhaps, felt ashamed to cast into the treasury such a mean trifle. others, too, who were lookers-on, had they known what the parties gave, would have extolled the one as prodigies of liberality, while they would have treated the other with neglect, or reproached her for giving what she could not afford. but how were those two mites viewed by him whose eyes were as a flame of fire, and who searcheth the reins and the hearts? "and he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, verily, i say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury. for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all she had, even all her living." at first this seems strange, and our lord could not mean that she had given more than all the others as to quantity, but more as to motive, more as to principle, more, relatively, as to their condition and her circumstances; more comparatively. these men had given much; they had done it of their abundance and superfluity, and could go home to houses filled with plenty, and to tables spread with delicacies, while she went home to a lonely apartment, and opening her cupboard, found little, and that the earning of her hard toil. what an encouragement this! and the less favored in this world's goods require it. we have known persons remaining away from the house of god--this house of god--because they could only appear in workday clothing, and others who have been prevented from meeting with the congregation because they felt that they could not do what was expected of them. let none such, however humble their condition, or limited their means, for a moment suppose that they are less regarded; let them beware of making the sad mistake that because they cannot do much, they are justified in doing nothing. the commendation of mary was: "she hath done what she could," whereas the condemnation of the unprofitable servant was that because he did not have ten talents, or five, he failed to trade with the one he did have. it's not the inability that god judges you by, but by the indisposition to do what you have. in the light of these two mites let us take heart, and do what dutifulness and gratitude would prompt us to do toward his temple, knowing that it is a small thing that we should be judged by any man's judgment, but that he that judges us is the lord. and, again, our lord's decision teaches us, in fact, seems to be the main inference to be drawn from the subject, that the rule with regard to liberality is proportion. these men gave "much" (much when the amount was considered, much according to their own opinion and their admirers); yet, was it much relatively? much compared with what others gave whose means were unspeakably less? what self-denial was there connected with it? "charity," an old commentator remarks to these words of our text, "is to be judged of, not by what is given, but by what is left." these men gave of their abundance. they never felt it. true benevolence feels it. the widow did feel it; and many, i take it, among us feel it in the sacrifice of self-decoration, self-gratification, when they put their contribution into the plate in regular service, and occasionally a special donation, as on the day of humiliation and prayer and church anniversary. that is the right kind of benevolence that feels it; those are the coins that count in god's treasury which have, as they ring in the basket, a piece of ourselves attached to them, stand for self-denial; that gives them their highest value,--not merely the , , or stamped upon them. let each of the assembly here worshiping examine himself accordingly. there is no law in the case. christianity does not tax, coerce, dictate how much in exact proportion to your income and means you ought to give. it is not for you to tell me how much i am to do for god and church, nor for me to tell you. that is my business and yours, left to us individually. only this are we to observe: all are expected to give, and all who are really touched with the spirit of christ and true religion give and will give, and it is for them to give in proportion as god has blessed them. giving is a thing of character, which, like every other, must grow little by little, more by more, until through diligent practice and repeated acts it becomes a habit. to give once in a while, impulsively, as one is moved by this or that plea, is good enough, but far more fruitful and blessed is systematic giving, however small the amount be at a time. the plan which has god's authority, and which has borne the most encouraging results, is the one which st. paul has laid down in cor. : "on the first day of the week," on sunday, when men's thoughts are turned from earth to heaven, from the things of this world to the next, when god's unspeakable gift is brought to our mind and our duties to the good lord, then "let every one of you lay by him in store as the lord hath prospered him." to aid you in doing that, the system of envelopes has been introduced. the idea has never been to burden any one, to tax any one, or to prescribe to any one, but to present an easy and secure method for collecting what each one, in conscience and calmness, might consider his or her proper gift to the lord and his treasury. the very boxes bear that name, "the lord's treasury," and i hope that each time as you scan the words you will think of the "widow's mites." nor do we have any reason to be dissatisfied with results. the waters that flow down the great niagara with such rush and roar, and then sweep onward in deep majesty to the ocean are formed by countless brooks and rills and trickling streamlets and melting snows and little raindrops, and so the results that have all wrought for our congregation, and the amount upon which it is still largely dependent, comes from the small contributions of our members, regularly and systematically given. in view of the fact that a large indebtedness rests upon us, i feel warranted to bring this matter before you in the pulpit, asking for a faithful continuation of the plan. "the widow's two mites"--what grand services they have accomplished, what an immense harvest of good they have brought forth to the whole world. remembering how his all-seeing eye still scans the church receptacle, let us not allow selfishness, avarice, and a carnal greed to hinder what conscience dictates; rather let us strive to secure this commendation which this poor widow received, and be blessed in our deeds. amen. humiliation and prayer sunday. tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.--_dan. , _. the words of our text connect with an account of old testament story which, if once heard, is never forgotten. the place was babylon, a city so vast in extent that after its capture it was three days before the fact was known all over it. the scene was in the royal palace, a marvelous structure within the walls of which were the famous "hanging gardens," which the world has agreed to number among its "seven great wonders." there, in the most sumptuous of all his banquet halls, at a table groaning with the burdens of massive plate and the rarest and richest of viands and wines, reclined the proud and voluptuous king of babylon, belshazzar. around him reclined a thousand of his lords and the fairest women of his harem. a more magnificent banquet was never given or enjoyed. golden lamps, suspended from a ceiling, paneled with ivory and pearl, shed soft luster on walls pillared with statues, on a floor paved with alabaster, and carpeted with richest rugs from the looms of india, on couches mounted with silver and cushioned with velvet, on illustrious princes, gorgeous costumes, in the most bewildering splendor, whilst over it all floated the sweet strains of music and song. every heart in that glittering company was wild with delight. no one seemed troubled with care. in the midst of the feasting an impious deed suggests itself to the king's mind. calling a servant, he orders him to bring the golden and silver vessels which his grandfather, nebuchadnezzar, had carried away from god's altar in jerusalem. they were brought and placed before him in a glittering row. they had been consecrated to the service of god centuries before, and had never been put to any common use. for any man to use them, unless he were a heavenly-appointed priest serving at the altar of jehovah, would be sacrilege of the most damning kind, belshazzar knew that, but he was resolved to insult jehovah in the presence of that great company, and so, at his command, those consecrated vessels were filled with intoxicating drink, and he and his princes, and his wives and his concubines, drank from them, amid profane jests and ridicule, to the health of the god of babylon, whose images of gold, silver, brass, and stone adorned the hall where the wild revel was held. suddenly a cry of agony is heard. there sat belshazzar, pale as marble, pointing to an object on the wall. with horror unutterable they look and see the fingers of a human hand slowly tracing a style across the wall,--that was all that was visible. the pen and hand vanished, and nothing remained but the writing. at that the banqueters stared, transfixed with speechless terror. no one in that drunken crowd was able to read it, until daniel, the lord's prophet, was summoned. this was the inscription: "mene, mene, tekel, upharsin." the prophet gave their hidden meaning: "mene: god has numbered thy kingdom and finished it. tekel: thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. upharsin: thy kingdom is divided, and given to the medes and persians." and so it was. that very night, by an underground channel, darius the mede entered the city of babylon, and belshazzar was hewn to pieces. and is there nothing in this piece of ancient history, transferred to god's book and interpreted by god's prophet, that has value and application to us? is not everything that we find recorded in the scripture written for our learning, our warning? those four words, and particularly, the one chosen for our immediate devotion, "tekel," has it no spiritual warning for us? we have met this morning for that very purpose--to weigh ourselves. fifty-two sundays--another year of grace has come and has departed in the church calendar--we are invited to solemn retrospect and thoughtful review, to consider what report we have to make. let us, then, honestly and conscientiously, address ourselves to it on the basis of the text, and may god's holy spirit touch your hearts and solemnize your minds! "tekel: thou art weighed in the balances." we all know what a balance is, a pair of scales. the beam is suspended exactly in the middle. the two arms are equal, and supplied with a pan, not to differ by a hair's thickness. if equal weights are placed in the two pans, the beam rests perfectly level. such is god's balance. it is sensitive to the last degree. it weighs men's acts; it weighs men's words; it weighs men's thoughts; it weighs men's characters. it weighs them accurately, and every weight is set down in the book of divine memory. at the judgment on that great day that book will be opened, and every one shall be judged out of those things which are written in the book, according to their works. ask you me the name of god's balances, i answer: justice,--that's god's balance. but in weighing there are two scales. on the one pan is placed that which is weighed, and in the other that against which it is weighed, the standard, the weight. and so god, in weighing man, uses weights which have been tested by a perfect standard. conscience is such a weight, that "still, small voice" which speaks to you out of your own soul, that forceful monitor in your breast, that weighs against your acts and words and thoughts, excusing or else accusing you, from whose troubling thoughts you cannot escape, and which, as the saying is, makes cowards of us all. conscience--that's one. another, heavier than the first--for it is made out of stone--we recognize at once: god's ten commandments, a holy standard. "thou shalt have no other gods before me," reads the first line, and we know that means that an idolater is not he alone who bows down to rocks and stones; whosoever worships self in greed or manner, or bestows supreme regard for anything short of the true and only god, sets up an idol and is an idolater. and so he is not the only murderer, according to the sense and spirit of these tables, who has killed a fellow-mortal, but he already that hateth his brother, that indulges the malicious feeling, the revengeful desire. nor is he the only lewd man who has given himself to lewdness, but according to this sixth line on that measure, the impure thought, the sensual look, and the cherished unchaste hope already fix the guilt of adultery. we observe, then, it is an exact weight, and so if all that a man has thought and said and done is up to the standard, the beam hangs level, and the divine face of the weigher is wreathed with smiles. if not, the judge frowns, and from his lips issues the verdict: "wanting!" the third weight that god employs when he wishes to learn the avoirdupois of your soul is opportunity. into one scale he puts the man's character and life; into the other he puts all the opportunities which he has enjoyed for getting and doing good. that includes such things as these: godly parents, godly example, a christian school, confirmation, the preaching of the true and pure gospel, the faithful ministry of the word and sacraments. it includes bereavements, disappointments, startling events of providence, losses of health, fortune, family, all of which were to direct you nearer to god. it includes every example of holy living which you have witnessed, every occasion presented you to glorify your master and bless your fellow-men. all these and such like opportunities, impulses, and impressions to move the soul and bring it into saving harmony with god, make up the sum of his opportunities, and if the weight of what the man has done and is, equals the sum of all these opportunities, it is well; if otherwise, god's scale goes up, and the sentence is: "wanting!" and one more weight must be named. we shall not dwell lengthily upon it, for we can all see it so conveniently. it lies before me. let us take it and put it into the pan of the scales--the bible; as your savior says: "ye have moses and the prophets,--ye have the evangelists and apostles,--hear ye them." that is your standard, your measure, placed against you; by its precepts you shall be weighed. and now let us proceed to put something into the other side of the scale to counterbalance, and watch the result. let us judge in the light of conscience, god's law, our opportunities, and the lord's bible, our beloved congregation. they tell us that knowledge of one's self is one of the hardest and most unpleasant attainments, but the most needful and most salutary for all that. weighing ourselves, what report have these fifty-two sundays to give of our congregation as a whole and of you, my dear member, as an individual? how has it been with the worship, the attendance at services? nothing to boast of, in most cases something to be ashamed of. some are hovering near the verge of church discipline for their laxity and deficiency; particularly does this pertain to the male portion of the flock. "thou shalt sanctify the holyday," reads the third and unalterable command of their god, yet months pass at a time, and their face appears not in the assembly of the worshipers. but for the visitors and strangers, especially at the evening services, these pews would be deplorably depleted. others come with a commendable degree of regularity, but is there participation in the services and punctuality in arriving? do not the hymns drag along at times so dull and spiritless because many never open their lips? how listless and devotionless the hearers betimes appear, their eyes roaming about elsewhere, and even closing in sleep. remember every attendance is weighed in the balance. occasions when every member ought to regard it a loss to be absent, like pentecost, reformation, easter, church dedication, little increase in the audience is noted. announce a particular topic for the following sunday, and it would seem as if some deliberately stay away. o what a poor thing it must appear in the case of the average christian, of the most of us! is it much different--to take up another point--with our partaking of the lord's supper? what drudgery, what shrinking and hesitancy with regard to the sacred feast! the lord says: "this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." paul the apostle directs: "as oft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup." luther, in his preface to the small catechism, thus interprets this "oft:" "if a person does not seek nor desire the lord's supper at least some four times a year, it is to be feared that he despises the sacrament, and is not a christian." weighed in this balance, what shall we say of our communion table? how many times have you gone in these twelve months, these fifty-two sundays? observe the handwriting on the wall! read those letters: "wanting," and ask yourself, does that mean me? but permit me to pass briefly to an examination of your hearts and your homes. have you grown in grace and in the knowledge of your lord and savior? do the fruits of your discipleship abound in greater liberality and activity? do you read god's word at home, say grace at table, have family devotion? are you increasingly imbibing and personifying the temper of your religion in the control of your passion, in the subduing of your pride, in the cultivating of a forgiving spirit? do you pray thoughtfully, regularly, cheerfully? for you to live--is it christ? as you grow in age, do you grow in heavenly-mindedness, draw closer to your god? to serve the lord, to speak for him, is this your delight? i need not press these inquiries. with each one of you the scale takes an upward turn, and i hear you saying with sighing of heart: "enter not into judgment with thy servant, o lord," for this servant is wanting, _wanting_. and what is to be done, with the scales always rising higher and higher and striking the very beam? first of all, repent; learn to understand and acknowledge your dismal condition. that was the fault with belshazzar--his security and vain confidence; as god said to him through daniel: "o belshazzar, thou hast not humbled thine heart, but hast lifted up thyself against the lord of heaven." therefore, in the dust with thee! let ours be the publican's cry: "god be merciful to me, a sinner!" "if thou, o lord, shouldst mark iniquity, o lord, who shall stand?" with the balances suspended, god's law, god's bible, conscience, against us, repentance, conviction and confession of sin, is the first thing required of you. but that alone would lead to despair. dear hearer, observe the scales as they are held by the stern and just hand of divine justice, the one down, the other with man's soul, asking for mercy. behold, another hand appears. it is a soft, delicate hand; in its palm is a wound, from that wound there oozes out a drop of blood upon the weighed and wanting soul. instantly the scales go down, till the beam hands are evenly poised, and a voice is heard: "the blood of jesus christ cleanseth us from all sin." faith in that blood, belief in christ jesus, your savior, is the next thing necessary. and the last is renewed consecration, earnest, honest resolve with god's help to do better, firm determination that the incoming year of grace shall be characterized by a brightening of faith, an advance in holiness, a progress in all lines that grace a follower of christ, that it find you at its close a more intelligent, a more humble, a more sanctified christian than to-day. beloved, cast another look at the handwriting on the wall, lest it be written against you on the day of judgment. repent, believe in christ, amend--in this may god help us! amen. reformation. his foundation is in the holy mountains. the lord loveth the gates of zion more than all the dwellings of jacob. glorious things are spoken of thee, o city of god. selah.--_ps. , - ._ the history of the christian church may be expressed in three words--formation, deformation, and reformation. the first period begins with the story of the shepherds on bethlehem's plains on christmas night years ago, and ended with the establishment of the church in cultured europe and asia and africa. as we pass the main occurrences of that first epoch of its formation, before our mind's eye, we see how the infant cause of christ spreads from jerusalem round about to the surrounding countries, conquering and to conquer. see how in her course of advancement she meets with opposition the fiercest and bloodiest; see how the blood of her children wets the sands of the amphitheater, and how their bones are crushed by the lions and wild animals of the arena, whilst the ashes of thousands of others strew the funeral pile upon which they died praying, "lord jesus, receive my spirit." those were the days of persecution, when the church was despised and rejected of men. and yet, in the indestructibility of her life she overcame that opposition. yea, as one said, "the very blood of the martyrs was the seed grain of her progress." before the preaching of christ fadeth the glories of heathenism, and where once stood in splendid magnificence the pagan temples of heathenish paganism was placed in its simple and sublime beauty the cross. the galilean, the carpenter's son, god's son, had conquered. the church, in a word, had been established. and then the view changes. a new period begins. across the face of this period there is written in all directions one word. that word is _rome_. it is rome at the altar swinging the censer, rome on the battlefield wielding the sword; it is rome in the councils of kings, and rome in the judge's seat; it is rome in the professor's chair, and rome in the children's nursery; it is rome in the market stall telling what to sell, and rome in the kitchen telling people what to eat and drink. it is rome first, last, and all the time. at rome, styled the holy city, the mistress of the world, sat a triple-crowned dictator. princes kissed his feet, and held the stirrups for him as he mounted his bediamoned horse. an emperor stands barefoot in the snow of his courtyard suing for forgiveness because he had dared to govern without his sanction, whilst his clergy, monks without number, swarmed in every place, all sworn to stand by him on peril of salvation, and themselves guarded from all reach of law for any crime they may commit. gigantic, powerful, proud, wicked and wanton, haughty rome, drunk with shocking abomination! that is the second period, the era of deformation. once more the view changes: antichrist--for none else is the pope--is assailed by a poor, unknown monk in far-away saxony. "who minds a monk? 'tis nothing." but, lo, the monk towers like a giant, and german princes are by his side, while a nation hangs on his lips. tidings of great joy, like once from bethlehem's plains, are again spreading from the little town of wittenberg on the banks of the elbe. ninety-five theses nailed up by that monk against the church-door on the eve of october , , are borne on the wings of the wind. how they talk about them in london, now in copenhagen, now in the streets of jerusalem. men, women, youths, fearlessly give the lie to the priest whom they had dreaded too much before. rome startled; she would use her old force. she would suppress the new teaching, which was nothing but the old truth repeated again. of no avail! "she's judged. the deed is done." the lord has smitten antichrist with the breath of his mouth. the world is enjoying once more the pure and abundant gospel preaching. a new life is upon the nations. the church has entered upon another epoch. we call it the period of the reformation. it is the topic of our concern and gathering to-day. and in order that we may duly grasp its meaning and appreciate its blessing, let us observe, on the basis of our text, _the glory of the lutheran reformation and church_. that glory is threefold: _i. a glory of foundation_; _ii. a glory of possession_; _iii. a glory of prospect_. and may god help us understand and appreciate! first, a glory of _foundation_. the psalmist, referring to the old testament church, speaks of its foundation. so, too, the new testament church has its foundation. "other foundation can no man lay," writes the apostle, "than that is laid, which is jesus christ," the son of god, god himself. the work of redemption which he came into this world to perform is the foundation of our religion, our church. what our children learn from their catechism: "i believe that jesus christ, true god, begotten of the father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin mary, is my lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil,"--that is the heart and marrow of our faith, its foundation. this was the point luther made in those ninety-five theses and in all the teachings, preaching, and writing that he did ever afterwards. but does not the church of rome believe that too? my dear hearer, accompany me in spirit to one of their places of worship. it matters not in what direction we go, they are plentiful everywhere. we enter. our protestant eye looks for the savior. thank god he is still there. but what means that statue at his side--whose is it? francis de sales, st. anthony of padua, st. vincent, st. anna, st. elizabeth. have they forgotten the first commandment which says: "thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness to bow thyself down to them"? we look upon the assembled worshipers. what is it that they are holding in their hands, busily twisting the beads while their lips move in devotion? "hail, mary," they pray, "mother of god, queen of heaven." why not christ?--for there is only one mediator between god and man, the man christ jesus. as we stand there in observation amid the striking of little gongs, there enters, gorgeously arrayed, a priest. "why a priest?" we, in the new testament, according to the bible, know of only one priest, and that is he of whom the apostle says: "such an high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." what does the priest do? he is offering sacrifice, in an unbloody manner, for the sins of the people. they call it "mass." but does not the bible teach that "by one sacrifice," _viz._, by his sacrifice upon golgotha, "christ hath forever perfected them that are sanctified"? why, then, this mass? do they think they can, as they claim, improve upon, perfect, that propitiatory sacrifice? or, while we are en route, let us transfer ourselves in spirit a little further; let us go for a few moments to rome. there sits a man whom they style "holy father." god's word says: "ye shall call no man in religion your father nor master upon earth. one is your father," even he who is in heaven. "one is your master--" christ. this man at rome claims that he is the vicar of christ upon earth, with power to rule both the church and the world. but, says christ, "my kingdom is not of this world," and i, even i, am its only head. and not only so, but in how many innumerable ways does this man at rome contradict christ! thus: christ, through his spirit, says: a bishop, a minister, ought to be the "husband of one wife." "the husband of no wife," contradicts the pope. "it is a great wrong for a priest to marry." "abstaining from meats," forbidding people to eat what they choose and at any time they choose, is "a doctrine of the devil," says christ through his spirit. "it is a sin to eat meat on friday and throughout lent," says the pope. "you must diligently pray and liberally pay, and then shall the souls of your beloved ones come out of purgatory." there is no such place, is the teaching of christ, for instance, when he spoke to the thief on the cross: "to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." "i have redeemed you with my holy, precious blood and with my innocent suffering and death." let your only hope and constant prayer be: jesus, thy blood and righteousness my beauty are, my glorious dress. 'midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, with joy shall i lift up my head. "not so," says the pope. "heaven and salvation do not depend only upon what christ has done, but much depends upon what _you_ have done." "if any one saith," so reads the decree of rome, "that we are justified, saved, by faith alone, let him be anathema--cursed." your good works must help along. it is only as you do _this_ and give _that_, buy indulgences, pay for some holy candles, appropriate of your earnings an adequate amount to the church, remember it in your last will and testament, and set apart a certain sum for the reading of mass,--it is only thus that you can expect to die in peace and your soul find its way to heaven. now, beloved, we leave it to the smallest child--is this making christ the foundation? and it was against this that luther protested in the ninety-five theses which he nailed up years ago; and it is against this that we would raise our voices and pen. jesus christ and his work of redemption--he shall be our foundation. "ave marias?" no! saints and popes? no! all hail the power of jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall. bring forth the royal diadem and crown him lord of all. again, our church not only glories in its foundation, but likewise in its _possessions_. and what does it possess? look upon the imposing churches and cathedrals of rome, those stupendous hospitals and institutions of one kind and another. what wealth of property, what revenues and revenues of silver and gold! who will dispute that rome is rich, possesses much? but since when are silver and gold and splendid edifices the marks of the church? if those things constituted true churchliness, then none would have been more despicable than the early christians, for they had no churches and worshiped in catacombs and the recesses of darkest forests. if pompous ceremonies and spectacular display and strains of fine music stand for the worship of god, the same might be seen and heard in jewish temples. over against this, what possessions does our church glory in? to mention a few. open before us lies this holy book, god's book, accessible to all, inviting examination and study of its sacred pages, and that in a language not foreign, latin, greek, or hebrew, but intelligible to all its hearers and readers. rome would not so have it. it forbids its reading, and calls it a dangerous book. it adds to its infallible teachings the traditions of men, and wants all its pages read through the eye-glasses of the pope. it has always been, and still is, to them an "unknown" book. you have, perchance, already seen the picture, quite familiar, which, beneath the title "caught," represents an aged man and his little grandchild reading the bible while some soldiers are seen entering the room to arrest them. the story that connects with it is this: philip the second of spain and the netherlands had sworn the pope that no protestant should be allowed to live in his provinces. in a little town in holland lived a good old man with his grandchild bertha, who had become believers in the doctrines of the reformation, and since the bible was forbidden to be read and everywhere taken from the people, the only time for them to strengthen themselves with its sacred contents was the dead of night. they were just reading the fifth chapter of matthew, wherein occur the words: "blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," when a rough knock on the door tells them that the roman spies had discovered them. "grandfather," cries the child, "we are caught." "yes, my child. god's hour seems at hand." and it was. the next moment the axes of the soldiers had battered down the door; the bible was seized and burned, the aged man and his little granddaughter were hurried off to prison, and were tortured and afterward stretched on the rack until they died amid horrible pain. that is rome's attitude toward the bible. thank god, then, for this blessed possession, a free bible, which we read everywhere and at all times. then, too, there is the blessed sacrament, not in its mutilated shape, the lay people deprived of the cup, but in both species. we possess that. furthermore, our services. take those stately and sublime hymns that are the inspiration and comfort of a protestant christian. the romish church knows them not, the people do not sing at their services. they are deprived of that. then, when we pray--what a possession, the privilege of free, unlimited, and direct access to god's throne, without the intercession and intervention of priests and patron saints, but according to christ's invitation and commandment: "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." here, then, are a few of the many blessings we glory in, wrought and brought back to us through the lutheran reformation, and for which on this day we thank and praise god. and now a few words yet as to the third part mentioned, the glory of _prospect_.--when luther closed his eyes, our haughty enemies predicted the death of the lutheran church. as a romish priest once said to a lutheran peasant, "with your church it will soon be 'matthaei am letzten,'" that is, matthew the last, which is a german expression meaning, "things will soon be at an end with you." the peasant remarked, since he was acquainted with his bible, "that's splendid!" in matthew, the last chapter and the last verse, our savior says: "lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." our church has come to stay, for it is christ's church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against that. great in membership, numbering millions of souls, spread throughout every people and nation, her faith proclaimed in nearly every dialect and tongue of earth, great is her prospect. take it in this land of ours. men are awakening more and more to an appreciation of her history and progress and power. in this age of unsettling of creeds and of abandonment of time-honored convictions, in the age of sensationalism and of pulpits which have no messages, except those of political and sociological interest, the old church of the reformation stands where she ever stood. mr. roosevelt remarked while he was president of the united states: "the lutheran church is of very great power numerically and through the intelligence and thrift of its members; but it will grow steadily to even greater power. it is destined to be one of the two or three greatest in the united states." if, then, to conclude, any of you have been ashamed of her, apologized for being lutherans, perchance even been casting their eyes in other directions for church-fellowship, if any of us have not been as loyal as we ought to have been, neglected her glorious possessions, indifferent to the high blessings she affords in word and sacrament and services, let him and her reflect and amend. may it be our heartfelt conviction and determination:-- my church, my church, my dear old church! i love her ancient name, and god forbid a child of hers should ever do her shame. her mother-care i'll ever share, her child i am alone, till he who gave me to her arms shall call me to his own. amen. transcriber's notes: words in italics in the original are surrounded by _underscores_. a row of asterisks represents a thought break. memorial of mrs. lucy gilpatrick marsh. a funeral address delivered at the eliot church, boston highlands, monday, june , . by rev. a. c. thompson, d.d. printed by order of the executive committee of the eliot city mission society. boston: gould and lincoln, washington street. . funeral address. when the lord removed his servant moses, there was but one mourner, and that mourner was all israel. to-day a whole community is the mourner. a mother--may i not say, _the_ mother--in israel has been taken from us. a woman, a whole woman, an aged woman, a thoroughly christian woman,--one worthy to have sat with mary magdalene and the other mary "over against the sepulchre," to have returned with them, that she might assist in preparing sweet spices, and, when the sabbath was past, to have come back again to the tomb,--is herself to be laid away to-day. we glance at her career and character. it is of small moment where she was born,--it was in the town of biddeford, maine; of small moment that it was on july d, ; of small moment that she was the youngest of twelve children, none of whom now survive. but it is a point of interest to us, that, when a little past twenty years of age, she became by renewing grace a child of god; that the chief reason for leaving home, fifty years ago, was a persistent opposition, on the part of friends, to her christian activity; that afterwards she left for a time her field of usefulness in this city to attend upon her mother in her last sickness, and then had the satisfaction of rejoicing over the conversion of that parent at the same age she has now herself departed this life. still later, and under the same circumstances, she performed a similar kind service for her father in his closing sickness, and was cheered by the hope of his conversion too, when just verging upon fourscore. being in biddeford at that time for ten months, she established a female prayer-meeting, and several conversions followed. she also, after much opposition, opened a sabbath school, having obtained permission to occupy a school-house, but at the same time being forbidden to use wood belonging to the town. that, it was supposed, would prevent the attendance of children. but the noble woman was not to be baffled thus. in her own arms she carried fuel from her house. of course the sabbath school was a success. she had previously had tempting offers, to the extent even of the homestead to be secured to her, if she would remain there; but providence, as she believed, evidently called her to christian labors in this city, and to her mind that was decisive. pecuniary considerations might not divert her from the master's service here. how far from a sinecure was that! while acting indefatigably as matron of a reformatory institution, she attended the prayer-meetings of the church to which she belonged, and a private devotional meeting preparatory to each of them. in addition to her regular sabbath-school exercise, she once a week taught a class of colored children, and spent saturday afternoons in visiting members of the same, besides paying weekly visits to persons in the house of correction. one of the senior members of this church hands me, by request, the following memorandum:[footnote: rev r. anderson, d.d.]-- "i have known mrs. marsh since the year , or about forty-eight years. in that year i came to boston from the andover seminary, with several classmates, to spend a vacation in missionary labors, and made my home at a religious boarding-house, kept by miss witham and miss gilpatrick. as i recollect miss gilpatrick,--and i well recollect her,--she was the same sort of a christian woman then that we have known her to be of late years, only without that grand development, which time and the grace of god have given her, placing her among the more remarkable christian women of her generation. miss witham was married, not long after, to the rev. amos bingham, brother of the missionary, and, at a later period, miss gilpatrick was married to the rev. christopher marsh, pastor of the congregational church in west roxbury. for several years before her marriage she had filled a responsible station in one of the most self-denying departments of the religious charities in boston; and always, as i have understood, with the unbounded confidence of those who knew her, in her ability, integrity, and devotedness to the cause of her redeemer, and in her unwearied efforts for the salvation of those placed under her care. since that time she has been a striking illustration of an humble, devoted, self-denying, intelligent, useful follower of the lord jesus." * * * * * what might be expected of such a one as parishioner? just what her pastor at jamaica plain,[footnote: rev a. h. quint, d.d.] and other friends there testify. the church in that place, then struggling into existence, was not a little indebted to her. it was her constant endeavor to promote sociability in the congregation; she made it an invariable practice to call on all new-comers, and to request others to do the same. never did she, except under necessity, absent herself from church meetings, nor omit to speak a kind word and also a faithful word to those whom she met, when suitable occasions presented. her spirit and ways were peculiarly motherly. during her residence here, i have never looked upon her as a parishioner so much as a colleague, my senior, and one that may well be accounted a model. * * * * * what might be expected of such a one as pastor's wife? i indulge in no vague and conjectural portrait-painting, nor yield to any professional bias, but give the deliberate judgment of those acquainted, and qualified to speak. in the delicate relation now referred to, she was greatly beloved at west roxbury;[footnote: - .] her life there was that of a missionary laboring in the by-ways for miles around. it was very much owing to her truly self-denying and most energetic efforts, that a place of worship was built, for which, as for the communion service, she solicited funds. she collected the sabbath school, and for a time superintended it herself. she gathered a female prayer-meeting, and a meeting of mothers, both of which she sustained almost unaided. her kind attentions to the sick and afflicted, to the aged and the young, were unwearied. * * * * * in , the rev. mr. marsh, finding his health improved, was invited to settle again over the church in sanford, me., where he had first been a pastor. soon after, there began a remarkable work of grace in that town, and during the short ministry there, till death closed her husband's labors, mrs. marsh toiled and prayed, and rejoiced over a spiritual harvest. it is not too much to say there will be weeping throughout the town of sanford, where these remains are to be taken, when the news of her decease shall reach the place. what she was as a mother, faithful and tender, there are those present who can testify. what now might be expected of one, with such a character and such antecedents, on becoming our city missionary? precisely what we delight to record of her. in september, , she began that labor amongst us. singular devotedness, fidelity, and good judgment have marked her whole ministry here. not long since she mentioned to a friend that she had taken this passage for her daily resting-place,--"be careful for nothing." of nothing that pertained to herself--ease, strength, or health--was she careful. the cause of the poor, and those spiritually perishing, she made her own. she gathered, and chiefly maintained, two or more series of weekly prayer-meetings, and a mother's meeting; she taught a bible-class in the mission sabbath school; and that school, by their tearful presence, now attest the deep regard which they entertain for her. * * * * * a sewing school, during the colder season, was one favorite method of usefulness. the first intimation of her coming in was the signal of a general brightening of faces, and her smiles, bestowed upon all, gave fullest satisfaction. while interested in providing employment for each scholar during the session, her chief thought seemed to be, "how can i benefit these immortal souls?" to the utmost would she strive to win their attention to god's word, to a hymn, or valuable story. though coming to the school, often weary with labors elsewhere, she would still listen with great patience to the many questions asked, and would bear up cheerfully under the multiplied cares of the hour. but her chief vocation was to visit from house to house. go out with her into the region assigned. it is no fancy sketch that i draw. those who have accompanied mrs. marsh supply the materials, if not the colors. in her walks through by-ways, after her character had become manifest, words of greeting would everywhere meet her from the little child and from older persons. the young were drawn to her, and for all she had a kind word and a wise word. in the sick-room her presence acted like a charm; the languid eye would brighten, and the name of jesus was sure to be whispered in the ear. it was as easy for her to pray to our heavenly father as to speak to any friend; her prayers were earnest, simple, confiding, and appropriate to the occasion and the person. * * * * * her peculiar field presents phases quite varied, and which quite decisively test character. the concurrent testimony of those who have been associated with mrs. marsh more or less intimately, and have seen her in the different departments of christian work, is that they cannot name a fault in her; that they have been deeply impressed with her singular fitness for such service; that they have found her always calm and collected; that she never seemed surprised at any scene of destitution, or any amount of complaint poured into her patient ear; that she showed herself forbearing and sympathizing, yet watchful and decided; and that, if occasion required,--as occasion sometimes did require,--they found she could be stern. she understood human nature well; character seemed to lie open to her eye. attempts at concealment or deceit were almost always futile. one had need be master of chicanery to impose upon her. very few here know what courage there was in that heart. never otherwise than womanly, never weakly feminine, she exhibited, when there was need, true heroism, a masculine daring of benevolence. she never boasted,--no truly courageous person is ever boastful,--she seldom spoke of what she had done; but there are persons living who know somewhat of a history, in former years especially, that shows the highest style of undaunted, self-forgetting intrepidity. another characteristic of mrs. marsh--and far from being unimportant--was her habit of great exactness in making a written record of articles sent in for gratuitous distribution, and in keeping a detailed account, even to every two-cent purchase, from her "poor's purse," which was entirely separate from the mission treasury. * * * * * her industry was remarkable. it was not fragmentary, occasional, spasmodic; but maintained month by month, year after year, in heat and cold, in rain, snow, and tempest, in weariness, and often in great discomfort walking a long way from her home that she might minister to those in need. after visiting thus from house to house all day, she has frequently sewed till the neighborhood of midnight preparing garments for the destitute. if there are any two stars symbolizing activity and perseverance, it must have been under their conjunction that she was born. growing old and growing indolent had no affinity in her. it should be borne in mind that almost the whole of this good work amongst us has been performed on borrowed time, since the period of three-score and ten had been reached,--a period which by universal consent is allowed and is usually taken for repose, for remission of all laborious effort. at the hour of her decease last saturday morning, mrs. marsh lacked only thirteen days of being seventy-six. look at her record for the last year only. besides being almoner of other comforts and delicacies for the sick and destitute, she distributed more than one thousand two hundred garments and other articles to the needy; more than two thousand religious tracts, papers, books, and the like; and made rising of three thousand visits; which, owing to lameness, was a number less by one thousand than that of the year previous. it should be stated that in early life her constitution and her health seemed not to be firm; and that frequently her toils have been prosecuted amidst no small amount of weakness and even suffering. hers is one of the cases going to show that nothing conduces more to longevity than benevolent industry. it should also be stated that this perseverance in christian toil did not stand connected with personal necessities. children had urged her to withdraw from these labors, and at more than one of their homes is an apartment called "mother's room," which has for years stood waiting for her. loyalty to the master demanded, as she believed, that all remaining strength should, no less than in former years, be devoted to him. her life was, to its close, a protest against the prevailing spirit of self-indulgence. though fully aware that the hour of departure hastened on, she could not bring herself to the pitiful work of merely saving her own soul. there are certain of woman's rights which she strenuously yet modestly vindicated,--her right to quiet benevolent activity, her right to be a ministering angel. you may have noticed that trees and plants, when they feel the approach of decay, sometimes seem to hasten their fruitage just at the last. she was aware that her time was short, and she hastened to make the most of it. and it would be an important omission if the statement were not made that in her views of duty and in her christian sympathies there was no narrowness. this work of city evangelization was no pet employment. it proceeded from genuine principle, which is always expansive and liberalizing. her heart went out with special interest to the home missionary society, and yet more toward the foreign fields of the american board. * * * * * had our deceased friend the weakness--the comparatively pardonable weakness of vanity? had the characteristic infirmity of old age come upon her,--a fondness for recounting earlier or more recent labors and successes? from what has been said, you who are strangers to her would hardly expect it, for you have noticed that it is the lighter ears of grain that hold their heads highest, and wave about most freely. mrs. marsh was a branch so laden with fruit as to hang low; she was clothed with humility. she sat at the master's feet. she did not talk about meekness or modesty,--she illustrated them. moses probably did not know how his face shone as he came down from the mount; our friend seemed not to know how radiant hers was with benevolence; nor how busy were her own feet in errands of kindness. all agree in testifying that this grace of humility shed a sweet, calm lustre over all her other virtues. the only one's faithfulness that she hesitated to speak of was her own; her uniform estimate of herself was, "i am an unprofitable servant." who ever suspected her of vainglory? who will say that she was not accustomed to give all glory and praise to god? this quality was too genuine to admit of a sombre tinge. there seemed to be no trace of false spirituality. she exhibited a fine combination of cheerfulness and seriousness. in fact, she had no time for despondency about herself or others. heart, lips, and hands were too full of something else to admit of moodiness. * * * * * mrs. marsh had often expressed a desire that, if it pleased god, she might not outlive active usefulness; that she might die in the harness, might die here amongst us. when two years ago a city missionary in boston[footnote: deacon wilder.] died suddenly, she said she would like to go in the same way. god has substantially gratified her wish. now, in all the relations at which we have glanced, and positions as daughter, as head of a family, as head of a charitable institution, as private church-member, as a helpmeet for a christian minister, and as city missionary, she exhibited the highest order of conscientiousness, and of consecration to god. have you ever known one who walked more nearly in the steps of our lord and saviour, one who did less to please self? do you recall an acquaintance who appeared to act less from impulse, or more uniformly from an abiding sense of duty, in all quietness and steadfastness doing with her might what the hands found to do? a friend, who has known her intimately for forty years, states,--"i never knew mrs. marsh lukewarm or with a cold heart. her life has been a chain of well doing all along, without one breakage." * * * * * the impression with us is deep, that the character of our deceased friend was in its type a very uncommon one; that by the grace of god it attained to a moral grandeur seldom witnessed. such concentration, such unselfishness, such devout persistency in endeavors to honor our lord jesus christ raise her to a lofty level. we would institute no comparison between her and the votaries of fashion,--the frivolous, selfish beings, whose thoughts centre chiefly on personal accomplishments and position. "she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." but for a moment bring to mind those of a more elevated grade, who, by the pen, the pencil, or in the departments of sculpture and music, minister to æsthetic enjoyment, and the mental improvement of a community. select, if you please, one who attained to the same age with our departed friend, a woman of undoubted talents, of unimpeached morals, the most distinguished tragic actress that england ever produced, and who was applauded to the skies. let sarah kemble siddons march grandly up that aisle. ah, to what nothingness does she shrivel in the presence of this heavenly woman, around whom the light of the cross and the glories of eternity gather! let the present roman pontiff, born the same year with this humble city missionary, enter in all his regalia; how does his triple crown grow dim before the crown of righteousness that adorns her head! * * * * * ten days ago, at the last meeting of the eliot city mission society, mrs. marsh, in view of failing strength, sent in her resignation. a committee were appointed to wait upon her, and convey an expression of the general appreciation in which she and her labors are held. they have as yet had no opportunity to do so. they are now present, and will briefly perform the duty assigned them. * * * * * beloved friend,--"beloved persis, who hast labored much in the lord,"--we speak in behalf of ourselves, and we speak in behalf of multitudes. a church to whom you are endeared, a missionary association bearing an apostolic name, an affectionate and indebted sabbath school, who are here at this hour, a whole section of our city, many scores of sick-rooms,--german mothers, holland mothers, mothers from england and scotland,--bid us say, we all respect you, we love you, we thank god for your coming amongst us. your prayers have strengthened us; your wise and motherly ministrations have relieved us. the very stones of this rocky place have been worn to smoothness by your busy footsteps. the very dust of our streets is hallowed. tears fall apace; yet we praise the lord that there remaineth a rest for his people. "rest, weary head; lie down to slumber in the peaceful tomb; light from above has broken through its gloom; here in the place where once thy saviour lay, where he shall wake thee on a future day,-- like a tired child upon its mother's breast,-- rest, sweetly rest. "rest, spirit free, in the green pastures of the heavenly shore, where sin and sorrow can approach no more; with all the flock by the good shepherd fed, beside the streams of life eternal led, forever with thy god and saviour blest, rest, sweetly rest." the overcoming life and other sermons by d. l. moody. "_this is the victory that overcometh the, world, even our faith_." fleming h. revell company new york chicago toronto _publishers of evangelical literature_ copyrighted , by fleming h. revell company. contents. the overcoming life part i. the christian's warfare part ii. internal foes part iii. external foes results of true repentance true wisdom "come thou and all thy house into the ark" humility rest seven "i wills" of christ the overcoming life. part i. the christian's warfare. i would like to have you open your bible at the first epistle of john, fifth chapter, fourth and fifth verses: "whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that jesus is the son of god?" when a battle is fought, all are anxious to know who are the victors. in these verses we are told who is to gain the victory in life. when i was converted i made this mistake: i thought the battle was already mine, the victory already won, the crown already in my grasp. i thought that old things had passed away, that all things had become new; that my old corrupt nature, the adam life, was gone. but i found out, after serving christ for a few months, that conversion was only like enlisting in the army, that there was a battle on hand, and that if i was to get a crown, i had to work for it and fight for it. salvation is a gift, as free as the air we breathe. it is to be obtained, like any other gift, without money and without price: there are no other terms. "to him that worketh not, but believeth." but on the other hand, if we are to gain a crown, we must work for it. let me quote a few verses in first corinthians: "for other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is jesus christ. but if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire: and the fire itself shall prove each man's work, of what sort it is. if any man's work shall abide, which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire." we see clearly from this that we may be saved, but all our works burned up. i may have a wretched, miserable voyage through life, with no victory, and no reward at the end; saved, yet so as by fire, or as job puts it, "with the skin of my teeth." i believe that a great many men will barely get to heaven as lot got out of sodom, burned out, nothing left, works and everything else destroyed. it is like this: when a man enters the army, he is a member of the army the moment he enlists; he is just as much a member as a man who has been in the army ten or twenty years. but enlisting is one thing, and participating in a battle another. young converts are like those just enlisted. it is folly for any man to attempt to fight in his own strength. the world, the flesh and the devil are too much for any man. but if we are linked to christ by faith, and he is formed in us the hope of glory, then we shall get the victory over every enemy. it is believers who are the overcomers. "thanks be unto god, which always causeth us to triumph in christ." through him we shall be more than conquerors. i wouldn't think of talking to unconverted men about overcoming the world, for it is utterly impossible. they might as well try to cut down the american forest with their penknives. but a good many christian people make this mistake: they think the battle is already fought and won. they have an idea that all they have to do is to put the oars down in the bottom of the boat, and the current will drift them into the ocean of god's eternal love. but we have to cross the current. we have to learn how to watch and fight, and how to overcome. the battle is only just commenced. the christian life is a conflict and a warfare, and the quicker we find it out the better. there is not a blessing in this world that god has not linked himself to. all the great and higher blessings god associates with himself. when god and man work together, then it is that there is going to be victory. we are coworkers with him. you might take a mill, and put it forty feet above a river, and there isn't capital enough in the states to make that river turn the mill; but get it down about forty feet, and away it works. we want to keep in mind that if we are going to overcome the world, we have got to work with god. it is his power that makes all the means of grace effectual. the story is told that frederick douglas, the great slave orator, once said in a mournful speech when things looked dark for his race:-- "the white man is against us, governments are against us, the spirit of the times is against us. i see no hope for the colored race. i am full of sadness." just then a poor old colored woman rose in the audience, and said.-- "frederick, is god dead?" my friend, it makes a difference when you count god in. now many a young believer is discouraged and disheartened when he realizes this warfare. he begins to think that god has forsaken him, that christianity is not all that it professes to be. but he should rather regard it as an encouraging sign. no sooner has a soul escaped from his snare than the great adversary takes steps to ensnare it again. he puts forth all his power to recapture his lost prey. the fiercest attacks are made on the strongest forts, and the fiercer the battle the young believer is called on to wage, the surer evidence it is of the work of the holy spirit in his heart. god will not desert him in his time of need, any more than he deserted his people of old when they were hard pressed by their foes. the only complete victor. this brings me to the fourth verse of the fourth chapter of the same epistle: "ye are of god, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." the only man that ever conquered this world--was complete victor--was jesus christ. when he shouted on the cross, "it is finished!" it was the shout of a conqueror. he had overcome every enemy. he had met sin and death. he had met every foe that you and i have got to meet, and had come off victor. now if i have got the spirit of christ, if i have got that same life in me, then it is that i have got a power that is greater than any power in the world, and with that same power i overcome the world. notice that everything human in this world fails. every man, the moment he takes his eye off god, has failed. every man has been a failure at some period of his life. abraham failed. moses failed. elijah failed. take the men that have become so famous and that were so mighty--the moment they got their eye off god, they were weak like other men; and it is a very singular thing that those men failed on the strongest point in their character. i suppose it was because they were not on the watch. abraham was noted for his faith, and he failed right there--he denied his wife. moses was noted for his meekness and humility, and he failed right there--he got angry. god kept him out of the promised land because he lost his temper. i know he was called "the servant of god," and that he was a mighty man, and had power with god, but humanly speaking, he failed, and was kept out of the promised land. elijah was noted for his power in prayer and for his courage, yet he became a coward. he was the boldest man of his day, and stood before ahab, and the royal court, and all the prophets of baal; yet when he heard that jezebel had threatened his life, he ran away to the desert, and under a juniper tree prayed that he might die. peter was noted for his boldness, and a little maid scared him nearly out of his wits. as soon as she spoke to him, he began to tremble, and he swore that he didn't know christ. i have often said to myself that i'd like to have been there on the day of pentecost alongside of that maid when she saw peter preaching. "why," i suppose she said, "what has come over that man? he was afraid of _me_ only a few weeks ago, and now he stands up before all jerusalem and charges these very jews with the murder of jesus." the moment he got his eye off the master he failed; and every man, i don't care who he is--even the strongest--every man that hasn't christ in him, is a failure. john, the beloved disciple, was noted for his meekness; and yet we hear of him wanting to call fire down from heaven on a little town because it had refused the common hospitalities. triumphs of faith. now, how are we to get the victory over all our enemies? turn to galatians, second chapter, verse twenty: "i am crucified with christ; nevertheless i live; yet not i, but christ liveth in me: and the life which i now live in the flesh, i live by the faith of the son of god, who loved me and gave himself for me." we live by faith. we get this life by faith, and become linked to immanuel--"god with us." if i have god for me, i am going to overcome. how do we gain this mighty power? by faith. the next passage i want to call your attention to is romans, chapter eleven, verse twenty: "because of unbelief they were broken off; and thou standest by faith." the jews were cut off on account of their unbelief: we were grafted in on account of our belief. so notice: we live by faith, and we stand by faith. next: we walk by faith. second corinthians, chapter five, verse seven: "for we walk by faith, not by sight." the most faulty christians i know are those who want to walk by sight. they want to see the end--how a thing is going to come out. that isn't walking by faith at all--that is walking by sight. i think the characters that best represent this difference are joseph and jacob. jacob was a man who walked with god by sight. you remember his vow at bethel:--"if god will be with me, and will keep me in this way that i go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that i come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the lord be my god." and you remember how his heart revived when he saw the wagons joseph sent him from egypt. he sought after signs. he never could have gone through the temptations and trials that his son joseph did. joseph represents a higher type of christian. he could walk in the dark. he could survive thirteen years of misfortune, in spite of his dreams, and then ascribe it all to the goodness and providence of god. lot and abraham are a good illustration lot turned away from abraham and tented on the plains of sodom. he got a good stretch of pasture land, but he had bad neighbors. he was a weak character and he should have kept with abraham in order to get strong. a good many men are just like that. as long as their mothers are living, or they are bolstered up by some godly person, they get along very well; but they can't stand alone. lot walked by sight; but abraham walked by faith; he went out in the footsteps of god. "by faith abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. by faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with isaac and jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is god." and again: we fight by faith. ephesians, sixth chapter, verse sixteen: "above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." every dart satan can fire at us we can quench by faith, by faith we can overcome the evil one. to fear is to have more faith in your antagonist than in christ. some of the older people can remember when our war broke out. secretary seward, who was lincoln's secretary of state--a long-headed and shrewd politician--prophesied that the war would be over in ninety days; and young men in thousands and hundreds of thousands came forward and volunteered to go down to dixie and whip the south. they thought they would be back in ninety days; but the war lasted four years, and cost about half a million of lives. what was the matter? why, the south was a good deal stronger than the north supposed. its strength was underestimated. jesus christ makes no mistake of that kind. when he enlists a man in his service, he shows him the dark side; he lets him know that he must live a life of self-denial. if a man is not willing to go to heaven by the way of calvary, he cannot go at all. many men want a religion in which there is no cross, but they cannot enter heaven that way. if we are to be disciples of jesus christ, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. so let us sit down and count the cost. do not think that you will have no battles if you follow the nazarene, because many battles are before you. yet if i had ten thousand lives, jesus christ should have every one of them. men do not object to a battle if they are confident that they will have victory, and, thank god, every one of us may have the victory if we will. the reason why so many christians fail all through life is just this--they under-estimate the strength of the enemy. my dear friend; you and i have got a terrible enemy to contend with. don't let satan deceive you. unless you are spiritually dead, it means warfare. nearly everything around tends to draw us away from god. we do not step clear out of egypt on to the throne of god. there is the wilderness journey, and there are enemies in the land. don't let any man or woman think all he or she has to do is to join the church. that will not save you. the question is, are you overcoming the world, or is the world overcoming you? are you more patient than you were five years ago? are you more amiable? if you are not, the world is overcoming you, even if you are a church member. that epistle that paul wrote to titus says that we are to be sound in patience, faith and charity. we have got christians, a good many of them, that are good in spots, but mighty poor in other spots. just a little bit of them seems to be saved, you know. they are not rounded out in their characters. it is just because they haven't been taught that they have a terrible foe to overcome. if i wanted to find out whether a man was a christian, i wouldn't go to his minister. i would go and ask his wife. i tell you, we want more _home piety_ just now. if a man doesn't treat his wife right, i don't want to hear him talk about christianity. what is the use of his talking about salvation for the next life, if he has no salvation for this? we want a christianity that goes into our homes and everyday lives. some men's religion just repels me. they put on a whining voice and a sort of a religious tone, and talk so sanctimoniously on sunday that you would think they were wonderful saints. but on monday they are quite different. they put their religion away with their clothes, and you don't see any more of it until the next sunday. you laugh, but let us look out that we don't belong to that class. my friend, we have got to have a higher type of christianity, or the church is gone. it is wrong for a man or woman to profess what they don't possess. if you are not overcoming temptations, the world is overcoming you. just get on your knees and ask god to help you. my dear friends, let us go to god and ask him to search us. let us ask him to wake us up, and let us not think that just because we are church members we are all right. we are all wrong if we are not getting victory over sin. part ii. internal foes. now if we are going to overcome, we must begin inside. god always begins there. an enemy inside the fort is far more dangerous than one outside. scripture teaches that in every believer there are two natures warring against each other. paul says in his epistle to the romans:--"for we know that the law is spiritual: but i am carnal, sold under sin. for that which i do i allow not: for what i would, that do i not; but what i hate, that do i. if then i do that which i would not, i consent unto the law that it is good. now then it is no more i that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. for i know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good i find not. for the good that i would i do not: but the evil which i would not, that i do. now if i do that i would not, it is no more i that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. i find then a law, that when i would do good, evil is present with me. for i delight in the law of god after the inward man: but i see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." again, in the epistle to the galatians, he says: "for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." when we are born of god, we get his nature, but he does not immediately take away all the old nature. each species of animal and bird is true to its nature. you can tell the nature of the dove or canary bird. the horse is true to his nature, the cow is true to hers. but a man has two natures, and do not let the world or satan make you think that the old nature is extinct, because it is not. "reckon ye yourselves dead"; but if you were dead, you wouldn't need to reckon yourselves dead, would you? the dead self would be dropped out of the reckoning. "i keep my body under"; if it were dead, paul wouldn't have needed to keep it under. i am judicially dead, but the old nature is alive, and therefore if i don't keep my body under and crucify the flesh with its affections, this lower nature will gain the advantage, and i shall be in bondage. many men live all their lives in bondage to the old nature, when they might have liberty if they would only live this overcoming life. the old adam never dies. it remains corrupt. "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." a gentleman in india once got a tiger-cub, and tamed it so that it became a pet. one day when it had grown up, it tasted blood, and the old tiger-nature flashed out, and it had to be killed. so with the old nature in the believer. it never dies, though it is subdued: and unless he is watchful and prayerful, it will gain the upper hand, and rush him into sin. someone has pointed out that "i" is the centre of s-i-n. it is the medium through which satan acts. and so the worst enemy you have to overcome, after all, is _yourself_. when capt. t-- became converted in london, he was a great society man. after he had been a christian some months, he was asked; "what have you found to be your greatest enemy since you began to be a christian?" after a few minutes of deep thought he said, "well, i think it is myself." "ah!" said the lady, "the king has taken you into his presence, for it is only in his presence that we are taught these truths." i have had more trouble with d. l. moody than with any other man who has crossed my path. if i can only keep him right, i don't have any trouble with other people. a good many have trouble with servants. did you ever think that the trouble lies with you instead of the servants? if one member of the family is constantly snapping, he will have the whole family snapping. it is true whether you believe it or not. you speak quickly and snappishly to people and they will do the same to you. appetite. now take _appetite_. that is an enemy inside. how many young men are ruined by the appetite for strong drink! many a young man has grown up to be a curse to his father and mother, instead of a blessing. not long ago the body of a young suicide was discovered in one of our large cities. in his pocket was found a paper on which he had written: "i have done this myself. don't tell anyone. it is all through drink." an intimation of these facts in the public press drew two hundred and forty six letters from two hundred and forty six families, each of whom had a prodigal son who, it was feared, might be the suicide. strong drink is an enemy, both to body and soul. it is reported that sir andrew clarke, the celebrated london physician, once made the following statement: "now let me say that i am speaking solemnly and carefully when i tell you that i am considerably within the mark in saying that within the rounds of my hospital wards today, seven out of every ten that lie there in their beds owe their ill health to alcohol. i do not say that seventy in every hundred are drunkards; i do not know that one of them is; but they use alcohol. so soon as a man begins to take one drop, then the desire begotten in him becomes a part of his nature, and that nature, formed by his acts, inflicts curses inexpressible when handed down to the generations that are to follow him as part and parcel of their being. when i think of this i am disposed to give up my profession--to give up everything--and to go forth upon a holy crusade to preach to all men, 'beware of this enemy of the race!'" it is the most destructive agency in the world today. it kills more than the bloodiest wars. it is the fruitful parent of crime and idleness and poverty and disease. it spoils a man for this world, and damns him for the next. the word of god has declared it: "be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, . . . nor _drunkards_ . . . shall inherit the kingdom of god." how can we overcome this enemy? bitter experience proves that man is not powerful enough in his own strength. the only cure for the accursed appetite is regeneration--a new life--the power of the risen christ within us. let a man that is given to strong drink look to god for help, and he will give him victory over his appetite. jesus christ came to destroy the works of the devil, and he will take away that appetite if you will let him. temper. then there is _temper_. i wouldn't give much for a man that hasn't temper. steel isn't good for anything if it hasn't got temper. but when temper gets the mastery over me i am its slave, and it is a source of weakness. it may be made a great power for good all through my life, and help me; or it may become my greatest enemy from within, and rob me of power. the current in some rivers is so strong as to make them useless for navigation. someone has said that a preacher will never miss the people when he speaks of temper. it is astonishing how little mastery even professing christians have over it. a friend of mine in england was out visiting, and while sitting in the parlor, heard an awful noise in the hall. he asked what it meant, and was told that it was only the doctor throwing his boots downstairs because they were not properly blacked. "many christians," said an old divine, "who bore the loss of a child or of all their property with the most heroic christian fortitude, are entirely vanquished by the breaking of a dish or the blunders of a servant." i have had people say to me, "mr. moody, how can i get control of my temper?" if you really want to get control, i will tell you how, but you won't like the medicine. treat it as a sin and confess it. people look upon it as a sort of a misfortune, and one lady told me she inherited it from her father and mother. supposing she did. that is no excuse for her. when you get angry again and speak unkindly to a person, and when you realize it, go and ask that person to forgive you. you won't get mad with that person for the next twenty-four hours. you might do it in about forty eight hours, but go the second time, and after you have done it about half-a-dozen times, you will get out of the business, because it makes the old flesh burn. a lady said to me once, "i have got so in the habit of exaggerating that my friends accuse me of exaggerating so that they don't understand me." she said, "can you help me? what can i do to overcome it?" "well," i said, "the next time you catch yourself lying, go right to that party and say you have lied, and tell him you are sorry. say it is a lie; stamp it out, root and branch; that is what you want to do." "oh," she said, "i wouldn't like to call it _lying_." but that is what it was. christianity isn't worth a snap of your finger if it doesn't straighten out your character. i have got tired of all mere gush and sentiment. if people can't tell when you are telling the truth, there is something radically wrong, and you had better straighten it out right away. now, are you ready to do it? bring yourself to it whether you want to or not. do you find someone who has been offended by something you have done? go right to them and tell them you are sorry. you say you are not to blame. never mind, go right to them, and tell them you are sorry. i have had to do it a good many times. an impulsive man like myself has to do it often, but i sleep all the sweeter at night when i get things straightened out. confession never fails to bring a blessing. i have sometimes had to get off the platform and go down and ask a man's forgiveness before i could go on preaching. a christian man ought to be a gentleman every time; but if he is not, and he finds he has wounded or hurt someone, he ought to go and straighten it out at once. you know there are a great many people who want just christianity enough to make them respectable. they don't think about this overcoming life that gets the victory all the time. they have their blue days and their cross days, and the children say, "mother is cross to-day, and you will have to be very careful." we don't want any of these touchy blue days; these ups and downs. if we are overcoming, that is the effect our life is going to have on others, they will have confidence in our christianity. the reason that many a man has no power, is that there is some cursed sin covered up. there will not be a drop of dew until that sin is brought to light. get right inside. then we can go out like giants and conquer the world if everything is right within. paul says that we are to be sound in faith, in patience, and in love. if a man is unsound in his faith, the clergy take the ecclesiastical sword and cut him off at once. but he may be ever so unsound in charity, in patience, and nothing is said about that. we must be sound in faith, in love, and in patience if we are to be true to god. how delightful it is to meet a man who can control his temper! it is said of wilberforce that a friend once found him in the greatest agitation, looking for a dispatch he had mislaid, for which one of the royal family was waiting. just then, as if to make it still more trying, a disturbance was heard in the nursery. "now," thought the friend, "surely his temper will give way." the thought had hardly passed through his mind when wilberforce turned to him and said: "what a blessing it is to hear those dear children! only think what a relief, among other hurries, to hear their voices and know they are well." covetousness. take the sin of _covetousness_. there is more said in the bible against it than against drunkenness. i must get it out of me--destroy it, root and branch--and not let it have dominion over me. we think that a man who gets drunk is a horrid monster, but a covetous man will often be received into the church, and put into office, who is as vile and black in the sight of god as any drunkard. the most dangerous thing about this sin is that it is not generally regarded as very heinous. of course we all have a contempt for misers, but all covetous men are not misers. another thing to be noted about it is that it fastens upon the old rather than upon the young. let us see what the bible says about covetousness:-- "mortify therefore your members . . . covetousness, which is idolatry." "no covetous man hath any inheritance in the kingdom of god." "they that will be (that is, desire to be) rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. for the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." "the wicked blesseth the covetous, whom the lord abhorreth." covetousness enticed lot into sodom. it caused the destruction of achan and all his house. it was the iniquity of balaam. it was the sin of samuel's sons. it left gehazi a leper. it sent the rich young ruler away sorrowful. it led judas to sell his master and lord. it brought about the death of ananias and sapphira. it was the blot in the character of felix. what victims it has had in all ages! do you say: "how am i going to check covetousness?" well,--i don't think there is any difficulty about that. if you find yourself getting very covetous--very miserly--wanting to get everything you can into your possession--just begin to scatter. just say to covetousness that you will strangle it, and rid it out of your disposition. a wealthy farmer in new york state, who had been a noted miser, a very selfish man, was converted. soon after his conversion a poor man came to him one day to ask for help. he had been burned out, and had no provisions. this young convert thought he would be liberal and give him a ham from his smoke house. he started toward the smoke-house, and on the way the tempter said, "give him the smallest one you have." he struggled all the way as to whether he would give a large or a small one. in order to overcome his selfishness, he took down the biggest ham and gave it to the man. the tempter said, "you are a fool." but he replied, "if you don't keep still, i will give him every ham i have in the smoke-house." if you find that you are selfish, give something. determine to overcome that spirit of selfishness, and to keep your body under, no matter what it may cost. mr. durant told me he was engaged by goodyear to defend the rubber patent, and he was to have half of the money that came from the patent, if he succeeded. one day he woke up to find that he was a rich man, and he said that the greatest struggle of his life then took place as to whether he would let money be his master, or he be master of money, whether he would be its slave, or make it a slave to him. at last he got the victory, and that is how wellesley college was built. are you jealous, envious? go and do a good turn for that person of whom you are jealous. that is the way to cure jealousy; it will kill it. jealousy is a devil, it is a horrid monster. the poets imagined that envy dwelt in a dark cave, being pale and thin, looking asquint, never rejoicing except in the misfortune of others, and hurting himself continually. there is a fable of an eagle which could outfly another, and the other didn't like it. the latter saw a sportsman one day, and said to him, "i wish you would bring down that eagle." the sportsman replied that he would if he only had some feathers to put into the arrow. so the eagle pulled one out of his wing. the arrow was shot, but didn't quite reach the rival eagle; it was flying too high. the envious eagle pulled out more feathers, and kept pulling them out until he lost so many that he couldn't fly, and then the sportsman turned around and killed him. my friend, if you are jealous, the only man you can hurt is yourself. there were two business men--merchants--and there was great rivalry between them, a great deal of bitter feeling. one of them was converted. he went to his minister and said, "i am still jealous of that man, and i do not know how to overcome it." "well," he said, "if a man comes into your store to buy goods, and you cannot supply him, just send him over to your neighbor." he said he wouldn't like to do that. "well," the minister said, "you do it and you will kill jealousy." he said he would, and when a customer came into his store for goods which he did not have, he would tell him to go across the street to his neighbor's. by and by the other began to send his customers over to this man's store, and the breach was healed. pride. then there is _pride_. this is another of those sins which the bible so strongly condemns, but which the world hardly reckons as a sin at all. "an high look and a proud heart is sin." "everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the lord; though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished." christ included pride among those evil things which, proceeding out of the heart of a man, defile him. people have an idea that it is just the wealthy who are proud. but go down on some of the back streets, and you will find that some of the very poorest are as proud as the richest. it is the heart, you know. people that haven't any money are just as proud as those that have. we have got to crush it out. it is an enemy. you needn't be proud of your face, for there is not one but that after ten days in the grave the worms would be eating your body. there is nothing to be proud of--is there? let us ask god to deliver us from pride. you can't fold your arms and say, "lord, take it out of me"; but just go and work with him. mortify your pride by cultivating humility. "put on, therefore," says paul, "as the elect of god, holy and beloved, . . . humbleness of mind." "be clothed with humility," says peter. "blessed are the poor in spirit." part iii. external foes. what are our enemies without? what does james say? "know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with god? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of god." and john? "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him." now, people want to know what is _the world_. when you talk with them they say: "well, when you say 'the world,' what do you mean?" here we have the answer in the next verse: "for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of god abideth forever." "the world" does not mean nature around us. god nowhere tells us that the material world is an enemy to be overcome. on the contrary, we read: "the earth is the lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." "the heavens declare the glory of god; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." it means "human life and society as far as alienated from god, through being centered on material aims and objects, and thus opposed to god's spirit and kingdom." christ said: "if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you . . . the world hath hated them because they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world." love of the world means the forgetfulness of the eternal future by reason of love for passing things. how can the world be overcome? not by education, not by experience; only by faith. "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that jesus is the son of god?" worldly habits and fashions. for one thing we must fight _worldly habits and fashions_. we must often go against the customs of the world. i have great respect for a man who can stand up for what he believes is right against all the world. he who can stand alone is a hero. suppose it is the custom for young men to do certain things you wouldn't like your mother to know of--things that your mother taught you are wrong. you may have to stand up alone among all your companions. they will say: "you can't get away from your mother, eh? tied to your mother's apron strings!" but just you say: "yes! i have some respect for my mother. she taught me what is right, and she is the best friend i have. i believe that is wrong, and i am going to stand for the right." if you have to stand alone, _stand_. enoch did it, and joseph, and elisha, and paul. god has kept such men in all ages. someone says: "i move in society where they have wine parties. i know it is rather a dangerous thing because my son is apt to follow me. but i can stop just where i want to; perhaps my son hasn't got the same power as i have, and he may go over the dam. but it is the custom in the society where i move." once i got into a place where i had to get up and leave. i was invited into a home, and they had a late supper, and there were seven kinds of liquor on the table. i am ashamed to say they were christian people. a deacon urged a young lady to drink until her face flushed. i rose from the table and went out; i felt that it was no place for me. they considered me very rude. that was going against custom; that was entering a protest against such an infernal thing. let us go against custom, when it leads astray. i was told in a southern college, some years ago, that no man was considered a first class gentleman who did not drink. of course it is not so now. pleasure. another enemy is _worldly pleasure_. a great many people are just drowned in pleasure. they have no time for any meditation at all. many a man has been lost to society, and lost to his family, by giving himself up to the god of pleasure. god wants his children to be happy, but in a way that will help and not hinder them. a lady came to me once and said: "mr. moody, i wish you would tell me how i can become a christian." the tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she was in a very favorable mood; "but," she said, "i don't want to be one of your kind." "well," i asked, "have i got any peculiar kind? what is the matter with my christianity?" "well," she said, "my father was a doctor, and had a large practice, and he used to get so tired that he used to take us to the theater. there was a large family of girls, and we had tickets for the theaters three or four times a week. i suppose we were there a good deal oftener than we were in church. i am married to a lawyer, and he has a large practice. he gets so tired that he takes us out to the theater," and she said, "i am far better acquainted with the theater and theater people than with the church and church people, and i don't want to give up the theater." "well," i said, "did you ever hear me say anything about theaters? there have been reporters here every day for all the different papers, and they are giving my sermons verbatim in one paper. have you ever seen anything in the sermons against the theaters?" she said, "no." "well," i said, "i have seen you in the audience every afternoon for several weeks and have you heard me say anything against theaters?" no, she hadn't. "well," i said, "what made you bring them up?" "why, i supposed you didn't believe in theaters." "what made you think that?" "why," she said, "do you ever go?" "no." "why don't you go?" "because i have got something better. i would sooner go out into the street and eat dirt than do some of the things i used to do before i became a christian." "why!" she said, "i don't understand." "never mind," i said. "when jesus christ has the pre-eminence, you will understand it all. he didn't come down here and say we shouldn't go here and we shouldn't go there, and lay down a lot of rules; but he laid down great principles. now, he says if you love him you will take delight in pleasing him." and i began to preach christ to her. the tears started again. she said: "i tell you, mr. moody, that sermon on the indwelling christ yesterday afternoon just broke my heart. i admire him, and i want to be a christian, but i don't want to give up the theaters." i said, "please don't mention them again. i don't want to talk about theaters. i want to talk to you about christ." so i took my bible, and i read to her about christ. but she said again, "mr. moody, can i go to the theater if i become a christian?" "yes," i said, "you can go to the theater just as much as you like if you are a real, true christian, and can go with his blessing." "well," she said, "i am glad you are not so narrow-minded as some." she felt quite relieved to think that she could go to the theaters and be a christian. but i said, "if you can go to the theater for the glory of god, keep on going; only be sure that you go for the glory of god. if you are a christian you will be glad to do whatever will please him." i really think she became a christian that day. the burden had gone, there was joy; but just as she was leaving me at the door, she said, "i am not going to give up the theater." in a few days she came back to me and said, "mr. moody, i understand all about that theater business now. i went the other night. there was a large party at our house, and my husband wanted us to go, and we went; but when the curtain lifted, everything looked so different. i said to my husband, 'this is no place for me; this is horrible. i am not going to stay here, i am going home.' he said, 'don't make a fool of yourself. everyone has heard that you have been converted in the moody meetings, and if you go out, it will be all through fashionable society, i beg of you don't make a fool of yourself by getting up and going out.' but i said, 'i have been making a fool of myself all of my life.'" now, the theater hadn't changed, but she had got something better and she was going to overcome the world. "they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit." when christ has the first place in your heart you are going to get victory. just do whatever you know will please him. the great objection i have to these things is that they get the mastery, and become a hindrance to spiritual growth. business. it may be that we have got to overcome in _business_. perhaps it is business morning, noon and night, and sundays, too. when a man will drive like jehu all the week and like a snail on sunday, isn't there something wrong with him? now, business is legitimate; and a man is not, i think, a good citizen that will not go out and earn his bread by the sweat of his brow; and he ought to be a good business man, and whatever he does, do thoroughly. at the same time, if he lays his whole heart on his business, and makes a god of it, and thinks more of it than anything else, then the world has come in. it may be very legitimate in its place--like fire, which, in its place, is one of the best friends of man; out of place, is one of the worst enemies of man;--like water, which we cannot live without; and yet, when not in place, it becomes an enemy. so my friends, that is the question for you and me to settle. now look at yourself. are you getting the victory? are you growing more even in your disposition? are you getting mastery over the world and the flesh? and bear this in mind: every temptation you overcome makes you stronger to overcome others, while every temptation that defeats you makes you weaker. you can become weaker and weaker, or you can become stronger and stronger. sin takes the pith out of your sinews, but virtue makes you stronger. how many men have been overcome by some little thing! turn a moment to the song of solomon, the second chapter, fifteenth verse: "take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." a great many people seem to think these little things--getting out of patience, using little deceits, telling white lies (as they call them), and when somebody calls on you sending word by the servant you are not at home--all these are little things. sometimes you can brace yourself up against a great temptation; and almost before you know it you fall before some little thing. a great many men are overcome by a little _persecution_. persecution. do you know, i don't think we have enough persecution now-a-days. some people say we have persecution that is just as hard to bear as in the dark ages. anyway, i think it would be a good thing if we had a little of the old fashioned kind just now. it would bring out the strongest characters, and make us all healthier. i have heard men get up in prayer-meeting, and say they were going to make a few remarks, and then keep on till you would think they were going to talk all week. if we had a little persecution, people of that kind wouldn't talk so much. spurgeon used to say some christians would make good martyrs; they would burn well, they are so dry. if there were a few stakes for burning christians, i think it would take all the piety out of some men. i admit they haven't got much; but then if they are not willing to suffer a little persecution for christ, they are not fit to be his disciples. we are told: "all that will live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution." make up your mind to this: if the world has nothing to say against you, jesus christ will have nothing to say for you. the most glorious triumphs of the church have been won in times of persecution. the early church was persecuted for about three hundred years after the crucifixion, and they were years of growth and progress. but then, as saint augustine has said, the cross passed from the scene of public executions to the diadem of the caesars, and the down-grade movement began. when the church has joined hands with the state, it has invariably retrograded in spirituality and effectiveness; but the opposition of the state has only served to purify it of all dross. it was persecution that gave scotland to presbyterianism. it was persecution that gave this country to civil and religious freedom. how are we to overcome in time of persecution? hear the words of christ: "in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: i have overcome the world." paul could testify that though persecuted, he was never forsaken; that the lord stood by him, and strengthened him, and delivered him out of all his persecutions and afflictions. a great many shrink from the christian life because they will be _sneered at_. and then, sometimes when persecution won't bring a man down, _flattery_ will. foolish persons often come up to a man after he has preached and flatter him. sometimes ladies do that. perhaps they will say to some worker in the church: "you talk a great deal better than so-and-so"; and he becomes proud, and begins to strut around as if he was the most important person in the town. i tell you, we have a wily devil to contend with. if he can't overcome you with opposition, he will try flattery or ambition; and if that doesn't serve his purpose, perhaps there will come some affliction or disappointment, and he will overcome in way. but remember that anyone that has got christ to help him can overcome every foe, and overcome them singly or collectively. let them come. if we have got christ within us, we will overthrow them all. remember what christ is able to do. in all the ages men have stood in greater temptations than you and i will ever have to meet. now, there is one more thing on this line: i have either got to overcome the world, or the world is going to overcome me. i have either got to conquer sin in me--or sin about me--and get it under my feet, or it is going to conquer me. a good many people are satisfied with one or two victories, and think that is all. i tell you, my dear friends, we have got to do something more than that. it is a battle all the time. we have this to encourage us: we are assured of victory at the end. we are promised a glorious triumph. eight "overcomes." let me give you the eight "overcomes" of revelation. the first is: "_to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the tree of life_." he shall have a right to the tree of life. when adam fell, he lost that right. god turned him out of eden lest he should eat of the tree of life and live as he was forever. perhaps he just took that tree and transplanted it to the garden above; and through the second adam we are to have the right to eat of it. second: "_he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death_." death has no terrors for him, it cannot touch him. why? because christ tasted death for every man. hence he is on resurrection ground. death may take this body, but that is all. this is only the house i live in. we need have no fear of death if we overcome. third: "_to him that overcometh will i give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it_." if i overcome god will feed me with bread that the world knows nothing about, and give me a new name. fourth: "_he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will i give power over the nations_." think of it! what a thing to have; power over the nations! a man that is able to rule himself is the man that god can trust with power. only a man who can govern himself is fit to govern other men. i have an idea that we are down here in training, that god is just polishing us for some higher service. i don't know where the kingdoms are, but it we are to be kings and priests we must have kingdoms to reign over. fifth: "_he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and i will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but i will confess his name before my father, and before his angels_." he shall present us to the father in white garments, without spot or wrinkle. every fault and stain shall be taken out, and we be made perfect. he that overcomes will not be a stranger in heaven. sixth: "_him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god; and he shall go no more out; and i will write upon him the name of my god and the name of the city of my god, which is new jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my god: and i will write upon him my new name_." think of it! no more backsliding, no more wanderings over the dark mountains of sin, but forever with the king, and he says, "i will write upon him the name of my god." he is going to put his name upon us. isn't it grand? isn't it worth fighting for? it is said when mahomet came in sight of damascus and found that they had all left the city, he said: "if they won't fight for this city what will they fight for?" if men won't fight here for all this reward, what will they fight for? seventh: "_to him that overcometh will i grant to sit with me in my throne, even as i also overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne_." my heart has often melted as i have looked at that. the lord of glory coming down and saying: "i will grant to you to sit on my throne, even as i sit on my father's throne, if you will just overcome." isn't it worth a struggle? how many will fight for a crown that is going to fade away! yet we are to be placed above the angels, above the archangels, above the seraphim, above the cherubim, away up, upon the throne with himself, and there we shall be forever with him. may god put strength into every one of us to fight the battle of life, so that we may sit with him on his throne. when frederick of germany was dying, his own son would not have been allowed to sit with him on the throne, nor to have let anyone else sit there with him. yet we are told that we are joint heirs with jesus christ, and that we are to sit with him in glory! and now, the last i like best of all: "_he that overcometh shall inherit all things; and i will be his god, and he shall be my son_." my dear friends, isn't that a high calling? i used to have my sabbath-school children sing--"i want to be an angel": but i have not done so for years. we shall be above angels: we shall be sons of god. just see what a kingdom we shall come into: we shall inherit all things! do you ask me how much i am worth? i don't know. the rothschilds cannot compute their wealth. they don't know how many millions they own. that is my condition--i haven't the slightest idea how much i am worth. god has no poor children. if we overcome we shall inherit all things. oh, my dear friends, what an inheritance! let us then get the victory, through jesus christ our lord and master. results of true repentance. i want to call your attention to what true repentance leads to. i am not addressing the unconverted only, because i am one of those who believe that there is a good deal of repentance to be done by the church before much good will be accomplished in the world. i firmly believe that the low standard of christian living is keeping a good many in the world and in their sins. when the ungodly see that christian people do not repent, you cannot expect them to repent and turn away from their sins. i have repented ten thousand times more since i knew christ than ever before; and i think most christians have some things to repent of. so now i want to preach to christians as well as to the unconverted; to myself as well as to one who has never accepted christ as his savior. there are five things that flow out of true repentance: . conviction. . contrition. . confession of sin. . conversion. . confession of jesus christ before the world. . conviction. when a man is not deeply convicted of sin, it is a pretty sure sign that he has not truly repented. experience has taught me that men who have very slight conviction of sin, sooner or later lapse back into their old life. for the last few years i have been a good deal more anxious for a deep and true work in professing converts than i have for great numbers. if a man professes to be converted without realizing the heinousness of his sins, he is likely to be one of those stony ground hearers who don't amount to anything. the first breath of opposition, the first wave of persecution or ridicule, will suck them back into the world again. i believe we are making a woeful mistake in taking so many people into the church who have never been truly convicted of sin. sin is just as black in a man's heart to-day as it ever was. i sometimes think it is blacker. for the more light a man has, the greater his responsibility, and therefore the greater need of deep conviction. william dawson once told this story to illustrate how humble the soul must be before it can find peace. he said that at a revival meeting, a little lad who was used to methodist ways, went home to his mother and said, "mother, john so-and-so is under conviction and seeking for peace, but he will not find it to-night, mother." "why, william?" said she. "because he is only down on one knee, mother, and he will never get peace until he is down on both knees." until conviction of sin brings us down on both knees, until we are completely humbled, until we have no hope in ourselves left, we cannot find the savior. there are three things that lead to conviction: ( ) conscience; ( ) the word of god; ( ) the holy spirit. all three are used by god. long before we had any word, god dealt with men through the conscience. that is what made adam and eve hide themselves from the presence of the lord god amongst the trees of the garden of eden. that is what convicted joseph's brethren when they said: "we are verily guilty concerning our brother in that we saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us and we would not hear. therefore," said they (and remember, over twenty years had passed away since they had sold him into captivity), "therefore is this distress come upon us." that is what we must use with our children before they are old enough to understand about the word and the spirit of god. this is what accuses or excuses the heathen. conscience is "a divinely implanted faculty in man, telling him that he ought to do right." someone has said that it was born when adam and eve ate of the forbidden fruit, when their eyes were opened and they "knew good and evil." it passes judgment, without being invited, upon our thoughts, words, and actions, approving or condemning according as it judges them to be right or wrong. a man cannot violate his conscience without being self-condemned. but conscience is not a safe guide, because very often it will not tell you a thing is wrong until you have done it. it needs illuminating by god because it partakes of our fallen nature. many a person does things that are wrong without being condemned by conscience. paul said: "i verily thought with myself that i ought to do many things contrary to the name of jesus of nazareth." conscience itself needs to be educated. again, conscience is too often like an alarm clock, which awakens and arouses at first, but after a time the man becomes used to it, and it loses its effect. conscience can be smothered. i think we make a mistake in not preaching more to the conscience. hence, in due time, conscience was superseded by the law of god, which in time was fulfilled in christ. in this christian land, where men have bibles, these are the agency by which god produces conviction. the old book tells you what is right and wrong before you commit sin, and what you need is to learn and appropriate its teachings, under the guidance of the holy spirit. conscience compared with the bible is as a rushlight compared with the sun in the heavens. see how the truth convicted those jews on the day of pentecost. peter, filled with the holy ghost, preached that "god hath made this same jesus, whom ye have crucified, both lord and christ." "now when they heard this, they were _pricked in their heart_, and said unto peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?" then, thirdly, the holy ghost convicts. i once heard the late dr. a. j. gordon expound that passage--"and when he (the comforter) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin because they believe not on me,"--as follows:-- "some commentators say there was no real conviction of sin in the world until the holy ghost came. i think that foreign missionaries will say that that is not true, that a heathen who never heard of christ may have a tremendous conviction of sin. for notice that god gave conscience first, and gave the comforter afterward. conscience bears witness to the law, the comforter bears witness to christ. conscience brings legal conviction, the comforter brings evangelical conviction. conscience brings conviction unto condemnation, and the comforter brings conviction unto justification. 'he shall convince the world of sin, because they believe not on me.' that is the sin about which he convinces. it does not say that he convinces men of sin, because they have stolen or lied or committed adultery; but the holy ghost is to convince men of sin because they have not believed on jesus christ. the coming of jesus christ into the world made a sin possible that was not possible before. light reveals darkness; it takes whiteness to bring conviction concerning blackness. there are negroes in central africa who never dreamed that they were black until they saw the face of a white man; and there are a great many people in this world that never knew they were sinful until they saw the face of jesus christ in all its purity. jesus christ now stands between us and the law. he has fulfilled the law for us. he has settled all claims of the law, and now whatever claim it had upon us has been transferred to him, so that it is no longer the _sin_ question, but the _son_ question, that confronts us. and, therefore, you notice that the first thing peter does when he begins to preach after the holy ghost has been sent down is about christ: 'him being delivered by the determinate counsel of god, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.' it doesn't say a word about any other kind of sin. that is the sin that runs all through peter's teaching, and as he preached, the holy ghost came down and convicted them, and they cried out, 'what shall we do to be saved?' well, but we had no part in crucifying christ; therefore, what is our sin? it is the same sin in another form. they were convicted of crucifying christ; we are convicted because we have not believed on christ crucified. they were convicted because they had despised and rejected god's son. the holy ghost convicts us because we have not believed in the despised and rejected one. it is really the same sin in both cases--the sin of unbelief in christ." some of the most powerful meetings i have ever been in were those in which there came a sort of hush over the people, and it seemed as if an unseen power gripped their consciences. i remember a man coming to one meeting, and the moment he entered, he felt that god was there. there came an awe upon him, and that very hour he was convicted and converted. . contrition. the next thing is contrition, deep godly sorrow and humiliation of heart because of sin. if there is not true contrition, a man will turn right back into the old sin. that is the trouble with many christians. a man may get angry, and if there is not much contrition, the next day he will get angry again. a daughter may say mean, cutting things to her mother, and then her conscience troubles her, and she says: "mother, i am sorry: forgive me." but soon there is another outburst of temper, because the contrition is not deep and real. a husband speaks sharp words to his wife, and then to ease his conscience, he goes and buys her a bouquet of flowers. he will not go like a man and say he has done wrong. what god wants is contrition, and if there is not contrition, there is not full repentance. "the lord is nigh to the broken of heart, and saveth such as be contrite of spirit." "a broken and a contrite heart, o god, thou wilt not despise." many sinners are sorry for their sins, sorry that they cannot continue in sin; but they repent only with hearts that are not broken. i don't think we know how to repent now-a-days. we need some john the baptist, wandering through the land, crying: "repent! repent!" . confession of sin. if we have true contrition, that will lead us to confess our sins. i believe that nine-tenths of the trouble in our christian life comes from failing to do this. we try to hide and cover up our sins; there is very little confession of them. someone has said: "unconfessed sin in the soul is like a bullet in the body." if you have no power, it may be there is some sin that needs to be confessed, something in your life that needs straightening out. there is no amount of psalm-singing, no amount of attending religious meetings, no amount of praying or reading your bible that is going to cover up anything of that kind. it must be confessed, and if i am too proud to confess, i need expect no mercy from god and no answers to my prayers. the bible says: "he that covereth his sins shall not prosper." he may be a man in the pulpit, a priest behind the altar, a king on the throne; i don't care who he is. man has been trying it for six thousand years. adam tried it, and failed. moses tried it when he buried the egyptian whom he killed, but he failed. "be sure your sin will find you out." you cannot bury your sin so deep but it will have a resurrection by and by, if it has not been blotted out by the son of god. what man has failed to do for six thousand years, you and i had better give up trying to do. there are three ways of confessing sin. all sin is against god, and must be confessed to him. there are some sins i need never confess to anyone on earth. if the sin has been between myself and god, i may confess it alone in my closet: i need not whisper it in the ear of any mortal. "father, i have sinned against heaven, and before thee." "against thee, thee only, have i sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." but if i have done some man a wrong, and he knows that i have wronged him, i must confess that sin not only to god but also to that man. if i have too much pride to confess it to him, i need not come to god. i may pray, and i may weep, but it will do no good. first confess to that man, and then go to god and see how quickly he will hear you, and send peace. "if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy ways. first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." that is the scripture way. then there is another class of sins that must be confessed publicly. suppose i have been known as a blasphemer, a drunkard, or a reprobate. if i repent of my sins, i owe the public a confession. the confession should be as public as the transgression. many a person will say some mean thing about another in the presence of others, and then try to patch it up by going to that person alone. the confession should be made so that all who heard the transgression can hear it. we are good at confessing other people's sins, but if it is true repentance, we shall have as much as we can do to look after our own. when a man or woman gets a good look into god's looking glass, he is not finding fault with other people: he has as much as he can do at home. "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." thank god for the gospel! church member, if there is any sin in your life, make up your mind that you will confess it, and be forgiven. do not have any cloud between you and god. be able to read your title clear to the mansion christ has gone to prepare for you. . conversion. confession leads to true conversion, and there is no conversion at all until these three steps have been taken. now the word "conversion" means two things. we say a man is "converted" when he is born again. but it also has a different meaning in the bible. peter said: "repent, and be converted." the revised version reads: "repent, and _turn_." paul said that he was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but began to preach to jews and gentiles that they should repent and _turn_ to god. some old divine has said: "every man is born with his back to god. repentance is a change of one's course. it is right about face." sin is a turning away from god. as someone has said, it is _aversion_ from god and _conversion_ to the world: and true repentance means conversion to god and aversion from the world. when there is true contrition, the heart is broken _for_ sin; when there is true conversion, the heart is broken _from_ sin. we leave the old life, we are translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. wonderful, isn't it? unless our repentance includes this conversion, it is not worth much. if a man continues in sin, it is proof of an idle profession. it is like pumping away continually at the ship's pumps, without stopping the leaks. solomon said:--"if they pray, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin . . ." prayer and confession would be of no avail while they continued in sin. let us heed god's call; let us forsake the old wicked way; let us return unto the lord, and he will have mercy upon us; and to our god, for he will abundantly pardon. if you have never turned to god, turn now. i have no sympathy with the idea that it takes six months, or six weeks, or six hours to be converted. it doesn't take you very long to turn around, does it? if you know you are wrong, then turn right about. . confession of christ. if you are converted, the next step is confess it openly. listen: "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus christ, and shalt believe in thine heart that god hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." confession of christ is the culmination of the work of true repentance. we owe it to the world, to our fellow-christians, to ourselves. he died to redeem us, and shall we be ashamed or afraid to confess him? religion as an abstraction, as a doctrine, has little interest for the world, but what people can say from personal experience always has weight. i remember some meetings being held in a locality where the tide did not rise very quickly, and bitter and reproachful things were being said about the work. but one day, one of the most prominent men in the place rose and said: "i want it to be known that i am a disciple of jesus christ; and if there is any odium to be cast on his cause, i am prepared to take my share of it." it went through the meeting like an electric current, and a blessing came at once to his own soul and to the souls of others. men come to me and say: "do you mean to affirm, mr. moody, that i've got to make a public confession when i accept christ; do you mean to say i've got to confess him in my place of business, and in my family? am i to let the whole world know that i am on his side?" that is precisely what i mean. a great many are willing to accept christ, but they are not willing to publish it, to confess it. a great many are looking at the lions and the bears in the way. now, my friends, the devil's mountains are only made of smoke. he can throw a straw into your path and make a mountain of it. he says to you: "you cannot confess and pray to your family; why, you'll break down! you cannot tell it to your shopmate; he will laugh at you." but when you accept christ, you will have power to confess him. there was a young man in the west--it was the west in those days--who had been more or less interested about his soul's salvation. one afternoon, in his office, he said: "i will accept jesus christ as my lord and savior." he went home and told his wife (who was a nominal professor of religion) that he had made up his mind to serve christ; and he added: "after supper to-night i am going to take the company into the drawing-room, and erect the family altar." "well," said his wife, "you know some of the gentlemen who are coming to tea are sceptics, and they are older than you are, and don't you think you had better wait until after they have gone, or else go out in the kitchen and have your first prayer with the servants?" the young man thought for a few moments, and then he said: "i have asked jesus christ into my house for the first time, and i shall take him into the best room, not into the kitchen." so he called his friends into the drawing room. there was a little sneering, but he read and prayed. that man afterwards became chief justice of the united states court. never be ashamed of the gospel of christ: it is the power of god unto salvation. a young man enlisted, and was sent to his regiment. the first night he was in the barracks with about fifteen other young men who passed the time playing cards and gambling. before retiring, he fell on his knees and prayed, and they began to curse him and jeer at him and throw boots at him. so it went on the next night and the next, and finally the young man went and told the chaplain what had taken place, and asked what he should do. "well," said the chaplain, "you are not at home now, and the other men have just as much right in the barracks as you have. it makes them mad to hear you pray, and the lord will hear you just as well if you say your prayers in bed and don't provoke them." for weeks after the chaplain did not see the young man again, but one day he met him, and asked-- "by the way, did you take my advice?" "i did, for two or three nights." "how did it work?" "well," said the young man, "i felt like a whipped hound, and the third night i got out of bed, knelt down and prayed." "well," asked the chaplain, "how did that work?" the young soldier answered: "we have a prayer-meeting there now every night, and three have been converted, and we are praying for the rest." oh, friends, i am so tired of weak christianity. let us be out and out for christ; let us give no uncertain sound. if the world wants to call us fools, let them do it. it is only a little while; the crowning day is coming. thank god for the privilege we have of confessing christ. true wisdom. "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." dan. : . that is the testimony of an old man, and one who had the richest and deepest experience of any man living on the face of the earth at the time. he was taken down to babylon when a young man; some bible students think he was not more than twenty years of age. if anyone had said, when this young hebrew was carried away into captivity, that he would outrank all the mighty men of that day--that all the generals who had been victorious in almost every nation at that time were to be eclipsed by this young slave--probably no one would have believed it. yet for five hundred years no man whose life is recorded in history shone as did this man. he outshone nebuchadnezzar, belshazzar, cyrus, darius, and all the princes and mighty monarchs of his day. we are not told when he was converted to a knowledge of the true god, but i think we have good reason to believe that he had been brought under the influence of jeremiah the prophet. evidently some earnest, godly man, and no worldly professor, had made a deep impression upon him. someone had at any rate taught him how he was to serve god. we hear people nowadays talking about the hardness of the field where they labor; they say their position is a very peculiar one. think of the field in which daniel had to work. he was not only a slave, but he was held captive by a nation that detested the hebrews. the language was unknown to him. there he was among idolaters; yet he commenced at once to shine. he took his stand for god from the very first, and so he went on through his whole life. he gave the dew of his youth to god, and he continued faithful right on till his pilgrimage was ended. notice that all those who have made a deep impression on the world, and have shone most brightly have been men who lived in a dark day. look at joseph; he was sold as a slave into egypt by the ishmaelites; yet he took his god with him into captivity, as daniel afterwards did. and he remained true to the last; he did not give up his faith because he had been taken away from home and placed among idolaters. he stood firm, and god stood by him. look at moses who turned his back upon the gilded palaces of egypt, and identified himself with his despised and down-trodden nation. if a man ever had a hard field it was moses; yet he shone brightly, and never proved unfaithful to his god. elijah lived in a far darker day than we do. the whole nation was going over to idolatry. ahab and his queen, and all the royal court were throwing their influence against the worship of the true god. yet elijah stood firm, and shone brightly in that dark and evil day. how his name stands out on the page of history! look at john the baptist. i used to think i would like to live in the days of the prophets; but i have given up that idea. you may be sure that when a prophet appears on the scene, everything is dark, and the professing church of god has gone over to the service of the god of this world. so it was when john the baptist made his appearance. see how his name shines out to-day! eighteen centuries have rolled away, and yet the fame of that wilderness preacher shines brighter than ever. he was looked down upon in his day and generation, but he has outlived all his enemies; his name will be revered and his work remembered as long as the church is on the earth. talk about your field being a hard one! see how paul shone for god as he went out, the first missionary to the heathen, telling them of the god whom he served, and who had sent his son to die a cruel death in order to save the world. men reviled him and his teachings; they laughed him to scorn when he spoke of the crucified one. but he went on preaching the gospel of the son of god. he was regarded as a poor tent-maker by the great and mighty ones of his day; but no one can now tell the name of any of his persecutors, or of those who lived at that time, unless their names happen to be associated with his, and they were brought into contact with him. now the fact is, all men like to shine. we may as well acknowledge it at once. go into business circles, and see how men struggle to get into the front rank. everyone wants to outshine his neighbor and to stand at the head of his profession. go into the political world, and see how there is a struggle going on as to who shall be the greatest. if you go into a school, you find that there is a rivalry among the boys and girls. they all want to stand at the top of the class. when a boy does reach this position and outranks all the rest, the mother is very proud of it. she will manage to tell all the neighbors how johnnie has got on, and what a number of prizes he has gained. go into the army and you find the same thing--one trying to outstrip the other; everyone is very anxious to shine and rise above his comrades. go among the young men in their games, and see how anxious the one is to outdo the other. so we have all that desire in us; we like to shine above our fellows. and yet there are very few who can really shine in the world. once in a while one man will outstrip all his competitors. every four years what a struggle goes on throughout our country as to who shall be the president of the united states, the battle raging for six months or a year. yet only one man can get the prize. there are a good many struggling to get the place, but many are disappointed, because only one can attain the coveted prize. but in the kingdom of god the very least and the very weakest may shine if they will. not only can _one_ obtain the prize, but _all_ may have it if they will. it does not say in this passage that the statesmen are going to shine as the brightness of the firmament. the statesmen of babylon are gone; their very names are forgotten. it does not say that the nobility are going to shine. earth's nobility are soon forgotten. john bunyan, the bedford tinker, has outlived the whole crowd of those who were the nobility in his day. they lived for self, and their memory is blotted out. he lived for god and for souls, and his name is as fragrant as ever it was. we are not told that the merchants are going to shine. who can tell the name of any of the millionaires of daniel's day? they were all buried in oblivion a few years after their death. who were the mighty conquerors of that day? but few can tell. it is true that we hear of nebuchadnezzar, but probably we should not have known very much about him but of his relations to the prophet daniel. how different with this faithful prophet of the lord! twenty five centuries have passed away, and his name shines on, and on, and on, brighter and brighter. and it is going to shine while the church of god exists. "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." how quickly the glory of this world fades away! eighty years ago the great napoleon almost made the earth to tremble. how he blazed and shone as an earthly warrior for a little while! a few years passed and a little island held that once proud and mighty conqueror; he died a poor broken-hearted prisoner. where is he to-day? almost forgotten. who in all the world will say that napoleon lives in their heart's affections? but look at this despised and hated hebrew prophet. they wanted to put him into the lions' den because he was too sanctimonious and too religious yet see how green his memory is to-day! how his name is loved and honored for his faithfulness to his god. many years ago i was in paris, at the time of the great exhibition. napoleon the third was then in his glory. cheer after cheer would rise as he drove along the streets of the city. a few short years, and he fell from his lofty estate. he died an exile from his country and his throne, and where is his name today? very few think about him at all, and if his name is mentioned it is not with love and esteem. how empty and short lived are the glory and the pride of this world! if we are wise, we will live for god and eternity; we will get outside of ourselves, and will care nothing for the honor and glory of this world. in proverbs we read: "he that winneth souls is wise." if any man, woman, or child by a godly life and example can win one soul to god, their life will not have been a failure. they will have outshone all the mighty men of their day, because they will have set a stream in motion that will flow on and on forever and ever. god has left us down here to shine. we are not here to buy and sell and get gain, to accumulate wealth, to acquire worldly position. this earth, if we are christians, is not our home; it is up yonder. god has sent us into the world to shine for him--to light up this dark world. christ came to be the light of the world, but men put out that light. they took it to calvary, and blew it out. before christ went up on high, he said to his disciples: "ye are the light of the world. ye are my witnesses. go forth and carry the gospel to the perishing nations of the earth." so god has called us to shine, just as much as daniel was sent into babylon to shine. let no man or woman say that they cannot shine because they have not so much influence as some others may have. what god wants you to do is to use the influence you have. daniel probably did not have much influence down in babylon at first, but god soon gave him more, because he was faithful and used what he had. remember a small light will do a good deal when it is in a very dark place. put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall, and it will give a good deal of light. away out in the prairie regions, when meetings are held at night in the log schoolhouses, the announcement of the meeting is given out in this way: "a meeting will be held by early candlelight." the first man who comes brings a tallowdip with him. it is perhaps all he has; but he brings it, and sets it on the desk. it does not light the building much; but it is better than nothing at all. the next man brings his candle; and the next family bring theirs. by the time the house is full, there is plenty of light. so if we all shine a little, there will be a good deal of light. that is what god wants us to do. if we cannot all be lighthouses, any one of us can at any rate be a tallow candle. a little light will sometimes do a great deal. the city of chicago was set on fire by a cow kicking over a lamp, and a hundred thousand people were burnt out of house and home. do not let satan get the advantage of you, and make you think that because you cannot do any great thing you cannot do anything at all. then we must remember that we are to _let_ our light shine. it does not say, "_make_ your light shine." you do not have to _make_ light to shine; all you have to do is to _let_ it shine. i remember hearing of a man at sea who was very seasick. if there is a time when a man feels that he cannot do any work for the lord it is then--in my opinion. while this man was sick, he heard that someone had fallen overboard. he was wondering if he could do anything to help to save the man. he laid hold of a light, and held it up to the port-hole. the drowning man was saved. when this man got over his attack of sickness, he went on deck one day and was talking with the man who was rescued. the saved man gave this testimony. he said he had gone down the second time, and was just going down again for the last time, when he put out his hand. just then, he said, someone held a light at the port-hole, and the light fell on it. a sailor caught him by the hand and pulled him into the lifeboat. it seemed a small thing to do to hold up the light; yet it saved the man's life. if you cannot do some great thing you can hold the light for some poor, perishing drunkard, who may be won to christ and delivered from destruction. let us take the torch of salvation and go into the dark homes, and hold up christ to the people as the savior of the world. if the perishing masses are to be reached, we must lay our lives right alongside theirs, and pray with them and labor for them. i would not give much for a man's christianity if he is saved himself and is not willing to try and save others. it seems to me the basest ingratitude if we do not reach out the hand to others who are down in the same pit from which we were delivered. who is able to reach and help drinking men like those who have themselves been slaves to the intoxicating cup? will you not go out this very day and seek to rescue these men? if we were all to do what we can, we should soon empty the drinking saloons. i remember reading of a blind man who was found sitting at the corner of a street in a great city with a lantern beside him. someone went up to him and asked what he had the lantern there for, seeing that he was blind, and the light was the same to him as the darkness. the blind man replied: "i have it so that no one may stumble over me." dear friends, let us think of that. where one man reads the bible, a hundred read you and me. that is what paul meant when he said we were to be living epistles of christ, known and read of all men. i would not give much for all that can be done by sermons, if we do not preach christ by our lives. if we do not commend the gospel to people by our holy walk and conversation, we shall not win them to christ. some little act of kindness will perhaps do more to influence them than any number of long sermons. a vessel was caught in a storm on lake erie, and they were trying to make for the harbor of cleveland. at the entrance of that port they had what are called the upper lights and the lower lights. away back on the bluffs were the upper lights burning brightly enough; but when they came near the harbor they could not see the lights showing the entrance to it. the pilot said he thought they had better get back on the lake again. the captain said he was sure they would go down if they went back, and he urged the pilot to do what he could to gain the harbor. the pilot said there was very little hope of making the harbor, as he had nothing to guide him as to how he should steer the ship. they tried all they could to get her in. she rode on the top of the waves, and then into the trough of the sea, and at last they found themselves stranded on the beach, where the vessel was dashed to pieces. someone had neglected the lower lights, and they had gone out. let us take warning. god keeps the upper lights burning as brightly as ever, but he has left us down here to keep the lower lights burning. we are to represent him here, as christ represents us up yonder. i sometimes think if we had as poor a representative in the courts above as god has down here on earth, we would have a pretty poor chance of heaven. let us have our loins girt and our lights brightly burning, so that others may see the way and not walk in darkness. speaking of a lighthouse reminds me of what i heard about a man in the state of minnesota, who, some years ago, was caught in a fearful storm. that state is cursed with storms which come sweeping down so suddenly in the winter time that escape is difficult. the snow will fall and the wind will beat it into the face of the traveler so that he cannot see two feet ahead. many a man has been lost on the prairies when he has got caught in one of those storms. this man was caught and was almost on the point of giving up, when he saw a little light in a log house. he managed to get there, and found a shelter from the fury of the tempest. he is now a wealthy man. as soon as he was able, he bought the farm, and built a beautiful house on the spot where the log building stood. on the top of a tower he put a revolving light, and every night when there comes a storm he lights it up in the hope that it may be the means of saving someone else. that is true gratitude, and that is what god wants us to do. if he has rescued us and brought us up out of the horrible pit, let us be always looking to see if there is not someone else whom we can help to save. i remember hearing of two men who had charge of a revolving light in a lighthouse on a rock-bound and stormy coast. somehow the machinery went wrong, and the light did not revolve. they were so afraid that those at sea should mistake it for some other light, that they worked all the night through to keep the light moving round. let us keep our lights in the proper place, so that the world may see that the religion of christ is not a sham but a reality. it is said that in the grecian sports they had one game where the men ran with lights. they lit a torch at the altar, and ran a certain distance; sometimes they were on horseback. if a man came in with his light still burning, he received a prize; if his light had gone out, he lost the prize. how many there are who, in their old age, have lost their light and their joy! they were once burning and shining lights in the family, in the sunday-school, and in the church. but something has come in between them and god--the world or self--and their light has gone out. reader, if you are one who has had this experience, may god help you to come back to the altar of the savior's love and light up your torch anew, so that you can go out into the lanes and alleys, and let the light of the gospel shine in these dark homes. as i have already said, if we only lead one soul to jesus christ we may set a stream in motion that will flow on when we are dead and gone. away up the mountain side there is a little spring; it seems so small that an ox might drink it up at a draught. by and by it becomes a rivulet; other rivulets run into it. before long it is a large brook, and then it becomes a broad river sweeping onward to the sea. on its banks are cities, towns and villages, where many thousands live. vegetation flourishes on every side, and commerce is carried down its stately bosom to distant lands. so if you turn one to christ, that one may turn a hundred; they may turn a thousand, and so the stream, small at first, goes on broadening and deepening as it rolls toward eternity. in the book of revelation we read: "i heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth: yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." there are many mentioned in the scriptures of whom we read that they lived so many years and then they died. the cradle and the grave are brought close together; they lived and they died, and that is all we know about them. so in these days you could write on the tombstone of a great many professing christians that they were born on such a day and they died on such a day; there is nothing whatever between. but there is one thing you cannot bury with a good man; his influence still lives. they have not buried daniel yet: his influence is as great today as it ever was. do you tell me that joseph is dead? his influence still lives and will continue to live on and on. you may bury the frail tenement of clay that a good man lives in, but you cannot get rid of his influence and example. paul was never more powerful than he is to-day. do you tell me that john howard, who went into so many of the dark prisons in europe, is dead? is henry martyn, or wilberforce, or john bunyan dead? go into the southern states, and there you will find millions of men and women who once were slaves. mention to any of them the name of wilberforce, and see how quickly the eye will light up. he lived for something else besides himself, and his memory will never die out of the hearts of those for whom he lived and labored. is wesley or whitefield dead? the names of those great evangelists were never more honored than they are now. is john knox dead? you can go to any part of scotland today, and feel the power of his influence. i will tell you who are dead. the enemies of these servants of god--those who persecuted them and told lies about them. but the men themselves have outlived all the lies that were uttered concerning them. not only that; they will shine in another world. how true are the words of the old book: "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." let us go on turning as many as we can to righteousness. let us be dead to the world, to its lies, its pleasures, and its ambitions. let us live for god, continually going forth to win souls for him. let me quote a few words by dr. chalmers: "thousands of men breathe, move and live, pass off the stage of life, and are heard no more--why? they do not partake of good in the world, and none were blessed by them; none could point to them as the means of their redemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke could be recalled; and so they perished; their light went out in darkness, and they were not remembered more than insects of yesterday. will you thus live and die, o man immortal? live for something. do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storms of time can never destroy. write your name in kindness, love and mercy, on the hearts of the thousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be forgotten. no, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven." "come thou and all thy house into the ark." i want to call your attention to a text that you will find in the seventh chapter of genesis, first verse. when god speaks, you and i can afford to listen. it is not man speaking now, but it is god. "the lord said unto noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark." perhaps some sceptic is reading this, and perhaps some church member will join with him and say, "i hope mr. moody is not going to preach about the ark. i thought that was given up by all intelligent people." but i want to say that i haven't given it up. when i do, i am going to give up the whole bible. there is hardly any portion of the old testament scripture but that the son of god set his seal to it when he was down here in the world. men say, "i don't believe in the story of the flood." christ connected his own return to this world with that flood: "and as it was in the days of noah, so shall it be also in the days of the son of man. they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." i believe the story of the flood just as much as i do the third chapter of john. i pity any man that is picking the old book to pieces. the moment that we give up any one of these things, we touch the deity of the son of god. i have noticed that when a man does begin to pick the bible to pieces, it doesn't take him long to tear it all to pieces. what is the use of being five years about what you can do in five minutes? a solemn message. one hundred and twenty years before god spake the words of my text, noah had received the most awful communication that ever came from heaven to earth. no man up to that time, and i think no man since, has ever received such a communication. god said that on account of the wickedness of the world he was going to destroy the world by water. we can have no idea of the extent and character of that antediluvian wickedness. the bible piles one expression on another, in its effort to emphasize it. "god saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. and it repented the lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. . . . the earth also was corrupt before god, and the earth was filled with violence. and god looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." men lived five hundred years and more then, and they had time to mature in their sins. how the message was received. for one hundred and twenty years god strove with those antediluvians. he never smites without warning, and they had their warning. every time noah drove a nail into the ark it was a warning to them. every sound of the hammer echoed, "i believe in god." if they had repented and cried as they did at nineveh, i believe god would have heard their cry and spared them. but there was no cry for mercy. i have no doubt but that they ridiculed the idea that god was going to destroy the world. i have no doubt but that there were atheists who said there was not any god anyhow. i got hold of one of them some time ago. i said, "how do you account for the formation of the world?" "oh! force and matter work together, and by chance the world was created." i said, "it is a singular thing that your tongue isn't on the top of your head if force and matter just threw it together in that manner." if i should take out my watch and say that force and matter worked together, and out came the watch, you would say i was a lunatic of the first order. wouldn't you? and yet they say that this old world was made by chance! "it threw itself together!" i met a man in scotland, and he took the ground that there was no god. i asked him, "how do you account for creation, for all these rocks?" (they have a great many rocks in scotland.) "why!" he said, "any school boy could account for that." "well, how was the first rock made?" "out of sand." "how was the first sand made?" "out of rock." you see he had it all arranged so nicely. sand and rock, rock and sand. i have no doubt but that noah had these men to contend with. then there was a class called agnostics, and there are a good many of their grandchildren, alive to-day. then there was another class who said they believed there was a god; they couldn't make themselves believe that the world happened by chance; but god was too merciful to punish sin. he was so full of compassion and love that he couldn't punish sin. the drunkard, the harlot, the gambler, the murderer, the thief and the libertine would all share alike with the saints at the end. supposing the governor of your state was so tender-hearted that he could not bear to have a man suffer, could not bear to see a man put in jail, and he should go and set all the prisoners free. how long would he be governor? you would have him out of office before the sun set. these very men that talk about god's mercy, would be the first to raise a cry against a governor who would not have a man put in prison when he had done wrong. then another class took the ground that god could not destroy the world anyway. they might have a great flood which would rise up to the meadowlands and lowlands, but all it would be necessary to do would be to go up on the hills and mountains. that would be a hundred times better than noah's ark. or if it should come to that, they could build rafts, which would be a good deal better than that ark. they had never seen such an ugly looking thing. it was about five hundred feet long, and about eighty feet wide, and fifty feet high. it had three stories, and only one small window. and then, i suppose there was a large class who took the ground that noah must be wrong because he was in such a minority. that is a great argument now, you know. noah was greatly in the minority. but he went on working. if they had saloons then, and i don't doubt but that they had, for we read that there was "violence in the land," and wherever you have alcohol you have violence. we read also that noah planted a vineyard and fell into the sin of intemperance. he was a righteous man, and if he did that, what must the others have done? well, if they had saloons, no doubt they sang ribald songs about noah and his ark, and if they had theaters they likely acted it out, and mothers took their children to see it. and if they had the press in those days, every now and then there would appear a skit about "noah and his folly." reporters would come and interview him, and if they had an associated press, every few days a dispatch would be sent out telling how the work on the ark was progressing. and perhaps they had excursions, and offered as an inducement that people could go through the ark. and if noah happened to be around they would nudge each other and say: "that's noah. don't you think there is a strange look in his eye?" as a scotchman would say, they thought him a little daft. thank god a man can afford to be mad. a mad man thinks everyone else mad but himself a drunkard does not call himself mad when he is drinking up all his means. those men who stand and deal out death and damnation to men are not called mad; but a man is called mad when he gets into the ark, and is saved for time and eternity. and i expect if the word crank was in use, they called noah "an old crank." and so all manner of sport was made of noah and his ark. and the business men went on buying and selling, while noah went on preaching and toiling. they perhaps had some astronomers, and they were gazing up at the stars, and saying, "don't you be concerned. there is no sign of a coming storm in the heavens. we are very wise men, and if there was a storm coming, we should read it in the heavens." and they had geologists digging away, and they said, "there is no sign in the earth." even the carpenters who helped build the ark might have made fun of him, but they were like lots of people at the present day, who will help build a church, and perhaps give money for its support, but will never enter it themselves. well, things went on as usual. little lambs skipped on the hillsides each spring. men sought after wealth, and if they had leases, i expect they ran for longer periods than ours do. we think ninety-nine years a long time, but i don't doubt but that theirs ran for nine hundred and ninety nine years. and when they came to sign a lease they would say with a twinkle in their eyes: "why, this old noah says the world is coming to an end in one hundred and twenty years, and it's twenty years since he started the story. but i guess i will sign the lease and risk it." someone has said that noah must have been deaf, or he could not have stood the jeers and sneers of his countrymen. but if he was deaf to the voice of men, he heard the voice of god when he told him to build the ark. i can imagine one hundred years have rolled away, and the work on the ark ceases. men say, "what has he stopped work for?" he has gone on a preaching tour, to tell the people of the coming storm--that god is going to sweep every man from the face of the earth unless he is in the ark. but he cannot get a man to believe him except his own family. some of the old men have passed away, and they died saying: "noah is wrong." poor noah! he must have had a hard time of it. i don't think i should have had the grace to work for one hundred and twenty years without a convert. but he just toiled on, believing the word of god. and now the hundred and twenty years are up. in the spring of the year noah did not plant anything, for he knew the flood was coming, and the people say: "every year before he has planted, but this year he thinks the world is going to be destroyed, and he hasn't planted anything." moving in. but i can imagine one beautiful morning, not a cloud to be seen, noah has got his communication. he has heard the voice that he heard one hundred and twenty years before--the same old voice. perhaps there had been silence for one hundred and twenty years. but the voice rang through his soul once again, "noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark." the word "come" occurs about nineteen hundred times in the bible, it is said, and this is the first time. it meant salvation. you can see noah and all his family moving into the ark. they are bringing the household furniture. some of his neighbors say, "noah, what is your hurry? you will have plenty of time to get into that old ark. what is your hurry? there are no windows and you cannot look out to see when the storm is coming." but he heard the voice and obeyed. some of his relatives might have said, "what are you going to do with the old homestead?" noah says, "i don't want it. the storm is coming." he tells them the day of grace is closing, that worldly wealth is of no value, and that the ark is the only place of safety. we must bear in mind that these railroads that we think so much of, will soon go down; they only run for time, not for eternity. the heavens will be on fire, and then what will property, honor, and position in society be worth? the first thing that alarms them is, they rise one morning, and lo! the heavens are filled with the fowls of the air. they are flying into the ark, two by two. they come from the desert; they come from the mountain; they come from all parts of the world. they are going into the ark. it must have been a strange sight. i can hear the people cry, "great god! what is the meaning of this?" and they look down on the earth; and, with great alarm and surprise, they see little insects creeping up two by two, coming from all parts of the world. then behold! there come cattle and beasts, two by two. the neighbors cry out, "what does this mean?" they run to their statesmen and wise men, who have told them there was no sign of a coming storm, and ask them why it is that those birds, animals, and creeping things go toward the ark, as if guided by some unseen hand. "well," the statesmen and wise men say, "we cannot explain it; but give yourselves no trouble; god is not going to destroy the world. business was never better than it is now. do you think if god was going to destroy the world, he would let us go on so prosperously as he has? there is no sign of a coming storm. what has made these creeping insects and these wild beasts of the forest go into the ark, we do not know. we cannot understand it; it is very strange. but there is no sign of anything going to happen. the stars are bright, and the sun shines as bright as ever it did. everything moves on as it has been moving for all time past. you can hear the children playing in the street. you can hear the voice of the bride and bridegroom in the land, and all is merry as ever." i imagine the alarm passed away, and they fell into their regular courses. noah comes out and says: "the door is going to be shut. come in. god is going to destroy the world. see the animals, how they have come up. the communication has come to them direct from heaven." but the people only mocked on. do you know, when the hundred and twenty years were up, god gave the world seven days' grace? did you ever notice that? if there had been a cry during those seven days, i believe it would have been heard. but there was none. at length the last day had come, the last hour, the last minute, ay! the last second. god almighty came down and shut the door of that ark. no angel, no man, but god himself shut that door, and when once the master of the house has risen and shut to the door, the doom of the world is sealed; and the doom of that old world was forever sealed. the sun had gone down upon the glory of that old world for the last time. you can hear away off in the distance the mutterings of the storm. you can hear the thunder rolling. the lightning begins to flash, and the old world reels. the storm bursts upon them, and that old ark of noah's would have been worth more than the whole world to them. i want to say to any scoffer who reads this, that you can laugh at the bible, you can scoff at your mother's god, you can laugh at ministers and christians, but the hour is coming when one promise in that old book will be worth more to you than ten thousand worlds like this. the windows of heaven are opened and the fountains of the great deep are broken up. the waters come bubbling up, and the sea bursts its bounds and leaps over its walls. the rivers begin to swell. the people living in the lowlands flee to the mountains and highlands. they flee up the hillsides. and there is a wail going up: "noah! noah! noah! let us in." they leave their homes and come to the ark now. they pound on the ark. hear them cry: "noah! let us in. noah! have mercy on us." "i am your nephew." "i am your niece." "i am your uncle." ah, there is a voice inside, saying: "i would like to let you in; but god has shut the door, and i cannot open it!" god shut that door! when the door is shut, there is no hope. their cry for mercy was too late; their day of grace was closed. their last hour had come. god had plead with them; god had invited them to come in; but they had mocked at the invitation. they scoffed and ridiculed the idea of a deluge. now it is too late. god did not permit anyone to survive to tell us how they perished. when job lost his family, there came a messenger to him: but there came no messenger from the antediluvians; not even noah himself could see the world perish. if he could, he would have seen men and women and children dashing against that ark; the waves rising higher and higher, while those outside were perishing, dying in unbelief. some think to escape by climbing the trees, and think the storm will soon go down; but it rains on, day and night, for forty days and forty nights, and they are swept away as the waves dash against them. the statesmen and astronomers and great men call for mercy; but it is too late. they had disobeyed the god of mercy. he had called, and they refused. he had plead with them, but they had laughed and mocked. but now the time is come for judgment instead of mercy. judgment. the time is coming again when god will deal in judgment with the world. it is but a little while; we know not when, but it is sure to come. god's word has gone forth that this world shall be rolled together like a scroll, and shall be on fire. what then will become of your soul? it is a loving call, "now come, thou and all thy house, into the ark." twenty four hours before the rain began to fall, noah's ark, if it had been sold at auction, would not have brought as much as it would be worth for kindling wood. but twenty four hours after the rain began to fall, noah's ark was worth more than all the world. there was not then a man living but would have given all he was worth for a seat in the ark. you may turn away and laugh. "i believe in christ!" you say; "i would rather be without him than have him." but bear in mind, the time is coming when christ will be worth more to you than ten thousand worlds like this. bear in mind that he is offered to you now. this is a day of grace; it is a day of mercy. you will find, if you read your bible carefully, that god always precedes judgment with grace. grace is a forerunner of judgment. he called these men in the days of noah in love. they would have been saved if they had repented in those one hundred and twenty years. when christ came to plead with the people in jerusalem, it was their day of grace; but they mocked and laughed at him. he said: "o jerusalem, jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would i have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" forty years afterward, thousands of the people begged that their lives might be spared; and eleven hundred thousand perished in that city. in a revival swept over this country in the east and on to the western cities, clear over to the pacific coast. it was god calling the nation to himself. half a million people united with the church at that time. then the war broke out. we were baptized with the holy ghost in , and in we were baptized in blood. it was a call of mercy, preceding judgment. are your children safe? the text which i have selected has a special application to christian people and to parents. this command of the scripture was given to noah not only for his own safety, but that of his household, and the question which i put to each father and mother is this: "are your children in the ark of god?" you may scoff at it, but it is a very important question. are all your children in? are all your grandchildren in? don't rest day or night until you get your children in. i believe my children have fifty temptations where i had one. i am one of those who believe that in the great cities there is a snare set upon the corner of every street for our sons and daughters; and i don't believe it is our business to spend our time in accumulating bonds and stocks. have i done all i can to get my children in? that is it. now, let me ask another question: what would have been noah's feelings if, when god called him into the ark, his children would not have gone with him? if he had lived such a false life that his children had no faith in his word, what would have been his feelings? he would have said: "there is my poor boy on the mountain. would to god i had died in his place! i would rather have perished than had him perish." david cried over his son: "oh, my son absalom, my son, my son absalom, would god i had died for thee!" noah loved his children, and they had confidence in him. someone sent me a paper a number of years ago, containing an article that was marked. its title was: "are all the children in?" an old wife lay dying. she was nearly one hundred years of age, and the husband who had taken the journey with her, sat by her side. she was just breathing faintly, but suddenly she revived, opened her eyes, and said: "why! it is dark." "yes, janet, it is dark." "is it night?" "oh, yes! it is midnight." "are all the children in?" there was that old mother living life over again. her youngest child had been in the grave twenty years, but she was traveling back into the old days, and she fell asleep in christ asking, "are all the children in?" dear friend, are they all in? put the question to yourself now. is john in? is james in? or is he immersed in business and pleasure? is he living a double and dishonest life? say! where is your boy, mother? where is your son, your daughter? is it well with your children? can you say it is? after being superintendent of a sunday school in chicago for a number of years, a school of over a thousand members, children that came from godless homes, having mothers and fathers working against me, taking the children off on excursions on sunday, and doing all they could to break up the work i was trying to do, i used to think that if i should ever stand before an audience i would speak to no one but parents; that would be my chief business. it is an old saying--"get the lamb, and you will get the sheep." i gave that up years ago. give me the sheep, and then i will have someone to nurse the lamb; but get a lamb and convert him, and if he has a godless father and mother, you will have little chance with that child. what we want is godly homes. the home was established long before the church. i have no sympathy with the idea that our children have to grow up before they are converted. once i saw a lady with three daughters at her side, and i stepped up to her and asked her if she was a christian. "yes, sir." then i asked the oldest daughter if she was a christian. the chin began to quiver, and the tears came into her eyes, and she said, "i wish i was." the mother looked very angrily at me and said, "i don't want you to speak to my children on that subject. they don't understand." and in great rage she took them all away from me. one daughter was fourteen years old, one twelve, and the other ten, but they were not old enough to be talked to about religion. let them drift into the world and plunge into worldly amusements, and then see how hard it is to reach them. many a mother is mourning to-day because her boy has gone beyond her reach, and will not allow her to pray with him. she may pray _for_ him, but he will not let her pray or talk _with_ him. in those early days when his mind was tender and young, she might have led him to christ. bring them in. "suffer the little children to come unto me." is there a prayerless father reading this? may god let the arrow go down into your soul! make up your mind that, god helping you, you will get the children in. god's order is to the father first, but if he isn't true to his duty, then the mother should be true, and save the children from the wreck. now is the time to do it while you have them under your roof. exert your parental influence over them. i never speak to parents but i think of two fathers, one of whom lived on the banks of the mississippi, the other in new york. the first one devoted all his time to amassing wealth. he had a son to whom he was much attached, and one day the boy was brought home badly injured. the father was informed that the boy could live but a short time, and he broke the news to his son as gently as possible. "you say i cannot live, father? o! then pray for my soul," said the boy. in all those years that father had never said a prayer for that boy, and he told him he couldn't. shortly after, the boy died. that father has said since that he would give all that he possessed if he could call that boy back only to offer one short prayer for him. the other father had a boy who had been sick some time, and he came home one day and found his wife weeping. she said: "i cannot help but believe that this is going to prove fatal." the man started, and said: "if you think so, i wish you would tell him." but the mother could not tell her boy. the father went to the sick room, and he saw that death was feeling for the cords of life, and he said: "my son, do you know you are not going to live?" the little fellow looked up and said: "no; is this death that i feel stealing over me? will i die to-day?" "yes, my son, you cannot live the day out." and the little fellow smiled and said: "well, father, i shall be with jesus tonight, shan't i?" "yes, you will spend the night with the lord," and the father broke down and wept. the little fellow saw the tears, and said: "don't weep for me. i will go to jesus and tell him that ever since i can remember you have prayed for me." i have three children, and if god should take them from me, i would rather have them take such a message home to him than to have the wealth of the whole world. oh! would to god i could say something to stir you, fathers and mothers, to get your children into the ark. humility. "learn of me, for i am meek and lowly in heart."--matthew : . there is no harder lesson to learn than the lesson of humility. it is not taught in the schools of men, only in the school of christ. it is the rarest of all the gifts. very rarely do we find a man or woman who is following closely the footsteps of the master in meekness and in humility. i believe that it is the hardest lesson which jesus christ had to teach his disciples while he was here upon earth. it almost looked at first as though he had failed to teach it to the twelve men who had been with him almost constantly for three years. i believe that if we are humble enough we shall be sure to get a great blessing. after all, i think that more depends upon us than upon the lord, because he is always ready to give a blessing and give it freely, but we are not always in a position to receive it. he always blesses the humble, and, if we can get down in the dust before him, no one will go away disappointed. it was mary at the feet of jesus, who had chosen the "better part." did you ever notice the reason christ gave for learning of him? he might have said: "learn of me, because i am the most advanced thinker of the age. i have performed miracles that no man else has performed. i have shown my supernatural power in a thousand ways." but no: the reason he gave was that he was "meek, and lowly in heart." we read of the three men in scripture whose faces shone, and all three were noted for their meekness and humility. we are told that the face of christ shone at his transfiguration; moses, after he had been in the mount for forty days, came down from his communion with god with a shining face; and when stephen stood before the sanhedrim on the day of his death, his face was lighted up with glory. if our faces are to shine we must get into the valley of humility; we must go down in the dust before god. bunyan says that it is hard to get down into the valley of humiliation, the descent into it is steep and rugged; but that it is very fruitful and fertile and beautiful when once we get there. i think that no one will dispute that; almost every man, even the ungodly, admires meekness. someone asked augustine, what was the first of the religious graces, and he said, "humility." they asked him what was the second, and he replied, "humility." they asked him the third, and he said, "humility." i think that if we are humble, we have all the graces. some years ago i saw what is called a sensitive plant. i happened to breathe on it, and suddenly it drooped its head; i touched it, and it withered away. humility is as sensitive as that; it cannot safely be brought out on exhibition. a man who is flattering himself that he is humble and is walking close to the master, is self-deceived. it consists not in thinking meanly of ourselves, but in not thinking of ourselves at all. moses wist not that his face shone. if humility speaks of itself, it is gone. someone has said that the grass is an illustration of this lowly grace. it was created for the lowliest service. cut it, and it springs up again. the cattle feed upon it, and yet how beautiful it is. the showers fall upon the mountain peaks, and very often leave them barren because they rush down into the meadows and valleys and make the lowly places fertile. if a man is proud and lifted up, rivers of grace may flow over him and yet leave him barren and unfruitful, while they bring blessing to the man who has been brought low by the grace of god. a man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility. you soon detect mock humility. they have a saying in the east among the arabs, that as the tares and the wheat grow they show which god has blessed. the ears that god has blessed bow their heads and acknowledge every grain, and the more fruitful they are the lower their heads are bowed. the tares which god has sent as a curse, lift up their heads erect, high above the wheat, but they are only fruitful of evil. i have a pear tree on my farm which is very beautiful; it appears to be one of the most beautiful trees on my place. every branch seems to be reaching up to the light and stands almost like a wax candle, but i never get any fruit from it. i have another tree, which was so full of fruit last year that the branches almost touched the ground. if we only get down low enough, my friends, god will use every one of us to his glory. "as the lark that soars the highest builds her nest the lowest; as the nightingale that sings so sweetly, sings in the shade when all things rest; as the branches that are most laden with fruit, bend lowest; as the ship most laden, sinks deepest in the water;--so the holiest christians are the humblest." the _london times_ some years ago told the story of a petition that was being circulated for signatures. it was a time of great excitement, and this petition was intended to have great influence in the house of lords; but there was one word left out. instead of reading, "we humbly beseech thee," it read, "we beseech thee." so it was ruled out. my friends, if we want to make an appeal to the god of heaven, we must humble ourselves; and if we do humble ourselves before the lord, we shall not be disappointed. as i have been studying some bible characters that illustrate humility, i have been ashamed of myself. if you have any regard for me, pray that i may have humility. when i put my life beside the life of some of these men, i say, shame on the christianity of the present day. if you want to get a good idea of yourself, look at some of the bible characters that have been clothed with meekness and humility, and see what a contrast is your position before god and man. one of the meekest characters in history was john the baptist. you remember when they sent a deputation to him and asked if he was elias, or this prophet, or that prophet, he said, "no." now he might have said some very flattering things of himself. he might have said: "i am the son of the old priest zacharias. haven't you heard of my fame as a preacher? i have baptized more people probably, than any man living. the world has never seen a preacher like myself." i honestly believe that in the present day most men standing in his position would do that. on the railroad train, some time ago, i heard a man talking so loud that all the people in the car could hear him. he said that he had baptized more people than any man in his denomination. he told how many thousand miles he had traveled, how many sermons he had preached, how many open-air services he had held, and this and that, until i was so ashamed that i had to hide my head. this is the age of boasting. it is the day of the great "i." my attention was recently called to the fact that in all the psalms you cannot find any place where david refers to his victory over the giant, goliath. if it had been in the present day, there would have been a volume written about it at once; i don't know how many poems there would be telling of the great things that this man had done. he would have been in demand as a lecturer, and would have added a title to his name: g. g. k.,--great giant killer. that is how it is to-day: great evangelists, great preachers, great theologians, great bishops. "john," they asked, "who are you?" "i am nobody. i am to be heard, not to be seen. i am only a voice." he hadn't a word to say about himself. i once heard a little bird faintly singing close by me,--at last it got clear out of sight, and then its notes were still sweeter. the higher it flew the sweeter sounded its notes. if we can only get self out of sight and learn of him who was meek and lowly in heart we shall be lifted up into heavenly places. mark tells us, in the first chapter and seventh verse, that john came and preached saying, "there cometh one mightier than i after me, the latchet of whose shoes i am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." think of that; and bear in mind that christ was looked upon as a deceiver, a village carpenter, and yet here is john, the son of the old priest, who had a much higher position in the sight of men than that of jesus. great crowds were coming to hear him, and even herod attended his meetings. when his disciples came and told john that christ was beginning to draw crowds, he nobly answered: "a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. ye yourselves bear me witness that i said, i am not the christ, but that i am sent before him. he that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. he must increase, but i must decrease." it is easy to read that, but it is hard for us to live in the power of it. it is very hard for us to be ready to decrease, to grow smaller and smaller, that christ may increase. the morning star fades away when the sun rises. "he that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all, and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that god is true. for he whom god hath sent speaketh the words of god: for god giveth not the spirit by measure unto him." let us now turn the light upon ourselves. have we been decreasing of late? do we think less of ourselves and of our position than we did a year ago? are we seeking to obtain some position of dignity? are we wanting to hold on to some title, and are we offended because we are not treated with the courtesy that we think is due us? some time ago i heard a man in the pulpit say that he should take offence if he was not addressed by his title. my dear friend, are you going to take that position that you must have a title, and that you must have every letter addressed with that title or you will be offended? john did not want any title, and when we are right with god, we shall not be caring about titles. in one of his early epistles paul calls himself the "least of all the apostles." later on he claims to be "less than the least of all saints," and again, just before his death, humbly declares that he is the "chief of sinners." notice how he seems to have grown smaller and smaller in his own estimation. so it was with john. and i do hope and pray that as the days go by we may feel like hiding ourselves, and let god have all the honor and glory. "when i look back upon my own religious experience," says andrew murray, "or round upon the church of christ in the world, i stand amazed at the thought of how little humility is sought after as the distinguishing feature of the discipleship of jesus. in preaching and living, in the daily intercourse of the home and social life, in the more special fellowship with christians, in the direction and performance of work for christ--alas! how much proof there is that humility is not esteemed the cardinal virtue, the only root from which the graces can grow, the one indispensable condition of true fellowship with jesus." see what christ says about john. "he was a burning and shining light." christ gave him the honor that belonged to him. if you take a humble position, christ will see it. if you want god to help you, then take a low position. i am afraid that if we had been in john's place, many of us would have said: "what did christ say,--i am a burning and shining light?" then we would have had that recommendation put in the newspapers, and would have sent them to our friends, with that part marked in blue pencil. sometimes i get a letter just full of clippings from the newspapers, stating that this man is more eloquent than gough, etc. and the man wants me to get him some church. do you think that a man who has such eloquence would be looking for a church? no, they would all be looking for him. my dear friends, isn't it humiliating? sometimes i think it is a wonder that any man is converted these days. let another praise you. don't be around praising yourself. if we want god to lift us up, let us get down. the lower we get, the higher god will lift us. it is christ's eulogy of john, "greater than any man born of woman." there is a story told of carey, the great missionary, that he was invited by the governor-general of india to go to a dinner party at which were some military officers belonging to the aristocracy, and who looked down upon missionaries with scorn and contempt. one of these officers said at the table: "i believe that carey was a shoemaker, wasn't he, before he took up the profession of a missionary?" mr. carey spoke up and said: "oh no, i was only a cobbler. i could mend shoes, and wasn't ashamed of it." the one prominent virtue of christ, next to his obedience, is his humility; and even his obedience grew out of his humility. being in the form of god, he counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with god, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and was made in the likeness of men. and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross. in his lowly birth, his submission to his earthly parents, his seclusion during thirty years, his consorting with the poor and despised, his entire submission and dependence upon his father, this virtue that was consummated in his death on the cross, shines out. one day jesus was on his way to capernaum, and was talking about his coming death and suffering, and about his resurrection, and he heard quite a heated discussion going on behind him. when he came into the house at capernaum, he turned to his disciples, and said: "what was all that discussion about?" i see john look at james, and peter at andrew,--and they all looked ashamed. "who shall be the greater?" that discussion has wrecked party after party, one society after another--"who shall be the greatest?" the way christ took to teach them humility was by putting a little child in their midst and saying: "if you want to be great, take that little child for an example, and he who wants to be the greatest, let him be servant of all." to me, one of the saddest things in all the life of jesus christ was the fact that just before his crucifixion, his disciples should have been striving to see who should be the greatest, that night he instituted the supper, and they ate the passover together. it was his last night on earth, and they never saw him so sorrowful before. he knew judas was going to sell him for thirty pieces of silver. he knew that peter would deny him. and yet, in addition to this, when going into the very shadow of the cross, there arose this strife as to who should be the greatest. he took a towel and girded himself like a slave, and he took a basin of water and stooped and washed their feet. that was another object lesson of humility. he said, "ye call me lord, and ye do well. if you want to be great in my kingdom, be servant of all. if you serve, you shall be great." when the holy ghost came, and those men were filled, from that time on mark the difference: matthew takes up his pen to write, and he keeps matthew out of sight. he tells what peter and andrew did, but he calls himself matthew "the publican." he tells how they left all to follow christ, but does not mention the feast he gave. jerome says that mark's gospel is to be regarded as memoirs of peter's discourses, and to have been published by his authority. yet here we constantly find that damaging things are mentioned about peter, and things to his credit are not referred to. mark's gospel omits all allusion to peter's faith in venturing on the sea, but goes into detail about the story of his fall and denial of our lord. peter put himself down, and lifted others up. if the gospel of luke had been written to-day, it would be signed by the great dr. luke, and you would have his photograph as a frontispiece. but you can't find luke's name; he keeps out of sight. he wrote two books, and his name is not to be found in either. john covers himself always under the expression--"the disciple whom jesus loved." none of the four men whom history and tradition assert to be the authors of the gospels, lay claim to the authorship in their writings. dear man of god, i would that i had the same spirit, that i could just get out of sight,--hide myself. my dear friends, i believe our only hope is to be filled with the spirit of christ. may god fill us, so that we shall be filled with meekness and humility. let us take the hymn, "o, to be nothing, nothing," and make it the language of our hearts. it breathes the spirit of him who said: "the son can do _nothing_ of himself!" oh to be nothing, nothing! only to lie at his feet, a broken and emptied vessel, for the master's use made meet. emptied, that he might fill me as forth to his service i go; broken, that so unhindered, his life through me might flow. rest. some years ago a gentleman came to me and asked me which i thought was the most precious promise of all those that christ left. i took some time to look them over, but i gave it up. i found that i could not answer the question. it is like a man with a large family of children, he cannot tell which he likes best; he loves them all. but if not the best, this is one of the sweetest promises of all: "_come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for i am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light_." there are a good many people who think the promises are not going to be fulfilled. there are some that you do see fulfilled, and you cannot help but believe they are true. now remember that all the promises are not given without conditions. some are given with, and others without, conditions attached to them. for instance, it says, "if i regard iniquity in my heart, the lord will not hear me." now, i need not pray as long as i am cherishing some known sin. he will not hear me, much less answer me. the lord says in the eighty fourth psalm, "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." if i am not walking uprightly i have no claims under the promise. again, some of the promises were made to certain individuals or nations. for instance, god said that he would make abraham's seed to multiply as the stars of heaven: but that is not a promise for you or me. some promises were made to the jews, and do not apply to the gentiles. then there are promises without conditions. he promised adam and eve that the world should have a savior, and there was no power in earth or perdition that could keep christ from coming at the appointed time. when christ left the world, he said he would send us the holy ghost. he had only been gone ten days when the holy ghost came. and so you can run right through the scriptures, and you will find that some of the promises are with, and some without, conditions; and if we don't comply with the conditions we cannot expect them to be fulfilled. i believe it will be the experience of every man and woman on the face of the earth, i believe that everyone will be obliged to testify in the evening of life, that if they have complied with the condition, the lord has fulfilled his word to the letter. joshua, the old hebrew hero, was an illustration. after having tested god forty years in the egyptian brick-kilns, forty years in the desert, and thirty years in the promised land, his dying testimony was: "not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the lord promised." i believe you could heave the ocean easier than break one of god's promises. so when we come to a promise like the one we have before us now, i want you to bear in mind that there is no discount upon it. "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest." perhaps you say: "i hope mr. moody is not going to preach on this old text." yes: i am. when i take up an album, it does not interest me if all the photographs are new; but if i know any of the faces. i stop at once. so with these old, well-known texts. they have quenched our thirst before, but the water is still bubbling up--we cannot drink it dry. if you probe the human heart, you will find a want, and that want is rest. the cry of the world to day is, "where can rest be found?" why are theaters and places of amusement crowded at night? what is the secret of sunday driving, of the saloons and brothels? some think they are going to get it in pleasure, others think they are going to get it in wealth, and others in literature. they are seeking and finding no rest. where can rest be found? if i wanted to find a person who had rest i would not go among the very wealthy. the man that we read of in the twelfth chapter of luke, thought he was going to get rest by multiplying his goods, but he was disappointed. "soul, take thine ease." i venture to say that there is not a person in this wide world who has tried to find rest in that way and found it. money cannot buy it. many a millionaire would gladly give millions if he could purchase it as he does his stocks and shares. god has made the soul a little too large for this world. roll the whole world in, and still there is room. there is care in getting wealth, and more care in keeping it. nor would i go among the pleasure seekers. they have a few hours' enjoyment, but the next day there is enough sorrow to counterbalance it. they may drink the cup of pleasure to-day, but the cup of pain comes on to-morrow. to find rest i would never go among the politicians, or among the so-called great. congress is the last place on earth that i would go. in the lower house they want to go to the senate; in the senate they want to go to the cabinet; and then they want to go to the white house; and rest has never been found there. nor would i go among the halls of learning. "much study is a weariness to the flesh." i would not go among the upper ten, the "bon-ton," for they are constantly chasing after fashion. have you not noticed their troubled faces on our streets? and the face is index to the soul. they have no hopeful look. their worship of pleasure is slavery. solomon tried pleasure, and found bitter disappointment, and down the ages has come the bitter cry, "all is vanity." now, there is no rest in sin. the wicked know nothing about it. the scriptures tell us the wicked "are like the troubled sea that cannot rest." you have, perhaps been on the sea when there is a calm, when the water is as clear as crystal, and it seemed as if the sea were at rest. but if you looked you would see that the waves came in, and that the calm was only on the surface. man, like the sea, has no rest. he has had no rest since adam fell, and there is none for him until he returns to god again, and the light of christ shines into his heart. rest cannot be found in the world, and thank god the world cannot take it from the believing heart! sin is the cause of all this unrest. it brought toil and labor and misery into the world. now for something positive. i would go successfully to someone who has heard the sweet voice of jesus, and has laid his burden down at the cross. there is rest, sweet rest. thousands could certify to this blessed fact. they could say, and truthfully: i heard the voice of jesus say, "come unto me and rest. lay down, thou weary one, lay down, thy head upon my breast." i came to jesus as i was, weary and worn and sad. i found in him a resting-place, and he hath made me glad. among all his writings st. augustine has nothing sweeter than this: "thou hast made us for thyself, o god, and our heart is restless till it rests in thee." do you know that for four thousand years no prophet or priest or patriarch ever stood up and uttered a text like this? it would be blasphemy for moses to have uttered a text like it. do you think he had rest when he was teasing the lord to let him go into the promised land? do you think elijah could have uttered such a text as this, when, under the juniper-tree, he prayed that he might die? and this is one of the strongest proofs that jesus christ was not only man, but god. he was god-man, and this is heaven's proclamation, "come unto me, and i will give you rest". he brought it down from heaven with him. now, if this text was not true, don't you think it would have been found out by this time? i believe it as much as i believe in my existence. why? because i not only find it in the book, but in my own experience. the "i wills" of christ have never been broken, and never can be. i thank god for the word "give" in that passage. he doesn't sell it. some of us are so poor that we could not buy it if it was for sale. thank god, we can get it for nothing. i like to have a text like this, because it takes us all in. "come unto me all ye that labor." that doesn't mean a select few--refined ladies and cultured men. it doesn't mean good people only. it applies to saint and sinner. hospitals are for the sick, not for healthy people. do you think that christ would shut the door in anyone's face, and say, "i did not mean _all_; i only meant certain ones"? if you cannot come as a saint, come as a sinner. only come! a lady told me once that she was so hard-hearted she couldn't come. "well," i said, "my good woman, it doesn't say all ye soft-hearted people come. black hearts, vile hearts, hard hearts, soft hearts, all hearts come. who can soften your hard heart but himself?" the harder the heart, the more need you have to come. if my watch stops i don't take it to a drug store or to a blacksmith's shop, but to the watchmaker's, to have it repaired. so if the heart gets out of order take it to its keeper, christ, to have it set right. if you can prove that you are a sinner, you are entitled to the promise. get all the benefit you can out of it. now, there are a good many believers who think this text applies only to sinners; it is just the thing for them too. what do we see to-day? the church, christian people, all loaded down with cares and troubles. "come unto me all ye that labor." all! i believe that includes the christian whose heart is burdened with some great sorrow. the lord wants you to come. christ the burden-bearer. it says in another place, "casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you." we would have a victorious church if we could get christian people to realize that. but they have never made the discovery. they agree that christ is the sin-bearer, but they do not realize that he is also the burden-bearer. "surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." it is the privilege of every child of god to walk in unclouded sunlight. some people go back into the past and rake up all the troubles they ever had, and then they look into the future and anticipate that they will have still more trouble, and they go reeling and staggering all through life. they give you the cold chills every time they meet you. they put on a whining voice, and tell you what "a hard time they have had." i believe they embalm them, and bring out the mummy on every opportunity. the lord says, "cast all your care on me. i want to carry your burdens and your troubles." what we want is a joyful church, and we are not going to convert the world until we have it. we want to get this long-faced christianity off the face of the earth. take these people that have some great burden, and let them come into a meeting. if you can get their attention upon the singing or preaching, they will say, "oh, wasn't it grand! i forgot all my cares." and they just drop their bundle at the end of the pew. but the moment the benediction is pronounced they grab the bundle again. you laugh, but you do it yourself. cast your care on him. sometimes they go into their closet and close their door, and they get so carried away and lifted up that they forget their trouble; but they just take it up again the moment they get off their knees. leave your sorrow now; cast all your care upon him. if you cannot come to christ as a saint, come as a sinner. but if you are a saint with some trouble or care, bring it to him. saint and sinner, come! he wants you all. don't let satan deceive you into believing that you cannot come if you will. christ says, "ye will not come unto me." with the command comes the power. a man in one of our meetings in europe said he would like to come, but he was chained, and couldn't come. a scotchman said to him, "ay, man, why don't you come chain and all?" he said, "i never thought of that." are you cross and peevish, and do you make things unpleasant at home? my friend, come to christ and ask him to help you. whatever the sin is, bring it to him. what does it mean to come? perhaps you say, "mr. moody, i wish you would tell us what it is to come." i have given up trying to explain it. i always feel like the colored minister who said he was going to _confound_, instead of _expound_, the chapter. the best definition is just--come. the more you try to explain it, the more you are mystified. about the first thing a mother teaches her child is to look. she takes the baby to the window, and says, "look, baby, papa is coming!" then she teaches the child to come. she props it up against a chair, and says, "come!" and by and by the little thing pushes the chair along towards mamma. that's coming. you don't need to go to college to learn how. you don't need any minister to tell you what it is. now will you come to christ? he said, "him that cometh unto me, i will in no wise cast out." when we have such a promise as this, let us cling to it, and never give it up. christ is not mocking us. he wants us to come with all our sins and backslidings, and throw ourselves upon his bosom. it is our sins god wants, not our tears only. they alone do no good. and we cannot come through resolutions. action is necessary. how many times at church have we said, "i will turn over a new leaf," but the monday leaf is worse than the saturday leaf. the way to heaven is straight as a rule, but it is the way of the cross. don't try to get around it. shall i tell you what the "yoke" referred to in the text is? it is the cross which christians must bear. the only way by which you can find rest in this dark world is by taking up the yoke of christ. i do not know what it may include in your case, beyond taking up your christian duties, acknowledging christ and acting as becomes one of his disciples. perhaps it may be to erect a gamily altar; or to tell a godless husband that you have made up your mind to serve god; or to tell your parents that you want to be a christian. follow the will of god, and happiness and peace and rest will come. the way of obedience is always the way of blessing. i was preaching in chicago to a hall full of women one sunday afternoon, and after the meeting was over a lady came to me and said she wanted to talk to me. she said she would accept christ, and after some conversation she went home. i looked for her for a whole week, but didn't see her until the following sunday afternoon. she came and sat down right in front of me, and her face had such a sad expression. she seemed to have entered into the misery, instead of the joy, of the lord. after the meeting was over i went to her and asked her what the trouble was. she said: "oh, mr. moody, this has been the most miserable week of my life." i asked her if there was anyone with whom she had had trouble and whom she could not forgive. she said: "no, not that i know of." "well, did you tell your friends about having found the savior?" "indeed i didn't, i have been all the week trying to keep it from them." "well," i said, "that is the reason why you have no peace." she wanted to take the crown, but did not want the cross. my friends, you must go by the way of calvary. if you ever get rest, you must get it at the foot of the cross. "why," she said, "if i should go home and tell my infidel husband that i had found christ i don't know what he would do. i think he would turn me out." "well," i said, "go out." she went away, promising that she would tell him, timid and pale, but she did not want another wretched week. she was bound to have peace. the next night i gave a lecture to men only, and in the hall there were eight thousand men and one solitary woman. when i got through and went into the inquiry meeting, i found this lady with her husband. she introduced him to me (he was a doctor, and a very influential man) and said: "he wants to become a christian." i took my bible and told him all about christ, and he accepted him. i said to her after it was all over: "it turned out quite differently from what you expected, didn't it?" "yes," she replied, "i was never so scared in my life. i expected he would do something dreadful, but it has turned out so well." she took god's way, and got rest. i want to say to young ladies, perhaps you have a godless father or mother, a sceptical brother, who is going down through drink, and perhaps there is no one who can reach them but you. how many times a godly, pure young lady has taken the light into some darkened home! many a home might be lit up with the gospel if the mothers and daughters would only speak the word. the last time mr. sankey and myself were in edinburgh, there were a father, two sisters and a brother, who used every morning to take the morning paper and pick my sermon to pieces. they were indignant to think that the edinburgh people should be carried away with such preaching. one day one of the sisters was going by the hall, and she thought she would drop in and see what class of people went there. she happened to take a seat by a godly lady, who said to her: "i hope you are interested in this work." she tossed her head and said: "indeed i am not. i am disgusted with everything i have seen and heard." "well," said the lady, "perhaps you came prejudiced." "yes, and the meeting has not removed any of it, but has rather increased it." "i have received a great deal of good from them." "there is nothing here for me. i don't see how an intellectual person can be interested." to make a long story short, she got the lady to promise to come back. when the meeting broke up, just a little of the prejudice had worn away. she promised to come back again the next day, and then she attended three or four more meetings, and became quite interested. she said nothing to her family, until finally the burden became too heavy, and she told them. they laughed at her, and made her the butt of their ridicule. one day the two sisters were together, and the other said: "now what have you got at those meetings that you didn't have in the first place?" "i have a peace that i never knew of before. i am at peace with god, myself and all the world." did you ever have a little war of your own with your neighbors, in your own family? and she said: "i have self-control. you know, sister, if you had said half the mean things before i was converted that you have said since, i would have been angry and answered back, but if you remember correctly, i haven't answered once since i have been converted." the sister said: "you certainly have something that i have not." the other told her it was for her too, and she brought the sister to the meetings, where she found peace. like martha and mary, they had a brother, but he was a member of the university of edinburgh. he be converted? he go to these meetings? it might do for women, but not for him. one night they came home and told him that a chum of his own, a member of the university, had stood up and confessed christ, and when he sat down his brother got up and confessed; and so with the third one. when the young man heard it, he said: "do you mean to tell me that he has been converted?" "yes." "well," he said, "there must be something in it." he put on his hat, and coat, and went to see his friend black. black got him down to the meetings, and he was converted. we went through to glasgow, and had not been there six weeks when news came that that young man had been stricken down and died. when he was dying he called his father to his bedside and said: "wasn't it a good thing that my sisters went to those meetings? won't you meet me in heaven, father?" "yes, my son, i am so glad you are a christian; that is the only comfort that i have in losing you. i will become a christian, and will meet you again." i tell this to encourage some sister to go home and carry the message of salvation. it may be that your brother may be taken away in a few months. my dear friends, are we not living in solemn days? isn't it time for us to get our friends into the kingdom of god? come, wife, won't you tell your husband? come, sister, won't you tell your brother? won't you take up your cross now? the blessing of god will rest on your soul if you will. i was in wales once, and a lady told me this little story: an english friend of hers, a mother, had a child that was sick. at first they considered there was no danger, until one day the doctor came in and said that the symptoms were very unfavorable. he took the mother out of the room, and told her that the child could not live. it came like a thunderbolt. after the doctor had gone the mother went into the room where the child lay and began to talk to the child and tried to divert its mind. "darling, do you know you will soon hear the music of heaven? you will hear a sweeter song than you have ever heard on earth. you will hear them sing the song of moses and the lamb. you are very fond of music. won't it be sweet, darling?" and the little tired, sick child turned its head away, and said, "oh mamma, i am so tired and so sick that i think it would make me worse to hear all that music." "well," the mother said, "you will soon see jesus, you will see the seraphim and cherubim and the streets all paved with gold"; and she went on picturing heaven as it is described in revelation. the little tired child again turned its head away, and said, "oh mamma, i am so tired that i think it would make me worse to see all those beautiful things!" at last the mother took the child up in her arms, and pressed her to her loving heart. and the little sick one whispered: "oh mamma, that is what i want. if jesus will only take me in his arms and let me rest!" dear friend, are you not tired and weary of sin? are you not weary of the turmoil of life? you can end rest on the bosom of the son of god. seven "i wills" of christ. a man when he says "i will," may not mean much. we very often say "i will," when we don't mean to fulfil what we say; but when we come to the "i will" of christ, he means to fulfil it. everything he has promised to do, he is able and willing to accomplish; and he is going to do it. i cannot find any passage in scripture in which he says "i will" do this, or "i will" do that, but it will be done. . the "i will" of salvation. the first "i will" to which i want to direct your attention, is to be found in john's gospel, sixth chapter and thirty-seventh verse: "_him that cometh unto me i will in no wise cast out._" i imagine someone will say, "well, if i was what i ought to be, i would come; but when my mind goes over the past record of my life, it is too dark. i am not fit to come." you must bear in mind that jesus christ came to save not good people, not the upright and just, but sinners like you and me, who have gone astray, and sinned and come short of the glory of god. listen to this "i will"--it goes right into the heart--"him that cometh unto me, i will in no wise cast out." surely that is broad enough--is it not? i don't care who the man or woman is; i don't care what their trials, what their troubles, what their sorrows, or what their sins are, if they will only come straight to the master, he will not cast them out. come then, poor sinner; come just as you are, and take him at his word. he is so anxious to save sinners, he will take everyone who comes. he will take those who are so full of sin that they are despised by all who know them, who have been rejected by their fathers and mothers, who have been cast off by the wives of their bosoms. he will take those who have sunk so low that upon them no eye of pity is cast. his occupation is to hear and save. that is what he left heaven and came into the world for; that is what he left the throne of god for--to save sinners. "the son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." he did not come to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. a wild and prodigal young man, who was running a headlong career to ruin came into one of our meetings in chicago. the spirit of god got hold of him. whilst i was conversing with him, and endeavoring to bring him to christ, i quoted this verse to him. i asked him: "do you believe christ said that?" "i suppose he did." "suppose he did! do you believe it?" "i hope so." "hope so! do you believe it? you do your work, and the lord will do his. just come as you are, and throw yourself upon his bosom, and he will not cast you out." this man thought it was too simple and easy. at last light seemed to break in upon him, and he seemed to find comfort from it. it was past midnight before he got down on his knees, but down he went, and was converted. i said: "now, don't think you are going to get out of the devil's territory without trouble. the devil will come to you to-morrow morning, and say it was all feeling; that you only imagined you were accepted by god. when he does, don't fight him with your own opinions, but fight him with john : : 'him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out.' let that be the 'sword of the spirit.'" i don't believe that any man ever starts to go to christ, but the devil strives somehow or other to meet him and trip him up. and even after he has come to christ, the devil tries to assail him with doubts, and make him believe there is something wrong in it. the struggle came sooner than i thought in this man's case. when he was on his way home the devil assailed him. he used this text, but the devil put this thought into his mind: "how do you know christ ever said that after all? perhaps the translators made a mistake." into darkness he went again. he was in trouble till about two in the morning. at last he came to this conclusion. said he: "i will believe it anyway; and when i get to heaven, if it isn't true, i will just tell the lord _i_ didn't make the mistake--the translators made it." the kings and princes of this world, when they issue invitations, call round them the rich, the mighty and powerful, the honorable and the wise; but the lord, when he was on earth; called round him the vilest of the vile. that was the principal fault the people found with him. those self-righteous pharisees were not going to associate with harlots and publicans. the principal charge against him was: "this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." who would have such a man around him as john bunyan in his time? he, a bedford tinker, couldn't get inside one of the princely castles. i was very much amused when i was over on the other side. they had erected a monument to john bunyan, and it was unveiled by lords and dukes and great men. while he was on earth, they would not have allowed him inside the walls of their castles. yet he was made one of the mightiest instruments in the spread of the gospel. no book that has ever been written comes so near the bible as john bunyan's "pilgrim's progress." and he was a poor bedford tinker. so it is with god. he picks up some poor, lost tramp, and makes him an instrument to turn hundreds and thousands to christ. george whitefield, standing in his tabernacle in london, and with a multitude gathered about him, cried out: "the lord jesus will save the devil's castaways!" two poor abandoned wretches standing outside in the street, heard him, as his silvery voice rang out on the air. looking into each other's faces, they said: "that must mean you and me." they wept and rejoiced. they drew near and looked in at the door, at the face of the earnest messenger, the tears streaming from his eyes as he plead with the people to give their hearts to god. one of them wrote him a little note and sent it to him. later that day, as he sat at the table of lady huntington, who was his special friend, someone present said: "mr. whitefield, did you not go a little too far to-day when you said that the lord would save the devil's castaways?" taking the note from his pocket he gave it to the lady, and said: "will you read that note aloud?" she read: "mr. whitefield: two poor lost women stood outside your tabernacle to-day, and heard you say that the lord would save the devil's castaways. we seized upon that as our last hope, and we write you this to tell you that we rejoice now in believing in him, and from this good hour we shall endeavor to serve him, who has done so much for us." . the "i will" of cleansing. the next "i will" is found in luke, fifth chapter. we read of a leper who came to christ, and said: "lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." the lord touched him, saying, "_i will: be thou clean_"; and immediately the leprosy left him. now if any man or woman full of the leprosy of sin read this, if you will but go to the master and tell all your case to him, he will speak to you as he did to that poor leper and say. "i will: be thou clean," and the leprosy of your sins will flee away from you. it is the lord, and the lord alone, who can forgive sins. if you say to him, "lord, i am full of sin; thou canst make me clean"; "lord, i have a terrible temper; thou canst make me clean"; "lord, i have a deceitful heart. cleanse me, o lord; give me a new heart. o lord, give me the power to overcome the flesh, and the snares of the devil!"; "lord, i am full of unclean habits"; if you come to him with a sincere spirit, you will hear the voice, "i will; be thou clean." it will be done. do you think that the god who created the world out of nothing, who by a breath put life into the world--do you think that if he says, "thou shalt be clean," you will not? now, you can make a wonderful exchange to-day. you can have health in the place of sickness; you can get rid of everything that is vile and hateful in the sight of god. the son of god comes down, and says, "i will take away your leprosy, and give you health in its stead. i will take away that terrible disease that is ruining your body and soul, and give you my righteousness in its stead. i will clothe you with the garments of salvation." is it not wonderful? that's what he means when he says--_i will_. oh, lay hold of this "i will!" . the "i will" of confession. now turn to matthew, tenth chapter, thirty-second verse: "_whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will i confess also before my father which is in heaven_." there's the "i will" of confession. now, that's the next thing that takes place after a man is saved. when we have been washed in the blood of the lamb, the next thing is to get our mouths opened. we have to confess christ here in this dark world, and tell his love to others. we are not to be ashamed of the son of god. a man thinks it a great honor when he has achieved a victory that causes his name to be mentioned in the english parliament, or in the presence of the queen and her court. how excited we used to be during the war, when some general did something extraordinary, and someone got up in congress to confess his exploits; how the papers used to talk about it! in china, we read, the highest ambition of the successful soldier is to have his name written in the palace or temple of confucius. but just think of having your name mentioned in the kingdom of heaven by the prince of glory, by the son of god, because you confess him here on earth! you confess him here; he will confess you yonder. if you wish to be brought into the clear light of liberty, you must take your stand on christ's side. i have known many christians go groping about in darkness, and never get into the clear light of the kingdom, because they were ashamed to confess the son of god. we are living in a day when men want a religion without the cross. they want the crown, but not the cross. but if we are to be disciples of jesus christ, we have to take up our crosses _daily_--not once a year, or on the sabbath, but daily. and if we take up our crosses and follow him, we shall be blessed in the very act. i remember a man in new york who used to come and pray with me. he had his cross. he was afraid to confess christ. it seemed that down at the bottom of his trunk he had a bible. he wanted to get it out and read it to the companion with whom he lived, but he was ashamed to do it. for a whole week that was his cross; and after he had carried the burden that long, and after a terrible struggle, he made up his mind. he said, "i will take my bible out tonight and read it." he took it out, and soon he heard the footsteps of his mate coming upstairs. his first impulse was to put it away again, but then he thought he would not--he would face his companion with it. his mate came in, and seeing him at his bible, said, "john, are you interested in these things?" "yes," he replied. "how long has this been, then?" asked his companion. "exactly a week," he answered; "for a whole week i have tried to get out my bible to read to you, but i have never done so till now." "well," said his friend, "it is a strange thing. _i was converted on the some night_, and i too was ashamed to take my bible out." you are ashamed to take your bible out and say, "i have lived a godless life for all these years, but i will commence now to live a life of righteousness." you are ashamed to open your bible and read that blessed psalm, "the lord is my shepherd, i shall not want." you are ashamed to be seen on your knees. no man can be a disciple of jesus christ without bearing his cross. a great many people want to know how it is jesus christ has so few disciples, whilst mahomet has so many. the reason is that mahomet gives no cross to bear. there are so few men who will come out to take their stand. i was struck during the american war with the fact that there were so many men who could go to the cannon's mouth without trembling, but who had not courage to take up their bibles to read them at night. they were ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ, which is the power of god unto salvation. "whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will i confess also before my father which is in heaven. but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven." . the "i will" of service. the next _i will_ is the "i will" of service. there are a good many christians who have been quickened and aroused to say, "i want to do some service for christ." well, christ says, "_follow me, and i will make you fishers of men_." there is no christian who cannot help to bring someone to the savior. christ says, "and i, if i be lifted up, will draw all men unto me"; and our business is just to lift up christ. our lord said, "follow me, peter, and i will make you a fisher of men"; and peter simply obeyed him, and there, on that day of pentecost, we see the result. peter had a good haul on the day of pentecost. i doubt if he ever caught so many fish in one day as he did men on that day. it would have broken every net they had on board, if they had had to drag up three thousand fishes. i read some time ago of a man who took passage in a stage coach. there were first, second and third-class passengers. but when he looked into the coach, he saw all the passengers sitting together without distinction. he could not understand it till by-and-by they came to a hill, and the coach stopped, and the driver called out, "first-class passengers keep their seats, second-class passengers get out and walk, third class passengers get behind and push." now in the church we have no room for first-class passengers--people who think that salvation means an easy ride all the way to heaven. we have no room for second class passengers--people who are carried most of the time, and who, when they must work out their own salvation, go trudging on giving never a thought to helping their fellows along. all church members ought to be third class passengers--ready to dismount and push all together, and push with a will. that was john wesley's definition of a church--"all at it, and always at it." every christian ought to be a worker. he need not be a preacher, he need not be an evangelist, to be useful. he may be useful in business. see what power an employer has, if he likes! how he could labor with his employees, and in his business relations! often a man can be far more useful in a business sphere than he could in another. there is one reason, and a great reason, why so many do not succeed. i have been asked by a great many good men, "why is it we don't have any results? we work hard, pray hard, and preach hard, and yet the success does not come." i will tell you. it is because they spend all their time mending their nets. no wonder they never catch anything. the great matter is to hold inquiry meetings, and thus pull the net in, and see if you have caught anything. if you are always mending and setting the net, you won't catch many fish. whoever heard of a man going out to fish, and setting his net, and then letting it stop there, and never pulling it in? everybody would laugh at the man's folly. a minister in england came to me one day, and said, "i wish you would tell me why we ministers don't succeed better than we do." i brought before him this idea of pulling in the net, and i said, "you ought to pull in your nets. there are many ministers in manchester who can preach much better than i can, but i pull in the net." many people have objections to inquiry meetings, but i urged upon him the importance of them, and the minister said, "i never did pull in my net, but i will try next sunday." he did so, and eight persons, anxious inquirers, went into his study. the next sunday he came down to see me, and said he had never had such a sunday in his life. he had met with marvelous blessing. the next time he drew the net there were forty, and when he came to see me later, he said to me joyfully, "moody, i have had eight hundred conversions this last year! it is a great mistake i did not begin earlier to pull in the net." so, my friends, if you want to catch men, just pull in the net. if you only catch one, it will be something. it may be a little child, but i have known a little child to convert a whole family. you don't know what is in that little dull-headed boy in the inquiry-room; he may become a martin luther, a reformer that shall make the world tremble--you cannot tell. god uses the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. god's promise is as good as a bank note--"i promise to pay so-and-so," and here is one of christ's promissory notes--"if you follow me, i will make you fishers of men." will you not lay hold of the promise, and trust it, and follow him now? if a man preaches the gospel, and preaches it faithfully, he ought to expect results then and there. i believe it is the privilege of god's children to reap the fruit of their labor three hundred and sixty five days in the year. "well, but," say some, "is there not a sowing time as well as harvest?" yes, it is true, there is; but then, you can sow with one hand, and reap with the other. what would you think of a farmer who went on sowing all the year round, and never thought of reaping? i repeat it, we want to sow with one hand, and reap with the other; and if we look for the fruit of our labors, we shall see it. "i, if i be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." we must lift christ up, and then seek men out, and bring them to him. you must use the right kind of bait. a good many don't do this, and then they wonder they are not successful. you see them getting up all kinds of entertainments with which to try and catch men. they go the wrong way to work. this perishing world wants christ, and him crucified. there's a void in every man's bosom that wants filling up, and if we only approach him with the right kind of bait, we shall catch him. this poor world needs a savior; and if we are going to be successful in catching men, we must preach christ crucified--not his life only but his death. and if we are only faithful in doing this, we shall succeed. and why? because there is his promise: "if you follow me, i will make you fishers of men." that promise holds just as good to you and me as it did to his disciples, and is as true now as it was in their time. think of paul up yonder. people are going up every day and every hour, men and women who have been brought to christ through his writings. he set streams in motion that have flowed on for more than a thousand years. i can imagine men going up there, and saying, "paul, i thank you for writing that letter to the ephesians; i found christ in that." "paul, i thank you for writing that epistle to the corinthians." "paul, i found christ in that epistle to the philippians." "i thank you, paul, for that epistle to the galatians; i found christ in that." and so, i suppose, they are going up still, thanking paul all the while for what he had done. ah, when paul was put in prison he did not fold his hands and sit down in idleness! no, he began to write; and his epistles have come down through the long ages of time, and brought thousands on thousands to a knowledge of christ crucified. yes, christ said to paul, "i will make you a fisher of men if you will follow me," and he has been fishing for souls ever since. the devil thought he had done a very wise thing when he got paul into prison, but he was very much mistaken; he overdid it for once. i have no doubt paul has thanked god ever since for that philippian gaol, and his stripes and imprisonment there. i am sure the world has made more by it than we shall ever know till we get to heaven. . the "i will" of comfort. the next "i will" is in john, fourteenth chapter, verse eighteen: "_i will not leave you comfortless_." to me it is a sweet thought that christ has not left us alone in this dark wilderness here below. although he has gone up on high, and taken his seat by the father's throne, he has not left us comfortless. the better translation is, "i will not leave you _orphans_." he did not leave joseph when they cast him into prison. "god was with him." when daniel was cast into the den of lions, they had to put the almighty in with him. they were so bound together that they could not be separated, and so god went down into the den of lions with daniel. if we have got christ with us, we can do all things. do not let us be thinking how weak we are. let us lift up our eyes to him, and think of him as our elder brother, who has all power given to him in heaven and on earth. he says: "lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." some of our children and friends leave us, and it is a very sad hour. but, thank god, the believer and christ shall never be separated! he is with us here, and we shall be with him in person by and by, and shall see him in his beauty. but not only is he with us, but he has sent us the holy ghost. let us honor the holy ghost by acknowledging that he is here in our midst. he has power to give sight to the blind, liberty to the captive, and to open the ears of the deaf that they may hear the glorious words of the gospel. . the "i will" of resurrection. then there is another _i will_ in john, sixth chapter, verse forty; it occurs four times in the chapter: "_i will raise him up at the last day_." i rejoice to think that i have a savior who has power over death. my blessed master holds the keys him, and i got more comfort out of that promise "i will raise him up at the last day," than anything else in the bible. how it cheered me! how it lighted up my path! and as i went into the room and looked upon the lovely face of that brother, how that passage ran through my soul: "thy brother shall rise again." i said, "thank god for that promise." it was worth more than the world to me. when we laid him in the grave, it seemed as if i could hear the voice of jesus christ saying, "thy brother shall rise again." blessed promise of the resurrection! blessed "i will!" "i will raise him up at the last day." . the "i will" of glory. now the next _i will_ is in john, seventeenth chapter, twenty-fourth verse: "_father, i will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where i am_." this was in his last prayer in the guest-chamber, on the last night before he was crucified and died that terrible death on calvary. many a believer's countenance begins to light up at the thought that he shall see the king in his beauty by and by. yes; there is a glorious day before us in the future. some think that on the first day we are converted we have got everything. to be sure, we get salvation for the past and peace for the present; but then there is the glory for the future in store. that's what kept paul rejoicing. he said, "these light afflictions, these few stripes, these few brickbats and stones that they throw at me--why, the glory that is beyond excels them so much that i count them as nothing, nothing at all, so that i may win christ." and so, when things go against us, let us cheer up; let us remember that the night will soon pass away, and the morning dawn upon us. death never comes there. it is banished from that heavenly land. sickness, and pain, and sorrow, come not there to mar that grand and glorious home where we shall be by and by with the master. god's family will be all together there. glorious future, my friends! yes, glorious day! and it may be a great deal nearer than many of us think. during these few days we are here let us stand steadfast and firm, and by and by we shall be in the unbroken circle in yon world of light, and have the king in our midst. the red library mo, cloth, each net. cts. weighed and wanting. men of the bible. bible characters. select sermons. moody's anecdotes. the overcoming life. the way to god. thoughts for the quiet hour. moody's latest sermons short talks by d. l. moody. pleasure and profit in bible study. sowing and reaping. heaven. moody's stories. to the work! sovereign grace. prevailing prayer. secret power. _the above eighteen volumes are all by d. l. moody, and are published as "the moody library," in boxed set, net, $ . _. the true estimate of life. by g. campbell morgan. all of grace. by c. h. spurgeon. according to promise. by c. h. spurgeon. john ploughman's talks. by c. h. spurgeon. john ploughman's pictures. by c. h. spurgeon. good tidings. recitation poems. the way of life. tales of adventure from the old book. resurrection. select poems for the silent hour. up from sin. the revival of a dead church. fleming h. revell company chicago new york toronto publishers of evangelical literature to the work to the work exhortations to christians by d. l. moody fleming h. revell company chicago, new york & toronto _publishers of evangelical literature_ entered according to act of congress, in the year by f. h. revell, in the office of the librarian of congress at washington. _all rights reserved._ contents. chapter i. "take ye away the stone" chapter ii. love, the motive power for service chapter iii. faith and courage chapter iv. faith rewarded chapter v. enthusiasm chapter vi. the power of little things chapter vii. "she hath done what she could" chapter viii. "who is my neighbor?" chapter ix. "ye are the light of the world" "to the work! to the work!" chapter i. take ye away the stone. in the gospel by john we read that at the tomb of lazarus our lord said to his disciples, "take ye away the stone." before the act of raising lazarus could be performed, the disciples had their part to do. christ could have removed the stone with a word. it would have been very easy for him to have commanded it to roll away, and it would have obeyed his voice, as the dead lazarus did when he called him back to life. but the lord would have his children learn this lesson: that they have something to do towards raising the spiritually dead. the disciples had not only to take away the stone, but after christ had raised lazarus they had to "loose and let him go." it is a question if any man on the face of the earth has ever been converted, without god using some human instrument, in some way. god could easily convert men without us; but that is not his way. the stone i want to speak about to-day, that must be rolled away before any great work of god can be brought about, is the miserable stone of prejudice. many people have a great prejudice against revivals; they hate the very word. i am sorry to say that this feeling is not confined to ungodly or careless people; there are not a few christians who seem to cherish a strong dislike both to the word "revival" and to the thing itself. what does "revival" mean? it simply means a recalling from obscurity--a finding some hidden treasure and bringing it back to the light. i think every one of us must acknowledge that we are living in a time of need. i doubt if there is a family in the world that has not some relative whom they would like to see brought into the fold of god, and who needs salvation. men are anxious for a revival in business. i am told that there is a widespread and general stagnation in business. people are very anxious that there should be a revival of trade this winter. there a great revival in politics just now. in all departments of life you find that men are very anxious for a revival in the things that concern them most. if this is legitimate--and i do not say but it is perfectly right in its place--should not every child of god be praying for and desiring a revival of godliness in the world at the present time. do we not need a revival of downright honesty, of truthfulness, of uprightness, and of temperance? are there not many who have become alienated from the church of god and from the house of the lord, who are forming an attachment to the saloon? are not our sons being drawn away by hundreds and thousands, so that while you often find the churches empty, the liquor shops are crowded every sabbath afternoon and evening. i am sure the saloon-keepers are glad if they can have a revival in their business; they do not object to sell more whisky and beer. then surely every true christian ought to desire that men who are in danger of perishing eternally should be saved and rescued. some people seem to think that "revivals" are a modern invention--that they have only been known within the last few years. but they are nothing new. if there is not scriptural authority for revivals, then i cannot understand my bible. for the first , years of the world's history they had no revival that we know of; probably, if they had, there would have been no flood. the first real awakening, of which we read in the old testament, was when moses was sent down to egypt to bring his brethren out of the house of bondage. when moses went down to goshen, there must have been a great commotion there; many things were done out of the usual order. when three millions of hebrews were put behind the blood of the slain lamb, that was nothing but god reviving his work among them. under joshua there was a great revival; and again under the judges. god was constantly reviving the jewish nation in those olden times. samuel brought the people to mizpah, and told them to put away their strange gods. then the israelites went out and defeated the philistines, so that they never came back in his day. dr. bonar says it may be that david and jonathan were converted under that revival in the time of samuel. what was it but a great revival in the days of elijah? the people had turned away to idolatry, and the prophet summoned them to mount carmel. as the multitude stood there on the mountain, god answered by fire; the people fell on their faces and cried, "the lord, he is the god." that was the nation turning back to god. no doubt there were men talking against the work, and saying it would not last. that is the cry of many to-day, and has been the cry for , years. some old carmelite very probably said in the days of elijah: "this will not be permanent." so there are not a few in these days shaking their wise heads and saying the work will not last. when we come to new testament times, we have the wonderful revival under john the baptist. was there ever a man who accomplished so much in a few months, except the master himself? the preaching of john was like the breath of spring after a long and dreary winter. for long years there had been no prophet, and darkness had settled down on the nation. john's advent was like the flashing of a brilliant meteor that heralded the coming day. it was not in the temple or in any synagogue that he preached, but on the banks of the jordan. men, women, and children flocked to hear him. almost any one can get an audience in a crowded city, but this was away out in the desert. no doubt there was great excitement. i suppose the towns and villages were nearly depopulated, as they flocked out to hear the preaching of john. people are so afraid of excitement. when i went over to england in , i was asked to go and preach at the derby race-course. i saw more excitement there in one day than i have seen at all the religious meetings i ever attended in my life put together. and yet i heard no one complaining of too much excitement. i heard of a minister, not long ago, who was present at a public dance till after five o'clock in the morning. the next sabbath he preached against the excitement of revivals--the late hours, and so on. very consistent kind of reasoning, was it not? then look at pentecost. the apostles preached, and you know what the result was. i suppose the worldly men of that day said it would all die away. although they brought about the martyrdom of stephen and of james, other men rose up to take possession of the field. from the very place where stephen was slain, saul took up the work, and it has been going on ever since. there are many professed christians who are all the time finding fault and criticising. they criticise the preaching, or the singing. the prayers will be either too long or too short, too loud, or not loud enough. they will find fault with the reading of the word of god, or will say it was not the right portion. they will criticise the preacher. "i do not like his style," they say. if you doubt what i say, listen to the people as they go out of a revival meeting, or any other religious gathering. "what did you think of the preacher?" says one. "well, i must confess i was disappointed. i did not like his manner. he was not graceful in his actions." another will say: "he was not logical; i like logic." or another: "he did not preach enough about repentance." if a preacher does not go over every doctrine in every sermon people begin to find fault. they say: "there was too much repentance, and no gospel; or, it was all gospel, and no repentance." "he spoke a great deal abort justification, but he said nothing about sanctification." so if a man does not go right through the bible, from genesis to revelation, in one sermon, they at once proceed to criticise and find fault. "the fact is," says some one of this class, "the man did not touch my heart at all." some one else will say, "he was all heart and no head. i like a man to preach to my intellect." or, "he appeals too much to the will; he does not give enough prominence to the doctrine of election." or, again, "there is no backbone in his preaching; he does not lay sufficient stress on doctrine." or, "he is not eloquent;" and so on, and so on. you may find hundreds of such fault-finders among professed christians; but all their criticism will not lead one solitary soul to christ. i never preached a sermon yet that i could not pick to pieces and find fault with. i feel that jesus christ ought to have a far better representative than i am. but i have lived long enough to discover that there is nothing perfect in this world. if you are to wait until you can find a perfect preacher, or perfect meetings, i am afraid you will have to wait till the millennium arrives. what we want is to be looking right up to him. let us get done with fault-finding. when i hear people talk in the way i have described, i say to them, "come and do better yourself. step up here and try what you can do." my friends, it is so easy to find fault; it takes neither brains nor heart. some years ago, a pastor of a little church in a small town became exceedingly discouraged, and brooded over his trials to such an extent that he became an inveterate grumbler. he found fault with his brethren because he imagined they did not treat him well. a brother minister was invited to assist him a few days in a special service. at the close of the sabbath morning service our unhappy brother invited the minister to his house to dinner. while they were waiting alone in the parlor, he began his doleful story by saying: "my brother, you have no idea of my troubles; and one of the greatest is, my brethren in the church treat me very badly." the other propounded the following questions: "did they ever spit in your face?" "no; they haven't come to that." "did they ever smite you?" "no." "did they ever crown you with thorns?" this last question he could not answer, but bowed his head thoughtfully. his brother replied: "your master and mine was thus treated, and all his disciples fled and left him in the hands of the wicked. yet he opened not his mouth." the effect of this conversation was wonderful. both ministers bowed in prayer and earnestly sought to possess the mind which was in christ jesus. during the ten days' meetings the discontented pastor became wonderfully changed. he labored and prayed with his friend, and many souls were brought to christ. some weeks after, a deacon of the church wrote and said: "your late visit and conversation with our pastor have had a wonderful influence for good. we never hear him complain now, and he labors more prayerfully and zealously." another charge brought against revivals is that they are out of the regular order of things. well, there is no doubt about that. but that does not prove that they are wrong. eldad and medad were out of the regular succession. joshua wanted moses to rebuke them. instead of that he said: "would god that all the lord's people were prophets." elijah and elisha did not belong to the regular school of prophets, yet they exercised a mighty influence for good in their day. john the baptist was not in the regular line. he got his theological training out in the desert. jesus christ himself was out of the recognized order. when philip told nathaniel that he had found the messiah, he said to him: "can there any good thing come out of nazareth?" as we read the history of the past few centuries we find that god has frequently taken up those who were, so to speak, out of the regular line. martin luther had to break through the regular order of things in his day before he brought about the mighty reformation. there are now some sixty millions of people who adhere to the lutheran church. wesley and whitefield were not exactly in the regular line, but see what a mighty work they accomplished! my friends, when god works many things will be done "out of the regular order." it seems to me that will be a good thing. there are a few who cannot be reached, apparently, through the regular channels, who will come to meetings like these out of the usual routine. we have got our churches, it is true, but we want to make an effort to reach the outlying masses who will not go to them. many will come in to these meetings simply because they are to be held only for a few days. and so, if they are to come at all, they must come to a decision about it quickly. others come out of idle curiosity, or a desire to know what is going on. and often at the first meeting something that is spoken or that is sung will touch them. they have come under the sound of the gospel; probably they will become real christians and useful members of society. you will sometimes hear people say, "we have our churches; if men will not come to them, let them keep out." that was not the spirit of the master. when our civil war broke out we had a very small standing army. government asked for volunteers to enlist. several hundreds of thousands of men came forward and joined the ranks of the regular army. there was plenty for every man to do. these volunteers were not so well trained and drilled as the older solders, but we could use the irregulars as well as the regulars. many of the former soon became efficient soldiers, and these volunteers did great service in the cause of the nation. if the outlying masses of the people are to be reached we must have the regulars and the irregulars both. i remember hearing of a sunday-school in our country where the teacher had got into ruts. a young man was placed in charge as superintendent, and he wanted to re-arrange the seats. some of the older members said the seats had been in their present position for so many years, that they could not be moved! there is a good deal of that kind of spirit nowadays. it seems to me that if one method is not successful we ought to give it up and try some other plan that may be more likely to succeed. if the people will not come to the "regular means of grace," let us adopt some means that will reach them and win them. do not let us be finding fault because things are not done exactly as they have been done in the past, and as we think they ought to be done. i am sick and tired of those who are constantly complaining. let us pay no heed to them, but let us go forward with the work that god has given us to do. another very serious charge is brought against revivals. they say the work will not last. as i have said there were doubtless many at the day of pentecost who said that. and when stephen was stoned to death, james beheaded, and finally all the apostles put to death, no doubt they said that pentecost was a stupendous failure. but was it a failure? are not the fruits of that revival at pentecost to be seen even in our time? in the sight of the world the mission of john the baptist may have been thought to be a failure when he was beheaded by the command of herod. but it was not a failure in the sight of heaven. the influence of this wilderness prophet is felt in the church of god to-day. the world thought christ's life was a failure as he hung on the cross and expired. but in the sight of god it was altogether different. god made the wrath of men to praise him. i have little sympathy with those pastors who, when god is reviving the churches, begin to preach against revivals. there is not a denomination in christendom to-day that has not sprung out of a revival. the roman catholics and the episcopalians both claim to be apostolic in their origin; if they are, they sprang out of the revival at pentecost. the methodist body rose out of revivals under john wesley and george whitefield. did not the lutheran church come from the great awakening that swept through germany in the days of luther? was not scotland stirred up through the preaching of john knox? where did the quakers come from if not from the work of god under george fox? yet people are so afraid if the regular routine of things is going to be disturbed. let us pray that god may raise up many who will be used by him for the reviving of his church in our day. i think the time has come when we need it. i remember we went into one place where one of the ministers found that his church was opposed to his taking part in the meetings. he was told that if he identified himself with the movement he would alienate some of his congregation. he took the church record and found that four-fifths of the members of the church had been converted in times of revival, among others the superintendent of the sabbath-school, all the officers of the church, and nearly every active member. the minister went into the church the following sabbath and preached a sermon on revivals, reminding them of what had taken place in the history of the congregation. you will find that many who talk against revivals have themselves been converted in such a time. not long ago a very able minister preached a sermon against these awakenings; he did not believe in them. some of his people searched the church records to see how many during the previous twelve years had been added to the membership on profession of their faith; they found that not a single soul had joined the church all these years on profession of faith. no wonder the minister of a church like that preached against revivals! my experience has been that those who are converted in a time of special religious interest make even stronger christians than those who were brought into the church at ordinary times. one young convert helps another, and they get a better start in the christian life when there are a good many together. people say the converts sill not hold out. well, they did not all hold out under the preaching of jesus christ. "many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him." paul mourned over the fact that some of those who made profession were walking as the enemies of the cross of christ. the master taught in his wonderful parable that there are various kinds of hearers--those represented by the wayside hearers, the stony ground hearers, the thorny ground hearers, and the good ground hearers; they will remain to the end of time. i have a fruit tree at my home, and every year it has so many blossoms that if they should all produce apples the tree would break down. nine-tenths, perhaps, of the blossoms will fall off, and yet i have a large number of apples. so there are many who make a profession of christianity who fall away. it may be that those who seemed to promise the fairest turn out the worst, and those who did not promise so well turn out best in the end. god must prepare the ground and he must give the increase. i have often said that if i had to convict men of sin i would have given up the work long ago. that is the work of the holy ghost. what we have to do is to scatter the good seed of the word, and expect that god will bless it to the saving of men's souls. of course we cannot expect much help from those who are all the time talking against revivals. i believe many young disciples are chilled through by those who condemn these special efforts. if the professed converts sometimes do not hold out, it is not always their own fault. i was preaching in a certain city some time ago, and a minister said to me: "i hope this work will not turn out like the revival here five years ago. i took one hundred converts into the church, and, with the exception of one or two, i do not know where they are today." this was discouraging. i mentioned it to another minister in the same city, and i said i would rather give up the work, and go back to business, if the work was not going to last. he said to me: "i took in one hundred converts at the same time, and i can lay my hand on ninety-eight out of the hundred. for five years i have watched them, and only two have fallen away." then he asked me if his brother minister had told me what took place in his church after they brought in those young converts. some of them thought they ought to have a better church, and they got divided among themselves; so nearly all the members left the church. if anyone will but engage heartily in this work they will have enough to encourage them. it is very easy for men to talk against a work like this. but we generally find that such people not only do nothing at all themselves, but they know nothing about that which they are criticising. surely it is hardly fair to condemn a work that we have not been at the trouble to become personally acquainted with. if, instead of sitting on the platform and simply looking on or criticising, such persons would get down among the people and talk to them about their souls, they would soon find out whether the work was real or not. i remember hearing of a man who returned from a residence in india. he was out at dinner one day with some friends, and he was asked about missions; he said he had never seen a native convert all the time he was in india. a missionary who was present did not reply directly to the statement, but he quietly asked the sceptical englishman if he had seen any tigers in india. the man rubbed his hands, as if the recollection gave him a good deal of pleasure, and said: "tigers! yes, i should think so. i have shot a good many of them." said the missionary, "well, i was in india for a number of years and never saw a tiger." the fact was that the one had been looking for converts and the other for tigers, and they both found what they looked for. if we look for converts we shall find them; there is no doubt about that. but the truth is that in almost every case those who talk against revivals know nothing whatever about it from personal contact and experience. do you suppose that the young converts are going round to your house and knock at the door to tell you they have been converted? if you wish to find out the truth you must go among them in their homes and talk to them. i hope no one will be afraid of the inquiry room. at one of the places where i worked once i found a good many people who hated the very word "inquiry room." but i contend that it is a perfectly reasonable thing. when a boy is at school and cannot solve some problem in algebra, he asks help of some one who knows it. here is the great problem of eternal life that has to be solved by each of us. why should we not ask those who are more experienced than ourselves to help us if they can. if we have any difficulty we cannot overcome, probably we shall find some godly man or woman who had the same difficulty twenty years ago; they will be glad to help us, and tell us how they were enabled to surmount it. do not be afraid therefore to let them help you. i believe there is not a living soul who has a spiritual difficulty but there is some promise in the word of god to meet that difficulty. but if you keep your feelings and your troubles all locked up, how are you to be helped? i might stand here and preach to you right on for thirty days and not touch your particular difficulty. but twenty minutes' private conversation may clear away all your doubts and troubles. there was a lady who worked in the inquiry room when we were in the south of london nine years ago. i saw her again a short time ago, and she told me that she had a list of thirty-five cases of those with whom she conversed, and who she thought were truly converted. she has written letters to them and sent them little gifts at christmas, and she said to me that so far as she could judge not a single one of the thirty-five had wandered away. she has placed her life alongside of theirs all these years, and she has been able to be a blessing to them. if we had a thousand such persons, by the help of god we should see signs and wonders. there is no class of people, however hopeless or degraded, but can be reached, only we must lay ourselves out to reach them. many christians are asleep; we want to arouse them, so that they shall take a personal interest in those who are living in carelessness and sin. let us lay aside all our prejudices. if god is working it matters little whether or not the work is done in the exact way that we would like to see it done, or in the way we have seen it done in the past. let there be one united cry going up to god, that he will revive his work in our midst. let the work of revival begin with us who are christians. let us remove all the hindrances that come from ourselves. then, by the help of the spirit, we shall be able to reach these non-church goers, and multitudes will be brought into the kingdom of god. chapter ii. love, the motive power for service. let me call your attention to paul's first letter to the corinthians, thirteenth chapter: in reading this passage let us use the word "love" instead of "charity":--"though i speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, i am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. and though i have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge: and though i have all faith, so that i could remove mountains, and have not love, i am nothing. and though i bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though i give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." it is a great thing to be a prophet like daniel, or isaiah, or elijah, or elisha; but it is a greater thing, we are told here, to be full of love than to be filled with the spirit of prophecy. mary of bethany, who was so full of love, held a higher position than these great prophets did. "love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease: whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. and now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." the enemy had got into that little church at corinth established by paul, and there was strife among the disciples. one said, "i am of apollos;" another, "i am of cephas;" and another, "i am of paul." paul saw that this sectarian strife and want of love among god's dear people would be disastrous to the church of god, and so he wrote this letter. i have often said that if every true believer could move into this chapter and live in the spirit of it for twelve months, the church of god would double its numbers within that time. one of the great obstacles in the way of god's work to-day is this want of love among those who are the disciples of the lord jesus christ. if we love a person we will not be pointing out his failings all the time. it is said: "many rules of eloquence have been set forth, but, strange, to say, the first and most essential of all has been overlooked, namely, love. to address men well they must be loved much. whatever they may be, be they ever so guilty, or indifferent, or ungrateful, or however deeply sunk in crime, before all, and above all, they must be loved. love is the sap of the gospel, the secret of lively and effectual preaching, the magic power of eloquence. the end of preaching is to reclaim the hearts of men to god, and nothing but love can find out the mysterious avenues which lead to the heart. if then you do not feel a fervent love and profound pity for humanity, be assured that the gift of christian eloquence has been denied you. you will not win souls, neither will you acquire that most excellent of earthly sovereignties--sovereignty over human hearts. an arab proverb runs thus--'the neck is bent by the sword, but heart is only bent by heart.' love is irresistible." look at these words: "love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not." how often it happens that if one outshines another there is apt to be envy in our hearts toward that one; we want a great deal of grace to keep it down. "love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." one of the worst enemies that christians have to contend with is this spirit of rivalry--this feeling, "who shall be the greatest?" some years ago i read a book that did me a great deal of good. it was entitled, "the training of the twelve." the writer said that christ spent most of his time during the three years he was engaged publicly about his father's business in training twelve men. the training he gave them was very different from the training of the schools at the present day. the world teaches men that they must seek to be great; christ taught that his disciples must be little; that in honor they must prefer one another; that they are not to be puffed up, not to harbor feelings of envy, but to be full of meekness and gentleness, and lowliness of heart. when an eminent painter was requested to paint alexander the great so as to give a perfect likeness of the macedonian conqueror, he felt a difficulty. alexander, in his wars, had been struck by a sword, and across his forehead was an immense scar. the painter said: "if i retain the scar, it will be an offense to the admirers of the monarch, and if i omit it it will fail to be a perfect likeness. what shall i do?" he hit upon a happy expedient; he represented the emperor leaning on his elbow, with his forefinger upon his brow, accidentally, as it seemed, covering the scar upon his forehead. might not we represent each other with the finger of charity upon the scar, instead of representing the scar deeper and blacker than it really is? christians may learn even from heathendom a lesson of charity, of human kindness and of love. this spirit of seeking to be the greatest has nearly ruined the church of god at different times in its history. if the church had not been divine it would have gone to pieces long ago. there is hardly any movement of reform to-day that has not been in danger of being thwarted and destroyed through this miserable spirit of ambition and self-seeking. may god enable us to get above this, to cast away our conceit and pride, and take christ as our teacher, that he may show us in what spirit his work ought to be done. one of the saddest things in the life of christ was the working of this spirit among his disciples even in the last hours of his intercourse with them, and just before he was led away to be crucified. we read in the gospel by luke: "but, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. and truly the son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed! and they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. and there was also a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest. and he said unto them, "the kings of the gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. but ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. for whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but i am among you as he that serveth." right there, on that memorable night when he had instituted the last supper, after they had been eating of the passover lamb, and the saviour was on his way to the cross,--even there this spirit arose among them: who should be the greatest! there is a charming tradition connected with the site on which the temple of solomon was erected. it is said to have been occupied in common by two brothers, one of whom had a family--the other had none. on this spot was sown a field of wheat. on the evening succeeding the harvest--the wheat having been gathered in separate shocks--the elder brother said to his wife: "my younger brother is unable to bear the burden and heat of the day, i will arise, take of my shocks, and place with his without his knowledge." the younger brother being actuated by the same benevolent motives, said within himself: "my elder brother has a family, and i have none. i will arise, take of my shocks, and place it with his." judge of their mutual astonishment, when, on the following day, they found their respective shocks undiminished. this course of events transpired for several nights, when each resolved in his own mind to stand guard and solve the mystery. they did so; when, on the following night, they met each other half way between their respective shocks with their arms full. upon ground hallowed by such associations as this was the temple of solomon erected--so spacious and magnificent--the wonder and admiration of the world! alas! in these days, how many would sooner steal their brother's whole shock than add to it a single sheaf! if we want to be wise in winning souls and to be vessels meet for the master's use we must get rid of the accursed spirit of self-seeking. that is the meaning of this chapter in paul's letter. he told these corinthians that a man might be full of faith and zeal; he might be very benevolent; but if he had not love he was like sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. i believe many men might as well go into the pulpit and blow a tin horn sabbath after sabbath as go on preaching without love. a man may preach the truth; he may be perfectly sound in doctrine; but if there is no love in his heart going out to those whom he addresses, and if he is doing it professionally, the apostle says he is only a sounding brass. it is not always _more_ work that we want so much as _a better motive_. many of us do a good deal of work, but we must remember that god looks at the motive. the only tree on this earth that can produce fruit which is pleasing to god is the tree of love. paul in writing to titus says: "speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, (or love) in patience." what is the worth of a sermon, however sound in doctrine it may be, if it be not sound in love and in patience? what are our prayers worth without the spirit of love? people say: "why is it that there is no blessing? our minister's sermons and prayers are very good." most likely you will find it is because the whole thing is done professionally. the words glisten like icicles in the sun, and they are as cold. there is not a spark of love in them. if that is the case there will be very little power. you may have your prayer-meetings, your praise meetings, your faith and hope meetings; you may _talk_ about all these things; but if there is no love mingled with them, god says you are as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. now a man may be a very good doctor and yet have no love for his patients. he may be a very clever and successful lawyer and yet have no love for his clients. a merchant may prosper greatly in business without caring at all about his customers. a man may be able to explain the wonderful mysteries of science or theology without any love. but no man can be a true worker for god, and a successful winner of souls without love. he may be a great preacher in the eyes of the world and have crowds flocking to hear him, but if love to god and to souls is not the motive power, the effects will all pass away like the morning cloud and the early dew. it is said when the men of athens went to hear demosthenes they were always moved, and felt that they must go and fight philip of macedon. there was another orator of that day who could carry them away by his eloquence at the time, but when the oration was over, all the influence had gone; it was nothing but fine words. so a man may be very eloquent and have a great flow of language; he may sway the multitudes while they are under his influence; but if there is no love at the back of what he says, it will all go for nothing. it was demosthenes' love for his country that stirred him, and then he stirred the people. when we get on to the higher plane of love it will not be hard for us to work for the lord. we will be glad to do anything, however small. god hates the great things in which love is not the motive power; but he delights in the little things that are prompted by a feeling of love. a cup of cold water given to a disciple in the spirit of love, is of far more value in god's sight than the taking of a kingdom, done out of ambition and vain glory. i am getting sick and tired of hearing the word, _duty_, _duty_. you hear so many talk about it being their duty to do this and do that. my experience is that such christians have very little success. is there not a much higher platform than that of mere duty? can we not engage in the service of christ because we love him? when that is the constraining power it is so easy to work. it is not hard for a mother to watch over a sick child. she does not look upon it as any hardship. you never hear paul talking about what a hard time he had in his master's service. he was constrained by love to christ, and by the love of christ to him. he counted it a joy to labor, and even to suffer, for his blessed master. perhaps you say i ought not to talk against duty; because a good deal of work would not be done at all if it were not done from a sense of duty. but i want you to see what a poor, low motive that is, and how you may reach a higher plane of service. i am thinking of going back to my home soon. i have in my mind an old, white-haired mother living on the banks of the connecticut river, in the same little town where she has been for the last eighty years. suppose when i return i take her some present, and when i give it to her i say: "you have been so very kind to me in the past that i thought it was my duty to bring you a present." what would she think? but how different it would be when i give it to her because of my strong love to her. how much more she would value it. so god wants his children to serve him for something else than mere duty. he does not want us to feel that it is a hard thing to do his will. take an army that fights because it is compelled to do so; they will not gain many victories. but how different when they are full of love for their country and for their commanders. then nothing can stand before them. do not think you can do any work for christ and hope to succeed if you are not impelled by love. napoleon tried to establish a kingdom by the force of arms. so did alexander the great, and caesar, and other great warriors; but they utterly failed. jesus founded his kingdom on love, and it is going to stand. when we get on to this plane of love, then all selfish and unworthy motives will disappear, and our work will stand the fire when god shall put it to the test. another thing i want you to bear in mind. love never looks to see what it is going to get in return. in the gospel by matthew we read of the parable of the man who went out to hire laborers that he might send them to work in his vineyard. after he had hired and sent out some in the morning, we are told that he found others standing idle later in the day, and he sent them also. it so happened that those who went out last got back first. those that went out early in the morning supposed they would get more wages than those that went at the eleventh hour, and when they found they were only to get the same, they began to murmur and complain. but what was the good man's answer: "friend, i do thee no wrong; didst not thou _agree_ with me for a penny? take that thine is, and go thy way; i will give unto this last, even as unto thee. is it not lawful for me to do what i will with mine own? is thine eye evil, because i am good? so the last shall be first, and the first last." i have generally found that those workers who are all the time looking to see how much they are going to get from the lord are never satisfied. but love does its work and makes no bargain. let us make no bargains with the lord, but be ready to go out and do whatever he appoints. i am sure if we go out cherishing love in our hearts for those we are going to try and reach, every barrier will be swept out of the way. love begets love, just as hatred begets hatred. love is the key to the human heart. some one has said: "light is for the mind, and love is for the heart." when you can reach men's hearts then you can turn them toward christ. but we must first win them to ourselves. you may have heard of the boy whose home was near a wood. one day he was in the wood, and he thought he heard the voice of another boy not far off. he shouted, "hallo, there!" and the voice shouted back, "hallo, there!" he did not know that it was the echo of his own voice, and he shouted again: "you are a mean boy!" again the cry came back, "you are a mean boy!" after some more of the same kind of thing he went into the house and told his mother that there was a bad boy in the wood. his mother, who understood how it was, said to him: "oh, no! you speak kindly to him, and see if he does not speak kindly to you." he went to the wood again and shouted: "hallo, there!" "hallo, there!" "you are a good boy." of course the reply came, "you are a good boy." "i love you." "i love you," said the other voice. you smile at that, but this little story explains the secret of the whole thing. some of you perhaps think you have bad and disagreable neighbors; most likely the trouble is with yourself. if you love your neighbors they will love you. as i said before, love is the key that will unlock every human heart. there is no man or woman in all this land so low and so degraded but you can reach them with love, gentleness and kindness. it may take years to do it, but it can be done. love must be active. as some one has said: "a man may hoard up his money; he may bury his talents in a napkin; but there is one thing he cannot hoard up, and that is love." you cannot bury it. it _must_ flow out. it cannot feed upon itself; it must have an object. i remember reading a few years ago of something that happened when we had the yellow fever in one of the southern cities. there was a family there who lived in a strange neighborhood where they had just moved. the father was stricken down with the fever. there were so many fatal cases happening that the authorities of the city did not stop to give them a decent burial. the dead-cart used to go through the street where the poor lived, and the bodies were carried away for burial. the neighbors of this family were afraid, and no one would visit the house because of the fever. it was not long before the mother was stricken down. before she died she called her boy to her, and said: "i will soon be gone, but when i am dead jesus will come and take care of you." she had no one on earth to whom she could commit him. in a little while she, too, was gone, and they carried her body away to the cemetery. the little fellow followed her to the grave. he saw where they laid her, and then he came back to the house. but he found it very lonely, and when it grew dark he got afraid and could not stay in the house. he went out and sat down on the step and began to weep. finally he went back to the cemetery, and finding the lot where his mother was buried, he laid down and wept himself to sleep. next morning a stranger passing that way found him on the grave, still weeping. "what are you doing here, my boy?" "waiting for the savior." the man wanted to know what he meant, and the boy told the story of what his mother had said to him. it touched the heart of the stranger, and he said, "well, my boy, jesus has sent me to take care of you." the boy looked up and replied: "you have been a long while coming." if we had the love of our master do you tell me that these outlying masses would not be reached? there is not a drunkard who would not be reached. there is not a poor fallen one, or a blasphemer, or an atheist, but would be influenced for good. the atheists cannot get over the power of love. it will upset atheism and every false system quicker than anything else. nothing will break the stubborn heart so quickly as the love of christ. i was in a certain home a few years ago; one of the household was a boy who, i noticed, was treated like one of the family, and yet he did not bear their name. one night i asked the lady of the house to explain to me what it meant. "i have noticed," i said, "that you treat him exactly like your own children, yet he is not your boy." "oh no," she said, "he is not. it is quite true i treat him as my own child." she went on to tell me his story. his father and mother were american missionaries in india; they had five children. the time came when the children had to be sent away from india, as they could not be educated there. they were to be sent to america for that purpose. the father and mother had been very much blessed in india, but they felt as though they could not give up their children. they thought they would leave their work in the foreign field and go back to america. they were not blessed to the same extent in working at home as they had been in india. the natives were writing to them to return, and by and by they decided that the call was so loud the father must go back. the mother said to him: "i cannot let you go alone; i must go with you." "but how can you leave the children? you have never been separated from them." she said: "i can do it for christ's sake." thank god for such love as that. when it was known they wanted to leave their children in good homes, this lady with whom i was staying said to the mother if she left one of them with her she would treat the child as her own. the mother came and stayed a week in the house to see that everything was right. the last morning came. when the carriage drove up to the door the mother said: "i want to leave my boy without shedding a tear; i cannot bear to have him think that it costs me tears to do what god has for me to do." my friend saw that there was a great struggle going on. her room was adjoining this lady's, who told me she heard the mother crying: "o god, give me strength for the hour; help me now." she came downstairs with a beautiful smile on her face. she took her boy to her bosom, kissed him, and left him without a tear. she left all her children, and went back to labor for christ in india; and from the shores of india she went up, before very long, to be with her master. that is what a weak woman can do when love to christ is the motive power. some time after that dear boy passed away to be with the mother. i was preaching in a certain city a few years ago, and i found a young man very active in bringing in the boys from the street into the meetings. if there was a hard case in the city he was sure to get hold of it. you would find him in the inquiry room with a whole crowd round him. i got to be very deeply interested in the young man and much attached to him. i found out that he was another son of that grand and glorious missionary. i found that all the sons were in training to go as foreign missionaries, to take the place of the mother and father, who had gone to their reward. it made such an impression on me that i could not shake it off. these boys have all gone to tell out among the heathen the story of christ and his love. i am convinced of this: when these hard-hearted people who now reject the savior are thoroughly awake to the fact that love is prompting our efforts on their behalf, the hardness will begin to soften, and their stubborn wills will begin to bend. this key of love will unlock their hearts. we can turn them, by god's help, from the darkness of this world to the light of the gospel. christ gave his disciples a badge. some of you wear a blue ribbon and others wear a red ribbon, but the badge that christ gave to his disciples was love. "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one toward another." love not only for those who are christians, but love for the fallen. the good samaritan had love for the poor man who had fallen among thieves. if we are filled with such love as that, the world will soon find out that we are the followers of the lord jesus christ. it will do more to upset infidelity and rebellion against god than anything else. speaking about hard cases being reached, reminds me that while i was in a home in london a young lady in that home felt that she was not doing as much for christ as she would like, and she decided she would take a class of boys. she has now some fifteen or twenty of these lads, from thirteen to sixteen years of age--a very difficult age to deal with. this christian young lady made up her mind that she would first try and win for herself the affection of these boys, and then seek to lead them to the savior. it is a beautiful sight to see how she has won their young hearts for herself, and i believe she will win them all to a pure and godly life. if we are willing to take up our work among the young with that spirit, these boys will be saved; and instead of helping to fill our prisons and poorhouses, they will become useful members of the church of god, and a blessing to society. i have a friend who has a large sabbath-school. he made up his mind when he began that if a boy did not have a good training in his own home, he could not get it anywhere else except in the sabbath-school; and he resolved that, if possible, when a boy was refractory he would not turn him adrift. he had a boy come to the school whom no teacher seemed able to manage. one after another would come to the superintendent and say: "you must take him out of my class; he is demoralizing all the others; he uses profane language, and he is doing more harm than all the good i can do." at last my friend made up his mind he would read the boy's name out and have him expelled publicly. he told a few of the teachers what he was going to do, but a wealthy young lady said: "i wish you would let me try the boy; i will do all i can to win him." my friend said to himself he was sure she would not have patience with him very long, but he put the boy in her class as she requested. the little fellow very soon broke the rules in the class, and she corrected him. he got so angry that he lost his temper and spat in her face. she quietly took a handkerchief and wiped her face. at the close of the lesson she asked him if he would walk home with her when school was over. no, he said, he didn't want to speak to her. he was not coming back to that old school any more. she asked if he would let her walk along with him. no, he wouldn't. well, she said, she was sorry he was going, but if he would call at her house on tuesday morning and ring the front door bell, there would be a little parcel waiting for him. she would not be at home herself, but if he asked the servant he would receive it. he replied: "you can keep your old parcel; i don't want it." however she thought he would be there. by tuesday morning the little fellow had got over his mad fit. he came to the house and rang the door bell; the servant handed him the parcel. when he opened it he found it contained a little vest, a necktie, and, best of all, a note written by the teacher. she told him how every night and every morning since he had been in her class she had been praying for him. now that he was going to leave her she wanted him to remember that as long as she lived she would pray for him, and she hoped he would grow up to be a good man. next morning the little fellow was in the drawing-room waiting to see her before she came downstairs from her bedroom. she found him there crying as if his heart would break. she asked him kindly what was the trouble. "oh," he said, "i have had no peace since i got your letter. you have been so kind to me and i have been so unkind to you; i wish you would forgive me." said my friend, the superintendent, "there are about eighteen hundred children in the school, and there is not a better boy among the whole of them." can we not do the same as that young lady did? shall we not reconsecrate ourselves now to god and to his service? had i the tongues of greeks and jews, and nobler speech than angels use: if love be absent, i am found like tinkling brass, an empty sound. were i inspired to preach and tell all that is done in heaven and hell-- or could my faith the world remove: still i am nothing without love. should i distribute all my store to feed the hungry, clothe the poor or give my body to the flame, to gain a martyr's glorious name: if love to god and love to men be absent, all my hopes are vain; nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal, the work of love can e'er fulfill. _dr. watts_ chapter iii. faith and courage. the key note of all our work for god should be faith. in all my life i have never seen men or women disappointed in receiving answers to their prayers, if those persons were full of faith, and had good grounds for their faith. of course we must have a warrant in scripture for what we expect. i am sure we have a good warrant in coming together to pray for a blessing on our friends and on our neighbors. unbelief is as much an enemy to the christian as it is to the unconverted. it will keep back the blessing now as much as it did in the days of christ. we read that in one place christ could not do many mighty works because of their unbelief. if christ could not do this, how can we expect to accomplish anything if the people of god are unbelieving? i contend that god's children are alone able to hinder god's work. infidels, atheists, and sceptics cannot do it. where there is union, strong faith, and expectation among christians, a mighty work is always done. in hebrews we read that without faith it is impossible to please god. "for he that cometh to god must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." that is addressed to us who are christians as much as to those who are seeking god for the first time. we are all of us seeking a blessing on our friends. we want god to revive us, and also that the outlying masses may be reached. we read in this passage that god blesses those who "diligently seek him." let us diligently seek him to-day; let us have great faith; and let our expectation be from god. i remember when i was a boy, in the spring of the year, when the snow had melted away on the new england hills where i lived, i used to take a certain kind of glass and hold it up to the warm rays of the sun. these would strike on it, and i would set the woods on fire. faith is the glass that brings the fire of god out of heaven. it was faith that drew the fire down on carmel and burned up elijah's offering. we have the same god to-day, and the same faith. some people seem to think that faith is getting old, and that the bible is wearing out. but the lord will revive his work now; and we shall be able to set the world on fire if each believer has a strong and simple faith. in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the hebrews the writer brings up one worthy after another, and each of them was a man or a woman of faith; they made the world better by living in it. listen to this description of what was accomplished by these men and women of faith: "who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy): they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. and these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: god having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." surely no child of god can read these words without being stirred. it is said that "women received their dead raised to life again." many of you have children who have gone far astray, and have been taken captive by strong drink, or led away by their lusts and passions; and you have become greatly discouraged about them. but if you have faith in god they may be raised up as from the dead, and brought back again. the wanderers may be reclaimed; the drunkards and the harlots may be reached and saved. there is no man or woman, however low he or she may have sunk, but can be reached. we ought in these days to have far more faith than abel, or enoch, or abraham had. they lived away on the other side of the cross. we talk about the faith of elijah, and the patriarchs and prophets; but they lived in the dim light of the past, while we are in the full blaze of calvary, and the resurrection. when we look back and think of what christ did, how he poured out his blood that men might be saved, we ought to go forth in his strength and conquer the world. our god is able to do great and mighty things. you remember that the roman centurion sent for christ to heal his servant; when the savior drew near, the centurion sent to him to say that he need not take the trouble to come into his house; all that was needed was that he should speak the word and his servant would live. probably he thought that if christ had the power to create worlds, to say "let there be light," and there was light, to make the sea and the earth bring forth abundantly, he could easily say the word and raise up his sick servant. we are told that when christ received the roman soldier's message he marvelled at his faith. dear friends, let us have faith at this moment that god will do great things in our midst. caleb and joshua were men of faith. they were worth more to israel than all the camp of unbelievers and the other ten spies put together. we read that moses sent out twelve men to spy out the land. let me say that faith never sends out any spies. you may perhaps reply that moses was commanded by god to send them out; but we read that it was because of the hardness of their hearts. if they had believed in god, they would have taken possession of the land at kadesh barnea. i suppose these twelve men were chosen because they were leading men and influential men in the twelve tribes. after they had been gone some thirty days they came back with what we might call a minority and a majority report. all the twelve admitted that the land was a good land, but the ten said, "we are not able to take it. we saw giants there--the sons of anak." you can see these ten spies in camp the night they returned; great crowds are gathered around them listening to their reports. probably there were very few gathered to hear caleb and joshua. it really seems sometimes that people are much more ready to believe a lie than to believe the truth. so these unbelieving men gathered around the ten spies. one of them is describing the giants in the land, and he says: "why, i had to look right up in order to see their faces; they made the earth tremble at their tread. the mountains and valleys are full of them. then we saw great walled cities. we are not able to take the land." but caleb and joshua had quite a different story to tell. those mighty giants seemed to be as grasshoppers in their sight. these men of faith remembered how god had delivered them out of the hand of pharaoh and brought them through the red sea; how he had given them bread from heaven to eat, and water to drink from the rock in the wilderness. if he marched with them surely they could go right up and take possession of the land. so they said: "let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to take it." what do we see in the church of god to-day? about ten out of every twelve professed christians are looking at the giants, at the walls, and at the difficulties in the way. they say: "we are not able to accomplish this work. we might do it if there were not so many drinking saloons, and so much drunkenness, and so many atheists and opposers." let us not give head to these unbelieving professors. if we have faith in god we are well able to go up and possess the land for christ. god always delights to honor faith. it may be some sainted weak woman, some bed-ridden one who is not able to attend the meetings, who will bring down the blessing. in the day when every man's work is tested, it may be seen that some hidden one who honored god by a simple faith was the one who caused such a blessing to descend upon our cities as shall shake the land from end to end. again, in these bible histories we find that faith is always followed by courage. caleb and joshua were full of courage, because they were men of faith. those who have been greatly used of god in all ages have been men of courage. if we are full of faith we shall not be full of fear, distrusting god all the while. that is the trouble with the church of christ to-day--there are so many who are fearful, because they do not believe that god is going to use them. what we need is to have the courage that will compel us to move forward. perhaps if we do this we may have to go against the advice of lukewarm christians. there are some who never seem to do anything but object, because the work is not always carried on exactly according to their ideas. they will say: "i do not think that is the best way to do things." they are very fruitful in raising objections to any plans that can be suggested. if any onward step is taken they are ready to throw cold water on it; they will suggest all kinds of difficulties. we want to have such faith and courage as shall enable us to move forward without waiting for these timid unbelievers. in the second book of chronicles we read that king asa had to go right against his father and mother; it took a good deal of courage to do that. he removed his mother from being queen, and cut down the idols and burnt them. there are times when we have to go against those who ought to be our best friends. is it not time for us to launch out into the deep? i have never seen people go out into the lanes and alleys, into the hedges and highways, and try to bring the people in, but the lord gave his blessing. if a man has the courage to go right to his neighbor and speak to him about his soul, god is sure to smile upon the effort. the person who is spoken to may wake up cross, but that is not always a bad sign. he may write a letter next day and apologize. at any rate it is better to wake him up in this way than that he should continue to slumber on to death and ruin. you notice when god was about to deliver israel out of the hand of the midianites, how he taught this lesson to gideon. gideon had gathered around him an army of thirty-two thousand men. he may probably have counted them, and when he knew that the midianites had an army of a hundred and thirty-five thousand he said to himself: "my army is too small; i am afraid i shall not succeed." but the lord's thoughts were different. he said to gideon: "you have too many men." so he told him that all those among the thirty-two thousand who were fearful and afraid might go back to their own homes, to their wives and their mothers; let them step to the rear. no sooner had gideon given this command than twenty-two thousand men wheeled out of line. it may be gideon thought the lord had made a mistake as he saw his army melt away. if two-thirds of a great audience were to rise and go out you would think they were all going. the lord said: "gideon, you have too many men yet. take your men down to the brook and try them once more. all those who take the water up in their hands and drink as they pass by can stay; those who stoop down to drink can go back." again he gave the word, and nine thousand seven hundred wheeled out of line and went to the rear, so that gideon was left with three hundred men. but this handful of men whose hearts beat true to the god of heaven, and who were ready to go forward in his name, were worth more than all the others who were all the time sowing seeds of discontent and predicting defeat. nothing will discourage an army like that. nothing is more discouraging in a church than to have a number of the people all the time expecting disaster and saying: "we do not think this effort will amount to anything; it is not according to our ideas." it would be a good thing for the church of god if all the fearful and faithless ones were to step to the rear, and let those who are full of faith and courage take their empty pitchers and go forward against the enemy. this little band of three hundred men who were left with gideon routed the midianites; but it was not their own might that gave them the victory. it was "the sword of the lord and of gideon." if we go on in the name of the lord, and trusting to his might, we shall succeed. before moses went up to heaven he did all he could to encourage joshua, to strengthen and cheer him. there was no sign of jealousy in the heart of moses, although he was not permitted to go into the land. he went up to the top of pisgah and saw that it was a good land; and he tried to encourage joshua to go forward and take possession of it. after moses had gone, we read that three times in one chapter god said to joshua: "be of good courage." god cheered his servant; "there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life." soon after that joshua took a walk around the walls of jericho. as he walked around he saw a man stand before him with a drawn sword in his hand. joshua was not afraid, but he said: "art thou for us or for our adversaries?" his courage was rewarded, for the man replied: "as captain of the host of the lord am i now come." he had been sent to encourage him and to lead him on to victory. so you will find all through the scriptures that god uses those who have courage, and not those who are looking for defeat. another thought: i never knew a case where god used a discouraged man or woman to accomplish any great thing for him. let a minister go into the pulpit in a discouraged frame of mind and it becomes contagious. it will soon reach the pews, and the whole church will become discouraged. so with a sabbath-school teacher; i never knew a worker of any kind who was full of discouragement and who met with success in the lord's work. it seems as if god cannot make any use of such a man. i remember a man telling me he preached for a number of years without any result. he used to say to his wife as they went to church that he knew the people would not believe anything he said; and there was no blessing. at last he saw his error; he asked god to help him, and took courage, and then the blessing came. "according to your faith it shall be unto you." this man had expected nothing and he got just what he expected. dear friends, let us expect that god is going to use us. let us have courage and go forward, looking to god to do great things. elijah on mount carmel was one man; elijah under the juniper tree was quite another man. in the one case he was a giant, and nothing could stand before him. when he lost heart and got terrified at jezebel's message, and wished himself dead, god could not use him. the lord had to go to him and say: "what doest thou here, elijah?" i wish god would speak to many professing christians who have their harps on the willows, and are out of communion with him, so that they are of no use in his cause. when peter denied his master he was a very different man from what he was on the day of pentecost. he got out of communion with his lord, and the word of a servant nearly frightened him out of his life. he denied his master with oaths and cursing. how terribly a man falls when he loses faith and courage. but he was restored; look at him on the day of pentecost. if that maid whose question made him tremble had been present, and heard him preach the marvellous sermon recorded in the acts, i can imagine she would be the most amazed person in all jerusalem, "why," she says, "i saw him a few days ago, and he was terribly alarmed at being called a disciple of christ; now he stands up boldly for this same christ; he has no shame now." god used him mightily on the day of pentecost, as he preached to that vast congregation, some of whom were the very murderers of his lord and master. but he could not use peter till he had repented of his cowardice and had been restored to faith and courage. so when any man who is working for christ loses heart and gets discouraged, the lord has to lay him aside. i remember a number of years ago i got cast down for a good many weeks. one sunday in particular i had preached and there did not seem to be any result. on the monday i was very much cast down. i was sitting in my study and was looking at myself, brooding over my want of success. a young man called upon me, who had a bible class of adults in the sabbath-school which i conducted. as he came in i could see he was away upon the mountain top, while i was down in the valley. said he to me, "what kind of a day did you have yesterday?" "very poor; i had no success, and i feel quite cast down. how did you get on?" "oh, grandly; i never had a better day." "what was your subject?" "i had the life and character of noah. did you ever preach on noah? did you ever study up his life?" "well, no; i do not know as ever i made it a special study." i thought i knew pretty well all there was about him in the bible; you know all that is told us about him is contained in a few verses. "if you never studied it before, you had better do it now. it will do you good. noah was a wonderful character." when the young man went out i got my bible and some other books, and read all i could find about noah, i had not been reading long before the thought came stealing over me: here was a man who toiled on for a hundred and twenty years and never had a single convert outside of his own family. yet he did not get discouraged. i closed up my bible; the cloud had gone; i started out and went to the noon prayer-meeting. i had not been there long when a man got up and said he had come from a little town in illinois. on the day before he had admitted a hundred young converts to church membership. as he was speaking i said to myself: "i wonder what noah would have given if he could have heard that. he never had any such result as that to his labors." then in a little while a man who sat right behind me stood up. his hand was on the seat, and i felt it shake; i could realise that the man was trembling. he said: "i wish you would pray for me; i would like to become a christian." thought i to myself: "wonder what noah would have given if he had heard that. he never heard a single soul asking god for mercy, yet he did not get discouraged." i have never hung my harp on the willows since that day. let us ask god to take away the clouds of fear and unbelief; let us get out of doubting castle; let us move forward courageously in the name of our god and expect to see results. if you cannot engage in any active work yourselves you can do a good deal by cheering on others. some people not only do nothing, but they are all the time throwing discouragement on others, in every forward step they take. if you meet with them they seem to chill you through and through. i think i would as soon face the east wind in edinburgh in the month of march, as come in contact with some of these so-called christians. perhaps they are speaking about some effort that has been made, and they say: "well, yes, a good deal of work was done, but then many were not reached at all." such and such a thing ought to have been done in a different way, and i know not what. they are all the time looking at the dark side. let us not give heed to these gloomy and discouraging remarks. in the name of our great commander let us march on to battle and to victory. there are some generals whose name alone is worth more than a whole army of ten thousand men. in our army in the civil war there were some whose presence sent a cheer all along the line. as they passed on cheer upon cheer went up. the men knew who was going to lead them, and they were sure of having success. "the boys" liked to fight under such generals as that. let us encourage ourselves in the lord, and encourage each other; then we shall have good success. we read in the book of first chronicles that joab cheered on those who were helping him in warfare. "be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our god; and let the lord do that which is good in his sight." let us go forward in this spirit, and the lord will make us to triumph over our foes. if we cannot be in the battle ourselves let us not seek to discourage others. a highland chief of the m'gregor clan fell wounded at the battle of sheriff-muir. seeing their leader fall, the clan wavered, and gave the foe an advantage. the old chieftain, perceiving this, raised himself on his elbow, while the blood streamed from his wounds, and cried out, "i am not dead, my children; i am looking at you to see you do your duty." this roused them to new energy and almost superhuman effort. so, when our strength fails and our hearts sink within us, the captain of our salvation cries: "lo, i am with you alway, even to the end of the world. i will never leave nor forsake thee. be thou faithful unto death, and i will give thee a crown of life." a friend of mine was telling me that a worker came to him very much cast down. everything was going wrong, and he was greatly depressed. my friend turned upon him and said: "do you have any doubt about the final result of things? is jesus christ going to set up his kingdom, and reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth? is he going to succeed or not?" the man said that of course christ was going to triumph; he had never thought of it in that light. if people would sometimes take a look into the future and remember the promises, they would not be cast down. dear friends, christ is going to reign. let us go out and do the work he has given us to do. if it happens to be dark round about us, let us remember it is light somewhere else. if we are not succeeding just as we would like, others, it may be, are succeeding better. think of the opportunities we have, compared with the early christians. look at the mighty obstacles they had to encounter--how they had often to seal their testimony with their blood. see what peter had to fight against on the day of pentecost, when the people looked on him with scorn. the disciples in those days had no committee to put up large buildings for their use, in which they could preach. they had no band of ministers sitting near by, to pray for them, and help them and cheer them on. yet look at the wonderful results of peter's preaching on the day of pentecost. look at the dense darkness that surrounded martin luther in germany. look at the difficulties that john knox had to meet with in scotland. yet these men did a mighty and a lasting work for god in their day and generation; we are reaping the blessed fruits of their faithful labors even now. look at the darkness that brooded over england in the days of wesley and whitefield. see how god blessed their efforts; and yet they had a great many obstacles to contend with that we do not have in these days. they went forward with strong and courageous hearts, and the lord gave them success. i believe if our forefathers who lived in the last century could come back to this world in the flesh, they would be amazed to see the wonderful opportunities that we have. we have a great many advantages they did not possess, and probably did not dream of. we live in a grand and glorious day. it took john wesley months to cross the atlantic; now we can do it a few days. think of the power of the printing press in these days; we can print and scatter sermons to all the corners of the earth. look at the marvellous facilities that we have in the electric telegraph, then we can take the railway train and go and preach at a distance of hundreds of miles in a few hours. am i not right in saying that we live in a glorious day? let us not be discouraged, but let us use all these wonderful opportunities, and honor god by expecting great things. if we do we will not be disappointed. god is ready and willing to work, if we are ready and willing to let him, and to be used by him. it may be that some are old and feeble, and are saying to themselves: "i wish i were young again; i would like to go out into the thick of the battle." but any one, young or old, can go into the homes of the people and invite them to come out to the meetings. there are large halls everywhere with plenty of room; there are many who will help sing the gospel. the gospel will also be preached, and there are many people who might be induced to come, who will not go out to the regular places of worship. if you are not able to go and invite the people, as i have said, you can give a word of cheer to others, and wish them godspeed. many a time when i have come down from the pulpit, some old man, trembling on the very verge of another world, living perhaps on borrowed time, has caught hold of my hand, and in a quavering voice said, "god bless you!" how the words have cheered and helped me. many of you can speak a word of encouragement to the younger friends, if you are too feeble to work yourselves. then again, you can pray that god will bless the words that are spoken and the efforts that are made. it is very easy to preach when others are all the time praying for you and sympathizing with you, instead of criticising and finding fault. you have heard the story, i suppose, of the child who was rescued from the fire that was raging in a house away up in the fourth story. the child came to the window, and as the flames were shooting up higher and higher it cried out for help. a fireman started up the ladder of the fire-escape to rescue the child from its dangerous position. the wind swept the flames near him, and it was getting so hot that he wavered, and it looked as if he would have to return without the child. thousands looked on, and their hearts quaked at the thought of the child having to perish in the fire, as it must do if the fireman did not reach it. some one in the crowd cried, "give him a cheer!" cheer after cheer went up, and as the man heard them he gathered fresh courage. up he went into the midst of the smoke and the fire, and brought down the child in safety. if you cannot go and rescue the perishing yourselves, you can at least pray for those who do, and cheer them on. if you do, the lord will bless the effort. "they helped every one his neighbor; and every one said to his brother, 'be of good courage.'" we are living, we are dwelling in a grand and awful time, in an age on ages telling-- to be living is sublime. oh, let all the soul within you for the truth's sake go abroad! strike! let every nerve and sinew tell on ages--tell for god! _coxe_ chapter iv. faith rewarded. "and it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of galilee, and judea and jerusalem; and the power of the lord was present to heal them. and, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy; and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. and when they could not find by what way they might bring him in, because of the multitude, they went upon the house-top, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before jesus. and when he saw their faith, he said unto him, 'man, thy sins are forgiven thee.'" all the three evangelists, matthew, mark and luke, record this miracle. i have noticed that when any two or three of the gospel writers record a miracle it is to bring out some important truth. it seems to me that the truth the lord would teach us here is this: the honor he put upon the faith of these four men who brought the palsied man to him for healing. whether the palsied man himself had any faith we are not told; it was when he saw "_their_ faith" that his power was put forth to cure the sick of the palsy. i want to say to all christian workers, that if the lord sees our faith for those whom we wish to be blessed, he will honor it. he has never disappointed the faith of any of his children yet. you cannot find an instance in the bible, where any man or woman has exercised true faith in god, where it has not been honored. nothing that the savior found when he was on this sin-cursed earth pleased him so much as to see the faith of his disciples; nothing refreshed his heart so much. we read in the gospel narrative that there was a great stir in the town of capernaum at this time. a few weeks before, the savior had been cast out of his native town of nazareth. he had come down to capernaum, and the whole country was greatly moved. his star was just rising, and his fame was being spread abroad. peter's wife's mother had been healed by a word. the servant of an officer in the roman army had been raised up from a sick bed, and the savior had performed many other wonderful miracles. men had come to capernaum from every town in galilee, and judaea, and from jerusalem. they had gathered together to look into these wonderful events that were occurring. the voice of john the baptist had been ringing through the land, proclaiming to the people that a prophet would soon make his appearance, whose shoe latchet he was not worthy to unloose. while the baptist was telling out this message the prophet himself made his appearance in the northern part of the country, and all these wonderful things were transpiring. the pharisees and doctors of the law had come to capernaum to look into the reports that were spread abroad. the house where they were gathered was filled to overflowing, and these wise men were listening to the savior's teaching. many of them hardly believed a word that he said. it may be there were some believing ones among these wise men. nicodemus and joseph of arimathea may have been there: if so, they were not yet known as disciples of jesus. the writer of the gospel says: "the power of the lord was present to heal them." we are not told, however, that one of them was healed. so it is very often now. the power of the lord may be present to heal in these gatherings; yet many will come and go, wondering what it all means, and without being healed of their spiritual diseases. what we need is to have the power of god in our midst. a man came into one of our meetings in london. he got into a part of the hall where he could not hear a word of what was spoken or sung; he could not even hear the text or the portion of scripture that was read. there he had to sit through the service, so to speak, shut up alone with himself. a little while after he told some one that as he sat there god had revealed himself to him, and spoken peace to his soul. there is such a thing as the power of god being present to heal, though men may not hear the voice of their fellowman. these four men were real workers. they were worth more than a houseful of these pharisees and doctors of the law who came merely to criticise and look on. i do not know who the four men were, but i have always had a great admiration for them. it may be one of them had been blind and the lord had given him his sight. the other may have been lame from his birth; when the master restored him to strength, he thought he would like to use it in bringing some one else to be healed. the third man may have been a cured leper, and he wished to help in getting some other afflicted one cured. perhaps this palsied man was his next-door neighbor. the fourth man, it may be, had been deaf and dumb, and he thought he would employ his hearing and his speech in helping some one else. these four young converts said to themselves: "let us bring our sick neighbor to christ." the palsied man may have said he had no faith in christ. but these four friends told him how they had been cured, and if the master could heal them surely he could heal a palsied man. now it seems to me nothing will wake up a man quicker than to have four persons after him in one day. people are sometimes afraid that they will entrench on each other's ground if more than one worker happens to call at the same house. for my part, i wish that every family had about forty invitations to each meeting. i lately heard of a man, a non-churchgoer, who did not believe in the bible or religious things. some one who was distributing tickets asked him if he would go to the meetings. he got quite angry. no, he would not go; he did not believe in the thing at all; he would not be seen in such a crowd. a second man came along, not knowing that any one had been before him, and asked if he would accept a ticket for the meetings. the man was still angry, and, as we would sometimes say, he "gave him a piece of his mind." he told him to keep his tickets. by-and-by a third man called and said: "would you take a ticket for these meetings?" the man by this time had got thoroughly waked up, but yet he declined to receive the ticket. he went into a shop to buy something. the man in the shop put a ticket for the meetings into the packet; when the customer got home and opened it, lo and behold there was a ticket! he got so roused up that he went, not to our meeting, but to a neighboring church. i do not know that he has come clean out, but i believe he is, at any rate, in a hopeful condition. if one visit does not wake up a man whom you want to reach, send a second visitor after him; if that has no effect, send a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh; go on in that way day after day. it is a great thing to save one man, to get him out of the pit, to have his feet set fast on a rock, and a new song put in his mouth. nothing will rouse an indifferent man quicker than to have a number of friends after him. if you cannot bring him yourself, get others to help you. these four men found an obstacle in the way. the door of the house was blocked, and they could not get near the master. they may have asked some of these philosophers to stand aside; but no, they would not do that. they would not disturb themselves about a sick man. many people will not go into the kingdom of god themselves, and they will throw obstacles in the way of others. after trying probably for some time to get in, these four men began to devise another plan. if it had been some of us, most likely we would have got quite discouraged, and carried the man back to his home. these men had faith, and perseverance too. they are going to get their friend to christ some way. if they cannot get him through the door, they will find a way through the roof! "zeal without knowledge," people say. i would a good deal rather have that than knowledge without zeal. you can see them pulling and tugging away at the burden. if you have ever tried to carry a wounded man up a flight of stairs you will know it is not an easy matter. but these four men were not to be defeated, and at last he is up there on the roof. now, the question was, "how can we get him down?" they began to tear up the tiling. i can see those wise men looking up and saying to one another: "this is a strange performance; we have never seen anything like this in the temple or in any synagogue we were ever in. it is altogether out of the regular order. these men must be carried away with fanaticism. why, they have made a hole large enough to let a man through. suppose a sudden shower were to come, it would spoil the house." but these four workers were terribly in earnest. they let the bier, on which the man was lying, down into the room. they laid their friend right at the feet of jesus christ; a good place to lay him, was it not? perhaps some of you have a sceptical son or an unbelieving husband, or some other member of your family, that scoffs at the bible and sneers at christianity. lay them at the feet of jesus, and he will honor your faith. "when he saw _their_ faith." i suppose these men were looking down to see what was about to take place christ looked at them, and when he saw their faith he said to the palsied man: "son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee." that was more than they expected; they only thought of his body being made whole. so let us bring our friends to christ, and we shall get more than we expect. the lord met this man's deepest need first. it may be his sins had brought on the palsy, so the lord forgave the man's sin first of all. the wise men began to reason within themselves: "who is this that forgiveth sins?" the master could read their thoughts as easily as we can read a book. "is it easier to say, 'thy sins be forgiven thee,' or 'rise up and walk?' but that ye may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he said unto the sick of the palsy, 'i say unto thee, arise; take up thy bed and go into thine house.'" the man leaped to his feet, made whole. he rolled up the old bed, swung it across his shoulders, and went to his house. depend upon it, these philosophers who would not make way in order to let him in stood aside pretty quick to let him go out. no need for him to go out by way of the roof; he went out by the door. dear friends, let us have faith for those we bring to christ. let us believe for them if they will not believe for themselves. it may be there are those here who do not believe in the bible, or in the gospel of the son of god. let us bring them to christ in the arms of our faith. he is unchangeable--"the same yesterday, today, and for ever." let us look for great things. let us expect the dead to be raised, the harlots reclaimed, the drunkards saved, and the devils cast out. i believe men are possessed of evil spirits now, just as much as when the son of god was on earth. we want to bring them right to the lord jesus christ, that he may heal and save them. let this cursed unbelief be swept out of the way, and let us come to god as one man, looking for and expecting signs and wonders to be done in the name of jesus. he can perform miracles to-day, and he will if we ask him to fulfill his promises. "he is able to save to the uttermost." and let me say to any unsaved man that god has the power to save you from your sins to-day. if you want to be converted, come right to the master as did the leper of old. he said, "lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean." christ honored his faith, and said, "i will; be thou clean." notice--the man put "if" in the right place. "if thou _will_." he did not doubt the power of the son of god. the father who brought his son to christ said, "if thou _canst_, have compassion upon him." the lord straightened out his theology then and there; "if _thou_ canst believe." mother, can you believe for your boy? if you can, the lord will speak the word, and it shall be done. it will be a good thing for us to get right down at the feet of the master, like the poor woman who went to elisha and told him of her dead child. he asked his servant to take his staff and lay it upon the dead child. but the mother would not leave the prophet. he wanted her to go with the servant, but she would not be satisfied with the prophet's staff, or even with his servant; she wanted the master himself. so elisha went with her; it was a good thing he did, for the servant could not raise the child. we want to get beyond the staff and beyond the servant, right to the heart of the master himself. let us bring our palsied friends to him. it is said of christ that in one place he could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. let us ask him to take away from us this cursed unbelief, that hinders the blessing from coming down, and prevents those who are sick of the palsy of sin from being saved. "the faith that works by love, and purifies the heart, a foretaste of the joys above to mortals can impart; it bears us through this earthly strife, and triumphs in immortal life." chapter v. enthusiasm. "awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and christ shall give thee light." i want to apply these words to the children of god. if the lost are to be reached by the gospel of the son of god, christianity must be more aggressive than it has been in the past. we have been on the defensive long enough; the time has come for us to enter on a war of aggression. when we as children of god wake up and go to work in the vineyard, then those who are living in wickedness all about us will be reached; but not in any other way. you may go to mass meetings and discuss the question of "how to reach the masses," but when you have done with discussion you have to go back to personal effort. every man and woman who loves the lord jesus christ must wake up to the fact that he or she has a mission in the world, in this work of reaching the lost. a man may talk in his sleep, and it seems to me that there is a good deal of that kind of thing now in the lord's work. a man may even preach in his sleep. a friend of mine sat up in his bed one night and preached a sermon right through. he was sound asleep all the time. next morning his wife told him all about it. he preached the same sermon in his church the next sabbath morning; i have it in print, and a good sermon it is. so a man may not only talk but actually preach in his sleep. there are many preachers in these days who are fast asleep. there is one thing, however, that we must remember; a man cannot _work_ in his sleep. there is no better way to wake up a church than to set it to work. one man will wake up another in waking himself up. of course the moment we begin a work of aggression, and declare war with the world, the flesh, and the devil, some wise head will begin to shake, and there will be the cry, "zeal without knowledge!" i think i have heard that objection ever since i commenced the christian life. i heard of some one who was speaking the other day of something that was to be done, and who said he hoped zeal would be tempered with moderation. another friend very wisely replied that he hoped moderation would be tempered with zeal. if that were always the case, christianity would be like a red hot ball rolling over the face of the earth. there is no power on earth that can stand before the onward march of god's people when they are in dead earnest. in all ages god has used those who were in earnest. satan always calls idle men into his service. god calls active and earnest--not indolent men. when we are thoroughly aroused and ready for his work, then he will take us up and use us. you remember where elijah found elisha; he was ploughing in the field--he was at work. gideon was at the threshing floor. moses was away in horeb looking after the sheep. none of these eminent servants of god were indolent men; what they did, they did with all their might. we want such men and women nowadays. if we cannot do god's work with all the knowledge we would like, let us at any rate do it with all the zeal that god has given us. mr. taylor says: "the zeal of the apostles was seen in this--they preached publicly and privately; they prayed for all men; they wept to god for the hardness of men's hearts; they became all things to all men, that they might gain some; they traveled through deeps and deserts; they endured the heat of the syrian sun and the violence of euroclydon, winds and tempests, seas and prisons, mockings and scourgings, fastings and poverty, labor and watching; they endured of every man and wronged no man; they would do any good, and suffer any evil, if they could but hope to prevail upon a soul; they persuaded men meekly, they entreated them humbly, they convinced them powerfully; they watched for their good, but meddled not with their interest; and this is the christian zeal--the zeal of meekness, the zeal of charity, the zeal of patience." a good many people are afraid of the word enthusiasm. do you know what the word means? it means "in god." the person who is "in god", will surely be fired with enthusiasm. when a man goes into business filled with fire and zeal, he will generally carry all before him. in the army a general who is full of enthusiasm will fire up his men, and will accomplish a great deal more than one who is not stirred with the same spirit. people say that if we go on in that way many mistakes will be made. probably there will. you never saw any boy learning a trade who did not make a good many mistakes. if you do not go to work because you are afraid of making mistakes, you will probably make one great mistake--the greatest mistake of your life--that of doing nothing. if we all do what we can, then a good deal will be accomplished. how often do we find sabbath-school teachers going into their work without any enthusiasm. i had just as soon have a lot of wooden teachers as some that i have known. if i were a carpenter i could manufacture any quantity of them. take one of those teachers who has no heart, no fire, and no enthusiasm. he comes into the school-room perhaps a few minutes after the appointed time. he sits down, without speaking a word to any of the scholars, until the time comes for the lessons to begin. when the superintendent says it is time to begin the teacher brings out a question book. he has not been at the trouble to look up the subject himself, so he gets what some one else has written about it. he takes care not only to get a question book, but an answer book. such a teacher will take up the first book and he says: "john, who was the first man?" (looking at the book)--"yes, that is the right question." john replies, "adam." looking at the answer book the teacher says: "yes, that is right." he looks again at the question book and he says: "charles, who was lot?" "abraham's nephew." "yes, my boy, that is right." and so he goes on. you may say that this is an exaggerated description, and of course i do not mean to say it is literally true; but the picture is not so much overdrawn as you would suppose. do you think a class of little boys full of life and fire is going to be reached in that way? i like to see a teacher come into the class and shake hands with the scholars all round. "johnnie, how do you do? charlie, i am glad to see you! how's the baby? how's your mother? how are all the folks at home?" that is the kind of a teacher i like to see. when he begins to open up the lesson all the scholars are interested in what he is going to say. he will be able to gain the attention of the whole class, and to train them for god and for eternity. you cannot find me a person in the world who has been greatly used of god, who has not been full of enthusiasm. when we enter on the work in this spirit it will begin to prosper, and god will give us success. as i was leaving new york to go to england in , a friend said to me: "i hope you will go to edinburgh and be at the general assembly this year. when i was there a year ago i heard such a speech as i shall never forget. dr. duff made a speech that set me all on fire. i shall never forget the hour i spent in that meeting." shortly after reaching england i went to edinburgh and spent a week there, in hopes that i might hear that one man speak. i went to work to find the report of the speech that my friend had referred to, and it stirred me wonderfully. dr. duff had been out in india as a missionary. he had spent twenty-five years there preaching the gospel and establishing schools. he came back with a broken-down constitution. he was permitted to address the general assembly, in order to make an appeal for men to go into the mission field. after he had spoken for a considerable time, he became exhausted and fainted away. they carried him out of the hall into another room. the doctors worked over him for some time, and at last he began to recover. when he realized where he was, he roused himself and said: "i did not finish my speech; carry me back and let me finish it." they told him he could only do it at the peril of his life. said he: "i will do it if i die." so they took him back to the hall. my friend said it was one of the most solemn scenes he ever witnessed in his life. they brought the white-haired man into the assembly hall, and as he appeared at the door every person sprang to his feet; the tears flowed freely as they looked upon the grand old veteran. with a trembling voice, he said: "fathers and mothers of scotland, is it true that you have no more sons to send to india to work for the lord jesus christ? the call for help is growing louder and louder, but there are few coming forward to answer it. you have the money put away in the bank, but where are the laborers who shall go into the field? when queen victoria wants men to volunteer for her army in india, you freely give your sons. you do not talk about their losing their health, and about the trying climate. but when the lord jesus is calling for laborers, scotland is saying: 'we have no more sons to give.'" turning to the president of the assembly, he said: "mr. moderator, if it is true that scotland has no more sons to give to the service of the lord jesus christ in india; although i have lost my health in that land, if there are none who will go and tell those heathen of christ, then i will be off to-morrow, to let them know that there is one old scotchman who is ready to die for them. i will go back to the shores of the ganges, and there lay down my life as a witness for the son of god." thank god for such a man as that! we want men to-day who are willing, if need be, to lay down their lives for the son of god. then we shall be able to make an impression upon the world. when they see that we are in earnest, their hearts will be touched, and we shall be able to lead them to the lord jesus christ. i did not agree with garibaldi's judgement in all things, but i must confess i did admire his enthusiasm. i never saw his name in the papers, or in a book, but i read all i could find about him. there was something about him that fired me up. i remember reading of the time when he was on the way to rome in , and when he was cast into prison. i read the letter he sent to his comrades: "if fifty garibaldis are thrown into prison, let rome be free!" he did not care for his own comfort, so long as the cause of freedom in italy was advanced. if we have such a love for our master and his cause that we are ready to go out and do his work whatever it may cost us personally, depend upon it the lord will use us in building up his kingdom. i have read of a man in the ninth century who came up against a king. the king had a force of thirty thousand men, and when he heard that this general had only five hundred men, he sent him a message that if he would surrender he would treat him and his followers mercifully. turning to one of his followers, the man said: "take that dagger and drive it to your heart." the man at once pressed the weapon to his bosom, and fell dead at the feet of his commander. turning to another, he said: "leap into yonder chasm." into the jaws of death the man went; they saw him dashed to pieces at the bottom. then turning to the king's messenger, the man said: "go back to your king, and tell him that i have five hundred such men. tell him that we may die but we never surrender. tell him that i will have him chained with my dogs within forty-eight hours." when the king heard that he had such men arrayed against him, it struck terror to his heart. his forces were so demoralized that they were scattered like chaff before the wind. within forty-eight hours the king was taken captive and chained with the dogs of his conqueror. when the people see that we are in earnest in all that we undertake for god, they will begin to tremble; men and women will be enquiring the way to zion. a fearful storm was raging, when the cry was heard, "man overboard!" a human form was seen manfully breasting the furious elements in the direction of the shore; but the raging waves bore the struggler rapidly outward, and, ere the boats could be lowered, a fearful space separated the victim from help. above the shriek of the storm and roar of the waters rose his rending cry. it was an agonizing moment. with bated breath and blanched cheek, every eye was strained to the struggling man. manfully did the brave rowers strain every nerve in that race of mercy; but all their efforts were in vain. one wild shriek of despair, and the victim went down. a piercing cry, "save him, save him!" rang through the hushed crowd; and into their midst darted an agitated man, throwing his arms wildly in the air, shouting, "a thousand pounds for the man who saves his life!" but his starting eye rested only on the spot where the waves rolled remorselessly over the perished. he whose strong cry broke the stillness of the crowd was captain of the ship from whence the drowned man fell, and was _his brother_. this is the feeling we want to have in the various ranks of those bearing commission under the great captain of our salvation. "save him! he is my brother." the fact is, men do not believe in christianity because they think we are not in earnest about it. in this same epistle to the ephesians the apostle says we are to be "living epistles of christ, known and read of all men." i never knew a time when christian people were ready to go forth and put in the sickle, but there was a great harvest. wherever you put in the sickle you will find the fields white. the trouble is there are so few to reap. god wants men and women; that is something far better than institutions. if a man or a woman be really in earnest, they will not wait to be put on some committee. if i saw a man fall into the river, and he was in danger of drowning, i would not wait until i was placed on some committee before i tried to save him. many people say they cannot work because they have not been formally appointed. they say: "it is not my parish." i asked a person one day, during our last visit to london, if he would go and work in the inquiry room. the reply was: "i do not belong to this part of london." let us look on the whole world as our parish, as a great harvest field. if god puts any one within our influence, let us tell them of christ and heaven. the world may rise up and say that we are mad. in my opinion no one is fit for god's service until he is willing to be considered mad by the world. they said paul was mad. i wish we had many more who were bitten with the same kind of madness. as some one has said: "if we are mad, we have a good keeper on the way and a good asylum at the end of the road." one great trouble is that people come to special revival meetings, and for two or three weeks, perhaps, they will keep up the fire, but by and by it dies out. they are like a bundle of shavings with kerosene on the top--they blaze away for a little, but soon there is nothing left. we want to keep it all the time, morning, noon and night. i heard of a well once that was said to be very good, except that it had two faults. it _would_ freeze up in the winter, and it _would_ dry up in the summer. a most extraordinary well, but i am afraid there are many wells like it. there are many people who are good at certain times; as some one has expressed it, they seem to be good "in spots." what we want is to be red hot all the time. do not wait till some one hunts you up. people talk about striking while the iron is hot. i believe it was cromwell who said that he would rather strike the iron and make it hot. so let us keep at our post, and we will soon grow warm in the lord's work. let me say a few words specially to sabbath-school teachers. let me urge upon you not to be satisfied with merely pointing the children away to the lord jesus christ. there are so many teachers who go on sowing the seed, and who think they will reap the harvest by and by; but they do not look for the harvest now. i began to work in that way, and it was years before i saw any conversions. i believe god's method is that we should sow with one hand and reap with the other. the two should go on side by side. the idea that children must grow into manhood and womanhood before they can be brought to jesus christ is a false one. they can be led to christ now in the days of their youth, and they can be kept, so that they may become useful members of society, and be a blessing to their parents, to the church of god, and to the world. if they are allowed to grow up to manhood and womanhood before they are led to christ, many of them will be dragged into the dens of vice; and instead of being a blessing they will be a curse to society. what is the trouble throughout christendom to-day, in connection with the sabbath-school? it is that so many when they grow up to the age of sixteen or so, drop through the sabbath-school net, and that is the last we see of them. there are many young men now in our prisons who have been sabbath scholars. the cause of that is that so few teachers believe the children can be converted when they are young. they do not labor to bring them to a knowledge of christ, but are content to go on sowing the seed. let a teacher resolve that, god helping him, he will not rest until he sees his whole class brought into the kingdom of god; if he thus resolves he will see signs and wonders inside of thirty days. i well remember how i got waked up on this point. i had a large sunday-school with a thousand children. i was very much pleased with the numbers. if they only kept up or exceeded that number i was delighted; if the attendance fell below a thousand i was very much troubled. i was all the time aiming simply at numbers. there was one class held in a corner of the large hall. it was made up of young women, and it was more trouble than any other in the school. there was but one man who could ever manage it and keep it in order. if he could manage to keep the class quiet i thought it was about as much as we could hope for. the idea of any of them being converted never entered my mind. one sabbath this teacher was missing, and it was with difficulty that his substitute could keep order in the class. during the week the teacher came to my place of business. i noticed that he looked very pale, and i asked what was the trouble. "i have been bleeding at the lungs," he said, "and the doctor tells me i cannot live. i must give up my class and go back to my widowed mother in new york state." he fully believed he was going home to die. as he spoke to me his chin quivered, and the tears began to flow. i noticed this and said: "you are not afraid of death, are you?" "oh, no, i am not afraid to die, but i will meet god, and not one of my sabbath-school scholars is converted. what shall i say?" ah, how different things looked when he felt he was going to render an account of his stewardship. i was speechless. it was something new to me to hear any one speak in that way. i said: "suppose we go and see the scholars and tell them about christ." "i am very weak," he said, "too weak to walk." i said i would take him in a carriage. we took a carriage and went round to the residence of every scholar. he would just be able to stagger across the sidewalk, sometimes leaning on my arm. calling the young lady by name, he would pray with her and plead with her to come to christ. it was a new experience for me. i got a new view of things. after he had used up all his strength i would take him home. next day he would start again and visit others in the class. sometimes he would go alone, and sometimes i would go with him. at the end of ten days he came to my place of business, his face beaming with joy, and said: "the last one has yielded her heart to christ. i am going home now; i have done all i can do; my work is done." i asked when he was going, and he said: "to-morrow night." i said: "suppose i ask these young friends to have a little gathering, to meet you once more before you go." he said he would be very glad. i sent out the invitations and they all came together. i had never spent such a night up to that time. i had never met such a large number of young converts, led to christ by his influence and mine. we prayed for each member of the class, for the superintendent, and for the teacher. every one of them prayed; what a change had come over them in a short space of time. we tried to sing--but we did not get on very well-- "blest be the tie that binds our hearts in christian love." we all bade him good-bye; but i felt as if i must go and see him once more. next night, before the train started, i went to the station, and found that, without any concert of action, one and another of the class had come to bid him good-bye. they were all there on the platform. a few gathered around us--the fireman, engineer, brakesman, and conductor of the train, with the passengers. it was a beautiful summer night, and the sun was just going down behind the western prairies as we sang together-- "here we meet to part again, but when we meet on canaan's shore, there'll be no parting there." as the train moved out of the station, he stood on the outside platform, and, with his finger pointing heavenward, he said: "i will meet you yonder;" then he disappeared from our view. what a work was accomplished in those ten days! some of the members of that class were among the most active christians we had in the school for years after. some of them are active workers to-day. i met one of them at work away out on the pacific coast, a few years ago. we had a blessed work of grace in the school that summer; it took me out of my business and sent me into the lord's work. if it had not been for the work of those ten days, probably i should not have been an evangelist to-day. let me again urge on sunday-school teachers to seek the salvation of your scholars. make up your mind that within the next ten days you will do all you can to lead your class to christ. fathers, mothers, let there be no rest till you see all your family brought into the kingdom of god. do you say that he will not bless such consecrated effort? what we want to-day is the spirit of consecration and concentration. may god pour out his spirit upon us, and fill us with a holy enthusiasm. chapter vi. the power of little things. in the twenty-fifth chapter of exodus we read: "and the lord spake unto moses, saying: 'speak unto the children of israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. and this is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. and let them make me a sanctuary; that i may dwell among them. according to all that i show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.'" i am glad this has been recorded for our instruction. how it ought to encourage us all to believe that we may each have a part in building up the walls of the heavenly zion. in all ages god has delighted to use the weak things. in his letter to the corinthians paul speaks of five things that god uses: "god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and god hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath god chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." you notice there are five things mentioned that god uses--foolish things, weak things, base things, despised things, and things which are not. what for? "that no flesh should glory in his presence." when we are weak then we are strong. people often think they have not strength enough; the fact is we have too much strength. it is when we feel that we have no strength of our own, that we are willing god should use us, and work through us. if we are leaning on god's strength, we have more than all the strength of the world. this world is not going to be reached by mere human intellectual power. when we realize that we have no strength, then all the fulness of god will flow in upon us. then we shall have power with god and with man. in revelation we read that john on one occasion wept much at a sight he beheld in heaven. he saw a sealed book; and no one was found that could break the seal and open the book. abel, that holy man of god, was not worthy to open it. enoch, who had been translated to heaven without tasting death; elijah, who had gone up in a chariot of fire; even moses, that great law-giver; or isaiah, or any of the prophets--none was found worthy to open the book. as he saw this john wept much. as he wept one touched him, and said: "weep not; behold, the lion of the tribe of judah, the root of david, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." when he looked to see who was the lion of the tribe of judah, whom did he see! lo, the lion was a lamb! god's lion is a lamb! when we are like lambs god can use us, and we are strong in his service. we can all be weak can we not? then let us lean on the mighty power of god. notice that all the men whom christ called around him were weak men in a worldly sense. they were all men without rank, without title, without position, without wealth or culture. nearly all of them were fishermen and unlettered men; yet christ chose them to build up his kingdom. when god wanted to bring the children of israel out of bondage, he did not send an army; he sent one solitary man. so in all ages god has used the weak things of the world to accomplish his purposes. i read an incident some time ago that illustrates the power of a simple tract. a society was some years ago established to distribute tracts by mail in the higher circles. one of these tracts, entitled, "prepare to meet thy god," was enclosed in an envelope, and sent by post to a gentleman well known for his ungodly life and his reckless impiety. he was in his study when he read this letter among others. "what's that," said he. "'prepare to meet thy god.' who has had the impudence to send me this cant?" and, with an imprecation on his unknown correspondent, he arose to put the paper in the fire. "no; i won't do that." he said to himself; "on second thoughts, i know what i will do. i'll send it to my friend b--; it will be a good joke to hear what he'll say about it." so saying, he enclosed the tract in a fresh envelope, and, in a feigned hand, directed it to his boon companion. mr. b-- was a man of his own stamp, and received the tract, as his friend had done, with an oath at the methodistical humbug, which his first impulse was to tear in pieces. "i'll not tear it either," said he to himself. "prepare to meet thy god" at once arrested his attention, and smote his conscience. the arrow of conviction entered his heart as he read, and he was converted. almost his first thought was for his ungodly associates. "have i received such blessed light and truth, and shall i not strive to communicate it to others?" he again folded the tract, and enclosed and directed it to one of his companions in sin. wonderful to say, the little arrow hit the mark. his friend read. he also was converted; and both are now walking as the lord's redeemed ones. in matthew we read: "for the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. and unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey." observe, he gave to every man "according to his several ability." he gave to each servant just the number of talents that he could take care of and use. some people complain that they have not more talents; but we have each the number of talents that we can properly employ. if we take good care of what we have, god will give us more. there were eight talents to be distributed among three persons; the master gave to one five; to a second, two; and to another, one. the man went away; and the servants fully understood that he expected them to improve their talents and trade with them. god is not unreasonable; he does not ask us to do what we cannot do; but he gives us according to our several ability, and he expects us to use the talents we have. we read: "he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. and likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. but he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money." notice that the man who had the two talents got exactly the same commendation as the man who had the five. the one who got five doubled them, and his lord said to him: "well done, good and faithful servant." the one who had two also doubled them, and so had four talents; to him also the lord said: "well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy lord." if the man who had the one talent had traded with it, he would have received exactly the same approval as the others. but what did he do? he put it into a napkin and buried it. he thought he would take care of it in that way. after the lord of these servants had been gone a long while he returned to reckon with them. what does he find in the case of the third servant? he has the one talent; but that is all. i read of a man who had a thousand dollars. he hid it away, thinking he would in that way take care of it, and that when he was an old man he would have something to fall back upon. after keeping the money for twenty years he took it to a bank and got just one thousand dollars for it. if he had put it at interest, in the usual way, he might have had three times the amount. he made the mistake that a great many people are making to-day throughout christendom, of not trading with his talents. my experience has been as i have gone about in the world and mingled with professing christians, that those who find most fault with others are those who themselves have nothing to do. if a person is busy improving the talents that god has given him he will have too much to do to find fault and complain about others. god has given us many opportunities of serving him, and he expects that we should use them. people think that their time and property are their own. what saying is more frequent than this? "i have a right to do what i will with my own." on one occasion a friend was beside the dying bed of a military man who had held an important command in successful indian wars. he asked if he were afraid to die. he at once said: "i am not." "why?" he said: "i have never done any harm." the other replied: "if you were going to be tried by a court-martial as an officer and a gentleman, i suppose you would expect an honorable acquittal?" the dying old man lifted himself up, and with an energy which his illness seemed to render impossible, exclaimed, "that i should!" "but you are not going to a court-martial; you are going to christ; and when christ asks you, 'what have you done for me?' what will you say?" his countenance changed, and earnestly gazing on his friend, with agonized feelings he answered: "_nothing!_--i have never done _anything_ for christ!" his friend pointed out the awful mistake of habitually living in the sense of our relations one with another, and forgetting our relation to christ and to god; therefore the error of supposing that doing no harm, or even doing good to those around, will serve as a substitute for _living to god. what have you done for christ?_ is the great question. after some days, he called again on the old man, who said: "well, sir, what do you think now?" he replied: "ah! i am a poor sinner." he pointed him to the savior of sinners; and not long afterward he departed this life as a repentant sinner, resting in christ. what an awful end would have come to the false peace in which he was found! and yet it is the peace of the multitudes, only to be undeceived at the judgment seat of christ. if this world is going to be reached, i am convinced it must be done by men and women of average talent. after all there are comparatively few people in the world who have great talents. here is a man with one talent; there is another with three; perhaps i may have only half a talent. but if we all go to work and trade with the gifts we have the lord will prosper us; and we may double or treble our talents. what we need is to be up and about our master's work, every man building against his own house. the more we use the means and opportunities we have, the more will our ability and our opportunities be increased. an eastern allegory runs thus: a merchant, going abroad for a time, gave respectively to two of his friends two sacks of wheat each, to take care of against his return. years passed; he came back, and applied for them again. the first took him into a storehouse, and showed them his sacks; but they were mildewed and worthless. the other led him out into the open country, and pointed to field after field of waving corn, the produce of the two sacks given him. said the merchant: "you have been a faithful friend. give me two sacks of that wheat; the rest shall be thine." i heard a person once say that she wanted assurance. i asked how long she had been a christian; and she replied she had been one for a number of years. i said: "what are you doing for christ?" "i do not know that i have the opportunity of doing anything," she replied. i pity the person who professes to be a christian in this day, and who says he can find no opportunities of doing any work for christ. i cannot imagine where his lot must be cast. the idea of any one knowing the lord jesus christ in this nineteenth century, and saying he has no opportunities of testifying for him. surely no one need look far to find plenty of opportunities for speaking and working for the master, if he only has the desire to do it. "lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." if you cannot do some great thing, you can do some little thing. a man sent me a tract a little while ago, entitled, "what is that in thine hand?" and i am very thankful he sent it. these words were spoken by god to moses when he called him to go down to egypt, and bring the children of israel out of the house of bondage. you remember how moses tried to excuse himself. he said he was not eloquent; he was not this and that; and he could not go. like isaiah he wanted the lord to send some one else. at last the lord said to moses, "what is that in thine hand?" he had a rod in his hand. it may be that a few days before he wanted something to drive the sheep with, and he may have cut this wand for that purpose. he could probably have got a hundred better rods any day. yet with that he was to deliver the children of israel. god was to link his almighty power with that rod; and that was enough. i can imagine that as moses was on his way down to egypt he may have met one of the philosophers or free-thinkers of his day, who might have asked him where he was going. "down to egypt." "indeed! are you going down there again to live?" "no, i am going to bring my people out of the house of bondage." "what! you are going to deliver them from the hand of pharaoh, the mightiest monarch now living? you think you are going to free three millions of slaves from the power of the egyptians?" "yes." "how are you going to do it?" "with this rod." what a contemptible thing the rod must have been in the eyes of that egyptian freethinker; the idea of delivering three millions of slaves with a rod! we had three millions of slaves in this country, and before they could be set free half a million of men had to lay down their lives. the flower of the nation marched to its grave before our slaves gained their deliverance. here was a weak and solitary man going down to egypt, to meet a monarch who had the power of life and death. and all he had with which to deliver the people from bondage was this rod! yet see how famous that rod became. when moses wanted to bring up the plagues on the people he had only to stretch out his rod, and they covered the land. he had but to stretch it out, and the water of the country was turned into blood. then when the people came to the red sea and they wanted to go across, he had only to lift up the rod and the waters separated, so that the people could pass through dry-shod. when they were in the desert and wanted water to drink, again he lifted this rod and struck the flinty rock, when the water burst forth, and they drank and were refreshed. that contemptible rod became mighty indeed. but it was not the rod; it was the god of moses, who condescended to use it. let us learn a lesson from this history. we are required to use what we have, not what we have not. whatever gifts or talents you have, take and lay them at the master's feet. moses took what he had; and we see how much he accomplished. if we are ready to say: "here am i, ready and willing to be used," the lord will use us; he will link his mighty power with our weakness, and we shall be able to do great things for him. look again, and see joshua as he goes up to the walls of jericho. if you had asked what they had with which to bring down the walls of that city, all you would have seen would have been a few rams' horns. they must have looked very mean and contemptible in the eyes of the men of jericho. perhaps the city contained some men who were giants; as they looked over the walls and saw the israelites marching around the city blowing these horns, they must have appeared very insignificant. but god can use the base things, the despised things. however contemptible an instrument a ram's horn may have appeared in the sight of man, the people went on blowing them as they were commanded; and at the appointed time down came the walls, and the city was taken. the israelites had no battering rams; no great armor or mighty weapons of any kind. they simply took what they had, and god used it to do the work. look at samson going out to meet a thousand philistines. what has he with him? only the jawbone of an ass! if god could use that, surely he can use us, can he not? do you tell me he cannot use this woman, that little boy? there is not one whom he cannot use, if we are willing to be used. i remember hearing a scotchman say, when i was in great britain ten years ago, that there was probably not a man in all saul's army but believed that god _could_ use him to go out and slay the giant of gath. but there was only one solitary man who believed that god _would_ use him. david went out to meet goliath and we know the result. we all believe that god _can_ use us; we want to take a step further and believe that he _will_ use us. if we are willing to be used, he is willing to use us in his service. how contemptible these smooth stones that david took out of the brook would have appeared to goliath! even saul wanted david to take his armor, and put it on. he was on the point of yielding; but he took his sling and the five smooth stones and went out. the giant of gath fell before him. let us go forth in the name of the god of hosts, using what we have, and he will give us the victory. when i was in glasgow a few years ago, a friend was telling me about an open-air preacher who died there some years before. this man was preaching one sabbath morning on shamgar. he said: "i can imagine that when he was ploughing in the field a man came running over the hill all out of breath, and shouted: 'shamgar! shamgar! there are six hundred philistines coming toward you.' shamgar quietly said: 'you pass on; i can take care of them, they are four hundred short.' so he took an ox goad and slew the whole of them. he routed them hip and high. and the israelites had again fulfilled before their eyes the words: 'one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight.'" now-a-days it takes about a thousand to chase one, because we do not realize that we are weak in ourselves and that our strength is in god. we want to remember that it is true to-day as ever it was that "one shall chase a thousand." what we need is holy ghost power that can take up the weakest child here and make him mighty in god's hand. there is a mountain to be threshed; there lies a bar of iron, and a little weak worm. god puts aside the iron, and takes up the worm to thresh the mountain. that is god's way. his thoughts are not our thoughts; his plans are not ours. we say: "if such and such a man were only converted--that rich man or that wealthy lady--how much good would be done!" very true; but it may be that god will pass them by and take up some poor tramp, and make him the greatest instrument for good in all the land. john bunyan, the poor bedford tinker, was worth more than all the nobility of his day. god took him in hand, and he became mighty. he wrote that wonderful book that has gone marching through the nations, lifting up many a weary heart, cheering many a discouraged and disheartened one. let us remember that if we are willing to be used, god is willing and waiting to use us. i once heard an englishman speak about christ feeding the five thousand with the five barley loaves and the two small fishes. he said that christ may have taken one of the loaves and broken off a piece and given it to one of the disciples to divide. when the disciple began to pass it round he only gave a very small piece to the first, because he was afraid it would not hold out. but after he had given the first piece it did not seem to grow any the less; so the next time he gave a larger piece, and still the bread was not exhausted. the more he gave, the more the bread increased, until all had plenty. at the first all could be carried in one basket; but when the whole multitude had been satisfied the disciples gathered up twelve baskets full of fragments. they had a good deal more when they stopped than when they began. let us bring our little barley loaves to the master that he may multiply them. you say you have not got much; well, you can use what you have. the longer i work in christ's vineyard the more convinced i am that a good many are kept out of the service of christ, deprived of the luxury of working for god, because they are trying to do some great thing. let us be willing to do little things. and let us remember that nothing is small in which god is. elijah's servant came to him and told him he saw a cloud not larger than a man's hand. that was enough for elijah. he said to his servant, "go, tell ahab to make haste; there is the sound of abundance of rain." elijah knew that the small cloud would bring rain. nothing that we do for god is small. i remember holding meetings some years ago at a certain place, and i met a young lady at the house where i was staying. she told me she had a sunday afternoon class in a mission-school. at one of our afternoon meetings i saw this lady sitting right in front; she must have been there early to get a good seat. after the service i met her, and i said: "i saw you at the meeting to-day; i thought you had a class." "so i have." "did you get some one to take it for you?" "no." "did you tell the superintendent you were not to be there?" "no." "do you know who had the class?" "no." "do you know if any one was there to take it?" "i am afraid there was nobody; for i saw a good many of the teachers of the school at your meeting." "is that the way you do the lord's work?" "well, you know, i have only five little boys. i thought it would not make any difference." only five little boys! why, there might have been a john knox, or a wesley, or a whitefield, or a bunyan there. you cannot tell what these boys might become. one of them might become another martin luther; there might be a second reformation slumbering in one of these five little boys. it is a great thing for any one to take "five little boys" and train them for god and for eternity. you may set a stream in motion that will flow on after you are dead and gone. little did the mothers of the wesleys know what would be the result, when she trained her boys for god and for his kingdom. see what mighty results have flowed from that one source. it is estimated that there are to-day , , adherents of the methodist faith, and over , , communicants. it is estimated there are , regular and local preachers in the united states alone. two new churches are being built every day in the year; and the work of the methodist church is spreading over this great republic. and all this has been done in about a hundred and fifty years. let not mothers think that their work of training children for god is a small one. in the sight of god it is very great; many may rise up in eternity to call them blessed. i have now in my mind a mother who has had twelve boys. they have all grown up to be active christians. a number of them are preachers of the gospel; and all of them are true to the son of god. there are very few women in our country who have done more for the nation than that mother. it is a great thing to be permitted to touch god's work, and to be a co-worker with him. there is a bridge over the niagara river. it is one of the great highways of the nation; trains pass over it every few minutes of the day. when they began to make the bridge, the first thing they did was to take a boy's kite and send a little thread across the stream. it seemed a very small thing, but it was the beginning of a great work. so if we only lead one soul to christ, eternity alone may tell what the result will be. you may be the means of saving some one who may become one of the most eminent men in the service of god that the world has ever seen. we may not be able to do any great thing; but if each of us will do _something_, however small it may be, a goof deal will be accomplished for god. for a good many years i have made it a rule not to let any day pass without speaking to some one about eternal things. i commenced it away back years ago, and if i live the life allotted to man, there will be , persons who will have been spoken to personally by me. that of course does not take into account those to whom i speak publicly. how often we as christians meet with people, when we might turn the conversation into a channel that will lead them up to christ. there are many burdened hearts all around us; can we not help to remove these burdens? some one has represented this world as two great mountains--a mountain of sorrow and a mountain of joy. if we can each day take something from the mountain of sorrow and add it to the mountain of joy, a good deal will be accomplished in the course of a year. i remember mr. spurgeon making this remark a few days ago: when moses went to tell the king of egypt that he would call up the plague of frogs upon the land, the king may have said: "your god is the god of frogs, is he? i am not afraid of them; bring them on, i do not care for the frogs!" says moses: "but there are a good many of them, o king." and he found that out. so we may be weak and contemptible individually, but there a good many christians scattered all over the land, and we can accomplish a great deal between us. supposing each one who loves the lord jesus were to resolve to-day, by god's help, to try and lead one soul to christ this week. is there a professing christian who cannot lead some soul into the kingdom of god? if you cannot i want to tell you that there is something wrong in your life; you had better have it straightened out at once. if you have not an influence for good over some one of your friends or neighbors, there is something in your life that needs to be put right. may god show it to you to-day! i have little sympathy with the idea that a christian man or woman has to live for years before they can have the privilege of leading anyone out of the darkness of this world into the kingdom of god. i do not believe, either, that all god's work is going to be done by ministers, and other officers in the churches. this lost world will never be reached and brought back to loyalty to god, until the children of god wake up to the fact that they have a mission in the world. if we are true christians we should all be missionaries. christ came down from heaven on a mission, and if we have his spirit in us we will be missionaries too. if we have no desire to see the world discipled, to see man brought back to god, there is something very far wrong in our religion. if you cannot work among the elder people you can go to work among the children. let christians speak kindly to these boys and girls about their souls; they will remember it all their lives. they may forget the sermon, but if some one speaks to them personally, they will say: "that man or woman must be greatly interested in me or they would not have been at the trouble to speak to me." they may wake up to the fact that they have immortal souls, and even if the preaching goes right over their heads, a little personal effort may be a means of blessing to them. this personal and individual dealing is perfectly scriptural. philip was called away from a great work in samaria to go and speak to one man in the desert. christ's great sermon on regeneration was addressed to one man; and that wonderful discourse by our lord on the water of life was spoken to one poor sinful woman. i pity those christians who are not willing to speak to one soul; they are not fit for god's service. we shall not accomplish much for god in the world, if we are not willing to speak to the ones and twos. another thing: do not let satan make you believe that the children are too young to be saved. of course you cannot put old heads on young shoulders. you cannot make them into deacons and elders all at once. but they can give their young hearts to christ. a good many years ago i had a mission school in chicago. the children were mostly those of ungodly parents. i only had them about an hour out of the week, and it seemed as if any good they got was wiped out during the week. i used to think that if ever i became a public speaker i would go up and down the world and beseech parents to consider the importance of training their children for god and eternity. on one of the first sabbaths i went out of chicago i impressed this on the congregation. when i had finished my address an old white-haired man got up. i was all in a tremble, thinking he was going to criticise what i had said. instead of that he said: "i want to indorse all that this young man has spoken. sixteen years ago i was in a heathen country. my wife died and left me with three motherless children. the first sabbath after her death my eldest girl, ten years old, said: 'papa, may i take the children into the bedroom and pray with them as mother used to do on the sabbath?' i said she might. when they came out of the room after a time i saw that my eldest daughter had been weeping. i called her to me, and said: 'nellie, what is the trouble?' 'oh, father,' she said, 'after we went into the room i made the prayer that mother taught me to make.' then, naming her little brother, he made the prayer that mother taught him. little susie didn't use to pray when mother took us in there because mother thought she was too young. but when we got through she made a prayer of her own. i could not but weep when i heard her pray. she put her little hands together and closed her eyes and said: 'o god, you have taken away my dear mamma, and i have no mamma now to pray for me. won't you bless me and make me good just as mamma was, for jesus christ's sake, amen.'" "little susie gave evidence of having given her young heart to god before she was four years old. for sixteen years she has been at work as a missionary among the heathen." let us remember that god can use these little children. dr. milnor was brought up a quaker, became a distinguished lawyer in philadelphia, and was a member of congress for three successive terms. returning to his home on a visit during his last congressional session, his little daughter rushed upon him exclaiming. "papa! papa! do you know i can read?" "no?" he said, "let me hear you!" she opened her little bible and read, "thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart." it was an arrow in her father's heart, it came to him as a solemn admonition. "out of the mouth of babes," god's spirit moved within him. he was driven to his closet, and a friend calling upon him found he had been weeping over the _dairyman's daughter_. although only forty years of age, he abandoned politics and law for the ministry of the gospel. for thirty years he was the beloved rector of st. george's church, in philadelphia, the predecessor of the venerated dr. tyng. dear mothers and fathers, let us in simple faith bring our children to christ. he is the same to-day as when he took them in his arms and said: "suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." i may not do much with all my care, but i surely may bless a few; the loving jesus will give to me, some work of love to do; i may wipe the tears from some weeping eyes, i may bring the smile again to a face that is weary and worn with care, to a heart that is full of pain. i may speak his name to the sorrowful, as i journey by their side; to the sinful and despairing ones i may preach of the crucified. i may drop some little gentle word in the midst of some scene of strife; i may comfort the sick and the dying with a thought of eternal life. _marianne farningham_ chapter vii. "she hath done what she could." in the gospel by mark we read: "after two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. but they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. and being in bethany in the house of simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. and there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? for it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. and they murmured against her. and jesus said, 'let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work for me. for ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good; but me ye have not always. she hath done what she could; she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. verily i say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.'" john tells us in his gospel who this woman was. "then jesus six days before the passover came to bethany, where lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. there they made him a supper, and martha served; but lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. then took mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. then saith one of his disciples, judas iscariot, simon's son, which should betray him: 'why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?' this he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. then said jesus, 'let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. for the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.'" this is the last time we have a glimpse of the family at bethany. it was christ's last week there, and here we have the last recorded interview between christ and that lovely family. speaking of martha and mary some one has said: "they were both dear to jesus and they both loved him, but they were different. the eye of one saw his weariness and would give to him; the faith of the other apprehended his fulness and would draw from him; martha's service was acceptable to the lord and was acknowledged by him, but he would not allow it to disturb mary's communion. mary knew his mind; she had deeper fellowship with him; her heart clung to himself." i want to call your attention specially to one clause from this fourteenth chapter of mark, "she hath done what she could." if some one had reported in jerusalem that something was going to happen at bethany on that memorable day, that should outlive the roman empire, and all the monarchs that had ever existed or would exist, there would have been great excitement in the city. a good many people would have gone down to bethany that day to see the thing that was going to happen, and that was to live so long. little did mary think that she was going to erect a monument which would outlive empires and kingdoms. she never thought of herself. love does not think of itself. what does christ say: "wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." this one story has already been put into three hundred and fifty different languages, and it is now in circulation in every nation under heaven. day by day this story is being printed and published. one society in london alone prints, every working hour of the day, five hundred records of this act that took place at bethany. it is being spread abroad in all the corners of the earth. it will be told out as long as the church of god exists. matthew speaks of it; so does john; and so does mark. men seek to erect some monument that will live after they are dead and gone. this woman never thought to erect a monument; she simply wanted to lavish her love upon christ. but the act has lived and will continue to live while the church is on earth. it is as fresh to-day as it was a hundred years ago: it is fresher than it was five hundred years ago. in fact there never was a time when it was so well known as to-day. although mary was herself unknown outside of bethany when she performed the act, now it is known over all the world. kings have come and gone; empires have risen and crumbled. egypt, with its ancient glories, has passed away. greece, with its wise men and its mighty philosophers and its warriors, has been almost forgotten. the great roman empire has passed away. we do not know the names of those who are buried in the pyramids, or of those who were embalmed in egypt, with so much care and trouble, but the record of this humble life continues to be an inspiration to others. here is a woman whose memory has outlived caesar, alexander, cyrus, and all the great warriors of the ancient world. we do not know that she was wealthy, or beautiful, or gifted, or great in the eye of the world. what we do know is that she loved the savior. she took this box of precious ointment and broke it over the body of christ. some one has said it was the only thing he ever received that he did not give away. it was a small thing in the sight of the world. if there had been daily papers in those days, and some jerusalem reporter had been looking out for items of news that would interest the inhabitants, i suppose he would not have thought it worth putting into his paper. yet it has outlived all that happened in that century, except, of course, the sayings, and the other events connected with the life of christ. mary had christ in her heart as well as in her creed. she loved him and she showed her love in acts. thank god, everyone of us can love christ, and we can all do something for him. it may be a small thing; but whatever it is it shall be lasting; it will outlive all the monuments on earth. the iron and the granite will rust and crumble and fade away, but anything done for christ will never fade. it will be more lasting than time itself. christ says: "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." look again and see that woman in the temple. christ stood there as the people passed by and cast their offerings into the treasury. the widow had but two mites and she cast it all in. the lord saw that her heart was in it, and so he commended her. if some nobleman had cast in a thousand dollars christ would probably not have noticed it, unless his heart had gone with it. gold is of little value in heaven. it is so plentiful there that they use it to pave the streets with; and it is transparent gold, much better gold than we have in this world. it is when the heart goes with the offering that it is accepted of christ. so he said of this woman: "she hath cast in more than they all." she had done all she could. i think this is the lesson we are to learn from these scripture incidents. the lord expects us to do what we can. we can all do something. in one of our southern cities a few christian people gathered together at the beginning of the war to see what could be done about building a church in a part of the city where the poor were very much neglected. after they had discussed the matter they wanted to see how much could be raised out of the congregation. one said he would give so much; others said they would give so much. they only got about half the amount that was needed, and it was thought they would have to abandon the project. away back in the meeting there sat a washerwoman. she rose and said her little boy had died a week before. all he had was a gold dollar. she said: "it is all i have, but i will give the dollar to the cause." her words touched the hearts of many of those who heard them. rich men were ashamed at what they had given. the whole sum was raised within a very short time. i have spoken in that church, and i know it to be a centre of influence in one of our great cities. this poor woman did what she could; perhaps she gave more in proportion than anyone in the city. when we were in london eight years ago, we wanted the city to be canvassed; we called for volunteers to go and visit the people in their own homes and invite them to come to the meetings. among those who came forward was an old woman, eighty-five years of age. she said she wanted to do a little more for the master before she went home. she took a district and went from house to house, delivering the messages of invitation and the tracts to the people. i suppose she has now gone to her reward, but i shall never forget her. she wanted to do what she could. if every christian man and woman will do what mary did, multitudes will be reached and blessed. years ago, when illinois was but a young state, there were only a few settlers here and there throughout a large portion. one of these was a man who used to spend his sundays in hunting and fishing. he was a profane and notoriously wicked man. his little girl went to the sabbath-school at the log school-house. there she was taught the way into the kingdom of god. when she was converted the teacher tried to tell her how she might be used of god in doing good to others. she thought she would begin with her father. others had tried to reach him and had failed to do it, but his own child had more influence with him. it is written, "a little child shall lead them." she got him to promise to go to the meeting. he came to the door, but at first he would not go in. he had gone to the school when he was young, but one day the boys laughed at him because he had a little impediment in his speech. he would not go back, and so he had never learned to read. however he was at last induced to go to the sabbath-school. there he heard of christ, and he was converted to god. his little child helped him and others helped him, and he soon learned to read. this man has since been called to his reward, but about two years ago when i saw him last, if i remember well, that man had established on the western prairies between , and , sunday-schools. in addition to all these school-houses, scattered about over the country, churches have sprung up. there are now hundreds of flourishing churches that have grown out of these little mission schools that he planted. he used to have a sunday-school horse, a "robert raikes" horse he called him, on which he traveled up and down the country, going into many outlying districts where nothing was being done for christ. he used to gather the parents into the log school-houses and tell how his little girl led him to christ. i have heard a great many orators, but i never heard any who could move an audience as he could. there was no impediment in his speech when he began to speak for christ; he seemed to have all the eloquence and fire of heaven. that little girl did what she could. she did a good day's work when she led her father to the savior. every one of us may do something. if we are only willing to do what we can, the lord will condescend to use us; and it will be a great thing to be instruments in his hand that he may do with us what he will. i remember reading in the papers that when the theatre in vienna was on fire a few years ago, a man in one of the corridors was hurrying out. many others of the people were trying to find their way out so as to escape from the fire. it was dark, but this man had a single match in his pocket. he struck it, and by doing so he was able to save twenty lives. he did what he could. you think you cannot do much. if you are the means of saving one soul, he may be instrumental in saving a hundred more. i remember when we were in england ten years ago, there was a woman in the city where we labored who got stirred up. i do not know but it was this very text that moved her, "she hath done what she could." she had been a nominal christian for a good many years, but she had not thought that she had any particular mission in the world. i am afraid that is the condition of many professedly christian men and women. now she began to look about her to see what she could do. she thought she would try and do something for her fallen sisters in that town. she went out and began to talk kindly to those she met on the street. she hired a house and invited them to come and meet her there. when we went back to that city about a year or so ago, she had rescued over three hundred of these fallen ones, and had restored them to their parents and homes. she is now corresponding with many of them. think of more than three hundred of these sisters reclaimed from sin and death, through the efforts of one woman. she did what she could. what a grand harvest there will be, and how she will rejoice when she hears the master say: "well done, good and faithful servant." i remember hearing of a man in one of the hospitals who received a bouquet of flowers from the flower mission. he looked at the beautiful bouquet and said: "well, if i had known that a bunch of flowers could do a fellow so much good, i would have sent some myself when i was well." if people only knew how they might cheer some lonely heart and lift up some drooping spirit, or speak some word that shall be lasting in its effects for all coming time, they would be up and about it. if the gospel is ever to be carried into the lanes and alleys, up to the attics and down into the cellars, we must all of us be about it. as i have said, if each of us will do what we can, a great multitude will be gathered into the kingdom of god. rev. dr. willets, of philadelphia, in illustrating the blessedness of cultivating a liberal spirit, uses this beautiful figure-- "see that little fountain yonder--away yonder in the distant mountain, shining like a thread of silver through the thick copse, and sparkling like a diamond in its healthful activity. it is hurrying on with tinkling feet to bear its tribute to the river. see, it passes a stagnant pool, and the pool hails it: 'whither away, master streamlet?' 'i am going to the river to bear this cup of water god has given me.' 'ah, you are very foolish for that: you'll need it before the summer's over. it has been a backward spring, and we shall have a hot summer to pay for it--you will dry up then.' 'well,' said the streamlet, 'if i am to die so soon, i had better work while the day lasts. if i am likely to lose this treasure from the heat, i had better do good with it while i have it.' so on it went, blessing and rejoicing in its course. the pool smiled complacently at its own superior foresight, and husbanded all its resources, letting not a drop steal away. soon the midsummer heat came down, and it fell upon the little stream. but the trees crowded to its brink, and threw out their sheltering branches over it in the day of adversity, for it brought refreshment and life to them, and the sun peeped through the branches and smiled complacently upon its dimpled face, and seemed to say, 'it's not in my heart to harm you;' and the birds sipped the silver tide, and sung its praises; the flowers breathed their perfume upon its bosom; the husbandman's eye always sparkled with joy, as he looked upon the line of verdant beauty that marked its course through his fields and meadows; and so on it went, blessing and blessed of all! and where was the prudent pool? alas! in its glorious inactivity it grew sickly and pestilential. the beasts of the field put their lips to it, but turned away without drinking; the breeze stopped and kissed it by _mistake_, but shrunk chilled away. it caught the malaria in the contact, and carried the ague through the region; the inhabitants caught it and had to move away; and at last, the very frogs cast their venom upon the pool and deserted it, and heaven, in mercy to man, smote it with a hotter breath and dried it up! but did not the little stream exhaust itself? oh, no? god saw to that. it emptied its full cup into the river, and the river bore it on to the sea, and the sea welcomed it, and the sun smiled upon the sea, and the sea sent up its incense to greet the sun, and the clouds caught in their capacious bosoms the incense from the sea, and the winds, like waiting steeds, caught the chariots of the clouds and bore them away--away to the very mountain that gave the little fountain birth, and there they tipped the brimming cup, and poured the grateful baptism down; and so god saw to it that the little fountain, though it gave so fully and so freely, never ran dry. and if god so blessed the fountain, will he not bless you, my friends, if, as ye have freely received, ye also freely give? be assured he will." a young lady belonging to a wealthy family in our country was sent to a fashionable boarding-school. in the school christ had a true witness in one of the teachers. she was watching for an opportunity of reaching some of the pupils. when this young lady of wealth and position came, the teacher set her heart upon winning her to christ. the first thing she did was to gain her affections. let me say right here that we shall not do much toward reaching the people until we make them love us. this teacher, having won the heart of her pupil, began to talk to her about christ, and she soon won her heart for the savior. then instead of dropping her as so many do, she began to show her the luxury of working for god. they worked together, and were successful in winning a good many of the young ladies in the school to christ. when the pupil got a taste of work, that spoiled the world for her. let me say to any christian who is holding on to the world: get into the lord's work, and the world will soon leave you. you will not leave it, you will have something better. i pity those christians who are all the time asking if they have to give up this thing and that thing. you won't be asking that when you get a taste of the lord's work; you will then have something that the world cannot give you. when this young lady went back to her home the parents were anxious that she should go out into worldly society. they gave a great many parties, but, to their great amazement, they could not get her interested. she was hungering for something else. she went to the sabbath-school in connection with the church she attended, and asked the superintendent to give her a class. he said there were really more teachers than he needed. she tried for weeks to find something to do for christ. one day as she was walking down the street, she saw a little boy coming out of a shoemaker's shop. the man had a wooden last in his hand, and he was running as fast as he could after the boy. when he found he could not overtake him, he hurled the last at him and hit him in the back. when the shoemaker had picked up his last and gone back to his shop, the boy stopped running and began to cry. the scene touched the heart of this young lady. when she got up to him she stopped and spoke to him kindly. "do you go to the sabbath-school?" "no." "do you go to the day-school?" "no." "what makes you cry?" he thought she was going to make sport of him, so he said it was none of her business. "but i am your friend," she said. he was not in the habit of having a young lady like that speak to him; at first he was afraid of her, but at last she won his confidence. finally, she asked him to come to the sabbath-school, and be in her class. no, he said, he didn't like study; he would not come. she said she would not ask him to study; she would tell him beautiful stories and there would be nice singing. at last he promised that he would come. he was to meet her on sabbath morning, at the corner of a certain street. she was not sure that he would keep his promise, but she was there at the appointed time, and he was there too. she took him to the school and said to the superintendent: "can you give me a place where i can teach this boy?" he had not combed his hair, and he was barefooted. they did not have any of that kind of children in the school, so the superintendent looked at him, and said he did not know just where to put him. finally he put him away in a corner, as far as he could from the others. there this young lady commenced her work--work that the angels would have been glad to do. he went home and told his mother he thought he had been among the angels. when the mother found he was going to a protestant school she told him he must not go again. when the father got to know it, he said he would flog him every time he went to the school. however, the boy went again the next sabbath, and the father flogged him; every time he went he gave the poor boy a flogging. at last he said to his father: "i wish you would flog me before i go, and then i won't be thinking about it all the time i am at the school." you laugh at it, but, dear friends, let us remember that gentleness and love will break down the opposition in the hardest heart. these little diamonds will sparkle in the savior's crown, if we will but search them out and polish them. we cannot make diamonds, but we can polish them if we will. finding that the flogging did not stop the boy from going to the school, the father said: "if you will give up the sabbath-school, i will give you every saturday afternoon to play, or you can have all you make by peddling." the boy went to his teacher and said: "i have been thinking that if you could meet me on the saturday afternoon we would have longer time together than on the sabbath." i wonder if there is a wealthy young lady reading this book who would give up her saturday afternoons to teach a poor little boy the way into the kingdom of god. she said she would gladly do it; if any callers came she was always engaged on saturdays. it was not long before the light broke into the darkened mind of the boy, and a change came into his life. she got him some good clothes and took an interest in him; she was a guardian angel to him. one day he was down at the railway station peddling. he was standing on the platform of the carriage, when the engine gave a sudden start; the little fellow was leaning on the edge, and his foot slipped so that he fell down and the train passed over his legs. when the doctor came, the first thing he said was: "doctor, will i live to get home?" "no, my boy, you are dying." "will you tell my father and mother that i died a christian?" did not the teacher get well paid for her work? she will be no stranger when she goes to the better land. that little boy will be waiting to give her a welcome. it is a great thing to lead one soul from the darkness of sin into the glorious light of the gospel. i believe if an angel were to wing his way from earth up to heaven, and were to say that there was one poor, ragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and teach him the way of life; and if god were to ask who among them was willing to come down to this earth and live here for fifty years and lead that one to jesus christ, every angel in heaven would volunteer to go. even gabriel, who stands in the presence of the almighty, would say: "let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the luxury of leading one soul to jesus christ." there is no greater honor than to be the instrument in god's hand of leading one person out of the kingdom of satan into the glorious light of heaven. i have this motto in my bible, and i commend it to you: "do all the good you can; to all the people you can; in all the ways you can; and as long as ever you can." if each of us will at once set about some work for god, and will keep at it days in the year, then a good deal will be accomplished. let us so live that it may be truthfully said of us: we have done what we could. chapter viii. "who is my neighbor?" you have no doubt frequently read the story of the good samaritan. in this parable christ brings before us four men. he draws the picture so vividly that the world will never forget it. too often when we read the scripture narratives they do not come home to our hearts, and it is not long before we forget the lesson that the master would have us to learn and to remember. we find that when christ was on the earth there was a class of people who gathered round him and were continually finding fault with everything he said and did. we read that on this occasion a lawyer came asking him what he could do to inherit eternal life. our lord told him to keep the commandments--to love the lord with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself. the lawyer then wanted to know who was his neighbor. in this narrative christ told him who his neighbor was, and what it was to love him. it seems to me that we have been a long while in finding out who is our neighbor. i think in the parable of the good samaritan christ has taught us very clearly that any man or woman who is in need of our love and our help--whether temporal or spiritual--is our neighbor. if we can render them any service we are to do it in the name of our master. here we have brought before us two men, each of whom passed by one who was in great need--one who had fallen among the thieves, who had been stripped, wounded, and left there to die. the first that came down that road from jerusalem to jericho was a priest. as he went along the highway he heard a cry of distress, and he looked to see who was the unfortunate man. he could see that the poor sufferer was a jew; it may be that he had seen him in the temple on the sabbath day. but then he was not in his own parish now. his work was in the temple, and it was over for the present. he was a professional man, and he had gone through all that was required of him. he was in a great hurry to get down to jericho. it may be they were going to open a new synagogue there, and he was to dedicate it. a very important business, and of course he could not stop to help this poor, wounded, fallen man. so he passed on. it may be, as he went along, he reasoned with himself somewhat in this way: "i wonder why god ever permitted sin to enter the world at all. it is very strange that man should be in this fallen state." or his thoughts may have taken another turn, and he said to himself that when he got down to jericho he would form a committee to look after these unfortunate brethren. he would give something toward the expenses. or he would try and get a policeman to go and look after those thieves who had stripped him. he did not think that all the while this poor wounded man was dying. most likely he was now crying for water, and it might be that there was a brook running by, within a few rods of the spot where he lay. yet this priest never stopped to give him a drink. all his religion was in his head: it had never reached his heart. the one thought in his mind was duty, duty; and when he had got through that which he considered his duty, he fancied his work was done. god wants heart service; if we do not give him that, we can render to him no service at all. we read that a levite next came along the highway where this wounded man was lying in his helplessness. as he passed along he also heard the man's cry of distress. he turned aside for a moment to look at the poor fellow, and he could see that he was a son of abraham--a brother jew. but he also must hasten on to jericho. possibly he had to help in the ceremony of opening the new synagogue. perhaps there was going to be a convention down there, on "how to reach the masses," and he was going to help discuss the point. i have noticed that many men now-a-days will go to a conference and talk for hours on that subject, but they will not themselves lift a hand to reach the masses. the levite's thoughts probably took another turn, and he said to himself: "i will see if i can't get a bill through the legislature to prevent those thieves from robbing and wounding people." there are some now who think they can legislate men back to god--that they can prevent sin by legislation. like the priest, this levite never stopped to give the poor fellow a drop of water to quench his thirst; he never attempted to bind up his wounds or to help him in any way. he passed along the highway, doubtless, saying to himself, "i pity that poor fellow." there is a good deal of that kind of pity now-a-days; but it comes only from the lips, not from the heart. the next one to come along that road was a samaritan. now it was notorious that in those days a jew would not speak to a samaritan; the very presence of the latter was pollution to an orthodox jew. no jew ever entered the habitation of the hated samaritan; he would not eat at his table or drink from his well. neither would he allow a samaritan to come under his roof. no religious jew would even buy from a samaritan, or sell to him. you know a jew must have a very poor opinion of a man if he will not do business with him, when there is a prospect of making something out of him. not only was this the case, but the jews considered that the samaritans had no souls; that when they died they would be annihilated. their graves would be so deep that not even the sound of gabriel's trump would wake them on the resurrection morning. he was the only man under heaven who could not become a proselyte to the jewish faith, and become a member of the jewish family. repentance was denied him in this life and the life to come. he might profess the jewish religion; they would have nothing to do with him. that was the way in which they looked upon these men; yet christ used the despised samaritan to teach these bitter jews the lesson of love to their neighbor. the samaritan came that way. it says in the narrative that the priest came down that way "by chance;" but we are not told that the samaritan came by chance. he represents our lord and master. we are told that he came to where the poor wounded man was; he got off the beast on which he was riding and stooped right down there by the side of the sick man. he looked at him and saw that he was a jew. if he had been like the jews themselves, he would most likely have said, "serve you right. i only wish the thieves had killed you outright. i would not lift a finger to help you, you poor wretched samaritan." but no! not a word of condemnation or blame did he utter. let us learn a lesson from this. do you think these drunkards need anyone to condemn them? there is no one in the wide world who can condemn them as they condemn themselves. what they need is sympathy--tenderness, gentleness and kindness. this samaritan did not pull a manuscript out of his pocket, and begin to read a long sermon to the wounded man. some people seem to think that all the world needs is a lot of sermons. why, the people of this land have been almost preached to death. what we want is to preach more sermons with our hands and feet--to carry the gospel to the people by acts of kindness. neither did he read this poor jew a long lecture, endeavoring to prove that science was better than religion. he did not give him a long address on geology; what could that do for him? what the poor man needed was sympathy and help. so the first thing the good samaritan did was to pour oil into his wounds. how many wounded men there are in our midst who have need of the oil of pity and sympathy. a good many christians seem always to carry about with them a bottle of vinegar, which they bring out on all occasions. the samaritan might have said to the man: "why did you not stay at jerusalem? what business had you to come down this road, any way, giving all this trouble?" so people will sometimes say to a young man who has come to the city and got into trouble: "why did you ever leave your home and come to this wicked city?" they begin to scold and upbraid. you are never going to reach men and do them good in that way; or by putting yourself on a high platform; you have to come down to them and enter into their sorrows and troubles. see how this samaritan "came to where he was," and instead of lecturing him, poured the healing oil into his wounds. you observe there are twelve things mentioned in the narrative that the samaritan did. we can dismiss in a word all that the priest and the levite did--they did _nothing_. ( .) he "came to where he was." ( .) he "saw him;" he did not, like the priest, pass by on the other side. ( .) he "had compassion on him." if we would be successful winners of souls we, too, must be moved with compassion for the lost and the perishing. we must sympathize with men in their sorrows and troubles, if we would hope to gain their affections and to do them good. ( .) he "went to him." the levite went _toward_ him, but we are told that he, as well as the priest, "passed by on the other side." ( .) he "bound up his wounds." perhaps he had to tear up his own garments in order to bind them up. ( .) he poured in oil and gave some wine to the fainting man. ( .) he "set him on his own beast." do you not think that this poor jew must have looked with gratitude and tenderness on the samaritan, as he was placed on the beast, while his deliverer walked by his side? all the prejudice in his heart must have disappeared long before they got to the end of their journey. ( .) he "brought him to an inn." ( .) he "took care of him." i was greatly touched at hearing of a christian worker in one of the districts in london where we were, who met with a drinking man at the meeting. he saw that the man was in drink, so he took him home and stayed all night with him; then, when he got sober the next morning, he talked with him. many are willing enough to talk with drunkards when they are sober, but how few there are who will go and hunt them up when they are in their fallen condition, and stay with them till they can be reasoned with about their salvation. ( .) when he departed on the morrow, the good samaritan asked the host to care for him. ( .) he gave him some money to pay the bill. ( .) he said: "whatever thou spendest more, when i come again i will repay thee." there is nothing i think in all the teachings of christ that brings out the whole gospel better than this parable. it is a perfect picture of christ coming down to this world to seek and save the lost. ( .) he came to this world of sin and sorrow where we were, laying by his glory for the time, that he might assume our human nature, and put himself on a level with those he came to save. ( .) he mingled with the poor and needy so that he might see their condition. ( .) he was "moved with compassion" for the multitudes; how often this is recorded in the gospels. we are told, on more than one occasion, that he wept as he thought of all the woe and distress that sin had brought upon the human family. ( .) wherever jesus christ heard of a case of sorrow or need he went at once. no cry of distress ever reached his ears in vain. ( .) on one occasion he read from the prophets concerning himself, "the spirit of the lord is upon me . . . . because the lord hath . . . . sent me to bind up the broken-hearted." he himself was wounded, that the wounds which sin had made in us might be bound up and healed. ( .) he not only comforted the sorrowing, but gave the promise of the holy spirit, who was to bring comfort and strength to his redeemed people. ( .) as the good samaritan set the wounded man on his own beast, so the savior gives us the unfailing promise of his word on which we may rest during our pilgrim journey. he himself has promised to be with us in spirit by the way. ( .) he brings us to the place of rest--rest in his love, in his willingness to save, in his power to keep. at the last he will bring us to the home of everlasting rest. ( .) when he was on the earth he took a personal interest in all that concerned his disciples, and ( .) when he had gone up on high he sent another comforter who should abide with the church. ( .) he has furnished the church with all that is needful for her support and growth in grace. ( .) he will come again and reward his servants for all their faithful service. do you want to know how you can reach the masses? go to their homes and enter into sympathy with them; tell them you have come to do them good, and let them see that you have a heart to feel for them. when they find out that you really love them, all those things that are in their hearts against god and against christianity will be swept out of the way. atheists may tell them that you only want to get their money, and that you do not really care for their happiness. we have to contradict that lie by our lives, and send it back to the pit where it came from. we are not going to do it unless we go personally to them and prove that we really love them. there are hundreds and thousands of families that could easily be reached if we had thousands of christians going to them and entering into sympathy with their sorrows. that is what they want. this poor world is groaning and sighing for sympathy--human sympathy. i am quite sure it was that in christ's life which touched the hearts of the common people. he made himself one with them. he who was rich for our sakes became poor. he was born in the manger so that he might put himself on a level with the lowest of the low. i think that in this matter he teaches his disciples a lesson. he wants us to convince the world that he is their friend. they do not believe it. if once the world were to grasp this thought, that jesus christ is the friend of the sinner, they would soon flock to him. i am sure that ninety-nine in every hundred of those out of christ think that, instead of loving them, god hates them. how are they to find out their mistake? they do not attend our churches; and if they did there are many places where they would not hear it. do you think that if those poor harlots walking the streets of our cities really believed that jesus christ loved them and wanted to be their friend--that if he were here in person he would not condemn them, but would take sides with them, and try to lift them up--they would go on in their sins? do you think the poor drunkard who reels along the street really believes that christ is his friend and loves him? the scripture plainly teaches that though christ hates sin he loves the sinner. this story of the good samaritan is given to teach us this lesson. let us publish abroad the good news that christ loves sinners, and came into the world that he might save them. there was a man who lived in one of our large cities. he died quite suddenly, and it was not long before his wife followed him to the grave. they left two boys, and there was a wealthy citizen who took the more promising of the boys and adopted him. the other boy was placed in the orphan asylum. he had never been away from his father and mother during their lives, and he had not been separated from his brother before. every night he would go to sleep crying for his brother. one night they could not find him. next morning he was found under the steps of the house of the wealthy banker who had adopted his little brother. when they asked him why he had left a good comfortable bed at the orphan home and stayed out there all night in the cold, he said he wanted to get near charlie. he knew that if he rang the bell and they found him at the door they would send him hack, and it was a comfort to him to be near charlie, even if he had to pass the night out there. his young heart was craving for sympathy, and he knew that charlie loved him as no one else in the world did. if we can only convince these poor lost ones that some one loves them, then their hearts will be moved. during the war a little boy, frankie bragg, was placed in one of the hospitals. he said it was so hard to be there away from all those who loved him. the nurse who was attending him, bent down and kissed him, and said she loved him. "do you love me?" he said; "kiss me again; that was like my sister's kiss?" the nurse kissed him again, and he said with a smile: "it is not hard for me to die now, when i know that some one loves me." if we had more of this sympathy for the lost and the sorrowing, the world would soon feel our influence. shall we not learn a lesson from the good samaritan? let us hear the voice of the master saying: "go thou and do likewise." we can all do something. if we cannot reach the older people, let us try and win the young. it is a blessed privilege to be used of god to bring one little lamb into the kingdom. if we are only the means of saving one child our life will not be a failure; we shall hear the master's "well done, good and faithful servant." a lady started a hospital for sick crippled children in edinburgh two years ago. i was asking her if she had been blessed in the work. i shall not forget how her face lit up. she was in one of our recent meetings in london, and her face was beaming. she was telling of some very interesting cases of conversion among the children. what a privilege it is to lead these afflicted ones into the kingdom of god. a little boy was brought to edinburgh from fife. there was no room in the children's hospital, and he was taken to the general hospital. he was only six years old; his father was dead; his mother was sick, so that she could not take care of him, and he had to be brought to the hospital in edinburgh. my friend, rev. george wilson, went in one day and sat at the bedside of the little sufferer. he was telling him that the doctor was coming on thursday to take off his little leg. you parents can imagine, if one of your children, six years old, away from home, and in a hospital, were told that the doctor was coming on a certain day to take his leg off, how he would suffer at the thought. the little fellow, of course, was in great trouble about it. the minister wanted to know about his mother; she was sick and his father was dead. the minister wished to comfort him, and he said: "the nurse is such a good woman; she will help you." "yes," said the boy, "and perhaps jesus will be with me." do you have any doubt of it? next friday the man of god went to the hospital, but he found the cot was empty. the poor boy was gone; the savior had come and taken him to his bosom. in our great cities are there not hundreds and thousands who are in some need of human sympathy? that will speak to their hearts a good deal louder than eloquent sermons. many will not be moved by eloquent sermons, who would yield to tenderness and gentleness and sympathy. said the great dr. chalmers: "the little that i have seen in the world, and know of the history of mankind, teaches me to look upon their errors in sorrow, not in anger. when i take the one poor heart that has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles and temptations it has passed through; the brief pulsation of joy; the tears of regret; the feebleness of purpose; the scorn of the world that has little charity; the desolation of the soul's sanctuary and threatening voices within; health gone--happiness gone--i would fain leave the erring soul of my fellowman with him from whose hands it came." some of you may say: "how am i to get into sympathy with those who are in sorrow?" that is a very important question. many people go to work for god, but they seem to do it in such a professional way. i will tell you how you can be brought into sympathy. i have found this rule to be of great help to me. put yourself in the place of the sorrowing and afflicted ones, with whom you want to sympathize. if you do that you will soon gain their affections and be able to help them. god taught me a lesson a few years ago that i shall never forget. i was superintendent of a sunday-school in chicago with over , scholars. in the months of july and august many deaths took place among the children, and as most of the ministers were out of the city i had to attend a great many funerals. sometimes i had to be at four or five in one day. i was so accustomed to it that i got to do it almost mechanically. i could see the mother take her last look at the child, and see the coffin lid closed without being moved by it. one day when i came home my wife told me that one of the sunday-school children had been drowned, and the mother wanted to see me. i took my little daughter with me and we went to the house. i found the father in one corner of the room drunk. the mother told me that she took in washing in order to get a living for herself and her children, as her husband drank up all his wages. little adelaide used to go to the river and gather the floating wood for the fire. that day she had gone as usual; she saw a piece of wood out a little way from the bank; in stretching out to reach it she slipped, and fell into the water and was drowned. the mother told me her sad story; how she had no money to buy the shroud and the coffin, and she wanted me to help her. i took out my note-book and put down her name and address, and took the measure of the coffin, in order to send it to the undertakers. the poor mother was much distressed, but it did not seem to move me. i told her i would be at the funeral, and then i left. as my little girl walked by my side she said to me: "papa, suppose we were very poor, and mamma had to wash for a living, and i had to go to the river to get sticks to make a fire; if i were to fall into the water and get drowned would you feel bad?" "feel bad! why, my child, i do not know what i should do. you are my only daughter, and if you were taken from me i think it would break my heart." and i took her to my bosom and kissed her. "then did you feel bad for that mother?" how that question cut me to the heart. i went back to the house, and took out my bible and read to the mother the fourteenth chapter of john. then i prayed with her and endeavored to comfort her. when the day for the funeral arrived i attended it. i had not been to the cemetery for a good many years; i had thought my time was too precious, as it was some miles away. i found the father was still drunk. i had got a lot in the strangers' field for little adelaide. as we were laying the coffin in the grave another funeral procession came up, and the corpse was going to be laid near by. adelaide's mother said, as we were covering up the coffin: "mr. moody, it is very hard to lay her away among strangers. i have been moving about a good deal, and have lived among strangers, and i have never had a burying-lot. it is very hard to place my firstborn among strangers." i said to myself that it would be pretty hard to have to bury my child in the strangers' field. i had got into full sympathy with the poor mother by this time. next sabbath i told the children in the sunday-school what had taken place. i suggested that we should buy a sunday-school lot, and when any of the children attending the school died, they would not be laid in the strangers' field, but would be put in our own lot. before we could get the title made out, a mother came and wanted to know if her little girl who had just died could be buried in the lot. i told her i would give permission. i went to the funeral, and as we were lowering the little coffin i asked what was the name. she said it was emma. that was the name of my own little girl, and i could not help but weep as i thought of how i would feel if it were my own emma. do you tell me i could not sympathize with that bereaved mother? very soon afterward, another mother came and wished to have her dead child buried in our lot. she told me his name was willie. at that time that was the name of my only boy, and i thought how it would be with me if it were my willie who was dead. so the first children buried there bore the names of my two children. i tried to put myself in the places of these sorrowing mothers, and then it was easy for me to sympathize with them in their grief, and point them to him who "shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." about the first thing i did when i returned to chicago nine years ago, was to drive up to and see our children's lot. i thought it would last a good many years, but it was about full, for many of my old sabbath-school scholars had gone while i had been away, and their bodies were resting in this lot till the great day. i understood, however, that the children of the sabbath-school were about to purchase another and a larger lot which would suffice for many years under ordinary circumstances. many little ones are laid there, waiting for the resurrection, and i would like to be buried beside them, it would be so sweet to be in their company when we rise and meet our lord. dear friends, if you would get into full sympathy with others put yourself in their places. may god fill our hearts with the spirit of the good samaritan, so that we may be filled with tenderness and love and compassion. i want to give you a motto that has been a great help to me. it was a quaker's motto: "i expect to pass through this world but once. if, therefore, if there be any kindness i can show or any good thing i can do to any fellow human being let me do it now; let me not defer nor neglect it, for i will not pass this way again." chapter ix. "ye are the light of the world." "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." that is the testimony of an old man, and one who had the richest and deepest experience of any man living on the face of the earth at the time. he was taken down to babylon when a young man; some bible students think he was not more than twenty years of age. if any one had said, when this young hebrew was carried away into captivity, that he would outrank all the mighty men of that day--that all the generals who had been victorious in almost every nation at that time were going to be eclipsed by this young slave--probably no one would have believed it. yet for five hundred years no man whose life is recorded in history shone as did this man. he outshone nebuchadnezzar, belshazzar, cyrus, darius, and all the princes and mighty monarchs of his day. we are not told when he was converted to a knowledge of the true god, but i think we have good reason to believe that he had been brought under the influence of jeremiah the prophet. evidently some earnest, godly man, and no worldly professor, had made a deep impression upon him. some had at any rate taught him how he was to serve god. we hear people nowadays talking about the hardness of the field where they labor; they say their position is a very peculiar one. think of the field in which daniel had to work. he was not only a slave, but he was held captive by a nation that detested the hebrews. the language was unknown to him. there he was among idolaters; yet he commenced at once to shine. he took his stand for god from the very first, and so he went on through his whole life. he gave the dew of his youth to god, and he continued faithful right on till his pilgrimage was ended. notice that all those who have made a deep impression on the world, and have shone most brightly, have been men who lived in a dark day. look at joseph; he was sold as a slave into egypt by the ishmaelites; yet he took his god with him into captivity, as daniel afterward did. and he remained true to the last; he did not give up his faith because he had been taken away from home and placed among idolaters. he stood firm, and god stood by him. look at moses, who turned his back upon the gilded palaces of egypt, and identified himself with his despised and down-trodden nation. if a man ever had a hard field it was moses; yet he shone brightly, and never proved unfaithful to his god. elijah lived in a far darker day than we do. the whole nation was going over to idolatry. ahab, and his queen, and all the royal court were throwing their influence against the worship of the true god. yet elijah stood firm, and shone brightly in that dark and evil day. how his name stands out on the page of history! look at john the baptist. i used to think i would like to live in the days of the prophets; but i have given up that idea. you may be sure that when a prophet appears on the scene, everything is dark, and the professing church of god has gone over to the service of the god of this world. so it was when john the baptist made his appearance. see how his name shines out to-day! eighteen centuries have rolled away, and yet the fame of that wilderness preacher shines brighter than ever. he was looked down upon in his day and generation, but he has outlived all his enemies; his name will be reverenced and his work remembered as long as the church is on the earth. talk about your field being a hard one! see how paul shone for god as he went out, the first missionary to the heathen, telling them of the god whom he served, and who had sent his son to die a cruel death in order to save the world. men reviled him and his teachings; they laughed him to scorn when he spoke of the crucified one. but he went on preaching the gospel of the son of god. he was regarded as a poor tent-maker by the great and mighty ones of his day; but no one can now tell the name of any of his persecutors, or of those who lived at that time, unless their names happen to be associated with his, and they were brought into contact with him. now the fact is, all men like to shine. we may as well acknowledge it at once. you go into business circles and see how men struggle to get into the front rank. every one wants to outshine his neighbor and to stand at the head of his profession. go into the political world and see how there is a struggle going on as to who shall be the greatest. if you go into a school you find that there is a rivalry among the boys and girls. they all want to stand at the top of the class. when a boy does reach this position and outranks all the rest the mother is very proud of it. she will manage to tell all the neighbors how johnnie has got on, and what a number of prizes he has gained. you go into the army and you find the same thing--one trying to outstrip the other; every one is very anxious to shine and rise above his comrades. go among the young men in their games and see how anxious the one is to outdo the other. so we have all that desire in us; we like to shine above our fellows. and yet there are very few who can really shine in the world. once in a while one man will outstrip all his competitors. every four years what a struggle goes on throughout our country as to who shall be the president of the united states, the battle raging for six months or a year. yet only one man can get the prize. there a good many struggling to get the place, but many are disappointed, because only one can attain the coveted prize. but in the kingdom of god the very least and the very weakest may shine if they will. not only can _one_ obtain the prize, but _all_ may have it if they will. it does not say in this passage that the statesmen are going to shine as the brightness of the firmament. the statesmen of babylon are gone; their very names are forgotten. it does not say that the nobility are going to shine. earth's nobility are soon forgotten. john bunyan, the bedford tinker, has outlived the whole crowd of those who were the nobility in his day. they lived for self, and their memory is blotted out. he lived for god and for souls, and his name is as fragrant as ever it was. we are not told that the merchants are going to shine. who can tell the name of any of the millionaires of daniel's day? they were all buried in oblivion a few years after their death. who were the mighty conquerors of that day? but few can tell. it is true that we hear of nebuchadnezzar, but probably we should not have known very much about him but for his relations to the prophet daniel. how different with this faithful prophet of the lord. twenty-five centuries have passed away, and his name shines on, and on, and on, brighter and brighter. and it is going to shine while the church of god exists. "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." how quickly the glory of this world fades away! seventy-five years ago the great napoleon almost made the earth to tremble. how he blazed and shone as an earthly warrior for a little while! a few years passed, and a little island held that once proud and mighty conqueror; he died as a poor broken-hearted prisoner. where is he to-day? almost forgotten. who in all the world will say that napoleon lives in their heart's affections? but look at this despised and hated hebrew prophet. they wanted to put him into the lions' den because he was too sanctimonious and too religious. yet see how green his memory is to-day! how his name is loved and honored for his faithfulness to his god. seventeen years ago i was in paris at the time of the great exhibition. napoleon the third was then in his glory. cheer after cheer would rise up as he drove along the streets of the city. a few short years and he fell from his lofty estate. he died an exile from his country and his throne, and where is his name today? very few think about him at all, and if his name is mentioned it is not with love and esteem. how empty and short-lived are the glory and the pride of this world! if we are wise we will live for god and eternity; we will get outside of ourselves, and will care nothing for the honor and glory of this world. in proverbs we read: "he that winneth souls is wise." if any man, woman, or child by a godly life and example can win one soul to god, their life will not have been a failure. they will have outshone all the mighty men of their day, because they will have set a stream in motion that will flow on and on for ever and ever. that little boy may shine in god's kingdom if he will. god has left us down here to shine. we are not here to buy and sell and get gain, to accumulate wealth, to acquire worldly position. this earth, if we are christians, is not our home; it is up yonder. god has sent us into the world to shine for him--to light up this dark world. christ came to be the light of the world, but men put out that light. they took it to calvary and blew it out. before christ went up on high he said to his disciples: "ye are the light of the world. ye are my witnesses. go forth and carry the gospel to the perishing nations of the earth." so god has called us to shine, just as much as daniel was sent into babylon to shine. let no man of woman say that they cannot shine because they have not so much influence as some others may have. what god wants you to do is to use the influence you have. daniel probably did not have much influence down in babylon at first, but god soon gave him more, because he was faithful and used what he had. remember a small light will do a good deal when it is in a very dark place. you put one little tallow candle in the middle of a large hall, and it will give a good deal of light. away out in the prairie regions, when meetings are held at night in the log school-houses, the announcement of the meeting is given out in this way: "a meeting will be held by early candle-light." the first man who comes brings a tallow-dip with him. it is perhaps all he has; but he brings it and sets it on the desk. it does not light the building much; but it is better than none at all. the next man brings his candle; and the next family bring their candles. by the time the house is full, there is plenty of light. so if we all shine a little, there will be a good deal of light. that is what god wants us to do. if we cannot all be lighthouses, any one of us can at any rate be a tallow candle. a little light will sometimes do a great deal. the city of chicago was set on fire by a cow kicking over a lamp, and a hundred thousand people were burnt out of house and home. do not let satan get the advantage of you, and make you think that because you cannot do any great thing you cannot do anything at all. then we must remember that we are to _let_ our light shine. it does not say, "_make_ your light shine." you do not have to _make_ light to shine; all you have to do is to _let_ it shine. i remember hearing of a man at sea who was very sea-sick. if there is a time when a man feels that he cannot do any work for the lord it is then--in my opinion. while this man was sick he heard that a man had fallen overboard. he was wondering if he could do anything to help to save the man. he laid hold of a light and held it up to the port-hole. the drowning man was saved. when this man got over his attack of sickness he got up on deck one day, and was talking with the man who was rescued. the saved man gave this testimony. he said he had gone down the second time, and was just going down again for the last time, when he put out his hand. just then, he said, some one held a light at the port-hole, and the light fell on his hand. a man caught him by the hand and pulled him into the lifeboat. it seemed a small thing to do to hold up the light; yet it saved the man's life. if you cannot do some great thing you can hold the light for some poor, perishing drunkard, who may be won to christ and delivered from destruction. let us take the torch of salvation and go into these dark homes, and hold up christ to the people as the savior of the world. if these perishing masses are to be reached we must lay our lives right alongside theirs, and pray with them and labor for them. i would not give much for a man's christianity, if he is saved himself and is not willing to try and save others. it seems to me the basest ingratitude if we do not reach out the hand to others who are down in the same pit from which we were delivered. who is able to reach and help these drinking men like those who have themselves been slaves to the intoxicating cup? will you not go out this very day and seek to rescue these men? if we were all to do what we can we should soon empty the drinking saloons. i remember reading of a blind man who was found sitting at the corner of a street in a great city with a lantern beside him. some one went up to him and asked what he had the lantern there for, seeing that he was blind, and the light was the same to him as the darkness. the blind man replied: "i have it so that no one may stumble over me." dear friends, let us think of that. where one man reads the bible, a hundred read you and me. that is what paul meant when he said we were to be living epistles of christ, known and read of all men. i would not give much for all that can be done by sermons, if we do not preach christ by our lives. if we do not commend the gospel to people by our holy walk and conversation, we shall not win them to christ. some little act of kindness will perhaps do more to influence them than any number of long sermons. a vessel was caught in a storm on lake erie, and they were trying to make for the harbor of cleveland. at the entrance of that port they had what are called the upper lights and the lower lights. away back on the bluffs were the upper lights burning brightly enough; but when they came near the harbor they could not see the lights showing the entrance to it. the pilot said he thought they had better get back on the lake again. the captain said he was sure they would go down if they went back, and he urged the pilot to do what he could to gain the harbor. the pilot said there was very little hope of making for the harbor, as he had nothing to guide him as to how he should steer the ship. they tried all they could to get her into the harbor. she rode on the top of the waves, and then into the trough of the sea, and at last they found themselves stranded on the beach, where the vessel was dashed to pieces. some one had neglected the lower lights and they had gone out. let us take warning. god keeps the upper lights burning as brightly as ever, but he has left us down here to keep the lower lights burning. we are to represent him here, as christ represents us up yonder. i sometimes think if we had as poor a representative in the courts above as god has down here on earth, we would have a pretty poor chance of heaven. let us have our loins girt and our lights brightly burning, so that others may see the way and not walk in darkness. in the book of revelation we read: "blessed are the dead which die in the lord from henceforth: yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." there are many mentioned in the scriptures of whom we read that they lived so many years and then they died. the cradle and the grave are brought close together: they lived and they died, and that is all we know about them. so in these days you could write on the tombstone of a great many professing christians that they were born on such a day and they died on such a day; there is nothing whatever between. but there is one thing you cannot bury with a good man; his influence still lives. they have not buried daniel yet; his influence is as great to-day as ever it was. do you tell me that joseph is dead? his influence still lives and will continue to live on and on. you may bury the frail tenement of clay that a good man lives in, but you cannot get rid of his influence and example. paul was never more powerful than he is to-day. do you tell me that john howard, who went into so many of the dark prisons in europe, is dead? is henry martyn, or wilberforce, or john bunyan dead? go into the southern states and there you will find from three to four millions of men and women who once were slaves. you mention to any of them the name of wilberforce, and see how quickly the eye will light up. he lived for something else besides himself, and his memory will never die out of the hearts of those for whom he lived and labored. is wesley or whitefield dead? the names of those great evangelists were never more honored than they are now. is john knox dead? you can go to any part of scotland to-day and you will feel the power of his influence. i will not tell you who are dead. the enemies of these servants of god--those who persecuted them and told lies about them. but the men themselves have outlived all the lies that were uttered concerning them. not only that; they will shine in another world. how true are the words of the old book: "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." let us go on turning as many as we can to righteousness. let us be dead to the world, to its lies, its pleasures, and its ambitions. let us live for god, continually going forth to win souls for him. let me quote a few words by dr. chalmers. "thousands of men breathe, move and live, pass off the stage of life, and are heard of no more--why? they do not partake of good in the world, and none were blessed by them; none could point to them as the means of their redemption; not a line they wrote, not a word they spoke could be recalled; and so they perished; their light went out in darkness, and they were not remembered more than insects of yesterday. will you thus live and die, o man immortal? live for something. do good, and leave behind you a monument of virtue that the storm of time can never destroy. write your name in kindness, love and mercy, on the hearts of the thousands you come in contact with year by year; you will never be forgotten. no, your name, your deeds will be as legible on the hearts you leave behind as the stars on the brow of evening. good deeds will shine as the stars of heaven." [transcriber's notes: this production is based on https://archive.org/details/sermonspaulists unknuoft/page/n . many footnotes have additional citations indicated by "usccb", based on the united states conference of catholic bishops bible found at http://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible. most differences appear to be typographical errors not detected in proofreading or minor changes in verse numbering. end of transcriber's notes.] { } sermons. { } { } sermons, preached at the church of st. paul the apostle, new york, during the year . ----------- new york: van parys, hugot & howell, beekman street. . { } entered according to act of congress, in the year , by van parys, hugot & howell, in the clerk's office of the district court of the united states, for the southern district of new york. --------------- c. a. alvord, printer. { } preface. ------------ some of those friends who listened to the sermons contained in this volume have expressed a desire to see them in print, and thought they would do good. this friendly counsel has not been acted upon without hesitation. the great scarcity of catholic sermons in english would seem to afford motive enough for publishing, though it is feared that these may fall too far below the standard. certainly, they make no pretence to brilliant passages of imagination, flowers of style, or appeals to popular enthusiasm; { } these not comporting with the serious and earnest work in which we are engaged. but we trust that they will be found plain, simple, and direct, and that there may be those among our catholic brethren who will derive an appreciable benefit from their perusal--some clearer view of christian doctrine or moral duty, some thought to touch the heart, and draw it upward to god. if so, our purpose will have been accomplished. with so much of explanation we send out these few sermons into the world; doubting, somewhat, if all who heard them when they came living and warm from the preacher's lips, and listened with interest then, will prize them now as they lie cold and uncolored on the paper. st. paul's. th street, dec. . . { } contents. page. i. the earnest man ii. unworthy communion iii. christ's resurrection the foundation of our faith iv. giving testimony v. spiritual death vi. the love of god vii. keeping the law not impossible viii. the two standards ix. the epiphany x. renunciation xi. the afflictions of the just xii. false maxims xiii. mary's destiny a type of ours xiv. mortal sin exemplified in the history of judas { } xv. interior life xvi. true christian humility xvii. what the desire to love god can do xviii. the worth of the soul xix. merit the measure of reward xx. self-denial { } sermon i. the earnest man. a sermon for the commemoration of st. paul, apostle. (from the epistle, gal. i., - .) i have read the epistle for the day, rather than the gospel, because it contains a brief but characteristic sketch of the great apostle, drawn by his own hand. how strange is the history of this man! we have here the church's most bitter persecutor converted into the most zealous and successful of all the apostles. at first we discover a careful and devoted student of the jewish law; afterward he stands forth the most learned and eloquent expounder of the christian gospel. { } we see him in his youth a witness of st. stephen's martyrdom, standing by to hold the garments of those who stoned him to death, sternly and pitilessly looking on; and again in his old age we find him lying lifeless on the ostian road, outside the walls of rome, a headless trunk, a martyr in the same cause for which st. stephen died. we see him at first "_ravaging the church, entering into houses, and hauling away men and women, and committing them to prison,_" and shortly afterward we hear the wondering christians whisper to each other: "_he that persecuted us in times past now preaches the faith_." in the beginning, foremost of all the jews was he in that terrible energy which they put forth to destroy the church; and afterward foremost among the apostles, he was able to say with truth: "_i have labored more abundantly than they all_." in fine, one trait of character distinguished this great apostle at all times, both before and after his conversion. he was always an earnest man. it is worth our while this morning to study his character well, for--from the bottom of my soul i do believe it--a few such earnest christians in our day would be enough to move the world. { } let us look at him first during the early part of his career, and see how this earnestness of character displays itself in one whose mind is misguided, by religious error. in the first place, then, st. paul before his conversion was distinguished by an earnest and ardent love of truth, and consequently, a strong attachment to what he deemed to be the truth. i have already read to you in the epistle what he says of his own early life: "_i made progress in the jews' religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers._" this earnestness of his sprang from a deep love of truth, and it made him what he afterward became, the foremost champion of the true faith. the human mind is created for truth, is naturally attracted to the truth when fairly presented, and if not led away by a corrupted heart, embraces it with joy. truth comes readily to those that love it, and therefore there is, after all, nothing unnatural in this conversion of a hebrew zealot into a christian evangelist; for if he loved error at first, it was only because in good faith he mistook it for the truth, and if he hated the truth, it was only because he did not see it in its true colors, but misrepresented and perverted. { } these men who are zealous, honestly zealous, in error, are the very men to embrace the truth; and, on the contrary, they who stand perfectly indifferent between contradictory creeds, are the least open to conviction. both reason and experience teach this. nothing is more common in our day than a class of men who look with perfect[ly] good nature upon every form of religious doctrine, except perhaps that particular one in which they themselves were reared, and which is supposed therefore to have some practical claim upon them. did you ever know one of these "liberal fellows," so called, to be come catholic? i mean these men who, having no religious faith to love, can have no error to hate. i mean, for example, these nominal protestants who, when in your presence, turn into ridicule every protestant form of religion, without believing a word of yours; one of these good-natured fellows that think the catholic religion is quite as good as any, in some respects the best of any, since it is the farthest out of their way. { } take, for instance, one of these liberal politicians that you always see at the public dinner on patrick's day; that will subscribe cordially to a catholic charity, if you ask him, but comes back to remind you of it on election day. did you ever know a man of this stamp to become catholic? no, indeed; divine truth has attractions only for earnest souls. a _hickory_ protestant is as poor a thing as a _hickory_ catholic. such a man has two fundamental axioms to get by heart, before religious truth can take possession of his soul; first, that there is such a thing as truth, and next, that his mind was made for it, and needs it. oh! it is sad to see a man in ignorance of the way of salvation,--sadder still to see him blindly prejudiced against it; but the saddest, most ignoble, and most hopeless of all conditions, is to be indifferent to it. st. paul was another type of man. he was an earnest one. he believed the jewish religion to be the true and only true one, and therefore he loved it with all his soul, and was zealous for it. when the scales fell from his eyes, and the christian faith was revealed to him in all its truth and beauty, he embraced it, and clung to it, and abandoned himself to it, with all the energies of that same earnest soul. { } had he been a "liberal" jew, we should have far more reason to wonder at his conversion; it is still less probable that god would have selected him for the apostle of the gentiles. an earnest lover of truth, even before his conversion, it followed as a natural consequence, that st. paul hated error; and for this reason he opposed the christian religion with all his might, and with his whole soul, because he believed it to be false and dangerous. "_you have heard_," said he, writing to the christians of galatia, "_of my conversation in time past in the jews religion, how that beyond measure i persecuted the church of god, and laid it waste._" but he tells us elsewhere: "_i obtained mercy of god, because i did it ignorantly in unbelief_." in the same proportion that the earnest man loves what is good and true, he hates what is false and evil, or what he thinks so, and opposes it too. st. paul opposed the christian faith with all his power, because he believed it to be false. he was wrong there: it was an error of judgment. { } he persecuted it too violently, "beyond measure," forgetting the rules of charity. there he was wrong again; it was an error of the heart. but in all this he was in earnest, hating false doctrine; and there he was right. i do not sympathize with his delusion, but i love him for his earnestness. oh! how many such men may there not be in this country of ours, that we rank among our bitterest foes!--men who honestly oppose our holy religion, not for what it really is, but what they think it to be. could we open that sealed and sacred register of the divine counsels, wherein the fortunes of mankind are written, with what delight should we read there the names of many of our bitterest opponents who are destined to kneel and worship with us yet, as others, thank god, have done already! why not? i do from my heart believe that many of these make war upon us only from mistake of judgment. they know our doctrines only by false report. they judge of our morals only by such catholics as are either the most ignorant of their own religion, or else entirely false to the teachings of their church, and strangers to her sacraments, although some of these may be loud enough at times in proclaiming a faith they have not, to further some political pretension, or sanctify some ungodly trade. { } under such circumstances it is not strange that many earnest men should set their faces against us. could they cease to hate our religion, while they believe it to be false? can they sympathize with us, while they believe us to be corrupted by it? oh! god, send these men into thy fold! take off the scales from their eyes, and send them to us. we need earnest men amongst us. the half-hearted, indifferent protestant who calls himself a liberal, we do not hope for. we have too many such already; we could spare them by the thousand, for they neither save their own souls, nor bring credit to thy cause. but send us earnest men like st. paul, who know how to hate error, because they love the truth! if, even when groping in the darkness of judaism, st. paul was so honest-hearted and earnest, we shall not find him otherwise when enlightened by the grace of jesus christ, and enlisted in his holy cause. he had before him two great enterprises, which require not only large grace from god, but all one's manhood and energy to carry on well. { } he had his own soul to sanctify and save, and he had an apostle's work to do. he set about both like a man in earnest, with that deliberate, deep and concentrated enthusiasm which is not wont to fail. let us see first what care he took of his own salvation. would you believe it, my brethren, that st. paul--after all that wonderful life of toil and privation in the cause of christ, after his many voyages and frequent shipwrecks, imprisoned often, and dragged before different tribunals, after being scourged five times by the jews and three times by the romans, stoned by the mob in the streets and left for dead, wandering about without any fixed home, and often famishing for food and drink, and faint for want of sleep--would you believe, i say, that he yet trembled for fear of being damned? he was afraid lest that poor, emaciated body of his might rebel against the spirit, and drag him into some grievous sin. "_oh! wretched man that i am!_" was his mournful cry, "_who shall deliver me from this body of death?_" for this reason he scourged himself. "_therefore i chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps, when i have preached to others, i myself should become reprobate_." { } this is being in earnest. i think, my brethren, our bodies are as dangerous to us, as st. paul's was to him. are we as much in earnest to guard against a fall? gluttony, drunkenness, impurity, idleness and effeminacy--these sensual sins are generated in the body. we may not, all of us, be guilty of them, not grossly guilty; but we are none of us quite safe against them. what means do we employ to subjugate our bodies, or was st. paul less safe than we? according to the idea of this great apostle, the way to heaven is a constant and difficult warfare. nothing in language can be more striking and vivid than his description of an earnest christian struggling to make sure his salvation. he compares him to wrestlers, boxers, and runners in the public games. have you ever seen two strong men wrestling? how their muscles harden into knots, and their veins swell full as if they would burst! how all their energies are engaged! how wary they are to guard against a fall, and how quick to seize upon any advantage! imagine them to be real enemies wrestling for life, and then you have an image of the actual contest of an earnest christian struggling for salvation with the enemies of his soul. { } "_brethren_," says st. paul, and i seem to hear those deep tones giving counsel like a friendly voice at the beginning of a deadly fray, "_brethren, put on the armor of god, that you may be able to stand against the snares of the devil. for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places_." tell me, my brethren, is this your idea of the christian warfare? is it with this terrible earnestness you struggle to work out your salvation, or do you make a pastime of it? he compares us christians to professional racers. "_know you not that they who run in the race all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? so run that you may win_." for my part, he adds, "_i so run as not at an uncertainty_," not as if i had lost sight of the mark, and were only half conscious of what i were about, but "_forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching myself forward to those that are before me, i pursue towards the mark, for the prize of the supernal vocation of god in christ jesus_." is this the earnest way we follow out our vocation? are we thus determined to win? { } the christian warfare requires careful preparation, drill and discipline. in respect to this, st. paul compares us to professional boxers, and his description shows that these gladiators of the olden time took as much pride in their art, as our modern gentlemen of the prize ring. "_every one that struggles in a combat, abstains from every indulgence; they, indeed, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible_." how earnest are these miserable prize-fighters after their belt, and their stakes! how patiently they submit to all the rules of their training-master during their long and painful course of training! what abstinence from food, from indulgence in drink, and all luxurious living, in order to reduce their bodies to the most athletic proportions! what long walks under heavy weights! what fatiguing exercises to harden their muscles! oh! that we were half as earnest, with heaven for a prize, and all our eternity at stake! we should be sure of victory then. { } st. paul was in earnest. "_i so fight_," said he, "_as not having to beat the air, but i chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, perhaps, when i have preached to others, i myself should become reprobate_." we have seen now, how, after his conversion, st. paul set about the first great business before him--his own salvation. let us look at him now as an apostle, engaged in gaining souls to god, and in guarding the flock of christ intrusted to him. ah! my dear brethren, here must i be brief. i dare not make any further demands upon your patience. and, besides, who can draw the lineaments of that great apostle, or paint him in colors worthy of his character? what memory can trace out those long and frequent journeys, with the incessant fatigue of preaching, disputing, and writing, with the "care of all the churches" upon his hands. and yet, not to burden his brethren, he maintained himself in good part by manual labor. what language is gentle enough, and warm enough, to represent that tender and sensitive heart that throbbed in sympathy with all the joys and woes of the church, and burned with every scandal? { } "_who is weak,_" said he, "_and i am not weak? who is scandalized, and i do not burn?_" who can estimate the depth and fulness of that fraternal love, which made him willing to part even with his own hopes of heaven, so it could be done without offence to god, in order to save his brethren? "_my conscience bears me witness in the holy ghost that i have great sadness, and continual sorrow in my heart, for i wished myself to be an anathema from christ for my brethren_." this is the nearest approach to the love of the saviour for us, who bore our sins upon the bitter cross, who died that we might live, becoming an anathema for his brethren. oh! holy zeal for souls! how beautiful it shows in the person of an apostle like st. paul! and what an example it is for those of us who are in the sacred ministry. we, too, have a share in his apostleship; we are charged with the preaching of the gospel, and the gathering in of souls. we have pledged ourselves to this holy work of duty and charity. woe to such among us as are not in earnest! joy to him who, when his lord comes, shall be able to give a good account of his stewardship! { } but you, my dear brethren, have also something to learn from this burning zeal of st. paul's. you have all something to do with the advancement of your master's kingdom, and the salvation of souls. when god created the human race, so we read in the book of ecclesiasticus, he made each man responsible, in some measure, for the welfare of his fellows: "_mandavit illis unicuique de proximo suo_." and there is still a closer and dearer bond which embraces all the members of the great catholic church, and holds each one pledged to labor for the salvation of all. ah! brethren, do not say with the murderer cain: "_am i my brother's keeper?_" what have i to do with the sanctification or ruin of souls? no! no! but take to heart your master's cause. he came into the world to save sinners. teach your heart to throb in sympathy with his, until you can say with st. paul: "_who is weak, and i am not weak? who is scandalized, and i do not burn?_" this is to love our lord in earnest. this is the communion of saints. { } we have traced this distinguishing characteristic of the great apostle--this earnestness of his--through his entire career. it only remains now to witness the close of that career. st. paul died like a man who had lived in earnest, and for whom therefore death has no terrors, "_for me to live,_" said he, "_is christ, to die is gain_." is it possible that any fear of death, any doubt of his salvation could cloud the spirit of such a man in the closing scene of his career? listen to his parting song of triumph! it comes from his prison at rome, just upon the eve of his martyrdom. he has still before his mind's eye the combatants and runners in the public games. "_the time of my dissolution is at hand. i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course; i have kept the faith. for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the lord the just judge will render to me at that day_." could we say as much, my brethren, if our time were come? could we claim as manfully to have fought a good fight? could we claim our reward as confidently? no? then, alas, we have not been so much in earnest. we have been playing with our salvation, not wrestling for it; we have not been fighting for our faith with the world and satan, but compromising; we have been resting not running; and if so, what hope have we to reach that crown? { } oh, let us bestir ourselves! let us live like men awake; so let us think, so speak, so act, so move, through this brief but solemn crisis of life, that all who see us may know that, like st. paul, we are in earnest. --------------------- { } sermon ii. unworthy communion. "he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the lord." -- cor. xi., . (from the epistle for thursday in holy week.) it is customary at certain seasons of the year, for separated members of a family to meet and dine together, as a means of cherishing that affection for one another which we look for among relations. thanksgiving day and christmas are occasions of this kind. the catholic church, too, is a great family, and the paschal season is such a time with her. she calls her children around her altars, to receive the body and blood of her lord, who is the blessed bond of their union, and of their love. { } but as in the parable of the rich man's supper there was found one at the table who had not on the wedding garment, and was cast out; therefore the church warns us at this season, to prepare for the paschal feast, that we may not be found unworthy. and to the same end she calls upon us to keep this season of penance, beforehand. in the church's name, then, and in charity to yourselves, my dear brethren, i am going to lift up my voice this morning, against unworthy communions. but first, i must tell you, that i do not mean unworthy, in the sense of communions made without profit: as for example, when one makes but little preparation beforehand, and thinks little of what he is doing at the moment, and makes but the poorest sort of thanksgiving afterward. no; compared with such as i mean, these communions are precious and holy. they do but little good to those who make them, it is true; and give but poor honor to god; but at least they are made in the state of grace. by an unworthy communion, i mean one that is made in known mortal sin. i mean a sacrilegious communion. { } i shall speak, then,-- . of communion in itself. . of unworthy communions. . of those who are guilty of them. i.--_what is communion?_ it is the body and blood of jesus christ, given to us as food for the sanctification of our souls and bodies. "_he that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life, and i will raise him up at the last day._" [footnote ] [footnote : st. john, vi., .] what is holy communion? it is to receive the best of friends, who comes to advise us, to cheer and to encourage us. a friend who has power to protect us. who loves to dwell in our hearts as in a castle, where he may fight for us against the enemies of our soul. what is holy communion? it is a pledge of heaven, and a foretaste of it. union with god by a perfect love, will be our happiness for all eternity, and this is begun on earth in holy communion. as st. peter says, it is to be made "partakers of the divine nature." [footnote ] [footnote : peter i., .] what is holy communion? it is the parting gift of one who loves us better than our mother. he chose the time when he was about to leave us, to give it an additional value. { } he made it the memorial of his passion. as in times past, he had given the rainbow as a perpetual remembrance of his mercy, so he willed that the blessed sacrament of his body and blood, should be a perpetual remembrance of the redemption of the cross, "_do this in remembrance of me_." what is holy communion? it is the best of all the good gifts of our good god. ii.--_what then is it to receive this holy communion unworthily?_ it is to be grievously wanting in reverence to the holiest of all holy things. when you see a person put a thing to an improper use, what do you say? why, that is too bad; you say. why, you must be out of your head. suppose you saw a girl in service, scrubbing the floor with a beautiful camel's-hair shawl, what would you say? suppose you saw me filling the water stoups at the door, and for that purpose dipping out the holy water, from a pail, with the very chalice i had just used in mass, what would you say? why, you would exclaim, how very shocking! what an irreverent priest! { } now why would you say this? because when god made your soul, he put into it a reverence for certain things, above others. but what does an unworthy communion do? it does this. it takes the blood of christ, and pours it down a sink that is more loathsome than a city sewer, for what is so loathsome to god, as a soul in mortal sin? corruption of matter is good, for god made it, but moral corruption is an abomination to him. this one does who conceals a mortal sin in confession. what is an unworthy communion? it is to crucify jesus over again. what does st. paul say? "_they who have tasted of the heavenly gift and are fallen away, crucify to themselves the son of god, and make a mockery of him._" now, which is worse, to leave off keeping a man's company, or to play the false friend with him? but this a man does who receives holy communion unworthily. the spirit of his act is as if he went up to the throne of god, and caught hold of those blessed hands and feet, and said, "come down to earth and be tormented once more." he would pull off the crown of glory from that blessed head, and press down again upon that brow the crown of thorns. { } nay, it does even worse than crucify jesus over again. his first crucifixion was a willing one. it was his own love that was the real executioner; but now he is dragged against his will. this is what a man does who gets his absolution on the strength of some promise which he does not intend to keep. what is an unworthy communion? it is to eat and drink one's own damnation. what does st. paul say again? "_he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself_." the wood of the cross drank in the blood of christ, and was sanctified; and here is a soul that has drunk it in, and is damned. the centurion was sprinkled with it, as he was piercing the side of christ with a spear, and it made a saint of him; but here is a christian soul, that is damned for being bathed with it. it cleansed the robber's conscience who was hanging beside his lord, and pleaded mercy for him; but on this soul it cries for vengeance, like the blood of abel, against another cain. { } "_better_," said our lord, "_had it been for that man, if he had not been born;_" but now, he has anticipated the day of judgment upon himself. this a man does who gets his absolution upon the promise of breaking off from a bad companion, which promise he does not mean to keep. i repeat, then, they make unworthy, sacrilegious communions, for instance, . who conceal mortal sins in confession. . who get their absolution on the strength of their promising what they do not intend to perform. but what am i saying? surely no one before me has been guilty of this! well, god only knows. it has been done elsewhere, and may have been done here, for alas, unworthy communions are not such very uncommon things. in case it has been so, i wish to strike terror into such consciences, and to bring them to penance. i wish to prevent such a misfortune, in the parish of st. paul's, as one coming to the paschal feast of the lamb without his wedding garment. { } iii. _who has done this?_ as our lord sat at the table with his apostles, at the last supper, he said sadly, "_one of you shall betray me._" each in turn, asked him eagerly and earnestly, "_lord, is it i?_" no, peter, i foresee that you will deny that you know me. that you will even swear that you do not. that you will even do this several times; but no, it is not you who will betray me. "_lord, is it i?_" no, thomas. you will run away for fear at my death, though you said you would die with me. you will not believe my word that i am risen, and that i am your lord, until you put your hand in the prints of the nails; but no, it is not you who will betray me. "_lord, is it i?_" no, john. you shall be beside me at the cross. i mean that you shall have the charge of my mother; oh, no, i do not mean you! "_lord, is it i?_" thou hast said it, judas. i made you an apostle, a pillar of my church. i called you out of the world, and took you to my bosom, as a dear friend. you have gone in and out, and eaten and drunk with me. nay, you have just received my body and blood, and all the while you hold the thirty pieces of silver for which you have betrayed me. { } now, then, i think i hear you say to me: father, have i then done this horrible thing? _is it i? is it i?_ no, my good man. you have enjoyed for years your ill-got gains, but your health has gone now. declining years have come upon you, and you are poor; you can never restore them again. your communions are not unworthy for this. but as for you, young man, why have you presumed to come to the altar? where are those thirty pieces of silver for which you sold your soul? you promised in confession that you would restore them, but why? that you might get your easter communion. in your heart you said, perhaps i will, some day, and all the while, you knew that no absolution is valid without the will to restore, or actual restitution when one is able; and you _were_ able. _father, is it i?_ no, poor fellow. you forgot to mention in your last confession, a very grievous sin, and only remembered it just after you had left the altar. do not be troubled. you tried your best to examine your conscience, but this escaped your memory. { } it was forgiven with the rest. but what have you to say for yourself, o drunkard? you did not leave out one of your many nights of debauch; but what of that solemn promise to keep from liquor for so long a time, which you have already so often broken, as you had no intention of keeping it? you have drunk in damnation with your liquor, and deeper damnation with your communion. _father, is it i?_ no, poor girl. you should have known better than to have trusted yourself to a deceiver with his jewels and wine; but you have done penance. your sobs in the confessional have spoken for you. your communion, though so soon after your confession, was good. but what have you to say for yourself, o adulterer, and adulteress? you, o adulterer; you found a home where there were smiles, and fondness, and peace; and what have you done? you have made it a home of jealousy and strife. you have put estrangement between two hearts whom god joined together, and said, "let no man put asunder." you have robbed a fellow man of one of his most sacred rights given him in the face of the church. { } and you, o adulteress, why have you come here? our lord said to judas, "_friend, why hast thou come? dost thou betray the son of man with a kiss?_" you knelt here at the altar-rail, and as the priest said to you, "the body of our lord jesus christ preserve thy soul unto everlasting life," you put up your lips, and said, like judas, hail master! and you kissed our lord. oh! where was the angel of the blessed sacrament then? an angel was placed at the gate of eden with a flaming sword to keep guard over the tree of life. oh! where, i ask, was the angel of the blessed sacrament? where was his guardian who said of himself, "_i am the bread that cometh down from heaven, of which whosoever eateth, he shall live forever!_" preserve thy soul unto everlasting life, indeed! it has prepared you for the everlasting burnings; for the flames that shall never be quenched. you went to confession, you say! yes, i know you did, and you concealed your sins of shame. you have added to these one of sacrilege. and you, o slanderer, who have robbed your neighbor of his character, by your lies and calumnies which you have never told in confession, or if you have, which you never intend to repair at the price of your own dishonor! { } you have been drinking in your own judgment with the blood of jesus. jesus, judgment! jesus, damnation! why st. bernard said, the very name of jesus "was music in his ear, honey in his mouth, and joy to his heart." jesus, damnation! why st. gabriel said "_he shall be called jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins._" o cruel perversion of sin! to turn sweetness into bitterness! but what does god say of such as these? "_when you stretch forth your hands, i will turn away my eyes from you and when you multiply prayer, i will not hear for your hands are full of blood_." [footnote ] [footnote : isaias i., .] let me tell you a fact that a jesuit told to one of our fathers. a young man in the neighborhood where he lived, was heir to a large estate, which he was to receive at twenty-one years of age, on the condition that at that time he frequented the sacraments. he turned out to be very wild and given up to sin. near the end of his twentieth year, he was reminded of the danger of his losing the estate. { } never fear, said he, i'll easily manage that, and at once he began to lead outwardly a very correct life. he was now seen at mass. he kept out of society, and public places of amusement. within a short time before his birthday, he went to confession; and the morning came, when he was seen to go up to the altar-rail for communion. the priest placed the blessed sacrament on his tongue, and had turned back to the altar, when he heard a frightful shriek, and the words "my tongue! my tongue! it has burned my tongue!" when the priest returned to him, he said, "oh father, forgive me, my confession was bad, i had been in the secret commission of mortal sins which i purposely concealed. i had no wish to forsake them, but only to secure my property; oh father, i repent, absolve me before i die!" the priest took the blessed sacrament from his tongue, and with much difficulty consoled him with the promise of pardon. he made a good communion soon after, and was put in possession of his estate, which he sold, and gave to the poor, and in penance for his sins, doomed his false tongue thenceforward to perpetual silence. { } tremble, then, dear brethren, at the thought of so grievous a sin. for such as are guilty of it, there is but one thing to be done. come back to god with sorrow, now in this time of penance, for, "_thus saith the lord; if your sins be as scarlet they shall be made as white as snow; and if they be red as crimson they shall be as white as wool_." [footnote ] [footnote : isaias , .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is isaias i., .] confess your sacrilegious communions. go and repair the scandal you have given. restore the goods you have stolen. abandon the companions of your guilt. do this, and there will be joy before the angels of god, and with the priests to whom you may confide your conscience. if, in spite of all i have said, you live on with the guilt of an unworthy communion, eternal woe will be your portion; from which may god in his mercy deliver you, and all of us. amen. ------------------ { } sermon iii. christ's resurrection the foundation of our faith. "and when the sabbath was past, mary magdalene and mary the mother of james, and salome, brought sweet spices." --mark xvi., . (from the gospel for easter sunday.) on this day, the bosom of the whole church swells with exultation. after the penance of lent, after the mourning of holy week, the countless disciples of the crucified and risen saviour, take up and echo through the whole earth the joyful cry--christ is risen! he is risen indeed. for this is the day on which jesus christ, bursting the bonds of the sepulchre, triumphed over death. { } this is the day which, more than any other, enlivens our faith, strengthens our hope of eternal salvation, and causes our hearts to bound with spiritual joy. even the coldest and most indifferent christian feels his bosom warm with some faint sentiment, at least, of devotion on this day, and remembers with pride that he bears the name and professes the faith of jesus christ. this is right and proper. for all the doctrines of our religion are centred in the resurrection. all our hopes are based upon it. the resurrection is the grand fact of christianity. it is the proof of the divinity of jesus christ; it is the seal of god which makes the documents of our faith authentic; it is the cause and the pledge of our final resurrection and eternal happiness. this accounts for the joy which swells every true christian bosom, on this day. for, my dear brethren and i beg you to note it well--the source of our hope and of our joy is in our faith. it is the certainty of faith which banishes all doubt, wavering, hesitation and gloom from the heart of a sincere and fervent catholic. the faith of the resurrection must be firmly planted in our minds, if we would have the hope of the resurrection, and the joy which springs from this hope, bright and glowing in our hearts. { } let me therefore ask your attention this morning, while i endeavor to show you what a firm and and immovable foundation we have for our faith, in the resurrection of jesus christ. and in doing so, i will endeavor to establish these three points: _first_.--that jesus christ appealed to his future resurrection, while he was yet alive, as the proof of his divinity. _second_.--that he actually raised himself from the dead, as he had predicted, and, _third_.--that the resurrection of christ proves his deity, and with it, the entire catholic faith. may the grace of the risen saviour increase our faith, through the intercession of mary, whose faith never wavered for an instant, even beneath the cross of her son! i. jesus christ asserted frequently and clearly to the jews, that he was god, and required them to believe him. so his disciples understood him, who believed; so the jews understood him, who did not believe, but accused him of blasphemy and condemned him to death. { } the great sign, the miracle, the proof, to which he appealed to justify this declaration, was his resurrection on the third day after his death. he declared himself to be the proper and only begotten son of god. he that does not believe this, he says, "_is already judged, because he believeth not in the name of the only-begotten son of god._" [footnote ] [footnote : john iii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is john iii., .] this title of only-begotten which he gives himself, shows that he does not merely claim to be a child of god by grace and adoption, but by nature. this nature he declares positively is not his human nature, but distinct from it, that it came from heaven, and was in heaven as well as on earth. "_no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the son of man who is in heaven_." [footnote ] [footnote : john iii., .] he confesses that he is man; but asserts that he is more than man, that he came from heaven. he asserts also that this superior nature which is joined with his humanity is eternal. "_before abraham was--i am_." [footnote ] [footnote : john viii., .] not i was; but _i am_, the word by which god made known his eternity to moses. and finally he declares that this super-human and eternal nature is identical with that of his father, is the divine nature itself. "_i and my father are one_." [footnote ] [footnote : john x., .] { } his disciples who believed in him, understood him to teach his divinity. "_my lord and my god_." [footnote ] was the expression of the faith of thomas. "the word was god," [footnote ] that of john. [footnote : john xx., .] [footnote : john i., .] so the jews understood him, who did not believe. "_the jews answered him: for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man_, makest thyself god!" [footnote ] [footnote : john x., .] the jews understood then perfectly well, that in calling himself the true, proper, and only son of god, the christ and saviour of the world; and in working miracles, forgiving sins, and preaching salvation, in his own name, and by his own authority, and not as a mere prophet--he asserted his own true and proper divinity, and made himself god. { } in support of this claim, jesus christ repeatedly appealed to his resurrection. he foretold his death; and declared that he would show himself to be the true son of god the father, having the same divine nature and the same divine power with him; by raising himself from the dead on the third day. "_the son of man shall be in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights._" [footnote ] [footnote : matt, xii., .] this was said to the scribes and pharisees who wished him to give them a sign which should prove him to be the true christ. when he drove out the men who were trafficking in the courts of the temple, the jews said to him: "_what sign dost thou show unto us, seeing thou dost these things? jesus answered and said unto them: destroy this temple, and in three days i will raise it up. but he spoke of the temple of his body_." [footnote ] it is remarkable that he does not declare that he will be raised to life by his father, but by himself. "_i lay down my life that i may take it again. no man taketh it away from me, but i lay it down of my self, and i have power to lay it down and i have power to take it up again_." [footnote ] [footnote : john ii., - .] [footnote : john x.. - .] { } these are only samples of the frequent and public declarations made by our lord to the same effect. and it was so well known among the jews that he had staked his entire cause on his resurrection, that they came to pilate, immediately after his crucifixion, and said to him: "_sir, we have remembered that that seducer said, while he was yet alive: after three days i will rise again. command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day._" [footnote ] [footnote : matt. xxvii., - .] here, then, is the grand test of the truth of christ's doctrine--the grand sign of his divinity; the public challenge which he gives to all his enemies. we have it on the testimony of the most desperate haters of his name and doctrine; the very men who nailed him to the cross. they were resolved to prove his prediction false, to show that he could not, and would not, rise again, and thus to manifest him to the world as a seducer. at the sepulchre of jesus christ, then, is the trial of strength between them. the dead body of jesus is on one side; the jewish rulers, the roman governor, and a strong watch of soldiers on the other. and jesus christ overcame; he actually did rise, as he had foretold: "_resurrexit sicut dixit;_" and all their precautions only served to furnish so many brilliant testimonies to the fact, that he had fulfilled his word. { } ii. picture to yourselves, if you can, the scenes of those three memorable days! the sun of justice, the light of the world, has gone down in darkness. jesus christ is dead; he is buried, and a great stone is rolled to the door of the sepulchre. the disciples are scattered here and there, buried in the most profound and bitter disappointment, consternation and grief. the multitudes have fled hastily from mount calvary, some beating their breasts with contrition, some blaspheming, but all in terror. the heavens are overclouded and black, the thunder moans, and an earthquake shakes the earth. the frightened inhabitants of jerusalem, as they return to their homes, are met in the streets by the pale corpses of the dead, who have left their graves, and are wandering about among the living. in the temple, those wicked and unworthy priests are startled at the sudden tearing, by an invisible hand, of the thick and heavy veil which hangs before the holy of holies. an ominous stillness sinks over the city of jerusalem after that dreadful, tragical day. it is the eve of the greatest sabbath of the year. { } the sabbath morning dawns once more; all is apparently quiet, and god does not appear, to take sudden vengeance on his guilty people. annas and caiphas, and those other wicked priests who have sacrificed the lamb of god, with their souls all black and turbid with remorse, but with a grim and diabolical exultation in the success of their horrid work, prepare themselves in splendid vestments for the sacrifices and the ceremonies of the day. the countless multitudes of jews, gathered together from every part of the world to keep the passover, crowd the vast courts of the temple. the disciples remain shut up, in silence and in fear. the roman soldiers guard the shut and sealed sepulchre of jesus. the day passes and the night, and nothing occurs. the first streaks of the dawn begin to appear in the sky on sunday morning. the disciples have forgotten the promise of their master to rise on the third day, and have lost heart entirely. mary magdalene, and the other pious women, have planned to steal out early to visit his tomb, and to bring their spices, and perfumes, and fresh flowers, to cast upon his dead body. { } they set forth together; while still in the distance, they are frightened by the sight of torches and armed men in the garden. they have not courage to go on; and they remember that a great stone is at the door of the sepulchre, which will hinder their entrance. only the courageous and loving mary magdalene has the hardihood to press forward at all risks, leaving the others hovering about in the neighborhood of the garden. as she approaches the sepulchre, she sees the stone rolled away to one side; she pays no attention to the soldiers who are lying on the ground, apparently stunned and insensible, but goes in, and the body of jesus christ is not there; his grave-clothes are lying in the spot where his body was placed, and an angel is watching the empty sepulchre. bewildered and surprised, and occupied only with the thought that the body is gone, she runs hastily back to the place where john and other apostles are staying, tells them in breathless haste what she has seen, and without waiting for a reply, returns as speedily as possible to the sepulchre. { } meanwhile, during magdalene's absence, the other women observing that the soldiers have left the gar-den, come also to the sepulchre, see the stone rolled away, go in, and find two angels sitting, one at the head, the other at the foot of the place where christ was laid. the angels tell them that christ is risen, and bid them go announce it to his disciples, and direct them to meet him in galilee, as he had commanded them before his death. they now leave the garden to return to the city, and magdalene arrives once more, and while these things are happening the sun has risen, the sun of the first easter sunday, the type of the risen sun of justice. mary magdalene goes into the sepulchre again, and begins to weep, still too much occupied with the thought that the body of christ is gone, to reflect on any thing else. she sees the angels; but to the questions: "_woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?_" she answers distractedly, "_they have taken away my lord, and i know not where they have laid him_." she turns around, and sees the figure of a man, whom she takes to be the gardener, and asks him where they have taken the body of jesus. the well-known voice exclaims: "mary!" she suddenly recognizes the lord, and utters a cry of joy: "oh, my master!" { } she tries to clasp him by the feet, but he forbids her, and bids her go, announce his resurrection to the disciples. she sets off immediately, and in a few moments peter and john arrive, visit the sepulchre, and see that the body is not there. they also return to the city. immediately after his interview with mary magdalene, the lord appears also to her companions, while they are returning to their homes. he was also seen by peter some time during the day. toward evening he joins two of the disciples, who were going to emmaus, a small village near jerusalem, and explains to them the prophecies of the scripture concerning himself, but is not recognized by them, until he blesses bread and gives it to them, and then disappears from view. so the day passes. first one arrives at the coenaculum, and relates his story, then another, then others; the day passes in comparing these different accounts, in conversing together, in expectation of what is going to happen. when night draws on, the apostles and disciples are gathered together for prayer; the two from emmaus come in just then, and relate their interview with the lord, when suddenly he appears among them, and says: "_peace be unto you._" so passes this day. { } the four evangelists give no regular and methodical account of it. all these occurrences are related by some one or more of them; and i have strung them together in an order in which they might have happened, and which reconciles all the accounts with each other. such is the narrative of the gospel. is it true? did these things really happen? in regard to one fact, christians, jews and romans were agreed. the body of jesus christ was removed from a closed and sealed tomb, guarded by roman soldiers, by early dawn on the morning of easter sunday. it was removed either by divine power, or by human ingenuity. the rulers of the jews circulated the report, which they have repeated to this day, that his disciples came and stole him away, while the guard was sleeping. "what!" exclaims st. augustine, "you will prove your cause by sleeping witnesses?" if they were asleep, they knew nothing of the way by which the body disappeared. and if they were awake to see the disciples steal it, why did they not kill them on the spot. { } the guard were sleeping! a guard of roman soldiers. who can believe that? for a roman soldier to sleep at his post was an extraordinary and most disgraceful thing, and here we have a whole band of them, with an officer at their head--sleeping. the punishment was death. in this case especially, no mercy could have been expected, where both roman and jewish rulers were so deeply interested in putting an end to the religion of christ. how did they dare confess their sleeping, unless they were in connivance with the authorities, and bribed to repeat this story. why was no trial held? why were not these soldiers examined before a tribunal? why was no search made for the body of jesus, and for his disciples? why is the whole matter hushed up by common consent between pilate and caiphas? there is only one possible supposition. and that is: that the soldiers saw the resurrection of the lord--that they related it to their rulers, and that by bribes and threats their testimony was suppressed. i will not pause to accumulate arguments. { } i will not speak of the impossibility that jesus christ should be able to predict that his disciples would attempt such an incredible task as the removal of his body, and succeed in it. i will not speak of their timidity, and their perfect want of all plan of action, all means of carrying out any project whatever; of their complete perplexity and helplessness; and of the utter madness of sacrificing all their worldly goods and their lives, to carry out a manifest imposture. these things are so plain, that reasoning only seems to weaken the effect with which they strike conviction to the mind at the first statement. i return to this simple fact, that the tale circulated by the soldiers, in common with pilate and the jewish rulers, is a complete and irresistible proof of the resurrection. and there are evidences in abundance that it was so regarded at the time, that this incredible tale was only believed by the most stupid and besotted portion of the populace, and by those who knew nothing of the matter, except what they heard by vague rumors. we have the testimony of tertullian that even pilate was convinced of the truth of the resurrection, "ea omnia super christo pilatus, et ipse pro conscientia sua jam christianus, tiberio renuntiavit." [footnote ] [footnote : apol., c. .] { } josephus, the jewish historian, says of christ, that "he appeared to them alive again, the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold." [footnote ] [footnote : antiq., lib. xviii., c. .] justin martyr, a most learned jew, and an eminent philosopher of the second century, who became a christian, does not fear to assert boldly to the jews: "you know that jesus was risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, as the prophecies did foretell was to happen." [footnote ] [footnote : dial. cum. tryph., p. .] the fact of the resurrection of jesus christ was so evident, that it paralyzed for a time the efforts of the jewish rulers to suppress his doctrine. and months elapsed, during which this doctrine made the most astonishing progress, before they dared to put a disciple of christ to death. it was the manifest fact of the resurrection which caused the sudden and continuous growth and propagation of the christian church. jesus christ was far more powerful after his death than during his life. not only did several thousand of the most sincere and pious among the jews of jerusalem and judea, and of the strangers who had come to celebrate the passover, embrace christianity, but "_a great multitude of the priests also were obedient to the faith._" [footnote ] [footnote : acts i.] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is acts vi. .] { } nicodemus, one of the most distinguished doctors of the law, and joseph of arimathea, a wealthy and powerful jew, and a member of the grand council, who had previously been timid, and had abstained from attaching themselves openly to christ, came out now publicly and announced themselves christians. the centurion, or roman officer, who commanded the soldiers by whom christ was crucified, with the soldier who pierced the side of our lord, and several other soldiers, were converted. the tremendous impression made by the resurrection of christ on the whole jewish nation, was the cause which gave the impetus to this movement. and it was the resurrection to which the apostles constantly appealed in proof of the divine character of jesus christ, and the truth of his doctrine. { } iii. thus did jesus christ, by raising himself from the dead, as he had foretold, redeem his pledge, and prove himself to be god. therefore the scripture frequently speaks as if jesus christ were made the son of god by his resurrection. "he was," says st. paul, "_predestinated the son of god in power, by the resurrection from the dead._" [footnote ] [footnote : romans i., .] that is, as st. ambrose explains it--"he, whose deity was concealed in the incarnation, was predestinated to declare and manifest himself as the son of god by his resurrection." during his life, he declared himself to be god, and promised to raise himself from the dead on the third day after his death, as a proof of his divinity. he did rise from the dead; and the resurrection is thus the grand proof of the central doctrine of the catholic faith, the divinity of christ, and not only of that, but also of every other doctrine connected with it and springing from it--of the catholic faith complete and entire. it proves not merely the divinity of christ, but the divinity of his words and of his acts. his words are words of divine truth; his acts are acts of divine power. the same jesus who raised himself from the dead, said, "_this is my body--this is my blood;_" and if we believe that he is truly god, we must believe that the holy eucharist is indeed his flesh and blood. { } the same jesus who proved his divine power by raising himself from the dead, transferred and delegated his power to st. peter and his successors, when he said--"_thou art peter, and on this rock i will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and i will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven_." it is in the catholic church that the testimony to the resurrection, commenced by the first apostles, is continued and passed down from age to age, by the unbroken succession of popes and bishops. the apostles were the witnesses of the resurrection. when the new apostle was to be appointed in the place of judas, st. peter said--"_one of these must be made a witness with us of his resurrection_." [footnote ] [footnote : acts i., .] the catholic priesthood, as it were, joining hands with each other, run back in an unbroken line to the first fathers and founders of their glorious order, who saw the risen saviour, and clasped the hands nailed to the cross. { } down this line has passed the uninterrupted, unbroken testimony to the resurrection. this day itself, the festival, easter, is a grand monument of the resurrection. every year, from this day back to the day on which christ rose from the dead, the whole christian church has celebrated the resurrection of christ on easter sunday. thus we all join hands with our predecessors in past ages, until the long chain terminates in the little church of the disciples, gathered together in the coenaculum, to whom christ appeared and said--"peace be to you." and as we celebrate these joyous festivities, which carry us back to the very days of our lord and his apostles, an electric shock of faith startles and reanimates our souls. yes; this is the day of faith. it is the special festival of faith. the resurrection confirmed and renewed the wavering, sinking faith of the disciples. "_the lord has risen indeed, and has appeared unto simon._" these words show how those fainting and almost despairing hearts revived on that day. oh! wretched and miserable men, such as pilate and caiphas, and the besotted multitude, who did not, would not believe--or at least would not act on their convictions, and confess the truth! { } equally unhappy are those now, who have no faith; who do not believe in the son of god; who do not await the resurrection of the dead; who believe in nothing, but pass their lives in miserable and endless doubting and unbelief. equally unhappy are those who, though enlightened once in baptism, and brought up from childhood in the catholic faith, are weak, wavering and hesitating in their faith; who neither believe or disbelieve; who dare not renounce their religion, and yet will not adhere to it firmly and profess it openly; but hang, as it were, in the outskirts of faith, and around the courts of the temple of divine truth. equally unhappy are those who, believing firmly, deny their faith by their acts, and disobey the lord whom they acknowledge to be their true god and their final judge; who, on the day when christ is risen from the dead, lie buried in the grave of mortal sin; who have no part in his life and grace, and have not received his paschal sacraments. { } but blessed are they who believe; whose hearts are full of faith, and whose works correspond with that faith;--into whose bosoms the paschal joy has entered by the devout reception of the sacraments of penance and the eucharist, and who can look forward with hope to the day of the general resurrection from the dead. for all such good christians, this is the brightest, the happiest, the most glorious day of the whole year. all things sympathize with the joy of the risen saviour. the earth breaks the icy bonds of winter, and starting from the state of lifelessness, awakes to new life and growth and freshness. the spring begins to appear, and the signs of approaching warmth and of the time of buds and blossoms and green foliage show themselves. the church puts on her festal attire and sends up her joyous hymns, and solemnizes her splendid ceremonies. the faithful everywhere, leave their sins, do penance for their misdeeds, weep at the foot of the cross, reconcile themselves with god, and come with purified hearts to partake of the paschal lamb--the flesh and blood of the divine jesus, in the blessed sacrament of the altar. { } and while we go back in our thoughts to that day on which christ arose, the first-begotten from the dead, all these external signs and ceremonies point also forward to that last easter sunday--that day of the resurrection of all mankind. the change and renovation of the earth in the season of spring, and the resurrection of souls by the paschal sacraments, and the solemn celebration of christ's resurrection, these are all types of that glorious morning when the redeemed human race shall start from its tomb; when the old things shall pass away, and all things, the heaven and the earth, and all things that are in them, shall be made anew. when the obscurity of faith shall give place to the light of glory, and the hope of salvation shall be changed into the beatific vision of god. { } sermon iv. giving testimony. "you shall give testimony of me." --john xv., . (from the gospel for the th sunday after pentecost.) these words were spoken by our lord to his disciples, before his departure from this world. he had chosen them from the beginning, and imparted to them a full knowledge of the truth, that they might bear testimony to it. "_all things whatsoever i have heard from my father i have made known to you."--"i have chosen you, and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain._" [footnote ] [footnote : john xv., , .] { } the disciples did give testimony. they labored in season and out of season in spreading the truths which they had learned from the lips of our saviour. "_their sound went over all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world._" [footnote ] [footnote : rom. x., .] their testimony was not only in sound and words: their lives testified to the truth which they preached. they suffered persecution, poverty, imprisonment, and sealed their testimony to the truth with their blood, by willingly laying down their lives for it. these disciples were true to christ. their testimony was faithful, loyal, heroic. we, too, are disciples of christ, and have our testimony to give; and i propose to show in the first place, what are our obligations to give this testimony of christ; and in the second place, who are those who fail in their obligations to give this testimony. what are our obligations to give testimony of christ? there are many christians who seem to think that they are at liberty to choose what course of life they please, that they can live as they like; that whether they attend to their religious duties or neglect them, whether they are patterns of christian virtue or scandals to their faith, is nobody's business. { } this opinion is false, most false, because all christians are under a lasting obligation to christ to lead a christian life. christ is our lord and master, and as such has a complete right of control over all our actions. there can be no dispute about this. "_you call me master and lord._" says he; "_you say well, for so i am._" [footnote ] [footnote : john xiii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is john xiii., . (gospel, not epistle.)] christ is not only our master and lord, but also our creator, "_for by him all things were made that are made_." his dominion over us is therefore absolute and supreme. in his presence we are simply subjects, and have only duties to fulfil. christ as man has the full right of purchase over us. he can claim of us all our actions, for he redeemed us from the captivity and slavery of sin. "_knowing that you were not redeemed_," says the apostle peter to the faithful, "_with corruptible gold or silver from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers; but with the precious blood of christ_." [footnote ] [footnote : peter i., , .] { } can any one who listens to these words be so destitute of intelligence and faith as to entertain the idea, for a moment, that god created us and became man and died for us, only to leave us at liberty to live as we please, and to sin as much and as often as we like? no; says the apostle paul, "_christ died for all._" and why? listen, faithless christian: "_that they also who live may not live to themselves, but to him who died for them, and rose again._" [footnote ] [footnote : cor. v., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is cor. v., .] what is it to live to christ? to live to christ is, to live to please him; it is to follow in his footsteps and copy in our lives his virtues. this is made clear from what the same apostle says in another place, on the same subject: "_our saviour, jesus christ, gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people, acceptable, pursuing good works_." [footnote ] [footnote : titus ii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is: titus ii., .] a christian, then, is one who lives to christ by keeping free from all iniquity and pursuing good works. this is the testimony that christ requires of us, and which we are bound to give by every sacred obligation which binds us to him as our creator and redeemer. { } another reason why we are under obligation to give testimony of christ by leading an exemplary life, is that christ came into the world not only to be our redeemer, but also our model. hear him: "_you call me master and lord, and you say well, for so i am, .... and if i, then, being your lord and master have given you an example, as i have done to you, so you do also_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xiii. , , .] for is there any one so uninstructed as not to know that it was wholly unnecessary for jesus christ to practise on his own account, humiliations, poverty, obedience, self-denial, meekness, and embrace the sufferings and bitter death of the cross. he practised these virtues in order to induce us to practise them, for these were due to us as punishment for our sins, and necessary for us as preservatives against our vices. god became man to teach men by example how they ought to live. "_christ suffered for us,_" says the apostle st. peter, "_leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps_." [footnote ] [footnote : peter ii., .] he then is false and faithless to his obligations, who claims the name of a christian, and does not follow in christ's footsteps. no christian, then, has the right to live as he likes, but is bound to live as christ likes. { } the holy church too, has a right to exact from us the obligation to lead an exemplary life. for as in a flock of pigeons, on seeing one fly all the others follow, so it is in the society of the church, the good example of one member encourages and edifies the whole body. that you may understand the watchfulness and jealousy of our lord over his flock, listen to his own language: "_he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. ... woe to that man by whom scandal cometh._" [footnote ] [footnote : matt, xviii., . .] the church has not only the right to claim from us to follow in christ's footsteps for the sake of believers, but also for the unbeliever. according to the words of christ: "_let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your father in heaven_." [footnote ] [footnote : matt, v., .] it is more by the testimony of a good example than by miracles, that unbelievers are brought to the light of truth. this is illustrated by the example of the martyr st. lucien. { } it is related of him by surius, that he led many unbelievers to the knowledge of the truth and to embrace the catholic faith, by the modesty of his life and his exemplary conduct. so powerful was the influence of his example, that the emperor maximilian, when seated upon his throne and about to condemn him to death, commanded that he should be kept out of his view, behind a veil, lest even the mere sight of the saint should change him into a christian. is it not then with good reason st. john chrysostom says: "there would be no heathens were we such christians as we ought to be. ... paul was but a man, yet how many did he draw after him! if we were all such as he, how many worlds might we have drawn to us!" [footnote ] [footnote : tim. hom, x.] how was it st. paul attracted so many to christ? he tells us himself, in these words: "_give no offence to the jews, nor to the gentiles, nor to the church of god; as i also please all men in all things, not seeking that which is profitable to myself, but to many; that they may be saved._" [footnote ] [footnote : cor. x., , .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is: cor. x., - .] { } it is clear, then, beyond all dispute, that every one who claims the name of a christian is bound by a lasting and sacred obligation to give testimony to christ by following in his footsteps, and consequently those who fail are guilty of robbing their lord and master of his rights, and are no true catholics, but traitors to the faith. who are they who fail to give this testimony of christ? i will tell you. you will find many who were born of catholic parents, were baptized in the faith when young, and yet never acknowledging the faith of their fathers, and of their baptism. they are not open apostates, they neither attack their faith, nor defend it when attacked. you might know them for years and not dream that they were catholics. it is hard to tell what they really are. they are not protestants, nor jews, nor turks, for these have religious convictions, and do not deny them, but the men i speak of either have no religious convictions, or want the manliness to acknowledge them. they do not like to be known as catholics, and yet they identify themselves publicly with free-masons, odd-fellows, and similar secret societies. { } another class consists of those who confess themselves catholics, but never, or very rarely, enter the church. they take offence at the slightest irregularity, whether it be in the priesthood, or the preaching, or in the manner of conducting public worship; and under some such pretext they excuse their grievous neglect of worship, and their profound indifference to all the sacred duties of religion. these claim the name of catholic, and their conduct is that of an infidel. a third class is composed of those who now and then on occasion of a jubilee or a mission, or some similar event, come to church, and perhaps receive the holy sacraments. their religion is like a fire in the straw, it soon dies out. talk to these men of their business, and they will tell you that a man who does not watch and pay constant attention to it, will soon find himself bankrupt. speak to them of the affairs of the nation, and they will tell you that the country is going to ruin, because its citizens neglect to attend political meetings and fail to approach the polls at election times. on business, or politics, on almost every thing but their religion, they reason correctly, and act like sensible men; on their duties to god and the affairs of their soul they appear to be as destitute of reason as they are of loyalty. money is their god, and their religion is politics. { } the fourth class is made up of the rank and file of sinners--cursors, drunkards, and the army of grog-shop keepers. these latter, under the pretext of making a living, spread more misery, wretchedness, and crime among our people, than all the plagues of egypt brought upon the inhabitants of that land. the source of nine-tenths of the scandal to our holy religion is in the grog-shops; and to make the scandal of their vile and unlawful traffic more conspicuous, they congregate by preference in the neighborhood of a church, justifying the well-known proverb: "where god erects a house of prayer, satan must have a chapel there." the grog-shop keepers are the worst enemies of our holy religion in this country, for they not only occasion the destruction of a vast number of catholics, but by the disgust which their bad example creates, they offer the greatest hindrances to the conversion of non-catholics. { } these are some out of the great number of those who fail to give testimony of christ; for we have not the time to enumerate all. now, what is very strange, and yet characteristic of all these, they appear to live as though they were unconscious of their obligations, and of the guilt which they incur. they seem to think that if they are allowed to assume the name of a christian or catholic, they are safe. well then, asks one, why not exclude them from the church altogether, so that the whole world can see what they are? this is the way we do away with unprofitable subjects in other institutions. take, for example, a railroad corporation. sometimes a company of this kind starts with great prospects. the number who travel on the road is prodigious. the stockholders congratulate themselves on a heavy dividend; when to their wonder, on reckoning up their accounts, they find the company running fast into bankruptcy. investigations are made, and it is discovered that a large number of the passengers have been paying no fare, riding as "dead-heads." these being struck off, the corporation begins to prosper again. not so with the holy church. she is in this respect unlike all other institutions. she is likened by her founder to a field of wheat, in which the enemy had sown cockle. { } and when one of the servants said to the master: "_wilt thou that we go to gather it up? and he said, no; lest while you gather up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. let both grow until the harvest; and in the time of harvest, i will say to the reapers, gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn._" [footnote ] [footnote : matt, xiii., - .] the time to cut off the faithless children, the "dead-heads" of the church, is not now, but "in the harvest time," the day of general reckoning, when our lord shall appear in power and majesty to judge the world. then he will say to these: "i am your lord and master, why have you not obeyed me?" he will show them his wounds, and say: "behold the price i paid to redeem you from sin! what right had you to refuse my service? i came upon earth to give an example that you might follow my steps, and you turned your back upon me! you were a scandal to the church, and a stumbling-block in the way of others. you refused to give testimony to my mercy, now you shall give testimony to my sovereign justice. gather up this cockle, these faithless, false, treacherous disciples," he will say to his servants, "and let their portion be in the pool which burns with fire and brimstone." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. xxi., .] { } could but our voice reach the ears, and our entreaties penetrate the hearts of these guilty catholics, we would lift it up and cry out to them: do penance speedily! repair by a good example the evil which your bad example has caused to your neighbor. strive to gain more souls to christ than your wicked life has lost to him heretofore. let your good works shine out the more, so that like the servant of the eleventh hour, you may obtain the full wages of eternal life. as for you, dearest brethren, who have manfully withstood until now all temptations to be disloyal to your faith, whose lives, full of good works, have borne noble testimony to christ, lift up your eyes and hearts to heaven at this season of our lord's ascension. "_i go,_" he says, "_to prepare a place for you. i will come again, and will take you to myself; that where i am, you may be also_." [footnote ] [footnote : john xiv., , .] ------------------- { } sermon v. spiritual death. "behold! a dead man was carried out." --st. luke vii., . (from the gospel of the th sunday after pentecost.) what a touching occasion was this, in which our blessed lord was pleased to manifest his power, and perform one of his many acts of infinite mercy; an act, which like all his miracles, was not only full of loving-kindness to those for whom it was performed, but also replete with spiritual instruction for all. a widow is bereaved of her only consolation, a son, in whom were centred all her hopes, in whose happiness all her own was bound up; the pride of her eyes, her joy in adversity, and the sunshine to her poor heart in the cloudy days of sorrow. { } perhaps, too, he was her only support; his the arm which labored for their daily bread, and she looked forward to the time when age and gray hairs should bring infirmity, and her enfeebled body tremble on the verge of the grave; then would he be the light to her dimmed eyes, and a guide to her tottering steps. and now, alas! he is gone! is the world all dead? is it always night? do the birds sing no more? are the earth and sky all wrapped in a great, gloomy mantle of grief? where is her heart, does it beat no more? ah! so it is indeed to her. how she watched him in the long hours of his racking pains, his burning fever. at times he did not know her; _her_, his own dear mother. oh! how she prayed for him. oftentimes, as he lay upon his dying bed unconscious, she would kneel down beside him, and take his thin wasted hand in hers, and lift up her streaming eyes to god, the father of the fatherless, and pour forth her soul in an agony of supplication, beseeching him to spare her only son, her life, her all. { } in vain. that hand grows cold within her grasp; those eyes, which erewhile were so full of expression, have assumed a dull glassy unmeaning stare, there is one shuddering convulsion, the breathing ceases, his jaw drops, and she is a broken-hearted, childless widow. that body, once so cherished and tenderly cared for, must soon be removed far away out of sight, and now, amid the lamentations of a sympathizing multitude, they carry it to the grave. she feels her loss so keenly that the very carriers of the bier seem to her to be heartless and unfeeling. thus the scene in the gospel opens: "_behold, a dead man is carried out_." i know that poor widow. i have seen that dead man, her only son, the cherished idol of her heart, many a time. i know well those bearers, and they are assuredly most heartless and unfeeling. i have seen the lord stop them on their way, as they carried him to the portals of death and hell. would you know who they are? sinner! offspring of holy mother church, part and parcel of her own life, who by sin hast lost the life of grace; it is thou! behold thou art the dead man who is carried out. contemplate thyself as in a mirror in this example from the holy gospel. { } the church has done for you all, aye, and more than this poor widow did, or could do, for her only son. she has given you a noble birth in jesus christ. she nourished you, watched over, and cared for you, in your infancy. she flattered herself, poor mother, that you would do honor to her one day; she looked forward to the time when you would become her support. she was so bound up in you, that she often exclaimed with a truth, "why do i live if it be not for my child?" her very occupation, her unceasing labors were for you. how proud she was to see you increasing in grace with god and men, your manly soul strong in virtue; your conscience bright and fair to look upon as the face of an angel, thrilling her maternal heart with gladness, as she beheld reflected there the lineaments of the sacred countenance of her divine spouse. alas! that any thing so bright? and beautiful should ever know decay or death! hear the sad story. disease came. sin entered into your soul, as does the insidious pestilence into the very marrow of the bones. and now the frightened mother looks with dismay upon your changed features. { } you are becoming emaciated, your soul, starving in sickness, is no longer cheerful with the love of god. although so haggard and so woebegone, there is yet the hectic flush of the fever of passion. at times in the height of that fever your mind wanders: you do not know her, _her!_ your own dear mother? so low has sin brought you, so far has sin abased you, that you have forgotten your noble descent and your glorious destiny. the crime of disobedience to the law of god has done its work, and that soul which once walked so proudly erect now lies completely prostrated. oh! how that mother church prays for you! with outstretched arms to heaven she implores the divine mercy. "_spare, o lord, spare thy people, and give not thine heritage to reproach_." leave me not alone without this only son of my heart, for whom christ died! but you are in your agony now, and hear nothing. you are not moved to tears, as you would be, if you could but hear those agonizing prayers. { } you lie indifferent to all around, while the disease fastens upon your very vitals: one sin after another, one temptation given way to after another, until the life-blood of your soul has frozen in its channels: and before your weeping, inconsolable mother, the church--before god, and in sight of his holy angels and saints, you are dead! dead!! dead!!! like the fruitless church of sardis, in the apocalypse: "_thou hast a name that thou livest, but art dead_." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. iii., .] what are the signs, my brethren, by which you would pronounce a man dead? surely, that he has no longer the use of any of his senses; that he can neither see, hear, taste, touch nor smell. if nothing remained to him but faint breathing, and a fluttering, feeble pulse, you would already weep for him as lost to you, and consider it only as the matter of a few moments to draw the sheet over his face, and prepare his shroud. now this is just the deplorable state of a man in mortal sin. { } let me illustrate this. if you saw a person walking upon a railroad track, and the train came thundering along directly in front of him, and yet he proceeded on his way, totally unmindful of your shouts and warnings of danger, you would throw up your hands and exclaim: "ah! god have mercy on him, poor man; he must be totally blind and deaf--he is as good as dead." and so he is in effect; for the train passes over him, and scatters his mangled body hither and thither. of what use to him was his power of motion? he had the name of a living man, and is dead. so death is coming upon you, sinner, sudden and destructive. how many sermons have you not heard upon that awful subject? how many warnings have you not had in the deaths, ever unlocked for, alas! too often unprovided for, among your friends, acquaintances, and in the very bosom of your family. you hear not, you see not; no warning will turn you from your fatal track. you are as good as dead. if you saw a young girl walking to the brink of one of those dreadful precipices formed by the lofty palisades on the north river, and, despite the cries of her friends, she continued her walk, gazing up at the sky, would you not say: "ah! poor thing, she must be killed; she is as good as dead." { } oh, young woman, you are walking upon the brink of a precipice, by your dangerous familiarities, your late hours, your improper company-keeping; and despite the cries of your father, your mother, the pleadings of your friends, and the warning voice of your confessor, your heedlessness in sin will destroy you, body and soul, and you must lose reputation, honor, salvation, eternity. deaf to the voice of god, you are as good as dead. jesus daily prepares his divine banquet for you; but, alas! you have lost your spiritual taste for that heavenly food, and there is no life in you--you are dead; according to the words of the divine saviour: "_amen, amen. i say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john vi., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is: st. john vi., .] the lord strikes you with afflictions of various kinds: disease, loss of friends, misfortune in your business. he sends his angel of death to your very doors; but you are insensible to his chastisements: they affect you no more than if you were a statue of marble. is not this to be indeed dead? { } "_you have put on malediction as a vestment, and it has entered like water into your veins, and as oil into your bones_." [footnote ] [footnote : psalms cviii., .] [transcriber's note: psalms cviii ends at verse .] yes; corruption has commenced; you have become offensive as a corpse, of bad odor, and scandalous to the christian community. the finger is pointed at you, your bad life is every where spoken of, but you do not believe it; like a corpse, you are not sensible of the disgust you excite. as the sister of lazarus said to the lord: "_it is now four days since he died, and already he stinketh_." four days! why, it is four months--four years--forty years, since _you_ died--since you committed mortal sin, and continued in it, oh! unrepentant sinner; and you have become insupportable. you have reaped the blasting curse you sowed: "_for he that soweth in the flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption_," the words of this day's epistle. [footnote ] [footnote : gal. vi., .] your dead soul is in the hands of the bearers, your companions in sin, your fellow cursers and blasphemers. the grog-shop keepers have got hold of you, and every step is a closer approach to the tomb, the gates of hell, the last home of fornicators, liars, and drunkards. { } how insensible you lie in their hands! the multitude may weep, in company with your poor mother, piercing cries and sobs which are heard throughout heaven and hell, but make no impression on your dull ears. no! there is no sound [that] can wake you now, but the voice of jesus christ, or the last trump which will summon your guilty soul to judgment. will that voice of jesus christ be heard? i know not. will the lord be moved to pity toward his weeping church? i know not. will he touch the bier upon which you are stretched stark dead, and command those companions of yours in sin to stop? i know not. will jesus arrest the steps of that infamous woman, of those debased, pitiless, heartless, unfeeling dram-sellers? (did i not say that the widow was right--that they are heartless and unfeeling?) i know not. what i do know is that, if jesus is not moved to pity, if he does not strike fear into the heart of that young man or woman, your companion in sin, if the arm of the vengeance of christ does not fall upon that grog-shop keeper,--no other sound will waken you, so dead in sin, but that one upon the last day, which rather than to hear, it were better for you to sleep in eternal oblivion. { } "ah! father," you say, "that's dreadful doctrine." yes; and there is something more dreadful about it. it is true. what saith the apostle? "_it is impossible for those who were once illuminated and have tasted the heavenly gift, and are fallen away, to be renewed again to penance, crucifying again to themselves the son of god, and making him a mockery._" [footnote ] [footnote : heb. vi., - .] what does this mean but that, when one has fallen away into mortal sin, it is as impossible for him to do any thing toward the salvation of his soul, as it is for a dead man to raise himself to life. lay it to heart--a most important truth--that almighty god owes you nothing; is not bound, nor has he promised, to give you grace beyond a certain degree; while he has most emphatically warned the sinner that the time will come, and who knows--oh! dreadful thought--but that it has already arrived for you, when he will withdraw his countenance from you, and leave you to the fate you have chosen, and so justly merited. every child has amused himself on the banks of the river or brook, watching the eddies caused by the meeting of contrary currents, and observing how the brown leaves which have fallen from the trees into the stream are suddenly caught in the circling current and whirled about, approaching at each revolution nearer the centre of it. { } now, we are told by travellers, that in the vast ocean there are powerful and dangerous eddies of this sort, called whirlpools; and that large ships, if allowed to sail within their influence, are drawn in, and carried round and round, no longer obedient to the sails or rudder, and at last are completely swallowed up in the yawning vortex of whirling waters. oh! unrepentant sinner: you are the brown leaf, fallen from the tree of life into the water of iniquity. you are the ship which has lost its compass, and strayed within reach of the dizzy whirlpool. god stood upon the calm open sea, and each time that you came around he warned you of your danger. he did more; he sent strong and sufficient breezes of his holy grace; if you had taken advantage of them in trimming the sails, and putting up the helm, you might have escaped. { } how many times did he not thus attempt your rescue: but you heeded him not. there was even something pleasant and intoxicating to be thus carried along in the powerful stream; and now you go faster and faster, nearer and nearer, until the yawning abyss opens upon your gaze, and you send forth a shriek for help, a cry of despair. but you are so dizzy that you cannot descry the form of god upon the sea. it is well; it would double your agony to see him now, for he has turned his back upon you; or worse, is mocking you, and laughs you to scorn. "_because i called and you refused; i stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded. you have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions. i also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when your fear cometh. when sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction as a tempest shall be at hand; when tribulation and distress shall come upon you; then shall they call upon me, and i will not hear_." [footnote ] [footnote : prov. i., - .] { } there is no help for you now. your cries of distress, and prayers and entreaties are drowned in the thundering din of the rushing waters: as our lord prophesied. "_upon the earth distress of nations, men withering away for fear, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea, and of the waves_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xxi., .] what is that which is glimmering white like a sail upon the waves? can it be a friendly ship coming to your rescue? hark! tramp, tramp, over land, over sea. why does that sound send a shuddering thrill of horror through every nerve? 'tis no sail. 'tis a pale horse, and he that rideth thereon is death. tramp! tramp! over land, over sea! oh! woe betide thee, wretched sinner; thine hour is come. one last cry, and the waters of iniquity have closed over you forever! oh, god! have mercy on poor sinful men, and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out their iniquities. if thy people israel shall have sinned against thee, and thou in thine anger hast delivered them up into the hands of their enemies, and they return to thee with all their heart, and confessing to thy name shall come, and pray, and make supplication to thee, then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, their prayers; and forgive thy people, and have compassion upon them, and help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed by thy precious blood. { } what answer dost thou make, o dearest lord?--"_he that heareth you heareth me_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke x., .] thy words, o jesus, are truth and life. thou hast commanded thy priests, the ministers of thy word, to speak in thy name; to stand in the path of sinners on the way to destruction, and make thy voice to be heard, ("_arise! thou that sleepest, and awake from the dead!_") as thou didst to the only son of the widow of nain. "_be not deceived,_" says the holy apostle in the epistle of this day. "_god is not mocked._" "_he that despiseth you despiseth me_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke x., .] in the name of god, then, obedient to the charge which i, although unworthy, have received from the lord jesus, i say unto you, arise! arise from those disastrous habits of sin, which are dragging you down to death and hell. abandon, once for all, those horrid haunts of vice and immorality. put away all those obscenities, evil speakings, and cursings, from your lips; of the which i tell you, as has been already foretold you, that they who do such things, shall not obtain the kingdom of god. young man, i say unto thee, arise! { } oh! wretched parents, whose miserable home is a very school of satan to your hapless children; whose daily lives are as an open book before their eyes, every leaf of which is blotted and blurred with drunkenness and disorder--i say unto you, oh, wicked father, oh, slothful mother, arise! you, young woman, over whose head ruin and shame are hanging, arise! send that young man away to-night. you who have dealt out disgrace, dirt, delirium tremens, ruin, and the wrath of god, by the measure, to your poor fellow sinner, and upon whose guilty head will fall a double weight of woe--i say unto _you_, arise! turn to the lord, and perhaps he will have mercy upon you. do penance, do penance! and think not to say within your hearts: we have abraham for our father; we have the church for our mother--she will watch over us catholics, and before it is too late, snatch us from the jaws of hell. i say unto you, sinner, you are deceiving yourself with a lie, and your supine indifference proves you to be of that un-happy number described in holy writ, who resisted so long to the divine call, that, hardened in iniquity, god gave them over to believe a lie. { } thus, instead of your faith saving you, it will only be a surer cause of your damnation. oh! you hope in the mercy of god. poor soul! god, notwithstanding his mercy, permitted you to fall into your present deplorable state. why shall he not permit you to fall into eternal death, which, howsoever terrible and hopeless, is not so bad, so evil after all, as your spiritual death: for so say the doctors of holy church. "the punishment of sin is less than the guilt." between spiritual and eternal death there is but a step--taken every day by one or another in this sinful world--and that is the death of the body; and if it happens to you to-day, without doubt, without remedy or resource, you will find yourself eternally lost; which may god avert from every one of you. amen. --------------- { } sermon vi. the love of god. "and one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: master, which is the great commandment of the law? jesus said to him: thou shall love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind." --st. matt, xxii., - . (from the gospel for the th sunday after pentecost.) this doctor of the law had no good motive in asking his question. he was full of malice, and desired, not to learn any thing good himself, but to entrap our lord. but god knows how to draw good out of evil. though the lawyers intention was bad, his question was a good one; the very best question that he could have asked, and the answer to it one of vast importance to us, involving all our interests for eternity. { } let us to-day consider well the meaning of the answer given by our blessed saviour in the words of the text. in the first place, what does he mean by the love of god? and in the second, what degree of this love must we practise? what is the love of god, or in what does it consist? many have a false idea of it. they think it is exactly the same as earthly love, the love of relations or friends. they know what that kind of love is. they exercise it without difficulty. why? because it is spontaneous; it is a flowing out of the heart, an emotion or feeling. they cannot _feel_ the same love for god as for their friends, and therefore they conclude it is of no use to try to love god. they make a great mistake. god is a pure spirit, not to be seen, heard, or taken notice of by the senses, and therefore, in the very nature of things, he cannot always be loved with that same emotion or feeling that springs up in our hearts, without effort, toward our neighbors and friends of flesh and blood. indeed god, considered as an infinite being, with all his vast and unlimited perfections, seems in some way separated from us and our thoughts, which makes a difficulty in feeling emotions of love to him. { } the essence of the love of god is not in emotion or feeling, but in our reason and will. faith reveals him to us, and we acknowledge him with our reason to be infinitely wise and infinitely good, and worthy of all our love. the true love of god consists, then, in acknowledging him with our reason to be what he is, and in the will to do that which is pleasing to him. the other kind of love--of feeling--may accompany this true love of god or it may not. it is of no consequence whether it does or not. we have no right to expect it, for god will grant it just as far as he sees good for us and no farther. it will come, generally, as the result of habits of virtue, of a long course of action, in imitation of his holy perfections. we must learn to know him and prize him in order to feel love for him. that this is the true idea of the love of god is clear from the holy scriptures. in the gospel of st. john it is thus described: "_for this is the charity of god, that we keep his commandments_." it is not said: the love of god is in a delightful feeling that possesses one without any effort on his part. { } that would be very pleasant and very easy. no; that is not said. but the meaning of what is said is, that the love of god is in the will and determination to keep his commandments. in another place it is said in plain terms: "_he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me_." as much as to say: if your mind and will are directed to me in such a way that you keep my commandments, don't be worried or afraid, you do most truly love me. now this ought to console any one who really and truly wants to love god, for we see that it lies in his power to do so. he need not go into raptures of fervor. he need not fly in the air in an ecstasy. he need not see visions or work wonders. he need not practise extra ordinary fasting or austerity, or spend whole nights in prayer. he need only have a determination, let him feel well or ill, that he will honestly and sincerely act so as to be agreeable to god, and he loves him. let him go on acting in that way and he will soon love him exceedingly, far more than any thing in this world. { } another argument that proves conclusively that this is the true love of god, comes from this very command of our lord jesus christ: "_thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind_." the love of god is commanded. now god commands nothing impossible, nothing, in short, which is very difficult to set about. as he is a god of infinite goodness and love, the bare idea of such a thing is wholly repugnant to right reason and common sense. if he had commanded us to exercise a sensible love--one of feeling--we might justly complain and say: i cannot fulfil it; that is a thing beyond my control. we have to set about a practical love--keeping his commandments, that is a business we can give our mind and attention to, as we would to farming, building, doctoring, or any other business. if a man will set about the business of practically acting according to the will of god, he will add every day to his stock of love and to his merit in heaven. this is a rich mine; it is inexhaustible; out of this mine is drawn the pure gold of charity to god, richer and more abundant than all the mines of california or australia. { } but what degree of this love must we exercise in order to obtain everlasting life? a high degree of it: not a low measure of it, but a large and liberal one if we would make our calling and election sure. our lord's answer to the question indicates that beyond mistake: "_thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind_." that sounds strong; that sounds hard; words could hardly be put together to convey a stronger meaning. it would seem to mean that all our thoughts and desires and actions should be engrossed and taken up with god and eternity, so as to leave room for nothing else. this would indeed be hard, and it would be absurd, considering the order of things which god has established in the world. god created us to live in society and the most of us for society, to play our part in it, to bring up families of children--to put bread and butter in their mouths, and clothes on their backs. we cannot then abandon the world, and we must devote our attention to its affairs: we must give a reasonable attention to do them well, for the advantage of ourselves and those connected with us. what is the meaning, then, of loving with one's whole heart and soul and mind? { } we must have our will and determination directed in the first place to god and to keeping his commandments, leaving every thing else to the second place. a man must be determined to keep god's commandments in spite of every obstacle, in spite of every temptation. he must be determined to keep them all, that is, at least, to avoid every mortal sin. he must be determined not only for the present, but so long as the breath is in his body. if he falls short of this, he does not love god with all his heart and soul and mind; he does not do what is necessary to obtain everlasting life, and he will not obtain it. it is required by god, as an essential condition to our salvation, that we should be habitually in the determination to keep free from every mortal sin. what can be more just? we acknowledge him as our creator, and as infinitely wise and infinitely good. he is rightly our sovereign lord and master, and can command what he chooses--there is an equal obligation on our part to obey him. is it asking much, that we shall be habitually obedient? any thing short of this he could not require--we could not expect. is it for him to be dependent upon our moods and humors, finding us true to-day and false to-morrow? { } oh! you say, is that all that is required of us to insure our salvation--to keep clear of mortal sin? that is nothing new; we knew that all along; to go that far is not much; we can do that easily enough. can you, indeed? perhaps it is easy enough to avoid mortal sin for a time, when there is fervor, or particular grace, or little temptation; but is it easy to do so for one's whole life? is it easy to do so when one's fervor is worn off, and distractions of all kinds occupy the mind, and when in this state strong temptations beset one? who ever says this, shows that he has little knowledge of himself, and little experience in affairs of the soul. you may avoid sin a little while, but you will fall, as sure as you live, if your mind is not set against sin, actively and habitually, so as to turn away from it with horror in the moment of temptation. no; in order not to fall, our whole life must be directed toward god. the eternal truths, heaven, hell, death, judgment, must pass frequently through our minds and take up our thoughts. in the words of scripture, we must keep our lamps trimmed, and well supplied with oil, lest they go out. { } our souls must be trimmed with holy meditations, and the oil of good works supplied in abundance must keep the flame of love to god burning brightly in our hearts, or else it will go out. it will fade away gradually for want of nourishment, until it is gone. we cannot keep clear even of mortal sin, unless we are thoroughly in earnest about it, and make a business of it. when our lord says, "love the lord thy god with thy whole heart and thy whole soul, and thy whole mind," he means to say: put your heart and soul in the business of your salvation. make a sure thing of it by the energy and determination you apply to it. "_the children of this world are wiser,_" says the lord, "_than the children of light_." all their prudence and skill is laid out to succeed in their business, to scrape together what they consider desirable for this life. if any thing like the same prudence and skill were exercised in serving god, salvation would be an easy thing. if you want to be saved, you must put your souls in it. you all know what the meaning of putting your souls in a thing is. { } it is a saying used every day. 'his soul is in his business; his soul is in study; her soul is in fashion, in her family. how the poor girl at service, when she wants to please her mistress, puts her soul in her work! what delight she takes in having every thing clean and in order! when she gets a compliment for her skill or industry, what heartfelt pleasure it gives her! her continual study is to please in every way. how the young man puts his soul in pleasure sometimes! every cent he can earn is spent in the saloon, the circus, the theatre. let him earn a little money, he breaks off work until it is all squandered. sundays, holidays, all are consumed in his darling occupations of drinking and making merry. in his pursuit of pleasure, god, reputation, health, must all give way. nothing is allowed to put any obstacle in his headlong career. so it is with the covetous man. money is his sole delight. his heart is satisfied with the pleasure of hoarding it, the pleasure of getting more and more. he has more than he knows what to do with: that makes no difference. he wants still more. he has nothing to give away. he can't afford this, he can't afford that. { } he has no time for amusement; business, mortgages, interest, that's all the amusement he cares for. anxious and fretful for little losses, he wears out his life, and leaves his property for somebody else to spend, perhaps to be a curse to some worthless relation. he has put his soul in his money-bags. we see people every day whose souls are so taken up with the world, that they can't even give a thought to any thing that lies beyond it. they verify the words of scripture: "_let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die_." that is, they would be glad to persuade themselves, if they could, that they have no souls, and are determined to act practically on these suppositions. now, in the same way that these poor miserable creatures put their souls in business, pleasure, love of money, or worldly ease and comfort, put yours in the business of your salvation. make it your study to please god. don't say: how little can i do and get off with it? but, how much can i do? what opportunity, what golden opportunity offers, to do something to please god? { } ah! there are plenty of opportunities for all who wish to avail themselves of them. the poor man can strive to do his duty, by honest industry supporting his family, setting them a good example. he has a good deal to put up with, in the shape of poverty, sickness, cold, hunger, and fatigue. he can love god with his whole soul, by putting up with these things patiently. these things are his money, with which he may be sure of purchasing the kingdom of heaven. the rich man, if his soul is in his salvation, considers himself as god's trustee, not to dispose of the wealth god allots him as he pleases, but to advance his kingdom and the salvation of souls. he does not care so much for pampering his body, making a show, or heaping up riches for his heirs, but is satisfied with a competence and means enough to live according to his station; the rest he spends in promoting true and deserving objects of charity. he likes to imitate jesus christ in helping the poor and the sick, keeping a free bed in the hospital, sustaining institutions for the relief of orphans, the insane, and all who need it. he likes to help a deserving young man, when he finds one of the sort, to become a priest in the church of god. { } he doesn't consider it entirely the business of the priest to build churches, wearing himself out to collect the means, and that from the hard earnings of the poor, but steps forth promptly, and takes his full share of the expense and the labor at tending such enterprises. when he finds a hard-working priest, zealous for souls, he will stand by him and work with him, only too thankful to get a chance to do something. in short, if we would make eternal life secure, we must have a spirit of self-sacrifice and devotedness, such as led the holy martyrs to lay down their lives for the faith--such at least in kind, if not in measure. oh! my brethren, how happy is the man who cherishes such a principle in his heart. he is not divided and torn asunder by a continual strife between good and evil. he is not a double dealer. he is not striving to serve two masters. god reigns in his heart, and peace prevails in it. loss of property cannot take it away, for property is not the main thing in his soul. neither can loss of friends. he has long been sensible that god is the only true unchangeable friend. death cannot disturb it--for he is at peace with god, and doesn't fear death. { } oh! why have we not all this spirit? we acknowledge how beautiful it is. we cannot but regret if we have it not. let us then try for it. let us begin to-day--by forming a deep and strong resolution that we will not live for the world, or the things of the world, but seek god first of all. that we will really love him with our whole heart, and that this shall be the business of our lives. then shall be true of us what is said by the holy psalmist: "_blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. but his will is in the law of the lord and on his law he shall meditate day and night. and he shall be like the tree that is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit in due season, and his leaf shall not fall off, and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper_." then all shall prosper with us here below, for all things shall speed our way to that world above, where, without effort, in a perfect manner, to our unbounded joy, we shall love god with our whole heart and soul, and mind, and strength. ----------------- { } sermon vii. keeping the law not impossible. "i can do all things in him who strengthened me." phil, vi., . if i am not mistaken, a very great number of the sins that men commit, are committed through hopelessness. the pleasures of sin are by no means unmixed. indeed, sin is a hard master; and all who practice it find it so. i never met a man who said it was a good thing, or that it made him happy. on the contrary, all lament it, and say that it makes them miserable. why then, do they commit it? very often, i am persuaded, because they think they have no power to resist it. they feel in themselves strong passions; they have yielded to them in times past, they see that others yield to them, and so they come to think it impossible not to yield to them. { } the law of god is too difficult, they say. it is impossible to keep it. it may do for priests or nuns who are cut off from the world, or for women, or for the old, or for children, but for us who mix in the world, whose blood is warm, and whose passions are strong, it is too high and pure. it is all very well to talk about; it is all very well to hold up a high standard to us, but you must not expect us to attain it. the utmost that you can expect of us is to stop sinning, now and then, and make the proper acknowledgments to god by going to confession, but actually to try not to sin, to keep on endeavoring not to sin at any time, or under any circumstances, that is impossible, or at least so extremely difficult that, practically speaking, it is impossible. are there none of you, my brethren, who recognize this as the secret language of your hearts? is there not an impression in your minds that the law of god is too strict? or at least that it is too strict for you, and that you cannot keep it? if so, do not harbor it. it is a fatal error. no: it is not impossible to keep god's law. it is not impossible to keep from mortal sin. { } it is, i admit, impossible to keep from every venial sin, though even here we can do a great deal if we try. such is the frailty of human nature that even the best men as time goes on fall into some slight faults, only the blessed virgin having been able, as we believe, to pass a whole life without even in the smallest thing offending god. but it is possible for all of us to keep from mortal sin, at all times and under all circumstances. this, i think, you will acknowledge when you consider the character of god, the nature of god's law, and the power of god's grace which is promised to us. i say the character of god is a pledge of our ability to keep from mortal sin. god requires us to be free from mortal sin, and he requires it under the severest penalties, and therefore it must be possible for us. you may say, "god requires us to be free from venial sin too, and yet you have just said we cannot avoid every venial sin." but the case is far different. a venial sin does not separate us from god, and does not receive extreme punishment from him--nay, those venial sins which even good men commit, and which are only in small part voluntary, are very easily forgiven--but a mortal sin cuts us off entirely from god, and deserves eternal punishment. { } you know, one mortal sin is enough to damn a man--one single sin of drunkenness, for instance, or impurity; a cherished hatred, a false oath, or an act of grave injustice. one such sin is sufficient to sink a man in hell, and although we know very little in particular of the torments of hell, we have every reason to believe that they are most bitter, and we know that they are eternal. now can it be thought that a being of justice and goodness, as we know god to be, would inflict so extreme a punishment for an offence which was unavoidable, or could only be avoided with the utmost difficulty? holy scripture sends us to an earthly parent for an example of that tenderness and affection which we are to expect from our heavenly father. "_if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, vii., .] what would be thought of an earthly father who laid upon his son a command which it was all but impossible for him to comply with, and then punished him with the utmost rigor for not fulfilling it? { } you would not call that man a father, but a tyrant; a tyrant like pharaoh, who would not give straw to the children of israel, and yet set taskmasters over them to exact of them the full measure of bricks as when straw had been given them. why, if you were going along the street and saw a man whipping unmercifully an over-loaded horse, you would not bear it patiently. and would you attribute conduct so disgraceful among men to our father in heaven? god forbid! far be such a thought from us! it is not so. we must not think it. at least we cannot think it as long as we remain catholics, for when the earlier protestants proclaimed the shocking doctrine that though god punished men for disobeying his law, man was really unable to obey it, the church branded the doctrine as a heresy to be abhorred of all men, as most false in itself, and most injurious to god. no; god loves his creatures far more than we conceive of. he does not desire the death of a sinner. he wills truly the salvation of all men. his goodness and mercy, his truth and justice, are all so many infallible guarantees of our ability to keep his law. { } he would not have given us his law unless he had meant us to keep it. he would not punish us so severely for breaking it, unless our breaking it was an act of deliberate, wilful, determined rebellion. but there is another source from which i draw the conclusion that it is possible to keep the law of god--from the nature of the law itself. the law of god is of such a nature that, for the most part, in order to commit mortal sin, it is necessary to do or to leave undone some external act, which of its own nature it is entirely in our power to do or not to do. for instance, the law says, "_thou shall not steal:_" now to steal you have got to put your hand into your neighbor's pocket. the law says: "_thou shalt do no murder;_" to murder you must stretch out your hand against your neighbor's life. nay, it requires ordinarily several external actions before a mortal sin is consummated. thus the thief has his precautions to take, and his plans to lay. the drunkard has to seek the occasion. he seeks the grog-shop. every step he takes is a separate act. when he gets there it is not the first glass that makes him drunk. { } he drinks again and again, and it is only after all these different and repeated actions that he falls into the mortal sin of drunkeness. now here you see are external acts--acts in which the hand, the foot, the lips are concerned, and which, therefore, it is perfectly in our power to do or to let alone. this requires no proof, but admits of a striking illustration. you have heard of the great sufferings of the martyrs; how some of them were stoned to death, others flayed alive, others crucified, others torn to pieces by wild beasts, others burned to death. now what was it all about? you answer, they suffered because they would not deny christ. very well; but how were they required to deny christ? what was it they were required to do? i will tell you. sometimes they were required to take a few grains of incense and throw it on the altar of jupiter; that would have been enough to have saved them from their sufferings. they need not have said, i renounce christ; only to have taken the incense would have been sufficient. sometimes they were required to tread on the cross. sometimes to swear by the genius of the roman emperor; that was all. and the fire was kindled to make them do these things; but they would not. { } the flames leaped upon them, but not a foot would they lift from the ground. their hands were burnt to the bone, but no incense would they touch. the marrow of their bones melted in the heat, and forced from them a cry of agony, but the name of the emperor's tutelary genius did not pass their lips. now will you tell me that you can not help doing what the martyrs would not do to save them from death? they had a fire before them and a scourge behind them, and they refused; and you say you cannot help yourself when you are under no external violence whatever! they died rather than lift a hand to do a forbidden thing; have you not the same power over your hand that they had? they died rather than utter a sinful word; have you not as much power over your tongue as they? indeed you have, for you control both one and the other whenever you will. i say there is no sinner whose conduct does not show that his actions are perfectly in his own power. the thief waits for the night to carry on his trade; during the day he is honest enough. the greatest libertine knows how to behave himself in the presence of a high-born and virtuous female. { } and even that vice which men say it is most difficult of all to restrain when once the habit is formed--profane swearing--you know how to restrain it when you will, for even the heaviest curser and swearer ceases from his oaths before the priest, or any other friend whom he greatly respects. now, if you can stop cursing before the priest, why can you not before your wife and children? if you can be chaste in the presence of a virtuous female, why can you not be chaste everywhere? if you can be honest when the eye of man is on you, why can you not be honest when no eye sees you but that of god? but some one may say, there is a class of sins to which the remarks you have made do not apply, that is, sins of thought. you must admit that they are of such a nature that it is all but impossible not to commit them. no, i do not admit it. i acknowledge that sins of thought are more difficult to guard against than sins of action; but i do not acknowledge that it is impossible to guard against them. to prove this i have only to remind you that an evil thought is no sin until we give _consent_ to it. { } to keep always free from evil thoughts may be impossible, because the imagination is in its nature so volatile, that but few men have it in control; but though it be not possible to restrain the imagination, it is always possible to restrain the will. in order for the will to consent to evil it is necessary both to _know_ and to _choose_, and therefore from the nature of the thing one can never fall into sin either inevitably or unawares. and besides, the will has a powerful ally in the conscience, whose province it is to keep us from sin and to reproach us when we do sin--so that it is scarcely possible, for one who habitually tries to keep free from mortal sin, to fall into it without his conscience giving a distinct and unmistakable report. and this is so certain that spiritual writers say that a person of good life and tender conscience, who is distressed with the uncertainty whether or no he has given consent to an evil temptation, ought to banish that anxiety altogether and to be sure that he has not consented. but suppose these evil temptations are importunate, and remain in the soul even when we resist them, and try to turn from them? no matter. they do not become sins on that account; nay, they become the occasion of acts of great virtue. { } it is related in the life of st. catherine of sienna that on one occasion that pure virgin's soul was assailed by the most horrible temptations of the devil. they lasted for a long time, and after the conflict our saviour appeared to her with a serene countenance. "o my divine spouse," she said, "where wast thou when i was enduring these conflicts?" "in thy soul," he replied. "what, with all these filthy abominations?" "yes, they were displeasing and painful to thee; this therefore was thy merit, and thy victory was owing to my presence." so that we see even here where the danger is greatest, the law of god exacts of us nothing but what in its own nature is in our power to do or not to do. but if you wish another proof of your ability to keep god's law, i allege the _power of his grace_. i can imagine an objector saying: you have not touched the real difficulty after all. the difficulty is not on god's side; no doubt he is good and holy. neither are the requirements of his law so very hard. the difficulty is in us. we are fallen by nature. we have sinned after baptism. { } we are so weak, so frail, that to us continued observance of the divine commandments is impossible. no, my brethren, neither is this true. it is not true from the mouth of any man; least of all from the mouth of a christian. "_no temptation_," says the apostle, "_hath taken hold of you but such as is human. and god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able; but will also with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. x., .] the weakest and frailest are strong enough with god's grace, and this grace he is ready to give to those that need it. at all times and in all places he has been ready to give his grace to them that need it, but especially is this true under the gospel. the holy scriptures make this the distinguishing characteristic of the times of the gospel that they shall abound in grace. "_take courage, and fear not_," the prophet says, in anticipation of the time when christ should come in the flesh, "_behold god will come and save you. then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free; for waters are broken out of the desert, and streams in the wilderness. and that which was dry land shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water_." [footnote ] [footnote : is. xxxv., - .] { } such was the promise, hundreds of years before christ, of a time of peace, of happiness and grace; and when our lord was come, he published that the good time had indeed arrived: "_the spirit of the lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart. to preach deliverance to the captive, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the lord_." yes, the great time has come; the cool of the day; the evening of the world; the time when labor is light and reward abundant. oh, my brethren, you know not what a privilege it is to be a christian! you enter a church. you see a priest in his confessional. a penitent is kneeling at his feet. the sight makes but little impression on you, for you are accustomed to it, but this is that "_fountain_" promised by the prophet "_to the house of david and to the inhabitants of jerusalem, for the washing of the sinner;_" a fountain that flows from the saviour's side, and not only cleanses, but strengthens and makes alive. { } you pass an altar. the priest is giving communion. stop! it is the lord himself! the bread of angels! the wine of virgins! the food "_whereof if a man eat he shall live forever_." and not only in the church do you find grace. it follows you home. you shut your door behind you, and your father in heaven waits to hear and grant your prayer. nay, at all times god is with you, for you are the temple of god, and he sits on the throne of your heart to scatter his grace on you when ever and wherever you ask him. do not say, then, christian, that you are unable to do what god requires of you. it is a sin of black ingratitude to say so. even if it were impossible for others to keep the law of god, it is not for you. he hath not done to every nation as he hath done to you. when the patriarch jacob was dying, he blessed all his children, but his richest blessing was for joseph. so god has blessed all the children of his hand, but you, christian, are the joseph whom he hath loved more than all his other sons. to others he hath given of "_the dew of heaven,_" and "_the fatness of the earth,_" but you "_he hath blessed with all spiritual blessings in christ._" { } away, then, with the notion, that obedience to the commandments of god is impracticable. a notion dishonorable to god and to ourselves. it is possible to keep free from mortal sin--for all--at all times, under all temptations. nay, i will say more. it is on the whole, easier to live a life of christian obedience, than a life of sin. i say on the whole, for i do not deny that here and there in particular cases, it is harder to do right than wrong, but taking life all through, one who restrains his passions will have less trouble than one who indulges them. heroic actions are not required of us every day. in order to be a christian, it is not necessary to be always high-strung and enthusiastic. it is not necessary to be a devotee, to adopt set and precise ways, to take up with hypocrisy and cant--in a word, to be unmanly. it is just, for the most part, the most matter of fact, the most practical, the most simple and straight-forward thing in the world. it is to be a man of principle. it is to have a serious, abiding purpose to do our duty. { } it is to be full of courage; not the courage of the braggart, but the courage of the soldier--the courage that thrives under opposition, and survives defeat, the courage that takes the means to secure success--vigilance, humility, steadfastness and prayer. before this, all difficulties vanish, and this is what we want most of all. it is amazing how little courage there is in the world. we are like the servant of eliseus, the prophet, who, when he awoke in the morning, and saw the great army that had been sent by the king of syria to take his master, said, "_alas, alas, alas, my lord; what shall we do!_" but eliseus showed him another army--the army of angels ranged on the mountain, with chariots of fire and horses of fire, ready to fight for the servants of god, and he said, "_fear not: for there are more with us than with them._" [footnote ] [footnote : kings, vi., - .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is kings, vi., - .] why should we fear? christianity is no new thing. the path of christian obedience is not an untried path. thousands have trod it and are now enjoying their reward. god, and the angels, and the saints, are on our side. and there are multitudes of faithful souls in the world who are fighting the good fight, and keeping their souls unsullied. { } we cannot distinguish them now, but one day we shall know them. oh! let us join them. yes, we will make our resolution now. others may guide themselves by pleasure or expediency; we will adopt the language of the psalmist: "_thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths_." [footnote ] [footnote : psalm cxviii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is psalm cxix., .] we will be christians not in name, but in deed. not for a time only, but always. one thought shall cheer us in sadness and nerve us in weakness, "_i have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of thy justice_." ----------------- { } sermon viii. the two standards. "no man can serve two masters." --st. matt., vi. . (from the gospel of the th sunday after pentecost.) there are two hostile camps pitched on the surface of the earth, and two great armies engaged in warfare against each other. the chiefs of these two armies are jesus christ and satan, the war between them is not a new one. it began in heaven, when lucifer and his companions rebelled against god. it broke out in a more deadly and decisive manner, when jesus christ erected his standard on mt. calvary, and from his cross triumphed over the devil, while satan, enraged at his defeat, summoned all his forces from earth and hell to an eternal war against the cross. { } this is a war in which every one must take part. here no one can remain neutral; either for the cross or against it--a soldier of christ or a servant of the devil. you must choose your side. which, then, do you take? will you have christ or lucifer for your king? in the name of jesus christ, i call on you to renounce the infamous service of the devil for ever, and enroll yourself under the standard of the cross, and i promise to give you good reasons for doing so. listen, then, and make your decision. if the devil has the best claim, and offers the highest price, then follow him, and take his lot in this world and in eternity. but consider well what you have to look for, beforehand. if jesus christ is your rightful lord, and heaven is worth having, then come out boldly on his side, and renounce the devil once for all. you cannot serve both, you must serve one; and the one whom you serve on this earth, will have possession of you for all eternity. { } survey, then, the two camps, the two standards, the two kings. on mount calvary see the cross, the standard of salvation, rising above the camp of jesus christ. look on the king who rules in this camp! regard his features: they are full of majesty and humility, of power and of love, of authority and of compassion. around him the blessed virgin, the apostles, martyrs and confessors, all the saints and all the righteous, are grouped; and from his cross he sends out his messengers into all the world, inviting all men to share his humility, self-denial, and suffering in this world, and his everlasting kingdom in the next. now turn your eyes toward the other camp. it lies near the city of babylon, the city of this world, a city of idolatry, sensuality, and worldly pomp. in the midst of it, satan is seated on a high and burning throne, his features full of melancholy, pride and cruelty, surrounded by his demons, his false priests, and the multitude of his worshippers. he also sends his messengers through the earth, offering honors, pleasures, and riches here, and the fire of hell hereafter, to those who enlist in his service. unhappy man! soldier of christ by baptism! have these ministers of satan persuaded you to renounce your lawful standard, and enlist under that of the devil? { } have you been persuaded by some worldly bribe, some passing pleasure, to renounce god and heaven, and to receive the black brand of mortal sin in your soul, the mark of your allegiance to the devil? what have you done? what master is this, to whom you have sold yourself? what have you to expect in his service? listen to me, and i will prove to you that you have sold yourself to a detestable tyrant and usurper; that you have cast in your lot with a desperate cause, and that everlasting ruin is the only wages you will ever get. satan is a detestable usurper. what right has he to reign in this world? what right has he to your soul, or to your service? did he create the world, or make you? has he conferred any benefit on the human race, that he is entitled to the gratitude and obedience of men? he is a miserable rebel against god, an outcast from heaven, the great enemy of mankind. he is the author of sin, misery, and death. he became master of your soul by mortal sin. he seduced you to offend god by lying promises, and treacherously got possession of your heart. is he not then a usurper? { } he is also a cruel tyrant. satan tyrannizes over the soul which is subject to him, by making it a slave to its passions. he makes it sweat and toil like a negro slave, fast, and watch, and deny itself, like a hermit, in the service of these cruel taskmasters. one he forces to labor night and day for a lifetime, to scrape up a little money which he has no time to enjoy. another he compels to sacrifice health, reputation, and fortune, to the gratification of lust. a third he turns into a beast by drunkenness. he tyrannizes over his subjects, also, by continual and insupportable torments of conscience. they have none of that peace and tranquillity which the servants of god enjoy, but a horrible foretaste of the pains of hell, in the incessant gnawings of a guilty conscience, and the continual fear of eternal damnation. the service of satan is odious, on account of the companions with whom you must associate. you become the associate of demons, murderers, thieves, harlots, drunkards, and villains of every hue. the promises which the devil holds out to you are all false, and his words all delusive. he holds out to you an illusory hope of liberty and happiness, and deceives you with glittering but unreal pictures of future enjoyment. { } for these you renounce christian self-denial; for these you throw down the cross of christ, abandon the straight and narrow way, and sacrifice your hopes of heaven. but the devil will disappoint you. the pleasure he will give you will leave behind in your heart only bitterness and disgust. you will have to endure in his service labors and sufferings more than enough to make you a saint, if you performed them for god. you threw down the cross which god placed on your shoulders. it was a light cross, and was exactly measured for your size and strength. it was a cross full of blessings and graces, and if you had carried it courageously up the narrow way of life, after a time it would have supported you, and you would have been borne up by it to the gate of heaven. but you threw it down, because it was too heavy and galling, and turned from the steep path of virtue to the downward, flowery road of sin. immediately the devil came up behind you, and fastened on your back an immense cross of rough, unhewn timber. { } loaded with this devil's cross, you are stumbling along the way of perdition toward the mouth of hell, into which you will fall at death, with the heavy burden of your sins on your back to press you down, and crush you forever beneath its weight. such is the hard and bitter slavery to which you have bound yourself under this detestable tyrant. moreover, his cause is a desperate one. a certain and ignominious defeat, from which he will never more arise, awaits him. he has already been conquered. jesus christ met him once in single combat in the desert, and put him to an ignominious flight. afterwards, on the cross, he gained a still more signal and decisive victory over him, and made him serve by his own plan for our lord's destruction, as an instrument for accomplishing our salvation. the blessed virgin has trampled on the head of this malicious serpent. all the saints and martyrs have triumphed over him, and the weakest christian child can put him to flight, by resisting his temptations--by breathing a little prayer, or by making the sign of the cross. he is a weak and miserable coward. his cause is already desperate and lost. and although god allows him a certain liberty to tempt and trouble the world for a short time, the day of judgment is fast approaching, in which jesus christ will put him to shame before the whole universe, and cast him, together with all those who follow his standard, into the burning abyss of hell. { } such is a true picture of lucifer, of his services, and of the reward which awaits his followers. are you not ashamed, then, o false christian! to have renounced your allegiance to your rightful lord, for the service of such a master, who trembles at the very name of jesus christ? in the churches of the middle ages the statue of the martyr st. christopher was frequently sculptured, carrying, in accordance with his name which signifies christ-bearer, the infant jesus on his shoulder. as his real history was unknown, the poetic fancy of that period invented several beautiful legends about it, of which the following is one: "a heathen youth of gigantic size and strength determined to seek out the strongest man in the world, and serve him. after many inquiries, he engaged himself to a christian prince, who was famous for prowess and warlike achievements. { } he served him contentedly for a while, but at length, observing that he often made the sign of the cross, he asked him the meaning of his doing so. the prince told him it was to keep off the devil. the youth asked him who the devil was, and if he was afraid of him. he told him that the devil was a wicked being, more powerful than any man, and that he feared him greatly. if that is the case, said the youth, i will serve you no longer, but i will serve the devil, because he is the strongest. immediately he set out to seek for him, and passing through a forest was accosted by a dark-looking personage who asked him what he was looking for, and on receiving his his answer, replied: i am the devil you are seeking, follow me if you wish to enter my service. so saying, he went on, followed by the youth, toward a certain city. as they drew near the city, the devil turned aside from the highway, and took a bye-road which was much more circuitous. the youth asked him why he did not keep the high-road. do you not see, said the devil, that crucifix? i do not wish to pass it. 'what is a crucifix?' said the youth. 'the image of my greatest enemy, who once conquered me' replied the devil. { } farewell, said the youth; if you are afraid of him who hangs on that cross, i shall leave you, and serve him, because he is stronger than you. so saying, he went in search of jesus christ, and having stopped at a monastery, and asked the way to find him, was instructed, baptized by the name of christopher, and became a martyr." now, dear christian, you are a christopher, a christ-bearer, for you have the image of christ stamped in your soul in baptism. you are bound to serve the most powerful, and not only the most powerful, but the best master; the one who has the best right to your services, whose service is the most honorable, whose rewards are the greatest, and whose final victory is certain. listen to me now, and i will show you that this prince is jesus christ. jesus christ is our lawful king. i. by hereditary right. he is the son of god. in his divine nature he is equal to his father, and equally with him the creator of all things, and therefore our sovereign lord. in his human nature, he is the first begotten son of his father, the heir of all things, in a special sense, the chief of the human race. { } ii. by purchase. by adam's sin, the special gifts which god had given to him and his posterity--integrity of nature, sanctifying grace, paradise and the title to heaven--were forfeited. mankind fell from a free to a servile condition. jesus christ, by a compact with the eternal father, and by pledging his life for us, has purchased his right over us. iii. by redemption. he has redeemed us by his blood, from exile and slavery, and restored to us our forfeited inheritance of grace and eternal life. iv. by conquest. when the whole world was subject to the usurped tyranny of satan, he made war on him, conquered him, and wrested our souls from his possession. as subjects of a conquered empire, we are therefore subject to the dominion of our conqueror. v. by our own election. we have freely chosen his service, when we were confirmed and ratified our baptismal vows, and a thousand times we have offered ourselves to his service, and sworn allegiance to him. { } his service is glorious. because he is the greatest and wisest of all princes; because angels and saints are our companions; because his service consists in performing great and heroic actions, warring against vice, overcoming self, practising virtue, doing good, and conquering the world, the flesh and the devil. it is happy and delightful, because of peace of conscience, the friendship of god, and the consolations of divine grace. these are a sort of bounty or earnest-money given now; but the real reward is eternal life, to be given hereafter. jesus christ is certain to obtain the victory and to triumph gloriously over all his enemies--over treacherous and cowardly followers within his own camp, that is, bad christians who preserve the faith but live and die in sin; over all those who are nominally his followers, but who really are fighting under the devil's standard, that is heretics, and schismatics; over infidels, his open enemies among men; over satan and hell. here now are the two chiefs. there are the two standards. this is the war in which every one of you is engaged, on one side or the other? which side is it? under what banner have you till now been ranged? do you belong to the party of jesus christ or that of the devil? { } do you reply, i am a baptized christian, marked with the sign of the cross, and a member of the catholic church, and therefore a servant of jesus christ? it is true you are a soldier regularly enlisted and sworn into christ's army, and wearing his uniform. but the question is, are you a true-hearted, obedient and brave soldier of jesus christ, or are you a traitor in the camp, a servant of the devil in the guise of a christian? let us see. you call yourself a soldier of jesus christ. what are you doing then with the devil's bounty? the devil's bounty is a license to steal, cheat and swindle. what is that pile of bank-notes pilfered from your employer, you dishonest clerk? what is that heap of gold, you bribed judge, you corrupt legislator, you dishonest official, you swindling speculator in government contracts, in public distresses and private miseries? jesus christ will tolerate no thieves in his camp. if you are one of these unjust, dishonest, avaricious, overreaching robbers of your neighbors goods, standing ready to sell your voice, your pen, your vote, your oath, your conscience, your country, your faith, your soul, your god himself, for gold, then you have touched the devil's bounty, you are his servant, and a traitor to your colors. { } you are a soldier of jesus christ, are you? but you have been caught drinking the devil's treat. there, where his sergeants recruit for hell, in those grog-shops whose flaming signs and glaring windows tempt the fool and the unwary; where misery, beggary, despair and death are dealt out to wretched fathers, brutal husbands, ragged, bloated women who are wives and mothers; there you have drained the cup of drunkenness, the pledge of friendship with satan and all the company of hell. you are a christian soldier, are you? but i hear on your lips the devil's passwords, those curses and oaths, those obscene words and profane jests which show that you belong to the devil's camp. your cursing tongue has betrayed you, false deserter, your speech is the speech of hell, and your presence among the faithful soldiers of jesus christ is an offence and a scandal not to be borne by those who have any zeal for the honor of their lord. { } you a christian soldier?--and flaunting on the devil's parade-ground, the theatre, the ballroom where the lascivious waltz goes on, the midnight revel of thoughtless and giddy young people, flushed with wine, intoxicated with excitment, whirled away by the tide of passion, where they know not and care not, until at length remorse, disgrace and ruin tell them where, but too late to save them. these are the pomps of the devil which you renounced and foreswore at your baptism. if you take them up again, you are an outcast from jesus christ, and a servant of the devil. you dare to call yourself a christian, and all the while you are living on the devil's pay, feeding on sensuality, plunged overhead in impurity, the miserable, beastly reward that the devil gives to his followers. by the law of moses, those who committed such crimes were to be stoned to death without the camp. is the camp of jesus christ less holy, think you, that an impure man or woman can be tolerated within its sacred precincts? { } you pretend to wear the livery of jesus christ. what, then, is that badge, what are those insignia you are wearing? they tell that you belong to some secret society, that you have defied the law of the church, and braved her excommunication. you are then shut out from the sacraments, and not only are you no soldier of jesus christ, but you belong to the devil's own body-guard. tell me, you pretended soldier of jesus christ, where are you on your king's parade days, his sundays and festivals, when he requires his servants on earth and his angels in heaven to present themselves in review before him? where are you during the holy solemnity of the mass? absent; your place vacant, and you asleep, or lounging, or doing the devil's work. at the easter communion, where are you? you are not to be found, or still worse, you present yourself without that rich and ornamental dress of sanctifying grace, which your king requires, under pain of death. blush to call yourself a soldier of jesus christ, for if you are one, you are a delinquent and a faithless one. you profess yourself so loudly a christian soldier, what then are you straggling for, behind your column? jesus christ allows no stragglers in his army, and the enemy has ambuscades everywhere to cut them off. { } these are those heretical churches into which you stray, in ignorance or neglect of catholic order and discipline. hasten out of these ambuscades of error, delusion and eternal death. rejoin your column quickly, and keep within the serried ranks of the catholic host, or you are lost. my brave and vaunting christian warrior, how do your professions of fidelity and courage comport with your conduct when put on guard at night? how have you conducted yourself in temptation? have you not committed mortal sin, and then given as an excuse that you were tempted by the devil, or overcome by your passions? have you not said that you could not help cursing when you were angry, drinking when you were urged, giving way to impure inclinations when you were assaulted by them, that you could not keep from mortal sin, because you are so weak? these excuses make you more guilty. they show that you have slept on your post, or kept a careless watch on the enemy, or yielded yourself a prisoner, when you should have fought manfully. it is your very profession as a soldier of jesus christ to fight with the world, the flesh and the devil, and you cannot be surprised or vanquished without your own fault. { } to say that you must sin because the devil tempts you, or that you cannot resist your evil inclinations, is to confess your own shame, and to make it plain, that you are a coward, unworthy of the glorious name of a soldier of jesus christ. i call upon you, then, unworthy and unfaithful followers of jesus christ, to renounce your secret and treasonable dealings with the enemy, to cease to act like traitors or poltroons, and to rally again around the standard of salvation. no matter what mortal sin you have on your soul, it is a bond which links you with the devil, with his desperate cause and his eternal ruin. in spite of your name of christian, your badge of soldier, and your military oath, you are a servant of satan, and the lord will one day cast you out among his open enemies. in god's name, then, no more double dealing. choose your side! if you wish for despair, and have chosen eternal perdition, then satan is your master, and you can follow him if you choose. but if jesus christ is your king, his service your choice, and his rewards your desire, come to his standard, and flinch no more. { } see! the war is raging all around you, in which you must take part, on one side or the other. the banners are flying, the trumpets are sounding, the soldiers of christ are winning eternal renown and pressing on to battle. our glorious king is at the head of his chosen band leading the way to victory, which is already waving its wings above the unconquerable standard of salvation. the shouts of conquest are heard in the distance, and the foremost ranks are pressing in as victors through the gates of heaven. shall we stand here like cowards, hugging the ignominious chains of mortal sin? far be the thought from every christian breast! the voice of our leader is calling us. forward! then. onward! let us share in the glorious conflict, that we may share in the triumph, and partake in the everlasting peace that is to follow. ---------------------- { } sermon ix. the epiphany. "they found the child with mary his mother." st. matt, ii., . (from the gospel for the day). the feast of the epiphany, my dear brethren, is as it were a second christmas. christmas day is a feast which all christians hold in common, whether of jewish or gentile blood. if either had more claim than the other, it would seem to belong rather to those who are of jewish origin; for, "_to you is born this day a saviour in the city of david_" was the announcement made by the angels to the jewish shepherds. but this feast of to-day is peculiarly ours. this is the great gentile-christian feast. { } the motto which we put up over our altar on christmas eve, and which still hangs there, "_christus natus est nobis_," "christ is born for us," is especially appropriate to-day. there is, however, still another distinct class of persons to whom this day ought to be especially dear. you, my dear brethren, who had not the greater privilege of belonging to the holy catholic church from your infancy, but whom god in his mercy brought into it in after years, this is your feast. you have an interest in these gentile converts, your ancestors in the faith, whom the church commemorates to-day, which they have not who never knew any other creed. what i propose this morning, is, . to give you a sketch of the history of today's feast; and . to show you how these gentile converts are models of men truly converted to god. i. history of the feast. whilst angels were telling to the shepherds of judea, as they kept watch over their flocks on christmas eve, of the glad tidings of the birth of the redeemer of the world in bethlehem, a strange apparition aroused the inhabitants of a great city in the far distant east. { } they were awakened from their sleep, and the windows, doors, and streets were thronged to look at a bright star, which hung in the sky, just over the city. you remember, i dare say, what a stir was made in this country and elsewhere, a few years since, by the unexpected appearance of that beautiful comet. how groups were to be seen standing about every evening, both in and out of doors, with telescope or the naked eye, gazing at it, and expressing to one another their wonder and delight. well, some such feeling as this, mingled with a certain religious awe, must have taken hold of this people of the east on that night. how brilliant! what can it be? what can it mean? how close to us! who will tell us something about it? exclamations such as these, were heard on all sides, from the lips of rich and poor alike. now there were men in that kingdom who might naturally be supposed to know something about it, for they had made the science of the stars, in their supposed connection with human action, or astrology, a special branch of study. { } they were men of education. they were high in civil station too, and filled such offices as magistrate, and governor, and even that of a sort of petty sovereign. they were called magi. they were in their own country what the mandarin is in china; what the brahmin is in india. but how can they know any thing of a star so unusual in its appearance as this? there were two sources through which a certain prophecy connected with the appearance of a star might have reached them. . fifteen hundred years before, a prophet or diviner, whatever his office may have been, whose name was balaam, had uttered a most remarkable prophecy. it was as follows: "_i shall see him, but not now; i shall behold him, but not near. a star shall rise out of jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from israel_." if balaam was a fellow-countryman of these magi, as some learned writers have supposed, then they could hardly have been ignorant of this prophecy. { } . one thousand years after that again, the jews were carried away in captivity to the city of babylon, and dispersed themselves through that region of country. it is natural to suppose that in this way their traditions and sacred writings became publicly known. in that case, these men of science could hardly have failed to notice the fact of balaam's prophecy being found in the jewish book of numbers. they would moreover find, in the course of that familiar intercourse which was now established between the people of both nations, that the jews had always considered this prophecy as having reference to the promised messias, or future ruler of their people. whatever may be the fact as to their having any information at all, or the particular sources through which it came, or whether their wills were moved directly by inspiration from god, certain it is that these holy kings did recognize in that star their guide to the newly-born king of the jews. among the historical records of god's dealing with the jewish people, they perhaps remembered how he had led them through the wilderness under the guidance of a pillar of fire, and consequently were more willing to trust themselves to a guide of a similar kind. { } difficulties now sprang up on every side. it was no easy thing to make up their minds to leave their kingdoms (or whatever was the peculiar nature of their charge), in the hands of others, who might usurp their authority in their absence. travelling over the deserts to the westward was most tedious, and attended with much danger. and after all might not this vision be a delusion? such were some of the trials their faith had to surmount, and it did surmount them. i will not say more of their journey, than that they were faithful to their guide. they halted when it stood still, they continued their march when it led the way. here are they now within a short march of the city of jerusalem. the morning light is breaking, and word is passed to harness the camels, and to fold up the tents. the encampment is alive with joy, at the prospect of the speedy and successful termination of their undertaking, when a cry of distress is heard; "the star!--where is the star? it is gone! what shall we do?" let us try to conceive what their distress must have been. { } you know that in some parts of our country there are great caves underground, into which one can penetrate bypaths winding hither and thither to the distance of twenty, thirty, or even forty miles from the entrance; as for example, the great mammoth cave of kentucky. of course, the darkness there is absolute. perhaps you may remember having seen an account given by one of a party of persons whose only light had gone out on an excursion of this kind. he tried to describe the horror that he and his companions felt when they found themselves in such total darkness, and, unless relieved by persons outside, in the face of certain death. to move, even for a few feet, might, for all they knew, be sudden destruction. to remain where they were was certain death by starvation. now some such feelings as these must have overwhelmed our travellers from the east when they lost the star. their guide was gone; they were in a strange and, it might prove, an enemy's land, especially as they had come in search of a rival to him who was sitting on the throne of judea. what should they do? they determined to enter the city, to go to the king himself and fearlessly demand to know from him "_where is he who is born king of the jews; for we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him?_" { } king herod called in the priests from the temple; the scriptures were brought, the prophecies were examined; and bethlehem was found to be the favored spot. "_thou bethlehem, the land of juda, art not the least among the princes of juda for out of thee shall come the ruler who shall rule my people israel_." they do not stay to be entertained with banquetings, or with what is curious or interesting in this great city, but they resume their journey, when lo! their beautiful guide appears before them once more. oh! what joy it must have been to them to see it again. i dare say they thought it a hundredfold brighter than before, as they gazed up at it with their cheerful faces. ... at last it stops just over a poor shed on a hillside. this the birth-place of the king of the jews!! impossible. they look up at the star. there it stands motionless. they dismount with their presents, and pass through the rude entrance. a wonderful light fills the lowly place, and they see a young woman sitting upon some straw on the ground, a beautiful infant on her lap, and one who seems to be her husband, at her side. that same faith which had led them so far, made them bend the knee in adoration. "_they had found the child with mary his mother_." { } such, my dear brethren, is the sketch i promised you of this most interesting history of today's feast. to me, i must confess it has a peculiar charm and beauty. now, what holy lesson shall we try to learn from it? ii. these magi are models to us of men truly converted to god. . _in their prompt obedience to his inspirations_. that star was a call from god. he asked a great deal from them. luxuries, comforts, country, kingdom, home, all must be, for the time at least, abandoned. it would seem so easy for them to have said, as we say now-a-days, i can arrange to go in a few months time,--but _at once_, this is quite impossible. but there stood their bright guide, a rebuke to any such thoughts, and in setting out at once, in obedience to this call from god, these holy men teach us a most wholesome lesson. how often has god not called us, either from some path of sin which we were following, or to a closer union with himself? { } at one time he has spoken to us plainly, by some word in a sermon or book, at another, by some secret fear or inspiration! we answer, "to-morrow, to-morrow," and that morrow never comes. that to-morrow is the devil's light, a very "will o' the wisp," which leads us on and on to danger and destruction. oh! let us in [the] future be on the watch for these secret whisperings of grace to our souls, and let us learn to be prompt in corresponding with them. . _in their courage_. when these holy men had promptly set about obeying the will of god, their difficulties had only just begun. they would soon have become disheartened but for the supernatural courage that sustained them. their attendants and servants, not having their master's faith, magnified every difficulty as it arose. the oppressive heat by day, the cold at night, the length and wearisomeness of the way, the danger of murder and robbery, all these afforded them subjects for continual murmuring. but now, to crown all, the star has disappeared, and they clamor loudly to be allowed to return back in haste to their homes. but no; a courageous faith supported these royal pilgrims, and god rewarded it, by their finding, at last, the object of their search, "the child with mary his mother." { } how is it, my dear brethren, with us on the way of life? is it not too common to hear such language as this: 'i have such an unfortunate temper;' or, 'i have such disagreeable neighbors;' or, 'i have such an unmanageable family;' or, 'i am thrown with such reckless companions;' or, 'i have no comfort in my prayers;' and 'there is no use in trying to be good; i would give any thing if i only could be good; i am sure it is the only way to be really happy, but somehow or other i cannot get good.' oh! poor cowardly souls that we are! did i not say truly, that in these magi we should find an occasion of confusion to ourselves, as well as true models of courageous perseverance under difficulties however great or peculiar? dear brethren, begin again this morning your journey of life, in the spirit of these holy converts. be faithful to the light that god never fails to give you, through your directors and confessors, through good books and by holy inspirations, and joy and consolation will come all in good time. { } the only way that will surely, safely, and speedily bring us to our lord, is the way of the cross. surely it is worth the venture, worth the toil, if only we find at last, as we shall, "that child with mary his mother." . _in their offerings_. it is a beautiful custom among the nations of the east, that they never go into the presence of their sovereign without some offering. behold these holy men, as they bow down within the entrance of that poor lodge, and hold out in their hands the gold, the frankincense and the myrrh which they have brought so far, in honor of their newly found sovereign, the infant king of the jews! let us kneel in spirit with them. we have here, our bethlehem. the infant jesus is within this little tabernacle. there, above the altar rail, the still light is burning, which is the silent monitor to our faith, that jesus is here. the world would have found it hard to adore the infant saviour, with those three kings, in so lowly a place; and the world finds it too hard now, to kneel with us, in a catholic church, before the blessed sacrament. these holy men did not find it hard, nor do we, for they and we have the same blessed, gift of faith. { } _they offer gold_--you have none! oh yes, you have. put your ten-penny, five-penny, and three-penny pieces, put your pennies too, into the offertory, with a pure intention, or bestow an alms on the poor outside, in the name of jesus, and they will be changed into the purest gold. love is a far more acceptable offering to god than gold. he has no need of your money; for, as the psalmist says, "the earth is the lord's, and the fulness thereof." one thing alone you have it in your power to keep from him, and he deigns to ask you for it. it is your heart. it is your love and your service. _they offer incense_--you have none! oh yes, you have. what does holy king david say? "_o lord, direct my prayer as incense in thy sight._" prayer is the blessed incense that is incessantly streaming up before god. this it is that restrains the arm of his anger, and brings down blessings like showers of rain. there is one prayer above all others which in a special manner is doing this. it is the holy mass. blessed leonard of port maurice asks himself, why it is that god does not nowadays visit nations with such terrible and unmistakable judgments as he did the jews, and the nations round about them? { } then he makes answer to himself, it is because of the all-powerful intercession of the holy mass. as that pure and holy sacrifice ascends up like clouds of incense, from ten thousand altars, all over the world, god is disarmed of his anger. a wicked world is spared too, for the sake of what those little tabernacles contain, on the altars of catholic churches. hear mass, then, on a week day, or make a visit of a few minutes to the blessed sacrament, and you have the most fragrant incense to offer to god. _they offer myrrh_--you have none! oh yes. myrrh preserves from corruption. this was among the spices that the holy women brought on easter morning to embalm our lord's body. well, there is something that preserves our souls, as myrrh and spices preserve our bodies. this is self-denial. self-gratification is the corruption both of soul and body. look around at the army of drunkards, and seekers of forbidden pleasures, and you will have abundant proof of the corruption of the body, and of the soul too, though not in the awfulness of its corruption, as god sees it. { } well, restrain your tongue; restrain your eye; restrain your appetite; and offer this to god in penance for your sins, in union with that sublime act of self-denial on the cross, and you will offer to your saviour as pleasing an offering as these holy magi. my brethren, we are all on the road to another, the true bethlehem. we, too, are going in search of jesus and mary. our bethlehem is heaven. our glorious, supernatural, infallible guide, is the holy catholic church. we have met with trials; we shall meet with more. perhaps, thus far, we have only passed through a sort of preparatory state, which shall enable us to bear up under the real sacrifices that we shall be called upon to make in time to come. nothing will sustain us under these, but implicit faith in our guide, and an unshaken fidelity to her. be loyal to her then. show your love for god, by your obedience to her. cling to her side, and she will lead you to that bethlehem above, where it may be said of you also,-- "they found the child with mary his mother." ---------------------- { } sermon x. renunciation. "and after six days, jesus taketh unto him peter and james and john his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. and he was transfigured before them. and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as snow." --st. matt, xvii., . (from the gospel for the transfiguration). a wise general, in order to excite the ardor of his soldiers, and to render them forgetful of the dangers to which they are exposed, pictures to them on the eve of battle the spoils and glory to be acquired, if they fight bravely. in like manner, our lord, in order to cheer up and console his disciples, who began to be dismayed at the prospect of that death he was about to suffer, imparted to them a foretaste of the joys of paradise, and a "vision" of the splendor of his divinity. { } "_he was transfigured before them. and his face did shine as the sun; and his garments became white as snow._" peter, as soon as he recovered from his ecstasy of delight, exclaimed: "_lord, it is good for us to be here_." but, to prepare his disciples for this anticipation of heaven, he brought them into a high mountain apart; indicating thereby that such privileges can only be obtained by separation from the world in solitude. this is not only true relative to these high and special favors, but equally true in order to persevere in the practice of a christian life. separation from the world is an indispensable duty of a christian. this truth, so plain in holy writ, is nevertheless liable to be misconceived, for which reason we must make the following distinction: there is a world we are not required as christians to separate from. there is a world we are under the strictest obligations to separate from. the condemnation of the world by our lord and his apostles is too plain and frequent not to have met the eye of any one who has the slightest acquaintance with the new testament. { } "_you are from beneath,_" said the saviour to the jews, "_i am from above. you are of this world: i am not of this world_," [footnote ] "_love not the world,_" says the beloved disciple and apostle, "_nor the things which are in the world. if any man love the world the charity of the father is not in him._" [footnote ] st. paul, teaching the romans, says: "_be not conformed to the world._" [footnote ] "_the friendship of the world,_" says st. james, "_is enmity with god._" [footnote ] "_the whole world_," says st. john, "_is seated in wickedness._" [footnote ] [footnote : st. john viii., .] [footnote : john ii., .] [footnote : romans xii., .] [footnote : st. james iv., . ] [footnote : john v., .] these declarations of the sacred scriptures are plain and to the point. to be a disciple of christ is to have nothing to do with the world. if any further proof were needed of so plain a fact, we may find it in the baptismal service, where the catechumen is engaged by the most solemn promises to turn his back upon the world. but what this world is, that we are so strictly engaged to renounce, is not at first sight so clear. is it the visible world, called nature, so full of instruction and rich in beauty, that we are to turn our backs upon? { } are we called upon in our character as christians to close our eyes to the flowers, the mountains, the rivers, the glowing sunsets, and the stars of heaven? are we bound to shut our ears to the murmuring winds, the music of the rivulet, and the songs of the birds? are we to be counted christians on the condition only of our shutting out from our senses that beauty, which surrounds us on all hands, of the visible world? what is there profane in nature when holy writ assures us that, "the lord is holy in all his works." [footnote ] and that "_all things serve him?_" [footnote ] [footnote : psalm cxliv., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is psalm cxlv., .] [footnote : psalm cxviii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is psalm cxix., .] the royal prophet david was accustomed to open all the avenues of his soul to the beauty of nature, and, filled with admiration, he seems hardly able to contain his praise of him by whom all things were made. "_o lord our lord, how admirable_," he exclaims, "_is thy name in the whole earth_." [footnote ] "_how great are thy works, o lord! thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy riches._" [footnote ] [footnote : psalm viii., .] [footnote : psalm ciii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is psalm civ., .] { } our blessed saviour himself chose to convey the great truths of his gospel by illustrations drawn from the visible creation. he calls our attention at one time to "the birds of the air," at another, it is to the golden "harvests," and then it is to "the lilies of the fields." he seems to have looked with an attentive and friendly eye upon the attractions of nature. "_consider_," he says, "_the lilies of the fields, how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. and yet i say to you that not even solomon in all his glory, was arrayed like one of these._" [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, vi., - .] commenting on this passage of holy scripture, st. john chrysostom asks: "wherefore did god make the lilies so beautiful? that he might display," he answers, "the wisdom and excellency of his power, that from every thing we might learn his glory." for not "_the heavens only declare the glory of god._" [footnote ] but the earth too; and this david declared when he said: "_praise the lord, ye fruitful trees, and all the cedars_." [footnote ] [footnote : psalm xix., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is psalm xix., .] [footnote : psalm cxlviii., .] [transcriber's note: the phrase "praise the lord" is from verse and "fruit trees and all cedars" is from verse .] { } it could be no part of the visible creation that the gospel had in view, when it declared that the friendship of the world is enmity with god; for we hear the same voice speak to us from nature, which speaks to us in divine revelation. what was it then? was it the world of art, science, and literature? have not beauty, knowledge, and genius one and the same fountain source with religion? whence spring the noble achievements of art, science, and literature, if not from gifts, which like "_every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the father of lights_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. james i., .] is not the true aim of art in all its creations to aid religion in bringing men to the contemplation of the first fair, the first true, and the first good? can science find a greater sphere than to show how all things are, and move, and exist in their primal cause, god? can literature be devoted to more worthy ends than to make those virtues attractive which religion commands? true religion recognizes in art, in science, and in literature, her natural allies, while they in turn find in her bosom loftier and wider spheres to stimulate human exertion. these, then, are not of that world which holy writ condemns as at enmity with god. { } are we to find the world, which we as christians are to renounce, in the ties of the family, in relationships and friends, in neighborhood and the common pursuits of life? all these conditions of life our saviour sanctified either in his own person, or by his express approbation, or by his presence. the basis of all these relations of human life is that of marriage, and this natural tie, he not only sanctioned, but raised it up to a holy sacrament of his religion. it is a false idea of the christian religion, and one which is most injurious, to imagine that it requires of us to stifle all natural affections, and to escape from society, in order to lead a christian life. it teaches that the way of salvation, and the high roads to sanctity, are chiefly through the fulfilment of the common duties of every day life. "_for god created all things,_" says holy writ, "_that they might be: and he made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon earth._" [footnote ] [footnote : wisdom i., .] { } the world made up of human relationships and the common pursuits of life, called society, is not at enmity with god. nature art, science, human society, are not opposed to christianity, nor contrary to christian perfection. many christians have become great saints surrounded only by the scenery of nature; others while cultivating the arts and sciences; others again have reached an eminent degree of perfection while fulfilling their common every day duties. for the visible creation is good, and there is nothing in man's nature incompatible with the absolute perfections of god, as is proved in the fact that our saviour was in all respects in his humanity a man, and at the same time truly god. "_all things,_" says holy scripture, "_cooperate for good to those who love god._" the true christian church incorporates and consecrates nature and art in her worship--she appeals to the whole nature of every man, and opens a way to heaven for men of all classes, and in every condition of society. the task was left to the sects which sprung from the religious revolution of the sixteenth century, to exclude nature and art from christian worship, to divorce faith and science, to degrade the sacrament of matrimony to a mere civil contract, and to teach men that they were wholly depraved. { } the authors of this revolution in christianity, seemed to take delight in parcelling the realm of christian truth into wrangling creeds, and in rendering christian worship rigid, gloomy and repulsive. and in this they found freedom, progress, and the light of the pure gospel! how narrow and grovelling are the minds which never rise to the contemplation of that unity which reconciles all truths, all beauties, and all goodness! will that day ever dawn when christianity will find a people sufficiently great to grant to its divine truths fair play with their intelligence, and a full sway to her influence over their whole lives?--when men of genius, of science and of learning will understand that the true end of all knowing, all loving and all doing is the same as that of religion, to render the souls of men more like their creator, and to aid others in this divine work? { } where then is the world which, as christians, we are called upon to separate from? there is a world which god made for the use of man. he made it good, and good it remains while rightly used. there is another world which man has made, and it is framed out of the abuse of the creatures of god's world. the whole difficulty lies in the fact that men generally do not consider the things of creation rightly, or use them properly; and the great world around us consists in the main of those who thus misunderstand god's world, and live by the abuse and perversion of it, led on by their inordinate desires. this is "the world seated in wickedness," on which we must turn our backs, for to be a friend of it, is to be an enemy of god. a few illustrations will make this point plain. how few there are who look upon nature in that light in which she was intended to be seen by her creator. seen in this light, the whole visible world of nature raises up our thoughts and affection to our common creator. for nature has ever been true and loyal to her author. the psalmist only gives expression to the natural and spontaneous impulses of the soul when in beholding the visible world, he exclaims: "_o lord, our lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth_." how few in looking upon nature, raise up their thoughts to nature's god. { } they do not go beyond, but stop with what they see. to them, nature is the highest and most complete expression of strength, beauty, and truth. nature is fair, but how much fairer is he who made nature what she is! they forget the king in their blind admiration of his vestments. they become the servants and slaves of nature, instead of being her master and high-priest. their worship of nature excludes her creator and lord, and they become like the heathen idolaters of whom the apostle speaks: "_they worshipped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed for ever_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. i., .] what do we find for the most part in the world of art? do we see artists who are conscious of the great purposes of their noble vocation? do they aim by the creations of their genius to raise less gifted minds to gaze upon the archetype of all beauty, truth, and goodness? do they strive so to embody what is noblest and best in man's nature as to captivate his imagination, and enkindle an enthusiasm for its imitation? { } there are a few such; a few who are men, no less than artists, and who regard their vocation as something akin to what is sacred, and would look upon it as desecration to employ their gifts in such way us to lead men aside from the realization of the great end of their existence. but the many study to clothe with forms of borrowed beauty the expressions which spring from the lowest passions of their nature. the lessons which their productions teach, were they interpreted and expressed in words, would shock the unvitiated feelings of the heart, causing the innocent cheek to blush with shame. quoting with sophistical blindness the text, "_to the pure all things are pure_," they imagine they are justified in violating every rule of christian decency, every feeling of modesty, and every maxim of morality. under the pretext of being true to nature, they misrepresent nature, by presenting what is lowest in man, and that in its exaggerated and depraved developments, and thereby add excitement to his already inordinate appetites and aid powerfully to his further degradation. art, instead of being an angel pointing with its fore-finger to heaven, showing man the way to his destiny, and aiding him to its attainment, is turned into a siren, enticing men to sin and destruction. { } in the world of science and literature, the same thing takes place. it would appear that the aim of most men devoted to science is, in a great measure, to undermine the basis of religious conviction in the soul, instead of adding to its strength and support. what is more reasonable than to suppose that the sentiments of religion should increase in proportion to the acquisition of the knowledge of truth, for the end of all knowledge of truth is god. and yet, if you select from almost any branch of science, those who are pre-eminent, you will, in all probability, find that those who believe in christianity and practise its precepts, are in the minority, a very small minority. what a strange perversion of the gift of intelligence to study the works of creation, in order to overturn the revelation of the creator! popular literature is of the same stamp. it would be high praise to say of a popular author that his writings contain nothing contrary to morals or religion. it would seem to be the aim of some to substitute vice for virtue, and so to cloak passion with the garb of innocence as to make obedience to them an act of religion. { } familiarity with our popular literature would be a sad preparation for the reception of religious impressions, or for the practice of virtue. briefly, in art, in science, and literature, there reigns for the greater part, an indifference to christianity, the spirit of paganism, and a practical atheism. let us now look about ourselves in society. here is a man possessed with the desire for distinction and places of honor. his thoughts by day, and his dreams at night, are set upon them. he is a lawyer, and aims at being at the head of the bar, or at becoming a judge. he is a politician, he seeks to be an alderman, or a state senator, or a congressman. he knows not but one day he may be the president of the united states. does he seek these by legitimate means? not at all. to gain popularity he sacrifices all self-respect, and bribery is connived at to obtain votes. if his religion is likely to aid his efforts, he _uses_ it; you will find him in church, and he gives liberally about election times to its charitable institutions. { } should his religion stand in his way, he ceases to practice its duties. should it serve his purpose, he becomes a free-mason, or an odd fellow, or a member of some other secret society. another is driven on by an inordinate desire for riches. not content with the rewards of an honest trade, or a respectable business, he must make money easier and faster. he starts a saloon or a liquor store, and to conceal the low and disgraceful character of his traffic, he places on his house a sign in large letters, "bonded warehouse," "rectifying distillery," "importer of foreign liquors," or some other like falsehood. his foreign and domestic wines and liquors, are made of bad spirits, some coloring matter and essences, with fusil oil; and these he deals out for genuine, making from two to three hundred per cent. profit. under the plea of providing for a family, and it may be that he has neither chick nor child, he opens in the city several such--rectifying distilleries!! what does this man care about the scandal which he is the occasion of to his religion, or the poverty and wretchedness he spreads abroad in his neighborhood, or the number of souls which he sends to an untimely and unprepared grave, caused by his poisonous stuffs, so that he gain wealth without effort and rapidly. { } another, a young man who is bent upon seeking pleasure. he frequents low theatres, ball-rooms, and bar-rooms. he meets companions, he gambles, and occasionally he puts his hand in the till of his employer's drawer, or he forges his paper. the effects of late hours, intoxication and debauchery, by and by, show themselves on his face, a faint picture of the corruption which these vices have produced in his heart. he ends his life as an uncurable in a public hospital; or detected, he spends his time and dies in a penitentiary. here is a girl whose mind and imagination are filled with parties of pleasure, and forbidden friendships, gathered for the most part from reading popular literature and infectious novels. her prayers are forgotten, the sacraments neglected, and she dreams of amusements and romantic attachments. dress, tone of voice, every step and movement of her person betray the inordinate passions which have taken possession, and reign now in her bosom. to fill up the sketch, all that is now needed is time and opportunity, to complete her ruin, and make her a public shame. { } from these illustrations it is easily seen which world it is that, as followers of christ, we are to separate from. it is this world fabricated of error, of the abuse of created things, and engendered of inordinate desires. this is the world of which the apostle speaks when he says: "_love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. if any man love the world the charity of the father is not in him: for all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the father but of the world_." [footnote ] [footnote : john ii., - .] there is then a world which is formed of the things which god has made, and the right use of these things by us; and this is an innocent and righteous world, of which it is said: "_god was in christ, reconciling the world to himself_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. v., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is cor. v., .] there is a world which is made up of error, and the abuse men make of created things; and this is the wicked and ungodly world condemned in holy scripture. { } on the one let us look with interest and delight, and from the other let us separate and stand far apart, as did our blessed lord and his saints, giving heed to the advice of st. augustine: "let the spirit of god be in thee," he says, "that thou mayest see that all these created things are good; but woe to thee if thou love the things made, and forsake the maker of them! fair are they to thee; but how much fairer he that formed them!" ---------------- { } sermon xi. the afflictions of the just. "blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you, for my sake. rejoice, and be exceeding glad, because your reward is very great in heaven; for so they persecuted the prophets that were before you." --st. matt, v., , . (from the gospel for all saints' day.) i am about to preach you an old sermon this morning; but i doubt not, my dear friends, you will find it all the better for being old, and quite appropriate, moreover, to this day's feast, for it will carry us back to the earlier ages of christianity, when living saints were more abundant than now. { } in a vast desert of palestine, which lay near the boundaries of arabia, there dwelt, during the fourth century of the christian era, a number of devout hermits, who, after a life of great innocence and saintly virtue, were cruelly massacred by the saracens. some of their brethren, deeply afflicted and scandalized by this outrage, began to ask themselves, how it was possible that god should permit such holy men to perish by the hand of these wicked infidels. in their perplexity, they deputed several of their number to visit and consult an aged egyptian hermit who, on account of the great veneration in which he was held, and the number of disciples gathered around him, was called the abba, or abbot theodore. these came to him with their sad story, and besought him to explain why god should permit such holy men to perish so miserably, and how he could consent to the triumph of these cruel barbarians over his saints. i invite your particular attention, my brethren, to his answer; for perhaps you have asked similar questions yourselves. in the various wars in which nations have engaged, and even in those where the interests of religion seemed most involved, we do not see that victory has always perched upon those banners which the prayers of god's people have blessed. { } so it has been throughout the history of the church, and especially during the past three centuries. who can recount the calamities which from year to year have fallen upon the children of the faith? the soul grows sick to read of kingdoms wrested by violence into schism and heresy, the burnings of monasteries and convents, or their confiscation to the state, the persecution of the catholic clergy, the oppression of the laity. and especially when we turn our thoughts to ireland, poor, faithful, down trodden ireland--is it not wonderful that every thing seems to turn out to her disadvantage, and to the prosperity of her oppressors? have you not sometimes been tempted to exclaim: "has god forgotten ireland? has she clung to her faith so long in vain, amid poverty, oppression and bloodshed? has heaven no favors for her? why does not god give victory always to the just cause?" or, perhaps, you have noticed in your own neighborhood, how often the most faithful servants of god have been visited by heavy afflictions, long sickness, loss of property, death of children and other dear friends, while others, destitute of faith, piety, and of all virtuous principle, seem to prosper on every hand. { } and perhaps, seeing this, the thought arises in your mind: "does not god take notice of these things? has he no chastisement for the wicked, no sympathy for the good? why does he not take part with his own, and make them prosper most?" all these murmurings are like those of the good anchorites who visited abbot theodore, and his answer to their questions will answer yours. (_prelude of abbot theodore_.)--"these questions, my brethren," said he, "only astonish those who, having little faith and little light, think that the saints ought to receive their recompense in this life, while god reserves it for them in the other. but we have far different thoughts. if our hopes in christ were only for the present life, we should be, as st. paul tells us, the most miserable among men, having no recompense in this world, and losing heaven also by our want of faith. we ought to guard our minds against this error, for it would leave us without hope or courage in the moment of temptation, fill us with distrust of god, and so bring us into sin, and to our ruin." { } after this short prelude, he goes on to show that god neither sends nor permits any real evil to those that love him, but that, on the contrary, all things contribute to the welfare of the just. and this is his argument: i. god neither sends nor permits any real evil, &c. "every thing in this world," said the good abbot, "is either good, or bad, or indifferent. there is nothing really good but virtue, which conducts us to god. there is nothing really bad but sin, which separates us from god. in different things are such as hold a middle place between good and evil, and may pass into one or the other, according to the disposition of him that uses them. such are riches, honor, health, beauty, life, death, sickness, poverty, injuries, insults, &c." "this distinction laid, let us see whether god has ever sent any real evil to his saints, or permitted any one to do them a real injury. that is something that we shall never be able to make out. for no one is able to make a man fall into sin, who is unwilling and resists, but only those who consent to it, and give admittance to it, by the effeminacy of their hearts, and the depravity of their will. { } the demon employed every possible artifice against holy job to make him murmur against god; but in spite of all the afflictions which he heaped upon him, body and soul, he could not provoke him so far as to sin even with his lips, and thus fall into the only real evil he had to fear. we must not think, therefore, that the ill turns which our enemies or other persons sometimes do us are really evils, but they belong rather to the class of indifferent things. to be sure, they may think to have done us harm, and rejoice at it; but the harm does not depend upon what they may think, so long as we do not count it for such. for example: a good man is put to death, without any just cause or provocation. now, we must not suppose that any thing really evil in itself has happened to him, but simply something which is either good or evil, according to circumstances. for, in truth, death, which is commonly counted to be an evil, comes with a blessing to the just man, for it delivers him from all the afflictions of this life. thus death is no harm to him; and although the malice of his enemies anticipates the order of nature by leading him to a sudden death, the good man thereby only pays a little sooner a debt which he had to pay in any case, and he goes to receive an eternal crown, as the reward of his sufferings and death." { } upon this, one of the party named germanns, raised a difficulty. "in that case," said he, "we should have no reason to blame the murderer, since he does no harm to the one he kills, but only speeds him the sooner on to his salvation." "we are speaking of things as they are in themselves," said abbot theodore, "and not of the intention of those who do them. the patience and virtue of the just man in his sufferings and death, is a crown to himself, but no justification of his persecutor. the latter will be punished for his cruelty, and for the evil which he intended to do, while the good man has in reality suffered no harm, but by his patience has changed into a blessing the evil which was devised against him. for example: the wonderful patience of job was of no service to satan, but it was of inestimable value to job himself, who endured his trials with so much courage and resignation. { } so judas is none the less subjected to eternal torments, because his treason contributed to the salvation of men; for in the eye of divine justice, an action is not so much to be judged by its results, as by the intention of the person who did it." these high, and holy maxims of christian philosophy being thus firmly established, our good hermit, growing warm with his subject, begins to rise to still loftier and more beautiful conceptions, like a bee coming out from its search in the flower, and shaking the golden pollen from its wings. ii. all things contribute to the welfare of the just. "we say of some men that they are born to good luck, and that every thing they put their hands to turns out well. we deceive ourselves when we say this; it is only true of the saints, and in a spiritual sense. '_we know_,' says st. paul, '_that all things work together for good to them that love god_.' [footnote ] [footnote : rom. viii., .] { } wonderful truth! beautiful truth! and the prophet david says the same thing of every man whose will is in the law of god: _all, whatsoever he shall do, shall prosper._ [footnote ] [footnote : ps. i., .] now, when the apostle says that '_all things work together for good_,' he means not only prosperity, but also what is called adversity. and why? why, because those who truly and perfectly love god remain unchanged in all the vicissitudes of life. they have but one end in view--eternal life, and only one means to attain to it, namely, to do the will of god. this they can do in all weathers, in rain or sunshine. indeed, like the stormy petrel, they gather most in stormy weather. for what reflecting christian does not know the sweet uses of adversity, which, by severing the hopes that bound us to the earth, and opening our eyes to the fact that we are but pilgrims here, with a right of passage only, teach us to fix our hopes on heaven alone, and labor to build up our fortunes there? the great apostle, who himself had passed through the various paths of adversity, teaches us how to turn all the vicissitudes of life, both its joys and sorrows, into golden occasions of merit, fighting our way onward to heaven, as he says, '_with the strength which god gives us, by the arms of justice, on the right hand and on the left;_' that is, as he goes on to explain, '_through honor and dishonor, through infamy and good name, as dying and behold we live, as sorrowful and yet always rejoicing, as having nothing and yet possessing all things?_' [footnote ] [footnote : cor. vi., - ] { } "all therefore, that passes for prosperity, and is consequently _on the right hand_, such as glory, and good reputation, and success in temporal affairs, and all that passes for adversity, and thus, according to the language of st. paul, is _on the left hand_, such as disgrace and evil report, and temporal disappointment;--all to the perfect christian serve alike for arms of justice, holy weapons to win his crown with, because he receives every thing that comes with the same great heart, and allows himself to be cast down by nothing. and therefore the prophet says of him: '_the holy man continues in wisdom like the sun_.'[footnote ] [footnote : ecclus. xxvii. .] [transcriber's note: ecclesiastes ends at chapter . text is similar to sirach xxvii. .] but for those who change every moment, and show different humors and different dispositions of heart, according to the different chances and changes of life--let them listen to these words of the same prophet, which were spoken for their especial benefit: _the fool changes like the moon.'_ [footnote ] [footnote : ecclus. xxvii. .] [transcriber's note: the usccb citation is sirach xxvii. ; "the godless man, like the moon, is inconstant."] { } and, therefore, every thing turns to evil for them, according to the proverb: '_every thing to the foolish man is contrary_,' [footnote ] because he does not improve in prosperity, nor correct his ways in adversity. it will not do for the christian to be like wax, which takes any form that may be impressed upon it; but like a diamond seal, he should keep unchangeably the form impressed upon his heart by the hand of god, showing no change in the different events of life. [footnote : prov. xiv. . so in the lxx. ] "in holy scripture [footnote ] we read of one aod, a great warrior, and a leader of the israelites, who was what is called an _ambidexter_, that is, he could use the left hand as well as the right. this man," said abbot theodore, "is a type of the perfect christian, who is always an ambidexter, making use of both prosperity and adversity to advance the salvation of his soul, and increase his merits, fighting the good fight of faith, '_with the arms of justice, on the right hand and on the left_.' [footnote : judges ii.] { } it is the duty of us all to exercise ourselves in the use of this holy armor, that we may, like aod, be dexterous warriors, able to carry our swords in either hand, and meet our foes on whatever side they may advance, temperate in prosperity, patient in adversity, never fainting, always rejoicing, seeking for nothing, hoping for nothing, knowing nothing in this world but "jesus christ and him crucified," and thus, by this blessed alchemy of the saints, turning all things into gold. "you see, therefore, my dear friends," so concluded the good hermit, "that we have no occasion to deplore the death of these saintly solitaries, as if they had suffered some great misfortune, or as if their enemies had triumphed over them; and still less have we any right to complain of god, as if he had forsaken or forgotten his own. on the contrary, they have gone to their rest, like the laboring man at night-fall; they have been shaken from the tree where they grew, like ripe figs in the harvest time, and their divine master has gathered them in. their death was cruel and miserable in the eyes of man, but precious in the sight of god, for so the psalmist tells us: '_precious in the sight of god is the death of his saints_.' [footnote ] [footnote : psalm cxv., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is psalm cxvi., .] { } do not believe that, even if it were left to their choice, they would wish to come back again to this world, to live longer in it, nor would they choose any other death than that by which they have quitted it. indeed there was little room for choice in the matter, since, as the apostle says, '_for them to live was christ and to die was gain_,' [footnote ] it being the privilege of the saints to prosper in all that befalls them." [footnote : phil, i., .] [transcriber's note: similarly, phil., ., , "i long to depart this life and be with christ, (for) that is far better."] see! my dear brethren, it is not i that have been speaking to you, but an ancient father of the desert. i have preached to you an old sermon, and well nigh word for word as it was spoken fifteen hundred years ago in the egyptian wilderness. i have done so purposely, in order that you may take notice that the christians of those early times were subject to disasters and afflictions as you are now, and tried by the same temptations. you see also what kind of consolation they found in their religion, what kind of counsel they received from their spiritual advisers, and how they turned their sorrows and adversities to good account. { } their time of trial was over long ago; and now they are happy. no doubt, they look back with pleasure upon those very sorrows, as belonging to the sweetest and holiest days of their pilgrimage on earth--days of patient resignation, and childlike trust, and christian courage--days when they wept much, but prayed all the more--days when the current of earthly joys was at its lowest ebb-tide, but the waters of heavenly grace were at their fullest flood-tide, and therefore, days of golden gain. oh! let it be so with you, my brethren, in your afflictions! what would you have? the christians of other ages have journeyed on cheerfully toward heaven bearing their cross. would you ride thither at your ease? would you wear your crown without winning it? would you be saved by the sufferings of christ, and refuse to take your share of suffering? no! arm yourselves with christian fortitude. meet adversities patiently, manfully, trustfully, as these good christians did of old. be like them in the trials of this world, and then, like them too in the recompense of the other, "_your sorrows shall be turned into joy_," and your joy will be all the greater for the sorrows you have endured. ---------------------- { } sermon xii. false maxims. "lord, that i may see." --st. luke xviii., . (from the gospel for quinquagesima sunday.) blindness is a very common thing, if we may judge by the many false maxims afloat. we find them everywhere and in every thing, in politics, in business, in the government of children, in religion. wherever they are, they are pernicious and destructive. in business they lead to bankruptcy and ruin; in politics to disunion, revolution and anarchy; in the government of families to dissipation and worthlessness. but of all false maxims, the most pernicious and destructive are those relating to religion: because they involve the loss of the soul, of all our interests, hopes, and happiness in one great ruin. { } there are many such. one will say: "it's no matter what a man's faith may be. all religions are alike, they are different roads that lead to the same end. let a man only act right, and he can throw all creeds over board; whether jew, turk, heathen, protestant or catholic, it makes no difference." a man who speaks thus is no catholic, nor is he ever like to be. he has put out the light of jesus christ, who holds up to us "one faith, one lord, one baptism," and gropes along to his ruin in a darkness of his own creation. but i don't mean to speak of such. i would rather speak of the false maxims of certain catholics by which they persuade themselves that all will be right, though the lord and savior says that all is wrong, and so rush blindly to their ruin. one of the first of these maxims is this: _because i'm a catholic i shall be sure to get to heaven_. where did such a notion come from? you are sure of heaven only on condition of behaving yourself as you ought. { } if you have a ticket on the cars and misbehave, you are put off at the first station; so what ever rights you have to heaven in virtue of being a catholic are forfeited when you cease to live as a catholic ought to live. if you sin, your being a catholic won't hinder you from losing all the privileges of your baptism. where did you get the notion that it's enough to be a catholic without being a practical one? was it from the church of god? the very first word addressed you by her, was in your baptism, when you were asked: "what dost thou ask of the church of god?" the answer was: "faith." "what does faith bring thee to?" was the next question. the reply was: "eternal life." then spoke out the church right solemnly: "if thou wilt enter into life _keep the commandments_." keeping the commandments is here the plain condition for obtaining eternal life, and nothing else. that's what the lord himself said to the young man who asked the question: "what shall i do that i may have everlasting life?" his reply was in the very same words: "_keep the commandments_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xix., , .] { } to whom is that addressed? to catholics. who says it? the god of heaven and earth. do you believe him? if you do, you must give up the idea of being saved merely because you are a catholic, but expect salvation by being a good one, and keeping the commandments. what's more, the divine scriptures expressly state that it is not enough to profess the faith without good works. "_know ye not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of god. be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor idolaters, nor the effeminate, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, shall possess the kingdom of god_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. vi., , .] who are addressed? heathens? no; they are catholics; the corinthians who had been baptized and received the sacraments. under what figure is the church of god represented in scripture? as a net that contains fish both good and bad. yes, they are not all good fish that are in the net; there are bad ones. what is said of these bad ones? that at the last day they shall be sorted out and given to the fire. the church is compared to a field sown with good grain and overrun with tares. are the tares rooted up in this world? { } no, they grow together with the wheat until the harvest; that is, until the judgment at the end of the world: then comes the division, and the burning of the tares. listen to the explanation of the lord: "_so shall it be at the end of the world. the angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xiii., .] if you are acting on any such maxim you have blinded yourself, you have put out the light of the gospel of jesus christ, and walk in a way of your own devising, to your eternal destruction. another false principle of a great many is this: _because they don't lead what they call very bad lives, they cannot, as they imagine, be among the damned:_ in other words, they don't and won't believe that one mortal sin is the death of the soul. where did this notion come from? from the church? i would like to know where. what apostles, doctors of the church, pontiffs, priests, or laymen, that ever wrote on the matter, ever broached such an idea? { } for eighteen hundred long years the church, we may say, has done nothing else but repeat over and over that one mortal sin will damn the soul. did any priest ever preach to the contrary? i never heard one do so; i never heard of one who had done so. and yet, catholic people do sometimes get this folly into their minds. an old man, quite a respectable one too, came to me not long ago: "father, i have a temptation on a point of faith." "what is it?" "i can't believe that one mortal sin will damn the soul. i heard the missionary say so in his sermon, but i didn't believe him. i think i have heard the contrary from other priests." i said to him: "my friend, i cannot believe you ever did. it's a notion you've picked up from another quarter." why, what do we mean when we speak of mortal sin? the very word mortal means deadly. don't you see, the very definition of mortal sin, is a sin that grievously offends god and brings with it the death of the soul? it is deliberately rejecting god with your eyes wide open. once is enough. spit in a man's face once, you need not do it a second time. play the hypocrite with him once, he won't trust you again. { } renounce his friendship once, and friendship is over. your friend will forgive you many little offences, but trample once on some right, on some feeling which he holds dear and sacred, and once is enough. how many times must you spit in god's face, play the hypocrite with him, turn your back on him, trample on his most sacred commandments, before you expect him to be angry? one mortal sin is enough because it is mortal. many don't and won't believe this. hear what they say: "i'm a good one to attend mass. i don't miss it of my own fault more than five or six times a year." "do you ever get drunk?" "oh, not a great deal, only a reasonable share, now and again, a few times in the course of the year;" and so on of other things. the devil has blinded them. they are travelling along with the great crowd, singing and laughing, down the broad road that leads to the pit of hell. listen to what the scriptures say: "_be converted and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed, and make to yourself a new heart, and a new spirit; for why will you die, o house of israel_." [footnote ] that's it. "all" is the word. nothing short of this will save from ruin. [footnote : ezechiel xviii., , .] { } another false maxim: _that we shall be saved by the sacraments, no matter how we receive them._ a great many have evidently some such principle lurking in their minds. the way they make confession shows it. the only idea with them seems to be to wipe off old scores and to be at more liberty to begin afresh. the load of sin gets heavy; it begins to press upon the conscience; it makes one uneasy. what's to be done to get rid of it? pitch it off upon the priest's back. then he will become responsible; they need give themselves no farther trouble about it. they have brought the same load of mortal sin now for many years, perhaps every half-year, and, what's more, they really expect to do the same until their death. some come concealing their sins time and again. if an absolution can be got out of the priest, it makes no matter how. it is the absolution they want; all the same to them whether god sanctions it or not. so when the priest refuses, seeing that they are not prepared, they beg for it. { } "oh father, do give me the absolution!" "you are not fit for it." "oh, but you can give it if you please," they say. sometimes they threaten, "if i'm not absolved, i won't come again." sometimes they plead occupation: "if i go away without absolution, i cannot come again without great inconvenience;" as if their convenience should entitle them to absolution, without penitence, and the purpose of amendment. this is indeed taking out of the sacraments all their life and spirit, and reducing them to a mere form. this is what our lord called the religion of the scribes and pharisees, who made clean the outside of the platter, but left the inside greasy and filthy. these go through the form of confession, merely keeping up an outside appearance of piety, but their hearts are full of rottenness and filth. does the church teach any such thing? no, far from it. she teaches that the indispensable condition of forgiveness is a true, heartfelt sorrow for every mortal sin, with a firm, unflinching determination to avoid every such sin for the rest of one's life. { } she is the _holy_ catholic church, and her teaching is as pure as the sunlight on this point; it is clearly laid down in all her catechisms and instructions, so that no one need make any mistake about it. nevertheless the lord foresaw that many would blind themselves in spite of all this. he represents them standing at the judgment and saying: "_lord, have we not eaten and drunk at thy table?_" [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xiii., . ] yes, we received the sacraments; certainly there can't be any mistake, it must be all right. what is the answer? "_depart from me, workers of iniquity, i know not whence ye are_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xiii., .] sacraments received wrongfully work out, not the salvation, but the damnation of the soul. so st. paul speaks of those who, through their sins, did not discern the lord's body, being weak and sickly--speaks also of eating and drinking judgment to one's self. if this last is a false and fatal error, how much more horrible is it when it assumes a new shape and comes out in this form: _oh, i will live as i please, and the last sacraments will make it all right. i'll send for the priest before i die_. judas when finishing his act of perfidy, kissed the saviour whom he had deliberately and wantonly betrayed. { } so these desert and betray christ and his holy religion, and then go to make it up with a last kiss; a kiss full of hypocrisy and only given through a dire necessity that presses them. is any hope held out in scripture for the victims of such delusions? "_if ye live according to the flesh ye shall die_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. viii., .] "_what a man soweth that shall he reap_." [footnote ] [footnote : gal. vi., .] "_ye shall cry unto me lord, but the lord will, not hear you_." "ye shall seek me and ye shall not find me; ye shall die in your sins." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john viii., .] small comfort this to those who are cheating themselves with the idea of sending for the priest, and receiving the sacraments on their death-beds. priests and sacraments, if they do receive them (which is a thing extremely doubtful), will do no good without contrition, and who will answer for the contrition of one who has persisted in outraging god through a whole life, and who, now that death stares him in the face, and in the midst of pain and fever and stupor, must set the accounts of conscience in order. the whole demeanor of such persons shows, only too frequently, how little they realize their condition, and what a wretched reliance death-bed repentance is, for the salvation of the soul. { } such are some of the false maxims that put out the eyes of the soul. whence do they spring? from an evil and perverse heart. a man given up to sin must justify himself in some way or other. he therefore makes light of sin--seeks to persuade himself that its consequences are not so dreadful--that after all, when it comes to the very point, god will not allow these consequences to fall upon him. they say a drowning man will catch at a straw. so these persons, though they know the truth, catch at every straw that holds out the least prospect of safety--every flimsy pretense that holds out encouragement for a life of sin; every false maxim that holds out a ground of hope. they call such things up on every occasion to fortify their own minds. they repeat them over to their friends, as if by hearing them a number of times they might seem to have more foundation in them. they like to hear others say such things; it gives them a wonderful encouragement to go on. so the blind lead the blind. at last this false reasoning gets to be so habitual that they fall back upon it whenever conscience begins to speak to their hearts. { } as to turning to god and quitting sin, that they won't think of even for a moment; so, in the words of scripture, "_a strong delusion is sent upon them to believe a lie_." it is sent upon them, in the sense that they have drawn it on themselves. to be sure, they don't really believe it, but they wish to believe it, try to believe it, and fancy that they do believe it. indeed, in practice they may be said to believe, inasmuch as they have made up their minds to act upon it. what a miserable state to be in is this! self-satisfied and self-blindfolded, to be drifting down into hell, in a dream of careless and stupid indifference! the poor blind man cried out with all his might, "_lord! that i may see!_" the loss of bodily sight is indeed a great calamity, a thing to be keenly felt. the bare possibility of being restored to sight, should be enough to make one cry out, with his whole soul, 'lord, lord, that i may receive my sight!' { } how much more deplorable when the eyes of the soul are put out! how much more occasion to cry out in agony of spirit to jesus the true light, that enlightens every man that cometh into the world--'lord! that i may see! that i may understand the things that belong to my peace; that i may arouse from my stupidity, throw away all false delusions, and square myself by the maxims of the gospel, opening my eyes to those eternal truths revealed by a god who can neither deceive nor be deceived! oh sinner! oh careless, indifferent christian! if you have the least desire to make your hope of heaven a sure hope, one that shall not be confounded, cry with the blind man to jesus, "_lord, that i may see!_" cry aloud, repeat that cry, until jesus shall turn to you, and grant your request. show that you are in earnest by taking the means to get your soul enlightened. go and hear the word of god preached on the sundays. don't do as so many do, that go to low mass, early, and hear no sermon from one month to another. make a practice to go to high mass, where jesus christ, in the person of his priest, stands on purpose to give you light. how can you expect light when you close your eyes? how will the truths of the gospel reach your heart and make an impression there, if you never listen to them? { } preaching is the appointed means of receiving the truth. "_faith cometh by hearing!_" says the holy ghost. [footnote ] [footnote : rom. x., .] imitate the blind man. he found out where jesus was expected to come by; he went there. do likewise. go where jesus is, to the church; cry to him; listen to him; when he speaks through his holy gospels; read them, and hear them explained by the living voice of his representative, the priest. then you will have light; you will have it abundantly, to your great joy and consolation. the promise is sure; there can be no failure. "_if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god, who giveth to all abundantly and upbraideih not, and it shall be given him_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. james i., .] ask for it, and you shall receive it. what is it? the light that shall direct our feet in the way of peace, and carry us through safely to the light of glory in heaven. the light of christ, "_in which the priest from on high hath visited us, to enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death: to direct our feet in the way of peace_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke i., .] --------------------- { } sermon xiii. mary's destiny a type of ours. "mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her." --st. luke x., . (from the gospel for the assumption.) to-day is the assumption of the blessed virgin mary. to-day she entered into the enjoyment of heaven. the trials and troubles of life are over. the time of banishment is ended. she closes her eyes on this world and opens them to the vision of god. she is exalted to-day above the choirs of angels to the heavenly kingdom, and takes her seat at the right hand of her son. i do not mean to attempt any description of her glory in heaven. i am sure whatever i could say would fall far short, not only of the reality, but of your own glowing thoughts about her. { } who is there that needs to be told that the blessed virgin is splendid in sanctity, dazzling in beauty, and exalted in power? but, my brethren, it is possible to contemplate the blessed virgin in such a way as to put her at too great a distance from us. it is possible to conceive of her glory in heaven as flowing entirely from her dignity as mother of god, and therefore to suppose it altogether unattainable by us; and as a consequence of this, to regard her with feelings full of admiration indeed, but almost as deficient in sympathy as if she were of an other nature from us. now this is to rob ourselves of so ennobling and encouraging a part of our privilege as christians, and at the same time to take away from our devotion to the blessed virgin an element so useful and important, that i have determined, on this her glorious feast, to remind you that our destiny and the destiny of mary are substantially the same. and the first proof i offer of this is, that the glory of the blessed virgin in heaven is not owing to her character as mother of god, but to her correspondence to grace--to her good works--to her love of god--in a word, to her fidelity as a christian. { } this is certain, for it is the catholic doctrine that the blessed virgin, like every other saint, gained heaven only as the reward of merit. now she could not merit it by becoming the mother of god. her being the mother of god is indeed a most august dignity, but there is no merit in it. it is a dignity conferred on her by the absolute decree of god, just as he resolved to confer angelic nature on angels, or human nature on men. it is no doubt a great happiness and glory for us to be men, and not brutes, but there is no merit in it; so there is honor but no merit in the blessed virgin's being the mother of god. now if she did not merit heaven by becoming the mother of god, how did she merit it? for it is of faith that heaven is the reward of merit. i answer, by her life on earth. it was not as the mother of god that she won heaven, but as mary, the daughter of joachim, the wife of joseph, the mother of jesus. it is impossible to read the gospels without seeing how careful our lord was to make us understand this. he seems to have been afraid, all along, that the splendor of that character of mother of god would eclipse the woman and the saint. { } thus once when he was preaching, a woman in the crowd, hearing his words of wisdom, and, perhaps, piercing the veil of his humanity, and thinking what a blessed thing it must be to be the mother of such a son, exclaimed: "_blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck,_" [footnote ] but he answered immediately: "_yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of god and keep it_." [footnote : st. luke xi., - .] no one doubts that the blessed virgin did hear the word of god, and keep it. so our lord's words are as much as to say: 'you praise my mother for being my mother; what i praise her for is her sanctity.' in the same way, when they came to him on another occasion, when there was a great throng about him, and said: "_behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee_," he answered: "_who is my mother? and who are my brethren? and stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said: behold my mother and my brethren. for whosoever shall do the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xii., - .] { } external advantages, however great, even to be related to the son of god, are as nothing in his sight, compared to that in which all may have a part--obedience to his father's will. perhaps, also, this is the explanation of his language at the marriage of cana in galilee. when the wine failed, and his mother came to him and asked him to exert his divine power to supply the want, he said: "_woman, what hast thou to do with me? my time is not yet come_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john, ii., . (archbishop kenrick's translation.)] he does not allow her request on the score of her maternal authority, but what he refuses on this ground he grants to her virtue and holiness, for he immediately proceeds to perform the miracle she had asked for, though, as he said, his time was not yet come. so, too, on the cross he commends the blessed virgin to st. john's care, not under the high title of mother, but the lowly one of woman. "_woman, behold thy son._" [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xix., .] now why was this? did not our lord love his mother? was he not disposed to be obedient to her as his mother? certainly; but it was for our sakes he spoke thus. { } in private, at nazareth, we are told, he was "subject to her," but on these great public occasions, when crowds were gathered around him to hear him preach, when he hung on the cross, and a world was looking on, he put out of view her maternal grandeur, in compassion to us, lest there should be too great a distance between her and us, and we should lose the force of her example. he wished us to understand that mary, high as she was, was a woman, and in the same order of grace and providence with us. we might have said oh, the blessed virgin obtains what she asks for on easy terms. she has but to ask and it is done. she enters heaven as the son of a nobleman comes into his father's estate, by the mere title of blood and lineage. but no: our saviour says: "_to sit on my right hand is not mine to give you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my father_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xx., .] it is not a matter of favor and arbitrary appointment; not even my mother gains her glory in that way. she must comply with the terms on which my father promises heaven to men, and therefore the church applies to her words spoken of another mary: "_mary hath chosen the best part; therefore it shall not be taken away from her_." { } oh, blessed truth! mary is one of us. her destiny, high as it is, is a human destiny. and she reached it in a human fashion. she built that splendid throne of hers in heaven with care and labor while she was on the earth. she laid the foundation of it in her childhood, when her feet trod the temple aisles. she reared its pillars, when with faith, purity and obedience unequalled, she received the message of the archangel. and her daily life at bethlehem, egypt, and nazareth, her holy, loving ways with joseph, and with jesus, her perfect fulfilment of god's law, her interior fervent acts of prayer, covered it with gold and ivory. then, when the blind world was going on its way of folly; while one king herod was deluging villages in blood, and another steeping his soul in the guilt of incest, and of the blood of the son of god; while the multitude were doubting, and scribes and pharisees disputing about christ, the lowly jewish maiden, with no other secret but love and prayer, was preparing for herself that bright mansion in heaven wherein she now dwells, rejoicing eternally with her son. { } oh happy news! one, at least, of our race has perfectly fulfilled her destiny. here we can gain some idea of what god created us for. here is the destiny that awaits man when original sin does not mar it; when co-operation with grace and unswerving perseverance secure it. the jews were proud of judith. they said: "_thou art the glory of jerusalem; thou art the joy of israel; thou art the honor of our people_." so we may say of mary: 'o mary, thou art the pride of our race. in thee the design of god in our creation has been perfectly attained. in thee the redemption of christ has had its perfect fruit. mankind conceives new hopes from thy success. christ, indeed, has entered into glory; but christ was god. mary is purely human, and mary has succeeded. why tarry we here in the bondage of egypt? mary has crossed the red sea, and has taken a timbrel in her hand and sings her thanksgiving unto god. true it is that she is fleet of foot, and we are halt and weak; but even she needed the grace of god, and the same grace is offered to us, that we may run and not faint. listen to her song of triumph. { } she does not set herself above us, but claims kindred with us, and bids us hope for the same grace which she has received. "_my soul doth magnify the lord, for he hath exalted the humble, and hath filled the hungry with good things. and his mercy is from generation to generation to them that fear him_." another proof that the destiny of the blessed virgin is substantially the same with ours, is the fact that, in scripture the same expressions are used to describe her glory and ours. sometimes those who are not catholics when they hear what high words we use of the blessed virgin, are scandalized; but we use almost no words of the blessed virgin that may not, in their measure, be applied to other saints. it is true that the blessed virgin has some gifts and graces in which she stands alone--as her character of mother of god, and her immaculate conception--but, as i said before, these are dignities and ornaments conferred on her, and are not the source of her essential happiness in heaven. in other respects, her glory is shared by all the saints. thus, mary is called "queen of heaven;" but are not all the blessed called in holy scripture, "_kings and priests unto god_?" [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. i., .] { } is she said to sit at the "king's right hand?" and are not we too promised a place at his right hand, and to "_sit on thrones?_" [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. iii., .] is she called the "morning star?" and does not st. paul, speaking of all the saints, say, "_star differeth from star in glory_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. xv., .] is she called a "mediatrix of prayer?" and is it not said of every just man, that his "_continual prayer availeth much?_" [footnote ] [footnote : st. james v., .] is she called "the spouse of god?" and does not the almighty, addressing every faithful soul, say, "_my love, my dove, my undefiled?_" [footnote ] [footnote : can. v., .] is she called the "daughter of the most high?" and are not we too called the "_sons of god?_" [footnote ] [footnote : st. john iii., .] the glory of the blessed virgin, then, differs from that of the other saints in degree, but not in kind. she is not separated from them, but is one of them. she goes before them. she is the most perfect of them. but she is one of them. and for this reason, the glory of the blessed virgin gives us the best conception of the magnificence of our destiny. when a botanist wishes to describe a flower, he selects the most perfect specimen. { } when an anatomist draws a model of the human frame, he makes it faultless. so we, to gain the truest idea of our destiny, must lift up our eyes to the blessed virgin on her heavenly throne, and say: oh! my soul, see for what thou art created. think of this my brethren, as often as you kneel before her image, or meditate on her greatness. you cannot be what she is, but you can be like her. she is a creature like you. she is a human being like you. she is a christian like you. and her joy, her beauty, her glory, her wealth, her knowledge, her power--nay, even the mighty efficacy of her intercession--are only what, in their measure, god offers to you. "_glory, honor and peace to_ every one _that worketh good for there is no respect of persons with god_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. ii., .] if these things be so, what greatness it gives to human life. perhaps, if you had lived in the times of the blessed virgin mary, you would never have noticed her; or if you had known her by sight, what would she have seemed to you but a good little jewish girl, lowly and retiring in her manners and appearance? { } or, later in life, a poor young woman thrust away, with her husband, from a crowded inn, or fleeing by night with an infant child? or, still later, the mother of a condemned malefactor, watching his sufferings in the crowd. herod did not know her, and the nobles of jerusalem were ignorant of her. she was not one of the friends of the queen's dancing daughters. even the rustics of the village of bethlehem looked down on her. she carried no servants about with her, and had no palace to live in. but faith tells us of angel visits, of union with god, of heavenly goodness, and an immortal crown. so, in like manner, how our life becomes grand and dignified when it is lighted up by faith! you know there are porcelain pictures, which in the hand are rough and unmeaning, but held up to the light reveal the most beautiful scenes and figures; so our common ordinary life, rough and unmeaning as it often seems, when enlightened by faith becomes all divine. there is a little girl who learns her lessons and obeys her parents, and tells the truth, and shuns every thing that is wicked; why, as that little girl kneels down to pray, i see a bright angel drawing near to her, and he smiles on her and says: "_hail! blessed art thou: the lord is with thee._" { } that young man who, by a sincere conversion, has thrown off the slavery of sin, and regained once more the grace of god--what is his heart but another cave of bethlehem, in which christ is born, and around which angels sing: "_glory to god in the highest; on earth, peace to men of good will_." that christian family, where daily prayers are offered, and instruction and good example are given, and mutual fidelity is observed between the members--what is it but the holy house of nazareth?--the house of jesus? yes, good christian, do not be cast down because you are poor, or because you suffer, or because your opportunities of doing good are limited; live the life of a christian, and you are living mary's life on earth. we have not, indeed, mary's perfect sinlessness, but we have the graces of baptism, by which we may vanquish sin. we have not, as she had, the visible presence of our lord, but we have him invisibly in our hearts, and sacramentally in the holy communion. we are not "full of grace," as she was, but we have grace without limit promised to us in answer to prayer. { } let us assert the privileges of our birth-right. we belong to the new creation. angels claim kindred with us. god is our father. heaven is our home. we are the children of the saints--yes, of her who is the greatest of the saints. let us follow her footsteps, that one day we may come to our assumption, the glory of which surpassed even the power of st. john to utter. "_dearly beloved, we are now the sons of god, and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is_." [footnote ] [footnote : john iii., .] every thing depends on our co-operating with grace. how did the blessed virgin arrive at such glory? by corresponding to every grace. see her at her annunciation. the angel comes and tells her of the grace god has prepared for her. if she had not believed, if she had not assented, what would have come of it? why, she would have lost for all eternity the glory attached to that grace. but she did not refuse. she was ready for the grace when it was offered. { } she said "_fiat_," "_be it done to me according to thy word_." oh, how much hung on that _fiat!_ an eternal glory in heaven. so it is with us. there are moments in our lives big with the issues of our future. god's purposes concerning the soul have a certain order. he gives one grace; if we correspond to that he gives another; if we do not correspond we lose those that depended on it; some times, even, we lose our salvation altogether. this is the key of your destiny--fidelity to grace. you have an inspiration from god: he speaks to your soul. oh, listen to him, and obey him! to one he says: abandon, o, sinner, your evil life, and turn to me with all your heart. "_now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation!_" to another, who is already in his grace, he sends inspirations to a more perfect life, a life of higher prayer and more uninterrupted recollection. another, by the sweet attractions of his grace, he draws away from home and kindred to serve him as a sister of charity by the bed of suffering; or as a nun, to live with him in stillness and contemplation; or as a priest to win souls for heaven. oh, speak the word that mary spoke: "_be it done to me according to thy word_." { } are you in sin? convert without delay. are you leading a tepid, imperfect life? gird your loins to watchfulness and prayer. do you feel in yourselves a vocation to a religious or sacerdotal life? rise up and obey without delay. to-morrow may be too late. the grace may be forfeited forever. why stand we all the day idle? heaven is filling up. each generation sends a new company to the heavenly host. time is going. the great business of life remains unaccomplished. by our baptism we have been made children of god and heirs of heaven. labor we, therefore, to enter into that rest. mary, dear mother, lift up thy voice for us in heaven, that we, following thy footsteps, may one day share thy glory, and with thee praise forever god the father, son and holy ghost; amen. ---------------- { } sermon xiv. mortal sin exemplified in the history of judas. "woe to that man by whom the son of man shall be betrayed." --matt, xxvi., . (a sermon for passion week.) there are some men whose crimes have made them objects of universal and eternal infamy and execration. one of these is judas iscariot, whose very name is a bye-word among men. most persons seem to think that he was quite a different being from ordinary men, and was naturally a kind of evil monster, without any thing human in him. this is a mistaken opinion. there is not so great a difference between these extraordinary sinners and ordinary ones as is commonly supposed. { } there are a great many who have an equal degree of malice, but who have no such opportunity to show it. there are others who would become equally bad under equal temptations, but whose evil tendencies are kept under by favorable circumstances, and the absence of great inducements to wickedness. it is not probable that judas was much worse than the common run of wilful and malicious sinners, until, by a just judgment and a dreadful calamity, he fell into the occasion of committing a crime, the greatest which ever has been or can be committed by man. in his case, the malice that is in mortal sin is only more perfectly exhibited than in others that are less heinous. the treason of judas is an example, first, of the evil of mortal sin as an offence against god; and, second, as the ruin of the soul. i. the treason of judas is an example of the evil of mortal sin, considered as an offence against god. the gist of the offence in mortal sin lies in the turning from god to the creature. { } it is a renunciation of god's friendship, a desertion of his service, a discarding of his authority, for the sake of some created good which we cannot obtain without this complete desertion from god. no one ever did this, or had the chance to do it, so plainly and visibly as judas. he was in personal and immediate attendance upon our lord, who is god in human nature. he was the friend, the servant and the companion of the lord in his visible and human life. he deserted and betrayed him for a little money, for the favor of the jewish rulers, for the sake of a more free and self-indulgent life, and to get rid of a cross he was tired of carrying. what can be a more perfect illustration of mortal sin? you have done the same, my friend, when you have denied your faith for the sake of a genteel marriage; when you have gone to a fashionable protestant church for the sake of improving your business; when you have dropped confession for the sake of indulging with less restraint in worldly dissipation. you need not reproach judas, for all you say against him rebounds upon yourself, and by your own mouth shall you be condemned, oh, wicked servant! the offence of judas was heightened by the lowness of his origin, compared with the dignity of jesus christ. { } he was a poor young man, without family, rank, or other claim on the notice of our lord. he chose him as one of his disciples, and destined him to be one of his twelve apostles, a sharer in the glory of st. peter and st. paul. for such an one to betray the master who had raised him from a station so humble to a rank so exalted was a double crime. but it is just what every sinner does. we have fallen by the sin of adam into a low condition. destitute of the nobility of sanctifying grace, devoid of all supernatural merit, without any claim on heaven, we have been raised to the rank of children of god, as a boon of pure mercy, through the grace of our lord jesus christ. and, if we then sin against god, in what respect are we better than judas? there was not only a great indignity in his conduct toward our lord, but an equally great ingratitude. he owed to our lord not only respect and obedience on account of his character and authority, but personal affection and gratitude on account of his goodness and kindness to him. he betrayed a friend as well as deserted a master. { } oh, baseness without a parallel! but beware, lest in saying this you reproach yourself. whenever you sin mortally you are guilty of the same ingratitude toward jesus christ. he has been good to you, too, and you owe him love and gratitude. but you repay his favors with outrages and offences. to crown all, judas delivered up his master to an ignominious death, and imbrued his hands in the blood not only of an innocent man, but of a friend, a benefactor, nay, more, in the blood of his lord and redeemer. this was a new and unheard of crime. men had heard before of fratricide, of parricide, of regicide, but they had yet to learn of that which included all these and more, of deicide. strictly speaking, this crime of deicide can never be repeated. the son of god gave to wicked men the chance of putting him to death, once, and only once. but every one who commits mortal sin, is guilty of a crime which partakes of the nature of the crime of judas. sin was the cause of the death of jesus christ. he died for every sinner and for every sin. whoever commits sin, then, consents to that which caused the death of our blessed lord, makes common cause with his murderers, and thus becomes accessory to his death. { } ii. the treason of judas is also an example of the way in which a sinner ruins himself. it is probable that judas was once a faithful disciple. he had a vocation from the lord himself, to leave the world and follow him. god calls to his service only those who are well disposed and fit for it, and we may, therefore, believe that judas was at least sincere and piously inclined, before the lord called him. he believed in our lord's teaching, when he heard him preach; he followed him with constancy for a length of time; and obeyed the inward grace and outward call by which he invited him to become his disciple. as a disciple he must have been faithful, and must have shown himself worthy of a higher grace. for the lord, who knew his heart, and always chooses fit instruments for his purposes, gave him a vocation to become a priest, and not only that, but a bishop and an apostle. with this vocation he gave him all the special gifts and graces necessary to prepare him for the apostolic ministry, to make him a worthy companion of st. peter and st. john, and to enable him to win like them, the gratitude and veneration of the world, and a glorious crown in heaven. { } he preached and wrought miracles like the others, and very likely was for a time not only without grievous sin, but really fervent and holy. reason and experience teach us that he could not have changed all at once from a fervent apostle to a faithless apostate, ready to betray his lord for money. he must have changed gradually. he relaxed by degrees in fervor, he neglected little things, and did not profit by the admonitions which the lord gave him from time to time. thus he went on from bad to worse, growing more indifferent and hardened every day, heaping up venial sins continually, and disposing himself for those that were more grievous. he became unkind and quarrelsome with his fellow disciples, dishonest in the use of the common purse which was intrusted to his care, harsh and repulsive toward the poor people who came to hear the preaching of his master, and to recommend their wants to his mercy. { } so he lost the grace of god, fell, we know not where or how, into mortal sin, and became an alien in heart from jesus christ, though still in name and appearance his disciple. by degrees he began to despise his master, to sicken of his service, to disbelieve his words. he was already a slave of satan, having lost sanctifying grace, and, it may be, faith also. when satan suggested to him to abandon his master, to betray him for money, and then to go away and live as he pleased, he dallied with the temptation, deliberated, and at length consented. the devil then took complete possession of him, drove him on, and wove a chain of circumstances around him that hurried him forward to the execution of his treacherous intentions. what follows we all know. having put the seal on his own guilt and perdition by a sacrilegious communion, he delivered over the lord to death. his crime being now consummated, the diabolical spell that had been around him was broken, despair seized on his soul, he hanged himself and went "to his own place," bequeathing the memory of his infamous treason to the execration of all future generations. { } this is the history of many a one, besides judas. for instance, take this from the life of st. francis of assisi. [footnote ] [footnote : f. challipe's life, vol. i.. p. .] "a sixth disciple, named john, and surnamed de capella, began well, and finished ill. he was charged with distributing among his brethren the alms that had been contributed, and took on himself voluntarily the office of procuring all that was wanting for the community. but, by degrees, he became attached to temporal things, went abroad too much, and relaxed extremely in the observance of regular discipline. the holy founder, after giving him a number of severe reprimands in vain, threatened him with a frightful malady and a miserable death, as the punishment of his indocility. in fact, this bad religious was smitten with a horrible leprosy, which he had not the patience to bear. he abandoned his companions, the poor of jesus christ, and giving himself up to despair, hanged himself, like judas." this example is no doubt an unusual one, in this respect, that the penalty of this unhappy man's sinful life was more striking and visible than is commonly the case. { } but it is essentially like thousands of examples everywhere, and in every-day life, in which the origin, progress and end of sin are really the same, though more secret and hidden. so the careless christian begins his downward career, by a negligence which goes from bad to worse, from small things to those of greater and greater moment, until all fervor is lost, and his conscience falls into a deadly slumber. then come grievous sins; singly at first, but afterward in quick succession. this stage of the disease lapses at last into the state of obduracy and final impenitence. sacrilege is very commonly mixed up with it, more or less, as the religions, ecclesiastical or secular condition of the person, or his peculiar character and circumstances, may in a greater or lesser degree expose him to the occasion of profaning sacraments. he may be hurried along into an open, and perhaps, from his station and antecedents, a very scandalous apostacy from the faith, and thus become a declared traitor to his allegiance to jesus christ and the church. he may fill up the measure of his wickedness in some other way; but it ends the same, in self-destruction: not by suicide, but by the gradual and sure destruction of conscience, and of moral and spiritual vitality, ending in a spiritual and eternal death which knows no resurrection forever. { } so he goes "to his own place," to the place he has prepared for himself, the place he has merited, the place that suits his moral condition, the place assigned to him as his eternal abode by the unerring justice of god. this is the sinner's progress in following the footsteps of judas. negligence, habitual sin, contempt of divine warnings, sacrilege, obduracy, abandonment of god, despair, eternal death. at every stage it becomes harder to go back. stop, then, where you are; or better still, if it is not too late, beware of taking the first step. if you have not yet gone very far in the downward path, and are only beginning to be negligent, take warning by the example of judas, and correct that negligence at once, or else it may lead to the most fatal consequences. "_he that despiseth small things, shall perish by little and little_." it is easier to preserve yourself from a great fall, by diligence and care, than it will be to remedy the hurts you will receive by falling, and to regain the height on which you are now standing. { } you can never tell whither any sin will lead you. you can never calculate the consequences of yielding to any temptation. venial sins, even, may become the principle of great and fatal disorders, which will lead you to your final ruin. threads, fine at first as spider's webs, may be so woven together, and become so strong by being multiplied, that they will entangle you in meshes which cannot be broken through without the most violent efforts. sweep your soul, then, diligently, of these spider-webs of negligence, or you may become, like judas, an example of one who began well, but ended miserably, and may finish that career which you commenced in the service and friendship of jesus, by betraying both your master and your own soul. but even if you have already gone far in sin, it is never too late to go back, until eternal death has actually made you its prey and closed its gate behind you. the case of judas was not hopeless until after he had placed the halter on his own neck. the lord never ceased to remonstrate with him until that last treacherous kiss, and though after this he spoke to him no more, and judas never saw him again, yet he did not close the door of mercy on him even then. { } he closed it on himself by despairing. this was the greatest and most fatal of all his sins. had he hoped in the mercy of jesus christ; had he returned to him in sorrow and tears; had he thrown himself at the feet of his injured master, and implored pardon, he would, no doubt, have been too late to save that master's life, but he would have been in time to save his own soul. even from the cross the saviour would have smiled upon him, and the guilt of his treason would have been effaced in that redeeming blood which his treason had made to flow. oh! sinner, never despair! even if you have gone to the length of an open apostasy, do not abandon hope; do not place the halter around your own neck. all is not yet lost. retrace your steps; return to jesus christ; offer him the kiss, not of a traitor, but of a penitent; and you will receive from his clemency the pardon of your sins. -------------------- { } sermon xv. the interior life. "the kingdom of heaven is within you." st. luke xvii. . (from the gospel for the th sunday after pentecost.) a few years ago, and the people of california were a quiet, agricultural and trading people, by which they procured for themselves the three great wants of life; viz., shelter, clothing and food. they were content with as much as this, for they were unconscious that underneath their very feet, as they were working their farms and gardens, there lay that immense treasure of gold which has since been brought to this city. by chance a lucky spade turned over a clod of earth and stone, on which a yellowish tinge was noticed. { } it was found to be gold. the report soon found its way next door, and then about the neighborhood, and so went rapidly through the country. the cabbages and potatoes, the peas and beans, which till now had been the pride of the cottage, were pulled up without ceremony and thrown aside, in the eager search that was everywhere being made for gold. the news came over to us, and i dare say you remember well the excitement created by it here. the great tide of commerce was turned toward san francisco, and such was the haste of our people to get there, that a crowd was daily seen pressing around the offices of the various packet and steamship lines, eager to secure an early passage. we, my dear brethren, are living on the surface of life, with our cabbages and beans, very much as those californians were, and all the while within our souls there is a mine of untold riches, of which we seem to be quite unconscious. we are leading a grovelling life, when we might be living an angelic one. our condition differs as much from what it might be as the state of the caterpillar differs from that of the butterfly. { } they are the same creature, yet how different! the caterpillar crawls upon the ground; it feeds upon roots and leaves, and one is tempted to put his foot upon it as he passes by. the butterfly is a light airy thing on beautiful wings. it feeds upon honey which it gathers from the flower gardens, and is the admiration of every one. but before the caterpillar can become a butterfly it must build for itself a little house of silk. it must enclose itself there, and in proportion as it dies to itself, it lives again in the butterfly. my brethren, this house is your soul. there, with god, is your true life. would that i could make you realize this. would that i could realize it myself. well, in order to do something toward it, i will this morning show you under what beautiful images holy scripture describes the beauty of a soul that is in union with god. i will name two great advantages of this union; and finally, i will tell you the conditions on which god offers it to you. i. the beauty of a soul in union with god. we cannot see our souls, and god has no where given us a description of them; but many things are said in holy scripture, from which we get the idea of their great beauty when united to him. { } the soul is called god's "palace." this is what our lord says in my text: "_the kingdom of god is within you_." what is the idea that we have of a kingdom? why, i suppose we call to mind some of the great powers of europe, with their extensive dominions, great power and wealth. among the cities of these kingdoms there is usually one more populous than the rest, where the streets are laid out, and the public buildings and private houses are erected with a view to magnificence; as for example: london in england; paris in france; vienna in austria; st. petersburg in russia. the sovereign's palace is there. this palace is grand in its proportions outside, and it is furnished within in as costly a manner as gold and silver, polished wood, rich silks and tapestry and choice paintings can make it. well, then, the soul must be this, and more; for it is the palace of the king of kings. holy angels are there in attendance upon him. there he entertains his faithful at his table with the bread of angels. it is there that he deigns to hold those conversations with the soul after communion that are so precious. { } st. teresa has this same idea under another figure. she begins by saying that the beauty of the soul is incomprehensible. that the mind cannot conceive its real worth, as words cannot express it. then she says that she conceives the soul to be like a magnificent diamond castle, with rooms above and below; but in the very centre there is a room more spacious and more sumptuous than all the others, where our lord dwells with the soul. the soul is god's "temple." "_ye are the temples of the holy ghost_," [footnote ] says st. paul. [footnote : cor. vi., .] we often see engravings of those grand cathedrals and churches which are so common abroad. there is one in almost all the old towns of england. their tall spires or massive towers stand majestically over the country, and their whole exterior is elaborately worked in stone. on the inside they are poor and cold enough, it is true, for a false worship has been set up there, which has stripped them of their fine statuary and paintings, banners and rich hangings, which formerly decorated the sanctuary and walls, and they are no longer what they once were, "the temples of god." { } there is no correspondence between the size and magnificence of those churches of the olden time, and the formal service that is held in them now; and so a few square yards are penned off in the middle for the handful who will assemble. but there has been a time when those walls were two narrow to enclose the thousands who came to follow their lord as he made the circuit of his temple, in the procession of corpus christi. those floors have been covered with kneeling multitudes who waited for his benediction in the blessed sacrament. then, gold and silver, lights and flowers, massive candlesticks and rich vestments adorned the altars with something approaching to regal splendor, for it was the temple of god. those cathedrals and churches are now standing, after the lapse of hundreds of years, as monuments of the ancient faith that inspired their erection; but the day will come when, as our lord said of jerusalem, "_one stone shall not be left upon another_." but our souls are everlasting temples. how strong, then, as well as how beautiful, god must have made them! { } the soul is a "fountain" of never-failing water. this is what our lord told the samaritan woman. "_the water that i will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto everlasting life_." [footnote ] [footnote : john iv., .] i think our blessed saviour could not have said any thing which would have given us a more beautiful idea of the effect of his presence upon our souls. the deserts of the east are like the ocean in their great, boundless wastes of hot sand. travellers tell us that for days there is no living object to be seen, even to a blade of grass. occasionally, however, they come upon what appears like an island, where there are trees, grass and flowers. invariably it is found that in the middle of these "oases," as they are called, there is an overflowing spring of the purest water. this is the cause of all that verdure in the midst of so barren a wilderness. how beautiful such places must be to the weary traveller, and how grateful to the eye, as he catches sight of them in the distance! how he must bless god as he sits under the cool shade of the rich foliage, or as he bathes his feverish brow and limbs in the cool waters! { } well, our souls are so many "green islands" in the desert of this world, and our lord is the fountain in their centre. his presence adorns the soul with all that fragrance and fulness which we find in the innocent and pure. st. teresa had a great fondness for this passage of scripture from her very childhood. though at that time she did not know the value of this promise of our lord as she did in after life, she says: "i very often asked the divine master to give to me this precious water." the soul is god's "image." "_let us make man to our image and likeness_." [footnote ] so god said when he created the first human soul. [footnote : gen. i., .] our souls, then, are like god. god is the perfection of all beauty. as we say, god is truth, so we say, god is beauty. there are two ways in which we are like god, for he says: "let us make man to our image _and_ likeness." in one way, the devils and souls in mortal sin are like god. they have the gifts of intelligence and free will. this is the image of god which, when a creature once has, it can never lose. the likeness which a soul in the state of grace bears to god, is in the gift of habitual, or sanctifying grace. { } this can be lost, and the devils and souls in mortal sin have lost it. god has made us pupils of his, as it were. our master has drawn the outline of himself upon our souls, and our work is to fill up this sketch with light and shade. a christian is therefore an artist of the highest class; for there can be no subject so inspiring as his. what a beautiful talent it is to be able to transfer to canvas some scene from nature, of which it becomes the exact copy. there are certain combinations of water and mountain, meadow and foliage, nature and art, blended and softened by a peculiar state of the atmosphere, which act like a spell upon one. all we can say, is, how very beautiful! but, beautiful as it is, it will vanish before the winter's frost. the canvas, too, in time will moulder away. but the image of god on our souls is more beautiful than any scene in nature, and it will preserve its beauty forever. these are some illustrations from holy scripture which enable us to form an idea of what is the beauty of a soul when in union with god. { } did you ever know, my brethren, that god had been so good to you? have you not over looked and undervalued your treasure? this life of yours hitherto, on the surface of things, has been both a great mistake and a great misfortune. ii. to make you realize this, let me tell you two great advantages of an interior life. the first is, the great "peace" that it brings to us. peace, did i say? is it, then, possible to wear a constant smile in this valley of tears? can these fretful souls of ours find rest even upon earth? we pray for the holy souls in purgatory, "that they may rest in peace," as if we felt that there was no rest short of heaven. can we find it, then, even short of purgatory? yes, for it is a share, by anticipation, of the ineffable peace which those holy souls enjoy in the possession of god. like them, we can be glad while we suffer. joy and suffering are not irreconcilable! how was it with our blessed lord? you know he is called the "man of sorrows," in that his passion is thought to have been before him during the whole of his thirty-three years on earth. but all the while, his human soul was in the perpetual enjoyment of the beatific vision, and therefore in perfect peace. { } well, of this peace, in the midst of trouble, our lord, as the great head, allows us, his members, to participate. hear what he said to his apostles: "_peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you_." [footnote ] [footnote : john xiv., .] what robs a man of his peace of soul, is either an inordinate desire for something which he has not, or the fear of losing some thing that he has. now, the man who lives an interior life, is in the possession of god, who is the fulness and perfection of every good. he does not fear the loss of pleasure, for his highest pleasure is to do the will of god. he says, it is not god's will that i should have pleasure now. nor of riches, for he fears them as a snare. he does not fear poverty--he will have less to give account of at the last day; nor of station, for he feels that there is no nobility like being a son of god. he is living with god and his holy angels, as their companion; as though god and they and he were the only beings in the world. nor of comforts, for he has learned to bear his cross, and he is learning to love it. nor of reputation, for he seeks the favor of god alone. { } man's judgment of him will neither aid nor injure him before his only true judge. the daily round of bodily weakness, sickness, disappointment, or mortification, is turned into so many occasions of gaining merit with god. it is true of him what the scripture says, that "_all things work together for good, to those who love god_." [footnote ] he is like midas, the fabled king of thrace, who was said to have the power to turn every thing that he touched into gold. [footnote : rom. viii., .] st. basil was such a man. on one occasion he was called before a magistrate, who said in great anger, "basil, i will tear out your liver." "well," was the meek reply, "you will do me a great favor then, for it is a great trouble to me where it is." such a man is invulnerable. to come nearer to our own day, i can show you such a man, in our holy father pope pius ix. what is the invariable testimony, both of protestants and of catholics, as to the manner of his receiving them? every one speaks of his composure, of his cheerful conversation, and of the sweetness of his smile. now, where is the man in europe, who has so much care and anxiety upon him as he has? { } for whom would we be so ready to make excuse, in case we were told that he was found to be reserved, or even at times out of humor, on occasion of those "receptions," which are so numerous and indiscriminate, and which we would think must be so very tiresome to him? at this moment, while sovereigns and statesmen are threatening him with the seizure of the ancient inheritance of the church, which is intrusted to his care, and himself with banishment, not only is he calm, but he prophesies that, from these present trials, great glory shall result to the church. pius the ninth is a man who lives in close union with god. down in the bottom of his soul there reigns a supernatural calm. with an interior life comes also a strength to do and to suffer, which is naturally quite beyond us. as our lord chose his apostles among a class of men whose natural advantages were very few, in order that his guidance and power might be shown in them, so he has adorned the early church with a number of young female martyrs, whose amazing fortitude under the severest torture, clearly proves that he was also the source of their strength. { } let me give you an example. st. potamiena was a nubian slave of a roman master. he required her consent to something which was contrary to the law of god. on her refusal, he threatened her with such torture as was exercised upon those who, like herself, had embraced the christian faith. the magistrate before whom she was brought on the charge of being a christian, commanded her to obey her master in all things, or she should be cast into the cauldron of boiling oil, which was seething before her. she replied: "i have but one request to make: allow my clothes to remain upon me; then, if you will, let me down by inches into this cauldron, and you will see what strength jesus christ, my lord, will give me to bear its pain." this was the cruel death by which, without a murmur, she won her crown of "virgin martyr." let me give you another example of fortitude, which you can perhaps better appreciate. some few years since, in england, there was a young lady of noble family, and of very attractive manners, who became a religious in a convent near the town where i then resided. { } to please her father, she had, for several years past, attended the numerous parties that were given among her circle of acquaintance. her presence was always thought to be a great acquisition. but all the while, her heart was in religion. she longed for the time when her father would yield, and allow her to try her vocation within a convent's walls. at last, he did; but what was his grief when he found that she had chosen one of the most austere orders in the church. she wished to become a poor clare. now, you may not know that a poor clare never leaves the walls of her convent; she never sees any one; she walks bare-footed; she uses the painful discipline, and spends many hours of the dead of the night in prayer, while the outer world is asleep. here, then, was a young girl who had been brought up in luxury, entering at once upon a life of the greatest severity. when i last heard of her, which was a long time after she had entered this convent, she was said to be as merry as a cricket, and the life of her convent, as she had formerly been of her parties of pleasure. { } now, how shall we account for such fortitude as this? i will tell you. it was our lord in her heart, where she had made him a home, that gave her the courage and strength she needed to comply with his call to her, to be a spouse of his. that became easy to her, which her relatives and friends could not comprehend. there is no one who can do any thing great for god, without this interior life. i will say even more than this; neither she nor any other member of a religious community, can hope to persevere in any well-regulated convent, on any other ground than this. with this, any one, whether in religion or in the world, can trample underfoot the difficulties and trials peculiar to their state of life. god offers us this interior life, on two conditions. in the first place, we must be in the state of grace. one must first be introduced to a man, before he can become his personal friend. a man in mortal sin is as though he did not know god. he needs to make his acquaintance. he is in a condition that is even worse than that of a stranger; he is god's enemy, and he must be first reconciled. { } to drive a locomotive at the rate of forty miles an hour, one must first get it upon the track, before it will move at all. you, then, my dear brethren, who are so unfortunate as to be in mortal sin--you can take no comfort from any thing that i have said. i have been offering peace to such as lead a christian life; but what does holy scripture say of you? "_there is no peace, saith my god, for the wicked_." again, we must be generous with god. ah! now that i have told you the terms, i tremble for the cause i am advocating. it seems to me that i hear you answering, as some other disciples of our blessed lord answered him: "_this saying is hard, and who can hear it_." [footnote ] [footnote : john vi., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is john vi., .] what is it to be generous? it is to give from a motive of love, and because it is a pleasure to give. it is to consider the object to which we are giving, rather than the amount of what we are giving. what millions of dollars are being expended on the central park here just beside us? we consider the money contributed, as little in comparison with the importance of the work. it is an object of pride with us to see tins park as ornamental as money and art can make it. { } see what generous efforts are being made, by both sides, in this unhappy conflict, which has made a battle-field of our country! not money only, but blood and life, are as freely offered as water. our citizens who hurried off to california at the time of the gold excitement of which i have spoken, thought nothing of the discomfort of a close state-room on board a crowded ship, for a five months voyage. they had already sacrificed home, friends and business, and all this was on the mere chance of success. now, how is it with us? the burden of the sermons preached from this altar, the year round, has been merely to get _justice_ done to god. we have been doing our best to get from you what is barely god's _due_. our endeavor has been to get you to restore to god those rights of his, of which you have defrauded him; and at best, we have had but partial success. but to-day, i ask you not for justice, but for generosity. did i not say well then, when i expressed my fear that god would find but few who would accept his terms? { } on his part, he offers to come and dwell in your souls. he offers you interior peace, supernatural strength, holiness, and salvation. now what does he ask of you in return for all this? that you will act the part of a generous friend toward him, by giving him a large share of your thoughts, words, and actions. he is the magnet in the centre of your hearts. he is always drawing you toward himself. he asks that you will put no obstacle in the way of his influence upon you. if disturbing causes for the moment turn you from him, like the needle which may be shaken so as to point to the east or the south, like it he calls upon you not to rest till you have found your rest again in him. st. teresa says, that a generous soul _flies_ to god. she does not say that it runs, but that it flies to god. now, what are we doing? we are content to creep and crawl toward god, like worms and caterpillars. my dear brethren, i have told you a great truth, i have discovered to you a great treasure. it is within the reach of each one of you. now i call upon this congregation for some companions to go with me in search of this treasure. { } i do not expect to arouse the mass of you, as the cry of "gold" from california aroused the people of this city. i know the sad truth, that most people love gold better than they love god. but i _do_ count upon some. you would not expect that i should urge this "interior life" upon you, and remain myself as i am? well then. i am going to try for it, and i call again upon you for some souls, few though they may be, who with me, will try to be generous with god. i call upon you by your saviour's love in dying a painful and shameful death, to purchase it for you. i call upon you by his still further love in securing to you his abiding presence, in the most holy sacrament of the altar. lastly, i call upon you by that act of his love which would be satisfied with nothing short of making your heart a tabernacle, as it were, where he may dwell perpetually, where he may live your life, and where you may live his life, as true children of st. paul, who said: "_i live now no longer, but christ liveth in me_." i have put my question. i have made my call upon you. i leave the answer with yourselves. ------------- { } sermon xvi. true christian humility. "every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." --st. luke, xviii. . (from the gospel for the th sunday after pentecost.) it is impossible to mistake the great moral of this parable of the publican and the pharisee. it is intended to teach us humility. the pharisee, with all his pretensions to piety and morality, was rejected because he was proud. the publican, like the generality of revenue officers in that day, was loaded with sins; but he was sorry for them, and being humble, and ready to acknowledge himself for what he was, his prayer was accepted. all piety, therefore, without humility, is false. no matter what they may say about a man's good deeds or virtues; if he is proud, he is no saint. { } there is no surer test of solid christian virtue than humility. st. philip neri once called to see a sick roman lady, who enjoyed a high reputation for sanctity. he found her sitting up, looking very weak, and very pious. being desirous of putting all this perfection to the test, he lifted his dusty shoe upon the beautiful counterpane which covered the bed, and which, as it appeared to him, the good dame regarded with more than ordinary satisfaction. it turned out as he expected. he might as well have put his toe into a hornet's nest, for the pious lady was so mortified at the soiling of her counterpane that she let loose her tongue upon him in such strong italian terms as came first to mind. "i wish you good morning, holy sister," said st. philip. we may easily imagine what he thought of her sanctity. indeed, to prove the necessity of this virtue, we need go no farther than to the example contained in this day's gospel, and to the words of our blessed lord in the text; for he tells us in plain terms: "_every one, that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted_." { } since, then, humility is so necessary, let us study it this morning; let us try to discover what true humility is, and to fill our hearts with the esteem of it, and the love of it. christian humility i understand to be this: _a lowly estimate of one s own worth in the light of divine truth_. this is, i am well aware, a definition of humility in the mind, rather than that of the heart; but it is not necessary to dwell upon any such distinction here, for humility of the heart is nothing else than the heart's consent to this lowly estimate of one's self, and practically speaking the two are seldom found apart. . humility, i say, is a lowly estimate of one's own worth. men are proud because they esteem themselves too highly; and this they do because they look at themselves in a false light. they look at themselves with worldly eyes, and compare themselves with what they see around them. they plume themselves up on advantages which, in the eyes of faith, are of little value. they look too low. the king sees nothing greater than himself, and looks down upon the nobles; the nobles look down upon the untitled gentry. { } we have neither king nor nobles in our country, but we have a class of gentry who live upon fortunes made by their fathers, and were reared in good society. these look down upon those who have made their own fortunes by some honest trade. the tradesman looks down upon the farmer, the farmer upon the hired laborer, and the laborer who has a shanty, with a cow and pigs, finds some one still poorer to look down upon; and this last, perhaps, is proudest of all, for he is descended from some patriot of the revolution, or, it may be, from brian boroihme. if, on the contrary, they would look at the sacred law of god, if they would study the pure and holy lessons of the gospel, if they would raise their eyes upward to the high and heavenly destiny for which they were created--if by this new light they would compare themselves as they are with what they might be, and ought to be, the trifling advantages of this world would disappear, their pride would wither away, and give place to humility, the earliest, if not the sweetest flower of the christian year. { } but how is it with those who are _spiritually_ proud? do not they estimate themselves by the light of faith? no. their pride would soon die out if they did. faith, directing their eyes upward, would discover to them in god, in jesus, and in the saints, what true holiness is, and their poor store of sanctity would show like thumb-marks in a prayer-book, or spots upon the sun. in the darkness of a cloudy night, when only the nearest objects that lie about your feet are visible, your thoughts are bound up in that little circle as if all the universe were near you and beneath you, and you walking on its summit; but when the clouds are driven away, and the moon and the vast world of stars appear, the heaven seems like a measureless dome, and you, a little insect creeping upon the floor, look up in breathless wonder. so the pathway of a conceited devotee is lighted only by a few straggling rays of religious truth, and he sees himself shining as a luminous point in that narrow circle which is visible to his eyes; but let faith open the sky above him, and give him one long, calm, thoughtful look at the world above, and he stands rebuked and humbled. oh! how little our virtue appears when, instead of comparing ourselves with the worldly crowd around us, we look up to see how the saints have lived, and what they have done! { } during the moorish wars in spain, while the spaniards were besieging a city of the moors, a brave castilian knight advanced before his comrades, at great peril of his life, and for a memorial of his valor, wrote upon one of the city gates: "hitherto came vasco fernandez." his companions were scandalized at his pride, and anxious to teach him a lesson. the next day, therefore, another hero of superior prowess forced his way still farther, and wrote in large letters upon another gate: "hitherto vasco fernandez did not come." this, my dear brethren, is a lesson for the christian soldier also, and well worth learning. instead of comparing ourselves with the feeble and imperfect, and feeding our pride thereby, let us humble ourselves before the achievements of the saints. . if humility is a lowly estimate of one's self, it is none the less truthful on that account. we must look upon ourselves as we really are, "in the light of divine truth," for this is included in my definition. one may think meanly of himself upon false grounds. { } one may be ashamed of himself for things which in reality are praiseworthy. there is no virtue in this. genuine humility needs to borrow no aid from falsehood. she is a grace bestowed by the god of truth. now, there is something very unhealthy and degrading in this spurious sort of humility, which is founded upon self-calumny and pious exaggeration, for it leads to self-degradation. and this is the reason why i abhor the protestant doctrine of "total depravity." it teaches men to say that they are, from their birth and by nature, so thoroughly corrupt, that there is absolutely nothing good in them. that there is, in reality, no such thing as natural virtue. that filial piety, honesty, fidelity, love of truth, chastity and temperance, have no merit in the unregenerate man, but, on the contrary, are sinful and displeasing to god. and their doctrine of justification leaves the saint as bad as the sinner; for although his life is acceptable with god, it is not because he is in reality any better, or that his actions are more meritorious. on the contrary, his righteousness is all "filthy rags," and there is positively nothing good in him. he is justified and saved by faith alone. { } if you say to them, "ah, well, i understand you; this faith of which you speak is at least something meritorious, because it is enlivened and made holy by charity, or the love of god. it is this which makes faith so efficacious." no; they will not admit your explanation; there is popery in it; it is only an entering wedge to make way for the doctrine of good works. they refuse to accept any principle by which the good man may be supposed to be really any better than his neighbors. he is regenerated by the mantle of christ's righteousness, which does not take away, but only covers up his "filthy rags." and his lesson of humility is, to insist upon it that there is nothing good in him. now, i never saw any one, either man or woman, so bad that i thought there was no good in him; and i am always sorry to hear my protestant friends speak so ill of themselves, for i don't believe them--i have seen too much real merit among them. in truth, all this is false humility. it is but a form of words, and nobody in his heart believes it, or can believe it. virtue is not vice. there is such a thing as real virtue and real merit in man. { } god has given to all a conscience, which is nothing else than his own voice applauding or rebuking. there is such a thing as natural virtue, which deserves a reward in the natural order of god's providence; and there is such a thing as christian virtue, which is begotten by supernatural grace, and deserves the supernatural reward of the saints. no wonder that, in the world, humility is too often looked upon as a counterfeit and degrading virtue, which takes away all manliness, hope, courage, and generous ambition, from the soul. oh, if it were so, i would suffer my tongue to be torn out of my mouth, before i would preach it at this altar. if ever there was a time when we needed manly virtue in the church, it is now. if ever there was a time when christianity seemed to have melted into effeminacy and pusillanimity, it is now. the race of martyrs, of confessors of the faith, of christian athletes, of true sages and sacred scholars, of men of action who knew how to open their eyes, and men of prayer who knew how to shut them, of catholic matrons and virgins whose hunger after holiness was not satisfied by crosses and medals, scapulars and holy water--this ancient race of christians has well nigh dwindled away. { } we of the present day seem to be playing with religion. we are not in earnest. we are ashamed of what ought to be our glory; we are proud of that which constitutes our shame. we have no blushes for our sins; while we are too bashful to be devout, and too timid to practise virtue. we acknowledge that we are wicked; although we do not hold it to be precisely our own fault, but a fault of our nature, and we have no ambition to be better. we confess our sins by throwing all the blame upon the god who made us, and this we call humility. oh! this is false humility. god made us well enough; our sins are all our own. if we look at ourselves as we really are, in the light of divine truth, we shall find matter enough to make us humble. . true christian humility, so far from degrading, ennobles the heart in which it dwells. it leads directly to hope; and hopefulness is, in all great hearts, the essential element of their courage, energy, enterprise, and success. now pride, with her two brazen-faced daughters self-conceit and self-confidence, stands directly in the way of christian hope and courage. { } in spiritual matters, so long as one depends upon himself, he is sure of failure; for without the grace of god one cannot advance a single step. "_without me_," said our lord to his disciples, "_you can do nothing_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xv., .] with repeated failure comes despair, or at least, despondency; and then all hope, courage, and generous enterprise take flight. but how different is the experience of the humble heart! it begins with self-distrust; it acknowledges its own feebleness. "_for i know_," says the apostle paul, "_that there is no good dwelling in me; that is to say, in my flesh. as for the will to do good, that i find present, but the power to do it i do not find_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. vii. .] not daring, therefore, to trust in himself, the humble christian learns to lean upon god, and to confide fully in his grace; and then he becomes strong and full of courage, and can say with st. paul, "_i can do all things through him who strengthens me_." [footnote ] [footnote : phil, iv., .] { } thus, in the christian warfare, humility is the first and last lesson of all noble, generous, and heroic souls; for their great hearts are sustained by great hopes, and their hope is nourished by humility. humility, and that hopefulness and courage which grow out of humility, are also the most efficacious means of converting the shamefaced, downcast sinner. take, for example, the habitual drunkard. the pledge will not help him long; and why? because he is degraded in his own eyes, and has no confidence in his own resolutions. what he wants most is courage, and the pledge cannot give him that. the pledge teaches him to rely on himself, and on himself he cannot rely. "i'm willing," says he, "but i'm weak. if you are going to give me the pledge, put it on me strong, so that i won't break it." see how the poor fellow is anxious to find some support to lean upon, outside of his own weak will, and is almost ready to believe that the priest can give him that stability which he so much needs. now, what is to be done? the only way is to put confidence and courage into his heart; and this is done by pointing him upward to god, the only source of grace and strength, and "_who is able to do all things more abundantly than we can ask_." [footnote ] [footnote : ephes. iii., .] { } do not take the heart out of him by words of contempt and scalding abuse, but speak to him kindly and encouragingly. "i know, my dear friend, that you are weak; but god is strong, and his grace is able to make you strong. he has had worse cases than you in hand before now, and made glorious saints of them too. never despair; you were created for better things. make one more trial now, and with the help of god you'll shake off this miserable habit forever." that's the way to reform a confirmed drunkard who has grace enough, at least, to be ashamed of himself. do not strike a man that is already down. do not make him more self-degraded than he is, but out of his humiliation endeavor to fill him with hope in god. talk to him cheerfully. give him a clean shirt and a clean collar. get him to wash himself and shave himself, and brush his hair. he will now begin to feel like a man; and the next step is to feel like a christian. take him then to the church, and to confession; and when upon his knees, with, a contrite heart, he has confessed and renounced his sins, let him there pledge himself against that drink which has poisoned him, body and soul; and the grace of god will carry him through. { } in this way, courage and strength are born of humility. it is a virtue that does not degrade, but ennobles the heart where it lodges. i have said enough, i think--all, at least, my dear brethren, that can well be said within the compass of a morning's sermon, to illustrate the true nature of christian humility. i need not enlarge upon the advantages or the necessity of it. humility is one of those sweet virtues which carries its own recommendation with it, which needs only to be seen in order to be prized. enough has already been said to justify that maxim of the ascetic writers, that humility is the foundation of all the virtues. any mason will tell you, that before you can build a substantial church you must dig away the loose dirt below, and hollow out a foundation for the walls. this is the first step of all, and until this is done, neither walls, nor tower, nor roof, nor any part of the building can be safely undertaken. it is the same in that spiritual temple which has to be erected in every soul that is saved. { } before we build up we must first go down. humility must first begin the work; must dig up and throw aside the sand and rubbish of pride, and self-conceit, and vain confidence, which have gathered like a loose soil upon our hearts. then, and not till then, are we ready, with faith, and hope, and charity, and the other virtues, to rear the strong walls, and towers, and arches, with all the parts and ornaments which make the temple of god complete within our souls. in fine, religion is of little use to one who will not learn to be humble; and therefore an english poet, varying the figure which i have employed, says very well: "ye who would build the churches of the lord, see that ye make the western portals low! let no one enter who disdains to bow!" if any thing were needed to confirm this view of the necessity of humility, we have the words of our lord himself: "_unless you be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xviii., .] { } are we then, my brethren, anxiously desirous of saving our souls? would we be something in the kingdom of god? would we become strong in faith, great in hope, abounding in charity? then let us cast pride away! let us learn to be humble! let us become willing imitators of jesus christ, who has said: "_learn of me, for i am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xi., .] and let us believe his word, that there is no other way of salvation; for he it is who tells us in this day's gospel, that "_every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted_." ------------------ { } sermon xvii what the desire to love god can do. "thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." --st. luke x., . (from the gospel for the th sunday after pentecost) there are two ways in which one may set about fulfilling this commandment of the lord. the first way is, to do what is barely necessary in order that we may be said to fulfil it at all. the second way is, to fulfil it in its perfection, according to the most generous meaning of the words. when may one be said to fulfil it in the first way? when he has a firm determination to keep clear, at all times, of every mortal sin. it is plain, that in this case he can be said to fulfil the commandment, because, after all, he prefers god to every thing else. { } when he determines to avoid every mortal sin, no matter what the temptation to commit it may be, he does give his whole mind and heart to god in some sense--at least, really and substantially, though it may be imperfectly. if he does not go that far, he does not in any sense fulfil this commandment. he loves the sinful thing more than he loves god. he is ready to give up god, rather than his will and pleasure. his whole heart and soul loves sin--is turned away from god. he cannot entertain any hope of eternal life: that is clear from the words of the saviour in to-day's gospel. the lawyer asked him, "_what shall i do to possess eternal life?_" the saviour said, "_what is written in the law? how readest thou?_" he answered: "_thou shalt love the lord god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind_." and the saviour replied: "_thou hast answered right, this do and thou shalt live_." you see what the condition is. we must fulfil this commandment, or there is no eternal life for us. { } let us not deceive ourselves. if we cannot honestly and sincerely say: 'i am determined to keep clear of every mortal sin,' our religion is vain. don't build on the idea that we shall be saved because of the catholic faith we profess. "_think not_," says jesus, "_to say, we have abraham for our father. do penance; the axe is laid to the root of the tree; every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke iii., , .] but is it enough just barely to fulfil the commandment in this way? no, it is not. one who does not go farther, runs a very great risk of being lost. the fact is, to maintain one's self in an habitual horror of mortal sin requires a great deal of fervor and recollection. in order to do so, one must also aim at avoiding every deliberate sin, small or great; one must really be in earnest to please god, or, in other words, one must strive to fulfil the commandment of the text with a good degree of perfection. that is plain enough to the dullest comprehension. a man may get over an ordinary difficulty well enough, but when a great one comes in his way, he requires all his strength and resolution to overcome it. { } so the ordinary temptations may be avoided, but there come times which try the soul, great temptations, or unusual difficulties, and great fervor is necessary to overcome them. they come just when least expected, when one is off his guard. unless one maintains himself, then, in this state of fervor, so as to be prepared for these occasions, he must fall. a ship that is strong enough for fair weather, goes down in a strong gale of wind. a drowsy sentinel may serve as well as another for awhile, but when suddenly beset by an enemy, is slain before he can get ready to defend himself; so the christian, who goes on the principle of keeping clear of mortal sin, but makes light of lesser sins, will be sure to come to a grievous fall at last. "_he that despiseth small things_," the scripture says, "_shall fall by little and little_." [footnote ] [footnote : ecclus. xix., .] [transcriber's note: ecclesiastes ends with chapter . sirach xix. . reads "whoever does this grows no richer; those who waste the little they have will be stripped bare."] the man who goes on the principle of gratifying his passions as much as he can short of mortal sin, will never stop there. he will overleap his boundary, as surely as the sun goes down at the close of day, as surely as the water that eats out the sand from the foundations of a house will finally bring it to ruin. { } such a person is not only in danger of ruin in the world to come, but loses the peace and consolation which the servants of god ought to have in this world. there is too much selfishness about him. he is trying to join together two things as contrary as god and the world--an impossibility, as god himself says: "_no man can serve two masters, for either he will love the one and hate the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. ye cannot serve god and mammon_." [footnote ] [footnote : matt. vi., .] now, the lord intended to remove these evils, to show us a sure and safe way to everlasting life, and to fill our souls habitually with a heavenly peace and consolation, by enjoining on us to fulfil this commandment with perfection, and, as the words sound--"_with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our mind, and with all our strength_." i think this is enough to prove conclusively the necessity of such fulfilment; now let us see how it is to be done. { } but, at the very outset, a great repugnance and distaste will arise, i doubt not, in the minds of many, at hearing these strong words of the text. it will seem to be asking too much--more than they can dream of fulfilling. in their idea, it would seem an impossibility, even if they had the best will in the world. "what," says the father of a family, "give my whole soul and mind to god? to take care of my children, to put bread in their mouths and clothes on their backs, takes up, and must take up the principal part of my time and attention. i must attend to my business, and use all my skill and prudence and activity to make all things meet. i can not do as the old hermits of the desert did, pass my time in constant prayer and meditation." "what," says the mother, "give all my strength and all my mind to god! how can i do it? i must expend all my strength going up and down stairs, in the kitchen, in the dining-room, in my own room sewing and mending, to keep every thing decent for the children. i must teach them, and look out for them. one thing or another takes up my time and attention the whole day, so that, when night comes round, i am glad enough to get to bed and to sleep as quick as i can." { } "what," says the young woman, just growing out of her girlhood, "give my whole heart to god, when this dear old world is so pleasant, and i have such fine times in it?" alas! not the young woman only, but the young man, and the old man and the old woman, too, are apt enough to speak in this way. dissipation and pleasure keep such a hold upon them, that they seem to be more giddy and foolish as they grow older. and another cry comes up from all quarters: "how can i give my whole heart and soul to god, when the troubles and sorrows of the world, its cares and anxieties and disappointments fill me with bitterness and rage, and excite every evil passion? in this miserable world there is no such thing as tranquillity or peace, and how, without these, can the whole heart be given to god?" now, dear brethren, whoever you may be who speak or who think in this way, put down that feeling a little while; listen with patience while i propose to you a means of fulfilling christ's commandment which will smooth away these difficulties, and enable you to do so in a manner most pleasant and agreeable to you. { } i do not pretend that this means takes away from you all necessity of exertion--all effort and care to do right. no, the words of christ must hold true: "_strive to enter into the straight gate_," he says. "_fight the good fight_," says st. paul. the prize of our high calling is too valuable to be had without being in earnest about it. but i can venture to say, that by the method i propose, it is by no means so difficult a thing to fulfil christ's commandment as you may suppose; that, with a little patience and perseverance, it will become an easy and agreeable thing to do so. what is this method? it is--_to excite and keep in your souls an ardent desire to love god_. this desire will do every thing, if it is strong and lively. now, the desire to love god is a thing natural to the soul. how so? why, thus. we naturally desire what is good--what will conduce to our interest, our pleasure or profit. we express this by the very word "desirable." as soon as we become acquainted with the value of any thing to us, we desire it, and our desire for it is in proportion to our appreciation of it. so a good name is more desired among noble-minded men than the possession of riches--a substantial wealth, more than the pleasure of the senses. { } now, what is more desirable than god? to possess him, is to possess all that is good, all that is beautiful, all that is honorable, all that makes happiness. as soon as we know, even imperfectly, what god is, a strong desire to possess him must arise in the soul. it may be transitory, quickly fade away and lost sight of, through the things of the world which occupy the attention, but, whenever we reflect on it, that desire must--it is impossible that it should not--rise up in the soul. this transitory desire, which passes away like a vapor, is of little or no value; it does not last long enough to produce any practical impression. it is what is called a _velleity_, or ineffectual wish, if it is not nourished and made permanent, so as to influence one's life. but since this desire to love god is natural to one who knows what he is, it must be, therefore, an excellent and easy means to acquire a high degree of that love. it is like the oar in the hands of the rower. it is like the wing by which a bird mounts high in the air. why, as soon as this desire acquires force enough to control the will (and any strong desire is sure to do so), we cannot separate the desire to love god from the love of god itself. { } god does not measure our love to him by our feelings, for we may seem to ourselves to have little, while our will shows that we love him dearly. the trouble then with us, and i may say our only trouble is, that we do not enough desire to love him; that we do not keep that desire bright and lively in our souls. surely we have abundant reason for it! besides the loveliness of god attracting us, our eternal destiny depends upon it--heaven and hell. only let us turn over in our minds the vast importance of loving god, and we must be compelled to cry out with intense desire: "oh, that i did love god with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and strength!" i say, then, excite this desire; think, and think every day, on these simple things: who am i? who is god? what has god made me for? what is the world and all in it, compared to the love of god? or, as the gospel reads, "_what shall it profit me to gain the whole world, if i suffer the loss of my soul?_" perhaps this fire of desire is almost out in your soul; but there is still fire there--there is one coal at least burning yet. { } blow it into a flame! keep on blowing, and that fire will be sure to spread, until the whole heap is in a blaze. you see, all that is required of you is to think, to reflect. put your mind upon it with earnestness; and the desire of god must speedily gain the mastery of your soul. when it does so, it will regulate all its motions, and make every thing that was before so unnatural and difficult seem wonderfully easy. let us see how it would fare then with sin. only keep that ardent desire to love god burning in your soul, and you will find it a very hard thing to commit any deliberate sin. it is a maxim in physical science that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. one must displace the other. so, i say, two strong desires, that are opposed to each other, cannot stay together in one heart. either one or the other must give way and yield possession. so our lord said long ago under cover of this comparison: "_when a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things which he possesseth are in peace. but if one stronger than he cometh upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and distribute his spoils_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xi., , .] { } the strong desire for god's love will take away from the desire for sin all its armor, all its strength, and leave it powerless to hurt us. it had a peaceable possession of the soul before, because nothing seriously disputed its right to govern, but now the desire to love god has made it hateful and loathsome. the strong man has become weak as an infant. when we fix our eyes on sin, perhaps its allurements, and the force of old habits, may make it so attractive, that it would gain the mastery once more. certainly it would make a desperate struggle for the mastery. but let us look up to god! let us consider how necessary, how desirable in every view is his love, until we become resolved that at least we will long for it, and continue longing for it, as long as life is long; saying with the royal psalmist: "_as the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so panteth my soul after thee, god_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xli. .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is ps. xlii. .] then will all those allurements and attractions of sin vanish. we shall only wonder how such miserable things could have blinded us so long. { } we all know how strong and engrossing the passion of earthly love is. the lover is taken with some real or fancied perfection of his mistress, either a beautiful face, a noble figure, or, it may be, with what is far more to be prized, some noble qualities of the mind or disposition. his whole mind is taken up with her night and day, and his only study is, how he may recommend his suit. if encouraged with the prospect of success, transports of joy fill his soul; if met by neglect and indifference, he is plunged into the deepest melancholy. if parents or relatives put obstacles in the way, heaven and earth are moved to get them out of the way. this is the burden of so many novels and romances that are read with eagerness by people of every condition and every class of society. if the desire of earthly beauty, of body or soul, so imperfect, so unsatisfying, so short-lived, can thus engross the soul of man, why should not the desire of god's love, who is perfect beauty, perfect wisdom, perfect goodness, and our promised portion for ever and ever, be able to do far more? it will remove all obstacles out of the way. { } we shall say, as did st. agnes to her admirer and tempter: "depart from me thou food for death, for i am betrothed to him whom the angels serve, whose beauty sun and moon admire." every creature that breathes is food for death. sin is the food of eternal death. the idea that mortal sin brings eternal death, eternal separations from this infinite beauty and goodness, must make us regard it with the same horror that fills the soul at the sight of a ferocious tiger or deadly serpent. it will make the occasions of sin hateful, and cause the soul to exclaim: "away from me, ye frightful temptations! i know you: ye bear the serpent's tongue and the tiger's claw. ye carry with you the risk of god's anger and my eternal ruin." who that loves god, or desires to love him, could venture into any place, into the society of any person, where the danger of mortal sin is lurking, since he knows that mortal sin is banishment from god? { } this sacred desire would also consume every kind of deliberate sin, whether great or small. this is the language of a heart that longs after divine love. "oh! how can i admit this, it is sinful; it will cool away the fervor of my soul, it will prevent me from making that near approach to god's love which i so much covet." cursing and swearing, lying, slandering, pilfering, and every form of dishonesty, all immodesty in deed, word or thought, anger and foolish pride--how would these all disappear before such a fervent desire! and all this would be accomplished without any violence to the soul, quietly, but powerfully and effectually, and even with delight and satisfaction. for is it not a joy to follow where our heart's desires lead? but this holy desire leads toward god, and away from sin. again, this ardent desire to love god more and more will make it easy and pleasant to us to perform all our duties. we cannot work without a motive, without proposing something to ourselves which appears good in our eyes. if the work to be done is arduous or difficult, the motive or inducement must be a strong one. such a strong motive will render what is difficult easy. how easy it is for men to take the longest journeys, endure the greatest labors, when their souls are fired with the desire of providing for their beloved ones at home, or with a noble ambition to serve their country, or even for the miserable pursuit of gain. { } only hold out the prospect of success, and any amount of labor seems light to them. cannot the motive of god's love do as much? is it not as great? can it not fill the soul as much as any other? for an answer to these questions, look at what the saints, holy men and women, have done. urged and animated by this all-absorbing love, they have not counted life even as dear to them, but given it up freely and gladly under the most frightful torments. look at the labors and sufferings of others, for example, of a st. francis xavier, enough in his case, one would suppose, to kill twenty ordinary men, all endured with the most heroic cheerfulness and joy. no, depend upon it, the labors and duties of ordinary life will seem trifling in the eyes of the christian who longs for the love of jesus christ. his soul burns for opportunities. what shall i do? he says. 'why do i stand here idle? lord, send me something to do.' the cares, duties, and responsibilities of every-day life are the first things to be done; sent by the lord to be done for his sake. therefore the soul, instead of finding in them a source of complaint, finds an outlet for that activity which she desires to exercise for god. { } suppose one would only say to himself, i want to do something to please god and increase in his love. now, i have not to search for it; it is here before my face. to take care of my family, endure fatigue and exertion for them, to discharge with fidelity this office or employment committed to me, by which i earn my bread. i will set right to work to do it. it is little indeed that is required of me, but that little, and nothing else, is what god requires of me now. thanks be to him who has made my way plain before my face. in this way do things naturally distasteful and irksome become agreeable, when the love of god is spread over them. this desire for god's love will also moderate all excessive desire for the pleasures of the world. i do not speak now so much of sinful pleasures, as of allowing the heart to go too much after such as are allowed. such liberty leads to sin by a short road. our life is too important to be trifled away. god requires of us not to set our hearts on the pleasures or pomp of this world, because then it is sure to forget, what is of so much more importance, himself. { } now, as soon as the soul in earnest perceives that indulgence is producing this effect, that she is losing the relish for the love of god and spiritual things, she is startled, and cannot but feel afflicted. what, she says, shall i barter away so immense a good for such trifles? the very pain this reflection causes weans her away from pleasure. she judges, and judges rightly, that a small enjoyment neglected for so high a motive, will bring a higher and better happiness. we all know this in every-day affairs. most men prefer to neglect the pleasure of the moment when they see that they gain a greater one for themselves in the future. how provident, how temperate they are in early life to lay up an abundance for old age! what old age can compare with eternity? how strong then the motive of the soul to moderate all her earthly desires, that she may have time and opportunity to look out for that eternity. the ardent lover of god looks at every thing in such a light. pleasure becomes irksome to him very soon, because he has something so much more important on his mind, that he cannot, and will not rest easy, unless it be attended to. { } he is no longer a little child, and cannot amuse himself with running after butterflies the whole day. besides, a greater pleasure has engrossed and filled up his soul, and leaves no room for trifles. it is the happiness of uniting himself to god. there is no drawback to this. after a day spent in trying, with all his heart, to please his god, he feels no regret for it at night, when he lies down on his pillow. he is not left uneasy, restless, and dissatisfied, as when pleasure, ease, and self-indulgence were his aim, but is full of tranquillity, full of hope, and full of the desire that his whole life may be thus spent in the same, or greater efforts, to please god. the pleasures of the world soon grow to be worthless in the eyes of such a man. with st. paul he says: "_i account all things as dung, so that i may win christ_." [footnote ] [footnote : phil. iii. .] it is not hard to part with what we esteem so little. the joy of the heart amply compensates for all sacrifices, so that instead of a long face, a melancholy and soured heart, such a one enjoys deep gladness and satisfaction of mind, which grows deeper and more complete, in proportion as he is weaned away from the pleasures of the world. { } finally, all those things which are naturally disagreeable, such as misfortunes, pains, sickness, trials of all kinds, become easy and even agreeable through such a strong desire. the martyrs smiled in the midst of their torments. did they not feel them? most certainly they had the same flesh and blood as ourselves. but their souls had a sight of jesus, surrounded by his angels, and this distracted their attention from all their torments. so st. stephen, when he saw this sight, became radiant with joy, and his face shone like the face of an angel. sufferings, tribulations and trials are things that force the soul to look steadfastly upon jesus, and the sight of him takes from them all their bitterness. so we read that an old hermit of the desert complained when his yearly sickness failed to come upon him, that the lord had neglected to visit him. the soul that earnestly desires god's love needs only to be told that pain of body or mind, borne patiently, as coming from god's hand, is the surest means of obtaining its desire. pain is accepted then with alacrity, and with pleasure. { } to be sure, the first pangs may be exceedingly hard to bear; the soul may require a little time to recollect herself, and gather force to overcome the repugnance of nature. but a little reflection puts every thing in its proper place. shall i, she says, reject the very things i have longed for, the opportunities of making rapid progress in the love of god? if this does not still the tumult of nature, prayers are resorted to, and in the end comes victory and triumph, a wonderful vigor and refreshment of the soul. this is not merely for martyrs and canonized saints; it is a thing that belongs to every-day life--the grand remedy for all the ills we are subject to: "_take up my yoke,_" says the saviour, "_for my yoke is easy and my burden light, and ye shall find rest for your souls_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xi., .] it seems strange that the cross of christ should give rest, but it is so; and the tribulations which come from his hand, as st. james says, work patience, and patience hath a perfect work; therefore it is to be counted joy to receive them, and not sorrow. and such will be the sentiment of the lover of god. { } so in the sermon on the mount, the burden is always: "_rejoice and be exceeding glad_." for what? poverty, afflictions, persecutions, false testimony, and so on--they are worthy of joy, because they bring what the soul so much desires. see then what great things the desire to love god will do for you! may the poor thoughts which i have strung together, excite in your minds this fruitful and wonder-working desire. regard the love of god as the pearl of great price. consider over and over again the value of it. persevere in efforts to appreciate it. say to yourselves--i will not forget. i will continually repeat: oh, god, make me to know thee, and to love thee more and more! oh, how i wish to love my god better than i do! excite this desire in the morning when you arise--during the day, when you are tempted--when you are discouraged--when you have any thing to suffer--in the midst of pleasure, and whenever the holy ghost inspires it. at night, take some time to reflect upon the love of god, to sigh and beg for it. persevere, and it will not be long before your heart will be inflamed with it--your whole life will be filled with it. your only uneasiness will be because that burning desire cannot be fully satisfied in this world. { } this is to hunger and thirst after justice. what a blessed hunger and thirst it is, and what a blessed promise accompanies it! "_blessed are ye who hunger and thirst after justice, for you shall be filled_." [footnote ] filled with justice! what does that mean? filled so that we shall not want any more. not filled with money--which will leave us poor and naked at the last hour. not filled with sensual pleasures, which please the heart in time and burn it in eternity; but filled with justice, that is, filled with god--filled with a deep inward peace and joy during our mortal life--a foretaste of heaven; and filled with glory and happiness unspeakable in heaven itself forever. amen. [footnote : st. matt. v., .] ----------------- { } sermon xviii. the worth of the soul. "there shall be joy before the angels of god over one sinner doing penance." --st. luke xv., . (from the gospel for the d sunday after pentecost.) this is what theologians call an _accidental_ joy. the essential joy of heaven consists in the perfect knowledge and love of god, and is unchangeable and eternal; but the accidental joy of heaven springs from the knowledge of those events in time which display the goodness and greatness of god. the first of these events was the creation itself, when the hand of god spread the carpet of the earth and stretched the curtains of the heavens. then "_the morning stars praised him together, and all the sons of god made a joyful melody_." [footnote ] [footnote : job xxxviii., .] { } after this the great historic events of the world have been successively the burden of the angelic songs--the unfolding of the plan of redemption, the birth of christ, the triumphs of the church. but lo! of a sudden these lofty strains are stopped. there is silence for a moment, and then the golden harps take up a new and tenderer theme. what is it that has happened? what is the event that can interrupt the great harmonies of heaven, and furnish the angels with a new song? in some corner of the earth, in some secret chamber, in some confessional, on some sick bed, in some dark prison, a sinner is doing penance. he prays, whose mouth had been full of cursings. he weeps, who had made a mock at sin. the slave of satan and of hell turns back to god and heaven--and that is the reason of this unusual joy. it is not that a recovered sinner is really of more account than one who has never fallen, but his recovery from danger is the occasion of expressing that esteem and love for the souls of men which always fills the heart of god and the angels. therefore, as that contrite cry reaches heaven the angels are silent, for they know that there is no music in the ear of god like that. { } and then, when god has ratified the absolving words of the priest, and restored the contrite sinner to his favor, they cast themselves before the throne, and break forth into loud swelling strains of ecstasy and triumph, while he himself smiles his sympathy and joy. oh, my brethren, what a revelation this is! a revelation of the value of the soul. there are great rejoicings on earth when a battle is won, or upon the occasion of the visit of some great statesman or warrior, or when some great commercial enterprise is successful, but these things do not cause joy in heaven. the conversion of one soul--it may be a child, or a young man, or an old woman--the conversion of one soul, that it is that makes a gala day in heaven. now god sees every thing just as it is, and if there are such rejoicings in heaven when a soul is won, what must be the value of a soul! let us confess the truth, we have not thought enough of the value of a soul. we have thought too much of the world, of its pleasures, of its profits, of its honors, but too little of our own souls. we have not thought of them as god thinks of them. let us then strive to exalt our ideas, by considering some of the reasons why we should put a high value on our souls. { } in the first place, we should value a human soul, because it is in itself superior to any thing else in the world. the whole world, indeed, with every thing in it, is good, for god made it. but he proceeded in a very different manner in the creation of the material world from what he did when he made the soul. he made the world, the trees, the rivers, the lights of heaven, the living creatures on the earth, by the mere word of his power. "_god said, be light made. and light was made_." [footnote ] and god said, "_let the earth bring forth the green herb, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind. and it was so_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i., .] [footnote : gen. i., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is gen. i., , .] but when he made the soul, the scriptures tell us, "_he breathed into the face of man and he became a living soul_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is gen. ii., .] by this action we are to understand that god communicated to man a nature kindred to his own divinity. the holy ghost, the third person of the blessed trinity, is the uncreated spirit of god, eternally breathing forth and proceeding from the father and the son; and god when he breathed into the face of man, signified that he imparted to man a creative spirit kindred to his own eternal spirit. { } the holy scriptures indeed, expressly tell us that such was the case; "_let us make man to our image and our likeness_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i., - .] this likeness consisted in the possession of understanding and free will, the power of knowledge and love--the two great attributes of god himself. you are then, my brethren, endowed with a soul which raises you immeasurably above god's material creation. you have a soul made after god's image. this is the source of your power. the two things go together in holy scripture. "_let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. ii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is gen. i., .] in the state of original innocence, no doubt, this dominion was more perfect, but even now it exists in a great degree. "_every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. james iii., .] { } see how a little boy can drive a horse. see how a dog obeys his master's eye and voice. see how even lions and tigers become submissive to their keepers. and the elements, often wilder than ferocious beasts, are obedient to you. the fire warms you and cooks for you, and carries you when you want to travel for business or pleasure. the wind fans the sails of your vessels, and the waters make a path for them under your feet. even the lightning leaps and exults to do your bidding and to be the messenger of your will. thus every thing falls down before you and does you homage, and proclaims you lord and master. what is the reason that every thing thus honors you? it is on account of the soul that is in you--the power of reason and will--the godlike nature with which you are endowed. yes, and your soul is the source of your beauty, too. in what consists the beauty of a man? is it a mere regularity of form and feature? do you judge of a man as you do of a horse or a dog? no; the most exquisitely chiseled features do not interest you, until you see intelligence light up the eye, and charity irradiate the countenance--then you are captivated. { } a man may be a perfect model of grace in his movements without exciting you, but when he becomes warm with inspirations of wisdom and virtue, when his words flow, his eye sparkles, his breast heaves, his whole frame becomes alive with the emotions of his soul, then it is you are carried away, you are ready almost to fall down and worship. what is the reason that christian art has so far surpassed heathen art? the madonna so far more beautiful than the venus de medicis? it is because the heathens portrayed the beauty of dead matter; the christians portrayed the beauty of the soul. and if the soul is so beautiful in the little rays that escape from the body, what must it be in itself? god has divided his universe into several orders, and we find the lowest in a superior order higher than the highest in the inferior order. the soul, then, is more beautiful than any thing material. "_she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars; being compared with the light she is found before it_." [footnote ] [footnote : wisdom vii., .] { } oh, my brethren, do not admire men for their form, or their dress, or their grace, but admire them for the soul that is in them, for that is the true source of their beauty. it is also the secret of their destiny. god did not give you this great gift to be idle. he gave it for a worthy end. he gave understanding that you might know him, and free will that you might love him; and this is the true destiny of man. you were not made to toil here for a few days, and then to perish. you were made to know god, to be the friend of god, the companion of god, to think of god, to converse with god, to be united to god here, and then to enjoy god hereafter forever. once more then, i say, do not admire a man for his wealth, or his appearance, or his learning. do not ask whether he is poor or rich, ignorant or learned, from what nation he springs, whether he lives in a cabin or palace. let it be enough that he is a man, possessed of understanding and free will, spiritual and immortal, with a soul and an eternal destiny. that is enough. bow down before him with respect. yes, respect yourselves--not for your birth, or your station, or your wealth, but for your manhood. { } "_let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches. but let him that glorieth glory in this, that_ he understandeth and knoweth me." [footnote ] yes, my brethren, this is your true dignity, the soul that is in you--the soul, that makes you capable of knowing and loving god. [footnote : jer. ix., , .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is jer. ix., , .] and yet, there is another reason why you should value your souls, besides their intrinsic excellence--i mean, the great things that have been done for them. do you ask me what has been done for your souls? i ask you to look above you, and around you, and under you. oh, how fair the earth is! see these rivers and hills! look on the green grass! behold the blue vault of heaven! well, this is the palace god has prepared for you above; nay, not for your abode--your dwelling-place is beyond the skies, where "_the light of the moon is as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven fold, as the light of seven days_,"-- but for the place of your sojourn. this earth was made for you; and, as your destiny is eternal, therefore the earth must have been made to subserve your eternal destiny. { } why does the sun rise in the morning, and go down at night? it is for you--for your soul. why do summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, return so regularly? it is for you, and your salvation. the earth is for the elect. when the elect shall be completed, the earth, having done its work, will be destroyed. this is the end to which, in god's design, all things are tending. god does not look at the world, or its history, as we do. we say: "here such a great battle was fought;" "there such a celebrated man was born;" "in this epoch such an empire took its rise, such a dynasty came to an end." but god says: "here it was a little child died after baptism, and went straight to heaven;" "there it was i recovered that gifted soul, which had wandered away into error and sin, but which afterward became so great in sanctity;" "in such an age it was that i lost that great nation which fell away from the faith, and in such another, by the preaching of my missionary, i won whole peoples from heathenism." i know we shrink from this in half unbelief. when it is brought home to us that this little earth is the centre of god's counsels, and our souls of the universe, we are amazed and offended. { } but so it is. "_all things work together unto good to them that love god_." [footnote ] all things; not blindly, but by the overruling providence of him who made them for this end. [footnote : rom. viii., .] do you ask me what has been done for your souls? i answer, the church has been established for them. look at the church, and see how many are her officers and members--bishops, priests, levites, teachers, students. all are yours--all are for you. for you the pope sits on his throne; for you bishops rule their sees; for you the priest goes up to the altar; for you the teacher takes his chair, and the student grows pale in the search for science. that the apostolic commission might come down to you, st. peter and st. linus and cletus ordained bishops in the churches. that the true doctrine of christ might come down to you uncorrupted, the fathers of the church gathered in council, at nice, and ephesus, and chalcedon, and trent. that you might hear of the glad tidings of christ, st. paul and st. patrick labored and died. for you, for each one of you, as if there were no other, the great machinery of grace, if i may express myself so coarsely, goes on. { } do you ask what has been done for your souls? angels and archangels, and thrones and dominions, and principalities and powers--all the hosts of heaven--have labored for them. "_are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?_" [footnote ] for you the whole court of heaven is interested, and one bright particular angel is commissioned to be your guardian. for you st. gabriel flew on his message of joy to the blessed virgin mary, and st. michael, the standard-bearer, waits at the gate of death. [footnote : heb. i., .] do you ask what has been done for your souls? from all eternity god has thought of them, the means of salvation been determined on, the chain of graces arranged. and the son of god has worked for them. galilee, and judea, and calvary were the scenes of his labors on earth, and on his mediatorial throne in heaven he carries on still his unceasing labors in our behalf. { } and the holy ghost has worked. he spake by the prophets, and on the day of pentecost he came to take up his abode in the church, never to be overcome by error, or grieved away by sin, to vivify the sacraments, and to enlighten the hearts of the faithful by the preaching of the gospel and his own holy inspirations. why, who are you, my brethren? the woman at endor, when she had pierced the disguise of saul, and knew that she was talking with a king, was afraid, and "_said with a loud voice: why hast thou deceived me, for thou art saul?_" [footnote ] [footnote : kings xxviii., .] [transcribers note: the usccb reference is i. samuel xxviii. .] so, i ask you, who are you? i look upon your faces, and i see nothing to make me afraid; but faith tears away the disguise, and i see each one of you radiant with light, a true prince, and an heir of heaven. i look above, and see heaven open and the angels of god ascending and descending on errands of which you are the object. i look higher yet, and i see god the father watching you with anxiety, and the son offering his blood for you, and the holy ghost pleading with you, and the saints and angels, some with folded hands supplicating for you, and others pointing with outstretched hand to the glorious throne reserved in heaven for you. { } have you, my brethren, so regarded yourselves? have you valued that soul of yours? have you kept it as your most sacred treasure? is it now safe and secure? oh, how carefully do men keep a treasure they value highly! kings spend many thousand dollars yearly just to take care of a few jewels. the crown jewels of england are kept, as you know, in the tower. it is a heavy fortress, guarded by soldiers who are always on watch. at each door and avenue there is an armed sentinel. the jewels themselves are kept in glass cases, and visitors are not allowed to touch them. and all these pains and outlay to take care of a few stones that have come down to the queen by descent, or been taken from her enemies! and that precious soul of yours, before which all the wealth of the world is but worthless dross--with what care have you kept that? alas! every door has been left open. no guard has been at your eyes to keep out evil looks. no guard at your ears to keep out the whispers of temptation. { } no guard at your lips to stop the way to the profane or filthy word. nay, not only have you kept up no guard, but you have carried your soul where soul-thieves congregate. the holy scripture says: "_a net is spread in vain before the eyes of a bird_." [footnote ] [footnote : prov. i., .] yes, the birds and beasts are cunning enough to avoid an open snare; but you go rashly into dangers that are apparent to all but you. sinners lie in wait for you. they say, in the language of scripture: "_come, let us lie in wait for blood; let us hide snares for the innocent without cause. let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit_."--and you trust yourself in their power. oh, fly from them! consider the treasure you carry. "_what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?_" will you sin against your own soul? you that are made after god's likeness; you that are princely and of noble rank, will you defile that image, and degrade yourselves to a level with the brutes that perish? { } but there are others whose offence is of an other kind. they let their salvation go by sheer neglect. if a man plants a seed, he must water it, or it will not grow. so the soul needs the dew of god's grace; and prayer and the sacraments are the channels of god's grace. yet how men neglect the sacraments! even at easter, when we are obliged to receive them, some absent themselves. it has been a matter of the keenest pain to us to miss some members of this congregation during the late paschal season. you say, you have nothing on your conscience, and it is not necessary to go to confession. but is it not necessary to go to communion? will you venture to deprive yourselves of that food of which, unless ye eat, the saviour has said: "_ye have no life in you?_" oh! you have a sad story to tell. you have fallen into mortal sin, and you are afraid to come. but do you think we have none of the charity of the angels? only convert truly, for it is a true conversion that gives the angels joy, and we can give you the promise that thomas à kempis puts into the mouth of him whose place we fill: "how often soever a man truly repents and comes to me for grace and pardon, as i live, saith the lord, who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, i will not remember his sins any more, but all shall be pardoned him." { } and to you, my brethren, who, during the easter season just past, have recovered the grace of god, i have a word of advice to give in conclusion. keep your souls with all diligence. keep your souls; that is your chief, your only care. keep them by fleeing from the occasions of sin. keep them by overcoming habitual sins. nourish them by prayer and the sacraments. how great a disgrace, that all the irrational world should do the will of god, and you, the rulers of the world, should not do it! "_the kite in the air hath known her time; the turtle, and the swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming; but my people have not known the judgment of the lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. viii., .] how great an evil it is in a state when an unworthy ruler is at its head. the people mourn and languish, and at last rebel. so, when a man neglects the end for which he was made, the whole creation cries out against him. the stones under his feet cry out. the air he breathes, the food he eats, protest against the abuse he makes of them. { } balaam's ass rebuked the madness of the prophet; so when you live in sin, the very beasts reproach you. your horse, your cow, your dog, your pigs cry out: "if we had souls we would not be as you. now we serve god blindly, and of necessity; but if we had souls, it would be our pride and happiness to give him our willing service." all things praise the lord;--"showers and dew;" "fire and heat;" "mountains and hills;" "seas and rivers;" "beasts and cattle." o, sons of men, make not a discord in the universal harmony! receive not your souls in vain! serve god; "praise him and exalt him forever." --------------------- { } sermon xix. merit the measure of reward. "behold, i come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his work." --apoc. xxii., . society is made up of numerous classes of persons, of very varied position and attainments. how marked is the line, for instance, which divides the man who lives in the fifth avenue, anywhere below fortieth street, from the occupant of a shanty on the outskirts of the city! again, what point of contact is there between the man of science or literature, whose life is spent in intellectual pursuits, and the vacant lounger that hangs around our steamboat landings and wharves? these men move in separate spheres, and have scarcely anything in common. { } they are like two different races of men. the difference is perhaps less marked in this country than elsewhere, inasmuch as royalty and nobility and hereditary titles do not exist here. but even in this country there is a clear line of division between distinct classes of persons. shall this always be so? shall these accidental and artificial barriers survive death? how will it be in heaven? no, my dear brethren, these particular lines of division, of rich and poor, learned and unlearned, shall cease with this world; but others will be set up in their place. there is an aristocracy, there is a hierarchy, in heaven. st. paul, after saying, "_there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differeth from star in glory_," adds, "_so also is the resurrection of the dead_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. xv., , .] st. teresa calls this difference "a prodigious inequality." we must not imagine, however, that these various ranks of glory in heaven are founded upon such accidents as birth or good fortune. they are founded upon that proportion of merit which we shall have gained, each one by his good deeds in this life. { } the amount of grace and personal holiness that we possess when we appear in judgment before the lord, this, and not wealth, or position, or gifts of any kind, will be the standard by which we take a high or low place there. it is about this principle of "personal merit" before god, and in view of heaven, that i am going to speak to you this morning. in order to do this, i shall speak of the certainty of merit, of the sources of merit, and the conditions of merit. i. the certainty of merit. what is meant by merit? it is that supernatural reward, which god has promised by way of justice, to a good work done in the state of grace. god has made a contract with us, as it were, in virtue of which he has given us the privilege of claiming eternal happiness from him on certain conditions. let me show you how this is the teaching of holy scripture. "_rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, v., .] { } our lord, you see, uses the word reward which i have used. "_every one shall receive his own reward according to his labor_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. iii., .] st. paul here adds another idea to that of reward, namely, that it shall be given according to one's labor, or good works. this is what our lord says in the words of my text: "_behold i come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his work_." "_for the rest there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the lord the just judge will give me in that day; and not to me only, but to them also who love his coming_." [footnote ] [footnote : tim. iv., .] in this passage st. paul tells us another truth about the principle of final rewards. he says they shall be given by way of justice. the time for mercy will then have passed, and we shall be weighed in the balance of justice, and our reward shall be in strict proportion to the weight of merit we have cast into the scale. "_therefore, my beloved brethren_ (he writes to the corinthians), _be ye firm and immovable, always abounding in the work of the lord; knowing that your labor is not in vain in the lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. xv., .] { } then, there is that passage of which i have already spoken, where st. paul illustrates the diversity of rewards. "_for there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. so also shall it be in the resurrection from the dead._" thus from holy scripture we get these several facts with regard to the rewards of the next life, namely, first, that it is a reward, and not merely a favor from god. next, that it is a reward for good works. thirdly, that this reward is given by way of justice. and lastly, that these rewards differ as widely from one another as do the several lights of the sun, moon, and stars. but of what use is holy scripture to us without her interpretation, whose office it is to interpret, as it has been to preserve it? i will quote you two, out of many, decrees which the holy church made on this matter at the council of trent. "if any one shall say that the just ought not for their good works done in god, to expect and hope for an eternal recompense from god, through his mercy and the merits of jesus christ, if so be that they persevere to the end in well doing, and in keeping the divine commandments, let him be anathema." { } again, "if any one shall say that the good works of a justified man are in such sense the gifts of god, that they are not also the merits of the justified man himself, let him be anathema." it is then certain, both from holy scripture and from the decisions of holy church, that we can merit the possession of heaven as a right, by our good works. but you will say, if this be true, does it not tend to cherish in us a spirit of self-sufficiency, and of independence of god? no, it does not; and for the reasons i am now going to give you, in speaking on the second point, namely: ii. the sources of merit. there are two sources of merit, neither of which are in ourselves, but both of them are in god. one is the goodness of god; the other, the merits of christ. . my brethren, god is not bound to his creatures except so far as he has been pleased to bind himself. he could have lived on as well without any creation at all. and even now that he has created our race, his promise is the only measure of our rights and privileges. these promises were forfeited by our first parents, and god might never have renewed them to us, their posterity. { } but "_god so loved the world as to give his only begotten son, that whoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting_." [footnote ] [footnote : john iii., .] "_behold what charity the father hath bestowed upon us_," says st. john in his epistle, "_that we should be called, and that we should be the sons of god_." [footnote ] [footnote : john iii., .] it is because we are sons of god, "and joint heirs with christ," that god has honored us so much, and made it possible for us to merit by our good works. in order however, to keep us humble and to make us mindful that in all things we are indebted to his goodness, god has reserved to himself two graces which we cannot merit, and without which we cannot be saved. these are the gifts of sanctifying grace and of final perseverance. a man is not likely to take airs upon himself and be insolent to you, when he is lying on the broad of his back in the road, and cannot stir hand or foot to help himself. no, he is most likely to address you in terms of supplication and entreaty. { } well, this is our condition when god, of his pure love, bestows upon us the gift of sanctifying grace. then, again, though we should have this gift to-day, we may lose it to-morrow, and but for god's continued graces we would infallibly lose it. can you imagine a dependence which is more pure than ours is upon god? an infant is not more dependent upon its mother for the preservation of its physical life, than we are upon god for our spiritual life. "give us this day our daily bread," is our every morning prayer. we are like little birds in a nest before they are able to fly. all we can do is to make a piteous cry, and hold up our mouths to be filled. where, then, is there room for presumption in such teaching as this? now, let me go on to my second source of merit, which is the merit of christ. . we are in a double sense indebted to our blessed lord. he is not only our creator, our preserver, and our benefactor, but he is also our redeemer. it is by his bitter passion and death, and in union with these, that what we do in his name has a value and a price in the sight of the eternal father. it is that precious blood of his which is poured into our soul in holy baptism; it is that precious blood of his which we drink in holy communion, that constitutes the pure and holy source of every good and meritorious act of ours. { } he has himself explained how this is, in the parable of the vine. "_i am the vine, ye the branches. he that abideth in me, and i in him, he beareth much fruit_." [footnote ] [footnote : john xv., .] let us now try to get at our lord's meaning. it is quite common nowadays to see a grapery in a gentleman's country garden. the entire roof of those ornamental glass-houses is covered with luxuriant vines; and they in turn are loaded with rich green leaves, and with beautiful bunches of grapes. the sap has made its course through the length of the vine, and into the various branches. here it has forced out a green leaf, and there a bunch of fruit. these it continues to feed, by a continuous flow, until the leaf has gained its size and color, and the fruit its delicacy of flavor. both leaf and fruit owe their existence, their beauty, and whatever is excellent in them, to this sap, which is the source of all; but will you say that they do not have these things in themselves? will you say that the grapes are not really fine flavored, but only called so because they belong to an excellent vine? { } no, certainly not. you say the grapes are fine, because they really are fine, because they answer in point of taste to what you understand by that term. they have in themselves a something which is not accidental to them, but which is an essential quality in grapes of that kind, namely, that delicate flavor which has established their worth. now, apply this to ourselves. we are united to our lord through the sacraments, as branches to a vine. his grace is that precious sap which has been let in upon our souls, through those seven main channels. they cleanse and purify our souls. they sanctity them, and make them beautiful and pleasing to god. the acts of the soul, so long as it is united to god by this divine gift of grace, are at the same time the acts of grace. they are good and meritorious, inasmuch as they are done by the co-operation of grace with our intelligence and free will. by rewarding such acts as these, god rewards the works of his own hands. this is what st. augustine says: "when god crowns our merits, he does no more than crown his own gifts." { } let me illustrate this in another way. st. paul says, in his second epistle to the corinthians, "_i have espoused you to one husband, that i may present you as a chaste virgin to christ_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. xi., .] here he calls the soul the wife, and christ its husband. by this we are to understand, that the grace of christ in the soul enables it first to conceive good desires, and then to bring forth good works, which are, as it were, the children of the soul. thus a dignity and worth are communicated to them, which are, in a true sense, divine. suppose, for instance, a prince of royal blood were to marry a peasant girl. her children would unquestionably have royal blood in their veins, how ever obscure may have been the parentage of their mother. they would be entitled to the right of succession, and could claim the throne of their father. well, in like manner our good works, having god as their author, are able to claim from him a supernatural reward. { } iii. the conditions of merit. there is one condition of being able to do a good supernatural work, which always comes first, and that is, that the person shall be in the state of grace when he does it. god can find no pleasure in us so long as our will and affections are turned away from him, and this is the case when we are in mortal sin. again, our merit will be in proportion to the excellence of the work in itself considered. one apple is better than another, though both have grown upon the same branch. to attend the bedside of some poor sick person, is a more excellent work than merely to bestow an alms upon him. to be contrite for one's sins, is more excellent than to do penitential works in expiation of them. to forgive the injury of one's enemy, is more excellent than to pardon the unkindness of an acquaintance. the poorest effort at self-control, is better than the best advice given to another. i remember a story which shows what even one excellent work will do for a soul. it is in "the lives of the fathers of the desert." a monk, who was serving god with much prayer and self-denial, was tempted with the desire to see a man whose merit in the sight of god should be the very counterpart of his own. god gratified his weakness. he was directed to go to a certain inn in a neighboring village where he would see such a man. { } on reaching it, there stood before the door a poor fiddler playing for pennies. the monk understood, by an interior light, that this was the man. much surprised, and rather mortified too, he nevertheless addressed the fiddler, and asked him what sort of a life he had led, and what he was then doing for god? he answered, that he had, for many years, gained a poor but honest livelihood in the same humble employment. that as to his having done any thing very good, he did not know about that, although there was one thing that he always remembered with a great deal of satisfaction. "with some danger to myself, i once rescued a poor girl from those who would have ruined her." the good monk was made to understand, that for preventing that outrage, god had raised this poor fiddler to a great purity of soul. a good work, again, is more excellent in proportion as it is more difficult. what a consolation this ought to be to us! how hard we think it sometimes to get on in life, with its multiplied vexations and discouragements! { } we say, "what a strange world!" "what a weary world!" in the language of holy scripture we say, "_in the morning, who will grant me evening? and at evening, who will grant me morning?_" [footnote ] as though things were turning out very different from what we had a right to expect. [footnote : deut. xxviii., .] [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is deut. xxviii., .] ah! god has been good to us in the planning out of our lives, better than we should be, if we had all the planning to ourselves. i have shown you that future rewards are to be determined by merit; now our merits are measured by our trials. by your own admission then, this world, in being full of trials, most completely answers the end for which god created it. if we could but get into the habit of looking at things from this point of view, the face of life would be lit up with a perpetual sunshine. yes, the harder our state of life is to bear, the more difficulties we find in following our lord, the more laborious the work, so much the brighter are our prospects for the life to come, if we prove faithful to the end. { } how well the mother of the maccabees, that noble woman, knew this! holy scripture says: "_she was to be admired above measure, and worthy to be remembered by good men, who beheld her seven sons slain in the space of one day, and bore it with a good courage for the hope she had in god_." [footnote ] [footnote : maccabees vii., .] as the youngest, her last and dearest, was about to be put to death, she encouraged him to be resolute; and he went to a martyr's reward under the influence of a consoling thought, which he thus beautifully expressed: "_my brethren having now undergone a short pain, are under the covenant of eternal life_." again, our merit is in proportion to the purity of the intention with which we do the work. the intention we make, either actual or habitual, is the chalice, as it were, in which we make our offerings to god. it is even more than this; for the excellence of the intention is imparted to the work itself, and becomes the measure of its merit. i once saw some wooden goblets in the window of an apothecary shop. being curious to know what they were for, i was told by the clerk that they were made of quassia, a peculiar kind of wood which imparted to pure water, when drank from these goblets, a most healthy tonic. { } now, so it is with a pure intention. if the work that we do for god is only pure and good in itself, the intention will communicate to it its own peculiar excellence, and the work will receive the reward of that excellence, which has become its own. suppose, for instance, you hear mass from a mere motive of duty, as being a catholic. it is a supernatural work, and it will secure a supernatural reward. but to that intention you have added another the next time you hear mass; namely, the intention of doing penance for your sins. well, the same act is now doubly meritorious. the third time you hear mass from a pure desire to make reparation to our lord for all the injuries he has received in the blessed sacrament, and your intention is more excellent still, and, if united with the other two, will merit a three-fold reward. again, great merit is gained by small things done for god. this is surely very encouraging for us who have not the abilities, or the opportunities, of doing great things. of course i mean great things as the world views them. { } a check put upon a wrong thought; the arrest of an improper word; the silence to which we have forced ourselves, when we feel within us the swelling of anger; the call we make upon a sick neighbor in passing; the alms we bestow, however small; the effort to be patient under sickness or pain; the kind word of advice to the erring; each such act as these, will be a passport at the gate of heaven. and now, dear brethren, i repeat once more what i said when i began. there is an aristocracy, there is a hierarchy, in heaven. as there are nine choirs of angels, and, so st. john tells us, except "the one hundred and forty four thousand" who had consecrated their virgin bodies as first-fruits to god, none could sing the "_new song_" or "_follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth_," so shall it be forever. i will say more; and this is what i wish especially to impress upon your minds. you must already have gathered it from what i have said. it is this. that aristocracy, that hierarchy, is in process of formation at this moment. it is not determined by an arbitrary choice in heaven, but on the principle of personal merit, here on earth. { } how is it with a large body of students at one of our colleges or universities? they are class-mates, or even room-mates, for years, but look at them after the lapse of twenty years, and what are their respective positions? one is a merchant, in a small way, in a country town of a new state; while the other is representing his country as minister at a first-class foreign court. one is a village physician, while the other is the nation's choice to fill the presidential chair. so shall it be with families. some will scarcely be saved, while others will fill up the ranks of the seraphs, which were broken at the time of lucifer's rebellion. where, i ask, shall our place be in this hierarchy? our lord says: "_the last shall be first, and the first last_." where shall we be? grace and a good will are the only materials wanting in the formation of a saint aloysius, a saint stanislas, or a saint elizabeth of hungary; and these are in the reach of every one. what shall i say in conclusion, dear brethren, to spur you on to do good works? i will ask you to look back upon the past. does it not lie in your memory in all the blackness and barrenness of a western prairie, over which the desolating fire of the savage has passed? { } where can you find the trace of any real care of your souls? where your good works? where your merit? at least let us resolve now, while our hearts are warm, that we will improve the present, remembering that "_what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap;_" and that "_he that soweth in the spirit, shall reap life everlasting_." [footnote ] [footnote : gal. vi., .] --------------- { } sermon xx. self-denial. "we came into the land to which thou sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey, as may be known by these fruits." --num. xiii., . [transcriber's note: the usccb reference is num. xiii., .] (a sermon for the first sunday in lent.) when the ancient people of israel, after traversing the desert of arabia, drew nigh to the promised land of canaan, moses, their prophet and leader, sent out one of every tribe to view the country, that they might be able to bring back an accurate account of it--of its productiveness, the number and strength of its population, and its means of defence. these spies, upon their return, were all agreed in regard to the wonderful fertility of the country, but in other respects their account was very discordant. { } one of their number, caleb the son of jephone, was full of enthusiasm, and said to the people: "_let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to take it!_" but the others that had been with him spoke ill of the country, representing it as unhealthy, and impossible to be conquered. "_the land which we have viewed devoureth its inhabitants; the people that we beheld are of a tall stature. there we saw monsters of the sons of enac, of the giant kind, in comparison of whom we seemed like locusts_." why did these last give such a different account from the first? it was because they were cowardly, and afraid of the inhabitants of canaan, and this blinded them to the fertility of its soil, its fine fruits and great beauty. their fears caused them to exaggerate difficulties, and to overlook blessings which were within their reach. this party of pusillanimous israelites represent a portion of the christian world in our day, who, taking counsel of their fears, and consulting their ease, speak of the practice of self-denial, and the virtue of penance, as something to be dreaded, unnecessary, and even criminal. "_it is a land which devoureth its inhabitants!_" { } they imagine insurmountable obstacles in the way. "_we saw there monsters of the sons of enac, of the giant kind_." if their souls were of a more robust make, if their hearts were a little larger, their error would be dispelled, and they would see that a life of christian mortification, instead of devouring them, would introduce them to the enjoyment of spiritual advantages and pleasures such as they never yet conceived of. they would find it a land "_which in very deed floweth with milk and honey, as may be known by these fruits_." their error concerning the virtue of self-denial is owing in some measure to a misconception of its true meaning. to establish its true meaning, let us ask ourselves first of all, what is a true christian life? the little catechism tells us that man was created to know god, to love him and to serve him in this world, and be forever happy with him in the next. a true christian life, then, consists in knowing, loving and serving god. if we give any other direction to our thoughts, or affections, or actions, we live falsely. self-denial, as a christian virtue, consists in renouncing all misdirection of the powers of the soul, or in setting aside all things which stand in the way of our realizing the great end for which we were created. complete self-denial places the soul in true and complete relations with god. { } man has become in a great measure the servant and slave of the appetites and passions of his inferior nature, and by every act of self-denial he recovers his lost superiority, and renders himself again their master. whenever, therefore, we find our passions and appetites are leading us astray, we should resist them, and practise self-denial and mortification. if a man, for instance, finds that his sensual appetites lead him to gluttony and drunkenness, he should fast and practise sobriety. if pride and vanity are entering his heart, he should exercise himself in humility. when he finds that the love of riches is making him miserly, he should be liberal to the poor. anger must be overcome by meekness, incontinence by chastity, and sloth by vigilance and action. briefly, the office of self-denial is to deny to the instincts of our lower nature what is contrary to right reason, and to god's holy law. { } should there, however, arise conflicting claims between our higher and lower nature, then the renunciation of one good for another of a higher order must be practised; according to the words of christ: "_if thine eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt, xviii., .] for what, after all, are created things, or the members of a man's body, or even his life, compared with the eternal salvation of his soul? men do not hesitate to sacrifice the less to save the greater; to cut away the masts of a ship in a storm to save the vessel; to amputate a limb to save the whole body. it is on this principle that our lord declares that, "_it is better for thee that one of thy members should perish, than that thy whole body should go into hell_." again our lord says, on the same point, "_if any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sister, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xiv., .] the meaning of our lord is not that there is in these human ties any thing contrary to god's law, for his commandment to us is, "honor thy father and thy mother;" "love thy neighbor as thyself." { } the meaning of the text is; if your father, or your mother, or your wife or children, or your brother or sister, or even your own life, should stand in the way of your duty to god, then they must be subordinated, or even sacrificed, to your obedience and duty to him. our duty to god is supreme; and when the question arises of obeying him or clinging to something else we possess or prize, he is content with nothing less than an unconditional surrender. so, then, self-denial is practised not to deny one's self of any thing that is a real good, but in regulating what is disorderly, in repressing what is excessive, in renouncing what is evil, that we may come in possession of our sovereign good. it aims at restraining the excesses of our animal instincts, and holding them in subjection to reason, and not at their destruction. for, in themselves considered, there is nothing even in our animal instincts which is irreconcilable with the perfection of the soul. the same may be said of all human relationships; if they are not made to stand in the way of our salvation, and the keeping of the divine law, they render our natural life the more complete, and the obligation for their renunciation ceases. { } did not christ look upon mankind with human eyes, and make all our human feelings his own? as a son he obeyed his mother until his death; and even while suffering on the cross, such was his filial love and solicitude for her welfare, that he gave her in charge to his beloved disciple. as a friend, he wept at the death of lazarus. in fine, all human sympathies, sorrows, and woes, found a home in his bosom. no, there is nothing in all created things, nor in human nature, even in its lowest appetites and passions, which may not be brought into harmony with reason, be reconciled with what holds the first place in the rank of our duties, and be made to contribute and adorn the perfection of the soul. for it is not the purpose of christianity to supersede man's nature; it supposes his nature. christianity would be of no account independent of human nature. christianity finds us men, and leaves us men; gentle, not cowardly; child-like, not childish; amiable, not effeminate; zealous, not fanatical; earnest, not narrow-minded; pious, not weak; humble, not abject; full of faith, and yet rational; obedient, not slavish; mortified, not mutilated; for christ died to save man, and not to transmute man into something else. christianity demands for its fullest manifestation the most complete nature. the more we are men, the greater our capacity for christianity. { } this being so, how strange it is to find men who modestly assume the character of christian philosophers; and yet when the word self-denial, mortification, or asceticism is pronounced in their presence, they startle like one who is about to be exorcised! an ascetic, in their courteous language, is "a miserable victim of a falsely interpreted religion, starved and withered in delusion." miserable victim indeed, if the highest purposes of life are, to gratify our animal instincts and give one's self up to ease and self-indulgence! deluded certainly, if it were our belief, as it was that the heathen, that the grossest indulgence of sensual passions is a part of religious worship! on such a theory, an ascetic is unquestionably a miserable victim! but do these men really fancy that all that lies beyond their mental conceptions is delusion, like the chinese, who look upon all that come from beyond the limits of their country as barbarians? { } can they never learn the simple truth, that the practice of self-denial and kindred virtues, will always correspond in degree to one's conception of the dignity of the human soul, and the greatness of its destiny. or are they cognizant of this truth, but pusillanimous like the jews, who conjured up to their imaginations, "monsters of the sons of enac, of the giant kind," being too cowardly to face the dangers and conquer the enemies which stood between them and the possession of "the land flowing with milk and honey"? strange indeed it is, that these self-called liberal christians are not liberal enough to allow men, who have higher aims than the indulgence of sensual propensity and appetite, to live the life they like! if a man abstains from eating meat, why not let him, if he likes, eat fish? if another is bent on practising entire abstinence, why not allow him to fast? if another fancies he will improve by scourging himself, why not let him whip his body? if another takes the notion to shave his crown and walk with uncovered feet, wherein is he to be blamed? if another seeks the desert, or ensconces himself in a cave, what commandment does he break? what is there criminal in these actions, that there should be displayed so much spleen against those who live in this way? { } christ was born in a stable, he fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert, and often had not a stone to rest his weary head upon. daniel fed upon pulse, and gained both wisdom and health. the baptist fed upon honey and locusts, and "_there has not risen among those that are born of women a greater than john the baptist_." these men were in pursuit of a great object. you perhaps don't perceive it! it is because the object which they aimed at does not lie within your range of vision, but above it. they were hungering and thirsting after the beauty of holiness. this was the great aim of their lives, and they followed it up like men in earnest. "life was to them a battle-field, their hearts a holy land." be true to thyself, o friend; and learn to "_let every one abound in his own sense_," and in thy liberality, "_let all the spirits praise the lord_." { } meanwhile the practice of these virtues richly repays the soul. they restore to the soul her true and perfect liberty. is this not a great boon? suppose that a queen was torn from her throne by a band of ruffians, and being stripped of her royal robes, was clothed in rags, and thrown into a dark and loathsome prison. abuse and contempt are heaped upon her, putrid meat and filthy water are given to her for food and drink. her cries are unheeded, and often she meditates an escape, but the sight of the cold and massive walls around her shake and overpower her resolutions. enfeebled and exhausted, she finally relapses into indifference and despair. now a slight but strange noise reaches her ears. it grows louder and louder. she listens attentively, and to her quick ears the sounds seems to come like blows struck upon her prison walls. they come nearer and grow louder; the iron bars of her cell give way under them; friends enter and her chains are broken. she steps forth free, breathes once more the fresh air, sees the fair world around her, and she is replaced with increased splendor and dignity upon her throne. can you not easily imagine that every stroke she heard given against her prison walls, must have sent a thrill of joy through her whole frame? { } what language can express the gratitude which filled her heart toward her deliverers? and this is simply the picture of a soul which has been subject to the demands of its lower appetites and passions, and has been freed by the practice of self-denial. for what prison walls are so strong as the tyranny of passion over the soul? what degradation is equal to that of a christian enslaved by vice? what food is so loathsome to the body as lust and sensuality must be to a soul made for wisdom and virtue? what comparison is there between the relief felt at escaping from a material prison to the liberation of the soul from the fetters of sin, free to breathe the pure air of angels, and feed on celestial joys. oh! blessed virtue of penance which emancipates the soul, and restores that image of god which is stamped upon it, to its original beauty and splendor! besides, penance renders a man invincible against his spiritual foes. the mortified man is like a horse in the open fields. you may approach him with a halter in hand, and almost lay your hands upon him, but he easily escapes your grasp. { } so the devil may approach a man who has gained mastery over his appetites and inordinate affections, with his temptations, and the opportunity of committing sin ready at hand, but he has no power to capture or bind him. but the self-indulgent man has not the moral life to resist, nor the strength to escape; he is easily led into sin and made the slave of the devil. the mortified man is like a flower which draws nothing but its necessary nourishment from the earth, and that through a slender stem, while it opens wide its bosom to the light and air of heaven; so he, by self-denial, has narrowed all those avenues of his soul which lie earthward, while his whole mind is open to the contemplation of god, and his heart is filled with the taste of his sweetness. moreover, it renders the practice of prayer easy. all the irregular movements of our lower nature being subdued, the soul thus disengaged is able to think steadfastly on god, and attend to his inspiration, according to those words of the divine spouse in scripture: "_i will lead her into the solitude, and will speak to her heart, and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth_." [footnote ] [footnote : osee ii., .] [transcriber's note: osee refers to hosea.] { } according to the experience of all spiritual men, the spirit of prayer can only spring from, mortification. "give more study to mortification," says lewis da ponte, "than to contemplation, for an unmortified person seeks after the spirit of prayer and cannot find it, whilst prayer itself seeks the man who is truly mortified, and knows how to find him." saint ignatius once heard one say in the praise of a great servant of god: "he is a great man of prayer." the saint replied, "no, he is a man of great mortification." and on another occasion he remarked, that "a quarter of an hour spent in prayer is sufficient to unite a mortified man closely to god; whereas an unmortified man would not obtain this in two hours." "he who does not live according to the corruption of the senses," says st. john of the cross, "has the consolation to see all the operations of the powers of his soul tend to the contemplation of god as to their centre." finally, it fills the soul with spiritual consolations, according to the words of holy scripture. "_who is this that cometh up from the desert flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?_" [footnote ] [footnote : cant. viii., .] { } while the heart is disturbed with irregular affections and filled with inordinate love for created things, divine love cannot enter it. the desert of which solomon speaks in the passage just quoted, is produced in the soul by the renunciation and mortification of the irregular movements of the sensual appetites, and the soul then goes forth to meet the celestial spouse; and as all obstacles to his love are removed, she is filled with his divine consolation. and thus supported by her beloved, the practice of every virtue becomes easy. "whilst my heart was dilated with thy consolations, i ran in the way of thy commandments." [footnote ] oh, blessed penance, which recovers for the soul its supreme good, and gives it here a foretaste of paradise! [footnote : psalm cxviii.] [transcriber's note: this appears to be a paraphrase of psalm cxix., .] let us, then, enter upon the duties of lent with the conviction of their necessity and their high importance. let us manfully conquer all our repugnances to the works of penance enjoined by holy church; for every act of self-denial and mortification of sensuality will open avenues of true spiritual joy to the soul. { } let us pass through this holy season with sincerity and confidence, practising all its requirements, that it may be said of us also, "_who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning on her beloved?_" for only those who take part in the penances of lent can share in the joys of easter. transcribers note: the typesetting in the book was poor, all errors have been retained as printed. [illustration: g. l. brown. s. schoff. landing of the pilgrims at plimouth th. dec. .] the sin and danger of self-love described, in a sermon preached at plymouth, in new-england, , by robert cushman. with a memoir of the author. boston: published by charles ewer, and for sale by crocker & brewster, samuel g. drake, little & brown, james munroe & company, benjamin perkins, and james loring. dec. , . biographical sketch, by hon. john davis, late judge of the u. s. district court, massachusetts district. robert cushman, the author of the preceding discourse, was one of the most distinguished characters among that collection of worthies, who quitted england on account of their religious difficulties, and settled with mr. _john robinson_, their pastor in the city of leyden, in holland, in the year . proposing afterwards a removal to america in the year , mr. cushman and mr. john carver, (afterwards the first governor of new-plymouth) were sent over to england, as their agents, to agree with the virginia company for a settlement, and to obtain, if possible, a grant of liberty of conscience in their intended plantation, from king james. from this negotiation though conducted on their part with great discretion and ability, they returned unsuccessful to leyden, in may . they met with no difficulty indeed with the virginia company, who were willing to grant them sufficient territory, with as ample privileges as they could bestow: but the pragmatical james, the pretended vicegerent of the deity, refused to grant them that liberty in religious matters, which was their principal object--when this persevering people finally determined to transport themselves to this country, relying upon james's promise that he would _connive_ at, though not expressly _tolerate_ them; mr. cushman was again dispatched to england in february , with mr. william bradford, another of the company, to agree with the virginia company on the terms of their removal and settlement. after much difficulty and delay, they obtained a patent in the september following, upon which part of the church at leyden, with their elder mr. brewster determined to transport themselves as soon as possible. mr. cushman was one of the agents in england to procure money, shipping and other necessaries for the voyage, and finally embarked with them at south-hampton, august th, . but the ship, in which he sailed, proving leaky, and after twice putting into port to repair, being finally condemned as unfit to perform the voyage, mr. cushman with his family, and a number of others were obliged, though reluctantly, to relinquish the voyage for that time and returned to london. those in the other ship proceeded and made their final settlement at plymouth in december , where mr. cushman also arrived in the ship fortune from london, on the th of november , but took passage in the same ship back again, pursuant to the directions of the merchant adventurers in london, (who fitted out the ship and by whose assistance the first settlers were transported) to give them an account of the plantation.[a] he sailed from plymouth december th, , and arriving on the coast of england, the ship, with a cargo, valued at l. sterling, was taken by the french. mr. cushman, with the crew, was carried into france; but arrived in london in the february following. during his short residence at plymouth, though a mere lay character, he delivered the preceding discourse, which was printed in london in , and afterwards re-printed in boston in . and though his name is not prefixed to either edition, yet unquestionable tradition renders it certain that he was the author, and even transmits to us a knowledge of the spot where it was delivered. mr. cushman, though he constantly corresponded with his friends here, and was very serviceable to their interest in london--never returned to the country again, but while preparing for it was removed to a better, in the year . the news of his death and mr. robinson's arrived at the same time at plymouth, by captain standish, and seem to have been equally lamented by their bereaved and suffering friends there. he was zealously engaged in the prosperity of the plantation, a man of activity and enterprise, well versed in business, respectable in point of intellectual abilities, well accomplished in scriptural knowledge, an unaffected professor, and a steady sincere practiser of religion. the design of the following discourse was to keep up the noble flow of public spirit, which perhaps began then to abate, but which was necessary for their preservation and security. [footnote a: it seems to be a mistaken idea that mr. cushman started in the smaller vessel, which put back on account of its proving leaky. this mistake has arisen from the fact that mr. c. was left in england in , and did not come over in the mayflower with the first emigrants. the fact is that mr. cushman procured 'the larger vessel,' the mayflower, and its pilot at london and left in that vessel; but in consequence of the unsoundness of the smaller vessel, the speedwell, it became necessary that part of the pilgrims should be left behind, and consequently mr. cushman, whom gov. bradford called 'the right hand with the adventurers,' and who 'for divers years had managed all our business with them to our great advantage,' was selected as one who would be best able to keep together that portion of the flock left behind. although mr. cushman did not come over in the mayflower, yet such was the respect for him among those who did come, that his name is placed at the head of those who came in that ship, in the allotment of land at a time when he was not in new england. n. b. s.] after the death of mr. cushman, his family came over to new england. his son, thomas cushman, succeeded mr. brewster, as ruling elder of the church of plymouth, being ordained to that office in . he was a man of good gifts, and frequently assisted in carrying on the public worship, preaching, and catechising. for it was one professed principle of that church, in its first formation, 'to choose none for governing elders, but such as were able to teach.' he continued in this office till he died, in , in the eighty-fourth year of his age. letter from judge davis. boston, dec. , . dear sir: having communicated to me your intention of publishing a new edition of robert cushman's memorable discourse, delivered in plymouth, , together with the memoir of the author, which i prepared for the edition printed by nathaniel coverly in plymouth, in ; i take the liberty to advise you to follow for your purpose that copy of the memoir which was inserted by the rev. dr. belknap in the second volume of his american biography, with the addition of some particulars respecting the family, especially of elder thomas cushman, son of robert cushman, and who, like his father, was held in high esteem by all his cotemporaries. the original memoir prepared for the plymouth edition, was anonymous. my highly esteemed friend the rev. dr. belknap, in giving it a place in his valuable work was pleased to announce the name of the writer. the remarks on the discourse originally accompanying the memoir, were prompted by views supposed to have been adopted by the plymouth pioneers respecting property and civil polity, in which i was afterwards convinced i had made a mistake. i had adopted an opinion corresponding with that of dr. robertson and other writers, that misguided by their religious theories and in imitation of the primitive christians, they voluntarily threw all their property into a common stock. and that their difficulties and embarrassments were greatly enhanced by adopting, and perseveringly adhering to an impracticable system. but further inquiry induced the conviction that this conjecture was erroneous, and that the severe pressure they experienced, was in a great degree produced by the operation of their articles of agreement with the adventurers in england, which established a community of interest for seven years, and prevented the holding in severalty the fruits of their industry and enterprise. these views of the subject, and an acknowledgement of my previous mistake, were expressed in a discourse delivered at plymouth, in the year , on the anniversary of the landing of the fathers. the rev. mr. abbot of beverly, afterwards, on a like occasion, without any knowledge of the contents of that discourse, which was not published, was led in his investigation of the subject, into a similar conclusion, and fully vindicated the pilgrims from the censures which had been expressed relative to this branch of their proceedings. the onerous connection with the merchant adventurers remained until , when an amicable and satisfactory settlement was made with them by a purchase of all their interest in the concern. the sum contracted to be given for this purchase, was pounds sterling, payable by instalments of pounds annually. thus says governor bradford in one of his letters: "all now is become our own, as we say in the proverb, when our debts are paid. and doubtless this was a great mercy of god unto us, and a great means of peace and better subsistence, and wholly dashed all the plots and devices of our enemies, both there and here, who daily expected our ruin, dispersion and utter subversion by the same; but their hopes were thus far prevented though with great care and labor, we were left to struggle with the payment of the money." under these impressions i think it will be well for you to omit the insertion of the remarks above mentioned on mr. cushman's discourse. that discourse is a precious relic of ancient times, the sound sense, good advice, and pious spirit, which it manifests, will, it may be hoped, now, and in all future time, meet with approval and beneficial acceptance in our community. the information contained in the note of your correspondent respecting mr. cushman's embarcation, and the assignment of land made to him in the colony, is believed to be correct. _respectfully your ob't. servant_, j. davis. to charles ewer, esq. to his loving friends the adventurers for new-england. together with all well-willers, and well-wishers thereunto, grace and peace, &c. new-england, so called, not only (to avoid novelties) because captain _smith_ hath so entitled it in his description, but because of the resemblance that is in it, of _england_ the native soil of englishmen; it being much what the same for heat and cold in summer and winter, it being champaign ground, but no high mountains, somewhat like the soil in _kent_ and _essex_; full of dales, and meadow ground, full of rivers and sweet springs, as _england_ is. but principally, so far as we can yet find, it is an island, and near about the quantity of _england_, being cut out from the main land in _america_, as _england_ is from the main of _europe_, by a great arm of the sea, which entereth in forty degrees, and runneth up north west and by west, and goeth out either into the south-sea, or else into the bay of _canada_. the certainty whereof, and secrets of which, we have not yet so found as that as eye-witnesses we can make narration thereof, but if god give time and means, we shall, ere long, discover both the extent of that river, together with the secrets thereof; and so try what territories, habitations, or commodities, may be found, either in it, or about it. it pertaineth not to my purpose to speak any thing either in praise, or dispraise of the country; so it is by god's providence, that a few of us are there planted to our content, and have with great charge and difficulty attained quiet and competent dwellings there. and thus much i will say for the satisfaction of such as have any thought of going hither to inhabit? that for men which have a large heart, and look after great riches, ease, pleasures, dainties, and jollity in this world (except they will live by other men's sweat, or have great riches) i would not advise them to come there, for as yet the country will afford no such matters: but if there be any who are content to lay out their estates, spend their time, labors, and endeavors, for the benefit of them that shall come after, and in desire to further the gospel among those poor heathens, quietly contenting themselves with such hardship and difficulties, as by god's providence shall fall upon them, being yet young, and in their strength, such men i would advise and encourage to go, for their ends cannot fail them. and if it should please god to punish his people in the christian countries of _europe_, (for their coldness, carnality, wanton abuse of the gospel, contention, &c.) either by turkish slavery, or by popish tyranny which god forbid, yet if the time be come, or shall come (as who knoweth) when satan shall be let loose to cast out his floods against them, (_rev._ . . .) here is a way opened for such as have wings to fly into this wilderness; and as by the dispersion of the jewish church through persecution, the lord brought in the fulness of the gentiles, (_act._ . , .) so who knoweth, whether now by tyranny and affliction, he suffereth to come upon them, he will not by little and little chase them even amongst the heathens, that so a light may rise up in the dark, (_luke_ . .) and the kingdom of heaven be taken from them which now have it, and given to a people that shall bring forth the fruit of it. (_mat._ . .) this i leave to the judgment of the godly wise, being neither prophet nor son of a prophet, (_amos_ . .) but considering god's dealing of old, (_ kings_ , .) and seeing the name of christian to be very great, but the true nature thereof almost quite lost in all degrees and sects, i cannot think but that there is some judgment not far off, and that god will shortly, even of stones, raise up children unto _abraham_. (_mat._ . .) and who so rightly considereth what manner of entrance, abiding, and proceedings, we have had among these poor heathens since we came hither, will easily think, that god has some great work to do towards them. they were wont to be the most cruel and treacherous people in all these parts, even like lions, but to us they have been like lambs, so kind, so submissive, and trusty, as a man may truly say, many christians are not so kind, nor sincere. they were very much wasted of late, by reason of a great mortality that fell amongst them three years since, which together with their own civil dissentions and bloody wars, hath so wasted them, as i think the twentieth person is scarce left alive, and those that are left, have their courage much abated, and their countenance is dejected, and they seem as a people affrighted. and though when we came first into the country, we were few, and many of us were sick, and many died by reason of the cold and wet, it being the depth of winter, and we having no houses, nor shelter, yet when there was not six able persons among us, and that they came daily to us by hundreds, with their _sachems_ or _kings_, and might in one hour have made a dispatch of us, yet such a fear was upon them, as that they never offered us the least injury in word or deed. and by reason of one _tisquanto_, that lives amongst us, that can speak english, we have daily commerce with their kings, and can know what is done or intended towards us among the savages; also we can acquaint them with our courses and purposes, both human and religious. and the greatest commander of the country, called _massasoit_, cometh often to visit us, tho' he lives miles from us, often sends us presents, he having with many other of their governors, promised, yea, subscribed obedience to our sovereign lord king james, and for his cause to spend both strength and life. and we for our parts, through god's grace, have with that equity, justice, and compassion, carried ourselves towards them, as that they have received much favor, help, and aid from us, but never the least injury or wrong by us.[a] we found the place where we live empty, the people being all dead and gone away, and none living near by or miles; and though in the time of some hardship we found (travelling abroad) near bushels of corn hid up in a cave, and knew no owners of it, yet afterwards hearing of the owners of it, we gave them (in their estimation) double the value of it. our care hath been to maintain peace amongst them, and have always set ourselves against such of them as used any rebellion, or treachery against their governors, and not only threatened such, but in some sort paid them their due deserts; and when any of them are in want, as often they are in the winter, when their corn is done, we supply them to our power, and have them in our houses eating and drinking, and warming themselves, which thing (though it be something a trouble to us) yet because they should see and take knowledge of our labors, order and diligence, both for this life and a better, we are content to bear it, and we find in many of them, especially, of the younger sort, such a tractable disposition, both to religion and humanity, as that if we had means to apparel them, and wholly to retain them with us (as their desire is) they would doubtless in time prove serviceable to god and man, and if ever god send us means we will bring up hundreds of their children, both to labor and learning. [footnote a: they offer us to dwell where we will.] but leaving to speak of them till a further occasion be offered; if any shall marvel at the publishing of this treatise in _england_, seeing there is no want of good books, but rather want of men to use good books, let them know, that the especial end is, that we may keep those motives in memory for ourselves, and those that shall come after, to be a remedy against self love the bane of all societies. and that we also might testify to our christian countrymen, who judge diversly of us, that though we be in a heathen country, yet the grace of christ is not quenched in us, but we still hold and teach the same points of faith, mortification, and sanctification, which we have heard and learned, in a most ample and large manner in our own country. if any shall think it too rude and unlearned for this curious age, let them know, that to paint out the gospel in plain and flat english, amongst a company of plain englishmen (as we are) is the best and most profitablest teaching; and we will study plainness, not curiosity, neither in things human, nor heavenly. if any error or unsoundness be in it, (as who knoweth) impute it to that frail man which endited it, which professeth to know nothing as he ought to know it. i have not set down my name, partly because i seek no name, and principally, because i would have nothing esteemed by names, for i see a number of evils to arise through names, when the persons are either famous, or infamous, and god and man is often injured; if any good or profit arise to thee in the receiving of it, give god the praise and esteem me as a son of _adam_, subject to all such frailties as other men are. and you my loving friends the adventurers to this plantation; as your care has been, first to settle religion here, before either profit or popularity, so i pray you, go on, to do it much more, and be careful to send godly men, though they want some of that worldly policy which this world hath in her own generation, and so though you lose, the lord shall gain. i rejoice greatly in your free and ready minds to your powers, yea, and beyond your powers to further this work, that you thus honor god with your riches, and i trust you shall be repayed again double and treble in this world, yea, and the memory of this action shall never die, but above all adding unto this (as i trust you do) like freeness in all other god's services both at home and abroad, you shall find reward with god, ten thousand-fold surpassing all that you can do or think; be not therefore discouraged, for no labor is lost, nor money spent which is bestowed for god, your ends were good, your success is good, and your profit is coming, even in this life, and in the life to come much more: and what shall i say now, a word to men of understanding sufficeth, pardon i pray you my boldness, read over the ensuing treatise, and judge wisely of the poor weakling, and the lord, the god of land and sea, stretch out his arm of protection over you and us, and over all our lawful and good enterprizes, either this, or any other way. _plymouth in new-england, december , ._ a sermon _preached at_ plymouth, _in_ new england, . corinthians, . . let no man seek his own: but every man another's wealth. the occasion of these words of the apostle _paul_, was because of the abuses which were in the church of _corinth_. which abuses arose chiefly through swelling pride, self-love and conceitedness, for although this church was planted by _paul_ and watered by _apollos_, and much increased by the lord; yet the sower of tares was not wanting to stir up evil workers and fleshly minded hypocrites, under a shew of godliness, and with angel-like holiness in appearance, to creep in amongst them to disturb their peace, try their soundness, and prove their constancy. and this the apostle complains of very often: as first, in their carnal divisions, chap. . then in their extolling their eloquent teachers, and despising _paul_, chap. . then in their offensive going to law, before the heathen judges, chap. . then in eating things offered to idols, to the destroying of the tender consciences of their brethren, chap. . then in their insatiable love feasts, in the time and place of their church meetings, the rich which could together feed to fulness, despising and contemning the poor, that had not to lay it on as they had, chap. . finally in both the epistles, he very often nippeth them for their pride, and self-love, straitness and censoriousness, so that in the last chapter he willeth them again and again to prove, try and examine themselves, to see whether christ were in them or not, for howsoever many of them seemed, as thousands do at this day to soar aloft, and go with full sail to heaven: yet as men that row in boats, set their faces one way, when yet their whole body goeth apace another way: so there are many which set such a face upon religion, and have their mouth full of great swelling words: as if they would even blow open the doors of heaven, despising all humble minded and broken-hearted people, as weak, simple, sottish, &c. when yet notwithstanding, these blusterers, which seem to go so fast, and leave all others behind them, if like these glosing _corinthians_, they carry affectedly their own glory with them, and seem thus to stand for the glory of god. what do they else but join flesh to spirit, serving not god for nought, but for wages, and so serving their bellies, whose end will be damnation, except a speedy and sound remedy be thought of, which remedy is even that which our saviour teacheth the rich young gallant, and which _paul_ here prescribeth, in willing them not to seek their own, but every man another's wealth, which physic is as terrible to carnal professors, as abstinence from drink is to a man that hath the dropsy; and it is a sure note, that a man is sick of this disease of self-love, if this be grievous to him, as appeareth in the man whom christ bid sell that he had, and he went away very sorrowful, yet surely this vein must be pricked, and this humor let out, else it will spoil all, it will infect both soul and body, yea, and the contagion of it is such (as we shall see anon) as will even hazard the welfare of that society where self seekers and self lovers are. as god then did direct this apostle to lay down this brief direction as a remedy for that evil in _corinth_, so you may think it is by god's special providence, that i am now to speak unto you from this text: and say in your hearts, surely something is amiss this way: let us know it and amend it. the parts of this text are two. . a _dehortation_. . an _exhortation_. the dehortation, _let no man seek his own_. the exhortation, _but every man another's wealth_. in handling of which, i will first, open the words. secondly, gather the doctrine. thirdly illustrate the doctrine by scriptures, experience and reasons. fourthly apply the same, to every one his portion. the proper drift of the apostle here is not to tax the _corinthians_, for seeking their own evil ends in evil actions, but for aiming at themselves, and their own benefits in actions lawful, and that appeareth in the former verse, where he saith, _all things are lawful, &c._ viz. all such things as now we speak of, to eat any of god's creatures, offered to idols or not, to feast and be merry together, to shew love and kindness to this or that person, &c. but when by such means we seek ourselves, and have not a charitable loving and reverent regard of others, then they are unexpedient, unprofitable, yea unlawful, and must be forborne, and he that hath not learned to deny himself even the very use of lawful things, when it tendeth to the contempt, reproach, grief, offence and shame of his other brethren and associates, hath learned nothing aright, but is, apparently, a man that seeks himself, and against whom the apostle here dealeth most properly. the manner of the speech, may seem as counsel left at liberty: as mat. . . and in our ordinary speech, we think they be but weak charges, which are thus delivered, let a man do this, or let him do that. but we must learn the apostle's modesty, and know that whatsoever the terms seem to imply, yet even this and other the like in this epistle, are most absolute charges: as, _let a man esteem of us, as the ministers of christ_, _chap._ . that is, a man ought so to esteem of us. _let a man examine himself_, _ cor._ . . that is, as if he said, a man must examine himself. _let your women keep silence in the churches_, _ cor._ , . that is, they ought so to do. the meaning then summarily is, as if he said, the bane of all these mischiefs which arise among you is, that men are too cleaving to themselves and their own matters, and disregard and contemn all others: and therefore i charge you, let this self seeking be left off, and turn the stream another way, namely, seek the good of your brethren, please them, honor them, reverence them, for otherwise it will never go well amongst you. _obj._ but doth not the apostle elsewhere say? _that he, which careth not for his own, is worse than an infidel._ _tim._ . . _ans._ true, but by (own) there, he meaneth properly, a man's kindred, and here by (own) he meaneth properly a man's self. secondly, he there especially taxeth such as were negligent in their labors and callings, and so made themselves unable to give relief and entertainment to such poor widows and orphans as were of their own flesh and blood. thirdly, be it so, that some man should even neglect his own self, his own wife, children, friends, &c. and give that he had to strangers, that were but some rare vice, in some one unnatural man, and if this vice slay a thousand, self-love slayeth ten thousands. and this the wisdom of god did well foresee, and hath set no caveats in the scriptures either to tax men, or forewarn them from loving others, neither saith god any where, let no man seek out the good of another, but let no man seek his own, and every where in the scriptures he hath set watch words against self good, self-profit, self-seeking, &c. and thus the sense being cleared, i come to the doctrine. doct. . _all men are too apt and ready to seek themselves too much, and to prefer their own matters and causes beyond the due and lawful measure, even to excess and offence against god, yea danger of their own souls._ and this is true not only in wicked men which are given over of god to vile lusts, as _absalom_ in getting favor in his father's court: _jereboam_, in settling his kingdom fast in _samaria_, _ahab_ in vehement seeking _naboth's_ vineyard, but men, otherwise godly, have through frailty been foiled herein, and many thousands which have a shew of godliness, are lovers of themselves: _david_ was about to seek himself when he was going to kill _naball_: _asa_ in putting _hanani_ in prison: _josiah_ when he would go to war with _necho_, against the counsel of god, and reason; _peter_ when he dissembled about the ceremonies of the law, yea and _paul_ complains of all his followers (_timothy_ excepted) that they sought their own too inordinately. * * * * * and why else are these caveats in the scriptures, but to warn the godly that they be not tainted herewith? as, _look not every man on his own things, but on the things of another: love seeketh not her own things. be not desirous of vain glory, &c._ philip. . . cor. . . gal. . . yea and doth not experience teach, that even amongst professors of religion, almost all the love and favor that is shewed unto others is with a secret aim at themselves, they will take pains to do a man good, provided that he will take twice so much for them, they will give a penny so as it may advantage them a pound, labor hard so as all the profit may come to themselves, else they are heartless and feeble. the vain and corrupt heart of man cannot better be resembled then by a belly-god, host, or innkeeper which welcometh his guests with smilings, and salutations, and a thousand welcomes, and rejoiceth greatly to have their company to dice, cards, eat, drink, and be merry, but should not the box be paid, the pot be filling, and the money telling, all this while, the epicure's joy would soon be turned into sorrow, and his smiles turned into frowns, and the door set open, and their absence craved: even so men blow the bellows hard, when they have an iron of their own a heating, work hard whilst their own house is in building, dig hard whilst their own garden is in planting, but is it so as the profit must go wholly or partly to others; their hands wax feeble, their hearts wax faint, they grow churlish, and give cross answers, like _naball_, they are sour, discontent, and nothing will please them. and where is that man to be found, that will disperse abroad, and cast his bread upon the waters, that will lend, looking for nothing again, that will do all duties to other freely and cheerfully in conscience to god, and love unto men, without his close and secret ends or aiming at himself; such a man, out of doubt, is a black swan, a white crow almost, and yet such shall stand before god with boldness at the last day, when others which have sought themselves, though for love of themselves they have sought heaven, yea, and through self-love persuaded themselves they should find it, yet wanting love unto others, they will be found as sounding brass, and as a tinkling cimbal, and whilst they have neglected others, and not cared how others live, so as themselves may fare well, they will be found amongst them, that the lord will say unto, _i know you not, depart ye cursed into everlasting fire_, mat. . . . but that i may not walk in generalities, the particular ways by which men seek their own are these: first, such as are covetous, seek their own by seeking riches, wealth, money, as _felix_ pretending love unto _paul_, sent for him often, but it was in hope of money. many there are who say, _who will shew us any good_, psal. . . and pretend religion, as some of the jews did the keeping of the sabbath, which yet cried out, when will the sabbath be done, that we may sell corn, and get gain; if a man can tell how to get gold out of a flint, and silver out of the adamant, no pains shall be spared, no time shall be neglected, for gold is their hope, and the wedge of gold is their confidence, their hearts are set upon the pelf of this world, and for love of it, all things are let slip, even all duties to god or men, they care not how basely they serve, how wretchedly they neglect all others, so as they may get wealth: pinch who will, and wring who will; all times are alike with them, and they run for the bribe and _gehazie_; and this is the first way that men seek their own. now the contrary is seen in _nehemiah_, who when the people were hard put to it, and the land raw, he took not the duties which were due to him being a magistrate, he bought no land, nor grew rich, for it was no time: but he maintained at his table many of his brethren the jews, and so spent even his own proper goods. and _paul_ sought no man's gold nor silver, but though he had authority, yet he took not bread of the churches, but labored with his hands: and why? it was no time to take, some churches were poor and stood in want, as _thessalonica_, others were in danger to be preyed upon by covetous belly-gods, as _corinth_: and therefore he saw it no fit time now to take any thing of them. and indeed here is the difference between a covetous worldling, and an honest thrifty christian, it is lawful sometimes for men to gather wealth, and grow rich, even as there was a time for _joseph_ to store up corn, but a godly and sincere christian will see when this time is, and will not hoard up when he seeth others of his brethren and associates to want, but then is a time, if he have any thing to fetch it out and disperse it, but the covetous gathers goods, he like _achan_ covets all that he seeth; and neglects no time, but gathers still and holds all fast, and if it were to save the life of his brother, his bags must not be diminished, nor his chests lighted, nor his field set to sale, gather as much as he can, but it's death to diminish the least part of it. . the second way by which men seek their own, is when they seek ease, or pleasure, as the _scribes_ and _pharisees_, who would not touch the burden with one of their fingers; for there is a generation, which think to have more in this world then _adam's_ felicity in innocency, being born (as they think) to take their pleasures, and their ease, let the roof of the house drop through, they stir not; let the field be overgrown with weeds, they care not, they must not foul their hand, nor wet their foot, it's enough for them to say, go you, not let us go, though never so much need; such idle drones, are intollerable in a settled commonwealth, much more in a commonwealth which is but as it were in the bud; of what earth i pray thee art thou made, of any better than the other of the sons of _adam_? and canst thou see other of thy brethren toil their hearts out, and thou sit idle at home, or takest thy pleasure abroad? remember the example of _uriah_, who would not take his ease nor his pleasure, though the king required him, and why? because his brethren, his associates, better men than himself (as he esteemed them) were under hard labors and conditions, lay in the field in tents, caves, &c. . the third way is when men seek their own bellies, as some did in the apostles' times, which went about with new doctrines and devices, knowing that the people had itching ears, and would easily entertain and willingly feed such novelists, which brought in dissensions, schisms, and contentions, and such were rocks, or pillars in their love-feasts, as _jude_ speaketh, _ver. ._ they were shadows in god's service, but when feasting came, then they were substances, then they were in their element. and certainly there are some men which shape even their religion, human state, and all, even as the belly cheer is best, and that they must have, else all heart and life is gone; let all conscience, care of others go, let _lazarus_ starve at the gate, let _joseph's_ affliction be increased, they must have their dishes, their dainties, or no content. the contrary was seen in _nehemiah_, who would not take his large portion allotted to the governor, because he knew it went short with others of his brethren; and _uriah_ would not receive the king's present, and go banquet with his wife, because he knew the whole host his brethren were fain to snap short in the fields. and the difference between a temperate good man, and a belly-god is this: a good man will not eat his morsels alone, especially, if he have better than others, but if by god's providence, he have gotten some meat which is better than ordinary, and better than his other brethren, he can have no rest in himself, except he make others partake with him. but a belly-god will slop all in his own throat, yea, though his neighbor come in and behold him eat, yet his griple-gut shameth not to swallow all. and this may be done sometimes, as well in mean fare as in greater dainties, for all countries afford not alike. . the fourth way by which men seek their own, is by seeking outward honor, fame and respect with men; as king _saul_ when he had lost all respect and favor with god, then thought to give content to his heart by being honored before the elders of the people; and it is wonderful to see how some men are _desirous of vain glory_, _gal._ . . and how earnestly they seek praise, favor, and respect with men, and can have no quiet longer than their worldly favor lasteth, and that they will have what dishonor soever come to god, or disgrace unto men, yea, they will disgrace, reproach, and disdain others, to gain honor and advancement to themselves, yea, they will make bold with the scriptures and word of god, to wrest and wring, and slight it over for their credit's sake. and let a man mark some men's talk, stories, discourses, &c. and he shall see their whole drift is to extol and set out themselves, and get praise and commendation of men. now the contrary was seen in _paul_, he saith, _he needed no letters of commendations_, cor. . . and again, _he is not affected with men's praise_, cor. . . and here is indeed the difference between an humble-minded christian, and a proud self-lover; an humble man often hath praise, as _david_, _hezekiah_, and _josiah_, but he seeks it not, he desires it not, he is content to go without it, he loves not the praise of men, for he knows it but froth and vanity: but a proud self-lover, he seeks it still, get it or not get it, and if he get it he is fully satisfied, if he get it not he hangs his head like a bull-rush, and hath no comfort. . the fifth way by which men seek their own, is _by seeking to have their wills_; as the wrong doers in _corinth_, who thought it not enough to do wrong and harm to their brethren, but to have their wills enough of them, drew them before the heathen magistrates. and truly some men are so prince-like, or rather papal, that their very will and word is become a law, and if they have said it, it must be so, else there is no rest or quietness to be had, let never so many reasons be brought to the contrary, it is but fighting with the wind. they are like the obstinate jews, who when against god's law, and reason, they asked a king, though _samuel_ shewed them that it would turn in the end to their own smart, yet still held the conclusion, and said, nay, _but we will have a king_, sam. . . thus men are caught by their own words, and insnared by the straitness of their own hearts, and it is death to them not to have their wills, and howsoever sometimes (like _jezebel_) they are cut short of their purposes, yet self-willed men will strut and swell like _absalom_, saying neither _good nor bad_, sam. . . but hope for the day, and threaten like prophane _esau_, gen. . . now the contrary is seen in _david_, though a prince, a captain, a warrior, who having said, yea sworn, that he would kill _nabal_, and all his family that day, yet upon reasonable counsel given, and that by a weak woman, he changed his mind, altered his purpose, and returned, without striking one stroke, an example rare, and worthy imitation; and when men are sick of will, let them think of _david_, it was his grace and honor to go back from his word and practice, when reason came. so was it _herod's_ disgrace and shame to hold his word and will against reason and conscience, _math._ . , . _quest._ but some men happily will say unto me, it is true, that men seek their own by all these ways, _but what should be the reason and cause of this? that men seek so earnestly themselves, in seeking riches, honor, ease, belly-cheer, will, &c. something there is that carrieth them_. _ans._ true, and the reasons and causes are specially these three: first, pride and high conceitedness, when men overvalue themselves: and this made _absalom_ to seek his father's kingdom, because he thought himself worthy of it. _ sam._ . . this made _haman_ so sore vexed, because _mordecai_ bowed not to him, because he highly valued himself, _esther_, . . and surely that which a man valueth much, he giveth much respect to, and so it is a sure sign that a man loves himself most when he giveth most to himself; and some intolerable proud persons even think all the world is for them, and all their purposes and endeavors shew what a large conceit they have of themselves. secondly, want of due consideration and valuation of other men's endowments, abilities and deserts; when men pass those things by, though they have both seen, heard, and felt them; as _pharaoh's_ butler forgot _joseph's_ eminency when he was restored to his place, _gen._ . . so men used to write their own good actions in brass, but other men's in ashes, never remembering nor considering the pains, labor, good properties, &c. which others have, and so they have no love to them, but only to themselves; as if god had made all other men unreasonable beasts, and them only reasonable men. thirdly, want of heavenly conversation, and spiritual eye to behold the glory, greatness, and majesty, and goodness of god; as the queen of _sheba_, thought highly of her own glory, wisdom and happiness, till she saw _solomon's_ wisdom and glory, and then she cried out, not of the happiness of her own servants, but of his servants that stood before him, _kings_ . , . and verily, if men were conversant courtiers in heaven, they would cry out with _paul_, rom. . . _oh the depth of the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of god, &c._ and would be ashamed of their own sinfulness, nakedness and misery; for, as countrymen which never saw the state of cities, nor the glory of courts, admire even their own country orders: and as the savages here which are clad in skins, and creep in woods and holes, think their own brutish and inhuman life the best, which if they saw and did rightly apprehend the benefit of comely humanity, the sweetness of religion and the service of god, they would even shamefully hide themselves from the eye of all noble christians. even so, if men in serious contemplation, by the eye of faith, would behold the glory of god, and what great riches, beauty, fulness, perfection, power, dignity and greatness is in god, they would leave admiring of themselves, and seeking of themselves, and would say with _david, what am i? and what is my father's house? that thou shouldest thus bless me?_ sam. . . yea _what is man? or the son of man that thou so regardest him?_ psal. . . but it is time to come to apply these things more particularly to ourselves, and see what use is to be made of them: _use ._ is it so, that god seeth a proneness in all the sons of _adam_, to seek themselves too much, and hath given them warnings and watch-words thereof, as we have heard, and doth experience confirm it? then hence are reproved a number of men, who think they can never shew love enough to themselves, nor seek their own enough, but think all cost, charges, cherishing, praise, honor, &c. too little for them, and no man needeth to say to them, as _peter_ did to christ, _favor thy self_; but if they do a little for another man, they account it a great matter, though it be but a morsel of bread, or a single penny; but no varieties of dainties is too good for them, no silk, purple, cloth, or stuff is too good to clothe them, the poor man's idleness and ill husbandry is oft thrown in his dish, but their own carnal delights and fleshy wantonness is never thought upon: and why? because they think even god and man owes all to them, but they owe nothing to none. why, thou foolish and besotted man, hath not the holy ghost read it in the very face of every son of _adam_, that he is too apt to seek his own, and art thou wiser than god, to think thou never seekest thine own enough? or dreamest thou that thou art made of other, and better mettle than other men are? surely, i know no way to escape, having of corruption to thy father, and the worm to thy sister and brother. and if god had any where in all the scriptures said, love thyself, make much of thyself, provide for one, &c. there were some reason for thee to take up the niggard's proverbs, _every man for himself, and god for us all; charity beginneth at home, &c._ but god never taught thee these things; no, they are satan's positions. doth god ever commend a man for carnal love of himself? nay he brands it, and disgraceth it, as _self love, taking thought for the flesh; loving of pleasure, &c._ rom. . , tim. . _obj._ _it is a point of good natural policy, for a man to care and provide for himself._ _ans._ then the most fools have most natural policy, for you see not the greatest drones and novices, either in church, or commonwealth, to be the greatest scratchers and scrapers, and gatherers of riches? are they not also for the most part, best fed and clad? and live they not most easily? what shall i say? even hogs, dogs, and brute beasts know their own ease, and can seek that which is good for themselves; and what doth this shifting, progging, and fat feeding which some use, more resemble any thing than the fashion of hogs? and so let it be what natural policy it will. _use ._ if god see this disease of self-love so dangerous in us, then it standeth us all in hand to suspect ourselves, and so to seek out the root of this disease, that it may be cured. if a learned physician, shall see by our countenance and eye, that we have some dangerous disease growing on us, our hearts will smite us, and we will bethink ourselves where the most grief lieth, and how it should come, whether with cold, heat, surfeit, over-flowing of blood, or through grief, melancholy, or any such way, and every man will bestir himself to get rid of it, and will prevent always that which feeds the disease, and cherish all courses that would destroy it. now, how much more ought we to bestir ourselves, for this matter of self love, since god himself hath cast all our waters, and felt all our pulses, and pronounceth us all dangerously sick of this disease? believe it, god cannot lie, nor be deceived; he that made the heart, doth not he know it? let every man's heart smite him, and let him fall to the examination of himself and see first, whether he love not riches and worldly wealth too much, whether his heart be not too jocund at the coming of it in, and too heavy at the going of it out, for if you find it so there is great danger, if thou canst not buy as if thou possessed not, and use this world as though thou used it not, (_ cor._ . , .) thou art sick, and had need to look to it. so, if thou lovest thine ease and pleasure, see whether thou can be content to receive at god's hands evil as well as good, (_job_ . .) whether thou have learned as well to abound as to want, (_phil._ . .) as well to endure hard labor, as to live at ease; and art as willing to go to the house of mourning as to the house of mirth, (_eccl._ . .) for, else, out of doubt, thou lovest thy carnal pleasure and ease too much. again, see whether thy heart cannot be as merry, and thy mind as joyful, and thy countenance as cheerful, with coarse fare, with pulse, with bread and water (if god offer thee no better, nor the times afford other) as if thou had the greatest dainties: (_dan._ . .) so also whether thou can be content as well with scorns of men, when thou hast done well, as with their praises, so if thou can with comfort and good conscience say, i pass little for man's judgment; whether thou can do thy duty that god requireth, and despise the shame, referring thyself unto god, for if thou be disheartened, discouraged, and weakened in any duty because of men's dispraises, its a sign thou lovest thyself too much. so for the will, if thou can be content to give way even from that which thou hast said shall be, yea, vowed shall be, when better reason cometh, and hast that reverence of other men, as that when it standeth but upon a matter of will, thou art as willing their wills should stand as thine, and art not sad, churlish, or discontented, (_ kings_ . .) but cheerful in thine heart, though thy will be crossed, it is a good sign, but if not, thou art sick of a self-will, and must purge it out. i the rather press these things, because i see many men both wise and religious, which yet are so tainted with this pestilent self-love, as that it is in them even as a dead fly to the apothecaries' ointment, spoiling the efficacy of all their graces, making their lives uncomfortable to themselves, and unprofitable to others, being neither fit for church nor commonwealth, but have even their very souls in hazard thereby, and therefore who can say too much against it. it is reported, that there are many men gone to that other plantation in _virginia_, which, whilst they lived in _england_, seemed very religious, zealous, and conscionable; and have now lost even the sap of grace, and edge to all goodness; and are become mere worldlings. this testimony i believe to be partly true, and amongst many causes of it, this self-love is not the least. it is indeed a matter of some commendation for a man to remove himself out of a thronged place into a wide wilderness; to take in hand so long and dangerous a journey, to be an instrument to carry the gospel and humanity among the brutish heathen; but there may be many goodly shews and glosses and yet a pad in the straw, men may make a great appearance of respect unto god, and yet but dissemble with him, having their own lusts carrying them: and, out of doubt, men that have taken in hand hither to come, out of discontentment in regard of their estates in _england_; and aiming at great matters here, affecting it to be gentlemen, landed men, or hoping for office, place, dignity, or fleshly liberty; let the shew be what it will, the substance is naught, and that bird of self-love which was hatched at home, if it be not looked to, will eat out the life of all grace and goodness: and though men have escaped the danger of the sea, and that cruel mortality, which swept away so many of our loving friends and brethren; yet except they purge out this self-love, a worse mischief is prepared for them: and who knoweth whether god in mercy have delivered those just men which here departed, from the evils to come; and from unreasonable men, in whom there neither was, nor is, any comfort, but grief, sorrow, affliction, and misery, till they cast out this spawn of self-love. but i have dwelt too long upon this first part; i come now to the second, which concerns an exhortation, as i shewed you, in the division. _but every man another's wealth._ in direct opposition, he should say, _let every man seek another's_, but the first part being compared with the latter, and (_seek_) being taken out of the former and put to the latter, and (_wealth_) taken out or rather implied, in the former, the whole sentence is thus resolved, _let no man seek his own wealth, but let every man seek another's wealth_. and the word here translated _wealth_, is the same with that in _rom._ . , and may not be taken only for riches, as englishmen commonly understand it, but for all kinds of benefits, favors, comforts either for soul or body; and so here again, as before you must understand an affirmative commandment, as the negative was before: and least any should say, if i may not seek my own good, i may do nothing; yes saith _paul_, i'll tell thee, thou shalt seek the good of another, whereas now all thy seeking helps but one, by this means thou shalt help many: and this is further enforced by these two circumstances, (no man) may seek his own, be he rich, learned, wise, &c. _but every man must seek the good of another_. the point of instruction is taken from the very letter and phrase, viz. doct. . _a man_ must _seek the good, the wealth, the profit of others._ i say he _must_ seek it, he must seek the comfort, profit and benefit of his neighbor, brother, associate, &c. his own good he need not seek, it will offer itself to him every hour; but the good of others must be sought, a man must not stay from doing good to others till he is sought unto, pulled and hauled, (as it were) like the unjust judge, for every benefit that is first craved, cometh too late. and thus the ancient patriarchs did practice, when the traveller and wayfaring men came by, they did not tarry till they came and asked relief and refreshment, but sat at the gates to watch for such, (_judges_ . , ) and looked in the streets to find them, yea, set open their doors that they might freely and boldly enter in. and howsoever, some may think this too large a practice, since now the world is so full of people, yet i see not but the more people there is, the larger charity ought to be. but be it so, as a man may neglect, in some sort the general world, yet those to whom he is bound, either in natural, civil, or religious bands, them he must seek how to do them good. a notable example you have in _david_, who, because there was twixt him and _jonathan_ a band and covenant, therefore he enquired, _whether there was any left of the house of saul, to whom he might shew mercy for jonathan's sake_, sam. . . so this people of _corinth_, to whom _paul_ writeth, they were in a spiritual league and covenant in the _gospel_, and so were a body. now for one member in the body to seek himself, and neglect all others were, as if a man should clothe one arm or one leg of his body with gold and purple, and let all the rest of the members go naked. _ cor. . ._ now brethren, i pray you, remember yourselves, and know, that you are not in a retired monastical course, but have given your names and promises one to another and covenanted here to cleave together in the service of god, and the king; what then must you do? may you live as retired hermits? and look after no body? nay, you must seek still the wealth of one another; and enquire as _david_, how liveth such a man? how is he clad? how is he fed? he is my brother, my associate; we ventured our lives together here, and had a hard brunt of it and we are in league together. is his labor harder than mine? surely i will ease him; hath he no bed to lie on? why, i have two, i'll lend him one; hath he no apparel? why, i have two suits, i'll give him one of them; eats he coarse fare, bread and water, and i have better, why, surely we will part stakes. he is as good a man as i, and we are bound each to other, so that his wants must be my wants, his sorrows my sorrows, his sickness my sickness, and his welfare my welfare, for i am as he is. and such a sweet sympathy were excellent, comfortable, yea, heavenly, and is the only maker and conserver of churches and commonwealths, and where this is wanting, ruin comes on quickly, as it did here in _corinth_. but besides these motives, there are other reasons to provoke us not only to do good one to another; but even to seek and search how to do it. . as first, to maintain modesty in all our associates, that of hungry wanters, they become not bold beggars and impudent cravers; for as one saith of women, that, when they have lost their shamefacedness, they have lost half their honesty, so may it be truly said of a man that when he hath lost his modesty, and puts on a begging face, he hath lost his majesty, and the image of that noble creature; and man should not beg and crave of man, but only of god. true it is, that as christ was fain to crave water of the samaritan woman, (_john_ . .) so men are forced to ask sometimes rather than starve, but indeed in all societies it should be offered them. men often complain of men's boldness in asking, but how cometh this to pass, but because the world have been so full of self-lovers as no man would offer their money, meat, garments, though they saw men hungry, harborless, poor, and naked in the streets; and what is it that makes men brazen-faced, bold, brutish, tumultuous, but because they are pinched with want, and see others of their companions (which it may be have less deserved) to live in prosperity and pleasure? . it wonderfully encourageth men in their duties, when they see the burthen equally borne; but when some withdraw themselves and retire to their own particular ease, pleasure, or profit; what heart can men have to go on in their business? when men are come together to lift some weighty piece of timber or vessel; if one stand still and do not lift, shall not the rest be weakened and disheartened? will not a few idle drones spoil the whole stock of laborious bees: so one idle-belly, one murmurer, one complainer, one self-lover will weaken and dishearten a whole colony. great matters have been brought to pass where men have cheerfully as with one heart, hand, and shoulder, gone about it, both in wars, buildings, and plantations, but where every man seeks himself, all cometh to nothing. . the present necessity requireth it, as it did in the days of the _jews_, returning from captivity, and as it was here in _corinth_. the country is yet raw, the land untilled, the cities not builded, the cattle not settled, we are compassed about with a helpless and idle people, the natives of the country, which cannot in any comely or comfortable manner help themselves, much less us. we also have been very chargeable to many of our loving friends, which helped us hither, and now again supplied us, so that before we think of gathering riches, we must even in conscience think of requiting their charge, love and labor, and cursed be that profit and gain which aimeth not at this. besides, how many of our dear friends did here die at our first entrance, many of them no doubt for want of good lodging, shelter, and comfortable things, and many more may go after them quickly, if care be not taken. is this then a time for men to begin to seek themselves? _paul_ saith, that men in the last days shall be lovers of themselves, (_ tim._ . .) but it is here yet but the first days, and (as it were) the dawning of this new world, it is now therefore no time for men to look to get riches, brave clothes, dainty fare, but to look to present necessities; it is now no time to pamper the flesh, live at ease, snatch, catch, scrape, and pill, and hoard up, but rather to open the doors, the chests, and vessels, and say, brother, neighbor, friend, what want ye, any thing that i have? make bold with it, it is yours to command, to do you good, to comfort and cherish you, and glad i am that i have it for you. . and even the example of god himself, whom we should follow in all things within our power and capacity, may teach us this lesson, for (with reverence to his majesty be it spoken) he might have kept all grace, goodness, and glory to himself, but he hath communicated it to us, even as far as we are capable of it in this life, and will communicate his glory in all fulness with his elect in that life to come; even so his son jesus christ left his glory eclipsed for a time, and abased himself to a poor and distressed life in this world, that he might, by it, bring us to happiness in the world to come. if god then have delighted in thus doing good and relieving frail and miserable man, so far inferior to himself, what delight ought man to have to relieve and comfort man, which is equal to himself? . even as we deal with others, ourselves and others shall be dealt withal. carest thou not how others fare, how they toil, are grieved, sick, pinched, cold, harborless, so as thou be in health, livest at ease, warm in thy nest, farest well? the days will come when thou shalt labor and none shall pity thee, be poor and none relieve thee, be sick, and lie and die and none visit thee, yea, and thy children shall lie and starve in the streets, and none shall relieve them, for _it is the merciful that shall obtain mercy_; mat. . . and _the memory of the just shall be blessed_ even in his seed; _prov._ . and a merciful and loving man when he dies, though he leave his children small and desolate, yet every one is mercifully stirred up for the father's sake to shew compassion, but the unkindness, currishness, and self-love of a father, is through god's just judgment recompensed upon the children with neglect and cruelty. . lastly, that we may draw to an end; a merciless man, and a man without natural affection or love, is reckoned among such as are given over of god to a reprobate mind, (_rom._ . .) and (as it were) transformed into a beast-like humor; for, what is man if he be not sociable, kind, affable, free-hearted, liberal; he is a beast in the shape of a man; or rather an infernal spirit, walking amongst men, which makes the world a hell what in him lieth; for, it is even a hell to live where there are such men: such the scriptures calleth _nabals_, which signifieth _fools_, (_psal._ . .) and decayed men, which have lost both the sap of grace and nature; and such merciless men are called goats, and shall be set at christ's left hand at the last day, (_math._ . .) _oh therefore seek the wealth one of another_. _obj._ but some will say, _it is true, and it were well if men would so do, but we see every man is so for himself, as that if i should not do so, i should do full ill, for if i have it not of my own, i may snap short sometimes, for i see no body showeth me any kindness, nor giveth me any thing; if i have gold or silver, that goeth for payment, and if i want it i may lie in the street, therefore i had best keep that i have, and not be so liberal as you would have me, except i saw others would be so towards me_. _ans._ this objection seemeth but equal and reasonable, as did the answer of _nabal_ to _david's_ men, but it is most foolish and carnal, as his also was; for, if we should measure our courses by most men's practices, a man should never do any godly duty; for, do not the most, yea, almost all, go the broad way that leadeth to death and damnation, (_luke._ . , .) who then will follow a multitude? it is the word of god, and the examples of the best men that we must follow. and what if others will do nothing for thee, but are unkind and unmerciful to thee? knowest thou not that they which will be the children of god must be kind to the unkind, loving to their enemies, and bless those that curse them? (_mat._ . , .) if all men were kind to thee, it were but _publicans'_ righteousness to be kind to them? if all men be evil, wilt thou be so too? when _david_ cried out, _help lord, for not a godly man is left_, psal. . . did he himself turn ungodly also? nay, he was rather the more strict. so, if love and charity be departed out of this world, be thou one of them that shall first bring it in again. and let this be the first rule, which i will with two others conclude for this time. . never measure thy course by the most, but by the best, yea, and principally by god's word; look not what others do to thee, but consider what thou art to do to them: seek to please god, not thyself. did they in _mat._ . . plead, that others did nothing for them? no such matter, no such plea will stand before god, his word is plain to the contrary, therefore, though all the world should neglect thee, disregard thee, and contemn thee, yet remember thou hast not to do with men, but with the highest god, and so thou must do thy duty to them notwithstanding. . and let there be no prodigal person to come forth and say, give me the portion of lands and goods that appertaineth to me, and let me shift for myself; _luke_ . . it is yet too soon to put men to their shifts; _israel_ was seven years in _canaan_, before the land was divided unto tribes, much longer before it was divided unto families; and why wouldst thou have thy particular portion, but because thou thinkest to live better than thy neighbor, and scornest to live so meanly as he? but who, i pray thee, brought this particularizing first into the world? did not satan, who was not content to keep that equal state with his fellows, but would set his throne above the stars? did not he also entice man to despise his general felicity and happiness, and go try particular knowledge of good and evil; and nothing in this world doth more resemble heavenly happiness, than for men to live as one, being of one heart, and one soul; neither any thing more resembles hellish horror, then for every man to shift for himself; for if it be a good mind and practise, thus to affect particulars, _mine_ and _thine_, then it should be best also for god to provide one heaven for thee, and another for thy neighbor. _object._ but some will say, _if all men will do their endeavors as i do i could be content with this generality,--but many are idle and slothful, and eat up others' labors, and therefore it is best to part, and then every man may do his pleasure_. first, this, indeed, is the common plea of such as will endure no inconveniences, and so for the hardness of men's hearts, god and man doth often give way to that which is not best, nor perpetual, but indeed if we take this course to change ordinances and practices because of inconveniences, we shall have every day new laws. secondly, if others be idle and thou diligent, thy fellowship, provocation, and example, may well help to cure that malady in them, being together, but being asunder, shall they not be more idle, and shall not gentry and beggary be quickly the glorious ensigns of your commonwealth? thirdly, construe things in the best part, be not too hasty to say, men are idle and slothful, all men have not strength, skill, faculty, spirit, and courage to work alike; it is thy glory and credit, that thou canst do so well, and his shame and reproach, that can do no better; and are not these sufficient rewards to you both. fourthly, if any be idle apparently, you have a law and governors to execute the same, and to follow that rule of the apostle, to keep back their bread, and let them not eat, go not therefore whispering, to charge men with idleness; but go to the governor and prove them idle; and thou shall see them have their deserts. _acts_ . . _thes._ . . _deut._ . . and as you are a body together, so hang not together by skins and gymocks, but labor to be jointed together and knit by flesh and sinews; away with envy at the good of others, and rejoice in his good, and sorrow for his evil. let his joy be thy joy, and his sorrow thy sorrow: let his sickness be thy sickness: his hunger thy hunger: his poverty thy poverty; and if you profess friendship, be friends in adversity; for then a friend is known and tried, and not before. . lay away all thought of former things and forget them, and think upon the things that are; look not gapingly one upon other, pleading your goodness, your birth, your life you lived, your means you had and might have had; here you are by god's providence under difficulties; be thankful to god, it is no worse, and take it in good part that which is, and lift not up yourself because of former privileges; when _job_ was brought to the dung-hill, he sat down upon it, _job_ . . and when the almighty had been bitter to _naomi_, she would be called _marah_; consider therefore what you are now, and whose you are; say not i could have lived thus, and thus; but say thus and thus i must live: for god and natural necessity requireth, if your difficulties be great, you had need to cleave the faster together, and comfort and cheer up one another, laboring to make each other's burden lighter; there is no grief so tedious as a churlish companion and nothing makes sorrows easy more than cheerful associates: bear ye therefore one another's burthen, and be not a burthen one to another; avoid all factions, frowardness, singularity and withdrawings, and cleave fast to the lord, and one to another continually; so shall you be a notable precedent to these poor heathens, whose eyes are upon you, and who very brutishly and cruelly do daily eat and consume one another, through their emulations, ways and contentions; be you therefore ashamed of it, and win them to peace both with yourselves, and one another, by your peaceable examples, which will preach louder to them, than if you could cry in their barbarous language; so also shall you be an encouragement to many of your christian friends in your native country, to come to you, when they hear of your peace, love and kindness that is amongst you: but above all, it shall go well with your souls, when that god of peace and unity shall come to visit you with death as he hath done many of your associates, you being found of him, not in murmurings, discontent and jars, but in brotherly love, and peace, may be translated from this wandering wilderness unto that joyful and heavenly canaan. amen. [transcriber's note: this production is based on https://archive.org/details/fiveminutesermon unknuoft/page/n pages and are missing from the image file. additional citations indicated by "usccb", are based on the united states conference of catholic bishops bible found at http://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible.] {i} five-minute sermons for low masses on all sundays of the year, by priests of the congregation of st. paul. volume ii. new york: the catholic publication society co., barclay street. london: burns & oates. {ii} copyright, , by i. t. hecker. all rights reserved. {iii} preface. repeated and urgent requests from both clergy and laity have induced the publication of this second volume of five-minute sermons. they have all been preached in the church of st. paul the apostle, new york, and published weekly in the _catholic review_. choice has been made of such as are really little sermons, since there are many excellent manuals from which purely doctrinal instructions may be prepared. yet they all contain, it is hoped, a solid basis of doctrine plainly put and appropriately illustrated. the main object is, however, to edify, to quicken the moral perceptions, and to move in a reasonable degree the religious emotions. nearly all of these sermons may serve as skeletons for discourses of greater length; a fuller treatment of the topics, by means of familiar illustrations and more copious extracts from scripture, will fit them for use at high mass, or on sunday evenings. ----------------------------- {iv} {v} contents. first sunday of advent: sermon i. the spirit of advent, sermon ii. the graces of advent, sermon iii. st. john the baptist, second sunday of advent: sermon iv. fair-weather christians, sermon v. the immaculate conception, sermon vi. the total abstinence pledge, third sunday of advent: sermon vii. bad company, sermon viii. the voice in the wilderness, sermon ix. penance, fourth sunday of advent: sermon x. fruits of penance, sermon xi. preparation for christmas, sermon xii. christmas eve, sunday within the octave of christmas: sermon xiii. christmas joy, sermon xiv. new year's eve, sermon xv. the feast of the holy innocents, the epiphany: sermon xvi. the testimony of the spirit, sermon xvii. following god's guidance, { } first sunday after epiphany: sermon xviii. the christian home, sermon xix. jesus teaching in the temple, sermon xx. how our saviour takes away sin, second sunday after epiphany: sermon xxi. profanity, sermon xxii. the sin of cursing, sermon xxiii. reverence for the name of god, third sunday after epiphany: sermon xxiv. practical faith, sermon xxv. living up to our faith, sermon xxvi. the sacrament of matrimony, fourth sunday after epiphany: sermon xxvii. the ingratitude of children, sermon xxviii. love of our neighbor, fifth sunday after epiphany: sermon xxix. the christian family, sermon xxx. the duty of good example, sermon xxxi. bearing one another's burdens, sixth sunday after epiphany: sermon xxxii. how to make converts, sermon xxxiii. the blessings of the faith, sermon xxxiv. good example as a means of making converts, septuagesima sunday: sermon xxxv. bodily mortification, sermon xxxvi. sudden death, sermon xxxvii life's purpose, { } sexagesima sunday: sermon xxxviii. perseverance after a mission, sermon xxxix. good seed but no harvest, sermon xl. the uses of temptation, quinquagesima sunday: sermon xli. the qualities of christian charity, sermon xlii. delay of repentance, sermon xliii. lenten obligations, first sunday of lent: sermon xliv. the merit of pasting and abstinence, sermon xlv. difficulties of fasting, sermon xlvi. wasted opportunities, second sunday of lent: sermon xlvii. the joy of penance, sermon xlviii. christian perfection not impossible, sermon xlix. the divine presence in our churches, third sunday of lent: sermon l. immodest language, sermon li. honorary church-members, sermon lii. half-hearted christians, fourth sunday of lent: sermon liii. the happiness of true penance, sermon liv. liberty of spirit, sermon lv. the lust of the eyes, passion sunday: sermon lvi. the precious blood, sermon lvii. christ's passion, sermon lviii. dangerous companionship, { } palm sunday: sermon lix. hardness of heart, sermon lx. spirit of holy week, easter sunday: sermon lxi. easter joy, sermon lxii. easter and the love of god, sermon lxiii. the triumph of christ, low sunday: sermon lxiv. how to use god's gifts, sermon lxv. the christian's peace, sermon lxvi. true and lasting peace, second sunday after easter: sermon lxvii. the good shepherd, sermon lxviii. dead faith, sermon lxix. suffering false accusations, third sunday after easter-- feast of the patronage of st. joseph: sermon lxx. devotion to st. joseph, sermon lxxi. christ and the church, fourth sunday after easter: sermon lxxii. evil conversation, sermon lxxiii. temptation, fifth sunday after easter: sermon lxxiv. sins of the tongue, sermon lxxv. perseverance in prayer, sunday within the octave of the ascension: sermon lxxvi. after a mission, sermon lxxvii. bearing witness for our lord, sermon lxxviii. the indwelling of the holy spirit, { } feast of pentecost, or whit-sunday: sermon lxxix. the holy ghost in the church, sermon lxxx. the guidance of the holy spirit, sermon lxxxi. the easter duty, trinity sunday: sermon lxxxii. the divine majesty, sermon lxxxiii. the mystery of the holy trinity, sermon lxxxiv. the divine judgment, second sunday after pentecost, and sunday within the octave of corpus christi: sermon lxxxv. holy communion, sermon lxxxvi. the sacred heart of jesus, sermon lxxxvii. ingratitude, third sunday after pentecost: sermon lxxxviii. sinful amusements, sermon lxxxix. divine providence, sermon xc. how to bear burdens, fourth sunday after pentecost: sermon xci. how to suffer, sermon xcii. good works done in mortal sin, sermon xciii. fishing for men, fifth sunday after pentecost: sermon xciv. forgiveness of injuries, sermon xcv. feast of sts. peter and paul, sixth sunday after pentecost: sermon xcvi. the divine bounty, sermon xcvii. feast of st. john the baptist, sermon xcviii. idleness, { } seventh sunday after pentecost: sermon xcix. mortal sin the death of the soul, sermon c. false prophets, sermon ci. the last sin, eighth sunday after pentecost: sermon cii. spirit and flesh, sermon ciii. the business of the soul, sermon civ. the judgments of god, ninth sunday after pentecost: sermon cv. justice and mercy, sermon cvi. neglect of divine warnings, sermon cvii. living from day to day, tenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cviii. sympathy for sinners, sermon cix. morning prayers, sermon cx. feast of st. mary magdalen, eleventh sunday after pentecost: sermon cxi. want of confidence in god, sermon cxii. devotion to the blessed virgin, sermon cxiii. gratitude, twelfth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxiv. the good samaritan, sermon cxv. our neighbors, sermon cxvi. occasions of sin, thirteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxvii. thanksgiving, sermon cxviii. shamelessness in sinning, sermon cxix. dangers of venial sin, { } fourteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxx. the poverty of christ, sermon cxxi. brotherly love, sermon cxxii. religion for week-days, fifteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxiii. the fruits of a bad life, sermon cxxiv. sins of parents, sermon cxxv. the law of charity, sixteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxvi. christian humility, sermon cxxvii. vanity, sermon cxxviii. behavior in church, seventeenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxix. prayer for sinners, sermon cxxx. the christian vocation, sermon cxxxi. erroneous views of vocation, eighteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxii. presumption of god's mercy, sermon cxxxiii. drunkenness, sermon cxxxiv. the dignity and happiness of obedience, nineteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxv. lying, sermon cxxxvi. truthfulness sermon cxxxvii. white lies, twentieth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxviii. christian marriage, sermon cxxxix. mortification of our lower nature, sermon cxl. the value of time, { } twenty-first sunday after pentecost: sermon cxli. forgiveness of injuries, sermon cxlii. gossiping, sermon cxliii. mixed marriages, twenty-second sunday after pentecost: sermon cxliv. obedience to the civil authorities, sermon cxlv. thanksgiving day sermon cxlvi. the communion of saints, twenty-third sunday after pentecost: sermon cxlvii. mixed marriages, sermon cxlviii. imitation of the saints, sermon cxlix. heaven, twenty-fourth or last sunday after pentecost: sermon cl. marrying out of the church, sermon cli. joy in god's service, sermon clii. forgive and be forgiven, { } _first sunday of advent_. epistle. _romans xiii._ - , brethren: know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. the night is passed, and the day is at hand. let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light; let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy; but put ye on the lord jesus christ. gospel. _st. luke xxi._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves, men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. for the powers of heaven shall be moved: and then they shall see the son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. but when these things begin to come to pass look up and lift up your heads: because your redemption is at hand. and he spoke to them a similitude. see the fig-tree, and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh; so you also when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of god is at hand. amen i say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. --------------------- { } sermon i. the spirit of advent. _it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep._ --romans xiii. . this life of ours is made up of beginnings. after the rest of the night we have on each succeeding day to begin again our round of work, and then comes the night again, when our work must be laid aside. so, too, does the life of our souls consist in great part of beginnings, though in the great work of saving our souls there should be no such thing as rest. this work must be unceasing, until that night comes wherein no man can work, the night of death, when our great master shall demand of us an account of our labor. on this day, then, which is the beginning of the church's year, it is well for us to pause and ask ourselves how we are fulfilling the task that is set before us. are our souls asleep? have our consciences been lulled into a false security concerning the state of our immortal souls? are we careless or indifferent about the one thing needful for us--our soul's salvation? to each and every one of us to-day come the warning words of the apostle, "brethren, know that it is now the hour for us to arise from sleep." now is the time for us to shake off our slothfulness, to rouse ourselves from our dangerous state of idleness and inactivity, to cast off the works of darkness and clothe ourselves in the armor of light, to put on the lord jesus christ, and, arrayed in the strength which he gives, to walk honestly as in the day. "the night is passed," says st. paul. { } god grant that for each one of us the dark night of mortal sin may be for ever past and gone; that its terrible gloom may never again settle down upon our souls, shutting out the light of heaven, the pure and radiant light of god's grace. for "the day is at hand," the day of reckoning, the day of wrath and terror, when we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of christ. the church to-day warns us of the approach of that time. year by year, day by day, hour by hour it is drawing nearer. "for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." yes, our salvation if we have been faithful, or our eternal damnation if god's judgment overtake us in the state of mortal sin. therefore it is that the church, upon this first sunday of advent, lifts up her voice to warn us of the coming of our lord, telling us of his near approach, and bidding us to prepare to meet him. will you heed this warning, or will you still put off the day of your conversion to god? beware! god's warning may be given you to-day for the last time. "behold, now is the acceptable time"; "it is now the hour to rise from sleep." there is still time for you to turn from your sins and begin again to serve god. perhaps you have tried before and then have fallen back into old ways and habits of sin. begin again. we must always be beginning if we would make any progress. we must examine our consciences at the end of each day, and find out how we have offended god, make earnest resolutions for the morrow, and then begin each day with the determination to avoid the faults of the day before. this is a sure means of perseverance. { } and this beginning of the christian year is a good time to take a fresh start in the affairs of our souls. during advent the church brings to our minds the consideration of the four last things. death and judgment, heaven or hell are awaiting us. begin this day, then, as though it were to be your last day on earth, and on each succeeding day for the rest of your life keep up this practice. "for as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the son of man be." "let us therefore cast off the works of darkness" now at the beginning of this holy season. drunkenness, impurity, contention, and envy are, alas! far too common amongst us. "let them be not so much as named among you, as becometh saints," mindful of your high calling in christ. then when the judge appears, he will find you ready to meet him. having begun each day with the intention of serving god, you will then be ready and fit to begin that day which shall have no end in that heavenly city which "needeth not sun nor moon to shine in it; for the glory of the lord hath enlightened it, and the lamb is the lamp thereof." --------------------- sermon ii. the graces of advent. _the night is past, and the day is at hand. let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. put ye on the lord jesus christ._ --epistle of the day. to-day, dear brethren, we enter upon the season of preparation for the coming of jesus christ. for "the night is past and the day is at hand." "the day-spring, the brightness of the everlasting light, the sun of righteousness," is come "to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." { } to give light to them that have been unfaithful to god's grace, to call them back--to turn them to a new life--this is the mission of our saviour; and this is the call he makes upon us to-day--that we should return to him, "the ruler of the house of israel, who didst appear to moses in the burning bush, and gave him the law in sinai." you, dear brethren, were taught that law when the first rays of the light of reason lit up your soul. god wrote it on your hearts; you heard it from your parents lips; your teachers bade you love it and keep it. but have you done so? have you not become like those whom of old god taught, and who would not listen, but went after false gods, who bowed down before idols of gold and silver, of wood and clay? have you not bowed down like them when you preferred money-getting to serving god; when you were willing, for the sake of gold and silver, to risk the loss of your immortal souls? have you not bowed down when you chose to gratify your lower instincts at the cost of your spiritual ruin? have you not bowed down to idols of clay when you have steeped yourselves in drunkenness, in impurities, in the many sins of the flesh? oh! surely you have need of the "wisdom that cometh out of the mouth of the most high" to teach you "the way of prudence." oh! surely you have need of "the orient from on high," for you "sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." { } but, dear brethren, "the night is past." "let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness"; "let us walk honestly." oh! "put ye on the lord jesus christ." "behold emmanuel, our king and law giver," he for whom the nations sighed and their salvation, has come to save us--to save men whom he has made from the dust of the earth. dear brethren, shall we be slow to go to him who comes with healing for our immortal souls? tell it out among the people, and say, "behold, god our saviour cometh. emmanuel is his name, and his name is great. behold, he is my god, and i will glorify him; my father's god, and i will exalt him. the lord our law-giver, the lord our king, cometh to save us." begin this day to prepare for the joyous feast of christmas. cleanse your hearts by prayer and fasting; come to the sacraments and be washed in the blood of your redeemer; come to his table and break the bread of true friendship, that the joy of your heart may be full when we shall celebrate that day of days, when the word which "was made flesh dwelt among us." truly "we have seen his glory," and "of his fulness we have all received." let us never forget his mercy; let us remember "that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep." ---------------- sermon iii. st. john the baptist. _the angel said to him: fear not, zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name john; and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth._ --luke i. . { } these words, my brethren, were spoken by the angel gabriel to zachary, the father of st. john the baptist, while he was engaged with his religious duties in the temple at jerusalem. before giving the account of the angel's visit st. luke informs us that zachary and his wife, elizabeth, were both acceptable to god and obedient to the divine law. there are few who have received such commendation in the pages of holy scripture. it might have been surmised that zachary led a good life, practising the virtues and avoiding the vices, since he belonged to the jewish priesthood. yet we find that his wife, elizabeth, is mentioned as deserving equal praise with himself, for it is stated that "_they were both_ just before god, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the lord without blame." such is the brief account that st. luke has given of the parents of st. john the baptist. though brief, it is enough to show that any son might well feel proud of parents such as they were--blameless in the sight of god. for many years they had lived together in the hill-country of judea, conscientiously performing their duties, and cherishing the hope that they would be rewarded for their good actions. like the rest of the jews who remained faithful to the laws promulgated by moses and the prophets, which god had made for israel, they prayed earnestly for the coming of the messias, the orient from on high, who was ardently expected to descend from his throne in heaven in order to enlighten those in darkness and in the shadow of death, directing their steps into the way of peace. while serving god by strict fidelity to the commandments, they did not anticipate that an angel would be sent to visit them; they did not know until advanced in age that a son would be born to them who would be called the prophet of the most high, the precursor of the son of david, appointed to prepare his ways. { } that this blessing was unexpected is shown by the fact that zachary hesitated to believe the message of the angel gabriel, and on account of this hesitation, this mistrust of the good tidings that god sent to him, he was deprived of the use of speech for several months. after the birth of st. john the baptist his tongue was again endowed with the power to speak, and his words on that occasion, spoken under the influence of inspiration, have been preserved in the grand canticle known as the benedictus, which is justly assigned to a prominent place in the office of the church. these considerations enable us to perceive what sort of a home st. john the baptist had while he remained with his aged parents. from the knowledge we have of them, there is no reason to think that they were deprived of anything requisite to make their home happy and comfortable. early in life, however, st. john manifested a peculiar preference for the lonely desert. in a special manner he was sanctified before his birth, and received the gifts of the holy ghost in an extraordinary degree. it was not because his fellow-creatures had proved deceptive, nor because sad experience had taught him that the glittering charms of the world are transient and wither into dust, that he resolved to live like a hermit, separated from his relatives. joyfully he abandoned his family privileges, with all that seems to make life among men pleasant, and went forth among the wild rocks in the mountain solitudes to live alone with god. { } why was it that he made such a strange choice? the answer is, that god directed him to leave houses and lands, his home and kindred, and endowed him with the heroism needed for a solitary, penitential life. in obedience to the will of god, acting under the guidance of the holy spirit, he practised unusual mortification. he selected coarse raiment, made of camel's hair; he used a strange kind of food; he abstained entirely from the use of wine. by deeds of heroic penance, by extraordinary acts of self-denial, combined with the performance of his other duties, he advanced in the way of perfection. during this season of advent we should invoke his intercession, and strive to remove the obstacles that impede the way of the lord and the action of his grace in our sanctification. ------------------- { } _second sunday of advent._ epistle. _romans xv._ - . brethren: what things soever were written, were written for our instruction; that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. now the god of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to jesus christ: that with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify god and the father of our lord jesus christ. wherefore receive one another, as christ also hath received you unto the honor of god. for i say that christ jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of god, to confirm the promises made to the fathers. but that the gentiles are to glorify god for his mercy, as it is written: therefore will i confess to thee, lord, among the gentiles, and will sing to thy name. and again he saith: rejoice, ye gentiles, with his people. and again: praise the lord, all ye gentiles; and magnify him, all ye people. and again isaias saith: there shall be a root of jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the gentiles, in him the gentiles shall hope. now the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the holy ghost. gospel. _st. matthew xi._ - . at that time: when john had heard in prison the works of christ, sending two of his disciples he said to him: art thou he that art to come, or look we for another? and jesus making answer said to them: go and relate to john what you have heard and seen. the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them. { } and blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. and when they went their way, jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning john: what went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? but what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. but what went you out to see? a prophet? yea, i tell you, and more than a prophet. for this is he of whom it is written: behold, i send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. ------------------- sermon iv. fair-weather christians. _what went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind?_ --gospel of the day. our lord asked this question of his disciples, my brethren, regarding his precursor, st. john the baptist, whom also they had followed in his time. "why," said he, "did you take such trouble to see him? why did you think so much of him? was it because he was like a reed shaken by the wind? no, but because he was just the opposite of that. you thought highly of him, you honored him as i myself honor him, because he did not shake and tremble at the breath of popular opinion; because he was not afraid of the world, or of all the powers that are in it; because he only thought of god, and of his duty; of the work that he had been sent to do." { } but would our saviour be able to praise us so highly, my brethren, if he should come down now in our midst? would he not say rather that we were indeed like reeds, turning to one side or another, according to the wind that happens to be blowing? i am afraid that he would have too good reason to find fault with the words and actions of many who call themselves christians, an who even pass for pretty good ones. who are these people whom he would find fault with? there are plenty of them. they are what i should call fair-weather christians. they go to church regularly, perhaps, and to the sacraments, it may be, quite often; when they are with pious people they can be just as pious as anybody else. they say their prayers not only in church, but at home, too; they certainly try in a way to be good; sometimes at least they would not say or do anything wrong of their own accord. and when they are alone they do very well, too; they resist many temptations, and avoid a great deal of sin. they are not what one would call hypocrites; far from it; they have a good many virtues, within as well as on the outside. but the trouble with them is that they have little or none of what is commonly called "backbone." alone or in good company they are all right; but take a look at them on the street, in the shop or factory, at their work or their amusements with their associates, and they do not stand the test so well. they laugh at every vulgar, filthy, and impure word that any one else pretends to think is funny and wants them to laugh at, or if they do not laugh out right they give a miserable, cowardly smile. they hear something said about the faith which they know is a vile falsehood, but they say nothing in reply; perhaps they even allow that there is some truth in it. { } it takes a long while for any one to find out that they are catholics who does not guess it by their names or know where they go to church; it takes a great deal longer to find out that they are supposed to be good ones. now, what is the reason of this contemptible sneaking and meanness in those who ought to be brave and generous soldiers of christ? it is just one thing. these people do not love god enough to dare to displease any one else for his sake. most of them have got pluck enough when something else is concerned. they would resent an insult to themselves; perhaps for years they have not been on speaking terms with many people on account of some trifling slight or injury. but when god's honor and love are concerned, the first breath of disapproval keeps them from standing up for him, as the reed bends with the gentlest breeze which strikes it. yes, that is the difficulty; these good people do not love god enough to stand up for him as all christians worthy of the name should do. let them think of this seriously. for if one does not love god enough to offend bad men for his sake, how can he love him above all things? and if one does not love god above all things, how can he be saved? ------------------- sermon v. the immaculate conception. { } the beautiful feast of the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin being so near at hand, let us consider it this morning. the doctrine of the immaculate conception, then, my dear brethren, is simply this: that our blessed lady, though the offspring merely of human parents, like the rest of us, and naturally liable to inherit original sin from them as we have inherited it from ours, was nevertheless by the special providence and decree of god entirely preserved from it. she was preserved from it entirely, i say. this may be understood in two ways. first, it was never in her. it was not taken from her at the first moment of her existence, as it has been taken from us at baptism; no, it was not taken from her, for it was not in her even at that first moment. secondly, she was entirely saved from its effects, not partly, as we have been. none of its consequences remained in her, as i have said they do in us. no, she was as if there had never been such a thing; except that her son willed that she should suffer together with him, on account of its being in us. now, my brethren, i hope you all understand this; for a great deal of nonsense is talked about this matter, especially by protestants, most of whom have not the least idea what is meant by the immaculate conception of our blessed mother, and who yet object to it just as bitterly as if they did. they either confound it with her virginal motherhood, in which they themselves believe and yet seem to object to our believing it, or they accuse us of saying that she was divine like her son, our lord. if they would only examine they would find that what the church teaches is simply this: that our lady is a creature of god like ourselves, having no existence at all before the time of her immaculate conception; but that she is a pure and perfect creature, the most pure and perfect that god has ever made; immaculate, that is to say, spotless; free from any stain or imperfection, especially from the fatal stain of original sin. { } and that the reason why god made her so was that she was to be his own mother, than which no higher dignity can be conceived. if they object to this, let them do so; but let them at least know and say what they are objecting to. let us hope that some protestants, at least, will not object to this doctrine when they understand it. but perhaps some of them may say: "this is all very good, but what right has the pope, or any one else at this late day, to make it a part of the christian faith?" and it may be that even some catholics will find the same difficulty. i will answer this question now, though it is a little off of our present subject, on account of the prominence which has been given to it of late. the answer is simply this: the pope has not added any thing at all to the christian faith in defining the doctrine of the immaculate conception. he has no more done so than the council of nicæa did in defining the doctrine of the divinity of our lord. you remember, my brethren, perhaps, that from this council the nicene creed, which is said or sung at mass, takes its name. it was called together to condemn the errors of some who maintained that our lord was not truly god. and it solemnly defined that he was. very well; was that adding anything to the christian faith? of course not; it was simply declaring what the christian faith was, to put an end to the doubts which were arising about it. that is plain enough, is it not? { } now what was it that the pope did in defining the immaculate conception? exactly the same thing. he defined what the faith really was to put an end to doubts about it. the only difference was, that those who opposed or doubted the immaculate conception of our lady were not so much to blame as those who opposed or doubted the divinity of our lord, or even in many cases not at all to blame. it was not such a prominent part of the faith, and had been more obscured by time. but the action of the pope and the council in the two cases was just the same. ------------------- sermon vi. the total abstinence pledge. _the angel said to him: fear not, zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name john; and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. for he shall be great before the lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the holy ghost even from his mother's womb; and he shall convert many of the children of israel to the lord their god._ --luke i. - . my brethren, the message brought from heaven by an angel deserves careful examination, because the angel acts as a messenger from god. a little reflection will convince us that the message delivered to zachary by the angel gabriel contained a very peculiar prediction concerning the total abstinence from wine and strong drink, which st. john the baptist practised throughout his life. in other matters no special directions were given regulating his acts of self-denial. { } no mention is made of his raiment in the angel's message; neither was any information communicated in regard to his choice of food. hence there is a special significance in the declaration which the angel gabriel put forth when he predicted that st. john the baptist would abstain from the use of wine and strong drink. this passage of holy scripture, therefore, furnishes a strong proof in favor of total abstinence. in the book of leviticus, x. , and in the book of numbers, vi. , as well as in the writings of the prophet jeremias, xxxv. - , there are texts to be found which show that total abstinence was recognized long before the birth of st. john the baptist. but on account of his intimate relations with the holy family, and on account of the extraordinary approval bestowed upon him by our lord, by which he was canonized, so to speak, before his death, st. john the baptist is the most prominent of all the total abstainers mentioned in the bible. considered as an antidote, an effectual safeguard against the degrading vice of intemperance, the practice of total abstinence is now defended not only by examples from holy writ, but also on arguments based on common sense and experience. it is regarded as the heroic form of the virtue of temperance, which may be meritoriously practised by those who have never been addicted to drunkenness. the determination to renounce even the lawful use of strong drink is especially commendable as a means of self-preservation for young men. more than any other class of society, they are assailed by temptations to excessive drinking; and by unwise and unscrupulous friends they are often taught to regard drunkenness as a pardonable weakness. { } undoubtedly, then, it is a wise act for a young man at the present time to erect a strong barrier, a wall of defence, to protect himself from a most dangerous and destructive vice. for occasional and habitual drunkards, however, who wish to reform and live in state of friendship with god, total abstinence is not a mere act of heroism, but something indispensably necessary. the pledge for them is simply a firm purpose of amendment, a manifestation of their desire to avoid that which they know has been for them a proximate occasion of sin. in many cases total abstinence, though it may be a stern remedy, is the only sure preventive of intemperance, and is imperatively demanded for the spiritual and temporal welfare of numerous families. the man who has offended god and debased himself by drunkenness cannot obtain an unconditional pardon. to obtain forgiveness from god he must have a sorrow for past offences, a determination to do better in the future, and a willingness to atone for his sins. what he must do in the future to secure his safety can be ascertained by examining his past experience. by the application of these principles, especially in the tribunal of penance, the growth of virtue is fostered and the progress of vice is retarded. in this way the church proclaims to each individual the great lessons which st. john taught by the banks of the jordan. to all of her children she repeats during this season of advent the admonition uttered long ago by the voice crying in the wilderness: prepare ye the way of the lord; make straight his paths. ------------------- { } _third sunday of advent._ epistle. _philippians iv._ - . rejoice in the lord always: again, i say, rejoice. let your modesty be known to all men: the lord is nigh. be not solicitous about anything: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to god. and the peace of god which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in christ jesus. gospel. _st. john i._ - . at that time: the jews sent from jerusalem priests and levites to john, to ask him: who art thou? and he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: i am not the christ. and they asked him: what then? art thou elias? and he said: i am not. art thou the prophet? and he answered: no. they said therefore unto him: who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what sayest thou of thyself? he said: i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet isaias. and they that were sent, were of the pharisees. and they asked him, and said to him: why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not christ, nor elias, nor the prophet? john answered them, saying: i baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. the same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe i am not worthy to loose. these things were done in bethania beyond the jordan, where john was baptizing. ------------------- { } sermon vii. bad company. in one of his epistles ( timothy iii. - ) st. paul speaks of _dangerous times_ for christians, when "men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasure more than of god; having an appearance, indeed, of piety, but denying the power thereof." at the present time there is in the world, especially in populous cities, no small number of men who have the combination of vices so forcibly described by the apostle st. paul. in some places they may be in the majority, and have the power to enforce their depraved views on their righteous neighbors. by their slanders they can revile virtue; by their blasphemies they endeavor to bring odium on god's plan of ruling the world. their hatred of religion is manifested not only in the regulation of personal affairs, but also in their business methods, and in their utterances on public questions. if these stubborn, puffed-up lovers of sensuality, traitors to god, who are without affection and without peace, could be assigned to a reservation in some corner of the world, their range of influence would be kept within a definite area. but they are like their master the devil, roaming from place to place, every where seeking the destruction of men's souls. { } hence it is an important matter, and especially for catholic young men, to consider the injurious results of the unavoidable contact with those in the world who are more or less infected with erroneous views, or have become the victims of debasing vices. such characters are to be found in nearly every department of business. it often happens that a young man, when he begins to work, is obliged to enter a sphere beyond the control of his parents, where he will be in close proximity to blatant infidels, who claim an intellectual superiority on account of their unbelief. business engagements may compel a catholic young man to be within hearing of shallow sceptics, who take every opportunity to ask questions--not to get information, but merely to ventilate their contempt for all religious teaching. these hostile influences have produced in many of our young men very deplorable results. by a sort of indifference, resembling the dry rot, they have allowed themselves to get into a very unsafe state of mind regarding their duties to god. enlightened self-interest should prompt every young man to keep a sharp lookout for all that is injurious to him. he may have the best religious training, together with the virtuous surroundings of a good home, but these will not be sufficient without his own personal activity. if he selects by preference heretics and freethinkers as the companions of his leisure hours; if he is so puffed up with the idea of his own ability that he can find no catholic associates worthy of his notice; if he is so confident of his own strength that he habitually neglects to receive holy communion, he has become a traitor to the king of heaven. our lord wants his followers to attain the highest standard of human excellence. { } to those who love him and fearlessly keep his commandments he gives the courage which belongs to true manliness; and their piety has power to surmount every obstacle on the way to heaven. ------------------- sermon viii. the voice in the wilderness. _make straight the way of the lord._ --john i. . this expression, dear brethren, is no new one in holy scripture, and it fell on no unaccustomed ears. more than seven hundred years before jesus christ the great prophet isaias spoke about "the voice of one crying in the desert: make straight in the wilderness the paths of our god." again, three hundred years later, another prophet, malachias, wrote: "behold, i send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face." again, about six months before jesus christ was born, an aged priest, zacharias, took his own little child, who was only eight days old, in his arms, and in the beautiful hymn of the _benedictus_ says of him: "thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the most high; for thou shalt go before the face of the lord to prepare his way." you know, dear brethren, who this little child was, who was the burden of all this prophetic song. you know it was st. john the baptist. and you know, too, the mighty work he had to do. and now, in this morning's gospel, it is st. john the baptist himself speaking: "i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. make straight the way of the lord." { } now, how is this "way of the lord" to be "made straight" in the spiritual desert of our hearts? well, the prophet isaias tells us that there are five things which we have to do in this matter: the first, "every valley shall be exalted"; the second, "every mountain and hill made low"; the third, "the crooked become straight"; the fourth, "the rough ways plain"; and the fifth, "the glory of the lord revealed." he begins, you see, by telling us that the valleys must be exalted. and don't you think that these "valleys" are a very good likeness of all the things which we have left undone in our lives? all these abysses of idleness, of neglect, of carelessness, of indifference, which lie in the wilderness of our sinful past, these have to be filled up. christ our lord cannot come to us so long as there are such great holes in the road. we must set to work and "exalt" them by throwing into our religious life all the pains and care and diligence and faithfulness we can. then there are the "mountains and hills," which must be made low. for oftentimes, when the evil one sees that a man cannot be altogether discouraged from serving god, then he turns round and persuades him that he _is_ serving god very well indeed; that he may be proud to think how often he has resisted temptation, how often overcome difficulties, how often done great things for christ's sake. so arise the vast mountains of pride and self-will and self-conceit. but be sure our lord will not climb over these to come to you. you must first get them out of the way. they must be made low, if you would enter into life: for it is written, "god resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." { } then the "crooked places"--i suppose you know what they are--all crooked ways of lying and deceit and untruthfulness. we call a truthful person _straightforward_, because he does not turn about to this side or to that in what he says, but goes straight to the truth. well, whatever is not straightforward is crooked, and the crooked path is one which christ will not walk in. so we must try every day to go on more and more straightforwardly with what god would have us do, according to the saying in the proverbs, "let thine eyes look straight on, ... decline not to the right hand, nor to the left, and the lord will bring forward thy ways in peace." once more: there are the "rough places." rough tempers, rough words, and rough manners; such feelings as spite, and anger, and ill nature, and revenge; as cutting and cruel words, and quarrelling and fighting. such rough places must be made very plain and smooth if the road is to be fitted for the feet of our meek and gentle lord. and, lastly: "the glory of the lord shall be revealed." so shall it indeed be to those that are found worthy to enter into the kingdom of heaven. but what that glory is who shall tell? st. john could not. "beloved," he says, "we are now the sons of god; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be." st. paul could not, for when he was caught up into heaven he tells us that he heard words "which it is not granted to man to utter." isaias could not. "from the beginning of the world," he says, "they have not heard; the eye hath not seen, o god! besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee." all we know is, that this glory shall be very great. and if we serve god faithfully here we shall one day see it, and shall one day know. we shall awake after his likeness and be satisfied therewith. ------------------- { } sermon ix. penance. _for now the axe is laid to the root of the tree._ --matthew. iii. . st. john baptist, my brethren, as you know, retired to the desert at an early age, and led there an austere and solitary life, eating coarse and unpalatable food, abstaining from wine and strong drink, cutting off all unnecessary enjoyments of the senses, and giving himself up to prayer and meditation. what was his special motive in this extraordinary course of penance? it was that he might worthily prepare himself for the office which had been as signed to him--that of disposing men's hearts to recognize and receive our lord when he should come as their redeemer. it was by penance alone that those hearts could be so disposed, and he was to be specially the apostle of penance; hence he had to give a signal example of it in his own person; for preaching, however eloquent, is of comparatively little effect unless the preacher practises the virtues to which he exhorts others; and the power of his preaching will be in proportion to the illustration which it finds in his own life. { } therefore, though it was not necessary for st. john, sanctified as he was even before his birth, to cut off all other sources of pleasure in order to fill his soul with the joy that comes from the love of god, and though he had no sins to atone for, for his life had been free from blame, still he took up this course of penance in order to show forth even more plainly than by his words the need that his hearers would have, in their measure, to do likewise, if they were to share in the redemption to come. for now, as he told them, the axe was to be laid to the root of the tree. god's chosen people, the jews, whom he had specially watched over for so many years, whom he had often chastised and corrected, and had brought back to his favor when they profited by his visitations, they were no more to be thus dealt with. the tree which had sprung from the seed of abraham was not to be allowed any longer to stand with merely some lopping and pruning; no, now, if it still would not bring forth the good fruit of a thorough and genuine penance, it was to be cut down and cast into the fire. it was the supreme test which was approaching; if the people whom he had chosen would stand it, they should still retain their place; otherwise they should be rejected as a nation, and only those among them who would truly turn to their god should be saved. my brethren, st. john is still preaching this doctrine of penance to us. the church of the new law is not on her trial, as was that of the old; no, her divine founder has promised that she shall endure to the end of the world. but we, each one of us, have to take the words of his precursor to ourselves. we are called by the name of christ; yes, but that will not save us. st. john said to the jews: "think not to say within yourselves, we have abraham for our father." so we are not to think ourselves as belonging to christ, unless we have cast out from our hearts and souls what puts a fatal obstacle to his entrance into them. his axe will be laid to our root also, unless we on our part lay the axe to the root of our sins. { } what is this root of sin in us? it is just this desire of sensual indulgence against which st. john in his life as well as in his doctrine came to make the strongest of protests. if we wish not to bring forth the fruits of sin, we must lay the axe to its root. we must practise penance and mortification, not indeed always to the degree in which he practised it, but at least so far as it is necessary that we may keep the law of god. we must not dally with those things which are dangerous to us, innocent though they may be to others. our lord has told us that if even our eyes and hands themselves are an occasion of sin we must pluck them out or cut them off; if, then, there be anything we enjoy, but can really do with out, we must not make a pretext of the good use which we might make of it if it really is plain that we will abuse it, but must resolutely cast it away. if we would avoid the bitter fruit which will naturally grow we must lay the axe to the root of the tree. ------------------- { } _fourth sunday of advent._ epistle. _corinthians iv._ - . brethren: let a man so look upon us as the ministers of christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of god. here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. but as to me it is a thing of the least account to be judged by you or by human judgment: but neither do i judge my own self. for i am not conscious to myself of anything, yet in this am i not justified: but he that judgeth me, is the lord. therefore judge not before the time; until the lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from god. gospel. _st. luke iii._ - . now in the fifteenth year of the reign of tiberius cæsar, pontius pilate being governor of judea, and herod being tetrarch of galilee, and philip his brother tetrarch of iturea and the country of trachonitis, and lysanias tetrarch of abilina, under the high-priests annas and caiphas: the word of the lord came to john, the son of zachary, in the desert. and he came into all the country about the jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins: as it is written in the book of the words of isaias the prophet: a voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare ye the way of the lord, make his paths straight. every valley shall be filled: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain and all flesh shall see the salvation of god. ------------------- { } sermon x. fruits of penance. _bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance._ --matthew. iii. . st. john baptist in these words, my dear brethren, teaches us, as he taught those who came to him, that penance, if it be true and genuine, must bring forth its proper fruit. every repentance, if it be sincere, every confession, if it be really good, must be followed by a good life. if any confession is not so followed, it must needs be a delusion; though it should have been accompanied by torrents of tears, and the sins exposed as perfectly as god himself knows them. and, moreover, the tree which brings forth the good fruit should continue to bear it; it should not only for a few days or weeks give this proof that it is what it should be, and then have him who planted it come to seek fruit on it and find none. yet how often do we find sinners who come to confession with what would seem to be the best dispositions very soon back just where they were before! how discouraging it is to the priest to find the fruits of a mission which seemed to be so promising reduced down almost to nothing for so many who seemed to profit by it; to spend long hours, to wear away his strength, instructing, exhorting, and absolving, and to have so little return from his labor for god and for souls! { } what is the reason of all this failure of what began so well? of course it is partly that the tree planted by the grace of god in the sacrament of penance was not tended afterwards. its life was not supplied to it, as it should have been, by the frequent renewal of confession and reception of holy communion. but there was a difficulty further back than that; a want of something at the start, which, indeed, was the reason that the sacraments were not regularly received. what was this difficulty? it was a want of a thorough earnestness; of an understanding of the greatness of the work that was undertaken, and of a real determination to sacrifice everything in order to accomplish it. it is a great undertaking which one commits one's self to in coming to reconcile himself with god after a sinful life. the task is not merely to examine his conscience, to tell his sins plainly and without concealment, and to feel heartily sorry for them; that is a great part of it, but by no means all. there is a great deal left, and that is to leave them for good; to quit company with them for ever. and this is not such an easy matter. when, one has lived so that his whole pleasure has been in sin, in drunkenness and debauchery, in filthy conversation, in bad actions and bad thoughts, it will perhaps seem almost like giving up life itself to part with them. the penitent sinner has not all at once become an angel; his whole nature has been warped and twisted out of place by sin, and, though the guilt of the sin has gone, the effects are there; his soul, like a limb out of joint, has much to suffer before it can get set right again. a man must make up his mind, when he comes to serve god after serving the devil, that he has got an uphill road to travel; if he does not, he will not persevere. labor and suffering, self-denial and mortification, he has to face these manfully. his consolation, his happiness, as well as his strength, have got to come from god. { } if one understands this he will seek that happiness and that strength again where he first found it--in confession and communion. but if he does not, if he thinks that all will go right now without any more trouble, his old nature and habits will claim their dues, and he will soon be back in his sins again. yes, we must cut right down to the root of sin if we wish to bring forth the fruits of penance, and must make up our minds to suffer the pain that this cutting will bring. occasions of sin must be avoided, appetites must be denied, contempt and ridicule must be faced; we must pray, we must struggle, we must resist even to blood; we must put our former life to death, that christ may live in us. for, as st. paul tells us: "if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with him." there is no other way. let us not shrink from this pain and this conflict; that would be the greatest mistake of all. but let us understand it, that when the trial comes, as it surely will, it may not find us unprepared. ------------------- sermon xi. preparation for christmas. _prepare ye the way of the lord._ --matthew iii. we are such unprofitable servants that we have much to do to prepare the way of the lord in our hearts. if we have done all that is required of us we are, nevertheless, unprofitable servants, and unless we believe this we are spiritually blind. { } the better the opinion which we have of ourselves the worse is our spiritual condition. the good opinion, than which nothing can be more false, which we have of ourselves prepares the way for a fall into sin. the way of the lord, the way of salvation, is found by humility, which always leads to penance. the holy council of trent says that "the whole christian life ought to be a perpetual penance." how few realize this, because they think they are what they really are not! now, if penance be the life of the christian in the state of grace, it must be a crying necessity for one who is in the state of sin. what food is to the starving man penance is to the soul in this unhappy state. penance is the preparation required of us for the coming feast of christmas. this is the lesson of advent. for four weeks the purple vestments, the prayers and ceremonies of the church, and the fasts on fridays have been appealing to our eyes and ears, if not to our hearts, to prepare in this way. the wise man views the obligation which he is under to do penance as very urgent. he banishes timidity and cowardice and puts his hand to the plough with courage and confidence. the foolish man hates to hear of penance, because his passions have got the mastery. when asked to keep the commandments and fulfil the duties of his state, he says: "i cannot." to bridle his passions and give up bad habits seem to him too hard a task. { } now, if you should consult any man who has done penance faithfully, so as to persevere in god's grace for years, he would say the foolish man's view of penance is a false one. god is more merciful and lenient than we imagine. it is the devil who dresses up penance as something repulsive. in urging upon you to prepare for christmas by penance my first words are: "take courage." "taste and see how sweet the lord is." st. leo says "the cause of the reparation which we make for our sins is the mercy of god." it is our way of loving him who first loved us. how well the prophet isaias describes this penance when he says: "the lord says, i will lead the blind in the way in which they have not known; in the ways which they have not known i will make them walk. i will change their darkness into light, their crooked ways into ways that are straight, i will accomplish these words in them and will not abandon them. i am found," says god, "by those not seeking me, and i have appeared openly to those who have not asked for me." we see by these words how much the grace of god assists us, and how god mercifully forgets our past sins when we do penance sincerely. but our penance must be sincere. we must "bring forth fruit worthy of penance," says st. john the baptist, the precursor of our lord. it matters not if we are "the offspring of vipers," as the holy baptist called the multitude who approached him for penance, provided "we lay the axe to the root of the tree." now, the words of the prophet, instead of repelling sinners, attracted them. the publicans who were farthest from god came and asked: "master, what shall we do?" and they received the gentle ... { } [page missing] { } [page missing] { } ... which should be our chief one at christmas, now that the days of innocent childhood are past. we do not hate sin from our hearts; we even cling to it; at best we make compromises with it. mortal sin, perhaps, we try to avoid, but venial faults do not trouble us; this is the best that can be said for most of what may be called good christians. and how many there are who come outwardly to worship before the manger of bethlehem, but with hearts entirely turned from their god, who lies there in cold and poverty for their sakes, pleading with them for his sake to give up their sinful habits! how many go on offending him at this holy time, with out repentance, almost without remorse! hatred of sin; yes, that is what we want if we would be happy at christmas. and now is the time to learn to hate it. for surely the love of god comes easier to us now, if we will only try to obtain it, than at any other time, unless, perhaps, on good friday, when we see the sacrifice now begun accomplished. and the love of god is the hatred of sin, which is the only thing which he hates, the one cause of all his pain. do not let this christmas go by, then, my dear brethren, without the joy which should come with it. do not let this opportunity pass of acquiring that love of our dear lord which will make you really hate and trample under foot all that offends him, and which will make you rejoice beyond measure that he has put it in your power to do so. pray, now, at least that you may learn to love him; that you may enter into the joy of knowing not merely that he can save you, but that he has saved you from your sins. ------------------- { } _sunday within the octave of christmas._ epistle. _galatians iv._ - . brethren: as long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father: even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. but when the fulness of the time was come, god sent his son, made of a woman, made under the law: that he might redeem those who were under the law; that we might receive the adoption of sons. and because you are sons, god hath sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying: abba, father. therefore now he is no more a servant, but a son. and if a son, an heir also through god. gospel. _st. luke ii._ - . at that time: joseph, and mary the mother of jesus, were wondering at these things, which were spoken concerning him. and simeon blessed them, and said to mary his mother: behold this child is set for the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. and there was a prophetess, called anna, the daughter of phanuel, of the tribe of aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. and she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. { } now she at the same hour coming in, gave praise to the lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of israel. and after they had performed all things according to the law of the lord, they returned into galilee, to their own city, nazareth. and the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of god was in him. ------------------- sermon xiii. christmas joy. _behold, i bring you good tidings of great joy._ --luke ii. . there is hardly any one, my brethren, who lives where this feast of christmas is kept who does not feel a special joy in it. why do we say that "christmas comes but once a year," if not because we feel that there is nothing else that can take its place? we look forward to it months beforehand; when it comes, we keep it as long as we can and let it go with regret. why is it that it has such a warm place in our hearts? is it merely that it is by common consent a great holiday; that it is a breathing-place in the bustle and hurry of life, a time for meeting our friends, for giving and receiving tokens of affection and regard, a time of feasting and making merry? this has some thing to do with it, but it is not all. for if this were all it would be possible to make by law a holiday like this, which no one has ever succeeded in doing. the early settlers of this country, in a mistaken zeal against church festivals, endeavored to make a substitute for christmas; but the failure of their attempt has driven their descendants back to the observance of this feast, though not to the church which gives it to them. { } yes, we all feel that the joy of christmas is a thing not made to order. it comes from a source which lies in the very mystery which we commemorate; and, even though we do not meditate or reflect on it, the stream from this source diffuses itself through our life and sweetens all the other joys which come at this time. and they come because of it; we make merry outwardly because we are, and have cause to be glad at heart. and what is this cause and source of joy? is it because christ our lord has come to save us from sin and eternal ruin? no, it is not simply that; for we celebrate our salvation, our redemption, our ransom from the power of death and hell more specially at easter than now. that is the festival of our lord's triumph and our deliverance; it should and does open heaven to our souls, and give them a promise and almost a foretaste of it. but still it does not come home to our hearts as this beautiful time of christmas does. and no wonder; for at easter we cannot but feel that our lord, though triumphant and glorious, and promising us a share in his triumph and glory, still is separated from us. he has passed the portals of death, he has risen from the grave, he has put on immortality. we cannot follow him where he has gone till we have freed ourselves from all the stains of earth, till we have been purified and washed by penance in his precious blood. he has passed from mortal to immortal life, and it is the raising of the mortal to the immortal, of earth to heaven, that easter celebrates. { } and this, though indeed it is the object of all our hope, is so high that we, sinners that we are, cannot fully make it our present joy. but christmas is heaven come down to earth. it is the god of heaven condescending to us; taking our weakness upon him, sympathizing with us, and asking us for sympathy and love. he hides his majesty and glory; he veils the splendor of his face; he puts aside all that could distinguish him from ourselves. he invites us to come to him with out fear; he asks only that, sinful though we be, we should try to love him as he loves us. christmas is the sight of the creator begging for the love of his creatures, and humbling himself that he may obtain it; that is the reason why it goes to the heart of all who have any heart to give. let us then, in this happy season, enter into this joy which is the cause of all the rest which we have, which is so easy for us, which has come to our doors, and only asks that it should be let in. but let the love which goes with it be not a mere passing feeling, to bear no fruit in our lives. let it bring us indeed to him who has come down to us; let our joy be crowned and perfected by a real return of our hearts to him who has done so much to win them; let us receive him in deed and in truth in his holy sacraments, and never let him go again. ------------------- sermon xiv. new year's eve. _be sober._ timothy. iv. . { } brethren, those two little words of st. paul in the epistle of to-day contain excellent advice, especially to-day, on the eve of the new year. how much woe it would hinder, how many families it would save from ruin, how many souls from hell, could they be made a common watchword in any large city in this country during the year ! but do you wish me to tell you the easiest way to be sober? it is to take the total abstinence pledge. what does a man do when he takes the pledge? just what the farmer does who, seeing that his fence is about high enough to keep the cattle out of the grain, makes it just one rail higher; for he knows that there may be one beast wilder than the rest who will leap over an ordinary fence. so a prudent man, seeing the ravages of the vice of intemperance among his friends, dreads some taint of it hidden in his own nature; dreads some moment of weakness during the passing of the convivial glass, or during some depression of spirits or foolish mirth. so he puts all danger out of the question by the pledge. for if there be danger from an inherited appetite or from a convivial disposition, or from prosperity or adversity, there is no mistake about this: the man who does not drink a single drop cannot drink too much. but again: what does a man do who takes the pledge? just what the kind mother does who wants to induce her sick child to take the bitter medicine--she tastes it herself. the pledge is taken by a man who may not need it for his own sake, but who loves another who does need it. it is taken in order to give good example. it is not only a preventive for one's self, but for those who may be led by our influence. it is one great means that fathers and mothers use in order to save their children from the demon of drunkenness. { } oh! how pleasing to god are those parents who practise total abstinence by way of good example! oh! how blessed is the home from which intoxicating drink has been utterly banished! how wise are those parents who thus teach their children that intoxicating drink, though it may be used with innocence, must always be used with caution! children reared in such a home know well enough how to avoid treating, frequenting saloons, and convivial habits of every sort. such parents not only obey the apostle's injunction, "be sober," but do the very best possible thing to induce those whom they love to obey it also. but once more: what does a man do who takes the pledge? he offers something to god in atonement for the sin of drunkenness. and herein is the best use of the pledge. it combines all the other good purposes of it. it puts the top rail of double safety on the fence that keeps the beast out of the garden of the soul; it sets up the strong inducement of good example; but more than all it consecrates everything to god by uniting it to our lord's thirst on the cross. brethren, why was it that, when our lord suffered agony of soul, he complained in such words as would be apt to move the drunkard more than any other sinner: "o my father! if it be possible, let this _cup_ pass from me." "o my father! if this _cup_ may not pass away from me except i _drink_ it, thy will be done." is there no special significance in his choice of those words? and listen to the account st. john gives of our lord's physical agony: "jesus, knowing that all things were accomplished that the scriptures might be fulfilled, saith, _i thirst!_ ... and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it to his mouth. { } when jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar he said: it is finished! and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost." thirst was the only bodily torment he complained of. had he no special purpose in this? so the man who takes the pledge suffers thirst in union with christ and for the love of god to atone for sins of drunkenness. that is why it does not settle the matter against taking the pledge when one can say he does not need it. our lord had no need to suffer thirst. he could say, i own all the cool fountains in the world, and all the strengthening wine of the world is mine, and i might drink and never need to thirst for my own sake; but i love the poor drunkard, and for his sake i will die thirsting for a cool drink and tasting only bitter vinegar. and the catholic total abstainer says: "o lord! permit me to bear thee company in thy bitter thirst." ------------------- sermon xv. the feast of the holy innocents. _and herod sending killed all the men-children that were in bethlehem and in all the confines thereof from two years old and younger._ --matthew ii. who is not shocked by the recital of herod's cruelty? carried away by pride and ambition, and the fear of losing what he had usurped, this tyrant tried to put to death the king of kings by the murder of the holy innocents. who in our day are like herod? those who murder innocent children. { } fiendish mothers, desiring, perhaps, to cover their shame or to escape the labor of bearing and bringing up children, take the lives of their unborn infants. those, too, who knowingly sell or give or advise the use of drugs calculated to destroy the life of the unborn--all such commit herod's crime. yet how often this crime is nowadays committed! woe to these wretches! woe to the herod-like physicians who, for any reason whatsoever, directly prescribe or use means to prevent child-birth! herod met his punishment in a bad death, and his soul went into a hell of eternal torments. what must the murderers of little children expect? but i have another cruelty to cry out against. it is that of those who destroy the "little ones of christ" by neglecting to instruct their little children in the way of salvation. the law of god requires that children as soon as they have the use of reason, which is about the age of seven years, should know the elements of the christian doctrine, should know the necessity of avoiding sin, and should be taught the practice of virtue; also, that children, as soon as they are able to sufficiently profit by receiving holy communion, should do so. no child should ever be allowed to go beyond the age of twelve years without having made first communion. many can receive first communion at nine or ten years of age, and perhaps younger. confirmation should be received as soon as first communion. parents are guilty before god if they do not require their children to keep the commandments of god and his church from their earliest years until they leave the parents charge. how many parents do their little ones a deadly injury by not sending them regularly to sunday-school! { } what is it to bring up children to burn in the flames of hell for ever, as some christian parents do? it is simply soul-murder. it deserves no better name. have you been guilty of soul-murder? if so, hasten to repair the evil as much as you can. you can never do it wholly, but you must do what you can. there is yet another cruelty towards "the little ones" of christ. it is to scandalize them by your bad example. instead of learning by your example to adore our blessed lord, to love and reverence his blessed mother and the saints, they, perhaps, learn to take god's holy name in vain. your falsehoods teach them to lie; your dishonesty teaches them to steal. your anger and quarrelling teach them to be stubborn and disobedient. ah! christian parents, be careful how you hang this millstone of scandalizing the little ones of christ about your necks. finally, you destroy your children by not correcting their faults. you wink at the evil which they do. you fail to punish them, regardless of god's honor and their good. if you do punish them, it is not "correction in the lord," but you do it to gratify your satanic rage. some fathers and mothers are not worthy of the name. the dignity and responsibility of fathers and mothers are very great. see that you are faithful to the obligations which belong to your high and holy state. ------------------- { } _the epiphany._ epistle. _isaias lx._ - . arise, be enlightened, o jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the lord is risen upon thee. for behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. and the gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged; when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the gentiles shall come to thee. the multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of madian and epha: all they from saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense: and showing forth praise to the lord. gospel. _st. matthew. ii._ - . when jesus, therefore, was born in bethlehem of juda, in the days of king herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to jerusalem, saying: where is he that is born king of the jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and we are come to adore him. and herod the king hearing this was troubled, and all jerusalem with him: and assembling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where christ should be born. but they said to him, in bethlehem of juda; for so it is written by the prophet: "and thou bethlehem, the land of juda, art not the least among the princes of juda: for out of thee shall come forth the ruler who shall rule my people israel." { } then herod, privately calling the wise men, inquired diligently of them the time of the star's appearing to them; and sending them into bethlehem, said: go and search diligently after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that i also may come and adore him. and when they had heard the king, they went their way; and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. and seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. and going into the house, they found the child with mary his mother, and falling down, they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. and having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to herod, they went back another way into their own country. ------------------- sermon xvi. the testimony of the spirit. _for whosoever are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god._ --romans viii. . the end of our pilgrimage, like that of the three wise men, my brethren, is union with our lord. of course union with god, through his power and his being present everywhere, always exists, whether we are his friends or not. but the state of grace is the union of love. by that union god rules our souls. by that union the holy spirit of god, the third person of the most holy trinity, really dwells within us. in the state of grace we are brought into loving contact with the divine spirit. { } now the apostle, in the words of our text, wishes to teach us one effect of that wonderful union. "for the spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of god." that is to say, when the holy spirit enters into your heart he announces his coming, he assures you of his friendship, he excites within you a sentiment of filial affection for your heavenly father. how could it be otherwise? could god be long in our hearts and we be altogether ignorant of it? of course he does not take away the natural fickleness of our minds; the star sometimes shines faintly, or even for a while disappears from view. god does not reveal himself as he is; he does not interfere at all with his external work in the holy church; he does not substitute his interior action on the soul for that exterior action of visible authority and sacramental symbols. it is, indeed, by means of this external order that the holy spirit enters into our hearts; it is, besides, only by means of the church's divine marks, her divine testimony, her divine influence in the sacraments, that we can be quite sure that almighty god has come down into our souls. yet the holy spirit really has a secret career within us. "deep calleth unto deep"; that is, the infinite love of god calls into life our little love. he has his inner church in our souls, so to speak; or rather he brings into his spiritual and hidden temple all that is outside, spiritualizes the external order, joins the purely mental with the sacramental, and, having set our faces in the right direction and started our feet moving in the right road, he sets us to thinking right, he stirs up noble aspirations, he purifies our feelings, and finally gives us testimony that it is really himself, the spirit of god, who has thus been at work making our inner life such as befits the sons of god. { } now, my brethren, as i said before, this testimony of god within us is not like the splendors of paradise bursting upon the soul; nor is it so very plain as to be able to stand alone without the external criterion of his church as a testimony of god's friendship, except now and then in the case of some great saint. yet there are many things in our inner life that, if we study them over a little, show that god has been acting upon us. what else is that wonder of the world called the faith of catholics? who else but the spirit of god could give such power to believe very mysterious truths, such a stability to wavering minds, such a humility of belief to proud minds? and what except divine love could be as sweet as the taste the soul enjoys in the reception of the sacraments? call to mind the utter transformation of soul that so often takes place at first communion; remember the flood of divine influence at your christian marriage; remember how after that death-bed scene your broken heart was cured of its despair when you turned to god; remember how at missions or during seasons of penance, or at one or other festival, it seemed to you that heaven was beginning before its time. all this is god's work on your life. the tender emotion at hearing the divine promises, the loving regret for sin, the joy of forgiveness, the imagination filled--plainly by no human means--with images of celestial peace, the understanding as clear of doubts as heaven of clouds, the will strong and easily able to keep good resolutions, sometimes the very body sharing the lightness and vigor of the soul--what is all this but the embrace of the holy spirit? { } and if one says _he_ does not feel it, and yet hopes he is in the state of grace, i answer that he will not be long deprived of it. or it may be he is tepid; his soul is not able to feel any more than a hand benumbed with cold; his ear not hearing because his attention is too much fixed on the voices of the world to hear the voice of the holy spirit. his eye is too much dazzled by the false glitter of the world to catch sight of the star that leads to our lord's feet. ------------------- sermon xvii. following god's guidance. _be ye, therefore, followers of god, as most dear children._ --ephesians. v. . my dear brethren, these are not words of counsel or good advice; they are words of command, written by st. paul. this command is to follow god, and to follow him as most dear children, obediently as the magi did of old. what is it to follow god? it is to do at least as much as we do when we follow any one great man. how do we act then? we seek to be with him a great deal. we listen to his every word. we do as he does. we adopt his views of things. we repeat what he teaches. neither do we dare to differ from him, for fear that people will say that we have no sense; nor do we venture to act in any manner opposed to his ways of doing. in a few words, a man who is followed is the leader in fashion, in taste, and style. everybody approves his ways, and imitates them. { } his friends have also the friendship of the world, simply because they are his friends. any one whom he approves and recommends is listened to and followed because he has recommended him. if we want to follow god, he does not really require, outwardly, any more than men require of us to follow them. but how can we do this? first: seek to be with god a great deal. where is he, that we may find him? god is everywhere, and is always found by looking for him and seeking for him diligently in prayer; for prayer keeps us near to god and god near to us. and he is always on the altar: hear mass not only on sundays but now and then on week days; visit the blessed sacrament. secondly: listen to his every word. god speaks to our souls in prayer, not with a voice like the voice of a man, but in his own sweet and quiet way. we must listen attentively to hear the gentle words of god, not with our outward ears of the body, but with the ability to hear that is within our souls; the ability of the soul to hear the voice of a spirit speaking to our spirit. god also speaks to us through his holy word in the sacred scriptures, in the epistle and gospel set apart for each sunday of the year, in the writings of holy men and women, in the teachings of christian parents and friends. but the most important way in which god has taught, and continues to teach us all, is by means of his church. when we listen to her words, in sermons and other instructions, we hear the word of god. { } thirdly: do as god does. try to be like him, and him alone. take care to do always the thing that is right. try hard to be loving, merciful, forgiving, and gentle to all, even your enemies. when we have anything to do, we must say, would god do this way or that way? when we meet with cruel treatment from others, with ingratitude and base injustice from those we love, we must say at once, how does god treat those who do these things? how does he treat me, notwithstanding my many, many sins? i shall go and do to these bad people as he has done to me. i shall even bless them, as he has blessed me. lastly: if we want to follow god, at least as well as we follow a great man whom we have made a leader among us, we are sure to honor his friends, and obey those he sends to us in his name. who are these? not only all good people, but especially our pastors and spiritual directors. the pastor or parish priest is a man sent by god to make sure of the success of god's work in his parish. any one who follows god in that parish unites heart and soul with his priest to help him carry out his plans. if any one wants to get the greatest amount of merit for his good deeds, he is sure to get it by following first these plans. for the priest stands as a father among his children. he knows the good and the bad, the rich and the poor. he knows what is best for each. he is the best adviser as to what ought to be done, and as to the way it is to be done. in charities he is certainly the best leader. private works and charities are good, it is true; but the first duty, after one's own necessities are cared for, is to follow the order of god, in aiding the parish work through the parish priest and his assistants. we may safely say that one act done for god, in union with those put over us by him, is worth in heaven, and here also, many good works done simply because we like to do them our own way. { } to follow god, then, is to follow as dear children. we must consent to be led by god in all things connected with duty, just as little children are led by their fathers and mothers. we must take care, at least, that we follow his lead, and not show more honor to others than we do to him. ------------------- { } _first sunday after epiphany._ epistle. _romans xii._ - . brethren: i beseech you, by the mercy of god, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to god, your reasonable service. and be not conformed to this world: but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and the acceptable, and the perfect will of god. for i say, through the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as god hath divided to every one the measure of faith. for as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office: so we being many are one body in christ, and each one members one of another in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. luke ii._ - . when jesus was twelve years old, they went up to jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and after they had fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child jesus remained in jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. and thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. and not finding him, they returned into jerusalem, seeking him. and it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. and all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. and seeing him, they wondered. { } and his mother said to him: son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and i have sought thee sorrowing. and he said to them: how is it that you sought me? did you not know that i must be about the things that are my father's? and they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. and he went down with them, and came to nazareth: and was subject to them. and his mother kept all these words in her heart. and jesus increased in wisdom and age, and grace with god and men. ------------------- sermon xviii. the christian home. _he went down with them and came to nazareth, and was subject to them. ... and jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with god and men._ --gospel of the day. in these few words, my brethren, the sacred writer raises the veil that conceals the mysteries of our lord's hidden life, and gives us an insight into the domestic concerns of the holy family at nazareth. jesus lived with mary and joseph. he was obedient and subject to them, and so he advanced in age and wisdom and grace with god and men. the door of the holy house is opened to us, but only for a moment, so that we might get a glimpse of the domestic life of a model family. joseph, the father, day by day works at his trade to support the family. he rises in the morning; gives his soul to god in prayer. he toils through the day. he comes home at night to enjoy his rest in the company of jesus and mary. he meets with trials, but he is patient; he is tempted, but he sins not; he leads a busy life, but he still finds time to pray. { } mary, the mother, tends the household duties, with care and precision, and by her sweet, kind ways diffuses an air of peace and contentment throughout the home. jesus, the child, is affectionate and submissive to his parents in everything. here is the model of a true christian home. its ground work is the love of god; it is surrounded by an atmosphere of virtue, and to its members it is the holiest and dearest spot on earth. such should our homes be. the true christian home is to society what the sanctuary is to the church of god. the parents are the priests in this sanctuary. it was god who ordained them priests when they stood before the altar with clasped hands and promised that they would be faithful to each other while life lasts. the blessed sacrament of this sanctuary is the sacrament of matrimony. it is the great treasure-house of supernatural strength to the married couple. the perpetual presence of our lord in this sanctuary is by his grace, which is never wanting. the altar in this sanctuary is the hearthstone around which the family gathers. the communion-rail in this sanctuary is the family table, from which are dispensed the necessities of life. there is about the sanctuary in the church of god an atmosphere of piety and reverence. it has a sanctity that no stranger dare violate; it has a privacy which no one but he who has a right dare invade. such an atmosphere should be about the sanctuary of home. a priest would never allow a heretic or an infidel to sit in the sanctuary of god. he would never allow a corrupt man to stand on the altar of god. take care, then, christian parents, how you violate the sanctity of your homes. { } take care what heretical or infidel books you allow to pass the gate of that sanctuary. take care what bad newspapers you allow within its sacred precincts. take care of the persons whom you allow to stand around your family altar. it is one thing, you know, to be obliged to meet a man in every-day life; it is a far different thing to invite him to your home, and permit him to violate its sanctity. it is the duty of a priest on the altar of god, by his good example, to edify his flock; to stand at all times before his people a bright, shining light of christian virtues. so, too, it is your duty, priests at the family altar, to be a model of all virtues to your children, so that they might learn from you what it is to be a christian. would it not be horrible for a man to come in on the altar and utter repeated curses? would it not be fearful to see him stagger up to the altar of god in the state of intoxication? it happened once while mass was going on, during the elevation, while all heads were bowed in humble adoration, a drunken man rushed into the church, and in a loud voice uttered a horrible oath. it made the hearts of the good catholic people stand still, and their blood ran cold in their veins. is it any the less horrible for a father to come home intoxicated to the household sanctuary, or a mother, when anything goes wrong in the house, to give vent to her wrath in harsh language and sometimes even cursing? see to it, then, dear parents; make your homes holy places--real sanctuaries, where you can do your duty as priests of our all-holy god. keep from them all evil influences, so that they might be places where even the child jesus would not be ashamed to dwell. ------------------- { } sermon xix. jesus teaching in the temple. _and not finding him, they returned into jerusalem, seeking him._ --luke ii. the gospel of to-day tells us, my brethren, how our blessed lady and st. joseph lost jesus on their way home from jerusalem, where they had gone with him to keep the feast of the pasch, and how in great distress they returned to the city in search of him. what fears and anxieties must have filled their minds as they thought of the many enemies which he had among the rulers of the people, jealous of his promised kingdom, and of the harm which they would try to do him if they recognized him for the child whom herod had sought to destroy! and how perplexed mary and joseph must have been that he who had hitherto saved himself by their protection should at this tender age abandon them and remove himself from their care! had they not shown enough love and care for him? had they proved themselves unworthy of him? surely it could not be his purpose when so young to begin his great work. would he not at least have told them if such had been his plan? no, our lord did not propose to begin his mission then; for, though he was indeed god, he was also then a child, and that mission was not a child's work. but he did wish to show them that his great work even then filled his heart and soul; that the fire of love for us, which brought him to the cross, was consuming him even in childhood. "did you not know," he said to them when they found him, "that i must be about my father's business?" "how is it that you sought me?" "you might have known," he seems to say, "that, if i were not with you, i must be in the temple speaking to my people of their god." { } he also wished to give them an opportunity of merit by showing the love of god which filled their souls, too. for their grief was not the common grief of parents who have lost a child, great as that trouble is. it was the loss of the divine presence which affected them beyond measure. god had been with them for all those years as never with any one else, and now he had left them, they could not tell why or for how long. they would not have spared him for an hour, even to their kinsfolk and friends, with whom they thought he was, except for charity; and now he had left them, perhaps for the rest of their lives, which were worth nothing without him. would that we loved god, my brethren, as they loved him; that he were the light and consolation of our lives, as he was of theirs! let us think of this as we reflect on their pain and anguish in that weary search for the visible presence of him whose grace was, after all, always in their souls. how is it with us? would we care for this presence which they so bitterly missed? would it not, perhaps, even be a painful restraint? do we care, as it is, to be near jesus? is his presence in the blessed sacrament of the altar a consolation to us? we revere that real presence of our lord, but do we love it? if so, why do we not seek it more? do we even care for his presence by grace in our souls, which they always had in its fulness, and never dimmed by the shadow of sin? to lose that, had it been possible, would have been a thousand deaths to them; what is it to us? how easily do we lose that grace; how little do we care to regain it! { } oh! let us at least imitate our blessed mother and her holy spouse as far as this. if we do not love to be with jesus as they did, let us at least seek to have him with us by his grace. if we have lost him, let us seek him, and not be weary till we find him; let us not rest till he comes again to our souls, never to leave them again. ------------------- sermon xx. how our saviour takes away sin. _behold the lamb of god, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world._ --st. john i. . after our blessed lord was baptized by st. john the baptist, beloved brethren, he retired into the desert, where he remained forty days in prayer and fasting. at the end of this time he directed his steps towards the river jordan, where john was baptizing. here a large concourse of the jewish people had assembled to listen to the preaching of the forerunner of christ. in the midst of these st. john, inspired by the spirit of god, and professing his deep and ardent faith, testified of our lord that he is the lamb of god, and that it is he who taketh away the sins of the world. { } what a glorious testimony this, and how cheerfully received by the fervent christian! have you ever pondered over these beautiful words, and made them the subject of your meditation? have you ever tried to find out their true meaning, and thus make them profitable to your souls? yes, truly, jesus christ is the lamb of god. he is the lamb slain from the beginning of the world. for you and for me he voluntarily left the bosom of his father, and lowered and even debased himself by assuming a nature like our own. for us he endured the sufferings and privations of his childhood; for us he sent up many heartfelt prayers to god the father before the beginning of his public life; for us he labored and preached; for us he suffered the ingratitude of his disciples, the ignominies of the jews, the insults of the soldiers, the hardships of the journey to calvary, and, finally, ended his torments on the cross, with the cry "_consummatum est_--it is finished." this, and much more, did our blessed lord gladly undergo for us all. and how have you, dear brethren, requited such infinite love? fathers, are you solicitous for the little household which almighty god himself has so fondly entrusted to your care? then are you imitators of the patience and endurance of your saviour during his bitter passion. mothers, do you strive to make yourselves patterns of the christian virtues of gentleness and forbearance? then do you imitate the example of your lord in bearing the defects of others and treating them with kindness and compassion. oh! how watchful would we not be, dear brethren, could we but understand the infinite love our lord jesus christ manifested for us during his life on earth! but st. john not only gave testimony to our lord being the lamb of god, but he further testified that it is he who takes away the sins of the world. { } he did not come simply to announce to the world the divine mission which he received from the father; he also came to heal the infirmities of our souls by imparting to them the abundance of his grace. this office he performed himself during his mortal life on earth. he it was that purified the soul of mary magdalene and enriched it with sanctifying grace. it was he who gave the living water of eternal life to the sinful samaritan woman. and what our lord did for these and many others, beloved brethren, he is now effecting in the midst of us. it is not necessary to remind you of how our lord chose a small band of apostles, and made them the beginning of his church; how he bestowed upon them and their successors the unheard-of and marvellous power of forgiving sins. yes, brethren, the bishops and priests of the catholic church are the visible representatives of jesus christ; they are the comfort of the afflicted, the strength of the weak; they have an efficacious remedy for those who are living in the state of mortal sin; by pronouncing the words of absolution they restore to the penitent and contrite sinner his lost inheritance of sonship, and make him an heir of the kingdom of heaven. oh! how thankful we should be for the mercy and goodness of our god! what a tender love we ought to cherish for the church, the bride without spot! what respect is not due to those who hold the place of christ in our behalf! how sufficiently prize the inestimable blessing of the tribunal of penance! let us remember and meditate upon those three precious graces, beloved brethren, that they may be the source of sweet joy to us now, and the earnest of a happy eternity hereafter. ------------------- { } _second sunday after epiphany._ feast of the holy name of jesus. epistle. _romans xii._ - . having gifts different, according to the grace that is given us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith, or ministry in ministering; or he that teacheth, in teaching; he that exhorteth, in exhorting; he that giveth with simplicity; he that ruleth with solicitude; he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. love without dissimulation. hating that which is evil, adhering to that which is good; loving one another with brotherly love; in honor preventing one another; in solicitude not slothful; in spirit fervent; serving the lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; instant in prayer; communicating to the necessities of the saints; pursuing hospitality. bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not. rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep; being of one mind one to another; not high-minded, but condescending to the humble. epistle of the feast. _acts iv._ - . then peter, filled with the holy ghost, said to them: ye rulers of the people and ancients, hear: if we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole; be it known to you all, and to all the people of israel, that in the name of our lord jesus christ of nazareth, whom you crucified, whom god hath raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. this is the stone which was rejected by you, builders; which is become the head of the corner; nor is there salvation in any other. for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. { } gospel. _st. john ii._ - . at that time: there was a marriage in cana of galilee: and the mother of jesus was there. and jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. and the wine failing, the mother of jesus saith to him: they have no wine. and jesus saith to her: woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. his mother said to the waiters: whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. now, there were set there six water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the jews, containing two or three measures apiece. jesus saith to them: fill the water-pots with water. and they filled them up to the brim. and jesus saith to them: draw out now and carry to the chief steward of the feast. and they carried it. and when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water, the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him: every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. this beginning of miracles did jesus in cana of galilee, and he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. gospel of the feast. _st. luke ii._ . at that time: after eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised, his name was called jesus, which was called by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb. ------------------- sermon xxi. profanity. to-day, my dear brethren, as you know, the church celebrates the festival of the holy name of jesus; of that name which is above all other names, at which every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess the glory of him to whom this great name belongs. { } yes, the holy church does indeed reverence this holy name, and we, her children, do not fail to honor it. following a pious custom, we bow the head when it is mentioned, and it is to be hoped that we also make at the same time with our hearts an act of homage to him who bears it, and thank him for all that he has done for us. and yet, strange to say, some of these very christians who pay to the name of their god and saviour, at least outwardly, this tribute of honor on certain accustomed occasions seem to take at other times a pleasure in trampling it, if i may so speak, in the very dirt under their feet. to see them in church, you would think that they would hardly dare even to take at all upon their own lips this holy name which they hear from those of the priest; but outside, on the street, and even, it may be, in their own homes, they show a horrible familiarity with it. this name above all names is coupled with every foolish, passionate, and even filthy word which the devil can put into their hearts and on their tongues. { } do i say this is strange? ah! that is far too weak a word. to one who will stop and consider, even for a moment, it seems incredible, impossible that a christian, one who believes himself to have been created by the great god whose name he bears, and to have been redeemed by him from the power of the devil, at the cost of his own precious blood; who has knelt in prayer before him; who has received from him the pardon of his sins; who has received him in his real and true presence on his tongue in the sacrament which he has instituted with such infinite condescension and love--i say it seems impossible, intolerable, inconceivable, that this wretched worm of the earth, on whom so many and such surpassing favors have been showered by the divine goodness, should, with this very tongue on which his god has rested, outrage and insult the name of this god, and that the name which above all others tells how good and merciful he has been. it seems as if even the infinite patience and love which our lord has for us could not brook this indignity, this spittle cast in his face, not as at the time of his passion, by one who did not know who he was, but by those who from childhood have known full well all the truths of their holy faith, and who well understand that it is the divine majesty which they despise. indeed, my brethren, believe me, even the infidel shudders when he hears in passing along the street the holy name of our lord god and saviour jesus christ, of him whom even he respects above all other men that have ever lived on earth, thus outraged, profaned, and defiled by those who profess to believe him to be far more than the best and greatest of men; who invoke him as the one who sitteth on the eternal throne, before whom the angels veil their faces, to whom is due benediction and honor and glory and power for ever and ever. even the infidel, i say, shudders; and he wonders how it can be, if what christians believe is true, that the god whom they thus insult suffers them to live. { } but you may say it is a habit you have got; that is the excuse which seems good to you, and which you seem to think that god ought to accept. sup-pose you had a habit of spitting on your neighbor's face or clothes by preference to any other place, how long would he endure it? it is a habit, yes; but it is one which you can amend and get rid of altogether, and which you are most urgently and seriously bound to get rid of, if you would not have to answer for it at the bar of him whom this insufferable habit outrages and defies. take care, take care, take care, i warn and beseech you, for god's sake, for the sake of those who hear you, and for your own sake, that this habit come to an end. watch, keep guard against it; punish yourself should you even inadvertently fall into it, that your offended god may not have to take the punishment into his own hands. ------------------- sermon xxii. the sin of cursing. _bless them that persecute you; bless, and curse not._ --romans. xii. . these words are found in the epistle appointed for the second sunday after epiphany, and were read by the church long before the institution of the feast of the holy name of jesus, which is now always celebrated on this day, yet they contain a lesson most appropriate to this feast. for there is no way in which god's most holy name, which to-day is especially set before us for our veneration, is more frequently or more grossly dishonored than by cursing. to curse is to call down god's judgment or vengeance upon our fellow-men, and its worst form is when the holy and awful name of god or our lord is made use of. { } unhappily the fault has become so common, even among those who think themselves good catholics, that its grievous nature is seldom realized or, perhaps, even thought of. the habit is often acquired in childhood, frequently from the example of parents, themselves given to cursing. like all early-acquired habits, it grows stronger and more deeply-rooted with advancing years, until at last the habit is made the excuse for the sin. it is a vain excuse. you are guilty before god of mortal sin if you have formed this habit, and you are guilty of remaining in the state of mortal sin if you make no effort to break yourself of it. it will do you no good to go to confession and accuse yourself of cursing, unless you are contrite and follow the advice which your confessor gives you, and really make an earnest resolution and a serious effort to overcome this scandalous habit. you should begin by making each morning a resolution to avoid cursing throughout the day, begging god's assistance for your efforts. if, during the day, you fall inadvertently into the old fault, you should impose some little penance upon yourself, such as the recitation of the "hail mary," or the pious ejaculation of the holy name of jesus, with a prayer for god's forgiveness. and then at night you should examine your conscience as to how often you may have fallen into the habit during the day, and resolve to make the next day a better one in this respect. if you faithfully persevere in this practice you will soon be the master of your tongue, and able to restrain it from cursing by a little watchfulness; but if you do not adopt some such practice as this, and really set to work in earnest to overcome this habit, you are guilty before god of mortal sin, and your contrition at your confessions is not good for much. { } i have spoken of this habit as scandalous, as this is one of its worst features. besides the insult that is offered to god and his holy name, an incalculable amount of harm is done to our neighbor. children, especially, learn to curse from their elders, and the extent of this fault among young children is frightful to contemplate. those, too, who are not of our faith, when they hear catholics cursing and swearing, are apt to set it down to some defect in our religion, and thus the true faith is brought into contempt. but the habitual curser seldom thinks of these consequences of his sin. he rarely even attends to the meaning of the words he uses. if he could only be brought to stop and think of all that is implied in the expressions we so often hear upon our streets, he would shudder at the thought of using them. to ask almighty god to send a soul to hell for all eternity, to utter that holy name whereby we are saved in a prayer for the eternal damnation of a soul redeemed by the precious blood of christ, is an impiety so dreadful that we could scarcely believe it possible did not our ears tell us the contrary. yet there are those who not only say these things, but mean them, at least at the moment when they are uttered. how carefully, then, should we guard ourselves against those outbursts of anger in which we are led to make such a fearful abuse of the gift of speech, the noblest of god's natural gifts to man! { } above all, we should try to realize the spirit of the gospel as expressed in the words of st. paul, "bless them that persecute you," remembering that no affront that can be offered to us can even justify the spirit of revenge that is implied in a curse. "bless," therefore, "and curse not," that so you may yourselves receive the blessing of the lord. ------------------- sermon xxiii. reverence for the name of god. the feast of the holy name of jesus, brethren, affords an opportunity for meditating upon reverence for the honor of god, especially in the person of our blessed saviour. reverence for god is something different from the love of god and the fear of god. have you not noticed that when a bad boy neither fears his father nor (as far as we can see) loves him, that he yet often keeps up at least a show of respect for him? i don't care much for him, he says, but after all he is my father; i must respect him. so with sinners. many a sinner will break every commandment of god and the church except one or two, which he fancies he must observe in order to keep up appearances; that is to say, show at least some outward respect. the most atrocious scoundrel will not eat meat on friday, because that would be a sign of losing all respect for religion. a wretch abandoned to every vice will say a hail mary or make the sign of the cross sometimes in order to persuade at least himself that he has not lost all respect for religion. he will not despise the piety of his friends, but rather respect it. respect for holy things and holy practices is the last remnant of religion in the sinner's soul. { } well, brethren, let us ask if almighty god has not set up any particular sign of reverence that we are to pay him? what is that, among all religious practices, which he would have us do as a token of inner and outer reverence? of course you know what i mean; you know that it is reverence for his holy name. the name of god, and especially the name of jesus, are set up as the divine standard before which every man will prove his reverence for god. cursers and swearers and blasphemers forget this. no sin is so common as profanity in its various forms. yet it shows a heart not only void of the fear of god, and of the love of god, but also, and worst of all, void of even reverence for god. a man who habitually curses is penetrated with defiance of the divine majesty. holy scripture says that he has put on cursing like a garment; that it has entered in unto his bones. in the old law a blasphemer was stoned to death. and in our own times god often anticipates the wrath to come by sending sudden death upon profane men. i lately read in the papers that a man, standing at a saloon-counter, cursed his own soul, and instantly sank down upon the floor stone dead. many of you have doubtless heard or even seen such visitations of divine justice. and it is in view of the sacred obligation of reverence to god in his chosen symbol--which is his name and his son's name--that, although he had but ten commandments to give us, one of them was set apart to secure respectful speech when dealing with god: thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain, for the lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. { } brethren, you and i in [the] future will be particularly careful to honor the sacred name of jesus. are you tempted? that name is a resistless charm against assaults of flesh, world, or devil. are you tired out? the name of jesus is a restful and soothing influence. are you sick? that holy name will strengthen you with supernatural vigor. i hope that when you come to die your last breath may utter that name of jesus with deep confidence, and that our lord will answer your dying sigh with an affectionate welcome into his heavenly court. ------------------- { } _third sunday after epiphany._ epistle. _romans xii._ - . brethren: be not wise in your own conceits. render to no man evil for evil. provide things good not only in the sight of god, but also in the sight of all men. if it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men. revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place to wrath, for it is written: "revenge is mine; i will repay, saith the lord." but if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him drink; for doing this thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. gospel. _st. matthew viii_. - . at that time: when jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him; and behold a leper coming, adored him, saying: lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. and jesus, stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: i will; be thou made clean. and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. and jesus said to him: see thou tell no man; but go show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which moses commanded for a testimony to them. and when he had entered into capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him and saying: lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented. and jesus said to him: i will come and heal him. and the centurion, making answer, said: lord, i am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. { } for i also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and i say to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh, and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. and jesus, hearing this, wondered, and said to those that followed him: amen i say to you, i have not found so great faith in israel. and i say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with abraham, and isaac, and jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. and jesus said to the centurion: go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. and the servant was healed at the same hour. ------------------- sermon xxiv. practical faith. _many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with abraham, isaac, and jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the exterior darkness._ --gospel of the day. these words, my dear brethren, were spoken by our blessed lord to the jews on the occasion of the cure of the servant of the centurion. this centurion was an officer, like what we would call a captain, in the roman army; he was not a jew, so he did not belong to god's chosen people, his church of the old law. no, he was a heathen by birth; he had been brought up in error, in ignorance of the true religion; he had not the prophecies which the jews had to tell him clearly that a saviour was to come into the world. { } he was indeed in darkness compared with this favored hebrew people among whom his lot was cast; but he saw our lord, and that was enough for him. he saw the power of god, and he believed. he knew that this messias, whom the pharisees were rejecting, was the master of life and death. "lord," said he, "i am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed." immortal words these, which the catholic church has treasured up, and puts on thousands of lips every day, and which were rewarded by the divine acknowledgment, "amen i say to you, i have not found so great faith in israel. and i say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with abraham, isaac, and jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the exterior darkness." now, my brethren, what lesson have we to learn from this praise of the heathen centurion, and this warning to god's own people, coming to us from the mouth of god himself? simply this: that our salvation depends on the use which we make of the graces which he gives us; that the least will suffice, if we will but avail ourselves of them; but that the greatest will only serve for our eternal condemnation and ruin if we slight them and pass them by. a simple and evident truth this surely, and yet how apt we are to forget and neglect it! we are catholics from our infancy, we say; we belong to families which have always kept the faith. we are indeed the faithful, to whom the kingdom of heaven is promised. and if we have not been always so, but have been brought from darkness into light, then still more is the divine favor to us manifest. { } will he, then, who has done so much for us, not complete his work? we believe his word, we are in his true church, we receive his saving and life-giving sacraments; how, then, shall we not be saved? are we not indeed those of whom he said, "my sheep hear my voice, and i know them, and they follow me; and i give them life everlasting, and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand"? yes, my dear brethren, we think that we shall be saved because we are catholics. but the truth is, that our being catholics only gives us greater means of salvation; it is far from making our salvation sure. we have greater means and helps to save our souls; but woe be to us if we abuse them! and when we look around, and see many good and earnest souls, similar, as far as we can see, to that of the roman centurion, deprived of the light that we have, not by their own fault, but by that of their fathers; when we see them trying to do their best with the little knowledge and the few helps that they have, must we not fear that god will take away from us the graces that we despise; that we, the children of the kingdom, will be cast into the exterior darkness, while others shall come from the east and the west and take the place which we have but do not deserve? let us, then, each and every one, if we have been unfaithful to the great graces which we have as catholics--and which of us has not been so?--rouse ourselves to our danger. yes, having the faith and the sacraments is a great privilege, but is one for which we must give a most strict account when we stand before the throne of god. ------------------- { } sermon xxv. living up to our faith. _jesus, hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: amen i say to you, i have not found so great faith in israel_. --gospel of the day. the love and care of the heathen centurion for his servant should certainly put to shame many christian masters and mistresses of to-day, who not only do not encourage their servants to approach our lord at holy mass and in the sacraments, but even put obstacles in their way. however, the lesson to which i wish to direct your thoughts this morning, and which it is the primary object of the gospel narrative to teach, is the immense importance of living up to the grace and light which god has so bountifully given us. a few weeks ago we kept the feast of the epiphany, the manifestation, that is, of our lord to the gentiles, to those who had not till then formed part of the church of god. the jews alone, as you are aware, were god's chosen people. to them had been given the law and the prophets, the temple and the sacrifices, and--that to which everything else led up--the promise of the messias. and all these privileges led them to think that they were individually very excellent people, and to look down with contempt upon the rest of the world and everybody in it. now, here was a roman, born and brought up in heathenism, taught, doubtless, to say his prayers to jupiter and venus and other vile creatures like them, a man holding, too, high office, commanding a garrison of soldiers, whose duty it was to keep down a conquered race. { } well, this man, notwithstanding his bad education, notwithstanding the pride which, on account of his position, must naturally have been his, had made greater progress than the self-conceited pharisees, with all their advantages, had ever made or were ever to make. while they lived and died in unbelief, he had already recognized in jesus christ the power of god; and, laying aside prejudice and pride of place and birth, he sends humbly to our lord to ask him to heal his servant. so clearly did he recognize our lord's divine power that he did not think it necessary for him to come to his house. jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, as you will remember, would not be satisfied unless our lord came down to his house; the centurion, on the contrary, stopped our lord while he was on the way, saying: "lord, i am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word and my servant will be healed." so that our lord, on hearing it, marvelled, and said: "amen i say unto you, i have not found so great faith in israel." now, how does all this apply to us? what lesson can _we_ learn from these events? the answer to this question is easy and obvious. we are by god's grace the members of the church of god, and, as such, we are in possession of the means of grace--the sacraments, the word of god, the intercession and prayers of the saints, and of innumerable privileges and spiritual treasures. above all, and as the source and spring of all spiritual life, without which everything is valueless and worthless, we have the gift of faith. now, faith is necessary; but faith is not sufficient. without faith no one can be saved. but we must have something more than faith. { } the shipwrecked man clings for his life to anything within his reach; but unless the plank, or whatever else he has got hold of, is washed ashore, or a boat or some other means of help arrives, his plank only prolongs his agony. so is it with us. faith is our plank; but unless this faith works by charity it will only add to our condemnation. more than this, it will, if not acted upon, get weaker and weaker, and be scarcely strong enough to move us to action. what, then, must we do? why, we must live as our faith teaches us. first, we must learn our faith: learn the truths of our religion; next, we must practise them. if we do not do so we shall, perhaps, see what those jews of old saw: the heathen and those who were outside of the church entering and taking their places. what our lord said of them may, perhaps, be said of us: "i say unto you that many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with abraham and isaac in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ------------------- sermon xxvi. the sacrament of matrimony. i think you are all persuaded, my brethren, of the wrong and the danger of catholics going to a protestant minister for marriage; and similar ones can be given why we should not go before a magistrate for that purpose. it is plain that the authorities of the state are not the right persons to assist officially at the sacraments of the church. { } it would be just as proper to ask the mayor to baptize your children as to go to him for marriage. to refer the matter of your marriage to him, however fine a man he may be personally, would be to acknowledge the right of the civil authority to take charge of religious affairs; and such a right catholics cannot admit. besides, the magistrate labors under the same difficulty as a protestant minister in conducting a catholic marriage, of not knowing the laws of the church on the subject, and the impediments which may make the marriage invalid; that is, which may make it, though seemingly good, in reality no marriage at all. you know, for instance--to speak of this a little more fully--that the catechism says that you should not marry within certain degrees of kindred; very well, it is not only forbidden to marry within these degrees, but a marriage within these degrees is not recognized by the laws of the church as a real and true marriage, and the parties have to be married over again, at least privately, if it is ever found out. and there are some other impediments which have the same effect. it is of no use to publish all these and try to explain them; many mistakes would be made, and matters would only be come worse. no, to be safe in all affairs of this kind you must go to those who have made a special study of it; just as you find out the law of the state from your lawyer, and not from a book. go, then, to the priest; he is the one who has made a special study of the law of the church, and the only one. { } in order to make sure that catholic marriage shall be contracted before the priest, a law has been made, and binds in some countries, and in some parts even of this country, making it invalid, or null and void, if contracted without the presence of the parish priest of at least one of the parties. this does not, however, hold just here. but there is a very special and urgent law in this diocese, and in many others, forbidding the going to a protestant minister for marriage, and reserving the absolution for this to the bishop, or some one authorized by him. catholics, therefore, who are guilty of such a rash act get themselves into a very unpleasant position; still, they must, of course, try to get out of it sooner or later, and if any one finds himself in this predicament the only sensible thing to do is to come at once to the priest, who will help him as far as possible. all sins can be forgiven, and all mistakes rectified, if one has the right dispositions. one word more on this most important subject. some people seem to imagine that the difficulty which may come, especially in a mixed marriage, of avoiding the protestant minister, may be got over by going both to him and to the priest, and going through the form of marriage twice. now, let it be understood that this course cannot be thought of for a moment; for by it not only is the law broken which i have just mentioned, but a profanation of the sacrament also is committed by endeavoring to make the contract to which it is attached twice in the same case. it is as if one tried to be confirmed twice. no, in this matter there can be no compromise; a marriage in which a catholic is a party must be put in charge of the catholic clergy, and of no one else, except as far as mere settlements of money and the like are concerned. { } go, then, to the priest for marriage; do not think of doing anything else. but do not go to him, as i have said some people do, for the first time just at the moment you want the ceremony performed, and expect him to marry you off-hand; for there are some very important preliminaries to be settled first, and it may take some time to settle them. ------------------- { } _fourth sunday after epiphany._ epistle. _romans xiii._ - . brethren: owe no man anything, but that you love one another. for he that loveth his neighbor, hath fulfilled the law. for "thou shalt not commit adultery. thou shalt not kill. thou shalt not steal. thou shalt not bear false witness. thou shalt not covet." and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." the love of the neighbor worketh no evil. love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law. gospel. _st. matthew viii._ - . at that time: when jesus entered into the ship, his disciples followed him; and behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship was covered with waves, but he was asleep. and his disciples came to him, and waked him, saying: lord, save us, we perish. and jesus saith to them: why are you fearful, o ye of little faith? then rising up he commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. but the men wondered, saying: who is this, for even the winds and the sea obey him? ------------------- sermon xxvii. the ingratitude of children. _brethren: owe, no man anything._ --epistle of the day. { } we are all debtors, brethren, for we all have some accounts to settle up. there are debts we shall never be able to redeem, debts that are just, pressing, and lasting as long as we are in this life. such, for instance, is the debt we owe to god. the fact of his having created us, of having brought us out of nothing, of having given us immortal souls imaged after himself, would alone put us under the gravest obligations to him; but what is that compared to the debt we owe god for having redeemed us at a nameless price, by nothing less than the precious blood of his own beloved son; and, furthermore, what is all this in comparison with the debt we owe god for our sanctification, for the priceless gift of his holy spirit dwelling within us, breaking away the mist of error and ignorance that clouds our intellect and hides from our vision the eternal truth; that gift that endows us with strength and fortitude, with the courage that comes from conviction, with the power that makes us triumph over every weakness, every unruly passion, every snare of our enemy the devil, over every thought, word, and action that makes us unworthy of sonship with god, brotherhood with christ, and the heritage of an eternal crown? this debt, dear brethren, is in general obvious enough; but, while we recognize it, how often do we find in our experience that men neglect, and shamefully neglect, debts that are dependent on and derived from the debt they owe almighty god; men who neglect debts that are as grave and binding as those which are due to the god from whom they are derived! { } now, brethren, if there is any injustice in this world more flagrant than all others, more worthy of condemnation and detestation, more certain of the visitation of god, it is this: the neglect of our duty to our parents. "owe no man anything." do we owe _them_ nothing? do we not owe them much? is there a time in our lives when that debt is not binding? ah! dear brethren, and what do we see in the world about us? ingratitude, the vice of monsters, forgetfulness of ties that are nearest, dearest, and holiest. young men, growing up into adult age, who, in their vain seeking after pleasures, become so blinded to duty, so debased in their appetites, so completely transformed into the incarnation of selfishness, as not only to disregard the law of god, but the very instincts of nature--sons who would rob and starve their parents to satisfy their mean and low appetites. the ingratitude of children to parents is a crying sin of our times. let us be alive to it. let the young men and women of our day remember that they are bound to satisfy these grave and serious obligations; that they are not to heedlessly put themselves into any state that will debar them from redeeming the debts they owe, from recompensing for all the care, toil, and money expended upon them. "owe no man anything." take heed of this warning also, all you who contract debts without the slightest hope of paying them; see to it that the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the pleasures you indulge in are paid for; see to it that they are not purchased by the labor and money which belong to others. you who live in fine houses, who keep yourselves in costly array, who deny yourselves no pleasures, however extravagant, take heed! whose money pays for it? { } can you stand up and with a clean heart proclaim that this is honest? as you sit here to-day, do the words of the apostle offer no rebuke to you, do you not feel their sting? o brethren! let us be sparing in our debts; let us owe no man anything. the man without debts exalts himself in the eyes of his fellow-men and secures for himself a good conscience. ------------------- sermon xxviii. love of our neighbor. _he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law._ --epistle of the day. there can be no doubt, my brethren, that the saving of our souls sometimes seems to be a very troublesome business. there are so many laws and commandments binding on us, so many sins which we are likely to commit; and if we break any of these laws in any grievous way--if we are guilty, that is to say, of mortal sin our--salvation is lost till such time as we repair our fault. yet it may seem that we are surrounded by so many rocks on our voyage through life that it is almost useless to try to steer clear of them; and, if we may judge by their actions, many christians actually come to the conclusion that there is no use in trying to keep their ship off these rocks. they make up their minds that spiritual shipwreck is unavoidable, and that the only way to reach the port of heaven is to be towed in on a raft which can be made out of the sacraments at the last moment. { } but really our salvation is not such a complicated and intricate affair if we would only look at it in the right way. the course which we have to follow is not such a difficult one to bear in mind and to keep. there are many commandments, it is true; but they all have the same spirit, and if we have that spirit they will all come quite easy. what is the spirit? our lord has told us. it is the love of god, and of our neighbor for god's sake. the love of god and of our neighbor gives us a short cut to the kingdom of heaven; if we are guided by it, we shall not come near the dangers that seem so many and so threatening. let us see how this is; how is this love going to work to keep us in the safe and sure track? it is not so hard to see. for what is it to love any one; how do we act towards one whom we really and truly love? are we always trying to give him no more than we can help, and keep as much as we can for ourselves? do we try to have our own way as much as possible, and never to step out of it for his sake, unless compelled by force or threats? no, of course not. we keep far away from what will offend him. we always are trying to find out what will please him best. so if he is not unreasonable, and if he knows our desire and intention, the danger of offending him disappears. well, it is just so in the matter of serving god and keeping his law. the continual mortal sins into which christians fall, and which it seems so hard to avoid, are due to their trying to run too near the rocks. no wonder they so often get wrecked in these dangerous waters. they are all the time striking on the commandments, and the whole sea seems full of them because they try to sail as near them as they can. if they would only give them a wide berth, and keep out in the deep ocean of the love of god, sin and its forgiveness would not cause so much anxiety and trouble. { } if we would only ask ourselves what will please god best, and try to give him all that he desires, as we should if we loved him as he deserves to be loved, and as we do with others whom we really do love--if we would do this instead of trying [to see] how far we can have our own way and yet come out right in the end, the whole matter of saving our souls would have a very different aspect. now, why not try to follow this line? it is no fanciful thing beyond our power. plenty of christians have done it before us, and are doing it all the time. but if we do not feel prepared, or are a little afraid to commit ourselves to this course just yet, at least we could endeavor to have some love for our neighbor, and make some sacrifice for him. we have st. paul's word for it, you see, that even he who loves his neighbor will be sure to fulfil the law. yes, we may feel quite sure if, by a generous love of our neighbor, we keep far off being wrecked on the last part of the ten commandments, that we shall run clear of the first part as well. ------------------- { } _fifth sunday after epiphany._ epistle. _colossians iii._ - . brethren: put ye on therefore, as the elect of god, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. but above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body; and be ye thankful. let the word of christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to god. all whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the lord jesus christ, giving thanks to god and the father by jesus christ our lord. gospel. _st. mathew xiii._ - . at that time: jesus spoke this parable to the multitude, saying: the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. but while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. and when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. then the servants of the master of the house came and said to him: master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? and he said to them: an enemy hath done this. and the servants said to him: wilt thou that we go and gather it up? { } and he said: no, lest while you gather up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. let both grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest i will say to the reapers: gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn. ------------------- sermon xxix. the christian family. _bearing with one another._ --epistle of the day. no doubt you have often read about the oasis in the desert: a place of tall, shady trees, soft, green grass, and a great spring pouring out sweet, cold water. there the hot and dusty caravan stops, though it be miles out of the way; the heavy burdens are thrown off, and men and animals rest and drink and rest again. for one long, burning day they lie about on the grass and look off from their shady refuge over the yellow, sandy desert. they sleep and are rested; and as the cool dews of evening fall they take a last drink and creep away on their journey, sighing to think of the long and weary tramp to the next oasis. dear brethren, the oasis in the desert of this world is the christian family. the father of the family "shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters." it is indeed but a feeble word to say that the influence of a good father is like the deep shade of a noble tree in the heat of summer, his influence is like the grace of god. indeed, there is nothing in all this world so much like the presence of god as the influence of a christian father. { } when the instinct of the christian people would give a name to a good priest they called him father. what is more edifying than the virtue of a good father? in him are chiefly to be seen those manly virtues which are the highest form of human excellence: hearty love, self-restraint, open frankness joining heart, hand, and voice in one. in him you admire that steadfast application to religious things, that regular use of prayer and of the sacraments, that clear knowledge of doctrine and ability to converse about it, that utter absence of frivolity, that intelligent practice of good reading. he is contented with his lot, and yet labors with steady, persistent industry. in prosperity he is modest and frugal. in adversity he is cheerful, a strong wall for others to lean against. he loves home and is fond of his wife. gladly will he tend the babes while the mother gets the sunday mass, or of a saturday evening while she goes to refresh her weary soul with a good confession. the company of his children is to him a foretaste of paradise. he is not sour, nor is he brutal or harsh. he is not above making the children laugh or joining in their play; to make them happy and help them save their souls is his greatest joy. then there is the mother of the family, whose life is one unbroken round of acts of affection. the spirit of sacrifice, the craving to bear others burdens, is her spirit. you know how a good mother watches at the sick-bed the livelong night, passing back and forth through the dark rooms, listening to every breathing, answering every sigh with a comforting word, or a cool drink, or a soft caress. only the next world will reveal to us the loveliness of such devoted souls; here we catch but a glimpse and an echo of it. { } the accents, the tones of the voice, the very silence, the manners, the ways of a good mother diffuse what scripture calls the fragrance of ointments around her household. you know, too, how she saves and pinches to keep off debt, to dress the children neatly, to save a penny to give them a holiday, to save a dollar for hard times or a spell of sickness. and all this sacrifice is a matter of course with her. but the truest glory of a mother is her patience. the patient mother is the valiant woman of scripture. she is the woman who smothers her anger; who will suffer the impertinence of an unruly child in silence; who forgets as well as forgives; whose admonition or correction is the reluctant tribute of a tender heart to the child's well-being. do you want to know how she is able to do this? the secret of it is that she finds time--in the heavy duty of being everybody's servant--to attend to religion; to belong to the rosary society and make her monthly communion; to give alms to the poor from her hard savings; to visit and watch with sick, or afflicted neighbors. it is, in a word, because she ever gazes in spirit upon that holy family where mary was mother that she is able to be a good christian mother. when i began i intended to say something of the good boys and girls; while we have been engaged with father and mother the children have passed by. perhaps we shall overtake them next sunday. ------------------- { } sermon xxx. the duty of good example. _use your endeavor to walk honestly towards them that are without._ thessalonians iv. . the holiness of the church, my dear brethren, is for us who belong to her a thing so evident and clear that we can no more think it necessary to prove it than we can think it necessary to prove that the sun shines in the heavens. the practical and imperative way in which the church enforces holiness of life on each and every one of us is something with which we are so familiar that no shadow of doubt can enter into our minds as to its necessity. the means of grace which she offers to us, and of which she even requires us to make use, the sacrament of the body and blood of the lord himself which she gives us, the penances she imposes upon us by way of fasting and abstinence, the warnings which she is ever giving us of the condemnation which will fall upon impenitent sinners, these and ten thousand other things make the sanctity of the church so well known that it is not so much an article of faith as a thing which we see with our own eyes and which falls under our own experience. but there are those who are without these advantages. there are many around us, our near neighbors and friends, who are outside the church, not through their own fault, but by birth and education. these are not in possession of those means of knowing the church and her sanctity of which we are possessed; and in order to have this knowledge they depend to a very large extent upon ourselves. { } i wish this morning to call your attention to the responsibility which rests upon us on this account, and to one or two practical ways in which we are accountable to god for what that responsibility involves. now, that we lie under this responsibility is a truth not very hard to see. for, as i have said, those outside the church are ignorant of the doctrine and practices of the church. from their earliest years they have had utterly false and erroneous information given them about the church, an information so false and erroneous that they do not think it necessary or even right to make inquiries. how, then, are they to have the truth brought home to them? what way is there of spreading the light? almost the only way, and certainly a way so necessary that without it all others are futile and vain, is that those who are called catholics should lead such lives as the church requires of them. now, if we do not do this we are of course responsible to god, as every man, be he catholic or be he protestant, is responsible to god for his whole life and every action in it. but more than that, a special responsibility in this time and in this country lies at the door of every catholic man and every catholic woman. every catholic man and woman who does not lead a good life is a stumbling-block and a rock of offence standing in the way and preventing many poor souls from seeing and embracing that truth which is necessary for their salvation; and those catholics whose way of living forms such a stumbling-block will have to give a strict account to god not merely for their own sins and for themselves, but also for the souls of others whom they have ruined. { } now, i am going on this account to ask you some questions which i hope you will answer honestly and conscientiously. and they will be questions about matters on which the world outside is competent to judge; and, therefore, if we fail in this respect we shall meet with its condemnation, and become hindrances to the knowledge of the truth. first: there is nothing of which the business world thinks so much as truth, uprightness, integrity in business matters. to pay debts promptly, to do work squarely, to execute contracts faithfully, these are some of the marks of an honest man. now, in view of what i have said, ask yourselves, is this way of acting the mark of all catholics? will a man who wants to get a house built, who is looking for a trustworthy clerk or assistant, choose out catholics in preference to others, because he knows that they are worthy of trust? if this is not the case, if the being a catholic is no guarantee of trustworthiness, you will have to answer to god for the bad effect your dishonesty has upon those outside. and now a question for women. you all know in what virtue consists, the glory and honor of women. you all know what the world expects of women. you know, too, how much the church makes of modesty and chastity, in what honor she holds them, how strict she is in inculcating their necessity. now, one of the effects of genuine modesty and chastity is to overawe and overpower the approaches of the unclean and impure. there is a majesty in virtue which lays low and keeps at its level vileness and impurity. is everyone who comes near a catholic girl or woman conscious of this influence? { } is there something about every catholic girl and woman which makes it clear to every dirty fellow that he must go elsewhere if he wishes to find a victim and a means of satisfying his disgraceful passions? it ought to be so, for the soul of every catholic girl and woman, over and above the majesty of natural virtue, is the abode and dwelling-place of the grace of god. and if you are true children of the church such will be the effect your presence will have. well, my brethren, ask yourselves these questions; answer them honestly; and, if you find that you have done wrong, amend, not merely for your own sake but for that of those outside. ------------------- sermon xxxi. bearing one another's burdens. _bearing with one another, and forgiving one another if any have a complaint against one another: even as the lord hath forgiven you, so do you also._ --epistle of the day (colossians iii. ). perhaps you may think, my dear friends, that we have a good deal to say about this matter of charity and forgiveness, and if you do you are probably right; it was not long ago that we had occasion to remind you of it in one of these little morning instructions. but why should we not speak of it often? is not the love of our neighbor the second great commandment, like to and founded on the first? does not st. john also make it the test of our salvation? "we know," he says, "that we have passed from death to life"; and why? { } is it because we fast, say long prayers, visit the church, or even because we receive the sacraments often? no, it is "because we love the brethren." and he continues: "he that loveth not, abideth in death. ... we ought," he goes on to say, "to lay down our lives for the brethren." in the latter years of the life of st. john, when he had become so old and feeble that he had to be carried to the church, and was not able to preach at any length to his beloved people, he would still give them a little short sermon. it was very short; not even a five-minute sermon; and it was not fresh every sunday, but always the same. it was just this: "little children, love one another." but his people, in spite of their great reverence and affection for him, were something like people nowadays, and got rather tired of hearing this same old story. they wanted something more novel and startling, and one day they asked him: "master, why do you never tell us anything but this about loving one another?" he answered: "because it is the lord's command, and if it is fulfilled it is sufficient." if st. john, then, preached about this matter of charity every sunday, certainly we may be allowed to speak of it several times in the year. and you, my dear christians, will not lose anything by hearing about it pretty often. for the matter is one in which there is always great room for improvement for us all. st. john said "little children"; but he was not speaking to the sunday-school, if, indeed, he had one; no, it was to the children, big as well as little, children all of god and of his holy church, that his words were addressed. { } and these words are more needed now than they were then. why, in the early times christians used to be known from other people by their love and charity for each other. it was this that made converts to the faith, more, perhaps, than preaching or miracles. "see," said the world, "how these christians love one another." but now i am afraid it would be hard to pick out very many christians by this test. no; it is more likely that our infidel friends would say of all the christians that they happen to know: "see how these christians are all the time quarrelling with each other! they never seem to be content unless they can show their pride by having at least some one who is not supposed to be worthy of their acquaintance. they go to church and say their prayers--oh! yes; but perhaps there is some person, even in the next pew, that they used to know, but have not spoken to for years, and have no notion of ever speaking to, unless, perhaps, on their death-bed if the priest should insist on it. bearing with one another, indeed! is it possible that one of their apostles told them to do that? why, they do not put up with half as much as a sensible man would who had no faith at all. let them suffer the least even fancied slight or indignity, and there is an end of all their friendship. forgiving one another, as they say the lord has forgiven them? well, if the lord forgives as they do, his forgiveness does not seem to amount to much." my brethren, depend on it, those not of our faith feel often this way, though they may not say it right out. and they are not far wrong. the kind of bearing with others, the kind of forgiveness, that is given them by those who have the name of christians is too often one that will not stand the test of god's judgment. { } i am afraid that many pious people have found themselves in the wrong place after death on account of it. let those who still remain profit by this lesson while they have time. ------------------- { } _sixth sunday after epiphany._ epistle. _thessalonians i._ - . brethren: we give thanks to god always for you all: making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing, being mindful of the work of your faith, and labor, and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our lord jesus christ before god and our father: knowing, brethren beloved of god, your election: for our gospel hath not been to you in word only, but in power also, and in the holy ghost, and in much fulness, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. and you became followers of us, and of the lord: receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the holy ghost: so that you were made a pattern to all who believe in macedonia and achaia. for from you was spread abroad the word of the lord, not only in macedonia and achaia, but also in every place, your faith which is towards god, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak anything. for they themselves relate of us, what manner of entrance we had unto you; and how you were converted to god from idols, to serve the living and true god. and to wait for his son from heaven (whom he raised from the dead), jesus who hath delivered us from the wrath to come. gospel. _st. matthew xiii_. - . at that time: jesus spoke to the multitude this parable: the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown up it is greater than any herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof. { } another parable he spoke to them. the kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. all these things jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he did not speak to them. that the word might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "i will open my mouth in parables, i will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world." ------------------- sermon xxxii. how to make converts. _the kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. _ --gospel of the day. by the kingdom of heaven is meant in this gospel, as in many other places, the holy catholic church; the spiritual kingdom of god, which is of heaven, though on earth; and leaven is another word for what we call yeast, and is used in the making of bread. our divine lord, then, tells us that his church, to which we belong, is like yeast; and his meaning, if we consider a little, is plain enough. it is, that as a little yeast is put into a mass of flour or dough, to raise it, as we say, so he has put his church, which was in the beginning a very small thing, into the world, to raise the world to life and the knowledge and love of him. { } and certainly his comparison of the church to yeast was fully justified. in the beginning the world was everywhere attracted and moved in spite of itself by the lives of the first christians. the heathen could not help admiring their mutual charity, their patient and forgiving dispositions, their temperance and self-sacrifice; and they could not refrain from asking themselves and each other: "who are these that they call christians? what do they believe, and what do they teach? what is it that makes them so loving and so amiable, so calm and peaceful, so happy in all their troubles, so ready to assist and serve not only each other, but all the world beside?" but no one could answer these questions but the christians themselves; so the heathen had to go and get instructed in this faith which had been made so charming to them. thus they were converted, and in their turn became apostles in the same way to others. so the leaven spread through the mass; the contagion, so to speak, of faith, piety, and virtue was diffused over the world; people caught it from their neighbors. the apostles had no need to make many converts in any one place which they visited. if they got a few, these few would take care of the rest. the little congregations which they founded grew and multiplied wonderfully, in spite of distress and persecution, by the force of the holy lives and good example of their members. but was this way of growing only meant for god's church in the beginning? no, by no means. our lord says that the leaven of his kingdom was to go on working "till the whole was leavened." does it, then, still move the world in this way? if so, how rapidly ought the church now to increase, when there are a thousand faithful for one in those early days! { } yes, my brethren, it ought. for in spite of the boasts which the world is making of its reformed religion, especially just now, and of its progress and civilization, it feels at heart very uneasy. it has fallen away from god, and lost the truth, and in its inmost soul it knows this; and it is looking for somone to bring light to its darkness, and to put its confusion in order. why, then, does not the church increase more rapidly? why does not the world now come to us as it did in those former days of its anxiety and doubt? prejudices it has now against us, i know; but it had its prejudices then, too. there are many slanders believed against us, but that has been so from the very beginning; our lord warned us of this, and it is a mark of his true church to be thus belied. so this is not the real trouble; no, the trouble is that most christians do not by the good odor of their lives induce the world to inquire into their faith, and thus overcome its prejudices. we may argue till we and everyone else are ready to drop, but we shall never be as the first disciples were--the leaven of god's kingdom--till we show by our lives that there is something more in us than the natural feelings, good or bad, which make up the lives of others. christians who forgive and excuse their enemies, who have charity for all, who are chaste and pure in word and deed, who are humble and self-denying, those are the ones--and, thank god, such there are--who make converts; and if we want the leaven of the kingdom to spread and raise the world to christ we must be like them. ------------------- { } sermon xxxiii. the blessings of the faith. _i will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world._ --matthew. xiii. . these are the concluding words of to-day's gospel, and they refer to the great truths that are made known to us through the revelation of almighty god. for as believers in a divine revelation we know things that have been hidden from the beginning, and we have a knowledge that transcends all human knowledge. our faith gives us light which our reason could never supply. we might spend our whole lives in the most profound study and investigation, we might dip into all the systems and master all the sciences, and we should still be ignorant of certain truths which our faith makes known to us. when we look back over the world's history and see the greatest minds of every age and country groping in the dark, seeking in vain for the knowledge which we possess, we can appreciate what a glorious privilege it is to be enlightened by the divine light of faith. for where its rays do not penetrate there can never be sufficient security in regard to the most vital truths of human origin and human destiny. we see the sad evidences of this all around us in the world to-day. men who refuse to accept the revelation of almighty god and the teachings of his church are in ignorance, or at least they are in doubt, about the origin and end of life. they are even in doubt as to the existence of god himself, though the universe by a thousand voices proclaims his presence and their own souls reflect his image. { } from age to age the human mind busies itself over the deep questions of philosophy and the discoveries of science. from generation to generation men seek to solve the great problems of life by the force of reason; but revelation alone can adequately disclose the "things hidden from the foundation of the world," and without its divine light and guidance mankind must ever remain liable to sink into darkness and doubt. how widely different is the state of the mind established in the settled convictions of faith from that where there is nothing but the theories and opinions of human knowledge! in the one there is the repose of certainty, security, and peace; in the other there are many puzzles unsolved, promptings unsatisfied, disquiet, and unrest. one short lesson learned in the school of divine faith will give more light and bring more comfort to the soul than all the knowledge that can be acquired in a life-time in the schools of human learning. great stress is laid nowadays on secular education. and we are told that what the country needs, what the world needs, are intelligent and cultivated men and women; and certainly education is an excellent thing, and most desirable for all. but why make so much of a knowledge that concerns only the petty things of earth and the fleeting course of time, and ignore a knowledge that relates to the infinite god in heaven and a life that is everlasting? what will it profit us on our death-bed to have learned the facts in the world's history, to have been familiar with the teachings of philosophy and the discoveries of science, to have studied the writings and mastered the thoughts of men, if we know nothing of our creator and our relation to him and the course of our destiny; nothing of the preparation we should make beforehand and the thoughts that should animate us as we stand on the brink of eternity? { } here is the great contrast between the knowledge that god imparts to us and all human science--the one imparts to us the truths of eternity, the other teaches us the truths of time; and the difference between them is just as great as that between time and eternity. and if, as is generally the case, we estimate the value of a thing by its importance and permanence, there is surely no term of comparison here. the little child who has learned the first page of the catholic catechism has already acquired a knowledge which forty centuries of human speculation have never reached, and the simplest believer in jesus christ and his church is possessed of a wisdom far higher, far holier, than was ever conceived of by the greatest sages of old. let us realize, then, that faith is the highest knowledge, that it discloses to us "things hidden from the foundation of the world," and makes us sharers in the knowledge of god himself, and therefore elevates and crowns our reason. ------------------- sermon xxxiv. good example as a means of making converts. _the kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened._ --matthew xiii. { } this may seem a very strange comparison, my brethren, if, instead of letting it in at one ear, as the saying is, and out at the other, we stop to think of it a moment. for what sort of likeness is there between that glorious kingdom of heaven, which we hope some day to enter, and a little leaven or yeast put into flour to raise it and make it into bread? surely, we should say, none at all. what could our lord have meant when he said that the two were alike? but let us think a little more about the matter. is the kingdom of heaven of which he was speaking that heaven into which all the saved are to enter? or is there not some other meaning which we may give to the words? there is another meaning, and it is the true one in this place and in many others in the gospel. it is the kingdom of god or of heaven, not in heaven, but on earth, of which our saviour is here speaking. when he says the kingdom of heaven, he means the kingdom which he came to establish, his holy catholic church. but how is this leaven, or yeast? well, it is not so very hard to see this. it is because, being put into the world in the beginning in the form of a few weak, poor, and unlearned men and women, like the little spoonful of yeast put into a great mass of flour, it soon spread through the whole known world, and is even now spreading in the same way, changing and influencing in many ways all whom it meets with, even if it does not fully convert them: just as the yeast is spread through the whole of the dough, raising it and making it into good and healthy food. { } yes, my brethren, this was the way that the church spread through the world and made its converts, especially in the early times. it was not only by preaching. the apostles and their successors did not have much chance to preach to the world in general. they were not allowed to do so; public preaching would have brought down on them much greater persecutions than those which they actually suffered, and it would have required great miracles on god's part to preserve his church had such preaching been tried, especially in the great cities. no, they had to teach their doctrine, as we may say, on the sly; in fact, part of it was reserved for those who had already become christians. it may seem strange now, but in early times no one was allowed to hear anything about the real presence of our lord in the blessed sacrament till after he had been baptized. this was called the discipline of the secret, and was kept up for a long time. so, you see, christianity was not learned in the pagan roman empire so much by preaching as by private instruction joined with good example. one person caught it from another, as the particles of dough get raised by those next to them. masters and mistresses, for instance, caught it from their servants, others from their friends and acquaintances--first, from noticing their virtues, so different from those which the pagans had. they saw how gentle and affectionate, and still how courageous, they were; how they bore suffering without a murmur; how they shrank from the idols worshipped by others, and from all the vices which these idols represented; how little they cared for pleasure; how each sacrificed himself for his neighbor. "see," said the world, "how these christians love one another." then the world began to inquire what was the reason of this love and of the other christian virtues; and so religion spread from the lowest to the highest, till at last the roman emperors themselves knelt before the cross. { } things are somewhat changed now, it is true. the catholic faith can now be preached and taught openly; still, it is almost the same as if it could not, for people outside the church will seldom come and hear it, or even read books explaining it. the discipline of the secret still prevails, not because we wish it, but because the world does. so now, as before, the faith must catch and spread from one person to another if it is to make much progress in such countries as this of ours. protestants run away from the priest, and will have nothing to say to him; so it will not do to say that making converts is the priest's business and does not concern you. no, my brethren, making converts is your business, as things stand, perhaps even more than his. but how are they to be made? not by cursing, lying, and drunkenness, sins too common, alas! among many who call themselves catholics, and specially liable to be noticed by others. it was not by these that the first christians converted the world. not by quarrels and slanders; it is not by these that you will convince people that we christians love one another. turn, then, from the vices which repel, and practise instead virtues which will attract unbelievers, and lead them to inquire why you are so good instead of wondering that you are so bad. then they will come to you, as they did of old to your ancestors in the faith, to learn the doctrine which has taught you these virtues; and you will be, as you should be, the leaven which is to leaven the world. -------------------- { } _septuagesima sunday_. epistle. _corinthians ix._ ; x. . brethren: know you not that they who run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? so run that you may obtain. and every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. i therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: i so fight, not as one beating the air: but i chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when i have preached to others, i myself should become reprobate. for i would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. and all in moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea; and they did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was christ). but with the most of them god was not well pleased. gospel. _st. matthew xx._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples this parable: the kingdom of heaven is like to a master of a family, who went early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. and when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. and he went out about the third hour and saw others standing in the market-place idle. and he said to them: go you also into my vineyard, and i will give you what shall be just. { } and they went their way. and again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. but about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: why stand you here all the day idle? they say to him: because no man hath hired us. ho saith to them: go you also into my vineyard. and when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. when, therefore, they came, who had come about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. but when the first also came, they thought that they should have received more, and they also received every man a penny. and when they received it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying: these last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. but he answering one of them, said: friend, i do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? take what is thine and go thy way: i will also give to this last even as to thee. or, is it not lawful for me to do what i will? is thy eye evil because i am good? so shall the last be first, and the first last. for many are called, but few chosen. ------------------- sermon xxxv. bodily mortification. "i chastise my body," says st. paul in the epistle of to-day, "and bring it into subjection." in these few words he gives us the great reason for the catholic doctrine and practice of bodily mortification and penance, which protestants so often find fault with. { } "i chastise my body," he says, "and bring it into subjection"; that is, "i chastise it, because i want to bring it into subjection. i want to tame it, to become its master; so i give it a good beating, i starve it now and then, and treat it badly generally, that it may learn to obey me." that is the great idea of mortification, my brethren, in a nutshell. every one knows that if you want to break a vicious horse you have to put him through a pretty severe course of treatment before he will be subject to your will. and every one knows that the body is naturally unruly, like a vicious horse; the body is always craving for things which it would be better that it should not have, and it will have them in spite of us if we do not take care. so, to subject it thoroughly to reason, we must put it through a severe course; otherwise, some time or other, it will get the better of us, and have its own way. and there is a great deal more need of taming our own bodies than there is of breaking horses. for the horse can only kill our body, but our bodies can kill our souls; and furthermore, if we do not want to take the trouble of breaking a horse, we can shoot him, or get somebody else to take him; but we can not in anyway lawfully get rid of our bodies till such time as god sees fit to take them from us. we are tied fast to them, and cannot get away. so we are absolutely obliged to conquer them, if we do not want to be conquered by them. in other words, if we do not want our bodies to be a frequent cause and occasion of mortal sin to us, we must to some considerable extent practise mortification. { } that is the catholic and true doctrine, as taught by the church, and put into practice, in some degree at least, by all the faithful who obey her laws. and it is also common sense. every one must admit that the body is the great cause and source of mortal sin to far the greater number of people, and that if its appetites were thoroughly brought under control our souls would be saved from very great dangers, which otherwise they cannot escape. if, then, it is any object to escape these dangers--and no sensible man can deny that it is--one does not need to be a christian, but only to have the gift of reason, and to look a little into himself and into the world about him, and he must grant that the bodily penances and mortifications which the church insists on are not foolish or superstitious, but in the highest degree prudent and wise. but i know, my dear brethren, that you do not think that the mortification of the body required by the church is useless or superstitious; i give you too much credit for faith as well as for reason to imagine that. you do need courage, though--we all need it--to act up to what we believe in this matter. let us then look this question fairly in the face. there is heaven before us to be gained, and sin to be overcome that we may gain it; and here are our bodies, with their depraved, corrupted, and often dangerous and sinful desires, standing in the way of our gaining it. if we will only determine in earnest to get the mastery of them, heaven is almost sure; if we do not, they will be very likely to carry us to hell. if we overcome them, we save ourselves and them, and make them a help instead of a hindrance to us; if not, they will do their best to drag us down with themselves to destruction, and if in the mercy of god we may indeed be saved it will be as by fire. shall we not take a little trouble when such tremendous interests are at stake? shall we trust to luck when a little effort will make heaven sure? ------------------- { } sermon xxxvi. sudden death. _watch ye, therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour._ --matthew. xxv. . these words, my dear brethren, are taken from the parable of the ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. five of them, being wise and prudent, took oil in their lamps, that they might be ready at any moment to light them; but the five foolish ones gave no thought to the matter. at midnight, when they least expected it, the cry was heard, "behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him." then the foolish virgins tried to borrow oil from the wise to fill their lamps, but were told to go and buy for themselves. while they were gone the bridegroom came; they were not ready; the door of the marriage-feast was closed when they returned, and in answer to their entreaty, "lord, lord, open to us," came only the words, "i know you not." "watch ye, therefore," says our lord, in concluding this parable, "because you know not the day nor the hour." brethren, the meaning of this parable is so plain that it hardly needs even a word of explanation. yet how unheeded it is, alas! by the majority of christians! { } what does this oil mean that the foolish virgins neglected to provide for themselves and to have in their lamps? what but the grace of god, with, which our souls should be provided, and without which they are in the state of mortal sin? if this precious oil of god's grace is in our souls we are ready at any moment to meet the bridegroom; no matter how suddenly the cry is made that he is coming, we can go forth with confidence to meet him and feel sure that the door of the marriage-feast of heaven will not be closed to us. but if we have not this oil, if the lamp of our soul is empty, if we are in the state of mortal sin, what dismay comes on us, what terrible fear and distress of mind, when we are suddenly told to prepare for death! we have been saying all along, "oh! there will be plenty of time," and now there is not plenty of time. god is coming to meet us, and to demand of us an account of our lives; we cannot hide from his face, and he will not wait. the hour fixed in the eternal counsels of his wisdom has come, the hour on which everything depends, the hour for which the years of our life should have been one long preparation, those years so carelessly thrown away. friends may stand around us who have not wasted the oil in their lamps as we have ours. their souls may be full of the grace of god, preserved and increased continually by prayer and good works, by the love of god and frequent confession and communion. they may have enough and to spare; but they can not lend to us. "no," they must say to us, "go rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. go rather," that is, "to the regular sources of that grace, the sacraments, which our lord has placed in his church, to give life to the dead. send for the priest, and with his help fill the lamp of your soul, and prepare to meet our lord." { } but too often it is as in the parable of the virgins. while the foolish christian, who has put off his preparation for death, who has lived in the state of sin, expecting to die in the state of grace, goes to fill his lamp, his lord comes, finds him, and judges him as he is. the priest comes, but only to look on him lying dead. or even if the oil of grace is brought to the sinner, he has not, perhaps, the price to pay for it; that is, he has not those dispositions of sincere penitence and amendment of life, without which all sacraments are vain and ineffectual. brethren, it is a fearful point in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins that not one of the five who were so carelessly unprepared was able to have her lamp ready to meet the bridegroom in his coming. it should teach us to expect that, as a rule, a man must die as he has lived. no doubt there are exceptions; the mercy of god is over all, and wills not that the sinner should perish. but the only safe way, the only way, indeed, that is not the wildest folly, and even insanity, is to live as all good christians do live, continually prepared for death; with the grace of god always in their souls, with no stain of mortal sin on them; with "their loins girt, and lamps burning in their hands"; and "like to men who wait for their lord when he shall return from the wedding: that when he cometh and knocketh they may open to him immediately." ------------------- { } sermon xxxvii. life's purpose. _brethren, know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? so run, that you may obtain._ corinthians. ix. . there is a great question, my dear brethren, that comes home some time or other to every man in the world who is not entirely taken up with the passing pleasures and fleeting interests of the moment; to every man, that is, who lives as a man, and not as a mere child. it is the most important and vital of all questions; and it will return often on us, put it away as much as we will. it is this: "what am i here for? what is the use, what is the purpose of all this life which i am living? what is the goal to which it is tending? what end do i hope to obtain?" yes, we must look forward in this way sometimes, and we must try to find something in the future better worth having than what we have now, or our life, with its labors and fatigues, becomes a burden almost too great to be borne. so one man proposes wealth, another knowledge and learning, another fame and honor as his object in life; or at least he looks forward to bringing up children to whom he can leave his memory and his name, and who will carry on and complete the work he has begun. but we christians do not seek for an answer to this question. the answer is written plainly by faith in our souls; we may try to forget it or put something else in its place, but we shall find no other in which we can believe. { } the answer for us is, that this life has no end or object in itself which can justify or explain it, but that it is a time of trial, of probation for something better; that we live in order that it may be seen from our life whether we are worthy to share in an eternal life; that only beyond the grave can what the soul longs for be attained, and that we may fail in attaining it if we do not keep it steadily in view and work for it with all the strength we have. so our life is a race, a struggle for an immense and unspeakable prize to come at its end; and a prize which will never be offered again if we do not secure it this time. if we fail in this life our failure can never be retrieved; nor will anything else ever be offered us to live for. for all eternity we shall see what we might have had, and shall be tortured with vain remorse; and nothing else will give us even a moment's peace. this eternity will be intolerable, even were there no other pains in it; but on account of this alone we shall seek death for ever, and never find it. and from this race, this struggle in which we are now entered, there is no escape. we cannot withdraw and have our name struck from the list of contestants. there is no half-way place which we can take between triumph and defeat. "know you not," says st. paul, "that all run in the race?" yes, a power greater than ours has put us on the track, and is drawing us along it, whether we will or no. we cannot remain as we are, for he whose power has placed us here has made us for himself, and we cannot rest till we rest in him. { } since, then, we have to run in the race; since we have to suffer, to labor, to pursue a happiness which we now have not; since we must do this even in spite of ourselves; since we cannot sit down and give up our place, what folly it is to run to no purpose, to turn aside and try to forget the only possible reward for all our toil, the only thing that can make the life which we must live worth living! let st. paul's words on this sunday sink into our minds; and, since we have to run in this race on which everything depends, let us not trifle and lose its precious moments, but so run that we may obtain. ------------------- { } _sexagesima sunday_ epistle. _corinthians xi._ -_xii._ . brethren: you gladly suffer the foolish: whereas you yourselves are wise. for you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be extolled, if a man strike you on the face. i speak according to dishonor, as if we had been weak in this part. wherein if any man is bold (i speak foolishly) i am bold also. they are hebrews; so am i. they are israelites; so am i. they are the seed of abraham; so am i. they are the ministers of christ (i speak as one less wise), i am more; in many more labors, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. of the jews five times did i receive forty stripes, save one. thrice was i beaten with rods, once i was stoned, thrice i suffered shipwreck; a night and a day i was in the depth of the sea; in journeys often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren: in labor and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in many fastings, in cold and nakedness. besides those things which are without: my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches. who is weak, and i am not weak? who is scandalized, and i do not burn? if i must needs glory, i will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. the god and father of our lord jesus christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that i lie not. { } at damascus the governor of the nation under aretas the king, guarded the city of the damascenes to apprehend me. and through a window in a basket was i let down by the wall, and so escaped his hands. if i must glory (for it is not expedient indeed); but i will come to visions and revelations of the lord. i know a man in christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body i know not, or out of the body i know not: god knoweth), such an one caught up to the third heaven. and i know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, i know not: god knoweth; that he was caught up into paradise; and heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. of such an one i will glory; but for myself i will glory nothing, but in my infirmities. for even if i would glory, i shall not be foolish: for i will say the truth. but i forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he heareth from me. and lest the greatness of the revelations should puff me up, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of satan to buffet me. for which thing i thrice besought the lord, that it might depart from me; and he said to me: my grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. gladly therefore will i glory in my infirmities, that the power of christ may dwell in me. gospel. _st. luke viii._ - . at that time: when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities to him, he spoke by a similitude. a sower went out to sow his seed. and as he sowed some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. and some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. and some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. and some fell upon good ground; and sprung up, and yielded fruit a hundredfold. saying these things, he cried out: he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. and his disciples asked him what this parable might be. { } to whom he said: to you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of god; but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. now the parable is this: the seed is the word of god. and they by the wayside are they that hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; who believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. and that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. but that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. ------------------- sermon xxxviii. perseverance after a mission. _power is made perfect in infirmity. _ --epistle of the day. not so very long ago, my dear brethren, we had a great mission in this church. it was well attended--that was almost a matter of course; for, thank god, every one considers it a shame to neglect so great a grace when it is offered, and the catholic who refuses to attend a mission is regarded by those who know him as being in a very bad and dangerous state. { } and the mission, i trust, was on the whole well made by those who attended it. they made good confessions; they felt true sorrow for their sins. and they made real purposes of amendment against their vices, whatever they might be. the drunkard promised to abstain from drink for god's sake, though it might be almost the only thing that gave him pleasure; the impure promised to abandon and stamp out his evil passions and habits; the one who had neglected mass and the other duties of his religion out of laziness, gluttony, or indifference, promised to be faithful to them for the future. but how many of the thousands who made these promises have kept them? how many of those who were not leading a christian life before the mission are now doing so? some certainly; yes, some of the seed of the word of god, of which our lord speaks in to-day's gospel, which was then sown, has indeed sprung up and borne fruit, it may be a hundredfold. some, in a good heart, hearing the word, have kept it, and brought forth fruit in patience. but, alas! how many, on the other hand, have been like the wayside, the rock, or the thorns in our lord's parable! the seed sprang up, and remained for a few days or weeks; but now, if you look for it, it has gone, trampled under foot, choked, or withered away. now, what is the reason of all this sad want of perseverance? was it that those who made their confessions then were not sincere; that they made promises which they did not really expect to keep? perhaps that may have been so with some of them; for some people do seem to think that one cannot be expected to avoid mortal sin, unless he is a priest or a religious, and even call others hypocrites who believe that they can and do avoid it. but there were others who failed--and these were a great many--because they thought they had only to say that they would do the thing, and that then the thing would be done. { } they did not know how weak they were; perhaps they do not know it yet. they will find it out sometime, as those do who have often taken the pledge in vain; and then it may be that they will despair, which will be the worst of all. but if they use this knowledge right it will be their salvation. and how will knowing that they are weak save them? will it make them strong? yes, but not in their own strength; it will save them by making them turn to the infinite power of god. this is what our lord told st. paul, as we learn in the epistle of to-day, when he asked to have his temptation removed. he said to him: "my grace is sufficient for thee, for power is made perfect in infirmity." the more we know our weakness the stronger we shall be, if our terror and distrust of ourselves will only make us turn to god in frequent, earnest, and fervent prayer for help, and in continual approach to the sacraments which he has given for our aid. oh! if christians would only learn this one great truth, how the whole face of things would change! how the most obstinate vices, the most deep-rooted spiritual disease, would melt away at the touch of the great physician of our souls, if we would only go to him continually for their cure! how easily we should overcome the enemy if we would only understand that of ourselves we cannot overcome him, but that we can do all things in him who strengtheneth us; and, understanding this, would go to him for the strength that we cannot get elsewhere! { } my brethren, you who have fallen and now fall so often, i beg you to put this truth in practice. you fail, and why? because you have undertaken more than you can do. you wish to succeed? i hope so. well, there is only one way. do as you have done before, but also call god to the rescue. pray frequently and fervently, and go often to confession and communion, and success, instead of being hopeless, will be sure. ------------------- sermon xxxix. good seed but no harvest. the gospel of to-day, my brethren, is the parable of the sower who went out to sow his seed. our lord himself explains the parable, and tells us that the seed is the word of god; and the real sower of this word, of course, is god, from whom it comes, and from whom it has all its life and power. the ground in which this seed is sown is the mind and heart of man; or, to put the matter in a practical shape, it is your heart and mine. there are many people in this world to whom very little of it has come, at least compared with what we have had; but we cannot complain that we have not had our share. the word of god spoken by the mouth of man, in sermons, instructions, counsels, and warnings, from the altar and in the confessional, and not only from the priests but also from others who have been the ministers of god and the channels of his grace to us--it is certainly no strange or new sound in our ears. and not only in this way have we continually heard god's voice, but often, perhaps even more frequently, have we heard it coming immediately from him, and speaking in our own souls. { } plenty of this seed has, then, been sown in us; but where is the fruit, the harvest that should have come from it? seed is not put in the ground merely to be kept there. no, it cannot be kept there; if it is not destroyed or carried away it must grow and multiply. the seed of god's word should, therefore, have grown in us. it should have been the beginning and the increase in us of the spiritual life, which should have grown stronger in us day by day from the time when we first came to the use of reason until the present moment. now, how is it in fact? as we look back on our lives, do we find that this has actually been fulfilled in them? are we better, more perfect, nearer to god now than we were last year, or even ten years ago? is it not rather to be feared that we have fallen back; that we are more careless, perhaps, even about mortal sin, than we were in times past; or, to say the least, that habits of venial sin have gained on us, instead of being overcome; that our prayers are less fervent, our reception of the sacraments less frequent, our love of god weaker than in the years which have gone by? holy scripture tells us that the "path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards and increaseth even to perfect day." "the just"--that is, those who are habitually in god's grace, who have and keep the life of god in their souls. { } the christian virtues, the seeds of which were put in our souls at baptism, should have been growing during all our lives; they should have become strong trees now, deeply rooted and spreading far and wide. even if they were killed at any time by the frost of mortal sin, they should have been speedily brought to life and renewed their growth before they had decayed and rotted away. brethren, i need not ask you if this has been so with you. with some, no doubt, it has. they may not feel that they have drawn nearer to god, but really they have. temptation does not find the material in them to work on that it did; to avoid evil and to do good is every day easier and easier; they have still cause to fear, it is true, but still more and more ground to hope. but, alas! how many there are in whom there is no sign of this growth which should have come from the seed which has been sown in them! their light has not increased; no, it is almost always extinguished; when it does seem to shine it is but to flicker for a moment, and to disappear. the seed is no sooner sown in them than it is trampled under foot or carried away by the birds of the air. brethren, if the life of grace is not growing in our souls; if we are not falling less frequently, and rising more easily from our falls, than before, our path is not that of the just, and the seed of the word of god has not yet taken that root which will make it bring forth a hundredfold. ------------------- { } sermon xl. the uses of temptation. _my grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity._ -- corinthians xii. . to all who are striving to lead a good christian life the example of the saints is a powerful means of encouragement, and the more so when we see in the saints themselves the evidences of our common human nature, when we see them encountering the same difficulties and struggling with the same temptations which we ourselves experience. their great deeds and miracles exalt them to a sphere far above us, and, while they fill us with admiration, would yet have a tendency to discourage us were it not for those other passages in their lives when they seem to be brought down to our own level by contact with those evil influences which are ever seeking to sway our fallen nature. the fact that the saints have had to engage in conflict with the basest passions is so far from lowering them in our eyes that it only serves to make them dearer to us and to stimulate us to a more faithful imitation of them. and so st. paul's account of himself in the epistle of to-day has been a ground of encouragement to many a soul that had grown weary of an incessant warfare with temptation. the apostle tells us that, in spite of the wondrous revelations and heavenly favors which he had received from god, he was yet tormented with temptations of the flesh. "and lest the greatness of the revelations should puff me up, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of satan to buffet me. { } for which thing i thrice besought the lord, that it might depart from me; he said to me: my grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity." to every soul struggling with temptation god speaks these same words of comfort. "what if you are weak and the temptation is strong? my grace is sufficient for you. my power shall be shown forth through your weakness, for what you could never do of your own strength i can and will do for you with my grace." many are the lessons we can learn from this text. when we see the great apostle of the gentiles engaged in a hard conflict with the demon of impurity, it shows us that god does not spare in this respect even his most chosen servants. on the contrary, by refusing to grant the prayer of st. paul that he might be delivered from this sting of the flesh, god teaches us that temptation is often a special mark of his favor, even as a general would place his best and bravest soldiers in the thickest of the fight. we are also taught that, no matter how vile the suggestions of the evil one, they cannot soil the heart of him who resists them. if, as soon as the sinfulness of the foul thought or imagination is realized, resistance be at once begun, and kept up until the suggestion is banished, we may be sure we have not yielded, especially if we have had recourse to prayer. from the shield of prayer the arrows of the tempter are sure to glance and fall harmlessly to the ground. but, on the other hand, these temptations teach us what we are in ourselves, or rather what we should be without the aid of god's grace. st. paul tells us that god permitted those buffetings of satan to preserve in him the virtue of humility, "lest the greatness of the revelations should puff me up." { } the evil imaginations arising in our minds show us to what a depth we should sink were god to withdraw his grace from us and leave us to ourselves. we should, therefore, make of such temptations an occasion of humility, acknowledging our own worthlessness, our own weakness, yet glorying, as st. paul did, in the power of god's grace, which is able to make us strong, and endow us with supernatural merit. and here lies the greatest value and use of temptations--god's power is made perfect in our infirmity. a crown of merit is the reward of victory in the fight. without the temptation we should not have had the merit of overcoming it. in the hour of trial, then, take courage from these words of god to st. paul: "my grace is sufficient for thee, for power is made perfect in infirmity." ------------------- { } _quinquagesima sunday. _ epistle. _corinthians xiii._ - . brethren: if i speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity. i am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. and if i should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if i should have all faith, so that i could remove mountains, and have not charity, i am nothing. and if i should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if i should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. charity never faileth: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. for we know in part, and we prophesy in part. but when that which is perfect shall come, that which is in part shall be done away. when i was a child. i spoke as a child, i understood as a child, i thought as a child. but when i became a man, i put away the things of a child. we see now through a glass in an obscure manner: but then face to face. now i know in part: but then i shall know even as i am known. and now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity. { } gospel. _st. luke xviii._ - . at that time: jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them: behold we go up to jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the son of man. for he shall be delivered to the gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. and they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said. now it came to pass that when he drew nigh to jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. and when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. and they told him that jesus of nazareth was passing by. and he cried out, saying: jesus, son of david, have mercy on me. and they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. but he cried out much more: son of david, have mercy on me. and jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to him. and when he was come near, he asked him, saying: what wilt thou that i do to thee? but he said: lord that i may see. and jesus said to him: receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole. and immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying god. and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to god. ------------------- sermon xli. the qualities of christian charity. what a beautiful description it is, my dear brethren, which st. paul gives us of the virtue of charity in the epistle of to-day! if you have never read it or do not remember it, i would advise you to read it at once; and, indeed, nothing could be better than to commit it to memory. { } let us look just now at a part of it. "charity," says the apostle, "is patient, is kind; charity envieth not; dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeketh not her own; is not provoked to anger; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." now, i say this is very beautiful, is it not? and perhaps it seems all the more beautiful because the picture which it gives us is not a very familiar one. i know we are apt to think about as well of ourselves as of almost any one of our acquaintance; but can we say to ourselves, on reading or hearing this description of charity, "that's me; that's just my character to a hair"? no; somehow or other, though we would like to put on the coat, it does not seem to fit. "charity is patient, is kind." that is rather out of the way, to begin with, when we think how impatient and cross we are if anything goes wrong, if anybody stands in our way or interferes with us, or even ventures to differ from us in opinion. "charity envieth not." worse yet. why, some people cannot even see their neighbor have a new dress or hat without at once making up their minds to take the shine out of that conceited thing. and if they hear it said that miss so-and-so is good-looking they will take some opportunity to remark: "for the life of me, i can't make out what any one sees to admire in her." { } probably they might manage to see it if they would make a great effort; but how can they make the effort when no one seems to have any eye for their own good points, which ought to be so evident to all? and it is not the ladies only who have this weakness. you will hear something like this: "oh! i consider him to be a much overrated man. i knew him when he was young, and he was nothing above the common. but some people certainly have luck." or, if you do not hear it out loud, the grumbling is there all the same in the heart. perhaps some praise has to be given, but it is very sparing; given with great appearance of careful judgment and a desire to keep closely to the truth. "charity dealeth not perversely." how is this? why, you will find christians who would, as the saying goes, "cut off their nose to spite their face." they will even suffer themselves, if some one else can only be made to suffer too. but i shall not have time to make all the applications. as i said, you had better read the epistle, then you can make them for yourselves. i wish, however, to call your attention before closing to one unpleasant circumstance. is this charity, which st. paul so highly praises and so beautifully describes, a sort of fancy and ornamental virtue, which is certainly very commendable, but which we can get along well enough without? listen to a few other words which come a little before those i have read: "if i should have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if i should have all faith, so that i could remove mountains, and have not charity, i am nothing. and if i should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if i should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing." notice, he does not say, "i am not much, or these things are not much good, without charity": no, without it "i am nothing"; a cipher, and a sham. take this home and meditate on it. { } sermon xlii. delay of repentance. _be not deceived, god is not mocked; for what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap._ --galatians vi. , . "never mind, i will repent some day and confess it all to the priest; then it will be as if it never happened." sometimes, my dear brethren, when men have made up their minds to commit sin, or to go on in a course of sin, they are tempted to say some such words as these; or if they are not fallen so low as to _talk_ in this way, yet, if we may form a judgment of their thoughts by their actions, such are the thoughts of not a few. i propose, therefore, to say a few words this morning on the great folly of this way of speaking, thinking, and acting, and to show you what a false notion it rests upon. i will not stop to point out how uncertain that really is which is assumed as perfectly certain--namely, that an opportunity of going to confession will be granted to every one who acts in this way. a man who sins can never be sure that he will not be cut off in his sin. but i will take it for granted that the opportunity of making a confession is given; more than that, i will take it for granted that he makes a good confession and receives absolution as he promised himself. in such a case as this is it true that even then all will be just as if the sin had never been committed? { } my dear brethren, to imagine this to be the case would be indeed a very great mistake. in order that you may see this i must recall to your recollection some well-known truths. in the beginning, god, having made man, placed him in a state of great happiness. he was without pain, sickness, anxiety, or death. how is it, then, that man finds himself in his actual condition? why is it that man is subjected to so many hardships and miseries, obliged to toil for his daily bread, and, in the end, through anguish and suffering, give up that life which it has cost so much labor to preserve? think, my dear brethren, of all the pains of mind and body which you have ever experienced, or which you have seen others experience; think of all the sufferings of which you have ever read, and ask yourselves the reason for all this vast mass of agony and anguish. that reason is given in one word. of all the suffering that has ever been and that ever will be, sin is the cause. directly or indirectly, mediately or immediately, every suffering finds in sin its origin. now, i do not say that when we come to particular cases we can always point out precisely how and why _this_ suffering is connected with _that_ sin. god in his providence permits suffering to attend upon sin for many different reasons. sometimes it is permitted as a warning not to sin in order that men of sense and understanding, seeing what sin costs, may avoid it. sometimes suffering in this world is, i am afraid we must say, but a foretaste of eternal suffering in the next. { } in some cases sufferings are sent to make us more like our lord. but--and this is the special point i wish you to notice--suffering is very frequently sent by almighty god as a punishment in this life for those sins the eternal punishment of which he has forgiven. this brings me back to the special point of this instruction. a man may go to confession, may even make a good confession and receive a good absolution--that is to say, he may receive through the merits of christ the remission of the eternal punishment due to his sins, and yet things may be very far from being, as he promised himself, just as they were before. on the contrary, he may have a vast amount of punishment to undergo in time in consequence of that sin, which he would not have had if he had not committed that sin. this thought is very suitable for this season. lent will begin next wednesday. its fasting and abstinence are enjoined by the church, among other reasons as a means of satisfying for the temporal punishment due to past sins. but, in order that this fasting and abstinence may be useful for this purpose, those who fast and abstain must be in the state of grace, because all their value as works of satisfaction is due to the indwelling grace of god. in order, then, that your fasting and abstinence may be profitable to your own souls, let me advise you to act like our wise forefathers acted, to come to confession at once in the beginning of lent, and not to put it off with your easter duty to the last moment. { } sermon xliii. lenten obligations. next wednesday, my brethren, we enter, as of course you know, on the great and holy season of lent. on that day, no doubt, as many of you as can will come to the church and receive on your foreheads the ashes which remind us of the penance to which these coming weeks are specially devoted. the church is generally full on ash-wednesday, and one would think, on seeing the crowds pressing forward to receive the ashes, that they were all determined to enter into the spirit of the church, and to keep lent as it should be kept. yet how many there are who go through this outward form, and make a great deal of it, and yet neglect all that is signified by it; who give a show indeed of penance, but bring forth none of its fruits! some, perhaps, of the ash-wednesday penitents will not be seen again in the church till they come forward again on good friday to kiss the cross. yet it is better to come to church, if only on ash-wednesday and good friday, than not at all; better to do some penance and show some love of god than to neglect these virtues altogether. but how much better still it would be to now thoroughly understand and seriously take to heart what god requires of us, especially in this holy time, and to make it the means, as it may be more than anything else, of our final salvation! { } first, then, to thoroughly understand what we are now to do. everything must be well understood before it can be well done, and the keeping of lent is no exception to this general rule. many people break the rules of lent because they do not clearly understand them. lent, then, my brethren, is not a time to be spent in penance altogether according to one's own devotion. far from it; the duties to be performed in it are clearly and precisely laid down, and should be attended to very strictly. they are not many; they make no great demand on our time or strength; but the christian who discharges them properly will make his lent far better than one would who should neglect them and take any other practices, no matter how hard, in their place. it is better to keep the real rules or laws of lent faithfully than to hear three masses every day, and come to all the extra services, and give half one's goods to the poor, and yet neglect our regular duties. what, then, are these laws? the first is the easter duty, which should be made before easter, if possible, though the church indulgently extends the time several weeks after that festival. make, then, this great duty, far the greatest of all the duties of a christian, at once; it will be very easy for all of you who have just made the mission to do it now, and the longer you put it off the harder it will be. make it, then, if possible, the first day it can be made--that is, next sunday--and get it, if i may say so, off your mind. do not fancy that, as you have so lately made the mission, the easter duty is of little consequence. if you had made twenty missions during the past year, and any number of jubilees, the law of the easter duty would bind you exactly as much as if you had neglected them all. it is like hearing mass on sunday; nobody is excused at all from mass on sunday because they have been to it through the week. { } so this time, the great sunday of the year, is set apart by the church for the precept of holy communion; it must be fulfilled at this time, no matter how often one has received outside of it. the second and only other real law of lent is that relating to fasting and abstinence. if you attend carefully to the rules that have been read you will understand this well enough. but do not confuse fasting with abstinence; that is the most common mistake. people often say: "oh! i have to work hard; i can eat meat if i like." that is a great error, and a very foolish one. many are excused from fasting on one meal and a collation; few from abstinence on the days appointed. if you want to have a safe conscience in eating meat you should consult a confessor, unless seriously ill. attend to these two things, then, and you will make your lent as a christian should. but, of course, you will also try to follow, to the best of your ability, the other devotional practices recommended by the church at this time. come to daily mass, and to the occasional services, and give alms according to your means. these practices, especially now, are of the greatest spiritual profit, and can not generally be neglected without spiritual danger. but remember that easter duty and fasting, with abstinence, are the real laws. obey these, at any rate, and then, so far as you are able, add the others beside. ------------------- { } _first sunday of lent._ epistle. _corinthians vi._ - . brethren: we do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of god in vain. for he saith: "in an accepted time have i heard thee; and in the day of salvation have i helped thee." behold, now is the acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation. giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of god, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in sweetness, in the holy ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word ol truth, in the power of god; by the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left: through honor and dishonor: through infamy and good name: as seducers, and yet speaking truth: as unknown, and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as chastised, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, and possessing all things. gospel. _st. matthew iv._ - . at that time: jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards hungry. and the tempter coming, said to him: if thou be the son of god, command that these stones be made bread. but he answered and said: it is written, "man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of god." { } then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: if thou be the son of god, cast thyself down, for it is written: "that he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou hurt thy foot against a stone." jesus said to him: it is written again: "thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god." again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. and said unto him: all these will i give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. then jesus saith to him: be gone, satan, for it is written: "the lord thy god shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve." then the devil left him: and behold, angels came and ministered to him. ------------------- sermon xliv. the merit of fasting and abstinence. _lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth, where the rust and moth consume, and where, thieves break through and steal. but lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither the rust nor the moth doth consume and where thieves do not break through nor steal. for where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also._ --gospel of ash-wednesday. if any one of us, my brethren, should be asked what is the object of this holy season of lent on which we are now entering, or what is the reason why it has been appointed, the answer would probably be that it is in order that we may do penance for our sins. penance: punishment inflicted on ourselves in satisfaction for those offences for which we feel we have so imperfectly atoned, and to obtain from god those graces which we so greatly need: this, perhaps, is the idea uppermost in most people's minds when lent comes round. { } well, this is no doubt a reason, and a good one, not only for what we have to do in lent, but for a great deal more that we may do, not only now, but all through the year. few even of those who lead good lives do penance enough for their sins, even as it is; almost all go before god with a large account unsettled in this matter. how much worse would it be if there was no lent, if the church never insisted on our chastising ourselves in any way, and seemed to treat such chastisement as of no consequence! the very notion of it would drop from our thoughts, as it has indeed long ago from the minds of those who have separated from the church and ceased to possess the true faith. this is, then, a good reason for lent; but there is another which we are not so apt to think of, and which, for this very reason, i would like to emphasize. this reason is the one suggested by the words of the gospel of last wednesday, which you have just heard: "lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth; ... but lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven. ... for where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." brethren, we should have no trouble at all in getting to heaven if we only really wanted to get there. of course in one way we do want to get to heaven; that is, we all want to save our souls from the eternal anguish and misery of hell, and we know there is nothing for us but heaven or hell in the end. but i am afraid that many christians, especially when they have health, strength, and plenty of this world's goods, have really very little wish to give them up, in order to pass, even could they do so at once, to those joys which the heart of man cannot conceive. { } no, their treasure is in this world; all their idea of happiness is founded on the pleasures which they have had, are having, or hope to have in it. their treasure is here, and, as our lord says, their heart is here too. i think, then, that this other great reason and object of lent, of which i have just spoken, is that we may do something to change this state of things; that we may get our hearts off this world, and see our real treasure in heaven, get to know it and love it, and have our hearts there with it. we ought now not merely to stop for a while from worldly pleasures, but to try to cease loving them, and to care for something better. we must love and care for something; let us try now to get the right object for love. now, what is this that we should love; what is our treasure in heaven? it is our father who is in heaven, and who is heaven itself. brethren, it is not so hard to love god as some people think. we can all try to do a little, at any rate; i mean to love god, not by keeping his commandments, but to love him in the same way as we love those things which are lovely and attractive here. come to him now, this lent; that, above all else, is what it was made for; come to church not only to hear a sermon, but to pray, to get near to god, and to bring him into your hearts. shut the world out of your heart, that he may come in. ask him to come to you and make his abode with you. then, when he is really your treasure, he will draw you where he is; you will not have to try to get to heaven; you will go there of your own accord. to die to the world and live to god, this is the christian's true life; and lent was made to give this life to our souls. ------------------- { } sermon xlv. difficulties of fasting. brethren, another year has passed, and lent has come around once more. i have no doubt that a great many of you wish that it had not; perhaps you would not be so very sorry if the church would have the goodness to do away with this tedious season altogether. indeed, i imagine that to some people lent is one of the greatest mysteries of our religion. and even if it is in some general way acknowledged as the proper thing in its due time, it never seems to come in just at the time that would be convenient. if it comes early, it is a very unpleasant interruption to the winter's pleasures and amusements; if it comes late, why could it not come earlier, so that we could get through and have done with it soon? all the grumbling in the world, however, will not alter the fact. we cannot get rid of lent, and we cannot fix its time to suit us, even if there is any time which would seem suitable. it is possible, indeed, to free ourselves from its burdens; we may do so either by neglecting its obligations altogether, or by getting somehow or other dispensed from them, without putting anything else in their place. but, after all, if we do this, we shall hardly feel any more comfortable. the best plan is, since lent is here whether we will or not, to face it boldly and cheerfully, and make the best of it that we can. { } and, when we come to look at it, is it such a very terrible infliction? do we not make rather too much fuss and complaint over what is not really such a very great penance? let us look, then, and see what is required of us. the principal thing, of course, is the fasting, as we call it, on one meal. now, if we actually were reduced to only one meal in the twenty-four hours, i confess that it would be pretty severe; but, you see, in point of fact, we have the collation, at which eight ounces, or half a pound, of solid food is allowed. now that is as much as many people would take anyway at tea-time. and then you can have a cup of coffee or tea and a small piece of bread in the morning. so, when we come to sift the matter, the fact hardly amounts to more than this: that the breakfast is rather a light one. and then, for those who really have hard work, even what is left of the fast goes by the board altogether. well, next there is the abstinence from flesh-meat. some seem to think this dreadful. "oh!" they will say, "i can't eat fish; it makes me sick." indeed? perhaps you are not very hungry, and do not need anything very much. when you are really hungry the fish will not taste so bad. but, then, who, except indeed the fisherman, wants you to eat fish? i do not think there is any law requiring it to be eaten; and if it has such a bad effect on you i would let it alone and try something else. and though fish is so uneatable, perhaps an oyster or two might now and then be worried down. { } now, after the fast and abstinence, what is left? really nothing at all in the law of the church, at least in black and white. there is, however, a custom, having about the force of law, prohibiting such parties and theatre-going as would be allowable enough, at other times. but have not you had a pretty good chance for these amusements for the last few months? and, if you are in the habit of some indulgence of this kind, a little quiet at home might be agreeable by way of a change. but perhaps you do not like so much church-going. well, this is not absolutely required of you. but it certainly is expected; and it will be well to cultivate a taste for it. ought it to be such a great penance for a christian to come and spend a little while in the presence of him with whom he hopes to dwell for ever? i think, then, that if you will look at lent in the right light it will not seem so very grievous. it may be even that you will feel that now is a time to be a little generous with our lord; and, since he does not ask much, you may be disposed to give him a little more than he absolutely demands. ------------------- sermon xlvi. wasted opportunities. _brethren, we exhort you that you receive not the grace of god in vain. _ what is this receiving of god's grace in vain, my brethren, against which st. paul warns us in these words of the epistle of to-day? it is receiving it and making no use of it; receiving it only to waste it and throw it away. { } we are all the time receiving graces from god. every day, every hour he is giving them to us. for what is a grace? it is a help, a means to our salvation which comes from him. and these helps he gives us continually, by instructions, by admonitions, by good examples; by the evidences which he puts all around us of the shortness and uncertainty of life, of the instability of earthly riches and happiness, of the peace which virtue gives, of the misery which comes from sin. all these and countless other helps to lead us, almost to force us, into the way of his commandments are lavished on us incessantly. they come more or less to all men, but most of all to us children of his holy catholic church, who have the full light of his faith, the full teaching of his law. but more than all he himself is every day speaking in our hearts, inviting, urging, begging us to turn from mortal sin; or, if we have indeed done that, to rise higher, and serve him more perfectly. if we had listened to all these calls, if we had availed ourselves of all these helps, we should now be far advanced on the way of the saints; we should, like st. stephen at his martyrdom, see heaven opened before us and our salvation morally secure. but we have not done that. we have been doing just what the apostle warns us against; we have been receiving these graces in vain. we have received them, and it has been worse with us than if we had not; for we have received them, many of them at least, only to throw them away and trample them underfoot. { } what would you think, my brethren, of a man who, being anxious to reach a distant country, which was his true home, and where were those whom he loved, and, having no means to do so of himself, should throw away with contempt the sums which from time to time might in charity be offered him to enable him to accomplish his desires, should throw them absolutely away, not even using them to supply his daily wants or to secure some passing pleasure? you would say that he was a madman or a fool; that he had not the gift of reason, which raises man above the brute. and yet this is what we have been doing; and even more than this. for there have been some, perhaps many, graces which god has given us which would even alone, if rightly used, have answered for all our needs. they would not have been mere contributions to our passage-money for heaven, but would have put us aboard the vessel, and made our reaching port little more than a question of time. but these, like the rest, are gone without being used; they are strewn on the road behind us, and we cannot turn back to pick them up. such a great grace is the one which, in spite of our unworthiness, ingratitude, and folly, is now once more offered to us by our father in heaven, who does not follow the rules by which an earthly benefactor would be guided. this season of lent on which we are entering is one of the great helps, the great opportunities which he gives us to reach that country where he awaits our coming. one who spends even one lent as it should be spent will be at its close well established in the way of solid virtue and peace, the way which leads certainly to the kingdom to which we all hope to go. { } it is for this that lent is given us, not merely for a season of penance and suffering, to be got through with somehow or other as best we can; it is for this reason also that the church to-day solemnly warns us to use it as it should be used. listen, then, to her warning voice; listen out of love and gratitude to god; listen out of love and holy fear also for yourself; for it may be the last great grace that will ever be brought to your door. ------------------- { } _second sunday of lent._ epistle. _thessalonians iv._ - . brethren: we pray and beseech you in the lord jesus, that as you have received from us, how you ought to walk, and to please god, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. for you know what commandments i have given to you by the lord jesus. for this is the will of god, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication. that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the gentiles, who know not god: and that no man overreach, nor deceive his brother in business: because the lord is the avenger of all such things, as we have told you before, and have testified. for god hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. matthew xvii._ - . at that time: jesus taketh unto him peter and james, and john his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. and he was transfigured before them. and his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. and behold, there appeared to them moses and elias talking with him. and peter answering, said to jesus: lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for moses, and one for elias. and as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. { } and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying: this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased: hear ye him. and the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid. and jesus came and touched them, and said to them: arise, and be not afraid. and when they lifted up their eyes they saw no man, but only jesus. and as they came down from the mountain, jesus charged them, saying: tell the vision to no man, till the son of man be risen from the dead. ------------------- sermon xlvii. the joy of penance. _he was transfigured before them._ --words from to-day's gospel. at first sight, my dear brethren, it seems strange that just as we have entered upon this season of fasting and penance the church should have chosen for to-day's gospel one of the few accounts which the evangelists have given of the manifestation on earth of our lord's glory and majesty. the gospels, as you are aware, are mainly made up of the record of our lord's words, actions, and sufferings; they tell us how the son of god made man went about from place to place doing good, healing the sick, consoling the sorrowful, and in the end undergoing cruel sufferings and an ignominious death. there are but few instances recorded of his being glorified and honored with more than human glory and honor, and when such is the case no long and detailed description is given, the fact is barely mentioned, and the narrative passes on. { } but to-day's gospel forms an exception to this general rule. in it special pains have been taken by the evangelists to give us in detail a description of the other side, so to speak, of our lord's life. we are told that our lord chose, out of the twelve, peter, james, and john, and led them up into a high mountain, and was transfigured before them: so that his face did shine as the sun, and even his garments became shining and exceeding white as snow, "so as no fuller upon earth can make white." and then there appeared to them elias with moses talking with jesus. and so astonished and impressed was peter that he exclaimed: "lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for moses, and one for elias." now, why has the church, by selecting the account of the transfiguration at this season, turned our thoughts to what seems so inappropriate a subject? it would seem that it would have been better to have chosen those parts of the gospel which treat of sin, of the judgment to come, of the punishments which await the impenitent sinner. well, i do not know that i can tell you all the reasons why the church has made this choice, but i think i can give you one reason, and that is, that the church wished to encourage us and to animate us at this season by placing before us the glory which is in store for those who do penance and suffer here. in this life there is nothing so familiar to most of us as suffering in some form or other. most of us are obliged by our circumstances to pass our days in exhausting toil and labor. disease and anxiety and want and disappointment are to be met with on all sides, and there are but few who are free from all these evils. { } and to all--even to those who are the most favored in this life--there is an hour coming which nothing can avert--the hour of death. this, as every one may see, is the present state of things. moreover, our lord, so far from encouraging us to expect freedom from suffering, insists continually upon its necessity. "deny yourselves," "take up your cross daily," "blessed are the mourners," such are the words our lord addresses to his disciples. and the church, that this teaching of our lord may not be a mere speculation, brings it down into every day practical life by commanding us at this season to fast and abstain. from all this the necessity of suffering is evident. but however true this is, suffering is not an end in itself; it is only a means to an end; it is but a road to everlasting joy and glory. god permits and commands sufferings in order that he may give to those who endure their sufferings well an abundant reward. as st. paul says: "that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." and it is in order that we may ever remember this that the church calls upon us to consider the manifestation of the glory of our lord and master, to whom we must be made conformable in all things--in suffering in this life, in glory in the next. ------------------- { } sermon xlviii. christian perfection not impossible. _this is the will of god, your sanctification._ --epistle of the day. what, my dear brethren, is the will or intention of almighty god and of the catholic church, which is directed by his holy spirit, in establishing for us this fast of lent, and commanding us to observe it? what is the end which he meant that every christian should attain by keeping it, and which makes the opportunity now offered to us such a great grace as we were warned last week that it is? the words of st. paul to-day answer these questions for us. "the will of god," he says, his intention for us at all times indeed, but specially now, "is our sanctification." but what is our sanctification? it is the making us saints. that, then, is what lent ought to do for us. it ought to make us saints; god and his church mean that it should. "well," perhaps you may say, "if that is the end for which lent is appointed, it seems to me that the end is seldom attained. for my part, i am afraid i shall never be a saint; saints are few and far between. it will take more than one lent to make a saint out of such a sinner as i am." if, then, you say this, i must confess that there is a good deal of truth in it. we must all feel and acknowledge that. any one who could feel sure now that when easter comes he will be fit to be canonized must either be very proud and presumptuous, and far from real sanctity, or have some special revelation from god, to which, i think, none of us will pretend. { } but for all that it is true that lent ought to sanctify us; it ought to make us saints, only we need not take the word in quite so high a sense. though we may hope for the greatest possible gifts now, we cannot confidently expect them. there is, however, a sanctification that we ought to expect from this lent, and what is it? it is what i fear many of you, even though tolerably good christians, do not expect. what do i mean by a tolerably good christian? i mean, of course, one who expects to make his easter duty. one who does not expect and mean to do that can hardly be called a tolerably good christian; it would be more nearly right to call him an intolerably bad one. well, then, you who are good christians expect to make your easter duty; so far, so good. but it is not far enough. for what is it that is meant, perhaps, by that? is it not merely to make up your mind to confess your sins and to keep for a few days as you ought to be, and then be pretty much as you were before? has not that been the experience of the past easter duties of not a few of you, my brethren; and may not the same be said of the missions you have attended, and the other great graces you have received from time to time in your life? you came up to the surface, as a fish jumps out of the water for a moment, and then down you went again. { } but that is not enough. that is not sanctification, and it is not the will or intention of god. what you ought to expect is much more than that. what, then, is it? it is simply this: that when you have made your easter duty you are going to stay all your life where it will put you. it is that the habits of mortal sin which you may then have to confess will be gone for good; that those impure thoughts, words, and actions will have stopped for ever; that the shameful drunkenness, and all the sins which came from it, will be things only of the past; that you will never again wilfully neglect holy mass; that in every way you will really live as you ought, all the time in the state of grace, in peace with god and men, and in readiness to die at any time, even without the sacraments, if such should be god's will; that, in short, you will be truly converted to him once for all. that is the sanctification which past lents have not brought you, but which this one should. do not, i beg you, think it is impossible, for it is not only possible but easy. do not make your easter duty the highest point and the end of your christian life; it should be only the beginning of it. what a consolation it will be to you, if in your future life you can look back on this lent and say, "that was the time when i really began to be a good christian; since then i have not had much on my conscience; i have kept in the state of grace. i made really good and strong resolutions then, and i have been faithful to them ever since." there are those now, plenty of them, who can say this of some past lent. let it be now your turn to say it of this one. it is not a matter of luck and chance; if you will, this grace of a lasting conversion from sin is now offered to each and every one of you. it is yours to a certainty, if you will take the trouble to secure it; for it is the will of god. ------------------- { } sermon xlix. _the divine presence in our churches. _ _lord, it is good for us to be here._ --st. matthew. xvii. . the gospel of to-day tells us of the wonderful transfiguration of our lord upon the mountain in the sight of his apostles peter, james, and john. "his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as snow." and peter, wrapt in wonder, yet conscious of the privilege of being present at such a time, exclaimed: "lord, it is good for us to be here." jesus has withdrawn his visible presence from us. we cannot, like st. peter and st. john, behold him with our bodily eyes, nor with our ears can we hear him speaking the words of life. it is better for us that it should be so. in our present sinful and imperfect state we could not bear the splendors of his glorified humanity. when from out the bright cloud which overshadowed him the disciples heard the voice of god proclaiming, "this is my beloved son," "they fell upon their faces, and were very much afraid." the sight of all this glory, and the knowledge that they were in the presence of almighty god himself, filled them with fear. so, too, would it be with us now if jesus were to show himself to us as he now is in heaven. at the sight of his majesty and glory we, too, should fall upon our faces with fear and trembling. { } now, our dear lord, knowing this weakness of ours, does not withdraw his presence from us, for he has promised to be with us, even till the end of the world; but he hides his glory from us under the humble appearance of bread and wine. beneath these outward forms he remains continually in our churches, there in the tabernacle, by day and night, claiming our adoration and our love. in holy mass he is daily raised aloft by the hands of the priest, offering himself to god the father for the sins of the world. in the benediction of the blessed sacrament he is lifted up to bless his faithful ones. and god still speaks to us by the voice and teaching of the church as truly as he spoke to the disciples upon the holy mountain, saying: "this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased: hear ye him." we can still see our lord, yet only through the cloud which overshadows him--that is, by the eyes of faith. yet he is none the less really present in the tabernacle upon the altar than he was upon mount thabor on the day of his transfiguration. when, therefore, we come into his sacred presence, when we enter the church and see the little lamp burning before the altar to tell us that he is there, our sentiments should be those of st. peter at the transfiguration: "lord, it is good for us to be here." it is good for us to often visit him in the blessed sacrament; it is good for us to often receive his benediction; it is good for us, nay, necessary for us, to assist at holy mass when the church bids us do so; above all it is good for us, above all it is necessary for us, to receive him in holy communion, and especially now at this time for the fulfilment of the easter duty. jesus is present in the blessed sacrament only for our own good, for the good of our souls. when, therefore, we see this great goodness of our lord towards us, how can we be so heedless of our own good as to turn away from him? { } and when you come before the blessed sacrament, remember that you are in god's presence. do not forget to bend your knee in adoration. do not take advantage of his mercy in hiding his glory from you by forgetting that he is really here, by spending the whole time of mass with roving eyes and thoughts. fix your attention upon the altar where he is, and offer him the best homage that your heart can give. it will be good for you to be here, if you have the same sentiments at mass which the disciples had at the transfiguration. you should be filled with a holy fear lest your idle thoughts at this holy time should one day be reckoned against you. for now he veils himself from you in mercy and love, but one day he will appear to you in far more dazzling brightness than he ever manifested on earth. oh! then, despise not his presence here, that when at last you stand before him he may judge you worthy to enjoy his presence for ever. ------------------- { } _third sunday of lent._ epistle. _ephesians v._ - . brethren: be ye followers of god, as most dear children. and walk in love as christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us an oblation and a sacrifice to god for an odor of sweetness. but fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. for know ye this, and understand that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person which is a serving of idols hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god. let no man deceive you with vain words. for because of these things cometh the anger of god upon the children of unbelief. be ye not therefore partakers with them. for you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the lord. walk ye as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth. gospel. _st. luke xi._ - . at that time: jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb; and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke; and the multitude admired: but some of them said: he casteth out devils in beelzebub, the prince of the devils. and others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven. but he, seeing their thoughts, said to them: every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and a house upon a house shall fall. and if satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that in beelzebub i cast out devils. { } now if i cast out devils in beelzebub, in whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. but if i, in the finger of god, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of god is come upon you. when a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things which he possesseth are in peace. but if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. he that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: i will return into my house whence i came out. and when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. and it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice, said to him: blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. but he said: yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of god and keep it. ------------------- sermon l. immodest language. how pertinent to our own times are the words of st. paul in the epistle of to-day, addressed nineteen centuries ago to the christians of ephesus: "but all uncleanness, let it not be so much as named among you, as becometh saints. ... for know ye this and understand that no unclean person hath inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god." { } there is no vice, my brethren, more common among men at the present day in all classes of society, from the professional man to the day-laborer, among the rich and the poor, the old and the young, than that of obscene or immodest conversation. among the better educated this poison of impurity is clothed in language which serves to veil its disgusting nudity, and thus the more securely to insinuate itself and to deceive the unwary; while among the less educated it is oftener expressed in words that reveal its horrid filthiness and shock common decency. listen to the conversation of almost any chance gathering of young men, and you will soon hear the double-meaning joke, the attempt of some one to be witty, which serves as much to expose the shallowness of his pate as the corruption and rottenness of his miserable heart. holy scripture says that "out of the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh." how true this is! but if one were to use this criterion in judging the thoughts that fill the hearts of many amongst us, how debased and pitiable must be their condition! and how shocking it is, my dear brethren, to meet a young man whose dress and manner at first give evidence of respectability and good breeding, but who, when an immodest allusion is made or an impure joke uttered, is the first to shout with laughter! such a one is well described by our blessed lord as "a whited sepulchre? full of dead men's bones." { } and yet these whited sepulchres are not very rare in the community. you meet them in every walk of life--in the counting-room and in the factory, at the "respectable" club-room as well as in the grog-shop, and alas! must we say it, among catholics as well as among non-catholics. yes, among catholics, who have been elevated to a supernatural state through the merits and sufferings of our lord jesus christ; whose hearts have been sealed by the grace of the holy spirit, and on whose tongue the body and blood of our lord has often been placed--even these have dared to cherish in their hearts and express with their tongues thoughts and sentiments that would shock the moral sense even of the unregenerate. are they laboring under the incredible and awful delusion that they commit no great sin when they entertain or give expression to such thoughts? do they think that they escape mortal sin when their impurity is expressed in the form of a joke or a pun, or when they by a laugh countenance and encourage the like impurity in others? ah! my dear brethren, it is to be feared that too many consciences have been lulled to sleep by this cunning device of the devil. the first introduction to sin for many a one has been the listening with pleasure to the double-meaning word uttered, perhaps, by a companion, or while in the company of others. he was then put on trial not by the devil alone, but by the one also who uttered it. but the blush of modesty which rose instinctively to his cheek from a pure heart was by an effort suppressed through human respect, and the voice of conscience, that told him to administer a rebuke to the minister of satan or abandon his company at once, was hushed into silence, and the demon of impurity from that moment took possession. { } take warning, then, my dear brethren, from the words of st. paul, and never countenance by a laugh or in any other way any offence against holy purity, in whatsoever form it may be expressed; "for know ye that no unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god." ------------------- sermon li. honorary church-members. _he who is not with me is against me_. --luke xi. . societies in our day, brethren, have become a great moral force, the very best means of promoting and spreading any great cause. men recognize this fact, and so combine together, that by unity of purpose they may better advance the principles they desire to support. many of these societies are made up of two distinct classes--the active members, who are the bone and sinew, the life of the institution, and the honorary members, who take no personal interest in the management or working of the society, but who, nevertheless, are good enough, or interested enough, to advance the cause they honor by the support of their name. you and i, brethren, belong to a society, the catholic church, which embraces the whole world. we have in view one great object--the salvation of souls, the spread of the kingdom of jesus christ among men. but this society of ours, a real, living, organic institution, differs from most others in this: that it does not need the support of _honorary_ members; neither will it approve their existence in its bosom. { } no, the church would have all her members living, active, earnest supporters of her principles, and from them all she requires a pledge that they will keep her laws, advance her ends, and fight her battles for the kingdom she was established to uphold. she will welcome no mere spectators to her ranks, and as for neutral ground, she recognizes none; for those who are not with her are against her. and yet there are many who call themselves christians, _would-be honorary_ members of the catholic church, who do not even realize what the word christian means; who seem to forget that to be a christian imposes the obligation of being at war with all that is anti-christian. an honorary membership for such christians is very convenient; a membership that would allow them to be on good terms with christ and satan. the fasting and praying, the vigils and good works, the real brunt of the battle they would leave to the active members, while they would look on with an encouraging smile of approval. ah! brethren, learn this lesson once for all and well: between christ and the world there can be no compromise. he who is not with me is against me. there is no neutral ground, for the moment we desert the christian rank and file we give the hand of fellowship to the enemy. we cannot serve two masters well, and in the catholic church there is no membership worthy the name that is not an active, complete membership. the drones of the hive may nourish and thrive for a time, but let them remember they run the awful risk of final destruction. { } the question i would have you ask yourselves today, and meditate upon during this holy season, is this: are you active, living members of the church, that mystical body of which jesus christ is the head and the holy ghost the life-giving principle, or are you simply _would-be honorary_ members? have you at heart the interests of god's holy church; are her sorrows, her wants, her trials yours? are the sacraments she offers you the source and support of your life? if so, you have reason to thank god. or are you standing afar off ready to give an approving nod when the world smiles, or slink off like a coward when the world frowns? are the laws of the church irksome to you and so avoided? if this be the case, you are nothing but dead limbs, and liable to be cut off without a moment's warning from the living body, for dead members are against, not with, the parent stem. would-be honorary members of the catholic church, beware of the error of trying to give one hand to god and the other to the devil; beware of the fallacy of thinking that because you are outwardly connected with the church you cannot be lost--that hell was never intended for catholics; that, somehow or other, you will come out all right in the end. that is what judas thought when with his sin-stained lips he kissed his lord whom he had so lately sold to the enemy. have you still the faith, then beware lest your want of charity may bring on a want of faith. have you still a conscience, beware lest your frequent attempts to stifle it may extinguish it altogether. if there be a spark of it left i beg of you stir it up. be in earnest, and at least let not this lent pass without a good confession and communion, the only condition on which you can become active members of god's holy church. put your heart in the work and you will be happier for it here and certainly happier hereafter. ------------------- { } sermon lii. half-hearted christians. _he that is not with me is against me._ --gospel of the day. these words, my dear brethren, like many others spoken by our blessed lord, may be interpreted in various ways. they may be understood to mean that he who is not with christ, by being united to his true flock, who does not belong to the one church which he has founded, is injuring the cause of christ, is persecuting and hampering his church in its warfare against its enemies; or, in other words, that protestants and heretics in general, zealous christians though they may seem to be, are really hurting christianity about as much as they help it, if not more. and it is plain enough to us that this is true. if there had never been any heresies and schisms in the church, we cannot doubt that there would have been now few nations not christian. but this, true though it may be, seems to have little practical bearing for us. we are not heretics or schismatics, and i hope that we have no inclination to be so. still we must remember that bad catholics do about as much harm to the work of christ and his church in the world as heretics. in fact, there would never have been any heretics had there not been bad catholics to begin with. { } but, after all, it does not seem that our lord is speaking so much of heretics, or of bad catholics, when he says: "he that is not with me is against me." for he goes on to tell us that "when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding, he saith, i will return to my house whence i came out; and when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." the meaning of this is plain enough. it is that a man cannot give up a bad life, and then remain betwixt and between, neither bad nor good. his soul cannot stay empty, swept, and garnished. he must keep the love of god in it; he must have good thoughts and do good works, or the devil will come back, take possession of the empty soul, and make it worse than it was before. so this gives a new sense to the words, "he that is not with me is against me." he that is not a real good christian, trying to live for the glory of god, and to do the work for which god has put him in the world, will be a bad one before long, if he is not already. we cannot lie low and shirk the duties which belong to us as christians and as catholics. we must be god's servants, and live in such a way as to be known as such, or we shall begin again to serve his enemy. let us take an instance, and you will see well enough what i mean. a young man or woman has been going with bad company, who, though perhaps they call themselves catholics, are a disgrace to the name, and has joined with them in all their vile conversations and sinful actions. { } now, too many of those who have been living in this way seem to think that after their confession and communion they can go back to this company and still avoid remark; that nobody will have occasion to say that they are pious, or notice any change in their life; that they can keep all right in god's sight, and also in that of their bad companions; that they can avoid doing any harm, and still do no good. let such remember these words: "he that is not with me is against me." if you want to stay in the grace of god, you must hate sin, and love virtue; and if you really do this your life and conversation will show that such is the case. you must be a friend of christ and an enemy of the devil and of all his works, and not only be willing but proud to be known as such; if you will not do this our lord will not have you or keep you. choose, then, which side you will take; do not fancy that you can take neither. if you try to steer a middle course, and live an empty and unprofitable life, neither one thing nor the other, you will soon slip back just where you were before. ------------------- { } _fourth sunday of lent._ epistle. _galatians iv._ - . brethren: it is written that abraham had two sons: the one by a bond woman, and the other by a free-woman: but he that was by the bond-woman was born according to the flesh: but he by the free-woman was by the promise. which things are said by an allegory: for these are the two testaments: the one indeed on mount sina which bringeth forth unto bondage, which is agar: for sina is a mountain in arabia, which hath an affinity to that which now is jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children. but that jerusalem which is above, is free: which is our mother. for it is written: "rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not: break forth and cry out, thou that travailest not; for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband"; now we, brethren, as isaac was, are the children of promise. but as then he, that was born according to the flesh, persecuted him that was according to the spirit: so also now. but what saith the scripture? "cast out the bond woman and her son: for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman." therefore, brethren, we are not the children of the bond-woman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith christ has made us free. gospel. _st. john vi._ - . at that time: jesus went over the sea of galilee, which is that of tiberias: and a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were infirm. and jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. { } now the pasch, the festival day of the jews, was near at hand. when jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to philip: whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? and this he said to try him, for he himself knew what he would do. philip answered him: two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. one of his disciples, andrew, the brother of simon peter, saith to him: there is a boy here that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are these among so many? then jesus said: make the men sit down. now there was much grass in the place. so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. and jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks he distributed to them that were sat down. in like manner also of the fishes as much as they would. and when they were filled, he said to his disciples: gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost. so they gathered up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. then those men, when they had seen what a miracle jesus had done, said: this is the prophet indeed that is to come into the world. when jesus, therefore, perceived that they would come and take him by force and make him king, he fled again into the mountain himself alone. ------------------- sermon liii. the happiness of true penance. _rejoice jerusalem_. --introit of the mass for the day. this is called "lætare, or rejoicing sunday." it may surprise you, dear brethren, to be told that this is a day of rejoicing; you will be amazed, no doubt, that, in the midst of the rigorous lenten fast, when men should bewail their sins and do penance for them, and sounds of mirth and joy are hushed, the church should bid us rejoice. { } yet thus she does to-day. in mid-lent even she would have her children rejoice, would have them forget for the moment penance and turn their hearts to thoughts of gladness, that, by so doing, she may teach them that the rigors of this season, the self-denial and curbing of the flesh she imposes on us, is undergone that we may realize more fully the spirit of her teaching--that we may, in truth, preserve, or get back if we have lost it, that interior joy, that spiritual jubilation which is the portion of every one who serves christ as he should be served. our religion is one of joy, because we are christ's and he is ours; and what more can we ask, or what greater can be bestowed upon us, than the having of christ; christ, at once perfect man and true god; christ, whose life is the model of our lives, whose grace is the source of all joy; christ, to have whom is to have a brother, and, at the same time, the eternal god; the god by whose word were made all things that are, who knows no limit to his power, who has in himself all perfections that man can desire or conceive of; a brother--a man like ourselves, with a human heart like our own, with affections like those of other men; a brother burning with tender love for us, knowing our weakness, knowing our wants and ready to succor us; a man who was himself tempted, who has himself suffered the miseries of this life, who, in a word, was made like to us in all save sin. this is whom we have when we have christ, and should we not rejoice at having such a one? { } we should and do rejoice; our hearts are always full of gladness when we are in god's grace, and christ is ours and we are his; and this is what the church wishes for all her children--the friendship and the love of god. she ever has christ herself, and so is never sad; though she may mourn with him suffering, still there is joy behind all her sorrow. if she puts on sombre garments, if she calls man to penance, if she fasts and covers her head with ashes, she is still glad in the depths of her heart. she is calling you and me to share the gladness, to get it back if we have lost it by mortal sin; she is bidding you and me to keep that gladness by chastising our bodies; she is warning us that we may lose god's grace, as, alas! too many before us have lost it, unless we are vigilant. dear brethren, listen to the church's voice to-day; come, all of you, come and share her joy. if you are not in god's grace do not let another day go by without making your peace with god. oh! how much you are losing, and for what? for some trifling satisfaction which cannot bring true happiness; some mean gratification of your lower nature; for sin you are letting slip by the offer of god's friendship and the joy of a good conscience. do you want to die as you are living? if you do not, repent of your sins to-day; before you leave this church promise god that you will sin no more; that you will be in fact what you are in name--a christian. ------------------- { } sermon liv. liberty of spirit. _by the freedom wherewith christ has made us free._ these, my dear brethren, are the concluding words of the epistle read at mass to-day. they ought to be of unusual interest to us, for they speak of a matter which we all care very much about; which some care so much about that they are willing to fight for it, and to die for its sake. if you have listened to these words of st. paul, which i have just read, you know what this is of which i speak, and for which we all care so much. it is freedom or, as we often call it, liberty. many, as i just said, will even die, if need be, rather than abandon it; and indeed thousands, nay millions, have actually done so. man feels that he must have it. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness he claims as his right. especially do people nowadays ask for liberty, and insist on having it. the child is no sooner out of his mother's arms than he wants and tries in all things to have his own way. obedience is a lesson that he seldom willingly learns. he thinks that when he is a man he can do as he pleases; and he does not see why he should not even now. sometimes he succeeds in having his own way, in spite of his parents; he runs away from school and, when a little older, from church; he passes his life among such companions as he chooses, who help him to get the liberty which they think they have themselves got, by defying all the laws of god and of man. { } but is this really liberty which these foolish children, and young men and women more foolish than children, think they have got by trampling on all law? no; a thousand times no! it is to true liberty only as the shadow to the substance, as they find to their cost before they have travelled very far on this road. they have but escaped from a light and easy yoke to take on their necks one far heavier and more grievous, and which becomes more and more so every day. they have left the service of the kind and good master to whom they belonged and entered into that of a hard and cruel tyrant instead. he has filled them with base and beastly passions, and made them slaves to these passions. they are given over, body and soul, to impurity, gluttony, or drunkenness, or it may be to a mean and miserable greed for money. at last, perhaps, they try to turn back and shake themselves free from these accursed lusts, which have fastened on them, and are draining the very life-blood from their souls; but it seems that they cannot do so. they set out to do as they pleased, and how has it ended? in their being bound, hand and foot, in the slavery of sin. but what was their mistake? were they altogether wrong in wishing for liberty? is the desire for freedom, which is implanted in us, all a delusion? are we never to do as we desire, but always to have a restraint and a yoke upon us? no, my brethren, the idea of liberty is not a mistake. we are right in wishing for liberty, hoping for it, and trying to secure it in the right way. but the mistake these foolish people of whom i have spoken make is in going the wrong way in the search for it: in looking for it in the wrong place. { } where, then, is liberty to be found? i will tell you; and you may be surprised at what i say, for it does not sound as if it could be true; but it is true, nevertheless. true liberty, then, is in the service of god. those who serve god best are the freest men on earth. but how can this be? i answer, it can and must be very easily and very plainly. for those who serve god best of all--that is, the saints in heaven--always do just what they like, and enjoy doing it most perfectly. they have got rid of all the hindrances that, more or less, prevent every one here below from doing what he wishes. and, of course, those who try to walk in the path of the saints here on earth also have much of this freedom. the more they learn to do god's will the more they love it; and so they are always doing more and more what they like, and more and more easily all the time; and that is just what liberty is: to do what you like, and to do it without pain or difficulty. the servants of god, then, have their liberty, because they have got free from sin, which is the only obstacle to it. and this freedom from sin is the gift of christ, it is the fruit of his passion; it is, then, the liberty which he has given us. it is ours if we wish it. try, then, my dear brethren, in this holy season of lent, when his graces are so abundantly poured out, to gain that freedom which they will surely give us, that "freedom wherewith. christ has made us free." ------------------- { } sermon lv. the lust of the eyes. _have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. for the things that are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of._ --ephesians v. , . some weeks ago, my dear brethren, we had occasion to speak of the horrible and filthy vice of impurity, which is every day dragging into hell thousands of souls with the mark of the cross of christ on them, and washed in vain with his precious blood. as was said then, many christians do not seem to realize the enormity of sins against the sixth commandment--at least those of thought and of the tongue; to which may be added those coming from the use of the other senses, especially that of sight. an immodest imagination or desire, wilfully entertained or enjoyed, is a mortal sin, and gives the soul so harboring it instantly into the power of the devil. let us hope that no one having the catholic faith will doubt this, or think it too strict a doctrine; for it is the unanimous consent of all the teaching authority in the church from the beginning, amply supported also by holy scripture. what shall we say, then, of wilful and deliberate gazing at immodest pictures, or of reading matter directly calculated to inflame impure passions, and certain to have its effect? now, i hardly need to say that a city like this is full of these temptations coming through the eyes into the heart. the good and pure instinctively avoid them, and scarcely know that they exist; accustomed to watch the slightest movements of their souls to evil, and instantly to repress them, they shrink with horror from those filthy words and pictures on which others eagerly gaze. { } they know that, as the apostle says, it is a shame to speak of these things, a greater shame to write or to read of them, a greater shame yet to expose them to sight, to incite temptation by them, and thus to destroy the souls for which christ died. i say that the good and pure are not likely to be caught in this net of satan; by this i mean those who have been warned of the evil, who understand its danger, and from well-formed habits of virtue set themselves resolutely against it. but there are others who are good and pure--in their baptismal innocence, perhaps; young, at any rate, and unused to sin, at least of this kind--who are not forewarned and forearmed like those of maturer years, who, seeing bad pictures in papers sold even at stores otherwise of good repute, and kept, perhaps, by catholics, do not fully understand how bad they are, and are led to look at them with pleasure, to learn evil which they knew not of, and thus to contract habits of sin which they will never overcome. now, what does our lord say of those who thus put temptation in the way of the young and innocent? you all know his words: "he that shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea." strong words these, but they are those of the divine wisdom, and beyond correction by human lips. yes, it is better to die, better even to die in the state of sin, than to add such a sin as this to our number. { } let us beware, then, not in any way, however indirect, to give sanction or encouragement to this work of the devil in our midst. "have no fellowship with these works of darkness, but rather reprove them." do not buy or even take up for a moment the indecent papers or books now unfortunately so common among us; still more, do not sell them; do not allow them to be in the house; do not suffer your children to look at or read them; do not frequent places where they are to be had. set your faces resolutely, for the honor of god and the catholic name, as well as for your own souls sake, against this plague of immodest literature, which has assumed such fearful proportions and become so bold and unblushing in these days in which we live. think nothing to be light or of little moment in this matter; mortal sin is much easier in it than you may believe. ------------------- { } _passion sunday._ epistle. _hebrews ix._ - . brethren: christ, being come a high-priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation: neither by the blood of goats, nor of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption. for if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of christ, who by the holy ghost offered himself unspotted unto god, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living god? and therefore he is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death, for the redemption of those transgressions, which were under the former testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. john viii._ - . at that time: jesus said to the multitude of the jews: which of you shall convince me of sin? if i say the truth to you, why do you not believe me? he that is of god, heareth the words of god. therefore you hear them not, because you are not of god. the jews, therefore, answered and said to him: do we not say well that thou art a samaritan, and hast a devil? jesus answered: i have not a devil; but i honor my father, and you have dishonored me. but i seek not my own glory; there is one that seeketh and judgeth. amen, amen, i say to you: if any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever. { } the jews therefore said: now we know that thou hast a devil. abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: if any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever. art thou greater than our father abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. whom dost thou make thyself? jesus answered: if i glorify myself, my glory is nothing. it is my father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your god. and you have not known him, but i know him. and if i shall say that i know him not, i shall be like to you, a liar. but i do know him, and do keep his word. abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day; he saw it, and was glad. the jews therefore said to him: thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen abraham? jesus said to them: amen, amen, i say to you, before abraham was made, i am. they took up stones therefore to cast at him. but jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple. ------------------- sermon lvi. the precious blood. _the blood of jesus christ his son cleanseth us from all sin._ -- epistle st. john i. . we all know, my dear brethren, that when a man is born into the world he is born _unclean_ before god. he is then _so_ unclean that he is not fit to associate with the sons of god and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. he is then so unclean that he can never be anything but an outcast from god until he is made clean. { } is there any way in which he can be made clean? yes, for when he is baptized he is made a new creature; he is cleansed from the stain of original sin, made a child of god and heir of the kingdom of heaven. he is then so pure and holy that if he die immediately he will go, to a certainty, straight to heaven. for baptism applies the blood of christ to his soul, and he is become truly clean. but suppose he does not die immediately after baptism, how is it with him then? if he keep his baptismal innocence, so far as never to commit a mortal sin, he still has a right to go to heaven. he can then demand of god permission to enter heaven. can he, however, demand this permission to enter heaven immediately after his death if he has committed only venial sin? that depends entirely upon his contrition at the moment of death. if he is not so sorry for all his sins that his contrition is [not] perfect, then he can't enter heaven immediately, but must go to purgatory to be made perfectly pure, so that he can be taken into heaven. i have said that baptism applies the blood of christ to the soul and makes man pure and innocent. now, baptism is a sacrament. it is the first one and is necessary to salvation. without it no man can enter heaven, nor even purgatory, for the purgatorial state is the first and lowest state of blessed and holy souls who must go to heaven in the end. but the blood of christ is applied to the soul of man in other ways, although baptism must come in in the first place. in what other ways is the blood of christ applied: first, by the sacrifice of the mass. for by the mass we repair our sins, get grace to keep from sin, and make our purgatory shorter in consequence. he who hears mass daily makes the best prayer that a man can make, and he is more certain to have his prayer answered. he also helps the living and the dead, and brings down upon himself and his own special graces from god. { } secondly, the blood of christ is applied to our souls by the sacrament of penance. men defile their souls by sin, by _mortal_ sin after baptism. he who receives the sacrament of penance worthily--that is, with true sorrow for all mortal sin, with a firm determination to lead a good life and repair the wrong he has done--that man receives again the grace of god that restores his soul to eternal life. thirdly, in holy communion we receive the body and blood of our lord jesus christ in a hidden manner, but in deed and in truth. the consecrated host is the eternal and ever-living god himself. you know, my dear brethren, the strength of this divine food. how it gives new energy to the soul, destroys the power of concupiscence, banishes, or at least weakens, temptation, always giving us the grace to hold our own against the world, the flesh, and the devil. _and there are catholics who refuse to make this communion once a year!_ but there is one thing that ought to be said here. a catholic ought never to consider as useless, or as almost useless, any one of the sacraments. this too many do as regards confession. they underrate it. they think, therefore, it is no good unless they receive communion every time they go to confession. now this is a grave error. one is _not_ obliged to go to communion every time he goes to confession. those who cannot go to mass nor communion, on account of their business or employment or work keeping them away, can at least go to confession very often during the year. all such an one has to do is to prepare himself carefully, step into the rector's house, make his confession, and go on to work again. if he but make an arrangement with some one of the priests he can always be heard at once. frequent confession is a wonderful help to a good life and a happy death. ------------------- { } sermon lvii. christ's passion. _which of you shall convince me of sin?_ --john viii. . to-day, dear friends, is passion sunday, and our long lenten pilgrimage is nearing its end. heretofore our thoughts have been on ourselves, our own shortcomings, our own sins. now we stand, as it were, on the hill overlooking the holy city, and see before us, as a map unrolled, the scene of our redeemer's agony: bethany, the olive-garden of gethsemani, and, further on, the barren mount of calvary, with its three crosses standing forth, black and cruel, against the fair blue sky. now our thoughts turn from ourselves to our lord. we have seen what the effect of sin has been on us. now we look and see, and our shame should deepen as we see, what sorrow and tears and agony it has brought on the eternal son of god. to-day the cross is veiled, the pictures are shrouded in mourning, the "gloria" ceases to be sung. so our sins covered our dying lord as with a garment, and sorrow chokes the voice of holy church, fills her heart to overflowing, and stills all her songs of praise. { } what is this veil which obscures the cross of jesus christ and makes his passion of no effect? o dear brethren! is it not our sins? what platted the crown of thorns, and drove those sharp spikes deep into his sacred head? our selfish pride. what sent those nails through his hands and feet, fixing them to the tree of shame? our wicked deeds and our wanderings from the path of duty. what parched his tongue with such burning thirst? our shameless indulgence in drink. what pointed the spear of the impious roman soldier, and hurled it deep into the sacred heart, whence issued the red torrent of the precious blood? our inordinate appetites and sinful lusts. as often as we sin we crucify our dearest lord afresh. "which of you shall convince me of sin?" what more could i have done for my vineyard which i have not done? i came down from heaven; took upon myself the form of a servant, the likeness of sinful flesh; set you a perfect example how you should walk; was led as a lamb to the slaughter; was scourged, spit upon, mangled, crucified; what could i have done more? which of you shall convince me of sin? which of _you_, my brethren? how many graces and blessings do you not owe to that crucified lord? in how many sore temptations have you not been defended and strengthened? in how many bitter sorrows have you not been comforted? from how many shameful falls have you not been raised up? o christian soul! for whom christ died, look upon that bleeding, suffering, dying saviour, and, if nothing else will move you, let those ghastly wounds, which your sins have made, plead with you. acknowledge your transgressions: abase yourself in the very dust. { } let that sacred passion plead with you, that infinite love plead with you, that precious blood plead with you, those last tender words plead with you, and teach you, for their sake and your soul's sake, to love the lord more dearly, to dread sin more effectually, and never, as long as you live, to add to that heavy burden by any wicked deed of yours. so shall, a few days hence, the veil be lifted from the cross, and our sorrow be turned to joy, for when the lord of glory shall arise we too shall arise with him, and reign with him in glory for evermore. ------------------- sermon lviii. dangerous companionship. _walk circumspectly; not as unwise, but as wise._ --ephesians. v. - . to-day, my dear brethren, i propose to make a few remarks on the dangerous occasions of impurity, so common in these times. the danger of which i wish specially to speak is that which comes from the familiar acquaintance which now exists to such a great extent, and is taken so much as a matter of course, between young persons of different sexes. this undue familiarity is too common everywhere in this country; and more than anywhere else in a city like that in which we live. young women here with us, even though they be catholics, and good enough catholics in some respects, seem to forget, or rather never to begin to realize, the laws of decorum and modesty which well-instructed persons, even though not professing to be specially religious, have hitherto rightly taken for granted. { } to take a flagrant instance. a priest, being a man educated according to the rules of respectable society, is unspeakably surprised when he for the first time hears some young woman, apparently of a careful conscience, ask him if it is a sin to flirt. for what is this which is called flirting? it is simply deliberately and wantonly acting in a way to attract the attention of particular persons of the opposite sex, to make signals which are to be understood as marks of preference for, or of desire of acquaintance with, some young man or men whom she may chance to see on the street. a sin to flirt! how can you ask such a question? why, outwardly and at the first appearance, the act is not very different from that of an abandoned woman seeking to attract those whom she thinks will notice her. the intention, of course, in your minds is often comparatively harmless, it is true; but by outward standards the act is simply disreputable. furthermore, it shows a feeling which any lady, really worthy of the name, would hesitate to show even to one whose character she well knew to be good, and who had for a long time given to her respectful and proper attentions. a woman or girl who flirts seems to be, if she is not in reality, lost to all sense of decency; and those are almost as much so who shamelessly walk at night up and down the avenues in the hope of attracting attention. this seeking to form unknown acquaintances of the opposite sex or to attract special attention among them is, then, a thing which no catholic girl should think of, if she has any sense of shame. but when such acquaintances are formed by an introduction in itself proper, they should be very carefully considered. { } for a young woman to make one of the other sex her friend or familiar companion, as she well may one of her own, is a thing which should be unheard of. she should have but one such friend, and he should be one who has acted honorably to her by proposing to her to take the honorable part of her husband, and whom she has before god and in her conscience felt to be worthy, and accepted by a binding engagement. before that, and to all other men, politeness with proper and modest reserve should be the constant rule, affection and familiarity out of the question. and yet we find girls keeping company, as it is called, and that without any sort of serious guarantee of the purposes of the other party, not only with one after another, but even with more than one at once. for the reasons, plain enough, on which these directions rest, promiscuous assemblies of both sexes, such as those to be found at certain gatherings, now unfortunately so popular, are full of danger, and had far better in all cases be avoided. a freedom of manners prevails in them--to say nothing of direct temptations to the senses--and an ease of making acquaintance, which opens a free door to sin. i do not wish to be too severe, but, as a rule, i do say, leave such places alone. young women, respect yourselves; demand the respect of others. there is the moral in a nutshell. ------------------- { } _palm sunday._ epistle. _philippians ii._ - . brethren: let this mind be in you, which was also in christ jesus: who being in the form of god, thought it not robbery himself to be equal with god: but debased himself, taking the form of a servant, being made to the likeness of men, and in shape found as a man. he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. wherefore god also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name: that in the name of jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and in hell. and that every tongue should confess that the lord jesus christ is in the glory of god the father. gospel. _st. matthew xxvii._ - . and the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the pharisees came together to pilate, saying: sir, we have remembered that that seducer said, while he was yet alive: after three days i will rise again. command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people, he is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. pilate said to them: you have a guard; go, guard it as you know. and they departing, made the sepulchre sure with guards, sealing the stone. ------------------ { } sermon lix. hardness of heart. _to-day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts. _ these words, my dear brethren, are taken from the beginning of the office recited by the clergy on this and the following days, up to holy thursday. they entreat us not to let this time, precious above all others, go by without making the use of it which our lord means that we should make; not to let him show his love for us without giving him love in return. "harden not your hearts." how is it that we harden our hearts? it is by putting off our repentance; by clinging to the world and its pleasures, to the gratification of our sinful passions, and waiting for some time to come when it will be more convenient to give them up, or when we shall feel more strongly moved to do so. we think that this time will surely come, that the stream of god's graces will be uninterrupted, and that when necessity urges we can avail ourselves of the one that happens to be then within our reach as easily as we could have done of the many that went by long ago. but, my brethren, this is a great and a terrible mistake. it may be, indeed, that god in his goodness and mercy has many graces yet in store for us equal in themselves to those which we have had; but if we have despised and neglected the past ones they will not be the same for us as those were which went before, { } a word of warning, a single prayer, the sight of the crucifix or of our blessed mother, a pious picture, an agnus dei, is enough to move the innocent soul of a child to the love of god; the most powerful mission-sermon often fails to make any impression on one who has spent his life in sin. it is not the grace that is wanting on god's part. no, he is there in his power; his arm is not shortened; he is still mighty to save. but his voice seems to the deaf ear of the sinner faint and indistinct; his message is the same old story. yes, it is the same old story; it must be the same, for there is but one. there is but one name under heaven whereby we can be saved, only one gospel which we can preach, and the sinner has heard it so often with indifference that its interest is gone. then--most dangerous delusion of all--he comforts himself with the hope that at least he will die in the grace of god; that somehow or other he will, as he passes from life to death, be brought from death to life. he forgets that the sacraments were not given to give repentance to the sinner; no, they have for their object to give pardon and grace to those who have repented. do you think it is of the slightest use to anoint with oil the senses of a man who lies unconscious, and who has not, while he had the use of his mind, turned really and truly away in his heart from his sinful life? the priest does it, indeed, in hopes that he may have repented; but how faint is that hope for those who have suddenly been stricken down! and even if there is more time; even if some sort of confession can be made, is it so sure that the hardened heart, which has all its life loved and clung to its sins, will now love god and hate sin? god's mercy is great, it is true; he may now give extraordinary graces, but he is not bound to do so; and if the ordinary ones have failed before they may also fail now. { } yes, my brethren, now is the time--a better time than your last hour. now in this passion season the precious blood of christ is flowing more freely for you than you can expect ever to find it again. listen to his voice now; do not wait till it becomes fainter. if you have not spent lent well so far, come now and make the most of the help so abundantly given you in these holy days. harden not your hearts any longer; it is a dangerous game to play. ------------------- sermon lx. spirit of holy week. _think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself._ --hebrews. xii. . the week which we this sunday enter upon, my dear brethren, is called holy week; and of all the many sacred seasons which the church has set apart, this is by far the most solemn and sacred. everything which it is within the power of external rites and ceremonies to do has been done by the church in these services, in order to bring home to her children the great lesson which this holy season should teach. and while it is true that the church has not made attendance obligatory under pain of mortal sin, yet it would argue a very poor and ungrateful spirit, and one but little in accordance with that of the church, if any one should without good reason neglect to be present. { } now, what is the truth which these services have it for their object to impress upon our minds? no other than that fundamental, distinctive truth--the passion and death of christ, its reason and effects. the church this week excludes from commemoration everything else, and applies herself exclusively to tracing the steps of her lord and founder from his entry into jerusalem in the midst of acclamations and rejoicings, to the entombment of his dead and blood-stained body in the sepulchre of joseph of arimathea. now, every one must have, necessarily has, in these events the greatest interest--an interest which surpasses every other. and, first, as to those who are in the habit of going frequently to the sacraments, who understand their great value, and find in these means of grace their chief consolation in the midst of the troubles and cares which surround them. for these the commemoration of the passion and death of christ can not but be profitable. the author of "the following of christ" tells us that we ought not to consider so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver. and we all know that we esteem the trifling present made by a dear friend more than much more costly things which we have ourselves bought or earned. now, the sacraments are not merely inestimable treasures in themselves; they are also tokens and pledges of the love of him who instituted them, bought by him at the cost of his own most precious blood, given to us to show us his love to us. every time a man goes to confession, every time he receives holy communion, he is receiving that which was instituted and established and bestowed upon him out of love; and if he wishes to know how great that love was he ought to have a lively sense of what it cost our lord to merit those graces for us--namely, his bitter passion and death. { } but there are many who neglect the sacraments, who come to them but seldom, perhaps only to their easter communion; perhaps not even to that. what is to be thought of those who act in this way? certainly, however smart and keen and intelligent they may be, or fancy themselves to be, in lower matters which are nearer to them and fall beneath their senses--in money-getting, in trade, in art, in literature--such men show but little sense and understanding about things which are of real importance and value. in what way may these duller and obtuser minds learn to appreciate these higher things? certainly the price given for a thing by a prudent man is a good means of learning what it is worth. now, if those who neglect the sacraments, who make but little of them, would during this week apply themselves to the consideration of the price paid by our lord for those sacraments, i have but little doubt that they would be led to form a truer notion of their value and importance. i wish i could conclude without alluding to another class which, though i trust it is not numerous, yet does exist--i mean those who do not neglect the sacraments, but those who do worse: who profane them. those who make bad confessions, who conceal mortal sins, who have no sorrow for their sins and no purpose of amendment, who make the infinite mercy and goodness of god a reason and pretext for wallowing in vice and sin--what shall be said of these? { } we know that our lord is reigning now gloriously in heaven; that nothing which we can do can cause him loss or pain; yet it is also true that those who act in this way do all that lies in their power to trample under foot that precious blood which was shed for them. but while there is life there is hope, and if even those would devote this week to meditation on the passion of our lord, they might form a just estimate of what their souls cost our lord, and turn to him while there is yet time. ------------------- { } _easter sunday._ epistle. _corinthians v._ , . brethren: purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new mass, as you are unleavened. for christ, our pasch, is sacrificed. therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. gospel. _st. mark xvi._ - . at that time: mary magdalen, and mary the mother of james and salome, bought sweet spices, that coming they might anoint jesus. and very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. and they said one to another: who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? and looking, they saw the stone rolled back, for it was very great. and entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. and he said to them: be not affrighted; ye seek jesus of nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here; behold the place where they laid him. but go, tell his disciples and peter that he goeth before you into galilee; there you shall see him as he told you. ------------------- { } sermon lxi. easter joy. _hæc dies, quam fecit dominus: exultemus, et lætemur in ea._ --psalm cxvii. . [usccb: psalm cxviii. .] "_this is the day which the lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice in it._" so sings the psalmist. so sings the church today in holy mass, and every christian heart beats with the response: "let us be glad and rejoice." a happy easter, then, to you all, my dear brethren! a happy easter to the old, to whom, in the natural course of things, many returns of this blessed day cannot come! a happy easter to the young, rejoicing in all the freshness and vigor of youth, and confidently looking forward to many renewals of easter joys! a happy easter to the rich, upon whom god has bestowed an abundance of worldly goods! and a thrice happy easter to god's own special friends, the poor! thus holy church bids all be glad and rejoice, for to-day christ is risen, the saviour of us all. the joy of easter, my dear brethren, like that of christmas, is all-pervading. we feel it in the air we breathe, we see it in the sparkling eye and radiant countenance of the child. the quick and hearty salutation of our friends, "a happy easter to you!" increases our own joy, for we perceive that all about us are sharers with us in this great gift of the risen christ. { } but the joy of easter differs from that of christmas in this: that the latter brings to us the glad tidings of the coming of the true king, the strong and valiant leader of the mighty host of israel, and our hearts leap with joy as we go forth, with buoyant step and strengthened arm, and fight the great battle of life. easter joy is the joy of victory, for our gallant leader, the strong son of god, has gone before; he has overcome the enemy, and death is swallowed up in victory. yes, christ has fought the battle and won. but there remains for us a battle to be fought, but not an uncertain one; for we have received virtue from the victory of christ, and by following him faithfully, by keeping our eye fixed steadily on the banner of christ--the banner of the cross--our victory, too, is certain. this, then, is why easter time gladdens the heart of every true christian, for it brings with it the assured hope of final victory over sin, which is the sting of death, by a glorious resurrection. but, my dear brethren, mid all these rejoicings may there not be some poor soul among us who does not participate in the joys of easter time? some soul for which christ on good friday poured forth the last drop of his sacred blood, but which to-day finds itself estranged, nay, even in a hostile attitude towards its only true friend? oh! would to god there were not even one such ungrateful soul in the whole world. but, alas! i fear there are many upon whom our loving saviour, the risen christ, must look this day as his declared enemies; some wretched souls over whom hangs the thick, black cloud of mortal sin, unrepented and unforgiven, and through which the bright rays of god's infinite love cannot penetrate. yet even these need not despair; the joys of easter time may still be theirs, for the same loving and sword-pierced heart of jesus is still ready to be reconciled with them. { } oh! if there be such a one present here this morning let him take courage, come at once to the tribunal of penance, become one of the friends of the risen christ, and share with us the joys of easter. and those who have been, but are no longer, strangers to god's grace, persevere, i exhort you, during the short space of this life in the friendship of our crucified lord, and yours, too, will, like his, be a glorious resurrection. let us, then, my dear brethren, on this happy easter day elevate our hearts to god in humble thanksgiving for all his benefits, and let us unite with the holy church in the prayer of the office for to-day. god! who, through thine only-begotten son, hast on this day overcome death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life, we humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us, thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continued help we may bring the same to good effect. through the same our lord jesus christ, thy son, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the holy ghost, one god, world without end. amen. ------------------- sermon lxii. easter and the love of god. _this is the day which the lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein._ --psalm. cxvii. . [usccb: psalm cxviii. .] { } familiar words these, my brethren, and for ever associated in our minds with this greatest of all christian festivals. frequently on this day and through its octave does the church repeat them to us; they sound now continually in our ears. and no doubt they find some echo in our hearts. yes, we are glad, we do rejoice; surely no one who can call himself a christian could hear unmoved the outburst of our triumph and exultation yesterday as the "gloria in excelsis" was intoned in the mass, telling us that the lion of juda has conquered, that god has arisen and that his enemies are scattered, that he has put death and hell under his feet. for the moment at least we would say with st. paul: "o death! where is thy victory? o death! where is thy sting? thanks be to god, who hath given us the victory through our lord jesus christ." but as the newness, the freshness of the easter joy and triumph passes away, does not another feeling come and mingle with it? a feeling of awe, almost of dread, comes upon us, like that terror which came upon the guards at the sepulchre as they saw the angel who rolled away the stone, of whom st. matthew says that his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow; like that fear which came even on the holy women as they saw the two angels in shining apparel standing at the empty tomb; and upon the apostles themselves when jesus stood in their midst soon after; for the evangelist tells us that they were troubled and frighted, in spite of his words giving them peace and telling them not to be afraid. indeed, i think there was no one of those who saw our risen lord, except his glorious and blessed mother, whose love was so perfect that it quite cast out this fear. { } and still more is it in our poor and imperfect hearts; we cannot shake it off. how many are there of us, unless, indeed, those innocent ones who have not yet known what sin is, who, if this were really and truly the morning of the resurrection, and the risen one could be seen by those who should seek him, would arise gladly and run to meet him, and fall in loving adoration at his feet? if we can in our inmost heart feel that we would, we have reason indeed to be glad and rejoice to-day. but to feel so there must be something in us besides that thrill of triumph and of victory which overpowers us as the splendor of the resurrection first breaks upon our souls. there must be a true, fervent, and deep love of the god who to-day comes so near to us; a hatred from the bottom of our hearts and souls of all that in the least degree separates us from him; there must be, beside faith, also hope and charity, such as the saints have had--that hope which knows that he loves us and has forgiven us, that charity which would make us die sooner than offend him again. and these we have not because of our sins. yes, it is sin which casts the shadow on our easter; it is the love and affection for it which still remains in us; it is that compromising spirit which is even at our best times holding us back, keeping us from fully loving, trusting, and giving ourselves up to god, for fear that we might lose something by doing so; it is this that makes us afraid to approach him and to share in his joy. as for mortal sin, that, of course, takes the happiness of easter away altogether; to one who is in its darkness the thought of meeting god brings, and can bring, no thought of joy. but even venial sin brings its dread with it,too. { } and what is the remedy for this dread? it is very simple. it is only to try now to begin to love with our whole hearts him who has loved us, and given his life for us; whose delight is to be with us and to have us come to him; to keep nothing back from him--in short, to live here in our feeble measure the life we hope to live in heaven. this is the way, and the only way, for us to enter now as we would wish into the joy of our lord. ------------------- sermon lxiii. the triumph of christ. _this is the day which the lord hath made: let us rejoice and be glad in it. _ --psalm. cxvii. . [usccb: psalm cxviii. .] the festival of easter is, above all things, my brethren, a day of joy. just as we love the sunshine more after days of cloud and tempest, so also is our joy keener and more intense when it follows sorrows. it is for this reason that the joy of easter is greater than that of christmas, or of any other season of the christian year. for we have been passing through a time of sorrow. we have beheld in passion-tide our dearest lord in suffering. we have beheld him as the king of martyrs, worthy of the title, because his pains were so far in excess of anything that mere man has ever suffered or could ever suffer. we have seen him in his agony in the garden, when the sins of the whole world and of all time were presented to his vision and pressed heavily upon him, filling his sacred heart with deepest grief. { } we have called to mind his betrayal by his trusted friend and disciple; his arraignment before impious and unjust judges; his cruel condemnation and death. despised and rejected by his own chosen people whom he had come to save, a robber and murderer preferred before him, we have beheld him abandoned to the tortures of the heathen soldiers, scourged, and spit upon, and crowned with thorns, and finally led forth to die a malefactor's death upon the cross. and worse than all is the thought that he was forsaken by those whom he held most dear, those whom he had chosen to be his special friends and disciples, and who had been his constant companions in his public ministry. they all forsook him and fled, leaving him to die. then we have followed him along the sorrowful way of the cross; we have meditated deeply upon his three last hours of agony; we have almost heard his deep, expiring groan as he rendered up his soul to the hands of his father. now, if we have thus learnt well the lessons of passion-tide, the joy of easter will come to us in all its fulness. if we have pondered well the depth of humiliation to which our lord subjected himself in his death upon the cross, we shall well realize the greatness of his triumph to-day. the joy that filled the hearts of the apostles, of the holy women, and, above all, the immaculate heart of our blessed lady when they knew that the lord had risen indeed will be ours to-day, and we shall cry out in the words which the church puts into our mouths: "this is the day which the lord hath made: let us rejoice and be glad in it": for "the lord is my strength and my praise, and is become my salvation." therefore, to-day the voice of praise and of salvation "is in the dwellings of the just throughout the world." { } "for the right hand of the lord hath wrought strength"; the right hand of the lord--that is, his almighty power--has raised up jesus from the dead. he has risen glorious and triumphant, and in his glory and triumph all mankind are sharers. for by his resurrection he has overcome death and opened unto us the gates of everlasting life. he has triumphed over sin, which brought death into the world, and which was the cause of his death. his resurrection, therefore, means our deliverance from sin and death, and is a pledge to us of that life which he will give to his faithful ones. surely, then, we can have no greater cause for rejoicing than this. pray, then, my brethren, that your hearts may be filled with the true spirit of easter joy. "ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full; and your joy no man shall take from you." ------------------- { } _low sunday._ epistle. _st. john v._ - . dearly beloved: whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world; and this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that jesus is the son of god? this is he that came by water and blood, jesus christ; not in water only, but in water and blood. and it is the spirit that testifieth, that christ is the truth. for there are three that give testimony in heaven, the father, the word, and the holy ghost. and these three are one. and there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are one. if we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of god is greater. for this is the testimony of god, which is greater, because he hath testified of his son. he that believeth in the son of god, hath the testimony of god in himself. gospel. _st. john xx._ - . at that time: when it was late that same day, being the first day of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the jews, jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: peace be to you. and when he had said this, he showed them his hands, and his side. the disciples therefore were glad when they saw the lord. and he said to them again: peace be to you. as the father hath sent me, i also send you. when he had said this he breathed on them; and he said to them: receive ye the holy ghost. whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose you shall retain, they are retained. { } now thomas, one of the twelve, who is called didymus, was not with them when jesus came. the other disciples therefore said to him: we have seen the lord. but he said to them: unless i shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, i will not believe. and after eight days his disciples were again within, and thomas with them. jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: peace be to you. then he saith to thomas: put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not incredulous, but faithful. thomas answered, and said to him: my lord, and my god. jesus saith to him: because thou hast seen me, thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. many other signs also did jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. but these are written that you may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god: and that believing you may have life in his name. ------------------- sermon lxiv. how to use god's gifts. _if ye be risen with christ, seek those things which are above, where christ sitteth on the right hand of god._ --epistle to colossians. iii. . the feast of to-day, my dear brethren, brings to a close the solemnities of easter; and it was the practice, in the early ages of the church, for those who had been baptized on holy saturday to put off, on this day, the white garments which they then assumed, and to resume again their accustomed occupation. { } the white garments were but an external sign of that internal purity and cleanliness which the soul received in the waters of holy baptism, and the soul, thus purified and strengthened by god's grace, went boldly forth to the battle-field of life, to meet again its three great and deadly enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. so we, who, during the penitential season just closed, have faithfully observed the laws of holy church, and, by fasting, have brought the flesh under subjection to the spirit; by foregoing our accustomed pleasures and amusements have brought the world under our feet, and, by a good confession and communion, have again enlisted in the ranks of christ, and thus declared ourselves eternal enemies of sin and the devil, start again to-day with renewed strength to follow our leader, the risen christ, to certain victory. st. paul, in the epistle from which the text is taken, reminds the christians at colossa that, if they be risen with christ, their thoughts must now be turned to where christ is--sitting at the right hand of god. "mind the things that are above," he continues, "not the things that are upon the earth; for you are dead, and your life is hid with christ in god." o brethren! would that catholics did but realize this great truth! would that their thoughts and affections were directed towards their eternal destiny! absorbed, as they are, in the sordid pursuits of this life, they cannot be too often reminded that we are here only on trial. an almighty and merciful god has, with a lavish hand, surrounded us with the means of gratifying our reasonable desires and appetites. but, alas! the very gifts of god serve not unfrequently to make us forget the giver. { } look around you and see what is the object for which this noisy, bustling world is striving; what the end for which most men seem to exist. the fact is, brethren, that mammon, the heathen god of riches, has disputed christ's sovereignty over the hearts of men, and has actually erected his altar in those very hearts where the grace of christ once reigned. the only conception men seem to have of this present life is this: that it is a place where we are to strive to become wealthy in the shortest possible time, without being over scrupulous as to the means, and then to retire from active pursuits, the better to indulge our sensual appetites. they thus invert the order of divine providence, and make an end of that which was intended only as a means to enable us to attain our eternal destiny. everything in this world, my dear brethren, was intended by god for our happiness here and as a pledge of an eternal and infinitely greater happiness hereafter. it is a great mistake to suppose that christianity requires us to ignore these wonderful gifts of a kind providence, and to forego all the pleasures of this life. no, not at all! indeed, we are absolutely obliged to make use of many of them if we would maintain our very existence. god acts towards us as a kind and affectionate father acts towards his child. the father knows that his child loves him, and he feels confident that the little presents he makes the child from time to time will only serve to strengthen the fond affection which nature has implanted between them. { } but what would you think if those gifts of the kind father served only to estrange from him the heart of his child? you would, undoubtedly, say that such a state of things was unnatural. well, so it is, my dear brethren, with us, who, after all, are only children of an older growth. god, our creator and father, has given us life and all the things in this beautiful universe to enjoy. and all he asks in return is our love--our hearts. but, remember, he is not satisfied with an imperfect and partial love. he is a jealous god, and will allow no one to share our hearts with him. so that when men fix their affections on the things of this world without referring them to god, and use these gifts without regard to the giver, they too are acting in an unnatural or, at least, in an irrational manner. give your whole heart to god, brethren, and then you will enjoy his gifts, and, as st. paul says, "when christ shall appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory." ------------------- sermon lxv. the christian's peace. _jesus came, and stood in the midst, and said to them: peace be to you. and when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. the disciples, therefore, were glad when they saw the lord. he said therefore to them again: peace be to you._ --gospel of the day. he stood in their midst. to-day he stands in the midst of us and utters the self-same words, "peace be unto you." and he shows us his hands and his side, and we are glad. and again he says, "peace be unto you." { } to be at peace with the world is the aim of many men. but to have one's life run smoothly on, to be hindered neither here nor there, to be always in the sunshine and never in the shadow, may bring us peace and gladness, but not the peace and gladness that our lord would impart. for after his words of gentle salutation he showed them his hands and his side impressed with the wound-prints of his passion, as if to say: "the peace which i wish you is that which comes after strife, conflict, and sorrow; that peace which is the rest and the reward for labor and endurance." yes, dear friends, ours is to strive, to contend with self, with a nature that is fallen, with a proneness to evil, with desires that are selfish and carnal. to contend with the world, to disavow its principles, not to listen to its temptations; to realize and to confess that pleasure, success, ease, money, fame, are not the objects for which a noble soul must seek, but that god is our true end, and that mortification and self-denial, the cross, are the true means to arrive at that end, the way to come to union with god. to be at peace with the world; yes, i admit that it is a thing to be desired, but only so that we are at peace with almighty god, too. and how is that peace gained? only by the keeping of his law. at peace with the world, because the world cannot disturb one at peace with god; this is the christian's life. but so great a boon is not gained without a strife, as the joy of easter is not till the sorrow of the passion has passed. our duty, then, dear brethren, is to strive, and to keep the law of god, that first law written on our hearts, that law which he has given to us both by his words and by his life on earth, and which he still repeats to us through his holy church. { } foolish, indeed, are we above all others if our easter joy is only that of the worldling, and our peace that which the world gives. this is not the peace that comes after looking at his hands and his side; not the joy that the disciples felt as they gazed on the risen saviour, who stands to-day here in our midst, as he did among those his first followers, and says to us, as he said to them, "peace be to you." we may have that peace, my brethren, if we are willing to obtain it and to deserve it as they did. we shall have it descend upon us, if, while we gaze at his hands and his side, we are conscious that we have indeed shared his passion and cross. may indeed be ours this peace of god, which shall keep our hearts and minds in christ jesus. ------------------- sermon lxvi. true and lasting peace. _jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: "peace be to you."_ --from the gospel of the sunday. peace be to you! this is our lord's easter blessing, thrice repeated in the gospel of to-day; and a blessing which all his faithful may obtain. and it is the one for which we are continually seeking, each in his own way, but which we can find nowhere but with him who to-day offers it to us. { } what is this peace? is it freedom from conflict? is the christian to have no battle to fight, no enemy to overcome? no, surely our lord does not promise us such an easy road to heaven as this. "do not think," he says, "that i came to send peace upon earth; i came not to send peace, but the sword." we must make up our minds, for the sake of the christian faith, to sustain not only the assaults of the devil and of our own evil passions, but also the opposition of those who should be our friends. "a man's enemies," our saviour goes on to say, "shall be they of his own household." in this sense, then, we cannot hope for peace in this world. no, our lot must be, if we have really enlisted in christ's army, that of all soldiers: war, and its turmoil. as st. paul says it was for himself so must it be for us: "combats without, fears within." struggles for our temporal life; for god has said to adam our father, and in him to us his children: "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread "; struggles far more terrible and momentous for our spiritual life, against flesh and blood, also "against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness," in which a single slip may mean eternal ruin, a single wound instant death. where, then, is our peace in this inevitable war, this contest which demands all the energies of our body and soul? what peace can we have while its issue is still uncertain, its events yet unknown? surely it seems a mockery for our lord to say, "peace be to you," when he sends us not peace, but war and its alarms. but it is not a mockery; he who cannot be deceived also cannot deceive. his words are faithful and true. he has really peace to give us--peace in the midst of combat, calm even in the storm. { } when the storm arose on the sea of galilee, and he was asleep in the boat, his disciples came to him, saying: "lord, save us, we perish." but he answered: "why are you fearful, o ye of little faith?" was there not reason for them to be fearful, to lose their peace of mind, when death was staring them in the face, and all their efforts to save themselves were vain? no, not if they had faith to show that god was with them. this, then, should have been their peace; this should be ours: the possession of god. he has given himself entirely for us and to us in the battle in which he has placed us. he fights on our side. what, then, have we to fear if we will only keep close to him? we are sure of the victory if we call him to our aid. as st. paul says, "if god be for us, who is against us? he that spared not even his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also with him given us all things?" peace, then, we should have in our spiritual combat; but how in the battle for our temporal life? here we are not promised success; no, it must be defeat, at least in the end. we must lose at last by death all that we seek of the goods of this world. the peace which the world gives is then a delusion; it lasts but for an hour; the shadow of death is upon it. "o death!" says holy scripture, "how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions!" here again, therefore, our true peace is in the possession of him who is eternal; this is the peace which the world can neither give nor take away. all the storms of this world will not shake or disturb him whose house is built on this rock. "who," again says st. paul, "shall separate us from the love of christ; shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword?" { } this, therefore, is the true peace of the christian: confidence in god, indifference to all that is not god. it is the peace of our lord himself. "my peace," he says, "i give unto you." let us ask him indeed to give it to us, now and for evermore. ------------------- { } _second sunday after easter._ epistle. _st. peter ii._ - . dearly beloved: christ has suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly. who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. for you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the pastor and bishop of your souls. gospel. _st. john x._ - . at that time: jesus said to the pharisees: i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. but the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own sheep they are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep, and flieth; and the wolf snatcheth and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. i am the good shepherd: and i know mine, and mine know me. as the father knoweth me, and i know the father; and i lay down my life for my sheep. and other sheep i have, that are not of this fold: them also i must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. ------------------- { } sermon lxvii. _the good shepherd_. _for you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the pastor and bishop of your souls._ -- st. peter ii. . to-day is the sunday of the good shepherd, and the church sings in joyful strains: "the good shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, yea, who was contented even to die for his flock, the good shepherd is risen again--alleluia!" it is in this tender, loving, and, to us, most winning character that our lord presents himself in the gospel of to-day--the good shepherd, who knoweth his sheep, and acknowledges them as his own, whose tender care for them is so great that he is willing even to lay down his life for their sake, yet with the power to take it again for his own glory and for their eternal good. we are those sheep for whom he died, and for whom he rose again, for they are in the truest sense his sheep who believe in his name, and are gathered into his one fold, the holy catholic church. but it is not enough to believe; we must also hear his voice. how have we done this in the past? have we hearkened to his voice as he spake to us through the offices of the church, through the words of our pastors, through the still, small voice of conscience? alas! we have been as sheep going astray. we have been deaf to his voice, as it has so often spoken to us, bidding us follow him. and, having strayed away from our shepherd, we have refused to listen to the loving tones of that same sweet voice, calling us back to our place in the flock, but have wandered still further away into the pleasant pastures of sin, where all seemed delight for a time, but where the wolf, the great enemy of our souls, was lurking, waiting for his chance to seize us as his prey for ever. { } oh! into what danger have we run by thus wandering from the right path! but now, during the holy season of lent that is passed, the church has been appealing to us through her solemn offices, and through the earnest words spoken by her ministers, to forsake our evil ways, to leave the deceitful pleasures of sin, and return to where we can alone find pasture for our souls, to the sacraments of the church, wherein the good shepherd gives himself to his sheep. many have hearkened to the call of the saviour's voice, many have come during this holy time to the green pastures and the still waters, where the good shepherd feeds his flock, and, with souls restored and renewed, are prepared and determined to walk hereafter in the paths of righteousness, where he leads the way. even when at last they shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death they will fear no evil, for he will be with them, his rod and his staff shall comfort them. but there are also many, far too many, who have not listened to the voice of jesus, as he calls them in this blessed easter-tide. poor, wayward sheep, they still wander in paths of their own choosing, which can only lead them into danger and into death. o foolish, wandering ones! take heed ere it is too late to the gentle voice that calls you. your souls are soiled and sin-stained, and you have need to be washed in the stream which flows from your shepherd's side, his precious blood shed for you when he laid down his life for your sake. { } come, wash and be made clean in the sacrament of penance which he has ordained for your cleansing. you were as sheep going astray; be now converted and return to jesus, the pastor, the shepherd, the bishop of your souls. you have been famishing for the food you need for your spiritual sustenance. come, then, to him who so graciously and tenderly invites you to the table which he has prepared for you. draw nigh with joy to the heavenly banquet of his sacred body and the goodly, overflowing cup of his precious blood, that your souls may be fed and have life eternal. then will you be strong in the presence of your enemies, his mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the lord for ever, even in that house of many mansions which he has prepared for those who love and follow him. for he has said of those who hear his voice and follow him: "i give them life everlasting, and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall snatch them out of my hand." and remember that other promise of his: "he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood has everlasting life, and i will raise him up at the last day." yes, poor, lost sheep though we have been, if we now turn from our wayward paths to hear his voice and follow him, he will raise us up at the last day, and place us among his favored sheep upon his right hand, to be glad for ever in the light of his countenance. ------------------- { } sermon lxviii. dead faith. _that christ may dwell by faith in your hearts._ --ephesians iii. . holy writ teaches us in many places, my brethren, that god dwells in our hearts by charity, and here we are taught that he dwells by faith also. of course, the meaning is the same. for an elect soul to know christ is to love him. and even for a reprobate soul to know the truth of religion is that indescribable boon which makes a possible salvation capable of becoming quickly real. how terrible the misfortune of the calvinist who believes that a bad life necessarily means absence of faith! how consoling to know that our sinful friends, if they have but the true faith, have a seed of eternal life which may yet spring up into a fruitful tree! yet it is terrible to think of how some men trifle with their faith. brethren, look at the end and judge the beginning by it. the end of wicked men is damnation, hopeless and eternal. now, what is the faith in hell? something that makes the christian's torment altogether peculiar. there the name of christian, now so noble, now entitling its bearer to pardon for every sin if but breathed forth with an act of sorrow--there the name of christian will be a nickname. in one way he will have more faith then than now; he will know more of revealed truth, have a clearer knowledge of heavenly things. but then the hand wounded by the nail, and which now is never out of reach, will be withdrawn finally and for ever. { } imagine the agony of a soul in hell, whom each article of faith will cause for ever to wail and weep only this one sentence: "it is all my own fault." brethren, you may complain that this sort of preaching does not provoke to much mirth. but there are those who should know that for them this ought to be a time of weeping and not of being merry: persons who have faith in their hearts, but not christ. for see how men in italy, holding fast to the truth with one hand, have with the other set up the abomination of desolation in the holy place. and see how, in france, men who deem themselves insulted if called anything but catholics, yet deliberately rob the children of the people of the bread of life by establishing paganism in the schools. and see how many there are among us whose faith, instead of being a rule to live by, an irresistible attraction towards our lord in a true grief for sin and strict union with him, sealed by frequent communion, is but something handed down from father to son, like name and color and race--a traditional faith--and this proved by their vicious lives. but happy are they in whose hearts faith has prepared a dwelling for our saviour. our lord is surely present within us if we are in the state of grace. hear what he says: "if any one love me, he will keep my word; and my father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make an abode with him." he comes, indeed, silently; he hushes the festive greetings of the angels who escort him; he hides the dazzling glory of his ascended triumph, for now it is faith and not sight. but there in the heart he none the less dwells. we live with him. the christian feels his presence. he has an interior life whose very breath is that presence. { } he is stamped with our lord's character. such a soul is truly and literally called _faithful_--faith-full. and once you are intimately acquainted with him you perceive in his ways and actions that our lord lives with him. better yet, he perceives it himself. how different he is from one whose knowledge of religion is mere persuasion of the mind and empty talk! with the true christian knowledge is power. to know the true faith is for him to know how to live: better yet, to know how to suffer, how to wait, how to love, how to die. brethren, this congregation is divided into two parts--those who are to be saved and those who are not. those of you who are to be saved are those in whose hearts jesus christ actually dwells by faith. those who are to be lost are those whose faith means that christ has a claim against them, payment of which they will postpone till it is too late. ------------------- sermon lxix. suffering false accusations. _he delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly._ --epistle of the day. i suppose, my dear brethren, that there is no grievance to which we are subjected more common, and certainly there are few more distressing, than that of being judged unfairly by others. as catholics we are all specially liable to this; we all know how protestants, even those who profess to be quite friendly to us personally, and who sometimes will say a good word or two for our religion, still calmly assume, as a matter of course, that we believe and practise many things which we and all intelligent and honest men detest and abhor. { } they say, for instance, that we worship images; that we pay money not only to have our sins forgiven, but even for permission in advance to commit new ones; that we believe the pope to be almighty god; that we maintain that the end justifies the means; and so on to any extent. it was only a few days ago that it was unblushingly stated in an assembly of one of their sects that the catholic church was more guilty in the matter of permitting divorce than other denominations. there seems hardly to be a falsehood about us so gross or so absurd that some of them will not be found to believe and to assert it. and we of the clergy are more exposed to these slanders than any one else. they say, they take for granted, that we are hypocrites and deceivers; that under a cloak of sanctity we practise all kinds of vice; that we do not believe a word of what we teach; that our only object in our profession is to exercise power or to make money; these things and many others pass current in the world about us, so we are looked upon by many as detestable wretches not fit to live. in us, especially, are our lord's words fulfilled: "you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake." but it is not only from outsiders, or in matters where religion is concerned, that we have to put up with false charges and unjust suspicions. in our own private character and actions we all find ourselves liable to them; we find our neighbors and acquaintances judging and even speaking unfairly about us. { } priests suffer in this way sometimes from their own parishioners; the laity perhaps from the priest, and often certainly from each other. how frequently we hear people complain of slander or belying from those whom they supposed to be their friends; one would think that it was not the exception, but the rule. now all this is certainly very hard to bear. and yet as we go through life we cannot expect to be free from it; and we must try to find a way of bearing it as well as we can. what is the best way? one way, and a very good way, of putting up with this trouble is to make allowances for the unavoidable prejudice, ignorance, and imperfection of those who say about us what we know to be false, who do to us what we know to be unjust. they may not, they do not, know this as well as we do. "father, forgive them," said our lord on the cross, "for they know not what they do." we think others are slandering or injuring us through malice; ten to one they think they are in the right. probably we ourselves should act just the same way in their place. make allowances, then; give our neighbors more credit for good intentions; that is one way to put up with this suffering which we cannot altogether avoid or put a stop to. but a better and perhaps an easier way is the one recommended by st. peter in to-day's epistle. "dearly beloved," he says, "christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. who did no sin, neither was guilt found in his mouth. who, when he was reviled, did not revile; when he suffered he threatened not, but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly." { } he, the holy, the innocent one, was more wickedly and unjustly accused and judged than any of us sinners have been, or ever can be; shall we not then bear, if need be, the same treatment for his sake? to be spoken evil of falsely is to be like him; it is the mark, the badge of the christian. this is the example he has left us that we should follow his steps; shall we refuse to profit by it? ------------------- { } _third sunday after easter._ feast of the patronage of st. joseph. epistle. _st. peter ii._ - . dearly beloved, i beseech you as strangers and pilgrims to refrain yourselves from carnal desires, which war against the soul; having your conversation good among the gentiles; that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, considering you by your good works they may glorify god in the day of visitation. be ye subject therefore to every human creature for god's sake; whether it be to the king as excelling, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of the good; for so is the will of god, that by doing well you may silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not as making liberty a cloak of malice, but as the servants of god. honor all men; love the brotherhood; fear god; honor the king. servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. for this is thankworthy, in christ jesus our lord. epistle of the feast. _genesis xlix._ - . joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall. but they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him. his bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed by the hands of the mighty one of jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of israel. { } the god of thy father shall be thy helper, and the almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. the blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of joseph, and upon the crown of the nazarite among his brethren. gospel _st. john xvi._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: a little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me: because i go to the father. then some of his disciples said one to another: what is this that he saith to us: a little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me, and because i go to the father? they said therefore: what is this that he saith, a little while: we know not what he speaketh. and jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him; and he said to them: of this do you inquire among yourselves, be cause i said: a little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me? amen, amen i say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. a woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. so also you now indeed have sorrow, but i will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you. gospel of the feast. _st. luke iii._ - . at that time it came to pass: when all the people were baptized, that jesus also being baptized and praying, heaven was opened: and the holy ghost descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon him: and a voice came from heaven: thou art my beloved son, in thee i am well pleased. and jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty years: being (as it was supposed) the son of joseph. ------------------- { } sermon lxx. devotion to st. joseph. _go to joseph, and do all that he shall say to you. _ --genesis xli. . it is joseph's nearness to jesus and mary during his life that leads us now, when he reigns with them in heaven, to confidently call upon him for succor in our needs, and especially do we go to him because to his patronage the whole church has been commended, that by his intercession he may do for her and each of her members what he did for jesus and his mother when he was in the flesh. wisely has the church made him her protector, for his power with god must be very great. of this we can have no doubt, when we remember that to his care were entrusted the purest and the best who have ever walked this earth--jesus and mary--jesus, the son of god; mary, his stainless virgin mother, whose chaste soul the holy ghost made his dwelling-place, delighted with its beauty. above the seats of all the bright angels who serve in the courts of the most high mary's throne was raised, and one day she would be the angels mistress and queen; jesus was their lord, their maker, before whom they bowed in lowliest reverence. and yet mary was joseph's spouse, and jesus rendered him the obedience a son should give a father. very worthy must he have been who held so high an office. { } joseph was a necessary member of the family. he served as a veil to screen from the vulgar gaze the deep mysteries of the incarnation and nativity; he led the way into egypt, and his faithful arm supported the mother and the babe during the journey; he brought them back to their own land and provided shelter for them; their daily bread was the fruit of his labor--in a word, during the boyhood and youth of our lord they were entirely dependent upon him. such, then, was joseph's position in the holy family; he was the master and guardian of the household; and this is what the church would have him be in every christian family. it is you, christian fathers and mothers, who should be especially devout to st. joseph, for he is your patron in a particular manner. you, like him, have the cares of the household upon you; you must provide for the life and health of the children god has given you; it is your duty to see that they are instructed in the faith and attentive to their religious duties, and that they study their school lessons; you should guard them against the dangers they must meet with in a great city like this, and keep them away from those who may lead them to evil; and, above all, you should give them good example in the practice of virtue. to fulfil your duties well you need divine assistance. go to joseph--go to the foster-father of jesus christ; he will intercede for you, and obtain the many graces of which you stand in need. go to him and tell him all your troubles; you will find him very gracious. but st. joseph is the patron not of heads of families alone. the church would have you all, dear brethren, "go to joseph and do all that he shall say to you." from him she would have you learn a tender love to jesus, a love manifesting itself in deeds, not simply in words. joseph devoted himself to the service of our lord, and so should we. { } but how can we presume to say that we love or serve jesus if we do not keep his commands; if we neglect our duties as catholics and as members of society? let us show how much we love him by doing something for him, as st. joseph did, and let us, like him, be constant in our well-doing, permitting no day to pass without some acts of love to god. and if we would hope to make progress in the ways of god, let us daily "go to joseph and do all that he shall say." ------------------- sermon lxxi. christ and the church. _i have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. _ --st. john xvi. these words were spoken by our lord in his last discourse to his disciples. what were those things which he had yet to say to them, but which they could not then bear? they were things pertaining to the kingdom of god--that is, his church, his kingdom upon earth. he was about to leave the world and go to the father, but he would leave behind him an organized body to represent him. during these forty days, then, he sketched out the plan of the catholic church, which the apostles were to bring to completion, under the guidance of the holy ghost, who was to teach them all truth. { } these were the many things he had yet to say to them, but which they could not understand till then, because of their former imperfect and even erroneous notions of the nature of his kingdom upon earth. he had spoken of his church before, as it were, in hints; now he speaks no longer in parables, but plainly. listen to the few recorded words of those which he spoke during these forty days, and you will find in them an outline of the catholic church. he first asserts his authority to found a kingdom in this world, saying, "all power is given to me in heaven and on earth"; and then declares that he commits this same authority to his apostles and their successors in the church: "as my father hath sent me, i also send you." and, lest any one should say that this power and authority were given to the apostles alone and not to their successors, he bids them go forth into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature, and promises them his continual abiding presence even to the end of the world. one of the apostles he invested with a special authority over the others. the good shepherd would not leave his sheep in this world uncared for, so he gave to st. peter and his successors the office of pastor of the whole church in the words, "feed my lambs. feed my sheep." he also set forth the means of obtaining entrance into this earthly kingdom of his namely, faith and holy baptism--"he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved "; and he declared the blessedness of those who would accept the faith upon the authority of his church: "blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed." { } he provided a means by which those who should sin after baptism might find pardon and remission of their sins by instituting the sacrament of penance, giving to his apostles and their successors the power to forgive and retain sins: "whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained." he had already instituted on the night before his passion the sacrament of the holy eucharist, and during those forty days he undoubtedly gave his apostles the necessary instructions concerning the rest of the sacraments of the new law. the gospels do not pretend to give us all our lord's doings and sayings, as st. john expressly tells us at the end of his gospel. but in these recorded sayings of jesus, during this last brief time that he spent on earth, we have the written constitution of the catholic church, though but in outline. the office of the pope as supreme pastor, the plenary authority of the church, and the necessity of faith upon that authority as a means of obtaining eternal salvation--all this is clearly set forth in the words that i have quoted to you. "go, teach all nations," said our lord to his church; and he added, "teaching them to observe whatsoever i have commanded you." on our part, then, is required faithful submission to his teaching, as it comes to us through the voice of his church. it is only by faith in this teaching and by a diligent observance of the commandments of god and his church that we can hope to save our souls and attain to the blessedness which he has promised. ------------------- { } _fourth sunday after easter._ epistle. _st. james i._ - . dearly beloved: every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of vicissitude. for of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creatures. you know, my dearest brethren, and let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger. for the anger of man worketh not the justice of god. wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of malice, with meekness receive the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. gospel. _st. john xvi._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: i go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: whither goest thou? but because i have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart. but i tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that i go: for if i go not, the paraclete will not come to you; but if i go, i will send him to you. and when he shall come, he will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. of sin indeed: because they have not believed in me. and of justice: because i go to the father; and you shall see me no longer. and of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged. i have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. but when he, the spirit of truth, shall come, he will teach you all truth. for he shall not speak of himself: but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak, and the things that are to come he shall show you. he shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine, and will declare it to you. ------------------- { } sermon lxxii. evil conversation. _and he said to them: what are these discourses that you hold one with another? ... and they said: concerning jesus of nazareth. _ --luke xxiv. - . brethren: suppose our lord should stand in our midst to-day and demand from each one of us, as he did from these two disciples, what are these discourses that you hold one with another? do our conversations, like theirs, contain nothing reprehensible? would our answer be as pleasing to god as theirs was? if so, brethren, we have reason to thank god, and go on our way rejoicing. but of what do the majority of men most readily converse? it is sad that we have to confess it, but god and his works, the soul and its wants are topics anything but agreeable to most of the men of our day. and so every legitimate means must be resorted to in order to make the things of god and spiritual conversation at all palatable. and you, fathers and mothers of families, what are these conversations which you hold one with the other? what are the topics most commonly treated of in your christian homes? is it the virtues of your neighbors that are spoken of and recounted for your own edification and your children's imitation? would to god it were always so! but there are homes supposed to be occupied by christians where god's holy name is never mentioned save to be blasphemed, where the neighbor is never spoken of except to recall his follies, his vices, or even his atrocious crimes. { } christian parents, beware of the scandal your conversations may give to your family, but especially to your innocent children. remember that many a soul to-day steeped in vice received its first sinful impulse from some unguarded word, some improper topic of conversation heard in the home that should have been the nursery of every virtue. and from you, young men and women, an answer might be profitably demanded to this important question: what are the conversations which you most readily indulge in one with the other? are they in any way improper, or such that you would be ashamed to have them repeated in the presence of your parents? if so, then your discourses are not concerning jesus of nazareth, and you are not following the example of his disciples. but if in your conversations, following the apostolic rule, the things that savor of uncleanness are not so much as mentioned amongst you, what is to be said about the precious time you squander in idle, frivolous talk? remember that time is but the threshold of eternity, every moment of which is of the highest value to you now; and this is why on the last great day we shall be held to account for every idle word. young men and women, never admit into your company those whose conversations are unworthy of a christian, and especially let your own language be always in harmony with your high calling. indeed, brethren, to all of us this question of our lord brings home an important lesson. for if we would lead good christian lives we must not only abstain from all that is unbecoming or scandalous, but we must also regulate with all diligence our ordinary commonplace conversations. { } let them be always such that we would not hesitate to repeat them before god or his most virtuous servants. if we would have our conversations agreeable to god and men, we should make it a rule never to speak disparagingly of those _absent_, and never take advantage of their absence to say anything which we would not dare say in their presence. and the other rule we should follow is this: never to say in the presence of others anything which could give scandal or leave a bad impression. brethren, if we think often of this question of our lord, if we are diligent in following these rules, our conversations will be always edifying to our neighbors and useful to ourselves. then, if called upon at any moment by our lord, we can answer with his disciples, our conversations are "concerning jesus of nazareth." ------------------- sermon lxxiii. temptation. _blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which god hath promised to them that love him. _ --st. james i. . these words, my dear brethren, are from the scripture read in the divine office for to-day. they also, and very appropriately, have a prominent place in the office read on the feasts of martyrs through the year. { } "blessed is the man that endureth temptation." "yes," you may say, "certainly, if a man does endure and resist temptation, it is a good thing, and one for which he has reason to be thankful; but for my part, i would rather get along without being tempted." this is a thought which is very likely to occur to those who are in earnest about saving their souls, and are therefore afraid that they may give way to temptation, commit mortal sin, and be lost. they are inclined to envy others who seem to have a good and innocent natural disposition, and sometimes they may, perhaps, wish that they themselves had died in their baptismal innocence, before temptation and sin were possible. now this wish is not altogether wrong; it is certainly pleasing to god for us to desire that it might be impossible to offend him, and that our own salvation might be made secure. but it is a mistake, when he does allow temptation to come on us without our fault, to think that it would be better for us if he had not done so. it is a mistake, and why? because far the greater part of us cannot acquire supernatural virtue in any high degree, give much glory to god, or be entitled to much reward at his hands, without a good deal of temptation. if it would please god to infuse all the virtues into our souls without any trouble or labor on our part, it might indeed be very well; but this he is not bound to do, and generally he does not choose to do it. he prefers that we should obtain our virtues partly by our own exertions. and as we will not pray or meditate, do penance or mortify ourselves enough to accomplish this end, there is no way to make any virtue strong and hardy in us except by forcing us to oppose its contrary vice. { } it is quite easy to seem very pleasant and good-natured when one has no crosses or provocations; but let a sharp or insulting word be said, and it will soon be seen how much real patience there is in this seeming good-humor; perhaps passion will flame out all the more violently for being long in repose. but if one's patience is often tried, and stands the test by means of our own earnest struggles, it will become after a time something which we can really count on. this, then, is one good in temptation, that it makes our virtue really strong and solid for future use. but another value of it is to enable us to make acts at the very moment which will have an eternal reward and merit, and which we should never make were we let alone. let one be tempted by impure thoughts for a day, and faithfully resist them; in that day he will perhaps have done more to please god and obtain merit and glory in heaven than in a year of ordinary life. so if temptation comes without our own fault, we may indeed rejoice and count ourselves blessed, as st. james says; for it is indeed an earnest of the crown of life which our tried and strengthened souls shall win, and which shall be decked with the innumerable gems which our battles with sin have merited. but let us not allow it to come by our fault, for then we cannot hope for a blessing with it. "lead us not into temptation," we say every day; profitable as the contest may be to us, it would be presumption to offer ourselves to it, or to ask from god an opportunity for it. let us wait till he chooses to call us to the strife, and then thank him for the trial which shall give us, with his help, the crown of life which he has promised to those who love him, and for his love hate and resist sin. ------------------- { } _fifth sunday after easter._ epistle. _st. james i._ - . dearly beloved: be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. for if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his natural countenance in a glass. for he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. but he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued in it, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed. and if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain. religion pure and unspotted with god and the father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation; and to keep one's self undefiled from this world. gospel. _st. john xvi._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: amen, amen i say to you, if you ask the father anything in my name, he will give it you. hitherto you have not asked any thing in my name. ask, and you shall receive: that your joy may be full. these things have i spoken to you in proverbs. the hour cometh when i will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will show you plainly of the father. in that day you shall ask in my name: and i say not to you, that i will ask the father for you. for the father himself loveth you, because you have loved me, and have believed that i came forth from god. i came forth from the father, and am come into the world; again i leave the world, and i go to the father. his disciples say to him: behold now thou speakest plainly, and speak-est no proverb. now we know that thou knowest all things, and that for thee it is not needful that any man ask thee. in this we believe that thou camest forth from god. ------------------- { } sermon lxxiv. sins of the tongue. _and if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain._ --st. james i. . my dear brethren, we see by these words that we have a rule by which to find out whether or not we deserve to be called sincere christians or hypocrites. in order to be a sincere christian, what has a man to do? he has to get control of himself; to get his soul and all that it can desire subject to the law of god; to get all pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth under the control of his own will; to get that will subject to and one with the will of god; and, what is more, he must keep himself in this state of mind at least so far as to restrain himself from committing mortal sin and the graver venial sins if he desire sincerely to keep his soul well out of danger. he who acts thus is a truly good man, and that man's religion is not vain. { } what is the first thing to be done to begin to live in this way? it is to examine and see in what way a man commits the greater number of sins. one will soon find that the tongue of man is the means by which a man sins most frequently and in the most devilish manner. for, says st. james, "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, ... defileth the whole body, ... being set on fire by hell." we see from this how dangerous to the soul is the tongue of man. as we do see this, are we not bound to keep in check, _at all costs_, this source of evil? any one can see that, if he does not bridle his tongue, his religion is vain indeed. in fact, it is nothing but a merely outward show. it is hypocrisy of the worst kind. but what are the sins of the tongue we most often hear? they are blasphemies, curses, and oaths; the retailing of our neighbors faults with delight and evident pleasure; quarrels, bickerings, constant reproaches for faults that are past, gone, and even sincerely repented of long ago; immodest and impure conversations, with jokes and stories a heathen feels ashamed of; hints and little words that seem almost nothing, yet injuring seriously the reputation of some one, separating friends, and making even those near and dear to each other by every tie cold and distant for a long time, if not for the rest of their lives. god deliver us all from the evil tongue! it works in our very homes. the husband becomes by it bitterness and gall to his wife and family. the wife becomes a torture to husband and children. both by it make home a curse instead of a blessing, and separate those of whom the word of god declares, "whom god hath joined together let no man put asunder." too often do we see sad examples of this kind. too often do we find such a husband, who is like a roaring wild beast in his home, and a wife whose tongue once set going, even for a slight cause, is like a clock running down, or like the mill-clapper, so often used as a figure of an unruly tongue. { } the bad tongue of a child is the ruin of all in the house. that child is a tale-bearer and a traitor against those who begot him. a detestable habit of the evil tongue is what the world calls "damning our neighbor with faint praise," or, in other words, praising him highly, even to the skies, and putting in a little word of evil that destroys him all the more surely. one will excuse himself by saying: "but, after all, i spoke well of him. it can't do any harm!" yet he knows in his inmost soul he has ruined or seriously injured his neighbor. how would i feel if i were spoken of in this manner? is the question one should have asked himself before he said a word. how common is it to find persons the moment they see anything wrong done by another or hear of it hurry in great glee to tell it at once! do we not know, my dear brethren, that such a one is a scandalizer of men, and that the christian rule requires us to be silent then under pain of sin? but the greater the evil done the more delighted are they to tell it. it should be just the other way. never reveal to any one the sin of your neighbor, unless to save an innocent person or another from damage of some kind. this damage must be serious to oblige one to tell, even then, the sin of another, for he is equally obliged by god not to tell it under ordinary circumstances. remember, then, that no one can be a true christian unless he keeps from these sins by bridling his tongue. otherwise, as the text declares, "this man's religion is vain." ------------------- { } sermon lxxv. perseverance in prayer. _yet if he shall continue, knocking, i say to you, although he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend; yet because of his importunity he will rise; and give him as many as he needeth._ --st. luke xi. . many people complain that their prayers are not heard. again and again they have made some special requests for temporal, or it may be even for spiritual, blessings, and nothing seems to have come of these petitions. others get what they ask for, but they are not so favored; and they almost make up their minds that it is of no use for them to pray. they think, perhaps, that they are too great sinners for god to hear them; or that they do not know how to pray right; or they are even tempted to believe that prayer is a mistake altogether; that god's will is not moved by it; that, if any one does seem to get anything by it, it is only by chance, and would have come without it just as well. now what can be the reason of the failure of these good people in prayer? is it, perhaps, because what they asked was really an evil for them, and so god could not in mercy grant it, but had to give them something better instead, which they have not noticed? or is it that they did not strive to do their best to win what they wanted also by their own exertions as well as by prayer; that they would not put their own shoulder to the wheel? if it was some virtue, such as charity or patience, that they were asking for, and meanwhile took no real pains to cultivate and practise it, no wonder that god would not give it to them. { } or, lastly, is the reason for their disappointment that they were praying for others whose will was obstinately set against their prayers? a mother prays for her son, and her prayers are heard, though they may not seem to be. graces are granted to him, but he resists them. god has not promised to send them, in such a torrent as to sweep away and break down all opposition, though he may yet do so, if she will only persevere. persevere! ah! that word suggests what may be the real difficulty, the true reason for the seeming uselessness of so many good prayers. they are good as far as they go, but there are not enough of them. the effect that is to come of them is to come all at once; it is like the fall of a tree in the woods under the blows of the axe: the tree will come down, but not at the first, the second, the tenth, or perhaps even the hundredth stroke. yes, my brethren, our lord could no doubt grant our prayers as soon as we made them, but he does not wish to do so. and i think we can see at least two reasons why he does not. first, if he grants what we ask at once we will go off with what he has given us, and hare no more to say to him. and, strange to say, he enjoys our society; he has himself said his delight is to be with the children of men. so he keeps us around him, though it be only to tease, as a father would the children he loved, if he could not keep them any other way. and, secondly, he knows that it is good for us to be with him; and that every time we pray in earnest we come nearer to him, and our souls become stronger. so it is that, both for his own sake and for our good, he sometimes will not grant our prayers unless we persevere in them for a very long while. { } our lord has given us to understand this importance of persevering in prayer very plainly in the gospel read on these days, called rogation days, between to-day and the feast of the ascension. he represents to us in the parable of this gospel a man who has gone to bed, and is roused at midnight by a friend who wants to borrow some bread to set before an unexpected guest. he at first tells the disturber to leave him alone; he says that he cannot be bothered to get up at such an inconvenient time; he pretends to drop off asleep, and keeps his friend outside knocking and pounding for so long a time that he almost gives it up as useless. "yet," says our lord, "if he shall continue knocking, i say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." this is the lesson, then, it may be, for those who have had no success at their prayers. they did well to begin, but they did not keep at it long enough. let them go at it once again, and keep on. let them ask, and keep asking, and they shall receive; let them seek long enough, and they shall find; let them keep knocking and making a disturbance, and at last the door shall be opened, and they shall obtain what they desire. ------------------- { } _sunday within the octave of the ascension._ epistle. _st. peter iv._ - . dearly beloved: be prudent, and watch in prayers. but before all things have a mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins. using hospitality one towards another without murmuring. as every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of god. if any man speak, let him speak as the words of god. if any man minister, let it be as from the power which god administereth: that in all things god may be honored through jesus christ our lord. gospel. _st. john xv._ -xvi. . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: when the paraclete shall come whom i will send you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the father, he shall give testimony of me. and you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning. these things have i spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. they will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth a service to god. and these things will they do to you, because they have not known the father, nor me. but these things i have told you, that when the hour of them shall come, you may remember that i told you. ------------------- { } sermon lxxvi. after a mission. there is nothing, my dear brethren, which can give more joy and consolation both to pastor and people than a mission such as that which was closed last sunday. thank god, there were many who had been living previously in sin, but who really turned from it then with their whole hearts, and who now have a happiness in those hearts to which they had long before been strangers. this happiness ought to last all their lives. god means that it should; they can make it do so if they will. but how will it be in fact; how is it too often, after such times of grace and fervor? we have had missions before, which really seemed as if they marked a new era in the history of our parish; but we look for their fruits now and find them only few and far between. too many of those who made them went back a month or so afterward to the old ways of sin. what was the reason that they did not persevere? why was it that they had the same sad story to tell when they came back this time that they had a few years ago? was it that they never expected it to be otherwise? perhaps so. some christians--shame to say it--seem to think that mortal sin cannot be avoided. such do not really try to avoid it; how can they? how can any one seriously attempt what he believes to be impossible? no wonder that such as these fell; the question is if indeed they ever arose. { } for how could they have made the purpose of amendment which a good confession requires? let them understand, at least now, that it is possible to abandon mortal sin at once and for ever. but was it, perhaps, that they thought they could keep the grace they had got by their own unaided strength; that they could fight the devil single-handed, or even that he would never trouble them much again? ah! my brethren, if any of you thought that he made a terrible mistake. satan does not give up the souls which he has once possessed so easily. he knows the advantage which all habits of sin give him, and he is going to make the most of them. he will surely attack you, and you are weak, while he is strong. if you undertake to fight him alone, you will go to the wall. you cannot conquer him unless god helps you. but, after all, there are not many catholics who do not know that it needs god's help to persevere. oh! yes; almost every one will say, when asked after confession if he is going to avoid sin for the future, that he will, "with the help of god." well, then, what is the matter? if we know that we are in danger, and that we can escape from it, but only by god's help, why does not that help come and save us? i will tell you why it does not. and to do so i have only to turn to the first words of to-day's mass: "he shall call on me, and i will hear him; i will deliver him and glorify him." that is the whole story. if we want god to deliver us, we must ask him to do it. in other words, if we wish to persevere, we must pray. if we do not go to god to get the strength which we need, we must be without it. { } the sinner who repents, and does not pray often and fervently afterward to keep the grace he has, being especially careful of his morning prayers; who does not, above all, make often the best of all prayers--that of again coming to the sacraments--is a fool, and the devil's laughing-stock. the great majority of those who have been leading a bad life, and who abandon it at a mission, or at any other time, will not persevere unless they are willing to take the trouble to make frequent and earnest prayers, and to come to confession again within a month. that is simple fact; it is the teaching of experience, not mere guess-work. are you, my friends, willing to take that trouble for your soul's sake, or do you prefer to fall as you have fallen before? ------------------- sermon lxxvii. bearing witness for our lord. _and you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning._ --st. john xv. . it might be asked, dear brethren, what need god has of _our_ testimony, or why the creature should act the part of witness for the creator? certainly jesus christ needed not the testimony of men, but in his infinite goodness and wisdom he has seen fit to commit to each one of us a sublime and holy mission, none other than that of giving testimony of him before the world, for the sake of our fellow-man. { } "you are," says st. peter, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, that you may declare the virtues of him who hath called you out of darkness." this, then, is our mission, to be witnesses for jesus christ; and to-day we are going to consider how we are fulfilling it. you know, brethren, with what a keen sense of criticism the world examines the testimony of those witnessing in behalf of others, and how it values their testimony in proportion to their uprightness and integrity. well, so it is with regard to us and the testimony we are called upon to give of our blessed lord. we christians are all on the witness-stand of this great world. to-day the unbelieving world is passing judgment upon our testimony, deciding whether it be for or against jesus christ; but, brethren, there will come a day when christ himself will sit in judgment upon this same testimony and reward us accordingly. since, then, this our mission is so important, brethren, how are we to fulfil it? it seems to me in no better way than by leading truly christian lives, and thus forcing the world to acknowledge that we are animated by the spirit of god. the early christians brought the light of faith to thousands, not by preaching, but by the holiness of their lives; and so, when the pagans and infidels came in contact with them, they were forced to admire and exclaim, "behold how these christians love one another!" would to god that the life and conduct of every christian to-day could force a similar confession from the unbelievers of our time. { } indeed, brethren, all christians of our day have a great mission to fulfil in this regard; but _we_ especially, for the reason given by our lord himself--"because you are with me from the beginning." you, beloved brethren, who have had the faith from the beginning--from your earliest childhood--have a special reason why your testimony for jesus christ should never be failing. has it ever been so? have your virtuous lives and edifying example brought home the truths and beauties of the catholic faith to those outside the church? i fear, brethren, the conduct of bad and negligent catholics has kept back many from inquiring into the true faith. such catholics, wearing the livery of satan, have given false testimony of god, and will have to render an account for it. we can all of us, brethren, give testimony of jesus christ by every action of our lives. parents can and should render this testimony by the good example they give their families, and the christian solicitude they have for their spiritual welfare. young men and women should give this testimony by the profession and practice of god's law and the church's precepts. let the consideration, dear brethren, of this our high mission, our being called to give testimony of god, be the means of animating us to renewed fervor in the service of jesus christ. ------------------- sermon lxxviii. the indwelling of the holy spirit. _watch in prayers._ -- st. peter iv. . { } to-day is the sunday of expectation, and it brings to our minds that upper chamber in jerusalem, where the little band of the chosen disciples of the lord were gathered together waiting for the coming of the holy ghost. there were the eleven apostles and the faithful women, and mary, the mother of jesus, and his brethren. "all these," says the sacred chronicler, "were persevering with one mind in prayer." hence the epistle of to-day urges us to imitate them, and begins with the exhortation: "dearly beloved, watch in prayers." we too must watch and wait for the coming of the holy ghost. he has, indeed, already come into our souls in holy baptism, cleansing them from original sin and making them his temples. he has come again in confirmation, with all the fulness of his sevenfold gifts, to make us strong and perfect christians and soldiers of christ. yet he comes to us continually every day, knocking at the door of our hearts and begging for admittance. every impulse of what is known as actual grace is from the holy ghost, and such graces we are receiving all the time, every hour of the day. we must therefore prepare ourselves for his coming, and when he has entered into our souls we must strive to keep him there. the holy ghost is the life of our souls. it is his constant presence and indwelling which is the state of grace which makes us pleasing to god. to obtain and to preserve this abiding presence of the holy ghost we must imitate the apostles in their watchfulness and prayer. we must watch lest the time of temptation should find us unprepared and off our guard; we must pray that the holy ghost may come into our hearts, bringing with him ever richer treasures of divine grace; that he may take possession of our souls and make them all his own; that he may guide our minds, and with the fire of his love inflame our hearts to do his holy will in all things. { } but we must first of all prepare for the holy ghost by cleansing our souls from sin. where sin reigns the holy ghost can never dwell. the apostles prepared for his corning by penance. to that upper chamber in jerusalem came st. peter, who had denied his lord, st. thomas, who had doubted his resurrection, and the others who had wavered in their faith, and, in the time of trial, had forsaken their master and fled. but now they had been convinced of their error, and they came together with sorrow for their past unfaithfulness, and a full determination to lay down their lives, if need be, for him who had died for them. this is the spirit in which we should prepare for the holy ghost. if your hearts are defiled with mortal sin, delay not the time of penance. the holy ghost is ready to descend upon you. he only waits for you to do your part. make ready, then, a place in your heart, that he may enter in and dwell there. "o my dearly beloved brethren!" exclaims st. gregory the great, "think what a dignity it is to have god abiding as a guest in our heart! surely, if some rich man or some powerful friend were to come into our house, we would hasten to have our whole house cleaned, lest, perchance, when he came in he should see anything to displease his eye. so let him that would make his mind an abode for god cleanse it from all the filth of works of iniquity." { } "and they were persevering with one mind in prayer." our prayer must be persevering if we would gain that which we desire. this is what our lord meant when he said that we ought always to pray and not to faint. unless we persevere in prayer we shall without doubt faint by the way in the journey of life. and let us do as the apostles did, join our prayers to those of mary, the mother of jesus, and we shall have a sure hope of obtaining what is most needful for us. then, as the holy ghost once descended upon her, and wrought within her the incarnation, so also will he come into our hearts, and make them the abode of the holy trinity. then, if we listen to his blessed voice within us, we shall grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour jesus christ, for the holy ghost will teach us all things, according to the promise. ------------------- { } _feast of pentecost, or whit-sunday._ epistle. _acts ii. _ - . when the days of the pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in the same place: and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. and there appeared to them cloven tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them, and they were all filled with the holy ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the holy ghost gave them to speak. now there were dwelling at jerusalem jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. and when this voice was made, the multitude came together, and were confounded in mind, because that every one heard them speak in his own tongue. and they were all amazed and wondered, saying: behold, are not all these who speak galileans? and how have we every one heard our own tongue wherein we were born? parthians, and medes, and elamites, and inhabitants of mesopotamia, judea and cappadocia, pontus and asia, phrygia and pamphilia, egypt and the parts of lybia about cyrene, and strangers of rome, jews also, and proselytes, cretes and arabians; we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of god. gospel. _st. john xiv._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: if any one love me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. he that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. and the word which you have heard is not mine, but the father's who sent me. { } these things have i spoken to you, remaining with you. but the paraclete, the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever i shall have said to you. peace i leave with you; my peace i give to you: not as the world giveth do i give to you. let not your hearts be troubled, nor let it be afraid. you have heard that i have said to you: i go away, and i come again to you. if you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because i go to the father: for the father is greater than i. and now i have told you before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. now i will not speak many things with you. for the prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything. but that the world may know that i love the father: and as the father hath given me commandment, so i do. ------------------- sermon lxxix. the holy ghost in the church. _the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever i shall have said to you. _ --gospel of the day. on the day which we now commemorate, my brethren, the holy ghost came down, as you know, on the little company of christians assembled in the upper room at jerusalem, to prepare them for the great combat in which they were about to engage against the devil for the conquest of the world. he came down upon them to make of them the church of god; to establish them in the truth, and to bring to their remembrance, as our lord had promised, the faith which they had received from his lips. { } he came to give them not only the knowledge but also the courage and strength which would be necessary for them to persevere, to resist and overcome all the attacks of the enemy, and to weather all the storms which heresy, infidelity, and worldliness were about to raise against the one true faith. and he was to come, and has come, not only on them, but on those who have followed them as well, and for the same purpose. we have received him, and he abides in the catholic church to-day as he did in the times of the apostles. the holy ghost is the life of the church; it is his presence which distinguishes her from the human institutions which have appeared in the world with her and have one by one sprung up and passed away. it is his abiding with her that makes her life perpetual, ever the same and ever new. but how is the holy ghost in the catholic church? how is it that he is her life, and that he keeps now, as of old, in the one true body which all who will but clear the mists of prejudice from before their eyes can see is the one which christ promised to form, and to which all his promises were made? in the first place, the holy ghost is in the catholic church by the gift bestowed on the successors of the apostles in the apostolic see, of infallibility in teaching the faith. in this way the truth is sure to be kept in the world; it cannot fail to be taught, while the vicar of christ remains to teach it. but it is not only in the holy see that the spirit of god abides. the bishops throughout the world also teach the faith by his help and guidance; and this help is also given to the clergy who assist them. { } nor does the work of the holy ghost stop here; he is also with the body of the faithful, enabling them also to recognize the truth when they hear it, and to distinguish it from error. "you have the unction from the holy one, and know all things," says st. john; "i have not written to you as to them that know not the truth, but as to them that know it." yes, the holy ghost is throughout the church; he is her life, and is not only in her head, but also in her members. were he not in the members, though the pope indeed should remain to teach the truth, the faithful would not have remained faithful or attentive to the truth which he would teach. what a blessing, then, my brethren, is this light of the holy ghost, which is given in its measure to each one of us; which keeps us in the one fold, and which makes us, out of many, one body in christ; which brings his words always to our minds, and which preserves us from the ever-changing doubt and confusion which is the lot of those who arc separated from the one true church in which he dwells! let us, then, preserve this unspeakable gift; let us not quench the spirit of god within us. and how is it quenched? how do we lose the light of faith which he gives? by sin, and never except by sin. though instruction be indeed good and salutary, it is not the simple and the unlearned who lose the faith, but such as give ear to their passions, specially those of pride and impurity. all the heresies which have torn multitudes from the church of christ have had their roots not so much in ignorance as in sin. "keep yourselves," then, my brethren, as st. john warns you, "from idols"; this is the only sure way to keep in yourselves the light of god. ------------------- { } sermon lxxx. the guidance of the holy spirit. _if any one love me he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him; he that loveth me not, keepeth not my word._ --gospel of the day. to-day, dear brethren, the church sends up her voice of praise for the coming of the holy spirit. on this day the holy ghost, the personal love of the father and the son, came upon the disciples in that upper chamber in jerusalem, where they were gathered together in prayer awaiting the promise of the father. he came upon weak and timid men, but when he had poured himself upon them behold we have the great apostles, the teachers of the divine word, the fearless and untiring searchers after souls, the founders of the church. ah! what a change had been wrought in these timid followers of jesus, who had fled from him in the hour of his need, and who, after his resurrection, lay hid with barred doors for fear of the jews! their fear and their weakness have disappeared, and the whole world is not large enough for the exercise of their zeal, nor less than the conversion of all nations the end of their noble ambition. { } but, dear brethren, the self-same holy ghost, who brought about this change in the apostles, comes to us, nay, abides in us, if we fulfil the condition our lord lays down--namely, that we love him. and he makes the test of our love the keeping of his word. if we love him the father will love us, and the father and the son will come to us and make their abode with us through the indwelling of the holy spirit. the holy spirit is our sanctifier. it is he to whom are ascribed the works of love. he dispenses the graces which the merits of jesus christ have won for us. he purifies from sin and unites our souls to god. he dwells in every one who is free from grievous sin, and by his light and strength he gives us help to overcome the temptations which assail us. he is the spirit of joy and sweetness, filling us with the fear of god, urging us on in the love of god, guarding us from the loss of god's friendship by the winning sweetness of his consolations. how greatly, then, should we love and adore the holy ghost, the third person of the blessed trinity! we should often call upon him and pray to him. we do not invoke the holy ghost enough. we pray to the father and to the son, and so indirectly honor god, the holy spirit; but we should pray more frequently to him directly. we should call upon him to give us, if we have it not, the grace of god, and to increase in us the fire of divine love that we may realize in ourselves the promise of the abiding of god in us by keeping his laws. what folly it is for us to imagine that god can have a dwelling-place in our sin-stained soul! how can the holy spirit find pleasure in one who by mortal sin has made himself god's enemy; who has been guilty of a deliberate act of rebellion against his maker and been unfaithful to or left unheeded his own sweet drawing? { } alas for us, if this pentecost finds us in this awful state! alas! if the voice of our conscience has been silenced; this day then brings no joy to us! the holy spirit has no abiding-place within our souls. we have not loved the son because we have not kept his words: "he that loveth me not keepeth not my words." and because we have not loved him the father and he will not come to us. the loving holy ghost is not master in our house; we have driven him out who was our best friend and thrown open the gate to our enemy. will you remain thus, you who are in sin? let not this day go by and to-morrow find you unrepentant. grieve for your past offences, keep the law of god, and you shall have the fulness of the holy spirit. ------------------- sermon lxxxi. the easter duty. in this great feast and its octave, my dear brethren, we commemorate the last of all the wonderful events which brought the christian religion into the world. to-day our divine saviour, having ascended into heaven, fulfilled his promise in the descent of the holy ghost upon his apostles; to-day the catholic church was fully established, and given power to convert the world; to-day the order of things was begun which is to last to the end of time. and with this octave closes, therefore, that especially holy part or season of the year which centres round the resurrection of our lord, and which has, for most obvious reasons, been appointed as the time in which every christian is bound, under pain of mortal sin, to receive holy communion, or make, as we say, his easter duty. { } only one more week remains in which to attend to this most important of all the obligations of a catholic, to fulfil this greatest precept of the positive christian law. now, what is exactly this precept of the easter duty? strange to say, you will often find people who do not seem to have any clear idea about it at all, in spite of all that is said about it from the altar and in common catechisms and books of instruction. and yet it is very simple. it is just this: every catholic of sufficient age to receive communion is bound to receive it on some day between the first sunday of lent and trinity sunday--that is, a week from to-day--inclusive; and it is very difficult for any one to have any excuse from complying with this law. the easter duty, then, is not merely an obligation to receive once a year. a person may receive a hundred times in the year, and yet not make his easter duty; just as one may hear mass every day in the week, and yet not fulfil the precept of hearing mass if he stays away on sunday. now this seems quite easy to understand; but there are people, and plenty of them, too, who will make a mission shortly before lent, and then say at this time: "oh! i went to communion not very long ago; there is no need to go so soon again." they might as well say on sunday, if they had heard mass on saturday: "i need not go to church to-day; it was only yesterday that i was there." the law of hearing mass is not to hear it once a week, but to hear it on sundays and holydays of obligation; so the law of communion is not to receive once or twice a year, but to receive at the time appointed. no other time will do. { } but some may say: "i have not committed any mortal sin since my last confession; i am just as good as these people who are running to church all the time." very good, perhaps you are; though it may be that almighty god does not have so high an opinion of you as you seem to have of yourself. but it is not the question whether you are good or not; the law is not to confess mortal sin at easter; far from it, one ought to have no mortal sin to confess, then or at any other time. no, the law is to go to communion. one should get leave to do so, of course; but if you have no sin on your conscience, what is easier than to say so to the priest? you ought to be glad to be able to say it. do not, then, make the foolish excuse either that you have been to communion at christmas or there about, or that you have nothing to confess now. come this week; if you put your communion off one day beyond next sunday you are guilty of breaking this law. if you are in mortal sin, get out of it by making a good confession and communion; if you are not, do not fall into it by refusing to obey this most peremptory and most urgent command. any one who has not received since lent began, and refuses to do so on or before next sunday, may, indeed, call himself a catholic, but is not worthy of the name. ------------------- { } _trinity sunday._ epistle. _romans xi._ - . o the depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of god! how incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! for who hath known the mind of the lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made to him? for of him, and by him, and in him, are all things. to him be glory for ever. amen. gospel. _st. matthew, xxviii._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: all power is given to me in heaven and on earth. go ye, therefore, and teach all nations: baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you; and behold i am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. last gospel. _st. luke vi._ - . at that time, jesus said to his disciples: be ye merciful, as your father also is merciful. judge not, and you shall not be judged. condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. forgive, and you shall be forgiven. give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down, and shaken together and running over, shall they give into your bosom. for with the same measure that you shall measure it shall be measured to you again. and he spoke also to them a similitude: can the blind lead the blind? do they not both fall into the ditch? the disciple is not above his master; but every one shall be perfect, if he be as his master. { } and why seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest not? or how canst thou say to thy brother, brother, let me pull the mote out of thy eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? thou hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye. ------------------- sermon lxxxii. the divine majesty. _for of him, and by him, and in him are all things; to him be glory for ever and ever. amen._ --epistle of the day. to-day, my dear brethren, the church, having completed the round of feasts and fasts which she began on christmas, having brought to our remembrance our lord's birth, his holy childhood, his ministry on earth, his passion and death, his glorious resurrection and ascension, and the coming of the holy ghost as he had promised, finally brings us into the presence of the being by whom all these wonderful works have been accomplished, and who is the sole object of our adoration, the ever blessed trinity, the three divine persons, the one god. she bids us contemplate, so far as it is possible for us, the great and ineffable mystery into the faith of which we have been baptized, and to join with the angels and saints in the canticles of heaven, "holy, holy, holy, lord god almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come." { } "of him, and by him, and in him are all things," says the apostle, reminding us of this highest of all the teachings of the christian faith. of the father is the son, and by the son is the holy ghost, who proceeds from the father and the son, and in whom is their life and mutual love. the distinction of the divine persons is thus intimated to us; but the divine nature is only one; of, by, and in that one are we and all things created. we and all the world around us are of god; not part of him, nor born of him according to nature, nor proceeding from his substance, but still of him in that we owe our being entirely to him, who drew us from nothing by his almighty power. nothing could ever have existed outside of god himself except through the wonderful, incomprehensible act of creation. from nothing, nothing of itself could come; all things are from and of god, who created them from nothing. by his almighty power, then, we have been created, and by it now we are sustained. we could not live for a moment except by his continual support. it is only by his aid that we can draw a single breath, walk a single step, or perform the simplest act. the winds and the waters, and all the powers of nature, as we call them, are his powers, too, which he lends to us, and makes subservient to our use. and in him we live and move and are. he is nearer to us than we to ourselves. it is not only that he makes us live; it is his life by which we live; our life comes from and belongs to his eternal life. the life of god the father, son, and holy ghost is in himself; ours is in him. { } to him, then, the one and only true god, "be glory," as the apostle says, "for ever and ever." how often we say these words, "glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy ghost," and how little do we think of what they mean! if all that we are and have is from god, by him and in him, how can we set ourselves apart from him, or claim anything for ourselves against him? how can we glory in ourselves, or desire glory from others, when all glory, praise, and honor belong of necessity to him from whom, by whom, and in whom all things are? for this is what it means when we say, "glory be to god." not some glory or praise or recognition of his greatness from us, as a sort of tax or tribute which we must pay to keep the rest for ourselves. no, when we have given glory to god as we should, there will be nothing left for us to keep. this is the perfection of the creature, to prostrate itself at the foot of its creator's throne, and to cast all the crowns it has received before him that sitteth thereon, and to say with the angels and saints in heaven, "thou art worthy, o lord our god, to receive glory and honor and power, because thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were and have been created." ------------------- sermon lxxxiii. the mystery of the holy trinity. _go ye, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost._ --st. matthew, xxviii. . { } it was the faith in the most holy trinity that the apostles were sent forth to teach throughout all the world to every creature. it is into this faith that every christian is baptized by the invocation of the thrice-holy name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and because of this baptism he is bound to persevere all his life long in that steadfast faith in the holy trinity for which the church to-day teaches us to pray. think it not strange that this doctrine should be so deep a mystery. we are surrounded on all sides by mysteries. there is scarcely a department of knowledge into which we can turn our minds where we are not met by things which we cannot understand. there is, therefore, nothing wonderful in the fact that god is the greatest mystery of all. we cannot solve the mysteries of nature and of life as we see them before us. how, then, can we expect to comprehend the nature and the inner life of god? it is not for us, with our poor, feeble minds, to ask the how or the why, but simply to bow down in humble adoration before the truth of god as he has revealed himself to us. faith would not be the virtue that it is if everything were perfectly plain to us. the chief merit of faith is in accepting on god's authority that which is beyond our own reason. his revelation of himself to us is only partial. the full light that we are capable of receiving will not come until we are before his throne, and see him face to face, for it is only when that which is perfect shall come that that which is in part shall be done away. for now we see, as it were, through a glass, in an obscure manner, now we know but in part, but then we shall know even as we are known. meanwhile our time of trial remains, and we must submit our minds as well as our hearts and wills to god. { } but he has not given us this partial revelation of himself in order to perplex and worry us. he has told us all that is good and needful for us to know in our present state. we should not, therefore, fix our minds upon that which he has chosen to hide from us, but upon that which he actually has revealed to us, and we shall find in this more than enough for our love and devotion. each person of the blessed trinity has some special relation to us, and there are, therefore, special acts of love and adoration which we can pay to each. he has revealed himself to us as the father, not only as the father of the eternal son, but as our father as well; our father, because he has adopted us as his children. nothing that we know on earth of a father's love can compare with the tenderness with which the eternal father regards his children. we, therefore, must become as little children towards him, looking up to him with love, with reverence, with simple trust, striving to fulfil his holy will in perfect obedience, knowing that he wills only our good, here and hereafter. god the son has revealed himself to us as our saviour and redeemer, and because we are through him the children of god, as our elder brother, sharing in our human nature, having been tempted like us, and having suffered far more for our sake than we shall ever be called upon to suffer for him. hence in all our trials, in all our temptations, in all our sufferings, we have his example to cheer us, knowing that we are but treading the steps that he trod and bearing our cross after him. his precious blood is still flowing through the sacraments to cleanse us from our sins, his grace is ever ready to help us in the hour of need. { } and god the holy ghost is revealed to us and given to us as the life of our souls, our helper, our comforter, our sanctifier, stirring up the flame of divine love in our hearts, urging us to good deeds, and giving us the strength to perform them. we, on our part, must listen to his voice and follow his guidance, that so we may abide in the love of the father and of the son. thus is the blessed trinity revealed to us, as father, son, and holy ghost. let us not question, but praise, adore, and love. ------------------- sermon lxxxiv. the divine judgment. _and jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: "all power is given to me in heaven and in earth." _ --matthew, xxviii. . when these words were uttered by our lord he had risen from the dead. on this occasion he had with him only the eleven apostles, whom he had instructed to meet him by appointment at this time and in this place--a mountain in galilee. a few words they are, but full of meaning. the apostles saw our lord in the flesh again; they heard his own human lips utter this truth: that all power is his in heaven and in earth. { } how did they understand him? they understood that the man they saw, the human being who then stood before them, was endued with all power that god would exercise in heaven and in earth; that to rule this vast universe was his right; that to sit on the throne of heaven, to be worshipped and adored as god by every creature, to shape the destiny of this world, of its many nations, of its many families, of every single soul born and to be born in it; to open and shut the gates of hell at his own will, to judge all without exception, each separately at the moment after death, and all together in the great judgment day of god, is his right and office as the man, because he is man in god and god in man; the man selected to be the one through whom the divine nature manifests himself in all the fulness of the godhead in human nature. but what, therefore, is the first thought that must enter our hearts? it is necessarily this: how will that man receive us when we are called into his presence, one by one, as we leave this world? how will that countenance look to us at that moment? how will those ears listen to our reports of our own lives? how will those lips speak to us in that dread moment? but why do we ask ourselves these questions? because we know that we are to meet that man in god, face to face, to give an exact account of all of our deeds in the body, and that he is the one to praise or blame us, reward or condemn us, receive us into eternal blessedness or cast us out into eternal, never-ending darkness, and deliver us over to the rule of those who shall be our masters in hell. can we tell what the result will be? yes; and to a certainty! if our lives have been good, or if we die in his friendship, the man christ jesus will give us a blessed and glorious welcome; but if our lives have been wicked, that man will reject us for ever. he will not have us anywhere near him. he will not endure our presence a single moment, nor permit us to speak in his presence, nor ever again to mention his holy name, but will cast us into that region of creation where holy names are not permitted to be uttered. { } do we truly hope that this sad fate will not be ours? then we are truly good, leading good lives, are faithful to our duties as good catholics. if we truly hope for his approval we can judge ourselves now and know we shall receive it. how is this? if each one can say to-day, the last of the easter-time, i have obeyed the commands of the church and made my easter duty, then each soul is free from mortal sin and knows the judgment of our lord will be in his favor. let any such soul die at any moment now and the mercy of god is surely his, for he is now in the friendship of god, his soul is restored to its heavenly state, and every soul in this state is so acceptable to our lord that he can not condemn it, but must welcome it to the society of those who are saved for ever. o unfaithful, negligent catholic! whose life heretofore has been a dishonor to god, a shame to your family, a scandal to your neighbor, and a disgrace to the church of jesus christ, have you turned from your sins and made your peace with god this easter-time? have you washed your past life clean from sin by this easter duty? then you, too, _know_ you will receive the welcome of our lord, the man christ jesus, your king and your god. otherwise you are still his enemy, and have a right only to his eternal wrath. how can you sleep a moment or be at rest a single instant longer while knowing you are condemned already, because you have not made your easter duty? ------------------- { } _second sunday after pentecost._ and sunday within the octave of corpus christi. epistle. _st. john iii._ - . dearly beloved: wonder not if the world hate you. we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. he that loveth not, abideth in death. whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer. and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself. in this we have known the charity of god, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. he that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of god abide in him? my little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth. gospel. _st. luke xiv._ - . at that time jesus spoke to the pharisees this parable: a certain man made a great supper, and invited many. and he sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were invited that they should come, for now all things are ready. and they began all at once to make excuse. the first said to him: i have bought a farm, and i must needs go out and see it; i pray thee, have me excused. and another said: i have bought five yoke of oxen, and i go to try them; i pray thee, have me excused. and another said: i have married a wife, and therefore i cannot come. and the servant returning, told these things to his lord. then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant: go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and the feeble, and the blind and the lame. { } and the servant said: lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. and the lord said to the servant: go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house maybe filled. but i say unto you that none of those men that were called shall taste my supper. ------------------- sermon lxxxv. holy communion. _a certain man made a great supper and invited many._ --st. luke xiv. . i suppose every catholic here to-day, except some young children, has once or many times in his life been to the "great supper," and eaten the "bread of life" which is served at it; and those little ones of the lord's holy catholic family are looking forward to the bright day, to be for ever afterwards the day of sweetest memory, when they too shall have that honor and happiness--the day of their first communion. if such be the case, what is the use of the church repeating to us every year the threat in the gospel against those who made foolish and selfish excuses for staying away--"none of those men that were called shall taste of my supper"? we have been called. we have answered the invitation. we have been to the supper. isn't that enough? the gospel evidently does not apply to us. but wait a bit. i have two things for you to think about. in the first place, the calling to the great supper the gospel speaks about is a standing invitation for life. by this i mean that the law of the catholic church obliges every one to receive holy communion annually--that is, during the easter season. { } it is then, first of all, an _annual_ invitation; and going one year is not answering the call for the next year. every one who has learned his catechism ought to know that. in the second place, what would you think of a near relative whom you had invited to be present at your marriage anniversary dinner, who should send for reply that he had already dined with you on the fourth of july? this is like what people say who, when asked if they made their easter duty, tell you, "oh! no, i went at christmas," or "i was at the mission." now the _annual_ marriage supper which the king makes for his son, and to which we are invited, is at easter, and neither christmas, mission time, the forty hours, nor the fourth of july will do, unless, indeed, the mission or the forty hours took place in the paschal season. the second thing i want you to think about is that the invitation to partake of the "great supper" of holy communion, whether at easter or at any other time, is a call to make what is known as a _worthy_ communion; that is, you must be absolved from sin and thus be yourself worthy. that is requisite, and that is enough. there are some scrupulous people who fancy that they themselves have got to do beforehand all that the communion is intended to do and will do. who is it that prepares the supper, they or the lord? if they will do the little that is asked of them, they can safely leave to the lord the responsibility of doing his part. a _worthy_ communion should also be one that is worth something to the one receiving it, and should not be a worthless exterior performance, which has no interior act of communion in the heart to correspond to it. { } and now this kind of worth of each and every communion depends upon what the communicant chooses to make it. all is to be had that god can give. the means of getting the good from communion is one and the same means for getting the good in receiving other sacraments--that is, prayer. prayer beforehand, prayer daring it, prayer afterwards. the more you want and the more you ask of, the more worth will your communion be. suppose our lord should suddenly quit the sacramental form of the host and ask a communicant at the altar-rail, "what do you wish for?" and he should answer, "i don't know; i never thought of asking for anything," you would reasonably conclude that he was not likely to receive very much. now, i hope you who often come to the holy table are paying attention to this. if you come often, it is supposed, and justly supposed, that you want a good deal, and that you are deeply in earnest about obtaining what you desire. much as, i am sure, your communions are worth to you, i wish you would set about making them worth still more. in a word, you must think more about what you need. get your requests ready. have them, as it were, well by heart, so that if the lord should ask you what you came for, your reply would come out quick and earnest enough. of all privileges and honors, in this world, receiving holy communion is, indeed, something for us catholics to boast of. how the "outsiders" envy us our faith and the comfort it brings to us!--the infidels of every name and kind, the protestants and others, who either have no communion, or at best a sham one. { } how would you like to have yourself thrust aside and one of them called by the lord to take your place at his table? beware, then, how you treat his invitation; come as often and be as well prepared as the spirit of divine love shall inspire you. ------------------- sermon lxxxvi. the sacred heart of jesus. the month of june has, as you know, my brethren, been set apart by general consent for devotion to the sacred heart of jesus, as that of may has in the same way been devoted to our blessed lady; and on next friday, the day following the octave of corpus christi, the church solemnly celebrates the feast of the sacred heart. this feast, formerly observed only in some places, has for about thirty years been kept everywhere. as the devotion to the sacred heart has of late spread so widely in the church, and is so plainly pleasing to god and most salutary to us, it is well that we should understand it clearly, that we may enter into it more fully. in the first place, then, we will ask, what is the nature of the worship which we render to the sacred heart of jesus? and, secondly, why is it specially selected as the object of our devotion? what, then, is the nature of our worship of the sacred heart? it is, of course, the same as that which we pay to our lord himself--that is, the worship which is due to him as god the son, the second person of the blessed trinity. { } his human nature, united to the divine nature in one person, is truly worthy of divine worship and honor. god, having become man, his human heart is the heart of god, and must be adored as such. let us, then, remember this: the devotion to the sacred heart is one that is given to god himself, just as that is which we have for the blessed sacrament in which he resides on our altars. but why do we select the heart of our lord, or rather why has he himself selected it, as a special object of our adoration? i say, why has he himself selected it? for this devotion to the sacred heart in modern times is due specially to a revelation made by our lord to the blessed margaret mary, a nun of the visitation, two centuries ago. in answer to this question we may say that our lord's heart is the fountain of his precious blood, which was shed for our salvation, and was pierced by the lance, like his hands and feet by the nails, on the cross; and it is in this way specially pointed out as the object of our gratitude and love. but even a more urgent reason is that the heart is a natural symbol of love, agreed on by universal consent at all times and in all parts of the world, and therefore that the heart of jesus most perfectly represents his love for us. in adoring the sacred heart, then, we adore in a particular manner the love of christ for sinners; and it is for this reason that he has given us this devotion, knowing that it is only by the thought of the love of his heart for us that our hearts can be won to the love of him. { } yes, my brethren, god wishes our love; it was to obtain it that he became one of us and died for us on the cross; and it is to win it now that he asks us to remember and to adore his sacred heart. "let us therefore," says st. john, "love god, because god first hath loved us." this is the spirit of this devotion: that we should not try to save our souls merely for the fear of hell, but that, seeing how much god has loved us, we should love him in return. and also that, seeing how much he has loved our brethren, the same fire of divine charity may be kindled in our hearts, and thus each one of us may do our share to carry on and to complete the work for which he shed his precious blood: the bringing of the world to the knowledge and love of him. ------------------- sermon lxxxvii. ingratitude. _a certain man made a great supper, and invited many. ... and they began all at once to make excuse._ --gospel of the day. you know, my dear brethren, the parable given by our divine lord in the gospel of to-day. the principal point of it is in the words which you have just heard. the guests who were invited to the supper, instead of feeling honored by the invitation and accepting it gladly, began to make one excuse or another; one had his farm, one his oxen, and another had just married a wife. none of these reasons would have prevented them from coming to the supper had they really wished to; they were mere flimsy pretexts put forward to hide their indifference to their host and to all that he had to offer them. { } you know this parable, and i think you also know well its meaning. as our saviour uttered it the coldness and ingratitude of those whom he had come to save rose up before him, giving him a foretaste of the agony which was afterward to overwhelm and crush him in the garden of gethsemani. his heart, burning with love for men, longed and thirsted for love in return; it was all he asked; could he but have had that all the pains of his sorrowful life and terrible death would have been as nothing. but no; he foresaw that, after all, those to whom he stretched out his arms on the cross in loving invitation would, for the most part, turn a deaf ear to his appeal; would give him at the best but a reluctant and half-hearted service; would keep as much as possible for themselves, and give as little as possible to him. and, in particular, he foresaw that the crowning gift which he had in store for his rebellious and ungrateful children--his own body and blood, which he was to leave them in the blessed sacrament of the altar, and in which he was to remain with them even after his work was done and the time come for him to return to his father--would be rejected by the greater part even of christians with the same indifference with which his other sacrifices were to be met. he saw himself in our churches, unwelcomed and almost unknown by the most of those whom he loved to call his friends. he saw that, though for a time in the first fervors of faith, when the sword of persecution drove those to his side who were not overcome by it, he would, as he desired, indeed be the daily bread of his people, yet there would come a day when that faith would be dimmed, and the love which sprang from it would grow cold. he knew that an age would come when--shame to say it--his church would have to force her children by strict laws and threats of excommunication to receive him in the sacrament of his love even once a year. { } and he knew that, in spite of all this urging, many still would excuse themselves from the divine banquet, offered so freely to, nay, almost forced upon, them; that millions every year would miss their easter duty; would either turn from the bread of life to the food of swine by deliberate choice, or at least would, on some frivolous pretext, put off the time of their reconciliation till the last day appointed for it had gone by. alas! my dear brethren, children of this god and father who has done so much for us, i fear that some even of you who hear my words have once more thus grieved his heart and despised his love. in all this long time of lent and easter which, has just gone by you have missed the duty to which the most sacred and solemn of all the laws of the church has called you. but still our lord has not yet treated you as you have treated him. he has not yet said to you, as the host said in the parable: "none of you that were invited shall taste of my supper." no; once more, in this great festival of corpus christi, he makes yet another appeal to you, to put aside your excuses, and to come to him with all your heart and soul. do not, i beseech you, continue to insult and despise him who thus humbles himself before you, and still tries to remind you of his goodness and mercy. come to him without delay, and make amends for your past neglect; all will be forgiven and forgotten. but remember, if tempted to reject him once more, and to postpone your return, that even his infinite mercy will at last have to yield to his justice; that his loving spirit cannot strive with you for ever. ------------------- { } _third sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _st. peter v._ - . dearly beloved: be you humbled under the mighty hand of god, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation. casting all your solicitude upon him, for he hath care of you. be sober and watch; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalleth your brethren who are in the world. but the god of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in christ jesus, when you have suffered a little, will himself perfect, and confirm, and establish you. to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. amen. gospel. _st. luke xv._ - . at that time: the publicans and sinners drew near unto jesus to hear him. and the pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying: this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. and he spoke to them this parable, saying: what man among you that hath a hundred sheep: and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost until he find it? and when he hath found it, doth he not lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing: and coming home call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: rejoice with me, because i have found my sheep that was lost. i say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. or what woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? and when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbors, saying: rejoice with me, because i have found the groat which i had lost. so i say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of god upon one sinner doing penance. ------------------- { } sermon lxxxviii. sinful amusements. _be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour._ --epistle of the day. i need not tell you, dear brethren, that there is nothing more contrary to the spirit of our holy religion than melancholy. the church would not have her children long-faced and mopish, eschewing all pleasure as a thing sinful; nor would she have them unhappy by depriving them of what is good and forbidding what is innocent, but like a wise mother she permits, nay, sanctions, harmless amusements, knowing that this, far from being an impediment to us in our efforts after holiness, is rather a help. but, unfortunately, all pleasures are not innocent. there are some which are sinful--very sinful--and which, instead of aiding us by begetting a holy gladness, fill us with remorse and rob the soul of the grace of god, which is the principle of all our joy. such pleasures as these the church forbids; such as these she would have us avoid, and she warns us that they come not from god, but from our adversary the devil, who is seeking our ruin. it is with regret that we say it, still we say it with truth, that of late years a very dangerous sort of amusement has taken more or less hold upon numbers of our young people, and, now that we are at the beginning of summer, it may not be amiss to say a word or two about a certain sort of "picnics." { } it is hard to conceive how a young man or woman, who wishes to be deemed respectable, or even to preserve self-respect, can attend any of those _moonlight_ gatherings known as picnics, festivals, etc. call them by what name you please, as a whole they are bad. the places where these meetings are held, the persons whom you cannot avoid coming in contact with, make them dangerous at least, and very frequently a real occasion of sin. how can a young girl know the character of him with whom she is dancing? she has been introduced, to be sure, but what of that? does she feel quite certain that she may not be subjected to insult or worse? is she satisfied that her mother would be pleased to see her with her present companions? is she not engaged in a dance which borders on immodesty? take care, my good girl, you have taken your first downward step to-night; retrace your way, and never be found at such a "festival" as this again, if you value your good name. nor can young men attend these "moonlight rural gatherings" without endangering their fair fame and interests. a pure woman will not marry a man who consorts with bad characters. she will not trust herself to the tender mercies of one who reaches home in the early morning in a half or wholly drunken state. she cannot look forward to a happy life with one of this character, and she will not encourage his attentions. employers are not over-anxious to have in their service those who come to their occupations with evident marks of debauchery. { } they believe that young men of this sort are not efficient, and they believe so rightly; they think that these are not altogether trustworthy; that they are constantly exposing themselves to danger and theft. it does not pay, young men, to go to "moonlight picnics." it is not to your interest, either temporal or spiritual. do not be carried away with the idea that you can be dissipated with impunity. "be sober and watch" yourselves, remembering that a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and certainly to be preferred to the gross pleasures of moonlight orgies. ------------------- sermon lxxxix. divine providence. _casting all your solicitude upon him, for he hath care of you._ -- st. peter v. . the doctrine of god's providence is one of those great truths which, though accepted by every christian, are often not apprehended practically in everyday life. by the providence of god we mean that loving care which he takes of all his creatures, and especially of man, ruling, guiding, and protecting them, "ordering all things sweetly," as holy scripture has it, that each one of his creatures may attain to the end for which it was given existence. { } god's work does not stop with creation. it would be absurd to suppose that he made all things and then left them to take care of themselves. on the contrary, we know that his sustaining power is necessary in order to keep us in existence at all, and that if he were to withdraw his sustaining hand from us we should at once fall back into the nothingness from whence we came. but god's providence over us means something far more than simply keeping us alive. it enters into every circumstance of our life. whatever befalls us, day by day, is with his permission, is in accordance with his holy will. whether he blesses us or smites us, it is all the same: everything comes from his loving providence, and is intended for our good. our lord's teaching concerning the providence of god is very clear and plain. he tells us that god cares for the lilies of the field and for the birds of the air, so that not one of them is forgotten before god; and, he adds, "are not you of much more value than they?" for "even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." "o ye of little faith!" he still says to us, "why are you so slow and dull of heart to understand? why will you not see the hand of god directing the whole course of your life?" men go on in their carelessness, unmindful of god, taking the good things that come to them as a matter of course, or as the result of their own labor, forgetting that every good and perfect gift is from above. but god does not forget them. in spite of their indifference, he still watches over them, providing them with all things needful for their souls and bodies, and with his grace ever seeking to lead them to him. how many, too, spend their time in foolishly worrying over their petty trials! it is all owing to a lack of faith; they refuse to recognize god's hand in their daily life. yet again and again our lord and his apostles repeat the exhortation, "be not solicitous"--that is, do not worry--"casting all your solicitude upon him, for he careth for you." { } but it is especially in the great trials of life that the doctrine of god's providence is necessary for us, and full of consolation, and perhaps it is at just such times that it is the most often forgotten. when some heavy trouble comes, how often does the sufferer fail to acknowledge that it is sent by almighty god--that is, an ordering of his providence, and therefore to be submitted to with patience and humility. "dearly beloved," says st. peter in the epistle of to-day, "be you humbled under the mighty hand of god." to be humble is to acknowledge our true position in god's sight, to confess that we are his creatures altogether in his power, and that he has the right to do with us as he pleases. our faith assures us that he will not use this right to our disadvantage. away, then, with all silly murmurings and complaints that god is unjust. good sense alone will teach that that cannot be. if you understood the full extent of the malice of even venial sin you would see that you receive but a small part of what you really deserve. follow, then, the counsel of solomon, and "reject not the correction of the lord, and faint not when thou art chastised by him; for whom the lord loveth he chastiseth." but if the burden seem too hard for you to bear alone, jesus is ready to help you. "come to me," he says, "all you that labor and are heavy laden, and i will refresh you." go to him in the blessed sacrament, pour out your grief to the sacred heart, and you shall find rest for your soul. "cast thy care upon the lord," said david in the psalms, "and he shall sustain thee." { } then, having humbled yourself under the mighty hand of god, he will exalt you in the time of his visitation and fill you with his peace. and "the god of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in christ jesus, _when you have suffered a little_, will himself perfect, and confirm, and establish you. to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. amen." ------------------- sermon xc. how to bear burdens. _cast thy care upon the lord and he shall sustain thee._ --gradual of the mass. which of us, dear brethren, is without his burden or his care? whatever our station in life, however high or lowly we may be, to each comes his portion of sorrow, to each come difficulties and temptations. if we escape one trial we are sure to find another, and probably a worse one, awaiting us. it is our lot here upon earth to suffer, and we ought to expect nothing else, for if we hope for perfect happiness in this world we are doomed to bitterest disappointment. the way in which to carry ourselves with regard to our difficulties is not to seek to avoid them, or when they come upon us to run away from them, but to accept them as the portion of our heritage and to make them a source of merit and sanctification. if we would but cast our care upon the lord, if we would but willingly submit to what his all-wise providence designs for us, these apparent miseries would become for us real blessings and bring upon us the choicest of god's gifts--an increase of his holy grace in our souls. god will help us sustain our burden if we receive it with resignation; if we love it he will make it even sweet to bear. { } but, you may say, this doctrine is very pretty in theory. how about the practice of it? it is not so easy to be indifferent to the things of this life, to the wants of the body, so as to be quite as willing to be poor as to be rich, to have a good, substantial meal or a morsel of cold victuals. people cannot be expected to prefer misery to happiness. we are not asking you to prefer misery to happiness, nor even to be indifferent as to what shall happen you. although this would be far more perfect and would soon make him who had such disposition very holy, still we do not ask so much. what we would wish you to do is what we think all are bound to do--namely, to have confidence in the providence of god; to recognize his hand guiding the course of events in our behalf. we know that he is good and merciful and ready to help us in our need; we know that even when he punishes it is not so much in anger as in love that he does so; yet we complain and are discontented, and some even go so far as to blaspheme the god who, at the very moment when we are treating him with such indignity, is lovingly working all things together unto good, who is doing for them more than they would ever hope for. oh! what pride is theirs, who set up their judgment against god's and insist upon the almighty doing things according to their fancy. they see no reason why they should suffer this or that. why should they be treated so harshly? other people have comfort; why should not they? { } oh! what folly, what blindness is there in the hearts of men and women who speak thus! what ingratitude is theirs! perhaps the god they are abusing has forgiven them hundreds of mortal sins; perhaps he is withholding what they are demanding because he sees if he granted them the things they ask their salvation would be endangered; yet all that he is doing in loving kindness is being misunderstood, because men are unwilling to bow down to the holy and adorable will of god. dear brethren, let it not be said of us that we are ingrates or that we are so foolish as to think ourselves wiser than god; but let us turn to him with all our hearts and recognize in all he sends us his unspeakable mercy; let us ever see in him the all-wise god, our father, and never permit ourselves to be deceived by the rebellion of our lower nature. let us, in a word, "cast all our care upon the lord." ------------------- { } _fourth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _romans. viii._ - . brethren: i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. for the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of god. for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope: because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of god. for we know that every creature groaneth, and is in labor even till now. and not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of god, the redemption of our body, in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. luke v._ - . at that time: when the multitudes pressed upon jesus to hear the word of god, he stood by the lake of genesareth. and he saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. and going up into one of the ships that was simon's, he desired him to thrust out a little from the land. and sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the ship. now when he had ceased to speak, he said to simon: launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. and simon answering, said to him: master, we have labored all the night and have taken nothing: but at thy word i will let down the net. and when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net was breaking. { } and they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking; which when simon peter saw, he fell down at jesus knees, saying: depart from me, for i am a sinful man, o lord. for he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. and so were also james and john, the sons of zebedee, who were simon's partners. and jesus saith to simon: fear not, from henceforth thou shalt be taking men. and when they had brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. ------------------- sermon xci. how to suffer. _brethren: i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. _ --epistle of the day. i think, my brethren, that there are few good and faithful christians who do not have, as they journey through life, a fair share of crosses, trials, and sufferings. sometimes these crosses are not noticed much by other people, but they are heavy enough for those who have to bear them. the priest hears more of the troubles of the world, as well as of its sins, than any one else; misery is a very old story to him; and he has his own trials, too, in plenty, though many think that in his state of life he has mostly avoided them. yes, trouble and suffering seem to be, and indeed they really are, the rule of life for christians, happiness rather the exception; unless we are willing to get what some call happiness by disregarding the law of god. { } now this is a very unpleasant fact; but it is a fact, and we have to accept it. but how shall we best do so? that is a point which it will be well to consider. shall we simply take our trouble because we cannot help it, and fret as little as we can, because fretting only makes it worse? or shall we take comfort by thinking that others are in the same plight as ourselves; by believing, though perhaps we cannot see it, that our luck, though hard, is not harder than that of most of those around us? these would be two pretty good ways of getting along for one who had no better. but it would be a shame for us to fall back on them. one who has faith should be able to find a better way than either of these. "yes," you may say, "i know what you mean; a christian ought to be resigned to god's holy will. we are taught and we believe that all things come to us by the providence of god; that he is all-wise and infinitely good; so, when he sends us anything hard to bear, we must say, 'thy will be done,' and know by faith that it is for the best." now i do not want to say anything against this way of bearing trouble; it is a good way, and it is a christian way; none more so. and perhaps some times it is the only one that will seem possible. but after all it is not exactly what i mean, or it is not at any rate all that i mean; and it is not what the great apostle st. paul, whose glorious and triumphant death, after a life of suffering, we commemorate with that of st. peter to-day, meant in those immortal words which i just read. { } "i reckon," says he, "that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us." that is his consolation. "we have," he says to us, "a little to suffer here, but what is it after all? a drop, bitter it is true, but still only a drop, against an eternal torrent of joy with which god is going to overwhelm our souls. truly it is not worthy to be compared in its passing bitterness to the ocean of delight of which it is the earnest for the future. it is, in fact, the little price which we have to pay for that future; and it is not worth speaking of when we think what it will bring." indeed, my brethren, it must be a matter of astonishment to the angels, it ought to be so to us, that we think so little of the heaven which god has prepared for us. we profess to believe in it; we do believe in it; but we seem to forget all about it. we can have it if we will; moreover, these very crosses and trials, if we have them, are a sign that our lord means almost to force it on us. let us, then, think more of heaven; meditate on it, look forward to it. the thought of heaven was the joy and strength of the martyrs; why should it not be the constant support of ordinary christians, too? ------------------- sermon xcii. good works done in mortal sin. _master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing._ --gospel of the day. { } the gospel of to-day tells us, my dear brethren, how st. peter and his companions, after wearying themselves with dragging their heavy nets the whole night, had caught nothing for all their pains; and how, as soon as our lord appeared, and they were able to work with his guidance and help, they took more fish than their boats would hold. there is a most important spiritual lesson contained in this simple story. this miraculous draught of fish is, as it were, a parable, acted out instead of told by our divine saviour. and its meaning is this: that those who work in the night of the soul which is caused by mortal sin have indeed much trouble, sorrow, and labor, but it is all for nothing. all that they do and suffer while remaining in this state counts for nothing in their favor in the eternal account of god. whereas, on the other hand, the slightest action of one who is in the state of grace, and who, therefore, works in union with christ, has attached to it a great and imperishable glory in the kingdom of heaven. st. paul also teaches us this quite explicitly. "if i should distribute," says he, "all my goods to feed the poor, and if i should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity" (that is, the love of god, which makes the state of grace), "it profiteth me nothing." whereas, on the other hand, he says, for himself and others who are united to god by grace, that "what is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." this is, i say, my brethren, a most important truth. do you fairly understand it? do you take in its full meaning and application? let us look at and study it as much as possible in these few minutes; then let us take it home with us, meditate on it, and make it thoroughly our own. { } all of us have our labors, trials, and pains; some arc heavily burdened with them. to work and to suffer is the lot of all, from which there is no escape. we cannot avoid our destiny; we must make the best of it. yes, that is just it; we must make the best of it; if we have any prudence, any true love or care for our happiness, we will make the best of it, and not the worst. why suffer this poverty, this sickness, this worry and distress of mind? why do all this hard work? why go through all these long and weary days, and get nothing in reward for all our labor and suffering but the mere means with which to keep up this painful and toilsome life, and to sweeten it, perhaps, with some fleeting sensual pleasures? why not have something to show for all our trouble at the end of our time here on earth? why not make it, as we may, into a crown to take with us into that life which has no end? this is what those do who remain in the grace of god, who commit no mortal sin, or who, if they ever fall into it, repent and free themselves from it with out delay. all their pains and all their labors are recorded in heaven, and treasured up to be woven into a crown of merit for such as persevere to the end. god is with them, as with st. peter on the lake of genesareth; they work for him, and in the light of his presence, and their slightest actions obtain a rich reward. but those who foolishly think that to remain thus is a task beyond their strength, who pass their lives in mortal sin, and only seldom and for a short time rise from it, have the same trouble; and at the end, if indeed they come to god then and enter heaven, being saved as by fire, they find no treasure of good works gone before them. "master," they have to say, "we have worked all night and have taken nothing. we have worked in the night of sin all our life." { } let us not, then, follow their example. let us not run their fearful risk of not obtaining salvation at all; and let us also determine that when we are saved we will have a life well filled with the fruits of grace to lay at our saviour's feet, for which we may merit to hear him say: "well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy lord." ------------------- sermon xciii. fishing for men. _master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing._ st. peter was without doubt a good fisherman, and a patient one, as all good fishermen are. he was content to fish all night with such poor luck as to catch nothing at all. but after he had taken our lord on board his ship it seemed as if all the fish in the lake were anxious to be caught. such a wonderful haul was made that st. peter and all the other fishermen were dumfounded with astonishment. how mightily they were all pleased may well be imagined. now, i think there is in our day something going on very like st. peter's fishing all night and catching no fish. the catholic church is the ship of peter, and he who exercises the authority of master in that ship, together with his mates and other officers, are holding the place which st. peter was exalted to when our lord made him the master fisherman of men. that is, the holy father, the pope, the bishops and priests are fishing for men, and our lord promised that they should catch them, too. { } in a certain degree, also, everyone on board peter's ship--all catholics--have to do with this great work--the spreading out the nets and drawing souls into the true church. for some time there have been some efforts made to catch a certain kind of fish known as _protestants_, and there is another sort, also becoming common in these waters of ours, called _infidels_. and it seems to me that there has been a good deal of fishing all night long, and not half the haul made that was hoped for. we feel like repeating st. peter's complaint --"lord, we have labored all the night and taken nothing." the fishermen know their business, and they have worked hard. no trouble on that score. when may we hope that the promise of our lord will be fulfilled and labor shall be crowned with success? i'll tell you. it will be after christ has taught his divine doctrine from the ship, and when he can say to us, "now let down your nets." if there is anything both true and astonishing it is the prevailing ignorance of their own or of any other religion among protestants and infidels. you would think that, among so many learned and well-to-do people who have every advantage of education and general information at hand, they would not only know what they believed, but also the reasons why. { } they make a great boast of knowing, some of them, all the _good_ that there is in the bible, and others all of what they call absurdities and contradictions in the holy volume. you need not be afraid of all this supposed knowledge. in fact, some read the bible very little, and great numbers of them don't hear half of what the majority of us catholics hear in church. catechize them, and it will soon appear that they are densely ignorant of all religion. how can we hope that such people will admire all the beauties of our faith, and appreciate all the powerful and logical arguments in favor of this or that truth, who are so lacking in information about the very rudiments of religion? i meet such people frequently, who are, nevertheless, regular hearers and worshippers of the best preachers of our day, or who pick up here and there some sayings of the pretentious philosopher of the hour. christ must teach this multitude from the ship of peter, and he will do so when he can say of us, "whoso heareth you, heareth me"--that is, when you and i so live up to our faith that when they hear us they hear a christ speak, and when what we speak is for their instruction and suited to their great ignorance of divine things. we must be simple and plain in our instructions when directed to them. moreover, we must thrust this instruction of the first things every christian (be he child or man) ought to know upon them in all charity; and be quick about it, for without it they will be in imminent peril of losing their souls. they are good enough according to what they know. they, like the best of us, love truth, and are really hungering for what is unquestionably for their greater happiness. { } oh! if we catholics would only live like christ and speak like christ, then it would be high time to let down the net. protestants and infidels would rush in crowds to be taken. priests would not know where to find room for the converts. enter into the work of spreading christian doctrine, then. buy catholic books of instruction. buy a good many and give away a good many. it may set them thinking. and the reading of good, plain instructions, like the simple words of our lord, will set them to praying as well. when a protestant or an infidel once begins to pray to know the truth, it will be sure to lead him into the net that is let down from st. peter's ship, only too happy to be numbered among those taken by the divinely-appointed fishers of men. ------------------- { } _fifth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _st. peter iii_. - . dearly beloved: be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, loving brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but on the contrary, blessing: for unto this are you called, that by inheritance you may possess a blessing. "for he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. let him decline from evil, and do good: let him seek peace, and pursue it: because the eyes of the lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers: but the countenance of the lord against them that do evil things." and who is he that can hurt you, if you be zealous of good? but if also you suffer any thing for justice sake, blessed are ye. and be not afraid of their terror and be not troubled; but sanctify the lord christ in your heart. gospel. _st. matthew v._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: i say to you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. you have heard that it was said to them of old: thou shalt not kill. and whosoever shall kill shall be guilty of the judgment. but i say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be guilty of the judgment. and whosoever shall say to his brother, raca, shall be guilty of the council. and whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be guilty of hell fire. therefore if thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and there shalt remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and first go to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. ------------------- { } sermon xciv. forgiveness of injuries. _if therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother; and then coming, thou shalt offer thy gift._ --gospel of the day. there are few things in common life, my dear brethren, more surprising than the fact that some people seem to consider themselves good christians, and well worthy to receive the sacraments, who have a grudge against some of their neighbors and never speak to them; perhaps never answer, even if spoken to by them. these people seem to think, i say, that they are worthy to receive the sacraments; and this not only at easter, but, it may be, quite frequently. some of them, i fear, consider themselves to be pious and devout; they say, it may be, long prayers every night and perhaps also in the morning--though, if they really thought of the words on their lips, i do not know how they could get through one our father. "as we forgive those who trespass against us" ought to stick in their throats. they will not speak to those persons who, as they think, have trespassed against them; they wish, then, that god should have nothing to say to themselves. "forgive us," they say to him, "_as we forgive;_ we will not speak to others, so do not thou speak to us; turn thy back on us, pass us by; that is what we do to our neighbors. { } cut us off from thy friendship, send us to hell"; that is what every our father means in the mouth of these detestable hypocrites when they say, "forgive as we forgive." how these people get through their confession and receive absolution is as surprising as that they should make the attempt to do so. they are caught, no doubt, once in a while, but it is to be feared that a large proportion of them slip through the priest's fingers, either by saying nothing about the sinful disposition in which they are or by telling a lie to the holy ghost and to their own hearts, if they would but examine them, by putting all the fault on the other party. when the other party appears, then we come nearer to the truth. "i spoke to so-and-so," they say, "but got no answer." now, let it be distinctly understood that to refuse to answer any one who speaks to us with a good intention; to take no notice of a word or a salute, given with a view to renewing friendship, or even out of ordinary politeness, is, in almost every case, a mortal sin. of course i do not mean that is so when the omission comes from inattention or carelessness; no, i mean when it is intended as a cut to the other party. about the only instance in which it can be allowed is that of a superior, who has a right to take the matter in his own hands, and can put off reconciliation for a time without danger. a father, for instance, may keep his child at a distance for a while in this way as a punishment for an evident offence; but i am speaking of equals, one of whom can have no right to punish the other. { } but you may say: "this person has injured me grievously. he or she ought to beg my pardon." perhaps this is so; though often, if you could see your own heart and that of the other as god sees them, you ought to beg pardon as much as he or she. it is rare that an unprovoked injury is done by any one consciously and without what seems a pretty good excuse to himself. but even granting that the injury is really grievous and unprovoked, do you expect your neighbor to go down on his knees to you, or to humble himself by a formal apology, not knowing how it will be taken? would you find it easy to do such a thing yourself, however guilty? no, by turning him off in this way you put the balance of injury against yourself, however great may have been the other's offence. no one should dare to go to communion after such a slight unatoned for. and yet even brothers and sisters have done such things, and, i fear, received christ's body and blood with this sin on their souls. let us have, then, no more of this. if one is not willing to be in charity with his or her neighbor, let him or her not come to confession, or at least, if coming, take care to state the matter as it really is. "go first and be reconciled with thy brother; and then, coming, thou shalt offer thy gift." ------------------- sermon xcv. feast of ss. peter and paul. { } to-day, my brethren, holy church celebrates the feast of ss. peter and paul, one the prince of the apostles, the other the great teacher of the gentiles. their glorious martyrdom took place the same day in the imperial city of rome. a glorious victory indeed was their death, one being crucified, head downwards, the other beheaded, sealing thus with their blood that invincible faith in our lord and in his religion which has made them fit to be cornerstones of his spiritual temple. besides their faith, they were most distinguished for confidence in god. the two virtues, faith and hope, of course, blended together in their souls, borrowed from each other, and in the fire of heavenly love were melted into one. yet confidence in god, or the virtue of hope, was the very impulse that set them forth to preach, gave them their gift of miracles, and led them out at last with the deepest joy to offer up the sacrifice of their lives. and it was by such heroic trust in god that our holy church was founded. the beginnings of the true religion may be summed up by saying that god sent out men who were willing to stake their lives upon his fidelity to his promises. the soil on which our saviour planted the true vine was watered by the blood of martyrs. the breviary speaks of the blood of our two great apostles as the purple robe of immortal rome. and their virtue of implicit, instinctive confidence in god's love for us and for his church is the spiritual garment every christian puts on when he is made a member of christ. looking across all those centuries, my brethren, and contemplating the martyrdom of ss. peter and paul, our hearts should be strengthened. what are the trials of the church now compared to those at the very beginning? { } we lament, indeed, that st. peter's successor is a captive in his own house, and also that in many regions of the world the true faith of the apostles has to struggle for its very life. yet the struggles of the church are now those of a giant, are against a world in great part doubtful of its own cause; struggles which make us only the more evidently pleasing to god, as they are gradually forcing us to strip ourselves of every human help and practise the apostolic virtue of trust in god alone. "some upon horses and some upon chariots, but we call upon the name of the lord." oh! when we come to realize that the welfare of the church is not in numbers, or in fine buildings, or in the wealth and power of catholics, but only and entirely in the practice of the virtues of our religion, we shall not have long to wait for the triumph of the truth. when the vast world-power that we call the catholic religion was (seemingly) but the frantic experiment of a handful of men, just then it won its noblest victories. heathenism could not be voted down nor fought down; nor did god send earthquakes and floods to cleanse the earth of its foulness. the men who founded our faith won the victory because they were penetrated with the conviction that the maker and governor of mankind was their lord, and that jesus christ, his son, would never swerve from his plighted word. such, then, brethren, is the virtue i bid you learn from the example of ss. peter and paul: confidence in god. learn that and it will teach you all. how the value of prayer is shown forth by this virtue; how the practice of patience is commended; how the purely spiritual side of religion is brought forward by trust in god! { } and to you of this church it is especially proposed to cultivate this apostolic virtue. for is not your church named for st. paul? and is he not associated every way, historically and in the devotions of our religion, with the prince of the apostles, st. peter? they are our first fruits; they are most closely joined to christ, the root of the spiritual tree of life. st. paul says: "for if the first fruit be holy, so is the mass also; and if the root be holy, so are the branches." ------------------- { } _sixth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _romans vi._ - . brethren: we all, who are baptized in christ jesus, are baptized in his death. for we are buried together with him by baptism unto death: that as christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the father, so we also may walk in newness of life. for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, in like manner we shall be of his resurrection. knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. for he that is dead is justified from sin. now if we be dead with christ, we believe that we shall live also together with christ: knowing that christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. for in that he died to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto god. so do you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to god in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. mark viii._ - . at that time: when there was a great multitude with jesus, and had nothing to eat, calling his disciples together, he saith to them: i have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat. and if i send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint in the way, for some of them came from afar off. and his disciples answered him: from whence can any one satisfy them here with bread in the wilderness? and he asked them: how many loaves have ye? and they said: seven. and he commanded the people to sit down on the ground, and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke, and gave to his disciples to set before them, and they set them before the people. { } and they had a few little fishes, and he blessed them and commanded them to be set before them. and they did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. and they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. ------------------- sermon xcvi. the divine bounty. _and they did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets._ --st. mark viii. . the gospel to-day tells us of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, whereby our lord fed the multitude in the wilderness. not only did seven loaves and a few little fishes satisfy the hunger of four thousand, but seven baskets were filled with the fragments that were left. this is the way in which god always works in the dealings of his providence with mankind. he is not content with giving us enough: he gives us more than enough--"full measure, pressed down, and running over." he hath opened his hand and filled all things living with plenteousness. look at the earth which he has prepared as a dwelling for the children of men, and see how bountifully he has provided for all their necessities. "oh! that men would praise the lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men," and cry out with david: "how great are thy works, o lord! thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with, thy riches." { } but if god has thus lavishly provided for the bodily wants of man, he has been even more bountiful in providing for the needs of his soul. "he hath satisfied the empty soul and filled the hungry soul with good things." just as air, water, and food, the things necessary for the sustenance of our bodies, are found in the world in great abundance, so also does god's grace abound, which is necessary for the life of our souls. just as we must breathe the air in order to live, so we have but to open our mouths in prayer, the breath of the soul, and god's grace, which is as plentiful as the air of heaven, is poured into our hearts, filling us with new life. and as we must breathe the breath of prayer, so also we must drink the water of salvation which, mingled with blood, flowed from the wounded side of jesus. that living water which he promised to give is his precious blood, shed for all upon the cross, yet continually flowing in copious streams through the sacraments to cleanse and refresh the souls of men. we have but to approach and drink and our thirsty souls shall be satisfied. "he that shall drink of the water that i shall give him," said jesus, "shall not thirst for ever. but the water that i shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." draw near, then, with joy and draw this water from the saviour's fountains, the sacraments which he has ordained in his church. wash therein, and you shall be clean; drink thereof, and your soul shall be refreshed. { } and for food he gives us the bread of life, the living bread which came down from heaven, even his own most precious body and blood in the blessed sacrament of the eucharist. "he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever"; but "unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." his grace would have been enough to sustain us; but he is not content with giving us his grace alone, he must give us also himself. this is the greatest instance of the wonderful prodigality of god towards us. after creating the world, and providing it with all that is needful for our bodily life, after giving us his grace in an almost overwhelming abundance, we might think that his generosity would have spent itself. but no, he goes still further, and his last and greatest gift is himself to be the food of our souls. surely there is nothing beyond this. god could not do more for us than he has done. in giving us himself he has done the utmost that is possible. when, therefore, we behold the wonderful works of god in our behalf our hearts should swell with thankfulness to him who gives so abundantly unto us, above all that we could ask or think. since god has been so generous towards us, let us not be guilty of the base ingratitude of despising his gifts, and rejecting the mercies he holds out to us! rather be generous towards him, and as he gives us himself, so let us give ourselves wholly to him, striving in all things to please him, offering ourselves daily unto him, soul and body, as "a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to god, our reasonable service." ------------------- { } sermon xcvii. feast of st. john the baptist. today we celebrate the feast of the birthday of st. john the baptist, of whom our lord said that a greater man than he was never born; and we well know what kind of greatness jesus christ would make much of--the greatness of holiness. looking at his life altogether, we see in him a striking example of one wielding great power and acquiring an eternal fame, who set out to do neither, but rather avoided both. no doubt as he grew up he must have heard something about his miraculous conception, of the angelic prophecy concerning him, and of that wonderful visit the mother of god made to his own mother before either he or jesus christ was born. no doubt he felt himself to be consecrated to god, and set apart in a special manner to aspire after a holy life. and now it is just his fidelity to all those interior inspirations, which, costing him, as it did, so much self-abnegation, and taking him apparently out of the way of obtaining a great name, really made him great. he was a notable example of those who gain all by giving up all. only those who have this character in a marked degree are truly great in their souls, for virtue is both the source and the glory of nobility. no birth however high, no station or office however exalted, no good luck however extraordinary, high honors, great wealth, nor heaps of badges and medals can make up for the lack of it. a mean, covetous, selfish, proud, gluttonous, sensual, envious-minded, overbearing, spiteful, unforgiving, greedy king or emperor neither is nor can be great, no matter how vast his dominions or countless his subjects. { } on the other hand, we catholics know of, and recognize often, the most extraordinary nobleness and refinement of soul in many who are among the poorest, most suffering, and often, in book-learning, the most ignorant of our brethren. what is it that gives to many such that singular taste for and perception of what is pure, beautiful, and true, which they unmistakably possess? and, in times of great trial and sacrifice, what is it that often brings them out above and ahead many others of whom we might be led to expect so much more? i'll tell you: it is the greatness of their holiness, the nobility of their virtue. it is that manifestation of what is really great in the sight of god and his angels--their love of truth, their ready self-denial, their big-hearted charity, their loyalty to god and religion, the independence of the world, their free obedience to superiors, their sweet endurance of pain and sorrow, their meek, forgiving spirit. such as these are the souls of the great, whom the world, the flesh, and the devil attack and may wound, but cannot conquer. if sometimes we are tempted, dear brethren, to envy the apparent good fortune, as it is esteemed, of those whose greatness is not thus founded in virtue, we may be sure that we are weighing something with a very light and empty weight in the other balance, which may be very bulky, sparkling, and showy, like a big, bright, sunshiny soap-bubble, but with nothing inside, and of very short continuance. { } so you see how true greatness is within the reach of every one, and within quite easy reach, too. one is not obliged to do a great many things, nor labor many years, nor accomplish what makes a long report with large headings in the newspapers. one has only to take care _how_ the work is done one is called to do--with what spirit one does it. says the "imitation of christ": "we are apt to inquire _how much_ a man has done, but with _how much virtue_ he has done it is not so diligently considered. we ask whether he be strong, rich, beautiful, ingenious, a good writer, good singer, or a good workman; but how poor he is in spirit, how patient and meek, how devout and internal, is what few speak of." yes, it is not so much the long and splendid record of the work, but the spirit of the working, the pure, unambitious, god-loving intention ruling our labors, that makes them worthy of everlasting memory and meritorious of the renown of a great name, which leaves behind one a memory held in benediction and the history of a life delicious to recall. ------------------- sermon xcviii. idleness. _and they had nothing to eat._ --gospel of the sunday. the people who crowded about our lord had nothing to eat, because out of love of the word of god they had for a time quit their work and their homes. this docility, this constancy argues well for their earnestness in the fulfilment of all their other duties. they were out of food, not through laziness, but because of set purpose they preferred spiritual to temporal nourishment. hence they merited this extraordinary and unlooked-for manifestation of our lord's goodness and providence in supplying them with food. { } we may confidently expect, my brethren, the assistance of god even in temporal want and necessity if our honest endeavors fail. we are not to be over-solicitous; we are not to desire nor strive after an over-abundance of such things. this promise, however, we have: that our heavenly father knows our needs, and he will come to our aid. but we have a duty, an obligation to discharge, and that is to work, to earn our bread. now, this is the point of my sermon: that there are many people--the number seems to be increasing--who have nothing to eat, or who say they have not, and it is their own fault. they do not merit any special interposition of heaven to save them from the consequences of their own laziness; they do not seem to deserve, they do not deserve, the assistance of the charitable, who are the stewards and the representatives of the lord. now, brethren, do not imagine that this is a harsh and an unchristian way of regarding the necessities of the very poor; do not suppose that i make no allowance for the sickness, the lack of work, the hard times, the calamities which from time to time afflict the deserving and the laborious. if you are in a position to know, you cannot but be persuaded that the tendency to ask for help, the inclination to throw burdens on institutions public and private, the frequency, the boldness, the unreasonableness of such demands is on the increase; the number of those who are unwilling to exert themselves, to undergo the routine, the strain of work, grows day by day. yet the apostle says, "if any man will not work, neither let him eat." { } he bids every one labor faithfully in the calling wherein he has been placed. there is no such thing as true religion save in the faithful discharge, first of all, of our natural duties, and in compliance with the first great law of labor. now, i have frequently noticed one peculiarity about many of those who say they have nothing to eat, and that is, they cannot be said to have nothing to drink; and the presence of this kind of nourishment explains very often the lack of all other. no, my brethren, let us be industrious, saving, and sober, mindful that the law of god has imposed labor on us; let us try to help ourselves; then, if we fail, heaven will surely help us, even in ways as truly miraculous as our saviour's for the multitude in the desert. ------------------- { } _seventh sunday after easter._ epistle. _romans vi._ - . brethren: i speak a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh. for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. for when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. what fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? for the end of them is death. but now being made free from sin, and become servants to god, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end everlasting life. for the wages of sin is death: but the grace of god, everlasting life in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. matthew vii._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. by their fruits you shall know them. do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? even so every good tree yieldeth good fruit, and the bad tree bad fruit. a good tree cannot yield bad fruit, neither can a bad tree yield good fruit. every tree that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. not every man that saith to me, lord, lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. ------------------- { } sermon xcix. mortal sin the death of the soul. _the wages of sin is death._ when the apostle, my dear brethren, wrote these words, he did not mean only to express the truth (for truth it is) that the inevitable result of sin, even in this world, is the misery, and finally the death, of the sinner; nor even (though this also is true) that by sin death was introduced into the world. but he wished especially to teach us that the direct and immediate effect of mortal sin is a death much more fearful in itself, and much more awful in its consequences, than any mere cessation of the life of the body--namely, the death of the soul. mortal sin cuts a man off from his last end; it, as it were, disconnects the soul of any one who is unhappy enough to be in that state with all the springs of the supernatural state. a soul which is in mortal sin is cut off from the mystical body of christ, and, like a limb cut away from the body of a man, it ceases to have any part in the nourishment with which that body is supported and enabled to pass through the wear and tear of the every-day life of the world. the soul from the time of baptism to the time of death is kept alive by the gift of sanctifying grace. remove this and the soul inevitably dies. restore this and it is alive again. now, it is just the removal of this sanctifying grace which is the immediate effect of mortal sin. { } as long as any baptized person remains free from the fearful stain of deliberate mortal sin sanctifying grace remains, and every sacrament received, nay, every good act performed, every good word spoken, and every aspiration to higher and better things which passes through the mind, increases the grace which is conferred upon that soul; but the moment the will is deliberately turned away from its creator, at that moment sanctifying grace ceases and the soul dies. this death is a real death of the soul; it prevents the soul from meriting anything towards the attainment of its last end, and should any one be unhappy enough to die with mortal sin upon his conscience his soul must, by the law of its very being, be buried for all eternity in hell. see, then, my dear brethren, how fearful a thing this sin is which can have such fearful effects. god has made us to enjoy him for all eternity in heaven, and yet by sin we turn against ourselves, and, if i may so speak, compel the good god to issue against us an eternal sentence of banishment from his divine presence. we prevent our own souls from reaching that end for which alone they were created. we reap for ourselves an eternity of untold misery, instead of one of surpassing bliss. let us, then, to-day make a firm and constant resolution that, cost what it may, nothing in this world shall induce us to kill our souls by staining them with sin; and if any one is so unhappy as to be in that state now, let him now resolve that he will by a good confession cleanse his soul, and from henceforward, casting behind the things that are past, he will press forward to the things that are before. ------------------- { } sermon c. false prophets. _beware of false prophets._ --gospel of the day. i think, my dear brethren, that you all know pretty well what our lord means when he says in to-day's gospel, "beware of false prophets." you would tell me, at least if you stopped to think for a moment, that he means to warn us against those who were to come after him, pretending to teach his doctrine, claiming that theirs was the true and pure christian religion, or putting on, as he says, the sheep's clothing, but really striving to draw the faithful away from the unity of the church which he had established; being, in fact, to use his own words, ravenous wolves. yes, you would tell me this, and you would be right in your explanation of his words. it is, indeed, of these false christian teachers that he would warn us. it is against the innumerable errors which are taught as christianity, and against the countless self-appointed guides to his one religion who were to multiply as time went on, that he wished to forewarn us; to keep us from listening to them, or allowing ourselves to be turned by them from the one source of truth which he has provided for us in his holy catholic church. and no doubt, in a way, we listen to his warning, and are not much deceived by their pretensions, at least in these days. if a catholic loses his faith nowadays, it is usually easy enough to see that he does so, not because he is really deceived by the false prophet and takes him for a true one, but because he wishes to lead an easier life without being blamed for it; because he objects to confession and the other laws of the church as imposing too much restraint on him, or because his temporal interests will be advanced by the change. { } but still, in spite of this general security which we now have against being deceived by the persuasions of those who would lead us into error, nay, even on account of this very security which we feel, we do not obey quite carefully enough our lord's warning. we think we are in no danger from these false prophets, and so we are willing enough to hear what they say. we would not join with them; far from it; but we think there is no harm in hearing or reading their discourses, or acquainting ourselves with their books. we do not, in short, beware of them; we think that there is no need to do so. really, however, there is. when our lord said, "beware of these false prophets," he meant just what he said. he knew that they would do us harm if we did not beware; that, if they did not destroy our faith, they would at least mar its purity or diminish its intensity if we did not take care to avoid them and their teachings in every way. and the church has always acted on the principle which her divine founder here laid down, in her instructions to her children. she does not wish even her priests to concern themselves with heretical or infidel doctrines, except with the intention of confuting them as their office requires, fortified though they be with the most thorough instruction in and knowledge of the truth. { } we are none of us perfectly wise and above the reach of even the most absurd errors, especially when our nature, corrupted by sin, is enlisted on the side of those errors; and, if not in danger of actually falling into any of them in particular, we may at least, by acquainting ourselves with those into which great men have been led, be likely to fall into the most dangerous of all errors, that of believing that truth is so hard to find that it cannot be expected that all should find it, and that it makes no difference what a man believes, as long as he does what seems to the world in general to be right. the true course for us is, then, to beware of false guides in religion by keeping out of their way altogether; and, on the other hand, to study as far as we can the truth, which, if we learn it and grasp it as we should, conveys in itself the answer to them all. listen to the true prophets, and leave the false ones alone; that is the highest wisdom from the mouth of our divine lord himself. ------------------- sermon ci. the last sin. _for the wages of sin is death; but the grace of god, life everlasting in christ jesus our lord._ --from this sunday's epistle. { } this is not the only place in holy writ, my brethren, where eternal life and death are set before us as the wages we shall some day be paid. the word of god frequently admonishes us of the choice we are compelled to make between eternal sorrow and eternal joy, and for this most evident reason: we are always actually engaged in making the choice. the very essence of our merit hereafter will be that we shall have freely and deliberately chosen almighty god and his friendship, in preference to any and everything besides. and the reason, and the only reason, why a man will lose his soul will be because he committed mortal sin and died unrepentant--that is to say, choosing to love what god bids him hate. what we call the choice between virtue and vice st. paul calls the choice between life and death. and with that choice we are constantly confronted. not that we always realize it, nor do i mean to say that the first time one grievously offends god he settles his fate eternally; but that each mortal sin really earns the wages of eternal death, and only the blessed mercy of god saves us from our deserved punishment. and furthermore, it is some mortal sin or other that at last breaks down god's patience. if at any particular occasion he does not see fit to take us at our word, so to speak, and leave us for ever in that state of enmity that we have chosen, it is not because we do not deserve it; it is because he is a loving father to us, and is often willing to stand a great deal of wickedness on our part; or because we have some dear friends who are servants of god and who pray for us; or because the blessed virgin has acquired some special attachment to us and intervenes for us; or because god reserves us for a later day, when he will make such an example of us as will save other sinners; or because, again, he saves us for a later day to make us models of true penance. { } but just look around you, brethren; just call to mind what you have heard or perhaps seen of god's judgments, and the apostle's lesson becomes object-teaching. have you not heard of a sudden and unprovided death and then remembered how years ago that man started a disreputable business? it was thus that he made his decision for all eternity. on the other hand, a man now temperate, once a drunkard, will tell you that long ago he took the pledge and broke it, and broke it again, but still persevered, and finally, by the grace of god, has managed to keep it. he was fighting the battle of fate and he won the victory. that dreadful appetite overcome, the practice of religion became easy to him. in another case a man is led away little by little from the rules of honest dealing; at last he refuses to pay a certain just debt, one that he can easily pay if he wishes. after that avarice eats into the core of his heart and he is lost for ever. and, brethren, what a relief to hear after a sudden death that the poor soul was a monthly communicant! many are tested by almighty god demanding that they shall withdraw from the proximate occasions of mortal sin. the voice of conscience, a sermon heard in the church, the private advice of some good friend--for all these are the voice of god--admonish[ing] them against what leads them to mortal sin; against very bad company, or the saloon, or the sunday excursion, or dangerous reading, or lonely company-keeping. perhaps one's conduct about such dangers has more to do with his choice in eternity than any thing else. i do not mean to say that this fateful decision is a mere lottery, but it is a moment at the end of years of rebellion against god when an effort is made by the grace of god to save the sinner; and for weal or for woe it is the last chance. some time or other the last sin will be committed, the last grace will be granted. { } o my brethren! how very reasonable is the holy fear of god. oh! how wise are they who have joined fear and love of god together so that the fire of love has burned the dross of slavishness out of fear, and fear has mingled reverence and humility with love. alas! that so many should live as if eternal life and death had no meaning for the present hour. some are like that millionaire i heard of. walking home one day, a heavy shower of rain began, he stopped a hack and asked what the driver would take him home for. fifty cents, was the answer. he began to beat him down, and finally, refusing more than twenty-five cents, he walked home in the rain. but he caught cold, went to bed, and died. he had played the miser many a time before, but the last time had come. so many a one thinks his one sin more, his one other rejection of grace, is but like the multitude of other such offences gone before; and all the time he is deciding an eternal fate. ------------------- { } _eighth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _romans viii._ - . brethren: we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. for whosoever are led by the spirit of god, they are the sons of god. for you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, abba (father). for the spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of god. and if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of god, and joint heirs with christ. gospel. _st. luke xvi._ - . at that time: jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: there was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. and he called him, and said to him: what is this i hear of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst not be steward. and the steward said within himself: what shall i do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? to dig i am not able, to beg i am ashamed. i know what i will do, that when i shall be put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. therefore calling together every one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: how much dost thou owe my lord? but he said: a hundred barrels of oil. and he said to him: take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. then he said to another: and how much dost thou owe? who said: a hundred quarters of wheat. he said to him: take thy bill and write eighty. { } and the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. and i say to you: make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. ------------------- sermon cii. spirit and flesh. _for if you live according to the flesh you shall die. but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live._ --romans viii. . what does the apostle mean by this? this only, that the flesh with its concupiscence and lusts must never get such power over our will that it will carry us along with it and make us obey its longings and desires when we know these are forbidden by almighty god. i say "this only" because to have the flesh is no sin; neither is it a sin to feel the disorderly movements of the flesh that lead to sin; but it is a sin to consent to these and to follow them. for this reason we are told that if we mortify the deeds of the flesh, to which these movements of the flesh lead us, we shall live. but what does the word "mortify" mean? it means to destroy that which makes the life of a thing. notice here the apostle does not tell us to mortify the flesh itself but the deeds of the flesh. to do this we need not then attempt to kilt the flesh, but we must destroy all that gives life to its deeds. { } what are the deeds of the flesh? they are the seven capital sins--pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth. can we kill them? in the most important sense we can. we can get them so under our control that, after awhile, they will move us but slightly and cannot influence us to any great degree. we shall feel from time to time that they are still present in us, but that cannot disturb us much. we shall have taken their strength away. we shall have made them so weak that we can check them easily. ought not each one of us strive to get ourselves into that blessed state? but how can we do it? make up your mind to do it. form a good resolution, one that will not change but that will be firm for life. then live according to that resolution. when pride is aroused, refuse to follow its promptings; when covetousness moves the heart, stop the eager desire for gain; when lust would lead you away, contend against the thought until it is driven out; when anger disturbs, seal the lips with the sign of the holy cross; when gluttony makes you long for feasting and drinking, refuse to go where these things are going on; when envy racks the soul, pray for the one who is the object of envy; when sloth tempts you to self-indulgence and inactivity, stir up the fear of god and holy shame within the soul, for sloth is a destroyer indeed of all that is truly manly and heroic in us. but all this is about as hard to do as anything a man can do, some may say. yes, it is hard to do, but the success is _sure_. shall a man do less for god than for himself? see the time and labor spent to secure that which is necessary for the body and success in the life of only a few years in this world. shall a man not do as much for the good of his soul and for eternal life in the next world? { } is it really so hard as it seems? by no means. we make it harder than it really is by putting it all together and by thinking we are to do it all at once. this is not true. it must be done by degrees, slowly, patiently, perseveringly, but surely. the devil makes us think it harder by telling us, when we feel the sharpness of the first struggle, "you can't bear it this way, for life." you can if god wills it and gives you the grace. and most people, almost all christian souls, do not have it "this way, for life." those who keep up the struggle get stronger day by day. in them the flesh and the movements of sin grow less day by day. the devil, however, wishes us to believe the lie he tells, to make us give up the struggle. do not listen to the lie and it cannot hurt you. remember always, it is a lie, and the mind will not take hold of it. we can make it all the easier by trusting god, who will always help us in the struggle. _pray_ more. go to confession often. the confessor will then help us and remove much of the burden by good advice. go to communion often, and god himself will make it easier for us than we imagine by giving his own strength to the soul at that time. only begin earnestly to control the flesh, continue perseveringly to use confession and communion. this, with daily morning and evening prayer, will take away very many difficulties. soon we shall find we have truly mortified the deeds of the flesh, and then indeed we shall live, for the flesh will then be dead or dying fast and too weak to hurt the soul. keep, then, in the mind the text from the epistle of to-day: "for if you live according to the flesh you shall die. but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live." ------------------- { } sermon ciii. the business of the soul. _the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely._ --words taken from to-day's gospel. one of the things which strikes us most forcibly in reading the instructions of our blessed lord as we have them in the holy gospels is the matter-of-fact, common-sense, business-like manner in which he sets before us the way we must act in order to save our souls. we find no sentimentalism, no rhetoric, no fine-sounding flights of eloquence which delight the imagination and please the fancy indeed, but which are too fleeting and flimsy to serve as a basis of every-day action. no; with our lord this matter of the salvation of our souls is a matter of infinite business, a question of eternal profit and loss. let me recall a few examples: "the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking good pearls, who, when he had found one of great price, went his way and sold all he had and bought it." here the way in which we are to act in order to get the kingdom of heaven is compared to the way in which the man of business acts who finds a good article--something worth his money. what does he do? why, if it is really worth it--and the kingdom of heaven, the salvation of our souls is worth it--he sells all that he has and buys it. { } and yet again our lord places before us the salvation of our souls as based upon a calculation of what is the more profitable course to take in those words the realization of which has called forth the highest heroism of the greatest of the saints: "if thy eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee." why? because "it is better for thee with one eye to enter the kingdom of god than, having two eyes, to be cast into the hell of fire." here again it is a calculation of loss and gain--the loss of an eye in this world as against that of the whole body in the next. shall i, on the principle that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, keep my two eyes; or shall i, for the sake of saving the whole body, pluck out the eye, cut off the foot or hand? but of all the places where this way of looking at things and of acting is inculcated and enforced, the most striking is in the parable read in to-day's gospel. here our lord, in order to lead us to take a practical, hard-headed way of acting with reference to the salvation of our souls, brings before us the conduct of the unjust steward, and, strange to say, actually praises it. and how did this unjust steward act? the unjust steward was a dishonest man. he had been placed in a position of trust, but had wasted his master's goods--perhaps speculated with his money, made false entries in his books, or something else of that kind. well, the truth came out at last, as it generally does sooner or later, and he was at his wits end what to do. no thought of repentance enters into his head; he has got on a wrong road, and he found it, as we all find it, very hard to get out of it. { } and so, knowing the men with whom he has to deal, he sends for some of his master's debtors, and, in order to make them his friends and to establish a claim on them for help and assistance when he gets into trouble, he alters their bills and makes them less. "and the lord commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely." our lord does not commend, of course, the dishonesty of his conduct; this we all understand. but he commends his clearness of sight as to what was for his worldly interest, and his promptitude in taking wise and suitable means to further that interest. what our lord wants to teach us is that we must act for our highest interest in the same clear-sighted, determined, wise, and prudent way in which this specimen of a worldly man acted for the sordid and selfish and foolish ends of men of this world. well, my brethren, take these thoughts home with you, and ask yourselves, each and every one of you, how you are acting. have you an intelligent view of the end you have to attain, of its value and importance, and of the means by which it is to be attained, and are you acting earnestly in order to attain that end? ------------------- sermon civ. the judgments of god. _make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity; that when you shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings._ --gospel of the day. { } my dear brethren, there will come to each one of us a day when all those earthly goods we now enjoy shall fail us, when we shall have to turn our backs on the world and all that it has to give us, and prepare ourselves to stand before him to whom all things that we had and enjoyed belong, and give an account to him of the uses which we have made of them. we have, like the steward in to-day's gospel, a lord and master; and to him we must sooner or later give an account of our stewardship. and it is only too likely, we may say it is indeed certain, that when that dread moment comes at which this world must be left behind, the charge will also be made against us, as against the steward in this parable, that we have wasted our master's goods. our consciences will rise up and condemn us, and anticipate the accusation which shall be brought against us when we shall actually come face to face with god. then all the security we have had in the thought that we are not murderers, robbers, or adulterers shall vanish; we shall not be able to console ourselves with the idea that we have done no great harm to any one. we shall see how selfish and how sensual our lives have been; that we have wasted for the pleasure of a passing moment the greater part of those gifts which god gave us for his service. wasted our time, our strength, our knowledge, and our abilities in getting for ourselves the means of gratification or amusement, or in raising ourselves for our own sake to a position of honor or of wealth. we shall see what we might have been, what god meant that we should be, and compare it with what we are. fain would we then be able to say with st. paul, "i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course." our faith indeed we shall, it is to be hoped, have kept; but we shall feel that our fight has been but a poor and cowardly one, and that we, instead of finishing the course which our lord laid out for us, have gone over only a very small part of it, and that its goal is far, far away. { } what, then, shall be our hope? for hope we must have if we would not offend god even more then than through life. he commands us to hope; but in what shall our hope be placed? where or in what but his mercy? he will take us, grievously deficient as we are, and make the little, miserable offerings which we have to present to him, the remnant of what he gave us, into some kind of a crown of eternal life, if only we will turn to him with our whole hearts; if we will at least, at that last moment, really believe in him, hope in him, and love him. he that perseveres to the end, he that will not die in mortal sin, shall be saved. but what shall obtain for us at that last moment the faith, hope, and charity which we need? who will help us to persevere when the enemies of our salvation are making the most of their last chance to snatch it from us? will those with whom we have enjoyed life then stand by to help us? it is to be feared that they and all that they have done for us will not avail us much then. no, the friends who will then be most valuable to us will be those, if indeed we have such, whom we have not sought for our own sake, but whom we loved for god's sake. and it is not the riches which we amassed that will then be precious to us, but such as we have given away to those who needed it more than we. { } these are the friends which our lord, in to-day's gospel, tells us to make, that they may help us at the hour when our eternal destiny hangs trembling in the balance. these are the friends which may be made by that mammon of iniquity, those worldly riches which are too often the occasion of sin, and whose prayers and blessings may indeed be the means of our being received, in spite of our unprofitableness, into everlasting habitations. happy is the man who, when he comes to die, knows that god's poor have prayed for him, and have blessed his name. ------------------- { } _ninth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians x._ - . brethren: we should not covet evil things, as they also coveted. neither become ye idolaters, as some of them: as it is written: "the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. neither let us tempt christ: as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. neither do you murmur: as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. now all these things happened to them in figure; and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. wherefore let him that thinketh himself to stand, take heed lest he fall. let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. and god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able; but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it. gospel. _st. luke xix._ - . at that time: when jesus drew near jerusalem, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: if thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. for the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee: and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. and entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought, saying to them: "it is written: my house is the house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of thieves. and he was teaching daily in the temple. ------------------- { } sermon cv. justice and mercy. _and when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it._ --from the gospel of the sunday. which one of the children is best loved by the father and mother? is there any poor little cripple in the family? that is the favorite child. it makes the parent's heart bleed to see the limping walk or the hunched back, to see the sallow, pain-marked face of the little one. that is the one who receives the warmest caress; for that one the kindest tones and cheeriest words and nicest presents are reserved. well, brethren, it is the same in the spiritual order. god has his best favors for his most unfortunate children: for men and women in the state of mortal sin. that is one reason why our lord lavished such affection on the jews; they had most need of it. their hearts were the hardest hearts in the world. jerusalem was the most accursed city in the world. it and its people were on the point of committing the most awful crime possible to our race. hence our lord wept over it those bitter tears of rejected love, and breathed those deadly sighs of a heart wearied and disappointed in fruitless efforts for their salvation. it is true, amidst those tears he told of the persistent obstinacy of the jews, and of their final impenitence, and of their terrific chastisement. but he did it all with many tears and with a depth of regret better told by tears than words. { } brethren, there is a deep mystery taught us by this scene. it is the mystery of the union of two sentiments in god which to us seem essentially different--justice and mercy. how could our saviour weep over a downfall so well deserved? how could he regret what none knew so well as he was to be a punishment all too light for the crimes of the jews? is there not a mystery here? how can it be explained? there is no adequate theoretical explanation of it. but there is a practical one, and a very excellent one, too. it is this: put yourself in a jew's place; fancy yourself one of that apostate race; stand up before our lord and listen to his sentence given against you with infinite reluctance--every hard word a sigh of tender regret. do you not see that this exhibition of mercy in the judge only renders the justice of the sentence more evident to you and more dreadful? mercy thus lends to justice a weapon which, while it only crushes down its victim the deeper, at the same time elevates much higher in the culprit's eyes the rectitude of the sentence. of course, the justice of god and his mercy are perfectly equal. yet in some true sense we may say that his mercy is more powerful than his justice. does not the psalmist say that god's mercy "is above all his works"? do we not know by observation and experience that where the wrath of god sets apart a single victim his tender love wins over a thousand? why, the very sentiments of our hearts, the very convictions of our minds by which we earn forgiveness in the sacrament of penance, are they not the free gift of god, earned by us only because "us" means persons penetrated with light and strength streaming down from the throne of mercy? { } we offer our repentance to god in a kind of a way as children make christmas presents to their father. where do they get money to buy them? from their mother, and she saves it up from the household expenses or gets it as a gift from her husband. in the long run the presents were bought by the one to whom they are given. yet they are very dear to the father; he values them; they are real presents to him; they express a real devotion; they lose nothing of their character of presents because he is at the expense of it all. so with our heavenly father. if he gives the gold we coin it; we stamp the beloved form of the son of god on our poor prayers, so that when they have made the circuit and are back again in the divine bosom from which they sprang forth, somehow we have added something to them. brethren, let us hope that when our lord's tears concerned us it was not in view of our reprobation, but of our salvation. let us be inflamed, too, with a sense of our ingratitude that we are such unworthy children of so good a father. a man may swagger and brag down his better self when merely threatened with punishment. but who among you can face, without flinching, the tears of so good a friend as our lord and saviour jesus christ? ------------------- sermon cvi. neglect of divine warnings. { } the gospel to-day tells us, my dear brethren, that jesus wept as he approached jerusalem; not for himself, nor for all he was so soon to suffer there, but for the city itself, and for his chosen people, to whom he had given it for their glory and joy. yes, this beautiful city was their joy and their pride; long before they had been taken from it into captivity by their enemies for a time, and as the psalmist says, speaking in their name, "by the rivers of babylon we sat and wept when we remembered sion." and he goes on: "if i forget thee, jerusalem, may i forget my right hand; may my tongue cleave to my mouth if i do not remember thee, if i do not make jerusalem the beginning of my joy." and now this city of theirs was to be taken from them again by a more grievous and fatal disaster than it had ever yet suffered. they were to be scattered from it all over the world to do a long penance for their sins and their rejection of him who had come to redeem them. and our divine lord's heart yearned for them, for these his creatures, and at the same time his brethren and his countrymen. fain would he have saved them, if they would but have been willing, from the terrible sufferings they were to undergo. gladly, as he says himself, would he have sheltered them, if they would even now have come to him, from the tempest which was about to break upon them from the justice of god. he wept because they would not come and avail themselves of his love. we should pray for them that the day may be hastened when they shall return and acknowledge their true messias, their own lord and master, the only true king of the jews. but they are not the only ones to weep for; they are not the only ones whom he has loaded with favors, and who have been ungrateful; there are others besides the jews whom almighty god has chosen for his people, but who have rejected him and distressed his loving heart. { } who are they? they are in general all sinners, but especially such as are catholics; they are those souls for whom jesus has done so much from their earliest years, in the midst of whom he has lived and wrought so many works of power and goodness; those whom he has enlightened with his truth, those whom he has warned against sin, those whom he has borne with so long and forgiven so often, those whom he has fed with his own body and blood. and yet, through evil habits, by frequent mortal sin, they live on, deaf to his warnings, despising his love, not knowing the time of their visitation, until evil days and a sad ending come upon them. can we wonder that their enemies, the evil one and their bad habits, compass them round about, and straiten them on all sides, and beat them down and leave them wasted and desolate? can we wonder that, since they would not bear the sweet and ennobling yoke of christ, they will be forced to groan in the fetters of satan and be exiled for ever from the true jerusalem, the home of peace, which is above? no, brethren; such is the fate of those who persistently abuse god's grace, who reject his mercy and his efforts to save them. god forbid that such a career, such an ending, be ours. let us, then, take warning; let us be careful about temptations; let us not presume on our own strength nor on god's goodness in the past; let us not make light of anything which is dangerous or forbidden. let us endeavor not to grieve our lord by any infidelity, great or small, but try to be faithful to every grace in this the day of our visitation, and to follow the things that are for our peace here and our happiness hereafter. ------------------- { } sermon cvii. living from day to day. _if thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace._ --st. luke xix. . the fault of the jews, my brethren, was twofold: boasting of the past and waiting for the future. it is especially on account of the latter fault that our lord in this day's gospel lays such stress on the words "and that in this thy day." it is a warning against trying to live in the future. we all know, to be sure, that one may go to the other extreme, and by a form of sloth be too careless of the future. some things there are which are certain to come upon us, and their coming must be provided for. there is a judgment to come, and every minute of to-day is like a bailiff busy gathering evidence for that divine court. temptation is sure to come, and its strain upon our virtue must be foreseen in every prayer of every day. the common wants of life for one's self and family are inevitable in the future, and must be prudently provided against. in all such things we know that the future is an actual fact, and is just as present to god as this very instant is to us. { } what our lord would rebuke is not a prudent foresight, but that weak and idle state of mind which postpones to the future what should be done at once. this is the commonest of human delusions. in a temporal point of view it is condemned by the saying, "procrastination is the thief of time," and it might be added of many other valuable commodities. in a spiritual point of view the dreadful result of delaying till to-morrow what should be done to-day is expressed by the saying, "hell is paved with good intentions." wise men resolve to do in the future only what they cannot do now. many and many a poor soul has lost the kingdom of heaven for that one reason: resolving instead of doing. brethren, a practically-minded christian lives his spiritual life from day to day. he knows that the future is something entirely in god's hands. as for himself, his actual ability to do good begins and ends with each passing hour. if he provides well for it as it comes and goes he has done his part; god will not fail to take care of the future. one's peace of mind is never secure till one has learned to be content with present duty well done. oh! what a happiness when one's soul is unburdened of care for the future. do you covet that happiness? it is yours if you leave nothing undone for the present. if you can honestly say, "that is all i can do for the present," you may add, "and the future also." but, you say, what about a purpose of amendment? does not that dwell specially on the future? yes, it does; but it springs from a present sorrow. and if the sorrow be as heartfelt as it should be the purpose of amendment will take care of itself. a deep hatred of sin is the only true sorrow, and such a hatred must be enduring. the test of a contrite man is not what he promises but what he does. his sorrow unites the past and future in the present. warned by his past weakness, he begins right here and just now by prayer and work to guard against a future relapse. { } learn a lesson, brethren, from our lord's warning and from the fate of the jews. it is better to say one's morning prayers to-day than to resolve to become a saint next week. to-day is here, and next week is nowhere. this day is mine; i know not if i shall have so much as one other. god has the past and the future. i will thank him for the past, i will beg him for the future. as to the present, with god's help, i will set to work to do my utmost. ------------------- { } _tenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. corinthians xii. - . brethren: you know that when you were heathens you went to dumb idols, according as you were led. wherefore i give you to understand, that no man, speaking by the spirit of god, saith anathema to jesus. and no man can say, the lord jesus, but by the holy ghost. now there are diversities of graces, but the same spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same lord. and there are diversities of operations, but the same god, who worketh all in all. but the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man unto profit. to one, indeed, by the spirit, is given the word of wisdom: to another, the word of knowledge according to the same spirit: to another, faith in the same spirit: to another, the grace of healing in one spirit: to another, the working of miracles: to another, prophecy: to another, the discerning of spirits: to another, divers kinds of tongues: to another, interpretation of speeches: but all these things one and the same spirit worketh, dividing to every one as he will. gospel. _st. luke xviii._ - . at that time: to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others, jesus spoke this parable: two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a pharisee, and the other a publican. the pharisee, standing, prayed thus with himself: o god, i give thee thanks that i am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, nor such as this publican. i fast twice in the week: i give tithes of all that i possess. { } and the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: o god, be merciful to me a sinner! i say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ------------------- sermon cviii. sympathy for sinners. _o god, i give thee thanks that i am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, nor such as this publican._ --st. luke xviii. . did you never notice that pride and hardness of heart go together? that miserable pharisee could not enjoy his self-glorification without condemning his neighbor, a person, as it happened, far more deserving than himself. indeed, the worst vices seem to love each other's company as if they were all blood relatives. coveting our neighbor's goods, for example, goes along with stinginess of our own; gluttony and lust are twins. almost the same may be said of oppressing others and disobeying lawful authority; and in this hateful pharisee we behold the union of pride in one's self and contempt for one's neighbor. the sinner seems to be bound with a chain every link of which is double. now, brethren, this is a fault often found in far better souls than this haughty pharisee. many of us have too little sympathy for persons whom we know to be in mortal sin. to be sure, it is no harm to rejoice that we are at friendship with heaven. but the worst of it is that some of us are never really happy at the thought of our own virtues till we are quite miserable over our neighbor's wickedness; and when we say with our lips, how wicked so-and-so is! our heart whispers, and how good i am! { } the spirit of correction possesses many good people--a spirit commonly the sign of hidden pride. no sooner do we take the first steps in amendment of life than we are divided between rejoicing in our own goodness and lamenting over other folk's vice. i know not what we good people should do for something to talk about were it not for our neighbor's shortcomings. brethren, this vanity is very foolish and very dangerous. who dare say that he has nothing to fear from the judgments of god? who can count himself safe so much as one day from his own natural feebleness, or from the wiles of satan, or from human respect? and if we do rightly trust in god's favor, how can we forget that progress in virtue is a necessary condition of our remaining virtuous at all? now this progress means simply a right knowledge of our remaining defects and a solid purpose to overcome them; something with which the vice of the pharisee is quite incompatible. nothing so blinds us to our own little faults as too much regard for our neighbor's big ones. doubtless it would have been just as difficult for the pharisee to correct his harshness of voice, or his lofty bearing, or his patronizing airs as to overcome his great sin of pride itself; and such is the case with many of us. the beam in our neighbor's eye looks so shocking that we quite forget that we have quite a squint in our own eye from various little motes in it. { } be certain, therefore, brethren, that, if you find hard feelings in your heart toward sinners, you have no long journey to make before you discover the capital sin of pride in your own. why can we not leave judgment to god, and treat poor sinners after our lord's example, praying and suffering for them? i do not mean to say that we should forget to mention to them the awful chastisements of god; indeed, a truer friend does not exist than one who warns us of our future destruction, and some, such as parents, are in duty bound to give such admonition. but in the treatment of moral maladies we should bear in mind that bitter words and harsh looks spoil good medicine. and especially should we bear in mind that we have had our own wicked days. let us, therefore, regard sinners with much tenderness, dropping out of our view while we deal with them our own darling selves. let us realize that we ourselves are poor souls, quite capable, but for god's singular favor, of falling into the worst state of sinfulness. ------------------- sermon cix. morning prayers. _two men went up into the temple to pray._ --from the gospel of the sunday. the lesson of this day's gospel, my brethren, is prayer; its necessity and its humility. our short sermon must be contented with a little corner of this great field--that is to say, morning prayers. { } suppose that your child is sick, what is your first word in the morning? it is, how is the baby this morning? then follows much more: i think it is a little better to-day; it seems easier; or it passed a bad night; i hope the day will be cool, for it suffers from heat. so, anxiety for your poor little child consecrates your first thoughts and words to its welfare. and do you not know that your poor soul is either sick or runs the risk of catching a deadly sickness every day you live? there are bad sights on the streets that tend to sicken it; there are snares of the devil, such as cursing and foul-talking companions, bad reading and saloons; there is a spiritual cancer within--i mean the temptation of the flesh--which can only be kept from destroying the soul's life by constant and severe treatment. now, thoughts and words do your sick child little good; but they are the very best things for the soul, especially early in the morning. the man or woman who kneels down and says the morning prayer guards against temptation, heads off the noon-day demon, and provides that happiest of evenings, that is to say, the one which follows an innocent day. there's a saying against braggarts and promise-breakers that "fine words butter no parsnips." it is not true of words said in charity to our neighbor or in prayer to god. sincere words addressed to god as the day begins sweeten every morsel of food the livelong day, lighten every burden and weaken every temptation. why, then, are you so careless about morning prayers? it can only be because you do not appreciate your spiritual weakness or you do not care what becomes of your soul before bedtime. but somebody might say: father, can't you tell us something to make the morning prayers easy? it is very hard to remember them, and then it is so pleasant to get even five minutes more sleep, especially in the winter time; and, again, i am always in a hurry to get off to work, etc. { } now you might as well ask me to tell you something to make you relish a good wash and a clean shirt. if a man does not hate dirt, it is preaching up the chimney to try to make him love to be clean. prayer cleans the heart. prayer clothes the soul with the grace of god. prayer brings down god. prayer drives away the devil. or, i might rather say, that for a clean heart, and in order to get the grace of god, and in order to vanquish temptation, prayer is simply and indispensably necessary. once a man came to me and said: father, for years i was addicted to habitual vice of the worst kind (and here he named a fearful sin), but i began some time ago to say the litany of the blessed virgin every morning and the litany of jesus every night, and this practice has entirely cured me of that dreadful habit. some such story as that, my brethren, every man must tell before he can say that he is delivered from sin. for my own part, i look upon regular morning prayers as a plain mark of predestination to eternal life. "ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you," is our lord's promise to those that pray; and the best prayer is the morning prayer. be ready, therefore, to correct yourself for omitting it. the day you forget it go without something you like to eat, put a nickel in the poor-box, double up your night prayers, make a special request to your guardian angel to get you up in good time for morning prayer the following morning. for the "our father," "hail mary," "apostles creed," "confiteor," and acts of faith, hope, sorrow, and charity, that you say in the morning will in the end give you a happy death and the kingdom of heaven. ------------------- { } sermon cx. feast of st. mary magdalen. _many sins are forgiven her, because she loved much._ --gospel of the day. my dear brethren, no one who has faith can fail to be more or less anxious as to whether he will in the end save his soul. we all know that our faith alone will not save us; that faith, as st. james tells us, without works is dead. and we know that everything depends on the last moment; that as the tree falls, so will it lie for all eternity. so we tremble to think that perhaps that last moment will find us with our sins unforgiven, and all unprepared to meet our judge; and that, in spite of our having borne the name of christ, we may be then cast away from his presence into the outer darkness for ever. some people, i know, have a very simple way of reassuring themselves about this all-important matter. they think that, of course, when they come to die they will send for the priest; then, if he gets there in time, of course there can be no question about their salvation. and even if he does not, perhaps they would not altogether despair; certainly their friends will not despair of them. god, they think, will not utterly cast off those who have always believed in him; their prayers and those of their friends will certainly obtain them a place in purgatory, and at last they will save their souls, at least by fire. { } but, after all, do not even the most confident of us sometimes have a fear that even the last sacraments may not make our salvation absolutely sure? the last sacraments are not so very different from the others we have received before; and do we always feel fully prepared to die after every communion which we make? no, there is a haunting fear that something is not right which pursues us even at the altar-rail; we would give much if we could only do something which would take it away altogether. let us not be troubled because we have this fear; it is better not to be entirely free from it; above all, let us not stay away from the sacraments because we have it. if we stay away in any case except that of known and certain mortal sin which is not forgiven, we shall only make matters worse. but still this fear is generally a sign of something wrong; it does not altogether come from humility, or from the desire of salvation. it comes from a want of something which we ought to have; from a want of the greatest of all virtues, of that which includes all others, and brings all others with it--from a want of the love of god. not an entire want of it, but a want of strength in it, a want of affection; a want of that feeling which we have for our friends, and which, above all, we should have for the greatest and best of all. yes, perfect love, as st. john tells us, casts out fear. it is the short cut out of all these worries, difficulties, and anxieties which all who are not hardened sinners must have without it. it was the direct and simple road which st. mary magdalen took in escaping from sin. { } she followed the friend of sinners as he went on his mission of mercy; she saw the miracles of his power and goodness; she saw the love for men which shone in his face and inspired his every word and action, and her heart was touched and melted. she took it away at once and for ever from all those vain things to which it had been attached and gave it truly and entirely to him who had made it, and who had come in sorrow and suffering to win back his own. and her many sins were forgiven because she loved much; because all the powers of earth and of hell cannot put an obstacle between god and the soul that loves him as he should be loved. if we would only do as she did; if we would put away all these bargainings about just how much we are bound to give to god, and how much we can safely keep for ourselves; if we would love him as she did, not with a mere passing sentiment, but with that devotion and self-sacrificing affection which it is so easy sometimes to give to a mere creature; if we would let him, as he wishes, into our hearts as our dearest and best, and make everything else give place, then fear would pass away, and we should say, "let god take me when he will; let me suffer what my sins deserve, but surely he will not keep me from loving him." yes, my brethren, to love god is the one thing necessary; to love him is to save our souls. ------------------- { } _eleventh sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians xv._ - . brethren: i make known unto you the gospel which i preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand: by which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner i preached to you, unless you have believed in vain. for i delivered to you first of all, which i also received: how that christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures: and that he was seen by cephas, and after that by the eleven. then was he seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. after that he was seen by james, then by all the apostles. and last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time. for i am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because i persecuted the church of god. but by the grace of god i am what i am: and his grace in me hath not been void. gospel. _st. mark vii._ - . at that time: jesus going out of the borders of tyre, came by sidon to the sea of galilee, through the midst of the territories of decapolis. and they bring to him one that was deaf and dumb; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. and taking him aside from the multitude, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue: and looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: ephpheta, which is, be opened. { } and immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. and he charged them that they should tell no man. but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it. and so much the more did they wonder, saying: he hath done all things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. ------------------- sermon cxi. want of confidence in god. _he hath done all things well._ --st. mark vii. . the spectators of the double miracle related in this day's gospel were filled with admiration at our lord's power and goodness; they could not help exclaiming, "he doth all things well." would to god, brethren, that such a sentiment of our lord's love and power filled our hearts! confidence in god, however, is the very virtue many christians lack most. true, we say and believe that god is infinitely good--that he is mercy itself. but such language is very indefinite and may express a very dim conception. it is something like saying that a stone is very hard or that water is very wet. we are apt to form pictures of god's attributes in our minds, just as a painter may make a portrait of some historical personage he never saw; many of our notions of god are fancy portraits, all imagination. but just think of the actual grounds of our confidence in our blessed lord. just realize that this wonderful being is filled with the tenderest human love for the worst of us, and has all the divine power at his command--being both man and god--to make good his love by bringing about our spiritual and temporal welfare. { } the incarnation is the divine mercy made man for the love of us. can we suppose that such a being, having begun the good work of our salvation by giving us the true religion, will leave anything undone, that we will let him do, to bring us to the kingdom of heaven? do you think that such a loving father would teach us, his children, a b c except with the set purpose of going clean through to x y z? just think, that it positively never happened that any wretched sinner, how ever degraded, ever implored our lord's forgiveness and was rejected; nay, that he himself secretly inspires sinners with their grief and horror for their evil ways, and then imparts forgiveness in return for his own gift. the fact is that the question is not whether god will forgive us, but whether we will let him do it. in a word, this infinitely good and infinitely powerful being is bent and determined that we shall enjoy perfect happiness, world without end. what a wonder, then, that we can treat our lord in our cold-hearted way! scrupulous persons treat him as if he were a tyrant; lukewarm christians treat him like a stepfather; obstinate sinners treat him with open contempt. the practise of prayer, the reception of the sacraments and other aids of religion--we treat them as school-children do their lessons: we do it all because we are afraid of the consequences if we don't. considering how much god loves us his service should come as easy to us as breathing the air; it should be the element in which we live. if our faith were a little more practical god's loveliness would be as plain to us as the open day and the sun in the heavens. { } furthermore, and this is still more practical, lack of confidence in god is why we repine at his visitations. it is easy enough to say, be resigned to the will of god, but how can we be content to suffer unless we are penetrated with confidence in the divine goodness? brethren, you know how we sometimes take medicine. we wrap it up in a pleasant-flavored wafer or hide it in a spoonful of sugar, and down it goes and we never taste its bitterness. so a lively confidence in god, if we only had enough of it, is the sweetness to wrap around the bitter things of life. temptations, long and wearisome poverty, ill-health, unpleasant companions in the household--these and other such trials are the bitter pills of the soul; when we fairly realize that god means them for our spiritual good we can bear them with patience, even with thankfulness. did you ever hear of the witch-hazel, and how people used to fancy that a crooked branch of it thrown into the air would fall on the spot where a good spring of water could be found? well, the witch-hazel of the christian soul is just this question: how much confidence have you in the love of our lord jesus christ for you? if that does not reveal the hidden springs of your heart and bring the waters of love gushing forth, then that heart is hopelessly dry. ------------------- sermon cxii. devotion to the blessed virgin. why do catholics pay so much honor to the virgin mary? are they not doing an injury to her son by over-honoring his mother? what is the reason, the doctrine, of the catholic's devotion to mary? { } very fair questions, brethren; questions which you should be ready to answer with intelligence and kindness. so that now, as we approach the feast of our lady's assumption into heaven, let us renew our faith in her dignity. what, then, does the catholic faith teach us about her? it teaches us that she is the mother of god; and further, that, on account of the foreseen merits of her son, she was preserved from the stain of original sin; that she was always a virgin; and that it is lawful and profitable to ask her prayers. such are the articles of faith concerning the blessed virgin. once you know something about her son's divinity you easily perceive her dignity of mother of god. her title of mother of god plainly rests upon the fact that her son is god. jesus christ is god; his nature is divine and his person is divine. and here you must bear in mind the distinction between nature and person. he has the nature, being, essence of god. and he has the person of god; for our saviour is god the son, second person of the most holy trinity. what, then, is human about him? for we know that he is as truly man as he is truly god. the answer is that he has a human nature as well as a divine nature. he became man; and he did so by taking human nature from mary, his mother. but, you ask again, is he a human person also? no, for we have seen that he is the divine person, god the son. there cannot be two persons in christ. he is but a single person, one individual, and that is divine. so that the divine personality of the son of god takes human nature and unites it to the divine nature. the one divine person whose name is christ, and who is of both divine and human nature, has no human personality, but divine. { } and this is the son of mary. is she not the mother of our lord, personally his mother? can any one be a mother and not be mother of a person? is he not personally her son? what a dignity! what a mysterious and wonderful eminence, to be mother of the divine person of the son of god made man. no wonder that we honor her; although we know full well that all she has of dignity and sanctity she has by no power of her own, but by gift of god, and that she is purely a human being. those who do not honor mary fail to appreciate the majesty of christ; fail to understand the doctrine of the incarnation; fail to grasp the immensity of the divine love in god becoming man. no wonder, then, that god should have saved her from the taint of adam's sin, should have preserved her a spotless virgin, should have saved her pure body from the grave's filth by the assumption into heaven. the angel gabriel tells us what mary is: "behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and thou shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name jesus. he shall be great, and shall be called the son of the most high. ... the holy ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most high shall overshadow thee, and therefore the holy (one) that shall be born of thee shall be called the son of god." { } now, brethren, to be a mother is to hold an office. it is to exercise by divine right the highest powers committed to a human being. what wonderful rights a mother possesses! an affectionate allegiance is due her from her son: an obedience instinctive, sacred, supreme; a reverential and hearty loyalty which arouses the noblest emotions in the hardest heart and gives birth to heroic deeds even in men of the weakest natures. a mother is entitled to her son's love by the most sacred of all obligations. well, just think of it: our blessed lord was, and is yet, bound to his mother by that imperative divine law; he was, and is yet, subject to the sweetest and, for a noble nature, the most resistless impulse to do his mother's will and to make her happy. he owes her love, obedience, reverence, friendship, support, companionship, sympathy. and he that doth all things well, would he not do his whole duty as son, would he not be a model son? would he not grant her lightest wish while he lived with her on earth, will he not gladly do so now in heaven? hence our lord jesus christ spent nearly his whole life in his mother's immediate company, consenting to postpone for her sake his father's work of publishing his divinity and preaching his gospel. hence he worked his first miracle at her request at the wedding of cana. hence he inspired her to prophecy that all generations would call her blessed. hence, too, our lord has instilled into every christian heart some little glow of his own deep filial love for her. in truth, brethren, whatever christ's mother is to him by nature, that she is to us by adoption. just in proportion to our union with him are we bound to her. and if we wish to know him well we can study in no better school than his mother's. if we wish to love him tenderly, her maternal heart can best teach us how. and if we have favors to ask him we shall be glad, if we are not too self-conceited, to secure her prayers to assist us. ------------------- { } sermon cxiii. gratitude. my brethren, we have had a word to say before this about the vice of ingratitude, and of how mean a vice it is, especially in a christian. now let us consider the opposite virtue--gratitude. it is, to be sure, one of the little virtues. yet how can we call any class of virtues little? no doubt there are, strictly speaking, grades of merit very much higher one above the other. but that is not so much from the action done in each case as from the motive that inspires the action. one saves a man's life for the love of money; another gives a glass of cold water for the love of god. the glass of water is nothing compared to a human life; yet the glass of water will be rewarded for all eternity, and the saving of the human life is paid for as we pay for a load of coal. brethren, beware of thinking there is any thing to be called little that has to do with god and eternal life; and always bear in mind that, by practising little virtues with an earnest purpose to please god, your merit is according to your heart, and not according to your hand. i do not intend to speak specially, just now, of gratitude to god; but between man and man gratitude is one of those gentle virtues that increase our fondness for each other. gratitude is a short cut to sincere and lasting friendship. { } and if a supernatural motive inspires one's gratitude to his friends, then a holy friendship is the result. some people complain that they have no friends. i think they are most to blame themselves. have they never had a favor done them? why, every one of us has had a score of favors done him every day of his life. those who bear it in mind, who say a word of hearty thanks, who watch a chance to do a favor in return, never lack friends. brethren, never forget a favor. return it if you can, at least in part; but at any rate never forget it. feel grateful at least; say a thankful word; offer up a prayer for your benefactors now and then. the best use we can make of our memories is to remember our benefactors. favors done and favors gratefully remembered are the two halves of a happy life. it would be only simple justice if we looked on gratitude as we do on a just debt; for gratitude pays debts, first in good-will, and before long in a more substantial manner. you know that an honest debtor will always try to save a little from day to day to pay his debts. so we can do a little from time to time by way of instalments, so to speak; we can say a daily prayer for our benefactors, write an occasional letter, pay a visit now and then, often praise them to our friends. of course, those who have done us the greatest favors are entitled to the deepest gratitude. now, who has done so much for us as our parents? certainly, next to god, our parents stand first in the list of our benefactors. yet many, especially after they have married and settled down in their own families, are wanting in gratitude to their parents. married persons who are badly treated by their own children should sometimes ask themselves if it be not in punishment for their forgetfulness of their own parents. { } of course, when we are in middle life, what was done for us in childhood seems very far away; it was diffused over many years; it was a regular habit and course of life; it was bound up in our parents own happiness. but let us bear in mind, all the same, how true and deep the love that inspired it; how unwearied the patience; how self-forgetful the devotion of our parents, and let us seek every chance to make their last years happy. brethren, shall i say a word about gratitude due to us of the sanctuary? has not some priest done you a favor; converted you by a sermon, inspired you to perseverance by his advice in the confessional, soothed your sick and weary heart, or reconciled you to a dreary burden? if so, you ought to pray for him, and especially for your pastors. but gratitude to god is, of course, the first and best of all. from him we have received all, and, having forfeited every favor, again and again received them back from the divine bounty. ------------------- { } _twelfth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians iii._ - . brethren: such confidence we have, through christ towards god. not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from god. who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit. for the letter killeth; but the spirit giveth life. now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of israel could not steadfastly behold the face of moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory? for if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory. gospel. _st. luke x_. - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. for i say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. and behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying: master, what must i do to possess eternal life? but he said to him: what is written in the law? how readest thou? he answering, said: "thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself." and he said to him: thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. but he, willing to justify himself, said to jesus: and who is my neighbor? { } and jesus answering, said: a certain man went down from jerusalem to jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead. and it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him, he passed by. in like manner also a levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. but a certain samaritan being on his journey came near him; and seeing him was moved with compassion. and going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. and the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: take care of him: and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, i at my return will repay thee. which of these three in thy opinion was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers? but he said: he that showed mercy to him. and jesus said to him: go and do thou in like manner. ------------------- sermon cxiv. the good samaritan. _go and do thou in like manner._ st. luke x. . how few of us, brethren, are really naturally of a self-sacrificing disposition! how few actually enjoy, for example, the offices of the sick-room, or so much as a little visit of condolence to an afflicted friend! { } that is why our blessed lord, in this day's gospel, has given us the beautiful parable of the good samaritan. although a heretic and schismatic against the law of moses, he is chosen as a model because he had a tender, compassionate heart, and was willing to put himself to trouble and expense for his neighbor's welfare. the corporal works of mercy, brethren, are the easiest of the ways to the love of god. people are fond of admiring the members of religious orders, who, for the love of god, serve the sick and the aged, the insane and the orphans; often forgetting that if this is good as a life-work for them, it is not bad as an occasional practise of virtue for us living in the world. all around us there are shoulders bending under weary burdens and hearts breaking with insupportable cares: yes, even in one's own household. how often do men deny their wives the pleasure of their company; when sunday comes, going off with any chance companions and leaving the poor mother to mind the children, to miss mass, and sit lonely at home the livelong day. how very often do young men think of taking anybody's sisters to some respectable place of amusement rather than their own sisters! i think that if a spiritual thermometer were dipped into such men's hearts they would be found pretty near the freezing point. but, brethren, the sick-room--ah! that is the place on the road between jerusalem and jericho where men and women are oftenest found lying in the direst distress. have you ever been very sick? if so, you know the value of a little good nursing. a man who was just recovering from a very dangerous sickness told me once that when his head was burning with the fever he would willingly have given a hundred thousand dollars for the cooling, restful relief he enjoyed every time the nurse rearranged the pillows for him. { } and if you cannot be a regular nurse for the sick, there is no reason why you should not pay an occasional visit to the sick-room. you can spend a pleasant quarter of an hour in cheerful conversation. you can relieve some poor, weary watcher, so that she or he may get a little rest. you can take the ailing child from the worn-out mother's arms and let her lie down and rest her stiffened limbs, or go to church to refresh her anxious soul. you can bring some little delicacy to soothe the sick person's palate. you can read some prayers beside the sick bed morning or night; for we all know that in time of illness it is almost impossible to pray one's self. you can lend a hand to set things to rights, to cook a meal of victuals, or wash the dishes, or run an errand to the drug-store or grocery; and ever and always you can say a word of comfort, of hope, of resignation to the divine will--words cheap to give but precious to receive. and when at last death is come your presence may be of the deepest comfort. then is the time to come forward promptly and help to lay out the christian corpse; to set up for a night beside that strange, silent guest in the coffin; and, when you find two or three gathered about it, to have the courage to lead in reciting the rosary for the soul's happy repose. i know, brethren, that there are many kind hearts who zealously practise these lovely virtues. but there are others, especially among the men, who nearly quite forget them. and others still who do them grudgingly, and only after many entreaties. to obtain a kind act from an unwilling heart, and after encountering many excuses, is like blowing a dying fire: before you see the bright coals your face is pretty well covered with ashes and cinders. { } brethren, let us not be put to shame by the samaritan. when confronted with persons suffering from poverty, sickness, death, or any misfortune, do like the samaritan: forget all about their nationality, or acquaintanceship, or religion. say something or do something in charity and for the love of god; your neighbor's deepest gratitude and god's sure reward will amply repay you. ------------------- sermon cxv. our neighbors. _which of these three, in thy opinion, was neighbor to him that fell among robbers? but he said, he that showed mercy to him._ --gospel of the day. we are taught in the gospel of today to love our neighbors as ourselves. now, if we have this love it shows itself in deeds. if, when we see our neighbor in distress, we pass by, thinking some one else may help him, but _we_ cannot, we are like the proud priest and the levite, not like the good samaritan. our lord, after describing the charity of this samaritan, says: "go and do thou in like manner." we can not pass by our neighbor when he is in extreme necessity without sin; and if his necessity be great we must help him, at least out of our abundance. it is a mistake to think that we are free of obligation in this matter. st. john says: "he that hath the substance of this world and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him, how doth the charity of god abide in him?" { } are not all men creatures of god? are not all men redeemed by the blood of christ? does god give more of this world's goods to one man than to another because he loves one more than another? not at all. the poorest in this world's goods may be rich in god's grace. it is plain, then, that if god has charity for all men, we cannot have his grace if we do not exercise charity towards all, and particularly our neighbor in distress. we must love those whom god loves if we love god, and this love must be _active_--"not in word nor in tongue," says st. john, "but in deed and in truth." we all pray to god for mercy; but if we would find mercy we must show mercy. "blessed are the merciful," says our lord, "for they shall obtain mercy." but, says st. james, "judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy." mercy shall be granted to the merciful, but it shall be denied to the hard of heart. "deal thy bread to the hungry," says isaias, "and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house. then thou shalt call and the lord shall hear." st. jerome says: "i have never known a merciful man to have a bad death." the word of god encourages us "to redeem our sins with alms and our iniquities with works of mercy to the poor." it says further: "for alms deliver from all sin and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." we are taught also in holy scripture that christ considers as done to himself what we do for the poor, but that if we refuse to help those in distress it is as if charity were refused to christ himself. the sentence which shall decide our eternal happiness or woe will be according to our behavior towards our neighbor in distress. { } let us take care not to be deaf to the cries of the suffering poor; let us rather embrace with affection the lovely virtue of mercy. bishop challoner says: "it was mercy which brought the son of god down from heaven to us, and it is mercy which carries us up to him." he calls "mercy the favorite daughter of the great king." the reward of the merciful will be very great. "he that hath mercy on the poor lendeth to the lord, and he will repay him." those of us who labor in the sacred ministry and those who do work in the conference of st. vincent de paul meet continually with persons whose distress appeals most powerfully to our charity. how we wish the offerings for the poor were more generous! how we wish god would inspire pious christians to send in donations for the poor! if you would sometimes send into the church-office envelopes containing money for the poor, what good use we could make of it, and how it would call down the mercy of god upon your souls! brethren, we have jesus christ with us in the persons of the poor. ------------------- sermon cxvi. occasions of sin. _who is my neighbor?_ --from the gospel of the sunday. { } this is a very important question, my brethren. we depend much for our happiness on the kind of persons who live around us and on how they feel to-wards us. our lord answers the question by the famous and touching parable of the good samaritan. by that parable he teaches us kindness of heart; he makes that the mark of true neighborly conduct. the good neighbor is the friendly and benevolent one. but may we not turn the question around and learn another good lesson from it? i think we can. the gospel is like a piece of good cloth. you know when a wise mother buys some cloth to make the children clothes she will get a piece that, as they say, will do to turn--that is, when one side is worn out you can rip up the garment and make it over again with the inside turned outside, and so it will last quite a while longer. so we may learn, perhaps, another lesson from the question in the gospel by reversing it and asking, "who is not my neighbor?" the saloon-keeper is not your neighbor. geographically speaking, no doubt he is your neighbor. he takes care to be handy to you. he is on the ground-floor of the big tenement-house you live in, so that you must pass his door to get to your own. or he is on the corner you must turn twenty times a day. if nearness were the only mark of a neighbor, the saloon-keeper is very neighborly indeed. but, morally speaking, and in the meaning of our lord's parable, he is perhaps the last man who can claim to be your neighbor. yet many honest fellows treat the saloon-keeper not only as their neighbor, but as a partner in their business. they do the hard work; the workingman's share in the partnership is to bend under the heavy hod in the hot sun, or to strike with the heavy sledge on the rocks, or to be half-stifled the livelong day in the hot factory; the other partner has for his share of the work only to smile and pass the bottle. { } you know which one gets the bulk of the profits; or if you do not, the working-man's wife and family know it all too well. how many foolish men are there who have taken this bad neighbor into partnership the most confidential, and not only give him most of their money in return for worse than nothing, but have made him, besides, the managing partner of their leisure, their friendships, and their politics! as to the sorrows that are bred by the saloon-keeper's traffic, he manages to escape them for a time; and may god give him the grace to repent of his sins and fly from their occasion--that is, change his business--that he may escape the divine wrath in the future. another very bad neighbor, and one very unworthy of that name, is a certain class of newsdealers. i say a certain class, for i hope that not all news dealers are alike. but there are very many of them who are guilty of the loss of human souls by selling periodicals and books which can only corrupt the mind and heart of the reader. i ask you, christian parents, what do you think of those who dress out their windows, with bad pictures to lure passionate youth to the early wreck of soul and body? what do you think of persons who actually make a living in selling journals which are but the pictured proceedings of the police courts? o my brethren! how often is the grace of a good confession and communion destroyed by a few minutes bad reading! how many there are whose first mortal sin has been some act of youthful depravity suggested by what was bought at a newsdealer's! such news dealers hold satan's certificates to teach the science of perdition. { } what need has the evil spirit to fear the catholic church and catholic school as long as he is not hindered from laying his snares for youthful virtue in every direction, as long as the laws against obscene literature are a dead-letter? therefore, let catholic parents furnish their families with good reading, both secular and religious; let them take at least one catholic paper, and let them patronize and direct their children to patronize news dealers who do not sell dangerous matter. of course there are other bad neighbors, such as those who invite you to a public dance, or a moonlight excursion, or a sunday picnic, or a low theatre. but i think you will agree with me that the commonest vices are intemperance and impurity, and that our worst enemies are those two bad neighbors, the saloon-keeper and the vender of impure literature. ------------------- { } _thirteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _galatians iii._ - . brethren: to abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. he saith not, "and to his seeds," as of many: but as of one, "and to thy seed," who is christ. now this i say, that the testament which was confirmed by god, the law which was made after four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul, to make the promise of no effect. for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. but god gave it to abraham by promise. why then was the law? it was set because of transgressions, until the seed should come, to whom he made the promise, being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. now, a mediator is not of one: but god is one. was the law then against the promises of god? god forbid. for if there had been a law given which could give life, verily justice should have been by the law. but the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith of jesus christ might be given to them that believe. gospel. _st. luke xvii._ - . at that time: as jesus was going to jerusalem, he passed through the midst of samaria in galilee. and as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: and lifted up their voice, saying: jesus, master, have mercy on us. and when he saw them, he said: go, show yourselves to the priests. and it came to pass that, as they went, they were cleansed. and one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, went back, with a loud voice glorifying god; and he fell on his face, before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a samaritan. { } and jesus answering, said: were there not ten made clean? and where are the nine? there is no one found to return and give glory to god, but this stranger. and he said to him: arise, go thy way, for thy faith hath made thee whole. ------------------- sermon cxvii. thanksgiving. _where are the nine?_ --st. luke xvii. . [usccb: st. luke xvii. .] of the ten lepers whose cure is related in this day's gospel, only one returned to give thanks, and he was a samaritan; the others went their way; they were cured indeed of their dreadful disease, but disgraced by our lord's sad question, where are the nine? thanksgiving, brethren, should follow after god's mercies to us, not only as a matter of justice, but in order to secure the effect of those mercies themselves. just as, in our bodily life, in order to get the benefit of fresh air, breathing _in_ must be followed by breathing _out_, so the giving of thanks must follow the reception of all divine favors. the grace of god is to the soul what the breath is to the body; and the body, to live, must not only draw the air in, but give it forth again to make room for new and fresher air. so in the life of our souls we breathe in god's grace and we breathe out thanksgiving. thanksgiving is furthermore a matter of justice. the holiest debt we owe to god or man is the debt of thanks. every honest man gives thanks for favors received from other men, and every upright soul gives thanks to god. { } it is the most indispensable of all our obligations, because it is the least that we can do. in all our traffic with heaven, gratitude is the only coin we can mint ourselves. thanksgiving is that part of our sanctification necessarily our own. well, brethren, if this be really true and who can deny it?--then a great many of us are insolvent debtors of the worst kind. now you hear it said sometimes that the man who does not pay his debts is as bad as a thief, and in many cases this is perfectly true. so the difference between an open sinner and a thankless christian is that between a thief and a man who by his own fault does not pay his debts. indeed, we sometimes feel as if god ought to thank us for the favor we do him by condescending to serve him. confession and communion and daily prayer, forgiveness of in juries and resisting temptations so puff us up with conceit that we are apt to blame god because in view of our holiness he does not exempt us from the ordinary ills of life! as a matter of fact it is with god and us as with a storekeeper and his customer. you know why a man cannot get trust at a store; it is because he was trusted before and didn't pay his debts. now pretty nearly all the pay that god asks for his favors is that we shall give him thanks, and if we will not do that much he can hardly think us worthy of his further bounty. if we do give thanks he multiplies his favors; for he is determined to keep us in his debt, and as fast as we return thanks so much the faster does he lavish his love upon us. so when we ask why we suffer this miserable stagnation in our spiritual career, perhaps the true answer would be that we are members of a big multiple of that original thankless nine. { } oh! let us thank god that we have the blessings of the true religion, that he is our father, jesus christ our redeemer, and the blessed virgin mary our mother. let us thank him for his gracious promise of the everlasting joys of paradise. for these unspeakable favors our thanks should be ceaseless. let us give thanks, too, in our fervent morning prayers that we have escaped the dangers of the night, and in our night prayers that we have been saved from the noon-day demon. when we rise from our meals let us offer a word of thanks, making at least the sign of the cross, blessing god for the health he gives us and our family. let us thank him for our afflictions--yes, even for temptations; for the pains we suffer thereby are the growing-pains of the soul. especially after receiving holy communion let us give long and heartfelt thanks for all god's dealing with us; for we have then received the greatest of all his gifts, his only-begotten son. ------------------- sermon cxviii. shamelessness in sinners. _there met him three men that were lepers, who stood afar off and lifted tip their voice, saying: jesus, master, have mercy on us._ --the gospel of the sunday. leprosy, my brethren, is often spoken of in holy writ, and is considered a type of sin. it is a loathsome and contagious disease, and when a man was so unhappy as to contract it, besides being driven away by the mosaic law, he fled in very shame from the company of others. { } so it is with the common run of sinners; one of their direst sufferings is shame, from which comes such remorse, such self-detestation, such reasonable envy of the happy state of the innocent, that, standing afar off, the poor sinner at last lifts up his voice and cries to our lord for mercy. so there is always some chance for a poor sinner while he is ashamed of himself; where there is shame there is hope. but, brethren, it happens in our times that there are many sinners without shame. many great sins are done almost as a matter of course, and some even made matter of jest, perhaps of boast. need i mention them? time was that if a man wished to see a vulgar play he was forced to creep up some dark alley; now he may go to a filthy opera in a coach and four, and with the lords of the land, ay, even the ladies of the land. when you and i were boys there was but one commonly known illustrated paper with immoral pictures and bad reading matter; the news dealers now hang their stands all over with them, and young men, and even young women, buy and read them without a blush. you and i can remember when it was a disgrace for a man to idle behind a bar-room counter and get his living from the drunkard and spendthrift. these men make our laws now. it used to be the pride of a young man to get to work as soon as possible to help the old folks along; we hear now too often of hearty young men shamelessly dependent on their parents. and we know of too many parents who are not ashamed of habits of intoxication nor of cursing in the hearing of their little ones. { } and how many mothers of families are there whose harsh voices are heard all over the neighborhood, quarrelling with their husbands and scolding their children! time was when a drunken woman was what scripture says she is, "a great wrath, and her shame shall not be hid." now they publicly send their little boys and girls to the saloon for beer. do i exaggerate? am i not, on the contrary, forced for decency's sake to pass over other shameless sins, which all but the blind and deaf know of among us? indeed, dear brethren, the word of god is true now as of yore that sinners "preach their shame like sodom." the lepers laugh at their leprosy. they run in among us to blight us. their disease, that blight which withers the soul with eternal decay, they rub off upon us. they do it by bad example, by laughing at the simple virtue of good christians, by jesting and mockery, by bullying, by ill-gotten riches and ill-gotten power. but we must remember that they are all this time really sinners, and worse than ordinary sinners, because without shame. here, then, is our first duty; not to permit human respect, worldly position, or a bullying tongue to silence our love of god's honor, our detestation of what does it harm and our pity for the sinner himself. a good remedy against shamelessness in sinning is just a little plain talk. if sometimes, instead of laughing at a vile jest, we should say, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself," we should please god and save souls. in the family, especially, parents should create a sound family opinion about places and persons and reading and amusements and all things else that lead to sin: bad theatres, moonlight excursions, public balls, liquor stores, and beer-gardens. a little plain talk, accompanied by good example and much prayer on the part of good christians, will do a great deal, if not to cure the leprosy of sin in those who have it, at any rate to keep the lepers standing afar off from the uncontaminated and innocent. ------------------- { } sermon cxix. dangers of venial sin. _i know thy works, that thou art neither hot nor cold._ --apocalypse iii. . it is plain that these words of holy writ describe a person in the state of venial sin; or rather one who is in that state wilfully and quite careless about it. now, my brethren, i do not wish to make you scrupulous, but there is no mistake about this; all experience shows that persons careless of venial sins are pretty sure to slip down into mortal sins. indeed (on the other hand), about the only ones who manage to keep clear of mortal sins are those who are fearful of falling into venial sins. save the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves; or, waste the pennies and the dollars will waste themselves. scripture applies this as follows: "he that despiseth small things shall fall little by little." if one keeps the dogs and goats out of the garden the cows will have small chance to get in. keep a watch on the venial sins and the mortal sins will keep out of sight. { } and does it not stand to reason that, if one is habituated to look keenly after little sins, it is morally impossible for him to be carried away by great sins? if you are anxious and distressed because your soul seems less pure, less holy, less beautiful than it ought to be, with what horror will you be filled at the bare thought of becoming a regular slave of the evil spirit! and how much easier is it, brethren, to keep a sharp lookout for a few little trifles, rather than to be always running the risk of eternal woe! and now i will tell you of some of those who are full of venial sins, and pretty sure to be sooner or later in a state of mortal sin. those who are content with their easter duty--a soul content with a spiritual meal once in twelve months cannot have very vigorous spiritual health or a very strong appetite for divine things. those who are often late for mass--once in a while they will miss it altogether, and for no particular reason, except that they feel it a great bore to have to do anything for the love of god. those who continually neglect their morning prayers: even though they make an effort to say their night prayers, they have omitted deliberately the most necessary religious act of the day. those who are addicted to idleness; for that is one of the worst occasions of sin, both mortal and venial. those who are stingy, especially to their near relatives and the poor; to love money is to love something our lord has a great contempt for. those who are touchy and resentful; for they cannot live in peace with anybody, and peace is necessary for our spiritual welfare. those who tell improper stories, and are fond of hearing others do it; but as to this class, i am not sure but that they are in mortal sin already: "can a man put fire in his bosom and not be burned?" those who are fond of gossip; for god will not permit us to trifle with our neighbor's good name, and gossipers and tale-bearers are often not in mortal sin, only because, malicious as they are, they are just as stupid. { } those who, though they don't get drunk, yet hang around saloons, and those who are fond of drinking and treating; and this is a case, my brethren, where only judgment-day will tell where venial sin ends and mortal sin begins. dear brethren, the only really safe way of dealing with god is the generous way. arouse yourself with high and noble motives to be a real friend of god, faithful and true in things little as well as great, and religion will seem something new and ever so much pleasanter to you. otherwise you will not have the comfort of being sure of god's friendship at all. you may be like an old lady who once told me very sorrowfully about how her daughter died. "i was watching at her bedside," she said, "and, after a long spell of suffering, she dropped off at last into a gentle slumber. i turned down the lamp and stepped softly into the next room, waiting to hear her call me when she woke up. an hour passed, another hour, a third, and still she slept on. finally the doctor came, and so we had to wake her up. but oh! when we came to the bedside we found her dead, cold and dead, while i thought her asleep." so your soul may seem to you only sleeping, only lukewarm in god's service, only careless about your religious duties; whereas it may be all the time, if not in the very state of spiritual death--mortal sin--at least in the torpor which goes before it. ------------------- { } fourteenth sunday after pentecost. epistle. _galatians v._ - . brethren: i say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. for the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. but if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, emulations, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envy, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. of the which i foretell you, as i have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of god. but the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. against such there is no law. and they that are christ's, have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences. gospel. _st. matthew vi._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: no man can serve two masters. for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. you cannot serve god and mammon. therefore i say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the raiment? behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly father feedeth them. are not you of much more value than they? { } and which of you by thinking can add to his stature one cubit? and for raiment why are you solicitous? consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. and yet i say to you, that not even solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. now if god so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven: how much more you, ye of little faith? be not solicitous therefore, saying: what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? for after all these things do the heathen seek. for your father knoweth that you have need of all these things. seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of god and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. ------------------- sermon cxx. the poverty of christ. _for after all these things do the heathen seek._ --st. matthew. vi. . in this day's gospel our blessed lord would teach us that the difference between men is the difference between the objects for which they live. and he lays down the fundamental law of his kingdom, that if the chief object of one's life is the enjoyment of the things every where about us--eating and drinking and money and lands--he has therein a mark of belonging to the kingdom of this world. to belong to our lord's kingdom we must live for none of these things as the end of our endeavors. we may, indeed, have and use the things of this world, but for higher purposes than the world itself can offer; as far as any enjoyment in them is concerned, it is too trifling a matter to engage our serious pursuit. { } yet, brethren, is not the whole christian world absorbed in seeking after what should be the heathen's peculiar treasure? is not this the most anxious inquiry, how shall i get rich? is not the possession of riches deemed the most enviable happiness? is it not the best praise of an individual that he is prosperous, and of a nation that it is wealthy? what a serious lesson it is, therefore, that our lord expresses his contempt for what is deemed the height of human wisdom among us--a contempt no less profound because so gently expressed! if--he as much as says--if you and i are to make choice of beauty, you may choose king solomon's wardrobe with all its jewels, and i will take the new-blown lily; if you talk to me of foresight and skill in the business of life, you may admire the successful speculator, but the little sparrow is my model. and our lord's life was fully in accord with his doctrine. for it was of set purpose that he saw fit to lack those things that nearly all men covet most; that he was the child of a poor maiden, and the apprentice of a country carpenter; that he was a wanderer barefoot and needy about judea, yet all the time the only-begotten son of the lord of all majesty; that he was seemingly a tried and convicted malefactor, and died naked and all but alone upon the gibbet, yet all the time the immortal king of ages. the truth is that this unhappy overvaluing of the more lowly things of life is a fault deeply rooted in our fallen nature. that the eager pursuit of wealth is not compatible with god's service; that it is the peculiar province of the heathen we indeed know. { } and we know that the human soul is too noble a being to expend its dearest action to purchase any perishable thing whatever. yet very many persons who deem themselves good enough christians are quite proud of their success in the heathen's way of life. and many other christians fall into downright despair because god has deprived them of the things that "the heathen seek." far be it from us indeed to underestimate the burden of poverty, or to say that it is an easy thing to suffer it. god knows that it is a terribly hard thing to be poor; to see one's family suffer actual hunger; to wander about the streets with no roof to cover one; to lie helplessly sick and be too poor to get proper food or medicine. but on the other hand it is wrong to act under such circumstances as if all were lost, or as if god hated us; that is the very time to arouse one's faith in god's love and one's reliance on his promises; to seek his consolation in the holy sacraments; to raise one's eyes hourly to his countenance by fervent prayer that he may relieve the burden, or at any rate grant patience to bear it. oh! how few there are who gladly and heartily choose the kingdom of god and his justice in preference to the treasures of this world! how few there are who do so even grudgingly and doubtfully! yet the doctrine stands: to labor for a postponed reward is the christian's life, and for a present reward the heathen's. to pass by a seen and present joy for the sake of an unseen joy is the christian's wisdom. to trust the voice of an unseen benefactor--in a word, to walk in the darkness of a supernatural faith--is the fundamental virtue of our religion. ------------------- { } sermon cxxi. brotherly love. _but the fruit of the spirit is charity._ --epistle of the sunday. mark these words, brethren; for they describe the christian religion, at least as far as its practical effects are concerned. the presence of the holy ghost is known by a kindly disposition, a friendly feeling towards others, a longing to make others happy, an affectionate sympathy for their sufferings; and all this for the love of god. so st. john says: "we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren." the necessary result of sanctifying grace is a deep attachment to our friends and a loving forgiveness towards our enemies. "for all the law," says st. paul, "is fulfilled in one sentence: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." kindness of heart, generosity, self-forgetfulness, done to be like jesus christ, is the beginning and the end of our holy faith. "i give you a new commandment," said our lord to his disciples, "that you love one another; as i have loved you, that you love one another." again: "by this shall men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." he thus tells us what his law is--fraternal charity; that is the newness of life man got from heaven above; that is the torrent of heavenly influence rushing down upon us and bearing us away upon its billows; and that is the mark set upon us by which we know ourselves, and others may know us, to be the fruit of the holy spirit. { } but somebody might say, how about the love of god? is not the love of god the end of all religion? is it not our first duty to love god so strongly that we prefer him to all things else, even our nearest relatives? is not the love of god the one absorbing duty of our lives? in answer, my brethren, i have only to say that that is but another way of looking at the same thing; for since the coming of our lord among us god has become man, and we are born in holy baptism, "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god." when our lord, true god as he was, took human nature, he took our poor nature just as it is, saving its sinfulness; and it is his blessed will that one by one every man, woman, and child in the world should personally be joined to his divine nature by baptism, and, as st. peter says, be made partakers of the divinity he possesses. and even the poor, unbaptized heathen, they are to be gifted with this divine privilege by our love for them and our loving efforts to give it to them. now do you not see why our lord, his apostles, and his church made so much of the love of one's neighbor? and do you not see that, whether you begin to love with god or with man, if you do it along with jesus christ, you do it with the god-man, and therefore always in god and never out of man? yet another might say: but, father, what about the sacraments, and what about the practice of prayer, and what about the laws of the church? i answer by a comparison: why do men plant and then reap a field of wheat? that they may in due time get the grain, make bread of part for themselves and families, and sell the rest to their neighbors. { } now, some may use the very old-fashioned way of thrashing out the grain by the tread of oxen, and others by the beating of the flail, and others by the great, roaring thrashing-machine. the last way is the quickest and cleanest and best. so our lord, when he became man, invented the sacraments; he established his church as the new and best way of obtaining the ripe fruit of the holy spirit, and that way he commands us to use. so the man who really loves his neighbor as himself learns to do it by using our lord's methods, the sacraments, and he cannot get along without them. so, brethren, cultivate more and more this sweet christian virtue of fraternal love; and especially in your families. when the children cry, when they are sickly and peevish, when others are cross and exacting, when some are dull and stupid, when the meals are too late or the food is not cooked right, when the thousand-and-one annoyances of living with others vex and harass you, remember that you are a christian, and that loving patience, great good nature, fondness for friends--to say nothing of zeal for the conversion of poor sinners--are virtues that will win you the kingdom of heaven. ------------------- sermon cxxii. religion for week-days. _no man can serve two masters. ... you cannot serve god and mammon._ --gospel of the day. { } what does our lord mean by this, my brethren? "no man," he says, "can serve two masters." "why," you might perhaps answer, "i do not see any difficulty about serving two masters. what is to prevent a man, for instance, after his regular hours of work are over, from hiring himself out for the evenings to some other employer, if he has strength enough to spare? or, if he can make such an arrangement, why should he not work for one in the morning, and another in the afternoon? and are there not, in fact, many people, teachers, for example, who give private lessons, who have a great number of employers whom they agree to serve at stated times?" yes, this seems true enough. it seems so true that i believe there are many people who, in spite of our lord's statement to the contrary, divide their service between god and mammon. they hire themselves out to the devil, or at least to the world during the week, and when sunday comes round, and they put on their good clothes, they change their master at the same time, and, at least for the time that they are in church, read certain words out of their prayer-books, in which they offer their service to god. and they do not appear to think that there is anything strange about this. they think that, of course, decency requires that god should want part of their time for his service, and that he is quite reasonable in only asking for one day out of seven; but that he should have any claim on them during the part of the week that he does not specially reserve does not seem to occur to their minds. that is the time engaged to the other master--that is, to their worldly interests or pleasures. they find no difficulty in reconciling the service of god and mammon at all; they can be good christians and also men of the world like others without the slightest trouble. { } but i seem to hear some one say, "father, are you not pushing this matter rather too far? surely one cannot be in church or saying his prayers at home all the week. some people may find time to come to early mass and all the devotions, and live what you may call a pious life generally; but i have to go to my business or my family will starve. what would you have me do?" well, i will tell you. i do not find fault with any one for attending to his business during the week, and working as much as he is obliged to provide for himself and his family properly; but i must say, by the way, that many people, under this excuse, fall into the snare of avarice, and work early and late to hoard up riches which neither they nor their family need, and which, left to their children, is only too likely to be an occasion of sin. however, i repeat, no one is to be blamed for attending to the proper duties of his state of life; for working at his business, if it is a legitimate and useful one. but what one is to be blamed for is for attending to it as if, instead of being god's business, as it ought to be, it was no business of his at all; as if he had nothing to say about it, and his laws did not apply to it. the delusion that too many christians are under is that their religious life and their life in the world are entirely separate concerns; that religion, morality, god's laws in general, have nothing to do with politics, business, buying or selling, or what they call practical affairs. they say, if we did not do as others do about these things, we could not get on at all; so they calmly take for granted, even, perhaps, in the confessional, that such things have no moral aspect whatever. { } this is a great delusion and a fatal blunder. a christian has got to be a christian first, last, and all the time; one cannot be a catholic on sunday, and to all intents and purposes a protestant or an infidel during the week. if you can't get on on the principle of serving god and trying to find out and do his will on monday as well as on sunday, then all i have to say is, "don't get on." i dare say there is some truth in your complaint; a man who manages his business and daily life generally, as if there was no god in the world, will probably make money faster, and have in some ways a better time, than one will who believes in god and tries to do his will. very well, then, if you prefer this world to the next, act according to its standard sunday, monday, and all the time; but don't try to cut inside of it and get a pass to heaven on the ground that you have used another standard now and then. ------------------- { } _fifteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _galatians v._ ; _vi._ . brethren: if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. let us not become desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. and if a man can be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of mildness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. bear ye one another's burdens, and so shall you fulfil the law of christ. for if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. but let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. for every one shall bear his own burden. and let him who is instructed in the word communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. be not deceived, god is not mocked. for what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. for he that soweth in the flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. and in doing good, let us not fail. for in due time we shall reap, not failing. therefore, whilst we have time, let us do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith. gospel. _st. luke vii._ - . at that time: jesus went into a city called naim: and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. and when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. and when the lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her: weep not. { } and he came near and touched the bier. (and they that carried it stood still.) and he said: young man, i say to thee, arise. and he that was dead sat up and began to speak. and he delivered him to his mother. and there came a fear on them all: and they glorified god, saying: that a great prophet is risen up among us: and god hath visited his people. ------------------- sermon cxxiii. the fruits of a bad life. _be not deceived, god is not mocked; for what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap._ --epistle of the day. one would think, my dear friends, that the apostle would hardly have needed to remind any one having common sense, or even a little experience, of such an obvious truth as this. surely no one expects, when he plants some kind of seed, to have some other kind of crop come from it. "do men," says our divine lord, "gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" no, we are all well aware that if we want to grow any kind of grain or fruit we must sow the seed or plant the tree which produces it. and yet, strange to say, though we all do acknowledge this law of nature in everything outside of ourselves, we fail to apply it to ourselves, and especially to our souls. in matters simply pertaining to the body we do indeed know that the cause will produce its effect. if we sow the seed of some fatal disease in ourselves we expect it to break out and run its course; we do not believe that, as a rule, tears or even prayers are going to stop it. { } but when it comes to the soul, many christians seem to think that everything regarding it may be shifted at their own will; that they may go on for years sowing the seeds of all kinds of abominable vices in their souls, and that, later on, whenever they may desire, all this work can be undone in a moment, and those souls, which sin has rotted through and through, can be put right back where they were as they came from the baptismal font, or even set on a perfect level with those in which the seed of every virtue has been implanted and carefully nurtured from childhood. ah! my dear brethren, this is a great and a terrible mistake. hear the words in which st. paul continues: "he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption; but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting." "he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption." here is the great evil of sin, which repentance, however sincere, cannot utterly undo. true contrition will, no doubt, especially if accompanied by the sacrament of penance, take away the guilt of sin; but unless it be very intense, and accompanied by an extraordinary love of god, like that of the great saints, it will not, in releasing from guilt, remedy all the deformity which long-continued habits of vice have worked in the soul. yes, sorrow may come in such an overflowing torrent as to break down and sweep away all obstacles in its path; but how often does it come so? to have such sorrow for sin is a rare and remarkable grace from god which the sinner has no right to expect. { } all this is specially true, as the words of the apostle teach us, of the sins of the flesh, such as drunken-ness and impurity. the body will hang on to sin after the soul has given it up, and will drag the soul again down with it. oh! that those who are addicted to these horrible sensual habits would realize their danger, and feel the net which the flesh has been weaving round their spirit. but no; they go on from week to week, from month to month, making, it may be, now and then a feeble effort to escape; but too often it can be seen after each confession, though they are indeed on their feet again, that the odds against them are greater than ever, and that their weapons are dropping out of their hands. brethren, grace is powerful, surely; but you are much mistaken if you think it is going to destroy and make of no effect the law of nature. rouse yourselves to the combat which is before you while there is yet time; for the time may come, and perhaps sooner than you think, when the corruption of the flesh will quench the feeble spark of contrition which god has hitherto given you, and in which lies your only hope. ------------------- sermon cxxiv. sins of parents. _and jesus said, young man, i say to thee, arise._ --st. luke viii. . { } many mourning parents, brethren, are represented by the poor widow of naim, told of in this day's gospel; and their mourning is for sons dead in mortal sin. these are indeed days of many and various vices, and our young people are far from being exempt. blasphemy and religious indifference; neglect of prayer, mass, and the sacraments; drunkenness and impurity; such are the plague-spots on the spiritual corpses of many of our young people. yet, alas! as parents raise their eyes to our lord's gracious countenance and beg his pity, they should sometimes confess that they are not without blame for their misfortunes. many parents spoil their children by bad example. for if they profane the name of god in the midst of their families, they need not be surprised to find that in after-years their children have no reverence for god or for his church or his sacraments. fathers who come home smelling strong of drink, and now and then plainly intoxicated, may indeed hope to save their own souls by thorough repentance, but are likely enough to have drunkards among their children. parents who tolerate improper language in the household, and can laugh at a double-meaning joke, and see no harm in a lascivious dance or a doubtful novel, need not be surprised to find that their daughters have lost maidenly reserve, and that their sons are given to open debauchery. parents who neglect their easter duty, and who easily excuse themselves from sunday mass, need not be surprised if their children fall quite away from the practice of religion and even from its belief. now, it often happens that children who have been treated too leniently while quite young are treated too severely when a little older. too much authority should not be used with boys and girls who are some years in their teens. { } with them authority is at best a medicine, and not a food. to strengthen a boy's virtue, to make him love religion, to give him a bright notion of the next world and of the value of his soul, the exercise of authority is one means, but perhaps the least useful of all. in some cases authority can only do harm. to make a person who has full use of reason a good christian it is necessary to put him in the way of intelligent instruction, by giving him good, readable religious matter, books or papers; by persuading him by such inducements as an occasional little present, and by a continual interest in his progress, to keep his place at sunday-school; by introducing and discussing religious topics in family conversation, and by interesting him to attend sermons and lectures. meantime let there be many kind words and much sympathetic conduct, forgetfulness of past offences, patience with natural difficulties and with youthful folly; let all this go beforehand and authority will find nothing left to do. brethren, do not suppose that it is always best to _force_ one to do what he ought to do; try rather to induce him, to attract him. st. francis de sales says: "you can catch more flies with one drop of honey that with a barrel of vinegar"; and he also says: "for every ounce of good advice add a pound of good example." therefore it is that so many scolding parents end by becoming weeping parents. parental authority, which should be merely the supremacy of all that is worthy of affection, has made home hateful and driven the children into occasions of sin--the saloon and the low theatre for the boys, the stolen interview and the common dance for the girls. { } but, some one might say, what if your child has got beyond you and will be bad in spite of every best endeavor on your part--what then? well, at any rate there is no sense in railing at him. if you can not make him better, what is the sense of making him miserable? and is not then the very time to lay him, spiritually speaking, in his coffin, and lead our lord up to him, and, kneeling down, say: o lord! have pity on me, for this is my dear son, dead in mortal sin? say but the word; touch his dead soul with thy loving hand; stir him up to repentance! many such prayers cannot be said without producing their effect: the resurrection of your child's soul from the death of mortal sin. ------------------- sermon cxxv. the law of charity. _bear ye one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of christ._ --epistle of the day. the law of christ, dear brethren, is essentially a law of charity. "thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole soul and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself." this is the whole law of christ summed up, and it is plain that this is a law of love. but the apostle bids us bear one another's burdens that we may fulfil this law, which, as is evident from the text just quoted, imposes upon us the love of our god and of our neighbor. how, then, will the bearing of others burdens help us to serve god better? { } that we have burdens, and some of us rather heavy ones, is clear enough; and that most of us are only too willing to have some one help us to carry them will be, i think, generally agreed to. every one has his own difficulties; every one has something which he would like to get rid of if he could, because it interferes with his comfort. now, i do not think the apostle wished us to suppose from his words that god would have us free each other from _all_ suffering, since that is not possible, as we know that hardship forms a necessary part of our probation. we must expect to have something to suffer always. but what he would have us do, it seems to me, is to help each other by counsel and material aid, to make what otherwise might be almost unbearable easier to carry. "my yoke is sweet and my burden light." this is the spirit he wishes us to strive after. it is an unselfish spirit he desires for us, such as will make us forget our own sufferings in ministering to the wants of others. he wants us to cultivate charity; to look beyond ourselves and our own interests, and take up the troubles of our brethren. but you say to me: "i do not see what advantage there is in all this; if i take another's burden, i am but adding to my own." it is just here that our really helping each other appears. it is by this very assistance we give our neighbor that we fulfil the law of christ, which demands suffering of us. for by our sympathizing with others and sharing in their difficulties our own burdens become lighter. if we simply took care of ourselves and were forgetful of all the rest of the world, we would chafe beneath our load; we would be so wrapped up in ourselves that nothing could persuade us that our sufferings were the very best things that could befall us. { } by helping our neighbor we help ourselves. we are led to be reconciled to our lot, to expect nothing more from god for ourselves than what we see others getting. we know that they have as just a claim upon him as we, yet they have their troubles as well as we. the road to heaven is open to all, but all must take what they get as they go along, and be thankful for it and make no comparisons. all get a goodly share of what is disagreeable to nature on the way; our own portion differs only in kind and quantity from that of others. by helping our neighbor, too, we fulfil, as the apostle tells us, the law of christ, for the law of christ is charity--love towards god, love towards our fellow-man. our stooping to our neighbor's need fosters god's love in our souls no less than love of our neighbor. it makes us go to god as our father and recognize his justice. we perceive the necessity of mortifying our rebellious appetites and placing ourselves entirely in god's hands. how much happier, how much better christians we would be did we but bear each other's burdens! then we would soon learn what now seems so hard: that the yoke of christ is indeed sweet and his burden truly light. ------------------- { } _sixteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians iii._ - . brethren: i beseech you not to be disheartened at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. for this cause i bow my knees to the father of our lord jesus christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his spirit unto the inward man. that christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. to know also the charity of christ, which surpasseth knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of god. now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we ask or understand, according to the power which worketh in us: to him be glory in the church, and in christ jesus, throughout all generations, world with out end. amen. gospel. _st. luke xiv._ - . at that time: when jesus went into the house of a certain prince of the pharisees, on the sabbath day, to eat bread, and they were watching him. and behold, there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. and jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and pharisees, saying: is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? but they held their peace. but he, taking him, healed him, and sent him away. and answering them, he said: which of you whose ass or his ox shall fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him out on the sabbath day? and they could not answer him to these things. { } and he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: when thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the highest place, lest perhaps one more honorable than thou be invited by him: and he who invited thee and him, come and say to thee: give place to this man; and then thou begin with blushing to take the lowest place. but when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place: that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee: friend, go up higher. then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee. because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ------------------- sermon cxxvi. christian humility. _he that humbleth himself shall be exalted._ --gospel of the day. as we hear these familiar words, my brethren, some of us will perhaps be inclined to say, or at least to think, that this matter of humility is just a little threadbare, so to speak; that we have already heard pretty much all that can be said about it. i dare say this is true; but when a thing is very important it has to be spoken of quite often. and humility is very important; after the love of god and of our neighbor, there is nothing more so. in fact, the difficulties in the way of loving god and our neighbor as we should, come, we may say, entirely from our inordinate love of ourselves; and this inordinate love of ourselves generally takes the shape either of pride or sensuality. in other words, pride and sensuality are the two great causes of all our sins; what wonder, then, that our lord should warn us so frequently about them? { } and the very fact that we think we have heard enough about humility shows that we are not so humble as we ought to be. if we think that we are well up in this matter, it is a good sign that we are not. many people will say, especially when they are on their knees, "oh! i am a miserable sinner; i am everything that is bad"; but when they get up from their knees, and look around them, you will find that they think themselves in point of fact pretty nearly as good as anybody else, and perhaps, on the whole, rather better than most people whom they know. it is not, however, after all, about the matter of goodness that pride is most sensitive. most christians, unfortunately, do not try very hard to be saints, and are not very much tempted to be proud of their achievements in that direction. but almost every one considers himself tolerably well gifted in the matter of natural common sense; he thinks his brains about as good as any one else's, though he may readily admit that he has not had so great advantages as another, or, in other words, that he is "no scholar." so, to be thought or called a natural-born fool is a very hard trial for any one's humility; almost all of us, i am afraid, would rather be called a rascal. to be considered bad-looking, that again is a great mortification to some people; or to have one's birth and family despised, to be thought low and vulgar, how many can you find that will put up with that? that is the real reason why you so often hear some one find fault with somebody else for being "stuck up"; it is that when he or she is stuck up i am stuck down. { } you notice, my brethren, that this matter of pride is mostly comparative, as i may say. we should not mind other people being stuck up, if we could only be stuck up too. and it is just here on this tender point that the parable of our lord in to-day's gospel touches. he says: "when thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest, perhaps, one more honorable than thou be invited." this is where the shoe pinches, this admitting that some one else is more honorable than we are; especially in this country, where every one shakes hands with the president, and all are made, as far as possible, equal. still, we can manage to admit that there are some who are better entitled to the first place than ourselves; indeed, we cannot well help that. but our lord would have us go farther than this. he says: "sit down in the lowest place." that is the great lesson of humility that is so hard for us to learn. not to say, "i am a miserable sinner; i am blind, weak, and fallible." oh! yes, we can say that easily, because we feel that everybody else ought to say it of himself, and probably will say it. but to be ready to acknowledge, especially if the general opinion goes that way, that we are inferior to anybody else, whoever it may be that we may be compared with; to take this for granted, and not be surprised if others agree with us, this is that true humility which is exalted, not by being put in a place where it can be able to crow over others and thus be turned into pride, but by being granted the exaltation of being brought nearer to god. ------------------- { } sermon cxxvii. vanity. _when thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the highest place._ --st. luke xiv. . it is not many sundays ago that our lord's words taught us humility by the spectacle of the pharisee's pride contrasted with the publican's lowliness. yet holy church repeats the same lesson to-day by telling us what our lord thinks of one who is vain enough to take too high a place at the wedding-feast. and indeed, brethren, it takes much teaching for us to learn the corruption of our own hearts. if there is anybody we lack close acquaintance with, it is our own very selves. if there is one book harder for us to read than any other it is the book of our own hearts. yet in spite of this ignorance of ourselves, either before god or in comparison with our neighbor, we are always tempted to set ourselves up for something far better than we really are, and no less tempted to depreciate our neighbor. we are too anxious to exercise the same certain judgment about relative merit in spiritual things as we fancy we can do in temporal affairs. you doubtless know the various standards of worldly preference. one person looks around at others and exclaims in his or her secret heart: with what shocking bad taste do such and such ones dress! they must be very vulgar indeed; surely i cannot be expected to demean myself by going in _their_ company. another says: there is a great deal in social standing. let every one know his place in the world and keep it; as for me, i am certainly quite above the company of such and such persons. { } another says: brains is the standard; good clothes and social position--what are they but miserable vanity and prejudice? but i have brains; and i know it, and can show it; therefore, stand aside for me, for i am entitled to preference. now, brethren, what is there in the spiritual life that answers to good clothes? i will tell you: it is certain external practices of devotion. external devotions are indeed necessary for the soul just as clothes are for the body, and if used in the right spirit give one spiritual warmth and adorn the soul with interior virtues. but we must not be vain of them. and what answers in the spiritual life to the consciousness of social position? the remembrance of many years spent in god's service and the various spiritual gifts received from him. but beware of spiritual pride. and what answers to human talents and ability? facility in prayer, glibness of speech about spiritual things, knowledge of devotional books, and the like. and these may be made a cause of vanity. so when our lord looks in among the guests at his spiritual table we may well imagine his saying to one or other of us: friend, i perceive that you have been trusting a trifle too much to certain external practices; they are very good in themselves, but should be joined to a deeper and truer contrition for your sins and a more practical use of penance and mortification. i am sorry to make you blush, but really you must step down a few seats lower. { } to another he says: friend, you are in the wrong place; i know that you have received many graces from me in the past, but i also notice a great want of gratitude on your part; besides this, i see from your present disposition of mind that, if you are left where you are, you are likely to be quite puffed up with vanity. so i will set you down a little lower to a place opposite a good dish of thanksgiving and an other of humility. to another he says: what are you doing there, you who are so fault-finding and overbearing? do you trust to your knowledge of spiritual things and your pious talk? your religion consists of words, words, words, and what i want is deeds. so, down with you to the last place at the table; and if i had any place lower than the last you should certainly have it. brethren, let us be glad to sit down anywhere at our lord's banquet; glad of so much as the crumbs from the table. that is to say, the friendship of god is too precious a thing, and too much all his own to give, that we should presume to glory in it. humility, detachment from our own excellence, willingness to think poorly of our own merits--such are the virtues that underlie all true piety. ------------------- sermon cxxviii. behavior in church. _and he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table._ --gospel of the day. our blessed saviour in this day's gospel teaches us a lesson of good order and practical conduct which may be applied in many ways. i will make the application of it this morning to our conduct in church. { } we will consider the holy sacrifice of the mass, the great feast to which we are invited, the church the banquet-hall, and the pews the places set apart for the guests. there is nothing more conducive to the pleasure and purpose of an assemblage than the good order and proper arrangement of everything connected with it, and we often hear persons speak of some event in which they participated as being most enjoyable because everything was so well ordered and arranged. now, all this applies with double force to the public services of religion. catholics greatly enjoy the public services of the church when every is well ordered and arranged, and there is nothing to distract them or jar upon them. for at every service there is the divine presence, and where perfect order reigns it soon makes itself felt: its calm peace steals in upon the soul, it communes sweetly, and worships "in spirit and in truth." but in order to secure an external condition of things in our churches so essential to recollection and prayer, each one must know his place and occupy it without delay or confusion, and in our present system of church arrangement each worshipper is supposed to have his or her special place assigned, and the regular seat in the church has become a requirement of devotion as well as a necessity of church finance. hence, to secure a permanent place in the church is a duty of devotion as well as something of an obligation; and we find that truly pious catholics almost invariably try to secure seats in their parish churches, be they ever so humble. indeed, catholics who fail to do this are not apt to be very steady in the practice of their religion; and there can be no doubt as to the neglect of duty in the case. { } to contribute to the support of religion is as much a positive law of the church as to attend mass on sundays, and the ordinary revenue for the support of religion comes from the pew-rents. we insist, therefore, that every catholic who can possibly afford it should have his seat in church; good order requires this as well as duty and devotion. it is a poor business to be all the while occupying other people's pews, and sometimes, perhaps, be required to vacate them. pew-holders have their rights, and they must be protected in them. nevertheless, to secure good order and harmony at the services of the church, pew-holders must be willing at times to waive their rights and allow strangers and others to occupy the vacant seats in their pews. this is no more than politeness and common christian charity demand. to refuse a vacant seat in church to a stranger is selfishness gone to seed, and they are few, i hope, who would be guilty of such vulgarity. but while all who possibly can should have their regular places in church, there will, no doubt, always be a very considerable number who, through poverty or perverseness, will be pew-holders at large, and to them i would also address a few remarks. the catholic church is the church of the poor! this is our glory and our pride. no one can be too poor to attend the services of the catholic church. god is no respecter of persons, nor is his church. the poor are always welcome in her grandest temples, and none should ever miss a single service of religion because they are too poor to hire a regular seat. in this church, thank god, everything is free to them, and there are always vacant seats for them to occupy. { } we not only wish non-pew-holders to occupy the vacant seats in our church, but we insist on their occupying them, for the good order and harmony of the services require that, as far as possible, all should be seated. the only condition we impose is the gospel injunction: "do not sit down in the first place" or in the place of another; and if you are told to move up higher, do not refuse. crowding around the doors is more objectionable than anything else, for there is nothing else that interferes so much with the good order and arrangement of the services. let me repeat, then, in conclusion, the words of the parable: "friend, go up higher," and don't crowd around the doors. ------------------- { } _seventeenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians iv._ - . brethren: as a prisoner in the lord, i beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. one body and one spirit: as you are called in one hope of your vocation. one lord, one faith, one baptism, one god and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all, who is blessed for ever and ever. gospel. _st. matthew xxii._ - . at that time the pharisees came nigh to jesus: and one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: master, which is the great commandment in the law? jesus said to him: thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. this is the greatest and the first commandment. and the second is like to this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. on, these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. and the pharisees being gathered together, jesus asked them saying: what think you of christ? whose son is he? they say to him: david's. he saith to them: how then doth david in spirit call him lord, saying: "the lord said to my lord: sit on my right hand, until i make thy enemies thy footstool"? if david then called him lord, how is he his son? and no man was able to answer him a word: neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. ------------------- { } sermon cxxix. prayer for sinners. _and the other is like unto this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself._ --st. matthew. xxii. . how great must be the dignity of human nature, my brethren, since, as we learn by this day's gospel, our lord couples the love of his fellow-men with the love of his own sovereign and divine self! perhaps if we appreciated the native worth of human nature we should be a trifle more patient with its faults. i mean, of course, other people's faults, for with our own faults we are all too patient. the practical lesson conveyed by the commandment, "love thy neighbor as thyself," is that it is our duty to love sinners and to pray for them. to love good people is easy enough, and we think a man a kind of a monster who has not at least one or two dear friends whose virtues have won his love. but it takes a good christian to love what at first sight seems so hateful--a drunkard, a libertine, an apostate, a bully, a thief. to have an actual, practical affection for such persons, even when one is related to them, seems quite a special thing--a peculiar vocation, a side-path in the spiritual life, and not by any means the common business and regular vocation of every-day christians. yet a moment's thought shows that it is, without any doubt, our lord's blessed will that we should have a special affection for just such hardened sinners. are they not men, and are they not purchased by the blood of christ? { } how much we mistake our duty in reference to such poor wretches! when you say of one, "oh! he is a most worthless creature," how surprised you would be if you could hear a whisper coming from his guardian angel: "jesus christ thought him worth dying for." and when you say of another, "oh! i can't bear him; i can't stay a moment in his company," how surprised you would be to hear, "and i, an angel of god, i gladly keep him company day and night." surely, brethren, there is something worth loving, heartily loving, in a soul that our lord would die for, and to whom god would give a bright angel as a constant companion. we are like men going through a picture-gallery: we admire only the brilliant and unmistakable beauties displayed there--here a gorgeous sunset, there a fine battle-scene, and again a ship tossing upon the waves. but one of better taste than common, without forgetting all these, will be able to detect the work of a great master, though faded with the lapse of many years and covered all over with dust. so it is with the poor sinner's soul: it is the work of a great master. and what though it be all stained and spotted with mortal sin; is there no such thing as true repentance? are there no fountains of living waters in the sacraments in which it may be washed whiter than snow? are there no gems of divine grace with which it may be decked out as a bride waiting for the bridegroom? prayer for the conversion of sinners should be far more practised than it is. why, brethren, look around you in this great city, and if you can count the stars of heaven or the sands of the sea-shore you can count the men and women in mortal sin; and, alas! very many of them belong to our religion. nay, look about in your own families. { } how seldom will a family be found where there is not at least one member living openly at enmity with god! now, just here, in the midst of the worst wickedness, are many thousands of devout servants of god, and in every family one or two souls whose very names might be faithful and true. and god arranges this mingling of good and evil, that the good souls by their prayers may save the bad ones from eternal death; just as in southern countries men plant eucalyptus-trees in low, marshy places, for the eucalyptus, with its fragrant leaves, counteracts the poisonous vapors of the swamp. if, therefore, you pray for yourself you do well; but do not forget that, if you are a true christian, the poor sinner is your other self. and if you pray for the souls in purgatory, do not forget that there are many souls about you who are always in danger of hell, and unless many prayers are offered for them they are likely enough to be lost for ever. ------------------- sermon cxxx. the christian vocation. _i beseech you to walk worthy of your vocation in which you are called._ --epistle of the day. in the gospel our lord says that the perfect love of god and of our neighbor fulfils all the law and the commands of god through the prophets. at another time he said: "be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfect." it is plain that every christian has a vocation--that is, is called to a christ like, a god like life. something more is expected of him because he has received infused light to know by divine grace how to do more. in general, we call that a higher, a more exalted spiritual state. now, there are degrees even in this depending upon the particular grace it pleases god to give to one person or another. { } one star differeth from another star in brightness and glory, and so shall the glory of the christians differ in heaven, according to the perfection to which they have brought their souls while in this school-time of the world-life. over and above what are called strict christian laws, which one must obey or lose heaven, there are certain principles of christianity called evangelical counsels--namely, poverty, chastity, and obedience. some folks fancy these counsels apply only to monks, nuns, and priests. that is a great mistake. monks, nuns, and priests receive grace and are bound by _their_ vocation to practise these counsels in a high degree, and yet not even all these in the same manner. a secular priest, for instance, is not called to practise poverty in the same manner as a priest of a religious order, although he or even a layman living in the world may practise that counsel, as he may the other counsels, too, just as perfectly as any monk ever heard of. all depends on the grace one has. his vocation and his responsibility and his position in heaven all hang on his fidelity to grace. all christians should practise the counsel of poverty. yes, both rich and poor. the spirit of poverty is detachment from created things. one's heart must not be set on them. one must not love riches for their own sake. one must feel obliged to share with the poor. one must not despise the poor, but love them for christ's sake. { } one must give a good deal for religious purposes. one must keep his baptismal vows to renounce the devil and all his pomps. one must, therefore, deny himself in many things that savor of the pride of riches, even if he is rich. why? not because he is a monk, nun, or priest, but because he is a christian. every christian must practise the counsel of chastity. heaven help us! in these degraded times, to judge by the fashionable indecencies sanctioned by so-called society people--the horrible abuses of the holy state of marriage, the filthy accounts appearing every day in the newspapers--one would think that even the sixth commandment was abolished. now i need not enter into particulars, but you know, without further argument or illustration, that every christian man, woman, and child would be unworthy the name if they did not, almost every day, make many sacrifices and struggles against temptation--all of which mean practising the counsel of the christian perfection of chastity. so also of obedience. one must obey the ten commandments and the laws of the church. oh! yes. and have we not also to obey the special decrees of the holy father, of our bishop, and of our pastor? what sort of a christian is he who is his own shepherd, or one who is always "standing up for his own rights," as they say, submitting just within law and only when he cannot help himself? and does _christian humility_ mean nothing in act? that is a narrow road of obedience and a long one, as you all know; and blessed is he who joyfully walks therein. { } instead of wanting to shirk these counsels, and put all upon the shoulders of religious, every one ought to be praying hard that god will, of his divine bounty, give us, too, men and women living in the world, more and more grace to practise all that our worldly condition will allow us to do, convinced by faith that he is most truly happy here, as he will certainly be hereafter, who is filled with high christian aspirations, striving to "walk worthy of his vocation" and realize in himself the picture of a perfect christ-like life. ------------------- sermon cxxxi. erroneous views of vocation. _as a prisoner in the lord, i beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called._ --ephesians iv. . brethren, has it ever occurred to you that each one of us has a vocation in this life? i refer not to our christian vocation, which we all have in common, but to the particular state of life to which each one of us has been called. it is not an uncommon error for people to think that priests and nuns are the only privileged mortals who are called by god to some special work, and that to their vocation alone god has attached peculiar and extraordinary graces. this is an error we must correct. we have all, thank god, the vocation to be christians and the call to be saints, but we have, moreover, our own special calling, suitable to our character and disposition; and our common christian vocation, and in a great measure our eternal salvation, depends on our fulfilling worthily the particular vocation in which we are called. { } some of us god has called to be priests, to serve continually at his altar. some to be fathers of families, and others to remain single all their life. some he has called to the higher professions, and others to the hard but manly toil of every-day life. but to all these vocations, to all these different states of life, he has attached certain duties, peculiar obligations, which must be met and fulfilled. the great danger, brethren, that we have to avoid is the common and stupid error of those who hold that their every-day vocation has nothing to do with this sunday calling; that there is little, if any, connection between their own special calling and their general calling to be christians; who maintain that as business men they can and must act in their own business-like way, banishing god from their hearts and his law from their lives, at least during their hours of business. this error, stupid as it is, is not so uncommon as one might at first imagine. take a few practical cases. how many are there who, when they examine their conscience, ever think of questioning themselves upon the duties of their position in life? how many fathers of families, listening to these words to-day, question themselves daily as to how they govern those whom god has put under their charge; how they watch and provide for the spiritual and temporal welfare of those whom they are called upon to support? how many young men ever think of asking themselves how they have fulfilled the obligations they are under to parents, now perhaps unable to take care of themselves? how many business-men question themselves as to the honesty or propriety of this or that mode of action they have been following? { } alas! they are few indeed. and this is the practical outcome of not recognizing the close connection there is between our every-day calling and our christian vocation. as every vocation, brethren, has its duties and its difficulties, so every calling has its special helps and graces. god saw each one of us from all eternity--just as we are to-day, with all the weaknesses of our character, with all the difficulties that surround us, and all the temptations with which we have to contend. he foresaw all these things and provided for them, regulating his helps and graces according to our wants, and directing all things towards our final destiny. his grace is always sufficient for us, and as long as we remain in his friendship there is no vocation or calling so difficult or trying but what can be cheerfully and manfully borne and worked towards our soul's salvation. the lot of some is certainly not an easy one, but god always fits the back for the burden. the practical question i would have you ask yourselves to-day, brethren, is this: granted that i have a vocation in this life; granted that providence has placed me in a position that involves duties and obligations to god, my neighbor, or myself; how am i fulfilling these obligations? how am i walking in the vocation in which i am called? worthily or unworthily--that is the all-important question for me to answer to-day to the satisfaction of my conscience, as i will have to answer it one day to almighty god. am i the father or mother of a family? if so, do i discharge the duties of my calling? do i make my home pleasant and agreeable for my children? do i supply them with suitable home amusements? do i furnish them proper reading matter, or do i allow them to waste their time and ruin their souls with the vile penny literature of the day? { } do i oblige them to come to mass and approach the sacraments, while i neglect these duties myself? or am i a business-man who deals squarely and honestly with my neighbors, never on the alert to take advantage of the ignorant and weak? am i in the employment of others, and, if so, do i fulfil my calling worthily by doing all that strict justice or christian charity requires of me? or am i just to men who work for me? these are some of the questions regarding your vocations that i would have you ask yourselves to-day. brethren, when we come to render our account to god, be sure of this: he will not trouble us with the question as to whether we have been experts in our respective professions, whether we have been successful business-men or skilled mechanics; no, but whether we have been just and honorable, whether we have walked _worthily_ in the vocations to which we have been called. walk then, brethren, worthy of your vocation, worthy of the church which has reared you, worthy of the hope that is in you, worthy of the name you bear, that of christ, who has redeemed you. imitate him, live as he lived, and suffer in your calling the things he suffered. then the prayer of our patron st. paul will not be in vain, and we will walk worthy of the vocation in which we are called. ------------------- { } _eighteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. i _corinthians i._ - . brethren: i give thanks to my god always for you, for the grace of god that is given you in christ jesus, that in all things you are made rich in him, in every word, and in all knowledge: as the testimony of christ was confirmed in you: so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our lord jesus christ, who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our lord jesus christ. gospel. _st. matthew ix._ - . at that time: jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into his own city. and behold they brought to him a man sick, of the palsy lying on a bed. and jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: son, be of good heart, thy sins are forgiven thee. and behold some of the scribes said within themselves: this man blasphemeth. and jesus seeing their thoughts, said: why do you think evil in your hearts? which is easier, to say, thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, rise up and walk? but that you may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the man sick of the palsy), rise up: take thy bed and go into thy house. and he rose up, and went into his house. and the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified god who had given such power to men. ------------------- { } sermon cxxxii. presumption of god's mercy. _unless you have believed in vain._ corinthians xv. . dear brethren: the apostle appears to be of a different mind from some of us, who seem to think that there is no such thing as believing in vain. do not sinners rest quite secure in their wickedness just because they believe in the true religion? do they not feel sure of salvation because they know how to be saved? is not the blessed privilege of the holy faith the secret reason of many a person's delay of repentance? it is against all such that st. paul stands when he speaks of a vain faith; and our blessed lord himself when he says that pagan tyre and sidon shall rise up in witness against those who had the true religion and used it only to puff them selves up with spiritual pride. to be guilty of an unused faith is the high-road to eternal loss among catholics. some poor souls will be lost because, though born in error, they have refused to follow the light of reason into the church. but we shall be lost, if at all, because we have believed in vain. some outside of the church shall be lost because they have sinned even against the simplest precepts of nature's law. but we shall be condemned for believing all that our lord revealed and making it vain by our wicked deeds. a vain faith is like the background of a picture: the eye catches and dwells on the objects in the foreground, but these could not be seen clearly but for the tints in the background against which they are drawn. so what we do will one day be contrasted with what we know; the strong light of faith will only cause the black, filthy sins of our life to be more fully revealed to the judge. { } have you never seen a blind man whose eyes seemed perfectly good, clear, and bright, and yet utterly blind? there is such a kind of blindness; some men really have eyes and see not, because the nerve is dead, and the nerve is like the soul of the eye. so with our faith: god gave it to us to see by and walk by and live by; to know his law and live up to it, to know our sins and to confess them with true sorrow--in a word, to practise what we know that we ought to practise. but some become like the idols of the nations you read of in one of the vesper psalms: "they have eyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not." wicked catholics perceive the right way; they hear of the dangers of the wrong way, and go right along with this knowledge, and neglect prayer and mass, blaspheme and fight, get drunk and debauch, and steal, yet having all the time full assurance that somehow or other their faith will save them. brethren, their faith is vain; their hope of eternal life is not reasonable or well founded; the beauty of the truth they possess is like the cold beauty of a corpse, which makes one shudder only the more from its incongruity with the putrid decay so surely approaching. yet how rich a treasure is the true faith! what a comfort to know the truths of religion! what a privilege to know our lord and saviour jesus christ, and to be in communion with him, his blessed mother, his glorious saints, his holy church! what a perversity, then, to use all this as a burglar uses his rope-ladder: a means of making a criminal life more secure. { } but it cannot be. it is a delusion. there is no means of making a criminal life secure, except by turning quickly away from it, detesting it, confessing it, and, by the light of faith and the strength of charity, leading a good life. ------------------- sermon cxxxiii. drunkenness. _take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps your hearts be over charged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life._ --luke xxi. . these words of our lord recorded by st. luke contain a very direct admonition against intemperance and its associate vices. gluttony and drunkenness are closely allied, inasmuch as the former is generally associated with excessive eating, and the latter is used to denote excess in intoxicating drink. not only from a religious standpoint, but from medical science, st. luke knew and could teach the injurious effects on the human system produced by the unrestrained gratification of the appetites. his knowledge in these matters was evidently recognized by those associated with him in preaching the gospel, for st. paul speaks of him as "the beloved physician" (colossians iv. ). there are many passages of holy scripture that show forth the dangers of drunkenness. in the old testament we read that noe and lot were both taught by sad experience the shame and degradation arising from the loss of self-control through the excessive use of intoxicating drinks. { } no sanction can, be found in the bible for the opinion that intemperance is a pardonable weakness. it is a very long time ago, indeed, since this vice of drunkenness was first condemned by the authorized teachers of religion. among the vices it is properly classified with gluttony, which is one of the seven deadly sins. the apostles sent forth by our lord to teach all nations strenuously inculcated the duty of _sobriety_ and _watchfulness_ on each individual christian. st. peter and st. paul especially insist on this personal vigilance as being of the utmost importance. _"being sober_, hope perfectly for that grace which is offered you at the revelation of jesus christ. _be sober and watch_, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour" (first epistle of st. peter v. - ). st. paul teaches the same lesson of _personal vigilance_ in these words: "let us _watch and be sober_, having on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation" ( thessalonians v. - ). "for the grace of god our saviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us that, renouncing impiety and worldly desires, we should _live soberly_, and justly, and piously in this world" (titus ii. ). a great doctor of the church, st. augustine, in the fourth century declared that there were at that time drunkards, plenty of them, and that people had grown accustomed to speak of drunkenness, not only without horror, but even with levity. this condition of things was brought about by the vicious teaching of the pagans, who sanctioned every form of sensual gratification. { } in one of his sermons st. augustine uses these words: "the heart of the drunkard has lost all feeling. when a member has no feeling it may be considered dead and cut off from the body. yet we sometimes are lenient, and can only employ words. we are loath to excommunicate and cast out of the church; for we fear lest he who is chastised should be made worse by the chastisement. and though such are already dead in soul, yet, since our physician is almighty, we must not despair of them." again in a letter to a bishop, written in the year , st. augustine refers to the intemperance then prevalent in the city of carthage. "the pestilence," he says, "is of such a magnitude that it seems to me it cannot be cured except by the authority of a council. or, at least, if one church must begin, it should be that of carthage. it would seem like audacity to try to change what carthage retains." then he proceeds to urge that the movement against intemperance be conducted in the spirit of meekness, saying: "i think that these abuses must be removed, not imperiously, nor harshly; by instruction rather than by command, by persuasion rather than by threats. it is thus one must act in a multitude: we may be severe towards the sins of a few." from the words just quoted we see that st. augustine was justly opposed to the indiscriminate condemnation of a multitude for the sins of a few. and it is very necessary to bear this in mind while dealing with the vice of intemperance, which is so widely prevalent at the present time. the crimes of drunkards are frequently exposed to view in the columns of newspapers, yet the unvarnished truth is seldom stated concerning those who co-operate with them in the nine ways of being accessory to another's sin; and this means especially those who, in cities infected with intemperance, keep saloons, and those who invite men to drink whom they have reason to fear will abuse it. { } we know that there are leaders in the ways of vice as well as in the ways of virtue. special severity is needed with those who deliberately persist in doing wrong with malice aforethought. men who strive to make laws to defend iniquity, who teach and foster vice for their own personal profit, may properly be called blind leaders of the blind, whose fate has already been predicted by our lord, the supreme judge of the world. ------------------- sermon cxxxiv. the dignity and happiness of obedience. _children, obey your parents in all things; for this is pleasing to the lord._ --colossians iii. . brethren, there are many new things found out nowadays; but there are also some old ones and good ones being forgotten. among other things we are apt to forget the happiness of obedience. of course i do not mean obedience to the church; perhaps there never was an age when catholics rested so content in the gentle restraint of our holy mother the church. but i refer to the practice of obedience one to another, done after the pattern of our lord jesus christ. the loveliness of this virtue is best seen in the bosom of the christian family. affection, indeed, is the bond of the family, but the fruit of affection is obedience. there is nothing more pleasing to god than the son who is always at the service of his father and mother. { } few families are without at least one such son. he is often the one of whom at first the least was expected; of poor natural talents, of delicate health, of irascible temper, or one whose earlier years were wayward. but all the time he was observant, though no one, not even himself, gave him credit for it. year by year the spectacle of father's and mother's affection and sacrifice penetrated him, till he became deeply attached to them. how much this reverent love for his parents had to do with his religious state as a boy and a young man! it may be true that scarcely any boy ever grows up to be a man and is never a liar to his father and mother, or a pilferer of cake and fruit and pennies about the house. but the good boy drops all this at first communion or when he goes to learn a trade, and he becomes honest and truthful in little things as well as great. one of the happiest days for him between the cradle and the grave is when he runs and puts the first dollar he has earned into his mother's hands. that good son lets all his brothers go away from home to seek their fortunes; he stays with the old folks, comforts their old age, closes their eyes in death, and with much love and many tears follows them with his prayers beyond the grave. the others were, perhaps, good children, but he is the hero of the family. then there is the good daughter, who in childhood is the sunshine of the family, and in maturer years everybody's other self. how many parents, too poor to hire a servant, have living riches in an industrious daughter! how often do parents find one at least of the girls who from very infancy is the joy of the whole family; who seems to have received in baptism such a fulness of the holy spirit that charity, joy, peace, patience, long suffering, kindness, and piety are the common qualities of her character! { } the faith also finds an apostle in such women. an intelligent woman, though perhaps unable to argue skilfully, can establish the truths of religion by methods all her own. a friendly jest, good-natured silence, a patient return of loving services for ill-treatment, the spectacle of her good life, not an hour of which lacks a virtue--all this in one instinct with religion is an unanswerable argument and often irresistible. how did it happen, people sometimes ask concerning this or that person, that she did not marry? she had good enough looks, excellent sense, a bright mind, affectionate disposition, and saw plenty of company. why did she not marry? my brethren, the day of judgment will tell us that it was because god had set her apart that she might be for her widowed mother or her shiftless, unhappy brothers and sisters the pot of meal that should not waste and the cruse of oil that should not diminish. brethren, i know of no order of nuns more pleasing in god's sight than the devout women who live a dependent, obscure, hard life in the world, and are old maids for the love of god. finally, you may say that such sons and daughters are hard to find. i answer that there are multitudes who approach the standard we have been considering, and more, perhaps, than you fancy who actually attain to it. ------------------- { } _nineteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians iv._ - . brethren: be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, who, according to god, is created in justice, and holiness of truth. wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. be angry, and sin not. let not the sun go down upon your anger: give not place to the devil. let him that stole, steal now no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to him who is in need. gospel. _st. matthew xxii._ - . at that time jesus spoke to the chief priests and pharisees in parables, saying: the kingdom of heaven is like to a man being a king, who made a marriage for his son. and he sent his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come. again he sent other servants, saying: tell them that were invited: behold, i have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the wedding. but they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. and the rest laid hands on his servants, and, having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. but when the king heard of it he was angry, and, sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burnt their city. then he saith to his servants: the wedding indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite to the wedding. { } and his servants going out into the highways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was filled with guests. and the king went in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. and he saith to him: friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? but he was silent. then the king said to the waiters: having bound his hands and feet, cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. for many are called, but few are chosen. ------------------- sermon cxxxv. lying. _wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor._ --epistle of the day. of all the vicious habits into which we are prone to fall, there is none more common, and none more miserable, mean, and contemptible, than this one of which the apostle here speaks. there is also none about which christians in general have so lax and careless a conscience. true, every one regards lying as in some sense at least sinful; and many would hesitate about going to holy communion if they had told a lie after confession. but in spite of that, when the communion is once made, the tongue which has just received the god of justice and truth will immediately begin again to offend him by telling falsehoods which are too often unjust as well as untrue. { } still, when there is an injustice done by telling a lie; when some one else suffers by it in his character or his goods, there are, i hope, few who do not see what a sin they have committed, and understand that they must make reparation by taking back what they have said, if they wish to be good christians. but, for all that, how many injurious lies are told, even by those who think themselves good christians, and never properly retracted or even thought of afterward by those who tell them! the most abominable slanders pass from mouth to mouth; they are listened to and repeated with the greatest interest and eagerness, without any trouble being taken to ascertain whether what is said is true or not. these people who are so free with their tongues never seem to imagine for a moment that, even when circumstances would justify them--and it is very seldom that they do--in telling a fact bearing against their neighbor they are under an obligation first to find out by careful examination whether it be indeed a fact; otherwise the sin of an injurious lie will rest on their souls. there are, however, some, and indeed many, who abhor slander, and who are really careful about telling injurious lies, and who hasten to retract what they have said against others, if they find out that, after all, the fact was not as they had good ground to believe. but there are not by any means so many who are careful about the truth for its own sake, and who do not scruple to tell white lies, as they are sometimes called. what are these white lies? they are of two kinds. the first are those which are told for some end in itself good, to get some advantage for one's self or for another, or to get one's self or some other person out of a scrape; to conceal a fault, to avoid embarrassment, or to save somebody's feelings. these are called officious lies. { } then there are others, called, jocose, which do no good to any one, but are told merely for fun; such as the little tricks on others which are often indulged in, or boasts made about things which one has never done. they may be taken back before long, and only meant to deceive for a moment; still they are meant to deceive, if only for a moment, and are, therefore, really lies. now officious lies are really forbidden by god's law as well as injurious ones, though of course not so bad as those. and yet how few act as if they really were sins at all! people will say, "i told lies, perhaps three or four every day, but there was no harm in them." no harm! no harm to other people; no, perhaps not, except by bad example and the loss of confidence in your word and that of others; though there is great harm even in that way. but there is a greater harm than this: it is that which the liar does to the sacredness of truth itself, and, as far as he can, to god who is the eternal truth, who loves truth unspeakably, and requires that we should love it for his sake. he will not allow us to tell the most trivial falsehood, though by it we could save the whole world from destruction, or bring all the souls which have been damned out of hell and put them in heaven. remember this, then: there are lies which are not injurious, but there are no lies which are not harmful and sinful; no lies for which you will not have to give an account at the judgment of god. stop, therefore, i beg you at once, this mean, disgraceful, and dishonorable habit of falsehood; it will never be forgiven in confession unless you make a serious and solid purpose against it. put away lying then at once and for ever, and speak the truth in simplicity; you may sometimes lose by it for the moment, but you will profit by it in the end, both in this world and in the world to come. ------------------- { } sermon cxxxvi. truthfulness. _wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor, for we are members one of another._ --ephesians iv. . st. paul here teaches us that truthfulness of speech should be a mark of those who profess the true faith. he speaks of the darkness of understanding, the ignorance, the blindness of heart of those who are alienated from the life of god; "but you," he says, "have not so learned christ. you have been taught the truth as it is in jesus. you have been taught to put off the old man who is corrupted according to the desires of error, and to put on the new man, who, according to god, is created in justice and holiness of truth: _wherefore_, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." yet, even without these supernatural reasons and motives, the duty of truthfulness is plain to everyone by the light of natural reason alone. the gift of speech which so strongly marks the distinction between man and the lower animals enables us to clearly communicate our thoughts to each other. if, then, we make it a means of deceiving others, we plainly offend against the law of nature, which is god's law. in every relation of life we are obliged to depend upon the statements of other men; we have a right to the truth from them, and it is therefore our duty to tell the truth to others. { } we can have no feeling of security if we cannot trust the word of those with whom we are brought into daily contact. if lying is common in any class or community, it creates a spirit of distrust and uneasiness instead of that mutual confidence which should prevail. a high sense of honor in men of the world will often make them strictly truthful. such men despise a lie as something base and mean and utterly beneath them. if, then, purely human motives, a mere sense of worldly honor, will keep men from lying, how much more should this fault be avoided by those who claim to be trying to serve god, and who are constantly assisted by his grace. our lord has told us that liars are the children of the devil, "for he is a liar and the father thereof." but we are called to be the children of god, who is the eternal truth; we have been given the light of the true faith. we glory in the certain truth of our religion; should we not then be zealous for the cause of truth in all things, even in the least. absolute, unswerving truthfulness in speech should therefore mark the true disciple of christ. "but," some may say, "a lie is only a venial sin." yes, it is true that a lie which is not malicious, which does not, and is not intended to, harm our neighbor in any way, is not a mortal sin; but it is the meanest of venial sins, and we know that a long and terrible purgatory awaits those who are guilty of deliberate venial sin. moreover, carelessness about the commission of venial sin leads to mortal offences, and there is nothing which will more readily lead a man into other and graver faults as the habit of deliberate untruthfulness. { } cultivate, then, a love for truth, and seek to acquire the habit of truthfulness even in the smallest matters. every one despises a deceitful person, and there is nothing a man resents so much as being called a liar. if you do not like being called a liar, do not be one. ------------------- sermon cxxxvii. white lies. _wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor._ --epistle of the day. there is perhaps no sin, my brethren, for which people seem to have so little real sorrow, or for which they so seldom make a practical purpose of amendment, as this miserable one of falsehood, of which the apostle here speaks. you will hear it said: "i told lies, but there was no harm in them; they were to excuse myself, or to save trouble." they are matters to be confessed, oh! yes; the liar will perhaps even run back to say that he is a liar, if he (or quite likely she) has forgotten to mention it at the time. but as for correcting the habit, that is quite another matter. it would seem that the sacrament of penance is expected to take effect on these sins by mere confession, without contrition or purpose to avoid them for the future. { } but the liar will say: "i am sorry; i have contrition for these lies." let me ask, however, what kind of sorrow have you? you are sorry that things were so that you had to tell a lie; but if things were so again to-morrow, would not you tell the lie again? if you are sincere, i am afraid you will say: "yes, i suppose i should." where, then, is the purpose of amendment? without purpose of amendment contrition is nothing but a sham. let us, then, my friends, look into our consciences about this matter, and get them straightened out properly. i do not want to be too harsh about it; for after all there are some expressions which people call lies, which are not really so, because the one to whom they are addressed is not expected to be deceived by them, but merely to be prevented from asking further questions. some people, too, call it a lie when they do not tell the whole truth, but we are not always required--though we often are--to tell the whole truth; and when we are not, there is no lie, as long as what we say is actually true as far as it goes. but it would take too long to go into all the cases concerning what is or is not a lie; and as a general rule one can by a little common sense find them out for himself. find them out, then; if you cannot surely do so by yourselves, get advice; and when you are certain that you are all right, do not call it a sin to act according to your conscience and reason, and do not make a matter of self-accusation out of it. but when you cannot see any way to make out that what you say really is not a lie, then do not fall back on the idea that, if it does not injure anybody, there is no harm in it. you are false to yourself in this; for you know there is harm in it, otherwise you would not feel uneasy about it. { } and what is the harm? the harm in a lie is simply that it is a lie, and therefore an offence against god, who is the truth. this is what st. paul tells us in this very epistle of to-day. "put on," he says, "the new man, who, _according to god_, is created in justice and holiness of truth. wherefore," he continues, "putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor." yes, my brethren, god is the truth, and he infinitely loves the truth, in himself and in his creatures. he does not wish us to sacrifice it in the slightest degree, even to save the whole world from destruction. there is harm in a lie, then; harm, if i may say so, to god himself and to his dearest interests. do not think, then, to save his interests, or any one else's, by lying. tell the truth and let him look out for the consequences. tell the truth for god's sake, because he loves it, and hates a lie; tell the truth, and love the truth, for its own sake. we are, as st. paul says, "created according to god, in holiness of truth"; let us keep the pattern to which we have been made. stop, then, deliberate lying for a purpose, which is but too common. but also be careful in what you say; try not even to fall into falsehood thoughtlessly. let it be your honest pride that your word is as good as your oath. ------------------- { } _twentieth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians v._ - . see, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the time, for the days are evil. wherefore become not unwise, but understanding what is the will of god. and be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury, but be ye filled with the holy spirit. speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the lord: giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our lord jesus christ, to god and the father: being subject one to another in the fear of christ. gospel. _st. john iv._ - . at that time: there was a certain ruler whose son was sick at capharnaum. he having heard that jesus was come from judea into galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. then jesus said to him: unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. the ruler saith to him: sir, come down before that my son die. jesus saith to him: go thy way, thy son liveth. the man believed the word which jesus said to him, and went his way. and as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying that his son lived. he asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. and they said to him: yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. the father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that jesus said to him, thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. ------------------- { } sermon cxxxviii. christian marriage. my dear brethren, we shall, on this occasion, occupy the short time allotted to us with some remarks on a most important subject, namely, that of christian marriage. we ask for your especial attention to what we have to say on this matter, on account of the great bearing which it has on your happiness both here and hereafter, and hope that you will endeavor to understand thoroughly the teaching of the church regarding it, and that you will resolve not only to obey the laws, but also to follow her suggestions and be governed by her spirit in an affair in which your welfare is so deeply concerned. the great majority of christians, as well as of the world in general, are called in the providence of god to the state of marriage; and their calling is as truly a divine vocation as that of others to the religious life and to the priesthood. if, then, the priest or the religious cannot expect to save his soul if he neglects the virtues and the duties proper to his state, neither can those who enter the state of matrimony, if they do not appreciate and endeavor to fulfil the requirements and conditions which god has attached to it; if they rush into it without thought, and remain in it simply from convenience or necessity, without realizing its responsibilities or feeling the burden which it imposes on their consciences. { } and yet this is what very many seem to do. of course we take it for granted that a catholic, worthy the name, will not marry a person of a different religion. but one should not marry a bad catholic. many appear to be indifferent in this matter to their eternal salvation and act as if conscience and religion had nothing to do with it, but they disregard and fling to the winds even the most common and obvious dictates of prudence as to their comfort and peace in this world. what possible hope of happiness in married life, for instance, can a young woman have who unites her destiny with that of a man who is evidently falling, if, indeed, he has not already fallen, into confirmed habits of intemperance; whose past and present life gives no assurance of advancement or worldly success, but, on the other hand, every indication of the drunkard's failure, ruin, and degradation? what can she be thinking of who, for a mere fancy or caprice, accepts the offer of one to stand as her protector and support whose selfish and beastly appetites are sure to make him soon trample her under his feet, and treat her merely as a drudge to be starved with her children in order that he may gratify his passion for drink, and to be kicked and beaten if she so much as implores him to reform? or how can she dare to take for her husband one whose sensual passion is certain soon to extinguish every spark of true love he may have felt for her, and who will, before long, be unfaithful to her for the very reason that made him at first seem faithful? it is painful to speak of these things; but, unfortunately, the frequency of such cases obliges us to do so. such miseries in marriage cannot be considered, at least in cities like this, as exceptional and extraordinary; no, they must be taken into account, not as mere possibilities, but as actual realities. and, of course, there are others which we have not time to enumerate; the ones of which i have spoken will serve as examples. { } it is, then, the part not only of christian prudence but also of worldly common sense, to make sure, as far as possible, to avoid these dangers. it is far better to remain single than to make a bad marriage; let every one, then, before taking this most important of all steps in life, look carefully where it will lead. let every one, and certainly every christian, before selecting a companion for life, whose place no one else can take, satisfy himself or herself that the one who is thus selected has the qualities that are calculated to insure happiness to both parties; that he or she has natural virtues and good habits, well and solidly formed; at least industry, sobriety, and those qualities in general which business-men, for example, try to secure in those who are to be charged with matters of far less consequence than the support and care of a family. ------------------- sermon cxxxix. mortification of our lower nature. _now if we be dead with christ we believe that we shall live also together with christ._ --from the epistle of the sunday. the meaning of the apostle, my brethren, is expressed in one great catholic word--mortification. the lower nature that is in us must be put to death that the higher may live. the animal must die that the man may live. and if literal death be not hereby signified, yet so really destructive of mere appetite is the christian's union with christ that mortification or putting to death is one condition of obtaining it. { } human ease and pleasure are opposed to the soul's fulfilment of its destiny. in itself no doubt the natural joy of this life is not evil. but there is no joy of man simply "in itself." it all flows from that root of bitterness which original sin planted in our hearts, and which makes it necessary that we be not simply obedient to god's law, but "born again"; "for," says the apostle in this same sunday's epistle, "we are buried together with christ by baptism into death, that as christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the father, so we also may walk in newness of life." "knowing this: that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed." "for he that is dead is justified from sin." these are very strong words, my brethren. they and the many other such words in holy scripture have much to do with explaining our religion--the cross on our churches, the crucifix over our altars, the shamefaced confession, the constant self-denial; even the plaintive tones of the church's voice in her chants, even the touch of sadness in her most joyful offices. indeed, the true joy of a christian is in the theological virtue of hope--is placed in a paradise which for him is yet to begin. he is too hardly pressed with the conflict of his higher and lower nature to be quite happy, except in anticipation of a victory never fully gained this side the grave. and it is only when the very taste for ease and pleasure has become blunted that the consolations of the holy spirit begin to be felt. the whole inner life of a christian is regulated by his power to deny himself, and to deny himself, especially in outward things--in eating and drinking, in working and resting, in seeing and hearing. { } to noble spirits the very innocent care of the body is irksome; and this from no sin of sloth, but because the soul, absorbed in high spiritual things, is vexed by the mean things of our animal nature. hence the every-day business of a religious man is to restrain the headlong folly of corrupt nature by the bit and bridle of mortification. and this is every christian's duty. though one may feel no call but to the ordinary christian state, yet is he plainly called to self-denial. outside the church there is little or nothing of the practical self-restraint of the gospel. and even among ourselves many are forgetful of this war of the spirit against the flesh, except at the rare intervals of infrequent confession or during such seasons as lent and advent. the need of constant self-denial is one of those truths that the ever-flowing waters of forgetfulness wash out of our memories the quickest. hence it is related of st. philip neri that he was accustomed to say in the morning: "lord, keep thy hand upon philip to day, or, lord! philip will betray thee." so, my brethren, there is no grace you have more need to pray for than the strength of will to practise some daily mortification. nay, pray for the grace to accept those that god sends every day and it is enough. oh! if we could bear patiently for the love of god with his own visitations, with such things as sickness of body and dulness of mind, with poverty and disappointment, with the evil temper of other members of the family, their stupidity and selfishness, we should soon be safe. brethren, we are all novices, and god is the universal novice-master, and these are his daily mortifications. others he gives us, too, through the ministry of holy church. not a week passes over but we must give one day to god and to our better selves by abstinence from flesh meat. { } not a season goes by but the three ember days are set apart for hunger and thirst. holy advent, the penitential season of lent, make a loud call--would it were better heeded--on our higher nature to reduce the beast to subjection. meantime, if one wants more self-denial, let him advise with his father confessor, let him consult spiritual writers, let him hearken to the spirit of god within him, always bearing in mind that beyond such mortifications as are of obligation it is not prudent to go, except by advice of a prudent spiritual adviser. ------------------- sermon cxl. the value of time. _redeeming the time._ --epistle of the day. there is a precious treasure, my dear brethren, which is always partly, but only partly, in our possession. now and then we wake up to the conviction how valuable it is. there is something which must be done, and there is only just time to do it in; we wish there were more, but no, only just so much is allotted to us. then we realize how priceless time is. the sinner, suddenly struck down by some terrible accident, and with only a few minutes to live--what would he not give for a half-hour more; for time to look into his confused and disturbed conscience; for time to rouse himself to real contrition for his sins; for time, at least, to send for a priest, and with his help make some sort of preparation for eternity! { } but it is not only at the end of our lives, or in moments of such supreme importance, that we would pay for time with gold, or with other things upon which we set great value here. often we would give much to be able to put ourselves back a day or even an hour in our lives; what an advantage it would give us! we look back on many hours and days in the past; there they were, once at our service, but now squandered and gone for ever. time, then, is this precious treasure, which we shall never wholly lose till we pass out of this world for ever. its golden sands are running rapidly away from us, but still some remain. the uncertainty how much of it is still left should make us put to the best use each instant as it passes. who would not draw prudently from a chest in which his whole fortune was locked up, if its amount were unknown to him, if the next demand might exhaust it; and who would not put to the best use each penny that he drew? this is the instruction, the warning that the apostle gives us in to-day's epistle: "to walk circumspectly; not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time." saving it--that is to say, not letting it slip by us idly and unprofitably; not only having it while it lasts, but receiving also the precious fruits with which it is laden. how much this caution is needed! how careless we are about this priceless possession which is ours from moment to moment! some part of it indeed we are generally obliged to employ, and fortunate we are that it is so, in some occupation of profit to ourselves or to others. { } yes, fortunate; for that man must earn his bread by the toil of his body or mind is hardly after the fall a curse, but rather a blessing. place fallen human nature in the paradise of our first parents, and its final loss could hardly be averted. but the rest: how often do we see, when work is over, that the only thought, even of christians, is to get rid of this invaluable gift, the precious time which god has given them! they seem to have no thought but to lose themselves and it in some mere sensual pleasure, to fritter it away in gossip or some foolish and needless diversion, or to forget it and throw it away in slothful and unnecessary sleep. brethren, some day we shall want all this time that we are now wasting. then it will stand out before us in its true value; we shall see that it should have been redeemed, and that it is now irredeemable. and what is more, god, who gave it to us, will require an account of it at our hands. he gave it to us for an object; there is not a minute of it that he did not mean us to turn to good use. and we can carry out his purpose if we only will. let us, then, beware of idleness; even our recreation and rest should be such that we can feel that he would approve of them, and that they will help us in our remaining hours to do the work that he has required and expects us to do. to kill time--let this be a word unheard among us; to kill time is to trample down the seed of eternal life and to invite death to our souls. ------------------- { } _twenty-first sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians vi._ - . brethren: be strengthened in the lord, and in the might of his power. put you on the armor of god, that you may be able to stand against the snares of the devil. for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood: but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. wherefore take unto you the armor of god, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice: and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. and take unto you the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the spirit (which is the word of god). gospel. _st. matthew xviii._ - . at that time jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: the kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. and when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. and as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that, he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. but that servant, falling down, besought him, saying: have patience with me, and i will pay thee all. and the lord of that servant being moved with compassion, let him go, and forgave him the debt. { } but when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: pay what thou, owest. and his fellow-servant, falling down, besought him, saying: have patience with me, and i will pay thee all. and he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. now his fellow-servants, seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. then his lord called him, and said to him: thou wicked servant! i forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as i had compassion on thee? and his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all the debt. so also shall my heavenly father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. ------------------- sermon cxli. forgiveness of injuries. _shouldst not thou then have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as i had compassion on thee?_ --st. matthew, xviii. these words of to-day's gospel are spoken by our lord to every one who has been wanting in charity to his neighbor. each one of us, as a servant of god, as a steward of the gifts, both temporal and spiritual, which he has entrusted to us that we may use them for the furtherance of his honor and glory, is a heavy debtor to the divine justice. but his mercy and love are always ready to temper his justice, if only we show the proper dispositions, if only we bend our rebellious wills to the condition he requires of us, without which it is impossible for us to obtain forgiveness. { } this condition is found in the oft-repeated but little thought of petition of the lord's prayer: "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us." the servant in the parable received forgiveness from his lord for the sum of ten thousand talents (a very large sum of money), yet he was unmerciful to his fellow-servant, who owed him a hundred pence. the difference between these sums is by no means so great as the difference between our offences against almighty god and those of our brethren against us. if we could only realize who it is that we have offended, and then reflect as well upon our ingratitude in offending him, as upon the innumerable benefits he has showered upon us, we might form some faint idea of the gravity of our sin, and of the immense debt that we owe to his justice. we could not then refuse forgiveness to our neighbor for the trifling, and perhaps merely fancied, injuries that we may have suffered from him. "with what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again." "if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts," you cannot hope for pardon from god. how, then, can we best practise this forgiveness which is so necessary for us? in the first place, it must be earnest and sincere forgiveness. it must be "from your hearts," as our lord says. no mere outward show of forgiveness will be enough, for god sees the heart, and no appearances will satisfy him. but, on the other hand, the forgiveness will not be real and earnest unless it be shown outwardly. many profess their willingness to forgive who yet show resentment and a spirit of revenge in many little ways, by looks, words, and actions which prove that there is no real forgiveness in the heart. { } then again we find persons who, when they are urged to forgive some wrong, answer: "well, father, i suppose i must forgive, if you tell me so." it is plain that this is but a very unwilling and faint-hearted forgiveness, which, will not answer before god. why will not the generosity of god towards us lead us to show a like spirit towards our brethren? we should strive to forgive offences the moment they are committed against us. our natural impulse when any insult is offered to us is to resent it at once, and pay back in the same coin. how different is this from the example set us by our lord, "who, when he was reviled, did not revile; when he suffered, he threatened not." we should check the first uprisings of resentment, and keep back the angry reply, in imitation of our blessed lord's silence before his accusers and tormentors. by the practice of this christian silence many a feud of long continuance would be prevented. we must also "lay aside all malice," and be ready, when an injury has been done, to be reconciled with our offending brother. this is often very hard for us to do, and very repugnant to our natural inclinations, but it is, nevertheless, absolutely necessary. if we bear malice towards any one, we are not worthy of the name of christians, or followers of christ. try, then, to put in practice the teaching of this day's gospel, and forgive from your heart those who have offended you, showing your forgiveness by your words and acts. there is nothing more scandalous and injurious to the christian name than constant quarrels and long-continued animosities between those who go regularly to the sacraments. follow, then, the injunction of st. paul: "let all bitterness, and anger, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy be taken away from you, with all malice. and be ye kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as god has forgiven you in christ." ------------------- { } sermon cxlii. gossiping. _laying hold of him he throttled him, saying: pay me what thou owest._ --words taken from to-day's gospel. the gospel of this sunday, my dear brethren, inculcates in the strongest possible way the distinctively christian virtue of brotherly love--the duty, that is, of cherishing a spirit of charity and consideration for other men, and especially of forgiving any injuries which they may have done us. this obligation is, however, so clearly and frequently and earnestly enforced in the new testament, and from our earliest days has been brought home to us in so many ways, that at first sight it might seem that i could do something better this morning than to go back to such an old and familiar subject. and yet, old and familiar as it is, every-day life affords so many proofs that we do not carry our knowledge into practice that i am sure that nine in every ten, perhaps ninety-nine in every hundred, stand in need of being reminded of this old and familiar though badly learned lesson. { } for of what is the every-day talk of most women and a great number of men made up, if not of ill-natured criticism and depreciation of their acquaintances, neighbors, and even friends? in the words of st. paul, are we not continually biting and devouring one another? are not the newspapers filled with stories which pander to this uncharitable spirit? what, in short, is more common than detraction, and even slander? yet even these evils, grave and deadly as they are, are but small compared with other manifestations of this same uncharitable spirit. why, i have been told of people who have worked side by side in the same work-shop, attended the same church, even knelt at the same altar-rail, and yet, for some trifling cause or other, have refused to speak to one another for years! what trouble priests have with people who come to confession to them! sometimes the very most they can get is a vague, half-hearted expression of forgiveness, but on no account can they in some cases induce their penitents to extend to one another that which is due to every man, be he jew or turk, catholic or protestant--the ordinary salutations which civility requires. now, that all this is wrong is evident. not one of us is so blind as not to be able to see that. but what the gospel to-day points out, and what i wish to present to your serious consideration this morning, is the very unpleasant consequences which will infallibly follow upon such conduct. we know the story very well. a slave is in debt to his master for a very large amount--an amount which, while quite willing, he is utterly unable to pay. his master releases him from this debt. whereupon this fine fellow, meeting a brother-slave who owed him a paltry sum, accosts him in the brutal manner mentioned in the text, demands immediate payment of the money, and, not withstanding the debtor's entreaties and his willingness to make it good as soon as possible, locks him up in prison until the amount is forthcoming. { } thereupon his conduct is brought to the knowledge of their master. he at once summons the wicked slave before him and "delivers him to the torturers until he pays all the debt." then our lord says, and i ask for your serious attention to his words: "so also shall my heavenly father do to you if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts." of course, it is unnecessary to point out how strictly this applies to us. many other texts might be cited from the gospels to the same effect. one only i will mention, and that is, that we cannot say an "our father" without making the very forgiveness of our sins, which we ask for, dependent upon our forgiveness of the faults of others. we must forgive if we wish to be forgiven, and this forgiveness must be from the heart; no mere form of words, sufficient to satisfy men, but it must be a forgiveness sincere and genuine, such as to satisfy god, the searcher of hearts, before whom we must appear to give an account of our whole life. ------------------- sermon cxliii. mixed marriages. i wish to give a short instruction on the sacrament of matrimony this morning. { } if a marriage with a merely nominal catholic be fraught with dangerous consequences, and be the cause of much disturbance and anxiety to one who wishes to be a christian in deed as well as in name--and that it is so i think all will agree--what shall we say of a mixed marriage, as it is called--of the union of a catholic with one who holds religious views opposed to the faith of the church, or who, perhaps, has no belief or religion at all? how can any true harmony or peace be expected when there is discordance in the matter of religion, which lies nearest to the heart, and is more thoroughly interwoven in all the ideas, opinions, feelings, and practices of a practical catholic than any other whatever? sympathy, union of interests and desires, of plans, hopes, and efforts, must exist in all true friendship; nay, more, without it association or companionship of any kind soon becomes a burden. there is no remedy for this except by dropping or putting in the back ground those aspirations and affections which are not shared by the other party. and what is true of all friendship is, of course, true above all of that which should be the highest, nearest, and dearest of all friendships--namely, that of marriage. the only way for a catholic to be at all happy in a mixed marriage is to put religion in the background; to regard it, as, unfortunately, too many do, as a matter of very little importance; as something to be professed, indeed, and occasionally practised, but which is to have no special influence on the general course and tenor of one's life. { } how can a catholic wife, for instance, who is earnest about her religion be really happy with a husband who cannot attach any importance to, or see any sense in, her practices of devotion; to whom holy mass, benediction, the sacraments, the veneration of the saints and angels, and many other things which are her great helps and consolations in life, are mere idle mummeries and superstitions; who looks contemptuously on her observance of lent, of fridays, and fast days; who considers all the teachings and laws of the church an imposition and a fraud, to be done away with as far as possible; who, in short, either looks forward to nothing at all beyond this life, or, if he hopes for heaven, has a different one from hers, and seeks for it in a different way? the only plan that can be followed to secure even a seeming peace and agreement is to bring down the catholic religion to its lowest level, to make out that it is not so very different from protestantism after all; to be content with mass on sundays; to eat meat on fridays whenever it is more convenient; to let the pope and the church generally get on as best they can, and to say no more about them than can be helped. yes, this mixture even in the catholic party of catholic and protestant is only too likely to be the result of a mixed marriage. i know that it may be said, and with truth, that protestants are not always prejudiced against our religion; that sometimes a protestant husband is not only willing but anxious that his catholic wife should attend thoroughly to her religious duties; and we find cases of protestant wives even becoming catholics, mainly, as it would seem, to induce by their example a more faithful practice of religion in their catholic husbands. but these are results which we have no right to expect--no, not even if they are promised beforehand. and too often we find a state of things in a mixed marriage much worse than what i have described. { } we find, in spite of the most solemn promises made beforehand, a bitter and shameless persecution; mass and the sacraments forbidden; children denied not only catholic instruction, but even the grace of baptism; the priest not allowed in the house even in time of sickness, and nearly all hope gone of receiving the last rites of the church at the hour of death. we do not wish to blame the protestant party too much in these cases; he may be acting according to his conscience, but such a conscience, though perhaps good enough for him, is not one which a catholic should run the risk of being governed by. ------------------- { } _twenty-second sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _philippians i._ - . brethren: we are confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of christ jesus. as it is meet for me to think this for you all: because i have you in my heart; and that in my bonds, and in the defence, and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my joy. for god is my witness, how i long after you all in the bowels of jesus christ. and this i pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge, and in all understanding: that you may approve the better things, that you may be sincere and without offence unto the day of christ. replenished with the fruit of justice through jesus christ, unto the glory and praise of god. gospel. _st. matthew xxii._ - . at that time: the pharisees going away, consulted among themselves how to ensnare jesus in his speech. and they sent to him their disciples with the herodians, saying: master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of god in truth, neither carest thou for any man; for thou dost not regard the person of men. tell us, therefore, what dost thou think, is it lawful to give tribute to cæsar, or not? but jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? show me the coin of the tribute. and they offered him a penny. and jesus saith to them: whose image and inscription is this? they say unto him: cæsar's. then he saith to them: render, therefore, to cæsar the things that are cæsar's, and to god the things that are god's. ------------------- { } sermon cxliv. obedience to the civil authorities. _render therefore to cæsar the things that are cæsar's, and to god the things that are god's._ --matthew xxii. our lord made this reply, my dear brethren, to the question of some who asked him whether it was lawful to give tribute to caesar or not; or, in other words, whether it was right to pay taxes to support the government of the roman empire, to which the jews were then subjected, and which was a pagan, and in many ways an impious and ungodly power. they hoped that he would say that it was not; for if he did, they would have a very good charge to make against him before the roman governor, as one who was a rebel and a disobeyer of the laws; and could thus bring about his ruin, which they earnestly desired. now, if it really had been wrong to pay these taxes christ would of course have said so; for, as they had said to him in truth, though they meant it as flattery, he was a true speaker, and would not betray the truth to please any man or to escape any danger. but instead of answering in this way, as they hoped, he surprised them by saying that they ought to pay the taxes which were imposed on them; he commanded them to obey the power, hateful in many ways as it was, whose subjects they were. we must, therefore, conclude that the power of the state, or the law of the land as it is called, has a real claim in the name of god and of christ to our obedience. for if our lord required those who heard him to obey the roman authorities, he would also require us to obey the duly constituted authorities under which we live at any time. for the cruel and persecuting pagan empire of rome was surely no more worthy of respect and obedience than any other under which our lot is like to be cast. { } and if we could have any doubt as to our duty in conscience on this point, st. paul confirms this lesson most emphatically. "there is no power," he says, "but from god; and those that are, are ordained of god. ... and they that resist purchase to themselves damnation. ... wherefore be subject of necessity, not only for wrath" (that is, for fear of the consequences) "but also for conscience sake." and coming to the very matter of which our lord has spoken, he proceeds: "render, therefore, to all men their dues. tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom." we see then clearly, my brethren, that the laws of the land bind us in conscience. and we do not by any means need to go back to apostolic times to find instruction to this effect. the successors of st. peter, and those teaching in union with them, have always insisted on this duty of obedience to the civil power very strongly. only last year, for instance, our holy father, pope leo xiii., has, in an encyclical letter, taught it to us very clearly. "the church," he says, "rightly teaches that the power of the state comes from god." and he tells us that, whatever the form of government may be--that is, whether the rulers are chosen by the people or not--it is not simply from the people that their right to rule and to be obeyed comes; the people in an elective government do not make the power, although they designate the person or persons in whom the power of god is to rest. { } of course no one denies that the civil power may, in particular cases, forfeit its claim to our obedience by requiring of us things manifestly unjust or plainly contrary to the law of god or of the church; as, for instance, if it should require us to attend protestant worship, or should forbid us to make our easter duty. but such cases are very rare, at least here in this country. we shall know easily enough when they arise. there is little fear, as things now are, of too great respect for law among us; the danger, rather, is of our regarding laws as the mere decisions of a majority, to which we have to submit as far as we cannot help it, and because we cannot help it, but to which we owe no interior reverence, and by breaking which we commit no sin. whereas the truth is that we do sin by breaking any law of the land which is not manifestly unjust or contrary to the rights of god and the obedience we owe to him. remember, then, my brethren, to render to cæsar the things that are cæsar's. the president, congress, our governors and legislatures, and the other powers that be are really god's vicegerents, though not in so high an order as the spiritual; still in their own place they truly act in god's name. find out and consider what they require; confess and amend any disregard or disrespect for their laws, unless you wish to be guilty of contempt and disobedience to him from whom all law comes. ------------------- { } sermon cxlv. thanksgiving day. _giving thanks to god the father._ --colossians i. . this week, as you know, my brethren, a day has been appointed by the civil authorities, according to long-established custom, which we are invited to devote specially to thanksgiving for the many blessings which we have received from god during the year. and though the observance of this day is not an ecclesiastical obligation, yet there is a singular appropriateness in it for us on account of its falling just at the close of the year which the church celebrates. at this time, when we have completed the round of the mysteries of our faith, and are about to recommence it in the season of advent, it must naturally occur to us to look back and thank god, not only for all his temporal benefits, but also and especially for the spiritual blessings which he has given us, and which we have just finished commemorating. even in the temporal order, however, we have abundant cause to be grateful to god. true, we have had our trials and sufferings, some more, some less; though even these we can perhaps even now see, and shall see more clearly hereafter, to have been blessings in disguise. but we have had much happiness and comfort in spite of these trials. surely we ought not to pass this by unnoticed. but this is just what we are too likely to do. somehow or other, we are all apt to take things when they go right as a matter of course, and only to notice them when they go wrong. when we are sick we complain and make a great fuss, and perhaps are not satisfied unless we can make everybody else unhappy as well as ourselves; but when we are well, that is just as it should be: no thanks to anybody for that. { } no thanks to god, whose loving care and providence are necessary, and are given to us at each moment of our lives, and who is continually warding off from us a thousand dangers to which we are exposed, often through our own fault; no thanks to him whose angels watch over us to keep us in all our ways. by our ignorance and imprudence we are frequently endangering this wondrous life which he has given us; with all the science in the world, we do not understand it and could not direct it; it is he who causes our breath to come, our hearts to beat, and our blood to flow in our veins. so also in the common affairs of life, our industry and skill would avail nothing if god did not come to our assistance. if our work or business prospers at all, it is due to him; it is his free gift. and all the conveniences of modern life which we pride ourselves so much on are the fruits of his power and skill which he lends us. it is he who shines on us, not only by the sun and moon, but also in those lights which we think that we ourselves produce; it is he who sends our telegraphic messages for us, who carries us where we will in our steamers and railway trains. these perpetual and ordinary comforts of life, then, in which we all share, as well as our very life itself, are god's gift. and beside these, are there not more blessings which we can see if we look back on the year, standing out from the rest? have we thanked him for all these? if not, let us then really make this a time to atone for past neglect; a time of thanksgiving in deed as well as in name. { } but, above all, let us, whom he has given the signal and unspeakable blessing of the true faith, thank him for that. to those who have just come from the doubt and confusion of the world outside this true church this is a happiness which outweighs all troubles, a perpetual sunshine which drives away all clouds. why should it not be so to us all? this is what st. paul in his epistle wishes that it should be. "giving thanks," he says, "to god the father, who has made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins." let us think on these words, and see if there is not enough in them to make at least one thanksgiving day. ------------------- sermon cxlvi. the communion of saints. we are so near the feast of all saints and the commemoration of all the faithful departed--all souls day--that we may well let our affectionate thoughts follow after our brethren who have gone before us and sleep in the peace of christ. there is scarcely one of us, dear brethren, who has not been familiar from childhood with the article of the apostles creed, "i believe in the communion of saints"; and there are few, if any, who have not derived consolation from this dogma of our faith, teaching, as it does, that we are not entirely cut off from those who have gone before us, but form with them one great family, of which the head is christ and the members the souls of the just, whether in heaven or in purgatory, or still in the flesh. { } but if this truth of holy religion brings consolation, it brings also the duty of praying for our brethren who are passing through the cleansing fires of purgatory; who, because of sin or the debt due for sin, cannot enter their eternal home until they have repaid the last farthing. they can do nothing for themselves--their day of meriting is past; they look to us who are their friends to help them. while they were with us they were very dear to us--bound to us by ties of blood or friendship. let us do our duty to them now; let us, by our good works in their behalf, show how much we love them; let us show that our affection for them was not selfish nor pretended, but so real and strong and lasting that death has but strengthened it and brought it to its fulness. what one of us but has his daily task--his allotted work? yet as each day brings its own burdens, so each day is full of opportunities of gaining indulgence for the souls in purgatory. the many inconveniences we all of us are called upon to suffer, the many sacrifices of comfort and of pleasure we make, the disappointments we meet with, the fatigues we bear--all these may be made sources of refreshment to our friends beyond the grave. if in the morning we would but offer to god all we shall do and suffer during the day for his honor and glory, and for the relief of the departed, oh! how soon would the angels welcome them to their true country, and how many advocates we should have before the throne of god! { } but if so much can be done without any particular effort on our part, what shall we say of the efficacy of the special prayers we recite for them and the masses we have offered for their repose! how shall we tell of their gratitude, of their unceasing supplications for us! we lose nothing, dear brethren, by praying for them; be assured we are rather the gainers, for not only do they pray for us, but more--our charity towards them deepens in our souls our love for god, and makes us thirst the more after virtue and holiness, and wins for us a higher place in heaven and a brighter crown of everlasting glory. let us be generous, then; let us storm heaven with our prayers for the souls in purgatory, and we shall find rest for ourselves as well as for them. ------------------- { } _twenty-third sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _philippians iii._ ; iv. . be followers of me, brethren, and observe them who walk so as you have our model. for many walk, of whom i have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly things. but our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we wait for the saviour, our lord jesus christ, who will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory, according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue all things unto himself. therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy and my crown; so stand fast in the lord, my most dearly beloved. i beg of euodia, and i beseech syntyche to be of one mind in the lord. and i entreat thee, my sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in the gospel, with clement and the rest of my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life. gospel. _st. matthew ix._ - . at that time: as jesus was speaking these things unto them, behold a certain ruler came, and adored him, saying: lord, my daughter is just now dead; but come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. and jesus, rising up, followed him, with his disciples. and behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. for she said within herself: if i shall but touch his garment i shall be healed. but jesus, turning about and seeing her, said: take courage, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. { } and the woman was made whole from that hour. and when jesus came into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the crowd making a rout, he said: give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth. and they laughed at him. and when the crowd was turned out he went in, and took her by the hand. and the girl arose. and the fame hereof went abroad into all that country. ------------------- sermon cxlvii. mixed marriages. from the simplest lessons of experience, my dear brethren, i think it ought to be plain enough how miserable a thing a mixed marriage is likely to be. even if the faith and practice of the catholic party and of the children is what it should be--which is certainly hardly to be expected--there will be great and continual suffering to them on account of the separation of the protestant father or mother--who is all the more loved the better and kinder he or she may be--from the unity of the church and from the ordinary means of salvation. in fact, it can hardly be imagined how any one having a lively faith in the catholic religion can marry a protestant or infidel, unless under the influence of a hope that some time or other the conversion of the other party will be effected. this hope does occasionally prove not to be a vain one. there are cases, no doubt, in which a protestant, who would not probably otherwise have turned his thoughts to the question at all, does become a catholic by means of marriage. { } but the best chance to obtain such a conversion is before the marriage is entered on; that is the time to try to secure it; and it is the duty of every catholic who thinks of marrying one outside the church to do the best in his or her power to bring the other party over, not only in name but in fact, to the true faith. i say in fact, for, unfortunately, many a non-catholic, who has no strong conviction about religion in any way, will be willing to call himself a catholic, and even to be baptized, in order to remove objections which may be made. take care, then, that the conversion which is professed is a sincere and genuine one, and not merely got up for the occasion. i have heard of a case in which the protestant party, when his religion was urged by the priest as an objection to the marriage, which would make trouble, most cheerfully replied: "well, father, if it would be any convenience to you, i am quite ready to be a catholic." such converts are not so very uncommon, though it is not often that they let their state of mind be seen so plainly. they will sit through several instructions given to them by the priest, making no question or remark about anything which he says, that they may get through as soon as possible; and when they do get through, that is about the last of their catholic profession, or at least of their attendance to any catholic duties. if, then, a conversion, and a real and true conversion, cannot be obtained before marriage, there is certainly much fear that it never will be accomplished afterward. be warned, then, in time; do not indulge false hopes in this regard; do not marry in haste and repent at leisure. { } and about this matter of conversion i will say a few words, with reference not to protestants, but to careless and negligent catholics. a catholic who is negligent of his duties has, it is true, if he keeps his faith, a resource which the protestant has not; he knows what to do to be reconciled with god at the last; he will probably try to do it, and he may succeed. there is then more hope for his final salvation in this way than for the protestant; but that does not make him a better companion during life; and many of the miseries of a mixed marriage are met with, and some, perhaps, even in a greater degree, with nominal catholics than with protestants. if, then, you contemplate marriage even with a catholic, be sure to see that he or she attends to the duties required of catholics, and has not contracted vicious and dangerous habits. do not delude yourself with the idea that a confession and communion must be made at the time of the marriage, and that the priest will attend to all that is necessary. for this confession and communion may be in some cases not so very good and fervent; they may be something like what some protestants, as i have said, go through with for convenience or necessity. no, do not leave it all to the priest, but do your own part. if the behavior of the other party before marriage is not such as becomes a christian, both with regard to the frequentation of the sacraments and also in the matter of temperance and in others of which you are the best and indeed the only judge, it is not likely that it will be so afterward. take care, then, before taking a step which you cannot retrace. you, not the priest, are the one to secure now the amendment of life which is so necessary. a word to the wise should be sufficient. ------------------- { } sermon cxlviii. imitation of the saints. _my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life._ --philippians iv. . thus does st. paul in the epistle of to-day speak of st. clement and the others who had "labored with him in the gospel." do you wish that your name, too, should be written in the book of life? follow the path trodden here below by the saints of god, and then, even while yet on earth, your name will be recorded in heaven. for holy church commands us to observe this festival of all saints, of which we are now keeping the octave, not only in honor of those whose names are in the calendar, and whose feasts come round in the course of each year, but also in praise of that great multitude which no man can number--of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues--who stand before the throne and in sight of the lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. the saints whom the church has honored with canonization are but a small number in that vast multitude. they were the heroes of the christian army, but the great majority of those who are now receiving the homage of the church were the rank and file--common every day christians, like ourselves. the festival of all saints, therefore, especially appeals to us by showing us that sanctity is not something away off out of our reach and entirely beyond our powers, but that it is what we must each strive after if we hope to win heaven. for nothing defiled can enter there, and without holiness no man shall see god, as, then, we hope to be one day saints in heaven, we must try now to be saints on earth. { } that is why st. paul addresses all the faithful as the "beloved of god, called to be saints." yet many christians are forgetful of this high vocation. they seem to think that god has laid down one rule, one course of life for saints, and quite another for ordinary people. this is all a mistake. god's law is the same for every one. there are, indeed, special duties belonging to particular states of life, but apart from these there is no difference in what is required of every christian. we are all of us bound to follow the strait and narrow way which leadeth unto life. the chief happiness of that life will consist in the sight of god, to be always in his presence, serving him continually in joy and thanksgiving. and the way to this life our lord has told us in the sermon on the mount: "blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see god." so, then, in order to attain to this life, to dwell for ever in the sight of god, it is not necessary to imitate the saints in their extraordinary deeds, their heroic acts of penance and self-sacrifice, their suffering for the faith. some of us are, indeed, called upon to stand out conspicuously among other christians, as they did, and show to the world an example of courage and heroism. but for all of us the hidden virtues are the ones required, and if we cultivate these, god, who seeth in secret, will himself reward us openly in the day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. the one thing needful for each one of us is purity of heart, to cleanse our hearts from sin and from all affection towards sin. "dearly beloved," says st. john, "if our heart do not reprehend us, we have confidence towards god." { } see to it, then, that your heart is all right towards god. cleanse your soul from mortal sin by turning your heart away from the sin you have committed by sincere and hearty contrition and by a good confession. then _keep_ your heart right towards god by giving it to him who says to you, "my son, give me thy heart." god alone is worthy of the full love of our hearts, and he alone can satisfy the heart of man. if we set our affections upon sin or upon the passing things of this world there is reserved for us in the end nothing but unsatisfied longings and bitterness of heart. but if we purify our hearts from every affection that would lead us away from god we shall indeed be called "blessed," and our names shall be written in the book of life. ------------------- sermon cxlix. heaven. _blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven._ --st. matthew. v. . [usccb: matthew. v. .] all saints' day is a solemn and glorious festival for all heaven as well as for all the world; for to-day god is praised, and the great salvation by our lord and saviour jesus christ magnified and lauded by a common, universal act of holy congratulation and worship among all the saints--that is, among all souls that are united to god in the communion of saints, whether in the church triumphant, in the church suffering, or in the church militant. { } it seems to me that none but catholics believe in heaven, the eternal home of the saints after death, because they alone appear to understand what a saint is, as the church has proved herself to be the only power which has been able to train and canonize one. yes, all we can know of heaven is, that it is the reward, the everlasting life, the new and divine state of being which the saints enter into and enjoy when they have left this world--that is, when they die in the church militant and rise in glory in the church triumphant. if any christian, then, or so-called christian, fancies he can meditate about heaven, and hopes to get there without knowing what a saint is, and without striving to be as near one as he can, he is simply deceiving himself. i fear that the kind of place some people think would be a good enough heaven for them, if we are to judge by the way they live, is, in fact, not much above what the state of hell really is. many are the souls who ought to have been saints, and are damned because they were unfaithful to the vocation god gave them, and too sensual to make the necessary sacrifices that such a vocation demanded. what kind of a heaven, for instance, do you think the many intelligent protestants we meet with every day will likely get, who know they ought to become catholics to save their souls, and are yet afraid to take the step; who stand still and count the cost, and cheat their consciences with the false doctrine that no real sacrifices are demanded of them, because god will be more glorified if they leave all to him and do nothing themselves? and yet these people, and a good many catholics, too, are living just such lives, and in their deaths they will not be divided. { } and now do you say: o father! tell us, then, what a saint is, that we may be sure we are not all wrong, but may have some hope of imitating such, and so join the company of the glorified ones in heaven when we die! i answer: a saint is one who does everything he feels that god wants him to do, and carefully gives up and avoids everything that he feels is not pleasing to god. apply that to yourself. god does not want the same thing of everybody, nor require all to make the same sacrifices. so that, as a fact, there are all kinds of saints, as we know. but in what he does require he demands that one should aim at doing it _perfectly_. "be ye perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect," said our lord. be perfectly honest, be perfectly pure, be perfectly sober, be perfectly charitable, be perfectly obedient to the laws of god and man, be perfectly humble, be perfectly free from loving money or other riches. don't let me ever hear you say again that you are "a man of the world and must live in it" as an excuse for the wretched apology for a christian life you lead. you know that is a lie. you are a man, and _a christian man of the kingdom of god and of his saints_, and _that_ is the kind of a place you live in, and must square your life accordingly, or you will never see the kingdom of god and of his saints in glory, which is heaven, when you die. in to-day's gospel our lord pronounces the eight beatitudes. think on them, and, if you do not know them by heart, take out your bible when you go home and read them at the beginning of the fifth chapter of st. matthew's gospel. so live that you will merit to be one of those our lord declares to be "blessed," and you will surely be a saint. ------------------- { } _easter being a movable feast which can occur on any day from the d of march to the th of april, the number of sundays between epiphany and septuagesima, and between pentecost and advent, varies according to the situation of easter. there are always at least two sundays, unless epiphany falls on a sunday, and never more than six, between epiphany and septuagesima. likewise, there are never fewer than twenty-three sundays after pentecost, or more than twenty-eight. the gospel and epistle for the last sunday after pentecost are always the same. when there are twenty-three sundays, the gospel and epistle for the last sunday are substituted for those of the twenty-third. when there are twenty-five sundays, the gospel and epistle for the sixth sunday after epiphany are taken; when there are twenty-six, those also of the fifth after epiphany; when there are twenty-seven, those of the fourth, and when there are twenty-eight, those of the third, in order to fill up the interval which occurs. in any year, in which there are more than twenty-four sundays after pentecost, proper sermons for these sundays are to be found among those which are arranged for the sundays following the feast of the epiphany. if one sermon is wanting, it is taken from the sixth sunday after epiphany; if two, three, or four are needed, the last two or three or four sermons which precede septuagesima are to be taken, in their order. _ ------------------- { } _twenty-fourth or last sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _colossians i._ - . brethren: we cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of god, in all things pleasing: being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of god: strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to god the father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love: in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins. gospel. _st. matthew xxiv._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: when you shall see "the abomination of desolation," which was spoken of by daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth, let him understand. then let those that are in judea flee to the mountains. and he that is on the house-top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. and woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days. but pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath. for there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. { } then, if any man shall say to you: lo, here is christ, or there, do not believe him. for there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. behold i have told it to you beforehand. if therefore they shall say to you: behold he is in the desert; go ye not out: behold he is in the closets; believe it not. for as lightning cometh out of the east, and, appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. and immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty. and he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the uttermost bounds of them. now learn a parable from the fig-tree: when its branch is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. so also you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. amen, i say to you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. ------------------- sermon cl. marrying out of the church. { } in our course of instructions on marriage, my dear friends, we have so far spoken chiefly of the care which should be taken in the selection of the person who is to be one's constant companion through life, and shown that not only earthly happiness, but even the salvation of the soul, may depend on this choice being made wisely. we will now go on to consider the ceremony of marriage itself. some people, though they have always been catholics and lived among catholics, seem to be entirely ignorant of the laws and requirements of the church on this subject. they appear to think that nothing has to be done but to call on the priest some fine evening, and that he will marry them then and there. and if it is not convenient to go to the priest, or if he makes any difficulty about it, why, then a protestant minister or his honor the mayor will do at a pinch. now there are several points which these people need instruction about, and several mistakes which they make in this very important affair. we shall have to consider them separately. and we will begin with the greatest mistake of all which can be fallen into by catholics who wish to get married, and that is to go to a protestant minister for the purpose. what is, then, the harm exactly of going to a protestant minister to get married? is it that a protestant minister is an immoral or vicious character, with whom we should have nothing to do? by no means. he is, indeed, more likely to be to blame for his errors in religion than his people, for he has, from his greater knowledge in religious matters, a better chance to know the truth; but even a minister may be in good faith about his doctrine. and in other respects he may be a worthy and estimable gentleman. { } but the reason why catholics should avoid going to him for marriage is that marriage is one of the seven sacraments which our lord has entrusted to the keeping of his church. these sacraments, then, belong to the church, and we cannot recognize the right of those who separate from her to administer them or to assist officially at them, though they may have the power to do so validly. therefore, though marriage be real and valid when contracted before a protestant minister, and though his own people, of course, are not to blame, if in good faith, for availing themselves of his services, we cannot do so. in deed, this would be the case even if marriage were not a sacrament, but merely a religious rite or ceremony; we cannot allow the ministers of any sect separated from the church to act as such for us in any religious function; to do so would be to allow their claim to act in the name of christ. this we can never do, and, above all, where the sacraments are concerned. another, and a very weighty reason, why catholics cannot go before a minister for marriage, is that no one but the catholic clergy can be supposed to be sufficiently acquainted with the laws of god and of the church regarding christian marriage. there are impediments, as they are called, which make marriage invalid unless a dispensation is obtained from the proper source. some of these are commonly known, such as those which proceed from a near relationship of the parties; but there are others which are not known even by name to the great mass of the faithful, and which a protestant minister, even should he happen to know them, would never for a moment regard. { } catholics, therefore, if they go to a minister to get married, run a great risk of not being really married at all, owing to these impediments not being detected or attended to. by the law of the state their marriage may be a good and real one, but in the sight of god it will not be so, if any such impediment should exist, and not have been removed by dispensation; and this holds, even though no suspicion of such an impediment should have arisen. you see, then, how important it is in this matter to consult those who are competent to advise them. ------------------- sermon cli. joy in god's service. _let the peace of christ rejoice in your hearts, ... and be, ye, thankful._ --colossians iii. . of the several great lessons contained in to-day's epistle, the one most insisted on and brought out is that of thankfulness and joyfulness in the service of god. in the labors of st. paul (and his labors were more abundant than all the apostles), in his frequent tribulations and crosses, he never ceased giving thanks in all things--nor did he ever tire of inculcating this same duty on the first christians. if, then, my brethren, thankfulness and joyfulness are such a great part of religion, it would be well this morning to see if they be characteristic of our service. we have a multitude of reasons for being thankful to god, if we but thought of them--the gifts of nature--life, health, strength, the pleasures and gratifications of the mind, learning, objects of interest, of study and beauty, both in nature and art, the pleasures of home, the joys of friendship. { } these are real and great benefits; they are causes of joy and motives of thankfulness. our good god intended us to find enjoyment in the moderate use of them, not, indeed, as ends in themselves, but as means to our one great end. and so he has spread the charm of beauty over this place of our sojourn and made it pleasant and interesting, lest we lose heart and become sad, and languish on our journey to heaven. but to speak of higher gifts and benefits: what motives of joy and thankfulness ought we not to find in the knowledge of god, his truth, mercy, and goodness as made known to us in the scripture and in his divine son, our saviour and friend, the god-man; in the gift of the faith, the spiritual riches of the church and the sacraments, his mercies to us personally--blessings on our labors, the removal of dangers from our paths, his gracious forgiveness of our sins, time and again. then, too, what we expect and through his mercy count on for the future--the joys of heaven, those delights which pass our understanding. the life of heaven will be pure joy, and its one occupation thankfulness. surely, then, this life should be a figure and foretaste of it; and so st. paul thought, for he bids us "be thankful," "rejoice and rejoice always"; singing in grace in our hearts, and in every word and work giving thanks to god. { } it is plain that, since god has done his part in bestowing the benefits in such abundant measure, we should do ours in returning thanks, for gratitude is the correlative of benefit. it is equally plain that the true religion is joyful. now, is such our religion? is this the way we act? is it the way we consider god's service? we see, i think, more anxious and sad faces than thankful and glad ones; and i fear that the joyfulness of the latter does not come generally from the reasons i have given. it comes too often from worldly causes, from success in temporal things, from hopes and prospects which relate to indifferent things, if they are not dangerous and positively bad. whereas the common idea of religion is that it is an unpleasant, sad, up-hill sort of a thing, which imposes restraints upon us, and, far from being a cause of thankfulness and joy, is a great interference with the pleasure of life. pious people, too, are regarded as dull, simple, spiritless creatures, quite the opposite of joyful. this is all wrong, all false, and, if it be our religion, then we _have not_ the true religion, at least practically. for as god's benefits are real and great, so our thanks and joy should be in them and correspond to them. religion, being our highest duty, should be and can be our highest pleasure. god says it is, and he is truth; those who have tried say the same. "what shall i render to god for all he hath rendered to me?"--"better one day in thy courts than a thousand years in the tents of sinners"--"taste and see how sweet the lord is." our consciences and experience bear out the same truth; for surely evil cannot be compared to good in fulness, in intensity; and, above all, it will not wear, it will not last, and it leaves us dissatisfied, fearful, sad. the pleasure and joy of a good life to a good man even here are far greater than the pleasure of sin to a sinner. { } let us, then, make up our minds, once for all, that not only is religion the most necessary, but the wisest and the happiest thing for us. let us serve god with thankfulness, both for what he has done and will do for us, if we are faithful. if he has done so much in this state of probation, exile, and punishment, what will he not do when the time of reward and enjoyment arrives. surely, considering what we are and what we have done, the pains and crosses bear no proportion to the benefits, and we have cause even in present labors to be thankful and in every word and work to give him praise through jesus christ our lord. ------------------- sermon clii. forgive and be forgiven. "_bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another. even as the lord hath forgiven you, so you also._" --colossians iii. . this, my dear brethren, is the law of christ. it is a law we are bound to keep. we cannot save our souls unless we do keep it. there is no possible way to escape its requirements, for our lord himself declares positively: "but if you will _not_ forgive men, _neither_ will your father forgive _you your offences_" (matthew vi. ). therefore, there is no way to save our souls, no way to be true christians in life, unless we forgive all and every one, without exception, every injury they have done us. { } but one may say: i do forgive all who have injured me if they repent, say they are sorry, and ask pardon! my dear brethren, this won't do. you must forgive whether they repent or not. nothing less will satisfy the lord. the best reason is that since the lord has forgiven us, so we also are bound to forgive all. a true lover of the lord doesn't want a better reason. a greater or a better cannot be given. our lord himself has set the example. he has taken our sins upon himself, and caused the eternal father to forgive us our sins for his sake beforehand, before we have even repented or shown by a single sign that we want to belong to god and to hate sin. do we not receive in our baptism, as infants, the grace that destroys original sin? original sin placed us under the power of the devil, and made us unworthy to be called the sons of god, but our christian baptism made us again the sons of god. does not god forgive us also our mortal sins, giving us time to repent, and even waiting patiently for our repentance? remember, these sins after baptism are all the greater because after being made innocent we again become guilty. but some try to excuse themselves and say: it is hard to have to do this; i can't do it. the sin against me is too great; it ought not to be forgiven. this is not true. there is nothing we can't forgive, nothing we are permitted to leave unforgiven. we can forgive any sin against us if we will. if it is hard, pray and it will become easy. sincere prayer for him who is our enemy is sure to remove very soon all feeling against him. this is certain: that it will, _without fail_, prevent the malice and revenge in our hearts from overcoming us and causing us to sin grievously against charity. remember that everything we do well for our lord is hard at first, but is made easy by prayer and faithful, persevering effort. { } again, some object: i try to pray but cannot, because when i pray i think of my wrongs and begin to hate my enemy, so that my prayer is insincere or stops on my lips! then pray for all poor sinners, and don't mean to leave your enemy out of your prayers. this is a good beginning, and keeps you from mortal sin, for pray we must _for our enemies_. this is a fundamental law of the christian life. if we intentionally leave out one single soul when we pray for all poor sinners, we sin in the very presence of god, and our prayers are rejected; nor shall they be accepted until we include that soul also. let us remember, my dear brethren, that we are called by our lord to show to the world that being the friends of god means that he puts into our souls his loving, merciful, long-suffering spirit, and thus makes us like to himself. does any one want to be god-like? then let him forgive from his heart every injury and all who injure him. to gain courage to forgive, let us see what forgiveness does. it saves god's honor. it prevents his being insulted. for example: when one insults us, he sins against god and insults him also. if we answer back, we also insult god, and make two sins instead of one. next, our angry answer makes our enemy reply again; for another sin are we responsible. so it goes on until a number of sins are committed by each one. silence on our part would have prevented these insults to god and left our souls unstained. we were not silent. the consequence is we not only increased another's sin, but we added our own and lost the friendship of god. { } had a forgiving spirit been in each soul this could not have happened. had it been in one of them, one soul at least would have been kept from sin. cultivate, then, a forgiving spirit, and "even as the lord hath forgiven you, so you also" forgive all. ------------------- book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the google books project.) [illustration: frontispiece.] discourses on various subjects discourses on various subjects, by jacob duchÉ, m. a. rector of christ-church and st. peter's, in philadelphia; and formerly of clare-hall, cambridge. the second edition. vol i. london; printed by j. phillips, george-yard, lombard-street. and sold by t. cadell, in the strand; h. payne, pall-mall; c. dilly, in the poultry; and j. phillips. m.dcc.lxxx. [illustration: pelham pinx.] to the right honourable lady juliana penn. madam, i have ever deemed it one of the most favourable circumstances of my life, that your ladyship condescended to honour my early youth with your kind countenance and protection. your amiable character, and exemplary virtues, have always thrown such a lustre around you, as could not but enlighten and improve those, who came within their influence. this testimony from me, is no more than the just tribute of a grateful heart. i am, therefore, happy, in having your ladyship's permission to inscribe to you the following discourses. you are no stranger to the sentiments they contain: you love and honour the doctrines they inculcate. the author intreats to be indulged with a continuance of that regard, which your ladyship hath hitherto shewn him; and which he hath always held more desirable, in proportion as he hath been better qualified to judge of what is truly honourable and estimable in the intercourses of social life. with this sentiment deeply impressed upon his mind, he cannot but rejoice in the opportunity your ladyship hath granted him, of thus publickly subscribing himself, madam, your ladyship's most obliged and most faithful servant, j. duchÉ. preface. the following discourses were preached in the united churches of christ church and st. peter, in the city of philadelphia, of which the author was appointed assistant minister in the year , and to the rectorship of which he was elected in the year . the reader will find in them no display of genius or of erudition. to the former, the author hath no claim: of the latter, he contents himself with as much as is competent to the discharge of his pastoral duty. his divinity, he trusts, is that of the bible: to no other standard of truth can he venture to appeal. sensible, however, of his own fallibility, he wishes not to obtrude his peculiar sentiments; nor to have them received any further, than they carry with them that only fair title to reception, a conviction of their truth and usefulness. from his own heart he hath written to the hearts of others; and if any of his readers find not there the ground of his doctrines, they are, surely, at liberty to pass them by, if they do it with christian candour, and to leave it to time and their own reflections, to discover that ground or not. universal benevolence he considers as the sublime of religion; the true taste for which, can only be derived from the fountain of infinite love, by inward and spiritual communications. the mind, that is possessed of this true taste, whatever its peculiarity of opinion may be, cannot be very "far from the kingdom of god."--"god is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in god, and god in him." one transgression of the great law of love, even in the minutest instance, must appear more heinous in the sight of the god of love, than a thousand errors in matters of doctrine or opinion. if the reader peruses these volumes under the influence of such sentiments, it is not likely, that he will be offended with any singularities of diction, or any inelegant and colloquial expressions he may now and then meet with. much less will his censure be incurred by the constant use of scriptural ideas, and scriptural language, in preference to what are called moral and philosophical. deviations from the simplicity of evangelical truth, have too often been occasioned by deviations from the simplicity of evangelical language. a christian ought never to be "ashamed of the gospel of christ which is the power of god unto salvation," but should always speak of christian truths by christian names. the revisal and correction of these discourses have relieved the author's mind from much of that anxiety and dejection, which a long absence from his family and his churches had occasioned. and he is now happy in the thought, that these volumes will ere long reach his native country, and revive the memory of his labours of love among a people, with whom he enjoyed a reciprocation of kindness and affection, which for eighteen years had known no abatement or interruption. he most gratefully acknowledges the kind and honourable reception he hath met with since his arrival in england; the chearfulness and generosity with which persons of all ranks have honoured his publication; and the affectionate zeal of his friends, relations, and connexions, in undertaking and completing his subscription, without giving him the trouble of soliciting a single name. to his most ingenious and worthy friend and countryman, benjamin west, esq. history painter to his majesty, he is happy to acknowledge himself indebted for the elegant designs, taken from two of his most capital paintings, which are placed as frontispieces to these volumes. to his dear and valuable friend, the author of the late accurate and elegant translation of thomas à kempis, he is sincerely thankful for his kind and chearful advice and assistance, in conducting the whole publication, to which the author's inexperience in printing, as well as his frequent and necessary absence from the press, would have rendered him altogether unequal. he hath only to add, that the revisal and publishing of these discourses was undertaken at the instance of some of the most respectable names in the list of his subscribers to the first edition, under whose kind patronage, and in hopes of every indulgence from the candour of the publick, he hath ventured to send them abroad. hampstead, st march, . contents of volume first. discourse i. the character of wisdom's children. st. luke, chap. vii. ver. . "but wisdom is justified of all her children." discourse ii. evangelical righteousness. jerem. chap. xxiii. part of ver. . "and this is his name, whereby he shall be called, the lord our righteousness." discourses iii. and iv. the religion of jesus, the only source of happiness. st. john, chap. vi. ver. , , . "from that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. then said jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? then simon peter answered, lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." discourse v. true religion, a costly and continual sacrifice. samuel, chap. xxiv. ver. . "and the king said unto araunah, nay, but i will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will i offer burnt-offerings unto the lord my god, of that which doth cost me nothing." discourse vi. truth, the only friend of man. galatians, chap. iv. ver. . "am i therefore become your enemy, because i tell you the truth?" discourse vii. the strength and victory of faith. john, chap. v. ver. . "whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." discourse viii. faith triumphant over the powers of darkness. st. mark, chap. ix. part of ver. . "lord, i believe: help thou mine unbelief!" discourse ix. the flourishing state of the righteous. psalm i. ver. . "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doth shall prosper." discourse x. the cause and cure of the disorders of human nature. st. mark, chap. vii. ver. . "and looking up to heaven, he sighed; and saith unto him, ephphatha! that is, be opened." discourses xi, xii, xiii. the riches, privileges, and honours of the christian. cor. chap. iii. ver. , , . "therefore let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; whether paul, or apollos, or cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours: and ye are christ's, and christ is god's." discourse xiv. christ, known or unknown, the universal saviour. st. john, chap. xiv. part of ver. . "have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, philip?" discourse xv. human life, a pilgrimage. psalm xxxix. part of ver. . "for i am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." discourse xvi, xvii. the true knowledge of god internal and practical. job, chap. xlii. ver. , . "i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now hath mine eye seen thee: therefore i abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." discourse xviii. on the nativity of christ. st. luke, chap. ii. from ver. , to . "and so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished, that she should be delivered," &c. subscribers names omitted in the first edition. rev. dr. allanson, rector of rippon, yorkshire mrs. ambler, of queen-square mr. george adams lady boynton, burton agnes, yorkshire rev. mr. bull, rector of sarensfield, herefordsh. rev. mr. baker miss f. baker robert burton, esq. rich. wilbraham bootle, esq. francis bernard, esq. charles barker, esq. rev. mr. cook, rector of semer, suffolk richard combe, esq. harley-street mrs. cotin, upper grosvenor-street mrs. festing, weymouth mr. george fletcher mr. francis freshfield, colchester james gordon, esq. glasgow william grover, esq. mr. robert grimditch mrs. garnett capt. grindall t. grosley, esq. mr. greenwood e. gurney hon. and rev. mr. hamilton mrs. hyde, bedford-row mr. james hingeston mr. handcock, of bath rev. mr. harris mrs. hall, of tottenham mr. healy, of cambridge tho. johnson, esq. bradford rev. jonathan judson, essex rev. mr. lantley, prebendary of hereford dr. lysons, of bath mrs. levison rev. mr. myddleton, fellow of clare-hall w. middleton, esq. bath robert m'kerrel, esq. rt. hon. countess dowager of northampton mr. nairne henry o'carroll, esq. j. palmer, esq. of bath rev. thomas pryse, norwich mrs. puget, red lionsquare tho. rogers, esq. bradford robert rasleigh, esq. mr. thomas smith rich. statham, esq. leverpool mrs. schaak, of york william tompkins, esq. abingdon mrs. tuson, bath william taylor, esq. of worcester-park, surry mr. wm. taylor, london hon. charles vane, of mount ida, norfolk mr. vickary mr. joseph wrightman rev. dr. watkins, preb. of hereford rev. dr. wharton, of barbadoes george wilson, esq. of bedford row mr. thomas weston, jun. mr. joseph woods mrs. wilding, red lionsquare mrs. wright, thunder-hall, herts miss witts, bath witham book society discourse i. the character of wisdom's children. st. luke, chap. vii, ver. . "but wisdom is justified of all her children." if we take an impartial view of the sentiments and conduct of mankind with respect to religion, we shall find, that their errors in speculation, as well as in practice, originate, for the most part, in the will; that their understandings are blinded by their passions, and that their ignorance of truth too often proceeds from their aversion to goodness. to combat this prevailing depravity of human nature, and to strike at that root of evil which we bring with us into the world, was the grand and principal design of all those different dispensations, by which heaven hath condescended, from time to time, to speak to the sons of men. instead, however, of yielding a grateful attention to this benevolent purpose, they have, in some instances, wholly rejected, and, in others, perversly misconstrued, the dispensations themselves. whether "god spake at sundry times, and in divers manners, in times past, unto the fathers by the prophets;" or, whether he spake, as in these latter days, to the children, by his own incarnate son; the generality of men have either been deaf to the salutary message, or have availed themselves of some idle pretexts to elude a compliance with its most serious and solemn contents. hence arose the inattention and opposition of ancient unbelievers, to the missions of patriarchs and prophets; and hence it is, that infidels of later ages have called in question the truth and authority of that most full and complete revelation of the divine will, with which mankind have been favoured by the ministration of the blessed jesus. far, however, from resenting their obstinacy, or indignantly with-holding from them any further communications of divine light, the great god and father of spirits hath still persevered in carrying on the purposes of his love; and, "whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear," still seeks, by a variety of dispensations, to gain possession of the hearts of his creatures. notwithstanding, therefore, the general indifference and obstinacy that have prevailed, there have not been wanting, in every age and nation, some docile virtuous minds, who have listened to the heavenly voice, and received with gratitude the instructions of that "wisdom which is from above;" and who, as her true children, have vindicated her ways to man, and admired and justified the different methods by which she manifests herself to different souls. the truth of these observations we find remarkably exemplified in that conduct and behaviour of the jews, and particularly of the sect of the pharisees, which is mentioned in the verses preceding my text, and which indeed gave rise to the pertinent and beautiful maxim there expressed. ignorant of the spirit of that dispensation under which they lived, and perversely attached to those externals of their religion, that most gratified their pride and selfishness, they seem to have been equally offended with the doctrines and manners of john the baptist, and those of the blessed jesus. and though the grand object of the master and his forerunner was one and the same, even the reformation of the heart and life; and though the outward means, however inconsistent they might appear, were but different parts of the same spiritual and redeeming process; yet these degenerate israelites sought to stifle the power of conviction in their breasts, by childishly objecting to the abstracted, severe, and rigorous life of the baptist on the one hand, and the easy, open, and condescending behaviour of jesus on the other; insinuating, that the former was only the effect of a gloomy, dark, and diabolical spirit; and that the latter shewed a familiarity and levity, unworthy the character of a prophet sent from god. our blessed lord exposes the weakness and inconsistency of these objections, by the following apt and lively similitude: "whereunto shall i liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like? they are like unto children sitting in the market-place, and calling one to another, and saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept." that is to say: we have taken every method we could devise to engage your attention, and to prevail upon you to bear a part in our recreations; but you have unkindly and sullenly refused to come. we have endeavoured to adapt our little sports and exercises to what we conceived might be your particular taste and humour; but still we have failed of success. in application of this allusion, our lord proceeds--"for john the baptist came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine; and ye say, he hath a devil." the austerity of the baptist's life, which was meant to inculcate a lesson of self-denial, and abstraction from the follies and vanities of a worldly life, as well as a solemn preparation for the happiness of an heavenly one, ye maliciously declare to have proceeded from the melancholy suggestion of some dark and evil spirit, that hurried him into the desart, and secluded him from all affectionate intercourse with men. on the other hand, because "the son of man is come eating and drinking, ye say, behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!" to answer the great purposes of divine love, i have, with condescending freedom, mingled with all ranks of people; put myself in the way of the giddy and the profligate, and even accepted the invitations of publicans and sinners. for this, without knowing the motives of my conduct, you have vilified me with the opprobrious names of glutton and drunkard; and insinuated, that the friendly attention i shewed to men of their character, proceeded not from a regard to their souls, but from a fondness for their vices. but notwithstanding your blindness and obduracy, notwithstanding your weak and wicked misconstructions, be assured, there are those, who can do justice to these dispensations of heaven, whose minds, illuminated from above, can discern the beauty, propriety, and uniformity of design, which wisdom manifests in these various methods of addressing herself to the sons of men. such children of wisdom are abundantly convinced, that the self-denying life of the baptist was necessarily preparative to that meek, gentle, condescending life of love, which i have inculcated in my precepts, and recommended and enforced by my example; and that both these are the happy effects of that redeeming power, which i manifest in the hearts of those, who, with simplicity and self-abasement, receive and gratefully acknowledge my spiritual salutary visits. "but wisdom is justified of all her children." the truth was this: the pharisees considered the severe exercises of john, his contempt of the world, and total disregard of the pleasures and honours of life, as a personal censure of their hypocritical pretensions to religion, by which, under the appearance of great zeal for the external and ceremonial parts of the law, they "sought the praises of men, more than the praises of god." in like manner, the humility and condescension of christ, his free and affectionate intercourse with all ranks of people, even with those, whom (on account of their ignorance of some minute traditionary precepts of their rabbins) they held accursed, were a perpetual impeachment of their intolerable pride and arrogance, and most effectually tended to lessen their credit and reputation with those whom they wished and earnestly sought to engage for their pupils and admirers. no wonder, then, that whilst they continued thus attached to favourite passions and prejudices, they should wilfully misconstrue the purest intentions, and vilify the fairest actions of those, who attempted to combat and expose them. their objections to the person and doctrines of christ, as well as to those of his illustrious harbinger, came rather from their wills than their understandings: nor would they ever have called in question the divine authority of their missions, had not the design and spirit of them militated against their own evil tempers and dispositions: "light was come unto them; but they chose darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." in every age of the world, and under every dispensation of religion, human nature, in itself, has always been the same. the serpentine subtilty of human reason, when engaged in the service, and acting under the influence of vice and error, will never be at a loss for arguments to support their cause against the voice of truth and virtue. hence the specious objections, which modern infidelity hath thrown out against the necessity of divine revelation; and hence the weak and idle censures, which libertinism on the one hand, and false enthusiasm on the other, so illiberally denounce against the sincere, honest, and cordial votaries of true christianity. sincerely to be pitied is the poor unbeliever, whose short-sighted reason, incapable of seeing further than the externals of christianity, furnishes him with some plausible objections, that seem to weaken its outward evidence, but cannot reach the spirit and power by which it is animated and supported. "christianity was instituted for the common salvation of all men: its essential truths, therefore, are plain and obvious, level to every capacity, and stand in no need of learned labour to inculcate and explain them; they are rather matter of feeling, than of reasoning. "whatever is within, whatever is without us, calls aloud for a saviour. change, corruption, distemperature and death, have, by the sin of fallen angels, and of fallen man, been unhappily introduced into this system of things which we inhabit. the whole creation groaneth; and animals and vegetables, and even the immortal image of god himself in man, are all in bondage to their malign influences; so that every thing cries out, with the apostle paul, "who shall deliver me from this body of death?" so that every thing cries out, with the apostle peter, "lord, save me, or i perish!" "what kind of a saviour then is it, for whom all nature thus cries aloud, through all her works? not a dry moralist, a legislator of bare external precepts, such as some would represent christ to be: no, the existence and influence of the redeemer of nature, must, at least, be as extensive as nature herself. things are defiled and corrupted throughout; they are distempered and devoted to death, from the inmost essence of their being; and none, but he alone, "in whom they live, and move, and have their being," can possibly redeem and restore them." these are inevitable truths, which all men, at some time or other, must feel, and feel deeply too, whether they attend to them now or not. the redemption and restoration of every sinner can be accomplished in no other way, than by christ's spiritual entrance into his heart, awakening in him an abhorrence of evil, and a love of goodness. this is the spirit of the gospel of jesus; this the grand purpose of heaven, under every dispensation of revealed truth, from adam down to this day. the modes of communication, the outward forms of worship and of doctrine, may vary; but the same spirit runs through the whole, and the enlightened eye of "wisdom's children" can see and adore her radiant footsteps, in paths that appear dark and dreary to the eyes of others. however her outward garb may change; whatever different appearances she may put on, under the patriarchal, legal, and evangelical dispensations; her real features, her whole person and employment, have ever been invariably the same. these different appearances were only adapted to the different circumstances of men, and calculated to direct their attention to the one great and principal object she has always had in view, even the redemption of immortal spirits from the tyranny of earth and hell, and the full restoration of them to their primeval innocence and bliss. turn then, ye advocates of infidelity! o turn back from those delusive dangerous paths, into which the false light of fallen reason hath led your wayward steps. wisdom herself, and all her true and heaven-born children, lift up their sweet and instructive voices, and press you to return; to recognize your illustrious origin; to spurn the transitory and polluting joys of earth, and to aspire after the pure and permanent pleasures of heaven! from the throne of the most-high, the center of her enlightened kingdom, she speaks, she illuminates, she warms every intelligent being that turns to her benignant ray: the darkness of nature kindles, at her approach, into the light and life of heaven; every evil principle, every evil passion, shrinks from before her, and retires to its native hell; whilst the spirits of her redeemed children issue forth from their long captivity, and triumphantly re-enter the realms of purity and peace. who would not wish, then, to become a votary, a pupil, a child of wisdom? but how is this privilege to be obtained? what path must we pursue, that will lead us to her delightful mansion? what conduct must we observe, that will entitle us to be members of her illustrious household? must we put on the raiment of camel's hair, and the leathern girdle; follow the mortified baptist into the desert, and feed upon locusts and wild honey? or must we not rather adopt the gentler manners of the holy jesus, mix with the world as he did, and chearfully employ ourselves in acts of kindness and brotherly love? it is evident from the whole passage of scripture, of which my text is part, that our lord blames the jews no less for their disregard of the ministry of john, than for the contempt with which they treated himself; and plainly intimates, that, by the children of wisdom, we are to understand all those who see the baptist's ministry in its true point of view, viz. as introductory and preparatory to his own; and in consequence of this are fully convinced, that the chearfulness of faith, and the sweetness and condescension of love, must naturally be preceded by the severity of repentance, and the salutary bitterness of sorrow and contrition. "repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," said the harbinger of the son of god: "the kingdom of god is come; he that believeth shall be saved;" said the son of god himself. "repentance, therefore, and faith working by love," are the sure characteristics of wisdom's children. it is not, therefore, any distinguishing peculiarity of the baptist's character, the outward garb, or the outward deportment, that we are to assume, but an inward temper and frame of mind corresponding to both. a deep sensibility of the evils and infirmities of our fallen nature, an heart-felt conviction of the guilt and misery of sin, and a penitential sorrow for our own numberless lapses and deviations from the path of virtue, are the true harbingers of christ in our hearts. when, under their powerful ministration, we find ourselves called, not perhaps to a life of outward solitude and mortification, but of inward retirement and abstraction from the world; in the language of scripture, "we repent, we are converted:" we turn our backs upon every gay and glittering scene, which worldly honour, wealth, or pleasure, can exhibit; we find nothing in any of them, that can give a moment's real peace or rest to our "weary heavy laden" souls; we are humbled to the dust; we feel ourselves, as "worms, and not men," as "less than the least of god's mercies." in this mortified, penitent, and afflicted state, which is mercifully intended to bring us to a proper sense of our helplessness by nature, and of the indispensable necessity of divine supernatural assistance, we must remain, till the happy effect is produced, and till god is graciously pleased to call us out of the wilderness. the harbinger then hath fulfilled his office; "the lamb of god" appears "to take away the sins of the world;" "the kingdom of heaven is come" into our hearts. to sorrow and disquietude, succeed sweet peace and heavenly composure of mind: the understanding is enlightened; the will receives a new and happy direction; a new principle animates our whole frame, a new conduct appears in our whole life and conversation: the spirit of love breathes and acts in every duty we are called to perform, in every little office, which common civility and politeness requires us to do, even to those, who have yet no taste or desire for the sublime comforts of religion. thus it is, that wisdom is justified of all her children; and thus it appears, that the religion of the gospel, which is the only true wisdom, is a religion of love. a life of love, therefore, is the best, the only evidence, which its disciples can give, of the sincerity of their profession; and the surest method they can take of recommending it to others. "let your light, then, so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven." discourse ii. evangelical righteousness. jeremiah, chap. xxiii. verse . "and this is his name, whereby he shall be called, the lord our righteousness." the great and essential distinction betwixt the legal and evangelical dispensation, is accurately pointed out by the apostle, where he tells us, that "the law is but the shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things." its types, ceremonies, and outward ordinances, are taken from the objects of temporal nature, which are, at best, but shadowy representations of eternal truth. "the comers thereunto could never be perfected," by the most minute observation of its external rites. the pious, spiritual jews, therefore, must have looked further than these, and considered every outward purification, as figuratively expressive of an inward cleansing to be performed in their hearts. moses, their inspired legislator, and the prophets that succeeded him, did not fail to acquaint them with the immediate and necessary reference of these temporal symbols to spiritual and eternal truths. nevertheless, it appears but too evident, from the whole jewish history, that the generality rested their hopes of salvation, merely upon their outward law: "they went about to establish a righteousness of their own," founded upon a strict observance of the levitical ceremonies, which were only adapted to their present circumstances, without paying the least attention to that inward law of righteousness, to which these ceremonies referred. hence it was, that their prophets were directed by the most high, to express, in the strongest terms, his disapprobation of those very ordinances, which he himself had originally instituted for their good; and to tell them, that "he had no pleasure in their burnt-offerings and sacrifices, that their oblations were vain, and that incense was an abomination in his sight." his displeasure was not with the ordinances themselves; for, if considered and observed with proper views and dispositions, they would have been subservient to the most glorious purposes: but he was offended with the gross and flagrant abuses of them, which the people were daily committing. hence also it was, that the same inspired prophets, when the hand of the highest drew aside the curtain of futurity, and exhibited to their astonished view the successive displays of gospel light and truth, with all that variety of heavenly scenery, which his incarnate son was to open upon our benighted world; hence it was, i say, that the same inspired prophets were particularly careful to distinguish the new dispensation, by every figure and mode of expression, that might lead the most dark and ignorant jew to consider it as internal and spiritual. the righteousness of the new covenant is widely different from what the carnal israelite apprehended to be the righteousness of the old. with respect to their essence, their foundation, their motives and ends, both covenants are the same, differing only in the external mode of revelation; the old being "the shadow," the new "the image of good things to come;" the old, pointing to christ; the new, revealing him in all his fulness to the faithful. christ jesus, therefore, is and must be, "the end of the law to those that believe;" that is, he is and must be, in himself, that very righteousness to which the law pointed, but which it could not attain. "as a school-master," it served to instruct its ignorant, dark, and fallen pupils, in the outward rudiments of divine truth; but could never communicate to them the light, life, and spirit of that real evangelical righteousness, which is only to be found in the incarnate word of god. it is for this reason, that the prophet, speaking of the approaching kingdom of the messiah, in whom all the law and the prophets were to center, represents him as "a righteous branch springing forth from the root of david; as a king, reigning, prospering, and executing judgment and justice on the earth;" in consequence of whose mild and equitable administration, "judah should be saved, and israel should dwell safely:" and, as the most characteristical designation of his nature and office, tells us, that "this is his name, whereby he shall be called, the lord our righteousness." let us then enquire, in the first place, why our blessed redeemer has the name of righteousness ascribed to him by the prophet; and secondly, what we are to understand by his being called "our righteousness." i. a name in scripture is generally put to express the intrinsic nature and qualities of the object named. when, therefore, the name of the messiah is here said to be "righteousness," we must necessarily conclude, that righteousness is his very nature, his essence, the substance of all his attributes and perfections. he is not called righteous, but righteousness itself; the source and fountain, from whence all that is really and truly righteous, throughout the universe, perpetually proceeds. jesus christ is "the brightness of the father's glory, and the express image of his person." all the beauties, excellencies, powers, and virtues, which are essentially hidden in the invisible godhead, are substantially, vitally, inwardly, as well as outwardly, opened, revealed, and illustriously displayed, in the person of the incarnate jesus. "all things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made, that was made:" all the "thrones, dominions, principalities and powers," possessed by angels, archangels, cherubim and seraphim, are derived from him; for, "in, and through him, did the father create all things." the highest degree of righteousness which the highest seraph can attain, is but a beam or efflux from this eternal sun. with glory undiminished he perpetually imparts spiritual life and vigour to all those countless myriads of intelligences, which inhabit the whole compass of universal nature. he is himself the living law, the eternal rule of order and rectitude. god the father hath "set this his king of righteousness on his holy hill of sion." every outward institute, revealed and written, which god hath "at sundry times and in divers manners," delivered to the sons of men, was but a transcript of that original law, which lives for ever in the heart of christ. "i am the way, the truth, and the life;" "no man cometh unto the father, but by me; ye will not come unto me, that ye may have life; without me, ye can do nothing--" are his own blessed words. nature, without this christ of god, is impurity, emptiness, poverty, want, and wretchedness extreme: nature illuminated, enriched, refreshed, glorified by him, is holy, righteous, lovely, supremely happy. known or unknown to our fallen race, it is he alone, who inspires every good thought, every righteous deed, every sentiment and action that is amiable and endearing. in the acts of the apostles we read of an altar with this inscription, "to the unknown god!" st. paul, taking occasion from this circumstance, tells the athenians, "him whom ye ignorantly worship, preach i unto you." in the whole frame of nature, says a truly sublime writer, every heart, every creature, every affection, every action, is an altar with the same kind of inscription, "to the unknown beauty!--to the unknown righteousness!--to the unknown jesus!" this is the eternal standard of truth, order, righteousness and perfection, to which every being in nature ignorantly moveth; this is that which all understandings, all hearts, cannot but admire and adore. but blessed above all beings are those, whose hearts are spiritual altars, with the righteous person of christ engraven upon them by the finger of god, flaming with the fire of heavenly love, and bearing this radiant inscription, "to the known and experienced beauty and righteousness of that jesus, whom we know; that word of life, which our eyes have seen, our ears have heard, our hands have handled, and spiritually embraced!" and this leads me, in the second place, to inquire what we are to understand by christ's being called "our righteousness." ii. under my first head, i observed to you from scripture, that god created all things "in and by jesus christ;" and that "without him, was not any thing made that was made." man, in particular, was "created in the image of god:" christ is "the brightness of the father's glory, and the express image of his person:" and, therefore, man was created in christ. man in himself, in his outward nature, was but an empty vessel, till the christ of god became his fulness and perfection. his outward form was from the dust of the earth; but his inward spirit was the breath of the most high. the image of god, even christ himself, was his first, his sole righteousness and perfection; the infallible instructor and enlightener of his understanding, the unerring guide and director of his will. the name by which the son of god was known to him, was "the lord his righteousness." angels themselves know no other righteousness, than the righteousness of god in christ. the fall of man, or "original sin," (as our church article with great truth and propriety expresses it) "is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil." we have already seen what this original righteousness was, which man possessed in a state of innocence, viz. that it was christ, "the lord his righteousness," in him. this is what adam lost--this is what christ alone can restore. man in his present fallen state, without christ, must be naturally inclined to evil; he has no righteousness of his own. and he can no more be saved by any exertion of his own natural powers, than he can see by the utmost stretch of his organs of sight, without the light of the sun. here then a serious and inquiring mind may be ready to ask--how is this blessed redeemer to become my righteousness? i feel the force of these scripture truths you have mentioned, and experience in my soul the dreadful consequences of an original apostasy--but i know not, whether christ is my righteousness, or not. i know not, whether i have the least traces of his righteous image in my soul. "hath christ, then, been so long time with thee, and yet hast thou not known him?" every little rebuke of conscience; every emotion of kindness, tenderness, and love; every sympathetic feeling of the prosperity or distress of thy neighbour; every sensibility of admiration, esteem, and joy, from contemplating a truly wise and virtuous character; every fervent desire of imitating what is good and excellent in others; every weak aspiration after holiness and perfection; nay, every little feeling of the restless cravings of thine own nature, every little longing after happiness unpossessed; all, all is christ, speaking within thee, and waiting and watching to reveal himself in righteousness to thy soul. nothing, therefore, is wanting, on thy part, but a calm and quiet resignation of thyself, and all that is within thee, to his sovereign disposal, to redeem, purify, and restore, to do every thing that is necessary to be done, and which he alone can do, for thy salvation. thus have i endeavoured to give the plain and obvious meaning of the text. distinctions upon distinctions have been multiplied; books upon books have been published, to tell us that we are to be justified by the personal righteousness of christ outwardly imputed, and sanctified by the inherent graces of the holy spirit; that one must necessarily precede the other; and that we must be perfect in christ by justification, before we can have the least spark of holiness by sanctification. this is, indeed, travelling in the broad and popular road; and such kind of preaching might be to the "praise of men." let systems be written upon systems, and comments upon comments; let preachers oppose preachers, and hearers wander after this or that form of godliness; but may heaven in mercy preserve us from taking up our rest, or placing our dependence upon any thing less than an intimate and experimental knowledge of "the lord our righteousness" revealing himself, with all his holy heavenly tempers, virtues, and dispositions, in our hearts! may we never rest satisfied with a nominal profession of christianity, a nominal acquaintance with christ, or a nominal remission of sins; for, surely, we are not warranted, by scripture, to look upon ourselves as redeemed by christ, and born again of him, till by a total purification, a complete deliverance from all the evil tempers and passions of our fallen life, he hath obtained a full and peaceable possession of our whole nature, erected his throne of righteousness in our hearts, and by the effectual working of his holy spirit brought us to the "measure of the stature of that fulness, which is in himself." discourse iii. the religion of jesus, the only source of happiness. st. john, chap. vi. ver. , , . "from that time, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. then said jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? then simon peter answered him, lord! to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." happiness is the great end and aim of all those restless pursuits in which mankind are perpetually engaged. the laborious peasant, and the contemplative philosopher; the man that wisheth for wealth, and the man that possesseth it; the gay votary of worldly pleasure, and the gloomy tenant of the solitary cell, are alike industrious in exploring this hidden treasure. their imaginations are ever upon the stretch after this something yet unknown. their ideas of happiness indeed, as well as the means which they make use of to attain it, are as different as their prevailing tempers and inclinations. whatever objects coincide with their present conceptions, those they esteem, and those they pursue, with all the eagerness of newly awakened desire. deluded, however, by specious appearances, mistaken again and again in their choice of objects, loathing to-day what they pursued yesterday with ardour, chearful and confident in prospect, disappointed and melancholy in possession, they fondly rove from one scene of imaginary bliss to another, unable to rest on any with permanent satisfaction. they never once consider, that no finite objects can fill up the immense void of an immortal soul, no temporal enjoyments satisfy its boundless desires; and that nothing less than "life eternal" can afford an happiness commensurate to its eternal nature. this is not mere theory, or empty speculation. there is not one in this assembly, but could bear witness from experience to the melancholy fact. was each of us to be asked, in a serious and solemn manner, are you really happy? very few, i am afraid, if they would speak ingenuously, could answer in the affirmative. and yet, perhaps, most of us have attained, from time to time, what we once deemed the height of our wishes; and what we were then sure, if attained, would make us completely happy. the child wishes for the employments and pleasures of youth; the youth longs to arrive at what he calls the freedom and independence of manhood; the man anxiously schemes and plots, and contrives, and labours and toils, and then wishes to see the success of his schemes, the accomplishment of his labours. his schemes turn out to his satisfaction; the end is obtained; the object is enjoyed: his bliss is consummate, to be sure; he cannot be happier--no such thing--new wants succeed; new schemes are formed; new pursuits, new labours, new anxieties and wishes, tread close upon each other's heels. but where is his happiness all the while? why he loses sight, at last, of the grand and principal object, in the pursuit of which he had set out: failing of success in this, he foolishly adopts the means for the end; and perpetual care, toil, and vexation, are the wretched effects of his mistaken choice. thus, for instance, the covetous man grasps, and saves, and fills his coffers--for what? not to make himself, his family, or his poor neighbours round him, happy with the fruits of his penurious efforts. no--he not only turns a deaf ear to the piercing cries of indigence, but grudges even his family the common necessaries of life, and never parts with a farthing, without uttering some ridiculous complaint of the hardness of the times, and their want of economy. he saves therefore for the sake of saving; his heart is shut up in his chest with his beloved mammon, both alike inaccessible to the mild and soft approaches of kindness and liberality. we cannot but shrink back with horror, from a character so odious and detestable as this. but the observation with which i set out, will hold equally true, when applied to any of those false paths, which men pursue in quest of happiness. pleasure and ambition will deceive them, as surely as avarice. enjoyment in every instance may pall, but cannot satisfy the restless desire. nor will it ever be satisfied, till the soul gets sight of the only true beatifying object in the universe, to which she can rise, and upon which she can rest, with the whole strength and energy of her immortal nature. the light of another world, however, must open and irradiate her spiritual senses, before she can have the least glimpse of this supreme source of bliss. the vanity and deception of all creaturely happiness must in some measure be unfolded to her view, before she can stretch one feeble thought towards heaven; and she must be intimately convinced of the bondage of her fallen life, and the misery of her condition in this fallen world, before she can feel the force, or discern the spiritual depth of these expressions of st. peter, "lord! to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." there are many people, indeed, who though they are walking on in those very paths of error and delusion which i have just mentioned, would fain have their conduct hallowed by some religious appearances. they begin with deceiving themselves, and then go on to deceive others. but, do what they will, they cannot wholly divest themselves of the feelings of truth and virtue. for they have within them a spiritual nature, that is continually striving, under the influences of its native heaven, to get disengaged from the servitude of its corrupt companion. call it by what name we please, conscience, the light of nature, common sense, common or preventing grace; or, as the scripture denominates it, "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, christ in us the hope of glory, the incorruptible seed of the word of god," (for, as christians, i think we ought to prefer scriptural to philosophical terms;) i say, call it by which ever of these names we like best, certain it is, that every man at times feels this divine power stirring within him, and endeavouring to awaken, reprove, inform, illuminate, and govern his life and actions. now it always happens, that the counsels of this heavenly monitor clash with and oppose the dictates of corrupt nature. at this contradiction, the passions are alarmed; they demand immediate gratification, and the trembling mortal dares not at once yield to their solicitations. a strong sensibility of the falsehood of their claim, is felt in his breast. something must first be done, to stifle or quiet this uneasy sensation. avarice, he will say to himself, is criminal, it is true; but a well-timed parsimony is virtuous and commendable; and a good and prudent man will think himself in duty bound to provide for the future support of his children. sensual pleasure, vain mirth, and jovial company, are not quite consistent with the precepts of the gospel of christ: but a few innocent amusements can do no harm; and it is but in character for a christian to be chearful. the pursuits of ambition are diametrically opposite to that meekness and humility, which should characterize the disciple of the lowly jesus: but posts of honour, and exalted stations, may enable a man to be of considerable service to his neighbours, and enlarge his sphere of usefulness. thus, every evil temper and inclination, wrath, hatred, revenge, envy, jealousy, &c. may cloath themselves in the garb of virtue. men may first deceive themselves, by endeavouring to reconcile their criminal pursuits with the dictates of conscience; and then employ the same infernal arts, to deceive and impose upon others. it is with such masks as these, that hypocrites, pharisees, and all pretenders to true religion, step forth upon the stage of life, dare to enlist themselves under the standard of virtue, and even sometimes assume the rank and authority of commanders. but when they are summoned to the field of battle; when they are called upon, from within, or from without, to exert themselves against their spiritual adversaries, to assert the rights of heaven, as well in themselves as in the world around them, to subdue the evil lusts and passions that tyrannize in their own breasts, or to engage with that bitter and malevolent spirit, who opposes the advancement of their master's kingdom in the life and conduct of others; then it is, that the traitors drop their masks; they meanly desert the banner of the cross, openly disavow their pretensions to religion, and "deny the lord that bought them." they shrink from the combat, honourable as it would have been for them to engage, and happy as they would have found themselves in the issue; and meanly barter away their salvation for a false peace, short in its continuance, and ending in woe and misery extreme. like the cowardly disciples mentioned in my text, "they go back, and walk no more with their master." doubtless these timid israelites were alarmed at that heavenly discourse of the blessed jesus, which we read in the preceding part of this chapter. the mysteries of his kingdom there delivered, were too refined for their gross conception. the nature, nourishment, and growth of the inward and spiritual man, which is there indispensably required, militated too powerfully against their favourite passions and prejudices. their high-blown hopes of future preferment in a temporal kingdom, were, by this spiritual address, entirely dissipated; and they were taught to seek and expect nothing from their master, but what was opposite to the life, and spirit, and maxims of this world. alas, how many apostates from the religion of jesus, have imitated the conduct of these unworthy disciples! past, as well as present times, afford too many melancholy examples of this kind. a temporizing spirit hath prevailed in almost all ages; and ecclesiastical history abounds with examples of its venomous influence upon the minds of men. the temporal prosperity of the church, hath, in many instances, proved its ruin; and accessions of wealth and power have only served to increase its corruptions. under the profession of a religion, which breathes nothing but purity, meekness, and benevolence, men have been actuated by all the diabolical passions that ever inflamed the breasts of the most ignorant and unenlightened pagans. wherever the external profession of christianity hath been attended with any outward emoluments, its disciples have increased, and an outward shew of zeal for its advancement, hath not been wanting. this outward shew gives them but little trouble; and the hypocrite's garb, though cumbersome at first, is not only made light and convenient by custom, but even desirable for the profits and advantages it brings. whilst the blessed jesus is distributing his bounty, and loaves and fishes multiply under his creating hand, he will never be without crouds of followers to partake of his royal munificence. whilst he is riding in triumph through the streets of jerusalem, nothing is heard from every quarter, but "hosannahs to the son of david;" every one is ambitious of joining his train, and of being in the number of his adherents. but when the powers of this world confederate against him; when herod and pontius pilate, and the whole nation of the jews, rise up in arms, seize upon the innocent victim, and drag him to condemnation, torture and death; then, indeed, his false friends appear in their proper colours; and, o melancholy truth! even his disciples "go back, and walk no more with him;" some of them deny him, and all fly and forsake him. let us not deceive ourselves, my brethren. it is not an outward profession of christianity, or an outward zeal against its adversaries, that will stand us in any stead: all this may well enough consist with inward impurity, a worldly spirit, and an heart devoted to the service of sin. the great trial of our faith, the sure proof of the sincerity of our conversion, must be sought for in deeper exercises than these. when storms arise, when dangers threaten, when inward and outward enemies attack our peace; when we cannot maintain our discipleship without the sacrifice of some darling passion of almost irresistible power; when we can walk no longer with our master, without the loss of some considerable temporal advantages; when we are summoned by him to fly from the soft allurements of pleasure, to burst the bonds of avarice or ambition, to disclaim all dependence upon the world, ourselves, or any created being; in a word, "to forsake all, take up our cross, and follow him;" then, indeed, is our hour of trial! then the sincerity of our attachment to christ, will be made manifest to ourselves, and to the world; and we shall learn to know assuredly, whether we are, or are not, of the number of those disciples, "who go back, and walk no more with him." therefore, o christian, thy beloved is then only thine, and thou art then only his, when thou canst abide with him in the darkness of the vale, as well as in the splendors of the mount; when thou canst walk with him in the wilderness, as well as on the plain; and when "neither tribulation, nor distress, nor trial, nor persecution, can separate thee from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord." discourse iv. the religion of jesus, the only source of happiness. st. john, chap. vi. ver. , , . "from that time many of disciples went back, and walked no more with him. then said jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? then simon peter answered him, lord! to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." the motives which induced many of our lord's first followers to withdraw themselves from his person, and wholly relinquish the connection they had formed with him and his disciples, i have explained in the preceding discourse. the erroneous conduct of mankind in general, their mistaken notions of happiness, the false and dangerous paths in which they pursue it, their delusive hopes and real disappointments; the palliative arts they make use of to reconcile their duty with their passions, and the various methods by which they deceive themselves as well as others; their hypocritical pretensions to religion, and the ways in which their deceptions are discovered, and their pharisaical professions unveiled; in a word, the genuine sources of that error and apostasy, into which the unworthy disciples mentioned in the text, as well as others who have since imitated their example, have sadly degenerated; all these particulars were suggested to my mind, from the consideration of these words of the evangelist, "from that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." the tender and pathetic expostulation which this ungenerous conduct produced from the blessed lips of the common friend and saviour of man, breathes such a spirit of love, kindness, and compassion, towards the souls of those whom he came to redeem, as cannot but claim our most serious and grateful attention. the deep concern he must have felt for such an instance of apostasy, added to his apprehensions of the fatal influence it might have upon his beloved apostles, awakened in him all those innocent and delicate sensibilities, which, even in his human nature, were the genuine offspring of that eternal love to which he was essentially united. friendship, true friendship, is the heaven-born offspring of divine charity. heaven is her native country. in that pure and gentle element she lives and moves without constraint, free, chearful, delighting and delighted. if ever she deigns to associate with the sons of men, it is among the truly virtuous alone she can be found. she visits none but those, whose "conversation is in heaven," who have within them a birth congenial with her own, whose hearts and affections are governed by the spirit of love, and can only be wooed and won by correspondent tempers and characters. her sacred name, indeed, is often prostituted to venal, base, and corrupt purposes. her fair and beauteous garb is often worn by the votaries of avarice, pleasure, and ambition. her sweet aspect, her mild and winning graces, her obliging and disinterested disposition, yea, even her peculiar warmth of affection, and glowing sensibility of heart, are all profanely counterfeited by the selfish and sensual, the vain and the aspiring. take it for granted, however, that man, whether gay, dissolute, covetous, or ambitious, is incapable of real friendship: all his designs and prospects center in himself, and every seeming act of kindness, every splendid appearance of courtesy and generosity, is calculated to promote some selfish purpose, to procure some temporal emolument. far different is the friendship of those who are "born of god;" who, from a vital union with the source of love, derive such pure and unadulterated streams of charity into their breasts, as manifest themselves in a life of general beneficence towards all men, and a warm, affectionate, spiritual attachment towards "those especially, who are of the houshold of faith." such, but in the purest highest degree, were those heavenly feelings of true friendship, with which the heart of jesus glowed, when he uttered this sweet and endearing expostulation, "will ye also go away?" the words are few, but the sentiments are manifold, gracious, and animating; and they cannot but appear so to those, who attend, with nice discernment, to the common feelings of human nature. it is to these common feelings that our lord makes his appeal, in all his heavenly discourses. though, from the general corruption, it is a case that has but seldom occurred in the page of history, yet let us suppose a good and virtuous man, associated with a set of good and virtuous companions, bound to him by the strong and endearing ties of private friendship, in the defence of some good and virtuous cause. novelty, the love of fame, a desire of appearing to the world in some conspicuous point of view, the prospect of some great temporal advantages, and a variety of other motives of a selfish nature, might suddenly prompt a considerable number of persons to join these champions of virtue, and follow them in the glorious enterprize. enemies appear, dangers threaten; yea, death, perhaps, in all its horrors, presents itself to their view. personal security is to be preferred before the general interest of virtue; and where virtue cannot be supported without personal losses, her cause must be abandoned. upon these principles, the weak and timid multitude forsake their gallant leader. attached to him by no bonds, but those of interest or ambition, when these fail, they think themselves at liberty to abandon his person and his cause. the noble chieftain, not so much affected with the prospect of danger to himself and his cause, as with a real concern for the baseness of his followers, and an apprehension, that their flight might perhaps intimidate those, whom he knew to be attached, from principle, to virtue and himself; the noble chieftain, i say, might with great propriety, and without the least tincture of fear or despondency, but rather as a trial of their fidelity, and a most powerful incentive to new and more vigorous efforts, address himself in such words to the chosen few, as those, which the great captain of our salvation delivered upon this occasion: "will ye, also go away?" in this address, there is not implied the least unkind suspicion of their integrity. it is no more than an affectionate appeal to the warm and tender sensations of true and genuine friendship. o, my beloved apostles! ye see the weakness, timidity, and worldly-mindedness, of those pretended friends, who have hitherto associated with us. so violent hath been their attachment to earthly pursuits, that they would not suffer truths of the highest importance to interfere with them for a moment. my last spiritual address was too deep and powerful a stroke at their corruptions. could they have continued in fellowship with us upon their own terms, and made their connexion subservient to their own views of temporal interest, they would not have so suddenly forsaken us. but shall their conduct have the least influence upon yours? will ye be intimidated by their flight? will ye suffer your fidelity and perseverance to be shaken by their evil example? will ye unkindly abandon a master, into whose service ye entered upon the most disinterested principles, and who knows and feels you to be attached to him by the heavenly ties of religion and love? after having seen so many indubitable testimonies of that almighty power wherewith he is invested, will ye doubt his ability to protect and deliver you? after so many kind and instructive conversations, in the course of which he hath gradually, and as he found you "could bear them," opened to you the great truths of his spiritual kingdom; will ye be such enemies to yourselves, and your real happiness, as to forsake your best of friends, your kindest and most powerful protector? "will ye also go away?" these sentiments, and more than these, are expressed in this pathetic expostulation: and for our comfort, my brethren, may we ever recollect, that, though ascended into the highest heavens, and seated at the right hand of his father, he continues the same loving conduct towards all his faithful friends and followers, that he observed towards his disciples whilst he was upon earth. the same gentle and affectionate modes of speech, the same tender, but awakening expostulations, to which his apostles were accustomed, he still applies to the heart of every believer. if we look back to past experience, we shall be convinced, that this very expostulation of our compassionate master, hath frequently sounded in our ears. when the infectious influence of evil example, the sudden attack of some powerful temptation, some severe stroke of adversity, or some smiling prospect of temporal felicity; when these, or any of these, have secretly solicited our frail nature, to relinquish our religious pursuits, to surrender ourselves to the dominion of sin, and renounce the favour and protection of our master; hath he not frequently, and with ineffable tenderness, whispered this gentle reprehension to our hearts, "will ye also go away?" happy, indeed, if, with peter's affectionate warmth, and honest faithful adherence to our lord, amidst the severest trials, we have been enabled to reply, from a full conviction of our own weakness, and of his all-sufficiency, "lord! to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." peter generally spoke in the name of all his brethren. his answer here, therefore, is to be considered as a solemn declaration on the part of the apostles, of their firm trust and confidence in their master, founded on the full evidence they had received of his divinity. as if he had said: think not, dearest master, that thy faithful disciples are actuated by such unworthy motives as have prompted some of their weak and carnal brethren to forsake thee. no--we are intimately convinced of the folly of depending upon any creaturely strength, or seeking for happiness in any sublunary prospect. thou hast opened upon our wondering souls such scenes of heavenly bliss, thou hast manifested to our outward senses such astonishing displays of thy absolute power over all temporal nature, thou hast revived our hearts with such sweet draughts of those rivers of pleasure that surround thy father's throne, thou hast enlightened our understandings with such piercing beams of truth, thou hast placed such endearing objects before our will and affections, and hast so enamoured our souls with the beauty and excellency of thy gospel; that we are perfectly satisfied to remain with thee for ever, implicitly to follow thy blessed footsteps, to accompany thee through all the difficulties and dangers of life, and even to meet death undaunted at thy side. indeed, "to whom shall we go?" every creature around us, bears the stamp of its own imperfection. whatever they possess of beauty or of bliss, it is all from thee, thou lord of life, and source of all perfection! they are in themselves, as poor and indigent as we are. if we make the experiment, and go to them in quest of happiness, our fond hopes are suddenly overthrown, and vexation succeeds to disappointment. the life we are now in, is fallen, temporal, and transient. the words of this life are as vain as the life itself: for it can only speak what it knows and feels, and the sum and substance of this is want and woe. but as thou hast in thyself the very source of eternal life, by virtue of thy eternal union with the father; as the powers, sensibilities, virtues, and perfections of this life, are completely opened in thee; as the "fulness of the godhead dwells bodily" in thee, so thy words must be the "words of eternal life:" for thou "speakest that thou dost know, and testifiest that thou hast seen." thy outward words are, indeed, but the outward signs of this life eternal; the real participation of it can be nothing less than an inward and vital union of our wills with thine, effectually co-operating, and gradually "transforming us into thine own image, from glory to glory." such was the import of the apostle's reply; and such must be the real heart-felt language of every sinner, that expects peace and pardon at the hands of the almighty. pardon of sin, is not, as some vainly imagine, like the cancelling of a bond, the remitting of a debt, or the forgiveness of an injury betwixt man and man. no--it is a "dying unto sin, and a rising again unto righteousness." it is life eternal opening itself in the fallen soul, and extinguishing the life of sin, or at least keeping it in due subjection, till the dissolution of the body puts an end to its connection with this fallen world; it is, according to the apostle's language, "the law of the spirit of life making us free from the law of sin and death." that eternal life, which we have, and can have only from jesus christ, the second adam, can alone pardon, remit, atone, cover, extinguish, (for all these are words of the same spiritual import) that earthly life, which we have received from the first adam. the very first motion of this eternal life within us, is a conviction of the vanity, sin, and folly of our earthly life. "they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." a sensibility of want and weakness must necessarily precede a desire of relief: and the soul must be "weary and heavy laden," oppressed beneath the burden of her fallen nature, and convinced of its inability to yield her a moment's real peace, before she will think of making this solemn inquiry, "what shall i do to be saved? to whom shall i go?" yea, even after she is come thus far, many a weary step must be taken, many doubts and difficulties must be encountered, before she will be able, from her own experience, to adopt this declaration of the apostle, "thou hast the words of eternal life." those doubts and difficulties, with which men are frequently embarrassed in their spiritual researches, do in a great measure proceed from that general deviation from the primitive simplicity of gospel truth and gospel language, which so sadly prevails among the various denominations of christians; in consequence of which, a multitude of useless and unscriptural distinctions have been introduced into catechisms, systems of divinity, and even books of practical devotion, which serve only to perplex and confound the mind of anxious and well-disposed inquirers. "to whom shall i go?" cries the poor penitent sinner, whom christ, by the power of his grace, hath brought to a sensibility of his fallen life. why, go to the priest, says one; confess, and get absolution, and you will come away as innocent as a new-born babe. go, and study the augsburg confession, says another, and you will soon have every doubt and difficulty removed. go, says a third, and read calvin's system with great attention, and you will soon find your soul at rest. some advise him to join himself to one sect of christians, and some to another; each maintaining, in his turn, that the life and power of religion is only to be found among those of his own particular society. the poor misguided seeker eagerly catches at every thing that looks like spiritual advice; runs from one book to another, from one church and conventicle to another, "seeking rest, but finding none," or at most, a temporary peace, a partial truce from extreme distress; whereas after all, a few plain words of scripture, properly applied and attended to, will go further towards setting him right in his researches, than all the popes and priests, and luthers, and calvins, and sects and denominations, in the world. what then hath a minister of christ, or indeed any private christian, to say or do, when a true penitent under such circumstances applies to him for advice, and asks him with the utmost anxiety, "to whom shall i go?" what can he do, what can he say, that will have a more immediate tendency to fix his attention, and compose his distracted mind, than to answer him in the words of the text? "to whom shouldst thou go, but to jesus christ? it is he alone who hath the words of eternal life." i know no other end of preaching but this; and i am sure, that we are warranted by scripture to declare to every such humbled, penitent, and afflicted sinner, that if he thus seeks christ, he shall not seek in vain. by faithfully directing his will and affections towards his redeemer, thus inwardly unfolding his graces and virtues in his heart, he will become more and more acquainted, and more and more comforted, with that "life eternal, which is the gift of god in christ jesus." discourse v. true religion, a costly and continual sacrifice. samuel, chap. xxiv, verse . "and the king said unto araunah, nay, but i will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will i offer burnt-offerings unto the lord my god, of that which doth cost me nothing." the preceding part of this chapter presents us with an awful and instructive example of the fatal consequences which result from an unbelief or distrust of the providential power and goodness of god. contrary to the express command of the almighty, contrary to the spirit of that dispensation, which inculcated an absolute and implicit reliance upon heaven in all dangers and difficulties, yea, contrary to an happy experience of the most signal interpositions of omnipotence; david had rashly issued a commission to the general and officers of his host, to go through all the tribes of israel, and take a particular and exact account of the numbers of his people. such a flagrant instance of unfaithfulness to his god, after so many merciful deliverances received, drew upon him a most severe chastisement. to humble the haughtiness of his spirit, and convince him of the folly of depending upon the arm of flesh, instead of taking the most high god for his shield and defence, a messenger of vengeance was immediately sent forth. from dan even to beersheba, he marked his progress with carnage and desolation: seventy thousand men, within the space of a few hours, fell a sacrifice to the devouring pestilence. he soon reached the beloved city, and was preparing to pour his phial of wrath upon the mount of god. the eyes of the unhappy monarch were now opened: he saw the destroying angel, humbled himself in the dust, acknowledged his guilt, and deprecated the further progress of the contagion. "lo, i have sinned, and i have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done?" omnipotence arrested the angel in his progress: "it is enough--stay now thine hand." and david was directed by the prophet gad, to rear an altar unto the lord, on the very spot where the pestilence had ceased. this spot was the threshing-floor of araunah the jebusite. deeply sensible of the greatness of his deliverance, the king immediately proceeded to execute the divine command. araunah discovered him at a distance; and with all the submission of a conquered and tributary prince, hastened to meet him, and "bowed himself before the king on his face to the ground." "and araunah said, wherefore is my lord the king come unto his servant?" and david said, "to buy the threshing-floor of thee, to build an altar unto the lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people." araunah, as a king, with a princely generosity of spirit, immediately offered him, not only the threshing-floor, but also his oxen for the sacrifice, and his threshing instruments for wood. "and the king said unto araunah, nay, but i will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will i offer burnt-offerings unto the lord my god, of that which doth cost me nothing." the plain and obvious meaning of which is undoubtedly this: hath god favoured me with such an astonishing deliverance? hath he manifested his goodness and loving-kindness in withdrawing his chastising hand, pardoning my guilt, and sparing me and my people from utter destruction? surely, then, i will not grudge, the trifling expence of erecting, upon this spot, a monument of his love. surely i will not accept of the labours of another, or testify my gratitude by burnt-offerings and sacrifices at another's expence. the least i can do is, to make such an acknowledgment, and in such a manner, as will best evidence my sense of the obligation, and the honour that is due to my almighty deliverer. those who look beyond the letter and the outward history, will readily discern the state of david's mind. they will readily discern this outward action of his, though adapted to the outward dispensation under which he lived, to be highly expressive of that great and fundamental principle, which every dispensation of truth, from the fall of man down to this very day, hath strongly inculcated, viz. that true religion is an inward life, that cannot rest in external appearances, but manifests itself in an absolute unlimited surrender of the whole man to his creator. this can never be accomplished without considerable cost and expence on the part of the creature, inasmuch as his will and affections must first be drawn off from all that variety of imaginations, desires and enjoyments, to which his fallen nature strongly allures, and deeply enslaves him. hence it is, that our blessed lord makes the very first duty of discipleship to consist in "denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following him:" that is to say, in bearing, with meekness, the necessary evils of our fallen life, resisting and overcoming its sinful suggestions, and humbly waiting for and co-operating with his spirit revealed in our hearts. this is the spiritual warfare, the struggle betwixt the "law in the members," and the "law of the mind;" the fighting "not only against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers," in which we are all summoned to engage. the whole burnt-offering and sacrifice, the whole price which this must cost us, is nothing less than the turning our wills, with the whole tide of our affections, from the evil to the good principle within us. and that god through christ hath given us ability to do this, will appear from the following considerations: the will of man, as coming forth from the eternal will of god, must be eternally and essentially free. the will of the fallen angels in hell, was as free as that of the highest archangel now in heaven: freely they stood, who stood; and fell, who fell. the whole difference betwixt them consists in this, that the will of those who fell, is freely turned to evil; the will of those who stood, is freely turned to god and goodness. man stands in an intermediate state, betwixt light and darkness, betwixt life and death, betwixt heaven and hell. the whole tenor of scripture, from beginning to end, represents him in this critical situation; represents his heavenly father, as calling to him and inviting him to "eschew evil, and to do good;" to "love light rather than darkness;" to "come to him, that he may have life." all which certainly implies, that god, by his grace, hath given him a power of choosing, and has made his salvation or destruction to proceed from himself, and not from any predetermining divine decree. jesus christ is always spoken of, as a freely given saviour; but salvation, as "a treasure to be purchased, as a race to be run, as a battle to be fought, as a work to be accomplished, even with fear and trembling." the power or capacity of being saved, the whole merit of salvation, comes from christ; the using of this power, the availing ourselves of this merit, from ourselves. "why will ye die, o house of israel? turn yourselves, and live ye. ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. how often would i have gathered you, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" upon this principle of forsaking sin, and turning our will to goodness, are founded all those gospel precepts, which speak of "crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, destroying the old man, dying to sin, suffering with christ, cutting off a right hand, plucking out a right eye, passing through much tribulation;" all which plainly shews, that true religion is a perpetual sacrifice; and that this sacrifice cannot be "offered to the lord our god, of that which doth cost us nothing;" that the price will be far more, than "fifty shekels of silver," the purchase of araunah's threshing-floor and implements; yea, that it will be no less than the "whole body of sin," which we carry about us, with all its affections and lusts; which we must, with meekness and humility, surrender to our blessed redeemer, to be burnt up and consumed upon the fire of his altar. having thus endeavoured to establish this fundamental principle, that "true religion is a costly and a perpetual sacrifice;" let us now, to prevent any dangerous deception, turn our eyes to those false appearances of it, which we frequently meet with in the world, which are very easily assumed, and which cost nothing. the man of moral honesty first steps forth, and puts in his claim to the character of religious. he looks upon any revelation from heaven to be quite unnecessary; and, with all the forwardness and presumption of his own blind reason, pronounces those books, which christians believe to be of divine authority, to be idle and chimerical. his religion, he will tell you, is, "to do as he would be done by." poor man! it were well, if he even practised this golden rule; it might lead him to something further: for, by endeavouring to fulfil this, he might be brought to a view and feeling of his own natural inability; of the evil tempers and passions of his soul, which, in innumerable instances, hurry him on to do to others, what he would, by no means, have them to do to him. his religion, therefore, is properly visionary. every thing to him is just and right, that comes within those bounds of honesty, which have been fixed by the laws of the land. a right life is not, with him, a right principle in the heart; but only a set of outward actions, that in the eyes of the world give him the character of an honest man. the religion of such a person "costs him nothing." he has nothing to sacrifice, but much to gain by the practice of it; at least, much of worldly happiness; for he can have no idea of any other. being wholly destitute of all sensibility with respect to the evil of his fallen life, he is not in the least desirous of purchasing a better, at the price it will cost. before he can form any conception of the necessity of religion, as a real inward change and renewal of heart, he must first be made sensible of his present error and misery: "for they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." next comes the nominal christian, who hath been baptized, and professes to believe the great truths of the gospel, and joins with some publick assembly of christians in outward worship. surely his claim to the religious character, hath a better foundation than the preceding one: he purchases it at an higher price; it costs him more to support it. he neglects no outward duty, either moral or instituted; you never miss him at church, or at the sacrament: he hath been strictly educated from his infancy; he is sober, virtuous, kind, and charitable. in a word, he appears to be, what it were to be wished every man in the world really was. thus far he is undoubtedly right: a strict observance of all the outward duties of religion, a minute attention to things in themselves indifferent, and a prudent abstaining from every appearance of evil, are doubtless incumbent, even upon those who have made the greatest progress in the divine life. let us, however, remember, that this outward strictness will avail little, without a conformity of our inward man to the temper and disposition of christ; without being "born again," and commencing a new life, even a life of heaven upon earth. the nominal christian is a stranger to this blessed process. talk to him of the necessity of regeneration, of doing all that he does from a principle of divine love, and with a view to god's glory, and not to any self-satisfaction, and he will not understand you. his round of duties seems to be the god whom he worships; at least, he makes them the _opus operatum_. he is never tormented with spiritual doubts and temptations; he knows nothing of the severe conflicts which real christians sustain, and the dreadful pangs they must suffer, before their purification is accomplished; before they can "bow their heads," with the great captain of their salvation, and say with him, "it is finished." he is willing to go to heaven by an easier and less thorny path, and to purchase glory at a cheaper rate. the last i shall mention, but the most specious appearances of religion, are those which are exhibited by the pharisaical professors of christianity. and here i would willingly throw a veil over those follies and extravagancies, to which false enthusiasm frequently gives the name of spiritual exercises and experiences. but my duty calls upon me to put you on your guard against these delusive appearances; as i cannot but think, that spiritual pride, or an over-weening conceit and forward exhibition of our own fancied spiritual attainments, is the most fatal rock, upon which the christian can make "shipwreck of his faith." in an age, wherein every appearance of religion ought to be encouraged and promoted, it is melancholy to think, that we should be under a necessity of speaking even against some appearances. but that you may form a right notion of what i mean by a pharisaical profession of religion, i will endeavour to draw the character of a modern pharisee. in the first place, he is one, who talks much in a religious strain, but takes care to make himself the chief subject of conversation. his own illuminations and experiences, his conviction and conversion, with all the particular circumstances attending them, he never fails to communicate, without distinction, to all those who will give him an hearing; and to communicate in such a manner, as to let them know, that he considers his own experiences as the infallible standard by which he measures the experiences of others. in the next place, you will generally find him insisting upon points of controversy, rather than those of practice; urging your assent to such and such articles of his faith, calling upon you to apply for instruction to some favourite rabbi of his own sect, or some favourite system which himself has adopted, instead of sending you immediately to him, who is the fountain of all wisdom, and "who giveth it liberally" to those that ask it of him. you will find him careful to "pay tithes of mint, and annise, and cummin;" to go to what he calls a gospel-sermon, though he should neglect the necessary duties of his occupation; and to spend hours in talking about religion, whilst he passes by "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith." tell him of the necessity "of dying daily to sin, of suffering with christ, of mortifying the flesh, denying himself, cutting off a right hand, &c." he will answer you, that his peace is made, that his sins are pardoned, that he has a full assurance of everlasting life. tell him of the necessity of being "born again," of having the righteous nature, temper, and disposition of the holy jesus in his heart; he will reply, that he knows of no righteousness but that of christ imputed, and that his saviour's personal obedience is accepted by god instead of his own; and though he may not go so far as to deny the great doctrine of sanctification, but will even allow and insist upon it, yet it is such sanctification, as will turn to very little account. for, who that looks upon his work as already done, will chuse to labour any longer? who that believes his sins to be already pardoned, will think it necessary to implore the forgiveness of god, or to obtain the healing influences of the spirit of grace? in a word, if we may judge from his conversation, he thinks himself perfect--if we may judge from his actions, he is indeed very far from it. he shews the utmost bitterness against every one that happens to dissent from his opinion; and looks upon all those as carnal and unregenerate, who do not walk in his footsteps. meekness, humility, benevolence and charity, the most characteristical graces of the true disciples of jesus, are not to be found in any part of his conduct. his life, therefore, is not in christ, but in a set of doctrines and opinions, supported by a "zeal that is not according to knowledge." till he is taught to see his own pride and presumption; till he discovers, and strives to eradicate, the selfish principle that lurks at the centre of his heart; he cannot be said to offer any other sacrifices to god, than such as "cost him nothing." to conclude: having seen what those real sacrifices of religion are, which will be acceptable to god, and in how many instances men deceive themselves, and others, by false appearances; let us determine to judge of our acquaintance with and progress in true religion, not merely by outward observances, nor yet by any transient fits or lively and pleasant frames of devotion; but rather by the discovery which god is pleased to make to us of our weakness and misery, by our sincere desire of being united to christ, and in heart and spirit assimilated to his nature. thus having followed a suffering master, "travelling in the greatness of his strength," through the ensanguined paths of a spiritual warfare, we shall at length "come forth out of great tribulation;" and, having "washed our robes in the blood of the lamb," shall be partakers of his triumphs; and receive the accomplishment of his great and glorious promise: "to him that overcometh, will i grant to sit with me in my throne; even as i also overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne." discourse vi. truth, the only friend of man. galatians, chap. iv. ver. . "am i therefore become your enemy, because i tell you the truth?" men are generally too apt to consider religion as unfriendly to their happiness, and incapable of yielding them any satisfactions, equal to those which they derive from the pursuit of worldly objects. hence, the aversion to exercises of piety, and the society and conversation of the good and virtuous. hence, the listlessness and unconcern about the state of their souls, whilst the whole attention of their minds, their thoughts, their desires and affections, their hands and their hearts, are all busily and constantly employed, in making provision for the support, ornament, and gratification, of a perishing body. surely, such a strange conduct as this, must proceed from a secret persuasion, that religion will interrupt their pursuit of some present favourite objects, and damp and deaden all the sprightliness of enjoyment. were they, indeed, charged with holding such principles as these, they would doubtless take it exceedingly amiss; and look upon that man as their enemy, who should presume thus to arraign their conduct, and ascribe it to motives, which they would blush to own. the tender and affectionate expostulation in my text, is evidently founded upon an intimate knowledge of human nature. the sagacious apostle readily discovered the secret workings of pride and disgust, in the hearts of his galatian converts. after having expressed his astonishment, that "they were so soon removed from him, that called them into the grace of christ, unto another gospel;" after having charged them with folly, for suffering themselves to be "bewitched," as he expresses it, by the artifices of deceivers; after having declared his fears and apprehensions lest he should have bestowed upon them labour in vain; and, after having enumerated some former testimonies of their reciprocal regard and affection for each other; he, at length, addresses himself to their consciences, and solemnly calls upon them to declare, whether they could, with the least justice or propriety, change their former sentiments of him, or deem him unfriendly to their best interests, "because he told them the truth;" because, by his christian and apostolical reprehensions, he sought to rescue them from the dominion of passion and prejudice: "am i therefore become your enemy, because i tell you the truth?" one would think, that such well-meant remonstrances, from the ministers of truth and friends of virtue, would be kindly received, and have a salutary influence upon the hearts of sinners; but experience, alas! tells us the contrary. there have been many instances, and some, perhaps, within our own personal knowledge, in which resentment, rather than gratitude, hath been awakened by such expostulations; and where, instead of humbling the spirit, they have produced a reply that bore the marks of passion, checked and disappointed in its favourite pursuits. considered with respect to the real state of his soul, every man, who lives under the dominion of any evil passion, or suffers himself to be drawn aside from the paths of virtue by the delusive arts of vice, is doubtless in a situation similar to that of these galatians. for though his passions and prejudices may not be exactly the same, yet they proceed from the same source, and enmity to god and goodness is at the bottom. but, blessed be god! there are no galatians without an apostle; no sinner without an higher messenger of god than st. paul; a greater witness, and more awful reprover of his evil ways; a friend that speaks to him at all times and seasons, in the hurry of the day, and the silence of the night, amidst the anxiety of expectation, and the ardour of possession; vigorously remonstrating against every sinful suggestion, and sharply censuring and reproving the mind for every sinful act. the fallen spirit of man, it is true, brooks not the frequent appearance of this heavenly messenger; but, as the apostle says of the galatians, treats him as an enemy, and replies to all his friendly remonstrances and affectionate warnings, with indignation and disdain. "go thy way for this time," was the language of voluptuous greatness to the same blessed apostle. "go thy way for this time," is still the language of every unconverted heart, when it is checked or interrupted in its vicious and lawless pursuits, by the voice of this inward monitor--why art thou perpetually intruding upon my hours of business, pleasure, or repose, and teizing and disquieting me with thine ill-timed admonitions or rebukes? who amongst us, let me ask, hath not, in innumerable instances, given such a rash and impatient answer to the servant of god within us? when some darling passion hath importunately solicited for immediate indulgence; some pretty fantastical object presented itself to our desires; some impetuous call of pride, envy, covetuousness, or resentment, demanded an immediate answer; have we not, though we were, at the very instant, warned against the artifice and delusion, by this constant and inseparable friend, have we not petulantly rejected his counsel, bid him "away for that time" at least, and treated him with more contempt than we would dare to shew to an earthly enemy? his meekness, however, is not discomposed by our rising wrath; his fortitude is not daunted by our repeated insults; his persevering love is not in the least abated by the stubbornness and obduracy of our hearts. he still keeps close to our side, accompanies us whithersoever we go, and, "whether we will hear, or whether we will forbear," ceases not, at one time, to whisper to us in the soft language of heavenly instruction; and, at another, to thunder in our ears the most alarming reproofs and menaces. but who is this apostle, this messenger of god, this inward witness and monitor, whom deluded mortals are so apt to consider as an enemy to their peace?--hear, o sinner, and let thy face be covered with confusion! let thine hard heart break with deep compunction for its past obduracy, whilst thou art told, that this enemy, as thou hast hitherto deemed and treated him, is no other than the eternal spirit of thy god and thy redeemer, who, by continually opposing the language of truth to the suggestions of error, hath been endeavouring to emancipate thy soul from its grievous bondage, and to bring it forth into light and liberty. thou hast mistaken death for life, misery for happiness, time for eternity! thy will and affections have been fixed upon objects of unreal bliss; turned from thy god, the true and only source of goodness and happiness, and working evil in the element of sin and darkness! spirits thus employed, must mingle with congenial spirits: there is "no communion of christ with belial;" no fellowship or likeness betwixt thy spirit in such a state as this, and the spirit of thy redeemer. he appears, and cannot but appear to thee, as thine enemy, because the truth he tells thee militates against thy darling lusts, and shews thee those dark destructive purposes, which, because thou canst hide them from others, thou wishest also to hide from thyself. but this seeming enemy is, indeed, thy real friend. he is only pursuing thee with his internal counsels and reproofs, that he may snatch thee out of the hands of the destroyer; that he may call thee out of thy present "darkness, into his own marvellous light." when thou hast experienced this blessed change, reconciliation will soon take place; an union of spirits will commence betwixt thy saviour and thee; and thou wilt gradually grow into his image and likeness, till thou art made perfect in his love. believe me, my brethren, till this great change hath passed upon our souls, till we begin to feel, and admire, and love the communications of this inward friend and comforter, we must be strangers to true peace of mind, and totally ignorant of the proper enjoyment of ourselves, and the proper use of the world in which we now sojourn. in our natural state, all is darkness, disorder, and disquietude. we see every thing through a false medium. we are under a spiritual delirium. our heavenly physician is endeavouring, by the methods i have just mentioned, to restore our health of mind, to open our spiritual senses, to give us a clear and distinct view of "the things that belong to our peace." we must, therefore, co-operate with his "labours of love." even the severity of his applications proves him to be our friend; for he knows that, without them, we can never come to a "right mind." let us, then, recollect, how often these applications have been made; how often, through inattention and neglect, they have failed of success; how often we have slighted his counsels, despised his prescriptions, and cast his medicines from us. but let us also remember, that there is a time at hand, when, light as we may think of such a blessing now, we shall most ardently long for his support and consolation. when languishing with sickness, and oppressed with pain, it is he alone who can soften our pillow, and supply us with inward strength; when tottering with age, and bowed down with infirmities, it is he alone who can be our rod and staff; and when the lamp of life is so near expiring, that we can scarcely see our passage to the verge of time, it is he alone that can light up the lamp of god in our hearts, and conduct us through the dark valley of the shadow of death, to the bright confines of a celestial world. in a word, if the enmity is not destroyed in our souls in this life, we must necessarily carry it with us into the next. and to those who die under the dominion of a fallen life and sinful nature, "our god must be a consuming fire." let us lay these things seriously to heart. let us earnestly seek reconciliation with god through christ, and endeavour to perfect ourselves in the great work of peace and love, "whilst it is day; because the night cometh, when no man can work." discourse vii. the strength and victory of faith. john, chap. v. ver. . "whatsoever is born of god, overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." all the doctrines of our most holy religion conspire to inform us, that the supreme happiness of man is not to be attained without unnumbered labours and conflicts; and all its precepts are calculated to inforce a perpetual activity, and unwearied perseverance, in the "pursuit of the things that belong to our peace." "the devil, the world, and the flesh," are the great adversaries, who are continually plotting our ruin. the flesh, by which is meant that corrupt nature which we bring with us into the world, is ever harrassing us with its impure suggestions: "the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour:" and the world, by which we are to understand that fallen state of things, in which we at present dwell, never fails of opposing our progress toward heaven, with its specious, but delusive scenes of happiness. against the united efforts of such formidable enemies, where shall we find armour of sufficient proof? in a conflict so long and arduous, where shall we meet with such supplies of strength, as will enable us to contend and finally to overcome? the power of contending, and the means of obtaining the victory, are clearly pointed out by the apostle in my text. "whatsoever is born of god, overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." from these words it appears, that those who engage in this heavenly warfare, are persons of the highest dignity, and most illustrious birth: they are the offspring of him whose "kingdom is not of this world;" they are "heirs of god, and joint-heirs with jesus christ;" they are "born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god." to be "born of god," is to rise out of the ruins of a fallen nature into the glory of a redeemed one. it is to die to adam, and to live to christ; it is to see, and feel, and to forsake our own weakness and vanity and sin, and adhere to the strength and sufficiency and righteousness of christ. the first great work of the spirit of truth, as our lord assures us, is to "convince the world of sin." the foundation of that spiritual edifice which heaven erects in the souls of men, must be laid in humility: "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!" he that is "born of god," lives and acts in direct opposition to him who is "born of the flesh:" meekness and love are the prevailing dispositions of the former; pride and selfishness the ruling tempers of the latter. a discerning mind, spiritually enlightened, and viewing mankind as they really are, and not through the false medium of worldly philosophy, will readily discover the manifest contrariety with which their characters are marked by these two principles. look round you, my brethren; look into your own hearts; judge for yourselves: your own experience of what is continually passing within and about you, will afford you ample demonstration of these great truths. wherever we discover in ourselves, or in others, the corrupt passions of pride, envy, ill-nature, avarice, anger, jealousy, malice, prevailing, there we may be as certain of the marks of unregenerate nature, as we are of a disorder in the elements, when we see the heavens overcast with clouds, and thunders and lightnings issuing from every quarter of the sky. on the other hand, where meekness and gentleness, self-abasement, a forgetfulness of our own interest, and a chearful attention to the happiness of others, an heart-felt sympathy in their joys and sorrows, an universal love of god and man, testified by a life of uninterrupted piety and charity; wherever we find these amiable graces and virtues, there are the sure marks of regeneration; there is the true disciple of jesus, "born of god, and overcoming the world." the state of such a soul, with respect to its god, may be expressed in words to this effect: "lord, what is man, that thou hast such respect unto him; or the son of man, that thou visitest him?" "behold, lord, i am less than the least of all thy mercies!" and yet thou hast had respect even unto me; and yet thou hast visited even me, with the greatest of thy mercies! thou hast caused thy light to shine into the darkness of my nature; thou hast laid open every secret recess of my heart, and shewn me those roots of evil, from whence the innumerable sins of my past life have sprung forth, and diffused their venom throughout my whole frame. yea, thou hast not only discovered to me the depth and malignity of sin, but, with thy light, thou hast also imparted thy life to my soul; thou hast supplied me with strength from above; thou hast furnished me with armour of heavenly proof to encounter the enemies of my peace. thou hast taught me to despair of my own strength, and to trust in thine arm alone for salvation; thou hast taught me to despise my own righteousness, and to seek thy righteousness in christ jesus. though the world should present to me her most alluring charms; though she should give, to her visionary forms, the fairest features that fancy's pencil can delineate; though she should court me to accept her proffered pleasures, in all that false tenderness of language, which artful vice so frequently assumes; yet, armed with thy celestial panoply, i shall be enabled to contend with the enchantress, and overcome her magic power; i shall nobly triumph over all her devices, assert the dignity of my heavenly birth, and preserve my heart unspotted from her impurities. for sure i am; that whilst united in spirit with thee, my god and saviour, i breathe the air of heaven, i feed upon the bread of angels; the strength of omnipotence is exerted amid the weakness of nature, and i shall go on, under thine auspicious guidance, "conquering and to conquer." such is the state of the virtuous and regenerated christian, with respect to his god. with respect to man, his conduct flows from the same divine and lovely principle. he deems every spiritual blessing, by which he may be distinguished from the rest of his brethren, as the gift of god, to be accepted and enjoyed, not with an haughty, but an humble mind. he does not, therefore, stand aloof from them, as if he was holier than they. he cannot, indeed, but shrink from their vices, and, by a prudent distance of behaviour, shew himself averse to, and even offended with their levities. but he pities their blindness, and compassionates the obduracy of their hearts. he is ever ready to exert himself for the real service of wicked, as well as of good men; knowing, that his "heavenly father sendeth his rain, and causeth his sun to shine, upon the unjust no less than the just." if he is blessed with worldly affluence, he cheerfully administers to the temporal necessities of his indigent neighbours. if he is poor, and can give them no earthly aid, he will do all he can--he will pray for them, and beg his god to shower down upon them his temporal, as well as spiritual comforts. he suffers no ill conduct on their part to excite his indignation, or make him forget that they are his brethren, to be redeemed by that precious blood, whose salutary influences he has himself experienced. he envies none their fortunes, honours, and accomplishments; neither does he repine, because he is not so rich, or learned, or polite, or advanced to such an exalted rank in life, as others are. he endeavours to be dead alike to the censure and applause of beings, mortal and fallible as himself; inasmuch as he is convinced, that their good or ill opinion cannot make the least alteration in the real state of his soul: he is, therefore, guilty of no mean compliances, or time-serving practices, to obtain the one, or to avoid the other. he gives "honour to whom honour is due." he endeavours to "owe no man any thing, but love:" he is, therefore, careful, not only to pay every just debt, but to avoid embarking in any worldly schemes or prospects of advancing his own interest, to the injury of others. in a word, by piety to god, justice and charity to his neighbour, and chastity and temperance in his own person, he seeks to maintain "a conscience void of offence towards god, and towards man;" to fill the station in which he is placed, and support the character in which he appears, in such a manner, as will do honour to the religion of his master. this is evangelical morality, not confined, as you may observe, to the external conduct of life; but reaching inward, even to the secret thoughts and inclinations of the heart. what is generally called morality, i am afraid, is little more than an external decency, and common sobriety; and it is well, if, in every instance, it is carried even so far. but surely none, but the truly regenerate christian, acting under the immediate influence of the divine spirit, can properly be called a moral man. for morality, without an inward principle, is but a name; and the scriptures tell us of no other true principle, but "the love of god shed abroad in the human heart by his holy spirit." having thus given some of the marks or characteristicks by which the regenerate christian, or the "born of god," is to be known, let us now enquire what the apostle means, by "overcoming the world," and ascribing "the victory to faith:" "whatsoever is born of god, overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." "overcometh the world!" methinks i hear some say--"that is impossible--human nature has passions, and the world abounds with objects suited to gratify them. surely the god of nature hath not placed man in his present circumstances, to make him miserable. he created us for happiness, and hath furnished us with the means of obtaining it. what a senseless doctrine this, that would shut us out from all the joys, which earth holds forth for our acceptance?" alas, vain man! who told thee, that god had given thee such corrupt passions, as now solicit for indulgence? who told thee, that god created thee for this world; and that thou art to take up thy rest in that visionary happiness, which thou findest here? these passions are the proofs of thy fall; for thou hast them in common with the beasts of the field. this world is thy temporary prison, though thy disordered imagination may represent it as a palace. thou art dreaming, though thou thinkest thyself wide awake. thou art in darkness, and canst not distinguish the true appearance of objects around thee. let but the sun of righteousness dart one beam into thy benighted soul, and thou wilt soon discover the deception, and long for the power of his grace to enable thee to triumph over those passions, that have been leading thee blindfold to destruction; and to overcome that world, which hath been cheating thee with visionary gratifications. "overcome the world!" says some faint-hearted christian--"ah me! how infinitely short do i fall of this glorious standard! i have been striving for months, for years, to get the mastery of this powerful adversary, without being yet able to discover that i have gained the least advantage; though i have exerted my utmost endeavours to disengage myself from his subtil, but violent assaults." hast thou so? but didst thou ever attend to the true and only means, by which the scriptures have assured thee this conquest may be obtained? "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." now, what is faith? it is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen:" that is to say, it is a full and assured trust and confidence in christ, that the things hoped for will be finally obtained, and the things not seen will be fully manifested to our senses. it is such a trust and confidence as realises the immediate possession of them to our minds, so that we regard not any pain or difficulty we meet with in the pursuit, resting upon an omnipotent god, by whose strength in us every obstacle will be gradually removed, and a complete victory at length secured. why then, o christian, shouldst thou despair of success? if thou hast hitherto been striving in thine own strength, and depended upon the power of thine own weak resolution, it is no wonder thou hast made such small advances. "without me, ye can do nothing," says our blessed redeemer. "i can do all things through christ strengthening me," says his experienced apostle. when we repose so much confidence in a friend, as to entrust him with the whole management of our temporal affairs, looking to him in every instance, and upon the least appearance of difficulty or embarrassment, running to him for counsel, and implicitly following his directions, from a thorough conviction of our own ignorance, of his superior skill in business, and his known regard and attachment to us; we are then said to have faith in such a friend. and canst thou not, o christian, have as much faith in thy saviour, as one frail mortal has in another? when temptations rise, when dangers threaten, when enemies attack us from within and from without, so that our souls are hard beset, and we know not how to extricate ourselves from the perilous situation; can we not fly with confidence to our heavenly friend, ask his counsel, and entreat his powerful interposition in our behalf? he is ever ready and willing to come to our succour. nothing is wanting but faith on our part; and "according to our faith, so shall it be done unto us." we are not, however, to expect that this victory will be easily or speedily obtained. the canaanites were suffered to keep possession of the land of promise for a considerable time, lest the children of israel, instead of ascribing the glory of the conquest solely to the lord of hosts, should vainly arrogate it to themselves, and, in consequence of this, lose all sense of their dependence upon him. many strong and powerful temptations may be permitted to remain unsubdued, to exercise the christian's faith, to keep him humble, and duly sensible of his own weakness and inability. besides, there is a wonderful analogy betwixt natural and spiritual things. the child of grace, as well as the child of nature, must have a gradual growth, during which many an anxious interval, many a severe pang, many an arduous conflict, must be endured. for let this truth be ever present to our minds, that the inward man increases in strength, in proportion as the outward man weakens and decays; and the earthly nature must be totally subdued, before "the born of god" can attain the "measure of the stature of the fulness, which is in christ." nor let what hath been said discourage those sincere and upright minds, who have but lately turned their backs upon the world, and entered into the school of christ. our trials are always suited to our strength: "god will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear." the child, the young man, and the father in christ, have exercises proper to their different states; they are led on to glory by an unerring hand, which supports them by its invisible, but powerful influence, through the most rugged thorny paths of the christian course. there is no spiritual adversary too strong for the christian, that engages in the strength of his redeemer. david, though a stripling, vanquished with ease the giant of gath, because "he went out against him," not in his own strength, but in "the name of the lord of hosts, the _god_ of the armies of israel." the world, with all its temptations and allurements, will be as easily overcome by him, who is truly "born of god," as the uncircumcised philistine was by the hand of david. to conclude: a worldly spirit is one of the greatest enemies we have to encounter, because it insinuates itself into our hearts under as many different forms, as there are different earthly desires predominant. the man of business, according to the more common acceptation of the phrase, hath obtained the name of a worldly man. but the truth is, wherever a worldly temper prevails, whether it manifests itself in the pursuit of wealth, or honour, or pleasure, or literary applause, or indeed of any object, interest, or end, that is confined merely to this transient state of things; there is the worldly spirit, the foe to our real happiness, the "man of sin, the son of perdition;" from which may god of his infinite mercy deliver us, for the sake of the son of his love, christ jesus our saviour! discourse viii. faith triumphant over the powers of darkness. st. mark, chap. ix. part of ver. . "lord, i believe: help thou mine unbelief!" the false estimate of happiness, which is made by the generality of men, entirely proceeds from their not taking into the account the real, though invisible, objects of another world, with which they are much more intimately concerned than with the present temporary state of things. hence it is, that they judge of the seeming pleasures of this life, not from a comparative view of them with the superior enjoyments of a better, but according to the proportion which they bear to one another. it is upon this principle, coinciding with the peculiar constitutional desires of different men, that their different worldly pursuits are formed and regulated. the penurious grasping miser declaims, with an eloquence which avarice alone inspires, against the rash and silly conduct of the gay and thoughtless spendthrift. the man of pleasure expresses his astonishment at the strange taste, and stupid employment of his neighbour, who can sit poring over his accounts from morning till night, and values himself upon the accuracy with which they are kept, and the strict economy with which all his expences are regulated. the votary of ambition considers his taste and pursuits of a far more sublime nature than those of either of the former, and looks down with contempt upon the plodding dullness of the miser, and the short-lived pleasures of the sensualist. in the mean while, the sagacious enquirer after knowledge, who spends days and nights in the most laborious researches, perpetually seeking after truth in the countless volumes of antiquity, congratulates himself upon the superiority of his genius, and wonders that all mankind are not so captivated with the charms of science, as immediately to forsake the false and fleeting joys of avarice, ambition, and voluptuousness. now all these various desires, employments, and pursuits, however superior some of them may, on comparison, appear to be to others, terminate generally in the nourishment and growth of that fallen life, under which man, in consequence of an original apostasy, is born into this world; and it may truly be said, with respect to them all, that "he is only making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof:" for when the seeming good of this world is the sole object of his attention and affections, he must necessarily be regardless of the real good of another, and a better world. whatever his desires center in, that constitutes his life; and his own will may be said to create or call forth, from surrounding nature, every thing that can feed and nourish those desires. he stands in the midst of three worlds, principles, or kingdoms, earth, hell, and heaven; and to which soever of these he surrenders his heart, he becomes subject to its power and influence; so that the real state of every man's soul depends upon the exercise of his will: his will constitutes his faith; and "according to thy faith," says the unerring standard of truth, "so shall it be done unto thee." an afflicted parent brings to our blessed lord a favourite child, who was sorely vexed and tormented by an evil spirit, and in the most earnest manner entreats his advice and assistance. the compassionate jesus, after having enquired into the nature and circumstances of the disorder, and observed the distress and solicitude of the father, tells him, "if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." this answer abundantly evinceth the truth of the observation above-mentioned, that our state depends entirely upon the inward exercise of our will or desires. a sensibility of distress naturally disposes us to seek for relief. nature, without god, is nothing but restless want and anguish: and though fallen man is possessed of the powers and principles, by which this want may be supplied, and this anguish effectually relieved, yet he too frequently seeks the remedy in a wrong source; and cannot be convinced of his error, till the pangs of disappointment succeed to the delusive assurances of worldly faith, and the vain anticipations of worldly hope. upon this view of human nature it was, that the blessed jesus founded his reply; "if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." as if he had said: thou appearest to be under great concern and anxiety of mind, for the present afflicting circumstances of thy child. thou hast a clear and full perception of the cruel agency of an evil spirit, and canst not doubt, but that all his torments are the effects of diabolical influence. if thou desirest to see him rescued from this violent spirit, and restored to a sound state of mind and body, thou must believe in the more powerful agency of a superior spirit, to whose unlimited controul, all the realms of nature, and its innumerable beings, are subjected, and, consequently, that none but this spirit, or those to whom he imparts his healing powers, can possibly restore thy son. when this belief rises in thine heart, by a living sensibility that carries its own evidence along with it, thou wilt not entertain a doubt of the will and ability of such a divine spirit to perform this miracle of love, but, in the full confidence of faith, wilt apply to him, and to him alone, for relief. this very turning of thy will and desire to the fountain of goodness, makes it unite with those emanations of spiritual health and vigour, which are perpetually flowing forth from his all-merciful and compassionate heart. "all things are possible" to a soul thus disposed and attempered; and thy child's health, and thine own peace of mind, will be the sure and blessed consequence. the affectionate parent, overjoyed at a declaration which was accompanied with such a divine power as awakened new sensations in his breast, burst into a flood of tears, and cried out, "lord, i believe, help thou mine unbelief!" i am sensible, deeply sensible of the absolute necessity of a supernatural interposition; and the mild majesty of love, which shines so conspicuous in thy person and address, and whose efficacy hath already passed from thy lips to my poor heart, more than convinces me, that this supernatural power of goodness is lodged with thee. to thee, therefore, and thee alone, i apply! in thee i desire to place my full confidence, earnestly entreating thee to remove from me all darkness, doubt, and uncertainty, by further and brighter manifestations of thyself, and thy heavenly virtues, in my weak and unbelieving heart! we are very apt, when we read this, or other such passages of scripture, to consider them merely as historical facts, in which we are in no wise particularly interested. what have we to do with evil spirits, or possessions, at this day? such things might have been permitted, whilst our saviour was upon earth, to give him an opportunity of displaying the divine powers with which he was invested. alas! my brethren, human nature is just the same now, that it was then: "the prince of the power of the air," and his infernal associates, are as maliciously bent upon our destruction as ever they were; and the same miraculous interposition of the same powerful and compassionate jesus, is still equally necessary for our security and relief. these spirits of darkness are continually "walking about, seeking whom they may devour:" they enter into all our worldly schemes and views; nay, they are themselves frequently the first projectors of them: they enter into our very blood and spirits, strive to gain possession of the very essence of our souls, and to bring the whole man in subjection to their infernal sway. they have deceived the wise men of this world, whom they have taught to call them by some honourable appellation. philosophy itself seems, in some instances, to aid them in carrying on their dangerous delusions. pride, envy, covetousness, lust, malice, which are real spirits of darkness, operating by real, though invisible, influences in the human frame, have made their appearance in a fashionable dress, and have been suffered to keep what is called the best company, when introduced by the names of honour, decency, taste, dignity of sentiment, virtuous resentment, free-thinking, and free-acting: they are, however, devils in disguise, and are secretly undermining the real felicity of man. had we such a view of their cruel treatment of us, as the father just mentioned had of their treatment of his child, you may think, perhaps, that we should take the same steps which he did, towards obtaining relief. and what is it that hinders us from having such a view of our real misery? what, but that fascinating charm, which these very spirits throw before our eyes to deceive us? they surround every worldly object with a false lustre, and thus dazzle, in order to ensnare. yea, though we frequently detect the imposture, a succeeding one blinds us again. a future world lessens to our view, in proportion as we become attached to the present. nor is the charm totally dissolved, till, by frequent disappointment and vexation, we have learned to read and understand the true name and character of worldly bliss, even "vanity of vanities!" as long as we have faith in this world, we can have no faith in another; as long as ever we "think ourselves whole," we shall not apply to a physician, or have the least confidence in his skill. but, blessed be god, there is a time, when the evil spirit tears and wounds the child, and casts him into the fire, and into the water, insomuch, that the affrighted parent is constrained to fly to jesus for aid. in pain, in sorrow, in distress, in temptation, or upon a sick and dying bed, the sad effects of every diabolical delusion frequently appear in their true colours. though the infernal spirits themselves then work within us with aggravated rage; though they seem to avail themselves of our bodily indisposition, to storm the citadel of our hearts; yet they are, in these instances, often egregiously deceived themselves. the trembling sinner, destitute of every outward comfort, which sun, and air, and animal spirits could give him, beholds every sublunary object in its genuine colours, stripped of its false glare, and emptied of its delusive treasure. he cries aloud for help?--"what shall i do to be saved?" the child of god, the offspring of heaven within me, will be torn to pieces and destroyed by the spirits of darkness. lord, if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on me and help me! "if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth," is the soft answer whispered to his soul. a beam of heavenly light and love accompanies it; sweet silence and stillness succeed; till at length the soul, overpowered by an inexpressible sensibility of meekness and humility, breaks forth in the language of my text, "lord, i believe, help thou mine unbelief!" the storm ceaseth; the evil spirits are cast out, and the child of god is delivered from their oppressive bondage. "lord, i believe, help thou mine unbelief," should be the constant language of every christian's heart. no words can more emphatically express the weakness of man, and his absolute resignation to the will of god, than these: they take every thing from the creature, and give all to the creator. whenever the human will is thus effectually turned to god, it soon manifests its origin, as coming forth from the essentially and eternally free will of god. it brings down heaven into the soul; it triumphs over all opposition; and, through the greatest weakness of human nature, it evidences the all-conquering power of divine love. why then, o man! o christian! why shouldst thou despond in the hour of trial? "faith is, indeed, the gift of god;" but it is a gift, which he bestoweth liberally upon all that ask it. light and darkness, life and death, heaven and hell, are set before us: freely to chuse, and freely to reject, belongs to that free particle of the divine essence, which "stirs within us." it was, originally, before the fall of man, the gift of god in christ jesus. it was the constitution of our nature in its unfallen state: it was, if i may so speak, the great charter of heaven, freely delivered by the king of heaven, to all his sons and subjects; and though blotted, obliterated, lost by an original apostasy, it is now restored, regained, and purchased by a redeemer's blood. shall we then tamely suffer these rights of heaven to be invaded by the powers of darkness? shall we suffer the child of god, the redeemed of the holy one of israel, to be taken captive by the armies of aliens? shall the splendor of accumulated wealth, the gay circle of worldly pleasure, the tinsel trappings of honour, or the fading breath of popular applause, make us forget our native home, forget that we are but "strangers and pilgrims upon earth," and that we are "fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the houshold of god?" shall we continue the willing slaves of the spirits of darkness, of pride, envy, covetousness and wrath, whilst heaven is declared to be our inheritance, and our redeemer hath assured us, that we have "mansions prepared for our reception in his father's house." regardless, however, as many of you, my brethren, may be of these illustrious privileges now, the time may come, when a proper sensibility of your present bondage, will make you cry aloud for deliverance; when the service of earth and hell will appear base, dishonourable, and unworthy the free-born sons of light. when the good providence of god, in kind commiseration of your secure and thoughtless state, shall send sorrow and affliction to your houses and to your hearts; when the shaft of anguish shall wound you, either in your own persons, or in the persons of those whom you love; when duty, when affection shall call you to some solemn death-bed scene, where you shall behold expiring life just quivering upon the lips of a dear departing friend or relative; or when your own frail tabernacles shall be shaken by disease, and you shall feel death approaching to take possession of the throne of life; when the counsels of the wise, and the sorrows of the tender-hearted, can stand you in no stead; when the immortal tenant of your earthly mansion is just ready to take his flight, and stands trembling on the confines of a world unknown; at these, or such like awful seasons, those amongst you, who have not heretofore experienced the power of divine faith, will then, if ever, be made sensible of your want of it. the visionary scene of earthly bliss will vanish like a morning cloud, and deep heart-felt anguish will wring the soul, and make it feel the full horrors of its bondage. but to those, who have already tasted the comforts of religion, and who have long been groaning for deliverance from the captivity of an evil nature, and an evil world, faith will open the doors of their prison, let in the light of heaven as they are able to bear it, and sweetly sing this song of consolation to their departing spirits: "i will ransom them from death; i will redeem them from the power of the grave. o death! i will be thy plague; o grave! i will be thy destruction." discourse ix. the flourishing state of the regenerate. psalm i. ver. . "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season: his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doth shall prosper." whatever seeming inequality there may be in the dispensations of the almighty, or however partial he may appear to the eye of human reason, in his distribution of spiritual or temporal blessings among the sons of men; it will, nevertheless, be found, at the consummation of the great scheme of providence; that he has done every thing "in number, weight, and measure;" and that every part and period of the divine administration hath been planned by unerring wisdom, and conducted by universal and impartial love. minute philosophers, and men who value themselves upon what they call a liberal and enlarged way of thinking, may imagine, that this is no more than a religious dream; and argue, from present appearances, that "all things happen alike unto all men, and that there is but one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to him that serveth god, and to him that serveth him not." but the heaven-taught philosopher, whose inward eye is illuminated from above, can see into the secret springs, by which the vast machine is perpetually kept in motion, and by which all the infinite variety of workings in intelligent and inanimate nature, are rendered subservient to the glory of god, and the final consummation of his eternal plan in the supreme felicity of his creatures. by virtue of that heavenly euphrasy with which his visual ray is purged and cleansed, he sees, and is intimately convinced, that notwithstanding the frequent vicissitudes with which the life of a good man is sadly checquered, he is nevertheless "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; that his leaf also doth not wither, and whatsoever he doth shall prosper." there is a peculiar beauty and propriety in this similitude, and every part of it bears a wonderful analogy to that spiritual life, into which fallen man hath been reinstated by the mediation of the son of god. man, by turning his will from his maker, lost that paradisiacal glory, in which he was originally created; and found nothing left, in its stead, but a wrathful spirit within, and a dark disordered world without. by this act of his own will, he transplanted his nature, if i may so speak, from the delightful garden of eden, in which the almighty had placed him, into the midst of a thorny barren desart. he deprived it of all that nourishment it received from those waters of life, which surrounded the blissful spot; and, in consequence, it must have been parched up and have withered away, had not divine love affectionately interposed, and put him once more into a capacity of recovering his lost inheritance, and regaining the vital streams, by which alone his heavenly nature could be preserved and cherished. it is true, man still continues in the desart of fallen nature: the first adam is still condemned to till the ground from whence he was taken. but the second adam, the lord from heaven, hath caused those rivers of water, which are solely at his disposal, to flow through the dry and comfortless waste, that "the wilderness and solitary place might thereby be made glad, and the desart rejoice and blossom like the rose." when man, therefore, convinced of his dark and barren state by nature, and the sovereign efficacy of these waters of life to chear and restore him, freely opens his heart for their reception, he is then, indeed, like "a tree planted by the rivers of water:" his roots shoot deep, and his branches spread fair and luxuriant in the heavenly element: the kindly moisture insinuates itself into every part, and leaves, and flowers, and fruits, manifest the internal operation of the life-giving stream. "i am the vine, ye are the branches"--says the lord of life.--"as the branch cannot bear fruit, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." there must be an intimate union betwixt christ and his redeemed offspring; an union not suddenly formed, and as suddenly broken, but piously and constantly maintained; an abiding union, without which there can be no communication of his heavenly virtues, and, consequently, no fruits of holiness. but wheresoever this blessed union effectually takes place, the regenerated nature soon springs forth; the bud, the blossom, the leaves, the fruits, all appear in their proper season: the man of god stands forth content, and, like a tree nourished by a living stream, imparts his refreshing shade, and pleasant wholesome fruits, to all around. would you know what these fruits are? they are fully enumerated by the apostle, who tells us, that "the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." these fruits, says my text, are "brought forth in their season." the sun must shine upon the tree, the air must breathe, the dews and rains must descend, and the rivers of water must rise through the roots into the trunk and branches. all this process must be performed, before the fruit will appear. it is just so with that "plant of celestial seed," which is sown in the human heart. meekness, humility, resignation, love, &c. are not the growth of an hour: days, and months, and years, must pass, before they will begin to appear. i well know, that the first faint manifestation of these graces in an awakened soul, hath frequently been mistaken for the whole of a sinner's conversion. it has been called the "witness of the spirit," testifying to the sinner, that the act of his justification is past, and that his pardon is sealed in the courts of heaven. the witness of the spirit it undoubtedly is, because it results from an union of the human spirit with the divine. and as the divine spirit is meekness and love supreme, so it is no wonder that such an union should produce such a spiritual sensation. but we are not to conclude from hence, that a sudden, and seemingly instantaneous sensibility of heavenly peace and love, can be the whole of our conversion. it is, doubtless, a sweet token of divine grace; an happy earnest of the residence of the divine spirit, who, perhaps, for years before, had been seeking to manifest himself in our hearts, and now gives this present consolation, as the result of previous and frequent operations. our salvation is so far from depending upon these momentary sensations, that our lord expressly assures us, that though we are united to him by as intimate an union as "the branches are to the vine;" yet, except "we abide in him, we shall be cast as withered branches into the fire." "let him, then, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." let us not value ourselves upon past experiences, or think that we are god's children, and that our names are indelibly written in his book of life, merely because we were once under spiritual distress, and were once rescued from it by the consolations of his spirit. nothing can preserve us in a state of union with our divine redeemer, but an inward, constant thirsting after those "waters of life," which he alone can give us. whilst we stand before him in such a frame of soul, meekly and humbly waiting for such portions of his grace, as he sees necessary and expedient to impart, we may then be assured, that "our leaf shall not wither, and that whatsoever we do shall prosper." for when the will of man coincides with the divine will, and is implicitly resigned thereto in every situation, circumstance, and event of life, he must necessarily prosper, because god wills nothing but good, and good supreme is the aim and end of all his dispensations. well, but say some, how can this be? do we not daily see the best of men, groaning under the most grievous calamities, pining away with sickness, worn out with pain, or afflicted with some sad reverses of fortune? on the other hand, do we not daily behold men, who shew not the least regard to religion, who have no fear of god before their eyes, who neither in private nor in public testify the least sense of their dependance upon him, or their connexion with another world, who violate his sabbaths, deride his revelation, and scoff at every thing that bears the appearance of seriousness or sobriety; do we not daily behold such men advanced to the pinnacle of preferment, abounding in wealth, favoured with health and strength, and surrounded with every good thing this world can afford? yes--we certainly do; and so did david many ages since. but attend to david's reflections upon this subject, and you will find them rational and satisfactory. "i was grieved at the wicked: i do also see the ungodly in such prosperity. for they are in no peril of health, but are lusty and strong. they come in no misfortune like other folk, neither are they plagued like other men. lo, these are the ungodly; these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession: and i said, then have i cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. yea, i had almost said even as they; but lo, then i should have condemned the generation of thy children. then thought i to understand this, but it was too hard for me, until i went into the sanctuary of god; then understood i the end of these men, namely, that thou dost set them in slippery places, and castest them down and destroyest them. o, how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful end!" these are david's reflections on the condition of wicked men in his day; and the experience of preceding, as well as of after-ages, does abundantly confirm them. vice will, sooner or later, meet with its recompence, even in this world. but supposing this should not be the case, and that good and righteous men should have a much larger share of temporal misery than the wicked; yet it may with truth be said, that by this very misery they prosper; yea, that their inward prosperity keeps pace with their outward sufferings. every thing that has a tendency to disengage the heart and affections from this transient scene of things, ought to be deemed a real blessing. now, who can deny, that sickness, pain, sorrow and affliction, have in their very nature this tendency? and, when seen by the happy sufferer in a true point of light, they never fail of producing this effect. hence it is, that many a pious soul is enabled to rejoice in such visitations, and to thank god for them as the richer blessings: for, "though no chastisement for the present is joyous, but rather grievous; yet it afterwards yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to those that are exercised thereby." true it is, that the outward man suffers, and is sadly weakened and distressed; but the inward man, the child of god, thrives and prospers. the riches of eternity appear more and more real, in proportion as he discovers the vanity of time; and his disappointment in any worldly concern, is sure to render him more prosperous and successful in matters of eternal moment. alas! methinks i hear some say, it would be well if it were always so. but are not many good men afflicted inwardly, as well as outwardly? are they not often destitute of spiritual as well as of worldly comforts? are not their souls as much bowed down by the weight of their sinful nature, as their bodies by temporal evils and infirmities? and can these men be said to "prosper in whatsoever they do?" surely, they are alike unfortunate with respect to the present and the future world. suspend thy judgment, poor partial observer! reason not from appearances. inward darkness, and distress, and anguish, are the proper inlets through which the christ of god is received into the heavy-laden soul. a sensibility of its burden makes it groan for relief: and the very moment that "patience hath done its perfect work," and the human will is thereby brought to yield itself with implicit resignation to its god, the burden drops, and sweet peace and tranquillity of soul succeed. god never willingly afflicts his children; he deals with them as a most indulgent parent. sin must be known and felt, before it can be shunned and conquered. and it is by repeated strokes, that the wayward child is taught to avoid what may prove injurious and destructive to its happiness. to conclude with the apt similitude of my text: the real christian is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water;" they afford it all the nourishment that is necessary. the stormy wind and the beating rain, while they try its strength, increase it; they make it cling closer to the kindly soil, take deeper root, and bear fruit in greater abundance. thus, "all things work together for good, to them that love god;" and "whatsoever they do," notwithstanding the many apparent disappointments and disquietudes they meet with, "shall finally prosper," and terminate in never-fading bliss. discourse x. the cause and cure of the disorders of human nature. st. mark, chap. vii. ver. . "and looking up to heaven, he sighed; and saith unto him, ephphatha! that is, be opened." a serious and philosophical mind, contemplating the innumerable evils, physical and moral, to which men are exposed during their short continuance in this world, would very naturally conclude, that the present state could not be that for which the almighty originally intended them. storms and tempests, sickness and pain, darkness and disorder, in the natural world; and the various and destructive effects of pride, envy, covetousness, and wrath, in the moral world; are so contrary to the divine nature, which is life, light, and love, eternal and unchangeable, that it would be almost blasphemy to say, that such a system was the original finished workmanship of his adorable hand. to such contemplations as these, philosophy might lead her sober votary--but divine revelation alone can carry him back to the origin of things, and give him the true information with respect to their present appearances. by this we learn, that the beautiful order and harmony of creation were marred by the creature's transgression; who turning his will from the source of infinite goodness, lost that first gate in which his maker had placed him, and wherein all was light and joy; and found himself in subjection to an evil nature within, and a world of darkness and distress without. by this revelation also we are informed, that nothing less than a return to his original source, could reinstate him in his original bliss; that this return could be rendered possible in no other way, than by a ray, a spark, a seed, an earnest, a taste or touch of his first life, imparted or inspoken into his fallen nature by the god of love, to be gradually opened and unfolded by such a redeeming process, as, with the co-operation of his own will, would effectually restore him to his primeval felicity; and that this was undertaken, and only could be undertaken and accomplished, by that eternal son of the father, in and by whom man was originally created, and in and by whom alone he could be redeemed. accordingly we find, that when this express image of the hidden deity appeared on earth, cloathed in our fallen flesh and blood, he was invested with an absolute and uncontroulable power and authority over the whole system of temporary nature. his wonder-working fiat was sufficient to calm, in an instant, the most aggravated fury of the winds and seas; and, as proceeding from the same wrathful source, to assuage the violence of raging fevers; to heal, by a mere touch, by a word, the most inveterate diseases; and to restore every organ of sense, which had been injured or destroyed, to its true state, and proper use and function. and as all outward disorders primarily proceed from a wrong state of the human spirit, his influence pervaded the inmost recesses of the soul, and awakened and called forth that precious spark of his own heavenly fire, which had lain buried under the ashes of sin; and bade it enlighten, invigorate, and restore health and peace to, the whole man. the gospel for the day presents us with a very remarkable instance of the amazing effects of these redeeming powers--"jesus, departing from the coasts of tyre and sidon, came unto the sea of galilee, through the midst of the coasts of decapolis: and they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. and he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit and touched his tongue: and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, ephphatha! that is, be opened!" there are three circumstances in this miraculous cure worthy of our serious attention, viz. the looking up to heaven, the sigh, and the ephphatha. i. the looking up to heaven, was beautifully expressive of the real situation, in which this great restorer of human nature stood before his heavenly father. it was intended, no doubt, to communicate to every attentive observer, this great lesson of instruction; that all the powers and virtues of which he was possessed, came down from above; that they were communicated to him "without measure;" and that he could have no authority over the evils of human life, so as either to mitigate or remove them, but by standing continually in the heavenly world, inspiring its air, receiving its beams of light and love, and sending them forth into every human heart, that was truly desirous of their salutary influence; and that it was by such a communication alone, that he should be enabled to restore hearing and speech to the unhappy patient they had brought before him. ii. this look was accompanied with a sigh. a sigh seems to indicate distress. an anxious oppressed and afflicted heart is sometimes so full, as to deprive the tongue of the power of utterance; it vents itself, therefore, in a sigh. but what could oppress or afflict the heart of the meek and innocent jesus? his body, though a fallen one, does not seem to have been sick or in pain; his soul was sweetly attempered to divine love, and could have felt nothing but inward peace and serenity--and yet, he sighs!--the poor deaf and dumb sinner, who stood before him, had reason enough to sigh: but he was insensible of his misery, and therefore sought not for relief. the truth is this: the blessed jesus, as the second adam, the father and regenerator of our whole lapsed race, voluntarily assumed our nature, and became as intimately united to it, as the head to the members of the body. in consequence of this union, "he knows whereof we are made, he remembers that we are but dust." his sympathetic heart is sensible of every want and distress of every son and daughter of adam. he is persecuted with the church that saul persecuteth; and who--"so toucheth his children, toucheth the apple of his eye." yea, he feels for those, who feel not for themselves; and sighs over the sad state of those, who are blind to their true happiness; "who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness." it was from such a tender sensibility of human woe, that our lord sighed; whilst he was preparing to perform this miracle of love. this look, this sigh, seem to have uttered some such language as this: "o heavenly father! i am come into this world to fulfil thy blessed will, in the restoration of fallen men to their primeval light and glory. my desire of accomplishing this great work, which is continually called forth by a general view of their complicated misery, as well as by the particular wants and distresses of individuals, now solicits, in favour of the poor mortal that stands before me, the application of those healing powers, which i have received from thee!" this expression of our lord's desire, coinciding with the eternal will to all goodness, immediately produced the divine ephphatha. iii. "and he saith unto him, ephphatha! that is, be opened." whatever salutary efficacy there may be in medicine, it must proceed from that heavenly virtue, which rises from the re-union of divided properties. this re-union is the source of health, and the restoration of aught that may be impaired in any of our outward organs, or inward faculties. to him, who had all nature under his controul, who knew how to bring together and unite, in an instant, those properties which have been separated, a single word, the mere motion of his will, was sufficient to produce the desired effect. the same majesty that said, "let there be light!" when "darkness was upon the face of the deep," now uttered the authoritative cure, "be opened!" the injured organs were instantly renewed; "his ears were opened, the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain." the same supernatural powers, which the blessed jesus displayed upon this occasion, he still continues to exercise in the hearts of his redeemed offspring. this look, this sigh, this ephphatha, is spiritually fulfilled in the relief of every one, who is convinced of his spiritual disorders, and applies to christ for a cure. deaf and dumb with respect to our inward and spiritual senses, we all are by nature. we can hear and speak, in deed, of worldly things, with a quickness and facility, which manifests, in innumerable instances, the strong attraction by which they hold our attention and affections. the calls of business and of pleasure, we are ever ready to answer: our earthly senses are continually open; but our heavenly faculties are closed by a thousand obstructions, which we suffer the world, the flesh, and the devil, to form in our hearts. the great shepherd of israel, who is perpetually employed in "seeking and saving that which was lost," makes use of a variety of means and methods to bring the soul to a conviction of its loss. the efficacy of these depends, indeed, upon the concurrence of the human will; because nothing can come into the soul, but what itself wills or desires. the different dispensations of providence are wisely and affectionately adapted to the different circumstances of individuals: the end and design of them all is one and the same, viz. to bring the wandering creature to a sense of his deviations, and "to guide his feet into the ways of peace." by whatever means this conviction is wrought, the soul soon becomes sensible of its mistaken choice, and soon determines to withhold its attention from the calls of earthly objects. in vain does the syren sing her delusive song; it ceases now to charm; for the finger of god stops the outward ear, that the inward ear may be opened to a sweeter note. the awakened sinner "looks up and lifts up his head, for his redemption draweth nigh"--looks up to heaven--for what? for the healing hand of his redeemer to interpose, and remove every remaining obstruction--looks up, and sighs--no desire of deliverance, without a previous sensibility of distress--a sigh is the true language of desire; it is more effectual than long prayer; it is prayer itself, in its true spirit: words do frequently render it less spiritual. the sigh of a contrite sinner brings down heaven into his heart. jesus often sighed. he loves a sigh; it invites him into his own temple; and "ephphatha, be opened!" is the blessed voice that precedes his salutary entrance. be opened!--opened, to what?--to the harmony of heaven; to the symphonies of angels; to "the voice of the bridegroom." "the marriage of the lamb" is come; the bride is prepared; the silver chord is tried; the blessed union is completed! the soul is now all eye, all ear, all heart, all tongue; and eye, and ear, and heart, and tongue, are all employed in receiving the gifts and graces, and celebrating the beauties and perfections of him, who is "fairest among ten thousand, who is altogether lovely." o blessed jesus! vouchsafe, we beseech thee, so to manifest thy power in opening our ears, and loosing our tongues, that we may henceforth hear no voice but thine, and offer up our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to none but thee, who, with the father and the holy spirit, art one god, blessed for evermore! discourse xi. the riches and glory of the christian. cor. chap. iii. ver. , , . "therefore, let no man glory in men. for all things are yours; whether paul, or apollos, or cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are christ's, and christ is god's." these words contain a complete and beautiful enumeration of those distinguishing privileges to which human nature is exalted, by virtue of that glorious plan of redemption, which jesus christ the son of god hath accomplished for our whole fallen race. they were occasioned by some little jealousies and envyings, which had broken out among the corinthians, in consequence of an undue attachment to particular apostles and preachers of the gospel; some declaring themselves publickly in favour of one, and some of another; some saying they were of paul, others of apollos, and others of cephas. upon this occasion the blessed apostle, in the true spirit of christian love, and free disinterested impartial charity, reminds them of this grand and important truth, "that no man can lay any other foundation, than that is laid, even jesus christ;" that whatever difference there might be in the particular gifts and talents of their different preachers, yet no preference was to be given on this account, but their attention was solely to be directed to those fundamental principles, which all were labouring to inculcate, though all were not equally agreeable and captivating in their modes of communication and address. these differences were to be considered as accidental and external, and by no means sufficient to warrant any partial personal distinctions. he makes use of a variety of the most sensible and cogent arguments, to dissuade them from a conduct so illiberal and unchristian; and in order most effectually to silence such a spirit of contention, he reminds them, in my text, of the high and exalted privileges to which they themselves were called in christ jesus--"therefore let no man glory in men." as if he had said: let none of you value yourselves upon your personal attachment to this or that favourite apostle; let none of you boast of the superior spiritual excellencies of those particular teachers, to whom you have fondly surrendered your affections; or look upon the spiritual knowledge you have acquired, as proceeding from any powers or virtues in them, superior to those of their brethren: for let me assure you, such vain distinctions are beneath the character of those, who are themselves united to that very source and fountain, from whence the living streams of real knowledge, holiness, and happiness, do alone proceed: "for all things are yours, whether paul, or apollos, or cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are christ's, and christ is god's." what a glorious inheritance is here! the whole universe of things declared to belong to the redeemed race of adam! no prophecy is of private interpretation. from the beginning to the end of the bible, every prediction, every promise, every truth therein delivered, equally belongs to every individual of the human race: they are addressed to all without exception. what a senseless distinction then is that, which some narrow minds have adopted, and are fond of propagating, that the promises of scripture are made to none but believers? whereas, these promises are the very foundation of every one's faith, and the ground upon which every one's hope of salvation rests. no son of fallen adam can apply for pardon upon any other ground, than that the promises of scripture, which are founded upon the universal and impartial love of god, are made to him, and every other person in the like circumstances. his faith in these promises makes a glorious change, with respect to himself; but, on the part of god, who is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," they were made to him before he believed, or thought any thing about them: "we love him, because he first loved us." he hath elected all mankind to salvation, in his son jesus christ. an immortal inheritance is secured to all, by the merits of this blessed mediator; and if any fall short of this salvation, or lose their inheritance, the blame must lie at their own door: "they would not come to christ, that they might have life." should an affectionate parent, with the utmost care and anxiety, make such an ample provision for the sober and virtuous education of his children, as, if accepted and improved by them, would secure to them knowledge, esteem, and happiness in this world; would not such a parent be thought to have done all that love and tenderness could do in this respect, for the future welfare of his offspring? the provision is equally secured to all; and yet, if any thoughtless, perverse, disobedient child, should refuse to avail himself of these paternal blessings, and prefer an idle, dissolute, and abandoned life, to all the advantages which the father had taken care he should be furnished with, he might justly be told, as the apostle tells the corinthians--"all these things are yours." your father hath made you equal with the rest of his children--knowledge, esteem, and happiness, is as much in your power as in theirs; your falling short of them, therefore, is owing to nothing but your own perverse disposition--"they are yours," but you will not enjoy them. the same might be said of a temporal inheritance equally divided among a family of children; each has an equal portion: and yet if any child should be so weak and silly, as to chuse to forego the enjoyment of his share, and prefer penury and contempt to opulence and honour, he might still be told, that the portion was his, though he was so foolish as to neglect and forsake it. even so, "an inheritance incorruptible, immortal, and that fadeth not away," is secured, in christ jesus, to every individual of our fallen race: "all things are ours," by virtue of that heavenly nature, which we inherit from jesus christ the second adam. upon the birth, growth, and maturity of this heavenly nature, depends our possession of this eternal inheritance; and this birth, growth, and maturity again depend upon the co-operation of our wills, which are eternally and essentially free, with the divine will. what i have here asserted, is fully consonant to the very letter of scripture: "god is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." but if god is willing to save all, why are not all saved? why do not all men come immediately to repentance?--the reason is obvious: it depends not, as some vainly assert, upon a secret will of god, distinct from his revealed will. such an idea of the god of truth and love, is unscriptural, and even blasphemous--no, it depends wholly upon the co-operation of our wills, with the unchangeable will of god. the promise is made to all; the inheritance is secured to all; but the possession and enjoyment can never come, till the will of the creature is united to the will of the creator; till from a deep conviction of his own nothingness by nature, he freely opens his heart to the influences of grace--and then he finds, by a blessed experience, that, "having nothing, he possesseth all things." when a minister of christ, therefore, addresses himself to a sinner, insensible of his fallen condition, and strongly attached to that earthly life, which he inherits from fallen adam, he cannot use a more effectual argument, than that which the apostle in my text presses upon the divided and contentious corinthians--for so far as these jealousies and disputes prevailed among them, they were doubtless under the evil influences of the same corrupt nature, to which the unregenerate are in bondage. why, vain mortal, why, alas! art thou so strangely blind to thy best interests, so amazingly neglectful of thy real happiness? thou fleest from the substance, and embracest a shadow; thou pursuest the vanity of time, and despisest the riches of eternity; thou preferrest the life of a beast to the life of an angel; thou art content to feed upon husks among swine, whilst in "thy father's house there is bread enough, and to spare."--thou art in search of a false and delusive happiness in this world, whilst, if thou wouldst but attend to and "know the things that belong to thy peace," thou wouldst soon discover, that "all things are thine." for poor, wretched, sinful, polluted as thou art in thine outward nature, thou hast, within thee, a seed of eternal life, a birth of the triune god, a son of the second adam, a reconception of the light and love of god, an angel near its birth. to this seed, this birth, this son, this reconception, this angel in thy breast, belongs the kingdom of heaven, the pure element of life, and light, and love. jesus christ, thy ever blessed redeemer, hath sown in thy heart, and in the hearts of all thy fellow-sinners, this seed of his own heavenly nature, by means of which, he affectionately purposes to redeem thee from the bondage of corruption, and exalt thee to a glorious state of life and liberty. as he is invested with "all power both in heaven and in earth," so this offspring of his, which is within thee, will become a partaker of his power, in proportion as it becomes a partaker of his life and spirit, in proportion as it increases in heavenly wisdom and stature. if thou shouldst ask, how this growth and increase is to be obtained, and how all things are thine?--i could answer thee, that as the earth-born babe could never grow and increase in bodily strength, without a perpetual supply of the light, and air, and food, which this outward world affords; so it is as really and physically true, that the heaven-born offspring of the second adam, can never grow or increase in spiritual strength, without the light, and air, and food of the heavenly world, imparted by its tender and affectionate parent, jesus christ: and as nothing disposes the earthly infant to receive that nourishment which is suited to its nature, but the hunger of that nature, earnestly crying for a supply; so nothing can dispose the heavenly babe within, to receive the precious influences of divine life and grace, which alone can satisfy its nature, but an hunger and earnest desire of this heavenly food; or, in other words, the spirit of the will turning to christ, loathing all other nourishment, and desiring only to be fed with his bread of eternal life. thus fed, supported, and strengthened, by a vital union with thine adorable redeemer, thou standest not in thine own strength, but in his; not in thine own righteousness, but the righteousness of christ within thee; not in thine outward and perishing nature, but in thy inward, angelical, and divine nature. in this nature, sweetly mingling with its own kindred element, thou art safe, firm and collected; all temporal objects are beneath thy feet; like adam in his paradisiacal state, the earth, and all that is therein, is subject to thy will. health and sickness, prosperity and adversity, storms and calms, spiritual comforts or spiritual distresses, the vicissitudes of life, the horrors of death, the vanity of time, and the riches of eternity, are all at thy command, and thou makest them all subservient to thy spiritual growth and consolation. all these powers, virtues, and enjoyments, are thine; thine by the free gift of god in christ jesus, imparted to thee; and made thine, at the very moment the "seed of the woman" was inspoken into adam's fallen nature. it is true, they are in an hidden state, and require the strongest exertion of thy will co-operating with thy saviour, in calling them forth. they can only appear and manifest themselves, in proportion as thy will is given up to christ, in proportion as thou diest to thine earthly nature, and its earthly desires, and becomest one desire, one will, one spirit with thy redeemer. this is not a sudden and instantaneous work: the process is slow and painful. many a right hand must be cut off; many a right eye must be plucked out; many a favourite passion must be sacrificed, many a weary step taken, many a temptation baffled, many a victory obtained against the devil, the world, and the flesh, before "all things are thine" by actual possession. the combat is tedious, and the victory sometimes appears doubtful. but be not discouraged at this--darkness as well as light, doubt as well as assurance, weakness as well as strength, will help thee on thy way. thy redeemer is perpetually watching over his own offspring; he eyes thee with ineffable compassion throughout thy whole progress, and renders all its vicissitudes subservient to thy real and eternal welfare. think not, that it is necessary to thy spiritual growth, that thou shouldst walk in perpetual sun-shine, beneath a clear unclouded sky. the howling winds, the beating rain, are equally necessary at times; and are as powerful and operative in spiritual, as in earthly vegetation. through these, and worse than these, even the gloomy vale of the shadow of death, the invisible hand of an omnipotent redeemer shall conduct thee safe to a region of uncreated light and glory, where eternal nature, in its essential and unchangeable splendors, manifests the beatifying presence of father, son, and holy ghost, in their full and undivided trinity of glory. what though pain of body, and inward anguish of soul, should assault thee; what though disease should blast the bloom of health, and convulsion rack and rend thine earthly frame; what though death, with all his grim attendants, should knock at thy door, summon thee to relinquish all thy temporal prospects, and to enter at once into the world of spirits; this single reflection, that christ has made "all things thine," will be sufficient to support thy sinking frame; nay, more, thou wilt rejoice in thy deliverance from the captivity of the body, look forward with transport into the paradise to which thou art hastening, nor "cast one longing lingering look behind." such an address as this, from a minister of christ, to a poor thoughtless sinner, i cannot but think, by the blessing of god, would have a more sure and certain effect upon his hardened heart, than all the terrors of eternal damnation, thundered, as is too frequently the case, with more than brutal violence and impetuosity against him. for such a method would open two things to his mind, which are equally necessary to be revealed to him, neither of which he can attend to in his present thoughtless condition, viz. the sin and vanity of his fallen life, and the comfort, happiness, and glory of his redeemed nature--one should never be opened without the other: it would only be probing the wound, without administring the restoring balsam. this method which i have mentioned, was that which our dear redeemer and his blessed apostles always used; and if christian ministers would more carefully tread in their footsteps, they might be sure of greater success: not perhaps in the way of extraordinary awakenings, violent convictions, and instantaneous joys; but in the still, calm, and soothing ways of the gospel of peace and love. we should never tell the sinner, that he is by nature under the bondage of the devil, the world, and the flesh, without acquainting him, that he has in him an high and heavenly nature, to which he would do well to attend, as to a light shining in the midst of his darkness: when we point out the destructive consequences of sin, we should enlarge at the same time upon the delights of holiness, and the exalted privileges of those that follow it. thus we should imitate the apostle in my text, who, upon giving this advice to his corinthian brethren, "let no man glory in men," immediately adds this high and encouraging motive to their practice of it, "for all things are yours." discourse xii. the riches and glory of the christian. corinth. chap. iii. ver. , , . "therefore let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; whether paul, or apollos, or cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are christ's, and christ is god's." my former discourse from these words contained a general view of the apostle's reasoning in this chapter. i observed, that this part of his epistle was occasioned by some envyings and jealousies which had crept into the corinthian church, in consequence of an undue distinction and preference which different persons had shewn to different apostles and preachers of the gospel; and that, in order to silence these controversies, the apostle, after a variety of other excellent arguments, concludes with enumerating the high and distinguishing privileges, to which the corinthians themselves were called, in common with those very teachers, whose excellencies they were so injudiciously magnifying. he tells them, that they ought not to "glory in men;" that is, to boast of the superior excellencies of this or that favourite preacher, because "all things were theirs;" that by virtue of that heavenly nature, which they, as well as their teachers, inherited from jesus christ, the second adam, they were provided with a glorious inheritance, and invested with high powers and privileges, whereby this world, and every thing in it, was subject to their will, when in union and co-operation with the eternal and unchangeable will of their redeemer: so that all personal distinctions among men, all personal admiration of their peculiar talents and most shining endowments, were beneath the character of such high-born souls, and ought not to come into competition with the heavenly graces of love, meekness, humility, mutual forbearance, condescension and peace, by which alone the dignity of their birth could be asserted, and the actual possession of their spiritual privileges known and ascertained. i endeavoured likewise to explain to you, the glorious and comfortable meaning and import of this general proposition of the apostle, "all things are yours:" and shewed, by several similitudes and observations, that this was not only applicable to the corinthians, and the most effectual motive that the apostle could make use of, to disengage them from their narrow and carnal notions and jealousies, but that it is equally applicable to all men, at all times, and in all places and circumstances; and the most effectual method that a minister of christ can make use of, to awaken thoughtless sinners, and engage them to pursue the things that belong to their peace. let me now, therefore, entreat your attention, whilst i enter upon the consideration of those particular privileges, which are enumerated under this general head. as the immediate design of the apostle, upon this occasion, was to put an end to that strife and division, which subsisted among them from the attachment of different persons to different preachers, so the first privilege he mentions, is this, that in whatever light they might confider the matter, these apostles and preachers were nothing in themselves, but were furnished with peculiar talents and endowments for the service of their brethren: they were "theirs," because instruments in the hands of heaven, to awaken their attention, and engage their pursuit of real spiritual knowledge and happiness; and they were only to be considered in this light, without any other personal respect and veneration, than that which their character, as instruments, might claim: for "all things are yours; whether paul, or apollos, or cephas." that this is a true and just representation of the apostle's design, we may learn from his reasoning in the preceding part of the chapter. he charges them with acting under the immediate influence of earthly and carnal motives; and though he had adapted his preaching to their slender capacities, though he had fed them with milk, as being yet in the rate of infants, and incapable of receiving or digesting the strong meat of the great and glorious mysteries of the gospel, yet they did not profit even by this; for they had acquired no new spiritual strength from thence; nay, they not only remained in their infant state, unable to bear a further revelation of gospel truth, but gave themselves up again to the principles and dictates of corrupt nature. "ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envyings, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?--for while one faith, i am of paul, and another i am of apollos, are ye not carnal? who then is paul, and who is apollos, but ministers, by whom ye believed, even as the lord gave to every man? i have planted, apollos watered; but god gave the increase. so then neither he that planteth is any thing, neither he that watereth, but god who giveth the increase. now he that planteth, and he that watereth, are one." as if he had said: i am truly sorry, o corinthians! to find that such unexpected animosities have risen among you: they are too flagrant proofs of your deviation from that path of gospel truth and love, into which you had but just entered. certain, indeed, it is, that i have laboured among you with unceasing vigilance and care; and "by the grace of god that was given me," have planted a church of christ in the midst of you. the glad tidings of the gospel were sent from my lips to your awakened hearts: you were taught to see, and feel, and relinquish the vanity and corruption of your fallen life, and to look for and experience the birth and growth of an heavenly nature within you. to this heavenly nature, i administered much mild and gentle food and nourishment, as i knew was best suited to its tender opening state. in this situation i left you to the grace of christ, and the affectionate labours of those other apostles and preachers; who seconded my ministry among you. the labours of apollos and cephas were as necessary to your growth in grace, as mine: for as ye "are god's husbandry, as ye are god's building," so god hath bestowed different talents and endowments on those several labourers or workmen, whom he chooses to employ for the culture of his vineyard, and for the progress and completion of his great spiritual edifice. "we are all, therefore, labourers together with god:" we have all our different tasks allotted us by the great husband-man and master-builder, under whom we labour, and from whom alone we receive strength and wisdom to execute his will. my business was to plant, apollos's to water; but what could it avail to plant or to water, unless god gave the increase? the sun of righteousness must shed his genial light and warmth, and the divine spirit must breathe its refreshing gales upon the tender plants, or they will wither and die. "he that planteth, and he that watereth, therefore, are one," united in the same blessed work. the culture, growth, and perfection of the plant, are equally the care and concern of both, though their business or employment in this work be different. paul, and apollos, and cephas, are only "ministers, by whom ye believed, even as the lord gave to every man," and prospered their several labours. paul, and apollos, and cephas, are yours: they are equally concerned, and equally laborious, for your growth in grace, though their particular talents and exercises may be different. away then with your vain and unchristian distinctions! for the planter, and the waterer, are equally necessary, and equally estimable. consider them always in these characters; entertain an equal love and respect for them all; and beg of your heavenly father to give increase to their respective labours." i need not take up your time,--my brethren, in endeavouring to ascertain the peculiar and characteristical gifts of these several apostles: this would neither augment, nor diminish the weight of the argument. whatever these gifts were, they were not their own, but only intrusted to them by jesus christ, for accomplishing his own wise and salutary purposes towards the children of men. some might be eminent for one kind of usefulness, and some for another. but it is probable, that those who possessed such talents, as most captivated the attention and affections of animal nature, were most followed; and this merely on account of the talents themselves, without any respect to those spiritual salutary truths, which, through them, were intended to be conveyed to the hearers. this conduct, however, is not peculiar to the corinthians. the same evil carnal principle, that raised so many unchristian animosities in that infant church, has ever since been working in every part of christendom. it is the fatal source of all that variety of sects, opinions, and doctrines, into which the outward church has been, and is still, sadly divided. but truth is one--it has been so from the beginning, and will continue so for ever. the different sentiments and conceptions of mankind about truth, can no more alter its nature, or make it cease to be what it is, than the looking through a variety of glasses of different colours, forms, and densities, can change the real colour, form, and proportion of objects. every man admires and esteems his own glass most; and not content with this, quarrels with his neighbour, because he does not make use of it as well as himself. this is but too true a picture of the present state of christianity--while its professors are disputing and differing about their own peculiar opinions and notions of truth, which are no better than the glasses through which they contemplate it, they lose sight of the fair and beauteous object itself. the ministers of jesus christ ought to have but one end in view, and that is, the conversion of hearts to his redeeming love. their talents for this great work may differ as much as their persons; but by this diversity of gifts, they are better enabled to do the different kinds of work that are necessary to be done in their master's vineyard. they should be careful, however, not to run before they are sent, not to intrude upon the labours of their brethren, but be content to be employed in a way suitable to their peculiar talents, and in the field which heaven hath assigned them. he that planteth, should be sent out only to plant; he that watereth, to water; he that giveth milk, should continue to give it till he has something stronger to give, and his hearers are better able to receive it. at the same time, neither he that planteth, nor he that watereth, neither he that giveth milk, nor he that giveth strong meat, should interfere with, depreciate, or counter-act each other's peculiar work; but rather should faithfully and lovingly co-operate, each in the use of his particular gifts and experiences, to edify and perfect the body of christ. were ministers thus tender, charitable, affectionate, and helpful to each other; were they truly fellow-labourers in christ; it is more than probable, that there would be less divisions and jealousies among the people. much depends, under god, upon their prudence and-forbearance with respect to each other: and though such is the corruption and perverseness of human nature, that the closest union among themselves may not entirely prevent disputes among their hearers (as was the case at corinth, though the apostles did, no doubt, affectionately harmonize in all their labours) yet such an union would have a great tendency to heal or disperse them. but how dreadful must be the consequences, when any ambitious aspiring preachers do themselves raise and foment these divisions; when they limit the mercies of jesus, and call upon men to join and associate themselves to their particular sect or party; as if the streams of spiritual life had left every other channel which providence had opened, and, by their direction, taken entirely to one of their own construction! if a preacher of this class happens to possess any popular talents, he is capable of abusing them to great mischief--to impose his own doctrines and opinions upon the ignorant multitude, by first captivating their passions, and then leading their judgments and consciences as he pleases. many a soul has been awakened, indeed, under such preachers, but few have attained to any solid or substantial piety. their minds have been kept in bondage to certain peculiarities of doctrine and practice, but their hearts and wills have never been surrendered to their true and only master jesus christ. they have blindly followed the commandments of men, of their clamorous and enflamed leaders; but have neglected the weightier matters of love, peace, and spiritual union with christ and all true christians. paul, apollos, or cephas, they are ready enough to magnify and extol: but the master of paul, apollos, and cephas, they too easily forget--their attention and affections are too much engaged by the instrument, to observe and adore the hand by which it is, or ought to be, directed. to conclude this head: as the best of teachers, even the apostles themselves, found it so difficult to controul the passions and prejudices of men, and disengage them from partial distinctions and preferences among their ministers; how careful should all ministers be, to inculcate the apostolical doctrine contained in this chapter, upon their hearers! to caution them against depending upon, or glorying in man; against trusting to the piety, zeal, or elocution, of the most liberal teachers, and much more against giving up their consciences to those, whose views are partial and confined, and who publickly avow them to be such, by endeavouring to draw a deluded multitude into the narrow limits of their own misguided sect. how often should they remind their hearers, that they are no more than their servants, men of like passions with themselves, though selected by divine providence to convey the glad tidings of salvation to their hearts: that they can, at most, but plant and water; nor even this, without the continuance of divine assistance; but that it is to god alone they must look for the increase! o my brethren! let these truths sink deep into your hearts. without a thorough conviction of them, all the preaching in the world will be of no service to you. you may hear a sermon every day, and every hour in the week, and be as far from christ as ever, if you continue to depend upon preaching and preachers alone for your salvation. the utmost they can do, is to direct you to christ. regard them only when they give you this advice. value them not for their natural or even spiritual endowments; you may be deceived in both. the surest and most profitable way you can take, is to consider them as mere planters and waterers; and to follow them, so far only as they follow christ. discourse xiii. the riches, privileges, and honours of the christian. cor. chap. iii. ver. , , . "therefore let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; whether paul, or apollos, or cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are christ's, and christ is god's." the scope and design of the blessed apostle in this passage of his epistle, together with the true meaning and import of his general proposition, "all things are yours," hath been already explained in my first discourse from these words. in my second discourse, i entered upon the consideration of those particular privileges of the christian, which are enumerated under this general head: and as the first of these privileges had a more immediate and striking reference to the great end he here had in view, which was to convince the corinthians of the sin and folly of attaching themselves to particular and favourite preachers; i enlarged upon this head, and endeavoured to prove, that paul, and apollos, and cephas, and all other ministers of the gospel, were no more than the servants of their brethren; that they were "theirs" by a particular privilege, inasmuch as their office, their labours, talents, and several endowments, were entrusted to them for no other purpose, but that god, through them, might communicate "the unspeakable riches of his grace" to the whole body of christians. in this character, and in this alone, they were all equally entitled to their esteem and love, but not to any personal preference, or undue exaltation of one above another. not content with this, however, the good apostle, under the full inspiration of divine truth, and the glorious enlargement of divine love, breaks forth into a further declaration of those still higher privileges, to which the meanest member of the church of christ is equally and in common entitled, with the greatest and most advanced believers: not only "paul, and apollos, and cephas, are yours; but the world, and life and death, and things present, and things to come: all are yours, and ye are christ's, and christ is god's." "the world is yours!"--is it so, thou blessed apostle? alas! this strange assertion seems not to be confirmed, either by thine own experience, or the experience of thy fellow-labourers; or of any of those, who have since trod in the footsteps of thy suffering master. if bonds and imprisonments, if stripes and persecutions of various kinds, if cruel mockings and insults, if outward and inward tribulations might be admitted as proofs of their having the world in their power, these, alas, will not be found wanting. sad privilege, indeed! wretched consolation! to be told that misery is our portion, and that distress and affliction are the christian's birth-right!--let us, however, endeavour to solve this seeming paradox, and reconcile the apostle's declaration with the common experience of christians. whence was it, o christian! (for i now appeal to the real sensibilities of every believing soul that has tasted of the good word of god) whence was it, that thou hast acquired that power and dominion over the world, by which thou canst sustain its adversity and prosperity, its evil and its good, with equal calmness, fortitude, and complacency--for this is that power and dominion, by which alone the world becomes thine! was it not by those very sufferings, which seem so diametrically opposite to this triumphant state? thy victory rose from thy defeat; thy consolation, from the depth of thy distress; thy conquest of the world, from its conquest of thee.--yea, the world furnished thee with arms against itself. every new affliction gave thee some new acquisition; every sigh, every tear, vanquished some mortal foe. bonds and imprisonments, scourging and insults, hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, war, pestilence, and shipwreck, and all the dire vicissitudes which the world can bring upon us, serve no other purpose than to subdue the pride, envy, covetousness, and wrath of our fallen life; to open the eyes of our inward man, and teach us to look upon this world in its proper light, to fly its visionary pleasures, and support with patience its substantial miseries. to suffer, therefore, is to triumph; to be distressed, is our glorious privilege; to "be weary and heavy-laden," is the only way to rest and happiness! sure i am, that there are many here, who can bear witness to this great and awful truth; who can say with the psalmist, "it is good for me that i have been afflicted." my god hath manifested his love in all my sufferings. i should never have come to the knowledge of his truth; i should never have experienced the light of his grace; i should never have overcome the world, abandoned its delusive prospects, and gained a sure and everlasting inheritance; had not my god made this very world to frown upon me, had he not beset me with its troubles behind and before, and by making me deeply sensible of its evil, taught me to despise even its good. thus, and thus alone, "the world is the christian's," because he knows, that every thing in it, under the administration of his blessed redeemer, is made subservient to his real happiness, which he is convinced is more effectually promoted by its storms than by its calms, by its frowns than by its smiles. and if "the world" is thus his, by particular privilege, consequently "the life" which he lives in it must be so too. the vicissitudes of life arise from the natural instability of worldly enjoyments: but even this instability the believer knows to be under the immediate guidance of almighty love. the real enjoyment of life depends upon the temper and disposition of mind, with which its vicissitudes are received. the christian, therefore, who knows, that "not an hair of his head can fall to the ground without his heavenly father," and whose will is secretly resigned to his father's, meekly and patiently, daily and hourly giving himself up to his sovereign disposal, he alone can be said to have a true enjoyment of life.--in sickness and in health, in prosperity and in adversity, he alike beholds the hand of his redeemer opening to him, by these various dispensations, the way to never-ending rest; unfolding his misery by nature, and his happiness by grace, and rendering every change of outward life instrumental to some blessed change in the life of his inward and spiritual man. but he has not only the highest enjoyment of this "world," and of "life" in this world, but what is a still more surprising and more glorious privilege, "death too is his." not, indeed, in the sense in which it belongs to the wicked and unregenerate, to whom it is solely the consequence of guilt, and the dreadful introduction to misery extreme. no--to the real christian, it is the consequence of a new life, the completion of happiness, the deliverer from woe, the gate that opens into paradise, the messenger of redeeming love. death, therefore, is the believer's, because, by the strength of his redeemer, he hath been enabled to make him, who was once his enemy, become his reconciled friend.--the king of terrors hath dropped his envenomed sting; and his dart flies now for no other use, but a kind and friendly one, even to dislodge the heavenly inhabitant from its frail tabernacle of clay, and open the world of light upon its spiritual senses. but still higher privileges, still higher prospects, open to the apostle's view. "things present, and things to come, are yours."--whatever the present moment brings to light, as well as what is concealed in the womb of futurity, is equally in the christian's power. he is prepared to receive the former with thankfulness and gratitude, because he knows, that it must operate for his good, be it painful or pleasant: and from the same conviction of the kind and loving administration of his redeemer, he, can wait with patience and resignation for the future dispensations of his providence. i cannot, however, but think, that these words have a much deeper and more comfortable sense than this. "things present, and things to come," generally denote, in scripture, the visible and the invisible world; and though they are equally present, yet, with respect to our common apprehensions, the latter must be called future, because it cannot be unveiled to our senses, till we have laid aside these garments of sin. the believer, however, by virtue of his heavenly nature, united by faith to his redeemer, stands in the heavenly world at the same time that he is in this. its light, and life, and air, its powers, and virtues, and glories, are opening themselves, though invisibly, in his heart. hence it is, that the apostle speaks of "tasting the powers of the world to come," even in this present state and that not metaphorically, but as really and physically as our outward bodies may be said to taste the powers of this present world. o, what an high and glorious privilege does this appear, when considered in this point of light! an heavenly man within us, standing upon heavenly ground, breathing the heavenly air, and rising, by its animating influences, far above that sink of evil and corruption, in which the earthly nature still remains a prisoner; and with heavenly fortitude and resignation, supporting the painful union, till his true parent and deliverer rescues him from his captivity, and admits him into the liberty of kindred spirits in glory. well, therefore, might the apostle, at the close of this enumeration, again repeat his general assertion, "all things are yours."--but he repeats it, not only with a view of impressing the truth more powerfully upon the hearts of christians, but also to let them know, that their privileges are in the most effectual manner secured to them; that their title is indisputable, their inheritance unfading and eternal--"and ye are christ's," says he. think not, that your title to this inheritance is founded upon any thing in yourselves, considered separately and distinctly in your own natures; no, "ye are by nature dead in trespasses and sins--the wages of sin is death." no other inheritance, but destruction and misery, can you derive from your fallen nature. this inheritance, therefore, which is "eternal life," is solely the gift of god, through jesus christ. "ye are christ's," therefore, not only as being originally created by him in his own image, which image ye lost by sin; but ye are now his by redemption, which is in truth a second creation; for he hath planted his own seed in your fallen nature. by this, he is become your father, your spiritual regenerator, your creator anew in righteousness and true holiness.--thus, by turning your will to this saviour, the heavenly seed springs forth, under his mild and genial influence, into a beautiful plant, partaking of all the virtues, powers, odours, and colours of its eternal parent, uniting, rejoicing, and living for ever in the same heavenly glory. nay, that your faith, and hope, and love, may rest upon an eternal ground, and that your title may appear to you still more firm, and your inheritance still more certain and glorious; i must tell you, that as "ye are christ's, so christ is god's."--here rests the glorious climax, rising by a fair and beautiful gradation, till its last step is fixed to the throne of the highest! the essential powers virtues and excellencies of the invisible and supernatural god, manifest themselves in his eternal and only-begotten son jesus christ, god of god, god-man, uniting himself to human nature, redeeming, glorifying, and exalting it, with himself, to the throne of the eternal father; from thence they are communicated, in copious streams of light and love, to the whole race whom he has condescended to redeem; awakening, illuminating, sanctifying, restoring, and investing them with the same kind of powers and excellencies, which he possesses himself in an infinite degree, and thus accomplishing what he before had prayed to his heavenly father might be accomplished--"that they all may be one, as thou, father, art in me, and i in thee; that they also may be one in us--that they may be one, even as we are one--i in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one." thus you have seen, my brethren, the nature, extent, and excellency of the great christian privileges here enumerated, together with the eternal and immoveable foundation on which they are built. need i, therefore, now call upon you to put in your claim to this vast inheritance? alas! i fear there is too much occasion for the most solemn calls.--so various are the pursuits of the sons of men, and so foreign to their real happiness; so mistaken are they in their conceptions of good, so blind to real evil, so easily deluded by specious appearances, and led astray by so many false lights; so prone to obey the dictates of a corrupt nature, and so averse to every thing that is spiritual and heavenly; that the weightiest truths of the gospel, the most animating promises, the most glorious privileges there recounted, seem to have but very little influence upon their hearts. o why, my brethren, why will ye "spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not?" why, with deluded esau, "will you sell your birth-right for a mess of pottage," an heavenly for an earthly inheritance? when "all things are yours," why will you take up with the scanty provisions which a poor perishing nature can give? an immortal soul, redeemed by the blood of the son of god, spending its strength, exerting its faculties in the pursuit of such fleeting momentary enjoyments as this world can afford, is a spectacle at which angels might weep.--o that every thoughtless sinner might be induced to weep for himself, to mourn his wretched, forlorn condition; and, from a deep conviction of the insufficiency of all earthly possessions to make him happy, that he might be led to seek that "peace of god which passeth all understanding! that inheritance immortal, incorruptible, and undefiled, which fadeth not away!" discourse xiv. christ, known or unknown, the universal saviour. st. john, chap. xiv. part of ver. . "have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, philip?" "except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," said our blessed lord to those earthly-minded israelites, who were ever looking for some external display of supernatural power, as the only means of conviction in matters of religion. this fatal mistake hath prevailed too much in the world; and still maintains its ground, even among those, whose views are more spiritual, and who have been taught to look upon religion as an internal operation, the work of god's spirit upon their souls. they do not, indeed, seek for an outward sign, as the jews of old did; they see the impropriety of this under a spiritual dispensation: their delusion, however, though perhaps more refined, is equally dangerous. they cannot conceive that the divine power and presence can be manifested to the human soul, in any other way; than by extraordinary impressions, visions, or extasies. thus, whilst they are looking out for the appearance of their god in a whirl-wind, a fire, or an earthquake, their attention is wholly withdrawn from that "still small voice," in which he usually addresses himself to the hearts of his creatures. such was the sad delusion under which poor philip seems to have laboured. "lord, shew us the father, said he, and it sufficeth us." give us some visible sign, some sensible demonstration of the father's power and presence with thee. let him rend the heavens and come down; and if thou art indeed his son, let him own and honour thee as such, by placing himself near to thy sacred person, and breaking forth in a flood of glory upon our outward senses. poor mistaken disciple! little didst thou think of the dreadful consequences which might have attended the granting of thy request. it might have over-whelmed thy weak nature, but could never have wrought any salutary conviction in thy soul: thy outward senses could not have sustained the shock, and thy mind would have continued as dark as ever, notwithstanding the heavenly effulgence that surrounded thee. ignorant, weak, and deluded, as philip seems to have been, his blessed master bore with his infirmities, and answered him with all that sweetness and gentleness, that usually accompanied even his censures and reproofs--"have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, philip? he that hath seen me, hath seen the father. how sayest thou then, shew us the father?" not one of all those excellencies and perfections, which constitute the divine nature, but thou mightest have beheld manifested in me. the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, making the deaf to hear, the blind to see, and the dumb to speak, instructing the ignorant, and preaching the gospel to the poor, all these are the surest marks and evidences that can possibly be given of the immediate presence of the divinity within me. he, therefore, who hath seen me thus manifesting the power, wisdom, and goodness of my heavenly father, in these works of wonder, tenderness, and love to his children, "hath seen the father;" inasmuch, as in the present state of things, there is no other way in which god can manifest himself to you his fallen creatures, but by awakening your attention to every act and sensibility of goodness, which you may discover either in yourselves or others. and as all these divine communications are imparted from the father through me; so in my miracles life and conversation, had you yielded a proper attention, you might have seen "the brightness of the father's glory, and the express image of his person." "have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, philip?" from this particular conversation of our lord with his disciple, as well as from the whole tenor of the gospel, arises this grand and fundamental truth: that our real knowledge of christ depends upon an attention of the mind to those tempers, qualities, dispositions and actions, which he manifested in his life here upon earth, and which are recorded in scripture for our instruction, accompanied with a surrender of our will and affections to those inward calls, motions, and sensibilities of goodness, by which he reveals himself with all his heavenly tempers in our hearts. christ, therefore, makes himself known to us in these two principal ways, in his word, and in our hearts. his word, or what is known by the name of the holy scripture, is only the outward testimony--the rule or standard providentially transmitted to us, by which we are to judge of the reality of his presence in our hearts. it tells us of a christ, who lived, and suffered, and died in our human nature, in order to teach us how to live, and suffer, and die. it assures us, that our everlasting salvation depends upon our knowledge of this christ; that this knowledge can only be attained by seeking him earnestly; that the place where he chuses to be found, where he loves to reside, is in the human heart;" that "his kingdom is within us;" that he is "the light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;" that he is the "hope of glory," in every son and daughter of fallen adam. the scriptures likewise testify of the manner of his appearance and residence within us--that he manifests himself as a destroyer of that evil work, which the devil has wrought in our nature; first convincing us of sin, of the darkness and misery of our fallen life, and then pointing out to us the paths of righteousness; opening and unfolding all those sweet and lovely qualities, of which himself is the great fountain spirit, and which he distributes to every man according to his capacity and desire of receiving them. to know christ, therefore, is carefully to cultivate those holy and heavenly tempers and dispositions, which he manifested in his outward life here upon earth, and which he now continues to manifest in the breasts of all those who diligently seek after him. to know christ, is to know and feel the power of "love, joy; peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." wherever these graces take up their residence, there is the temple of jesus. these are the ministring servants that wait at his altar: and the sacrifices which they there present and offer, are all the earthly and diabolical passions with which human nature is polluted and oppressed,--pride, envy, covetousness, jealousy, lust, wrath, bitterness of spirit, and all the rest of the infernal legion. love, love divine, is the vestal fire which there burns pure and perpetual; which cleanses, refines, sublimates, and glorifies every thing that comes within its reach. in this sense, christ has been a long time, indeed, among the sons of men, though they may not have known him: he has been long "come to his own," though his own have not universally received him. where is the man, who hath not, in innumerable instances, felt the powerful suggestions of vice; and, in innumerable instances, been inwardly warned against them, and pressed to the exercise of virtue? speak, thou unthinking, careless mortal! hast thou never felt thyself swoln with pride, or burning with envy? hast thou never coveted, been jealous, angry, revengeful, bitter, and implacable? hast thou never found thyself bound to this world, by such strong and numerous ties, that the parting from it would be like tearing away thy very heart-strings? amidst all that storm and confusion, into which this restless croud of evil passions has frequently thrown thee, hast thou never once felt a monitor within, that would have let thee know, if thou hadst attended to his voice, that all this uproar was from an evil principle, and that thou wert injuring thy soul by submitting to its power? hast thou never been led to admire and revere the amiable graces of meekness, humility, love, and peace, in the life of thy neighbour; and secretly to wish, that these plants of heaven would spring up in thy own barren soil? hast thou not frequently envied the happy frame and circumstances of some, whom thou hast seen devout and pious in their conduct towards god, and affectionate, mild, and gentle, in their behaviour towards their brethren? and hast thou not, in such a situation, been constrained to sigh out some such wish as this: o that i could feel, and live, and act, as these men seem to do! would to god that this evil nature of mine, with all its horrid lusts and passions, was wholly subdued, eradicated, or changed! let me tell thee, then, poor mortal! that all these senses, sensibilities, and secret desires, are from christ, and that this is the way he takes to invite thee to his friendship and communion. he is in thine heart, waiting there with all the condescension, tenderness, and compassion of a most indulgent father, to deliver thee from thy sins, and shew himself to thy soul in reconciliation and peace. he hath been waiting there ever since thou wert born, seeking to make himself known to thee, sometimes by the frowns of conscience, sometimes by its approving smiles, sometimes by the endearing intercourse of christian friendship and love, and sometimes by the sweet emotions of his own charity, kindled within thee, at the sight of an object in distress; sometimes by providential deliverances from imminent dangers, sometimes by providential visits of health and prosperity. whence is it then, o sinner, that, though thy saviour hath been so long time "with thee, yet hast thou not known him?" whence is it, though he has made thee such frequent offers of his love, thou hast still slighted or rejected them? various are the obstacles and impediments which prevent us from coming to a true and saving knowledge of christ. in some persons, the unrestrained sovereignty and dominion of fallen nature, leads them captive at its will, makes them deaf to the voice of conscience, and blind to every ray of light that seeks to illuminate the dark region of their heart. they know not christ, because they have not the least desire to be acquainted with him. in others, the grand and principal impediment to the knowledge of christ, is their absolute dependence upon an external decency of conduct, to which they have given the name of morality. if they cultivate those seeming virtues, which are the faint images or shadows of the true graces of the gospel, it is solely from a selfish principle, a desire of being noticed and respected by the world: they have no view, in any thing they undertake, to that real inward change of heart and temper, in which alone the knowledge of christ consists. such persons, being unacquainted with the intrinsic evil and corruption of their own nature, cannot have the least desire to be delivered from it; and, till they are providentially awakened to a sense of this, they cannot find themselves disposed to enquire after a saviour, in and through whom alone these evils and corruptions are to be healed or removed. others again there are, who are kept from this saving knowledge of christ, by an attachment to external forms, modes, and opinions of religion; who, provided they are found faithful in the observance and belief of these, excuse themselves from the cultivation of those inward and heavenly graces and virtues, which alone constitute the life and power of religion. such persons frequently fall into the grossest inconsistencies. they can be angry, in the defence of meekness; proud, whilst they are discoursing on humility; and can speak of all the sublime truths of religion, and sometimes of its vital influences on the heart, with the utmost elegance and pathos of sentiment and expression, and yet remain totally insensible of their efficacy respecting themselves. such persons know not christ, because they do not seek him in the only way in which he can be found, viz. in a conformity to his heavenly character. the last impediment which i shall mention, that excludes many serious minds from the knowledge of christ's personal power and presence with them, is that under which poor philip laboured; even an expectation of some unusual display of supernatural agency, to produce their conviction and conversion.--he, indeed, looked for an external sign; they are anxious for something internal and spiritual; but the nature of the desire is the same in both, and is equally delusive and dangerous. such persons, solicitous for nothing but an assurance of the forgiveness of god, expect to have it communicated by some vision, ecstasy, or sudden illumination. far be it from me to call in question the reality of such manifestations, which good men in all ages have experienced. but at the same time i must confess, that i cannot look upon them as essential to salvation. christ jesus reveals himself to sinners in various methods, and by various means: but the end of all these means and methods is the same, even to produce his own image of righteousness and true holiness in their hearts. let us hear his own blessed words: "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and i will give you rest"--ye that labour under the evils of fallen life, seduced by its temptations, enslaved by its passions, and heavy-laden with its accumulated guilt and woe, come to me, deeply sensible of your deplorable condition, and earnestly desiring deliverance, and i will give you rest! from the same oracle of truth, we learn too, wherein this rest, deliverance, or forgiveness must consist--"learn of me, for i am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls." meekness and lowliness of heart, therefore, is the true rest which christ gives; for, wherever these are, there is faith, there is hope, there is heaven-born charity. tell me, ye favoured souls! who have been "called out of darkness into the marvellous light of god;" who have experienced his "peace, that passeth all understanding;" who have received the sweetest tokens of his forgiving grace; tell me, wherein did this marvellous light, this peace, this token of forgiving grace consist? what kind of sensibility was awakened in you at that happy season?--was it not a sensibility of love intense, and meekness unutterable? a love, that would have clasped universal nature in its charitable embrace; a meekness, that would have forgiven the grossest injuries and insults, and condescended to the meanest offices of tenderness and kindness to your brethren? this, then, is the knowledge of jesus christ: in this gentle element he delights to move! let but your souls be attempered to these divine sensations, and christ is yours! seek not for any sudden and extraordinary impulses or ecstasies, but "learn to be meek and lowly in heart!" ask for divine grace to subdue your corrupt and boisterous passions!--be weary of, and groan under, the burden of your evil nature!--fly from pride, envy, covetousness, and wrath; and cherish the opposite tempers of meekness, humility, resignation, and love!--wander not after an imaginary forgiveness: but know assuredly, that there is no other way, in which the all-atoning blood of the holy jesus can be applied for the pardon of sin, but by inwardly cleansing, redeeming, and purifying your corrupt natures, from every bestial as well as diabolical impurity. it is in this process alone, that you can know, and be known by your saviour: and unless you enter upon this, and seek in good earnest to be intimately acquainted with him, thus revealing himself in your hearts; he will one day have good reason to say to you, as he did to his disciple in the text, "have i been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me?" discourse xv. human life a pilgrimage. psalm xxxix. part of ver. . "for i am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." in every age of the world, and among people of every nation and language under heaven, (if we may credit the testimony of history and experience) there have been found many virtuous, thoughtful, and enquiring minds; who, from an attentive observation of the moral as well as physical disorders incident to the present system of things, from a personal experience of the unavoidable miseries consequent thereupon, and from a secret irresistible desire and longing after some superior but unknown state of being, have been led to form these most philosophical and pious conclusions: that their present mode of existence could not possibly be as that for which they were originally intended by a being of infinite wisdom, goodness, and love; that the intelligent and immortal spirit within them, could not have been created merely to animate a dark terrestrial body, and to be subject to the clamorous demands of animal nature; that the fair signatures of beauty, order, and love, which they still saw, and felt, and admired, within and without them, could not have been originally impressed by the divine fiat upon that mixture of darkness, deformity and confusion, in which they now appear; that the primeval harmony and lustre of the creation must, by some means or other, have been marred and spoiled; and that, for these reasons, they could not but consider themselves as the fallen inhabitants of a fallen world. that these strange disorders must have proceeded solely from the depravity of some created intelligences, they concluded, not only from their own conceptions of the spotless purity and goodness of the divine nature, but from their own observation and experience of the innumerable evils that were produced in themselves and others, when ever their wills and affections deviated from the strait paths of virtue, and wandered in the mazes of vice. and yet they saw--and yet they felt--that so numerous and powerful were the temptations and suggestions on the side of vice, that nought but the kind interposition of their good and powerful creator, nought but the super-natural illumination and direction of his blessed spirit, could rescue them from the dominion of their passions, open their understanding to the sight of truth, and incline their will to the pursuit and practice of goodness. this affectionate intercourse with their creator, they considered as the only source of their virtue and happiness in this life, as the only earnest of their future and final felicity in the next. hence they regarded themselves as strangers and exiles in a foreign land, and looked upon death as the season of their deliverance, of their return to their native country, and re-union with their father and kindred spirits in glory. many traces of this sublime philosophy do we meet with in the lives and writings of the virtuous heathen. for, however they may differ from us in their modes of conception and expression, a discerning mind will soon discover, that their feelings were congenial with our own; and that they wanted but the aids of external revelation to enable them to "speak what they knew, and testify what they saw," in the same language which we are instructed to use. the sacred writings, however, afford us the noblest and most indubitable testimonies to the great truths mentioned above. for whatsoever scattered rays of knowledge or of goodness are found here and there gleaming through the shades of paganism;--whatsoever the thrice-great hermes delivered as oracles from his sacred tripos;--whatsoever pythagoras, socrates, epictetus, zoroaster, or confucius, have laboured to inculcate upon the hearts of their disciples--all this, and infinitely more, without any corrupt or superstitious mixture, do we find expressly revealed, with all the marks of divine authority, in the holy scriptures--all this, and infinitely more, do we find beautifully exemplified in those lives and sayings of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, which are recorded for our instruction and imitation in the old testament as well as in the new. these venerable teachers and patterns of truth and virtue, do all, with one voice, express their deep sensibility of the evils and miseries of their present state of existence, and their ardent aspirations after another and a better state. they all, with one voice, acknowledge the vanity and insufficiency of every sublunary enjoyment, and the indispensable necessity of "setting the affections on things above, not on things on the earth." they all, with one voice, pronounce their state in this world to be that of strangers and exiles; and consider their temporary pilgrimage here, as only intended to purify and prepare them for a state of eternal peace and happiness hereafter. in a word, they all, with one voice, declare, that there is no other method, by which they can be redeemed from the evils of their present life, and qualified for the blessings of a future, but by a perpetual communion with the great father of their spirits, kept up on his part by kind and liberal effusions of his own essential goodness; and on theirs, by an affectionate and ardent inclination of their wills and desires towards him, and a grateful reception, and faithful improvement of his loving communications. under the old testament, this blessed intercourse was understood and felt by patriarchs and prophets, through the outward means of sacrifices, types, and various ceremonies and ordinances; all predictive and expressive of a certain redeeming process, which, "in the fulness of time," was to be accomplished for human nature, in the person of a suffering and triumphant messiah. under the new testament, it broke forth, with meridian lustre, in the incarnation and nativity, life and conversation, sufferings, death, resurrection and ascension of the blessed jesus; in whose sacred person the divine and human natures were most happily united, to the end, that as the son of man and the son of god, he might communicate to every son of man, that should receive his testimony, and believe in his name, the power of becoming a son of god, john i. . his life and conversation upon earth must, therefore, be the true and only standard, by which ours is to be regulated. as he lived, so should we live also; and consider this world in the same point of view, and treat it in the same manner, that he did. so far, indeed, as the worthies of the old testament have lived or spoken according to the spirit of his gospel, so far, without doubt, we are bound to follow their example: and a very little acquaintance with scripture will be sufficient to inform us, that "they did all eat of the same spiritual meat, and did all drink of the same spiritual drink," and had all entered upon the same redeeming process, with those, who have since lived under the light of the gospel, and have known and found this meat and drink to be no other than those spiritual emanations of truth and love, which we all receive, or may receive, from christ our common saviour. when david, therefore, confessed, that he was "a stranger and a sojourner with god, as all his fathers were," what was this, but an express declaration, that, though he was encircled with a diadem, and clad in the robes of royalty; though he had his residence in the metropolis of judea, and exercised an absolute sovereignty over the whole realm; he considered himself, nevertheless, as a stranger in a strange land, far distant from his native country, surrounded by a multitude of enemies, who were perpetually upon the watch to take advantage of any little mistake he might commit, perpetually in arms against him, and determined, if they possibly could, to rob him at once of his kingdom and his peace? what was it, but an humble acknowledgment of his own spiritually helpless and indigent condition? and at the same time an affectionate intimation of his secret hope, that, as his forefathers had been in the same circumstances he was now in, and had experienced the kind interposition of heaven for their relief and comfort, god would be graciously pleased to continue to him the same loving-kindness, accompany support and protect him through his painful sojourn, and conduct him safe to those blessed abodes, which he had prepared for the reception of every true spiritual israelite? "for i am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." upon this view of things, and under the influence of these principles, he composed the pathetic psalm, from whence my text is taken; which exhibits to us a lively representation of the vanity and shortness of human life, the difficulties that attend our pilgrimage through this world, the prudence and circumspection which the pilgrim must observe, the enemies he must expect to encounter on the way, and the confidence he must repose in the strength of a superior and almighty arm, in order to secure to himself success and victory. the truth of this representation we find abundantly confirmed by the whole tenor of scripture. the grand apostate seraph is there called "the prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air;" from which, and other expressions of the like import, we may justly conclude, that he was once in possession of this very system which we inhabit--it was the sphere of glory, in which he moved, whilst his lustre yet remained unfaded. envious, jealous of its new inhabitants, he is perpetually "walking about, seeking whom he may devour." he avails himself of that earthly nature which we inherit from our fallen ancestor, insinuates himself through its foul channels into our inmost hearts, seduces us from the paths of innocence and virtue, and, unless timely rescued by a superior power, will hurry us headlong into the depths of his own dark and fiery kingdom. on the other hand, the god of light and love, who reigns supreme in his own kingdom of light and love, is most affectionately anxious for our preservation. for this gracious purpose, he causes his light to shine forth in the midst of our darkness; discovers to us the secret hostile intentions of our malicious enemy; calls upon us to fly from his infernal wiles; and invites us to walk with himself in his own delightful element, with sweet assurances of peace and consolation here, and glory, honour, and immortality hereafter. ill fares the man, whose mistaken heart too easily opens to the false friendship of his flattering foe--he walks upon enchanted ground--there is no reality in the surrounding scene--every object is visionary--the flowers have no real fragrance, the fruits no real flavour or nourishment.--he plucks and eats, but still remains unsatisfied--he plucks and eats again--he discovers the delusion, and yet the delusion pleases him.--the wily enchanter leads him at one time into the gardens of pleasure--at another, conducts him to the pompous edifice of ambition--at another, opens upon his ravished sight the splendid treasures, which mammon offers to his foolish votaries.--with this pretended friend and guardian he walks the tiresome round, pleased and transported with every new prospect, but loathing the objects as soon as possessed. in the mean while, the calls of a superior nature are totally disregarded, and the soul is suffered to famish within the pampered body. not so the wise and virtuous candidate for sublimer joys. his breast is no sooner penetrated by a ray of that universal light, "which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," than it opens, with chearfulness and gratitude, to receive more and more of the salutary effulgence. he finds within himself a source of sensibilities, which correspond to a world of objects far more real and sublime, than aught that meets his outward senses in this shadowy scene. he finds, he feels the presence of a true friend and guardian, whose unlimited power can controul the open or secret attacks of his false friend and seducer; whose wisdom can furnish him with every kind of knowledge that is necessary to his real felicity; and whose ineffable love is perpetually feeding and refreshing the angel that is within him, with such fruits and flowers as are of celestial growth, and suited to its celestial frame. with this guardian god, he walks the wilds of nature, unappalled, regardless alike of the smiles and frowns of his spiritual adversaries. he considers himself as a stranger and sojourner in this vale of misery; and under the conduct of unerring wisdom, and almighty love, pursues his painful pleasing journey to a better country, even an heavenly one. but this is not all. care, prudence, circumspection, and confidence in god, are not only indispensably necessary to secure to us a safe and happy pilgrimage through life; but they are likewise the best, the only preparatives for an happy and comfortable death. as strangers and sojourners, we ought to live under a constant expectation of being called home to our native country. this expectation will be either pleasing or painful, according as we are more or less prepared for the awful summons. the summons we cannot dispense with: the time in which it may be pronounced, is altogether uncertain. some of us, within a very few years, and some, perhaps, within a very few days, may behold the curtain drop, and shut out every scene of temporal nature from our view. with respect to us, "the heavens and the earth will then pass away with a mighty noise; the sun will be darkened, and the moon turned into blood; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken." death, judgment, heaven, or hell, will then be realized to our disembodied spirits. "he that is holy will be holy still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still." the dissolution of this outward body will close the season of divine grace; the hopes or the fears, the happiness or the misery of man will be determined by his expiring breath; and his god will be manifested to him, either in the mild majesty of his love, or in the consuming fire of his wrath. what adds to the solemnity of this dread moment, is the frequent suddenness of its approach. the king of terrors often knocks at the door, when the master of the house is by no means prepared for the awful visit. nay, he frequently passes by the habitations of age, infirmity, and distress, and thunders forth his tremendous summons in the ears of the young, the gay, and the robust. neither superior fortune, nor superior station, can protract the fleeting date of life. the monarch tumbles from his throne; and, after the momentary honours of a pompous funeral, makes his bed in the dust, and lies there as poor and undistinguished as the late tenant of the homely cottage. even piety and virtue cannot screen their votaries from death's unerring shaft; but he is sometimes permitted to snatch away the most amiable patterns of both, in order to awaken the attention, or chastise the carelessness, of their friends and neighbours. happy would it be for mankind, if these frequent indiscriminate strokes did but produce a more general and serious attention to "the things that belong to their peace:" and happy for you, my dear brethren, if the solemn truths that have now been delivered, are permitted to have a due weight and influence on your lives and practice! examine yourselves, then, by these principles. look well into the present state of your souls. be these important reflections continually present to your minds--that you are but "strangers and sojourners upon earth;" that every object, that attracts and engages your desires and affections here, must very shortly be removed from you for ever; that it is folly and madness to take up your rest in such poor perishable things, as the present world affords, inasmuch as death must soon put an end to their shadowy forms, and translate you to a world, where all is real--all is eternal. do not deceive yourselves. a gay and thoughtless life is no suitable preparation for death. the heart must be gradually estranged from the vanities of time, before it can turn its desires towards the riches of eternity. you have heard of the difficulties you may expect to meet with, of the enemies you will have to encounter, on your way to heaven. up then, and be doing. no time is to be lost. every moment is precious: "it carries heaven on its wing." the victory is secure, if you will but arm yourselves for the conflict. your heavenly father is perpetually drawing and inviting you to enter the lists, and contend for the prize. his eternal son hath promised to be with you, and in you. and the blessed spirit, proceeding from both, will inspire you with all that celestial strength and ardour, which alone can render you "more than conquerors." thus are you furnished, from the armoury of heaven, with a divine panoply, which, upon trial, you will find impenetrable to "all the fiery darts of the wicked." "fear not, then, thou worm, jacob! be not dismayed, for thy god is with thee!" blessed encouragement, this! what though you are strangers and sojourners upon earth, yet remember for your consolation, that you are strangers and sojourners with god--"for i am a stranger and sojourner with thee." o my brethren! what ineffable peace and satisfaction would spring up in your hearts, could you once realize to yourselves, could you once feel, the perpetual presence of an omnipotent god, travelling with you on the journey of life, supplying all your wants, supporting you under all your difficulties and distresses, and, with the affectionate fondness of a father, minutely entering into all your real interests and concerns! to know, that you are his offspring, fallen indeed, but redeemed by his blessed son: that his love for you is so ardent, that "whoso toucheth you his children, toucheth the apple of his eye; that in all your afflictions he is afflicted, and that the angel of his presence saves and delivers you; that he will never leave you comfortless, but will be with you always, even to the end of the world!" these are such sweet and delightful assurances, as you could never have collected from the vain reasonings of worldly philosophy, or the vain confidence, which many pretend to derive from mere unassisted human virtue. upon this ground you may rest secure; and, in the strength of an almighty arm, bid defiance to the open assaults, or secret stratagems of the enemies of your peace. whilst the sun of righteousness continues to impart his chearing beams, and fountains of living water spring up on every side to refresh the weary pilgrim, you may pursue your journey through the valley of baca, with peace and confidence; you may "lift up your heads with joy, as the ransomed of the lord;" and "proceed from strength to strength, till you appear before the god of gods in sion." discourse xvi. the true knowledge of god internal and practical. job, chap. xlii. ver. , . "i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now hath mine eye seen thee: therefore i abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." we can scarcely open any part of the scriptures, but we meet with the following great and leading truths of religion: viz. that the love of god is universal; that his "grace, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men;" that he hath given a "manifestation of his spirit to every man, to profit withal;" that "god so loved the world, that he hath given his only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life:" that he is "the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;" that god "wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he would be converted and live;" that his call has been, and now is to "every man," every where, "to repent;" and that every man may partake of this universal love, may be saved by this "grace which hath appeared," may profit by the manifestation which god hath given him. to these great and leading truths we are continually called and exhorted to attend; and that there is a possibility of attending and yielding to them, is implied in the very nature and spirit of the declarations themselves. for, certainly, all is in vain--the call to all in vain, the appearance of grace to all in vain, the gift and manifestation of the spirit to every one in vain, and the shining of the light in vain, if fallen man is not put into a capacity of obeying it, and walking therein. "man's destruction is of himself"--if his distempered nature is not healed, if his soul continues unredeemed, it is not because there is no "balm in gilead;" it is not because "the arm of the lord is shortened, that it cannot save," or the fountain of love so exhausted, that its streams have ceased to flow--but because men will not avail themselves of the healing balm; because they refuse to be gathered by that compassionate arm, that is continually stretched forth to save; because they will not open their souls to receive the waters of life. their eyes are so blinded by the false glare of earthly beauty, that they cannot see the surpassing excellency of the divine glory--their ears are so deaf, that they have no delight in hearing or obeying the divine voice--they are content to walk on in the broad way, and suffer the enemy of their souls to take them captive at his pleasure. thus entered sin at the beginning--thus it continueth, increaseth, and prevaileth. no man, in his present deplorable state, can open that eye which was blinded by sin; nor unstop that ear which was sealed by his apostasy from his maker; nor save or deliver himself from the bondage of corruption. herein, therefore, is the universal love of god made manifest, that "he hath laid help upon one that is mighty, who is able to save to the uttermost those that come to him;" that he hath appointed and prepared a "seed that can bruise the serpent's head;" that he hath caused his light to shine in the hearts of all men; and hath called all men every where to repent--now if man still continues to shut his eyes, and harden his heart, and refuse to be reconciled, "his destruction is of himself, and god will be just when he judgeth." but here the grand question may be asked--how doth god manifest himself to his creatures? there is no revelation in these days--no spiritual visions now.--no such sight of god, as abraham, moses, the prophets, and the primitive christians were favoured with--god forbid!--for surely where there is no vision, no sight or sense of heavenly things, there is the lost state indeed!--where there is no revelation, there can be no true knowledge of god-for what saith the scripture--"none knoweth the father but the son, and he to whom the son will reveal him?" ever since the vail was spread over the human heart, there never was any other way in any age, nor can there be in this age, of coming to the true knowledge of god, but by revelation; that is, by taking off the vail, and removing the covering that hides the face of god from man.--men "have sought out many inventions," and devised many ways and means of coming to the knowledge of the deity; moral and even mathematical demonstrations of his existence, have been attempted; but all in vain. as such inventions and devices have increased, sorrow and perplexity have increased also: and even if they have succeeded so far, as to satisfy the natural understanding, what is it, at best, but a kind of historical knowledge, a strong conceit or imagination of something concerning god, without any thing like a sensibility of his presence, or an intuitive self-evident conviction of his nature and attributes?--far different this from the knowledge which job experienced, and which every real christian may express in his language: "i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now hath mine eye seen thee: therefore i abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." it is not improbable, but job might have amused himself, like some of our modern philosophizing christians, with fine-spun theories and speculations upon the nature and attributes of the divinity; and whilst the tide of temporal prosperity continued to flow in upon him, whilst "he washed his steps in butter, and the rock poured out for him rivers of oil," whilst his health continued unimpaired, and his domestic bliss uninterrupted, such empty researches might have been sufficient to entertain his imagination; and such an outward knowledge of the most high, might satisfy a soul, that was yet insensible of any spiritual or temporal wants or distresses. but let the hand of god fall heavy upon him; let his body be visited with pain and sickness, and his soul wounded with grief and disappointment; let him be stripped of all his worldly affluence, and deprived of all his domestic comforts; and he will soon find, that the wants of nature, when deeply felt, are not to be supplied by reasoning and speculation; that an outward hearsay knowledge of god is of no avail; that it cannot administer the least relief either to the body or the mind; that it cannot sooth or mitigate one bodily pain, or send one ray of light into the dark and comfortless regions of the soul. go to the chambers of sickness, visit the melancholy retreats of indigence and woe! produce there your strong reasonings--strive, with learned labour, to open and convince the understandings of your suffering brethren--enumerate to them all the outward evidences, that you can collect, of the great truths of religion--give them proof upon proof, demonstration upon demonstration--talk to them of the nature and attributes of god, and the immortality of their souls--tell them what the son of god hath done and suffered for sinners; what are the means of reconciliation, and what the sure grounds of an happy death--give them all that they can receive "by the hearing of the ear"--and what have you done, and what have they gained?--why you have done just as much as an unskilful physician would do, who entertained his patient with a learned dissertation upon the virtues and excellencies of a certain medicine, which he had somewhere read or heard of, as admirably adapted to the disorder, but which he had never seen with his eyes, and of the nature of which he knew nothing by his own experience. thus it is with this outward knowledge of god: the poor soul is left to feed upon words or ideas, and to seek comfort, in vain, in empty speculations. fruitless, indeed, are such attempts as these! till the soul is shaken to her very center, till the stone is removed from the door of the sepulchre, that god who "makes darkness his secret place," can never be seen. the eye must be turned inwardly, to view what is passing in the inmost soul, to discover what its wants and necessities are, as well as what will supply them, and yield it peace, and yield it happiness, from an inexhaustible source. it must feel its own darkness, before it can seek to have it enlightened--the same light that breaks in upon it like the dawn of day, gives it the first sensibility of distress, as well as the first sensibility of consolation "now hath mine eye seen thee, therefore i abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes"--i now feel the misery of nature without god--i feel nothing but darkness, and want, and hunger, and thirst! but in this darkness, under this want, in this hunger and thirst, the soul must wait, without reasoning, without repining, in stillness, in silence, till the invisible god shines into the darkness, and till the darkness comprehends and eagerly imbibes the light, and he, in whom is no darkness at all, manifesteth his presence by a self-evident sensibility. thus it is, that man, by virtue of the redeeming power of the second adam, implanted in his heart as a spark of heavenly flame, hidden under the flesh and blood of fallen nature, is revived, quickened, and enlightened. the heavenly birth soon perceives and owns its parent--the outward knowledge gives way to the inward manifestation--and god, and heaven, and goodness, and grace, are seen and known, and felt by their own incontestible workings in the human heart. hence, the fruits of the spirit, the fruits of heaven, begin to bud and blossom: "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness," are felt and practised; and the soul lives and breathes in the heavenly world, even whilst she inherits this frail tenement of clay. and now, my brethren, is not such a knowledge of god worth possessing? a knowledge, that unites you to him; makes you one heart and spirit with him; gives the highest relish to all the joys, and the firmest support under all the evils of life; which will stand by you, when every outward comfort fails, when relations, friends, wealth, power, and all that earth is able to supply, can no longer yield you the least support or satisfaction. some of the great obstacles and impediments to the attainment of this knowledge, i shall enumerate in my next discourse. discourse xvii. the true knowledge of god internal and practical. job, chap. xlii. ver. , . "i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now hath mine eye seen thee: therefore i abhor myself, and repennt in dust and ashes." in a former discourse from these words, i explained to you the difference between that knowledge of god which is obtained by "the hearing of the ear," and that which arises in the human heart, from a spiritual sensibility of his presence and power within us. i observed, that the former was, at best, but a kind of historical knowledge, or, perhaps, nothing more than a strong conceit or imagination of something concerning god; far different from that intuitive, self-evident, saving knowledge of him, which job speaks of in the text, and which every truly pious foul cannot but feel. i endeavoured, likewise, to point out the rise and progress of this knowledge, as well as the blessed fruits or effects of which it is certainly productive. i then concluded with asking you, whether such a knowledge of god as i had been describing, was not worth your possessing? a knowledge, that would unite you to him, make you one spirit, one will, one nature, with your heavenly father--that would give the highest relish to all the joys, and support you under all the evils of life; that will stand by you, when every outward comfort fails, when friends, and relations, and wealth, and power, and all that earth is able to supply, can no longer yield you the least support or satisfaction. convinced, as i think you must needs be, of the infinite value of such a possession as this, i would now ask you, what it is that keeps you from desiring and seeking to obtain it. your answer, if you knew yourselves, would be, that you did not at present feel the want of it.--this state of insensibility, therefore, to "the things that belong to your peace," must arise from certain obstacles and impediments, which, agreeable to my promise, i now proceed to enumerate. we are told, that the famous selden, on his death-bed, sent for archbishop usher, and, in the course of a most serious and affecting conversation, assured him, that he had accurately surveyed almost every part of literature and science, that was held in the highest esteem by the sons of men; that he had a study filled with the most valuable books and manuscripts in the world; and yet, that, at that time, he could not recollect one single passage out of any volume in this large collection, upon which he could rest his soul, or from which he could derive one ray of consolation, except some that he had met with in the holy scriptures; and that the most remarkable passage that then made the deepest impression upon his mind, was this: "for the grace of god that bringeth salvation, hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great god, and our saviour jesus christ." "the grace of god," indeed, "hath appeared unto all men." one of the principal impediments to their sight of this grace, is what poor selden complained of, viz. a looking for it in the writings of human reason, and expecting to find it by the same learned labour with which we investigate some mathematical or logical truth. selden, with all his learning, therefore, was obliged to seek for a true knowledge of god, in the volume of his own heart; and, agreeable to the direction of an outward revelation, to look for the appearance of that grace which it promised, in a place, which his genius had not yet explored, and which could never have been revealed to his outward eye. he had, no doubt, "heard of god by the hearing of the ear," and could have accurately demonstrated his existence and attributes--but, till that blessed moment, "his eye had never seen him." thus, all those fine literary accomplishments, which feed the pride of the scholar, (though, when properly applied, they have their uses, and great uses too) must, nevertheless, be sacrificed, when they prove, as they frequently do, very great impodiments to a spiritual knowledge of god. the most towering genius upon earth, can never gain admittance into the kingdom of heaven, till he condescends to the simplicity of a child, and with faith and humility opens his heart to his heavenly father for that true wisdom, which can only come by immediate revelation from him. but the "wisdom of this world," or "science falsely so called," is not the only impediment to our spiritual sight of god. there are many, who, under a specious pretence of making a proper and honourable provision for their families, involve themselves so deeply in business, as it is called, that they will not allow themselves a single moment to attend to the concerns of another world. and were we to enquire the reason of this strange conduct, they might very properly make us the same answer, which the duke of alva made to king henry iv. upon another occasion: did you observe, my lord duke, said the monarch, the great eclipse of the sun, that lately happened?--no, may it please your majesty, replied the duke--i have so much business to do on earth, that i have no leisure to look up to heaven. in truth, my brethren, your mere men of business, and a trading city like ours abounds with temptations to this kind of life; i say, your mere men of business, either forget, in the hurry of affairs, that their souls are immortal, and ought therefore to be fed and attended to at least as much as their bodies; or else, to quiet their consciences, they reason themselves into a belief that their souls may die with their bodies, and therefore all thought or concern about religious matters, is useless, and will only interrupt their worldly pursuits. success in trade introduces wealth, and, with it, its never-failing attendant, luxury. from this fatal source proceed a thousand impediments to a religious life, that are more readily felt than enumerated. hence an amazing increase of expence, with an increasing taste for high living, sumptuous apparel, and splendid entertainments. by an immoderate attention to these, the minds of men are gradually weaned from those good impressions, which they have received in their earlier years, from sober, frugal, and industrious parents.--the peasant treads close upon the heels of the courtier; and such is the reigning fondness for what is called fashionable life, that people of the most affluent circumstances, and who move in the highest sphere, are scarcely to be distinguished from those of the most scanty fortunes; and even indigence itself puts in its claim for a share of the outward glitter.--and it were well, if the evil proceeded no further than this. but if things should come to such a pass, that religion itself, nay, even the very appearances of it, should be deemed unfashionable; if people should be afraid to come to the house of god, lest they should have their taste called in question, lest they should be suspected by their gay and worldly friends, of entertaining one serious thought about another world, about god and their own souls; if the sabbath, instead of being wholly dedicated to, and spent in the service of, that god by whom it was instituted, should be either lolled away in indolence, or spent in posting of books, settling of accounts at home, or devoted to entertainments and parties of pleasure abroad; if such should be the consequences of an immoderate pursuit of business, and an inordinate fondness for a fashionable life, would you not conclude, that these were surely the greatest and most dangerous impediments to a true and saving knowledge of god? if these evils have not appeared in such a degree, as i have described them, i think, at least, they are not far from it; and i begin to fear, that the time is approaching, when many amongst us will be so far from "seeing god," as job expresses it, "with their eyes," that they will not even "hear of him by the hearing of the ear." for believe me, my brethren, we cannot know god, we cannot even desire to know him, whilst our whole hearts and minds are engaged in the things of the world, whilst we turn, with all the eagerness of desire, to the senseless pageantry and pleasures of a vain and trifling age. shall i spare myself the pain of telling, what ought not to be an offence to you to hear?--or will you give me leave to point out to you, in plainer terms, what i apprehend to be your principal impediments to such a view of the divine majesty, as would lead you to "abhor yourselves, and repent in dust and ashes." it cannot be denied, that luxury, extravagance, and dissipation of every kind, have, within these few years, made a most rapid progress amongst us.--your ministers have long, perhaps too long, been silent upon these subjects.--but though preventive medicines are sometimes given with success, yet the symptoms of a disorder, as they appear in its process, are what must principally direct the application. what they have now to say, comes to you with this corroborating circumstance in its support, that we speak not from what we have apprehended might be, but from what we have seen hath actually come to pass. we have observed, with real heart-felt concern, a general proneness to pleasure, and a general indifference to the very forms of religion.--our discourses, though without particular applications, have been adapted, as far as we were able to judge, to the circumstances of the people whom we addressed.--we have not, however, been unconcerned spectators of your conduct. we have observed, with what eagerness many of you have crouded to scenes of amusement and dissipation, and what backwardness you have shewn in attending the publick worship of god. even the man of business could devote many hours in the week, to the calls of worldly pleasure, whilst he refused to give one to the calls of god upon his own sabbath. matters are, indeed, too serious to be passed by in silence. we are your ministers, we are your servants; we should not be faithful to you, nor to ourselves, were we to neglect giving you the alarm, when we saw, or even apprehended, that you were in imminent danger. the enemy hath already entered your houses--he hath entered your hearts! under the specious disguise and appellation of innocent amusements, he is secretly drawing off your hearts from god, and carrying you away captive at his will--use not, i beseech you, the word innocent, in vindicating your pleasures--nothing can be innocent, let it be ever so seemingly trifling, that wholly engrosses the mind, and takes it off from attending to the great concerns of salvation. amusements, though they may be innocent at first, become more or less criminal, as they have a greater or less tendency to wean the heart from god. upon this maxim, i leave it to your own experience to determine, what particular kind of amusements has had the greatest tendency to effect this in you. far be it from me, to declaim, with an affected pharisaical severity, against innocent recreations of any kind. but, gracious god! can a christian complain of want of amusements, that has a family round him; that has a dear child, or children, to educate; that has brothers, or sisters, or relations, or friends; with whom he can live in a most sweet and delightful intercourse of endearing offices? what a strange perversion of nature, sense, and reason, to take delight in going abroad, to have our affections excited by imaginary objects and romantic representations, when we have so many real ones at home, in the course of every day, and in the way of our duty, to call forth and promote their best and highest exercise? i do not descend to particulars--let these few hints suffice.--i have delivered them in love--in love, i hope, they will be received. permit me, however, once more to repeat--that it is this immoderate fondness for pleasure and dissipation, that keeps you from feeling the real wants of your nature, and, consequently, from applying to the true and only source, from whence they can be fully satisfied. but this deception cannot last long; false happiness has no sure foundation; it must, therefore, totter and fall at last. you will not always be as gay, as healthy, and as prosperous, as you are now.--the vigour of the best constitution cannot long preserve you from sickness, and from death.--neither the abundance of wealth, nor the increase of power, nor the support of popularity, can long protect you from disappointment and distress. you may think as lightly as you please of religious duties now; but, depend upon it, the hour is at hand, when every little neglect of them, every little preference you have given to the solicitations of pleasure, will wound you to the very heart. you will then be convinced of the danger of trifling with that immortal spirit that is within you; and deeply regret, that you have been so far from having "seen god," spiritually manifested in your hearts, that you have scarcely "heard of him by the hearing of the ear." i cannot dismiss you, without one observation more. hypocrisy, and a pharisaical righteousness, are as great, and perhaps greater impediments to the true knowledge of god, than any of those i have already mentioned. the root is deeper, the evil more difficult to be eradicated. should any of you, therefore, have been solacing yourselves with the view of your own fancied virtues, and thanking god, that you have not, like others, been running after this or the other new and fashionable amusement, but have kept yourselves strictly within the pale of outward duties; i beseech you not to be too liberal of your censures, nor too forward in prying into the conduct of your neighbours; but to look at home with a jealous and watchful eye, to examine your own hearts, and see, that whilst ye are "paying tithe of mint, and annise, and cummin," ye do not "neglect the weightier matters of the law, mercy, justice, forbearance, and charity." whilst ye have "heard of god by the hearing of the ear," your eyes, perhaps, may not yet have seen him; whilst you are abhorring and standing aloof from your brethren, as if ye were holier than they, ye do not "abhor yourselves, and repent in dust and ashes." remember, that a censorious spirit, and a disposition to think and speak evil of others, is as foreign to the spirit of christianity, as any other evil temper or disposition can be. to conclude: a true christian will lament the general decline of religion, and wish and pray for better times, without being angry, or shewing any marks of unkindness to his brethren. yea, so far from keeping himself at a distance, he will mingle, as occasion or duty calls, with men of every class. he will be religious without severity, and chearful without dissipation; he will instruct without seeming to dictate, and reprove with such mildness, that his very censures shall be received as the highest tokens of his love. in this sweet spirit of the gospel of jesus, heaven grant that we may mutually receive and impart such truths, as "belong to our peace," both here and hereafter! discourse xviii. on the nativity of christ. st. luke, chap. ii. from ver. to . "and so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished, that she should be delivered," &c. in the first chapter of his gospel, the evangelist has given a particular account of the conception and birth of john the baptist, the salutation of the blessed virgin, and her miraculous conception of the holy jesus. according to a regular series of historical facts, this second chapter opens with a like circumstantial narrative of the nativity of our blessed redeemer. an edict is issued by augustus cæsar, enjoining all the subjects of the roman empire to repair to their several cities, in order to have their names enrolled for a general taxation. in obedience to this imperial decree, joseph, the espoused husband of mary, is obliged to leave nazareth, the place of his residence, and take a journey to bethlehem the city of david, to be enrolled there, because he was of the house and lineage of david. mary, his espoused wife, though "great with child," accompanies him. a most remarkable interposition of divine providence appears in the whole transaction. the prophets had foretold, that the messiah should be born at bethlehem, and that he should descend from the family of david. the roman emperor's decree was rendered subservient to the accomplishment of these prophecies. mary was thereby brought to bethlehem, and delivered of the messiah, and her descent from the royal line of david was publickly recognized. ver. . "and so it was, that while they were there, the days were accomplished, that she should be delivered." ver. . "and she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." a plain but affecting narrative! the apartments of the inn, we may suppose, were occupied by more honourable guests. the virgin mother was content to retire to a stable, and to lie down among brutes. hapless mary! we are ready to exclaim--is it thus, that the promises of the angel are to be accomplished? is this to be "highly favoured?" and are these the blessings, by which thou art to be distinguished from the rest of thy sex? must thy spotless babe, at the very instant of his birth, enter upon his labour of love? and must the stable at bethlehem be the first scene of that awful drama, which was afterwards closed on the trembling top of calvary? but in what manner was the appearance of this illustrious babe made known to the world? should not the princes and great ones of the earth have had proper intelligence of his arrival, that they might have hastened from their several kingdoms and provinces, thrown themselves at his feet, paid him the homage due to his exalted character, and obliged all their subjects to do the same? no--."god's thoughts are not as man's thoughts, neither are his ways as man's ways." the same reason for which he thought proper to send his angel to the humble mary, induced him now to give the first notice of his son's birth to a few simple shepherds. ver. . "and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." ver. . "and lo, the angel of the lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid." the pastoral life was once thought to be the happiest and most innocent life upon earth. far from the noise of cities, and the hurry of the busy world, free from its anxieties, and ignorant of many of its vices, they enjoyed the full tranquillity of the rural scene. as their flocks were their only care, they had abundant leisure for meditation and prayer. as they had no schemes of interest or ambition to accomplish, they were plain, unprejudiced, and undesigning men. a few of these shepherds were in the fields, bordering upon bethlehem, watching by turns their sheep the whole night, as was the custom of the country; when their senses were suddenly struck with a great and unusual glare of light, in the midst of which appeared an angel of god, bright and glorious. they were confounded with the excessive splendor. they trembled, and were sore afraid. but the angel, with all the sweetness and chearfulness of heaven in his countenance, thus comfortably addressed them: ver. . "fear not: for, behold! i bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." ver. . "for unto you is born this day in the city of david a saviour, which is christ the lord." be not afraid! i am come, not to terrify you, but to bring you great and joyous tidings, in which not yourselves only, but the whole nation of the jews, yea, all the inhabitants of the world, are deeply interested! for he, of whom all the prophets prophesied, and whom all the people of israel have, according to the promise of god, long and ardently expected, even the messiah, the saviour and deliverer, is this night born in bethlehem, the city of david. ver. . "and this shall be a sign unto you--" a sign, by which you shall know him, the moment you enter into his presence--"ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." scarce had the angel delivered his message, when a whole choir of his celestial brethren burst forth with additional splendors from the midnight sky, and saluted the shepherds' ears with a birth-day anthem. ver. . "and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising god, and saying:" ver. . "glory to god in the highest; and on earth peace, good-will towards men!" no expressions of joy could have been more admirably adapted than these, to so glorious an occasion: for the glory of the divine majesty was most eminently displayed in that gracious message of peace and reconciliation, of love and good-will, which was here published to the world. if those pure and perfect intelligences could thus testify their transport upon an event, in which an inferior order of beings were more immediately concerned; surely, that order are continually bound to render the highest and most grateful returns of praise, acknowledgment, and love! for us men, and for our salvation, a god becomes incarnate. the eternal word clothes himself in clay. he assumes our nature in its most helpless state; and is born, like one of us, a naked, weak, and wailing babe. thus began the mighty process of redeeming love! to rescue us from the misery of a fallen life; to restore the divine image to our souls; to regain, for us, that state of rectitude, of union and communion with god, which we had lost in adam; and completely to repair the ruins of nature were the benevolent purposes, which the god of love determined to accomplish by sending into the world his only-begotten son. well, therefore, might the inhabitants of heaven, at the prospect of such ineffable goodness and condescension, break forth, enraptured, into these sublime and joyous strains: "glory to god in the highest; and on earth peace, good-will towards men!" ver. . "and it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: let us now go, even unto bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the lord hath made known unto us." they did not stay to "confer with flesh and blood;" to reason, and doubt, and hesitate, whether this might not be a delusion; but, in the true simplicity of faith, improved the heavenly warning, and hastened to bethlehem, in full assurance of meeting with every thing conformable to the notice they had received. ver. . "and they came with haste, and found mary and joseph, and the babe lying in a manger." glorious confirmation and reward of the shepherds' faith! o that all who call themselves christians, would with the same child-like simplicity surrender themselves to jesus christ! they have frequent and sufficient warnings of his kind intentions towards them. they are assured, that he is the light and life of men; and that if they apply to him, they will receive the most salutary manifestations of this life and light in their souls. were they to listen and obey these warnings, and go as they are directed, they would as surely find this heavenly babe in their hearts, as the shepherds found him in the stable at bethlehem. ver. . "and when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child." in like manner, the true believer, who hath experienced the operation of the spirit of god bearing witness with his spirit, that the child jesus is born in his heart, cannot but "make known abroad," what he has felt and experienced of this spiritual birth, though his testimony rarely produces any better effects upon his hearers, than that of wonder and astonishment. ver. . "and all they that heard it, wondered at those things, which were told them by the shepherds." "they were greatly amazed, and at a loss to know, what to make of the report. they could not think it likely, that such a set of plain, honest, undesigning men should have formed the story, and should go about to impose it on the world. they could not but know, indeed, that their testimony was strengthened by a general expectation, at that time, of the messiah's appearance, and by the prevailing opinion that his birth would be at bethlehem: yet they were astonished, that he should be born of such mean parents, and in such despicable circumstances; and that persons of such low figure as these shepherds, should be the men to whom god had sent an angel to reveal it." from the conduct of the shepherds, the evangelist passes to that of the blessed virgin, which differs much from theirs, as might indeed be expected from her different situation and circumstances. for whereas, "they made known abroad the saying that was told them concerning this child," we are assured, that ver. . "mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." by "these things," we are doubtless to understand the whole series of astonishing events, from the first salutation of the angel, to this visit of the shepherds. under the power of these reflections, methinks i see the blessed mother, bending disconsolate over her shivering infant! her countenance speaks a thousand tender emotions of her heart! it is a look, composed of deep anxiety, maternal fondness, compassion and love inexpressible! in her varying features one may read too the varying sensibilities of her soul. sweet heavenly babe! how mild, how serenely soft thy aspect! how seemingly satisfied with thy hard allotment! surely the bleak winds will pierce thy tender frame! surely the rugged winter means not to relent for thee! and yet the messenger of heaven hath assured me, that thou shouldst be a jesus, a saviour; that thou shouldst be called the son of the highest; that thou shouldst sit upon the throne of david, and that of thy kingdom there should be no end. but where are the ensigns of royalty? where are the tokens of thy illustrious birth? instead of a sumptuous palace, thou art lodged in a loathsome stable. no bed of down receives thy precious limbs! no warm and comfortable apartments shield thee from the rude inclemencies of the air! a manger is thy cradle! and thy poor indigent mother seems, under providence, to be thine only support! no courtiers attend to bow the knee, to pay the customary homage due to royalty, and bid thee welcome to the throne of israel. a few simple shepherds have indeed been here, and tendered thee their honest obeisance! they told too a wondrous tale, from the several circumstances of which, i am now more and more persuaded, that the finger of god is here; that his veracity spoke in the salutation of the angel; that his power and goodness will be exalted by thy present humiliation; and that i must henceforth feel more than a mother's fondness, and look upon thee, sweet babe! as my lord, my life, and my redeemer. such were the astonishing circumstances that employed the attention of mary; and thus it was, that "she kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." she did not publish her sentiments to the world. she did not court the honour and respect of men, by displaying the dignity of her babe, or telling abroad what she knew concerning him; but satisfied with her own conviction, humbly waited, till providence should make use of some other means to acquaint the world with these "tidings of great joy." if now, like mary, we seriously attend to, and ponder in our hearts all the amazing circumstances of this great event, we cannot fail, i think, of learning from thence a lesson of humility. this amiable and peculiarly christian grace, is the foundation and ground-work of every other excellence and perfection. without it, we can have no pretensions to christianity; we are strangers to the truth and spirit of the gospel: "except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye cannot be my disciples!" as long as pride, vanity, arrogance, and inordinate self-love, keep possession of thy soul, be assured, o man, that the babe of bethlehem will not take up his residence with thee! in order to invite this heavenly guest to thine heart, it must be as empty and free from worldly ornaments, as was the stable in which he was born. "be ye then cloathed with humility." this plain and modest garb best becomes the disciples of so meek a master. thou must feel thyself very poor, before thou canst be rich in christ. thou must part with all that thou hast, for this pearl of great price; and must come to him as naked and helpless as a new-born babe, in a true child-like simplicity of faith. it is this alone can give thee sweet tranquillity of soul, even that "peace of god, which passeth all understanding;" that "white stone and new name, which no man knoweth, save him that receiveth it." thy soul will then "magnify the lord, and thy spirit will rejoice in god thy saviour." this inward spiritual change, is not the consequence of a bare meditation upon the circumstances of our lord's nativity, a simple assent to, or belief of, the historical account given by the evangelist. no, it arises from an experience of the whole process in our own souls. in vain was this divine infant born into the world, unless he is likewise born in our hearts, not figuratively born, which is no birth at all, but manifesting himself by a vital and essential union with our spirits. this is regeneration, our new-birth, our birth to light, and life, and glory. those who have experienced this, must taste and feel, in some degree, the raptures of those exalted spirits, who dwell continually in the beatifying presence of their master. they are raised above flesh and blood: "it is not they that live, but christ that liveth in them." they are sensible of the daily growth of that heavenly nature, which they receive from him, and which diffuseth a light through their souls, that "shineth more and more unto the perfect day." like the shepherds returning from bethlehem, they are continually "glorifying and praising god for all the things that they have heard and seen." the end of vol. i. transcriber's notes: missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. typographical errors were silently corrected. inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). [transcriber's notes: this production was derived from https://archive.org/details/lifeofrevfrancis hewi/page/n ] { } sermons of the rev. francis a. baker, priest of the congregation of st. paul. with a memoir of his life by rev. a. f. hewit. fourth edition. new york: lawrence kehoe, nassau street. . { } entered according to act of congress, in the year by a. f. hewit, in the clerk's office of the district court of the united states for the southern district of new york. { } preface. ------ in offering the memoir and sermons of this volume to the friends of f. baker, and to the public, propriety requires of me a few words of explanation. the number of those who have been more or less interested in the events touched upon in the sketch of his life and labors is very great, and composed of many different classes of persons in various places, and of more than one religious communion. i cannot suppose that all of them will read these pages, but it is likely that many will; and therefore a word is due to those who are more particularly interested, as well as to the general class of readers. i have to ask the indulgence of all my readers for having interwoven so much of my own history and my own reflections on the topics and events of the period included within the limits of the narrative. they have woven themselves in spontaneously, without any intention on my part, and on account of the close connexion between myself and the one whose career i have been describing; and i have been unable to unravel them from the texture of the narrative without breaking its threads. { } i have simply transferred to paper that picture of the past, long forgotten amid the occupations of an active life, which came up again, unbidden and with great vividness, before the eye of memory, during the hours while the remains of my brother and dearest friend lay robed in violet, waiting for the last solemn rites of the requiem to be fulfilled. if i have succeeded, i cannot but think that the picture will have something of the same interest for others that it has for myself. those who knew and loved the original, will, i hope, prize it for his sake; and their own recollections will diffuse the coloring and animation of life over that which in itself is but a pale and indistinct sketch. for their sakes chiefly i have prepared it, so far as the mere personal motive of perpetuating the memory of a revered and beloved individual is concerned. but i have had a higher motive as my chief reason for undertaking the task: a desire to promote the glory of god, by preserving and extending the memory of the graces and virtues with which he adorned one of his most faithful children. i have wished to place before the world the example of one of the most signal conversions to the catholic faith which has taken place in our country, as a lesson to all to imitate the pure and disinterested devotion to truth and conscience which it presents to them. let me not be misunderstood. i do not present the example of his conversion, or that of the great number of persons of similar character who have embraced the catholic religion, as a proof sufficient by itself of the truth of that religion. { } i propose it as a specimen of many instances in which the power of the catholic religion to draw intelligent minds and upright hearts to itself, and to inspire them with a pure and noble spirit of self-sacrifice in the cause of god and humanity, is exhibited. this is surely a sufficient motive for examining carefully the reasons and evidences on which their submission to the church was grounded; and an incentive to seek for the truth, with an equally sincere intention to embrace it, at whatever cost or struggle it may demand. it may appear to the casual reader that i have drawn in this narrative an ideal portrait which exaggerates the reality. i do not think i have done so; and i believe the most competent judges will attest my strict fidelity to the truth of nature. if i have represented my subject as a most perfect and beautiful character, the model of a man, a christian, and a priest of god, i have not exceeded the sober judgment of the most impartial witnesses. a protestant episcopal clergyman, of remarkable honesty and generosity of nature, said of him to a catholic friend: "you have one perfect man among your converts." another, a catholic clergyman, whose coolness of judgment and reticence of praise are remarkable traits in his character, said, on hearing of his decease: "the best priest in new york is dead." i have no doubt that more than one would have been willing to give their own lives in place of his, if he could have been saved by the sacrifice. in narrating events connected with f. baker's varied career, i have simply related those things of which i have had either personal knowledge, or the evidence furnished by his own correspondence with a very dear friend, aided by the information which that friend has furnished me. { } i have to thank this very kind and valued friend, the rev. dwight e. lyman, for the aid he has given me in this way, which has increased so much the completeness and interest of the memoir. i am also indebted to another, still dearer to the departed, for information concerning his early history and family. i trust that those readers who are not members of the catholic communion, especially such as have been the friends of the subject and the author of this memoir, will find nothing here to jar unnecessarily upon their sentiments and feelings. fidelity to the deceased has required me not to conceal his conviction of the exclusive truth and authority of the doctrine and communion of the holy, catholic, apostolic, roman church. the same fidelity would prevent me, if my own principles did not do so, from mixing up with religious questions any thing savoring of personal arrogance, or directed to the vindication of private feelings, and retaliation upon individuals with whom religious conflicts have brought us into collision. i wish those who still retain their friendship for the dead, and whose minds will recur with interest to scenes of this narrative, in which they were concerned with him, to be assured of that lasting sentiment of regard which he carried with him to the grave, and which survives in the heart of the writer of these lines. { } in the history of f. baker's missionary career, i have endeavored to select from the materials on hand such portions of the details of particular missions as would make the nature of the work in which he was engaged intelligible to all classes of readers, without making the narrative too tedious and monotonous. i have wished to present all the diverse aspects and all the salient points of his missionary life, and to give as varied and miscellaneous a collection of specimens from its records as possible. from the necessity of the case, only a small number of missions could be particularly noticed. those which have been passed by have not been slighted, however, as less worthy of notice than the others, but omitted from the necessity of selecting those most convenient for illustration of the theme in hand. the statistics given, in regard to numbers, etc., in the history of our missions, have all been taken from records carefully made at the time, and based on an exact enumeration of the communions given. i trust this volume will renew and keep alive in the minds of those who took part in these holy scenes, and who hung on the lips of the eloquent preacher of god's word whose life and doctrine are contained in it, the memory of the holy lessons of teaching and example by which he sought to lead them to heaven. of the sermons contained in this volume, seventeen have been reprinted from the four volumes of "sermons by the paulists, - ;" and twelve published from mss. four of these are mission sermons, selected from the complete series, as the most suitable specimens of this species of discourse. the others are parochial sermons, preached in the parish church of st. paul the apostle, new york. { } there still remain a considerable number of sermons, more or less complete; but the confused and illegible state in which f. baker left his mss. has made the task of reading and copying them very laborious, and prevented any larger number from being prepared for publication at the present time. i leave these sermons, with the memoir of their author, to find their own way to those minds and hearts which are prepared to receive them, and to do the good for which they are destined by the providence of god. may we all have the grace to imitate that high standard of christian virtue which they set before us, as true disciples of jesus christ our lord! a. f. h. st. paul's church, fifty-ninth street, advent, . { } contents page memoir. sermon: i. the necessity of salvation (mission sermon) ii. mortal sin (mission sermon) iii. the particular judgement (mission sermon) iv. heaven (mission sermon) v. the duty of growing in christian knowledge (first sunday in advent) vi. the mission of st. john the baptist (second sunday in advent) vii. god's desire to be loved (christmas day) viii. the failure and success of the gospel (sexagesima) ix. the work of life (septuagesima) x. the church's admonition to the individual soul (ash-wednesday) xi. the negligent christian (third sunday in lent) xii. the cross, the measure of sin (passion sunday) xiii. divine calls and warnings (lent) xiv. the tomb of christ, the school of comfort (easter sunday) xv. st. mary magdalene at the sepulchre (easter sunday) xvi. the preacher, the organ of the holy ghost (fourth sunday after easter) xvii. the two wills in man (fourth sunday after easter) xviii. the intercession of the blessed virgin the highest power of prayer (sunday within the octave of the ascension) xix. mysteries in religion (trinity sunday) xx. the worth of the soul (third sunday after pentecost) xxi. the catholic's certitude concerning the way of salvation (fifth sunday after pentecost) { } xxii. the presence of god (fifth sunday after pentecost) xxiii. keeping the law not impossible (ninth sunday after pentecost) xxiv. the spirit of sacrifice (feast of st. laurence) xxv. mary's destiny a type of ours (assumption) xxvi. care for the dead (fifteenth sunday after pentecost) xxvii. success the reward of merit (fifteenth sunday after pentecost) xxviii. the mass the highest worship (twenty-first sunday after pentecost) xxix. the lessons of autumn (last sunday after pentecost) { } memoir. { } { } memoir. francis a. baker was born in baltimore, march , . the name given him in baptism was francis asbury, after the methodist bishop of that name; but when he became a catholic he changed it to francis aloysius, in honor of st. francis de sales and st. aloysius, to both of whom he had a special devotion, and both of whom he resembled in many striking points of character. he was of mixed german and english descent, and combined the characteristics of both races in his temperament of mind and body. he had also some of the irish and older american blood in his veins. his paternal grandfather, william baker, emigrated from germany at an early age to baltimore, where he married a young lady of irish origin, and became a wealthy merchant. his maternal grandfather, the rev. john dickens, was an englishman, a methodist preacher, who resided chiefly in philadelphia. his grandmother was a native of georgia. during the great yellow-fever epidemic in philadelphia, mr. dickens remained at his post, and his wife fell a victim to the disease, with her eldest daughter. his father was dr. samuel baker, of baltimore, and his mother, miss sarah dickens. dr. baker was an eminent physician and medical lecturer, holding the honorable positions of professor of materia medica in the university of maryland, and president of the baltimore medico-chirurgical society. { } there was a striking similarity in the character of dr. baker and his son francis. the writer of an obituary notice of the father, in the _baltimore athenæum_, tells us that his early preceptors admired "the balance of the faculties of his mind," and that "his classmates were attached to him for his integrity and affectionate manners." in another passage, the same writer would seem to be describing francis baker, to those who knew him alone, and have never seen the original of the sketch. "the style of conversation with which dr. baker interested his friends, his patients, or the stranger, was marked with an unaffected simplicity. even when he was most fluent and communicative, no one could suspect him of an ambition to shine. he spoke to give utterance to pleasing and useful thoughts on science, religion, and general topics, _as if his chief enjoyment was to diffuse the charms of his own tranquillity_. in social intercourse, his dignity was the natural attitude of his virtue. on the part of the trifling it required but little discernment to perceive the tacit warning that vulgar familiarity would find nothing congenial in him. he never engrossed conversation, and seemed always desirous of obtaining information by eliciting it from others. whether he listened or spoke, his countenance, receiving impressions readily from his mind, was an expressive index of the tone of his various emotions and thoughts. the conduct of dr. baker as a physician, a christian, and a citizen, was a mirror, reflecting the beautiful image of goodness in so distinct a form as to leave none to hesitate about the sincerity and purity of his feelings. it therefore constantly reminded many of 'the wisdom that is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.' the friendly sympathy and anxiety which he evinced in the presence of human suffering attached all classes of his patients to him, and he was very happy in his benevolent tact at winning the affection of children, even in their sickness." { } dr. baker was a member of the methodist church, and an intimate friend of the celebrated and eloquent preacher summerfield. he was not one, however, of the enthusiastic sort, but sober, quiet, and reserved. he never went through any period of religious excitement himself, or endeavored to practise on the susceptibilities of his children. he said of himself, as one of his intimate friends testifies, "that he did not know the period when he became religious, so gradually was his life regulated by the spiritual truths which enlightened his mind from childhood." he had no hostile feelings toward the catholic church, and was a great admirer and warm friend of the sisters of charity, many of whom i have heard frequently speak of him in terms of the most affectionate respect. his benevolence toward the poor was unbounded, and he was in fact endeared to all classes of the community, without exception, in baltimore. francis baker had a very great respect for his father, and was very fond of talking of him to me, during the first period of our acquaintance, when his early recollections were fresh and recent in his mind. of his mother he had but a faint remembrance, having been deprived of her at the age of seven years. it is easy to judge of her character, however, from that of her children, and of her sister, who was a mother to her orphans from the time of her death until her own life was ended among them. mrs. baker's brother, the hon. asbury dickens, is well known as having been for nearly half a century the secretary of the senate of the united states, which position he held until his death, which occurred at an advanced age a few years since. dr. baker had four sons and two daughters. only one of them, dr. william george baker, ever married, and he died without children: so that dr. samuel baker left not a single grandchild after him to perpetuate his name or family--and of his children, one daughter only survives. { } three of his sons were physicians of great promise, which they did not live to fulfil. francis was his third son, and the one who most resembled him in character. of his boyhood i know little, except that his companions at school who grew up to manhood, and preserved their acquaintance with him, were extremely attached to him. one of them passed an evening and night in our house, as the guest of f. baker, but a few months before his death, with great pleasure to both. i have also heard some of the good sisters of charity speak of having known the little frank baker as a boy, and mention the fact that he was very fond of visiting them. i am sure that his childhood was an extremely happy one until the period of his father's death. this event took place in october, , when francis was in his sixteenth year, and in the fiftieth year of dr. baker's life. it was very sudden and unexpected, and threw a shadow of grief and sadness over the future of his children, which was deepened by the subsequent untimely decease of the two eldest sons, samuel and william. francis was entered at princeton college soon after his father's death, and graduated there with the class of . i am not aware that his college life had any remarkable incidents. he was not ambitious of distinguishing himself, or inclined to apply himself to very severe study. i believe, however, that his standing was respectable, and his conduct regular and exemplary. he was not decidedly religious in his early youth. methodism had no attraction for him, and the calvinistic preaching at princeton was repugnant to his reason and feelings. whatever religious impressions he had in childhood were chiefly those produced by the catholic church, whose services he was fond of attending; but these were not deep or lasting. the early death of his father, and the consequent responsibility and care thrown upon him as the male head of the family, first caused him to reflect deeply, and to seek for some decided religious rule of his own life and conduct, and finally led him to join the protestant episcopal communion, and to resolve to prepare himself for the ministry. { } all the members of his family joined the same communion, and were baptized with him, in st. paul's church, by the rector of the parish, dr. wyatt. this event took place in , or ' . soon afterward, mr. baker formed an acquaintance with a young man, a candidate for orders and an inmate of the family of dr. whittingham, the bishop of maryland, which was destined to ripen into a most endearing and life-long friendship, and to have a most important influence on his subsequent history. this gentleman was dwight edwards lyman, a son of the rev. dr. lyman a respectable presbyterian minister, of the same age with francis baker, and an ardent disciple of the school of john henry newman. at the time of his baptism, mr. baker was only acquainted with church principles as they were taught by dr. wyatt, who was an old-fashioned high churchman. the intercourse which he had with mr. lyman was the principal occasion of introducing him to an acquaintance with the oxford movement, into which he very soon entered with his whole mind and heart. in , mr. lyman was sent to st. james's college, near hagerstown, where he remained several years, receiving orders in the interval. during this time, mr. baker kept up a frequent and most confidential correspondence with him, which is full of liveliness and humor in its earlier stages, but becomes more grave and serious as both advanced nearer to the time of their ordination. it continued during the entire period of their ministry in the episcopal church, and during the whole subsequent life of mr. baker, closing with a very playful letter written by the latter, a few days before his last illness. in one of these letters, he acknowledges his obligations to mr. lyman as the principal instrument of making him acquainted with catholic principles, in these warm and affectionate words: "i do not know whether you are aware of the advantage i derived from you in the earlier part of our acquaintance, by reason of your greater familiarity with the catholic system as exhibited in the _anglican_ church. { } the influence you exerted was of a kind of which i can hardly suppose you to have been conscious; yet i am sure you will be gratified to think it was effectual, as i believe, to fix me more firmly in the system for which i had long entertained so profound a reverence and affection. these are benefits which i cannot forget, and which (if there were not other reasons of which i need not speak) must always keep a place for you in the heart of your unworthy friend." the nature of the later correspondence between these two friends, and their mutual influence on each other, will appear later in this narrative. there are friendships which are formed in heaven, and in looking back upon that which grew up between these two young men of congenial spirit, and in which i was also a sharer in a subordinate degree, i cannot but admire the benignant ways of divine providence, by which those strands which afterward bound our existence together so closely were first interwoven. i had myself met mr. lyman, some years before this, and felt the charm of his glowing and enthusiastic advocacy of principles which were just beginning to germinate in my own mind. soon after lyman's removal to hagerstown, i made the acquaintance of mr. baker, a circumstance which the latter mentions in his next letter to his friend in these words, which i trust i may be pardoned for quoting-- "the bishop's family have a young man staying with them (mr. h.), a convert to the church, and one, i believe, of great promise. he was a congregationalist minister, and rev. mr. b. read me a letter from him, dated about a month ago, before his coming into the church, the tone of which was far more catholic than that of many (alas!) of those who have been partakers of the holy treasures to be found only in her bosom. mr. b. tells me that church principles are silently spreading in the north, among the sects. in this place, i believe that a spirit has been raised which one would hardly imagine on looking at the surface of things, though that is troubled enough." { } this letter was dated april , . i had just arrived in baltimore, at the invitation of dr. whittingham, the protestant episcopal bishop of maryland, and been received as a candidate for orders in his diocese. mr. baker, who was also a candidate for orders, lived just opposite the bishops's residence, in courtlandt street, and was pursuing his theological studies in private. i lived in the bishop's house, and i think i met mr. baker there on the first evening of my arrival. we were nearly of the same age, and soon found that our tastes and opinions were very congenial to each other. of course, i returned his visit very soon, and i became at once very intimate with his family. it was a charming place and a delightful circle. francis, as the eldest brother, was the head of the house. his aunt, miss dickens, fulfilled the office of a mother to her orphaned nephews and nieces with winning grace and gentleness. a younger brother, alfred, then about eighteen years of age, was at home, pursuing his medical studies. two sisters completed the number of the family, all bound together in the most devoted and tender love, all alike in that charm of character which is combined from it fervent and genial spirit of religion, amiability of temper, and a high-toned culture of mind and manners, chastened and subdued by trial and sorrow. i must not pass by entirely without mention another inmate of the family, whose good-humored, joyous countenance was always the first to greet me at the door--little caroline, the last of the family servants, who was manumitted as soon as she arrived at a proper age, always devotedly attached to her young master, and afterward one of the most eager and delighted spectators at his ordination as a catholic priest. { } the house was one of those places where every article of furniture and the entire spirit that pervades its arrangement speaks eloquently of the past family history, and recalls the memory of its departed members and departed scenes of domestic happiness. dr. baker had left his children a competent but moderate fortune, which was managed with the utmost prudence by francis, who possessed at twenty-one all the wisdom of a man of fifty. there was nothing of the splendor and luxury of wealth to be seen in the household, but a modest simplicity and propriety, a home-like comfort, and that perfection of order and arrangement, regulated by a pure and exquisite taste, which is far more attractive. mr. baker's home was always the mirror of his mind. in later years, when he lived in his own rectory, although his family circle had lost two of its precious links, the same charm pervaded every nook and corner of the home of the survivors, the young and idolized pastor and his two sisters. his study at st. luke's rectory was the beau ideal of a clergyman's sanctuary of study and prayer, after the church of england model; with something added, which betokened a more recluse and sacerdotal spirit, and a more catholic type of devotion. one might have read in it mr. baker's character at a glance, and might have divined that the inhabitant of that room was a perfect gentleman, a man of the most pure intellectual tastes, a pastor completely absorbed in the duties of his state, a recluse in his life, and very catholic in the tendencies and aspirations of his soul. of mr. baker's family, only one sister has survived him. alfred baker died first. like his brother, he was a model of manly beauty, although he did not in the least resemble him in form or feature. francis baker, as all who ever saw him know, was remarkably handsome. those who only knew him after he reached mature age, and remember him only as a priest, will associate with his appearance chiefly that impress of sacerdotal dignity and mildness, of placid, intellectual composure, of purity, nobility, and benignity of character, which was engraven or rather sculptured in his face and attitude. { } dressed in the proper costume, he might have been taken as a living study for a father of the church, a holy hermit of the desert, or a mediæval bishop. he was cast in an antique and classic mould. there was not a trace of the man of modern times or of the man of the world about him. his countenance and manner in late years also bore traces of the fatiguing, laborious life which he led, and the hard, rough work to which he was devoted. on account of these things, and because he was so completely a priest and a religious, one could scarcely think of admiring him as a man. his portrait was never painted, and the photographs of him which were taken were none of them very successful, and most of them mere caricatures. an ambrotype in profile was taken at chicago for mr. healy the artist, which is admirable, and from this the only good photographs have been taken; but the adequate image of father baker, as he appeared at the altar, or when his face was lit up in preaching the divine word, will live only in the memory of those who knew him. at the period of which i speak, he had just attained the maturity of youthful and manly beauty, which was heightened in its effect by his perfect dignity and grace of manner. his brother alfred was cast in a slighter mould, and had an almost feminine loveliness of aspect, figure, and character. he was as modest and pure as a young maiden, with far more vivacity of feature and manner than his brother, and a more vivid and playful temperament. there was nothing, however, effeminate in his character or countenance. he was full of talent, high-spirited, generous and chivalrous in his temper, conscientious and blameless in his religious and moral conduct. he graduated at the catholic college of st. mary's in baltimore, and was a great favorite of the late archbishop eccleston and several others of the catholic clergy. his high church principles had a strong dash of catholicity in them, and he used often to speak of the "ignominious name, protestant," which is prefixed to the designation of the episcopal church in this country. { } he was a devoted admirer of mr. newman, and followed him, like so many others, to the verge of the catholic church, but drew back, startled and perplexed, when he passed over. two or three years after the time i am describing, he began the practice of his profession, with brilliant prospects. the family removed to a larger and more central residence, for his sake, near st. paul's church, where francis was assistant minister. all things seemed to smile and promise fair, but this beautiful bud had a worm in it. a slow and lingering but fatal attack of phthisis seized him, just as he was beginning to succeed in his professional career. his brother accompanied him to bermuda, but the voyage was rather an additional suffering than a benefit, and on the th of april, , he died. it was good friday. he had prayed frequently that he might die on that day, and before his departure, he called his brother to him, made a general confession, desired him to pronounce over him the form of absolution prescribed in the english prayer-book, and received the communion of the episcopal church. these acts were sacramentally valueless, but i trust, without presuming to decide positively on a secret matter which god alone can judge, that his intention was right before god, and his error a mistake of judgment without perversity of will. his brother afterward felt deeply solicitous lest he might have been himself blamable for keeping him in the episcopal communion, and grieved that he had died out of the visible communion of the catholic church. still, as he was conscious of his own integrity of purpose, he tranquillized his mind with the hope that his brother had died in spiritual communion with the true church and in the charity of god, and endeavored to aid him, as far as he was still within the reach of human assistance, by having many masses offered for the repose of his soul. miss dickens died a little before alfred, and elizabeth baker died some time after her brother became a catholic, but before his ordination. { } i return now to the period when mr. baker and all these members of his family were living a retired and happy life together in the home on courtlandt street. i remember this time with peculiar pleasure. mr. baker, whom i always called frank, as he was usually called by his friends, partly from the peculiar affection they felt for him, and also because of its appropriateness as an epithet of his character, went every day with me once or twice to prayers; and every day we walked together. when the peculiar, tinkling bell of old st. paul's, which will be remembered by many a reader of these pages, gave notice of divine service there, we resorted in company to that venerable and unique church. it was spacious and ecclesiastical, though not regularly beautiful in its architecture. a basso-relievo adorned its architrave, and a bright gilded cross graced its tall tower. it had a handsome altar of white marble, an object of our special pride and devotion, with the usual reading-desk and pulpit rising behind it. the pulpit was a light and graceful structure, surmounted by a canopy which terminated in a cross, and having another cross surrounded by a glory emblazoned on its ceiling, just over the preacher's head. the door was in the rear of the pulpit, which stood far out from the chancel wall, and in the door was a beautiful transparency of the ecce homo, lighted from the chancel window, which had an ailanthus behind it, causing a pleasing illusion in the mind of the beholder that the dirty brick pavement of the court-yard was a pretty rural garden. the chancel was large and imposing. an episcopal chair, surmounted by a mitre, formed one of its conspicuous ornaments, and two seven branched gilded gas-burners stood on the chancel rail, which were lighted at evening prayer, or _vespers_, as we were wont to call it. in this church, the people all knelt with their backs to the altar, and facing the great door, whereat a number of us, being scandalized, determined to face about on all occasions and kneel toward the altar, which we did rigidly and in the most impressive manner, to the great annoyance of the rector, dr. wyatt. { } the _tout ensemble_ of st. paul's church, especially in the dusk of evening, when the lamps were lit, was to a hasty glance quite that of a catholic church. catholics very frequently came in by mistake, and sometimes poor people knelt in the aisles and began saying their prayers. others inquired of the sexton at the door if it was a catholic church, and some persons occupying seats near the door, who frequently heard his negative response and his direction to the cathedral, were led in consequence to think, that if st. paul's were not a catholic church, they too had best follow the sexton's direction and go to the cathedral. besides the prayers on saints' days, wednesdays, and fridays, at st. paul's, there was a week-day communion service once a month. dr. wyatt and his congregation were church people after the type of bishop hobart, disposed to sympathize in a great measure with dr. pusey and the oxford divines, but in great dread of extravagant innovation. the parish was very large, and included among its members a considerable portion of the _élite_ of baltimore society. strange as it may seem, however, outside a certain circle of sturdy high church families, and especially among the more worldly class, there was a prevailing sentiment that true spiritual religion flourished more in the methodist than in the episcopal church. although the mitred chair stood in the chancel, st. paul's was not the bishop's cathedral, and he was not able to take in it that position and perform those acts which he felt were the proper prerogative of a bishop in the principal church of the diocese. the bishops of the episcopal church in this country are all in the same anomalous position, without cathedrals or strictly episcopal churches, in which, according to canon law, the see is properly located, having dependent parochial churches affiliated to the mother church. { } they must either be rectors of parochial churches, by election of the vestry, or simple parishioners of one of their own subordinate presbyters, without the right of performing any official act, or even sitting in the chancel, except on occasions of convention, episcopal visitation, or something of the sort. the bishop of new york was even for many years an assistant minister of trinity church. bishop whittingham was determined to remedy this evil, as far as possible, by establishing a parish, where his proper place would be conceded to him voluntarily by the rector and vestry. accordingly the mount calvary congregation was formed, and began to worship in an old grain-warehouse. there we had early morning prayers, and evening prayers on every day when st. paul's was closed; and thither might be seen wending their way, rain or shine, the bishop with a suite of young ecclesiastics, gentlemen and ladies of the most respectable and cultivated class, and numbers of the more devout people, who found a real solace for their souls, amid the trials and labors of life, in daily common prayer to god. a little after, a more select room was obtained, decorated with a large black cross in the end window, and finally a church was built. we always met a great many of the cathedral people, in the morning, going to and from mass, and they were quite astonished at our piety. i have since learned that a number of them, observing the two young men who seemed to them so different from protestants in their ways, began praying for us, and that a holy priest, f. chakert, of st. alphonsus', who died a martyr to his zeal in new orleans, frequently said mass for our conversion. in our frequent walks, frank baker and myself usually, by a tacit consent, took the direction of some catholic church. baltimore surpasses every other large town in the united states, except perhaps st. louis, in the relative number, and in the dignified, imposing style of its catholic churches and religious institutions. { } it is a very picturesque and beautiful city in itself, and one of its most striking features is the exterior show of catholicity which it presents, from the conspicuous position of the numerous catholic edifices which are distributed through the principal parts of the town; often crowning the summits of some of the high eminences with which it abounds, so that they are distinctly visible in all directions, and their bells resound loudly for a great distance. some of the protestant churches also, haying our ecclesiastical style of architecture, and being even surmounted by the cross, fall into the picture as accessories, and add to the impression which a stranger taking a _coup-d'oeil_ of the city would receive. the cathedral, a truly grand building, though built in the moresco style, and suggesting the idea of a great mosque in an oriental city, which had been converted by some conquering crusader into a christian temple, with its great dome and two towers, each of which is surmounted by a gilded cross, queens it majestically over the whole city. it has the finest possible situation, on very high ground, with a spacious enclosure around it, and a modest, but very appropriate archiepiscopal residence in the rear of the sanctuary, fronting on charles street, the principal street of the court end of the town, a little below the chaste and graceful monument of white marble erected to the memory of washington. near by, the redemptorist church and convent of st. alphonsus, the convent of the christian brothers, the large and beautiful convent and garden of the visitation nuns, the sisters' orphan asylum, and the little chapel and religious house of the colored sisters of providence, are clustered together within a very moderate area of territory. taking the cathedral as a point of departure, you have at the distance of about half a mile, in the most densely peopled part of the town, st. mary's church, and the seminary of st. sulpice, with its extensive gardens of many acres in extent. more toward the suburbs, there are the lazarist church of the immaculate conception, and the large sisters' hospital of mount hope, with its extensive grounds. { } in an opposite direction, not far from the cathedral, is loyola college, to which adjoins the jesuit church of st. ignatius; beyond these, st. john's, and still further, near the borders of the town, the quaint and interesting st. james's church of the redemptorists, with a german convent of religious ladies. in another direction, st. vincent de paul's is seen, with its high massive tower, and in the same quarter of the town, the carmelites have a convent and chapel, the redemptorists another large church and convent, called st. michael's, and there is also the large and handsome parish church of st. patrick, with its high altar of green marble. following the outer circle of the city toward the harbor and fort, and returning to a point in line with st. alphonsus', we have the church of the holy cross, st. joseph's, and st. peter's, the latter of which has a congregation composed in great measure of converts. the deep and heavy bell of the cathedral is repeatedly heard sending forth its booming notes at different hours of the day, answered by st. alphonsus' and st. vincent de paul's, while the other bells take up the refrain in the distance, and the smaller convent bells throw in from time to time, at angelus, vespers, or compline, their silvery, tinkling notes. these catholic sounds are heard at intervals from morning till night, and the bells of some of the protestant churches join in also, on many days during the week, ringing for prayers. the catholic traditions of baltimore and maryland, interwoven with their existence from the first; the memory of charles carroll of carrollton, of archbishops carroll and eccleston, and of many other distinguished marylanders among the catholic clergy, and, lastly, the large catholic population, and the wealth, education, and social position of a large class of the members of the church, who have always mingled freely in society and intermarried with protestants, specially those of the episcopal church--all these and other causes combine to make the catholic religion conspicuous and powerful in baltimore, and to keep it always confronting the adherents of other religions, whichever way they turn. { } it cannot be ignored or kept out of sight and mind. it must be battled with or submitted to. hence, protestantism in baltimore, among the ultra-protestant sects, has borne a character of unusually intense and persistent hatred to the catholic church; and a suppressed spirit of violence has pervaded the lower orders, showing itself ordinarily by slight insults offered to clergymen and religious, but occasionally bursting out in scenes of riot and bloodshed, in which not merely the rabble took part, but where gentlemen were also engaged, and men in high stations lent their influence and protection to shield and encourage the lawless violators of the peace. a number of the catholic churches here described have been built since the year . the general appearance of the city, however, and the relative number of catholic institutions, was the same. it was a very interesting place to me from its novelty, and very well known to my new friend and companion, frank baker. we perambulated the town and reconnoitred all its environs, penetrating into every nook and corner where there was the smallest chance of finding something to be seen. the catholic churches underwent a repeated and thorough visitation and scrutiny, by turns. an indefinable attraction drew us to those sacred places, and made us linger and loiter in them without ever growing weary. i know now what it was. it was the power of that sacred presence which once drew the disciples and the multitudes after it, when visibly seen, and which now attracts the soul by its invisible charm in the blessed sacrament. we never went to mass or to any catholic service, because we were forbidden to do so by the bishop. we never sought out any catholic priests, or encountered any, except twice by accident. we read no catholic books of controversy or devotion, never knelt to pray before the altar, and did not know or suspect where we were going. { } but the influence of grace was acting most powerfully during those moments in which we were hanging about the altar, and unconsciously drinking in its sacred influence. our favorite place was the chapel of st. mary's college, and the calvary behind it, where the clergy of the sulpitian society are buried. this is the sweetest catholic shrine i have ever visited. the calvary was not open to visitors, but for some reason we were never interfered with, although we went very often, and remained by the hour. perhaps our guardian angels knew the future, and led us there unwittingly to ourselves. our lord foresaw it, if they did not, and was thinking of the day when one of the two would be there in company with all the clergy of the diocese in a spiritual retreat, and the day when the other, in that same chapel, would be consecrated to the service of the sanctuary. [footnote ] [footnote : father baker was ordained sub-deacon and deacon in that chapel, a few days before his ordination to the priesthood in the cathedral.] many of those who participated in that retreat will recall the recollection of it, on reading these pages. archbishop kenrick, the sage of our american hierarchy and one of its saints, that perfect model of a prelate according to the ancient type of the purest catholic times, the pattern of ecclesiastical learning, episcopal dignity and vigilance, apostolic zeal, sacerdotal gentleness, and christian humility, reminding one of the character ascribed by historians to pope benedict xiv., sat at the head of his venerable clergy in the sanctuary during all the exercises. of the clergymen present, some had been forty years in the priesthood, and one at least was ordained by archbishop carroll. some are now bishops, or have modestly declined the offered mitre. i was then a priest, and was assisting f. walworth in giving the retreat, and mr. baker was but just received into the church. he came to visit me at the spot where we had passed so many pleasant hours in years gone by, and to pay his respects to the excellent sulpitians by whom his brother had been educated, and to the other clergymen whose brother and associate he aspired to become in due time. { } he was welcomed most tenderly by the warm-hearted sulpitians, and greeted with an ardent interest and respect by the clergy and young ecclesiastics who were gathered in that sacred retreat of science and piety. several of these good clergymen have since spoken of that retreat, which so many circumstances combined to make unusually pleasant, as among the most cherished recollections of their lives. since i have been betrayed into this long digression by the associations connected with st. mary's chapel, i will venture to add one other little incident, of which i have been several times reminded by the venerable president of mount st. mary's college. one afternoon, just at sunset, the preacher concluded his discourse by a description of the death of a holy priest, contrasting the glory of his successfully accomplished ministry with that of the hero in the merely secular and temporal order. at the peroration, the parting beams of the sun irradiated a tall marble monument over the grave of a well-known sulpitian priest, behind the chancel window, in full view of the audience, but unseen by the preacher, and gave an illustration of his words most affecting and impressive to those who witnessed it. it was emblematic, also, of that noble life which was to be accomplished and brought to such a beautiful close, within twelve short years, by that dear companion and friend who was just then on the eve of leaving all to follow christ, and whose generous heart was swelling with the first emotions of his divine vocation, long since secretly inspired into him while haunting the blessed resting-place of those holy priests. but i have anticipated what was yet in the unknown and undreamed-of future, when we two ardent and enthusiastic youths were yielding our imaginations to the poetic and religious charm which was the precursor of more earnest and durable convictions. { } st. mary's was our favorite resort, but we were also impressed in a different way by the austere and monastic aspect of st. james's, where the redemptorist fathers, then newly established, had their convent; and i remember that we often conversed about that order with great curiosity and interest. we watched intently the building of st. alphonsus' church, and wandered through the sanctuary and sacristy and garden, and into the shop where the lay-brothers and other artificers were at work, occasionally, to our great delight, greeted by these good brothers, who probably took us for priests, as we were then ordained and dressed in long cassocks, with their salutation in german, _gelobt sey jesus christus_. another object of great interest to us was a monument to the memory of a former pastor, in st. patrick's church, bearing the simple and touching inscription: "to the good de moranville." this unfeigned tribute of affection to the memory of a good and holy priest did more in a few moments to efface from my mind the effect of the calumnies i had heard from childhood against the catholic clergy, than a volume of controversy could have done. mr. baker took me also to visit the monument erected to sister ambrosia by the city of baltimore. this lady, the daughter of the venerable mrs. collins, who died at the age of nearly one hundred years, and was one of those who welcomed mr. baker most warmly into the catholic church, and the sister of the very rev. mr. collins, of cincinnati, was universally regarded as a saint, both by catholics and protestants. she had been very intimate in dr. baker's family, and attended his two elder sons during their last illness. she fell herself a victim to her charity in attending the sick in the hospitals, leaving the sweet fragrance of her sanctity to linger in the memories of those who knew her. we visited also the graves of those brothers of mr. baker whose death had produced so great a change in his character and prospects. { } they were buried in a methodist grave-yard, adjoining the beautiful green mount cemetery. francis had erected a marble tombstone to their memory, on which was carved a cross, and the catholic inscription, _requiescant in pace_. when i returned to baltimore, after my ordination to the catholic priesthood, i revisited the spot, but found the cross and prayer had been removed. when i had the opportunity of asking mr. baker for an explanation of this, he informed me that he had removed them of his own accord, because he thought it an indelicate intrusion on the religious sentiments and feelings of those to whom the burial-place belonged, to leave there a catholic inscription. meanwhile we were studying and reading regularly. bishop whittingham had a very fine and extensive library, and was constantly supplied with the choicest books and periodicals of the anglo-catholic party. the remarkable movement led by dr. pusey and mr. newman was at its height. in this country we were somewhat behindhand, and were following at some distance in the wake of the most advanced english leaders, so that the later developments rather took us by surprise. we were reading mr. newman's earlier works, and only partly aware of the great change taking place in himself and others. the accusation of romanizing was treated as a calumny, and we had no thought of any thing except bringing our own church up to what we thought to be the catholic level, and endeavoring to establish an intercommunion between it and the roman and greek churches through mutual consultation and concession, and a return to the supposed state of things "before the separation of east and west." at least this is true of us in maryland, whatever might have been the case with a small number elsewhere. probably the effort to make the protestant episcopal church take the attitude of being catholic was never made more earnestly and with better hope of success than in maryland. { } the bishop headed the movement, and, besides the clergymen already in his diocese who were ready to second him, he attracted thither a number of young men who were devoted to his person and who sympathized in his views. i have no wish to speak disrespectfully or unkindly of dr. whittingham. he has always been a most violent opponent of the catholic church, and he has seen fit, like some others of the clergy of his peculiar stripe, to break off all intercourse with those who have left his communion to join it. i do not, however, attribute to him any personal animosity as the motive for this, but merely a mistaken religions zeal. he was always very kind and generous to his young clergymen, strict and self-denying in his life, and laborious in the fulfilment of his official duties. his vigorous administration infused a new energy and activity into the episcopal church in his diocese, and gave a powerful impetus to what was called the "catholic" movement. a periodical entitled _the true catholic, reformed, protestant, and free_, was established, under the care of hugh davey evans, a learned lawyer and very able theological disputant. a college, conducted by young men trained at the celebrated st. paul's college, flushing, by dr. muhlenberg, was founded at a beautiful and extensive old country-seat, known as "fountain rock," near hagerstown, and a school, called "st. timothy's hall," near baltimore. the bishop and a large number of his clergy went about dressed in long cassocks; altars, crosses, frequent services, ecclesiastical forms and observances, and other outward signs and accompaniments of an approximation to catholic doctrines and rites, were to be seen everywhere. the protestant episcopal church was loudly proclaimed to be the catholic church of the country, and, in a word, the theory taught in the oxford tracts and in the earlier writings of mr. newman was sought to be put in actual practice. an unusual number of the clergy were unmarried men, and the project of founding a monastic order was entertained by several. { } those were stirring times. of course opposition was excited in the bosom of the episcopal church. the low churchmen formed a strong and active minority in the convention, and did their utmost to thwart the projects of the bishop. very spicy debates took place in consequence, and as there were very able and distinguished men among the lay delegates, who brought all their legal skill and forensic eloquence into play, the sessions of the convention were often intensely interesting and exciting. the pulpit, the newspapers, and controversial pamphlets were employed in the warfare by both sides, and the community generally, outside of the episcopal church, were quite alive with interest in the questions discussed. we had a little society called the "church reading society," of which mr. evans was president, and mr. baker and myself were members, where certain prayers for catholic unity were offered, and papers bearing on the topics which interested us were read by the members in turn. the different seasons of the ecclesiastical year were very strictly observed, especially advent, christmas, lent, and holy week. the english press was at that time pouring forth a stream of books of devotion and sacred poetry, sermons and spiritual instructions, borrowed or imitated from the treasures of catholic sacred literature. there was a tide setting strongly backward toward the faith and practice of ancient times, and we surrendered ourselves to its influence, without thinking where it would eventually land us. we had no thought of ever leaving the communion to which we belonged. never, in any of our conversations, did we even speak of such a thing as possible, or call in question the legitimate claim of the authority, under which we were living, to our obedience. we did not sympathize with the bishop and the larger number of the clergymen of our theological party in their sentiment of hostility and antipathy to the roman communion. { } the common ground taken was that the roman catholic bishops in england and the united states are schismatical intruders upon the lawful jurisdiction of the english and anglo-american bishops of the protestant succession. bishop whittingham maintained the stronger ground that the roman church throughout the world is schismatical and all but formally heretical. he retained the old spirit of vehement dislike and opposition to the see of rome and every thing in the doctrine and policy of the church connected with the papal supremacy, which characterized the old divines of the church of england. he had in his mind an ideal of the primitive church, according to which he wished and hoped that a reformed catholic church should be reconstructed by the common consent of all the bishops of the world, and which should absorb into itself all the christian sects. this idea is necessarily common to all who profess to hold catholic principles in the anglican communion. the profession of the doctrine of unity in one, visible, catholic church, of itself qualifies the isolation of any body of christians from the great christian family, as an anomalous and irregular condition. a return to unity or union of some kind must necessarily become an object of desire and effort. so long as one maintains that the anglican church is essentially catholic, he must maintain also that the roman church is in some way wrong in refusing to recognize it, and that the greek church is likewise wrong in refusing to do so. hence he must look on some concessions to be made by both churches as the necessary condition of the reunion of christendom. so far, all who profess to be "anglo-catholics" must agree. but when the question becomes, how much concession must be made to the anglican communion, or how much concession must be made by her, how far the greek church, the roman church, or the anglican church have erred; and upon what basis of doctrine and ecclesiastical polity they are to be reformed or restored to union, the agreement is ended. { } each individual attributes as much or as little error and corruption to other churches, or his own church, as suits his own notions. each one, or each separate clique, has a peculiar ideal of the true catholic church. one may regard the anglican church as almost perfect, and wish to bring all christendom to imitate it. another finds his beau ideal in the greek church. another regards his own church as very defective, and the roman church as the most perfect, desiring that the holy see should only abate just enough of its claims to let in greeks without any acknowledgment of their schismatic contumacy, and anglicans without giving up that they are in heresy and destitute of any legitimate episcopacy. it is impossible to draw any exact line of demarcation between the adherents of these different views. at the same time, we may say that, in a general sense, one class held the anglican church as paramount in its claim of allegiance, and the church catholic as subordinate; while the other held the church catholic to be paramount, and the anglican church subordinate. with the first class, catholic principles and doctrines were taken hold of as a means of strengthening and exalting the protestant episcopal church as such, and giving her a victory over the rest of christendom; with the other class, they were embraced in a spirit of deep sympathy with universal christendom, and with the view of bringing back the protestant world to the great christian family. the first class alone can be relied on as devoted adherents of anglicanism, and they only hold a strong polemical position against the claim of the roman see to unconditional submission. the other class have their minds and their hearts open to all catholic influences. they advance continually nearer and nearer in belief and sympathy to the great catholic body, and great numbers of them pass over to the catholic communion. hence we find that almost all the bishops and dignitaries who have joined in the oxford movement have belonged decidedly to the first class, and have always tried to hold the second class in check. { } the few who have belonged to the second class, such as bishop ives and the archdeacons manning and wilberforce, have eventually found allegiance to the anglican church incompatible with the paramount claims of the church catholic, and have openly renounced it. but while it is evident that the position of decided and determined hostility to rome is absolutely necessary, as mr. newman long ago remarked, to high church anglicanism, it is equally evident that it is the most narrow, inconsistent, and inconsequent position taken by any class of protestants. it cuts them off from all real sympathy and community of feeling with the great catholic body; and although there may be a pretence of sympathy with the oriental church, it is a mere pretence, and a most illogical and baseless one. it cuts them off equally from all the rest of protestant christendom. yet, it is only the catholic and greek churches which offer a solid and substantial basis for those doctrinal and hierarchical principles which make their only distinctive character; and it is only the protestant portion of their church, and its close intellectual, social, political, moral, and religious alliance with the other protestant churches, which gives them any standing, influence, or power in the world. a man of liberal, enlarged, and christian temper of mind, cannot live in such narrow limits or breathe such a confined air. he must have communion with something greater than the protestant episcopal church. if he regards the great catholic church as essentially corrupt, he must sympathize with the protestant reformation. if the ground which, as i shall presently show, the high church bishops maintain, is correct, then the continental protestants were bound to come out when they did and form new churches. where were they to get bishops? how were they to preserve the continuity of organization and the apostolic succession? the church of england did not admonish them of the necessity of doing so. she did not proffer them episcopal ordination. { } but she made common cause with them, and supported them in their revolt, invited them over to england, and gave them places in the english church, sent delegates to their great calvinistic synod of dort, and in other ways lent them sanction and countenance, without breathing a hint that she was a whit better than they. arguments from scripture and ancient authors in favor of three orders and a liturgy may be very solid and conclusive, but they are also very petty and miserable when they are made the basis of arrogant claims by those whose very existence sprang from the assumption that the universal episcopate had betrayed its trust and apostatized from the true doctrine of christ. the learned william palmer has seen the necessity of justifying the attitude of the continental protestant churches, and therefore concedes to them, on the plea of necessity, valid ordination and a legitimate constitution. an anglican, who is a thorough and consistent opponent of rome, ought to take common ground with protestants. one who turns his back on protestantism, and abjures the reformation, ought to make common cause with rome and the catholic church, even though he as yet holds the opinion that his communion is a true and living branch of the church of christ. it may seem strange to those who have never studied or sympathized in the oxford movement, that men who adopted certain fundamental catholic principles did not at once embrace the faith and submit to the authority of the catholic church, but remained a long time in the episcopal communion, or even deliberately chose it, after having passed their early life in some other protestant sect. this seems strange to those who have always been catholics, and equally strange to the majority of protestants. so much so, that we have been suspected, and by many fully believed to have been all along concealed roman catholics, working in the episcopal church for the purpose of "romanizing" it. { } a few days before i was received into the catholic church, a near and venerable relative of mine said to me: "i am very glad you have become a catholic, for i can respect a sincere roman catholic, but i cannot respect a puseyite; you will now sail under your true colors. when will h. b. (a cousin of mine, who is an episcopalian clergyman) do the same thing?" the truth of the matter is, that we all had imbibed such an intense prejudice from our early education against the roman church, that we were appalled at the thought of joining her communion. when certain catholic truths began to dawn upon our minds, it was indistinctly. to those who were bred in the anglican church, it was the natural and obvious course to remain there as long as their consciences would permit. to others, it was natural to look for a resting-place in that communion of which our own particular sects were only offshoots, with which educated people of english descent are so familiar through the history and literature of our native language, whose services many of us had frequently attended from childhood, and where many of us likewise had relatives and friends. it is a small matter to go from one protestant sect to another, in itself considered, and it is no wonder that any orthodox protestant should prefer the episcopal church to any of the religious bodies which have seceded from it. besides this, there was a _via media_ offered to us by a great body of divines in the episcopal church, between rome on the one hand and protestantism on the other, which appeared to be exactly the thing we wanted. i acknowledge that i was too easily allured by this specious pretence, and failed to examine with due care the claims of the church in communion with the see of rome to be the true and only church of christ. i do not think mr. baker, notwithstanding that his prejudices were far less than mine, ever gave the subject serious and careful consideration, until long after he had become an episcopalian minister. { } we knew too little, however, of the subject, to feel any conscientious obligations in that direction. i can truly say that i never for one moment deliberated on the question of becoming a catholic, even when i had the fear of death before my eyes, until after i left baltimore in the autumn of . i never heard from mr. baker, up to that time, a word which betrayed the existence in his mind of any practical doubt about his duty in this respect. the growth of catholic principles in our minds was gradual. by degrees, the mists of misrepresentation, prejudice, and ignorance which obscured the catholic church and her doctrines were dissipated and vanished. our feelings of veneration and love for the great church of christendom increased. still, as long as we were not convinced that actual communion with the church of rome and submission to her supremacy was necessary, _jure divino_, to the catholicity of any local church, we remained firm in our allegiance to the ecclesiastical authority of our bishop. this is only an instance of what was going on in the case of many both in england and the united states. and it appears from this statement, that whereas all the disciples of the oxford movement began on essentially the same ground, and that, one which implied strong and decisive opposition to rome, one portion of them progressed continually, and another remained stationary or retrograded, thus producing separation and division in the ranks. what i wish to show now is, that those who progressed were logically compelled to do so by the principles of the movement itself, and that those who remained stationary, although they held a position which was necessary to the maintenance of anglicanism, were illogical and inconsequent. the advocates of the claim of the church of england to be the only legitimate and catholic church in england, and of the same claim for the protestant episcopal church in the united states, were obliged to make out some case against the bishops of these two countries who were under the jurisdiction of the roman see and who proclaimed themselves to be the only lawful and catholic bishops, sustained as they were in this claim by all the other bishops of western christendom. { } the possession of the titles and temporalities of the ancient sees in england by the established church naturally suggested the plausible pretext that the church of england of to-day is the legitimate successor of the church of england before the separation under henry viii. hence, other bishops, exercising episcopal functions within the dioceses of the bishops of the church of england, are schismatical intruders, and their congregations are schismatical. the same principle was extended to the united states, on the plea that the bishop of london had episcopal jurisdiction over the english colonies, and moreover that the protestant episcopal bishops were first on the ground, and had acquired possession before the "romish" bishops, as they chose to call them, came. now this theory is forced to answer one question: are the bishops of france, spain, &c., the legitimate catholic bishops of those countries, and is their communion the true and only catholic church there, or not? is this question answered in the affirmative? then, who are the catholic bishops in canada, louisiana, alabama, florida, texas, and california? who went first to china and india? are the anglican bishops in these places schismatical intruders or not? if not, why not? and if not, why are roman catholic bishops schismatical intruders in london and new-york? the protestant episcopal churches of england and the united states pay no attention whatever to any claim of jurisdiction by the catholic church in any part of the world, but seek to thrust themselves in and make converts wherever they can. in order to justify this attitude, and at the same time to profess catholic principles, it is necessary to maintain that the entire roman communion is schismatical and heretical, and the protestant episcopal church is the true and only catholic church, at least in western christendom. { } this idea is the real _animus_ of the protestant episcopate, and its highest expression is found in the opinion so common among protestants, and held even by mr. newman some years after he commenced the oxford tracts, that the pope is antichrist. the charges of the english bishops, especially those delivered after the publication of the oxford tract no. , all breathe this spirit. bishop elliott, of georgia, in a sermon preached at the consecration of the missionary bishops, boone and southgate, in st. peter's church, philadelphia, in or ' , spoke of the catholic missionaries as "dealing out death instead of life" to the heathen. bishop whittingham held this view, and "tridentine schismatic" was one of the appellations he gave to the rev. dr. white, of baltimore, in a pamphlet which he published against that gentleman. in his annual address for he speaks of me and other converts in the following language: "the lapse of several prominent members of our english sister, and of one even in our own little band, _into the defilements of the romish communion_, has but too far justified others in sounding the note of alarm," &c.[footnote ] the language he made use of in one of his addresses was such, that mr. baker, then one of his presbyters, positively declined to read it for him in the convention, his own voice being too weak to do so. the rev. a. c. coxe, now a bishop, published a poem on the occasion of the ordination of the present bishop of newark to the diaconate, in rome, entitled "hymn of the priests, to lament one of their number who has been sacrilegiously reordained a deacon, _after abjuring the catholic communion_, at rome." in contrast with this is the following, which was copied into the _true catholic_ for december, . [footnote ] [footnote : journal of convention of maryland, , p. .] [footnote : journal of convention of maryland, , p. .] { } conversion of a popish priest to the catholic church at chicester. the cathedral, _sunday, october_ . in residence, the lord bishop, the very rev. the dean, the ven. arch-deacon webber, and the rev. charles webber, can. res. we have to record this week one of the most interesting ceremonies ever performed within the walls of this sacred edifice, namely, the public admission of a clerical convert from the church of rome, into the bosom of the holy catholic church in this country. the morning prayers were chanted by the rev. j. p. roberts, sub-dean. the _te deum_ and _jubilate_ was boyce in a. at the ending of the litany, the bishop and the dean proceeded to the altar, while the choir performed weldon's _sanctus_; after which (the penitent, mr. vignati, an italian gentleman, who had been for two years a priest in the romish communion, standing without the rails) the bishop addressed the congregation in the following words:-- "dearly beloved, we are here met together for the reconciling of a penitent (lately of the church of rome) to the established church of england, as to a true and sound part of christ's holy catholic church. now, that this weighty affair may have its due effect, let us, in the first place, humbly and devoutly pray to almighty god for his blessing upon us in that pious and charitable office we are going about. "prevent us, o lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help, that in this, and all other our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life, through jesus christ our lord. amen. "almighty god, who showest to them that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness, grant unto all them that are or shall be admitted into the fellowship of christ's religion, that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same, through our lord jesus christ. amen." then was read a part of the th psalm, from verses to , with the _gloria patri_. after which the dean read the following lesson from luke xv.:--"then drew near unto him the publicans and sinners for to hear him; and the pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. and he spake this parable unto them, saying, what man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which was lost, until he find it? and when he hath found it he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing; and when he cometh home he calleth together his friends and his neighbors, saying unto them, rejoice with me, for i have found my sheep which was lost. i say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance." { } after this the nine first verses of the th psalm was sung by the choir. then the bishop, sitting in his chair, spake to the penitent (who was kneeling) as follows:-- dear brother, i have good hope that you have well weighed and considered with yourself the great work you are come about before this time: but inasmuch as with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation; that you may give the more honor to god, and that this present congregation of christ here assembled may also understand your mind and will in these things, and that this your declaration may the more confirm you in your good resolutions, you shall answer plainly to those questions, which we, in the name of god, and of his church, shall propose to you touching the same. art thou thoroughly persuaded that those books of the old and new testament, which are received as canonical scriptures by this church, contain sufficiently all doctrine requisite and necessary to eternal salvation through faith in jesus christ?--i am so persuaded. dost thou believe in god the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth &c.--all this i steadfastly believe. art thou truly sorrowful that thou hast not followed the way prescribed in these scriptures for the direction of the faith and practice of a true disciple of christ jesus?--i am heartily sorry, and i hope for mercy through christ jesus. dost thou embrace the truth of the gospel in the love of it, and steadfastly resolve to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world, all the days of thy life?--i do so embrace it, and do so resolve, god being my helper. dost thou earnestly desire to be received into the communion of this church, as into a sound part of christ's holy catholic church?--this i earnestly desire. dost thou renounce all the errors and superstitions of the present romish church, so far as they are come to thy knowledge?--i do, from my heart, renounce them all. dost thou, in particular, renounce the twelve last articles added in the confession, commonly called "the creed of pope pius iv.," after having read them, and duly considered them?_-_i do, upon mature deliberation, reject them all, as grounded upon no warrant of scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of god. wilt thou conform thyself to the liturgy of the church of england, as by law established, and be diligent in attending the prayers and other offices of the church?--i will do so by the help of god. { } then the bishop standing, said: "almighty god, who hath given you a sense of your errors, and a will to do these things, grant also unto you the strength and power to perform the same, that he may accomplish his work, which he hath begun in you, through jesus christ. amen." the absolution.--almighty god, our heavenly father, who, of his great mercy, hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life, through jesus christ our lord. amen. then the bishop, taking him by the hand, said: "i, ashurst turner, bishop of chichester, do, upon this thy solemn profession and earnest request, receive thee into the holy communion of the church of england, in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. amen." then was said the lord's prayer, all kneeling, after which as follows:--o god of truth and love, we bless and magnify thy holy name for thy great mercy and goodness in bringing this thy servant into the communion of this church; give him, we beseech thee, stability and perseverance in that faith, of which he hath, in the presence of god and of this congregation, witnessed a good confession. suffer him not to be moved from it by any temptations of satan, enticements of the world, scoffs of irreligious men, or the revilings of those still in error; but guard him by thy grace against all these snares, and make him instrumental in turning others from the errors of their ways, to the saving of their souls from death, and the covering a multitude of sins. and in thy good time, o lord, bring, we pray thee, into the way of truth all such as have erred and are deceived; and so fetch them home, blessed lord, to thy flock, that there may be one flock under one shepherd, the lord jesus christ, to whom, with the father and the holy spirit, be all honor and glory, world without end. amen. then the bishop addressed the person admitted, saying: "dear brother, seeing that you have, by the goodness of god, proceeded thus far, i must put you in mind that you take care to go on in that good way into which you are entered; and for your establishment and furtherance therein, that if you have not been confirmed, you endeavor to be so the next opportunity, and receive the holy sacrament of the lord's supper. and may god's holy spirit ever be with you. amen. the peace of god, which passeth all understanding, keep your heart and mind by christ jesus. amen." { } thus ended this most interesting ceremony; after which the communion service went on, at which the bishop and dean officiated. weldon's _sanctus_, b. brown's _kyrie_, and child's _creed_ in g. the sermon was preached by the dean, from luke th, ch. th, th, and th verses, of which we need not say much here, as we hope it will shortly be published by mr. w. h. mason, by permission of the dean, he having been requested so to do. anthem, "o lord, our governor."--kent.--_church intelligencer_. the roman church is throughout the pages of the _true catholic_charged with idolatry, and in one passage which i had marked, but cannot now find one reason given why episcopalians cannot attend catholic services is, because by so doing they participate in idolatry. on the other hand, protestant ministers are never required to make any such abjuration as the one above cited, on being received into the english church. the church of england formerly gave archbishop leighton episcopal ordination, he being a scottish presbyterian minister, and the crown gave him jurisdiction in scotland over the presbyterian clergy and congregations, without requiring any reordination or any new profession of faith. so now, a german lutheran minister alternately with an english episcopalian, is ordained for the jerusalem bishopric, with authority to receive under his care both english and german ministers and congregations. now for the inconsistency. the same reasons which prove the church of rome to be a schismatical, heretical, and apostate church, prove that the english church was the same before the reformation, and that the church of christ had perished in western christendom, except as represented by the lollards, albigenses, waldenses, and other precursors of the protestants. there was really no true, visible catholic church existing, from which schismatics and heretics had separated, and to which they could return. hence, the modern episcopal church derived its authority from no legitimate source in the past, and has really started _de novo_, like the protestant churches of europe. this throws us back upon the theory of an invisible church at once, and breaks up the idea of catholicity. { } for the same reason, the oriental churches must be regarded as schismatical and heretical. the nestorians and eutychians are condemned by the councils of ephesus and chalcedon, accepted by our anglicans. the greek church is identical in doctrine with the roman, except so far as the papal supremacy is rejected by them. it disowns and condemns the anglican church as emphatically as does the roman. nevertheless, we find a number of the protestant bishops subscribing the following letter to the patriarch of constantinople:-- letter to the greek patriarch. binghamton n. y., _st april_, . _to the editor of the true catholic:_ dear sir:_-_having seen in print a copy, surreptitiously obtained, of the letter of our bishops, addressed to some of the patriarchs in the east, i have thought it might be well to furnish an authentic copy, for permanent preservation in your valuable periodical, especially as it is a document of much importance. it is precisely as i myself, together with mr. southgate, presented it, _accompanied by a greek translation_, to the patriarch of constantinople, who received it very graciously. yours, very truly, j. j. robertson. _to the venerable and right reverend father in_ god, _the patriarch, of the greek church, resident at constantinople_. january , . the episcopal church of the united states of america, deriving its episcopal power in regular succession from the holy apostles, through the venerable church of england, has long contemplated, with great spiritual sorrow, the divided and distracted condition of the catholic church of christ throughout the world. this sad condition of things not only aids the cause of infidelity and irreligion, by furnishing evil-minded men with plausible arguments, not only encourages heresies and schisms in national branches of the catholic church, but is also a very serious impediment to the diffusion of gospel truth among those who are still in the darkness of heathenism, or are subject to other false religions, or continue vainly to look for the coming of that messiah, whose advent has already blessed the world. { } the arrogant assumptions of universal supremacy and infallibility, of the papal head of the latin church, render the prospect of speedy friendly intercourse with him dark and discouraging. the church in the united states of america, therefore, looking to the triune god for his blessings upon its efforts for unity in the body of christ, turns with hope to the patriarch of constantinople, the spiritual head of the ancient and venerable oriental church. in this church we have long felt a sincere interest. we have sympathized with her in the trials and persecution to which she has been subjected; we have prayed for her deliverance from all evils and mischiefs; and we have thanked her divine head that he has been pleased, amid all her sufferings, to maintain her allegiance to him. in order to attempt the commencement of a friendly and christian intercourse with the oriental church, the church in the united states resolved to send two of its presbyters, the rev. j. j. robertson, and the rev. horatio southgate, to reside at constantinople. these clergymen are directed to make inquiries regarding the existing state of the church under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of constantinople, and of the other eastern churches; to ascertain the relations they bear to each other, and the views they maintain in regard to the apostolic churches of europe and america; to answer such inquiries as may be made of them in regard to the origin, constitution, and condition of the church in the united states; and to do all in their power to conciliate the christian love and regard of the oriental church toward its younger sister in the western world. after some preliminary inquiries and study of the language, they will present themselves, with this epistle of introduction (by which they are cordially recommended to the christian courtesies and kind offices of the bishops and clergy of the oriental church), to the patriarch of constantinople, inviting him to a friendly correspondence with the heads of the church in the united states, explaining more fully the views and objects of the church, and inquiring whether a mutual recognition of each other can be effected, as members of the catholic church of christ, on the basis of the holy scriptures and the first councils, including the apostles' and nicene creeds, in order to a future efficient co-operation against paganism, false religion, and judaism. they will make it clearly understood that their church has no ecclesiastical connection with the followers of luther and calvin, and takes no part in their plans or operations to diffuse the principles of their sects. they will propose to the patriarch such aid as the church in the united states can supply, in the advancement of christian education, and in the promulgation of religious truth, always avoiding the points in which the two churches still differ, and leaving the producing of a closer mutual conformity to the blessing of god, on the friendly correspondence of the respective heads of the churches, or to a future general council. { } leaving a further development of these points to the oral communications of its delegates, and again recommending them to the christian candor and affection of the patriarch and clergy of the oriental church, and repeating the hearty desire and prayer of the bishops and clergy of the united states for their prosperity, we remain your brethren in christ. alexander viets griswold, of the eastern diocese, and senior of the american church. benjamin tredwell onderdonk, of new york. george washington doane, of new jersey. thomas church brownell, of connecticut. jackson kemper, of missouri, &c. william rollinson whittingham, of maryland. henry ustick onderdonk, of pennsylvania. at the recent visit of a russian squadron to new york, the protestant bishop of new york invited the chaplains of the squadron to make use of one of his churches for the service of the greek church, although the offer was declined. subsequently, cossack priest, called father agapius, said to have letters from the archbishop of athens, came to new york as a missionary to the greeks and russians, and was accommodated with the use of two episcopal churches. it came out subsequently that he was in bad standing in the russian church, and the members of the greek church in new york disowned him, when he threw off the mask, and published a letter where he avowed doctrines far from orthodox according to the standards of the greek church. nevertheless, it was ostensibly as a regular priest of that church that he was invited to make use of the episcopal churches; as such the members of that church received him, and whatever changes or omissions he may have made in his public services, they were understood to be celebrated according to the sclavonic and greek liturgies. thus, there is no escaping from the fact, that high mass according to the same rite used by oriental catholics as well as schismatics, was authorized in the episcopal church in new york, a great number of the clergy assisting. { } the english church bishops, beginning with the old english nonjurors, have been always anxious for the recognition of the greek prelates, and have made several attempts to gain it. soon after my ordination as deacon in the episcopal church, i was invited by bishop southgate to accompany him to constantinople on a mission of this kind. the plan was to have a little ecclesiastical establishment in constantinople, consisting of a bishop and a few priests and deacons. although the bishop, who had been for some years a travelling missionary in the east, was married, he wished his clergy to be unmarried men, and selected only such as his associates. there was to be a chapel, where all the rites and ceremonies permitted by anglican law were to be celebrated with as much pomp as possible. sermons in the oriental languages designed to attract the clergy and make a good impression of our orthodoxy, were to be preached regularly. a college and seminary for the instruction of young oriental ecclesiastics were to be opened, with a strict understanding that they were not to be induced to leave their own communion. extracts from the works of the greek fathers, and translations from anglican divines, were to be published, with a view to bring about mutual understanding and agreement between the different churches. every thing was to be done to propitiate the oriental prelates and clergy, and to bring about their recognition of our ecclesiastical legitimacy, and intercommunion between themselves and us. the missionary committee, who were hostile to this plan, would not confirm my appointment, regarding me as having too strong a catholic bias to be trusted. another young deacon was selected in my place, who had been known as a strong puseyite, but who publicly renounced his opinions before he left the country, in a sermon, in which he came out as a strong evangelical. { } the mission was never well supported, but after a few years, fell through entirely, and the bishop is now a parish rector in new york. during a visit to new york, which i made in company with bishops whittingham and southgate, at the time i was expecting to accompany the latter on his mission, i called on a very distinguished and learned presbyter, who was one of the ablest and most influential leaders of the oxford movement. he asked me if we proposed to endeavor to change the doctrines of the greek church. i replied, that certainly we did propose to discuss several of these doctrines with the greek prelates, and show them that they were not doctrines appertaining to the catholic faith, but errors and additions made without authority. he inquired what these doctrines were. i cannot recollect how many i specified, but i am sure that the doctrine respecting the cultus of the blessed virgin and saints was the principal one. he replied that the doctrines i specified were established by just as good authority as any others, and that it would be impossible for us to convict the greek church of holding any erroneous doctrine. his arguments made a great impression on my mind at the time, and helped me forward toward the catholic church, although this gentleman himself remained always a protestant. the efforts made to cultivate the friendship of the greek church are very significant. let it be observed, that the bishops who signed the letter to the patriarch of constantinople, both distinctly repudiate the reformation of luther and calvin, and consent to waive all questions of difference between the greek and the protestant episcopal churches, until they can be decided by a _general council_. this reduces the _gravamen_ of the charges against rome to the only point of difference which exists between herself and the greek church; that is, to the claim of supremacy of the roman pontiff. { } this is, then, the sum and substance of the "_defilements of the romish communion_." here lies the whole _casus belli_ between the champions of anglicanism and the catholic church. there is no hope of reconciliation on equal terms with the see of rome and her vast communion. therefore, a rival claim of catholicity must be set up, and supported by every possible charge that can be made to tell against the mighty church whose bishop claims the dignity and authority of successor to the prince of the apostles. hence the odious names of "roman schism," "romanist," "romish," "tridentine schism," "popery," "popish," and all the other party catch-words of corruption in doctrine, bondage, tyranny, idolatry, etc., which are studiously employed, in order to throw dust in the eyes of the simple and unwary. hence the effort to appropriate the name of catholic, and to use all the phraseology associated with it, in connection with the protestant episcopal communion. rome will not abate one jot or tittle of her divine rights, or of the catholic doctrine of which she is the principal bulwark; and she will not treat the church of england as a branch of the christian church. therefore a rival must be set up against her, backed by the power and the prestige of the english name, and, if possible, also by those of the mighty russian empire and the ancient eastern church. the nonjurors proposed to the eastern prelates sitting in the synod of bethlehem, a plan for combining against rome under an ecclesiastical organization whose head should be the patriarch of jerusalem. it was scornfully rejected, together with all their other overtures. no doubt, if the church of england and the episcopal church of the united states could make a combination with the greek church, on the basis of the oriental standards of doctrine, it would be the most formidable rival possible to the catholic church. but such a union is impossible. the providence of god does not permit heresy and schism to assume the attitude of catholicity, but compels them to manifest their true character by disintegration. { } and here lies another mark of the inconsistency of the theory of those who set up this claim of rival catholicity against rome. the protestant episcopal churches, as such, do not sanction and assert in their public and official action the claim made for them by a certain portion of their members. the utmost that can be said of them is, that they affirm and exact episcopal ordination as requisite to a complete conformity to the polity established by the apostles. they do not, however, assert, or require their clergy to believe, the necessity of apostolic succession to the being of a church. their standards are so constructed as to afford a shelter and a warrant to those who hold this and several other catholic doctrines and principles. these doctrines are not, however, officially put forward as a term of communion, or a condition for ordination. the official doctrine of a church is limited to that which it exacts by authority and under penalty of its teachers to hold and profess. it comes down to the lowest level of doctrine, which its teachers can hold, and still be reputed sound and orthodox clergymen. now a very low protestantism is all that even high church bishops can exact from candidates for the priesthood or the episcopacy. "anglo-catholic" doctrine is nothing but the tolerated opinion of a certain party. therefore, on these "anglo-catholic" principles, and according to the doctrine and decisions of the greek church, the protestant episcopal church is schismatical and heretical, because she enforces nothing by her authority beyond protestantism, which is heresy according to that standard of doctrine which was universally acknowledged before the "separation of the east and west," and accepted both by greeks and "anglo-catholics." according to those principles, then, which would condemn the roman church of heresy and schism, all episcopal churches in the world have fallen away from the unity of faith established by our lord, and the catholic church exists no more. { } hence, even an "anglo-catholic," if he would not be driven into the arms of pure protestantism, and consort with those followers of luther and calvin who are disowned by bishop griswold and his associates, are forced to make common cause with rome and her catholic communion. the progressive portion of those who were engaged in the oxford movement saw and felt all this, and, therefore, in a strict consistency with their catholic principles, and by a logical necessity, they advanced in a romeward direction. it has been necessary to make this long explanation in order to show how matters stood at the time when mr. baker and myself were connected with the ecclesiastical movement in baltimore, under bishop whittingham. the oxford movement was then ten years old. the celebrated ninetieth tract, in which mr. newman took the ground that several roman dogmas were permitted by the thirty-nine articles, and that the articles were to be explained according to the catholic sense of the general body of the universal church, had been some time published, and the controversy excited by it was nearly completed. mr. newman was about resigning st. mary's, and soon after went into retirement at littlemore. a great number of the ablest writers of his party had advanced very far beyond the position taken by the earlier oxford tracts, and by palmer, percival, keble, and others, at the outset. in the united states, the ordination of the rev. arthur carey had taken place, under circumstances of the most peculiar character, which deserve a passing notice. arthur carey was a young student of the new york theological seminary, barely twenty years of age, of an english family, and descended from several bishops of the english church. he was a youth of rare intellectual gifts and acquirements, as well as of the most gentle and lovely character. bishop whittingham, who had been his preceptor, said that he possessed the wisdom of a man of fifty. { } in some way, the suspicions of a number of the principal low church rectors had been excited in regard to him, and he was subjected to a most rigorous examination for orders, in which he manifested his profound theological science and his brilliant parts, together with a magnanimity of spirit which won for him a wide-spread admiration, especially among all high church episcopalians. in the course of his examination, he avowed the most advanced opinions of the oxford party, and expressed his belief in the sound orthodoxy of the decrees of the council of trent. he was violently attacked by some members of the examining committee, and defended by others, the majority finally recommending him for ordination. bishop onderdonk determined to ordain him, and was proceeding in the ceremony of ordination, when he was interrupted by two doctors of divinity in gowns, who publicly protested against the ordination, and then left the church. bishop whittingham urged him very strongly, after his ordination, to come to his diocese, which he declined doing. about this time, i read, in manuscript, a beautiful philosophical essay on transubstantiation, which he wrote, according to the system of leibniz, proving the futility of all the rational arguments urged against it. the circumstances of his ordination made him suddenly famous. he was assistant minister to dr. seabury, at the church of the annunciation, and every sunday his sermons were reported for the secular papers, with minute accounts of his appearance, and all his sayings and doings. this publicity was insufferable to him; and in a letter of his, which i saw, he said that it made life a burden to him. his constitution was extremely delicate, and weakened by close application to study. he was a boy in years, and unable to breast the moral shock which he had received. he speedily sank into a decline, and died at sea, off the moro of havana, whither he had been sent for the benefit of his health, his body being committed to the deep by his fellow-passengers, who were all strangers to him, and one of whom read the burial service over his remains. { } for a long time afterward, his poor father might be seen every day standing on the battery, and gazing wistfully out to sea, with mournful thoughts, longing after the son whom he had lost. there is something in the history of arthur carey assimilating it to that of richard hurrell froude. each of them, in his sphere, did more than any other to arrest the anti-roman tendency of the oxford movement, and give it a romeward direction. in mr. carey's instance, it was not the mere effect of his own personal avowal of holding roman doctrine, but the protection given him in doing so by the bishop of the principal diocese, the directors of the general seminary, and a large number of other bishops and clergymen, which was significant. it was this which led to the persecution of bishop onderdonk; and it was believed that a plan was on foot for similar attacks on the other bishops who were regarded as puseyites. the reader of these pages can now understand something of the nature of those stirring and exciting times in the ecclesiastical world in which mr. baker began his career, and of the events and questions about which we were daily conversing together. bishop whittingham approved of the principle of interpreting the articles laid down in the ninetieth tract. on this principle, i gave my assent to them at my examination for orders, and could not otherwise have assented to them with a safe conscience. the ordination of mr. carey opened the way for us to go forward to the full extent of holding all the doctrines of the council of trent. the current of oxford thought and literature was sweeping us in that direction. we had full access to it, and felt its power, although, as i have said, we were a good deal behind the movement, and ignorant of many things which were taking place in england. mr. baker was far in advance of me at the time our friendship began. he never had that feeling of hostility to the roman church with which so many were filled. { } his early education, and the knowledge he had of catholicity and of the catholic clergy and laity in baltimore, preserved him from that strong prejudice which i retained from the impressions of childhood, and which he aided me greatly to overcome. neither of us ever looked on the roman communion as heretical, schismatical, or essentially corrupt. we adopted, at first, the prevalent idea that it was in a schismatical position in england, and in those parts of the united states where we supposed the protestant episcopal church had prior possession. we dropped this notion, however, after a while; and i remember well that it was a friend of ours, who was then and is now a minister of the episcopal church, who drove it finally out of my head by solid and unanswerable arguments. we could not agree with the bishop and his party in their anti-roman sentiments, and disliked the offensive use of the terms "romish" and "romanist." we regarded the catholic church as composed of three great branches--the latin, greek, and anglican--unhappily estranged from each other, and all more or less to blame for the separation. we did not believe in the supremacy of the pope, in the full catholic sense, as constituting the e essential principle of catholic unity, or that communion with the holy see was necessary to the very being of a church. we did, however, come to believe by degrees in a certain primacy, partly divine and partly ecclesiastical, as necessary to order, and the means of preserving intercommunion among all bishops. what we regarded as errors in roman doctrine, we looked upon as much less fundamental than those protestant errors which pervaded so extensively our own church; we considered them much in the same light with which bishop griswold and his brethren regarded the peculiar doctrines of the greek church, as matters to be tolerated, until all branches of the church could meet in a general council and make a final decision upon all controversies. considering the divided and anomalous state of christendom, we thought that both the roman and anglican bishops had an equally legitimate jurisdiction over their congregations, and that we were alike catholics, and in real communion with the universal church of all ages and nations. { } we thought it to be the duty of each one to remain in the communion where he had been baptized or ordained, and would have dissuaded any episcopalian from joining the roman communion, or any roman catholic from joining ours. i remember, one evening, after hearing an account given with great glee by a young man of the perversion of a catholic, that mr. baker said, after the person in question had gone, "what a miserable story that was which m---- just related!" in my own little parish, there was an irish servant-girl, whom i married to a young englishman, my parishioner. i had no scruple in doing this, not reflecting that i was the occasion of the girl committing a sin against her own conscience. but when her mistress expressed great hopes of her coming over to our church, and i began to think she might apply to me for confirmation, i carefully avoided encouraging the plan, and considered seriously what i ought to do if any such case should arise. very strangely and inconsistently, bishop whittingham used to confirm the occasional perverts that fell in his way, although they had received catholic confirmation. and this increased my difficulty. for i regarded an act of that kind as a sacrilege, and could not have been a party to it in any case, unless i had thought it right, according to my overstrained notions of obedience, to throw the whole responsibility on the bishop. as i have often said, we never entertained the thought of leaving our own church. the conversation of those who talked doubtfully on this point was always most disagreeable to us both, although it was only in one or two instances that we fell in with any such persons. toward our own bishop we were strictly obedient. his violent antipathy to rome and strong anglican party spirit, joined with a timid, politic course of action toward the low church, ultra-protestant party, prevented our giving him full and unreserved confidence. { } mr. baker had seldom the occasion of conversing much with him. i was, however, constantly in his family, and very much in his society. i confided in him as a man of integrity, a sincere and generous friend, and a just and kind superior. but, from the first, there was a barrier which i had not expected to full and unreserved confidence, and a feeling that there was a secret and fundamental difference in our apprehension of the ideas which are contained in the forms of catholic language. i have since discovered what this difference was, and i see now that he really believed in an invisible, ideal catholic church only, and in no other outward, visible unity, except that which is completed in a single bishop and congregation. this explains a remark made at that time by my father, who is thoroughly acquainted with the protestant theology, on one of the bishop's essays; that, except his doctrine of three orders in the ministry, he was a pure congregationalist. mr. newman, also, held the same view, until quite a late period in his anglican life, as appears from his "apologia." in bishop whittingham's own eyes, he was himself the equivalent of the whole catholic episcopate. consequently, what he and his colleagues and predecessors in the anglican church had decreed had full catholic authority, and was just as final and authoritative as if the whole world had taken part in it. hence the assertion of a despotic, exclusive authority of the anglican church, concentrated in his person, over everyone who acknowledged his jurisdiction. he would not permit us to attend any catholic services, or read any catholic books, as an ordinary thing. i read the tract of natalis alexander on the eucharist, and the life of st. francis of sales, in his library, before he made his prohibition. afterward, he gave me himself a volume of tirinus's commentary on the holy scriptures; and these were the only catholic books i read while i was in his family. i was very anxious to read möhler's "symbolism," but i did not; nor did i read ward's "ideal of a christian church;" because he desired me not to do so. { } i even gave up using approved anglican books of devotion in church, because he expressed his disapprobation of using any other book but the "common prayer." mr. baker was equally obedient with myself at that time; although afterward, when he was governed more by common-sense and a just sentiment of his own rights, he read whatever he thought proper. it was anglican books which brought us onward toward the catholic church, and the attempt to live up to and carry out anglo-catholic principles. those who are familiar with the anglo-catholic movement will understand at once what these principles and doctrines were. but for the information of others it may be proper to state them distinctly, as they were understood by mr. baker, and others like him, who approximated more or less toward the catholic church, whether they eventually joined her communion or not: . the visible unity of the catholic church. . the final authority of the church in deciding doctrine, and the authority of general councils. . the necessity of an apostolic succession, and the divine institution of the episcopate. . baptismal regeneration and sacramental grace. . the strictly sacerdotal character of the priesthood, including the power of consecrating, and of absolution. . the real presence in the eucharist. . the sacrificial character of the eucharist. . the propriety of praying for the dead. . the merit of voluntary chastity, poverty, and obedience, and of penitential works. . the value of ceremonies in religion, and the sanctity of holy places and holy things. { } however certain persons may modify and explain certain of these doctrines, no one can deny that the general drift of the writings of the oxford or anglo-catholic school, together with that of the writings of the ancient fathers and of the earlier english divines which are translated or republished by them, was to create and strengthen a belief in these doctrines. they were allowed to be tenable without infidelity to the anglican church, by persons in authority and others, who were themselves lower and more protestant in their opinions. now, i will take for a moment the position of an anglo-catholic, and, upon the basis of the principles i have just enunciated, i will prove that an attitude of hostility to the roman church is wrong and absurd, and that the only consistent and tenable ground is that now taken by the unionists, represented by the _union review_. "the latin, greek, and anglican branches of the catholic church constitute but one visible church, though their unity is impaired and in part interrupted by mutual estrangement. as a member of the anglican church, i look upon the greek church as essentially sound and orthodox, and, if allowed to do so, would wish to receive the sacraments, or, if a clergyman, to officiate as such, in the churches of that rite, if i happened to be in a place where it was established. i look upon the latin church, whose doctrine is the same with that of the greek church, with the single exception of the papal supremacy, in precisely the same light. whatever i may think of the extent of power claimed by the bishop of rome, i must allow that, in a state of perfect intercommunion between all parts of the church, the chief place in the catholic hierarchy and the right of presidency in a general council belong to him. it is most desirable that the greek and anglican churches should be restored again to communion with the roman church, and all controversies respecting doctrine be definitely settled. meanwhile, the spirit of charity ought to be cultivated, and all possible means taken to remove prejudice and misunderstanding. in the present state of confusion and irregularity, the ancient canons respecting one bishop in a city cannot be considered as binding; and therefore roman, greek, and anglican congregations, formed under the authority of bishops who are in regular communion with their own branch, are equally legitimate and catholic, wherever they may be. { } the decisions of the particular national synods of the anglican branch have no final authority, and are only binding so far as they declare the doctrines of the universal church. they are to be interpreted in the 'catholic sense,' and are strictly obligatory only on those who have made a promise to maintain them, and upon those only in the sense in which they are imposed by authority, under censure. it is the catholic church, and not the church of england or the protestant episcopal church of the united states, of which i am a member by baptism, and therefore i have no duties to either of those ecclesiastical organizations, except such as arise out of their relation to the great catholic body, and are compatible with the absolute allegiance i owe to its teaching and law's." such i conceive to be a statement of the only view an anglican can consistently take, unless he plants himself upon the common protestant ground. according to this, it is ridiculous for him to abstain from going to catholic services, reading catholic books, and cultivating the acquaintance of catholic clergymen and lay-people. the pretence of deposing or degrading clergymen, because they pass to the communion of rome, is an absurd and impotent attempt at retaliation. what sin can there be in going from st. paul's church, where the mass is in english, celebrated by a priest of the anglican rite, under the obedience of the catholic bishop whittingham, to the cathedral, where the mass is in latin, celebrated by a priest of the latin rite, under the obedience of the catholic archbishop spalding? how can there be the guilt of apostasy involved in such an act? how can a person "abjure the catholic communion" at rome, by joining that which is confessedly the principal branch of the catholic church? { } a person who believes in this theory of branches may say it is inexpedient and unwise for individuals to leave their particular connection, that it perpetuates the estrangement, and that it is better to wait for the time when the "english branch" will be reunited bodily to the parent tree. they cannot pretend, however, that this is any thing more than a matter of private opinion. the only legitimate means they have for keeping their adherents from leaving them are argument and persuasion. it avails nothing to say that if free access to roman catholic services and books, and, in general, free intercourse with us is permitted, and the charge of schism, violation of baptismal or ordination obligations, &c., is abandoned, we shall gain over a great number of their members. what of that? those who adopt a theory are bound to adhere to it. if this anglo-catholic theory has any thing in it, it ought to be able to sustain the shock of a collision. we have nothing but argument and persuasion on our side. why should their influence be dreaded? if catholic principles, sympathies, and practices gravitate toward rome, let them gravitate; it is a sign that the centre of gravity is there. that the oxford movement did gravitate toward rome by its original force is a plain fact, proved by the number, the character, and the acts of those who have become converts to the catholic church. not that their testimony is a direct proof that the catholic church is divine and infallible. this rests on extrinsic, objective evidence. but it is a direct proof that the pretence of the catholicity of the anglican communion cannot furnish full and complete satisfaction to conscientious minds that have imbibed catholic principles. it professed to do so; but it has failed. those who still cling to it cannot deny that the dissemination of their views generally produces in those who embrace them, at some period of their mental history, a deep misgiving respecting the safety of their position. this is not so in the catholic church. catholics, who retain a firm faith in the principles of catholicity, and endeavor to obey their consciences, never have a misgiving that they are out of the church, or that there is any other church which has a better claim to be regarded as the catholic church. { } if human reason has any certitude, if the human mind is governed by any fixed laws, if the concurrent judgments and convictions of great numbers of the wisest and best men have any value, if there is any such thing as logic, these considerations ought to have weight. but i am weary of chasing this protean phantom of anglo-catholicism through its shifting disguises, and its labyrinthine mazes. and i gladly return to the theme of my narrative. francis baker was ordained deacon on the th of february, , and in the following august was appointed assistant minister of st. paul's church. during the interval he was performing occasional duty in assisting the rectors of different parishes in baltimore, under the bishop's direction. his first sermon was preached in st. paul's church, baltimore, on the sunday afternoon of his ordination day, which was the second sunday of lent. on the evening of the same day he preached at st. peter's. his text was taken from the i. epist. john, iv. : "_and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith_." it was a beautiful sermon, and perfectly catholic in its doctrine and tone. i regret that it is not extant, for i think that if it were, it would be worthy of a place among the sermons published in this volume. in it he extolled a life of virginity in glowing language, as the means of a closer union with christ; and its whole scope was to present the lives of those who have renounced the world, as models of the highest christian perfection. i read prayers for him that evening, and we walked home afterward together. we separated in silence, neither of us expressing his thoughts, but both seeming to feel a kind of blank and unwilling sense of disappointment, as if dimly conscious that our catholicity was an unreal and imaginary thing. at st. paul's church his eloquence took the congregation completely by surprise. { } his quiet, unassuming character had not prepared even his friends to expect that he would manifest so much power as a preacher. from this time his reputation was fixed at the highest point, and he always sustained it. there were several very excellent preachers in the maryland diocese, but i believe it was generally admitted that mr. baker surpassed them all, and the most intellectual and cultivated people ever looked upon his sermons as affording to their minds and hearts one of the choicest banquets they were capable of enjoying. i have never known a young clergyman to be more generally and warmly admired and loved than mr. baker. nevertheless, applause and popularity did not affect him in the least, and the pure mirror of his soul was never tarnished by vanity and self-complacency. even then, his spontaneous desires and longings seemed to forecast the apostolic vocation which was in store for him. he had an ardent desire for a religious life, and was especially attracted by the character and life of nicholas ferrar, and by the history of the little religious community which he formed at little-gidding. in our walks we often conversed about the practicability of establishing a religious house which would give us the opportunity of working among the neglected masses of the people, and looked about for some suitable building for this purpose. there was a scheme talked of for establishing a monastic and missionary institute on the eastern shore of maryland, and there were eight or ten clergymen who would have been eager to join in the enterprise if the bishop had been courageous enough to begin it. but the fear of low churchmen prevailed, and nothing was ever done. we very soon found that the work of "catholicizing" the episcopal church in maryland got on very slowly and miserably, through the open opposition of the low church party, and the dead, inert resistance of the old high church. { } at an early period of bishop whittingham's administration, the rev. henry v. d. johns, rector of christ church, bade him open defiance, and preserved that attitude until his death, many years afterward. the bishop preached and published two remarkably learned and able sermons on the priesthood, one of which was preached at the institution of mr. johns. at the close of it he exhorted the parishioners to receive their new rector as their divinely-appointed teacher, and to submit to his instructions with docility. the same night, mr. johns preached a sermon which contained a violent attack on the bishop's doctrine, and made a solemn declaration, sanctioned by an appeal to heaven, that he would evermore oppose that doctrine, and preach the contrary in his pulpit. this was the signal for hostilities, and a sharp controversy arose out of the affair, which was renewed from time to time, as occasion offered. the bishop made one or two more efforts to bring out his reformed catholicism in sermons or charges, and then desisted, seeming to be more anxious to defend himself against the charge of popery than to attack protestantism. in regard to the outward ceremonial of religion, the efforts made to improve it were equally feeble and abortive. there was a miserable little church in an obscure street, called st. stephen's, with an altar something like a marble-topped wash-stand, and some curtains covered with roughly-executed symbols, such as mitres, chalices, keys, etc., where we played a little at catholics with so much success that a good old lady said it was worse than the cathedral. the opposition which was excited by these innocent and absurd little ecclesiological essays were such that the parish was nearly ruined, and the rector in great alarm speedily banished all innovations, and brought his chancel and his windows back to the old-fashioned style. there was a little preaching in the surplice, a little display of crosses, and a great deal of catholic talk in private circles, and very little else. the attempt to make the protestant episcopal church in maryland exhibit herself as the reformed catholic church was a most signal failure. { } the _true catholic_ labored faithfully to defend mr. newman from the charge of romanizing until he actually joined the catholic church, and then took to decrying him and other converts as much as possible. it then took up archdeacon manning, h. w. wilberforce, and marshall, loading its pages with extracts from their writings, until all these gentlemen followed mr. newman's example. what it did afterward, and whether it has survived until the present time or not, i do not know. the cassocks were silently and gradually dropped. some of the young clergymen married, and took to walking sedately in the old paths, and others left the diocese. the few who could not unlearn or forget the catholic principles they had imbibed, retired into themselves and kept quiet. and thus matters went back to their old condition of a sort of uneasy compromise between high and low church, on the basis of a common hostility to rome. i remember well the startling effect produced by the news of mr. newman's conversion. whatever his modesty may induce him to say in disclaimer, he was the leader, the life, and the soul, of the oxford movement: his genius and character had acquired for him in this country, as well as in england, a sway over a multitude of minds such as is seldom possessed by any living man. the news of his conversion was brought to baltimore by bishop reynolds, of charleston, who had just arrived from europe. i heard it from bishop whittingham, one evening, after i had been to prayers in st. paul's. i passed him on the steps and went out, and heard him say in a sorrowful tone, "newman has gone." it went to my heart as if i had heard of my father's death. i did not wish to speak with anyone on the subject, for, although i was not prepared to follow him, yet i could not speak harshly or lightly of the decision of a man whose wisdom and goodness i venerated so highly, or endure to hear the comments of others. { } mr. baker and i had no opportunity to converse together very much on this matter, or indeed on any other. our separation was at hand, under circumstances painful and trying to both. he was confined to the chamber of his brother alfred, who was dangerously ill with the varioloid, and, of course, could neither make or receive any visits. i was obliged to leave baltimore a few days after, for north carolina, by the order of my physician. i took a hurried farewell of mr. baker, at the door of his house, with very little expectation, on either side, of ever meeting again. he had assisted me very frequently in the duties of my little parish in the suburbs, during several months of declining health, and after my departure he continued to visit the congregation and preach for them occasionally. it was during the autumn of that i left baltimore. at the close of the holy week of i was received into the catholic church, at charleston, s. c., and in march, , i was ordained priest by the right rev. dr. reynolds, the bishop of the diocese. before leaving edenton, n. c., where i resided during the previous winter, i wrote to mr. baker to inform him of my intention, and i continued to write to him occasionally, receiving letters from him in return, for some months afterward. the correspondence on his part soon became constrained and formal, and at last was stopped at his request. for the three years, immediately following my ordination, i saw or heard nothing of him. i continued to hope for his conversion, and often offered up the holy sacrifice for that intention. by degrees, however, the thought of him passed away from my mind, and i ceased to anticipate that the broken thread of our friendship would ever be re-united. i supposed that he had become permanently settled at some halting-place between protestantism and the catholic church, and would live and die contentedly in his chosen position as an episcopalian clergyman, forgetting his earlier and nobler aspirations as among the dreams of youth. { } for the history of his mind during this period, i am indebted to the letters which he continued to write to the bosom friend who has been already spoken of, and the information which that friend has given me personally. i am also indebted to the same source, chiefly, for the history of his progress toward catholicity, during the entire period of seven years which elapsed before his reception into the catholic church. for, although i saw him repeatedly during the last three years of this period, he was extremely guarded and reserved in his language; and during our common life together, as catholics, afterward, i never asked him for any detailed account--the subject having, in great measure, lost its interest for us both. i have reason to believe that at the time of my conversion he had his misgivings, and indeed his first letters to me showed a disposition on his part to enter into a free discussion of the matter with me. he soon quieted these misgivings, however, and determined to throw himself heart and soul into the work of realizing catholicity in his own church. he even underwent a reaction which awoke a feeling of hostility to the roman church, and of anger against me, for having, as he expressed it, "spoiled their plans." his good and true friend of past days, who had continually encouraged and urged him on from the first to follow boldly in the footsteps of those who led the advance of the oxford movement, would not, however, permit him to rest in this state. he was determined himself not to shut his eyes to the difficulties and perplexities of his position, and he would not allow his friend to do it. he never ceased to unbosom freely all his own doubts and disquietudes, to communicate the results of his continual reading and reflection, and to stimulate his friend to push on in the study of catholic principles and doctrines until he had reached a final and satisfactory result. judging from the letters of mr. baker which i have before me, i should think that both his misgivings about his own position and his bitter feelings toward the roman church gave place to a quiet resolution of adhering to the position he had taken, before mr. newman's conversion and that of others of lesser note had startled his repose. { } for two or three years his letters do not indicate a disquieted mind, but are often full of hope for the prospects of the anglican communion. by degrees a change is manifest, and it is easy to see the progress of a conviction slowly forcing itself upon him that the episcopal church is essentially protestant, and all the efforts made to place her in a catholic light and attitude a mere illusion. the workings of a mind and heart struggling with doubt and disquiet, weary of a hollow and unreal system, weaned from all worldly hopes, detaching itself from all earthly ties, and striving after the truth and after god, become more and more manifest, until at last, after seven long years, the result is reached. i have hesitated much before determining to insert a portion of these letters in this narrative. certain motives of delicacy toward my departed friend and others would incline me to withhold them. but their perusal has seemed to me to exhibit so much more clearly than any narrative of mine could do, the transparent purity of the heart from which they emanated, and the wonderful workings of divine grace upon it, that i have judged it best to prefer the profit of those who will read this book to private feeling. some of them, which are merely descriptive, i have inserted, because there could be no reason for withholding them, and they will give pleasure to the friends of the writer, who value every thing which came from his pen. in regard to others, which were private and confidential, i have used the utmost caution to select only those portions which are necessary to a full exhibition of the writer's gradual progress to the catholic church. i will first quote some extracts from the correspondence of an earlier period, which show the first blossoms of the later ripened fruit of catholic faith and holiness in the pure and upright soul of francis baker. { } from francis a. baker to dwight e. lyman. "baltimore, _february_ , . "my dear dwight: * * * * * "of course you have seen the letter 'quare impedit.' is it not very caustic? i cannot but think it defective in the non-expression of what the writer doubtless believed, the sense in which the council of trent's words as to 'immolation' are true. it does not sufficiently bring out the true and unfigurative sense in which the sacrifice on the altar is the same with the sacrifice on the cross. * * * * * "as i go on with my studies, my dear dwight, i become more and more attracted to them, and, i hope, more and more of a catholic. indeed, i seem to myself to live in a different world from that around me, and to be _practical_ i find one of the most difficult attainments. but to be frank with you, in looking forward to the future, the situation of a parish priest seldom fills my mind. i almost always look to the monastic life in some of its modifications. it is true that on the score of fitness i have no right to look forward to such privileges; but from some circumstances which you will appreciate, my heart has been drawn more entirely from the world than most persons of my age. but the future belongs to god, and i must now prepare myself for the duties which seem pointed out to me. i have not spoken to anyone else of this long-cherished desire, and, indeed, there are at present insurmountable difficulties in the way; but i do not look upon it is as so visionary a scheme as i once did. * * * * * "your brother told me of his intended repairs in his church. i am delighted to hear it. it will not be long, i hope, before such is the universal arrangement of our churches. only one thing will be lacking (if he has a cross), the candlesticks. i have come to the conclusion that we have a perfect right to them, for they will come in by the church common-law, as the surplice did. { } i do not suppose it would be proper for a priest to introduce them without his ordinary's sanction. i do wish a charge would come out recommending the catholic usages. i don't give any weight to the cry of some about us, to wait for such things until catholic doctrines are received. i cannot but think that such things would have a reflex influence on doctrine. while we are externally so identified with the protestants, it will be hard to convince the world that we have any claims to antiquity or catholicity. pray use your influence to have a solid altar, and as large as may be." * * * * * "baltimore, _june_ , . "it was a great disappointment to me not seeing you here at the convention, and there has been going on here so much of interest to you. the roman council you have heard all about, i am sure. i was not present, of course, at any of their services or meetings, nor did i see any of their processions, but from all i have heard, and from what i have seen at other times, i think it must have been a most glorious spectacle. i do not think i am fond of pageantry, but it must have been heart-stirring to see the church coming out of the sanctuary which she has in her own bosom, and going forth to take possession of the world in the name of her ascended lord. imagine a band of sixteen venerable bishops, with surpliced acolytes and vested priests, with their lights and cross and crosier, all chanting in murmuring responses some old processional chant; the effect of the whole heightened by the brightness of a may sun reflected from many a golden stole and glittering mitre! i am sure the sight would have set you crazy. indeed, i feared myself that it would present an unfortunate contrast with our neat, dress-coat clergy. but our own convention had far more of an ecclesiastical appearance this year than it ever had before. { } the daily matins at six o'clock, the litany at nine, and the full mass service at twelve, all seemed as if we were suddenly transplanted into some other age of the church, when she understood and realized her heavenly mission better than in these later days. every day after the reading of the gospel, all joined in a solemn profession of the old nicene faith; then the holy sacrifice was offered, and all were allowed to partake of the holy mysteries." * * * * * "baltimore, _june_ , . "when the ordination is appointed, if possible, i will let you know; and if you are disposed to treat me better than i did you, i should be truly glad to see you here on that occasion. at all events, my dear dwight, do not forget to pray for me. i regret exceedingly that the advantage of the regular ember season will be lost to me, for i feel in need of all the assistance which the united prayers of the holy church might be expected to procure. as soon after my ordination as may be, i wish to go to work in such a department as may be assigned me by the will of god and the direction of the bishop. i wish not 'to choose my way,' but as far as possible to submit to the direction of others, my superiors; for that i believe to be the very secret of ministerial influence. in my case, however, there can hardly be any trial of virtue in this course, for with such a bishop as god has placed over us, submission is no sacrifice. i have deliberately resolved to maintain a single life, and acquainted the bishop with my determination. i think he approved of my resolution, though he dissuaded me from taking a vow to that effect. although i acquiesced in his advice, yet i shall consider myself from the date of my ordination pledged to preserve that state, by the grace of god. all this is strictly between ourselves, for i abhor to _talk_ about such things. i consider this a matter, in our church at least, of strictly individual choice, and while i have no hesitation myself in adopting the course i have mentioned, i should despise myself and think but poorly of my own motives, if i should ever think less of another for exercising differently his christian liberty." * * * * * { } the foregoing extracts are taken from letters written before the time of my leaving baltimore, and of course, therefore, before the thought of joining the catholic church had entered any of our minds. those which follow were written at various times during the period of seven years, between and , which was the period of transition in mr. baker's mind, ending in his conversion. "baltimore, _july_ , . "every thing has been remarkably quiet in baltimore for the last month. there seems to be nothing of the excitement that for a while prevailed on the subject of 'roman tendencies' and 'perversions.' i know not whether the 'few thoughts' of mr. h., which is just published here, and which i suppose you have seen, will awaken controversy; but should suppose not, from the occasion and nature of the publication, it being merely an explanation of his own course, and written immediately on the determination to take that course. i have heard the pamphlet spoken of as 'a weak production,' as 'doing mr. h. no credit.' are we not too apt to speak so of the work of an opponent? of course the essay is not a learned and systematic argument, nor does it profess to be so; but it is (as it appears to me) honest, to the point, and well expressed. i speak this of the production: as an argument, it of course resolves into the great roman plea of _visible unity_. "i understand that a mr. ----, a presbyter of our church, and alumnus of the general theological seminary, made his public abjuration of protestantism in st. mary's chapel, on sunday last. i suppose you have seen the account of ----'s defection. i was told, a few days ago, that ---- has made up his mind to 'go;' but as it was a roman catholic who told me, i did not know but he might be misled. { } do you know any thing about it? i received, a few days ago, a letter from h. it was merely a friendly letter, without controversy, describing his mode of life, written very cheerfully and kindly. it will give me pleasure to show it to you when you come to baltimore to see me, to which visit i look forward with great pleasure. we will then talk about all these strange events and times, and on our thoughts and feelings concerning them. adieu, adieu, my dear friend. let us keep close to each other; but first, close to god, and in all things obedient to his will. again adieu, my dear, good friend." it is easy for one who knew intimately the writer of this letter to see that his heart was sad and disquieted when he wrote it, although he does not directly say so; especially from the unusual warmth and tenderness of his expressions of attachment to his friend. about two months after he wrote it, the time came for him to pass his examination for priest's orders. the circumstances under which his examination took place redoubled this disquiet, and caused him to hesitate much about receiving ordination. in the course of his examination, he was asked if he accepted the thirty-nine articles. it appears that he was not able to accept the reasoning of tract no. , upon which he must have gone at his ordination to the diaconate, and accordingly he replied boldly that he rejected some of the articles, and could not in any way give his assent to them. i do not know how many of them he qualified in this way; but i know that one of them was the thirty-first, as to its second section: "wherefore, the sacrifices of masses, in the which it was commonly said that the priest did offer christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain and guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits;" and i think, that, another was the twenty-second: "of purgatory," etc. { } a discussion arose among his examiners upon the propriety of passing him. the bishop endeavored to waive the whole question, and succeeded in preventing his rejection. the rector of st. peter's, who was the chairman of the committee, and whose duty it was to present the candidates, declined, however, to present mr. baker, though, with a singular inconsistency, he privately urged him to be ordained. mr. baker almost resolved to stop where he was, and regretted afterward that he had not done so. he suffered himself, however, to be overruled by the authority and persuasion of the bishop, and as dr. wyatt also excused himself from taking the responsibility of presenting him, he was presented by another presbyter, and ordained on the th of september, . his health as well as his spirits were impaired by these troubles; and, therefore, a short time afterward he made a trip to the north, in order to recreate both body and mind, and with the hope of driving away, by change of scene, the unpleasant thoughts which haunted him. in this he was in a measure successful. he appears to have made a resolute determination to throw himself into his ministry, and to put away all doubt from his mind. he went in search of all that was attractive and encouraging in his own communion, and his letter, giving an account of his trip, shows that his attachment to it was deepened and renewed by the impression made on him by the beautiful churches, the tasteful and decorous services, and the agreeable, intellectual men of congenial spirit with himself, described by him in such a pleasing style. it was after this journey that he wrote to me, expressing a firm determination to adhere to his chosen position, assigning for his chief reason the "signs of life" which he saw in the episcopal church; and he soon after, as i have said, dropped his correspondence with me, as one separated from him by a barrier which was never to be passed over. { } "baltimore, _november_ , . "i enjoyed my visit to the north quite as much as your or my own expectations promised. i think the jaunt was in every way beneficial to me. i spent a week delightfully in new york, where a new world, as it were, of churches was opened to me, and had a most happy (what i call) _heart_ visit to troy. but you will expect to hear particulars. to commence with the commencement, then, what shall i say of trinity church? in some respects it is far beyond my conceptions. the first impression was really overpowering. it was on saturday morning, and but for a few minutes, and it seemed to me that both externally and internally the building was most majestic and beautiful. i next saw it on sunday morning, to great advantage. it was communion day, and fourteen priests in their surplices were in attendance (the convention having adjourned late the night before). the church was full, but very orderly--the music grave and fine--though i confess to you (pardon my ignorance and temerity) it was not exactly as i should have liked. it seemed to me to want _impressiveness_ or _expression_. it was neither soothing, nor, _to me_, very grand. dr. ---- preached. i never saw the holy communion celebrated and _administered_ in any church with so fine effect. the scene, when the choir was filled with the worshippers waiting for their turn to receive, was truly majestic. on that day i went away with a most agreeable impression. after i had been there, how ever, in the week, and especially as i became familiar with it, i was very conscious of the great defect and coldness of the chancel. the meanness of the altar is positively too bad; and the _unmeaningness_ of the heavy altar-screen is curious. the window is not just up my taste; but i do not think so badly of it as some do. on the whole, i think there can be no doubt that the chancel is a failure; but the nave is very fine, and the doorway, the organ-gallery, the organ, the tower, and the side-porches most beautiful. { } on the afternoon of the sunday, i went to grace church, listened to the music---exquisite _of its kind_--saw the images!!! looked at the church, and examined the stained windows. i cannot agree with you about this building. certainly it has some beauties. the external appearance is very fine, and the single figure of our blessed lord, in the east window, beautiful; but i must say that the whole of the interior presented to me a look of _finery_, and an absence of solemnity, most unpleasant in the sanctuary. the windows were simply distressing. it will seem very protestant after this to say it, but still it is true, that the church looked very like a roman catholic church to me; perhaps it would be truer to say _romish_, for it seemed to me in keeping with some things we call by this name. i was disappointed in grace church; for i went prepared to like it, from your representation, and from my confidence in your taste. "next in order of my seeing, but really, perhaps, first of all, is the church of the holy communion. this is really a gem. i was there at evening prayer on a week-day, and i left with a grateful heart that it was granted me to worship there. i am not much of an architect, but the building seemed to me _perfect_. i at least had no fault to find with it. the services were read at the chancel rail. the canticles were chanted with the organ accompaniment. it was at once solemn and very beautiful. i said i had no fault to find. perhaps that is too much. i do think there is an absence of warmth in the colors of the church, and of a certain grace and brightness about the chancel, which would be entirely obviated by substituting, instead of the present altar, a white or colored marble one of the same size, adorned with candlesticks and covered with a lace cloth. this, however, is to make it a _perfect_ church for my eye, and i am not at all sure that i am right. { } "i said troy was the most agreeable place i had visited. you will not need to be told what it was which gave it this interest: the church of the holy cross. oh, how glorious that enterprise is! how perfectly devotional and elevating those services! i was made very, very happy by this visit. it seemed unearthly, and it seemed, too, a promise of better and holier days, a harbinger of returning glory to our depressed church. could you not introduce this service into the college. it is worth a very great effort. nothing else can produce such an effect as the choral service. with the material you have, i should not think it would be impossible, and at nothing short of this ought you to stop. i formed a valuable acquaintance with, and had the pleasure of visiting all the clergy of the place, who are remarkably united, and who received me with southern warmth and cordiality. i was at the church of the holy cross as often as it was possible for me to be there, you may be sure, and left it at the last with real regret. i consider this visit alone fully repaid me for the journey." * * * * * from this time there is not a trace of disquietude with his position to be observed in his correspondence, until . under date of february, , he writes to his friend, who, as it appears from his own declarations, was the only intimate friend he had among his brother clergymen: "i still write now and then to h., but there is such a restriction on the freedom of thought and expression in speaking to him, that i have but very little interest in the correspondence; indeed i think it hardly likely long to continue; but from you there is no need or wish on my part to conceal any thing. * * * * * i _long_ to leave st. paul's. i do not say this to anyone here, for nothing is gained of talking; but to you i say that i am obliged constantly to fall back on the reflection that, until some other way is opened, my duty lies here. it is not on account of any disagreeables in my position; but there are peculiar dangers and difficulties attending it, and i cannot help fearing constantly that my life is too easy and too soft to please god. { } still i see not which way to move. i think i wish to submit myself entirely to the divine will. i hope it will not seem impertinent, dear dwight, to express a hope that this coming lent may be a season of strict discipline to us both. oh, i need it! i cannot tell you how the sense of responsibility concerning the souls of others sometimes alarms me. i can say this to you, without hypocrisy, i trust. i need to be purged by penance very, very much, to be drawn away from pride and vain-glory, and slothfulness and self-will; these are my besetting sins; and to be stirred up to diligent study, to obedience, to humility, to labor, and to prayer. i pray that i may have the grace to fulfil the work which god has put in my heart to undertake this lent, that he would draw me away from all things else, entirely to be united to him. it would be a most pleasant thought that we were thus entering on this penitential season together." the following extract from a letter of june , , shows the interest which the writer still felt in mr. newman:-- "is it not encouraging to see the stir that has been raised in england about dr. hampden's nomination? the secular papers all call the opposition a 'tractarian movement.' if they mean by this that none but tractarians are engaged in it, it is palpably false; but in another sense it is certainly true. i see clearly in the whole matter the fruits of that movement, the greater earnestness and zeal for orthodoxy, _as such_, so different from what would have been exhibited a quarter of a century ago. and whom are we to thank for fixing the brand of heterodoxy upon this man; so that he cannot pass off his sophisms upon an unwary church, but the great master to worn we once looked up, to whom god gave so clear a vision of the truth and so great a zeal to uphold it? this is the fruit of a seed sown by a hand now raised up against us, one of the many gifts by which we keep him and his great faculties in remembrance, though, alas! 'we now see him no more.'" { } in one of these letters mr. baker speaks of his desire to leave st. paul's church for some other field of labor. nevertheless, he remained there six years out of the eight years of his protestant ministry. in he received an invitation to the church of st. james the less, a very beautiful and costly, though small church, in the suburbs of philadelphia, built after the style of the english benedictine abbey-churches, and fitted up after the manner which delights the anglo-catholic heart. this invitation he declined, at the request of his bishop, who was naturally loth to part with him. a proposal was then made that he should found a new parish; and this, i suppose, was the plan afterward carried out at st. luke's. this plan was postponed from time to time on account of the precarious health of alfred baker. meanwhile, he devoted himself most assiduously to his private religious exercises and to his ministerial labors. i have never known a young clergyman more universally and warmly loved and admired than he was among the people of his communion. he improved sedulously his admirable gifts for preaching, and in a diocese containing a number of excellent preachers, he attained and kept the first rank. his fastidious taste and sense of propriety led him soon to drop the long cassock, and every thing else in outward dress and demeanor which had appeared singular in the first years of his ministry. he avoided controversy and all peculiarities of doctrine in his sermons, and confined himself chiefly to those truths of religion and those practical points which could be received without question by his hearers. aside from the pastoral intercourse which he had with his people, his life was very retired. he had the ideal of the catholic priesthood always in view, and this encompassed his discharge of ministerial duties with many practical difficulties. he felt this particularly, as he has often said, in his visits to the sick and dying, on account of the want of the proper sacraments, and the want of a real and recognized sacerdotal relation. { } he could not help feeling always that while theoretically he regarded himself as a catholic priest, in point of fact he was but a protestant minister, compelled to fall back on a system of subjective pietism, based on lutheran doctrine, to which he had an invincible repugnance, and in which his hands were tied. meanwhile events were progressing in the english church and producing their reflex action in this country. on the one hand, the oxford movement was still going forward under new leaders, and on the other, the protestant character of the anglican establishment and its american colony was exhibiting itself every day more and more decisively. the first great wave that had rolled toward catholicity had cast up those who were foremost on its crest on the rock of peter. another wave was rolling forward in the same direction, which was destined to bear on its summit still more of those who floated on the great sea of doubt and error to the same secure refuge. the first converts were given up to obloquy, and their influence in every possible way lowered or destroyed, by belittling their character, if that was possible, or, if not, by inventing specious reasons to show that the course they had taken was the result of some personal idiosyncrasy, and not the just consequence of their catholic principles. it was stoutly asserted that the movement was not responsible for them, and that it did not of itself lead to rome. it began again afresh with new men, new books, new projects. again there was an advanced party; and in due time this advanced party began to move romeward, denying as before that it would ever actually arrive at rome. nevertheless, many of its members, some of very high character and position, did eventually follow the earlier converts over to the catholic church. others, especially those who were in stations of dignity and authority, began to recoil and retract, and call back their followers to the safer ground of the old high church. { } in this country there was a sad lack of earnestness and reality on the part of the majority of those who had yielded themselves to oxford influences, and these influences were but faintly felt by the laity. mr. baker was, however, deeply and sadly in earnest. he had schooled himself into submission to his _soi-disant_ church and bishop, and resolutely determined to believe that he could think, act, and live up to catholic doctrines and laws where he was. he had thrown himself anew into anglicanism, putting faith in its new leaders and the old ones who remained, and confiding in the reality and success of their efforts. long and wearily he struggled to hold out in this course, in spite of the daily increasing evidence that it was delusive and hopeless. for long years he was tossed backward and forward on the waves of doubt and uncertainty, sometimes almost gaining a foothold on the rock, and then dashed again backward into the sea. most persons, whether they are catholics or protestants, will wonder that mr. baker, having approached at first, by almost a single bound, so near the very threshold of the catholic church, should have waited and hesitated so long before taking the final step over its border. those who have not felt it can hardly understand the strong spell by which the system so ably advocated by the oxford divines captivated many minds. to those who were deeply imbued with certain catholic prepossessions, and yet not emancipated from the old hereditary prejudice against the roman church, it offered a compromise which allowed them to cherish their prepossessions and yet remain in the reformed church, where they were at home and among their friends, and free to select some and reject other catholic doctrines and usages, according to their own private judgment and taste. it pretended to give them "a catholicity more catholic, and an antiquity more ancient" than those of the ancient, universal mother and mistress of churches herself. { } once seduced by this specious pretence, there was no end to the ingenious arguments, wire-drawn distinctions, fine-spun theories, and plausible special pleading by which they were detained under its influence. the theory has infinite variations, and a flexibility which accommodates itself to every form of doctrine, from the lowest tolerated in the episcopal ministry to the highest advocated in the _union review_. this influence on the mind and conscience is a very injurious one, and tends to disable them from reasoning and deciding, in a plain and direct manner, on broad and general principles. mr. baker became aware of this afterward, and regretted that he had permitted himself to be swayed so much by the authority of others instead of following the dictates of his own judgment and conscience. it is impossible for me to say whether he was dilatory in following the inspirations of divine grace or not. no one but god can certainly judge how much time is necessary in any individual case for the full maturing of the convictions into a distinct and undoubting faith. one thing i can assert, however, with confidence, and i believe that every one who reads the ensuing extracts from mr. baker's letters will share the same conviction: that he never deliberately quenched the light of the divine spirit, or refused to follow it from any worldly and unworthy motives. he sought for wisdom by study, prayer, and a pure life, and although he was slow in arriving at a full determination, yet he made a continual progress toward it; and when he reached it, he did not shrink from any sacrifice which obedience to god and his conscience required of him. in a letter under the date of june , , after speaking of the probability of his leaving st. paul's, and the uncertainty he was in in regard to his future plans, which were interfered with by the ill-health of his brother, he thus writes: { } "i missed you at the convention; indeed, there are several reasons why i did not enjoy myself at that time. it seemed to me that there were but one or two with whom i had any real sympathy. there was very little done. the bishop could not be present on account of indisposition. k. read the bishop's charge. it was able, but _thoroughly_ and _strongly_ protestant. the position it took was perfectly unequivocal; and it places certain people, whose position before was sufficiently uncomfortable, in a most painful predicament. he shuts us up to the very sense of the articles and prayer-book, _as understood by the reformers;_ and tells those who cannot submit to this, who are willing not to _contradict_ that sense, but do not _believe_ it, he tells them very plainly that they are obliged to leave a ministry for which they are no longer competent. the charge convinces me either that we have heretofore misunderstood the bishop, or that he has fixed himself upon a new platform. he now makes the protestant element in our church's teaching (which is certainly the most prominent one in her history) the most authoritative and controlling. it appears to me that he might as well have said at once that the church of england was _founded_ at the reformation. may god teach us what we ought to do." i have been told by mr. baker that the bishop, on some occasion, sent him his charge to look over, with the request that he would read it for him at the convention, and that he declined reading it, on account of his strong objection to the doctrine it contained. i suppose that this must have been the charge in question. i find no other letter from this date until january , , under which date he writes at length, and begins to unbosom himself more freely than he had done before: "there was something in your last letter which was particularly refreshing to me. it seemed like old times, and brought an assurance of sympathy when i had begun deeply to feel the want of it. you say that my letter was not so full or like myself as some others. there was a reason why it was not so, and the same reason has delayed the answer to your last kind favor. { } i have had many painful and distressing thoughts, which i hardly knew how to express to any one; and it seemed a wrong and cruelty to grieve one's friends when every catholic-minded brother had so much to bear on his own account. now that i have decided upon the course i will take, i can write more calmly, and with less risk of perplexing others. you will guess the cause of anxiety. my conviction of the truth and holiness of catholic doctrines has not diminished since i saw you; my apprehension of what i hold is firmer and more distinct; my prejudice against some things which the roman church holds as catholic truths, but which we deny, has been shaken; and while this was enough to make my present position in some respects uncomfortable, the longing for a fuller measure of catholic privileges, the want of sympathy, the uncertainty, dissension, and mutability among us, and the awful greatness of the claims and promises of rome, made me willing to entertain the thought of changing my ecclesiastical relations. on looking back upon this state of feeling, there was much that was wrong. i felt in many ways the results of past unfaithfulness; i was confused and perplexed; i was doubtful of my own sincerity. sometimes every thing seemed uncertain to me. but whatever were the causes, and whatever the characteristics of my state of mind, i felt, upon a careful examination of myself that the only proper course for me to pursue was to institute a candid and diligent search into the claims of the roman church to be _the_ holy catholic church. all her claims seem to resolve themselves into that of the supremacy of the see of st. peter, and i accordingly resolved to confine my investigations to that point. i communicated my determination to the bishop last week, and asked him whether i could continue to officiate while i was engaged in such a course. he thought i could and ought, and offered me every assistance in his power, in the way of books, advice, etc. he was wonderfully kind and forbearing, but firm in assuring me that investigation of the point would but end in conviction of the untenableness of the roman claim. { } i have felt calmer since i acted thus, and propose to enter forthwith upon the study of this question, keeping it as clear as i can of exterior matters, and pushing it, if i may, to a decision. i need not, i know, ask of you the charity to continue your prayers for the divine blessing and guidance to your perplexed friend." "_tuesday night_. "you will understand, from what i have been telling you of the thoughts which have occupied my mind for some time past, how the various events in the church during the last few months have affected me. with regard to ----'s departure, i confess it was the deepest grief to me, and, in connection with other circumstances, did much to distress and unsettle me. it is one of the most afflicting things about the present controversies, these separations between friend and friend, between master and disciple; yet i know that even this is to be borne meekly and obediently, if we cannot see it to be our _imperative duty_ to follow those we have loved and lost; and now that i have undertaken in a rational way to satisfy myself on this point i can think more calmly of our isolation and bereavement. to return to more protestant ground (i know that it does not suit unlearned people to say what they will do, but) i feel is impossible. my conviction of the truth of the system (in opposing and barking at which protestantism has its life and occupation) continually increases; but i think i feel that if i could be persuaded that the divine will made it to be my duty to remain where i am, i could submit to all the difficulties and privations of our position uncomplainingly and even cheerfully. "bishop ives's movement, so far as it was intended to introduce the general practice of auricular confession, had my unrestrained sympathy. how far he meant to go in asserting its _necessity_, i confess myself unable to determine; but anyhow, i think he went farther than protestant episcopalianism will bear him out in going. { } it was an infinite relief to me when he came out as boldly as he did; and now that he has presented the subject anew to the church, i feel assured that the church will be obliged to meet the question. i confess i do not feel very hopeful as to the issue of the controversy, for it seems to me that nothing short of a miracle could dispose the mass of our people to the practice of confession. the high churchmen will be as opposed to it as the low churchmen. maryland will kick as much as ohio. but _nous verrons_." some time after the date of this letter, mr. baker made a voyage to bermuda with his brother alfred, who was now in a deep and hopeless decline. he returned some time in the early part of the ensuing summer. one day, either a little before or a little after this voyage, i accidentally met him as i was out walking. i had returned once more to baltimore, and was making my novitiate at the house attached to st. alphonsus' church. it was now nearly five years since i had seen my former friend, and three since i had received any letters from him. i was startled and pleased at our unexpected rencontre, and at the light of friendship which i saw in his face and eyes; but the pain of being separated from him was renewed. mr. lyman came to see me, one day, during the spring of ; and was much more frank and cordial in his manner than mr. baker, who kept a close vail of reserve over his heart until the last. i inquired of him particularly about mr. baker, whether he had made any retrograde movement, &c. he replied that he had rather advanced, and had become more spiritual in his preaching, advised me to visit him, and on my objecting to this on the ground that a visit might be intrusive and unwelcome, assured me of the contrary. it was through his influence that some degree of intercourse was from this time re-established between mr. baker and myself. a subsequent letter of mr. baker speaks of his visiting me, and also describes his visit to bermuda in the following terms. the letter is dated october , :-- { } "on my return from bermuda, i found your kind and interesting letter, and felt grateful to you for the friendship which you have now continued to me for several years. i am sorry not to have seen you when you were in baltimore, and in fact that was the only regret i felt on account of my absence from home at the time of the convention. the convention itself i have ceased to look forward to with any pleasure. the truth is, it always saddens me to mingle at all with the clergy promiscuously. i feel that there is so little sympathy between us, that the sense of loneliness is forced upon me more distinctly than when i keep to myself altogether. but i do not mean to write gloomily to a friend with whom i communicate so seldom, and indeed i do not _complain_ of the want of sympathy which i feel, or blame others for it. i know that the cause of it is in myself, and i acknowledge with gratitude the great degree of indulgence, kindness, and forbearance with which i have been universally treated. "i have felt happier lately, though i do not know why i should, for i cannot say that i have gained a satisfactory position; and when i think of dying, anxious thoughts come across me; but i have been pursuing (as my occupation allows me) my investigations into the question of the supremacy, and i wish to abide by the result, without being swayed by feeling one way or another. i have read newman's discourses since i received your letter. they are like all that he writes, thoughtful, earnest, holy, and deeply impressive; but i think they differ from his parochial sermons in having the appearance of more excited feeling, and in being more affectionate in their tone. he seems to write under a pressing anxiety to influence those he addresses, and he opens his heart more than he did of old. i think this accounts in part for an objection which i have heard brought against them, that they are not so strictly logical. { } he seems to me possessed with that proselyting spirit which has always appeared to me to be so divine a token about the church of rome, as if the constant reflection of his mind was, 'what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' "i was deeply interested in the account of your visit to h. i too saw h., but only for a moment. we met on the road, and he stopped most kindly, and we had a minute's conversation. of course there was nothing but commonplace. i know not how he felt, but i felt very sad. "you may imagine that i have looked with no little interest at the progress of ecclesiastical affairs in england. the secessions lately have made a tremendous excitement--more so, i really think, than those in , perhaps on account of the 'present distress.' "i have not much of interest to tell you about bermuda. you know it is an english colony, and i saw there for the first time the workings of the english church. in every thing except the morning and evening prayer, i think we have the advantage, particularly excepting the latter. the clergy i found a hard-working set of men, frank and cordial, and very much interested and well informed in matters relating to our church. the churches are very plain, but have a quiet, grave, soothing air about them, the clergy mostly 'high church,' but not after our sort, and the people seemed to me to be almost entirely devoid of a church tone and spirit, though not irreligious. dissent is very rife, and, i fancy, influences even members of the church. they have a noble-hearted bishop, bishop field, austere, self-denying, devout, hard-working, and charitable, and by his assistance they are building a very handsome church on the island; but i found that he was not popular, that even his mode of life was objected to: he was called a _puseyite_. i did not preach while i was there, but i assisted several of the clergy at the services, and once at the holy communion, in which i found the omission of 'the oblation' to have a most painful effect upon my feelings. { } "i was very glad to get so full and gratifying account of your church. i do indeed congratulate you on its completion. i think you have done wonders, with so many difficulties, to succeed in so short a time, and i sincerely hope that you may find your zeal and labor repaid by an increase of your congregation, and of true devotion and earnestness among them. from your description of the church i thought it must be a very magnificent edifice, quite beyond york minster and churches of that size; and to see so famous a building, and still more to see the kind, warm friend who ministers within it, would be so great a pleasure, that you must not be surprised if some old friends should some time make a pilgrimage there." "_january_ , . "i often feel what a relief it would be to open one's heart, and to have the sympathy and counsel of a friend who can understand one's views and feelings. but it is impossible to do so by letter, because one shrinks from coolly writing down one's thoughts, which would be expressed without effort in the warmth and freedom of conversation. since the receipt of your letter i saw h. i had determined not to seek him, but about the beginning of this month he called on me. he was kind, but the visit was not agreeable: it was _awkward_. i returned his visit last week, and enjoyed being in his society. i talked with him as guardedly as i could while using any degree of frankness and cordiality. i could not consent to postpone my visit to him, as i had reason to believe that his coming to see me was providential, to assist me in the matter in which i am laboring, viz., to ascertain the catholic church. i asked him several questions concerning the papal supremacy, which he answered very readily and with great ability. { } he gave me some assistance in pursuing my inquiries, and i promised to see him again before long. i came away feeling better for having been with him, and with a heavy conviction on my mind how little share i had in the blessing of the pure in heart. "i find very little time to study. the duties which devolve upon me take so much of my attention, that i could find it in my heart to throw them up, were i not advised otherwise by the bishop. besides, i know that it is only by humility and obedience and fidelity that we can arrive at the truth. o dwight! again i ask your prayers in my behalf, especially for earnestness in seeking the truth, to make the holy vow, 'i will not climb up into my bed, nor suffer my eyelids to take any rest, until' i have an obedient spirit to obey god's will, _directly_ it is made known. "the course of church matters is to me increasingly unsatisfactory. the anti-papal movement has placed the church of england on decidedly worse ground, if indeed it has not bound her to that decision, on rejecting which her catholicity seems to be suspended. i do think that, after all that has happened, for bishops and people to be crying up the royal supremacy looks like accepting that supremacy to the full extent to which it has lately been claimed. what did you think of mr. bennett's course? to say the truth, i was not satisfied with his letters, though i felt a sympathy with the man. pray can you tell me what ground there is for the assertion that archdeacon manning and mr. dodsworth have resigned and are on their way to jerusalem?" * * * * * some time after this, mr. baker was appointed rector of the new parish of st. luke's, where he remained until he gave up the protestant ministry, that is, for about two years. during his rectorship he removed to a pleasant residence near the site of the church, and employed himself in building a tasteful gothic church, which he proposed to finish and decorate in accordance with his own idea of ecclesiastical propriety. { } it was only partially completed at the time he left it. his next letter to mr. lyman, who was now progressing rapidly toward the catholic church, and urging forward his slower footsteps, is dated "_tuesday in holy week, april_ , . "i read your letter with a great deal of emotion, and was prompted to sit down and say a word in reply immediately; but as i have gone to st. luke's, there were some duties devolving upon me which took up my time more than is usual with me. you may be assured of my sympathy in much that you feel and express. i do think that the statements of allies's book are of a kind which ought to make a profound impression upon us, and which ought to modify very much the feelings with which we have been taught to regard the roman communion; and i _do_ think honestly that our church is at present in a miserable condition, and that no good can come of denying it. as you say, it becomes at such a time a very solemn question, in view of eternity, _what we ought to do_. my dear dwight, i think i am sincere when i say that to me the way of duty seems to take pains and make such an investigation as i can into the question upon which the claim of _authority_ rests, and to abide by the result: meanwhile to live in prayer and upon such catholic truth as we are permitted to hold, imploring god to take pity upon us, and to look upon his distracted people. h. recommended me a treatise on the supremacy by the brothers ballerini, but i find that i do not read latin with such facility as to reap the full benefit of the perusal of such a work at present. i have therefore taken up kenrick on the primacy. with regard to my duties as a minister, i have thought it right to be directed from without, and i was passive in accepting st. luke's, which was strongly urged upon me. surely we may hope that if we faithfully and devoutly, and in a spirit of humility and obedience, work with our intention constantly directed to god's glory and the salvation of souls, he will bless and guide us. { } it was a comfort to me to think you remembered me and my difficulties in your lenten exercises, and i assure you that you have been constantly remembered by your perplexed friend. i feel afraid of myself and of my own heart--afraid of taking a wrong step, afraid on account of my past sins, afraid when i look forward to the judgment of our dear lord; and you may be sure that i find prayer my greatest comfort, the belief in the intercession of our blessed mother and the saints in heaven, as well as in the value of the supplications of christians on earth, a source of real strength. pray for me, my dear friend, that i may be enabled sincerely to appeal to god and say that his church is the first object of my heart, and that i may be diligent and studious and obedient to his grace and to conscience. "i see the english papers constantly, and they are full of interest. we know not what is before us; these are heart-stirring times, and we can but adore the counsel of god by which we were born in them, and anxiously seek to take the right course amid so many perplexities. i have recently read dr. pusey's letter to the bishop of london. it is a very able letter, and one calculated to rouse the feelings of the catholic-minded men in england. i confess it made me feel more hopeful. "if it is _our duty_ to remain where we are, it is a noble thing to be called to labor amid so many discouragements, and, surrounded by temptations, to keep the catholic faith whole and inviolate! every day i feel a stronger repugnance to protestantism, and a determination by god's help to carry out my principles consistently; but with regard to the roman catholic church, i do not see how intellectually it can dispense with the theory of development, and i feel a strong suspicion of that theory. i went to see h. again, but he was in new york, and will not be back until after easter. { } "i feel that i am in a difficult and dangerous situation, but i have the comfort of knowing that i have the advice of the bishop to do as i am doing; and if i can be sure of god's blessing, by watchfulness and strictness and faithfulness i may yet be happy. i have written confidentially, and all about myself, but you will forgive me. the bell rings for prayers. good-by." "_august_ , . "you will be anxious to know the impression made upon my mind by what i have been reading on the roman catholic question. on the whole, many difficulties that lay in the way have been removed, and the claims of the roman see appear far more strongly supported by antiquity than i had ever dreamed of before. kenrick's is, i think, a very strong book, although it has a very apologetic air; yet there was a great deal in it which seemed to me very forcible. but the book which made altogether the most decided impression on my mind was 'the unity of the episcopate.' the _principle_ of unity was there unfolded in a way that was new to me, and which i think does away with a whole class of passages (and they the strongest) which are usually alleged against the papacy. * * * * * "i find my greatest want to be the want of earnestness and a spiritual mind. my dear dwight, this is not cant. i want you to pray that god would not take his holy spirit from me. i desire above all things to be a catholic, and i am resolved by god's help not to give up the present investigation until i am satisfied about my duty, which at present i am not, but very, very much harassed and perplexed. may god in his good time grant us both to see clearly the way we ought to take. i saw h. a few weeks ago, and had a pleasant interview. he thinks it possible that he will leave baltimore in september. i have sometimes felt lately as if a _decision_ of the great question was not far off. oh, that it may be a wise and true decision!" { } a few weeks after writing this letter, mr. baker came very near making a decision to give up his ministry and place himself under the instruction of a catholic priest. his conviction was not yet fully matured, or his doubts quite removed, and the wisest course would have been for him to have gone into a complete retirement for a while, in order to complete his studies, and allow his mind and conscience time to ripen into a decision. he communicated his state of mind to the bishop, and was so far overruled by him as to consent to wait a while longer, and postpone his decision. he informs his friend of all that took place at this crisis, in a long and deeply interesting letter of thirteen pages, from which i shall only make a few extracts. it is dated november , , and is full of affection, of sadness, and of the tremulous breathings of a sensitive, delicate conscience, deeply troubled by anxiety and fear, almost ready to seek repose in the bosom of the church, but driven back by doubt to struggle yet longer with adverse winds. he says at the beginning of his letter: "first let me thank you again for your expressions of kindness and affection. i assure you i thank you for them, and feel that they, together with the friendship which has lasted so long, give you a claim on my confidence and love. nor have i been unmindful of the claim, for i have constantly thought of you, and often invoked god's aid in your behalf; and if i have not written often, it is because i am myself in great perplexity, and feel the responsibility which attaches to every word, uttered at a time like this, on subjects which concern the salvation of ourselves and others also. this was my feeling when i last wrote. i felt as if i wanted a little _recollection_ before i could write as i wished on some points; and as i was then much occupied, i deferred writing fully until some other time. however, your letter to-day demands an immediate answer, and i proceed to give you an answer to your inquiries, and a faithful transcript of my feelings, and pray god that you may receive no injury from one who would do you good." { } he states the result of his studies quite at length, summing it up in these words, which i quote as an accurate index of the degree of conviction he had at that time reached: "the result of my thought and reading last summer was to strengthen my impression that the claims of the roman catholic church on the obedience of all christians are divine. i cannot say i felt perfectly assured." after describing his interview with the bishop, and informing his friend that he had consented to _wait_, he says: "i think i agreed to this from the fear of offending god, and from that alone. as to the frown of the world, i do not think it decided me, for i had looked the consequences of the act full in the face, and had accepted them. i was the more ready to wait, because i could not say _i had no doubt_ of the propriety of secession." the sequel of the letter and of its writer's history shows that this doubt was not a rational doubt, but a morbid irresolution and timidity of mind, which ought to have been disregarded. consequently, in giving way to it, he simply fell back into a state in which he had just to go over again the same ground, and this discouraged and disheartened him, as he frankly acknowledges. "i felt a sense of relief, partly, i believe, from having opened my mind, and partly, i suspect, at finding that the sacrifice to which i had looked forward was not then demanded. but when i considered the matter, i saw that i was just where i was before, with the whole question before me and resting on my decision. from week to week i have been willing to postpone looking my position in the face, seeking to excuse myself to my conscience by the plea of the many unavoidable demands on my time and thoughts which a new parish and a church just commenced seem to make; although i feel that the danger of such a course is that i may sink into a worldly, indifferent thing, seeking in the praise of men a reward for my treachery to god. { } i have seen h. but once since i saw the bishop. the visit was more constrained, because i felt i ought not to betray my feelings; indeed, i would not go to see h. unless i were afraid of resisting some design which god may have formed for me--because the intercourse has not been of my seeking, and this appearance of deceit and double-dealing is dreadful to me, and makes me feel as if i were guilty. "i have not read any thing since my interview with the bishop. my plan is to wait and seriously consider what i ought to do. i need not tell you i am not happy. i am free from many of the annoyances which distress you, as i read no r. c. papers, and scarcely any of our own, and have no associate. i strive to live by the rule recommended by dr. pusey, and am almost as much isolated from protestants as if there were none in our communion. i believe most firmly in the sacrifice of the mass, in the real presence, in the veneration of relics, in the mediation of the saints, and especially of st. mary. i constantly beseech god to hear her supplications in my behalf, and only do not invoke her because i am not sure of the authority for doing so. i believe also in purgatory. my difficulties are on the subject of church authority and the supremacy. my sympathy in doctrine, my reverence for the holy men who have gone out from us, _my strong prepossessions in favor of the roman catholic church, which have never left me at any period of my life_, and the distress among us, all draw me to rome; but the single question i ask myself (or strive to do so) is, whether any of these things ought to decide me, and whether the point of inquiry ought not to be--what is the church? partly on account of my position, and partly, dear dwight, on account of grave deficiencies and sins in myself, i feel that i am full of inconsistencies, contradictions, apparent insincerities (perhaps real), presumptuous and fearful at the same time, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, not fully persuaded in my own mind, and not bending all my energies to become so. { } and now, my dear dwight, i have only opened my heart to you, without at all thinking of the effect it would have upon you. simply seeking, as in duty bound, to deal with you as a friend, i have let you somewhat into my heart--only somewhat, for i deeply feel that to a full understanding of my state of feeling, even in reference to this subject, it would be needful that i should kneel down and humbly confess (as it would be a comfort to do) all the many offenses in word and deed of a sinful and tangled life. i have humbled myself before you. i know not how it shall be hereafter between us, how differently you may soon look upon me from what you have been used to do; but, wherever you are, think of me as a sinner and a penitent, and as one who desires and needs your prayers. * * * * * "and now, my dear friend, i do not think of any thing else which i ought to say to you, but to reciprocate the earnest hope and the conviction that you express, that god almighty may enable us _together_ to have an abode here in that ark which he has set up as the place of safety and peace in a lost world, and may give us _together_ an entrance into his presence forever. may he of his undeserved mercy grant it." during the winter of and , mr. baker was very much occupied with church-building, and also with the cares and anxieties of illness and death in his family, and his attention was thus drawn away in a measure from himself and from the question of the church. his next letter of interest was written in may, , communicating the intelligence of the death of his aunt and of his brother: "i have no doubt that you have thought your kind and patient letter deserved an earlier answer, but i have been greatly and particularly occupied ever since i received it when it came, aunt e. was very ill, and our anxiety about her continued to increase until she was taken from us on the st of january. { } immediately after, dear alfred began to decline rapidly, and after an interval of some weeks of great suffering on his part, and of watching and sadness on ours, he too was taken on the th of april (good friday). you, who knew them both, and knew what place they held in our hearts, can imagine the greatness of the bereavement, and the depth of our suffering. god has supported us mercifully, and i heartily thank him that i have so great a solace in thinking of the character of our dear departed ones; and it is at such times that i feel the consolatory nature of the doctrine of the communion of saints, and the comfort of the practice of praying for the dead. to you, who know so much of my feelings, i will not deny that the uncertainty which rests upon the question of the church has disturbed the fixedness of my hope and faith during this sorrowful winter, but i have not been able to advance in its investigation. i now propose to resume my studies as regularly and as perseveringly as my duties will permit. you are much and often in my thoughts, and often do i wish that i could do by you the part of a faithful friend. you always have a part in my prayers, and it would be to me a great happiness to have the assurance one day that my friendship has not been without some benefit to you. i assure you i prize it, and i feel more strongly that i have more in common with you than with anyone else with whom i communicate. i have not the heart nor indeed the time to write more." "_september_ , . "i came away from columbia with many pleasant, affectionate thoughts about you, and grateful recollections of your kindness, and you have often been in my mind since my return. you will be glad to learn that my little jaunt was of decided service to me. i have been improving in health ever since my return, and now feel quite well. i suppose by this time you have been on to the north and have returned, and, like myself, are now quietly settled down to your duties. { } i found my sisters much benefited by their trip to the sea-shore, and our little household has again resumed its accustomed habits. i need not tell you, dear dwight, how glad i shall be if you will consent to come on now and pay your promised visit. you might come at the beginning of the week, and i would go and take your sunday duties (choose a sunday when service is all day at columbia), and then i would return on monday to be with you at home another week. i cannot promise to do you good, but i can offer you, at least, what you will not receive elsewhere, true and affectionate sympathy. i do most deeply feel for you in your anxieties, and in much, in _very_ much, i feel with you. i felt when i was with you, my dear friend (now my only friend), as if the difference between us was this: that you had really come to _a conclusion_, while i was still of a fearful and divided mind. i felt as if there was something dishonorable and disgraceful in such a state of indecision, while there was an appearance of manliness in your boldness and determination, and i was ashamed of myself. besides, i found myself sometimes taking the anti-roman side in argument with you, and then i was vexed with myself for doing what i did nowhere else, and what i could not do heartily anywhere, and i seemed to myself insincere. i do not know whether you can understand me, but i want you to understand my feelings; for i do not want you to think i _am_ insincere, and i felt so much obliged to you when you told me that you said to h. that you did not think me so. i believe uncertainty often carries the appearance of insincerity; and uncertain i own myself to be, full of sadness, full of doubt. o dwight, what is there in such a situation to make one remain in it, if one could conscientiously leave it? what could hinder me from being a roman catholic but for the fear of doing wrong? i assure you, that as regards this world i have not a hope or desire, and there is nothing earthly which i could not part with this night. { } nothing seems to me worth living for but the knowledge of the truth and the love of god; and that position in which i feel i should be the happiest would be where i should be _certain_ what was truth, and could live a life hidden from the world with god. i feel concerned at finding myself writing so much about myself, and in such a strain; but i think, in reading over the letter, you will understand how i came to do it, and will pardon it. "i have been reading lately pretty systematically on the roman question. de maistre and lacordaire i have finished, and will return them to you if you wish them. they are both philosophical rather than theological, and from that fact, as well as from the _french_ way in which they are written, i think they will be less influential with persons brought up in the school with you and me. i thought the remarks of de maistre on the temporal power of the popes not near so forcible as those in brownson's review. thompson seems to me now, as he did before, a remarkably cogent and attractive writer. i have not finished his pamphlet as yet, but feel very much interested in it. i have procured balmez, and newman on anglicanism, but have not yet read them. when i was in philadelphia i saw mr. ----. he called on manning when he was in london, and had a very interesting interview. m. is about to publish another edition of his book on the unity of the church. i should indeed like to see it, or any thing else that came from his hand. * * * * * "god bless you, my dear friend; write to me fully and freely as of old, and be sure of the affection of your friend, "f. a. b." { } "_ash wednesday_, . * * * "the general tone of your letter, too, was sad, and that also fell in with my own feelings, for you may be sure that the stirring event of the last month has not been without a great effect on me, agitated as i was before by so many serious doubts. well, _another_ has gone, and that the most eminent of the party with which you and i have been identified, and you and i remain asking still what we are to do! to me the question has been of late and is now one of absorbing and pressing importance, and yet i do not know how to answer it, and in my perplexity can do nothing but pray--pray, as i have done most earnestly, for direction from on high; and my comfort, dear dwight, is to know that you also pray for me. what i want is the heart just to stand waiting god's bidding, and, when that is given, to act without delay or taking counsel with the flesh. i should so much like to see bishop ives's reasons, which i suppose will in some way be published. * * * i received the first number of a newspaper from new york, the _church journal_ (which is most vociferously anti-roman). ---- is one of the editors. by the way, ---- is also connected with this paper, and ----. i felt sorry to think of what a different spirit they once were; and yet, if the church of rome be not what she claims to be, the position of such men as bishop whittingham is the right one, and ours is untenable. however, i cannot but own that i have a drawing toward the roman catholic communion so strong that, if i were to be without it, i should feel as if i were not myself. i have not thought it right to go by this feeling, but it is very strong, and i confess i feel _envious_ of bishop ives, when i think of him in his new home--a feeling which i often have in reference to dear h., whom i loved and reverenced so truly. (by the way, h., i hear, is either at present in baltimore, or is about coming here, to conduct a 'mission' in the cathedral.) i often feel afraid, my dear dwight, in writing on such subjects, of doing wrong in expressing my feelings and thoughts, and of doing you harm; but after all, it seems not improper for friends such as we are to speak without reserve, and perhaps i have done so too little. { } "i have been reading a good deal lately. * * * the articles on cyprian (by dr. nevin) were indeed most masterly, and seemed to me to express the true doctrine of antiquity as to the primacy of the roman see. they have caused a good deal of speculation on my part. i do not see how the writer can fail to become a roman catholic. i did not tell you what i thought of newman's book; it was full of power, many most capital hits and brilliant passages, and, what is better, satisfactory explanations of difficulties. the eleventh lecture seemed to me the least successful, and i own, even after reading it, the position of the greek church, based on a theological theory not unlike that which is advocated by anglo-catholics, and much the same (as brownson seems to think) with that held by many roman catholics, does seem to me a difficulty. balmez, too, i have proceeded some way with, and am much interested in. "i thank you for brownson very much. i have read the number you sent me, and it has set me to thinking. his positions are bold and require some reflection; and though i find in him the consistent expression of much that i think i always believed, yet he presents many new ideas to me. * * * "adieu to-night, my dear dwight. may the blessing of heaven be with you." this was the last of these sad epistles--these outbreathings of a pure and noble, but troubled spirit, enveloped in the obscure night of doubt, and seeking wearily for the light of truth. it was written on the first day of lent; and when that lent had passed by, the clouds of mist had lifted from around the soul of francis baker, never to return. before he wrote again to his dear friend, the _coup de-grace_ had been given. the blow was struck suddenly and effectually, and the news of it came unexpectedly, with a startling and almost sunning effect upon his friend, through the following brief and abrupt communication-- { } "baltimore, _april_ , . "my dear dwight:--the decision is made: i have resigned my parish, and am about to place myself under instruction preparatory to my being received into the catholic church. i can write no more at present. may god help you. "your affectionate friend, "francis a. baker." this letter was followed by another, written three days after, in reply to one from mr. lyman. "my dear dwight:--it _was_ cruel in me to write so briefly, but if you knew what a press of duty came upon me just at once, you would pity me, and indeed now i am in such a confusion, that it takes some courage to write a line. but, my dear friend, you have been so great a help to me, that it would be worse than heathen in me not to give you one word of explanation. i decided to submit to the catholic church last sunday night, and gave in my resignation to the vestry on last tuesday morning. i went to the archbishop, and to-morrow i make my profession in st. alphonsus' church, before only two witnesses, the least the rubric requires. this was in compliance with the advice of the bishop, who did not think it well to give unnecessary publicity to the act. plain and sufficient arguments had long enough been addressed to my mind, but my conversion at last i owe only to the grace of god. it was the gift of god through prayers, and now i can say 'nunc dimittis'--for 'i believe, o god! all the holy truths which thy catholic church proposes to our belief, because thou, my god, hast revealed them all; and thy church has declared them. in this faith i desire to live, and in the same, by thy holy grace, i am most firmly resolved to die. amen.' * * * "i shall prepare for the sacraments next week, but beyond that, i have formed no plans. { } "my dear dwight, i feel that i have too long resisted god's grace, and it will be one of the sins which i must now repent of. god by his merciful kindness did not suffer me to be abandoned, as, indeed, my resistance of his grace deserved, but kindly pleaded with me, and i am now at the threshold of the kingdom of god. come with us, dear dwight, come; god's time is the best time. may our lord bless you and direct you. yours affectionately, "francis a. baker." this closes the correspondence of mr. baker with the dear and valued friend of his youth and manhood, previous to his reception into the catholic church; and i have postponed the continuation of my narrative in order to complete my extracts from it, and leave the writer to tell his own touching story to the end. mr. baker's conversion was the logical sequence of his former life, both intellectual and spiritual; it was the result of the accumulating light of the eleven preceding years, concentrated and brought to a focus upon the practical question of duty and obligation. the particular events which immediately preceded it, were like the stroke of the hammer on the mould of a bell, already completely cast and finished beneath it, and waiting only the shattering of its earthen shell to ring out with a clear and musical sound. "_the just man is the accuser of himself_," and mr. baker, whose deep humility made him unconscious of his own goodness, in the first vivid consciousness that the light which had led him to the catholic church was the light of grace, could no longer understand his past state of doubt, and reproached himself for it, as a sinful resistance to god. it is not necessary, however, to suppose that there was any thing grievously culpable in that state of doubt and hesitation. { } he was right in attributing his final decision to the efficacious grace of the holy spirit. but this grace was only the last of a long series of graces which had prepared him to receive it. it did not change, but only perfected his habitual disposition of mind. it produced a crisis and a transformation in his soul, but it was one to which a long and gradual process had been continually tending. it was not a miracle, or a sudden revelation. careful thought and reading, and the assiduous cultivation of his spiritual faculties had brought him to the apprehension of all the data of a rational judgment that the catholic church is true. the apparently sudden moment of deliberation and decision was but the successful effort of the mind and will to come into the certain consciousness of the truth already fairly proposed, and to determine to follow it. it was a supernatural grace which made this effort successful, and elevated the just conclusions of reason to the certitude of faith. but it was not a grace which superseded reason or dispensed with the reasonable grounds and evidences of an intellectual judgment and the motives of a just determination. mr. baker must have been drawing near to a decision during the whole of lent; for his mind was evidently more deeply and earnestly bent on coming to it, when i saw him in easter week, than ever. he called on me on the friday evening of easter week, and his manner was much changed. his anxiety of mind broke through the reserve he had heretofore maintained, and instead of the guarded and self-controlled manner he had preserved in former interviews, he was abrupt and outspoken. at the very outset, he expressed his feeling that the question of difference between us was one of vital importance, in regard to which one of us must be deeply and dangerously in the wrong, and desired to discuss the matter with me fully. i suppose his intention was to see me more frequently than he had done, to open his mind more fully, and to get from me all the help i could give him in making up his mind. we had a pretty long conversation on theological points, without going into the discussion of fundamental catholic principles. { } the truth is, mr. baker had already mastered these principles, and was really settled in regard to every essential doctrine. he had no need of further study, but merely of an effort to shake off that kind of doubt which is a mental weakness, and perpetually revolves difficulties and objections which ought not to affect the judgment. the one particular point which we discussed most was in reference to some passages in the writings of st. augustine concerning the doctrine of purgatory--a doctrine which he had clearly stated his belief in, two years before. i answered his difficulty as well as i could at the time, promising to examine the matter more fully the next day, and to give him a written answer, which i accordingly did, but too late to be of any service to him, as the sequel will show. i left him with a strong impression that the crisis of his mind was at hand, and for that reason engaged all the members of the community to pray for him particularly. after leaving me, he called on a young lady who was very ill, and had sent for him to visit her. this young lady, who died happily in the bosom of the catholic church a few weeks after, had already sent for one of the reverend gentlemen of the cathedral, and expressed to him her desire to become a catholic, but had consented, at the request of her family, to have an interview with mr. baker before receiving the sacraments. when he came to her bedside, she informed him of her state of mind, and asked him if he had any satisfactory reason to allege why she should not fulfil her wish to be received into the catholic church before she died. he told her that he regretted very much that she had chosen to consult with him on that point, as there were reasons why he must decline giving her advice on the subject. she conjured him to tell her distinctly what he thought, and he again replied that he was not able to say any thing to her on the subject. she looked at him earnestly, and said, "i see how it is, mr. baker; you are in doubt yourself." without saying another word, he left the room and the house, transpierced with a pain which he could neither endure nor remove. { } he turned his steps toward the cathedral, and walked around it several times, like one not knowing where to go, and then returned to his home and his study to remain in solitude and prayer, through several anxious days and sleepless nights. he was now face to face with the certainty that he dare not promise to anyone else security of salvation in the episcopal church. yet, he was a minister of that church, and was trusting his own salvation to it. to remain in such a position longer had become impossible to a conscientious man like him. nevertheless, he went through the duties of sunday, and again read prayers in his church on the monday and tuesday mornings. he had been censured for this, by some, as if he had acted a hypocritical part, but most unjustly. certainly, if he had asked my advice beforehand, i should have told him that he had no right to do it. but the reader of this narrative will see that his own conscience had been frequently overruled on the question of exercising the ministry in a state of doubt, and on sunday he was still in this state, undecided what to do. he did not actually give in his resignation until after prayers on tuesday morning, and any candid person will surely admit that he was excusable, in the agitation of the moment, for thinking that it was better to fulfil the engagements he was under to his people until the last moment, when these consisted merely in reciting a form of prayer which is very good in itself, and contains nothing contrary to catholic doctrine. on tuesday, the th of april, mr. baker gave a letter of resignation to the vestry of st. luke's church, called on dr. wyatt, who was the administrator of the diocese during the bishop's absence in europe, and then went to see the archbishop. when he was admitted to the presence of this venerable and saintly prelate, he threw himself on his knees before him, and in accents and words of the most profound humility made his submission to the catholic church, and implored him to receive him into her bosom. { } the archbishop, who knew him well by sight and by reputation, arose in haste from his chair to raise him from his knees, in a few warm and affectionate words welcomed him to his embrace, and begged him to be seated by his side and to calm himself. it was with difficulty that he could induce him to do so, for the barrier in his soul that had held it icebound for so long had given way: a torrent of repressed emotions was swelling in his bosom, and after a moment he burst into a flood of tears, the gentle and good archbishop weeping with him from sympathy. after a long and consoling conversation with the archbishop, he came over to st. alphonsus' church, which is near the cathedral, to see me. i was making a retreat that day, and was walking in the garden, when a message was sent me by the rector to go to the parlor to see mr. baker. as soon as he saw me, he said, abruptly, "i have come to be one of you." i invited him inside the inclosure, and he, fancying i misunderstood his words to imply that he was ready to join our religious congregation, answered quickly, "i do not mean that i wish to become a redemptorist, but a catholic." "i understand that," i replied; "let us go to the oratory and recite a te deum of thanksgiving." we did so, and then walked in the garden together for a short time. the first time i ever saw an expression of real joyfulness in his countenance was then. he was always placid, but never, so far as i could see, joyous, before he became a catholic. to my great surprise, he chose me as his confessor. i left the time of his reception to himself, and he chose saturday, the th of april, which was the anniversary of the death of his brother alfred. on saturday morning, i said mass in the little chapel of the orphan asylum of the sisters of charity. father hecker, who was present, on account of the approaching mission, accompanied me to the chapel. after mass, mr. baker made his profession, according to the old form, containing the full creed of pius iv., and i received him into the bosom of the church. { } no others were present besides the good sisters and their little children. he had been baptized by dr. wyatt, and the archbishop decided that there was no reason whatever for his being conditionally rebaptized. i performed the supplementary rites of baptism, such as the anointing with holy oil and chrism, the giving of the white garment and lighted candle, etc., at his own request, in the sacristy of the cathedral, after his sacramental confession was completed. this sacred act was accomplished in the archbishop's library. during the week after his reception, and on the third sunday after easter, april , he was confirmed in the cathedral by archbishop kenrick, and received his first communion from his hand. the conversion of mr. baker made a great sensation in baltimore, and wherever he was known. it was announced in the secular papers, and for some weeks a lively controversy arising out of it was kept up. it was the general topic of conversation in all circles, catholic and protestant. the sorrow of his own parishioners, of those who had loved and honored him so much while he was connected with st. paul's parish, and especially of his more near and intimate friends, was very great. his own near relatives, and a certain number of his intimate friends, never were in the least alienated from him, but remained as closely bound to him in affection as ever, while they and he lived. the great majority of those who had been his admirers, and who had listened with delight to his eloquent preaching, always retained a great respect and esteem for him; and during his whole subsequent life, he almost invariably won a regard from those of the protestant community who were acquainted with him, second only to that of the catholic people to whom he ministered. there were some exceptions to this rule, however. a few persons wrote to him in the most severe and reproachful terms. the usual pitiable charge, that his religious change was caused by mental derangement, was made by those whose wretched policy has always been to counteract as much as possible the influence of conversions to the catholic church by personal calumnies against the converts. { } he was sometimes openly insulted, and much more frequently treated with coldness and neglect. notwithstanding the respect with which so many still regarded him in their hearts, he was compelled to feel that he had become, in great measure, an alien and a stranger in the community where he had been born and bred. in a short time, his duty called him away from his native city, and, somewhat later, from his own state, into a distant part of the country. all the old associations of his early life were broken up; he had no longer an earthly home; and until his death he had, for the most part, no other ties and associations except those which were created by his religious profession and his sacerdotal office. some six or seven persons were received into the church soon after his conversion, three or four of whom were his parishioners; and some others may have been at a later period partly influenced by his example. but none of his intimate and particular friends were among the number, with the exception of his old and bosom friend and associate in the ministry, mr. lyman. his name and influence faded away, and were forgotten among the things of the past; while he, having bidden farewell to the world and taken up his cross, followed on after christ, toward the crown he was soon to win, and was lost to the view of those among whom he had lived before, in the dust of the combat and labor of an arduous and obscure missionary career. it is not to be supposed that mr. baker could hesitate long as to his vocation. he had in his youth dedicated himself to the ministry of christ, but had mistaken a false claimant of delegated power to confer the character and mission of the priesthood, for the true one. nine years had been spent, not uselessly; for the good example and eloquent instructions of a wise and virtuous man are always salutary; and he had been slowly preparing himself by the feeble light and imperfect grace which he had for the perfect gifts of the catholic sacraments. { } he was now thirty-three years of age, in the full bloom of his natural powers, with all his holy aspirations and purposes ripened and perfected, with a thorough knowledge of catholic theology, excepting only its specially technical and professional branches, with all the habits suited for a sacerdotal life fully established. the only doubt of his vocation in his own mind was one of humility, and when this was settled by the decision of his confessor and of his bishop, his course was clear before him. he might still have chosen to remain in his own home and family while preparing for ordination. he might have remained in his native city, or in the diocese, as a secular priest, secure of the most honorable and agreeable position which the archbishop could bestow upon him, where he could have enjoyed all those domestic comforts and elegancies to which he was accustomed, together with the society of the beloved members of his family who still remained, without in any way interfering with his proposed career as a devoted priest. he chose differently, however, and from the promptings of his own soul, which instinctively chose what was most perfect. my religious brethren and myself used no solicitations to induce him to join us. his original desire for the religious life gave him a bias toward the regular clergy. what he saw of the little band of american redemptorists, and of the mission which was given at the cathedral, captivated his heart with a desire to become one of their number. he thought of one thing only--what was the will of god, and the most perfect way open to him to sanctify himself and others in the priesthood. his mind was soon made up on this point. he applied to the father provincial of the redemptorists, who received him without hesitation. he settled his affairs as speedily as possible, and began his novitiate at once. as soon as the proper time arrived, he divested himself of all his property for the benefit of the surviving members of his family. his library he gave to the congregation, by whom it was afterward kindly restored to him, and is now in the possession of the paulists at new york. { } his only aim and desire, from this time forward, was to acquire the perfection of christian and religious virtue. forgetting all that was behind, he pressed forward to those things which were before, with a fixed aim and a steady, unfaltering step. he dropped into the position of a novice and a student so easily, and with such a perfectness of humility, that it seemed his natural and obvious place to be among the youths and young men who were with him. he was the favorite and companion of the youngest among them, and, it is needless to say, the delight and consolation of his superiors. after one year of novitiate and his profession, he continued for two years more studying dogmatic and moral theology, with the other accessories usually taught to candidates for orders. during this time he lost his amiable and excellent sister, elizabeth baker, to his great sorrow. although his ordination was postponed much longer than is usually the case with men in his position, already so well prepared by their previous intellectual and moral training for the priesthood, he was not in the least impatient at the delay, and his long preparation gave him the advantage that he was ready at once to undertake all the most difficult and responsible duties of a matured and experienced priest. besides this, he acquired that thorough and minute theoretical and practical knowledge of the ceremonies of the church, and of every thing relating to the divine service of the altar and the sanctuary, for which he was afterward distinguished. he came out of his long retirement a workman thoroughly and completely furnished for his task, and imbued through and through with the spirit of the catholic church. i seldom saw him, and never exchanged letters with him, during all this period, each of us being absorbed in his own particular duties and occupations, at a distance from the other. as the time of his ordination approached, we were both of us, however, again in the same house, that of st. alphonsus, in baltimore. { } it was in the summer of that he finished his studies, and, having some time before received the minor orders, began his retreat preparatory to being admitted to the three holy orders. during the retreat, his companion, f. vogien, an amiable and holy young religious--with him and the saintly prelate who ordained them, now, i trust, in heaven--was full of dread and apprehension, often weeping, and even entreating his superior to postpone his ordination. with father baker it was otherwise. while i was in the church, during the evening, employed in the exercises of my own retreat, i often heard him singing the most joyful of the ecclesiastical chants in the garden, and his placid, pale face was lighted up with the radiant joy of a soul approaching to the consummation of its holiest and most cherished wishes. he was ordained sub-deacon and deacon in st. mary's chapel during the week before the sunday fixed for his ordination to the priesthood. on sunday, september , , he was ordained priest by archbishop kenrick, in the cathedral. the archbishop celebrated pontifical mass, the reverend gentlemen and seminarists from st. sulpice assisted, and the clergy were present in considerable numbers, among them his old friend, mr. lyman, already a priest. everyone who knows what the cathedral of baltimore is, and how the grand ceremonies of the church are performed in it, will understand how beautiful and inspiring was the scene at father baker's ordination. the great church was crowded to its utmost capacity, but it was by catholics only, drawn by the desire to see one who had sacrificed so much for their own dear faith. father baker, as he knelt with his companion at a priedieu, dressed in rich and beautiful white vestments, after receiving the indelible character of the priesthood, to offer up with the archbishop the holy sacrifice of the mass, looked more like an angel than a man. { } the holy and benignant prelate shed tears of joyful emotion when he embraced him at the close of the ceremony, and there was never a more delightful reunion than that which took place on that day, when the clergy met at the archbishop's table, to participate in the modest festivities of the episcopal mansion. a few days after, mr. lyman, father baker, and myself, celebrated a solemn votive mass of thanksgiving at st. alphonsus' church, for the signal grace we had received, in being all brought to the communion of the holy church and to her priesthood. here began the sacerdotal career, brief in time, but rich in labors and results, of father baker. he remained in baltimore a few weeks, to celebrate his first mass, and initiate himself in quiet retirement into his new priestly life and functions. the first fruit of his new priesthood was a convert to the catholic church, a young widow lady of highly respectable family, who was bred a unitarian, and who had been waiting three years to be received into the church by father baker. he baptized her and her two children, a few days after his own ordination. soon after he began the missionary career, in which the greatest part of his subsequent life was employed. it may not here be amiss to digress from the personal history of father baker, long enough to give some account of the nature of those missions in which he was henceforth to take so conspicuous a part, and of their introduction into this country. in doing so, i shall describe more particularly the method adopted in those missions with which i have been myself connected, without noticing any others which may differ in certain details; and this will suffice to give a correct idea of all missions, so far as their general spirit and scope is concerned. missions to the catholic people have been in use for centuries in various parts of europe. they are generally given by the members of religious congregations specially devoted to the work. the missionaries are invited by the pastor of the parish, with the sanction of the bishop of the diocese from whom they receive their jurisdiction. { } the exercises of the mission consist of a regular series of sermons and instructions, continued for a number of days, and sometimes for two weeks in succession, twice or oftener in the day. the course of instructions, which is given at an early hour of the morning, embraces familiar and plain but solid and didactic expositions of the commandments, sacraments, and practical christian and moral duties. the course of sermons, given at night, includes the great truths which relate to the eternal destiny of man, which are presented in the most thorough and exhaustive manner possible, and enforced with all the power with which the preacher is endowed. several of father baker's mission sermons are included in the collection published in this volume, and will serve to exhibit their peculiar style and character. frequently, the older children receive separate instruction for about four days in succession, closing with a general confession and communion. after the mission has continued a few days, the confessionals are opened to the people, and communion is given every morning to those who are prepared to receive. at the close of the mission the altar is decorated with flowers and lights, a baptismal font is erected, the people renew their baptismal vows after an appropriate sermon has been preached, and are dismissed with a parting benediction. the sacrifice of the mass is offered up several times every morning, according to the number of priests present; and before the evening sermon there is a short prefatory exercise, which, in the paulist missions, consists of the explanation of an article of the creed, followed by the litany of the saints. after sermon, the _miserere_ or some other appropriate piece is sung, and the benediction of the blessed sacrament is given. all this is very simple, consisting of nothing more than the preaching of the word of god, the administration of the sacraments, and the performance of acts of worship and prayer, as these are ordinarily practised in the regular routine of the catholic church. { } all that is peculiar and unusual consists in the adaptation of the preaching and instructions to the end in view, and in the daily continuity of the exercises. the object aimed at is to present in one complete view all the principal truths of religion, and all the essential practical rules for living virtuously in conformity with those truths, and to do this in the most comprehensive, forcible, and intelligible manner. the class of persons for whose benefit missions are primarily intended is that portion of the catholic people least influenced by the ordinary ministrations of the parochial clergy, although all classes, even the best instructed and most regular, share in the benefit. all necessary available means are used to awaken an interest in the mission and to secure attendance. when this is done, continuous daily listening to instruction and participation in religious exercises prevents the impressions received from passing away, the people become more and more interested and absorbed, and are carried through a process of thought and reflection upon all the most momentous truths and doctrines, which is for them equivalent to a thorough education of the mind and conscience. the general instructions given in public are applied to the individual soul by the confessor in the tribunal of penance, as the judge of guilty and the physician of diseased and wounded consciences. sin and guilt are washed away by sacramental absolution from all who are sincerely penitent; their souls, purified and restored to grace, are refreshed and strengthened by the body and blood of christ in the holy eucharist, and the debt of temporal punishment due to the justice of god is removed or lightened, in proportion to the intensity of contrition and divine love excited in the soul by its own efforts to secure the grace of god, through the indulgences conceded by the supreme power of the vicar of christ. { } the earlier sermons are directed to the end of fixing the mind on the supreme importance of religion, and alarming the conscience in regard to sin. afterward, special vices are denounced, particular dangers and temptations pointed out, those duties which are most neglected are brought out into bold relief, and every effort made to produce a thorough reformation of life. toward the close, the scope and aim of the sermons are to animate and encourage the heart and will by appealing to the nobler passions and the higher motives, to awaken confidence in god, to portray the eternal rewards of virtue and point out the means of perseverance. all that can impress the senses and imagination, subdue the heart, convince the reason, and stimulate the will, is brought to bear, in conjunction with the supernatural efficacy of the word and sacraments of christ, upon a people full of faith and religious susceptibility, under the most favorable circumstances for producing the greatest possible effect. where faith is impaired, the effect is not so certain, and slower and more tedious means have to be adopted, with less hope of success, to restore the dying root of all religion, or replant it where it is completely dead. it is moreover certain, although it may not be evident to those who are destitute of catholic faith, that there is an extraordinary grace of god accompanying the exercises of the mission; and this was so plain to the mind of an earnest episcopalian clergyman in new england, on one occasion, that it led him to study seriously the subject of the catholic church, the result of which was that he became a catholic, at a great personal sacrifice. public retreats had been given from time to time in the united states, by the jesuits and others, before the series of redemptorist missions was commenced. this series, which began at st. joseph's church, new york, in april, , was, however, the first that was systematically and regularly carried on by a band of missionaries especially devoted to the work. since that time, the number of missionaries, belonging to several distinct congregations, has increased, and the missions have been multiplied. { } the principal merit of inaugurating this great and extensive work belongs to f. bernard hafkenscheid, who was formerly the provincial of the redemptorist congregation in the united states. f. bernard, as he was always called, on account of his unpronounceable patronymic, had been for twenty years the most eloquent and successful preacher of missions in his native country of holland and the adjacent low countries. born to the possession of wealth and all its attendant advantages, but still more blessed with a most thorough religious training and the grace of early piety from his childhood, he received a finished ecclesiastical education, which he completed at rome, where he was honored with the doctorate in theology. after his ordination, he devoted himself to the religious and missionary life in the congregation of the most holy redeemer, in which he speedily became the most eminent of all their preachers in the low countries. he was able to preach the word of god with fluency and correctness in three languages, besides his native tongue: french, german, and english. but it was only in the dutch language that he was able to exhibit the extraordinary powers of eloquence with which he was endowed, and which made his name a household word in every catholic family in holland. his picture was to be seen in every house; the highest and lowest flocked with equal eagerness to hear him, and, on one occasion, the king himself came to the convent to testify his respect for his apostolic character by a formal visit. his figure and countenance were cast in a mould as large as that of his great and generous soul, and his whole character and bearing were those of a man born to lead and command others by his innate superiority, but to command far more by the magnetic influence of a kind and noble heart than by authority. father bernard brought with him to the united states, in march, , two american redemptorists, who had been stationed for some years in england, and had scarcely landed in new york when he organized a band of missionaries, to commence the english missions. { } during nearly two years, he took personal charge of many of those missions, working in the confessional from twelve to sixteen hours every day, occasionally preaching when the ordinary preacher broke down, and instructing the young, inexperienced fathers most carefully in all the methods of giving sermons and instructions, and otherwise conducting the exercises of the mission in the best and most judicious manner. father bernard received father baker into the congregation, but soon afterward was recalled to europe, where, after a long and laborious life spent in the sacred warfare, he is resting in the quiet repose and peace of religions seclusion. [footnote ] [footnote : since the above was written, the news has been received of the death of father bernard, from the effects of a fall while descending from the pulpit.] the superior of the english missions, in the absence of f. bernard, and after he ceased to direct them personally, was another father with an unpronounceable name, f. alexander cvitcovicz, a magyar, who was always called father alexander. it would have been impossible to find a superior more completely fitted for the position. although he was even then past the meridian of life, and had been in former times the superior-general of his congregation in the united states, he cheerfully took on himself the hardest labors of the missions. it was not unusual for him to sit in his confessional for ten days in succession, for fifteen or sixteen hours each day. he instructed the little children who were preparing for the sacraments, and sometimes gave some of the morning instructions, but never preached any of the great sermons. in his government of the fathers who were under him, he was gentleness, consideration, and indulgence itself. in his own life and example, he presented a pattern of the most perfect religious virtue, in its most attractive form--without constraint, austerity, or moroseness, and yet without relaxation from the most strict ascetic principles. { } he was a thoroughly accomplished and learned man in many branches of secular and sacred science and in the fine arts; and in the german language, which was as familiar to him as his native language, he was among the best preachers of his order. he designed and built the beautiful church of st. alphonsus, in baltimore, although he was never able to complete it according to his own just and elegant taste. for such a man to take upon himself the drudgery of laborious missions, aided, for the most part, by young men in delicate health, incapable of enduring the hardships of old, well-seasoned veterans, was indeed a trial of his virtue. he undertook it, however, cheerfully, and we went through several long and hard missionary campaigns under his direction, until at last we left him, in the year , in the convent at new orleans, worn out with labor, to exchange his arduous missionary work for the lighter duties of the parish. father alexander was succeeded in the office of superior of english missions by father walworth, one of the american redemptorists, who accompanied father bernard from england, and who continued in that office until, with several others, he was released from his connection with the congregation by a brief of the holy father, in order to form a new society of missionaries. there has never been a finer field open to missions than the one which is found in the catholic population of the united states, and seldom has there existed a greater need of them. the missions of st. alphonsus liguori, the founder of the redemptorists, and his companions, were confined to villages, hamlets, and outlying districts, remote from episcopal cities and large towns. in his rules he directs his children to labor in places of this sort, because in italy the most neglected and necessitous part of the people is only to be found there. in this country it was not so. the great need for missions lay in cities and large towns, where dense masses of catholics were gathered, and where churches, clergy, and religious organizations of all kinds, were inadequate to the spiritual wants of the people. { } a large part of the missionary work which has been accomplished has been, therefore, among those dense masses of the people in our largest churches and congregations, penetrating to the lowest strata, and bringing to bear a powerful religious influence upon the most uninstructed and negligent classes of the people. some idea of the extent of this work may be gained from the fact that the missions given by the corps which f. bernard organized, during seven years, from to , were eighty-six in number, with an aggregate of , communions. they have been carried on on a similar scale, since that time, by the new congregation of st. paul, and by members of several older religious societies; so that, in the last seven years, the number of persons who have participated in the benefits of missions is, probably, nearly double the figures given above. there were other missions also given, during the first period, besides those enumerated, especially among germans. it is, therefore, speaking within bounds to estimate the number of persons who have received the sacraments on missions, since , at , . this is, however, much less than might have been done, if the number of missionaries and the facilities for attending their missions had been greater. our catholic population is a vast sea, where the successors of the apostolic fishers of men may cast their nets perpetually, without ever exhausting its abundance. in large towns, the population is so fluctuating and so continually increasing, that the work needs to be perpetually renewed at short intervals. there are also immense difficulties in the way of the poor people. the mass of them belong to the laboring class, and are, therefore, obliged to come to church very early, before their working hours, and again at night, after their work is done. they have no leisure, and can with difficulty rescue even the few hours necessary for listening to the instructions they so much need. hence, many of them can get only as it were by snatches, here and there, a sermon or instruction during the course. in factory towns the case is worse. { } were it not for the accommodation usually granted by the overseers, in shortening the time, and giving leave of absence, it would be impossible to give missions to the operatives in many of our factory villages. our modern system of society leaves out of the account the wants of the soul and the duties of religion. for many, there is even the hard necessity of working all night, and all sunday. it is, therefore, difficult enough for our poor people to attend a mission well, when there is plenty of room for them in the church, and a good chance of going to confession without waiting longer than a few hours. very frequently, however, in our large and overcrowded parishes, the church will not hold--even when crowded to suffocation--more than from one-fourth to one-half of the parishioners. the church is frequently filled two hours before the time of service. the porch, the steps, the windows even, are crowded, and hundreds go a way disappointed. it is easy to see what a drawback this is to the success of a mission, which requires a continuous attendance at all the sermons and instructions, and to the stillness and order in the church which are necessary to enable all to hear distinctly, and to reflect on what they hear. i have seen at least four thousand persons congregated in the streets adjacent to the new york cathedral, besides the crowd inside. another difficulty lies in the vast number of penitents, and the small number of confessors. on many missions, confined strictly to one parish, there have been from four thousand to eight thousand communions; and, of course, that number of confessions to be heard within eleven days. at a recent mission of the redemptorists, in new york, there were eleven thousand communions; and at one given a year or two ago, by the jesuits, twenty thousand. ordinarily, the number of confessors has been inadequate to the work. the people have thronged the chapel where confessions were heard, from four o'clock in the morning until night, often waiting an entire day, or even several days, before they could get near a priest. { } at five in the morning, each of us would see two long rows--one of men and one of women--seated on benches, flanking his confessional. at one o'clock he would leave the same unbroken lines, to find them again at three, and to leave them in the evening still undiminished. at the end of the mission there would be still the same crowd waiting about the confessionals, and left unheard, because the missionaries were unable to continue their work any longer. more than one-half these people would be persons who had not been at confession for five, ten, or twenty years, and of these a great number had seldom been at church, and still more rarely heard a sermon. hundreds upon hundreds of adults, of all ages, have received the sacraments for the first time upon these missions, many of whom had to be taught the doctrines of the trinity and the incarnation, with the other elementary articles of the creed. i have several times, at the close of a mission, seen a row of grown-up boys seated before my confessional, of that class who roam the streets, loiter about the docks, and sleep out at night, unable to read, and scarcely able to tell who made them, much less to answer the question, who is jesus christ? they had come to be instructed and prepared for the sacraments, swept in by the tide which was moving the waters all around them. of course, they needed weeks of instruction and of moral preparation, to rescue them from the abyss of ignorance and vice in which they were submerged, and make them capable of living like rational beings and christians. with some of them, a beginning may be made, and the germ of good planted in their souls. but many have to be left as they come, because there is no provision which can be made for their instruction. in a word, the nets are so full of a multitude of fishes that they break, and there are not workmen enough to drag them ashore. the work is too overwhelming for the number and strength of those who are engaged in it. in this respect, some missions which have been given in the british provinces, have been the most complete and satisfactory of any. { } in st. patrick's church, quebec, the vast size of the building enabled all who desired to do so to find room. nineteen confessors were on duty, and others were appointed to instruct converts or ignorant adult catholics. all who wished to go to confession were easily heard, without long waiting, or the accumulation of a great crowd of wearied and eager penitents pressing around the confessionals. it was the same in st. john's, where the archbishop of halifax and a large body of clergymen were hearing confessions constantly, although, even with this powerful aid, the missionaries broke down under the labor of preaching every day to six thousand or eight thousand persons in the great cathedral church, which had just been opened for service. in these places, however, the number of the people, though great, had a limit which could be reached, and the requisite number of priests were easily at the command of the bishop. in the united states, however, the work is out of all proportion to the number of priests who are either specially devoted to missions or who can be called in to aid these in their labors. the missionaries are too few to do the work alone, and the parochial clergy are too much engaged in their own duties to be able to give much of their time to additional works of charity. if it were possible to give missions simultaneously in all the churches of new york city, and if they could contain all the people, it would be easy to collect one hundred thousand catholics together every night to hear the word of god, and to bring from one hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand to communion within fifteen days. in proportion to the population, the same results would be produced everywhere in the united states. it would require the labor of one hundred missionaries, during eight years, to give missions thoroughly to our entire catholic population. at their commencement, however, and for some years after, there were but six or eight, and there are now, probably, not more than twenty priests continually employed in this work. { } the necessity for it is, nevertheless, quite as urgent as it ever has been, and the benefit to be derived from it inconceivable. there are the vast masses of people gathered in our great centers of population, exposed to a thousand demoralizing influences, and most inadequately supplied with the ordinary means of grace. all that has been done for them hitherto, is but just sufficient to develop the immense need there is for doing more, and the great blessing that attends every effort to do it. of course, the main reliance of the church is, and always must be, upon the bishops and parochial clergy, and i have not had the slightest intention, in any thing i have said, to exaggerate the importance of the special work of missionaries. the episcopate and priesthood were established by jesus christ himself, and are absolutely essential to the very existence of the church. religious congregations are of ecclesiastical institution, and are only auxiliary to the pastoral office. the multiplication of churches and of priests engaged in parochial duties is the most pressing need, and in no other way can the spiritual wants of the people be adequately provided for. it will be long, however, before the bishops will be able, even by the most strenuous exertions, to make the number of churches and clergymen keep pace with the increase of the population. meanwhile, this lack of the ordinary means of grace cannot be supplied except by missions; and even where these means are amply provided, the subsidiary and extraordinary labors of societies of priests devoted to special apostolic works are necessary, in order to give their full efficacy to the ministrations of the ordinary pastors. besides our great towns, and their dense mass of catholic population, there is another extensive field of missionary work, which has of late years been successfully cultivated, and which invites still further cultivation with a promise of a rich harvest. { } i refer to the numerous new parishes found in the smaller cities and country towns and villages. here a new phase of catholic life and growth has commenced. the population is becoming settled and permanent. catholics are making their way upward, acquiring real and personal property, blending with the body of their fellow-citizens, educating their children, and to a certain extent themselves belong to the second generation of catholic emigrants from europe, having been born and married in this country. in many instances, one pastor has two or more of these parishes to take care of. his time and thoughts are taken up with church-building and a multitude of other necessary duties. the country around is sprinkled over with catholics, who have no resident priest among them. there is a vast amount of work to be done in instructing, confirming in the faith, bringing under religious and moral influence, and establishing in solid piety and morality, this interesting and hopeful class of catholics. nowhere have the missions been so complete and satisfactory as in parishes of this kind. the whole body of the people living in the place where the church is, can attend the sermons and receive the sacraments. besides these, those living several miles away flock to the church as regularly as if they lived in the same street; and even from a great distance, numbers, who are usually deprived of the religious advantages of the church, perhaps even have grown up without making their first communion, seize the opportunity with eagerness to come to the mission and remain for a few days, until they can be prepared to receive the sacraments of life. in massachusetts alone, where congregations of this kind abound, the number of communions given in the paulist missions of the last five years, without counting those given in boston, amounts to twenty-five thousand five hundred and thirty, on seventeen distinct missions, giving an average of one thousand three hundred and twenty-five to each congregation. these figures are a correct index to the numbers of the catholic population in country towns throughout massachusetts, connecticut, new york, pennsylvania, and other portions of the northern states. { } the missions hitherto given have been intended immediately for the benefit of the catholic people. their incidental influence upon the protestant community ought not, however, to be overlooked. usually, our catholic churches are so crowded by the faithful, that it is at least unpleasant, if not almost impossible for others to attend our sermons, especially on occasions of great interest. notwithstanding this obstacle, thousands of protestants have come at different times to hear the mission sermons, and there have usually been several converts on each large mission, sometimes as many as twenty, and on one mission, that of quebec, fifty. hundreds have been received into the church, in this way, from all classes in society, among whom were two clergymen holding respectable positions in the episcopal church, which they gave up at a great worldly sacrifice. besides actual conversions, a great effect has been produced in removing the prejudices and gaining the good-will of the community at large. the secular papers have almost unanimously spoken favorably of the missions. in many instances, the gentlemen and ladies of the vicinity have sent the choicest flowers of their gardens and hot-houses, to decorate the altar and baptismal font. not only laymen, but clergymen have often manifested a wish to show kind and courteous attentions to the missionaries. very seldom has any thing unpleasant occurred, or any annoyance been experienced--much less, indeed, than is encountered by missionaries in some other parts of the world from nominal catholics. employers have frequently lent their servants and work-people the means of conveyance to the church, or exempted them from a portion of their duties. it is impossible not to see how rapidly and generally the prejudice against the catholic religion and the priesthood is melting away in this country. and this seems to warrant the hope that the time may soon come, when the faith may be preached to our separated brethren by means of missions especially intended for them, with rich results. { } the favorable impression already so widely produced upon those who have heard catholic missionaries preach, proves how much we have to hope for in this direction. this has caused, in one instance, which seems to demand some notice, an attempt to obviate this effect, by representing our manner of preaching as part of an artful plan of rome, to deceive the minds of the people by presenting only a portion of the catholic doctrine under plausible colors. after several missions had been given in cambridge and boston, where many protestants of intelligence attended, and more would have willingly done so if there bad been room for them, the rector of a boston church, who was present several times, preached and published a lecture, in which he attempted to explain the real spirit and object of the paulist congregation, by which the missions were given. the extent of the impression made is proved by the following passage in a note to the lecture:-- "one does not take pleasure in accumulating proofs that the papal superstition still retains its most deplorable features; but as long as protestant minds are imposed upon by the superficial fallacy that it is parting with these features, because its public speakers deliver admirable discourses, it seems to be necessary. undoubtedly, the order of paulists, is at present a very efficient arm of the romish service in this country. men say, 'whatever hildebrand, and the innocents, and torquemada may have done or said, _such preaching as this is good for everybody_.'" [footnote ] [footnote : the r. c. principle: a "price lecture," &c. boston. dutton & co. app., p. .] on page of the lecture, he says: "one of the latest developments in the policy of her propagandism is the establishment in this country, with head-quarters in our chief city, of a new missionary order. { } the paulists are the itinerants and revivalists of that _shrewd mother of adaptabilities_, who, in becoming all things to all men and to all women, saw a chance in america for reaping, not so much in the field where her own fathers, like marquette and rasles, as where whitfield and maffit had sown." throughout the lecture, the aim of the author is to show that the sound and practical preaching of the eternal truths of religion, which he is forced himself to admire, and which was so much admired by many others, is nothing but an illusive pretence, which throws a deceitful halo over a system of superstitious formalism. i have not introduced this topic for the sake of a theological argument, but merely in view of vindicating the reputation of f. baker, whose sermons at cambridge made the principal impression which the lecture was intended to obviate, and forestalling a prejudice which might cast a shade over the discourses which are published in this volume. the author of this lecture, who has been my personal friend for thirty years, and who wrote to me on the occasion of its publication to express his hope that it might not interrupt our friendship, and all the protestants who may peruse these pages, especially those who know me, will admit that i am both competent to explain what catholic doctrine is, and incapable of practising any dissimulation on the subject. those who knew f. baker, or who may learn to know him from reading this volume, will also acknowledge that his high-toned mind was incapable of yielding to any system of driveling superstition, and his chivalrous spirit of descending to any system of artful deception by paltering with words in a double sense. i ask them, therefore, not, to accept catholic doctrine as true on our authority, but simply to believe that the testimony i give as to the doctrine we have embraced and preached, and our views and intentions in giving missions, is true; and that the doctrine, contained in the discourses of this volume, is a veritable exposition of the true catholic faith. { } the missions were commenced and have been carried on for the purpose of benefiting the catholic people. the sermons and instructions have been the same, in doctrine and practical aims, with those which were given in italy and other purely catholic countries for centuries past. the congregation of paulists was not established by any act of the hierarchy here, or of the supreme authority at rome. it was formed by f. baker and three other american converts, in consequence of certain unforeseen circumstances, and without any previous deliberate plan, with a simple approbation from an archbishop, and a mere recognition of the validity of that approbation on the part of rome. not a word of instruction or direction as to the manner of preaching, or the end to be aimed at in our labors, has ever been given by authority, but the movement has been the spontaneous act of the few individuals who began it. it is our desire, as it must be that of every catholic priest, to bring as many persons as possible to the catholic faith and into the bosom of the catholic church. we intend, therefore, to make use of all the means and opportunities in our power to present the faith and the church to our non-catholic countrymen, and to promote as much as possible the conversion of the american people. the catholic church has the mission to convert the whole world, and intends to fulfil it; and any catholic priest who does not endeavor to do his share of the work, is recreant to the high obligations of his office. we intend to do our part, however, in promoting this great end, not by artifice or dissimulation, not by secret intrigues or plots, by fraud or violence, by undermining or attacking the civil and religious liberty enjoyed by all our citizens in common, but by argument and persuasion, by exhibiting the church in her beauty, by prayer and good example, and by the grace of god: we have no reserves in regard either to our doctrine or our intentions, no esoteric and exoteric teaching. we present the church and the faith as they always have been, in all times and places, one, universal, and immutable, in all their essential parts. { } what the church and her doctrine are is ascertainable by all who will take pains to inform themselves, and it would be impossible for us to conceal it if we were so disposed. all that we have to fear on this head is ignorance of the real truth concerning our principles, and the misrepresentation of them by those whose knowledge of them is superficial. the author of this lecture is one of this latter class, and has hastily and without due examination put forth his own impressions of our doctrines and practices, with which he is so completely unacquainted as not even to perceive that there is any thing in them which requires any careful study or thought. he says, p. : "i have heard several of these mission sermons preached. most of them would undoubtedly be a _surprise_, and an agreeable one, to protestant ears. there was a sermon on 'future punishment,' without one allusion to purgatory." the sermon was on _hell_, not on the whole subject of future punishment. we follow the laws of logic and rhetoric in our sermons, and confine ourselves strictly to the topic in hand; excluding all irrelevant matter. any one who is surprised at a sermon like this, shows that he is entirely ignorant of the published sermons of our great preachers. one who supposes that the place of punishment for those catholics who have sinned grievously, and have not truly repented before death, is purgatory, is entirely ignorant of catholic theology. "there was a sermon on 'mortal sins,' with scarcely a reference to absolution." for the same reason given above, that the preacher stuck to his subject, and the instructions on the sacrament of penance were given in the morning. "there was another, on the 'close of life,' which, from beginning to end, went to prove, in language that must have scorched every conscience not seared that listened to it--_contrary to all the common protestant impressions of romish instruction_--that there is no efficacy whatever in any or all of the seven sacraments _to save a wicked roman catholic from perdition._" { } indeed! then these common impressions are all incorrect. the proposition which excites so much surprise is nothing but the commonest truism, familiar to every child that has learned the catechism. to admit, however, that the lecturer found himself to have been always mistaken, and protestants generally to have been under the same mistake concerning catholic teaching, would have been fatal. he has no such intention. there is couched, under the language of praise which he gives to the sermon, a concealed accusation that the doctrine of the sermons does not really mean what it seems, and that the old protestant prejudice against "romish instruction" is, after all, correct. this concealed arrow is launched in the next paragraph: "_supposing the fundamental falsehood, as a whole, to stand unchallenged_, hardly any addresses can be conceived more admirably effective to a practical and useful end in the lives of the people." that is to say, there is a fundamental falsehood which destroys their admirable effectiveness to a practical and useful end. the lecturer is making out a case against us, and preparing an indictment which shall destroy the good impression we have made on protestant hearers. he prepares the way by ridiculing the ceremonies of catholic worship. "but at just that point not only all praise, but all sympathy stops short. to say nothing of the dreary array of public pantomime and incantation, sprinkling and fumigation, pasteboard sanctities and materialistic adoration, which followed, and which give one a sense of momentary mortification at being a spectator at such a mixed piece of impiety and absurdity," &c. the point at which the lecturer is aiming here clearly comes in view. all that is spiritual in our sermons, and that seems to inculcate a real and solid piety and virtue, is mere talk, or like the one genuine watch which the mock auctioneer passes around with his pinchbeck counterfeits, to deceive his dupes the better. { } after a show of pure, spiritual doctrine, to furnish "a surprise, and an agreeable one, to protestant ears," the poor catholics are imposed upon with a set of outward shows and a routine of superstitious observances, which they are taught to believe will act upon them by a kind of magic charm, and secure them from receiving any damage to their souls and their future prospects from their sins. the religious services which the reverend lecturer witnessed on the occasion referred to, consisted of the psalm _miserere_, chanted by the choir, the hymn _tantum ergo_, and the benediction of the blessed sacrament. what is designated by the terms "pantomime and incantation" i am at a loss to conjecture. the "fumigation" was the burning of incense, which was also had at the high mass recently celebrated in trinity chapel by f. agapius. i think, also, that i have read in the old testament something about censers and incense having been prescribed by the almighty to be used in the "pantomimes and incantations" of the jewish ritual. "pasteboard sanctities" puzzled me for a long time. i suppose it refers to the pictures blessed at one of the morning instructions, which the lecturer has confounded with the evening sermon. "there were yet, beyond all that, as one pondered, appalling absences from the teaching, and more fearful elements included." these strong epithets prepare us now to await the final and telling blow. first, the "appalling absences" are specified. "can that be the true preaching of 'the word' where the language of that word so seldom enters in?" the reader is requested to look over a few of the sermons in this volume, and count the scriptural texts. "could that be the true preaching of 'christ, and him crucified,' where any mention of the simple gospel story was almost systematically shut out?" a mere _ad captandum_ objection. if the lecturer had heard the creed explained throughout, he would have heard the mystery of redemption explained in its proper place. the reader is again referred to the sermons of this volume for a more complete answer to this aspersion. { } now come the "more fearful elements." these are the merit of good works, the scapular, indulgences, transubstantiation, auricular confession, purgatory, and devotion to the blessed virgin and saints. the gist of the whole is contained in the following sentence:-- "every system must be judged by its weaknesses and its errors, not merely by its better traits. they say in mechanics that the strength of a complicated piece of machinery is equal only to the strength of its weakest part. this is as true in a scheme of justification as in dynamics. _offer human nature, at its own option, various ways of securing salvation_, and not more certainly will water seek the lowest spot than men will settle down to the inferior methods of escaping the pains of perdition." what is the point of this observation? evidently this: that we propose one way of salvation, by a truly holy life; and another way, in which, without the trouble of leading a holy life, one may save himself by a few outward observances, a mere confession of the lips, without contrition or amendment, reciting indulgenced prayers, wearing the scapular, &c. consequently, only a few, who are of the nobler sort, will take the route of virtue and spiritual religion, while the mass will go on indulging themselves in all the sins to which they are inclined, and compound for them on the easiest terms they can make. now, supposing this to be true, it recoils with all its force upon the one who uttered it. the whole doctrine of his lecture denies all merit to holiness and virtue, and ascribes justification solely to the personal holiness and virtue of christ, which is appropriated by a naked act of faith. this is the lutheran doctrine, and there cannot be a lower spot for men to settle down to, or an easier way for dispensing oneself from every thing that is painful and self-denying in the religion of the cross. the author himself accuses (on p. et seq.) nine-tenths of the new england protestants of having slid down to such a low point that they are as bad as romanists:-- { } "the first question put by about nine new englanders out of ten, when they are urged to any particular religious duty, is whether it is necessary to their salvation, i.e. whether they shall be paid for doing it. it is essentially a romish question. * * * point to their censorious tongues, their narrow judgments, their contempt of the lord's poor, their unlovely temper, their social and partisan prejudices, their mean dealings in business, their physical and religious selfishness: they give you to understand _that sometime since they got into the ark--why should they be further converted?_" why should they, indeed, according to luther and calvin? once obtain the imputation of the merits of christ, by faith, and you have a full absolution for both the past, the present, and the future, without confession or penance; you have an inalienable right to the fruits of redemption without sacrifice or sacrament; you have a perfect righteousness and a right to an eternal reward without good works or merits; you have a plenary indulgence without even repeating "a prayer of six lines," or attending a mission; and you will go to heaven, not on the saturday, but on the instant after your decease, without a scapular. even the few little things that we exact from our poor, simple followers, as a price for heaven, are dispensed with. "_not more surely will water seek the lowest spot_, than men will settle down to the inferior methods of escaping the pains of perdition." let the catholic priest tell them that they must profess the faith and enter the communion of the one true church, at whatever sacrifice of pride, position, property, or friends, and they will find some inferior method of saving their souls and keeping this world--if they can. let him tell them that they must confess every mortal sin, and they will settle down to some inferior method of obtaining pardon--if they can find one. { } let him tell them that they must do penance, fast, abstain, give alms, mortify their passions, keep the commandments, work out their salvation, _and, if they would be perfect, sell all and follow christ_, like him whose doctrine the author attempts to criticise, and they will settle down to some inferior method--if they can persuade themselves that it is at their option to do so. "what avails it," the lecturer goes on to say, "that the preaching priest tells the congregation that sacraments and saints will not save them, and omits to mention the confessional, if the confessing priest tells them, as he does in this 'book' which he puts into their hands, quoting from the 'roman catechism,' that almost all the piety, holiness, and fear of god, which, through the divine mercy, are to be found in christendom, are owing to sacramental confession?" (pp. , .) the priest _does not omit_ to mention the confessional, but let this pass. if there is any meaning in this query, it is, leaving aside the question about the prayers of saints, that it is of no avail to preach the necessity of inward renovation and holiness, if "sacraments" are taught to be the necessary means of grace. yet the lecturer quotes, on p. , a homily of the church of england, which says that we obtain "grace and remission, as well of our original sin in baptism [what! saved by 'sprinkling?'] as of all actual sin committed by us after our baptism, if we truly repent and turn unfeignedly to him again." the same church of england proposes also, at the option of human nature, along with the method of repenting by yourself, without extrinsic aid, the following "inferior method," by the confessional, which is pretty strongly urged on the sick man, as the best of the two. "here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter. after which confession, the priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort: our lord jesus christ, who hath left power to his church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences: and by his authority committed to me, _i absolve thee from all thy sins_: in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. amen." { } let us turn to the catechism of the church of england, and we shall find a little more about "sacraments," and particularly the holy communion. "qu.--what meanest thou by this word _sacrament?_ a.--i mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by christ himself, _as a means whereby we receive the same_, and a pledge to assure us thereof. qu.--how many parts are there in a sacrament? a.--two: the outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace. qu.--what is the outward part or sign of the lord's supper? a.--bread and wine, which the lord bath commanded to be received. qu.--what is the inward part, or thing signified? a.--the body and blood of christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the lord's supper. qu.--what are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby? a.--the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wine." there are some "appalling absences from the teaching" of this catechism and "other more fearful elements included." there is not a word about the gospel history in it, or justification by faith only. it is all creed, commandments, and sacraments. change "bread and wine" into "accidents of bread and wine," and you have in an that i have quoted a mere repetition of the catholic catechism. "what avails it," then, that the episcopalian minister tells his congregation that sacraments will not save them, when he puts into their hands this catechism? &c. i cannot follow the lecturer through the whole bead-roll of his enumeration of catholic practices, which he has picked out of the mission book and gathered up in a hasty perusal of other books of devotion, or explain every thing. they are among the minor and subordinate parts of the catholic system, and are placed in their proper relations to the more essential parts of it in catholic practice and instruction. { } the lecturer has put them forward into a false perspective which distorts every thing, in order to show that they practically supplant the truth, the grace, and the morality of christ; in order to put in a preventer which shall effectually shut off all access of our preaching of the great truths of religion to the protestant mind. he has skillfully chosen just the very practices which are most misunderstood by protestants, and most objectionable in their view. the chief of these, and such as are connected with catholic dogmas, as masses for the dead, devotion to the blessed virgin and saints, and indulgences, will be found fully explained in the sermons of this volume and the other volumes published by the congregation of which their author was a member, as well as in every catholic manual. i single out, therefore, only one, and that the very one which a non-catholic reader of the mission book would be most likely to stumble at, viz. _the scapular_. the author says: "i open the 'book of the mission,' and i find, intermixed with much that is better, such wretched directions as that *** the wearing of 'the virgin's scapular' around the neck (shall) guarantee the fulfilment of a promise made to one simon stock, an english carmelite friar, of six centuries ago, that 'whoso should die invested with it should be saved from eternal fire.'" if this statement is to be taken in the sense of the lecturer, as a real exposition of our belief, it is very strange that we should not dispense with the confessional, as well as with preaching repentance toward god, and a holy life, and confine ourselves to the easier task of investing all catholics with the scapular. nothing would be further necessary then, except to keep the strings in good repair, and we might all of us take our ease, eat, drink, and be merry, while this short life lasts, secure of going to heaven at last. human nature always settles down to the lowest optional method of escaping perdition, according to our author. { } it is very singular, that after hearing our sermons on the mission, and then stumbling upon this account of the scapular in a book published under our own direction, he should not have thought that there was some explanation of which it was susceptible, which would give it a meaning in harmony with our doctrine, and should not have asked for that explanation. i will give it, however, unasked, lest it should seem that his objection is unanswerable. the scapular is a small article, made to imitate a part of the religious habit, and worn as the badge of a pious confraternity affiliated to the carmelite order. according to the proper and ordinary use of it, it is conferred on persons intending to live a devout life, as an exterior sign of their special consecration to the service of god under the protection of the blessed virgin, and of certain special graces which are given through the prayers of the holy religious of mount carmel, to those who fulfil the conditions faithfully. these conditions are, to observe a strict chastity according to one's state, whether married or single, and to perform certain acts of devotion. it is understood that in order to be capable of receiving these graces, a person must take care to live always in the love and fear of god, and avoid all other mortal sins as well as those which are specifically renounced by the reception of the religious habit. this implies a diligent use of the means of grace, such as prayer and the sacraments. the advantage attributed to membership in the confraternity, and gained by fulfilling its conditions, is merely, additional grace to assist one to live a christian life, and thus to escape perdition and gain heaven. the scapular is only a symbol of this, and the only consolation a person who wears it can receive from it at the hour of death is, that it is to him a badge and emblem of the holy life he has led, and of the promise of special grace in his last moments. { } there is, besides this, the "sabbatine indulgence," as it is called, by which it is generally held, as a matter, not of faith, but of opinion, based on a private revelation, that a person may obtain a remission of the punishment of temporal pain in the other world, on the saturday after his decease. presupposing now the catholic doctrine of purgatory, and also the doctrine of indulgences, according to which no one can enter the first unless he dies free from mortal sin, or obtain the second fully unless he is free from every stain of sin, however small; there is nothing in this pious belief prejudicial to strictness of piety or virtue. in order to escape eternal perdition, one must truly repent of every grievous sin. in order to be free from temporal punishment, one must satisfy the divine justice for past sins already remitted, and repent of all sins whatever, even the least and most trivial. the soul can never enter heaven until its holiness is consummated. therefore the pious belief respecting the sabbatine indulgence cannot, without contradicting catholic doctrine, mean more than this: that one who faithfully accomplishes all that he promises on receiving the scapular, and earnestly endeavors to purify himself from all mortal and venial sin, may hope that the removal of the stains which his soul may have at death will be accelerated by a special grace, and that, if without this special grace he would still have some short time to suffer, it may be remitted to him, or shortened, as god may see fit. the language of catholic books, of devotion is often free and unguarded, and therefore easily susceptible of misunderstanding when taken out of its connection and pressed into a hard literalness by those who do not understand the catholic system in its harmony. these books are written for catholics, who are supposed to be instructed, and to have the practical sense of their religion which enables them to take up their meaning rightly. it is also presupposed that pastors and confessors will instruct and direct those under their charge in all matters relating to practical religion, and guard them against hurtful errors or mistakes in substituting minor and subsidiary practices of devotion for solid piety and the fulfilment of the weightier matters of the law. { } let anyone candidly examine into the spirit and scope of the sermons contained in this volume, and into those of the mission book, and he will see that those weightier matters are the ones which are insisted on. these are urged and enforced as essential with all possible earnestness; and how can it detract from the force of these exhortations, that an occasional recommendation of some particular devotions is also thrown in, which is like our lord's counsel not to leave undone the paying tithes of mint, anise, and cummin? let it be remembered that the point is not now to prove the truth of the catholic doctrine respecting the sacraments or any inferior rites, practices, or pious works. it is to refute the charge that by these things we subvert sound morality, solid and spiritual piety, and faith in christ as the author of grace and justification. this charge is untrue, irrespective of the question of the claim of the catholic church on faith and obedience. the author of the "price lecture" has made it without due study and examination, on the faith of the writers of the church he has recently joined, and into whose views he has thrown himself by a voluntary effort, without waiting to mature the results of his own theological principles. he is capable of better things than this hasty and superficial lecture. let him be true to the dying declaration of the great anglican divine which he quotes with so much approbation (p. ), "i die in the faith and church of christ, as held before the separation of east and west," and he will no longer be found in unworthy companionship with the revilers of the roman church. how much more dignified and noble is the position taken by such men as the great philosopher leibniz, in the past, and, in the present, by the great statesman and champion of the truth of revelation and protestant orthodoxy, guizot! { } the latter does not hesitate to avow that he considers the cause of which he is a champion essentially identical with that of the church of rome. i agree with him, in the sense that the whole of the christian tradition which is found in the various christian bodies, and which constitutes the positive and objective creed which they cling to, is all preserved in the catholic church. i know the doctrine of luther and calvin, in which i was brought up, thoroughly, and i can testify that the positive portion of it, respecting the mystery of redemption and the inward sanctification of the holy spirit, i retain unchanged. i know thoroughly, also, the church principles of reformed episcopacy, and i retain all these unchanged. i have found also all that true and sound rationality, or respect for human reason and its certain science, together with all that high estimate of the moral virtues, which is professed by unitarians, in catholic theology. i have never lost any thing or been required to abdicate any thing which i had previously acquired in the intellectual or spiritual life, by embracing catholic doctrine but have only added to it that which makes it more integral and complete. the real question of discussion is about that which is positive in the roman church, in addition to that which is common to her and protestant communions, and not about those more primary articles of the christian creed which form the basis of all religion and christianity. it is the question, whether the catholic church is really the one, only church, founded by christ on the supremacy of st. peter and his apostolic see of rome; and is an infallible teacher in faith and morals. we do not ask other christians to admit this before they have examined the evidence, or been convinced by its force. we ask them simply, _ad interim_, to do us justice, to give us a fair hearing, to observe the rules of honorable warfare in their controversies with us, and to concede our rightful claims as christians and as free citizens. { } those bigoted leaders of religious factions and their great "fourth estate" of unemployed clerical followers, whose occupation of hanging around the skirts of our armies is gone, and who seek to stir up a religious war, by representing catholics as the enemies of civil and religious liberty, and the progress of the church as dangerous to our political welfare, are beyond all reason or remonstrance. their plans are well characterised in some of the secular papers, as more nefarious than those of the men who plotted to burn the hotels of new york. they would be better employed, and make a much more efficacious war on infidelity, if they would give missions, establish churches, and make other efforts for the instruction in some principles of religion and morality of the half-million of protestants in the city of new york, and the other millions elsewhere, who never enter a church-door. those protestants who may read these pages will undoubtedly, for the most part, belong to that large class who repudiate indignantly all sympathy with men of this sort, and their schemes. and on such readers i rely confidently to judge justly and generously the pure and noble character and apostolic works of the subject of this memoir, from his life and from his own writings. i rely on them to believe my testimony, that they will find in these a specimen of the genuine character and doctrine of the catholic priesthood, modelled after the form proposed by the church herself. i think they will give their approbation and sympathy to all that is done by the catholic clergy to stem the vast and swelling torrent of impiety and immorality which threatens our political and social fabric on every side, and will acknowledge the service done to the state and society, apart from the directly religious benefit to the souls of men, by the only church and body of clergy that has a powerful sway over great masses of the population in our country. this long digression will, i fear, have seemed tedious, and irrelevant to the proper subject of this biographical narrative. { } i have thought it necessary, however, as a background to my portrait, to paint the missionary work from which the life of father baker receives its principal value and significance. i return now to resume the thread of his personal history, which i left at the point where he was about to commence his public sacerdotal and missionary career. father baker came to the assistance of the little band who were toiling in their arduous missionary labors, in november, . his first mission-sermon was preached in st. patrick's church, washington, d. c., on "the necessity of salvation." this sermon was also the last one which he ever preached, at one of the weekly services of lent, in the parish church of st. paul's, new york. the debut of father baker as a missionary is noticed at the records of the missions in the following words, which were written by the faithful friend who watched over his last moments. "the rev. father baker, a convert from episcopalianism, and most highly respected and beloved as a protestant minister in baltimore, had been just ordained, and came for the first time to assist at this mission. he preached the opening sermon, which gave great satisfaction to all who heard it, and a promise that he will hereafter be a truly apostolical missionary." one pleasing little incident of this very interesting mission was, that the president and his lady gathered and arranged a beautiful bouquet of flowers, which were sent to decorate the altar at the ceremony of the dedication to the blessed virgin, which took place near the close of the mission. after the conclusion of this mission, father baker was sent by his superior to annapolis, to assist the rector of the house of novices located there (on one of the ancient manors of the carroll family, which had been given to the congregation by the daughter of charles carroll, of carrollton), in the care of the little catholic parish in that place. { } the other missionaries went south, for a series of missions to be given during the winter, and finding the work there too great for their small band of four, telegraphed from savannah to the provincial, requesting him to send father baker to assist them. in compliance with this request, father baker was sent on immediately to savannah, and took part in the mission given in the cathedral, at that time under the care of the saintly and apostolic dr. barry, then administrator, and afterward bishop of the diocese. there was but little episcopal splendor to be seen about the savannah cathedral and residence at this time. until within a few years previously to the mission, georgia had been included in the diocese of charleston. dr. gartland, the first bishop, had procured a suitable residence for himself and his clergy, and had purchased property with a view of erecting a handsome cathedral. a short time after his consecration, savannah was visited by a destructive tornado, which destroyed the greater part of the fine old trees which formed the principal ornament of the place, otherwise injured the city very seriously, and unroofed the bishop's house. the yellow fever broke out about the same time, in a very virulent manner; and the bishop, as also bishop barron, who came there to assist him, fell a victim to the epidemic. these disasters, and the debts which pressed on the congregation, put a stop for a time to all efforts to establish matters on a suitable footing. after dr. barry's consecration, the old church was refitted and furnished in a way to make it quite respectable for the cathedral of a new diocese, and a spacious mansion was purchased for the episcopal residence. but at this time dr. barry was living, like a bishop _in partibus infidelium_, in a small and poor frame dwelling-house, containing only four or five rooms, and the clergy were putting up, in the best way they could, with rooms over the sacristy of the church. just round the corner, an aged negro, with a long white beard, who was a methodist preacher, might be seen sitting all the day long in the sun on a little stool, holding a cow by a rope around her horns, while she nibbled the grass which grew along the streets; and the old gentleman chatted with the passers-by, or prepared his sermons for the next sunday, highly delighted at the friendly salutations which the fathers always gave him as they passed by. { } every now and then a black nurse passed along the street, carrying or wheeling the little white infant of her charge; or a troop of negro boys and their young masters, playing together with the utmost familiarity. the sunny, southern atmosphere was vocal with the merry, free-and-easy sounds of laughing, chatting mirth, or work carried on like a play without much care or hurry, so characteristic of a city in the far south. savannah is a very beautiful and picturesque place, where, at that time, southern life and manners could be seen at the greatest advantage; and the novelty of the scene gave it a great zest to those of our number who had not seen it before. the clergy were, most of them, old veteran missionaries, brought to this country by the celebrated bishop england, full of rich and piquant anecdotes of their past experience among the wild, sparsely-settled regions of georgia and the neighboring states, related with inimitable wit and humor. [footnote ] the mission was still further enlivened by a visit to savannah from archbishop hughes, accompanied by his amiable secretary, who were making a tour of recreation to restore the archbishop's shattered health; and from dr. lynch, soon after appointed to the see of charleston. [footnote : one of these good clergymen, the rev. peter whelan, during the late civil war, remained a long time among our prisoners at andersonville, and spent four hundred dollars in gold at one time in purchasing bread for their necessities.] this mission was, however, no play-spell for the missionaries. besides the ordinary labor of preaching and hearing the confessions of a multitude of people, it was necessary to search out the people themselves, and bring them to church to hear the sermons. at that time, the southern towns received the _débris_ of foreign emigration, and were filled during the winter months by a loose floating population of northern laborers, who were without employment at home. { } hence, there was a larger proportion than elsewhere of the most degenerate and demoralised class of catholics, living in complete neglect of their religious and moral duties, and beyond the reach of the ordinary ministrations of the church. savannah has several suburbs and purlieus, rejoicing in the names of yammacraw, robertsville, and old fort, crowded with squalid hovels, drinking-shops, sailors' boarding-houses, and dens of thieves and smugglers, representing in a small way the scenes which dickens delights in describing. a mission in the cathedral might be given ten times over, and the news of it never reach the denizens of these places. accordingly, the missionaries divided the several districts between them, and undertook to beat up the quarters of sin, vice, and misery, in the hope of rescuing some of these forlorn and abandoned souls. it would hardly be safe for any one but a catholic priest to undertake such a work, especially in the evening, and certainly no one else would have any hope of success. the work was done, however, very thoroughly, and, in consequence, the church was crowded by that class of persons who were in most need of a mission, and who had never been reached before. an immediate and extensive reformation was the result. the grog-shops were deserted, which before were filled from morning until late at night, the sound of cursing and quarrelling was hushed, the darker deeds of sin ceased, and the great mass of these poor, lost souls began to listen to the eternal truths, and to seek for the way that would bring them back to god. many, engaged in dishonest practices, abandoned their unlawful traffic, and made restitution of their ill-gotten gains. great numbers of those who had abandoned the sacraments, and even ceased going to church, for ten, twenty, or thirty years, came with great fervor and earnestness to confession. some of the poor slaves also, as well methodists as those who were catholics, attended eagerly on the instructions of the mission. { } one old methodist negress was asked by her mistress, or some one else who noticed her constant attendance, if she liked the mission; to which she replied: "oh, lor! yes, missus; i'se bound to be there, if i can get only one eye in, every time." another grown-up slave girl, who had never been baptized, was most anxious to receive baptism, and induced her mistress to ask me to baptize her. i was very reluctant to do it, fearing lest she might not be sufficiently instructed and prepared in her moral dispositions to begin a really christian life, without a longer probation; and therefore refused to baptize her during the mission. after the last sermon she went nearly frantic, and made loud exclamations that she wished to be taken out of the devil's hands, and the father would not do it, but was going away, leaving her in his power. touched by her entreaties, and finding that her mistress had taught her the rudiments of the catechism, i instructed her for some days, and endeavored to impress upon her mind especially, that if she wished for the graces of baptism and the friendship of god, she must renounce all sin and live a good and holy life. so fearful was she that she might sin, and receive baptism unworthily, that for a day before her baptism she would not speak a word to any person, not even her mistress. she refused to speak even when she was asked about her sponsors and her baptismal dress, and her whole demeanor at her baptism was like that of one oppressed with the most intense sentiment of religious awe, and of the sacredness of the promises she was making to god. it is not to be supposed that every bad catholic was reformed, or that, of those who were really brought to a resolution to mend their lives, all of them persevered. the hydra-headed monster of vice is not killed by a blow, nor can we hope ever to exterminate sin by any means, even those which have a divine efficacy. it is a continual warfare which we have to wage, by both spiritual and moral weapons, which the free will can always resist. { } god alone has coercive power over the spirit of man, and he will not exert it to compel him to obey his law. temptations to sin ever beset the human will, especially in a corrupt, irreligious, and immoral state of society. the catholic church is not intended to be a society of saints who have already attained perfection, but a training and reformatory school for the human race. it has no means of charming or mesmerizing the human will into sanctity, and its gracious influences do not supersede the struggle for life which exists in the spiritual as in the natural world. it has all the means of sanctifying the human race, and of elevating men to the summit of possible human virtue, limited only by the extent to which the free human will co-operates with grace. it must actually produce these results on a great scale, in order to prove that it is the church; because god would not have created it for this purpose, foreseeing its essential failure to fulfil its work and attain its predestined end. it is easy enough to show that the church possesses this note of sanctity, correctly understood in this way. but it is perfectly true also that the free-will of man, by its failure and perversion, hinders the church to a vast extent from exhibiting its regenerating and sanctifying power. great numbers of individuals in the catholic church live and act in contradiction to their faith, neglect or abuse the means of grace, and dishonor religion by their conduct. the only means which the church has of contending with this evil, and reclaiming these unworthy members from a sinful life, are moral means, acting on the mind and conscience. missions are among the most powerful and efficacious of these means, and their efficacy is shown, not in eradicating sin, or liberating human nature from its intrinsic liability and propensity to sin, but in checking and counteracting its violence, and reclaiming a great number of individuals from its influence. { } if they actually do this, if they have a perceptible influence in reforming and renovating the demoralised portion of the catholic community, heightening the restraining power of faith and conscience among the mass of the people, and producing many permanent fruits in the increase of piety and morality, they are successful, and their value is established. it is beyond a question that they do this to an extent which can only be understood by those who are engaged in them, or who have studied their working on a grand scale. to return to the savannah mission. i had a good opportunity to judge of its permanent fruits when, two years afterward, i returned there, and went through the same quarters of the town where we had gone to drum up the people to the mission, in making a collection for the new congregation of st. paul. many of the very poorest dwellings i found neat and orderly; the pious pictures blessed during the mission hanging upon the walls; the children clean and tidy; sometimes an old man sitting at the door, reading the mission-book; the wives and mothers evidently cheerful and contented, the best sign that their husbands were sober and kind; the expressions of grateful remembrance of the mission warm and frequent; the signs of moral improvement everywhere, and the church crowded on sunday. it is not to be supposed that the body of the catholic congregation of savannah were like this lowest class i have described. i have dwelt more minutely on their condition, and the good done among them, mainly because the small comparative size of the place, and the thorough visitation which was made, brought us into a more close contact with their miseries, and enabled us to see more clearly what can be done to relieve them, than is usually the case. i have wished to show what the hardest and most repulsive part of the work of the missionary is, and to give a true picture of the nature and efficacy of the means used to raise up and reform and save the most demoralised class of the catholic population throughout the country, and especially in the large towns, where this class is most numerous. { } i wish, also, before resuming the particular narrative of f. baker's life, to show what was the work for which he left the ease and elegance and attractive charm of his earlier position as an episcopalian clergyman, fulfilling the light duty of reading prayers and preaching quiet, well-written, polished discourses for the _élite_ of baltimore society. the mass of the people who were brought to the mission in savannah by the personal visits of the fathers had never been seen in the church previously. they were the _débris_ that the tide of emigration had deposited there, and many of them only chance-residents of the town. the ordinary church-going congregation contained, as usual, its very large proportion of easter communicants, with a smaller but still numerous class of devout and fervent catholics who approached the sacraments frequently. the majority of them belonged to the humbler walks of life, although there were a considerable number whose position in worldly society was more elevated. f. baker arrived in savannah, when the mission was about half over, and took his share in the labor of preaching and hearing confessions. at the close of it, after a few days' rest, three of the missionaries, of whom he was one, commenced a series of missions in one part of the diocese, and the two others began another which embraced the smaller parishes. the smaller band went to macon, columbus, and atlanta, rejoining their companions subsequently at charleston. as f. baker went in another direction, i shall confine myself to the narrative of the missions in which he was engaged, and pass over the others, merely pausing for a moment to notice a letter written by a protestant gentleman in macon, to the _united states catholic miscellany_, of charleston, as an evidence of the impression often made by missions upon the minds of candid and intelligent protestants. the letter is as follow's:-- { } "in company with many of our most distinguished citizens, i have had the pleasure of hearing most of the sermons delivered, and witnessing the accompanying exercises connected with their mission, and but express the united and universal sentiment entertained, when i say that they were exceedingly interesting and instructive, and have served to dissipate many of the vulgar prejudices that hung like a mist upon the public mind, and, like a cold-damp, mildewed reason and honest judgment. sufficient testimony of this result may be found in the fact that a number of protestant gentlemen called upon mr. walworth yesterday, and urgently requested him to deliver one more sermon before his departure, which he consented to do this evening. i would send you a copy of the correspondence, but it would be too voluminous for the brevity of this letter; suffice it to say it was complimentary, no less in the act itself than in the manner in which the request was conveyed. "i must take this occasion of expressing my gratification at the result adverted to, for though i am not a member, nor ever have been, of the catholic church, its piety and religious principles--the purity, integrity, ability, learning, and eloquence of its teachers and preachers--the bright links of patience, endurance, and fidelity, by which it is held to the early ages of christianity--its unity of action, consistency of precept and practice, and conformity of theory and doctrine, as well as the great lights of intellect that have shed lustre upon it in the past and present--men whose genius has elevated them above the gloom of dying centuries to overflow history with glory--these have commended the catholic church favorably to my judgment; and regarding its onward progress and increasing popularity with no jaundiced sectarian eye or jealous faction-spirit, but with the extension of civilization and christianity--i feel the pressure of no petty, vulgar prejudice in wishing it, with all other christian organizations, 'god speed;' and if this sentiment be in hostility with protestantism, as for myself and it i say, 'perish the connection'--'live' the enlightened liberality and intelligence of civilized and educated man. "yours, very truly, etc. "macon, _december_ , ." { } from savannah, f. baker, with two companions, went to give a mission in augusta. on the pages of the mission records several interesting incidents of this mission are related. on the first sunday morning of the mission, three gentlemen called on the fathers, all of whom, it appeared, were converts. one of them was called dr. w. b., the second, his nephew, dr. m., and the third was the overseer of dr. b.'s plantation. this dr. b. had been received into the catholic church some months previously, and had entered a catholic church for the first time that morning. he was a man of fine and genteel appearance, with gray hair and a long, black beard, an intelligent and educated physician. so great was his excitement, and so wonderful did every thing which he saw that may appear through the magnifying glass of his imagination, that on his return home that night, at eleven o'clock, he awoke his brother and made him get up and light a fire, that he might relate the events of the day. as a sample of the proportion in which he viewed the whole, it may suffice to say that he described one of the fathers as seven and a-half feet high--at least six inches taller than the georgia giant. the brother alluded to, also a physician and planter, made his appearance a day or two later. he was quite an elderly gentleman, with an intelligent countenance and a magnificent patriarchal beard. a painter could not find a better head for an apostle, or for one of the ancient bishops or fathers of the church than his. he was a man with an intellect like brownson's, and full of information. he became a catholic a few years ago from reading brownson's review. since that time he has been a great champion of the church, and, through his influence, his own family, his brother and sister, his nephew and some others, have also been converted. { } one of the latter was then residing in dr. b.'s own family, and was leading a most remarkably penitential life. this gentleman (a mr. s.), of high birth and education, was formerly a lawyer, and a married man of large property. he was renowned for his courage, and had fought with one of the most celebrated duellists of south carolina, named r. this gentleman lost his property and was abandoned by his wife. about seven years before he had become a catholic, he lived for a considerable time with his brother, an unprincipled and ferocious man, who scarcely allowed him a bare pittance. he was dressed in rags, was barefooted, and lived on bread which he baked himself. after a few years, when dr. b. had become a catholic, and opened a small chapel on his own plantation, mr. s. appeared there one day at mass in his miserable plight. dr. r. invited him to stay with him, and gave him a small office to live in, and all other things requisite for his comfort. here he had been living ever since, leading the life of a saint, and passing a great portion of his time in reading catholic books, especially brownson's review, which he knew almost by heart. the doctor said that the only thing which could excite his anger, was to hear anyone speak against brownson, or contradict any thing he says. as an instance of his penance, i will relate how, according to dr. b.'s account, he attempted to pass one lent. he had been reading the lives of the fathers of the desert, and he endeavored to imitate their example precisely and to the letter. his whole food consisted of a small quantity of bread, and during the last three days he wanted to fast entirely, but dr. b. threatened that, if he did, he would send a little negro for father b., to excommunicate him. he was wasted to a skeleton, and did not recover the effects of his fasting for six months afterward. { } on one occasion, mr. s. found a poor, sick negro, with no one to attend him, and not contented with waiting on him and taking care of him, as he was constantly in the habit of doing for all the sick within several miles' distance, he washed his feet, and, for want of a towel, wiped them with his pocket-handkerchief. it was necessary to watch him, lest he might give away his clothes to the negroes and when he needed new clothes, they were put secretly in his way, and the old ones removed. others in this neighborhood, who were not yet catholics, were so well disposed that they had their children baptized. edgefield and the country round about was formerly celebrated for the lawless and violent character of the population, for the frequency of murders, and for the bitter prejudice existing against the catholic church; so much so, that a priest could not obtain the court-house to preach in. when the elder dr. b. became a catholic, dr. w. b. declared that he would burn up his wife and children and his whole house before they should become catholics, and any priest who should chance to come near him. another gentleman, since a convert, said that, if one of his children should become a catholic, he would take him by the heels and dash out his brains against a stone wall. dr. m., when he went to study medicine with his uncle, the elder dr. b., made a vow that he would never enter the chapel and never desert the faith of his fathers; and his parents told him on leaving home that, if he became a catholic, he should never cross the savannah river again or see their faces. after some months, he became silent and melancholy. for a while he concealed the cause, but at last, one evening he told his aunt that he could hold out no longer, and was a catholic at heart. shortly after receiving his medical diploma, he determined to renounce the practice of medicine, and has recently been ordained to the priesthood. { } at edgefield a lot of seven acres was purchased in the middle of the town, for a church, to be built of brown stone, in the gothic style. five gentlemen had already subscribed sixteen hundred dollars for the church, and father b. was collecting for the same purpose. there was a general inclination throughout the whole town to embrace the catholic faith, and already there is a small band of the best catholics in the country there--souls that have been led by the great god himself, by the wonderful ways of his most holy grace. dr. b. has since died, and what has been the fate of the little congregation, and of the beautiful church which was commenced, during the troubles and miseries of the civil war, i know not. they have not, however, hindered the catholics of augusta from completing and paying for a large and costly church, the successor of a very good and commodious edifice of brick where the mission was given. after leaving augusta, we went to savannah once more, and on the th of january went on board the little steamer gen. clinch, which was afterward turned into a gunboat during the civil war, to begin our voyage by the inland route to st. augustine, florida. this inland route has some peculiar and picturesque features. the steamer passes down the savannah river, with its banks lined with the green and gold orange trees, until, near the mouth, it turns into its proper route, leading through a succession of small sounds, connected by narrow, serpentine rivers, where you seem to be sailing over the meadows, usually in sight of the ocean, and quite often aground for some hours at a time. the steamer was very small and very crowded, our progress very leisurely and interrupted by several long stoppages, so that our voyage was protracted for five days. it is seldom that a more motley or singular and amusing group of passengers is collected in a small cabin. { } besides the three catholic priests, who were to the others the greatest curiosities on board, we had an army lieutenant, since then the commander of a _corps d'armée_ in the great civil war, an old wizard who was consulting his familiar spirits incessantly for the amusement or information of the passengers; a plantation doctor, a wild young arkansas lawyer of the fire-eating type, a professor of mathematics, a crotchety, good-humored new york farmer, with very peculiar religious opinions, a young man who professed himself a universal sceptic, two or three gentlemen of education and polished manners, who were not at all singular, but appeared quite so in such an odd assemblage; and some others in no way remarkable. the cramped accommodations, the long voyage, and the usual _bonhommie_ which prevails on such occasions were well fitted to draw out all the oddities and idiosyncrasies of the company. the spiritualist, who was an uneducated and uncouth specimen of humanity, with a great deal of native shrewdness, and a good-humored, loquacious disposition, was the center of attraction. the professor and the philosophical farmer engaged with him in a long and earnest discussion of spiritualism, which ended in his exhibiting his powers as a consulter of the spirits. most of the passengers made trial of his skill in this respect, although his performance was the most patent of silly impostures, only amusing from its absurdity. the professor tried him sorely by asking him a question which seemed to have caused himself many an hour of anxious and fruitless thought, and which he appeared to despair of solving metaphysically: "can god annihilate space?" the old gentleman's spirit did not appear to have investigated this question to his own complete satisfaction, for he gave him no positive answer. he was silent for a moment, with a puzzled look, evidently fearing a trap, and at last answered, "i don't know, but i guess he could if he tried; he made it, and i guess he could annihilate it." just as the professor was going to retire to his berth, the old man took revenge by telling him that he had just been informed by the spirits that one of his children was sick of scarlet fever. the wizard left the boat at brunswick, but as the conversation had taken a religious and philosophical turn at first, it continued in that direction, the two individuals before mentioned being the principal interlocutors. { } we did not join much in it, as it was evidently distasteful to several of the company, who wished to read quietly or converse on ordinary topics. before we parted, however, one of our number took the opportunity which offered itself of having a little pleasant and rational discussion with the professor and one or two others, who were really intelligent and well-informed. on new year's day we remained several hours at st. mary's, georgia, where we found the mayor of the place to be a catholic gentleman, of acadian descent, and were hospitably entertained at his house. the boat passed the night at fernandina, and the next day we went out of the st. mary's river, across a short and dangerous stretch of ocean between a line of breakers and the shore, into the st. john's, and up that romantic river, so full of historical associations. friday evening saw us befogged above jacksonville, and on saturday morning we learned to our dismay that our captain was going past our landing, and on to pilatka, which would keep us on board his miserable little craft until the next week, and prevent the opening of the mission on the sunday. touching for a few moments at fleming's island, we found friends at the little dock, who were passing the winter on the island, and who informed us that we could go from there that afternoon to our destination. we debarked accordingly, our friend the professor in company with us, and were refreshed with a good breakfast at the hotel where our friends were lodging, and a stroll around the little island. on the arrival of the steamer, the whole party went on board and proceeded to picolata, where we took stage-coaches for st. augustine, arriving there on saturday evening. about halfway between picolata and st. augustine there is a post-house, where, in the last florida war with the seminole indians, a party of travelling actors were surprised and murdered by indians, who dressed themselves in their fantastic costumes, and in that guise made a hostile demonstration in the neighborhood of st. augustine. { } to americans, this old town seems to have a vast antiquity, claiming as it does the respectable age of three centuries. the catholic church here is almost as old as protestantism, and a brief of st. pius v., in regard to some of the religious affairs of this colony, is still extant. there are remnants of an old wall in several places, and a large fortress built in spanish times, and called the castle of st. marco, where you may yet see the marks of the cannon-shot fired at the invasion of oglethorpe from georgia. this fort might serve as a scene for the plot of a new "mysteries of udolfo," it is so unlike any thing modern, and so thoroughly spanish and mediæval. it is not, however, of a sort to make one regret the past. its dark, damp casemates look like prisons, especially one frightful dungeon, which is a cell within a cell, without any embrasure, and admitting no light or air except that which comes through the door opening into the outer casemate. this was the cell of the greatest criminals. in one of these casemates, wildcat, the celebrated indian chief, was once confined with a companion. although cruel and blood-thirsty, wildcat was a great warrior, and a man gifted with a high order of genius, an orator, a poet, and a true cavalier of the forest. on pretence of illness, he and his companion reduced their bulk as much as possible by a low diet and purgative medicines, and by the aid of a knife, which he had secreted and used as a spike by thrusting it into the wall of soft concrete, with a rope dexterously made from strips of his bed-clothes, he clambered to the high and narrow embrasure, squeezed himself through, not without scraping the skin from his breast, and let himself down into the moat. his companion followed him, but fell to the ground, breaking his leg. nevertheless, wildcat carried him off, seized a stray mule, and escaped to his tribe in the forest. { } after the conclusion of the war, he went to mexico, where he became the alcalde of an indian village, and did his new country essential service by leading a body of indian warriors, armed with mississippi rifles, against a band of filibusters from the united states. osceola, the half-breed king of the seminoles, who was not only a hero, but a just and humane man, was also captured near st. augustine, by treachery and bad faith, and confined in this fortress for a time, but afterward removed to charleston, where he died of a broken heart. the great mahogany treasure-chest of don juan menendez is still remaining in the fortress, and in one of the casemates are remnants of a rude stone altar and holy-water stoups, marking the site of a chapel. the fortress is kept in good preservation by our government, and a noble sea-wall extends from it to the barracks at the other end of the town, which are established in an ancient franciscan monastery. a great part of the old city is in ruins. the old spanish families left the country when it was ceded by spain to the united states, and the resident inhabitants are minorcans, negroes, and a small number of settlers from the other portions of the united states. the minorcans are descendants of a body of colonists, brought to florida under false pretences by an english speculator, who enslaved them, and kept them for a long time in that state before they became aware that there was any way of escaping from it. when they did take courage to shake off the yoke, they removed to the spanish colony of st. augustine, where they retain their language, a dialect of the spanish, with their ancient, simple character and habits. the illustrious spanish names which some of them bear amused us greatly. sanchez was the proprietor of a line of slow coaches. suarez had charge of f. madeore's farm, and ximenes served mass. the church is a large spanish structure, built, as are most of the houses, of soft concrete formed from sea-shells. on a green in front of it stands the only remaining monument, erected in commemoration of the formation of the spanish constitution of . { } the tower has a chime of small bells, which are rung in a most joyous, clashing style, according to the spanish custom, for festive occasions, and with a peculiarly plaintive peal for deaths and funerals. the cemetery is called tolomato, which was the name of an indian village formerly occupying its site. the ruins of an ancient mission chapel are still to be seen there, where f. roger, a french jesuit, was murdered by an apostate indian chief and his warriors. after killing f. roger, the band proceeded to another chapel, called nuestra señora de leche, where they found a priest just robed for mass. he requested the chief to allow him to say mass, and his desire was granted, the savages prostrating themselves with their faces to the ground while he performed the holy function, lest the sight of him should soften their hearts. after mass he knelt at the foot of the altar, and received a blow from the tomahawk which made him a martyr. tolomato contains also the beautiful tomb erected by the cubans over the grave of the rev. dr. varela, a learned, holy, and patriotic priest, a native of the island of cuba, and a member of the spanish cortes which established the constitution. banished from his native country, where his memory has always been fondly cherished, he passed the greater part of a long life as a laborious parish priest in new york, and died in st. augustine. there is a beautiful chapel over his grave, with an altar of marble and mahogany, and a heavy marble slab in the center of the pavement, containing the simple but eloquent inscription: "_al padre varela los cubanos_"-the cubans to father varela. the mission in st. augustine absorbed the whole attention of the catholic population, who formed a large majority of the inhabitants. great numbers of them gathered to welcome the fathers on their arrival, and whenever they went out they were met and greeted by groups of these simple, warm-hearted people, and followed by a troop of children, who live there in a perpetual holiday. { } there was scarcely any business or work done there at any time; the climate and the fertility both of the land and water in the means of subsistence furnishing the necessaries of life to the poorer classes without much trouble. most of these pass their time in fishing, and even this occupation was intermitted, so that on friday there was not a fish to be found in the market. the people seemed literally to have nothing whatever to do; the fort and barracks were garrisoned by one soldier with his wife and children; the government of the place was a sinecure; the mails came only twice a week; behind the city lay the interminable, uninhabited everglade; before it the atlantic ocean, with its waters and breezes warmed by the gulf stream, and unvisited by any sails to disturb its solitude, except at rare intervals. although it was midwinter, the weather was commonly as pleasant and the sun as warm as it is in new england in the month of june. i have never witnessed such a scene of dreamy, listless, sunshiny indolence, where every thing seemed to combine to lull the mind and senses into complete forgetfulness of the existence of an active world. to the people, however, it was one of the most exciting periods of their lives. the presence of several strange priests, the continual sermons and religious exercises, gave an unwonted air of life and activity to the precincts of the old church, and roused them to an unusual animation. drunkenness, dishonesty, and the graver vices were almost unknown among them. the negroes were found to be an extremely virtuous, innocent, and docile class of people. honest, sober, observant of the laws of marriage, faithful and contented in their easy employments, which seemed to suit their disposition very well, and in many cases not only pious, but very intelligent, and exhibiting fine traits of character, they were the best evidence we had yet seen of what the catholic religion can do for this oppressed and ill-used race. { } one of them, a pilot on one of the steamboats navigating the st. john's river, impressed me as one of the most admirable men of his class in life, for capacity and conscientious christian principle, i have ever met. another, who was a freedman of the celebrated john randolph, and for many years his personal attendant, was not only intelligent and well informed, but a well-bred gentleman in his manners and appearance. the most interesting incident of the mission was the conversion of an ordnance sergeant of the regular army, who was in charge of the fortress. this brave soldier had distinguished himself in the mexican war, by the recapture of a cannon which had been taken in one of the battles by the mexicans, and by his general character for gallantry and fidelity to his duties. his wife and children were catholics, but he himself had lived until that time without any religion. on new-year's night, as he sat alone in the barracks, after his family had retired, he began to think over his past life, and resolved to begin at once to live for the great end for which god had created him. he knelt down and said a few prayers, to ask the grace and blessing of god on his good resolutions. his prayers were heard, and during the mission he was received into the catholic church and admitted to the sacraments with all the signs of sincerity and fervor which were to be expected from one of such a resolute and manly character. i wish to mention one interesting circumstance which he related to me, as showing the power of good example in men of high station in the world. he told me that the first impression he received of the truth and excellence of the catholic religion, was received from witnessing the admirable life of that accomplished christian gentleman and soldier, captain gareschè, to whose company he belonged. many readers will recall, as they read these records, the admirable and glorious close of this officer's career on the field of battle. { } during the western campaign of general rosecrans, lieutenant-colonel garesché was his chief of staff. before the battle of stone river, he received holy communion, and was observed afterward alone under a tree, reading the "imitation of christ." during the engagement, one of the fiercest and most bloody of the civil war, he rode, by the side of his gallant general, through a storm of shot and shell, and by his side he fell, besprinkling his beloved commander with his blood, as he sank upon the field to die, and yielded up his noble life to his country and to god. the labors of this mission were so light that it was more like holiday than work for us. the presence of a number of very agreeable and intelligent catholic gentlemen and ladies, who were visitors in the place, and some of whom were old friends, added very much to the liveliness of the mission, and to our own enjoyment of its peculiar attendant circumstances. one of these was the abbé le blond, a dear friend of ours and of all who knew him, a priest of montreal, who was gradually dying of consumption, yet full of vivacity and activity, improving the remnant of his days by his labors of love and zeal, and his works of charity in different parts [of] the south where he passed his winters. he died eventually in rome. another was lieutenant mcdonald, of the british royal navy, and also, for some time before leaving england, a captain in the queen's guards, a highland gentleman of a family that has always been true to the faith, also since deceased. the quiet city of st. augustine, as well as all the other scenes and places where we passed that winter on our missionary tour, has since then been visited by the desolating breath of war. probably all is changed, and greater changes yet are coming with the new issues of peace--changes which, there is reason to hope, will advance both the religious and temporal welfare of the people. florida may yet become a populous state, and the handful of catholics in it swell into a number sufficient to make a flourishing diocese. { } immediately after the close of the mission, f. baker proceeded by sea to charleston where he met the other two missionaries who had been at work in georgia, and commenced a mission in the cathedral of that city. his two companions were detained for a time in st. augustine by the sudden and severe illness of one of them, and they went on a little later, returning by the same leisurely route by which they came to savannah, and thence to charleston, where the mission was already in progress. charleston possessed three catholic churches, and its catholic population numbered from five to six thousand. all the congregations were invited to the mission, and a large number of them did attend from st. mary's and st. patrick's, together with the whole body of the cathedral parish. the same work performed by the missionaries in savannah had been gone through in charleston, in scouring the lanes and alleys of the city to bring up the stragglers, and the great cathedral was accordingly crowded, morning and night. first of all, two hundred bright and well-instructed children received communion in a body, and afterward, through the course of the mission, three thousand adults, among whom were twenty converts to the faith. father baker never, during the whole course of his missionary life, enjoyed any thing so much as this southern tour, and especially his stay at charleston, the most delightful city of the south. after the long seclusion of three years in a convent, which had impaired his health and vigor, the recreation and pleasure of such a trip wad most beneficial and delightful to him. the work in which he was engaged, besides the higher satisfaction which it gave to his zeal and charity, had also the charm and excitement of novelty, without the pressure of too arduous and excessive labor. at charleston, he was already prepared by his previous experience and practice to take a full share in the principal sermons, and to give them that peculiar tone and effect which is characteristic of mission sermons, and makes them _sui generis_ among all others. { } all the circumstances were calculated to call the noblest powers of his mind and the warmest emotions of his heart into full play. the cathedral was large, beautiful, and of a fine ecclesiastical style in all its arrangements. the adjoining presbytery, which had been built for a convent, and all the surroundings, were both appropriate for the residence of a body of cathedral clergy and pleasing to the eye of taste. the clergymen themselves, with their distinguished head, afterward the bishop of the diocese, were men of accomplished learning and genial character, whose kindness and hospitality knew no bounds, and whose zeal made them efficient fellow-laborers in the work of the mission. the congregation itself had many features of unusual interest. having been long established, and carefully watched over, since the illustrious bishop england organized the diocese, containing a large permanent population of various national descent and of all classes of society, not a few of whom were converts from south carolina families, an unusually large number of intelligent young men, trained up to a great extent under the care of the clergy, and thus giving scope and affording a field for a man like f. baker to display his special gifts to the greatest advantage and profit--it is not surprising that he should have called out, both in his public discharge of duty and in private and social intercourse, that same warm admiration which had followed him in the former period of his life. in his sermons, he went far above his former level, and began to develop that combination of the best and most perfect elements of sacred eloquence, which, in the estimation of the most impartial and competent judges, placed him in the first rank of preachers. the present bishop of charleston, whose pre-eminent learning and high qualities of mind are well known, pronounced one of f. baker's discourses a perfect sermon, and the best he had ever heard. { } the catholics of charleston never saw father baker again; but they never forgot him, and he never forgot them; for, during the rest of his too short life, he recurred frequently to the remembrance of that mission, which was so rich in the highest kind of pleasure, as well as spiritual profit and blessing. at that time, all was peace. sumter was solitary and silent, untenanted by a single soldier. fort moultrie and sullivan's island, and the beautiful battery and the bay were calm and peaceful, where, a few years later, all was black and angry with the terrible thunder-storm of war. blackened ruins are all that remain of that beautiful cathedral and the pleasant home of the clergy. some of those clergymen have died in attending the sick soldiers of the united states, and others are scattered in different places. many of those fine young men and bright boys have left their bodies on the battle-field, or lost the bloom and vigor of their youth in the unwholesome camp or hospital or military prison. the good sisters have been driven from one shelter to another, by the terrible necessities of a desperate warfare, whose miseries they have courageously striven to alleviate by their heroic charity. charleston has been desolated, and the church of charleston has shared in the common ruin. nevertheless, there is every reason to hope that this temporary period of desolation will be succeeded in due time by one more auspicious for the solid and extensive progress of the catholic religion than any which has yet been seen, in that vast region where the eloquent voice of bishop england proclaimed the blessed faith of the true and apostolic church of christ. after the conclusion of the charleston mission, f. baker returned to annapolis, and remained there in charge of the little parish attached to the convent, until the following september. one of his companions, the invalid of st. augustine, went to cuba to re-establish his health; and the other three, after giving several other missions in new york state, returned also to summer quarters. { } the missionary labors in which f. baker had been thus far engaged, were, comparatively speaking, but a light and pleasant prelude to the continuous and arduous missionary career of a little more than seven years, which he commenced in the autumn of . at the very outset he was obliged to make a decision of a very grave and important matter, which resulted in a still more complete separation from the scenes and associates of his past life, and threw him more completely upon a pure and conscientious devotion to his priestly duties for the sake of god alone, as his only consolation in this world. one of our number was at that time in rome, for the purpose of obtaining from the chief authority a settlement of certain difficulties which had arisen, and which impeded the successful and harmonious prosecution of the missions. the question was finally settled by a separation of five american redemptorists, by a brief of the holy father, from their former congregation, and the formation of the new congregation of st. paul, under episcopal authority. f. baker was for the first time informed of the reasons for appealing to the decision of the holy father, at the mission of st. james's church, newark, which commenced on the th of september, . i have no intention of exposing the history of the difference which arose between us and our former religious superiors, or of making a criticism upon their conduct. if the providence of god ordered events in such a way that a new congregation should be formed for a special purpose, it is nothing new or strange that men, having a different vocation, and whose views and aims were cast in a different mould, should with the most conscientious intentions, be unable to coincide in judgment or act in concert. there is room in the catholic church for every kind of religious organization, suiting all the varieties of mind and character and circumstance. { } if collisions and misunderstandings often come between those who have the same great end in view, this is the result of human infirmity, and only shows how imperfect and partial are human wisdom and human virtue. all that i am concerned to show is, that f. baker did not swerve from his original purpose in choosing the religious state. he had never been discontented with his state, or with his superiors. he was still in the first fervor of his vocation, and had just made a strict and exact retreat. he deliberated for some weeks within his own mind, without saying or doing any thing to commit himself to any particular line of conduct. when he finally made up his mind to cast in his lot with his missionary companions, and to abide with them the decision of the holy father, it was solely in view of serving god and his fellow-men in the most perfect manner. for the congregation where he was trained to the religious and ecclesiastical state, he always retained a sincere esteem and affection. he did not ask the pope for a dispensation from his vows in order to be relieved from a burdensome obligation, but only on the condition that it seemed best to him to terminate the difficulty which had arisen in that way. when the dispensation was granted, he did not change his life for a more easy one. he resisted a pressing solicitation to return to baltimore as a secular priest, and continued until his death to labor in a missionary life, and to practise the poverty, the obedience, the assiduity in prayer and meditation, and the seclusion from the world, which belong to the religious state. let no one, therefore, who is disposed to yield to temptations against his vocation, and to abandon the religious state from weariness, tepidity, or any unworthy motive, think to find any encouragement in the example of f. baker; for his austere, self-denying, and arduous life will give him only rebuke, and not encouragement. { } during the entire autumn and winter of this year, f. baker and his companions were occupied in a continuous course of large and successful missions, in the parishes of st. james, newark; cold spring and poughkeepsie, on the hudson; st. john's, utica, n. y.; brandywine, del.; trenton, n. j.; burlington, brandon, east and west rutland, vt.; plattsburg, saratoga, and little falls, new york. with loyal hearts we continued to obey our superiors, and fulfil our obligations as redemptorists, until the supreme authority in the church released us by his decree. this decree was issued on the th of march, , and received by us on the th of april. after the mission of little falls, f. baker was directed by the provincial to return to annapolis, and although fatigued by the missions, and aware that his dispensation was on the way, yet, true to the letter to his principle of obedience, he obeyed at once. the other three missionaries passed the holy week and easter in the convent of new york, in third street, and, after receiving the official copy of the papal decree, bade farewell to the congregation where we had passed so many happy years, and witnessed so many edifying examples of high virtue and devoted zeal, to enter upon a new and untried undertaking. our first asylum was the home of geo. v. hecker, esq., who kindly gave up to our use a portion of his house as a little temporary convent, where we remained some weeks, saying mass in his beautiful private chapel, which was completely furnished with every thing necessary for that purpose. the bishop of newark had made an arrangement to receive us under his jurisdiction, as soon as our relation to our congregation was terminated, and faculties from the diocese of new york were obtained from the archbishop. we continued to follow our accustomed mode of life, and obey our former superior of the missions. after a short time we gave a mission at watertown, in the diocese of albany, and were not a little encouraged by receiving, late on the saturday evening before the mission was opened, the special faculties which had been obtained for each one of us at rome, for giving the papal benediction. { } the grand and spacious church of this beautiful town, which is worthy to be a cathedral from its size and architecture, was crowded by the largest number of protestants we had ever seen on similar occasion, and a number of converts were received into the church. from watertown we came to st. bridget's church in new york, where we had one of our largest, most laborious, and most fruitful missions. this was the first one of those heavy city missions so frequent during our early career, at which f. baker had assisted, where the crowds of people were so overwhelming, and the labor so excessive and exhausting. he went into his work with a brave spirit and an untiring zeal, and scarcely allowed himself even a breathing-spell. the love and admiration which the warm-hearted people of this congregation acquired for him was never diminished, and there was no one whom they ever after loved so much to see revisiting their church. before the close, f. hecker arrived from rome, after a year's absence, bringing a special benediction from the holy father upon our future labors, and a warm commendatory letter from the cardinal prefect of the propaganda. at the end of the mission we found ourselves without a home, and we remained so until the spring of the following year, dependent for the most part on the hospitality of individual friends among the clergy and laity for a temporary shelter. for a short time we were obliged to take lodgings in an ordinary respectable boarding-house in thirteenth street, near several churches and chapels, where we could say mass every day, without incommoding anyone. our kind friend and generous patron, mr. hecker, afterward gave up to us his whole house, while his family were in the country; leaving his servants, and making ample provision for furnishing us with every comfort in the most hospitable style. during the summer, the "congregation of missionary priests of st. paul the apostle" was organized, under the approbation and authority of the archbishop; and arrangements were commenced for the foundation of a religious house and church, with a parochial charge annexed. { } while we were occupying mr. hecker's house, two burglars entered the building one night, through a window incautiously left open, came into the room occupied by f. baker and one of his companions, and robbed them of their watches, which were fortunately of small value, some articles of clothing, likewise not very costly, and a trifling amount of loose change; but, seeing two other men of no small stature in the adjoining room, prudently decamped, without finding a number of costly articles belonging to the chapel, although they had examined the drawer where the albs and amices were kept. none of us were awakened, and the first news we had of the midnight raid upon our territory was given by f. baker exclaiming that his coat had been stolen. we laughed at him at first, but it was soon discovered that his intelligence was correct, and that the next house had been visited also by the robbers. this adventure gave occasion for a great deal of mirth among ourselves, and many speculations as to the probable results of an encounter with the robbers, in case we had awakened, in which fatal consequences to the latter were freely predicted. as usual in such cases, the police examined the matter, gave very sagacious information as to the mode of entrance and exit, and discovered no trace of the burglars themselves. we were only too happy that the chalice and vestments had not been carried off. the burden which was assumed by our small community was a very heavy one. it was necessary for us to continue the missions without interruption, and at the same time to provide the means of making a permanent foundation, which could not be done without securing property, and erecting a church and religious house at a cost of about $ , . during this time of struggle for life, f. baker was one of the main stays of the missions, and one of the most arduous and efficient of our number in working at the collection of funds and the organization of the parish. { } after a summer spent in this latter work, a course of missions was commenced in september, the first of which was a heavy one, in a congregation numbering , souls, at the cathedral of providence, in which we were all engaged. the next was a retreat given to men alone, and specifically to the members of the society of st. vincent de paul, in the cathedral of new york. f. baker closed it with a magnificent sermon in his happiest vein, on "the standard of christian character for men in the world." the following notice of the retreat, taken from the _freeman's journal_, is more graphic than any that i can give, and i therefore quote it entire, in place of describing it in my own language:-- "the retreat given by the band of missionaries of st. paul the apostle to members of st. vincent de paul's society, and other men of this city, closed on sunday evening, the rev. father baker preaching an admirable sermon on the characteristics of christian perfection for men in the world. during the week that this retreat has continued, the number of men approaching the sacraments was about two thousand. the religious effects of the occasion will be great and permanent. but besides results that the catholic faith leads to expect, st. patrick's cathedral has, the past week, presented a subject for thought and astonishment to the observing and reflecting man, though not a catholic. what has gathered these crowds of busy, practical men? what keeps them kneeling, or standing quietly in solid masses, for an hour before the exercises commence? most of these men rose from their beds at four o'clock, some as early as half-past three, and made long walks through the darkness to secure their standing-place in the church during the early instructions. they hear from the pulpit solid, distinct, earnest instructions in regard to what a man must believe, and in regard to what he must do to attain eternal life when this world is past. but whence comes this lively appreciation of truths beyond the reach of the senses, in the minds of men plunged all day long, and every day, in material occupations? { } here are men of the class that, in communities not catholic, do not suffer religion to interfere with their comfort--who like best to discuss the points of their religious profession after dinner, and to listen to sermons while seated in cushioned pews. what causes them thus to stand in the packed throng of the faithful, listening to the homely details of daily duties required of them, or kneeling on the hard floor, repeating with the multitude, in a loud voice, the prayers they learned in childhood? then, these sons of humblest toil that kneel beside them. all the heat and excitement of the "revival" failed to bring any considerable number of the corresponding class of non-catholics to the "prayer-meetings." the latter mentioned would say that they had to look out for their daily bread, and that the rich men at the prayer-meetings did not want them any way. here they are at st. patrick's, by five o'clock in the morning, and either they do without their breakfast, or it was dispatched an hour or more before. these various classes of men, having attended the exercises given by the missionaries of st. paul, during the week, stood crowded within st. patrick's on sunday evening. the parting instruction of the missionaries was to stir them, by all the courage and fervor and endurance that they had manifested during the retreat, to fix higher principles and firmer purposes for the guidance of their future life--to be faithful to every duty, to their families, to society, and to themselves--to be manly in their religious observances, and generous in sacrificing for their faith and for god every attachment that brings scandal on their religion or danger to their own virtue. at the close of the exercises by the missionaries, the most rev. archbishop hughes made some remarks to the vast congregation. he said he found no necessity of adding any thing to what the missionaries, according to the special objects of their calling, had done, to cause the truths most appropriate and necessary to sink into hearts so well prepared to receive and retain them. { } but the spectacle before him was one he could not let pass without some words expressive of his gratification. when a few catholic young men first met in the archbishops's house to form the first conference of st. vincent de paul, he had formed high anticipations of the good their association would do each other and the catholic community at large. here, to-night, he saw the realization of his hopes. when he reflected on the influence that must be exerted on the catholic body, and on this great city--where, alas, there was no other religion capable of influencing and restraining men except the catholic--by so great a company of men instructed in their religion, and fervent in its practice--he had the wish that such meetings for these exercises, might, at intervals, be repeated in all the catholic churches in the city. he then thanked the missionaries for their labors--he knew they asked not thanks from men--but still it was due that he, in the name of those who had been benefited by their exercises, should thank them. "this retreat for men has been, in some respects, of especial interest, and has been highly successful; and, for the complete satisfaction that it has afforded, it must be said that nothing which discreet forethought and arrangement, or affectionate zeal and assiduity could effect, was left undone by the very rev. mr. starrs, v. g. and rector of the cathedral." the third mission was given at the cathedral of covington, when the following circumstance occurred. a protestant gentleman, who was present one evening, had a phial of poison in his pocket, with which he was fully determined to destroy his own life; but the sermon of f. baker on the particular judgment made such a powerful impression on his mind that he threw away the poison and disclosed to his friends what his desperate purpose had been. from covington, f. hecker returned to new york, to attend to our affairs there, and f. baker with two companions went on a tour of missions, which continued from november until christmas, in the state of michigan. { } the flourishing parishes located in the pretty villages of kalamazoo, marshall, jackson, and ann arbor, were the ones visited. the last of these missions deserves a special notice, which i extract from the "records":-- "the pastor of the church in ann arbor has two congregations under his charge, one at ann arbor, and the other at northfield. the latter is the larger of the two, and it was earnestly desired that we should give them a separate mission. we were told that it was vain to expect them to come to the service at ann arbor, and, as they were already jealous of the ann arbor people, if we did not give them a mission of their own, their dissatisfaction would be increased, and we should do more harm than good by our visit. we on our part would have been willing to give them a double mission; but as there was no house near the northfield church where the missionaries could lodge, it was decided to be impossible, and we concluded that one of the fathers should go out on sunday and announce the mission to the northfield people, and invite them to attend at ann arbor. the result proved the wisdom of the decision, for the people came in from the country in crowds, thus increasing the life and animation of the mission. the weather was mild and pleasant, the nights were bright and moonlit, and every morning and evening crowds of wagons were drawn up around the church, some from ten, some from fifteen, and some even from twenty miles off. the church was crowded by five o'clock in the morning, and the congregation, not content with assisting at one mass and the instruction, remained until late in the morning, when the masses were all over. in the evening, the crowd was rendered still denser by the large representation of protestants who attended. on the last night, the crowd was so great, that not only was the church packed in every part to its utmost capacity, but even the windows were filled with young men who had climbed up from without, and the trees around the church offered a perch for those who had to content themselves with a bird's-eye view of the scene." { } i have noticed this mission more particularly, because this northfield congregation was a specimen of several catholic farming communities with which we came in contact on our missions. the prosperity, happiness, and virtue which i have found existing among this class of our people, induce me to recommend most earnestly to all those who have at heart the welfare of our catholic irish population, to promote in every way their devoting themselves to agricultural pursuits in the country. it would be a great blessing if the large towns could be depleted of the surplus population with which they are overcrowded, and the tide of immigration diverted from them, to be distributed over our vast territory. this agricultural life is incomparably more wholesome, more happy, and more favorable to virtue and piety than the feverish, comfortless, and unnatural existence to which the mass of the laboring class are condemned in large cities. it is free from a thousand influences vitiating both to the soul and the body, and, above all things, better for the proper training of children. our young men and women of american origin are deserting this agricultural life, and leaving vacant the fields of their fathers, to plunge into a more exciting and adventurous life, which promises to satisfy more speedily their desire for wealth. let our young irishmen, who come here to find a better field for their strength and vigor than they have at home, and those who have grown up here, but find themselves unable to get a proper field for their industry in the old and crowded settlements, come in and take their places, leave the cities, shun the factory towns, and strike into the open country. sobriety, industry, and prudence, will secure to every young man of this sort, in due time, the position of an independent land-holder. there is a hidden treasure of wealth, health, virtue, and happiness in the soil, which will richly reward those who dig for it, and will also enrich both the country and the church. { } i may also mention with pleasure, in connection with the ann arbor mission, my agreeable recollections of the polite attentions we received from the president and gentlemen of the university of michigan. this is by no means a solitary instance of courtesy extended to us in the protestant community. in many parts of the united states, we have received the most polite and friendly attentions, and occasionally hospitable entertainment, both from clergymen and laymen of different religious denominations, as well as a general manifestation of respect and good-will on the part of the community. sometimes the mission has excited ill-will, and obstacles have been thrown in the way of domestics and other dependent persons attending it. but in many other cases, not only has there been no interference, but every facility has been given, by owners of factories, who have shortened the time of work and given leave of absence, and by masters and mistresses of families, who have excused their servants from their ordinary work, and even furnished them with conveyances, when they lived at a distance. from michigan, the missionaries returned to new york, and after new year's, being rejoined by father hecker, gave a mission in st. mary's church, new haven, a large and very flourishing parish, which is, however, only one of three in the classic "city of elms;" where, thirty-five years ago, there was not a catholic to be found, except, perhaps, one or two serving-men in wealthy families. after this mission, i revisited several of the places where we had given missions in south carolina and georgia, to solicit aid for our infant community, which was given in a liberal and generous manner, worthy of those warm-hearted catholics, who, i trust, will receive a similar return from their northern brethren, whenever they ask for it, to enable them to repair the ruin which has been made among them by civil war. { } during my absence, two missions were given by the other three fathers--one at princeton, where the church was broken down by the throng, and whose young pastor has since joined our community: another at belleville, which has been so beautifully described by the amiable pastor of that place, that i cannot refrain from copying his sketch:-- "at the above-mentioned place, the rev. fathers hecker, deshon, and baker opened a mission, sunday, february , which continued during a week, and closed on the evening of the sunday following. to say that it was most successful, is too cold an expression; and to call it most impressive, beautiful, and triumphant, can give no adequate idea of its enchanting power. during the week of its continuance, the hill that is crowned by the graceful church of st. peter, with its tall steeple and gilded cross, marking the first of a series of eminences that rise higher and higher westward from the river passaic, has almost realized mount thabor. the eager people of the country round had been beforehand preparing for the arrival of the missionaries, and no sooner did the good fathers come than the faithful people rose up in haste to meet them. down they came, the children of old roscommon and mayo, from the romantic hills of caldwell on the west, along the glades and woody slopes of bloomfield, saluting, as they passed, their newly-built church of 'our lady of the immaculate conception.' onward and upward, too, were hastening from the north and east, through acquackanouck and belleville, those who long ago left the boyne and the luir, the liffey and shannon, to cultivate the valley of the scarcely less beautiful passaic. a thin, sparkling frost still lay upon the roads; and the crisping sounds of their hurrying feet, 'beautiful with glad tidings,' and their cheerfully ringing voices, far and near, were heard along the banks and over the drawbridge of that beautiful river--beautiful at half-past four in the balmy morning air--quivering under the hovering, waning moon, the deep-blue sky, and the twinkling stars. { } but the people of the valley have ascended the hill from whence the loud bell of st. peter's steeple has been awakening the country for miles around with its clear and booming sounds. they meet their brethren from bloomfield and caldwell, and pause for a moment before the double flight of steps leading up to the portico of the church. every window gleams with light. the organ and choir are intoning and singing the litany of the blessed virgin mary, 'sancta virgo virginum,' holy virgin of virgins, pray for us.' 'i thought i was before the bell,' exclaims a young woman, just come from several miles off, as she flits hastily through the doorway to be in time for mass. but the priest, in his shining vestments, with his little surpliced attendants, is already at the altar; and, it being five o'clock, the first mass of the morning has punctually begun. the weather, however, at two or three other intervals of the mission, was not quite so propitious, nor the roads so pleasant; for thaws and occasional rain had softened the latter to a disagreeable extent. but this mattered nothing to the seamless robe of the faith, which is proof against all weathers; for st. peter's was thronged morning and evening alike while the mission lasted. many were the expedients resorted to by poor mothers, for trusty guardians to mind the little ones during their absence at church. in several instances, a mother would charge herself with the children of two or three others; or some kind-hearted protestant would take this care upon her. but not unfrequently the little ones were deposited in the basement of the church; and it was interesting to see the german mother place her infant in the irish-woman's arms, while she herself hastened up with the crowd to receive communion at the altar-rail--a crowd of old and young, dotted here and there with the hollander, the german, the french, and the english or american catholic. { } the morning instruction was usually given by father hecker, whose appearance and manner' were well calculated to cheer up the people, even to alacrity, under their daily difficulties of faithful attendance, late and early, on the mission-whether he related the anecdote of the old man, who, early in the morning, after most determined efforts to be faithful to the mission, vanquished the temptation of his warm bed, and finally succeeded in reaching the church in the teeth of a snow-storm, with inverted umbrella; or, when urging the duty of virtuous perseverance, he gave his celebrated allegory of the pike of the mississippi, who, terrified one night by an unusual display of fireworks on its banks, vowed he would swallow no more little fishes, but afterward relapsed into his intemperate proclivities, and became worse than ever. in the evening, father deshon ended his most interesting instruction with the recitation of the rosary, responded to aloud by the whole congregation. this was followed by father baker's sermon and the benediction of the blessed sacrament. besides the overflowing attendance of the faithful, the knowledge of the missionaries themselves being americans and converts from protestantism, brought hundreds of protestants of all classes nightly, many of whom were present at every sermon; and they were as sensibly moved even to tears and audible grief, by the power and holiness of the preacher's eloquence, as the catholics themselves. but the last night's scene will long be remembered--the renewal of baptismal vows, with uplifted hands, by the entire assemblage, which the strongly-built church somehow or other contrived to accommodate, sitting and standing in the pews, passages, gallery, and sacristy, and close around the sanctuary, to the number of some thirteen or fourteen hundred. the interior of the church was but lately remodelled and decorated, and its pale rose-colored walls and ceiling were charmingly varied by their white ornamental centers and panelled mouldings. { } the statues of the blessed virgin and st. peter at either side of the sanctuary rested on tasteful pedestals, which supported four lofty corinthian columns and their pilasters. these pure white, fluted, and tapering columns, with their rich capitals and entablature, the altar, tabernacle, and almost life-size crucifix, the high-raised marble font and its pendent baptismal robe of snowy lace--all these, contrasted with the dark and lofty missionary cross, and the crucifixion winding scarf hung athwart it, became of an almost white and dazzling beauty, amid the innumerable lights, silver and gilded candelabra, and vases of a countless variety of natural flowers. it is a pleasing thought, that much of the plate alluded to was lent for the occasion by kind-hearted protestants of the neighborhood, in whose estimation this mission has exalted the catholic church to a surprising degree. at the same time it may be said, that few or no places in the country are more remarkable than belleville, n. j., for kind cordiality on the part of the protestant community toward the catholic. but the last scene, like a beautiful vision, is now over. the missionaries have given their blessing to the crowd, among whom is a protestant young lady, who comes also to seek it before the carriage shall have borne them away. one convert was baptized on the morning of their departure. another will be in a day or two hence. more are in reserve for this sacred rite. upward of eleven hundred and thirty catholics have received the holy eucharist; many of them old men, and many youths, who, but for the influence of the mission, would not have approached the sacraments for years--perhaps never. young, wavering catholics, already more than half lost to the faith, have been reclaimed and fortified. a. rich legacy of catholic truth has been left to vanquish falsehood and error, which, in belleville and its neighborhood, must cower for many a day before the memory of the missionaries of st. paul the apostle." [footnote ] [footnote : new york _tablet_.] { } on the th of march, , a mission was opened in st. patrick's church, quebec, by the special invitation of the administrator of the diocese. it would be easy to fill pages with reminiscences of this mission, given in a city so replete with interest of every kind, and full of pleasant recollections. the mission was a very large one; as we had seven thousand two hundred and fifty communions, and fifty converts received into the church. it was peculiarly satisfactory, also, from the circumstance that the church was large enough to contain all the people who desired to get in, though it was densely crowded, and that the most abundant facilities were furnished to all who wished to come to confession--there being nineteen confessors, of whom fifteen were clergymen of the diocese. the soldiers of the garrison attend this church, where they have on sundays a special mass and sermon from their chaplain. the thirty-ninth regiment, of crimean memory, was stationed there at that time, and as many as were able to get leave, as well as a number of catholic soldiers from the artillery battalion and the canadian rifles, attended the mission. some of these crimean veterans made their first communion, and others came to confession who had made their last confession before some one of the great battles of the crimea. one of them, who was unable to get through the crowd after service, arrived after taps at his barracks, for which he was sent by the sergeant to the guard-house, and reported to the colonel the next morning. colonel monroe, the same officer who commanded the regiment in the crimea, tore up the report and released the soldier from custody, saying that it was a shame to punish a man for going to the mission, which had done his regiment more good than any thing else that ever happened in quebec. { } we had several invitations to give missions in the british provinces, which it was necessary to decline, and, after taking leave of quebec, where we had received such unbounded kindness and attention, both from the clergy and laity, we gave our last mission for the season in st. peter's church, troy, then under the care of father walworth. from troy we returned to new york, where a small house had been rented for our use, near the site of our new religious house and church. during the summer of , the work of collecting funds, by public contributions in churches, and private subscriptions, was continued, and the building, which was to serve as a religious house, was erected; a large portion of it being thrown into a commodious and tolerably spacious chapel, which could be used as a temporary parish church for some years, until circumstances would warrant the erection of a permanent church edifice. the corner-stone was laid by the archbishop, on trinity sunday, june , in presence of an immense concourse of people. on the th of november, the feast of st. john of the cross, the house was blessed by the superior of the congregation, and taken possession of. the first mass was said in it on the following day, in one of the rooms arranged as a private chapel. on the first sunday of advent, november , the chapel was blessed, and solemn mass celebrated in it by the vicar-general of the diocese; and from this time commenced the double labors of both parochial and missionary duty. an accession to our small number of one more priest, father tillotson, who had been previously residing in england as a member of the birmingham oratory, enabled us to do this--an undertaking which would otherwise have been extremely difficult. three of our number, of whom f. baker was generally one, could now be spared for the missions, leaving two in charge of the parish; and by relieving one another occasionally, the labor was somewhat lightened. within the next two years our number was further increased by the accession of two others--one of whom, f. walworth, had been for a long time the superior of our missionary band, and now rejoined it, after a short interval, in which he had been fulfilling parochial duty as pastor of st. peter's church, troy. { } strengthened by these accessions, we were enabled, while our number remained undiminished by death, and all were blessed with the health and strength necessary to the performance of active labor, to carry on a continuous course of missions during seven years, dating from the time of our separate organization; and at the same time to bestow abundant care and attention on our continually increasing parish. three of these missions were given in the british provinces--in the cathedral, of st. john's, n. b., halifax, and kingston, canada, respectively; the remainder chiefly in new england, new york, new jersey, and pennsylvania, with a small number in the western states. the details already given of previous missions are amply sufficient to give an idea of the missionary life of f. baker, and it would be wearisome to continue them. these seven years, with the year immediately preceding them, comprise the most laborious and most fruitful portion of his too short priestly life. the number of missions given in this period of seven years was seventy-nine, with an aggregate of one hundred and sixty-six thousand communions, the same number with that of the missions of the preceding seven years. father baker assisted at sixty-four of these missions, and at sixteen previously given, making a sum-total of eighty. the number of converts from protestantism registered is two hundred and sixty-three, and the record is imperfect. two of these were protestant clergymen--one the rector of the episcopal church in scranton, pa.; the other, the principal of the high school in pittsfield, mass. it only remains now to say a few words of the virtues exhibited by f. baker, in his missionary, sacerdotal, and religious life. those high and noble virtues are best made known by a simple record in his deeds, and by the utterance which he has himself bequeathed in his own sermons, in which the lofty standard of christian perfection proposed to others is a simple reflection of what he actually practised in his life. { } father baker usually passed from seven to eight months of every year in the labors of the missionary life, and in those labors, as a member of a body of hard-working men, he was pre-eminent for the assiduity and perseverance with which he devoted himself to the most arduous and fatiguing occupations of his peculiar state. he usually said mass at five o'clock, after which he went to the confessional till half-past seven. from nine until one, and from three until half-past six, he was in his confessional, rarely leaving it even for a moment. at half-past seven, on those evenings when he was not to preach, he gave the instruction and recited the prayers which preceded the principal sermon. a considerable part of the remaining time was taken up by reciting his office and other private religious duties, leaving but very little for relaxation, and none whatever for exercise, unless it was snatched at some brief interval, or required by the distance of the church from the pastor's residence. during the first few days of each mission, the confessionals were not opened, and the preacher of the evening sermon was always freed from its labors in the afternoon. frequently, however, those first days were devoted to a special mission given to the children of the congregation; and f. baker was always prompt and ready to fulfil this duty, which he did in the most admirable manner, adapting himself with a charming and winning grace and simplicity to the tender age and understanding of the little ones, and reciting with them beautiful forms of meditation and prayer, composed by himself, during the whole time of the mass at which they received communion. the hardest part of the work of the mission, after the confessions began, was continued during from five to eleven successive days, according to the size of the congregation, and requiring from ten to twelve hours of constant mental application each day. { } besides this necessary and ordinary work, performed with the most patient and unflagging assiduity, f. baker often employed all the remaining intervals of time--not taken up by meals and sleep--in instructing adult catholics who had never been prepared for the sacraments, and in instructing and receiving converts. wherever there was any work of charity to be done, he undertook it quietly, promptly, and cheerfully, always ready to spare others, and willing to relieve them by assuming their duties when they were exhausted or unwell, seldom asking to be relieved himself. it was never necessary to remind f. baker of his duty, much less to give him any positive command. during a long course of missions, in which i was superior, with f. baker as my constant companion and my associate in preaching the mission sermons, and one other long-tried companion as the preacher of the catechetical instructions, i remember, with peculiar satisfaction, how perfect was the harmony with which we co-operated with one another, without the least necessity of any exercise of authority, or any disagreement of moment. to understand fully how arduous was the work which f. baker performed, it must be considered that not only was his mind and his whole moral nature taxed to the utmost by the continued effort necessary in order to fulfil his duty as a preacher and confessor, but that it was done under circumstances most unfavorable to health, shut up in crowded, ill-ventilated rooms, pressed upon by impatient throngs, forced to strain the vocal organs to the utmost in large churches crowded with dense masses of people, and often obliged to pass suddenly from an overheated and stifling atmosphere into an intensely cold or damp air, and always obliged to work, for several hours in the morning, fasting. such a life is a very severe strain upon one who has only the ordinary american constitution, especially if his temperament is delicate and unaccustomed to hardship in early life. the amount of work which f. baker performed was not equal to that which many european missionaries are able to endure, especially those who have an unusually robust constitution. { } but it was greater than that which st. alphonsus himself required of the missionaries who were under his own personal direction. the average duration of a career of continuous missionary labor in europe is only ten years, and it is therefore not surprising that f. baker was able to continue such constant and arduous exertions, with the other duties which devolved on him during the intervals of missions, for no longer a period than eight years. at least as far back as the year , he began to suffer from a malady of the throat, and to find the effort of preaching painful. nevertheless, he continued to perform his full share of this duty until within a year before his death. occasionally it would be necessary to relieve him of some of his sermons; and on the last mission which we gave together, which was in st. james's church, salem, massachusetts, he asked to be relieved altogether both from the sermons and the short instructions which precede them. this mission was given during the month of january, . f. baker assisted at two other missions after this, one at archbald, in pennsylvania, and the other at birmingham, connecticut, at each of which he preached four sermons. his last mission sermon was preached, february , , six weeks before his death; which occurred on the last day of the next mission but one, given at clifton, staten island--twelve years from the time of his receiving his first communion at the mission in the cathedral of baltimore. in the discharge of the duties allotted to him in the parish, f. baker labored with the same zeal and assiduity as he did in the missions. he was particularly charged with the care of the altar and the divine service in the church, for which his thoroughly sacerdotal spirit, his exquisite taste, and his complete acquaintance with the rubrics and the details of ecclesiastical rites and ceremonies, gave him a special fitness. { } he took unwearied pains and care in providing vestments and ornaments, preserving the sanctuary and all appertaining to it in order and neatness, decorating the church for great festivals, training up the boys, who served at the altar, and directing the manner of performing the divine offices. this minute and exact attention to the beauty and propriety of the sacred ceremonies of the church, sprang from a deep, inward principle of devotion and love to our lord present in the blessed sacrament, to his blessed mother, to the saints, and to the mysteries of the christian faith, symbolized by the outward forms of religion. in the performance of his sacerdotal functions, he was a model of dignity, grace, and piety. he loved his duties, and was completely absorbed in his priestly office. the august sacrifice and sacrament of the altar was his life and joy; and there he derived those graces and virtues which produced their choice and precious fruits in his character and conduct. as a preacher of the divine word, he excelled equally. his parochial sermons were even superior to those which he preached on the mission. he could prepare himself more quietly; the exertion was not so tasking to his physical strength, and suited better the tone of his mind, which made it more pleasing and easy for him to fulfil these ordinary pastoral ministrations than to address great crowds of people, on occasions requiring a more vehement style of oratory. his published sermons will enable the reader to judge of his merit as a preacher, although their effect was greatly increased by the impression produced by his personal appearance and attitude, and the charm of his voice and intonations. one striking feature of his sermons was the abundance and felicity of his quotations from holy scripture. frequent reading and meditation of the inspired books had saturated his mind with their influence, and the apposite texts which were suitable for his theme appeared to flow from his lips without an effort. another characteristic of his preaching was, that it appealed almost exclusively to the reason, and through the reason to the will and conscience. { } his continual aim was to inculcate conscientiousness, obedience to the law of god, the fulfilment of the great duties of life, and a faithful correspondence to the divine grace. he never lost sight of this great end in his missionary or parochial sermons, but always directed his aim to bring sinners to a renunciation of sin, and a fixed purpose of living always in the grace of god, and to bring good christians to a high standard of practical perfection and solid virtue. for deep speculations in theology and oratorical display, he had not the slightest inclination. he never desired to preach on unusual occasions or topics, but, on the contrary, had an unconquerable repugnance to appear in the pulpit, except where the sole object was to preach the gospel with apostolic simplicity, for the single end of the edification of the people. he was not at all conscious of his own superiority as a preacher, and never gave his sermons for publication without reluctance, or from any other motive than deference to the judgment of his superior and his brethren. he loved and sought the shade from a true and profound humility, without the slightest desire for applause or reputation. his manner was earnest and grave; at times, when the subject and occasion required it, even vehement; but equable and sustained throughout his discourse, without rising to any sudden or powerful outbursts of eloquence. on ordinary occasions it had a calm and persuasive force; enlivened with a certain pure and lofty poetic sentiment, which blended with the prevailing argumentative strain of his thought, pleasing the imagination just enough to facilitate the access of the truth he was teaching to the reason and conscience, without weakening its power, or distracting the mind from the main point. he never produced those startling effects upon his audience which are sometimes witnessed during a mission, by an appeal to their feelings; but he invariably made a profound impression, which manifested itself in the deep and fixed attention with which he held them chained and captivated from the first to the last word he uttered. { } his eloquence was like the still, strong current of a deep and placid river, sometimes swollen in volume and force, and sometimes subsiding to a more tranquil and gentle flow; but never deviating from a straight course, and seldom rushing with the violence of a torrent. in his more intimate and personal relations with his penitents, with the sick and afflicted whom he visited, or who came to him for counsel, and with others who sought instruction, advice, or sympathy from him as a priestly director, f. baker was a faithful copy of the charity and suavity of his special patron--st. francis de sales. pure and holy as he was himself, he was compassionate and indulgent to the most frail and sinful souls; and, without ever relaxing the uncompromising strictness of christian principle, or mitigating his severe denunciations of sin, he was free from all rigorism toward the penitent who sought to rise from his sins by his aid. this benignity and charity attracted to him a great number of persons who were in peculiar difficulties and troubles, some of whom had never had courage to go to any one else. he spared no pains and trouble to help them, and his patience was inexhaustible. with the sick and dying he took unusual pains, visiting them frequently, and often aiding them to receive the sacraments devoutly by reciting prayers with them from some appropriate book of devotion. he reconciled a number to the church who had been drawn away from their religion, and was particularly successful in bringing to the fold of christ those who were without. the tokens of affection, gratitude, and sorrow which were given by great numbers at his death, were proofs how much he had endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact, and how irreparable they felt his loss to be. { } of f. baker's religious character it would be difficult to say much, in addition to the portraiture of him which has been given in the foregoing sketch of his life. it presented no salient or striking points to be seized on and particularly described. its great beauty consisted in its quiet, equable constancy and harmony. he had that evenly balanced temperament ascribed to st. charles borromeo by his biographers, and regarded as the most favorable to virtue. he had no favorite books of devotion, no special practices of piety or austerity, no inclination for the study of the higher mystic theology, no unusual difficulties or temptations, no deep mental struggles, no scruples, no marked periods of spiritual crisis and change after his conversion to the catholic church--nothing extraordinary, except an extraordinary fidelity and constancy in ordinary duties and exercises, and extraordinary conscientiousness and purity of life. he was detached from the world, and from every selfish passion; reserved to a remarkable degree, without the faintest tinge of melancholy or moroseness; collected within himself and in god at all times; serene and tranquil of spirit; simple, abstemious, and exact in his habits; with his whole heart in his convent, his cell, his duties, and his religious exercises. the character of f. baker was very much developed during the later years of his life. that passive, quiescent disposition which characterized him in his earlier career, gave place to greater decision and energy. he acquired by action a more self-poised and determined judgment, greater self-reliance, and a more marked individuality. he was no longer swayed and led by the opinions of others, except so far as duty required him to obey, or his own reason was convinced. the almost feminine delicacy and refinement which he had in youth was hardened into a robust and manly vigor, as it is with a softly-nurtured young soldier after a long campaign. he exhibited also a gayety of temper, a liveliness in conversation, and often a rich and exuberant humor and playfulness, especially in depicting the variety of strange and amusing characters and scenes with which he came in contact by mixing with all classes of men, which had remained completely latent in his earlier character, before it was warmed and expanded by the genial influence of the catholic religion. { } no one could have been a more delightful companion on the mission, during the intervals of rest and relaxation, than he was; and he entered into the enjoyment of the occasional recreations thrown in his way in traveling with the zest of a schoolboy on a holiday. for company he had no taste, and he could not be induced to undertake any jaunt or excursion for mere pleasure. during the summer months he would never go into the country, even for the sake of recruiting his health, but remained during the hottest months at home, where he found the truest happiness, pursuing the even tenor of his ordinary occupations. a beautiful character! a rare specimen of the most perfect human nature, elevated and sanctified by divine grace, and clothed with a bodily form which was the exact expression of the inhabiting soul! to describe it is impossible. those who knew it by personal acquaintance will say, without exception, that the attempt i have made is completely inadequate, and, like an unsuccessful portrait, reproduces but a dim and indistinct image of the original. i do not mean to say that f. baker was a perfectly faultless character, or that he was without sin. of those faults, however, which are apparent to human eyes in the exterior conduct, he had but few, and those slight and venial. nothing now remains but to describe the closing scene of f. baker's life. i have already mentioned that his constitution had shown symptoms of giving way under the fatigues of his missionary labors. nevertheless, he still continued in the constant and active discharge of his priestly duties, and no solicitude in regard to his health was felt by any of his brethren, with whom these periods of physical infirmity wore an ordinary occurrence. on one sunday, a few weeks before his death, his strength failed him while he was singing high mass, and he was obliged to continue it in a low voice. { } he was also unable to continue the abstinence of lent, and was obliged to ask for a dispensation, which i believe never occurred with him before. his appearance was pale and languid, and the fulfilment of his duties evidently cost him an effort. we had been accustomed to sing together two of the three parts of the passion on palm sunday, ever since the church had been opened; but, in making arrangements for the services of the holy week for this year, he remarked that we would be obliged to omit singing the passion as usual. he had marked himself, however, on the schedule of offices which was posted up in the library, to preach both on passion sunday and palm sunday. his last sunday sermon was preached on the second sunday of lent, march . the subject was "heaven." the wednesday evening following, he volunteered to preach in the place of one of his brethren who was unwell, about an hour before the service commenced, and left the supper-table to prepare himself. he took for the emergency the sermon which he had first preached as a missionary, on "the necessity of salvation;" and this was the last regular discourse which he delivered. on the following sunday, after vespers, he gave a short conference to the rosary society; and after this his voice was never heard again in exhortation or instruction. about this time, there were several cases of typhus fever in the parish, and f. baker had in some way imbibed the poison, to which his delicate state of health rendered him peculiarly susceptible. on the fourth sunday of lent, march , the first symptoms of illness showed themselves. on the preceding evening he heard confessions as usual, until about nine o'clock, after which he came to the room of one of the fathers and made his own confession, as he did habitually every week. the next morning he said mass for the last time, at half-past eight, for the children of the sunday-school. as i passed his door at half-past ten, to go down to high mass, he met me in the corridor, and remarked that he felt too sick to go down to the sanctuary. { } from this time he came no more again to the table or the recreation of the community, but kept his room. nothing was thought of his indisposition, and it was by accident that his physician, who dined that day with the community, saw him and prescribed for him in the afternoon. the next day three of the fathers left the house for a mission, and bade him good-by as usual, without a thought of anxiety on either side. f. baker remained on sunday and monday in the same state, dressing himself every morning, and sitting up at intervals, but usually lying on the bed, and occupying himself about some matters of business. he wrote several notes, and dictated others, some concerning the articles he had ordered for the sanctuary, and others concerning some sick persons or penitents for whom he had a special care. during this time, no symptoms of typhus had appeared, but his complaint appeared to be a slight attack of pneumonia. on monday evening he went down by himself to the bath-room and took a hot bath, after which he kept his bed entirely. the superior of the house, who was engaged in the mission on staten island, came every day to visit him, and had already detected an incipient tendency to delirium, which awakened in his mind an anxiety, which, however, was not shared by anyone else. on wednesday, however, although he retained control over his faculties, his brain began evidently to show a state of morbid excitability. he remarked that the bells of the house had a strange sound, and fancied that his breathing and pulsations were all set to a regular rhythmical measure, and gave out musical sounds. when he was alone and his eyes shut, he said that a brilliant array of figures continually passed before him, and that he seemed to be hurried away by a rapid motion like that of a railway carriage. during that evening he was more decidedly wandering in his mind, although he became quiet, and slept nearly all night. on thursday morning the poison of typhus had filled his brain completely, and he lay in a dull, stupid state, unconscious of what was said to him, and incapable of uttering a rational word. { } this gave place after a time to a more violent form of delirium, during which he talked incessantly in an incoherent manner, and could with difficulty be kept in a quiet position or induced to swallow any nourishment or medicine. on friday morning the danger of a fatal termination was evident, as the disease continued to progress, and the symptoms of pneumonia were also aggravated. the superior of the house was sent for, and came over in the afternoon. dr. van buren and dr. clarke, two of the most eminent physicians in town, were called in for consultation by dr. hewit, the attending physician, and information of f. baker's illness was sent to his sister, who came immediately from baltimore to see him. on saturday evening the typhus fever had spent its violence, reason returned, and from this time f. baker remained in a weak but tranquil state until his departure. he had been removed from his own room to the library, a large and airy apartment, where every thing about him was arranged in a neat, orderly, and cheerful manner, and he was attended and carefully watched night and day by his physician, his brethren, and his nurse. the violence of his fever had prostrated his strength so completely, that he was unable to resist the severe attack of pneumonia which accompanied it, and which medical skill and care were unable to subdue. the feeble vital force which still remained gradually subsided during the next three days, under the progress of this disease, although his friends continued to hope against all appearances for his recovery, and seemed almost to take it for granted that god would surely hear their prayers and spare his life. during all this time he was rational and collected, recognising all his friends, but unable to speak more than a few brief sentences that were connected and intelligible. he desired his sister to remain with him, and she did so during a great portion of the time. he expressed his perfect willingness and readiness to die, and made an effort to repeat audibly some prayers, but without success. { } he manifested his desire for absolution by signs, and it was given to him, together with the sacrament of extreme unction, on sunday. on tuesday, the holy viaticum, for which he had asked, was given him, at about half-past ten in the morning. he received it with perfect consciousness, and remained quiet, free from pain, and without becoming perceptibly worse, until one. after the fathers had gone down to dinner, he asked his nurse for his cap, which was brought to him and placed in his hand. he then asked for his habit, and said he would dress and go down to dinner with the community. soon after, a change was observed in him by the watchful eye of the father who had been his bosom friend during their common missionary career, and who had passed so many hours of the day and night by his bedside during his sickness with more than the devotion of a brother; and several of his particular friends were sent for, that they might see him once more before he died. the two fathers who were at home, his physician, his only and beloved sister, a lady who had been his chief aid in the care of the sanctuary, and another, who was one of his converts, surrounded his bedside, where he lay, the picture of placid repose and holy calm, quietly, gently, and imperceptibly breathing his last, until four o'clock, when his spirit passed away to god, without a struggle or a sign of agony, leaving his countenance unruffled, and his form as composed as a statue. those who saw him after death have said that, about an hour after his departure, his appearance was most beautiful, as he lay just dressed in his sacerdotal vestments, his majestic and finely chiselled brow and features as yet untouched by the finger of decay. the vestments in which f. baker was dressed had been prepared by himself only three weeks before, that they might be ready in case of the death of one of the community. his body was placed in a metallic case, enclosed in a rosewood coffin, and laid in state in the church. { } these arrangements were not completed until late in the night, and the people did not therefore begin to visit the sacred remains until the next morning; from which time until the sepulture, crowds of the faithful were coming to the church during every hour, both of the day and the night. requiem masses were said by all the priests in the house on wednesday and thursday. the mission at staten island closed on tuesday evening. the fathers who were there were not made acquainted with the extreme danger of f. baker, and the intelligence of his death was not sent to them until wednesday morning, when their labors were all completed. they returned home to find the body of their late companion lying in the church, and the household and parish overwhelmed with sorrow. usually, in a religious community, the death of a member is taken very much as the loss of a soldier is regarded by his comrades, schooled as they are to control their feelings, and to be ready at any moment to expose their lives in the discharge of their duty. but in a small band like ours, which had been through so many trials and vicissitudes in company, and where all the members had been continually in the most constant and intimate association with each other, it was impossible not to feel in the deepest and keenest manner the loss of one of our number, the first one called away during the fourteen years of a missionary life. to an infant congregation like ours, the loss of a priest like f. baker was truly irreparable. besides this, each one felt that his loss as a friend and brother was a personal grief equal to that of losing his nearest and dearest relative by the tie of blood. this sorrow was shared by the whole parish, by all his friends, and by the faithful everywhere in the parishes where he had preached and labored. many letters of sympathy and condolence were sent from all quarters, and not catholics only, but numbers of others also, who had respected the virtues of the holy catholic priest, testified their regret at his death, and their sympathy with our loss. { } the rev. dr. osgood, a distinguished unitarian clergyman of new york, sent a small painting representing a bouquet of various kinds of lilies, as a memorial of respect, in the name of his congregation, accompanied by a very kind note. several other protestant clergymen were present at the funeral services; and, indeed, the manifestations of respect for f. baker's memory were universal. the funeral obsequies were of necessity accelerated more than his friends would have desired, so that few from distant places were able to attend them. a few intimate friends from baltimore, and some clergymen from places out of town, were, however, present; a large number of the clergy of new york and its vicinity; and as great a number of the faithful as the church could contain. the funeral was on thursday in passion week, april , two days after the decease. the previous thursday was f. baker's birthday, and the anniversary of his conversion to the catholic church also occurred within the week of his death and burial. he had just completed the forty-fifth year of his age, and was in the ninth year of his priesthood. the following sunday was the twelfth anniversary of his formal reconciliation to the church, in the chapel of the sisters' of charity, in baltimore. early on thursday morning, four private masses of requiem were said for the repose of his soul in the church. at the usual hour for high mass on sundays, a solemn mass of requiem was celebrated by the superior of the house, in presence of the archbishop, who performed the closing rite of absolution, and a short funeral discourse was preached. the coffin was ornamented with the sacerdotal vestments, the chalice, and the missionary crucifix of the deceased, and covered with wreaths of flowers. the altar was deeply draped in mourning, and f. baker's confessional was also similarly draped. never did these exterior symbols indicate a more sincere and universal sorrow on the part of all who participated in them. it was a very difficult task to summon up sufficient fortitude to perform these last sad rites. { } the voice of the celebrant was interrupted by his tears; the sub-deacon faltered as he sang the elevating and comforting words of the epistle; the choir-boys showed in their candid and ingenuous faces their sorrow for the one who had trained them up in the sanctuary; the choir, composed, not of professional singers, but of members of the congregation, undertook their solemn task with trembling; every countenance was sad and every eye moistened, in the assemblage of the clergy who sat in white-robed ranks nearest the sanctuary, and of the laity who filled the church. i had the last duty of friendship to perform, in preaching the funeral sermon; and the wish to do full justice to f. baker, and to satisfy the eager desire of all present to hear something of his life, enabled me to fulfil this duty with composure, and restrain the tide of emotion which i saw swelling all around me, quieted only by the hallowing and tranquillizing influence of the sacred rites of the church, and the high, celestial hope inspired by the contemplation of a life so noble and a death so holy. the music was in the sweet, plaintive, solemn style of the true ecclesiastical chant; all the means of celebrating the holy rites of the obsequies had been prepared by f. baker's own pious and careful hand; his own spirit seemed to hover over the spot, and a divine consolation stole gently over all. sad as it is, there is nothing so beautiful, so soothing, so elevating to the soul, as the funeral of a holy priest, who has achieved his course and attained the crown of his labors. many of those who were present remained for a long time after the service was completed, and some were still found there unwilling to leave the spot, at nightfall. the remains were taken from the church to st. patrick's cathedral, escorted by a band of young men, and followed by a train of carriages, and by others on foot, although it rained heavily; the vicar-general recited the concluding prayers of the ritual; the coffin was placed in the episcopal vault next to that of the late archbishop; a few wreaths of flowers were placed upon it, the entrance was closed, and all withdrew; leaving the earthly form of the departed to the silent repose of the tomb. { } for some days after, a portion of the mourning drapery was left on the altar, and requiems continued to be offered by all the priests of the community. many masses were also said by other priests in various parts of the country, and prayers offered by the people, although the common sentiment of all was, that the one for whom they were offered was already among the blessed in heaven. on saturday evening, as we all went to our confessionals, and a large congregation of people was assembled in the church, preparing for their easter duty, a peculiarly holy calm seemed to pervade the spot. the people were hushed and still, unusually intent upon their devotions. the penitents of f. baker looked with sadness upon the place where, just two weeks before, he had sat for the last time in the tribunal of penance, and came weeping to some one of the other fathers to request him to take the direction of their consciences. it was a sad holy week; and a difficult task to us, wearied with labor, and some with watching, oppressed with a grief which time and repose had not yet diminished, to fulfil the arduous duties of the season. our greatest consolation was in the sympathy manifested by our people, and in the proof they gave of the love and gratitude which our labors had awakened in their hearts. easter sunday came; the altar was superbly decorated with the choicest flowers of the season, the triumphant chant of the church resounded as usual; but all felt that the one whose presence in the sanctuary and whose eloquent voice had given the day one of its greatest charms, was gone forever; and besides, the gloom of the great crime committed on good friday had overspread the whole nation, and the drapery of universal mourning had turned the city into one great necropolis. { } the admirable pastoral letter of the archbishop on the assassination of the president was read in all the churches, giving eloquent expression to the indignation and grief which oppressed all christian and all honest and just hearts; and never was there seen an easter more sad and mournful, more like a day of unusual humiliation and sorrow, than that easter sunday; which had been anticipated as a day of peculiar joy and thanksgiving for the cessation of bloody war and the restoration of peace. it is in just such times as these, however, that we appreciate most fully the strength and support which is given us by our holy faith, the divine sacrament of the altar, and the grace of god, and that those who have given themselves to a religious life learn the inestimable blessing of their vocation, which raises them above all private and all public tribulation. a few days brought back serenity and cheerfulness to our little community, and we took new courage from the blessed death of our companion, closing so beautifully his holy life, to resume quietly and resolutely our ordinary duties, and to rely more completely on the providence of god; trusting that we had gained an advocate in heaven, and hoping to persevere like him to the end. his course was short, and his reward speedily gained. what a happiness for him that he listened to the voice of god; and, as his day was declining to its close, though he knew it not, gathered up his strength and courage to leave all and run that brief and swift race, which in later years gained for him the brilliant and unfading crown of a true and faithful priest of jesus christ, who had brought thousands of souls into the way of justice; and had practised himself that christian perfection which he preached to others! there must be many young men equally gifted, and fitted to accomplish an equally apostolic work, to whom god has given the same vocation. what hidden consequences were involved in the result of that struggle and deliberation which was the crisis of grace in the life of francis baker! what a loss to himself and to the church of god, if he had proved cowardly and unfaithful! the simple question before his mind was one of personal obedience to the commandment of christ to arise and follow him. { } but because of his obedience, god chose him to be the instrument of an amount of good to others which would be sufficient to enrich with merit a priesthood of fifty years. the immediate fruits of his own labors in preaching the word of god and administering his sacraments can never perish. the fruits of his example and his teaching will, i trust, continue to multiply and increase after his death in rich abundance. if the blessing of god perpetuates and extends the congregation which he aided in forming, and which, so far as we can see, could not have been established without him, his character and spirit will be perpetuated in those who will for all time venerate him as a spiritual father, and imitate him as one of their most perfect models. if he is to have no imitators and no successors, it will be because god can find none among our choice and gifted youth, who have enough of sincerity, generosity, and the spirit of self-sacrifice, to obey the inspirations of his divine spirit, and consecrate themselves to his glory and the good of their fellow-men. the need is pressing, the career is glorious and inviting, and the vocation of god will not be wanting. there is no hope for religion, except in the multiplication of priests animated with the apostolic spirit. if the example of francis baker enkindles the spirit of emulation in some generous youthful hearts; and encourages some timid, fearful souls who are vacillating between the church of god and the interests of this world, to imitate his fidelity to the voice of conscience; the end i have had in view will be accomplished. if not, it will stand as a perpetual reproach to a frivolous and unworthy generation, incapable of appreciating and imitating high christian virtue. and now i lay the last stone on this monument of one who was once the friend and bosom companion of my youth; afterwards my spiritual child; then my brother in the priesthood; and who is now exalted to such a height above me that my eye and my mind can no longer follow him. { } { } sermons. { } { } sermons. sermon i. the necessity of salvation. (mission sermon.) "thou art careful, and art troubled about many things. but one thing is necessary." --st. luke x. , . if, my brethren, i should ask each one in this assembly what his business is, i should probably receive a great variety of answers. in so large a congregation as this, drawn as it is from the heart of a rich and important city, there are undoubtedly representatives of all the various avocations that grow out of the requirements of social life; some merchants, some mechanics, some laboring men. i should find some heirs of ease and opulence side by side with homeless beggars. some of you are heads of families, while others are living under guardianship and subjection; and in answer to my proposed question, you would give me your various employments and states of life. you would tell me that your business is to heal the sick, or to assist at the administration of justice, or to teach, or to learn letters, or to labor. the men would tell me that their occupation is at the office, or the warehouse, or the shop, and the women would tell me that theirs is at home by the family fireside. no! my brethren, it is not so. this is not your business. your words may be true in the sense in which you use them, but there is a great and real sense in which they are not true. { } trade, labor, study--these are not your employments. your avocations are not so varied as you think they are. each one of you has the same business. all men who have lived in the world have had but one and the same business. and what is that? the salvation of their souls. however varied your dispositions, your condition in this world, your duties, the end of life is absolutely one and the same to you all. yes! wherever man is, whatever his position, whatever his age, he has one business on the earth, and only one--to save his soul. all other things may be dispensed with, but this cannot be dispensed with. this is his true, his necessary, his only duty. do not think that i am exaggerating things in making this assertion. our divine saviour himself in the words of the text has taught us the same lesson--"_martha, martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things. but one thing is necessary_." and what that one thing is, he has taught us, in those memorable words which he uttered on another occasion--"_what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?_" [footnote ] but what then, you say; must every one go into a cloister, must everyone who wishes to do his duty forsake the world, leave house and parents, lands and possessions, and nourish his soul by continual meditation and prayer? no! this is not our lord's meaning. the end of life is indeed the salvation of our souls, but we must work this out by means of the daily employments appropriate to our several conditions. we must prepare for the life to come by the labors of the life that now is. we must bear our part in this world, but we must do so, always, in subordination to eternity, and thus we shall in some way fulfil the words of the apostle--"_they that use this world, let them be as though they used it not;_" [footnote ] that is, let them not use it in the same way that the children of the world use it, or according to the principles of the world. [footnote : st. mark viii. , ] [footnote : cor. vii. .] { } this is enough for the salvation of most men. no one can be excused from doing so much as this. the law of god imperatively and under the highest sanctions requires this of everyone here present. this is your duty to your souls. this is your only duty. this done, all will be done. this neglected, all else will be in vain. to prove this will be the theme of my present discourse. i will make a remark in the outset: it is important for us to bear in mind that the salvation of our souls is properly our work. the grace of god is indeed necessary in order to will, and to accomplish his good will, but without our co-operation, the grace of god will not save us; accordingly, st. paul, writing to the philippians, exhorts them to _work out their salvation_. [footnote ] [footnote : philip. ii. .] it is only little children, who die soon after baptism, and persons equivalent to children, who are saved by a sovereign and absolute act of divine power; with regard to all others, god has made their eternal destiny dependent on their own actions. no one of us will be saved merely because christ died for us; or because he founded the catholic church as the church of salvation, and made us its members; or because he has instituted life-giving sacraments; or because god is willing that all should be saved; or because he gives his grace to us all; or because the blessed virgin mary has such power with god; or because the priest can forgive sins. no one will be saved because he has had inspirations of grace, good instruction, good desires, and good purposes. despite all this, one may be damned. for the holy spirit has said distinctly and strongly, "work out your own salvation." it rests, then, with you to save your souls. the grace of god is indeed necessary. you cannot be saved without the death of christ, or the sacraments of the catholic church, or the gifts of the holy spirit, or the absolution of the priest, or the patronage of mary; but all these things are within your reach, they are all in your power. { } now, at the time of the holy mission, they are offered to you with especial liberality. god, on his part, has done, one may almost say, all that he could do to make your work easy to you. to make this an acceptable time, it only remains, then, that you do your part. and this you can do. however great your difficulties, however great your temptations, however strong your passions, however importunate your evil companions, may be; however deeply seated your bad habits; you can, each one can, by the help which god is now willing to render him, save his soul. from this first remark i pass to the immediate subject of my discourse--the obligation of securing our salvation. as we can save our souls, so we ought to do it. nay, this is our only, our all-engrossing duty; and i shall found my proof of it, my brethren, on this plain rule of common sense and reason, that one ought to bestow that degree of attention and care on any affair which it deserves and requires. everyone feels that it would be an occupation unworthy of a man to spend his time in writing letters in the sand, or in chasing butterflies from flower to flower; because these occupations are in themselves vain and profitless. again, anyone would feel it unreasonable, in the father of a family, to set out on a party of pleasure at the very moment that his presence was necessary to arrest some disaster that threatened his family: not because it was wrong in itself for him to seek recreation, but because a higher obligation was then urging. now, applying these principles, on which everyone acts in matters of daily life, to the matter in question; i say that you are bound to give to the work of your salvation your utmost care and attention, because the care of your souls supremely deserves and urgently requires it. { } take in, my brethren, the whole scope of my proposition. there is a work of great consequence before you. i do not speak as the world speaks. the world tells you that your business here is to get gain, to build a house, to rear a family, to leave a name, to enjoy yourself. i say, no. your business is to seek the grace of god, and to keep it. the world says: seek friends, fall in with the stream, court popularity, do as others do, act on the principles which receive the sanction of the multitude, and a little religion in addition to this will be no bad thing. i say, no. seek first the kingdom of god and his justice. fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, masters, servants, ye great ones and ye humble ones of the earth, you are all engaged in the same enterprise. god has intrusted to each one of you a soul. he has intrusted it to _you_, not to another. you cannot devolve the responsibility of it on another. that is your care on the earth. whatever cares of other things you may have, you cannot neglect that one work, you cannot interrupt or postpone it, you cannot put any thing in competition with it. if there is a question between any temporal advantages, however great, or suffering, however severe, on one side, and the salvation of your soul on the other; you must renounce these benefits, embrace those tortures. if you must consent to see your family die by inches of starvation, or put your salvation in proximate and certain jeopardy, you must see them starve first. i do not say the case is likely to happen. god rarely allows men to be reduced to such straits. but if the case should occur in the line of duty, nay, if the alternative was presented, of converting the whole world on one side, and avoiding a mortal sin on the other, we must rather consult the welfare of our own souls than that of others; and this not from selfishness, but because god has intrusted to us our own souls, and not the souls of others. { } and how do i establish my proposition? i waive, my brethren, my right to appeal to your faith, to speak by the authority of christ, who is infallible and supreme, and who has a right to challenge your absolute and instantaneous submission and obedience. i postpone the consideration of that love which we owe to our maker, and which ought to make us prompt and willing to do his will. i take my stand on the ground of reason and conscience, and i appeal to you to say whether they do not sustain my proposition. i make you the judges. it is your own case, it is true, yet there are points in which even self-love cannot blind our sense of faith; and i ask you whether the care of our soul's salvation should not be our sovereign and supreme care in life, if it be true that the interests of the soul surpass all others in importance, and can not be secured without our continual and earnest efforts. your prompt and decided answer in the affirmative leaves me nothing more to do than to establish the fact that the salvation of your souls is in fact so important a task. i will do so by proving three points: first, that our souls are our most precious possession; second, that we are in great danger of losing them; and third, that the loss of our souls is the greatest of all losses, and is irreparable. our souls are our most precious possession. my brethren, we have souls. when god created man he formed his body out of the slime of the earth. it was as yet but a lifeless form, a beautiful statue, but god breathed upon it and man became a living soul. this soul, the spiritual substance which god breathed into the body, was formed according to an eternal decree of the blessed trinity, in resemblance to the divine essence; that is, endowed with a spiritual nature and possessed of understanding and free will. "let us make man to our image and likeness," said god; and the sacred writer tells us "god created man to his own image;" and, as if to give greater emphasis to so important an announcement, he repeats, "to the image of god created he him." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i. .] { } man therefore is a compound being, consisting of a body and soul, allied to the material world through the material body which he possesses, and to the world above us, that is, to god and the angels, through his soul. now, the excellence of all creatures is in proportion to the degree in which they partake of the perfections of god, who is the author of all being and all goodness. all existing substances partake of his perfection in some degree; if they do not show forth his moral attributes, at least they reflect his omnipotence; and therefore holy scripture calls on the fishes of the sea, the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, the sun, moon, stars, earth, mountains and hills, to join with angels and men in blessing god. but the superiority of angels and souls over material creatures consists in this, that they partake of the moral perfections of god: they show us not only what god can do, but what he is. like him, they are spiritual beings. "_who makest thy angels spirits and thy ministers a burning fire_," says the psalmist. [footnote ] [footnote : ps. ciii. .] they are not gross substances as our bodies are, but pure, subtle, immaterial essences. they are immortal like him--at least so as that they can never die. they do not need food nor sleep. they are not subject to decay, or old age, or death; they are endowed with understanding and free will, to know many of the things that god knows and to love what he loves; but, above all, to know him and love him. hence the value of the soul is really immeasurable, and all the treasures of the earth are not to be compared to it. take the poorest slave on earth, the most wretched inmate of the darkest prison, the most afflicted sufferer whom disease has reduced to a mass of filth and corruption, and that man's soul is more precious and more glorious than the richest diadem of the greatest monarch; nay, than all the treasures of the whole earth, with all the jewels that are hid in the mines and caves under its surface. { } our lord one day permitted st. catherine of sienna to see a human soul, and as she gazed transported at its exceeding beauty, he asked her if he had not had good reason to come down from heaven to save such a glorious creature. the saint said the soul was so beautiful that, if one could see it, one would be willing to suffer all possible pains and torments for love of it. my brethren, if, when you go to your homes, you should find in your house an angel with his face as the appearance of lightning, his eyes as a burning lamp, his body as a crystal, and his feet in appearance like to glittering brass, what would you do? would you not, like st. john, fall down before his feet and adore him? would you not faint and fall before him, or if you were so strengthened that you could look upon the glorious vision, would you not gaze upon it with deep and loving awe? well! such a being you will find there, when you go home. it will go hence with you. it will remain there as long as you remain there. it will come away when you come away. this bright being of whom i speak is no visitor in your house, it is an inmate, it rises with you in the morning, accompanies you through the day, is present with you when you eat, is with you in sickness and in health, in life and in death. this bright and glorious being is yours--it is more yours than any thing else in the world, it is the only thing in the world that is really yours--it is yours; poverty cannot strip you of it, death cannot tear it from you; eternity cannot rob you of it. and this being is your soul, your precious, spiritual, immortal soul. all things else will forsake you, property, family, friends; but this will never forsake you. it is yours. it is yours inalienably and for ever. your greatest, your only wealth and treasure. oh, inestimable dignity! we are told of some saints, who used to make an act of respect to everyone they met, by way of saluting his guardian angel, and of others that they bowed down before those whom they knew, by the spirit of prophecy, would shed their blood for the faith. { } but have we not cause enough to honor man, in the fact that he has a soul, an immortal soul, a soul which shall one day see god? shall we not feel an ample respect for each other, my brethren, when we think of what we are? who could ever speak an impure word before another if he thought of the dignity of a human soul? what young man would ever dare to go to scenes where he would blush that his mother or sister should be present, if he remembered that he took his own soul along with him? who would lie, or cheat, or steal, if he thought of his soul? a great and overpowering thought; how does it belittle all the pride and ostentation of the external world! come, my brethren, let us go into the streets of this city and look around us. there are stately buildings and proud equipages and gay and brilliant shops--but what are all these to the concourse of human beings, the crowds of immortal souls who are, day by day, making an immortal destiny. there is the old man tottering along on his stick, there is the little child on the way to school, there is the rich lady with her jewels and costly fabrics, there is the laborer with his spade setting out to his daily toil; and each one has a soul, each one will live forever. let us strive to take in this great thought. the tide of human beings flows on from morning to evening. new faces continually appear. they come and go. we do not know their history, their destiny; but we know that each one has a spiritual nature, is made to the image of god, is possessed of a bright and glorious soul. we shall meet them again. there will come a day when every one of the throng shall meet again every other. new populations; shall come in the place of those who now inhabit the world. the stones of the greatest buildings shall be reduced to powder, nay, the world itself will be reduced to ashes, and each soul that now lives in this city will survive in its own individuality and immortality. there are some, it is true, who do not seem as if they had souls. { } there are women who have given themselves up to practices of uncleanness by profession, and men who habitually wallow in drunkenness and sensuality; and the conversation of such persons is so horrid and obscene, their countenance so devoid of the least trace of shame or self-respect, they seem from having neglected their souls almost to have lost them. they seem really to have become the brutes whose passions they have imitated. no! even they have souls. they cannot be brutes if they would. they are men, they are made to the image of god, and so they must ever remain. a surgeon [footnote ] was once called to attend a man who was afflicted with cancer. [footnote : the surgeon alluded to was dr. baker, and a faithful portrait of the man was taken, which was preserved in the family.] this terrible disease had affected one entire side of the face, and had made in it the most dreadful ravages. the cheek was one shapeless mass of putrid flesh; the nose undistinguishable from the other features, the eye completely eaten out, and the bones of the forehead perforated like a sponge; but on turning the face of the man, the other side presented a wonderful contrast, being in nowise affected, and showing no trace of sickness except an excessive pallor. the countenance and features were of a noble dignity and beauty, and strikingly like the expression ordinarily observed in the pictures of our blessed lord. so it is with men's souls. sin has eaten deeply into them, has deprived them of comeliness, has almost defaced the form they once had, has blinded their minds and deprived them of the interior eye; but still there remain traces of nobility, of the image of god. o man, whoever thou art, however deeply sunk in sin; i care not whether your body be as filthy as the dunghill or the sink, or your heart be the prey of every passion and the slave of every vice; you have a soul: you have indeed lost much, but you have much remaining; you have that which is of more value than all else in the world--that which is absolutely of more value than all material things; and which to you is of more value than all spiritual things, than all created things in earth and heaven. { } you are great and noble and spiritual and immortal--you are capable of virtue, happiness, and heaven--you are like god, you resemble him. his image is stamped upon you. and how little you realize this! alas, you will realize it at the hour of death. but, secondly, we are in danger of losing our souls. to lose them in the literal sense is of course impossible, for i have said that they are immortal, and will remain with us forever. it would be in some way a happiness to the wicked, if they could, in this sense, lose their souls, for it would free them from the torment of a miserable eternity. but that cannot be: the loss of our souls of which we speak is the loss of god, who alone is the sufficient and satisfying object of our affection. "thou hast made our souls for thee," says st. augustine, "and they are not at peace until they rest in thee." the loss of our souls is occasioned by sin, which separates us from god, but it is not final and irremediable until death overtakes us in this state of estrangement. the danger of losing our souls, then, is the danger of falling into mortal sin and dying in that state. now, the danger of sinning is, in the present course of god's providence, inseparable from the possession of a soul. free will is a high prerogative, which, while it fits us for the highest state possible, renders sin also possible. as soon as god created the angels, a large part of them rebelled against him, and were cast out of heaven. as soon as he had made man, our first parents fell and were cast out of paradise. it is only a rational moral being that can sin; because sin is the voluntary transgression of the divine law, and therefore cannot be committed by any creature but one who has a will, that is, intellect and the power of choosing. almost all the material acts of sin which men commit are committed by brutes also. { } see the rage of the tiger, the thieving of the fox, the impurity of the goat, the treachery of the adder, the gluttony of the swine. but there are no sins in these brutes, because they have mere blind instincts. man, however, has reason and a will, and therefore he is bound to control the instincts which he shares in common with the brutes, and his failure to control these constitutes sin. he has a soul which belongs to god, and of which god is the sovereign, and his failure to control his passions is rebellion against god, and pride. further, as the possession of a soul renders sin possible, so the proclivity to evil, which we inherit from the fall, and the temptations of the world, render it exceedingly probable. i do not know a more striking illustration of this, than the fear which the saints have ordinarily had about their salvation. their sense of the value of the soul; their deep knowledge of their own hearts, and of the root of evil that was in them, the weakness of man without grace, and the uncertainty of grace; have kept men of the greatest sanctity, men who have wrought miracles, who have cast out devils, who have raised the dead to life, always anxious about their perseverance, always begging of god the grace never to to allow them to commit a mortal sin. but if these reasons are enough to make saints tremble, what reasons have not ordinary christians to fear! a chain of evil habits, unguarded intercourse with men, the constant contact with the world, how fearfully do they augment the risk of losing our souls, which all run necessarily in this world. why, listen to the conversation of ten men, taken almost at random in this city; for half an hour walk through the city, from one end to the other; and see if the occasions of sin are not more frequent than can be uttered. this is deeply felt by men of the world themselves. it makes them despair. they say there is no possibility of saving their souls in the world. they say it is all in vain to try--that sin meets them at every step. it is not, of course, true that sin is inevitable. if it were, it would not be sin. but it is true that the atmosphere of the world is fearfully surcharged with evil. { } there is many a home in this city, many a place of public resort, many a den of secret iniquity, many a gaming-room, and drinking-house, over which there is an inscription legible to the angels, written in letters of fire, "the gate of hell." there are many places where souls are sold daily and hourly, and oh, at what a price! thirty pieces of silver was the price offered for our redeemer, but the soul is often sold for one, indeed, often for something still more miserable--for the gratification of an impure passion, for the indulgence of revenge, for a day's frolic. it is true the evil one does not carry on his traffic under its own name and openly--that it is well concealed under specious pretences; but the danger is only so much the greater. the occasions of sin are everywhere spread under our feet like traps and snares, and encircling us on all sides like nets. but even this is not the worst. the loss of god is not only possible because of our free will, probable because of the corruption of the world, but, in many cases, already certain. men, on all sides, have lost god, and need only an unforeseen death to make certain the loss of their souls. who can tell how many are living in a state of mortal sin, month by month, day by day, year by year? they go on securely, smilingly; externally all goes on smoothly; they are successful and seemingly happy; they have plans for many years to come; but a voice has spoken, "thou fool, this night shall they require thy soul of thee." oh! how many died in mortal sin last year, how many will die in mortal sin next year! it needs only a little thing, a false step, a railway accident, an attack of fever, a change in the weather, a fit of apoplexy, and they are launched into eternity without warning and without preparation--death sealing for perdition those whom it finds deprived of the grace of god. who, i say, can wonder at this, when he looks around him, and sees how little the soul is valued? o my god! it is enough to make the heart sick. { } let us take a catholic family, for i will not take things at the worst. a father has a family of children. he must send them to school or college. he finds an institution which pleases him, and he will tell you that his children are doing excellently, and that the only drawback is that the school is protestant or infidel. is not this to betray the souls of his own children? sunday comes: it is true that there is the obligation to hear mass, but some inducement offers itself to idleness or dissipation, and no mass is heard, because it is only the soul which is injured by the omission. monday comes: there is an opportunity of making some little gain in an unlawful way. what does it matter? we must get rich, and do like our neighbors. the sons grow up in ignorance, and spend their time mostly at the gaming-table or the place of carousal. the daughters grow up. they must be led by their mother to every scene of folly and sin, because the custom of society requires it. easter comes: the young people do not like to go to confession, and they add only one sin more, to those with which their hearts are already charged. and then the parents die, and the children come forward to take their places, and to bring up their children in still greater neglect and laxity. thus catholics are trained for the world, and souls for hell; and if we take into the account the graver forms of vice, and consider how many are entirely the slaves of passion, we shall not wonder that there are so few that shall be saved. one of the fathers, speaking of the great responsibility of the priesthood, dilates on the impossibility of a priest's being saved without great exertion and watchfulness. but if it be difficult for a priest to save his soul; what shall i say of the laity, when i consider the prevailing habits of catholics. it hardly seems to me too strong to say, that to me it would seem a miracle for any such one to be saved. how will men attain that which they do not care for, to which they give no thought? and so it is with the salvation of the soul. who thinks about it? who takes any pains for it? who makes any sacrifice for it? { } the soul is more precious than any thing else, and yet every thing else is put before it. it is trampled on in business, betrayed in friendships, choked by domestic cares, imprisoned in the filthy bodies of the licentious, and, as it were, annihilated in the drunkard. it is forgotten, neglected, outraged, despised, ignored. it is not so much sold as thrown away. the body is cared for with the most supreme solicitude. every pain and ache is relieved. long journeys are undertaken to recover health that is lost or only threatened. the most celebrated physicians are sought after with eagerness. but the soul is allowed for weeks and months and years to go on in a state of spiritual death. confession, prayer, the sacraments, means so easy, means truly infallible in their efficacy, means within the reach of all, are neglected, on pretences the most frivolous, without reason, and almost without motive. "_who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and i will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people?_" [footnote ] [footnote : jer. ix. .] the loss of our souls is the greatest of all evils, because it is irremediable. i will not go into all that this point contains. it is too great a subject for us at present. i will not dwell on all that is meant by the loss of our souls, but i will consider it simply as it is, the failure of reaching our end and destiny, and as irreparable. and to help us to realize this, i will summon as a witness one who was the first to come short of his destiny, the devil. we do not know how long it was after the creation of the angels that the devil sinned and fell; but certainly there was a time when he was a pure, bright spirit, rejoicing in the greatness of his endowments, and with a hope full of immortality. but there came a moment of darkness. he sinned: he was judged: he was cast from heaven, and he sank into hell. there he is now. he is confined in chains and darkness. the tree has fallen; and as it has fallen to the north or to the south, so must it lie forever. { } other mistakes may be rectified, but this never. a loss in business may be made good by greater exertions and prudence; a broken-down constitution may be repaired by art and care; a lost reputation may be recovered by integrity and consistency in well-doing; earthly sorrow may be healed by time and other objects; sin may be rooted out by penance; but the loss of the soul is an evil complete and irreparable, and brings with it an undying remorse. "_a tree hath hope: if it be cut down, it groweth green again, and the bough thereof sprout. if its root be old in the earth and its stock be dead in the dust, at the scent of water it shall spring and bring forth leaves as when it was first planted._" [footnote ] but man, when he shall be dead and stripped and consumed, i pray you, where is he? the cry of despair which the first lost soul uttered when he made the terrible discovery that he was really lost, is still ringing in the abodes of the damned, and the keenness of his misery is still unabated. ages shall go on, the last day shall come, and an eternity shall follow it, and that cry of despair will still be as thrilling, and that anguish as new and as irremediable. [footnote : job xiv. , , .] as reasonable men, i have appealed to you: what is your decision? what does reason, what does conscience, what does self-interest say? you would not be listless if i were to speak to you of your property, your health, your reputation, but now i speak to you of your souls--your precious, immortal souls--your own, your greatest good--a good that you are in danger of losing--the good whose loss is overwhelming and irretrievable. they are in your hands for life or for death. it is said that to one of the heathen soothsayers, who was famed for his skill in discovering hidden things, a person once came with a living bird in his hand, and asked the seer to tell whether it was living or dead. the inquirer intended to crush the bird with his hand if the wise man should say it was living, and to let it fly if he should say it was dead, and thus in either case to put the pretended magician to shame. { } but the soothsayer suspected the design, and answered: "the bird is in your hand--to kill it or to let it live." so i answer you, my brethren. your souls are in your hands, to kill them or to let them live. you can crush them in your grasp and smother their convictions, or you can open your hand and let them fly forth in freedom and gladness. oh, have pity on your souls! your souls are yours. no one will be the loser by the loss of your souls but yourselves. god will not be the less happy if you are damned; the saints will not lose any of their happiness if you fail of your salvation; the angels will be as light and blissful; the earth will go on just the same as when you were on it; only you, you yourselves will feel it, and you will feel it hopelessly. ah, then, take pity on your souls! you will one day wish that you had done it. one of the courtiers of francis the first of france, when he was dying, said: "oh! how many reams of paper have i written in the service of my monarch! oh! that i had only spent one quarter of an hour in the service of my soul!" a quarter of an hour! and you have days and weeks. oh, then, once more i beg you to take pity on your souls! if you have never before seriously taken to heart your eternal interest, at least do so now. improve the time of this mission. it is the time of grace. it may be to you the last call, the last opportunity. make, then, a good use of this time. set aside the thought of other things, and give yourself to this alone. now you have an opportunity of making your peace with god, and saving your soul. think, now the hour has come, foreseen by god from all eternity, when, answering to the call of grace, i shall regain his favor, which, alas! i have lost too long. what shall keep me back? see what is the difficulty, and weigh it in the scales with your immortal soul. is confession difficult? a confession before the whole universe will be more so. is it hard to lose a little gain? it will be more so to lose your soul. { } is it hard to break a tie of long standing? it will be hard to break every tie, and to live in eternal desolation. is it hard to bear the remarks of companions? but how will you bear the taunts and jeers of the devil and his angels? and those very companions who have led you to hell will taunt you for your base compliance to them. let nothing, then, keep you back. * * * (peroration. according to the circumstances.) ---------------- sermon ii. mortal sin. (mission sermon.) "know thou, and see, that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left the lord thy god." --jer. ii. . in the book of the prophet ezechiel it is related that god showed to the prophet in a vision the city of jerusalem. it was all stretched out before him in its greatness and in its beauty. the magnificent temple was there, with its stones and spires glittering in the sun; its streets were full of people, prosperous and happy; a people who were in possession of the true religion, who had been adopted by god as his children, and over whom he had exercised a special protection. it was a beautiful sight; beautiful to the eye, and well fitted to excite the most religious emotions in the mind. but there was something that checked these feelings of pleasure and delight. god permitted the prophet to see the interior of that city. he unfolded before him the secret abominations that were practised there. { } he showed him the idolatries and impurities to which his chosen people the jews had delivered themselves up, and then in wrath and indignation god complained of the people and said: "_the iniquity of the house of israel and of juda is exceeding great; and the land is filled with blood; and the city is filled with perverseness, for they have said: the lord hath forsaken the earth, and the lord seeth not_." [footnote ] then the joy of the prophet was turned in to sorrow. [footnote : ezechiel ix. .] to-night, my brethren, a vision meets my eye hardly less beautiful than that which met the eye of the prophet. how beautiful a sight is this church and this congregation! this church is raised to the honor of the true god. its walls are salvation and its gates praise. and this congregation, beautiful as it is in the assemblage of a multitude of living, intelligent beings--where i see the old man with his crown of silver hair, the young man and the young woman in the freshness of their bloom and youth--is much more so regarded as a catholic congregation, as professing the true faith. but tell me--for i cannot look into your hearts as the prophet did--tell me, does god see, beneath this beautiful, outward appearance, the abominations of iniquity? does god this night see in this church some heart that is in mortal sin? some catholic who has renounced, if not his faith, at least the practice of his faith? some child of passion who has swerved from the path of justice, lost his conscience and the sense of sin, and given himself to the service of the devil? are there any here to-night in mortal sin? there may be. i will confess, and you will not think me uncharitable in doing so, i believe there are some. i know not how many, but from what i know of the world, i believe there are some here, in this congregation, whose consciences tell them they are in mortal sin. oh! then, let me tell them what they have done. let me show them what mortal sin is. let me prove to them that it is an evil and a bitter thing for them to have left the lord their god. this is my subject to-night. i will show you the dreadfulness of mortal sin: first, from its nature; secondly, from its effects on the soul; and thirdly, from its eternal consequences. { } you know, my dear brethren, that we were created to love and serve god in this life, and to be happy forever with him in heaven. god has given us this world, and our own nature, all that we have or are; and he is willing that we should enjoy the world and act out our nature. it is true, there are certain restrictions which he has given us. these restrictions are contained in his law, embodied in the ten commandments. in these commandments god has circumscribed our liberty, has put limits to what we may do; but i need not say that these limits have been so fixed, not in order to abridge our happiness, but really to increase it. so the case stands on god's part. but now, on our part, we have an inclination to disregard the limits god has put on our use of the world, and to place our happiness in the creature. the world smiles before us, and we think this or that enjoyment would make us happy. it may often happen that the very enjoyment and comfort is one which god has forbidden; but no matter, we are strongly inclined to seize it, nevertheless, and to gratify our desire in spite of the prohibition. this inclination is what is called concupiscence, and is sometimes exceedingly strong, so that it is very difficult to resist it. god has, however, always given us reason and faith, free will and grace, to enable us to overcome it. this, then, being so, you see that man stands between two claimants: the world on the one hand, inviting him to follow his own corrupt inclinations; on the other, god requiring him to restrain his passions by the rules of virtue and religion. now, what takes place under such circumstances? alas, my brethren, i will tell you what too often takes place. i will tell you what takes place so commonly that men take it for granted that it must be so--so commonly that the majority of men cease to wonder at it--what happens every day, every hour, every minute. it happens that men listen to the voice of passion, renounce virtue and reason, stifle grace, and turn away from god, to satisfy their desire for the creature. this is what happens daily, hourly, momentarily; and this is mortal sin, which is in its nature the greatest of all evils, considered in its relation both to god and man, as i am about to show you in this first part of my discourse. { } understand me, my brethren: the sin i am going to speak of is _mortal_ sin. i do not say that every transgression of the law of god is mortal. you know that it is not so. you know that there some actions which men commit, which are forbidden, but by which a man does not mean really to give up the friendship of god--some sins which are not committed with full deliberation, some sins in which the matter is very small, some sins which come more from ignorance or frailty than from malice; and which god, who sees things just as they are, does not regard as grievous. he is displeased with them, but not mortally offended. he punishes them, but not with the utter withdrawal of his favor. if he did, who of us could be saved? but every sin in which the soul sees clearly that she must choose between the friendship of god and the gratification of unlawful passion--in which, with full deliberation, in full defiance of any grave precept of god or the holy church, she obeys the call of corrupt nature, every such sin is mortal, that, is, grievously offends god and cuts off the soul from his grace. do you want to know what a mortal sin is? it is an insult offered to god--almighty god. one trembles to say it, but so it is. yes! if you have committed one mortal sin, you have insulted almighty god. and there is every thing in the act to make the insult deep and deadly. the greatness of an insult is measured by the comparative importance of the persons between whom the offence passes. if one should come into the church and strike the bishop on his throne, would you not feel more indignant than if a common man in the street were the object of the insult? you have heard how pius the sixth was insulted; dragged about from place to place, until he died; and did you not feel indignant that such outrages were committed on the person of god's vicegerent? { } now, when you committed a mortal sin you insulted, not the vicegerent of god, but god himself. you contemned his authority and despised his greatness. would you know who it is whom you have offended? look at that mountain trembling with earthquakes, and breathing forth smoke and flame, hear the thunder roll around its head, and see the lightning flash! mark the people, how they fall back affrighted and terrified! what is the cause of these convulsions of nature, and this terror of the people? god is speaking. he spake in mount sinai and the earth trembled before him; and it is his words then spoken that you have defied, o sinner! are you not afraid of his vengeance whom you have offended? open the heavens and see the angels, thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, prostrate before him. see all the saints adoring him--the blessed virgin mary herself trembling before his greatness. and you insult him! what are you? a creature, a dependant, a slave. what would a master do if his slave should strike him? and you, a servant, a slave, a mere nothing, have not hesitated to raise your hand against almighty god! and for what have you done all this? for the pleasure of sin. you have preferred a vile, temporary gratification, to the favor of almighty god. when you sinned, there was on one side the beauty of god, the beauty of perfection, the splendor of grace, the joy of saints, peace of conscience, heaven; on the other there was the false pleasure of sin. you weighed them in the balance one with another, and, oh folly! in your estimation a moment's sin outweighed god and heaven and eternity. this is what the almighty complains of in holy scripture: "_they violated me among my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread to kill souls which should not die_." [footnote ] [footnote : ezech. xiii. .] { } oh! for how small a thing it is that you have been content to lose god--a few dollars of unjust gain, human respect, the gratification of revenge, a night's debauch, a half-hour's indulgence of sinful thoughts, a forbidden word, an intoxicating glass: for this you have thrown to the winds god and heaven. what has he not done for you? he takes care of you and gives you all you have. it is he who warms you by the sun, refreshes you by the air, gladdens and nourishes you by the green field. it is he who brought you through the dangerous time of childhood, who led you up through manhood, who redeemed you by his blood, made you a catholic, and gave you your parents, friends, every blessing, and the hope of heaven beyond this life, and you have grieved and hated him. see jesus christ before the jews. he has spent his life in doing them good. he has labored for them and is about to die for them. and now they spit on him, they buffet him, they crown him with thorns and bow the knee in mockery before him. nay, o sinner! thou art the jew who did this. thou by thy mortal sin hast made him an object of scorn. thou hast spit upon him, thou hast stabbed him to the heart. would you excuse a son from the guilt of parricide who should strike a knife to his father's heart, and should miss his aim? so, the sinner is no less guilty of the crime against the life of god because god cannot die. if god could die or cease to be, mortal sin is that which would kill him. you have aimed a blow at the life of your best benefactor, of your god. and this is what passes in the world for a light thing. this is what men laugh at and boast of over their cups. this is what the world excuses, and takes for a matter of course; yes, this is what even boys and girls, as they grow up, desire not to be ignorant of--that they may know how to offend god. this is sin, so easily committed and so often committed, so quickly committed and so soon forgotten. such it is in the sight of god and the holy angels. o sinner! when you smile, often when you are rejoicing over your wicked pleasure, the heavens are black overhead, and god is angry, and the angel of vengeance stands at your side with a glittering spear, that he may plunge it in your heart. { } while you are careless, heaven and earth are groaning over your guilt. "_wonder, o ye heavens, and be in amazement_," says god by the prophet. "_my people have done two evils. they have left me, the fountain of living water, and have digged out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." "hear, o heavens, and give ear, o earth, for the lord hath spoken. i have brought up children and exalted them, but they have despised me. the ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib, but israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the lord, they have blasphemed the holy one of israel, they have gone away backward_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. i. , , .] but in the second place, mortal sin is the greatest of all evils as regards the sinner himself. let us consider what are its effects. ah, my brethren, some of these effects are obvious enough. we have not to go far to seek them. we know them ourselves. what is the cause of much of the sickness that affects our race? what but sin? what is it that has ruined so many reputations, that once were fair and unblemished? what is it that has destroyed the peace of so many families? it is sin. what is it that makes so many young persons prematurely old, which steals the bloom from the cheek and the lustre from the eye, and gladness from the heart, and strength from the voice, and elasticity from the gait? ah! it is sin. yes! the effects of sin are visible and obvious to all around us, and these external effects of sin are dreadful enough, but they are not so dreadful as the internal effects, on which i purpose particularly to dwell. well, my brethren, i just said that the nature of a mortal sin is to turn away from god to the creature. { } now, its effect is to kill the soul. there is a twofold life of the soul. one is a natural life, and this it can never lose, not even in hell, since it can never cease to be; and the other is the life of grace. you know, my brethren, that in the heart of a good christian there dwells a wonderful quality, the gift of the holy ghost, which we call grace. it is given first in baptism, and resides habitually in the soul unless it is lost by mortal sin. this it is which makes the soul acceptable to god, and capable of pleasing him, and of meriting heaven. this grace was purchased for us by the blood of jesus christ, and is the most precious gift of god. it ennobles, beautifies, elevates, strengthens, and enlightens the soul in which it dwells: in a word, it is the life of the soul. this grace abides in the soul of every faithful christian, the little child, the virtuous young man and young woman, the old man and the matron, the rich and the poor. everyone who is in the state of friendship with god is possessed of this grace. he may be poor, sick, weak in body, disgusting as lazarus was, but if he is the friend of god, his soul is endowed with the gift of grace. now, the moment that one commits a mortal sin, the moment that a baptized christian turns away from god to the creature, that moment his soul is stripped of this divine grace. the moment that a mortal sin is committed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, that robe of grace falls off from the soul and leaves it in its deformity and weakness. it cannot be otherwise. "can two walk together," says holy scripture, "and not be agreed?" can god remain united to the soul which has cast him off by an act of complete and formal rebellion? oh, no! god bears much with us, he retains his friendship for us as long as he can, he restrains his displeasure when we are weak and irresolute and tired in his service; yes, when we a little turn our heads and hearts toward that world which we have renounced, when we do things that, although wrong, are not altogether so grievous as to amount to a renunciation of his friendship: but once make a full choice between god and the creature, and god's friendship is lost. { } you cannot reject it and retain it at the same time. god sees things exactly as they are: as you act toward him, he will act toward you. by mortal sin you renounce him, and therefore he must renounce you. how can i describe to you the change that takes place in that moment? it has more resemblance to the degradation of a priest than any thing else. if a priest commits certain great crimes, the church prescribes that he be solemnly degraded from the priesthood; and nothing is more dreadful than the ceremonial. he stands before the bishop, clad in his sacred vestments, with alb and cincture, and maniple and stole, and with the chalice in which he has been wont to consecrate the blood of the lord in his hands. then when the sentence of degradation has been pronounced, the chalice is taken out of his hands--he shall offer the sacrifice of the lord's body no more; the golden chasuble is taken off his back, no more shall he bear the glory of the priesthood; the stole is seized from off his neck--he has lost the stole of immortality; the white alb is torn from him-- he has lost the beauty of innocence; and last of all, his hands, on which at his ordination the holy oil was poured, are scraped--he has lost the unction of the holy ghost. so it is in the moment that one commits a mortal sin. the holy scripture calls every christian a king and a priest, because in his soul he is noble and united to god; and the soul of the meanest christian is far more beautiful in god's sight than the grandest monarch, dressed in his richest robes, is to our sight. well, now, as soon as a mortal sin is committed, and god departs, then the degradation of the soul takes place. the devil tears away the garment of justice, the splendor of beauty, the whiteness of innocence, the robe of immortality, which make the soul worthy of the companionship of angels, and the friendship of god. all, all are gone. oh, how abject and wretched is such a soul! { } oh i how quickly will this awful change go on, and even the poor soul herself thinks not of it! and do not think this horrible history is of rare occurrence. no! it takes place in every case of mortal sin. look at that young man. see, his air and bearing show you that he knows something of the world, and that life has no secrets for him. still there was once a time when that young man was innocent. he was a good catholic child, his soul glistened with the brightness of baptismal grace. god looked down from heaven and smiled with pleasure; his guardian angel followed him in watchfulness indeed, but with joy and hope. he had his little trials, but what was it all--what was poverty or sickness or disappointment? was he not a christian? was he not a friend of god, was not his soul beautiful in god's sight? such he was; but a day came, a dark and dreadful day, when a voice, a seducing voice, spoke in the paradise of that heart: "_rejoice, therefore, o young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. xi. .] he listened to that voice and he fell: he was a changed being, he had committed his first mortal sin. oh! if he could have seen the angry frown of god, the sad and downcast look of his guardian angel. oh! if he could have heard the shriek of triumph that came up from the devils in hell. "thou art also wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us. thy pride is brought down to hell. thy carcass is fallen down. [footnote ] [footnote : isai. xiv. , .] but he hears nothing, he sees nothing, his brain is on fire, his heart is burned by passion. the world opens to him her brilliant pleasures, and he is perverted. his tastes and thoughts are all corrupted. he does not like the sacraments any more, or mass or prayer; his delight is in haunts of dissipation, in drinking and debauchery. he commits every mortal sin, and each deepens the stains of his soul and increases his misery. perhaps here and there, for a while, he comes to confession, but he falls back. { } he neglects his church, begins to curse and blaspheme holy things, and then he is a wretched being, astray from god, with god's curse upon him, the slave of the devil, the heir of hell, fair indeed without; but look within--full of rottenness and uncleanness. oh, weep for him--"_weep not for the dead,_" says holy scripture, "_lament for him that goeth away, for he shall not return again._" [footnote ] [footnote : jer. xxii. .] weep for that young man who has wandered away from his god. weep for that young woman who has stained her soul with mortal sin. weep for that old man who has let years go by in sin, and whose sins are counted by the thousand. weep not for your child who leaves you to go to a distant land, but weep for him who is on his way to the land of eternal night, where everlasting horror inhabiteth. weep for him who is on his way to hell. is it not a story to make one weep? the ruin of a soul! "_how is the gold become dim, the fairest color is changed, the noble sons of sion, and they that were clothed with the best of gold, how are they esteemed as earthen vessels, and the iniquity of the daughter of my people is made greater than the sin of sodom._" [footnote ] [footnote : lam. iv. , , .] once you were innocent, now you are guilty. once you had a fair chance of heaven, now heaven is closed to you. once, perhaps, you had rich merits laid up for heaven, you had gone through many trials, you had borne many sufferings, had achieved many labors of piety, and for each of them the good god, who never allows any good work to go unrewarded, had added many a jewel to your crown; but, alas! that crown is broken, those jewels scattered and crushed, those merits lost. and what has done this. that mortal sin! that rebellion against god, that sinful gratification, that turning away from god and loss of grace which it brought with it. ah! my brethren, when i think of these things, when i think that christians are falling into sin, and, for a very trifle and a nothing, losing the favor of god, i feel as if i wished all preachers should go out to the whole world and cry out: "know thou and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee to have left the lord thy god." i am not surprised that st. ignatius said he would be willing to do all he did for the prevention of one mortal sin. { } but, my brethren i have not as yet described the full effects of mortal sin. it immediately makes us liable to the eternal punishment of hell. that is what hell is made for. it is the prison for mortal sin. apostates from the faith, drunkards, murderers, adulterers, the impure, the dishonest, the profane, the impious, calumniators, and all sinners "shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." the sentence of damnation is in the next life, but damnation itself begins in this. each one of us is a candidate for heaven or hell, at this present moment. hell is not something which is assigned to us arbitrarily. we dig our own hell for ourselves. when we first commit a mortal sin we open hell under our feet, and every time we commit a fresh mortal sin we deepen that hell. it may happen even that the sentence is passed in the same instant that we sin. many men die in the very act of sin. the fallen angels, themselves, sank into hell the very instant they committed mortal sin, and the instant they committed the first mortal sin. you know, my brethren, that the angels were created very beautiful and powerful. there were myriads and myriads of them. they were as beautiful as gabriel or michael or raphael; and yet, as soon as they committed one mortal sin, notwithstanding their glory, their beauty, their number, their splendid intellects, their power, they were hurled from the thrones of heaven; not only defaced, degraded, and dishonored by the loss of sanctifying grace, but condemned to hell, chained in everlasting darkness, waiting for the judgment of the great day. if god dealt so with the angels, surely there is nothing unjust in cutting off the days of a sinner in the very moment of sin. { } oh! my brethren, i will tell you what happens when one sins: the devils come and claim this soul as their own: this poor soul becomes the slave of the devil, the heir of hell and of damnation. it is not for nothing, then, that conscience makes such a terrible alarm in the soul when we commit a mortal sin. tell me, did you not at the moment you sinned hear a stern voice speaking in the depths of your heart? tell me, o my brethren, did you not, when you were deeply plunged in sinful enjoyment, feel a dreadful pang at your heart? tell me, now that you stand in god's holy presence, tell me now, is there not something within you that tells you, you are ruined? what is that? ah! that is the beginning of the remorse of the damned. that is the sting of the worm that shall never die. that is the shadow of thine eternal doom in thy soul. it tells thee that thou art the child of the devil; it tells thee that thou hast lost god, and that thou art not fit for heaven, but art an heir of hell. and it tells thee truly. if this moment thou wert to die, like dives, thou wouldst be buried in hell. and why? for a momentary gratification of appetite? is that what you will be punished for? no; but because, for a momentary gratification of appetite, thou hast forsaken the lord thy god, broken his law, lost his grace. thou hast made thy choice. thou hast chosen sin and not god, and death overtakes thee before thou hast returned to god by penance, and thou art lost; lost on account of thy sin, lost forever on account of thy sin. go down to the chambers of hell, ask dives, ask judas, ask the fallen angels, ask each one who in that dark abode drags out a long eternity; ask them what it is that brought them there, and they will tell you, mortal sin. it is mortal sin that kindles that flame, that feeds that fire, that makes them burn unceasingly, and forever. oh then, tell me! if you will not listen to reason, to god, to the angels; will you not listen to your companions lost? { } hearken to them as from their dark prison they cry out, "it is an evil and a bitter thing to have left the lord thy god." such, my brethren, is mortal sin. such is one mortal sin. it does not require many mortal sins to lose god's grace or incur damnation. one is enough--one final deliberate rebellion against god and his holy law. * * * (peroration, according to the circumstances.) ----------------- sermon iii. the particular judgment. (mission sermon.) "it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living god." --heb. x. . there is a moment, my brethren, in the history of each immortal soul, which, of all others that precede or follow it, is the fullest of experience: the moment after death. the moment of death is indeed the decisive moment of our history. then the question is settled, once for all, whether we are to be happy or miserable for all eternity; but, for the most part, we do not know that decision. many men die insensible. by far the larges part of those i have seen die, have died insensible. and even when the power of the mind remains to the last, it is extremely difficult to form any true conception of that state of things into which the soul is about to be ushered. it is difficult to conceive aright beforehand of any thing to which we are unaccustomed. did it ever happen to you to visit a strange country, and to form anticipations of what it would seem like, and did not the reality falsify all your anticipations? well, how much more difficult to realize those things which the soul sees immediately after death, and which are so much farther removed from our former experience! { } according to catholic theology, immediately after death, the soul appears in the presence of jesus christ to be judged--to receive an unalterable sentence to heaven or to hell. if to hell, no prayers can benefit it; if to heaven, it goes there immediately or not, according to the degree of its goodness. but it is judged unalterably to heaven or hell, the moment after death. and catholic theologians teach that this judgment takes place in the very chamber of death itself. there, in that room, while they are dressing the body for the grave, closing the eyes, bandaging the mouth, arranging the limbs in order, that soul has already learned the secrets of the eternal world. naked and alone, it had stood before its judge, and heard its doom pronounced. to everyone, no doubt, even to the most pious, to those who have meditated on the truths of faith, there will be something alarming in this moment; but, oh! what will it be to the sinful catholic? what will be the thoughts and feelings of that large class of catholics, now careless about their salvation, who are obeying every impulse of passion, and breaking every commandment of god? this, indeed, is a difficult question to answer. there is but little in this world that can help us to portray the emotions of the lost catholic, the moment after death; but i will not on this account desist from attempting to describe it. i will consider your advantage rather than my own satisfaction, and though i feel deeply that i shall not be able to describe the scene i undertake in anything like the colors of truth, i will undertake to do what i can. first, then, following the soul beyond the limits of this world, i see her overwhelmed with a _conviction_ of the reality and truth of the objects of her faith. now, in saying that this soul obtains a conviction of the truths of faith, i do not mean to suppose the case of one who has been a sceptic in this world. the truth is, faith is so strong a principle in the heart of a catholic, that it is exceedingly difficult to put it out or shake it. { } and although it sometimes happens that a catholic; from reading bad books, or frequenting the society of those who blaspheme his religion, or from becoming acquainted suddenly with some of the difficulties which science seems to present to faith, and not knowing the answer to them, or from the petty pride of seeming wiser than his neighbors, and making objections which unlearned catholics cannot answer, may use the language of a sceptic; yet such cases are very rare, and the scepticism is not very deep. a little guidance from one who knows better, and a little humility on the part of such an objector, will set all right. but there is a kind of infidelity not so easily cured, and far more common among catholics--a practical infidelity, an insensibility and indifference to the truths of faith. the truths of faith--i mean, heaven and hell, god and the soul--are not seen by the eye--it requires reflection to realize them; but the world, and the objects which it presents, are visible and tangible. the former are lost sight of, while the latter absorb all our thoughts. the body clamors for necessities and pleasures, and the soul, and things of eternity, are simply forgotten. it is almost the same to many men as if there were no god, no eternity, no heaven, or no hell. really, one hardly sees in what the lives of many catholics would differ from what they are now if there were no god, no heaven or hell. i do not mean to say that they have no faith at all, for even the heathens have some faith; or that they never think of god, for then they would be brutes; but that these things have no real hold on their minds or influence over their hearts. they never reflect. they stay away from the sacraments. they do not listen to sermons. they have no correct idea at all of the advantage they enjoy in being catholics; in a word, they break the commandments of god on the slightest temptation, are children of this world and immersed in its cares and enjoyments. now, one of these men meets with a sudden death. { } he goes out in the morning--perhaps he is a mechanic--and he falls from a height. he is taken up and put in a litter hastily made, and carried home. it is apparent that life is ebbing fast. in a few minutes he becomes speechless. he has lost his sight. ah! does he breathe at all? it is hard to say. the doctor comes in great haste. he feels his pulse, looks at him, and says, "it is all over. he has received an injury in a vital part. he is dead." yes, he is dead. this morning he was alive and well, he was making his plans, he was talking of the weather--now he is dead. all his old thoughts and experience are all rolled back by a new set of things that are forcing themselves on his vision. he is dead. he died suddenly; but not without warning. others have died in his home before--he is not young. he has seen wife and children die. it made him weep for a while; but he forgot it, and now his turn is come--he is dead. i will not stop to notice the grief of the friends he leaves behind. no; i will follow his soul, as it enters eternity. the voice of his friends dies on his ear--he begins to hear other voices. as he ceases to see the people in his room he begins to see other objects. who is that, that is standing at the foot of his bed? a neighbor was standing there but just now; but this is another form, a form beautiful, indeed, but majestic and terrible. no; it is not anyone he has ever seen before, and yet, he ought to know that face. he has seen it before; it is the face his mother looked on as she was dying-the face he had often seen in catholic churches. yes, it is jesus christ. he knows it; it is the same, and yet, how different! when he saw that face in pictures, it was crowned with thorns; now it is crowned with a diadem of matchless glory. when he saw that form in the church, it was naked, and hanging on the cross; now it is clothed with garments of regal magnificence. yes, it is jesus christ! and he is looking upon him with eyes of fire. he turns to escape those eyes, and he sees there are other figures in the scene. { } there are two figures--one at the right hand, and one at the left. who are they? he ought to know them, for they know more of him than anyone else--they have been his companions for life. one is very beautiful--a being with golden locks and cloud-like wings--that is his angel guardian; he looks sad now, for he has nothing good to say. and the other is the black and hideous demon of hell, that crouches at his side, full of hate and malice, and triumph, too, for he has dogged the steps of this poor sinner from youth to age, and now the time has come for him to seize his prey. and now, as the sinner looks from one to another, the meaning of it an breaks upon him. conviction flashes upon his mind. he may not have been an infidel before; but putting his past feelings by the side of his present experience, it seems almost as if he had been. did it ever happen to you to be talking quite unconcernedly, and all at once to find that others were listening, before whom for worlds you would not have used such unreserve. well, to compare small things with great, something like this will be the feeling of the sinner when the curtain of time draws up, and shows him the realities of eternity. the whole tide of his past thoughts and feelings will be arrested, and, with a great check, rolled back before the new set of experiences and sights that rush in on him. oh! he will say, what is this that i see and hear? has jesus christ always been so near me? have my guardian angel and the demon that has tempted me been always in this very room? ah, yes! it is even so. i have been living in a dream all my life, and pursuing shadows. it is true, as i learned in the catechism, and as the church taught me, i was not made for the world or for sin, but for god. i had a soul, and the end of my being was to love and serve my maker. he has been watching me all my days, and i have thought little of him. i heard of judgment, but i did not give heed to it, or i placed it far off in the future; but now it is here at the door. there is my saviour, there my angel guardian, there the demon. { } once i heard of these things, now i see them with my eyes. yes, it is all true. the world did not seem to believe it, the world forgot it; but the world was wrong. the poor and the simple were right, after all, and the wise ones taken in their own craftiness. yes, christianity is true, catholicity is true; i cannot doubt it, if i would, for there it stares me in the face! o, overwhelming conviction! you have heard of the answer of a self-denying old monk to a wild, licentious youth, who reproached him with his folly in living so severe a life for the sake of a hereafter he had never seen. "father," said the youth, "how much wiser i am than you, if there be no hereafter!" "yes, my son," replied the aged man, "but how much more foolish, if there be!" o fearful discovery, to come on one for the first time, with a strong and deep impression, at the very threshold of eternity! o miserable man! why did you not think of these things before? why did you rush into the presence of your maker without forethought? now, for the first time, to think seriously, when there is no longer freedom in thought, or merit in faith. o, the folly and the misery! but i must pass on, for these are but the beginning of sorrows. the conviction, then, that the soul acquires in the first moment of her experience in the other world is accompanied by a mortal terror. why is jesus christ there? why are the angel and the demon there? ah! he knows well. it is to try him. yes, he is to be tried, and to be tried by an unerring judge--by jesus christ. to be tried; and that is something he is not used to. he never tried himself. he never examined his conscience. he was afraid to do it, and if sometimes the thought of a hereafter intruded itself into his mind, he banished it, and thought he would escape somehow or other. perhaps he built on the very name of catholic, or on the sacraments, as if they possessed a magical power, and would change him at once, in the hour of death, from a sinner to a saint. { } perhaps he thought that god would strike a balance between the good and the evil that was in him, and pardon him for being as wicked as he was because he was no worse. perhaps he built simply on the mercy of god. so far as he thought at all, he built his hopes on some such foundation as this. he did not know how, but he thought somehow he would get off. it is the old story. almighty god said to eve: "in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." and eve said to the serpent: "we may not eat it, lest we die." and the serpent said: "ye shall not surely die." so it is; man's self-love reasons, and the devil denies. but the time has come when the deceits of sin and the devil are discovered. the sinner is to be tried. he stands as a culprit to be judged. and by what law is he to be tried? by the ten commandments, of which he has heard so often, and which he has neglected so completely. god says: "thou shalt not break my commandments, and in the day thou breakest them thou shalt surely die." god had said: "thou shalt not commit adultery." he had committed it. god had said: "thou shalt not steal;" and he had stolen. god had said: "thou shalt keep holy the sabbath day." he had broken the sunday and neglected the sunday's mass. god had said: "thou shalt do no murder;" and he had murdered his own soul by drunkenness. he had grown bold in sin, and thought that god had hidden away his face, and would never see it. and now he is brought to trial. there is no hope that his transgressions against the commandments can be hidden. the demon is there as his accuser. "i claim this soul as mine. look at it; see if it does not belong to me? does it not look like me? wilt thou take a soul like that and place it in thy paradise?" at these words the sinner looks down upon himself and sees his own soul. he has never seen it before. oh, what a sight! as a man is horror-struck the first time he sees his blotched and bloated face after an attack of small-pox, so is he horror-struck at the sight of his own soul. { } oh, how horribly ugly and defiled it is! what are those stains upon his soul ah! they are the stains of sin. each one has left its separate mark; and to look at that soul you might see its history. there is the gangrene of lust, and the spot of anger, and the tumor of pride, and the scale of avarice. ah! how hideous it is, and how horrible to think how it is changed, for it was once like that beautiful angel that stands by its side, all radiant with light and beauty. it has no resemblance now. the words of the demon are true; it resembles him. but the accuser goes on: "i claim this body as mine." he turns to the body, as it lies in the bed: "i claim those eyes as mine, by the title of all the lascivious looks they have given. i claim those hands as mine, by the title of all the robberies and acts of violence they have committed. i claim those feet as mine, because they were swift to carry him to the place of forbidden pleasures, and slow to go to the house of god. i claim these ears as mine, by the title of all the detraction they have drunk in so greedily. i claim this mouth as mine, by the title of all the blasphemies and impurities it has uttered. see," says he, "this body is mine; it bears my mark;" and as he speaks he points to a scar in the forehead, the remnant of a wound received in a drunken affray in a house of ill-fame. surely he has said enough; but he is not accustomed to be believed. he has now spoken the truth indeed, because truth serves his purpose better than falsehood would have done. but he knows he is a liar, and therefore needs confirmation; so he goes on: "i have witnesses, if you want them. shall i bring them up?" jesus christ gives his permission. and now see, at his word, a band of lost spirits come up from hell. oh! how pale and haggard they look, and how they glare on the sinner as they fix on him a look of recognition. who is that who speaks to him first, and holds out her long withered fingers to him, and says, with a horrid laugh: "i think you know me." { } oh! that is the poor girl he seduced. she says: "i followed thee to ruin; it is fitting thou shouldst follow me to hell." but there is another woman. who is that? that is his poor wife; his poor wife, who had to put up with all the cruelties and violence he practised in his beastly drunkenness; who was led by want to steal, and by despair to drunkenness. she looks upon him with a blood-shot eye. "my husband," she says: "thou wert my tormentor in time; i will be thy tormentor in eternity." but who are those young people, that young man and young woman? oh, they are his eldest children, his boy and girl, of whom he took no care; who, finding nothing but a hell at home, went out--the one to the tavern and the gaming-room, the other to the ball and the dance and the lonely place of assignation, and, after a short career of dissipation, were both cut off in their sin. they meet him, and now they say: "father, thou didst pave the way of perdition for us, and now we will cling to thee, and drag thee deeper, who art at once the author of our life and of our destruction." ah! has not the demon made out his case? can there be hope for one like that? are you not ready to condemn him yourselves to hell? but wait--perhaps he did good penance. and the judge, turning to the angel guardian says: "my good and faithful servant, what has thou to say in behalf of this soul, which was committed to thy especial care?" the angel looks down upon the ground and sighs, and answers, "most just and holy sovereign, alas! i have nothing to say that can set aside the accusation thou hast beard. all i can do is to vindicate thy justice and my fidelity. i have given to the man all the graces thou hast prepared for him. he was a catholic. he had the sacraments. he had warnings. he had faith. he had many special graces. he had the mission; and i myself often spoke to him in his heart, calling him to do penance, but he never did do penance. he was careless in attendance at mass. { } he was seldom at the confessional, and when he did come he made his confession without a sincere purpose of amendment, and soon relapsed into his former sins, and at last he died without penance. therefore there is nothing left for me but to resign my charge and to return the crown"--here the angel takes up a beautiful crown--"to return the crown which thou hadst made for him, that thou mayst place it on another brow." "dost thou not hear," the demon once more cries out impatiently--"dost thou not hear what the angel says? yes, this man is mine, has always been mine. i did not create him, and yet he always served me. thou didst create him, and yet he has refused to obey thee. i never died for him, yet he has been my willing slave. thou didst die for him, and yet he has "blasphemed thy name, broken thy laws and despised thy promises. thou didst allure him by kindness, but wert not able to win his affection. i led him to hell, and found him willing to follow. o jesus, thou son of the living god, if thou dost not give me this soul, there is neither truth in thy word nor justice in thy awards." the demon speaks boldly, but jesus christ suffers him to speak so, because he speaks truly; and oh, with what terror does the poor sinner hear that truth! but terror is not the only feeling that is to fill his heart. despair is to come in, to make his misery complete. he begins to cry for mercy. "o god, mercy! have mercy, o jesus christ! do not let me perish whom thou hast redeemed. i have had the faith; oh, do not let me come to perdition! only one quarter of an hour to do penance!" can jesus christ resist such an appeal? no, my brethren, if there were a real disposition to do penance in the heart. i will undertake to say that if the devils of hell were willing to do penance, god would forgive them. but there is no penance in the other world. there is only the desire to escape punishment, not the desire to escape sin; and being out of the order of the present providence of god, which leaves the will free, there is no real conversion there. { } therefore jesus christ answers: "o wicked man, thy deeds condemn thee. thou callest for mercy, but it is too late. the time for mercy is over! mercy! thou hast shown no mercy to thyself, to thy wife or children. mercy! i have shown thee mercy all the days of thy life. i sent thee my preachers, and thou didst refuse to listen. there is no mercy now but justice--and therefore i pronounce the everlasting sentence. i consign this man's soul to hell, and his body to the resurrection of damnation." did you hear that howl? that was the devil's howl of triumph. jesus christ is gone. the angel is gone; and the devil goes to the body. they have not done washing it. he begins to wash too. what is he doing. he is washing the forehead; for on that forehead, the mark of christ, the holy cross, was placed in baptism, and he is washing it out, and with a brand from hell he places there his own signet--the signet of perdition. and now the soul, feeling the full extent of her misery, cries out: "i am damned. i am damned! no hope more; not even purgatory. oh, i never thought it would come to this; i did but do as the others. i was no worse than my companions, and now i am lost. i that was a catholic, i that had always a good name, and was liked by my friends. and oh, are the judgments of god so strict? what will become of my companions whom i left on the earth, wild and reckless like my self? will they too follow me to this place of torment! oh, why did not the priest speak of this? alas! he did, but i would not hear. alas, alas, it is too late now! shall i never see jesus christ again? must i forever despair?" and a voice rises from the walls of eternity with ten thousand reverberations: "despair." can there be any thing more dreadful still? yes, the sinner's cup has one more ingredient of bitterness--remorse. you know what a comfort it is to be able to say, "it was not my fault, i did what i could." but the sinner will not have that comfort. on the contrary, he will say, "i might have been saved. it is all true which the angel said. { } i was a catholic, and had the means of salvation. i might have been saved, saved easily, more easily than i was lost. i was never happy; sin never made me happy. i sinned, and gained for myself misery even in the other world. fool that i was, i might have done penance, and been happier after it, in time and in eternity. how little god asked of me! i had the mission, if i had but made it well. oh, what trouble i took to be damned, and how little was required of me to be saved! yesterday, god was ready; the sacraments were at hand, the church door open, the priest was awaiting me; but now all is closed. oh, if i had them now!" but his complaints are silenced. an iron grasp is on his throat. the demon has his black hand on his throat and chokes him; then he puts his horrid arms around him, and hugs him as the anaconda hugs her victims. he carries him swiftly through the air: down, down they go--until at last they reach the gates of hell. they creak upon their hinges, they open, the demon enters with his prey, and casts it on the bed of flames prepared for it. then a yell is heard throughout those dismal regions: "one more catholic vocation thrown away, one more soul lost, one more devil in hell." come, let us go back to that room where the corpse is laid out. they have just finished preparing it for the grave, and all that we have described has been taking place in that very room too, and they have not known it. they have smoothed the body and laid a white cloth over it; and they say, how natural it looks. it wears the smile they remember it used to wear in youth, and that poor soul they are talking of is damned. jesus christ has been there, and adjudged it to hell. and this is going on every day. wherever death takes a man, there judgment meets him. jesus christ meets men in all kinds of places. { } you know how death met baltassar. he was a drunkard, an adulterer, a sacrilegious robber; and one night, when he was drunk, and held a grand feast, surrounded by his concubines, and with the vessels of god's house on his table, a hand appeared on the wall and wrote this sentence: "mene, mene, thecel, phares;" and that night he died. yes! in the midst of their sin; in the place where they go, jesus christ meets the soul, and condemns it to hell. he meets it in the grogshop, where wild companions are gathered together, and one of them falls to the ground, under the blow of a companion, and dies. there upon that spot, with those bad companions standing around, with the sound of blasphemy in his ear, jesus christ, unseen, meets that soul and condemns it to hell. another is shot in the street, on his way to keep an assignation, and then and there, in the street, jesus christ meets him and condemns him to hell. one dies in the low hovel, where squalid vice and misery have done all they could to brutalise the inmates, and then and there jesus christ, in that hovel, meets the soul and condemns it to hell. another dies in a bed covered with silken tapestry, and as he dies he sees the face of jesus christ looking in through the silken curtains to pronounce the sentence against him, who had made a god of this world. another dies in prison, and there in that cell where human justice placed him, divine justice meets him, and in that prison jesus christ meets him and condemns him to hell. yes, wherever death meets you, o sinner, there jesus christ will meet you, and there he will condemn you. it may be tomorrow. it may be in the very act of the commission of sin. it may be without any opportunity of preparation, you will stand before an inflexible and unerring judge. oh, then, do not delay now to propitiate him while you can. in that tribunal after death, there is no mercy for the sinner; but there is another tribunal, which he has established, where there is mercy--the tribunal of penance. there the accuser is not the demon, but the sinner himself; and he is not only his own accuser, but his own witness against himself. there the angel guardian waits with joy, not with sorrow. there jesus christ is present, but not in wrath. { } there the sentence is, "i absolve thee from thy sin," not "i condemn thee for thy sin." oh, then, appeal from one tribunal to the other. appeal from jesus christ to jesus christ. appeal from jesus christ at the day of judgment to jesus christ in the confessional. and if thou wouldst not be condemned by him when thou seest him after death, be sure thou gettest a favorable sentence from him now in the sacrament of penance. "_make an agreement with thy adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him: lest perhaps the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. amen. i say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou pay the last farthing._" [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. v. .] --------------------------- sermon iv. heaven. (mission sermon.) "rejoice and be exceeding glad, because your reward is very great in heaven." --st: matt. v. . some of you may remember the joy with which, after a sea voyage, you arrived at home. the voyage had been very long and wearisome. you had suffered, perhaps had been in danger. at last you heard the sailors cry "land;" and after a while, your less practised eye began to discern the blue hills of your native country. oh, how that sight revived you! how your sufferings and dangers were all forgotten in the thought of the welcome that awaited you at home! { } well, life is a voyage on the ocean of time; often a tempestuous, always a dangerous voyage; and in order to animate our courage, to cheer and console us, god has allowed us from time to time to catch a glimpse by faith of our distant home of heaven. let us lift up our thoughts now to that happy land, the land that is very far off, the land that is wide and quiet; the celestial paradise, the home of the blessed, the city of god. i know that we cannot gain any sufficient idea of it. i know that eye hath not seen its beauty, ear hath not heard the story of it, neither hath the heart of man conceived its image; but we must do as men do with some costly jewel: turn it first on one side, then on another, to catch its brilliancy; and if at the last we fall down, blinded and dazzled by the splendors which meet us, we shall in this way at least conceive something of the greatness of those things which god has provided for those who love him. the holy scripture represents the pleasures of heaven in three different lights: first, as rest; second, as joy; third, as glory. let us, then, meditate upon them for a while, under each one of these three aspects. first, then, heaven is a place of rest, by which i understand the absence of all those things which disturb us here. true, there is happiness even in this life, but how unsatisfactory, how fleeting! here we are never far off from wretchedness, and never long without trouble. you go into a great city: how rich and gay every thing looks; what crowds of well-dressed people pass you! ah! in the next street there is the dismal hovel where poverty hides its head, and the children cry for bread, and there is no one to break it to them. you are strong and healthy, and it is a strange, fierce joy for you on a cold day to struggle with the buffetings of the wintry blast; but see, the rude wind that kindles a glow on your cheek steals away the bloom from yonder sick man, whose feeble step and sharpened features tell of suffering and disease. { } you have a happy family, and when you go home your children clamber up on your knees, and your wife meets you with a smile of affection. alas! next door, the widow weeps the night long, and there is none to comfort her, for the young man, the only son of his mother, has been carried to his long home. and as if this were not enough, as if sickness and poverty and death did not cause misery enough in the world, men's passions, hate and envy, lust, avarice, and pride, unite to make many a moment wretched that might else have been happy. but in heaven these things shall be no more. in heaven. there shall be complete and perfect rest. the poor man will no more be forced to toil hardly and anxiously to put bread in his children's mouths--to rise up early, and late take rest; for there they shall not hunger nor thirst any more. the sick man then shall leap as a hart; he shall run and not be weary; he shall walk and not faint. the widow's tears shall be dried, for husband and son shall be again restored to her. oh, what a day shall that be, when dear friends shall meet together, never to part again, and god shall wipe all tears from their eyes, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away; when the bodies of the saints, glorious and immortal, no longer subject to decay or fatigue or death, clothed in light, shall enter the gates of the celestial city, and shall have a right to the tree of life! and there shall be no sin there, no gust of passion, no reproach of conscience, no sting of temptation. in this life, says st. augustine, we have the liberty of being able not to sin, but in heaven we shall have the higher liberty of not being able to sin. brother shall not rise up against brother, neither shall there be war any more, for the former things are passed away. there shall be no strife or hatred or envy; no wrong or oppression; no unkindness or coldness; no falsehood or insincerity; but within a perfect peace, and without an unalterable friendship between all the inhabitants of this happy land, each rejoicing in the other's happiness and glory. and there is no end to these joys of heaven. { } here our best pleasures are alloyed by their transitoriness; but there, there is no fear for the future. no wave disturbs the deep, clear sea of crystal that lies before the throne of god. the angel has sworn that time shall be no longer, and the great day of eternity has begun. o heavenly jerusalem! o city of god! which has no need of sun or moon to enlighten it, for there is no night there! welcome haven of rest to the poor exiles of earth! blessed are they that shall enter thy gates of pearl and tread thy streets of gold, for thou art the perfection of beauty and the joy of the whole earth. in thy secure recesses the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest. "blessed are they that die in the lord, for they rest from their labors. they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the lord. my people shall be all just; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, to glorify me." but though it is easier to describe heaven as a place of rest, that is not the whole description of it. heaven is also a place of joy, and of joy the most complete, the most pure, the most satisfying that the human heart can possess. joy in seeing and loving god, or, as it is called, in the beatific vision. this it is in which consists essentially the christian idea of heaven. i say the christian idea, for our faith teaches us to look forward to a happiness very different from what we could have expected by nature. of course natural reason teaches us to look forward to a future life, but it promises no other knowledge of god but such as is possible to our own natural powers when fully developed. but christianity promises us a knowledge of god to which our natural powers, however enlarged, could never aspire. it teaches us that we shall see him as he is--not only think about him and commune with him and adore him, but actually look upon his unveiled divinity, gaze upon him face to face. it is not of our lord's glorified humanity that i speak. { } that, too, we shall see, and that will be a sight of unspeakable beauty and joy; but we shall see more: we shall look upon and into the divine essence. now to our natural powers this is impossible. a blind man can know a great deal about the sun. he may hear it described, he may reason about it, he may feel its effects, but he cannot lift up his eyes to heaven and see it. so, naturally speaking, we have not the faculty whereby to see god. "_no man hath seen god at any time_," says st. john. "_whom no man hath seen, or can see, who inhabiteth the light inaccessible_," says st. paul. [footnote ] [footnote : st. john i. ; i. tim. vi. .] clearly there must be some great change in us, something given to us that does not belong to us as men, in order to enable us to see god, and the holy scripture tells us what that change shall be: "_we shall be like to him, for we shall see him as he is_," says st. john. [footnote ] [footnote : i. ep. st. john iii. .] we ourselves shall become divine and godlike. the human intellect shall be marvellously strengthened by a gift which the church calls the light of glory, which shall enable us to look upon god and live. we are told in scripture that god walked in the garden of eden and talked with adam and eve in the cool of the day. this high companionship was broken by the fall. man was reduced to the rank that essentially belonged to him, and was deprived of that which had been accorded to him of grace. but by baptism he acquires once more a right to that familiar intercourse with god, and in heaven he enters upon its enjoyment. for this reason heaven is called our fatherland. it is our lost inheritance recovered. there we ourselves shall be the sons of god, and god will be our father. think what is the relation of an affectionate son to a good and wise father. what submission with equality--what complete sympathy and community of interest--what intimate communication of thought and feeling! so, o christian soul! shall it be between you and god. god will be your god, and you will be his child. { } thou shalt dwell in his home, and all that he hath shall be thine. "_all things are yours, the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; for all are yours, and you are christ's, and christ is god's_." [footnote ] [footnote : cor. iii .] yes, god himself shall be yours. you shall look around you and see his towering altitudes, and count them as your own. you shall look deep down into the depths of his wisdom and be wise as god is. you shall find yourself upborne by his power and goodness, enveloped by his glory, and adorned with his beauty. oh! my brethren, is not this joy? tell me, tell me, young men, tell me, children, tell me truly, one and all, what have been the happiest moments of your life? was it the moments you have spent in sin? was it the hour of some earthly success or triumph? or was it not rather at some hour when god was near to you, and you felt the music of his voice and the perfume of his breath--some time when you were praying, or when you had made a good confession or communion, or when you were listening to a sermon? i know it was. i know there are times when every man has felt the words of the psalmist: "_what have i in heaven? and besides thee what do i desire upon earth? thou art the god of my heart, and the god that is my portion forever._" [footnote ] [footnote : ps. lxxxii. .] what are all the attainments of learned men to him who is all-wise? what are all the conceptions of genius to him who is all-beautiful, or the moral excellencies of good men to him who is all-holy? yes, the thought of god is the source of the purest and highest pleasure on earth. that thought has ravished the saints with ecstasy, and made the martyrs laugh at their torments. and if merely to think about god in this life can make us so happy, what must it be to see him in the life to come? { } to know god and to love him, to know him as we are known by him, to love him with our whole souls, to possess him without the fear of losing him, to take part in his counsels, to enter into his will, and to share in his blessedness--this is a joy, perfect and supreme; and this is the joy of heaven. this is the joy offered to you. this is all-satisfying. the soul can desire nothing more. this is permanent, for heaven is eternal. this is always new, for god is riches and beauty inexhaustible and infinite. oh, my brethren, do not envy those who were near our lord's person when he was upon earth. i know it is natural to do so. i know it is natural to say, "if i could but have seen his face, or heard the sound of his voice;" but no! yours is a still happier lot. do not envy magdalene, who kissed his feet, nor st. john, on whose breast he leaned, nor the blessed virgin, who bore him in her arms. is it not permitted to the poorest and the weakest of you to see him, not in his humility, but in his glory--to converse with him and dwell with him in the land of the living? oh! blessed are they that dwell in thy house! the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of god abideth forever. blessed are they that hear the word of god and do it! blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see god! one would have thought that this was enough. to be free from all the trials and sufferings of this present life, and to enjoy the fullest happiness a human soul is capable of--one would think that were heaven enough, and that no more could be added. but the bounty of god has added another element to the happiness of heaven. heaven is a place of glory--not of rest only, but of glory also. "glory, honor and peace," says the apostle, "to every man that doeth well." heaven is the place of god's glory, and it is also the place of the glory of the saints. even here the good are honored --the really good. true, for a while they may be despised and persecuted, but, in the long run, nothing is honored so much as virtue. { } during the lifetime of nero and st. paul, nero was a powerful emperor, praised and flattered by his courtiers, and st. paul a friendless and despised prisoner; now, nero is abhorred as the wicked tyrant, and st. paul honored by all men as the saint and hero. but this is not enough. in heaven the honor of the saints will be magnificent. god himself will honor them. this is one reason for the last judgement, that god may publicly give honor to the good. "_whosoever shall glorify me, him will i glorify_," says the almighty; [footnote ] and they who are saved will be admitted to heaven with respect and solemnity, as those whom the king delights to honor. [footnote : ki. ii. .] this is represented to us in the description of the last judgment: "then shall he turn to them on the right hand and say: 'come, ye blessed of my father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" see how he praises them. see how he honors them and makes kings out of them. they are astonished: it seems too much. they know not how they have deserved it. but he insists upon it as their right. he repeats the good actions they have done. "i was hungry and ye gave me meat, i was thirsty and ye gave me to drink. i was naked and ye clothed me." do you hear this, my brethren? so will it be with you when you stand before god to be judged. he will hold in his hand a beautiful diadem of gold, and he will say: "this is for thee." and thou shalt be amazed and shalt say: "no, lord, this is not for me. i am nothing but a laboring man. i am but a poor boy. i am only a servant-girl. i am not the child of the rich and great. no one ever made way for me in the street, or rose up when i came into their company." but christ shall say: "nay! a prince thou art, for thou hast done the deeds of a prince." { } then he will begin to mention them one by one--your kindness to your old mother and father--your humble confession that it was so difficult to make, and which you made so well--the time you overcame that great temptation, and resolved, once for all, to be virtuous--the occasion of sin you renounced--the prayers you said in humility and sincerity--the sacrifices you made for your faith--the true faith you kept with your husband or wife--the patience you practised in pain or vexation. then he will show you your throne in heaven, so bright you will think it an apostle's, or the blessed virgin mary's, or that it belongs to god himself; and then the tears of joy and surprise will drop from your eyes, and your heart will be nigh bursting with confusion; but he will smile upon you, and take you by the hand, and say: "yes, thou hast been faithful over a few things, i will make thee ruler over many things." then he will give thee a certain jurisdiction, a certain power of intercession; make thee an assessor in his high court of heaven, and make thee to sit on a throne with him, judging the twelve tribes of israel. and others shall honor thee. the saints shall honor thee. the blessed virgin shall honor thee. now thou honorest her, so much at a distance from thee, and callest her lady; but then it shall be as it was when st. john and the blessed virgin dwelt together in one home. thou shalt still honor her as the mother of jesus, and she shall honor thee as his disciple. st. peter and st. john and st. james and st. andrew shall honor thee. now thou makest thy litanies to them; but then it will be as it was when peter and thomas and nathanael and the sons of zebedee were together, and jesus came in the midst and dined with them. the saints shall be one family with thee. they will walk with thee, and sit with thee, and call thee by name, and tell thee the secrets of paradise. and the angels shall honor thee. now thou addressest thy angel guardian on bended knee; but then he will say to thee: "see thou do it not; i am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren, who have the testimony of jesus." and the church on earth shall praise thee. as long as time shall last, she shall make mention of thee as one of those who rejoice with christ in his glorious kingdom, and, clothed in white, follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth. { } yes, and the wicked and the devils shall honor thee. now they may affect to despise you--now they may persecute you and trouble you; but then they will be forced to do you honor, and, groaning within themselves for anguish of spirit, and amazed at the suddenness of your unexpected salvation, shall say: _these are they whom we had sometime in derision, and for a parable if reproach. we fools esteemed their life madness and their end without honor. behold how they are numbered among the children of god, and their lot is among the saints_." [footnote ] [footnote : wisd. v. , , .] such, my brethren, are the joys of heaven, or, rather, such is the faintest and poorest idea of the joys of heaven. men seek for wealth as the means of defending themselves from the ills of life, but there is perfect rest only in heaven. men seek for pleasure, but earthly joys are short and unsatisfactory; the pleasures at god's right hand are for ever sure. men seek for honor, but the real honor comes from god alone. and these are within the reach of each one of you. when father thomas of jesus, was dying in captivity, his friends came around his bedside, and expressed their regret that he should die, away from his home, and their hope that the king of spain would even yet ransom him; but the holy man replied: "i have a better country than spain, and the ransom has long been paid. that country is heaven, that ransom is the blood of christ." the holy church says: "when thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers." yes! by the blood of christ, by the sacrament of baptism, the gates of heaven are opened before us. the path is straight and plain. if by sin we have strayed from it, by penance we have been recalled to it, and now there is nothing to do but to advance and persevere, and heaven is ours. { } will you draw back, christian? will you, by mortal sin, throw away that immortal crown? no drunkard or adulterer, nothing that is defiled, can enter there. there is only one road that leads to heaven--the road of christian obedience. will you renounce your birthright? will you, by sin, take the course that leads you away from your heavenly home? "oh!" i hear you say, "i will choose heaven." but, remember, heaven is to be won. "heaven," says st. philip neri, "is not for the slothful and cowardly." strive then, henceforth, for the rewards that are at god's right hand. strive to attain abundant merits for eternity. remember that he that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he that soweth plentifully shall reap plentifully. god is not unmindful of your works and labor that proceedeth from love. things so small as not to be taken notice of, things that happen every day, add a new glory to our mansions in heaven. with this aim, then, let us henceforth work. "oh, happy i," says st. augustine, "and thrice happy, if, after the dissolution of the body, i shall merit to hear the songs that are sung in praise of the eternal king, by the inhabitants of the celestial city!" happy i, if i myself shall merit to sing those strains, and to stand before my lord and king, and to see him in his glory, as he promised! "he that loveth me shall be loved by my father, and i will love him, and will manifest myself to him." "how amiable are thy tabernacles, thou lord of hosts! my soul hath a desire and a longing to enter into the courts of the lord." grant me this, o lord. give and withhold what thou wilt. i do not ask length of days. i do not ask for earthly honor and prosperity. i do not ask to be free from care, or labor, or suffering. but this i do ask, o lord: when this life is over, shut not up my soul in hell, but let me look on thy face in the land of the living. make me so to pass through things temporal that i lose not the things eternal. { } hail, heavenly queen! our life, our sweetness, and our hope! to thee do we cry, poor, exiled children of eve. oh, then, from thy throne in heaven, lift upon us, who are struggling in this world, those merciful eyes of thine! and when this our exile is over, show us the blessed fruit of thy womb, jesus! note.--this was the last sunday-sermon which f. baker preached, two weeks before he was seized with his last illness. -------------------- sermon v. the duty of growing in christian knowledge. (first sunday in advent.) "the first man knew not wisdom perfectly, no more shall the last find her out. for her thoughts are vaster than the sea, and her counsels deeper than the great ocean." --eccles. xxiv. , . i think we catholics, when we lay claim to the possession of the whole truth--the entire revelation imparted to the world from christ through the apostles--sometimes forget how small a share of that truth each one of us possesses in particular. it is the church that the holy ghost leads into all truth, not individuals. each catholic, who is sufficiently instructed, knows some truth; he knows what is necessary to salvation; but there are many things which he is totally ignorant of, many things concerning which his conceptions are inadequate or distorted. now if this be so, it cannot but be useful to remember it, and i will, therefore, this morning, show you how it must be so, and some of the consequences which flow from it. { } each one's knowledge of truth must be more or less partial and incomplete, because it varies with each one's capacity for receiving truth. when god gave man reason, he conferred on him the faculty of receiving truth; but the degree in which this or that man is capable of receiving truth, depends upon the strength and cultivation of his particular reason. the eye is the organ of sight, but one man's eye is stronger and truer than another's. slight variations of color or form, wholly indistinguishable by one man, are detected in a moment by another. so, one man's reason is stronger than another's. what makes the difference, is, of course, in part the diversity in natural endowments, but it is not altogether due to this cause; it is due in great measure also to cultivation. moral dispositions, too, have a great deal to do with it; and in the case of christian truth, the grace of god also exerts a special influence. the degrees in which these various elements are found in particular cases, are so different, that there is an almost infinite gradation in the measure in which men are capable of receiving truth. no two men can receive it in exactly the same degree. in all this congregation, where we recite the same creed and use the same prayers, there are, perhaps, no two of us who mean by them precisely the same thing. the intelligence of each one, his past history, his moral dispositions, will determine how far the faith that is in him corresponds to the faith that is without him--the faith as it is in itself, the object of faith as it is in god. i can make what i mean plain to you by an illustration. let us suppose a beautiful picture of the crucifixion, for instance, [is] put up in a public gallery. men of every kind enter and pass before it. there comes a man who has never heard of christ; he is ignorant and uneducated. he looks up and sees the representation of extremest human agony, mingled with superhuman dignity and patience. some ray enters his mind; he pauses, is startled then passes on. now there comes another, who is an anatomist, and he is arrested by the skill with which the body is proportioned, and the play of the muscles and nerves is exhibited. every line is a study to him, and he stops a good deal longer than the first. { } then there comes an artist, and he sees in the picture something greater even. he takes in the genius of the conception, the fitness of attitude and expression, the light and shade, the tints of color, the difficulties overcome by art; and he comes and sits before it, day after day, for hours, absorbed in the study of its beauties. and another comes who is a poet, and to him it brings back the scene of calvary. in a moment he is far away, and the sun is darkened, and the earth quakes, and there are thunderings and lightnings, and once more the holy city pours forth its multitude to witness the death of jesus. and then there comes a sinner. ah! that story of love and suffering! which tells how god so loved the world, and gave his only-begotten son, that all who believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. to him, that picture speaks of the horrors of sin, of mercy, of heaven and hell, and thoughts are awakened by it which lead him back to god. there hangs the picture, unaltered. it is just what the artist made it, neither more nor less, yet see how different it has been to different beholders. now, just so it is with the preaching of the truth. as we recite the creed, as we preach to you, sunday after sunday, the creed itself is indeed unchangeable, but it is a different thing to each one of us who preach, and to each one of you who hear, according to your intelligence, your past history, and your present dispositions. how can it be otherwise? does not the very word, god, mean something different to us from what it does to a saint? do not the words presence of god, mean something different to you and me from what they did to st. teresa, to whom the soul of man appeared as a castle with seven chambers, each one more sacred than the others, as you advanced into the interior, until the innermost shrine was reached, where god and the soul were joined together in a manner which human language knows not how to utter? { } do you not see that the doctrine of the incarnation is something very different to us from what it was to st. athanasius, who spent his whole life in conflict for it, who endured years of exile and calumny, the estrangement of friends, the suspicion even of good men, rather than falter the least in fidelity to that verity on which his soul had fed? or the real presence--is that not a different thing to the crowd who come to church and kneel from custom, but hardly remember why, from what it was to st. thomas, who composed in honor of it the wonderful hymns _pange lingua_ and _lauda sion_, or to st. francis xavier, who spent nights in prayer, prostrate upon the platform of the altar? why, st. thomas, who has so written of the christian faith that the church has named him the angelical doctor, threw down his pen in hopelessness of being able to express the high knowledge of divine things which filled his soul. and st. paul confesses, in writing to the hebrews, that even in that primitive community, taught by apostles and living in a perpetual call to martyrdom, there were some points of christian truth which he found himself unable to utter, "because you are become weak to hear." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. v. .] i know that you are catholics, that you have the apostles' creed by heart, that you believe in one god in three persons, in the incarnation and death of the second person of the blessed trinity, and in the two eternities before us; but neither you nor i know what all this implies. our knowledge is very imperfect: we are but babes in christ, lisping and stammering the divine alphabet--children, wetting our feet in the waves which dash on the shore of the boundless ocean of truth. it is good for us, as i have already said, to remember this, for it gives us at once the true method of forming an estimate of christianity. a tree is known by its fruit, but it is by its best fruit. { } if you have a tree in your garden bearing only a small quantity of very delicious fruit, you prize it highly and take great care of it, though many of the blossoms fall off, and a great deal of the fruit never ripens. so you must judge of the catholic church, by its best and most perfect fruit, that is, by the men of great wisdom and great virtue whom it produces, and not by its imperfect members. who is likely to be the best exponent and the truest specimen of his religion, a man of prayer and study, deeply versed in the holy scriptures and sacred learning, or one of small capacity, little learning, and little prayer? evidently, the former; and yet how often do men take the contrary way of judging of the teaching and spirit of the church. they visit some catholic country, they see some instance of popular error, ignorance, or disorder, and they say: "this is catholicity." or, at home, they see or hear a catholic do or say something which gives them offence, and they exclaim: "that is your doctrine!" "that is your religion!" now, supposing the offence they take to be justly taken, which is not always the case, what does it prove? it may prove that the rulers of the church have not done their duty; but it may prove just the contrary, that they have done their duty-that in spite of the obstacles of ignorance and rudeness, they have succeeded in imparting to some darkened souls enough knowledge to lead them to god, though it be the very least that is sufficient for that purpose. but it does not show what the doctrine of the church really is as intelligently understood. to find out this, you must look at men who are in the most favorable circumstances for understanding it, and they are the saints of god: st. basil, st. augustine, st. francis of sales, st. teresa. st. vincent of paul. o my brethren! how can men turn away from catholicity? i understand how they can turn away from it as you and i express it; how we can fail to remove their difficulties, or even put new perplexity in their way. but how can they turn away from catholicity as it is expressed by the great saints of the church? { } what a divine religion! what majesty, what sweetness, what wisdom, what power! how it commands the homage of the world! what a universal testimony it has in its favor, after all! do you know, my brethren, i believe men are far more in favor of catholicity than we suspect. i believe half the difficulties they find in our religion are not in our religion at all, but in us; in our ignorance, in our prejudices, in our short-sightedness and narrow-heartedness. what renders the world without excuse is the line of saints, the true witnesses to the genius and spirit of the catholic religion. and yet, even the saints themselves are not the perfect exponents of the faith, for even the saints were not altogether free from ignorance and error. to understand fully the nobleness of the christian faith, we should need the help of inspiration itself. did it never occur to you, my brethren, that the expressions of the prophets and apostles in reference to the light and grace brought by jesus christ into the world, were extravagant? "_behold, i will lay thy stones in order, and will lay thy foundations with sapphires, and i will make thy bulwarks of jasper: and thy gates of graven stones, and all thy borders if desirable stones. all thy children shall be taught of the lord: and great shall be the peace of thy children." "thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: but the lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy god for thy glory_." [footnote ] [footnote : isaiah liv. - ; lx. .] does the catholic church, as you understand it, come up to these descriptions? is catholic truth, as you appropriate it, so high and glorious a thing as this? no! and the reason is, that you are straitened in yourselves. your conceptions are so low, your knowledge of the truth is so partial and limited that you do not recognize the description when the holy ghost presents that truth as it is in itself, as it is seen and known by god. { } this thought leads us naturally to another; namely, that it is the duty of each one of us to extend his knowledge of christian truth as far as possible. there is a story told of a foreign gentleman visiting rome, who went one day to st. peter's church, and, after entering the vestibule, admired its noble proportions, and returned home fully satisfied that he had seen the church itself, which he had not even entered. so it is with many persons who never pass beyond the vestibule of christian knowledge. they never enter the inner temple, or catch even a glimpse of its vast heights and its dim distances, its receding aisles, its intricate archings, its glory, its richness, and its mystery. o misery of ignorance! which has ever been the heaviest curse of our race. o morning star, harbinger of eternal truth, and sun of justice, when wilt thou come to enlighten those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death! alas! this is our grief, that the true light is come into the world, but our eyes are holden that we cannot see it. truths, the thought of which rapt the apostles into ecstasy, truths which the angels desire to look into, are published in our hearing, and awaken no aspiration, no stirring in our hearts. we go away, to eat and drink, and work, and play. o brethren! burst for yourselves these bonds of ignorance. do not say, i am not learned, i am not acute or profound, i cannot hope to understand much. remember that there were some servants to whom one talent was given, who were called to account as well as those who had ten. do what you can. a pure heart, a blameless life, and prayer, are great enlighteners. read, listen, meditate, obey. ask of god to enlarge your knowledge, and to teach you what it means to say you believe in him. ask of jesus christ to teach you what it means to say that he was made man and died for us on the cross; what it is to receive his body and blood; what is the meaning of heaven and hell. { } awake thou that sleepest, and christ shall give thee light! he will make you understand more and more what it is to be a christian. often have i seen the fulfilment of this promise. i have been at the bedside of poor people, who would be called rude and illiterate, but to whose pure hearts and earnest prayers god had imparted so clear a knowledge of the faith, that i have felt in their humble rooms like jacob when he awoke from sleep and said: "indeed the lord is in this place." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. xxviii. .] men are talking about a church of the future. they say the old church is decrepid, her theology is obsolete, she stimulates thought no more. but we know better. the church of the future is the church of the past. that church is ever ancient and ever new. her truth is not exhausted. men know not the half nor the hundredth part of her hidden wisdom. o the victory! when men shall understand this--when they shall come confessing to the holy church, as the queen of saba did to solomon: "_the report is true, which i heard in my own country, concerning thy words and concerning thy wisdom. and i did not believe them that told me, till i came myself and saw with my own eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me; thy wisdom and thy works exceed the fame which i heard. blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants who stand before thee always, and hear thy wisdom_." [footnote ] [footnote : iii. ki. x. - .] yes! the history of the church is not accomplished, her triumphs are not yet all written. why does she, advent after advent, publish again the glowing predictions of the evangelical prophet, but because she knows that they await a still more magnificent fulfilment? take courage--the cloud that rests on the people shall be lifted off, and the burden taken away. the ancient church "shall no more be called forsaken, nor her land desolate." [footnote ] [footnote : is. lxii. .] { } "_arise, be enlightened, o jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the lord is risen upon thee. and the gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged. and the children of them that afflict thee shall come bowing down to thee, and all that slandered thee shall worship the steps of thy feet, and shall call thee the city of the lord, the sion of the holy one of israel_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. lx. - .] -------------------- sermon vi. the mission of st. john the baptist. (second sunday in advent.) "this is he of whom it is written: behold i send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee." --st. matt. xi. . the scriptures of the old testament had foretold that a special messenger should immediately precede the coming of the messias, whose duty would be to prepare men's hearts for his reception. now, our lord in the text tells us that st. john the baptist was this messenger. it is for this reason that the gospels read in the church for the season of advent are so full of the sayings and doings of this saint. in advent the church desires to prepare us for the twofold coming of christ--at his nativity and at the last judgment; and it is natural that she should avail herself of the labors of one who was divinely appointed for the same purpose. accordingly, from sunday to sunday, during this season, she bring st. john the baptist from his cell in the desert, clad in his rough garment, to preach to us christians the same lessons he preached to the jewish people centuries ago. { } it has seemed to me, then, that i could not better subserve the intentions of the church, than by considering this morning in what the mission of st. john the baptist as a preparation for christ's coming specially consisted, and what practical lessons it suggests to us. st. john the baptist was of the priestly race, yet he never exercised the office of a priest. he was not a prophet, at least in the sense of one who foretells future events. he worked no miracles. he had no ecclesiastical position. what was he then? what was his office? how did he prepare men for the coming of christ? the scriptures tell us what he was. he was a "_voice_" and a "_cry_"--the cry of conscience, the voice of man's immortal destiny. his mission was simple, elementary, and universal. it went deeper than ecclesiastical or ritual duties. it touched human probation to the very quick. he dealt with the great question of salvation, protested vehemently against sin, and published aloud that law of sanctity which is written on every man's heart by the finger of god. we have some remains of his sermons, from which we can learn his style. "_begin not to say_," so he speaks to the jews, "_we have abraham to our father, for god is able to raise up of these stones children to abraham_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke iii. .] see, how he sweeps away external privileges, and goes straight to every man's conscience. "_the axe is laid now to the root of the trees, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire_." nothing but what is internal, nothing but what is sound at the core, can bear the scrutiny. he descends to the particulars of each man's state and condition of life. the people came to him and asked him, "what shall we do?" and he said: "_he that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat let him do likewise_." { } that was a short and pithy sermon! then the officers of the custom came and asked: "what shall _we_ do? and he answered: "_take nothing more than that which is appointed you_." do not rob or swindle. do not use bribery or extortion. and the soldiers asked him, saying: "and what shall _we_ do?" and he said: "_do violence to no man: neither calumniate any man; and be content with your pay_." such was the preaching of st. john the baptist, pointed, direct, homely, practical: an echo of that trumpet-blast which once shook the earth, when god gave the ten commandments out of the mount. and it did its work. our lord himself has testified to the success of st. john's mission. it prepared men to believe in christ. it was the school which trained disciples for christianity. they that believed in st. john believed afterwards in christ. on one occasion the evangelist gives it as the explanation why some believed and some rejected the words of jesus, that they had first believed or rejected the words of the baptist. "_all the people_," such is the language i refer to, "_justified god, being baptized with, the baptism of john, but the pharisees and the lawyers despised the counsel of god against themselves, being not baptized of him_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke vii. , .] nor is it difficult to explain how his preaching effected this result. christ came to save sinners. in point of fact, we know that this is the reason why he has come into the world. he has come to seek and save that which was lost. he has come to heal the broken-hearted. he has come to give us a new law, higher and holier than the old, yet easier by the brightness of his example, and the graces he imparts. now, unless a man feels the evil of sin, unless he wants to keep the law, unless he feels an interest, and a deep interest, in the question of his destiny, he does not care for christ. { } true, our lord has given to the understanding proofs of his divine mission, so that belief in him may be a reasonable act; but until the conscience is stirred up, the understanding has no motive for considering these proofs. to the carnal and careless jews, the announcement of christ's coming was, i suppose, simply uninteresting. in some points of view, indeed, they might have welcomed him. as a temporal prince and deliverer, his advent would have been hailed by them, but salvation from sin was a matter in which they felt no great concern. what did they want with christ? why does he come at all to consciences which do not crave rest, and wills that need no strength? what need of a saviour, if there is no sin to be shunned, no hell to be feared, no heaven to be won, no great struggle between good and evil, no eternity in peril? but once let all this be fully understood. let a man's conscience be fully awakened. let him realize his destiny, above and beyond this world; let him appreciate the evil of sin that defeats his destiny; let him, if the case be so, perceive how far out of the way he has gone by his sins; and then how full of interest, how full of meaning, becomes the exclamation of st. john, as he points to christ and says: "_behold the lamb of god, that taketh away the sins of the world!_" let a man's spiritual nature be stirred within him; let him aspire to what is pure and high; aim at regulating his passions; struggle, amid inordinate desires and the importunities of creatures which encompass him like a flood, toward the highest good and the most perfect beauty; and, oh! with what music do these words of christ fall on his soul: "_come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and i will refresh you. take my yoke upon you and learn of me, and you shall find rest to your souls. for my yoke is sweet, and my burden is light._" [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xi. , .] { } it seems too good to be true. he listens, and asks, "may i believe this?" "is there really a way through this world to heaven? a sure, clear, easy way?" he finds that his understanding not only allows, but compels him to believe in christ: he is happy; he believes; his faith is a conviction into which his whole nature enters; it entwines itself with every fibre of his soul. the connection, then, between the preaching of the baptist and the coming of christ was not a temporary one. it is essential and necessary. st. john is still the forerunner of christ. the preaching of the commandments is ever the preparation for faith. the awakening of a man's conscience is the measure of his appreciation of christ. our lord gives many graces to men without their own co-operation. many of the gifts of providence, and the first gifts in the order of grace, are so bestowed. but an enlightened appreciation of christianity, a personal conviction of its truth, a real and deep attachment to it, will be always in proportion to the thoroughness with which a man has sounded the depths of his own heart, to the sincerity with which sin is hated and feared, and holiness aspired after. christ is never firmly seated in the soul of man till he is enthroned on the conscience. "_unto you that fear my name, shall the sun of justice arise, and health in his wings_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. iv. .] and, here, my brethren, in this law or fact which i stated, we have the key to several practical questions of great importance. { } here we have, in great part at least, an explanation why conversions to the catholic church are not more frequent than they are. surely the catholic church is prominent enough in the eyes of men. from her church towers she cries aloud. in the streets, at the opening of her gates, she utters her word, saying: "_o children of men, how long will you love folly, and the unwise hate knowledge? turn ye at my reproof_." her antiquity, her unity, her universality, the sanctity of so many of her children, are enough to arrest the attention of every thoughtful man. but how few heed her voice! true, here and there, there are souls who recognise in her the true teacher sent by christ, the guide of their souls, and submit themselves to her safe and holy keeping. altogether, they make a goodly company; but how small in proportion to those who are left behind! it reminds us of the words of the prophet: "_i will take one of a city, and two of a family and bring you into sion_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. iii. .] they come by ones and twos, and the mass remains behind. and what does that mass think of the catholic church? some are entirely ignorant of her, almost as though she did not exist. some have wrong ideas about her, and hate her. some know a good deal about her doctrines, and are conversant with the proofs of them, and argue about them, and criticise them. some are favorably inclined to her. some patronise her. it was just so with christ. to some he was simply unknown, though he was in their midst. to some he was an impostor and a blasphemer. to many he was an occasion of dispute, some affirming him to be a "good man," others saying, "nay, he deceiveth the people." to some he was an innovator on the established religion, the religion of the respectable and educated. to others, his mysteries were an offence, and the severity of his doctrine a stumbling-block. why is this? why is it always thus? why are men so slow to be wise, and to be happy? i do not wish, my brethren, to give too sweeping an answer. i know there is such a thing as inculpable ignorance. i believe there are many on their way to the church who are not suspected of it, and who, perhaps, do not suspect it themselves. i know that god has his seasons of grace and providence. i know that each human mind is different from every other, and has its own law of working, its own way of arriving at conviction. { } but after all such deductions, are there not very many of whom it is a plain matter of fact to say that they _will_ not give their attention to this subject? they may even have conscious doubts on their minds, and live and die with these unattended to, unresolved. it is a want of religious earnestness. men do not ask: "what shall i do to be saved?" or at least, they do not give to that question their supreme attention. they do not grapple with their destiny. they are indifferent to it, or hopeless about its solution. they let themselves float on, leaving the questions of the future to decide themselves as they may, and live in the pleasures and interests of the present. oh, fatal supineness! unworthy a rational being, defeating the end of our creation, and entailing countless miseries here and hereafter. nothing can be hoped for from the world, till it awakes from its lethargy of indifference. men must be men before you can make them christians--serious, thoughtful earnest men, before you have any reason for expecting them to become catholics. there is more hope of a conscientious bigot, than for a man indifferent to his salvation. he, at least, is in earnest. if his mind should become enlightened, if he should recognise the catholic church as the divinely-appointed guide to that heaven which he is seeking, there is reason to hope that he will avail himself of her blessings. he will not make frivolous objections; he will not stumble at the sacrament of confession, or catch at every scandalous story of immorality on the part of a catholic, or quarrel with every minute ritual arrangement; but in a better, higher, nobler spirit, in that spirit of obedience which so well becomes a man, in that spirit of faith, in which man's reason asserts most clearly its high character, by uniting itself to and embracing the reason of god, when he finds that the church is the guide to his immortal destiny, he "_will come bending to her, and will worship the steps of her feet, and will call her the city of the lord, the sion of the holy one of israel_." { } and now, to turn our eyes within the church, we can in the same way account for those dreadful apostasies from the catholic faith which are here and there recorded in history. mahometanism, which in numbers is a rival to catholicity, possesses some of the fairest lands once owned by christ. in modern times, one of the most refined and enlightened nations of christendom, in a moment of frenzy, threw off the faith with which her history had been so adorned, and professed atheism. now, how did these things happen? not of a sudden, or all at once. men are not changed from christians into turks or infidels in an hour. there must have been some secret moral history, which accounts for this wonderful change. and so there was. men became lax in their conduct. the catholicity they practised was not the catholicity of christ and the apostles. public morals were conformed to the standard of heathenism rather than that of the gospel--nay, sometimes outraged as much the decencies of heathenism as the precepts of christ. it was the old story. st. john the baptist imprisoned by an adulterous king; st. john the baptist, conspired against and murdered by an ambitious queen; the head of st. john the baptist, eloquent and reproachful even in death, brought in to point the jest and stimulate the revelry of a lascivious feast--this is but a figure of the treatment which conscience has received in christian courts, and at the hands of christian princes. morality and decency grew out of date, and were cast aside like old-fashioned garments, and the restraints of the law of god were as feeble as cobwebs before the power of passion. now, what else could be the result of all this, but a disesteem of christianity itself? true, it might retain some hold upon men's minds for a time. the fact that it was the religion of their ancestors, the fact that they were baptized in it, the beauty of its ceremonies and architecture, the soothing influence of its ordinances, the services it has rendered to civilisation, might keep it standing in its place for a time; but these considerations are not strong enough to withstand the power of hell, when it is exerted in the way of persecution, or a general apostasy. { } "_every plant that my heavenly father hath not planted, shall be rooted up_," said christ. [footnote ] it must be a supernatural motive that binds us to our faith. christ and the law cannot long remain divorced. a people without conscience will soon be a people without faith; and a nation of triflers only waits the occasion, to become a nation of apostates. [footnote : st. matt. xv. .] it is not, then, without a special providence of god, that in these later days the missionary orders of the church have been multiplied. in the sixteenth century the intellectual defence of the faith was the church's greatest need, and that was most successfully accomplished. but there is needed something more to uphold the falling fabric of modern society. men need to be reminded of the first principles of morality. and, therefore, a st. alphonsus appears in naples, a st. vincent of paul in france; missionary orders in every land go about teaching the people, before it is too late, the very first and fundamental truths--the doctrine of repentance and good works. here, in every age, and every country, is the real danger to faith. we speak often of the dangers to faith in this country; and unquestionably we have our special trials here. some of our children are lost by neglect. some grow cold in the unfriendly atmosphere that surrounds them. but the real danger to be dreaded is, that the love of the church herself should grow cold; that a wide-spread demoralisation should take place among ourselves; that we should forget the keeping of the ten commandments. this, indeed, would be the prelude to our destruction. practical morality makes a strong church; but let morality be forgotten, and the church, while it has a name to live, is dead. { } and as a corpse long decomposed sometimes retains the human form until it is exposed to the air, when it crumbles into dust; so a dead church will be blown to atoms and swept away, the first strong blast that hell breathes against it. and, in fine, by the light of the thought which i have been endeavoring to present to you this morning, we see the means by which we ought to make sure our personal union with christ. christ is coming. he is coming at christmas to unite himself with those whom he shall find prepared. he is coming again, and the mountains shall melt before him; for he is coming to judge the world. "_who shall stand to see him? for he shall be as a refining fire, and shall try the sons of levi as gold and silver_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. iii. , .] how shall we abide his coming, my brethren i how shall we prepare to meet him? i know no other way than that which st. john the baptist recommended to the jews--a true and solid conversion. whether a man has committed mortal sin or not, whether he is born a catholic or not, there comes upon him, if he is a true christian, some time in his life, a change which catholic writers call conversion. it may not be sudden. it may be all but imperceptible. it may be more than once. but at least once, there comes a time when religion becomes a matter of personal conviction with him. he is different from what he was before. a change has passed over him. he has awakened to his moral accountability. his manhood is developed. his conscience is aroused. and until that happens, you cannot count on him. he may seem innocent and pious, but you cannot tell whether it will not be "like the dew that passeth away in the morning." you cannot say how he will act in temptation. you cannot reckon on what he will be next year. perhaps then he will draw sin "as with a cart-rope." { } the trouble with such men is not that they sin sometimes. alas! such is human frailty that a single fall would not dishearten us; but the real misery is, that they have no _principle_ of not sinning. they are not preparing for christ's judgement. their contrition, such as it is, is intended to prepare them for confession, not for eternity. see, then, what we want! and this is what i understand by the _penance_ which st. john the baptist preached. he practised it himself. it is thought that in st. john's case the use of reason was granted before birth; and when as a babe he leaped in his mother's womb, it was for conscious joy at the presence of his lord and saviour. and since the blessed virgin and st. elizabeth were cousins, doubtless st. john and our blessed saviour knew each other as children. it is more than probable that they used to play together when they were boys, as the painters loved to represent them. and oh! what an effect did the knowledge of christ have on st. john! it took the color out of earthly beauty, and the music out of earthly joy. there was with him afterward one overpowering desire--the desire of sanctity. he had seen a vision of heaven. not because he despised the world, but because a higher beauty was opened to his soul, he went into the desert, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. one aim he had: to purify his heart. one thought: to prepare for heaven, and to help others also to prepare. oh, let us heed his words and example. let us follow him, if not in the rigor of his fastings, at least in the sincerity of his penance. be converted, and turn to the lord your god. there is no other way of preparing for judgment. remember what the church says to you at the font: "if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." listen to what god himself counsels, when prophesying the terrors of the last day: "_remember the law of moses, my servant, which i commanded him in horeb for all israel, the precepts and judgments_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. iv. .] { } the law commanded in horeb--that eternal law of right, and justice, and purity, and truth--examine yourself by this standard; forsake every evil way and live a christian life. happy are they who do so! happy and secure shall they be in the evil time. when the earth and heaven shall be shaken, and sea and land give up their dead, and the son of man appear in the heavens, and the throne shall be set for judgment, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh. you have been true to your conscience; you have believed in christ; you have kept his law; now to you belongs the promise, "_then they that feared the lord spoke every man with his neighbor, and the lord gave ear, and heard it: and a book of remembrance was written before the lord for them that fear the lord, and think on his name. and they shall be my special possession, saith the lord of hosts, in the day that i do judgment: and i will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. iii. , .] ---------------------- sermon vii. god's desire to be loved. (christmas day.) "thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath god blessed thee forever. gird thy sword upon thy thigh, o thou most mighty. with thy comeliness and thy beauty, set out, proceed prosperously and reign." --ps. xliv. - . the church calls on us to-day to rejoice and be glad for the incarnation of the son of god. with a celebration peculiar to this feast, she breaks the dead silence of the night with her first mass of joy. { } she repeats it again as the east reddens with the dawn. and still again, when the sun is shining in full day, she offers anew a mass of thanksgiving for a blessing which can never be sufficiently praised and magnified. i have thought that i could not better attune your hearts to all this gladness and gratitude than by reminding you of one of the motives of the incarnation. why did our lord become man? and why did he become man in the way he did? i answer, out of his desire to be loved by us. there is a love of benevolence, which is content simply with doing good without asking a return. god has this love for us. nature and reason tell us so. "_he maketh his sun to rise on the good and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. v. .] and there is another love, the love of friendship, which seeks to be united to the object of its love. and the incarnation shows us that god has this kind of love for man. his love makes us lovable in his eyes, and this again makes him vehemently desire our love. this will be my subject this morning--the incarnation, an evidence of god's desire to be loved by us. and, first, observe, that there is no other reason given for the incarnation which sufficiently accounts for it in all its circumstances. there are several reasons for the incarnation. it is the doctrine of many catholic theologians that god would have become man even if man had never sinned; that it was part of his original plan in forming the creature thus to unite it to himself. again, it is said that our lord became man in order to make satisfaction for sin. and a third reason alleged for his becoming man, is, that he might give us a perfect example. now all these reasons are true: but neither of them alone, nor all of them together, entirely account for the incarnation with all its circumstances. not the first, for even if god had predetermined that his son should become man, irrespective of man's transgression, certainly in that case he would not have come poor and sorrowful, as he did. { } the necessity of a satisfaction for sin accounts indeed for our lord's sufferings in part, but not altogether; for he suffered far more than was necessary. besides, it was not necessary for a divine person to have suffered for us unless it had pleased god to require a perfect satisfaction, which he was free to demand or dispense with. the desire to give a good example may be suggested as the explanation of our lord's humiliation; but when we consider a moment, we will see that though a good man really does give a good example, he does very few, if any of his actions, for the mere sake of giving it. there are many things, then, in our lord's becoming man, and his life as man, that need some further reason. what is that reason? it is his great desire to be loved by us. suppose this, and every thing is clear. i do not mean to say that this account of our lord's incarnation makes it any less wonderful--it makes it more so--but it gives a motive for it all. suppose him influenced by an intense desire to gain our love, and then we see why he stooped so low, why he did so much more than was necessary, why he was so lavish in condescension--in a word, this is the explanation of what would otherwise seem to be the _excess_ of his love. then, again, let us consider how our lord's incarnation is adapted to win our love. when we see means perfectly adapted to an end, we are apt to conclude that they were chosen in view of that end. now, our lord's humiliation is in all its parts wonderfully calculated to attract love. his taking our nature is especially so. there is a wonderful power in blood. to be of kin is a tie that survives all changes and all times. now, here our lord makes himself of kin to us, of the same blood. he is no stranger, before whom we need feel at a great distance, but our relation, of our flesh and blood. { } and then as man, he has clothed himself with every thing that can make him attractive in the eyes of man. he makes his first appearance in the world as an infant, a beautiful babe. how attractive is a beautiful child! men even of rugged natures are softened by looking at it. a little child brings a flood of grace and light into a house. now, to-day, the son of god is a babe at bethlehem. he has the beauty of infancy, but there is also a superadded beauty, a light playing on his features that is not of earth, the light of infinite wisdom and eternal love. see, he looks around and smiles, and stretches out his hands, as if inviting us to caress him. in many children this beauty of infancy is evanescent, but in our lord it was the earnest of a grace and loveliness that followed him through life. it is evident that there was something most attractive about our lord to those who approached him. as he grew in stature he increased in favor, not only with god but with men. when he had attained to manhood, he was such a one that children willingly gathered around him in the streets, and people stopped to look at him as he passed, and men's minds were strangely stirred in them as he spoke, and the thought came into women's hearts, "how happy to be the mother of such a son!" who but he knew how perfectly to mingle dignity with familiarity, zeal with serenity, and austerity with compassion? even at the distance of time that we are from his earthly life, his words reach us like the sweetest music. what other preacher can say the same words again and again, and never make us weary? whose tones are there that linger in our ears like his, and come like a spell to our hearts in times of temptation and sorrow? why, even scoffers have acknowledged this. the beauty and excellence of our saviour's character have wrung a eulogium from a celebrated opponent of christianity, and at least a momentary confession that its author was divine. { } then, to the attractions of his character, our lord has added the destitution of his circumstances, in order to gain our love. it is natural for us to love any thing that is dependent on us. the sick child that needs to be nursed, the helpless and depressed, the poor that appeal to us, even the bird and the dog that look to us for their food, come to have a place in our hearts. now, our lord, at least even in this way to win us, has placed himself in a state of complete dependence on us. from the cradle to the grave, and even beyond the grave, he appeals to man for the supply of every want. think what it might have been. think of the twelve legions of angels that are impatient to come and minister to him. but no! he restrains them. for his swathing-bands, he will be a debtor to mary's care. for a habitation, he will put up with the stall of the ox and the ass. the manger from which the cattle are fed shall be his cradle. st. joseph shall bear the expenses of his early years; and when st. joseph is gone, and he has begun his ministry of preaching, joanna and the other holy women shall minister to him of their substance. and at last, magdalene shall anoint his body for burial, and joseph of arimathea shall give him a winding-sheet and a grave. i said he carried his poverty beyond the grave. and so he does. for his churches, for the glory of his altars, for his priests, for his sacraments, even for the bread and wine which shall serve as veils for his presence, he depends on us, that out of love we may minister to him, and by ministering may love him better. and, further: while on the one hand our lord thus appeals to our affections by the poverty of his condition, on the other he compels our love by the greatness of his sacrifices for us. in his sermon on the mount, he bids us, "if any man force us to go with him a mile, to go with him other two;" [footnote ] and certainly it has been by this rule that he has acted toward us. [footnote : st. matt. v. .] { } i have already said our lord has done far more than was necessary to redeem us. why, in strictness of justice, he had ransomed us before he was born. the very first act of love he made to his father, after his conception, was enough to redeem countless worlds. but he did not then go back to his father. he staid on earth to do more for us. he would not leave any thing undone that could be done. he would not leave a single member of his body, a single power of his soul, that was not turned into a sacrifice for us. no doubt, if, at the birth of any child, we could foresee all it would have to suffer during its life, there would be enough to mingle sadness with our joy. but this child was preeminently a child of sorrow; and simeon, when he took him up in his arms, foresaw that the sad future would break his mother's heart. yes, that little child is the willing victim of our sins. on that little head the crown of thorns shall be placed. those tiny hands shall be pierced with nails. those eyes shall weep. those ears shall be filled with reproach and blasphemy. that smooth cheek be spit upon. that mouth be filled with vinegar and gall. and why was all this? he himself has told us: "and i, if i be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself:" [footnote ] that was the hope that urged him on. that was the key to his whole life. it was all an effort, a struggle, to gain our love. [footnote : st. john xii. .] and, once more: the _effect_ of the incarnation has been love. we read god's purposes in their fulfilment. we see what our lord intended in his humiliation, by looking at what it has produced. there is no doubt that the love of god has been far more general among men, and far more tender, since the incarnation. { } only compare st. antony of padua, fondling the infant jesus, with elias, covering his face with his mantle before the lord in the cave at horeb. compare the book of job with the epistles of st. paul or st. john. god is in both books; but the prophet sees him through a glass darkly: the apostles "have seen and handled the word of life." one of the most beautiful passages in the old testament, and one which approaches the nearest to the new, is the history of the martyrdom of the seven sons with their mother in the time of judas machabæus. but how this story pales before the acts of the christian martyrs! in these jewish heroes we see, indeed, faith in god, and remembrance of his promises, and hope in the resurrection; but how different is this from the glowing language of an ignatius, who claimed to carry christ within him; or of an agnes, who claimed to be the spouse of christ, whom he had betrothed with a ring, and adorned with bridal jewels! nor is it only in highly spiritual people, or highly gifted people of any kind, that we see this christian, personal love of god. the poor, the dull, the ignorant cannot understand the abstract arguments about god, but they can understand a crucifix, they know the meaning of bethlehem and calvary. and many an old woman, who knows little more, has learned enough to make her happy, in the thought that "_god so loved the world as to give his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john iii. .] then there are children; some people complain that they find it very hard to interest them in religion. i will tell you how to succeed. tell them the story of joseph and mary, and the babe lying in a manger. tell them about the shepherds that were watching their flocks by night, and the angels that came and talked to them. { } tell them about the garden in which jesus was betrayed, and the cross on which he died, and you will see their little eyes open wide with interest. i knew a boy who, when he read the story of peter's denial of our lord, got up from his seat, and, with tears in his eyes, exclaimed, "oh, mother, what made peter do that!" and i have heard of a little boy who, when he was dying, called his mother to his side, and told her that he had kept all the money she had given him, in a little box, and when he was dead he wanted her to take it and buy a coat for the infant jesus. i know it was a strange, childish conceit; but it showed that our saviour had found his way to that little boy's heart; and sure i am that when, in paradise, he stood before the bright throne of christ, and heard from those divine lips the praise of his short life, that legacy was not forgotten. yes; our lord has found out the way to win hearts. he has succeeded. the issue proves the wisdom of his plan. as heaven fills up with saints flaming with love, he says, "whence are these? and who hath begotten them?" then he remembers that they are the fruit of the travail of his soul, that they were born to him at bethlehem and calvary, and he "is satisfied." the truth is, we are not so sensible of this effect of the incarnation, because we are so familiar with it. we hardly realize how meagre men's notions about god naturally are. of course, we know by reason the existence of god, and many of his attributes; but without revelation, these are very indistinct. we know that he is great and good and beautiful; but still there is a gulf between us and him. partly, no doubt, this arises from our sense of guilt. we fear god, because we have offended him. but there is a dread of god, and a sense of distance from him, that does not come from guilt. the most innocent feel it the keenest. i know not why, but we dread him because he is so spiritual. he is so strange and mysterious. { } we cannot think what he is like. we lose ourselves when we try to think of him. there are so many things in the world that frighten us. we do not know how god feels toward us. we have a diffidence in approaching him which we cannot shake off. now, all the while, god is full of the most wonderful love to man. heaven is not enough for him. even with the angels, it is a wilderness because man is absent. at last he resolves what he will do. he will lay aside altogether that majesty which affrights man so much. "the distance is too great," he says, "between me and my creatures. i myself will become a creature. man flies from me. i will become man. every thing loves its kind. i will make myself like him. 'i will draw him with the cords of adam, with the bands of love.' [footnote ] [footnote : osee xi. .] i will tell him how the case stands--that i love him and desire his love. i will tell him to love me, not for his sake, but mine; and when i have made him understand this--when i have gained his love; when i have healed his wound and made him happy--then i will come back, and call on all the angels of heaven, and say, 'rejoice with me, for i have found the sheep that i had lost.'" such is the enterprise that our lord enters on to-day. he comes to tell you how he loves you, and how he desires your love. "behold, i bring to you glad tidings of great joy, and this shall be the sign to you: you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger." it is a sign of humanity. it is a sign of beauty. it is a sign of humility. it is a sign of love. he speaks to you, not in words, but in actions. the cold wind whistles in his cavern, but he will not have it otherwise. david said: "_i will not enter into the tabernacle of my home: i will not go up into my bed. i will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, or rest to my temples, until i find out a place for the lord, a tabernacle for the god of jacob_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. cxxxi. - .] { } so the new-born saviour will not take any comfort till he has got your love. he is waiting in the manger, and until you come and take him home, he will accept no other. the palaces of the world, and all the jewels and the gold are his, but he will have none of them. he wants to abide in your lowly house, and in your poor heart. his head is full of dew, and his locks of the drops of the night, and he knocks for you to open to him. oh, to-day, i do not envy those who will not receive him. i do not envy those who are wandering about in error, and know not the true bethlehem, the _house of bread_, the holy church of god. i do not envy the disobedient christian. i do not envy the indifferent man, for whom christ is born in vain. but i praise those who make it their first care to keep themselves united to jesus christ. and most of all, i praise those who strive to maintain a holy familiarity with jesus christ; who by prayer, by communion, by self-denial, by generous obedience, return their saviour love for love. o my brethren, why do we grovel on earth, when we might have our conversation in heaven? why do we set our hearts on creatures, when we might have the creator for our friend? why do we follow the evil one, when he that is beautiful above the sons of men is our master and our lord? why are we so weak in temptation, so despairing in trial, when we might have the peace and joy of the children of god? what more can we want? god has given us the only-begotten son, the mighty god, the wonderful counsellor, the prince of peace; and how shall he not with him freely give us all things? all we want is to recognize our happiness. when jacob woke from sleep, he said: "the lord is in this place, and i knew it not." so we do not realize how near god is to us. what is the sound that reaches us to-day? it is the voice of the beloved, calling to us: "my love, my spouse, my undefiled!" yes, my lord, i answer to thy call. i enter to-day into the school of thy holy love. { } i make now the resolution that "_henceforth neither life nor death, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : romans viii. .] ---------------------- sermon viii. the failure and success of the gospel. (sexagesima.) "saying these things he cried out: he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." st. luke viii. . there is one measure by which, if our lord's work were tried, it might be pronounced a failure; and that is by the measure of great immediate, visible results. the thought might come into our mind, that it is strange our lord was not more successful than he was. he was the son of god, no one ever spake as he did. he conversed with a great number of men--in jerusalem, in judea, in galilee. he was always going about from place to place. he died in the sight of a whole city. yet what was the result of all? on the day of pentecost, his disciples were gathered together in the upper chamber, and they numbered, all told, one hundred and twenty. so it is, likewise, with the church. after all, what has she done? put her numbers at the highest. say she has two hundred millions of souls in her communion. what are they to the eight hundred millions that inhabit the globe. [footnote ] [footnote : recent estimates of the population of the globe vary from , , , to , , , , and of the number of catholics from , , to , , . other christians are about , , .] { } and how many of her members are there who can be called catholics or christians, only in a broad, external sense! has christianity, then, accomplished the results that might have been looked for? is it not a failure? i will attempt this morning to give some reasons showing that christianity is not a failure, although it has accomplished only partial results. and the first remark i make is this: that partial results belong to every thing human. although christianity is a divine religion, by coming into the world it became subject in many respects to the laws that govern human things. to specify one, christianity demands _attention_. "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." without attention, christianity will never produce its impression on our conduct. now, attention is a thing hard to get from men. it is one of the greatest wants in the world, the want of attention. "_with desolation is all the land made desolate_," says the holy scripture, "_because there is none that considereth in the heart_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. xii. .] we see examples of this on every side. take the instance of young men at college. after passing several years there, at a considerable expense to their parents, professedly for the sake of acquiring an education, a certain number of them know nothing but the names of the things they have been studying. this is the entire result of all they have heard or read, an acquisition of some of the terms made use of in science. others have gained some confused and partial knowledge, which for practical purposes is all but useless; while those who have acquired precise, accurate, useful information, that is, who have gained any real science, are few indeed. it is the same in business. every trade and profession is crowded with bunglers who do not know their own business, because they have been too lazy to learn it, and who grumble at the success of others who have not spared the pains necessary to become masters. { } so also it is in politics. we hear a great deal about the general diffusion of intelligence in this country, and are told how the sovereign people watch the actions of public men and call them to account. now, i suppose there is more wide-spread information on public matters in this country than in any other in the world, but what does it amount to after all? a great many read the newspapers without passing any independent judgment on their statements, while those who really shape political opinions and action are but a small clique in each locality. this being so, it ought not to surprise us that men give but little attention to religion. if learning, business, politics, things that touch our present interests so closely, can only to a superficial extent engage the thoughts of men, will religion, which relates chiefly to man's future welfare, be more successful? in one sense, christianity is as old as the world; for there has been a continuous testimony to the truth from the first, but it has never yet had a full hearing. how do men act about religion? some listen to its teaching only with their ears, as a busy man in his office listens to a jew's-harp or a band-organ on the street. so gallio listened, who "cared for none of these things." some listen with their hearts, that is, with attention enough to awaken a passing emotion or sentiment. so felix listened, when he trembled at st. paul's preaching, and promised to hear him again at a more convenient season. only a few listen with attentive ears and hearts and hands, the only true way of listening, the way st. paul listened, when he said, "_lord, what wilt thou have me to do?_" [footnote ] [footnote : acts ix. .] when you say, then, that christianity has produced but partial results, you are but saying that men are frivolous and thoughtless, that there are many who do not listen to religion, or do not listen to it with earnestness and lay to heart its practical lessons. "_wisdom preacheth abroad; she uttereth her voice in the streets; at the head of multitudes she crieth out;_" but it is of no avail to the greater number, "_because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear if the lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : proverbs i. , , ] { } moreover, our lord foresaw that the success of his gospel would be but partial. we see this in the very passage from which the text is taken. there is something melancholy in the way the evangelist introduces the parable of the sower: "_and when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities to him, he spoke by a similitude: a sower went out to sow his seed_," etc. this was the thought which the sight of a very great multitude pressing around him awoke in the mind of our lord: how small a part would really give heed to his words, or really appreciate them: how in some hearts the word would be trodden down, in others be choked or wither away; and this is the secret of the energy with which he cried out at the end of the parable, "_he that hath ears to hear, let him hear_." the same thought comes out in the conversation which he had afterward with his disciples, when they asked an explanation of the parable: "_the heart of this people is grown gross; and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and i should heal them. but blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xiii. , .] our lord was as far as possible, then, from expecting that the course of things would stand still, and all men comply instantly with his preaching. nor were his predictions respecting his church such as to warrant more sanguine expectations of her success. { } in his charge to his disciples, he let them know what they were to expect: "_when you come into a house salute it, saying: peace be to this house. and if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you. and when they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. x. , , .] nor were their trials to be altogether external. "_and then shall many be scandalised, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. and because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall wax cold_." [footnote ] [footnote : ib. xxiv. , .] when, then, you say, see! in that country the church has all but died out; in that country faith is weak, and the most active minds in it are estranged from religion; in that country scandals abound; in that country there was a great apostasy; that other was fruitful in heresies:--i reply, you are only verifying our lord's predictions; you are only saying what he said before the event. if religion has not accomplished all that could be desired, it has at least done what it promised. nor is this all. not only did our lord foresee that many would reject his grace, but he acquiesced in it. his work is not a failure, because he does not account it so. what though many refuse to listen? they that will be saved, those of good will and honest hearts, they will be saved, and that is enough. he saw of the travail of his soul, and was satisfied. our lord shed his blood for all men; he willed seriously the salvation of all men; but since all will not be saved, he is content to give it for those who will. he "is the saviour of all men, _especially of the faithful_." [footnote ] [footnote : tim. iv. .] when he came to jerusalem to die, looking at the city, he wept to think how many were there who knew not the time of their visitation; but that did not deter him from marching on to mount calvary. when he foretold to st. peter, before his passion, all he was about to suffer, st. peter, with mistaken affection, begged him to spare himself. "far be this from thee." { } how much more would he have dissuaded our lord, if he could have foreseen in how many cases these labors and sufferings would have been fruitless. would he not have said to him, "o lord! do not suffer so much, turn away thy face from the smiter, and thy mouth from gall. do not crush thy heart with cruel grief, or bathe thy body in a sweat of agony. the very men for whom thou diest will disbelieve thee, or, believing, will disobey thee. can we doubt to what effect our saviour would have answered? "if i be lifted up i will draw all men to me, and all will not resist me. i shall see of the travail of my soul, and shall be satisfied." or i can imagine that at the last supper, as our lord was about to institute the blessed sacrament of his body and blood, the same warm-hearted disciple laying his hand on his master's arm, might have said, "do not do it! thou thinkest they cannot withstand this proof of love. but, alas! they will pass by unheeding. thou wilt remain on the altars of thy churches night and day, but the multitude will not know thee, or ask after thee, and they that do know thee will insult thee in thy very gifts, will treat thee with disrespect, and receive thee with dishonor." but our lord gently disregards his remonstrance, and having loved his own who were in the world, loves them to the end, and for them is contented to make himself a perpetual prisoner of love. oh, my brethren, our statistics and our arithmetic are sadly at fault when we are dealing with divine things. when abraham went to plead with almighty god to spare sodom, he began by asking as a great matter that the city might be spared if fifty just men were found in it, and the answer was prompt and free, "i will not do it for fifty's sake." somewhat emboldened, he came down by degrees to ten, and received the same answer, but stopped there, thinking that he could make no further demand on the mercy of god. it is a thing we will never understand, how much god has the heart of a father. { } when news was brought to the patriarch jacob, that joseph, his son, was yet living, all his woes and hardships were forgotten in a moment, and he said: it is enough. joseph, my son, is yet alive." so, all the unkindness, disobedience, unbelief of men, are compensated to the heart of christ by the fervor of his true children, his servants whom he hath chosen, his elect in whom his soul delighteth. weary on the cross, his fainting eye sees their fidelity and their love, and his heart revives, and he says: "it is enough." christ accounts the fruits of his redemption great, and they are great. this is our temptation, to undervalue the good that is in the world. evil is so obtrusive, that we are but too apt to attribute to it a larger share in the world than it really holds. how much of good, then, has been and is in the world? the blessed virgin, the queen of heaven, the perfect fruit of christ's redemption, once walked the earth, engaged in lowly, every-day duties, like any maid or mother among us. moses and elias and st. john the baptist once lived our life here on the earth; and the hundred and forty-four thousand who sing a new song before the throne of god, and the great multitude that no man can number out of all people and kindreds and tribes and tongues, clothed in white and with palms in their hands. you talk of failure! why has not the sound of the gospel gone into all lands, and its words to the end of the world? have not empires owned its sway, and kings come bending to seek its blessings? have not millions of martyrs loved it better than their lives? has not the solitary place been made glad by the hymns of its anchorites, and the desert blossomed like a rose under their toil? is there a profession, or trade, or court, or country which has not been sanctified by moral heroes who drew in their holy inspirations from its lessons? and who can tell us the amount of goodness in every-day life, to some extent necessarily hidden, but of which we catch such unearthly glimpses, and which is the practical fruit of its principles? { } the virtuous families, the upright transactions, the glorious sacrifices, the noble charities, the restraint of passion, the interior purity, the patient perseverance! listen to the description which god himself gives of the results of the gospel: "_who are these, that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows? for the islands wait for me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning; that i may bring thy sons from afar; their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the lord thy god, and to the holy one of israel, because he hath glorified thee. iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction in thy borders; and salvation shall possess thy walls, and praise thy gates. thy sun shall go down no more, and thy moon shall not decrease: for the lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. and thy people shall be all just; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work if my hand, to glorify me. the least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most strong nation. i, the lord, will suddenly do this thing in its time_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. lx. , , , , . .] now, this is the catholic church, as god saw it in the future, and as he sees it now. these beautiful words are true in their measure, of every diocese, of every parish, in our day. to-day, as the holy church throughout the world flings open her doors and rings her bells, and the crowd press in, in cities, in villages, in country places, god recognizes thousands of his true worshippers, who worship him in spirit and in truth. we see and know some of them, but only his all-seeing eye sees them all, and only his omniscience, which foreknows the number of those who shall be his by faith and good works, can measure the greatness of the harvest of souls which he will reap at the end of the world. the lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints. { } the last judgment is the victory of christ. then again, surrounded by the fruit of his passion, he may repeat the words which he spoke at the close of his earthly ministry: "i have glorified thee upon the earth. i have _finished the work_ which thou gavest me to do. those whom thou gavest me i have kept, and none of them hath perished except the son of perdition." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xvii. , .] these thoughts point the way to two practical lessons, one relating to our duty to others, the other relating to our duty to ourselves. we see here the spirit in which we ought to labor for the conversion of others. there is certainly a great deal of good to be done around us. how many in this country are out of the ark of safety, the catholic church of christ! how many in her fold need our efforts and labors to make them better! why are we not more active in laboring for them? we say it is of no use; we have tried and failed. those whose conversion we had most at heart seem farther off from the truth than ever. it is no use hoping for the conversion of those who are not catholics; they are too set in their ways. many of those catholics, too, who were doing well as we hoped, have fallen off again, and we are weary of laboring with so little success. oh! what a mean spirit this is; how unlike the spirit of christ! how unlike the spirit of that apostle who made himself all things to all men that he might save _some_. you will put up with no failures. christ and st. paul were content to meet with many failures for the sake of some success. how unlike the spirit of st. francis of sales, who labored so hard during so many discouraging years, for the conversion of his misguided swiss. christ was rejected and crucified by those whom he came to teach. the apostles were despised and their names cast out as evil. and you will not labor because you cannot have immediate and full success. but some success you will meet with. { } you may not convert the one you desire to convert, but you will convert another. you may not succeed in the way or at the time you look for, but you will succeed in some other way and at some other time. there is nothing well done and charitably done for the truth that falls to the ground. god's word does not return to him void, but accomplishes the thing whereunto he sent it. we labor, and other men enter into our labors. but the good work is done, and the fruits are garnered in heaven. be of great hopes, then. you, my brethren of the priesthood, dare to undertake great things for the honor of our lord and the extension of his kingdom. use every means that prudence and charity can suggest to gain souls to christ. in the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand. labor in season and out of season. for sion's sake hold not your hand, and for jerusalem's sake do not rest, until her justice come forth as a brightness, and her salvation be lighted as a lamp! and you, my brethren of the laity, labor each in your place, as far as may be given you, in the same work. blessing must come from labor, and reward from him who has promised that "they that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity." [footnote ] [footnote : dan. xii. .] the other lesson we learn is one which teaches us how to guide ourselves in a world of sin and scandal. it is no uncommon thing for men to draw injury to their own souls from the disorders around them, by making them a pretext for neglecting their own salvation, or taking a low standard of duty. one says, there is a man who does not attend to his religious duties, and makes out of this an excuse for his own neglect. "what is that to thee? follow thou me," is the answer of christ. there is another who does go to the sacraments, but whose life is disedifying. he is profane, quarrelsome, untruthful, and artful. { } perhaps he is guilty of worse sins than these. "what is that to thee?" is again the answer: "follow thou _me_. my love, my life, my teaching is to be the rule of thy conduct, not the doctrines of others." oh! how this cuts the way open to a solution of that question with which we sometimes vex ourselves. are there few or many that will be saved? there are few if few, many if many. few if few hear and obey, many if many hear and obey. wisdom crieth aloud, she uttereth her voice in the streets; he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. one hears, lays up and ponders in his heart, like mary, what he hears, and becomes a saint. another hears as one who looks in a glass and immediately forgets what he saw reflected in it. here is the distinction which produces election and reprobation, salvation and damnation. this is the practical question for each one of us: to which of these classes do i belong? this is the prayer which ought to be our daily petition: give me, o lord, an understanding heart, to know the things that belong to my peace, before they are forever hid from my eyes. how great the misery of passing through life slothful, careless, inattentive, and so losing the heavenly wisdom we might learn! how great the happiness of keeping the word in a good heart, and bringing forth fruit with patience! those who do this not only secure their salvation, but they console christ for all his cruel sufferings, for they constitute the fruit of his passion, the success of his gospel, the crown of glory which he receives from the hand of his father, the royal diadem which he will wear for all eternity. --------------------- { } sermon ix. the work of life. (septuagesima) "why stand ye here all the day idle." --st. matt. xx. . the parable in to-day's gospel is intended to describe the invitations which god has given, from time to time in the history of the world, to various races and peoples, to enter the true church and be saved. but it may be applied by analogy to his dealings with each individual soul, and our lord's question in the text may be understood by each one of us as addressed directly to himself. taken in this sense, it affords instruction and admonition, useful at all times, but more especially suitable on this day, when the church first strikes the keynote of those stirring lessons of personal duty and accountability which are to be the burden of her teachings through the coming season of lent. and, first, it reminds us of that solemn truth, that we have an appointed work to do on earth. it is difficult for us not to be sceptical sometimes on this point. life is so short and uncertain, man is so frail and erring, that it seems strange the few years spent here on earth should exert any great influence on our eternity. some such feeling as this was at the bottom of the old idea of heathen philosophy that god does not concern himself with the affairs of men, that we and our doings are of too little consequence to occupy his attention. the book of wisdom well expresses this creed: "_for we are born, say they" (that is, the unbelieving), "of nothing, and after this we shall be as if we had not been; and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, which is driven away by the beams of the sun, and overpowered by the heat thereof. and our name in time shall be forgotten: and no man shall have any remembrance of our works._" [footnote ] [footnote : wisdom ii. - .] { } but such a view of life does not agree either with reason or revelation. god, being infinite wisdom, must have an end in every thing which he created. if it was not beneath him to create, it cannot be beneath him to govern his creatures; and reason and free will must have been given to his rational creatures to guide them to their end. it is absurd to suppose a moral and intellectual being without a law and a destiny. and revelation confirms this decision of reason. it seems as if the bible were written, in great part, to dispel the notion that god is a mere abstraction, and to exhibit him to us as a personal god, interfering in his creation, giving to each created thing its place, and taking note of its operation. in the pages of scripture the world is not a chance world, where every thing is doubt and confusion; but an orderly world, where every thing has its place. it is a vineyard, into which laborers are sent to gather the harvest. it is a house, in which each part has its order and use. it is a body, in which each member shares the common life, and contributes to it. it is a school, in which each scholar is learning a special lesson. it is a kingdom, in which citizen is bound to the other in relations of duty or authority. yes, god has left a wide field for the free exercise of human choice and will. the pursuits of men, their studies, their pleasures, may be infinitely varied at their will; but not to have a mission from heaven, not to have a work to do on earth, not to be created by god with a special vocation--this is not possible for man. he is too honorable and great. the image of god, which is traced on his soul, is too deep and enduring; his relation to god is too direct and immediate. no man can live unto himself, and no man can die unto himself. each man that comes into the world is but an agent sent by god on a special embassy. and each man that dies, but goes back to give an account of its performance. { } do not accuse me of saddening and depressing you by thus covering man's life, from the cradle to the grave, with the pall of accountability. if god were a tyrant, if he reaped where he did not sow, if he exacted what was beyond our strength, if his service did not make us happy, if in his judgment of our actions he did not take into account the circumstances of each one, his opportunities, his ignorances, and even his frailties, then, indeed, the thought of our accountability would be a dreadful and depressing one. but while our master and judge is a god whose compassion is as great as his power, whose service is our highest satisfaction, who knows whereof we are made, and who in his judgment remembers mercy, the thought that each one of us has an appointed work to do is not only an incentive to duty, but the secret of happiness. there is nothing pleasant in a life without responsibility. rest, indeed, is pleasant, but rest implies labor that has gone before, and it is the labor that makes the rest sweet. "_the sleep of a laboring man is sweet_," says the holy scripture. but a life all rest, with nothing special to do, without aim, without obligation, is a life without honor and without peace. they who spend their time in rushing from one amusement to another are commonly listless and wretched at heart, and seek only to forget in excitement the weariness and disappointment within. god has made the law, "in the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread," medicinal as well as vindicative. when, then, you tell me that this world is not my all; that i have an immortal destiny, that life is a preparation for it; that the infinite truth is mine to know, the infinite beauty mine to possess; that i have a mission to fulfil; sin to conquer; duties to perform; merits to acquire; an account to render; you tell me that which indeed makes my conscience thrill with awe, but which, at the same time, takes all the meanness, the emptiness, the littleness out of life, covers it with glory, blends it with heaven, expands the soul, and fills it with hope and joy. { } o truth too little known! religion is not meant to be only a solace in affliction, a help in temptation, a refuge when the world fails us. all these it is, but much more. it is the business and employment of life. it is the task for which we were born. it is the work for which our life is prolonged from day to day. it is the consecration of my whole being to god. it is to realize that wherever i am, whatever i do, i am the child of god, doing his will, and extending his kingdom on earth. this is the secret of life. this is the meaning of the world. this is god's way of looking at the world. as he looks down from heaven, all other distinctions among men vanish, distinctions of nationality, differences of education, differences of station, and wealth, and influence, and only one distinction remains--the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth god and him that serveth him not. when we look at the world, it dazzles us by its greatness, and overpowers us by its multiplicity. it is so eager and restless. it is so importunate and overbearing. here is the secret which disenchants us from its spell. the world is not for itself. it is not its own end. it is but the field of human probation. it is but the theatre on which men are exercising each day their highest faculty, the power of free will. it is the scene of the great struggle between good and evil, between heaven and hell, the battle that began when "michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. xii. ] into this arena each generation has entered, one after another, to show their valor. once the saints of whom we read in the bible and the history of the church were upon the earth, and it was their turn, and heaven and earth were watching them. they did their work well. { } so penetrated were they with the great thought of eternity that some of them, like abraham, left home and kindred, and went out not knowing whither they went; and others, like the martyrs, gave their hearts' blood for a sacrifice. and there were others who were not saints, for they were not called to deeds of heroism, but they were good men, who in simplicity of heart fulfilled each duty, and served god with clean hands and pure hearts. and penitents have come in their turn. once they were unwise, and the world deceived them, and they followed their own will, but afterward they turned to god, and redeemed their former sins by a true penance, and died in the number of those who overcame the wicked one. and now it is our turn. there are many adversaries. all things are ready. the herald has called our name. and as the primitive martyrs, condemned to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre, nerved themselves for the encounter by the thought of the thousand spectators ranged around, so to animate our courage let us give heed to the sympathizing witnesses who watch our strife, and who cry to us from heaven and from earth: be valiant! do battle for the right! acquit you like men! be strong! and again, as our lord's words in the text remind us that we have an appointed work to do, they remind us also that we have an allotted time to do it in. all men acknowledge that religion is a thing to be attended to. but when? some seem to think that it is enough to attend to religion at easter and christmas, and that at other times it may be left alone. some at still more distant intervals, when the time has been too long, and the number of sins too great, and the burden on the conscience too heavy. others propose to attend to it in the leisure of old age, or just before they leave this world. and very many imagine that, if a man actually makes his peace with god at any time before he dies, there is not much to be regretted. how different is god's intention in this matter! "_man goeth forth, to his work and to his labor until the evening_." think of a day-laborer. { } he rises very early in the morning, in the winter, long before it is light, and goes off to his work. he works all day until the evening, pausing only at noon, when he seeks some hollow in the rock, or the shelter of some overhanging shrub, to protect him from the cold or the heat, while he eats his frugal dinner. now, it is after this pattern that god wishes us to work out our salvation. the christian should work from the morning till the evening, from the beginning of life to the end of it. there is not a day that god does not claim for his own. there is not an hour over which he has resigned his sovereignty. a man who perfectly fulfils his duty begins to serve god early in the morning. in the morning of life, in early youth, when the dewdrops sparkle in the sunshine, and the birds sing under the leaves, and the flowers are in their fresh bloom and fragrance, and every thing is full of keen enjoyment, there is a low, sweet voice that speaks to the soul of the happy boy: "_my son, give me thy heart_." and he heeds that voice. it is time for first communion, and he has leave to go. he does not know fully the meaning of the act. it is too great and deep. but he knows that he is making [a] choice of god. he knows that god is very near him, and he is very happy. by and by the time has come for confirmation. the candidates stand before the bishop, and see, that boy is among the number. he is changed from what he was. he has grown to be a youth now. he is more thoughtful and reserved. he knows now what temptation means; he has seen the shadow of sin; he has caught the tones of the world's song of pleasure; but he does not waver; he is bold and resolute for the right, and he is come to fortify himself for the conflict of life by the special grace of the almighty. and now time goes on, and he passes through the most dangerous part of life: he is a young man, he goes into business, he marries. there are times of fierce temptation, there are times when the objects of faith seem all to fade away from his mind, there are times when it seems as if the only good was the enjoyment of this world, but prayer and vigilance and a fixed will carry him through, and he passes the most critical period of life without any grievous stain on his soul. { } thus passes the noonday of his life, and he comes to its decline. it draweth toward evening. the shadows are getting long. the sun and the light and the moon are growing dark, and the clouds return after the rain. he is an old man and feeble, but there he is with the same heart he gave to god in youth; he has never recalled the offering. he has been true to his faith, true to his promises, true to his conscience, and at the hour of death he can sing his _nunc dimittis_, and go to the judgment seat of christ humbly but confidently to claim the reward of a true and faithful servant. beautiful picture! life to be envied! a life spent with god, over which the devil has never had any real power. but you tell me this is a mere fancy picture; no one lives such a life. i tell you this is the life god intended you and i should live. there have been men who have lived such lives, though, indeed, they are not many. but the number is not so small of those who approximate to it. even suppose a man falls into mortal sin, and more than once, all is not lost. suppose him, in some hour of temptation, to cast off his allegiance to god, and in his discouragement to look upon a life of virtue as a dream; yet, if such a one gathers up his manhood, if in humble acknowledgment of his sin he returns with new courage to take his place in the christian race, such a man recovers not only the friendship of god, but the merits of his past obedience. there is a process of restoration in grace as well as in nature. penance has power to heal the wounds and knit over the gaps which sin has made. what does the holy scripture say? "_i will restore to you the years which the locust, and the canker-worm, and the mildew, and the palmer-worm hath eaten._" [footnote ] [footnote : joel ii. .] { } many a man's life, which has not been without sin, has yet a character of continuity and a uniform tending toward god. i believe there are many who have this kind of perfection. they cannot say, "i have not sinned," for they have had bitter experience of their own frailty; but they can say, "i have sinned, but i have not made sin a law to me. i have not allowed myself in sin, or withdrawn myself from thy obedience. i have not gone backward from thee. i have fallen, but i have risen again. o lord, thou hast been my hope, even from my youth, from my youth until now, until old age and gray hairs." and now, my brethren, if we try our past lives and our present conduct by the thought of the work we have to do on earth and the persevering attention we ought to pay to it, do we not find matter for alarm? and does not our lord's question convey to us the keenest reproach? "why stand ye here all the day idle?" yes, idle; that is the word. there is all the difference in the world between committing a sin in the time of severe temptation, for which we are afterward heartily sorry, and doing nothing for our salvation. and is not this our crime, that we are idlers and triflers in religion? what have our past lives been? what years spent in neglect, or even in sin? what long periods of utter forgetfulness of god? what loss of time? what excessive anxiety about this world? what devotion to pleasure? and are we now really doing any thing for heaven? are we really redeeming the past by a true penance? are we diligent in prayer, watchful against temptation, watchful of the company we keep, watchful of the influence we exert, watchful over our tempers, watchful to fulfil our duties, watchful against habits of sin? are we living the lives god intended us to live? can we say, "i am fulfilling the requirements of my conscience, in the standard which i propose to myself?" ah! is not this our misery, that we have left off striving? that we are doing nothing, or at least nothing serious and worthy of our salvation? "why stand ye all the day idle?" _all the day_. time is going. { } time that might have made us holy, time that has sanctified so many others who set out with us in life, is gone, never to return. the future is uncertain; how much of the day of life is left to us we know not. and graces have been squandered. no doubt, as long as we live we shall have sufficient grace to turn to god, if we will; but we know not what we do, when we squander those special graces which god gives us now and then through life. the tender heart, the generous purpose that we had in youth; the fervor of our first conversion; the kind warnings and admonitions of friends long dead; these have all passed away. oh, what opportunities have we thrown away! what means of grace misused! "why stand ye all the day idle?" you cannot say, "no man hath hired us." god has not left you to the light of natural reason alone, to find out your destiny. in baptism he has plainly marked out for you your work. and now in reproachful tones he speaks to your conscience: "creature of my hand, whom i made to serve and glorify me; purchase of my blood, whom i bought to love me; heir of heaven, for whose fidelity i have prepared an eternal reward, why is it that you resist my will, withstand your own conscience and reason, despise my blood, and throw away your own happiness?" but the words of christ are not only a reproach, but an invitation. "why stand ye here all the day idle?" it is not, then, too late. god does nothing in vain; and when he calls us to his service, he pledges himself that the necessary graces shall not be wanting, nor the promised reward fail. church history is full of beautiful instances of souls that, after long neglect, recovered themselves by a fervent penance. some even, who are high in the church's calendar of saints, had the neglect and sin of years upon their consciences when they began. there is only one unpardonable sin, and that is to put off conversion until it is too late. as long as god calls, you can hearken and be saved. to-day, then, once more he calls. to-day, once more the trumpet-blast of penance sounds in your ears. { } another lent is coming, a season of penance and prayer. prepare yourself for that holy season by examination of your conscience. refuse no longer to work in the lord's vineyard. offer no more excuses; make no more delay. work while it is called to-day, that when the evening comes, and the lord gives to the laborers their hire, you may be found a faithful workman, "that needeth not to be ashamed." --------------------- sermon x. the church's admonition to the individual soul. (ash wednesday.) "take heed to thyself." -- tim. iv. . the services of the church to-day are very impressive. the matter of her teaching is not different from usual. the shortness of life, the certainty of judgment, the necessity of faith and repentance, are more or less the topics of her teaching at all times of the year. but this teaching is ordinarily given to the assembled congregation, to crowds, to multitudes. but to-day she speaks to us as individuals. she summons us, one by one, young and old, and, as we kneel before her, she says to us, while she scatters dust on our foreheads, "dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." it is in this individual and personal character of her warning that i find its special significance and impressiveness. there is no mistaking what she means. "remember, o man, that thou art dust, and unto dust shalt thou return." she separates each one of us from all others, and gives her message to him in particular. it is an emphatic mode of conveying st. paul's admonition to st. timothy: "take heed to thyself." { } if we take only the sound of the words, it might seem that no such admonition was necessary. for, in one sense, men attend to themselves quite enough. but, in fact, there is more than one self in a man. there is the self that is made up of our passions, our failings and disgusts, our comforts and conveniences: this is the self that speaks so loudly in the heart, and obtrudes itself so disagreeably on others. this, when indulged, is what we call selfishness, and this it is which it is one main object of religion to repress. but there is another self in a man, his true and noble self, that self which makes him an individual being, which asserts itself most distinctly in that part of his soul where it comes into closest contact with god, namely, his conscience. and this self it is very possible for men to forget. a man may be a priest and have the care of souls, and be employed in preaching and administering the sacraments, or he may be a bishop, and live an active life in governing his church, and yet he may forget himself in this sense. st. timothy was a bishop, a sharer in apostolic character and apostolic gifts, and yet st. paul did not think it unnecessary to give him the warning of the text. how must, then, a man forget himself whose occupation is more secular? tell me: those eager crowds one meets with in the streets, hurrying hither and thither, do you think each one of these realizes that in some sense there is no other in the world but god and he? or in a crowded church, on sunday, when the preacher, in god's name, is enforcing this duty, or denouncing that vice, that woman sitting in the pew, that man standing in the aisle, does he, does she realize that the words are spoken to them individually, that it is a lesson they are to lay to heart--to practise? no! i must say what i think, that there are some who pass through life, from the cradle to the grave, almost without ever once fully awakening to their own self-consciousness; to their own individual existence, apart from the world around them; and their own individual relations to god. { } a man may even practise his religion, may know a great deal about it, may talk about it, may listen to every word of the sermon in the church, may say his night prayers, may even go through some kind of a confession and communion, without fully awaking to these things. paradoxical as it may seem, i believe that there are not a few men, who, of all persons in the world of whom they have any knowledge, are on terms of the slightest and most distant acquaintance with themselves. and i will give you one proof that this is true. you know how troubled many men are in sickness, or on a sleepless night, or in times of great calamity. some persons are greatly troubled in a storm, when the thunder rolls over their heads, and the lightning flashes in their eyes. now, of course, nervousness, physical causes, mental laws, and social considerations, may enter more or less into the production of this uneasiness, but is there not very often something deeper than any of these? is it not something that the man has done yesterday, or last week, or last year, and that he has never set right; some unjust transaction, some evil deed, some act of gross neglect of duty, some miserable passion cherished, some impure words spoken, some cruelty or shrinking from what is right, or falsehood, or mischief-making. it is not a matter of imagination. it is not fancy, but fact. he remembers but too well; he knows when it was done, and all the consequences of it, every thing comes up distinctly. he shuts his eyes, but he cannot shut it out. you know the clock ticks all day long; amid the various cares of the day you do not hear it, but oh, how distinct and loud it is at night when your ear catches it. did you ever have an aching tooth, which you could just manage to bear during the excitement of the day, but which began to throb and become intolerable when all was still at night, and you had gone to bed? so the uneasiness i have denoted is a real pain of the soul, which we manage to keep down and forget, or deaden, during our seasons of business and enterprise, but in hours of loneliness and danger makes itself felt. { } and what does this show but that you do not attend to your real self; that there is some dark corner of your heart in which you fear to look. you keep the veil down, because you know there is a skeleton behind it and you are afraid to look at it. and so you go through life, playing a part, something that you are not, with smiles on your lips and honeyed words in your mouth, laughing and jesting, eating and drinking and sleeping, working and trading, going in and out, paying visits and receiving them, seeking admiration and flattering others, while all the while, deep down in your soul, there is that nameless something, that grief like lead in the bottom of your heart, that wound that you are afraid to probe, or to uncover, or even to acknowledge. and now, it is this deceitful way in which men deal with themselves, this forgetfulness of themselves, that makes death and judgment so terrible. death brings out the individuality of the soul in the most distinct light. every thing that hides us from ourselves shall then be removed, every veil and shred torn away, and only ourselves shall remain. a well-known writer has expressed this in a few short words: "i shall die alone;" and the same thought is suggested by the language of the gospel in reference to the end of the world: "two men shall be in the field, one shall be taken and the other left. two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left." one shall be taken, and he shall be taken alone--out of all the surroundings which have enveloped him here like an atmosphere, and into which he has been fitted like a long-worn garment. when our first parents heard the voice of the lord god calling to them in the garden after the fall, they hid themselves, and adam said: "i was afraid, because i was naked, and i hid myself." so will it be when the soul stands "before god in its nakedness, ashamed because of its guilty self-consciousness. { } so it was with the rich man in our lord's parable. he lived like the multitude. he had four brothers, and they were all alike. they had heard the sermons of moses and the prophets, but little did they think it all concerned them. but at last one of them died, and then he woke up to himself. his life is all before him. "thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things." that was the story of it. he sees it all now: he sees what a glutton, what a proud, hardhearted, avaricious man he had been; he sees what a creature of sensuality and self-indulgence he is. very different is his judgment of himself now, from what it was when, in his purple robes, he revelled in his banqueting-hall, the air heavy with perfume, and the table flowing with silver and flowers, and the slaves bringing in the costly dishes, while lazarus, the beggar, sat at his gates, full of sores, and hungering for the crumbs that fell from his table. and so it will be with us: awakened to a full consciousness that our relations to god are the only reality. stripped of all the circumstances that deceived and misled and blinded us here; with conscience fully awakened, with all the consequences of sin open before me and all its guilt manifest; i shall be brought face to face with myself, with what i am, with what i have been, with what i have done, with my sins, and my self-will, and my pride. yes, this is the real terror of death and judgment. we think its fearfulness will be in the frowning judge, and the throne set amid thunder and lightnings. oh, no! the judge does not frown, he is calm and serene. he sits radiant in beauty and grace. "when these things begin to come to pass," says the evangelist, speaking of the signs of the end of the world, "then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." no! christ is not transported with anger. he is always the same; but the way of his coming is different as they to whom he comes are different. the object is unchanged, but the medium through which we view it will be different. { } there shall be an apparition of terror to the wicked, but it will not be christ, it will be themselves. the face of christ shall be a mirror in which each man shall see himself. young man, after your career of vice and profligacy, you shall see yourself, the moral leper that you are. there the extortioner, the fraudulent merchant, shall see himself as he is, the unconvicted thief and robber; there the unfaithful husband or wife shall see themselves branded with the mark that tells their shame. the proud woman shall see there the deep stains of her soul in all their blackness, and her worldly, guilty heart, all laid bare. o sight of piercing anguish! "o hills and mountains fall on us, and cover us, and hide us from the wrath of god and of the lamb." but no, it is not from the wrath of god and of the lamb, that we need to be hidden, it is from ourselves. which way i fly is hell, myself am hell. a lost destiny, an existence bestowed in vain. a life passed as a dream; capacities for happiness never used; graces refused; time gone; opportunity lost; not merely a law broken, a punishment inflicted; but i, myself, with my supernatural grace and destiny--i, with all my lofty hopes and powers--i, ruined and crushed forever: that is the hopeless, boundless misery. this is the sore affliction of the guilty after death; and it is the dread of this dismay that keeps thee trembling all thy life. but, on the other hand, for a man to face himself, to excite himself to a consciousness of his own individuality, and to a fulfilment of his own personal obligation to god, is the way to a peaceful and happy life. the scripture uses a notable expression when describing the return of the prodigal: "he came to himself;" and in our ordinary language, when we wish to express the idea of a man's seriously reflecting on his destiny and duty, we say he enters into himself. these expressions are full of significance. they teach us that something is to be done that no one can do for us. others can help us here, but each one for himself must make his own individual and personal election sure. { } each must go down into his own heart, search out all the dark corners, repent of its sins, resist its passions, direct its aims and desires. it is not a work done in a day. it is sometimes a difficult work. there are times in which it pierces to the very quick of our sensitive being, but it is the real and only way to true peace. and oh! it is true and living peace when the soul in its deepest centre is anchored to god; when nothing is covered over, nothing kept from his sight. there may be imperfections, there may be sins and repentances, but there must be, when such a course is habitual, a true and growing peace. do not look abroad, my brethren, for your happiness. it is to be found in yourselves. happy he who knows the meaning of that word: "my god and i." this is to walk with god like abraham. of this man the almighty says, as he did of jacob, "i have known thee by thy name." his relations to god are not merely those general ones that grow out of creation and redemption: to him god is his life, his very being, the soul of his soul. to-day, my brethren, if i have led your thoughts in the direction i have wished, you see that each one of you has a great work to do, that he must do himself. it will not do for you that you have had a pious mother or a good wife. it is not enough that some one around you, who lives near you, or sits near you in the church, is a good christian. it is not enough that you are a catholic, one of the vast body of believers in the world. religion is a personal, individual thing. all other men in the world may stand or fall: that does not affect you. each one of us has his own independent position before god. if you are one of a family, if you live in a house with others, or work in a room with many companions, if you are one of a gang of laborers, or a clerk in an office where many others are employed, or a scholar in a school where there are many others of your age, there is a circle around you that separates you from each one of your companions. { } if you were to die to-night, your sentence would be different from that of every other. it might be contrary to those of all the others. they might be friends of god, and you his only enemy. and the difference would be not from any outward cause, but from yourself. "_i shall see god_," says the prophet, "_whom i myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold and not another_." [footnote ] and now, if your conscience tells you that there is something unsatisfactory in your character, something sinful in your conduct, it is for you to set it right, and to do it without delay. it is the first duty of lent. the forty days of grace and penance are given for redeeming our sins and saving our souls. what, then, should be each one's resolution? i will enter into myself, not _we_ will do this, or i will do it if my friend does, but _i, myself_, i will enter into myself. i will ask myself what this strange, mysterious life of mine in earnest means, and whether i am to-day advancing to my destiny. i will break off my sins, and i will pray. it is in prayer that i shall understand my duty. it is in god that i shall find myself. the solemn words of the church shall not be uttered in vain for me: "thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." how many have heard that warning and are now no more. the young have died, the old, the pious, the careless, the rich, and the poor, and each has gone to his own place, the place and portion fitted to his deeds and his character. perhaps it will not be very long before these words will be verified in me. the mass shall be said for me, the holy water sprinkled over my lifeless form. what shall it then profit me what others have said in my favor or against me? i shall be simply what i am before god. "_what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" "i shall see god, whom i myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold and not another_." [footnote : job xix. .] note--this appears to be the last sermon which f. baker wrote. it was preached on the evening of the ash-wednesday before his death as the first of the lenten course of sermons. ------------------------------------------ { } sermon xi. the negligent christian. (third sunday in lent.) "he that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth." --st. luke xi. . there are many seeds planted in the ground that never come up. there is a great deal of fruit on the trees that never comes to ripeness. so among christians there is a great deal of good that always remains incomplete and inadequate. who of us has not seen such? who of us does not know such? they have some faith, some religion, but they bring no fruit to perfection. now, what is the blight that destroys all their goodness? it is sloth, negligence, tepidity, call it what you will. religion influences them, but does not control them. they do not reject it, but they do not obey it, at least consistently and in principle. they are languid christians. they are not the worst, but they are not good. they seek with eagerness the pleasures of the world, and make no conscience of avoiding smaller sins, even when wilful and deliberate. they neglect the means of grace, prayer, sermons, and sacraments, with but little scruple, or approach them carelessly. they allow themselves a close familiarity with evil, dally with temptation, and now and then fall into mortal sin. so they go through life, conscious that they are living an unsatisfactory life, but making no vigorous efforts to better it. it is of such men that i would speak this morning; and i propose to show how displeasing this negligence of our salvation is to god, and how dangerous it is to ourselves. { } the negligent christian displeases god because he does not fulfil the end for which he was created. what is the end for which god created us? certainly it is not for ourselves, for before god created us we were not, and could not have been the end for which he made us. he must have made us for himself, for his glory. yes, this is the end for which he does every thing, for himself. from the very fact that we are created, our end must be to love and serve god. we are bound, then, to love and serve god, and we are bound to do it with perfection and alacrity. what kind of creature is that which renders to god a reluctant and imperfect service? suppose a king were to appoint a day to receive the homage of his subjects, and while he was holding his court, and one after another was coming forward to kiss his hand or bend the knee, some one, ill-attired, and with slovenly demeanor, should approach and offer a heedless reverence. would it not be taken as an act of contempt and an offence? now, god is our king, and he holds a levee every morning and invites the creation to renew its homage. the world puts on its best array. the sun comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. the mountains and hills clothe themselves in blue, and the trees put on their robes of green. the birds sing, and the waters move and sparkle. holy and humble men of heart rise from their beds to enter on their daily course of duty and of prayer, while within the veil the spirits of the just and the ten thousand times ten thousand angels bow before the throne of him that lives forever. and now in this great act of praise, this ceaseless sacrifice that creation is offering to its maker, there comes in the negligent christian, cold, distracted, and unprepared to take his part. he does not kneel down to pray. he goes to work without a blessing. he does not think of god. nay, in his very presence says and does unseemly things. oh! is he not a blot on the scene? is not his presence an offence? { } in the old testament, god complains of the jewish priests because they brought to him the halt and the blind and the sick for sacrifice. he says: "offer it now to thy prince, will _he_ be pleased with it, or will _he_ regard thy face?" [footnote ] [footnote : mal. i. .] so in like manner, negligent christian, god complains of you. you bring to him a "lame sacrifice," those feet of thine that stumble so often in the way of justice; a "blind" and "sick sacrifice," that heart of thine, so fond of the world and so weak in the love of god. yes, god requires of us all fervor and perfection--of each one of us. it is a great mistake to suppose that perfection is required only of priests or religious; it is required of every one. we are not all required to seek perfection in the same way. the married seek it in one way, the unmarried in another. the man of business seeks it one way, the recluse in another. but everyone is required to seek it in such way as accords with his state in life. "that is a faithful servant," says st. gregory, "who preserves every day, to the end of his life, an inexhaustible fervor, and who never ceases to add fire to fire, ardor to ardor, desire to desire, and zeal to zeal." our own hearts tell us this when they are really under the influence of the spirit of god. take a man at his first conversion, either to the faith or to a good life, and how fervent he is! it is not enough for him to come to mass always on a sunday, he will come now and then on a week-day. it is not enough for him to keep from what is sinful, he will not allow himself all that is innocent. he does not think of bargaining with god. this is his thought--that god is all, and he is a creature, and that god deserves his best, his all. by-and-by, alas! as he becomes unfaithful, another spirit comes over him. he asks: "is this binding under mortal sin? that duty is irksome; is it a great matter if i omit it now and then?" god tells us what he thinks of such a man in the parable of the talents. { } when the lord came to reckon with his servants, he that had received one talent came and said, "_lord, i know that thou art a hard man, thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed. and being afraid, i went and hid thy talent in the earth_." and his lord in answer said to him: "_thou wicked and slothful servant! thou knewest that i reap where i sow not and gather where i have not strewed. thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming i should have received my own with usury. cast ye the unprofitable servant into exterior darkness_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxv. .] again, if fervor in our duties is due to god as our creator, it is none the less due to christ as our redeemer. oh, how strong are the words of st. paul: "_the love of christ presseth us; judging this, that if one died for all, then were all dead. and christ died for all, that they also that live may not now live to themselves but to him who died for them_." [footnote ] [footnote : ii. cor. v. .] you see what his idea was--that the love of christ was a debt that could never be paid, that it was a claim on us that pressed continually, and was never satisfied. and surely it is so. when we think at all, we must all acknowledge that it is so. who is christ? the son of god, the splendor of his father's glory, and the image of his substance. who are we? lost sinners. and for us "he did not abhor the virgin's womb." he did not refuse "to bear our infirmities, and carry our sorrows." he gave his body to the smiters, and turned not away from those that rebuked him and spat upon him. he gave his blood [as] a ransom for many, and laid down his life for sin. was there ever love like this? while gratitude lives among men, what shall be the return given to christ by those whom he has redeemed? is the return we are actually making such as he deserves? { } was it for this that he died, that we should not commit _quite so many_ mortal sins? was it for this that he hung on the cross, that _only now and then_ we should omit some important duty? was it for this that he sweat those great drops of blood, that we should live a slothful and irreligous life? o my brethren, when i see how men are living; when i look at some christians, and see how when easter comes round it is an even chance whether they go to their duties or not; when i see them on sunday stay away from mass so lightly, or listen to the word of god so carelessly; when i see them omit most important duties toward their families; when i see how freely they expose themselves to temptation, and how easily they yield to it; when i see how slow they are to prayer, how cold, sluggish, sensual and worldly they are; above all, when i hear them give for an answer, when they are questioned about these things, so indifferently, "_i neglected it_," i ask myself, did these men ever hear of christ? do they know in whose name they are baptized? did they ever look at a crucifix, or read the story of the passion? alas! yes, they have seen and heard and read, and have taken their side, if not with judas in his deceitful kiss, or the soldiers in their mockery, with the crowd of careless men who passed by, regardless and hard-hearted. but let these men know that their saviour sees and resents their neglect. "_because thou art lukewarm_," he says, "_and neither cold nor hot, i will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth_." [footnote ] his soul loathes the slothful and half-hearted. yes, slothful christian, far different will be the estimate thou wilt make of thy life when thou comest to die, from what thou makest now. then that negligence of thine, of which thou makest so little, will seem the crime it really is; and bitter will be the account thou shalt render of it to christ thy judge. [footnote : apoc. iii. .] { } but if it be not enough to rouse us from our torpor, to think that we are offending god, let us reflect how great is the danger which we are bringing on our own souls. a negligent christian is in very great danger of being lost. i said just now that he falls into mortal sins now and then. it is hardly possible it should be otherwise. one will certainly fall into mortal sin if he does not take pains to avoid it. we all have within us concupiscence, or a tendency to love the creature with a disordered love, and this tendency is much increased in most men by actual sins of their past lives. now, this principle acts as a weight on the will, always dragging it down to the earth. fervent men make allowance for this. they aim higher than it is necessary to reach. they leave a margin for failures, weakness, and surprise. they build out-works to guard the approaches to the citadel. but with the negligent christian it is the contrary of all this. unreflecting, unguarded, unfortified by prayer, in his own weakness, and with his strong bent to evil, he must meet the immediate and direct temptations to mortal sin which befall him in his daily life. is not his fall certain? not to speak of very strong temptations which can only be overcome by a special grace, which grace god has not promised to grant except to the faithful soul--even ordinary temptations are too much for such a man. he falls into mortal sin almost without resistance. and what is also to be taken into the account is, that the difference between mortal and venial sin is often a mere question of more or less. so much is a mortal sin: so much is not. the line is often very difficult, nay, impossible to be drawn, even by a theologian. now, who can tell us in practice when we have arrived at the limit of venial sin, when we have passed beyond it and are in mortal sin? will not a careless, thoughtless man, such as i have described, will he not be certain sometimes to go over the fatal line? yes, my brethren, negligent christians commit mortal sins. they commit mortal sins almost without knowing it. they commit mortal sins oftener than they imagine. { } without opposing religion, without abandoning themselves to a reprobate life, just by neglecting god and their duties, they fall into grievous sins; bad habits multiply upon them apace, their passions grow stronger, grace grows weaker, their good resolutions less frequent and less hopeful, until they are near to spiritual ruin. the wise man gives us in a striking picture the description of such a soul: "_i passed by the field of the slothful man and by the vineyard of the foolish man: and behold, it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof: and the stone wall was broken down, which when i had seen, i laid it up in my heart, and by the example i received instruction. thou will sleep a little, said i: thou will slumber a little: thou will fold thy hands a little to rest: and poverty shall come upon thee as one that runneth, and want as an armed man_." [footnote ] [footnote : proverbs xxiv. .] and what is to secure you from dying in such a state? our lord says, "_if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken open_." [footnote ] [footnote : matt. xxiv. .] but he knew not, and so in the dead of night, when deep sleep falleth on man, the thief came. and so it is with death. it comes like a thief in the night. death is almost always sudden. sometimes it comes without any warning at all. a man is sent into eternity in a moment, without time to utter a prayer. sometimes it comes after sickness, but sickness does not always prepare for death. the sick man says: "oh, it is nothing; i shall soon be well." his friends say the same. if he gets worse the priest is sent for; he would like to receive the sacraments. but too often he has not yet looked death in the face, he has not heard the dreadful truths he has to tell, he is much as he was in life, slothful and negligent. and after the priest is gone, when he is alone, at midnight, that comes to pass of which he has thought so little. { } death enters the room, and with his icy hand unlocks the prison of the body, whispering to the soul with awful voice, "arise, and come to judgment." o my brethren, how dreadful, if at that hour you find yourself unready! if like the foolish virgins you are forced to cry: "our lamps are gone out." "_cursed is he that doeth the work of the lord negligently_," [footnote ] saith the holy scripture. the work of the lord is the work of our salvation. that is the work of our life, the work for which we are created, and he, who through negligence leaves this work undone, shall hear at the last that dreadful sentence: "depart ye cursed." [footnote : jer. xlviii. .] we come back, then, to this truth, that the only way to secure our salvation is to be not slothful in that business, but fervent in spirit, serving the lord. salvation is a serious work. we are not sufficiently aware of this. we seem somehow to have got in the belief that the way of life is not strait, and the gate not narrow. certainly we feel very differently about our salvation from what our fathers in the catholic church felt. how many have gone out into the desert and denied themselves rest and food, and scourged themselves to blood! how many have devoted themselves to perpetual silence! how many have willingly given up wealth and friends and kindred! how many, even their own lives! will you tell me they were but seeking a _more perfect_ life? they were but following the counsels of perfection, which a man is free to embrace or decline? i tell you they were seeking their _salvation_. they were afraid of the judgment to come, and were trying to prepare for it. "whatever i do," says st. jerome, "i always hear the dreadful sound of the last trumpet: 'arise, ye dead, and come to judgment.'" now, can salvation be a work so serious to them and so trivial for us? grant that yon are not bound to do precisely what they did, are you at liberty to do nothing? { } if you are not bound to a perpetual fast, are you at liberty to darken your mind and inflame your passions by immoderate drinking? if yon are not required to walk with downcast eyes and to observe perpetual silence, are you free to gaze on every dangerous object, and to speak words of profanity, falsehood, impurity, or slander? if you are not required to flee from your homes, are you not required to forsake the occasions of sin? if you are not called to forego all innocent pleasures, are you exempt from every sort of self-denial? if no rule obliges you to spend the night in prayer, are you not obliged to pray often? yes, it was the desire to place their salvation in security that led our fathers into the desert. surely, we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, who remain behind in a world which they left as too dangerous, and have to contend with passions which they felt wellnigh too strong for them. we must be what they were. "_the time is short: it remaineth that they who have wives be as those who have not; and they who weep as they who weep not; and they who rejoice as they who rejoice not; and they who buy as they who possess not; and they who use this world as if they used it not; for the figure of this world passeth away_." [footnote ] [footnote : i. cor. vii. , .] my brethren, then be earnest in the work of your salvation. while we have time let us do good, and abound in the work of the lord. serve the lord with a perfect heart. he deserves our very best. our own happiness, too, will be secured by it, for he says: "_take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and you shall find rest to your souls_." [footnote ] and to the fervent: "_an entrance shall be ministered abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of jesus christ_." [footnote ] [footnote : matt. xi. .] [footnote : ii. pet. i. .] { } this is my desire for you, to see you fervent christians. i would like to know that you are anxious to assist at the holy mass on week-days as well as on sundays. i would like to know that you pray morning and evening. i would like to believe that you speak with god often as the day goes on. i would like to know that you are watchful over your lips for fear of giving offence with your tongue; that you are prompt to reject the first temptations to evil; that you are exact in the fulfilment of your duties; that you are careful in confession, and devout at communion--in a word, that you are living a life of watchfulness against the coming of christ to judgment. this includes all. this is what our saviour enjoined on us: "_take heed; watch and pray; for you know not when the lord of the house cometh: at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in the morning. lest coming of a sudden, he find you sleeping_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. mark xiii. .] ------------------------------------- sermon xii. the cross, the measure of sin. (passion sunday) "for my thoughts are not as your thoughts; nor your ways my ways, saith the lord. for as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts." --isa. lv., , . to-day, my brethren, is the beginning of passion-tide, the most solemn part of the season of lent. the two weeks between now and easter are set apart especially for the remembrance of the sufferings of christ. therefore the church assumes the most sombre apparel, and speaks in the saddest tone. the actual recital of the passion, the following of our blessed saviour step by step in his career of woe, she reserves for the last three days of this sorrowful fortnight. { } in this, the earlier part of it, her aim is rather to suggest some thoughts which lead the way to calvary, and prepare the mind for the great event that happened there. i shall then be saying what is suitable to the season, and at the same time directing your minds to what i regard as one of the most useful reflections connected with this subject, by asking you this morning to consider the sufferings of christ as a revelation of the evil of sin. but, it may be asked, does man need a revelation on this point? is not the natural reason and the natural conscience sufficient to tell us that sin is wrong? undoubtedly a man naturally knows that sin is an evil, and without this knowledge, indeed, he would be incapable of committing sin, since in any action a man is only guilty of the evil which his conscience apprehends. but this natural perception of sin is more or less confused and indistinct. our saviour on the cross prayed for his murderers in these words: "father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." he did not mean that they were ignorant that they were doing wrong, for then they could have needed no forgiveness, but that they did not realize the full atrocity of the deed. they were acting guiltily indeed, but inadvertently and blindly: and the same may be said of very many sinners. sin is for the most part a leap in the dark. a man knows he is doing a dangerous thing, but he does not realize the full danger. he does not take in the full scope of his action, nor its complete consequences. st. paul speaks of the deceitfulness of sin, and the expression describes very well the source of that disappointment and unhappiness which often overtakes the transgressor when he finds himself involved in difficulties from which it is all but impossible to extricate himself and sorrows which he never anticipated. it is the old story. sin "_beginneth pleasantly, but in the end it will bite like a snake and will spread abroad poison like a serpent_." [footnote ] oh! how many are there who are finding this true in their own experience every day. [footnote : prov. xxiii. , .] { } tell me, my brethren, do you think that young persons who contract habits of sin that undermine their health know all they are bringing on themselves--the weakness of body, the feebleness of mind, the early decay, the shame, the remorse, the impotence of will, the tyranny of passion, the broken vows and resolutions, the hopelessness, the fear--perhaps the premature disease and death? no, all this was not in their thoughts at first. these are the bitter lessons which the youth has learned in the school of sin. he has not found out what he was doing till it was all but too late. or that married woman who has stepped aside from the path of virtue, did she realize what she was doing? did she think of the plighted faith broken; did she think of the horrible guilt of the adulteress, of the agony, the remorse, the deceit, the falsehood, the trembling fear of her whole future life; did she realize the moment when her guilt would be detected, the fury of her wronged husband, her family dishonored, her children torn from her embrace, her name infamous, herself forlorn and ruined? oh, no! these things she did not realize. there was indeed, on the day when she committed the dreadful crime, a dark and fearful form in her path, that raised its hands in warning, and frowned a frown of dreadful menace. it was the awful form of conscience, but she turned away from the sight, and shut her ear to the words, and heard not half the message. and so the dreadful consequences of her sin have come upon her almost as if there had been no warning. or that drunkard, when he was a handsome young man, with a bright eye and a light step, and was neatly dressed, and was succeeding in his business; when he first began to tipple, did he realize that he would soon be a diseased, bloated, dirty vagabond; that his children would be half naked, and his wife half starved; or that he would spend the last cent in his pocket, or the last rag on his back, in the vain effort to allay that thirst for drink which is almost as unquenchable as the fire of hell? { } no, he little foresaw it, and if it had been told him, he would have said with hasael, the syrian captain, when elisha showed him the abominations he was about to commit, "what, am i a dog, that i should do such things?" or that thief, when he yielded to the glittering temptation, and made himself rich for a while with dishonest riches, did he then see before him the deeper poverty that was to follow; the loss of all that makes a man's heart glow and his life happy; the lies that he must tell, the subterfuges he must resort to, the horrible detection, the loss of situation, the public trial, the imprisonment? no. of course these were all daily in his thoughts, for they were part of the risk he knew he was running; but so little did he bring them home to himself, and the suffering he was to endure, that when they came it seemed almost hard, as if a wholly unlooked-for calamity had overtaken him. so it is. wherever we look it is the same thing. men imagine sin to be a less evil than it really is. it is so easy to commit it, it is so soon done, the temptation so strong, that it does not seem as if such very bad consequences would come of it. so it is done, and the bitter consequences come. it seems as if the lie that satan told to eve in the garden, when he tempted her to eat the forbidden fruit, "thou shalt not surely die," still echoes through the world and bewitches men's ears so that they always underrate the guilt and punishment of sin; and although the lie has been exposed a thousand times, although in their own bitter experience men find its falsehood, yet they do not grow wiser, they still go on thoughtless, insensible to their greatest danger and their greatest evil, and when they stand on the shore of time, and hear god threatening eternal punishment hereafter to the sinner, they still set aside the warning with the same fatal insensibility. { } if they are not catholics, they deny or doubt the existence of hell; if they are catholics, they think somehow they will escape it. oh, my brethren, before you allow yourselves to act on this estimate of sin, so prevalent in the world, ask yourselves how it accords with god's estimate of sin. that is the true standard. god is truth. he sees things as they are, and every thing is just what he considers it. he is our judge, and it will not save us when we stand on trial at his bar to tell him that we have rejected his standard and taken our own. what, then, is god's estimate of sin? look at the cross, and you have the answer. let me for a moment carry you back to the scene and time of the crucifixion. it is the eve of a great festival in the city of jerusalem. it is the parasceve, or preparation of the passover. on this day the jews were required, each family by itself, to kill a lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. they were required to eat it standing, with loins girded, and with staves in their hands, because this feast was in memory of the sudden deliverance of their fathers from the bondage of egypt, when god smote the first-born of the egyptians with death, passed over the houses of the israelites, and conducted them miraculously through the waters of the red sea. it was a great feast among the jews, and always collected together a great multitude of strangers in the holy city. but on this occasion a new excitement was added to the interest of the holy city, for there was a public execution on mount calvary, and turbaned priests, and pharisees with broad fringes on their garments, and scribes and doctors of the law, mingled in the throng of mechanics and laborers, and women and children, who hastened to the spot. the day is dark, but as you draw near the mount, you see, high up in the air, the bodies of men crucified; and sitting on the ground, or standing in groups, talking and disputing among themselves, or watching in silence with folded arms, are gathered a vast multitude of spectators. { } what is there in this execution thus to gather together all classes of the people? the punishment of crucifixion was inflicted only on slaves or malefactors of the worst kind, and two of the three that are hanging there are vulgar and infamous offenders. what is it, then, that gives such interest to this scene? it is he who hangs upon that cross, at whose feet three sorrowing women kneel. read the title, it will tell you who he is. "this is jesus, the king of the jews." yes, this is jesus, the merciful and kind; he who went about doing good, healing all manner of sickness, and delivering all that were possessed with the devil; he who spoke words of truth and love. this is jesus, the king of the jews, whom a thousand prophecies fulfilled in him and a thousand miracles performed by him pointed out as the promised messias: jesus, whom the eternal father, by a voice from heaven, had acknowledged as his own son. "this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased." why is this? why is it that the just man perisheth? the apostle tells us: "christ must _needs_ have suffered." he was the true paschal lamb that must die that we might go free. he was the victim of our sins. pilate and herod and the jews were but the instruments by which all the consequences of our sins fell upon him who came to bear them. "_surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows; and we have thought him, as it were, a leper, and as one struck by god and afflicted. but he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins. the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. all we like sheep have gone astray, everyone hath turned aside into his own way, and the lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all_." [footnote ] [footnote : isia. liii. , , .] { } yes, every sin of every kind received its special reparation in the sufferings of christ. his mouth is filled with vinegar and gall to atone for our luxury. his ear is filled with revilings to expiate the greediness with which we have drunk in poisonous flattery. his eyes languish because ours have been lofty, and his hands and feet are pierced with nails because ours have been the instruments of sin. he suffered death because we deserved it. he was accursed, because we had made ourselves liable to the curse of god, and hell had its hour of triumph over him, because we had made ourselves its children. nor was it our lord's body alone that suffered. it would be a great mistake to suppose that his sacrifice was merely external. the chief part of man is his soul. st. leo says that our lord on the cross appeared as a penitent. it was not only that he suffered for the sins of men, but it was as if he had committed them. the horror of them filled his soul; sorrow for the outrage they had done to the majesty and holiness of god consumed him. "my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death," he said. afterward the evangelist says he began to be very heavy, and it was sinners that on the cross made him bow his head and give up the ghost. he was not killed. his enemies did not take his life. the flood of sorrow for sin came into his soul, and overwhelmed him. it was too much. his heart was broken. oh, the weight of that sorrow! he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. then sin was expiated. then the work of man's atonement was completed. at last man had done adequate penance. at last sorrow for sin had reached its just proportion as an offence against god. here, i say, we have a revelation of the evil of sin. god does nothing in vain: his works are as full of wisdom as they are of power. since, therefore, christ died for sin, the cross of christ is the measure of sin. { } "from the consideration of the remedy," says st. bernard, "learn, o my soul, the greatness of thy danger. thou wast in error, and behold the son of the virgin is sent, the son of the most high god is ordered to be slain, that my wounds may be healed by the precious balsam of his blood. see, o man, how grievous were thy wounds, for which, in the order of divine wisdom, it was necessary that the lamb christ should be wounded. if they had not been unto death, and unto eternal death, never would the son of god have died for them. the cross of christ is not only an altar of sacrifice, but a pulpit of instruction. from that pulpit, lifted up on high, jesus christ preaches a lesson to the whole world." the burden of the lesson is the evil of sin. "the law was given by moses, but grace and truth came by jesus christ." and yet, my brethren, the law was published afresh by jesus christ. mount calvary but repeats the message of mount sinai--nay, repeats it with more power. here, indeed, god does not speak in thunders and lightnings, as he did there, but he speaks in the still small voice of the suffering saviour. oh, what meaning is there in those sad eyes as they bend down upon us! oh, what power in those gentle words he utters! he does not say, "thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness." no. he cries to a guilty people, a people who have already broken the law, and he says to them: "see what you have done. see my thorn-crowned head. see my hands and feet. look at me whom you have pierced. is it a light thing that could have reduced me to such a state of woe? is it a light thing that could have bound me to this cross? me, the creator of all things, to whom you owe all life and liberty? who by my word and touch have so often healed the sick and released them that were bound to satan. they say of me, 'he saved others, himself he cannot save.' and they say truly. here must i hang. not the jews have nailed me to this cross, but my love, and thy sins. yes, see in my sufferings your sin displayed. see in the penalty i pay the punishment you have deserved. see your guilt in my sorrow. look at me, and see what sin is in the presence of the all holy god!" { } can any thing show more than this what a mysterious evil sin is, that it is an offence against god, an assault upon his throne, an attack upon his life, an evil all but infinite? all the other expressions of the evil of sin, the cries of misery which it has wrung from its victims, the warnings which natural reason has uttered against it, the tender lamentations with which the saints have bewailed it, the penalties with which god has threatened to visit it, all pale before the announcement that god sent his son into the world to die for it. i do not wonder that, as the evangelist tells us, the multitudes who came together at the sight of our saviour's crucifixion returned smiting their breasts. oh, what an awakening of stupefied consciences there must have been that day! how many, who came out in the morning careless and thoughtless, went back to the city with anxious hearts, with a secret grief and fear within they had never felt before. i suppose that even the scribes and pharisees, who had plotted our saviour's death, felt, for the moment at least, a guilty fear. why, even judas, when he saw what he had done, repented, and went and hanged himself saying: "i have sinned in that i have betrayed the innocent blood." and this book of the passion has been ever since the source from which penitents have drawn their best motives for conversion, and saints their strongest impulses to perfection. here, on the cross, is the root of that uncompromising and awful doctrine about sin--the doctrine, i mean, that sin is in no case whatever to be allowed, that even the smallest sin for the greatest result can never be permitted; that it is an evil far greater than can be spoken or imagined; that it must never be trifled with, or made light of; that it is to be shunned with the greatest horror, and avoided, if need be, even at the cost of our life--which has always been so essential a part of christianity. { } and now, my brethren, it is because men forget the cross, because their minds no longer move on a christian basis, that they make light of sin. there is a tendency in our day to do so. crime--men acknowledge that, an offence against law, an offence against good order. vice--they acknowledge that, a hurtful and excessive indulgence of passion; but _sin_, a creature's offence against god, that they think impossible. "what! can i, a frail creature," say they, "ignorant and passionate, can i do an injury to god? i err by excess or defect in my conduct; i bring evil on myself it is true; but what difference can that make to the supreme being? can he be very much displeased at my follies? will his serene majesty in heaven be affected because i on this earth am carried too far by passions? can he care what my religious belief is? or will he separate himself from me eternally because i have happened to violate some law?" such language is an echo of heathenism, and heathenism not of the best kind, for some heathens have had a doctrine about sin which approached very near to the christian doctrine. it is moreover, a degrading doctrine; for, while it leaves a man his intellect and animal nature, it takes away his conscience. what is that conscience within us but a witness that god does concern himself about us--that my heart is his throne, and that my everlasting destiny is union with him. "every one that is born of god," says the apostle, "doth not commit sin, for he cannot sin, because he is born of god." not that sin is a physical impossibility with him, but it is in contradiction to his regenerate nature. in order, then, to soothe yourself into the belief that sin is not so very bad, that god cannot be very angry with you for it, you have got to tear conscience from your heart, you have got to give up the good gift, and the powers of the world to come, which came upon you at your baptism; and you have to give up all the brightest hopes of christianity for the life hereafter. nay, more, you have got to deny the cross, to deny our lord's divinity, to deny his sufferings for sin, and thus to render yourself without faith as well as without conscience. { } i conclude with the affectionate exhortation of st. john the apostle. "_my children, these things i write to you that ye sin not." "all unrighteousness is sin_." every breach of the moral law is a failure in that homage, that obedience, that service we owe to god. it is a direct offence against god. it is a thing exceedingly to be feared and dreaded. a wrong word spoken or a wrong action done has consequences which go far and wide. do not say, you have sinned, but have done harm to no one. you have done harm to god, and you have certainly done harm to yourself. do not sin. do not commit mortal or venial sin. do not make light of sin. do not abide in sin. if you are in sin now, remember at this holy time to repent and turn back to god: and if your conscience tells you that you are now in the friendship of god, oh, let it be all your care to avoid sin. fly from the face of sin. fly from the approach of sin. avoid the occasions of sin. watch against sin, and pray continually, not to be led into sin: and when your hour of trial comes, when some strong temptation assails you, then be ready to say, as the prophet joseph, "what! shall i do this wicked thing, and offend against god?" this is that fear of god which is the beginning of wisdom. this is the happiness of which the psalmist spoke: "_blessed is the man that hath not walked in the council of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence; but his will is in the law of the lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. and he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit in due season. and his leaf shall not fall off; and all, whatsoever he shall do, shall prosper._" [footnote ] [footnote : ps. i. - .] -------------------------------- { } sermon xiii. divine calls and warnings. (a sermon for lent.) "seek ye the lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." --isai. lv. . the wise man tells us that "_all things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven_." [footnote ] certainly, it is so in the natural world. there is a time for the birds to migrate. "_the kite in the air knows her time, the turtle and the swallow and the stork observe the time of their coming_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccl. iii. .] [footnote : jer. viii. .] there is a time for seeds and shrubs to grow. seed-time and harvest do not fail. there is a busy time and a slack time in the world of commerce. there is a time for education, a time when the mind is inquisitive and the memory retentive, and it is easy to acquire knowledge; and another time, when the powers of the mind, like the limbs of the body, seem to grow stiff and rigid, and can be employed only with difficulty. but does this law reach also to the supernatural world? has the grace of god also its seasons and its times? i believe it has; and it is to this fact, so important in its bearing on our salvation, that i wish now to direct your attention. but you may ask me what i mean by saying that the grace of god has its special times and seasons. are not all times alike to god? is not god always ready to save the sinner, and to bestow the graces necessary to his salvation? undoubtedly he is. we, catholics, believe that god gives to every man living sufficient grace, that is, he gives him the grace to pray; and if he prays, god is ready to give him other and higher graces, which will carry him on to salvation; but, ordinarily speaking, men do not use this common grace, unless some special and particular grace is given which excites them to do so. { } now, it is of these special graces of which i speak, when i say that they have their times and their seasons. i refer to those divine calls and warnings, those providences, those sacred inspirations, which stir the heart beneath its surface, and bring it, for a time at least, in conscious contact with the infinite and eternal. these, i say, come and go. they have a law of their own. we cannot have them all the time. we cannot appoint a time, and say we will have them to-morrow, or next year. they are like the wind that blows; we hear the sound of it, but we cannot tell whence it comes and whither it goes. they are like the lightning, that shines from the east even unto the west. they come suddenly, and dart a flash of light upon our path, then they are gone. they are like the visit of christ to the two disciples at emmaus: as soon as their hearts began to burn within them, and they discovered who it was that talked with them, he vanished out of their sight. certainly there are proofs enough that such is the law of god's dealings with the soul. if we look back at our own lives, do we not see that we have had our special times when christ visited us? our times of grace? red-letter days in the calendar of our life? i know god's grace acts secretly; and oftentimes when we are under the strongest influence of grace, we are least conscious of it. but when the time is past and over, and we look back upon it, we can see that there was a divine influence upon us, especially if we have corresponded to it. i think each one of us, if he looks back upon the past, will see clearly the times when he has been under the impulse of some unusual movement of the mind, the result of some special grace of god. perhaps it came in the shape of some great affliction. you had a happy home. { } the purest of earthly joys was yours--domestic happiness, perfect sympathy in gladness and in sorrow. but death entered your abode, and the loving voice was silenced, and the kindly eye was closed. and in that deep grief, in that darkness and loneliness christ spoke to your sinking heart, saying, "fear not;" and you came forth out of that affliction with a new strength, with purer aims, with a quietness and peace of heart which only suffering can give. or, perhaps, the crisis in your history was your attendance on a "mission." you had lived in neglect of religion, almost complete. confession was a bugbear to you. years of sin and forgetfulness of god had hardened your conscience. but suddenly all was changed. you seemed a new man. your faith was illuminated with a new brilliancy. sin had a new horror. the string of your tongue was loosed, and oh, with what ease, with what fidelity and exactness, you made that dreaded confession! what comfort you derived from it! and with what energy and determination did you enter on the duties of a christian life! or, it might have been in less striking ways that grace did its work. it may have been a book, a word, an interior inspiration, some of the seasons of the holy church, holy communion, some of the lesser changes of life, a fit of sickness, a violent temptation: these may have been the instruments which god made use of, from time to time, to convey special graces to your soul. sometimes the aim of these graces was to arouse you out of some deeply-seated habit of sin; sometimes to draw your heart away from the world to heaven; sometimes it was a call to prayer; sometimes a warning of danger: in fine, for some purpose bearing on your salvation, there they are, those visits of grace in your past life, as distinct and unmistakable as any other part of your history. when we read the bible story of such saints as abraham, moses, and elias, what strikes us as most wonderful and most beautiful is the familiarity in which they lived with god, how god drew near to them and spoke to them. { } now, such passages have a parallel in the history of each one of us. there are times in our lives, and not a few such times, when god draws near to the soul, when he confronts it, makes special demands upon it, addresses it no longer in general, but particularly and individually; when he says to the soul, go and do this, do not do that, as unmistakably as when he said to abraham: "_go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which i shall show thee_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. xii. .] and if this be so, the mode in which we receive these divine communications must have a great deal to do with our guilt or innocence before god. we read in the book of judges, that on a certain occasion an angel of the lord appeared to manne and his wife, with a message from on high. he appeared to them in a human shape, and spoke with a human voice, and they did not know that he was an angel. it was not until they saw him ascend to heaven in the flame from the altar that they understood that they had been talking with one of the heavenly host. then they said: "_we shall certainly die because we have seen god!_" [footnote ] [footnote : judges xiii. .] now, there is a sense in which this exclamation is neither superstitious nor strange, as the expression, that is, of their anxiety lest in their ignorance they might have treated their heavenly visitor in some unseemly way. o my brethren, it is no light thing for god to draw near to a human soul. it is no light thing for him to speak to us. when he speaks we cannot be as if he had not spoken. "his word shall not return to him void." the relation between the creator and the creature is such, that the moment he speaks our position is altered. when he calls we must either follow or refuse to follow; there is no neutrality possible. { } oh, what a thought, that if indeed god has spoken to us often in our past lives, if he has given us special calls and warnings, we must often have resisted him! there are many of us, i fear, who have altogether too little conscience on this subject. a man comes to confession after an absence of several years. he confesses his more prominent sins against the divine commandments, but perhaps he does not even mention his failure to perform each year his easter duty. and if the confessor calls his attention to it, he has nothing to say but, "oh, yes, i neglected that." you see, he does not realize at all that god has been calling him from year to year, has met him again and again, and exhorted him to repent, and he has refused. another man hears a sermon which thoroughly awakens his conscience. he sees in the clearest light the danger of his besetting sin. his conscience is stirred, he almost resolves to break off his sin, but he does not quite come to the point, he postpones his conversion, and, after a little, dismisses the subject from his mind. now here again, you see, is a distinct resistance to grace. the man has not only continued in sin, but has continued in sin in spite of god's warning. again, a person, free from the grosser forms of sin, has some radical fault of character; some fault which is apparent to everyone but himself; a deep obstinacy; a dangerous levity; an inveterate slothfulness; an overbearing temper; a domineering spirit--faults which are the source of innumerable difficulties--and he is plainly warned of these faults, but refuses to acknowledge them, strengthens himself in his self-deception, and clings to these faults as if they were a necessary part of his character. what is he doing, but frustrating the designs of god, despising his reproof, and rejecting the grace which was meant to make him so much better, so much happier, so much more useful? { } resisted grace! what is that but to withstand god to his face, and to say: _i will not serve?_ to resist grace, what is that but to despise the precious blood of christ. to obtain for us those graces, the blood of christ and all his sufferings were given, and without them we should have been left in our sins and miseries; and so to refuse these graces is to make light of christ's most bitter death and passion. to resist grace, what is that but to refuse glory. for each grace of god has a corresponding degree of glory attached to it; and, if we refuse the one, we reject the other. the truth is, we forget too much god's personal agency in our salvation. we are on earth, and god is far away in heaven. he has indeed left us his law, and he is coming to judge us at the last day, but he is not now a present, watchful, living, speaking god to us. we forget that "_he is not far from every one of us_." we forget that he is about our path, and about our bed; that he watches us with the eagerness and tenderness of a mother for her child; that he intensely desires our salvation; that he pleads with us, warns us, calls to us, stretches out his hand to us all the day long. it is nothing that he himself tells us he stands at the door and knocks; it is nothing that he calls to us from without, saying: "_open to me, my love, for my head is wet with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night;_" we open not; we heed him not; we hear him not. oh! i believe, at the judgment day, many a man will be appalled to see how he has treated christ. in the description which our lord has given us of that day, he tells us that the wicked shall say, in answer to his reproofs: "_when saw we thee hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee?_" so, i believe, many will say: "o lord, when did we refuse to hear thee? when did we shut our hearts to thy grace?" and he will answer: "when, at the voice of my preacher, you refused to forsake that sin; when, at the invitation of my church, you refused to repent and amend; when, at the call of my spirit, you refused to awake from your sloth, and follow after that perfection i demanded of you. in rejecting my agents, you have rejected me. it was i; i, your god and your saviour; i, your end and reward, who walked with you on your way through life, who opened to you the scriptures, and sought to enter in and tarry with you." { } and, again, as resistance to grace is a special sin in itself, and a special matter about which we must render an account to god, so, when persisted in, it is the sure road to final impenitence and reprobation. let me bring before your mind some of our lord's emphatic teaching on this point. toward the latter part of our lord's life, in preaching to his disciples on a certain occasion, he used this parable: "a certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. and he said to the tiller of the vineyard: behold, these three years i came seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and i find none. cut it down therefore; why doth it take up the ground? but he answering, said to him: lord, let it alone this year also, until i dig about it and dung it. and if happily it bear fruit: but if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xiii. - .] the same lesson which in this parable christ conveyed to the ear, he addressed, about the same time, by a striking action, to the eye. as he was going from bethany to jerusalem, he saw a fig-tree by the wayside. "_and he came to it, and found nothing but leaves only, and he said to it: may no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. and immediately the fig-tree withered away. and the disciples seeing it, wondered, saying: how is it presently withered away?_" [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxi. .] the apostles could not fail to connect this action with the parable quoted above, and to understand them both as referring to the rejection of the jewish people. for three years he preached to that people, warned them, and instructed them. then, at last, when they refused to listen to him, he withdrew from them his presence, grace, and blessing, and left them to the consequences of their unbelief and hardness of heart; left them to "wither away." { } listen to his lamentation over that guilty city. it is palm sunday. he is coming to the city in triumph. the crowds are shouting hosannas. at last, in his journey he comes to the mount of olives, whence the holy city is full before his view. he looks at it; he thinks of all he has done to warn that people and convert them; he thinks of the ill success he has met with; he knows that he is going there for the last time, and that in a few days they will fill up the measure of their sins by nailing him to the cross; and, as he looked upon it, he wept over it, and said: "_if thou hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes. for the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone, because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation_." [footnote ] behold the end! a people resisting grace, until at last grace forsakes them, and they are left to their own impenitence and hardness of heart! and behold the fearful image of a soul which has resisted grace, until its final reprobation! [footnote : st. luke xix. - .] yes, my brethren, this is but the fearful image of what passes in many a soul. what does the holy scripture say? "_the man that with a stiff neck despiseth him that reproveth him shall suddenly be destroyed; and health shall not follow him._" [footnote ] [footnote : prov. xxix. .] god does not desire the death of the wicked. god never entirely ceases to strive with man. god never leaves a man altogether destitute of grace. but then god is not bound to impart special graces; and when he finds that these graces are uniformly rejected, when he meets only a hardened heart and a will obstinately bent on evil, he withholds them, or gives them less frequently. meanwhile bad habits increase; sins multiply; the root of sin in the heart becomes deeper and stronger: years pass on in sin, and at last death comes. what kind of a death naturally follows such a life? { } what kind of death often, in point of fact, follows such a life? i will tell you: an impenitent death; the death of the reprobate and the lost. perhaps the man dies a sudden death. he may die in his bed, but die a sudden death for all that; for he may die out of his senses, and unable to do any thing whatever toward making his peace with god. or, he may die in daring rebellion against god. it is possible for men to die so. it is possible for a man who has a deep enmity in his heart to refuse to give it up at the last hour; and it does happen. it is possible for a man who has dishonest wealth in his possession to clutch it even while his fingers are cold and blue in the last agony; and that does happen. it is possible for a man who has lived in shameful sins of unchastity to refuse to dismiss the partner of his guilt, though in five minutes his soul will be in hell; and that too has happened. or, a man may die in despair. the devil may bring the fearful catalogue of his sins before his mind, in all their blackness and enormity; the remembrance of bad confessions and broken resolutions may paralyze his will; and the dreadful record of communions made in sacrilege may complete the temptation, and the poor soul turn away from the crucifix, turn away from the priest, and die pouring forth the ravings of despair. or, on the contrary, he may die in presumption, in self-deceit. he may indeed go through the form of a confession, may receive the sacraments, and cheat himself into thinking it is all right, and be all the time a hypocrite, turning from his sins, not because he hates them, but because he can no longer enjoy them; and may receive the absolution of the priest only to hear it reversed the moment he gets into the presence of the unerring judge, before whom are open all the secrets of the heart. { } death in some such form is, i say, the natural end of neglect of divine calls and warnings; and such a death is, in point of fact, not unfrequently the actual end of such a course. "_for_," says the apostle, "_the earth that drinketh in the rain, which cometh often upon it, and bringeth forth herbs useful for them by whom it is tilled, receiveth blessing from god. but that which bríngeth forth thorns and briers, is rejected, and very near to a curse, whose end is to be burnt_." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. vi. , .] and, o my brethren, if this is so, you who are putting off your conversion, putting off your return to god, to what a risk are you exposing your salvation! you say you will go to your confession at some other time. you are young; you imagine it will be easier in coming years; you think your passions will be weaker, your temptations less. but you are deceiving yourselves. you are counting on that which you do not know will ever be yours. you cannot promise yourself another year. how many who were here a year ago are now numbered with the dead! some of them as young as you are, and who a year ago felt as you do now. you count on special graces, and you have no right to count on them. you are deceiving yourselves, my brethren, you are deceiving yourselves. the freeness and abundance of grace, the _cheapness_ of grace, if i may so express myself, deceives you. god invites, and seems to plead and to beseech you to be saved, and you think it will always be so. you think a time is coming when god will save you in spite of yourselves. you know that you are not now on the road to heaven, you know that you are living in sin, but you think somehow god will interfere and make it right. we are told in the gospel that there was at jerusalem a pool, around which usually lay a great multitude of sick and afflicted people, waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel came down at certain times and troubled the water, and whoever stepped in first after the troubling of the water was healed. { } so it is with slothful, negligent, procrastinating christians. they lie in their sins, waiting for some aid which will raise them to their feet, and make them whole without any effort of their own. vain hope! they will die in their sins. "_you shall seek me_," said christ, "_and you shall die in your sins_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john viii. .] these fearful words are addressed to you, o despiser of god's grace; to you, o young man, who deferrest conversion; to you, lover of pleasure, who will not break with your idols; to you, o drunkard, who will not throw away the intoxicating glass; to you, o avaricious man, who are getting rich by fraud or by the blood of souls. "_you shall die in your sins_." that is the end to which you are tending. as you have despised god, so he will despise you. you shall seek him, but you shall not find him. you shall call upon him, but he will not hearken. at your dying hour, every thing will fail you. prayer will die on your lips, unused to pray. your mind, so long accustomed to love sin, will find it hard to turn from it with true contrition. the priest, ah! the priest cannot save you. he can only help you, can only give you the consolations of religion if you are rightly disposed. and how can you dispose yourself at that dreadful hour, when your mind is filled with a fearful looking for of judgment, when all your sins, and all the graces you have rejected, rise up before your guilty conscience? oh! meet this danger. do not run this risk. resist no longer the grace of god. behold, now once more god calls you to his fear. behold, the days have come "to do penance, and to redeem your sins." god by his holy church makes you another offer. "_turn unto me, and i will turn unto you_," saith the lord. "_let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the lord, and he will have mercy on him_." [footnote ] "_to-day, then, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts_." resolve to prepare for your easter confession. if you came last easter and have persevered, bless god, and come now. if you have fallen away, see where the error was, and learn a deeper humility, and make a stronger purpose, and come again. [footnote : isai. lv. .] { } and, oh if you have stayed away in former years, and are purposing to stay away this easter, too--or if you are too negligent to have formed any purpose; if you are just floating on, heedless and careless, then know, that for all these things god will bring you into judgment, that the severest part of your account will be for graces resisted and rejected; and that you are preparing for yourselves the retribution threatened in those dreadful words: "_because i called and you refused: i stretched out my hand; and there was none that regarded. you have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reproofs. i also will laugh in your destruction: and will mock, when that shall come upon you which you feared. when sudden calamity shall fall upon you, and destruction as a tempest shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you: then they shall call upon me, and i will not hear: they shall rise in the morning, and shall not find me: because they hated instruction, and received not the fear of the lord, nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof. therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices_." [footnote ] [footnote : prov. i. - .] ---------------------------------- { } sermon xiv. the tomb of christ, the school of comfort. (easter sunday.) "jesus saith to her: woman why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?" st. john xx. . how full of tenderness are these words! they were spoken on the first easter day. this weeping woman was mary magdalene, she that had been a great sinner, and was converted, and loved our lord so much. she had been at his cross: she is now at his tomb, with her spices and ointments to anoint his body. but our lord's body was not in the grave. the stone is rolled away. the tomb is open, and he is not there. and yet he is not far away. risen from the dead to a new and mysterious life, he hovers about the garden, and draws near to her as she approaches the sepulchre. at the outburst of her grief on finding the sepulchre empty, he breaks silence. "_woman why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?_" these are the first words our lord spoke after his resurrection. they are the same words that were used by the angel a little before. they seem to be the antiphon, the key-note which heaven has given us to guide our easter thoughts. no tears on easter day. nay, no tears any more of the bitter, hopeless kind, for christ is risen. st. mary magdalene at the tomb of christ represents humanity sitting in the region and shadow of death. now to-day christ comes forward, and speaks comfortable words to the human race. "_why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?_" he challenges us. "i, thy risen saviour," he seems to say, "am thy consoler. what grief is there that i have not removed?" and is it so? are all our real sorrows removed or alleviated by the resurrection of christ? yes; heavenly messengers have appeared bringing good tidings. christ is risen. { } "the stroke of our wound is healed. "_to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up." "the day-spring from on high hath visited us._" the earth feels herself to be lightened of her darkness, and in every church in christendom the cry is again and again repeated: "_alleluia: praise the lord_." it would be too long to attempt to show how every human sorrow can gather consolation from the resurrection of christ. all i can hope to do this morning is to show how the three heaviest troubles of our race--doubt, guilt, and bereavement--find their relief in that event. i call doubt, guilt, and bereavement the heaviest woes of man. in regard to the first, religious doubt, many of you have had no experience. brought up in the catholic church, with her teaching always sounding in your ears, you have never known what it was to have real doubts about religious truth. but there are others who have known that anguish by experience. the soul of man thirsts for truth. deep in every man's soul is a desire for god. it may be stifled, it may be silenced for a time by passion, but there it is, that stretching forth to the fountain of goodness and beauty, that longing to know him and his will. in generous souls, in souls that are conscious of their dignity, the finding of truth is an indispensable necessity. the search for truth is an occupation that must be pursued with whatever pain and trouble, and until it be found life is really insupportable. o my brethren, i do believe that there are souls around us who hunger for truth as a famishing man hungers for food. they labor and toil harder than any day-laborer. they are like men exploring a dark and many-chambered mine. they go with stooping head, and the sweat rolls off their foreheads, and their feet stumble, and with their dim light they can see but a little way before them, and they are in danger of losing their way. { } no doubt they learn something; for god is everywhere; god is in our hearts, and in nature, and in men, and in books, and in the past, and we cannot look for him anywhere without finding his footprints; but we want more than this. we want god to speak to us. we sigh for the lost happiness of eden, where god walked with our first parents in "the cool of the day." this is what men need. they need god to _reveal_ himself to them, to give them certainty in religious truth, at least on the most important points. everywhere men have been seeking this. "_oh that god would rend the heavens and come down!_" [footnote ] [footnote : isaias lxiv. .] this is the cry of humanity, that god would speak to us and make us hear his voice. and they have sought for this voice. they have strained their ears to listen to it. they have sought it of the moon and stars as they moved through the heavens by night; they have sought it in the whispers of the grove; they have sought it at the lips of men of science and pretended religious teachers. but they have met in such sources only with disappointment or deceit. and yet that voice has always been in the world. it spoke at first feebly and low, but louder and louder as time went on, until jesus christ came and "spake as never man spake." he claimed to be the son of god, taught us clearly about god and our destiny, promised his unfailing protection to his church in transmitting his doctrine to all generations, and confirmed the truth, both of his teaching and promises, by rising from the dead according to his word. to him, therefore, belongs the glorious title: "_the faithful and true witness, the first-begotten of the dead._" [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. i. .] eighteen hundred years have passed away, but his word has lost none of its authority, and now this morning we can say, as to every point of the catholic creed, with as much certainty as on the morning of the resurrection the apostles felt in regard to all the words of christ--"_i believe_." o glorious privilege of a catholic! "_rejoice_," says the prophet, "_and be glad in the lord, o children of sion, because he hath given to you a teacher of justice_." [footnote ] [footnote : joel ii. .] { } obedient to this inspired injunction, the church requires the creed to be sung at her great solemnities. it is not enough to recite it. no; it must be sung, sung in full chorus, accompanied with instruments of music. and fitting it is and right. worship would be incomplete without it. litanies and hymns are the means by which the heart does homage to god; but credo, "_i believe_," that is the intellect's cry of joy at its emancipation from the bondage of doubt. oh, how mistaken are those who imagine that the articles of the creed are like fetters on the mind. on the contrary, they are to us the evidences of that liberty wherewith christ has made us free. we reject temptations against faith, as attacks on our happiness. we feel that to doubt the doctrine of faith would be to doubt the son of god, and to doubt him would be to discredit our own soul. be firm, then, my brethren in faith. remember that faith is part of your birthright and privilege as christians. the sepulchre of christ is the gate to the palace of truth. see, the door is open. the stone is rolled away. oh, enter and be blest. with thomas look at his wounded side and say, "_my lord and my god!_" with magdalene fall at his feet and call him "_master_." listen to his words and doubt no more. "_being no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, but holding the truth in charity, in all things grow up in him who is the head, christ_." [footnote ] [footnote : eph. iv. .] again, as doubt is the bondage of the intellect, so guilt is the burden of the conscience. who can give peace to a soul that has sinned? the prophet micheas well describes the anxiety of such a soul. "_what shall i offer to the lord that is worthy? wherewith shall i kneel before the high god? shall i offer holocausts unto him, and calves of a year old? will he be appeased with thousands of rams? shall i give my first-born for my wickedness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?_" [footnote ] [footnote : mich. vi. .] { } now, must we for ever go on in this uncertainty? shall we never, after we have sinned, have again the assurance that we are pardoned? must we go trembling all our days, and be terror-stricken at the hour of death? are we left to our own fancyings and feelings to decide whether we are pardoned or not? shall we never _hear_ that sweet consoling word: "_go in peace, thy sins are forgiven thee?_" yes, christ is risen. he is come from the grave "with healing in his wings." he is come as a conqueror, with the trophies of victory. hear what he says of himself: "_i am he that liveth and was dead, and behold i live forever, and have the keys of hell and death_." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. i. .] he has come back from the grave with the keys of hell in his hand. while he was yet among men he had promised to give those keys to st. peter and the apostles, but it was only after his death, by which he had merited our pardon, and after his resurrection, by which his father had attested his acceptance of the ransom, that he proceeded solemnly to deliver them. "_now when it was late_," says st. john, "_that same day_" (easter day) "_jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: peace be to you. as the father hath sent me, i also send you. when he had said this, he breathed on them: and he said to them, receive the holy ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xx. .] do you hear this, o sinner? he offers you pardon, and he assures you of it. all he asks of you is a true sorrow; all he asks is a fervent and true purpose to offend him no more. come, confessing your sins; come, forsaking them, and he has promised that his priest shall declare to you, in his name: "i absolve thee from thy sins." { } he has promised to ratify the sentence in heaven. can you doubt his power? can you doubt his truth? no: he has risen for our justification. "_what shall we say then to these things? if god be for us, who shall be against us? who shall lay anything to the charge of the elect of god? it is god that justifieth. who is he that shall condemn? it is christ that died, yea also who is risen again_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. viii. .] do not look on us, the ministers of his grace, weak and frail as we are. look at the saviour. look at him dying on the cross, a ransom for our sins. look at him, rising from the dead on the third day, having accomplished a complete victory over our spiritual enemies, and bringing to us life and pardon. see him in his divine power, instituting sacraments by which that life and pardon might be communicated to us. believe his word, trust his merits, have recourse to his sacraments, and thus, "_being justified by faith have once more peace with god, and rejoice again in hope of the glory of god_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. v. .] come, forgiven sinner, lift up your head, for god hath cleansed you. be happy: be a christian: be a man once more, for you are clothed again in the garments of innocence and sanctity. it is no incomplete and grudging pardon he has given you. though your sins "were as scarlet," they are now as "white as snow;" though they were "red like crimson," they are "as white as wool." "he hath cast your sins into the bottom of the sea." they shall never be mentioned to you again. he has even restored to you again the merits you had acquired in days of innocence, and lost again by sin. he has "_restored to you the years which the locust and the caterpillar and the mildew and the palmer-worm hath eaten_." [footnote ] let, then, gratitude fill your heart, let joy be written on your face, and let holy resolves for the future correspond to the mercy you have received. [footnote : joel ii. .] { } yes, my brethren, christ at his sepulchre satisfies the intellect and heals the conscience--and he also silences another cry of human woe. it is that of which the prophet spoke when he said: "_a voice was heard of lamentation, of mourning and weeping, rachel weeping for her children and refused to be comforted, because they are not_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. xxxi. .] oh! it is hard to see one we love die, but is it not harder to our sensitive nature to bury them? that makes us feel what we have lost. reason tells us that the soul is immortal, but we need something more for our comfort. the heart asks, "what is to become of the body that i loved so much?" talk of the lifeless and speechless corpse. it is not lifeless and speechless to me. those cold lips smile the old smile on me, and whisper in my ear a thousand words of kindness. and oh, to part with that! to lose even that sad comfort! to have the body of the dead taken away from us, is not that a grief? such was mary magdalene's sorrow. "_they have taken away my lord out of the sepulchre, and i know not where they have laid him_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xx. .] she could bear any thing but that. she had borne up at our lord's death. it was a bitter thing, but then she stood at the foot of the cross on which he hung, and she could look up at him and see him. she had borne up on friday evening, for then she was busy preparing her spices and ointments. she had borne up on saturday, for she was thinking all day of her visit to the grave next morning. but on sunday, to go and find his body gone--never again to look upon those lips that had spoken peace to her soul; never again to kiss with affection those sacred feet,--oh, this was too much. and mary stood at the sepulchre weeping. but lo! what voice is that which speaks: "_woman, why weepest thou?_" it is the voice of jesus himself, of jesus whom she mourns. himself, flesh and blood, the very jesus whom she had known and loved. { } so, my brethren, as you weep at the graves of your friends, those very friends stand near you and say, "why weepest thou?" weep not for me. weep not for me, childless mother! weep not for me, my orphan child! weep not for me, my sorrowing friend! leave my body awhile in the grave. it is not dead but sleeps. "_for i know that my redeemer liveth, and in the last day i shall arise out of the earth. and i shall be clothed again with my skin and in my flesh i shall see my god: whom i myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another's_." [footnote ] [footnote : job xix. .] touch me not yet: wait awhile, and you shall see my hands and feet, that it is i myself. "_for as in adam all die, so also in christ all shall be made alive. but every one in his own order; the first fruits christ, then they that are of christ, who have believed in his coming_." [footnote ] [footnote : i. cor. xv. .] strange it is that our comfort and joy should come out of the grave. but so it is. by the resurrection of christ all our woes are healed. our new life springs from the sepulchre of christ. christ is risen we believe. christ is risen; we are pardoned. christ is risen; death loses its power to separate christians. mourn then no longer, my brethren, it is easter. believe, and rejoice. forsake your sins, and rejoice. bury your dead in christ, and rejoice in hope. the former things are passed away; all things are become new. "_the winter is now passed; the rain is over and gone. the flowers have appeared; the time of pruning is come; the voice of the dove is heard in our land_." [footnote ] [footnote : cant. ii. , .] it is easter. this is that day "which the lord hath made." this is the lord's passover. the red sea is crossed: we are delivered out of egypt, and are marching to the promised land. it is easter. mary has been at the sepulchre early this morning and has seen the saviour. jesus has appeared in the midst of the disciples, saying, "peace be with you." some have known him in breaking of bread. to some he has drawn near as they walked along and discoursed together. some that were sad he has comforted. how has it been with each of you? { } has this day been a day of joy to you? has it awakened you to new life, new hopes, new aspirations? or does it find you cold, dead to spiritual things, perhaps not even in the grace of god, and in love with your sins! oh, at least now awake to the hopes and desires of a christian. "_the day is far spent; it draweth toward evening_." let not this glorious feast depart and leave you as you are. while angels and the son of god are abroad on the earth, scattering grace and consolation, do not you alone remain unblest. claim your privileges as a christian, and, risen with christ in baptism, seek those things that are above, where christ sitteth at the right hand of god. and you, faithful souls who have done your duty, who have found in this feast a joy and comfort that passes understanding, know that the gladness of easter is but an earnest of another day, the great day of eternity, which will open on the morning of resurrection, and which knows no evening; which has no need of the sun, for god is the light thereof; when god shall wipe away all tears; and death shall be no more; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. -------------------------- sermon xv. st. mary magdalene at the sepulchre. (easter sunday. [footnote ]) [footnote : the substance of this sermon is from st. thomas of villanova.] "but he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to mary magdalene." --st. mark xvi. . { } st. mary magdalene may be called the saint of the resurrection. she is intimately associated with that event in the pages of the scriptures, and in the minds of christians. indeed, the gospel account of the resurrection embraces an almost continuous record of the actions of this holy woman from the crucifixion until easter day; and i have thought that in tracing that record this morning, while i am presenting to you the great mystery of to-day's celebration, i shall at the same time be pointing out to you the means of obtaining those graces which our risen lord has come to impart. st. mary magdalene's history for these three days is a history of love. every thing she does, every thing she says, is a proof of her love for our lord. and the distinguishing favors our lord bestowed on her are a pledge of what we may look for to-day, if we imitate her love. first, then, we are told, that when our lord was taken down from the cross, and laid in the new tomb of joseph of arimathea, she went "and saw how the body was laid." one might have thought it would have satisfied her to stand by the cross, through those fearful hours, till it was an over, and then to have returned home. no; love will see the last. she will follow on to the grave. it is true the dead bodies of our friends feel not our kindness, but still we want them treated with tenderness and care. so mary follows the corpse to the burial, and, when it is laid in the sepulchre, she looks in to see how it is laid. not a superficial look: no, an earnest scrutinizing gaze. she sees how the drooping head lays on its stony pillow, and how the pierced hands and feet are disposed. she makes a picture of it all in her own mind, and "then returns to the city to prepare spices and ointments." now, there was no need at all of this. nicodemus had come, as soon as pilate had given the disciples possession of our lord's body, and brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, a hundred pounds weight." but mary does not care for that. others may do what good works they choose, but she will not be cheated of hers. and what she does she will do prodigally, too. it was her way. { } you remember how, at the house of simon, she brought her alabaster box of ointment, and broke it, and scattered it over the feet of jesus, so that the whole house was filled with the perfume; and how judas found fault with her, saying, "this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and given to the poor." our lord attempted then to excuse her extravagance, saying, "she hath done this against the day of my burial." no, she would do it then, and she would do it at his burial, too. nicodemus and "the holy women" may bring as much as they like, but she will do her part. precious and costly shall her offering be as she can make it, not because he needs it, but because her heart is straitened to express its love. it is her pleasure to spend and be spent for him whom she loved; and all she can do is too little. but while mary's love was impulsive and generous, it was obedient. "she rested on the sabbath day, according to the commandment." here is a test of true love. we want to do something very much; we think the motive is good; but there comes a providential obstacle in the way. we cannot do it just now. we cannot do it just in the way we want. and too often our love is not pure enough for this test. we murmur and complain, and commit a thousand disobediences, and show how much self-love had to do with our undertakings. it was not so with this holy woman. she waited all the sabbath day. it was god's command. the seventh day was kept by the jews with a ceremonial strictness that forbade all work; and she would keep the commandment to the letter. so not a step would she take on the sabbath, not even to the saviour's grave. i am sure that sabbath was a long one to her. never was time's foot so heavy. never did the hours go so slow. never were the sacred services so tedious. a thousand times she goes to the window to see if the shadows were getting long, and each time it seems to her that the sun is standing still. o loving heart! loving in what she did not do, as well as in what she did. she will not take liberties with her conscience. { } she will not be officious or intrusive. she will not please herself on pretence of doing something for god. and so, though her heart is at the sepulchre all day, though she yearns to go thither, not a foot will she stir, not a hand will she lift, till she knows that the fitting time is come. her love was that _orderly charity_ of which the holy scripture speaks. [footnote ] [footnote : cant. ii. .] but the longest day has an end, and the end of that sabbath at last arrived. the sun sinks beneath the horizon. the evening sacrifice is over. darkness falls upon the temple aisles, and the last worshipper departs. by degrees the streets of jerusalem become silent and deserted. it is night, a glorious night; for the full paschal moon pours down its floods of light upon the holy city. and now the good woman, laden with her ointments and spices, sets out for the sepulchre. alone, or only with a feeble woman like herself, she goes out late at night, and whither? to a garden outside the city, where a band of soldiers keep watch over a grave, closed with a great stone, and sealed with the seal of state. is she not afraid? docs she not run a thousand risks? even supposing she reaches the place in safety, will she be permitted to approach the grave? who will roll the stone from the door? who will dare to break the seal? o holy boldness of love! which, when a duty is to be done, asks no questions, and knows no difficulties. o love! stronger than death, despising torments and casting out fear! here is the wisdom of the saints. here is the secret of all the great things that have been done for god. there is a higher wisdom and a higher prudence than the wisdom and the prudence of this world. there is a trust in god which is ever regarded as daring and enthusiastic, but which god justifies, and men themselves are forced at last to applaud. { } such were the sentiments with which st. mary magdalene went to the sepulchre. but here a new circumstance demands our attention. she set out, we are told, "while it was yet dark." it was night, the dead of night, when she left her house, and she did not reach the sepulchre till "the sun was risen." how did this happen? the place in which our lord was crucified was, as the evangelist tell us, "near the city." and, one reason why pilate suffered the disciples to lay our lord's body in joseph's tomb was, because it was close to the place of crucifixion, and the body could be laid there before the passover began. what, then, delayed st. mary magdalene so long? what is the meaning of this? so prompt and eager in setting out, so tardy in arriving? love, again, my brethren, is the explanation. she had to pass through the city. her road was what is called the "way of sorrows," which jesus took when he was led to calvary, and along which she had followed him on good friday. how could she go fast? every step brought its own memories. there was the house of caiaphas. there the judgment-hall of pilate. there the balcony at which jesus had been presented to the crowd, clad in a purple robe and crowned with thorns. there stood the pillar at which he had been scourged, and there was the spot at which he had fallen under the weight of his cross, and it was given to simon of cyrene to carry. no, her course was a pilgrimage. each step was a holy station, at which she stopped awhile to pray and call to mind the events of that dreadful morning. and when she came to calvary, where the cross was still standing, and threw herself on the ground to kiss the sod still wet with the saviour's blood, the hours pass by unheeded, for jesus hangs there again, and mary, his mother, is by her side, and each tender word, each look of sorrow is again repeated. love meditates. love lingers in the footsteps of its beloved, and the shortest, sweetest hours it finds on earth are hours of prayer. what wonder, then, that mary kneels, embracing the foot of the cross, in perfect forgetfulness of all else besides, until, as she raises her eyes to cast an adoring glance, she sees that the cross is gilded by the red gleam of the coming easter sun--that it is already day. thus recalled to herself, she kisses that sacred tree for the last time, tears herself from it, and hurries off to fulfil the work she had in hand. { } and she arrived at the sepulchre just in time, or rather god was there to meet her to reward her love. for the moment she arrived, "there was a great earthquake, and an angel of the lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. and his countenance was like lightning and his raiment as snow. and for fear of him the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men. and the angel, answering, said to the woman: 'fear not you, for i know that you seek jesus who was crucified. he is not here, for he is risen, as he said. come and see the place where the lord was laid. and go quickly, tell his disciples that he is risen, and behold, he will go before you into galilee. and they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.' [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxviii. - .] see her running from the sepulchre as fast as she had so lately run to it; for love easily changes its employment at the voice of its beloved. she had come to anoint the body of jesus; there is no need of that now, for jesus is alive; but still there is something to do for jesus--to tell his disciples. peter, james, john, and the other disciples are at home, sorrowful and fearful. he whom they loved and trusted is no more; and they, whither shall they go? besides this, there was an additional sorrow. they had forsaken their good master in the day of his distress; peter had even denied with an oath that he knew him; and they now sat depressed and anxious in that upper chamber in which so lately they had eaten the passover with him. but he is alive! and mary knows it! shall she wait to see him? { } no, she must go _quickly_ and tell his disciples. "this commandment have we from god, that he that loveth god, love his brother also." [footnote ] [footnote : i. st. john iv. .] and mary leaves the sepulchre, leaves christ, to go and carry the joyful news to his afflicted brethren. with nimble feet, with eager countenance, she returns to the city, seeks out the well-known house, and appears in the midst of the sorrowing group, with the exclamation: "jesus is alive! he is risen from the dead!" alas! poor magdalene! "her words seemed to them as an idle tale." to us, familiar with the doctrine and proofs of our lord's resurrection, it is wonderful how slow the apostles were to believe it. no doubt, their slowness to believe is a benefit to us, because it was the occasion of multiplying the proofs. perhaps, too, it was not unnatural; for faith does not come all at once. there is often a period between doubt and faith, a period of inconsistency; in which one is at one moment all christian, and at another believes nothing. certainly it was so with the apostles on easter day, and mary magdalene seems to have shared their infirmity. the apostles, as soon as they had heard the news that christ has risen, set out for the sepulchre. when they came to the place, they found indeed the grave open, and the linen cloths, in which the lord's body had been wrapped, lying in it, and the guard gone; but him they saw not. mary magdalene accompanied them, and when she saw neither the lord himself, nor the angel who had spoken to her, and when she saw the incredulous looks of the disciples, she herself began to doubt. but though her faith was weak, her love was strong; and she stood at the door of the sepulchre, weeping. at least she will not give up the idea of finding the lord's body, and carrying out her first intention of embalming it. so she stands at the sepulchre, and looks in. { } she had looked in many times already; she had every corner of it by heart; but she looks in again. she will see the place where the lord lay, if she cannot see himself: and lo! this time she sees a new sight. there are two angels, in white, sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of jesus had lain. angels again! but this time not angels of fear, with a terrible countenance, as the first had been, but angels of comfort and peace. and they spoke to her: "woman, why weepest thou? why dost thou seek the living among the dead?" one would have thought it was something to see an angel, and hear his voice: but this good woman makes very little of it. no angel will satisfy her now. "they have taken away my lord," she replies, "and i know not where they have laid him." is not this grief enough to have lost a lord, a friend, a saviour, such as jesus was, and not even to have so much as his lifeless body left on which to lavish her endearments. o my brethren, no created thing can satisfy the soul. i say not, though we had all the treasures of earth, but though we had all the treasures of heaven; though angels and saints were ours; though we had visions and revelations; yet all would be nothing if we had not god. heaven would be hell without him, and at the very gate of paradise the soul would weep and say, "they have taken away my lord." but at this point a new actor appears on the scene. a man approaches, and addresses magdelene in the same words that the angels had used: "woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?" she takes him for the gardener, and suddenly a suspicion seizing her that he might know something of the treasure she had lost, turned upon him and said: "sir, if thou hast borne him away, tell me where thou hast laid him; and i will take him away." she does not answer his question. she does not tell him whom she is seeking. for, as st. bernard observes, "love imagines everyone is as full of the object of its love as it is itself;" and so she says: "if thou hast borne _him_ away, tell me where thou hast laid _him_, and i will take _him_ away." { } no need to mention his name. all things knew it. the sun publishes it. it is written on the leaves. the wind utters it. it is the name that is above every name--the name at which every knee must bow. "tell me where thou hast laid him, and i will go and carry him away." what, you! a weak woman! can you carry away a heavy corpse? yes, she can; and they that doubt it do not know how strong love is, how great a weight it can carry, what hard things it can do, and how it makes a man do what is above nature, or, rather, how, with faith and grace, it brings out the power that is in these human hearts of ours, and awakens their latent energies. and now jesus can restrain himself no longer; for jesus it is who now speaks with her. she had charged him with taking away the sacred body, and she was right. he it was who had taken it from the grave. "i have power to lay it down," said he, "and i have power to take it up again. [footnote ] [footnote : st. john x. .] yes, it was jesus. he had seen her tears, listened to her complaint, watched her efforts, and now the time had come when he would disclose himself to her. he said to her: "mary!" oh! what voice is that? what sweet and tender memories it wakes up! the home of bethany, the banqueting-hall of simon, mount calvary, all are brought before her. she turns and looks keenly at the speaker, and one look is enough. it is he, the same--the very same who spoke pardon and peace to her soul, when first, a guilty woman, she had washed his feet with her tears. it is jesus. he lives again. and, with her accustomed salutation, she kneels before him, and says: "rabboni!" which is to say, master! { } how much is expressed in this brief interview. "mary!" it is a word of gentle reproach. mary, dost thou not remember my words--my promise--that i would rise again? mary,--dost thou not believe my angels, bearing testimony to my resurrection? mary, whose brother lazarus i have raised from the grave, dost thou not think that i am as powerful to rise from the dead as to restore life to others? "_mary!_" it is a term of affection. as much as to say: i am risen; but i am still thy friend. i do not forget the past, and now, on this glorious morning of my resurrection, i tell thee that i know thee by thy name, and love thee with the same love with which i loved thee in the days of my sorrow'. and, "_master!_" is her fitting reply. "master of my heart, whom only i have loved!" "master of my faith, whom now' i acknowledge as indeed risen from the dead!" "master, whose truth and power i have been so slow to understand!" "master, whom all my future life shall honor and obey!" o happy magdalene! her search is ended. her tears are dried. o joy beyond all thought! she has seen him, and talked with him! o my brethren, need i say more? has not st. magdalene preached an easter sermon? love is the way to keep this feast. love is the way to faith and joy. it is the way to faith, for our lord says: "if any man shall do the will of god he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of god." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john vii. .] it is said of magdalene that she loved much because she was pardoned much; i say she believed much because she loved much. and love is the way to joy. who are they that are truly happy on this day? they who with magdalene have sought jesus; they who by a true confession and a devout communion have united themselves to the risen saviour, and conversed with him in sweet familiarity. for to them our lord speaks and says: "fear not, i have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. i am the lord, thy saviour, thy redeemer, the mighty one of jacob. behold my hands and feet, that it is i myself! fear not, israel my chosen, and jacob mine elect, for i am he that liveth and was dead, and have the keys of hell and death. and behold! i am alive for ever more!" ----------------------------- { } sermon xvi. the preacher, the organ of the holy ghost. (fourth sunday after easter.) "when he the spirit of truth shall come, he will lead you into all truth." st. john xvi. . i need hardly say that the words "_all truth_" in this promise mean all truth relating to our salvation. it is no part of our lord's plan to teach us the truths of natural science. he leaves us to discover these by our own intelligence. he comes to teach us faith and morals--what we are to believe, and what we are to do, in order to be saved. he did this while he was on earth by his conversations with his disciples, and by his public sermons to the jews; but he promised that this work should be carried on after his death more extensively and systematically. thus, in the words of the text: "when he the spirit of truth shall come he will lead you into all truth." [footnote ] and again: "_the paraclete, the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and will bring all things to your mind whatsoever i shall have said to you_."[footnote ] it cannot but be a matter of interest to inquire in what manner this promise has been fulfilled. [footnote : st. john xvi. .] [footnote : st. john xiv. .] i answer, the holy ghost leads us into all truth necessary to our salvation by the public preaching of the word of god. if we examine our lord's words attentively, we shall be led to the conclusion that the ministry of the holy ghost to which he alludes is a public ministry. his own ministry was a public one, and in promising that the holy ghost should carry it on and complete it, he leads us to anticipate that the ministry of the holy ghost would also be public. { } and his own subsequent language shows that this is really so, and acquaints us with the way in which this ministry is to be exercised. just before our lord's ascension he met the apostles on a mountain in galilee, and said to them: "_all power is given to me in heaven and in earth. go ye, therefore, and teach all nations; baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you; and behold i am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world_." [footnote ] august and extensive as this commission was, it did not by itself qualify the apostles for their great work. they were to wait in jerusalem "till they were endued with power from on high." this "power" was the holy ghost which actually did descend on them at the feast of pentecost. here we find a company of men commissioned by christ to teach the world in his name, and empowered by the holy ghost for that purpose. we find these men afterward everywhere claiming to be the organs of the holy ghost. thus, at the council of jerusalem, they did not hesitate to publish their decrees with this preface: "_it hath seemed good to the holy ghost and to us_." [footnote ] and st. paul tells the bishops of ephesus, that they were placed over the church "_by the holy ghost_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxviii. - .] [footnote : acts xv. .] [footnote : acts xx. .] now, who does not see here the realization and fulfilment of the great promise of christ which i have quoted as my text? that teaching of the holy ghost which was to follow his, which was to bring all things to remembrance which he had said, which was to abide forever, and which was to make known all necessary truth, was the teaching of the apostles and their successors. it is the teaching of the holy ghost, because the holy ghost moves them to preach, furnishes them with the rule of their doctrine, and gives them their warrant and authority. in this sense it is that our lord's promise is to be understood. it is a promise that reaches to all time. { } it concerns us here and now. it assures us that at this day, far removed as we are from the times of christ, across so many centuries, the holy ghost through the agency of the church still brings to us the echoes of his words. he does this in the most solemn and authoritative way by those great decisions of the church to which he sets the seal of his infallibility; but he does it in less solemnity, less authoritatively, but more frequently, by the preaching of each individual priest. it is for this end that the priest is ordained. he is consecrated and set apart, not merely to say mass, not merely to receive the confessions of penitent sinners and absolve them, but to publish the word of god; and he is empowered by the holy ghost for this very purpose. the christian preacher is no mere lecturer, but an authorized agent and messenger of god, to deliver to the people the will of god. it is chiefly by the ordinance of preaching, in its various forms, that the holy ghost carries on the work of instructing men's faith, and regulating their morals. and here, i think, is to be found the real answer to a misconception of our principles so common among protestants. it is very commonly said and believed that the catholic church wishes to keep the people in ignorance of the scriptures. now, this is not true. the church does not wish to keep the scriptures from the people. on the contrary, in all cases in which they are likely to prove beneficial she approves and encourages their use; but she does not regard the reading of the scriptures as the necessary, or even as the ordinary mode of familiarizing the people with the word of god. thousands have gone to heaven who never read one page of the bible. st. irenæus instances whole nations who professed and practised christianity in entire ignorance of the divine records. how many people in every generation are unable to read. now, god has not made a twofold system of salvation; one for the ignorant and one for the educated. { } no: according to the catholic idea, for rich and poor, for learned and unlearned alike, there is one way of truth--the living voice of the preacher. this is god's way. this is the voice of the holy ghost. this is the publication of the word of god. this is the sword of the spirit. the decree has never been revoked: "_the priest's lips shall keep knowledge; and the people shall seek the law at his mouth; because he is the messenger of the lord of hosts_." [footnote ] [footnote : mal. ii. .] but an objection may be drawn against this high view of the ordinance of preaching, from the infirmities of the preacher himself. it may be said: you tell us that the holy ghost speaks by the voice of the preacher, yet the preacher is but a fallible man, ignorant of many things, liable to be deceived himself, not free from passions which may affect his judgment. may he not falsify his message? may he not dishonor it? i do not deny the fact on which this objection is founded. undoubtedly, the preacher may be unfaithful in the delivery of his message. in the catholic church, however, the watchfulness of discipline, and the general acquaintance on the part of the people with the standards of faith and practice, will prevent any very serious error finding its way into the public teaching of the priest. who supposes, for instance, that any catholic congregation would tolerate from the pulpit a denial of transubstantiation, or the true divinity of our lord, or the necessity of good works? but within a certain limit, no doubt, there may be much imperfection in the preacher, much that detracts from the purity, the majesty, and the dignity of the word of god. what then? i affirm, nevertheless, that preaching is the great instrument of the holy ghost for the conversion of souls. strange, that we should start back at every new manifestation of a law that goes all through christianity, and even through all the arrangements of the natural world. { } in every department of human life, god makes man his representative--man fallible and weak. the judge on the bench represents god's wisdom and equity, though his decisions are often far enough from that divine pattern. the magistrate represents god's authority, though in his hands that authority is sometimes made the warrant for tyranny and oppression. so, in like manner, the preacher represents the holy ghost, though he does not always represent him worthily either in manner or matter. it is part of a plan. he who chooses man, sinful like ourselves, and encompassed with infirmities, to convey his pardon to the guilty, chooses as the organ of the eternal wisdom, "_holy, one, manifold, subtle, eloquent, undefiled, having all power, overseeing all things, the brightness of eternal light, the unspotted mirror of god's majesty_ [footnote ] --man, with stammering lips, with a feeble intellect and an impure heart. [footnote : wisd. vii. - .] and there is a reason in this plan. when the church goes out to evangelize a new and strange people, she seeks, as soon as possible, to secure some of the natives to aid her in her work, who know the speech, and the manners, and the habits of thought, of those with whom they have to deal. no doubt her old, tried missionaries could furnish an instruction which would be more complete in itself, but the words of the neophyte will be better understood and received. so god, when he speaks to man, chooses as his instrument one who understands the dialect of earth. an angel would be a messenger answering better to his dignity, but less to our necessities; so he considers our welfare alone, and passes by raphael, "who is one of the daily angels," and michael, "who is one of the chief princes," and gabriel, who is the _strength of god_, and chooses moses, who was "slow of speech," and jeremias, who was diffident as a child, and amos, who was but a herdsman, following the flock--to utter his will to man. { } the human alloy in the divine word, no doubt, makes it less accurate, but it makes it more easily understood. oh! it is a mercy of god thus to disguise himself and dilute his word. the children of israel said to moses: "_speak thou to us, and we will hear. let not the lord speak any more to us, lest we die_." [footnote ] who could look upon the lord and live? who could listen to his voice in its untempered majesty and not be afraid? "_the word of god is more penetrating than any two-edged sword, reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also, and the marrow_." [footnote ] [footnote : exod. xx. .] [footnote : heb. iv. .] do not be displeased, then, because god has sent to thee a messenger like thyself, one who speaks thy language, who shares thy ignorance and thy frailties; pardon him, forgive him his defects, strain your ear to detect in his lowly language some notes of that great message of eternal truth and infinite love, the story so old yet ever new--the love of christ, the will of god, the end of man, grace, holiness, and eternity, those things on which depend our happiness here and our salvation hereafter. but here i feel as if i ought to add a word or two of explanation. when i say that the holy ghost teaches by the voice of the preacher, i do not mean to assert that he teaches in no other way. a very great part of the preacher's message consists of truths which are already written by the finger of god on every man's natural conscience. a preacher is not required to make us understand that it is wrong to break the precepts of the moral law. natural reason, the light that enlighteneth every man that comes into this world, tells us that. i could not but be struck the other day, as i passed two young men in the street, at hearing the honest protest with which one of them met the sophistry in which his companion was evidently trying to indoctrinate him: "what!" said he, "you don't mean to say it isn't a sin to get drunk!" { } indeed, it is seldom that men justify themselves for actions that are plainly wrong. they are still too full of the holy ghost for that. passion corrupts their will, but does not always darken their understanding. they know the right while they pursue the wrong. but this circumstance does not make the office of the preacher unnecessary; by no means. on the contrary, it is from this that the preacher derives a great part of his power. what he says finds an echo in the hearts of his hearers. one of the strongest things that st. paul said in his defence before agrippa was the appeal: "_king agrippa, believest thou the prophets? i know that thou believest_." [footnote ] [footnote : acts xxvi. .] and so when the preacher is speaking before a congregation, of justice, of temperance, of judgment to come, do you know what it is that gives him such boldness and daring? my brethren, i will tell you a secret. perhaps you may sometimes have felt surprise when you have heard us, who have so many reasons for feeling diffident before you, so keen in denouncing your sins, so vehement in urging you to your duties. are we not afraid of wounding your pride, of alienating your affections? no: it is in your hearts that we have our strength. we would not dare to speak so unless we knew that we had a powerful ally in your hearts--your better nature, your reason, your conscience, the divinity that is within you. it is the greatest mistake in the world to suppose that it is unnecessary to tell people what they know already. half the good advice that is given in the world consists of the most commonplace and familiar truths, but will anyone say for that reason that it is useless? no: the fact is, it is a great help to hear our own convictions uttered outside of us. a man believes more, is more conscious of his belief, his belief becomes more distinct, more serviceable, when he hears it from another's lips. { } what a mercy of god it is, then, in a world like this, where there are so many temptations, where there are so many evil examples, so much to draw off the mind from god, where it is so easy to obscure the line between right and wrong, that there should be an authoritative voice lifted up from time to time in warning! what a mercy, in those dreadful moments when the conflict rages high between passion and principle, and the soul, weary of the strife, is on the point of surrender, to be re-enforced by god almighty's aid--to hear his voice amid the strife, saying: "_this is the way; walk ye in it!_" [footnote ] [footnote : isaiah xxx. .] and then it must be remembered, too, that there is much of the preacher's message that is not known to man's natural reason, consisting of mysteries deep and high, which at the best can be known only in part; and it is apparent how much it must depend on the preacher's office to keep these mysteries in men's minds, and to secure for them a place in men's intelligence and affections. the christian faith has always, from the beginning, been surrounded by adversaries who have attacked it, now on one side, now on another. we are apt to think it our peculiar misfortune to hear continually the doctrines of our faith disputed; but in fact such has been, more or less, the trial of each generation of christian believers. now, amid such ceaseless controversies, what means has our lord left to protect and defend his people from doubt and error? the ministry of preaching. therefore, says the holy scripture: "_some he gave to be apostles, and some prophets, and others evangelists, and others pastors and teachers, that we may not now be children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, in the wickedness of men, in craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive._" [footnote ] [footnote : eph. xi. - .] { } it is the office of the preacher to declare christian doctrine, to defend and explain it, to show its consistency and excellence, to answer objections against it, and thus to add to the power of hereditary faith the force of personal conviction. the church has always understood this, and therefore, whenever a new heresy arises, she sends out a new phalanx of preachers to confront it by good and sound doctrine. and the enemies of the church have always understood it, and therefore, in times of persecution, when they wished to deal the christian faith a deadly blow, they sought in the first place, by the murder of bishop and priest, to silence the voice of the teacher. it was one of the last woes threatened against jerusalem that the people should seek in vain for a vision of the prophet, and that the law should perish from the priests; [footnote ] and when in the christian church there shall be heard no more the message of truth, when there shall be no more reproof, no more instruction in justice, the iniquity shall come in like a flood; then shall be the abomination of desolation, and the time of antichrist. [footnote : ezech. vii. .] great, then, my brethren, is the dignity of preaching. it is god speaking on mount sinai. it is jesus preaching on the mount. it is the divine sower scattering the seeds of truth and virtue. the holy ghost has not left the world. in every christian church, at every mass, the day of pentecost is renewed. see, the priest has clothed himself to celebrate the unbloody sacrifice. he has ascended the altar. already the clouds of incense hang over the mercy-seat, and hymns of praise ascend;--but he stops, he turns to the people. why does he interrupt the mass? has he seen a vision? has an angel spoken to him, as of old to the prophet zacharias? yes, he has seen a vision. he has heard a voice. a fire is in his heart. a living coal hath touched his lips, the breath of the spirit hath passed over him, and he speaks as he is moved by the holy ghost. listen to him, for he is a prophet. he speaks to thee from god. what is thy misery? what is thy sorrow? what is thy trial? { } now thou shalt find relief. are you in doubt about religious truth? listen, and you shall find the answer to those doubts. are you sorely tempted to sin? now god will give you an oracle to strengthen you. are you distressed and suffering? have you a secret sorrow? now you shall receive an answer of comfort. do you wish to know how to advance in god's love? now the way shall be made plain before your face. o blessed truth! god has not left himself without a witness. the world is not to have it all its own way. the teachings of satan are not to go on all the week uncontradicted. the dream of the heathen, that there are sacred spots on earth whence divine oracles issue, is fulfilled. the chair of truth is set up for the enlightenment of the nations. "_the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death light is sprung up." "the earth is filled with the knowledge of the lord, as the waters cover the sea_." [footnote ] [footnote : isaias ix. , .] this subject suggests some very practical reflections. i am not unmindful that some of them concern the preacher himself. i do not forget that the thought of the high dignity of his office calls for the greatest purity of purpose and diligence of preparation; but while i remember this, suffer me also to remind you of your duty in listening to the preacher. st. paul praises the thessalonians because they listened to his words, not as the words of man, but as the _words of god_. in the sense in which the teaching of an uninspired man can be so designated, have you thus listened to the preacher's words? has it been a task to you to listen to the sermon? have you sought only to be amused? have you been critical and captious? or, acknowledging the truth you have heard, have you been careless about putting it in practice? oh, how much the preaching of god's word might profit us, if we brought the right dispositions to the hearing of it! { } if we came to church, eager to know more of god, with a single heart desirous to nourish our souls with his truth, what progress we should make! a single sermon has before now converted men. st. anthony, hearing but a single text, embraced a saintly life. if we had such dispositions, if each sunday found us diligent hearers of god's word, anxious to get some new thoughts about him, some new motive to love him, some new practical lesson, some new help against sin, it would not be long before the effect would be visible in us all. we should make progress in the knowledge of our religion. the devil and the world would assail us in vain. scandals and sins would become rare. heavenly virtues would spring up. piety would become strong and manly. and that which the prophet describes would be fulfilled: "_the lord will fill thy soul with brightness. and thou shalt be like a well-watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters shall not fail_." [footnote ] [footnote : isaias lviii. .] ------------------------------ sermon xvii. the two wills in man (fourth sunday after easter.) "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." --st. matt. xxvi. . the word "flesh" here does not mean the body, but the lower or sensitive part of the soul in which the fleshly appetites reside. our lord is warning st. peter of the necessity of prayer in order to meet the temptation which was coming upon him, and he tells him not to trust to the willingness of his spirit, that is, his good intentions and resolutions, because he had an inferior nature which might easily be excited to evil, and which in the hour of temptation might, without a special grace of god, drag his will into sin. { } what our lord is declaring, then, is the fact attested by universal experience, that there are in the heart of man two conflicting principles--inordinate passion on one side, and reason and grace on the other. this truth, though so well known, touches our happiness and salvation too closely not to possess at all times an interest and importance for each one of us; and i propose, therefore, to make it the subject of my remarks this morning. in the first place, then, what is the source and nature of the conflict thus indicated by our lord? whence does it arise? how does it come to pass that there are those two principles within us? how does it happen that every child of man finds himself drawn, more or less, two contrary ways, toward virtue and toward vice, toward god and toward the devil, toward heaven and to-ward hell? the answer commonly given is, that this conflict we feel within us comes from the fall, that it is the fruit of original sin. but the fall, according to the catholic doctrine, introduced no new principle into our nature, infused no poison into it, and deprived it of none of its essential elements. we must look farther back, then, than the fall for the radical source of this conflict; and we find it in the very essential constitution of our nature. man, in his very nature, is twofold. he is created and finite, yet he has a divine and eternal destiny. he has a body and a soul, and therefore he must have all the passions which are necessary to his animal and sensible life, as well as the intellectual and moral powers which are necessary to his spiritual life. here, then, we have, in the very idea of man's nature, the possibility of a conflict. we have two different principles, which it is conceivable might come into collision. man's appetites and passions, no less than his reason, are given to him by god, are good, are necessary, but since his appetites and passions are blind principles, it is conceivable that they _might_ demand gratifications which would not be in accordance with his reason and spiritual nature. { } as human nature was at first constituted by the almighty, any actual collision between these parts was prevented by a gift, which is called "the gift of integrity," a gift which was no essential part of our nature, but was conferred on it by mere grace, and which bound together the various powers of the soul in a wondrous harmony, so that the movements of passion were always in submission to reason. when adam sinned, this grace was withdrawn from him; and since it was no necessary part of our nature, since it was given of mere grace, it was withdrawn from the whole human race. hence men now find in themselves an actual conflict between the higher and lower parts of the soul. in a complicated piece of machinery, if a bolt or belt is broken that bound it together, the parts clash. each part may in itself remain unchanged, but it no longer acts harmoniously with the other parts. so in fallen man, the bolt that braced the soul together is broken, and the powers of the soul clash together. the passions, the will, the reason, all, in themselves, remain as they were, undepraved; but they are no longer in harmony together, and man finds himself weakened by an intestine conflict. this, together with the loss of supernatural grace and a supernatural destiny, is the evil which, according to catholic theology, accrued to man by the fall. this conflict, then, which we find within us; this clamor of the lower nature against the higher; this propensity of the passions to rebel against reason--in other words, this proneness to sin, which is the universal experience of humanity, does not prove that we have lost any constituent part of our nature, that there is any thing positively vicious in us, nor does it prove that we are hateful to god. it proves, indeed, that we are not divine, that we are not angels, that we are not in the condition of human nature before adam's transgression; it proves that a source of weakness, inherent in our nature, has been developed by the fall, that we need grace; but it gives not the slightest reason for supposing that our manhood has been wrecked, that the will is not free, that the reason of man has been extinguished, or that the passions are not in themselves good, and have not their legitimate sphere and exercise. { } so true is this, that this propensity to sin remains even in the baptized. baptism does a great deal for a man. it takes away original sin, by supplying that justifying grace which our race forfeited in adam. it restores to man his supernatural destiny. in the language of the council of trent, it renders the newly-baptized "innocent, immaculate, pure, harmless, and beloved of god, an heir of god, and a joint heir with christ, so that there is nothing whatever to retard his entrance into heaven." but there is one thing it does not do. it does not remove the propensity of the passions to rebel. and the council uses this fact--that concupiscence remains in the baptized--to prove that concupiscence, or the propensity to evil, cannot itself be sin; and enforces its conclusion by the seal of its infallibility and the warrant of its censures, saying: "if anyone is of the contrary sentiment" (that is, declares that the incentive to sin, which remains in the baptized, hath in it the true and proper nature of sin), "let him be anathema." [footnote ] [footnote : sess. v. decree on original sin.] thus, christianity explains the origin of this conflict in the human heart, in a manner agreeable to reason and human experience. but it does more. it reveals to us the purpose of this conflict. why does our lord leave us subject to this strife? the same holy council i have quoted already, answers distinctly; this incentive to sin is left in the soul "_to be wrestled with_." the state of the case is this: the passions desire to be gratified without waiting for the sanction of reason, sometimes even in defiance of reason. morally speaking, this is no evil. the passions are but blind instincts; it is the province of the will to restrain them in their proper limits, and to help her in this work she has reason and the grace of god. { } if she fails to do her work, then she sins. whenever sin is committed, it is the will that commits it. it is only the will that can sin. the sin lies not in the inordinate desire, but in the will's not resisting that desire. the will is the viceroy of god in the heart, appointed to keep that kingdom in peace. and herein lies the root of christian morality, the secret of sanctification, and the essence of human probation. we speak of outward actions of sin; but all sin goes back to the will. there was the treason. "_out of the heart_," says our blessed lord, "_proceed murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xv. .] each black deed is done in the secret chamber of the heart before the hand proceeds to execute it. each false, impure, and blasphemous word is whispered first by the will before the lips utter it. yes, man's heart is the battle-field. there is the scene of action. we speak sometimes of a man's being alone or being idle: why, a man is never alone; never idle. he may, indeed, be silent, his hands may be still, no one may be near him; but in that kingdom within great events are going on all the time. angels and saints are there. the armies of heaven and the armies of hell meet there. attack and repulse, parley and defiance, truce and surrender, stratagem and treason, victory and defeat--are things of daily occurrence there. of course, this is all very well known, very simple, very elementary, but yet there are some who never seem to understand it. they do not understand it who confound temptation with sin. this is a mistake often made, and by those too who ought to know better. if a man feels a strong inclination to evil, if an evil thought passes through his mind, or a doubt against the faith assails him, immediately he imagines that he has fallen under god's displeasure. { } to state such an error is to refute it. never, my brethren, fall in to this mistake. no: between temptation and sin there lies all that gulf that separates heaven from hell. let the devil fill your mind with the most horrid thoughts, let all your lower nature be in rebellion, let you have temptations to unbelief, to despair, to blasphemy; yet if that queenly will of yours keeps her place, if she stand steadfast and immovable, not only have you not sinned, but you are purer, more spiritual, more full of faith and reverence than if you had had no such trial. when st. agnes was before the heathen judge, he ordered her to be sent to the stews and thrown among harlots, but she answered: "i shall come out of that place virgin as i entered it." yes, all the powers of earth and hell cannot make a resolute soul commit a single sin. it is said that the walls of that house of prostitution, to which the holy maiden was condemned, still stand, and form the walls of a church dedicated in her honor--a visible proof how the soul, faithful to itself and god, turns the very means and instruments of its temptations into trophies of its most magnificent victories. nor do those understand the nature of the christian conflict who make strong passions the pretext for the neglect of religious duties. there are such. their hearts are too tumultuous, their passions too strong, their virtue too weak, their circumstances too difficult; and they must wait till they become more composed, calmer, more devout, until religion becomes more natural to them. error, dangerous as common! i tell you, christianity takes hold of every man just as he is, and just where he is, and claims him. no doubt, a quiet temper, a tranquil disposition, a devout spirit, are valuable gifts, but the root of religion does not lie in them, but in the will. that is it. god never intended religion to be confined to the passive and gentle, and to be neglected by the strong and impulsive. you, young man of pleasure; you, man of business and enterprise; you, proud and worldly man; you, passionate woman, with your wild and wayward nature, god, this day, here and now challenges you: "why are you not working with me, and for me? why are you not religious?" { } "me!" you say, "it is impossible. i am sensual and avaricious, i am selfish and revengeful, i am full of hatred and jealousy, i am worldly to the heart's core." no matter: you know what is right; are you willing to do it? "oh! i cannot. i do not love god. my heart is cold." no matter: are you willing to serve god with a cold heart? that is the question. "i cannot, i cannot. i have no faith. i cannot pray. i have not a particle of spirituality. religion is wearisome to me, and strange. it is as much as i can do to stay through a high mass." no matter, i say once more. do you want to have faith? are you willing to practise what you do believe? then if you are, begin your work here and now. you cannot be of so rough a nature that christ will reject you. no matter who you are and what you are, no matter what your trials have been, and what your past life, if you are a man, with a human heart, with human reason and a human will, christ calls you by your name, and points out a way that will lead you to peace and heaven. but least of all do they understand the nature of the christian life, who make temptation an apology for sin; who excuse themselves for a wrong action by simply saying, "i was tempted." far be it from me, my brethren, to undervalue the danger of temptation, or to forget the frailty of the human heart, or to lack compassion for the fallen; but it is one thing to fall and bewail one's fall, and another to make the temptation all but a justification of the fall. and are there not some who do this? who do not seek temptation, but invariably yield to it when it comes across them? who only steal when some trifle falls in their way; who only curse when they are angry; who only neglect mass when they feel lazy and self-indulgent; and are always sober and chaste except when the occasion invites to libertinism and intemperance? { } what! is this christianity? to abstain from sin as long as we have no particular inclination to commit it, and to fall into it as soon as we have! o miserable man, o miserable woman, go and learn the very first principles of the doctrine of christ. go to the font of baptism, and ask why you renounced satan, and promised to keep god's commandments. go to the bible and learn why christ died, and what is the duty of his followers. temptations come upon you in order that you may resist them. you are subject to gusts of anger, in order that you may become meek. you are tempted to unchastity, in order that you may become pure. you are tempted against faith, that you may learn to believe. that you are tempted, is precisely the reason that you should not yield; for it shows that your hour is come, and the question is whether you will belong to christ or satan. yes, my brethren, our conflict is for the trial of our virtue. it is a universal law of humanity. it was so even in the garden of eden. in the fields of paradise, where the trees were in their fresh verdure, and the air breathed a perpetual spring, and all things spoke of innocence and peace, there adam had to meet this trial. and each child of man since then has met it in his turn. and christians must meet it too. in the sheltered sanctuary of the church, where we have so many privileges, so much to strengthen and gladden us, even there each one must abide the test. as the canaanite was left in the promised land, to keep the children of israel in vigilance and activity, so the sting of the flesh, the power of our inferior nature, is left in the baptized, to school us in virtue, to make us men, to make us christians, to make us saints. this is the foundation principle of religion. he who has learnt this, has found out the riddle of life. { } and now, my brethren, that i have explained to you the source of the conflict that we feel within us, and the purpose it is designed to answer, you will see what the result of it must be, how it issues in the two eternities that are before us. "_he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption; but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting_." [footnote ] [footnote : gal. vi. .] the judgment day is but the revelation of the faithfulness or unfaithfulness of each one of us in the struggle to which he has been called. every act, every choice we make, tells for that great account. the day will declare it. then the secret of each man's heart shall be revealed, and how that battle in his heart has been fought. oh, what a spectacle must this world present to the angels who look down upon the solemn strife that is going on here below! there is a man who has ceased to strive. no longer making any resistance, he is led on wholly and completely by his inferior nature. the slave of sin, he hardly feels the conflict in his soul, but it is because the voice of reason and the voice of grace have been so long resisted that they have become almost silent. and there are others who have given up the pure strife, but not so determinedly, not so completely. occasionally they have better moments, regrets for the good they have forsaken, but still they float on with the careless world. and there is the young girl taking her first step on the downward road, looking back to the father's house she is leaving, reluctant, but consenting. then there is the penitent, who has fallen but risen again; who has learned wariness from his fall, and new confidence in god from his mercy and goodness, and who is striving by penance and prayer to make up what he has lost. and there is the man with feeble will, ever sinning and ever lamenting his sin, divided between good and evil, with too much conscience to give free reins to his passions, and too little to master them completely. and there is the soul severely tried, still struggling but almost overwhelmed, and out of the depths calling upon god the holy and true, "_incline unto mine aid, o god_." { } and there is the soul strong in virtue, strong in a thousand victories, which stands unmoved amid temptations, like the deep-rooted tree in a storm, or like the rock beaten by the waves. oh, yes, in the sight of the angels, this world is full of interest. there is nothing here trivial and common-place. what prophecies of the future must they not read! what saints do they see, ripening for heaven! what sinners rushing madly to hell! what unlooked-for falls! what unexpected conversions! what hidden sins, unsuspected by the world! now they must rejoice, and now they must weep. now they tremble over some soul in danger, and now they exult because the danger is over. so it is now; but when the end shall come, then fear and hope shall be no more, the conflict will be ended, the books shall be opened, and the secrets of the heart published to the universe. the struggle of life will be past, only its results will remain--two separate bands, one on either side of the judge, the good and the wicked, those who have been true to their conscience, to reason, to grace, and those who have not. well, then, we will strive manfully against sin. there are untold capacities in us for good and evil. god said to rebecca: "_two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. xxv. .] so, my brethren, in each heart there are two powers struggling for the mastery--the spirit and the flesh. there are two sets of offspring struggling for the birth--"the works of the flesh, which are immodesty, uncleanliness, fornication, enmities, wrath, envies, emulations, quarrels, murders, drunkenness, revellings; and the works of the spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faith, modesty, continence, chastity." it is for the will, with and under god's grace, to say which of these shall overcome the other. { } do you say that i put too much on the will? that the will is too weak to decide this fearful contest? o brethren, the will is not weak. on the side of god, and with the help of god, it is irresistible. look at the martyrs' will. did it not carry them through fire and sword? did it not enable them to meet death with joy? this is our mistake, we do not know our strength. we know our weakness, but we do not know our strength. we think god is to help us, independently of ourselves, and not through ourselves. but this is not so, god helps us by strengthening our will, by enlightening our reason, by directing our conscience. we cannot distinguish between what god does and what we do in any act. the two act together. therefore, i say, you have it in your power to resist sin, you have it in your power to become saints. no matter though your evil dispositions have been increased by past sins, you can overcome evil habits, and be what god wills you to be. only do not be contented with a superficial religion, a religion of feelings, and frames, and sensible consolations. go down deep, go down to the will. let the sword of the lord probe till it pierces even "to the division of the soul and the spirit," the point at which our higher and lower natures meet each other. make your religion not a sham, but a reality. school yourself for heaven. day by day fight the good fight of faith, and thus merit at last to die like a holy man at whose death st. vincent of paul assisted: "he is gone to heaven," said the saint, speaking of m. sillery, "like a monarch going to take possession of his kingdom, with a strength, a confidence, a peace, a meekness, which cannot be expressed." --------------------------- { } sermon xviii. the intercession of the blessed virgin the highest power of prayer. (sunday within the octave of the ascension.) "if you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ye shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done to you." --john xv. . there is perhaps no catholic doctrine which meets with more objection among those outside the church, than our devotion to the blessed virgin. expressions of love to her, of hope in her intercession, which seem to us perfectly natural, which come from our hearts spontaneously, when they are most under the influence of christian and holy principles, seem to them altogether at variance with christianity. i do not believe that this comes always from prejudice, and a spirit of opposition on their part. it comes often, i am persuaded, from not understanding us. there is a link in our minds which connects this practice with other christian doctrines, and this link is wanting in theirs; and therefore acts of devotion of this kind seem to them arbitrary and useless, an excrescence on christianity, and even alien to its spirit. if this is the case, it cannot but be a duty and charity for us to explain, as far as possible, what is in the mind of a catholic when he prays to the blessed virgin; and i shall accordingly attempt to do so this morning. perhaps while we are thus removing a stumbling-block out of some erring brother's way, we shall be at the same time rendering our own ideas on this doctrine clearer, and its practice more intelligent. the blessed virgin mary, then, to a catholic, represents the power of intercessory prayer in its highest form and degree. { } i believe there are very few persons, indeed, who realize at all the power which is attributed to intercessory prayer in the bible and in christianity. the apostles frequently exhort the christians to whom they are writing to pray for them. they enjoined it upon them as a duty to pray for one another. what does this mean? had not st. paul and st. peter influence enough with heaven to carry their wants directly to the throne of grace? was not the way of access to god open and easy for every one? did god require to be reminded of the woes and wants of any child of man, by the sympathizing cries of his fellow-creatures? was not god's own heart as large as theirs? could any thing he had made escape his knowledge, or any sorrow fail to awaken his compassion? or, if it did, was the intercession of christ insufficient that any other had to be called in to supplicate? no, certainly. none of these suppositions are true. god's goodness and knowledge are infinite. he needs not to be told what is in man. he loves the work of his hands. the meanest and the poorest are in the light of his providence. christ's merits are infinite and universal. but after all, there stands the fact. intercessory prayer is an ordinance of god. it is a duty to pray for others, and it is useful to have others pray for us. you may call it a mystery if you like. to me, it does not seem so very wonderful. no man lives to himself. we are not the only christians. many others walk alongside of us on the road to heaven. many are ahead of us. many have already reached their term. shall there be no sympathy between us? is that principle so deeply seated in our nature to have no play in christianity? are we to have no interest, no feeling for each other? or, is that sympathy to be a barren sentiment, and to have no results? god, in religion, makes use of and commands this kindness and sympathy. he makes use of it to bind all men together in a bond of love. in order to [do] this, he makes it a law that we shall pray for one another, and suspends his gifts upon its execution. { } it is, then, to meet that nature that he has framed--it is to exalt that nature craving for sympathy--it is to give rein to charity--it is to make us always sensible and mindful of that great human family to which we belong--it is for these reasons, i conceive, that god has instituted the ordinance of intercessory prayer. but, explain it as you will, the fact cannot be denied. it is an appointment of god, and an appointment of great efficacy. it plays a large part in the history of the bible. elias was a man subject to like passions with us, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not for three years and six months; and he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain. abraham prayed for abimelech, and god healed him. when moses prayed for the israelites suffering under the fire with which god had visited them for their sins, the fire was quenched. in the prophet ezechiel, god speaks as if he could not act without this intercession--as if it were really a necessary condition for the bestowal of his graces. "_i sought among them for a man_," he says, "_that might stand in the gap before me, in favor of the land, that i might not destroy it, and i found none_." [footnote ] st. james even seems to make salvation depend on intercessory prayer. "_pray for one another_," is his language, "_that ye may be saved_." [footnote ] [footnote : ezechiel xxii. .] [footnote : st. james v. .] these are but a sample of the many scriptural proofs that might be brought to show that intercessory prayer is an ordinance of god. it is one of the forms in which the goodness of god and the merits of christ flow over upon us. by it we obtain graces from god much more easily than we could without it. and we obtain by it special graces, which we would not be likely to obtain at all without it. in this sense, perhaps, st. james meant to imply that it was necessary to our salvation. not that it was a matter of precept to ask the prayers of this or that particular person, but that their intercession might be the condition of our obtaining graces without which our salvation would be a work of great difficulty. { } but this is not all that the scriptures tell us about intercessory prayer. they not only declare its wonderful power, but they make known to us that the efficacy of intercessory prayer depends on the goodness and merit before god of the one who offers it. i do not mean that no one should pray for another unless he is very holy. by no means. no matter how great a sinner a man may be, it is a good thing for him to pray for others, and the mercy and compassion of god, i am sure, never turn away from such a petition. but then, in such a case, it is mercy and compassion which moves god to hear the prayer. in the case of a good man praying for another, there is a sort of claim that he should be heard. not an absolute claim, by which he can demand any thing for another, as of right, but a claim of fitness, a claim as if between friend and friend, a claim on god's bounty and generosity, which will not allow him to turn a deaf ear to one who is faithfully striving to serve him. the passages of inspiration which express this are very clear and very strong. "_the continual prayer of a just man availeth much_." [footnote ] there it is the prayer of a righteous man that has this efficacy. and to this agree the words of our lord: "_if ye remain in me, and my words remain in you, ye shall ask whatever ye will, and it shall be done unto you_." [footnote ] could words express more clearly that the power of intercessory prayer is in direct proportion to the closeness of the union which we maintain with god? and st. john reiterates the same principle when he says: "_whatsoever we shall ask we shall receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. james v. .] [footnote : john xv. .] [footnote : i. st. john iii. .] god's dealings, as recorded in the bible, are in exact accordance with this rule. at the prayer of abraham, god desisted from his purpose of destroying sodom, because abraham was god's friend. when the three friends of job had displeased god by their wrong judgments and unjust suspicions, god commanded them to go to _his servant job_, and he would pray for them, and _him_ he would accept. { } and in the prophet ezechiel, when the almighty would express, in the strongest possible manner, the fact that his anger was enkindled against a people and a city; that nothing, however strong, should stay its effects, he says: "_and if these three men, noe, daniel and job, shall be in it, they shall deliver their own souls only by their justice_." [footnote ] [footnote : ezechiel xiv. .] as if to say: "notwithstanding the intercession and merit of these great saints, even though they were all combined in favor of that one city, they should not avail to make me spare such wickedness. what must be the wickedness that can force me to withstand the power of such an appeal?" here, then, we have two things clearly taught in holy scripture. one is that intercessory prayer is an ordinance of god of great power and utility. the other is, that the degree of power this prayer has in any particular case depends on the merit of him who offers it. who, then, shall be the favored child of man, the favored saint, who shall exercise this power in the fullest degree? of whom it can be said literally, "whatever thou askest of me i will do it," because the condition of union with god is perfectly fulfilled? who shall this be whom holy scripture thus clothes with this tremendous power, if it be not the blessed virgin mary? my brethren, our belief in the surpassing sanctity of the blessed virgin is no fancy of later times. it goes back to the very beginning of christianity. st. ambrose wrote her praises as he had learned them from those who had received them from apostolic men. grave, austere men, as far as possible removed from any thing like fancy religion or sentimentality, men who had suffered for the name of christ, and even faced death in its defence, employed their art and care to coin words which might express the virtue and purity and exceeding sanctity of the virgin mary, as they had learned it from their forefathers. { } and in the most ancient writings of the church, in the canon of the mass, when the priest recalls by name the glorious army of christian heroes who had gone before, always in the first place she is mentioned, the all-glorious, undefiled, immaculate mary, mother of god, and ever virgin. this being so, is not her power of intercession fixed beyond dispute? does not scripture itself fashion out for her the glorious throne on which the catholic church places her? did any remain in christ as she did? did his words ever so abide in any heart as in hers? suppose a christian who lived in the times of the apostles, before the blessed virgin had gone to her rest, when she was just dying; suppose such a one sorely tried and tempted within and without; suppose him anxious about his salvation, distrustful of his own petitions, fearful of the coming storms of persecution; and suppose him in this state of mind to have read that passage of st. james, "the continual prayer of a just man availeth much," what more natural than that he should have said to himself, "i will go to ask the prayers of the dear mother of christ. i will ask her to use her power and influence with her divine son in behalf of a frail wanderer like me." and when he came into her presence and knelt before her, and kissed her hand and made his plea, and looked up to her and saw that sweet grave smile, and heard her say, "yes, my child, when i stand in the presence of my royal son, and he holds out to me the golden sceptre, and says to me, what wilt thou? what is thy request? then i will remember thee!" oh! how light his heart! oh, how strong his soul! what a charm against sadness! what a fortress in temptation! mary prays for me in heaven to christ her son! and is there any thing in this joy and confidence which reason or christianity would condemn? if so, it must be either that intercessory prayer is not the power the scriptures say it is, or that mary is not the saint the church considers her. why, even protestants have gone as far as this. { } protestants who have made the primitive form of christianity their study and profess to accept it as their rule, as, for example, high-church episcopalians, have distinctly acknowledged in the seventeenth century, and in our own day, that the saints in heaven do intercede for us, and that this was the primitive doctrine of christianity. why, then, find fault with us for invoking the saints, and say we ought only to ask god to hear their prayers for us, as if invocation on our part were not the correlative of intercession on theirs; as if it could be right to ask a saint to pray for us the moment before he died, and wrong the moment after; as if there could be any moral difference before god between a direct and an indirect supplication for the benefit of their prayers in heaven? such, my brethren, is our idea when we address the blessed virgin for aid. it is not that we cannot go directly to god. it is not that god is not the nearest to us, and at all times accessible. it is not that, sinful as we are, we may not go with our miseries into the very presence of the almighty. it is not that prayer to god is not the best of all prayers. it is not that we put the blessed virgin in the place of god. o cruel charge! it is not that we derogate from the merits of christ. o strange misconception! but it is this--we believe in intercessory prayer. we believe that man may help his brother. we believe that christianity is a human and a social relation; we believe that heaven is very near this earth--oh, how much nearer than ever we believed! and that in christ we are in communion with an innumerable company of angels, and the church of the first-born. we believe that there is joy in the presence of the angels of god over the good deeds done on earth, and that the litanies of the saints ascend over one sinner and his deeds. and we believe that this power of intercessory prayer culminates in the blessed virgin. we believe that she is the "one undefiled," whose way has been always in the law of the lord. we believe that before the foundations of the earth were laid, or ever the earth and the sea were made, she was foreknown by the almighty, spotless in purity, matchless in virtue. { } we believe that she was the flower of humanity, the fairest type of christianity---and we believe, therefore, that god is as good as his word, and whatever she asks of him, he gives it to her. this is the doctrine on which we found our devotion to the blessed virgin. take our strongest language. it means no more than this: "pray for me." you may amplify as you will, but from the necessity of the case every thing we say comes to that. put prayer for the blessed virgin, suppose prayer personified in her, and you have the key to the catholic doctrine on this subject. strong things are said of the power of the blessed virgin, but so are strong things said in holy scripture and by holy men of the power of prayer. whatever can be said of prayer, can be said of her. cease, then, to misunderstand us. acknowledge that we are but obeying christ in praying to the blessed virgin. and if you will still find fault, find fault, not with us, but with god, who has instituted intercessory prayer and given such power to men. and for you, my brethren, let these thoughts strengthen you in your confidence in the powerful intercession of the mother of god. our work is too severe, our difficulties are too great, for us to neglect any help god has offered us. there are many adversaries. the world, with all its seductions, passes in array before us. why should we shut our eyes to the hosts of heaven that march unseen by our side? why should we stay outside when we are invited to the marriage supper, and jesus and his disciples are there, and mary, pleader for heavy hearts, saying, "they have no wine;" and at her prayer jesus gives them that wine that maketh glad the heart of man with the abundance of his grace and love? i have been glad to see you these bright may mornings around the altar. persevere more and more. your labor of love is not in vain. god's words cannot fail. his gifts are without repentance. mary's power of intercession is as fresh this day as it was when her prayer made the miraculous wine to gush forth at the wedding feast; and until some one shall arise more blessed, more holy, nearer to christ than she, it will remain as it is now, the highest and the most efficacious of all forms of prayer in heaven or on earth. ----------------------------- { } sermon xix. mysteries in religion (trinity sunday.) "oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of god! how incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable are his ways!" --rom. xi. . the word _revelation_ means the discovery of something that was not known before, or the making clear something that was obscure. now, with this idea in our mind, it may excite surprise to find how much the christian revelation abounds in mysteries. by mysteries, i understand truths which are imperfectly comprehended. a doctrine which contradicts reason is not a mystery it is nonsense. a doctrine which is wholly unintelligible is not a mystery: it is simply unmeaning, and cannot be the object of any intellectual act on our part. but a doctrine which is in part comprehended, and in part not, is a mystery. now, in christianity we meet such mysteries on every side. the sacraments are mysteries. grace is a mystery. the person of christ is a mystery. and above all, the great doctrine we commemorate to-day is a mystery. to-day is the feast of the most holy trinity. to-day we call to mind that wonderful relationship which exists in god, eternal and necessary, by which, in the undivided unity of his essence, there are three distinct modes of subsistence, the father, the son, and the holy ghost. { } it seems, then, not unfitting on this day to give you some reasons why you should acquiesce in that mysteriousness of christian doctrine, which is certainly one of its marked characteristics, and which has been urged against it as a serious objection. and, first, i observe that mysteries are _necessary_ attendants on religion. there can be no revelation without them. there can indeed be no knowledge without them. to a little child the earth is a plane of no great extent, and the stars are colored lamps hung in the canopy of the night. but as he grows older, he learns that the earth is very big, and that the stars are very far off, and that there are many systems of worlds above us; and now how many questions press themselves upon his mind! what is the history of this universe? how old is the earth which we inhabit? are the stars inhabited? science with the hard earnings of human thought and labor gives him some little satisfaction, but for every question that she sets at rest there are many new ones that she raises, and at last in every department there comes a point where she gropes, and loses her way, and stops altogether. if you light a candle in a large room it casts a bright light on the table you are sitting at, and on the pages of the book you are reading, but gives only a dim light in the distance. you see that there are pictures on the walls, but you cannot discover their subjects. you see there are books on the shelves, but you cannot read their titles. when the room was quite dark you did not know that they were there at all, and now you know them only imperfectly. so every light which knowledge kindles brings out a new set of mysteries or half-knowledges. for this reason it is that a man of true science is apt to be modest in his language. your loud-talking philosopher, who has no difficulties, has but a very narrow scope of thought and vision. he is clear because he is shallow. but a highly educated man _knows_ that there are a great many things he is ignorant of, and so his language is modified and qualified. { } i believe it was sir isaac newton who used to say, that in his scientific investigations he seemed to himself like a child gathering pebbles on the sea-shore. it was his vast attainments that made him sensible that truth is as boundless as the sea. and when scientific men forget this; when they forget how much they are ignorant of; when they are boastful, over-positive, or inconsiderate in their statements, how applicable to them becomes the reproof which the almighty addressed to job: "_where wast thou when i laid the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding. upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner-stone thereof? by what way is light spread, and heat divided on the earth? who is the father of the rain, or who hath begotten the drops of dew? dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth? tell me, if thou knowest these things_." and this holds good just as well in regard to religious knowledge. reason teaches us that there is a god, and it tells something of his nature; but it speaks to us about him only in riddles. god is immutable, and yet he is perfectly free: who shall reconcile these together? god is infinite, infinite in essence, infinite in all his attributes--try to comprehend infinitude if you can. again, what a mystery there is in the creation of this world! what a mystery in the union of spirit and matter! everywhere mystery is the necessary accompaniment of knowledge; and the more we know, the more mysteries will we have. if, then, god reveals to us any thing about himself additional to that which reason can ascertain, mystery must still be the consequence. the wider the view, the more indistinct and shadowy the outline. { } it is revealed to us that in god, without injury to his simplicity, there is a threefold relationship--that the father, contemplating himself from all eternity, has conceived a perfect image of himself, and that this image is his son, and that the father and the son have loved each other from all eternity, and that this love is the holy ghost--that thus the father, the son, and the holy ghost are three distinct, eternal, necessary subsistences. do not be surprised at this. here is nothing contradictory to reason. true, it is wonderful. true, you cannot pierce it through and through. it is full of darkness. no matter. you know, when the moon comes out from behind a cloud, how sharp and well-defined the shadows become. so these darknesses of doctrine come because the light is brighter. men talk of the _simple doctrines_ of the gospel. there are no such things. the gospel, as a scheme of doctrine at least, is a mystery. st. paul called it so, and so it is. it is a mystery because it reveals so much. if we did not know that god is both one in substance and three in the mode of subsistence, our difficulties would be less, but so would our knowledge. well does the prophet exclaim: "_verily, thou art a hidden god, the god of israel, the savior!_" [footnote ] [footnote : isai. xlv. .] what, the _god of israel_ a hidden god! did he not manifest himself to the patriarchs? did he not speak face to face with moses? yes, but he is all the more hidden, the more he has manifested himself. it cannot be otherwise. god yearns to make himself known to man, but he cannot. the secret is too deep and high. language is too weak. thought too slow. reason too narrow. the very means he takes to reveal himself conceal him. clouds and darkness gather around mount sinai as he descends upon it. the flesh in which he was "manifested" to men serves as a veil to his divinity. no, we cannot find out the almighty to perfection. the time will come in heaven when by the light of glory our intellects shall be marvellously strengthened, and we shall see him "as he is"--but now we see as through a glass darkly. { } our utmost happiness here is that of moses, to be hidden in the rock, while the almighty passes by and lifts his hand that we may see a ray of his glory. do not complain if the ray dazzles thy feeble sight, but receive each glimpse of that eternal truth and beauty thankfully, and give heed unto it, "_as unto a light shining in a dark place_." but, further, mysteries are not only necessary attendants on revelation, they are really sources of advantage to us. in order to make this clear, i must remind you that faith is one of the conditions of our acceptance with god. there was a time when men laid too much stress on faith and made light of works; then the church had to define that works are necessary, and that there is no salvation without them. now the contrary error is afloat. men say: "be moral," "be religious in a general way, and it is no matter what a man believes." now, this is an error as great and as dangerous as the other. "_abraham believed god, and it was reputed to him unto justice._" [footnote ] the apostles believed christ, and were praised for it. on the other hand, those who disbelieved are reproved as being guilty of a mortal fault. "_the heart of this people is grown gross: and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and i should heal them_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. iv. .] [footnote : st. matt. xiii .] in like manner, when our lord took leave of unbelieving jerusalem, he wept over it. now, why is this? what is there, in the act of believing or disbelieving, that is of a moral nature, that deserves praise or blame? is not faith an act purely intellectual? i reply, faith is an act partly intellectual, partly moral. the intellect demands proof that a particular doctrine has been revealed by god, but, when that is once ascertained, faith accepts the doctrine, not because it is perfectly clear in itself, but because god reveals it. { } clearly, there enter into such an act many elements of morality--our reverence for god, our desire to do his will, our humility and docility. you know it is an honor to a man for one to believe in his word, and especially for one to make ventures on the faith of his word. just so, to make ventures on god's word is a generous, devout, and noble act. now, it is the mysteriousness of christian doctrine that gives faith this generous character--or rather, that makes faith possible. the obscurity of the revelation throws the weight on the authority of the revealer. it is mystery which gives life to faith. a man is not said to _believe_ a thing he sees. "_blessed are they_," said our blessed lord, "_that have not seen, and yet have believed_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xx. .] there are certain flowers that require the shade to bloom. constant sunshine burns them up. so faith requires the shadow of mystery. it thrives under difficulties. abraham's faith was so admirable, because he considered not his own decrepitude, nor sarah's barrenness, but believed he should have a son at the time appointed by the almighty. the faith of the apostles was so pleasing to christ because they accepted his call so readily. they might have stopped to ask a thousand questions, but they rose up without delay and followed him. you see, then, what i meant when i said that mysteries are of advantage to us. they enter into our probation. they are the occasion of our practising the noble virtue of faith. they are a test of moral character. nay more, by calling into action the best principles of our nature they exalt our character. you know how it is in the world when some new and great social question is started--how everyone is affected by it. the indolent take their opinions about it from others. the prejudiced and interested judge of it according to prejudice and interest. { } men of principle decide it on grounds of morality. but everyone's position is in some way changed by it. so it is with the gospel. its preaching throws men into new attitudes. "_the cross of christ is to them that perish foolishness, but to them that are saved it is the power of god._" [footnote ] the proud and the perverse stumble at this stumbling-stone, but men of "good will," the humble, and the loving, find it a precious corner-stone on which their faith has a solid foundation, and on which they are built up to everlasting life. so it was in the time of christ. after our lord had been preaching for some time, he inquired of the apostles into the effects of his preaching: "whom do men say that the son of man is?" and they said: "_some say that thou art john the baptist, and others elias, and others jeremias, or one of the prophets_." "_but whom do you say that i am?_" [footnote ] --and faith, undaunted by difficulties, answers by the mouth of st. peter: "_thou art christ, the son of the living god_." on another occasion, after he had performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, as we read in st. john's gospel, he taught the people the doctrine of the real presence in holy communion: "_unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you._" [footnote ] now, what happened? many were offended and walked with him no more. it was too great a mystery. "_how can this man give us his flesh to eat?_" they said. and our lord turned to his disciples and said--it seems to me i can see his anxious countenance, and hear his tones of sorrow as he asks the question--"_will you also go away?_" and again peter answered on behalf of all: "_to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life_." as much as to say, "thou art the truth; no mystery at thy mouth can deter us." [footnote : i. cor. i. .] [footnote : st. matt. xvi. .] [footnote : st. john vi. .] { } so it has been, also, throughout the history of the church. what are all the heresies that have arisen but the scandal which the world has taken at the christian mysteries, and what are all the decisions of the church but acts of loyalty and submission to him who is "the faithful and true witness"? and the same thing is going on in our day. "_wisdom preacheth abroad: she uttereth her voice in the streets_." [footnote ] the catholic church publishes those startling doctrines which have come down to her from the beginning, which have been held everywhere and by all--the principality of the roman see, the power of forgiveness of sins, the necessity of penance, the grace of the sacraments--and what is the result? the children of wisdom, they whose hearts are tender, enter her sacred fold and are blessed. but many listen and say: "it is all very well, if we could believe it. if we could believe it! and is it, then, not credible? has not god given his revelation complete credibility? can we not believe jesus christ? "_god, who in times past spoke to the father's by the prophets, hath in these days spoken unto us by his son_." [footnote ] "_no one knoweth the father but the son and he to whom the son will reveal him_." [footnote ] [footnote : prov. i. .] [footnote : heb. i. , .] [footnote : matt. xi. .] jesus christ has spoken. miracles and prophecy attest his truth and authority. can you, then, innocently refuse to listen? "_surely they will reverence my son_," was the language of the father in the parable; will not god the father almighty look for an equal submission to his eternal and coequal son? can he speak, and you go on as if he had not spoken? can you pick and choose among his doctrines, and take up one and reject another? no, to turn back, to stand still, to falter, is a crime. the trumpet has sounded: men are marshalling themselves for the valley of decision. oh, take your part with the generation of faithful men, the true children of abraham, who have "attested by their seal that god is true." have courage to believe. plunge into the waters with st. peter, for it is christ that is beckoning you on. to believe is an act of duty--of fidelity to your own intelligence, of generosity and devotion to god. { } "_without faith it is not possible to please god_." [footnote ] faith is the door to all supernatural blessings. there is a whole world that exists not to a man that has not faith. faith enlarges our thoughts, opens our hearts, elevates us above ourselves and multiplies a thousand-fold our happiness. why do men grope in darkness? why do they remain in ignorance, when by one generous resolve, one courageous act of faith, an act so noble, so meritorious, they might enter into that glorious temple of truth that has come down out of heaven to man, might enter and dwell therein, and their hearts wonder and be enlarged? happy those who can say with the psalmist: "_thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore hath my soul sought them_." [footnote ] they are wonderful--they rest for their evidence on thy word and thy truth, therefore i believe them and love them, for to believe thee is my first duty and my highest wisdom. [footnote : heb. xi. .] [footnote : ps. cxviii .] let not, then, the mysteries of our holy religion disturb us, my brethren, but rather let them make us rejoice. for what are they but the evidences of the greatness of our religion? they do not repel, they attract us. we believe them on the authority of god, and we esteem it both a duty and a delight to do so. neither are they all dark in themselves. nay, they are only dark from excess of light. each one of them has much that addresses itself to our understanding, much that enlists our affections. the angels in heaven worship the trinity with devoutest adoration. "_i saw the seraphim_," says the prophet, "_and they covered their faces and cried: holy, holy, holy lord god of hosts!_" [footnote ] [footnote : isai. vi. .] incessantly sings the church on earth: "glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy ghost." there have been saints who so dwelt upon all that faith teaches us of god, that they had to go by themselves, in quiet places, for their hearts were all but breaking with the sweet but awful sense of his majesty. { } let us, too, learn to love these mysteries and meditate on them. we live in the midst of great realities. "_you are come to mount sion, and to the city of the living god, the heavenly jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the church of the first-born, who are written in heaven, and to god the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to jesus, the mediator of the new testament_." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. xii. , , .] day by day, let it be our endeavor to pierce into these holy truths more and more, that at last, like moses, our countenances may reflect some portion of their beauty and brightness, that continually "_beholding the glory of the lord we may be transformed into the same image from glory to glory_." [footnote ] [footnote : ii cor. iii. .] ------------------------------- sermon xx. the worth of the soul. (third sunday after pentecost.) "there shall be joy before the angels of god over one sinner doing penance." st. luke xv. . this is what theologians call an _accidental_ joy. the essential joy of heaven consists in the perfect knowledge and love of god, and is unchangeable and eternal; but the accidental joy of heaven springs from the knowledge of those events in time which display the goodness and greatness of god. the first of these events was the creation itself, when the hand of god spread the carpet of the earth, and stretched the curtains of the heavens. { } then "_the morning stars praised him together, and all the sons of god made a joyful melody_." [footnote ] [footnote : job xxxviii .] after this the great historic events of the world have been successively the burden of the angelic songs--the unfolding of the plan of redemption, the birth of christ, the triumphs of the church. but lo! of a sudden these lofty strains are stopped. there is silence for a moment, and then the golden harps take up a new and tenderer theme. what is it that has happened? what is the event that can interrupt the great harmonies of heaven, and furnish the angels with a new song? in some corner of the earth, in some secret chamber, in some confessional, on some sickbed, in some dark prison, a sinner is doing penance. he prays, whose mouth had been full of cursings. he weeps, who had made a mock at sin. the slave of satan and of hell turns back to god and heaven--and that is the reason of this unusual joy. it is not that a recovered sinner is really of more account than one who has never fallen, but his recovery from danger is the occasion of expressing that esteem and love for the souls of men which always fills the heart of god and the angels. therefore, as that contrite cry reaches heaven, the angels are silent, for they know that there is no music in the ear of god like that. and then, when god has ratified the absolving words of the priest, and restored the contrite sinner to his favor, they cast themselves before the throne, and break forth into loud swelling strains of ecstasy and triumph, while he himself smiles his sympathy and joy. o my brethren, what a revelation this is! a revelation of the value of the soul. there are great rejoicings on earth when a battle is won, or upon the occasion of the visit of some great statesman or warrior, or when some great commercial enterprise is successful, but these things do not cause joy in heaven. the conversion of one soul--it may be a child, or a young man, or an old woman--the conversion of one soul, that it is that makes a gala day in heaven. { } now, god sees every thing just as it is, and if there are such rejoicings in heaven when a soul is won, what must be the value of a soul! let us confess the truth, we have not thought enough of the value of a soul. we have thought too much of the world, of its pleasures, of its profits, of its honors, but too little of our own souls. we have not thought of them as god thinks of them. let us, then, strive to exalt our ideas, by considering some of the reasons why we should put a high value on our souls. in the first place, we should value a human soul, because it is in itself superior to any thing else in the world. the whole world, indeed, with every thing in it, is good, for god made it. but he proceeded in a very different manner in the creation of the material world from what he did when he made the soul. he made the world, the trees, the rivers, the lights of heaven, the living creatures on the earth, by the mere word of his power. "_god said, be light made. and light was made_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i. .] and god said, "_let the earth bring forth the green herb, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind. and it was so_." [footnote ] but when he made the soul, the scriptures tell us, "_he breathed into the face of man and he became a living soul_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i. .] [footnote : gen. i. .] by this action we are to understand that god communicated to man a nature kindred to his own divinity. the holy ghost, the third person of the blessed trinity, is the uncreated spirit of god, eternally breathing forth and proceeding from the father and the son; and god, when he breathed into the face of man, signified that he imparted to man a created spirit kindred to his own eternal spirit. the holy scriptures, indeed, expressly tell us that such was the case: "_let us make man to our image and our likeness_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. i. , .] { } this likeness consisted in the possession of understanding and free will, the power of knowledge and love--the two great attributes of god himself. you are, then, my brethren, endowed with a soul which raises you immeasurably above god's material creation. you have a soul made after god's image. this is the source of your power. the two things go together in holy scripture. "_let us make man to our image and likeness; and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth_." [footnote ] in the state of original innocence, no doubt, this dominion was more perfect, but even now it exists in a great degree. "_every kind of beast, and of birds, and of serpents, and of the rest, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. ii. .] [footnote : st. james iii. .] see how a little boy can drive a horse. see how a dog obeys his master's eye and voice. see how even lions and tigers become submissive to their keepers. and the elements, often wilder than ferocious beasts, are obedient to you. the fire warms you and cooks for you, and carries you when you want to travel for business or pleasure. the wind fans the sails of your vessels, and the waters make a path for them under your feet. even the lightning leaps and exults to do your bidding and to be the messenger of your will. thus every thing falls down before you and does you homage, and proclaims you lord and master. what is the reason that every thing thus honors you? it is on account of the soul that is in you--the power of reason and will--the godlike nature with which you are endowed. yes, and your soul is the source of your beauty, too. in what consists the beauty of a man? is it a mere regularity of form and feature? do you judge of a man as you do of a horse or a dog? { } no; the most exquisitely chiselled features do not interest you, until you see intelligence light up the eye, and charity irradiate the countenance--then you are captivated. a man may be a perfect model of grace in his movements without exciting you, but when he becomes warm with inspirations of wisdom and virtue, when his words flow, his eye sparkles, his breast heaves, his whole frame becomes alive with the emotions of his soul, then it is you are carried away, you are ready almost to fall down and worship. what is the reason that christian art has so far surpassed heathen art? that the madonna is so far more beautiful than the venus de medicis? it is because the heathens portrayed mere natural beauty; the christians portrayed the beauty of the soul. and if the soul is so beautiful in the little rays that escape from the body, what must it be in itself? god has divided his universe into several orders, and we find the lowest in a superior order higher than the highest in the inferior order. the soul, then, is more beautiful than any thing material. "_she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light she is found before it_." [footnote ] [footnote : wisdom vii. .] o my brethren, do not admire men for their form, or their dress, or their grace, but admire then for the soul that is in them, for that is the true source of their beauty. it is also the secret of their destiny. god did not give you this great gift to be idle. he gave it for a worthy end. he gave understanding that you might know him, and free will that you might love him; and this is the true destiny of man. you were not made to toil here for a few days, and then to perish. you were made to know god, to be the friend of god, the companion of god, to think of god, to converse with god, to be united to god here, and then to enjoy god hereafter forever. once more, then, i say, do not admire a man for his wealth, or his appearance, or his learning. do not ask whether he is poor or rich, ignorant or learned, from what nation he springs, whether he lives in a cabin or palace. { } let it be enough that he is a man, possessed of understanding and free will, spiritual and immortal, with a soul and an eternal destiny. that is enough. bow down before him with respect. yes, respect yourselves--not for your birth, or your station, or your wealth, but for your manhood. "_let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches. but let him that glorieth glory in this, that_ he understandeth and knoweth me." [footnote ] yes, my brethren, this is your true dignity, the soul that is in you--the soul, that makes you capable of knowing and loving god. [footnote : jer. ix. , .] and yet, there is another reason why you should value your souls, besides their intrinsic excellence--i mean, the great things that have been done for them. do you ask me what has been done for your souls? i ask you to look above you, and around you, and under you. oh, how fair the earth is! see these rivers and hills! look on the green grass! behold the blue vault of heaven! well, this is the palace god has prepared for your abode; nay, not for your abode--your dwelling-place is beyond the skies, where "_the light of the moon is as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light if seven days_,"--but for the place of your sojourn. this earth was made for you; and, as your destiny is eternal, therefore the earth must have been made to subserve your eternal destiny. why does the sun rise in the morning, and go down at night? it is for you--for your soul. why do summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, return so regularly? it is for you, and your salvation. the earth is for the elect. when the elect shall be completed, the earth, having done its work, will be destroyed. this is the end to which, in god's design, all things are tending. god does not look at the world, or its history, as we do. { } we say: "here such a great battle was fought;" "there such a celebrated man was born;" "in this epoch such an empire took its rise, such a dynasty came to an end." but god says: "here it was a little child died after baptism, and went straight to heaven;" "there it was i recovered that gifted soul, which had wandered away into error and sin, but which afterward became so great in sanctity;" "in such an age it was that i lost that great nation which fell away from the faith, and in such another, by the preaching of my missionary, i won whole peoples from heathenism." i know we shrink from this in half unbelief: when it is brought home to us that this little earth is the centre of god's counsels, and our souls of the universe, we are amazed and offended. but so it is. "_all things work together unto good to them that love god_." [footnote ] all things; not blindly, but by the overruling providence of him who made them for this end. [footnote : rom. viii. .] do you ask me what has been done for your souls? i answer, the church has been established for them. look at the church, and see how many are her officers and members--bishops, priests, levites, teachers, students. all are yours--all are for you. for you the pope sits on his throne; for you bishops rule their sees; for you the priest goes up to the altar; for you the teacher takes his chair, and the student grows pale in the search for science. that the apostolic commission might come down to you, st. peter and st. linus and cletus ordained bishops in the churches. that the true doctrine of christ might come down to you uncorrupted, the fathers of the church gathered in council, at nice, and ephesus, and chalcedon, and trent. that you might hear of the glad tidings of christ, st. paul and st. patrick labored and died. for you, for each one of you, as if there were no other, the great machinery of grace, if i may express myself so coarsely, goes on. { } do you ask what has been done for your souls? angels and archangels, and thrones and dominions, and principalities and powers--all the hosts of heaven--have labored for them. "_are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for those who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?_" [footnote ] [footnote : heb. i .] for you the whole court of heaven is interested, and one bright particular angel is commissioned to be your guardian. for you st. gabriel flew on his message of joy to the blessed virgin mary, and st. michael, the standard-bearer, waits at the gate of death. do you ask what has been done for your souls? from all eternity god has thought of them, the means of salvation have been determined on, the chain of graces arranged. and the son of god has worked for them. galilee, and judea, and calvary were the scenes of his labors on earth, and on his mediatorial throne in heaven he carries on still his unceasing labors in our behalf. and the holy ghost has worked. he spake by the prophets, and on the day of pentecost he came to take up his abode in the church, never to be overcome by error, or grieved away by sin, to vivify the sacraments, and to enlighten the hearts of the faithful by the preaching of the gospel and his own holy inspirations. why, who are you, my brethren? the woman at endor, when she had pierced the disguise of saul, and knew that she was talking with a king, was afraid, and "_said with a loud voice: 'why hast thou deceived me, for thou art saul?_'" [footnote ] [footnote : i. kings xxviii. .] [transcribers note: the correct reference is i. samuel xxviii. .] so, i ask you, who are you? i look upon your faces, and i see nothing to make me afraid; but faith tears away the disguise, and i see each one of you radiant with light, a true prince, and an heir of heaven. i look above, and see heaven open and the angels of god ascending and descending on errands of which you are the object. { } i look higher yet, and i see god the father watching you with anxiety, and the son offering his blood for you, and the holy ghost pleading with you, and the saints and angels, some with folded hands supplicating for you, and others pointing with outstretched finger to the glorious throne reserved in heaven for you. have you, my brethren, so regarded yourselves? have you valued that soul of yours? have you kept it as your most sacred treasure? is it now safe and secure? oh, how carefully do men keep a treasure they value highly! kings spend many thousand dollars yearly just to take care of a few jewels. the crown jewels of england are kept, as you know, in the tower. it is a heavy fortress, guarded by soldiers who are always on watch. at each door and avenue there is an armed sentinel. the jewels themselves are kept in glass cases, and visitors are not allowed to touch them. and all this pains and outlay to take care of a few stones that have come down to the queen by descent, or been taken from her enemies! and that precious soul of yours, before which all the wealth of the world is but worthless dross with what care have you kept that? alas! every door has been left open. no guard has been at your eyes to keep out evil looks. no guard at your ears to keep out the whispers of temptation. no guard at your lips to stop the way to the profane or filthy word. nay, not only have you kept up no guard, but you have carried your soul where soul-thieves congregate. the holy scripture says: "_a net is spread in vain before the eyes of a bird_." [footnote ] [footnote : provo i. .] yes, the birds and beasts are cunning enough to avoid an open snare; but you go rashly into dangers that are apparent to all but you. sinners lie in wait for you. they say, in the language of scripture: "_come, let us lie in wait for blood; let us hide snares for the innocent without cause. let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit_"--and you trust yourself in their power. oh, fly from them! { } consider the treasure you carry. "_what shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?_" will you sin against your own soul? you that are made after god's likeness; you that are princely and of noble rank, will you defile that image, and degrade yourselves to a level with the brutes that perish? but there are others whose offence is of another kind. they let their salvation go by sheer neglect. if a man plants a seed, he must water it, or it will not grow. so the soul needs the dew of god's grace; and prayer and the sacraments are the channels of god's grace. yet how men neglect the sacraments! even at easter, when we are obliged to receive them, some absent themselves. it has been a matter of the keenest pain to us to miss some members of this congregation during the late paschal season. you say, you have nothing on your conscience, and it is not necessary to go to confession. but is it not necessary to go to communion? will you venture to deprive yourselves of that food of which, unless ye eat, the saviour has said, "_ye have no life in you?_" or; you have a sad story to tell. you have fallen into mortal sin, and you are afraid to come. but do you think we have none of the charity of the angels? only convert truly, for it is a true conversion that gives the angels joy, and we can give you the promise that thomas à kempis puts into the mouth of him whose place we fill: "how often soever a man truly repents and comes to me for grace and pardon, as i live, saith the lord, who desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, i will not remember his sins any more, but all shall be pardoned him." and to you, my brethren, who, during the easter season just past, have recovered the grace of god, i have a word of advice to give in conclusion. keep your souls with all diligence. keep your souls; that is your chief, your only care. keep them by fleeing from the occasions of sin. { } keep them by overcoming habitual sins. nourish them by prayer and the sacraments. how great a disgrace, that all the irrational world should do the will of god, and you, the rulers of the world, should not do it! "_the kite in the air hath known her time; the turtle, and the swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming; but my people have not known the judgment of the lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. viii. .] how great an evil it is in a state when an unworthy ruler is at its head. the people mourn and languish, and at last rebel. so, when a man neglects the end for which he was made, the whole creation cries out against him. the stones under his feet cry out. the air he breathes, the food he eats, protest against the abuse he makes of them. balaam's ass rebuked the madness of the prophet; so, when you live in sin, the very beasts cry out: "if we had souls, we would not be as you. now we serve god blindly, and of necessity; but if we had souls, it would be our pride and happiness to give him our willing service." all things praise the lord;--"showers and dew;" "fire and heat;" "mountains and hills;" "seas and rivers;" "beasts and cattle." o sons of men, make not a discord in the universal harmony! receive not your souls in vain! serve god; "praise him and exalt him forever." ------------------------------- sermon xxi. the catholic's certitude concerning the way of salvation. (fifth sunday after pentecost.) "i know whom i have believed, and i am certain that he is able to keep that which i have committed to him against that day." --ii. tim. i. . no one can deny that this sentiment of the apostle is a very comfortable one. to be confident of salvation is surely an excellent and desirable thing. but the question with many will be, is it possible to attain it? { } now, there is one sense in which we cannot have a security of our salvation. we cannot have personally an infallible assurance that we are now and shall always continue in the grace of god, and shall at last taste the joys of heaven. our free-will forbids such an assurance, and neither our happiness nor the attributes of god demand it. but there is another sense in which a man may be said to have a security of his salvation, viz.: that he has within his reach, beyond all doubt, the proper and necessary means for attaining that end; for if the means are certain, it is plain that in the use of those means he may acquire a moral certainty that he is doing those things which god requires of him, and a well-grounded hope of everlasting life. such a security it would seem a man ought to be able to attain. without it the service of god must be slavish. there can be no free and generous service where there is not confidence. when one is travelling at night on a road he is ignorant of, he goes slow, he falters; but in the broad daylight, in a road he is sure of, he walks with a free, bold step. so in religion, if we have no security that we are right, we can never do much for god. man is not an abject being; he is erect; he looks up to heaven; he seems to face his maker and to demand from him to know the terms on which he stands toward him. a confidence, then, at least of being able to secure our salvation, must be within our reach. the only question is, how is it to be attained? i answer, the catholic has within his reach the security of his salvation, and he alone. in order to show this to you, i must remind you of what i mean by salvation. put out of your minds that childish idea that salvation is an external, arbitrary reward, given to some men when they die, and denied to others, as a father gives a book or a plaything to an obedient child, and refuses it to a disobedient. salvation is union with god. we are made for god. that is our high destiny. in god are our life and happiness; and out of god our death and ruin. { } salvation is our union with god for all eternity, and, in order to be united to god for all eternity, we must be united to him here. our salvation must begin here. now, we are united to god when our intelligence is united to his intelligence by the knowledge of his truth, and our will united to his will by the practice of his love. when i affirm, then, that the catholic alone has the means of attaining a security of salvation, i mean that he alone has the certain means of coming to the knowledge of his truth, and the practice of his will. i say _the certain means of coming to the knowledge of his truth_, for it is one thing to have a certain knowledge of a thing, and another to have only some ideas about it. we see this difference when we contrast the language of a man who is master of a science with that of one who has only vague notions about it. one possesses his knowledge--knows what he knows--can make use of it; while the other is embarrassed the moment he attempts to use his knowledge--is uncertain whether he is right or wrong--is driven to guesses and conjectures. in the same way, in religion, it is one thing to have convictions more or less deep--opinions more or less probable, to be acquainted with its history and able to talk about it--and quite another to have certainty in religion, to know that one is right. this is the assurance i claim as the special possession of the catholic. there can be no doubt that catholics do, in point of fact, show a much deeper conviction of the truth of their religion than protestants. this is a matter of common observation, and the proofs of it are on every side. officers who come back from the army tell how struck they have been with the fact that the catholic soldiers believe their religion and carry it with them to the camp. proselyting societies make frequent confession of the difficulty they find in undermining the faith even of ignorant and needy catholics. those who have experience at death-beds, know that faith is found sometimes surviving almost every other good principle, and making a return to god possible. { } those who are familiar with the history of the church know that this faith is strong enough to bear the severest tests which can be applied to it; that it has often led men to despise what the world most esteems--wealth, pleasures, honor; that it sends the missionary to heathen countries without a regret for the home and the native land he leaves behind him; that, in fine, it has often led men in times past, and still at this day leads them joyfully to the rack, the stake, and the scaffold. now, whence comes this deep and fixed certainty in religion? is it a mere prejudice that melts before investigation? is it a stupid fanaticism? or has it a reasonable basis, and are its foundations deep in the laws of the human mind? i answer, catholics have this undoubting conviction on the principle of faith in an infallible authority. there are but two principles of christian belief, when we come to the bottom of the matter. one is the protestant principle, viz.: that each one is to settle his faith for himself, by a study of the clear records of christianity. the other is the catholic principle, viz.: that each one is to receive his faith from an infallible authority. i feel as if i ought to pause here for a while to explain to you what is meant by this principle, for there exists in regard to it in some minds a misconception which does us the grossest injustice. some persons imagine that our creed is manufactured for us by the pope and the bishops; that whatever they may think right and good they may decree, and forthwith we are bound to believe it. but this is an enormous mistake. the authority to which i submit myself is something far more august. it lies behind pope and bishop, and they must bow to it as well as i. the pope and the bishops are the organs of this authority, not its sources. when we speak of learning from an infallible authority, we mean that a man is to find out the truth by putting his intelligence in communication with that living stream of truth that flows down through the channel of tradition, that living word of god, that public preaching of the truth in the true church, begun by the apostles, carried on by their successors, confessed by so many people, recorded in so many monuments, adorned by so many sacrifices, attested by so many miracles. { } unquestionably, this was the mode in which men were expected to learn the truth in apostolic days. it would not have been of the least avail for a man to have said to the apostles that his convictions differed from theirs. he would have been instantly regarded as in error. "we are of god," says st. john; "he that is of god, heareth _us_; he that is not of god, heareth not us. _by this_ shall ye know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." [footnote ] [footnote : i st. john iv. .] nor is there the least intimation in the new testament that this principle was to be departed from after the death of the apostles. on the contrary, we find that the apostles ordained others, and communicated to them their doctrine and authority, that they might go on and preach just as they had done. and we find in the early church that whenever a dispute arose about doctrine it was settled on the same principle, viz.: by an appeal to the tradition of the churches that had been founded by the apostles. thus, when a heresy arose in the second century, tertullian confronts it by bidding them compare their doctrine with that of the apostolic churches: "if thou art in achaia," he says, "thou hast corinth; if thou art near macedonia, thou hast philippi; if thou art in italy, thou hast rome. happy church! to which the apostles bequeathed not only their blood, but all their doctrines. see what _she_ has learned, see what _she_ has taught." [footnote ] [footnote : adv. præscr. hær. n. - .] such is the principle on which the catholic church acts to this day. now, while the protestant principle of private judgment in its own nature cannot lead to certainty, while in point of fact it has led only to endless dispute, until in our own day it has ended by bringing those divine records, which it began by exalting so highly, into doubt and contempt; the catholic principle, which, i have stated, is the principle of tradition, is adapted to give a complete and a reasonable certainty and assurance. { } the reasons why this public tradition of the living church has this power are manifold. they are in part natural, and in part supernatural--universal consent, internal consistency, divine attestation, the warrant and promise of christ; all of which are so well summed up by st. augustine, in that famous letter of his to the manichees: "i am kept in the catholic church," he says, "by the consent of peoples and nations. by an authority begun with miracles, nourished by hope, increased by charity, confirmed by antiquity. by the succession of priests from the chair of st. peter the apostle--to whom our lord after his resurrection gave his sheep to be fed--down to the present bishop. in fine, by that very name of _catholic_, which this church alone has held possession of; so that though heretics would fain have called themselves catholics, yet to the inquiry of a stranger, 'where is the meeting of the catholic church held?' no one of them would dare to point to his own basilica." [footnote ] [footnote : con. ep. manich. i. . .] the conviction which such considerations produce is so deep that a catholic rests in it with the most undoubting certainty. he can bear to look into his belief, to examine its grounds; he feels it is a venerable belief. he says it is impossible that god would allow error to wear so many marks of truth. to imagine it, would be to impugn _his_ truth, _his_ justice, _his_ power, _his_ goodness. and therefore, our belief in the catholic religion is only another form of our belief in god. the foundation of that belief is deep and abiding, for it is the eternal throne of god. that desire for truth which is implanted in man's nature is not, then, given only to be baffled and disappointed--here is its fulfilment. man is not raised to a participation in christ of the divine nature, to be left in doubt of the most essential truths. { } to the catholic are fulfilled those pleasant words of christ: "_i will not now call you servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but have called you friends, because all things, whatsoever i have heard from my father, i have made known to you_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xv. .] but some one may make an objection to my doctrine that certainty about truth is the result only of the catholic principle of faith, and say: "you do not mean to assert that protestants have no faith at all?" a protestant may say to me: "i acknowledge that we have among us a great deal of disunion, and a great deal of doubt, but after all there are some things that are believed by some of us, that are believed without doubt, and you will not deny it." no, i will not deny it. i am glad to think that it is true. but how did you come by that belief? you did not come by it on the principle of protestantism. the truth is, that principle never has been, and never can be carried out. thank god, it is so. utter unbelief would be the consequence. you have a child--a child that you love dearly. will you wait, as your protestantism requires you to do, till he is grown up, for him to form his religious convictions? no; if you love him, you will not. your heart will teach you a better wisdom. you will tell him about god, you will tell him who christ is, and what he has done for him. you will tell him these things not doubtingly, not as if he was to suspend his judgment on them, but as true, and as to be believed then and there. and as he looks up at you out of his trusting eyes, he believes you. but how does he believe you? on the principle of a protestant, or a catholic? on the principle of private judgment, or on faith in an infallible authority? surely it is as a catholic he believes? you represent to him the great teacher, and his childish soul, in listening to you, hears the voice of god, performs a great act of religion, and does his first act of homage to truth. his nature prompts him to believe you. perhaps he is baptized, and then there is a grace in his heart which secretly inclines him the more to credit you, and he believes without doubting. he is a catholic. { } yes, my brethren, there is many a child of protestant parents who is a catholic--a catholic, that is, in all but the name, and the fulness of instruction, and the richness of privilege. he may grow up in this way, perhaps continue all his life in this childish faith and trust. i will not say it may not be so. but let his reason fully awaken. let him honestly go down to the foundation of his faith and see on what it rests, and then let him remain a protestant, and retain his undoubting assurance if he can. he cannot--a crisis in his history has come. the sun has arisen with its living heat. the flower begins to wither. it must be transplanted or it will die. one of three things will happen: either the man, finding that he has not learned all that the great teacher has revealed, will go on to accept the rest and will become a catholic; or he will learn to doubt what he has received already and become a sceptic; or he will stick to the creed he has received from his fathers or picked up for himself, and doggedly refuse to add to it, thus rendering himself at the same moment amenable in the court of reason for unreasonableness in what he holds, and in the court of faith for unbelief in what he rejects. so true it is that all the faith there is in the world is naturally allied to catholicity. if men were perfectly reasonable and consistent, there would be only two parties in the religious world. protestantism would disappear. on the one side would be faith, certainty, catholicity; on the other, doubt and unbelief. nor is this all. the catholic has not only a certain means of arriving at the knowledge of god's faith, but he has also the sure means of knowing what he is bound to _do_ in order to [obtain] salvation. christianity is a supernatural religion, and therefore it suggests many questions to which natural reason cannot give the answer. by what means can i be united to christ? suppose i am in mortal sin, how can i be forgiven? { } what are the precise obligations binding on me as a christian? now, how distinctly, how promptly were such questions answered in the time of the apostles! when st. paul came to ananias to know what he was to do, the answer was given to him: "arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins." in the same way in the catholic church of this day, when a convert asks the same question, he gets the same answer: seek in faith and repentance the cleansing of baptism, and thou shalt be joined unto christ. dost thou wish to know the life thou must practise? it is written in the ten commandments and the precepts of the church. dost thou wish to know where thou wilt gain strength to keep these laws? in prayer and the sacraments. the church tells you how many there are, what is their efficacy, and the conditions of their saving operation. art thou in sin after baptism? dost thou ask the way back to god? the church tells thee that sorrow for sin is the way back, and that this sorrow, when it is completed by confession, and accepted by the absolution of the priest, has a sacramental efficacy. so precise are the answers of catholicity to the important practical questions of christianity; and the authority which, i have already said, attaches to her words, gives ease and certainty to the conscience. but how different is all this in protestantism! how various the answers given to these questions by the different sects! nay, how contradictory sometimes the answers given in the same sect! it would be odious to go into particulars on this subject, but i say what i know when i affirm that an intelligent protestant cannot have faith in his church, if he would; he may adopt a set of opinions and associate with those who hold them, but he cannot have faith in his church as a church. it is not long since an intelligent member of one of the most enlightened protestant denominations told me that the members of that church did not seem to be satisfied with it, only they did not know whether there was any other church in the world that would satisfy them. { } i say what i know when i affirm that there are young children in protestant churches who weep because they are told that god hates them, and they do not know how to gain his love. that there are numbers of young men, full of generous and noble thoughts and impulses, who are utterly destitute of any fixed christian belief; who say they would like to believe, but they cannot. that there are multitudes and multitudes who die in this land, who die without one single christian act, and many who submit at their last hour to take part in such acts at the request of friends, and on the chance that there may be some good in them. that there are some who openly lament that they were not born catholics, that they might have had faith; some who rise in the night to cry to god out of the hopeless darkness that surrounds them; some who, in despair of seeing god with an intelligent faith, take up a substitute, the best of all, it is true, but still very insufficient--works of benevolence and philanthropy, and the beauties of a merely moral life; some who would welcome death itself if it would but remove their agony of doubt. i do not say these things, my protestant friends, if any such are present, to mock your miseries. far from it. i know you too well. i love you too much. i say these things to lead you to truth and peace. i call to you struggling with the waves, from the rock whereon our feet have found a resting-place. i speak to you to the same effect as christ spoke to the woman at the well of jacob, who was a member of the schismatical samaritan church. you worship you know not what. we know what we worship; for salvation is of the jews. you know not what you worship. your religion is at the best one of doubt and uncertainty. we know what we worship. we are certain we are right, for salvation is of us. we are the israelites. to us belongeth the adoption of children, and the glory, and the covenant, and the giving of the law, and the service of god, and the promises. { } this is the mountain of the lord established in the last days on the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, into which the nations flow. o you who know not this home of peace, god did not make you to be as you are, to be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, to follow blind guides, to give your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not. no, come with us and be happy. come with us and be blessed. come, let us go the mountain of the lord, and to the house of the god of jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for the law shall come forth from sion, and the word of the lord from jerusalem. incline your ear unto me and you shall live--the life of faith--the life of certainty and hope. you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. instead of the shrub shall come up the fir tree: and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle tree. all nature shall sympathise in your happiness. the mountains and hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands. and you, my dear catholics, be not indifferent to the graces god has given you, nor slothful in their use. you have it your power to make sure your salvation. about the means there is no uncertainty. they are infallible. it is of the catholic church that the prophet spoke when he said: "_a path shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called a holy way, and this shall be unto you a straight way, so that even fools shall not err therein_." [footnote ] and again: "_this saith the lord god: i will lay a stone in the foundation of sion, a tried stone, a corner-stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. xxxv. .] [footnote : ibid. xxviii. .] { } a way to heaven in this dark, uncertain world! a straight, a sure, a certain way! a rock under our feet under this swelling sea! o my brethren, what blessings are these! let them not be in vain. be not found at the last day with your lights gone out! the just shall live by faith. live by yours. do you wish to advance in a good life? your faith tells you how. does sin wage a war against you? your faith tells you how to meet the combat. are you in sin? your faith tells you how to be forgiven. correspond, then, honestly with this faith, and you may enjoy a firm hope of heaven, a hope not based on excited feelings, not claiming to be a direct inspiration from on high, but a reasonable hope, that will stay by you in adversity, and support you at the hour of death. claim, then, your privilege. assert the freedom wherewith christ has made you free. be not troubled or anxious all your days. do your part, act up to your catholic conscience, then lift up your heads, eat your bread with joy, and let your garments be always white, for god now accepteth your works. in this is the love of god perfected in us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment. "_wherefore, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : i. cor. xv. .] ---------------------------------- sermon xxii. the presence of god. (fifth sunday after pentecost.) "indeed the lord is in this place, and i knew it not. how terrible is this place; this is no other than the house of god and the gate of heaven." --gen xviii. , . these words were spoken by the patriarch jacob when he was journeying to syria to visit his uncle. he had stopped for the night at a place which was afterward called bethel, and as he lay on the ground with a stone for his pillow, the lord appeared to him in a vision, and blessed him, and foretold his future greatness and increase. { } then, penetrated with a sense of the nearness and greatness of god, with whom he had been conversing, he rose up and exclaimed: "indeed the lord is in this place, and i knew it not." and trembling, he said: "how terrible is this place; this is no other than the house of god, and the gate of heaven." now, my brethren, we may make every morning and every night a similar declaration. wherever we are, we may say: "indeed the lord is in this place." every spot on earth, on which a man tarries for a moment, becomes the house of god, and the gate of heaven. you understand what i mean. i am speaking of the omnipresence of god. reason and faith both proclaim to us this great truth of the universal presence of god. he is present by his immensity to all creatures in the universe, whether living or inanimate. when god created the world, he did not leave it to itself. he sustains it by his presence and power, and it is in him that we live and move and have our being. he is present to our intellectual and moral being as the light of reason and the object of the will, for without him there would be no rational or moral life. he is present with us also as the source of that supernatural life which begins in baptism and ends in the uncreated vision of the blessed trinity in heaven. "he that loveth me, shall be loved by my father; and i will love him, and will manifest myself to him. * * * and my father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make an abode with him." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xiv. , .] o my brethren, what a piercing thought is this of the presence of god, if we did but realize it! think for a moment of the doctrine of the real presence of our lord in the holy eucharist. we believe that jesus christ, true god and true man, with his deity, his soul, his flesh and blood, is present in the holy sacrament of the altar. what consequences this doctrine has! { } the whole catholic ritual, the ceremonies of worship, the respect paid to churches, the bowing of the knees, the incense, the lights, the music--all flow from this. in the early ages, during the times of persecution, it was customary for christians to take home with them the blessed sacrament, that they might communicate themselves in case of necessity. imagine that such were the custom now. imagine you were to take away with you, this day, as you left the church, and carry to your homes, the sacred host which is kept in the tabernacle. how silently would you go along the streets! with what care would you seek out a place for our saviour's body to repose in! with what care would you go about your home as long as he remained your guest! how would your heart thrill as you reflected, on a awaking in the morning, that indeed the lamb of god, once crucified for you, was now a dweller in your own home! yet, if such were the case, if the blessed sacrament were actually kept in your houses and in your rooms, god would not be any more present to you than he is now. he is indeed present in a different manner in the blessed eucharist. that sacramental presence, that sweet, precious, consoling presence of the body once broken, and the blood once shed for us, is confined to the sacramental species. but the presence of the deity, the real presence of god, is just as much outside as it is inside the church; just as much with us when we are at home as when we are at mass. not if his footstep shook the heavens and the earth, as it will on the last day when he comes to judgment, would god be one whit closer to us or more present to us than he is now to everyone of us, every day, and everywhere. even sin cannot separate us from god. we sometimes say that mortal sin separates a man from god. as a figure of speech, implying the loss of god's grace and friendship which sin occasions, this language may pass, but taken literally it is untrue. a man can never be separated from god. that would be annihilation. even when we are in sin, even when we are committing sin, god is with us and in us, the soul of our soul, the life of our life. { } yes, here is a bond that can never be broken. never can we escape that awful presence--never for a moment, here or hereafter. we shall not be more in god's presence in heaven or less in hell than we are now at this moment. god is not a god afar off up in heaven. he is here. this whole universe is only god's shadow. every thing that is attests, not only god's creating power, but his living presence. he is in the flames and in the light, and in the pastures, in the air, in the ground, in the body, and in the soul, in the head, in the eye, in the ear, and in the heart. he is in us, and we are in him, bathed in his presence as in an ocean, breathing in it as in an atmosphere. this is what the psalmist expresses so beautifully: "_whither shall i go from thy spirit? or whither shall i flee from thy face? if i ascend into heaven, thou art there; if i descend into hell, thou art present; if i take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. and i said: perhaps darkness shall cover me; and night shall be light in my pleasures. but darkness shall not be dark to thee; and night shall be light as the day; the darkness thereof, and the light thereof, are alike to thee_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. cxxviii. - .] if we thought more frequently of this, how many sins should we avoid! when a man is going to commit a crime, he takes precautions against discovery. he seeks out a secret place. he chooses a fitting hour. vain precautions! there is no secret place on earth, no lonely spot, no time of darkness. there is a proverb among men that "walls have ears," and the counsel of the wise man is, "_detract not the king, no, not in thy thought; and speak not evil of the rich man in thy private chamber; because even the birds of the air will carry the voice; and he that hath wings will tell what thou hast said_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. x. .] { } what is it that has impressed on men this universal fear of detection? is it not an unconscious acknowledgment of the presence of god? yes, we cannot shut the door against him. we cannot leave him out. we cannot draw the blind before his eye. "_the eyes of the lord in every place behold the good and the evil." [footnote ] "before that philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, i saw thee,_" [footnote ] said our lord to nathanael. [footnote : prov. xv. .] [footnote : st. john i. .] i wish you thought more of this; i am sure it would save you from many a sin. i have read of a holy man who, on hearing a person say that circumstances were favorable to the commission of a shameful sin, because no one was present, exclaimed: "what! are you not ashamed to do that before the living god which you would be ashamed to do before a man like yourself?" even the eye of a dog has restrained men from the commission of crime--how much more ought the eye of god! listen to the language you hear as you pass through the streets. the sacred names of god and jesus christ, how they are bandied about! would men speak so, if they realized that god and christ were then and there present? would they insult god to his face? suppose our saviour were to appear to one of these men as he was pouring out his oaths and blasphemies, in the guise in which he was as he journeyed to calvary to die for man, with sorrow in his eye, and sweat and blood on his forehead, with weak and faltering steps, and lips mute, but full of appealing love and agony; would he still go on with his dreadful oaths? no! the knee would be bent, the head would be bowed, and the very ground on which he walked would be regarded with reverent awe. why so? merely because he saw him with his bodily eyes? would it not be the same, if he were to close his eyes, and yet be aware of his presence? and is he not present to you as truly as if you saw him, hearing each imprecation and blasphemy which you utter? { } oh, spare him! spare those sacred ears; spare his majesty and his goodness, and cease to profane his holy name. tertullian, speaking of the early christians, says they talked as those who believed that god was listening. let the thought of god's presence be deeply graven on your soul, and it will teach you to use the language of a christian--at least it will cure you of blasphemy. it will cure you also of another sin of the tongue: that is of falsehood. lying implies a virtual denial of god's presence, as well as blasphemy. when you lie, you forget the there is one who know's the truth--who is himself the eternal truth; and you act as if he knew not, or would be a party to your fraud. every lie is, in this respect, like the lie of ananias and sapphira--a lie to god. oh! how much must god be displeased by all the sins he witnesses. it is said of righteous lot, that from day to day he vexed his righteous soul at all the sins which he witnessed in sodom, where he dwelt. how must the holy god be vexed every day at all the dark deeds, the injustices, the impurities, the falsehoods, the deceits, the treacheries, the cruelties, to which men compel him to be a witness! is it not a necessity that christ should come with ten thousand of his saints to take vengeance on the ungodly! would it not seem, otherwise, that god made himself a party to our sins by keeping silence? "_these things hast thou done_," says the almighty, "_and i was silent. thou thoughtest unjustly that i shall be like to thee: but i will reprove thee, and set before thy face_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xlix. .] david committed adultery in secret; but god declared to him that he would punish him before all israel, and in the sight of the sun. so the judgment day will bring to light every secret thing, and manifest, in the sight of all, those hidden sins which have been committed in the presence and with the full knowledge of god. { } they have never been hidden from god, and the disclosures of the last day are only the presence and the knowledge of god asserting and manifesting themselves to men. the thought of god, and of his omnipresence, is thus the greatest preservative against sin. but this is not all. the thought of god's perpetual and universal presence is our greatest strength and consolation. what a comfort it would be to have a friend, who loved us truly, who was most sincerely desirous of our welfare and happiness, who was very wise and able to help us in difficulties, never variable or capricious, but always true and faithful and trustworthy! the possession of such a friend will go as far as any thing earthly can go to make one perfectly happy. now, each one of us really has such a friend. such a friend? ah! far better, far wiser, far more loving--even the good god! god, in the holy scriptures, represents the soul of man as a garden, in which it is his delight to walk about. what an idea this gives us of the familiarity a man may have with god. why do not men take advantage of this loving condescension? why do they not converse with god? why do they not think of him? the face of moses shone after he had been talking to god on mount sinai, and our countenance would be light and joyous if we dwelt more in god's presence. oh, to think of it! when we walk in the streets, when we sit down and rise up, there is one ever at our side--no, not at our side; but in us--our very life and being; god, the beautiful and good. god, who made the heavens and the earth; the god of our fathers. god, who has been the comfort and stay of the just in all ages, who talked with abraham, and went before the children of israel in a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. god, who gave manna from heaven, who spoke by the prophets, and in the still, small voice on mount horeb; who awoke samuel, as he lay sleeping in his little crib in the priest's chamber, and chose david, the youth, fair and of a ruddy countenance, to be the prince of his people; and who, in these last days, hath revealed himself in his only begotten son, full of grace and truth. { } he it is who is with you and me, even from our youth unto this day. o thou who art afflicted, tossed with tempests and not comforted, what dost thou want?--what wouldst thou have? the eternal god is thy refuge, and underneath thee are the everlasting arms. thou hast but to open thy soul, and floods of comfort and strength will pour into thee. art thou weak? he is thy strength. art thou sad and lonely? he is thy consoler. art thou guilty? he is thy redeemer--the god ready to pardon. does the world allure thee? his beauty will make its attractions pale. is thy heart weary and inconstant? he is unfailing and unchanging. o source of strength, too much slighted! o happiness, too often blindly rejected! in the presence of god there is pleasure and life. "_they that hope in the lord shall renew their strength; they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." "for he is a covert from the wind, a hiding-place from the storm, as rivers of waters in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. xl. ; xxxii. .] learn, then, my brethren, to keep yourselves in the presence of god. to forget god, what is it, but to plunge ourselves into sin and misery. to remember god, what is it, but to be strong and happy. "walk before me, and be thou perfect," said god to abraham. that is the secret of perfection, the way to heaven. it is not necessary to go out of your own mind. it is not necessary to lift the eye to heaven, or bend the knee. closer than the union of soul and body is the union between god and thee. { } quicker than thought is the communion between thy soul and its maker. "_thou shalt cry_," says the almighty, "_and i will say: here i am--yea, even before thy call, i will hear, and even while thou art yet speaking i will answer_." [footnote ] [footnote : isai. lviii. ; lxv. .] practise, then, attention to the presence of god. i do not speak so much now of daily prayers, and of your devotions in the church. but when you are abroad in the busy world, or in your homes, accustom yourselves from time to time to think of god. complicated pieces of machinery require the care of an overseer from time to time, lest they get out of gear. so we must think of god from time to time during the day, and keep the powers of our soul in harmony with the will of god, lest they fall into disorder, and the work of life be hindered. it is not a work of very great difficulty. the chief difficulty lies in its simplicity. it is so much easier to pray than we think, that oftentimes we have already prayed when we are perplexing ourselves how to pray, and busying ourselves with preparing to pray. god is in us, in the very centre of our soul. he knows its most secret thoughts, and thus a simple act of the will is enough to bring us into communion with him. to realize this is to be men of prayer, to be as happy as it is possible for us to be in this life, and to begin here that contemplation of god which will constitute our everlasting beatitude in heaven. ----------------------------------------- sermon xxiii. keeping the law not impossible. (ninth sunday after pentecost.) "i can do all things in him who strengtheneth me." --phil. vi. . if i am not mistaken, a very great number of the sins that men commit, are committed through hopelessness. the pleasures of sin are by no means unmixed. indeed, sin is a hard master; and all who practise it find it so. { } i never met a man who said it was a good thing, or that it made him happy. on the contrary, all lament it, and say that it makes them miserable. why, then, do they commit it? very often, i am persuaded, because they think they have no power to resist it. they feel in themselves strong passions; they have yielded to them in times past, they see that others yield to them, and so they come to think it impossible not to yield to them. the law of god is too difficult, they say. it is impossible to keep it. it may do for priests or nuns who are cut off from the world, or for women, or for the old, or for children, but for us who mix in the world, whose blood is warm, and whose passions are strong, it is too high and pure. it is all very well to talk about; it is all very well to hold up a high standard to us, but you must not expect us to attain it. the utmost that you can expect of us is to stop sinning, now and then, and make the proper acknowledgments to god by going to confession; but actually to try not to sin, to keep on endeavoring not to sin at any time, or under any circumstances, that is impossible, or at least so extremely difficult that, practically speaking, it is impossible. are there none of you, my brethren, who recognise this as the secret language of your hearts? is there not an impression in your minds that the law of god is too strict, or at least that it is too strict for you, and that you cannot keep it? if so, do not harbor it. it is a fatal error. no; it is not impossible to keep god's law. it is not impossible to keep from mortal sin. it is, i admit, impossible to keep from every venial sin, though even here we can do a great deal, if we try. such is the frailty of human nature that even the best men, as time goes on, fall into some slight faults, only the blessed virgin having been able, as we believe, to pass a whole life without even in the smallest thing offending god. but it is possible for all of us to keep from mortal sin, at all times and under all circumstances. this, i think, you will acknowledge when you consider the character of god, the nature of god's law, and the power of god's grace which is promised to us. { } i say the character of god is a pledge of our ability to keep from mortal sin. god requires us to be free from mortal sin, and he requires it under the severest penalties, and therefore it must be possible for us. you may say, "god requires us to be free from venial sin too, and yet you have just said we cannot avoid every venial sin." but the case is far different. a venial sin does not separate us from god, and does not receive extreme punishment from him--nay, those venial sins which even good men commit, and which are only in small part voluntary, are very easily forgiven--but a mortal sin cuts us off entirely from god, and deserves eternal punishment. you know, one mortal sin is enough to damn a man--one single sin of drunkenness, for instance, or impurity; a cherished hatred, a false oath, or an act of grave injustice. one such sin is sufficient to sink a man in hell, and although we know very little in particular of the torments of hell, we have every reason to believe that they are most bitter, and we know that they are eternal. now, can it be thought that a being of justice and goodness, as we know god to be, would inflict so extreme a punishment for an offence which was unavoidable, or could only be avoided with the utmost difficulty? holy scripture sends us to an earthly parent for an example of that tenderness and affection which we are to expect from our heavenly father. "_if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. vii. .] what would be the thought of an earthly father who laid upon his son a command which it was all but impossible for him to comply with, and then punished him with the utmost rigor for not fulfilling it? { } you would not call that man a father, but a tyrant; a tyrant like pharaoh, who would not give straw to the children of israel, and yet set taskmasters over them to exact of them the full measure of bricks as when straw had been given them. why, if you were going along the street and saw a man whipping unmercifully an overloaded horse, you would not bear it patiently. and would you attribute conduct so disgraceful among men to our father in heaven? god forbid! far be such a thought from us! it is not so. we must not think it. at least we cannot think it as long as we remain catholics; for when the earlier protestants proclaimed the shocking doctrine that though god punished men for disobeying his law, man was really unable to obey it, the church branded the doctrine as a heresy to be abhorred of all men, as most false in itself, and most injurious to god. no; god loves his creatures far more than we conceive of: he does not desire the death of a sinner. he wills truly the salvation of all men. his goodness and mercy, his truth and justice, are all so many infallible guarantees of our ability to keep his law. he would not have given us his law unless he had meant us to keep it. he would not punish us so severely for breaking it, unless our breaking it was an act of deliberate, wilful, determined rebellion. but there is another source from which i draw the conclusion that it is possible to keep the law of god--from the nature of the law itself. the law of god is of such a nature that, for the most part, in order to commit mortal sin, it is necessary to do or to leave undone some external act, which of its own nature it is entirely in our power to do or not to do. for instance, the law says, "_thou shalt not steal;_" now, to steal, you have got to put your hand into your neighbor's pocket. the law says: "_thou shalt do no murder;_" to murder, you must stretch out your hand against your neighbor's life. nay, it requires ordinarily several external actions before a mortal sin is consummated. thus the thief has his precautions to take, and his plans to lay. { } the drunkard has to seek the occasion. he seeks the grogshop. every step he takes is a separate act. when he gets there, it is not the first glass that makes him drunk. he drinks again and again, and it is only after all these different and repeated actions that he falls into the mortal sin of drunkenness. now, here you see are external acts--acts in which the hand, the foot, the lips, are concerned, and which, therefore, it is perfectly in our power to do or to let alone. this requires no proof, but admits of a striking illustration. you have heard of the great sufferings of the martyrs; how some of them were stoned to death, others flayed alive, others crucified, others torn to pieces by wild beasts, others burned to death. now, what was it all about? you answer, "they suffered because they would not deny christ." very well; but how were they required to deny christ? "what was it they were required to do? i will tell you. sometimes they were required to take a few grains of incense and throw it on the altar of jupiter; that would have been enough to have saved them from their sufferings. they need not have said, 'i renounce christ;" only to have taken the incense would have been sufficient. sometimes they were required to tread on the cross. sometimes to swear by the genius of the roman emperor; that was all. and the fire was kindled to make them do these things; but they would not. the flames leaped upon them, but not a foot would they lift from the ground. their hands were burnt to the bone, but no incense would they touch. the marrow of their bones melted in the heat, and forced from them a cry of agony, but the name of the emperor's tutelary genius did not pass their lips. now, will you tell me that you cannot help doing what the martyrs would not do to save them from death? they had a fire before them and a scourge behind them, and they refused; and you say you cannot help yourself when you are under no external violence whatever! they died rather than lift a hand to do a forbidden thing; have you not the same power over your hand that they had? { } they died rather than utter a sinful word; have you not as much power over your tongue as they? indeed you have, for you control both one and the other whenever you will. i say there is no sinner whose conduct does not show that his actions are perfectly in his own power. the thief waits for the night to carry on his trade; during the day he is honest enough. the greatest libertine knows how to behave himself in the presence of a high-born and virtuous female. and even that vice which men say it is most difficult of all to restrain when once the habit is formed--profane swearing--you know how to restrain it when you will, for even the heaviest curser and swearer ceases from his oaths before the priest, or any other friend whom he greatly respects. now, if you can stop cursing before the priest, why can you not before your wife and children? if you can be chaste in the presence of a virtuous female, why can you not be chaste everywhere? if you can be honest when the eye of man is on you, why can you not be honest when no eye sees you but that of god? "but," someone may say, "there is a class of sins to which the remarks you have made do not apply, that is, sins of thought. you must admit that they are of such a nature that it is all but impossible not to commit them." no, i do not admit it. i acknowledge that sins of thought are more difficult to guard against than sins of action; but i do not acknowledge that it is impossible to guard against them. to prove this, i have only to remind you that an evil thought is no sin until we give _consent_ to it. to keep always free from evil thoughts may be impossible, because the imagination is in its nature so volatile, that but few men have it in control; but, though it be not possible to restrain the imagination, it is always possible to restrain the will. in order for the will to consent to evil it is necessary both to _know_ and to _choose_, and therefore from the nature of the thing one can never fall into sin either inevitably or unawares. { } and besides, the will has a powerful ally in the conscience, whose province it is to keep us from sin and to reproach us when we do sin--so that it is scarcely possible, for one who habitually tries to keep free from mortal sin, to fall into it without his conscience giving a distinct and unmistakable report. and this is so certain that spiritual writers say that a person of good life and tender conscience, who is distressed with the uncertainty whether or no he has given consent to an evil temptation, ought to banish that anxiety altogether and to be sure that he has not consented. but suppose these evil temptations are importunate, and remain in the soul even when we resist them, and try to turn from them? no matter. they do not become sins on that account; nay, they become the occasion of acts of great virtue. it is related in the life of st. catharine of sienna that on one occasion that pure virgin's soul was assailed by the most horrible temptations of the devil. they lasted for a long time, and after the conflict our saviour appeared to her with a serene countenance. "o my divine spouse," she said, "where wast thou when i was enduring these conflicts?" "in thy soul," he replied. "what, with all these filthy abominations?" "yes, they were displeasing and painful to thee; this therefore was thy merit, and thy victory was owing to my presence." so that we see even here, where the danger is greatest, the law of god exacts of us nothing but what in its own nature is in our power to do or not to do. but if you wish another proof of your ability to keep god's law, i allege the _power of his grace_. i can imagine an objector saying: "you have not touched the real difficulty, after all. the difficulty is not on god's side; no doubt. he is good and holy. neither are the requirements of his law so very hard. the difficulty is in us. we are fallen by nature. we have sinned after baptism. we are so weak, so frail, that to us continued observance of the divine commandments is impossible." no, my brethren, neither is this true. { } it is not true from the mouth of any man; least of all from the mouth of a christian. "no temptation," says the apostle, "_hath taken hold of you but such as is human: and god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able; but will also with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it_." [footnote ] [footnote : i cor. x. .] the weakest and frailest are strong enough with god's grace, and this grace he is ready to give to those that need it. at all times and in all places he has been ready to give his grace to them that need it, but especially is this true under the gospel. the holy scriptures make this the distinguishing characteristic of the times of the gospel, that they shall abound in grace. "_take courage, and fear not_," the prophet says, in anticipation of the time when christ should come in the flesh, "_behold, god will come and save you. then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free; for waters are broken out of the desert, and streams in the wilderness. and that which was dry land shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water_." [footnote ] such was the promise, hundreds of years before christ, of a time of peace, of happiness and grace; and when our lord was come, he published that the good time had indeed arrived: "_the spirit of the lord hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. he hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart. to preach deliverance to the captive, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : is. xxxv. - .] [footnote : st. luke iv. , .] yes, the great time has come; the cool of the day; the evening of the world; the time when labor is light and reward abundant. o my brethren, you know not what a privilege it is to be a christian! you enter a church. you see a priest in his confessional. a penitent is kneeling at his feet. { } the sight makes but little impression on you, for you are accustomed to it, but this is that "_fountain_" promised by the prophet "_to the house of david and to the inhabitants of jerusalem, for the washing of the sinner;_" a fountain that flows from the saviour's side, and not only cleanses, but strengthens and makes alive. you pass an altar. the priest is giving communion. stop! it is the lord himself! the bread of angels! the wine of virgins! the food "_whereof if a man eat he shall live forever_." and not only in the church do you find grace; it follows you home. you shut your door behind you, and your father in heaven waits to hear and grant your prayer. nay, at all times god is with you, for you are the temple of god, and he sits on the throne of your heart to scatter his grace on you whenever and wherever you ask him. do not say, then, christian, that you are unable to do what god requires of you. it is a sin of black ingratitude to say so. even if it were impossible for others to keep the law of god, it is not for you. he hath not done to every nation as he hath done to you. when the patriarch jacob was dying, he blessed all his children, but his richest blessing was for joseph. so god has blessed all the children of his hand, but you, christian, are the joseph whom he hath loved more than all his other sons. to others he hath given of "_dew dew of heaven_," and "_the fatness of the earth_," but you "_he hath blessed with all spiritual blessings in christ_." away, then, with the notion that obedience to the commandments of god is impracticable--a notion dishonorable to god and to ourselves. it is possible to keep free from mortal sin--for all--at all times, under all temptations. nay, i will say more. it is, on the whole, easier to live a life of christian obedience, than a life of sin. i say "on the whole," for i do not deny that here and there, in particular cases, it is harder to do right than wrong; but taking life all through, one who restrains his passions will have less trouble than one who indulges them. { } heroic actions are not required of us every day. in order to be a christian, it is not necessary to be always high-strung and enthusiastic. it is not necessary to be a devotee, to adopt set and precise ways, to take up with hypocrisy and cant--in a word, to be unmanly. it is just, for the most part, the most matter of fact, the most practical, the most simple and straight-forward thing in the world. it is to be a man of principle. it is to have a serious, abiding purpose to do our duty. it is to be full of courage; not the courage of the braggart, but the courage of the soldier--the courage that thrives under opposition, and survives defeat, the courage that takes the means to secure success--vigilance, humility, steadfastness, and prayer. before this, all difficulties vanish, and this is what we want most of all. it is amazing how little courage there is in the world. we are like the servant of eliseus, the prophet, who, when he awoke in the morning, and saw the great army that had been sent by the king of syria to take his master, said, "_alas, alas, alas, my lord; what shall we do!_" but eliseus showed him another army--the army of angels ranged on the mountain, with chariots of fire and horses of fire, ready to fight for the servants of god, and he said, "_fear not: for there are more with us than with them_." [footnote ] [footnote : iv. kings vi. - .] why should we fear? christianity is no new thing. the path of christian obedience is not an untried path. thousands have trod it and are now enjoying their reward. god, and the angels, and the saints, are on our side. and there are multitudes of faithful souls in the word who are fighting the good fight, and keeping their souls unsullied. we cannot distinguish them now, but one day we shall know them. oh! let us join them. yes, we will make our resolution now. others may guide themselves by pleasure or expediency; we will adopt the language of the psalmist: "_thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. cxviii. .] { } we will be christians, not in name, but in deed. not for a time only, but always. one thought shall cheer us in sadness and nerve us in weakness, "_i have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of thy justice_." [footnote ] [footnote : ibid. .] --------------------------------- sermon xxiv. the spirit of sacrifice.. (for the feast of st. laurence, martyr.) "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to god, your reasonable service." --rom. xvii. . there is, my brethren, among many men who practise christian duties to a certain extent, one remarkable want. i will call it the want of the spirit of sacrifice. compare such men with any of the saints, and you will see at once what i mean. one saint may differ a great deal from another, but this is common to them all--a vivid sentiment of god's greatness and sovereignty, of his right to do with us what he wills, and a willing and reverent recognition of that right. now the defective christianity to which i allude lacks this spirit altogether. it differs from the christianity of the saints not only in degree but in kind. not only does it fail to produce _as many_ sacrifices as the saints made for god, but the idea of sacrifice is completely strange and foreign to it. it bargains about the commandments of god, and, when any commandment is difficult, postpones fulfilment, or refuses it altogether. to prevent any of you from being content with so imperfect and unsatisfactory a sort of religion, i will give you this morning some reasons why you should aim to serve god in the spirit of sacrifice. { } first, then, i assert that the spirit of sacrifice is necessary. god requires it of us. on this point i think some people make a mistake. they seem to think that a willingness to make sacrifices for god is one of the ornamental or heroic parts of religion, and that everyday people are not required to have it. but this is not so. the spirit of sacrifice is required of everyone. i infer this from the fact that an external sacrificial worship is necessary. it is frequently said that there is no religion without a sacrifice. and this is true. there never has been, nor indeed could there be, a true religion without having some external act of sacrificial worship. but why is this necessary? not simply because we are sinners and need propitiation, for some theologians have thought that sacrifices would have been necessary, though man had never sinned. what religion requires a sacrifice for, is this--to express our sense of god's supreme sovereignty. in a sacrifice there is something offered to god and destroyed, thus signifying that god is the author of life and death, our creator, our ruler, our supreme judge. the excellence of the christian sacrifice--the sacrifice of the mass--consists in this, that the victim offered is a living, reasonable, divine victim, even the son of god incarnate, who by his life and death rendered most worthy homage to the divine majesty, and still in every mass, continually, offers it anew. this, then, is what the mass is given us for, and this is why we are required to assist at the mass, that we may in a perfect and worthy manner recognize god's sovereignty and our dependence on him. when we assist at mass, the meaning of our action, if put into words, would be something like this: "i acknowledge thee, o god, for my sovereign lord, and the supreme disposer of my life and death, and because i am not able worthily to express thy greatness, i beg of thee to accept, as if it were my own, all the submission with which thy son honored thee on the cross, and now again honors thee in this holy sacrifice." { } now, it cannot be imagined that we are required to make this profession to god without at the same time being required to have in our hearts that sentiment of god's greatness and sovereignty which we express with our lips. our lord did not come to suffer and die, and give his life [as] a sacrifice to the father, to dispense us from the obligation of worshipping god ourselves, but to give to our worship a perfect example and a higher acceptability. without our worship the mass is incomplete. on our lord's part, indeed, the sacrifice of the mass is always efficacious, for he is present wherever it is celebrated; but on our part it is empty and unmeaning if no one really fears god, submits unreservedly to him, is willing to do all he commands, and acknowledges that all that could be done for him is too little. a worship of sacrifice implies a life of sacrifice. this is beautifully illustrated in the life of st. laurence, whose martyrdom we celebrate to-day. st. laurence was one of the seven deacons of the city of rome in the third century of the christian era. as deacon, it was his office to serve the mass of st. xystus, who was at that time pope. "when the persecution broke out under the emperor valerius, st. xystus was seized and carried off to martyrdom. as he was on his way, st. laurence followed him weeping and saying: "father where are you going without your son? whither are you going, o holy priest, without your deacon? you were not wont to offer sacrifice without me your minister, wherein have i displeased you? have you found me wanting to my duty? try me now and see whether you have made choice of an unfit minister for dispensing the blood of the lord." and st. xystus replied: "i do not leave you, my son, but a greater trial and a more glorious victory are reserved for you who are stout and in the vigor of youth. we are spared on account of our weakness and old age. you shall follow me in three days." and, in fact, three days after, st. laurence was burnt to death, his faith rendering him joyful, even mirthful in his sufferings. { } now, i do not look on this conversation as poetry. times of affliction are not times when men look around for fine ways of expressing themselves. at such times words come straight from the heart. i see, then, in the words of st. laurence the sentiments with which he was accustomed to assist at mass. as he knelt at the foot of the altar at which the pope was celebrating, clothed in the beautiful dress of a deacon, his soul was filled with the thoughts of god's greatness and goodness, and along with the offering of the heavenly victim, he used to offer to god his fervent desire to do something to honor the divine majesty, the color sometimes mounting high in his youthful cheek as he thought how joyfully he would yield his own heart's blood as a sacrifice, if the occasion should offer. martyrdom to him was but a natural completion of mass. it was but the realisation of his habitual worship. in the early history of the city of st. augustine, in florida, it is related that a priest, who was attacked by a party of indians, asked permission to say mass before he died. this was granted him, and the savages waited quietly till the mass was ended. then the priest knelt on the altar steps and received the death-blow from his murderers. with what sentiments must that priest have said mass! with what devotion! with what reverence! with what self-oblation! so, i suppose st. laurence, and st. xystus, and the christians of the old time were accustomed always to assist at mass, with the greatest desire to honor god, the most complete spirit of self-sacrifice. now, i do not say we are all bound to be as holy as these great saints. i do not even say we are bound to desire martyrdom; but i do say there is not one kind of christianity for the saints and another for ordinary christians; one kind, all self-denial for them, and another kind, all self-indulgence, for us. { } i say god is to us what he is to the saints--our creator and our sovereign; and he demands of us the worship of creatures and subjects--the worship of _sacrifice_--a willingness to do all he demands of us now, and a readiness to do greater things the moment that he makes it known to us that such is his will. how many difficulties, my brethren, such a spirit takes out of the way of christian obedience! it cuts off at one blow all our struggles with the decrees of god's providence. how much of our misery comes from murmurings against the providence of god! one is suffering under sickness and pain, another is overwhelmed with reverses and afflictions, another is irritated by continual temptations. no one can deny that these are severe trials; but see how the spirit of sacrifice disposes of them. it says to the sick man, to the suffering man, what isaac said to his father abraham on the mountain: "see, here is fire and wood, but where is the victim for a burnt offering? here are the materials for a beautiful act of sacrifice. it wants only a meek heart for a victim, and love to light the flame, to turn the sickbed, the house of mourning, the soul agitated by temptation, into an altar of the purest worship, and the language of complaint into the liturgy of praise. again: it sometimes happens that a man gets involved in relations of business or friendship, or becomes addicted to some indulgence, which threaten to ruin his soul, and he is required to renounce them, to give up the intimacy, to change his business, to deny himself that indulgence. the command of god is distinct and peremptory: "_if thy hand or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. and if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xviii. .] { } how does he receive it? he says: "it is too hard." too hard! and is it, then, only god for whom we are unwilling to do any thing hard? we must make sacrifices of some sort in life, and heavy ones, too. we cannot get rid of the necessity of making them, do what we will. the world requires them of us. our families require them. our health requires them. our pleasure requires them. nay, our very sins require them. and what we do willingly for the world, for our families, for our health, our pleasure, our sins, shall we refuse to do for the great and good god? for christ our saviour, who did not refuse the cross to give us an example of the obedience we owe his father? or take another example: a person who is not a catholic finds much that is reasonable in catholic doctrine, but makes a great stumbling-block of confession; or even a catholic gets a dread of it, and stays away for years and years from the sacraments of the church. now, of course, in such cases it is only charitable to show that the difficulty of confession is very much magnified, and that, like many other things that frighten us, it loses its terror when we approach it; but, to say the truth, i always feel something like shame when i hear one trying to prove to such persons that confession is easy; partly because i know he cannot succeed perfectly, since confession is of its own nature arduous, and in particular cases may be very difficult; but chiefly, because i cannot help thinking if god himself were to answer them, it would be in the few strong words he has used in the holy scripture: "_be still: and know that i am god_." [footnote ] a creature must not parley with his maker, a sinner with his judge. [footnote : ps. xlv. .] { } yes: we shrink from the very mention of sacrifice, yet it is the spirit of sacrifice that makes all our duties easy. no doubt it is our privilege to reason about the commandments of god; and we shall often see, what we know is always the case, that they are full of wisdom and goodness; but we need in practice some principle that is ready at hand always to be used in every time of trial, in every difficulty, and that is the spirit of sacrifice, a profound reverence for god, an unquestioning conviction of his absolute right to dispose of us as he will. abraham had this spirit, and therefore faltered not a moment when the command came to sacrifice his son isaac. moses had it, and therefore "_when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer persecution with the people of god, than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a time_." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. xi. .] the christian saints have had it, and therefore they trampled on every repugnance, every attachment, when it came in the way of their perfection. and this principle is the life of the great religious and charitable orders of the church. these institutions are a mystery to protestants. soon after the "little sisters of the poor" were established in london, a protestant writer, in one of the periodicals of the day, described a visit he had made to their establishment, and after giving a most interesting account of the self-denying labors of the community, he says he was curious to trace the feelings that actuated these ladies in devoting themselves to duties so apt to be repulsive to their class. he supposed that benevolence was the impulse most concerned, but, on questioning the sisters, found that this was not the case, but that the basis of their action was a principle of self-renunciation for christ's sake. to him such a motive had in it something strange and unnatural; but, really, this is always the sustaining principle of all high religious action. every thing fails sooner or later but the spirit of sacrifice. this is the spirit that does great things for god, that cuts down the mountains in our road to heaven and fills up the valleys, making straight paths for our feet. { } and how pleasing is such a spirit to god! even among men such a spirit is highly esteemed. who does not admire a generous, self-sacrificing man? in a family, who is so much loved as the one whose thoughts are all for others? where are such tears shed as over the fresh grave of a self-forgetful friend? what makes the character of a mother so beautiful but the trait of self-sacrifice? and so before god there is nothing so beautiful as the spirit of sacrifice. a religion which does not centre in itself, but which centres in god, that is his delight. there is nothing abject in such a spirit. to serve god is to reign. god knows our nature, and he requires of us nothing but what gives to our whole being its highest harmony. the man who has the spirit of sacrifice is a royal man. how beautiful, my brethren, is an altar! every thing connected in our minds with an altar is beautiful. when we think of an altar, we think of sweet flowers and burning lights, and smoking incense, and a meek victim, and worship, music, and prayer. so, in the heart where the spirit or sacrifice reigns, there are sweet flowers of piety, and flaming zeal, and the silent victim of a heart that struggles not, and the incense of prayer, and the harmonies of joy and praise. oh, if there is a sacred place on earth, a home of peace, a shrine, a holy of holies, a place where heaven and earth are nearest, where god descends and takes up his abode, it is in the heart of the man who is penetrated through and through with the sense of god's greatness, and who walks before him in reverence and continual worship. my brethren, i covet for you such a spirit. i do not always find it among catholics. i remember, some years ago, when collecting for a charitable object, i called on a man who was engaged in a large business, and asked for a contribution. he said, oh yes, he thought highly of the undertaking, and wished to give a generous donation, say one hundred dollars. when i called for it at the appointed time, he asked me if i did not want any goods in his line. { } they were articles of luxury, such as very few persons have occasion for, and i told him, no. then he mentioned a rich gentleman with whom i happened to be acquainted, and asked me to secure for him his custom, intimating that this donation of one hundred dollars depended on my success. now i do not know that this person was at all sensible of acting an unworthy part, but i think you must all feel that this was very far from the spirit in which one ought to give any thing to god; and yet, my brethren, inferior motives enter too much and too often into our religious actions. selfishness mingles too much with our piety. oh, how diluted, how paltry and feeble is our religion, compared with that of other times! david refused the site for an altar that areuna offered him as a gift, saying: "_nay but i will buy it of thee at a price; and will not offer to the lord my god holocausts free cost_." [footnote ] [footnote : kings xxiv. .] magdalene took a box of spikenard ointment, because it was the most precious thing she had, and very costly, and broke the box, and poured it wastefully on the saviour's head. [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxvi. .] those who have examined the cathedrals of europe that were built in the middle ages, tell us that away up on the outside of the roof, there is found carving as rich, as beautiful, and as elaborate as that on the parts in full sight. a human eye would hardly see it once a year; no matter: it was done for the eye of god and the angels. oh that you had such a spirit! i want you to think more of god. i want you to fear him more deeply, and to love him far, far more fervently. o my brethren, is the service you are rendering him at all worthy of him? look at the earth and sky that he has made; look at the glorious throne of light from which he sways the universe, look at the cross, look into your own hearts, and answer. "holy things are for the holy." "_great is the lord, and greatly to be praised." [footnote ] "o lord god almighty, just and true, who shall not fear thee and magnify thy name!_" [footnote ] "_as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, and as the eyes of a handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so our eyes are unto thee, o lord our god, thou that dwellest in the heavens._" [footnote ] [footnote : psalm xlvii. .] [footnote : apoc. xv. .] [footnote : psalm cxxii. .] ------------------------------------ { } sermon xxv. mary's destiny a type of ours. (the feast of the assumption.) "mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her." --st. luke x. . to-day is the assumption of the blessed virgin mary. to-day she entered into the enjoyment of heaven. the trials and troubles of life are over. the time of banishment is ended. she closes her eyes on this world, and opens them to the vision of god. she is exalted to-day above the choirs of angels to the heavenly kingdom, and takes her seat at the right hand of her son. i do not mean to attempt any description of her glory in heaven. i am sure whatever i could say would fall far short, not only of the reality, but of your own glowing thoughts about her. who is there that needs to be told that the blessed virgin is splendid in sanctity, dazzling in beauty, and exalted in power? but, my brethren, it is possible to contemplate the blessed virgin in such a way as to put her at too great a distance from us. it is possible to conceive of her glory in heaven as flowing entirely from her dignity as mother of god, and therefore to suppose it altogether unattainable by us; and, as a consequence of this, to regard her with feelings full of admiration indeed, but almost as deficient in sympathy as if she were of another nature from us. { } now, this is to rob ourselves of so ennobling and encouraging a part of our privilege as christians, and at the same time to take away from our devotion to the blessed virgin an element so useful and important, that i have determined, on this her glorious feast, to remind you that our destiny and the destiny of mary are substantially the same. and the first proof i offer of this is, that the glory of the blessed virgin in heaven is _not_ owing to her character as mother of god, but to her correspondence to grace--to her good works--to her love of god--in a word, to her fidelity as a christian. this is certain, for it is the catholic doctrine that the blessed virgin, like every other saint, gained heaven only as the reward of merit. now, she could not merit it by becoming the mother of god. her being the mother of god is indeed a most august dignity, but there is no merit in it. it is a dignity conferred on her by the absolute decree of god, just as he resolved to confer angelic nature on angels, or human nature on men. it is no doubt a great happiness and glory for us to be men, and not brutes, but there is no merit in it; so there is honor but no merit in the blessed virgin's being the mother of god. now, if she did not merit heaven by becoming the mother of god, how did she merit it? for it is of faith that heaven is the reward of merit. i answer, by her life on earth. it was not as the mother of god that she won heaven, but as mary, the daughter of joachim, the wife of joseph, the mother of jesus. it is impossible to read the gospels without seeing how careful our lord was to make us understand this. he seems to have been afraid, all along, that the splendor of that character of mother of god would eclipse the woman and the saint. { } thus once when he was preaching, a woman in the crowd, hearing his words of wisdom, and, perhaps, piercing the veil of his humanity, and thinking what a blessed thing it must be to be the mother of such a son, exclaimed: "_blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck,_" [footnote ] but he answered immediately: "_yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of god and keep it_." no one doubts that the blessed virgin did hear the word of god, and keep it. so our lord's words are as much as to say: "you praise my mother for being my mother; what i praise her for is her sanctity." in the same way, when they came to him on another occasion, when there was a great throng about him and said, "_behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking thee_," he answered, "_who is my mother? and who are my brethren? and stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said: behold my mother and my brethren. for whosoever shall do the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother_. [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xi. .] [footnote : st. matt. xii. .] external advantages, however great, even to be related to the son of god, are as nothing in his sight, compared to that in which all may have a part--obedience to his father's will. perhaps, also, this is the explanation of his language at the marriage of cana in galilee. when the wine failed, and his mother came to him and asked him to exert his divine power to supply the want, he said: "_woman, what hast thou to do with me? my time is not yet come_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john ii. (archbishop kenrick's translation).] he does not allow her request on the score of her maternal authority, but what he refuses on this ground he grants to her virtue and holiness, for he immediately proceeds to perform the miracle she asked for, though, as he said, his time was not yet come. so, too, on the cross he commends the blessed virgin to st. john's care, not under the high title of mother, but the lowly one of woman. "_woman, behold thy son_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xix. .] now, why was this? did not our lord love his mother? was he not disposed to be obedient to her as his mother? certainly; but it was for our sakes he spoke thus. { } in private, at nazareth, we are told, he was "subject to her," but on these great public occasions, when crowds were gathered around him to hear him preach, when he hung on the cross, and a world was looking on, he put out of view her maternal grandeur, in compassion to us, lest there should be too great a distance between her and us, and we should lose the force of her example. he wished us to understand that mary, high as she was, was a woman, and in the same order of grace and providence with us. we might have said: "oh, the blessed virgin obtains what she asks for on easy terms. she has but to ask and it is done. she enters heaven as the son of a nobleman comes into his father's estate, by the mere title of blood and lineage." but no: our saviour says: "_to sit on my right hand is not mine to give you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my father_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xx. .] it is not a matter of favor and arbitrary appointment; not even my mother gains her glory in that way. she must comply with the terms on which my father promises heaven to men, and therefore the church applies to her words spoken of another mary: "_mary hath chosen the best part; therefore it shall not be taken away from her._" oh, blessed truth! mary is one of us. her destiny, high as it is, is a human destiny. and she reached it in a human fashion. she built that splendid throne of hers in heaven with care and labor while she was on the earth. she laid the foundation of it in her childhood, when her feet trod the temple aisles. she reared its pillars when with faith, purity, and obedience unequalled, she received the message of the archangel. and her daily life at bethlehem, egypt, and nazareth, her holy, loving ways with joseph and with jesus, her perfect fulfilment of god's law, her interior fervent acts of prayer, covered it with gold and ivory. { } then, when the blind world was going on its way of folly; while one king herod was deluging villages in blood, and another steeping his soul in the guilt of incest, and of the blood of the son of god; while the multitude were doubting, and scribes and pharisees disputing about christ, the lowly jewish maiden, with no other secret but love and prayer, was preparing for herself that bright mansion in heaven wherein she now dwells, rejoicing eternally with her son. oh, happy news! one, at least, of our race has perfectly fulfilled her destiny. here we can gain some idea of what god created us for. here is the destiny that awaits man when original sin does not mar it; when co-operation with grace and unswerving perseverance secure it. the jews were proud of judith. they said: "_thou art the glory of jerusalem; thou art the joy of israel; thou art the honor of our people._" so we may say of mary: "o mary, thou art the pride of our race. in thee the design of god in our creation has been perfectly attained. in thee the redemption of christ has had its perfect fruit. mankind conceives new hopes from thy success." christ, indeed, has entered into glory; but christ was god. mary is purely human, and mary has succeeded. why tarry we here in the bondage of egypt? mary has crossed the red sea, and has taken a timbrel in her hand and sings her thanksgiving unto god. true it is that she is fleet of foot, and we are all halt and weak; but even she needed the grace of god, and the same grace is offered to us, that we may run and not faint. listen to her song of triumph. she does not set herself above us, but claims kindred with us, and bids us hope for the same grace which she has received. "_my soul doth magnify the lord, for he hath exalted the humble, and hath filled the hungry with good things. and his mercy is from generation to generation to them that fear him_." { } another proof that the destiny of the blessed virgin is substantially the same with ours, is the fact that the same expressions are used to describe her glory and ours. sometimes those who are not catholics, when they hear what high words we use of the blessed virgin, are scandalized; but we use almost no words of the blessed virgin that may not, in their measure, be applied to other saints. it is true that the blessed virgin has some gifts and graces in which she stands alone--as her character of mother of god, and her immaculate conception--but, as i said before, these are dignities and ornaments conferred on her, and are not the source of her essential happiness in heaven. in other respects, her glory is shared by all the saints. thus, mary is called "queen of heaven;" but are not all the blessed called in holy scripture, "_kings and priests unto god?_" [footnote ] is she said to sit at the "king's right hand?" and are not we too promised a place at his right hand, and to "_sit on thrones?_" [footnote ] is she called the "morning star?" and does not st. paul, speaking of all the saints, say, "_star differeth from star in glory?_" [footnote ] is she called a "mediatrix of prayer" and is it not said of every just man, that his "_continual prayer availeth much?_" [footnote ] is she called the "spouse of god?" and does not the almighty, addressing every faithful soul, say, "_my love, my dove, my undefiled?_" [footnote ] is she called the "daughter of the most high?" and are not we too called the "_sons of god?_" [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. i. .] [footnote : apoc. iii. .] [footnote : i cor. xv. .] [footnote : st. james v. .] [footnote : can. v. .] [footnote : i st. john iii. .] the glory of the blessed virgin, then, differs from that of the other saints in degree, but not in kind. she is not separated from them, but is one of them. she goes before them. she is the most perfect of them. but she is one of them. and for this reason, the glory of the blessed virgin gives us the best conception of the magnificence of our destiny. when a botanist wishes to describe a flower, he selects the most perfect specimen. { } when an anatomist draws a model of the human frame, he makes it faultless. so we, to gain the truest idea of our destiny, must lift up our eyes to the blessed virgin on her heavenly throne, and say: "oh! my soul, see for what thou art created." think of this, my brethren, as often as you kneel before her image, or meditate on her greatness. you cannot be what she is, but you can be like her. she is a creature like you. she is a human being like you. she is a christian like you. and her joy, her beauty, her glory, her wealth, her knowledge, her power--nay, even the mighty efficacy of her intercession--are only what, in their measure, god offers to you. "_glory, honor, and peace to every one that worketh good; for there is no respect of persons with god_." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. ii. .] if these things be so, what greatness it gives to human life. perhaps, if you had lived in the times of the blessed virgin mary, you would never have noticed her; or if you had known her by sight, what would she have seemed to you but a good little jewish girl, lowly and retiring in her manners and appearance? or, later in life, a poor young woman thrust away, with her husband, from a crowded inn, or fleeing by night with an infant child or, still later, the mother of a condemned malefactor, watching his sufferings in the crowd. herod did not know her, and the nobles of jerusalem were ignorant of her. she was not one of the friends of the queen's dancing daughters. even the rustics of the village of bethlehem looked down on her. she carried no servants about with her, and had no palace to live in. but faith tells us of angel visits, of union with god, of heavenly goodness, and an immortal crown. so, in like manner, how our life becomes grand and dignified when it is lighted up by faith! you know there are porcelain pictures, which in the hand are rough and unmeaning, but held up to the light reveal the most beautiful scenes and figures; so our common, ordinary life, rough and unmeaning as it often seems, when enlightened by faith becomes all divine. { } there is a little girl who learns her lessons and obeys her parents, and tells the truth, and shuns every thing that is wicked; why, as that little girl kneels down to pray, i see a bright angel drawing near to her, and he smiles on her and says: "_hail! blessed art thou: the lord is with thee_." that young man who, by a sincere conversion, has thrown off the slavery of sin, and regained once more the grace of god--"what is his heart but another cave of bethlehem, in which christ is born, and around which angels sing: "_glory to god in the highest, on earth, peace to men of good will_." that christian family, where daily prayers are offered, and instruction and good example are given, and mutual fidelity is observed between the members--what is it but the holy house of nazareth?--the home of jesus? yes, good christian, do not be cast down because you are poor, or because you suffer, or because your opportunities of doing good are limited; live the life of a christian, and you are living mary's life on earth. we have not, indeed, mary's perfect sinlessness, but we have the graces of baptism, by which we may vanquish sin. we have not, as she had, the visible presence of our lord, but we have him invisibly in our hearts, and sacramentally in the holy communion. we are not "full of grace," as she was, but we have grace without limit promised to us in answer to prayer. let us assert the privileges of our birth-right. we belong to the new creation. angels claim kindred with us. god is our father. heaven is our home. we are the children of the saints--yes, of her who is the greatest of the saints. let us follow her footsteps, that one day we may come to our assumption, the glory of which surpassed even the power of st. john to utter. "_dearly beloved, we are now the sons of god, and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john iii. .] { } every thing depends an our co-operating with grace. how did the blessed virgin arrive at such glory? by corresponding to every grace. see her at her annunciation. the angel comes and tells her of the grace god has prepared for her. if she had not believed, if she had not assented, what would have come of it? why, she would have lost for all eternity the glory attached to that grace. but she did not refuse. she was ready for the grace when it was offered. she said: "_fiat_," "_be it done to me according to thy word_." oh, how much hung on that _fiat!_ an eternal glory in heaven. so it is with us. there are moments in our lives big with the issues of our future. god's purposes concerning the soul have a certain order. he gives one grace; if we correspond to that he gives another; if we do not correspond, we lose those that depended on it; sometimes, even, we lose our salvation altogether. this is the key of your destiny--fidelity to grace. you have an inspiration from god: he speaks to your soul. oh, listen to him, and obey him! to one he says: "abandon, o sinner, your evil life, and turn to me with all your heart." "_now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation!_" to another, who is already in his grace, he sends inspirations to a more perfect life, a life of higher prayer and more uninterrupted recollection. another, by the sweet attractions of his grace, he draws away from home and kindred to serve him as a sister of charity by the bed of suffering; or as a nun, to live with him in stillness and contemplation; or as a priest, to win souls for heaven. oh, speak the word that mary spoke: "_be it done to me according to thy word_." are you in sin? convert without delay. are you leading a tepid, imperfect life? gird your loins to watchfulness and prayer. { } do you feel in yourselves a vocation to a religious or sacerdotal life? rise up and obey without delay. tomorrow may be too late. the grace may be forfeited forever. why stand we all the day idle? heaven is filling up. each generation sends a new company to the heavenly host. time is going. the great business of life remains unaccomplished. by our baptism we have been made children of god and heirs of heaven. labor we, therefore, to enter into that rest. mary, dear mother, lift up thy voice for us in heaven, that we, following thy footsteps, may one day share thy glory, and with thee praise forever god the father. son, and holy ghost. amen. ----------------------------------- sermon xxvi. care for the dead. (fifteenth sunday after pentecost.) "and when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out." --st. luke vii. . it is not at the gate of naim only that such a procession might be met. from every city "dead men are carried out to the grave"--nay, from every house. death knocks alike at the palace and the cabin. it is only a question of time with him. sooner or later he comes to all. yes, my brethren, a day will come to each home in this parish when a piece of black crape at the door will tell the world that death has been there. within there will be stillness and sadness, and in some darkened chamber, wrapt in a winding sheet, will lie the cold and lifeless form of some beloved member of your family--a father or mother; a wife or husband; a brother or sister; a son or daughter. after a little while even that will be taken away from you. { } the time of the funeral will come. the mourners will go about the streets, and the dead will be buried out of your sight. i do not speak of this to make you sad. on the contrary, what i am going to say will, i know, be a source, the only real source, of comfort to you in the loss of your friends. i wish to remind you of your duties to the dead. christianity does not permit us to bid farewell forever to our departed friends. death, it tells us, does not sever the bond of duty and love between us and them. we still have duties toward them, and in the performance of those duties, while we are doing good to the dead, we are procuring for ourselves the best solace. what are those duties? first: to give back the dead resignedly to god. it is not wrong to weep for the dead. it is not wrong, for we cannot help it. it is as impossible not to feel pain at such a separation as it would be not to suffer when the surgeon's knife is cutting off an arm or a leg; and, what nature demands, god does not forbid. therefore the holy scripture says: "_my son, shed tears over the dead; and begin to lament as if thou hadst suffered some great harm_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. xxxviii. .] do you think that poor widow of whom the gospel speaks to-day could help weeping? she had known sorrow before, but then she had one support, a dear and only son. he was a good lad. every body knew and loved him. but now he too is gone. it is strange that he should go and she be left behind, but so it is: there lies his body on the bier, and she is following him to the grave. see her as she goes along in her coarse black dress, bent with age and sorrow. can you blame her for weeping, as she looks, for the last time, on that dear form? at least, jesus did not blame her. he looked at her, and he sorrowed with her. he was moved with compassion. { } it is not wrong, then, to weep for the dead, but we must moderate our grief, banish every rebellious thought from our heart, and mingle resignation with our sorrow. the office which the church sings over the dead is made up in great part of joyful psalms and anthems. after this pattern ought to be the sorrow of a christian family, a sorrow that is not violent and noisy, a sorrow that does not pass the bounds of decency, a sorrow, i may say, mingled with joy. how different it is in some families! you come near a house and you hear shrieks the most appalling. you go in and find a woman abandoning herself to the most noisy and violent grief. her language is little short of blasphemy. she refuses any comfort. she is weeping over a dead husband. perhaps in life she loved him none too well. perhaps she made his life bitter enough to him, and often prayed that some harm might happen to him, and that she might see him dead. and now she does see him dead. she will never curse him again, and he will never anger her again. he is dead; and now she breaks out into the most frantic grief, and alarms the neighborhood. she cries; she calls upon god; she throws herself on the corpse. at the funeral her conduct is still more wild and disordered. now, what is all this? i will not say it is hypocritical, but i say it is brutish. it is not to act as a reasonable being, much less as a christian. this is the way with some women. the only time they ever show any love to their husbands is when they are dead. let them be: such grief will not last long. wait awhile; before her husband's body has well got cold in the ground she will be looking around for another match. do not imitate such unchristian conduct. when death enters your house, do not forget that you are a christian. do not _indulge_ your grief. call to your aid the principles of your faith. you are sad and lonely. well, is it not better to feel that this life is a state of exile? you have lost your protector. and has not god promised to protect the orphan? you have lost such a _good_ friend, such a bright example. { } well, ought you not, then, to rejoice at his safe departure? the early christians used to carry flowers to the grave, and sing hymns of joy because the toils of a christian warrior were ended, and he had entered into rest. hear what the church sings: "_blessed are the dead who die in the lord_." will you weep because one you love is taken away from sin, from temptation, from the trouble to come? will you grieve because he has secured for himself the blissful and eternal vision of god? but you have no confidence that he _was_ good, that he did die in the grace of god. suppose you are uncertain on that point, is there any thing better than to go with your doubts and fears before the holy god, and while you offer to him your trembling prayers for the departed, to adore his providence and say: "the lord gave, and the lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the lord." [footnote ] [footnote : job i. .] dry up your tears, then, o bereaved christian. "make mourning for the dead for a day or two," [footnote ] says the holy scripture. that is, do not abandon yourself to grief. do not think, because your friend is gone, that god is gone, and christ is gone, and duty gone. do not call on others more than is necessary. resume your ordinary duties as soon as possible--and in these duties you will find the relief which god himself has provided for our sadness, and his grace will accompany you in the performance of them. [footnote : ecc. xxxviii. .] another duty to the dead is to perform scrupulously, as far as possible, their last directions. when the patriarch jacob was dying, he called his son joseph to his side, and said to him: "_thou shalt show me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in egypt, but i will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying-place of my ancestors_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. xlvii. .] { } it was not of itself a very important request; it was, moreover, an inconvenient one. yet see how promptly and carefully it was complied with. as soon as the days of mourning for jacob were ended, joseph went to pharao and said: "_my father made me swear to him, saying, thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which i have digged for myself in the land of canaan. so i will go and bury my father and return. and pharao said to him, go up and bury thy father. and they buried him in the land of canaan, in the double cave which abraham bought for a burying-place_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. , , , .] would that the same piety were always seen among us! a mother dies: the last wishes that she expresses to her children are that they should be true to their holy faith and earnest in seeking the salvation of their souls, and she sends a message to an absent son, which will not reach him in his distant home till long after she is gone, begging him to be faithful and regular in his duties as a christian. a father dies, and tells his son of a debt, strictly due in justice, but of which there is no record, and where he will find the money to pay it. a poor girl dies, and confides to some one, whom she thinks her friend, the little earnings of her hard labor, asking that it may be sent to her old mother in ireland. are these wishes executed? are these children faithful catholics? is that boy, the object of a mother's dying tears and prayers, regular at the sacraments? has that debt been paid? did the sad news of the daughter's death go out to the poor mother in the old country, softened with the evidence of that daughter's piety and love? or was the money retained and squandered? what! are you not afraid to add to the sin of irreligion and injustice the crime of breaking faith with the dead? hear what god says in the holy scripture: "_the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. iv. .] { } the dead have got a voice, then--a voice that cries to god, that cries for vengeance against those who injure them. pay, then, thy debts to the dead. redeem the promise thou hast made to the dying. fulfil thy duties as an executor or administrator with fidelity and justice. be exact. it is a dead man thou art dealing with. do not say, he is dead and cannot speak. hear what the law of god saith: "_thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind: but thou shalt fear the lord thy god, because i am the lord_." [footnote ] do you understand? god hears for those who cannot hear, he speaks for those who cannot speak; and if thou makest the dead thy enemy, thou hast the living and eternal god for a foe. [footnote : levit. xix. .] another part of our duty to the dead is to treat their bodies with respect, and to give them decent burial. we do this for two reasons: for what they have been, and what they are to be. their bodies have been the casket which held their souls, and we love their bodies for what their souls have been to god and to us. we love the eye that looked upon us with affection, the mouth that spoke to us words of truth and kindness, we love the ear that listened to our sorrows, and the hand that soothed and blessed us. we love that body which was the soul's instrument here in her works of piety and christian charity. and we love that body for what it shall be. we see it as it will be when it springs from the grave on the morning of the resurrection, sparkling with light, beautiful and immortal. and this is why we follow the dead to the grave. we go with them as we go part of the way home with a cherished guest. we go with them in token that the love that united us is not severed by death, but that we are still joined to them in hope and charity. oh yes, it is right. let the body be laid out decently; the limbs composed; the eyes closed for their long sleep. and when the time of burial comes, let all the ceremonies of the holy church lend their aid. { } walk slow; let the priest in surplice and stole go before; light the candles and hold the cross aloft; sing the sweet and solemn chant; carry the body to the church and lay it before the altar of god; bring incense and holy water, and let there be high mass for the repose of the soul. fitting ceremonies! "beautiful and touching rites! chosen with a heavenly still to comfort the mourner and to honor the dead. but alas! alas! how do we see this duty to the dead sometimes fulfilled! a catholic is dead. it is true there are candles and holy water, but where are the pious prayers? the neighbors are gathered together, but it is not to pray. the glasses and the pipes speak of a different kind of meeting. yes, they have come there, there to that chamber, the court of death and the threshold of eternity, to hold a drunken wake. the night wears on with stories, sometimes even obscene and filthy, and as liquor does its work, curses and blasphemies mingle with the noisy, senseless cries and yells of drunken men. are these orgies meant to insult the dead? do these revellers wish to make us believe that their departed friend was, body and soul, the child of hell as much as they? so the wake is kept, and now for the funeral. the man died early in the week, but of course he must be buried on sunday. sunday is the worst day of the week for a funeral, because it is the day appointed for the public worship of god, and it is wrong to draw men away from the church on that day without necessity, yet a funeral must by all means be on a sunday. and why? because a greater crowd can be got together on that day, and the object is to have a crowd, and to make people say, such a one had a _decent funeral_. the family are poor, nevertheless a large number of carriages are hired, and filled with a set of people who regard the whole thing as a picnic or excursion. some of them have already "taken a drop," and so little sense of religion have they left, that sometimes at the grave itself, sometimes in returning from it, they raise brawls and riots that bring disgrace and contempt at once on the man they have buried and the faith they profess. { } do you call this a decent funeral?" i say it is a sin. a sin of pride and ostentation. a sin of scandal and excess. a sin of robbery and cruelty--of robbery and cruelty toward the poor children from whose hungry mouths and naked backs are taken the extravagant expenses of this ambitious display. how much better to have a small funeral! a funeral remarkable for nothing but its modesty and simplicity, to which only the few are called who knew the dead and loved him, who follow him to his long home with serious thoughts, like thinking men and christians, remembering that before long they must go with him into the grave and lie down beside him, and who return home to remember his soul before god as often as they kneel down to pray. and this brings me, in the last place, to speak of the duty of praying for the dead. it is a most consoling privilege of our holy faith. death indeed fixes our eternal condition irrevocably. "_if the tree fall to the south or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. xi. .] but the good do not always enter heaven immediately. if the sharp process by which god purifies his children on earth has not wrought its full effect, it must be carried on for a while longer in that hidden receptacle in which faithful souls await their summons to the presence of god. and during this period our prayers in their behalf are of great avail. no part of our religion has more undeniable proofs of its antiquity. as far back as the fourth century of the christian era, st. cyril testifies that it was the custom "to pray for those who had departed this life, believing it to be a great assistance to those souls for whom prayers are offered while the holy and tremendous sacrifice is going on." [footnote ] [footnote : st. cyril, cat., lect. v., n. .] { } the tombstones of the early christians attest the same practice, and st. augustine, speaking not as a doctor, but recording a chapter of his own history, lets us into the innermost feelings of the church of his day on this subject. in his confessions he tells us that his mother st. monica, shortly before her death, looked at him and said: "lay this body anywhere, be not concerned about that, only i beg of you, that wheresoever you be, you make remembrance of me at the lord's altar." and the saint goes on to tell how he fulfilled this request, how after her death the "sacrifice of our ransom" was offered for her, and how fervently he continued to pray for her. but his own words are best: "though my mother lived in such a manner that thy name is much praised in her faith and manners, yet * * * i entreat thee, o god of my heart, for her sins. hear me, i beseech thee, through that cure of our wounds that hung upon the tree, and that sitting now at thy right hand maketh intercession for us. i know that she did mercifully, and from her heart forgave to her debtors their trespasses; do thou likewise forgive to her her debts, if she hath also contracted any in those many years she lived after the saving water. forgive them, o lord, forgive them. * * * let no one separate her from thy protection. let not the lion and the dragon either by force or fraud interpose himself. let her rest in peace, together with her husband; and do thou inspire thy servants that as many as shall read this may remember at thy altar thy handmaid monica, with patricius her husband." [footnote ] [footnote : st. augustine's, confessions, book ix., c. .] are we as faithful to pray for our departed friends, and to get prayers said for them? they wait the time of their deliverance with painful longing. they cannot hasten it themselves. they cannot merit. their hands are tied. they are at our mercy. the church indeed prays for these in her litanies, her offices, and her masses, but how little do we, their friends and relations, pray for them. { } the patriarch joseph, when he foretold to pharao's butler, his fellow prisoner, his speedy restoration to honor, said to him: "_only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me this kindness to put pharao in mind to take me out of this prison_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. xl. .] but the butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his friend. so we forget our friends in the prison of purgatory. they linger looking for help from us, and it comes not. oh, pray for the dead. death does not sever them from hope, from prayer, or from the power of christ. did not martha say to our lord in reference to her brother lazarus, who was already dead: "_i know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of god (in his behalf) he will give it thee!_" [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xi. .] yes, christ's mercy and christ's bounty reach even to the regions of the shadow of death. christ has in his hands gifts even for the dead--gifts of consolation, of refreshment, of quiet, and of rest. ask those gifts for those you love. with the widow of naim carry your dead to the saviour, let your tears and prayers in their behalf meet his compassionate ear and eye, and he will speak to the dead: "young man, i say to thee arise." and the dead shall hear his voice, and shall rise up, not yet to the resurrection of the body, not yet to be "delivered to his master," but to the company of the angels, to the spirits of the just, to the home of god, where they shall be "_before the throne of god, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell over them. and they shall not hunger nor thirst any more; neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat_." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. vii. , .] { } i have endeavored to-day, my brethren, to speak for the dead. they cannot speak for themselves, but they live, and feel, and think. and sure i am that, if they could speak, their words would not be in substance very different from what i have spoken. they would say: "i want no costly monument. i want no splendid funeral. still less do i wish that god should be offended on my account. i ask a remembrance mingled with affection and resignation, the rites of the holy church, a quiet grave, and now and then a fervent, earnest prayer. and i will not forget you in my prison of hope. i will pray for you, and oh! when the morning comes, and my happy soul is called to heaven, my first intercession at the throne of god shall be for you, whom i loved so well in life, and who hast not left off thy kindness to the dead. ------------------------------- sermon xxvii. success the reward of merit. (fifteenth sunday after pentecost.) "what things a man shall sow, them also shall he reap." --gal. vi. . to judge by the complaints which we hear continually around us, we might conclude that the commonest thing in the world is for men to fail in their undertakings. now, i admit that it is a very common thing indeed for men to fail in obtaining what they _desire_. there are many men who have some darling object of ambition which they cannot reach. but i do not think it is a very frequent thing for men to fail in attaining an end which they steadily aim at, and which they take the proper means to attain. i believe the rule is the other way. i believe success is the ordinary result of well-directed endeavor. i know indeed that the holy scriptures tell us that "_the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the learned, nor favor to the skilful: but time and chance is all_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. ix. .] { } but surely all that this means is that the providence of god, for its own purposes, _sometimes_ interferes to thwart the best-concerted measures, and to crown feeble attempts with unexpected success. the race is not always to the swift, but ordinarily it is. the battle is not always to the strong, but when it is not, it is an exception to the rule. the rule is, that success commonly attends the employment of proper and judicious means. the experience of life proves that this is true. let us look around and see if it is not so. we will look first at the business world. here at first sight a succession of the most surprising changes meets our eye. men that were rich a few years ago are now poor. men that then were poor are now rich. the servant and his master have changed places. if you return to the city after a few years' absence you will find the same handsome houses lining our avenues, but the occupants of many of them will be changed. the same gay carriages roll along the street, but there is always a new set of people riding in them, and they that used to ride now go afoot. what wonder is it that men have imagined fortune to be blindfold[ed], and the ups and downs of life the chance revolutions of her wheel? but when we look closer, we see this is not the case. for the most part each fall and each success has had an adequate history. there has been a rigid bond of cause and effect. it is only a metaphor when we say that riches have wings. gold and silver, and real estate, and most kinds of personal property, are solid and substantial, and do not melt away in a night. so, on the other hand, fortunes are not made by accident. the rich man becomes rich by aiming at it and striving for it. he does not need any extraordinary genius perhaps, but he bends his talents, such as they are, to the task. he rises early, he is constantly at his place of business, he keeps himself informed of all its details, he thinks about it. when a favorable opening comes, he takes advantage of it. { } when a reverse comes, he is not discouraged by it. other men would be discouraged, but he is not. perhaps he is in middle life, perhaps he has a growing family, but he looks out for a fresh field of enterprise, and begins anew to battle with the world, and he becomes rich again. his success is owing in part, if you will, to favorable circumstances, but largely to his own energy and industry. these were the conditions, without which no amount of mere external advantages would have insured success. again, if we look to the world of literature and art, we find the same thing. disappointed authors and artists often talk as if they were the victims of the world's stupidity or malice; as if men were unable or unwilling to appreciate them. now, i know it is said that such things have been. there have been men of rare promise, but of a sensitive nature, who have been crushed by coldness and neglect, or by the hard and unfair criticism with which their first attempts were met. but this is far from being a common thing. the world likes to be amused and pleased. it is really interested in having something to praise. this being so, how is it possible for a man of real merit to remain long unrecognized? who can imagine that the great masterpieces of painting, or the great poems that have come down to us from the past, _could_ have failed to excite the admiration of men? in fact, human judgment, when you take its suffrages over wide tracts and through the lapse of ages, is all but infallible. in a particular place it may be warped by passion; in a particular time it may conform to an artificial standard; but give it time and room, and it is sure with unerring accuracy to detect the beautiful and true. it is as far as possible, then, from being the case that celebrated authors or celebrated artists have become great by accident. there may have been favorable circumstances. there were undoubtedly great gifts of nature; but there was also deep study and painful, persevering toil. { } i have been told that the manuscripts of a distinguished english poet show so many erasures that hardly a line remains unaltered. the great cathedrals of europe were the fruit of life-long labor. and these are but instances of a general rule. when we go into the workshops in which some of the beautiful articles of merchandise are manufactured, we see a great fire and hear the clank of machinery, and men are hurrying to and fro, stained with dust and sweat. now, something like this has been going on to give birth to these beautiful creations in letters and arts which have delighted the world. there has been a great fire in the furnace of the brain, and each faculty of the mind has toiled to do its part, and there have been many blows with the pen, the pencil, or the chisel, until the beautiful conception is complete. such men were successful because they deserved it. the approbation of the world did not create their success, it only recognized it. i will take one more example of the rule i am illustrating--personal character, reputation. i believe, as a general rule, it is pretty nearly what we deserve. we reap what we sow. people think of us pretty much as we really are. i am not unmindful of the occasional success of hypocrites, nor of the instances, happily not very frequent, of innocent persons overwhelmed by a load of unjust accusation and calumny. again, i know that when people are angry with us they sometimes say spiteful things which they do not mean, and when they wish to flatter us they say things more complimentary, but just as false. but notwithstanding all this, i affirm that the judgments which people who know us form of us are very nearly correct. indeed it must be so, for we cannot disguise ourselves altogether, or for a long time. we cannot always wear a mask. an ignorant, ill-bred man may go to a tailor's and dress himself out in fashionable clothes, but the first word he speaks, and the first movement he makes will betray his want of education. { } so, while we are trying to pass ourselves off for something else than what we are, to a keen observer our habitual thoughts and character will pierce through and discover our true selves. even what our enemies say about us, when they say what they think, is very likely to be true. men have no need to invent bad things about us. we have all got faults enough. they have only to seize these, exaggerate them a little, caricature them, separate them from what is good in us, and they will make a picture bad enough, but not too bad to be recognized as ours. their description of us is like a photographic likeness. it takes away the bloom from the cheek, and the brightness from the eye, and the rich tints from the hair. it notes down each imperfection, each frown and wrinkle and crookedness of feature, and there it is, a hard, severe, but not an untrue likeness. in fact, my brethren, one of the last things i would advise any man to attempt would be to try to seem something he is not. he is almost sure to be unsuccessful. there is a law in the world too strong for him--the law of justice and truth, the law that binds together actions and their consequences, the law that attaches honor to what is good and right, and contempt to what is base and false. thus we see on every side illustrations of the rule that our success is in proportion to our merit. we sow what we reap. much more is this true in regard to religion. you have observed that hitherto i have been obliged to make some qualifications, to make some exceptions in each of the instances i have brought forward. god may prevent our becoming rich, however legitimately we may labor for it, because he sees that riches would not be good for us. or he may allow our talents to remain unappreciated, and our name to be covered with obloquy, in order to drive us to seek his eternal praise. but in religion our labors are sure to meet with success. there is absolutely no exception. our success will be infallibly in proportion to our endeavors, neither more or less. { } you know, my brethren, that a doctrine may be familiar to us, but may not always make the same impression on us. we may hear it many times and assent to it, but on some special occasion, it may enter our mind with such force, take such a lively hold of our imagination and heart that it seems new to us. this is what we call _coming home to us_. now, i remember an occasion when the doctrine i have just stated thus came home to me. it was on hearing the words of st. alphonsus: "with that degree of love to god that we possess when we leave this world, and no more, will we pass our eternity." any thing more startling and awakening i do not remember ever to have heard. not the thought of the pains of hell, or the horrors of sin, or the bliss of paradise, ever seemed to me so loud a call for action. all of heaven that we shall ever see, we acquire here. perhaps you too, my brethren, have not realized this sufficiently. the truth is, i think many men act in regard to religion as children and weak-minded persons do in regard to the things of this world--they build "castles in the air." this is a very favorite occupation with some people. they spend hours and even days in it. it is a cheap amusement, and they who follow it do not usually stint themselves in the warmth and color of their pictures. the only difficulty is, to fix a limit to their imaginary splendors. they imagine themselves very rich, worth, say fifty thousand, or a hundred thousand, or five hundred thousand dollars, with beautiful houses and furniture, and all the elegancies of life. or they imagine themselves very famous, with a reputation as wide as the world, and admiring crowds shouting their praises wherever they go. now something like this, equally silly and unsubstantial, passes in the minds of many christians in regard to their hereafter. they imagine that, somehow, one of these days, they will find themselves caught up to the third heaven, borne by angels to the throne of god, crowned with a jewelled crown, seated on a golden throne, with palms in their hands, to sing forever the song of the redeemed. { } they may be now in mortal sin, they may be in the habit of mortal sin; they may be the slaves of passion, drunkards, impure, dishonest; they may be unwilling to renounce the dangerous occasions of sin; or they may not be so bad as this: they may belong to that class who have their periodic spells of sin and devotion, and are saints or sinners according to the time of the year you take them; or they may belong to a still milder type of ungodliness, those who are negligent and cold-hearted, with a host of venial sins about them, and at intervals, now and then, a mortal sin--no matter: somehow or other, by some kind of a contrivance, all--the relapsed sinner and the habitual sinner, the drunkard, the impure, the dishonest and the profane, the worldly and tepid, the prayerless and presumptuous--all are going to heaven. o miserable delusion! does the bible teach us this? when it speaks of a "way" to heaven, does it not mean that all must walk in that way to reach there? when it tells us that "the judge standeth at the door," does it not mean, to judge us by our actions! which of the saints was ever wafted to heaven in this passive way? ah! the apostle tells us, "they were valiant in fight," they fought with the wild beasts of their passions, and put to flight the armies of hell. no: it is an enemy that hath sown among you this calvinistic poison--yes, this worse than calvinistic poison, for the calvinists did but assert that a few elect were saved by a foregone decree, while this practically extends it to every one. do not believe it. "_what a man soweth that shall he reap_." "_he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, and, he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting_." [footnote ] [footnote : gal. vi. .] { } our days are like a weaver's shuttle, and, as they quickly come and go, they weave the web of our destiny. each step we take is a step in one of the two paths that fill up the whole field of human probation. ask the psalmist who of us shall see heaven, and he will answer you, "_lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle, or who shall rest on thy holy hill? he that has clean hands and a pure heart_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xiv. ; xxiii. .] ask the gospel, who is that servant whom his lord at his coming will approve? and it answers: "_even he whose loins are girt about, and whose lights are burning, as a man that waits for his lord_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xii. , .] would you know who, at the end of the world, shall reap a rich harvest? "_they that sow in tears_"--in the holy tears of compunction, of the love of god, and of the desire of heaven-- "_shall reap in joy. and he that now goeth on his way weeping and bearing good seed, shall come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with him_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. cxxv. , , .] let us pause a moment before we conclude to try ourselves by this doctrine. "all the rivers run into the sea;" so all our lives are carrying us on to eternity. should our lives be cut off at this moment, of what kind of texture would they be found? "_in those days_," says the prophet, "_israel shall come, they shall make haste and seek the lord their god. they shall ask the way to sion, their faces thitherward_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. i. , .] are our faces, my brethren, turned toward the heavenly city? are we hastening thither, acknowledging ourselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth? these careless confessions, these heartless prayers, these darling sins, these aimless lives, this tepidity, this indifference and procrastination in spiritual things, what do they indicate? we look at the sky to judge of the weather. we read the newspapers to find out the condition of the country. we watch our symptoms to ascertain the state of our health. ah! there are indications far more important, to which we ought to take heed. { } indications of salvation or reprobation, symptoms of spiritual health or decay, earnests of heaven or hell, marks of christ or satan. you remember the story of the old monk who was observed to weep as he sat watching the people going into church, and, being asked the reason, said he saw a man enter, followed by a black demon, who seemed to claim him as his own. so, if we could look into the spiritual world, we should see some men attended by angels who have come to "minister to them as heirs of salvation," while others are surrounded by evil spirits, "come to torment them before their time." yes, eternity does not wait for the last day. it presses upon us now and here. each day is a judgment day. each evening, as it falls, finds us gathered at christ's right hand, driven to his left, or wavering between the two. why do we not take our place at once, where we shall wish to be found at our saviour's coming? it is not very long since death took from among us a convert to our holy faith, [footnote ] whose life had been rich in good works, who had been a mother to the orphan, and a sister to the outcast and abandoned; and a priest, who visited her on her last illness, told me that he had said to her: "if god were now to raise you up and restore you to health, i would not know how to give you any other advice, than to resume your good works at that point where sickness compelled you to leave them off." beautiful testimony to a holy life! cut the thread wherever you will, it is all gold. stop the christian where you will, he is on his way to heaven. be such a life ours. i have said each day is a judgment day: let each day merit the approval of christ. let our life be a constant preparation for eternity, remembering that the only heaven the christian religion offers us, is a heaven that is won by our labors here. [footnote : mrs. geo. ripley.] ------------------------------- { } sermon xxviii. the mass the highest worship. (twenty-first sunday after pentecost.) "what shall i offer to the lord that is worthy? wherewith shall i kneel before the high god?" --mich. vi. . such is the question which mankind have been asking from the creation of the world. god is so high, so great, so good, so beautiful. he made us. he created us by his word, and we hang upon his breath. how shall we worship him? how shall we express the thoughts of him that fill our souls? alas! the words of the lips, the postures of the body, are all inadequate. what shall we do? shall we, like cain, gather the fairest fruits and flowers, and bring the basket before the lord? or, like abel, shall we take the firstlings of our flocks, and slay them in his honor? shall we dress an altar, and pile upon it the smoking victims? shall we make our children pass through the fire in his name? or, like the indian devotee, shall we throw ourselves under the wheels of the car that carries the image of the divinity? such have been the ways in which men have tried to express their devotion to god, but all have been either insufficient or vain. man's thoughts about god have found no fitting expression. a fire has burned in his heart which no words can utter. now here, as in so many other ways, christianity comes to our aid, and places within our reach a perfect and all-sufficient mode of expressing our devotion, a perfect worship. do you ask me to what i allude? i answer, to the sacrifice of the mass. { } let me remind you what the sacrifice of the mass is. we catholics believe that in the mass jesus christ offers his real body and blood, under the species of bread and wine, to his eternal father, in remembrance of his death on the cross. our lord's death on the cross was in itself complete, and all-sufficient for the purpose for which it was undergone, and need not, indeed could not, be repeated; but his priestly office was not exhausted by that offering. in the language of scripture: "_he ever liveth to make intercession for us_." [footnote ] and, "_he is a priest forever_." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. vii. .] [footnote : ps. cix. .] in what, then, does our lord's priesthood since his crucifixion consist? in heaven, it consists in presenting himself to his father directly and immediately, to plead the merits of his death and passion in our behalf; but on earth it consists in representing that death and passion in the mystical action which we call the eucharistic sacrifice or the mass; thus fulfilling the words of the prophet in reference to our lord: "_thou art a priest forever, after the order of melchisedec_." [footnote ] [footnote : ibid.] the offering, then, which takes place in the mass is the very same that was made on calvary, only it is made in a different manner. on the cross, that offering was made in a direct and absolute manner, it was a bloody sacrifice; in the mass, it is made in a mystical and commemorative way, without blood, without suffering, without death. therefore, in order to understand what takes place in the mass, we must go back to the cross. what was it that took place on the cross? you answer, perhaps, christ shed his blood there for the remission of sins. true: the blood of christ was the material cause of our redemption, but that which gave the blood of christ its value, that, indeed, which made it a sacrifice, was the interior dispositions of the soul of christ. the blood of christ, taken as a mere material thing, could never have effected our reconciliation. what does the scripture say? "_sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire. burnt-offerings and sin-offerings thou didst not require. then i said: lo, i come to do thy will o god!_" [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xxxix. , .] { } it was by the _obedience_ of christ, an obedience practised through his whole life, but of which his death and passion were the fullest expression, that christ, as our elder brother, repaired our disobedience. while our lord was hanging on the cross, he exercised every divine virtue which the soul of man can exercise. he loved. he prayed. he praised. he gave thanks. he supplicated. he made acts of adoration and resignation. in one word, he performed the most perfect act of _worship_. well, it is just the same in the mass. it would be the greatest mistake to think of the body and blood of christ in the mass as a sort of dead offering. it is living, and offered by the living christ. christ is the priest of the mass as well as the victim. it is christ who celebrates the mass, and he celebrates it with a warm and living heart, the same heart with which he worshipped the father on mount calvary. it is this that makes the mass what it is. if it were not for this, the mass would be a carnal sacrifice, infinitely superior, indeed, to those of the old law, but of the same order. it is this which makes the sacrifice of the mass a reasonable service, a spiritual sacrifice. and now you are prepared to understand my assertion that the mass supplies the want of the human soul for an adequate mode of approaching god. as a creature before its creator, you are oppressed with your own inability to worship him worthily. do you want a better worship than that which his eternal son offers? in the mass, the son of god in his human nature worships the father for us. he prays for us; asks pardon for us; gives thanks for us; adores for us. as he is perfect man, he expresses every human feeling; as he is perfect god, his utterances have a complete perfection, an infinite acceptableness. thus, when we offer mass, we worship the father with christ's worship. it seems to me that the catholic can have a certain kind of pride in this. { } he may say, "i know i am weak and as nothing before god, yet i possess a treasure that is worthy to offer him, i have a prayer to present to him all-perfect and all-powerful, the prayer of his only-begotten son in whom he is well pleased." nor is this all. christ worships the father for us in the mass, not to excuse us from worshipping, but to help us to worship. you remember how, the night before our saviour died, he took with him peter and james and john, and going into the garden of gethsemane, he said to them, "tarry ye here, while i go and pray yonder." and how, being removed from them about a stone's cast, he began to pray very earnestly, so that he was in an agony, and the drops of blood fell from his body to the ground; and how he went to them from time to time to urge them to watch and pray along with him. the weight of all human sorrows was then upon his soul. he was presenting the necessities of the whole human race to his father, but he would have the apostles, weary as they were, borne down by suffering and fatigue, to join their feeble prayers with his. so, in the holy mass, he is withdrawn from us a little distance, making intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered, and he would have us kneel about the temple aisles, adding our poor prayers to his. our prayers, by being united to his, obtain not only a higher acceptance, but a higher significance. our obscure aspirations he interprets. what we know not how to ask for, or even to think of, he supplies. what we ask for in broken accents, he puts into glowing words. what we ask for in error and ignorance, he deciphers in wisdom and love. and thus our prayers, as they pass through his heart, become transfigured and divine. oh, what a gift is the holy mass! how full an utterance has humanity found therein for all its woes, its aspirations, its hopes, its affections! how completely is the distance bridged over that separated the creature and the creator! { } it was to the mass that our lord alluded in his conversation with the woman of samaria. you remember the incident. the samaritans were a schismatical sect. they had separated from the jews, had built a temple on mount gerazin, in opposition to the temple of the jews at jerusalem, and there they offered sacrifices. now, this samaritan woman, when our lord had entered into conversation with her, put to him the question which was then in controversy. which was the right temple? which was the acceptable sacrifice? which was the place where men ought to worship--mount gerazin; or mount sion? and how does our lord answer her? "_woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet in jerusalem adore the father. the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshipper shall worship the father in spirit and in truth_." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john iv. , .] the time is coming when a new sacrifice, a new worship, shall be established, a worship of spirit and truth, a worship that shall put to rest the controversy between samaria and jerusalem, for it shall be offered in every place. what is that sacrifice? what is that worship? the prophet had foretold it long before: "_from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof, my name is great among the gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation_." [footnote ] [footnote : mal. ii. .] and the whole tradition of the christian church, from the very first, tells us that this _clean oblation_ is no other than the eucharistic sacrifice, a worship of "truth," if the presence of christ can make it true; and of "spirit," if the heart of christ can make it spiritual; a worship that meets all man's wants and befits all god's attributes. { } with this conception of the mass in your minds, you see at once the explanation of some of the ceremonies attending its celebration which seem to protestants strange and senseless. a protestant enters a catholic church during the time of mass. the priest is at the altar. you cannot hear what he says, he speaks so low and rapidly; and perhaps it would do you no good if you could, for he speaks in latin; and you say: "what mummery!" "what superstition!" "what an unmeaning service!" but stop awhile. take our view of the mass, and see if our custom is so strange. we believe that there is an invisible priest at the mass, christ, the son of the living god, who offers himself to his father for us. you know it is related in the old testament, that on one day in the year the jewish high-priest used to enter into the holy of holies, which was separated from the temple by a veil, and there in secrecy perform the rites of expiation, while the people prayed in silence without. so it is at the mass. you see the priest lift up the host before the people. well, that is the white veil that hides the holy of holies from our eyes. within, our lord and saviour mediates with the father in our behalf. oh, be still! speak low! let not the priest at the altar raise his voice, lest he drown the whispers from that inner shrine. what need for me to know the very words the priest is using? i know what he is doing. i know that this is the hour of grace. earth has disappeared from me. heaven is open before me. i am in the presence of god, and i am praying to him in my own words, and after my own fashion. i am pouring out my joys before him, or opening to him the plague of my own heart. yes, the catholic church has solved the problem of worship. she has a service which unites all the necessary conditions for the public worship of god--a common service, in which all can join; an external service, which takes place before our eyes, which is celebrated with offerings which we ourselves supply, and by a priest taken from among ourselves; an attractive service; and yet a service perfectly spiritual. { } the catholic does not come to church to hear a man pour forth an _extempore_ prayer, and be forced to follow him through all the moods and feelings of his own mind; nor to join in a set form of prayer, which, however beautiful and well arranged, must, from the very nature of the case, fail to express the varying wants and feelings of the different members of the congregation; but he comes to join, after his own fashion, in christ's own prayer. at the catholic altar there is the most complete liberty, the greatest variety, combined with the most perfect unity. come, then, children, come to mass, and bring your merry hearts with you. come, you that are young and happy, and rejoice before the lord. come, you that are old and weary, and tell your loneliness to god. come, you that are sorely tempted, and ask the help of heaven. come, you that have sinned, and weep between the porch and the altar. come, you that are bereaved, and pour out here your tears. come, you that are sick, or anxious, or unhappy, and complain to god. come, you that are prosperous and successful, and give thanks. christ will sympathize with you. he will rejoice with you, and he will mourn with you. he will gather up your prayers. he will join to them his own almighty supplications, and that concert of prayer shall enter heaven, louder than the music of angelic choirs, sweeter than the voice of those who sing the song of moses and the lamb, more piercing than the cry of the living creatures who rest not day or night, and more powerful and prevailing than the intercession of the blessed virgin and all the saints of paradise together. the mass a formalism! the mass an unmeaning service! why, it is the most beautiful, the most spiritual, the most sublime, the most satisfying worship which the heart of man can even conceive. { } and here, too, in this idea of the mass, we have the answer to another perplexity of protestants. they cannot understand why we make such a point of attending mass. they see us go to mass in all weathers. they see us so particular not to be late at mass. they see us on sunday, not sauntering leisurely, as if we were going to a lecture-room, but pressing on with a certain eagerness, as if we had some great business in hand; and they ask what it all means. is it not superstition? do we not, like the pharisees, give an undue value to outward observances? may we not worship god at home just as well? ah! if it were really only an outward observance. but there is just the difference. there stands one among us whom you know not. we believe that the saviour is with us, and you do not. we believe this with a certain, simple faith. come to our churches, and look at our people, the poorest and most ignorant, and see if we do not. it is written on their faces. they may not know how to express themselves, but this is in their hearts. you think we come to mass because the church is so strict in requiring us to do so; but the true state of the case is that the law of the church is so strict because christ is present in the mass. you think it is the pomp and glitter of our altars that draws the crowd. little you know of human nature if you think it can long be held by such things alone. no, we adorn our altars because we believe christ is present. this is our faith. it is no new thing with us. it is as old as christianity. it was the comfort of the christians in the catacombs. it was the glory of st. basil and st. ambrose and st. augustine. it was the meaning of all the glory and magnificence of the middle ages. and it is our stay and support in this nineteenth century of knowledge, labor, and disquiet. yes, strip our altars, leave us only the corn and the vine, and a rock for our altar, and we will worship with posture as lowly and hearts as loving as in the grandest cathedral. let persecution rise; let us be driven from our churches; we will say mass in the woods and caverns, as the early christians did. we know that god is everywhere. we know that nature is his temple, wherein pure hearts can find him and adore him; but we know that it is in the holy mass alone that he offers himself to his father as "the lamb that was slain." { } how can we forego that sweet and solemn action? how can we deprive ourselves of that heavenly consolation! _the sparrow hath found her an house and the turtle a nest where she may lay her young, even thy altars, o lord of hosts, my king and my god!_ man's heart has found a home and resting-place in this vale of tears. to us the altar is the vestibule of heaven, and the host its open door. yes, and to us the words of the prophet, when he calls the reign of antichrist "_the abomination of desolation_," because the daily sacrifice shall then be taken away, has a peculiar fitness. it is our delight now to think that, as the sun in its course brings daylight to each successive spot on earth, it ever finds some priest girding himself to go up to the holy altar; that thus the earth is belted, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, with a chain of masses; that as the din of the world commences each day, the groan of the oppressed, the cry of the fearful and troubled, the boast of sin and pride, the wail of sorrow--the voice of christ ascends at the same time to heaven, supplicating for pardon and peace. but oh! when there shall be no mass any more, when the sun shall rise only to show that the altar has been torn down, the priests banished, the lights put out; that will be a day of calamity, of darkness and sorrow. then the beasts will groan, and the cattle low. then will men's hearts wither for fear. then will the heavens overhead be brass, and the earth under foot iron, because the corn has languished, the vine no longer yields its fruit. the tie between earth and heaven is broken; _sacrifice and libation are cut off from the house of god_. such be our thoughts, my dear brethren, about the holy mass. i have alluded to the efforts which mankind have made to offer a worthy offering to god, sometimes to the extent, even, of sacrificing their own lives and their children. { } while we abhor these excesses, let us not forget the earnestness which inspired their misguided devotion. and we, to whom god has given a perfect worship, a worship not cruel, but beautiful, inviting, consoling, satisfying, shall we be less devout in offering it? no! come to mass, and come to pray. when the lord drew near to elias on the mount, the prophet wrapped his face in his mantle; so when we come to mass, let us wrap our souls in a holy recollection of spirit. remember what is going on. now pray; now praise; now ask forgiveness; now rest before god in quiet love. so will the mass be a marvellous comfort and refreshment to you. you know the smell of the incense lingers about the sacred vestments worn at the altar long after the service is over; so your souls shall carry away with them as you leave the church a celestial fragrance, a breath of the odors of paradise, the token that you have received a blessing from him whose "fingers drop with sweet-smelling myrrh." ----------------------------- sermon xxix. the lessons of autumn. (last sunday after pentecost.) "all flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. the grass is withered and the flower is fallen." --isaias xl. , . it is but a few weeks since you were told that the natural world has lessons of deep spiritual importance to teach us. our lord, as we see in the gospel, sometimes drew the text of his discourse from the flowers of the field, sometimes from the birds of the air; and it must be evident to any reflecting mind that this was not done as a mere exercise of fancy on his part, but was the divine interpretation of these messages of love which from the beginning he had commissioned nature to tell us. nature, then, is really _intended_ by god to be our teacher. it is my purpose this morning, to direct your thoughts to one part of its teaching--that is, the spiritual instruction suggested to us by the season of autumn. { } here, in the church, where we have always the same doctrines, and the same worship, we might forget how all things without are full of change and decay, were it not that the church uses nature as a handmaid, and calls her within the sanctuary to adorn the altar with her gifts. we miss today the flowers that have been so plentiful all summer, and this tells us what is going on without. the crown of flowers which the spring brought forth to grace our easter festival, and which were the truest type of the resurrection, which made that feast so joyful, have all perished. the rose of whitsuntide, the floral wealth of corpus christi, the white lily of midsummer, have all gone their way. "the glory of lebanon is departed; the beauty of carmel and sharon." in the garden and the field, where so lately there was every kind of fruit and flower that is pleasant to the eye and sweet to the smell or taste--there are now but a few dried leaves, and the skeletons of trees and shrubs shaking and rattling in the wind. nothing green is left except "the fir-tree and the box-tree and the pine-tree together," patiently enduring cold and snow so as to be on hand when the holy night comes round, and the heavenly babe is born, to make his humble home glad and beautiful with their green wreaths and branches. the birds that peopled the woods and made them merry with their music have gone south, leaving their summer home silent and desolate. the days are short. clouds flit across the sky. the air is strong and keen, and men shut it out and make all warm and snug within. yes, the little time that has elapsed, since we began to number our sundays from easter, has been a full cycle of being in the vegetable world. spring has given place to summer, and summer to autumn. seed-time and harvest have followed each other, and now the dreary winter has commenced. "the grass is withered and the flower is fallen. { } and what does all this mean to us? i am sure all of you understand it well. this season speaks to us in tones that reach every human heart. it tells us that we are dying. it is strange how slow we are to realize this. i look around this church, and i see many dressed in the dark garments that tell they are mourning for the dead. in what house, indeed, is the family unbroken? where is there not a vacant seat at the table? who of us has not lost a friend? and yet we rarely think that we too are soon to follow them. now, god wishes us to think of this. he tells us of it by our reason, he tells us of it by our vacant hearths and homes; he tells us of it by sermons, and by his word, but, not content with this, he makes the natural world, heir with us of the sentence of mortality, a monitor to us of this great truth. "_day unto day uttereth speech if it, and night unto night sheweth knowledge of it_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps xviii. .] but at certain seasons he tells us of it more distinctly and in a greater variety of ways. would you know what the autumn teaches? hear the holy ghost, himself interpret it: "_the voice said, cry; and i said, what shall i cry? all flesh is grass and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field: the grass is withered and the flower is fallen_." [footnote ] "_in the morning man shall grow up like the grass; in the evening he shall fall, grow dry and wither_." [footnote ] "_man born of a woman, liveth for a short time, and is filled with many miseries. he cometh forth as a flower and is destroyed; he fleeth as a shadow and never continueth in the same state_." [footnote ] [footnote : isaias xl. , .] [footnote : ps. lxxxix. .] [footnote : job xiv. , .] oh, do not require god always to speak to you in a voice of thunder: listen to him when he speaks gently. open your eyes and ears, and receive instruction from the sights and sounds of nature. we are dying: the sighing winds tell us so. { } we are dying: the falling leaf tells us how death will soon _have power over us as a leaf carried away by the wind, and pursue us as a dry straw_." [footnote ] we are dying: the harvest-man is discharged, so "_our days are like the days of an hireling, and the end of labor draweth nigh_." [footnote ] we are dying: the short days tell us that to us "_the sun and the light and the moon and the stars will soon be darkened_."[footnote ] [footnote : job xiii. .] [footnote : job vii. .] [footnote : eccles. xii. .] we are dying: the earth hath already wrapped itself in its winding-sheet of snow, to foretell to us the time when, stiff and cold, we shall be dressed for the grave. we are _all_ dying. are you young? well, the young are dying. life is but a lingering death. _as soon as we are born, we began to draw to our end_. every path in life leads straight to the grave. are you old? are you sick? ah! then, there is a voice within you which repeats the warning from without. you are not as strong and well as you once were. time was you felt within you a fount of health and strength that defied danger and despised precaution. what a strange, fierce joy it was for you to struggle with the buffetings of the wintry blast! but, somehow, you know not how, either it was an accident or an imprudence, there came over you now and then a pain, a cough, a strange weariness, and the raw wind steals away from your cheek the bloom which once it imparted, and sends a chill to your heart. what does it mean? i will tell you. it is the shadow of mortality. you are dying. men do not realize this. they do not realize it of themselves, and they do not realize it of others. death is always a surprise and an accident. it is one of the things in the world on which men do not count. it is something which has nothing to do with us until the doctor stands over us, and says we have but a few days or a few hours to live. we speak of the dead with pity, as if they were the victims of some unlucky chance which we had escaped. this ought not to be so. "_it is appointed for man once to die_." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. ix. .] { } because we are living, therefore we must die. adam in paradise might have escaped death if he would, but since adam's sin and our loss of integrity, the sentence of death has passed upon all. there is no reflection which a man can make more certainly true than this: i must die. the time is fixed. there shall come to me a day that knows no setting, a night that knows no dawn. the lights shall be lit in the church; the pall spread over the bier; the priest singing mass at the altar. my body shall lie under that pall, and my name be mentioned in that mass. from the church my body shall be carried to the grave, and my soul be happy or miserable according to the deeds it hath done on earth. i do not know _when_ i shall die. youth is no protection against death. health is no protection against death. i do not know _where_ i shall die. no corner of the earth can hide me from his summons. i do not know _how_ i shall die, whether at home, among my friends, with the rites of the church, with my reason, with a quiet mind--or abroad, or suddenly, or without the last sacraments, or with a heavy load of sin on my soul, or in a state of insensibility. all these things are uncertain; this only is certain, that i must die--that i must die, that _my_ turn shall come; and others shall speak of me as i speak now of those already dead. but some of you may say, why tell us this? life is short at the best, why vex ourselves with thinking of that which we cannot prevent. we have got many projects in hand, many pleasures in prospect, and we do not want to paralyze our energies and sadden our days by meditating always on death. no, my brethren, i do not ask you to think of death in order to paralyze your energies, but to direct them aright; not to sadden your days, but to make them calm and tranquil. i know that a celebrated modern writer has made it a matter of reproach against christianity that it sends men to learn the solemn lessons of the grave. { } but surely this reproach is unreasonable. it cannot be denied that men do die. the earth has already many times seen an entire generation of her inhabitants pass away. there are many more sleeping in the ground than live on its surface. now, if this be so, if death is an inevitable fact in our history, and a fact on which much depends--if this life is not all, but after this life there is an eternity dependent on our conduct here, it is plain that reason requires us to think of death, and he is foolish who forgets it. besides, the thought of death is enjoined upon us by the almighty, as a sure means of salvation: "_in all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. vii. .] and i will say more. the thought of death really contributes to our comfort, because it is the only way of getting rid of the fear of death. suppose you do refuse to listen to the warnings which death suggests, are you therefore free from anxiety? is there no trouble in your conscience? is there nothing frightful to you in a sleepless night, or a sickbed? would you hear with equanimity that you had a hopeless disease? no, it is the coward that will not think of death, who "_all his life through fear of death is subject to slavery_." act like a man. face this king of terrors, and you disarm him. his countenance is stern, but his words are kind and friendly. listen to him, and you will find that he can relax his grim features and smile upon you; and there is nothing can give you such comfort, as for death to come to you with a smiling face. the sting of death is sin: be careful to avoid sin, and then at his coming you can exclaim: "o death, where is thy victory! o death, where is thy sting!" [footnote ] [footnote : i. cor. xv. .] { } oh, it is a shame and a disgrace that christians think so little about death. why, death is our best friend and our wisest counsellor. a london anatomist once placed over his dissecting-rooms this inscription: "_hic mors juvat succurrere vitæ;_" "here death helps to succor life." you see the meaning. the physician takes a dead body and studies it, spends days and nights over it, repulsive as it is, in order to learn the secrets of the living frame and how to minister to its complaints. so let the christian look at death and learn from it how to keep his soul in health, how to secure its everlasting life. it is nothing very terrible that death has to tell us now. the time will come, if we refuse to hear him now, when his words will be terrible; but now, though solemn, though calculated to make us serious and thoughtful, they need not make us gloomy. he says, you have a great work to do, and little time to do it in--time enough, but none to spare. he says to the young: look at me, look into my face, and see the value of beauty and of pleasure. he says to the proud: come and see how kings and beggars lie side by side in my dominion. he says to the covetous: come, open a grave, and see what a man carries away with him when he dies. and he says to all, you must die alone; what you are, what you have made yourself, so must you appear before god, to receive a just and final sentence. this is the sermon of death, that he has been preaching from the beginning. it never grows old. it has converted more sinners than all missionaries and preachers by any other means. it has made more saints, induced more to embrace a religious life, sent more souls to heaven than any other sermon ever did. oh! death is a great preacher. there is no answer to his reasonings, no escape from his appeal. he speaks not, but his silence is eloquent. he makes no gestures, but that motionless arm of his is more expressive than the most impassioned action. there is a story told of a certain man named guerricus, which shows how powerfully death preaches. this man was a christian, but one who loved the world too well, and one evening he strayed into a church when the monks were singing matins. { } the hour, the place, all invited to reflection, and as he stood and listened, one of the monks came forth, and in a loud, clear voice sang the lesson of the day. it was as follows: "_and all the time that adam lived, came to nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. and seth lived after he begat enos eight hundred and seven years, and all the years of seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. and enos begat cainan. and all the years of enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died. and all the days of cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died_." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. v. .] so it came at the end of every period, the same melancholy cadence, _et mortuus est_, "and he died." the words rang in the ear of guerricus. "so then," said he, "that is the end of all. the longest life ends with that record--_and he died_. so it will one day be said of me." and with this reflection on his mind, he went away and distributed his wealth to the poor, commenced a life of mortification and prayer, and began in good earnest to prepare to die. happy those who after this example are led by the thought of death to enter on a really devout life! they will not be confounded in the evil day. they will not be afraid of any evil tidings. when the great prophet elias was about to leave this world, the sons of the prophets came to tell eliseus of it as a piece of afflicting news, saying: "_dost thou know that the lord will take away thy master from thee to-day?_" [footnote ] and he said: "_yes, i know it, hold your peace._" so when the good christian's last hour comes on, and sorrowing friends approach his bed to break it to him that he is dying, he can say, yes, i know it. it is no news to me. i have long known it. i have expected it. _dying_, you say. "so then," i can exclaim with st. teresa, "the hour is come!" the hour i have so long been waiting for, the hour i have labored for, the hour that is to end my exile here, and unite me for ever to my saviour and my god! [footnote : i. kings ii. .] { } i tried just now to describe to you the desolation that is now spread over the face of nature; but a few weeks ago the scene was quite different. the fields were laden with a golden harvest, and the husbandman was gathering it in with joy. he knew that winter was coming, and he prepared for it. in the morning he sowed his seed, and in the evening he withheld not his hand. he labored in the chill, uncertain spring, and in the hot days of summer, and when autumn came, he gathered his fruits into the garner, safe from the frosts of winter. so he who thinks of death makes the most of the spring-time of life, takes care in his youth to plant in his heart the seeds of piety, and to tear up the weeds of vice, guards his soul in the storms of temptation, labors untiringly through the heat and burden of life, and, when his last hour arrives, lies down in peace, confident that he shall enter into those fruits of righteousness which, by patient continuance in well-doing, he has laid up for the time to come. i commend these thoughts to you all, my brethren; but there are some among you to whom i commend them especially, those, namely, who are to die soon. when the captains of israel were assembled together at ramoth-galaad, the messenger of eliseus appeared in their midst and said, "_i have a message to thee, o prince._" and they answered, "_to which one of us all?_" [footnote ] so i feel this morning as if i had a message to some of you in particular, though i do not know who they are. the message is that which jeremias the prophet sent to hananias: "_thus saith the lord, this year shalt thou die_." [footnote ] [footnote : iv. kings ix. .] [footnote : jer. xxviii. .] { } how many of those who were alive a year ago are now dead! how many of those who listen to me now will be dead before another year rolls round! now, to these persons it is a question of the most pressing urgency, "am i now as i would wish to be when i die? when death comes, it will not wait because you are laden with sins or unprepared. it will not wait for you to send for the priest or finish your confession, or to receive absolution. at the moment that sentence is given, you must yield up your soul, in whatever state it is. now, then, is the time to put your house in order. perhaps you are not a catholic. you are lingering outside the church, with misgivings in your heart that only in her fold you can secure your salvation. will those misgivings help you to die easily? will those ingenious and far-fetched arguments, by which you fortify yourself against conviction now, give that peace to your soul, which the broad, strong, plain evidence of the faith imparts to the soul of a catholic? would you not like, as you go out of this world, to step on the firm rock of peter? to go hence "with the sign of faith," with the blessing of the mother of saints upon you, and the grace of her sacraments within your heart? or, you are a catholic, but a careless one. you have the load of years of sin on your conscience. when you come to die, will you not wish to have those sins blotted out? will you then forego as you do now those absolving words which our lord has promised to ratify in heaven? will you trust all to the uncertain chance of confession in that hour, or to a doubtful contrition? or it is a cloud of venial sins--a veil of worldliness, and selfishness, and unfaithfulness, of omissions and neglects, that darkens your soul. do you wish to die with that veil not taken away? do you wish to go before god as careless and as sensual as you are now? are you spending your time as you would wish to spend the last year of your life? oh! be diligent. the night cometh. work while it is day. "_whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly; for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in the land of the dead whither thou art hastening_." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. ix. .] receive instruction. be not of the number of those who have foolishly thrown away their salvation. { } there are stories of men's passing through grave-yards on dark and stormy nights, and hearing dismal sounds, as of a restless and unhappy soul complaining of its torments. you say it is the wind. suppose it is: may not the wind be speaking for the dead? is not the earth for the elect? does not nature sympathize with man? does not every creature groan and travail for our redemption? [footnote ] did not the prophet call upon the fir-trees and the oaks to "howl" for the destruction of jerusalem! [footnote ] [footnote : rom. ix. .] [footnote : zacb. xi. .] did not the sun hide its face at the crucifixon of our lord, and the earth tremble under his cross? and when he comes to judgment will not the stars fall from the sky and the heavens be parted as a scroll? is not, then, that instinct of humanity right which has understood the fearful sounds and sights of nature as divine utterances--pictures and voices of a woe that is unspeakable and indescribable. there is a bird in south america with a cry so melancholy that it is called _the lost soul_. and nature, that speaks there to the hearts of men by that dismal cry, tells the same story to us by the storm at sea, and the moaning and sighing and shrieking of the wind on a winter's night. what aileth thee, o sea, tossed and driven with the waves? let the scriptures answer. "_the voice of the lord is upon the waters, the god of majesty hath thundered, the lord is upon many waters_." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xxviii. :] why does the winter come upon us with desolation and storm? let the holy scripture answer again: "_the vineyard is confounded, and the fig-tree hath languished. the pomegranate-tree, and the palm-tree, and the apple-tree, and all the trees of the field shalt wither because joy is withdrawn from the children of men._" [footnote ] [footnote : joel i. .] { } yes, there are sad things in nature because there is death and reprobation among men. the days grow short out of sorrow for the lost children of god, and the wintry heavens "are black with clouds, and winds, and rain," because to many "_the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and they are not saved_." [footnote ] [footnote : jer. viii. .] ----------------------------- the end { } various works by the paulist fathers. for sale by lawrence kehoe, nassau street, new york ------------- sermons of the paulist fathers, for $ . sermons of the paulist fathers, for $ . sermons of the paulist fathers, for $ . sermons of the paulist fathers, for $ . questions of the soul. by rev. i. t. hecker $ . aspirations of nature. by rev. i. t. hecker $ . guide for catholic young women. by rev. g. deshon. $ . catholic hymns and canticles, together with a complete sodality manual. by rev. alfred young $ . ------------------------- any of the above books sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of the price. [transcriber's notes: this production is based on https://archive.org/details/fiveminutesermon paul/page/n ] {i} five minute sermons for low masses on all sundays of the year by priests of the congregation of st. paul volume i. frederick pustet & co., printers to the holy apostolic see and the sacred congregation of rites. ratisbon rome new york cincinnati {ii} copyright, fr. pustet & co., new york and cincinnati {iii} preface. these short sermons were commenced in st. paul's church, new york, toward the close of the year . the motive for doing this was that the great number of persons who generally attend only a low mass on sundays might enjoy the advantage of hearing the word of god preached, without being delayed too long for their convenience. for this reason they were limited in time to five minutes, while the effort was made to condense within this brief compass a sufficient amount of matter at once instructive and hortatory, in plain and simple language, to answer the practical purposes of a popular discourse. in order to secure this twofold object of making the sermons so short that they would not overrun the limit of five minutes, and at the same time so solid and pungent that they would furnish a real nutriment and stimulus to the minds and hearts of the audience, it was obviously necessary that they should be carefully written out. for each priest to write and commit to memory his own sermon would be undertaking too much; and therefore the plan was adopted of assigning to one the task of writing all the sermons, to be read by each priest celebrating a low mass for the people. {iv} the sermons have been published every week in the _catholic review_, and an advanced sheet of the printed copy, pasted on a tablet, has been furnished, to be used in preaching the sermon at each one of the low masses on the sunday. the utility of these sermons, the satisfaction they give to the people who hear them, and the advantage which can be derived by reading them after they have been published, are too obvious to need explanation. this advantage we hope to make more extensive by now publishing the greater part of the sermons which have been thus far preached, and printed in a weekly newspaper, in the more convenient and permanent form of a volume. it is hoped that they will be practically useful to many priests who may read them, or use them in preparing similar short sermons of their own for those occasions when it is not practicable to give longer and more elaborate discourses to their congregations. many of them will be found, besides, to furnish a nucleus for the composition of sermons of the usual length and rhetorical completeness. to the faithful they afford matter for spiritual reading and profitable meditation which is all the better for being put into a brief and simple shape. {v} the merit of devising and first carrying into execution this excellent plan of preaching the five-minute sermons at low mass belongs to the late rev. algernon a. brown, c.s.p. it is quite proper to praise the works of one who has departed this life, even though he was one of our own society. many of the sermons written by father brown and contained in the present volume are masterpieces in the art of miniature discourse. they are not fragments or sections of sermons, reading like pages taken from longer discourses or meditations, but genuine sermonettes, each one complete and perfect in itself. they are marked, also, by a grave and solemn earnestness remarkable in the utterances of so very young a priest, and seeming to be like a shadow from a very near proximity to the eternal world, cast over his spirit as he rapidly drew near to the goal of his appointed course. it will surely be deemed appropriate, and prove agreeable to the readers of this volume of sermons, that a few lines should be consecrated to the memory of the one who may justly be called its author, although the greater portion of its actual contents came from others who succeeded to him in the task from which he was called away at so early a period of his sacerdotal life. father algernon brown, the son of a respectable physician who is still living and resides in the isle of wight, was born at cobham, surrey, england, may , . he was bred in the established church of england, and during his early youth was educated at a ritualistic school in brighton. {vi} his tastes and predilections were ecclesiastical, and he entered warmly into the study and practice of the doctrinal, moral, and liturgical views and ways of the anglican ritualists. at the age of eighteen he was received into the catholic church by father knox, of the oratory, and went first to st. edmund's college, afterwards to prior park, in order to prepare himself for the priesthood. after nearly completing his course, and having already received minor orders, he came in , with two younger brothers, both converts, and one of the two an ecclesiastical student, to the united states, and was ordained priest by the most rev. archbishop purcell in the archdiocese of cincinnati, may , . in the year he was received as a member of the congregation of paulists after a year's novitiate. during the four years which elapsed between this period and that of his death father brown suffered continually, and often severely, from ill health, yet nevertheless continued to labor bravely and cheerfully, beyond his strength, until he was actually overpowered by fatal disease. his special department of work lay in the direction of the sacristy and of the ceremonies at the public offices of divine worship, and the management of the devout confraternities established in the parish. his accurate knowledge of the rubrics, ceremonial, and sacred chant, his ardent zeal for the order and decorum of the divine service, and his untiring assiduity in the work assigned him, were equally valuable to the religious community of which he was a member, and edifying to the people. {vii} after the easter of his failing health obliged him to make a visit to his native england and his paternal home as the last hope of prolonging his life. in the following autumn he returned, enjoying a considerable but only temporary amelioration in his physical condition, which soon after began to grow sensibly worse. on the feast of the immaculate conception he attempted for the last time by a heroic effort to say mass, but was prevented by a fainting-fit which prostrated him at the foot of the altar as he was commencing the introit. from this day forward he was slowly dying, until at last, after long and careful preparation, he closed his eyes peacefully under the icy hand of death. his death occurred on monday in passion week, the th of april, , at the age of twenty-nine years and eleven months, and his solemn obsequies were celebrated on the following wednesday. all the sermons in this volume which can be identified with certainty as his are marked with his initial letter, b. may they long remain unfaded, a bouquet of immortelles. [transcribers's note: his full name has been substituted for "b" and a "b" has been inserted in the table of contents entry.] in memoriam! st. paul's church, ninth avenue and fifty-ninth street, new york. feast of all saints, . {viii}. five minute sermons volume . {ix} contents. first sunday of advent: sermon i., b. sermon ii., sermon iii., second sunday of advent: sermon iv., b. sermon v., sermon vi., third sunday of advent: sermon vii., b. sermon viii., sermon ix., fourth sunday of advent: sermon x., b. sermon xi., sermon xii., sunday within the octave of christmas: sermon xiii., b. sermon xiv., sermon xv., the epiphany: sermon xvi., sermon xvii., {x} first sunday after epiphany: sermon xvii., b. sermon xix., second sunday after epiphany: sermon xx., b. sermon xxi., sermon xxii., third sunday after epiphany: sermon xxiii., b. sermon xxiv., fourth sunday after epiphany: sermon xxv., sermon xxvi., sermon xxvii., fifth sunday after epiphany: sermon xxviii., sermon xxix., sixth sunday after epiphany: sermon xxx., b. sermon xxxi., septuagesima sunday sermon xxxii., b. sermon xxxiii., sermon xxxiv., sexagesima sunday: sermon xxxv., b. sermon xxxvi., sermon xxxvii., {xi} quinquagesima sunday: sermon xxxviii., b. sermon xxxix., sermon xl., first sunday of lent: sermon xli., sermon xlii., sermon xliii., b. second sunday of lent: sermon xliv., sermon xlv., b. sermon xlvi., third sunday of lent: sermon xlvii., sermon xlviii., b. sermon xlix., fourth sunday of lent: sermon l., sermon li., b. passion sunday: sermon lii., sermon liii., b. sermon liv., palm sunday sermon lv., b. sermon lvi., sermon lvii., {xii} easter sunday: sermon lviii., b. sermon lix., sermon lx., low sunday: sermon lxi., b. sermon lxii., sermon lxiii., second sunday after easter: sermon lxiv. sermon lxv., b. sermon lxvi., third sunday after easter: sermon lxvii., b. sermon lxviii., sermon lxix., fourth sunday after easter: sermon lxx., b. sermon lxxi., sermon lxxii., fifth sunday after easter: sermon lxxiii., sermon lxxiv., sermon lxxv., sunday within the octave of the ascension: sermon lxxvi., sermon lxxvii., sermon lxxviii., {xiii} feast of pentecost, or whit-sunday: sermon lxxix., sermon lxxx., sermon lxxxi., trinity sunday: sermon lxxxii., sermon lxxxiii., sermon lxxxiv., second sunday after pentecost: sermon lxxxv., sermon lxxxvi., sermon lxxxvii., third sunday after pentecost: sermon lxxxviii., sermon lxxxix., b. sermon xc., fourth sunday after pentecost: sermon xci., sermon xcii., fifth sunday after pentecost: sermon xciii., b. sermon xciv., sixth sunday after pentecost: sermon xcv., sermon xcvi., sermon xcvii., {xiv} seventh sunday after pentecost: sermon xcviii., sermon xcix., sermon c., eighth sunday after pentecost: sermon ci., sermon cii., sermon ciii., ninth sunday after pentecost: sermon civ., sermon cv., tenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cvi., sermon cvii., sermon cviii., eleventh sunday after pentecost: sermon cix., sermon cx., sermon cxi., twelfth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxii., sermon cxiii., b. sermon cxiv., thirteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxv., b. sermon cxvi., sermon cxvii., {xv} fourteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxviii., b. sermon cxix., sermon cxx., fifteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxi., b. sermon cxxii., sermon cxxiii., sixteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxiv., b. sermon cxxv., seventeenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxvi., b. sermon cxxvii., b. eighteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxviii., sermon cxxix., nineteenth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxx., b. sermon cxxxi., twentieth sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxii., b. sermon cxxxiii., twenty-first sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxiv., {xvi} twenty-second sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxv., b. sermon cxxxvi., twenty-third sunday after pentecost: sermon cxxxvii., b. sermon cxxxviii., b. sermon cxxxix., twenty-fourth or last sunday after pentecost: sermon cxl., b. sermon cxli., sermon cxlii., { } _first sunday of advent_ epistle. _romans xiii_. - , brethren: know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. the night is passed, and the day is at hand. let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light; let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy; but put ye on the lord jesus christ. gospel. _st. luke xxi._ - . at that time jesus said to his disciples: there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars: and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves, men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. for the powers of heaven shall be moved: and then they shall see the son of man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. but when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads: because your redemption is at hand. and he spoke to them a similitude. see the fig-tree, and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh; so you also when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of god is at hand. amen i say to you this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. { } sermon i. _heaven and earth shall pass away_. --st. luke xxi. . ah! my friend, how are you? how do you do? where are you going? these are everyday expressions, dear brethren. probably some neighbor spoke to you thus as you were coming to mass. this is the first sunday in advent, the sunday of judgment, and i am going to put the same questions to you. i begin with the last one. where are you going? young men, old men, women, girls, children, people, priests, rich and poor, where are all of you going? are you going to church or for a walk? no, we have a trial at court and are summoned to appear. whose trial? our own. yes, we are all going to judgment, the trial of eternity before the all-seeing judge. we are all formed in a great procession. no matter whether we are good or bad, in a state of grace or of mortal sin, no matter whether our case is a good one or a bad one, no matter if our cause be just or unjust, we are all going to judgment--all going to the great trial, in which every living soul, each man and woman and child, shall be the prisoners at the bar, and god, the judge of all, shall sit upon the great white throne. when will that trial-day come? no one knows, not even the angels, our lord says. judgment will come suddenly. time has been given you. you have been told "beforehand." the _actual_ coming will be sudden. "behold, i come as a thief in the night." "behold, i come quickly." "behold, i come as the lightning." such are the terms in which our lord speaks of his second advent. when men are eating and drinking, marrying, buying, and selling, burying the dead, laboring, praying, waking or sleeping, _then_ there will be a cry heard, "behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him." { } go forth just as you are; just as the moment finds you; without a moment more to prepare, without an instant in which to say, "god help me!" where are you going, then? going to judgment. going to a _sudden_ judgment. going to meet accusers who will rise out of the graves of earth and from the pit of hell to bear witness against sinners for all the commandments they have broken, all the duties they have neglected, all the scandal and bad example they have given. woe to bad parents in that day! woe to disobedient children in that day! woe to the drunken, the impure, the thieves, the liars, the false witnesses, the apostates in that day! ah! then, how do _you_ do. christian, catholic? how are you, baptized of god? how is your health, the health of your soul? are you in the fever of sin? do you see upon your souls great livid plague-spots of mortal offences against the almighty? then tremble, for you have to face the god "whose eyes are brighter than the noonday sun"! he will ask: "how are you? what mean these stains upon your soul? where is the white garment that i gave you? where is my image and likeness?" woe to every one who cannot answer these questions; for to be unable to answer means to be unable to go to heaven, means that you will be found guilty by the eternal judge and condemned to everlasting death. let, then, these two questions ring in your ears: where are you going? how are you in god's sight? you are going to judgment. are you in a fit state to appear there? brethren, it will be an awful day, that day of judgment, even for the just. { } "where, then, shall the unjust and the sinner appear?" look up to the heavens as you leave this church. the clouds are not yet riven. the sun is not yet darkened. oh! then there is yet time. there is a moment's lull before the storm breaks; a second's pause before the trumpet sounds. but the day of judgment _will come_, for jesus christ has told us so, and, as he says: "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------ sermon ii. _brethren: know that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep._ --romans xiii. . to-day, my dear brethren, is the new year's day of the catholic church. today she begins again that round of seasons and festivals which will never cease to be repeated till that day comes of which this season of advent reminds us--that day in which, as st. peter tells us, "the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up"; that day when he who died for us on the cross shall come to judge the living and the dead. the church begins her year with advent, because this season represents principally, not that last coming of our lord of which i have just spoken, but rather that time which went before his first coming--that long period of several thousand years, answering to the four weeks of this season, with which the world's history began, and in which it was waiting for the promise of redemption to be fulfilled. { } but there is another very good reason for each one of us to begin our own new year now, and it is one of the reasons why the second advent of christ is presented to our minds by the church, as well as his first, at this time. it is that we may now make that serious examination of our past life, and those firm resolutions for the future, that we can best make at the beginning of a new year, when we feel most strongly that one more of those short cycles by which our life is measured has gone for ever beyond our reach, and brought us so much nearer not only to the day of general judgment, but also to that more imminent one in which each one of us shall stand alone before the throne of god to give an account of the use which we have made of these precious years which he has given us, and which are passing so rapidly away. this new year's day of the church is a time, then, above all others in which we should make those resolutions without which we cannot be saved. it is said that hell is paved with good intentions; it may with equal truth be said that heaven is paved with good resolutions. what is the difference between the two? an intention is a purpose the carrying out of which is put off till some other time; a resolution is one which is carried out now. so, as the putting off of our good purposes is the sure way to lose our souls, the carrying them out at once is the means absolutely necessary to salvation and certain to secure it. { } no one ever saved his soul without some time or other making a resolution to keep the law of god, and going to work at once to carry it out, and persevering in it to the end of life, such a resolution has got to be made at some time, and now is the time to make it. look back, then, my brethren, on this first day of the new year, at the one which has just gone never to return, and see if you are satisfied with the way you have spent it. ask yourselves if you have not been trifling away enough of the short time which was given you to be spent in the service of god, and if there is any too much left to make some recompense to him for all that he has done for you; and say, with the church in the epistle of this sunday, that now it is indeed the hour to rise from sleep, from this fatal sleep of indifference and ingratitude, and go to work in real earnest on the business of your salvation, and not rest again till the time for rest has come. god will surely give that eternal rest to those who labor during life, but he has not promised it to sluggards and traitors, as those certainly are who care only for themselves and not for him, and who expect their reward without doing anything to deserve such a favor at his hands. ---------------------------- sermon iii. _heaven and earth shall pass away._ --st. luke xxi. . by the word "heaven" our lord does not mean that heaven to which we shall be admitted if we are faithful, for that, as we know, is eternal. no; he means some part of the visible heavens with which our earth is immediately connected. { } the earth, and to some extent the visible heaven also, we do not know how, will pass away as to their present state--they will be so changed that it may be said that the old earth and the old heaven have been destroyed. it is to remind us of this second coming, or advent, of our lord, when the world and all that it contains shall pass away, as well as of his first coming, which we are to celebrate at christmas, that the church keeps this season on which we have just entered, and calls it by this name of advent. this truth, that the heavens and earth which we see shall pass away, or be destroyed, is a matter of faith. we cannot, probably, prove by science that this must take place, certainly not that such a change is so near as the scriptures seem to indicate; but we do not need the light of faith to show us that they shall pass away from _us_, and that, perhaps, very soon. in a few years--perhaps in a few months or days--we shall close our eyes in death, and the heavens and earth which we now see shall disappear from our sight for ever. there are two lessons which we may learn from this evident and certain truth, and which the church wishes us to consider at this time. the first is that the pleasures of this world are so fleeting and uncertain that it is not worth while for us to take any pains to secure them. we can only hold them for a little while at the most; they are like the treasures which one sometimes possesses in a dream and which melt away in the hands on waking. a moment after death it will make no difference to us whether we have had them or not; they will seem to have been possessed only as in a dream when we wake to the reality of the next world. { } "they have slept their sleep," says the psalmist, "and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands." the life of one who makes pleasure his object is like a sleep; and, as st. paul warns us in the epistle of to-day, "it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed." our real salvation, the only life which is really worth enjoying, is coming very soon. this life is only a season of advent to prepare for that eternal festival to which we have been invited by the king of kings. so, as our first conclusion is that it is not worth while to seek for the pleasures of this life, our second is that it is not a matter for great grief if we have pain and affliction in it. one would not mind suffering for a day, or even for a week, if the rest of only this short mortal life was to be passed in uninterrupted enjoyment. so, if it be the will of god, perhaps we can manage to pass a few years in pain and sorrow, with the promise, which will not fail us, of happiness that shall be eternal. especially when we remember that pain and sorrow in this life make that promise all the more sure. "blessed are ye poor," says our lord, "for yours is the kingdom of god. blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. ... blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." "behold," he says, "i come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works." { } let this, then, be our care, not to seek pleasure nor to avoid pain which shall soon pass away, but so to live that we shall be anxious to meet him and have a well-grounded hope of receiving that reward; that when he says, "surely i come quickly," we may be able to answer with the apostle, "amen. come, lord jesus." for that life is the best in which one is most willing and ready to die; in which one hears most gladly that this heaven and this earth shall pass away. ------------- { } _second sunday of advent_ epistle. _romans xv._ - . brethren: what things soever were written, were written for our instruction; that through patience and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. now the god of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to jesus christ: that with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify god and the father of our lord jesus christ. wherefore receive one another, as christ also hath received you unto the honor of god. for i say that christ jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of god, to confirm the promises made to the fathers. but that the gentiles are to glorify god for his mercy, as it is written: therefore will i confess to thee, o lord, among the gentiles, and will sing to thy name. and again he saith: rejoice, ye gentiles, with his people. and again: praise the lord, all ye gentiles; and magnify him, all ye people. and again isaias saith: there shall be a root of jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the gentiles, in him the gentiles shall hope. now the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the holy ghost. gospel. _st. matthew xi._ - . at that time: when john had heard in prison the works of christ, sending two of his disciples he said to him: art thou he that art to come, or look we for another? and jesus making answer said to them: go and relate to john what you have heard and seen. the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them. and blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. { } and when they went their way, jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning john: what went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? but what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. but what went you out to see? a prophet? yea, i tell you, and more than a prophet. for this is he of whom it is written: behold, i send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. ----------------- sermon iv. _behold, i send my angel before thy face._ --st. matthew xi. . i suppose, brethren, among the first things you remember hearing of in your childhood were "_the angels of god_" or, as people often say, "_the angels of god in heaven_." you remember, i am sure, how pleased you were to look at their pictures, with sweet faces and large, outstretched wings, and how glad you were when you were told that one of those guardian spirits was always by your side. but this morning i want to speak to you, not of the "angels of god in heaven," but of the _angels of god on earth_. and who are _they?_ you will ask. are they spirits? have they wings like the angels we saw years ago in the picture-book? no, they have not wings; they are not pure spirits; they are men, women, and children just like ourselves. the word "angel" means a messenger, one who is sent with tidings. thus st. john baptist (who was sent to tell the world that jesus christ was coming) is called in to-day's gospel "an angel"--that is, a messenger from god. now, brethren, all of us ought to be messengers of god to our neighbor and to the world. { } we are all catholics, have all been called to know the true faith, and we have all been taught how to observe god's moral law. first, then, we catholics ought to be the _angels of god on earth_ to those who are not catholics. we ought to do our best in our own little circle to spread the knowledge of our holy religion. by our lives we ought to show the world that the catholic religion makes us better citizens, better and more honest men of business, and truer lovers of our neighbors and mankind. many of you "live out" at service in protestant or infidel families; many of you are working for non-catholic employers; many are employed in factories, surrounded by those who belong to false religions or who have no religion at all. oh! what chances such have to be _angels of god on earth_. you can show by your fidelity to work, by your strict honesty, by your modest behavior, that you belong to a religion which comes from god. by a seasonable word, by the loan of a book, by showing your horror of cursing and swearing and of bad talk, you would be doing god's work, and showing to those outside the church that there is _something_ in your belief which makes you good. have you done this? have you not, on the contrary, often scandalized our non-catholic friends by your bad example, your dishonesty, your exhibitions of temper, your outbursts of blasphemy, and your consent to what was impure? ah! when you do these things you are the _angels of the devil on earth_. you are doing his work and bearing his message. again, to your own catholic brethren and to your own family you can be _angels of god on earth!_ have you got a scandalous neighbor, a negligent father or mother, a wicked child, a profligate husband or son? { } oh! be angels of god to these unfortunate ones. by your good example, your patience in affliction, by your charity and forbearance, your strict attention to your religious duties, and, in short, by a really good life, you will be able to "prepare the way of the lord." you will "go before his face" to prepare the way for his graces. don't let it be said by those who are not good catholics, "i don't see that those who go to their duties are any better than i am." show them that you are better, and that it is _religion_ that makes you so. "example is better than precept." actions speak louder than words. oh! then be angels of god to those outside the church, be angels of god to your children, to your parents, to your friends and neighbors. once there was a child who had been very badly brought up by his parents. he went to church by chance one day, and heard an instruction on the laws of the church. when he came home, although it was friday, there was meat for dinner. the boy would not eat it. furious at this, his bad parents beat him; but the child remained firm, till at last, touched by his example, the parents converted themselves and lived as good catholics. that boy was an angel of god on earth. "go ye and do in like manner," and then our lord jesus christ, the "angel of the great covenant," will summon you at death to take your place among his holy angels, with whom you shall be glorified and chant his praises for ever and ever. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------- { } sermon v. _he that is not with me is against me._ --st. matthew xii. . there are many christians who do not seem to know that they are christians. they do not seem to realize what the word christian means; or, if they do, they do not act as if they did. they do not understand, if we are to judge them by their actions, that it is the name of one of the two great parties in this world--the party of christ and that of anti-christ. the issues between these two parties are more important than those between any others that ever have been or ever will be; for they are questions not only of time but of eternity. and the principles of these parties are so different that no compromise between them is possible. they are fighting with each other for the possession of the world, and neither will be satisfied till complete victory is gained--that is, till the other ceases to be. every one has got to belong to one of these parties. it is impossible for any one to remain neutral in this contest and a mere spectator of it. every one has got to be on one side or the other. this is what our lord himself says: "he that is not with me is against me." every one, then, that does not wish to be on the devil's side has got to be on that of christ. but this is just what a great many of you, my dear friends, do not, i am afraid, see so clearly as you should. you often try, i fear, to stand off and be on neither side when duty requires you to come out boldly on the side to which you belong. { } perhaps, for instance, you are compelled to associate daily with persons--either infidels, protestants, or bad catholics--whose mouths are full of impious or impure talk, which they expect you to agree with or join in. they enjoy this filth and profanity, and pretend to think their foul and blasphemous jests very funny, which they very seldom are; and they expect you to laugh at them, as they themselves do. now, i do not say that you are bound each and every time to reprove these sins, but i do say that you are sometimes. you cannot expect not to be counted among these people, and justly so counted, too, unless you say or do enough in some way to show plainly on what side you are. do not, then, keep your faith and piety shut up in your prayer-books, only to be brought out when you are on your knees before god and no one by who will not admire you for them. no; bring them out plainly in the sight of his enemies, and let them see that you are really in earnest--that you really and truly believe that you have got a soul to save, and that your professions are not at all a pretence. for, if you do not do this, you will be carried over to the other side in spite of yourself. if you do not reprove and separate yourself from what is sinful, you will join in it. your own experience ought to show you that. your effort to be neither the one thing nor the other, neither god's servant nor the devil's, always has been in vain and always will be. for the eternal truth has said, "he that is not with me is against me." { } yes, my brethren, it is certain that if you will not confess christ boldly and openly before men; if you will not acknowledge that his faith and his morals are yours also; if you will not bravely and generously take his part in the great battle which he is fighting in this world, and in which he has enlisted you to fight under him; but if, on the other hand, you sneak off into a corner and stay there as long as his enemies are in sight, he will not count you as his servants or friends, and you will not be so, either in this world or in the world to come. "he that shall deny me before men, i will also deny him before my father who is in heaven." and if you will not confess him, you must deny him; there is no middle course. be not, then, runaways, but brave soldiers in the conflict to which you are called. the enemies of christ are not afraid to let their principles be known; if you would imitate their example the tables would be turned. they would be ashamed of themselves, if you would not be; and it is they who ought to be ashamed, not you. moreover, god would get the glory which belongs to him, and if you will not give it to him you cannot expect him to save your mean and cowardly souls. ----------------- sermon vi. _what went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind?_ --st. matthew xi. . --usccb.org/bible: st. matthew xi. in these words, my dear brethren, our lord holds up the character of his great precursor, st. john baptist, as a model for the imitation of his disciples, and also for our imitation. "st. john is not like a reed shaken with the wind; see that you follow his example"--that is the meaning and the lesson of this question asked by our lord. { } st. john, indeed, was not like a reed shaken with the wind. he was rather like a massive column of stone, which is not moved a hair's-breadth from its place by the most furious storms. he was firm and unyielding to all the assaults of temptation. born free from original sin, he persevered without actual sin through the whole of his glorious life. he has set us a magnificent example of firmness and fortitude--virtues in which christians of the present day are wofully wanting. there is a great deal of piety nowadays, but it seems often to be of a very superficial kind. it looks well, but it does not wear well. its outside is very promising, but there is something wanting inside, and that is a backbone. it does very well in the sheltered atmosphere of the church, but it breaks down when it is taken out of doors into the world. the assaults it seems to be weakest against are those which come from without. it stands well against interior temptations, on the whole, but it quails before even a word spoken against it. it is dreadfully afraid of what people will say. it is very much under the power of false shame and what is called human respect. it is a most lamentable sight to see people who are really in their hearts and principles thoroughly good christians, and who might be the instruments in god's hands of a great deal of good both for his glory and the salvation of others, so terribly under the influence of human respect that their example counts almost for nothing, or perhaps is even a scandal and a discouragement to those around them. they have a great deal of faith, and they really want to avoid sin, but they do not seem to want anybody to know that such is the case. { } one would perhaps, think they were very humble and did not want anybody to know how good they are--and i have no doubt that they do not want some people, at any rate, to think that they are good; but it is not on account of humility, but on account of fear. they are afraid of what these people will say; they tremble at the slightest breath. they are very different from st. john, and very much like reeds shaken by the wind; and it requires only a very light wind to shake them, considering the strength they ought to have. there are catholics, for instance--and plenty of them, to the glory of our faith be it said!--who have a great horror of the dreadful sin of impurity, and would by no means of their own accord commit any offence of this kind. but their daily occupations lead them among others who have very different ideas and habits, or who, perhaps, are sinning wilfully against the clearest light. these wretched people are continually bandying jests or telling stories which show the corruption of their minds. out of the abundance of their hearts their mouths are always speaking; they are bad trees, and all the time bringing forth bad fruit. well, do our good christians show any disgust for these things? oh! no; they will say they cannot help laughing at them. i am afraid they are deceiving themselves; they could help it, if they dared to help it. they would seldom or never laugh if such foul things occurred to their own mind; they would be too much afraid of god. but now their fear of god disappears before their fear of man. { } or these good christians meet with people who, either through ignorance or malice, ridicule and blaspheme the catholic church and the true faith. perhaps these people only need to find some catholic who will stand up boldly for his religion. if any one would only confess christ before them it might be the beginning of their conversion. but, instead of coming out fearlessly for the truth, our good christians are afraid of being thought foolish or priest-ridden; and if they acknowledge that they are catholics at all, it is only to compromise or deny what they in their hearts believe, so that people may think that they are pretty good protestants after all. these instances will suffice to show what i mean. you can find plenty of others yourselves. do so, and resolve, for the sake of god our saviour and for the glory of his name, to put an end to this despicable cowardice, if you have been guilty of it. catholic faith and morals are things to glory in, not to be ashamed of. and, besides, there is really nothing to fear. what you are afraid of is only like the wind which passes by; in their hearts even the wicked will honor and hold in everlasting remembrance the true and faithful servants of god. ------------------- { } _third sunday of advent_ epistle. _philippians iv._ - . rejoice in the lord always: again, i say, rejoice. let your modesty be known to all men: the lord is nigh. be not solicitous about anything: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to god. and the peace of god which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in christ jesus. gospel. _st. john i._ - . at that time: the jews sent from jerusalem priests and levites to john, to ask him: who art thou? and he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: i am not the christ. and they asked him: what then? art thou elias? and he said: i am not. art thou the prophet? and he answered: no. they said therefore unto him: who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what sayest thou of thyself? he said: i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet isaias. and they that were sent, were of the pharisees. and they asked him, and said to him: why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not christ, nor elias, nor the prophet? john answered them, saying: i baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. the same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe i am not worthy to loose. these things were done in bethania beyond the jordan, where john was baptizing. { } sermon vii. _let your modesty be known to all men._ --philippians iv. . to-day, brethren, is called _gaudete_, or rejoicing sunday, and is intended by the church as a little _letup_, as the people say, on the solemn season of advent. to-day flowers deck the altars; at the high mass the dalmatic, the deacon's vestment of joy, which has not been used for two sundays, is again assumed. where possible, and where the church is rich enough to buy them, rose-colored vestments should be worn. the first words of the mass are, "rejoice in the lord always; again i say, rejoice." it is just as if the church said to you all: "be glad and joyful; make yourselves as happy as you can." "ah!" some of you will say, "that is just the doctrine for us; that is just what we like." do not be too fast, my friends. listen to what comes next. "rejoice," says the church; but in that rejoicing, in that striving to live happily, "let your modesty be known to all men." so, then, the christian is to be a happy man, but he is also to be a modest man--a man of simple or moderate habits. my friends, does not the shoe pinch you a little? do you not see the cap gradually taking a form that will fit some of your heads? you men, when you are together on some festive occasion--when you have a gala-day of one kind or another--you rejoice then, it is true, but is your modesty known to all men? have you not often aped the manners and swagger of the worldly-minded? have you not listened to indecent stories? have you not told some such? oh! what scandal you give when you do these things. then your _immodesty_ is known to all men. { } you are going with the crowd. you are following the multitude to do evil. you are walking in the wide path that leadeth unto perdition. you unfortunate drunkards that totter as you walk, who fall in the gutter and by the wayside, is your modesty known to all men? no, your shame is known to all men, and the shame of all who belong to you. again, what think you of the woman who, because it is the fashion, goes out to balls indecently and improperly dressed--who is not covered as becomes a christian matron or maiden, but is so clad as to bring the blush of lust to the face of the brazen, and of shame to that of the pure in heart; or of those who go to all sort of plays and spectacles, who encourage the most questionable of dances and ballets, and bring up their children in the same spirit? is their modesty known to all men? my friends, to find the modesty of such people would be like searching for a needle in a bundle of hay. you would never find it. you, too, who spend every cent you have upon your backs, who have almost all your hard earnings invested in dry goods and millinery, who come to church tricked out in finery which belongs neither to your state nor calling, offend also against christian moderation and modesty. once there was an old jackdaw who dressed himself up in peacock's feathers; then off he went among the peacocks and tried to pass for one of them. but these splendid birds soon found him out and pecked him almost to death. my friends, when you deck yourselves out in clothing, in fashions which are beyond your means, unsuited to your calling as a christian, unfit for your state in life, and fit, indeed, for none but the vain people of the world, what are you? nothing but jackdaws in peacock's feathers. { } oh! then don't make yourself ridiculous. follow the advice of st. paul: "let your modesty be known to all men." these are the days of immodesty, of wasteful extravagance, of extreme vanity. oh! then set your faces against this running tide of worldliness. be modest, speak modestly, dress modestly, enjoy yourselves modestly. don't dress up your children luxuriously, instilling into their minds even in childhood the spirit of vanity. don't put on too much style or too many airs. be happy, rejoice always, but be modest, be simple. "let your modesty be known to all men. the lord is nigh. for the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things. the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit." rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------------- sermon viii. _there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not._ --st. john i. . st. john spoke these words, as the gospel tells us, not to his disciples, but to those who had been sent from jerusalem to question him on his mission, to ask him what business he had to preach and to baptize. it may be that both those who were sent and those who sent them had no real desire to know if he were indeed a prophet, but were merely trying to make him say something which could be used against him--to set a trap for him, like those which they afterward tried to set for our divine lord--since his language to them certainly seems like a rebuke. { } for who was this one who had stood in their midst, and whom they had not known? it was our lord jesus christ. it was the son of god, the word made flesh. he had been living in their midst since his childhood, but they had not known him. even those in his own town of nazareth, who had often met him in their streets, who had often seen him and spoken to him, had passed him by as if he was no more than one of themselves, as if he were only a poor carpenter's boy. now, we, my dear brethren, are something like these jews at that time. for during our lives there has stood one also in the midst of us, whom we have not known. and it is the same one whom the thoughtless and the sinful passed in the streets of nazareth, and whom they afterward crucified in jerusalem. the king of glory is in our midst at this moment; he who dwells in the tabernacle of the altar is indeed god made man. it is true for us as well as for them that we cannot see that it is he with our bodily eyes; but there is much more to point him out to us than there was to them. the church has taken care that we shall not pass him by unnoticed; all the worship of the sanctuary is directed to his throne--that poor throne in our midst which he has come down from heaven to occupy. it is because of him that the altar blazes with candles and is adorned with flowers, and that the clouds of incense rise; it is to him that we bend the knee; all the splendid ceremonial of the catholic religion is only our poor effort to worthily honor him who has condescended to dwell among us under the sacramental veils. { } and yet, in spite of all the care which his church has taken, do we not too often behave as the jews of his own time had a better excuse for behaving? a better excuse, i say, for they needed a special light to recognize him; but all we need is faith, and that we all have. but one would think that his people had no faith, to see the way in which they sometimes conduct themselves in his most holy presence. it would seem as if a christian had not faith in that real presence when you see him pretend, as it were, to reverence the altar by a sort of half-genuflection, very quickly made, which looks more like a sign of disrespect than of adoration. what would you think if you should see the priest, when saying mass, making his genuflections in this way? well, you ought to do the same as he. our lord is as really before you as before him; and you are not more exalted in your station than the priest, that you can afford to treat god more familiarly. bring the knee to the floor slowly and reverently when you pass the high altar, or any other altar, while the blessed sacrament is on it. and when our lord passes in procession, or in any other way, through the church, kneel down and pray; do not stand or sit and stare about. and remember, too, that he is as really present when he goes outside the church as when he remains in it. the state of things in this country requires us to carry him to the sick without the solemnity which should be observed; but he is as truly in your houses when he comes to give himself to you there as if the priest brought him with lights and sacred vestments, with the sound of the bell, and with a train of attendants to do him honor. { } imagine what you would do if he should come visibly at the side of the priest, with that face with which you are so familiar, with glory shining round him, and with the prints of the nails in his hands and feet; and do the same now. do not stand around and talk to the priest as if he had come for a social visit; kneel down as soon as he enters the room, if the blessed sacrament is with him. and do not kneel leaning on a chair, with your backs to our lord; that is a strange way to show respect for him. if you will only think who it is that stands in the midst of you, you will find out many other things which i have not time to suggest. it is not really so much want of faith as want of thought that makes people behave to our lord in the irreverent and almost insulting way that they sometimes do. think, then, about this matter, and you will need no rubrics to teach you what to do in the presence of him whom you really know and love. ------------------- sermon ix. _i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord._ --st. john i. . whenever, my dear brethren, men are going to a place they always ask the way. they also make up their minds as to which is the long way, which the short way, which the most convenient and easiest way. they do this with reference to the places to which they go in this world. now, we are all going to heaven; at least, each one of us will say, i hope i am going there. we know there are many places to which we can go in this world, and many different ways by which we can get to them. { } there are also many places in heaven, but there is but one way of getting to any one, even to the least of them. which is that way? some will say it is the good way, or the way of the good man. another will say it is attending to your duties, to your church. yet another will say it is by keeping away from mortal sin. each answer is a good one, but neither one brings out the important point. the true answer, and the first one to be given, is that it is god's way--the way of the lord. yes, my dear brethren, it is the very way, the one and only way, that our lord jesus christ has travelled before us. every step he took along this path was marked by the precious blood from his own veins. it is the way of the cross, of sacrifice, of penance and mortification. are we all going this way? is each one of us now here present moving daily and hourly on this path? it is almost useless to ask this question, for i know many, very many indeed, will answer. no! it is indeed a sad truth that most people, most even of our catholic people, are not going this way. but why is this? one reason is because they do not try, sincerely and earnestly, to fix in the mind that this is the only condition upon which any soul can be saved. for our lord himself declares that unless a man take up his cross _daily_ and follow him he cannot be his disciple. they do not realize that there is an absolute necessity, an unchangeable law in this assertion. god has said it, and will not unsay it. yet how quickly will men stop a business or a transaction that will surely cause them to lose their money! how quickly will they turn from a road that is sure to lead to death! they realize the necessity when property and life are to be lost; but they will not see or feel the same necessity when their souls and eternal life are most certainly to be forever lost. { } again, they are discouraged because the way is hard and difficult. show me any way in life not hard and difficult. ask the father, the mother, the single man, the married man. ask the rich and the poor, the old and the young, the active business man, the idle and slothful man, as well as the common tramp. all have the same answer--that life is a hard road any way you may take it. man, then, is reduced to the necessity of suffering and mortification. the secret of this is that all men are under sin, all poisoned by it. the only remedy is to cure ourselves, to get rid of this poison. the way of the lord is the way given us to go in order to find this cure. all along this way we find the remedy at every turn. it is found in a good confession, in true penance and mortification, in the sacrament of the altar, the body and blood of our lord jesus christ, which is intended to nourish our souls and to act against this terrible poison. make straight, then, the way of the lord. do not be terrified by trouble, pain, and difficulties of any kind. do not permit the devil to make you think it will always last, always be the same. these difficulties become less and less by degrees. they wear away, as it were, or god so fills the soul with strength and patience that it is the same in the end. we then bear easily by the grace of god that which was so troublesome at first. { } set to work, then, at once. let your souls be ready for the holy feast of christmas. remember that we must celebrate that as christians ought to do. gratitude, love, christian manliness, and honor require that all shall celebrate the birthday of a suffering god in such a manner as to make him feel he is truly remembered and honored. the least one can do, then, is to begin to make straight the way of the lord by cleansing the soul of all mortal sin and by making a good christmas communion. that feast, you know, is a time when great graces are given to the sincere soul. do not, then, for the sake of your own soul, fail to keep christmas day as a true catholic should keep it. -------------- { } _fourth sunday of advent._ epistle. _corinthians iv._ - . brethren: let a man so look upon us as the ministers of christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of god. here now it is required among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. but as to me it is a thing of the least account to be judged by you, or by human judgment: but neither do i judge my own self. for i am not conscious to myself of anything, yet in this am i not justified: but he that judgeth me, is the lord. therefore judge not before the time; until the lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from god. gospel. _st. luke iii._ - . now in the fifteenth year of the reign of tiberius cæsar, pontius pilate being governor of judea, and herod being tetrarch of galilee, and philip his brother tetrarch of iturea and the country of trachonitis, and lysanias tetrarch of abilina, under the high-priests annas and caiphas: the word of the lord came to john, the son of zachary, in the desert. and he came into all the country about the jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins: as it is written in the book of the words of isaias the prophet: a voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare ye the way of the lord, make his paths straight. every valley shall be filled: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. and all flesh shall see the salvation of god. { } sermon x. christmas eve. _for he shall save his people from their sins_. --st. matthew i. . to be _saved_, dear brethren, always supposes a previous danger. thus, we say saved from drowning, saved from a fire, saved from a terrible accident. also it supposes a person or thing that saves. now, dear friends, we are met together here to-day, and it is christmas eve. the church tells us in the holy gospel that jesus christ came to save his people. let us think, then, for a few moments what danger it was that he came to save us from, and who he was who came to act the part of saviour. the danger from which we were to be saved was the danger of sin. sin is dangerous in the extreme. it is more dangerous than the most terrible disease, more perilous than the cholera or the plague. these things only kill the body; mortal sin kills the soul. if jesus christ had not redeemed us sin would have destroyed us. adam and eve brought sin into the world. sin spread with the awful swiftness of an epidemic. it threatened to descend upon mankind and to bury everything beneath the ruins of everlasting death. then, when poor human nature seemed about to be overwhelmed, jesus came and saved it, washed us in his precious blood, and snatched the uplifted sword from the hand of the enemy. yes, the danger was great, but we were saved from it. but a little while ago we read in the papers of an awful calamity--the burning of the brooklyn theatre. { } we can imagine how frightful was the scene of hundreds of human creatures fighting for life--the all too narrow door before them, the crying multitude around them, the scathing, ruthless flames behind them. what would we think of one who, saved from such a place, should afterwards make light of the danger and care nothing for the one who saved him? o brethren! it was not from the danger of earthly fire, from the peril of blazing rafters, falling beams, and a trampling multitude, that christ saved you and me. 'twas from the fire of hell that he snatched us. 'twas from the danger, the all-surrounding danger, of sin. and what have we done, many of us? we have turned back, let go the hand that held us, and gone back into the appalling peril. because men do not see a _material_ danger they will not believe there is _any_. dear friends, there is danger. you that have gone back into the ways of sin, you that are in mortal sin now, at this moment--you are in an awful danger. save your lives, then; take the hand held out to you or you are lost! brethren, some of those poor creatures who perished in the brooklyn fire were so charred, so burnt that they could not be recognized. take care that you do not become so disfigured by sin that at the last day god will say to you: "i know ye not." who saved us from the awful peril? it was jesus christ, jesus the son of god, jesus the babe of bethlehem. in the morning it will be christmas day. the church will bid you come to the crib. will you still persist in rejecting the saviour? you know who he is. you know he is god. you know he is full of love and full of power--full of love for your souls, full of power to rescue you from the danger in which you stood. come to him then, and no matter how black or how many your sins may be, you will know that "he shall save his people from their sins." { } brethren, i doubt not that many of you mourn the loss of some dear ones. within the last few years some one has gone from the fireside, some sweet voice has been stilled for ever. perhaps a father or a tender, beloved mother has gone home to rest with god--gone in the peace of christ to their reward. 'tis christmas eve in heaven to-day, and oh! don't you think they are waiting for you--praying for you that you may be there with them? don't disappoint them. don't let them wait in vain. flee from sin, the danger that threatens to separate you from them for ever. do not disappoint jesus and mary and joseph. do not spend this holy time in sin. don't go back into the danger. keep christmas like a christian. then, brethren, in the morning, the bright morning of eternity, the christmas morning of heaven, we shall see his glory. we shall be united to jesus and our dear ones who have gone before. we shall hear them and the white-winged angels who circle around the throne, singing aloud: "glory be to jesus christ the babe of bethlehem, for he hath saved his people from their sins!" rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------- sermon xi. preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, --st. luke iii. . st. john baptist certainly seems, from what we read about him in the gospels, to have been quite a stern and uncompromising preacher. he did not come with a coach and four to take people to heaven. { } he had but one message for every one, high and low, rich and poor; and that message was: "repent of your sins; do penance for them, and bring forth fruits worthy of penance. cease to do evil, learn to do good; get rid of your bad habits, and put good ones in their place. if you have wronged any one, make restitution for it; and, moreover, practise charity even to those whom you have not wronged. these things you must do; there is no other way possible in which you can flee from the wrath to come." this was st. john's doctrine, everybody must acknowledge. but some people seem to think that our lord, when he came, offered salvation to sinners on somewhat easier terms than these. this, however, is a great mistake. there never has been, is not, and never will be any way for a sinner to be saved except by doing penance. our saviour did, indeed, by his coming make salvation easier; but how was it that he did so? it was not by offering it on any other terms than these, but by making it easier for men to comply with these terms. he did not free us from the obligation of doing penance, but gave us more abundant grace that we might be better able to do penance. that is plain enough to every one who will stop and think. and yet some christians seem to imagine that it is enough to be a catholic, to be quite sure of one's salvation. practically, at least, they hold the heresy which the devil brought in at the time of the so-called reformation, and which before that time hardly any one had dared to put in words--that a man may be justified by faith without good works. { } they say to themselves the very thing which st. john warned the jews not to say: "we have abraham for our father." they say to themselves: "we are catholics; we are children of the holy church; all we have to do is to remain so (and, thank god! we have not the least idea of being anything else), and then to receive the rites of our church when we come to die, and we will be as sure of going to heaven as a child which has just been baptized." but, my friends, this is a fatal delusion. depend upon it, the devil is glad when he sees men or women with this notion in their heads, for he has got good hopes of having them with him in hell. he knows well what such people do not seem to know: that it is not enough to be a catholic, but that one must also be a good catholic, if he is to be saved. he knows as well as st. john that penance is necessary now, as it always has been; but he takes good care not to preach what he knows. and what is penance? is it a mere confession that we are sinners? no, by no means. if it were, every one would be a penitent who was not a fool, for every one who has common sense must acknowledge that he has sinned. nor is it a mere acknowledgment that sin is a bad thing, and a wish that we had not committed it, and that god had given us more grace that we might not have done so. no, it is a real and hearty sorrow for it, with a conviction that we might have avoided it, and that the fault was not with god, who gave us plenty of grace to avoid it, but with ourselves, who did not make use of the grace which he gave. and following from this, as a matter of course, is a firm conviction that we can avoid it for the future, and a firm determination to do so. { } and following from this, also as a matter of course, is a real change in our lives, a real giving up of sin. that is the only certain mark of a true repentance and of a good confession--that a man stops committing mortal sin. the priest may indeed give absolution to one who continues to fall; but it is with the gravest fears that the sentence which he pronounces is not confirmed by him who alone has power to forgive. i said in the beginning that salvation was easier than before our lord came, because we have now more grace to help our weakness. but that only makes penance the more necessary. "a man making void the law of moses," says st. paul, "died, without any mercy, under two or three witnesses; how much more, do you think, he deserveth worse punishments, who hath trodden under foot the son of god, and hath esteemed the blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and hath offered an affront to the spirit of grace?" be warned, then, in time; repent indeed, and change your lives. make not only a confession but a good confession at this holy time, and cease, for the love of god, to offend him any more. ----------------------- sermon xil. _prepare ye the way of the lord_. --st. luke iii. . before our blessed lord came into public notice his missionary, st. john baptist, appeared in the wilderness preaching penance, and good works worthy of penance, to the people, who were in the darkness and bondage of sin. he cried out in a loud, thrilling voice; "prepare ye the way of the lord." { } so the church on the last sunday of advent, the first before christmas, cries out to those who expect to meet our lord on christmas and worship him on that glorious feast: "prepare ye the way of the lord." to the tepid and lukewarm she cries out: "come away from your darling venial sins; fill up your empty hearts to the brim with the overflowing love and grace of god; be more generous in his worship and service." to the young: "prepare ye the way of the lord." give me your heart while you are young and tender; do not be allured by the empty joys and false pleasures of the world; avoid those dangerous occasions of sin that are about to entice you, and keep your youth innocent and pure, that you may see the evening of your life in joy, and not in bitter remorse. to the old: forget the past; if it has been bad, ask pardon and do penance; if good, preserve it and live in grace and fervor, so that when you are near the end of your pilgrimage here you may attain to the great destiny for which you have been created. to the sinner--to the one in mortal sin; the one who has not had a happy christmas for many a year, for the sinner has no chance to have part in the real joy of christmas; to the sinner who has been exalted with pride and worldly pleasure, who has been in the valley of impurity, and wilful neglect, and cold indifference--oh! to you there is a voice terrible and irresistible: "prepare ye the way of the lord." prepare it by prayer for grace; warm your heart by gratitude and love; fall on your knees at the foot of the cross in the confessional; have your heart purified by the bitter waters of penance, and you will indeed have a happy christmas. { } then the promise: all flesh shall see the salvation of god. yes, to know and to feel and see the pardon and peace and love of god--to have the consciousness that he is our friend, and that we have no enmity against him--is the way to see on this earth the fruits of salvation. the poor shall see the salvation of god. o ye poor men and women who have nothing in this world but sorrow, tears, and bitter suffering! to you this coming feast of christmas is a foretaste of the great reward that is prepared for you. god loves you. he spurned the palaces and royal robes of the cæsars when he came on the earth, and chose a poor virgin for his mother and a hovel for his birthplace. the poor shepherds were the first to see him, and they will be near to him in his glory. "blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven." for he who was rich, for your sakes became poor. the poor shall see the salvation of god; for he who was rich, for their sakes became poor. the rich shall see the salvation of god; for they will be taught humility by looking into the crib at bethlehem, and learning a lesson that they can learn nowhere else, and that will dazzle them more than their jewels, diamonds, dresses, or palaces. so if we prepare the way of the lord we shall finally see the salvation of god in eternity, where we shall rejoice evermore in the thought that all our preparation here to please god, by keeping the commandments, suffering, and toiling, will be rewarded by the vision of the redeemer of all nations who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. -------------------- { } _sunday within the octave of christmas_ epistle. _galatians iv._ - . brethren: as long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father: even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. but when the fulness of the time was come, god sent his son, made of a woman, made under the law: that he might redeem those who were under the law; that we might receive the adoption of sons. and because you are sons, god hath sent the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying: abba, father. therefore now he is no more a servant, but a son. and if a son, an heir also through god. gospel. _st. luke ii._ - . at that time: joseph, and mary the mother of jesus, were wondering at these things, which were spoken concerning him. and simeon blessed them, and said to mary his mother: behold this child is set for the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. and there was a prophetess, called anna, the daughter of phanuel, of the tribe of aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. and she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. now she at the same hour coming in, gave praise to the lord; and spoke of him to all that looked for the redemption of israel. and after they had performed all things according to the law of the lord, they returned into galilee, to their own city, nazareth. and the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of god was in him. { } sermon xiii. _and the child grew, and waxed strong, full of wisdom: and the grace of god was in him._ --st. luke ii. . jesus christ is our model in all things, and in the verse above quoted we see him presented as the model of youth. your children, brethren, ought to be strong in body, wise in mind, and to have the grace of god in their hearts. now, who is to form them after the model of jesus christ? it is the duty of parents. first, then, you ought to take care of the bodily wants of your children, in order that they may grow and wax strong. how often parents offend against this duty! there are some who let their children eat just what they please, who pamper their appetites, who give them all kinds of unwholesome food. such children will never be healthy. there are others who spend all their money in drink--who leave their poor little ones at home, moaning and starving with hunger; who, through their imprudence, leave their children without food for a whole day, having squandered their earnings in all sorts of foolish and wicked pleasures. then, too, there are those who allow their children to sit up till all hours of the night, who let them go off to heated ball-rooms, who dress them either too much or too little--who either coddle them up so that they can hardly stand a whiff of air, or else send them out to shiver with cold. { } no wonder that our city children are unhealthy; no wonder death sweeps them away as it does. is it not because parents are neglectful? look to it, then; see to the diet, the clothing, the habits of your children. do not overtask their feeble strength by sending them too soon to work. never permit them to form luxurious appetites. watch over their daily lives, see that they take proper exercise; then, like the child jesus, they will "grow and wax strong." neglect the duty of corporal education, and we shall have a generation of sickly children and adult invalids. and if it be so necessary for parents to watch over the bodies of their children, what shall i say of the duty of watching over their minds and souls? your children should be full of wisdom, and the grace of god should be in their hearts. oh! when i think of the neglect of many catholic parents in this respect i am tempted to take up the gospel's most awful tone, and cry. woe to you, careless parents! woe, eternal woe to you guilty fathers and mothers, who are letting your little ones run to destruction! you make your home uncomfortable by your crossness, by your curses, by your slovenly, untidy habits. your children, from their earliest infancy, take to the street. they hear impurity, blasphemy, and cursing. they hear words and see sights which are not fit to be mentioned here on god's altar. they keep what company they like. they learn infamous and immoral habits that destroy both body and soul. oh! for god's sake beware, beware! do you think they will ever be full of wisdom or have the grace of god in their hearts? { } again, you are anxious enough that they shall learn to read and write, to keep books and be quick at figures, but are you sure they know their catechism or can tell a priest all they ought to know of jesus christ, their saviour, or how many sacraments and commandments there are? where are they on sundays? where are they when confession day comes around? oh! these are vital questions, if you want them to be full of grace and wisdom. some boys and girls of our day, brethren, have lost a great deal of their freshness. they smoke, they chew tobacco, they flirt, they act like little men and women. there is no innocence about them. they are revolting spectacles to men and angels. wisdom, forsooth! they have none. grace of god? it is destroyed. their childhood is more like the childhood of an incarnate devil than of an incarnate god. look, then, carefully to your children. look to the little ones; correct them when they are babies. don't wait till a child is in its teens; then it will be too late. set them a good example. you know the story of the old crab, who said to her little ones, "why do you walk sideways?" "suppose, mother," they said, "_you_ show us how to walk straight." yes, if you are wicked, foolish, and sinful, your children will be like you. "like father, like son," says the proverb. oh! then you parents, be pure as mary, be industrious, modest, patient like st. joseph; then your children, like jesus, will grow and wax strong, full of wisdom and of the grace of god. rev. algernon a. brown. ----------------- { } sermon xiv. _this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in israel._ --st. luke ii. . these words of to-day's gospel, my dear brethren, have, perhaps, a strange sound to us at this joyful christmas season. it seems strange that holy simeon should have said that the blessed infant whom he held in his arms, and who had come to save the world, should have been set for the fall of many of even his own chosen people. and yet we know that his coming was actually the occasion of the fall not merely of many but of far the greater part of that chosen people of israel. however strange simeon's prophecy may seem, we see that it was a true one. up to that time the jewish people were god's true church on earth; now almost all of them are wanderers outside of it, rejecting the true messias whom their fathers crucified, and either vainly looking for one who will never come or ceasing in despair to look for any messias at all. instead of christ's coming having been the means of salvation for them, it has really been the occasion of their fall from the grace which they had before. but though we know that it has been so, it may still seem strange that it should have been so. one would think that the saviour, who is our joy, our pride, and our glory, would have been theirs too, and even more theirs than ours, having been born of their own nation, a jew of the royal line of david. but if we consider the matter a little we shall see that it was natural enough that it should turn out as it did; and we shall see, moreover, that there is a good deal of danger that, as they fell from grace when christ was presented to them, so we may do the same. { } for we shall, if we think, find out the reason why they fell, which is the reason why we may fall too. they were looking for a saviour, indeed, but not for such a saviour as actually came. they were looking for one who would redeem them from their subjection to the roman empire; who would make their nation what it had been in the days gone by; who would make them an independent and powerful people; who would give them the greatness and glory of this world. so when he did not fulfil their expectation, when he came not with earthly splendor but in poverty and suffering, they were scandalized. it was only his miracles which made them hesitate; and when he would work miracles no longer, when he would not save himself from the cruel and ignominious death of the cross, they rejected him with the horrible imprecation, "his blood be upon us and upon our children." yes, my brethren, the cross was their scandal, and the cross is likely to be our scandal, too, for we have the same fallen human nature as they. "we preach christ crucified," says st. paul, "unto the jews indeed a stumbling-block, and unto the gentiles foolishness"; and it is a good deal the same with us christians now. we feel glad, indeed, when christmas comes; but i am afraid that if we had been living at the time of the first christmas we should not have been much more likely to rejoice at the birth of our lord than his own people were at that time. christmas now is very pleasant, with its festivity, its amusements, its giving and receiving of presents; but there is not much of the cross in this. the original christmas, with its cold, its poverty, and its humiliation, was quite a different thing. { } it is right for us to rejoice at christmas; but perhaps we should not rejoice if we remembered that our lord came to bring into the world the cross not only for himself but also for us too. that is the scandal for us now. we can see what the jews could not, that it was right that he should suffer; but we cannot see that it is right that we should suffer too--that what holy simeon said to his blessed mother is true for each one of us: "thy own soul a sword shall pierce." so in this way, even now, "this divine child," with his cross in his hand for a christmas present to us, "is set for the fall of many in israel." we are too apt to shrink away when he urges us to accept it for his sake. indeed, we should always fall away when the cross is offered to us, had we only our own natural strength to depend upon. it is not in us, by any natural power, to bear the cross of christ. but he offers with it the grace to bear it. and in this way he is set also for our resurrection. for it is only by the cross, by bearing the cross ourselves, that we can rise from sin, which is the only death which we really have to fear. this child, then, is set for our fall by our natural weakness, but for our resurrection by his supernatural grace. his will is that it should be for the latter; let his will, then, be done. let us welcome him, then, at christmas, but let us welcome his cross too; for it is only by bearing it ourselves that we can come to eternal life. ------------------------- { } sermon xv. _behold, this child is set ... for a sign which shall be contradicted._ --st. luke ii. . my brethren, can this be possible? it is not only possible but too true. our lord jesus christ, the sign of the love of god the father to us, is contradicted, is resisted, by those whom he came to save. and is it only those who are strangers to him that contradict him? no; it is those who know him well and who ought to be his friends--his own people, who call themselves catholics, who claim to belong to his true church. what does the word "contradict" mean? it means to speak against or in opposition to any one. it may mean, also, to act against any one, or even to reject inwardly what one say's, though not a word of contradiction be spoken. fervent gratitude would now exclaim: "surely no catholic can do any of these to jesus christ?" yet such there are, though perhaps many of them do not realize what they do. who are they? they are those who speak against and resist the teachers he has sent them; who put themselves always in opposition to the authority of the church, and even to its head, the vicar of christ on earth; who believe no more than they are obliged to under pain of ceasing to be catholic at all; and who never obey except when it suits their own convenience. "well," you will say, "i am not that kind of a catholic." i am glad you are not; still, there are many such. but there are many more who do not go quite so far as that, and yet have a good deal of the same spirit. perhaps you are one of them. { } who are these that i speak of? they are those who are always opposing their pastors and confessors, finding fault with and criticising their words and their actions. they reject their counsel. they even make a jest of their opinions. they think them behind the times, and not up to the spirit of the present day. they even sometimes violate the sacred confidence of the confessional, and talk thus lightly even of what has been said to them there. or they oppose outwardly the plans and efforts of their parish priests. they think that they know more about everything than their pastors. unwilling to unite with them in their work for our lord, they are discontented because others are not as rebellious and disobedient as themselves. they do not rest until they succeed in making a party against those whom they should unite to support, which destroys a great deal of the good which they have done, and prevents much which they could otherwise do. in vain do they pretend to be friends of christ when they thwart and spoil his work. the work of the parish is as much his work as that of any other part of the church. the church makes parishes wherever she sends her priests. if the people in them oppose her she cannot do god's work. or if they do not resist, they despise their priests, or certainly act as if they did. they do not seem to remember that every priest, unworthy as he is, of course, still represents our lord. if they respect him, it is as a man, not as a priest; that is, they do not respect the priest at all as such. they use him for their own convenience when their conscience requires them to hear mass or approach the sacraments; but otherwise they treat him just as a protestant might do. { } and by this bad example they lessen the respect of others for him, and weaken the authority and influence for good which he ought to have. this really is resisting and contradicting our lord, whom he represents. let all, then, examine themselves, and see if they are not in the habit of speaking, acting, or neglecting their duties in such a way as to oppose and contradict our divine lord. be humble as he was on the first christmas day, and try to help, not to hinder, his agents in all they are obliged to do to carry out his work; for he has said to them: "he that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me." ------------------------- { } _the epiphany_ epistle. _isaias lx._ - . arise, be enlightened, o jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the lord is risen upon thee. for behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. and the gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged; when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the gentiles shall come to thee. the multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of madian and epha: all they from saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense: and showing forth praise to the lord. gospel. _st. matthew ii._ - . when jesus, therefore, was born in bethlehem of juda, in the days of king herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to jerusalem, saying: where is he that is born king of the jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and we are come to adore him. and herod the king hearing this, was troubled, and all jerusalem with him: and assembling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he enquired of them where christ should be born. but they said to him, in bethlehem of juda; for so it is written by the prophet: "and thou bethlehem, the land of juda, art not the least among the princes of juda: for out of thee shall come forth the ruler who shall rule my people israel." { } then herod, privately calling the wise men, enquired diligently of them the time of the star's appearing to them; and sending them into bethlehem, said: go and search diligently after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that i also may come and adore him. and when they had heard the king, they went their way; and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. and seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. and going into the house, they found the child with mary his mother, and falling down, they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. and having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to herod, they went back another way into their own country. --------------------- sermon xvl. _rise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of israel._ --st. matthew ii. . at this season of christmas and epiphany, in these days when the church brings us to the manger in which the infant son of god was laid, it is impossible for any christian to come to jesus without coming to mary also. he cannot see the one without seeing the other; and surely he will not adore the one without honoring the other also. it is plain enough to us all at this time how inseparable our lady is from her divine son, and how we must go to her if we would gain admission to his presence. but we are apt enough to forget it at other seasons, even at times like the month of may, specially commemorated to her love and service. { } we are apt to imagine devotion to her as a sort of thing apart by itself, beautiful and reasonable, it is true, but still having no necessary connection with the worship of god. we do not understand that it is impossible for us to love and adore him as he wishes unless we also honor his blessed mother--as impossible as it would be to have a true devotion to her and forget him. the two devotions must go hand-in-hand not only now but through all the year. the forgetting of this is one great reason why there is so much sin in the world. one who has a true love for mary can hardly fall into mortal sin; and that not only because she will specially pray for him and defend him, but also because he will love her son too much to do so. and even if he should fall into mortal sin he will not stay in it long; not only because she will obtain his conversion, but also because love of god cannot be far away while that of his blessed mother remains. this is also true, in its measure, of venial as well as of mortal sin, and of those imperfections which keep people from being saints. you will hear many complaining that they do not make any progress in the spiritual life; that they are always committing the same faults, and even just as often; and that they have no more piety now than they had years ago--perhaps not even so much. well, of course there may be many reasons for this; but one of them, perhaps, is that they do not cultivate a real, solid devotion to our blessed lady. they say, no doubt, some prayers to her, and they believe fully and firmly everything about her which the church teaches; but they do not realize that they cannot acquire the love of her divine son unless they make his mother theirs also; that they give themselves entirely to her as her loving children, with all their mind and strength, all their heart and soul. { } what a pity it is to neglect so easy and so safe a way not only of salvation but of perfection! it will lead to everything else, and nothing else will lead anywhere without it. let us, then, my dear brethren, at the beginning of this new year make a good resolution--that is, to have more devotion to our lady than we have ever had before. let us take, as st. joseph did, the child and his mother, and set out with them from this place of our exile to the land of israel, the true promised land above. let us take them both, not only at christmas but always, through our whole journey here below; not to guard and guide them, as he did--for we have not such a privilege--but that they may guard us, and guide us to the country which is waiting, not for one people only, but for the redeemed of all nations, for all the israel of god. -------------------- sermon xvii. _and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh._ --st. matthew ii. . to-day, my brethren, is a great day for us. it is, in one way, a greater day than christmas itself; a day, that is, in which we have more cause for rejoicing than we had even then. for what was it which we celebrated then, and what is it which we are celebrating now? { } then it was the birth of our lord into this world, and it was indeed a thing which we had cause to rejoice over; but to-day it is something even more joyous for us than that. it is not only that he was born into this world, but that he was born for us, for us gentiles--to save us as well as his own chosen people, the jews. the three wise men whom that wonderful star led to his crib were not of that people, but gentiles like ourselves; and the star which appeared to them signified the appearance to them and to us of the true light which was hereafter to enlighten in a more wonderful way than before not only a single nation, but every man coming into this world. appearance or manifestation is what the greek word "epiphany" means. it was natural, then, that they should offer gifts to their newly-born saviour, for they could not but do so in acknowledgment of the great gift which he had given to them. but let us see what was the meaning of the gifts which they did offer--of these gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. they may be, and have been, interpreted in a great many different ways, all of which may well be true. it is commonly said that the wise men offered gold to our lord because he is the king of heaven and earth; frankincense, because he is almighty god; and myrrh, because he is also man, and was to suffer death for the sins of the world--myrrh being used to embalm the dead, and hence being a symbol of death. but there is another signification of these gifts which is, perhaps, more practical for us, because it suggests more directly the three gifts which each one of us must offer to him who is our saviour as well as theirs, if we would partake of the salvation which he came to bring to us. { } these three gifts are, then, understood by some to represent the three duties of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, by which we are redeemed from the tyranny of the world, the devil, and the flesh. these last three are the great enemies of our salvation, and they must be overcome if we are to be saved. the love of the world, and of the treasures which it offers us, can only be destroyed by sacrificing those treasures for the sake of god, of his church, and of his poor; the power of the devil, who sets himself up as the god whom we are to serve and obey, can only be resisted by constant prayer, by which we draw near to the true god, and devote ourselves over and over again to his service; and the control of the flesh, with its base and degrading appetites, over our immortal souls can only be shaken off by fasting--that is, by mortification of various kinds, by persistently refusing to our bodies all dangerous and sinful indulgences, and by sometimes depriving them of pleasures which are innocent in themselves. these three duties are practised in their perfection by those whom god calls to the religious life by the three vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity. by the vow of poverty the religious sacrifices at once the goods of this world; by that of obedience he frees himself from the tyranny of the devil, subjecting himself entirely to god, whom his superiors represent; by that of chastity he renounces sensual pleasure. but it is not religious alone who are called on to make these three gifts. the same obligation, in its due measure, rests upon each of you. almsgiving, prayer, and mortification are duties for all christians. { } it is hard to see how any one can be saved who gives no more to god and the poor than what is extorted from him, as it were, by force; who merely says prayers now and then because he is afraid to give up the practice, but who seldom or never really prays; and who indulges without scruple in everything which his flesh desires, intending to stop short of nothing but mortal sin. let such things, then, my brethren, not be said of us. as we kneel with the wise men this morning before the manger of our infant god, let us make with them these three gifts. let us offer to him, as they did, with a full and willing heart, our possessions, our bodies, and our souls. this is the time for making presents, and these are the presents which he expects. be generous, then, with him, and he will be generous with you. "give to the most high according to what he hath given to thee." ----------------- { } _first sunday after epiphany._ epistle. _romans xii._ - . brethren: i beseech you, by the mercy of god, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to god, your reasonable service. and be not conformed to this world: but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and the acceptable, and the perfect will of god. for i say, through the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety, and according as god hath divided to every one the measure of faith. for as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office: so we being many are one body in christ, and each one members one of another in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. luke ii._ - . when jesus was twelve years old, they went up to jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and after they had fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child jesus remained in jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. and thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. and not finding him, they returned into jerusalem, seeking him. and it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. and all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. and seeing him, they wondered. and his mother said to him: son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and i have sought thee sorrowing. { } and he said to them: how is it that you sought me? did you not know that i must be about the things that are my father's? and they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. and he went down with them and came to nazareth: and was subject to them. and his mother kept all these words in her heart. and jesus increased in wisdom and age, and grace with god and men. ------------------- sermon xviii. _and he went down with them, and came to nazareth, and was subject to them._ --st. luke ii. . such, my dear friends, is the brief record of our lord's boyhood and youth. when we next hear of him he has begun his mission to the world. but brief as the record is, it teaches a great lesson--the lesson of obedience. first it proclaims this lesson to children and the young generally. they ought to be subject to their parents. is this the case? often, we know, it is not. there are proud, rebellious, and disobedient children in many families--girls and boys who will not do what they are told; who go to places forbidden by their parents; who speak of their parents as the "old man" and the "old woman"; children who do their best to make father and mother subject to _them;_ who think they know better than their parents, and who despise those set over them by god. so glaring has this disrespect for parents become that a witty man has said that soon the sign and title of a firm will be "jones and father" instead of "jones and son." disobedient, proud children, i point you this morning to the little home of nazareth. look in, conceited, self-sufficient boys and girls. { } what do you see? god obedient to his creatures; jesus with joseph and his mother; jesus, "very god of very god," subject to them. there is your example. woe to you if you do not follow it! disobedience made hell for the devil and his angels, and disobedience, if persisted in, will make hell for you. hell is the headquarters of disobedience, and will be the home of the disobedient and rebellious for evermore. so, then, you that are young, cut down your pride, bend the neck a little easier to the yoke. be more like jesus, who went home with his parents, stayed home with them, and was _subject_ to them. but not only to children and the young does this lesson come home; it strikes all of us. in one sense we are all children--children of holy church whose chief pastor is called the holy father, and whose priests are called by all "fathers." now, then, you "children of an older growth," how have you shown your obedience? are you very particular to keep the laws of _mother_ church? how about fasting and abstinence? what of hearing mass on a sunday and of abstaining from servile work? was your last easter duty made? again, how about the advice of your _father_ confessor? have you followed it? how do you keep the minor laws and regulations which the pastor of each particular church sees fit to make for the better ordering of his services, etc., etc.? when the priest has to rebuke you, to reprove you, how do you take it? o my friends! these are the days of disobedience and false independence, and therefore these questions are of vital importance. you must _obey_, if you want to be good catholics. you must turn a deaf ear to the suggestions of worldly pride; you must be submissive to holy mother church, to our holy father the pope, to the pastors and fathers set over you in god's providence. { } obedience! obedience!--that must be your watchword. you must not be scaling the mountains of pride hand-in-hand with infidel and heretic, and the devil's staff for a support. you must obey the church and follow _her_ teachings, and submit to lawful authority. as st. paul says: "be not wise in your own conceits. for i say, by the grace that is given me, to all that are among you, not to be more wise than it behooveth to be wise, but be wise unto sobriety. let every soul be subject to higher powers: they that resist purchase to themselves damnation." finally, brethren, show yourselves law-loving, obedient citizens of the country in which you live. let the catholic always be found on the side of order and regularity. in a word, show to your pastors and superiors, show even to our worst enemies, that you have learnt well the lesson contained in these few words: "he went down with them, and came to nazareth, and was subject to them." rev. algernon a. brown. --------------------- sermon xix. _behold the lamb of god: behold, he who taketh away the sins of the world._ --st. john i. . there are no words of the gospel, my dear brethren, more frequently used in the church of god than these. you often hear them from the lips of the priest, but perhaps you do not remember when. they are more familiar to you in latin than in english. { } the moment when they are said is that when the greatest of all gifts is about to be given to you. it is just before the giving of holy communion. the priest, turning to you with the ciborium in his hand, raises one of the sacred particles from it, and shows it to you, saying, _ecce agnus dei_--which means, "behold the lamb of god"--_ecce qui tollis peccata mundi_, "behold, he who taketh away the sins of the world." the church has put the words in the mouth of the priest at this time, when he distributes holy communion, because he is then showing christ to the faithful. and she puts them in the gospel of today, because on this day, the octave of the great feast which we celebrated last sunday, she commemorates what we may call our lord's second epiphany after his hidden life of thirty years, when st. john the baptist, his great precursor, taking the place of the star which showed him to the wise men, showed him to those who were to become his disciples, and who were to accompany him in that ministry of three years upon which he was about to enter. as st. john took the place of the star, so the catholic priest now takes the place of st. john. he has now to show christ to the world, and especially to the faithful. and st. john, in his humility and self-concealment, has set an example to him which he should try to copy, and which a good priest does try to copy. that is, he tries to show our lord to the people and to keep himself in the background; he tries to bring the faithful to his master and theirs, not to himself. he desires that they should see in all that he does not his own power or gifts, but the grace of god, by which alone he can do them any good; that they should not be drawn to him, but to the lamb of god, who alone can take away their sins. { } and what the good priest does you also, my brethren, should do. you should not think of the priest, but of him whom the priest represents, and in whose power he acts. and especially should you take care to do this in those sacramental acts which the priest does more particularly in the name of god; that is, when he celebrates holy mass, baptizes, hears confessions, or gives holy communion. for, in truth, it is not he who does these things, but our lord jesus christ. he, the lamb of god, is the true priest. he who instituted the sacraments also is the one who confers them. remember this when you receive them. when you go to the altar-rail for holy communion, and when the priest holds up the sacred host before you, saying, _ecce agnus dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi_, think not of the priest, of his virtues or his faults, but of the immaculate lamb of god, who is coming to you, a poor sinner. and when the priest is baptizing think not of him, but of the holy one who, by his own baptism in the jordan, gave water the power to wash away sin. look at him standing by the side of the priest with infinite love and compassion, and purifying the soul which he came from heaven to save. when you bow your head to receive absolution in the sacrament of penance think not of the minister of the sacrament before whom you kneel, and who is, at the best, but a sinful man, but of him against whom you have sinned, and who is now about to forgive you once more. think only of that loving saviour who is both your god and your judge--your judge now not in justice but in mercy. { } and, above all, at holy mass remember who it is that is saying mass; who it is that is there at that altar, offering himself in sacrifice for you. do not be criticising the priest, and thinking whether he is devout or not; his dispositions do not concern you much more than those of your neighbor who is kneeling by your side. say to yourself, as you look at the altar, _ecce agnus dei ecce qui tollit peccata mundi._ behold in the midst of that throne the lamb standing as it were slain, and fall down with the angels in adoration before him. yes, my brethren, _christus apparuit nobis: venite, adoremus_--"christ has appeared to us; come, let us worship him." such are the words of the church in the divine office at this time. let us, them, seek him, find him, and adore him in this holy catholic church, and in all that is done in it by his power and in his name. -------------------- { } _second sunday after epiphany_ feast of the holy name of jesus. epistle. _romans xii._ - . having gifts different, according to the grace that is given us, whether prophecy, according to the proportion of faith, or ministry in ministering; or he that teacheth, in teaching: he that exhorter in exhorting; he that giveth with simplicity; he that ruleth with solicitude; he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. love without dissimulation. hating that which is evil, adhering to that which is good; loving one another with brotherly love; in honor preventing one another; in solicitude not slothful; in spirit fervent; serving the lord: rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; instant in prayer; communicating to the necessities of the saints; pursuing hospitality. bless them that persecute you; bless and curse not. rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep; being of one mind one to another; not high-minded but condescending to the humble. epistle of the feast. _acts iv. - _. then peter, filled with the holy ghost, said to them: ye rulers of the people and ancients, hear: if we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he hath been made whole; be it known to you all, and to all the people of israel, that in the name of our lord jesus christ of nazareth, whom you crucified, whom god hath raised from the dead, even by him, doth this man stand here before you whole. this is the stone which was rejected by you builders; which is become the head of the corner; nor is there salvation in any other. for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. { } gospel. _st. john ii._ - . at that time: there was a marriage in cana of galilee: and the mother of jesus was there. and jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. and the wine failing, the mother of jesus saith to him: they have no wine. and jesus saith to her: woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. his mother said to the waiters: whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. now, there were set there six water-pots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the jews, containing two or three measures apiece. jesus saith to them: fill the waterpots with water. and they filled them up to the brim. and jesus saith to them: draw out now and carry to the chief steward of the feast. and they carried it. and when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water, the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, and saith to him: every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. this beginning of miracles did jesus in cana of galilee, and he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. gospel of the feast. _st. luke ii._ . at that time: after eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised, his name was called jesus, which was called by the angel, before he was conceived in the womb. ------------------- sermon xx. _his name was called jesus._ --st. luke ii. . { } to-day, dear friends, we keep the feast of the holy name. our dear lord is known to us by many names--he is called the word, the christ, the son of god, the lamb of god, the prince of peace, and the like--but to-day we are met together to honor his real name; the name by which he was called when on this earth; the name which belonged to him just as our names belong to us; the name by which we are to be saved--the holy name of jesus! brethren, this name is a holy name, because it is the name of a god made man. it is a precious name: jesus shed his blood for us for the first time as he received it. it is a great and noble name, for it belongs to the mightiest warrior the world ever saw--to him who fought with sin and death, and conquered in the fight. it is a terrible name, for when we invoke it hell trembles, earth fears, and even heaven bows the knee. oh! then, dear brethren, if this name is holy--if precious, if great and noble, if terrible--how much it ought to be revered and respected. we are told by our dear patron, st. paul, that our lord "humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. for which cause god also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of jesus every knee should bow of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." and yet, in spite of all this, although it is so plain that this name is holy, precious, mighty, and terrible, although it is clear that when it is uttered the faithful on earth, the white-winged angels in heaven, ay, and even the lost spirits in hell bow to do homage to it, nevertheless there is a creature who will not worship; there is a created being worse than the very demons; there is found one who will not reverence that name, holy and good and true--and that creature is the _blasphemer_. { } yes, brethren, in our streets, in our factories, in our very homes that holy name is taken in vain. jesus--that sweet name is mixed up with everything that is foul and disrespectful. jesus' name, the name of our king, our saviour, and our judge, is used as an oath; and not only by men coarse and hardened, but by boys and girls, by women, and, unheard of impiety! even by little children. passing through the streets the other day, i heard a volley of curses in which the holy name was mingled, and the curser was a boy who could not, i am sure, have been more than eight or nine years of age; and, alas! it is not the first time that i have heard such things. o brethren! i beseech you, by the wounds and cross of jesus christ, look to this great sin. when i hear these little baby blasphemers, who scarce, perhaps, know what they say, i know they have learned these oaths from the father, the elder brothers, and perhaps even from the mother, and i tremble to think how deep the evil has sunk into the hearts of men. oh! then let us never again misuse the holy name; let us cast out cursing and swearing from our midst, lest it drive us and our children into hell. it belongs to us to be devout to the holy name of jesus, for we are taught by holy church to ask for every blessing through it. are we tempted? let us call upon it, and he who bears it will come to our aid. are we in sorrow? let us whisper to ourselves, jesus! jesus! and he who knelt in the dark garden and sweat blood for us, he who faced the horrors of death, forsaken and heart-broken, will send us comfort and heal our wounds. do our sins terrify us? let us look up to the cross of calvary. { } there on the topmost beam is written the sweet name of jesus; there beneath hangs the _saviour_ and the comforter. do we need strength for the battle of life, and courage in the struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil? jesus! jesus! the mighty one, the conqueror, the lion of juda, he who is called "faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and fight"--he will arm us for the battle and nerve our heart for the combat. oh! let us reverence the dear, holy name of our sweet saviour while we live; and when at last our death-cold lips can part no more to utter it, may the great god give us each a friend to whisper it in our ears, so that jesus! jesus! jesus! may be the last name that we shall hear on earth, and the first which our enraptured spirits will hear in heaven. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------- sermon xxi. _his name was called jesus._ --st. luke ii. , to-day we celebrate the feast of the most holy name of our lord and saviour jesus christ. the church sets apart a special sunday for the celebration of this feast, to bring before our minds the sacredness of this name--its preciousness, and the reverence due to it. this name is the name of the god-man who came into the world to save us from hell. it is the greatest of all names, because it is the name of the greatest of all beings. it was given to our lord by the archangel when he announced to the blessed virgin that she was to be the mother of god. { } an angel first pronounced it; the blessed virgin and st. joseph were the first to call the new-born babe of bethlehem by that name; and all holy men and women, from the time of the adoration of the poor shepherds and wise men down to this hour, have had the greatest veneration for that name. the angel st. gabriel said to the blessed virgin: "he shall be called jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." you see, then, how precious this name is: it is the name by which we are to be freed from our sins delivered from hell, and admitted among the blessed, the redeemed of all nations. it is the name by which we are the receivers of the supernatural graces of all the holy sacraments. and st. paul says: god gave to his only-begotten son "a name that is above every name, that at the name of _jesus_ every knee should bow of those that are in heaven, on earth, and in hell, and that every tongue should confess that the lord jesus christ is in the glory of god the father." it is the name not only of the infant of bethlehem, but it is the name of that one whom you see in the stations and nailed to the cross, bleeding, and dying, and dead for you. and yet how our blood runs cold, how we tremble with horror, when we see how little reverence is shown for this name! you need not go far or stay out very long before you hear that name used most irreverently by the child who has hardly learned his prayers, as well as by thieves, drunkards, and murderers, and the lowest rabble that tread the streets of this city; not only by bad men and women, but by people who profess to be respectable catholics. { } how often we are made to wonder why almighty god does not send a thunderbolt and strike dead the blasphemer, or cause the earth to open under those who so treat this holy name, and swallow them up quickly in punishment for their crime! a man who steals, or gets drunk, or gives way to lust sees a sensual temporary good in these sins; but what good, what use is there in blasphemy, in cursing, in swearing? none. it is a direct blow at almighty god himself. if a man were to insult your mother your vengeance would be roused, and you would think no punishment too great for the offender. shall god not be jealous of his name? shall he not punish? yes, he will. he says: "thou shalt not take the name of the lord thy god in vain; for the lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain." if, then, you have not controlled your gift of speech, which was given you to edify your neighbor, to speak and sing the praises of god, but have given way to a habit of using god's holy name and that of his son in vain, ask him to give you the grace to overcome the habit. if you hear people on the street or in company blaspheming, cursing, or swearing, lift up your heart to god and make reparation for the injury by saying the prayer, "blessed be the name of the lord." never give scandal to others, and especially the little ones around your family hearth, by blaspheming, or even by carelessly using the name of god or his saints without due reverence. many men and women have grown up with this old habit clinging to them--a habit that they contracted at home, and that they learned when young from their father and mother. cursing and swearing are the language of hell. blessing, prayer, and praise are the language of heaven. { } do all in your power to learn the language of the saints--that is, the language of love and reverence for the holy name of jesus. for "his name is holy and terrible." repeat the prayer which is sung and said in the holy mass on this feast: "o god, who hast made thy only-begotten son to be the saviour of mankind, and hast commanded that he should be called jesus, mercifully grant that we may so venerate his holy name on earth that we may be favored with beholding his face for ever in heaven." -------------------- sermon xxii. _there was a marriage in cana, of galilee; and the mother of jesus was there. and jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage._ --st. john ii. , . as we read the story of this marriage, my dear brethren, it must certainly occur to all of us how singularly favored it was, above all that have ever been celebrated since the beginning of the world, in being honored with the presence of our lord and saviour jesus christ, of his blessed mother, and of his apostles, and in the fact that it witnessed the first of the miracles which he performed in his three years' ministry--the change of water into wine. but when we come to look at the matter more closely we shall see that, great as was the honor which this marriage received, every christian marriage has the same. for every christian marriage is honored really and truly, though not visibly, with the presence of our lord, his blessed mother, and the apostles; and at every christian marriage a miracle of grace is performed of which we may well believe the change of water into wine to have been only a shadow or type. { } for what is marriage now in the church of christ? it is one of the sacraments. and what does that mean? it means that whenever a marriage is contracted by those who are baptized there is a grace given with it by our lord's infallible promise. this grace, moreover, is one which, like those given in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and holy orders, is to remain permanently in the soul, and to be a source or fountain from which new graces are continually to flow. so i am right in saying that our lord is present at a christian marriage; for it is only from him that this grace can come. and i am right in saying that our lady is present at it; because this grace, while it comes from him, comes through her. for she is the channel through which his grace comes to us; which is shown in this marriage at cana, of which the gospel tells us, by his working the miracle of the change of the water into wine at her intercession. and, lastly, i am right in saying the apostles are present at a christian marriage; for such a marriage can only lawfully be celebrated in the presence of the priest, who represents them. i said, furthermore, that at every christian marriage a miracle is worked which was represented by our lord's miracle at cana. this miracle is the giving of this wonderful sacramental grace; and it is well represented by the conversion of water into wine. it is a miracle--that is to say, an extraordinary and supernatural work of god--because it is not naturally connected with marriage itself. { } marriage, in itself, is nothing but a contract or agreement between two parties, having no special blessing or grace, except that which comes from its honorable nature and the good dispositions of the parties themselves. such is marriage among the unbaptized. but among christians it is, as i have said, elevated to the dignity of a great sacrament--the contract remaining, but the sacrament being added to it; and it cannot exist among christians without both. now, i think you will agree with me that this is well represented by the change of water into wine, in which water, indeed, remains, but is blended with the spirit in such a way that neither can be taken away without destroying the very substance of the wine. such, then, my brethren, is the dignity of christian marriage, represented to us in this marriage at cana, in galilee. but is it honored among christians according to its dignity? how many are there who reverence this sacrament as they should? it is one of the sacraments of the living, as they are called; that is, one of those which require the soul, when receiving it, to be in the state of grace. the catholic who comes to it in the state of mortal sin commits a horrible sacrilege as surely as he would if he should go to the altar-rail and receive holy communion without repentance for his sins. do not forget this. do not dare to come to receive the sacrament of matrimony without preparing your soul by a good confession; not only on account of the dreadful sacrilege of which you will be guilty in receiving it unprepared, but also for fear of losing the grace which it is meant to give you throughout life, and which grace may never return; for, like that offered to the soul in holy communion, if once despised and rejected, it may be lost for ever. { } and, for the sake of him who instituted this great sacrament, do not make it, as too many do, an occasion of mortal sin by making it a privileged time for drunkenness and immodesty. a wedding ought to be a time of joy, but for a joy of purity and sobriety. if you make it a time for opening the door to sin for yourselves and for others, tremble lest you bring down on yourselves for the rest of your lives the curse of god instead of his blessing. invite, then, like the couple at cana, our lord to be present at your marriage, and behave as you would if you were to see him there. so shall you receive his benediction, both for time and eternity. ------------------------- { } _third sunday after epiphany_. epistle. _romans xii._ - . brethren: be not wise in your own conceits. render to no man evil for evil. provide things good not only in the sight of god, but also in the sight of all men. if it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men. revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place to wrath, for it is written: "revenge is mine; i will repay, saith the lord." but if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him drink; for doing this thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good. gospel. _st. matthew viii._ - . at that time: when jesus was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him; and behold a leper coming, adored him, saying: lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. and jesus, stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: i will; be thou made clean. and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. and jesus said to him: see thou tell no man; but go show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which moses commanded for a testimony to them. and when he had entered into capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him and saying: lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented. and jesus said to him: i will come and heal him. and the centurion, making answer, said: lord, i am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. for i also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and i say to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh, and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. { } and jesus, hearing this, wondered, and said to those that followed him: amen i say to you, i have not found so great faith in israel. and i say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with abraham, and isaac, and jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. and jesus said to the centurion: go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. and the servant was healed at the same hour. ------------------- sermon xxiii. _only say the word, and my servant shall be healed._ --st. matthew viii. . the centurion in to-day's gospel, dear friends, is certainly a shining example to us of many virtues, particularly is he an example to those among us who are rich and well off, or who have any servants or others employed under our authority. when any one is taken sick, what is the first cry? go for the priest. run for the doctor. and instantly a messenger is sought out. now, this man's servant was sick. what did he do? centurion, and high in station as he was, he went _himself_ for one who was both doctor and priest. his servant, doubtless, had served him faithfully, had been obedient and trustworthy; and now that this servant is sick, remembering the sublime virtue of charity, the master runs off to our lord and begs of him to speak the word that would heal the servant. now, many of you, dear brethren, have in your houses hired help, and the poor are around you who serve you in many useful ways; who do work which, did they not exist, would have to be left undone. { } how do you treat those fellow-christians? ah! i am afraid, often in a very different spirit to that displayed by the centurion. they are sick. you grumble at the inconvenience to which you are put, but what do you do to help them? do you get the doctor? do you offer them such nourishment as a sick person needs? do you visit your servant's sick-bed, or the beds of the poor, to whom we are all indebted for so much service? i wish it were always so, but it is not. often a servant is made to work when bed would be a more fitting place to be in than the kitchen. often the poor suffer dreadfully because those whom they serve in health will not help them in sickness. oh! then let us all follow the example of the good centurion, and if our servants in our house, or our servants out of the house, are sick, let us, moved by a divine charity, hasten at once to their relief. and then in spiritual things how do we act? catholic heads of families, employers, masters and mistresses, keepers of stores and workshops, how do you look after those that work for you? do you see that they go to mass? do you give them time to get to confession? do you look after the moral conduct of those you employ? when they are sick and suffering are you solicitous that they should have the comfort and help which the holy sacraments afford? are you sensible of the responsibility which lies upon you to see that the priest is sent for, especially when they are in danger of death? oh! i am much afraid that many are very neglectful in this respect. { } so long as their work is done they care very little for those they employ. catholic employers often don't bestow a thought upon these things. but don't deceive yourselves: god will require all these souls at your hands. no catholic man or woman ought to keep in their houses a servant who is negligent of his or her religious duties. you should give your help and your employees plenty of time to go to mass and confession; and, more than that, it is your duty to _see_ that they go. you should not employ by the side of innocent young men and women all sorts of roughs and blackguards. by so doing you put immortal souls in peril. you should remember that you are head of the family, and that the help and the employees are part of that family, and therefore you are bound in conscience to care for them. imitate, then, the centurion. love those you employ. have a great charity for them. cherish them, tend them in all their wants. correct their faults, reward their fidelity; and by so doing you will advance christ's kingdom on earth and people his kingdom in heaven. rev. algernon a. brown. -------------------------------- sermon xxiv. _if it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men; revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved._ --romans xii. - . there are a good many people who seem to find it very difficult to have peace with all men, or at any rate with all women; for, strange to say, it is, for some reason or other, what is known as the gentler sex that gives and has the most trouble in this respect. { } of course it is all the fault of some other party that they cannot live in peace; not their own at all. they themselves are perfectly innocent--lambs, in fact, among wolves. other people are always persecuting and tormenting them, or at any rate belying them; this last is one of the favorite complaints of these poor, harmless, and much-abused creatures. they try to have peace as far as possible, but other people will not let them. and of course they never revenge themselves on their cruel enemies. oh! no. they never injure or belie them; they would not do such a thing for the world. they may, indeed, meekly complain of their troubles to the few friends they have got left; they tell how wicked these people are who give them so much annoyance. they try to lower other people's esteem of them; but, of course, that is not meant for injury--that is only that others may be duly warned of such dangerous characters. in their zeal they may draw on their imagination a little; but of course that is not belying. they, perhaps on some rare occasions will try to take it out of their persecutors in one way or another; but then that is not revenge--that is only standing up for their rights. they would like to have peace, and so they try to have it by making reconciliation as hard as possible. it is plain what good christians they are from their enjoyment of the words which follow those which i have quoted from the epistle of to-day. these words are: "revenge is mine, i will repay, saith the lord."' these are, indeed, a great consolation to them. { } "yes," they say to themselves, "i leave them to god. i cannot revenge myself on my enemies as i would like; i don't dare to, or my conscience won't let me; but i hope god will punish them as they deserve. revenge belongs to him, i know, and i am glad to think that in his own good time he will lay it on to them well. i shall do all my duty if i wish patiently for the time when he will begin to do it; and meanwhile i will console myself by praying that he may convert them and make every one of them as good a christian as i am." the delusion under which these good christians are laboring would be amusing, if it were not so dangerous. the danger is that the revenge of god, about which they like to think, is hanging as much over their own heads as over those of the ones with whom they are at variance. they are not really trying to have peace; their own revenge is what they want, though they are willing that almighty god should be the instrument of it. they do not care either to preserve peace or to regain it in the only way in which it can be preserved or regained--that is, by charity and humility. their charity is all for themselves. they may tread on other people's corns, but nobody else must tread on theirs. other people must be humble, and, if they give offence, even carelessly, must make an abject apology; but they themselves are too good to be obliged to do that. perhaps, however, my friends, some of you really do want to live in peace with all. if so, you can do it by following a very simple rule. it is this: be careful what you say or do to others; they are sensitive as well as yourself--perhaps more so. you must not expect other people to be saints, even if you are one yourself. { } do not flatter what is bad in them, but acknowledge what is good; stroke them the right way. if they really do you an injury see if you have not provoked it; examine your own actions. if you are sure you have not, put it down to ignorance or misapprehension; try to find out what the matter is, and set it right by an explanation, if you can. but if you have committed a fault do not be too proud to acknowledge it. if you cannot procure a reconciliation speak well of the other party, and believe him or her to be, on the whole, better than yourself. for one who has true humility this will not be very hard to do. this is the real meaning of the counsel of st. paul; if you follow it you will, indeed, live in peace as far as it is possible in this world. ------------------------ { } _fourth sunday after epiphany_. epistle. _romans xiii._ - . brethren: owe no man anything, but that you love one another. for he that loveth his neighbor, hath fulfilled the law. for "thou shalt not commit adultery. thou shalt not kill. thou shalt not steal. thou shalt not bear false witness. thou shalt not covet." and if there be any other commandment, it is comprised in this word: "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." the love of the neighbor worketh no evil. love, therefore, is the fulfilling of the law. gospel. _st. matthew viii._ - . at that time: when jesus entered into the ship, his disciples followed him; and behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship was covered with waves, but he was asleep. and his disciples came to him, and waked him, saying: lord, save us, we perish. and jesus saith to them: why are you fearful, ye of little faith? then rising up he commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. but the men wondered, saying: who is this, for even the winds and the sea obey him? ---------------- sermon xxv. _and jesus saith to them: why are you fearful, ye of little faith?_ --st. matt. viii. . { } some people are always worrying. it would seem that they must enjoy it, for they always find something to worry about. if one good matter for worrying is settled they will be sure to rake up another to take its place. some of them worry about temporal matters, some about spiritual; but whatever their taste may be in this respect, they are so fond of the amusement that, if they cannot get their favorite matter to worry about, they will take something else rather than not have any at all. you would think that this taste for worrying would be a very uncommon one; but, strange to say, it is not so. in fact, the number of worriers is almost as great as the number of people in the world, and they are worrying about every conceivable thing, though generally only about one thing at a time; it may be about their sins or about somebody else's sins--their children's, for instance--or it may be, and is more likely to be, about some temporal matter, such as their health or the state of their worldly affairs. now, what do i mean by worrying? i do not mean thinking seriously about things either spiritual or temporal--for a great many, though not all, of the things people worry about are worthy of serious consideration, whereas nothing is worth a moment's worry--but i do mean thinking about them in a way that can do no good, and that only serves to turn the mind in on itself and away from god. here, for instance, is a case of worrying, to which i have just alluded: a good father and mother have children who are growing up, as so many children are growing up, especially in this city, in neglect of their duties and are acquiring various bad habits. of course this is very painful to their parents, and there is very good reason that it should be. they would be unnatural or wicked parents if it were not so. { } they ought to be distressed about it; and i did not say that people should never be distressed, but only that they should not worry. but these parents probably do worry. they occupy their minds with all sorts of useless questions and imaginations. they say: "what have i done that these children of mine are so bad?" and perhaps, though they ask this question, they never really stop to examine themselves and find out if they have neglected their own duty in any way, so as to make an act of contrition for it, and make good resolutions, if it be not too late, for the future. what they mean rather by it is: "how can god allow this when i have done my duty?" and then they say: "suppose these children get worse and disgrace my name, and even, lose their souls--what shall i do then?" or perhaps they say: "what shall i do now?" but that does not really mean anything, for either they do not set their wits to work to find out what they can do, or they have concluded with good reason that they cannot do anything except pray; and that they do not do, for their time of prayer is taken up with this same useless worrying. now, what does all this come from? it comes from a distrust in god's love and providence. it comes from a feeling like what the apostles had, as we read in to-day's gospel, as if he who ought to take care of them were asleep; but they ought to have known, as their own psalms could have taught them, that "he shall neither slumber nor sleep that keepeth israel." even though they knew him not to be god, they should have known that god, who had sent him into the world, and on whom their faith in him rested, would not allow them to come to any harm; and they should have been willing, when they had done their own duty, to trust in his providence for the rest. { } they might, indeed, well have waked him to get his help and advice as to what to do; but he, who read their hearts, knew that their anxiety had its source, not in prudence, but in distrust, and so he deservedly rebuked them, saying: "why are you fearful, o ye of little faith?" that is the reason why we, like the apostles, are worrying. it is because we have little faith. we distrust god's providence and mercy, and spend our time in this distrust and complaining, instead of quietly finding out and doing our own duty, and then simply and confidently leaving the result to him. but we have less excuse for it than they, for we know more of him than they did then. let us, then, be ashamed of our want of faith, and try to do better in this respect for the future. ---------------------- sermon xxvi. _and behold, a great tempest arose in the sea._ --st. matthew viii. . almost all of us, my dear brethren, have at some time of life been in a position like that of the apostles in their little boat on the sea of galilee. we have been out at sea in a storm, with the waves beating against our frail craft and threatening to swamp it every moment. so we do not need to draw on our imagination to realize what their feelings must have been. { } perhaps you may think i am exaggerating when i say this; most of you, i suppose, cannot remember ever having been in a storm at sea. but it is quite true, nevertheless. only the sea and the storm were far more dangerous ones than those to which the apostles were exposed that night. for the sea over which you were, and still are, sailing is the sea of this mortal life; and the storm was the storm of temptation; and the danger was that of death, not to the body, but to the soul. but perhaps you do not remember ever having met with any very violent storm, even of this kind. well, it may be that god has singularly favored you, and given you a very quiet and smooth sea to sail over so far. if so, you are an exception to the common rule. it may be, however, that you escaped the storm in another way; that is, by going to the bottom at once. you know the most furious tempests do not reach very far below the surface of the ocean, so that one can always escape them by sinking. so you, perhaps, have escaped temptation by yielding to it at once; as soon as you were tempted to commit mortal sin you committed it, and sank into its horrible and fathomless abyss, continually deeper and deeper, till you were brought up again to the light and air of god's pardon and peace by some mission which he sent you, or by some other extraordinary grace from him. but that was not what you were made for, any more than a ship is made to be continually sinking and being pulled up to the surface again. ships are made to sail, not to sink. their builders expect that they will battle with the elements, not be overcome by them; nay, more, they expect that the very winds which seem to threaten their safety shall be the means of sending them to the port which they are intended to reach. { } and what the builder expects of his ship is what god, who has made us, expects of us; especially of us christians, with whom he has taken such great pains. he expects, and he has a right to expect, that we shall stay on the surface--that is, that we shall keep in the state of grace; that we shall battle with the winds and waves--that is, that we shall resist temptation; and, furthermore, he expects that the winds, even if they be ahead, shall help us on our course--that is, that they shall be the means, and even the principal means, of bringing us into the safe harbor of our eternal home. let us not, then, be surprised, nay, let us even rejoice, if we fall into temptation, so long as we do not seek it. "my brethren," says st. james, "count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers temptations." and why? first, because the fact that you are harassed by temptations is a sign that you have not given way to them. it shows that you are on the surface, that you have not foundered yet when you feel the winds and the waves. and, secondly, because it is a sign that our lord puts confidence in you. the builder of a ship, if he could do it, would proportion the wind to the size and strength of his vessel; and that is what our maker actually does. he has let his saints have temptations compared with which yours are as nothing at all. such as he allows you to have are meant for your salvation and perfection; the more he thinks you worthy of, the better. { } but do not seek them. a prudent captain keeps out of the track of storms. be content with those which you cannot avoid, for those are the only ones which god means you to have. when you cannot avoid them meet them courageously. do not get frightened, as the apostles did, for god is with you as he was with them, though he may seem to be asleep. he has not forgotten you, and with his help you will conquer them, every one. but you must ask him to do so. you must go to him as the apostles did, saying: "lord, save us, we perish." he did not blame them for that, but for their terror and want of trust in his providence. you must work when you are in the storm of temptation as if the result all depended on yourself; you must pray as if it all depended on him. if you do this you will not sink in the tempest; nay, when it is over you will find that it has driven you nearer to the harbor where storms never come. ---------------- sermon xxvii. candlemas-day. _a light to the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of thy people of israel._ --st. luke ii. . the blessing of candles, and the esteem which catholics have for candles when they are blessed, is one of the things which protestants find it very hard to understand. they have no idea of a candle, except that it is a very old-fashioned article, useful enough, perhaps, if you want to grope in some dark corner of the house, but, on the whole, a very poor affair in these days of gas and the electric light. they cannot see why any one who can get a good kerosene lamp should use a candle instead; unless, perhaps, it might be because the candle will not explode. { } the reason for their perplexity is pretty plain. it is because they do not, or it may be will not, understand that we honor and prize candles, as we do the images of the saints and many other things, not for what they are, but for what they represent; and also on account of the sanctification and real use, not to our bodies so much as to our souls, that the blessing of the church is able to give to anything to which it is attached. protestants, i say, do not or will not understand these things; but catholics do. it is not superstition which makes a catholic prize a blessed candle. he knows, first, that it has been selected by the church to represent our blessed lord himself; that its feeble light is a sign of the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world; and he honors and esteems it for god's sake. and secondly, he knows that it has a power and use greater and higher than that of the most brilliant lamps that the hand of man can make; that, though it be but a material thing, it has a spiritual value, like holy-water and other things which the church has blessed and sanctified; and specially that it is a defence against our spiritual enemies, satan and the other fallen angels, and all the more so because these proud spirits cannot bear to be put to flight, as they are, by such a common and simple thing as a candle or a few drops of water. { } you know these things, my friends; the spirit of faith teaches them to you. but you do not bear them so constantly in mind as you should. how often does the priest go to a house on a sick call, and find that there is no candle to be had! the law of the church requires it when the sacraments are to be administered; but one would think it would not need a law to make any one who had the faith see that at least this honor should be given to them. strange to say, however, the people of the house never thought of the matter at all. they keep our lord waiting while they run out to borrow, if possible, a candle from some pious neighbor. perhaps they buy one at the grocery-store; i do not know what blessing they think that has received. when they get the candle, such as it may be, there is probably nothing to put it in; it is likely enough that a bottle is all that can be found. it would look much better, in some houses which we have to visit, if there were fewer bottles and more blessed candles. it would look as if the people who lived there thought at least as much of their souls as of their bodies. it is very unpleasant for all parties--and our lord is one of them--to have such things happen as i have described. get rid of the bottle and have a candlestick in its place. i know that candlesticks, as well as candles, are rather out of fashion; but the supply will always follow the demand. for the honor and for the fear of god, do not remain any longer without a blessed candle in your house and something worthy of it to hold it. there will be no harm in burning it, even though no one be sick and the priest not there, if it be at a proper place and time. { } and, if it be possible, offer a candle to be burned in the place and at the time most pleasing to god of all--that is, on his holy altar while mass is being offered, or his blessing being given to you in the sacrament of his love. honor and glorify him everywhere, but specially in the place where his glory dwelleth, and where he is daily offered up for you. ------------------- { } _fifth sunday after epiphany_ epistle. _colossians iii_. - . brethren: put ye on therefore, as the elect of god, holy, and beloved, the bowels ol mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. but above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body; and be ye thankful. let the word of christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to god. all whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the lord jesus christ, giving thanks to god and the father by jesus christ our lord. gospel. _st. matthew xiii._ - . at that time: jesus spoke this parable to the multitude, saying: the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. but while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way. and when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. then the servants of the master of the house came and said to him: master, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? and he said to them: an enemy hath done this. and the servants said to him: wilt thou that we go and gather it up? and he said: no, lest while you gather up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. { } let both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest i will say to the reapers: gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn. ---------------------- sermon xxviii. _gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn; but gather the wheat into my barn._ --st. matthew xiii. . the parable which is the subject of the gospel of to-day is explained by our lord himself a little further on. the disciples asked him to expound it to them; and he told them that the good seed were the children of the kingdom--that is, all good and faithful christians; and that the cockle were the children of the wicked one--that is, all those who refuse to believe in the faith which god has revealed, or who will not obey his law. these two kinds of people, said he, live together in this world, but at the end of the world they shall all be for ever separated, the wicked to be cast into the furnace of fire, and the just to shine as the sun in the kingdom of their father. our lord calls the sinful the children of the wicked one--that is, of the devil. but he does not mean that the devil created them, for he can create no one; no, god created us all, and has, furthermore, redeemed us all with his precious blood. there is something about them, though, which the devil may be said to have created, and that it is which makes them his children. it is sin, which he first brought into god's creation, to which he tempted our first parents, and to which he is all the while tempting us now. sin is the devil's work; and sinners are his children, because they do his work. { } but few people, at least few christians, are all the time sinners and children of the devil. sometimes they repent and become, at least for a time, children of god. good and evil are mixed up in them, as they are in the world. so our lord's parable is true of each one of them as it is of the world at large. each of our hearts is a little field in which god is sowing the good seed of his holy inspirations, and the devil the bad seed of his wicked temptations; and sometimes consent is given to one, sometimes to the other. perhaps we may have asked ourselves the question (for it is a very natural one to ask): "why has god allowed the devil to sow his bad seed in the world and in the hearts of men? and why, if he lets it be sown, does he not root out this bad seed, and not let it grow and choke what is good?" i should not wonder at your asking this question, and you should not wonder if we cannot give all of god's reasons for it, for it is one of the mysteries of his providence. but he has himself given one reason for it in his explanation of this parable. the servants, you will remember, wanted to go and root out the cockle; but the master said: "no, lest while ye gather up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it." would it not be so with us, too, if god should take away all the bad seed of temptation out of our hearts? a great deal of our virtue would be rooted up, too, and what was left would not be very strong and solid. you can see that often. a person seems very good, but what is the reason? it is because he is not much tempted. { } let a strong temptation come, and perhaps such a person will sin more easily than one who has seemed much worse, but has really been acquiring solid virtue by faithfully combating with difficulties the other has not had. and not only would our virtue not be solid, but our merits would not be very abundant, without temptation; for most of our merit is gained by resisting sin. our lord, then, does not mean to pull up the cockle out of the way of the wheat, but wants the wheat to live and outgrow the cockle. it is for us to see that it does so; for if there is any cockle left when we come to die there will be something to do before the wheat goes to the barn--that is, to cast the cockle into the furnace of fire; and that furnace of fire, for those who die in the grace of god, is the fire of purgatory. we shall have to wait there till the cockle of sin is all burned before we can go to heaven with our wheat of virtue and of merit. let us not think, then, in this month of november, only of praying for those who are in those purging flames, but also of avoiding them ourselves. our lord does not want us to go to purgatory. he would infinitely rather take us to heaven from our death-bed than let us remain in that state of suffering. what he wants is to have the wheat grow over the whole field and choke the cockle instead of being choked by it--in a word, he wants us to be saints. that is what st. paul says: "this is the will of god, your sanctification." let this, then, be our devotion in the month of november and all the year round: to imitate those (and there are many of them) who have died and gone before their lord with plenty of wheat and no cockle on their hands. -------------------- { } sermon xxix. _bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the lord hath forgiven you, so do you also._ --colossians iii. . these words, my dear brethren, are taken from the epistle of to-day. they certainly contain a most important lesson for us, and one which we are too apt never even to begin to learn. you will find plenty of people who are near the end of a long life--who have, as the saying is, one foot in the grave--who do not seem to know how to overlook and to pardon injuries any better than when they first began to be exposed to them. there are two very good reasons, my brethren, why you should learn this lesson. the first is that, unless you do, you can never be happy in this life; the second, that, unless you have learned it, there is great reason to fear for your happiness in the life which is to come. you can never be happy, i say, in this life, unless you know how to pardon and overlook the injuries you receive from others. and the reason of this is very plain. it is, in the first place, because it is very uncomfortable to be brooding over injuries received--that is plain enough; and, in the second place, you will always be exposed to them. there is a way to avoid them, it is true: it is to go out into the desert and live there in some cave or hut all alone. but i think there are very few nowadays who have any vocation to that; and if you should undertake to live the life of a hermit without any vocation for it, the chances are that you would be ten times as miserable as you would be with the very worst neighbors in the world. { } this is the only way to avoid them; for, however good the people are among whom you live, they will always be somewhat selfish; they will want to have their own way sometimes, at least, and it will often happen that they cannot have their way and at the same time let you have yours. and they will always be somewhat thoughtless. they will not be so very careful not to offend you; and you cannot expect it of them, for you are not so careful yourself. you would be surprised if you should know how often you have given offence to others. the fact is, there is not room enough in this world for us all to get along without sometimes treading on each other's toes. there are a great many of us sailing together down the stream of life, and it will take the most careful steering to prevent our now and then running foul of each other. and such careful steering cannot be expected of every one, or of any except one or two here and there. if you really should try it yourselves you would find how difficult it is. the saints do try it, and that is one reason why it is a work of sanctity to be indulgent to the faults of others. well, i said the second reason why you should learn the lesson of forgiveness to others is that, unless you do, there is great reason to fear for your happiness in the life to come. if you can have any doubt of that, those words of our lord in another place will settle your doubt. "if you will not forgive men," he says, "neither will your father forgive you your offences." you may confess all your sins, and receive the sacraments over and over again, but so long as you have a hatred against your neighbor your confessions and communions will be bad; you will not be in the friendship of god; and if you go out of the world with that malice in your heart you will be shut out from his presence. { } you will say to me, perhaps, "father, i will forgive, but i cannot forget" if you say this to me i say to you: take care. as long as you do not at least try to forget, as long as you keep in your mind that sore feeling which the injury you have received, or think you have received, has caused, it will always be an occasion of sin to you. it will always prompt you to withhold from the persons whom you blame that charity which you are bound to show to all. you will always be inclined to speak evil of them, to try to prevent others from praising them, to throw out some hint in which the venom which lies lurking in your heart comes up to the surface. and do not be too sure that you have really done all that god requires because the priest has given you absolution. he cannot read your heart, and often he is obliged to forgive uncharitable people like yourself, with great doubt in his mind whether his sentence is approved by the great judge who cannot be deceived. now, that you may forgive more easily, remember what i suggested a little while ago: that is, that those who have offended you have generally done so either through selfishness or carelessness, not through malice. believe me, real malice is quite a rare thing. if you could see the real dispositions of others you would see that on the whole they are about as good as your own; and i do not suppose you think you are malicious, and i do not believe you are. put, then, those unworthy suspicions out of your minds, and forgive others freely and generously as you yourself wish to be forgiven. ----------------------- { } _sixth sunday after epiphany_ epistle. _thessalonians i_. - . brethren: we give thanks to god always for you all: making a remembrance of you in our prayers without ceasing, being mindful of the work of your faith, and labor, and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our lord jesus christ before god and our father; knowing, brethren beloved of god, your election: for our gospel hath not been to you in word only, but in power also, and in the holy ghost, and in much fulness, as you know what manner of men we have been among you for your sakes. and you became followers of us, and of the lord: receiving the word in much tribulation, with joy of the holy ghost: so that you were made a pattern to all who believe in macedonia and achaia. for from you was spread abroad the word of the lord, not only in macedonia and achaia, but also in every place, your faith which is towards god, is gone forth, so that we need not to speak anything. for they themselves relate of us, what manner of entrance we had unto you; and how you were converted to god from idols, to serve the living and true god. and to wait for his son from heaven (whom he raised from the dead), jesus who hath delivered us from the wrath to come. gospel. _st. matthew xiii._ - . at that time: jesus spoke to the multitude this parable: the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown up it is greater than any herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and dwell in the branches thereof. { } another parable he spoke to them. the kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. all these things jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he did not speak to them. that the word might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "i will open my mouth in parables, i will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world." ------------------- sermon xxx. the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard-seed. --st. matthew xiii. . a grain of mustard-seed is very little, as our lord tells us, and also, as we know, very sharp and burning. so is god's church, which is the kingdom of christ upon earth. first, it is little; not in numbers, but little because it is poor and lowly. the human spirit is proud above all things, disobedient, rebellious, loving to be exalted, wishing to be praised. that which lost paradise, which brought sin and death into the world, which closed heaven, which opened hell, that which robbed us, stripped us of our heavenly inheritance, was _pride_. so, then, the kingdom of god, the church, that which is to govern the heart of man, to rule its disorders, to bring us back to heaven, is poor, is lowly, in the world's eyes is little. the proud world likes to swell itself out and appear big, and makes a wide path to swagger in. our lord tells us, "except ye become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven"; and again: "narrow is the gate and strait the way that leadeth to life." do not wonder, then, that our holy church, which is glorious and magnificent in the eyes of angels and saints, should be thought little, and lowly, and poor by the world, and the flesh, and the devil. { } now, it seems that this very poverty of the church ought to be a reason why we should love it. if you are poor, then remember "birds of a feather flock together." the church is poor, too. she has not (particularly in these days) much of this world's goods. often she is much put about to build even a decent temple in which to worship god. the church sometimes can hardly "keep house" for god--can hardly buy those things which are of daily necessity for his service. oh! then the poor ought to love the church. are you rich? then the poverty of the church ought to touch your heart and open your purse. "the poor you have always with you," says jesus christ, and the poorest of the poor is god's church. the priest is obliged to beg for church, for school, and all that is in them--for almost everything, indeed, that is needed for the service of our divine master. so, then, it is from you who are rich that large alms ought to come, so that jesus christ may be able to say that we have _you_ with us and him as well as the poor. again, while i caution you against hankering after mere ease and comfort in church, and the worldly elegances to be seen in the soft-cushioned and carpeted churches of the sects, i must express my wonder that many wealthy catholics appear to be quite content to see the churches where they go to mass fitted up with furniture that would be too mean for use in their own houses. if our lord finds only more straw and another manger for a cradle for his divine majesty nowadays, it ought not to be because we furnish him no better. { } secondly, the church is like a grain of mustard-seed, because her laws are often sharp and burning to the human heart. mustard-seed, when crushed, has, as you know, a very strong and pungent odor. if you stand over it when thus crushed it will cause tears to flow from your eyes. if applied to your flesh it will burn and smart. yes; and sometimes the law of god will make tears start from your eyes. there is some habit you find convenient, some little pet plan you have made, some person to whom you are attached. these things are leading you from god; so his church says: "change your ways." "give it up." "it is not lawful for thee." "cut it off." ah! don't you feel the sharp mustard-seed getting into your eyes? again, the flesh rebels. that drink you love so much, that sinful appetite you like to indulge, those places of evil amusement to which you want to go--what says the church about such things? "take the pledge." "throw away drink." "you must not gratify that sinful inclination." "you cannot go to that place of amusement." "give up that bad company or jesus christ will give you up." ah! don't you feel how the mustard-seed burns and stings? but have good courage--better be burnt here than burnt hereafter. that burning of the mustard seed will heal you, will cure you. its warmth will bring you back to life. lastly, one day the little seed will become a great tree, whose branches shall reach to the sky, whose boughs shall wave in heaven. then we, like poor, homeless birds of the air, shall spread our weary wings and go and make our lodgings for ever beneath its sheltering leaves. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------ { } sermon xxxi. _the kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened._ --st. matthew xiii. . the kingdom of heaven, my dear friends, means, as you know, in this as well as in many other of our lord's parables, not god's kingdom in the next world, but in this--that is, his holy catholic church. understanding it in this way, it is easy to see why he compares it to a grain of mustard-seed or to leaven; for it was small in the beginning, but has grown, as the mustard-seed grows, so that it now has spread through the whole earth; and it was not noticed in the beginning, as the little leaven or yeast would not be in the dough into which it is put, but has now made its influence felt in all the world, as that of the yeast is in the bread which it makes. this was our lord's intention, that his church should be continually growing till every one should enter it, till every heart should be leavened by its faith. but there are some people--catholics, too, but a very curious kind of catholics--who seem to think that the church was only made for those nations or those families which now belong to it, and will even blame those who are converted to it for leaving the religion of their fathers. i do not know what excuse one can make for these persons, except to suppose that god has blessed them with a very small share of common sense. { } i do not think that there are many people so stupid as to talk in this way; but there are a good many who act as if they thought as these people seem to think. i do not mean that there are many who give the cold shoulder to converts, for that would be an unjust reproach; but i do mean that there are many catholics who do not seem to understand the world has got to be converted, and that they themselves have got to do their share towards it; that they are part of that leaven with which our lord meant that the world should be leavened; that it was by means of them, according to their measure of ability and opportunity, that he meant the faith to be diffused through the world. every catholic ought to be a missionary in his way and place, and do something to bring others to that knowledge of the truth which he himself has received. not that every catholic should go out and preach the faith on the corners of the streets, or to people who would laugh at him or do him more harm than he could do them good; but that every one should be on the lookout for those who are sincere and well disposed, and be ready to give them a helping hand, to explain any difficulties which they may have, or to persuade them to come to the priest, who can explain them more fully. but, above all, that he should spread among those who do not believe the leaven of good example, and not scandalize them by a bad life. one can hardly be too careful to avoid scandalizing even the faithful; and much more care should be taken not to scandalize those who are seeking for the truth, and particularly about those things on which their ideas are very strict and their consciences very sensitive. { } take, for instance, the horrible vice of profane swearing, to which many of you, to your own shame you must confess, are so much addicted, and about which you are inexcusably careless. there is no doubt at all that there is many a protestant who would not so much as think of enquiring about the faith of a person who was in the habit of blaspheming. and yet he may be really anxious to know the truth, and his soul is as dear to god as yours; and if you are the cause, by this abominable habit of yours, of his turning away in despair from the church, most assuredly you will have to give an account for it when your soul shall come to be judged. many persons all around us are outside of the church to-day because of the prevalence of this sin of profanity among catholics, because all the catholics whom they know seem rather to be children of the devil than of the good god. there are many other things, particularly drunkenness and falsehood, by which catholics spread around them the leaven of bad example, and drive people away from the faith instead of drawing them to it; but i have not time to speak of all. it is for you, my brethren, to look to it that, when you come to die, you shall feel that you have indeed done something to diffuse through the world the leaven of faith and virtue, not of unbelief and vice and that our lord will not require at your hands the blood of your brother, for whom he died as well as for you. --------------------- { } _septuagesima sunday_ epistle. _corinthians ix._ ; x. . brethren: know you not that they who run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? so run that you may obtain. and every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth himself from all things; and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. i therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: i so fight, not as one beating the air: but i chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when i have preached to others, i myself should become reprobate. for i would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. and all in moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea; and they did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was christ). but with the most of them god was not well pleased. gospel. _st. matthew xx._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples this parable: the kingdom of heaven is like to a master of a family, who went early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. and when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. and he went out about the third hour and saw others standing in the market-place idle. and he said to them: go you also into my vineyard, and i will give you what shall be just. and they went their way. and again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. { } but about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: why stand you here all the day idle? they say to him: because no man hath hired us. he saith to them: go you also into my vineyard. and when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. when, therefore, they came, who had come about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. but when the first also came, they thought that they should have received more, and they also received every man a penny. and when they received it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying: these last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heats. but he answering one of them, said: friend, i do thee no wrong; didst thou not agree with me for a penny? take what is thine and go thy way: i will also give to this last even as to thee. or, is it not lawful for me to do what i will? is thy eye evil because i am good? so shall the last be first, and the first last, for many are called, but few chosen. ----------------- sermon xxxii. why stand ye here all the day idle? --st. matthew xx. . this life, my dear friends, is often spoken of in scripture as a day, both on account of its shortness and because the night of death follows. now, there are certainly many persons who do stand all their lives idle; that is to say, they do not try to "_work_ out their own salvation"; they do not try to do anything in the lord's vineyard, the church, by helping forward good works either by their means or by their active service. { } there are a great number of men and women who never think of caring for the great business of their salvation. day after day goes by, week after week, and they have done no good works, corrected no faults, made absolutely no advancement or improvement. it is too much trouble for them to examine their consciences, too tiresome to stir themselves to go to mass and the sacraments. they have sunk into a state of spiritual drowsiness by the world's fireside; in a word, they are all the day idle. oh! if there are any such here, let them take warning. for the night will surely come, and then it will be too late. perhaps this is the eleventh hour for you. god has called you often before; now, by the voice of his priest, he speaks once more and says: "why stand ye here all the day idle?" to-day you see again the purple vestments and hangings; they tell you that lent is fast approaching, that a time of grace is coming round once more. oh! then, you that have yet a few hours of the day of life left, go into the vineyard of your own souls, root up the weeds, till the soil, plant good seed, that the father of all may be able in the end to give you the wages of everlasting life. again, such among you as have means, or who are able to help your pastor by active service in the charge of the sick and the poor, who can teach the uninstructed, help along in sewing-schools and in forming sodalities and pious organizations of various kinds--to you also the cry comes, "why stand ye all the day idle?" why, when called upon to bear a little part of the priest's burden, are so many people like an old gun that hangs fire? why is it often so difficult for the priest to get the active co-operation of the lay people? { } why does he so often get the "cold shoulder" as people say, when he asks a little help? is it not because people won't go into the vineyard, won't work, won't take trouble? because they would rather not be bothered? how often they say: "i have no time"; "what are the priests for, anyhow?" "let _them_ look after these things." thus they stand all the day idle, and the hard work falls on the priests and just a few self-sacrificing helpers. when you are called on, then, by your pastors to help in the parish, "don't be backward in coming forward"; make up your minds that you will not stand idle, but that it shall be "a long pull and a strong pull, and a pull all together." why should we be so afraid of idleness in spiritual things and in works of charity? because, my dear friends, the time is short. life is passing swiftly. the night of death is at hand. soon the cry will be heard: "behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet him." soon the master of the vineyard will come and look at our work. woe to us if he finds that we either never went into the vineyard at all, or, at best, the work there was so ill done that our part of the land is choked with docks and darnels and every kind of weed! you know, doubtless, that people sometimes give to each of their children a little garden to plant; ah! how these children try to make "my garden" the best one. how careful they are of it, how grieved if the frost or some noxious insect should destroy the flowers or fruits! we are all children; god has given us each a little garden, a little piece of his great vineyard, to care and tend. let us, then, like the little ones, try to make our garden the finest, that when our father, god, and our dear mother, mary, come to look at it they may find it full of beauty and fragrance, and say concerning us: "this one, at least, did not stand all the day idle." rev. algernon a. brown. --------------------------- { } sermon xxxiii. they murmured against the master of the house. --st. matthew xx. . we can hardly fail, my dear brethren, to understand the meaning of this parable of our lord, though he himself has given no explanation of it. he is the master of the house; we are the laborers whom he has hired to work in his vineyard, and hired, too, at a very great price; for the penny which the laborers all received represents the reward of eternal life which he has promised to all who die in his service, even though they come to that service at the eleventh hour--that is, at the end of their lives. now, i do not know that we are inclined to find fault with our lord for forgiving one who has sinned during his whole life and sincerely repents, though it be on his death-bed. we are generous enough to be glad when one is really converted and saves his soul; and perhaps all the more if it be at the last moment. we do not find fault with god for his mercy, but rather we thank him for it. but we are inclined to murmur against him for what seems to us to be an unjust and partial distribution of his mercies, as the laborers murmured against their master. they did not complain that the last received a penny, but that they themselves did not receive more. they thought that the master ought to have proportioned the wages to the service rendered; but we can see plainly enough that he was not so bound. { } all he was bound to was to give the penny to all those to whom he had promised it; as for the rest, he might have given any one of them his whole property, if he had taken a special fancy to him. you would not say that a man acted unjustly if he should single out any one of his servants and make him a special present over and above his regular wages. you would say, as the master of the house said, that he could do what he liked with what remained after his debts were paid. now, let us apply this, which is nothing but common sense, to our lord's relations to us. he has a debt to pay to us to which he has bound himself. it is a real debt to us, because it rests on a real promise which he has made. and that debt is to forgive us when we really turn to him and repent of our sins, and to give us, through his own merits and the shedding of his own blood, the eternal happiness which that precious blood has purchased for us. but he is not bound to give us graces which will force us to repent; nor is he bound to give to each one of us the same graces inclining us to repent. he has promised forgiveness to those who repent, but not repentance to those who sin. still less is he bound to give to all the same impulses to perfection, the same interior consolations, the same extraordinary supernatural gifts of any kind. he is no more bound to this than he is bound to give us all the same amount of natural strength, whether of mind or body, or the same amount of worldly goods. he has his reasons for the distribution of his gifts, it is true, and they are wise and holy ones, we may be sure; for he does not act from caprice, as we might do. but they are not reasons of justice to us, but mercy. if we were treated according to strict justice i do not know who among us would be saved. { } remember this, then, my brethren, when you are inclined to find fault with our lord for his treatment of you or others. remember that you have already received many times more than in strict justice was your due. remember the countless favors, both temporal and spiritual, which you have already received at his hands, and be ashamed of complaining that others have received even more. beware of envying them those things which god, in his great mercy, has freely bestowed on them; take care not to covet your neighbor's goods, for that is exactly what you are in danger of doing. and remember, specially, the great gift which he has given you all, and which many others who certainly seem, even in your own eyes, as good as yourselves have not received; that is, the light of the one true faith. remember that you have not had to struggle in darkness and uncertainty; that you have always been able to know what to believe and what to do. others, it is true, might have this, too, if they would do their own part; but that part god has done for you. thank him, then, for this unspeakable mercy, and do not complain of other things which he has given or withheld. ------------------------ sermon xxxiv. _so run that you may obtain._ -- corinthians ix. . { } there is a great rage just now, my brethren, as you are aware, for walking, running, or footing it in any way. he or she is the best man or woman who can go the greatest number of miles in a week, or the greatest number of quarter-miles in the same number of quarter-hours. the interesting question of the present day is who can plod along with the greatest number of big blisters on each foot, or best endure being stirred up every fifteen minutes from a few winks of much-needed sleep, and go to sleep again the soonest after accomplishing the required number of laps on a tan-bark track. this is all very well in its way. walking is not a bad thing for the health at any time; and just now it is a decidedly good thing for the pocket, if one is strong enough to excel in it. but for most people there are better ways of getting over the ground. even the professional pedestrian will not refuse, now and then, to make use of the elevated railway. there is one journey, however, which we all have to make on foot. that is the journey to heaven, where we all want to go. there is no elevated railway to take us there. if we are to get there it must be by our own exertions. we may, it is true, save part of the labor by availing ourselves of the very uncomfortable and slow transit provided in purgatory; but that is a thing which we must surely wish to avoid as far as possible. yes, my brethren, every sensible person will try to escape that means of conveyance, and make this journey on foot over the road prepared in this world. furthermore, as he has this long walk to take--for heaven is not very near to most of us--he will try to fit himself for it; to go into training, and to keep in training, so that he may not break down on the way, or find himself with a short record when the end of his time arrives. he will bear in mind the warning of st. paul in to-day's epistle: "so run that you may obtain." { } how does the pedestrian manage to run so as to obtain his fame, his thousand dollars, and his gate-money? in the first place he works hard and sticks to his work. he does not waste his time by sitting down on the benches and watching the other man. he keeps on the track as long as he is able. when he cannot keep on any longer he takes the rest and food that he needs--not a bit more--and goes at it again. sometimes he feels ready to drop; but he keeps on, and the fatigue passes away. secondly, he not only keeps to his work, but he avoids everything else that can interfere with it. he does not live on plum-cake and mince pie, or fill up with bad whiskey and drugged beer. he adopts a good, plain, wholesome diet--something that will stick to his bones and go to muscle, not to fat. thirdly, he does not stagger round the ring with a saratoga trunk on his back. far from it. he lays aside every weight that he can. he even makes his clothes as light as possible. he does not care to carry anything more than himself over the five hundred miles that he has to go. lastly, he has a director. he does not call him by that name--he calls him a trainer; but it comes to the same thing. he does not trust his own judgment, but has some one else to feed him, to tend him, to check him, or to urge him on. now, in all things, my friends, the pedestrian sets us a good example: in the earnestness which inspires him, and the means he takes to ensure success. { } imitate him in them in the great journey before you, in which so much more than fame and gate-money is involved. in the first place, keep to your work; let every waking moment be a step toward heaven. be not weary in well-doing. secondly, do not indulge sensuality; use what the world has to give so that it may help you on your course, and not for its own sake. eat and drink so that your body may be strong enough to serve your soul, but not strong enough to rule it. thirdly, do not put a great load of riches on your back, unless you have got some good use to make of it. you will have to drop it at the end of your race, and it will only keep you back and prevent your winning. lastly, do not trust yourself too much. have some one to help you--a director who will guide you and tell you when you make mistakes, when you are going too fast or too slow. this is nothing but common prudence; use it, and your transit to the kingdom of heaven shall be both rapid and sure. ------------------------- { } sexagesima sunday. epistle. _ corinthians xi._ -_xii_. . brethren: you gladly suffer the foolish: whereas you yourselves are wise. for you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be extolled, if a man strike you on the face. i speak according to dishonor, as if we had been weak in this part. wherein if any man is bold (i speak foolishly) i am bold also. they are hebrews; so am i. they are israelites; so am i. they are the seed of abraham; so am i. they are the ministers of christ (i speak as one less wise), i am more; in many more labors, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. of the jews five times did i receive forty stripes, save one. thrice was i beaten with rods, once i was stoned, thrice i suffered shipwreck; a night and a day i was in the depth of the sea; in journeys often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren: in labor and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in many fastings, in cold and nakedness. besides those things which are without: my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches. who is weak, and i am not weak? who is scandalized, and i do not burn? if i must needs glory, i will glory of the things that concern my infirmity. the god and father of our lord jesus christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that i lie not. at damascus the governor of the nation under aretas the king, guarded the city of the damascenes to apprehend me. { } and through a window in a basket was i let down by the wall, and so escaped his hands. if i must glory (for it is not expedient indeed); but i will come to visions and revelations of the lord. i know a man in christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body i know not, or out of the body i know not: god knoweth), such an one caught up to the third heaven. and i know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, i know not: god knoweth; that he was caught up into paradise; and heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. of such an one i will glory: but for myself i will glory nothing, but in my infirmities. for even if i would glory, i shall not be foolish: for i will say the truth. but i forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth in me, or anything he heareth from me. and lest the greatness of the revelations should puff me up, there was given me a sting of my flesh and angel of satan, to buffet me. for which thing i thrice besought the lord, that it might depart from me; and he said to me: my grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. gladly therefore will i glory in my infirmities, that the power of christ may dwell in me. gospel. _st. luke viii_. - . at that time: when a very great multitude was gathered together and hastened out of the cities to him, he spoke by a similitude. a sower went out to sow his seed. and as he sowed some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. and some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. and some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it, choked it. and some fell upon good ground; and sprung up, and yielded fruit a hundred-fold. saying these things, he cried out: he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. and his disciples asked him what this parable might be. to whom he said: to you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of god; but to the rest in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. { } now the parable is this: the seed is the word of god. and they by the wayside are they that hear: then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved. now they upon the rock, are they who when they hear, receive the word with joy: and these have no roots; who believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. and that which fell among thorns, are they who have heard, and going their way, are choked with the cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. but that on the good ground, are they who in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience. ---------------------- sermon xxxv. _and some seed fell upon a rock_. --st. luke viii, . the sentence which forms the text is sometimes translated "and some fell upon stony ground"--that is to say, the good seed scattered by the sower fell in a place that was hard and rocky. the sower in the parable is jesus christ, the seed is the word of god. the great chief sower, dear friends, has gone away, but the good seed, the word of god, the doctrines of holy church, her precepts, her laws, the rules of morality, the standard by which we can tell good deeds from sin--all this good seed is still sown by god's priests, by the divinely appointed and ordained ministers of the word of god. chiefly this sowing is done in the confessional and in the pulpit. in the confessional the sower scatters the good seed into each heart individually; in the pulpit the seed is scattered over the multitude gathered together. { } it seems a hard thing to say, but alas! in these days the word of god, the good seed, falls for the most part upon stony ground. the priest exhorts, entreats, persuades, threatens, tells of god's justice, speaks of his mercy, holds up the joys of heaven as a reward, points to the abyss of hell as a punishment; and it all falls upon stony ground. it falls upon the high crags of inaccessible rocks, upon the heart of the hardened sinner, upon the stony, adamantine hearts of those who have given up even the thought of repentance. it falls upon you, wretched man, who come to mass for the sake of appearances every sunday; upon you who drag a dead, corpse-like, blackened, devil-marked soul here before the altar of god every sunday morning, without ever thinking of taking that soul to one of those confessionals which stare you in the face. yes, the good seed falls upon you, and it falls upon a rock waiting to be calcined by the fires of hell. the word of god falls upon the pavement, hard and stony as it is. it falls upon the hearts of frivolous, giddy, conceited girls. it falls upon the hearts of blaspheming, drinking, impure young men. it falls upon the hearts of men of business whose only aim is wealth, and of the women who are votaries of fashion; for what are the hearts of all such but a pavement, a thoroughfare, along which pass every evil beast, every low, degrading passion, and every unholy desire? o you girls and young men of this city and this day! you men and women of the world! you who come and hear the sermon, and afterwards go away with a simper on your powdered faces and a sneer upon your lips! you young ladies and young gentlemen "of the period"--to you i say, your hearts are stony ground. { } the good seed can never grow upon it. nothing can flourish there but thorns and briers, whose end is to be burnt. o dear brethren, young and old, rich and poor! tear up the paving-stones, shiver to atoms your pride, your love of the world and its vanities; and when you hear the word of god, when the good seed is scattered, let your hearts be not stony, but soft and moist to receive it. there are others whose hearts are like the pebbly beach. the seed falls there, and then the sea of their pride comes and washes it all away. they know what is said from the pulpit is true, they know the advice in the confessional is good, but they are too proud to change their lives, too proud to own that the priest knows better than they do. they say: why should the church interfere between my wife and me, or between my children and myself? why should the head of the family be ruled by the clergy? and the like. on such as these the word falls, but it falls on stony ground. to all of you, then, the gospel says this morning, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." open your ears and soften your hearts. sermons are not for you to criticise; they are for you to profit by, for you to form your lives upon. the words of the priest are the words of god. the seed that he sows is the good seed. woe to you if your hearts are stony ground! there is a rank growth which is called stone-crop, which clings to walls and stones; there is a weed-like, yellow grass that sprouts upon neglected house-tops. what do men do with such plants? they cast them forth into the smouldering weed-fire. and so will god cast into the fire that is never quenched those who receive the word of god on stony ground. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------- { } sermon xxxvi. _a sower went out to sow his seed._ --st. luke viii. . you all know, my brethren, what this seed is, and who it is that sows it; for our lord himself explains the parable, and you have just heard the explanation. the seed, he says, is the word of god; and it is god that sows it. and what is the word of god? protestants tell us that it is the bible; and their idea of sowing it is to leave a copy of it with everybody, whether they can read and understand it or not. that is not the way, however, that the divine wisdom has followed. he has put his word, of which the bible is no doubt a great part, in the hands and the heart of his church, and told her to preach it to all nations--not to leave copies of it with them. the word of god is, then, the religious instruction which you are all the time receiving, mainly from the priests of the parish to which you belong. it is god that gives it to you through them. it ought to bring forth fruit a hundred-fold, like the seed falling on good ground. you ought not only to hear it but to keep it. do you? what was the sermon about last sunday? don't all speak at once. well, i am not going to tell you, though i am pretty sure that many of you will never know unless i do. and if you don't remember the last one there is not much chance that you remember the one before that. in fact, i have no doubt that there are plenty of people in the church at this moment who do not remember any sermon at all. all that they ever listened to--or did not listen to--in the many years they have been going to church, went in, as the saying is, at one ear and out at the other. { } and yet you talk enough about what you hear, some of you at least. you make yourselves a standing committee to decide on the merits of the various preachers that you sit under. you say to each other: "what a fine discourse that was!" or, perhaps: "that was the worst sermon i ever heard." but what either of them was about it would puzzle you to tell. your ears were tickled, or they were not, and that was all. perhaps you think i am rather hard on you. you will say: "father, surely you cannot expect our memories to be so good. and then we hear so much that one thing puts out another." well, there is some truth in that. even if you try to remember i know you will forget a good deal; but the trouble is that you do not try. you do not hear sermons in the right way. you think whether they are good or not, but you don't think whether or not there is anything in them that is good for you; and if so, what it is. if, perchance, you do hear anything that comes home to you, you fail to make a note of it. you don't get any fruit from the word of god, though you often think your neighbors ought to. you say: "i hope mr. or mrs. smith, brown, or jones heard that"; but you do not hear it yourself. you do not apply it to your own case. you do not try to find out whether anything has been said that it would be well for you to know, or to think of if you do know it. { } try, then, to amend in this respect. listen, when you hear a sermon or instruction, to the word of god in it speaking to you. do not think who says it, but what is said, and what use you are going to make of it. one day you will be called to account before god's judgment-seat for all these words of his that you have heard; look to it that they bear fruit in your heart. it is better than remembering them, to have them change your lives; but if they do that you will remember them. and they will do that, unworthy as his servants are through whom they come to you, if you listen to them in the right way. remember, now, what this sermon is about, and don't forget it before next sunday. ----------------------- sermon xxxvii. _a sower went out to sow his seed._ --st. luke viii. . our divine saviour, in his explanation of this parable, points out four kinds of soil upon which the seed fell, three of which gave no harvest. the barren soils represent those souls which either do not keep the word of god--and they are the wayside; or, keeping it, do not bring forth fruit--and they are the stony and the thorny ground. wayside souls are hardened by the constant tramp of sin and dried by the scorching wind of passion. on such ground the seed remains on the surface; it cannot penetrate. "so it is trodden down, and the birds of the air--that is, the devil, swift and noiseless in his flight--come and take the word of god out of such hearts, lest believing they might be saved." stony soil looks fair enough, but it is shallow; the rock underneath hinders moisture, and the seed, though it sprouts, has but weak roots, which soon wither. { } there are souls "who hear and even receive the word with joy; and these have no roots," because their christianity is shallow; right under the fair appearances of religion is the hard rock of worldliness and self-love. now, the soil in "which we should be rooted," says st. paul (eph. ii. ), "is charity." again, there are "those who believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away." the word of god has entered into your souls; it has converted you. but have not evil habits to which you cling, and cherished sins repeated at the first onset of temptation, taken all firmness out of your purpose of amendment and nipped in the bud your good resolution? i hope the mission will have more lasting fruit among you. thorny soil is full of the germs and roots of useless and hurtful plants. in such ground, says our saviour, the good and bad seed started up and for a time grew together. soon the thorns shot ahead, sucked up for themselves all the juices of the earth, shut out the warmth of the sun from the wheat, closed in upon it, and finally choked it. in our fallen nature are the germs of evil, the hot-bed of concupiscence. they are part of ourselves; we cannot get entirely rid of them, as no ground, however well worked, can be freed from bad seeds. there they are with the good, and will sprout up with it; the mischief is in letting them grow until they kill the grace of god and absorb our souls; then, indeed, we are in a state of spiritual suffocation; the divine seed is choked in us. now, the thorns, says our saviour, "are the cares, the riches, and the pleasures of life." as long as we are in the world we shall have to bear with its cares. yet the great care, you know, is your salvation. all other concerns become choking thorns when they take precedence of this. { } riches are not the best claim to heaven. yet it is only the unjust getting, the absorbing love, and the sinful use of them that choke off the life of the soul. and in riches there is danger for the poor, strange as it may seem. as the shadow of st. peter cured, so the shadow of wealth diseases by causing envy, want of resignation. the poor should beware of the "evil eye" of riches; it is poverty _in spirit_ which is a passport to heaven. the pleasures of life, as you know from your own experience, unless checked by mortification, are fatal to the growth of god's word within us. the sunshine of the world is peculiarly favorable to the tropical vegetation of noxious or useless weeds. remember that your soul is a field in which satan has put germs of evil as well as god, of good. both are watching the growth and looking out for the final result. on you it depends which crop your soul will produce, wheat or thorns. the wheat will be gathered in god's granary, the thorns are only fit to burn. be ye, therefore, good ground--_i.e._, "hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience." --------------------- { } _quinquagesima sunday_. epistle. _corinthians xiii_. - . brethren: if i speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, i am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. and if i should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if i should have all faith, so that i could remove mountains, and have not charity, i am nothing. and if i should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if i should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth: beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. charity never faileth: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. for we know in part, and we prophesy in part. but when that which is perfect shall come, that which is in part shall be done away. when i was a child, i spoke as a child, i understood as a child, i thought as a child. but when i became a man, i put away the things of a child. we see now through a glass in an obscure manner: but then face to face. now i know in part: but then i shall know even as i am known. and now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity. { } gospel. _st. luke xviii_. - . at that time: jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them: behold we go up to jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the son of man. for he shall be delivered to the gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon: and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. and they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said. now it came to pass that when he drew nigh to jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. and when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. and they told him that jesus of nazareth was passing by. and he cried out, saying: jesus, son of david, have mercy on me. and they that went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. but he cried out much more: son of david, have mercy on me. and jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to him. and when he was come near, he asked him, saying: what wilt thou that i do to thee? but he said: lord, that i may see. and jesus said to him: receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole. and immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying god. and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to god. ---------------------- sermon xxxviii. jesus, son of david, have mercy on me. --st. luke xviii. . there are two points, dear brethren, in the conduct of the blind man of whom we have just read, that seem to be particularly noticeable. first, although he could not _see_ jesus, he nevertheless knew that he was passing by, and cried out: "jesus, son of david, have mercy on me." secondly, when "the crowd rebuked him, that he should hold his peace, he cried out _much more:_ son of david, have mercy on me." { } now, that blind man is an image of the souls who are grievously tempted, and also of those who have fallen into the darkness of sin. now, there are, as we all know, some who are dreadfully tempted. there are good, pious souls who are afflicted with the lowest and most degrading temptations. crowds of evil imaginations fill their minds; the basest suggestions are made to them by the evil one; the foulest mind-pictures are produced in them; they are urged to be proud, to be vain, unloving, uncharitable, and the like. such people are for the moment blind. they cannot _see_ jesus. he is hidden behind these gathering clouds. it seems to them as if the light of god's grace had gone out in their hearts, and they sit down by the wayside, weary and blind. suddenly they hear sounds in the distance; it is the mass-bell, the voice of the priest in the confessional, a word from the pulpit, the choir chanting out at high mass or vespers. these sounds mingle; they sound like the tread of a multitude, and in the midst of the clamor a still, small voice says: "'tis jesus of nazareth who passes by." oh! then, poor tempted souls, and you too, unfortunate ones, upon whom has settled the stone-blindness of mortal sin, never mind if you cannot _see_ jesus; never mind if your darkened orbs cannot gaze upon his sweet face nor meet the look of compassion that he casts upon you; stretch out your hands towards him, all covered with the roadside dust as they are, lift up your choked and faltering voice, and cry aloud to your saviour: "jesus, son of david, have mercy on me!" he will hear you; he will have mercy; he will touch your poor closed eyes and you shall receive your sight. but now another word of advice, both to those who are trying to get rid of besetting temptations and to those who are striving to shake off the chains of grievous sin. { } when you have given the first heart-felt cry, when you have made the first move in the right direction, when you have roused yourselves to make the first real effort either to shake off your temptations or to get free from the slavery of sin, then it will very likely happen to you as it did to the blind man: "the crowd will rebuke you that you should hold your peace." there are a good many well-known characters in that crowd. their names are timid conscience, old habit, fear, despair, human respect, cowardice, weak resolution, want of firm purpose, false shame, no hope, and a host of others. now, all these will rebuke the poor, blind, tempted ones and the stone-blind sinners. what, then, must they do? they must take example from the blind beggar in the gospel. when the crowd rebuked him he cried out _much more:_ "son of david, have mercy on me!" he knew that he must cry out louder to make his voice drown the buzzing murmurs of the crowd. jesus did not seem to hear him, so he shouted louder. o you that are blind from temptation, you that are blind in sin, you that have given the first cry, and whose voices seem about to be drowned by the voice of the crowd of old habits and want of trust, cry louder, cry much more: "son of david, have mercy on me!" then, no matter if your blindness be never so dark, jesus will stand still; he will command you to be brought to him; he will say to you: "what wilt thou that i do to you?" and then will be the time for you to pray: "lord, that i may _see_." o my god! grant that all the tempted and all the sinners may have the grace to make that petition. may god "enlighten all our eyes, that we sleep not in death," and bring us all "to _see_ the god of gods in sion"! rev. algernon a. brown. ----------------------------- { } sermon xxxix. _and they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said._ --st. luke xviii. . if you have listened attentively to this gospel, my dear brethren, it seems to me that you must have been astonished at this part of it. for our lord certainly could not have told his apostles more clearly about what was going to happen to him than he had told them in the words which immediately preceded these. "the son of man," he says, "shall be delivered to the gentiles, and shall be mocked and scourged and spit upon; and after they have scourged him they will put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again." what more clear account could he have given them of his approaching passion, death, and resurrection? and yet it made no impression on them at all. when the time of his passion actually came they were quite unprepared for it, as much so as if he had said nothing about it beforehand. how can we account for this? what reason can we give for this blindness to what was put so plainly before their eyes? it was as complete a blindness as that of the poor man whose cure is told in the latter part of the gospel. { } there is only one way to account for it. you know there is a proverb that "none are so blind as those who do not want to see." that was the trouble with them, and that was the reason why their blindness was not cured, as was that of the poor man of whom i have just spoken, and who did most earnestly wish and beg to receive his sight. they had a fixed idea before their minds, and they did not want to look at anything else. that idea was that their master was going to have a great triumph, overcome all his enemies, and set up his kingdom in this world as a great prince; and they were going to have high places in that kingdom, to be rich, powerful, and be respected by everybody. what he said did not fit in with that idea, so they paid no attention to it. they thought he could not be talking about himself, that he must mean somebody else, when he spoke about the "son of man." perhaps you think this was very foolish on their part, and would lay it to some special stupidity or prejudice on the part of these poor, ignorant men. but i think, if you look into your own hearts, you will find them pretty much the same. most christians, i am afraid, have got an idea very much like this in their minds. they know, indeed, that christ did not come into the world to be a great king, as the world understands the word; that he did not acquire great wealth for himself or his friends; that he did not enjoy what we call prosperity and happiness. but they think that is what they themselves have a right to expect. they know, of course, all about the passion of christ, but they think it is all over now. { } and yet there are words for us just as plain as those which the apostles heard and did not understand. we do not see their meaning, and for the same reason; that is, because we do not want to see it. they are not only once repeated, but so many times that i could preach you a long sermon made up of them alone. their meaning is that the passion of christ is not over; that each one of us has our share in it; that the life which he means for us is the same kind of one that he himself led. st. paul understood it well when he said: "i fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of christ." try, then, my brethren, to get the idea out of your minds that you have come into the world to enjoy yourselves and have a good time. it is an idea unworthy of christians. not those who prosper, but those who suffer, are the ones to excite our envy, for they are most like our divine lord. and, moreover, those who suffer are really the happiest, if they remember this, for their suffering is a pledge of eternal happiness. it is a sign that he has a place waiting for them in his kingdom very near to him. and let us, like the blind man of the gospel, ask him to take away our blindness, that we may really see this and believe it; that our eyes may be opened to the light coming from the next world. that will make pain and adversity beautiful and glorious; and we will even hardly wish to hasten the day when, if we are faithful, god himself shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. ------------------------ sermon xl. some very important notices have just been read to you, my brethren. do you know what they are? { } you ought to by this time, for you have heard them many times before; and yet i am sure that some of you to whom they have been read ten or twenty times already know no more about them now than before you ever heard them at all. why is this? it is because, as i said last sunday, you do not listen, and do not try to remember, nor care to understand. what were these notices, then? they were the notices about this great season on which we are entering: the holy season of lent, the most important one of the whole year. what is the first one of these notices which you have or have not just heard? you don't know. well, it is this: _all the week-days of lent, from ash wednesday till faster sunday, are fast-days of precept, on one meal, with the allowance of a moderate collation in the evening_. fast-days--do you know what that means? i venture to say that many of you do not; or, if you do, you do not act as if you did. some people that you would think had more sense seem to think that a fast-day is about the same thing as a friday through the year, except that it is not so much harm to eat meat on a fast-day as on a friday. it is hard to understand how any one can be so stupid. what is a fast-day, then? it is a day, as you hear in the notices, on one meal. that does not mean two other full meals besides, and plenty of lunches in between. it means what it says--one full meal, and only one. the church has, it is true, allowed, as the notices say, a moderate collation in the evening what does that mean? as much as you want to take? no. how much, then? eight ounces is the amount commonly assigned. { } that is to say, you have your dinner, and a supper of eight ounces in weight. is that all? no, not quite. custom has also made it lawful to take a cup of tea or coffee and a small piece of bread, without butter, in the morning. this is an important point; for if this will prevent a headache and enable you to get through with your duties as usual, you are bound to take it, and not get off from the fast on the ground that you cannot keep a strict fast on nothing at all till noon. this, then, is what is meant by a fast-day. it may be a day of abstinence from flesh-meat, or it may not be. monday, tuesday, and thursday you can have meat, but at dinner only; and no fish, oysters, etc., when you have meat--the tea or coffee and the eight ounces the same those days as on the others. but on wednesday, friday, and saturday no meat at any time. and remember, nothing can be eaten on a fast-day but just as i have described--no lunches, large or small, between meals. but you say: "i will get very hungry and lose a good many pounds on such a scant diet as that." yes, that is quite likely; and that is just what lent was made for, that you might get hungry and lose as many pounds as you can spare. that never seems to occur to some people. it wouldn't do some of you any harm to lose a few pounds; you will recover from it, i am sure. the papers say that one of the pedestrians (a woman, too, by the way) lost over thirty in a long walk she has just finished. is it not as easy to suffer a little for the honor of god as a great deal for one's own? { } but is there no excuse? oh! yes. there are plenty. they are given in the last paragraph of the notices. if you are weak or infirm--really, that is; not with a weakness beginning on ash wednesday and ending on easter sunday--if you are too old or too young; or if from any reason, like hard work, you really need abundant food. in case of doubt consult a priest. but these excuses do not allow one to eat meat. they excuse, as you hear in the rules, from fasting, but _not from abstinence_. and yet you will hear people saying: "they told me i was not bound to fast," and forthwith eating meat as often as they can get it, just the same as if it was not lent at all. understand, then, it takes a much greater reason to excuse from abstinence than from fasting. never eat meat at forbidden times in lent without getting proper permission. ordinary work is no excuse. i would like to say much more about these matters, that you might fully understand them, were there time to do so. but remember that the rules of lent are binding, like the other laws of the church, in conscience; and if you break them in any notable way you commit a mortal sin. suffer a little now, that you may not suffer for ever, banished from the kingdom of god. ------------------- { } _first sunday of lent_ epistle. _corinthians vi._ - . brethren: we do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of god in vain. for he saith: "in an accepted time have i heard thee; and in the day of salvation have i helped thee." behold, now is the acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation. giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of god, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long suffering, in sweetness, in the holy ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of god; by the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left: through honor and dishonor: through infamy and good name: as seducers, and yet speaking truth: as unknown, and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as chastised, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, and possessing all things. gospel. _st. matthew iv_. - . at that time: jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards hungry. and the tempter coming, said to him: if thou be the son of god, command that these stones be made bread. but he answered and said: it is written, "man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of god." { } then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: if thou be the son of god, cast thyself down, for it is written: "that he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou hurt thy foot against a stone?" jesus said to him: it is written again: "thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god." again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. and said unto him: all these will i give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. then jesus saith to him: begone, satan, for it is written: "the lord thy god shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve." then the devil left him: and behold, angels came and ministered to him. ------------------------ sermon xli. _thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god._ --st matthew iv. . what is it to tempt god? the words sound very strange; for we know that god is infinitely good, and that he cannot be tempted, like us, to commit sin. so that cannot be what is meant by tempting him. we shall see easily enough what is meant by it if we consider what it was that the devil suggested to our lord. he said to him: "throw yourself down from this pinnacle of the temple; no harm will happen to you, for your life is too precious to god for him to allow it to be lost. his angels will carry you down safely; a miracle will be worked in your behalf." that which satan wished our lord to do is what is meant by tempting god. it is to try and see if he will not do some extraordinary thing for us which there is no need for him to do; to presume on his mercy and providence. { } that is what the latin word means from which our word "tempt" comes. it means to try, to make an experiment. that, in fact, is the real meaning of our word "to tempt." when the devil tempts us he is trying us, to see how far our love of god will go; he is making an experiment to find out the strength of our souls. god does not let him try all the experiments he would like to. he has no right to try us in this way; but god lets him do it for our own good. but god does not allow us to be trying any experiments on his mercy and goodness. he does not allow us to depend upon it, except when we know that we have a right to do so. and yet that is what people, and even christians, are doing all the time. perhaps you do not know how; but you ought to know, and i will tell you. a man tempts god when he puts himself, without necessity, into an occasion of sin. he knows, or ought to know, that he cannot depend on god's grace to keep him from sin in such a case. he knows that god may indeed help him through, so that he will not sin, and perhaps that he has done so before; but he knows, or ought to know, that god has not promised him such a grace, and that it will be nothing surprising if he does not give it to him. such is the case of the drunkard who has some sort of a desire to reform his life, and who goes into a liquor-store. he ought to know that he must have god's grace if he is to avoid getting drunk; and so he tries god, to see if he will give him that grace. but there is no need for him to make the experiment, for he could avoid it by simply keeping outside; and that is what god will certainly give him the grace to do, if he prays and is in earnest. { } let such a man remember, before he goes near the place, those words: "thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god." such is the case, too, of young men or women who trust themselves in company of one with whom they have often acted immodestly before. they may pretend to have great sorrow for these past sins, but it is false; they may deceive themselves or their confessors, but not almighty god, who reads their hearts. no one is truly sorry for his sins when he continues in the great sin of tempting god. i will tell you of some other people who tempt god. they are those who remain quietly in mortal sin, day after day, week after week, month after month. they say to themselves: "god is good; he will give me time to repent." god may well say to such a one: "thou fool, who has told thee that? this very night i will require thy soul of thee." he has a right to do it; and you have no right to expect another day of him. when you do so you are trying his patience; you are making an experiment on his mercy. this present moment is all you have a right to depend on. and yet you will sleep night after night in sin, forgetting that, if god should treat you justly, the morning would find you dead; forgetting that your whole life is nothing but a long temptation of god. ------------------- sermon xlii. _man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god._ --st. matthew iv. . one of the greatest, if not _the_ greatest, of the defects of the present time is an inordinate care for temporal and material things. { } how shall we live? what shall we eat? wherewithal shall we be clothed?--these are the questions which men are all too much exercised about at the present day. we see persons who rise, and cause their children to rise, at a very early hour, and from that time till late at night they are working and toiling. we see men of the world who really injure their health, and perhaps shorten their days, by their close and unflagging attention to business. why do people act thus? all for the sake of the bread that perisheth, all in order to heap up a few dollars which at best they can keep but for a few years. so great has this thirst for money-making become that we see it even in our young boys. they don't want to stay at school; they don't want to store up learning; by the time they are fourteen or a little older (having nothing in their heads but reading, writing, and a little confused arithmetic) they want to be off to the store, the workshop, or the factory. why? because they want to join as soon as possible in the wild-goose chase after the goods of the world. now, all these classes of persons have to learn "that man liveth not by bread alone." my dear friends, besides that poor body which you work so hard to feed, to clothe, and to please, you have an immortal soul. body and soul united form what we call man. so, then, you must not act as if you were all body. you cannot do so without peril to your soul. suppose you were to try an experiment of this kind. you say to yourself: "i will eat nothing; i will have prayers for breakfast, confession for lunch, prayers and devotions for dinner, and meditation on death for supper." then you try it for a week. { } what an elegant skeleton you would make for a museum at the end of that time! yet people treat their souls just in that way. instead of refreshing it with prayers and devotions, etc., they give it clothes, meat and drink, calculations of stock, calculations of profits, cares of this world, etc., and thus the soul is starved just as the body would be by improper food. so then, dear brethren, don't try "to live by bread alone." you can't do it. try also to live "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god"--that is to say, by doing those things which, either by his church or by the interior inspirations of his grace, he wishes you to do. are you in business, or at work? very well; take care of your affairs prudently, work faithfully, but remember this is not all. you must also find time to pray, find time for confession and the hearing of holy mass. don't leave piety to priests, religious women, and children, but let the men also be seen in the church and at the altar-rail. it is a custom in some places that the men should sit on one side of the church and the women on the other. don't you think if we tried that plan that the numbers on the men's side would often be rather slim? why? because they are out in the world trying to live by "bread alone." o my dear friends! why care so much for the goods of this world? why lay up so much treasure where rust and moth destroy, and where thieves break through and steal? we cannot take a cent with us when we go, and our poor body, even _that_ which we have pampered so much, must decay and return to dust. let us, then, this morning make a good resolution, that when the devil comes and tempts us to give ourselves up too much to thoughts about our food, our raiment, and our temporal affairs, we will repulse him with these words: "it is written, 'man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god.'" rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------ { } sermon xliii. _jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil._ --st. matthew iv. . do you know what the word "tempt" means, my brethren? i have no doubt that you know what it is to be tempted. you know that, as st. james says, "every man is tempted, being drawn away, by his own concupiscence, and allured." you yourselves have often been tempted; your concupiscence--that is, your sinful passions of one kind or another--have often tempted you, allured you, enticed you away from the law of god. but the word "to tempt" does not mean "to allure" or "to entice." it means "to try." to tempt any one is to try him to see what sort of stuff he is made of; that's the real meaning of the word--just as a gun, for instance, is tried by putting in an overcharge to see if it will burst, though i would not advise any of you to tempt a gun in that way. it is not a very safe experiment. that is the kind of experiment, though, that the devil is always trying on us. he is not afraid of accidents. if an accident does happen it will not hurt him. it is just what he wants. so he tries us in various ways to find where our weak point is; for he cannot tell without trying. { } when he succeeds, when we break down under his temptations, he says to himself: "that's good. i hit the right spot that time, i'll try that again." for you see we are not like guns: we can be burst more than once. now, the gospel tells us that our lord himself was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil; that is, to have the devil experiment on him. this seems strange. what use was it to try him? did not the devil know that he was god and could not sin? no, my brethren, it is probable that he did not. if he had he would not have wasted his time in a temptation which would be of no use. but why did not our lord let him know it? it was because, being man as well as god, he chose to be tempted or tried like the rest of us: first, that he might set us an example in resisting temptation; and, secondly, that he might merit for us a grace which should make it easy to do so. so he was led into the desert, for our sakes, by his own spirit--by the holy spirit of god. he has set us the example and merited for us the grace; and, thanks to what he has done for us, it is easy for us to resist temptation. but you do not believe it, that is the trouble. some of you think it is impossible to resist temptation. you say, to excuse your sin, "i could not help it." now, that is simply a lie; or, rather, it is more: it is a blasphemy against god. it is as much as to say, "god did not give me the grace to resist temptation," and thus to make him a partaker in your sins. { } you can help it. when our lord drove away the devil, as the gospel to-day tells us, he made it easy for us to do the same. and it is a great shame not to do it. what a disgrace to god, and what a laughing-stock to the devil, is a man or a woman who breaks down every time he or she is tried! yet i am afraid there are plenty of such. god does not tempt you. st. james tells us that. he has no need to, for he knows what you are made of. but he lets the devil do it, that you may merit by resisting; and he does not let you have any more temptation than you can bear. remember that, then, the next time you are tempted. say to yourself: "i have got strength enough to resist this with the help of god. i'll turn the laugh on the devil, instead of his having it on me. i'll show him he was a fool to try to tempt me. i'll let him see that he hit the wrong spot instead of the right one; in fact, that there isn't any right spot to hit. here's a chance for me to get some merit, and to show that i am good for something; that i am of some use after all the labor that my maker has spent on me." say this in the name of god and in the strength which he gives you, and you will be surprised to see how the devil will run away. no doubt he will try you again, but if you persevere he will give it up as a bad job at last, and you will enter heaven with the reward the lord wishes to give you--that is, a great stock of merit instead of sin from the temptations which you have had. --------------------------- { } _second sunday of lent._ epistle. _thessalonians iv_. - . brethren: we pray and beseech you in the lord jesus, that as you have received from us, how you ought to walk, and to please god, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. for you know what commandments i have given to you by the lord jesus. for this is the will of god, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication. that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the gentiles who know not god: and that no man overreach, nor deceive his brother in business: because the lord is the avenger of all such things, as we have told you before, and have testified. for god hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. matthew xvii_. - . at that time: jesus taketh unto him peter and james, and john his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. and he was transfigured before them. and his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. and behold, there appeared to them moses and elias talking with him. and peter answering, said to jesus: lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for moses, and one for elias. and as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying: this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased: hear ye him. { } and the disciples hearing, fell upon their face, and were very much afraid, and jesus came and touched them, and said to them: arise, and be not afraid. and when they lifted up their eyes they saw no man, but only jesus. and as they came down from the mountain, jesus charged them, saying: tell the vision to no man, till the son of man be risen from the dead. ----------------------- sermon xliv. _and he was transfigured before them. and his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. ... behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. and behold! a voice out of the cloud, saying: this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased. _ --st. matthew xvii. , . i think, brethren, one can hardly read the above account of the transfiguration of our dear lord without having suggested to our minds one of the most beautiful of the many services of the catholic church. i mean the rite of benediction of the blessed sacrament. we ourselves are the three disciples. the mountain up into which our lord brings us is the holy altar. his face, shining as the sun, is represented to us by the bright lights that cluster round his throne, and by the refulgence of the rays of the monstrance which contains him. then his garments are indeed as white as snow; for he veils his divinity under the form of the purest wheaten bread, and hides himself beneath its appearances as though he should wrap his sacred body in pure white raiment. then the bright cloud is the floating incense, and the voice out of the cloud the tinkling bell, which seems to say to us as jesus is held aloft and as we bend low in adoration: "this is god's beloved son, in whom he is well pleased." { } so then, the gospel for to-day naturally suggests to our minds a few reflections on this great devotion of the church--benediction of the blessed sacrament. now, a great many persons seem to think that benediction is only "tacked on," as it were, to the office of vespers. this idea is all wrong. to be sure. benediction is often given directly after vespers, but it is an entirely separate and distinct service. vespers end with the antiphon of the blessed virgin; benediction begins when the holy sacrament is taken from the tabernacle and placed in the costly metal frame called the monstrance, or ostensorium. so, then, benediction is not part of vespers, or of any function which may precede it; and i want to make this very clear, because i think the false notion that it is merely something supplementary is a reason why so many people neglect it. what, then, is benediction? it is the solemn exposition of the same jesus whose face shone so bright on thabor. he stays there upon the altar for a little while, that we may kneel before him, adore him, praise him. then he is lifted up in the hands of his priest, and he gives us his blessing. remember, it is not the priest who blesses you at benediction; it is jesus himself who does so. now, it is very true, dear friends, that people are not _bound_ to come to benediction; yet surely, if each one realized what a blessed thing benediction is, no one who could come would stay away. jesus is there on the altar. he is waiting to hear your prayers, waiting to receive your acts of love and adoration, waiting to bless you. oh! then come often to benediction. do not say, "there is nothing but vespers this afternoon"; remember there is something more --benediction of the blessed sacrament. { } there is a day fast approaching on which the holy sacrament will be carried in procession, and then placed in the most solemn manner in the repository. i mean maundy thursday. now, that is also an exposition of the blessed sacrament, and, although jesus is not held aloft by the priest as at ordinary benedictions, who can doubt but that jesus blesses us as he passes by? i pray you, then, when that day arrives to remember who it is who comes to you. let us see the church full, not of gazers at the lights and flowers, but of faithful worshippers of their king and god. if you go from church to church on that day don't go to peer, don't go to see, but to to pray. so when the devotion of the forty hours is announced in your church--that devotion which is the most solemn of all the expositions and benedictions through the year--be devout; spend at least an hour in the day before the lamb of god. remember that the holy sacrament is jesus christ--the very same who was born in bethlehem and died on calvary. lastly, come to benediction always with a living faith and a burning love. never let your place be vacant, if you can help it, when you know it is to be given. set a great store by it. in the words of a living preacher: "night by night the son of god comes forth to you in his white raiment, wearing his golden crown; night by night his sweet voice is heard, and he looks for you with a wistful gaze; do not turn away from such blessedness as this; do not refuse to listen to his pleading words; do not let your places be empty before the altar when jesus comes." rev. algernon a. brown. ----------------------- { } sermon xlv. _and that no man over-reach, nor deceive his brother in business; because the lord is the avenger of all such things._ -- thessalonians iv. . these words are from the epistle of to-day, my dear brethren, and are certainly suggestive, or at least should be so, at this season which the church has assigned as a time for examination of conscience and repentance for sin. the sin which st. paul warns us against goes, when it is practised in other ways, by worse names than the one which he gives it here. a man meets you on a lonely road and takes your money forcibly from you; what do you call it? you call it robbery. a man enters your house at dead of night and carries off your property; what do you call it? you call it burglary. a man picks your pocket on the street; what do you call it? you call it theft. well, it is all one and the same thing. all these are various ways of breaking the seventh commandment; and what is that? _thou shalt not steal._ and what is it to deceive or over-reach some one else in business? it is just the same thing as these; it is the breaking of this same commandment; it is stealing, just as much as robbery, burglary, and theft are, only it does not go by so bad a name, and is not so likely to be punished by the laws of the land. and what do i mean by this over-reaching or deceiving? i mean selling goods under false pretences for more than they are really worth; using false weights or measures; evading in one way and another the payment of one's just debts; taking advantage of one's neighbor's difficulties to make an undue profit for one's self; in short, all the many ways in which men turn a dishonest penny or dollar; in which they get rich by trickery and injustice. { } all these are stealing, just as bad and a great deal more dishonorable than robbery, burglary, or theft, because not attended with so much risk to the person who is guilty of them. now, it seems to me that this sin of cheating--for that is the bad name such sharp practices ought to go by, though they often do not--is a most strange and unaccountable one; much more so than those other kinds of stealing. the man who breaks into your house or who picks your pocket is generally one who is pretty badly off, and who needs what he takes more than the people do from whom he takes it. you do not expect to find rich men setting up as burglars or pickpockets. it is true, sometimes you do find people who have a passion for stealing things when they have plenty of money to buy them; but that is commonly considered to be a special kind of insanity, and they have a name made on purpose for it; they call it "kleptomania." the people who do this are supposed to be crazy on this particular point; but is it not really just the same thing for a man who has enough and to spare to be trying to cheat his neighbor? such a man, it would seem, must be crazy too. and there is another way in which cheating is a strange thing, and especially in a catholic. for every catholic at least must know that if he tries to cheat he himself gets cheated worse than the people he is trying to impose on. for he gets himself into a very bad position. he has got to do one of two things. { } one is to restore, as far as possible, what he has cheated other people out of; and that is a very hard thing to do sometimes--much harder than it would have been to have left cheating alone. but hard as this is, the other is much harder. for the other thing is to go to hell; to be banished from god for ever; to pay for all eternity the debt which he would not pay here. do not, then, my brethren, get yourselves into this position. but if you are in it do the first of these two things. restore your ill-gotten goods. do it now; not put it off till you come to die. it will cost you a struggle then as well as now; and even if you try to do it then, it is doubtful if those who come after you will carry out your wishes. a purpose to restore which is put off till a time when you cannot be sure of carrying it out is rather a weak bridge on which to pass to eternal life. remember now what you will wish at the hour of death to have remembered; remember those words of our lord: "what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?" ------------------------ sermon xlvi. those of you, my brethren, who are keeping lent as it should be kept are beginning by this time, if i am not mistaken, to think that it is a pretty long and tedious season. fasting and abstinence, giving up many worldly amusements, getting up early in the morning and going to mass as so many of you do, and other such things, get to be rather tiresome to the natural man after a few days; and i have no doubt you are quite glad that lent does not last the whole year, and are looking forward to the time when it will be over. i have always noticed that there were not many at mass in easter week, and there are very few, i imagine, who fast or abstain much then. { } and perhaps you are even inclined to say: "what ever did the church get up lent for at all? certainly we could be good christians without it, or save our souls, at any rate." but when you come to think of it you know well enough why lent was instituted. you know that we cannot save our souls without abstaining from sin, and that we shall not be likely to abstain from sin unless we abstain sometimes also from what is not sinful. you know also that we cannot get to heaven without doing penance for our sins, and that it is better to do penance here than in purgatory. and you know, too, that most people will not abstain much or do much penance beyond what the church commands; so you know why the church got up lent. she did it that we might get to heaven sooner and more surely. that ought to be our encouragement, then, in it, that every good lent brings us a good deal nearer to heaven; that heaven is the reward of penance and mortification. and it is partly to keep this before our minds that the church tells us in to-day's gospel the story of our lord's transfiguration: how he took peter and james and john up with him on mount thabor, and there appeared to them in his glory; and filled their hearts with renewed courage and confidence in him, and with a firm belief that it was worth their while to follow him, even if they had to sleep out at night, and not get much to eat, and suffer in many ways--that it was worth while for the sake of the good time coming, of which his glory was a promise, though they did not know just when or what it would be. { } they thought, perhaps, it would be in this world; that their master would come out in the power and majesty that they could see that he had, put down all his enemies, and reign as a great king on the earth. we know better; we know, or ought to know, that it will not be in this world. but we know that the good time coming will be something a great deal better than anything that can be in this world. so we ought to be a great deal more encouraged than they were, especially when we think how little, after all, we have to suffer compared with what was asked of our lord's chosen apostles. we do not have to sleep on the ground, or live on grains of wheat picked off the stalk in the fields, as they sometimes had to do. we have not got to look forward, as they did after his death, to long and painful labors and journeyings, to being driven from one city to another, to being scourged and buffeted, and put at last to a cruel death. no; on the whole, we have got a pretty easy time. we probably will not starve; nobody will persecute us; we will most likely always have a house to live in, and die in our beds. it is not much, then, is it, to eat fish instead of meat, to fast enough to have a good appetite, to lose a little sleep and get a little tired? perhaps if we would think more of the reward for such little things, and think a little more of the good time coming in heaven, we might even wish that lent was more than forty days long. ------------------------------- { } _third sunday of lent_ epistle. _ephesians_ v. - . brethren: be ye followers of god, as most dear children. and walk in love as christ also hath loved us, and hath delivered himself for us an oblation and a sacrifice to god for an odor of sweetness. but fornication and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becometh saints: nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose: but rather giving of thanks. for know ye this, and understand that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person which is a serving of idols hath any inheritance in the kingdom of christ and of god. let no man deceive you with vain words. for because of these things cometh the anger of god upon the children of unbelief. be ye not therefore partakers with them. for you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the lord. walk ye as children of the light: for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth. gospel. _st. luke_ xi. - . at that time: jesus was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb; and when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke; and the multitude admired: but some of them said: he casteth out devils in beelzebub, the prince of the devils. and others tempting, asked of him a sign from heaven. but he, seeing their thoughts, said to them: every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and a house upon a house shall fall. and if satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because you say, that in beelzebub i cast out devils. now if i cast out devils in beelzebub, in whom do your children cast them out? { } therefore they shall be your judges. but if i, in the finger of god, cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of god is come upon you. when a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things which he possesseth are in peace. but if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. he that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth. when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest: and not finding, he saith: i will return into my house whence i came out. and when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in they dwell there. and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. and it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd lifting up her voice, said to him: blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. but he said: yea, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of god and keep it. ----------------------- sermon xlvii. _every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation._ --st. luke xi. . we can see at once how true the sentence just read is; for if the head of a kingdom were to rise against the members, the king against his ministers, the people against both king and government, and the army and navy against their proper commanders--if all this should take place, then i say that kingdom would certainly be brought to desolation, and any enemy could easily come along and take possession of it. { } now, dear brethren, the christian family is a little kingdom. the father and mother are the king and queen, the older and more experienced members of the family are the counsellors, the children the subjects of that kingdom. the christian family ought to be most closely united, and this for many reasons. each member has been baptized with the same baptism, been sanctified by the same holy spirit. they have all been pardoned for their sins through the same precious blood, do all eat of the same spiritual food, the body and blood of christ. then, to come to natural reasons, they are bound together by the tie of blood, by the tie of parental and filial affection; they live together, pray together, rejoice together, suffer together. so there is every reason why the christian family should be united; and if it is to fulfil its mission properly it _must_ be united, or it will be brought to desolation. o my dear friends! how many of these little kingdoms which should go to make up the grand empire of jesus christ upon earth fall away from their allegiance to him, and all because they are divided against themselves. we see a father, for instance, given over to habits of drunkenness; he comes home either in a dull, heavy stupor or else in a perfect fury of rage; he worries his wife, scares his children, disgraces himself; all his family shrink from him. there you see at once the head divided against the members. or there is in the family a cross, ill-tempered, scolding wife, and, as the scripture says, "there is no anger above the anger of a woman: it will be more agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon than to dwell with a wicked woman. as the climbing of a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of tongue to a quiet man." { } such a woman would divide any family; she destroys the unity thereof just as much as the drunken husband. what, also, must be thought of interfering relations, cousins, aunts, uncles, and last, but not least, mothers-in-law? how often do they make mischief and destroy the kingdom of the christian family! so, too, rebellious children, quarrelsome brothers and sisters--they all destroy peace, they all help to divide the kingdom, they all help to bring it to desolation; and in the end, instead of a fair kingdom, strong and united, nothing remains but a wretched scene of strife and contention, and in comes the devil and takes possession of everything. now, my dear friends, when by your drunkenness, your crossness, your mischief-making and party-spirit, by your rebellion against parental authority, you divide the kingdom of your family, not only you yourselves will suffer, not only will you and your family have to endure spiritual injury and perhaps loss of salvation, but the great kingdom of christ, now militant here on earth, and one day to be triumphant in heaven, suffers also. who make up the church on earth? individuals, families. who are to fill the ranks of the heavenly kingdom? the same. oh! then, if you are divided against yourselves, if you are brought to desolation, you are part of the devil's kingdom on earth, and will form part of his empire of sin and death in hell. for god's sake, brethren, _stop this evil war_. stop these things which make the family miserable. have peace in your homes. let men see that the peace of christ and the union of christ dwell there. correct your faults; curb your tongues and your tempers; be obedient. { } remember, the first words the priest says when he comes to your homes on a sick-call are these: "peace be to this house and all that dwell therein." try to profit by that benediction. try always to have the peace of god, which passeth all knowledge, and then shall your kingdom stand. rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------------- sermon xlviii. "are you going to make your easter duty?" this is an important question just now, my dear brethren. you should put it to yourselves, and your answer should be: "yes, certainly." the church commands it; and you know very well that he who will not hear the church is to be held as a heathen and a publican; that he who despises the church despises our lord, and he who despises the lord despises his father who is in heaven. surely you will not make yourselves guilty of this frightful sin of contempt; surely you do not wish to be held as a heathen. but knowing, as you do, the precept of the church binding at this time, how can you expect, if you do not fulfil it, to escape from the consequences of your disobedience, as expressed in the words of our lord which i have just recited? to go against the church in one of her commands is to spurn her authority altogether. it is strange that people should make, of their own wits or fancy, distinctions between the precepts of the church, when the church makes and acknowledges no such distinctions. the authority in all cases is the same, and, therefore, the commands are all equally binding. yet how many catholics who would scruple to eat meat on friday or miss mass on sunday think nothing at all of breaking, without reason, the fast and abstinence of lent, and give no heed whatever to the obligation of going to confession and communion in easter-time! { } it really looks, to judge from their conduct, as if this easter duty was not on an equal footing with the other commands of the church; as if the church did not mean what she prescribes. now, the truth of it is, to this precept is attached a more severe sanction than to any other. the church makes any catholic who violates it liable to excommunication, and deprivation of burial in consecrated ground. so you see the obligation is very strict and the church is terribly in earnest about it, if you are not. to take matters in your own hands, as so many catholics do on this point, and call little what she calls great, and slight an order that she is so anxious about, is to be a heathen, or, at any rate, a protestant; it is to set your private judgment above her authority; it is to despise god, who commands through her. if you would only take this view of it--and this is the true view to take--you would think more than once before you would say: "o pshaw! any other time will do. once a year? all right; i find it more convenient to go at christmas." no, any other time will not do; once a year will not do, unless it be just now at this time. christmas is a glorious feast, and christmas-tide a joyful season, but it is not the season prescribed by the church for your annual communion; and, heathen that you are, your convenience is not the main point to be considered. the question is: has the church power from god to command me, and what does the church command? { } oh! then, my brethren, let not the penances, the prayers, the instructions, the special graces of this holy season go to naught and be of no avail; but rather let them lead you up to the end for which they are intended--that is, to bring you to repentance for past sins, amendment for the future, to restore you to the friendship of your god, and strengthen you, for further battling in life, with the bread of heaven, his most precious body and blood. ---------------------- sermon xlix. _he saith: i will return into my house whence i came out._ --st. luke xi. . the warning which our lord gives us in this gospel is certainly a most terrible one, my brethren, but it may not seem plain to whom it is addressed; who they are who, now and at all times, are in danger of having the devil come back to them in this way of which he speaks. for nowadays, thank god! it is not very often that we find people who are really possessed by the devil, in the proper sense of the word. but, in a more general sense of it, there are plenty of people who are possessed by the devil. they are those who are in a state of mortal sin. in them satan has regained the possession from which he was driven out in holy baptism--that is, the soul which was his at least by original, if not by actual, sin. and he is in them as a dumb devil, like the one which the gospel tells us that our lord cast out; that is, he makes the people dumb whom he possesses, by keeping them from telling their sins and getting rid of them by confession. { } but the dumb devil is often cast out, particularly at times of special grace and help from god, like this holy season of lent through which we are now passing, or at the time of a mission or of a jubilee. at such times you will always find people, who have been away from the sacraments for years, coming back to them and making an effort to amend their lives and save their souls. now, this is very unpleasant to the devil, who has counted on these people as his own. he has a special liking for the souls which have been his so long. so when he is driven out of them he does not simply go off on other business, as we might expect; but he always has an eye on his old home. he says to himself, when he finds that he does not get along so well elsewhere: "i will return into my house whence i came out. i will see if i cannot get in again." so he comes back to his old house, to the soul which has been his, and too often he finds it pretty easy to get in again. he finds it, in fact, "swept and garnished," as our lord says, and all ready for his reception. so, of course, he goes in and takes his old place. the soul, which has escaped from sin by a good confession, relapses into it again. what a pity this is! and yet how common it is! how many, how very many, there are who a month or so after a mission, or some other occasion when you would think they would really be converted in good earnest, are back again in their old sins just the same as if they had never confessed them at all! it seems strange, perhaps. and yet it is not so strange when you come to think of it. the reason is not very hard to find. it is just the one that our lord gives: it is that the house of the soul, from which the devil has been driven, is empty, "swept and garnished." nothing has been put there in the place of the vices and bad habits that were there before. { } there is no habit of prayer; there is no remembrance of the good resolutions that were made at confession; there is no attempt to avoid the occasion of sin; and, above all, there is no grace coming from the sacraments. that is the great mistake these converted sinners have made. they have promised at confession to go every month for the future; but they have not kept that promise. now, it is perfect folly and madness for one who has been in the habits of sin to hope to persevere by saying a few short prayers and going to confession once a year. such a way of going on leaves the soul empty of grace, and without anything to prevent its enemy from coming in. if you want to persevere after a good confession, go every month to the sacraments. this is not a practice of piety; it is only common prudence. this is the means which god has appointed in his church to fill the soul with grace, and leave no room for the devil in his old home from which he has once been driven away. -------------------- { } _fourth sunday of lent._ epistle. _galatians iv._ - . brethren: it is written that abraham had two sons: the one by a bond-woman, and the other by a free-woman: but he that was by the bond-woman was born according to the flesh: but he by the free-woman was by the promise. which things are said by an allegory: for these are the two testaments: the one indeed on mount sina which bringeth forth unto bondage, which is agar: for sina is a mountain in arabia, which hath an affinity to that which now is jerusalem, and is in bondage with her children. but that jerusalem which is above, is free: which is our mother. for it is written: "rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not: break forth and cry out, thou that travailest not; for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband"; now we, brethren, as isaac was, are the children of promise. but as then he, that was born according to the flesh, persecuted him that was according to the spirit: so also now. but what saith the scripture? "cast out the bond-woman and her son: for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman." therefore, brethren, we are not the children of the bond-woman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith christ has made us free. gospel. _st. john vi_. - . at that time: jesus went over the sea of galilee, which is that of tiberias: and a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were infirm. and jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. now the pasch, the festival day of the jews, was near at hand. { } when jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to philip: whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? and this he said to try him, for he himself knew what he would do. philip answered him: two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. one of his disciples, andrew, the brother of simon peter, saith to him: there is a boy here that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are these among so many? then jesus said: make the men sit down. now there was much grass in the place. so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. and jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks he distributed to them that were sat down. in like manner also of the fishes as much as they would. and when they were filled, he said to his disciples: gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost. so they gathered up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten. then those men, when they had seen what a miracle jesus had done, said: this is the prophet indeed that is to come into the world. when jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force and make him king, he fled again into the mountain himself alone. --------------------- sermon l. _when, therefore, jesus had lifted up his eyes and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to philip: "whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?"_ --st. john vi. . to-day is mid-lent sunday, dear brethren. half of the holy season has passed away, and the pasch is near at hand. all through lent the church has been praying, fasting, and preaching, making extra efforts to bring in the sinners who have so long stayed without the fold. { } like the divine master, she looks down upon the crowd and she has pity on them. she wants to heal the sick; they will not be healed. she wants to feed the hungry; they will not be fed. the church looks round upon the vast crowd of her children and wants them to make their easter duty; alas! how many neglect it. why should you make the easter duty? first, because it is a strict law of the church. if you fail to make it by your own fault you commit a grievous mortal sin and put yourself in a position to be excommunicated from god's church. secondly, for your own spiritual good. what kind of a christian can he be who does not go to confession or communion at least once in a year? how shall you make it? first go to confession, and then, when you have received absolution, go to communion. that is all simple and plain enough. why, then, do some people stay away from their easter duty? let us tell the truth. confession must come first, and confession is the difficulty. a man has been engaged for years in an unlawful business, or he has stolen a sum of money, or he has been the receiver of stolen goods, or in some way or other cheated in trade. such a man is a thief. he knows it, and he is also aware that if he goes to confession the priest will say: "give up the ill-gotten money, sell your fine house and your gilded furniture, and make restitution; you must restore or you will damn your soul." they won't do that, won't give up the dishonest gains, and so they won't make the easter duty. or there are some who have committed sins of impurity; they have been unfaithful husbands, dissolute wives. { } they won't give up their bad habits or won't tell their shameful sins, and so they won't make the easter duty. there are others on whom the fiend of drunkenness has settled; they are always on a spree, always pouring the liquor which stupefies them down their throats; they won't repent and they won't make the easter duty. ah! then, if there be any such sinners here--if there be any thieves, if there be any who are living upon dishonest gains, if there be any who are wallowing in impurity and drunkenness--tell me, how long is this going to last? how many more years will you slink away from your easter duty like cowards and cravens? will you go on so to the end of your lives? oh! then you will go down to hell, and your blood be upon your own heads. no one stays away from easter duty except for disgraceful reasons. there is always something bad behind that fear of the confessional, and such a man deserves to be pointed at by every honorable catholic. suppose you _have stolen_, or been an adulterer, or a fornicator, or a drunkard, or what not. now is the time to repent, and amend, and make reparation. don't you see the church looking down with eyes of mercy upon you? why, then, stay? there can be only one reason, and that reason is because you want to go on being thieves, adulterers, and drunkards. o brethren! do not, i pray you, so wickedly. the church is kind. the blood of christ is still flowing. the confessionals are still open. go in there with your heavy sins and your black secrets. go in there with your long story of sin. go in, even if your hands are red with blood--go in, i say, and if you are truly penitent you will be cleansed and consoled. let there not be a single man or woman in this church who can have it said of them this year: "you missed your easter duty." { } and you that have been away for years and years, don't add another sin to your already long list of crimes. you are sick, you are fainting with hunger, you are a poor wandering sheep; but never mind, remember jesus looks with pity upon you, and he will heal your sickness in the sacrament of penance, and feed you with his own body and blood. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------- sermon li. _gather up the fragments that remain, lest they he lost._ --st. john vi. . it seems rather odd, does it not, my brethren, that our divine lord should have been so particular about saving all the broken bits of those loaves and fishes? he had just worked a wonderful miracle, and he could have repeated it the next day without any difficulty. when he or his apostles or the crowd who came to hear him were hungry, he had nothing to do but to say the word, and they could all have as much to eat as they wanted. why, then, be so particular about hunting up all the crusts of bread and bits of fish that were lying round in the grass? perhaps you will say: "it was to show what a great miracle he had worked; to show that, in spite of their all having dined heartily, there were twelve basketfuls of scraps left over--much more than they had to start with." i do not think that was it. the greatness of the miracle in feeding five thousand men on five loaves and two fishes was plain enough. at any rate, that was not the reason that he himself gave. { } he said: "gather them up, _lest they be lost_." "well, then," a prudent housekeeper would say, "the reason is plain enough. it was to teach us economy--not to let anything go to waste; to save the scraps, and make them up into bread-puddings and fish-balls." i know you do not think that was it. most people who are not forced to this kind of economy are apt to turn up their noses at it, and connect it in their minds with a stingy disposition, which they very rightly think is not pleasing to god. but, after all, i don't see what it could very well have been but economy that our lord meant to teach. i don't see what other meaning you can get out of his command to gather up the fragments, that they might not be lost. if that does not mean economy, what does it mean? no, my brethren, economy, or a saving spirit, is not such a contemptible thing when rightly understood. there may be stinginess with it, but stinginess is not a part of it. economy, rightly understood, is setting a proper value on the gifts of god. yes; what comes from him--and everything does--is too valuable to be thrown away. to despise his gifts is very much like despising him. and besides, there is not, in fact, an unlimited supply of them, though there might be. he might have fed his followers in that miraculous way every day; but he only did so twice in his life. our lord, then, did mean, i think, to set us an example of economy. practise it as he did, my brethren. prize god's gifts, whatever they may be; do not waste them. but especially his spiritual gifts; for they are infinitely more precious than the material ones. don't count on having a future extraordinary supply of them. { } you have got enough to save your souls now, and to sanctify them, if you will only make use of it. you have got the faith, the sacraments, and the word of god. you don't need to have any one rise from the dead to convert you. our lord tells us that a certain rich man who was in hell wanted to go back to earth and appear to his brothers, that they might take warning by his example. he was told that it was not necessary; that they had moses and the prophets. well, you have got a great deal more. you know just as well what you must do to save your souls, and even to become saints, as if you had been beyond the grave yourselves. don't expect more yet. save up your spiritual gifts, my brethren; you have got plenty now, but you do not know how much more you will get. when god gives you any grace make the most of it; perhaps it will be the last you will have. bring back to your minds what you have heard, and the good thoughts and purposes which the holy ghost has given you; serve up the spiritual feasts you have had, not only a second time, but over and over again. make what you have got go as far as possible, and your souls will grow stout and strong. wait for unusual graces like a mission or a jubilee, and they will be thin and weak all the time. be economical, especially in spiritual things; that is a very important lesson of the gospel of to-day. ---------------- { } _passion sunday_. epistle. _hebrews ix_. - . brethren: christ being come a high-priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation: neither by the blood of goats, nor of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the holies, having obtained eternal redemption. for if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of christ, who by the holy ghost offered himself unspotted unto god, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living god? and therefore he is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death, for the redemption of those transgressions, which were under the former testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. john viii_. - . at that time: jesus said to the multitude of the jews: which of you shall convince me of sin? if i say the truth to you, why do you not believe me? he that is of god, heareth the words of god. therefore you hear them not, because you are not of god. the jews, therefore, answered and said to him: do not we say well that thou art a samaritan, and hast a devil? jesus answered: i have not a devil; but i honor my father, and you have dishonored me. but i seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. amen, amen, i say to you: if any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever. the jews therefore said: now we know that thou hast a devil. { } abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: if any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever. are thou greater than our father abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. whom dost thou make thyself? jesus answered: if i glorify myself, my glory is nothing. it is my father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your god. and you have not known him, but i know him. and if i shall say that i know him not, i shall be like to you, a liar. but i do know him, and do keep his word. abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad. the jews therefore said to him: thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen abraham? jesus said to them: amen, amen, i say to you, before abraham was made, i am. they took up stones therefore to cast at him. but jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple. ----------------------- sermon lii. _but jesus hid himself_. --st. john viii. . thick and fast, dear brethren, the shadows of the great week begin to fall upon us. only a few more days and it will be palm sunday, the first day of holy week. to-day we are left, as it were, alone. the crucifix, with its figure of the dead, white christ, is veiled; the dear, familiar faces of the blessed virgin and st. joseph are veiled also; and even the saints before whom we were wont to kneel are all hidden behind the purple veil of passion-tide. not till good friday will jesus look upon us again, not till holy saturday will the blessed virgin, st. joseph, and the saints once more come forth to our view. we are, then, alone by ourselves. god wants us to stand up before him just as we are. jesus has hidden his face for a while. { } the crucifix has bidden you good-by. in what state were you last night when devout hands veiled the figure of christ? will you ever look upon the old, familiar crucifix again? it may be, before the purple veil is lifted from this cross, you will have looked upon the face of christ in judgment. o brethren! to-day the face of jesus is hidden. may be the last time you looked upon it you were in mortal sin, and are so still. when and how shall you look upon it again? if you live till good friday you will see it then held aloft by the priest, and afterwards kissed by all the faithful. if you die before then, and die, as you may, without warning or preparation, then you will look upon the face of christ upon the judgment seat, then you will hear the awful words: "depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." or perhaps--and may god grant it!--you will next see the face of jesus in the person of his priest in the confessional, and there it will be turned upon you in mercy and forgiveness. there are some of you, i know, who are as _dead men_. there are some of you who, even up to this late hour, are holding out against grace. still in mortal sin! i point you to the veiled christ. i ask you, here in the sacred presence of god, i ask you in the most solemn manner, when and how will you look upon his face again? he has bidden you good-by to-day, he has said farewell, and as he said it he saw that you were a blasphemer, a drunkard, an adulterer, a slanderer, a creature full of pride, full of sloth, full of all kinds of sin. oh! say, shall he still find you so when he returns? say, when he is uncovered on good friday can you, dare you add to his grief by still being what you are now? and to us all, even the most devout, this lesson of the veiled crucifix ought not to pass unheeded. { } christ has gone from us to-day! how will he come back to us? all torn and bloody, all thorn-scarred, all spear-pierced, nailed to the cross, and all for love of us! we, too, brethren, who are trying to walk strictly in the narrow path--we, too, may ask ourselves. when and how shall we see him again? perhaps before good friday, ay, perhaps even before our hands can grasp the green palm-branch of next sunday, we may see the unveiled face of our beloved. are we afraid of that? oh! no. we have loved the face of suffering too well to dread the face of glory. we only expect to hear from his lips words of love and welcome. brethren, there is a day coming when all veils shall be lifted. there is a time nearing us when all must look upon the face that died on calvary's mount. on that day and at that time will take place the great unveiling of the face of christ: i mean the day of general judgment. o solemn, o awful thought for us to-day before the veiled image of our lord! may be the judgment day will come before that light veil is lifted from the well-known crucifix. great god! our next good friday may be spent either in heaven or in hell. go home, brethren, with these thoughts fixed deeply in your hearts. come here often to pray. if you have sins come here and confess them; and often and often as we turn to the veiled christ, let us most devoutly cry: "jesus, when and how shall we look upon thy face again?" rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------------ sermon liii. under the false accusations of the jews how calm and self-possessed our lord remains! { } he does not return passion for passion, anger for anger, accusations for accusations, violence for violence; but he meets calumny with the assertion of truth, and confounds his enemies by humility and meekness. they accuse him of sin; with the sublime simplicity of a pure conscience he dares them to convince him of sin. they call him names: "thou art a samaritan"; to so evident a falsehood he deigns no reply. blinded by anger, they accuse him of being possessed: "thou hast a devil"; a simple denial, "i have not a devil," the leaving of his own glory to his father, the assertion of his divine mission, is the answer to the blasphemous calumny. "now we know thou hast a devil," repeat they, waxing more passionate; but, unimpassioned, jesus rises above their rage to the calm heights of the godhead, and affirms his eternal generation. finally, losing all control of themselves, they take up stones to cast at him; but he quietly goes out of the temple and hides himself, for his hour--the hour when he would bear in silence the accusations and indignities of man, and allow himself to be led to slaughter--had not yet come. in this our saviour teaches us how we should behave when the passions of others fall upon us and we are made the butt of accusations, just or unjust. in such circumstances what is generally your conduct? by no means christian, i am afraid, but very worldly; for the world counts it true valor and justice to give tit for tat, to take tooth for tooth and eye for eye. do you not give back as good--and often worse--than you get? prudence, let alone christianity, should dictate to you quite another conduct. { } your counter-accusations do but strengthen and confirm the calumny; they allow it to stand, "you're another" and "you're no better" are poor arguments to clear yourselves. it's a flank movement that does not cover your position, a feint that does not save you from attack. the answering of a question by asking another question is a smart trick, but no answer. a calm denial, if you could make it, or dignified silence would do the work more surely and thoroughly. and so the fight of words goes on in true billingsgate style; to and fro they fly thick and hot, hotter and hotter as passion rises on both sides. "one word brings on another," until white heat is reached and all control of temper lost. then, as the jews ended with stones, so you perhaps come to more serious passion than mere words. the result is quarrels, deadly feuds, bodily injuries, and worse, may be--bloodshed and the jail. a cow kicked a lantern in a stable, and chicago was on fire for days. some frivolous accusation that you pick up, while you should let it fall, starts within you a fire of anger that makes a ruin of your whole spiritual life and throws disorder all around you; families are divided; wife and husband sulk, quarrel, live a "cat and dog" life; friends are separated, connections broken. peace flies from your homes, your social surroundings, your own hearts; the very horrors of hell are around you. christian charity has been wounded to death, and the slightest of blows, the lightest of shafts has done it. all for the want of a little patience and self-possession! how often we hear it said: "oh! i have such a bad temper; i'm easily riz, god forgive me! i've a bad passion entirely." well, my dear brethren, learn from this gospel how you should control yourselves, how you should possess your souls in patience. { } one-half the sins of the world would be done away with, if only the lesson of this gospel were laid to heart and put into practice. what is the lesson? firstly, never seek self-praise in self-justification. jesus turns aside the calumny of the jews, but leaves the glorifying of himself in the hands of his father, "who seeketh and judgeth." secondly, pay no attention to accusations that are absurd, evidently untrue, and frivolous. when jesus is called names and is made out to be what every one knows he was not--"a samaritan"--he makes no answer. thirdly, if serious calumny, calculated to injure your usefulness in your duties and state of life, assail you, it then becomes your right, and sometimes your duty, to repel the calumny, as jesus did when he was accused of "having a devil." but in this case your self-justification, like that of our saviour, should ever be calm, dignified, and christian. it should be a defence, never an attack. the true christian parries, he does not give the thrust; he shields himself from the arrows of malice, he does not shoot them back. superior to revenge, he pities enemies for the evil they do; he forgives them and prays for them, as our lord has commanded. this is christian charity, and christian humility as well. but as it avails little to know what we should do, if we have not god's grace to enable us to do it, let us often say, especially in temptations to impatience: "o jesus, meek and humble of heart! make me like unto thee." ---------------------------- { } sermon liv. why is to-day called passion sunday, my brethren? there does not seem to be any special commemoration of our lord's sacred passion in the mass, as there is next sunday, when the long account of it from st. matthew's gospel is read; and most people, i think, hardly realize that to-day is anything more than any other sunday in lent. but if you look into the matter a little more you will notice a great change which comes upon the spirit of the church to-day, and remains during the two following weeks. the preface of the mass is not that of lent, but that of the cross; the hymns sung at vespers and at other times are about the cross and our lord's death upon it; and all the way through the divine office you will see evident signs that the church is thinking about this mystery of the cross, the commemoration of which is consummated on good friday. and if you look about the church this morning you will see the pictures all veiled, to tell us that during these two weeks we should think principally of our lord's suffering and humiliation; that we should, as it were, for a while forget his saints and everything else connected with his glory. and even the cross itself is concealed, for it is after all a sign of triumph and victory to our eyes; it is waiting to be revealed till good friday, when the sacrifice shall be accomplished and the victory won. to-day, then, is called passion sunday because it is the opening of this short period, from now till easter, which the church calls passion-time. { } what practical meaning has this passion-time for us, my brethren? it means, or should mean, for us sorrow, humiliation, sharing in the passion of our lord. lent, all the way through, is a time of penance; but more especially so is this short season which brings it to a close. now, surely, is the time, if ever, when we are going to be sorry for our sins, when we cannot help thinking of what they have made our divine saviour suffer. now is the time to think of the malice and ingratitude of sin; to see it as it really is, as the one thing which has turned this earth from a paradise into a place of suffering and sorrow; to see our own sins as they truly are, as the only real evils which have ever happened to us, and to resolve to be rid of them for our own sake and for god's sake; for he has suffered for them as well as we. now is the time to go to confession, and to make a better confession than we have ever made before, or ever can make, probably, till passion-time comes round again. for now is it easier for us to be sorry for our sins, not only because we have everything to show us how hateful they are, but also because god's grace is more liberally given. he has sanctified this time and blessed it for our repentance and conversion. he calls us and helps us always to penance, but never so much as now. hear his voice, then, my brethren, and, in the words with which the church begins her office today: "to-day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts." do not obstinately remain in sin, and put off your repentance and confession to a more favorable time. there is no time nearly as good as this; this is the time which god himself has appointed. { } you must make your easter duty, if you would not add another terrible sin to the many which you have already made our lord bear for you; make it now before easter comes. take your share now in the passion, that you may have your share of the easter joy. and there is another reason why you should come now to confession; for there is another unusual grace which god now offers you--the grace of the jubilee, which you heard announced last sunday. now, a jubilee is not a mere devotion for those who frequent the sacraments; it is a call and an opportunity for those who have neglected them. i beg you not to let it be said that you have allowed this opportunity to go by. come and give us some work to do in the confessional; the more the better. we will not complain, but will thank you from the bottom of our hearts. the best offering you can make to your priests, as well as to the god whose servants they are, is a crowded confessional and a full altar-rail at this holy passion-time. ------------------- { } _palm sunday._ epistle. _philippians ii._ - . brethren: let this mind be in you, which was also in christ jesus: who being in the form of god, thought it not robbery himself to be equal with god: but debased himself, taking the form of a servant, being made to the likeness of men, and in shape found as a man. he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. wherefore god also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name: that in the name of jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and in hell. and that every tongue should confess that the lord jesus christ is in the glory of god the father. gospel. _st. matthew xxvii._ - . and the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priests and the pharisees came together to pilate, saying: sir, we have remembered that that seducer said, while he was yet alive: after three days i will rise again. command therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until the third day: lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people, he is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. pilate said to them: you have a guard; go, guard it as you know. and they departing, made the sepulchre sure with guards, sealing the stone. ----------------------------- { } sermon lv. _behold thy king cometh to thee meek._ --st. matthew xxi. . through humility and suffering to exaltation and glory--that is the way our lord went to heaven, dear brethren, and that is the way we must go if we wish to follow him. to-day is palm sunday, the day on which our lord rode in triumph to begin his passion. yes, in triumph; but what an humble one! he rode upon a lowly beast; there were no rich carpets spread along the way, only the poor and well-worn garments of the apostles and of the multitude thrown together with the boughs and branches torn from the wayside trees. all was humble, and doubly so if we think that he was riding to his death. yes, brethren, those palm-branches were scarce withered, the dust had hardly been shaken from those garments, when the cross was laid upon his shoulders and the thorny crown pressed upon his brow. dear brethren, let us ask ourselves this morning if we want to go to heaven. do we want to be where jesus is now, and where he will be for all eternity? if we do we must follow him through suffering and humility to exaltation and glory. we must be content with little and short happiness in this world; for, as i have said, the triumph of palm sunday was short-lived indeed. what followed? jesus was brought before pilate. he was condemned to death, forsaken, set at naught, buffeted, mocked, spit upon. he, the innocent lamb of god, was scourged, stripped of his garments, crowned with thorns. then upon his poor, torn shoulders was laid a heavy cross, which he carried till he could no longer bear it. and, lastly, outside the city gates they nailed him to that same cross, and he died. but after that came the glory and the triumph--the glory of the resurrection; the triumph over sin, and death, and hell. { } brethren, we needs _must_ think of heaven to-day; the waving palms, the chanted hosannas, all speak to us of that delightful place. we cannot help thinking of that great multitude, clad in white robes and with palms in their hands, of whom st. john speaks, and of those others who cast down their golden crowns before the glassy sea. we want to reach that blessed place; we want to hear the sound of the harpers harping upon their harps; we want to hear the angels' songs and see the flashing of their golden wings; we want to gaze upon jesus and mary and all the heavenly host. but, brethren, not yet, not yet. see the long path strewn with stones and briers; see that steep mount with its cross of crucifixion at the top. that way must be trodden, that mountain scaled, that cross be nailed to us and we to it, or ever we may hear the golden harps or the angels' song. through humility and suffering to exaltation and glory. oh! let us learn the lesson well this holy week. let us learn it to-day as we follow jesus to prison and to death; let us learn it on holy thursday when we see him humble himself to the form of bread and wine; let us learn it on good friday when we kiss his sacred feet pierced with the nails. yes, let us learn the lesson and never forget it. heaven has been bought for you. heaven lies open to you: but there is only one way there, and that way is the way of suffering. so, then, brethren, when your trials come thick and fast; when your temptations seem more than you can endure; when you are pinched by poverty, slighted by your neighbors, forsaken--as it seems to you--even by god himself, then remember the way of the cross. remember the agony in the garden; remember the mount of calvary. { } grasp the palm firmly in your hand to-day; let it be in fancy the wood of the cross. cry aloud as you journey on: "through humility and suffering to exaltation and glory." keep close to jesus. onward to prison! onward to crucifixion! onward to death! onward to what comes afterwards! resurrection! reward! peace! rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------ sermon lvi. _he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross._ --philippians ii. . we are entering to-day, my dear brethren, on the great week, the holy week, as it is called, of the christian year--the week in which we commemorate the passion and death of our lord; and at this time our minds cannot, when we assist at the offices of the church, be occupied with any other thoughts than those which are suggested by his sufferings for our redemption. and surely there is enough to occupy them not only for one short week, but for all our lives. the passion of christ is a mystery which we can never exhaust, in this world or in the world to come. it is the book of the saints, and there is no lesson of perfection which we cannot learn from it. so we must needs look at it to-day only in part, and learn one of its many lessons; and let that be one suggested to us by the words of the text, taken from the epistle read at the mass: "he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." { } what is this lesson? it is that of humility, which is the foundation of all supernatural virtues, and yet the last one which most christians try to acquire. in fact, it would seem that many people, who are very good in their way, are rather annoyed than edified by the examples of humility that they find in the lives of the saints. it seems to them like hypocrisy when they read that the saints considered themselves the greatest sinners in the world. but it was not hypocrisy; they said what they really felt. they were not in the habit, as most people are, of noticing their neighbors' faults and making the most of them, and of excusing their own. so, though it was not really true that they were such great sinners when compared with others, it seemed to them that it was. and, moreover, they were willing that others should think them so. in that they differed very much from some whom you would think were saints. the real saints are willing to bear contempt; they are willing to be considered sinners, even in their best actions, as long as god's glory is not in question; and, what is really harder, though it ought not to be, they are willing to be considered fools. almost any one would rather be thought a knave than a fool. there are very few good people who like to be told of their faults; there are fewer still who like to be told of their blunders. now, it is with regard to this matter that we need specially to think of our saviour's example. he, who could not be deceived, could not believe himself to be a knave or a fool; but he consented that others should consider him so, to set us an example of humility. { } he was reckoned among sinners in his life as well as in his death; and he hid the treasures of his divine wisdom and knowledge under the appearance of a poor, simple man of the lower classes. but it was in his sacred passion that his humility is seen most plainly; he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; he, our lord and our god, suffered the most disgraceful punishment that has ever been devised for common criminals. there is the example, then, my brethren, for us poor sinners to follow. and the humility which we need most is nothing but the pure and simple truth. it is nothing but getting rid of the absurd notion that we are wiser and better than other people whom anybody else can see are our equals or superiors; for, strangely enough, it is always hardest to be humble when it is most clear that we ought to be. and depend on it, it is high time to set about acquiring this virtue; for, simple as it seems, to get even as much as this of it will take, for most of us, all our lives. ----------------- sermon lvii. i will say a few words to you this morning, my brethren, on the jubilee just proclaimed by our holy father. what is a jubilee? it is the proclamation of a great spiritual favor which may be obtained by any catholic in the world during a specified time. { } this spiritual favor is a special plenary indulgence which, if gained in a way that perfectly fulfils all the conditions and completely satisfies the intentions of the church, will surely wipe out not only all the actual sins one has committed in all his life before, but take away also all the temporal punishment one would have to undergo in this life or in purgatory on account of those sins, be they great or small. no wonder that all the children of the catholic church rejoice to hear such a favor proclaimed by their holy father, and that everybody is so anxious to partake of its benefits. what is to be done? just what the pope says, and in a way specially directed for his diocesans by each bishop. there are visits to be made to certain churches, and prayers to be said there. there is a fast to be observed on one day. there are alms to be given. there is confession to be made and holy communion to be received. and all to be done by or before next pentecost sunday. first. the visits. for this city there are three churches named by his eminence the cardinal--viz., st. patrick's cathedral, st. stephen's, and the church of the epiphany. each one of these three churches must be visited twice. all the visits may be made in one day or on different days, and one may, if he pleases, pay the two visits to the same church at once before going to another. second. prayers are to be said in the churches; and they ought, of course, to be devout ones, and offered for all the intentions laid down by the holy father. no particular prayers are prescribed. one can hear mass, or say the beads, or say five times the our father and hail mary, or one of the litanies; or any of these prayers will do. { } third. the fast. this may be in lent or after, on any day that meat is allowed. but on the day you choose for the fast you must also abstain from meat. fourth. the alms. the amount or kind is not prescribed, but is left to your own generosity. it may be in money, in food, or in clothing, and it may be given to an orphan asylum or other such charitable institution, or to build a church. it may be given when making the visits; and special alms-boxes will be found in those churches to be visited, into which the offering can be put. fifth. confession and communion; and both ought to be prepared for and made the very best one can. moreover, as one gains the more merit by doing actions in a state of grace, one will likely make the jubilee better if he begins by making a good confession. now is the time for great sinners to return to god and obtain his merciful forgiveness; for the pope has given special privileges to confessors, in order that they may absolve the hardest kind of cases. let no one, therefore, despair, nor think himself too hard a case. that is what the jubilee is for--to bring down the mercy and forgiveness of god upon this sinful generation. to ensure this the father of the faithful sets the whole catholic world together praying, and fasting, and giving alms, and confessing their sins, and making holy, devout communion, so as to take heaven by storm, as our lord said we might. "for the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away." what a sublime spectacle, which only the catholic church can show--two hundred and fifty millions of people all turning to god at once! no wonder the catholic church saves the world. { } look out that you are not found, in eternity, to be one of those whom she failed to turn to god, and lost for ever because you would not hear her instruction and counsel, nor be guided by her into the way of eternal life. ---------------- { } _easter sunday._ epistle. i _corinthians v_, , . brethren: purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new mass, as you are unleavened. for christ, our pasch, is sacrificed. therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. gospel. _st. mark xvi._ - . at that time: mary magdalen, and mary the mother of james and salome, bought sweet spices, that coming they might anoint jesus. and very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. and they said one to another: who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? and looking, they saw the stone rolled back, for it was very great. and entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. and he said to them: be not affrighted; ye seek jesus of nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here; behold the place where they laid him. but go, tell his disciples and peter that he goeth before you into galilee; there you shall see him as he told you. ----------------------- sermon lviii. _mary magdalen._ --st. mark xvi. . dear brethren, you have all felt the great contrast that there is between the awful rites of good friday and the joy of to-day. { } still fresh in your minds is the memory of the darkened church, the uplifted crucifix, the wailing of the reproaches. you remember, too, "the silence that might be felt" that reigned in god's temple on holy saturday. you can recall how still the church seemed yesterday at early morning, just as if some awful deed had been done there the day before; you may remember how unspeakably solemn seemed the silent procession to the porch to bless the new fire; how quiet and subdued all that followed. but suddenly a voice rang out into the darkness--the voice of the sacrificing priest at the altar; an "exceeding great cry" pierced the stillness, and instantly every veil fell; the sunlight streamed in through every window; chiming bells, pealing organ, and choral voices burst upon your senses; everything seemed to say, "he is risen! he is risen!" and we felt it was almost too much, almost more than the feeble human heart could bear and not break for very joy. if, then, this contrast is so marked and this joy so great after a lapse of eighteen hundred years and more, oh! what must have been the joy of the first easter day. the first crucifix bore no ivory or metal figure; it had nailed to it the flesh of the son of god. the first good friday was no commemoration of an event; it was the event itself. oh! then how great, how great beyond mind to imagine or tongue to tell, must have been the joy of the first easter. jesus had died, left all his beloved. he had been buried, and there he rested in the quiet garden. very early in the morning come mary magdalen and the other women to the tomb. the sun was just rising; the flowers of that blessed garden were just awaking; the dew-drops sparkled like rubies in the red sunrise; the vines and the creepers, fresh with their morning sweetness, hung clustering round the sacred tomb. { } to that spot the women hasten; the sun rises; she, mary magdalen, stoops down; her lord is not there, but lo! the great stone is rolled away; a bright angel sits thereon; other angelic spirits are in the tomb. the angel speaks: "he is risen; he is not here. behold, he goes before you to galilee. alleluia! alleluia!" the lord is risen indeed. and now, brethren, wishing you every joy that this holy feast can bring, i will ask the question. where or of whom shall we learn our easter lesson? we will learn it from her whose name, whose lovely, saintly name, forms the text of this discourse. in pointing you to mary magdalen, the great saint of the resurrection, i do but follow the mind of the church; for in today's sequence the whole universal church calls upon her, "_die nobis, maria, quid vidistis in via?_"--declare to us, mary! what sawest thou in the way? she saw the sepulchre of christ, in which were buried her many sins. in the way, the sorrowful way of the cross, she saw the passion of christ; in the way, the glorious way of the triumph of christ, she saw the glory of the risen one and the angel witnesses. oh! is not our lesson plain? like magdalen, let us see the sepulchre, and let us cast our sins in there. let us see the way of the cross and walk therein; let us see the glory of the risen one and the angel witnesses in the heavenly kingdom. o poor, repentant sinners! you who during lent have kissed the feet of jesus and stood beneath his cross in the confessional, what a day of joy, what a lesson of consolation comes to you! who was it upon whom fell the first ray of resurrection glory? { } who is it upon whom the great voice of the church liturgy, in the holy sacrifice, calls to-day? ah! it was and is upon the "sometime sinner, mary." joy! joy! for the forgiven sinner to-day. alleluia! alleluia! to you, blood-washed children of jesus christ; for she who saw the master first was once a sinner--a sinner like unto you. alleluia, and joy and peace, unto you all in jesus' name, and in the name of the redeemed and pardoned mary! alleluia, and joy and peace! whether you be sinner as she was, or saint as she became. alleluia, and joy and peace! for "christ our hope hath risen, and he shall go before us into galilee." alleluia, and joy and peace! for we know that christ hath risen from the dead. lord, we know that we are feeble and sinful, but lead, "conquering king," lead on; go thou before to the heavenly galilee. time was when we feared to follow; but she, "more than martyr and more than virgin"--she, mary magdalen, is in thy train, and, penitent like her, we follow thee. alleluia, and joy and peace, to young and old! alleluia, and joy and peace, to saint and pardoned sinner! for christ hath risen from the dead. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------ sermon lix. _he is risen._ --st. mark xvi. . this is easter sunday, and the heart of every christian is full of joy; for on this day the voice of god is heard assuring us that the dead can and will rise again to enter upon a new and never-dying life. to die is to suffer the most poignant grief, the greatest loss, the most grievous pain that man is called upon to endure. { } however long or sweet may be the pleasure of the draught of life, and health, and prosperity that one may drink, all must find this one bitter drop at the bottom of the cup. it is death; and if god himself did not tell us, how could we know but that it is the end of all? "but now christ is risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep." who says christ is risen again? god. how do we hear his voice of truth, which cannot deceive nor be deceived? we hear him when we hear the voice of his divine church, which he has made "the pillar and the ground of the truth." this is, then, her joyful and triumphant news to-day. all who die shall rise again from the dead, because our saviour, jesus christ, first of all rose from the dead, and promised that the change of a similar resurrection should come upon all mankind. and i say again that we know that to be true because the catholic church, the only divine voice there is in the world, assures us that it is true. bitter as death may be, the hope of the resurrection is its complete antidote. now i understand why the words, "a happy death," is so common a speech among catholics. it implies an act of faith in the resurrection, and a confidence that he who dies has not only prepared himself to die but also to rise again. this is an important reflection to make on easter sunday, for there is a resurrection unto eternal life and a resurrection unto damnation, which, compared to eternal life, is eternal death. a philosopher said: "happy is that man who, when he comes to die, has nothing left but to die." but the christian says: "happy is that man who, when he comes to die, leaves the world and all he has to do or might do in it, sure of a happy and glorious resurrection." { } all catholics believe that they will rise again from the dead, but i am free to say that many of them do not prove their faith by their works. they seem to think so much of this world, and give so much of their thoughts and words and actions to it, that certainly no heathen would imagine for a moment that they thought even death possible, or that there was any future state to get ready for. i wonder how any one of us would act or what we would be thinking about, if we were absolutely sure that in less than an hour's notice we would some day be called to be made a bishop or a pope, or a king or queen; or would be carried off to a desert island, and left there to starve and die without help. we do not believe either fortune likely to happen to any of us, therefore we do not prepare for it. alas! so many catholics do not prepare for the sudden call to rise to a glory and dignity far higher than that of any prelate or prince, or to sink to a miserable state infinitely worse than to starve and die on a desert island; and why not? i say the heathen would answer, because they do not believe that either fortune will be likely to happen to them. if they did their lives would prove their faith. now, i know i have set some of you thinking, and that has just been my purpose. have i a right to participate in the easter joy of to-day, or am i only making an outside show of it, while my conscience tells me i am a hypocrite? have i kept the commandments of god and of the church? have i made my easter duty, or resolved to make it? { } what kind of a life would i rise to on the day of resurrection, if i died to-night? what would jesus christ, my judge and saviour, find in me that looked like him, and therefore ought to give me the same glorious resurrection as he had? dear brethren, that is what he wants to find in us all. that is what he died to give us. that is what the holy spirit is striving hard to help every one of us to obtain. come, a little more courage, and let us rise _now_ from all that is deathly, or dead, or corrupt, or rotten in this life we are leading, and jesus will be sure to find in us what will fashion us unto the likeness of his own resplendent and divine resurrection to eternal life. ------------------- sermon lx. _christ, our pasch, is sacrificed. therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth._ -- corinthians v, , . there are none of us, my dear brethren, i am sure, who can fail on this easter morning to have something of the spirit of joy which fills the church at this time, and which runs through all her offices at this season. "this is the day that the lord hath made," she is continually saying to us; "let us rejoice and be glad in it." yes, we are all glad now; we all have something of the easter spirit, in spite of the troubles and sorrows which are perhaps weighing on us, and from which we shall never be quite free till we celebrate easter in heaven--in that blessed country where death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more; where god shall dwell with us, and he himself with us shall be our god. { } but what is the cause of our joy? is it merely that the season of penance through which we have just passed is over, that the church no longer commands us to fast and mortify ourselves? that may, indeed, be one reason, for there are certainly not a great many people who enjoy fasting and abstinence; but there should be another and a much better one. it should be that lent has not left us just where it found us; that we can say to-day not only that christ has risen, but that we also have risen with him. yes, my brethren, that is the joy that you ought to be feeling at this time. what is easter, or christmas, or any other feast of the church worth without the grace of god? it is no more than any secular holiday; merely a time for amusement, for sensual indulgence, and too often an occasion of sin. if you are happy to-day with any happiness that is really worth having, it is then because you have the grace of god in your souls, either by constant habits of virtue, or by a good confession and communion which you have made to-day or lately. it is now, as at the last day, only to those who are really and truly the friends of christ that he can say: "well done, good and faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord." for this is the day, the great day of his joy; and it is only by being united with him that you can share in it. this, then, is the desire which i have when i wish you to-day a happy easter, as i do with my whole heart: that if you have not made your easter duty, you will make it soon; and that if you have made it, you will persevere--that, having risen from the dead, you will die no more. { } it is the wish compared with which all others are as nothing; for the happiness of the world is but for a few short years, but the joy of the soul is meant to last for ever. and if you would have it, there is one thing above all which you must do--which you must have done, if you have made a really good communion. holy church reminds us of it in a prayer which is said today at mass, and which is repeated frequently through the easter season. this is to put away all that old leaven of malice and wickedness, that spirit of hatred and uncharitableness for your neighbor, which is so apt to rankle in your hearts. if you would be friends with god you must be friends with all his children. let there be no one whom you will not speak to, whom you would avoid or pass by. when there has been a quarrel one of the two must make the first advances to reconciliation; try to have the merit of being that one, even though you think, probably wrongly, that you were not at all in fault. this day, when we meet to receive the blessing of our risen saviour, is the day above all others for making friends. unite, then, with your whole hearts in this prayer of the church which i am now about to read at the altar, first translating it for you: "pour forth on us, lord! the spirit of thy charity, that by thy mercy thou mayest make those to agree together whom thou hast fed with thy paschal mysteries; through christ our lord. amen." ------------------------ { } _low sunday_. epistle. _st. john v_. - . dearly beloved: whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world; and this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that jesus is the son of god? this is he that came by water and blood, jesus christ; not in water only, but in water and blood. and it is the spirit that testifieth, that christ is the truth. for there are three that give testimony in heaven, the father, the word, and the holy ghost. and these three are one. and there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are one. if we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of god is greater. for this is the testimony of god, which is greater, because he hath testified of his son. he that believeth in the son of god, hath the testimony of god in himself. gospel. _st. john xx_. - . at that time: when it was late that same day, being the first day of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the jews, jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: peace be to you. and when he had said this, he showed them his hands, and his side. the disciples therefore were glad when they saw the lord. and he said to them again: peace be to you. as the father hath sent me, i also send you. when he had said this he breathed on them; and he said to them: receive ye the holy ghost. whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose you shall retain, they are retained. { } now thomas, one of the twelve, who is called didymus, was not with them when jesus came. the other disciples therefore said to him: we have seen the lord. but he said to them: unless i shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, i will not believe. and after eight days his disciples were again within, and thomas with them. jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: peace be to you. then he saith to thomas: put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not incredulous, but faithful. thomas answered, and said to him: my lord, and my god. jesus saith to him: because thou hast seen me, thomas, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. many other signs also did jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. but these are written that you may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god: and that believing you may have life in his name. -------------------------- sermon lxi. _unless i shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, i will not believe._ --st. john xx. . "it is no vain question," says father matthias faber, of the society of jesus, from whose writings this sermon is adapted--"it is no vain question whether we do not owe more to st. thomas, who was slow in believing the fact of christ's resurrection, than to the other apostles, who credited it instantly." then he goes on to quote st. gregory, who says that "the doubt of st. thomas really removed _all_ doubt, and placed the fact that our lord had really risen with his human body beyond all dispute." { } so today, following the good jesuit father, i am going to be st thomas. i shall hear from many of you something of this kind: "o father! i am so delighted: my wife or my husband, my son, my brother, my friend, has risen from the dead. he or she has been to confession, given up his bad habits, come again into our midst; has been to communion, has said, peace be to you, has altogether reformed and become good." ah! indeed. is that so? of course it is quite possible; but towards those whose resurrection you announce to me i am st. thomas this morning, and say to them: "unless i shall see in their hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into their side, i will not believe." in a word, i will not believe that any of you have risen from the dead, i will not believe that you have come out of the grave of mortal sin, unless i see in you the signs of a former crucifixion. first, i want to see the print of the nails. i want to see in your hands and feet--that is, in your inclinations and passions--the print of the nails that the priest drove in, in the confessional. i want to see that these hands strike no more, handle no more bad books, pass no more bad money, write no more evil letters, sign no more fraudulent documents, are stretched forth no more unto evil things, raised no more to curse. i want to see these hands lifted in prayer, stretched out to give alms, extended in mercy, busy in toiling for god and his church. i want to see these hands smoothing the pillows of the sick, giving drink to the thirsty, food to the hungry, and raiment to the naked. i want to see the print of the nails, or i will not believe. these feet, too--i must see them bearing you to the confessional regularly, taking you to mass, carrying you to benediction, bent under you in prayer. { } in a word, i must see in you the signs of a true conversion, or i will not believe that you have really risen from the death of sin. then, like st. thomas, i must "put my finger into the place of the nails." that is, when you are taken down from the cross, when, as it were, you have persevered for quite a while in god's service, i want at any time to be able to assure myself that the wound is really there. i want to be sure that those old charlatans, the world and the flesh, haven't been round and healed those wounds with their salve of roses, their pleasures of life, and their elixir of youth. i want to know for certain that you have, by god's grace, raised your body from the grave, having first nailed it to the cross, and to be sure that it is the same body. i want to put my finger into the scars of crucifixion. lastly, i want to put my hand into your side to see if the heart is wounded. i want to see if there is true contrition there. i want to find out if the old designs, the old loves, the old plans are driven out; i want to find out if that heart has really upon it the scar of the spear of god. o brethren! to say, "i have risen with christ," is an easy thing; for others to tell the priest that you are truly converted presents no difficulty; but i am st. thomas, and i want to _see_ the wounds. then what a consolation for the priest if he can perceive plainly the print of the nails, put his hand into the place of the nails, and put his hand into the side! then, like st. thomas, he can cry: "my lord and my god." for in the truly crucified and converted sinner he can see clearly the work of the almighty. ah! then, brethren, strive to crucify your flesh every day; strive to know nothing but jesus, and him crucified. { } try to bear about in your bodies the "stigmata of the lord jesus," for they will be your best credentials on earth and your brightest glory in heaven. rev. algernon a. brown. --------------------- sermon lxii. _for this is the charity of god, that we keep his commandments._ -- st. john v. . we have in these words the infallible test of a true christian life. he alone truly loves god who keeps his commandments. i once heard of a man who used to get down on his knees every morning and recite the ten commandments as a part of his morning prayers. i believe that that man's religion was practical. he certainly had in his mind the right idea of what religion meant. we are apt to keep the commandments too much in the background. true, we have them and know them well enough, but they don't shine out in our lives as they should. here is a man that prays, but don't pay his honest debts. here is another that always goes to mass, but has the habit of cursing. another is honest and just with his neighbors, but, as everybody knows, gets drunk. people sometimes talk about the difficulties of having faith; but this is not where the trouble lies. the real struggle and conflict of religion is to correct the morals of men. true religion insists upon the keeping of the commandments, and that is why it is so repugnant to men. faith is easy to the virtuous; if men wished to be moral there would be no difficulties about faith. we sometimes hear people say: "your religion is a perfect tyranny." yes, if you choose to call the ten commandments tyranny. { } this is the only tyranny that i have ever found. i think, also, that every catholic will testify that these ten commandments are what really make religion hard, and that if these could only be set aside men would never complain of its being hard. i never heard of a catholic who was willing to keep the ten commandments who thought that anything else connected with his religion was hard. here we have, then, in a nutshell, the whole secret of the opposition of men to the true religion; but, inconsistent as it may seem and really is, men, while they hate, have yet to admire what they hate. an apostate monk may set himself up as a reformer and talk about "justification by faith alone," but the world laughs at such nonsense. it trembles, though, when it hears our lord say: "every tree, therefore, that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire." "if any man loves me he will keep my commandments." this pretended reformer, doctor martin luther, who called that wonderful epistle of st. james, in which we are taught that "faith without good works is dead," "an epistle of straw," proved, however, to the world by his own life that it was this straw of being obliged to keep the commandments which broke his back, as it has broken the backs of so many others. but people do not have to leave the church to be thus broken, for we have in the bosom of the church, also, those who try to have piety without morality; but they are the hypocrites, the sham followers of christ. they will some day, unless they speedily change their lives, hear our lord saying to them: "i never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." ah! may we not some of us have good reason to fear that we shall one day be judged as hypocrites? { } the bankrupt merchant is afraid to look at his books, and trembles at the thought of attempting to calculate his liabilities; so those false christians dare not look at the law of god to examine their lives by it. but, to their shame and grief, the day of reckoning will come. the devil may whisper to such, "soul, take thy ease," but, thank god! there is the voice of god's church, which will not allow us to delude ourselves. if we catholics go to hell it will be with our eyes wide open. the waves of passion can never drown that voice. it will always tell us of our sins, and will never let us be content in being hearers of the law, unless we are also doers. this is the way which is certainly pointed out to us; "and it shall be called the holy way." ----------------------- sermon lxiii. _jesus came, and stood in the midst, and said to them, peace be to you._ --st. john xx. . in spite of there being so much fighting in the world, i think, my brethren, that there are not many of us who really like it for its own sake, or who would not rather have peace. of course we are not willing to sacrifice everything for it; we do not want peace at any price. we do not want the peace of slavery--that which comes from being beaten. we want an honorable one--that which comes from having had the best of our adversary in a just war. { } there is another kind of peace besides these two. it is that which comes from being let alone. but that is something which is not intended for us in this world. somebody will always be interfering with us; if nobody else does, the devil, at any rate, will be sure to do so. no, arrange it as we may, our life will always be full of annoyances and conflicts, both from without and from within. and this kind of peace was not what our lord wished and gave to his apostles on that glorious day when he arose from the dead. he knew very well that they, of all men in the world, were not going to be let alone. they were going to be put in the very front of the battle. not only their neighbors but the whole world was going to rise up against them; and satan, with his infernal host, was going to single them out as the special objects of his hatred and vengeance. no, the peace which our lord gave to his apostles was not this, but that which comes from victory. and that is the peace which he wishes us also to have. over whom, then, are we going to be victorious? in the first place, over the devil and all his temptations. many christians, i am sorry to say, make the opposite kind of peace with the devil--that is, the peace of slavery; one which they would be ashamed to make with anybody else. should they be tempted by him to impurity, drunkenness, hatred, or blasphemy, they give in and strike their colors at once. being tempted and sinning are all the same thing to them. well, they have peace in a certain way by this; that is, the devil, when he finds what miserable and cowardly soldiers of christ they are, does not trouble himself much about them. he feels pretty sure of them; they are his prisoners of war, and it is for his interest to treat them well as long as they are in this world. { } yes, if you want to make peace with the devil you can surrender to him at once. but shame, i say, on such a peace as this! it is a base, contemptible, and cowardly one, and it will not last long. satan only waits for this life to be over to satisfy all his malice and hatred on those he now seems to love. but you may have, if you will, the peace and satisfaction of victory over him. make up your mind to have it--to have it every time he tempts you. it is not so hard as you think; it is easy by the merits of our lord's sacred passion, which are at your command. he showed this to his apostles on that first easter day, when he said to them: "peace be to you." he showed them his hands and his side, bearing those glorious wounds, the marks and the pledge of victory. and you can also have the peace of victory over all others who trouble you in this world, however unjust and strong they may be. how? why, in the same way as our lord and his apostles had it. not by fighting with them, and giving back as good as you get--no, but by giving much better than you get; by doing them all the good you can. evil is not to be conquered by evil, but by good. "love your enemies; do good to them that hate you"; that is what the eternal wisdom has said; that is the way to have victory and peace, not only in the next world but also in this; and the sooner you believe it and act on it the happier will you be. ----------------------- { } _second sunday after easter._ epistle. _st. peter ii._ - . dearly beloved: christ has suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly. who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. for you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the pastor and bishop of your souls. gospel. st john x. - . at that time: jesus said to the pharisees: i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. but the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own sheep they are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep, and flieth; and the wolf snatcheth and scattereth the sheep: and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. i am the good shepherd: and i know mine, and mine know me. as the father knoweth me, and i know the father; and i lay down my life for my sheep. and other sheep i have, that are not of this fold: them also i must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. --------- { } sermon lxiv. _i am the good shepherd._ --st. john x. . it is not requisite for me to prove to you, dear brethren, that our lord was and is, in every sense, the "good shepherd," nor is it my intention to speak of him this morning in that character. i want to bring this fact before your minds--namely, that although the "great shepherd and bishop of our souls" has gone from us, yet he has left other authorized pastors to take charge of his flock. the pope is a shepherd, the bishops are shepherds, and, to bring it down close to you, the priests of god's church are shepherds. you and your children are the sheep and the lambs of christ's flock; we are your shepherds appointed by jesus christ to feed you, to watch over you, to keep you in the fold, to check you when you want to go astray. now, then, every priest can say, "i am the good shepherd." and what does a good shepherd do? first, he tends his flock with care; and, secondly, he derives from it his means of support. now, brethren, the priest's duty is to watch over and care for you; and that he does so you will not deny. he must hear your confessions, give you holy communion, come to you when you are ill, administer the sacraments to you, advise you, preach to you, instruct you, shield you from the wolves and seek you when you are lost, and often serve you at the risk of his own life. now, the priest does all these things, not because he is paid, not because the people hire him and pay him a salary, but _simply_ and _solely_ because he is the good shepherd; because it is his mission, his office to do so; because he is placed over you by authority. { } now, it follows from this that it is your duty to be fed, to be kept in the fold, to be checked when you are going wrong, to hear his voice and obey him. i am afraid some don't understand this. how is it we hear of milk-and-water catholics going to be married before magistrates, or, what is worse, before ministers of a false religion? how is it that we find catholics denying their faith and going to a protestant place of worship for the sake of a little food and clothing? the priest has god's own authority; you are the sheep. the priest has you in charge. god does not come and ask you if you would like a shepherd; he places one over you, and that he may guide you, and not that you may guide him. i say this for the benefit of those who are always talking about their priests, always picking holes in the conduct of their pastors. such people forget their position, forget their obligations, and make themselves appear very ignorant, much wanting in faith, and very impertinent. again, the shepherd lives by his flock; so the priest must be supported by the people. a priest has a body as well as you have, and he can't live on air or on shavings. then he wants to build and keep in repair god's temples. he wants money to build schools and support them; he wants money to feed and clothe the poor. he wants money because it is your _duty_ to give it; for one of the laws of the church is, "to pay tithes to your pastors." often, too, it is a great kindness for us to accept some of your worldly riches, which otherwise would, perhaps, prevent your entry into heaven. we can do with the riches what the shepherd does with his wool: make clothes for the naked and destitute, exchange what we get for building and decorating god's church, and a hundred other things of which you, the sheep, and your children, the lambs of christ's flock, will get the heavenly merit and the everlasting profit. { } oh! then, brethren, have faith, try always to cling to the priest as the good shepherd, so that at the last day we may call you all by name, and find that of the little flock of sheep and lambs not one is missing. rev. algernon a. brown. -------------- sermon lxv. _christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps_. -- st. peter ii. . the holy church is not going to let us forget the cross, my brethren, even in this joyous easter season. there is a prayer, or commemoration of the cross, which she orders to be said in the divine office even more frequently now than during the rest of the year; and here in the epistle of to-day she warns us that we all must take up our cross as our lord took his, if we would have a share in the triumph which we now celebrate. "christ," says st. peter, "left us an example that we should follow in his steps." st. peter had not forgotten those words which his master after his resurrection spoke to him on the shore of the sea of galilee: "do thou follow me." he tried to do it; and he did follow his lord in a life of toil and suffering, ended by a painful death on the cross like to that which his saviour had borne. he followed the example which had been set him; he believed what he says in this epistle of his, and acted on it. how is it with us? { } many christians seem to imagine that our lord, by his resurrection, took away, or ought to have taken away, all trouble from the earth. they cannot understand how it is that in this redeemed world, whose sins his blood has expiated, the cross still keeps coming down on them at every turn. they honor the cross, and are grateful for the redemption which it has brought them; but even when they kiss it on good friday they do not understand that they have got to take it, embrace it, and bear it themselves. and yet that is the fact. the cross is to free us from eternal suffering, but not from that which passes away. our lord did not suffer in order that we might have no suffering at all, but that we might be able to bear our sufferings better, and to bear greater ones than we could otherwise have borne. he might have redeemed us without suffering as he did; but one of the reasons why he did not choose to was that we, the guilty, to whom the cross belongs, may bear it cheerfully when we see him who was innocent taking it on his shoulders. but why did not our lord suffer enough to free us from suffering at all? i think there are not many who are ungenerous enough to ask such a question plainly, though it seems to be in a great many people's minds. well, i will tell you why he left us a share of his cup. it was for the same reason that he took his own share: it was because he loved us, and chose what was for our best good. and he knew it was better for us to be saved through our own sufferings as far as possible. { } they could not be enough of themselves; so he did what was enough, and then enough more to bring down our own share to just what we could make the best use of with his grace and by his example. that is the reason, then, why the cross is left in the world. try to see it and acknowledge it yourselves; that is better than to have the cross meeting you as a strange and unaccountable thing. for it will meet you at easter as well as at other times of the year; even when you are happiest there will always be some cloud in your sky. there will never be any real and true easter for you till you shall, like your redeemer, have exchanged this temporal life for that which is eternal. but do not be too much in a hurry for that time. he knows best how much suffering is good for you. count it a joy and an honor that he has thought you worthy to follow in his steps, and thank him for the example which he has given you to help him to do so, as well as for his merits which he has also given you that your following might not be in vain. --------------- sermon lxvi. _and other sheep i have that are not of this fold; them also i must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd._ --st. john x. . if we only knew how much our lord loves those "other sheep" who are not in the one true fold, we should think and act differently from what we do towards them. as we look upon the sacred image of our divine lord upon the cross, we behold his arms and hands stretched to their utmost extent to embrace the whole world. { } he is the second adam, who came to undo the work of the first adam; and as the terrible consequences of the first transgression have extended to _all_ men without exception, so, also, to repair this evil which has come upon all men it was necessary that the grace of salvation should be offered to _all_ without exception. and from this we may infer that god does not simply will that men should be saved, but that he actually gives to every man that is born sufficient grace to accomplish this great work. but are those who stay outside of the one fold in the way to use this sufficient grace? certainly they are not, or our lord never would have said: "them also i must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." no one, therefore, can be said to be in the way of salvation who stays outside of the one true fold of the catholic church. we cannot, of course, know what extraordinary means of grace god may use for those who are ignorant of the church, yet we do know with perfect certainty that the catholic church, with its doctrine, sacraments, and other means of grace, is the only divinely-established means of salvation for all men. knowing, then, that our divine lord, inasmuch as he died for all men, wills to bring all men into the one true fold, where they may be under one shepherd, we must feel it to be our duty, if we have the love of christ in our hearts, by our prayers, words, and good example to bring the "other sheep" of whom our lord speaks so lovingly to the knowledge of this one fold. { } it is only a coldness of faith and charity which can make us look upon those who are outside of the church as if they were already where they ought to be, and where god wishes them to be, or make us think that it is a hopeless task to try to bring them into the true church. our lord has promised that they shall hear his voice. we know, then, that he will co-operate by his all-powerful grace with what we do for their salvation. our first duty is that of prayer for these "other sheep." every prayer that we offer up for the conversion of infidels and heretics will be heard, and will bring down upon them additional grace. prayer opened the hearts of the irish people, when they were in the darkness of paganism, to receive the true faith from st. patrick. in our own day, also, prayer has brought thousands of protestants and infidels into the true church. father ignatius spencer, of the order of passionists, was raised up by god to spread among the catholics of ireland and england the devotion of prayers for england, and we behold the results of these prayers in the great "oxford movement," which brought so many into the church and has opened the way for so many more conversions. can we ever by our words bring others into the church? yes. an explanation of some point of catholic doctrine, an invitation to come and hear a sermon, the lending of a catholic book, may be the means which god has chosen for the conversion of our protestant neighbor. "who knows," said st. alphonsus liguori, "what god requires of me? perhaps the predestination of certain souls may be attached to some of my prayers, penances, and good works." but, above all, by our good example we should lead others into the "one fold." "actions speak louder than words," but woe to us if our actions belie the truth of our faith! { } what shall we answer if accused before the tribunal of god by souls who would have known and have been saved by the truth but for our bad example? we must never forget, dear brethren, our duty towards those "other sheep" for whom our lord died just as much as he did for us. ----------------------- { } _third sunday after easter_. feast of the patronage of st. joseph. epistle. _st. peter ii._ - . dearly beloved, i beseech you as strangers and pilgrims to refrain yourselves from carnal desires, which war against the soul; having your conversation good among the gentiles; that whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, considering you by your good works they may glorify god in the day of visitation. be ye subject therefore to every human creature for god's sake; whether it be to the king as excelling, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of the good; for so is the will of god, that by doing well you may silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not as making liberty a cloak of malice, but as the servants of god. honor all men; love the brotherhood; fear god; honor the king. servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. for this is thankworthy, in christ jesus our lord. epistle of the feast. _genesis xlix._ - . joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall. but they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him. his bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed by the hands of the mighty one of jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of israel. { } the god of thy father shall be thy helper, and the almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. the blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of joseph, and upon the crown of the nazarite among his brethren. gospel. _st. john xvi._ - . at that tine: jesus said to his disciples: a little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me: because i go to the father. then some of his disciples said one to another: what is this that he saith to us: a little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me, and because i go to the father? they said therefore: what is this that he saith, a little while? we know not what he speaketh. and jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him; and he said to them: of this do you inquire among yourselves, because i said: a little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me? amen, amen i say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. a woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. so also you now indeed have sorrow, but i will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you. gospel of the feast. _st. luke iii._ - . at that time it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that jesus also being baptized and praying, heaven was opened: and the holy ghost descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon him: and a voice came from heaven: thou art my beloved son, in thee i am well pleased. and jesus himself was beginning about the age of thirty years: being (as it was supposed) the son of joseph. ---------------------------- { } sermon lxvii. our holy father, pope pius ix., as you know, dear brethren, has made his reign glorious by defining the dogma of the immaculate conception; thus placing in our dear lady's diadem the brightest gem that adorns it. he has further rendered his pontificate glorious by declaring the chaste spouse of mary immaculate, st. joseph, to be the patron of the universal church. when we celebrated the feast of st. joseph, on the th of last month, his statue was veiled by the hangings of passion-tide; but today his image is exposed to our gaze, and i have thought that this discourse cannot be better occupied than by considering how fitting it is that good st. joseph should be the patron of the universal church, and how great a devotion we should have towards him. st. joseph is a fitting patron for the rich and for those whom god has placed in the high positions and stations of this world; for let us never forget that st. joseph, although poor, was, by lineal descent, of the royal house of david. he was of high birth, of noble blood, and yet how humble, how willing to work for his living when it became necessary! so, then, here is a lesson for those who hold their heads high in the world. some day, dear friends, you may come down, you may be brought low. you may lose your money, lose position, lose your place in society. take example, then, from st. joseph. do not say like the unjust steward: "to dig i am unable, and to beg i am ashamed"; but remember that the fairest hands that ever were, and the noblest blood that ever flowed, are never disgraced by honest labor or necessary toil. { } st. joseph is a fitting patron also for the poor. he had to work hard. he had, for the safety of the divine child and his immaculate spouse, to take long and weary journeys. he had the pain of seeing jesus and mary turned from the doors of bethlehem, while those who had money were safely and comfortably lodged. yet he never complained, never murmured. he worked, and bore all the inconveniences of poverty without a word. is it so with you who are poor? don't you sometimes envy the rich, get discontented with your position, feel rebellious against the will of god? if so, i point you to st. joseph. he is your model. he is your example; strive to imitate him in all things. are you humiliated? bear it for christ's sake. are you punished by cold and hunger? bear it for christ's sake. are you weary after your day's labor? bear it, bear it all for christ's sake, as good st. joseph did. st. joseph, too, is a model for the married. he cared tenderly for the virgin mother and her divine child. he loved them, he guarded them. he is a model for the unmarried in his purity of life. he is a model for the priest, a model for the people, a model for the young, an example for the old. oh! then how wisely our holy father acted in making him patron of the universal church. but not only is st. joseph patron of the living, but also of the dying and the dead--of the dying, because he died in the arms of jesus and mary. beautiful death! the son of god at his side, the mother of god to support his dying form! brethren! we who are here to-day living will one day be dying. { } let us, then, pray st. joseph that he will obtain for us the grace of a happy death--the grace to die, as he died, in the arms of jesus and mary. then, no matter if flames devour us, or waters overwhelm us, or disease slays us, we shall be safe--safe, for the son of god will hold us by the hand; safe, for the mother of god will throw around an all-protecting mantle of defence. and, lastly, st. joseph is the patron of those who are dead and in purgatory. he waited long in limbo before he entered into the joy of heaven. separated from all he loved on earth, and seeing the pearly gates of heaven, not yet opened by the bloodshed of calvary, shut against him, oh! how great must his longing have been. ah! then i am sure st. joseph feels for and loves the holy souls in purgatory, who, like himself, have lost earth and not yet gained heaven. let us all, then, hasten to st. joseph to-day. let us pray for ourselves and others. let us pray for the living and pray for the dead. let us say: "o great patron of the whole church! look down from the loftiness of thy mountain to the lowliness of our valley; obtain for us to live like thee, to die like thee, and to reign _with_ thee in everlasting bliss." rev. algernon a. brown. -------------------- sermon lxviii. on this sunday, my dear brethren, the church celebrates every year the feast of the patronage of st. joseph. you have often heard it read out from the altar, you heard it just now; and yet i am afraid most of you might as well not have heard it, for all the impression it made on you. { } if you thought anything about the notice you probably thought that it was only something to interest the pious people, to let them know when to say their prayers and go to communion. if you did you made a great mistake. st. joseph is not a saint for pious people only, but for every christian. that is true of all the saints, but specially so of st. joseph. all the saints take an interest in all of us, however weak and imperfect, or even sinful, we may be; they all love us and care for us far more than our friends in this world. still, they have perhaps a particular care for some, as we have, or should have, a particular devotion to some of them as our patrons. but st. joseph is everybody's patron. that is what holy church means by inviting us all to celebrate this feast of his patronage, and by giving him the title, as she did only a few years ago, of patron of the universal church. he is the patron of the church in general and of each member of it in particular. what is a patron? the word has rather gone out of common use. well, it is a friend at court. a patron is one who has got influence and power to use for our advantage. if we want anything he is the one to get it for us. he is the man that you go to if you want to get an office or employment of any kind from the powers that be; and generally you will find it pretty hard to get a place, if you have not such a friend to go to. { } well, st. joseph is such a friend for all of us in the court of heaven, and that is the one where we all want to have an interest; for there is where all matters are really arranged, whether regarding heaven or earth. if you want anything whatever st. joseph is the one to go to, whether it be the most important thing of all--that is, the grace of final perseverance and salvation--or merely to pay your debts or save you from want. he will get you either one, though i do not know that he will get you the dollar, if you do not want the grace also. but you will say, perhaps: "i do not need st. joseph's help so much, for i have our blessed lady to go to; is not she more powerful even than he is?" well, i do not deny that, of course, nor that she is the best of all patrons. neither does the church; for she celebrates, as you know, the feast of our lady's patronage also. but i would not give much for your devotion to her, neither would she herself, unless you include st. joseph in it. you might as well try to separate her from her divine son as st. joseph from her. besides, you know the saints have what i may call their specialties. it is not, for instance, a superstition to ask the help of st. anthony of padua to find for us what we have lost. st. joseph has several specialties; and one of them, and one which i know you will think quite important, is the help which he will give to us in temporal necessities when we are hard pressed for money, or things seem in any way to be going very much against us. let me, then, suggest to you a very practical form of devotion to him. when anything goes wrong, instead of worrying about it and making it keep you from prayer, or even, perhaps, from holy mass, go to st. joseph about it; ask him to get you what you want or to relieve your from your trouble. he will do it for you, unless it be bad for your soul. { } perhaps you think this is all fancy. well, all i say is, just try, and you will see whether it is or not. you will find plenty of people who will tell you that what i say is true. but ask st. joseph to help your soul, too, for he does not want to have you neglect that. see if you cannot make the patronage of st. joseph, both temporally and spiritually, more of a reality to yourselves before another year has gone by. -------------------- sermon lxix. _be ye subject therefore to every human creature for god's sake._ -- st. peter ii. . if we stop to consider these words of the epistle, my dear brethren, they must certainly have a strange sound to us in this age of the world, and especially in this country, which makes liberty its great boast. many of us, i am afraid, in spite of their reverence for st. peter, who gives this instruction, would be tempted to say that this doctrine of his is a very curious one. "be subject to every human creature," indeed! why, on the contrary, in this free and enlightend republic, we do not acknowledge subjection to any one; we hold that every man is equal; we are all sovereigns and make laws ourselves--not subjects, obedient to laws made by others. we observe the laws of the land, it is true, but that is because they are arrangements made by the majority for the good of the nation, state, or city, and because we must have some sort of law if we are to have any kind of order. { } well, this creed, which some of you, perhaps, have adopted, may sound well enough in itself, but unfortunately it does not seem to agree very well with st. peter's inspired and infallible teaching. we must, if we are catholics, acknowledge that instead of claiming that no one has a right to control us, we ought, as he says, to "be subject to every human creature." the only thing, then, is to find out just what he means by this. does st. peter mean, then, that we must be willing to obey every human creature, every man, woman, or child that undertakes to command us? yes, there is no doubt that such is his doctrine. we must be _willing_ to obey every one; we must have a spirit of subjection and humility, not of superiority and pride. we must not think that we are too good or too wise to be commanded by any one, however bad or however foolish he may seem to be. we must have a desire to obey, not to command. but does st. peter mean that we actually must always obey every one, man, woman, or child, who chooses to command us? no, of course he does not mean that. we shall see what he does mean by bringing in the rest of the text. "be ye subject," he says, "to every human creature _for god's sake_." that is, be subject, as a matter of counsel, to every human creature, whenever we can suppose that creature to be speaking in the name of god; and as a matter of precept whenever we are sure that such is the case. { } the first is a counsel, as i said, to be followed by those who would be perfect; to mortify our own will and submit to the direction of others when it is not evidently wrong or foolish. but the second is a strict duty to be practised if we would be saved: to submit to the commands of those who certainly do speak in god's name, when their commands are not plainly wrong. and who are those who speak in god's name? first, they are those whom he has appointed to rule his church--your holy father the pope, the bishops, and your pastors. remember, when they speak to you they speak in the name of god; do not murmur against them, but obey cheerfully for his sake, whether their commands come to you directly or through others whom they appoint to duties connected with the church. secondly, they are those whom he has appointed to rule the state or nation. no state or nation can be governed except in the name of god. that is what st. paul says distinctly: "the powers that are," he says--and he was speaking of the heathen emperors--"are ordained of god. therefore he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of god. and they that resist purchase to themselves damnation." be submissive, then, to the authorities and officers of every degree and kind in the nation, state, or city, when you meet them in the discharge of their duty. though you may have chosen them yourselves, when they have been chosen they speak to you in god's name. lastly, those who rule in the family do so in the name of god. children should remember that when they disobey their parents it is god's commands they are disobeying, and that disobedience in any grave matter is a mortal sin. and servants--for such really are those who live out in families--should also bear in mind their duty of obedience for god's sake and as to god. "servants," says st. peter in this epistle, "be subject to your masters with all fear." { } yes, we should all fear to disobey lawful authority, because god has established it, not we ourselves. and we should also understand that only in obedience for god's sake is true liberty to be found. -------------------- { } _fourth sunday after easter._ epistle. _st. james i._ - . dearly beloved: every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of vicissitude. for of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creatures. you know, my dearest brethren, and let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger. for the anger of man worketh not the justice of god. wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of malice, with meekness receive the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. gospel. _st. john xvi._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: i go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: whither goest thou? but because i have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart. but i tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that i go: for if i go not, the paraclete will not come to you; but if i go, i will send him to you. and when he shall come, he will convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. of sin indeed: because they have not believed in me. and of justice: because i go to the father; and you shall see me no longer. and of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged. i have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. but when he, the spirit of truth, shall come, he will teach you all truth. for he shall not speak of himself: but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak, and the things that are to come he shall show you. he shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine, and will declare it to you. ----------------------- { } sermon lxx. _i tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that i go, ... but i will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you._ --st. john xvi. , . we all know, dear brethren, what place our lord was speaking about and to which he was soon to go. he was soon to leave his disciples and go to heaven. to that place we all hope to go also, that we may see him there, where, as he promises further on in the same discourse, our hearts shall rejoice, and where our joy no man shall take from us. now, there are three joys, it seems to me, which go to make up the happiness of heaven. first, we shall be consoled; second, we shall be satisfied; and, last and best of all, we shall see god. we shall be consoled for all the evils we have suffered in this world. oftentimes we have to fight pretty hard against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and we have received, perhaps, many a grievous wound in mind and heart. then, again, we have endured much sickness, experienced many a bitter pang, undergone many a heavy trial. once we are in heaven we shall be consoled for all these things there; our wounds will be healed, our sins forgiven, our hearts comforted. there we shall see the fruits of our penance, there we shall be solaced for all we have borne. he who leads his flock like a shepherd and carries the lambs in his bosom will come to us; he will fold us in his holy arms, and for evermore we shall be at peace. again, we shall be satisfied. here we love certain places and their surroundings; we love creatures; we love all that is beautiful. but we are not satisfied, for all these things either leave us or we are forced to leave them. { } now, in heaven exists all the beauty and loveliness of earth, only in a degree infinitely higher and fairer. there we shall have all things we can desire, and possess them without fear of change or loss. there we feel all the sweetness of prayer, all the delights of sensible devotion, all that the saints on earth felt when rapt in ecstasy, and more. here there is always something to disappoint us, something that makes us restless and uncomfortable. there everything will exceed our highest hopes, our best desires--in a word, in heaven, and in heaven alone, we shall be perfectly satisfied. then, lastly, o joy of joys! we shall see god. we shall see him face to face. we shall see the beauty of god. we shall behold his wisdom and his everlasting glory. yes, brethren, these poor eyes, that have shed so many tears, they shall see god. the poor eyes so weary from watch and vigil, so tired of looking up into heaven after jesus and mary, so sick of looking around on earth, so terrified from looking down into hell--these eyes shall see god. we shall gaze on all the blessed. we shall see jesus, and mary, and joseph. our eyes will look upon the golden pavement of the celestial streets, the gates of pearl, and the walls of amethyst. we shall see all the brightness and glory of heaven, for we shall see god. brethren, these joys are waiting for you. every baptized member of christ's mystical body has a right to a home in that land of peace! ah! then be careful, i pray you, not to lose the way. see where the standard-bearer leads! see the cross that he bears. oh! you all want to go to heaven, i am sure you do. there is only one thing that can keep you out, and that is mortal sin. { } stain your soul with mortal sin by grievous violation of any one of the commandments, and that is enough, should you die impenitent, to keep you for ever from being consoled, from enjoying eternal happiness, from seeing god. ah! then, brethren, walk in the narrow road. be faithful and loving children of the church, and then one day you will leave this poor, weary, sinful world and go to dwell for ever within the walls of the city of peace. rev. algernon a. brown. ----------------- sermon lxxi. _let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak._ --st. james i. . i think that every one of you, my dear friends, will agree with me that this would be a much happier world than it is if this recommendation of st. james, in the epistle of to-day, were carried out. for it is quite plain, i think, to every one of you that other people talk too much. if they would only say less, and listen more to what you have to say, things would go on much better. if they would only be swift to hear, but slow to speak, the world would get much more benefit from your wisdom and experience than is now the case. but, unfortunately, this general conviction, in which, i think, we all share more or less, does not tend to produce the desired result, but rather the contrary; for it makes everybody more anxious to speak and to be listened to, and more unwilling to listen themselves. we all want everybody except ourselves to keep st. james's rule, but do not set them a good example. { } so our example does harm, while our conviction does no good; and things are worse than if we did not agree with st. james at all. now, would it not be a good idea if each one would try, if it were only for the sake of good example, to be less willing to talk and more willing to listen? and perhaps, after all, even we ourselves do sometimes say a word or two which is hardly worth saying, or perhaps a great deal better unsaid. a story is told of a crazy man who, in some very lucid interval, asked a friend if he could tell the difference between himself and the people who were considered to be of sound mind. his friend, curious to see what he would say, said: "no; what is it?" "well," said the crazy man, "it is that i say all that comes into my head, while you other people keep most of it to yourselves." my friends, i am afraid the crazy man was about right, but he was too complimentary in his judgment of others. by his rule there would be a great many people in the asylum who are now at large. really, it seems as if it never occurred to some persons who are supposed to be in their right minds whether their thoughts had better be given to the world or not. out they must come, no matter whether wise or foolish, good or bad. yes, the madman, for once in his life, was pretty nearly right. one who talks without consideration, who says everything that comes into his or her head, is about as much a lunatic as those who are commonly called so; for such will have one day to give an account for all their foolish and inconsiderate words, long after they themselves have forgotten them. and to carelessly run up this account is a very crazy thing. { } a little instrument has lately been invented, as you no doubt have heard, which will take down everything you say; it is called the phonograph. it makes little marks on a sheet of tinfoil, and by means of these it will repeat for you all you have said, though it may have quite passed out of your own mind. there are a great many uses to which this little instrument may be put; but i think that one of the best would be to make people more careful of what they say. they would think before they spoke, if a phonograph was around. few people would like to have a record kept of their talk, all ready to be turned off at a moment's notice. it would sound rather silly, if no worse, when it was a day or two old. perhaps the phonograph will never be used in this way; but there is a record of all your words on something more durable than a sheet of tinfoil. this record is in the book from which you will be judged at the last day. our lord has told us that at that day we shall have not only to hear but to give an account for all the idle words spoken in our lives. should not, then, this thought restrain our tongues, and make us rather be swift to hear than to speak?--more especially as it is generally only by hearing that one can learn to speak well. but what should you be swift to hear? not the foolish or sinful talk of others no more careful than yourselves. be willing, indeed, to listen to all with humility, believing them to be wiser or better than you are; but seek the company and conversation of those whom you know to be so. nothing better can come out of your heads than what is put into them. you will be like those with whom you converse. { } and therefore, above all, seek silence, that in it you may converse with almighty god, and hear what he has to say to you. he is the one above all others whom you should be swift to hear. when you get in the way of listening to him you will be slow enough to speak. there is nothing so sure to prevent idle words as the habit of conversation with god. ------------------- sermon lxxii. _let every man be ... slow to anger. for the anger of man worketh not the justice of god._ --st. james i. , . what is the reason, my brethren, that people sin by anger so much? there is no temptation, it seems to me, that is more often given way to. other ones, though frequently consented to, are also frequently resisted, even by those most subject to them; but with this it seems as if we were like gunpowder: touch the match to us, and off we go; if any one does us an injury or says an insulting word, we flare up at once and give back all we got, and more. afterward, perhaps, we are sorry; but that seems to do no good. next time it is just the same. and so it goes on, till perhaps we begin to think that we really are like gunpowder; that god made us so that we cannot help going off when the match of provocation is applied. but that is not true. it will never do to make god the cause of our sins. it is our own fault. but what is the fault? what is the matter that this temptation is not resisted like others? { } i will tell you what i think the matter is. it is that the temptation to anger does not seem to be a temptation at the time. the angry word seems to you all right when you utter it. it is not so with other things--sins of impurity, for instance. you know they are wrong, and that you ought to resist them, even when they are on you; and sometimes you make up your mind to do so. but it is not so in this sin of anger. and why does it not seem to be a temptation? why do you think it no sin to say the angry word, to flare up when you are provoked? it is because your mind is confused at the time, so that you cannot tell what is sin and what is not. that is the truth, if i am not mistaken. it is just the peculiar danger of this temptation that it disturbs and confuses the mind more than any other one. you cannot tell what really is right when you are under it; it is not safe to do anything at all. you are for the time like one who is drunk or crazy. when a man has drank too much, if he have any sense left he will keep out of the way of other people until he is sobered. for he knows he is not fit to do or say anything when he is intoxicated, and that he will only make a fool of himself if he tries. that is common sense and prudence; and many men, oven when drunk, have enough common sense and prudence left to follow this course. but very few have when under the passing drunkenness of anger. most angry people do not know enough to hold their tongues. they ought to. they ought to have learned by experience. well, then, this being the matter, the fault of angry people is plain enough. it is this: that they do not try to guard themselves against this temptation in the only way they can--that is, by remembering and acting on these words of st. james which i read to you from the epistle of to-day: "the anger of man worketh not the justice of god." it always works injustice; that is, it always makes a mistake and does what is wrong. it has not sense enough to do what is right. { } the only way to avoid the sin, then, is the one that st. james gives. be slow to anger. don't trust it, however sure you may be that it advises you rightly. it is a fool; don't listen to it. wait till you get cool, till reason can have fair play. i say this is the only way you can avoid this sin. i mean that nothing else will cure you of it unless you do this. confession and communion, prayer, penance, and other things, will help you; but this is indispensable. you know when you are under the influence of anger well enough. when you are, hold your tongue and hold your hand. you may have to do or say something afterwards, but very seldom there and then. god will not be likely to give you grace that is not needed; and you will not have the grace to do what is right when your duty is to do nothing, and wait till the temptation passes by. remember that you are a fool when you are angry, if you do not want to act like one and be sorry for it afterwards. ------------------------ { } _fifth sunday after easter._ epistle. _st. james i._ - . dearly beloved: be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. for if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his natural countenance in a glass. for he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. but he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued in it, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed. and if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain. religion pure and unspotted with god and the father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation; and to keep one's self undefiled from this world. gospel. _st. john xvi._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: amen, amen i say to you, if you ask the father anything in my name, he will give it you. hitherto you have not asked anything in my name. ask, and you shall receive: that your joy may be full. these things have i spoken to you in proverbs. the hour cometh when i will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will show you plainly of the father. in that day you shall ask in my name: and i say not to you, that i will ask the father for you. for the father himself loveth you, because you have loved me, and have believed that i came forth from god. i came forth from the father, and am come into the world; again i leave the world, and i go to the father. his disciples say to him: behold now thou speakest plainly, and speakest no proverb. now we know that thou knowest all things, and that for thee it is not needful that any man ask thee. in this we believe that thou camest forth from god. ---------------- { } sermon lxxiii. _amen, amen i say to you, if you ask the father anything in my name, he will give it you._ --st. john xvi. . what a wonderful promise this is--that everything we ask of almighty god, who is the father of mercies, shall be granted to us, if we ask it in the name of his only-begotten son, our lord and saviour jesus christ! does our lord really mean all he says? do people get all they pray for? does it not seem to us sometimes that we pray in vain--that god seems to shut his ears against our cry, and has no regard to our tears and supplications? yes, it does often _seem_ so, but it is not really so. god's ways are not always our ways to reach the end we desire. and our own experience will tell us that it is very seldom it would be the best for us if god took us at our word. the real reason why we do not obtain the answer we wish to many of our prayers is, first, because we do not ask, as we ought, in the name of jesus christ. what is it to ask in his name? it is to ask in the name of him who came on earth, not to do his own will, but the will of his divine father. oh! how seldom we pray for favors and blessings according to the will of god. our blessed lord, on the night before he was crucified, foreseeing his death, and bowed to the earth in his agony, ended his prayer with the words. "not as i will, but as thou wilt." that is not our way. { } when we are in sorrow and trouble we think god should will as we will, and we are disappointed and discouraged because we do not get well of our sickness, or that calamity we feared comes, or poverty sticks to us, or the conversion of those we pray for is denied, or we do not obtain the employment we seek, or we have to give up hope of getting that farm we set our heart upon. who is the judge, after all, about granting prayers? who else but god, who not only has the power to grant or refuse them, as he chooses, but also has the perfect knowledge whether it would be best for us to receive a favorable answer or not? he who prays in the name of jesus, prays with implicit trust in god's goodness and wisdom, and if he has not mistaken his own will for the will of god, will feel and should feel just as contented, no matter which way god answers his prayer. the second reason why we do not always get what we pray for is because we are constantly asking for things which we dare not presume to ask in the name of jesus christ. we know in our heart of hearts that it is a petition he would not offer to his divine father for us. if we had to write that petition down we would neither begin nor end it with the words, "in the name of jesus." it is our pride that is praying, our worldly ambition, our lusts and our selfish desires. we do not put the name of jesus to our prayer, because the spirit of jesus is not in it. charity is wanting. we want to be happy, even if others are suffering. we want money, even if our brethren starve. we desire high places and the success of our undertakings, even if our neighbor and his interests go to the wall. alas! it is self that prays the loudest and the oftenest and makes the greatest show. { } now, dear brethren, let us learn to bring all our prayers up to the right standard. no matter what we ask for, let it be always according to the will of god, and that alone. then our prayer will surely be granted, for the will of god, no longer opposed and hindered by our will, accomplishes just what is best for us. if we do not get just what we think best, it is because god, in his divine generosity, chooses to give us something better, or takes a wiser way to do it than we knew of. if i were to advise you how to always pray in the name of jesus, i would say, add always these words to every prayer you make: "so may god grant it, if my salvation be in it." god grants no prayer that does not have that end in view. his divine love for us constantly regards that, even if we forget it. pray, then, with confidence and perseverance, but have a care to pray always with and for the will of god. then in heaven we shall see, if not here, how not a single true prayer we ever made was left unanswered. ---------------------- sermon lxxiv. _amen, amen i say to you, if you ask the father anything in my name, he will give it you._ --st. john xvi. . these are the words of christ, taken from the gospel of to-day; we cannot doubt them for a moment. they are the words of him who is the infallible truth, who can neither deceive nor be deceived. and yet how seldom do we act as if we really believed them! how seldom do you, my brethren, ask anything of the father in the name of christ with real confidence that you will receive what you ask for. { } many people say prayers, but few really pray. that is, many say over certain forms of prayer which they know by heart or read out of their prayer-books; many even feel bound to say some particular set of prayers every day, for the scapular which they wear, or for some other reason; but if you should ask them what they are praying for, what particular thing they wish to obtain from god when they say these prayers, few would be able to tell you, unless, indeed, they happened to be making a novena for some special object. so, i say, it does not seem as if we christians believed what our lord tells us in these words. for surely, if we did, almost all our prayers would be petitions for some particular thing which we wanted, instead of mere devotional exercises. and why? because we are always in want of something, and we must certainly believe that almighty god has the power to give us what we want; should we not, then, be always praying for what we want, did we fully believe that he has the will to give it to us? is it, then, really true that god will give us all good things which we ask in prayer? yes, it certainly is; that is exactly the meaning of these words of christ. all good things, i say; for it is only good things which we can ask in his name. and if god would give us bad things which we should ask for, our saviour's promise would be a curse, not a blessing as it really is. no; god will not answer bad prayers--that is, prayers for what is bad. people sometimes make such prayers and expect him to answer them. they pray for vengeance on those who have injured them; they pray that others may suffer as much as they have made them suffer, and the like. { } or they pray for something which seems to them good, but really is not so--that they may get rich, for instance, when riches will only be an occasion of sin to them. the prayer seems to them good, but it is not; perhaps even those prayers for vengeance may seem so. but god knows better, and will not, as he says in the gospel of to-morrow, give us a stone when we ask for what seems to be bread. if anything, he will give better, instead of worse, than what we ask. but really most things that christians would think of praying for are not bad; but you do not pray for them, because you think that if they are good for you, you will get them, if you try, whether you pray or not. now, that is the great mistake which our lord wishes to correct. when he says, "if you ask the father anything in my name, he will give it you," that means, also, that if you do not ask he will not, or at least not in such abundance. try, then, to bring this truth home to yourselves and make it practical: that if you want anything the way to get it is to ask it from god, not forgetting, of course, to work for it as well as to pray; for no one prays in earnest who does not do that. and the way not to get it is not to ask for it. pray, then, for what you want; and of course, before praying, find out what you do want. you want, for instance, to be kept from sin; but what sin? what is the one you are most inclined to? examine your conscience and find out. then your prayer will really mean something, especially if it be accompanied by good and strong resolutions against your besetting vices. { } if you know what you want, and pray for it in christ's name and in earnest, using all other means to get it, it shall, if it be good, be yours. that is the lesson of our lord's words in the gospel of to-day. --------------- sermon lxxv. _amen, amen i say to you, if you ask the father anything in my name, he will give it you._ st. john xvi. . these words must be true, my brethren, for it is the eternal truth who has spoken them. and yet i dare say you cannot see how they are. you have often, perhaps, asked god for something which you wanted, and put our lord's name to your prayers, and yet you have not got the thing on which your heart was set. well, let us see what is the matter; why it is that our experience seems to contradict our faith. it may be that, though the words seem plain, we do not understand them aright. perhaps we are under a mistake as to what is meant by asking in the name of christ. let us consider what is really the common and natural sense of asking for anything in somebody else's name. what should we ourselves mean by it? suppose i say to one of you: "if you ask mr. so-and so for such a position or employment in my name you will get it," what do i mean? i mean that his regard for me is such that, if you have my name to support you, he will give it to you for my sake. well, now, this is, as it seems to me, what our lord means by his promise. the sense of it is: "the father loves me so much that if you have my name to support your prayers--that is, if i wish that you should have what you ask for--he will give it to you for my sake." { } what it comes to, then, is this: if we ask the father for anything _really_ in the name of christ--that is, if our lord really endorses our prayer--we shall have it. "well," perhaps you may say, "it seems to me that does not amount to much. will not god give us what our lord approves of, any way, whether we ask it or not? i don't see what we gain by praying, if that is all." there, my friends, you labor under a great mistake. the father wants christ's name, but he wants your prayer, too. some things, it is true, you have got without praying; but there are many which you have not got, but which you might have had if you had added your own prayer to the name of our lord. i do not believe, for instance, that you ever asked in his name to be rich. and yet it is quite possible that you might have done so. if he knew that it would be good for yourself and others for you to have money, if he knew that you would make a good use of it, he would have put his name to your request. so you might, perhaps, have been much richer than you are; perhaps it was only the prayer for it on your part that was wanting. if it could have been made in the name of christ--that is, with his approval--it would have been effectual. it is very likely that he would, for good reasons, have refused to give his name to such a prayer. still it would be worth while to try. it is always worth while to try praying for anything that is not in itself bad; we may be able to get christ's name for it, who knows? and if we do not pray for what we want we will not be nearly so likely to get it. { } there are some things, though, that we can be sure to have his name for, and which are besides much better than worldly goods. those are the virtues with which our souls ought to be adorned--our true riches, the riches of the soul. pray for these, then, with full confidence that he will endorse your prayer. but when you pray for them work for them too. he will not give you either spiritual or temporal riches if you sit still and fold your hands, and wait for them to drop into your lap. a prayer which is not in earnest is no prayer at all; and no prayer is in earnest if the one who makes it is not trying to get what he wants in every way open to him. now, i hope you see that our lord's promise is a real and true one; for by it we can get many, very many things which otherwise we never can have. and i hope you see that it is a most generous one; for by it we can have everything that is really good. could you possibly ask anything more? ------------------------------ { } _sunday within the octave of the ascension_. epistle. _st. peter iv._ - . dearly beloved: be prudent, and watch in prayers. but before all things have a mutual charity among yourselves: for charity covereth a multitude of sins. using hospitality one towards another without murmuring. as every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of god. if any man speak, let him speak as the words of god. if any man minister, let it be as from the power which god administereth: that in all things god may be honored through jesus christ our lord. gospel. _st. john xv_. -_xvi_. . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: when the paraclete shall come whom i will send you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the father, he shall give testimony of me. and you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning. these things have i spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized. they will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth a service to god. and these things will they do to you, because they have not known the father, nor me. but these things i have told you, that when the hour of them shall come, you may remember that i told you. -------------- sermon lxxvi. _charity covereth a multitude of sins_. -- st. peter iv. . { } those words are from the epistle appointed for this sunday, and st. peter, when he wrote them, meant that a man who gets his heart full of charity is sure to be truly penitent for his sins, no matter how many they may have been, and will thus win the mercy of god and receive full pardon for them. st. peter's words are quite a popular saying. you will hear all sorts of people quote them with evident satisfaction and belief in their truth. but do they all mean just what i have said _he_ meant? i am not so sure that they do. i fear that some think that giving a few dollars to the poor (which they call charity) is a convenient way of throwing a cloak over a multitude of sins--covering them up, as it were--and hiding them rather than getting rid of them. i know the scripture says also that "almsgiving redeems the soul from death," and tells the sinner to "redeem his sins with alms and his iniquities with works of mercy to the poor." but the catholic doctrine is that charity must prompt the almsgiving in order to work the miracle of pardon. it is not the money or the clothing, the food or the fire, given to those who need, which compounds for sins and buys pardon at a cheap rate; but the virtue of divine charity, a christ-like love of god and of our neighbors, that wipes out the judgment of condemnation and cleanses the guilty stains from the soul. the giving of alms to the suffering poor is certainly one of the first things that a sinner who is trying to get back, or has already got back, the love of god will set himself to do; and it is the very sacrifice of his goods for god's sake and for god's love that proves he wants to have done with his sins, and that he is anxious to do penance for them. it would be the greatest folly in the world for a man to give alms _for his sins_, if he was not trying to do so for the love of god. { } it is all very well and very benevolent to help a poor wretch with food and raiment because we do not like to see a fellow human being suffer. but thieves, and adulterers, and drunkards, and easter-duty breakers, and all sorts of sinners who have no intention whatever of stopping their sinful career will do that; and when they say, "charity covereth a multitude of sins," they are very well content to have their benevolence accounted as a set-off to their sins. but mere benevolence is not charity, and to think it is would be a very great mistake. st. paul says that a man may distribute all his goods to feed the poor, and yet not have charity. so then, dear brethren, if you want your almsgiving to be profitable to your own soul as well as helpful to your suffering neighbor, stop your sins and begin to be, first of all, a little generous with god. give him what he is constantly knocking at the door and begging for--your heart, your love. then you will have the charity that covereth a multitude of sins, even before you give the poor a cent. get into the love of god, and then the love of your neighbor for god's sake will follow of itself. you will then feed and clothe and comfort the poor, not only because you pity them, but because you love them. then will god love you and forgive you your sins. now that we have a just idea of charity, you see how it is to be exercised in a great many more ways than in almsgiving. you will easily forgive your neighbor his offences against you; you will hold no spite or revenge in your heart. if he has disgraced himself you will not go and tell all your acquaintances of it, but will jealously hide it and excuse it, and help him out of his trouble. { } thus the charity you have will not only cover a multitude of your own sins, but a multitude of your neighbor's sins as well. when you forgive in charity you will forgive out and out, as god does, and hold no grudge afterwards. o my dear christians! try to learn this lesson and lay it to heart. strive after this divine love; pray for it; ask our blessed lady and all the saints to help you obtain it; your salvation depends on it. i say it again: your salvation depends on it. "charity covereth a multitude of sins." yes; but nothing else will cover even _one_ sin. without the love of god there is no contrition; without contrition there is no absolution; without absolution you are lost! think well on this. ---------------------- sermon lxxvii. _before all things, have a mutual charity among yourselves; for charity covereth a multitude of sins._ -- st. peter iv. . what does st. peter mean, my brethren, by these words? how does charity cover a multitude of sins? well, it covers our own sins, of course--that is, it helps us to obtain their forgiveness, and it atones for them when they have been forgiven. there is no better way to obtain mercy from god than to show it to others. but then all the virtuous acts which we can do have the same effect to some extent; so i think that the sins which st. peter speaks of are not our own merely, but also those of others. and it is a special effect of charity to cover the sins of others; it seems, then, that it is charity as shown in this way that the apostle here urges on us. { } it is not a very common kind of charity, either, this of covering other people's sins. some, indeed, seem to think that the sins of their neighbors ought not to be covered. they do not appear to understand that every one has a real right that his sins should remain unknown; that it is not only uncharitable but unjust to mention them to those who do not know them already. no; as soon as they hear a piece of news to any one's disadvantage they are not easy till they have told it to their whole circle of acquaintance; the idea of covering it up, of not letting it go any farther, of saving their neighbor's character never occurs to them. if they feel pretty sure that it is true, that is enough to remove all scruple about telling it. but this telling about people's sins is a sin, as i have said, not only against charity but against justice. charity goes a good deal farther than that. it covers sins not only from other people's eyes, but even from our own. that is what st. paul says about it. he says: "charity thinketh no evil"--that is to say, it does not see sin in other people; it puts the best construction on their actions. how rare it is to find any one who thoroughly practises charity of this kind! for instance, somebody tells something about you which you know to be false; do you put the best construction on this? no, you put the very worst you can. you say to yourself: "he, or she, did that out of malice. he knew very well that what he said was not true, and said it to slander me, out of pure spite." you never stop to think that he maybe laboring under a false impression--may really think that what he says is true, and that he is, moreover, justified in saying it. { } you never make any allowance for the passion he may be under which has blinded his judgment; you never think of the provocations he may have had, or may at least fancy that he has had. the utmost you do is to say: "well, i do not wish him any evil; i forgive him the injury he has done me." and if you have said that, which ought to be a matter of course, you look upon yourself as a great christian hero. try to learn, then, that charity means more than forgiving sins. it means _excusing_ them--finding out, if possible, some reason which may show that what seems to be a sin was not really so. you are ready enough to excuse your own sins; to say, "i could not help it," or "i did not mean any harm." why don't you say the same thing for somebody else? throw the veil of charity over the faults of others--if they have sinned it will do you no good to know it--and take it off from your own, which you ought to know a great deal better than you do. by the charity of covering other people's sins from your own eyes you will cover your own from the eyes of god. ----------------- sermon lxxviii. _before all things, have a mutual charity among yourselves; for charity covereth a multitude of sins._ -- st. peter iv. . nothing is more frequently or more forcibly commanded by our lord and his apostles than fraternal charity. mind well the text: "_before all things_", says st. peter, "have a mutual charity among yourselves." in fact, if you give a little attention to your daily thoughts, words, and deeds, you will find that the burden of your daily sins is uncharitableness in one form or another. { } it was want of fraternal charity that brought about murder on the very morning of this world's life. hatred came between the first two brothers of our race, and the result was the murder of the innocent abel. a preacher who lived some three hundred years ago--they had a quaint way of telling plain truths in those days--said in a sermon, and was willing to wager, that the first thing that adam and eve did after eating the apple was to quarrel, to have a downright good dispute, which was only continuing, in another way, the first sin. samson slew a thousand philistines "with a jawbone, even the jawbone of an ass." how many reputations are destroyed in a like manner!--for a wise man knows how to hold his tongue. what a heaven on earth our homes and our social circles would be, if a constant mutual charity was kept up between husband and wife, brothers and sisters, and acquaintances! "with charity," said st. gregory, "man is to man a god; without charity man is to man a wild beast." it may seem rather bold of st. peter to say that charity should be had "_before all things_"; but he gives a good reason for his assertion, and a very consoling one it is for us: "for charity covereth a multitude of sins." we all have, god knows, a multitude of sins on our souls; anything that will take them away, rid us of them, cover them up from god's sight, is of the greatest possible benefit to us. now, this is just what charity does. how? it is said that love is blind; charity blinds us to the defects and sins of our neighbor--in fact, covers them up either by excusing, or by bearing patiently, or by forgiving the sins and offences of others. { } "charity," says st. paul, "is patient, is kind, charity envieth not, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, beareth all things, endureth all things." but in thus covering the sins of others how does charity cover our own? remember your "our father": "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." here is a contract between you and god; you stake the forgiveness from god of your sins on your forgiveness of the sins of others. if, therefore, from a motive of charity you cover the sins of others, god will cover your sins; they will stand no more before him and against you. "well, well, dear father," it is often said to us, "forgive, yes; but i will never forget." my dear friend, you remind me of the beggar who, seeing a gentleman put his hand in his pocket, fervently exclaimed, "may the blessing of god follow you," and then, seeing that it was the smallest of coins that was handed to him, added no less fervently, "and never overtake you!" to _forgive really_ is to forget. we are to forgive as god forgives; that is the bargain, is it not? now, god forgets our sins; they are for ever wiped out of his memory. remembrances of offences are temptations that you must hunt down as you would impure thoughts; you must try to forget, else you do not forgive. next sunday we celebrate the descent of the holy ghost. the holy ghost is the spirit of love, the outcome of the mutual charity of the father and the son. pray to him that he may put in your hearts the true virtue of christian charity. ------------------ { } _feast of pentecost, or whit-sunday_. epistle. _acts ii._ - . when the days of the pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in the same place: and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. and there appeared to them cloven tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them. and they were all filled with the holy ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the holy ghost gave them to speak. now there were dwelling at jerusalem, jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. and when this voice was made, the multitude came together, and was confounded in mind, because that every one heard them speak in his own tongue. and they were all amazed and wondered, saying: behold, are not all these who speak, galileans? and how have we every one heard our own tongue wherein we were born? parthians, and medes, and elamites, and inhabitants of mesopotamia, judea and cappadocia, pontus and asia, phrygia and pamphilia, egypt and the parts of libya about cyrene, and strangers of rome, jews also, and proselytes, cretes and arabians: we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of god. gospel. _st. john xiv_. - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: if any one love me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. he that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. and the word which you have heard is not mine, but the father's who sent me. { } these things have i spoken to you, remaining with you. but the paraclete, the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever i shall have said to you. peace i leave with you; my peace i give to you: not as the world giveth do i give to you. let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. you have heard that i have said to you: i go away, and i come again to you. if you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because i go to the father: for the father is greater than i. and now i have told you before it come to pass; that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. now i will not speak many things with you. for the prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything. but that the world may know that i love the father: and as the father hath given me commandment, so i do. ------------------ sermon lxxix. _the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things._ --st. john xiv. . today, my dear friends, as you know, we celebrate the descent of the holy ghost upon the apostles. it was, of all the wonderful works that god has wrought for the salvation of men, in one way the most extraordinary and miraculous; for it was an immediate and evident change, not in the material world, but in the spiritual--that is, in the souls of those upon whom the holy spirit thus came. in a moment they became entirely different men from what they had been before. { } what was this change which was worked in the souls of the apostles? it was, as we commonly regard it, an infusion of supernatural courage and strength. before they had been hiding themselves, hardly daring to appear in public, still less to preach the gospel, or even to profess themselves christians; but now they came forth boldly, ready not only to be known as followers of christ, but also to suffer all things for his sake. there was, however, another change worked in them in that moment; and it is the one which our lord predicted in the words which i have taken from the gospel of this day. "the holy ghost," said he, "will teach you all things." what was the meaning of this promise, and what was its fulfilment? did our lord mean that the holy ghost would teach the apostles all the truths of natural science; that they should become great chemists, geographers, or mechanics; that they should know how to construct steam-engines or telegraphic cables? by no means. these things are in themselves of little importance, and would have had no direct bearing on the work to which st. peter and his companions were called. no; the things which the holy ghost was to teach them, and did teach them on the day of pentecost, were spiritual things--those things which concerned the salvation of their own souls, and of the other souls which were committed to their charge. in an instant they became learned in the mysteries of the kingdom not of nature but of grace; they became in a moment great saints and doctors of theology. they knew at once what others, superior to them in natural gifts, have not been able to acquire after long years of study and prayer. they were miraculously prepared to do the work of infallible founders and teachers of the church of god. { } it was a wonderful promise of christ to them, and wonderful was its fulfilment. but are we merely to admire it in them, or have we too a share in it? we have a share in it. yes, though the promise in its fulness was only made to them, all of us, even the humblest, can claim it for ourselves. the holy ghost will teach us also all spiritual things, if we will only listen to his voice--not suddenly or miraculously as to them, but none the less surely. he has already taught to millions of the faithful children of the church, though they were ignorant of that natural science which the world values, what the most learned and able men have died without knowing. he will teach us all things, but we must listen to his voice. where, then, is that voice to be heard? first, it is to be heard in the voice of the church itself, which speaks in his name and by his power. you can hear it in the words of your holy father the pope, the successor of the apostles, and in those of your bishop and of your pastors. you can also hear it in good books, published with the authority and approval of the church. lastly, you can hear it in your own souls. the holy ghost is always speaking there, but it is with a gentle and low voice; and if you would hear it pride and passion must be still. it is in silence and in prayer that you will learn those things which he has to teach you. listen, then, to the voice of god, of the spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, and of knowledge, which you have received in confirmation, and which dwells in your souls; and our divine lord's promise shall certainly be fulfilled in you. ------------------- { } sermon lxxx. _if any one love me he will keep my word_. --st. john xiv. . there are some people who have a great deal of what they call devotion, and there are others who seem to have very little or none at all. the hearts of the first are filled, one would think, with the love of god. they are never so happy as when at church, assisting at mass or some other service, or on their knees before their altar at home. they say as many prayers every day as would make up the office which a priest is bound to recite, or perhaps even more. some other people, on the contrary, find it a hard matter to say any prayers. their minds wander, they cannot tell why. they do not care much about coming to church; they come, though, for all that. but it is all uphill work with them; and they think they are in a very bad way, and are tempted to envy those who seem to be getting along so much better. but is it certain that those whom they are tempted to envy are, in reality, in so much better a state? no, i do not think it is. of course it is a good sign for any one to like to pray. it is much better to have a taste for that than for the pleasures of the world. but it does not certainly follow that one who likes to pray really loves god very much. he may like it because he is paid for it; that is, because he gets rewarded for it in a way that others do not. he may like it in the same way that a child would like the company of any one who would give him candy. if the supply of candy stops his affection is gone. if, instead of getting candy, he is asked to go on an errand, his feeling will be very different. { } so one may like to pray because he or she has in prayer a pleasure which would be attractive to any one, even to the greatest sinners. the pleasure may come merely from one's having a lively imagination, and getting what seems to be a vision of heaven when on one's knees or in church. but ask such a person to do something for the one who gives him this pleasure--that is, god--and there will perhaps be a great change. if our lord, instead of giving candy, proposes him an errand--if he asks a girl, for instance, instead of going to mass or to communion, to stay at home and help her mother--the shoe, it may be, will begin to pinch immediately. the others, who have little of what is called devotion, may stand this trial much better. they may be willing not only to give up prayer, which they are not so fortunate as to like, but other things which they really do, if it is the will of god. they pray because it is god's will, and because they know it will bring them nearer to him, and they will do anything else that he wishes them to do for the same reason. now, do not misunderstand me. i do not mean that all those who do not like to pray are better than those who do; far from it. but i do mean that real devotion which is the same as a true love of god, is what our lord sets before us in the words of to-day's gospel which i have read. "if any one love me," he says, "he will keep my word"; that is, "he will do what i want him to." "you are my friends," he says in another place, "if you do the things that i command you." that is true devotion, to have our will the same as god's will; to be willing to sacrifice everything for him, even the pleasure we may find in his society. { } so i mean that a person who has none of what is called devotion, but who does what he understands to be god's will, and avoids what is contrary to it, is much more acceptable in his sight than one who has what is called devotion, and gives up god's will to satisfy it. thus, for instance, any one of you, my brethren, who has not been to holy communion since lent began, and who really wants to please god, will go this week, before the time of the easter-duty runs out, and not wait for corpus christi, which comes in the next week. that is just now a special good example; try and remember it. if any one wants to commit a mortal sin, let him put off his easter-duty till corpus christi and the forty hours, for devotion's sake. real devotion is to remember god's words and obey them at any cost. this is the true way, as he also says in to-day's gospel, to induce him and his father to really come to us and make their abode with us; and to have the holy ghost, who proceeds from them, enter into our hearts, though we may not feel his presence, as the apostles did on the first pentecost day. ----------------- sermon lxxxi. _let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid._ --st. john xiv. . our lord spoke these words to his apostles before his passion, but they were not to have effect till after his ascension into heaven. it was not his will that they should have the courage and confidence to which he here exhorts them till that time which we celebrate to-day, when the holy ghost came upon them and fitted them for the great work to which they were appointed. { } even while our lord was with them after his resurrection, and still more after he had ascended and left them to themselves, they were anxious and fearful, not daring to call themselves his disciples or to risk anything for his sake. but when they received the holy ghost all this was changed. they confessed christ openly; all their doubts and fears were gone; and "they rejoiced," as we read in the acts, "that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of jesus. and they ceased not every day, in the temple and from house to house, to teach and preach christ jesus." now, we ought to imitate their conduct after pentecost, and not that before. for we have not the excuse that they had before that time. we have received the holy ghost, as they did. he has not come on us visibly in fiery tongues, but he has come just as really and truly in the sacrament of confirmation which we have received. there is no reason for us to be troubled or afraid; when the holy ghost came into our hearts he brought courage and confidence with him; he brought them to each one of us, as he did to the holy apostles. and he gave this courage and confidence to each of us for the same reason as to them, because we have all to be apostles in our own way and degree. we have not all got to preach christ publicly, as they did, but we have all got to speak a word for him when the proper occasion comes. we have not all got to die for christ, as they did, but we have got to suffer something for the sake of our faith in him, and that quite often, too, it may be. { } we have a real duty in this matter; we shall be rewarded if we fulfil it, and punished if we do not. it was not for his apostles only but for each one of us that those words of his were meant: "every one that shall confess me before men, i will also confess him before my father who is in heaven; but he that shall deny me before men. i will also deny him before my father who is in heaven." and yet how often must it be acknowledged, to our shame and disgrace, that christians do deny their lord and master before men! i do not mean that they deny their faith, and say they are not catholics when they are asked; this, thank god! though it does happen, is not so very common. but is it not common enough to find young catholic men and women with whom one might associate for years and never suspect them to be catholics, and, in fact, be quite sure that they were not?--and this not merely because they do not parade their religion, but because they do not defend it when it is attacked; because they agree with, and even express, all sorts of infidel, heretical, false, and so-called liberal opinions, that they may not give offence; or even, perhaps, without any sort of need, but only to win favor for themselves by falling in with the fashion of those with whom they associate. and how often, again, do christians, even if they do stand up for their faith, cast contempt on it in the eyes of the world by acting and talking just as if it had no power over their lives, and was never meant to have any! they curse, and swear, and talk immodestly, just as those do who do not profess to believe in god and christ, and even, perhaps worse. { } or if they do not go so far as this, they laugh at profanity and impurity, and make companions of those who are addicted to these vices; and this they do, not because they really wish to do or to sanction such things, but merely from a miserable weakness that prevents them from facing a little contempt and unpopularity. what would they do, if called on to shed their blood for christ, who cannot bear even to be laughed at a little for being practical catholics? they are like cowardly soldiers who run away from a battle at the first smoke from the enemy's guns. you know what a shame it is for a soldier to be a coward. and now try to remember, dear christians, especially on this holy day, that a christian has got to be a soldier, and that if he is a coward he disgraces himself and his cause. the holy ghost is given to us in confirmation that we may not be weak and cowardly, but strong and perfect christians, and true soldiers of jesus christ. if you have not yet received him in this way make haste to do so; if you have, make use of the graces which he has given you. do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid; there is nothing to be afraid of, for god is on your side. do not fear but rather count it a joy to suffer a little persecution for his name. ------------------ { } _trinity sunday_. epistle. _romans xi._ - . o the depth of the riches, of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of god! how incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! for who hath known the mind of the lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him, and recompense shall be made to him? for of him, and by him, and in him, are all things. to him be glory for ever. amen. gospel. _st. matthew xxviii._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: all power is given to me in heaven and on earth. go ye, therefore, and teach all nations: baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you; and behold i am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. last gospel. _st. luke vi._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: be ye merciful, as your father also is merciful. judge not, and you shall not be judged. condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. forgive, and you shall be forgiven. give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down, and shaken together and running over, shall they give into your bosom. for with the same measure that you shall measure it shall be measured to you again. and he spoke also to them a similitude: can the blind lead the blind? do they not both fall into the ditch? the disciple is not above his master; but every one shall be perfect, if he be as his master. and why seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest not? { } or how canst thou say to thy brother, brother, let me pull the mote out of thy eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam in thy own eye? thou hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye. -------------- sermon lxxxii. _teach all nations: baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost._ --st. matthew xxviii. . the mystery of the most blessed trinity is one of those wonderful truths of our holy faith which form the foundation of the christian religion. he who does not believe in the trinity cannot call himself a christian; neither can any one be a christian unless he is baptized in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost. we are taught to make acts of profession of this mystery oftener than of any other. we do so every time we make the sign of the cross; and there are very few catholics who do not make that sign more than once every day. every one should know what is meant by the trinity. there is but one god, who is the infinite, eternal, almighty, all-wise, all-good, and all-just being who created all things that exist. but god, who is one in his divine being, is a trinity in person. that is, he is three persons. these persons are named father, son, holy ghost. god is, then, father, and he is son, and he is holy ghost. these three persons are the same god. so, if there were three men praying to god, one praying to the father, a second to the son, and the third to the holy ghost, they would all be praying to the same god. { } how there can be more than one person in one being is a mystery to us, because we have no knowledge of any other being but god who has more than one person. but now this truth is revealed to us, we know, by our faith, which is divine knowledge, that there are three persons in god, and are sure also that god must, as a divine being, have three persons, because god cannot be other than he is. let us help our minds to understand this by a comparison. suppose a tower built in such a shape that it has three sides. now, there are _three_ distinct sides and only _one_ tower; and whichever side we look at we see a distinct side which is not either of the other two sides, but we always can say, i see the tower. so, no matter which person of god we regard, it is always the same god. our holy faith teaches us that god the father is the divine person who created all things, as we say in the creed: "i believe in god, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth." it furthermore teaches us that god the son is the divine person who redeemed us by becoming man and dying on the cross, as the words of the creed declare; and again it teaches us that god the holy ghost is the divine person who sanctifies us and is the source and giver of all grace. these truths are revealed to us, and we believe them, as we do all mysteries, for the reason we give when we make an act of faith: "o my god! i believe all things taught by the holy catholic church, because thou, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived, hast revealed them to her." { } the catholic church is the voice of god to us, and when we hear her we hear god. she lives, and speaks, and acts by the holy ghost through jesus christ, our saviour, her divine head. the reason some very wise people, very learned in different kinds of science, do not believe in the trinity and other mysteries of religion as we do is because they do not hear the voice of god in the catholic church. it is not by science that we know the trinity to be true, but by divine faith. this divine faith is a gift of god, which we are bound to nourish in our souls with profound gratitude and humility, for it is a sad truth that this faith may be lost. catholics lose their faith by their sins, and chiefly by the sin of pride. all heretics and apostates show this in their conduct and in their words. they adhere to their own opinions and refuse to submit to the divine teaching of the church. o dear brethren! let us fear this sin of pride more than all other sin--a temptation, too, that is very apt to come up when we are ridiculed by unbelievers for our faith. then is the time to confess the truth boldly, for if we deny our lord before men he will deny us before the face of his father in heaven. let us keep our faith by purity of life and humility of heart; for, as says the _imitation of christ:_ "what doth it avail thee to discourse profoundly of the trinity, if thou be wanting in humility, and consequently displeasing to the trinity? if thou didst know the whole bible by heart, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit thee without the love of god and his grace?" ------------------- { } sermon lxxxiii. _in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost._ --st. matthew xxviii. . to-day, my dear brethren, the church celebrates the greatest of all the mysteries of our religion: the mystery of the holy trinity; of the one god in three divine persons--the father, the son, and the holy ghost. we all believe it; we must believe it if we would be saved. but no one of us can perfectly understand it. st. patrick, you know, is said to have illustrated it to his converts by showing them the shamrock with its three leaves on one stem; but, of course, he never pretended that this was a perfect explanation of it. no perfect explanation of it can be given to us. and why not? is it because it really has no explanation? no, but because we are not able to understand the one which might be given. explain the solar system to a child of five years: will he understand you? it is something the same with us and this greater mystery of god. some people, especially at the present day, who consider themselves very wise, say to themselves and to others: "oh! this doctrine of the trinity cannot be true." ask them why not, and they will say: "because we cannot understand it; it seems to us to be nonsense." well, what does their argument amount to? just to this: "if the doctrine were true we should understand it; but we don't understand it, therefore it is not true." { } "if it were true," they say, "we should understand it." and why? "why, of course, because we are so wise that we can understand everything. it is well enough for stupid people, like those benighted romanists, to believe what they don't understand, but such a proceeding would be quite below our dignity and intelligence. it is quite absurd to suppose that there is any mystery so deep that we cannot see to the bottom of it." now, i do not want to accuse these worthy people of any one of the seven capital sins; they are, no doubt, as good as they are wise. but there is something in what they say that looks just a little bit like one of those sins; like the first and most deadly of them all: that is, the sin of pride. and there is not much doubt that pride has in some form or other had something to do with all heresies; so i am afraid that those who deny the holy trinity are not quite free from it. you think so, my brethren, i have no doubt. but, after all, are you not perhaps guilty of a little of the same sin yourselves? you believe in the holy trinity, it is true, but are there not some other things which you do not fully believe, though you ought to, and for very much the same reason? god has given you the gift of faith; and you are willing to believe what you know to be of faith, even if it be beyond your reason, especially if it be something, like the holy trinity, beyond the reason of any one else. but are you not sometimes rather unwilling to believe other matters of religion, for which there is good authority, just because you, with your present lights, do not quite see through them? that is just the trouble with the heretics of whom i have spoken; is it not so with you, too, perhaps? { } do you not say even about some of these matters: "oh! i do not think the same about that as the priests do; they are welcome to their opinion but i claim the right to mine"? it may be some question of morals; then you say: "the priest say so-and-so is not right; but i don't see any harm in it. i have got a conscience of my own." did it ever occur to you that as god knows more, and has told more to his church about himself than you could have found out, so he may have enlightened it rather more about some other matters in its own sphere than he has enlightened you, even though they are not of faith? and even setting that aside, is it not possible that those who have studied a subject know more about it than those who have not? i think there is only one answer to these questions. try, then, to have the same humility which you have about the doctrine of the holy trinity in other things too. you believe that the officers of a ship know a little more about her position and proper course than you do; make the same presumption in favor of those who are in charge of the bark of st. peter. it is only reasonable to think so; only showing a little of the same common sense which you show in other things. -------------------------- sermon lxxxiv. _why seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest not?_ --st. luke vi. . these words, my dear brethren, are taken from the gospel of the first sunday after pentecost, which is always read at the end of mass on this day. of all those which our divine lord spoke during his ministry on earth, there are none more practical, none which have a more immediate bearing on our daily lives. { } there is nothing which shows the perversity of our fallen nature more clearly than the common habit, in which even many persons who are pious in their way continually indulge, of criticising and commenting on the actions and character of others. some people, indeed, seem to think that there is no harm in talking about the character and conduct of their neighbors, as long as they do not say anything which is not true. this is a great mistake; one hardly needs to stop and reflect for a moment to see that it is a grievous injustice to speak of a sin which another person has actually committed, if it be not known, or at least certain soon to be known in some other way, by the one to whom we speak. so there are many who have sense enough not to make this mistake and who do hold their tongues about the secret sins of others. but there are comparatively few who seem to realize that it is against charity, though not against justice, to speak even of well-known and evident faults of one's neighbors, when there is no good object to be gained by so doing; and, in fact, even to think of them and turn them over in one's mind, for which there can never be any good object. it is to such as these--and there are hosts of them--that our lord's words are addressed. he does not himself answer the question which he asks in the text; but there is not much difficulty in our answering it ourselves. { } "why," then, "seest thou the mote in thy brother's eye, but the beam in thy own eye thou considerest not?" the two always go together. you will always find that just in proportion to a person's watchfulness about others' faults is his carelessness about his own. why, i say, do you do so? let us try to find out. are you so sensitive about your neighbor's faults because they offend god? no, i do not believe that is the reason. if it were you would be a great deal more troubled about your own than you are. if you really cared for god's honor in the matter you would go to work on your own sins, which you really can amend, and not on those of your neighbors, which you only carp at but do not even try to correct. do not pretend, then, that your habit of finding fault with others comes from a desire that god may be better served. such a pretence would be only hypocrisy. it is especially to such pretenders that our saviour says: "hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye." are you so sensitive about your neighbor's faults, then, because they offend yourself? no, i do not think that can be the reason either--or, at least, not the whole reason; for you are nearly as apt to speak of them when they do not concern you at all. you even take trouble to find out about those which do not come under your own observation. i know that we all have a weakness for noticing unpleasant things when they occur, and passing over those which are agreeable as a matter of course; we complain of the weather when it is bad, and give no thanks when it is fine; we grumble when we have a bad dinner, and say nothing about a good one. but this does not explain the matter entirely, for most of the faults which you notice in others do not hurt you in any way. { } no; the fact is, it is simply a vice in yourselves which makes your neighbor's faults so glaring in your eyes. and that vice is the great vice of pride. you are trying to exalt yourselves, at least in your own mind, above others, and the easiest way to do it is to try to push them down. this is at the bottom of all this uncharitableness which is the staple of so many people's thoughts and conversation. there is, therefore, only one real remedy for it, only one which strikes at the root of the whole thing: that is to cultivate the virtue which is the opposite of pride, the great virtue of humility. i said just now that as a person is watchful about his neighbor's faults, so is he careless about his own. well, the rule works both ways. if you will be careful about your own you will not notice those of other people. for you will acquire this virtue of humility. you will appear so bad in your own sight that others will appear good in comparison. and then, when you have cast out this beam of pride from the eye of your own soul, you will indeed be fit to correct others, and not till then. -------------------- { } _second sunday after pentecost_. and sunday within the octave of corpus christi. epistle. _st. john iii._ - . dearly beloved: wonder not if the world hate you. we know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. he that loveth not, abideth in death. whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer. and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in himself. in this we have known the charity of god, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. he that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of god abide in him? my little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth. gospel. _st. luke xiv._ - . at that time: jesus spoke to the pharisees this parable: a certain man made a great supper, and invited many. and he sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were invited that they should come, for now all things are ready. and they began all at once to make excuse. the first said to him: i have bought a farm, and i must needs go out and see it; i pray thee, have me excused. and another said: i have bought five yoke of oxen, and i go to try them; i pray thee, have me excused. and another said: i have married a wife, and therefore i cannot come. and the servant returning, told these things to his lord. { } then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant: go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and the feeble, and the blind and the lame. and the servant said: lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. and the lord said to the servant: go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. but i say unto you that none of those men that were called shall taste my supper. ------------ sermon lxxxv. _a certain man made a great supper, and invited many._ --st. luke xiv. . if there could be any question about what kind of a "great supper" our lord meant in the parable all doubt is removed by reading the gospel, which tells us that some one of the persons to whom he was speaking had just said: "blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of god." we know how to interpret the parable. the "great supper" is the divine banquet of holy communion, in which we receive the body and blood of jesus christ. on another occasion our lord said: "i am the bread that came down from heaven. if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever, and the bread that i will give is my flesh for the life of the world." the parable of the "great supper" is, therefore, very appropriately chosen as the gospel for this sunday in the octave of the magnificent and triumphal festival of corpus christi. this festival is also well placed in the calendar of the church, coming as it does, at the end of all the solemn commemorations of the divine life and person of our lord. for the institution of the blessed sacrament is the greatest act of his love; the consummation and fulfilment of his love. { } "having loved his own, he loved them unto the end." he is present in this divine mystery because he would be present with us and give himself to us, and unite himself to us in the most intimate manner. he promised that he would live in us, and we in him and be one with him. in the blessed sacrament he makes that life and union a reality. before the altars of his holy church, therefore, he spreads the holy table for his "great supper," and he invites many to the banquet. such an invitation, we would think, does not need much urging to bring in the guests--_all_ the guests--as quickly and as frequently as he desires. and yet, as he tells us in the parables, and as we see and hear ourselves, there are many who make little of his invitation, and either do not come at all or come with such reluctance or so seldom that it is plain they are acting more from fear of punishment than from a motive of love. it is true that those who do not come when he calls are far from daring to say that it is not worth coming to, but they act very much as if they thought so. they have other friends who invite them to their feasts, and as they think more of these friends than they do of jesus christ, and relish their food more than they do his, they send in their excuses to him. these excuses are paltry enough. one has bought a farm and must go and see it; another has purchased five yoke of oxen--this is just the time he must go and try them; a third has just got married, and so on. any excuse for not coming to communion seems good enough for some catholics, who want to keep friends and company with the world, the flesh, and the devil, and eat their dishes of avarice, lust, and pride. { } i don't wonder they stay away; for let a man get his heart full of avarice, or burning with lust, or puffed up with pride, the very idea of holy communion is wearisome and distasteful to him. but there is a dreadful warning in the parable. _the excuses are not taken_; and he who sets forth the banquet declares that none of such men shall eat of his supper; and he makes that threat in anger. woe, then, to those easter-duty breakers who heard the invitation and came not! they have incurred the anger of the lord. to pass by the easter duty out of contempt for it, or because one is unwilling to give up the sins that he knows make him unfit to make it, is to commit a mortal sin. and when i see some persons who know their duty, and have every opportunity, neglecting their easter communion for years, and appearing to be perfectly hardened against every appeal and argument made to them, i am always fearful lest the lord is not only angry with them, but that he is carrying out his threat that he will never invite them again, and that they will die some day without absolution and without communion. oh! if there be any such here let them hasten to beg pardon with deep contrition for their past neglect, and earnestly seek for admission to the heavenly banquet. perhaps it may not be yet too late even for them. i know it is the eleventh hour, but the lord invites some to come even at the eleventh hour. but they must not wait longer! at midnight the door will be shut, and the only answer they will get then is; "it is too late; i know you not!" god grant that such a curse of banishment from the eternal communion of heaven shall never be addressed to one of us! --------------- { } sermon lxxxvi. _and they began all at once to make excuse._ --st. luke xiv. . notice the words, my brethren. our lord does not say that these men whom the master of the house invited to supper all happened to have an excuse, but that they began all at once to make one. they gave various flimsy reasons why they could not come-- reasons that anybody could see would not have prevented them from coming if they had wanted to, but were merely given in order to avoid telling the plain truth, which was that they did not care a straw for the one who had invited them or for the supper that he proposed to give. well, now, what did our saviour mean by this story which i have read you in the gospel?--for he certainly did not tell it simply for the amusement of his disciples. it was a parable, and had a spiritual signification, or more than one. i think there cannot be much doubt in our minds about one of them, at least. we cannot help seeing that the supper means the rich banquet to which all of us are invited, and which has been commemorated in the great solemnity of corpus christi, through which we have just passed. god himself is the master of the house, and he has invited all of as his friends--that is, all of us who have come by holy baptism into the fold of his church--to come to this great feast, the feast of his own body and blood. not once only but many times he has invited, nay, commanded, you all to come and taste of this supper, which is himself--to receive him in holy communion. { } and what have you done--many of you, at least? you have done exactly what these men did of whom the parable tells us. you have, as soon as the words of invitation came to you, immediately set about to see if you could not find some way of avoiding compliance with them. you have begun all at once to make excuses--excuses as silly as those which the men made in the parable. "oh!" you say, "i have not got time to approach the sacraments worthily. it's all very well for women, who can run to church whenever they want, but i have got my business to attend to; if i neglect it my family will starve." humbug! i say--as transparent humbug as that stupid story which the man whom our lord speaks of had about his farm. "i have bought a farm," says he, "and i must needs go out and see it." that excursion to his farm was got up just to dodge the invitation, which he did not care to accept. it is the same with you. your business is not so important that it will keep you from the theatre or the liquor-store, but as soon as the service of god is mentioned it becomes urgent all at once. or perhaps you do not plead any particular business, but you make an excuse like that of the man who said he had married a wife, and therefore could not come. you say: "piety is very good for priests and religious; but i am living in the world, and can't be good enough to go to communion." humbug! { } i say again; you know very well that there have been plenty of people, who have lived in a much brighter world than is ever likely to be open to you, who have not only made good communions, but made them frequently, and become saints by doing so. kings and queens have given the lie to your excuse. are you more in the world than st. henry, emperor of germany; st. louis, king of france; the two saints elizabeth, of hungary and portugal; and st. margaret, queen of scotland, whose feast we kept last tuesday? don't make any more foolish excuses, then; our lord, who has invited you to his banquet, will not be deceived by them. acknowledge the truth, that if you do not come to his supper it is because you do not care for it, or for him who gives it. but do you dare to say this? i hope not. do not say it, then. do what is far better. come when he calls you. come, that you may not offend him, as those ungrateful men of whom the parable tells us offended the master of the house. come, that he may not say to you, as the master of the house said: "those men who were called shall not taste my supper," not even when they shall desire it at the hour of their death. come, that your inheritance in the kingdom of heaven may not be taken away from you, and others called in to take the places which you have refused. come and show love and not base ingratitude to him who has taken so much pains to prepare this feast for you; this feast which is not only the greatest gift that he can give you now, but also a pledge of the kingdom which has been prepared for such of you as are faithful, from the foundation of the world. ------------------ { } sermon lxxxvii. _and they began all at once to make excuse._ --st. luke xiv. . when men are in sin and do not wish to give it up the answer which they commonly make to an invitation of god is an excuse. excuses! yes, there are plenty of them. but from what do these men of whom our lord speaks in this parable wish to be excused? is it from something painful and humiliating? no, strange to say, it is from a great privilege; it is from a wonderful feast in which men receive the food of angels and are made one with god; it is from the feast of the blessed sacrament, in which our blessed lord offers his own body and blood. what! is it possible that one who has the faith and is possessed of reason can slight such a gift from the god who has redeemed him? listen to the excuse of one: "i have bought a farm." what is a farm? it is dirt. his excuse, then, is that he does not want the bread of heaven, because he is occupied with dirt. in a word, he prefers dirt to god. but another man has this excuse for spurning the heavenly banquet: "he has bought five yoke of oxen," and he wants "to go and try them." he declines the company of the saints and angels because he prefers that of oxen. he had rather be with the brutes, because he is much like them himself. his body rules his soul, and he is too much of an animal to care anything about a feast which furnishes only good for the soul. { } but we hear yet another excuse. here is a man who "has married a wife, and therefore cannot come." what does this mean? does he pretend that the holy sacrament of matrimony is keeping him away? but this is not the shadow of an excuse. ah! if he would speak out his mind clearly he certainly would have an excuse. he means that he cannot come because he is wallowing in the mire of sin. he is too filthy to come. he would have to purify himself. he cannot put on the wedding garment of divine grace and wallow with the swine, so he thinks that he will leave the body and blood of jesus christ to others and stay where he is. you see, brethren, what it is to offer an excuse when god invites or commands; and these are only fair samples of the excuses which all sinners who seek to justify their conduct make. but what do such excuses denote? they are sure signs of impenitence. men often make hypocrites of themselves by their excuses. some even make bad confessions by covering their guilt with an excuse; and a great many show their imperfect sorrow for sin in this way. on the other hand, the man who is sincerely sorry for his sins fears nothing so much as to excuse a fault. he would rather accuse himself of too much than to excuse himself for the least fault. excuses such as are mentioned in this parable may justify men before the world, but never before god. when our souls come before the divine judge all their disguises shall be torn off. eternal justice shall then reveal all; it shall weigh every motive; it shall judge every act. but what does our divine lord say of those who now refuse his invitation to this heavenly banquet? he says: "none of those men who were called shall taste my supper." { } those who now receive the sweet invitation of our blessed lord to approach the altar will at the hour of death wish for that divine food, which they now treat with so much contempt; but god may then say to them: "you did not come when i invited you, and now you shall not taste my supper." --------------------------- { } _third sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _st. peter v._ - . dearly beloved: be you humbled under the mighty hand of god, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation. casting all your solicitude upon him, for he hath care of you. be sober and watch; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalleth your brethren who are in the world. but the god of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in christ jesus, when you have suffered a little, will himself perfect, and confirm, and establish you. to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. amen. gospel. _st. luke xv._ - . at that time: the publicans and sinners drew near unto jesus to hear him. and the pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying: this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. and he spoke to them this parable, saying: what man among you that hath a hundred sheep: and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost until he find it? and when he hath found it, doth he not lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing: and coming home call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: rejoice with me, because i have found my sheep that was lost. i say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. or what woman having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she find it? and when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbors, saying: rejoice with me, because i have found the groat which i had lost. so i say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of god upon one sinner doing penance. ----------------------- { } sermon lxxxviii. _rejoice with me, because i have found my sheep that was lost._ --st. luke xv. . i am sure you have often heard related, if you have not yourselves known, examples of the singular affection which parents show towards the worst behaved child they have, the "black sheep of the flock," as their neighbors call him, or her, as the case may be--some wretched, ungrateful, dissipated son whose disgraceful life and cruel treatment of them fairly breaks their hearts; or some disobedient, wild daughter who is led off and gets ruined. while they are in the height of their bad career the parents are very apt to act as if they wished every tie between them broken. no one dares mention the name of their lost child to them. instances have been known where the angry parents have blotted out the name of the dishonored one from the record in the family bible where it was written on the day when he was brought back an innocent child from the font of baptism, and when they have taken the little lock of flaxen hair cut from their darling's head, and kept so many years as a treasure, and have scattered it to the winds. but what do we see? there comes a time when things are at their worst, when their poor lost one has reaped the bitter fruits of his disobedience and is in utter misery and despair; then the hearts of the parents are softened; they yearn to see their poor child once more, and all on a sudden there is a reconciliation, all is forgiven and forgotten; the one who was dead has come to life again, and the lost one is found. { } the parents will not hear one word said against him, but on the contrary, in word and action, say to all their friends: rejoice with me, because i have found my child that was lost. now, if we examine into any such a case we shall almost certainly discover that the penitence of the bad child bears no comparison to the greatness of the parents' affection or to the magnanimity of their forgiveness. very few such repenting sinners are deserving of the joyful pardon they receive. mercy is always a mystery, and pardon ever a miracle. so it is with god and his divine forgiveness of repenting sinners. our lord tells us there is joy in heaven over their return. did you ever know any such case whose repentance you thought was worthy of such celestial rejoicings? very, very few, i am sure. and how many forgiven sinners, do you think, realize that god loves them so much as that--so much that, when he has brought back to his love and obedience one so unworthy, he should tell all his holy angels of the happy event and bid them rejoice with him? not many. this truth however, is a most important one which our lord wishes us to learn. it is the greatness of his mercy and the depth of his love. to tell the honest truth, it is the revelation of god's mercy and love that will bring hardened sinners back, which will win and convert them when nothing else will. we often see the proof of this on our missions, when we find the hardest cases, the most abandoned and hopeless sinners, coming to confession after the sermon on the mercy of god. { } and who does not know that an appeal made to sinners by showing them the crucifix, where they see their lord and saviour dying for his great love, with arms outstretched to receive them back, is an argument few of them can withstand? the sermon of the cross is one the holy church is always preaching--the sermon of love and mercy. well, dear brethren, learn this lesson from the gospel. when you find the burden of sin heavy on you, and your conscience tells you that you have wandered far from god, go before a crucifix and let the love and mercy of your crucified lord preach to you. there is nothing helps one so much to overcome the horror and shame of going to confession as a few minutes' prayer on one's knees before a crucifix. are you in temptation and danger of losing god? kiss the feet of a crucifix and you are saved. do you want to win and save those who have sinned against you? preach to them the sermon of mercy and love, in your own way, and, like god, you will win them and convert them, and rejoice with your friends that you have found the lost one again. rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------- sermon lxxxix. _be sober, and watch._ -- st. peter v. . these few words of the epistle, my brethren, contain a most important lesson for us. we may indeed say that of all the innumerable souls which have been lost, and which are going down every day into hell, far the greater part have come to this terrible end for neglect of this warning. { } there is a proverb, with which you are all familiar, that [the road to] hell is paved with good intentions. what does this mean? does it mean that a good intention in itself is a thing which leads to hell? of course not. but it means that the kind of good intentions which people are too apt to make are signs rather of damnation than of salvation, as they should be. what is this kind of good intention? it is one which stops just there, and which the one who makes it does not take the means to carry out. sometimes we call them by a stronger name than intentions. we call them purposes, even firm purposes of amendment. they are the kind of purposes which a great many people make when they repent, or think they repent, of their habitual sins. a man comes to confession with a fearful habit of sin--of profane swearing, for instance. it has been on him for years. he has learned it in his youth, perhaps, from wicked parents or companions. he has almost become unconscious of it, and it seems to him no very important thing; it may be that he would not even mention it, did not the priest question him pretty closely. but when the priest does warn him about it he makes up his mind in a certain way that he ought to stop it, and makes a kind of purpose to do so. it is to be feared, however, that this is one of the purposes or intentions with which hell is paved. and why? because it stops just there. it has no effect at all. it is all gone before he gets out of the confession-box. he will swear just as much to-morrow as he did to-day. he does not, probably, even remember his purpose, at any rate only till the time of his communion; or if, perchance, he does remember it, he does not take the means to carry it out. { } and what is that means above all others? it is to watch against his sin. this he does not do. he does not keep on his guard to avoid those horrible oaths which have become a fixed habit with him. he does not watch himself, and, of course, falls again as he did before. now you see, perhaps, the importance of st. peter's warning in the epistle. most of you who will be lost will be lost on account of habitual sins like this i have spoken of, not on account of occasional and unusual ones. it may be a habit of impure thoughts or words, of drunkenness, or something else; but it is a habit of some kind that will cause your damnation. the habit is a disease of your soul; you must get rid of it, if you wish to have any well-grounded hope of salvation. and you cannot get rid of it without watching as well as praying. "watch," says our lord, "that you enter not into temptation." yes, a bad habit is a disease of your soul, a weak spot in it which you must guard. it is there your enemy is going to enter. what does st. peter go on to say? "be sober, and watch," he says, "for your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour." very well; the devil is not such a fool as to neglect your weak points. so it is those which you must watch and guard. if, then, you would be saved, keep before your mind all the time your habitual sins. be on your guard against them continually, just as a man going on slippery ice is all the time careful how he places his feet. repeat your resolutions frequently; make them practical and definite. say to yourself, "next time i am provoked i will keep down that profane word; next time such an object comes before my eyes i will turn them away; next time such a thought occurs i will instantly repel it." { } be on the lookout for danger, as a sailor is for rocks or icebergs in his course. pray, of course, earnestly and frequently, but watch as well as pray. if you do you will save your soul; if you do not you will lose it. ---------------------- sermon xc. _there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance._ --st. luke xv. . i do not think, my brethren, that there is any parable in the gospel which comes more home to your own experience than these which you have just heard about the lost sheep and groat. i am sure you have all of you lost something at some time or other; and i am sure, too, that, even though it was not very valuable, you began to think it was when it was lost, and hunted for it high and low. it seemed to you that you cared more for it than for any other article of your property, and that you did not mind much what became of your other things as long as that was missing. that, of course, was not really the case. for, although you seemed to give all your thoughts and energy in searching for the lost article, you cared just as much all the time for what you meanwhile left at home or unnoticed. and if, while you were hunting up one thing, another should get lost, you would start out after that with just as much anxiety as you did for the other. { } so our lord spends his time, not only now and then but always, chiefly in hunting after what he has lost, and lets what he has got shift a good deal for itself. always, i say; for he has always lost something. he keeps losing things all the time. the sheep keep straying away from his fold continually. as soon as one is brought back another has gone, and he has to set out in pursuit of it. and meanwhile the sheep in the fold do not seem to get as much care and attention as they think they deserve for their obedience and general good behavior. now, this is an important thing for the sheep to understand, both for those who have not strayed away and for those who have. those who are faithful must be contented with his absence, and those who are not should thank him and reward him for his labor for them. those who need no penance--that is, those who remain habitually in the state of grace--are apt to say: "why is it that religion does not give me more happiness? why is it that i have so little devotion and that god seems so far away?" well, the reason is because he is away. he is off hunting for sinners. he is giving them his chief attention and his choicest graces because they need them. the just can get along with the sacraments, which are always open to them, and with the other ordinary means of salvation. or you say, perhaps: "why is it that the best preachers and confessors among the fathers are out on the mission, so that we seldom or never see or hear them?" well, that is for the same reason. our lord sends them out on the hunt in which he is so much interested. surely you will not find fault with him. you will not deprive him of his greatest joy--that of bringing sinners back--for the sake of offering him a little more devotion, which he does not care so much about. { } no, you will rather be faithful, and do your duty in the place where he has put you, and be very thankful that you are not among the lost, and perhaps one among them who will never be found. and surely those who have strayed away and whom he is seeking, when they come to think of it, will try to give him the consolation which he takes so much trouble to secure. they will not let him spend all his time on them and get nothing for it in return. no, they will not hide from him any longer; they will give themselves to him, never to stray again; and be the occasion of a joy in heaven which shall not be merely for a moment, but which shall last for evermore. ------------------- { } _fourth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _romans viii._ - . brethren: i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. for the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of god. for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope: because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of god. for we know that every creature groaneth, and is in labor even till now. and not only it, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of god, the redemption of our body, in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. luke v._ - . at that time: when the multitudes pressed upon jesus to hear the word of god, he stood by the lake of genesareth. and he saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. and going up into one of the ships that was simon's, he desired him to thrust out a little from the land. and sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the ship. now when he had ceased to speak, he said to simon: launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. and simon answering, said to him: master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word i will let down the net. and when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net was breaking. and they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. { } and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking; which when simon peter saw, he fell down at jesus' knees, saying: depart from me, for i am a sinful man, lord. for he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken. and so were also james and john, the sons of zebedee, who were simon's partners. and jesus saith to simon: fear not, from henceforth thou shalt be taking men. and when they had brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him. ---------------------- sermon xci. _and sitting down, he taught the multitudes out of the ship._ --st. luke v. . the ship, as the gospel tells us, was st peter's, and our lord continues to teach his divine doctrine from the same ship. this ship of st. peter is the catholic church. its captain is the pope, the vicar of jesus christ. he not only guides the ship in its ordinary course, but knows also what special orders to give when particular dangers threaten it. the plain duty of every catholic is, therefore to receive with obedience the teaching of the pope, and in times of danger to be on the alert and obey quickly, without hesitation and with perfect confidence. there is no fear for the ship herself, no matter what storms may arise. the danger is for those who are in her, and each one's safety depends upon his prompt obedience. there are some catholics who appear to think that because the ship is always safe they are safe too, no matter how they behave. { } alas! this is often a fatal mistake. christ teaches by the mouth of peter, and their salvation depends upon their listening to what is taught, and learning the lessons of faith and morality which fall from his lips. but what do we see? we see many who remain so ignorant of their religion that they ought to be ashamed to call themselves catholics. there is plenty of instruction given, but they take no pains to hear it. year in and year out they never come to a sermon or instruction. they never think of reading a good religious book or a catholic newspaper. they have time to go to some immoral play at the theatre, they read the trashy, beastly stuff that is served up daily and weekly to pander to depraved appetites such as theirs, but of their sublime, true, and holy religion, which should be a light to their minds and a comfort to their hearts, they know next to nothing. they let their children grow up in the like ignorance, who are swift to follow the bad example set before them. now, the chief duty of a catholic is to learn what his religion teaches, and it is a grievous sin to neglect the opportunities one has to acquire that knowledge. the devil is busy scattering the seed of false doctrine, and keeping his agents at work telling all sorts of lies about god and jesus christ and the catholic church, and it is not possible for one to keep his faith pure unless he takes care to learn all he has the chance to learn of the truths of his holy religion. then, again, see how anxious people are nowadays that their children should have what is called "a good education." what is the teaching of christ from the ship of peter on this subject? it is that _without religion education cannot be good_. { } our faiths, as well as our experience, tells us that an education with religion left out is apt to prove rather a curse than a blessing to a child. pride, conceit, loose morals, love of money, disobedience to parents and clergy--these are the things we see plenty of in the lives and habits of children who have received a "good education" with religion left out. there is another thing which is often the subject of much wonder to me. from time to time the bishops and priests find it necessary to warn their people against certain prevailing vices, or to denounce certain secret societies as anti-christian, or to make regulations which are required to secure the proper administration of the sacraments--for instance, the publication of the bans of marriage--and there are found catholics who set themselves in opposition to these counsels and laws of their pastors with a pertinacious obstinacy such as one would not expect to see except in a downright heretic. the conceit of these people is truly marvellous. they talk and act as if the whole catholic church belonged to them, and their priests were a miserable set of hirelings who can be persuaded to connive at anything they choose to pay them for. what is the reason of this? i'll tell you. it is due to their ignorance. the better instructed a catholic is the more docile and humble he is. he hears christ teaching when he hears the instructions of his pastor, and he rejoices to follow his counsels. "he that heareth you heareth me," said our lord. god send us catholics who love their religion well enough to make them desirous of being well instructed in its doctrine! ---------------------- { } sermon xcii. _i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come._ --romans viii. . brethren, if we wish to rejoice in the next world we must suffer in this. there is no escape from suffering here if we reckon on happiness hereafter. and there are good reasons for this. one is because we must atone for sin. do not our own sins, little or great, continually cry out for penance? and if we give not suffering willingly they threaten to crucify us in spite of ourselves. and there are the sins of others, of heathens, and heretics, and bad catholics--all these demand atonement, and, as it was not beneath the dignity of the son of god to die for them, so, if we are christians more than in name, we shall be ready to suffer with our blessed lord for the sins of the world. another reason why we mast suffer is that we may not become attached to the joys of this world, for we must leave them all some day or other. and, besides, god demands a heart quite undivided; he wants all our love, and not what is left after we have expended our chief affections on created things. and yet another reason for suffering is that we may merit more happiness in heaven. the christian has a kind father in heaven, who notes every pang, and sigh, and tear, and who will know how to reward. so one would think that a wise man would seek sufferings rather than avoid them; would thank god for the afflictions of his providence, and would look upon the troubles of this life--the loss of health, the loss of reputation, the loss of money--would look upon all this as god's way of elevating our life here on earth and of increasing our happiness hereafter; and that it would be true wisdom to voluntarily deny ourselves the joys of this world, reckoning rather upon those of the future life as the apostles did. { } yes, brethren, patient suffering is the very a b c of the christian religion. what are christ's blessings? blessed are the poor; blessed are they that mourn; blessed are you when they persecute and revile you. truly his religion is a religion of the cross. but what kind of christians must we think ourselves since we all hate to suffer? we reckon fondly upon the joys of this life; those of the life to come may take care of themselves. although we have a lifetime of horrid sins in our memory, and know that we have not done any penance, still we not only refuse to suffer willingly, but we speak and act as it god were a cruel tyrant thus to send upon us sickness, and poverty, and disgrace. and as to suffering in union with our lord jesus christ for the sins of the world, such a generous thought never enters our mind at all; nor do we think of mortifying the rebellious passions, nor of the merit of sacrifice, nor of anything except to enjoy this world, to cling to this poor, fleeting world and its deceptive joys. brethren, let us strive to obtain a wiser and stronger spirit in regard to suffering. i know that we may not hope to become heroes all at once, but may in time if we begin without delay; and the only way to begin is by prayer. you complain of the company of wicked and unpleasant people; but instead of snapping at them and quarrelling, offer your annoyance to god and pray him to assist you. { } are you in poverty? instead of giving way to weariness and despair, think of jesus and mary at the humble cottage at nazareth; think of the poor, wandering life of our lord while he preached the gospel, and beg him to give you some of his own patience. are you afflicted with incurable illness? remember that god has sent you this for your own good and will know how to recompense you. instead of making your friends miserable by your impatience, think of christ upon the cross, and of your sins which crucified him. st. teresa had for her motto these words: "_either to suffer or to die_." oh! that we had only a little of the heroic spirit of the saints. then we could welcome every dispensation of divine providence, whether of pleasure or of pain, and should be able to say with st. paul: "i have learned in whatsoever state i am to be content therewith. i know both how to be brought low and how to abound ... both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need; i can do all things in him who strengtheneth me" (phil. iv. - ). --------------------- { } _fifth sunday after pentecost_. epistle. _st. peter iii._ - . dearly beloved: be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, loving brotherhood, merciful, modest, humble: not rendering evil for evil, nor railing for railing, but on the contrary, blessing: for unto this are you called, that by inheritance you may possess a blessing. "for he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile. let him decline from evil, and do good: let him seek peace, and pursue it: because the eyes of the lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers: but the countenance of the lord against them that do evil things." and who is he that can hurt you, if you be zealous of good? but if also you suffer anything for justice' sake, blessed are ye. and be not afraid of their terror and be not troubled; but sanctify the lord christ in your heart. gospel. _st. matt. v_. - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: i say to you, that unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. you have heard that it was said to them of old: thou shalt not kill. and whosoever shall kill shall be guilty of the judgment. but i say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be guilty of the judgment. and whosoever shall say to his brother, raca, shall be guilty of the council. and whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be guilty of hell fire. therefore if thou offerest thy gift at the altar, and there shalt remember that thy brother hath anything against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and first go to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. { } sermon xciii. _unless your justice abound more than that of the scribes and pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven_. --st. matt. v. . the scribes and pharisees were very particular about keeping the _letter_ of the law, and prided themselves mightily on this kind of "justice." but jesus christ says that unless _our_ righteousness exceed theirs we shall not save our souls. here, then, he teaches us that we must keep the _spirit_ of the commandments as well as the letter. and to show what he means by the _spirit_ of the law, he quotes the commandment which forbids murder. "now, it is not enough," he says, "that you refrain from committing murder; you must equally refrain from the passion of anger--anger, that is, which destroys charity, and breeds ill-will, hatred, and revenge; for those who give way to these malicious feelings shall be arraigned at my judgment-seat side by side with murderers." among those who heard him was st. john, his apostle; and st. john says: "he that hateth his brother is a murderer." again, our lord tells us that the spirit of the fifth commandment includes lesser sins than anger--that to call our brother contemptuous names, to provoke and irritate him by hard words (except, of course, in the case of just rebuke), is a grave violation of this law as he would have us christians understand it. { } the words which follow--addressed to those who were in the habit of going into the temple to lay their gifts before god's altar--apply with even greater force to _us_. _we_ come before god's altar when we come to hear mass, and we come with the profession, at least, of offering a gift--that worship which is the tribute of our faith and love. there is one thing, then, which our lord requires before he will receive our offering: that "our brother have" not "anything against us." in other words, we must be in perfect charity with our neighbor. if we have anything against _him_, we must forgive him there and then "from our hearts." if _he_ have anything against _us_, we must either have already done our best towards reconciliation and reparation, or at least be prepared and determined to do it at the very first opportunity. now, it may be we are not in the state of grace when we come to hear mass, but, on the contrary, laden with mortal sins. well, we still have the right to hear mass--nay, are bound to hear it; and, further, we can still offer a gift, and a very acceptable gift--an earnest prayer for contrition and amendment--a cry for mercy and deliverance. our lord once said to st. mathilda: "however guilty a man may be, however inveterate the enmity of his heart against me. i will patiently bear with him whenever he is present at mass, and will readily grant him the pardon of his sins if he sincerely ask it." clearly, then, dear brethren, there is but one thing that can keep even a poor sinner from coming before god's altar with an acceptable gift--viz., the want of charity to his neighbor; that is, either the refusal to say from his heart: "forgive us our trespasses _as we forgive_ those who trespass against us"; or, equally, the refusal to seek reconciliation or make reparation for wrongs of his own doing. { } now, in either case there is a brother who "has something against us," and that brother is jesus christ himself, who calls all men his brethren without exception, and especially our fellow-catholics, having given to all his sacred heart and the love of his blessed mother. rev. algernon a. brown. --------------------------- sermon xciv. _he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil._ -- st. peter iii. . the words of the blessed apostle st. peter teach us that the good, peaceable man is the happiest, that god rewards a kind heart even in this life. yes, the kindly-spoken man is a happy man. he has no quarrels on his hands. you cannot make him quarrel. though he be strong and active, yet he is incapable of using his strength to injure his neighbor. say a sharp, bitter thing to him, and instead of feeling insulted, he will laugh it off, and tell you to be good-natured, or will act as if _he_ had offended _you_. and the good, peaceable man is no slanderer or tale-bearer. when he hears anything to his neighbor's detriment he is sorry; he buries it in his kind heart, and tries to forget it. if his friends quarrel among themselves, he is the ready and successful peacemaker. if death, sickness, or misfortune of any kind afflicts his neighbor, he is the kind and skilful comforter. what do people think of such a man? everybody loves him. and is not that happiness? why, if a dog loves you it gives you joy, and the affection of many friends makes this world a paradise. so the good, peaceable man has that element of a lovely life and good days. { } i need not say that the good, peaceable man is happy in his family. how children love a kind parent! how they enjoy home when he is there, with his happy laugh and innocent jest! his wife is proud of that husband, and blesses god for such a father for her little ones. there is no bickering, jealousy, or ill-will in that home, but charity and joy the whole year round. and the good, peaceable man is happy in his own self-respect. without presumption he may say with the apostle: "i owe no man anything." he owes no man any grudge. he has inflicted sorrow upon no man. he has deprived no man of honor or of goods. he who is not at war with his neighbor is at peace with himself. his conscience is at peace, and a peaceful conscience is a soft pillow. so that by his kind words and deeds he really loves his life, as st. peter says, and has provided himself with good days. but besides all this, god watches over the good, peaceable man. "he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law," says the scripture. our lord loves those who love his children, and he is one who can make his friends happy. did he not promise a reward for even a cup of cold water? and are not kind words often of more worth than bodily refreshment? god loves the good, peaceable man, and the love of god is enough to make any one happy. { } so the next time you complain and say, "oh! why am i so miserable? what ails me or my family, or my neighbors, that i am always in hot water, and can scarcely call one day in ten really happy?" just ask yourself: "am i a peaceable, good-natured man?" anger, hatred, and ill-will poison one's food as well as kill the soul, disturb one's sleep as well as perplex the conscience. to be happy you must be loved; and who will love one who hates? a sour face, a bitter tongue, a bad heart, gain no friends. a harsh voice, a cruel hand, a selfish heart, turn wife and child into enemies. so the suspicious man is unhappy; he breeds treason and jealousy among his friends. the touchy man is unhappy; you shun his company, for you fear to offend him. the critical man is unhappy; he is over-zealous about others and careless of himself. and, brethren, i might continue the sad litany, and to every unkind act, or thought, or word i could answer, it makes men miserable. come, brethren, let us all try and be good-natured. let us be so for the love of our lord, who made and loves us all, and died to bind us all together in one happy household. ---------------------- { } _sixth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _romans vi._ - . brethren: we all, who are baptized in christ jesus, are baptized in his death. for we are buried together with him by baptism unto death: that as christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the father, so we also may walk in newness of life. for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, in like manner we shall be of his resurrection. knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. for he that is dead is justified from sin. now if we be dead with christ, we believe that we shall live also together with christ: knowing that christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. for in that he died to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto god. so do you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to god in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. mark viii._ - . at that time: when there was a great multitude with jesus, and had nothing to eat, calling his disciples together, he saith to them: i have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat. and if i send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint in the way, for some of them came from afar off. and his disciples answered him: from whence can any one satisfy them here with bread in the wilderness? and he asked them: how many loaves have ye? and they said: seven. and he commanded the people to sit down on the ground, and taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke, and gave to his disciples to set before them, and they sat them before the people. { } and they had a few little fishes, and he blessed them and commanded them to be set before them. and they did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. and they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. ------------------- sermon xcv. _taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, he broke and gave to his disciples to set before them._ --st. mark viii. . on this and on other occasions our lord jesus christ blessed the food that was to be eaten. in imitation of his divine example we are taught to give thanks and bless ourselves and our food at meals. this pious practice is commonly called grace before and after meat. the word "grace" is english for the latin word "_gratias_," which means thanks, taken from the thanksgiving to be said after meals. there are two prayers to be said, therefore: the first, a blessing to be invoked upon ourselves and upon the food prepared; and the second, a thanksgiving to be said after we have eaten it. the first is as follows: "bless us, lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bountiful hands, through christ our lord. amen." when we say the words, "bless us, lord," we should make the sign of the cross on ourselves. when we say "these thy gifts," we should make the sign of the cross over the table. the thanksgiving is said thus: "we give thee thanks, almighty god, for all thy benefits, who livest and reignest for ever and ever. amen." and it is also proper to add: "may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of god, rest in peace." the catholic practice is also to say these prayers standing. { } in religious communities the blessing and grace are much longer, consisting of versicles and sentences from scripture appropriate to the ecclesiastical season or festival; the lord's prayer is said and the "te deum" is said. this is a pious practice which ought to prevail in all catholic families. the children should be taught to do it from the time they can bless themselves and lisp the words. yes, everything we eat and wear ought to be blessed first before we use it. the sign of the cross and asking god's blessing is to acknowledge, as we are in duty bound, the source of all that is given to us, and to sanctify it to our own use, and also to make a good intention in using it. to act otherwise--to hurry to table and eat and drink without a thought of god or a word of religion, as i have seen so many do--is to act like a heathen or a beast. and this practice is not only for those who have a table set before them supplied with every luxury in the way of food, but it is especially good for those whose poverty compels them to sit down to scanty and common meals. the rich certainly ought to bless their bountifully-supplied tables, lest they prove to them the dangerous occasion of intemperance and gluttony, but the poor should remember the miracle of to-day's gospel, when our lord blessed and gave thanks over seven loaves and a few little fishes, and with that small store satisfied the hunger of four thousand people. god is ever a kind, loving father, and will not forget the cry of those who put their trust in him. { } such was the trust of the poor man who had nothing but a little porridge to set before his family at dinner when he said: "god be good to us, and make this trifle of porridge go far enough for a poor man with a wife and seven children." this makes me think of two classes of people who i wish could be obliged to bless with the sign of the cross what they give and receive as nourishment. i mean the liquor-seller and the drunkard. the grocery-keeper, the butcher, the baker could do it, and why not the liquor-seller? you know the result if they did; the one would soon give up the business, and the other would soon give up drinking. but do not forget, as some do, to return thanks--to say the _grace_ after meals. thank god for what you have received from his bounty. again i say, act like a reasonable being and a christian in this, and not like a heathen or a beast. you who are parents should see to the carrying out of this instruction. if you have not done so yet, begin to-day. let the father say the prayer and make the sign of the cross over the table, and if one of the children come late don't give him a morsel to eat till he has said his blessing. in all things remember you are christians, "giving thanks always for all things in the name of our lord jesus christ to god and the father." ---------------- sermon xcvi. _know you not that all we who are baptized in christ jesus are baptized in his death._ --romans vi. . { } these are strong words, brethren, too strong, i fear, to be accepted in their full meaning by many of us; for we are quite too apt to mitigate the strong doctrine of christ. those great maxims of penance, of poverty, of obedience, of perfection, which the saints understood in their plain reality, we are very anxious to understand in a figurative sense, or to apply to somebody else besides our guilty selves. but let us look fairly and frankly at these strong words of st. paul. how are we baptized in christ's death? by being guilty of the sins which delivered him up to his enemies. did he not die on account of mortal sins, and have we not committed mortal sins--violated god's most sacred commandments, and done it often--and wilfully, and knowingly, and habitually done it? then the innocent blood of the lamb of god is upon our hands, and nothing but penance can ever wash it off. and what sort of a penance? so thorough, so heartfelt, so practical that the apostle says it must condemn and put us to death with christ; a penance so thorough that our lord himself tells us that it must produce a new being in us: "unless a man be born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." so you see that st. paul, in the words of our text, has given us the very charter of christian penance; just as he explains it a little further on: "knowing this, that our old man is crucified with christ, that the body of sin may be destroyed." behold, therefore, brethren, the plain statement of the greatest of all the practical duties of the christian; to make reparation to god for his sins in union with the sufferings and death of jesus christ. they tell us that our only hope of restored innocence is in participation in the crucifixion--its shame, its agony, and its death. { } oh! that we could fully realize the necessity of penance. oh! that the terrible form of christ upon the cross could be ever in our eyes as it is ever above our altars. oh! that the awful cries of jesus' death agony could be ever sounding in our ears. then we should be christians indeed. then the profound hatred of sin, the christian duties of fasting and prayer, the holy offices of helping the poor and instructing the ignorant, the devout reception of god's grace in the sacraments; in a word, all the yearly round of a good catholic life would have its true meaning. if we appreciated that christ died for our sins, we should not have to drag ourselves so reluctantly to confession, we should not grumble at the fast of lent, we should not strive to creep out of the duty of paying our debt of penance to god by this or that all too ready excuse, but we should take christ for our example and his cross for our standard, and long for stripes and even death as the wages of sin. we should appreciate the wisdom of what the old monk of the desert said to the novice when asked for a motto: "wherever you are, or whatever you are doing, say often to yourself: i am a pilgrim." yes, a pilgrim; a banished son wearily waiting till his father shall call him home; a convicted traitor working out the years of his banishment. i know, brethren, that this sounds like a melancholy doctrine. yet is it not true? and to know the truth is the first beginning of peace in the heart. and listen to the joyful side. hear it stated by the apostle in this very epistle: "for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, in like manner we shall be of his resurrection." { } yes; if we die to our old selves and to sin, we shall rise with our lord jesus christ to everlasting glory. he sprang forth from the grave filled with joy, triumphing over sin; and so shall we rise if we are buried with him in penance. and what is the world's joy compared to the joy of paradise? what care we for a few years of labor and waiting here, when we think of the countless ages of the kingdom of heaven! you have heard, brethren, that st. peter of alcantara led a very penitential life; well, shortly after death he appeared to one of his friends surrounded with heavenly light and his face beaming with joy, and he exclaimed: "oh! happy penance which has gained for me so great a reward." brethren, let us do penance while we can, and leave it to a good god to provide us with happiness, and he will give us joys which will never fade. --------------- sermon xcvii. _that as christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the father, so we also may walk in newness of life._ --romans vi. . the words of the epistle to-day carry us back to easter-tide, and give us a renewal of the lessons of easter. st. paul tells us that as christ is risen from the dead and dieth no more, so we also should die indeed to sin, and rise again to newness of life through jesus christ our lord. and as the gospel relates how our lord miraculously fed the multitudes in the wilderness, the church to-day seems to speak with especial force to those who have let the easter-time go by without fulfilling the precept of yearly communion, without seeking that heavenly food without which our souls must surely die of starvation. { } to you and to all sinners the church appeals to-day, bidding them at least now to rise from the death of sin and walk in newness of life. the circumstances attending our lord's resurrection teach us how we, too, should rise from the dead. an angel descended from heaven, and a mighty earthquake shook the holy sepulchre. and so the grace of god descends into our hearts, moving us to penance, and as with an earthquake our hearts must tremble with the fear of god and true sorrow for our sins. and then as the angel rolled away the stone from the mouth of the tomb, so divine grace will assist us in removing every obstacle in the way of our repentance--the slowness and dulness of our minds and wills, our spiritual sloth, the false shame that may keep us back from a good confession. arise, and, god's grace urging you, make one mighty effort, and the stone will speedily be rolled away. around the grave of our lord stood the watch of roman soldiers, guarding the seal that had been set upon the stone. satan, perhaps, has set his seal upon your heart, and the devils watch around it for fear you should break loose from their bondage. but if you are determined to rise from the death of sin they will be as powerless to hinder you as the roman soldiers were to prevent the resurrection of jesus. when he rose from the dead he left behind him the grave-clothes and linen bandages with which his body had been bound. and this teaches us that we should leave behind us our evil habits and inclinations, and no longer remain slaves to our passions. lazarus could not walk freely after his resurrection until he had been freed from his grave-clothes. { } _your_ grave-clothes are the habits of sin you have contracted, the cravings, of your sensual appetites, the love of sin that lingers in your hearts. cast off these thongs that bind your souls, that you may walk freely in newness of life. when the women came to seek the body of jesus the angel said to them: "why seek you the living among the dead? he is not here, but is risen." if, risen from the death of sin, satan should again seek to gain possession of you; if your former bad companions should try to bring you back to your old ways; if the voice of passion should strongly lure you to leave the path of right, you can answer: "why seek you the living among the dead? my soul is not here; but is risen--risen from the dead. it dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over it." crucify, then, my dear brethren, the old man within you, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that you may serve sin no longer. "let not sin reign in your mortal bodies, so as to obey the lusts thereof," but "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to god, in christ jesus our lord." as our lord had compassion upon those who listened to his words, and fed them with the loaves and fishes, so will he also have mercy upon you, if you hearken to his voice now calling you to penance, and will feed you with his own most precious body and blood. -------------------------- { } seventh sunday after pentecost. epistle. _romans vi._ - . brethren: i speak a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh. for as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. for when you were the servants of sin, you were free from justice. what fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? for the end of them is death. but now being made free from sin, and become servants to god, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end everlasting life. for the wages of sin is death: but the grace of god, everlasting life in christ jesus our lord. gospel. _st. matthew vii._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. by their fruits you shall know them. do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? even so every good tree yieldeth good fruit, and the bad tree bad fruit. a good tree cannot yield bad fruit, neither can a bad tree yield good fruit. every tree that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. not every man that saith to me, lord, lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. ----------------- { } sermon xcviii. _beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves._ --st. matthew vii. . a prophet is a teacher, and a teacher who assumes to have more than ordinary knowledge. he is one who claims to speak from authority, and demands a hearing on the score of his being inspired directly by the all-wise god, or as being commissioned to speak in the name of god. when such true teachers speak to us we are bound, of course, to listen to them, to receive their words with humility and obey them implicitly. it is the way of god with men. we are taught all we know. now, if all teachers were true teachers, all men would believe alike and there would be no error in the world. but because there have been and are many false teachers, there are many false religions and innumerable lies of all kinds which thousands believe to be truths. for one to be sure, therefore, that what he believes is true, he must not be simply content with the fact that _he_ sincerely believes it, but he must know that his teacher is a true teacher. those who are not catholics wonder how it is that we feel so certain of the truths of our faith. their wonder would cease if they were to become catholics, as it does happen with all converts; for then they would know, as we know, _how it feels to be sure of one's teacher_. that is our inestimable privilege and inexpressible joy--that we know our teacher is true, and that a false teacher is instantly detected, no matter how carefully and cunningly he has put on his sheep's clothing. the disguise is never thick enough to hide the wolf's teeth and claws. { } i do not say that a catholic may not be deceived and be misled by these wolves in sheep's clothings else our lord would not have told us to beware of such, and the history of all heresies proves that many can be deceived by them. but that is their fault. they go out of the fold where all is light and clear, and where a wolf is found out in a moment, and they wander about in places and in company where there is no light of divine faith. to tell the truth, the false teacher finds his victims already misled and enticed away by their own passions and pride. he finds they have already begun to believe a lie, and he has only to encourage them in it. what do i mean by wandering outside the fold? i mean imitating the talk and following the example of those whose principles are false; who say: "religion is a matter of choice"; "it does not matter what a man believes so long as he is good"; "education is the business of the state"; "religion has nothing to do with science"; and also immoral principles such as these: "a man cannot help his nature"; "a young man is expected to sow his wild oats"; "we are in the world and must go with it," and such like. when a catholic talks that way he is fair game for the first false teacher that comes along. then one wanders outside the fold and is caught by the wolves when he ventures into forbidden secret societies. these wolves have got the sheep's clothing of charity and brotherly love on. it is a wonder that there can be found catholics silly enough not to feel the wolf's claw the first time they are taught the secret-society grip. { } "charity and brotherly love" forsooth! they had better say, "we swear to love ourselves, and to look out for number one," for this is what all the twaddle of these secret brotherhoods amounts to. avoid them. their leaders are false teachers, their principles are false, and their association is dangerous to both faith and morals. beware of the false newspaper prophet. everybody reads the newspapers, and too many, alas! think they have the right to read any newspaper that is printed. that is what the false newspaper prophet says when he offers for sale his filthy, licentious, and lying sheet. beware of him! his talk is corrupting and demoralizing. do you wish, dear brethren, to make sure of not being deceived by these wolves in sheep's clothing? then obey with humility and docility the shepherd of the flock. when he cries, "wolf! wolf!" then be sure that there is a wolf. defer to his judgment. _his_ preaching, you know, is true. follow that, and not even the devil himself can deceive you. ---------------- sermon xcix. _every tree is known by its fruit._ --st. luke vi. . the great lesson taught us to-day by the offices of the church is that the christian life of faith must show itself in good works. faith is the foundation, but a building must not stop with the foundation; more stones must be added continually until it rises complete in all its parts, according to the plan of the architect. { } so we must not be content with the foundation of faith, but, by co-operating with the graces god is always giving us, must be always striving after the model set before us by the divine architect, our lord jesus christ, always adding virtue to virtue, until at last we shall appear before the god of gods in sion to receive the reward of our good deeds. faith is the root, but the root must grow into a tree, and put forth not only leaves and blossoms, not only pious thoughts and fine words, but the fruit of good deeds, the fruit of a life spent in conformity to the maxims of our holy faith. our lord tells us that a tree is known by its fruit. for there is no good tree that bringeth forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree that bringeth forth good fruit. so the earnestness of our faith will be known by our lives. if we find that our lives correspond to what our faith teaches us, we may be sure that our faith is living and not dead. "by their fruits ye shall know them," alas! how many who call themselves catholics make their lives an argument against the faith in the hands of its enemies, who point at us the finger of scorn, and loudly proclaim that, by our lord's own test, we fail. and then we have the careless and the lukewarm, who, while they are not an open scandal, yet fall far short of the test our lord proposes. in them we see plenty of leaves, and even blossoms, but the fruit is sadly wanting, or, at best, is but worm-eaten and rotten through a lack of earnestness and a pure intention. they, perhaps, will talk about their faith as though they were the most zealous catholics in the world; but if we look into their practice we find it very different from what their language would lead us to expect. how many, for instance, are ready enough to defend in argument the doctrine of the real presence who never think of making a visit to the blessed sacrament, nay, who rarely approach the holy communion, and perhaps have not made their easter-duty! { } well, i fear it will always be so. fine words are cheap and good resolutions are easily made, but it is another thing to keep them. but listen to our lord's warning: "every tree that yieldeth not good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire." our eternal welfare depends upon our deeds. our faith alone will not save us. it is necessary, indeed; for just as the root is to the tree the source of all its life, so faith is what gives to our good works their merit before god. but unless it bears the fruit of good works it is worthless and dead. "not every one that saith unto me, lord, lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." that is to say, not every one who professes the true faith shall be saved, but those only who shall bring their wills into conformity with the will of god. it is not enough to acknowledge god as our lord and king, if his holy will is not fulfilled in us and by us. if we would enter into life eternal we must keep the commandments of god and his church. and we also do the will of god by suffering it; that is, by enduring with patience all the trials and crosses he may send us, for these are his holy will for us as much as his positive precepts. there is often more merit in patiently suffering than in great deeds that would astound the world. this is the way to fulfil the prayer so often on our lips: "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." strive, then, both in doing and in suffering, to make real for yourselves this holy petition, that god may not have to say of you, as he said of the jews of old: "this people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." ----------------- { } sermon c. _the wages of sin is death._ --romans vi. . this is a truth plain enough to the thoughtful; but there are some, alas! who think about it only when it is too late. the wages have not yet become due, and the sinner, thinking only of his present pleasures, goes on unmindful of that time when the terrible wages will have to be paid in full. death, says st. paul, is the wages. tell a man that if he goes to a certain place or performs a certain act the penalty will be death, and he cannot be persuaded to go to that place or perform that fatal act. on the other hand, he will do anything to save himself from such a fate. but the death of which st. paul speaks is not to be compared with that of the body, for it is the soul. the wages of sin is, then, a spiritual death. if we could see before us in one vast pile a number of bodies corrupted by death, what a revolting spectacle it would be! but if we could see the dead souls of so many around us, who seem to be so full of life, as god beholds them, we should be far more horrified. there are some who, as they sit in their houses, walk in the streets, are engaged at work, or even as they are on their knees in church, have with them only wretched corpses of souls. who will reap this terrible wages of sin? we have all sinned, therefore we must all reap some of its wages. { } by the sin of one man "death has passed unto all men, in whom all have sinned." death is the most dreadful temporal calamity with which we are acquainted; yet it is the wages which the whole human race have to pay for the sin of one. but the penalty of that second death, which is eternal, is the most terrible wages of sin; and yet our holy faith teaches us that one mortal sin is enough to cause the instant death of the soul. but the man who lives in mortal sin abides in death. every sin that he commits plunges his soul deeper into the abyss of death, till at last he receives the full wages of his crimes in the flames of hell. how shall we escape this terrible penalty? our blessed lord, by his death, received the wages due to us on account of sin. through the infinite merits of his death our souls may be brought to life, if we will truly repent and sin no more. st. paul says: "as in adam all die, so also in christ all shall be made alive." but we cannot hope to escape the bitter wages of sin, unless we cease to sin. if we live in sin, and, as generally happens to such, die in sin, we shall not be helped by the death of christ, but shall receive more bitter wages for our sins than if christ had not died for us. we shall then, in addition to our other crimes, be guilty of the death of our blessed redeemer; for, as st. paul says: "by our sins we crucify jesus christ afresh." there are, also, wages which have to be paid for sins forgiven. though the eternal guilt is remitted, the infinite justice of god has yet to be satisfied. we shall all of us have to receive the wages of our forgiven sins in penance and sufferings in this life and in purgatory till the last farthing has been paid. { } this ought to make us fearful about our past sins, and to make us dread nothing so much as to fall into sin again. the words of the text, "for the wages of sin is death," should be continually in our minds when we are tempted to sin, and, knowing the terrible consequences which must follow every sin, we shall rather endure any temporal evil than to incur the terrible misfortune of having offended god. ------------------ { } _eighth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _romans. viii._ - . brethren: we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. for whosoever are led by the spirit of god, they are the sons of god. for you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, abba (father). for the spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of god. and if sons, heirs also: heirs indeed of god, and joint heirs with christ. gospel. _st. luke xvi_. - . at that time: jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: there was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. and he called him, and said to him: what is this i hear of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst not be steward. and the steward said within himself: what shall i do, because my lord taketh away from me the stewardship? to dig i am not able, to beg i am ashamed. i know what i will do, that when i shall be put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. therefore calling together every one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first: how much dost thou owe my lord? but he said: a hundred barrels of oil. and he said to him: take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. then he said to another: and how much dost thou owe? who said: a hundred quarters of wheat. he said to him: take thy bill and write eighty. { } and the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. and i say to you: make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. ---------------- sermon ci. _make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings._ --st. luke xvi. . what is this mammon of iniquity of which, or with which (for that is the true sense of the words), we are to make friends for ourselves? it is the money or other property that god has given us to use in this world. we have only to read a few verses more to see that this is what it means; for when our lord said immediately afterwards, "you cannot serve god and mammon," the evangelist tells us that "the pharisees, who were covetous, laughed at him." it is called the mammon of iniquity or injustice, because it is the cause of almost all the injustice in the world. we have, then, to make friends for ourselves with the money or other temporal means which god has entrusted to us. this is what the steward of whom the gospel tells us did. he was entrusted by his master with the management of an estate. he was to take care of it in his master's interest, not in his own, for it did not belong to him; as we are here to use our property in god's interest, for he is our master, and what we have really belongs to him and not to ourselves. { } the steward was not faithful to his master; he wasted his goods; so he was discharged from his office and had to give an account of his stewardship, as we also shall have to give an account of ours to our master when we are discharged from it--that is, when we come to die. then he began to think how he could make use of the means that had been committed to him to provide for himself in the new state of life upon which he had to enter. he had not much time to make his arrangements, but he hit upon a very good plan. in that we do not resemble him, for with all our lifetime to make our arrangements in, and the certainty that we shall have some time to be discharged from our stewardship, and give an account of it before the judgment-seat of god, we too often make none at all. as our lord says: "the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." the steward, i say, hit on a good plan; and that was to obtain the favor of his master's debtors by taking something off the bills which they had to pay, that they might in return contribute something to his support and save him from the necessity of working or begging for the remainder of his life. in this way he made friends for himself with the money which had been committed to him, in order that these friends might receive him into their dwellings when he was turned out of his own. this is the part of his conduct which we have to imitate. we have to imitate the steward by making friends with the means which our lord has given us--friends who will be of service to us in the new life upon which we have so soon to enter, the life which comes after death. { } but who are these friends to be? generally people try to buy the favor of the rich and the great. but these are not the friends who are going to be of use to us in the next world. no, the poor, not the rich, are the ones whose friendship will be of use to us there. in this life they will not help those who help them, because they cannot; but they will in the next. if you help them the blessing which they give you is not only a blessing when you receive it, but it is treasured up for you, long after you have forgotten it, in god's eternal memory. he is preparing in heaven beautiful and glorious mansions for these friends of yours, who are also friends of his, to make up for the miserable ones in which they have lived on earth. there are others like them which he is preparing for us all. he has gone to get them ready. "in my father's house," said our lord, "there are many mansions. ... i go to prepare a place for you." these mansions are being prepared for you, but whether you enter into their possession depends very much on how you treat the poor, to whom they more properly belong. be charitable, then, to them, for they have the keys of the homes which you will shortly have to seek. and in your charity to the poor remember one who is always poor, at least in this country of ours. i mean god's holy church. she is a very great beggar, and a very tiresome one, i know--always asking you for more; it seems as if she would never be satisfied, and i do not believe she ever will. { } but then she is a good friend of yours, and what you give to her is, like what you give to other poor people, more for your own good than for hers. for it is chiefly by her help that you are to reach those everlasting dwellings which our lord promises to you. if you did not do anything for her it certainly would be hard for you to be saved; for it is through her that the means of salvation come. the more liberal you are to her the more liberally will those means be given to you; and if you think you have enough of them, and are quite sure of heaven with what you have got, certainly that is not the case with everybody; and you know we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves. these, then, god's poor and his church, are the best friends you can make with the temporal means that he has given you, for they are the ones who can provide for you in that eternity which is coming so soon. imitate the prudence of the steward, and you will not only make friends as he did, but you will also please your master, which he did not, and obtain from him who is your best friend an eternal reward. ------------------- sermon cii. _give an account of thy stewardship._ --st. luke xvi. . there is nothing said against the ability of this steward. on the contrary, he gives every evidence of being a shrewd business man. his investments had probably been prudent, and his debtors reliable men. the fault for which he is held blamable is carelessness. he had not kept his accounts squared up. { } if the master had waited for the regular time of enquiring into his accounts, or had given him a little notice of his intention to do so, he would, in all probability, have found everything in excellent order, and have praised his steward for his good management. but he came upon him unawares, when he had many debts outstanding and his books were in disorder. this, in a business man, is inexcusable; and whenever we hear of a similar case we always condemn the unfortunate man, and say, "it served him right; he should have attended to his business." little do we think, indeed, how our own words may some day stand witness against us. the application of the gospel is too plain to need any explanation, but there is one point i would impress upon you particularly this morning: our carelessness. we are all stewards of our own souls, and concerning the care we have taken of them, the use to which we have put the many opportunities of merit, the investment, as it were, we have made of the innumerable graces offered us, we shall have to render a strict account, and at what moment we know not. we know that we have many debts, and that it would go hard with us if we had to meet them at once; we know that we have not straightened up our accounts for a long time, and that everything is in disorder. yet we go on in the same careless way day after day and month after month. sometimes we get messages and warnings from our lord; a mission is preached, we meet with temporal reverses, or we are thrown on a bed of sickness and think our lord is about to ask us for the account of our stewardship, and we make a hurried compromise with our sins, the best we can do under the circumstances. { } but no sooner do we find the account is not really required than we fall back into the former careless way of conducting the business of our soul. indeed, it is strange that women who are such good housewives, and men who give such careful attention to the temporal things of this life, are so utterly negligent when it comes to that which is the most important of all--the business of their soul. one would think they had no faith. the foolish excuses they make!--they are too much mixed up with the world to be pious, they have to attend to their family, and the like. as though they were not to save their soul in this world; as though the attending to their soul and the care of their family were two separate and distinct things! and then, when god, seeing that prosperity is not good for them, sends them reverses, they neglect their soul more than ever, and fail to see that if they had looked after their soul they might have been even better off in this world's affairs. take a warning, then, my brethren, from the lesson of to-day's gospel; keep the accounts of your soul in order, for you know not the time when the master will say: "give an account of thy stewardship." and let not those who make their easter duty think the lesson does not apply to them, but let not a single month pass by without rendering an account to god. --------------------- sermon ciii. _make to yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive you into everlasting dwellings._ --st. luke xvi. . { } every christian knows our lord does not intend to encourage men to love that which is entirely worldly. in fact, his caution often repeated, his most important warning to men, is that they do not love too much the riches of this world. he even tells us it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven unless god himself keep that man from loving his money and possessions more than he ought to do. this is what too often makes riches a mammon of iniquity. the words can also be taken to mean riches gained by fraud, robbery, or unjust dealing of any kind. men of the world will say this is all the words can mean. god, however, has more to say about it. in his mind these words include all that a man may gain from motives which are impure and mean in the sight of god. now, the duty of every man is to look at everything as god looks at it. he must find out god's opinion of what is right or wrong, and make that opinion the law of his own life. the words "mammon of iniquity" mean, therefore, not only riches and possessions gained unjustly, but also that honor, esteem of men, that social position, or that high office gained by sinful actions or from bad motives. what, then, is a man to do who has offended god in this way? if he has gotten unjustly money or property he must restore it, be it much or little. but, one may say, "i will lose my reputation if i give it back. i shall be found out." this is not true in most cases. a man can restore privately. he can see that the one he has wronged gets back again that which belongs to him. he is not obliged to tell him who took it from him. if it cannot be done by himself without losing his good name, let him tell his confessor about it. he will manage it for him. the priest is ordained and instructed in order to help him in this as well as in other difficulties. { } moreover, what sort of a good name is that which that man knows is a false one? if not dead to sincerity of spirit that man must feel like a hypocrite. he must feel that he is not even the shadow of an honest man so long as he is called by a name he does not deserve. he must sometimes long to be again a truly honest man. let him restore, and then he will be again an honest man. he will then have that peace which is more to him than wealth or honor of this world. at least let him tell the priest about it. he makes a great mistake who stays away from confession because he has done wrong. the confessor can help him when he cannot help himself. he can make it easy for him to do right when it seems hard. another will say: "i have taken a little from this one and a little from that one. i do not know the people i have wronged." then give what is gained unjustly to the poor. the law of the land, as well as god's law, will not permit a man to keep that which he has gained dishonestly. the one who restores in this manner adds good works to his act of restitution. he relieves god's poor; he clothes the naked and feeds the hungry; he gains the prayers of the poor, whom god has promised to hear always. these prayers bring blessings on his head, true sorrow for sin into his soul, and secure for him the grace of a happy death. riches of injustice thus used will make friends who will get for him by their prayers an everlasting habitation in heaven. what other things are included in the riches of injustice? all that is valued by pride, ambition, self-love, vanity. all that man loves in this world because it makes him appear to be above his fellow-men. the proud, ambitious, selfish, and vain man has robbed god of the glory and honor due to him alone. { } he has worked for himself alone, and forgotten god, except to use god for his own private benefit. this man will often make bad confessions and communions in order to appear to be good. but what riches of injustice has he gained? he has gotten a pleasant manner, a sweet smile, a habit of talking respectfully to every one whose praise is pleasing to him, who can bring him custom or give him a vote for office. these things, good in themselves, are made bad by the motive in his heart. let this man change his motive and all will be right. he must use these same manners and smiles for god's sake. he must show that respect to every one, high or low, rich or poor. he must do this for the love of god and love of all men, for god's sake. this man, also, will then have gained the prayers of the poor by repairing in this way sins of pride, ambition, and self-love. he will find he has gained friends with the riches of injustice who will cause him to be received into everlasting habitations. ------------------ { } _ninth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians x._ - . brethren: we should not covet evil things, as they also coveted. neither become ye idolaters, as some of them: as it is written: "the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. neither let us tempt christ: as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents. neither do you murmur: as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. now all these things happened to them in figure; and they are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world are come. wherefore let him that thinketh himself to stand, take heed lest he fall. let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human. and god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able; but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it. gospel. _st. luke xix._ - . at that time: when jesus drew near jerusalem, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: if thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are for thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. for the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee: and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation. { } and entering into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought, saying to them: it is written: "my house is the house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of thieves. and he was teaching daily in the temple. ------------------ sermon civ. _my house is the house of prayer. but you have made it a den of thieves._ --st. luke xix. . what made our lord so severe with these people of whom the gospel tells us, who were selling and buying in the temple? he was usually gentle and mild, not violent, as on this occasion. he was generally content with reproving what was wrong; here he resorted to force--that force which no one could resist, and which he could always have used if he had chosen; by which he could have destroyed all his enemies in a moment, if he had seen fit to do so. and he not only made these buyers and sellers leave the house of god, but he drove them out in confusion, and also, as we read elsewhere, overturned the tables and chairs which they had used. well, one reason for his severity probably was that those who sold were making an unjust profit out of the necessities of those who bought; for the things which they were selling were such as had to be offered by the people for the sacrifices of the temple, and could not well be obtained by them anywhere else. but i think his principal motive was to impress on his followers, and on us who were to come after them, a lesson which we are very apt to forget. he wanted to teach it to us in such a way that we could not forget it: and therefore he made use of this extraordinary means. { } this lesson is contained in the words which he quotes from his prophet isaias: "my house is the house of prayer." these words were true of the temple in which he then was, but they have a more special reference to the temples in which he now dwells, in which he dwells continually, which he did not in that temple, magnificent as it was. you know, or ought to know, what these temples are. they are our churches, where he is all the time, in his real presence, in the blessed sacrament. these are the temples of which that in jerusalem was only a figure or type. the church is the place for prayer. that is the lesson for us, and we were, as i have said, the ones whom he chiefly wanted to instruct. for prayer--that is, for acts of religion of all kinds--and for nothing else. it is the place to think of god and to speak to him, and not to do anything else, innocent though it be. it is not a place to talk or laugh in. you know that well enough, and would not, i suppose, laugh or talk; at any rate not much in church, especially if mass was being celebrated or if there were a good many people there. but perhaps that would be because you would be afraid of what these people would say or think of you; for there are persons who, sometimes when nobody seems to be looking, do not scruple to have quite a nice little conversation, which might just as well be put off till some other time, if, indeed, there was any need for it at all. { } the church is not a place to stare around in, or to see what is going on, except at the altar. and yet there are persons who come to it, especially if there is to be a wedding or some other event of general interest, simply for this purpose and for nothing else. perhaps they will kneel down a little while for form's sake; but they did not enter god's house to pray for themselves or for anybody else, but only to gratify their worldly curiosity by seeing how people look or behave, and to have something to talk about, possibly to make fun about afterwards, if not, indeed, at the time. and that reminds me of another thing. the church is not the place to see what kind of clothes people have on, or to show off one's own good clothes. it is a place to be well dressed in, as far as one's means will properly allow; but that is in order to give honor to god, not to win it from one another. it is the place to dress neatly, but not showily; not in such a way as to attract the eyes of others, and draw their thoughts from those things on which they should then be employed. and this again suggests something else; that is, that our thoughts, as well as our words and actions, belong specially to our lord when we are in his presence, before his altar. let us take particular care about this. if we take care of our thoughts our words and actions will take care of themselves. and let us remember that when we spend our time in church unworthily we are stealing something from god. what is this that we are stealing? it is the time and the honor that he has a right to expect from us. it is because of these thefts that he can truly say to us: "my house is the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves." this seems strong language; but do we not deserve it if we take from our lord the little that he claims as his own? { } he may have called those who sold in the temple thieves, because they were cheating their neighbors; but is it not as bad to cheat him? let us, then, be sorry for this cheating of ours, and try to make restitution in the time that is to come. ------------------- sermon cv. _god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able._ -- corinthians x. . some people seem to think that their sins are principally god's fault. a great many of you, my dear friends, who are listening to me now have frequently, i have no doubt, said as much. of course you will say, and very rightly too, that such a charge against the good god is a horrible blasphemy; but, for all that, you have often been guilty of it. you will, i think, want me to prove this before you will fully believe it. well, it is very easy to do so. have you never, when you accused yourself of some sin, said that you could not help it? you got in a passion, for instance, perhaps quite frequently, and spoke angry words, which of course you were sorry for afterwards; but you say that at the time you could not help it. what follows, then, if what you say is true? why, in the first place, it follows, of course, that it was not your fault that you sinned; that in fact it was no sin for you at all, for if a person really cannot help doing a thing he is not to blame for it. but it was a sin; you acknowledge that; so if it was not your sin it must have been somebody else's. { } and that somebody else must have been almighty god. he was answerable for the sin by not giving you the grace to avoid it. that is what it amounts to when you say that you could not help committing sin. this horrible blasphemy, which then certainly is implied by the words, "i could not help it"--this blasphemy, which makes god the author of sin and responsible for it, is what st. paul denies in the words from the epistle of to-day which i have read to you. he says: "god is faithful"; he does give you enough grace. "he will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able"; he will not let you have a temptation so strong that, with the grace which he gives you, you cannot resist it. there are some things which one cannot help, but sin is not one of them. if a hot coal falls on one's hand one cannot help feeling pain from it; and in the same way one cannot help feeling the fire of temptation with which god is sometimes pleased that we should be tried. but sin, which is the giving way of the will to temptation, one can always help. sin, the giving way to temptation, is like holding the hot coal in your hand after it has fallen there. you do not want to hold the coal in your hand; but you do want to give way to temptation, because there is something pleasant in that. it is more pleasant to give way than to resist it; if it were not it would not be a temptation. it relieves your mind to say that angry word when you are provoked. it is hard often to resist temptation; that is the amount of it. but it is not impossible. { } never say, then, when you accuse yourself of anything with which your conscience really reproaches you, that you could not help it. do not say it, unless you wish to blaspheme god and throw the blame of your sin upon him. remember that he is faithful, and does not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able; and say, rather, "it was hard to help it; i was very much tempted, but i could have resisted, and i am very sorry that i did not." i know that is what you mean very often when you say, "i could not help it." say, then, what you mean, for it will help you very much the next time. it will put you in mind of what you must know to be the truth--that is, that you could have kept from sin; and when you are convinced of this you will, if you are in earnest, use all the means you have to do so. above all you will see that one great reason why it was so hard to resist temptation was that, though you had grace enough to do so, you did not have enough to make it easy; and you will pray hard to get that abundant help which god will give to all who continually ask it from him. ---------------------- { } _tenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians xii._ - . brethren: you know that when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led. wherefore i give you to understand, that no man, speaking by the spirit of god, saith anathema to jesus. and no man can say, the lord jesus, but by the holy ghost. now there are diversities of graces, but the same spirit: and there are diversities of ministries, but the same lord. and there are diversities of operations, but the same god, who worketh all in all. but the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man unto profit. to one, indeed, by the spirit, is given the word of wisdom: to another, the word of knowledge according to the same spirit: to another, faith in the same spirit; to another, the grace of healing in one spirit: to another, the working of miracles: to another, prophecy: to another, the discerning of spirits: to another, divers kinds of tongues: to another, interpretation of speeches: but all these things one and the same spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will. gospel. _st. luke xviii._ - . at that time: to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others, jesus spoke this parable: two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a pharisee, and the other a publican. the pharisee, standing, prayed thus with himself: o god! i give thee thanks that i am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, nor such as this publican. i fast twice in the week: i give tithes of all that i possess. { } and the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: o god! be merciful to me a sinner! i say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. --------------------- sermon cvi. _two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a pharisee, and the other a publican._ --st. luke xviii, . there are not supposed to be any pharisees nowadays, and the word "publican" is getting rather old-fashioned; so perhaps, before applying this parable to our own times, we had better understand who the pharisees and the publicans were. the pharisees, in our lord's time, were a very religious class among the jews, very strict and correct in their belief, and with very strict consciences, too--strict, at least, about some things, particularly about such things as concerned their reputation for piety. about other matters they were sometimes rather too easy and charitable--easy and charitable, that is, to themselves; for it is quite possible that they might have criticised others for faults not very different from their own, as when this pharisee in the gospel called the poor publican standing in the corner an extortioner, or robber, as perhaps the word is better rendered; forgetting, it may be, some little transactions which, if rightly understood, might have fixed as bad a name on himself. { } these publicans, on the other hand, were not in any way a religious set of people; they did not pretend, like the pharisees, to be so, nor were they in point of fact. they were called publicans because they collected the public taxes; they were blamed by the people, and with good reason, for extorting money unjustly from the poor. their business was really, in those times, a proximate occasion of sin; this was the reason why st. matthew, who was a publican before our lord called him to be an apostle, never went back to his business again, as st. peter did to his innocent occupation as a fisherman. the publican of this parable also, no doubt, had either made up his mind to give up his sinful life or was endeavoring to do so. both of these men, the pharisee and the publican, were sinners. in that they were alike; the difference between them was that the publican acknowledged that he was a sinner and was trying to amend his life, while the pharisee thought that he was perfect, or that, if he had any faults, they were such as no one could avoid, and which his maker would readily overlook, especially in a person of his exalted piety. now, i said in the beginning that there were not supposed to be any pharisees nowadays: but i think that we shall find that there are some people of this kind, even among us christians; and perhaps, if we go down very deep into our own consciences, we shall even find that we are pharisees ourselves. some of these pharisees make excellent confessions. they show a care in their examination of conscience equal to that of the saints; they have the most accurate knowledge of every fault, and are willing to go into every detail, if they are permitted to do so. this delicacy of perception of sin is a quality which certainly commands our admiration; but there is a circumstance which prevents this admiration from being quite unlimited. { } this circumstance is that the faults which they are so keenly alive to are not their own. they are those of other people with whom they live, or of whom they hear through some person of the same sort of sensitive conscience that they themselves have. the world, in the eyes of these sensitive people, certainly has a melancholy aspect. everybody is doing wrong, and nobody is doing right--nobody, that is, except themselves. they, thank god! are not so bad. they are innocent sufferers, enduring a continual martyrdom at the hands of these wicked people who live in the same house or close by. their only consolation here below is to tell their friends how much they suffer, and how much others suffer, from these sinners. others, it is true, may deserve it, but they themselves certainly never have. they wish that they were dead and out of reach of their persecutors. the most curious thing is that one of their great causes of annoyance is the way that other people will carry stories; this is the story that they spend their lives in carrying. perhaps you think this picture is overdrawn. i hope it is. and i do not believe that many people are such thorough pharisees as these whom i have described. but there is too much, a great deal too much, of the pharisaic spirit about us all. and not nearly enough of the spirit of the publican--of humility, contrition, and purpose of amendment. how shall we acquire this spirit by looking into our own conscience, unpleasant as it may be, and letting those of our neighbors alone. { } if we sincerely examine our own hearts we shall not thank god that we are not like others, but rather pray to him that we may, before we die, have something like the perfection that many others have already reached; and ask him, as the publican did, to have mercy on us sinners--on us poor sinners, who are trying to be so no more. that is the way, and the only way, that we sinners can get into the company of the saints; not by fancying ourselves there already. if we wish, then, to reach that blessed company, let us start on this way at once, for there is no time to lose. ---------------------- sermon cvii. _every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exulted._ --st. luke xviii. . one does not need to be a christian, my dear brethren, to understand, as it would seem, the truth of these words of our lord. everybody knows that a man who is all the time praising himself, or who even shows that he has a pretty good opinion of himself, loses by it in the opinion of others. he does not even get as much credit for ability or virtue as he really deserves, besides being considered as stuck up and conceited, which everybody feels to be a defect. in fact, a man who is evidently very proud makes himself ridiculous. and, on the other hand, one who is modest and unassuming generally is supposed to be more clever than he really is. people sometimes get a reputation for learning and depth of thought by simply holding their tongue--so convinced is the world that a really great man will not make a parade of his greatness. { } but this lesson of worldly prudence is not the real meaning of our saviour's words. he does not wish to show us how to get a reputation for learning or for anything else. this would be merely encouraging and helping our vanity and pride. what he wishes to teach us is humility. he wants us to humble ourselves really; not to pretend to do so, that we may be more esteemed by the world. why, then, if that is the object, does he promise us that if we humble ourselves we shall be exalted? that, it would seem, could be no inducement to a man who had real humility. such a man would not want to be exalted, you will say. ah! there is where you are mistaken. every humble man, every really good man, does want to be exalted. the saints, who are the models of humility for us, wanted it more than any one else in the world. this may sound strange, but it is undoubtedly true. for what is it to be exalted in the true sense of the word? it is to get near to god, who is the most high. and the more one loves god the more does he wish to be near him; so all those who love god wish to be thus exalted and the saints more than all, because they love god more than any one else. and this exaltation, which comes from being near to almighty god, is what he promises, in these words of the gospel, to the humble and refuses to the proud. this was what he gave to the publican and refused to the pharisee; for he gave the publican his grace and his friendship, but the pharisee failed to receive it on account of his pride. "this man," says our lord, "went down to his house justified rather than the other"--that is, nearer to god, and therefore more exalted. { } the humble, then, will be raised into the friendship of god, and the proud will not. nor can they come near him in any other way. he is too high above us for us to come near him except on his own terms. you cannot get near almighty god by making the most of your natural powers, any more than you can get near the stars by going on the roof of your house. some people in old times thought to scale the heavens by building a high tower; but god confounded their pride, and the tower of babel is a byword for human folly and presumption to this day. let us, then, my dear brethren, not follow their example. let us seek truly to be exalted, but in the way that he has appointed, in the way that his saints have chosen, and especially the way of our blessed lady, the nearest to him and the humblest of all. and, in fact, if we really wish for this true exaltation it must needs be in this way; for if we really wish to be near god it must be for the love of him; and if we love him we must often think of him; and if we often think of him we must be humble; for how can the creature be proud who often thinks of the creator of heaven and earth? ----------------- sermon cviii. every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. --st. luke xviii. . it is a blessed and a happy moment, a sort of turning-point in life, my brethren, for any one of us when he wakes up to the conviction that he is nothing extraordinary after all. that is, if there is such a moment; for sometimes this conviction dawns on one gradually. { } almost every one begins life with the other idea. not that he has it himself at the start, but his friends have it for him. almost every baby is considered, as you know, to be the finest and most beautiful one that ever was seen. perhaps he does not quite come up afterward to the expectations of his fond parents; but at least he is remarkable in some way. he is a very clever boy, or a very good boy, or, at any rate, he could be if he wanted to; he has got it in him; he is much finer in some respects, perhaps in a great many, than the common run. he is going to turn out a great man; he is much more likely to be president of the united states than any other boy of his age. and by the time he has got to man's estate he has a good deal of the same opinion himself. he does not like to have it even hinted that he is at all below par in anything; or if it is plain, even to himself, that he is, then it is a thing of no consequence, or he could excel in it if he chose to. the sorest points are of course those in which his choosing would make no difference. the less said about these the better. well, you know all this is what we call pride. almighty god has mercifully arranged it so that it is generally knocked out of us to some extent as we travel on through the world; but still a good deal of it remains. it is a thing that gives us a great deal of trouble of mind, and which generally keeps us back a great deal from really excelling in anything. it is a thing, therefore, which it is good to get rid of as soon as we can; and of course, therefore, you all want to know how to do this. i think the gospel story of to-day throws some light on this point. { } the way to do it is the way of the publican, and the way not to do it is that of the pharisee. and the way of the publican is that of common sense, too. what is it? it is lo look at and consider our defects, and not our strong points. the publican might have talked like the pharisee, too. he might have said: "i am a much better fellow than that old pharisee. i am a good, hearty, generous soul. i treat my friends to the best i have got; and if i do cheat sometimes a little in business i make up for it in charity; and i don't make a show of the good i do and put on a pretence of religion like those canting hypocrites." and so he might have gone on to the end of the chapter. but he didn't. no; he just went off in a corner all by himself and said: "o god! be merciful to me a sinner." he did not think about his virtues, but about his sins; and when he asked the lord to be merciful to him he meant that he wanted to amend his life, and was going to do it with the help of god, and imitate the pharisee, whom he really thought better than himself; for you see he did not think of the sins of the pharisee, but of his virtues. i say that his way was of common sense. it is the way we all follow when at work on anything except ourselves. we look at the defects in our work, and not its excellences; and if we have very good sense it seems to us pretty much all defects. humility, then, after all, is only common sense. and i think you ought to see pretty well one reason at least why, as our lord says, he that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself exalted. { } the one who exalts himself, who stops to look at his virtues, is all the time running down, and losing even the little virtue that he admires; while he that really humbles himself is constantly getting better. so humility is necessary for progress. it is so in the things of this world even, and much more so in our spiritual affairs. ----------------- { } _eleventh sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians xv._ - . brethren: i make known unto you the gospel which i preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand: by which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner i preached to you, unless you have believed in vain. for i delivered to you first of all, which i also received: how that christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures: and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures: and that he was seen by cephas, and after that by the eleven. then was he seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. after that he was seen by james, then by all the apostles. and last of all, he was seen also by me, as by one born out of due time. for i am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because i persecuted the church of god. but by the grace of god i am what i am: and his grace in me hath not been void. gospel. _st. mark vii._ - . at that time: jesus going out of the borders of tyre, came by sidon to the sea of galilee, through the midst of the territories of decapolis. and they bring to him one that was deaf and dumb; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. and taking him aside from the multitude, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue: and looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: ephpheta, which is, be opened. and immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. and he charged them that they should tell no man. { } but the more he charged them so much the more a great deal did they publish it. and so much the more did they wonder, saying: he hath done all things well; he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. -------------------- sermon cix. _he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak._ --st. mark vii. . our saviour, in his ministry on earth, no doubt cured a great many deaf and dumb people. the story of this particular cure has been preserved for us on account of the peculiar and significant way in which he performed it. the memory of it is renewed every time that a child is baptized in the catholic church. in the ceremonies of baptism the priest, who represents our lord in this as in all other sacraments, touches the nostrils and the ears of the infant or adult with his thumb moistened with the saliva of his mouth, saying this same word, "ephpheta"--that is, "be opened." now, the child or grown person who is brought to baptism is not, as a general thing, deaf or destitute of any of the senses, and the priest does not, in performing this ceremony, work what we should commonly call a miracle, as our lord did in the cure of this deaf and dumb man. but in baptism what we may call a miracle, because it is so wonderful, though so common, is worked; or rather not one miracle but many. one of them--the one represented by this action of the priest, and also by that of our saviour in the gospel--is the opening of the spiritual senses by the words which come from the mouth of god. { } this opening of the spiritual senses is a much greater blessing than the opening of the bodily ears. but, unfortunately, most of us who are baptized do not preserve this great grace. as we grow up, instead of seeing and hearing better and better all the time with our spiritual eyes and ears, as we do with our bodily ones, we are too apt to lose the use of them altogether. they get covered over and choked up with the dust of this world; and, after a while, though having eyes we do not see, and having ears we do not hear. so there are a great many deaf and dumb people besides those who are commonly called so. these deaf and dumb people, however, often talk a good deal, and hear, as it would seem, pretty much everything that is to be heard. but there is only a very little of all the immense amount of talk that comes from their mouths that is of any use to themselves or to their neighbors, and that which they happen to hear that might be of use to them seems to go in at one ear and out at the other. what is it that the spiritual ear ought to hear? it is the voice of god. the holy ghost is all the time speaking to us, either by his own inspirations in our hearts, by our guardian angels, by the voice of the clergy who preach with his authority and in his name, by good books, or by some other means. but we do not listen to his voice; we do not let it reach the ears of our soul, though it may those of our body; and so those ears of the soul, from want of practice, get so deaf that they cannot hear it, though it sound ever so plainly. { } and so, becoming deaf, we become dumb also. you know that is always the way. when a person cannot hear at all he is apt to forget how to speak. this is the case with people who become deaf to god's voice. first they do not try to hear it, either because they are careless, or because they do not want to; they stifle his inspirations; they never think of such a thing as reading a spiritual book, and if they listen to sermons it is only to criticise the preacher, not to hear the word of god, which they could find in any catholic sermon, if they chose. and so, not hearing his voice, their spirit loses its tongue; they forget to pray to him, or, if they do pray, it is only with the lips and not with the heart; they forget to say anything for him or about him to their neighbor; and, worst perhaps of all, they forget to go to confession. that is where their tongues are specially tied. sometimes they even imagine that if they should go to confession they would have nothing to tell. to be spiritually deaf and dumb is a great deal worse than to have no bodily senses at all. a man may live without those senses just as with them; but when he is spiritually deaf and dumb, it means that his soul is dead. if, then, you are in this state, or falling into it, rouse yourself while there is time, and beg of our lord to open your ears that you may hear his voice plainly, for it will not speak to you much more; and to loose your tongue, that it may give glory to his name before you die. ------------------------- { } sermon cx. _he hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak._ --st. mark vii. . there are a good many people, my dear brethren, who are afflicted with a deafness and dumbness a great deal worse than that of the poor man whose cure is recorded in to-day's gospel. you all know several such people, i think; perhaps you are acquainted with quite a number; it may be even that you are such yourselves. the trouble with the poor man whom our lord cured was only in his body; the trouble with these people of whom i speak is in their souls. he was deaf and dumb corporally; they are deaf and dumb spiritually. who are these unfortunate people? they are those who are in the state of mortal sin; who are living day after day in that state, and have been, perhaps, for years. their souls are deaf; for god is calling to them continually to repent, and they refuse to hear him. their souls are dumb; for they have had for a long time a confession to make, and that confession is not yet made. as i said just now, you all know such people. they are easily known. they are the people who let easter after easter go by without approaching the sacraments. their life may be evidently bad; or perhaps, on the other hand, it may seem to be pretty good. they go, it may be, quite regularly to mass, and observe some of the other laws of the church. but there is one which they neglect, and that is the one which shows their true character. that is the precept of the yearly confession. { } when it comes to that either they are honest enough to say: "i cannot make up [my] mind to give up my sins, so it will be no use for me to go to confession," or they are dishonest enough to make some wretched excuse, such as: "i have too much reverence for the sacraments to receive them without due preparation, and i have not time to prepare," or, "i am sure i don't know what i would have to say to the priest; i can't think what you people are bothering him for all the time." my dear brethren, people that make excuses of this kind are like ostriches. these birds, it is said, when pursued, hide their heads in the sand to avoid being seen, leaving their whole bodies exposed. excuses like these never deceived anybody yet, and never will. everybody knows that if a man refuses to go to his confession when the church requires him to do so, the reason is that he is living in a way that his conscience reproaches him for, and that he does not choose to live in any other way. everybody knows that if a man's conscience is really clear he will be very willing to go to the priest and tell him so; and everybody knows that everybody has time to prepare. no, the fact is that these christians who live in the state of sin and neglect of their duties are, if not already quite deaf and dumb spiritually, at least rapidly becoming so. every day the voice of the holy ghost is sounding more and more faintly in their ears; every day, instead of bringing them nearer to a good confession, puts them farther away from it. every day the cure of their spiritual deafness and dumbness is getting more and more difficult, and needing more of a miracle of god's grace to accomplish it. they are like travellers who lie down to rest in the alpine snows and wake only in the next world. { } if any of you, my dear brethren in christ, who are now here and listen to my voice, which is another call from him to you, are in this fearful state, or are falling into it, may he work that miracle and bring you back to your senses! but whether he is to work it or not depends very much upon yourself. rouse yourself, then, and ask him to do so while you are yet able. for a time is coming, and that soon, but too late for you, when he will make you hear and speak indeed, whether you will or no; when the thunders of his eternal judgment shall sound in your ears, and when you will have to confess your sins, not to one man in secret, but before all men and all the angels and saints; and not with the hope of forgiveness, but with the certainty of condemnation. god grant that you may save your soul before that dreadful day, and be able to say with thankfulness, not with terror and despair: "he hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." --------------------- sermon cxi. _and taking him aside from the multitude._ --st. mark vii. . i suppose there is no trouble more common to people in the practice of their religion, whether they are particularly pious or not, than distractions at prayer. one's thoughts, perhaps, are pretty well under control while employed in the usual duties of the day; but as soon as the time comes to get on one's knees before god, away go the thoughts over everything under the sun except the words which are in the prayer-book. { } it really is quite discouraging sometimes; it appears as if our lord did not want to speak to us or to have us speak to him. but we know that this is not so. how, then, shall we account for our not hearing his voice, and not being able to say anything worth his hearing, when we set out to pray? how is it that we are so deaf and dumb in his presence? there are various reasons, no doubt, my brethren, but there is one common to almost all people living in the world; and i think it was this which our saviour wished to suggest to us when he took the deaf and dumb man aside from the multitude, as we read in to-day's gospel, before he would work his cure. he could have cured the man where he was; but he took him aside from the multitude, he got him away from the crowd in which he was, to show us, as it seems to me, that we cannot be cured of our spiritual deafness and dumbness, that we shall never be able to hear god or to speak to him as we should, till we, too, come out of the crowd. this living all the time in a crowd is really the most common and most fatal obstacle to prayer, at least with those who are really trying to serve god. it is not always that there are so very many people around us; we may make a crowd, a multitude for ourselves out of a very few. the crowd is not so much one of people as of ideas coming from the people and things which we meet with in our daily life. we talk too much; we look around and notice things too much; we read the papers too much--too much for our profit in any way, but especially for acquiring the spirit of prayer. { } what wonder is it that it is so hard to pray, and that there are so many distractions? one kneels down at the end of the day and tries to say some evening prayers. there is not a single thought in his or her head like those which are in the prayer-book. and why not? because there is no room for any. the poor head is packed full of all sorts of other ones coming from the events of the past day or week. all the people one has seen, all the foolish things they have said, the gossip they have retailed, even the clothes they have worn, or perhaps the stories or squibs and the useless and trifling news one has seen in the paper, take up the mind; there is a multitude of reflections and echoes from the sights and sounds of the day, which hide the face of god and drown his voice. it is in vain to say that one cannot help it. of course one cannot separate one's self from these things altogether. those who live a life of prayer in the most secluded convent, even the hermits of the desert, have sources of distraction around them and in their past lives. but what is the need of having so many of them? why not hear less talk and gossip, see fewer people and things, read less useless trash, cultivate silence a little more, and make a little solitude within ourselves, even when we cannot have it outside? if we will not do this, if we will distract ourselves needlessly out of the time of prayer, what wonder if we are distracted in it? { } come out of the multitude, then--the multitude of people that surround you, and of unnecessary thoughts, words, and actions, and see if your spiritual deafness and dumbness will not get better. you will hear a good deal from god, and be able to say a good deal to him that seems impossible now, if you will get a little away from this crowd, and from the noise it makes. ------------------------- { } _twelfth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _corinthians iii._ - . brethren: such confidence we have, through christ towards god. not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from god. who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter, but in the spirit. for the letter killeth; but the spirit giveth life. now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of israel could not steadfastly behold the face of moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory? for if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice aboundeth in glory. gospel. _st. luke x._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. for i say to you that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them: and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. and behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting him, and saying: master, what must i do to possess eternal life? but he said to him: what is written in the law? how readest thou? he answering, said: "thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself." and he said to him: thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. but he, willing to justify himself, said to jesus: and who is my neighbor? { } and jesus answering, said: a certain man went down from jerusalem to jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead. and it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him, he passed by. in like manner also a levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. but a certain samaritan being on his journey came near him; and seeing him was moved with compassion. and going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. and the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: take care of him: and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, i at my return will repay thee. which of these three in thy opinion was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers? but he said: he that showed mercy to him. and jesus said to him: go and do thou in like manner. ------------------- sermon cxii. _which of these three in thy opinion was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers? but he said: he that showed mercy to him. and jesus said to him: go and do thou in like manner._ --st. luke x. , . you would not think it a compliment if one should say that you were a bad neighbor, for that would mean that you were quarrelsome and tale-bearing, that you kept late and noisy hours, that you beat the neighbors' children; perhaps that you would steal something, if you got the chance. so none of us would like to be called a bad neighbor. but let us see how good a neighbor we are, using our blessed lord's words read to-day as a text. { } as we pass along the road of life here and there we see a neighbor lying half dead. he is stricken down with sickness; his body tormented with racking pains, burning with fever, and perhaps deserted by all--not one left to give him a drink of cold water. what kind of a neighbor are we to this poor brother of ours? when we hear him moan and cry, and ask for a bite of nourishing food, for a little money to buy some medicine, does our heart soften towards him, do we kindly assist him, or do we pass on as if we saw him not, hard of heart like the degraded jewish priest or the self-sufficient levite? and we come across many a poor creature who has fallen among the worst kind of thieves--viz., those who have stripped him of his good name. alas! you are often forced to stand by and see and hear your neighbor deprived of his reputation by scandal-mongers. how do you act in that case? does your heart burn with sympathy for him? do you raise your voice in his defence? do you correct your children when they engage in such talk? do you turn out of your house those notorious backbiters and tale-bearers of your neighborhood when they begin their poisonous gossip? if you act in this way you are a good neighbor, a good samaritan to an outraged and dying brother. but if you fail in this--if you hold your peace when you could say a good word of praise or excuse; if you permit those subject to you to talk ill of others; if you let your house be made a gossip-shop--then, by your silence and your consent, you are like the priest and levite of this day's gospel. and if you join in backbiting, why you are worse yet; you are yourself a robber of your neighbors dearest possession, his good name. { } but o my brethren! what lot so sad as that of the poor wretch who has fallen into the clutches of satan and his devils, who has been robbed of god's very grace, his soul killed by mortal sin? the ways of life are full of such poor sufferers. oh! what pity have you for the poor sinner? what prayers do you offer to god for the conversion of the sinner? what warnings and exhortations do you give him, especially if he be dear to you by ties of blood? what example do you set him? i fear that some of us despise the poor sinner, and feel quite too holy to seek him out, to invite him to hear a sermon, to ask him to come and get the pledge, to try and get him into good company. brethren, may god give us grace to be good samaritans; to have a tender heart and a generous hand for christ's poor and sick and outcast; to have a charitable word for the saving of our neighbor's good name; and, above all, to be always ready to bind up the spiritual wounds of the sinner by our prayers and example, and to pour healing oil upon them by our exhortations! rev. algernon a. brown. ----------------------- sermon cxiii. there are two opposite faults to both of which almost everybody is more or less inclined. the first of these is meddling with other people's business; the second is shirking one's own. it is rather the second of these than the first which is rebuked in the gospel of to-day, in the persons of the priest and the levite who went by without helping the poor wounded man. { } now, in the first place, let me explain what i mean by shirking one's own business or duties. it is not simply leaving them undone and expecting that they will remain so; but it is putting off what one ought to do one's self on to somebody else, and expecting somebody else to do it for you. so it is, you see, just the opposite of meddling, which is trying to do somebody else's duty for him when he would prefer to do it himself. now, this shirking was just what the priest and levite were guilty of. i do not suppose that our lord meant to describe them as really hard-hearted men, willing to let the poor man die rather than help him; but they said to themselves, "oh! this is not my business particularly; there are plenty of other people passing along this road all the time, and i am a little hurried now. i have got a deal to attend to, and there will be somebody coming this way before long. five minutes or so will not make much difference; and perhaps there is not so much the matter with the man after all. it may be his own fault. very likely he has been drinking. at any rate, he has got no special claim on me." this is a very natural state of mind for a person to get into, and how common it is, in such a case as this, we can see from the common proverb that "everybody's business is nobody's business." there are very many good works that really are everybody's business, that everybody ought to do something towards at least, but which are in great danger of not being done at all on account of this habit of shirking which is so common. and the ones which are most in this danger are those of the kind of which this gospel gives us an example; that is, works of charity toward our neighbor. { } people say to themselves, just as the priest and levite did: "oh! there are plenty of other people that can attend to this matter a great deal better and easier than i can. i am sure it will be done somehow or other. such things always are attended to. i don't feel specially called on to help in it." well, this might be all very good, if those people did really help in some things generously, and the case before them was one of no very urgent need. of course we cannot contribute to everything. but the difficulty is that too often we find them shirking, not occasionally, but all the time. if a poor man comes to the door, or a collection is taken for the poor in the church, they say to themselves: "the st. vincent de paul society can look out for those things; i am sure they must have money enough. i shall do my duty if i put a few pennies in the poor-box now and then." if contributions are called for in times of famine or pestilence, they say: "there is plenty coming in to supply all that is wanted; i can see that by the papers. they can get along very well without me." and so it goes all the way through. they do not give anything to anybody or do anything for anybody--that is, nothing to speak of--without getting a return for it. they will go to picnics, fairs, or amusements for a charitable object; but when it comes to doing anything simply for the love of their neighbor, that is left for somebody else. let us all, then, my brethren, examine ourselves on this point, and resolve to amend and to do our fair share of the work of charity, which is everybody's business; and not, like the priest and the levite, pass it on to the next man who comes along. --------------------- { } sermon cxiv. _but he, willing to justify himself, said to jesus: and who is my neighbor?_ --st. luke x. . the lawyer of whom the gospel tells us to-day, my brethren, seems to have wanted to be excused from loving everybody, and to find out just how far the circle of his affections must be extended; or, at least, to get our lord's opinion on that point. the question which he asked was something like that of st. peter when he enquired how often he must forgive his brother; though i hardly think the lawyer was as much in earnest as the great prince of the apostles to know the answer. well, our saviour, as you see, did not answer the question directly, but told a story which is, or should be, familiar to all of you: the story of the good samaritan. he made the samaritan give his judgment on the point, and then approved that judgment. "which of these three," he asked of the lawyer after telling him the story, "was neighbor to him that fell among the robbers?" that is, "which of the three seems to have considered the poor fellow to be his neighbor?" "the samaritan," replied the lawyer, of course, "because he showed love for him." "very well, then," said our lord, "adopt his opinion, for it is the right one. go and do thou in like manner." and yet what reason had the samaritan to consider this man to be his neighbor? he must naturally have supposed him to be a jew, finding him so near to jerusalem; and the samaritans had no very neighborly feeling toward the jews. { } the samaritans and jews were, in fact, very much like cats and dogs to each other. you may read in the chapter of the gospel just preceding this how the inhabitants of a certain place in samaria would not let our lord into it, simply because he seemed to be going to jerusalem; and in another of the towns of the samaritans a woman thought it strange that our lord, being a jew, should even presume to ask her for a drink of water. and though this was a good samaritan who was passing over that road between jerusalem and jericho, still he must have had some of the feelings of his people. the reason why the good samaritan considered the man his neighbor is, then, plain enough. if he regarded a jew as his neighbor it was because he regarded every one as such. that was the judgment of his which our divine lord approved. let there be no limit to your charity. love every one; that is the meaning of his command, just as he told st. peter to forgive any number of times. but how few there are who obey this law of his! some only care for their relations or acquaintances, and regard the rest of the world with the most supreme indifference. others, on the contrary, live in a perpetual quarrel with almost every one whom they know, though very willing to be friendly with strangers. others stop at the limit of their own nation or race; a man who is so unfortunate as to speak a foreign language or have a skin somewhat darkly colored is quite beyond the reach of their benevolence. { } it is plain enough that this is all wrong. if we would be like our lord, and do as he commands, we must get over all these feelings. above all, we must sink for ever out of sight those hateful standing quarrels which are more after the devil's own heart than anything else which he finds in this world; we must drop at once all that humbug about not wishing any harm to mr. and mrs. so-and-so, but being never going to speak to them again. it is not enough to wish no harm to any one; we must wish good to every one, and try to do every one all the good that comes in our way; make up our minds to feel kindly to every one, and to show every one that we are willing and anxious to act as we feel. of course there must be degrees in affection; we are not required to love every one as much as a father or mother, or a son or a daughter; but that no one must be excluded from it; that we must have a positive love for all; that it will not do even to pass by with indifference a single one of our brethren, however seemingly estranged from us--this is the lesson taught us by the parable of the priest, the levite, and the good samaritan. ---------------------- { } _thirteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _galatians iii._ - . brethren: to abraham were the promises made, and to his seed. he saith not, "and to his seeds," as of many; but as of one, "and to thy seed," who is christ. now this i say, that the testament which was confirmed by god, the law which was made after four hundred and thirty years, doth not disannul, to make the promise of no effect. for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. but god gave it to abraham by promise. why then was the law? it was set because of transgressions, until the seed should come, to whom he made the promise, being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. now, a mediator is not of one: but god is one. was the law then against the promises of god? god forbid. for if there had been a law given which could give life, verily justice should have been by the law. but the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the faith of jesus christ might be given to them that believe. gospel. _st. luke xvii._ - . at that time: as jesus was going to jerusalem, he passed through the midst of samaria in galilee. and as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: and lifted up their voice, saying: jesus, master, have mercy on us. and when he saw them, he said: go, show yourselves to the priests. and it came to pass that, as they went, they were cleansed. { } and one of them, when he saw that he was cleansed, went back, with a loud voice glorifying god; and he fell on his face, before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a samaritan. and jesus answering, said; were there not ten made clean? and where are the nine? there is no one found to return and give glory to god, but this stranger. and he said to him: arise, go thy way, for thy faith hath made thee whole. --------------- sermon cxv. _and as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off._ --st. luke xvii. . the leprosy is a most foul and loathsome disease which attacks the skin and sometimes spreads itself over almost the entire surface of the body. this pestilential disorder, besides the intense suffering it must cause, renders its victim an object of disgust and aversion to those around him. it seems to have been very prevalent in the east in former times, and during the middle ages it was quite common in europe, where it was brought by the crusaders returning from the wars carried on for the possession of the holy land. a man infected with leprosy was looked upon by the state as dead, and hence the disease was called civil death. the leper was cut off from all intercourse with his fellows, and compelled to live alone or in the company of other lepers. leprosy, therefore, subjected a man to the most galling sort of exile, since it forced him to part from home and friends, and to tear asunder every tie which binds the heart of man to this earth and to his fellow-men. the holy fathers have always regarded leprosy as a strong figure of sin. sin spreads itself over the soul as leprosy does over the body, tainting and corrupting it, rendering it disgusting in the sight of its maker, and forcing him to separate it from himself and the company of his angels and saints. { } sin, too, forces the soul into exile from god, its true home, and severs all those endearing attachments which cluster round the thought of home. in this sense all mortal sin is a spiritual leprosy; but the one sin which deserves the name above all others is the sin of impurity, because it defiles body and soul alike, and is more infectious even than the ancient leprosy of the east. impurity not only reproduces its pestilential self, but has, besides, the sickening power of engendering a horde of other frightful maladies distinct from, and only less disgusting than, itself. and yet, alas! impurity is now, as it was in the days of noe, the crying sin of the world; a sin that is foreign to no class of society, to no order of civilization; a sin that each individual has to take constant and wearisome precautions against, if he would not be infected by its virus, which seems to permeate the very air we breathe, and lurk unseen in the meat and drink we take for the support of life. st. clement of alexandria calls impurity the metropolis of vices, by reason, doubtless, of the numberless other vices which are born of it and make their home around it. this leprosy of the soul, impurity, is worse than any leprosy of the body, inasmuch as the death of the soul is an infinitely greater evil than that of the body. god has at times allowed some of his saints to experience something of the foulness which the sin of impurity inflicts on the soul of the one who commits it. so it was with st. euthymius and st. catherine of siena, who discovered impure persons by the stench which emanated from their presence. { } it were well, perhaps, if all innocent persons possessed this rare gift of some of god's saints, for they might then easily avoid contracting from others the foul leprosy of impurity. no one, indeed, can look for a grace so extraordinary, but every one who has charge of others, especially of the young, should take every means suggested by wisdom and experience to preserve them from contact with persons already infected with this vile pestilence. a brief conversation with one badly tainted with the leprosy of impurity is oftentimes enough to implant its seeds in young and innocent hearts; and once the seeds are planted, they are hardly, if ever, entirely uprooted. leprosy not only attacked persons, but was found also in garments and in houses. so it is with the contagion of impurity, which not only watches its victim from the muddy eye of the libertine, but hides itself also in the folds of the lascivious dress, by which it is scattered abroad, and clings like some noxious vapor to the walls of houses where wanton deeds are done and loose language spoken. from all such persons, and things, and places keep the young and the innocent afar off. let us remember that those only who love cleanness of heart shall have the king of heaven for their friend; and as we know from holy scripture that we cannot be chaste unless god gives us power to be so, let us ask him fervently and frequently for this most royal of all royal gifts, the gift of purity. let us put aside all pride of heart, which, more than anything else, would provoke almighty god to leave us to our own weakness and folly. impurity is the lewd daughter of pride, while humility is the chaste mother of purity. { } finally, brethren, let us all listen to the exhortation of st. paul, and walk in the love of christ, and let not fornication and uncleanness be so much as named among us; nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, but rather giving of thanks (ephesians. v. - ). rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------- sermon cxvi. _and it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed._ --st. luke xvii. . you will find people who go to the sacraments pretty regularly sometimes giving rather a strange excuse when they have been away longer than usual. they will say, "my mind was upset," or "i had a falling out with my neighbor"; and they seem to think that, of course it was out of the question to go to confession till their minds got right side up again, or till they were thoroughly at peace with themselves and all the world. and you will find people who do not go to the sacraments regularly, who, in fact, have not been for a long time, and who make a similar excuse for staying away--that is, that they are not in good dispositions to receive absolution. these people also think that they should not go to confession till in some way or another they have got in good dispositions. it is natural enough, perhaps, that both these kinds of people should think as they do. they want, of course, to make a really good confession. they would not like to receive absolution feeling just as they do now; so they put it off till some time when their dispositions will be improved; but they make a great mistake, and lose a great deal of time by doing so. { } the mistake which they make is in not understanding that the preparation for confession which they could make with their present dispositions is the best way for getting them into better ones. they might learn a salutary lesson from the gospel of to-day. you will have noticed, if you have listened to it carefully, that the poor men whom our lord cured were simply told by him to go and show themselves to the priests, and that they set off, with the defilement of the leprosy still upon them, to obey his commands. they might very well have excused themselves by saying that they were not fit to go before the priests; and it would have been very true that they wore not. for, according to the law of the jews, it was only lepers who had already been cured who were to show themselves to the priests; just as now it is only sinners who are penitent who can ask for absolution. the priests of the old law could not cure the leprosy, any more than those of the new law can absolve a sinner before he repents. but, nevertheless, they went, though it seemed to be of no use for them to go. and what happened to them on the road? why, it happened, as the gospel tells us, that as they went they were made clean. now, this, as i have said, has a lesson and a meaning for such as now are laboring under any spiritual disease or disorder, be it small or great, which is keeping them from the sacraments. the remedy for them, as for these men of whose cure we read in this gospel, is to set out to show themselves to the priests; that is, to prepare themselves for confession. if they do they also will be cured on the way. { } i will venture to say that if those catholics throughout the world who now feel themselves in any way indisposed for absolution would go to a church at the next opportunity, kneel down by a confessional, say a few prayers in earnest, examine their consciences, and then go in when their turn should come--and these are surely things that any one can do--far the greater part of them would be in good dispositions for absolution before it was time for the priest to give it. some time, perhaps when they were on the way to the church, perhaps when they were kneeling and trying to prepare themselves, perhaps not till they were telling their sins or receiving the priest's advice, but some time or other the affection to sin or the temptation which now disturbs the peace of their souls would be taken away. why, then, not try such a simple remedy? if you really want to recover the health of your soul set out to make your confession, to show yourself to the priest, whether you feel it or not. if you will believe me, depend on it, it shall also be true for you that your faith shall make you whole. ---------------------- sermon cxvii. _were not ten made clean? and where are the nine?_ --st. luke xvii. . how often, my brethren, has our lord been obliged to ask this question and to make this reproach! times there have been when your souls were suffering from the leprosy of sin, times when the sight of your defilement, the pangs of a guilty conscience, roused you to a sense of your unhappy state, and you have raised your voice and cried out, "jesus, master, have mercy on me." { } and he, who is goodness and compassion, has looked upon you, and bid you show yourself to the priest, and you have been healed. but have you followed the example of the one grateful leper--have you gone back to thank him? have you prostrated yourself before him, mindful of the greatness of the favor, and in word and deed, by fervent prayer, by humility, by a new life, shown your gratitude? or have you, like the nine, gone your way, thankful indeed, but with a momentary, imperfect, unspoken gratitude, because the greatness of the benefit was not dwelt upon? this ingratitude, which is so common, this forgetfulness, cannot be put before you too strongly or too often. at the coming of jesus, during a mission or a jubilee, many call out to him to cleanse them; they go to confession and communion, and for a time are healed of their leprosy. but because they so quickly go their way; because in the bustle of the world they neglect to come back to thank jesus, their master and healer; because they do not separate themselves from and avoid infected persons and places, their old companions, their old haunt of drinking, the occasions of sin whatever they may be, therefore it is that the old malady returns. and as jesus looks out on the few who come to his feet, to the holy communion, he is forced to exclaim in sorrow: "were not ten made clean? where are the nine?" alas! that we should so often wound that sensitive, loving heart, that we should be so remiss in giving a return of thanks, that we should check the divine goodness and turn its very favors into a cause of our own condemnation at the great day of reckoning! { } ingratitude has always been considered, and deservedly, the worst of vices; it touches us more keenly than any other wrong or injury, it moves us with a sense of anger, sorrow, and aversion peculiar to itself, because it is an abuse or a forgetfulness of that which is highest and best in us--our love, and the effects of our love, our kindness. yet god's benefits are innumerable, his love is infinite, his honor unspeakable, his power almighty. many who call themselves christians can find no time to thank him for the blessings of each day; many, whom he has healed from sin, go their way in forgetfulness; even those who do try to make some return, who do keep themselves in his grace and frequent the church and the sacraments, are often niggardly and ungenerous in their efforts. does his grace move them to some sacrifice of their pride, their convenience, or their means? the kind word, the charitable act come, but oh! so slowly; the poor are dismissed with a trifling alms, the church-collector is an unwelcome visitor. yet it is by these things we show our gratitude. let us remember, brethren, that as god is infinitely bountiful himself, so he in turn loves a generous giver, and that his benefits bear a proportion to our return of thanks in words and in actions. -------------------- { } _fourteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _galatians v._ - . brethren: i say then, walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. for the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. but if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law. now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, emulations, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envy, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. of the which i foretell you, as i have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of god. but the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. against such there is no law. and they that are christ's, have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences. gospel. _st. matthew vi._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: no man can serve two masters. for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. you cannot serve god and mammon. therefore i say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the raiment? behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly father feedeth them. are not you of much more value than they? { } and which of you by thinking can add to his stature one cubit? and for raiment why are you solicitous? consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. and yet i say to you, that not even solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. now if god so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven: how much more you, ye of little faith? be not solicitous therefore, saying: what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? for after all these things do the heathen seek. for your father knoweth that you have need of all these things. seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of god and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. --------------------- sermon cxviii. _no man can serve two masters._ --st. matthew vi. . who is your master? perhaps you think you are your own master. you may say, "i am a free man in a free country." but think a moment. is your soul really free? surely not; for you cannot hinder your thoughts from running backward and forward. sometimes you think of the past in spite of yourself; you enjoy its sinful pleasures over again in your memory, or you again suffer pain at the bare recollection of past sorrows and trials. nor can you hinder your soul from rushing into the future. you dream of success; you enjoy in anticipation the pleasures of gratified ambition. now, why does your soul thus cling to the dead past; why does it strive to fly to the unborn future? because your soul is a servant. and who is its master? pleasure. yes, and pleasure is so powerful a master that we obey and serve even its remembrance, its shadow. indeed, i might say that we are slaves of pleasure rather than servants. { } but this master takes different shapes. sometimes he calls himself fashion. very many otherwise intelligent persons are servants of fashion. did you ever spend an hour looking at the drives in central park on a pleasant afternoon? there you can see men and women whirled along in carriages fit for kings to ride in, drawn by horses worth thousands of dollars--beasts whose trappings are fastened with gold-plated buckles--and coachmen and footmen dressed in showy livery. and why is all this parade? because those who ride out in that style are servants. the name of their master and lord is fashion; he demands all this extravagance of them, and they obey him. follow them home, and you will see them again at his service, spending many thousand dollars in adorning their houses with the costliest furniture and decking their bodies, for fashion's sake, with rich silks and gold: everything offered up on the altar of fashion, though the poor of christ are starving all around them. and many of the poor are servants. who is the master of the poor? he is a devil, and his name is drink. this devil of drink must have a good share of a poor man's wages of a saturday night. and as soon as a poor man loses work and loses courage this devil of drink comes and whispers in his ear: "be my servant and i will make you happy." and by this lie he entices the poor fellow into one of his dens, and there he makes him drunk, and from the bar-room he sends him home to be a scandal to his little children, and may be to beat his wretched wife. { } others this master sends from that liquor-store to steal, and so to prison and hopeless ruin; others he sends to brothels; many a one he afflicts with frightful diseases and sudden accidents, and so brings them to hell. sometimes, too, this demon of drink gathers his slaves together into a mob to murder and plunder, and then to be shot down by soldiers. o brethren! is it not strange that any one should be a servant of this devil. drink? yet he has countless slaves, and not only among the poor but in every station in life. but the strangest thing of all is that the foolish servants of sin and satan fancy that they can at the same time be servants of almighty god. they call themselves by christ's name--christians. they go to his church now and then: and although they have served mammon all their days, they yet hope to enjoy god and his happiness for all eternity. hence jesus christ in to-day's gospel cries out in warning: "_you cannot serve two masters_." hence in another place he says: "_amen, amen i say unto you, that whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin_." so we have got to choose. we must be either servants of god or servants of mammon; we cannot be both at once. therefore, brethren, instead of giving our time, and money, and health, and heart, and soul to sinful pleasures, to lust and intemperance, and fashion and avarice--all cruel tyrants--let us have the good sense to enter the service of our blessed lord jesus christ, the lord and master who made us, and who redeemed us, and who will judge us; whose yoke is sweet and whose burden is light; whose servants are innocent and happy in this life, and who shall enter with him into everlasting dwellings in the kingdom of heaven. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------- { } sermon cxix. _the works of the flesh are manifest... of the which i foretell you, as i have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of god._ --galatians v. , . the works of the flesh--that is, the various ways in which the desires of the flesh can be gratified--have always been the chief obstacles presented by the world to our salvation. this was specially the case in st. paul's day, when a corrupt and sensual civilization had been attained which placed the happiness of man in bodily pleasure. and it is also specially the case now more than at any other time since then; for a similar so-called civilization is the boast of the present age, in which the desires and appetites of the body are exalted above those of the soul. but the temptations of this modern age are more concealed than those of the former one; and on that account they are more dangerous to christians than those of the time of st. paul were. satan has, we may say, learned wisdom by experience. at the present day, instead of shocking us by sins like these of the pagans, which could only repel and disgust those who had even the weakest love of god, he has learned to seduce the faithful by the gradual introduction of amusements and pleasures having the name of being innocent, making them worse and worse as the moral sense of those who engage in them, or who witness them, becomes more and more blunted. { } a prominent example of such amusements is to be found in the dances which have become fashionable in the last few years. there can be no question at all that, had they been suddenly presented to our eyes not very long ago, every one, without hesitation, would have pronounced them sinful, and no one would have engaged in them who professed to have a delicate conscience; whereas now it is equally certain that very many people who are careful, and even scrupulous, profess to see no harm in these dangerous recreations. let me not be understood to mean that dancing is in itself condemned by the law of god. there is no other harm in it, if it be done in a proper way, than the danger of excess and waste of time to which any amusement is liable. nor is there any more harm in two people dancing together than in eight standing up in a set; and the particular measure of the music is a matter of no consequence. the harm is in the improper positions assumed in what are called round dances, and which have been lately brought into almost all others. these mutual positions of the parties, these embraces--for that they simply are--are in themselves evidently contrary to modesty and decency. it seems as if no one would have to stop, even a moment, to see and acknowledge this. a very plain proof of it, however, should it be needed, is that every person pretending to be respectable would blush to be detected in such positions on any other occasion, unless united to the other party by very near relationship or marriage. and let no one say that fashion justifies them. if it did it could justify every other indecency or impropriety. neither fashion nor anything else can justify what is in itself wrong. { } nor is it true that they are not noticed or cared for by those who indulge in them; that they are indulged in only because the dance happens to be so arranged. that may be true for some persons; but there is, unfortunately, very little doubt that many only dance on account of these positions, and would not care about learning or practising this amusement were it not for the opportunity offered by it for them. this is a good enough straw to show which way the wind blows. the plain state of the case is this: to many these dances are, as one would expect, a remote, or even a proximate, occasion of sin, at least in thought, and sometimes in word and action. to many more they are a sensual excitement bordering on impurity. to many, it is true, they are simply an amusement; but this is due to the force of habit, aided by the grace of god, not to the natural state of the case. but for all they are paving the way--in fact, they have already done so--to things which are more plainly wrong; in fact, they themselves are becoming worse and worse all the time. one of the works of the flesh of which st. paul speaks in this epistle is immodesty. take away the veil of concealment which the gradual introduction of this sensuous practice has put over your eyes, and see if it does not deserve that name. do not defend yourselves by saying that some confessors allow it. they only allow it because they are afraid of keeping you altogether away from the sacraments; and they do not wish to do that, if in any way they can satisfy themselves that you have even the most imperfect dispositions with which you can be allowed to receive them. but it is better to be on the safe side. { } there is no confessor who would not far rather that you should abandon this dangerous pastime, that you should cease to set this bad example. there is not one who would not be much consoled should you do so. i beg you, then, to give them that consolation. give up these dances for god's sake, and for the sake of the salvation of your own soul and those of others. give them up, and you will receive an abundant reward of grace in this world, and of glory in that which is to come. ----------------------- sermon cxx. _no man can serve two masters._ --st. matthew vi. . it is perhaps a little strange, my dear brethren, and not much of a compliment on the part of christians to the wisdom of him whose disciples they profess to be, that so great a part of them should spend their lives in trying to do what he so solemnly declares to be impossible. it is curious that so many, so very many, of them should never have made up their minds which shall be their master. almighty god or the devil, but should be hopefully trying to serve both. some there are--nay, many, if you take their absolute number--who have truly gone over, once for all and in real dead earnest, to god's side. they keep up a constant battle with temptation; if by weakness and surprise they fall for a moment, they pick themselves up again instantly by a sincere repentance and confession, and begin the fight again. they live in the grace and friendship of their creator, and they are willing not only to be his friends but to be known as such; they are not ashamed to be pious, but would be very much ashamed to be anything else. { } on the other hand, there are not a few who were put on god's side by baptism, but have gone over entirely to the camp of his enemy; who have sold themselves body and soul to the devil. these wretched traitors have denied their faith, and now perhaps even blaspheme or ridicule it; they give free rein to their favorite vices, whatever they may be; they have abandoned prayer, and have openly and even boastingly taken the road which leads to hell. you all know of such. in these days of apostasy many of you have such among your acquaintance. they have got satan's mark on their foreheads, and they do not care to conceal it. but there is a very common kind of christian who does not answer to either of these descriptions or belong to either of these parties, but is trying to get the advantages of both--to serve both masters, god and the devil, and get paid by both. he fulfils part of the divine law; he goes to mass, sometimes at least; perhaps he does not eat meat on friday; and now and then, it may be once a year, or on the occasion of a mission or jubilee, he puts in an appearance at a confessional and tells about the sins he has committed. he goes to holy communion, and seems to come over really and entirely to god's side. well, perhaps he does come over, for a little while at least, a few days or weeks; but the chances are very great that he never really means to quit the other side for ever; or, it may be, at all. in his mind impure thoughts, words, and actions, drunkenness, and the pleasures of the devil generally, are a kind of necessity of life; he has no idea of really quitting them at once and for ever. his idea is to make a sort of a compromise with god; to do his "duty," as he calls it--that is, to keep in what he imagines to be the state of grace for a few hours or days now and then, and afterward go on as before. { } he wants to serve the devil during life, and yet be acknowledged as god's servant at the end; in short, he tries to be the servant of two masters. are there not many of you here, my friends, who have lived in this way all your lives, and mean to all the rest of the time that god spares you in this world? there are even many who have this intention on whose tongues the traces of his body and blood are yet fresh. how do i know? because they are not resisting temptation; because they have not left the occasions of sin; because, instead of calling on god continually in prayer, they go on wantonly blaspheming his holy name; because the immodest jest is ready to come at any moment to their lips; because, instead of showing dislike to impiety in others, they acquiesce in it and applaud it; because, in short, they have not even begun the battle by which alone they can be saved. brethren, this is not the way to live; this is not the way to prepare to die. if you will not be god's servants during life, the devil will claim you at the hour of your death, and get you, too, in spite of the last sacraments which you may receive. "ha!" he will say to you, "you tried to serve two masters, did you? what a fool you were! you were mine all along. you tried to give god a share of your heart; know now, since you would not know it before, that he will not take less than the whole." ----------------------- { } _fifteenth sunday after pentecost_. epistle. _galatians v._ ; _vi._ . brethren: if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. let us not become desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another. and if a man can be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of mildness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. bear ye one another's burdens, and so shall you fulfil the law of christ. for if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. but let every one prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. for every one shall bear his own burden. and let him who is instructed in the word communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. be not deceived, god is not mocked. for what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. for he that soweth in the flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. but he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. and in doing good, let us not fail. for in due time we shall reap, not failing. therefore, whilst we have time, let us do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith. gospel. _st. luke vii._ - . at that time: jesus went into a city called nain: and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. and when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. and when the lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her: weep not. { } and he came near and touched the bier. (and they that carried it stood still.) and he said: young man, i say to thee, arise. and he that was dead sat up and began to speak. and he delivered him to his mother. and there came a fear on them all: and they glorified god, saying: that a great prophet is risen up among us: and god hath visited his people. ------------------- sermon cxxi. _behold a dead man was carried out._ --st. luke vii. . the sight which our lord saw, and which is recorded in to-day's gospel, we have often seen. we can scarcely walk a mile or two in a great city without seeing a dead man carried out. the hearse, the funeral procession, the pall, the coffin, the sabled mourners, are all familiar and every-day objects. again, we read of death every day. we find in the newspapers, the hospital reports, and so forth, death in a thousand shapes. we see that death waits for us at every corner of the street, that it lurks in the river, hovers in the atmosphere, hides in our very bodies, is concealed even in our pleasures. again and again we have heard the beating of its heavy wings and seen the clutch of its clammy fingers--sometimes in our own houses, sometimes in our neighbors', sometimes on the sea, sometimes on land, sometimes in the busy street, sometimes in the silent chamber. strange to say, however, although nothing is better known than death, nothing is more forgotten. we hear people saying every day, "how shall we live?" but seldom do they ever think of adding, "and how shall we die?" { } my brethren, every one of you here this morning _must_ die. there will come an hour when your heart will cease to beat, when you will close your eyes and fold your hands in death, and when, like the dead man in the gospel, you will "be carried out." o brethren! how are you preparing for that supreme moment? are you ready _now_, at this moment, to die? if you are not you ought to be. let us, then, see how we should prepare ourselves. above all things you should never forget death. when you see other men die, when you read of death, when you see the priest in black vestments, and hear the sweet tones of the choristers chanting the solemn requiem, then you should say to yourselves, "it may be my turn next." keep death always before your eyes; then when it comes you will not shrink from its touch. again, keep your conscience clear, and make every confession and communion as if it were to be your last. how many have come to their duties on saturday and sunday, and on monday have departed for ever from this world! the earth, dearly beloved, is a vast field, and death with his sharp scythe toils in it every day. blade after blade, flower after flower, tender plant and fragrant herb, fall beneath his sweeping blows every hour, every second. you may now be as the grass that is the most distant from the steel: there may be acres upon acres between you and the severing blade, but the strong, patient mower is nearing you slowly but surely. listen! listen! and you will catch the sharp hiss of his scythe and hear the murmur of the falling grass. oh! then be ready, with girded loins and burning lamp. be ready, for you know not when death shall come. be ready, with clear conscience and well-cared for soul, for the last great hour. { } lastly, pray to st. joseph that you may obtain the grace of a happy death. go to his altar; kneel at his feet and say, "dear spouse of our lady and foster-father of jesus christ! obtain for me to die, as thou didst, in the arms of jesus and mary, and to remain with them and thee in the paradise of god." beloved, death is nearing, death is coming. oh! then, i beseech you, neglect not these words of warning and advice. "here we have not an abiding city, but seek one to come," even the heavenly jerusalem, the city of god, which shines above. the gate of that city is a good and christian death. god grant, then, that through that blessed portal we all may pass, lest we be left cold and shivering in the black night of the outer darkness! rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------ sermon cxxii. _if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit._ --galatians v. . there is a saying which, in latin, runs as follows: "_dum vivimus, vivamus._" put into english, it is: "while we live let us live"; or, to bring out the idea more clearly: "while we live let us make the most of life." it is a saying which has always been very popular with infidels. we have this life, they say--it is our own; but we do not know what is coming after it, or, indeed, if anything at all is; so, while we have it, let us use it; there is not much of it, and it will soon be gone, but it is ours now. a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; so, then, "_dum vivimus, vivamus_"--while we live let us make the most of life. { } now, the christian idea of life and the way to use it is somewhat different from that of the infidel. a christian does know what is coming after this life; he knows that this short life is only a preparation for the next, which is eternal; he knows that pursuing the pleasure of this world, after the infidel fashion, will endanger his salvation; and if he values his salvation--that is to say, if he has common sense--he looks out for the life of his soul rather than that of his body, so that he may always be ready for death when it shall come. and he has a fear of pleasure, rather than a desire of it, on account of its danger; he crucifies the flesh, with its vices and concupiscences, as st. paul says in the conclusion of the epistle of last sunday, that it may be subject to the soul, instead of subjecting the soul to itself. he makes up his mind, in short, to live in the spirit instead of the flesh; and in that, as i have said, he shows his common sense. but when he has got as far as that his common sense seems too often to fail him. he ought then to come back to the maxim of the infidel; for it is a very sensible one in itself, the only trouble with it being that the infidel has the wrong idea of life. it would be all right for the christian. the christian ought to say--you and i, my dear brethren, ought to say: "_dum vivimus, vivamus_." or, in the words of st. paul in the beginning of today's epistle, which immediately follows that of last sunday, we ought to say: "if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit." { } that is, if we are going to live in the spirit rather than in the flesh, let us make the most of our spiritual life. let us enjoy it, advance in it, and get all out of it that we can. we have, indeed, much more reason to say so than the man of the world; for not only shall we have more of it in the next world for all that we get out of it now, but there is much more to be got out of it even here than out of the life of the body. and yet many, perhaps most, good christians content themselves with simply keeping in the state of grace and avoiding sin. they just keep themselves spiritually alive, and that is all. they are like misers, who starve in the midst of their gold. there are pleasures for them, even in this world, far above what it can itself give, and they do little or nothing to obtain them. something has to be done to obtain them, of course. it is the same, however, with bodily pleasure, and those who seek it know that. many a man has made a slave of himself all his life to get a few years of ease and comfort at the end of it. why should not we do the same for the comfort of our souls? something has to be done, but not so much after all. a little more earnestness in prayer; a little more fidelity in meditation and spiritual reading; a little more care to uproot our evil habits; a little more charity and spirit of sacrifice for our brethren; and, last but not least, a little mortification beyond what is forced on us, or what is necessary to avoid sin, and the reward would soon come. temptations would be lighter; the struggle would be easier; god would come nearer to us; and that dawn would rise in our hearts which is brighter than the lights which earthly hands can kindle, and which is the sure fore-runner of the eternal day. ---------------------- { } sermon cxxiii. _let us not become desirous of vainglory._ --galatians v. . these words, my dear brethren, are from the epistle of the mass of this sunday. i feel quite sure that the advice which st. paul gives us in them is a very sensible one, and one which we all need to take very much to heart. what is this vainglory of which he speaks? it is the vain and false glory which comes from the admiration of others. it is what, in the more important matters of life, the world calls glory, and does not call vain. it is what many great geniuses have spent their lives to acquire, and have even been admired for doing so. but it is what in smaller matters the world calls it vanity to seek; and the world generally laughs, at least in its sleeve, at those who do so. the girl whose great desire it is to have her hat acknowledged to be the prettiest one in church is called vain and made fun of, perhaps, even by her rivals, who wish in their hearts that they had a nicer one, if it was only to take the conceit out of her; but the man whose ambition it is to have the brain that his hat covers acknowledged to be the smartest one in the country is not laughed at, but very much respected, if the brain be really a fine one. and yet the desire is really all the same thing in both of them. { } now, my brethren, we are all more or less vain or desirous of this vainglory; rather more, in fact, than less. it will not do for us to laugh very hard at each other for it, for we are all in the same boat. it is a passion which is almost universal. some people who are quite proud may fancy that they do not care a straw for what others think of them; but i fancy that they do, though perhaps the reason may be that the praise of others will help them to admire themselves. so you see that i was right in saying that st. paul's advice was one which we all need to take very much to heart--all of us, not only girls with the new styles of hats, but young men at college or in business, eminent merchants and professional men, including those whom god has called to serve him at the altar. we have all got to look out for this snare of vainglory. and how? by despising it? yes, in a certain way, but not in the way of pride. by resolving to value nothing according to the opinion that men have of it, but according to that which almighty god has of it. he values nothing much but what is, like himself, eternal. he does not care so very much more for your cleverness than for your beauty. he could spoil either one of them in an instant, if he chose. but what he does care for, and what he himself cannot spoil, though of course he could not wish to, are the merits which he has given you this life to acquire and to bring before the throne of his judgment, to be transformed into your immortal crown. those are the only things which are worth your caring for, because they are the only things which he cares for. and they are what all can have, however low in worldly station they may be. { } yes, my dear christians, that is the glory for us to seek--the glory of god; that which comes from him. try to have him think well of you. it is not vain to wish to be praised and admired, only let him be the one whom you want to have praise and admire you. he will do it, if you want him to and will give him a chance. he, your creator, desires to honor and glorify you for ever. when you think of this can you care for other praise? ------------------- { } _sixteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians iii._ - . brethren: i beseech you not to be disheartened at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. for this cause i bow my knees to the father of our lord jesus christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his spirit unto the inward man. that christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. to know also the charity of christ, which surpasseth knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of god. now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we ask or understand, according to the power which worketh in us: to him be glory in the church, and in christ jesus, throughout all generations, world without end. amen. gospel. _st. luke xiv._ - . at that time: when jesus went into the house of a certain prince of the pharisees, on the sabbath day, to eat bread, and they were watching him. and behold, there was a certain man before him that had the dropsy. and jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers and pharisees, saying: is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? but they held their peace. but he, taking him, healed him, and sent him away. and answering them, he said: which of you whose ass or his ox shall fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw him out on the sabbath day? and they could not answer him to these things. { } and he spoke a parable also to them that were invited, marking how they chose the first seats at the table, saying to them: when thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the highest place, lest perhaps one more honorable than thou be invited by him: and he who invited thee and him, come and say to thee: give place to this man; and then thou begin with blushing to take the lowest place. but when thou art invited, go, sit down in the lowest place: that when he who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee: friend, go up higher. then shalt thou have glory before them that sit at table with thee. because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ------------------- sermon cxxiv. _they were watching him._ --st. luke xiv. . how condescending and kind, brethren, was the spirit of our lord when he entered into the house of the pharisee to eat bread; how base and ungracious, on the other hand, the conduct of the latter and his friends, who, as the gospel says, "were watching him"! they watched him that they might catch him breaking the laws of the sabbath. they envied him because his reputation was great with the people. they watched him because "he had a daily beauty in his life which made theirs ugly," and tried to find something to carp at, something to find fault with. he was their guest; they were bound to treat him with respect and kindness; yet they violated the rules of hospitality, deceitfully making the banquet a cover for their plan to catch him. { } he was their saviour and the benefactor of their people; one who, as they well knew, had healed the sick, given speech to the dumb, and made the blind to see. the knowledge of his goodness and power only moved them to envy. he was greater than they, and so they watched him that they might find something in his conduct which would lessen his reputation and good name. are there not found some in our own day who imitate the conduct of the pharisee and his friends? jesus is often near you; you often meet him in your every-day life, often have him in your house in the person of one of his pious servants--i mean any one of your neighbors whose life is better than your own. there are many who watch such an one with the spirit of envy and criticism, and they try to find out worldly motives for their neighbor's piety. such persons say, as satan did of old, "does job serve god for naught?" often they exclaim, "i see my neighbor frequently at communion, but she only goes for show; i should like to see some change in her life"; or "what does she run to church so much for? it would be a great deal better for her if she stayed at home and minded her family." again, many watch the prosperity of their neighbor with an envious eye; they hate to see their neighbor in a better house than their own, don't like him to have more money than themselves, and so forth. all this is watching jesus as the pharisee did. there are many, too, whose consciences must accuse them of watching jesus in the persons of his priests, who envy the priest's position, envy his authority over them, and such like. { } these people try to pick a hole in the priest's ways, to pass their opinion on his manner, his judgments, his actions. they watch him in his words, at table in their own houses, to see if perchance they can find something to make a dish of scandal out of. yes, brethren, there are many such watchers as these, and pharisees are they all. envy, which prompts this horrible spirit of unchristian criticism, is one of the worst offences against the great and fundamental virtue of charity. envy has inspired the hearts of men with the most wicked crimes. envy delivered the innocent lamb of god to a cruel death. envy, therefore, is a grievous sin. envy and the spirit of criticism spring from pride. envy makes us watch others, and such watching is from pride. watch yourselves rather than your neighbor and your superiors. "brethren," says st. paul, "if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such an one, in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted." walk and pray lest ye enter into temptation. watch jesus and his servants, if you will, but do so to be edified, do so to learn something good. watch jesus, who is meek and humble of heart, that you may learn the lesson which he tried to teach the proud and envious pharisees: "every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------- { } sermon cxxv. _every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled._ --st. luke xiv. . that was an unlucky guest who sat down in the first place and was sent to take the lowest. no wonder he was covered with shame; served him right. to be humbled in the very act of exalting ourselves is indeed hard punishment, sharp and painful as a pang in a tenderly sore spot. it is like being caught in a theft or a lie. for, truly, pride is theft. we have no right to be proud, because we own as our property nothing that we may be proud of. all that we have that is good is god's; to pride ourselves on that is to rob god of his due, and appropriate what does not belong to us. and pride is a lie, a deceit; "for if thou hast received," says st. paul, "why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received?" a vain boast is simply lying. to lie and to steal are very mean things to do. to be caught lying and stealing makes us feel very mean in the eyes of others; and that is what comes to us when our pride is evident and is found out by our fellow-men, and then we are humbled as was the poor guest spoken of in the gospel. truth is the badge of honor among men. humility is truth, because humility is to know our place and keep it; in this is truthfulness and comfort also. we feel at ease when we are where we ought to be. a bone dislocated is a torture; anything out of place is an offence and a nuisance, whether it be a misshapen limb or a stove-pipe that doesn't fit and smokes. you remember in the fable the fate of the foolish frog who wanted to be as big as the ox--he blew until he burst and collapsed. { } now, is there not a great deal of that kind of work among us--i mean getting too big, reaching above us, exalting ourselves--in a word, not knowing our place? let me instance: the poor will pass for rich: fine dress and flashy jewels in broad daylight on the street; at home, dirt, wretchedness, almost starvation. the ignorant will know more than they have learned, and so stretch themselves all out of shape, and wed in the most repulsive manner pretentious speech to gross ignorance. not only is one man as good as another, but a great deal better. the layman will teach theology and canon law to the priest. the ward politician, who buys votes at five cents a glass, and trades them off for street contracts or other valuable consideration, can run the world, the holy see not excepted. our american boy of twelve thinks the old folks not a circumstance to him, and shows it in his behavior. the school girl who can do a sum and thump an "easy exercise" on the piano scorns domestic work, leaves the kitchen to "ma," and cultivates the fine arts in the parlor. our talk, our press even, is fall of unreality, inflated bombast and buncombe. we have no degrees of comparison but the superlative. god help us for a vain, boastful set! what is it all but untruthfulness, want of humility, strutting up to the head of the table in one way or another? our conversations are full of ourselves; we threaten horrors or we promise wonders; and it all issues, like the mountain in travail, in ridiculous failures. let us know our place, or humiliation will teach it us. { } adam and eve were well off, and might have been till this day had they known their place and been satisfied; but they wanted to go up, to become as god--and they came down to all the miseries of fallen nature. simon the magician started, with the help of the devil, to ascend into heaven like our saviour; but god brought him down before he got very far. "he that exalteth himself shall be humbled." moreover, pride finds its punishment in the very ridiculousness of itself. the fool imagines himself to be other than he is; the insane insists on taking to himself a character which is not his. well, brethren, the mock-king and queen of the asylum are not more foolish and insane, because not more untruthful, than the proud man. the lesson, then, is this: keep to the place god has given you, don't put yourself forward in conversation, acknowledge your nothingness before your creator, be true and real to your fellow-men; thus you will escape shameful humiliation and deserve to be exalted in the esteem of others and in the kingdom of heaven. ----------------- { } _seventeenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians iv._ - . brethren: as a prisoner in the lord, i beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called, with all humility and mildness, with patience, supporting one another in charity, careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. one body and one spirit: as you are called in one hope of your vocation. one lord, one faith, one baptism, one god and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all, who is blessed for ever and ever. gospel. _st. matthew xxii._ - . at that time: the pharisees came nigh to jesus: and one of them, a doctor of the law, asked him, tempting him: master, which is the great commandment in the law! jesus said to him: thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. this is the greatest and the first commandment. and the second is like to this: thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. on these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets. and the pharisees being gathered together, jesus asked them saying: what think you of christ? whose son is he? they say to him: david's. he saith to them: how then doth david in spirit call him lord, saying: "the lord said to my lord: sit on my right hand, until i make thy enemies thy footstool"? if david then call him lord, how is he his son? and no man was able to answer him a word: neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. { } sermon cxxvi. _thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself._ --st. matthew xxii. . nothing can be plainer than the fact that we must love god, and it is equally plain that we must love our neighbor. our lord declares that on these two precepts depend the whole law and the prophets. yet we see people who make very little of them both. the precept to love our neighbor is perhaps the least regarded. let us, therefore, reflect upon this commandment to-day. in the first place, there is no doubt about the obligation. jesus says plainly, and with authority: "thou shalt love thy neighbor"; and again, in another place, he says: "a new _commandment_ i give unto you, that you love one another. by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." so, then, if you want to keep the commandment of jesus christ, if you want to be known as his disciples, you _must_ love your neighbors. the obligation is clear and plain. but our lord not only gives a _commandment_, but also explains the _method_ of fulfilling it. he not only says, "thou shalt love thy neighbor," but also adds "as thyself." he does not say as much as thyself, because, of course, the orders of nature and charity both require that we should love ourselves better than our neighbor. we must save our own soul first. we must not peril our own salvation in order to benefit our neighbor. our lord says "as thyself"--that is, in the _same manner_, not in the _same degree_. we must love our neighbor for his own sake, just as we love ourselves for our own sake. { } if we only love our neighbor on account of the use he can be to us, the pleasure he can give us, or the positions he can obtain for us, then that is really no love at all. that is nothing more or less than loving ourselves. we must love him as jesus christ has loved us--with a supernatural love, with a love which is founded on a desire to save our neighbor's soul. and now in every-day life how must we treat our neighbor in order to fulfil the command of jesus christ, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself"? first, do your neighbor no wrong, either by thought, word, or deed. you don't like any one to think evil of you. very well, don't think evil of your neighbor. you don't like any one to speak ill of yourself; you don't like to be insulted; can't bear to be abused. ah! then be careful that you don't visit such things upon your neighbor. you don't like to be defrauded or cheated; you don't like to have your property or your reputation injured, or to be wronged in any way. why? because you love yourself. very well, then, "love thy neighbor _as_ thyself," and don't do to him what you are unwilling should be done to you. again, not only refrain from doing your neighbor wrong, but wish him well and do him good. try to have his name on your lips when you are at prayer. say: "o god! prosper my neighbor, even as thou hast prospered me." endeavor to show your fellow-christian that you are interested in his well-being, and heartily glad when he succeeds in life. have that spirit in your heart which makes you as glad to hear that your neighbor has gained five hundred dollars as if you had made the sum yourself. { } then, when you can do your friend a good turn, do it with a hearty good-will; give him a helping hand; try to encourage him in his business. don't say, "every man for himself and god for us all, and the devil take the hindermost"; but say, "do unto others as you would they should do unto you." and, lastly, you want god to forgive your sins? you want men to condone your offences and look over your shortcomings and defects? then love your neighbor as yourself. if he has injured you, pardon him; if he has done wrong, overlook it; if he has got defects, bear with them. "all things," says one of the saints, "are easy to him who loves." so, then, love god, love your neighbor, and all things will be easy to _you_. this life will pass away all the more pleasantly, and the life to come will be all the more bright and its reward all the more precious, if you will only remember and act upon this great commandment: "thou shalt _love_ thy neighbor _as thyself_." rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------- sermon cxxvii. _with patience, supporting one another in charity._ --_ephesians iv._ . we hear a great deal nowadays, my dear brethren, about toleration. it is a thing which the nineteenth century takes a special pride in. it seems to imagine that it is really a great deal more charitable and patient than any previous one, and that, in fact, the apostles themselves might learn a lesson of christian virtue from it, if they could come back to the earth. { } i wish that such were actually the case; but if we examine this pretended toleration and charity we shall have to confess that it is simply a sham, having nothing whatever in it to make it deserve the name it takes. you would not say of any man that he was of a tolerant and patient disposition because he was quite willing that some stranger should be interfered with, provided he himself was let alone. well, that is precisely the tolerance of the nineteenth century. the world is now tolerant about all things in which the rights of almighty god are concerned, because it has made him a stranger to itself; but it resents interference with itself, and insists on being let alone in its own enjoyments as much as, or more than, ever. the world, then, has not yet learned to be tolerant, patient, or charitable in any true sense of those words, in spite of all its boasting; and it is much to be feared that it never will. after all, it is not much wonder that it has not; for this is a very difficult lesson, and one which one must have the help of god to learn. true tolerance or patience, bearing with others when they interfere, not with somebody else, but with ourselves, is a fruit of grace rather than of nature. it cannot be expected from those who have rejected the grace of god as a needless encumbrance in the journey of life. if they have the appearance of it, it is only an outside finish of what is called politeness, put on merely to save trouble and make things more comfortable on the whole. but it is not for christians who are trying to live by the light of grace, not of nature; who believe in god and are trying to keep his commandments; who wish to imitate christ, and are receiving the sacraments which should enable them to do so, to follow the example of such. { } we ought to try to be really tolerant with our brethren, whatever their faults or defects may be or however much they may put us out or interfere with our comfort consciously or unconsciously, "with patience, supporting one another in charity," as st. paul says in the epistle of to-day. and yet must we not confess that too often we do not even make an attempt to practise this virtue? your neighbor offends you in some trifling way, perhaps without really meaning to do so or knowing that he does; it may be even by some peculiarity which is not really his fault at all. do you put up with it; do you say: "oh! that is not much; i must take people as i find them and as god made them, not as i would like to have them; we all have plenty of defects, and perhaps i myself am the worst of all"? do you not rather say: "oh! there is no getting along with such a person; i will keep out of his way; i cannot bear the sight of him; it will be better for us to avoid speaking," and the like? this intolerance, which is so common, is simply avoiding a cross which we ought to carry, not only for the love of god, like all others, but for the love of our neighbor also; and especially when it comes from those who are our brethren not only by a common humanity but by a common faith, who have with us, as st. paul goes on to remind us, "one lord, one faith, one baptism, one god and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all." try, then, to bear this cross cheerfully, and show, by so doing, that you really are aiming to fulfil the great commandments given in to-day's gospel, by loving god, from whom it comes, with your whole heart and soul and mind, and your neighbor, by whom it comes, as yourself. ------------------ { } _eighteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ corinthians i._ - . brethren: i give thanks to my god always for you; for the grace of god that is given you in christ jesus, that in all things you are made rich in him, in every word, and in all knowledge: as the testimony of christ was confirmed in you: so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our lord jesus christ, who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the day of the coming of our lord jesus christ. gospel. _st. matthew ix._ - . at that time: jesus entering into a boat, passed over the water and came into his own city. and behold they brought to him a man sick of the palsy lying on a bed. and jesus, seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: son, be of good heart, thy sins are forgiven thee. and behold some of the scribes said within themselves: this man blasphemeth. and jesus seeing their thoughts, said: why do you think evil in your hearts? which is easier, to say, thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, rise up and walk? but that you may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the man sick of the palsy), rise up: take thy bed and go into thy house. and he rose up, and went into his house. and the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified god who had given such power to men. -------------------- { } sermon cxxviii. _why do you think evil in your hearts?_ --st. matthew ix. . all those, dear brethren, who are trying to lead a holy life have a great horror of _external_ sins. they will not lie, steal, murder, or be guilty of adultery or intemperance. still, i am afraid a great many of us are awfully careless about _internal_ sins. we forget that not only the sins which we openly commit, but those also which we secretly assent to in our own minds, are offences against god. you can see this in to-day's gospel. when our lord said to the sick man, "thy sins are forgiven thee," the scribes directly said "_within themselves_, he blasphemeth"; and although they did not shape this sentence in words, it was accounted to them for sin, as we can see from the reply of jesus christ contained in the text. you see, then, brethren, if you want to keep your conscience clear, you must not only avoid external but even internal sins. indeed, i think the sins which we commit internally are even more deadly than the external ones. first, because they always precede the open offence; as our lord says in another place, "from the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies." now, you will see at once that "evil thoughts" come first on the list, by which i think our lord wishes to intimate that they are the root of all the others. again, evil thoughts, whether they are against charity, or against chastity, or against faith--whether they are thoughts of pride, of hatred, or envy, or avaricious thoughts--insomuch as they are concealed from the sight of others, do not cause the same shame to the guilty person as an overt act would. thus, being the more easily committed, they are the more frequent and the more deadly. { } lastly, dear friends, evil thoughts pollute the mind and heart, and in proportion as they and their darkness enter, god and his brightness leave. to indulge in evil thoughts is to defile the stream at its fountain-head and poison all the river below. be on your guard, then, dear brethren, against this insidious enemy. perhaps evil thoughts against faith may assail you. cast them out before they have time to enter fully into the mind. many, better perhaps and holier than you, have in times past become heretics, apostates, enemies of god's church because they did not trample at once upon these beginnings of evil. you may be assaulted by imaginations against holy purity. stifle them, i beseech you, at once, or they will grow in strength and gain in frequency till they have buried the grace of god, peace of mind, and strength of intellect in one common and unhallowed grave. you have all doubtless heard of the avalanche which happens in regions where the mountains which rise from the great valley and tower above the nestling valleys are covered with perpetual snow. perhaps it is a slight puff of air, or the light tread of the mountain goat, or it maybe nothing but the brushing of a bird's wing that detaches the ball of snow; but be that as it may, the particle, once started, rushes down the mountain-side, gathering strength as it hurries on, leaping from one precipice to another, till finally, having swept everything before it, the enormous heap falls upon the peaceful village and buries everything in "a chaos of indistinguishable death." { } yet in the beginning that avalanche was but a ball of snow. so it is with evil thoughts against faith, chastity, charity, humility, and all the other virtues. once let them start and you can never tell in what awful ruin they will end. nip evil thoughts, then, in the bud; and as chief remedies i would say: . fill your mind with good thoughts. a vessel cannot be full of two liquids at the same time. think of heaven; think of god, of jesus, of mary and her pure spouse, st. joseph. . remember the eye that sees the secrets of all hearts, and him who saw the thoughts of the scribes in the gospel of to-day. . remember that you can commit a mortal sin by thought as well as by deed. lastly, picture to yourself one ever standing by your side, with wounded hands and pierced heart, "whose name is faithful and true, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and on his head many diadems; who is clothed with a garment of blood," and who cries to you night and day, "why do ye think evil in your hearts?" rev. algernon a. brown. --------------- sermon cxxix. _and jesus seeing their faith, said to the man sick of the palsy: son, be of good heart, thy sins are forgiven thee._ --st. matthew ix. . these words of our lord must have been something of a surprise to the paralytic and his friends; welcome they must have been, but still unexpected, and to some extent disappointing. for the sick man had not been brought to christ to have his sins forgiven; and that favor had not been asked, at least no request had been made for it in words. { } the paralytic himself must have wished it, it is true, for god never forgives our sins unless we desire forgiveness; but he did not say so, and his mind, like those of his bearers, was probably more occupied with his bodily than with his spiritual cure. it will be worth our while to see why our saviour chose to give them this surprise; why he did not cure the sick man first and forgive him afterwards. that might seem to be the more natural way: to restore him first to bodily health, and then to move him by gratitude to repentance and conversion. still, when we come to consider it i think we shall hit upon two very good reasons for his course, and that without very much reflection. the first reason, then, for our lord doing as he did, was to show us that the health of the soul is more important in his sight than that of the body, and hence requires our first attention. the second follows from the first: it was to remind us that, such being the case, we cannot reasonably expect bodily health or any other temporal blessing if we neglect to reconcile ourselves to god. now, these are two things that all of us, my dear brethren, must certainly know very well, otherwise they would not occur to our minds so readily. but in spite of this we too often fail to give our knowledge a practical application. how few there are, strange to say, who really act as if the health of their souls were of more importance than that of their bodies! take, for instance, in proof of this, a fact which we have often seen recorded lately in the daily papers. the yellow fever, you will hear, has appeared in some southern town, and what has been the result? { } all the inhabitants, who could leave the place immediately did so, perhaps taking the very next train, and, it may be, leaving their property in the hands of strangers. well, we may think this a little cowardly and foolish, considering that, after all, there would not have been, perhaps, more than one chance in ten even of sickness, if they had stayed; but still we cannot blame them, for we feel that we should very likely have done the same ourselves. but how many would act in this way in the presence of a spiritual danger, though it were much more certain and imminent than that of the body in this terrible southern plague? ask yourselves the question, you who remain contentedly in unnecessary occasions of sin, with much more than one chance in ten, nay, with an absolute certainty, that your soul will be not only sick but dead as long as you remain there; ask yourselves if you value the health of your soul more than that of the body; see if you practise what you must believe if you are a christian--that it is better to die even to-day in a state of grace than live for a moment in that of sin. well, whether you act on this belief or not. almighty god does. he shows you that, as i have said, in this gospel of to-day. and it follows that you cannot please him or be in his grace as long as you do not do for your soul what you would do for your body; that is, as long as you do not remove it from needless dangers. that is the first practical lesson to be learned from our lord's action in the cure of the paralytic. { } and the second is that, if we hope to obtain from god temporal favors out of the natural order of his providence, we must first provide for our souls, which come first in his estimation. and yet many people seem to expect him to reverse the order which he has established. they promise conversion if they obtain the temporal blessing which they want. they may succeed through his abundant mercy; but the better and the surer course would be to think of the soul first and the body afterward. "seek first," and he says, "the kingdom of god and his justice, and all things shall be added unto you." and remember that this must be the real disposition of your souls, if you would be saved. the catechism tells you that the only contrition which will obtain forgiveness, even in the sacrament of penance, must be what is called "sovereign"; that is, "we should be more grieved for having offended god than for all the other evils that could happen to us." think well of this, and you will be able to add a good deal to what i have had time to say. ------------------- { } _nineteenth sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians iv._ - . brethren: be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, who, according to god, is created in justice, and holiness of truth. wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. be angry, and sin not. let not the sun go down upon your anger: give not place to the devil. let him that stole, steal now no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to him who is in need. gospel. _st. matthew xxii._ - . at that time: jesus spoke to the chief priests and pharisees in parables, saying: the kingdom of heaven is like to a man being a king, who made a marriage for his son. and he sent his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come. again he sent other servants, saying: tell them that were invited: behold, i have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the wedding. but they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. and the rest laid hands on his servants, and, having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. but when the king heard of it he was angry, and, sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers and burnt their city. then he saith to his servants: the wedding indeed is ready: but they that were invited were not worthy. go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite to the wedding. and his servants going out into the highways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was filled with guests. { } and the king went in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. and he saith to him: friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? but he was silent. then the king said to the waiters: having bound his hands and feet, cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. for many are called, but few are chosen. ---------------------------- sermon cxxx. _let him that stole, steal now no more._ --ephesians iv. . these words, dear friends, are taken from the epistle appointed to be read to-day, and contain a most useful lesson. now, i know the words "steal, stealing, thief, etc.," have a very ugly sound. people have a horror of them. the worst insult you can give to any one is to say, "you are a thief." still, in spite of this feeling, we know that sins against justice are very often committed. public men steal from public moneys. employees rob their employers, children steal from their parents, servants from their masters, trustees from those whose affairs they have under control, and so on. from the time that judas put his hand into the bag and filched from the scanty funds of his master and his brethren, down to this present day, there have been catholics who have so far forgotten themselves and "the vocation to which they are called" as to steal. do you doubt this? take up the first daily paper that comes to hand, and you will have evidence in black and white. { } now, there are three ways in which we can commit the sin of stealing: first, by taking that which does not belong to us; secondly, by unjustly retaining what does not belong to us; and, thirdly, by injuring what is not our own. first, then, we must not take what is not our own. now, this you all know so well that i need only say a few words about it. brethren, the man, woman, or child who takes money, articles, clothing, or what not from another, without their consent and knowledge, is a thief! when such persons creep to the till, the box, the desk of their neighbors, with stealthy tread and bated breath, to take what does not belong to them, god sees them, god's angel sees them; and, could they but hear it, they would be aware of a hundred voices crying aloud, "thou shalt not steal." you are a thief! you are a thief! if you steal you must restore. having stolen, you will find it very difficult to restore even when you have the money. if you do not restore (being able) you will go to that "outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth." oh! then, "he that stole, let him now steal no more." again, we must not retain what is not our own, for this also is a species of stealing. first under this head comes paying our just debts. "brethren, owe no man anything," says st. paul. now, my friends, if you contract debts, and then when the time comes you do not pay them, but use the money for other purposes, you are unjustly retaining what is not your own, and thereby commit a sin against justice. there are some people who "want" (as the saying is) "to have their cake and eat it." { } they run in debt, they enjoy the things obtained on credit, and then when the time comes to pay they want the money also. brethren, the motto of every catholic ought to be, "pay your way." when we leave our debts long without liquidation we not only destroy our credit, but we practically steal from our neighbor. then we must be careful also to pay our debts to god by supporting our pastors and our churches. it is a solemn command of god that we should give to the support of church and priest. it is our duty. it is a debt _owing_ to god. if you do not give of your means to this holy purpose you rob god--you steal from the almighty by retaining what belongs _by right_ to church and pastor. ah! then, "he that stole, let him now steal no more." lastly, we can sin against justice by injuring property or goods which belong to our neighbor. now, my friends, if we hire a house or lands, or if we take some official charge of our fellow-christian's goods, we ought to be as careful of these things as if they were our own. if we, through our carelessness, our neglect, allow another's property to be damaged, lost, lessened in any way in value, we steal from him just that much. be careful, then, of these sins against justice. do not rob your fellow-men. do not retain what is their due; do not injure their goods or property. remember the great god who sees you. he is not only perfect charity; he is also perfect justice, and with his justice will he one day judge. rev. algernon a. brown. ---------------------------- { } sermon cxxxi. _and he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage: and they would not come._ --st. matthew xxii. . we cannot for a moment hesitate, my dear brethren, as to who is represented, in this parable of our lord, by the king who made a marriage for his son. it is god the father; and it is his divine son for whom he has made the marriage. and that marriage is the union of our human nature with his divinity; it is what we call the incarnation. and those who were first invited to this marriage, to partake of its benefits, are the jews, who were first called to the church, to whom alone our lord himself preached, and who were the first objects of the labors of his apostles; but who would not answer the invitation, even persecuting and putting to death those who gave it, and thus causing it to be given to others--that is, to ourselves--the city of jerusalem being at the same time destroyed, together with the national existence of the jewish people, as a punishment for their rejection of the gospel invitation. we gentiles have accepted what they, his chosen people, refused. we have come by faith and holy baptism to this marriage of the king's son, for we are within the fold of his holy catholic church. but having done so, we are now all invited to sit down at the marriage feast. it does not satisfy his love for us that we should simply be within the four walls of his house; he wishes that we should also partake of the good things which he has prepared in it for the refreshment of our soul--that is to say, the special graces which come to us only by means of the church, and which are not found outside: particularly the sacraments, and, most of all, the great and wonderful sacrament of the altar, in which he has given us his precious body and blood for the food of our souls. { } this, then, is pre-eminently the marriage feast of which he has invited us to partake, now that we are within his house. it is the holy communion. one would think we would be only too glad to do so. you would not expect to find wedding guests insulting their host by refusing to taste of the refreshment prepared for them. but how is it in fact? as he has had to send all over the world by his messengers, the apostles and their successors, through its highways and byways, to find people, not rich and great, as he might expect, but poor, humble, and despised, to fill up his house, so he has to send round among those guests whom he has secured, to beg them to eat at his table. he has been obliged not only to ask them but to entreat them, and even to command them, under penalty of being turned out of his doors by excommunication, if they refuse. and in spite of all this, there are so many that do refuse that he does not carry out this threat, lest even his house should be deserted. is not this a shame? is it not too bad that we, his miserable and unworthy guests, who have no right to be in his church at all, should have to be compelled to receive the food which he has prepared for us in it? more especially when we remember what that food is; that it is himself, his own body and blood; for such is his love that nothing else seemed to him good enough for us. { } here it is, this royal banquet, waiting for us all. every day we are allowed to receive it. and yet how few there are who do so! if any one should go to holy communion once a month he is regarded rather as presumptuous than obedient. in spite of our lord's repeated request, his people do not seem to believe that it is his will that not only a few but all of them should frequently come to receive him in this sacrament of his love. of course, if you are to do his will in this matter, you must in others too. this feast is not for those who continually and obstinately break his laws. but how often you can approach it is a question for those to whom it has been entrusted to decide. let the responsibility rest on your confessor, not on yourself. do not let it be said that you, who are invited, will not come. let not our lord have to reproach you with ingratitude. let not his table be deserted through your fault. the communion-rail is the place for all, not for a few. come, then, often to it, if not for your own sakes, at least for the sake of him who so longs to see you there and who has done so much for you. ------------------- { } _twentieth sunday after pentecost_. epistle. _ephesians v._ - . see, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise: redeeming the time, for the days are evil. wherefore become not unwise, but understanding what is the will of god. and be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury, but be ye filled with the holy spirit. speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the lord: giving thanks always for all things, in the name of our lord jesus christ, to god and the father: being subject one to another in the fear of christ. gospel. _st. john iv._ - . at that time: there was a certain ruler whose son was sick at capharnaum. he having heard that jesus was come from judea into galilee, went to him, and prayed him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. then jesus said to him: unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. the ruler saith to him: sir, come down before that my son die. jesus saith to him: go thy way, thy son liveth. the man believed the word which jesus said to him, and went his way. and as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying that his son lived. he asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. and they said to him: yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. the father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that jesus said to him, thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. --------------------------- { } sermon cxxxii. _sir, come down before that my son die._ --st. john iv. . there are many useful lessons to be learnt from the ruler in to-day's gospel. we can admire his confidence in jesus christ, his perseverance in prayer, his ready and speedy conversion to the faith. there is, however, another lesson to be learnt from him which is contained in the above words: "lord, come down before that my son die." now, disease, sickness, fever, etc., is, as you know, dear friends, the symbol of sin, while death is the symbol of mortal sin and eternal perdition. now, you will notice that the ruler did not wait till his son was dead before coming to christ: he came when his child was at the point of death, or when (according to the exact meaning of the latin text) "he began to die." the ruler, then, is a model for parents. he teaches you what care you ought to take of your children's souls. many of your children, dear brethren, are sick. they are sinful, disobedient, careless, and so forth. now, do you correct them _in the beginning?_ ah! i know a great many of you do not. you let them go on till the fever of sin rises higher and higher and burns fiercer and fiercer. you let them go on till they die and are buried in habits of mortal sin, and not till then do you call upon god and his church. brethren, of all things you should watch your children when they are young. a husbandman does not try to force the well-grown wood to grow as he wishes; he trains the young and tender shoots. how often we see in the streets of our city a tribe of swaggering boys and wanton, frivolous girls, who have upon their faces the very mark of premature age and sinful precocity! { } we see young boys and girls at beer-gardens, at variety theatres, in billiard-saloons; and, alas! if they are there, there is every reason to fear that the grace of god does not adorn their souls. these poor children are spiritually dead. ah! but there must have been a time when they "began to die." there must have been a moment when they first took to these scandalous habits. then why did you not see that they went to confession, to mass, to holy communion? why did you not insist upon their morning and evening prayers being said? why did you not keep them at home after dark? brethren, soon we shall come to this pass: that none will be considered a child after five years of age. our children of this age and country are "at the point of death." they are growing up with ideas of false independence, false liberality, and false religious principles. you parents, then, must call upon christ. jesus is represented on earth by his church and his priests. you must go, then, to church and priest, if you want your children to be saved before they die the death of sin. you must cut them off from the beginning of evil as soon as you see the least sign of the fever of sin upon them. go yourself to jesus christ. kneel down and pray for them. lift up your voices and cry: "lord, come down before that my child shall die." send them to the sacraments; send them to sunday-school; send them to vespers and benediction. above all, interest yourself in your children. go to jesus, as the ruler did. pray for your children every time you go to mass and communion, and every night and morning. { } do not let them form evil companions and low associates. insist upon their obeying the parental authority, and above all, teach them that boys and girls of fifteen or sixteen are not men and women. lastly, let us all, priests and people, lift up our hands and cry to jesus: "lord, come down before that these children die; come down with thy lessons of obedience; come down in holy communion; come down with thy grace and with thy quickening spirit." then, if we do these things--if we attend to our solemn duties as parents and pastors--we may each expect to hear from our dear master's lips: "go thy way, thy son liveth." rev. algernon a. brown. -------------------- sermon cxxxiii. _giving thanks always for all things._ --ephesians v. . if we stop a moment, my dear brethren, to consider the meaning of these words, which we find in the epistle of to-day, they will, i think, seem to us rather surprising; and if we did not believe in the inspiration of their author we should be inclined to say that he rather exaggerated the truth, and that we cannot be expected to take the lesson which he here teaches us quite literally. "surely," we might say, "st. paul must have meant that we should give thanks for all things which are really fit subjects for thanksgiving; that we should not neglect our duty of gratitude to god for his benefits. and when he tells us to give thanks for all things it was a little slip of his pen; we muse understand not all things, but all good things." { } we might talk in this way, i say, if we did not know that st. paul was inspired; but knowing that, we must drop the idea that there can be any mistake or exaggeration. it must really be that we ought to give thanks for all things that happen to us, without exception. if our plans succeed we must give thanks; but we must do the same if they fail. whether our wishes are gratified or not, we must give thanks. if we have riches, good health, plenty of friends, or if, on the other hand, we are poor, sick, and without a friend in the world, we must thank god, in adversity the same as in prosperity. "well," you may say, "it must be so, since we have the word of the holy ghost for it; but, for my part, i cannot see how it can be. i should be very willing to thank god for all these bad things, but i do not see what there is in them to thank him for. i acknowledge that i deserve punishment for my sins, and i will try to take it with as good a grace as i can; but as to giving thanks for it, that is a little too much for me. it seems to me that i should only be a hypocrite if i should pretend to do so." some of you, i am pretty sure, feel like talking in this way, at least at times when trouble has come upon you. let us see if we cannot find the reason that your faith is so much tried. it seems to me that it is because it seems to you that you are required to believe that evil is really good; and of course that is as hard to believe as that black is really white. you think that our lord means evil to you; that he is acting with you as the authorities of the state might act. if any one breaks the laws he is shut up in prison or has to pay a fine. well, that may do him good, but it is not meant for that. it is meant to do harm to him, that others may profit by his example and that the good order of society may be maintained. { } so a criminal cannot personally thank the judge, if he sentences him to hard labor for five years. it would not be reasonable for him to do so, and the judge does not want him to do it, for he does not mean to give him a favor. so you think, when our lord punishes you in any way, that he really means to do you harm, for some wise end in his providence, to be sure, but still really harm as far as you yourself are concerned. you regard it simply as the satisfaction of his justice on you, or perhaps for some good purpose in which you are not concerned; and so it is as hard for you personally to thank him for it as to say that black is white. but this is just where you are mistaken; for there is a great difference between the punishments of god and those of man. if our lord sends you any misfortune or cross it is principally for your own good. he always has that in view; he is not like a human judge. he would not allow a hair of your head to be touched, were it not really for your good; for he loves you more dearly than your best friend in the world can possibly do. this, then, my dear brethren, is the right exercise for our faith: not to believe that evil is good, but to believe that god is good and does not mean evil to us, and that when he gives what seems to be evil it is really a blessing in disguise. though it is plain that it must be so, instead of being contrary to reason, still it is an exercise of faith for all that; but an easy one, if we will only try it. { } try it, then, when you are tempted to murmur against god's providence, and you will be able to give thanks for all things, whether they seem to be bad or good; and you will see that after all it is only good things which you are told to thank him for, because all things which he sends you really are good. ---------------- { } _twenty-first sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _ephesians vi._ - . brethren: be strengthened in the lord, and in the might of his power. put you on the armor of god, that you may be able to stand against the snares of the devil. for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood: but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. wherefore take unto you the armor of god, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice: and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. and take unto you the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the spirit (which is the word of god). gospel. _st. matthew xviii._ - . at that time: jesus spoke to his disciples this parable: the kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who would take an account of his servants. and when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand talents. and as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. but that servant, falling down, besought him, saying: have patience with me, and i will pay thee all. and the lord of that servant being moved with compassion, let him go, and forgave him the debt. { } but when that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: pay what thou owest. and his fellow-servant, falling down, besought him saying: have patience with me, and i will pay thee all. and he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. now his fellow-servants, seeing what was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that was done. then his lord called him, and said to him: thou wicked servant! i forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as i had compassion on thee? and his lord being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all the debt. so also shall my heavenly father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. ------------------------ sermon cxxxiv. _our wrestling is not against flesh and blood: but against principalities and powers._ --ephesians vi. . it is a most important truth, my brethren, and a very practical one for all of us, which is contained in these words of st. paul; and it is the subject of the whole epistle of this sunday, from which this passage is taken. this truth is that we have a host of enemies to contend with in the battle which we must fight to win the kingdom of heaven, who are much more powerful than flesh and blood--that is, than any human foes; much more formidable than any others which attack us, from within or from without. { } who are these enemies? they are satan and all his army of fallen angels. that these are what the apostle means by "principalities and powers" is plain from these very words, which are the names, as you know, of two of the nine angelic choirs. it is plain also, from what he says immediately before, that we should put on the armor of god, in order to be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. who can doubt that these lost spirits are terrible enemies to our salvation? they desire nothing more earnestly than our eternal ruin, and labor most persistently to bring it about. they have a malicious hatred and envy for us, and spare no effort to induce us to sin, as that is the greatest evil which can happen to us. as there is joy before the angels of god upon one sinner who repents, so there is exultation among these fallen angels over every one who does not, and especially over every one who repents of his repentance and turns to sin again. and besides the will which they have to injure us, they have an immense power to do so. they are superior to us in the order of creation; they have much more intelligence, knowledge, and strength than we. if they were permitted they could easily make us all subject to them, and reign over us with a more cruel tyranny than the world has ever seen. "well, father," you may say to me, "of course this must be true; but then they are not permitted to trample on us in this way. god holds them in check, so that they cannot do us the harm which they wish, and would otherwise be able to accomplish." i grant you this. they certainly are not allowed to do us all the harm they might do and would like to do; but they are allowed to do a great part of it--so much that, without the help of god on our side, they would, even as it is, destroy us, soul and body. { } by our own strength we cannot possibly escape these terrible and merciless enemies, but only by the power of god. without that we should be as helpless before them as a child among lions and tigers. if we would escape them it can only be, then, by calling upon god, and getting from him the strength and protection which he alone can give. this is what st. paul tells us in this epistle, "put on the armor of god," he says; and again, "take unto you the armor of god." if you do not you will fall. our lord has allowed the devils to have the power which they still have to injure us, that we may learn in our dire extremity to have recourse to him. and yet so far are we from realizing our danger, and seeking the only protection which can save us, that many christians seem almost to doubt, like infidels, the very existence of the devil and his angels. there is nothing which satan likes better than this, or which puts us more completely in his power. he does not care that we should know. just now at least, who does us the harm, so long as the harm is done; and he knows that if we do not believe in him we shall not look out for him, and that if we do not look out for him we shall certainly fall into his snares. rouse yourselves, then, my brethren, from this indifference to your greatest peril. believe, with a real and practical belief, in the existence and the tremendous power of these enemies who are hunting down your souls. know that you cannot resist them of your own strength, and act on that knowledge. pray to god to protect you, to keep them from you, and you from them. ask our blessed lady, who is their terror, to drive them away, and your guardian angel to keep them from your side. avoid the occasions of sin which they prepare for you. { } flee from them if you can; if not, resist them, and they will flee from you; but when you resist them, let it be in the name of him who has conquered them, or they will conquer you. ----------------------- { } _twenty-second sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _philippians i._ - . brethren: we are confident of this very thing, that he, who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of christ jesus. as it is meet for me to think this for you all: because i have you in my heart; and that in my bonds, and in the defence, and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of my joy. for god is my witness, how i long after you all in the bowels of jesus christ. and this i pray, that your charity may more and more abound in knowledge, and in all understanding: that you may approve the better things, that you may be sincere and without offence unto the day of christ. replenished with the fruit of justice through jesus christ, unto the glory and praise of god. gospel. _st. matthew xxii._ - . at that time: the pharisees going away, consulted among themselves how to ensnare jesus in his speech. and they sent to him their disciples with the herodians, saying: master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of god in truth, neither carest thou for any man; for thou dost not regard the person of men. tell us, therefore, what dost thou think. is it lawful to give tribute to cæsar, or not? but jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites? show me the coin of the tribute. and they offered him a penny. and jesus saith to them: whose image and inscription is this? they say unto him: cæsar's. then he saith to them: render, therefore, to cæsar the things that are cæsar's, and to god the things that are god's. ----------------------- { } sermon cxxxv. _the pharisees going away, consulted among themselves how to ensnare him in his speech._ --st. matthew xxii. . it is needless to say, brethren, that they waited in vain. our dear lord never uttered anything but words of wisdom, justice, and piety. is it so with us? we have enemies, strong and powerful, who have consulted among themselves how to ensnare us in our speech. satan and his demons, evil companions, enemies of the holy faith--all these are watching to see if they cannot destroy us by means of our tongue. what, then, must we do to control _it_, of which st. james says: "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity; the tongue is placed among our members which defileth the whole body, being set on fire by hell"? we must watch it carefully, watch it jealously, watch it constantly. some of the older writers have said that nature herself has taught us how careful we ought to be of our tongue. first, because we have only one. we have two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet, but only one tongue. again, the tongue is placed in the centre of the head, to show (as they say) that it ought to be under the absolute control of our reason; again, because nature places it behind two barriers, the lips and teeth, so as to keep it prisoner; and, lastly (says an old writer in his quaint way), because it is chained in the mouth. but there are other more solid reasons than these for watching our tongue. { } there is nothing so poisonous as a bitter word, an uncharitable remark, an offensive observation. words such as these have ruined families, have caused murders, have damned souls. how often has a bitter word rankled so deeply in our neighbor's mind and heart that he curses us, refuses to speak to us, and thus is driven by us into mortal sin! what then? the devil, who is on the watch, has ensnared us in our speech; he has got one more sin recorded against us. had we watched our tongues he would not have caught us; we should not have sinned; our neighbor would not have been scandalized. how common it is for us to hear god's name taken in vain and spoken lightly; how frequently, alas! do we hear the sweet name of jesus used for a curse; how often that holy name, "which is above every name," is bandied about as though it were as the name of the lowest of creatures! blasphemer! reviler of the holy one! satan has ensnared you in your speech. you have cursed, blasphemed, _sinned!_ had you watched your tongue you had not done so. and what horrible mutterings are these that we hear coming up from dark corners, from workshops, from factories, from lodging-houses, from streets? what whisperings are these, hot and burning with the fire of hell? they are words of impurity and bad conversations. they are accents that slay living souls, that pollute both the lips of the speaker and the ears of the listener; and, alas! the tongue, the unguarded, unwatched tongue, is the offender again. ah! you are ensnared once more in your speech. watch your tongue, then, lest you die the death of mortal sin. there is an every-day expression, brethren, which contains, i think, the best advice that can be given you; and that is, "hold your tongue." yes, _hold_ it under control of reason; chain it by prayer and the sacraments. { } if it wants to run into bitter words and unkind speeches, hold it back. if it wants to blaspheme, hold it; hold it, or you are lost! if it wants to utter words contrary to christian modesty, hold it for christ's sake, or you are undone. take care lest satan ensnare you in your speech; if he does he will condemn you to a cruel death in hell. speech is silver and silence is gold. few, if any, have been saved by much speaking; many have been lost by it. oh! then, watch your tongue lest it destroy you. rev. algernon a. brown. ------------------------ sermon cxxxvi. _render, therefore, to cæsar the things that are cæsar's, and to god the things that are god's._ --st. matthew xxii. . what does our lord mean by this, my brethren? he seems to say that there are some things which do not belong to god, but to some one else; that god has only a partial right in this world which he has created. it would appear to belong partly to cæsar; and who can this cæsar be, who shares the earth with its creator? cæsar was the name of the roman emperor, and our lord means by cæsar the temporal authority of the state. now, it must seem absurd to any catholic, and indeed to any one who believes in god at all, to say that this authority has any right in the world other than that which god has lent to it; so we cannot imagine that our lord meant anything like that. nevertheless, there are plenty of people, who do not profess to be atheists, who really maintain not only that the state has rights against him, but even that its right always prevails over his. they say that we must render everything to cæsar, whether god wants it or not; that the law of the state must be obeyed, even against the law of god as shown to us by conscience. { } these people are really atheists, whether they profess to be or not. the only true god, in whom we believe, will not and cannot resign his right to our obedience or give up his eternal laws. nay, more, he will and must reserve to himself the right of making new laws if he pleases, and annulling laws of the state which are contrary to them. besides all this, he has also only given to the state a limited sphere in which it can work, and in which only its laws can have any force--that is, he will only allow it to make laws providing for the temporal well-being of its subjects. this, then, is what belongs to cæsar--that is, to the state. it has the right to claim and enforce our obedience to laws intended for the temporal welfare of its subjects, and to these only as far as they are not contrary to the eternal law of god, or to others which he may choose to make. and that is all. when it does not exceed its rights we must give our obedience to it; and we must presume that it does not exceed them unless it is clear that it does. this is what we must render to cæsar. but how shall we tell that it does exceed its rights? first, by the voice of conscience, when that voice is clear and certain; secondly, by our knowledge of the laws which god himself has made; lastly, by the voice of that other authority which he has put in the world to provide for our spiritual welfare--that is, the catholic church. when god speaks to us in either of these ways we must obey him whether it interferes with cæsar or not; this is what we must render to him. { } if the state makes a law commanding us to blaspheme, deny our faith, or commit impurity, we will not obey. conscience annuls such a law. if the state commands us to do servile work on sunday its law has no force. we know that god's law is against it. and, lastly, if the state goes outside its sphere, and makes laws regarding things not belonging to its jurisdiction, as the sacraments, we are not bound by such laws. it has no power, for instance, to declare marriage among christians valid or invalid. the church has told us this plainly. it is here specially where the state goes out of its province, that it is subject to correction by the church; though it may be in other matters also. our lord, then, means that we should render to cæsar the things that belong to him, not because of any right that he has in himself, but because god has lent it to him; but that we should render to god the things that he has not lent to cæsar, whether cæsar consents or not. obedience must always be given to god. give it to him through the state in those things about which he has given the state authority, and in other things without regard to the state; thus shall you render to cæsar the things which are cæsar's, and to god the things that are god's. ------------------ { } _twenty-third sunday after pentecost_. epistle. _philippians iii._ ; _iv._ . be followers of me, brethren, and observe them who walk so as you have our model. for many walk, of whom i have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly things. but our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we wait for the saviour, our lord jesus christ, who will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the body of his glory, according to the operation whereby also he is able to subdue all things unto himself. therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy and my crown: so stand fast in the lord, my most dearly beloved. i beg of euodia, and i beseech syntyche to be of one mind in the lord. and i entreat thee, my sincere companion, help those women who have labored with me in the gospel, with clement and the rest of my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life. gospel. _st. matthew ix._ - . at that time: as jesus was speaking these things unto them, behold a certain ruler came, and adored him, saying: lord, my daughter is just now dead; but come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. and jesus, rising up, followed him, with his disciples. and behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment. for she said within herself: if i shall but touch his garment i shall be healed. but jesus, turning about and seeing her, said: take courage, daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole. { } and the woman was made whole from that hour. and when jesus came into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the crowd making a rout, he said: give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth. and they laughed at him. and when the crowd was turned out he went in, and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. and the fame hereof went abroad into all that country. ----------------- sermon cxxxvii. _my daughter is just now dead; but come, lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live._ --st. matthew ix. . such was the entreaty made by the ruler to our lord in to-day's gospel, and such are the words that the lord says to us during the month of november, in behalf of the poor souls in purgatory. these souls have been saved by the precious blood, they have been judged by jesus christ with a favorable judgment, they are his spouses, his sons and daughters, his children. he cries to us, "_my children_ are even now dead; but come, lay your hands upon them, and they shall live." what hand is that which our lord wants us to lay upon his dead children? brethren, it is the hand of prayer. now, it seems to me that there are three classes of persons who ought to be in an especial manner the friends of god's dead children, three classes who ought always to be extending a helping hand to the souls in purgatory. first, the poor, because the holy souls are poor like yourselves. they have no work--that is to say, the day for them is past in which they could work and gain indulgences and merit, the money with which the debt of temporal punishment is paid; for them the "night has come when no man can work." { } they are willing to work, they are willing to pay for themselves, but they cannot; they are out of work, they are poor, they cannot help themselves. they are suffering, as the poor suffer in this world from the heats of summer and the frosts of winter. they have no food; they are hungry and thirsty; they are longing for the sweets of heaven. they are in exile; they have no home; they know there is abundance of food and raiment around them which they cannot themselves buy. it seems to them that the winter will never pass, that the spring will never come; in a word they are _poor_. they are poor as many of you are poor. they are in worse need than the most destitute among you. oh! then, ye that are poor, help the holy souls by your prayers. secondly, the rich ought to be the special friends of those who are in purgatory, and among the rich we wish to include those who are what people call "comfortably off." god has given you charge of the poor; you can help them by your alms in this world, so you can in the next. you can have masses said for them; you can say lots of prayers for them, because you have plenty of time on your hands. again remember, many of those who were your equals in this world, who like yourselves had a good supply of this world's goods, have gone to purgatory because those riches were a snare to them. riches, my dear friends, have sent many a soul to the place of purification. oh! then, those of you who are well off, have pity upon the poor souls in purgatory. offer up a good share of your wealth to have masses said for them. do some act of charity, and offer the merit of it for some soul who was ensnared by riches and who is now paying the penalty in suffering; and spend some considerable portion of your spare time in praying for the souls of the faithful departed. { } and lastly, the sinners and those who have been converted from a very sinful life ought to be the friends of god's dear children. why? because although the souls in purgatory cannot pray for themselves, they can pray for others, and these prayers are most acceptable to god. because, too, they are full of gratitude, and they will not forget those who helped them when they shall come before the throne of god. because sinners, having saddened the sacred heart of jesus by their sins, cannot make a better reparation to it than to hasten the time when he shall embrace these souls that he loves so dearly and has wished for so long. because sinners have almost always been the means of the sins of others. they have, by their bad example, sent others to purgatory. ah! then, if they have helped them in they should help them out. you, then, that are poor, you that are rich, you that have been great sinners, listen to the voice of jesus; listen to the plaint of mary during this month of november: "my children are now dead; come lay thy prayers up for them, and they shall live." hear mass for the poor souls; say your beads for them; supplicate jesus and mary and joseph in their behalf. fly to st. catherine of genoa and beg her to help them, and many and many a time during the month say with great fervor: "may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of god, rest in peace!" rev. algernon a. brown. -------------------------- { } sermon cxxxviii. _when jesus was come into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the crowd making a rout, he said, "give place."_ --st. matthew ix. . one of the great difficulties against which god's church has to contend to-day is the spirit of worldliness which has crept in to a very serious extent among the faithful. there are many dear brethren among us who (as st. paul says to-day in the epistle) "mind earthly things"; catholics who try as far as they can to conform themselves to this world and the fashions thereof. we can see this worldly spirit in the manner in which many catholics dress, the style with which they decorate their houses, the way in which they speak and act. but there is another way by which this tendency is indicated. i mean the manner in which we bury our dead. now, certainly, there is nothing more beautiful to the eye of faith than a dead christian body. what is it that lies there still, and motionless, and cold? a corpse? yes; but something more than that. brethren, that poor dead thing is beautiful, it is holy. its head has been touched by the cleansing waters of baptism and anointed with holy chrism, its tongue has touched the body and blood of christ. its eyes, ears, and hands, all its senses have been anointed with holy oil. that poor body has been the temple of the holy ghost. more than this: that cold clay is a germ, a seed from which one day shall rise a fairer flower than earth hath ever seen; for, as st. paul says, "that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die first. and that which thou sowest thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain, as of wheat or of some of the rest." { } yes, brethren, this dead thing is the "bare grain," but in the eternal spring-time it shall bud forth into the full ear, for it is the seed of a body glorified by the power of god. oh! then, seeing how holy the dead body of a christian is, no wonder that the church should surround the burial of it with a certain holy pomp. she burns lights by its side, she carries it in procession, she sprinkles it with holy water, she censes it with incense. not only does she pray for the soul, she also respects the body. so then, dear friends, to show respect for the dead, to surround them with that pomp which the church wishes, is well and good; but to make a dead body an object about which to display earthly vanity and pride is to defile that which is holy and outrage that which is decent. yet this is often done. in place of the simple shroud or the holy habit which used to be considered the proper raiment of the departed, we now see them arrayed in garments which vie in extravagance and fashion with those of the theatre and the ball-room. oh! brethren, when i think of our dear master's body, in bethlehem's manger, wrapped up in swathing bands, in the holy garden enveloped in linen cloths, and even to this day reposing upon our altars on the fair white linen corporal, it shocks me to think of those christian dead who go down to the tomb decked out in silks and lace, and satins and trinkets, as though they were rather the votaries of earth than the heirs of the kingdom of heaven. i seem to see the master standing by, and saying, "give place." { } again, what an abuse it is to see a body followed to the grave by a train of carriages which would often be more than enough for the funeral of a cardinal or a pope. what some one has called "the eternal fitness of things" requires that something of public display should be made over those whom god has set in authority. but to make such display over any ordinary christian is simply absurd. oh! my dear friends, far better spend your money to have masses said for the soul than for a hundred vehicles to follow the body. alas! i fear those hundred carriages and two hundred horses soothe your pride far more than they comfort the poor soul in purgatory who is panting and longing for the possession of god. let me end with a slight paraphrase of the text, such as we may imagine our lord, were he now on earth, might use: "and when jesus was come into the house of death, and saw the silks and the satins, and the worldly display, and the multitude making a tumult, and the horses and the carriages, and the garlands and the wreaths, and the feasting, he said: give place, give place to me and to my church; and may the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. amen." rev. algernon a. brown. --------------------- sermon cxxxix. _many walk, of whom i have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame: who mind earthly things._ --philippians iii. , . { } here st. paul gives us, dear brethren, a rule by which we may know, by their manner of living, the difference between the bad and the good anywhere in the world. this rule, however, shows us also who is a bad christian and who is a good one. for it is too true that we can find many, calling themselves catholics, who hate the cross, who find their happiness in sensuality, who love this world more than they love god, and who make a boast of their sins and crimes. the end of these is indeed destruction and eternal ruin. now, who are they? one need not go far to find them. they are those who are boasting about how much they can eat and drink more than another. they are those who try to drink others drunk, and then brag about it. they even make a laughing-stock of the poor, wretched man or woman who can't stand as much as they can. neither are they to be found only among the men who almost live around and in grog-shops. young men of great respectability and old gray-headed parents, of high position in society, do these things. they even look with contempt upon him who can't sin as much and as boldly as they do. more than all, the poor man feels ashamed and blushes because he is not superior to them in this kind of wickedness. in the same way do some boast of their impurities, and their lying and swindling, in a business way, as they call it. these indeed glory in that which is a shame to the heathen. how much more, indeed, then, is this a shame to him who calls himself a christian. { } but these are not the only crimes in which they glory who are enemies of the cross of jesus christ. there are those who cannot bear to be outdone in malice or revenge. often do we hear them say, "i paid him off for it," or again, "she got as good as she sent." this generally means that by malice, spite, revenge, the one who did the first wrong was punished more severely than justice required. it means that the devil and one's evil passions were listened to, their promptings followed, and all made a boast of afterwards. a beautiful christian example! two immortal souls trying to see which can insult the crucified redeemer the most! how can such an one ever kiss the crucifix? how dare to press those lips there represented, from which blessings were always returned for cursing? again, those who glory in their shame are those who boast of their careless lives, of never going to mass, to confession, or to their easter-duty, and of never observing the light law of the church by keeping the fasts of lent and other days. others, again, boast of spending their money freely, not heeding the cries of wife and children for food. they neglect those who have been entrusted to them by god. they let the poor wife work herself to death merely because they love the praise of a world which calls their folly openheartedness. these are really the meanest of men, but they believe the world when it calls them good, generous, noble. all of these are, indeed, truly enemies of the cross which all christians are bound to love. they are its enemies because the cross saves mankind, whereas they try to ruin souls. by their example and false teaching they make others like themselves. they help souls to hell while our crucified lord is trying to save them. they take the part of the devil against their god. --------------------- { } _easter being a movable feast which can occur on any day from the d of march to the th of april, the number of sundays between epiphany and septuagesima, and between pentecost and advent, varies according to the situation of easter. there are always at least two sundays, unless epiphany falls on a sunday, and never more than six, between epiphany and septuagesima. likewise, there are never fewer than twenty-three sundays after pentecost, or more than twenty-eight. the gospel and epistle for the last sunday after pentecost are always the same. when there are twenty-three sundays, the gospel and epistle for the last sunday are substituted for those of the twenty-third. when there are twenty-five sundays, the gospel and epistle for the sixth sunday after epiphany are taken; when there are twenty-six, those also of the fifth after epiphany; when there are twenty-seven, those of the fourth, and when there are twenty-eight those of the third, in order to fill up the interval which occurs. in any year, in which there are more than twenty-four sundays after pentecost, proper sermons for these sundays are to be found among those which are arranged for the sundays following the feast of the epiphany. if one sermon is wanting, it is taken from the sixth sunday after epiphany; if two, three, or four are needed, the last two or three or four sermons which precede septuagesima are to be taken, in their order._ -------------------- { } _twenty-fourth or last sunday after pentecost._ epistle. _colossians i._ - . brethren: we cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of god, in all things pleasing: being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of god: strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to god the father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the son of his love: in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins. gospel. _st. matthew xxiv._ - . at that time: jesus said to his disciples: when you shall see "the abomination of desolation," which was spoken of by daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth, let him understand. then let those that are in judea flee to the mountains. and he that is on the house-top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. and woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days. but pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath. for there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. { } then, if any man shall say to you: lo, here is christ, or there, do not believe him. for there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. behold i have told it to you beforehand. if therefore they shall say to you: behold he is in the desert; go ye not out: behold he is in the closets; believe it not. for as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the son of man be. wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together. and immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty. and he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the uttermost bounds of them. now learn a parable from the fig tree: when its branch is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. so also you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. amen i say to you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. --------------- sermon cxl. _behold i have told it to you beforehand._ --st. matthew xxiv. . { } once in a venerable manor-house, at the head of the carved oak stairway, stood an old clock. about half a minute before it struck it made a curious, buzzing, whirring sound. then all the children of the house said, "ah! the old clock is _warning_"; and upstairs they ran to see the clock strike. the clock told them beforehand what it was going to do. now, brethren, there is a clock that has gone on warning and striking for many a century, and that clock is called "the church's year." it was wound up last advent, and since then it has struck christmas, it has struck epiphany, it has struck st. paul's day, it has struck easter, pentecost, assumption, all saints and all souls. to-day it has nearly run down; it is _warning_ for next sunday, when it will strike advent again. the church, next sunday, will bring you face to face with judgment. to-day she _warns_ you that the great season of advent is coming once more; that the old year is passing, that the new one is about to begin. so, then, brethren, before the clock strikes for judgment, before time is dead, while life and grace and opportunities still remain, take up your stand before the old clock; look at the hours depicted on the dial, and ask yourself how you spent last year, how you would be prepared if judgment should come to you a week hence. listen! how merrily that chime rings. you heard it about a year ago. it was the church clock striking christmas. where were you then? some of you, we know, were where you should be--at holy mass, receiving holy communion at the altar-rail. you heard the organ pealing and the choir singing _adeste fideles_; you saw the little infant jesus in the crib, and the bright evergreens decking the church, and felt in your hearts that indeed there was peace on earth. happy you if it was thus. { } but alas! was it so? were you not away from mass last christmas? were you not neglecting your religion? were you not in mortal sin? were you not revelling, getting drunk, thinking rather of feasting and enjoying yourselves than of devotion and thanksgiving? then the hour of epiphany struck! what gifts had you to bring to the manger-bed? had you the gold of christian charity to present? had you the incense of faith and the myrrh of sweet and fragrant hope? ah! it is to be feared that some knelt not at the manger-bed of jesus, but on the brink of hell: forgetting god, scandalizing their neighbor, damning their own souls. on the "feast of light" (as the epiphany is sometimes called) some were kneeling at the shrine of the world and '"holding the candle to the devil." didn't you hear the pendulum of the old clock ticking, ticking, and seeming to say, as it swung: "behold! i have told you beforehand! behold! i have told you beforehand!" why, then, did you not do penance? then came lent; and on the first sunday of that holy time the clock warned loud and clear for easter. a voice almost seemed to be heard shouting in your ears: "easter-duty! easter-duty! 'time and tide wait for no man!'" and so at last the clock struck. easter had passed. you had been "told beforehand." you did not heed, and thus, oh! listen heaven, and listen hell, another easter-duty was missed, and another mortal sin committed. to-day, dear friends, the church clock warns you again. the church herself cries to you to cast "off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." give ear, then, while there is yet life and hope. have you been negligent? "better late than never"; _now_ is the time to mend. { } have you been a drunkard? _now_ "be sober and watch." have you neglected your children? begin to care for them as you should. have you neglected the sacraments? come, prepare at once to receive them worthily. whatever your state may be, remember--judgment is coming; death is at hand! maybe god's clock in heaven already points, for you, at the last hour; maybe this is the last time that you will be _warned_, and then the clock will _strike_ and you will be in eternity. time and tide are rushing on. every tick of the clock brings you nearer heaven or nearer hell. oh! then prepare yourself for the great day, that so when time _is_ dead and gone; when the great clock strikes for the _last_ time, you may be found ready, and go in with jesus to his marriage feast. rev. algernon a. brown. ----------------------------- sermon cxli. _that you may walk worthy of god._ --colossians i. . "brethren," says st. paul, in the epistle of this sunday, "we cease not to pray for you, ... that you may walk worthy of god." these words may, no doubt, be understood to mean that we should live in such a way as to be worthy to receive god in his real presence at the time of holy communion, and by his grace at all times; and, finally, to receive him, and to be received by him, in his eternal kingdom of glory. but there is another sense, perhaps a more natural one, and certainly a more special one, in which we may understand them. { } this sense is, that we should live in a way worthy of, and suitable to, the dignity and the favor which he has conferred upon us, in making or considering us worthy, as the apostle goes on to say, "to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light"--that is in bringing us into, and making us members of, his one, true, and holy catholic church. in other words, that we should behave in such a way as to be creditable to him and to his holy church, to which we belong. now, this is a point the importance of which cannot be overrated, and which we are too apt to forget. we lose sight of the fact that the honor of god and of his church has been placed in our hands, and confided to our charge; so that every sin which we commit, besides its own proper malice, has the malice of an indignity to the holy state to which we have been called. for this reason, a sin committed by a catholic is always greater than the same sin committed by any one else; not only on account of the greater grace and clearer light which he has received, but also because god is more specially robbed of his honor by it. you all see this plainly enough when it is a question of a sin committed by one who has been called to the ecclesiastical or religious state. if a priest or a religious is guilty of any offence, though it be but a small one, you are scandalized by it, not only because he ought to have been better able to avoid it, but also because it dishonors god's choice of him to be a special image in this world of his divine goodness. { } but you forget that you also, merely because you are catholics, dishonor god, and bring him and his holy religion into contempt by the sins which you commit. it is plain enough, however, that you do, though in a somewhat less degree than those whom he has more specially chosen. and other people do not forget it, though you may. "look at those catholics," the world outside is continually saying; "they may belong to the true church, but they do not do much honor to it. see how they drink, lie, and swear. if that is all the good it does one to be a catholic, i would rather take my chance of saving my soul somewhere else than be reckoned among such people." now, it is all very true that such talk as this is unjust and unfair, and that the very persons who say such things may really be much worse, at least considering their temptations, than those whom they find fault with. but still they have a right to find fault that those whom god has brought into the true church are not evidently as much better as they ought to be, than those whom he has not; and you cannot altogether blame them for finding fault with him rather than with yourselves, and saying that this catholic church of his is rather a poor instrument to save the world with. remember then, my brethren, that a bad catholic is a disgrace to his church, and a dishonor to almighty god, who founded it. a story is told of a man who, when drunk, would deny that he was a catholic; he had the right feeling on this point, though he committed a greater sin to save a less one. imitate him, not in denying your faith, but in taking care not to disgrace it; for god will surely require of you an account, not only of your sins, but also of the dishonor which they have brought on the holy name by which you are called. ------------------ { } sermon cxlii. _as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the son of man be._ --st. matthew xxiv. . these words of our lord, my dear brethren, refer principally to the general judgment, which will come suddenly upon all, at least all of those who shall be alive at the time when it shall occur. and he could not have used a more striking comparison to show how sudden it will be; how it will take every one unawares, even of those who will be expecting it. you know that when you watch the flashes of lightning in a thunder-storm, though you are expecting them all the time, yet each one takes you by surprise; you hardly know that it has come till it has gone; you do not so much see it as remember it. so it will be at the last and awful day; all at once, without any warning, the heavens will open, and god will come suddenly, not this time in mercy, but in justice; not to save the world, but to judge it; there will be no time even for an act of contrition, but as every one is then found, so will he be for all eternity. probably you and i will not be in this world at the time of the general judgment; it is most likely that we shall die before it comes. we shall rise from our graves and be present at it, but we shall have been already judged; so that it will not be by it that we shall be saved or lost. but that judgment which we shall have gone through will perhaps also have come on us suddenly; as suddenly as the one on the last day. for it will come on us the instant that our souls leave the body; the moment after we die we shall appear before the throne of god to receive the sentence of eternal salvation or condemnation. so it may surprise us at any moment; for we may suddenly die. { } there is not one of us here who has any certainty that he may not before to-day's sun sets, nay, even this very hour or minute, even before he can draw another breath, be standing before that terrible judgment seat, and receiving that sentence from which there is no appeal. how often do we hear of people suddenly struck down by death without a moment's warning; people who were promising themselves, as you no doubt are promising yourselves, many more days to live. they did not do anything, so far as we can see, to deserve such a sudden blow; they were living lives no worse and no better than those of others around them. "those eighteen," says our lord, "upon whom the tower fell in siloe, and slew them; think you that they also were debtors--that is to say, sinners--above all the men that dwelt in jerusalem?" no, god calls us suddenly in this way to show that he is the owner of our lives, that he has made no promise to give any one of us a single moment beyond those which he has already given. but sudden death is not, we may say, any special visitation of god. it is natural, not wonderful. if you could see the way in which your own bodies are made, you would wonder not so much that people die suddenly, but rather that they should die in any other way. it is not more surprising that one should die suddenly than that a watch should suddenly stop. the body is in many ways a more delicate thing than a watch; and in its most delicate parts the slightest thing out of order may be fatal. so we continue to live rather by the special care which our lord takes to preserve our lives, than by any hold which our souls have on our bodies. { } but you will say, "after all, father, very few really do die suddenly, compared to those who have time to prepare." well, it is true that there are not many who pass instantly from full health into the shadow of death; but if there were only one in a million, is it not a terrible risk for one who is not prepared? and, besides, in another way it is not true. for almost all die sooner than they expect. all think, even when they have some fatal illness, that they will have more time than is really to be given them. death, when it actually comes, is a surprise; for every one, perhaps, the coming of the son of man is at the last like the lightning; every one expects it, but not just then; every one looks for a few moments more. when you think of these things, my dear brethren, there is only one reasonable resolution for you to make. it is to live in such a way that you may be ready to die at any instant; to be like those wise virgins of whom the gospel of to-day's feast, the feast of the glorious martyr st. catherine, tells us, who had oil in their lamps when the cry came at midnight: "behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him." to have the grace of god, which is represented by that oil, always in the lamp of your soul; to be always in the state of grace, never in that of sin; for most assuredly that cry will come to each one of you, and sooner than you think; and woe be to you if you are not prepared when it shall sound in your ears! ---------------------- [transcriber's notes: this production is based on https://archive.org/details/sermonsofstpaul unknuoft/page/n many footnotes have additional citations indicated by "usccb", based on the united states conference of catholic bishops bible found at http://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible. most differences appear to be typographical errors not detected in proofreading or minor changes in verse numbering. quotes from the book of sirach were attributed to ecclesiasticus. double underscores are used to indicate text that is both bolded and italicized, e.g. __bolded italics__. end of transcriber's notes.] { } sermons by the fathers of the congregation of st. paul the apostle, __new york__ volume vi. new york: the catholic publication house, warren street. boston: patrick donahoe. baltimore: john murphy & co. . { } entered, according to act of congress, in the year , by rev. i. t. hecker, in the office of the librarian of congress, at washington, d. c. { } preface. the publication of another volume of sermons by the fathers of the congregation of st. paul the apostle, is due to the encouragement already given by the extensive sale of the former ones; and to the frequent solicitations for the continuance of their publication kindly made by many of the reverend clergy, at home and abroad. st. paul's, fifty-ninth street, new york, __feast of st. john of the cross,__ . { } { } { } { } contents. sermon i. remembrance of mercies. __isaiah__ lxiii. . "__i will remember the tender mercies of the lord, the praise of the lord for all the things that the lord hath bestowed upon us__." page sermon ii. the three gifts of the magi. __st. matt.__ ii. . "__and going into the house, they found the child with mary his mother: and falling down, they adored him: and opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh__." page { } sermon iii. how to pass a good lent. __cor__. vi. . "__behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation__," page sermon iv. pretended and real christians. __cor__. vi. . "__and we do exhort you that you receive not the grace of god in vain__," page sermon v. the sins and miseries of the dram-seller. __habacuc__ ii. . "__woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his gall, and maketh him drunk__." page sermon vi. communion with jesus. __st. john__ vi. . [usccb: john vi. .] "__he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and i in him__." page { } sermon vii. the holy ghost, the comforter. __st. john__ xiv. . "__i will ask the father, and he will give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever__." page sermon viii. the duty of upholding the pope's temporal sovereignty. __zach__. vi. . "__he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne__," page sermon ix. the living god. __jer__. x. . "__the lord is the true god: he is the living god__." page sermon x. the real presence. __st. matt__. i. . "__they shall call his name emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is god with us__." page { } sermon xi. st. paul, the divine orator. __cor__. xii. . "__gladly, therefore, will i glory in my infirmities, that the power of christ may dwell in me__." page sermon xii. the value of faith. i __cor__. xvi. . "__watch ye; stand fast in the faith; do manfully, and be strengthened__." page sermon xiii the supremacy of st. peter. __st. matt__. xvi. . "__and i say to thee: that thou art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church__." page sermon xiv. the roman pontiffs the successors of st. peter. __st. matt.__ xvi. . "__and i say to thee: that thou art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church__," page { } sermon xv the thought of heaven. __heb__. iv. . "__there remaineth therefore a rest for the people of god__." page sermon xvi. the clergy the teachers of the people. __st. matt.__ vii. . "__beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves__." page sermon xvii. humility in prayer. __st. luke__ xviii. . "__o god, be merciful to me, a sinner__," page sermon xviii. preparation for a good death. __isaiah__ xxxviii. . "__put thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live__." page { } sermon xix. the king's marriage feast. __st. matt__. xxii. . "__for many are called, but few are chosen__." page sermon xx. good use of sickness. __ecclesiasticus__ xxxviii. . [usccb: sirach xxxviii. .] "my son, in thy sickness neglect not thy self, but pray to the lord, and he shall heal thee." page sermon xxi. thoughts for advent. __philippians__ iv. . "__for the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are modest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are holy, whatsoever things are amiable, whatsoever things are of good repute; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise of discipline, think on these things__." page sermon xxii. fraternal charity. i __epistle st. john__ ii. . "__he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no scandal in him.__" page ----------------------------- { } { } { } sermon i. remembrance of mercies. (for new year's day.) isaiah lxiii. . "i will remember the tender mercies of the lord, the praise of the lord for all the things that the lord hath bestowed upon us." in the midst of our mutual congratulations at a time like this, whilst we are wishing a happy future year to those we love, we cannot wholly forget the year that is past, and all that it brought to us for good or evil. i would not, my dear brethren, cast a shadow upon the bright pathway of our hopes; i would not dampen in the least the ardor with which we joyfully set out upon another year's journey of life. may it be as happy in its realization as we could wish it to be! but i fear for the future happiness of him who forgets the happiness of the past. the anticipated joy of life yet to be lived is linked with those other joys that are past--joys over blessings whose richest fruit should be the lessons of experience they have taught us. { } would we like to enter upon a new year wholly ignorant of the past one? i think not. we have learned many things while it has been passing--lessons of wisdom upon which we rely to make the future better and happier. much there may have been to regret. alas! how much for some of us; but the remembrance of even that shall be good for us. there are many of the same stones lying in the roadway ahead of us that we stumbled upon last year. now we shall not come upon them unawares. there are many of the same beautiful but poisonous flowers growing in the valleys of repose where we shall stop to linger for a while, as we did in days gone by. we shall recognize them, and the beauty that deceived us before shall not deceive us again. blessed is the man who remembers. but there is so much good to remember! and in that remembrance so much to make the heart thoughtful, cheerful, and hopeful. it is this thought which i wish you, my brethren, this morning to reflect upon: the duty and pleasure of remembering the mercies of god--his __tender__ mercies, as the prophet so aptly calls them. it has always been a wonder to me how soon we forget benefits conferred upon us. it is too true. the joy we had when the gifts were new wasted itself away as quickly as music melts upon the air. { } the keen sense of grateful love toward the giver grows dull, and passes into indifference, before the treasure is spent or the beauty of the gem is tarnished. drink to the health of your friend and praise his bounty, if you will, but have a care-- ingratitude and forgetfulness are the last drops which lie at the bottom of the cup. and we treat god no better, if as well as we treat men. his gifts are such as man could never give, and given with a depth of love as unfathomable as the mystery of his own being and divine life. and yet we can forget! oh! why is it? did he who made the human heart make it ungrateful? did he who so loves us make those he loves selfish? did he who has said, "son, give me thy heart," ask for a corrupt and treacherous heart? such a thought may become that gloomy religion which thinks to exalt god by debasing his creatures; but it is not so that we have learned him. no, this cannot be. it cannot be that the heart of man is naturally ungrateful, or is unmindful of good for which it is debtor; that by virtue of its very nature it is selfish toward man, and treacherous to god. he who made us has not made us to be of necessity the very opposite of what he wishes us to be. what explains this cold forgetfulness, this heartless indifference, that steals over us so soon? there is but one explanation. love and gratitude must have a test. { } the words of thankfulness, the pressure of the hand, the look of the eyes and the aspirations of the heart which are forced from us in the first flush of happiness when the gifts are showered at our feet, are all good and just testimonies--but they are not enough. gratitude and love must have the true test of merit, and that is endurance. there must be freedom to forget, that the false be distinguished from the true. that we claim this enduring memory at the hands of others, and are disappointed if it is otherwise, is a proof not only that such a test is naturally called for, but that we at the same time deem it possible. how many gifts pass from hand to hand during this season of rejoicing, with the words--remember me! god himself bestows his most precious gift to man with the same request, "do this in remembrance of me." yes, now we understand it. the true heart will remember; the false one will forget. the faithful soul delights in cherishing a lively remembrance of benefits received; and the further back in the past the moment lies that saw our brows crowned with the tokens of love, the sweeter and more tender become the memories of them. judge by this test, my brethren, if you have a true heart to god. oh! the deep meaning of the prophet's words, "i will remember the __tender__ mercies of the lord." time is a refiner of the thoughts. { } the love of the gift itself, the mere sensual complacency in its enjoyment is mixed up in the beginning with the thankfulness we feel for its bestowal. but time will wear off that dross, and only the pure gold of the heart's gratitude will be left. it is not the love of the gift that need last. we do not care for that, neither does god. but we and god want the love of the giver to remain, and the giving of our gift, that act by which we tried to prove our love, not to be forgotten. look back, my brethren, look back. what does your memory tell you of his gifts whose mercy has followed you all the days of your life, whose hands have been stretched forth full of new blessings every morning? here it might become me to enumerate some of these gifts, but where would i begin, or where could i end? besides, it is you who ought to remember, and remember well. you must have a cold heart if you can forget. you see, my brethren, what i desire by these words. i wish you to know whether you are grateful to god or not, to that god who has so loved us and crowned us with mercy and loving kindness. at a time like this, when you are asking others to remember you, and when you are thinking of all the dear old friends you have had in bygone years, and of the sweet mementos that came from their hands or were spoken by their lips, i would compel you to see if you have remembered the oldest, the best friend of all. { } alas! if you must say--he has been the last and the least in my thoughts. that would be sad to hear, and, above all, from the lips of those who, by their very faith, with all its blessed consolations, live so near to god. if there be any by whom god wishes to be remembered, and his mercies brought to mind, it is by us who are his chosen people. i know god loves all men, and more than we can imagine; but there can be little doubt that those whom he has so honored as to make them the brethren of his only son, jesus christ, upon whom he has bestowed the inestimable gift of the catholic faith, are the objects of his special affection. oh! it is a great thing to be one of the household of faith! that is one of those tender mercies the very thought of which should make our heart bound in our bosom. sweet and ever present, dear catholic brethren, should be the memory of the day of your baptism, the day when you crossed the threshold of god's own home, the church, and there became his child. you know well what light has beamed upon your pathway in life ever since. you know what fountains of refreshment have sprung up to satisfy your thirsty soul. when you contrast your own knowledge of religion, and peace in it, with the ignorance and restless distrust of the blinded world without, then you know how truly wise god has made you. { } it is true for all who own the catholic name, but what a __tender__ mercy is that to be ever cherished in the heart of a convert! o day of joy to remember!--proud, loving, humble joy like that which stirred the heart of mary when the words broke forth in tumultuous rapture from her sacred lips, "my soul doth magnify the lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in god, my saviour. for he that is mighty hath done great things unto me, and holy is his name." o day of peace to remember!--peace like that which fills the soul of the wanderer upon whose longing sight breaks the vision of his native shore, when, with hands outstretched, as if to embrace the dear land, and in a voice choked with emotion, he murmurs--home at last! o day of freedom to remember! freed is the caged bird that beat its wings against bars more cruel than iron--freedom that says to the soul, fly, for between thee and god no hand shall be found to stop thee. cleave the skies with thy wings, and go sing at the gates of paradise, and thou shalt hear the voices of angels responding to thy notes of happiness from within. and who has done all this? o kind god! it is thou. it is thou who hast regarded the humility of thy servant. let all generations call me too blessed from henceforth; for thou, even thou, hast also blessed me. te deum laudamus! { } but it behooves us to ask ourselves the questions--what it is to remember god's mercies, and who are they that do it. he who does not prize the christmas or the new year's gift (however humble may be the offering) for the sake of the giver, has already forgotten it. here is something that god has too good reason to complain of us. we do not make much of his gifts, as we ought. we receive them, perhaps after many prayers. prosperity smiles upon us, temptations lose their power, our sins are forgiven, the impending calamity is averted, death departs from our doors, our wishes are granted a thousand times beyond our expectations, and now that the blessing has come, does it look much in our eyes? does it seem to us, as it is, a great thing--a precious gift? we are proud to display the gifts of friends. oh! who is proud of the gifts of god? we plume ourselves upon our success, and glorify creatures for their aid, but too often god complains of us, as he complained of his ungrateful people of old, "they were filled, and were made full; and they lifted up their heart, and have forgotten me." [footnote ] [footnote : osec xiii. .] [usccb: hosea xiii. .] { } but he has not to complain of all. there are some who recognize the source of their blessings, who wonder, in their humble, grateful hearts, that one so high could stoop to one so low. "my friends tell me," said a recent convert, "that i never looked so bright and happy in my life. they think it is on account of a piece of good news i have heard; but it is not that. i am all the time thinking how good our dear lord has been to me. after so many years, to be permitted to come to him, seems almost too great happiness for __me__." there is a soul remembering the tender mercies of the lord. "too great happiness for __me__." such ought to be the expression of all our hearts at the thought of the very least of god's gracious gifts. a bunch of withered flowers stood upon a table near the foot of the bed of a poor, dying woman. the flowers were many days faded and scentless, yet every morning fresh water was brought to fill the old cracked china vase (the best in the cottage) that held them. "i love to have them there," she would say, "where i can see them, for they were brought to me by __him__, and they shall be laid upon my breast when i am gone to god." "by __him!__" no need to tell the name. it was like the supplication of mary magdalen, "if thou hast taken him away, tell me where thou hast laid him, and i will go and take him away." { } he who brought those flowers in his hand brought her also the holy sacraments of the dying, and was often at her bedside during her long illness. she loved him with that tender, holy, and trusting love which so enchains the hearts of the catholic poor to their "dear priest." and the gift had come from him. that, was enough. to her the dry, withered stems were daily strengthened by the freshly brought water, the shrivelled flowers looked bright, and shed their fragrance still around the poor chamber. not to her senses. no; but to her soul. why should they not? other flowers might not: but these--"these were brought by __him__." oh! when the heart remembers, how priceless becomes the gift, what shining beauty adorns it, what magic charms does it not possess! thus, beloved brethren, let our hearts remember god for his manifold mercies. they come from him. they come from the best, the holiest, the truest, the everlasting friend. but i speak in vain if you do not understand me. if the giver is not all that and more to you, never will his gifts be in your eyes as precious and as dear as they should be, and not long will you remember them. it is the question of the psalmist, "who is wise, and will keep these things in mind, and will understand the mercies of the lord?" [footnote ] [footnote : ps. cvi. .] [usccb: psalms cvii. .] { } to remember the mercies of god is to make good use of them. to what end has he blessed us with the gift of faith? that it should simply distinguish us from those who do not possess it, and to lie idle and fruitless in our soul? vain ornament, indeed, that honors neither the giver nor him who receives it. you are a catholic in name, and you do not forget it. is it enough to remember that? oh! answer god to-day. do you remember when sunday morning comes, and the priest is ascending the altar, that you are a catholic, and where a catholic should be found then? do you remember when the church is calling her children to the confession of their sins, and to the holy communion at the joyful easter time, that you are a catholic, and what it behooves a catholic to do then? do you remember when obscene and blasphemous language is used in your presence that you are a catholic, and think what part a catholic should take in that? tell me, can you lift your heart to him to-day, and say in truth--my god, thou knowest that i have not forgotten thee? "i have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments i have not forgotten." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. cxviii. .] [usccb: ps. cxix. ; "the way of loyalty i have chosen; i have set your edicts before me."] { } you got over that illness. i know that you said, "if god spares my life, i will be a changed man--i will be an altered woman. no more will i be seen staggering in drunkenness. no longer will i keep a grog-shop, and stain my hands with the hard-earned and wickedly-squandered money of my neighbor--blood-money, cursed by the cries of the brutally treated wife and the moans of the naked, starved children. no longer will i be a nominal catholic, a standing scandal to unbelievers, and damning my own soul by my criminal neglect of god and contempt of his holy church. i will give up all that spite and malice in my heart, and go and be reconciled with those who have injured me for the sake of him who said, 'forgive, and you shall be forgiven.'" do you remember all that? yes; but what avails such a heartless remembrance as yours has been? even he has reminded you of your promise and of his mercy from time to time, as he now again reminds you by my mouth. oh! mock him not. better, far better, would it be had you wholly forgotten both promise and mercy. it would not be generous, i allow; but now you are false and treacherous, for the mercy was granted, but the promise remains unfulfilled. in the sorrow of your stricken spirit, and with the grievous burden of sin lying heavy upon you, your guardian angel took you one day, trembling, anxious, fearful, harassed by the stings of remorse, to the confessional. { } there you poured out your griefs, and told all the shameful guilt--griefs that seemed eternal, and guilt that no oceans might wash away. and yet, o tender mercy of god! down falls the veil of darkness, and your soul is bathed in light. you, who a moment ago were stumbling in despair at the portals of hell, are now standing before the gates of heaven. you, who had that in your soul which almost drove you to madness, now are in such peace that words fail you, and you weep for very joy. yes, of a truth god has been very merciful, tenderly merciful to you. ah! what would you not then do for god--what sacrifices would you not make--what life long resolutions were you not ready to form! do you not remember? ah, yes! now i remind you of it. but how long did you remember it to any profit to yourself or praise to god? and tell me, how now? what of your present remembrance? an east indian having been shown all about the beautiful city of paris, through its royal palaces, its galleries of art, its manufactories of wondrous scientific and mechanical instruments, manifested, it was observed, but little enthusiasm. the indian was too proud to show any emotion at sight of the works of strangers. one day he was taken to the jardin des plantes, where are cultivated trees, shrubs, and flowers of every clime. { } suddenly he stopped short before a tropical tree, fell upon his knees, clasped it lovingly and kissed it, and, as the tears flowed fast down his swarthy cheek, cried out, in his own language, "o tree of my own land! o tree of my own native land, so far away! let us go back home again." there are some of you, my brethren, to whom i have shown the picture of a mercy you cannot but remember well. how does the sight of it affect you? are you moved with that deep emotion such a memory should awaken? do you hug the memory of that hour of peace to your bosom, and does your heart cry out, "o tender mercy of my god! o sweet hour of peace now so far away! let me go back to thee again!" blessed remembrance, as happy for yourself as it is dear to god. you are wise because you keep these things in mind, and have understood the mercies of the lord, and the praise of the lord for all the things he hath bestowed upon you. but can you look at it with indifference, seeing there nothing to stir the depths of your soul, nothing to call forth a grateful aspiration from your breast? then i think of that uncivilized indian, and must say: he loved his country better than you love god. he was quick to remember __that__; you have been quick to forget __him__. { } i am not asking too much, my brethren, am i? i am not forcing upon your notice a subject out of place at this joyous season, am i? when the absent one returns to the old homestead to spend the christmas holidays, you who have been the kindest to him, the most lavish in your gifts--you who have been sending him time and again sweet tokens of __your__ remembrance--you do not look for him to think the last about __you__. oh! no. you are tempted to hide yourself in sport before he has seen you, that you may enjoy listening to his anxious and hurried questions about __you__, and his wondering where __you__ are, and a thousand eager expressions, which show that he has been thinking about the pleasant meeting he would have with __you__ all the way home, and that his joy is not full till he can run into your embrace. oh! his every question almost drags you out from your hiding-place. but suppose you listen in vain for the mention of your name; that in the midst of his joyous congratulations and happy wishes he does not ask where __you__ are, and evinces by no sign that in your absence anything is wanting to him. oh! the ugly pain at your heart as you steal away to your chamber, unwilling now to be seen, hurt by his forgetfulness, and stung to the very quick by his silent ingratitude. { } brethren, i am speaking for god; for the best friend, who of all must be the nearest and dearest, and the first in your thoughts. looking down from his throne in heaven, he watches, to see who have been making preparations to meet him; who are renewing at this time their grateful remembrances of him. ah! there are some who remember, and they have already gathered about his holy table, and feasted at his heavenly banquet. though no earthly friends may have been kind or thoughtful enough to send them a holiday present, they have still had a merry christmas and a happy new year's for all that. they have met the friend of all friends with the kiss of peace and the embrace of welcome, and that has been more than enough. but there are some who never said a word about him, never thought of him, never remembered all he had done for them. nay, there are some who never came at all. not that __he__ forgot to invite them, not that he neglected to prepare his christmas feast. no. he is the friend who never forgets. what shall i say? does god not feel that heartless coldness and neglect of theirs? oh! the sad, tender, complaining reproaches of good friday are heard in heaven at christmas. "my people, what have i done unto thee, or in what have i grieved thee? answer me." "put me in remembrance," as he said to his people of old, "and let us plead together. tell me if thou hast anything to justify thyself." { } yes, answer him, you of whom he is speaking. answer to that god who has never wearied of heaping blessing after blessing and mercy after mercy upon your head. tell him what he has done to you that you have forgotten him. too well you know, however, that in him you shall find nothing to accuse. so, then, let us rather turn to the exciting in our hearts a lively remembrance of his manifold mercies, and to make that memory to good purpose. let us seek to know, if possible, why god has so blessed us; what object he had in view; what he expected of us; what promises we made when we received them, and now resolve that he shall be no longer disappointed in the fruits he looked for from them. it will help us to acquire that spirit of humble gratitude which so enlarges the heart, and helps us to do great and generous things for god. with the psalmist, then, let us say, "bless the lord, o my soul, and never forget all that he hath done for thee. who forgiveth all thine iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases. who redeemeth thy life from destruction, and crowneth thee with mercy and compassion." [footnote ] so shall the new year begin with praise and thanksgiving, to end with blessings new and better than the last. [footnote : ps. cii. - .] [usccb: ps. ciii. - .] ------------------- { } sermon ii. the three gifts of the magi. (for the feast of the epiphany.) st. matthew ii. . "__and going into the house, they found the child with mary his mother: and falling down, they adored him: and opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh__." these wise men, who are supposed by many to have been kings, were led by the appearance of the miraculous star in the heavens, and the secret inspirations of the holy ghost, to bethlehem, in order to find out and adore the child who was born king of the jews. after a long search, they found him, lying in a manger, and, in spite of the poverty and the straw, they recognized in him the king of souls, the creator of heaven and earth. with a deep faith they adored him, and, opening their treasures, offered to him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. { } and we are all, in like manner, drawn to do the same thing. the light of faith directs us to the poor stable of bethlehem, where we behold the lord of glory disguised in the form of an infant, and it becomes us also to offer him our treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. and, first, what is the pure gold which is acceptable to our god and creator? by gold is understood charity or the love of our god. and by this charity is understood the pure intention of pleasing god by which we should be governed in all our works. the love of god does not essentially consist in a tender feeling of affection or in a sensible devotion of tears, which we are not always able to elicit, much as we might desire it, but in a good and pure intention. that this is so should be a great consolation and encouragement to us. we have no right to say, as many do, "i cannot love god," for this is an untruth. it lies in every one's power to love him, if he only desires sincerely to do so. we might say with truth--my heart is cold, and i am grieved because i cannot experience that warm love of god which i desire so much; but i would reply to all such--set your fears at rest; make a good intention to please and love god to the best of your ability, and you have, at once, the real, true, and solid love of him which will bring you by the shortest route to the kingdom of heaven. { } it is related that one of the old heathen kings had an avarice so great that he desired that all he touched might be turned into gold. his request being granted, he perished of hunger. avarice for spiritual treasures has no such evil effect. on the contrary, our lord says, "blessed are those who hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled." now i wish that, in like manner, what ever you touch with your hearts--that is, what ever you long for or desire--might, by a good intention, be turned into the gold of the purest charity. our saviour has said, you cannot so much as give a cup of cold water in my name--that is, with a good intention--without receiving a reward for it. the treasures of grace and merit lie in immense heaps all around us, and we can help ourselves. whatever we do, then, let us do it in the name of the lord, following out the injunction of st. paul, "therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all things for the glory of god." [footnote ] i hope, then, you will all, on this blessed festival, determine to direct all your thoughts, words, and actions to the glory of god to the very best of your ability, and thus open your treasures, and offer to the infant jesus lying on the straw a great heap of pure, bright gold. [footnote : i cor. x. .] { } the wise men of the east offered not gold only, but also frankincense. what does this signify? it means devotion. you have often seen incense put into the censer at high mass or vespers, and the smoke from it immediately arise straight upwards. it is a figure of the prayers and burning wishes of the soul ascending up to heaven. the scripture says: "and another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of god: and the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before god, from the hand of the angel." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. viii. , .] [usccb: revelation viii. , .] the act of true prayer or adoration by which we acknowledge, with our whole heart the infinite mystery of god and his complete dominion over us, our own entire nothingness of ourselves without him, and by which we declare and protest that we desire nothing else but that he should govern us and dispose of us and all our affairs as he pleases--this is the highest and noblest act of our own reason. for what could we do so real and true as this? how could we realize in a better way the simplest and at the same time the most sublime of all truths? our prayers ought to go up from our hearts as from a censer which contains a fire that no created thing is able to put out. the smoke of it should continually arise, and all we do should be done in the way of a prayer and supplication to our last end and chief good. { } alas! we have incense enough to offer to idols. we swing the censer to wealth, honors, and pleasures; we bow the knee, and worship houses, and lands, and cattle, and fine clothes, and sumptuous fare, and sell our very souls for a few pieces of gold; but we have but little incense for god--no pure and sincere homage for him, the eternal, uncreated source of all our good. and when you offer the incense of your adoration to god, offer pure and clear incense. do not mix with the frankincense resin or other foul-smelling drugs. and what are they? those desires of the heart by which you cling to the creatures of earth with a passionate eagerness. clear your heart of such desires, so that you may say, "my god and my all." "my god, if i possess thee and lack all else, i am rich in deed." "if i have the whole world, and all it contains, and have not thee, i am poor, and blind, and miserable, and naked." then will your prayer arise as a sweet odor from the golden altar before the throne of god, and in numerable blessings descend upon you, not only for eternity, but even in this present life. { } offer frankincense, or you will have no gold to offer. when you open your treasures, if there is not plenty of incense--that is, prayer--you will find the chest, in which you thought there was much gold, to be empty. for without prayer there is no charity or love of god. prayer is the food by which you nourish and keep charity alive and on the increase. prayer is the capital in trade by which you are to make your fortune in the charity of god to enrich you for eternity. and having offered your gold and frankincense, do not forget the myrrh. and what is signified by myrrh? it means self-denial, or, as it is more commonly called, mortification. i wish we all understood the value of self-denial better than we do, because nearly all the miseries which afflict the soul come from the fact that we do not deny ourselves as much as we ought. we give the reins to our natural desires and inclinations, and they run away with us. just as if we were driving a span of spirited horses, and instead of putting a curb-bit upon them and holding them in, we should throw the reins down upon their necks and let them go without restraint. when they once begin to go fast, they break into a headlong race, and never stop until they have dashed everything in pieces. thus we let our desires for amusement and pleasure run away with us, until we find our pious resolutions and the spirit of devotion entirely gone, and drowned in the sea of forgetfulness. { } how can we love god if we be absorbed in a love of good eating and drinking? can god come and take up his abode in a soul which occupies itself and is taken up with the satisfaction of sumptuous fare, rich meats, and choice wines or liquors. such souls are vividly described in holy scripture: "for many walk, of whom i have told you often (and now tell you weeping) that they are enemies of the cross of christ; whose end is destruction; whose god is their belly; and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things." [footnote ] [footnote : philip., iii. , .] how can god give himself to the man who is absorbed in money-making and heaping up possessions? it is impossible for such a soul to enjoy the presence of god. neither can he divide the empire of the soul with worldly honors, nor even with a passionate human love of wife or children. he is god, and they are creatures, the mere work of his hand. they shall pass away and be gone, and he shall remain. such inordinate love is like disgusting vermin in the mansion of the soul, and all such vermin must be swept out. what ever we love must be loved on account of god, and in subordination to his love, or god will not come and take up his abode with us. this is the plain dictate of our reason. { } we must deny ourselves, and that not merely in forbidden things, but in those which are lawful. if we go to the limit of what is lawful in self-indulgence, depend upon it we shall soon pass the limit. we shall fall into sin, and very likely into mortal sin. many a one has fallen in this way. he has said to himself, i can do this thing, for it is not forbidden. again, i can do that; it is not certain it comes within the letter of the law. i can indulge myself in this respect, for, even if sinful, it is a matter of small consequence. thus he goes on in a downhill progress, until he becomes utterly selfish, and virtue has died out in his soul. our saviour has laid down the rule for a christian; "he that will be my disciple, let him deny him self daily, and take up his cross and follow me." again, "he that loveth father or mother, wife or child, houses or lands, more than me, is not worthy to be my disciple." we must deny ourselves, and, if we would be great friends of god, we must deny ourselves a great deal. the fact is, in order to become possessed of god, we must deny ourselves in all things, at all times, and in all places. we must repress and bring into subjection our desires, so that they may not occupy and fill our hearts. the scripture says, "think not for the morrow what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewith ye shall be clothed; but think of the kingdom of god and his justice." { } now, reflect on this: we cannot be thinking on both these things at the same time; one thought will crowd the other out; therefore you must drive out of your hearts those eager desires of the world, and temporal things, and anxiety about the future; you must deny yourselves these earthly desires, or you will never become spiritually-minded. could we only banish all care and solicitude for these things, and discharge our duties and our business in life without anxiety, for god, and for the ends god has appointed them, we should be recompensed a thousandfold in this life, and we should be filled with gratitude to god for inspiring us with such sentiments. offer myrrh, offer plenty of myrrh to god. offer it with gold and frankincense--that is, with the intention of cleaning and sweeping out from your hearts all vain and useless love, that they may be ready and prepared for the divine love, and with many prayers and good wishes; and god will accept it. it will be most pleasing to him. without this, your self-denial will be in vain. self-denial, without the right intention, is superstitious, and nourishes an empty pride; with it, the least act of self-denial renders you like to god, and more fit to receive the impressions of the holy ghost within your souls. { } begin, then, to offer myrrh with the gold and frankincense. deny your eyes what they like to look upon, that the eyes of your souls may look on god more steadily. deny your ears what they like to hear; news and gossip, not to speak of detraction and evil talk, that you may more readily hear the still, small voice of the holy ghost gently speaking within your hearts. deny your sense of smell; the gratifications of perfumes and sweet odors. deny your palates delicate and luxurious food, that you may relish better the plain and solid meat of the gospel. deny yourselves all around, whenever you can bring yourselves to do it cheerfully, for the sake of god, for he loves not the unwilling, but the cheerful, giver. this is what the saints did, and it is what made them saints. impelled by the strong desire to love god more, i dare to say that self-denial was the sweetest pleasure to them in this life. having food and raiment, and wherewith to be clothed, they were content therewith; the superfluous and the unnecessary they abominated, for they knew they would only lead them away from jesus christ. present these gifts not only now, but every day of your lives. god will give them to you, and then you must give them back faithfully to him, and in a short time he will give you a present which excels anything you ever thought of. he will give you himself, and inundate your happy soul in an ocean of inconceivable joy and unspeakable happiness, never to be lost for all the ages of eternity. ------------------------ { } sermon iii. how to pass a good lent. (for ash wednesday.) cor. vi. . "__behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation__." this morning, my brethren, we knelt before this altar, and received from the holy church the ashes from which this day takes its name. why did we do so? was it merely because we had done so in past years? because it is a catholic custom? because others did so, and we were expected to do the same? to receive them for such reasons would be better than not to receive them at all; but better still would it be to feel the meaning, and enter into the spirit of this sacred rite. in the early ages of the church, those whose sins were such as to require (in the severer judgment of those days) a public penance, received the ashes on this day from the bishop, and were then, after some other ceremonies, expelled from the church, and not allowed to assist at mass till holy thursday. { } as they were being driven out, the words. __memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris__--"remember, man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return"--which were repeated to each one of us as we received the ashes this morning, were said to them. their exclusion from the church, often during a much longer time than the few weeks of lent, was by no means the only penance to which many of them were subjected, besides those which they voluntarily undertook; but it is enough to mention so much, that we may understand what are the feelings which we, who are to-day in the place of these public penitents, should have. receiving the ashes was for them a sign of the most profound humiliation and repentance. they were in disgrace, separated from the rest of the faithful as unworthy to partake with them in the sacred mysteries; and they expressed by their submission a firm purpose to amend their lives, and repair the scandal they had given. now it is to us no disgrace to receive the ashes, but even the contrary; and we are not, perhaps, understood as expressing sorrow for our sins by the act, but humiliation and penance are really meant by it, and it is in this spirit that the church wishes us to perform it. { } this meaning is also contained in the very ashes themselves. for what can more completely express humiliation than ashes, which are the mere remains of their former substance, without beauty, strength, or any of its qualities? and what can better represent repentance than the fine dust of which they are composed? for this reducing to dust or powder is the real meaning of contrition: the contrite heart is that which is not only broken, but even ground to dust with sorrow. the ashes, also, as we are reminded in receiving them, represent the dust of death to which we must sooner or later come, and in which all the distinctions upon which we pride ourselves so much now will be confounded, nothing being left of us in this world after a short time but a few handfuls of dust, and our souls having gone to another, where their claims to consideration will have been judged according to a very different standard from that which prevails in this life. the thought of death, then, which they suggest, ought to fill us with humiliation on account of the vanity of our worldly distinctions, and with repentance now while we have time, because after death repentance will be impossible. but ash wednesday is not a day by itself. it is the beginning of a season in which the sentiments which it suggests are to be continued and even strengthened. it is of the right way of passing this penitential season of lent that i wish to speak to you to-night. { } and, in the first place, let us try to have a firm purpose to pass it in the right way. with a good resolution, the battle is half won. it is well worth our while to spend a good lent; heaven is, as it were, nearer now, and grace is more abundant. "now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation." yes, my brethren, the church does not give us lent merely as a penance, but to help us in saving our souls. what, then, shall we do to spend lent well? the first thing to do is to cease from sin, and obey those commandments of god which are binding at all times as well as now. to one who will not resolve to quit mortal sin, nothing else that he can do will be of any use except so far as it helps him to make such a resolution. all who have lost grace know well enough what sins are ruining their souls; and these they must give up, or their lent will have been of little or no use-- perhaps even worse than useless, being another of those graces of the good god which they have thrown away and trampled under foot, and which he will reproach them with at the last day. though he is always entreating us to give up sin, yet it is now specially that he urges us, as we are about to commemorate the bitter sufferings which he endured to redeem us from its power. { } and though we are always bound to give it up, yet are we specially now so bound, because everything reminds us so strongly how hateful it is to god. leave off sin, then; that is the great thing. i do not say that nothing else must be done till this is; but this must be done sooner or later, and the sooner the better, for it is very dangerous to wait. this night, this very hour, may be the last that we shall have. this naturally suggests a special precept that comes to us at this time. whether we have sinned or not, we must make our easter duty. at other times, our lord invites us to come to him; now, he commands us to come, under pain of a new and great sin if we refuse. obey, then, this loving command as soon as possible; do not delay, especially if guilty of mortal sin; for, besides running a great risk, you will lose the merit of all you may do in this holy season as long as you remain unforgiven. it is not so hard as it seems; and the moment of absolution will be the happiest one of life. another positive precept at this time is, of course, the fast, as prescribed by the rules of the diocese. this we must keep as well as we can, not considering that we are exempted from it merely because it is difficult; but only allowing such reasons against it as make a strict observance really imprudent--remembering, of course, the exemptions given in the regulations, but trusting to the judgment of a confessor or physician, rather than our own, if there be any doubt about the matter. { } and let us not make the sacrifice unwillingly, merely because we are obliged to, but as cheerfully as we can, so that we may please god, as well as avoid offending him. in this way we may gain more merit, perhaps, than by anything else we can do in the course of the year, on account of the difficulty of the work, and because at other times we should hardly be justified in imposing such a penance on ourselves. besides, obedience is better than sacrifice; and fasting in lent is an act of obedience. so, if we cannot fast, we lose the opportunity of doing something a little difficult, and which we know will please god; which should make us sorry rather than glad. now, to come to things not absolutely required, but which nevertheless ought to be attended to in lent, and which must be done, if we wish really to pass it well. they may be classed under the three eminent good works, as they are called; namely--fasting, prayer, and alms. it may seem as if the subject of fasting had been already disposed of. and so it has, perhaps, in the usual sense of the word; we are not required, nor would it probably be advisable, to keep a more rigorous fast than the church prescribes, at least in point of quantity; but we may give up some things in the way of food, which are not forbidden, practising some voluntary mortification or self-denial, as far as the strength of our souls and bodies will allow. { } it rarely does us much harm to deny our taste something; to give up or limit ourselves in something which we like particularly, if we do not really need it, and there be plenty besides. and though abstaining from the sin of drunkenness is not probably a mortification, but a most severe obligation at all times, yet, as in this penitential season this vice seems to acquire new malignity, still greater precautions ought to be taken in those occasions which might lead to it. but the word fasting really means more than abstaining from food and drink. it implies self-denial in other ways; and there are a great many ways in which we can deny ourselves besides eating and drinking. the tongue, for example, can be restrained in speaking, as well as in its sense of taste. we can talk a good deal less than we might without sin, as well as eat less, and yet be none the worse for it. then we can restrain our curiosity for news, both public and private; we can refuse to gratify our sight, hearing, and other senses--in short, there are plenty of ways for one who has the will. { } but if we have no will for such voluntary mortification, we can at least take patiently what we have to suffer from cold, fatigue, or any pain of body or mind; and not complain of those grievances which come to us from the neglect or carelessness, or even from the bad will, of others, and of which it might seem that we have, in some sense, a right to complain. we may well consider that we have forfeited our rights by sin, and that though sometimes we are bound to claim them, yet often it will be better to give them up. but what are the motives for all this self-denial? there are many. one is to make up, in some degree, for having gone beyond what was allowable by now stopping somewhat short of it; that is, to atone for our sins. but besides this, it makes us love ourselves less, and god and our neighbor more; and it makes us a great deal more free really than if we were all the time having our own way, for it takes away a thousand cares and anxieties which are all the time distracting us, and keeping us from attaining the end for which we were created. nor can we be happy without self-denial, strange as it may seem; for we cannot be happy unless we are contented; and the only way to become contented is to cease to care about the many things which we are always desiring but often cannot have; and the only way to do this thoroughly is sometimes to give them up when we can have them. besides this, god is pleased and gives us grace when we deny our selves; for it shows our love for him. { } and at this time he seems specially to ask these sacrifices from us. "now is the acceptable time"; and if we do not make them now, there is not much chance that we will at any other season of the year. then we must make more prayer now than usual, employing in this way the time that we cut off from other things. try to come to early mass on week-days; of course, nothing can be better than to assist at this, the greatest act of christian worship. also, come to vespers on sunday, and say the beads at home, in common if possible, and as many other prayers as there is time for, especially such as are indulgenced, for these are, of course, more powerful in satisfying for sin. and in this time of special trial for the church and the holy father, we will not forget to pray that the triumph of our faith, which is sure to come sooner or later, may be speedy; that the plans of the persecutors of the holy see may be utterly defeated; and that they may return as obedient children to their mother and ours, the holy catholic and roman church. but, besides these devotions, which we can practise at any time, there are also others peculiar to this season: those in the church on wednesday and friday nights, which will be the same as in previous years, and which will, no doubt, be attended as well as or even better than they have been heretofore. { } there will be a sermon every wednesday, and the stations on friday. next to repenting of sin and confessing it, one can hardly do anything more pleasing to god in the time of lent than to assist at the stations, and help to commemorate his bitter sufferings and those of his blessed mother. "he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed." surely, the least we can do at this season, when the church presents his passion to our minds, is to come and go with him over the way of sufferings by which we were redeemed. you will notice, also, by looking at the table of festivals at the door, that the church commemorates, on every friday during lent, some one of the mysteries of the passion. these mysteries we will do well to think of specially. try to come every wednesday and friday, and not miss a single evening from this to good friday; and also persuade others to come who are not here to-night, or who have not been in the habit of coming; and come not for amusement, or even principally for instruction, but for the honor and glory of god and the good of your souls. { } much hardly needs to be said about alms, the last of the eminent good works. it is evident enough how pleasing it is to god, and what a rich reward it secures for us. in the office of next sunday the church reminds us specially of this, saying, in the words of holy scripture, "break thy bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and wandering into thy house; then shall thy light shine forth as the morning, and thy justice shall go before thy face." and, during the following week, she repeats: "give alms to the poor, and it shall pray for thee to the lord; for as water quenches fire, so do alms extinguish sin." that is, if we have repented of our sins, almsgiving will satisfy for them; and if we have not, almsgiving will help us to have contrition to repent, and will move god to give us abundant grace; he will be obliged, as it were, by gratitude, to give it to us; for he has said, "as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me." almsgiving will not save us without repentance, but it will help us very much to have repentance; and, to impress us with its importance, our lord seems, in his own description of the last judgment, to make our salvation depend upon the charitable works which we have done in this life. and if, by his grace, we have repented of sin and confessed it, almsgiving will give us a degree of merit and amount of reward which we may, in one sense, call unjust and excessive, so great is the mercy of god. { } fasting, prayer, and alms; self-denial, devotion, and charity; these are the principal good works at this and every time; but they are more urgent and necessary now than usual, if we wish to obtain the special fruit of this holy season. and, besides these, we must not put away the spirit of humiliation and penance expressed in receiving the ashes this morning. these are not for ash-wednesday alone, but for the whole of lent. we must abandon, in spirit at least, the vain distinctions by which we are trying to raise ourselves above others, and follow, at a great distance, the example of our god and saviour, who, being our creator and absolute master, became the servant of servants for our sake. and we have an immense number of sins which are not yet fully expiated; for these we must do penance sometime or other, before death or after it, in this world or in purgatory. we can do it better now than at any other time; first, because we are obliged to do some difficult things, which can be made to pay this temporal debt if they are done with the right spirit and intention; and, also, because penance is the spirit of the season, and we can come to the church oftener, and do of our own accord other things which are a little inconvenient and put us to some trouble, without any danger of attracting attention or of getting proud about it; for others will be doing the same. { } finally, my brethren, in the words of the apostle, "we exhort you that you receive not the grace of god in vain." this may be our last lent; it certainly will be for some of us; but, at any rate, we shall not feel sorry to have spent it as if it were so. god's love for us is immense; he is continually giving us fresh graces, which we are trampling under our feet; but there will come a time when i will not say his patience will be exhausted, but when, in the course of his providence, we must be taken from this world, and grace for us will be no more. then, when we lie on our death-bed, we shall look back--if, indeed, we are able to collect our thoughts--upon the gifts of god which we have thrown away, and wish most earnestly for a day, or even an hour, of the time that we have wasted. then, if we have spent this lent badly, we shall remember it and the others that we have neglected, and bitterly repent our neglect when it is too late. then we shall fear and tremble at the thought of the awful judgment of god, before whose face we are so soon to appear; or, if we have confidence that by his mercy the guilt of our sins has been taken away, we shall still feel how unfit we are, after a sinful life, to remain in his sight, and shall see the flames of purgatory prepared to expiate those offences for which this lent and the others we have wasted might have atoned. perhaps years of suffering will await us there instead of the few days of penance which we have refused in this life. { } and, even if we have spent this time well, we shall then see clearly how we might have spent it better; and every good work which we could properly have done, which we had the grace and opportunity for, and yet did not do, will give us more sorrow than its omission gave relief. but let us hope better things. there is no reason why this lent should not be for us all that god meant it to be. that it may be so, the first thing to do, and the most agreeable of all, is to get into the grace and friendship of god, if we are now in sin; and then we have only to go on and do what we can, not in a grudging or weary spirit, but cheerfully and with our whole heart, to please our good god, who loves us each as much as if we were his only creature, and has done infinitely more for us already than we can ever do for him. his blessed mother and the saints, especially st. joseph, under whose patronage the greater part of lent almost always comes, will help us, and we shall have joy enough in our souls to fully make up for all that is unpleasant or tiresome. and all the while we shall, by penance, be shortening the road that lies between us and our true home in heaven, where our creator, redeemer, and sanctifier, the blessed trinity, father, son, and holy ghost, is waiting to have us come and be happy with him for all eternity. ----------------------- { } sermon iv. pretended and real christians. (at special lenten service.) cor. vi. . "__and we do exhort you that you receive not the grace of god in vain__." what is the reason, my dear brethren, that you are all here to-night? i know very well what it is. there are very few who have not one and the same reason. you came because you wish, when you are removed out of this world, to reach the kingdom of heaven. you came because you would secure yourselves from the punishments denounced by god against the sinner. you came here to-night because you feel a strong interest in the salvation of your souls. it is the grace of god which stirs within your hearts and impels you to come. now you are here, i say to you, with st. paul, "let not this grace of god be in vain." it is not enough to come within the church-walls and hear the voice of the preacher, unless you arc also willing and anxious to follow out his instructions. { } i want to tell you what it is to be rightly and truly called a christian, and to have a well-grounded hope of salvation. a vast number of absurd notions are afloat in the minds of many as to what it is to be a christian. where they came from, i cannot tell. it is not from the church, for she never has taught them, and never can teach them. it is not from good sense and right reason, for they teach exactly the contrary. it must be from the devil, for he is said, in scripture, to be a liar and the father of lies, and these lies are the very ones which are the most destructive of the soul. one of these lying notions is that outward communion with the church of god renders a man a true christian, and makes him sure of his salvation. the pharisees had this idea. "are we not children of abraham?" they said. but what did st. john the baptist say? "say not to yourselves, we have abraham for our father; for i say unto you that god is able of these stones to raise up children unto abraham. bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matthew iii. .] { } and our saviour said unto them, "if you be the children of abraham, do the works of abraham." if there are any catholics foolish enough to build their hopes of salvation on the mere fact of being catholics, without having the spirit and the works of the catholic religion, let them consider the fearful denunciation of our lord against them. take the parable of the wheat and the tares. the kingdom of heaven is like to a man who sowed wheat in his field, and by-and-by, when it came up, a quantity of weeds, or tares, came up with it. the servants asked their lord, "shall we not go out and pull up the tares?" "no," he replied; "lest, pulling out the tares, ye pull out the wheat with them. suffer them to grow together until the harvest, and then the wheat shall be gathered into my barn, and the tares shall be bound up into bundles to be burned in the fire." the question is not--am i growing in the field of the church? but--am i the wheat? or the tares, fit only for the burning? our lord never seems to grow tired of denouncing this doctrine. listen to his description of the last judgment: "and when the master of the house shall be gone in, and shall shut the door, you shall begin to stand without, and knock at the door, saying: lord, open to us; and he answering, shall say to you: i know not whence you are. then you shall begin to say: we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. and he shall say to you: i know not whence you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xiii. - .] { } you see, then, the plea of being familiar in the house of god, of eating and drinking in his presence, is of no avail. others, who are not in the outward church of god, though in it in heart and soul, may enter the kingdom of god, but all the wicked in the church shall be thrust out. "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. when you shall see abraham, and isaac, and jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of god, and you shall be cast out. and they shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of god." it is no doubt of immense and incalculable benefit to be within the pale of the church, and within reach of the sacraments, but if you presume on this alone, instead of getting any benefit, you will only make them the occasion of your damnation. you have received this great grace, but remember that you are thereby rendered responsible for the right use of it. "brethren, beware lest you receive this grace of god in vain." now, there is another false idea of what it is to be a christian, and i am convinced that this prevails much more extensively, for, after all, few are foolish enough to build their hopes of salvation exclusively in the mere fact of being outward members of the church of god. { } this idea is, that, if a man belongs to the church and does some good and religious acts, he can indulge himself to some extent in mortal sin, and still be a christian and expect heaven. i know very well there are many sinners who know better. when they sin, they are aware of what they are about: they know well that they lose heaven, and that they renounce all pretensions to be true christians, and this salutary knowledge drives them back to repentance and their duty; but are there not some who persuade, or half persuade, themselves to the contrary? they drink in sin like water, and make themselves out to be pretty good christians notwithstanding. do they not go to mass? do they not appear occasionally in the tribunal of penance? do they not cry, lord, lord, and beat their breasts, and call to mind that there is such a being as god, and that they must do something now and then to please him, or else he will get angry with them? and then they go off and sin as hard as they can, until they come to mass again, and beat their breasts once more, and cry out, lord, lord, again. the chinese do very much the same thing. they set up a huge, ugly idol in their temples, and now and then go and prostrate themselves before it, and burn incense, and make some offering. this is the sum and substance of religion with them, and i fear it is the idea some catholics, in their ignorance of their holy religion and through their evil disposition, have formed to themselves, too. { } sin all the week, and try to appease the anger of the almighty on the sunday by some false and hypocritical acts of worship! why, they must think god to be something like the idols of the heathen, instead of being, as he is, the god of in finite power, and wisdom, and goodness. what is the story of such people in the confessional? sin, mortal sin, is a matter of course with them. have they undertaken to deny themselves anything they had a strong desire for, in order not to commit mortal sin? no indeed! they think it quite excuse enough that they were tempted. "i could not help it, i was tempted." "are you determined not to commit this sin again?" "i do not know; i will not unless i am tempted." the power of god is held very cheap by such people. they stand ready to sell it for little or nothing at any time: for a filthy gratification, for a drunken debauch, for a dollar or two. judas sold our lord for thirty pieces of silver. they would sell him for two or three. such a person comes to confession after an interval of a year or so. what is his story? guilty of frequent absence from holy mass without any excuse--guilty of repeated drunkenness--guilty of cursing, swearing, and indecent language--guilty of unchaste conduct. such has been his life for many years past; and such, it is to be feared, will be his life until death closes it. { } his purposes of amendment are only on his lips, and not in his heart. they are made, not to be fulfilled, but to be broken. and yet such men persuade themselves that this kind of religion is acceptable to god, and that it is going to bring them to heaven. of what value are your prayers it you lead such a life? the prophet isaias tells you: "offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. the new moons, and the sabbaths, and the other festivals, i will not abide; your assemblies are wicked. my soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities; they are become troublesome to me: i am weary of bearing them. and when you stretch forth your hands, i will turn away my eyes from you; and when you multiply prayer, i will not hear; for your hands are full of blood. wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes; cease to do perversely, learn to do well." [footnote ] [footnote : isaias i. - .] now, i have placed before your eyes the picture of a false and hypocritical religion, on the one hand; i will hold up before you, on the other, the idea of a real, true, genuine christianity, which will certainly lead the soul to heaven--the idea of our lord himself in the holy gospels. { } he invariably represents the true christian as one thoroughly converted from the evil of his ways. he compares him to a tree-- "a good tree," he says, "cannot bring forth bad fruit; neither can a bad tree bring forth good fruit." why not? because there is good sap in the good tree, which goes alike into all the fruit of the tree, and makes it all of a good quality, whilst the harsh and sour sap of the bad tree affects all its fruit, and makes it all bad. a real christian has a thoroughly good disposition. he fears god, and keeps his commandments. this principle of his affects all his actions. the whole tenor and course of his life is good. he no longer brings forth evil actions. he may have been bad once, but he has turned once for all and finally from the evil of his ways, and has become good. once he had a bad disposition; he committed sin, and gratified his unlawful passions, in spite of god and his commandments, and his fruit or actions were corrupted by his bad dispositions. they were all worthless for eternal life. but he turned to god with his whole heart; he was grafted into christ, and it is the sap and nourishment of christ that flows through his soul, rendering him a new man, and his actions meritorious of an everlasting reward. to be a christian is represented also under this very figure. { } st. paul says: "but you have not so learned christ, but you have been taught in him to put off, according to the former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error. and be renewed in the spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, who, according to god, is created in justice, and holiness of truth." [footnote ] [footnote : eph. iv. - .] and then we have a beautiful summary of the practical uprightness and candor of the thus newly-created man, and of the excellent fruit of virtue which should proceed from him: "wherefore putting away lying, speak ye the truth every one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another. be angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your anger. give not place to the devil. let him that stole, steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands that which is good. let no evil speech proceed from your mouth. ... let all bitterness and anger, and indignation and clamor, and blasphemy be put away from you. ... and be ye kind and merciful and forgiving, even as god has forgiven you in christ." [footnote ] [footnote : __ibid__. iv. - .] these are, indeed, golden words, which deserve to be read over time and again, and pondered in our hearts, and embodied, every one of them, in fervent prayers and ardent desires, arising like incense out of our hearts to god, that we may have the grace to realize in ourselves the pattern of the true christian which they present to us. { } let us listen once more to the holy apostle, threatening us if we fail to conform to this measure and standard of the christian life: "the night is past, and the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in contention and envy; but put ye on the lord jesus christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscences." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. xiii. - .] again: "know ye not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of god? be not deceived. neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of god; and such some of you were, but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of our lord jesus christ, and in the spirit of our god." [footnote ] [footnote : i cor, vi. - .] you see that unless one puts away all these things he has no right to the hopes of a christian. a christian is a follower of christ. do we follow christ when we go to places of drunkenness and debauchery? do we follow christ when we refuse to forgive our enemies? do we follow christ when we are covetous and hard hearted? { } look at the first christians. they were jews; but when they heard the news of the gospel of christ, they turned with their whole hearts to conform to it. they burned their bad books. they quit their evil ways. they confessed their sins. they were even willing to sell all their goods, and throw the proceeds into a common fund, because this religion appeared to them of more value than all the world besides. they were one in heart and soul. they were steadfast in prayer, and blameless in their lives. you might say of them, without hesitation, that they were of such as should be saved, and their names were written in the book of life. look at the martyrs. when it was a question of obeying god, they laid down their lives rather than disobey. they did not commit mortal sin, and say, "oh! it is nothing. i will just swing the censer to that image, or offer that sacrifice, for the fire is too hot, or the sword is too keen, but i will still remain a christian in my heart." no, indeed! they were not christians of this sort; but they suffered by the fire, and by the sword, and from the wild beasts, and all kinds of cruel deaths, and thus manfully they earned the kingdom of heaven. these were christians; and they teach us what that sacred name of christian means. { } what kind of christians are we? let each one ask himself this question: do i come up to the standard? am i worthy of the name? have i any real, well-grounded hope of salvation? am i, this moment, in a state of salvation or of damnation? have i the principle, the fixed, well-grounded principle, which ought to govern all the actions of a christian? have i considered this matter, and looked it steadily in the face? these are important questions, and now is the time to answer them. if you have been christian in name heretofore, but heathen in life, do not let this lent go by without a thorough change. arise out of this miserable state, and put on the lord jesus christ. devote the whole of this lent to this purpose. say--i have a most important business to transact, and it must be done at once, before the lent is over. turn away from all sin with horror, and to god with your whole heart. drop all foolish amusement. drop all sinful company. drop all excess in eating and drinking. drop, as far as possible, all anxiety about business, or any worldly affairs, and give your attention to your poor soul. think, oh! think of eternity, of death, of judgment, of the punishments denounced upon sinners. do not let the thoughts of these things leave your minds. force yourselves to think upon them--it is all-important to you. and pray: cry to god for mercy. { } the promise is sure: "ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." make such a use of this season of penance as god and the church wish you to, and you will find it the best, the most profitable, the most joyful of your whole life. you will exclaim--i was poor, wretched, blind, now i see, now i am rich in grace, now i am indeed happy, for god has spoken the word of peace to my soul. never, never more will i be so ungrateful as to offend him again. ------------------- { } sermon v. the sins and miseries of the dram-seller. habacuc ii. . __"woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his gall, and maketh him drunk."__ i once made a journey to a strange country; and so utterly at variance did all the social customs and personal lives of its inhabitants seem to be with the ordinary habits of people of this world, that i thought for a moment i must have stumbled upon beings who had been transplanted from some other planet. among other remarkable features in their character, i noticed that, instead of being as ambitious of obtaining a high reputation amongst their neighbors as men generally are, the inhabitants of that country were striving, as it appeared to me, during every leisure hour they could spare from their daily labor, to lower themselves in the estimation of others and become degraded. instead of riches, they sought poverty; instead of learning, ignorance; instead of health, disease; and a premature death rather than a long life. { } the means to which they resorted to bring this about seemed equally strange. by a sort of general consent, a certain number of them were chosen to absorb all the respectability, property, and comfort of the rest. these individuals distributed themselves about in different quarters of the towns, and you could easily have recognized their habitations from the rest for being the finer buildings, which increased in size as the surrounding dwellings of their neighbors became the more squalid, desolate, and uninhabitable. they, with their wives and children, also added the more to their comfort and luxury as the families about them became the nakeder and the hungrier. so far was all this carried, that, i observed, not a few, after having given up all their own, would often go and steal from others, and carry not only money, but even articles of furniture and clothing, to these men, who seemed also to be very popular persons and great favorites, if i might judge of the number of their clients and the pleasure apparently derived from long visits to them, to the loss of the company of their friends and families, and of their natural rest after wearisome days of toil. i wondered greatly at all this, and asked my guide to explain it to me. "do you not see," said he, "that these rich and powerful persons are in possession of a wonderful elixir? { } it is said to produce happiness for those who may obtain a little of it, and these people are so anxious to be happy that they eagerly give up all they have, and all they hope for in this world and the next, in order to get some of it." "i do not see," i said, "that it makes those who use it happy; on the contrary, they seem to me to be really bartering all their means of happiness away, and getting nothing but misery in exchange." "you need only look around you upon those comfortless homes and diseased men and women, and glance at their daily lives, to confirm the truth of your observation," he replied. "then these poor, misguided souls are only grasping at shadows of happiness, and losing the reality in the meanwhile?" "you have spoken the truth," said he; "and you need not be surprised at it, for the country you are in is called the land of the shadow of happiness." "i will tarry no longer here," said i, "for the sight sickens me. i will return quickly to my own country." "so you may," said my guide; "but the seller of the shadow of happiness lives and thrives with you also." "does he?" i asked. "and what may he be called?" { } "the dram-seller." i awoke from my reverie, and found myself standing, not in a strange land, but in the streets of my own city, before a fine brick building, ornamented with cut stone, proudly rearing its showy front, and looking down with contempt upon the humble homes of the poor that surrounded it; and glittering in the sunshine shone the gilded sign-board over its doors, "imported wines and liquors." yes, the dram-seller lives and thrives with us, too--the vender of the shadow of happiness, and dealer in ignorance, disease, degradation, poverty, ruined reputations, strifes, jealousies, insanity, delirium tremens, and dishonored and early graves. the drunkards whom he makes are wretched enough, and commit, through their intemperance, the most grievous of crimes; but i know not if the sins and miseries of the dram-seller be not worse and far more hopeless of reparation than theirs. for in one it is often the result of weak and uneducated minds, unable to use god's gifts in moderation, or to bear up against the trials and temptations of this life; but the other must be a cold, heartless, calculating, money-worshipping soul, who can thus fatten himself upon the sinful appetites of others, and from year to year defraud his neighbor by the sale of his vile, adulterated trash, and take the hard-earned dollars of his customers in exchange for it without a blush. { } the dram-seller and his traffic is a well-known and prominent rock of scandal in the community, whether it be the secret sale from one barrel of beer or liquor in the earth-floored shanty, or the flourishing business of a well-stocked and gilded saloon. what are the sins of the dram-seller? he sins against justice and against charity. he sins against justice. to all who have examined the matter, it is a well-established fact that in every case this business is necessarily connected with the sale of false, adulterated articles, and with an unreasonable, unrighteous, and usurious profit. and the only excuse any one connected with it has ever been able to offer is, that they are obliged, if they sell at all, to keep cheap liquors for poor people, or that, if the article is adulterated, it is none of their business, for they sell it, either just as they purchase it from large dealers, or, at the worst, only add a certain modicum of water, as they say __the raw spirit might do the poor people harm!__ but they know the fact as well as i know it, that scarcely one drop is dealt out by them that is not more or less adulterated; that their so-called wines never saw the juice of the grape; that their brandies, and rums, and cordials are all composed of proof spirit, coloring matter, drugs of the most poisonous character and deadly strength, and water. i am in possession of a document circulated privately among these manufacturers of "imported wines and liquors," which purports to give recipes for making any kind of wine, liquor, or cordial you can name, with the address of certain houses where the drugs i have alluded to may be obtained. { } a friend was invited by a dram-seller to visit his vaults. taking out the bung of a large hogshead, he drew up from the liquor by a cord a gauze bag of very small dimensions, and, with a peculiar wink of his eye, remarked, "you see, that's the way we manage it." "oh! that's the way you manage it, is it?" the friend replied. "i am very glad to know it." the cheap materials from which the drink ordinarily sold is manufactured, and the large adulteration with water made on their own premises by the retailers, enables them to make the most exorbitant, usurious profits. the popular wonder is, how so many can carry on the business and make money by it. that is the reason. if the character of the drink sold, or the adulteration of it, were always harmless to the consumer, there might be a semblance of palliation to this iniquity, though no just excuse even then; for in such a case the consumer does not get either what he supposes or the worth of his money. { } but when we see the dreadful effects produced by these liquors, the morbid cravings which they engender in those who partake of them, the extra-ordinary prostration of mind and body caused by a fit of intoxication on them, the physical and moral degradation resulting from their constant use, there can be no excuse for the dispensing of such noxious articles, and he who practises it is guilty of a fraud--a fraud of the basest and most criminal character upon the people, and makes himself a fit object for the scorn and righteous indignation of a just community. am i not right in saying that the dram-seller sins against justice? . the dram-seller sins against charity. he sins against himself, his spiritual and temporal good, and that of his family. the business is a proximate occasion of sin, and good morals can never allow one to remain in that state. in the first place, it is a proximate occasion of the sin of drunkenness for himself and for the members of his household. the necessity of pleasing and attracting his customers obliges him often to treat and be treated during the day. the effect of this constant tippling is very visible in the persons of those who have been some time in the business, and the number of those who fall into the sin of drunkenness from the proximity of the occasion furnished by the sale is very great. it is not an unfrequent occurrence for them to take the pledge, in order to prevent themselves from drinking with their customers. { } their wives, children, and clerks are exposed to the same occasion of sin. the language and character of the frequenters of the dram-shop are demoralizing to the last degree, not only to the man, but to the wife and children, and pave the way to every conceivable crime. how many a young man has engaged in this vile traffic, who commenced it sober and virtuous, but who, by the occasions it presented, soon became a degraded and irreclaimable sot! and when he first thought of going into it, how his conscience reproved him, how often he reflected that this was not a fit thing for a good catholic and practical christian. when he met the priest in the street the day or so after the opening of his store or saloon, how he reddened up to the eyes, and was glad if he perchance passed him without observing him his pastor, whose nod, and smile, and shake of the hand, and cheery "god bless you!" he used to be so anxious and happy to have from the hour of childhood. but now his uneasy conscience keeps him away altogether from the sacraments, and often from mass. if people enquire what has become of him lately, or wonder that he is seen no longer at the altar, the answer that he "has opened a liquor store" is deemed a sufficient one. { } and knowing the wrongs from it, i thank god that there is such a sense of christian propriety and rectitude in the public conscience left amongst us, that will deem such, a response a sufficient one. i know that, as time goes on, and the greed of gain takes possession of them, the conscience gets less clamorous: but it is scarcely ever completely blunted. they are always rather ashamed of the business, and never mention the fact of their being engaged in it in an open, frank manner. a person, whom i did not know, called upon me once to consult me upon an affair, and i had occasion to ask him his profession. he replied, evasively, "i am a member of the ---- convention." "but your business is--" "oh!--ah! (hesitating) a grocery and liquor store." but the sin which adds the last and most grievous stain upon the dram-seller and his traffic is the heinous breach of christian charity against his neighbor. he wrongs his neighbor in his property, his person, his soul, his family, and in all his social relations. he makes bad husbands, bad wives, immoral children. and all good citizens and practical catholics will bear me out in the assertion that the dram-shop is the gulf which swallows the hard earnings of the laboring classes; the health, property, happiness, life, and well-being of thousands of the community; and is the responsible first cause of the increase of pauperism, and crime, and the consequent burden of taxation upon the state. { } recent statistics show that, in the cities of new york and boston, there is a dram-shop for every one hundred inhabitants; and that, in boston alone, the arrests for public drunkenness in one year were equal to one in ten of the entire population. this is a horrible state of things. as a contrast, i remember preaching a mission in a certain town where, by the exertions of the parish priest, all catholics, save one, had given up the traffic. we found the sin of drunkenness in that place comparatively rare. no one who has examined the matter will pretend to dispute the fact that drunkenness increases in the same ratio with the multiplication of the dram shop. it is therefore a public nuisance, a crying scandal amongst us, a proximate occasion of sin, an iniquitous trade in which no good christian can engage without putting the salvation of his soul in peril. such or such a man and his family whom you could name were happy enough before he got enticed into the dram-shop. it was a sight to make the angels smile to witness the clean, bright home that man found on his return from business. every thing was there to cheer him. the wife welcomed him with an unclouded brow. the children dropped their playthings to run and embrace him. if he had not luxury about him, he had plenty and comfort. plenty of furniture, plenty of clothes for his work, and a new suit for the sunday morning. { } the table wanted nothing but the blessing upon the food whenever the meal time came. the doctor's bill never came so very heavy, and, if one of the family happened to be ill a little longer than common, he felt a worthy pride in being able to go and pay the doctor at his office, and exchange thanks. his name was good in the bank whenever he wanted money; and, as year by year rolled by, he was getting up in the world. men talked of his "good luck," as they called it. friends whispered, about election times, that he would make a capital fellow for this or that vacant office in his township. no family stood higher in respect, if they did in wealth, at the parish church than his. happy and beloved at home in the bosom of his family; honored and respected abroad; at peace with god and man; what fiend will dare bring his foul presence within the circle of so much joy? alas! for the dark day that he was bidden by the dram-seller to "be neighborly and come in and take a friendly glass." alas! for the fatal hour when the tempter invited him to "come round of an evening, and be sociable, and not to be such a man-baby tied to his wife's apron-strings." now it begins the oft-told, woeful tale. a hurried supper, and out for the evening. later and later he returns, with the signs of liquor on him. he used to try to hide it at first by washing his mouth with water and taking a smart walk. but he takes too much now to care for appearances; nor is he able for the walk. { } in order to smooth over matters, he takes an opportunity on his wife's birthday, and brings out the bottle and proposes her health, and makes her drink with him; and then a little taste of the sugared drops at the bottom of the glass for the children. it is brought out every day now; and when the night comes, the wife sits up late, goes often to the window, watching his return, and there's a heavy weight at her heart that forces from her eyes many a bitter tear. the plague marches fast. he is drunk every saturday night, and seldom goes to mass. work or business is neglected, and the time spent at the bar-room. the money leaks away extraordinarily fast. articles of furniture are pawned--first for food, soon for drink. the wife helps on destruction by trying to drown her sorrow in a glass of liquor now and then. the best sunday suit and the new bonnet and shawl are no longer in the wardrobe. the children's bare feet peep out of old shoes, and a strange sadness and silence has come over the once merry little group. they seem to be getting old-fashioned in their ways, and less like children. is that the reason, i wonder, why there are no new toys and presents now at christmas or at easter, as in the days gone by? soon comes debt. { } he had to go in debt to procure the necessaries of life, but spared a little of the borrowed money to get his daily drams at the grog-shop. but debt must be paid, and, as he has nothing to discharge it with, a few days of delay, and there is a sheriff's execution in the house. all the furniture swept, away! from bad to worse, from one step to an other: down goes the family to beggary and vice. frequent quarrels, blows, and curses pass between husband and wife, the children and their parents. he gets an odd job to do now and then, for he is turned out of his regular situation, and drinks a part of the wages, not at his old friend's, but at a low beer-shop; for one night, after the sale of his house and lot, he demanded trust for liquor; but, as he had spent his last dollar, his friend, the dram-seller, told him, "__he__ kept a decent place, and wouldn't have any drunkards around __him__," and kicked him out of doors, bidding him go home and take care of his wife and family! the wife begs around for broken victuals, with a downcast face, and her old hood pulled far over her forehead to hide a black eye and her untidy hair. the boy, his eldest boy, that was to be sent to college, was sent up last week to prison for shoplifting; and the girl--where is she gone? answer me, dram-shop, where is the girl gone? and now i have more to ask of you, o mouth of hell! where is the house and lot gone to? { } where is the furniture gone to? where now are the good husband, the happy father, the thrifty wife, the faithful mother, the innocent children, the food on the table, the fire on the hearth, the comfort and joy and good name and trust and neighborly confidence, and the good christians, the pious catholics, that used to be at mass every sunday morning in their places? answer me. do you not hear a righteous god, your judge, demanding in tones of wrath, "dram-shop, where are my children? you--you have robbed me of my beautiful flock!" o cruel dram-seller! o dram-shop! scandal of our times, look upon the ruin you have wrought! see the black cloud which hangs over your dwelling. it is a threatening mass of darkness and woe, made up of heavy curses, of sighs from broken hearts, the gloom of grievous bitterness of spirit; and that cloud is pregnant with hidden lightnings and thunders of the wrath of god descending upon you. "woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his gall, and maketh him drunk, that he may behold him stripped and naked. thou art filled with shame instead of glory; drink thou also, and fall fast asleep; the cup of the right hand of the lord shall compass thee, and shameful vomiting shall be on thy glory." [footnote ] [footnote : habac. ii. , .] { } your sin is the sin of ephraim, whom the prophet reproved. you make to yourself an idol of gain. "and ephraim said, but yet i am become rich. i have found me an idol: all my labors shall not find me the iniquity that i have committed." [footnote ] to that idol you have sacrificed men, women, and children, and brought upon many a wretched soul temporal and eternal ruin--robbing heaven of saints, and filling up the caverns of hell. [footnote : osec xii. .] [usccb: hosea xii. .] hear what god answers to ephraim: "i will meet them as a bear that is robbed of her whelps; i will rend the inner parts of their bodies, and i will devour them as a lion; the beast of the field shall tear them." [footnote ] [footnote : osec xiii. .] [usccb: hosea xiii. .] your very daily walks must be misery to you, one would suppose. for how can you put on those fine clothes, and see your children clad in warm coats and caps and shoes, and your wife parading that beautiful new silk dress and expensive jewelry, when you know that they were bought with money that ought to have been used to clothe a family that goes about our streets in destitution and nakedness so pitiable that it makes the heart ache? how can you sit down and ask god's blessing upon your plentifully supplied table, if you ever do it now, when the hand that gave you the money to purchase all these luxuries snatched the piece of bread from the mouths of his starving, hungry children? { } how can you dare go to sleep in your soft, warm bed, listening to that cutting winter's blast as it goes howling past your windows down the street, and forces its way in the open crevices of the drunkard's shanty, freezing the half-clad forms of his neglected little ones, huddled in the corner upon a filthy wisp of straw? have you a human heart yet left beating in your bosom? do you know anything of a husband's affection or of a father's love? oh! then you must be a miserable man. how do your neighbors speak of you? "oh! he's a rum-seller." and the tone in which it is spoken is a plain index of the contempt they attach to the name. your wife is designated as "a rum-seller's wife," and of your children it is remarked, "their father sells liquor." and it is a common reply of many of the most degraded drunkards, that "although they have drunk pretty hard, they thank god __they__ never sold liquor." can i ask you to quit it? yes, i can demand of you to quit it. you admit, and the common sense of the entire community admits, that those low groggeries, in which drunken bacchanalian orgies are of daily and nightly occurrence, ought to be stopped, and that no man who keeps such a place is fit for absolution--that is, none such can claim the right to the sacraments of the church, living or dying; in a word, cannot save his soul if he be not ready to abandon it. { } but you tell me that your establishment is not of such a character; you keep a decent house. i would like you to bring me one single liquor-seller who does not say the very same. the business is notoriously vicious and hurtful, and success in it is dependent upon an increase of sin and misery among the people. it is a stumbling-block in the way of the salvation of men addicted to drink, and woe be to that man who dares assume the responsibility for the loss of a soul! i have a right, then, in the name of the general well-being of the community, in the name of christian charity, by virtue of the warning of our lord jesus christ, that it were "better for a man to have a mill-stone hanged about his neck, and he be cast into the depth of the sea, rather than scandalize one of the children of god," [footnote ] to demand of every man who aids, abets, or by his own act takes part in this abominable scandal, to quit it on peril of damnation. [footnote : st. matt, xviii. .] i tell you, moreover, that the holy catholic church, which some of you pretend to belong to and to obey, has solemnly declared, in the twenty-second canon of the third council of lateran, that all priests are absolutely forbidden to give absolution to those who remain in any employment, profession, or business which they cannot pursue without sin, because they remain in the occasions of sin. { } but you insist that such is your business, bad as it is, and you have been brought up to that. yes, i know it is a bad business, and will be your destruction. and i wish to know if a man must remain a thief because he has been brought up a thief, and never learned an honest trade? "but the loss, father; i cannot afford it." do you not hear the words of jesus christ thundering in your ears: "if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off. for it were better for thee to enter lame and blind into life everlasting, than, having two hands or two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire"? [footnote ] where is your christian faith and trust in god? "seek first the kingdom of god and his justice, and all these things will be added unto you." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. v. .] [footnote : st. matt. vi. .] no, no, there is not a single excuse which will avail you. i wish i could find one. many and many a time i have wished i could frame an excuse for it, when the fact has been thrown into my face that so many of our people are engaged in this diabolical, unchristian traffic, and, as a consequence, have propagated amongst us the vice and miseries of drunkenness. { } do you love your good name as a citizen? have you any manly pride left? do you love your religion? would you shrink from being the instrument of damnation to your neighbor's soul, or of tying the hands of the priest and preventing the spread of the true faith in our country? do you love your own immortal soul? do you hope for heaven? would you like to hear the approval of your divine lord and master on the last great day of account? oh! rise up to the dignity of the christian vocation to which you are called. stir up within your hearts that fire of generosity which is never totally extinguished in the catholic breast, and learn to sacrifice something for the love of god and for the salvation of your neighbor's soul. believe me, brethren, i have drawn no exaggerated picture of this evil, nor deduced any unwarrantable conclusions. so lamentably true is it all, that, were i to preach this sermon in almost any town or city in the country, there would be found among my hearers some who might imagine i was describing the character and life of their own brother or father, near relation or intimate acquaintance. i appeal to you, therefore, loyal catholics, to set your faces against the traffic; to aid the priesthood, in company with all who love god and have the social advancement of our people at heart, in denouncing and laboring to extirpate this scandal from our midst. { } to you who have hitherto been engaged in it, from whatsoever motive, i appeal; and beseech of you, with all the fatherly affection of a christian priest, and with the supplicating tears and sighs of many a broken heart, for god's sake, for the church's sake, for your soul's sake, to resolve now, and make that resolution good, that hence forth no man shall point the finger of scorn at you and say: "woe to him that giveth drink to his friend, and presenteth his gall, and maketh him drunk." ------------------ { } sermon vi. communion with jesus. (for holy thursday.) st. john vi. . [usccb: john vi. .] "__he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and i in him.__" it is right, my dear brethren, that, on this holy night we should meditate upon and speak of the solemn and wonderful scene which is commemorated by the holy church, the sad farewell which our dear suffering master took of his disciples before giving himself up to be crucified, and the institution of the sacred memorial sacrifice, through which he intended to remain with us always, to be an ever-present lover and friend, the divine victim for our altars, and the supreme offering of thanksgiving for the whole world. kind lord, i would i had the tongue of angels to tell the story of all thou didst on this night for me and all who truly believe in thee, for human speech is feeble where thou, my god and my saviour, art the theme. help me by thy grace. { } help these thy people, whose hearts are yearning to hear what thou hast done; help them, that they may know and understand it better than i can tell them! the gospel tells us that our lord made an appointment with his disciples to meet them, and to eat the paschal supper alone with them. "and when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve disciples with him." they met in a large upper chamber, far from tumult and noise. look in, my dear brethren, upon that group. jesus you cannot fail to choose from among them all. there is a strange beauty about that face, a beauty which at once attracts and awes the beholder, and, what is more, the countenance tells of the hidden beauty of his soul. there is revealed at one glance the beauty of holiness itself, the most spotless of all innocent lives, the supreme perfection of all virtue, the mirror of all truth. what kindness beams from out [of] those gentle eyes! what a sweet expression plays about the half-parted lips, as a harbinger of some holy words soon to be spoken! what a calm majesty rests upon that broad, pale forehead, needing no crown of gold to tell its royalty! nor would any one mistake who is master here. one is the object upon whose word, look, or movements the eyes of all the others wait. they call him master. well they may. he is truly master of all hearts. they call him teacher. well they may. { } he is the source of all truth, the eternal wisdom, the word of god. they call him lord. well they may. he is lord of lords, and king of heaven and earth. it is jesus. seated there, only a few know him yet as he is. but the world will soon know him, and curse its ignorance and blindness on that day. around him are a few disciples, of whom living men, in ignorance of their worth, despise, but when they are dead their tombs will govern the world. no sooner are they assembled than they know that jesus has brought them together to bid them farewell. "with desire i have desired to eat this pasch with you before i suffer." yes, on the morrow he was to be betrayed into the hands of wicked men, and to die in expiation of the sins of the world. but why this desire? the events will show. it was the time of the great feast of the passover, which the jews kept every year to commemorate the miracle which took place when that whole nation was in bondage in egypt--a miracle which brought about their deliverance. their egyptian masters refused to set them free, in spite of many warning plagues which god sent upon them; and at last, one terrible night, the angel of god passed through that doomed land, and in the morning the first-born in every egyptian house lay dead. { } the israelites had been commanded by almighty god, through moses, to prepare for this, and what they did became, as god intended, a ceremony typical of the greatest mystery the world has ever known--the death of jesus christ on the cross, the deliverance of the world from the slavery of sin and hell by that death, and the institution of a sacrifice which, should be an ever-present, continual, and lively memorial of that act. this is what they did: they killed a lamb without spot or blemish; ate it with unleavened bread; and sprinkled the door-posts of their houses with its blood. "i am the lord. the blood shall be unto you for a sign in the houses where you shall be, and i shall see the blood, and shall pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when i shall strike the land of egypt." [footnote ] [footnote : exod. xii. .] the performance of this solemn commemorative ceremony was obligatory upon every jewish family, and this was the occasion which brought our lord and his disciples together, and you see how exactly the sacrificial death of the paschal lamb, the sprinkling of its blood on the door posts, typified the death of jesus, the immaculate lamb of god, whose blood was sprinkled on the wood of the cross. but there is something else for us to note. a part of the lamb was to be eaten, and with unleavened bread. { } what was that a type of? was jesus, the lamb of god, slain for our sins, to be eaten, and with unleavened bread? listen to what he said some time before this night: "i am the living bread, which came down from heaven. if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which i will give is my flesh for the life of the world." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john vi. .] [usccb: st. john vi. .] now, after the paschal supper was finished, jesus took the unleavened bread, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to them, saying--"this is my body which is given for you. do this for a commemoration of me. in like manner the chalice, saying, this is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you." here then, is a perfect fulfilment of the old testament. here is the real paschal sacrifice of the new testament. the supper-table becomes an altar; jesus becomes, under the forms of unleavened bread and wine, the victim, and he is at the same time the priest. what he did himself, he tells his disciples to do. "do this for a commemoration of me." then and there he ordains and consecrates them to be priests, and gives them the awful power of sacrificing his body and blood under the forms of bread and wine. { } from that supper-room they go forth to do his words, and to receive the fulfilment of his promise: "i dispose to you, as my father hath disposed to me, a kingdom: that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of israel." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xxii. , .] what was all that for? why this sacrifice of the body and blood of jesus christ? why should this be repeated all over the world? listen once more: "he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and i in him." the reason was that his disciples and all others who should partake of that sacrifice might be united to him in the closest manner possible--"should abide in him, and he in them." we call that sacred act communion--communion with jesus. that is what it is, brethren. our souls and bodies are united in a mysterious manner to the divine person of our dear lord and saviour, who became man and died on the cross for our salvation. he calls us to this communion, and gives himself to us as the sweetest pledge of his divine love, as the most precious means of our sanctification, as a comforting food, as a holy offering by which we may praise and give thanks to god, as a feast of joy and the kiss of peace to the forgiven sinner. { } if the cross be, as it is, the measure of sin by which we offend jesus, communion is the measure of the love with which jesus loves us. love is measured by sacrifice. one loves another only a little if he is content to give up only a little in the other's favor. his love is perfect if he willingly gives up all. this is what our lord does in holy communion. he sacrifices all for us, because he sacrifices himself. what do i mean by this sacrifice? he makes himself so utterly nothing for us, that he does not keep even his appearance. he hides his divinity, his blessed and beautiful person, under the veils of bread and wine, and in that state he abandons himself so utterly to our power that we can do what we will with him. the life of jesus in the blessed sacrament is a life of total self-abnegation. he does not even protect himself from ill-treatment, from the contempt and scoffing sneer of the unbeliever, from the mockery of silly children, nor from the horrible sacrileges committed against him by bad catholics. he can suffer all that, and does so without a murmur, in order that he may approach us, and that we may receive him in such a manner as shall be the best for our comfort, for our joy, for our soul's peace. we know by experience, i hope, what a good, happy communion is. { } is it not the moment of supreme happiness, and of such happiness that nothing else is like it in the world? then we cry lord, now that thou art mine and i am thine, i am all blessed. there is no chord in the heart that does not vibrate with thrills of love at the presence of jesus. he makes us feel then, more than we can express, how much he loves us; and cold must be the heart that does not respond with some emotion to the sweetness of his loving embrace. the love of our dear saviour for men is more ardent, more constant, more, shall i say, anxious than __our__ love can ever be; and the reason is, because __his__ love is wholly unselfish. the life of jesus in the blessed sacrament proves it. he does nothing there apparently for himself, nor takes any thought of himself that we can divine. it is for us that he lives so. for our love he has given up all. you may say that it was by dying for us that he proved his love the best, as he himself said, "greater love hath no man than that he should lay down his life for his friend." yes; but do you not see that it is just in the blessed sacrament that he brings that proof home to us? it is a memorial of his passion and death. he has linked the two together, so that they make only one act. the sacrifice of the mass, in which the bread and wine are consecrated into his body and blood, and the sacrifice of calvary, are one essential act. { } it was in the night in which he was betrayed that he instituted it. on __this__ night. what did he say? "this is my body which is given for you. this is my blood which shall be shed for you. do this for a commemoration of me"--of me, upon whom the shadows of death are already falling--of me, who even now begin to be sorrowful and sad at heart, knowing that my hour is come--of me, who to-morrow will be spit upon, and scourged, and crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cruel cross, and suffer the bitter agonies of a horrible death for you, my beloved--you for whom i came into the world--you for whom i live--you for whom i die. "a little while i leave you, and a little while i come unto you. remember that, when we shall meet again. when i come to you in holy communion, then you will receive one who you know loved you to the end. i will come to you, and be the surest pledge of what i have done for you, and how much i have loved you." holy communion is one of the most powerful means of sanctification granted to us. what shall the presence of the all-holy be unable to do? what other light and grace could we desire both to detect and shun all evil, and to delight in what is pure and true? oh! when jesus comes to the willing heart, and finds a welcome there, all is easy. no tempest of passion or of doubt is to be feared when the master is with us. { } my dear brethren, this world is very foolish when it sneers at the sanctification of the soul, or bids us follow its guidance in getting rid of the power or shame of sin, and in our strivings after higher and better things. little it knows about the true progress of the soul. jesus, the eternal wisdom, is the sole teacher. a fervent communion with him will do what the world cannot do. it will make us holy. it will make our souls sacred to god--more sacred to him than the altar before which we bow, or the precious vessels upon it that hold his body and blood. if you would confirm that sanctity, come often to the source of sanctity. come so often that he may be said to abide with you; then will you surely live and die a saint. in the next place, communion is an act which possesses a peculiar significance for the forgiven sinner. it should have. it was sin that made him die, and communion is a memorial of his death. but why is it that a contrite sinner, burdened with the memory of the many outrages he has committed against jesus christ by his bad life, by his cursing, his profanation of the holy name, his drunkenness and debaucheries, his lies and thefts, his dark crimes, it may be, that make even his brother men shun him as they would a poisonous reptile--why is it, i ask, that even such an one, coming, heartily sorry, to confession, ready and eager to amend his life and do better, and so receives absolution, should have such a strange longing, as all forgiven sinners do have, to get communion, and that as soon as possible? { } one would think they would rather fear to approach him, and dread to be confronted with the awful memorial of their crucified and so cruelly offended lord. not so. their hearts are christian after all; and he draws them to him closer and closer by the strong cords of love the moment they turn to him. true, he appoints his priest to forgive them in his name. but that does not satisfy the desire with which he desires to be reconciled with them in person. "come to me," he cries from the altar; "come to me now. my poor lost one. come, get my kiss of peace. come, we have been separated too long. i have been watching you. i have heard you praying. i saw you go into the confessional. i heard you tell your sins. i saw the tears course down your cheeks. i felt every throb of your heart. my hand, too, gave you absolution and full forgiveness for all. you went there one of the devil's own. now you are mine. come, now, take me to your heart. we will be friends again, and i shall have only one reproach to make you; oh! why have you stayed so long away?" the forgiven sinner knows jesus is saying all this. { } do you wonder that he goes home from confession a happy man; that he counts the hours until he can come back, and thinks the time long until he can go up to the holy table, and there clasp his long-forgotten and neglected lord to his bosom? oh! the earnest, upturned face, radiant with joy, which makes the priest's hand tremble with sympathetic emotion as he gives him the holy sacrament. you have seen friends long separated and divided come together and make up. you know what a touching scene it is. there are smiles upon your lips and sparkling tears in your eyes at the same moment. so it is often here when jesus meets and makes up with old hardened sinners. blessed, a million times blessed, be the kind and loving heart of jesus, which, once laid open by the spear, is never shut to any one who will enter in and abide there. holy communion is a feast of thanksgiving. that is the meaning of the word eucharist--thanksgiving. it is one of the names of the blessed sacrament. you remember that when jesus first broke the bread on this night he gave thanks. he meant that we also should use it as a worthy and precious thank-offering for all he has done for us; for having created us; for having redeemed us; for having died for us; for his great love in this holy sacrament; for all the benefits with which he has crowned our lives. { } who is there that can approach here without crying out with the psalmist, "what shall i render to the lord for all that he has rendered to me? i will take the chalice of salvation, and call upon the name of the lord." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. cxv. , .] [usccb: ps. cxv. , .] no word of thanks at your communion--not a grateful thought in your heart? oh! how is this? have you really come back to make up with him, or have you come--o horrible thought!--only like judas to betray him? does he say to you as he said to that lost disciple, "friend, dost thou betray the son of man with a kiss?" are you, then, half-minded to go back to your old sins? have you not, after all, given up the devil and his works? then i do not wonder that you are thankless and ungrateful. then i do not wonder at that cloud upon your brow, nor at the indifferent manner in which you presume to receive the body of your lord. friend, that cloud is the shadow of impending damnation. for says the apostle, "he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the body of the lord." [footnote ] [footnote : i cor. xi. .] oh! no; let me hope i am mistaken; that it is far otherwise with you; that if indeed you may have ever done this before, you are not come to repeat it now. { } now you have utterly cast off all sin and all intention to sin. now you wish to belong only to jesus. seeing from what a pit of hell he has delivered you, and knowing to what a height of grace and glory he has raised you, i feel sure you are only anxious about one thing, and that is, how you can give expression to the gratitude of which your heart is so full. shall it be in long, devout prayers, full of emotion and tender feeling, telling the lord over and over again that you are so thankful for what he has done for you, for his great condescension and surpassing love? well, brethren, you may do that if you like, and i think jesus will be pleased with it. but that is not the only test of a thankful heart. if you can say truly--o my jesus! my dear lord! i love thee above all; for thee i love all that thou hast loved, even my enemies, and i forgive them all the offences they have done to me, as freely and fully as thou hast forgiven me; and now it is my firm purpose never to commit another sin while i live--then, dear brethren, i am sure you will praise him aright. let your prayer be such as blessed henry suso made in his communion. his words are far better than mine, and they will be more profitable to you. let me end my discourse with them: { } "lord, if my heart had the love of all hearts, my conscience the purity of all angels, and my soul the beauty of all souls, so that by thy grace i should be worthy of thee, i wish to receive thee to-day so affectionately, and so to bury and sink thee to the bottom of my heart and soul, that neither joy nor sorrow, neither life nor death, could separate me from thee. amen." -------------- { } sermon vii. the holy ghost, the comforter. for the feast of pentecost. st. john xiv. . __"i will ask the father, and he will give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever."__ to-day is the church's grand high festival of the coming of that other comforter, who abides for ever with those whom jesus loves. we are tempted to wonder why he, who had done so much for the peace of the world, whose coming was the pledge of every joy to the human heart, whose words are a healing balm for every wound, a solace for every misery, and through whom comes all forgiveness for sins, should not have remained himself to bless and comfort his own with his divine presence. what other comforter of our souls would we ask or could we need than him? oh! that he had stayed with us! had we not all in having him? when the father in his love sent him to us, did he not send all he could give? what other comforter is there in heaven to give that will be better than he? { } truly, brethren, we would not be able to imagine that anything more or better could be done for us than that our blessed lord should remain amongst us, had he not himself said: "it is expedient for you that i go; for if i do not, the comforter will not come to you; but if i go, i will send him to you." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xvi. .] there is a mystery here which we cannot fathom, because we are not able to fathom the works of god. our lord knew that it was best for him to depart, and that the holy ghost must come, as he said, to bear testimony of him, to teach all truth, to fill the hearts of the faithful with grace, and kindle in them the fire of divine charity, so that they might strive manfully for the faith, and win the crown of everlasting joy set before them. it is not in vain that our lord called the holy ghost the __comforter__, which signifies the strengthener. we are weak, vacillating, full of wandering desires, led away from god and heaven by trifles, easily cast down and disheartened, in constant danger by temptation, discouraged by doubts, crushed quickly beneath some present sorrow, and fearful of the coming storms of adversity and grief; and grace, which it is the office of the holy ghost to bring to us, is the life-giving force which leads and directs us, which enlightens, strengthens, and comforts us in all. { } it is this which inspires the holy church, in the sequence of the mass for to-day, to cry "veni, sancte spiritus, et emitte coelitus lucis tuae radium. veni, pater pauperum, veni, dator munerum, veni, lumen cordium. consolator optime, dulcis hospes animae, dulce refrigerium. in labore requies, in aestu temperies, in fletu solatium o lux beatissima, reple cordis intima tuorum fidelium!" i cannot do better than explain these words of the holy church, which express in so many beautiful forms the comforting grace of the holy ghost. who is this divine comforter? god the holy ghost. not an attribute of god, such as his omnipotence, his omnipresence, his justice or mercy, but the person of god himself. god lives in himself an eternal, infinite life; a mysterious life to us, in that he needs no other object besides himself to give him life. { } god is but one being; and hence the holy ghost is the same god as the father and the son; but god possesses, as it were, a threefold personal life, which, being mutually dependent and united, is but one. the father is the infinite personal cause of his own divine life; the son is the personal life of god, begotten of the father; and the holy ghost is god personally enjoying, living the divine life, begotten by himself. think of it! this is what we invoke when we cry, __veni, sancte spiritus!__ this is what was promised by our lord, when he said: "i will ask the father, and he will send you another comforter." the life of god! life full beyond human imagination, of ineffable joy, and of peace that passes understanding! life full of beauty, sublimity, and majesty! life of omnipotence and of glory! "o lord, my god," exclaims the enraptured psalmist, in one of the psalms of to-day's matins, "thou art exceedingly great! thou hast put on praise and beauty, and art clothed with light as with a garment." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. ciii. , .] [usccb: ps. civ. , .] { } the sun rises in his splendor, and no man may look with unblenched gaze upon it; but who shall describe the dazzling brightness of him who dwells in light inaccessible! and it is a ray of the light of the life of god we crave for our darkened souls, when we say, __veni, sancte spirtus, et emitte coelitus lucis tuae radium!__ "come, o holy spirit, and send forth upon us a ray of thy heavenly light!" the coming of the holy ghost to man is the completion of the mysterious union between god and us. by the father almighty we are created. something of the hidden essence of life is given to us in creation. "and the lord god formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." [footnote ] [footnote : gen. ii. .] in creation, we are united to the life of god the father. by the incarnation of the word, the son of god, we became, as st. peter declares, "partakers of the divine nature." humanity became united to the life of god the son through jesus christ; and now the life of god the holy ghost, the spirit of love, descends and fills with divine grace the hearts of the faithful children begotten to god through the creation and incarnation; the union between god and man is complete, and the love of god to man is exhausted. { } truly, the father almighty was a comforter, to bring us out of nothingness, and bestow upon us the boon of being and the joys of an eternal existence. god the son was a comforter in redeeming us, and regenerating us, and giving us the right, which angels might envy, to call our creator our __father__; but the holy ghost was yet another comforter, and he would not deny himself to those whom the father had loved to create, whom he had yet loved more so as to send his only-begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him "might have life, and might have it more abundantly"; and thus the life of man becomes exalted and deified by its union with the eternal, infinite life of the triune god. look down from the deck of a ship in mid-ocean, and pierce the mighty depths of waters with a glance. look up into the blue vault of heaven, and with unaided vision scan the uttermost bounds of space, far beyond the dizzy distances where roll the last stars in their lonely course; but fathom if you can the height, the depth, the immensity of that infinite life of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, in which, as in a boundless and fathomless ocean of comfort, and as in a measureless firmament of glory and of rapture, the soul of man is swallowed up and lost in the love of his god. { } but who among men belong thus entirely to god? to whom does the holy ghost come in his fulness? not to all; for i read that our lord said that "the world cannot receive him, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him." [footnote ] to whom, then? let st. john answer us: "as many as received him (jesus christ, who is the word of god), to them he gave power to become the sons of god, to them who believe in his name. who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xiv. .] [footnote : ibid. i. , .] it is not enough, then, to be a creature of god, to be born of the flesh, or of the will of man. the soul who would receive the holy ghost, to see and have god in his fulness, must be born of god. "except a man be born of water and the holy ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god." [footnote ] as the son of god became incarnate by the holy ghost of the virgin, so the sons of men must be born again of water and the holy ghost in baptism, to become the sons of god. then, and then only, can we call god father. then, and then only, do we "receive the spirit of adoption of sons," as st. paul declares, "whereby we cry, abba (father)." [footnote ] we must believe in the word made flesh, in jesus christ, else that other comforter will not come unto us; and hence the church invokes the holy ghost to come down into the hearts of the __faithful__, or the believers in jesus christ. [footnote : ibid. iii. .] [footnote : rom. viii. .] { } "come, o holy spirit! fill the hearts of thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of thy love." alas! for those who do not realize this great truth. by their rejection of jesus christ and the new birth unto god in baptism, they remain for ever in the lower sphere of the simple creature, with no hope of the enrapturing vision of the blessed trinity when their souls shall have passed beyond this human life, in which the choice of that higher destiny is given to them. this is the first thought suggested to us by the opening invocation of the sequence of the mass. and now the sentiment of the sequence suddenly changes. though we be so exalted by the divine relationship, though the light of heaven's glory is beaming upon our footsteps as we advance towards it, and our loosened tongues cry out with st. paul, "o the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of god!" [footnote ] yet what is our human life now compared with the heavenly life in god! it is a blessed truth to me, some of us say, and a hope that i would not part with for life; but though inexhaustible riches, and crowns and harps of gold, are waiting for me in the kingdom of the heavenly father, here i am poor, here my heart is too sad to sing. [footnote : rom. xi. .] { } though there i shall possess wisdom, to which the wisdom of this world is foolishness, yet here i am ignorant. there shall be no want, i know; but here i am ever in want. i cry, give, give, and my soul is never satisfied. there, in the light of glory, shall be peace, rest, and victory; but here is toil, strife, temptation, defeat, and my heart is oft darkened within me, even to forget my god. hark what the holy church inspires you to say: "veni, sancte spiritus, veni, pater pauperum, veni, dator munerum, veni, lumen cordium!" "come, o holy spirit! come, o father of the poor! come, o giver of every gift! come, o light of every heart!" are you poor? repine not, for jesus has said it is a blessed state. god loves you, and has given you poverty, that through it you may receive the holy ghost, the comforter. money is the riches of man, but the comforting grace of the holy ghost is the riches of god; and the poor may have that easily if they will. god has deprived you of the things of this world that you may set your heart on him. wonder not that thousands of christians have left all, and vowed themselves to poverty, that they may get the grace of god easily, like you. { } ask for grace, then, poor man, and your requests shall be quickly granted. cry with the holy church--__veni, pater pauperum!__ come, o father of the poor! and the comforter will come, and pour out upon you a flood of graces that shall make your heart sing for joy. then you will say with the psalmist, enjoying nothing here below, "the lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; it is thou who wilt restore my inheritance to me." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xv. .] [usccb: ps. xvi. .] are you in ignorance of what is best for you here and hereafter? is it hard for you to think of god? lift up your heart, and say--__veni, sancte spiritus! veni, dator munerum!__ come, o giver of every good and perfect gift!--and you shall receive the comforter's gift of divine wisdom. are you ignorant of the truths of faith, or do they seem difficult to you and beyond your grasp? pray--__veni, dator munerum__!--and the comforter will bestow upon you the light of the gift of understanding. are you ignorant of the ways of god's providence? do you look around, and see the wicked prospering, the good suffering, the widow oppressed, and the orphan deserted, while wickedness and injustice are enthroned in high places, and are you tempted to doubt if god careth for his own? pray with the church--__veni, dator munerum!__--and the comforter will bring you his gift of knowledge. { } are you wayward in heart, now overzealous and now too lukewarm, oftentimes grieved and cast down at the ill-success of your undertakings or your prayers, and disappointment and disgrace make you feel as if you would almost give up trying to be good? cry to the giver of every good gift, and say--__veni, sancte spiritus!__ and that comforter will enlighten you with his gift of counsel. are you hard-hearted, stubborn, and resentful, easy to take offence? do the sins and offences of others destroy your peace of mind, and dry up within you the fountains of mercy and pity for sinners? do you wish you could feel more like god, kind and long-suffering, and less like satan, watching for the falls of others, and exulting over them? oh! cry to the holy ghost, and that comforter, the spirit of perfect charity, will soften that dry heart of yours with the grace of his gift of piety. are you timid and shamefaced in your service to god? are you a victim to human respect? are you a christian who is ashamed of christ, and do you draw back from a bold, consistent profession of your holy faith when the wicked scoff and sneer? or, are you one who dares do great things for the god who has done so much for you? { } does your heart burn to offer him a glorious and complete sacrifice, and yet you can not summon up the courage to accomplish it? put up your supplication, and say--__veni, sancte spiritus! veni, dator munerum!__--and the comforter, the divine strengthener, will come with his grace, and cover your weak soul with the armor of his gift of fortitude. are you proud? does the demon of intemperance, of anger, or of lust creep stealthily into your breast, and leave foul traces of his presence there? is the majesty, the power, the holiness of that god to whom you belong forgotten? do you tremble no more when you hear of justice, of chastity, and of the judgment to come? pray, for your danger is great. put up a strong and earnest cry, and say--__veni, sancte spiritus! veni, dator munerum!__--and the comforter will be with you, bringing the help you need in your peril, with the grace of his gift of the fear of god. these seven good and perfect gifts it is the office of the holy ghost to impart to those who ask for them. we prize the simple gifts of friendship and affection which serve us in our daily life for our comfort or protection. oh! that we but knew the gifts of god, the holy ghost, the comforter. friends bestow their gifts and depart, but the almighty friend abideth with his gifts for ever in the faithful soul. { } the gifts of men wear out and tarnish, and the rust and moth corrupt them; but the gifts of god are as incorruptible and as unchangeable and as eternally bright and beautiful as his own divine, unchangeable life. the sequence now invokes the holy ghost as "the light of every heart." the soul of the innocent child, of the pure-minded youth and maiden, of the upright man and pious matron, of the aged christian, whose locks are whitened in the service of god, is bright with this heavenly light; but even these know their hours of heaviness of spirit. "though one may have rejoiced in many years," as says the scripture, "he must remember the darksome time, and the many days, in which the passed things shall be accused of vanity." [footnote ] [footnote : eccles. xi. .] there are times to the merriest soul when the heart is dark. the hour of sorrow will come sooner or later--sorrow for earthly losses and disappointments, grief for the misspent years, anguish for our or others sins and misfortunes; the grave will open at our feet and rob us, the house will be hung in black, the mourners will go through the streets, the clods will fall upon the coffin, and we shall return to the home that has been despoiled, and cover our faces against the light of day, and sit in loneliness and gloom with our own darkened hearts. { } speak not to us now, nor smile upon us when our hearts are dark. leave us alone. alone with what? alone with my own wretchedness and comfortless thoughts, says the unbeliever. leave me alone, says the christian, with my god. yes, the christian has his god to go to in his darkest hour. he has always abiding with him that other comforter, the light of every heart. sinner! now contrite and sorry for the bitter past, who, weeping with the penitent psalmist, say, "my heart hath expected reproach and misery. i looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none; and for one that would comfort me, but i found none" [footnote ]--you have a comforter to go to. raise your drooping head, and cry--__veni, lumen cordium!__ come, o light of every contrite heart! and the seeds of the grace of contrition, which he has already planted in your soul, will spring up, and bear the sweetest fruits of peace and pardon. go to thy god, and confess thy sins to him, and when the holy ghost shall give thee the grace of absolution, thou shalt return lighter of footstep and comforted in spirit. [footnote : ps. lxviii. .] { } christian mourner and sufferer, i know that the brightest days are obscured by the clouds of sorrow which hang over your bereaved head, and the nights are oppressed with a thicker darkness than comes when the sun goes down; but a light is shining ever in heaven, behind the dark clouds which hover over this world--the comforting light of every sad heart. call to him--__veni, sancte spiritus! veni, lumen cordium!__--and though the tears cease not to flow, yet comfort will steal in upon you, and the spirit of holy resignation to that higher and better will in which you trust will descend, and abide with you for ever. while i am speaking, there is one, now lying in a poor, humble cabin, whom god has been pleased to afflict with a lingering illness, which must soon end in death. as she told me of the long, weary days and sleepless nights she spent, i said to her: "you must be very lonely." "not so lonesome," she replied; "for, after all, god is not far away." on another occasion, i said: "this world is but short, my poor child; but, short as it is, it has pleased god to give you many dark days of suffering in it." "ay, priest dear," she answered, "it is his blessed will, glory be to him. but, then, when once i am on the bright side of the cloud, it is not much thinking of the dark side i'll be." { } oh! surely you, and all who invoke that divine comforter, will be ready to exclaim, in the words of the sacred song, "consolator optime! dulcis hospes animae, dulce refrigerium!" o thou of all consolers the best! most welcome guest of every soul! o sweet refreshment to the weary heart! no labor for either earth or heaven tires when thou art near. no burning heats dry up the welling springs of grace whilst overshadowed by thy dove-like wings. no sorrow wrings the breast to which thou canst not bring a solace, and wipe the tears away. "in labore requies, in aestu temperies, in fletu solatium!" in all that concerns our happiness, here and hereafter, there is the holy ghost, the giver of all happiness, the heavenly comforter. whichever way we turn, there is the god of love beforehand with us, waiting with his gifts of peace. look at the holy church herself. is she not our pride, our glory, our comfort? why is she holy? because the holy ghost dwells within her. if we have any comfort from the security and surety of our faith, it is because the holy ghost keeps that faith pure and unchangeably true. if we have any comfort in her words of wisdom, her good instructions, her guidance of our souls in a holy life, it is because the holy ghost keeps her pure in morals. { } if we have any comfort in the sacraments, those blessed means of grace, it is because the holy ghost is the life-giving power in them all. if we think a good thought, or speak a good word of prayer, of kindness or advice; if we do a good deed of mercy or of charity, it is because the holy ghost is the inspirer of them all. through his influence all conversions are made, whether of sinners or of unbelievers. he is the infinite goodness, the source of all holiness, and there is nothing that is good but cometh from him. nay, more, my brethren. if god the father was good to us in creating us, it was because of the love of the holy ghost. if god the son was good to us in redeeming us and bringing us to salvation, it was because of the same holy spirit; and now he himself, god the holy ghost, fills up the measure of his mercies, and god himself can do no more. __o lux beatissima!__ exclaims the church. o most blessed light! fill the depths of the hearts of thy faithful. break forth, christian soul, into singing, and with rapture praise the holy ghost. yes, holy spirit, heavenly dove! may we never cease to invoke thee in our needs, and praise thee for the comfort thou dost bring us. the words of the psalmist are upon our lips: "oh! how thou hast multiplied thy mercies, o my god! the children of men shall put their trust under the covert of thy wings. { } they shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure. for with thee is the fount of life; and in thy light"--o lux beatissima!--"we shall see light." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xxxv. - .] --------------- { } sermon viii. the duty of upholding the pope's temporal sovereignty. (preached on the feast of pentecost, , when a collection was made for the holy father.) zach. vi. . "__he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne__." we celebrate on this day the foundation of the catholic church. for it was on this day that the holy ghost came down on the apostles to bestow those gifts of grace which make the catholic church a reality. this descent of the holy ghost was the fulfilment of prophecies made by the ancient prophets of the old law, who, under the figures of sion and jerusalem, have described the holy roman church, and the universal church under her obedience, diffused through out the world. in their inspired visions respecting the building of the second temple, among others, they have foretold the foundation, the extension, and the glory of this true and everlasting church and kingdom of christ upon the earth. { } as, for instance, the prophet zacharias, sent by god to build the walls of jerusalem and the second temple, has foretold the institution of the sovereign pontificate of the bishops of the roman church, the vicars of christ, who unite the priestly and the royal dignity in their persons, in the words of my text. "and thou shalt take gold and silver: and shalt make crowns, and thou shalt set them on the head of jesus the son of josedec the high-priest. and thou shalt speak to him, saying: behold a man, the orient is his name: and under him shall he spring up, and shall build a temple to the lord. yea, he shall build a temple to the lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne." this is the kingdom of jesus christ, called by the prophet the orient, which he exercises through his vicars, the roman pontiffs, and which is a spiritual sovereignty, with a temporal sovereignty annexed, as is shown by the words, "a priest upon his throne," as well as by the emblem of the two crowns, one of gold and one of silver. the prophet also foretold that the new jerusalem, the city of this priestly monarch, should be built of a size so great that it could not be enclosed by walls. "i will be to it a fire round about: and i will be the glory in the midst thereof. jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men." [footnote ] [footnote : zach. ii. .] [usccb: zechariah ii. .] { } this is the holy roman church, considered in its catholic extension as the mother and mistress of churches in all parts of the world, which are bound together in one holy catholic church by their obedience to the supremacy of the roman pontiff. the holy, catholic, apostolic, roman church includes the whole vast number of the faithful in her fold in fact, and all mankind in right. no walls--that is, no bounds short of the limits of the earth--can be set to her rightful jurisdiction. and beyond this, the prophet teaches us that her strength does not consist in fortifications and bulwarks of stone, or, in other words, is not derived from any material resources, whereas it is spiritual in its origin and nature. god is a wall of fire round about her, and her glory in the midst of her. the roman church is made glorious by the gifts of the holy ghost, by spiritual might and force, by truth, grace, and sanctity. these same divine gifts and powers pervade the whole catholic church by virtue of communion with the see of the vicar of christ. the burning light of faith, the burning fire of charity, are concentrated within, and diffused all around the catholic church, constituting all her glory and all her power, and by these she illumines and inflames the whole world. { } the church is really and truly a kingdom, that is, a stable and perfect society, established upon a permanent constitution, with a hierarchy having power to make laws and exercise jurisdiction, and bound together in unity by a monarchical regimen. this kingdom is spiritual, because it is established for the spiritual and eternal welfare of men, and because it is founded on ideas and principles which belong to the supernatural order. that is, it is founded on faith in divine revelation, in truths and doctrines made known by divine inspiration, and on a right and authority conferred immediately by jesus christ, acting in his quality of redeemer and regenerator of mankind. moreover, it is by supernatural and divine grace, by divine, life-giving sacraments, that men are constituted members of the church and of the hierarchy. the church overcomes the minds and hearts of men by truth and grace, by inward conviction and conversion, and thus, through both mind and heart, subdues them entirely to herself. she makes individuals and nations her subjects, by making them parts of the church, and thus amenable to her laws. they are subject to her jurisdiction, as the spiritual kingdom of god, in everything which relates to doctrine, sacraments, and morals; and, therefore, in everything, even of the natural and temporal order, so far as it relates to religion and morality. { } it is, therefore, necessary that the church should be completely independent of all human authority, and supreme in her own sphere. her rights, her property, and the persons of her hierarchy must be sacred and inviolable. she must have full and unrestricted liberty to exercise the powers and fulfil the mission committed to her by her divine founder, without any interference of kings, rulers, or the people; of lawless individuals, or any usurping, tyrannical state. it is most necessary of all that the supreme see and sovereign ruler of the church--that is, the roman church and pontiff--should possess this perfect liberty and independence. the pope is the vicar of christ, the supreme judge of all questions of doctrine and morals. so far as the rights of religion are concerned, he is the judge of all sovereigns and states, and they owe him obedience. he is the judge, also, of the justice and morality of laws, whether national or international, and of all practical cases in which conscience and the divine or ecclesiastical law are concerned. for this reason, he ought not to be the subject of any temporal prince or state. and, in point of fact, jesus christ has given him the rights and privileges of a sovereign. { } when tribute was exacted of our lord, before paying it, he stated distinctly to his disciples that he himself was above all human jurisdiction and law, and insinuated, in an equally unmistakable manner, that he designed to communicate this privilege to st. peter. "and when they were come to capharnaum, they that received the didrachmas came to peter, and said to him: doth not your master pay the didrachma? he said: yes. and when he was come into the house, jesus prevented him, saying: what is thy opinion, simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take tribute or custom? of their children or of strangers? and he said: of strangers. jesus said to him: then the children are free. but, that we may not scandalize them, go thou to the sea, and cast in a hook; and that fish which shall first come up, take: and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a stater: take that, and give it to them for me and thee." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xvii. - .] [usccb: st. matt. xvii. - .] the argument used by our lord is very plain. the son of a king is exempt from tribute. "i am the son of the king of kings, and, therefore, owe no tribute to the servants of my father." but, if our lord owed no tribute to any temporal ruler, he owed no kind of obedience or subjection. and as he paid tribute as a free act of condescension, in order to uphold the authority of kings, so, for the same reason, he respected that authority in other things. { } his emblematic action in providing, miraculously, a coin for the tribute-money, which he ordered st. peter to pay in the name of christ and for himself also, insinuates in the most significant manner that st. peter was to obtain from him a like privilege with that which he possessed by natural right as the son of god. christ is a sovereign in his own native right. the vicar of christ is a sovereign by a delegated privilege. the obedience of christ to temporal rulers and laws was not due by the obligation of a subject, but a mere voluntary conformity for the sake of the common good. so, also, the vicars of christ, independent of all temporal rulers and laws, should be bound to god alone, and not before men, to subject themselves to the authority of an earthly sovereign, only so far as times and circumstances might require them to do so for the well-being of the church. for several centuries it was, in fact, necessary for the popes to submit to the sovereignty of the roman emperors, pagan and christian. during this period they maintained their spiritual independence and supremacy chiefly by an incessant conflict with the imperial power--frequently ended only by their martyrdom. it was partially secured by the voluntary respect and obedience of the christian emperors to the spiritual authority of the vicar of christ. but this was an imperfect state, suited only to the beginnings of the church; and therefore the providence of god gave to the popes the temporal sovereignty over rome. { } the personal sovereignty and independence of the pope was given him by a divine right, and conferred on him immediately by jesus christ. this divine right did not, however, convey an immediate title to the possession of any temporal kingdom of subjects. it only gave the right to acquire such a kingdom by human right, and made this human right, once acquired, sacred and inviolable. the title of the popes to the sovereignty of rome is, therefore, in its origin human, and based on principles of human law and justice; but in regard to its inalienable, inviolable sacredness, it is of divine right. it is not essentially contained in that sovereignty which christ gave to st. peter and his successors, but it is its natural and necessary consequence. it is annexed to it for its maintenance and protection. ever since the civilized nations became christian, this sovereignty has been necessary, and it still continues, and must remain in future, necessary for the due exercise of the spiritual supremacy of the roman church and pontiff. the sacredness and inviolability of the temporal sovereignty of the pope over the roman kingdom, and the necessity, under the present condition of things, of this sovereignty to the well-being of the church, have been repeatedly and solemnly declared by the sovereign pontiffs and by the catholic episcopate. { } it is impossible for any true and loyal catholic to think otherwise; and the events which have occurred and are now occurring make it clearly and plainly manifest that this judgment is just. god has given to the roman pontiff a temporal throne and kingdom, a country and a capital, that it might be a christian sion and jerusalem, a holy and inviolable sanctuary, in which the vicar of christ can possess and exercise in sovereign freedom and independence all the rights of his spiritual supremacy over the universal church. from what i have thus far said, which is the expression not of my opinion merely as an individual, but of the common belief of the whole body of sincere and faithful catholics throughout the world, i draw the following evident conclusion: in that combat which the holy father has been so long waging, he has defended only what god has given him for the spiritual and eternal welfare of the human race. this determined and glorious conflict with unprincipled governments and the detestable horde of revolutionists for the defence of the temporal princedom of the roman pontiff, is a combat between infidelity and faith, hell and heaven, satan and jesus christ. { } the real and final aim of those who have conspired together to overthrow the temporal sovereignty of the pope has been and is the subversion of his spiritual supremacy, and of the freedom and independence of the catholic church; the abolition of the kingdom of christ upon the earth; and the emancipation of human society, together with all the individuals who compose it, from the law of god. it is true that many of those who have taken part in this conspiracy have not clearly foreseen or intended this final and inevitable tendency of their movement toward communism and atheism. but these are merely the purblind followers and accomplices, the servants and tools of more clear sighted and desperate leaders, who make use of them, and who despise them. all together are but the instruments and agents of one who is far more clear-sighted and more desperate than any of them, the great enemy of jesus christ, the original author of all rebellion, the apostate archangel, lucifer. the holy father and his devoted adherents have been fighting for the principles of truth, justice, and morality, for the welfare of society, the laws of god, the cause of religion throughout the whole world. rome is the sanctuary where these precious jewels are treasured. those good, brave men who have died in defence of the holy see have died as martyrs for the faith and law of christ. all catholics owe them reverence and gratitude, and ought to be stirred up by their glorious example to an equal zeal and loyalty in the sacred cause of god and the pope. { } all christians have sworn allegiance to jesus christ as their king. the pope is the vicar of jesus christ, and, therefore, no christian can pay allegiance to jesus christ without paying allegiance to the pope. this allegiance is spiritual, but, by its very nature as a spiritual allegiance, it binds every catholic to support and assist the pope by all possible and lawful means to defend and preserve those temporal rights, which are necessary to him and to the church, as the condition and the guarantee of the freedom and well-being of both. it is also the interest of all catholics, as well as their duty, to stand bravely and loyally by the pope in his struggle against the enemies of the church and of religion. what is there so precious to the christian as the faith, the holy and divine religion into which he has been baptized; the church, which is his ark of safety; the adorable sacrament of the altar, which is the link between heaven and earth; the communion of saints, through which he remains still united to the faithful departed whom he once loved on earth; the hope of future glory and blessedness in the kingdom of god? health, wealth, pleasure, honor, science, art, home, country, the whole wide world itself, are of no value in comparison. but the treasure which each one possesses in his religion he holds only by virtue of that charity which binds him to all other members of the catholic church, and to its head. { } our interests are in common, and if any member, but especially the head, be wounded, the whole body and all the other members must suffer with it. each one has an interest in the well-being of the whole church. we have an interest in the preservation of the sacred deposit of faith and grace in all nations; in the salvation of our neighbor, in the spiritual good of our posterity; in the prosperity of christendom; in the conversion of the world; in the triumph of jesus christ; in the glory of god. all these are bound up in the cause of the holy see, the roman church, the sovereign pontiff. it is only by the catholic church that mankind can be saved and that god can be glorified. peter is the rock on which this church is built. the successors of peter hold the golden keys by which hell is shut and heaven opened. the see of peter is the centre of unity, light, life, and strength, for the whole church throughout the world. it is against the rock of peter that the forces, proceeding from the gates of hell to make war on religion, morality, society, the spiritual and temporal well-being of the human race, direct their most fierce and obstinate assaults. the downfall of this citadel would cause the destruction of the kingdom of god on earth, and give the victory to satan in his warfare against christ. { } "the gates of hell shall never prevail against it." god will preserve the roman church until the end of the world. but he will not do it altogether by miraculous and supernatural means, or by his own immediate intervention in human affairs. god ordinarily works through secondary causes, and by means of human agencies. he has established the civil princedom of the roman pontiff as the bulwark of his spiritual supremacy, and this bulwark must be defended by the loyalty and valor of all true catholics against the assaults of the gates of hell. if faithless sovereigns and wicked conspirators despoil the sovereign pontiff of his lawful patrimony, rob the roman church of her possessions, and thus weaken and embarrass the functions of the supreme government of the catholic church, duty and interest alike require of the faithful to repair this injury, and to succor the distress of the mother and mistress of all churches by their generous and abundant contributions. this is the obligation of the poor and of the rich alike, though not in equal measures. upon those who are relatively poor, by comparison with the wealthier class--that is, those who are dependent upon their own hard labor for a modest livelihood--it is not necessary to press this obligation in urgent terms. they make up the great body of the faithful, and by their zeal and charity it is in a great part that the enterprises of the church are sustained. { } to those of you, my dear brethren, who belong to this class, what i have said already will be enough--that is, to the greater part. for there are some who waste in the service of the devil what they can save from their earnings, and, therefore, have little or nothing left to give to god and the church. those who give themselves to excessive drinking--as some unhappily do, to their own shame and ruin and the scandal of religion--waste their hard-earned money in the service of the devil. so, also, those who give their money to unlawful societies, and to foolish, wicked enterprises, which are forbidden both by the laws of the church and of the country, waste it in the devil's service. all such persons are bad subjects and rebels in the kingdom of god. therefore, i exhort them to return to their fidelity and allegiance, to renounce the service of the devil, and to give a part of what they have devoted to his wicked works to the holy cause of god and the church. let those, also, who are led away by foolish vanity to spend more money than is suitable and right upon the decoration of their person, sacrifice those ornaments which are not in keeping with the modesty of their state in life, that they may have more to give to our lord, and may merit more precious and lasting jewels, which will never lose their lustre. { } those who serve the meek and lowly saviour of the world, who put on the form of a servant for our sakes, in humble labors and offices, are ennobled by their christian charity. imitate, therefore, the zeal, self-denial, and generous liberality of your forefathers and brethren in all ages and countries, who, out of their poverty, have made such great gifts to god and their fellow-men, and whose alms have swollen from small rills to such an abundant stream, fertilizing and blessing the earth. it will come back to you a hundredfold, especially when it is bestowed on the vicar of christ, who is, like his divine master, in a special sense the father of the poor. the obligations of the rich in respect to giving are far greater than those of the poor, but not generally so well fulfilled. the spirit of the catholic religion ought to inspire them with a generous and lavish charity. the spirit of god is a princely spirit; and in the early and middle ages this princely spirit was manifested in a princely munificence. there are not wanting, in our own times, many signal instances of this same generous and noble magnanimity of christian character in the great and wealthy. the present needs of the holy see have called forth, in numbers of those who are noble or rich, a manifestation of that same piety, devotion, and liberality which has adorned the history of happier epochs, and given a purer lustre to so many illustrious names. { } but our age is one of luxury and self-indulgence. the rich are exposed in an unusual degree to those temptations which have always made their state so dangerous. therefore, they need special admonitions to administer well the goods entrusted to them by almighty god, and beware of that excessive love of money, that pride, selfishness, and extravagance, which are so contrary to the spirit of christianity. they need to be stirred up to give in proportion to their wealth to the sacred cause of god, and not to stint themselves to the small measure which, for the poor, is generous and honorable, but which for them is niggardly and disgraceful. to the rich, therefore, i say that they should imitate the example of those holy and noble persons who have consecrated their wealth to god. you serve an exacting master. you are placed in a position which is beset with responsibility and danger. it is a responsible position, because of the great and important duties and obligations which are annexed to it; dangerous, because of its great difficulties and temptations. those who are favored and elevated above their fellows by divine providence, have not received these blessings in order that they may make a display of themselves or indulge their passions, but in order that they may glorify god and do good to their fellow-men. { } if they wish to be safe in the midst of the allurements and seductions of this world, to derive real and lasting advantage from their wealth, and to save their souls, they must consecrate their riches to the service of god. there is but one end for which one can live in this world which is worthy of a christian--the exaltation of the kingdom of jesus christ. princes, nobles, men of power and influence through their talents, learning, station, or wealth, if they do not devote themselves heart and soul to the advancement and extension of the catholic faith and the catholic church, are recreant to their trust. it is this treason of the great and rich in catholic nations to the sacred cause of christ and his church which is the chief cause of irreligion and vice among the people, of rebellion and revolution, political and social disorder, and which threatens to produce convulsions still more extensive and terrible, in which the privileged classes will become the victims of a conflagration which their own folly and wickedness have kindled. the throne of the roman pontiff is the keystone of the arch of political and social order, public peace and prosperity, civilization and good government. those who have the greatest stake involved in the social commonwealth have the greatest interest in maintaining the rights of that august and sacred throne. { } it is a disgrace to christendom that the sovereign pontiff of the catholic church should be left to struggle almost alone and single-handed with enemies who have plotted the overthrow of the holy see and of religion. it is shameful that he should be left to bear the burden of debts and embarrassments which have been created by those who have unjustly invaded and despoiled the patrimony of the church. the majestic figure and attitude of pius ix. is a condemnation of the nations of christendom in this nineteenth century before the tribunal of conscience and of almighty god. only those can free themselves from this condemnation who are found on his side, sustaining his cause by word and deed, proving their loyalty to christ and his vicar by their open renunciation of all sympathy and complicity with the enemies of the holy see, and by their zealous and active support of the spiritual supremacy and temporal princedom of the roman pontiff. by the grace of god, my dear brethren, we will not incur that condemnation. we are true and faithful members of that holy catholic church which was founded on the day of pentecost. although remote in the distance of space from the see of peter, the holy roman church, we acknowledge with pride and joy that the mother and mistress of churches is the mother and mistress of the church of this western world. { } we are the loyal and devoted children of our holy father, pius ix. his rights we will sustain while life shall last. our prayers shall never cease to ascend to heaven for his success and triumph; our generous contributions to his temporal necessities shall never fail him. we rely on the unfailing word and almighty power of our lord jesus christ to give victory and triumph to the cause of his crowned and anointed vicar and of his holy church; and we will, therefore, do our duty zealously and faithfully to promote that victory, that we may share in its glory and reward. --------------------- { } the sermon ix. the living god. (for trinity sunday.) jer. x. . "__the lord is the true god: he is the living god__." to-day the church makes a solemn profession of faith in the mystery of the holy and undivided trinity. it is true this is a profound, inscrutable mystery, which we could never have discovered, and which, even now that it is revealed, we cannot fully grasp with our reason; but it is not so absolutely impenetrable that we may not reason about it in so far as to see a fitness in it, and to recognize its truth and conclude its necessity from its perfect harmony with the other mysteries of the christian faith. we can see how the whole system of religion, which shows us god as the creator of the universe, and the redeemer and glorifier of the human race, finds its fittest sanction and most reasonable explanation in its truth; while the rejection of it would leave the mind oppressed and bewildered with a thousand difficulties impossible of solution, and of such a nature as to lead us to abandon the belief in god as a living personal being, and seek for their explanation in some theory of pantheism or polytheism, the first of which denies the personality, and the second the unity, of god. { } if i needed an apology for endeavoring to show the reasonableness of this doctrine, it would be that in our day it is famentably true that the great body of so-called christians, who have cast off the primary authority of revealed truth, and set up the destructive theory of private judgment in its stead, are fast losing their faith in this necessary truth of christianity, and falling away into rationalism and infidelity. it becomes the christian preacher, therefore, to raise his voice in defence of this fundamental doctrine of christianity. christianity is true only because the trinity is true. abandon that, and belief in christ the incarnate son of god is impossible. let us consider, then, with all due reverence, the mystery of the being of god, and express the reasons which our own mind can present to confirm the faith of the christian, when, signing himself with the sign of christ, he adds the solemn declaration of his belief in god, the father, the son, and the holy ghost. { } first of all, it is proper to state distinctly what the doctrine of the trinity is. we believe that there is one infinite, eternal being, whose nature is in no way divided, nor can be conceived of as partly one thing, and partly another thing. we believe that god, though one in being, is a trinity in person. this trinity of person in god does not separate his being into parts any more than his attributes, such as his wisdom or his justice, could divide him, making his wisdom or justice one thing, and himself another thing, which is not wisdom or justice. it is god who is both wise and just, and his wisdom and justice have no existence but in him. so it is god, one being, who is father, son, and holy ghost, and these three persons, taken together, or one by one, are not something else besides the being of god, but they, each and all, are god. god __is__ the trinity. so that the father cannot regard the son, or the holy ghost, as some other being--some other god, because the son and the holy ghost are the same god as the father is. in being god is not three, but one. nor does the fact of there being three persons add anything to the being of god, or lessen the absolute perfection of his unity, by introducing an element of division: on the contrary, we shall see that a perfect being must exist in three persons, and a being with only one person, such as we are, is necessarily an imperfect being. { } and when we say that the three persons are distinct one from the other, so that the father is not the son, nor the son the holy ghost, that again in no manner can affect the unity of the divine being, which in all three is identically the same. god, whose being is one, lives in three persons, and we can address ourselves to any one of the three separately, to god living as the father, to god living as the son, or to god living as the holy ghost; but the being who __lives__, either as father, or as son, or as holy ghost, is one, and cannot be addressed in any manner as if he was double or triple. this very reasonable distinction between a being and the person of that being seems to be something which many wise and learned men appear either unable or unwilling to understand. the being of god lives. he is the living god, and the three persons are his life. not that god has three different lives; that as father he has one life, and as the son a second life, and as the holy ghost a third life. there is but one life in god, and it is the three persons that live that life. this appears to me to be the most reasonable explanation of the trinity which our minds are capable of conceiving, and i will develop this thought in a few words. { } god is a __living__ being. let us ask ourselves whence does god receive the life of his divine being? who is the author of his life? plainly, from no one but from himself. he is the first, and only, and complete cause of his own life. there was nothing before him from which he drew his infinite being, nor upon whose prior existence he depends for life. there is nothing now that can sustain him or support his life, neither can there be anything after him. he is the eternally living god. he is, then, the eternal cause of his own life. what is he as cause, and what is this divine life of his being which is the effect of that cause? as cause, he is the father, the parent, the progenitor, the producer, the begetter of his own life. and that life, which is begotten in himself, is the son. he is the eternally living god, and hence the son is eternally begotten of the father. the person of god who begets his own life is the father. the person who is the life begotten is the son; and is a person, because it is god who says by the mouth of the son--i am the life begotten. both the father and the son are equal, because it is the same divine being who is both father and son, as we profess in the creed--"__consubstantial with the father__." both are eternal. the father does not exist before the son, because it is the same divine being which is the life as son, as well as giver of life as the father. god is the father, because he begets a son--his life. { } god is the son, because he is the life begotten of the father--the divine progenitor of the life of the eternal godhead. god is the eternally living god. he lives the life which he gives himself. his life is infinitely perfect, infinitely lovely, infinitely good. he enjoys the life he has. we possess life, not like the life of god, it is true, because it is limited in duration, imperfect in action, subject to change, and incapable of absolute happiness; but, such as it is, we live it, we enjoy it. the enjoyment or living of our life proceeds from two sources. first, from the cause of our life--from that which makes us live; and, secondly, from the life we possess. and we say--i enjoy my own life. but, mark it, we cannot say as the father can say--i give myself life; nor as the son of god can say--i am the life. we can only say--i enjoy the life which is given to me. hence we are only one person--the person living, enjoying the life which is not from ourselves, but from god. so god enjoys with an infinite beatitude his own life. it is the person of the holy ghost. he says not--i give myself life. it is the person of the father which says that. he does not say--i am the life. it is the person of the son who says that. but he says--i am god, living my life; i am god, enjoying my life. { } yet it must be kept in mind that all this is one simultaneous act in god: the eternal giving of life to himself; the life itself eternally springing into being, and the eternal enjoyment or fruition of life. these are not separate acts, but one, single, inseparable act of the triune god. the being which acts is god, and god is not one or two of the trinity, but the trinity itself. the principle of the act is attributed to the person; the act itself to the god head. hence, again, the son does not live a different life from the father, or the holy ghost a different life from the other two persons, but the life they live is all one. to the holy ghost is attributed the living or enjoyment of life, as we attribute the living of our own life to our own person; and, therefore, our person is, in a remarkable manner, an image of the holy ghost. we speak of our __spirit__ as living, rejoicing, etc., and when we die or yield up the living of our life, we say--we give up the ghost. in me, says the holy ghost, are all possible perfections; i rejoice in them. my life is all good, wherefore i love myself with infinite love. my life is all beautiful, wherefore i admire it, and am well pleased, and take an infinite delight in it. my life is all holy. i am the supreme object of my own adoration. my life is all true, wherefore i contemplate all truth with unspeakable bliss. in my life is no conflict, no change, no anxiety, doubt, or sorrow, wherefore i am in eternal peace. { } my life is all that is or can be, wherefore i seek not for my happiness outside of my own happy being. such i am, and such i live, the holy ghost, who proceed from the father and the son, who, together with the father and the son, am adored and glorified, the great i am, the ancient of days, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, who was, and who is, and who is to come, the almighty, good, wise, just, and true, the eternal, living god. dear brethren, such thoughts, i know, are bewildering, and leave our poor human intellects stupefied in presence of that majesty, the simplest idea of whom is beyond all power of expression. but we know that god is, and that we know him, great as he is, incomprehensible as he is, so far transcending all grasp of our feeble minds; yet even in his mysterious being he is no stranger to us. the doctrine of the trinity of persons in god is wonderful, but it is not a strange doctrine. it is a truth full of light and consolation. it is a revelation of him, who is all in all, that draws us, if i may say so, nearer to him. starting with this view of him, enlightened with this truth, all that he has done for us in the world of nature and of grace, becomes clear, plain, reasonable, and consequent. all the other mysterious truths of christianity, as i have said before, suppose the truth of this, and, indeed, would be unmeaning without it. the consideration of one or two of these will confirm the view i have taken of it. { } look at creation. this is fully as incomprehensible to our minds as the mystery of the trinity itself. but without a revelation of the trinity, it would be more difficult of belief, further away from our grasp, baffling more utterly all our attempts to form a reasonable conception of it. what is it? it is that god, who is all that is or can be, yet can create and has created something which is not god. it looks like a contradiction. those who have rejected the trinity and yet believe in god so regard it, and are led to imagine that the created universe and all that is in it and of it is divine. we read that, when god created man, he said, "let us make man to our image and likeness." [footnote ] [footnote : genesis i. ] the creature is, then, an image of the creator. creation is not god, but is an image of god; that is, the being and life of creatures, analogous to the being and life of god, is not of themselves, but is a reflected image of god, which we may compare to the reflected image of ourselves in a mirror. the image we behold is not our own being, but an imperfect likeness of it. so the creation which god beholds imaged in his own divine mind is not his own divine being, but an imperfect likeness of it. { } and now it is not the image of an abstract being--of an ideal being--but of a living being. the living god is the trinity, as i have shown. the mystery of creation is illuminated by this truth, as you will see. we say in the creed, "i believe in god the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth." he is the personal cause, the progenitor of all creation. yet we also say, with st. john: "the word was god. all things were made by him: and without him was nothing made that was made." [footnote ] and with holy job: "the spirit of the lord made me, and the breath of the almighty gave me life." [footnote ] and again, with the psalmist: "thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john i. - .] [footnote : job xxxiii. .] [footnote : ps. ciii. .] [usccb: ps. civ. .] we speak of creation, then, either as of the father, of the son, or of the holy ghost, because it is of the trinity--one act of the godhead. but we attribute creation properly to the father, because he is the infinite personal cause. we attribute it to the son, because he is the infinite personal life. "in him was the life," says st. john, in the next sentence after that in which he says all things were created by the word, "and," he adds, "the life was the light of men." { } so chant we in the credo: __lumen de lumine__--light of light. it is the first word spoken by god at the creation--"__fiat lux!__" admirable conception! light is, as it were, the creator of the image reflected in a mirror, and the divine word is the light--the creator of the creature who is the image and likeness of god. st. paul calls our lord, who is man united to the word, "the image of the invisible god, the first-born of every creature. in him were all things created in heaven, and on earth, visible, and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and in him: and he is before all, and by him all things consist." [footnote ] because our lord was the word of god, the same thing is declared of him, as the eternal wisdom, by the inspired prophet: "i came out of the mouth of the most high, the first-born before all creatures." [footnote ] the creative act is, then, an image of the son of god being divinely begotten by the father; and creation in existence is an image of him who truly said, "i am the life." [footnote : coloss. i. - .] [footnote : ecclus. xxiv. .] [usccb: sirach xxiv. .] we attribute the creation to the holy ghost when we say in the creed, "and i believe in the holy ghost, the lord and life-giver." { } recall what i said about the holy ghost, that he is god living, enjoying his divine life. creation is the image of god living, and hence of the holy ghost. when man was created, the sacred record says, "god breathed the breath [or spirit] of life into his face, and man became a living soul." with man, everything lives and enjoys its being with an enjoyment which is a reflection of the supreme living beatitude in god. thus exclaims the writer of the book of wisdom: "the spirit of the lord hath filled the whole earth: and that, which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice." [footnote ] [footnote : wisdom i. .] it is the holy ghost, the spirit of god, the lord and life-giver, who, as holy job declares, "hath adorned the heavens" with their radiant beauty, who hath filled the whole earth, and vivified it, so that it is not a dead but a living image of the eternal, omnipotent, living god. did i not say well, my brethren, that the mystery of the holy trinity is an illumination of the mystery of creation? look, again, at the mystery of the incarnation, in which are included the other mysteries of the regeneration and redemption of man. we can not understand its manner. we cannot see how it is, any more than we can understand how the son is begotten of the father, or how the holy ghost proceeds from them both. { } but the trinity illuminates that also, and enlightens us to see and believe it, now that it is revealed to us. like creation, it is an act of the trinity, because it is god uniting his divine person of the son to humanity, his created image. this is why our lord, as man as well as god, calls himself the son of god. this is why the apostle calls us, who are his brethren in the flesh, sons of god. it is the act of god as the father. "god so loved the world, as to give his only-begotten son." [footnote ] it is an act of god as the son. in his last discourse, jesus says to his disciples: "i came forth from the father, and am come into the world: again i leave the world, and go to the father." [footnote ] it is an act of the holy ghost. as we say in the creed, and as the scripture testifies, "he was conceived by the holy ghost." [footnote : s. john iii. .] [footnote : __ibid__. xvi. .] [usccb: john xvi. .] the mystery of the trinity thus enables us to recognize the divinity of the person of jesus christ, as also the sublime character and object of his incarnation. it reveals to us the true destiny of man, and shows us how the very reason of creation is in god himself, and is to find its end, its accomplishment and fruition in god. for, as you see, the incarnation was an act, of which the person of god himself was the object. { } it was god communicating his divine life to the creature, and thus all creatures, through jesus, who is the first-born of them all, are to find their destiny, the end of their creation, in eternal union with the divine life. "i am the life," said our lord, and "because i live, you shall live." [footnote ] he and the father are one. but, o wonderful revelation! "in that day you shall know that i am in my father, and you in me, and i in you." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xiv. and .] [footnote : __ibid__. .] "god hath sent his only-begotten son into the world," says st. john, "that we may live by him." [footnote ] "ye are the temples of the living god," [footnote ] exclaims st. paul. "we are made partakers of the divine nature," [footnote ] says st. peter. and st. paul again designates us, first, as the "partakers of christ," [footnote ] and next as the "partakers of the holy ghost." [footnote ] [footnote : ep. st. john iv. .] [footnote : cor. vi. .] [footnote : ep. st. peter i. .] [footnote : heb. iii. .] [footnote : heb. vi. .] once more, our lord bids us fear not the apparent annihilation of death. "i am the resurrection and the life. he that believeth in me, though he be dead, shall live. and every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xi., , .] { } how clear, how consistent is every word! as we contemplate the truth of the incarnation in the light of the revealed trinity, our faith must grow stronger, and the hopes and aspirations of our hearts be confirmed, and our love wax the deeper; for this brighter view of god must draw us nearer to him by sight and by love. we, too, burn to answer our lord as did martha, when he asked her if she believed his words: "yea, lord, i have believed that thou art christ the son of the living god, who art come into this world." [footnote ] [footnote : st. john xi. .] we set out, my dear brethren, to look at the reasons which christian philosophy is able to show us of the reasonableness of the mysterious doctrine, of which we make acts of profession oftener, perhaps, than of any other, for we do it every time we make the sign of the cross; and in honor of which we are to-day keeping solemn festival. we have been talking and thinking like philosophers on this deep mystery, and to us might be very properly addressed that pertinent remark of thomas à kempis: "what doth it avail thee to discourse profoundly of the trinity, if thou be wanting in humility, and, consequently, displeasing to the trinity? if thou didst know the whole bible by heart, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it all profit thee, without the love of god and his grace?" [footnote ] [footnote : __imit. christi__, book i. ch. i.] { } truly, a question of no little import to us all. today the church brings us, as it were, face to face with the awful majesty of the ever-blessed trinity, the living god. it is a fearful thought to be in that presence, for it must compel us to ask ourselves--are we indeed the image and likeness of the living god? and not only that, but are we, as we should be, __living images of him?__ are our souls living in his divine grace, or are they standing before him to-day dead in sin? to be wise in the knowledge of the blessed trinity is well, but to love him is better. to be ignorant of the blessed trinity is a misfortune; but to sin against him in whom we live, and move, and have our being is a crime against the life of god. wonder not that to lose god is to lose eternal life, and fall into hell, the eternal death. to sin is, in the language of st. paul, to "trample under foot the son of god, and offer an affront to the spirit of grace." [footnote ] filled with horror at the thought of this crime against the holy trinity, he exclaims: "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god." [footnote ] [footnote : heb. x. .] [footnote : heb. x. .] therefore, brethren, let us adore with profound humility the ever-blessed trinity, full of gratitude that he has vouchsafed this revelation of his mysterious being to us, and thus enlightened our minds that we may know him, and love him, and serve him better. { } but let us so live, as children of the heavenly father, as brethren of jesus christ our lord, and as sanctified temples of the holy ghost, that, when the veil of this life be rent in twain, and we shall stand face to face in eternity before the glorious majesty of god, and in presence of the glittering hosts of angels who surround his throne, we may be able to present the record of a life which has truly been an image and likeness of the life of the living god--the father, the son, and the holy ghost; to whom be glory now and for ever throughout eternal ages. amen. ----------------------- { } sermon x the real presence. (for the feast of corpus christi.) st. matt. i. . "__they shall call his name emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is god with us__." we conclude the seasons of easter and pentecost with the feast of the blessed trinity, following in thought our ascended jesus up to the right hand of his eternal father. from christmas to ascension we commemorate the mission (as it is called) of the second person of the trinity: how the father sent the son to become incarnate, to accomplish our redemption, and found the church. at pentecost we celebrate the mission of the third person: how the father and the son together sent the holy ghost, to become incorporate in the church, and abide with and in it through all time. then, on trinity sunday, the church, in her turn, bids us remember that, although the son and the holy ghost were sent down to earth, yet they never left heaven; where they had dwelt from eternity, and will dwell to eternity, consubstantial and coequal with the father. { } but the church is the kingdom of the incarnation; and the incarnation is god made visible. therefore, as a true spouse, living only for her beloved, she does not leave us contemplating the invisible god, but quickly sets before us the incarnation again--the end of her yearly song no less than its beginning. for the feast of corpus christi is to christmas as the end to the beginning of a chain of mysteries which centre in the incarnation. it is, indeed, a sort of second christmas--the sacramental life of our lord bearing striking resemblance to his helpless infancy. again, lest we should forget that our ascended lord left behind him the very body he carried into heaven, the church does not let us stand gazing up after him with the group on olivet, but invites us to turn and rejoice with her in the mystery of his perpetual presence here below--a presence not the less real because supersensible, nor the less consoling because veiled. i shall speak, then, of the blessed sacrament, first, as a reality; and, secondly, as a consolation. { } first, as a reality. you are aware, my dear brethren, that no article of our faith excites so much the wonder of those who are not catholics as the doctrine of the real presence. they are forced to acknowledge, too, that we actually do believe in it, and take it as a matter of course. their wonderment is natural enough: for they judge of it only by the senses; and certainly we cannot conceive of any mode in which it would have more apparent __un__reality. if, however, they believe that the christ who was born in a stable, lived in obscurity for thirty years, was rejected by the jews as "the carpenter's son," and, at last, died a felon's death, was god, they must allow that the godhead in him had very much apparent unreality, and that its surprising concealment can only be accounted for by design. again, if they are familiar with the bible, they know that in several passages a certain adorable secrecy and shyness are ascribed to god as characteristic of him. as, for instance, in the psalms we are told that he "makes darkness his hiding-place." [footnote ] in job it is asked, "peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of god, and find out the almighty perfectly? he is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do? he is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know?" [footnote ] while isaias breaks out with the exclamation: "truly thou art a hidden god, thou god of israel, the saviour!" [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xvii. .] [usccb: ps. xviii. .] [footnote : job xi. .] [footnote : is. xlv. .] { } as far, then, as the hiddenness of the real presence goes, it ought rather to commend our doctrine than otherwise, and create a presumption in its favor. but the radical difficulty with the stranger to the truth lies in his not understanding the incarnation and its object. it is nothing to him, i may say. he professes belief in it, indeed, but has utterly "lost its meaning" (as dear father faber says). let him once begin to realize the incarnation, and he will find he is taking the road to rome: he will find that there is such a thing as a visible church, and such a person as the mother of god. to the catholic, on the contrary, the incarnation is everything. it is the fount of the whole system to which he glories in adhering. the church exists for nothing else. the world exists for nothing else. the world for the church, the church for christ, and christ for god. now, the object of the incarnation was briefly this: the establishment of a visible kingdom, in which the creator should receive an adequate worship from the creature, and the creature be raised to the highest possible union with the creator. we say, then, that the church is this visible kingdom--to wit, an organic body, of which we are made members by baptism (an outward and visible rite); and that the twofold end of worship and union is accomplished by the perpetual presence of the incarnation here on earth, as at once a sacrifice and a sacrament. { } a sacrifice in which the creature offers to god a divine victim--the only adequate worship he can receive, god being offered to god--and in a created nature. a sacrament, in which the assumed humanity in christ, hypostatically united with the divinity, is made to blend with our humanity in a union so close as to render us, in turn, "partakers of the divine nature." [footnote ] moreover, we say that the form of food, in which our lord chose to impart to us his deified and deifying humanity, was (so to speak) the most natural form he could have chosen: since food becomes one substance with its recipient--the difference between ordinary food and this divine food being that the latter, instead of being changed into us, transforms us into itself. [footnote : st. peter i. .] therefore, to us, who, by the grace of faith, understand the incarnation and its object, the doctrine of the real presence is simply the supplement to the doctrine of the incarnation. the one is the consequence of the other. we behold in the church, with the blessed sacrament on her altars, the mystical mary with the divine babe on her lap: and when we kneel to her, that she may give him to us, or bless us with him, we have no more feeling of unreality than the shepherds and the magi had in the cave at bethlehem. { } the feast of corpus christi, then, my brethren, is one of a blessed __reality__: a reality which ought to make us thank god every day of our lives that we are catholics. for can anything be more dismal, more barren, more pointless, than a christianity in which the blessed sacrament and the blessed virgin have no place? but, secondly, it is a feast of peculiar consolation. it is this which most endears the blessed sacrament to us. for as long as we are in exile from our true fatherland--the "patria" of the __o salutaris__--we shall always be wanting consolation, and prize it as a foretaste of our rest. this consolation, then, this foretaste, is abundantly vouchsafed to us in the blessed sacrament. and, first, as regards our lord himself. it is impossible to love him without sorrowing for all he once suffered; without grieving at the thought of the world's sins, and our own share of them, which drenched his soul with anguish, and steeped his heart in woe. and what pains us most is the melancholy fact that his love was thrown away on the majority of mankind, and is so at this hour. it is, therefore, indeed a consolation that now he dwells on earth without the condition of suffering--impassible for evermore; that, at last, he "comes unto his own, and his own __do__ receive him"; that he is enthroned king of his elect in the kingdom he so dearly purchased; that he can now take unmixed "delight" in "being with the children of men"; that if his sacramental presence is still to the heretic "a stumbling-block," and to the sceptic "foolishness," yet to millions upon millions, who believe and love, it is "the power of god and the wisdom of god"; and, further, that whatever degeneracy may come upon christ's kingdom, however widely the "love of many may wax cold," yet, even in the worst times, "those whom the father hath given him" will unfailingly confess him their "emmanuel." { } again, the blessed sacrament is full of consolation as regards ourselves. in the first place, because it is our emmanuel--god tabernacled with men; and because the veiled presence here is an earnest of the unveiled hereafter. also, because it is an abiding "propitiation for our sins," and the perpetual oblation of infinite merit to obtain us all good things. again, it is the food in the strength of which we travel, like elias, through the wilderness of this world "unto the mount of god": [footnote ] the medicine of our spiritual diseases, the balm of our sorrows, and, sweetest thought of all, perhaps, our viaticum in death. [footnote : kings xix. .] [usccb: kings xix. .] { } if god could thus address his people of old, how much more meaning have his words for __us__: "fear not, for i have redeemed thee, i have called thee by thy name: thou art mine. when thou shalt pass through the waters, i will be with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee; ... for i am the lord thy god, the holy one of israel, thy saviour." [footnote ] [footnote : is. xliii. - ] but especially ought we to take comfort in the blessed sacrament in times of trial for the church, such as that which is on us now. you remember how the ship of peter was tossed one day on the lake of galilee, and the disciples got terrified and awoke their master, who was asleep on a pillow. [footnote ] [footnote : st. mark iv. - .] and he rebuked them for their want of faith; because, let wind and sea rage as they might, could that vessel have perished with the lord of the elements on board, though he __was__ "asleep on a pillow"? now, that ship is a striking figure of the church, with the blessed sacrament reposing on her altars. she has ridden out many a heavy gale as yet, and no matter how many more are in store for her, weather them she __must__ while she carries the almighty saviour. instead of losing heart, then, our aspiration should be that of the sacred poet: "amid the howling wintry sea, we are in port if we have thee." { } and even if there should come a time, as many think, when "the daily sacrifice shall be taken away," when it shall be death to say mass or to hear it, and the church has to "fly into the wilderness"--if the final persecution thus exceed even those of the cæsars, yet mass __will__ be said and communion __will__ be given; and still, at the words of the priest, "even as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth unto the west, so will be the coming of the son of man" to his altar; and still, "wheresoever the body shall be, there will the eagles be gathered together." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxiv. , .] in conclusion, my dear brethren, let me remind you how apt we are--we who are so favored with the faith--to neglect the blessed sacrament, to be irreverent in its presence, to show it ingratitude by receiving it too seldom, and to betray our forgetfulness of its presence by never coming to visit it. i would dwell a little on this last point. when we meet with misfortune or trouble of any kind, we often brood over it at home, and get impatient and fretful, and make mischief in consequence to others as well as to ourselves, instead of coming to tell the sacred heart all about it, and draw on an ever-ready help. so, again, we are constantly complaining how cold the world is, what a want there is of sympathy, how selfish and thankless people are. { } and what are we but cold and unsympathizing, selfish and thankless, toward our best friend? he is here "love's prisoner"--__our__ prisoner; and how few of us take any notice of him as such! were an earthly dear one in prison for our sake, we should move heaven and earth to get to him. but here is the lover of all lovers, the infinite beauty, accessible all day long, and how many come to visit him of those who are __not__ reasonably prevented? i wonder that more of us are not haunted by those words, "i was in prison, and ye visited me not." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxv. .] let us endeavor, then, my brethren, to realize more the treasure we possess in our emmanuel, our __gesù sacramentato__ (sacramented jesus), our __dios sagramentado__ (sacramented god), as the happy italian and spanish languages can word it. if we could only accustom ourselves to think a little more of the blessed sacrament, it would soon have a perceptible influence on our lives, on our domestic relations, on our intercourse with society, on our dealings with the world of business. and this influence would be anything but oppressive, as some of you may think. it would exercise a wholesome restraint, indeed, for which we should often be deeply thankful afterwards, but would give us a true cheerfulness and an abiding sense of calm. oh! that all our words and actions might harmonize in one ceaseless chorus of praise-- { } "blessed and praised every moment be the most holy and most divine sacrament!" --------------------- { } sermon xi. st. paul, the divine orator. (for the patronal festival.) cor. xii. . "__gladly, therefore, will i glory in my infirmities, that the power of christ may dwell in me.__" the church and the world are agreed in the estimate formed of st. paul as a preacher. by a common judgment, the name of this great apostle has been inscribed at the head of the illustrious list of teachers of doctrine. his renown increases as time goes on, and in our own day his personal character, life, and writings have been made the subject of an extraordinary amount of discussion, and have elicited newer and higher eulogiums. there is this difference, however, in the judgments formed by the church and the world of the prince of christian preachers. the world's panegyric is illogical, being made in direct contradiction to its principles and the lessons which it has ever inculcated as necessary to an orator's success. { } the church alone, by the aid of the supernatural principles of faith, is able to explain the true secret of the wonderful power he wielded in life, and the miraculous influence of his words upon the nations of the earth during the many centuries which have elapsed since he ceased to speak face to face with men. what, indeed, are these words of his, "i will glory in my infirmities, that the power of christ may dwell in me," but foolishness to human wisdom, or, at best, an enigma without solution! but it is precisely these infirmities of which he boasts that gave him the power he possessed, and laid the foundation of all his glory. "when i am weak," he says again, "then am i powerful." nonsense to human reason, but divine wisdom to faith. if, therefore, i would praise st. paul, as is befitting on this day, i must praise hid infirmities--weaknesses which the world calls misfortunes, and deficiencies upon which none but saints ever rest their hopes of success. to judge after the manner of man, we would ordinarily expect to find in one who is an orator of great power certain personal qualifications which, in the very nature of things, would serve to impress and win his audience. we would seek for great polish in the style, and consummate art in the preparation and delivery of his discourses. { } for one who aims at swaying not only a chance multitude who, for the moment, comes within the sound of his voice, but at conquering their souls, and winning them to the point of making most heroic sacrifices; who not only preaches to his hearers, but commands them with the air of one having authority, we would look for the favorable, popular verdict shown in honors and dignities showered upon him, in credit and influence, and his having reached that summit where men vie with one another in giving him place, and when even his enemies fear to gainsay or persecute him. such, indeed, are the orators whom the world crowns with its laurels. but in all these st. paul was lacking; and yet, by the world's own confession, he has surpassed them all. to meditate upon this mystery of divine providence, which makes use of the weak things of this world to confound the strong, and the foolish to confound the wise, cannot fail to enlighten and edify us. we who, like the world in general, have known the great apostle chiefly from the sublime picture which his unparalleled success presents, have doubtless imagined him to be a person of tall and majestic stature, of pleasing address and magisterial deportment; being, as we say, a man of fine presence, whose appearance was alone sufficient to bring forth plaudits from his auditory, and enforce at once a respectful and submissive hearing. { } such are, indeed, the ideal portraits of him with which we please ourselves, and such have the masters in art represented him. but from various allusions he makes in his writings to himself, it is certain that he was frail in body, of a diffident and submissive bearing, and altogether wanting in that air of decision and self-assertion which naturally overawes the multitude. when he, with his companion apostle, st. barnabas, healed the cripple at lystra, the people imagined them to be gods; but in calling st. barnabas, rather than st. paul, jupiter, it is evident that other apostle far surpassed st. paul in the dignity and majesty of his person. he can write boldly, he says, but "in presence is lowly"; [footnote ] and, again, he affirms the truth of what people said of him, that "his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible;" and the frequent contrasts he draws between his personal infirmities and his spiritual power and graces, leave the fact beyond doubt that he was by no means a man of dignified aspect or commanding mien. [footnote : cor. x. ] we might be tempted to think he would feel this infirmity most keenly as a serious drawback to his success as an orator, as we ourselves would judge it to be. but no. he will rather glory in his infirmities as the source of his power; and here at the outset we get an insight into the whole spirit of this champion of the gospel. { } from the instant of his miraculous conversion, he appears to be wholly absorbed in the contemplation of the sublime mystery of the voluntary abasement of god in concealing the awful majesty and splendor of his divine being in human nature, that what he, with apostolic hardihood, calls the "foolishness of god" and the "weakness of god," might subdue and atone for the sinful pride and vainglory of men. he rejoices, therefore, that he has nothing in himself which might cause the admiration of men and make void the humility of jesus and his cross--a thought which so fills his soul that he says he knows nothing else besides. the less he has in himself to glory in, the greater is his consciousness of the power of the gospel of the crucified, which he only lives to preach. "power is made perfect in infirmity," was the revelation made to him when caught up to the third heaven. "i will glory, therefore," he exclaims, "in my infirmities." i am glad that i am weak in bodily presence and contemptible in speech. freed from this temptation of human vanity, which in turn would divert the souls of my hearers from the gospel to the preacher of the gospel, the power of christ will dwell more fully in me. "when i am weak, then am i powerful." { } when i, paul the apostle, am nothing, then will the victory of grace be complete in the souls who, through me, believe and are converted--when i have nothing in me to please and attract the sight, men will see only the cross which i hold up to their gaze. so fearful was he of attracting to himself any personal affection, that he avoided baptizing his own converts and receiving them into the church, lest they should say--i am of paul, i belong to the church of st. paul the apostle, instead of acknowledging, as he was always doing himself, "by the grace of god, i am what i am--a christian saved from hell by god's mercy." let us look now at his second and greater infirmity--his weakness as an orator. he had a strange, difficult, shocking, and what he terms a scandalous doctrine to preach--the redemption of the world by a crucified god. surely, this man, who is so lacking in the external qualifications of an effective speaker, possesses at least the magic power of sublime eloquence. he who has such a repulsive truth to announce will seek the most polished phrases, and cover up the hard things which he has to say by flowers of rhetoric, and, with studied art in his tones of speech, will charm his unwilling audience to receive and obey the austere lessons of the gospel. { } by no means. such was his infirmity in this respect that his disciples called his speech contemptible, and he acknowledged the truth of their judgment, and reminds his beloved corinthians that he was "with them in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling," adding, "my speech and preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom." [footnote ] [footnote : i cor. ii. .] not only do we see in the discourses recorded of him the most simple and unadorned phraseology, but even his writings, full as they are of the most profound and heavenly doctrine, are the most inartificial, disconnected, and poor in imagery that could well be imagined. what a misfortune for an orator! cries the world. "what a glory is mine infirmity!" responds the apostle of that gospel which is wisdom hidden from the self-sufficient rich and the insolent magnates of a depraved world, but a revelation of divine truth to babes. and i, who praise st. paul, will praise this infirmity of his as well, knowing that he has not rested his power as an apostle and his hopes of success upon it in vain. if st. paul be unable to use, or disdain in his preaching all rhetorical flourish and tricks of oratory, if his language is almost rude in its plainness and harsh from the total absence of brilliant metaphor or well-rounded period, it is because he has nothing to preach but jesus christ and him crucified. { } all those harmonious cadences which flatter the ear, all that fanciful imagery in which the orators of human doctrine and science deal so largely and are paid with clapping of hands, are at best but showy tinsel, unworthy of the incarnate wisdom, and a vain mockery of the lowly speech and simple words of the man of sorrows. what we adore in our lord's person is his lowliness and humility, mingled with a certain divine and grand simplicity of character. so are all his words, plain and simple; spoken evidently without passionate gesture, and in no loud or clamorous tone. simple, because all that is divine is simple; all else is human pride and sensuality. such is what i may call the divine instinct of the church, the body of christ, who also disdains, when she lifts her voice in prayer or praise, all the effeminate and meretricious ornaments of harmony or melody, which are the sources of attraction and admiration in worldly music, and adheres to what is simple in its enunciation, grave in movement, and moderate in tone, as one who reveals divine thoughts, and not the dreamy, overwrought imaginations of impassioned genius, which minister rather to the senses than to the soul. { } behold, therefore, the great apostle, inspired by this simplicity of divine truth, going out upon his great mission to become the preacher of that truth to the whole world, but so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the meek and humble-hearted jesus that he speaks in weakness, in much fear and trembling, yet with such power that even greece, that mother of philosophers and orators, forgets the fervid eloquence of her plato and demosthenes to drink in the divine lessons of the gospel from the lips of this unskilled orator; and rome herself, the mistress of the world, at his word overthrows her idols and consecrates her majestic temples of glory to the worship of a man crucified at jerusalem. o glorious apostle! well mayest thou glory in that which before men is thy weakness! thine infirmity is thy power. without human power, thou abandonest thyself wholly to the divine power of christ, and that--that is more than enough power to conquer the world. that world in its pride will criticise you, and ridicule your want of polish and lack of rhetoric, and your trembling, hesitating gesture, but it will believe in jesus christ and him crucified whom you preach. its orators will not follow you as a model, but they themselves will beat their breasts, and confess their sins, and do penance at your bidding. but, powerful as he is in the infirmity of his speech, to fully convince the world of the truth of his awful and austere doctrine, he has yet to measure his strength against a more obstinate and unyielding enemy to the gospel of the cross. { } the mind of man cannot long blind its sight to the illumination of the truth; but who shall subdue and win the hardened heart? o wondrous science of the saints! o divine enigma which no one shall understand who does not write its solution in his own blood! "__regnavit a ligno deus!__" "god hath reigned from the wood of the cross." even god cannot reign in the kingdom of the hearts of men until he is a crucified man, whose streaming blood cries aloud and pleads, with the irresistible torrent of the eloquence of suffering, to heaven. yes; to heaven must the voice of suffering preach; for paul may plant, and apollos water, but god alone can give the increase. from god alone can come the grace that achieves the consummation of the triumph of the truth, and completes the labor of the apostle. when was jesus christ the master of the world? where was it that he drew all things to himself by the cords of adam and the bands of love? was it when he went about doing good, working miracles, preaching his divine doctrine? ah no! it was when he was lifted up the pleading victim, whose blood and wounds spoke better things than the blood of abel, and whose requests could not be denied. { } well does the church say, "__regnavit a ligno deus!__" and what shall we expect, if even jesus is only powerful from his cross, but that his chosen vessel of election, who shall carry his gospel to the whole world, first shall say: "i judge myself to know nothing but jesus christ and him crucified"; and that afterwards his life should prove the truth of his same infirmity in himself: "with christ i am nailed to the cross," [footnote ] "i die daily;" that he should be stoned and scourged, and imprisoned and persecuted, and driven from city to city, "in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from the jews, in perils from the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren, in labor and painfulness, in long watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness;" [footnote ] and, added to all these sufferings, those interior trials and bitternesses of spirit with which god invariably purifies the souls of his elect. he must preach in the stead of christ, and therefore he must suffer in his stead. wherefore he says: "i fill up in my own flesh those things that are wanting of the sufferings of christ." [footnote ] [footnote : gal. ii. .] [footnote : cor. xi. , .] [footnote : col. i. .] nor are we surprised, if the world be, that he should please himself in this life of constant suffering in what seems to be, as men judge, failures and losses, and disheartening, conflicting obstacles to his success. { } the world, to whom the cross of christ is foolishness, would demand for a preacher who could hope for a success equal to st. paul's, invariable good health, a well-nourished body, a mind not overtaxed, popular applause, and a career of unvarying triumph. but i, who would praise st. paul, will praise him for his life of suffering. when he is weak before men, then is he powerful with god. god and the whole court of heaven is the audience of the suffering man; and he who would sway the divine mercy must take counsel from the crucified incarnate wisdom, and find an advocate in his own blood. for thirty long years did this "victim dear to heaven" suffer a daily death, yet rejoicing always that he was counted worthy to suffer for the name of the lord jesus; and as we follow him about from country to country, and from city to city, we can number his successes by the number of his adversities--adversities which had no power to subdue his exalted soul, or shake for one instant the constancy of his superhuman love for christ and his cross. hark to that outburst of generous love from his undaunted heart--"who, then, shall separate us from the love of christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or the sword? i am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. viii. - .] { } thirty years of restless labor and fatigues, and now this aged and worn-out apostle, to whom we would fain grant some days of sweet repose for his declining years, must gird up his loins and prepare to meet the crowning suffering of his life--a martyr's death. rome, imperial rome, palace of pride and sensuality, thou boastest that thou art the mistress of the world; that thy name and power is honored and feared by every nation, and none dare refuse thee tribute! proud throne of the world, tremble! for there is coming into thy gates a conqueror who will humble thee in the dust, who will take away all thine armor in which thou trustest, and compel thee to pay tribute to him; and, through him, constrain thee to bring the world under another ruler, whose kingdom shall be without end, and whose principality no man shall take away. go, o captain of many victories! __prospere procede, et regna__. rome will laugh at thy apostolic folly, but thou shalt make her weep. rome is the world's citadel of error; thou shalt make her the ever-enduring and infallible chair of truth. rome will bring thee into her as a prisoner in chains, but thou shalt prove her liberator. { } rome will put thee to death, but the voice of thy martyr's blood shall cry to heaven and give her eternal life. take glory to thyself, o holy paul! and rejoice and exult in thine infirmities, for now is the hour when thy strength shall be divine! though dead, he yet speaketh. from his tomb st. paul is still the preacher of the truth to the whole world. still he announces the truth as it is in christ jesus and him crucified. still he confounds the gentile philosophies of every age, still draws with irresistible eloquence the hearts of men to the sacrifices of an heroic love for christ. the text of st. paul living and suffering was, "jesus christ and him crucified." he who to-day approaches the vast temple beneath whose majestic dome repose the sacred ashes of the divine preacher, descries upon the base of a lofty obelisk that confronts the portals of the apostle's world-renowned sepulchre the text of st. paul dead and triumphant: "ecce crucem domini! fugite partes adversæ." "behold the cross of the lord! let all its adversaries be put to flight." ----------------------- { } sermon xii. the value of faith. (for the feast of st. peter's chains.) i cor. xvi. . "__watch ye; stand fast in the faith; do manfully, and be strengthened.__" we celebrate to-day the feast called "st. peter's chains," to commemorate the miraculous union which took place between the two chains that had bound st. peter in prison--the one under king herod, and the other at rome, under nero--when they were brought together. why was st. peter willing to be bound and imprisoned for the faith of christ? because he esteemed it more precious than liberty, or any thing else that the world prizes; as he says when he writes to others suffering for the same cause, "that the trial of your faith (much more precious than gold which is tried in the fire) may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the appearing of jesus christ." [footnote ] [footnote : i ep. st. peter i. .] { } what is it that gives to faith its priceless value? why is it to be esteemed above liberty, the possession of wealth, more than friends, parents, the whole world, and even more than life itself? there are those who do not possess this gift, and who, to all appearances, are as happy as those who do. nations have existed, and now exist, strong and prosperous, and are without faith. what is there in faith that makes it worthy of being praised as the "pearl of great price," as "more precious than fire-refined gold," as something better to be desired by men--yes, even by nations--than power, rank, or glory? the value of things may be got at in two ways. the first is by estimating them according to their real qualities; the second, according to what men are willing to give or sacrifice for their possession. let us consider the value of faith weighed in each of these balances. there are many things which men prize highly. at certain seasons they cross the seas, endure fatigue, spend a great deal of time and money--and what for? to gaze on beautiful scenery, view works of art, and visit great men and places renowned in history. they are charmed with the aspect of the mountains, the trees, the flowers, the streams, the glowing sunsets, and are filled with admiration. these moments of joy outweigh with them all the fatigue, expense, and time expended in reaching these favored spots of nature. { } it is the same at home. we leave our busy cities in the summer, and hasten to our mountains, our lakes, and the sea-shores. and why do men prize these beautiful scenes? there must be, there is something valuable in them. their charms, the joy and pleasure derived from nature, spring not from ourselves. what attracts us in creation is the traces of god's beauty, and in contemplating these the soul is drawn nearer to god, and its joy increased. it is god in nature who dilates the soul. why do men love poetry, music, architecture, painting, and sculpture? why have the verses of a homer, a dante, a shakespeare, been the delight of ages? why is it that a whole nation feels honored in the possession of a work from the chisel of michael angelo, or a madonna of raphael, or a cathedral of cologne, or in having given birth to dante or shakespeare? why are our souls enlarged and raised above the senses in listening to strains of music composed by a palestrina or a beethoven or a mozart? it is because art is a higher expression of the divine, and brings us nearer to the all-true, holy, and fair. we know how men are devoted to science, to philosophy; how they rival the severest ascetic in their self-denial, in order to advance knowledge. the astronomer, gazing on the heavens, discovers new planets, and finds out the great laws which govern all material things. { } the geologist digs deep down into the bowels of the earth, and reveals to us its secrets and its ages of growth. the philosopher analyzes thought and the secret folds of the soul, and teaches us its laws and dignity. why all these studies--why so much time, energy, patience, and devotion to the sciences? what sustains these men of science? what pays them for all their trouble? what is it that stimulates them in their pursuits? is it pride and love of fame, or selfishness? no! it is the hope of the discovery of unknown truths. what is truth? god is truth. then, at last account, these men are seeking god. you perceive that nature, art, science, are only different channels of arriving at the one source of all truth and beauty--god; for all truth is in harmony. the truth, whether in nature or art or science, is derived from the same source, as is also the truth in our souls or in the sacred scriptures, which the holy church infallibly teaches. if men sometimes fancy there is a discrepancy between religion and science, it "arises chiefly from this, that either the doctrines of faith are not understood and set forth as the church holds them, or that the vain devices and opinions of men are mistaken for the dictates of reason." [footnote ] [footnote : vatican council.] { } this capacity to perceive the true and beautiful in nature, in art, and from the discoveries of science, belongs to our natural reason, and cannot be esteemed too highly. it is a sin against its giver not to improve it. it is the glory of the holy church that, by her institutions of learning and her encouragement and fostering care, she has ever been the promoter of science and of the fine arts. but what unaided reason can know in nature of god does not satisfy man. the soul seeks to know more of god, to come nearer to god. nature, art, and science do not suffice to satisfy its aspirations--aspirations after the real, of which nature, art, and science are only imperfect images or limited conceptions. it is to meet this want that the divine light of faith is given to the soul. it gives to the soul a greater knowledge of god, by revealing to it truths above nature and beyond the utmost reach of man's reason. the strength which faith imparts brings the soul nearer to and in closer union with god. if, therefore, men value things because they give a clearer knowledge of god, and bring them closer to him, how much more ought they to value the light of christian faith? if men love nature, art, and science, that is the reason why they should be christians, and all the better christians, because christianity brings us nearer to the object of all our seeking than reason, art, and science can ever possibly do. { } reason brings us to god as his creatures, and makes him known to us as providence. faith brings us to god as his children, and leads us to cry to him with the inmost affections of our hearts, "abba, father!" reason, by science, art, and philosophy, leads the mind to the contemplation of god as the great first cause and the archetype of all beauty. but faith makes us participators in the divine nature, "heirs of god," and, when perfected by the light of glory, enables the soul to gaze on the divine essence, fills it with torrents of delight, and bathes it in the sea of god's own beatitude. is not everything else as nothing compared with the divine light of faith! o inestimable faith! the crown and glory of human reason! the best of god's gifts to man! having learned that faith is inestimable on account of its inherent qualities, now let us test its value by what men have done and suffered to keep so great a possession. look upon the crucifix above the altar, that tells you what the god-man suffered to bestow this gift upon man. his wounds, his blood, his life, is the price he paid in our stead for it. if a thing can be estimated by what __men__ pay to suffer or do for it, look at calvary, at what god has paid and suffered for it, and tell us what is comparable with faith. { } the apostles, before they obtained it, were weak and timid; but when they had received it, they suffered and gloried therein. they lived, labored, suffered, and in turn laid down their lives in testimony of the priceless value of that gift of all gifts. and when the faith was preached in pagan rome and throughout its empire, honors, riches, and all earthly joys and ties were, by all classes of men, renounced for its sake, so highly did they prize it. for it stephen, ignatius, lucy, agnes, cecilia, anastasia, and the millions of martyrs, "full of faith," poured out their blood like water, and cheerfully laid down their lives. it was the wish to communicate this rare gift to others that stimulated the zeal of the apostles of the nations--a st. patrick in ireland, a st. augustine in england, a st. boniface in germany, a st. francis xavier in the indies, and led the saintly father jogues to our land, who was martyred by the indians on the banks of the mohawk. columbus prized so highly the gift of faith, that, to bring its light to the benighted savages whom he supposed existed on this hemisphere, he encountered unknown dangers, and sustained heroic sufferings, in the enterprise of its discovery. { } most of you, my dear brethren, are from the old country, and have come to this strange land--and why? did your native hills lose their charms for you? did the ruins of your land and the graves of your ancestors awaken in your bosoms no longer any feelings of attachment and veneration? have you no affection left for those parents, those brothers and sisters and kindred, left in the old home? have you forgotten the glories of your history, and think it nothing to lose your nationality, and see your children after you grow up the sons and daughters of another soil? why, then, have you renounced all that men hold so dear? it is because you loved your faith above every consideration in life. you counted all else as nothing compared with it, and so that you might keep it, you were ready to endure suffering, poverty, and persecutions, and abandon all that men hold dear. this is why you are here to-day and not in ireland. had your forefathers, or you, chosen to apostatize from your catholic faith, and deny the truth of christ, you could be this moment prosperous and smiling under the favor of kings and princes in your native country. look, again, at the throng of converts who have cast aside position, wealth, and fame for that holy faith, and in turn become the heralds of truth to the world. a prince gallitzin chose banishment and the sacrifice of a princely fortune in becoming a catholic; and when a priest, hiding even his rank and name, lived and toiled like an apostle in the wilds of the alleghany mountains. { } look at an ives, who esteemed it greater to possess the faith in the humble position of a catholic layman, than to hold the rank of bishop in the protestant episcopal church without it. thousands have given up parents, brothers, and sisters, and kindred, become poor and outcasts, to gain this pearl of great price, the gift of faith, thus fulfilling the words of our lord, "he that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. x. .] o holy faith for which the martyrs died, the missionaries and saints toiled, and for which houses, lands, parents, and friends, and all things, are counted as nothing! do we prize thee, o divine gift, as these have done? art thou to us above all price? if so, then to us the words of the apostle have a true and living meaning:-- "__watch ye__," or else this gift will be stolen from you. nations to which the church gave birth, and under whose fostering care they have grown great, have lost the faith. there is not a people upon earth to-day, as a nation, to whom the holy church can look for defence against persecution, spoliation, and downright robbery. { } as in the days of paganism, she is surrounded by enemies, and has no one to rely on but her divine founder. why has the faith been stolen from the nations? because it has first been stolen from the people. it will be stolen from each one of us, unless we keep a constant watch over ourselves. watch over what we read. the literature of our time is filled with misrepresentations, calumnies, and falsehoods concerning our holy faith. the press, the most powerful engine of modern times, is on the side of the enemies of our faith. the very atmosphere we breathe is poisoned with scepticism, infidelity, and atheism. "__stand fast in the faith__." claim our rights. to claim these, we shall be charged with stirring up strife. but this must not disturb us. the same charge was made against our lord. "he stirreth up the people," said the envious priests. as to our rights, they are equal, if not prior, to all others. catholics discovered this continent. the feet of catholics first trod the native soil of these united states. catholic missionaries first reddened it with their blood for the christian faith. catholics fought and bled for our independence, and for its maintenance. our right to breathe freely the air of heaven, to religious liberty, to equal political rights, and equal privileges with all other american citizens, is indisputable. we ask for these--no more; and with no less will we be content. { } "__do manfully__." can men say what they please against our holy faith, and we not lift up our voices in its defence! it is our joy that our holy faith can never be opposed except by ignorance or calumny. shall all we hold sacred be caricatured, calumniated, and we sit with folded arms in silence? shall the literature of the day undermine the faith of our people, and the press caricature and falsify it, and we not employ this most efficient weapon in its defence and for its propagation? a catholic invented the printing-press. catholics first used it. are the children of darkness always to be wiser than the children of light? shall we not turn their own weapons against them? let us be up and do manfully. "__be strengthened__." our faith is our force. our forefathers knew how to die for the faith. can we not live for it? be strong in our convictions of its truth! defend it publicly, politically, and privately! we cannot suffer by so doing, for no man is esteemed who is false to his own convictions. acting thus, we shall be strengthened, and though every one of the enemies of our holy faith were ten thousand, we shall be victors. the hour of death will then be the crowning point of our lives. { } we shall be able to say, with our great patron st. paul, "i have fought a good fight, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith: and, as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the lord the just judge will render to me in that day." [footnote ] [footnote : tim. iv. , .] ---------------------- { } sermon xiii. the supremacy of st. peter. (feast of ss. peter and paul.) st. matt. xvi. . "__and i say to thee: that thou art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church__." the shortest, most direct, most conclusive, and most intelligible method of proving the truth of any system is to find its principle, its fundamental idea, and to establish the reality and certainty of this idea. when this is done, the whole system which is logically and justly built on this foundation is already proved. in the case of the christian religion, we have only one thing to establish, in order to convince all pagans, mohammedans, modern jews, and unbelievers, who are truly rational, of its divine truth. that one thing is the divine mission of jesus christ. when that is established, there is but one question which can be reasonably asked--what is the authentic doctrine and law promulgated by jesus christ? { } in the same manner, in order to convince all rational men that the catholic religion is entirely true, and the real christianity established by the apostles, it is only necessary to prove its fundamental principle, the supremacy of st. peter and his successors, the roman pontiffs. this doctrine, held and understood in its strict and complete catholic sense, distinguishes the catholic religion from every other. this once established in the conviction and belief of the mind, the truth of the whole catholic religion, in all its parts, follows as a necessary consequence. it follows that the communion of which the pope is the supreme head, is the true church established by jesus christ--one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, incapable of falling away, and infallible in doctrine. the foundation of this great and world-wide church is the papal supremacy of st. peter and his successors, and its principal portion is the roman see. if i prove that this foundation was laid by jesus christ, it will be evident that the church founded upon it is the true catholic church, and the faith of that church the true christian and catholic faith. i will then endeavor to prove, first, that jesus christ appointed st. peter as prince of the apostles, his vicar, and the supreme pastor and ruler of the church; and, second, that the bishop of rome is st. peter's successor. { } first, jesus christ appointed st. peter as prince of the apostles, his vicar, and the supreme pastor and ruler of the church. this will be the theme of the present discourse. the title, prince of the apostles, signifies that st. peter was the chief and head of the apostolic college, and enjoyed a pre-eminence of honor and authority over the other apostles. this preeminence of st. peter is everywhere manifest in the new testament. he was not the first called, for st. andrew was before him, yet he is always placed first in the catalogue of apostles, and is expressly called the "first" by st. matthew. he generally appears as the leader and spokesman of the other apostles, and is always mentioned as the first of the three apostles who enjoyed the peculiar confidence of jesus christ, were witnesses of his transfiguration and agony, and in other ways were preferred before the rest, the other two being james and john. he was the first of the apostles who saw the lord after his resurrection, and the angel at the sepulchre sent him a special message by name, "go, tell the disciples, __and peter__." he was the first who pronounced in the council of the apostles his judgment that they must elect another apostle in the place of judas--the first who preached christ to the jews, and the first who admitted the gentiles to baptism. he pronounced sentence in the council of jerusalem. { } while the other apostles confined themselves within a particular circle, he visited the church everywhere--"__pertransivit universos__." he approved the writings of st. paul, and the same st. paul went expressly to jerusalem, as he says, "to see peter," commanded by "a revelation"; that he might submit his gospel to the judgment of the prince of the apostles, of st. james the patriarch of jerusalem, and the other apostles there, in order to obtain the approbation of st. peter and his fellow-bishops--"lest perhaps," as he writes to the galatians, "i should run, or had run in vain." perhaps the most striking proof that st. peter had a real oversight over the other apostles, as the pastor of pastors, is found in the fact that jesus christ, immediately before his passion, committed the other apostles to his care, and offered up a special prayer for him, to obtain the grace necessary for this high trust. he said to all the apostles, speaking to st. peter by name as their representative, "simon, simon, behold satan hath desired to have __you__ [in the plural number, designating the eleven], that he may sift you as wheat. but i have prayed for __thee__ [in the singular number], that __thy__ faith fail not: and thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren"--"__aliquando conversus confirma fratres tuos__." a remarkable passage! our lord, at this awful moment, disclosed a portion of his divine knowledge, and gave his apostles a glimpse into futurity. { } he showed them satan, exerting his utmost to destroy them as the guardians of the faith, and the custodians of all the hopes of the human race. he intimates very plainly that but for him they would be inevitably swept away. but he had prayed for them, and, when he prayed with an unconditional will that his prayer should be heard, its effect must be infallible. his prayer was especially for st. peter, that __his__ faith should not fail, in order that he might confirm his brethren. so that it was by a special grace conferred on st. peter, by which he was enabled to watch over them, that they were to be confirmed in faith. who does not see here that pre-eminence of st. peter over his colleagues which is expressed by the title, prince of the apostles? [footnote ] [footnote : matt. x. ; mark iii. ; luke vi. ; john i. - ; luke xxiv. ; acts i. et seq.; ii. __et seq__.; x. ; xv. ; ix. ; pet. iii. , ; gal. ii. ; luke xxii. . __conf. perrone loc. theol__. de primatu.] i cannot sum up all this testimony of scripture better than in the grand, concise language of bossuet, in his sermon on the __unity of the church__: "peter appears in every respect as the first: the first to confess the faith; the first in the manifestation of love; the first of all the apostles who saw the saviour raised from the dead, as he was the first witness of the fact before all the people; the first, when it was necessary to fill up the number of the apostles; the first who confirmed the faith by a miracle; the first to convert the jews; the first to receive the gentiles; the first everywhere. { } it is impossible for me to mention every proof. everything concurs to establish his primacy; yes, even his very faults. when power is given to several, the exercise of the power by each one is restricted by the fact that others share it with him. but power given to a single individual over all, and without exception, necessarily implies the plenitude of power. ... all the apostles receive the same power, but not in the same degree, or with the same extent. jesus christ commences by the first, and in this first one he develops the whole, in order that we may learn that the ecclesiastical authority which was originally constituted in the person of one man is not imparted to others, except on the condition of remaining always subordinate to the principle from which its unity is derived, and that all those who shall be charged with its exercise are found to remain inseparably united to the same chair." this is enough to show what some of the most eminent protestant writers even have acknowledged, that st. peter was the first, the chief, the most pre-eminent, the prince of the apostles. st. peter was also the vicar of jesus christ, the supreme pastor and ruler of the church. { } the title of vicar of christ implies that jesus christ delegated to him his own jurisdiction over the church. a vicar is one who exercises the authority vested in the principal by delegation from him. a viceroy or vice-king governs a subordinate kingdom, __vice regis__, in place of the king. a vicar-general exercises episcopal jurisdiction, __vice episcopi__, in place of the bishop, and governs the diocese during his absence. so when st. peter is said to have been made by our lord his vicar, it means that he received jurisdiction to govern in the place of jesus christ himself, who is by personal and inherent right the high priest of the catholic church, but who, being absent from the earth, must exercise his functions by a substitute. it is unquestionable that, under the old law, the high-priest was the vice gerent of god, and the supreme head of the jewish church. it is equally unquestionable that, in establishing the new law, christ appointed st. peter his vicar and the supreme head of the christian church. there is nothing clearer in the new testament than this. jesus christ distinctly promised to st. peter that he would build his church upon him, and would give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and he actually fulfilled these promises before he ascended into heaven, by committing his universal flock to him alone to feed and rule it. this promise is recorded in the sixteenth chapter of st. matthew's gospel: { } "jesus saith to them: but whom do you say that i am? simon peter answered and said: thou art christ the son of the living god. and jesus answering, said to him: blessed art thou, simon bar-jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father who is in heaven. and i say to thee: that them art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. and i will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." in this magnificent promise, jesus christ evidently declares his intention to delegate supreme power to st. peter, and constitute him his vicar in the christian church. this supreme power is signified by a double metaphor, viz., a __foundation__ and __keys__. first, he says: "thou art peter; and on this rock i will build my church." in order to understand the force of this declaration, it is necessary to call to mind that the name of peter, which signifies rock, was not the proper name of the apostle. his name was simon. the lord gave him the name of peter when he first called him to the apostleship, as an appellation significant of his character and office in the church. { } but it was on the occasion of his noble confession of christ, made by a special inspiration of the holy ghost, that he first announced the full import of that mysterious name. st. peter said, "thou art christ"--by this title, which signifies the anointed one, acknowledging all those divine attributes and prerogatives which are implied in the character of the messiah of god and redeemer of the world. the lord replied in a manner denoting the solemnity of the occasion, and speaking with all the dignity and authority of a legislator and a prophet, by conferring on st. peter, in return for the honor which he had just rendered him, the highest honor which was in his gift: "thou art peter [i.e., a rock]: and on this rock i will build my church." the plain and natural sense of these words of christ is, that he appoints peter to occupy a position in the spiritual edifice of the church corresponding to that occupied by a foundation in a material building. the foundation sustains and, as it were, rules the whole edifice--__i.e.__, by its strength it keeps the whole building in order, and every portion of it in its proper place, thus keeping it from crumbling into ruin--and losing all structural form in a mass of shattered fragments. the foundation is to the building the principle of its unity, repose, order, and durability. { } therefore, peter must be the same to the church. by him the church must be sustained, ruled, kept in order, and prevented from falling in pieces, and thus losing its organic form. his authority must be the principle of its unity, strength, and perpetuity. all the force of its laws must be derived from him, and all its authority must ultimately rest on him as its final ground and basis. this is the first portion of our lord's divine decree concerning st. peter. let us now examine the second. "i will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." among the principal nations of antiquity, and particularly among the hebrews, it was a received usage that the tradition of the keys denoted the transfer or acknowledgment of supreme power over the house, citadel, or city to whose gates they belonged. these keys, when made of precious metal, and, as was often the case, richly ornamented, were a symbol of power and dignity, and carried only by kings, princes, and magistrates. in the hebrew monarchy, the chief of the royal household, who was a kind of grand chancellor of the kingdom, or vicar of the king, carried a large key on his shoulder as a badge of his office. { } in the prophecy of isaias,[c. xxii.] we read this prediction concerning eliacim, son of the high-priest helcias: "i will place upon his shoulder the key of the house of david, and he shall open and there shall be no one who shall shut, and he shall shut and there shall be no one who shall open, and he shall be on the throne of glory of his father's house." this probably signifies that eliacim should become high-priest in his father's place; and gives us a plain proof that the keys were an emblem of the sovereign pontificate in the jewish church. in the apocalypse of st. john, the same emblem of the keys is used to designate the sovereign pontificate of jesus christ himself: "these things saith the holy one and the true one, he that hath the key of david; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth." [footnote ] [footnote : apoc. iii. .] [usccb: revelation iii. .] our lord, as the lineal descendant of david, was the lawful king of the jews, and this royal lineage according to earthly and temporal laws, was typical of his inherent royalty as the son of god. therefore, the key of david, or the outward and visible sign of david's royalty, is taken as expressive of his supreme dominion as lord and redeemer of the world. when christ promised to give the keys of the kingdom of heaven--the keys of his own kingdom, and the symbols of his own sovereignty--to st. peter, he must have intended to delegate that sovereignty to him, and to constitute him his vicar on the earth: to make it still more plain that he meant this, our lord made a distinct and express declaration to this effect, in these words: "and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." { } these words designate the plenitude of power to be conferred on st. peter, of making laws, and binding the consciences of all to observe them, punishing transgressors, abrogating these same laws and pardoning offenders, and doing whatever else the good of the church or its individual members may require, according to the diversity of times and circumstances. jesus christ gives before hand the seal and warrant of his divine authority to all these laws. this is what is called, in the language of commerce and politics, giving __carte blanche__. king charles v. of spain, when he sent commissioners to america to inquire into the abuses and cruelties perpetrated by the avaricious spanish colonists against the indians, gave them a number of blank sheets already signed and sealed with the royal sign-manual, that they might promulgate royal edicts according to their own judgment. in the same way, jesus christ promises that he will give to st. peter this unlimited power of exercising jurisdiction, in his name, in the catholic church, with the sealed sign-manual of heaven. { } but jesus christ not only promised to bestow this power on st. peter: he made to him, after his resurrection and before his ascension, a formal grant of this power, and solemnly delivered up the care and government of his universal flock into his hands. this fact is recorded by st. john, in the twenty-first chapter of his gospel. everything about this chapter is mysterious and sublime in the highest degree, and every word, every circumstance, points to that high office of the chief pastor, and, after christ, principal founder of the christian religion, which was given to st. peter. it was an awful moment; like that mysterious and solemn period of twilight, when the sun has set, but still leaves some lingering gleam of his light behind him, before the dark hour of night draws on, and the milder and fainter radiance of the moon succeeds to the brightness of day--the brief period of transition from day to night--from light to darkness--the holiest hour of the day, when the soul, as it were, naturally withdraws from the world towards god and heaven. such a moment had now come in the progress of time, the twilight of the world. jesus christ, the light of the world--the sun of justice, who had risen in the east with healing in his beams--had gone down to the grave, had closed his earthly career, and the world henceforth, so long illuminated by the presence of the bright sun of truth and grace, would have no longer any other light to shine upon it except the reflected light of the catholic church. { } the time of night and of the absence of jesus christ from his disciples was approaching. and yet he was not altogether withdrawn. still, in his spiritual and glorified body, he lingered on the earth, coming and going, approaching and vanishing before his disciples. he was still with them, but no longer as an inhabitant of the earth, but of heaven. at this time it was that st. peter said to his fellow-disciples, "i go a-fishing." who can fail to see here, with all the wisest and holiest interpreters of the scripture, a mysterious foreshadowing of that great fishery for the souls of men, in which the apostolic net was to draw so many into the church? it was peter who was the leader and chief here, and by his orders the nets were cast. suddenly, jesus christ appeared standing on the shore, and commanded them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. they did so, and, although they had before this caught nothing, their net was immediately so filled with large fishes that they could not draw it. it required the assistance of all those who were on board several other boats to draw the net. and yet, when the lord commanded some of these fishes to be brought, st. peter, alone, went and drew the net up on the beach. { } evidently do these emblematic events indicate st. peter as the one who should command the ship of the church, and preside over the grand fishery of souls, and by his supernatural power should pull the net by which the elect of god were drawn from the waves of perdition to the shore of eternal life. jesus christ assembled his disciples around him on the beach, by the seaside, and they dined together from the fish which they had taken. then, when this mysterious meal, the parting banquet of jesus and his disciples, was finished, the lord exacted from st. peter three times a profession of his love, and of his peculiar love--a love greater than that of the other apostles. "simon peter, lovest thou me more than these?" and thrice he gave him the solemn charge: "feed my lambs. ... feed my lambs. ... feed my sheep." in these words, jesus christ evidently committed not one or the other portion of his flock, but his entire flock, all his people, the universal church throughout the world, to his pastoral care. the expression, "feed my lambs--feed my sheep," indicates much more than simply to give them their food, namely, by teaching salutary doctrine. two different words are used in the original greek, [greek text]; which is literally in latin, __pasce in cibo, agnos meos__--feed my lambs. { } but after using this expression, which indicates the tender and paternal care of the pastoral office, he uses another expressing its authority, [greek text]; this signifies, as a learned theologian (perrone) remarks, __pascere cum imperio, pascere præsidendo__, to feed by ruling, to feed by presiding, or to feed, rule, and preside over at the same time, as a shepherd over his flock. this is in accordance with the usage of ancient writers and the scriptures. in homer and other ancient authors, kings are called shepherds or pastors, and __poimaine__, feed, signifies to rule or exercise kingly authority. in these words, then, jesus christ constituted st. peter chief pastor and supreme ruler over his universal flock--sheep and lambs together; not merely the lambs, who represent the laity, but the sheep, those to whom the lambs are subject, and by whom they are fed--that is, the bishops and pastors of the church. it is in vain that the enemies of st. peter's chair exert all their ingenuity to escape the force of these passages. they are too plain and clear to be evaded, and, after centuries of exertion to heave the rock of peter out of the scriptures, there it stands, an immovable and unquestionable fact that the rock of peter is the foundation of the catholic church, that the catholic church is built on the rock of peter, that peter received the keys of heaven from jesus christ, and was constituted by him chief pastor over his universal flock. { } and here allow me to remark how singular it is that protestants should be ready to build up with out hesitation a vast pyramid of doctrine on the narrow foundation of a few texts of scripture, and at the same time reject the most clear and unequivocal statements of the new testament. for example, they will most positively assert the transfer of the sabbath from saturday to sunday, because the word lord's day is once used, and the assembling of the faithful on the first day of the week is once casually mentioned, although nothing is said of their being an observance of divine obligation intended to supersede the sabbath. they will prove the baptism of infants from the circumcision of jewish children, and from the fact that some entire families were baptized, although there is no evidence that there were any infants in these families. some will prove episcopacy, and others presbyterianism, and others congregationalism, from the scriptures. and yet they will reject without hesitation the evidence of the supremacy of peter, which is so clear that even some protestants are forced to admit it in a partial sense; and the celebrated jewish infidel salvador, a man who perhaps excels all the modern advocates of infidelity in perspicacity of intellect and ingenuity of reasoning, declares with out hesitation that the supremacy of the see of st. peter is an institution of jesus christ, and an essential part of christianity. { } it is one among many proofs that those who profess to make the bible their only rule do not really derive their doctrine from a candid examination of the scriptures; but that they receive what they have been taught by their parents and religious teachers, and search the scriptures to find proof and confirmation of these doctrines. thus, each one, in stead of conforming his belief to the scripture, bends the scripture into conformity with his belief. those parts of the scripture which are not easily bent into this conformity remain to him a dead letter, they make no impression on his mind, and, no matter how clear and plain they may be, he forgets them if he can, and, if he is forced to pay attention to them, he explains them away. thus it has been with the passages of the new testament which prove so clearly the supremacy of st. peter. there is nothing in the new testament more clear, more plain, more explicit, more obvious, than this supremacy; when these various passages have been once collated, placed in juxtaposition with each other, carefully examined and reflected on, and confronted with the great fact of the perpetual existence of the supremacy of the roman pontiffs as the acknowledged successors of st. peter. this last topic i have not directly considered in this discourse, but have reserved it for another. { } nevertheless, whoever will attentively consider what is involved in the very idea of st. peter's supremacy will see at once that this supremacy must be, by its very nature, perpetual. it was made the foundation of a perpetual structure; it extended over all bishops and all the faithful, without any limit of time or place; it provided for the exercise of that power of the keys which is necessary in all ages; and it was made the means of keeping the rulers of the church in unity of faith under the severest assaults of satan, which are undoubtedly those of the last days of the world. our lord in establishing the supremacy of st. peter gave to his church a constitution and a government. he placed his kingdom under one monarchical head. he made the sacerdotal hierarchy subject to one chief. this law must therefore last as long as the church lasts, that is, through all time. there is no power which can change the divine law of our lord. the supremacy of st. peter must therefore be perpetual in his successors. and that these successors are the roman pontiffs i shall proceed to show in my next discourse. ---------------------------- { } sermon xiv. the roman pontiffs the successors of st. peter. st. matt. xvi. . "__and i say to thee: that thou art peter; and upon this rock i will build my church__." i have proved in a former discourse that st. peter was constituted prince of the apostles and vicar of jesus christ, with supreme jurisdiction over the catholic church, by the lord himself. it remains now to show that this supremacy was given also to the successors of st. peter, and that the bishops of rome are his successors, and consequently inherit his supremacy. that the holy, catholic, apostolic, roman church is the see of st. peter, and the mother and mistress of churches; and that the bishop of rome is the vicar of christ, and supreme visible head of the church--this is what i now undertake to prove. { } this is proved, in the first place, by an argument, the force of which is admitted in all courts of law, viz., the argument of __prescription__. the roman church is in possession of this claim, and has been from time immemorial. a claim on a certain property or to a certain right, which is so ancient that the mind of man runneth not to the contrary, is always admitted as valid in a law court. now, it is evident that the roman church now asserts this claim; that she asserted it before the reformation; that she asserted it before the greek schism; and that not a single church exists in the world which has not at some time admitted this claim, and submitted to it. if we go back, then, to the earlier centuries, we find the roman church always in possession of this supremacy, and we can never find its beginning. protestants and others, who wish to prove that it began after the apostolic age, can never agree together as to the epoch of the rise of the papal power, although all give it a very early date. now, i say that, according to all sound principles of reasoning, the fact that this claim had been made and assented to from time immemorial is a certain proof that it is just. it could not have been established so early and so universally without violence and without resistance, unless it existed under the apostles, and was established by them in the infancy of christianity. { } just as it would be impossible for the governor of virginia to take peaceable possession of the presidential chair and govern the united states, as its acknowledged chief magistrate, without any election of the people; so it would have been equally impossible for the bishop of rome to make himself peaceably the supreme ruler of the catholic church, unless he were appointed by st. peter and the apostles, according to the divine constitution of the grand christian commonwealth, with the knowledge of all christians. this argument alone would be perfectly conclusive, even if the new testament were altogether lost, or were entirely silent on the subject. but when we compare the fact that the roman church, under the name of the see of st. peter, has always existed as the principal edifice of a vast agglomeration of smaller but similar edifices, with the prophecy of christ that he would build the church on the rock of peter, the conclusion is irresistible that the fact is the fulfilment of the prophecy. here is the prophecy of christ, that he would build his church on peter as a foundation, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. there is the roman church, evidently built on peter as its foundation, which has endured through eighteen centuries, and is now as firm and immovable as ever. it is impossible to escape the conclusion that this is the church built by christ. the fact corresponds exactly with the prophecy, and there is no other fact which does, therefore the fact is the fulfilment of the prophecy. { } let me illustrate this by a comparison. suppose you describe the moro of havana to some one who has never seen it, and who is about taking a voyage to cuba. you tell him it is a castle of large size and great strength, built on a rock which rises perpendicularly from the sea, at the mouth of the bay. there is no castle similar to it: on his route. now, when this traveller comes on deck some morning, and sees a castle founded on a rock at the mouth of a harbor, with a large city in the distance, is it not evident that this is the moro? if you sail from the city of new york, knowing that there is an american ship of the line anchored in the bay, and you pass a large man-of-war with the united states flag, and the broad pennant of an admiral flying at her mast-head, is it not evident that this is the ship in question? though a hundred smaller vessels are anchored in the vicinity, you cannot hesitate a moment, you can not for an instant imagine that any of these is a man-of-war. the first glance tells you which is the line-of-battle ship, for there is only one which makes any pretension to that character, which has the size, the armament, or in any aspect the appearance of a man-of-war. { } precisely so it is with the roman church, which professes to be the see of peter, the only one which bases a claim of universal jurisdiction on the supremacy of peter; which pretends [puts forward a claim] to be the ship of peter, and to bear his standard. it is unique, unrivalled, and alone in its character and claims. it must be, then, that church which the lord promised to build on the rock of peter, with such immovable firmness that all the assaults of hell could never overthrow it; it must be that church which the lord committed to the guidance of peter, and which is destined to outride all the storms of time. but, although i consider that the claim of the roman church to supremacy is fully proved by this argument from prescription, i will not confine myself to it, but proceed to adduce some positive testimonies. the perpetuity of st. peter's supremacy in the church can be clearly proved from scripture, and the fact that the bishops of rome have inherited this supremacy is not only evident from the fact that no other supremacy has ever existed, but from a clear chain of historical facts and evidences, running back to the very age of the apostles. in the first place, it is clear from the scripture that st. peter's supremacy was to continue. a number of the ablest protestant writers have proved most conclusively what is called the apostolic succession, that is, that bishops are the successors of the apostles, tracing their authority and descent in an unbroken line of ordination to the apostles. this is perfectly evident from the commission of jesus christ to the eleven apostles: { } "going therefore teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you: and behold i am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." [footnote ] [footnote : matt. xxviii. .] [usccb: matt. xxviii. - .] if the apostles by virtue of the commission of jesus christ were the perpetual pastors of the church, and enjoy the perpetual presence of jesus christ to the end of time, the apostolic office is by its own nature perpetual in the church, and the original apostles have been succeeded by others. for the same reason, the office of prince of apostles must be perpetual. the plenitude of the apostleship was given to st. peter alone, under the similitude of the keys, and afterwards the same power was given to the others by participation and in subordination to him. the supremacy of the chief enters, then, into the primary constitution of the apostolate or catholic episcopate, as one of its essential and component parts, and is therefore perpetual. jesus christ committed the government of his church to one supreme ruler, whose authority was signified by the symbol of the keys. he committed his flock to one chief pastor, when he said to st. peter: "feed my lambs--feed my sheep." { } if, therefore, the authority of st. peter expired with his person, then a total and fundamental change took place after his death in the constitution and government of the church, a supposition not to be admitted for one moment without clear evidence. but there is none such. on the contrary, our lord declares without distinction or limitation that "there shall be one fold and one shepherd." [footnote ] [footnote : john x. .] the metaphor of a foundation which he uses to express the supremacy of st. peter, of itself shows the perpetuity of his office. this supremacy is the rock on which the church is built. but a foundation must last as long as the building itself; it can neither be removed nor changed; therefore the supremacy of peter must endure with the church itself. again, the reason for which christ instituted the primacy exists always, and, indeed, demands much more imperatively its continuance than it did require at first its foundation. the reason is thus expressed by st. jerome: "__ut capite constituto, schismatis tolleretur occasio__"--"that a head being constituted, the occasion of schism might be removed." [footnote ] [footnote : lib. i. adv. jov. .] { } the preservation of unity was the reason for instituting the primacy. what is the reason of a central government, with a president at its head, in washington? the preservation of unity among the states. it is the unanimous teaching of tradition that christ established the primacy in the church for the same reason--the preservation of unity among all particular churches and bishops, by their dependence on one mother church and one chief bishop. but there was far less necessity to guard against schism, and to watch over the preservation of unity by means of a head or central authority, in the days of the apostles, who were all saints and inspired, in the days of persecution, of primitive zeal and piety, and when the members of the church were few and her extent limited, than at any subsequent period. the primacy was more necessary after the apostolic age than during it, therefore it was intended to continue. the supremacy of st. peter once admitted--and it is proved by invincible arguments--the continuance of this power in his successors follows necessarily. the seat of power is the roman church, of which st. peter was the founder and first bishop. this requires no proof; for the bishop of rome is the only one who claims the power of st. peter, and his title is admitted by all those who admit any supremacy in the church, according to the universally received tradition. { } st. peter, after having preached in different regions without having fixed himself in any particular see, for about six years, founded the patriarchal see of antioch, which he governed for seven years, and then, having consecrated another bishop in his place, went to rome, where he fixed his see permanently, and, having presided over it for twenty-five years, was crucified, in the year of our lord or , under nero; st. paul being at the same time beheaded. the new testament contains no regular or complete history of the events of the apostolic age, but only some fragmentary annals of some of the acts of the apostles, chiefly of st. paul, and some allusions in the epistles. it is not surprising, therefore, that it gives no account of the foundation of the roman church. st. paul, however, in his celebrated epistle to the roman church, already speaks of that roman faith, "__fides romana__" which has been in every age so admirable and so renowned throughout the world: "first, i give thanks to my god, through jesus christ, for you all, because your faith is spoken of in the whole world." [footnote ] he also predicts the future greatness of the roman church: "and the god of peace crush satan under your feet speedily." [footnote ] this is a form of speech which expresses a prediction under the form of a prayer. [footnote : rom. i. .] [usccb: rom. i. .] [footnote : rom. xvi. .] { } now, how was satan crushed under the feet of the roman christians, if it were not when, by the conversion and victory of constantine, this great capital of the world and seat of idolatry was changed into the capital of christendom, the heathen temples transformed into christian churches, and the cross everywhere erected in triumph over this proud and pagan city? there is no event in history better established than the episcopate and martyrdom of st. peter at rome. it is admitted by a great number of the most learned protestants. it is proved by the catalogues of roman bishops in ancient writers all tracing back the succession to st. peter. it is proved by pictures, statues, and other ancient monuments; by the pilgrimages which from ancient times were made to the tomb of the apostles, of which even eusebius in the fourth century makes mention. it is proved by the testimony of st. clement, the immediate successor of st. peter; st. ignatius, papias, st. dionysius, st. irenæus, caius, clement of alexandria, origen, st. cyprian, eusebius, lactantius, st. athanasius, st. epiphanius, julian the apostate, st. augustine, palladius, and others. indeed, any one who would dispute the fact, that the bishops of rome have succeeded each other in that see in a direct line from st. peter, might as well dispute the succession of the roman emperors from julius cæsar, of the english kings from alfred, and the kings of france from charlemagne. { } the fact that the bishops of rome succeeded also to the supremacy of st. peter over the whole catholic church is also proved by a crowd of testimonies in every age. it is, as every one will see, not convenient, in a discourse like the present, to cite and explain at length those passages from the ancient writers, especially after having already taxed your patience so severely. i will therefore cite only a few passages as samples of the manner in which ancient writers have spoken on this subject, and leave it to yourselves to read over the testimonies more carefully in some of the various works where they are collected. st. irenæus, bishop of lyons, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles, says: "with this church, on account of the more powerful principality, it is necessary that every church, that is, the faithful who are in every direction, should agree." [footnote ] [footnote : l. iii. c. . kenrick.] tertullian, about the end of the second century, exclaims: "from no other cause have heresies arisen and schisms sprung up, except from a want of obedience to the priest of god, and because they do not remember that there is one judge for the time being in the church, in the place of christ." { } the great and general council of nice, a.d. , in one of its canons says: "the roman church has always held the primacy." the council of sardica, in a letter to the pope, says: "this seems excellent and most suitable, that the priests of the lord from the respective provinces should report to the head," __i.e.__, to the see of the apostle peter. in the fifth century, all the bishops of the province of aries, in france, in a letter to pope leo, say: "the holy roman church, through the most blessed peter, prince of the apostles, has the principality above all the churches of the world." the grand council of chalcedon, where six hundred bishops were present, mostly from the east, and out of the limits of the particular patriarchate of rome, when the letter of the same pope leo was read, defining the faith of two distinct natures, divine and human, in christ, exclaimed with one voice, "peter has spoken by the mouth of leo." at the beginning of the sixth century, the bishop of patara said to the emperor justinian: "there may be many sovereigns on the earth; but there is one pope over all the churches of the universe." not only christian bishops and councils speak in this way of the roman see, but emperors, and even pagans, use the same language. { } in the year , when paul, patriarch of antioch, was condemned of heresy by a council, the pagan emperor aurelian directed that the church of antioch "should be delivered up to those whom the bishops of italy and the bishop of rome should appoint." ammianus marcellinus, a pagan writer of the fourth century, affirms that "the bishops of the eternal city enjoy a greater authority." the christian emperor valentinian, in a decree of the year , says: "the merit of the blessed peter, who is the prince of priestly order, and the dignity of the roman city, the authority also of the synod, strengthened the primacy of the apostolic see." these testimonies extend from the sixth back to the second century, when the disciples of the apostles still lived. they are not merely the testimonies of the bishops of rome themselves, or of those who lived in the vicinity and under the immediate influence of rome, but they are collected from italy, france, africa, and the whole eastern church, where those great patriarchs flourished who afterwards renounced their subjection to rome. thus, it is evident, from these and a host of similar testimonies, that, during the first six centuries, the bishops of rome claimed to exercise the supremacy in the place of peter, and that this claim was universally acknowledged. { } this is only a confirmation of the texts of holy scripture which i have already cited, and was foreshadowed when christ chose the bark of st. peter in preference to the rest, to preach from it to the multitude on the shore. the conversion of nations through missionaries sent by the pope is peter superintending the miraculous draught of fishes and drawing them upon the shore. his exercise of authority over patriarchs, bishops, and churches throughout the world is only the fulfilment of the commission, "feed my lambs--feed my sheep"--be the pastor of my entire flock, the prince of pastors, the bishop of bishops. the might, the power of the roman see, is the fulfilment of the prophecy, "on this rock i will build my church." on the foundation of peter, the catholic church was built, and on this foundation she has ever rested. to peter was given the power of the keys, of binding and of loosing, and his successors have ever exercised this supreme authority. if time permitted, i should now go on to show that this authority committed to st. peter and his successors is the same, and equally of divine right in his present glorious successor, pius ix., as it was in the times of the martyr popes of the first century; that the roman church has never failed, never fallen, never forfeited her supremacy, and never will while the world shall stand. but i must waive all further consideration of the attributes and notes of the catholic church. at present, i will only allude to the concluding part of our lord's promise to st. peter: "the gates of hell shall never prevail against it." { } here there is the divine assurance that this rock on which the church is founded shall stand until the end of the world, and the church itself, on account of the firmness of its foundation, shall never be overthrown. the supremacy of his successors shall endure until the last day, and that church which is governed by the successors of st. peter shall alone continue to be the true church. the gates of hell shall wage perpetual warfare against it, but in vain. that rock shall remain immovable and impregnable. by this rock it is that jesus christ has provided for the preservation of the faith and for the salvation of the world. let us recall to mind the object which we had before our minds at the commencement of these discourses: it was to find the sure and immovable basis of the catholic faith and religion. and how admirable is the provision of almighty god for this purpose! he has taken the greatest and most powerful city of the earth, the capital of the world; there he has erected the beacon-light of faith; there he has fixed the immovable seat of truth; there he has established the capital city of christianity, the chief city of his kingdom on earth; there jesus christ has placed his vicar, the pastor and teacher of the world, that rome, once the mistress of the world by her arms, might rule by her faith as the mother and mistress of churches, and that title of the eternal city which was given her by her pagan soothsayers might be literally fulfilled. { } happy those who, amid the storms and winds of error, doubt, and ever-changing doctrine, take refuge within the walls of the eternal city; whose faith is built not upon the shifting sands of private judgment, but on the immovable basis of church authority; whose wanderings terminate, like those of st. paul, at rome, whence, like him, they ascend to that celestial city whose builder and maker is god! such a person is like the wise man of whom our lord speaks, "that built his house upon a rock, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock." --------------------- { } sermon xv. the thought of heaven. (for the fourth sunday after easter.) heb. iv. . "__there remaineth therefore a rest for the people of god__." these words, my dear brethren, are full of consolation to each and every one of us. they lift our minds, at this paschal season, far away from this earth, and fix them in contemplation on that happy land, the heavenly jerusalem, where there is no sorrow, no pain, no sickness, and no death; they take us with the beloved disciple to see that celestial country, the city of god, in which stands the tree of life, and where flows the river of life, beside whose banks are seated all those who have died in the lord, and rest from their labors. they open those pearly gates to allow us to behold the white-robed army of saints who stand before the lamb; and we can almost hear their anthems of praise, set to music which no human heart can conceive of, that swell the courts of heaven with the celestial cry of, "holy, holy, holy lord god almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come!" { } heaven, a rest after the toils of life are over! heaven, a reward for fidelity! oh! how good is the thought of heaven! how necessary to many as a stimulant to practise virtue and persevere therein! what a reward for a good life! the thought of heaven is very good, for it encourages us when we grow faint-hearted; the thought of heaven is that which prompts a man to abstain from evil and do good, because he knows that heaven will be his reward, and the loss of it his punishment. it is necessary; for, without this thought being before the mind of a christian, he might give way to many an enticing temptation. it is far more meritorious, also, than the thought of hell, just as an act of __contrition__ is more meritorious than an act of __attrition__; for the former excites us to sorrow for having offended a good god, who has created us for heaven, and the latter excites us to fear lest we incur the displeasure of an angry god and be condemned to hell. the holy church, as a stimulant to the doing of good, as an encouragement to persevere under many difficulties and temptations, and as a reward for all our labors in saving our souls, ever keeps the thought of heaven before our minds. in the sacraments she does this. { } the unregenerate cannot go to heaven because there is an obstacle--original sin; it is removed in baptism; and the strength to fight in the spiritual warfare, is given by confirmation. she calls us to confession, because something is again between the soul and heaven, and that is mortal sin. she absolves us, and sends us to holy communion, which is a foretaste of heaven. she anoints the dying, that all the peculiar temptations which attack them in the hour of death may be overcome. she unites the "children of the saints" in matrimony, because marriage is a sign of the union of heaven and earth, and gives the grace for the married couple to "marry in the lord." she ordains her clergy, that they may teach the way to heaven, and distribute all those means of grace that are sure to bring us there. so you perceive that this seems to be the leading thought in the mind of the church. it is the development of the response to the question that every catholic child can answer--why did god create you? "that i might know him, and love him, and serve him here in this world, and be happy with him for ever in the next." the thought of heaven conveys the greatest consolation to those who in this world find but little happiness, and are surrounded by peculiar difficulties in the practice of virtue. it gives strength to those who grow tired of the spiritual life, and who would give up were it not for this thought. hence the thought of heaven is good, necessary, and comforting. { } the rest spoken of in the text is not for all, but only for the people of god. who are the people of god? they are the people of god who are baptized and made members of the catholic church. but not all will enter into that rest prepared for them, because something more is necessary than simply being called by that name. baptism is a sacrament which requires those whom it admits to be __heirs__ of the kingdom of heaven, first to answer certain questions, and imposes certain obligations to be observed. the priest says to the person to be baptized, "if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments, love the lord thy god with thy whole heart, and thy neighbor as thyself." so you see that, at this very instant, the thought of heaven is suggested to the person, and the way to arrive there is clearly shown. and, before the priest pours the sanctifying water on the brow of the person, he says, "dost thou renounce satan and all his works and all his pomps?" when the person promises, "yes, i do renounce them," then baptism is administered, and that person takes his place in the world a christian. but not all who are called christians are christians indeed. many do not live as though they believed in a god, a church, a heaven, or a hell. { } they follow the inclinations of their own sinful hearts, and live up to the false maxims of this wicked world. they do not walk according to the spirit, but rather according to the flesh. they look on life as something to be enjoyed to the utmost, and when that is ended they consider all ended, body and soul. ah! foolish people! who thus deceive themselves, who are ashamed of the religion of jesus christ, who violate without any remorse their baptismal vows, who treat our lord far worse than did the jews of old, for they never professed to believe in him. the way, then, to be a christian in deed as well as in name is to live up to that "perfect law of liberty," that law which was made and given by god, which allows the highest kind of freedom to its observers, and which ennobles and elevates man rather than degrades him. this law is simple, and, if it is observed, all things will go on peaceably. as of old, the saying was, "all are not israelites that are of israel," [footnote ] so they are not heirs of the kingdom of heaven who do not walk in the path marked out for them to follow, or who do not fulfil the conditions required for a holy life. "not every one that says to me, lord, lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my father who is in heaven." [footnote ] [footnote : rom. ix. .] [footnote : st. matt. vii. .] { } and that will is made known to us all by the catholic church. she is the ark that will bring us safe to the haven of rest. she sets herself in array against the powers of this world and wicked men, because she is holy; she is born of god, and divine; she does this by her sacraments, her sacrifices, her laws, instructions, missions, and her institutions of charity. she teaches men reverence for holy persons and holy things; she teaches them to venerate the name of their creator; she tells them to sanctify sundays and holydays; she enjoins, under pain of eternal death--which includes the loss of heaven--honesty, justice, purity, sobriety, and all the other requirements of the decalogue. she is not conformed to this world or its ways. the world says: "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." "if your enemy strike you, strike him back; if he calumniate you, never forget it; if he do you an act of injustice, if he slander you, treasure it up, do not forgive, but pay him back some day with interest." the world says: "eat and drink, grow rich in this world's goods, have a gay time, make the most of life: heaven is far away, and you will have opportunity to prepare when the time comes for it." "make plenty of money," says the world, "no matter whether the business be just or lawful, you may get to heaven after all; others worse than you have had time to do penance before they died." { } but the holy church says differently. she enjoins charity, meekness, poverty of spirit, preparation for death. "if thine enemy hunger, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink." [footnote ] "if a man strike thee on one cheek, turn to him the other." [footnote ] "blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." [footnote ] these are her lessons of heavenly doctrine, which all must learn and put in practice, if they would obtain entrance into the kingdom of heaven. and every day she writes in letters of fire before our eyes: "in the hour that ye think not, the son of man cometh." [footnote : rom. xii. .] [footnote : st. matt. v. .] [footnote : st. matt. v. .] so we perceive that man needs to pay attention to that immortal soul of his just as much as to attend to his mortal body. and a man cannot attend to a business of importance in a short time, of which he has been ignorant all his life, and in which he has had no practice, and therefore very little experience. it would be a difficult task, indeed, for a man who has been nothing but a salesman in a store all his life, to become a scientific artificer, or to undertake to discharge the duties that devolve on a professor of the higher branches of science, because he has never given any thought or study to these things. so will it be very, very difficult for that catholic to properly prepare for heaven after long years of neglect of the means to obtain it, and, because he has never thought about it, it will be hardly possible for him in his last hours to make proper preparation for it. { } the mind will be so absorbed with the past, and so perplexed as to the future, that he cannot give his famishing soul the nourishment that it needs. the death-bed scenes of worldly-minded men certify to the truth of this. they have viewed heaven as something to be thought about in the future, and intended to prepare for it, but all of a sudden sickness prostrates them, and when told they will never hear another sermon, never attend another mass, the trouble begins not so much about their soul as about their body and the business of this world. but thanks be to god! while there are those who are walking on that broad and pleasant way which many, too many, find, and which leads to destruction, there are many faithful christians who, even though some of them have but little or no comfort here, are looking forward, and hastening unto that reward which awaits those who love our lord jesus christ. heaven, to them, is no gloomy word. heaven does not make them regret leaving this world, with all its fleeting joys, for heaven is a most interesting and important subject to them. heaven is the reason of all their hopes, the reward of all their prayers, fastings, and other good works. { } to the pious and virtuous, the thought of heaven is the polar star which guides them to their eternal happiness, to the poor and desolate, it opens the celestial country where flow milk and honey, and where the foot is never weary, where all tears are wiped away from their eyes, and where the sweetest consolation of an eternal reward awaits them. the thought of heaven brings the young to give their hearts early to god. it leads them to their first confession, and encourages them to make their first communion, so that, by keeping god's holy laws, they may receive the crown of life. the thought of heaven helps the old, who are weak and trembling, for they receive new strength when they see the evening of their lives, and view the dawning of that happy land, the canaan of the children of god. how comforting, indeed, then, is the thought of heaven, for then all our hopes will be realized, and our love made perfect! o you who thirst for human love! your desire is to love and be loved. love is the object of your life, the light of your hearts; but know this: that no earthly love will ever bring you perfect happiness; and if it should so happen that you should find a joy in possessing some creature, tell me, how long will that joy last? not long, for god sends death, and he takes away the objects of your love, the idol that you have placed between him and your soul. { } a mother finds the greatest joy in beholding the child to whom she gave birth. it may be her first-born; she loves it, caresses it; she spends days in caring for it, and, if at night she awakes, the first thought is of that child: but some day death comes in, and lays his icy hand on the life-strings of its tiny heart, and severs the link that binds it to this life, and it is no more. but the christian mother willingly gives it up to god, for she knows that in heaven she will again embrace that child. it is the thought of heaven that brings her consolation. a friend has found unspeakable joy in living with his companion, they were boys together, they grew up together, they received the holy sacraments together, and, just as they suppose their happiness to be complete, death terminates the existence of one, and the other is left alone to learn the lesson all men must, sooner or later, learn--all persons, all things are perishable, and "the heart," as st. augustine says, "is at unrest until it rests in god." no matter what bereavement comes over the christian, he is animated with hope, and his joy speedily returns when he thinks of heaven as a place where he will meet and recognize his loved ones. here, my dear brethren, we grow tired of the most costly and beautiful objects. it is impossible for us to keep up our enthusiasm for a long time, as we are creatures of change and chance. { } in heaven, we shall never grow tired; for, in beholding almighty god and all the glories of heaven, we shall be so entranced that nothing will be able to distract us. in heaven, time will pass away unnoticed, and its events will have no power to weary us. there is a beautiful legend told of a franciscan friar, which will illustrate my meaning better. he thought that he would become tired of heaven itself and its occupations; for by his time of life he, too, had learned the secret that nothing in this world can bring real, lasting happiness. so, one day, his superior sent him out to gather fuel for the fire. as he was picking up the wood, he heard a far sweeter warble than ever came from the throat of a bird; but it was not a bird of the earthly forest; it was some sweet strains of celestial music that he heard. he must pause one moment to hear the end of the song before making up his bundle of wood. so he stood still, and the warbling went on, so full, so sweet, so rich, that he almost held his breath in ecstasy. when it ceased, "how short it was!" he said, then picked up the arm-load of sticks and returned to the monastery. he rang the bell at the gate, but a brother came whom he did not know. "who are you that takes the place of brother john?" he inquired. "but rather who are you?" was the reply. { } "ah, i am brother francis." "brother francis! there is no brother francis." then the oldest monk in the monastery was called, and he tottered in on his cane, and told how, when he was a boy, he had heard some old gray-haired monks tell that, long, long ago, when they were young, brother francis had gone, one afternoon, for wood, and never returned: killed doubtless by the wild beasts. so they counted the years, and found that brother francis had listened to the bird's song one hundred and fifty years, and thought that too short. now, if the sweet singing from the voice of an angel could so entrance this holy man that he thought so many years to be but a moment, how much more will our soul be enraptured with the sight of heaven, with the song of the choir of the redeemed, and by the vision of the blessed trinity! in heaven, the heart will stand still, and in the fulness of its joy remain transfixed for ever. then why is it that we give way under our sufferings, our daily trials and crosses? why do so many grow faint-hearted, and think that there is no rest, no peace, for them? why do people despair of ever being happy? it is because they forget the very object for which they were created. they lose sight of the eternal joy and the unending happiness that god has prepared for those who love him. { } at holy mass, whether it be a festival, fast, or funeral, these sublime words are sung by the sacrificing priest at the altar, "__sursum corda__"--"lift up your hearts," and the faithful answer, "__habemus ad dominum__"--"we have lifted them up to the lord." now, these words are kept before our minds, on a festival, to remind us of the eternal joys of heaven; on a funeral, to call our attention to that home above where there is no death, no parting, and where all tears are wiped away from the eyes. then let "__sursum corda__" when it is sung this morning, revive this thought of heaven in your hearts--you who are sad, who are sick and poor, you who are in the midst of severe temptations; and carry these words with you through the week, and, whenever you are tempted to murmur against your lot, "lift up your hearts." think of paradise. we were made for paradise, and we ought always to remember how joyful the thought of paradise is to the christian's heart. "o most happy mansion of the city above! o most happy and bright day, that knows no night, but is always enlightened by the sovereign truth! the citizens of heaven know how joyful that day is; but the banished children of eve lament that this our day is bitter and tedious. oh! that this day would dawn upon us, and all temporal things would come to an end!" { } then, at this time, let us all look up, and be more vigilant in the service of god while on earth. let us so live here that our lives may be a foretaste of heaven. let the church on earth be the vestibule of heaven in which we wait patiently for the time of our admission therein. let us be faithful to the laws of god and the church: "laying aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us, by patience let us run the race set before us; looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who, having the joy proposed to him, underwent the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth down at the right hand of the throne of god," [footnote ] to whom let us lift up our hearts, and offer that beautiful prayer which the holy church is chanting throughout the world on this fourth sunday after easter: "o almighty god, who alone canst make the faithful to be of one mind: grant that they may love those things which thou dost command and desire, those things which thou dost promise, that so among all the changes of this world their hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found, through jesus christ our lord amen." [footnote : heb xii. i.] ------------- { } sermon xvi. the clergy the teachers of the people, (for the seventh sunday after pentecost.) st. matt. vii. . "__beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.__" by the word prophet is meant a teacher or leader of the people; any one who sets himself up, or is commissioned by those in authority, as an expounder of the sense of the scriptures, or of the principles of morality or of religion, so as to lead others to adopt his opinions, and act according to his directions. the office of prophet, or teacher, is the most important of all in human society. for, if we are rightly taught and follow the teaching, everything goes on harmoniously, and conduces to the best result; the greatest amount of substantial happiness in this world, and the securing of our immortal destiny in heaven. if we are wrongly taught, our great blessings are turned into curses, and our lives are failures, both for this world and the next. { } and our lord jesus christ took especial pains to provide for this great need of ours. he selected his twelve apostles, kept them with himself during all the time of his public ministry, instructed them by word and example, and sent them out to teach with this full and explicit commission, "go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you: and lo i am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." [footnote ] [footnote : st. mark xvi. and st. matt, xxviii. .] if we desire to know them who are the true prophets, we have the means of finding out: they are the lawful successors of the apostles, the priesthood of the holy church. and, on the other hand, we have the means of determining who are the false prophets or teachers: all those who are in opposition to this lawful body of teachers, commissioned by god himself to teach us. the priesthood of the holy church, then, are our teachers in the principles and practice of religion, and of morality, which is embraced in religion. they are the ones to teach us our duty, in all respects, as individuals, and as members of society; our duties to ourselves, to our fellow-men, to our families, to the government or state in which we live, as well as to god. { } this is what many people do not seem to understand. they say, let the clergy confine themselves to their own sphere, to the teaching of religion, and let other things alone. why should they meddle with questions of politics or government? why should they interfere with private or family affairs? why should they say anything about a man's business, or try to interfere with his personal liberty to do this or that? now, whence do these objections arise? from the mistaken notion that religion deals exclusively with the relations of the individual to his god, and has nothing to do with society or government; that there is divorce between politics and religion; that the law of god is separable from human laws. nothing can be more untrue than this idea. the divine law is the rule according to which all human laws must be conformed. these laws derive all their authority and sanction from the divine will. religion cannot be divorced from politics, from government, from legislature, from the family, from business, or from any of the affairs of life. wherever a moral question is involved in politics, there religion is involved. every christian is bound to carry the law of christ into his politics. { } every voter is bound to vote for those who sustain this divine law, and never for the opponents of it; and every legislator is bound not to make any law which is in opposition to it. and the authorized teachers of the divine law are the ones to expound what the law is, and to lay down the duty of each one in reference to it. they are to teach, and to insist upon the observance of what christ has taught them: in the state, the duty of obedience to the civil authority, and the wickedness of resisting it, in the lawful exercise of its power;--in the family, the sacredness of the marriage-tie, in spite of any human laws contrary to god's law, and the obligation of the religious education of children;--to the individual, the sin of unlawful or immoral combinations, and many other things which will readily suggest themselves to any one who will reflect. those, then, who try to depreciate the influence of the clergy, and to bring their teaching into contempt, or to set themselves up as independent judges of the morality and right of all questions relating to politics and society, are false prophets, boasting of their liberty, appealing to pride, worshipping themselves in place of god, and flattering the passions of others. they are ravening wolves, destroying the spirit of religion and the souls of men, and leading their victims to anarchy, riot, and bloodshed. { } do not misapprehend my meaning. i do not mean that the clergy should come down into the arena of party politics to advocate the claims of this or that candidate for office, or convert the church into a political debating-room. thank god, they have a better idea of their sacred office than that. but where the duties of the individual or the general interests of religion are involved, they are bound to speak out, and they should be listened to as the ambassadors of god. "let the clergy mind their own business," is sometimes said. well, and what is the business of the clergy? it is to seek the salvation of souls. it is to keep the people, as far as possible, from any violation of the commandments of god; from the commission of sin, which leads to the destruction of souls. if they can foresee that this or that course of action will involve their people in sin, they are bound, disregarding all self-interest or any worldly consideration, to raise their voice in protest against it. if the people rush into any unlawful combination, which, perhaps, involves loss of property or loss of life, or, at any rate, is sinful and tends to the destruction of the soul, then, whether the thing is popular or not, they are bound, as far as they can, to set their face against this evil, and warn the people to keep from it. { } if they do not do this, then they do not "mind their own business." they are no better than the "hirelings who flee when the wolf cometh." but why are the clergy especially fitted to exercise this office of prophet or teacher? because, in the first place, they are, as a class, men of education and thought. they have withdrawn from other pursuits, and passed many years in study. they have had particularly to study questions relating to morality; of right and wrong; of the meaning of the law of god, and are better fitted than any other class of men to give decisions on such questions. this is reason enough why the mass of the people, who have not the time, the freedom from other occupations, the books, or the habit of reasoning correctly, should defer with great respect to the opinion of the clergy on any important question. it argues a great want of humility--an antichristian and unreasonable pride, when their opinion is treated with contempt and brought into ridicule. in the second place, they are disinterested parties, and are able to decide, for the most part, free from prejudice. the only prejudice they can have is, that god's law be observed and his honor vindicated. they are a body of men independent, free from family ties, and cares, and obligations; freed in an unusual degree from what prejudices other men--the desire of heaping up wealth. in short, they have every inducement to love right and hate wrong. { } thirdly, they are the fathers of their people. having no wives or children of their own, the people are their children. the term "father" by which they are addressed is a true expression of the feeling which the people have towards them, because they have a truly parental affection for them. that priest must be a monster who does not love his people, as a general thing so devoted and affectionate to him. our saviour says, "the good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep." the catholic people are the flock of the priest; it is his business and his happiness to look out for their interests; to advise them and warn them of dangers; to go after them and bring them back when they go astray; and it is only natural for them to look up to him for advice, for counsel in doubt, for consolation in trouble. there is no sweeter or more beautiful tie than that which binds the priest and people together. but lastly, and above all, the priest is the representative and agent of jesus christ. this last reason includes and carries with it all the others; they all grow out of it. hear what st. paul says: "and some he gave to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and others pastors and teachers. { } for the perfection of the saints, for the edification of the body of christ." [footnote ] all that relates to the building up or edification of the faithful belongs to their sacred office. in the direction of st. paul to titus, he tells him: "admonish them to be subject to princes and powers, to obey at a word, to be ready to every good work." [footnote ] and again: "these things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. let no man despise thee." [footnote ] once more he says: "let a man look upon us as the ministers of christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of god." [footnote ] and when our lord sent out his apostles, he used these emphatic words: "he that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me." [footnote : eph. iv. .] [footnote : ep. tit. iii. .] [footnote : ep. tit. ii. .] [footnote : i cor. iv. .] who are the false prophets we have the most need to be warned against at this present time? not the professed teachers of heresy, because they are too well known; their doctrine and their principles have lost all attraction for catholics. their hatred and opposition to the holy church and her doctrines is too violent and untruthful to have any power of attraction for the catholic heart. i should say they are not wolves in sheep's clothing, but rather wolves in their own skins. no, it is not they. { } it is rather the irreligious, unprincipled newspapers which are sowing the worst principles broadcast in the community, which are ridiculing all that we hold most sacred, which make all religion to consist in the present and laugh at the future world; which are prating all the time about clerical influence, and extolling a purely secular education; which are talking everlastingly about progress and enlightenment, and this nineteenth century, and the dark ages and superstitions; whose infernal doctrine may be summed up in one sentence: "let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die." these are the false prophets who clothe themselves with sheep's clothing, that is, with professions of liberty, enticements to pleasure, and to the gain of worldly goods, as if there was no hereafter, no responsibility, but each one was free to do as he pleased. and who are some of the other false prophets? they are leaders of secret societies; interested persons who make a living out of professions of patriotism and love of country; who live in luxury--many of them, out of the hard earnings of the poor laborer and the girls at service; who beguile the ignorant into unlawful and forbidden ways, sinking them down deep in mortal sin, and hindering them from getting out of it, because they impose a distrust and dislike of the clergy and of the church which condemns them. like the pharisees, they "move heaven and earth to make one proselyte, and, when they have made one, they make him more a child of hell than themselves." avoid them, for they are truly "ravening wolves." { } and lastly, avoid another false prophet within yourself: the spirit of pride and self-will. without this, all the others i have mentioned above would be powerless to hurt you. this is the very evil one himself who stirs up within you every evil passion. be cautious, weigh well the thoughts of your hearts. try them by the standard of the gospel and of the example of jesus christ, and, if they cannot abide the test, no matter how fair an appearance they have, abandon them. ah! if we would only stop to consider calmly what we are about; if we would only utter one sincere prayer to god for guidance, and to obtain a good-will, this false prophet of self-will would be detected and driven out, and we would be quickly delivered from destruction. finally, give good heed to the scripture which says: "obey your prelates, and be subject to them, for they watch as being to give an account of your souls, that they may do this with joy, and not with grief." { } obey the vicar of jesus christ, the pope, the head of the church and father of the faithful. when he solemnly pronounces his judgment as to the lawfulness or unlawfulness of anything, obey as you would if you heard it from the lips of christ himself. it is a fearful thing for any one to put himself in opposition to christ's vicar and the successor of st. peter, to whom our lord gave the charge to feed both his sheep and his lambs. obey your archbishop, who is more immediately placed over you. it is his place to judge what is for the good of religion, and to foresee the evils likely to arise at any time among ourselves. let those who disregard his admonition look well to it, lest they implicate themselves in grievous sin, and in inflicting great injury upon the religion of christ. such men are a scandal and cause of ruin to the faithful, and our lord has denounced the anger of god upon those who are guilty of it. obey your priests, who will have to give an account of your souls. give no cause of offence or scandal in your parish, but rather co-operate with your fellow-parishioners in the extension of christ's kingdom upon earth. it is by this spirit of docility and obedience you will break through all the snares of satan, and be delivered from error. thus, walking in the clear light of truth, you will finally be united to the eternal truth, god, the fountain of all joy, forever. ------------------ { } sermon xvii. humility in prayer. (for the tenth sunday after pentecost.) st. luke xviii. . "__god, be merciful to me, a sinner.__" one of the chief lessons our blessed lord intended to teach us by the parable told in to-day's gospel is the necessity and power of humble prayer. let us see this, and try to draw some useful thoughts from it. the great positive precept of prayer goes hand in hand with a man's salvation. nothing can excuse the neglect of it, nothing is promised except through it, and therefore one cannot hope for anything without it. yet it is not every spirit of prayer that is of god. in spite of a professed total disregard for it by some, nevertheless men have an instinctive faith in prayer. the hardiest blasphemer and scoffer at religion will often be found the first to pray when in imminent danger of death. { } he prays in fear. others, with out any spirit of devotion, will be found praying at stated times, like the pharisee, because it is a highly respectable thing to do, and keeps up their credit and good character, who apparently regard prayer as a sort of business transaction with god, the fulfilment of certain conditions of barter with providence, by which they may expect to hold their own, and be further well rewarded. these pray in pride. others are full of themselves and their own desires. __they__ wish to be happy, let others be as miserable as they may. __they__ want no sickness, no accident, no reverse of fortune, no contempt, no temptation, let god try other souls with his chastening hand as he pleases. these pray in selfishness. and yet all these are the first to complain that their prayer is not heard and instantly answered. they become petulant over delay, and utterly discouraged if their desires are not fulfilled. __god's__ will is nothing to them. it is not "thy will," but "my will" be done. listen, my brethren, to the true spirit of prayer, the only kind of prayer which will infallibly be heard. it is the prayer of those who pray in humility. the very essence of prayer consists in the acknowledgment of god's supreme dominion and government over us, and our complete dependence upon him as the source of all blessings, spiritual and temporal. the better this is acknowledged by the soul, the more perfect must be the prayer; and, if this be the spirit which inspires only a few words of prayer, or even a silent aspiration of the heart, then more is accomplished than if hours had been consumed in the recitation of forms of prayer, where this high and reverent thought of god is wanting. { } now, this is also the fountain thought of humility: that god is all in all to us, that it is he, and not we ourselves, who has made us, and prospered us, and blessed us, and raised us up, and obtained peace and forgiveness for our erring hearts; that he is the truth; that the true religion is his making, not what we may fashion to ourselves. these are the thoughts to bring the heart into a proper relation with god, the relation of an humble hope, trust, and reverence for him, and in this we need lose nothing of a proper and just esteem for ourselves. it is the secret of the making of great saints and heroes in religion (all of whom were renowned for their humility), that a man is always the gainer by just so much as he gives to god. so we see in the case of the humble publican, that god regarded him the more because he did not so much as lift his eyes to heaven. god drew the nearer to him, the farther he stood off. god comforted him, and justified him, the more he acknowledged his own wretchedness, and condemned himself. not without reason, it is true, because he __was__ a sinner. while he, who was not a sinner, went up in his pride and sinned in his very prayers. the humble sinner went away justified; the proud, just man went away condemned. { } and hence we may conclude that, if one does not pray in humility, his prayer is of no value, and he moreover runs a great chance of committing sin by praying, and of receiving curses instead of blessings in answer. "god resisteth the proud," says the apostle, "but giveth grace to the humble." [footnote ] he is, as it were, shocked and indignant to see a man approaching him in presumption or pride. he has no grace for such an one, and then without that he will infallibly commit sin and be lost. [footnote : st. james iv. .] for what happens? he who prays without humility thinks that he has done a great thing, for which god honors him, and holds him up as an example for the admiration and imitation of others, especially for those who seldom or never go to their knees, or pray so quickly and unobtrusively that no one notices them. so he rises from his prayer puffed up with self-conceit. { } look at the pharisee. he came to the treasure-house of god with a large sack; he extolled its capacity, and stretched it out to its utmost dimensions; he made his prayer long, wordy, and full of self. as he really did not profess himself to be in want of anything, god sent him away, with his sack empty of everything but his own windy words, which god despised and returned to him for his pains. his load was not heavy, and he could walk with head and shoulders proudly erect. as he passed out he gave a scornful glance at the miserable publican, crouching in the porch, and thought within himself: what bad people there are in the world, to be sure! the humble object of his disdain followed him out with bent shoulders and downcast head. he had come empty-handed to god's treasury. but something had passed between him and god which the proud pharisee little imagined: and he might well go away still humbly bending to the ground, for god's mercies and blessings lay heavily upon him. so sang the humble virgin: "he hath filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he hath sent empty away." many imagine that the wealthy are the chief ones who pray like the pharisee; but this is a great mistake. there are quite as many poor "rich pharisees" as wealthy rich ones. being in humble circumstances does not make one humble. the blessed virgin did not mean the rich in this world's goods, but those who were rich in their own conceit. { } so we see many who have not much money to boast of, yet will boast pretty loudly of their piety. they come to pray to god for forgiveness of their sins; and what do they say? "i don't do much. i don't curse. i don't steal. i don't slander my neighbor." and if god did not rouse them up to a sense of the sins they do commit by questioning their consciences, they would go away fully persuaded that they were out-and-out saints, while all the rest of the world were thieves, and liars, and extortioners, and workers of all kinds of iniquity, especially that quarrelsome neighbor who has just taken their place in the confessional, and who, they hope, will meet with severe and righteous treatment. o self-sufficient, rich pharisee! it is true i have seen you in silk and broadcloth, but i have seen you also in a cotton gown, and a coat out at [the] elbows. not a few are found lacking in this requisite to make prayer of any value, because they pray in fear. at first sight, fear would seem to be almost identical with humility; but it is quite a far different thing, for humility brings the soul nearer to god, while fear drives it away. humility recognizes the greatness and goodness of god, and, while it reverences him, holds him for that knowledge in the highest esteem; but fear hides itself, and, in place of esteem, holds him in slavish dread. { } humility is hopeful; fear is full of despair. see those sinners who find themselves in shipwreck, or in some imminent danger of death from disease. they pray, it is true, but how? is it in sorrow for their sins? do they want to get back the lost love of god? oh! no; that is the last thought they have. it is to be saved from death; it is to be cured of their diseases; and what does it all amount to, but that they are trying to make a truce with god? their whole lives have been at enmity with him; and now, when god compels them to acknowledge him, when he conquers them and brings them down, it is not peace they want, but a cessation of hostilities. it is plain enough god is the master. such souls tremble at death, because it is bringing them nearer to god; the humble souls fear life, because it is so full of the danger of losing him. such was the prayer of the wicked king antiochus, who prayed to god and made great promises; but it was only fear that wrung the prayer out of him. he cared for nothing but to be restored to life and health; but god rejected his prayers, and left him to die a horrible death, being eaten up by worms. the scripture says of him: "then this wicked man prayed to the lord, of whom he was not to obtain mercy." [footnote ] [footnote : macc. x. .] [usccb: maccabees ix. .] { } now and then the judgments of god hang over sinners. hell gapes underfoot, and they pray and cry to the lord for mercy, yet are not heard, because they have no contrition; and are wanting in contrition, because they have no humility. their fear is the fear of those sinners described by the prophet: "the sinners in sion are afraid; trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites." [footnote ] but the humble soul is not afraid to draw near to god, for the promise encourages it: "an humble and contrite heart, o god, thou wilt not despise." such are not afraid, because their contrition is founded on the love of god, and is real and hearty. "perfect love," says st. john, "casteth out fear." [footnote : isa. xxxiii. .] [usccb: isa. xxxiii. .] look at mary magdalen. there was an example of boldness in a truly contrite, humble heart. she dared a good deal. jesus, her lord, the god of infinite purity, is the honored guest of a wealthy and proud citizen; she, an abandoned woman. yet she dared enter the rich man's door. she dared the sneers and contempt of the servants. she dared enter the banqueting hall as an unwelcome intruder, at the risk of being ignominiously expelled. she dared approach the spotless one, and touch his sacred feet with her polluted hands. but perfect love casteth out fear. { } her tears were so many eloquent words of prayer that went straight to the heart of jesus. her penitent love chased all fear away, and moved the lord to say of her: "many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much." but the most common want of humility is seen in those who pray in selfishness. has god seen fit to send them a trial--say, a defect in their hearing or sight, or one of their children is born deformed or sickly--then they act as though the like had never been seen before, so querulous are they under the affliction. they pray--a good long string of complaints--over it. or else the selfishness takes another shape, and, while they can look with indifference upon hundreds who suffer worse, they cannot bear to have the hand of the lord touch __them__. they come to beg of the priest to cure them; they come humbly enough in their manner, will go down on their knees, and even kiss the ground, but they have not a particle of humility in their hearts. they are so selfish about their pains and aches that they are quite surprised and vexed if the priest does not profess himself quite ready and able to perform a miracle in their favor; as if the almighty owed them miracles, or as if they were the only people in the world about whose ease and comfort he was concerned. and then they go away disappointed, giving no heed to the holy words with which the priest tried to teach them to profit by their affliction, and instruct them how to pray to god to be relieved of it, if it be his holy will. { } very probably, such people are not in the grace of god at all; and it is plain even to human wisdom that, if god heard and answered their selfish prayers, they would go away puffed up with pride, never think of returning him any thanks, and lead a worse sinful life than they have before. for it is a proverb: "do a proud man a favor, and he hates you for it." he dislikes the idea of being laid under an obligation; and this is just what would happen to such. they would dislike god for putting them under the obligation to serve him the more strictly in return for his favors. god sees this, and, because they have no humility, their prayers are not heard. it is the same with many spiritually minded persons too. they are led to look for mortifications and crosses, and, when these are sent, then they are both mortified and crossed in another sense. they are humiliated, but not humbled. oh! how hard they pray to be delivered from these very means of their sanctification. but it is selfishness that makes them pray. they thought themselves saints, and it galls their pride to be treated as though they were yet far from perfection. they suffer, and keenly too, i know. so did our blessed lord in his agony, and dereliction on the cross. but when __he__ prayed, he said to his father, "not my will, but thine be done." { } the want of humility in prayer is the bane of those living in heresy. heresy, you know, is the offspring of pride. souls fall into it, and wilfully remain in it from an undue opinion of their own wisdom. all heresy must have "private judgment" as its basis of religion. if the true religion ever comes up before them for examination or acceptance, they are almost afraid to pray at all, lest they should pray themselves into submission to it. they see that the road before them is the road of humility. they start back at the hard sayings. wanting humility, they have very little conviction of sin; and, like the pharisee who went up to the temple to recount his good deeds, you will not unfrequently hear such persons, in speaking of the confessional, say with unaffected surprise: "why, what in the world can you have to tell? i don't think i have any sins to confess." oh! if they could once be brought down to pray humbly for light and guidance, how differently would they talk, and how quickly all their fancied difficulties and impossibilities would fade away! { } a celebrated master in the spiritual life used to send persons away to pray who came to him to talk controversy. if they were humbly seeking the truth, they found all their objections answered in prayer before they returned. if not, he knew their pride would be proof against both prayer and argument, however long the one or powerful the other. my brethren, we have all got to pray for what we want, and to pray humbly too, if we expect our prayers to be heard. to pray like the publican, "o god, be merciful to me a sinner," and not like the pharisee, "o god, i thank thee i am not like the rest of men." i recollect an instance, on one of our missions, which will be a lesson for all those whom i have been addressing this morning. a young man came to me, whom i soon learned to be one of those unfortunate catholics whose parents do nothing more towards making them christians than to get them baptized. the first words he said to me were these: "father, i'm a mighty hard case." i found he was quite ignorant of the principal doctrines of the faith, and sent him away for a few days to learn them. when he presented himself again, he was surprised i did not recognize him. "why, don't you know," said he, "i'm the mighty hard case?" it was necessary not only to instruct him, but to give him some serious warnings, that he might keep out of bad company, and live thenceforward a good life. { } perhaps i was led to speak in a tone that appeared to him rather severe; and it went to my heart to hear the poor fellow repeat the humble judgment he had passed upon himself: "yes, father, i told you so. i told you i was a __mighty__ hard case." the "mighty hard case" got his communion with great joy and a holy pride; and i remembered the words of the lord: "amen, i say to you, this man went down to his house justified ... for every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted." reflect upon this touching example of an humble soul, and, when you go to pray, think of the necessity of humility, and of patience and resignation to god's will in all things. pray! not in proud self-conceit, for god will despise you, and resist your supplications, and withhold his grace. without grace you will find yourself falling so repeatedly and grievously into sin that you will lose faith in prayer. when it comes to that, you are on the road to hell. pray! not in fear. that is a bad sign. it looks as though you did not love god; and, it such be the case, you cannot expect him to hearken to you, or grant you any favors. pray! but not in selfishness. let god and his holy will be all in all to you. take what he sends. learn to trust him in humility and patience. the lord does not always tell us the reasons why. { } whether he commands us as a master, chastises us as a father, or teaches us to imitate him in some hard lesson of humiliation--as when he himself washed the apostles feet--he very often has but the same answer to us that he gave to the astonished peter: "what i do thou knowest not now; but them shalt know hereafter." pray in humility, o ye doubting, distrustful souls! god's truth is near enough and plain enough. it is you who are too high-minded to see it, too proud to pray that you may know it. ask not with pilate, "what is truth? what is truth?" in the presence of the infinite truth, and then, like him, turn away and never hear it. cease not to pray, though the morn is long in dawning, and the day of redemption be delayed; but cease not to pray humbly, for, says the wise man, "the prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds, and he shall not depart until the most high behold." [footnote ] [footnote : ecclus. xxxv. .] [usccb: sirach xxxv. .] --------------------- { } sermon xviii. preparation for a good death. (for the fifteenth sunday after pentecost.) isaiah xxxviii. . "__put thy house in order, for thou shall die, and not live__." when i read the gospel for to-day, which describes the raising of the widow's son to life, i ask myself the question--did he die prepared? when his friends could no longer give him any hope of recovery--when he was forced to make that bitter acknowledgment to himself, "my time is come," then did he make ready to die? did he put his house in order? had he time to do it? was he in a fit state to do it? when his soul had departed, could his widowed mother console herself with the thought--he lived a good life, and he died a good death? we can not answer for the young man, as the gospel tells us nothing either of his life or of his death, but we can answer for many whose lives and whose deaths we know; and, knowing our own lives, we ought to be able to answer for the kind of death we would die if the word of the lord came to us as it came to king ezechias: "put thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." { } a friend, about to take a journey to europe, remarked: "i have arranged all my affairs, so as to have a pleasant journey." he did well. we will do better when we shall have arranged all our affairs for a pleasant journey to that far-off land from which we shall never return. let us see, brethren, what it is to arrange one's affairs that one may die a good death. this preparation may be summed up in the fulfilment of three obligations--the first, to god; the second, to our neighbor; and the last, to one's self. to die well and happily, we must fulfil our obligations to god. here i must confess i am somewhat troubled to answer how a man who is near death, whether he be in good health at the present moment or given up by his physician, shall satisfy this demand, if he has not already done so. the last, and usually the most useless, hours of one's life are hardly the time to give god his due. god's obligations are fulfilled in living not in dying, well. our lord compares the dealings of god with us to a man who hired workmen to labor in his vineyard; to another who gave certain talents to his servants which they were to improve; and, again, to a husbandman who sowed his seed expecting to reap a harvest from it in due time. { } these are very apt figures of the duties and the fruits of life. the heavenly reward will be bestowed upon him who labored at god's work in life. he shall enter into so much of the heavenly joy of his lord as he has fitted himself for by the improvement of the talents which god gave him. god will reap just so much of a harvest as the seed of his divine grace has been cultivated and allowed to grow in the heart. now we are sent to begin our work, to improve our talents, and his grace is sown in our hearts when life begins. god's obligations begin when we begin to live, not when we begin to die. oh! this is a startling truth! what a fearful thought this must be to him who has never realized it as life went on, and only now begins to think about it when the terrors of the coming judgment are casting their shadows before, and darkening the last hours of his misspent life! i hardly know what to say to that man to whom religion has never been a reality in life, who has shirked its duties, and deafened his conscience to its appeals, who thinks of it only when life is not worth thinking of; who makes use of it only to smooth his dying pillow, to bless his grave, and pray for him when he is gone. { } the thought that his life, the only life he has had or will have upon which god has such a heavy claim for his service, for the worship and love of his heart, upon his personal exertions and sacrifices for the cause of his holy faith--has simply been allowed to wear away, day after day and year after year, and that nothing has been done, must be a thought of misery and dismay, such as would overwhelm the mind of a merchant who, after making a long and, as he supposed, prosperous voyage across the ocean, finds, to his disappointment, that he has forgotten to bring either the money or the letters of credit wherewith to purchase his expected cargo. i hardly know what to say to that man whose life has been little more than a mockery of the god whom he pretended to serve; whose principles and faith were indeed christian, but whose practice and works have been heathen. he has been a catholic--oh! yes, in name, but not in deed. it would be better to say of him that he was not a protestant, nor a jew, nor an infidel. that is all. that he is a catholic seems to be a happy accident; for, to judge from the indifference he manifests in its practice, it is to be feared that, had circumstances made him anything else, the catholic faith would be the last thing to which he would give a serious thought. when such are suddenly surprised with the message, "put thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live," indeed it is hard to say how they are to prepare to answer to god for their life. { } their memory brings up little else than despised warnings, grace trifled with, neglected sacraments, prayerless days, and desecrated sundays; and i know not where they are to find the fruit that god comes seeking of them. you see, my brethren, that the first condition of being able to prepare for a happy death is to have lived well. but you ask--is one who begins late in life to serve god, who knows that he has but a short time to do something for him, to give up his case as hopeless, and despair of fulfilling this great obligation? must he say i have, alas! made no life-preparation of this solemn account, and it is too late now? far be it from me to say that; but this i know: he must begin now all the more earnestly, and do what he can with all the greater effort, as the time is the shorter. o my dear brethren! that these late workmen in god's service, and the dying, would understand this! such an one falls sick. he is attacked with a disease which will soon run its course. he sends for a priest. he makes his confession as well as he can--he would have made a better one if he had been well, for he is not in a condition to remember the events of so many years; he is sorry for his neglect and his sins; sorry for all the comforts of religion that he has lost; but, tell me, is he sorry for what god has lost by his careless life? { } does he express one regret that god has not only not had his own, but that he has also been dishonored by his bad life; that the church of the faith he professes has been a loser by him; that he, by his inconsistent conduct, has been a stumbling-block and a rock of scandal to the unbeliever and the scoffer? no, this is the last thing that troubles him. what is one to do? plainly this: religion ought now to be his all-absorbing thought. every moment should be employed with a holy jealousy in prayer, lest god might be forgotten again. one, and only one, desire ought to fill his heart, and that is a desire to love god as perfectly as he may before he die. he should frequently call to mind that comforting assurance which our blessed lord gave to the penitent magdalen: "many sins are forgiven her, because she hath __loved much__." it is not the time for excuses, as so many seem to think it to be, but a time of humble abandonment to the will and the mercy of god. it is a painful sight to witness the contrary; to see the sick and the dying full of complaints, resisting the will of god, and praying for a few more years of a miserable life. if it were for the purpose of living in the love of god, and repairing the bitter past, it would be well. but no, their hearts are breaking to think they are forced to part with the world that they have loved too well. { } but oh! how sweet it is to see a soul, at the close of life, striving to detach itself from the world, and, as it were, reaching forward to throw itself into the embraces of its god. true, it may have been idle for many long years, and it may have come only at the eleventh hour, but that hour, at least, is well spent. these are they of whom the master will say: "i will give to these last even as to the first." [footnote ] such may also say, in the language of the wise man: "i awaked last of all, and as one that gathereth after the grape-gatherers. in the blessing of god i also have hoped; and as one that gathereth grapes, have i filled the wine-press." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xx. .] [footnote : ecclesiasticus xxxiii. , .] [usccb: sirach xxxiii. , .] to die well and happily, we must, in the second place, fulfil our obligations to our neighbor. scarcely a day of our life passes in which we do not find that our neighbor has had somewhat against us. debts accumulate, disputes arise, the incautious word is spoken, the scandal is given, the character of our neighbor suffers from our folly or our spite, reconciliation is not made, forgiveness is neither asked nor given, friends are alienated, the sun goes down upon our wrath, and on the morrow we must die. who is there who is able to say, when he comes to die--i owe no man anything; my debts are all paid; i never wronged any one to whom i did not make full restitution; i never lost a friend but i found him again; i have not an enemy on the face of the earth? { } happy is that man, for he will die a happy death. but how many there are who find themselves at the hour of death as they have always been, both unwilling and unable to pay their just debts! how many leave behind them an unsettled inheritance to their relatives, which becomes an inheritance of discord, law-suits, enmities, and deadly feuds! how often men die, and show no fear to go to god with unclean hands--hands stained by the contact of ill-gotten goods and stolen money! how many die unreconciled with their neighbor, and with no earnest wish to be so! how lightly the wrongs of a lifetime weigh upon their conscience! how many die and make no restitution of all the detraction and the calumny of which they have been guilty, and go to their grave amid the secret jeers and curses of their neighbors! "blessed is he that is defended from a wicked tongue," says the holy scripture, "that hath not passed into the wrath thereof, and that hath not drawn the yoke thereof, and hath not been bound in its bands. for its yoke is a yoke of iron: and its bands are bands of brass. the death thereof is a most evil death: and hell is preferable to it." [footnote ] [footnote : ecclus. xxviii. , .] [usccb: sirach xxviii. - .] { } do you wish to escape such a lamentable end? would you die the death of the just, leaving your name in benediction, your loss sincerely mourned, and your soul defended with prayers at the bar of judgment? deal with thy neighbor now whilst thou art in the way with him. "put thy house in order," and especially when you come to die. let no worldly consideration, no thought of pride, hinder you from a perfect reconciliation with all men--a full payment of every debt--a free forgiveness for every wrong you have suffered. the few moments that remain to you, you will need to pray for god's forgiveness for your own sins. remember the lord's words: "for with what judgment you have judged, you shall be judged; and with what measure you have measured, it shall be measured to you again." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. vii. .] lastly, to die well, we must fulfil the obligations we owe to ourselves. we are christians, and should meet death like christians. that is, we owe it to ourselves to show at that supreme moment some evidence that we are not being forced out of life as if there were no existence beyond it, but that we are ready to answer the call that god makes to us to come home; not that we are setting out upon a journey of darkness and lonely misery, but that we are following jesus, who has overcome the sting of death and robbed the grave of its terrors. { } that we may be encouraged in this, we should bring to mind the examples which the holy martyrs and the other saints of god have left us in their deaths. death, in its very nature, is humiliating and degrading to human nature. it conquers us; it leaves us not a trace of our beauty nor a vestige of our power. no wonder that the flesh is weak and trembles before it; but the spirit, ennobled with christian faith and hope, and strengthened with christian charily, is willing and courageous. the christian's death is then no longer an ignominious defeat, but a glorious sacrifice. the flesh goes, indeed, to the prison of the grave; but the spirit, set free from its mortal bonds, mounts to the skies to be crowned with power and immortality. one thought alone should occupy our minds in our last hours--the thought of uniting our souls to god, whom we are so soon to meet. it is painful to see a dying person thinking of nothing but how to give some momentary relief to his body, each instant calling for some new comfort, as anxious and careful as if he were preparing for a long life, instead of employing the precious moments in prayer, in acts of contrition for the sins of his past life, and in acts of love to god. i know that many persons think it useless to try to pray at such a time, when the strength is failing and the senses are growing dull; but it is not so. { } they can "pray in their soul," as a saintly woman told me on her death-bed. seeing that i noticed the beads in her hands, she said to me: "i am not able to __say__ my beads, father; but, when i feel lonesome, i take them out to keep me company, and i pray in my soul." we may make all our acts acts of prayer, if we will. our acceptance of sickness and death in the spirit of penance is prayer. our resignation to the will of god--our patience in suffering--our gentleness and mildness with those who are tending and watching us--all these things are prayer, if we practise them with the thought that they are pleasing to god. then, there are the holy sacraments of the dying, full of grace, comfort, and strength to our souls. i know few catholics wilfully neglect these, but it is a source of grief to the priest to be called, so often as he is, to administer the last sacraments to those who ought long ago have received the first ones they need. i think it is one of the most discouraging events in the ministry to go to a dying man and find that it is years since he confessed or received the holy communion. confession! i tell you that it is very seldom that one on his sick-bed makes as good a confession as he would if he were well. he cannot do it. his mind is not as clear; his memory fails him; and, worst of all, he makes little or no effort to prepare himself for it. what is the consequence? { } his contrition is as vague and indifferent as is his confession. with how much devotion does he receive the holy viaticum and the extreme unction? alas! this man did not begin to pray or to think about either till an hour ago, when the doctor told him he had to die. the priest absolves him, and he and his friends are content. but did god absolve him? tell me if he made a good confession, or was sincerely sorry for his sins, and then i will tell you whether god absolved him. woe be to him if he did not, for it is the last chance he has to confess, and but too frequently it is the last appeal he makes to god for forgiveness. the priest gives him the holy communion. does he receive it worthily? not, of course, because he is going to die, or because this is his last communion. does he receive it in as good dispositions as would make it a worthy communion if he were well, and had received it in the church at the altar? if not, he makes an unworthy communion, and eats and drinks damnation to himself. the priest anoints him. is he signed and consecrated to god, and are his senses purified, and his soul strengthened? yes, if he be in the grace of god. if not, he is signed and delivered over to satan by it, and his soul is prepared for hell. oh! if one wishes to be able to fulfil these obligations well at the hour of death, he must not neglect the preparation for them in life. { } beautiful is the happy death of a christian! death! he does not die. he enters into life; he rests from his labors; he falls asleep in the lord. not long ago, i received an invitation to attend the funeral of a priest. it was couched in these words: "you are invited to attend the funeral of the very rev. patrick moran, who entered into his rest at half-past eight on wednesday morning last." fitting sentence, indeed, to describe the death of that venerable and holy old man! through a long life he lived and labored only for god. full of years and of merit, ripe for heaven, and ready to begin his eternal life, he ceased from work at the call of his divine master, and entered into his rest. thus should every christian die. it is what the holy church wishes for us all. when the solemn dirges are chanted over us, again and again she prays: "__requiem æternam dona eis, domine." "requiescant in pace.__" "eternal rest grant unto them, o lord!" "may they rest in peace!" my brethren, i have tried to-day to lay before you the duties of the dying christian. soon will some of you be called upon to put them in practice. are you all ready for the last preparations? is your life to-day such as you would like it to be, if to-morrow you are to die? is your confession made for this year? have you received the easter communion? are you at peace with god and men? { } these are questions which you will wish to be able to answer in the affirmative when you call upon the priest for your holy rites and his parting blessing. prepare now, that you may be prepared then. begin to-day, for the hour may come sooner than you imagine in which you shall hear this awful message from the lord: "put thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." ------------------------ { } sermon xix. the king's marriage feast. (for the nineteenth sunday after pentecost.) st. matt. xxii. . "__for many are called, but few are chosen.__" there are some catholics who, with the smallest quantity of the spirit of the catholic religion, are very boastful of the name. they look down upon those who are out of the fold of the church with scorn and contempt. their whole demeanor indicates that they consider themselves immensely superior to these unfortunate creatures, who are all doomed necessarily to eternal destruction. as to themselves, they deem it impossible that they should incur the same doom, because they are catholics. they are not members of the church so much by a special divine favor, but rather they have conferred a favor on god by belonging to it. the church belongs to them by the right of birth, and the fact of their parents having been catholics gives them the privilege of sneering at all not born under similar circumstances. { } i have even heard such persons call converts to the faith by the sweet and charitable epithet of "turncoats," and say they should have remained where they were, and that it is a disgraceful thing to abandon the religion of one's forefathers. catholicity with such is a thing of descent and of family pride; not a thing of the heart and of the will. the holy ghost understood this spirit, and, by the mouth of st. john the baptist, rebuked it severely: "bring forth fruits worthy of penance, and do not begin to say, we have abraham for our father." [footnote ] these words, applied to the jews of old, might well be translated for the benefit of many catholics nowadays--do not begin to say, we are born of catholic parents, our forefathers have been catholics for many generations, if you are living like the heathen; but bring forth fruits worthy of that holy and sacred name of catholic; otherwise you will never come to enjoy the presence of god, but be everlastingly cast out. [footnote : st. luke iii. .] the parable of to-day gives us the most useful instruction on this very subject. a certain king made a marriage feast for his son. this king is the god of heaven and earth. the marriage feast he makes is the participation of the creature in his own glory; a boundless and inconceivable happiness, which shall never have end or diminution; a realization of more than we have dreamed of, or could possibly imagine. { } this is the marriage feast of his eternal son, our lord jesus christ, because he, by taking our flesh upon himself and becoming man, by suffering and dying upon the cross, has redeemed us from sin, elevated us far above the capacity of nature, and enabled us to aspire to this magnificent destiny. it is his marriage feast, because it is the celebration of the eternal nuptials of himself with the soul. it is the marriage feast in which the omnipotence of the eternal beauty is exercised to render the guests eternally and supremely happy, filling them with an ocean of unbounded joy and contentment. the king sent out his servants into the highways and public streets, with directions to call or invite to his feast all they should meet, and urge them to come in. this is what god does now every day. he calls, indiscriminately, the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly, into the fold of his church. it is no merit on their part which brings them the invitation. they are all ragged and dirty in the sight of god. not one of them but would be a disgrace to the king's feast; but god does not look at that. he is moved only by his desire to do them a great favor, and confer upon them great happiness. { } when he invites them, he intends to make them fit; to wash off the dirt, and put suitable clothing upon them, so that they may be made fit to enter his banqueting-hall. he has them brought to an outer room, where are baths and precious ointments, and splendid garments, and servants in abundance to put them on. they need not trouble themselves with the expense of providing anything, for the king provides all. a child is brought to the priest for baptism. that child is of catholic parents, and they bring it. the child knows nothing at all of what is done for it. it had no choice in the matter. it might have been born of another race and of another religion, but god, and not itself, has caused it to be born of catholic parents, and to be brought by them to baptism. it is, as it were, met on the highway and called in, all stained by original sin, to be washed in baptism, endowed with the right to the sacraments, and invested with an immortal inheritance. so likewise jesus christ has commanded his ministers to go and preach the gospel to every creature; to go and invite everybody who hears their voice to come in and enjoy the same privileges. those who accept the invitation have as much right as those who are invited in the other way, by the accident of their birth; for no one has any other right than what comes from the pure bounty and goodness of the king. { } those who are born of catholic parents, and those who are catholics by their own free choice in later life, stand on the same footing. we are all a crowd of beggars, who were in the broad highway, and have heard the invitation of the king of kings, and have come in in obedience to it. we are now all standing in the outer hall of the eternal banquet, or rather in the banqueting-room itself, waiting for the king to come in, when the music will begin, and all its grandeur be lighted up by his presence. it is a most solemn reflection, my friends. you and i have received this invitation. the king's messengers have met us on the highway, and they have forced us to come in. we have been compelled to come in, for ruin and death were the alternative of staying out. we have no longer the liberty of ranging the highways. we are no longer in the position of the heathen--without the knowledge of the true religion, and without baptism. the indelible mark, or character as it is termed, of baptism has been imprinted on our souls; all the ages of eternity will not suffice to wipe it out. poor as this privilege was to be hungry and ragged and miserable, it is ours no longer, but we are in the banqueting-hall of the marriage feast. { } there we are, and we cannot go out into the highway again. once in, the door is shut behind us, and there is no key to unlock it. once removed out of the state of our birth and made heirs of the kingdom of heaven by baptism, it is impossible to put us back again in our former relations. the mark of baptism, stamped upon our souls, will remain with us either in heaven or in hell. elevated by god's goodness far above the condition of our nature, if we fall, it must be down, deeper far than the condition from which we were first taken. a man may neglect his duty to god, and try to persuade himself that the end and object of his existence is to get money, or fame, or power, or pleasure, but he will find to his cost that it was no such thing. the end and object of his existence was to learn to love and serve god in this world, in order to be happy with him in the next; to prepare to be a worthy guest at the marriage feast of the lamb, the son of god, our lord jesus christ. and now we are all in at the feast, and the king comes around to see the guests. he discovers one without a suitable garment on; one who has had the brazen-faced shamelessness to intrude himself into the company all ragged and dirty, without the least pains to make himself look decent, and pay respect to the king and his guests. could there be a more outrageous insult? { } could anything be more wanton and impudent than such conduct? the king had provided everything; all they needed was at hand; he had warned them to make themselves fit before going in: and here is this man, in spite of all this, deliberately walking into this splendid entertainment, with old tattered clothes and unwashed face and hands. the king is justly indignant, and commands him to be bound hand and foot, and cast into a dismal prison. is it not so? has not god provided the holy sacrament of penance, where, with little trouble, the soul can be washed and cleansed from all its defilements? the holy sacrament of the altar, where the soul is nourished, and strengthened, and adorned by feeding on the body and blood of our lord jesus christ? are not innumerable graces and virtues waiting for us, ready to be given, if we will only take the trouble to ask for them? yes, the king of glory will come around to see the guests at the eternal feast. he will inspect each one of us. when will he come around? when we die. then it is the judge of the whole human race will come around to see if we are in the banqueting-hall of the eternal feast with the marriage garment on. { } we came up to the door of the church, and we received a ticket of admission. all right so far. we entered the door, and we remained within among the rest. still all is right, and no doubt we felt pleased to be in such good company, and no one turned us out. but what good will all this do if we have not the wedding garment on? what good will it do us to have gone to the church and heard the sermons, if we have not on the wedding garment? what good to have had the sacraments in life, or even at the hour of death, if we have not on the wedding garment? what is this wedding garment? the grace of god. if we are in mortal sin, we have not the wedding garment on. we pulled it off when we committed sin, and rendered ourselves utterly unfit for the company of heaven. if we are in mortal sin at this moment, we are now in the marriage feast of the king's son without the wedding garment, and woe be to us if the king should happen to come around. at any moment his eye may fall upon us, and we may hear the words, "friend, why camest thou in hither with out having on a wedding garment?" you will be struck dumb with confusion and have nothing to reply; and then will go forth the irrevocable sentence, "bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." { } oh! who can comprehend the folly of the human race--a race of beings so feeble and miserable, and limited by its nature, and yet so unlimited and unbounded in its cravings for happiness-- who can make so little of that offer which lifts them out of all this misery and exceeds their highest expectations? one would think this offer would fill them with delight and a noble enthusiasm to avail themselves of it. and yet, what do we see? god's offer is despised. an immortal destiny is thrown away. man, created to the image and likeness of god, makes himself like the beasts that perish. he boasts and prides himself on the fact that he lives for the body, and despises eternity and god. many are called. many are placed in the way of salvation. many have an abundance of means in their hands to attain to it. with a little attention, with light exertion, many would be saved who are lost. what inexcusable folly! let us not be guilty of it. let us live for our immortal souls. let us put on the wedding garment of truth, and sincerity, and justice--that white garment that we received at baptism--and see that we keep it unspotted until the end. ----------------------------- { } sermon xx. good use of sickness. (for the twentieth sunday after pentecost.) ecclesiasticus xxxviii. . [usccb: sirach xxxviii. .] "__my son, in thy sickness neglect not thyself, but pray to the lord, and he shall heal thee.__" the gospel of the day relates the miracle of the healing of the ruler's son. that this man had the right kind of faith which pleases god, and obtains extraordinary favors from his hand, is shown by the promptitude of his belief in what our lord said to him. although he had urged and insisted upon our lord's going down to capharnaum with him, yet, no sooner did he hear the words, "go thy way, thy son liveth," than he immediately returned home alone without further doubt or remonstrance. i do not think, my brethren, that we exercise enough of this faith in god in our sicknesses; not, understand me, that we are to look for miraculous cures of our ailments and diseases, or that we are to condemn ourselves for want of faith if our prayers for relief are not answered on a sudden; but what i mean is, that we too often misapprehend the cause of our sicknesses, and do not make the good use of them we might. let me say a few words which may be for our instruction and edification on these points. { } in any event, whatever may be the direct cause of our sickness, it is, after all, the will of god. if we fall sick through our own culpable neglect or criminal excesses, it is still the will of god. we have, in this, disturbed the good order of his providence, and suffer the natural consequences of it. there are, besides, those countless forms of disease and phases of ill health which afflict us, and which we are not able to trace to any fault of ours. we fall sick, and cannot tell how or why. an invisible hand has touched us at a moment we knew not, and our strength is gone, the light has fled from our eyes, and the color from our cheek. a secret poison has insinuated itself into our blood, and dried up the fountains of health and vigor. fierce and rapid in its destruction, a week, a day, or even a few hours suffice to bring us to the point of death, and shatter the boasted glory of our strength. then, if the danger passes and the prospect of returning health smiles upon us, we have yet to pass through the long and tedious days and nights of convalescence, gathering but slowly, and with great labor and suffering, that which we lost so quickly and so easily. { } the first and most necessary truth for a christian to reflect upon in the time of sickness is that, in some way or other, god's hand is in it, and that the stroke falls either in chastisement, in mercy, or as a special favor and blessing. we must never forget that life is given to us with all its vicissitudes of joy and sorrow, of prosperity and adversity, of pains and pleasures, more because of eternity than on its own account. sickness comes in its proper turn at fitting times as a part of the life that we are to lead here below; and when it is good for us, then god sends it. he has ends in view that we may be wholly ignorant of. he knows our souls well and watches over them, and a christian ought to believe that he is never sick in body but for the sake of the health of his soul. but some one may say that is bringing sickness, health, and the like within the pale of religion. "o ye sons of men! how long will ye be dull of heart? why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?" we are cunning enough in the ways of the world, but why so slow to understand the ways of god? is there anything that we are, or have, or can be that is not of god? why forever trying to lie to ourselves, and leave him out of account? are we sick or well, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, honored or despised, that god does not know it, has not so appointed it, and has not good reasons for it? and is not the referring of any or all of the states of our being to him an act of religion? { } the truth is, my brethren, that the manner in which one receives and bears an attack of illness is a good test of one's religion. you will see some giving away to inordinate fear and anxiety upon the approach of the first symptoms of disease. they are not in the habit of referring even their health to god, or of thanking him for it. they imagine they live of themselves. so, when they feel their own strength leaving them, and are forced to say--i can hold up myself no longer, then terror seizes upon them, as if all aid, human or divine, was wanting, because they can no longer help themselves. see, too, how the positively irreligious and wicked man generally acts in the commencement of sickness. he talks about his fate, his ill-luck, and curses it. he utters incoherent cries of impatience, and is full of anxiety to discover the act of indiscretion on his own part, or the fault of others, through which he has fallen ill. but the true christian, whose soul is prepared for tribulation, with whom god is no stranger in the time of health, recognizes instantly the hand of god when that health is threatened. with holy job, he exclaims: "if we have received good things at the hand of god, why should we not receive evil?" [footnote ] [footnote : job ii. .] { } he may be surprised, as all are, at the unlooked-for blow, but there is no sign of angry complaint or of envious repining. it is all right, he says, god knows best. this one thought satisfies his heart, god knows about it. he knows why he sends it. he knows how long it will last; how much i shall suffer, and how it will end. may his holy will be done! you see, my brethren, that what i desire to impress upon your minds is that, in all sickness, from whatever cause, the will of god is to be acknowledged. it is not every christian, i regret to say, who does so look upon it. too often you will find it regarded as a grievous misfortune, having no good reason why it should be, and without any compensation for the loss of worldly enjoyment and advantages which it necessarily entails; and, even if they do agree that god has sent it, then it is because god is angry with them. he is taking vengeance upon them. there appears to be no other possible reason that can be given for it. as i said before, we are afflicted with sickness not only as a chastisement for sin, but sometimes also in mercy, as an act of loving-kindness and forethought on the part of god; and again very frequently, as in the case of holy job, as an opportunity to try our faith, to enable us to show our constancy and love to god, and is therefore to be looked upon as a mark of predilection, and a positive blessing and grace. { } certainly, sickness is sometimes sent as a punishment for sin. it comes as a natural and just consequence of sinful excesses. look at the drunkard and the debauchee. they have gone on for awhile in seeming impunity, but every debauch was a blow struck upon the citadel of life and health. soon it is shattered, and totters and falls into ruin. go into the streets, and you may meet them, with haggard faces and trembling limbs. go to the hospitals and the insane asylums, and see those wrecks of humanity, almost soulless men and women, drivelling idiots, and sickening masses of corruption. go to many a sick bedside, in palace or in hovel, in this great city, and you may see how sin is punished by an outraged god. and, though you yourself could not trace the fever that blighted you for many long weeks to any natural cause, you know that you deserved it all. your alarmed conscience did not fail to tell you that there were crimes of your life that demanded retribution. your overweening pride, your ungovernable anger, has been humbled in the dust. your days are shortened because of your disobedience and cruelty to your parents. { } the money you have stolen and would not restore has been wrested from you by the heavy charges of your illness. your disorderly appetites and lusts are now punished with compulsory and exhausting fasts from all food. "he hath struck you as being wicked, in open sight; who as it were on purpose hath revolted from him, and would not understand his ways: so that you have caused the cry of the needy to come up before him, and he has heard the voice of the poor." [footnote ] [footnote : job xxxiv. , .] you thought in your sin that you were stronger than god. now he has rebuked you by sorrow on the sick bed, and has made all your bones to wither. bread is become abominable to you, and to your soul the meat which before you desired. you have trampled on god's holy law; you would not go to mass to worship him. now, though you would gladly go any distance, and suffer any pain to be present at it, you are denied that joy and consolation. you are as one upon whom the church doors are closed, for whom the altar is thrown down, and the priest departed. "in whatsoever a man sins," says the holy scripture, "in that also shall he be punished." { } sickness has come upon you. why? in mercy, god sees how indifferent you have become to him. he sees how your soul has become absorbed in worldly things. your heart is following after strange gods, and your footsteps are leading down to hell. as eliu said to job, "your guardian angel has spoken to god for you, and said, deliver him, that he may not go down to corruption." and god in mercy has heard his prayers, and your way is stopped. it is because god loves you, and would save you, that this has come upon you. in the days of pain, and during the long, feverish nights, you will remember god. in your anguish you will turn to him for comfort, and in your fear you will put your trust in him. this world has had too much of your heart. on a sick bed you will be able to judge how much it is worth. you will condemn the vanity of your life. the past will be repented of. new resolutions will be made. you will come back to health with a refreshed and chastened spirit. what the friend of job said to him, you will say of yourself: "my flesh is consumed with punishments, that i may return to the days of my youth. i will pray to god, and he will be gracious to me: and i shall see his face with joy. when i look upon men, i shall say, i have sinned, and indeed i have offended, and i have not received what i deserved, hath delivered my soul from going into destruction, that it may live and see the light." [footnote ] [footnote : job xxxiii. - .] { } yes, my dear brethren, i think this is the cause of a great deal of the sickness that is sent upon us. the fever, the cholera, the accident, are good preachers, and they make themselves heard. i do not wonder, then, to see men compelled to listen to their threatening tones, and their souls terrified at their menacing gestures of death, and their eloquent descriptions of the coffin and the grave. the words of god's appointed preacher fall unheeded upon their ears. as long as they have strength enough to hear us, they have courage enough to disobey us. but god shows them a vision of a newly made grave, and causes their feet to totter upon its brink, that they may not go down into it unabsolved. o blessed sickness! how many wandering souls have you not brought back to a forgotten god! how many almost lost have you not snatched from the jaws of hell! god is a kind and thoughtful father to us, when we often think him a hard and cruel master. like a surgeon, the deeper and more hidden the wound, the more resolutely does he cut down upon it, and lay it open, in order to effect a radical cure. he chastises us in mercy here, that he may spare us at his judgment-seat in the day of his wrath. { } why are you sick, you who have no grievous crimes to expiate--you whose whole heart has belonged to god this many a day? because you are the object of his special graces, and a chosen vessel of election. what is the secret of this apparent contradiction? god wishes to try you, and prove your constancy. not that he doubts you. on the contrary, he knows how true your heart is. he has every confidence in your fidelity. but he wishes to glorify that fidelity. he wishes to give you a chance to show that you can trust him in the darkness as well as in the light. he strikes you, that you may have glorious wounds to show at the last day. do you not know that to suffer for any one is to give a better proof of love than to confer favors and benefits? you have done a good deal for god, i know. he does not forget it. he asks you to give up that which it is the hardest thing in the world to sacrifice--your health. it seems the most unreasonable thing to sacrifice. your friends and neighbors pity you. they know how much good you were able to do when you were strong and well. they regret to see your usefulness cut off. that usefulness was your constant self-sacrifice for the good of your neighbor. they would like to see that go on. they forget that god wants you to do a little self-sacrifice for him, for him alone, just as if there were no one in existence except you and he in the whole universe. this is why you are sick and suffering. { } rejoice, then, o christian sufferer! and bear your cross, not only with patience and resignation, but with holy joy and a thankful heart. your labors are accepted in his sight, and only this is yet wanting to you--the merit of suffering for him. my brethren, this is, i well know, a strange doctrine in the ears of the world, and especially to the unbelieving world around us in our day. meritorious suffering is something which our protestant friends not only do not comprehend, but laugh at, so that to most of them, even the very passion and death of our lord is an enigma. they may believe it, but it is an unreasonable belief on their part, for they ridicule the very principle upon which its reasonableness is founded. the catholic church teaches us that there is a merit in suffering, in voluntary mortification, in fasting and abstinence, in giving up the world, its friendships and its pleasures; that it is meritorious and pleasing to god for the priest and the virgin to deny themselves the joys and comforts of the married state; in a word, that god is glorified as well by suffering as by act. this is her principle. it is the only principle which can give any reasonable explanation of the atoning sacrifice of our lord, and to deny it is to deny christ. accidental, or rather providential, suffering, such as we have in sickness, is turned to the same account, and sanctified by our offering it to god in the spirit of sacrifice; for it is not in the act of suffering itself, but in the will, that merit is obtained. { } now, my brethren, you see in what spirit we should receive and endure sickness. the will should accept it at once, calmly, willingly, without murmur or complaint. it is god's will. that should be sufficient. our own will must respond and make an entire and generous offering of it. in the beginning of sickness, then, let us say, o my god! i accept this at your hands with all the pain i shall suffer, whatever may be the reason you have so willed it, in satisfaction for my sins, as an admonition to lead a better life, and as a happy chance to suffer something for your sake in union with the sufferings of my lord and saviour jesus christ. help me by your grace to profit by it as you desire. while the sickness lasts, let us often look back upon god, as a gallant knight upon a perilous journey thinks upon his liege lord, whose behests are his law, and whose honor is in his hands, renewing again and again our first fervent offering and oath of fidelity. there will be times when we need to think upon god--times of trial and temptation, when nothing but the thought of god will support us. for there are moments of suffering, when our nearest and dearest friends are dumb in our presence; when the friendly hand, uncertain, stops and hesitates before us, fearing lest too rudely it may draw aside the veil that shrouds our anguish--agonizing moments when all human thought and language dies upon the threshold. { } happy the soul who then knows whither to turn for that longed-for comfort which the world in its weakness cannot give! happy is he who has learned the secret of sanctifying suffering! for such the lord's words have a meaning: "blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." these thoughts and the lessons they teach appear to my mind not inappropriate to the season through which we are passing. nature is putting on her autumn garb of sombre tints, telling us that her strength and beauty are passing away, and that her days of brightness are declining. the woods, once vocal with the song of birds, now begin to look lonely and deserted. their stillness is broken only by the rustling fall of the dry and withered leaves, like the stealthy and hushed footsteps heard in the sick chamber. the sighing of the winds through the branches robbed of their crown of verdure is mournful in the ears of the listener, as the low, dreamy moanings in a sick man's sleep. they both speak of decay and whisper of death. of those of us, my brethren, for whom god is preparing the couch of sickness, against whose sight the light of day will be shut out, and upon whose prostrate form the shadows of suffering will soon fall, some will rise and walk forth in the warm sunshine of a hopeful spring, and some, like the fallen leaves, will never flourish again, but lie, like them, to crumble, decay, and mingle with the dust. { } their white pall of the winter snow shall also be ours. the fierce winter storm shall howl its doleful requiem over our heads as it passes by, but we shall not heed it. the earth shall smile in beauty again, but not for us. oh! be it for us as it may--god knoweth! it will be well for us to have thought upon sickness, and to have prepared our souls for the trial. if health be again granted to us, we shall return to it again all the better for having known how to receive it and how to improve its time. if not, then, when our name shall have become a memory, and our form a vision of the never-returning past, we shall look back from the further shore of the dark river of death over which we have passed, and be glad that we learned how to lean upon god in those last dreadful hours in life, glad that we offered to him beforehand the willing sacrifice of health and strength and life, and thus ascended from the altar of the bed of suffering, as a victim of acceptable merit in the sight of him who rewards, more than tongue can tell, the least we ever do or suffer for his sake. ---------------------- { } sermon xxi. thoughts for advent. (for the third sunday of advent.) philippians iv. . "__for the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are modest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are holy, whatsoever things are amiable, whatsoever things are of good repute; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise of discipline, think on these things__." the christian is so deeply impressed with the truth, that a time will come when his faith will be changed to sight, his hope be realized in reward, and his charity be perfected in the enjoyment of all that is good, that he may be said to have this thought always uppermost in his mind. it regulates his conduct, consoles him in affliction, cheers him in the hour of darkness and of doubt, and puts in his mouth and hands the words and deeds of encouragement to his fellows. it is a magnetic thought, which, amid the storms and tempests of life, and through all its weary wanderings, keeps one's heart ever turned towards god and eternity. { } this blessed time for which we are all looking is the coming of the lord, the manifestation and glorious consummation of the kingdom of god. as the apostle expresses it: "looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great god and our saviour jesus christ." [footnote ] [footnote : ep. titus ii. .] the holy season of advent brings this truth more strongly before us, and directs our thoughts to it by the gospel prophecies of the second advent of christ, and by the warnings to prepare for it which st. paul gives so often in his epistles. the words of the text follow immediately the admonition of the great apostle which the church has chosen for the third sunday of advent: "the lord is nigh." let us to-day, then, think on these things, and endeavor to make these thoughts profitable. i. __whatsoever things are true__. here is a thought worth thousands. we look around us, and see so much insincerity, duplicity, and double-dealing; we meet so many who will overreach us with a friendly smile on their countenance, and cheat us without a blush, that we are tempted both to exclaim with david, in haste, "all men are liars," and to descend from our christian stand-point of high integrity and noble frankness, in order to cope with the world after its own fashion, and meet it with its own weapons. { } but it is an unfortunate day for the christian when he begins to forget or disbelieve in what is true, and to think on what is false. his mind is quickly pervaded with a subtle poison, which induces a meanness towards his fellow-men--a distrust of their good faith, and ends in a practical disbelief of the providence of god. to him such unmerited success as attends the corrupt and swindling practices of the day is at first astonishing. the wicked seem to have it all their own way, and profit by the delay, and despite the coming of the hour when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed before the judgment-seat of christ. his christian simplicity and candor gives way little by little before the attacks of this lying spirit; his faith in truth, honesty, and pure motives is gone, and his practice is not slow to follow his faith. it is a trite saying that the world is full of humbug, but it is a degrading thought; and to accept this saying as a universal truth, or as the guide of his actions, is unworthy of the christian man. i envy not the man who acts on the despicable maxim, "treat every man as a rogue until he has proved himself honest." rather, a thousand times, would i trust in the power of truth, be true to myself, and, if need be, suffer the loss thereby; for he who has cheated me is the loser in the end, while i have preserved, for a small price, that which is above value, my christian honor and loyalty to truth. { } sincerity and candor are not dead, neither has humbug killed them. there are many true people in the world, be there ever so many hypocrites; and truth is always living, real, indestructible, for it lives with a divine, immortal life. remembering our blessed lord's words, then, let our "speech be always yea, yea, and nay, nay; for that which is over and above these is of evil." [footnote ] whatsoever things are true, let us think on these. [footnote : st. matt. v. .] from another point of view, what a thought that is for those who are out of the pale of the catholic church! have they the true faith? have they now that truth which shall stand the trial at the coming of jesus christ? do they consider their present state a true one in all respects--true before their conscience, and without doubt before their intelligence? do they regard their religion as a sure religion? what a serious thought it ought to be for many of them who are even now struggling with the strong power of duty, which bids them make their calling and election sure, by embracing, at all hazards, and with ready obedience and trust in god, that truth in the holy catholic church, without which they would not now dare to die. { } oh! how earnestly, sincerely, and courageously ought they to listen to the apostle's words, and think upon those things which are true! there is one of the eight beatitudes for those who think upon the truth. it is the first: "blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"--the poor in spirit; the simple in heart and mind; a heart and mind to which cunning, duplicity, or falsehood is both strange and repulsive. theirs is the kingdom of heaven which christ will bring at his coming, who are poor and humble in spirit, receiving god's truth as a little child, and not rejecting it with high-minded and arrogant self-will, or with proud disdain. brethren, whatsoever things are true; let us think on these things during the holy advent time. ii. __whatsoever things are modest__. modesty is a marked and well-known characteristic of the christian. no one would ever think of using the expressions, "heathen modesty" or "mohammedan modesty," simply because it is neither a heathen nor a mohammedan virtue. the apostle evidently uses it here in the sense of reservedness of action which springs from true humility of heart. this displays itself in a most pleasing manner to us in the persons of those who, though endowed with some remarkable talent or accomplishment, yet, through the christian humility they possess, are not on that account arrogant and puffed up, but bear their honors meekly, and with gentle, unassuming manners. { } so with their natural gifts. god has given to some, more than to others, beauty of face or form, or some personal qualification which excites our admiration or affection. and in those who are thus favored, how much all this beauty is enhanced by the softened halo which christian modesty and reserve throws about them! who would pretend to compare the beauty of the haughty and sensual magdalen, flaunting her profane charms in the streets of capharnaum, the theme for the toasts of libertines, to the beauty of the saintly and almost angelic penitent, bathing the feet of jesus with her tears, and wiping them with her dishevelled hair! he whose thoughts are modest cultivates an unselfish spirit. alas! what with our fund of pride, our intolerant self-will, and ungovernable temper, how much we need to think on whatsoever things are modest! how prone we are to stand upon our rights; how ready to quarrel with and grumble about our neighbors! a profitable thought for the advent time, st. paul urged this especially: "let your modesty be known of all men." and why so? because "the lord is nigh." yes, he is nigh who taught us a similar lesson: "learn of me; for i am meek and humble of heart." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xi. .] { } at his coming he will recognize for his own flock, not the wolves, but the sheep; not the bold-faced and giddy votaries of fashion and pleasure, but the meek and humble christians, whose beauty is the beauty of their holiness. it is not the useless thorns and briers, which no one can approach without being wounded, but the hidden and inoffensive wheat that will be gathered into the garner of the lord. there are two beatitudes for the modest-minded--the second and the third: "blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." and again; "blessed are the mourners: for they shall be comforted." for the meek and modest, who possess as though they had not; who teach as though they learned; who rule as though they obeyed; whose beauty of body and soul shines among men as though they but reflected that of others; whose inheritance is renunciation, and whose wealth is in their gifts; for them is the whole earth reserved, in its beauty and its glory, at the coming of the lord. for the blessed mourners, whose perfection in christian modesty has led them to fly all worldly honors and escape its flatteries; to exchange the gay paths of life for the tearful road of penance, and whose contrite and humble hearts god has promised not to despise--for them is dawning an everlasting day of comfort. { } iii. __whatsoever things are just__. the just man always desires to act honorably and fairly in his dealings. the christian is required to give anxious thought as well to the obligations he has contracted towards his neighbor. the closing year naturally brings these obligations to mind; the debts that are owing, the promises made, and the claims for support which others hold against us; and it is a mark of the good, conscientious catholic that he is anxious about these things, and is earnestly striving to discharge them. a wise thought for advent. for now the lord is nigh, the day of his judgment approaches, when all wrongs will be made right. the unjust escape payment here, through some quibble in the law, or through practices of chicanery and partial testimony of which they take an unfair advantage, but whose unpaid debts and hidden thefts will not escape the memory of their righteous judge on the last day. let our thoughts be, then, to render quickly unto every man his due, "because the lord cometh, because he cometh to judge the earth. he shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth." { } he who thinks upon whatsoever is just will think upon the poor. it is the word of god, that "the just taketh notice of the poor, but the wicked is ignorant of them." [footnote ] [footnote : prov. xxix. .] god has given to the poor and needy rights which no christian man can ignore. they are committed to him by his master, and their friend and protector, to be taken care of, to be thought about, to be sought out and ministered unto. oh! a thousand times happier is he who in advent time thinks upon the poor: when winter, with his icy blasts, is making the poor shiver with cold and nakedness; when the poor man goes sadly home to find the cupboard bare and his little ones moaning for hunger; when lonely widows and friendless girls, whose homes are in hovels and cheerless garrets, sit up far into the night with no fire in the stove, warming their weary and chilled fingers over the candle, that they may be able to ply the needle that keeps them from starvation. oh! blessed is that man who, knowing no hunger or thirst for his body, yet hungers and thirsts in his soul after justice for the poor; whose thoughts revert to them when the weather grows colder, and the storm howls more fiercely, and can say when he lays his head upon his pillow at night: "thank god, i have not forgotten them to-day!" { } you all know the beatitude in store for those who think on what is just. it is the fourth: "blessed are they who hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall be filled." yes, god will reward them plenteously. the psalmist says of them: "the just shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow up like the cedar of libanus; they shall increase to a fruitful old age, that they may show that the lord our god is righteous." [footnote ] [footnote : ps. xci. , .] [usccb: ps. xcii. , .] iv. __whatsoever things are holy__. the vice of the world is irreligion. its votaries do not believe in sanctity. unholy in their lives, so are their thoughts. they are ever ready to scoff at holy persons and things, and to stigmatize the pious as hypocrites. but the christian is slow to suspect evil. to his pure mind all things are pure. his religion, which is the law of his life, he knows to be replete with holiness; that it is holy in doctrine, holy in its moral teachings, and glorious in the great multitude of its saints. and just so far as his religion guides him, and exercises its hallowing influence over him, just so far will he delight to think upon what is holy and pure. there are times when the evil we are forced to witness becomes a severe trial to us. scandals are now and then brought to light which grieve the saints, bring the blush of shame to the cheek of the good christian, and not unfrequently destroy the faith of the lukewarm. { } "scandals must needs come," said our saviour; but is it, therefore, necessary for us to think about them and brood over them? no; there is good enough for our thoughts, good enough for us to glory in, and for which to praise god. the church never bears her name in vain. she is always the __holy__ catholic church; and we should rather be striving to prove that holiness in our own lives, "pressing forward towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of god in christ jesus," than stay and linger on the way, losing our time in mourning an evil we see and cannot remove. there is a beatitude for those whose thoughts are holy. it is the sixth: "blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see god." the pure-minded, the holy in heart, are those who are most dear to god. brethren, this is a blessing worth winning, and it is easily won. remember that the lord is nigh. keep your thoughts in the presence of god, and you will prepare your hearts and minds to see him in the clear vision of his glory, which is promised to the clean of heart. v. __whatsoever things are amiable__. to the christian there is something sacred in all the beauties of nature and of grace. in everything he sees the hand of god, and all the acts of providence are admirable, and he does not need to be told that they are the best that could happen. { } one who has such thoughts is sure to be a kind-hearted soul. the world wears easily with him, for he sees only what is pleasant, is long mindful of favors, and quickly forgets and forgives injuries. if his friends happen to be at a disagreement with him, or even among one another, it is a positive pain to him. he is uneasy until it is all made up again. it gives him unfeigned delight to bring about a reconciliation between people at variance. oh! charming and beautiful is such a soul! sweet is the interior peace which it enjoys. he is filled with thoughts of kindness and gentleness because he thinks on those things that are amiable. there is a beatitude for such. it is the seventh: "blessed are the peace-makers: for they shall be called the children of god." let us strive, dear brethren, to merit this blessing during holy advent time, when we are preparing to meet our lord, who came to bring peace on earth to men of good-will. vi. __whatsoever things are of good repute__. i love to see good honest pride. it tells me that there is a desire not only to be respected by men, but to stand well and blameless before god. how much sin would be avoided if christians would only be more thoughtful of the character and name they bear! and how many could easily be rescued from shame and degrading despair if one could inspire them with true self-respect! { } one day, there came to a priest a young man in the lowest state of moral cowardice from drunkenness. he thought it was of no use to try to retrieve himself, and his friends looked upon him as a hopeless case. the priest, however, did not say one word of reproach to him. he did not need that, poor fellow; he was down enough already. but he shook him warmly and encouragingly by the hand, and said to him, "why, my dear sir, you have only to think what i believe about you, and in three months time you will be one of the most respectable members of the church." he heard himself called "sir," and "my __dear__ sir," and it would have delighted you to see the change that came over him. he brightened up immediately, his eyes filled with tears, and, returning the pressure of the priest's hand, he said, with a voice choked with emotion, "so i will, father"; and he departed full of hope, and strengthened to make good his resolution. thoughts of good repute will shut the mouths of backbiters and slanderers, and will school the tongue to speak well of every one. the love of our own good repute should teach us to be merciful to others. for, if there was one who knew all our sins as we ourselves know them, and threatened to expose us before the world, how piteously would we cry to him for mercy, and beseech him to spare the good name we hold! { } he who would have that mercy shown to him, let him show it to others, and bury the knowledge he possesses of their shame in that deep oblivion and secrecy in which he would wish to hide his own. there is a beatitude for such. it is the fifth: "blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." vii. __if there be any virtue, if there be any praise of discipline__. the presence and influence of the holy ghost in the church has infused into her members a spirit whose manifest workings have made the world stand in awe. it is christian fortitude. this has enabled the martyr to smile in the midst of torture, and changed the dungeon into an ante-chamber of heaven. this has nerved the missionary to bid an eternal farewell to home, friends, and kindred, and carried him with a fearless heart into the haunt of the savage, to the shore of the cannibal, and to the land of the relentless and cruel pagan who gloats over the horrible death he makes a christian die. this it is that gives strength to timid, weak woman to put on the habit of sacrifice, and enter the pestilential wards of the hospital with a cheerful step, and watch through the long and weary night by the bedside of the dying stranger, whose contagious disease carries death to her own brave heart. { } this gives her courage to face the cannon's mouth, and stand amid shot and shell ready to bind up the bleeding wounds of the soldier, or to waste and wear her life away in seeking out, teaching, and reforming the vilest outcasts upon the streets. this it is that covers the little sister of the poor with a panoply of heroism as she goes from door to door begging for the superannuated and bedridden wretches whom she has picked up out of the gutters, or from the purlieus and filthy alleys of the city, degraded, friendless, and miserable from want or disease; and it wreathes her head with a halo of glory as she sits down with a merry laugh to eat the scraps of food which they have left, or puts on the thin and ragged dress which is not warm enough or good enough for her dear old poor. this christian fortitude, this heavenly virtue, this divine power of discipline and mastery over souls, is seen in the earnestness and the fearlessness of all the deeds of charity and mercy, of all the admonitions and exhortations, and even of the threats and warnings of god's holy church to the nations of the earth. she is able to teach her children to carry out the lesson of the lord: "fear not them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do." [footnote ] [footnote : st. luke xii. .] { } oh! let us think a little upon this virtue, this discipline worthy of all praise, and it will lead us to be more trusting and loyal to the church, and also to obey her commands the more readily who, like her divine founder, "speaks as one having authority." a thought for the holy advent time: for at the bottom of it all lies the grand reason of the church's existence and work. she prepares men for the coming of the lord. she is looking for the establishment and triumph of the kingdom of our lord on the earth. the principle of her actions, which she learned at the foot of her master's cross and with which she inspires her children, is this: sacrifice for love; suffering for justice's sake. she wins a blessing for it. it is the last: "blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice's sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." i have not brought the beatitudes to mind in connection with these advent thoughts without reason. st. paul has a promise of beatitude to those who think on these things--a comprehensive beatitude, the sum of all happiness: "and the god of peace shall be with you" [footnote ]--a blessing, my dear brethren, which i hope we may all enjoy when the coming christmas shall bring the angelic salutation to our ears: "__pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis!__" [footnote : phil. iv. .] -------------------- { } sermon xxii. fraternal charity. (for the festival of st. john the evangelist.) i epistle st. john ii. . "__he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no scandal in him__." we celebrate to-day the feast of st. john the evangelist, the apostle who is distinguished in holy scripture as the disciple whom jesus loved, and who is represented as leaning on the bosom of the lord at the last supper. now, we may ask what is the reason the lord showed this marked preference and especial affection for st. john above the other apostles? it must have been because st. john was more like the lord than any of the others, for god must always love us in proportion as we approach his divine image and likeness. the more we put on christ--that is, the more we are clothed with the thoughts, ideas, feelings, and dispositions of christ, the more is christ attracted to us in love. { } now, what was the characteristic virtue of this great apostle, which rendered him so like to christ and so dear to him? it was his tender and overflowing love to his neighbor--that is, to all his fellow-men. he is pre-eminently the apostle of fraternal charity, or of the love of one's neighbor. nothing, then, will please st. john better today than to speak of the excellence of this virtue, which was the continual subject of his discourse. what, dear brethren, is the end and object for which we live in this world? undoubtedly it is to acquire the love of god. this divine love will render us for ever blessed, and we shall be blessed just in the proportion we have acquired it. the greatest saints are those who have loved god best; the least in heaven are those who have loved him least; but all must love god in some degree, or there is no place in heaven for them. now, i assert that the easiest, shortest, and most efficient road to the love of god is the love of our neighbor, or of our fellow-man, who is designated by the word neighbor. i assert it on the authority of st. john himself, who has laid it down in the clearest manner. we read in the breviary of to-day this beautiful narrative of st. jerome: "the blessed john the evangelist, whilst he was living at ephesus, in his extreme old age, was scarcely able to be brought to the church by the hands of his disciples, and could not weave together many words into a sentence. he did nothing at the different assemblies but repeat the same words, 'my little children, love one another.' at last the disciples and brethren who were present, getting tired of always hearing the same thing, said: master, why do you always repeat this? he replied in a sentiment worthy of st. john: 'because it is the precept of the lord, and if this alone be observed it is sufficient.'" { } how beautiful is this! "little children, love one another," and, "this alone is sufficient." we must love one another with the sincerity, the artlessness, of little children. there must be no hypocrisy about our love; it must be genuine, and flow from the right fountain. and what is this fountain? it is the love of god. our love of our fellow-men must proceed from the love of god. we must love him for the sake of god, and because god wishes us to love him, and because he represents god to us. there is a love which is not on account of god, but, on the contrary, opposed to god, and which destroys the love of god in us. a parent, for example, is distractedly fond of a child because the child is beautiful, or talented, or amiable, and this child is consequently indulged and spoiled; is educated for show and vanity, or, to sum it all up, exclusively for this short-lived world and its object. { } such love as this does not lead to god, but turns the soul away from him. with passionate eagerness it fixes it on the present, as its last end and chief good, and quenches its thirst for god, who is the only last end and chief good for which it was created. we must love our neighbor, because we see in him an immortal soul, created to the image and likeness of god, and destined to participate at last in the glory and happiness of god. we must love our neighbor, because he has been bought by the blood of jesus christ, his god, who was willing to lay down his life for him, after thirty years of toil and hardship, suffering the agony of the cross. now, dear brethren, let me explain this a little more practically. you see a person who is in some respects repugnant to you. his manners and ways of acting are not pleasant to you; indeed, some of his actions are very disagreeable. well, then, if you are actuated in loving your neighbor by the love of god, you will not allow your mind to dwell on these things so far as to conceive a dislike or hatred, but, on the contrary, you will rise above such thoughts, by considering his relation to god. you will see god in him, and this will keep your mind sweet, gentle, and kind towards him. { } this is what our lord says: "you have heard what has been said: thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy; but i say unto you, love your enemies; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you, that you may be the children of your father who is in heaven; who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. for if you love those that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans the same? and if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathen the same? be ye perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. v. - .] there, christians, is the doctrine of our lord and master, jesus christ. if it is not yours also, is it proper to call you by his name, christians? should you not rather be called, according to his way of naming, heathens and publicans? but how many objections are raised against this plain and heavenly doctrine? how much repugnance and fighting against it! you see a poor man in the street, or in his miserable shanty. he is ragged and dirty, for rags and dirt are often necessary accompaniments of poverty. do you see in him jesus christ? no; only an object of disgust. instead of relieving him, you begin to reason. why does he not go to work? { } he is idle and shiftless. if he is relieved, he will be just the same. instead of helping him, let him be forced by stress of poverty and starvation to find work. and after all, the poor man has done his best, and at least should not have to bear undeserved reproach, as well as his poverty. my dear brethren, how is it possible that we should have this right love of our neighbor, which is supernatural, unless we love him for god's sake; unless we hunger and thirst to please god and acquire his justice, and unless we pray constantly to god to grant us this wonderful effect of his goodness? let us understand, then, that, if we will acquire the love of god, we must pray for the love of our neighbor, and then act it out in all sincerity whenever an opportunity offers itself to us. st. john tells us in his epistle: "how can we love god whom we have not seen, when we love not our neighbor whom we have seen?" this text deserves an explanation. you desire to love god more; you feel that this love is of more value to you than anything else; this prompts you to fall upon your knees and beg earnestly for it. you say my god, give me thy love; give me a great decree of this love. then comes the natural thought what shall i do to acquire this treasure? how shall i conduct myself and order my life, so as constantly to preserve and increase it? { } if god would only show himself to me, and i could behold his beauty, and experience his goodness, then i should know how to love him. why does he not reveal himself? but all is dark, all is silent. god is hidden: we cannot form a picture of him in our minds. we have never seen god at any time, and we shall not see him as long as we remain in the flesh. but god and our lord jesus christ walk the streets every day. we meet them whenever we go abroad. how is that? it is in the person of every one we meet, particularly of the poor, the miserable, and the despised. the promise is absolute: "inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these, ye did it unto me." love one of these poor men, entertain a sentiment of compassion for him, and you have made a genuine act of love of god. entertain an habitual love for him, and respect him for the sake of the one he represents, and you will form the habit of god's love in your soul. when st. martin cut his cloak in two, and gave half of it to a poor man he met on the roadside, our lord appeared to him the same night with the half cloak upon his shoulders, and said: "martin the catechumen (st. martin was at that time under instruction for his baptism) has clothed me in this garment." { } in the account of the last judgment, everything is described as being settled on this one principle. "then the king shall say to them that shall be on the right hand: come, ye blessed of my father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. for i was hungry, and you gave me to eat: i was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: i was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: sick, and ye visited me. i was in prison, and ye came to me. then shall the just answer: lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? and when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and covered thee? or when did we ever see thee sick or in prison, and visit thee? and the king answering, shall say to them: amen, i say to you, as long as ye did it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye did it unto me." [footnote ] [footnote : st. matt. xxv. - .] this is what the saints understood and fully realized. st. catharine of sienna found an old woman sick of the leprosy. she was so disgusting and loathsome an object that everybody had deserted her, and she was perishing of neglect and starvation. the saint gladly took charge of her, cleansed her sores, prepared her food, and lavished upon her every possible attention. { } the mother of the saint was not so charitable. she heard of her daughter's proceedings, and became very angry. in her fear of the infection, she forbade her to attend the sick woman any longer. but st. catharine pleaded our lord's case so strongly that her mother was obliged to yield. then the old woman, overcome by her miseries, took a dislike to her, and repaid her kindness by a constant torrent of the foulest abuse. st. catharine, in spite of all this, never relaxed her kindness a moment. as a further trial, she caught the infection, and her hands were all covered with the loathsome disorder. but nothing deterred her from her purpose until she had the satisfaction of receiving the last breath of this poor creature, who died in sentiments of the deepest contrition. then the saint finished her work by burying her with her own hands, and, as she cast the earth into the grave, those hands became instantly freed from all traces of disease, and became white and more beautiful than ever before. if we love for god's sake, we shall love all, and no one will be excluded from our love. love will flow from our hearts, like the water from a perpetual, inexhaustible fountain, which makes all the soil it waters fertile, producing rich fruits and beautiful flowers, these fruits and flowers of divine charity are well enumerated by st. paul: "charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely: is not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeketh not her own; is not provoked to anger; thinketh no evil: rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth: beareth all things; believeth all things; hopeth all things; endureth all things." [footnote ] [footnote : i cor. xiii. - .] { } dear brethren, let us reflect on this virtue of fraternal charity, and resolve to increase in it. let us be more pleasant and kinder in our way of speaking. let us look more kindly upon others, and their ways of acting. let us endeavor to maintain towards all such a manner of speaking and acting as we suppose our lord jesus christ to have had, and, altogether, be more amiable than we have ever been before. indeed, let us set no bounds within our own hearts to our love of our fellow-men. every action of love, no matter how small, will increase the love of god in our hearts. everyone will be another stroke of the oar which drives forward the little boat of our soul toward the kingdom of heaven. every one will be an increase of merit and of eternal reward.